A sunvisor body is selectively movable from a stored position wherein it is concealingly received in an enclosure formed between the vehicle roof and a headliner. Upon reaching a fully projected position, a drive rail arrangement including a crank mechanism induces the visor body to pivot to a predetermined shading position.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to sunvisor for an automotive vehicle or the like, and more specifically to a sunvisor arrangement which can automatically move a visor body out of an overhead storage compartment and pivot the same to an operative shading position.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Various arrangements have been proposed wherein a sunvisor element is movable from a storage position to an operative one in response to the selective operation of a servo motor or the like. JP-A-47-44723 discloses an arrangement wherein a sunvisor element is slidably mounted on a pair of parallel rails and arranged to be selectively movable between a storage position and one wherein the element is positioned in a position which shades the vehicle occupant from the bright sun or similar sources of bright light.
However, this arrangement has suffered from the drawback that the sunvisor element is required to be curved and to be moved along curved guide rails in order to assume the required shading position. This of course imposes various design limitations on the arrangement.

Sunvisor arrangement for automotive vehicle or the like


First to third logic circuits and first to third static random access memories (SRAMs) are formed on one chip. Power to the first and third logic circuits and their SRAMs is shut off as required, while power to the second logic circuit and its SRAM is kept supplied. The third SRAM has the largest memory capacity. The average channel width of the first to third SRAM cell arrays is set at a half or less of that of the other circuit blocks, and the channel impurity concentration of the second and third SRAM cell arrays, which operate at low speed, is set higher than that of the first SRAM cell array, which operates at high speed, by additional ion implantation. By these settings, MOS transistors of low threshold voltage (Vt) are provided for the first SRAM cell array, while MOS transistors of high Vt are provided for the second and third SRAM cell arrays for leakage reduction.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit of a CMOS structure including a plurality of static random access memories (SRAMs) and a plurality of logic circuits respectively accessing these SRAMs, and a method for fabricating the same.
A recent system LSI developed for portable equipment such as cellular phones includes a digital signal processor (DSP) required to perform high-speed processing of voice and moving image data and a central processing unit (CPU) responsible for processing of applications and system control during standby. A high-speed SRAM is necessary for the DSP as a buffer memory for transmit/receive data. Also, a SRAM is necessary for the DSP to be used as a work memory.
In conventional system LSIs for portable equipment, the threshold voltage (Vt) of MOS transistors tends to be set comparatively high for reduction of leakage current during standby. In such system LSIs, also, it is required to maintain the speed of the DSP and the CPU. Therefore, tight transistor design and circuit design are conventionally made in the tradeoff between the speed and the leakage current. In reality, processes specified for portable equipment, including increasing the threshold voltage slightly and increasing the gate length of MOS transistors slightly for avoiding a variation in leakage current, have been developed, separately from standard processes for non-portable equipment.
With the connection of portable equipment such as cellular phones to the Internet, the data processing amount of the portable equipment has sharply increased. In addition, the capacity of a memory for buffering data of moving images and data from the Internet has also increased.
In the situation described above, increase in leakage current due to the increased memory capacity has arisen concurrently with the request for high-speed operation of the DSP and the CPU. For solving these problems, the level of optimizing the transistor design and the circuit design as described above is no more useful.
The problem of reducing the leakage current may be solved by shutting off the power to circuits inside the LSI. However, since portable equipment, which is connected to a wireless network, has processing to be processed during standby, it is no more possible to simply shut off the power.
In the future, in mounting a number of circuit blocks having different uses on one chip, if fabrication processes optimized for the respective circuit blocks are individually adopted, the entire fabrication process will be complicated and thus the fabrication cost will increase.
An object of the present invention is providing a semiconductor integrated circuit in which a plurality of circuit blocks satisfying different performance requirements can be formed on one chip without complicating the fabrication process.
The present invention is applicable to a semiconductor integrated circuit of a CMOS structure including a first SRAM cell array required to operate at high speed and a second SRAM cell array operating at a speed lower than the speed of the first SRAM cell array. Power to the first SRAM cell array is shut off as required. For example, it is shut off during standby. Power to the second SRAM cell array is kept supplied even during the shutoff of power to the first SRAM cell array, for retention of data. Accordingly, the degree of necessity of leakage reduction during standby is low in the first SRAM cell array but high in the second SRAM cell array. In view of the above, according to the present invention, as for at least either N-channel MOS transistors or P-channel MOS transistors, MOS transistors of low Vt (threshold voltage of a transistor) are adopted for the first SRAM cell array for high-speed operation, and MOS transistors of high Vt are adopted for the second SRAM cell array for leakage reduction. For this adoption, first, the average channel width of MOS transistors constituting each of the first and second SRAM cell arrays is set at a half or less of the average channel width of MOS transistors constituting each of the other circuit blocks (for example, SRAM peripheral circuits and logic circuits), to thereby enable use of a xe2x80x9creverse narrow channel characteristicxe2x80x9d (characteristic that the absolute value of Vt is smaller as the channel width is smaller) for the first and second SRAM cell arrays in which a high scale of integration is required. In addition, the channel impurity concentration of the MOS transistors of the second SRAM cell array is set higher than the channel impurity concentration of the MOS transistors of the first SRAM cell array by additional ion implantation. By this additional ion implantation, the decreased absolute value of Vt of the MOS transistors of the second SRAM cell array due to the reverse narrow channel effect is compensated, to provide MOS transistors of high Vt. The xe2x80x9chigh Vtxe2x80x9d as used herein refers to that the absolute value of the threshold voltage of a MOS transistor, N-channel or P-channel, is large.
In place of the additional ion implantation, the thickness of a gate oxide film may be adjusted. More specifically, gate oxide films of the MOS transistors of the second SRAM cell array are set thicker than gate oxide films of the MOS transistors of the first cell array by film thickness adjustment. By this film thickness adjustment, also, the decreased absolute value of Vt of the MOS transistors of the second SRAM cell array due to the reverse narrow channel effect is compensated, to provide MOS transistors of high Vt.
A third SRAM cell array, which operates at a speed lower than that of the first SRAM cell array, as does the second SRAM cell array, and has a memory capacity larger than the second SRAM cell array, may be provided. In this case, even if the third SRAM cell array is formed under the high Vt transistor conditions as is the second SRAM cell array to reduce the leakage current per memory cell, the total leakage current flowing in all the memory cells of the third SRAM cell array during the operation of the third SRAM cell array will be too large to be negligible. According to the present invention, therefore, the third SRAM cell array, in which no data retention is required, is powered off as required.
As described above, according to the present invention, the reverse narrow channel characteristic of MOS transistors is used, the additional ion implantation for adjusting the channel impurity concentration or the adjustment of the thickness of the gate oxide film is adopted, and, low Vt or high Vt MOS transistors are selectively used for the respective circuit blocks depending on the operating speed and depending on whether or not power is shut off In this way, a plurality of circuit blocks satisfying different performance requirements can be mounted on one chip without complicating the fabrication process.

Semiconductor integrated circuit and method for fabricating the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A drive device according to the present invention is located in a liquid crystal panel. The drive device is a source driver IC that drives a pixel region of the liquid crystal panel. The drive device includes a comparison circuit and a determination circuit. The comparison circuit detects a potential difference between a potential of a first analog power supply and a potential of a second analog power supply, an analog power supply input from the outside being divided into the first analog power supply and the second analog power supply. The determination circuit determines that it is an abnormal condition when the potential difference detected by the comparison circuit is greater than or equal to a predetermined threshold value.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drive device that drives a pixel region of a liquid crystal panel and to a liquid crystal display apparatus that includes the drive device.
Description of the Background Art
The use of the same part in liquid crystal display apparatuses of different sizes has led to a reduced cost (a unit cost of the part) by increased purchases of the same part or to "platform" for reducing a period of development and design resources. The same common part has been used in various kinds of liquid crystal panels.
A high-resolution and large liquid crystal display apparatus typically tends to cause a heavy load connected to an output stage of a driver integrated circuit (IC) that drives a liquid crystal panel. The driver IC includes a circuit capable of driving a liquid crystal panel even under heavy load conditions. In one example, some driver ICs capable of driving a liquid crystal panel under heavy load conditions include an assist circuit (auxiliary circuit) that assists (supports) an output from an output amplifier for cases where sufficient output cannot be obtained only by driving capability of the output amplifier.
Some applications of a liquid crystal display require low power consumption, and many attempts have been made to minimize a load on a liquid crystal panel. Some liquid crystal panels have a structure having a reduced capacity or a reduced resistance of source lines (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 5-41651 (1993) and Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2001-255857). In consideration of the platform and the drive of various kinds of liquid crystal panels under load conditions, the driver IC capable of driving a liquid crystal panel under heavy load conditions is eventually used to drive a liquid crystal panel under low load conditions in some cases.
The conventional assist circuit has no problem in operating under originally assumed heavy load conditions, but may generate a flow-through current at a low load depending on conditions. An increase in the flow-through current does not affect a display. Thus, whether the flow-through current is generated cannot be easily monitored according to product conditions, thereby making it difficult to determine whether the liquid crystal panel is under abnormal conditions.

Drive device and liquid crystal display apparatus


A method of strongly decorrelating signals comprising processing input signals to determine delay and rotation parameters which implement at least one elementary paraunitary matrix. The parameters transform the input signals into output signals with improvement in a measure of strong decorrelation. The improvement in the measure of strong decorrelation is then assessed: if it is significant the latest output signals are, designated as input signals and the process is iterated. Iteration continues until the measure of strong decorrelation ceases to improve significantly, at which point the latest output signals are designated as signals decorrelated in a wide sense.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to decorrelation of signals; more particularly it relates to decorrelation of signals that have undergone convolutive mixing, and to a method, an apparatus and a computer program for implementing decorrelation.
(2) Description of the Art
Decorrelation is known: it is a form of signal processing implemented by software running on a computer system and accepting data from sensors after conversion from analogue to digital form. Two assumptions are normally made in decorrelation, stationarity and linearity, and these assumptions are also made in connection with the present invention. Stationarity means that signals and channels in which they mix do not change over a time interval during which mixed signals are sampled. Linearity means that mixtures of signals received by sensors are linear combinations of these signals. More complicated combinations featuring signal products and squares and higher order powers of signals are not considered.
The aim of decorrelation is to remove similarities between input signals, thereby eliminating redundancies. In some circumstances this may lead to recovering the signals as they were prior to mixing, but more usually it is used as a pre-processing step in an unmixing algorithm, or as part of another algorithm such as a data compression algorithm. A common usage is to separate the signals which carry meaningful data from those that arise due entirely to noise in the environment and in a receiver system which detects the signals: such separation may be an end in itself, or it may be used as part of a data compression scheme.
Decorrelation is a process of removing correlations or similarities between signal pairs in a set of signals: correlation of a pair of signals is itself defined mathematically as an integral of the signal pair's product over time. It is important that as little information as possible (preferably none) is destroyed in decorrelation process, as would occur for example if decorrelation led to one of the signals being zeroed. Use of energy preserving transforms for decorrelation avoids information being destroyed and leads to output signals with other useful properties.
If an energy preserving transform is used, it is usually required to recover decorrelated signals in decreasing order of power. This allows data compression techniques and signal/noise subspace separation techniques to be implemented very simply.
Algorithms for decorrelating signals that have been instantaneously mixed are known: they may use either transforms that are energy preserving or those that are not.
Unfortunately, an algorithm which is adequate for decorrelating signals that have been instantaneously mixed cannot cope with more difficult problems. These more difficult problems occur when an output signal from a sensor must be expressed mathematically as a convolution, i.e. a combination of a series of replicas of a signal relatively delayed with respect to one another. It is therefore referred to as the "convolutive mixing" problem.
The approach used in instantaneous algorithms has been extended to the convolutive mixing situation: from this approach it has been inferred that convolutively mixed signals can be decorrelated by the use of an energy preserving technique. This algorithm would accommodate time delays involved in mixing and decorrelation. The criterion to be imposed has however changed: i.e. pointwise decorrelation (as defined later) is no longer sufficient, instead a wider condition involving decorrelation with time delays should be imposed. This will be referred to as wide sense decorrelation, and imposing this property as imposing strong decorrelation.
Instead of the unitary matrix employed in instantaneous algorithms, an algorithm for imposing strong decorrelation by an energy preserving filter employs a paraunitary matrix. As will be described later in more detail, a paraunitary matrix is one which gives the identity matrix when multiplied by its paraconjugate matrix—a polynomial equivalent of a Hermitian conjugate matrix. A possible approach for the strong decorrelation problem is therefore to search for a paraunitary matrix that maximises a measure of the wide sense decorrelation.
In this case, it may be possible to improve on the mere return of signals in decreasing order of power. It may be possible to provide for return of signals in decreasing order of power at each frequency in a set of frequencies. Thus a first signal has more power than other signals at all frequencies and a second signal has more power than all other signals apart from the first at all frequencies etc. This property is called spectral majorisation. Spectral majorisation is useful if the algorithm is to be used for data compression or for separating signal and noise subspaces.
In "Theory of Optimal Orthonormal Filter Banks" ICASSP 1996, P. P. Vaidyanathan discloses a use for filtering techniques where both strong decorrelation and spectral majorisation are necessary, neither being sufficient without the other.
The simplest prior art method of imposing strong decorrelation involves using a multichannel whitening lattice filter. See for example S. Haykin, "Adaptive Filter Theory", Prentice Hall, 1991, although there are many references for these techniques, based on slightly different algorithms designed with different convergence and stability properties in mind. These techniques were not designed to impose strong decorrelation directly: instead they aim to recover an innovations sequence of the mixed signals. The components of the innovations sequence so produced are strongly decorrelated as a consequence of what they are. However these techniques are not energy preserving, and so are not suitable for use in many scenarios.
In "Principal Component Filter Banks for Optimal Multiresolution Analysis", IEEE transactions on Signal Processing Vol 43 August, 1995, M. K. Tsatsanis and G. B. Giannakis discuss how to find an optimal energy preserving and spectral majorising filter. This reference uses a frequency domain technique to show how an optimal filter can be found if infinite information is held about the signals and no constraint is placed upon the order of the filter. However it does not show either how this can be transferred to a data dependent algorithm, or how the filter can be constrained to a sensible order without losing optimality. However its calculations provide absolute performance bounds, and formed the basis of several of algorithms discussed below.
In "Multirate Systems and Filter Banks", Prentice Hall: Signal Processing Series, 1993, P. P. Vaidyanathan discloses parameterisation of paraunitary matrices in a stage-by-stage decomposition of a paraunitary matrix in z−1: here z−1 is an operator implementing a delay. Vaidyanathan shows that a product matrix built up from a series of pairs of paraunitary matrix blocks is paraunitary: here, in a pair of blocks, one block represents a delay and the other a 2 by 2 unitary matrix implementing a Givens rotation (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,503). Vaidyanathan also shows that a para unitary matrix of degree N, defined later, is a product of N+1 rotations and N one-channel delay operators all implementing the same unit delay.
In "Attainable Error Bounds in Multirate Adaptive Lossless FIR Filters", ICASSP 1995, P. A. Regalia and D Huang propose two different eigenvalue-based algorithms for strong decorrelation. Their algorithms are recursive, limited to two input signals and based upon a fixed degree lossless filter with parameters disclosed by Vaidyanathan. It is also necessary to access data from various points internal to the Vaidyanathan decomposition for use in adjusting the parameters: this adds an extra layer of processing complexity.
In "Rational Subspace Estimation using Adaptive Lossless Filter" IEEE transactions on Signal Processing Vol 40 October, 1992 P. A. Regalia and P. Loubatton disclose a different algorithm for attempting to impose both strong decorrelation and spectral majorisation. This algorithm is applicable to more than two signals, but it is based upon a deflationary approach where an optimal single signal output is first calculated, and then augmented with other outputs until one of the latter becomes insignificant. Again a fixed degree and fixed order lossless filter is parameterised as disclosed by Vaidyanathan, and the parameters are adjusted according to a stochastic algorithm, which requires information on the data flow inside the Vaidyanathan decomposition.
A different algorithm is proposed in "Design of Signal-Adapted FIR Paraunitary Filter Banks" ICASSP 1996 by P. Moulin, M. Anitescu, K. O. Kortanek and F. Potra. This uses a slightly different version of the Vaidyanathan parameterisation with a fixed degree. From the effects of a parameterised filter on one single output channel, this algorithm shows how to convert a problem of maximising power in one channel into a linear semi-infinite programming problem, which has known methods for solution. In effect the algorithm has an objective of achieving both strong decorrelation and spectral majorisation; it has a cost function which is very similar to a known N10 cost function to be described in more detail later. However it forces the paraunitary filter to be of a fixed degree, and relies upon a link between parameters and cost function being computationally tractable. For different cost functions this would not be the case.
Gradient descent methods are known which aim to adjust all parameters of a paraunitary matrix or an unmixing filter simultaneously: these methods have another difficulty, i.e. they have parameters linked to any useful measure of independence in a very complex way which does not factorise easily. This means adjusting all parameters at once: it leads to very slow algorithm convergence, which is why none of the algorithms previously mentioned use gradient descent. Gradient descent tends to be avoided in the prior art due to problems with speed and accuracy of convergence.


A combustor assembly that includes a casing that includes a plenum, a combustor liner positioned within the plenum and defining a combustion chamber there within, and a transition piece that includes a forward portion that is coupled to the combustion liner and an aft portion that extends from the forward portion. The aft portion includes a transition piece frame. The transition piece frame includes an upstream surface, a downstream surface, and a radially inner surface extending between the upstream and downstream surfaces. The radially inner surface includes a leading edge that extends between the radially inner surface and the upstream surface. A plurality of first cooling passages extend from the upstream surface to the downstream surface. Each of the first cooling passages is oriented obliquely with respect to the leading edge from the upstream surface towards the downstream surface.

The subject matter described relates generally to turbine engines and more particularly, to combustor assemblies for use with turbine engines.
At least some known gas turbine engines include a combustion assembly that is coupled to a turbine section. At least some known combustion assemblies include a combustor liner that is coupled to a transition piece. The transition piece is coupled to the turbine section with a transition piece frame assembly. In general, known gas turbine engines use cooling air to cool a combustion assembly included within the engine. Often cooling air is supplied from a compressor that is coupled in flow communication upstream from the combustion assembly. More specifically, in at least some known turbine engines, cooling air is discharged from the compressor into a plenum that extends at least partially around the transition piece of the combustor assembly. A portion of the cooling air entering the plenum is supplied to an impingement sleeve that circumscribes the transition piece, prior to the air being channeled into a channel defined between the impingement sleeve and the transition piece. Cooling air entering the channel is discharged downstream into a second channel defined between a combustor liner and a flowsleeve.
A portion of cooling air entering the cooling channel is channeled towards transition piece frame assembly. At least some known transition piece frame assemblies include a plurality of cooling passages that channel cooling air through the transition piece frame assembly in a non-uniform air flow pattern. However, the non-uniform flow distribution may create temperature variations throughout the transition piece frame assembly and may cause an uneven heat transfer between the transition piece frame assembly and the cooling air. Over time, the uneven heat transfer may result in thermal cracking and/or damage to the transition piece frame assembly. Over time continued operation with a damaged transition piece frame assembly may reduce the useful life of the transition piece frame assembly and/or increase the cost of maintaining and operating the turbine engine.

Combustor assembly for use in a turbine engine and methods of fabricating same


A device for securing a light to an above-ground pool is provided having a web for attachment to a lip of the pool and a sheath for retaining at least one light or an entire lighting strip along the periphery of the pool. In one embodiment, the device has a bezel portion including the web and the sheath, and a clip portion which attaches to the bezel portion and for securing the device to the lip of the pool. The bezel portion can be provided with a slot and the clip provided with a base which fits into the slot and can be snappingly retained within the slot.

Lighting systems disposed about the upper periphery of the pool, above the water level, are a common accessory for swimming pools. Copings for in-ground swimming pools are also generally disposed about the upper periphery of the pool, above the water level. While copings are generally used to interconnect the side-walls, pool liner and walkway of the in-ground pool, it is thus convenient to incorporate a lighting system with the coping. Such lighting systems can generally be conveniently incorporated into coping designs by providing appropriate channels and apertures to receive the lighting system and power connections thereto. Examples of such systems can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,680,730 to Epple, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,119 to Dohowski. However, the prior art devices are generally unsuitable for installing a light system about the periphery of an above-ground pool.

Device for installing lighting in an above-ground swimming pool


A colloidal dispersion having carrier particles of silica having a particle size from 3 nm to 100 nm to which silver ions have been adsorbed, preferably in an amount of 0.0005-5 silver ions per nm2 of silica particle surface. The surface of the carrier particles of silica suitably contains aluminumsilicate sites. It also relates to a process for making a colloidal dispersion comprising providing a silica sol, adding a solution of silver nitrate to the silica sol under agitation yielding a colloidal dispersion with silver ions adsorbed on the surface of the silica particles. The dispersion is usable as a biocide in e.g. coatings, adhesives and sealants, in surface treatment and impregnation of organic materials, in surface treatment and impregnation of inorganic materials, in textiles, garments and shoes, in medical disposables, in plastics and rubbers, in water and air purification, and in crop protection.

Nanotechnologies are the science and business of manipulating matter at the atomic scale. Materials produced with the aid of various kinds of nanotechnologies are starting to be used in many areas of everyday life such as cosmetics, clothing fabrics, sports equipment, paints, packaging, food, etc. and has been used for some time as for instance catalysts in many important industrial processes. In the future we will no doubt see many more application of nanomaterials in general and of nanomaterials involving noble metals in particular.
Colloidal gold has been successfully used as a therapy for rheumatoid arthritis. An in vitro experiment has shown that the combination of microwave radiation and colloidal gold can destroy the beta-amyloid fibrils and plaque which are associated with Alzheimer's disease. Gold nanoparticles are being investigated as carriers for drugs such as Paclitaxel. In cancer research, colloidal gold can be used to target tumors and provide detection using SERS, Surface Enhanced Raman Spectroscopy in vivo.
Samsung home appliances, such as refrigerators or air conditioners, come with a silver nano coating to their inner surfaces which provide an overall anti-bacterial and anti-fungal effect. As air circulates, the coated surfaces contact with the silver ions which can resist any airborne bacteria, which in turn suppress the respiration of bacteria, adversely affects bacteria's cellular metabolism and inhibits cell growth. Samsung maintain that the silver nano technology sterilizes over 650 types of bacteria and a "Samsung WM1245A Washing Machine releases over 400 billion silver ions which penetrate deeply into fabrics of any kind and create a coat of sterilizing protection for a maximum of 99.99% disinfection and an added antibacterial effect of up to 30 days after washing".
There is an effort to incorporate silver nanoparticles, which have an antimicrobial effect that lasts longer than ionic silver, into a wide range of medical devices, including but not limited to bone cement, surgical instruments, surgical masks, wound dressings.
WO 2008/079149 A1 describes an antimicrobial formulation for dental applications that includes colloidal silver, from between about 0.01 to 2%, and colloidal copper, from between about 0.05 to 10%.
WO 2008/147395 A2 claims a solid or a foamed rubber, synthetic rubber, or neoprene, or other suitable polymer compound containing nanoparticles of at least one metal or metal compound comprising silver, gold, palladium, platinum and copper.
WO 2008/024422 A2 discloses incorporation of colloidal silver in compositions for use in partially or fully decontaminating surfaces which have been contaminated with chemical or biological warfare agents as well as to methods for treating viral infections, bacterial infections, fungal infections, and cancerous tissue.
WO 2008/033206 A1 is drawn to disinfectant compositions, which are human safe, that is food grade or food safe that may contain colloidal silver.
EP 2 018 839 A1 discloses preservative compositions with 0.1 to 1 ppm electrolytic silver for cosmetic products.
US 2009/0013825 A1 to provide a simple preparation method for silver nano particles having a well-controlled size in a surfactant solution. The nano silver colloid is prepared by the following step-wise procedure: (1) dissolving silver nitrate crystal in distilled water; (2) adding surfactant, LABS (Linear alkyl benzene sulfonate) to the solution and; (3) adding reducing agent to the solution. The preferred reducing agent is hydrazine.
US 2007/0009672 A1 describes a method for preparation of nanocomposite solution, comprising preparing basic silica colloid aqueous solution; providing an electrolysis apparatus by installing a negative electrode containing aluminum and a positive electrode containing silver into the basic silica colloid aqueous solution; and forming nanocomposite by applying voltage to the respective electrodes of the electrolysis apparatus. With this configuration, the present invention provides a method of manufacturing solution dispersed with nanocomposite, further particularly to, a method of manufacturing nanocomposite solution having excellent storability and thermal stability and containing silver having antibacterial function,
WO 2007/117087 A1 is drawn to provide a facilitated olefin transporting polymer membrane, which is capable of separating olefin and paraffin from each other using metal nanoparticles, in particular, silver nanoparticles, gold nanoparticles, or copper nanoparticles, as a carrier for facilitated transport.
WO 2008/024426 A2 provides hygienic absorbent articles, such as feminine sanitary napkins, tampons and disposable diapers, having antimicrobial activity that can minimize odors caused by body fluids. The articles of the invention include an absorbent member such as an elongated absorbent portion or pad that contains an antibacterial amount of substantially immobilized nanosilver particles or particles containing silver ions, preferably encased in a granule of a soluble carrier such as dextran, and the like, or a water-insoluble, but water-swellable superabsorbent polymer.
WO 20081100163 relates to a method of manufacturing silver nanoparticles, cellulosic fibers and nanofibers containing silver nanoparticles, fibers and nanofibers containing silver nanoparticles, use of silver nanoparticles to the manufacture of cellulosic fibers and nanofibers, and wound dressing containing silver nanoparticles.
WO 2008/147427 A2 A colorless composition comprising silver particles and water is disclosed. The particles have an interior of elemental silver and an exterior of ionic silver oxide, wherein the silver particles are present in the water at a level of about 5-40 ppm A preferred embodiment of the invention is a silver composition comprising particles of silver wherein more than 50% of the particles are less than 0.015 micrometers in size and the particles are colloidally suspended in water.
The composition manifests significant antiviral properties and is effective against avian influenza virus. Methods of use of the composition are described.
WO 2009/036714 A1 discloses is a composition for the treatment of wounds, containing hyaluronic acid, urea, and colloidal silver.
EP 2 027 956 A1 relates to a method for producing gold colloid including a nucleation
step of forming nuclear colloidal particles by adding a first reducing agent to a first gold salt solution; and a growth step of growing nuclear colloid by adding a second gold salt and a second reducing agent to the solution of the nuclear colloidal particles, characterized in that the growth step is performed at least once; a citrate is used as the first reducing agent and an ascorbate is used as the second reducing agent; and the addition of the ascorbate in the growth step is performed simultaneously with addition of the second gold salt.
Prior art describes the preparation and use of colloidal forms of noble metals, in particular colloidal silver, as biocides in various applications. Particle size and particle size distribution are often described as important properties of such colloidal dispersions although their values are rarely specified. In some prior art it is stated that it is desirable that at least 50% of the particle sizes have a particle size smaller than 15 nanometers. When nano-particles of noble metals are used as biocides only the metal atoms at the surface of the particles are able to come into contact with and interact with microbes of different kinds. Metal atoms in the interior of the particles have no access to the environment outside of the particles and therefore have no biocidal activity. Let ns and nt denote the number of surface atoms and the total number of atoms, for instance noble metal atoms, respectively. The ratio ns/nt is called the degree of dispersion of the noble metal and is a very important property of noble metals in applications, for instance many catalytic applications or biocidal applications, where their performance depend on the number of atoms they expose to their environment. The degree of dispersion decreases rapidly with particle size. In the case of for instance nano-particles of silver, the degree of dispersion thus decreases from about 85% to about 30% when the particle size grows from 1 nanometer to 5 nanometers. The degree of dispersion of 15 nanometer particles is less than 10%, indicating that more than 90% of the metal resides inactive in the interior of the particles.
Prior art also describes the use of ions of noble metals as biocides. One might say that the ions of for instance silver salts in aqueous solutions are perfectly dispersed; in such solutions the degree of dispersion of the noble metals is 100% as it were, but they may also be removed, for instance by leaching, from places where their biocidal function is needed and end up in places where their biocidal function is unwanted.

Biocidal colloidal dispersions of silica particles with silver ions adsorbed thereon


The present invention is directed to reduce elevated levels of tumor necrosis factor-alpha (TNF-.alpha.) found in a failing heart. The present invention is directed to a composition and method of regulating TNF-.alpha. expression in myocardial tissue by treating the myocardial tissue with biological equivalents of endogenous adenosine. A composition and method of using the composition to treat patients with damaged myocardial tissue is provided which increases the cellular availability of adenosine with a resulting decrease of TNF-.alpha. levels in the heart. The present invention provides a novel pharmacological intervention program in failing mammalian hearts, and more particularly provides a cardioprotective treatment to patients with congestive heart failure.

Nearly four million patients in the U.S. carry the diagnosis of congestive heart failure and congestive heart failure represents the most common discharge diagnosis (DRG) at hospitals across the U.S. In 1995, the Healthcare Finance Commission spent over 15 billion dollars for the care of patients with the diagnosis of CHF. Since this represented only the medicare and medicaid populations, the cost burden to the commercial insurance industry was enormous.
Congestive heart failure is not a specific disease, but rather a compilation of signs and symptoms, all of which are caused by an inability of the heart to appropriately increase cardiac output during exertion. The cardiac diseases associated with symptoms of congestive failure include dilated cadiomyopathy, restrictive/constrictive cardiomyopathy, and hypertrophyic cardiomyopathy. Although patients with all three of these diseases present with the classical symptoms of shortness of breath, edema, and overwhelming fatigue, it is clear that the vast majority of patients presenting with failure have a dilated cardiomyopathy. Therefore, "congestive heart failure" (CHF) is generally considered equivalent to a dilated cardiomyopathy. Dilated cardiomyopathy patients have typical symptoms that are caused by both systolic as well as diastolic dysfunction, although the systolic dysfunction clearly predominates. In approximately half of the patients with dilated cardiomyopathy, the cause of the heart dysfunction is ischemic heart disease due to coronary atherosclerosis. That is, patients have had either a single myocardial infarction or multiple myocardial infarctions and the resultant scarring and remodeling has resulted in the development of a dilated and hypofunctional heart. In the remaining patients, the disease is referred to as idiopathic dilated cardiomyopathy as the causative agent remains undefined. Although modest differences exist between the patient with idiopathic (IDC) and ischemic (ISC) heart failure, they both share an abysmal prognosis and excessive morbidity and mortality. Indeed, patients with congestive heart failure have a one year survival of nearly 70% and a five year survival of only 20% after referral to a tertiary heart failure center. Morbidity is also significant as the average heart failure patient is hospitalized approximately two times each year with an average length of stay of greater than five days. Approximately half of all patients with congestive failure die suddenly--presumably due to a ventricular arrhythmia and sudden death, while the remaining patients die of worsening congestive failure.
Hemodynamically, the failing human heart demonstrates systolic dysfunction but also marked diastolic dysfunction. The diastolic dysfunction is thought to be due to abnormalities in two proteins that regulate the uptake of calcium into the sarcoplasmic reticulum storage pools, phospholamban and calcium-ATPase. Another hallmark of the development of the end-stage heart failure phenotype is maladaptive remodeling that includes: 1) cellular hypertrophy; 2) apoptosis; 3) interstitial infiltrates; 4) intesstitial fibrosis; 5) dilation of the ventricular cavity with thinning of the wall of the myocardium; and 6) occasional myocytes necrosis.
Since the primary abnormality in CHF is marked systolic dysfunction, investigators presumed that an inotropic agent, i.e., a drug that increases cardiac contractility, would benefit patients with heart failure. During the late 1960's and 1970's, a group of seminal studies elucidated the primary components of excitation contraction coupling in the heart. It was recognized that the most potent means of enhancing cardiac contractility both endogenously and exogenously was adrenegic stimulation. Beta-adrenergic receptors located on the cardiac sarcolemma coupled adrenergic agonists with the effector enzyme adenylyl cyclase via the guanine nucleotide-binding regulatory proteins. When activated, adenylyl cyclase produced the intracellular second messenger cyclic AMP with resultant activation of the promiscuous cell phosphorylator, protein kinase A. Once activated by cyclic AMP, protein kinase A phosphorylated the sarcolemmal gated calcium channel, the sarcoplasmic reticulum regulatory protein phospholamban, and the contractile protein troponin. Phosphorylation of these three proteins effected enhanced contractility via increased intracellular calcium levels and enhanced relaxation via facilitated uptake of calcium in the sarcoplasmic reticulum storage pools and decreased sensitivity to calcium due to phosphorylation of troponin. The second messenger signaling pathway could be attenuated by metabolism of cyclic AMP by the enzyme phosphodiesterase or alternatively by inhibiting receptor-G protein coupling through the receptor kinase Bark. Unfortunately, neither adrenergic agonists nor phosphodiesterase inhibitors proved beneficial in patients with congestive heart failure. In fact, large randomized and placebo-controlled clinical trials demonstrated an increase in mortality in patients treated with agents that as their major mechanism of action enhanced intracellular concentrations of cyclic AMP.
A second approach to increasing contractility has been the use of agents that increase the sensitivity of the contractile proteins to calcium. However, most inotropic agents of this class have also been associated with an increase in mortality.
At present, only one oral and three intravenous inotropic agents are approved for treatment of heart failure in the U.S. Digoxin, the only oral inotrope, was shown in a large randomized, double-blind and placebo controlled trial to have a neutral effect on survival in heart failure. However, there were concerns that it might have deleterious effects in some subgroups. milrinone, amrinone and dobutamine are beneficial in the acute therapy of congestive heart failure. However, chronic therapy with oral Milrinone or amrinone was associated with a marked increase in mortality. Similarly, chronic therapy with dobutamine has also been associated with increased mortality. All three of these intravenous agents augment contractility by increasing intracellular concentrations of cyclic AMP.
Another approach to the therapy of patients with congestive heart failure was based on the recognition that patients with congestive heart failure expressed a group of neurohormonal substances whose plasma concentrations could be inversely associated with morbidity and mortality in large populations of patients with CHF. These neurohormonal agent all share a common finding: when given in vivo or in vitro they can initiate an aladaptive remodeling of the heart and in some cases are cardiotoxic. Additionally, in experimental CHF models, they delay or attenuate the development of the heart failure phenotype.
The first neurohormonal agent to successfully serve as a therapeutic target was angiotensin II potent vasoconstrictor and activator of aldosterone. In the patient with CHF, this increase in blood volume and peripheral vascular resistance augments both preload and afterload resulting in further compromise of cardiac function. Indeed, studies have shown a direct relationship between increasing levels of angiotensin II (and/or renin) and cardiovascular mortality. Interestingly, transgenic mice that over-express angiotensinogen and therefore display elevated levels of angiotensin II demonstrate hypertension but do not have a phenotype consistent with congestive heart failure. Thus, it may be their effects on activating the bradykinin pathway or even an anti-adrenergic effect that is responsible for the beneficial effects of ACE inhibitors. Although angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors have become a mainstay of therapy in patients with CHF and have been shown to be cost effective for long-term therapy, their overall impact on CHF has actuality been very modest, approximately a 18 to 22 percent decrease in mortality over four years.
In the early 1980's, there was first demonstrated a direct relationship between increasing levels of plasma catecholamines and mortality in patients with congestive failure. The fact that high levels of circulating catecholamines had pathophysiologic consequences was demonstrated by the finding that exposure of myocytes to chronic adrenergic stimulation resulted in cardiace remodeling with development of cardiac dilation and fibrosis. In addition, adrenergic activation caused abnormalities in receptor-effector coupling in the heart that replicated biochemical changes seen in the failing human heart: 1) marked down-regulation of the beta-adrenergic receptor; 2) uncoupling of the beta 2-adrenergic receptor from adenylyl cyclase; and 3) increased activity of the inhibitory G protein. Therefore, agonist-mediated abnormalities in receptor--G protein--adenylyl cyclase coupling explained the finding that the failing human heart was markedly insensitive to adrenergic drive. In a large multi-center trial of the beta-blocker metoprolol, there was no difference in survival in patients receiving active drug as versus those receiving placebo. However, there was a significant benefit when assessing the combined end-point of either death or the need for cardiac transplantation. As would be expected with an adrenergic blocker, the use of metoprolol was associated with a significant up-regulation of myocardial beta-adrenergic receptors. More recently, a group of clinical trials have assessed the use of carvedilol, a novel beta-adrenergic antagonist having vasodilator properties. Although the survival benefits of carvedilol were greater than those seen with the angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, metaanalysis of the U.S. trials included only 50 events. Therefore, the exact benefits on survival remain undefined. Beta-blockers are not easy to use in patients with CHF, as they require careful up-titration and cannot be utilized as rescue therapy. Carvedilol, for example, cannot be used for rescue therapy as it requires careful up-titration over a minimum of several weeks.
Additionally, there is an ongoing clinical trial with bucindolol, an agent that is very similar to carvedilol in that it has both beta blocking and vasodilator properties. Unlike carvedilol, bucindolol effects a significant up-regulation of receptor density and may therefore more accurately represent a "beta blocker." However, beta-blockers are difficult to utilize, and their mortality benefits remain unproven.
A more recent finding is that the proinflammatory cytokines are elevated in patients with congestive heart failure. Indeed, there is a direct relationship between elevated levels of TNF-.alpha. and II-6 and the degree of hemodynamic abnormalities. Similarly, the higher the TNF-.alpha. level the more severe the heart failure symptoms. Perhaps the most intriguing finding was that TNF-.alpha. is not expressed by normal human heart but is expressed in abundant amounts by human failing heart. Furthermore, TNF-.alpha. induces the expression of the proinflammatory cytokine II-1B. Either TNF-.alpha. or II-1B can recapitulate in vitro many of the biochemical and molecular biological abnormalities that characterize the failing human heart.
One anti-cytokine strategy that has been utilized in Phase I trials for the therapy of patients with CHF is subcutaneous administration of TNF-.alpha. soluble receptors (r75). This strategy was based on the assumption that soluble receptors would soak up free TNF-.alpha. thereby decreasing the amount of ligand that was available to the endogenous cell-surface receptors. However, difinitive assessment of this therapy requires a large multi-center controlled clinical trial. However, intuitively, the use of soluble receptors has several potential limitations: 1) the receptors can only be administered intravenously or subcutaneously; 2) other cytokines, i.e., IL-1b might also play a role in the cardiac pathophysiology of the inflammatory cytokines; 3) patients receiving long-term administration of TNF-.alpha. soluble receptors might be more susceptible to infectious or malignant diseased; and 4) intracellular cytokine expression might have important autocrine effects that are over and above the paracrine effects of the cytokines secreted by the myocytes.
A second strategy to inhibit TNF-.alpha. has utilized intravenous immuroglobulin IVIG) in an open-labeled clinical trial. IVIG has multiple properties including anticytokine effects. Its use was associated with significant improvements in ejection fraction and a suggestion of improved survival.
Perhaps the most intriguing possibility for the therapy of heart failure comes from recent studies assessing the effects of adenosine on myocardial cytokine production. Adenosine, a naturally occurring nucleotide, is expressed endogenously in mammals. At physiologic concentrations, adenosine substantially inhibits the ability of neonatal rat myocytes in culture to express TNF-.alpha. in response to lipopolysaccharide (LPS). This inhibitory response can be seen when adenosine is given before, during, or up to one hour after exposure to LPS and a similar effect is appreciable in isolated adult myocytes as well as in adult rat papillary muscle preparations. Pharmacologic testing suggests that the effects of adenosine on TNF-.alpha. inhibition are mediated via the A.sub.2 -adenosine receptor through stimulation of cyclic AMP since A.sub.2 agonists and cyclic AMP derivatives mimic but A.sub.2 -antagonists attenuate the anti-TNF-.alpha. effects. That adenosine-related modulation of TNF-.alpha. expression may have physiologic importance in humans comes from recent studies of cytokine expression in papillary muscle preparations isolated from failing human heart. At baseline, human hearts express abundant amounts of TNF-.alpha.. However, the level of expression can be increased as much as 10-fold by modest concentrations of LPS and this effect can be inhibited by adenosine. These anticytolcine effects would be expected to prevent the cytokine-medicated maladaptive remodeling in patients with myocardial damage and in so doing decrease the incidence of worsening heart failure and increase long-term survival.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,298, which is hereby incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, teaches that an A.sub.2 agonist increases the contractile performance of the heart. However, this teaching does not appreciate the use of adenosine analogs as a treatment for the repair and rehabilitation of diseased or damaged myocardial tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,298 to Dobson teaches that administration of an adenosine A.sub.2 agonist, but not adenosine, can be used to increase the contractile performance of a compromised myocardium in a mammal. Dobson also attests that the use of adenosine A.sub.2 agonists in conjunction with a second compound which potentiates the beneficial effect of adenosine A.sub.2 receptor agonists, e.g., an adenosine transport inhibitor, an inhibitor of adenosine metabolism, or an adenosine A.sub.1 receptor antagonist would be beneficial for increasing contractile performance. Dobson proposes that the beneficial effects are the result of enhanced adenylyl cyclase activity in the presence of an A.sub.1 agonist. However, the basic teaching of Dobson and the rationales proposed for its use are inaccurate.

Pharmaceutical therapy for congestive heart failure


An optical information recording and reproducing apparatus capable of recording and reproducing information data accurately with respect to an optical recording medium. The optical information recording and reproducing apparatus includes an aberration correction part which corrects aberration of the optical system. The apparatus determines whether or not an aberration correction by the aberration correction part is completed based on the signal level read from the optical recording medium, while changing a spherical aberration correction amount of the aberration correction part. The apparatus commences a recording operation or a reproducing operation of the optical information recording and reproducing apparatus if it is determined that the aberration correction was completed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus which records and reproduces information data on an optical recording medium.
2. Description of the Related Art
An optical disk used as an optical recording medium includes a transparent substrate of a predetermined thickness for covering and protecting the recording surface of the disk. An optical information recording and reproducing apparatus executes reading and recording of information data with respect to the optical disk by irradiating a reading beam or a recording beam on the recording surface through the transparent substrate of such an optical disk.
However, the occurrence of aberrations such as a spherical aberration and frame aberrations generates a problem which decreases the recording and reproducing accuracy of information data.
For example, it is difficult to form the thicknesses of the transparent substrates of all optical disks to be of a predetermined value during manufacture of the disks, and typically, thickness errors of several tens of xcexcm may arise. Further, a disk having a plurality of recording layers, for example, DVD (Digital Versatile Disk), has different thicknesses in the transparent substrate from the surface of the disk to each recording layer. As a result, a spherical aberration is generated by the thickness error in such a transparent substrate, and this aberration decreases the accuracy of the recording and reproducing of information data.
The present invention has been made to solve such problems, and the object of the present invention is to provide an optical information recording and reproducing apparatus which is capable of recording and reproducing information data accurately with respect to an optical recording medium.
An optical information recording and reproducing apparatus according to the present invention which executes recording and reproducing of information data with respect to an optical recording medium, comprises an optical system for photoelectrically converting a reflected light from said optical record medium into a conversion signal, while irradiating a recording surface of said optical recording medium with a laser beam; an aberration correction part for correcting an aberration of said optical system; an aberration correction completion determining part for determining whether or not an operation of an aberration correction by said aberration correction part was completed based on the level of said conversion signal; and a controller for starting a recording operation or a reproducing operation if it is determined that the operation of said aberration correction was completed by said aberration correction completion determining part, while changing an amount of said aberration correction.

Optical information recording and reproducing apparatus


A computer device and method for processing informatic data from one or more sensor devices associated with a property are provided herein. A first set of informatics data of a first property at a first period of time are analyzed to identify a first operating characteristic associated operating the first property. Operational changes to be implemented at a second property are identified based upon an operational efficiency of the first operating characteristic over a second operating characteristic of the second property. Second sensor data of the second property is used to determine that at least one of the identified operational changes has been implemented. Provision of a discount, a rebate, a monetary transfer, or any combination thereof is provided based upon the implementation.

Smart home functionality is a maturing space, but the opportunity for insurance companies remains largely untapped. Currently, there are few useful early warning and loss mitigation systems that actually save costs and time for both the property owner and insurance company alike. For instance, currently, homeowners insurance claim events are detected by the homeowner, who then contacts his or her insurance company to inform them that there has been a loss. However, the loss could be mitigated with automated warning and detection systems that interface with the insurance company systems. For example, homeowners may not become aware of minor to medium hail damage to their roofs until such time as that damage leads to water damage to the exterior or interior of the home. If they could be made aware of such loss events earlier and then take corrective actions, then the increased damage and loss could have been mitigated or avoided.

System and method to provide savings based on reduced energy consumption

United Services Automobile Association (USAA)


The present invention relates to an anxiolytic drug comprising as an active ingredient a 1-amino-5-halogenouracil represented by formula [I]: ##STR1## wherein X represents a halogen atom, or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof.

An anxiolytic drug (minor tranquilizer) is a therapeutic agent which is effective in treating anxiety and which can eliminate anxiety or psychentonia in a dose that will not induce excessive sedation. A typical therapeutic agent which is presently used as an anxiolytic drug is a benzodiazepine-type anxiolytic.
Heretofore, (1) bromacil (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 42624/1982), and (2) N.sup.3 -substituted (e.g., benzyl-substituted) uridine derivatives (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 207218/1987) have been known as uracil derivatives having anxiolytic activity or being expected to have the same.
We previously found that 1-amino-5-halogenouracil has sedative effects on central nervous system, and filed therefore an application for a patent (PCT/JP89/00708). As a 1-amino-5-halogenouracil, 1-amino-5-fluorouracil is so far known. However, it has not yet been reported that the compound has anxiolytic activity (see Sci. Pharm., 52, 46 (1984); and Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 93281/1987).
Benzodiazepine-type anxiolytic drugs which are now widely used as anxiolytic drugs, typically diazepam, give rise to various side effects (e.g-, muscle relaxation, sedation, and elicitation of amnesia). The use of the anxiolytic drugs of this type therefore brings about clinical problems. Since the above side effects are common to compounds having a benzodiazepine skeleton, there exists a demand for finding out a compound which has a skeleton other than the benzodiazepine and which can be used as an anxiolytic drug.
Further, among the above-described uracil derivatives having anxiolytic activity, the bromacil referenced as (1) exhibits low anxiolytic activity when it is orally administered, and the minimum effective dose thereof for single administration is as high as 100 mg/kg. Therefore, the expected effects cannot be fully obtained unless a large amount of the bromacil is administered. With respect to the N.sup.3 -substituted uridine derivatives referenced as (2), although the aforementioned patent publication discloses their hypnotic effects, their anxiolytic activity and particular data regarding the same are not disclosed therein.
An object of the present invention is to provide an anxiolytic drug which comprises as an active ingredient a compound which has a uracil skeleton and low side effects such as those mentioned above.


A technique and device for rehabilitating or repairing waste water system components or the like, comprising a spray-applied, multi-layer liner which seals the components and imparts structural integrity. The liner comprises a primer layer, a first moisture barrier layer, a foam layer and a second moisture barrier layer. The first and second moisture barrier layers are preferably made of the same material and form a skin on both sides of the internal foam layer. The combination of the foam layer and the two moisture barrier layers imparts structural strength and rigidity to the cured liner.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to the rehabilitation or repair of waste water system components, such as manholes, sewer pipes, lift stations or clarifiers, through the application of a multi-layer liner. More particularly, the invention relates to the rehabilitation of such systems where the multi-layer liner is spray-applied and comprises at least a surfacer layer and a barrier layer. Even more particularly, the invention comprises such a liner where the surfacer layer is composed of a urethane foam, the barrier layer is composed of a polyurea and isocyanate polymer blend. Alternatively, the surfacer layer may be an epoxy and the barrier layer a polyurea foam. In a second embodiment, the invention relates to a multi-layer liner composed of a first barrier layer, a surfacer layer and a second barrier layer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Deterioration of waste water system components is a severe and growing problem. Originally built of brick, block or concrete construction, these components develop leaks, cracks and holes due to age, erosion, corrosion and ground water intrusion. Leakage from old manholes and sewer lines contaminates the environment and sometimes results in catastrophic damage with respect to clean-up and repair costs.
Many concrete structures, such as containment areas or ponds, require a liner to prevent leakage of the contained material into the concrete and adjacent soil and to prevent corrosion or deterioration of the concrete from the material, which is often corrosive and/or toxic. Due to the size of most of these structures, a preformed liner is both impractical and expensive. Therefore, a spray on liner which may be applied relatively quickly, easily and at a reduced cost would be beneficial.
Since the cost of repairing the components is typically much less than the cost of replacement, many techniques have been developed to repair and rehabilitate waste water system components. For example, it is known to recast manholes and the like through the use of forms and poured concrete, such as shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,032,197 to Trimble. Because this process is very labor intensive, many techniques are directed toward spray-applied liners. For example, Strong in U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,438 teaches the use of sprayed cement to form a liner inside the deteriorating structure. Spray-applied epoxy, acrylic or polyurethane liners are also known, as is the use of resin impregnated substrates, such as felt, as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,258 to Brown et al. The current spray-applied systems suffer from moisture, delamination, shrinkage and structural weakness problems resulting from the typical environment encountered in the repair operation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,618,616 to Hume describes a technique and device for rehabilitating waste water system components wherein a multilayered liner is used to impart structural strength and integrity to the components. The multilayer liner of Hume is composed of a primer layer a first moisture barrier layer, a foam layer and a second moisture barrier layer. The primer layer is applied directly to the surface of the waste water system components and can be applied to a wet surface. Typically, the primer layer is an epoxy material.
It is an object of this invention to provide a technique and particular liner structure for repairing waste water system components which is spray-applied and does not suffer from the problems relating to moisture, delamination, shrinkage and structural weakness.
It is a further object to provide such an invention which increases the structural integrity of the repaired component due to the unique composition of the layers within the multi-layer laminate applied to the component.
It is still another object to provide such an invention which can be applied to any shape surface having any number of irregularities and that has a rapid cure time.

Liner for waste water system rehabilitation


Provided are an image encoding method and apparatus for generating an interpolation filter using an adjacent area of a current block and a corresponding adjacent area of a reference picture and interpolating the reference picture using the generated interpolation filter, and an image decoding method and apparatus therefor. By interpolating an adjacent area of a reference picture corresponding to an adjacent area of a current block according to fractional pixel resolution of a motion vector of the current block and determining interpolation filter coefficients to minimize a difference between an interpolated adjacent area of the reference picture and the adjacent area of the current block, an interpolation filter needed for motion compensation of the current block is adaptively generated using information on the adjacent area.

1. Field of the Invention
Apparatuses and method consistent with the present invention relate to an interpolation filter interpolating a reference picture for motion compensation, and more particularly, to generating an interpolation filter using an adjacent area of a current block and a corresponding adjacent area of a reference picture and interpolating the reference picture using the generated interpolation filter, and an image decoding method and apparatus therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image compression methods, such as MPEG-1, MPEG-2, MPEG-4, and H.264/MPEG-4 Advanced Video Coding (AVC), in order to encode an image, a single picture is divided into macroblocks. Thereafter, each macroblock is encoded in all encoding modes available in inter prediction and intra prediction coding, and according to a bit rate required to encode a macroblock and a grade of distortion between an original macroblock and a decoded macroblock, an encoding mode is selected, and the macroblock is encoded.
Inter prediction comprises generating a motion vector by searching for an area of a reference picture similar to a block being currently encoded using at least one reference picture located before or after a picture being currently encoded and generating a prediction block of the current block by performing motion compensation using the generated motion vector.
The motion compensation is performed in a unit of fractional pixel resolution more minute than integer pixel resolution in order to increase prediction accuracy. For example, after a reference picture is interpolated by generating fractional pixels existing between integer pixels of the reference picture, such as half pels, quarter pels, and one eighth pels, motion compensation prediction is performed using the interpolated reference picture.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining a reference image interpolation process according to the related art. In FIG. 1, pixels indicated using a perfect square denote integer pixels, and pixels indicated using a circle denote half pels existing between integer pixels. In addition, alphabet capital letters in square boxes denote integer pixels before interpolation is performed, and alphabet lower case letters in circles denote half pels between the integer pixels before interpolation is performed.
Referring to FIG. 1, half pels located between two integer pixels adjacent to each other in a horizontal direction are generated by applying a six-tap filter in the horizontal direction. For example, a half pel c located between integer pixels G and H in the horizontal direction is generated by applying a six-tap Finite Impulse Response (FIR) filter to six integer pixels located in the same row as the half pel c to be interpolated using an equation c=(E−5F+20G+20H−5I+J)/32. The weights {1, −5, 20, 20, −5, 1} assigned to the six integer pixels adjacent to the half pel to be interpolated, which are used in the equation, are called filter coefficients.
Similarly, half pels located between two integer pixels adjacent to each other in a vertical direction are generated by applying a six-tap FIR filter in the vertical direction. For example, a half pel f located between integer pixels G and M in the vertical direction is generated by applying a six-tap FIR filter to six integer pixels located in same column as the half pel f using an equation f=(A−CF+20G+20M−5R+T)/32. Although it is not shown, each quarter pel is calculated by obtaining a mean value of adjacent integer pixels or half pels.
According to the related art, filter coefficients of an interpolation filter are always fixed. This is because filter coefficients applied to each block must be transmitted to a decoder for image decoding if different interpolation filters are applied to each block. However, since encoded blocks can have different image characteristics, if motion compensation prediction by applying the same interpolation filter to all blocks is performed, prediction performance may be inefficient.

Method and apparatus for encoding and decoding image using adaptive interpolation filter


The present invention provides chitin-binding fragments of human chitinase, fragment analogs, purified and isolated polynucleotide sequences encoding such fragments and analogs, and materials and methods for the recombinant production of human chitinase fragment products which are expected to be useful as in products for detecting chitin, binding chitin, and treating fungal infections or for development of products useful for treating the same.

Chitin is a linear homopolymer of .beta.-(1,4)-linked N-acetylglucosamine residues. This polysaccharide is second only to cellulose as the most abundant organic substance. The exoskeleton of arthropods is composed of chitin. In addition, fungi and other parasites contain chitin in their outer cell wall, where it serves important structural and protective roles. Disruption of the fungal cell wall and membrane has been a useful therapeutic strategy against fungi and parasites. For example, Amphotericin B and fluconazole exert their anti-fungal activity by affecting membrane steroids. Despite the existence of anti-fungal therapeutics, fungal infections of humans have increasingly become responsible for life-threatening disorders. See, Georgopapadakou et al., Trends Microbiol., 3:98-104 (1995). The fungal species and parasites responsible for these diseases are mainly Candida, Aspergillus, Cryptococcus, Histoplasma, Coccidioides and Pneumocystis. These pathogens are particularly dangerous in immunocompromised individuals, such as patients with AIDS, patients undergoing chemotherapy, and immunosuppressed organ transplant patients.
Chitin can be degraded by the enzyme chitinase. Chitinase enzymes are found in plants, microorganisms, and animals. Bacterial chitinase helps to provide a carbon source for bacterial growth. Insects produce chitinase to digest their cuticle at each molt. In plants, chitinase is thought to provide a protective role against parasitic fungi. Chitinases have been cloned from numerous bacterial [e.g., Serratia marcescens, Jones et al., EMBO J., 5:467-473 (1986)], plant [e.g., tobacco, Heitz et al., Mol. Gen. Genet., 245:246-254 (1994)], and insect [e.g., wasp, Krishnan et al., J. Biol. Chem., 269:20971-20976 (1994)] species and have been categorized into two distinct families, designated family 18 and family 19, based on sequence similarities [Henrissat and Bairoch, Biochem, J. 293:781-788 (1993)]. Although the catalytic region of the enzymes in family 18 is largely conserved across numerous species, there is very limited sequence similarity across species for the chitin-binding domain. The only feature common to several family 18 chitin-binding domains is the presence of multiple cysteine residues.
Several proteins with low homology to bacterial, insect, and plant chitinases (less than 40% amino acid identity) have been identified in mammals, such as human cartilage gp-39 (C-gp39) [Hakala et al., J. Biol. Chem., 268:25803-25810 (1993)], human glycoprotein YKL-40 [Johansen et al., Eur. J. Cancer, 31A: 1437-1442 (1995)], oviduct-specific, estrogen-induced protein from sheep [DeSouza et al., Endocrinology, 136:2485-2496 (1995)], cows and humans; and a secretory protein from activated mouse macrophages [Chang et al., Genbank M94584]. However, chitin-degrading activity has not been reported for these proteins. The function of these proteins is not known, but they have been postulated to be involved in tissue remodeling. Hakala et al., supra, report that C-gp39 is detectable in synovial and cartilage specimens from rheumatoid arthritis patients, but not from normal humans. Recklies et al., Arthritis Rheumatism, 36(9 SUPPL.):S190 (1993) report localization of the C-gp39 protein to a distinct population of cells in the superficial layers of cartilage. Johansen et al., supra, report that measurements of YKL-40 serum levels are of value as a potential prognostic marker for the extent of metastatic disease and survival of patients with recurrent breast cancer.
Escott et al., Infect. Immun., 63:4770-4773 (1995) demonstrated chitinase enzymatic activity in human leukocytes and in human serum. Overdijk et al., Glycobiology, 4:797-803 (1994) described isolation of a chitinase (4-methylumbelliferyl-tetra-N-acetylchitotetraoside hydrolase) from human serum and rat liver. Renkema et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270:2198-2202 (February 1995) prepared a human chitotriosidase from the spleen of a Gaucher disease patient. Their preparation exhibited chitinase activity and the article reports a small amount of amino acid sequence of the protein component of the preparation (22 amino terminal residues and 21 residues of a tryptic fragment). The function of human chitinase is also unknown, but a relationship with the pathophysiology of Gaucher disease is proposed in the article. A later publication by the same group [Boot et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270(44):26252-26256 (November 1995)] describes the cloning of a human macrophage cDNA encoding a product that exhibits chitinase activity. The partial amino acid sequence reported by the group in their February 1995 article matches portions of the deduced amino acid sequence of the human macrophage cDNA product. See also International Patent Publication No. WO 96/40940, which reports two distinct human chitotriosidase cDNAs encoding a 50 kD and a 39 kD product, both of which were fully enzymatically active. Renkema et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 244:279-285 (1997) reported that human chitinase is initially produced in macrophages as a 50 kD protein that is in part processed into a 39 kD form that accumulates in lysozymes, and also reported that alternative splicing generates a distinct human chitinase mRNA species encoding a 40 kD chitinase. Both the 39 kD and 40 kD isoforms appeared to be C-terminally truncated and displayed full chitinase enzymatic activity but bound chitin poorly.
In view of the increasing incidence of life-threatening fungal infection in immunocompromised individuals, there exists a need in the art to identify new materials and methods useful for diagnosing and treating fungal infections.


A device for rapid reattachment of a bone flap to a cranium after a surgical operation is provided. The device comprises a pin comprising an elongated shaft, an inner disk and an outer disk. At least the outer disk comprises a central bore. The pin and inner disk are adapted to be assembled together to form a pin and inner disk assembly such that the inner disk is located at one end of the pin. The outer disk is adapted to be mounted on the shaft of the pin with the shaft of the pin extending through the central bore of the outer disk. The device is operated by (i) positioning the inner disk on the inside of the cranium with the shaft of the pin extending through the kerf between the bone flap and the cranium, (ii) forcing the outer disk downwardly on the shaft of the pin toward the inner disk until the outer disk securely engages the outside of the bone flap and the cranium, such that the bone flap is securely held in place between the inner disk and the outer disk, and (iii) trimming off an excess portion of the shaft extending out beyond the outer disk.

The present background of the invention concerns a device for postoperative fixation back into the cranium of a plug of bone removed therefrom during a surgical operation.
It is often necessary during brain surgery to remove a plug of bone from the cranium to provide the surgeon with access to the field of operation. The plug is sawed out and must be replaced in the cranium after the operation and fixed thereto. Such plugs have long been fixed back into the rest of the cranium by suturing with loops of steel wire that extend through both and then twisting together the projecting ends of the emplaced loops. The contact between the plug and the rest of the cranium is relatively unstable, however. The two halves do not fuse together very well. The scalp can also become inflamed. Another drawback to such an approach is that the wire considerably distorts the images obtained in postoperative computerized tomography and accordingly impedes definitive interpretation of the soft structures of the brain. Although using nonresorbable and physiologically compatible thread instead of wire does eliminate the last-mentioned drawback, the fixation of the plug to the rest of the skull is still unstable. The two parts can also be fixed with thin plates of compatible metal, titanium for instance (EP A 0 510 390). Such plates bridge the abutment between the parts and are screwed to both, also closing off bores introduced into the cranium prior to section. This approach, however, is also not very satisfactory. It is both complicated and time-consuming and hence not inexpensive.
With the aforesaid state of the art as a point of departure, the object of the present invention is a simpler and more rapid device for accurate and permanent postoperative fixation back into the cranium of a plug of bone removed therefrom during a surgical operation.
This object is attained in accordance with the present invention in a device of the aforesaid genus comprising a pin and two concavoconvex disks of a physiologically compatible metal or metal compound. The pin has a flat head at one end and one of the disks comes to rest against the head. Each disk has row of teeth extending along the edge of the concave side and a bore through the center. The shaft of the pin fits into the bore. The disks can be mounted on the shaft with the teeth on each one facing the teeth on the other. The second disk can be fastened to the shaft.
The inner disks in the aforesaid fixation device in accordance with the present invention are secured to the pins in the vicinity of the head The disks are then inserted through a slightly larger recess in the circumference of the plug, below the parts of the joint, with the shaft of the pin projecting out of the kerf between the plug and the rest of the cranium. The outer disk is then mounted over the section of pin projecting out of the kerf. The two disks are then approached until their teeth bite into the edges of both the plug and of the rest of the cranium. The second disk is then secured to the shaft.
Titanium is particularly appropriate for the physiologically compatible metal. Such titanium alloys as Ti6A6Va are also appropriate. A device made of titanium is of advantage because it will not distort postoperative computerized-tomography images. The inner disk can be mounted more stable on the shaft of the pin if the transition between the head of the pin and the shaft is conical and dimensioned to ensure that a disk resting against the head will be forced tight around the shaft. Slits can also extend radially outward from the bore through the first disk to be mounted on the shaft. The center of the disk can be depressed. Areas can be removed from the disks at regular intervals between the bore and the edge to conserve material. The device can be applied to the two halves of bone by a procedure similar in principle to blind riveting. Notches can accordingly be introduced into each shaft to prevent the second disk mounted thereon from sliding away from the head of the pin. If the second disk on the shaft is deformed in a direction opposite that of its concavoconvexity, the deformation alone will secure it to the shaft by compression. The shaft can also be threaded and accommodate a nut. The nut can be tightened against the second disk. The second disk will in every case be displaced until its teeth engage the two halves of the joint, creating the desired fixation of the plug back into the rest of the cranium at the adjacent edges.
The novel device can be easily and rapidly manipulated and accomplishes the desired accurate and permanent postoperative fixation back into the cranium of a plug of bone removed therefrom during a surgical operation.

Device for postoperative fixation back into the cranium of a plug of bone removed therefrom during a surgical operation


A circuit, system, and method for measuring or detecting pressure or force of a fingerprint on an array of electrodes is described. Pressure or force may be measured or detected using a processed image of the fingerprint, or by measurement of capacitance of deformed variable capacitors.

Capacitance sensing systems can sense electrical signals generated on electrodes that reflect changes in capacitance. Such changes in capacitance can indicate a touch event (e.g., the proximity of an object to particular electrodes). Capacitive sense elements may be used to replace mechanical buttons, knobs and other similar mechanical user interface controls. The use of a capacitive sense element allows for the elimination of complicated mechanical switches and buttons, providing reliable operation under harsh conditions. In addition, capacitive sense elements are widely used in modern customer applications, providing new user interface options in existing products. Capacitive sense elements can range from a single button to a large number arranged in the form of a capacitive sense array for a touch-sensing surface. In other cases, capacitive sense elements may be configured to detect capacitance change caused by features of a fingerprint.
Fingerprint or other biometric information may be used to gate access to a variety of functions and applications. The same sensors may be configured to use information that is gathered for biometric security for other, non-secure functions, such as pressure detection and navigation.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Pressure detection and measurement with a fingerprint sensor


A floor structure for a vehicle includes: a center floor; a plurality of longitudinal members attachably disposed on a top surface of the center floor; a plurality of seat rails disposed in the plurality of longitudinal members, respectively; and a battery assembly arranged under the center floor.

In recent years, as the perception of environmental crisis and depletion of oil resources has increased, research and development of eco-friendly electric vehicles have actively been conducted. Electric vehicles include plug-in hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), battery electric vehicles (BEVs), fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), etc.
An electric vehicle is equipped with a battery assembly which is mounted to a vehicle body. The battery assembly includes one or more battery cells (or battery modules), electric/electronic components associated with the battery cells, and a battery case in which the battery cells and the electric/electronic components are mounted. The battery case includes an upper case and a lower case. The battery assembly may be mounted under a center floor of the vehicle body.
In order to secure a larger passenger compartment and improve the interior design, research and development are being conducted to apply a flat floor, hidden seat rails, etc. to electric vehicles.
However, a conventional electric vehicle has a relatively high floor height for the installation of the battery assembly compared to an internal combustion engine vehicle. As a result, the height of a carpet covering the center floor, seat crossmembers, and the seat rails and the total height of the vehicle may be increased.
The above information described in this background section is provided to assist in understanding the background of the inventive concept, and may include any technical concept which is not considered as the prior art that is already known to those skilled in the art.


A system is provided for non-contacting energy and data transmission from a first vehicle part to a second vehicle part. In this arrangement apart from a first inductive part in a hybrid transmitter for transmission of first data and energy an additional, second, data channel is installed in the first hybrid transmitter in such a manner that the second data channel is influenced as little as possible by the electromagnetic fields of the inductive part of the transmitter. To this effect a magnetic void can be created in the hybrid transmitters used. For the purpose of reception of not only the first data but also the energy and the second data a corresponding second hybrid transmitter is stated.

In aircraft, the passenger space is increasingly equipped with additional technical devices that are designed to make travelling more pleasant and relaxing for passengers. Especially for long-haul operation, for example, aircraft seats are generally equipped with entertainment systems, in-flight entertainment systems (IFEs), voltage supply devices, in-seat power supply systems (ISPSSs) or electrical adjustment—and massage systems. Up to now these functions may have been connected to the aircraft seats by way of cable connections. However, such cabling may reduce the flexibility of the cabin in a retrofit phase. The implementation of changes in the equipment of the cabin, for example in a desired change of the seat pitch, may require cost-intensive new routing of the cabling.
Due to technical characteristics, the transmission of data by means of purely inductive technologies may be insufficient, for example, for entertainment systems incorporated in the seat of a passenger aircraft.

Hybrid transmitter for non-contact energy and data transmission


A broadcast receiving apparatus is disclosed. The broadcast receiving apparatus includes a receiver configured to receive a broadcast signal which includes video data; a detector configured to detect error information for determining whether there is an error in a packet identifier information, regarding the video data and correction information for correcting the packet identifier information; and a controller configured to detect the packet identifier information using the correction information, and detect the video data using the corrected packet identifier information, when it is determined that the error occurs in the packet identifier information.

1. Field
Methods and apparatuses consistent with the exemplary embodiments relate to a broadcast transmitting apparatus, a broadcast receiving apparatus, and a method thereof. More particularly, exemplary embodiments relate to a broadcast transmitting apparatus, which may transmit/receive a digital broadcast, and a broadcast receiving apparatus and a method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a related art, digital broadcasting has an advantage of providing high definition broadcasting, due to excellent transmission efficiency two-way services, such as a VOD service, etc. Accordingly, in Korea, skywave analogue broadcasting will come to an end in 2013, and will be converted to digital broadcasting. Cable TVs also will convert to digital broadcasting. Further, digital skywave broadcasting adopts ATSC methods, while digital cable broadcasting will be transmitting in a QAM (Quadrature amplitude modulation) method.
However, in the related art, approximately ⅔ of cable broadcasting receivers are analogue cable broadcasting receivers. Thus, in order to convert analogue cable broadcasting receivers to digital cable broadcasting in the related art, it is essential to install set top boxes, etc., and pay expensive subscription fees. Accordingly, in order to expand digital cable broadcasting to low income classes in the related art, a Clear QAM has been introduced. A Clear QAM is a signal which may be transmitted without scrambling. Thus, the clear QAM enables one to view digital cable broadcasting free of charge through a TV where a digital broadcasting receiver is embedded.
However, in a case of transmitting all broadcasting contents or channels by the clear QAM in the related art, there is a problem that a cable operator cannot differentiate service ratings between paid subscribers and free subscribers. Accordingly, there is a need for a method which may differentiate service ratings between paid subscribers and free subscribers, regarding broadcasting signals transmitted by the Clear QAM.

Broadcast transmitting apparatus, broadcast receiving apparatus, and the method thereof


A batch bonding apparatus and bonding method. The bonding apparatus comprises: a chip supply unit (10) for providing a chip (60) to be bonded; a substrate supply unit (20) for providing a substrate; a transfer unit (40) for transferring the chip (60) between the chip supply unit (10) and the substrate supply unit (20); and a pickup unit (30) disposed above the chip supply unit (10), for picking up the chip (60) from the chip supply unit (10) and uploading the chip (60) to the transfer unit (40) after flipping a marked surface of the chip (60) in a required direction. In the present invention pickup of each chip is completed individually, but transfer processes and bonding processes can be carried out for multiple chips at the same time, greatly increasing yield.

A chip bonding technique is an interconnection process which integrates chips onto a substrate. The chips to be processed are placed on a separation platform with their marks facing upwards. A robotic arm grabs the chips and flips them over, and then delivers them to the substrate for bonding. For a process requiring a long press-bonding time (about 30 seconds), the serial bonding process achieves a very low productivity because only one chip can be processed in a single bonding procedure, failing to meet the requirement of mass production. Moreover, there are two chip bonding techniques, i.e. bonding the chips to the substrate with their marks facing downwards and bonding the chips to the substrate with their marks facing upwards. An existing apparatus can only implement one kind of chip bonding processes, which further reduces the bonding productivity due to a complicated replacement of the apparatus.

Batch bonding apparatus and bonding method

SHANGHAI MICRO ELECTRONICS EQUIPMENT (GROUP) CO., LTD.


A dynamic polarity control method for driving an LCD is provided. Gray level information is obtained, which indicates gray levels of dots in an image to be displayed. The gray level information is applied to each of a plurality of polarity patterns to obtain a plurality of combined patterns, wherein each of the polarity patterns has an individual polarity distribution. The gray levels of each of the combined patterns are summed up. A final pattern is selected from the plurality of polarity patterns according to the summed results, to drive the LCD for displaying the image.

The present invention is related to a dynamic polarity control method for driving a liquid crystal display (LCD), and more particularly to a content-based dynamic polarity control method for an LCD.
An LCD is constructed by an array of liquid crystal (LC) cells. FIG. 1 shows a schematic illustrating a panel structure of an LCD, wherein each LC cell 10 is coupled to a source driver 20, a gate driver 30 and a common voltage Vcom which is a reference voltage for the LCD. In FIG. 1, a timing controller (TCON) 40 controls the gate driver 30 to provide a gate voltage VG for turning on the LC cells 10 in each row line, and the timing controller 40 controls the source driver 20 to charge the LC cells 10 in each column line with a driving voltage VD. The gray level of a pixel or a dot indicated by the LC cell 10 is determined according to an absolute voltage difference between the driving voltage VD and the common voltage Vcom. Referring to FIG. 2, a relationship between the driving voltage VD corresponding to various gray levels and the common voltage Vcom is shown, wherein the polarity of the driving voltage VD can be either positive or negative when compared with the common voltage Vcom. For example, the signals V1(+) to V255(+) indicating the driving voltage VD with various voltage levels for gray levels 1 to 255, are larger than the common voltage Vcom, and the signals V1(−) to V255(−) indicating the driving voltage VD with the voltage levels for gray levels 1 to 255, are smaller than the common voltage Vcom. If most of the LC cells 10 are charged by the driving voltage VD with positive polarity, a positive voltage bias is induced in the common voltage Vcom, and vice versa. The voltage bias induced in the common voltage Vcom will cause the phenomenon of color shift and flicker. Thus, controlling the number of LC cells 10 driven by the driving voltage VD with positive polarity and negative polarity is important to keeping the common voltage Vcom at a neutral level.

Dynamic polarity control method and polarity control circuit for driving LCD


A fan cooling system for use with an electronic apparatus having a fan for providing a cooling draft and adapted to remove draft-borne dust includes: an input module for receiving a control instruction; a programmable logic module electrically connected to the input module and adapted to validate the control instruction received by the input module and output a logic result in accordance with the control instruction; and an electrostatic module comprising an electrostatic filtering unit and an electrostatic controlling unit electrically connected to the electrostatic filtering unit and the programmable logic module, wherein the electrostatic filtering unit adjoins the fan to take the cooling draft, and the electrostatic controlling unit applies static electricity to the electrostatic filtering unit in accordance with the logic result sent from the programmable logic module and thus enables the electrostatic filtering unit to electrostatically adsorb draft-borne dust.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to fan cooling systems, and more particularly, to a fan cooling system for use with an electronic apparatus having a fan for providing a cooling draft, so as to electrostatically adsorb draft-borne dust.
2. Description of the Prior Art
With electronic apparatuses becoming lighter, thinner, and shorter, and functioning faster and better, electronic apparatuses are hotter now than they have ever been. A typical way to prevent electronic parts and components of an electronic apparatus from being overheated and damaged is to install a cooling fan in the electronic apparatus to cool the electronic apparatus, or, specifically speaking, introducing cool air into the electronic apparatus, circulate the cool air round the electronic apparatus, thus decreasing internal temperature of the electronic apparatus.
However, introducing cool air into the electronic apparatus inevitably lets in ambient dust. Upon its entry into the electronic apparatus, the dust readily accumulates inside the electronic apparatus because of the limited room inside the miniaturized, crowded electronic apparatus and the sluggish cool air stuck therein. The accumulated dust hinders heat dissipation so badly as to cause a short circuit and render the electronic apparatus short-life.
Accordingly, an issue calling for an urgent solution involves preventing dust from being accumulated inside an electronic apparatus equipped with a cooling fan, so as to overcome drawbacks of the prior art, such as dust-induced inefficiency in heat dissipation and a short life of the cooling fan-equipped electronic apparatus.