A method and apparatus are disclosed for determining the position, or change in the position, of a mobile terminal. The terminal has a receiver for receiving the signals from one or more transmission sources at unknown positions and an independent positioning device able to find, when operative, the position of the mobile terminal. The method uses the independent positioning device to measure the position of the mobile terminal at one or more first locations. A respective first set of time or phase offset values of signals received from the transmission sources relative to each other or to a reference in the mobile terminal is measured in the mobile terminal, at each first location. A second set of time or phase offset values are measured in the mobile terminal at a second terminal location where the independent positioning device is not operative and a second set of time or phase offset values of the signals received from the transmission sources, relative to each other or to a reference in the mobile terminal is measured. The values and said first measured terminal position or positions are combined, to thereby calculate the position of the mobile terminal at the second location, or the change in position of the mobile terminal between a first location and the second location.

Technology for positioning mobile radio terminals using the signals received from one or more transmitters has been widely used for many years. Such systems include terrestrial networks of transmitters (e.g. LORAN-C) and networks of satellites (e.g. the Global Positioning System, GPS) deployed specifically for the purpose of locating the receiver, as well as methods that use general-purpose radio networks such as cellular mobile telephone networks (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,165) or TV and radio transmitter networks. (e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 5,045,861).
Within a cellular mobile telephone network, for example, the position of the mobile terminal may be based on the identity of the serving cell, augmented by information such as the time delay between the serving transmitter and mobile terminal, the strengths of signals received from the serving and neighbouring transmitters, or angles of incidence of received signals. An improved position may be obtained using the observed time difference of arrival (OTDA) of signals received at the mobile terminal from two or more transmission sources.
OTDA methods give good position accuracy using only the signals available within a cellular radio network. However, in unsynchronised networks such as GSM and W-CDMA networks for example, they require the transmission time offsets of the transmitters to be determined in order to solve the positioning equations. This can be done using location measuring units (LMUs) having additional receivers. LMUs are placed at known locations so that their OTDA measurements can be converted directly into a network timing model (e.g. WO-A-00-73813).
Alternatively, a technique (U.S. Pat. No. 6,529,165) may be used in which measurements of signals from a number of geographically disparate transmitters at known positions made, for example, by two geographically disparate mobile terminals at unknown positions, may be used to compute simultaneously both the positions of the mobile terminals and all the timing offsets between the measured transmitters, without the need for LMUs.
A problem associated with these network-based positioning systems is the need to know the locations of the transmitters themselves. For example, the computing node at which the calculation of the position of the mobile terminal is made must have access to a database of the latitude, longitude, and height above a defined datum of every base station in the network. However, such information can be commercially sensitive, and therefore difficult to obtain, and even when it is available the database can contain errors. If the position calculation is carried out in the mobile terminal itself, the database (which may be substantial in size) must be sent to the mobile terminal thereby consuming communications bandwidth. Another problem is that the mobile terminal must be registered on the network in order to receive the information, and cannot therefore operate in an entirely autonomous mode.
The present invention is aimed at overcoming these problems by providing a method by which the position of a mobile terminal (such as one operating in a mobile communications network) may be found autonomously. The position of the mobile terminal can be calculated within the mobile terminal itself, albeit with reduced accuracy, without the need to have access to a database of base-station locations.

Finding the position of a mobile terminal


A subscriber of a mobile telecommunications system has a home network and is able to roam in a visited network. A Roaming Record is generated when a subscriber uses telecommunication services in the visited network. Call Detail Records (CDRs) are generated when a call is terminated or originated by the home network. The system includes an analyzer for analysing Roaming Records and CDRs to identify mis-routed telephone calls. In the embodiments, mis-routed telephone calls that are diverted from the fixed International carrier line to a SIM box via a voice over IP connection are detected.

Mobile telecommunications network users have a "home" network. The home network is the network with which the user is generally permanently registered and with which the user has a contract or other mechanism for paying for services. "Roaming" in other mobile telecommunications networks is permitted when those other telecommunications networks have an agreement with the home telecommunications network.
It is a long term problem for telecommunication network operations that traffic originated from various countries and networks to the home network or to domestic networks is deflected from the normal route to a much cheaper, but lower quality route (e.g. Voice over Internet Protocol, VoIP) without the knowledge of the originating or terminating network operator. In such cases, it is quite typical, that the traffic is routed to a PBX for which so called SIM-boxes (mobile equipments with SIM cards) are connected in order to terminate traffic via the SIM-boxes to the terminating network. This kind of call termination causes a lot of problems and financial loss to the operators. The most important problem is the financial loss (difference between the terminating fee and the minute fee of the SIM-box, cost for extra capacity required by SIM-boxes, etc.). The problems also include unsuccessful calls to roamers and unsuccessful calls from CAMEL roamers from abroad resulting in lost revenue and customer dissatisfaction.
Current methods used to detect SIM-boxes are unsatisfactory. These methods include call behaviour analysis, but this has the main problem that it does not prove SIM-box usage. Another known method is to generate a test call originated from abroad by third parties to the tested network, but this results in extra cost for the operator. It should be noted that the latter method relies on the presentation of the calling line identity (CLI) to the terminating test number in order to recognize SIM-boxes. Since SIM-boxes usually hide their MSISDN, the MSISDN of the SIM-boxes can be detected by the third party if the CLIP override (Calling Line Identity Presentation override) feature is activated for the terminating SIM. In countries in which the handling of CLI is regulated (e.g. for data protection reasons CLIP override should be activated only in certain cases defined by the law) the usage of this method may be illegal. Neither call behaviour analysis, nor third party test call generation are able to detect SIM-boxes from blocked unsuccessful calls attempts and are incapable of measuring the number of blocked (unsuccessful) calls caused by SIM-boxes in the international communication path. Moreover, none of these methods can be used by the originating network to measure international call paths from the originating network to other foreign mobile networks.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an improved arrangement to identify mis-routed international calls, such as those diverted to SIM-boxes.

Mobile telecommunications network roaming


There is provided a process of melt drawing an optical fiber from a preform therefor in which a heating furnace comprising a muffle tube inside thereof through which the optical fiber is passed is provided immediately below a melt drawing furnace to further draw the optical fiber while heated, and an interior of the muffle tube is kept in an atmosphere selected from the group consisting of an inert atmosphere, an atmosphere comprising oxygen gas and an atmosphere comprising hydrogen gas.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of drawing an optical fiber. In particular, the present invention relates to a process of drawing an optical glass fiber having increased reliability and reduced transmission loss by preventing formation of defects and decreasing thermal fluctuations in a molecular order or an atomic order in the glass fiber.
2. Description of the Related Art
When an optical glass fiber is conventionally drawn with melting a glass preform for the optical fiber, the preform is heated to a temperature above its softening point in a drawing furnace (or a melt drawing furnace) and the optical fiber is drawn from the preform followed by coating the fiber with a resin composition with a die after allowing the fiber to be air-cooled.
As shown concretely in FIG. 1 which schematically illustrates a drawing apparatus used in a conventional process of drawing the optical fiber, a muffle tube 102 into which a preform 101 for the optical fiber is inserted is supported by a furnace body 104 together with a carbon heater 103 surrounding the tube. To an upper end of the furnace body 104, is connected a purging gas tube 106 which supplies an inert gas such as nitrogen in the drawing furnace 105 in order to prevent degradation of the muffle tube 102 and the carbon heater 103 due to oxidation. A sealing ring 107 is fixed around an upper end surface of the furnace body 104 to be in sliding contact with an outer surface of the preform 101, and a shutter 108 is provided at a lower end of the furnace body 104, whereby an inert atmosphere can be kept in the drawing furnace 105. The optical fiber 109 drawn in the furnace 105 is passed through a coating die 111 and applied with a first coating of, for example, an ultraviolet curing resin. The ultraviolet curing resin which passes through the coating die 111 together with the optical fiber is cured by irradiation of ultraviolet in an ultraviolet curing device 113 so as to integrate the resin with the optical fiber 109. At a lower end of the device 113, a tube 114 is provided which supplies a purging gas such as nitrogen to exclude oxygen which adversely affects the curing of the resin. In connection with the gas tube, a shutter 115 is provided at an upper end of the device 115 in order to prevent outflow of the purging gas from the device 113. In addition, along the downstream from the curing device 113, another coating die 116 for a second coating and another curing device 117 are provided in turn, so that the optical fiber 118 coated with the first coating is converted to an optical fiber 119 which is further coated with the second coating. The optical fiber 119 is wound up by a winder (not shown) via a direction changing roller 120.
In the conventional process, since the optical fiber is drawn directly into an atmosphere at an ambient temperature from the drawing furnace, defects are fixed and remain in the fiber due to quenching of the optical fiber. In addition, since the glass preform is kept in the furnace at a high temperature (higher than 2000.degree. C.), thermal fluctuations in the glass are promoted. Solutions to overcome these problems are highly desired in order to reduce a transmission loss of the optical fiber and to make the reliability of the optical fiber higher by means of preventing the increase of the transmission loss over a long period.


An illuminating display including a transparent substrate in the form of a sheet or slab having an upper face, a lower face and a plurality of edge faces. The edge faces are provided with an internally reflective treatment and at least one light source associated with the substrate, causing a relatively narrow beam of light rays to emanate into said substrate. At least one reflective surface arranged internally of said substrate to operatively internally reflect light rays from said at least one light source within the substrate. Either (or both) the upper face and the lower face having material in contact therewith for directing light from within the substrate out of a face. The display may be employed in combination with a liquid crystal display (LCD) assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is concerned with an illuminated display apparatus. The invention finds particular, although not exclusive, application as a means for back-lighting liquid crystal displays (LCDs).
2. Discussion of the Background Art
Back-illuminated flat panels have typically incorporated either an edge located light batten or a straight fluorescent tube positioned along the length of an edge of the panel. Prior art arrangements of the above type that use linear light sources are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,217 to Aikens and European Patent Publication No. 879991 in the name of Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd. for example.
Such illuminated panels are characterised by the use of reflective surfaces provided either adjacent to or within the panel, which surfaces are arranged to reflect light from the linear source out through a major surface of the panel towards an observer. Typically reflective surfaces are arranged with an axis parallel to both the linear light source and a major panel surface to maximise reflection of light scattered from the light source. However, such prior art illumination arrangements suffer from the disadvantage that grooves are positioned in the line of sight of the viewer, thus further diffusive stage such as Fresnel lens must be added to the assembly, as for example in European Patent Publication No. 879991.
Back-illuminated flat panels find particular application for back-lighting LCD displays such as find application in lap-top computers, handheld televisions, video camera view-finders and like devices. Such devices are usually battery powered and so it is particularly important that the display consumes a minimum of power.
In order to minimise power consumption prior art designs have incorporated Fresnel lenses into their design thereby maximising visibility of the display from a location perpendicular to the screen. A serious problem with this approach however is that visibility may be critically reduced when the screen is viewed from an off-perpendicular position.

Illuminated background display apparatus


The present invention relates to a Lactuca sativa seed designated 42-167 RZ. The present invention also relates to a Lactuca sativa plant produced by growing the 42-167 RZ seed. The invention further relates to methods for producing the lettuce cultivar, represented by lettuce variety 42-167 RZ.

All cultivated forms of lettuce belong to the highly polymorphic species, Lactuca sativa, which is grown for its edible head and leaves. As a crop, lettuces are grown commercially wherever environmental conditions permit the production of an economically viable yield.
Lactuca sativa is in the Cichoreae tribe of the Asteraceae (Compositae) family. Lettuce is related to chicory, sunflower, aster, scorzonera, dandelion, artichoke and chrysanthemum. Sativa is one of about 300 species in the genus Lactuca.
Lettuce cultivars are susceptible to a number of pests and diseases such as downy mildew (Bremia lactucae). Every year this disease leads to millions of dollars of lost lettuce crop throughout the world. Downy mildew (Bremia lactucae) is highly destructive on lettuce grown at relatively low temperature and high humidity. Downy mildew is caused by a fungus, Bremia lactucae, which can be one of the following strains: Bl:16EU, Bl:17EU, Bl:18EU, Bl:20EU, Bl:21EU, Bl:22EU, Bl:23EU, Bl:24EU, Bl:25EU, Bl:26EU, Bl:27EU, Bl:29EU, Bl:30EU, Bl:31EU, Bl:32EU, Bl:33EU (Van Ettekoven, K. et al., "Identification and denomination of 'new' races of Bremia lactucae," In: Lebeda, A. and Kristkova, E (eds.), Eucarpia Leafy Vegetables, 1999, Palacky University, Olomouc, Czech Republic, pp. 171-175; Van der Arend et al. "Identification and denomination of "new" races of Bremia lactucae in Europe by IBEB until 2002." In: Van Hintum, Th et al. (eds.), Eucarpia Leafy Vegetables Conference 2003, Centre for Genetic Resources, Wageningen, The Netherlands, p. 151; Plantum NL (Dutch association for breeding, tissue culture, production and trade of seeds and young plants), Van der Arend et al. "Identification and denomination of "new" races of Bremia lactucae in Europe by IBEB until 2002." In: Van Hintum, Th et al. (eds.), Eucarpia Leafy Vegetables Conference 2003, Centre for Genetic Resources, Wageningen, The Netherlands, p. 151; Plantum NL (Dutch association for breeding, tissue culture, production and trade of seeds and young plants); IBEB press release "New race of Bremia lactucae Bl:27 identified and nominated", May 2010; Plantum NL (Dutch association for breeding, tissue culture, production and trade of seeds and young plants), IBEB press release, "New races of Bremia lactucae, Bl:29, Bl:30 and Bl:31 identified and nominated", August 2013; Plantum NL (Dutch association for breeding, tissue culture, production and trade of seeds and young plants), IBEB press release, "A new race of Bremia lactucae, Bl:32 identified and nominated in Europe", May 2015), Plantum NL (Dutch association for breeding, tissue culture, production and trade of seeds and young plants), IBEB-EU press release, "A new race of Bremia lactucae, Bl:33EU identified and denominated in Europe", May 2017), Bl:1US, Bl:2US, Bl:3US, Bl:4US, Bl:5US, Bl:6US, Bl:7US, Bl:8US, Bl:9US (Schettini, T. M., Legg, E. J., Michelmore, R. W., 1991. Insensitivity to metalaxyl in California populations of Bremia lactucae and resistance of California lettuce cultivars to downy mildew. Phytopathology 81(1). p. 64-70; Michelmore R. & Ochoa. O. "Breeding Crisphead Lettuce." In: California Lettuce Research Board, Annual Report 2005-2006, 2006, Salinas, Calif., pp. 55-68; http://bremia.ucdavis.edu/data/Bl_9US.pdf).
Downy mildew causes pale, angular, yellow areas bounded by veins on the upper leaf surfaces. Sporulation occurs on the opposite surface of the leaves. The lesions eventually turn brown, and they may enlarge and coalesce. These symptoms typically occur first on the lower leaves of the lettuce, but under ideal conditions may move into the upper leaves of the head. When the fungus progresses to this degree, the head cannot be harvested. Less severe damage requires the removal of more leaves than usual, especially when the lettuce reaches its final destination.
Of the various species of aphids that feed on lettuce, the currant-lettuce aphid (Nasonovia ribisnigri) is the most destructive species because it feeds both on the leaves of the lettuce as well as the heart of the lettuce, making it difficult to control with conventional insecticides. The lettuce aphid feeds by sucking sap from the lettuce leaves. Although direct damage to the lettuce may be limited, its infestation has serious consequences because the presence of aphids makes lettuce unacceptable to consumers.
Lettuce root aphids (Pemphigus bursarius) form clustered colonies on lettuce roots, covering them with a white powdery wax. Feeding on the roots cause the plants to wilt during the day. Individually affected rootlets turn brown and die. The developing heads remain soft, may fail to develop, and yields thus become reduced. Prolonged periods of infestation can cause the collapse and death of the plant.
Butterhead lettuce is appreciated by consumers for its mild flavor and tender texture. The Butterhead lettuce plant has a semi-closed head, non-flabellate leaf (i.e. having a clear midrib), which is not divided nor lobed. The head shape ranging from broad elliptic to transverse elliptic. The heart of the plant is well-filled with yellow colored leaves.
Citation or identification of any document in this application is not an admission that such document is available as prior art to the present invention.


A multi-display computer system comprises a host computer system that processes windowed desktop environments for multiple remote displays, multiple users or a combination of the two. For each display and for each frame, the multi-display processor responsively manages each necessary portion of a windowed desktop environment. The necessary portions of the windowed desktop environment are further processed, encoded, and where necessary, transmitted over the network to the remote display for each user. Embodiments integrate the multi-display processor with the graphics processing unit, network controller, main memory controller or a combination of the three. The encoding process is optimized for network traffic and special attention is made to assure that all users have low latency interactive capabilities.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to a multi-display system, and relates more particularly to an effective implementation of a multi-display processor system.
2. Discussion of Background Art
Developing efficient multi-display systems is a significant objective for contemporary system designers and manufacturers.
Conventional computer systems may utilize a display device to view the output from a host computer system. The conventional display device is typically positioned in local proximity to the host computer system because of restrictions imposed by various physical connections that electrically couple the display device to the output of the computer system. In some cases, computer systems may support a second display device that has similar proximity restrictions due to the physical connections.
Remote displays may advantageously provide users with additional flexibility when choosing an appropriate viewing location and appropriate locations for the host computer. For example, in a corporate environment, a business may wish to keep all of the host computers in a "Computer Room" that is a secure central location that has both physical security and environmental management such as air conditioning and power back-up systems. However, it is necessary for users to utilize the host computer systems from their offices and from desks located outside the "computer room."
The typical office environment today includes personal computers physically located at the users' locations. These personal computers operate on a network having a centralized system for storage, file serving, file sharing, network management and various administrative services. Recognizing the benefits of security, reduced cost of operation, and the general desire for centralizing control, various attempts have been made to reduce the complexity of the computer that resides at the user's location and evolve it into some type of thin client solution. The first portion of the system to be centralized is usually the hard drive, centralizing all of the storage associated with the computer system while the user still runs the operating system on his local desktop. There have been other attempts to centralize more of the computer by effectively turning a client into a dumb terminal, but dumb terminals tend to perform poorly especially for rich multimedia content.
Remote computing systems typically possess certain detrimental operational characteristics that diminish their effectiveness for use in modern computer systems. For example, in order to eliminate restrictive physical proximity connections, remote displays have to resort to ineffective means to transfer the display information from the host computer to the remote display. These ineffective means usually degrade real time performance for video playback and 3D graphics and typically substantially slow down the interactive performance for simple user interface controls.
Some thin client approaches effectively run long wires from the head end system. The long wires may be extensions of the PCI or PCI express bus, or may be some transport of the video display output in either analog or digital form. While the long wire approach can solve software issues for the thin client, it typically requires a special network for the long wires and the host computer can not scale to support many users. Systems that solve the delay issues by essentially lengthening wire implementations used by local proximity displays, end up requiring dedicated and costly wiring solutions.
Some thin clients at the user desktop have a CPU that runs an operating system and have a graphics controller. This makes the thin client, or remote terminal, a system that needs to be maintained with software updates and whose performance is bound by the component selection in the device, not just by the host CPU system. Systems that solve the delay issues by adding more intelligence to the remote display end up with remote systems that require significant processing, a full graphics subsystem including 2D, 3D and video playback, maintenance and system management that significantly reduce the primary justification for centralizing the host computers in the first place.
Effectively solving the issue of remote display systems is one of the key steps in supporting multiple displays from a single host computer. Multiple displays from a single host computer allow multiple users to utilize the resources of a single shared computer thus reducing cost. In a typical office environment, seldom is everyone using their computers at the same time and similarly, seldom is any one user using all of the computing resources of their computer. So for example, a company with 100 offices may only need a system that supports 60 users at any one time. Even with that said, such a system could be designed to support all 100 users giving them enough computing throughput to give the appearance that they each had their own host computer. With host computers ever increasing their performance and even including multiple CPUs and single CPUs that have multiple CPU cores, the limitation of a single user to a single computer makes less economic sense. In office environments such as telephone call centers, where the users are all running a common set of limited software applications, this approach can make sense for many users to share a single host computer.
However, because of the substantially increased complexity in achieving high performance for multiple remote displays, single host computer systems may require additional resources for effectively managing and controlling, and interactive operation of, multiple displays.
What is needed is a system, including a multi-display processor solution that allows a host computer and a network to be used for remote displays, which does not require each remote display to have a significant CPU, operating system, or graphics processor. The system should allow a host computer to economically scale to support numerous displays and numerous users while delivering an acceptable level of performance.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Computer system for supporting multiple remote displays


An improved artificial diet or growth medium for rearing the insect parasitoid Catolaccus grandis is disclosed. The growth medium is composed of amino acid, mineral, vitamin, lipid, and carbohydrate fractions which are present in amounts and proportions effective to support growth of Catolaccus grandis, and the amino acid fraction includes alanine, glutamic acid, histidine and proline at concentrations of about 3.0-5.0%, 8.4-9.4%, 10.0-15.1% and 11.7-12.8%, by weight, respectively. The growth medium is suitable for mass propagation of C. grandis from egg to adult for their subsequent release as biocontrol agents. Alternatively, the growth medium may be used to support growth of adult female wasps of C. grandis for use as breeding stock for continued mass propagation.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to an improved artificial diet for rearing Catolaccus grandis, an ectoparasite of the boll weevil.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years, the potential of the ectoparasitoid Catolaccus grandis (Burks) as a biological control agent against the boll weevil, Anthonomus grandis Boheman, has been established by a number of investigators including Johnson et al. (1973, Environ. Entomol., 2.112-118), Morales-Ramos & King (1991, Evaluation of Catolaccus grandis (Burks) as a Biological Control Agent Against the Cotton Boll Weevil, page 724, In D. J. Herber & D. A. Richter eds.!, Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conferences 1991, Vol. 2, Proc. National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, Tenn.), Morales-Ramos & Cate (1992, Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am., 85:469-476), Summy et al. (1992, Southwest. Entomol., 17:279-288), and Morales-Ramos et al. (1994, Suppression of the Boll Weevil First Generation by Augmentative Releases of Catolaccus grandis in Aliceville, Ala., pp. 958-964, In D. J. Herber & D. A. Richter eds.!, Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conferences 1994, Vol. 2, National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, Tenn.). A number of biological attributes of C. grandis have been reported which enhance its utility as a biological control agent. These attributes include higher fecundity than that of the boll weevil (Morales-Ramos & Cate, ibid); adaptability to a variety of environments, including Mississippi (Johnson et al., ibid), Central Texas (Cate et al., 1990, Pests of Cotton, pp. 17-29, In D. H. Habeck, F. D. Bennett & J. H. Frank eds.!, Classical Biological Control in the Southern United States, South. Coop. Ser. Bull. 355), the Rio Grande Valley (Summy et al., ibid), and North Alabama (Morales-Ramos et al., 1994, ibid); high searching efficiency under low host population densities (Morales-Ramos & King, 1991, ibid); ability to search for hosts on the ground where the susceptible boll weevil stages occur (Summy et al., 1992, ibid); synchrony with the boll weevil life cycle (Morales-Ramos & Cate, 1993, Environ. Entomol., 22:226-233); and adaptability to ranges of temperatures similar to those tolerated by the boll weevil (Morales-Ramos & Cate 1992, Environ. Entomol., 21:620-627).
Augmentative releases of C. grandis have been successfully used to control boll weevil populations in experimental fields in the Rio Grande Valley as described by Summy et al. (1993, Suppression of Boll Weevil Infestations by Augmentative Releases of Catolaccus grandis, pp. 908-909, In D. J. Herber & D. A. Richter eds.!, Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conferences Vol. 2, National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, Tenn.) and in commercial cotton fields in Aliceville, Ala. as described by Morales-Ramos et al. (1994, ibid). However, because C. grandis lacks the ability to overwinter in the U.S. (Johnson et al., ibid), populations of this ectoparasitoid must be rereleased each year. The use of C. grandis as a biological control agent against the boll weevil therefore depends on the development of mass propagation technology.
The current method of mass propagation consists of encapsulating boll weevil larvae in Parafilm.RTM. (Cate, 1987, Southwest. Entomol., 12:211-215). This method of encapsulation has been modified by Morales-Ramos et al. (1992, Feasibility of Mass Rearing of Catolaccus grandis, a Parasitoid of the Boll Weevil, pp. 723-726, In D. J. Herber & D. A. Richter eds.!, Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conferences 1992, Vol. 2, National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, Tenn.) and mechanized by Roberson & Harsh (1993, Mechanized Production Processes to Encapsulate Boll Weevil Larvae (Anthonomus grandis) for Mass Production of Catolaccus grandis (Burks), pp. 922-923, In D. J. Herber & D. A. Richter eds.!, Proc. Beltwide Cotton Conferences, Vol. 2, National Cotton Council of America, Memphis, Tenn.), but, the high costs of using these methods make the price of augmentative releases of C. grandis 5-10 times higher than other methods of boll weevil control.
Despite the success of C. grandis augmentative releases in controlling boll weevil populations in experimental fields, commercial application of this technology is greatly limited by the high costs of mass propagating this parasitoid. Mass propagation has been identified as a critical constraint in commercializing augmentative releases of natural enemies (King & Morrison, 1984, Some Systems for Production of Eight Entomophagous Arthropods, pp. 206-222. In E. G. King & N. C. Leppla eds.!, Advances and Challenges in Insect Rearing, USDA-Agric. Research Serv., New Orleans, La., p. 306). Development of artificial diets for in vitro rearing of parasitoids is viewed as the scientific advance necessary for opening the path for the commercial application of biological control by augmentation of natural enemies (King, 1993, Augmentation of Parasites and Predators for Suppression of Arthropod Pests, pp. 90-100, In R. D. Lumsden & J. L. Vaughn eds.!, Pest Management: Biologically Based Technologies, Proceedings of Beltsville Symposium XVIII, USDA-ARS, Beltsville, Md., American Chemical Society, Washington, D.C.).
Artificial diets for in vitro rearing of hymenopteran ectoparasitoids have been described. Thompson (1975, Ann. Entomol. Soc. Am., 68:220-226) described an artificial diet for Exteristes roborator (Fabricius), while Guerra et al. (1993, Entomol. Exp. Appl., 68:303-307) described an artificial diet for both Bracon mellitor Say and C. grandis. Both diets were devoid of insect components and were composed of amino acid, mineral, vitamin, lipid and carbohydrate fractions. The main differences between these two diets are found in the ratios and amounts of the amino acids in the amino acid fraction. Moreover, Thompson used albumin as a supplement and Guerra et al. used fresh egg yolk.
Guerra et al. subsequently modified the artificial diet described in the 1993 publication, replacing the antimicrobial agent, and adding an antimycotic, and describing an improved technique for egg deposition (1994, Entomol. Exp. Appl., 72:11-16).
Both Thompson and Guerra et al. reported successful development of parasitoids feeding on their respective diets. However, an extensive evaluation of the biological characteristics of the in vitro- reared parasitoids was not presented; and none of the parasitoids were field released. The difficulty of producing large numbers of in vitro- reared parasitoids of sufficient quality has probably been the most important factor limiting the evaluation of their biological attributes. Production of uniformly high quality parasitoids is critical to success of the augmentative release approach. The release of poor quality parasitoids may considerably reduce the degree of success of augmentation practices.

Synthetic diet for rearing the hymenopterous ectoparasitoid, catolaccus grandis

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


In a first exemplary embodiment of the present invention, an automated, computerized method is provided for processing an image. According to a feature of the present invention, the method comprises the steps of providing an image file depicting an image, in a computer memory, identifying a dominant region of single reflectance in the image and segregating the image into intrinsic images as a function of the dominant region of single reflectance.

Many significant and commercially important uses of modern computer technology relate to images. These include image processing, image analysis and computer vision applications. In computer vision applications, such as, for example, object recognition and optical character recognition, it has been found that a separation of illumination and material aspects of an image can significantly improve the accuracy of computer performance.

Method and system for generating intrinsic images using single reflectance technique


A method and apparatus of a device that computes a graph using non-visible metadata edges is described. In an exemplary embodiment, the device receives graph information for a plurality of nodes, wherein a first subset of the plurality of nodes is connected by visible edges. The device further determines a plurality of metadata edges for a second subset of nodes that are not connected by visible edges. The device additionally computes a graph using the plurality of metadata edges and presents the graph using a user interface.

'Graphs' are a method of organizing information using connections between different pieces of information, which are used in several different technical fields A graph is a collection of objects (for example, Facebook users), and a set of connections between them (e.g., whether the users have 'friended' each other). In the field's jargon, the objects in a graph are called "nodes" (that can be drawn as dots or labels), and a connection between two nodes is referred to as an "edge".
Drawing graphs is often a difficult task, and a large amount of past and current research is devoted to devising visually informative graph layouts. One layout algorithm is the 'force-directed layout', where a physics-based simulation is used to draw the graph. Force-directed layouts have the advantage that they are very easy to set up, and can be generated automatically. However, these layouts (and many other automated layout methods) are often unintuitive, messy, and hard to understand.


A method for forming a low resistance refractory metal silicide film of a reduced film thickness is disclosed. The heat treatment temperature required for phase transition to lower the resistance of said silicide film is reduced by restricting the "removal" temperature at which the film is exposed to oxygen containing atmosphere following silicification heat treatment to a low temperature. By lamp annealing in an inert gas atmosphere or vacuum, and setting the removal temperature to less than or equal to 300.degree. C., formation of excess oxygen containing layers are prevented leading to lower phase transition temperature. By lowering the phase transition temperature, the problem of film breakage or increase in resistance due to agglomeration is also prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing a semiconductor device, and more specifically, to a method for forming a refractory metal silicide film on a silicon diffusion layer or a polysilicon gate electrode in a self-aligned manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The degree of integration of semiconductor devices is being continuously increased, and accordingly, the width of gate wiring (length of the gate electrode) and the width and thickness of the diffusion layer is being decreased. Decrease in the width of gate wiring and layer thickness inevitably results in increase in wiring resistance, causing the delay of circuit operations. In submicron semiconductor devices, the reduction of the resistance of refractory metal silicide is an important and essential technology.
In MOS semiconductor devices, the self aligned silicide technique using titanium (Ti) as a refractory metal is being successfully applied to actual devices.
In this kind of structure of transistors, however, the diffusion layer is being forced to become a shallow junction due to the trend towards increased integration. Thus, a reduced thickness of the silicide film is being demanded. The reduction of the silicide film thickness causes not only increase in sheet resistance due to the reduction of the film thickness itself, but also the following two problems on the formation of the silicide film: Firstly, the problem of the breaking (electrical disconnection) of or increase in resistance of the silicide due to agglomeration, and secondly, the problem of rise in phase transition temperature.
The cause of the breaking of the titanium silicide layer due to agglomeration is considered as follows. Titanium silicide films begin to soften at a temperature of 800.degree. C. or above, and becomes flowable. This flow occurs in the horizontal direction on the surface of the titanium silicide or at the interface with the diffusion layer. By this flow, the titanium silicide film deforms to minimize its surface energy. That is, the film separates into a thick island region and a thin film region. Due to this phenomenon, the uniformity of the titanium silicide film thickness is lost, and in some cases, the film is completely broken, i.e. disconnected electrically. The conductivity of the titanium silicide is therefore deteriorated, and resistance increases.
Furthermore, decrease in silicide film thickness and decrease in silicide wiring width both cause increase in surface tension. This results in decrease in the temperature at which agglomeration begins. This was reported by T. P. Nolan, et al. in Journal of Applied Physics, 71 (2), p. 720 (1992).
On the other hand, phase transition is required for forming a titanium silicide film. This is the phase transition from the C49 structure, which is a non-equilibrium phase having a high sheet resistance (resistivity: 2.times.10.sup.-4 .OMEGA.cm), to the C54 structure having a low sheet resistance (resistivity: 1.5.times.10.sup.-5 .OMEGA.cm). In order to reduce the size of transistors, increase in impurity concentration, decrease in the silicide film thickness, and decrease in the silicide film width are required. The phase transition temperature varies depending on these impurity concentration, silicide film thickness and silicide film width. By reducing the silicide film thickness from 50 nm to 30 nm, for example, the phase transition temperature from the C49 structure to the C54 structure increases from about 700.degree. C. to 900.degree. C. or above.
Conventional silicides are therefore formed only in the temperature range limited by phase transition temperature and agglomeration temperature, i.e., above the phase transition temperature and below the agglomeration temperature. Because of the rise in phase transition temperature and decrease in agglomeration temperature due to the above reduction of the device size, the temperature range in which suicides are formed satisfactorily is disappearing, and in the design of a device of 0.5 .mu.m or below, a film of low resistivity (10 .OMEGA./.quadrature.) can no longer be obtained by conventional silicide formation methods.
The prior art method for producing a transistor having a conventional structure will be described referring to FIGS. 1 and 2. FIG. 1(a)-FIG. 1(d) and FIG. 2(a)-FIG. 2(c) are sectional views illustrating the steps of the first embodiment of the conventional method for producing this type of transistors.
First, as shown in FIG. 1(a), on a silicon substrate 1, a gate electrode 4 consisting of polysilicon is formed on a gate oxide film 3; a part of a diffusion layer 2 is formed using the gate electrode 4 as a mask, a side wall 5 adjacent to the gate electrode is formed, and then a part of a diffusion layer is further formed, to form the diffusion layer 2 of a Lightly Doped Drain (LDD) structure in the surface region of the silicon substrate 1. Thereafter, a titanium film 6 of a desired film thickness (10-100 nm) is formed on the entire surface by sputtering.
Next, heat treatment for forming the silicide is performed for 30-60 seconds in a nitrogen atmosphere at 600.degree.-700.degree. C. For this heat treatment, a heat treatment chamber equipped with a lamp annealing device is usually used. By this, as shown in FIG. 1(b), a titanium silicide (TiSi.sub.2) film 7 of the C49 structure is formed in a region where the titanium film 6 contacts with the silicon surface, that is, the region on the surface of the gate electrode 4 and the surface of the diffusion layer 2 not covered by the insulation film. The titanium film 6 on the silicon oxide film (e.g. on the side wall 5) and the titanium film not silicified react with nitrogen to form a titanium nitride (TiN) film 9.
After the heat treatment, the wafer is removed from the heat treatment chamber. The removal is performed at a temperature of 400.degree.-500.degree. C. at which silicon is not oxidized. At this time, the titanium nitride film 9 absorbs approximately 30 percent oxygen, which is the dissolution limit of oxygen in TiN, and becomes partly oxidized. The oxygen which has passed through the partially oxidized titanium nitride film reaches the surface of the titanium silicide film 7 and oxidizes a part of the surface to form an oxygen excess silicide film 11 of a thickness of about 15 nm at the interface between the titanium silicide film 7 and the titanium nitride film 9.
Next, as shown in FIG. 1(c), the titanium nitride film 9 and the titanium film which has not reacted are removed using a mixed solution of ammonia water and hydrogen peroxide. By the above steps, a self-aligned titanium silicide film 7 is formed on the gate electrode 4 and the diffusion layer 2 forming the source and drain regions.
Thereafter, as shown in FIG. 1(d), a second heat treatment for phase transition is performed in a nitrogen atmosphere at about 800.degree. C. for about 60 seconds to form a titanium silicide (TiSi.sub.2) film 8 having the C54 structure, the resistivity of which is lower than the resistivity of the C49 structure. Next, as shown in FIG. 2(a), an interlayer insulation layer 12 consisting of SiO.sub.2 is formed using the ordinary chemical vapor deposition (CVD) process. Here, heat treatment is performed at about 600.degree. C., which is the vitrification temperature of SiO.sub.2, to remove moisture in the interlayer insulation film, and to allow the interlayer film to reflow thereby improving flatness. Next, as shown in FIG. 2(b), the interlayer insulating film 12 is selectively removed using the normally used lithography and etching to form a contact hole 13 reaching the diffusion layer 2. Finally, as shown in FIG. 2(c), the deposition and patterning of aluminum are performed to form the electrode/wiring 14, thus producing a desired semiconductor device.
Furthermore, as the second embodiment of the prior art method for producing this type of transistors, the method disclosed in JPUPA 1-205446 and IEEE International Electron Device Meeting, p. 906 (1993) will be described referring to FIG. 3. In this second embodiment also, like the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1(a), on a silicon substrate 1, a gate oxide film 3, a gate electrode 4 consisting of polysilicon and adjacent side walls 5 are formed. A diffusion layer 2 of the LDD structure is formed in the surface region of the silicon substrate 1. Next, a titanium film 6 of a desired thickness (10-100 nm) is formed on the entire surface by sputtering. Then a titanium nitride film 9a is formed by nitrogen atmosphere heat treatment, after which the water is taken out from the heat treatment chamber into atmosphere. For the following steps, the same steps as in the first embodiment shown in FIG. 1(b) and later, are performed to form titanium silicide on the gate electrode 4 and the diffusion layer 2.

Method for producing a semiconductor device comprising a refractory metal silicide layer


In one embodiment, the design method for a fine metal mask includes: establishing a three-dimensional simulation model of the fine metal mask according to design parameters of the fine metal mask; acquiring material property parameters of the fine metal mask; performing a simulation operation on the three-dimensional simulation model according to the material property parameters and simulation conditions, in order to obtain a simulation result of the fine metal mask after a mesh stretching, and the simulation conditions are configured to represent constraint conditions of the fine metal mask during the mesh stretching, and the simulation result comprises at least one of a deformation condition, a stress condition and a strain condition of the fine metal mask after the mesh stretching is performed; determining whether the simulation result matches a preset result; adjusting the design parameters according to the simulation result if no, and selecting the design parameters if yes.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLED), also known as organic electro-laser displays and organic light-emitting semiconductors, have the characteristics of self-luminescence. Due to a high pixel density of the OLED display panel, when manufacturing an OLED display panel, a fine metal mask (FMM) with an ultra-thin thickness (such as 20-30 um), which is also known as a fine metal mask, is configured to vapor-deposit three-color (red green blue, RGB) organic light-emitting body in the OLED display panel.
Invar alloy (INVAR) with a small thermal expansion coefficient is usually configured to prepare FMM by chemical etching. After etching, the FMM also needs to be mesh stretched for evaporation. However, because the etched FMM becomes thin and brittle, and the surface morphology thereof varies, it is very easy to create wrinkles and bending during the actual mesh stretching process, and the FMM needs to be tightly adhered to the surface of the organic light-emitting substrate to be vapor-deposited during the evaporation process and needs to maintain a high position accuracy. At this time, the wrinkles and bending caused by the mesh stretching will create displacement of the vapor-deposited material and cause color mixing.
The wrinkles and bending of FMM are not only related to the mesh stretching, but also related to the design of the FMM. Because the manufacturing cost of the FMM is high, the cycle duration is long, and the processing is complicated, it is necessary for a designer to pre-judge occurrence of wrinkles and bending of the FMM at the time of the mesh stretching, so as to reduce the occurrence of wrinkles and bending. However, designers currently rely on their experience to predict the wrinkles and bending that may occur when the FMM is stretched. Unreliability is predicted by experience, so the error between the produced FMM and the expected result is large, and the yield is poor.

Method for fine metal mask and design device for the same


A grinding attachment is provided for a hand-held power-operable rotary tool, which may consist of a hand-held drilling machine or a hand-held angular surface grinder. The grinding attachment comprises a drive pulley, a reversing pulley, an endless grinding belt trained around said pulleys, and a belt-tensioning finger extending between said pulleys. The reversing pulley has a slightly sloping peripheral surface and is rotatably mounted in a U-shaped bracket, which is axially extensible by means of a spring-biased push rod and in its peripheral surface is provided with a centrally disposed annular groove, which prevents a slipping of the grinding belt trained around the reversing pulley.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a grinding attachment for a hand-held power-operable rotary tool, which may consist of a hand-held drilling machine or a hand-held angular surface grinder, which grinding attachment comprises a drive pulley, a reversing pulley, an endless grinding belt trained around said pulleys, and a belt-tensioning finger extending between said pulleys.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Such grinding attachments are known from German Utility model 85 34 371. In that known grinding attachment the lateral guidance of the grinding belt and of the reversing pulley and the adjustment and tensioning of the grinding belt cannot reliably be effected.

Grinding attachment for a hand-held power-operable rotary tool


A device includes an output circuit to output an output signal. The device also includes a control loop circuit to measure the real slew of the output signal. The control loop circuit compares the real slew with a target slew adjusts the output circuit when the real slew and the target are mismatched.

Electrical devices such as processors, memory controllers, and graphics controllers reside in many computers and electronic systems. A typical electrical device has drivers to drive signals from one device to another device.
Drivers are often designed to drive signals with a specific slew rate, which is a rate for a signal to switch between different signal levels within a specified time. In some cases, a slew rate greater than the specified slew rate may introduce undesirable noise to the signal. A slew rate less than the specified slew rate may lengthen the time for the signal to switch between expected signal levels, thereby limiting the over operating frequency of the device.


A method and apparatus for advertising a service on a wireless device. The method includes: storing authentication information in the wireless device; using the authentication information to establish communication between the wireless device and a service provider; and subsequent to the communication being established between the wireless device and the service provider, advertising, on the wireless device, context-specific information about a service associated with the service provider based on at least one of (i) an ambient temperature, (ii) a body temperature of a user of the wireless device, and (iii) a heart rate of the user.

Communication technology has had a significant impact on the lifestyles of consumers. For example, satellite systems have enhanced the quality and coverage of cellular phone systems. Satellites have also revolutionized television/radio broadcasting by providing alternatives to terrestrial-based broadcasting. Improved multimedia technology has enabled video conferencing over the Internet, which has reduced the cost of doing business.
Communication systems are increasingly becoming interactive. Movies on television can be ordered on demand. Goods can be ordered while viewing advertisements for the goods on television and on the Internet. Suppliers selling products on the Internet can track orders placed by consumers and advertise related products to those consumers. Additionally, consumers can specify their preferences and receive information selectively from the suppliers. Consumers, however, need to log on to the Internet to view the information and benefit from it.


Process of mixing a fugitive plasticizer, e.g., ethylene carbonate, with moist particulate polyacrylonitrile then removing the water enabling adjustment of the melt viscosity for extrusion of the polyacrylonitrile into film, fiber, pellets and shaped articles. Stretching and heating the extruded polyacrylonitrile film or fiber causes the fugitive plasticizer to exude and vaporize from the film or fiber, carrying with it any remaining acrylonitrile monomer. The resulting film or fiber exhibits substantially increased molecular weight, thus enhancing the tensile strength and barrier properties of the polyacrylonitrile product. The process also produces polyacrylonitrile foam products. A novel cross-linking agent for polyacrylonitrile, divinyloxybutane, is disclosed. Thermostabilizing agents for polyacrylonitrile, N-maleimides and stilbene derivatives, are also disclosed.

It has long been recognized that acrylonitrile polymers, and co-polymers containing acrylonitrile, produce films, fibers and other articles having desirable properties. Such products of particular interest are barrier films for use in product packaging. It has also long been recognized that certain aspects of polyacrylonitrile ("PAN") products need to be improved. First, there is a need for improved and easier processing. Secondly, there is a need for improved and more complete removal of the unreacted acrylonitrile monomer during processing of the polyacrylonitrile, because the presence of monomer is undesirable in food and drug packaging products. Thirdly, there is a need to improve the barrier properties of acrylonitrile polymers and co-polymers. Fourthly, it is desirable that strength properties, particularly tensile strength, of acrylonitrile polymers and co-polymers be increased.
Acrylonitrile polymers composed of 90 weight percent or more of acrylonitrile monomer are generally not melt processable. When heated, they char before the melt can be processed at temperatures commonly used in plastics processing equipment.
Shaped articles made from such polymers are presently limited to the production of fibers by dissolving such polymers in a polar solvent, forcing the resulting "syrup" through a spinnerette to form fibers, coagulating them in a heated atmosphere (dry spinning) or in a fluid bath (wet spinning), tensilizing by stretching, and drying by heat volatilization. Solvent vapors are condensed, purified and reused. Such processing is termed "solution" or "solvent" casting.
Experimental acrylonitrile homopolymer and copolymer thin films have been made by solution casting as described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,717 to Isley et al. A melt extrusion blown film process is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,536,365 to Zwick, and in U.S. Pat. No. 4,144,299 to Inoue et al. Another melt reaction-extrusion process utilizing a water leaching system to remove the solvent component prior to biaxially stretching such formed film is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,066,731 to Hungerford. Film property data taken from such acrylonitrile films show them to have many desirable mechanical, physical, chemical and electrical values for multipurpose use applications. Such films are clear, tough, resistant to ultraviolet radiation, have good temperature resistance, provide high barrier to gas and moisture transmission, and have good dimensional stability.
It appears that as the level of acrylonitrile monomer in such films is increased relative to other monomers, property values also increase. This is especially true of a 99.6 percent acrylonitrile monomer content polymerized with a polyalkenyl monomer serving as a cross-linking agent, as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,437,717. It is also apparent that a small amount of cross-linking agent incorporated into a polyacrylonitrile polymer for solution spinning filaments, yarns and fibers significantly enhances the properties of such end products, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,490 to Sunden, et al. Conversely, the presence of minor amounts, as little as 1 to 2 percent, of comonomers can frequently reduce the desirable characteristics of the polyacrylonitrile product to a point that little advantage is gained over competitive polymer products.
Among the undesirable aspects of these polyacrylonitrile films is that the level of unpolymerized acrylonitrile monomer can exceed the 0.1 parts per million now allowed under United States Food and Drug Administration regulations. Other undesirable aspects relate to levels of residual and possibly toxic solvent, and the implications associated with packaging of food and drug products, and the higher costs and hazards of recovering, condensing, purifying and storing the volumes of solvent required.
The acrylonitrile polymer having the highest barrier and other property values in a biaxially stretched film is the type of polymer found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,437,717 and 3,380,949 to Isley et al., composed of 99.6 weight percent acrylonitrile monomer, as well as in U.S. Pat. No. 3,268,490 to Sundun et al., including copolymers composed of 85 weight percent acrylonitrile monomer. However, the molecular weight of these polymers increases after polymerization, thus causing decreasing rates of dissolution from 17 weight percent to less than 5 weight percent in the solvent system over the course of just 15 days from the date of polymerization. This indicates polymer instability. It is felt that these are major factors which have prevented such experimental films from becoming commercial products.
The disclosures of the above referenced patents are incorporated herein by reference.
Thus, it is an object of this invention to provide improved methods of processing poly-acrylontrile and to provide improved and new PAN compositions and products. This objective, as well as other desirable objectives, are achieved by the invention described and claimed herein.

Acrylonitrile polymer compositions and articles and methods for their preparation


A method of indexing a digital image which has been compressed or is to be compressed according to a compression method using compression parameters which influence the resulting quantity of information contained in at least part of the compressed image, the indexing requiring a predetermined quantity of information. The method includes, prior to a step of indexing the digital image, the steps of determining at least one compression parameter for at least part of the compressed image, and checking whether the resulting quantity of information corresponding to the compression parameters is adapted to the predetermined quantity of information required for the indexing of the image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a method and device for indexing and modifying the compression parameters of digital images.
2. Related Art
A search for images makes it possible to find, amongst an image database, those which correspond most to a criterion without having to analyse the content of each image in the database.
More precisely, the purpose of an indexing system is to associate, with each image in the base, information characteristic of the content of the image, referred to as the "index of the image". All this information constituting what is referred to as the "index of the database". Typically, the content of an image is characterised by its colour distribution (histogram) and its texture.
A user interrogates an image database through a request containing information characteristic of the type of image sought. Conventionally, this request consists of an example image. The user chooses an image, in the database or external to it, whose content is similar to the type of image sought.
The system next associates with this image an item of information characteristic of its content. The index thus associated with this example image is then compared with the index of the database according to a search strategy.
It is possible for example to cite the QBIC ("Query By Image Content") system of IBM, which consists of extracting, from a non-compressed image, a description of its content.
This description consisting of characterising the content of the image by the distribution of the colours and textures of this image. For further explanations on this system, reference can be made to U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,471 of the company IBM entitled "Image query system and method".
However, the majority of digital images, for obvious reasons of storage problems, are stored in compressed form.
Thus, during the indexing of these images, each image must be decompressed before being able to extract the index associated with each of these images.
This decompression phase can be eliminated if the index is extracted directly from the compressed image. In this case, the time necessary for effecting the indexing phase is reduced.
There are few indexing systems which extract indexes directly from the compressed images.
It is possible notably to cite the studies carried out in order to describe the content of an image, from a discrete cosine transform ("DCT"), or from a decomposition into sub-bands.
This is for example described in "Exploiting the JPEG compression scheme for image retrieval", IEEE Trans Patt Anal Mach Intell, 18(8), August 1996, in the case of a DCT, and by "Multiresolution video indexing for subband video databases", Proc of SPIE Storage and Retrieval for Image and Video Databases, in the case of a decomposition into sub-bands.
It is important to note that, in these compressed image indexing systems, the compression and indexing phases are performed separately.
This is because a user defines the coding parameters according to criteria such as the minimisation of the memory location, necessary for storing the image, or so as to obtain a bit stream organised by quality levels, thus facilitating the display of the image on a distant screen.
The description of an image from a bit stream may, in some cases, not be faithful to the content of the compressed image.
Take the example where an image is compressed according to the coder into sub-bands described by FIG. 5a (described subsequently), a frequency decomposition of which is given by FIG. 6c (described subsequently). If the indexing method consists of characterising the content of the compressed image by means of a histogram calculated on the low-frequency sub-band referenced LL3 in FIG. 6c, it is necessary for the histogram to represent the visual content of the image faithfully.
The resolution RES1 of the low-frequency sub-band is fixed by the user who has compressed the image, without being preoccupied whether this compressed image would be indexed or not.
Thus, according to the resolution RES and/or the number of decomposition levels, it may happen that the resolution RES of the sub-band may be around a few pixels, which proves inadequate for obtaining a histogram representing the content of the image.

Method and device for compressing and/or indexing digital images


According to one embodiment, an electrostatic capacitance-type sensor-equipped display device includes a display panel with a display surface which displays an image. The sensor includes a plurality of detection electrodes disposed in a matrix, the detection electrodes being mutually electrically independently provided above the display surface and being configured to detect a variation in electrostatic capacitance, and a plurality of lead lines provided above the display surface, connected to the detection electrodes in a one-to-one correspondence, and formed of a metal.

In general, a display device, which is applicable to a PDA (personal digital assistant) and a tablet PC (personal computer), includes, for example, an electrostatic capacitance-type sensor, and is configured to detect data which is directly input from a display screen with use of input means. As the input means, a conductor such as a pen or a human body can be used. Examples of this display device include an in-cell type display device configured such that an electrode, which forms the above-described sensor, is provided within a display panel, and an on-cell type display device configured such that an electrode, which forms the sensor, is provided on a display surface of the display panel.
The electrode, which forms the sensor, is located within a display area which displays an image, and detects a variation in electrostatic capacitance. Thus, the display device can detect position information of an input location by the input means, by extracting a variation in electrostatic capacitance (strength/weakness of electrostatic capacitive coupling) which occurs in the above-described electrode by the approach of the input means to the electrode.

Electrostatic capacitance-type sensor-equipped display device and method of driving the same


A measurement device (1) includes a probe (7) which irradiates a specific part or a specific location of a living body with excitation light and which receives fluorescence generated by irradiating the specific part or the specific location with excitation light.

Recently, with westernization of diets, patients of lifestyle-related disease are increasing, resulting in serious medical and social problems. At present, in Japan, the number of diabetic patients is 8,000,000, and the number of diabetic patients plus pre-diabetic patients is 20,000,000. The three main complications of diabetes are retinopathy, nephropathy, and neuropathy. Diabetes is also a cause for arteriosclerosis. Furthermore, diabetes may cause heart diseases and brain diseases.
A person develops diabetes in such a manner that improper diets and life styles, secretion from fat cells due to fatness, or oxidative stress decrease the function of pancreas, causing shortage of insulin that controls blood glucose level or reducing the effect of insulin. Diabetes has symptoms such as frequent urination and increased amount of urination, and increased thirst. However, such symptoms may not enable patients to realize that they develop diabetes, and most patients know their illness when they are subjected to inspection in hospitals etc. This tells why there are so many "silent" diabetic patients.
However, at the stage where abnormal symptoms resulting from the complications of diabetes are found in hospitals etc., conditions of the disease have advanced too far, making it difficult to completely cure the disease. In particular, many of the complications of diabetes are difficult to cure, and therefore prevention of diabetes is considered as important like many lifestyle-related diseases. For the prevention, early identification and early determination of therapeutic effect are essential, and there are many inspections for diabetes for this purpose.
When blood contains abnormal amounts of carbohydrates and lipids therein, oxidative stress causes (A) a protein and (B) a carbohydrate or a lipid to react with each other, so that a glycated protein is generated. The glycated protein is repeatedly dehydrated and condensed, so that AGEs (advanced glycation end products) are produced. AGEs are end products produced via nonenzymatic glycosylation reaction of protein (Maillard reaction). The glycated protein and a part of AGEs exhibit yellowish brown color, emit fluorescence, and form crosslink by binding to nearby proteins. Further, AGEs have such a biochemical property that AGEs are recognized by an AGEs receptor.
It can be said that AGEs are deposited on and invade a blood vessel wall, so as to affect macrophage partially responsible for an immune system. This causes, for example, an inflammation while releasing cytokine which is a protein, and ultimately causes arteriosclerosis to develop.
In particular, it is found that AGEs derived from aldehydes are particularly accumulated on a lesion area caused by a diabetic complication, so that such AGEs are advocated as an important component of the progress of a complication (see Non-Patent Literature 1). Such AGEs having biological toxicity is, in particular, called "TAGEs (toxic AGEs)".
As such, there is suggested a possibility that a glycated protein, a glycated amino acid, and AGEs etc. are used as an indicator of a health condition. Studies regarding a health condition on the basis of kinds of AGEs, an abundance of AGEs in a human body, etc. have been intensively carried out. In the case of diabetes, as the blood glucose level increases, the amount of AGEs increases. Accordingly, by monitoring AGEs, it is possible to identify diabetes at an early stage or comprehend progress of diabetes. In recent years, there have been developed some methods for monitoring glycated protein, glycated amino acid, AGEs, etc. One example of a method for screening diabetes mellitus by monitoring AGEs is disclosed in Patent Literature 1.
In this method, AGEs are monitored in such a manner that skin of a forearm is irradiated with excitation light and a spectrum of fluorescence from AGEs binding to skin collagen is detected, and the spectrum of the fluorescence thus measured and a predetermined model are compared with each other. This makes it possible to obtain data of AGEs in a non-invasive manner.
Note that Patent Literatures 2 to 4 disclose a living body measurement device which visualizes a blood vessel and includes a plurality of LEDs (light emitting diodes) each having a different wavelength.

Measurement device, measurement method, measurement result processing device, measurement system, measurement result processing method, control program, and recording medium


A method of making acceleration sensors with integrated measurement of internal pressure includes connecting multiple plates to each other, thereby defining internal cavities. The tightness of these connections or bonds is checked and controlled during the manufacturing process. The plates define membrane portions adjacent each cavity, the membranes deforming in accordance with the internal pressure in the adjacent cavity. Preferably, the internal pressure of the sensor is measurable by detecting deformation of a sensor wall which defines a membrane.

European Patent Application 0 369 35 A1 and corresponding U.S. Pat. No. 5,095,752 of 17 Mar. 1992, SUZUKI et al./HITACHI, disclose various method for connecting structured silicon plates with glass plates, with or without auxiliary layers. This involves connecting or bonding the silicon plates airtightly together, so that the enclosed sensor element undergoes no contact with the outer or ambient air.


A fast pre-charge circuit and method of providing a fast pre-charge for an integrated circuit memory device is disclosed. The fast pre-charge circuit comprises an address calculating unit and a multi-power driver. The address calculating unit detects the sector distance from driver of the integrated circuit memory device, and the driver provides a voltage to the loading of the integrated circuit memory device based on an output of the address calculating unit. Unlike a conventional fixed-power wordline driver, the driver of the present invention provides multiple voltage levels to the wordline or dynamically adjusts for different loading situations.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fast pre-charge circuit and method of providing a fast pre-charge for an integrated circuit memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the size of integrated circuit devices continues to decrease resulting in considerable increase of the packing densities for these devices. The performance of the integrated circuit devices also improves as a result while the manufacture costs have gone down as well.
However, the performance of denser integrated circuit devices could drop when smaller process parameters are used. Accordingly, the issue of maintaining or controlling the precision of contact windows is particularly important as the density of integrated circuit devices continues to increase for future generations of these devices. This etching control issue is even more critical for integrated circuit devices with multiple polysilicon layers. Therefore, a so-called self-aligned contact (SAC) process which can reduce contact area is developed to deal with this issue.
Referring now to FIG. 1, there is shown a block diagram of a portion of an integrated circuit memory device. The integrated circuit memory device 100 typically includes at least a memory controller, and a plurality of memory banks. Each of the memory banks has wordlines or rows (R1, R2, . . . Rn) and bitlines or columns (C1, C2, . . . Cn). A local pre-charge control unit 102 incorporated with a wordline control 140 and a bitline control 130 is used to control the read/write of the memory cells. Typically, the wordline control 140 controls the active and de-active operations of each row of the memory array, while the bitline control 130 controls the read, write and equalize operations of each column to the memory array.
Before the activation of a wordline and accessing of the memory array, the precharge circuit charges all bitlines to a predetermined potential. Further, each bitline is shorted or equalized so that the bitlines are at an equal potential. The time required to precharge and equalize is often referred to as the precharge time or precharge period.
Referring now to FIG. 2, during the precharge stage, the potential of the wordline is also raised to a read wordline potential, typically the supply voltage VDD of the integrated circuit, or a higher voltage generated by charge pumps.
The conventional pre-charge circuit described above is affected by some problems.
One of the problems of the conventional pre-charge circuit depends on the electrical load offered by the wordlines. As shown in FIG. 2, each wordline is driven by a wordline drive power and can have a loading divided by several sections (1, 2, . . . N) of loading. In the conventional wordline or bitline driver design, a constant driving voltage is provided by the wordline or bitline power driver through the whole wordline loading. Since wordline is made of polysilicon which has a higher resistance than the metal bitline, the poly wordline transient speed is especially low.
Therefore, in a high speed memory design, less wordline loading per one wordline driving circuit is often employed in often employed in order to solve the above mentioned problem. However, if one wordline driving circuit drives less wordline loading, then the memory will have to increase the number of the wordline driving circuits, causing the memory chip size and manufacturing cost to increase.
Therefore, there is still a need for a cost effective high speed precharge circuit which can effectively solve the above-mentioned problems of the prior art.

Fast pre-charge circuit and method of providing same for memory devices


A signal transmission circuit of a telephone system comprises a photo-transistor with its emitter and collector connected to telephone network lines, respectively. First and second relays are disposed, respectively, in the telephone network lines between a primary winding of a voice transformer and the collector and in a line between the base and the primary winding of the voice transformer. When a telephone call arises, the first relay connects the primary winding to the collector of the photo-transistor and disconnects a resistor, which is disposed between a junction of the primary winding and the second relay for connecting the base of the photo-transistor to the junction, from the primary winding so as to transmit voice signals through the voice transformer. When dialing is performed, the first relay is caused to disconnect the primary winding from the collector and connect the resistor to the primary winding, in a closed loop. The second relay disconnects the base from the junction so as to render the photo-transistor responsive to photo signals provided from the control means, thereby providing dial pulses the telephone network lines.

For the purpose of providing a brief background of this kind of a voice signal and dial pulse transmitting circuit, which will enhance an understanding of the operation of the circuit of the present invention, reference is made to FIG. 1.
Shown in FIG. 1 is a conventional circuit for transmitting voice signals and sending dial pulses between telephone network lines, including a rectifier circuit 1, dial pulse transmission circuit 2, and telephone voice transmission circuit 3. The circuits 1, 2 and 3 are separately provided between telephone network lines L1 and L2 and are connected to the following circuit (not shown) via a voice transformer 4.
The dial pulse transmission circuit 2 has a photo-transistor PT having its collector and emitter connected to the telephone network lines L1 and L2, respectively, and a resistor R1 connected to the primary winding 4a of the voice transformer 4 via a two-way relay SR and a capacitor C so as to form a closed circuit when dialing is performed, the photo-transistor PT is made conductive and nonconductive (or turned ON and OFF), responding to instructions provided from a related control unit (which is well known in the art and not shown in FIG. 1). The photo-transistor transmits its signals in a known manner as dial signals between the telephone network lines.
The voice transmission circuit 3 has a transistor Tr with its collector and emitter connected to the telephone network lines L1 and L2, respectively. The transistor Tr is connected, at its base, to one terminal of a varistor VA, which, in turn, is connected at its other terminal to a junction of the primary winding 4a of the voice transformer 4 and a capacitor C.
In the above circuit, during a call, the two-way relay SR is in contact with a first contact a so as to render the transistor TR operative and to render the photo-transistor PT nonconductive. During dialing, the two-way relay SR is in contact with another, second, contact b so as to allow the photo-transistor PT to turn conductive and nonconductive, or ON and OFF. Responding to the ON-OFF operation of the photo-transistor PT, dial pulses are provided and transmitted to the telephone network line.
The known circuit described above renders the photo-transistor PT useless while the transistor Tr is utilized during a call and the transistor Tr useless while the photo-transistor PT is utilized during dialing. Thus, it can be said that the prior art circuit is provided with two separate circuit parts which perform almost the same function. This results not only in a cost increase but also in a complicated circuit structure.

Circuit for transmitting voice signals and dial pulses


A memory device comprises a non-volatile electrically alterable memory which is susceptible to read disturbance. The device has a control circuit for controlling the operation of the non-volatile memory. The device further has a first volatile cache memory. The first volatile cache memory is connected to the control circuit and is for storing data to be written to or read from the non-volatile memory, as cache for the memory device. The device further has a second volatile cache memory. The second volatile cache memory is connected to the control circuit and is for storing data read from the non-volatile memory as read cache for the memory device. Finally the control circuit reads data from the second volatile cache memory in the event of a data miss from the first volatile cache memory, and reads data from the non-volatile memory in the event of a data miss from the first and second volatile cache memories.

A memory device containing a non-volatile memory such as a NAND memory, is well known in the art. Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a block level diagram of a memory device 10 of the prior art having a non-volatile memory 12 such as a NAND memory 12. A NAND controller 14 controls the operation of the NAND memory 12 to store data therein or to read data therefrom. The memory device 10 also comprises a PNOR cache 16, which is a volatile memory 16, such as PSRAM or DRAM. The cache 16 serves to store data to be written into the NAND memory 12 or to hold the data read from the NAND memory 12. The use of a memory cache 16 is advantageous for several reasons. First if NAND memory 12 is used, because the NAND memory stores a page of data at a time, if less than a page of data is desired to be stored or read, then the cache memory 16 can store the entire page of data read from (or to be written to) the NAND memory 12 from which the particular data within that page is then read from the memory device 10 or the entire page of data is written to the NAND memory 12. Second, the use of a volatile memory 16 as a cache is advantageous because typically a cache memory 16 operates faster than the non-volatile memory 12. The use of a NAND memory 12, with a NAND controller 14 and a volatile memory cache 16 functioning as a Pseudo NOR memory device is fully disclosed in U.S. 2007/0147115 A1 published Jun. 28, 2007, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Typically, the cache memory 16 is only a small amount of volatile memory and does not contain enough storage to store all the contents or data from the NAND memory 12. Thus, one of the functions of the NAND controller 14 is to ensure that the cache memory 16 is used most efficiently, in that the cache memory 16 should contain data that is most frequently requested thereby minimizing the number of times the NAND controller 14 must retrieve the requested data directly from the NAND memory 12. However, if multitude frequently accessed pages of NAND memory map to the same cache line, then reading one page may remove the needed page from the cache, over and over. Thus, "cache trashing" results. "Cache trashing" is the result of data in the cache memory 16 being continually changed, requiring the NAND memory 12 to be directly addressed and data read therefrom. Thus, there are occasions when read requests to the memory device 10 will result in a miss, in that the data is not found in the cache memory 16 but must be read directly from the NAND memory 12. In such event, the response of the memory device 10 is slowed. Further complicating the problem is that as multiple read requests to the same address in the NAND memory 12 occurs, excessive reading of the same location in the NAND memory 12 results. Excessive reading of the same location in a NAND memory 12 can result in read disturbance over time, and can cause read error. Thus, there is a need to minimize such read disturbance thereby reducing read errors.
In the prior art it is known that cache trashing, i.e. same data in a cache being frequently replaced, is a problem. However, cache trashing is a phenomenon known in processor caches. Further, it is well known to provide a small cache ("critical cache") to hold frequently missed cache lines to improve performance in a high speed processor. However, such critical cache is used to improve speed and to reduce access to slower main memories in read and write operations.


A signal transmitting system comprising a signal outputting unit and a signal receiving unit is provided. The signal outputting unit receives a first signal and outputs a second signal. The signal receiving unit receives the second signal and outputs a third signal. The signal outputting unit comprises an inverting device which receives the first signal and outputs a first inverted signal, and a signal driving device which receives the first inverted signal and outputs the second signal. The signal driving device comprises two NMOS transistors. The first NMOS transistor has a drain biased by a first voltage, and a gate receiving a control signal. The second NMOS transistor has a gate receiving the first inverted signal, a source biased by a second voltage, and a drain electronically coupled to the source of the first transistor. The drain of the second NMOS transistor outputs the second signal.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates in general to a signal transmitting system, and more particularly, to a signal transmitting system and method and the signal driving device thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
A large amount of power loss will occur when signals are transmitted via a long transmission line. Since the power consumption is proportional to the square of the voltage during signal transmission, a signal transmitting system is normally used to reduce the voltage of signal at the outputting end first, use a lower voltage level to transmit the signal so as to reduce power loss, and the voltage of the signal is risen to original level at the receiving end.
Referring to FIG. 1, a configuration diagram of a conventional signal transmitting system is shown. The signal transmitting system 100 comprises a conventional signal outputting unit 110 and a signal receiving unit 120. The conventional signal outputting unit 110 receives a first signal S1 then outputs a second signal S2, wherein the second signal S2 has a level lower than the first signal S1 and is substantially of the same phase with the first signal S1. After that, the signal receiving unit 120 receives the second signal S2 and outputs a third signal S3, wherein the third signal S3 is substantially the same with the first signal S1. The voltage of the signal is reduced during transmission and is restored to the original voltage level after the signal at the receiving end.
Referring to FIG. 2, a circuit diagram of a conventional signal transmitting system is shown. Conventional signal outputting unit 110 comprises an inverting device 112 and an inverting device 114. The inverting device 112 is a CMOS inverter according to prior art for receiving a first signal S1 and outputs a first inverted signal S1′, wherein the first inverted signal S1′ and the first signal S1 are of opposite phases. The inverting device 112 comprises an NMOS transistor T1 and a PMOS transistor T2, wherein the source of the PMOS transistor T2 is biased by the main voltage Vh.
The inverting device 114 is a CMOS inverter according to prior art for receiving the first inverted signal S1′ and outputting a second signal S2. The inverting device 114 comprises an NMOS transistor T3 and a PMOS transistor T4, wherein the source of the PMOS transistor T4 is biased by a main voltage VI, the main voltage VI is lower than the first the main voltage Vh. Since the main voltage VI is lower than the main voltage Vh, the second signal S2 and the first signal S1 can have the same phase, while the level of the second signal S2 is lower than that of the first signal S1.
Despite that the above signal transmitting system avoids power loss during transmission, the corresponding time of equivalent resistor and equivalent capacitance of the transmission line 130 still affects the signal transmission speed due to the length of the transmission line 130. Under such circumstances, a MOS transistor with larger power current driving ability is required to promptly increase the transmission line 130 to a target level.
In conventional CMOS inverter 114, since the electron mobility μp of the PMOS is approximately equal to ⅓ of the electron mobility μn of the NMOS, the PMOS transistor will have a lower operating speed and a poorer power current driving ability. For the PMOS transistor to generate a larger power current so as to increase the power current driving ability, the transistor aspect ratio (W/L) must be increased. Consequently, the size of the conventional signal outputting unit 110 becomes larger. How to reduce the size of the signal outputting unit has thus become an imminent challenge to the semiconductor industry.

Signal transmitting system and method and signal driving device thereof


This invention relates to triazolopyridyl compounds of the structural formula:

Aldosterone is a steroid hormone secreted in the adrenal cortex. In primary cells of the distal tubules and collecting ducts of the kidney, aldosterone binding to the mineralocorticoid receptor (MR) results in the retention of sodium and water and excretion of potassium, which in turn leads to increased blood pressure. Aldosterone also causes inflammation that leads to fibrosis and remodeling in the heart, vasculature and kidney. This inflammation may proceed by MR-dependent as well as MR-independent mechanisms (Gilbert, K. C. et al., Curr. Opin. Endocrinol. Diabetes Obes., vol. 17, 2010, pp. 199-204).
Mineralocorticoid receptor antagonists (MRAs), such as spironolactone and eplerenone, have been used previously to block the effects of aldosterone binding to MR. When given in addition to standard therapies such as angiotensin-converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors and loop diuretics, the nonselective MRA spironolactone and the selective MRA eplerenone significantly reduced morbidity and mortality in patients with heart failure or myocardial infarction (Pitt, B. et al., New Engl. J. Med., vol. 341, 1999, pp. 709-717; Pitt, B. et al., New Engl. J. Med., vol. 348, 2003, pp. 1382-1390). However, the nonselective MRA spironolactone can also bind to and act at other steroid receptors, and as a consequence its use is associated with sexual side effects such as gynecomastia, dysmenorrhoea and impotence (Pitt, B. et al., New Engl. J. Med., vol. 341, 1999, pp. 709-717; MacFadyen, R. J. et al., Cardiovasc. Res., vol. 35, 1997, pp 30-34; Soberman, J. E. et al., Curr. Hypertens. Rep., vol. 2, 2000, pp 451-456). Additionally, both spironolactone and eplerenone are known to cause elevated plasma potassium levels (hyperkalemia) and elevated aldosterone levels.
An alternative method of blocking the effects of aldosterone is to inhibit its biosynthesis. CYP11B2 is a mitochondrial cytochrome P450 enzyme that catalyzes the final oxidative steps in the conversion of 11-deoxycorticosterone, a steroidal precursor, to aldosterone (Kawamoto, T. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 89, 1992, pp. 1458-1462). Compounds that inhibit CYP11B2 should thus inhibit the formation of aldosterone. Such compounds, particularly those of nonsteroidal structure, should provide the beneficial effects of MRAs, without the adverse effects derived from steroid receptor binding or MR-independent inflammatory pathways. The art has recognized that reducing aldosterone levels by inhibiting aldosterone synthase could represent a new pharmaceutical strategy that has the potential to treat a disorder or disease characterized by increased stress hormone levels and/or decreased androgen hormone levels in a patient (WO2011/088188 to Novartis). Compounds possessing this activity might be expected to treat disease states such as heart failure, cachexia, acute coronary syndrome, Cushing's syndrome or metabolic syndrome.
CYP11B1 is a related enzyme that catalyzes the formation of glucocorticoids, such as cortisol, an important regulator of glucose metabolism. Because human CYP11B2 and CYP11B1 are greater than 93% homologous, it is possible for nonselective compounds to inhibit both enzymes (Kawamoto, T. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, vol. 89, 1992, pp 1458-1462; Taymans, S. E. et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., vol. 83, 1998, pp 1033-1036). It would be preferable, however, for therapeutic agents to selectively inhibit CYP11B2 and the formation of aldosterone with diminished inhibition of, or affect on, CYP11B1 and the production of cortisol.
WO 2009/135651 to Elexopharm describes 6-pyridin-3-yl-3,4-dihydro-1H-quinolin-2-one derivatives as being CYP11B2 inhibitors. Two compounds described therein are lactam derivatives of the formula:
Structurally similar lactam and thiolactam compounds are disclosed by Lucas et al., J. Med. Chem. 2008, 51, 8077-8087; those compounds are said to be potential inhibitors of CYP11B2. Lucas et al. in J. Med. Chem. 2011, 54, 2307-2309 describes certain pyridine substituted 3,4-dihydro-1H-quinolin-2-ones as being highly potent as selective inhibitors of CYP11B2. An abstract of a dissertation reports that a series of novel heterocyclic-substituted 4,5-dihydro-[1,2,4]triazolo[4,3a]quinolones was evaluated for its aldosterone synthase activity; one of the compounds is reported as exhibiting excellent selectivity of CYP11B2 over CYP11B1.
Benzimidazole derivatives are also known in the art to treat various disease states. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,897,208 to Aventis Pharmaceuticals describes compounds of the formula:
wherein R1 is an optionally substituted aryl or heteroaryl group and A5 is H or alkyl. These compounds are said to be kinase inhibitors. Other benzimidazoles derivatives are known in the art. For example, WO 2012/012478 to Merck describes benzimidazole analogues as having the ability to CYP11B2. WO2002/46168 A1 to AstraZeneca describes benzimidazoles derivatives that are useful in the treatment or prophylaxis of Alzheimer's disease, anxiety disorders, depressive disorders, osteoporosis, cardiovascular disease, rheumatoid arthritis or prostate cancer. US2007/0270420 A1 to Vertex Pharmaceuticals describes benzimidazole compounds that are useful of inhibitors of GSK-3 and Lck protein kineases. Other benzimidazole derivatives are described in US 2009/0018124 A1, WO2004/082638 A1, WO2008/073451 A1 and US 2005/0272756 A1.
Novartis in US 2010/0261698 A1 describes indole derivatives of the formula:
Novartis indicates that these compounds inhibit aldosterone synthase and may be useful in the treatment of disease states such as heart failure and hypertension. In WO2010/130,796 A1 and WO2011/061168, Novartis discloses aryl-pyridine derivatives that are said to inhibit aldosterone synthase.
US 2009/0221591 A1 to Universitat des Saarlandes also discloses compounds that inhibit CYP11B1 and CYP11B2. WO 2009/135651 to Universitat des Saarlandes teaches that compounds of the formula:
possess the ability to inhibit aldosterone synthase.
WO 1999/400094 Bayer AG discloses oxazolidinones with azol-containing tricycles as having antibacterial activity.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,381,825 to Takeda describes histone deacetylase inhibitors of the formulaZ-Q-L-Mwhere Q is a substituted or unsubstituted aromatic ring, L is a substituent providing between 0-10 atoms separation between M and the remainder of the compound, M is a substituent capable of complexing with a deacetylase catalytic site and/or metal ion, and Z is list of bicyclic groups, including, but not limited to:
where X is CR12 or N. These compounds are said to be useful in treating cell-proliferative diseases such as, for example, leukemia, melanoma, bladder cancer, etc.

Triazolopyridyl compounds as aldosterone synthase inhibitors

Abstract: or their pharmaceutically acceptable salts, wherein the variable are defined herein. The inventive compounds selectively inhibit aldosterone synthase. This invention also provides for pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds of Formula I or their salts as well as potentially to methods for the treatment, amelioration or prevention of conditions that could be treated by inhibiting aldosterone synthase.