Various embodiment(s) of a digital device and a method for controlling the same are disclosed in this specification. Herein, the method for controlling a digital device according to an exemplary embodiment of the present invention may include f receiving a signal requesting for outputting a recommended content page, receiving recommended content page data of a most recently update version from a cloud server, and displaying the recommended content page received from the cloud server, wherein the recommended content page may include a first window including broadcast content information and a second window including VOD content information, and wherein the first window and the second window may include thumbnail images of each content.

In succession to standing devices, such as PCs (Personal Computer), TVs (Television), and so on, the evolution of mobile devices, such as smart phones, Tablet PCs, and so on, is remarkable. Although standing devices and mobile devices have initially been evolving in each of their respective fields by being differentiated from one another, such fields have become non-distinctive with the recent advent of the digital convergence boom.
Additionally, with such development or change in the environment of the digital devices, expectation levels of users have also increased gradually, thereby causing an increase in a request for supporting a more diverse range of high-quality services or applications.

Digital device and method for controlling the same


According to one embodiment, there is provided an anti-vibration structure for a handle of a portable brush cutter, the structure including: a pole; an operation unit provided at a front portion of the pole; an engine provided and a lever device provided at a base portion of the pole; an attachment stay unit fixed to a middle portion of the pole, the attachment stay unit having an accommodation recess at each end thereof; an operation handle having a protrusion protruding from each end thereof; and anti-vibration materials sandwiched between the attachment stay unit and the handle main body in a left-right direction of the pole, so that one side of the anti-vibration material is accommodated in the accommodation recess while the protrusion is inserted in an open-groove formed on the other side of the anti-vibration material.

In general, a brush cutter includes an engine attached at the base portion of the pole to drive an operation unit. A cutter (operation unit) is disposed at the front-end of the pole to connect the engine and the cutter via a transmission shaft. The brush cutter is normally operated by gripping the handle provided in the middle of the pole and operating a group of levers provided near the handle. According to the conventional brush cutter, the vibration of the engine is directly transmitted to the user's hand, and the human body is adversely affected when brush cutting is performed for long time. Thus, it has been proposed to dispose anti-vibration materials, such as anti-vibration rubber or a metal spring, between the pole and the handle or between the pole and the lever device, thereby dampening the vibration from the engine so as not to be transmitted to the handle or to the lever device (for example, see JP-UM-S56-062026-A and JP-2005-046087-A).
In the conventional portable brush cutter, it is necessary to firmly fix the operation handle to the pole so as not to move along the pole, in order to ensure operability after attaching the anti-vibration material. Therefore, the structure is complicated, and the vibration of the operation handle during the operation becomes large.

Anti-vibration structure for a handle of a portable brush cutter


A medication compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system for coordinating the administration of medication regimens at home equipped with a system for monitoring patient compliance and protection from overdosage and underdosage. The system is accessible to all types of patients, including children, the elderly, the visually-impaired, the hearing-impaired and patients with other handicaps. The device comprises a centrally positioned main housing containing a control element, a plurality of storage and dispensing units dedicated to different medications engageable with the main housing, and a system of input and output devices in communication with the control element. The I/O devices include visual and audible alarms for alerting the patient of administration times, voice and display means for providing extended medication information to the patient, a mini-camera for recording patient compliance and a user-wearable message receiving component for doing same. The compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system of the invention automatically dispenses medication according to a prescribed schedule but has built-in features which, in addition to recording non-compliance, allows inter alia adjustment of the medication criteria to protect against overdosage, as well as underdosage and preferably double-checks on the patient taking the dispensed medication and records and tracks when the medication is taken and co-ordinates this information with the medication regime programmed into the system.

Medication compliance systems and associated medication dispensing devices, and their equivalents, are known in the prior art. These systems are used for overseeing and coordinating the administration of medication regimens. Present systems function primarily to remind the patients when to take a particular medication and to automatically dispense that medication in accordance with a prescription schedule. Integration of CPU-based microprocessors into the compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system hardware has allowed the most recent systems to handle even more complex regimens, often involving multiple medications and administration criteria. These systems are particularly directed to coordinating and administering a complex medication regimen at home, outside the support of a hospital or pharmacy.
Critical to the effectiveness of a compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system is a method of assuring the care-giver that a patient is complying with the administration regimen. Moreover, the medication compliance and dispensing system should provide some protection from overdosage and underdosage. Generally speaking, prior art compliance and dispensing systems are able to regulate dosage and frequency according to administration criteria stored in the internal memory of the device's control sub-system. These devices can often provide a record of the administration history, which a care-giver can later review for patient compliance or non-compliance. Some medical dispensers provide protection by restricting patient access to medication only in accordance with a prescription schedule.
As the health care industry continues to change, the importance of self-administered medication regimens will also continue to increase. This increase challenges the adequacy of existing compliance and dispensing systems in meeting the demands of a wider variety of patient needs and even more complex medication regimens.
It is now apparent that the compliance and dispensing systems in the prior art are limited in use by certain members of the patient populations, particularly those with special needs, such as children, the elderly, the visually-impaired, the hearing-impaired and patients with failing memory. With respect to these subpopulations, it is imperative to provide compliance, co-ordination and dispensing systems and medical dispensers which feature further assurances of compliance and greater protection from overdosage and underdosage. The increased popularity has also created a demand for compliance, co-ordination and dispensing systems which are more convenient to use and more conducive to the lifestyle of any type of patient.
Typical of present systems, U.S. Pat. No. 5,329,459, issued to Kaufman et al, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,159,581 issued to Agans, disclose an interactive medication dispenser capable of storing and dispensing a plurality of medication, reminding the patient of administration times, and discriminating between the different categories of medication stored, as well as the different schedules of medication administration. These prior art approaches include a housing for storage and dispensing of a plurality of medication on demand from a programmable control element integrated with the device. The CPU-based control element communicates with internal memory containing medication administration criteria, a medication delivery system and output devices which send audible or displayed messages to the patient or care-giver, including a speech output means, a visual display and other control signal devices.
The approach disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,291,191, issued to Moore, is intended to improve access by the visually-impaired to such a medical dispenser. The Moore approach dispenses medication according to a prescription schedule. When a medication is dispensed, the device selectively broadcasts an audible description of the specified medication. The invention includes a housing, an saudible broadcast means, and switch means for regulating access to a predetermined storage compartment and causing a sound playback means to broadcast a message associated with that compartment.
Moore also teaches designing the cabinet of the housing such that the compartments slide downwardly from the closed position to an open position, and whereby gravity defines the urging means. When individual switches are closed or opened via a control system, in accordance with a prescribed schedule, access to the compartment containing the subject medication is allowed. When the compartment is actually opened, e.g. by the patient, another switch causes the control element to broadcast or display a specific message associated with that medication.
A first problem recognized in the above-described prior art is that the dispensing devices eject medication automatically according to a timed sequence or schedule, but do not provide assurances that the medication was taken, and, if taken, when the medication was taken. In this regard, the devices do not provide adequate protection against both underdosage and underdosage. If the patient fails to take the medication according to schedule, the system continues to dispense medication at set intervals under the false assumption or premise that the patient took previous medications accordingly. Such a situation greatly enhances the risk of underdosage--the patient takes less than is prescribed. An equally critical situation arises if the patient takes the medication not according to schedule, but long after it is dispensed. If the patient takes the medication too close to the time for taking the subsequent medication, the patient is in danger of overdosage.
An attempt to provide some of the protection and assurances lacking in the prior art is evidenced in U.S. Pat. No. 5,392,952 issued to Bowden. Bowden '952 is another medication dispensing system for providing specific doses of medication in accordance with a pre-determined schedule. The device is specifically targeted for use by the elderly, the visually-impaired, the hearing-impaired and the disabled, and for prevention of overdosage. The system provides information regarding the medication regimens of the patient and specific instructions associated with each medication, including dosage, whether to take with water or food, and whether it is necessary to refill any of the medication supplies. The Bowden system also monitors and records compliance, or non-compliance, by the patient, with the compliance information then made available to a care-giver for review.
As with the previous devices, the Bowden approach includes a plurality of compartments for storage and dispensing of medication and a control element for receiving and storing medication administration criteria, e.g. the time periods for dispensing medication and specific instructions associated with each medication. The control element also actuates the display and broadcast of messages to either the care-giver or the patient. In Bowden '952, overdose protection is provided by a mechanism and operation for retrieving pills which are delivered but not removed from the dispenser within a specified time period. The previously dispensed pills are restocked in the device's storage area.
One problem with Bowden '952, however, is that the prescribed medication can be dispensed on demand, thereby allowing the patient to continue to press a button for multiple dosage at the same time. This is especially a problem for a patient with limited manual dexterity. Such a patient is susceptible to inadvertently requesting multiple dosage at once, thereby interrupting and thus invalidating the prescription schedule. In addition, someone besides the patient could gain unrestricted access to the medications as well.
Another deficiency in Bowden '952, and common to present pill dispensing devices, is that the dispensing apparatus dispenses into a common drawer or tray. When multiple medications are dispensed, or when multiple medications have gathered in the tray, a patient is forced to discriminate between the pills, for example, when administering instructions differ between the pills. A visually-impaired patient finds this task difficult if not impossible. When the pills are identical in color, shape or form, as are many forms of medication, even a patient with some visual acuity will find the task just as challenging.
Although Bowden '952 is specifically directed at providing a compliance system and medical dispenser with improved protection from overdosage and some assurances of patient compliance, existing systems are still lacking.
However, the present invention, in contrast, provides a compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system embodying the desirable aspects of recent technology, but introduces new mechanisms and operations which provide additional assurances of patient compliance and greater protection from overdosage and underdosage. The improvements are necessary in order for these health care devices to effectively service the elderly, the visually-impaired, the hearing-impaired, the mentally ill, and others with handicaps.
Because of the increased complexity of medical regimens, it is also desirable for a compliance and dispensing system to provide more extensive and more accessible information on the medications and their administration. The Moore '191 and Bowden '952 devices give limited information regarding dosage, dosage times, how to take the medication and supply status to the patient.
However, the present invention preferably provides administering instructions, information on side effects, precautionary measures, symptoms to watch and when the patient should call a doctor. Moreover, such information is be accessible, in one form or other, to the variety of patients to which the present invention is directed. The present invention's compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system preferably also provide means for communicating the information to the care-giver, and to the patient when he/she is not in the vicinity of the device.
There is also a need to provide compliance systems which are more convenient to use in the home and more conducive to the lifestyle of the patient. Although it is known in the prior art to provide a portable medical dispenser, such systems remain heavy and bulky, and are impractical to carry around with the patient, as that patient goes about in his/her normal routine. For the compliance and dispensing system to be effective, the patient must be in the near vicinity to hear or see the alarms. This, of course, is burdensome, since the patient will need to leave the home or frequent other parts of the home far from the device.
Finally, despite recent developments in medical dispensing devices for the home, prior art systems are further limited in that they are not capable of dispensing medication in liquid form. Regardless of complexity, it is common, if not essential, for medication regimens to include liquid medication. Thus, a system for coordinating and administering complex medical regimens in the home, provided with assurances of compliance and protection from overdosage and underdosage, would not be complete without liquid dispensing capability. It is one object of the present invention to preferably provide such a capability in a compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system.
A list of prior patents which may be of interest is provided below:
______________________________________ U.S. Pat. No. Inventor(s) Issue Date ______________________________________ 5,400,301 Rackley 03/21/95 5,392,952 Bowden 02/28/95 5,367,505 Tsuchiya et al 11/22/94 5,329,459 Kaufman et al 07/12/94 5,291,191 Moore 03/01/94 5,159,581 Agans 10/27/92 4,785,981 Rodman 11/22/88 4,462,696 Yung et al 07/31/84 4,147,021 Kondo 04/03/79 ______________________________________
It is noted that some of the above patents are directed to wristwatches that include an alarm of one type or another for, for example, reminding the wearer to take medication, noting for example, the Rackley '301 patent; and one watch which includes a vibration based alarm, noting, for example, the Tsuchiya et al '505 patent. However, there is suggested no co-ordination of such a watch with a separate medication compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system.

Medication compliance, co-ordination and dispensing system


A puncture instrument capable of punctured high frequency treatments. The puncture instrument essentially includes: a guide tube to be inserted into an intracavitary portion of a patient; a puncture needle member having an elongated needle body slidably received in the guide tube, and a sharp-pointed needle head provided contiguously at the fore end of the elongated needle body and protrudable out of the guide tube to penetrate into a target intracorporeal portion to be treated when the needle body is manipulated in a forward direction; and a high frequency electrode provided on a fore end portion of the needle body to be penetrated into the target intracorporeal portion together with the sharp-pointed needle head.

1. Field of the Art
This invention relates generally to a medical puncture instrument, and more particularly to a puncture instrument for punctured high frequency treatments, having a high frequency electrode on a puncture needle member to be driven into a target organ or tissues in an intracorporeal region of a patient for a high frequency treatment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For instance, ultrasound endoscopes are widely resorted to in the medical fields not only for intracorporeal examinations and diagnosis but also for therapeutic purposes to give an appropriate treatment to a diseased portion on the basis of the results of an examination or diagnostic observation. In many cases, the ultrasound endoscopes of this sort are provided with an ultrasound imaging means along with an endoscopic observation means at the fore end of a catheter-like insert portion to be introduced into an intracavitary portion of a patient. The endoscopic observation means is suitable for examinations of conditions of intracavitary walls, while the ultrasound observation means is suitable for examinations of tissues in deeper intracorporeal regions. In case a diseased portion is spotted by any of these examinations, there arises a necessity for inserting a therapeutic instrument for the treatment of the diseased portion. For this purpose, the ultrasound endoscopes are usually provided with the so-called biopsy channel which is designed to guide a bioptic or therapeutic instrument to be inserted into a particular intracorporeal portion under observation through the endoscopic or ultrasound imaging means. Some bioptic or therapeutic instruments are inserted into and manipulated through a biopsy channel on an endoscope for the treatment of a certain intracorporeal portion, as in the case of forceps and high frequency therapeutic instruments which are used for sampling intracavitary wall tissues or for coagulation or hemorrhage control treatments. On the other hand, it has been known in the art to penetrate a puncture instrument into an intracorporeal organ or tissues of interest through an intracavitary wall for injection of a medicinal liquid or for an aspiratory or suctional drainage treatment.
In this connection, conventional instruments designed for high frequency therapeutic treatments within an intracavitary tract, for example, are unable to treat cancer cells or other diseased portions which exist underneath the mucous membrane. On the other hand, conventional puncture needles are designed to serve for a treatment of a specific nature such as injection of a medicinal liquid or suctional evacuation of a diseased portion, and thus have only a limited range of application, precluding applications to other treatments like high frequency treatments.

Puncture instrument for punctured high frequency treatments


A metal, U-shaped, annular cap is placed over one end of a cylindrical body of filter material. The metal end cap is retained on the body of filter material by a layer of plastisol and has adhered to the outside surface thereof an annular gasket made of either polyurethane or a closed or opened cell foam. The gasket presents an axially extending sealing surface for effecting a radial seal with a sealing flange in a filter housing. In accordance with another embodiment of the invention, a second annular gasket is provided which is adhered to the surface of the U-shaped end cap and extends axially therefrom. The second annular gasket has a radial surface for effecting an axial seal with a filter housing configured for axial sealing with filter elements disposed therewithin.

Heavy transportation, agricultural and construction equipment frequently rely on large diesel engines for power. It is important that clean air be delivered to these engines for combustion. Generally, one type of air cleaner for this purpose utilizes coaxial primary and secondary air filters, wherein the secondary air filter is nested within the primary air filter. Air is drawn from the atmosphere, radially through the primary and secondary filters and into the cylindrical space within the secondary filter. The filtered air then passes to the engine for mixture with fuel in the combustion chamber of the engine.
In order to ensure proper filtering of combustion air, the primary and secondary air filters are sealed within a housing by an arrangement of radial and axial sealing elements and gaskets. In one prior art approach, sealing of the filters is accomplished by compressing the outlet end of the filter against the end wall of the housing and by providing a gasket between the end of the filter and the end wall of the housing. This is accomplished by, for example, utilizing a yoke assembly which cooperates with a threaded wing nut, the nut being used to compress the filters against the end wall of the housing to prevent leakage of air around the filter elements. In the past, various other latches and clamping devices have been used to effect a positive clean air seal with such filter assemblies.
Axial compression techniques for sealing require filters and filter housings which are constructed so as not to collapse under compression. Since axially compressed filters tend to be more expensive than radially compressed filters because they are subjected to higher axial loads, radially sealed filters are being increasingly used. Since filter housings for both axially and radially sealed filter elements are on existing vehicles and equipment, confusion can occur as to which filter element should be used as a replacement when the original or prior replacement filter element is changed. Moreover, it is expensive and aggravating to produce two types of filters since the two types of filters require separation at some time during the production process and require separate marking and inventory control.

Air filters including filters configured for both radial and axial sealing


The invention relates to an operating device (1) for operating lighting means, in particular LEDs, comprising: a potential-isolated clocked converter (3), having a transformer (T), which has a primary winding (N1) and a seconding winding (N2), and having a controllable switch (M1) arranged on the primary side, wherein the converter (3) can be supplied with a supply voltage converter (3); means (4) for directly or indirectly sensing the output voltage (Vout); and a control unit (ST) for controlling the switch (M1), wherein the secondary current (I2) through the secondary winding (N2) linearly drops, starting from a position value (I2max), which the switch (M1) is switched off, wherein the control unit (ST) is designed to adaptively sense a discharge duration (Tdischarge) between a switch-off of the switch (M1) and a subsequent drop in the secondary current (12) to zero in order to control the secondary current (I2).

It is known to use a flyback converter for operating an LED module. The flyback converter is part of an appropriate operating device and is operated, for example, in critical conduction mode, also called borderline mode. At the same time, the switch of the flyback converter is turned on on the primary side, so that in this activation phase the current on the primary side is constantly increasing. This results in a constant negative voltage on a detection coil at the flyback converter.
When the current has reached a predetermined peak value, the switch is turned off. After switch-off, the voltage on the detection coil jumps to a positive value, oscillates for a certain time period and then settles at a voltage corresponding to the output voltage Vout.
During this deactivation phase, the current on the secondary side decreases linearly. When the current on the secondary side reaches zero, the steady and preferably linear voltage on the detection coil drops. Thus, the voltage on the detection coil drops significantly when the current on the secondary side reaches zero. In the critical conduction mode, it is now necessary to be able to detect the zero point of the current on the secondary side to turn the switch of the flyback converter on again.
From prior art, it is known to monitor the voltage on the detection coil and compare it with a low predetermined restarting threshold. If the voltage on the detection coil falls below this threshold, it is detected that the current on the secondary side has dropped to zero and the switch on the primary side is turned on again.
In the technology according to prior art, the problem is that the actual time period until the zero crossing of the current on the secondary side cannot exactly be detected when such a fixed comparator threshold is selected.


An individual spray nozzle contains two or more valves that are actuated by time or frequency modulated signals such as pulse width modulated (PWM) signals. The PWM signals are interleaved to open and close each of the respective valves that enable fluid to flow from an input to a combined output. The opening and closing positions of two or more different valves are interleaved to increase the range of performance, such as to increase the frequency of fluid flow from the input to the combined output. Additional embodiments are described.

Over twenty-five years ago, a method of using a pulse signal to actuate a valve was introduced to control the flow rate and fluid pressure of liquids through a spray nozzle. Since then, this technique has remained largely the same or unused because it results in spotty spray patterns due to long dead times. The actuator for the valve cannot respond fast enough even if the frequency of the pulse signal is increased; the fluid leaks, which creates problems such as in an agricultural setting (e.g. crops, plants, trees, vegetables, winery), where sprayers are used to apply prescribed amounts of nutrients, herbicides, insecticides and water. In manufacturing settings, sprayers are used to apply coatings of paint colors and layers of chemicals, and ink on surfaces such as plastic, paper, semiconductors, metals, and so on.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Broadband spray nozzle systems and methods


A reflection type liquid crystal display (LCD) made up of polymer dispersion type display elements each having a liquid crystal dispersion film in which liquid crystals are dispersed in a tridimensional microstructure implemented by a polymer or similar resin. Selective light reflecting or diffusing means introduces forwardly scattered light components from scattering pixels again into a liquid crystal layer without effecting non-scattering pixels. Hence, high reflection intensity and, therefore, high contrast is achieved. A light source unit is positioned such that at least a part of illumination light is reflected in the reflection angle range of the selective reflecting means. Hence, forward scattering with high scattered light intensity can be used, insuring extremely light white display.

The present invention relates to a light scattering type liquid crystal display (LCD) and, more particularly, to a reflection type LCD made up of display elements each having a liquid crystal dispersion layer in which liquid crystals are dispersed in a tridimensional microstructure implemented by a polymer or similar resin.
One of conventional LCD display systems uses a pair of polarizers to implement the birefringence and optical rotary power particular to liquid crystals. This type of display system is operable in a TN (Twisted Nematic) mode or an STN (Super Twisted Nematic) mode. However, the problem with this type of display system is that the display is dark due to the short sharpness in electrooptic characteristic and the presence of two polarizers. When a dichroic dye is added to liquid crystals for a guest-host (GH) effect, a single polarizer suffices and renders the display light to some degree. This approach, however, reduces the contrast to a critical degree. Particularly, in the event of color display, it is impossible to use the TN or STN mode GH type configuration since color display requires a high contrast. It follows that a color LCD implemented by any one of birefringence modes, including a DAP (or VAN) mode and an ECB mode using horizontally oriented cells, has to be provided with an extremely bright back-light. Although LCD elements themselves consume only far smaller power than the other display elements, bright illuminating means critically degrade the power saving feature. Moreover, despite that the LCD elements are originally thin and flat, the illuminating means increases the thickness of the assembly. Even monochromatic display appears dark when the back-light is not used.
An active matrix type LCD has TFTs or MIMs each being assigned to one pixel and can compensate for the short sharpness particular to the TN mode. Therefore, this type of LCD provides far more light display than the above-stated simple matrix type LCD. However, even the active matrix type LCD uses two polarizes and, therefore, cannot implement sufficiently light display without using a back-light. Further, using two polarizers, which are expensive, is undesirable from the cost standpoint. Bonding the polarizers to the LCD elements without introducing air bubbles or creases is difficult, resulting in a substantial decrease in yield. Generally, the polarizers are fabricated by introducing iodine into elongated polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) or by elongating iodine-containing PVA. The polarizers are, therefore, short of resistivity to heat and moisture. It may safely be said that the reliability of the state of the art LCD elements is determined by the polarizers.
A light scattering system using light scattering by liquid crystals in place of the polarizers is a recent achievement and known as a dynamic scattering mode or a phase transition mode. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication (Kokai) No. 58-501631 proposes a polymer dispersion type LCD element in which droplets of liquid crystals are dispersed in a polymer matrix. This kind of element is hardly susceptible to the thickness of the liquid crystal layer and implements a broad display area. In addition, such an element does not need any polarizer and, therefore, eliminates light losses which would render the display dark. On the other hand, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 1-198725 discloses a polymer network type LCD element in which liquid crystals are dispersed in a tridimensional mesh structure constituted by a photosetting resin. This type of element requires only a low drive voltage and exhibits high sharpness while achieving the advantages stated above in relation to the polymer dispersion type element.
Since the above-described types of LCD elements modulate light and display data due to the light scattering ability of the liquid crystal layer, it is extremely difficult to implement an element for direct watching without relying on the GH configuration. For this reason, such LCDs have heretofore been developed for the application to projection type displays. However, when applied to a projection type display, the element has to be provided with an intense lamp and optics for projection which would increase the thickness more than the back-light scheme. Moreover, the GH type configuration often lacks reliability due to impurities contained in the dichroic dye and products of optical decomposition. In addition, when a polymer and liquid crystal dispersion structure is produced by use of a photosetting resin, it is likely that the dye obstructs the photosetting reaction. This limits the material available for the dispersion structure.
Generally, when the light scattering type LCD element is applied to a reflection type display for direct watching, it is desirable that the background of the element is black. Then, the element will appear black in a transparent state or appear white in a scattering state due to rearward scattering thereof. However, this kind of element has a problem that the intensity of light scattered rearward is not high enough to render sufficient whiteness. Although this problem may be eliminated if the thickness of the liquid crystal layer is reduced, this approach brings about another problem that the required drive voltage increases. Particularly, the polymer dispersion type LCD element originally needs a higher operation voltage than the other scattering type elements. Japanese Patent Publication No. 45-21729 teaches a system in which a mirror surface is provided on the rear of a liquid crystal cell, and means having a black surface is provided on the top of the element to prevent regular reflections of extraneous light from being directly incident to the viewer's eye. In this conventional system, when a given pixel is in a scattering state, scattered light derived from light incident in a direction other than the regular reflection direction is incident to the viewer's eye, providing white display; when the pixel is in a transparent state, the light does not reach the viewer, providing black display. This kind of scheme, however, prevents the LCD from having a flat configuration and causes the lightness of the white portion to be short.

Reflection type liquid crystal display with selective reflecting means


An improved turbocharged engine system comprising a piston engine with an inlet manifold, an exhaust manifold, a turbine driven by exhaust gases for transporting a portion of the exhaust gas energy to drive a compressor between a gas intake and the inlet manifold. There is used as the exhaust manifold a first exhaust manifold receiving exhaust gases only from a first set of pistons and a second exhaust manifold receiving exhaust gases only from a second set of pistons. The turbine comprises a first turbine driven by first exhaust manifold exhaust gases. The compressor comprises a first compressor driven by the first turbine. A portion of the exhaust gases from the second exhaust manifold are recycled to the inlet manifold.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with an exhaust gas recirculating system for turbocharged engines. More particularly the invention is concerned with a unique improvement in a turbocharged engine system which makes use of a split or divided exhaust manifold whereby only a portion of the pistons of an engine driven within the respective cylinders thereof will recirculate exhaust gas into the inlet manifold.
2. Prior Art
In normal turbocharged engines the inlet manifold pressure exceeds the exhaust manifold pressure at high loads. This imposes a pumping requirement if exhaust recirculation is to be accomplished. With some types of pumps the recirculated exhaust cannot easily be metered to meet the requirements of the engine. Typical exhaust recirculation systems of the prior art are shown for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,713,428; 3,738,342; and 3,587,541. Copending and commonly assigned U.S. Patent Application Ser. No. 583,230 filed June 2, 1975, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,020,809 discloses yet another exhaust gas recirculation system for a diesel engine, particularly one in which nitrogen oxide emission is reduced.
It is clear that none of these references are in any way concerned with an exhaust gas recirculation system for a turbocharged engine wherein the system will provide pumping and metering functions for exhaust recirculation on a turbocharged engine and exhaust recirculation means piping the exhaust from only a portion of the pistons of the engine into the inlet manifold in order to reduce the production of oxides of nitrogen. Some of the advantages of such a system are that it eliminates the need for an external pump, it does not cause back pressure on more cylinders than are necessary, it can be controlled to any exhaust recirculation schedule that is required and transient performance need not be deteriorated. All of these advantages are attained by the novel improved exhaust recirculation system of the present invention in a manner which is explained in the following.

Exhaust gas recirculation system for turbo charged engines


A specific binding member such as an antigen or antibody is immobilized by covalent attachment to a solid phase such as a latex microparticle. The solid phase is reacted with a heterobifunctional or homobifunctional coupling agent to form a complex that is then reacted with a dithiol compound to form a thiolated solid phase. A specific binding member is reacted with the coupling agent to form a complex which is then reacted with the thiolated solid phase to link the specific binding member to the solid phase through thioethers. Alternatively, the dithiol compound may be reacted with the specific binding member/coupling agent complex to form a thiolated complex that is reacted with the solid phase/coupling agent complex. The coupling agent may contain a spacer. In another embodiment, the solid phase is reacted with a disulfide compound to form a complex and the complex is reacted with a reductant to form a thiolated solid phase which is reacted with a specific binding member/coupling agent complex. The immobilized specific binding member can be used in diagnostic binding assays, and it has increased sensitivity, specificity and stability, while requiring the use of less specific binding member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods and reagents for the covalent attachment of specific binding members to a solid support. In particular, the invention relates to the immobilization of specific binding members on solid supports for use in diagnostic assays and separation procedures. The present invention is also related to the co-owned and copending patent application entitled "Method for Renaturing Proteins in the Presence of Alkyl Sulfate Detergents", filed concurrently herewith and incorporated by reference herein.
2. Description of Related Art
Binding assays have found widespread application in the field of clinical diagnostics for the detection and/or measurement of drugs, hormones, proteins, peptides, metabolites, microorganisms and other substances of interest, commonly referred to as analytes, in both biological and non-biological fluids. Binding assays incorporate specific binding members, typified by antibody and antigen immunoreactants, wherein one member of the specific binding pair is labeled with a signal-producing compound (e.g., an antibody labeled with an enzyme; a fluorescent compound; a chemiluminescent compound; a radioactive label; a direct visual label; etc.). For example, in a binding assay the test sample suspected of containing analyte can be mixed with a labeled anti-analyte antibody and incubated for the immunoreaction to occur. The reaction mixture is subsequently analyzed to detect either the label associated with an antibody/analyte complex (bound label) or the labeled antibody which is not complexed with analyte (free label), thereby enabling the detection or measurement of the analyte in the test sample.
Binding assays can be divided into two general categories known as homogeneous and heterogeneous assays. In the homogeneous assays, the signal produced by the bound label is different from the signal produced by the free label. As a result, bound and free label can be distinguished without physical separation of the individual reactants from the reaction mixture.
A well-known homogeneous binding assay is the enzyme-multiplied immunoassay technique (EMIT) which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,817,837. In the EMIT assay, the analyte present in the patient's test sample and an enzyme-labeled analyte compete for a limited amount of anti-analyte antibody. The specific binding of the antibody to the analyte-enzyme conjugate modulates the conjugate's enzymatic activity such that the enzyme activity is proportional to the amount of analyte in the test sample. Homogeneous binding assays have the advantages of being rapid, easy to perform, and readily adapted to automation. Their disadvantages are that they are susceptible to interferences caused by non-analyte substances in the test sample, they are generally limited to assays for low molecular weight analytes, and they have a limited sensitivity.
In a heterogenous binding assay, the signal produced by the bound label is indistinguishable from the signal produced by the free label; therefore, the free label and the bound label must be separated from one another to distinguish between their respective signals. In some cases, the complex with which the bound label is associated will substantially differ in molecular weight from the free labeled reactant so that centrifugation can be used to separate the heavier complex.
An alternative to centrifugation involves attaching at least one of the binding assay's reactants to a solid support. The solid support can then be separated from the test sample and the remaining assay reagents to provide for the separation of the free and bound label. The separation of the solid support and reaction mixture can be accomplished either by drawing-off the remaining reaction mixture or by physically removing the solid phase from the reaction mixture. The solid support can also be treated or washed to remove interfering substances prior to the detection or measurement of the label associated with the solid phase.
Longer incubation times may be-required in the heterogeneous assay. This is because the kinetics of a reaction between a solid phase-bound specific binding member and its complementary binding partner tend to be slower than the kinetics of the same reaction when both binding members are in solution. The heterogeneous assays, however, are in general more sensitive than homogeneous assays and less prone to interferences, because interfering substances can be removed by the wash steps.
Variations to this general solid phase separation scheme have been developed, but they typically involve the binding of the analyte to a specific binding member which is attached to a solid phase. Generally, specific binding members are attached to or immobilized on the solid phase by adsorption or covalent bonding. Adsorption results from the action of the solid phase in attracting and holding the specific binding member. With covalent bonding, the specific binding member and the solid phase are chemically reacted to result in a bond which immobilizes the specific binding member on the solid phase.
The linkage between the solid phase and the immobilized specific binding member can greatly affect the binding of that specific binding member to the analyte. For example, antibodies have extremely specific structural, spatial and polar configurations which enable them to recognize and bind to a specific analyte (e.g., antigen). When antibodies are used in an assay for the detection of antigens, the antibodies may be the specific binding members linked to the solid phase. The proximity of the solid phase to the antibody, however, can partially or completely block the sites on the antibody to which the antigen binds. In addition, the linkage between the antibody and the solid phase can alter the conformation of the antibody and thereby affect the antibody's ability to bind to the analyte. The same limitations hold for the linkage of other specific binding members to a solid phase; the specific binding members may attach in a spectrum of positions ranging from complete steric hindrance of the binding site to unhindered access, and/or the conformation of the specific binding member can change upon linking to the solid phase so that its complementary binding partner can no longer recognize it or bind to it. As may be expected, the sensitivity of the assay declines with increasing levels of steric hindrance and loss of reactivity.
A conventional method for covalently attaching a proteinaceous specific binding member to a polymeric solid phase involves the use of carbodiimide to crosslink the amine groups of the protein to the carboxyl groups on the surface of the solid phase. Alternatively, gluteraldehyde is used to crosslink the amines of the protein to surface bound amines on the solid phase. These crosslinking methods, however, are poorly controlled, often resulting in protein/protein crosslinking and non-specific reactions, such as the over-modification of the protein which may result in a decrease in the binding capacity of the specific binding member. In addition, the protein that is so immobilized has poor reactivity, making it necessary to bind large amounts of the protein to the solid phase to obtain suitable assay sensitivity.
There have been two main approaches to solving the crosslinking problems associated with the heterogeneous assays. One approach has been to complete the reaction of the binding partners prior to the immobilization of the newly formed complex upon the solid phase. The other technique has been to extend the length of the linkage between the specific binding member and the solid phase. The linking or coupling agent must maintain the linkage during the chemical manipulations of the assay, as well as during the physical manipulations of washing and separation steps. Extended length heterobifunctional coupling agents have been described in co-owned and copending patent applications, U.S. Ser. No. 254,288, filed Oct. 11, 1988, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,002,883, and Ser. No. 114,930, filed Oct. 30, 1987, now abandoned, wherein the covalent attachment of specific binding members to the solid phase is accomplished using an extended length molecular chain having at least one linking group that is reactive with a chemical group on the solid phase and at least one linking group that is reactive with a chemical group on the specific binding member.

Covalent attachment of specific binding members to a solid phase with two bifunctional reagents and a dithio compound


A screening apparatus has a screen grid including plurality of exchangeable elements, each having a screen surface with sieve openings. The screen elements are placed in direct contact with each other to form a continuous screen, sifting surface and are removably connected through separators on intermediate cross-pieces. The separators are connected to the bottoms of the screen elements and extend at such a distance beyond the underside of screen surface so as to form an inwardly facing open passage space for sifted material below the screen, sifting surface in the area of connection of the screen elements to the separators such that the active sifting surface extends to the area of the supported marginal zones.

The present invention relates to a screening apparatus having a number of exchangeable screen elements, each of which has a screen surface with sieve-openings. The screen surfaces have a basic square or rectangular shape, and are placed onto intermediate cross-pieces along both their opposite and also longitudinal edges. The cross-pieces are attached to a carrier-framework.
The screening apparatus of this type is known from DE-A1-33-07-961. The attachment of the screen-grid or perforated bottom forming the sieve-surface to the intermediate cross-pieces is accomplished by means of profiled stops cooperating with the intermediate cross-pieces to hold the sieve screens or perforated bottoms. This structure involves two significant disadvantages. For one thing, sieve-lines form on the top-side of the entire screen-grid, due to the profile stops, which protrude upwards, since the profiled stops must naturally be located in the direction of forward motion of the sifting machine, and can not be covered by the sifting material as long as the thickness of the layer on the screen-surface does not exceed the height of the profiled stops which protrude upwards. Particularly with zonal application of sifting material, this prevents utilization of the entire breadth of the screen-grid. Moreover, active screen-surface is lost at the places where the sifting screen or the perforated bottom is held, which reduces capacity.

Screening apparatus having a screen grid with a plurality of exchangeable screen elements


Many commercial radiant energy processing systems, such as luminaires and light detectors, require highly efficient diffusely reflective surfaces that can withstand high temperatures. As disclosed herein, a reflector for such a device is constructed of a substrate with a reflective coating, for example painted onto one or more surfaces of the substrate. The coating material comprises a zinc oxide pigment, preferably an uncalcined zinc oxide together with a small amount of a dispersing agent. The pigment and water are mixed together with an alkali metal silicate vehicle-binder (preferably a potassium silicate), for example, in a sheer mixer. The resulting material can be painted onto the desired surface, for example by spraying, spot-brushing or dipping.

Radiant energy transducer systems find a wide range of applications in modern technology. Electrically driven transducers, for example, emit radiation to illuminate a desired area or footprint. The transducer system may illuminate the area for a number of reasons. For example, if the emitting transducer emits visible light, the illumination may facilitate use of the area by human personnel. If the illumination of the area provides infrared radiant energy, the illumination may facilitate some associated detection operation or human monitoring of the area through special night vision equipment.
Many such systems require a diffuse reflectivity on one or more surfaces within each system, and for efficiency, the reflectivity of such surfaces must be relatively high. In at least some applications, the reflective surfaces are subject to high-intensity light and attendant high temperatures.
One example of a material with a high diffuse reflectivity is SPECTRALON, and use of this material has been suggested for optical transducer systems, including light systems. Attention is directed for example to commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,064,061 to Ramer et al. This material, however, generally has to be molded and machined, and is not easily applied as a coating. Such molding and/or machining is often too expensive for mass production applications, for example, for lighting fixtures.
It has been known to use a variety of white paints for forming necessary reflector surfaces. U.S. Pat. No. 5,967,652 to Ramer et al suggested that diffusely reflective surfaces for a luminaire could be constructed of a suitable base material of, for example, aluminum or plastic, with a coating of a diffuse reflective material such as barium sulfate or quasi-diffuse reflective materials, such as white paint.
However, readily available coating materials, particularly those available in the quantities and at the prices appropriate for mass production use, have suffered from inadequate reflectivity and/or excessive sensitivity to temperature. In a luminaire, for example, if the diffuse reflectivity of a reflective surface is not high enough, then the lamp within the luminaire must emit more light to achieve a desired illumination performance characteristic. If the material providing the diffuse reflectivity is too sensitive to temperature, it can not withstand the heat from certain types of high intensity lamps. If overheated, the material may break down and become even less reflective (e.g., turn brown), or the material may even catch fire. To avoid these consequences, using existing reflective materials, luminaires often may need to be designed to provide relatively large spacings of the reflectors from the lamps, to allow for heat dissipation. This approach, however, increases the overall size, weight and complexity of the luminaire.
Exotic materials are known, which may be spray-painted under carefully controlled conditions and exhibit both a hi-reflectivity and high resistance to temperature. However, such materials have been extremely expensive, as well as difficult and expensive to apply. As a result, such materials have not been utilized in optical transducer systems, like mass produced luminaires.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,111,851 to Shai discloses a coating characterized by low thermal absorption and high thermal emittance. This patented coating comprises: (a) a fired oxide pigment of aluminum oxide and zinc oxide, a vehicle-binder comprising an alkali metal silicate; and sufficient water to provide a mixture suitable for application to a substrate, such as aluminum. The patent, however, teaches use of this material for coating the surfaces of spacecraft. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,296,285 and 5,885,658 to Bable et al. teach complicated techniques for coating metal substrates with similar white paints having low solar absorbance and high heat emittance. All three patents teach use of these materials and complex application techniques for thermal control applications on the exteriors of spacecraft.
Another example of an available inorganic white paint for such spacecraft applications is the paint marketed as Z-93 by Illinois Institute of Technology Research Institute (IITRI), which apparently comprises calcined zinc oxide particles and a potassium silicate binder. The calcination process involves firing or baking the zinc oxide, in excess of 1000° C. for greater than 8 hours, to remove impurities. Because of the time and energy required to produce calcined zinc oxide this step increases the overall cost of the material significantly, and in turn the cost of the coating. The Z-93 material currently sells for $125 per pint. Also, this material requires a very complex and expensive process to mix and apply. For example, IITRI specifies a mixing period of 6 to 8 hours in a ball end mill (a drum filled with the coating and porcelain balls). Although the material is sprayable or spot brushable, IITRI specifies very precise temperature and humidity requirements during application and curing of their paint. For example, the coating must cure at >50% for the first 5-6 hours and at ambient conditions for seven days. These requirements for preparing, applying and curing the Z-93 material radically increase the complexity and cost of manufacturing components with such a coating. While these costs may be acceptable in one-off applications, such as spacecraft, they make the use of the Z-93 coating in mass-production applications completely impractical, economically.
Hence, there is a continuing need for highly efficient radiant energy transducer systems. To support that general need, there is an attendant need for radiant energy transducer systems and for reflectors for such systems which have desirable diffuse reflective properties yet are easy and cost effective to mass produce. Hence, a need exists in the context of radiant energy transducer systems, for an easily applicable coating material, of relatively low cost, which exhibits diffuse reflectivity, is highly reflective and is relatively stable when exposed to high levels of light and heat. There is an attendant need for techniques to mix and apply such reflective materials to substrates of reflectors, in a manner that is efficient and cost effective in a mass production environment.

High-reflectance paint for high-intensity optical applications


A rear entry alpine ski boot, in which the rear spoiler is latched on the sides of the upper. The rear spoiler of the boot has an indent in its rear portion, the indent extending along a plane intersecting a plane passing by its latch on the upper and its pivot on the lower shell and determining an upper segment journalled on latch and lower segment journalled on pivot.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to ski boot of the "rear entry" type, wherein the rear spoiler of the upper can be latched into a skiing position on the upper. More particularly, the invention is related to a control device for the flexion of the upper with respect to the lower shell.
2. Description of Background and Other Information
The aforementioned type of ski boot generally comprises a rear spoiler journalled on the lower shell in the zone corresponding to the heel, and latchable into the skiing position on the upper so as to maintain the lower leg of the skier, and closure means of the "cable-track" type, linking it to the front portion of the upper. In these boots, it is the front portion of the upper that enables the force and the amplitude of the flexion movements transferred to the upper and directed in the longitudinal axis of the boot to be controlled.
Therefore, when the upper is biased to flex, the front portion is displaced and/or is deformed by a certain amplitude in the direction of flexion, simultaneously driving the rear spoiler that then pivots on its journal located in the heel zone. Since this journal is offset towards the base with respect to the flexible zone and/or the deformable zone of the front portion of the upper, which extends to the level of the top of the foot and of the flexion fold of the leg of the skier, the result is a relative sliding between the rear spoiler and the front portion of the upper. This sliding is most substantial at the area of the upper edge of the upper and especially at the area of the edge of the rear spoiler in contact with the rear portion of the lower leg of the skier, due to the fact that it is the furthest portion of the rear spoiler from the journal of the latter. Since the sliding is produced when the closure means ensure close contact of the rear spoiler against the lower part of the leg, the skier experiences a rubbing sensation that can be more or less painful.
Moreover, such a concept of the upper of the boot does not enable the journal zones of the skier's ankle to be respected, as this is located at the level of the malleoli. Also, it can be noted that in this type of boot, the resistance of the upper in rearward flexion lacks firmness due to the fact that it is the front portion of the upper that alone controls the general flexion of the latter, and the fact that the closure means yet again amplify this lack of firmness.
This disadvantage is solved in other known rear entry ski boots, where the rear spoiler is equipped with nesting elements on its wings, that cooperate with the corresponding portions located on the sides of the upper, thus forming a latch that stops all relative movement of the rear spoiler with respect to the front portion of the upper in the longitudinal direction of the boot. However, due to this immobilization, the flexion possibility of the upper becomes very limited, even inadequate for satisfactory skiing practices, because the flexion possibilities of the ankle of the skier are limited too much.
Other rear entry ski boots are also known, including a type in which a rear spoiler is equipped with means that enable, on the other hand, relatively substantial frontward flexion, but no flexion at all towards the rear. The ski boot described in French Patent Application No. 2,358,119 is an example of this type of boot. As disclosed, it is by virtue of a segmentation of the rear spoiler that this spoiler is able to follow the lower part of the skier's leg during frontward flexion, and is able to retain the latter towards the rear from its initial position of closure of the upper, the rear spoiler behaving like "a lobster's tail". However, this type of boot has some of the disadvantages that have been described previously. Indeed, on the one hand, the relative sliding of the rear spoiler with respect to the rear portion of the lower leg of the skier during its flexion is not avoided because the segmentation of the rear spoiler is not centered on the pivot axis of the ankle, and on the other hand, the pivot axis of the upper does not respect that of the ankle of the skier. Also, due to the fact that the retention of the rear spoiler with respect to the front portion of the upper is basically done by means of closure means that link this front portion to the rear spoiler, the resistance of the upper in rearward flexion lacks firmness, and, at the very least, varies in accordance with the closure forces of the upper on the lower leg of the skier.


Disclosed is the isolation and characterization of EI24, a novel gene whose 2.4 kb mRNA is induced following etoposide treatment. Induction of EI24 mRNA by etoposide required expression of wild-type p53. Overexpression of functional p53 was sufficient to induce expression of the EI24 mRNA. The EI24 mRNA was also induced in a p53-dependent manner by ionizing irradiation of primary murine thymocytes. The invention is thus directed to an isolated EI24 protein, nucleotide sequences coding for and regulating expression of the protein, antibodies directed against the protein, and recombinant vectors and host cells containing the genetic sequences coding for and regulating the expression of the protein sequence. The invention is also directed to genomic DNA, cDNA, and RNA encoding the EI24 protein sequence and to corresponding antisense RNA sequences. Antibodies can be used to detect EI24 in biological specimens, including, for example, human tissue samples. The present invention is further directed to methods of treating degenerative disorders characterized in inappropriate cell proliferation or inappropriate cell death. The present invention is further directed to methods for diagnosing degenerative disorders characterized in inappropriate cell proliferation or inappropriate cell death, as well as methods for monitoring the progress of such degenerative disorders.

The present invention relates generally to the field of cell physiology, and more particularly, to apoptosis. Even more particularly, the present invention is related to a novel apoptosis associated protein EI24 and its corresponding gene EI24; to nucleotide sequences encoding EI24; to products and processes involved in the cloning, preparation and expression of genes and nucleotide sequences encoding EI24; to antibodies with specificity to EI24; and to diagnostic and therapeutic uses of the above.
xe2x80x9cApoptosisxe2x80x9d refers to cell suicide that proceeds by an active, physiological process (Kerr, J. F., et al., Br. J. Cancer 26:239-257 (1972); Wyllie, A. H., Nature 284:555-556 (1980)). Apoptosis plays an important role in developmental processes, including morphogenesis, maturation of the immune system, and tissue homeostasis whereby cell numbers are limited in tissues that ale continually renewed by cell division (Ellis, R. E., et al., Annu. Rev. Cell. Biol. 7:663-698 (1991); Oppenheim, R. W., et al., Neurosci. 14:453-501 (1991); Cohen, J. J., et al., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 10:267-293 (1992); Raff, M. C., Nature 356:397-400 (1992)).
In addition to its role in developmental processes, apoptosis is an important cellular safeguard against tumorigenesis (Williams, G. T., Cell 65:1097-1098 (1991); Lane, D. P. Nature 362:786-787 (1993)). Defects in the apoptotic pathway may contribute to the onset or progression of malignancies. Suppression of the apoptotic pathway(s), by a variety of genetic lesions, occurs frequently in a broad range of human tumors. In particular, loss of the p53 tumor suppressor gene function, either through deletion or mutation, occurs in more than 50% of human cancers. p53 gene function is also indicated in normal cell cycle events. Reviews of p53 function include Levine, A. J., et al., Nature 351:453-456 (1991); Hollstein M., et al., Science 253:49-53 (1991); Donehower, et al., Biochem. BioPhys. Acta 1155:181-205 (1993); Lane, D. P. Nature 362:786-787 (1993); Zambetti, et al., FASEB J. 7:855-865 (1993); and Greenblatt M. S., et al., Cancer Res., 54: 4855-4878 (1994).
p53 may exert its tumor suppressor function, at least in part, by directing cells that have sustained genomic damage to undergo apoptosis (Lowe S. W., Jacks T., Housman D. E. and Ruley H. E. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91, 2026-2030). p53 is a sequence-specific DNA binding protein that functions both as a transcriptional activator and repressor (Donehower L. A. and Bradley A. (1993) Biochim. Biophys. Acta., 1155, 181-205; Prives C. and Manfredi J. (1993) Genes Dev., 7, 529-534; Fields S. and Jang S. K. (1990) Science, 249, 1046-1048; Raycroft L., Wu H. and Lozano G. (1990) Science, 249, 1049-1051). Although there is some evidence that transcription may not be required in p53-mediated apoptosis (Caelles C., Helmberg A. and Karin M. (1994) Nature, 370, 220-223), several p53-regulated genes have been identified to date (Kastan M. B., Zhan Q., El-Deiry W. S., Carrier F., Jacks T., Walsh W. V., Plunkett B. S., Vogelstein B. and A. J. Fornace Jr. (1992) Cell, 71, 587-597, 1992; El-Deiry W. S., Tokino T., Velculescu V. E., Levy D. B., Parsons R., Trent J. M., Lin D., Mercer W. E., Kinzler K. W. and Vogelstein B. (1993) Cell, 75, 817-825; Barak Y., Juven T., Haffner R. and Oren M. (1993) EMBO J., 12, 461-468; Wu X., Bayle J. H., Olson D. and Levine A. J. (1993) Genes and Dev., 7, 1126-1132; Zambetti G. P., Bargonetti J., Walker K., Prives C. and Levine A. J. (1992) Genes and Dev., 6, 1143-1152; Okamoto K. and Beach D. (1994) EMBO J, 13, 4816-4822; Buckbinder L., Talbott R., Seizinger B. R. and Kley N. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 91, 10640-10644, and two of these genes, bcl-2 and bax (Miyashita T. and teed J. (1995) Cell, 80, 293-299; Miyashita T., Krajewski S., Krajewska M., Wang H., Lin H., Hoffman B., Lieberman K. and Reed J. (1994) Oncogene, 9, 1799-1805; Zhan Q., Fan S., Bae I., Guillouf C., Liebermann D. A., O""Connor P. M. and A. J. Fornace Jr. (1994) Oncogene, 9, 3743-3751), have been clearly implicated in apoptosis (Oltvai Z. and Korsmeyer S. (1994) Cell, 79, 189-192).
In addition to cancer, deregulation of apoptosis may contribute to a number of other human diseases. A variety of degenerative disorders may involve aberrant apoptosis, resulting in premature or inappropriate cell death (Barr, P. J., et al., Biotechnology 12:487-493 (1994)) Productive infection by certain viruses may depend on suppression of host cell death by anti-apoptotic viral gene products (Rao, L., et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 89:7742-7746 (1992); Ray, C. A., et al., Cell 69:597-604 (1992); White, E., et al., Mol. Cell. Biol. 12:2570-2580 (1992); Vaux, D. L., et al., Cell 76:777-779 (1994), and inhibition of apoptosis can alter the course (i.e. lytic vs. latent) of viral infection; Levine, B., et al., Nature 361:739-742 (1993)). Widespread apoptosis of T lymphocytes triggered by HIV infection may, at least in part, be responsible for the immune system failure associated with AIDS (Gougeon M., et al., Science 260:1269-1270 (1993)).
The ability of p53 to suppress tumorigenesis appears linked to its activity as a transcriptional activator, since tumor-derived mutant p53 molecules almost invariably have lost transactivation potential (Kern, S. E., et al., Science 256:827-830 (1992)). Thus, the function of the p53 tumor suppressor appears to depend, at least in part, on the ability to activate the expression of one or more target genes. Genes activated by p53 may in turn mediate one or more aspects of p53""s tumor suppressor function, which including cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, depending on the cellular context. Consistent with the notion, certain p53-activated Menses identified to date have been implicated in cell cycle control (gadd45, cyclin G, p21/WAF) and at least one p53-activated gene (bax) is linked to the regulation of apoptosis.
Tumor cells frequently have lost wild-type p53 function. Consequently, activation of p53 target genes and associated tumor suppressor functions, such as cell cycle arrest and apoptosis, is defective in cancer cells. Therefore, from the perspective of pharmaceutical development, identification of genes which are regulated (e.g., induced or repressed) by p53 may permit development of agents that activate, restore or suppress p53-dependent tumor suppression functions such as apoptosis or cell cycle regulation, depending on the clinical setting.
In a broad aspect, the present invention is directed to a gene, termed EI24, whose RNA was induced in NIH3T3 cells following treatment with etoposide. Experiments performed with cells derived from p53-deficient mice demonstrate that induction of the EI24 mRNA is dependent on expression of functional p53 in vertebrate cells including etoposide-treated fibroblasts, and gamma-irradiated thymocytes. Expression of a conditional p53-fusion protein demonstrates that activation of wild-type p53 function in E1A and T24 H-ras-transformed p53-deficient fibroblasts is sufficient for induction of the EI24 mRNA.
The novel EI24 gene and the corresponding EI24 protein of mammals have thus been isolated and characterized, and are described in a number of embodiments herein. The present invention thus relates to an apoptosis associated protein EI24, products and processes involved in the cloning, preparation and expression of genes for EI24; antibodies with specificity to EI24; and nucleotide probes corresponding to the EI24 nucleotide sequence or portions thereof. The EI24 polypeptide is useful for producing antibodies thereto. The antibodies and probes are useful for detecting and isolating EI24 in biological specimens including for example, cells from all human tissues including heart tissue, lung tissue, tumor cells, brain tissue, placenta, liver, skeletal muscle, kidney, and pancreas.
The present invention further relates to species homologs and viral homologs of EI24.
In a particular embodiment, the human EI24 gene has been cloned. The present invention thus relates to the cloning, identification, characterization and sequencing of cDNAs and genomic fragments which encode the EI24 that is present in human cells. The present invention further relates to a method for isolating EI24 partial clones using polymerase chain reaction (PCR) cloning, from diverse human tumor cell lines.
According to the present invention, there are provided genetic sequences encoding EI24. The instant invention also provides for expression vectors containing such genetic sequences, hosts transformed with such expression vectors, and methods for producing the genetically engineered or recombinant EI24.
The present invention also provides antibodies which specifically recognize EI24.
The EI24 cDNA and recombinant protein are useful for making antibodies which specifically recognize EI24. Such antibodies are useful for detecting and isolating EI24 in a biological specimen. The EI24 protein is also useful as a mediator of p53 function, particularly, p53 tumor suppression function, including p53 mediated apoptotic and/or cell cycle control function.
The present invention is further directed to methods for inducing or suppressing p53 mediated functions including apoptosis in individuals suffering from degenerative disorders Characterized by inappropriate cell proliferation or inappropriate cell death, respectively. Degenerative disorders characterized by inappropriate cell proliferation include, for example, inflammatory conditions, cancer, including lymphomas, genotypic tumors, etc. Degenerative disorders characterized by inappropriate cell death include, for example, autoimmune diseases, acquired immunodeficiency disease (AIDS), cell death due to radiation therapy or chemotherapy, etc.
The present invention also relates to methods for detecting the presence of EI24 protein, as well as methods directed to the diagnosis of degenerative disorders, which disorders are associated with an increased or decreased level of expression of EI24, as compared to the expected level of EI24 expression in the normal cell population.
The present invention is further directed to methods for monitoring the progress of degenerative disorders associated with increased or decreased levels of expression of EI24, by monitoring EI24 expression.
The present invention also relates to methods for determining whether a disease/degenerative disorder is linked to abnormal EI24 expression, as well as methods for determining the effect of over expression or loss of expression of EI24 in animal models such as transgenic mice and/or homozygous null mice. Methods for determining whether a disease/degenerative disorder is linked to abnormal EI24 expression include analyzing EI24 expression in diseased tissue as compared to normal tissue by for example, Northern and/or Western blots, as well as by other assay methods readily chosen and employed by those of ordinary skill in the art.
The present invention also relates to therapeutic methods and compositions for modulating apoptotic effects by administering EI24 protein, or a mutant or hybrid thereof, or by modulating expression of the EI24 gene, to an individual suffering from a degenerative disorder characterized by inappropriate cell proliferation or inappropriate-cell death in order to stabilize inappropriate cell proliferation (i.e., induce apoptosis) or stabilize inappropriate cell death (i.e., suppress apoptosis), respectively, and/or in either case to restore normal cell behavior.
The present invention further relates to functional equivalents including functional fragments of EI24 and/or EI24.
The present invention is also directed to nucleotide probes which can be used to determine the presence of EI24 as well as to identify and isolate homologs including species homologs and viral homologs.

Apoptosis gene EI24, compositions, and methods of use


A substrate processing system includes a processing chamber and a plasma source located external to the chamber. A conduit connects the plasma source to an interior region of the chamber to provide a reactive species to the chamber interior for cleaning interior surfaces of the chamber. A shower head, disposed between the plasma source and an interior region of the chamber, can serve as an electrode and also can serve as a gas distribution mechanism. The shower head includes a surface treatment, such as a non-anodized aluminum outer layer, an electro-polished surface of bare aluminum, or a fluorine-based protective outer layer. The surface-treated shower head improves the rate of removal of materials deposited on the interior surfaces of the chamber during cleaning, reduces contamination of substrates during processing, and provides more efficient use of the power source used for heating the substrate during processing.

The present invention relates generally to substrate processing chambers, and, in particular, to a gas inlet manifold or shower head for such chambers.
Glass substrates are being used for applications such as active matrix television and computer displays, among others. Each glass substrate can form multiple display monitors each of which contains more than a million thin film transistors.
The glass substrates can have dimensions, for example, of 550 mm by 650 mm. The trend, however, is toward even larger substrate sizes, such as 650 mm by 830 mm and larger, to allow more displays to be formed on the substrate or to allow larger displays to be produced. The larger sizes place even greater demands on the capabilities of the processing systems.
The processing of large glass substrates often involves the performance of multiple sequential steps, including, for example, the performance of chemical vapor deposition (CVD) processes, physical vapor deposition (PVD) processes, or etch processes. Systems for processing glass substrates can include one or more process chambers for performing those processes.
Plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) is another process widely used in the processing of glass substrates for depositing layers of electronic materials on the substrates. In a PECVD process, a substrate is placed in a vacuum deposition chamber equipped with a pair of parallel plate electrodes. The substrate generally is mounted on a susceptor which also serves as the lower electrode. A flow of a reactant gas is provided in the deposition chamber through a gas inlet manifold or shower head which also serves as the upper electrode. A radio frequency (RF) voltage is applied between the two electrodes which generates an RF power sufficient to cause a plasma to be formed in the reactant gas. The plasma causes the reactant gas to decompose and deposit a layer of the desired material on the surface of the substrate body. Additional layers of other electronic materials can be deposited on the first layer by flowing another reactant gas into the chamber. Each reactant gas is subjected to a plasma which results in the deposition of a layer of the desired material.
Though such systems are designed to deposit the material preferentially onto the surface of the substrate, some material is also deposited onto other interior surfaces within the chamber. After repeated use, the systems must be cleaned to remove the deposited layer of material that has built up in the chamber. To clean the chamber and the exposed components within the chamber, an in-situ dry cleaning process is sometimes used. According to one in-situ technique, precursor gases are supplied to the chamber. Then, by locally applying a glow discharge plasma to the precursor gases within the chamber, reactive species are generated. The reactive species clean the chamber surfaces by forming volatile compounds with the material deposited on those surfaces.
The foregoing in-situ cleaning technique has several disadvantages. First, it is inefficient to use a plasma within the chamber to generate the reactive species. Thus, it is necessary to use relatively high powers to achieve an acceptable cleaning rate. The high power levels, however, tend to produce damage to the hardware inside of the chamber thereby significantly shortening its useful life. Since the replacement of the damaged hardware can be quite costly, this can significantly increase the per substrate cost of a product that is processed using the deposition system. In the current, highly competitive semiconductor fabrication industry where costs per substrate are critical to the cost conscious purchasers, the increased operating costs resulting from periodically having to replace parts that are damaged during the cleaning process is very undesirable.
Another problem with the conventional in-situ dry cleaning processes is that the high power levels required to achieve acceptable cleaning rates also tend to generate residues or byproducts that can damage other system components, or which cannot be removed except by physically wiping off the internal surfaces of the chamber. As an example, in a deposition system in which the chamber or the process kit components (e.g. heater, shower head, clamping rings, etc.) are made of aluminum, a nitrogen fluoride (NF.sub.3) plasma is often used to clean the interior surfaces. During the cleaning process, a certain amount of aluminum fluoride (Al.sub.x F.sub.y) is formed. The amount that is formed is increased significantly by the ion bombardment that results from the high plasma energy levels. Thus, a considerable amount of Al.sub.x F.sub.y can be formed in the system and must be removed by physically wiping the surfaces.
A different technique for cleaning a process chamber is described in the previously mentioned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/707,491. The technique described in that application includes delivering a precursor gas into a remote chamber that is outside of the deposition chamber and activating the precursor gas in the remote chamber to form a reactive species. Activation of the precursor gas, which can include, for example, NF.sub.3, is performed by using a remote activation source. The reactive species flows from the remote chamber into the deposition chamber and is used to clean the inside of the deposition chamber. Using a remote plasma source can reduce or eliminate the damage that occurs during the cleaning process.
As already mentioned, the shower head in some of the foregoing systems is formed from aluminum. Conventionally, the surface of the aluminum shower head in in-situ chambers is anodized to maintain its reliability. For example, the shower head can be anodized by dipping it into sulfuric acid, thereby forming a layer of aluminum oxide (Al.sub.2 O.sub.3) over the surface of the shower head. One disadvantage of using an anodized aluminum shower head in a system having a remote plasma source is that the anodized aluminum appears to deactivate a significant amount of the fluorine radicals that form when the precursor gas NF.sub.3 is activated. The result is that the rate at which the chamber can be cleaned is reduced.

Surface-treated shower head for use in a substrate processing chamber


An organic light emitting diode display includes a substrate, a thin film transistor on the substrate, a first electrode on and connected to the thin film transistor, a pixel defining layer on the first electrode and defining a pixel area, an organic light emitting layer on the first electrode and contacting the first electrode exposed in the pixel area, a second electrode on the organic light emitting layer, and a light blocking layer on the second electrode and exposing the second electrode at a position corresponding to the pixel area. The light blocking layer may include a first metal layer on the second electrode and exposing the second electrode at a position corresponding to the pixel area, a first intermediate layer covering the first metal layer, a second metal layer covering the first intermediate layer, and a second intermediate layer covering the second metal layer.

1. Field
Aspects of embodiments of the present invention relate to an organic light emitting diode display.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting element of an organic light emitting diode display includes two electrodes and an organic light emitting layer positioned therebetween. Electrons injected from a cathode, which is one of the electrodes, and holes injected from an anode, which is another one of the electrodes, are combined with each other in the organic light emitting layer to form excitons. The formed excitons emit energy, such that the organic light emitting element emits light.
The organic light emitting diode display includes a plurality of pixels each including an organic light emitting element composed of a cathode, an anode, and an organic light emitting layer. Each of the pixels is provided with a plurality of transistors and a storage capacitor to drive the organic light emitting element. The transistors include a switching transistor and a driving transistor.
Each of the pixels may be partitioned by a pixel defining layer for which a light emitting region is opened. Organic light emitting elements including light emitting layers emitting red, green, and blue light may be formed in the opened light emitting regions of the pixel defining layer. In addition, further elements such as a polarization film and a phase difference film, a black thin film, or a color filter are formed thereon, thereby constituting a display panel.
Display panels constituted as described above may become thick due to the combined thickness of the pixel defining layer, the polarization film, the phase difference film, and the color filter, together a number of different other elements present in addition to the organic light emitting elements, such that light emitting efficiency may be decreased.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the present invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A harvester may include a grain processing unit and a material flow sensor to form an yes electromagnetic plane or field through which crop material passes while being sensed.

Harvesters are used to harvest crop from a field. The crop material includes both grain and materials other than grain. Such harvesters may separate the grain from the other materials (sometimes referred to as biomass) by passing the crop material through multiple separation stages. Measuring grain yield and measuring the biomass of the crop material may provide valuable information for operating the harvester and for future management of the field.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover, the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Harvester with electromagnetic plane crop material flow sensor