The presently-disclosed subject matter generally relates to antimicrobial compounds, compositions, methods of making and methods of use thereof. The presently-disclosed subject matter further relates to compounds, compositions and methods for the control of Porphyromonas gingivalis.

Periodontal disease is a chronic inflammatory disease that is triggered by oral pathogenic bacteria (e.g., Porphyromonas gingivalis) and leads to tooth loss if untreated. This disease affects half of adult population in the United States and its prevalence significantly increases with aging.1, 2 In addition to the oral local sequelae, periodontal disease has also been associated as a risk factor for diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, stroke, as well as arthritis.3-5 P. gingivalis is a Gram-negative bacterium that is associated with periodontal disease.6-9 Evidence indicates that P. gingivalis can invade oral epithelial cells and modulate innate responses that lead to oral dysbiosis and unresolved chronic inflammation.10-13
Although it has been suggested that local and systemic antibiotics can be used as adjunctive therapy for controlling periodontal disease,14-16 there are no clear understanding and/or guidelines when it comes to selecting an antibiotic regimen for targeting specific periodontopathogens, without perturbing the normal oral commensal bacteria.17, 18 This pitfall can result in poor efficacy against the targeted pathogens, which can be either resistant or poorly susceptible against the antibiotic(s) selected.19
In addition, the extensive use of antibiotics can result in development of drug-resistant bacteria, which can impact the effectiveness of the treatment. Thus, it is paramount that development of novel antibacterial agents for the treatment of periodontal disease become a priority.
Zafirlukast is an FDA-approved drug used for the effective inhibition of airway inflammation in the case of asthma treatment.28, 29 Recently published work emphasized the use of zafirlukast as a treatment option for Mycobacterium tuberculosis and West Nile virus infections.30, 31 The antibacterial activity of the zafirlukast against two oral pathogens, P. gingivalis and Streptococcus mutants, was also reported in recent literature.32
In the instant invention, chemically modified zafirlukast provided better agents for treating oral infections compared to this parent drug scaffold (FIG. 1). In zafirlukast, both a cyclopentyl carbamate attached to an N-methylindole and an arylsulfonamide scaffold are linked via a decorated benzoyl ring, which offers a unique opportunity for structure-activity relationship (SAR) studies. Herein, the synthesis of multiple zafirlukast derivatives is reported, where modifications on the indole (e.g., removal or replacement of the cyclopentyl carbamate by a nitro group, and removal of the methyl group from the indole amine), the arylsulfonamide (e.g., removal of the methyl substituent), as well as the benzoyl ring (e.g., change in its substituents and their substitution patterns) were made. The antibacterial activity of these zafirlukast derivatives against P. gingivalis and various other oral bacteria is also disclosed herein. In addition, the cytotoxic effect of these zafirlukast derivatives against human oral epithelial cells is disclosed herein.

Antimicrobial compounds, compositions, and method

UNIVERSITY OF KENTUCKY RESEARCH FOUNDATION


A spirit chilling apparatus comprising a drink chilling tube (4) concentric within an insulated container (6) filled with a constant boiling cryogen (8), such as acetone and solid carbon dioxide or similar azeotropic mixture. The innertube (4) is held in relatively poor thermal contact with the vessel (6) containing the liquid so that over a period of time it will adopt the temperature of the liquid (8) but when a measure of spirit is poured through it the specific heat of the tube (4) will be sufficient to result in a net temperature of -5.degree. C. for both the spirit and the tube (4), the heat flow from the surrounding vessel (6) being insufficient to materially affect this. If the tube (4) is left in place it will again cool to the previous temperature so that a further measure of spirit can be cooled.

There is a widespread need for many types of liquid to be supplied, or dispensed, at sub-ambient temperature. Much energy and expense is incurred in providing chilled drinks, such as by adding pre-formed ice or by chilling the bottle containing the drink. Such methods have significant disadvantages: ice tends to melt and so dilute the drink, and chilling the entire bottle is both time-consuming and inefficient.


A binderless glass fiber mat suitable for use as a separator for valve regulated (“recombinant”) lead acid (“VRLA”) batteries is disclosed. The separator is produced by a dry process by collecting the fibers from fiberizing apparatus, without subjecting them to a wet paper making or other post forming process, and selecting portions of the collected fibers which are sufficiently uniform in thickness and grammage for use as battery separators. The fibers can be entwined to produce a superior separator material. Additives can be introduced during the collection process to enhance the properties of the separator. A battery comprises at least one stack of alternating positive and negative plates, with the separator between adjacent plates. Separators according to the invention are significantly more resilient and have longer fibers than otherwise identical separators made from different samples of the same glass fibers, but by a conventional wet paper making process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of batteries and, more specifically, to batteries in which mat containing glass fibers, commonly called separators, are positioned between the positive and negative plates and to a method for producing such mats or separators and batteries. As is subsequently discussed in more detail, separators containing glass fibers are well known. Long before glass fiber separators, however, cedar veneers were used as a separator material, and were replaced by microporous, hard rubbery separators and cellulose separators impregnated with resins.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Valve regulated ("sealed"—"recombinant") lead acid (VRLA) batteries are known; they usually comprise a plurality of positive and negative plates, as in a prismatic cell which can be a prismatic flat plate, or in layers of separator and positive and negative electrodes wound together, as in a "jelly roll" cell. The plates are arranged so that they alternate, negative—positive—negative, etc., with separator material separating each plate from adjacent plates. The separator, typically composed of a mat of wet laid nonwoven glass fibers, is an inert material; it stores battery acid, and provides low electric resistance. In addition, in VRLA batteries, the separator material provides innumerable gas channels between the plates through which oxygen can migrate from the positive electrode, when generated there, to the negative electrode where it can be recombined with hydrogen, according to the oxygen cycle. Another important function of a separator is to exert pressure against the plate paste or active material which forces the paste into contact with the plate, and causes a pressure between the positive active material and the positive grid and between the plates, ensuring that there is not an interface at which corrosion, which would cause premature capacity loss (PCL), can occur.
Glass fiber separator material has been produced commercially by wet processes on paper making equipment including fourdrinier machines and rotoformers, inclined fourdrinier machines and extended wire rotoformers. In the production of separator made of glass fibers for VRLA batteries, it is preferred that no organic binder be added to a furnish from which separator sheets are made; the entanglement of individual microglass fibers serves to maintain the sheet in a cohesive structure, and water glass or any of various sulfate salts, which sometimes form on the fiber surfaces, serves as a binder. Organic binders, however, tend to decrease the ability of a separator to wick acid, and to decrease the amount of acid a separator can hold. A great deal of work has been directed to modifying the glass fiber furnish from which separators are produced to improve battery performance and/or lower the cost of the separator. Some of the work has entailed the addition of synthetic fibers for various reasons, such as the use of thermoformable plastic fibers so that the separator can be heat sealed on its edges to envelop a plate. Other work, which pertains to the field of this invention, has been directed to the use of a filler, e.g., silica, or another siciciferous material, to provide separators which are comparable to all glass fiber separators, at a lower cost. Separators made from glass fibers to which cellulose has been added and polyolefin fibers to which cellulose has been added have also been suggested. Prior art patents are discussed below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,748 (Harris) discloses glass fiber sheet material for use as a separator in an electrochemical cell, and made from 5 to 35 percent w/w of glass fibers less than 1 μm in diameter; the patent also discloses a glass fiber sheet for such use wherein there are fibers of a continuous range of fiber diameters and lengths, and most of the fibers are not over 5 mm in length.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,280, (Kono et al.), discloses glass fiber sheet material for use as a plate separator in a battery, and made from 50 to 95 percent w/w of glass fibers less than 1 μm in diameter and 50 to 5 percent w/w of coarser glass fibers. The coarser glass fibers, the reference says, have a fiber diameter larger than 5 μm, preferably larger than 10 μm, and it is advantageous for some of the coarser fibers to have diameters of 10 μm to 30 μm.
U.S. Pat. No. 4.205,122 (Minra et al.) discloses a battery separator of reduced electric resistance comprising a self supporting, non woven mat consisting essentially of a mixture of olefinic resin fibers having a coarseness of from 4 to 13 decigrex and olefinic resin fibers having a coarseness of less than 4 decigrex, the latter fibers being present in an amount of not less than 3 parts by weight per 100 parts by weight of fibers; up to about 600 parts by weight of inert filler materials per 100 parts by weight of fibers can also be used. The battery separator is produced by subjecting a suitable aqueous dispersion to a sheet-forming operation, drying the resulting wet, non-woven mat, and beat treating the dried mat at a temperature ranging from a point 20° C. lower than the melting point of the aforementioned fibers to a point about 50° C. higher than the melting point.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,216,281 (O'Rell et al.) discloses a separator material produced from a furnish containing 30 to 70 percent w/w of polyolefin synthetic pulp, 15 to 65 percent w/w of a siliceous filler and 1 to 35 percent w/w of "long" fibers which can be polyester fibers, glass fibers, or a mixture of the two. Cellulose in an amount up to about 10 percent w/w is disclosed as an optional ingredient of the furnish.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,336,314 (Yonnezu, et al), assigned to Japan Storage Battery Company, discloses a pasted lead acid battery with greatly extended service life and capacity over the usuable service life therof. The battery has a glass mat, which may be of a dual layer construction, disposed adjacent positive plates of assembled elements. This patent teaches the importance of pressure that must be applied to the assembled elements, for example by a binding band, or from outside the battery container. As the pressure applied to the elements increases, the patent says, the charge and discharge cycle life increases although the relationship is said not to be linear. That is, in a pressure range of from 40 to 60 g/dm2, the life is abruptly increased by a factor of 2 to 2.5 as the pressure increased. Therefore, up to about 100 kg/dm2, the life remains substantially unchanged. However, if pressure exceeds about 100 kg/dm2, the life decreases. The tendency to decrease depends on the type of glass mat used. The life of the lead acid cell using the glass mat having a dual layer structure was found to be excellent at a low pressure range while the life of such cell increases by a fator of about two at a pressure of 20 kg/dm2. The patent also states that the pressure applied to the assembled element presses on each plate and prevents the aforementioned expansion effect attributed to changes in structure of the active material layer. During use, it is necessary to prevent a reduction of the degree of pressure. It was found that the greatest cause for the reduction of the pressure applied to the assembled element is that, when the glass mat is wetted, its thickness decreases. The patent discloses that the degree of reduction of pressure applied to the glass mat depends upon the technique used in fabricating the glass mat. In general it is stated that it is desirable in a glass mat employed in a lead acid battery for the degree of pressure applied when the mat is immersed in dilute sulfuric acid to be more than 70% of the degree of pressured applied in the dry state. The importance of pressure was clearly noted and the main solution was external pressure devices. The method of making the glass material was not stated but a Japanese disclosure, No. 5505306 JPA1 issued to applicant: Japan Storage Battery Company Ltd., discloses a dual layer glass mat produced by a wet laid process. U.S. Pat. No. 4,3336,314 refers to a Japanese Patent Office publication number, 55091564 JP A1, which is said to have a date of publication of Jul. 11, 1980.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,363,856 (Waterhouse) discloses a separator material made from a furnish composed of polyolefin pulp fibers and glass fibers, and names polyester staple fibers, polyolefin staple fibers and cellulose pulp fibers as alternative constituents of the furnish.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,387,144 (McCallum) discloses a battery separator having a low electrical resistance after extended use which is made by thermal consolidation and thermal embossing of a paper web formed from a furnish containing a synthetic pulp composed of fibrils which are filled with an inorganic filler, the web incorporating a wetting agent which is preferably an organic sulfonate, an organic succinate, or a phenol ethoxylate.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,373,015 (Peters et al.) discloses sheet material for use as a separator in a battery, and "comprising organic polymeric fibers"; both of the examples of the reference describe the sheet material as "short staple fiber polyester matting about 0.3 mm thick", and indicate that the polyester fibers range from about 1 μm to about 6 μm in diameter.
Sheet separators for use in conventional (not valve regulated) batteries and comprising both glass fibers and organic fibers are disclosed in all of the following U.S. patents: No. 4,529,677 (Bodendorf); No. 4.363,856 (Waterhouse); and No. 4,359,511 (Strzempko).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,271, Hasegawa, discloses storage battery separators composed of acrylic fibrils in an amount of up to about 10 percent w/w, balance glass fibers.
Japanese patent document 55/146,872 discloses a separator material comprising glass fibers (50–85 percent w/w) and organic fibers (50–15 percent w/w).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,245,013, Clegg et al., discloses a separator made by overlaying a first sheet of fibrous material including polyethylene fibers with a second sheet of fibrous material including polyethylene and having a synthetic pulp content higher than the first sheet.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,009,971, Johnson et al., discloses a porous flexible sheet of about 93 to 99.5 weight percent amorphous precipitated silica and from about 0.5 to about 7 weight percent fibrillated, unsintered polymeric material, e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene. The sheet is prepared by subjecting a dry homeogeneeous mixture of the silica and polymeric material, e.g., polytetrafluoroethylene, in the above proportions to mechanical shear blending forces to finrillate the polymer, and thereafter dry forming the resulting admixture into a sheet form.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,908,282, Badger, discloses a separator comprising a sheet made from first fibers which impart to the sheet an absorbency greater than 90% and second fibers which impart to the sheet an absorbency less than 80% wherein the first and second fibers are present in such proportions that the sheet has an absorbency of from 75 to 95%. This patent discloses that fine glass fibers have a high absorbency, that coarse glass fibers have a low absorbency, and that hydrophobic organic fibers have an extremely low absorbency, and that, when this separator is saturated with electrolyte, unfilled voids remain so that gas can transfer from plate to plate for recombination. The disclosure of Badger is incorporated herein by reference.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,091,275 (Brecht et al.) discloses a glass fiber separator which expands when exposed to electrolyte. The separator comprises glass fibers which are impregnated with an aqueous solution of colloidal silica particles and a sulfate salt. The separator is produced by forming a paper making web of glass fibers, impregnating the web with the aqueous mixture of silica and the salt, lightly compressing the impregnated web to remove some of the aqueous solution, partially drying the web, compressing the web to a final thickness and completing the drying of the web. The web is preferably compressed to a thickness which is less than the distance between plates in a given cell, so that insertion of an assembled cell stack into a case is facilitated. When electrolyte is added to the case, the salt dissolves in the electrolyte and the separator expands to provide good contact between the plates and the separators. According to the patent, the silica contributes to the recombination performance of cells incorporating the pre-compressed separator. The silica also contributes a great deal of stiffness to the separator, so much so that the separator may be characterized as rigid.
It has been determined that the production of battery separator by paper-making techniques from a furnish of glass fibers and silica powder leads to problems which are caused by variations in the concentration of the silica powder in the furnish. Typical glass fiber furnishes have a liquid content exceeding 98 percent w/w. In the course of making separator sheets, the furnish flows from a headbox onto an advancing screen through which most of the water flows in the first few feet. The water, known as white water, is recycled and winds up back in the headbox of the machine. If the furnish is composed exclusively of glass fibers, virtually none of the fibers pass through the wire and wind up in the white water. However, furnishes comprising glass fibers and silica powder do not fare so well. In the absence of a retention aid, significant amounts of silica powder from such furnishes do pass through the paper making wire and wind up in the white water. Left unchecked, this phenomenon causes the concentration of silica powder in the furnish to increase, undesirably changing the properties of the furnish. Heretofore, the problem of silica powder and the like passing through a paper making wire has been avoided through the use of binders and retention aids.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,477,000 discloses a synthetic fiber paper produced from fibrillae and fibers made by methods wherein a solution of the fiber is extruded through very small orifices (spinnerets).and the extruded solution is allowed to congeal in a precipitating bath, by evaporation of the solvent, or by temperature changes (see column 2, lines 25 and following). The patent says that fibers of cellulose acetate, cellulose nitrate, regenerated cellulose from viscose, "Vinylite (a synthetic resin made by polymerization of vinyl compounds), Aralac (a fibrous product made from skim milk casein), and spun glass" which range in length up to 1 inch and in diameter from 12–80 microns and fibrillae preferably derived from flax, Manila hemp, caroa or hemp can be used to make the paper. At least 90 percent of the fibrillae should be from 0.0015 to 0.0025 inch in length and from 0.0000027 to 0.0000044 inch in width.
WO 98/12759, an International Application published Mar. 26, 1998, discloses "A resilient fibrous mat, preferably made of microfibers (which) is especially adapted for use as a battery separator for starved electrolyte batteries. . . . The fibrous mat, with one or two surface layers, can be formed from an air laid fibrous blanket by subjecting one or both surfaces of the blanket to hydro entanglement to increase the entanglement of the fibers at and adjacent the major surface(s) relative to the entanglement of the fibers in the resilient fibrous layer. The fibrous mat with a substantially uniform density may be made by flooding the blanket with a liquid and drawing a vacuum through the blanket."
A publication (apparently, European Patent Application 98-15, Japan Vilene Co., Ltd., filed Sep. 29, 1997 as application 97116846) shows the kind of entanglement disclosed in WO98/12759 to produce the material of FIGS. 1 and 2 thereof, but applied to the entire body of the separator material rather than to a region or regions adjacent one or both major surfaces as in WO98/12759.
An English language abstract of a published Japanese patent application (07147154, published Jun. 6, 1995), entitled SEPARATOR FOR ALKALINE BATTERY states:                "A fiber having a section form shown in (c) of the drawing, for example, is constituted from 0.04 to 0.12 deniers of circular and petal polypropylene component 2 and 0.12 denier of a polyethylene component 1. A hundred percent of this dividing composite fiber with a fineness of 2 deniers and a fiber length of 38 mm is opened by a card machine to laminate unidirectional and cross fiber webs with METSUKE of 1.3 and 52 f/m2. This is treated from both surfaces with a water flow having a water pressure of 130 kg/cm2 on a nozzle plate having a nozzle diameter of 0.13 mm and a pitch of 0.6 mm. This cloth is dipped in fuming sulfuric acid, sulfonated, and then calendered to provide a separator having a METSUKE of 65 g/m2 and a thickness of 0.15 mm. The same treatment can be performed in constitutions other than (c) in the drawing. Thus, excellent electrolyte resistance, oxidizing property, and liquid holding property are provided, and a battery can be smoothly operated for a long period."

Mat of glass and other fibers and method for producing such mat


Systems and methods for automatically switching scene modes of a monitor may comprise processes and corresponding modules for sending a request to a driver to activate hardware modules of a graphics processing unit (GPU) based on a requirement of a launched application program and then recording identifiers of the activated hardware modules on a list. A record of a scene mode associated with one or more activated hardware modules on the list is located within a scene mode profile table and then the corresponding monitor parameters previously associated with the scene mode are read. The monitor is then automatically adjusted according to the monitor parameters read.

Generally, display parameters for a monitor, such as brightness, chromaticity, contrast and white balance, etc., will be preset when the monitor is manufactured. After the monitor is put into use, the user usually may set and adjust these parameters again to obtain optimal display of the current application's content. For example, when browsing a website or processing texts, a user may need lower brightness and contrast for the monitor, while higher brightness and color saturation may be necessary for watching movies. Some monitors may be provided with several preset "Scene Modes" to meet the users' different requirements of the monitor. A scene mode is a set of preset parameters for adjusting the monitor including, but not limited to, brightness, chromaticity, white balance and contrast, etc. Different scene modes are suitable for displaying different corresponding content. The scene mode is convenient for the user to adapt the monitor to the content being displayed, since the user will not need to adjust the respective parameters separately.
There are currently two types of scene control mechanisms for monitors: analog and digital. The analog control mechanism is mainly applied to the conventional cathode ray tube (CRT) monitor. The adjustment is performed by controlling the quantity of electrons emitted by the cathode of the kinescope (i.e, by manually turning control knobs provided on the monitor). This way of adjustment is relative simple, but has lower precision and cannot store any scene modes. The digital control mechanism, for example, may be applied to a liquid crystal display (LCD) monitor. The adjustment is performed by changing the voltage applied to the liquid crystal molecules, thereby making them rearrange, and then changing the light transmission of the LC molecules in order to obtain a desired display effect. Adjustment input mechanisms such as touch panels, knobs, buttons, and jog/shuttle controllers are commonly used in LCDs. Additionally, a memory for storing a variety of preset scene modes may be provided inside an LCD monitor. The user may select and switch to a certain scene mode based on the displayed content of the currently running application. However, regardless of which display mechanism is applied, the user must adjust the parameters or switch the scene mode manually.
FIG. 1 shows a conventional way of selecting a scene mode for a monitor 100. The user may push the button MENU 102 arranged on the bottom of the monitor 100 to select a desired scene mode as needed. For example, different scene modes may be selected for playing 3D games, web browsing and playing high definition (HD) movies. Then a set of parameters 101 corresponding to the selected scene mode will pop up on the monitor 100, including preset brightness, chromaticity and contrast. The monitor 100 will be adjusted based on the above set of parameters 101 to obtain a desired display effect. However, when the user pushes the buttons 102-104 to select a scene mode, the user must divert their attention away from the currently running application or suspend running the application, which is not only inconvenient for the user, but may also cause the user to accidentally terminate the application. Another disadvantage is that the user would not be able to select or switch to a desired scene mode if the buttons 102-104 are malfunctioning.
In consideration of above shortcomings, there is a need for methods and systems for automatically switching monitor scene modes to overcome the shortcomings described above and others.

Methods and systems for automatically switching monitor scene modes


In order to provide a CIGS compound solar cell with a high conversion efficiency, a CIGS compound solar cell including a rear electrode layer, a CIGS light absorbing layer, a buffer layer, and a transparent electrode layer in this order over a substrate is configured such that the buffer layer comprises a mixed crystal of a Group IIa metal and zinc oxide, and characteristics of the mixed crystal as shown by X-ray diffraction satisfy the following formula (1):0.5≤A/(A+B+C)<1  (1)(where none of A, B, C are 0)                A: peak intensity at plane (002)        B: peak intensity at plane (100)        C: peak intensity at plane (101).

Compound solar cells which use CuInSe2 (CIS) composed of elements from Groups Ib, IIIb, and VIb or Cu(In,Ga)Se2 (CIGS) compound semiconductors with Ga therein present as solid solutions (Group I-III-VI compound semiconductors) for light absorbing layers are known to be high in light conversion efficiency (hereinafter, referred to as "conversion efficiency"), able to be formed into thin films, and advantageous in that the conversion efficiency is less likely to be degraded due to light irradiation or the like.
For a buffer layer of a CIGS solar cell using such a CIS or CIGS (hereinafter, referred to as "CIGS") compound semiconductor for a light absorbing layer, CdS, Zn(O,S), or the like formed by a chemical deposition method is typically used (for example, see Patent Document 1). However, in the case of forming the buffer layer by the chemical deposition method, it is necessary to form a CIGS compound semiconductor layer by a vapor deposition or selenization method under vacuum, then once extract the layer under the atmosphere, form the buffer layer, and form a transparent electrode layer again under vacuum, and there is the problem of poor productivity.
Therefore, in order to solve this problem, it has been proposed that the buffer layer is formed continuously by a sputtering method under vacuum without the extraction under the atmosphere (for example, see Patent Document 2).


A stress-concentrating spacer structure is a stack of an upper gate spacer with a low Young's modulus and a lower gate spacer with a high Young's modulus. The stacked spacer structure surrounds the gate electrode. The stress-concentrating spacer structure may contact an inner gate spacer that contacts the gate electrode or may directly contact the gate electrode. The upper gate spacer deforms substantially more than the lower gate spacer. The stress generated by the stress liner is thus transmitted primarily through the lower gate spacer to the gate electrode and subsequently to the channel of the MOSFET. The efficiency of the transmission of the stress from the stress liner to the channel is thus enhanced compared to conventional MOSFETs structure with a vertically uniform composition within a spacer.

A key metric for performance of transistors is the on-current, which is the current of a transistor per unit gate width when it is turned on. The on-current may be altered by changes in the band structure of the semiconductor substrate on which the transistor is formed. While the nature of stress needed to increase the on-current of a transistor may be dependent on the semiconductor substrate and the type of the transistor, in general, the band structure of a semiconductor device may be altered to increase the mobility of charge carriers, i.e., electrons or holes. For example, by manipulating transistor structures such that a favorable type of stress is applied to each type of transistors, both P-type field effect transistors (PFETs) and N-type field effect transistors (NFETs) with enhanced minority carrier mobility may be formed in a CMOS transistor device.
Particularly, the electron mobility and the on-current are increased on an NFET formed on a silicon substrate if the channel of NFET is under a tensile uniaxial stress in the direction of the current flow in the channel. Likewise, the hole mobility and the on-current are increased for a PFET formed on a silicon substrate if the channel of PFET is under a compressive uniaxial stress in the direction of the current flow in the channel. Structures, known in the art, for applying stress to the channel of a field effect transistor include a strained semiconductor substrate, stress liners, and stress-generating embedded source and drain semiconductor materials.
According to the prior, stress applied to the channel of a MOSFET is generated by a stress liner surrounding a gate electrode. The stress liner is of unitary construction around the gate electrode and surrounds the gate spacer, which surrounds the gate electrode. Typically, the stress liner contacts the entire outer sidewalls of the gate spacer and applies either a compressive stress or a tensile stress to the gate spacer. The stress applied to the gate spacer is transmitted to the gate electrode and to the channel of the MOSFET. In general, the higher the stress, the greater the modification to the band structure and the change to the mobility. Stress liners are typically silicon nitrides formed by plasma enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) or high density plasma chemical vapor deposition (HDPCVD). Stress liners that can apply a high compressive or tensile stress of 2˜3 GPa in magnitude to the channel of the MOSFET are known in the art.
The stress generated by the stress liners is typically distributed over the gate electrode and the channel. Since the band structure of the channel is entirely determined by the stress of the channel, but is independent of the stress on the gate electrode, the stress applied to the gate electrode does not enhance the mobility of the charge carriers. The level of stress that a particular type of stress liner can generate is limited by intrinsic properties of the stress liner. Yet, an even higher level of stress on the channel is desired to enhance the mobility of charge carriers in the channel.
Therefore, there exists a need to increase the stress on the channel of a MOSFET through more effective use of the stress generated by stress liners.
Specifically, there exists a need for a semiconductor structure that more effectively transmits the stress that is generated by a stress liner to the channel of the MOSFET and methods of manufacturing the same.

Structure and methods for stress concentrating spacer

International Business Machines Corporation


The multiple allergen testing system includes an applicator and a fluid tray. The fluid tray is cooperatively engageable with the applicator. The applicator has an allergen loading position and an allergen deposition position. In the allergen loading position, a different allergen is loaded onto each respective scratching barb from each respective reservoir of the loading tray. Each scratching barb is designed to retain a trace of allergen fluid. A pair of finger grips are positioned on opposing sides of the applicator frame. The applicator fits into one hand of a medical technician administering the allergen skin testing. The applicator is removed from the fluid tray and repositioned onto the skin of the patient. The applicator is made of compressible material. In the allergen deposition position, the applicator is compressed, and each allergen is deposited into each respective scratch generated by each respective scratching barb on the skin for further analysis.

There is an increasing population of allergy disease sufferers. Accordingly, there is a growing need to address allergy medical issues, and to reduce the cost attributable to specialists being required to manage this population.
The medical technician administering these skin tests may often need to apply a relatively large number of different allergens to the skin of a patient. To perform skin tests of this type, the medical technician removes the skin-test devices, with a small amount of allergen deposited on the sharp pointed testing tip and applies the allergen to the patient in a predetermined sequence.
Some of the prior art includes:                U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,777 (Hein, Jr.) discloses a multi-site skin-test system. The system includes a reservoir tray and strips of interconnected reservoir caps inserted into upper portions of the reservoirs. The caps each include a generally conically shaped hole. Connection members connect the caps of a strip to one another. The strips of caps are pressed into tightly fitting upper portions of reservoirs having upwardly facing ledge surfaces for supporting downwardly facing bottom surfaces of the caps. The outer side surfaces of the caps and the inner surfaces of the upper portions of the reservoirs are substantially the same size to provide a tight fit. A tray lid includes a downwardly extending ridge that cooperates with the tray to prevent the lid from being placed onto the tray backwards.        U.S. Pat. No. 9,597,030 (Smollar) depicts an allergy testing kit containing a plurality of allergy testing applicators, an allergy testing tray, and a plurality of allergen bottles each containing an allergen. Each of the applicators contains an elongated handle, a plurality of arms extending from the elongated handle and disposed in an asymmetrical configuration, and a plurality of legs with tines extending from each of the arms. The allergy testing tray contains a main body having an underside and a top surface, a cover for locking with the main body and a plurality of reservoirs extending from the underside of the main body. The reservoirs each have a chamber with an opening extending from the top surface. The reservoirs are disposed in different groups and each group has an asymmetrical configuration matching that of the applicator.        U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/885,086 (Schindlbeck; et al.) depicts a device for performing an allergy test. The device comprises a container assembly including several containers designed to receive the allergens, and a mark transferable onto the skin which is used to associate specific allergens to specific allergy sites on the skin of a living being undergoing an allergy test. The device aims at improving so that the allergy test sites on the skin can be constantly marked very legibly, and so that the corresponding marks can be readily eliminated from the skin immediately after the allergy test.        U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/558,943 (Ronborg; et al.) discloses an allergy tester for delivering a diagnostic agent to the skin or mucosa of a patient. A chamber filled with the diagnostic agent is separate from the housing with a rod capable of transferring the diagnostic agent to the animal. The chamber is connected to the housing with the rod before transfer of diagnostic agent. In particular, the invention relates to a device for delivering allergens in allergy tests.
It is not uncommon that fifty or more different allergens will need to be screened for a particular patient. Accordingly, it becomes necessary to minimize patient discomfort while accumulating patient information so that a course of treatment can be prescribed.
What is needed is an applicator that will replace needle pricks commonly used for multiple allergy skin testing: a simple, economical, and reliable scratch testing device in which multiple allergens can be tested simultaneously on the skin of a patient which minimizes any cross contamination of allergens, while simplifying the handling of the applicator device and providing results that are easily observable.
A system is needed that significantly reduces the possibility of errors in reading the test results, while minimizing the amount of allergy testing fluid used, while reducing the contamination and false positives, and minimizing patient discomfort, which is cost-effective, and is easy to use and manufacture.
Certain other objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following description of preferred embodiments of the invention taken in connection with the accompanying drawings.


Techniques for ESD protection are provided. An ESD protection device includes a first well region and a second well region disposed in a semiconductor substrate, with an isolation region therebetween. N+ implant regions are disposed in the second well region and are coupled in common at a first node. NLDD regions are disposed between the N+ implant regions, and pocket implants underlie each of the NLDD regions. Current discharge paths are defined by corresponding NLDD regions and pocket implants when a voltage of the first node exceeds a breakdown voltage. In a specific embodiment, the breakdown voltage is less than a breakdown voltage for a logic gate oxide.

The present invention is directed to integrated circuits and their processing for the manufacture of semiconductor devices. More particularly, the invention provides methods and structures for electrostatic discharge (ESD) protection. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to the manufacture of advanced integrated circuit devices, but it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
Integrated circuits have evolved from a handful of interconnected devices fabricated on a single chip of silicon to millions of devices. Conventional integrated circuits provide performance and complexity far beyond what was originally imagined. In order to achieve improvements in complexity and circuit density (i.e., the number of devices capable of being packed onto a given chip area), the size of the smallest device feature, also known as the device "geometry", has become smaller with each generation of integrated circuits.
Increasing circuit density has not only improved the complexity and performance of integrated circuits but has also provided lower cost parts to the consumer. An integrated circuit or chip fabrication facility can cost hundreds of millions, or even billions, of U.S. dollars. Each fabrication facility will have a certain throughput of wafers, and each wafer will have a certain number of integrated circuits on it. Therefore, by making the individual devices of an integrated circuit smaller, more devices may be fabricated on each wafer, thus increasing the output of the fabrication facility. Making devices smaller is very challenging, as each process used in integrated fabrication has a limit. That is to say, a given process typically only works down to a certain feature size, and then either the process or the device layout needs to be changed. Additionally, as devices require faster and faster designs, process limitations exist with certain conventional processes and materials.
For example, as device size becomes smaller, devices are typically more susceptible to harmful electrostatic discharges. Thus, conventional ESD protection circuits are employed to divert power surges away from susceptible devices to ground. However, gate-oxide failures due to ESD surges remain a significant risk for sub-0.25 micron devices, and more particularly sub-0.13 micron devices. In these smaller devices, the gate oxide breakdown voltage is generally lower than the typical trigger voltage of at least 6 volts in conventional ESD protection devices. The result is increased device failures. These and other limitations may be found throughout the present specification and more particularly below.
From the above, it is seen that an improved technique for ESD protection is desired.

Low voltage trigger and save area electrostatic discharge device

Semiconductor Manufacturing International (Shanghai) Corporation


There is provision of a substrate processing apparatus including an inner edge ring provided in a vicinity of a substrate to be placed on a stage in a processing chamber; a middle edge ring arranged outside the inner edge ring, the middle edge ring being configured to be moved vertically by an actuation mechanism; an outer edge ring arranged outside the middle edge ring; a first spring provided between the inner edge ring and the middle edge ring; and a second spring provided between the middle edge ring and the outer edge ring.

In a plasma etching apparatus, an edge ring is provided around an outer circumference of a wafer (see Patent Document 1, for example). The edge ring controls plasma in a vicinity of the outer circumference of the wafer, and improves uniformity of an etching rate on a surface of the wafer.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A portable terminal device includes: an operation part 7 including operation keys 71 that are two-dimensionally arranged in a matrix form; an image enlarging part 91 that, in a state where a plurality of enlargement target areas 93 are preliminarily set as partial areas of an image, generates an enlarged image by, on the basis of an operation of any of the operation keys 71, enlarging an image within an enlargement target area 93 preliminarily related to the operation key 71; a display image generating part 92 that generates a display image including the image in a normal or an enlargement browsing mode generates a display image including the enlarged image; and a display part 5 that displays the display image. The respective enlargement target areas 93 respectively correspond in an arrangement order to the operation keys 71, and form overlap areas with their adjacent enlargement target areas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal device, and more particularly, to an invention preferable for a portable terminal device enabling a TV broadcast to be watched.
2. Description of the Related Art
Cellular phones include one that has an antenna for receiving a TV broadcast wave transmitted from a broadcast base station; display a TV image on a display screen on the basis of the TV broadcast wave; and output TV voice corresponding to the TV image to thereby enable a TV broadcast to be watched.
As an example of this sort of cellular phone, there is one adapted such that a display screen is formed in a rectangular shape, and the display screen can be switched between a vertically long display state and a horizontally long display state. The cellular phone of which the display screen is formed in a rectangular shape as described is adapted such that, for example, in the above-described vertically long display state, a TV image is displayed with a longer direction of the display screen being vertical, whereas in the above-described horizontally long display state, the TV image is displayed with a shorter direction of the display screen being vertical.
Meanwhile, a TV image based on a TV broadcast wave transmitted from a broadcast base station may include characters and the like. For example, in a relay broadcast of a sport such as baseball, football, or volleyball, scores are typically displayed at the end of a display screen. However, a display screen of a cellular phone is very small as compared with that of a typical home-use TV set, and therefore the score display may be difficult to recognize.
For this reason, there is proposed a technique in which if characters and the like displayed on a display screen of a cellular phone are difficult to visually recognize, a corresponding part is enlarged and displayed (see, for example, Patent document 1 or 2).
In the cellular phone disclosed in Patent document 1 or 2, an entire area of the display screen is equally sectioned corresponding to an arrangement of respective keys in a ten-key pad to form enlargement target areas. Also, the cellular phone is adapted such that if a key operation is performed with a predetermined key, an image within an enlargement target area corresponding to the key is enlarged and displayed.
In addition, the cellular phone having the enlargement display function in Patent document is adapted to, by performing a long pressing operation of the predetermined key for a predetermined time period, enlarge and display the image within the enlargement target area corresponding to the key. Also, the cellular phone is adapted such that when the enlarged image display state is restored to an original image state, the same key is again operated.
Also, in Patent document 2, a system is adapted such that operations of dividing an image into a plurality of pieces to form divided images, and enlarging the divided images at a predetermined magnification are performed in a server, and data on the enlarged images created in the server in this manner is transmitted to the cellular phone.    Patent document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-316558    Patent document 2: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-273971


A dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism installed in a remote control toy car to control forward/backward motion and high/low speed gearshift by means of power transmission through a set of gears and two idle gears and the shifting of a switching gear on the polygonal middle section of the output shaft of the mechanism between two of the gears and the effect of the centrifugal force of a swivel block at one of the gears.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a remote control toy car and, more particularly, to a dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism for a remote control toy car.
2. Description of the Related Art
Regular gasoline engine remote control toy cars commonly use a transmission mechanism to increase the torque. However, because the transmission mechanism of a conventional gasoline engine remote control toy car provides only one transmission mode, it is less efficient to accelerate the speed, and the torsion cannot be increased during low speed. In order to eliminate these problems, dual-gearshift position transmission mechanisms are developed. However, prior art dual-gearshift position transmission mechanisms are commonly heavy, complicated, and expensive. Furthermore, the parts of the prior art high-precision dual-gearshift position transmission mechanisms wear quickly with use.
Further, regular gasoline engine remote control toy cars can be controlled to move forwards as well as backwards. However, the forward transmission and the backward transmission are controlled by two separated systems, i.e., when moving the toy car forwards, the user must start the forward transmission system to drive the toy car forwards; when moving the toy car backwards, the user must stop the forward transmission system and then start the backward transmission system. This forward backward transmission design is complicated, consumes much gasoline, and requires much installation space.
Like real cars, the wheels at the inner side and the wheels at the outer side have different speed of revolution when going round corners. In order to balance the speed between the wheels at the inner side and the wheels at the outer side when going round corners, a speed differential assembly shall be installed. However, because the forward transmission mechanism, the backward transmission mechanism, and the differential assembly are separated mechanisms, they cannot be installed in a common housing. Therefore, prior art gasoline remote control toy cars are commonly heavy and expensive.
The present invention has been accomplished to provide a dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism for remote control toy car, which eliminates the aforesaid drawbacks. It is one object of the present invention to provide a dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism for remote control toy car, which combines a two-step gearshift control mechanism and a forward backward control mechanism into a compact assembly that requires less chassis installation space. It is another object of the present invention to provide a dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism for remote control toy car, which is inexpensive to manufacture and durable in use. To achieve these and other objects of the present invention, the dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism for remote control toy car comprises an output shaft, the output shaft having a polygonal middle section; a switching gear mounted on the polygonal middle section of the output shaft for synchronous rotation with the output shaft and axially moved along the polygonal middle section between a first position and a second position; a first gear mounted on the output shaft, the first gear comprising an annular groove in one side thereof and a plurality of protruding blocks suspended in the annular groove; a second gear mounted on the output shaft, the second gear comprising a shoulder disposed at one side thereof and fitted into the annular groove of the first gear, an inner gear disposed in an opposite side thereof and adapted to engage the switching gear when the switching gear shifted to the first position, a swivel block pivoted to the shoulder, a spring mounted in the shoulder and supporting the swivel block in a non-operative position where the swivel block is not in engagement with the first gear, the swivel block being forced radially outwards by a centrifugal force into engagement with the protruded blocks of the first gear when the revolving speed of the second gear reached a predetermined level; a third gear mounted on the output shaft, the third gear comprising an inner gear adapted to mesh with the switching gear when the switching gear shifted to the second position; a center shaft, the center shaft having a transmission gear fixedly mounted thereon and meshed with the first gear; a first idle gear mounted on the center shaft, the first idle gear comprising a first gear portion meshed with the outer gear of the second gear and a second gear portion; a one-way axle bearing supported between the first idle gear and the center shaft; a second idle gear mounted on an axle for two-way synchronous rotation with the axle and adapted to engage the second gear portion of the first idle gear and the outer gear of the third gear; a driven gear fixedly fastened to the first gear; and an engine, the engine having a pinion fixedly provided at an output shaft thereof and meshed with the driven gear.

Dual-gearshift forward backward control mechanism for remote control toy car


N,N'-bis-(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)-alkylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acids, N,N'-bis-(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)-1,2-cycloalkylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acids, and N,N'-bis-(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)-1,2-arylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acids, the corresponding monophosphate compounds and monoacetic acid compounds, and their salts and esters form stable, highly soluble chelates with paramagnetic metal ions, and are highly effective NMRI contrast agents. Preferred contrast agents are paramagnetic ion chelates of N,N'-bis-(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)ethylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid, N,N'-bis-(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)trans-1,2-cyclohexylenediamine-N,N'-diacet ic acid, N,N'-bis-(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)trans-1,2-arylenediamine-N,N'-diacetic acid, and the soluble calcium salts thereof.. Novel intermediates for forming these compounds are N,N'-bis(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)alkylenediimines, N,N'-bis(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)alkylenediamines, N,N'-bis(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)-1,2-cycloalkylenediimines, N,N'-bis(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)-1,2-cycloalkylenediamines, N,N'-bis(pyridoxal-5-phosphate)-1,2-arylenediamines, and the corresponding monophosphate compounds.

Traditionally, chelates have been used to administer poorly soluble salts in medicine and as antidotes for detoxification in cases of heavy metal or heavy metal isotope poisoning. Chelates have also been used to deliver radioisotopes to areas of the body for imaging and radiation therapy. Most recently, chelates with paramagnetic contrast agents have been reported for use with NMRI.
Paramagnetic metal ions are frequently toxic in the concentrations required for use in NMRI, and introducing them into the body in the form of chelates renders them more physiologically acceptable. This requires that a chelate be able to hold the metal ion tightly in the chelate structure, that is, the formation constant for the chelate must be very large at physiological pH. The paramagnetic metal chelate must also be sufficiently soluble to permit administration of quantities required for imaging in reasonable volumes. Usual routes of administration are orally, intravenously and by enema.
The chelating agent must form a stable chelate with those paramagnetic metals which present a hazard to the body if released during use. Paramagnetic metals which are naturally present in the body are preferred. The chelate forming agent (ligand) must be capable of forming a chelate with a selected paramagnetic material without altering the metal's oxidation state or otherwise reducing its chemical stability.
Since the role of the paramagnetic metal in increasing contrast in NMRI imaging involves reducing the spin-lattice spin relaxation time T.sub.1 and the spin-spin relaxation time T.sub.2, the chelate structure must hold the metal ion tightly while permitting contact of the metal ion with protons in water molecules.
This invention provides a novel, superior chelating agent and metal complexes therewith which meet the above objectives.

Certain dipyridylphosphate chelatable compounds capable of forming metal ion chelates


A method of modifying a VLSI layout for performance optimization includes defining a revised set of ground rules for a plurality of original device shapes to be modified and flattening the plurality of original device shapes to a prime cell. A layout optimization operation is performed on the flattened device shapes, based on the revised set of ground rules, so as to create a plurality of revised device shapes. An overlay cell is then created from a difference between the revised device shapes and the original device shapes.

The present invention relates generally to layouts in very large scale integrated (VLSI) circuits and, more particularly, to a method for implementing overlay-based modification of VLSI design layouts.
It is sometimes desirable to modify the final layout of a completed VLSI physical design to obtain better yield and/or electrical performance. For instance, in complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) devices having n-type and p-type transistors, it has been discovered that the conductivity (and hence performance) of each type of transistor is improved when layers of opposing mechanical stress (e.g., compressive versus tensile) are formed over each. In order to form "strained silicon" layers of this type, ground rule changes may be needed for certain geometric features such as the amount of overlap of doped well regions with respect to diffusion regions or with respect to gate contact regions, for example.
In situations where such layout modifications are done late in the design cycle, these modifications should be implemented in a low-risk fashion, and as unobtrusively as possible. On one hand, the manual modification of layouts is very time consuming. In addition, changes to library cells that are used many hundreds or even thousands of times must be made in such a way that the modified cell is still ground-rule correct in every environment in which the cell is used. Also, it is often not possible to modify library cells late in the design cycle. As a result, there is presently little benefit to be gained by optimizing shapes in situ.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to be able to implement layout modifications for a cell in a manner that is independent of the specific uses for such a cell, that allows for the original layout data to be unchanged, and that is substantially invisible with respect to the design tools used in the process flow.

Method for implementing overlay-based modification of VLSI design layout


A projection optical system is disclosed. The projection optical system includes a first optical system configured to form a first image conjugated with an object and a second optical system configured to project a second image conjugated with the first image toward a projection surface. At least one of the first optical system and second optical system includes at least one optical element(s) movable relative to the object is provided. An image distance of the projection optical system is changed and a size of the second image is changed, by moving at least one of the optical element(s) relative to the object.

Projector-type image displaying apparatus are known which enlarge and project a static image or dynamic image of a character or picture that is displayed on a compact light valve as a two-dimensional image, by a projection optical system, so as to display an image. Recently, attention has also been focused on an enlargement projection method that uses a display device (referred to as a light valve, below) which uses a transmission-type or reflection-type dot matrix liquid crystal, a DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) or the like, enlarges an image displayed on the light valve and projects it onto a screen so as to show a large-size image. Furthermore, as for a light valve, recently, attention is focused on an LCOS (Liquid Crystal on Silicon) that is excellent in a contrast characteristic, in addition to a transmission-type liquid crystal panel and a DLP (Digital Light Processor).
Practically, an image enlarging projection apparatus (a projector) has also been utilized widely, at an office, a school and a home, since no constraint is required for an image size so as to allow a powerful large image to be obtained.
As for a projector-type image displaying apparatus, there are provided a front-projection-type one which enlarges an image on a light valve and projects it onto a projection surface such as a reflection-type screen provided away from the apparatus so as to observe reflected light and a rear-projection-type one with a transmission-type screen provided in the apparatus as a projection surface on which an image on a light valve is enlarged and projected from the side of the back face of the screen so as to observe an image from the side of the front face of the screen.
As for an example of optical system, JP-A-2004-258620 is provided. It is a projection optical system with a configuration such that an intermediate image is once formed by a lens system and it is enlarged and projected by a concave mirror, and projection in a close range has been realized. However, since there is no mechanism for changing the size of a projected image and projection with a fixed size is only allowed, there is a possibility of restricting a use condition on the condition that a projection size is fixed.
Therefore, optical systems for changing the size of a projected image have been suggested, and as an example of a projection optical system for a front-projection-type one, JP-A-2003-177320 is provided which requires a telecentric system composed of four mirrors. The projection optical system disclosed in JP-A-2003-177320 is composed of four mirror elements arranged oppositely and is a projection optical system that allows projection with a variable magnification in a close range by means of mirror movement.
However, since a mirror has a sensitivity of performance degradation to the positional displacement thereof which is generally higher than that of a lens, it is expected that the degradation of an image quality due to an error in the position of a mirror is large when the mirror is moved for projection with a variable magnification. That is, it is necessary to move a mirror for variation of magnification but it is expected that the degradation of an image quality due to an error in the position of the mirror is large and it is considered that it is necessary to provide a strict precision of the arrangement of the mirror.
Also, an optical path on which light rays are repeatedly reflected between mirrors is adopted and the light rays are high at the last mirror at the side of enlargement. Accordingly, it is difficult to reduce the height of such an apparatus and the size of the apparatus is larger in use. Furthermore, the size of the forth mirror is also large. In addition, since the mirror is provided outside a housing of the apparatus, it is considered that the mirror is easily deteriorated due to an external factor such as dust, contaminants, and impacts.
Also, JP-A-2004-295107 discloses a variable magnification projection optical system in which a first optical system composed of plural lens systems capable of moving to the side of an object and a second optical system with a mirror system having a reflective curved surface at the side of an image are arranged.
In the example of optical system disclosed in JP-A-2004-295107, variation of magnification is attained by moving a lens part while a mirror part is fixed. Also, it includes an optical system composed of lens systems and an optical system composed of plural curved mirrors and the lens systems form an intermediate image in the mirror part. The position of the intermediate image is provided at the enlargement side of the mirror system from the first surface that is the closest to the lens systems in the mirror system.
In this system, the image size of the intermediate image is changed by moving the lens part and the changed intermediate image is imaged by a second optical system again, whereby variation of magnification is attained by changing the size of a projected image. However, since the angle of view is changed for variation of magnification without a projection distance, it is necessary to change the (total) focal length of an optical component having an optical power (a lens part) by a factor of the magnification change of the size of a projected image, whereby the optical component is complex and the degree of the movement of a lens part serving to it is also large.
Also, plural rotationally asymmetric aspherical mirror is required in a practical example, in order that an aberration change caused by a change of the focal length is compensated for by the mirror part, and it goes without saying that the cost is increased. Then, the manufacturing assembly is difficult due to the high tolerance sensitivity and the projection distance, per se, is so large that it is not suitable for use in a small space like a projection optical system for a close range.
Furthermore, a variable magnification optical system in which the first optical system is composed of a transmission refractive optical system and the second optical system is composed of plural mirrors is disclosed and illustrated in JPA-2004-295107, but no example of one-mirror configuration is provided. In the second optical system for repeating reflection by the plural mirrors, the heights of light rays gradually increase while they are sequentially reflected from the plural mirrors, and therefore, it is difficult to bring the height of a mirror system in line with the height of a lens system and to be configured to a compact one. As a result, it is difficult to configure an apparatus with a small height.
Also, the first optical system is composed of plural movable lens systems, and if the lens systems are folded and configured to a compact one, a lens in front or back of folding is moved, whereby it is considered that the mechanism of a cam is complicated. In the disclosed figure, all the lens groups of the first optical system are moved for variation of magnification, and therefore, it is considered that it is difficult to configure a mechanism for folding a lens system. Also, since the full length of the part of mirror system in the second optical system is large, it is considered that it is difficult to configure the apparatus to a compact one.
Furthermore, the variable magnification optical system disclosed in JP-A-2004-295107 has a function of changing a projection magnification by changing an angle of view at a generally identical projection distance, but no function of changing a projection magnification at the time of changing the projection distance is disclosed. Also, since the angle of view is small in the variable magnification optical system, the projection distance has to be changed drastically if the projection magnification is changed by changing the projection distance while the angle of view is kept constant. Since the projection distance is changed drastically, the degree of focusing also increases.
FIG. 23 is a schematic diagram showing the configuration of an optical system disclosed in JP-A-2004-295107.
Both a first optical system 102 and a second optical system 104 form real images, and therefore, their powers are positive. Also, the second optical system 104 is composed of a mirror system but even if it is schematically expressed by a lens, there is no problem in the following descriptions. In the relation between an object 101 and an image 105 thereof, the size of an intermediate image 103 is changed in order to change the size of the image 105 since the second optical system 104 is fixed (see FIG. 2 of JP-A-2004-295107). Then, the first optical system 102 has to change the power thereof as well as to move the principal points thereof, in accordance with the size change of the intermediate image 103. Practically, the focal length or magnification has to be changed by a factor of the magnification change of the intermediate image 103 in the paraxial theory. That is, where a factor of the magnification change of an image size (the value of the maximum image size divided by the minimum image size) is represented by α′ and the maximum focal length and minimum focal length of the first optical system 102 are represented by fa′ and fb′, respectively, the following formula (2) is satisfied.α′=fa′/fb′  (2)

Projection optical system and image projecting apparatus


An anoxic packed-bed biological and chemical system for removing nitrates/perchlorate from water includes a vessel having a distribution plate that partitions the vessel into a lower influent-receiving chamber and an upper biological and chemical denitrification chamber. A granular media is supported by the distribution plate to provide a packed bed that has sites for biological growth. A recycle system recycles partially treated water into the closed lower end of the vessel for upflow through the distribution plate.

Groundwater is an important source for drinking water. In the United States in 1990, groundwater provided about 40% percent of water withdrawn for public supply for cities and towns and about 95% percent of water withdrawn by self-supplied systems for domestic use. Nitrates are common chemicals that can pass through soil and potentially contaminate groundwater. Nitrates originate from nitrogen (N2), a plant nutrient supplied by inorganic fertilizer and animal manure. Additionally, airborne nitrogen compounds given off by industry and automobiles can precipitate onto land in rain or as dry particles. Other non-agricultural sources of nitrate include lawn fertilizers, septic systems, and domestic animals.
In agricultural areas, nitrate is the primary form of nitrogen. Nitrate is water-soluble and can easily pass through soil to the groundwater table. The nitrate concentration in groundwater can reach high levels as more nitrogen fertilizer is applied to the land surface annually or more frequently. Nitrate can persist in groundwater for decades. By some estimates, only about one-half of the nitrogen-containing fertilizers applied to agricultural crops is taken up by the crops, and the other half is left in the soil.
Although nitrate generally is not an adult public-health threat, ingestion in drinking water by infants can cause fatally low oxygen levels in the infant's blood, a condition known as methemoglobinemia. Nitrate concentrations in natural ground waters are usually less than 2 mg/L.
In California, nitrate groundwater contamination threatens the drinking water supplies of more than 1.3 million people living in or near agricultural areas. For example, in one sample of 2,500 drinking water wells in agricultural areas, the nitrate concentration exceeded the MCL (Maximum Contaminant Level) in 10% of the wells.
Nitrogen chemistry is complex because nitrogen can have several oxidation states. Moreover, the oxidation states created by bacterial action can be either positive or negative, depending upon whether the bacteria exist in aerobic or anaerobic conditions. The nitrogen cycle illustrates the formation of nitrite ions (NO2-) and nitrate ions (NO3-). Nitrites can be oxidized by Nitrobacter bacteria to form nitrates. Under anoxic conditions, nitrites and nitrates are both reduced by a process call denitrification. During denitrification, some bacteria produce ammonia while others create nitrogen gas. For denitrification to occur, organic material must be present, as it is oxidized for energy while the nitrogen is being reduced.
Like nitrates, water pollution by perchlorate can be a problem. Perchlorate is both a naturally occurring and man-made chemical that is used to produce rocket fuel, fireworks, flares and explosives. Perchlorate can also be present in bleach and in some fertilizers. Some scientific research has indicated that perchlorate contamination of water can disrupt the thyroid's ability to produce hormones needed for normal growth and development. Some suggestions have been made that the safe level of concentration of perchlorate in potable water is less than 10 PPB.

Biological and chemical denitrification method and system for removing nitrates from water


In accordance with one aspect of the disclosure, a rotor is disclosed. The rotor may include a disk having a central axis, an airfoil radially extending from the disk, a bayonet tab extending radially from the disk, and a lock. The lock may further include a short tab and a long tab, both extending radially from the disk and in an axial direction with respect to the central axis. The long tab may have a greater axial length than the short tab.

A gas turbine engine, typically used as a source of propulsion in aircraft, operates by drawing in ambient air, combusting that air with a fuel, and then forcing the exhaust from the combustion process out of the engine. In many gas turbine engines, a fan rotates to draw air into the engine; however, the fan is not a necessity for all gas turbine engines. A compressor section is disposed axially downstream of the fan and includes a plurality of axially aligned stages. Each of these stages includes a rotor, having a plurality of radially outwardly extending and rotating blades, and a stator, having a plurality of radially inwardly extending and stationary vanes. The rotor of each stage compresses air, while the stator realigns the air for optimal compression by the next stage. The compressed air flows from the compressor section through a diffuser and into the combustor, both of which are axially downstream of the compressor. At the combustor, a portion of the air is used to cool the combustor while the rest is mixed with a fuel and ignited.
An igniter generates an electrical spark in the combustor to ignite the air-fuel mixture. The products of the combustion then travel out of the combustor as exhaust and into a turbine section, which is axially downstream of the combustor. The turbine section, having low and high pressure turbines in dual-spool turbine designs, also has a plurality of axially aligned stages. Similar to the compressor, each of the turbine stages includes a stator, having a plurality of radially inwardly extending stationary vanes, and a rotor, having a plurality of radially outwardly extending and rotating blades. Each rotor of the turbine is forced to rotate as the exhaust impinges upon the blades, while each stator re-aligns the exhaust for optimal impingement upon the rotor of the next turbine stage. The fan, compressor section, and turbine section are connected by concentrically mounted engine shafts running through the center of the engine. Thus, as the turbine rotors are rotated by the exhaust, the fan and corresponding compressor rotors are also rotated to bring in and compress new air. Once started, it can thereby be seen that this process is self-sustaining.
The blades of each of these rotors are typically mounted to a central body or disk. In many rotors, a minidisk or seal is connected to and rotates with the body of the rotor. The minidisk and body of the rotor must be locked together to prevent axial and circumferential movement of the minidisk relative to the body of the rotor. Specifically, the first stage of the turbine aft of the combustor, typically has an air seal mounted to the disk of the rotor. This air seal prevents air from bypassing the combustor, except in specific locations where the air is used to cool the turbine sections.
Typically, a bayonet joint, such as the one described in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,468,210, prevents axial movement, while a separate joint prevents circumferential movement of this air seal, or any such minidisk associated with a rotor in such a manner. While effective, these separate joints increase the weight, part count, maintenance, and cost of the engine. The weight and part count of the engine must be kept at a minimum in aircraft applications for optimum efficiency, while the maintenance and cost of the engine are always more desirable when low, no matter the application.

Lock for retaining minidisks with rotors of a gas turbine engine


Example systems, methods, and apparatus economize generating and processing incremental journal files while maintaining internal consistency. One example method determines whether a sequence number associated with a first inode description in a disaster recovery (DR) journal entry is out of sequence with a second corresponding inode description in a DR metadump. The example method controls a DR journal process to provide a file system inconsistency signal and to suspend application of the DR journal entry to the DR metadump. The suspending and signaling can occur upon determining that a first access time independent verification code computed from the first inode description does not match a second access time independent verification code computed from the second inode description.

A file system stores items (e.g., files) on a data storage device(s). The data storage device(s) may be real or virtual. A file system also stores information about the items (e.g., files) that are stored. The information may be referred to as metadata. Metadata can include, for example, file names, file types, file lengths, file update times, file access times, and other information. Metadata may be stored in an information node, which is referred to by one skilled in the art as an inode. Inodes may be implemented as instances of objects.
To avoid catastrophe, a file system may be replicated, backed up, or otherwise protected. One way to protect a file system is to maintain a disaster recovery (DR) architecture. The DR architecture can facilitate recreating the file system, recreating information about the file system, and other actions. However, conventional DR architectures may be burdened with DR journal entries that consume processing time and storage space while providing little, if any, payoff to disaster recovery.

Supporting internal consistency checking with consistency coded journal file entries


The described principles provide a method and system for identifying potentially closed roads and potentially open roads based on reroute requests, and of accommodating the potential road closure. If a reroute request is received from a user on a given route, the avoided roads of the route may be deemed potentially closed. If a predetermined number or a statistically significant number of users treat the road as potentially closed in this manner, it may be deemed closed. Similarly, if a supposedly closed road is chosen by a predetermined number of users, as evidenced by reroute requests, then the supposedly closed road may be deemed to be open. Moreover, observation of reroute requests also allows the system to automatically learn a user's route preferences.

In-vehicle telematics systems provide an increasingly broad spectrum of services to users, such as entertainment, emergency notification, and so on. However, one of the most popular services provided by such systems is still navigational assistance. In this role, the telematics unit receives or generates a route starting point and a route ending point, and then generates a series of directions for taking the user from the starting point to the ending point. Since the user is most often in a road vehicle, the directions often take the form of directions to take certain roads for certain distances or until certain turning points. These are sometimes referred to as turn-by-turn directions.
For such directions to be optimally effective, however, it is important for the telematics device to have an awareness of current roads and their availability. For example, when a new roadway has been added to the road system, this may provide a better route for a given trip, and should be available for routing in that case. Similarly, when a road has been removed permanently or temporarily from the road system, this information is also important in providing correct and efficient navigational assistance to a user.
While road removal and road addition changes have been traditionally accounted for by way of map update packages, one class of road changes remains difficult to account for. In particular, temporary road closures which are of too immediate an effect and too short a duration to be included in map update packages are often unannounced and unknown to navigational assistance devices. An unknown temporary road closure can have a significant negative impact on a user's navigation experience.
Moreover, when a road is known to have been closed, the subsequent reopening of that road may allow more efficient routing of telematics users. However, as with road closure information, road reopening information is also not routinely widely available for consideration by telematics units in calculating turn-by-turn directions. Thus, a system and method are needed for enabling a vehicle telematics device to become aware of temporary road closures and subsequent reopenings.

Methods to improve route quality using off-route data


A radiographic image capturing system includes an image reconstructor for processing a plurality of radiographic images of a subject in order to reconstruct a radiographic tomographic image of the subject, and a monitor for displaying at least the radiographic tomographic image. The radiographic image capturing system also includes a region-of-interest setter for setting a region of interest of the subject on the radiographic images or the radiographic tomographic image, a radiographic image extractor for extracting, from among the radiographic images, two radiographic images for viewing the region of interest by way of stereographic vision, and a first stereographic vision display controller or a second stereographic vision display controller for controlling the monitor to display the extracted two radiographic images for stereographic vision.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiographic image capturing system for acquiring a tomographic image according to radiographic image capturing processes, and a method of displaying radiographic images.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, in order for an X-ray image capturing apparatus to make a detailed observation of a local region of a subject, there has been proposed a tomosynthesis image capturing process for moving an X-ray tube over the subject while applying radiation from the X-ray tube to the subject at different angles thereby to capture radiographic images of the subject. The captured radiographic images are added together to generate a tomographic image, which is representative, with emphasis, of a desired sectional plane across the subject (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 57-203430).
In a tomosynthesis image capturing process, a plurality of radiographic images of a subject, which are captured at different angles, are acquired by moving an X-ray tube parallel to a detector such as a flat panel or the like, or by moving the X-ray tube along a circular or elliptical arcuate path, and the acquired radiographic images are processed to reconstruct a tomographic image of the subject. The tomographic image can be generated by translating the radiographic images, adjusting sizes of the radiographic images, and adding them together (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-043757).
Tomosynthesis image capturing processes are disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-533086 (PCT), Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-313471, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-212056, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487, for example.
According to the process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-533086 (PCT), a system, which is capable of capturing both an image and a tomosynthesis image of a subject, determines the position and shape of the subject from the tomosynthesis image, and captures a CT image of the subject based on the determined position and shape of the subject.
According to the process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-313471, regions corresponding to a left-eye image and a right-eye image for three-dimensional vision (stereographic vision) are established in order to control exposure conditions for the left-eye image and the right-eye image.
According to the process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-212056, transmissive radiographic images, which have been captured, are processed in order to reconstruct a three-dimensional image. After parameters are extracted from the three-dimensional image, positions of a radiation source for capturing images for stereographic vision are determined, and then the images are captured.
According to the process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487, a pair of projected images extracted from a tomographic projection data set are used as a left-eye image and a right-eye image for stereographic vision. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487 describes the usefulness of an observation process based on stereographic vision, stating that a three-dimensional observation process, i.e., an observation process based on stereographic vision, is useful during observation of radiographic images because the process can provide clues concerning distance or depth, in the same manner as human eyes in a normal process of visual perception, and hence can clarify relative spatial relationships between objects in a subject's body.
The process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-533086 (PCT) is problematic in that the dose of radiation applied to the subject is large because it is necessary to perform a tomosynthesis image capturing process on the subject prior to a CT image capturing process.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-313471 discloses a process of capturing radiographic images for producing images for observation based on stereographic vision. If a tomographic image is generated separately from images for stereographic vision, then it is necessary to perform a radiographic image capturing process in order to produce the tomographic image. In this case, the dose of radiation applied to the subject increases.
The process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-212056 also is disadvantageous in that, after a radiographic image capturing process has been performed to produce a three-dimensional image, image capturing conditions for stereographic vision are determined based on information of the three-dimensional image, and then a radiographic image capturing process for stereographic vision is carried out. Therefore, the dose of radiation applied to the subject also increases.
The process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487 is able to solve problems encountered using the processes disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2009-533086 (PCT), Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 09-313471, and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-212056, because the process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487 uses a pair of radiographic images extracted from tomographic image data.
However, according to the process disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2007-130487, the pair of radiographic images are simply selected and displayed. There is no specific technique relating to extraction and display of radiographic images for stereographic vision when the operator wants to confirm a lesion area by away of stereographic vision, after having first confirmed a tomographic image. Therefore, the disclosed process is disadvantageous in that it is inconvenient for viewing images by way of stereographic vision.

Radiographic image capturing system and method of displaying radiographic images


A stacked filter includes an array of resonant sections, the resonant sections adjacent each other being electromagnetically coupled, a first resonator electromagnetically coupled to the resonant section on one end of the array of the resonant sections, and a second resonator electromagnetically coupled to the resonant section on the other end thereof. Each of the resonant sections has a pair of interdigital coupled quarter-wave resonators, and a passing frequency as a filter is set to a value f2 lower than a frequency f0 determined by a physical length λ0/4 of the quarter-wave resonator. The first and second resonators have a physical length of λ2/4, where λ2 is a wavelength corresponding to the passing frequency f2. The stacked filter enables miniaturization and sufficient impedance matching with external circuits in a broad band, resulting in excellent filter characteristics in the broad band.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small stacked filter usable in radio communication equipments such as cellular (portable) phones.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known that resonators are formed by using strip conductors, and a plurality of these resonators are coupled to each other to configure a filter. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 6-216605 discloses a strip line filter where resonators constructed of strip conductors are arranged in a plane direction and interdigital coupled to each other. Meanwhile, miniaturization and higher performance of radio communication equipments such as cellular phones are advanced in the recent years, and there is a demand for miniaturization of filters mounted thereon. The abovementioned strip line filter has difficulties in miniaturization because the resonators are planarly configured. As a filter advantageous in miniaturization, there is, for example, a stacked filter where conductors for resonators are stacked in the inside of a dielectric substrate, as disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3067612.


An insert for use in a sewer system to remove oils and solvents carried by surface water runoff. The insert includes a holder and a quantity of water permeable, hydrophobic, oil and solvent absorbing material such as melt blown polypropylene. The holder has two functions. It holds an effective quantity of the absorber and holds it in such a way that the surface water is exposed to the absorber to allow oils and solvents to be absorbed. The insert in preferably placed, cartridge-like, at the inlet or outlet of the sewer system so that it may be quickly checked, replaced and serviced. In one embodiment, the insert also contains a leaf trap.

The present invention relates to managing surface water generally and to pollution control and recycling more specifically.
Sometimes when it rains, it pours. When it pours, leaves, dirt, debris, oils and solvents on the surfaces of roads and streets are swept by surface water runoff toward municipal sewer systems where this material may be collected and processed. Unfortunately, this material often flows directly into lakes or rivers. The surface water may enter the sewer system at inlets along a street curb or catch basin and exit the sewer system through large pipes. Oils and chemicals in the run off will contaminate the bodies of water into which they are dumped. This is referred to as xe2x80x9cnonpoint source pollutionxe2x80x9d by some regulating authorities. A nonpoint source of pollution is basically pollution without a single point of origin, or pollution that is not introduced into a receiving body of water from a specific outlet. Some other examples of nonpoint sources may include agriculture, forestry, mining, construction, and land disposal. Because this type of pollution has no particular point of origin, it is not only difficult to collect this pollution, but is also difficult to monitor and prevent the pollution.
Thus, there remains a need for a better way to manage the collection of the materials swept into the sewer system.
According to its major aspects and briefly recited, the present invention is an insert to be placed into an inlet or outlet of a municipal sewer system. The insert comprises a holder such as a mesh bag or pillow and a water permeable, hydrophobic oil and solvent absorber carried by the holder. The holder will both hold a sufficient quantity of the absorber to be effective in absorbing oils and solvents for a suitable period of time but also to hold it in such a way as to expose it to the in-rushing or out-rushing surface water so that the absorber is exposed to the oil- and solvent-bearing surface water in order to extract at least a portion of the solvents and oils. In addition, the device may also include a trap for large particulate such as leaves and twigs.
An important feature of the present invention is the use of a hydrophobic, water-permeable absorber. The absorber absorbs oils and solvents but not water, and it allows water to pass through readily. The absorber, moreover, can be cleaned and reused, and the solvent and oil recovered. Furthermore, the absorber can be tested for the presence of various chemicals that are absorbed as the water passes through it. This testing capability provides a convenient way to identify the chemical concentrations and flow rates for in-rushing and out-rushing surface water.
Another important feature of the present invention is the holder. The holder, as noted above, serves two functions: it not only holds an effective quantity of the absorber, but it holds the absorber so that it is exposed to the in-rushing or out-rushing surface water so that the oils and solvents in the water can be absorbed. With the absorber in the holder, the insert becomes a convenient, replaceable, and recyclable cartridge for insertion into the inlet or outlet of the sewer system to absorb oils and solvents but readily pass the surface water.
Still another feature of the invention is its placement. By being placed at the inlet or outlet of the sewer system, it is easily installed and removed, readily checked, and more accessible for servicing and maintenance than if placed further into the interior to the sewer system.
These and other features and their advantages will be clear to those skilled in the art of surface water management from a careful reading of the Detailed Description of Preferred Embodiments, accompanied by the following drawings.

Reusable storm water sampler and pollutant filter insert


Substituted 1,5-naphthyridine azolinones inhibit Cdk1 and are selective against Cdk2 and Cdk4. These compounds and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts have antiproliferative activity and are useful as anti-cancer agents.

Cyclin-dependent kinases (Cdks) are serine-threonine protein kinases that play critical roles in regulating the transitions between different phases of the cell-cycle, such as the progression from a quiescent stage in G1 (the gap between mitosis and the onset of DNA replication for a new round of cell division) to S (the period of active DNA synthesis), or the progression from G2 to M phase, in which active mitosis and cell-division occurs. (See, e.g., the articles compiled in Science, 274:1643-1677 (1996); and Ann. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol., 13:261-291 (1997)). CDK complexes are formed through association of a regulatory cyclin subunit (e.g., cyclin A, B1, B2, D1, D2, D3 and E) and a catalytic kinase subunit (e.g., CDK1, CDK2, CDK4, CDK5 and CDK6). As the name implies, the CDKs display an absolute dependence on the cyclin subunit in order to phosphorylate their target substrates, and different kinase/cyclin pairs function to regulate progression through specific phases of the cell-cycle.
As seen above, these protein kinases are a class of proteins (enzymes) that regulate a variety of cellular functions. This is accomplished by the phosphorylation of specific amino acids on protein substrates resulting in conformational alteration of the substrate protein. The conformational change modulates the activity of the substrate or its ability to interact with other binding partners. The enzyme activity of the protein kinase refers to the rate at which the kinase adds phosphate groups to a substrate. It can be measured, for example, by determining the amount of a substrate that is converted to a product as a function of time. Phosphorylation of a substrate occurs at the active-site of a protein kinase.
Because CDKs such as CDK1 serve as general activators of cell division, inhibitors of CDK1 can be used as antiproliferative agents. These inhibitors can be used for developing therapeutic intervention in suppressing deregulated cell cycle progression.
It is desirable to provide small molecule inhibitors of Cdk1 that are selective against other Cdks. That is, the small molecule is significantly more inhibitory of Cdk1 activity than Cdk2 and/or Cdk4 activity. Preferably, the compounds of the invention are at least two times, most preferably ten times, more inhibitory of Cdk1 activity than Cdk2 activity and at least five hundred times, preferably one thousand times, more inhibitory of Cdk1 activity than Cdk4 activity. Selectivity is believed to be a desirable parameter because of the potential concomitant toxicity and other undesirable complications that may follow from inhibiting multiple targets. Thus, for purposes of this invention, the inhibition of Cdk2 and Cdk4 are monitored to determine the selectivity of the inhibition of Cdk1. A compound that exhibits selectivity against Cdk2 and Cdk4 is expected to have a better safety profile than a compound that is not selective between Cdk1, Cdk2, and Cdk4.


The present invention relates to a corrugated asymmetrical sheet pile panel. The sheet pile panel is an asymmetrical about the Y-axis. The central section has a channel disposed therein for receiving a stiffening strip. The central section has two extensions, one joined to each side of the central section. Secured to each extension is a leg. The legs extend outward and away from the extensions. On the terminal end of each leg is a connector, where one leg has male connector and the other leg has a female connector. The width of the leg with the female connector is smaller than the width of the leg with the male connector. The difference is the two leg widths create a panel that is asymmetrical about the Y-axis and that is weight balanced about the Y-axis.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to retaining walls and, more specifically, to an elongated panel for constructing a corrugated sheet paneling retaining wall having extending male and female connector channels local to its sides and extending its length that interlock in an asymmetrical plurality to form said retaining wall having an additional channel extending vertically and central to each individual panel whereby an optional stiffening strip may be inserted having an optional reflective element utilized for the strengthening and enhanced visibility of a final retaining wall structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other sea wall retaining panels device designed for similar purpose. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 5,447,393 issued to Yeates et al. on Sep. 5, 1995. Another patent was issued to Irvine et al. on Mar. 7, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,033,155 and another U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,667 was issued to Burt et al. on Jun. 10, 2003.

Corrugated asymmetrical retaining wall panel