The present invention provides a radio-opaque composition including a polymer or monomer, wherein the polymer or monomer has a non-leachable radio-opaque moiety. The non-leachable radio-opaque moiety is covalently attached to the polymer or monomer.

The invention relates to radio-opaque polymeric compositions which can be used as covering compositions for polymeric, ceramic and metal objects. Additionally, this invention relates to radio-opaque objects and methods for rendering objects radio-opaque.
The ability to render objects radio-opaque is important in several fields. It is especially important in the medical field. For example, medical devices which are radio-opaque enable easy radiological localization of such devices during medical procedures and post-operative follow-ups. In the industrial field there are many applications in which it is important to render devices radio-opaque in order to enable differentiation or to shield objects from X-rays.
Current methods of rendering objects radio-opaque involve compounding materials like barium sulfate (i.e., Ba SO4) into the objects; or plating/ion sputtering silver or gold onto the objects. It also is conventional for many medical device polymers to be filled with barium or bismuth radio-opaque compounds. Recently, radio-opaque paints and inks with barium sulfate or silver powders physically trapped in the composition have been proposed. Lead is also used in non-medical applications, typically in plated form or compounded into ceramics.
There are several disadvantages with the current methods of rendering objects radio-opaque. In particular, medical devices treated with the current methods have low bio-compatibility and may be toxic to tissues. Additionally, when the ion deposition is used on stents, the likelihood of restenosis increases. Other disadvantages with the current methods in the medical and the industrial fields include toxicity, galvanic corrosion, high economic cost, undesirable changes in the physical and electromagnetic properties of the devices and cumbersome processes in producing the devices. Additionally, current methods of shielding objects from X-rays are impractical and expensive.
Accordingly, it is one of the purposes of this invention, among others, to provide coverings and primers which will render objects radio-opaque without the disadvantages found in the prior art.
The present invention provides a radio-opaque composition including a polymer or monomer, wherein the polymer or monomer has a non-leachable radio-opaque moiety. The non-leachable radio-opaque moiety is covalently attached to the polymer or monomer.
Examples of a radio-opaque moiety include a halogenated aromatic compound with an attached reactive functional group. Examples of halogenated aromatic compounds include aromatic tri-iodides, aromatic tri-bromides, aromatic tri-fluorides and aromatic tri-chlorides. Examples of attached reactive functional groups include a hydroxyl, a carboxyl, an amine, an amide, a carbonyl, a thiol, an allyl, a vinyl or an anhydride group.
Further examples of the radio-opaque moiety include an amidotrizoate, an iothalamate, an iohexol, an iopamidol, an iopromide, ioxaglic acid, an iopadate, an iotroxate or an ioxaglate. Further examples of the radio-opaque moiety include Iobenguane, Iobenzamic Acid, Iocarmic Acid, Iocetamic Acid, Iodamide, Iodipamide, Iodixanol, Iodized Oil, Iodoalphionic Acid, p-Iodoaniline, o-Iodobenzoic Acid, lodochlorhydroxyquin, o-Iodohippurate Sodium, o-Iodophenol, p-Iodophenol, Iodophthalein Sodium, Iodopsin, Iodopyracet, Iodopyrrole, Iodoquinol, Iofetamine 123I, Ioglycamic Acid, Iohexol, Iomeglamic Acid, Iopamidol, Iopanoic acid, Iopentol, Iophendylate, Iophenoxic Acid, Iopromide, Iopronic Acid, Iopydol, Iopydone, Iothalamic Acid, Iotrolan, Ioversol, Ioxaglic Acid, Ioxilan, or Ipodate.
The polymer or monomer preferably has at least one reactive functional group. Examples of reactive functional groups are an isocyanate, an isothiocyanate, an ester, an aldehyde, an N-hydroxysuccinimide ester, an epoxide, a carboxylic ester, a tresylate, an anhydride, an alkyl halide, a carboxylic acid, a haloketone, an alkene, an alkyne or an acyl chloride.
In one embodiment the polymer is a synthetic polymer. The synthetic polymer can be a polymer blend, alloy, homopolymer, random copolymer, block copolymer or graft copolymer. The polymer blend, alloy, random copolymer, block copolymer or graft copolymer includes poly(vinyl alcohol), poly(vinylpyrrolidone), poly(caprolactone), poly(hydroxybutarates), poly(caprolactams), poly(acrylamides), poly(terephthalate), poly(vinyl chloride), poly(propylene), poly(ethylene oxide), poly(acrylic acid), poly(propylene oxide), poly(styrene), poly(ethylene), poly(urethanes), silicone elastomers or combinations thereof. The polymer can be a homopolymer of the aforementioned polymers.
In another embodiment the polymer is a natural polymer. Examples of a natural polymer include a cellulose, chitosan, chitin, starch, hyaluronic acid, chondroitin sulfate, zanthan, guar gum; or an ether or an ester derivative thereof; or a block, a graft or random copolymer thereof; or a blend thereof.
Examples of the monomers of the present invention include an acrylate, allyllic compound, amide, amine, anhydride, epoxide, isocyanate, methacrylate, silyl, thiol compound, thioisocyanate, vinyl compound, ester, acid chloride, acrolein or acryloylchoride.
Examples of the covalent attachment between the radio-opaque moiety and the polymer or monomer include an alkyl, amine, amide, anhydride, azide, carbamate, carbonate, carboxyl, ether, ester, imide, thiol, thiocarbamates, thioisocyante, urea or other covalent linkage.
In one embodiment the radio-opaque moiety can be covalently attached to the polymer or monomer by the use of heat, ultraviolet irradiation, gamma irradiation, an acidic initiator, a basic initiator, a peroxide initiator, a persulfate initiator or an azo initiator.
In one embodiment the composition of the present invention can further include at least one additional ingredient wherein the additional ingredient is releasable or non-releasable from the composition. In one embodiment the additional ingredient is a biologically active material. Examples of the biologically active material include a biostatic agent, a cytostatic agent, a radiation emitter, a biomolecule, an anti-inflammatory agent, an immunosuppressant or an antiseptic. Preferred biologically active materials include antibiotics and antithrombotic agents.
In one embodiment the composition has a low coefficient of friction when wetted with water or a water-containing substance. In this embodiment the composition can include a polyvinylpyrrolidone-polyurethane complex.
In one embodiment the composition can further include a solvent. The covalent linkage between the polymer or monomer and the radio-opaque moiety can be formed as the solvent is removed. Alternately, the covalent linkage can be formed during formulation of the composition.
In one embodiment the composition is a covering composition. Examples of covering compositions include coatings and primers. The primers of the present invention can be made of the same monomer or of a blend of monomers. The primers can include monomers which are covalently attached to an object by a covalent linkage; or they can include monomers which adhere to an object.
The present invention includes radio-opaque objects. In one embodiment the material of which the radio-opaque object is composed includes the composition of the present invention. In another embodiment the object is covered with a composition. The object can be a medical device. Examples of medical devices include catheters, guide wires, shunts, screws, pins, prostheses, plates, films, sponges, sutures, tubes, cannulas, balloons, needles, markers or stylets. A preferred medical device is a stent.
The present invention includes a method of rendering an object radio-opaque. In one embodiment the method includes: applying a covering composition to the object, wherein the covering composition includes a polymer or monomer. The polymer or monomer has a non-leachable radio-opaque moiety. The method can further include: placing the covering composition in a solvent, applying the covering composition in the solvent to the object and evaporating the solvent. Examples of application of the covering composition include spraying, dipping, plasma vapor deposition, flow coating, brushing or dabbing.
The present invention provides radio-opaque compositions and objects which avoid the disadvantages of current methods used to render objects radio-opaque. In particular, the present invention provides compositions that are bio-compatible; unlike medical devices treated with current methods which have low bio-compatibility and may be toxic to tissues. Additionally, the present invention avoids the increased likelihood of restenosis associated with current methods of ion deposition of stents. The present invention also avoids the problems associated with the current methods in the medical and the industrial fields including toxicity, galvanic corrosion, high economic cost, undesirable changes in the physical and electromagnetic properties of the devices and cumbersome processes in producing the devices. These and other advantages of the present invention will be appreciated from the detailed description and examples which are set forth herein. The detailed description and examples enhance the understanding of the invention, but are not intended to limit the scope of the invention.


Characteristics of the radio channel are used to establish key sequences for use in encrypting communicated information. These characteristics are the short-term reciprocity and rapid spatial decorrelation of phase of the radio channel. The keys can be established with computations equivalent to a bounded distance decoding procedure, and the decoder used to establish a key may be used for processing the subsequent data transmission. Compared to classical and public-key systems, an alternative mechanism for establishing and sharing key sequences that depends on a physical process is provided in which each party need not generate a pseudorandom quantity because the necessary randomness is provided by the temporal and spatial non-stationarity of the communication channel itself. By using a channel decoder, the probability of two users establishing the same secret key is substantially unity, and the probability of an eavesdropper establishing the same key is substantially zero. Also, the number of possible keys is large enough that finding the correct one by exhaustive search is impractical.

Applicants' invention relates to apparatus and methods for communicating information securely, which is to say with reduced susceptibility to eavesdropping.
The widespread need for secure communication in radio communication systems is apparent. As just two examples, information relating to financial transactions is routinely exchanged by radio, and law enforcement officers often must communicate voice and/or data by radio. In both examples, it is critical that the communication be conducted with almost perfect secrecy, despite potential eavesdroppers' having access to strong information signals. Users of cellular radiotelephones also desire privacy in their communications, which may travel on links between mobile phones and base stations or on direct links between mobile phones.
One way of providing security is to encrypt the communicated information according to some system that the users have agreed in advance to use. Several encryption methods have been described in the literature, such as the data encryption standard (DES) and public key cryptography (PKC). As explained in W. Diffie et al., "Privacy and Authentication: An Introduction to Cryptography", Proc. IEEE vol. 67, pp. 397-427 (Mar. 1979), a classical cryptographic system is in general a set of instructions, a piece of hardware, or a computer program that can convert plaintext (unencrypted information) to ciphertext, or vice versa, in a variety of ways, one of which is selected by a specific key that is known to the users but is kept secret from others. The DES is a classical cryptographic system.
Popular PKC systems make use of the fact that finding large prime numbers is computationally easy but factoring the products of two large prime numbers is computationally difficult. PKC systems have an advantage over other cryptographic systems like the DES in that a PKC system uses a key for decryption (two large prime numbers) that is different from the key for encryption (the product of the two prime numbers, and an associated number). Thus, a PKC user's encryption key can be published for use by others, and the difficulty of securely distributing keys is avoided. See, e.g., R. I. Rivest et al., "A Method of Obtaining Digital Signatures and Public-Key Cryptosystems", Commun. of the ACM vol. 21, pp. 120-126 (Feb. 1978); and W. Diffie, "The First Ten Years of Public-Key Cryptography", Proc. IEEE vol. 76, pp. 560-577 (May 1988).
For either a classical or PKC system, the security of a message is dependent to a great extent on the length of the key, as described in C. E. Shannon, "Communication Theory of Secrecy Systems", Bell Sys. Tech. J. vol. 28, pp. 656-715 (Oct. 1949).
Unfortunately, it is often the case that two users (two police officers, for instance) do not share a secret key a priori, making secure real-time communication via a classical crytographic system impossible. Even a PKC system requires a user to generate a pseudo-random quantity. Moreover, popular PKC systems are unprovably secure, and suffer from severe requirements in computational complexity and amount of information that must be exchanged. As new ways of attacking PKC systems are mounted, PKC systems will retreat to ever longer exchange vectors (in effect, larger prime numbers) and ever more complex computations. As a result, classical and PKC cryptographic systems are less than ideal for many communication situations.
Complicating the task of any radio communication system is the variability of the radio channel caused by atmospheric disturbances, relative motion of the system users, changing radio signal reflections from structures and vehicles, etc. Such channel variability contributes to errors in the information communicated, and much effort is expended to overcome these errors. For example, some cellular radiotelephone systems convert analog information to be transmitted into digital information, which is then transformed according to a block error correction code. Such cellular radio systems are the North American digital advanced mobile phone service (D-AMPS), some of the characteristics of which are specified by the IS-54B and IS-136 standards published by the Electronic Industries Association and Telecommunications Industry Association (EIA/TIA), and the European GSM system.
In such time-division multiple access (TDMA) systems, each radio channel, or radio carrier frequency, is divided into a series of time slots, each of which contains a burst of information from a data source, e.g., a digitally encoded portion of a voice conversation. Successive time slots assigned to the same user, which are usually not consecutive time slots on the radio carrier, constitute the user's digital traffic channel, which may be considered a logical channel assigned to the user. During each time slot, 324 bits may be transmitted, of which the major portion, 260 bits, is due to the speech output of a coder/decoder (codec), including bits due to error correction coding of the speech output. The remaining bits are used for guard times and overhead signalling for purposes such as synchronization.
Other current cellular mobile telephone systems use analog FM to transmit speech. The three principal standards are the AMPS system in the U.S. that uses wideband FM with a spacing between channels of 30 KHz, the TACS system in the United Kingdom that uses 25 KHz channel spacings, and the NMT system in Scandinavia that uses narrow-band FM with 12.5 KHz channel spacings. In an effort to alleviate the capacity restrictions of the current analog FM systems, the D-AMPS and GSM systems, as well as systems in Japan, use digital transmission as described above. Another approach to increasing system capacity by reducing bandwidth requirements is a narrow-band FM system according to the NAMPS specification, which specifies a channel spacing of 10 KHz that is achieved by splitting each 30-KHz channel of AMPS into three parts.
FIGS. 1A, 1B illustrate an exemplary multi-layered cellular system. An umbrella macrocell 10 represented by a hexagonal shape (see FIG. 1A) is part of an overlying cellular structure comprising many macrocells A.sub.1 -A.sub.7, B.sub.1 -B.sub.7 (see FIG. 1B). Each umbrella cell may contain an underlying microcell structure. The radio coverage of the umbrella cell and an underlying microcell may overlap or may be substantially non-overlapping. The umbrella cell 10 includes microcells 20 represented by the area enclosed within the dotted line and microcells 30 represented by the area enclosed within the dashed line corresponding to areas along city streets, and picocells 40, 50, and 60, which cover individual floors of a building.
Briefly, control channels are used for setting up calls, informing the base stations about location and parameters associated with mobile stations, and informing the mobile stations about location and parameters associated with the base stations. The base stations listen for call access requests by mobile stations and the mobile stations in turn listen for paging messages. Once a call access message has been received, it must be determined which cell should be responsible for the call. Generally, this is determined by the signal strength of the mobile station received at the nearby cells. Next, the assigned cell is ordered, by the mobile switching center (MSC) for example, to tune to an available voice channel which is allocated from the set of voice channels accessible to the assigned cell.
FIGS. 2A-2C show exemplary time slot formats on a digital control channel (DCC) according to the IS-136 standard. Two possible formats for information sent from a mobile station to a base station are shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and a format for information sent from a base station to a mobile station is shown in FIG. 2C. These formats are substantially the same as the formats used for digital traffic channels (DTCs) under the IS-54B standard, but new functionalities are accorded to the fields in each slot in accordance with U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/331,703 filed Oct. 31, 1994, which is expressly incorporated here by reference. In FIGS. 2A-2C, the number of bits in each field is indicated above that field. The bits sent in the G, R, PREAM, SYNC, SYNC+, and AG fields are used in a conventional way to help ensure accurate reception of the CSFP and DATA fields, e.g., for synchronization, guard times, etc. For example, the SYNC field would be the same as that of a DTC according to IS-54B and would carry a predetermined bit pattern used by the base stations to find the start of the slot. Also, the SYNC+ field would include a fixed bit pattern to provide additional synchronization information for the base stations, which would set their receiver gains during the PREAM field so as to avoid signal distortion.
FIG. 3 is a block diagram of an exemplary cellular mobile radiotelephone communication system for use with the cellular structure shown in FIGS. 1A, 1B and the time slot formats shown in FIGS. 2A-2C. The communication system includes a base station 110 that is associated with a respective one of the macrocell, microcell, and picocell; a mobile station 120; and an MSC 140. Each base station has a control and processing unit 130, which communicates with the MSC 140, which in turn is connected to the public switched telephone network (not shown). Each base station also includes at least one voice channel transceiver 150 and a control channel transceiver 160, which are controlled by the control and processing unit 130. The mobile station 170 includes a similar voice and control channel transceiver 170 for exchanging information with the transceivers 150, 160, and a similar control and processing unit 180 for controlling the voice and control channel transceiver 170. The mobile station's transceiver 170 can also exchange information with the transceiver 170 in another mobile station.
Other approaches to communication use systems called code division multiplexing (CDM) and code division multiple access (CDMA). In a conventional CDMA system, a digital information sequence to be communicated is spread, or mapped, into a longer digital sequence by combining the information sequence with a spreading sequence. As a result, one or more bits of the information sequence are represented by a sequence of N "chip" values. In one form of this process, called "direct spreading", each spread symbol is essentially the product of an information symbol and the spreading sequence. In a second form of spreading called "indirect spreading", the different possible information symbols are replaced by different, not necessarily related, spreading sequences. It will be understood that the information symbols may be produced by preceding stages of channel coding and/or spreading.
An advantage of such spreading is that information from many sources can be transmitted at the same time in the same frequency band, provided the spreading sequences used to represent the different sources' information sequences do not interfere with one another too much. In effect, the different spreading sequences correspond to different communication "channels". In general, there are 2.sup.N possible binary spreading sequences of length N chips, which results in a very large number of possible CDMA channels. This property of a CDMA system is sometimes called "soft capacity" because the number of channels is not restricted to N, as it would be in a frequency-division multiple access (FDMA) or a time-division multiple access (TDMA) system of the same bandwidth and data rate. Various aspects of conventional CDMA communications are described in K. Gilhousen et al., "On the Capacity of a Cellular CDMA System," IEEE Trans. Veh. Technol. vol. 40, pp. 303-312 (May 1991); and the following U.S. patent documents that are expressly incorporated here by reference: U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,919 to Dent; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,352 to Dent et al.; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/155,557 filed Nov. 22, 1993, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,506,861.

Apparatus and method for secure radio communication


An object of the present invention is to provide a myocardial progenitor cell that is specifically induced to differentiate into a cardiomyocyte, and a method for preparing the myocardial progenitor cell. A method for preparing a CD82-positive cell includes, in sequence, a step (a) of obtaining stem cells, a step (b) of subjecting the stem cells to induction treatment of differentiation into cardiovascular cells, and a step (c) of separating, from the stem cells having been subjected to the induction treatment of differentiation in the step (b), a CD82-positive cell being negative for at least one cell surface marker selected from CD73, CD44, CD105, CD121a, CD18, and CD120a. This method enables preparation of a CD82-positive cell for use as a myocardial progenitor cell.

Heart disease is a leading cause of death in developed nations. For example, the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare reported heart disease as the second leading cause of death in Japan on the basis of statistical data on cause of death from 2011 to 2013.
Ischemic heart disease, which includes angina pectoris and myocardial infarction, is caused by insufficient blood flow to the myocardium due to coronary artery stenosis or coronary artery thromboembolism. In order to treat such ischemic heart disease, intervention treatment using a catheter to improve blood flow is performed. However, the myocardium cannot be regenerated by intervention treatment once necrosed. For this reason, there has been a clinical problem of an absence of an effective remedy for heart diseases including a morbid state of severe cardiac failure caused by a decrease in the number of viable cardiomyocytes after recovery from ischemia, and a morbid state of chronic progressive loss of cardiomyocytes occurring gradually that is not caused by ischemia and leads to cardiac failure.
Pluripotent stem cells have the potential of differentiating into all cells of an organism, and a typical example thereof is embryonic stem cells (ES cells). Because of such characteristics, human ES cells are expected to be applied to regenerative therapy including myocardial regenerative therapy. However, transplantation of differentiated ES cells may cause rejection, which is problematic.
In recent years, Yamanaka's group has reported the development of induced pluripotent stem cells having pluripotency and proliferation potency comparable to ES cells, in what is called iPS cells (induced pluripotent stem cells), which are prepared by inducing dedifferentiation of mouse somatic cells through expression of four factors (Oct3/4, Sox2, Klf4, and c-myc) (Non Patent Literature 1); and Yamanaka's group has subsequently reported that iPS cells can also be prepared from human differentiated cells (Non Patent Literature 2). Such human iPS cells can be prepared from cells derived from the patient to be treated, and hence are expected as a tool for the preparation of myocardial tissue without causing rejection. For this reason, there has been a demand for the establishment of myocardial regenerative therapy employing human iPS cells as early as possible.
In myocardial regenerative therapy employing human iPS cells, candidate cells serving as the source of supply include cardiomyocytes prepared by inducing human iPS cells to differentiate, and myocardial progenitor cells in the pre-differentiation stage.
When myocardial regenerative therapy is performed with cardiomyocytes prepared by inducing human iPS cells to differentiate, cardiomyocytes do not substantially proliferate and also exhibit a low take rate in the recipient's heart. For this reason, a cardiomyocyte sheet may be produced such that a sufficiently large number of cardiomyocytes for transplantation are prepared by inducing human iPS cells to differentiate, so that the sheet exhibits an increased take rate in the heart; and this cardiomyocyte sheet may be administered.
On the other hand, when myocardial regenerative therapy is performed with myocardial progenitor cells, the key is to isolate progenitor cells that specifically differentiate into the myocardium. As myocardial progenitor cells, for example, Gordon Keller et al. have reported KDR-positive PDGFRα-positive cells (Non Patent Literatures 3 and 4). However, KDR and PDGFRα, which are expressed also in early mesoderm, cannot be regarded as cell surface markers that enable identification of cell groups having the potential of specific differentiation into the myocardium. Recently, Irving L. Weissman et al. have reported that CD13 and ROR2 are cell surface markers for myocardial and vascular progenitor cells (cardiovascular progenitor cells) (Non Patent Literature 5). It is true CD13-positive ROR2-positive cells include cells that can differentiate into the myocardium; however, these cells also include cells that can differentiate into, other than the myocardium, the vascular endothelium or blood vessel walls. In addition, since expressions of CD13 and ROR2 are observed also in the primitive streak stage of early mesoderm, CD13 and ROR2 cannot be regarded as cell surface markers that enable identification of cell groups having the potential of specific differentiation into the myocardium. Furthermore, Nkx2.5, islet1, Tbx5, Tbx20, GATA4, MEF2C, and the like have been reported as markers for myocardial progenitor cells (Non Patent Literature 6). However, these markers are not cell surface markers, but transcription factors. For this reason, isolation of myocardial progenitor cells expressing such a transcription factor requires, for example, genetic modification. Thus, myocardial progenitor cells that are not modified cannot be isolated. There has been a report on a method of harvesting myocardial tissue, and directly selecting and isolating, from the tissue, pluripotent stem cells having a high potential of differentiation into cardiomyocytes (Patent Literature 1). However, since myocardial tissue is used as the source of supply, a sufficiently large number of cells for therapy may not be necessarily obtained, which raises a question of clinical application of the method. In addition, this method requires donors of myocardial tissue and hence is not very versatile. Therefore, there has been a demand for identification of a cell surface marker for myocardial progenitor cells having the potential of specific differentiation into the myocardium.


This invention relates to the synthesis of a latex which can be formulated into coatings having improved flexibility and good water resistance. Coatings of this type are particularly useful in roof coating applications because they offer excellent flexibility, excellent ultra-violet light resistance, and good water resistance. The subject invention more specifically discloses a process for producing a neutralized latex that is useful in the manufacture of water reducible coatings which comprises:. (1) free radical aqueous emulsion polymerizing, at a pH of less than about 3.5, a monomer mixture which comprises, based on 100 weight percent monomers: (a) from about 30 to about 70 weight percent vinyl aromatic monomers, (b) from about 25 to about 65 weight percent of at least one alkyl acrylate monomer, (c) from about 1 to about 5 weight percent of acrylic acid, and (d) about 0.4 to about 3 weight percent methacrylic acid, in the presence of about 0.2 to 0.4 phm at least one sulfonate surfactant and in the presence of about 4 to 8 phm of at least one nonionic surface active agent having a hydrophile-lipophile balance number which is within the range of about 12 to about 20 to produce a latex; and PA1 (2) neutralizing the latex with ammonia to a pH which is within the range of about 7 to about 10.5 to produce the neutralized latex.

Most conventional coating resins are insoluble in water. Therefore, in general practice they have been dissolved in a suitable organic solvent or dispersed in water with the aid of an emulsifying agent or surfactant in order to provide a coating composition suitable for application to a substrate surface. A serious disadvantage of organic solvent solutions is that they are potentially toxic, flammable, and environmental pollutants.
Water reducible coatings do not present these problems and are, therefore, highly desirable. For this reason various water reducible coating resins, such as the one described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,474,926, have been developed. Water reducible coatings which utilize such resins have been developed for a variety of purposes and have been widely accepted in many applications such as highway striping paint.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,741 describes a coating for metal substrates which provides improved corrosion and rust resistance. Such coatings are of the water reducible type and can be beneficially utilized in the automotive industry and other applications where good rust resistance is needed. For instance, such coatings are excellent for coating bridges and other outdoor metal structures. There are many applications where it would be highly desirable for a water reducible coating to offer improved flexibility and ultra-violet light resistance in addition to good corrosion and rust resistance. For example, such a water reducible coating would be valuable in roof coating applications. This invention relates to such a water reducible coating which offers improved flexibility and ultraviolet light resistance in addition to outstanding corrosion and rust resistance.
For purposes of this patent application, an aqueous coating system is considered to be a colloidal dispersion of a resin in water which can be reduced by the addition of water and which forms a durable coating when applied to a substrate surface. The term aqueous coating system is used herein interchangeably with the term water reducible coating. Other names which are sometimes applied to water reducible coatings are water born, water solubilized, and water dilutable.

Latex for coatings having improved flexibility


The present invention provides a hepatocyte growth factor (HGF) preparation in the form of an injection or the like that is highly safe for central nerves and highly stable and can be used for intrathecal or intracerebroventricular administration or for administration into the spinal or cerebral parenchyma for the treatment of central nervous system diseases. The HGF preparation of the present invention contains an HGF protein as an active ingredient and lactose, glycine, sodium chloride, a pH buffering agent and a surfactant as additional ingredients.

HGF was discovered as a biologically active protein having growth-promoting activity for mature hepatocytes (for example, see Non Patent Literature 1). Subsequent studies have revealed that HGF protein acts on not only hepatocytes but also various epithelial cells, vascular endothelial cells, etc., being involved in repair and regeneration of damaged tissues and organs (see Non Patent Literature 2). HGF protein can be mass-produced as a recombinant protein by bioengineering techniques (for example, see Non Patent literature 3), and a recombinant HGF protein is expected to be used as a therapeutic agent not only for hepatitis and liver cirrhosis but also for nephropathy, wounds, etc. (see Non Patent Literature 2).
Furthermore, a large number of recent studies on gene expression analysis and gene functional analysis by knockout/knockin mouse approaches etc. have revealed that HGF protein also has the effect of promoting neuronal cell survival and neurite outgrowth and is an important neurotrophic factor (see Non Patent Literature 4 and 5).
HGF protein has neurotrophic activity on neuronal cells such as hippocampal neurons, dopaminergic neurons, cerebellar granule cells, sensory neurons and motor neurons (see Non Patent Literature 6). In particular, HGF protein has a strong effect of promoting the survival of motor neurons (see Non Patent Literature 7). This effect is comparable to that of glial cell line-derived neurotrophic factor (GDNF), a factor known to most strongly promote the survival of motor neurons.
Based on such neurotrophic activity, HGF protein has been reported to be applicable as a therapeutic agent for various neurological disorders including amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS) and spinal cord injury (see Patent Literature 1 to 3 and Non Patent Literature 5, 8 and 9).
In general, protein pharmaceuticals are injected intravenously, subcutaneously or intramuscularly. However, proteins administered via such a route can very hardly transfer to central nervous system tissues across the blood-brain barrier between brain tissues and blood vessels, as is commonly known. Therefore, when HGF protein is used for the treatment of central nervous system diseases, intrathecal or intracerebroventricular administration, which allows direct delivery of HGF protein to central nervous system tissues, is considered to be effective instead of intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular injection, which is a route used for the treatment of common organ diseases (see Non patent Literature 8 and 9). Intrathecal or intracerebroventricular administration is used also in the anticancer drug treatment of brain tumor. In addition, direct administration of HGF protein into the cerebral or spinal parenchyma is another possible administration route for the treatment of central nervous system diseases.
For the production of HGF protein pharmaceuticals, the development of stabilized HGF protein preparations is required. Patent Literature 4 discloses an HGF protein preparation which is an aqueous solution containing an HGF protein (also called TCF-II) plus a stabilizer such as albumin, human serum, gelatin, sorbitol, mannitol and xylitol (see Patent Literature 4). However, this aqueous HGF solution has some disadvantages. One is that the HGF aqueous solution gradually become turbid and gelatinized during storage due to aggregation of HGF protein molecules. Another is that the HGF aqueous solution is poor in physicochemical stability, for example, is prone to formation of HGF protein-based polymers (formation of HGF polymers), resulting in reduction in biological activity of HGF.
In order to provide a solution to prevent such polymer formation, for example, Patent Literature 5 discloses a lyophilized HGF preparation containing HGF plus a stabilizer such as arginine, lysine, histidine, glutamine, proline, glutamic acid and, aspartic acid (see Patent Literature 5). Patent Literature 6 discloses a lyophilized HGF preparation containing HGF plus a stabilizer such as glycine, alanine, sorbitol, mannitol and dextran sulfate (see Patent Literature 6). Patent Literature 7 discloses a lyophilized HGF preparation containing HGF plus purified sucrose, alanine and the like (see Patent Literature 7).
Injections prepared from these preparations are supposedly safe to use for intravenous, subcutaneous or intramuscular administration, which is a route used for the treatment of common organ diseases. However, for example in the case of intrathecal or intracerebroventricular administration, since HGF protein is directly delivered to the central nervous system, all the ingredients of the HGF preparation, including various additives, need to have been fully confirmed safe for the central nervous system. So far, there is no disclosure or HGF preparations publicly confirmed safe to use for intrathecal or intracerebroventricular administration or for administration into the spinal or cerebral parenchyma.
There is a need for highly safe HGF preparations that can be used for intrathecal or intracerebroventricular administration or for administration into the spinal or cerebral parenchyma for the treatment of central nervous system diseases.

HGF preparation suitable for treatment of neurological disorders


Embodiments of the present disclosure provide a method, a coalescing configuration engine, a coalescing configuration tool and a file system for a storage system, and comprises at least one initiator, each initiator accessing a corresponding storage space in the storage system via at least one virtual logic unit number LUN by executing in parallel a plurality of configuration operations, wherein each configuration operation is used to configure a mapping relationship between the at least one virtual LUN and the at least one initiator.

Generally, most storage systems may be configured to provide data and services to a client system via a standard small computer system interface (SCSI) protocol. Typically, in a SCSI protocol, an SCSI initiator is an end point that may initiate a SCSI session, i.e., transmitting a SCSI command. Usually, an initiator may not provide any logical unit numbers (LUNs). Alternatively, a SCSI target may be an end point that may not initiate a session, but may wait for a command from an initiator and may provide a required input/output data transfer. Generally, a target may provide one or more LUNs to an initiator; otherwise, it may be impossible to issue a read or write command. Usually, a read or write command may then redirected to an internal storage file system for further processing.
Nowadays, large number of mobile devices and users create a relatively huge amount of data. Typically, the may require storage systems to support a large amount of virtual LUNs with large capacity. A deduplication storage system may provide higher capacity to a user due to its high compression ratio. Likewise, there may be requirements where deduplication storage systems may export a large amount of virtual LUNs for various storage customers.

Coalescing configuration engine, coalescing configuration tool and file system for storage system


Systems and methods are disclosed herein for resolving a change to a table. A processing circuitry receives, from a user in a collaborative document editing environment, the change to the table, wherein the change comprises an expansion of a first cell in the table. A first state of the first cell is identified, wherein the state is indicative of a number of columns and a number of rows over which the first cell spans, and at least one of the number of columns and the number of rows is greater than one. A second state of a second cell that is adjacent to the first cell is identified, and the processing circuitry selects whether to allow the expansion of the first cell based on the second state of the second cell.

Computing systems are capable of allowing users make edits to a table in a document, such as causing cells in the table to merge. In some existing table editors, such as HTML, cells are not strictly "merged." Instead a cell is allowed to expand to take up more space either vertically or horizontally, and the "merged" cells are simply hidden. In this case, the merged cell and the expanding cell are not associated with each other, which can lead to complications in a controller that represents the table. Moreover, no limits are placed on the amount that the expanding cell can expand, which further complicates the model. In other table editors, such as OOXML, cells expand horizontally and cover up cells vertically. However, OOXML requires that the covering cell is explicitly marked as a covering cell, and that the covered cell is also explicitly marked as a covered cell. This direct dependency between the two covering cell and the covered cell in OOXML can cause problems in real time collaborative models, because a change to any cell in the table can affect any other cell.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Merging table cells via expansion in a collaborative document having row span and column span properties


Aspects of a method and system for utilizing a 10/100/1G/10GBase-T PHY device for single channel and shared channel networks are provided. In this regard, at least one switching element may be utilized to configure an Ethernet over twisted pair PHY device for communication over a single and/or shared channel. The switching element may enable switching between a transmitter being coupled to a shared channel and a receiver being coupled to a shared channel. Additionally, the switching elements may be based on whether the transmitter is connected to a standard 10/100/1G/10GBase-T network, or to a single and/or shared channel network, for example. In this manner, the configured PHY device may remain compatible with existing Ethernet networks. The PHY device may be configured externally and/or internally. The polarity of transmitted and/or received data may be configured based on a polarity of data received from a shared channel.

Today's networks are based predominantly on Ethernet (IEEE 802.3) technology. Additionally, for various reasons including cost and ease of manufacture, twisted pair cabling has become the predominant physical medium utilized in local area networks employing Ethernet technology. Ethernet utilizing twisted pair is commonly referred to as 10Base-T, 100Base-TX, 1000Base-T, and 10GBase-T, where the number indicates the data rate, "Base" refers to baseband, meaning no modulation of frequency shifting may be employed, and the "T" refers to twisted pair cabling as the transmission medium.
Because of the popularity of Ethernet and twisted pair cabling, an abundance of 10/100/1000/10Gbase-T physical layer equipment exists in the marketplace and in existing networks. Accordingly, when the appropriate infrastructure is available, 10/100/1000/10Gbase-T may be excellent choices for deploying a lost cost network. Conventional Ethernet networks often utilize a shared channel and rely on the Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Carrier Detect (CSMA/CD) protocol to share the channel. In this regard, CSMA/CD may limit data rates and or distances or number of nodes in a network. Consequently, the cost of installing a 10/100/1000/10GBase-T network in an existing multi-tenant or multi-dwelling unit (MTU/MDU) may be prohibitive due to the cost of purchasing and installing switches (or similar devices) and/or twisted pair cabling.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional and traditional approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems with some aspects of the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

Method and system for utilizing a 10/100/1G/10G base-T PHY device for single channel and shared channel networks


There is provided a multi-charged beam lens constituted by stacking, via fiber chips serving as insulator members along the optical path of a charged beam, a plurality of electrodes having a charged beam passing region where a plurality of charged beam apertures are formed. The electrodes have shield apertures between the charged beam passing region and the fiber chips. A conductive shield extends through the shield apertures without contacting the electrodes, and cuts off a straight path which connects the charged beam passing region and the fiber chips serving as insulator members. This prevents the influence of charge-up of the insulator members on an electron beam in the multi-charged beam lens.

In production of semiconductor devices, an electron beam exposure technique receives a great deal of attention as a promising candidate of lithography capable of micropattern exposure at a line width of 0.1 μm or less, and several electron beam exposure methods have been proposed. For example, a variable rectangular beam method draws a pattern with one stroke. This method suffers many problems as a mass-production exposure apparatus because of a low throughput. To increase the throughput, there is proposed a pattern projection method of reducing and transferring a pattern formed on a stencil mask. This method is advantageous to a simple repetitive pattern but disadvantageous to a random pattern such as a logic interconnection pattern in terms of the throughput, and a low productivity disables practical application.
To the contrary, a multi-beam system for drawing a pattern simultaneously with a plurality of electron beams without using any mask has been proposed. This multi-beam system is very advantageous to practical use because of the absence of physical mask formation and exchange. What is important in using multiple electron beams in the multi-beam system is the number of electron lens arrays used in this system. The number of beams is determined by the number of electron lens arrays which can be incorporated in an electron beam exposure apparatus, and is a main factor which determines the throughput. How to improve the lens performance while downsizing the lens and increasing the density is one of important factors for improving the performance of the multi-beam exposure apparatus.
Electron lenses are classified into electromagnetic and electrostatic types. The electrostatic electron lens does not require any coil core or the like, and is simpler in structure and more advantageous to downsizing than the electromagnetic electron lens. Typical prior arts concerning downsizing of the electrostatic electron lens (electrostatic lens) are as follows.
A. D. Feinerman et al. (J. Vac. Sci. Technol. A10(4), p. 611, 1992) disclose a method of anodically bonding a fiber and a V-groove formed by Si crystal anisotropic etching of an electrode fabricated by a micromechanical technique, thereby forming a three-dimensional structure from three electrodes serving as single electrostatic lenses. The Si film has a membrane frame, a membrane, and an aperture which is formed in the membrane and transmits an electron beam. K. Y. Lee et al. (J. Vac. Sci. Technol. B12(6), p. 3,425, 1994) disclose a structure obtained by bonding Si layers and Pyrex glass layers by using anodic bonding. This technique fabricates aligned microcolumn electron lenses. Sasaki (J. Vac. Sci. Technol. 19, p. 963, 1981) discloses an arrangement in which three electrodes having lens aperture arrays are arranged into an Einzel lens. In an electrostatic lens having this arrangement, a voltage is generally applied to the central one of three electrodes, and the remaining two lenses are grounded, obtaining lens action.
In the prior arts, an electron lens is constituted by stacking a plurality of electrodes via insulator members. The insulator member which constitutes the electron lens in the prior art is exposed to an electron beam, and is readily charged. That is, an electric field is generated by charges on the insulator surface. The electric field makes the electron beam orbit unstable or increases aberration, failing to focus a beam. This is so-called charge-up. As a measure against this problem, the insulator member is covered from a beam, preventing charge-up. However, this method can be applied to only a single-beam lens. Charge-up of the insulator member is still a serious problem in a multi-charged beam lens formed using a semiconductor process.
In combining electrodes into an electron lens in the prior arts, the method by Feinerman et al. and the method by Lee et al. newly require an anodic bonding apparatus in addition to a process apparatus for fabricating an electrode. The method by Sasaki does not clarify a method of combining electrodes into an electron lens.
When electrodes are bonded to downsize an electron lens, electrodes 1001 are fixed by an adhesive 1002 via insulator members 1005, as shown in FIG. 23. The adhesive 1002 is lower in dielectric breakdown voltage than the insulator member 1005, and dielectric breakdown may occur in the adhesive 1002, decreasing the operating voltage of the electrostatic lens.

Multi-charged beam lens, charged-particle beam exposure apparatus using the same, and device manufacturing method


A holding unit for holding one or a plurality of tools and articles comprising a holding portion having resilient thin plates or segments divided by a plurality of radially extended slits at a predetermined angular distance and arranged in a ring or in an elliptical form, the envelope of the extreme open edge of each segment forming a hole, a mounting portion which may be formed in various different shapes, such as a belt member, one or more resilient detent members, etc. According to one embodiment of the holding unit, when an article to be held is inserted into the hole formed by the envelope of the extreme edge of each thin plate segments divided by the radially extended slits, the article thus inserted is firmly gripped by the periphery of the thin plate segments, thus enabling an article to be held therein or to be removed therefrom.

(1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a holding unit for holding tools and articles, particularly to a holding unit having a holding portion formed by a resilient thin plate or plates divided by radially extend slits which is capable of removably holding these tools and articles speedily.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
Among tools and articles, there are many which always demand to be held in a certain predetermined place in view of their purposes for use. For instance, it is desirable to always keep particular tools and articles in the vicinity of particular machinery in use in order to carry our adjustment work and cutlery changing work smoothly and effectively. For this purpose, it is commom practice that a securing member is kept or fixed at one end of a chain which is tied on, for instance, a chuck handle for an electric drill, and that the securing member is in turn fixed on a captyre cord of the electric drill in order to prevent the missing of the chuck handle for the drill, which is quite often used in the work. However, in the securing member according to the prior art, there was a drawback that it was troublesome to handle it as the securing member had to be moved when using as well as the captyre cord was often subject to damage.
In order to hold or keep tools and articles such as screw drivers, spanners and wrenches other than the chuck handle for the electric drills, a holding unit capable of more easily holding these things has been desired but no suitable holding unit has not yet been developed heretofore.


The disclosure herein describes controlling focal parameters of a head mounted display based on an estimated user age to account for increasing likelihood of presbyopia as user age increases. The head mounted display uses eye tracking sensors to collect ocular metric data associated with ocular features of a user's eye and a user age estimate is calculated based on analysis of the ocular metric data using a machine learning algorithm and an ocular metric data set. Further, a confidence value of the user age estimate is calculated based on the analysis of the ocular metric data. Then, focal parameters of the visual display of the head mounted display are controlled based on the user age estimate and confidence value. The described focal control method provides a seamless, automated way for a head mounted display system to adjust settings to provide a sharp, in-focus user experience for users of all ages.

Existing head-mounted displays (HMDs) use a single focal distance to display digital content. This constraint can make it uncomfortable for a user to look at holograms that are located near the user, but far away from the focal plane, due to a phenomenon known as vergence-accommodation conflict. Additionally, it may be virtually impossible to simultaneously focus on nearby holograms and nearby real-world objects. Variable-focus displays are in development that are able to adjust optical power to match where the user is looking, and multi-focal displays could render each holographic pixel at a different focal distance, enabling users to benefit from a more comfortable and realistic mixed-reality and/or virtual reality experiences.
However, by the age of 55, humans lose the ability to accommodate for nearby objects and must rely on bifocals or progressive lenses to view nearby objects clearly. This condition is known as presbyopia. It may be difficult for users with presbyopia to use and interact with mixed-reality or virtual reality experiences that include holograms that are rendered at nearby focal ranges.

Controlling focal parameters of a head mounted display based on estimated user age


A memory device includes: a memory including a first magnetic layer having no retaining force and a second magnetic layer having a retaining force, the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer being stacked; a first magnet to magnetize the first magnetic layer in a first direction; and a second magnet to apply a magnetic field to a region through which the memory passes when the memory is removed and to magnetize the second magnetic layer in a second direction.

Magnetic memory devices that include magnetoresistive random access memory (MRAM) have a function as a non-volatile memory, and have high-speed access performance (for example, about 35 ns) that is equivalent to that of static random access memory (SRAM).
Memory cells of the magnetic memory devices store information using magnetic moment, and therefore allow data storage and highly reliable rewriting cycles under high-temperature circumstances.
Related technologies are disclosed in Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2006-511892 and International Publication Pamphlet No. WO 08/062686.


A thermal printer for use with a thermosensitive recording sheet is provided with an optical fixing device which has at least a lamp to optically fix a thermosensitive color developing layer of the recording medium. The lamp extends across a transport path of the recording sheet such that an intermediate portion of the lamp where luminance is approximately uniform extends over a range exceeding a maximum width of the recording sheet. A photosensor is disposed on a lateral side of the recording sheet so as to receive electromagnetic rays from the intermediate portion of the lamp. A control device controls the quantity of electromagnetic rays generated from the lamp in accordance with an illuminance value detected by the photosensor, so as to maintain the illuminance of an illumination area in front of the lamp to be constant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thermal printer for use with a thermosensitive recording medium, which is provided with a thermal head and at least an optical fixing device. More particularly, the present invention relates to an optical fixing device of a color thermal printer, having a photosensor and a shutter for controlling the amount of light or electromagnetic rays applied for fixing the color thermosensitive recording medium.
2. Background Art
A color thermal printer for use with a color thermosensitive recording medium has been known. The color thermosensitive recording medium has at least three color thermosensitive layers which develop cyan, magenta and yellow when heated. Because the thermosensitive layers have different thermosensitivities for color, a full color image can be thermally recorded in a frame sequential fashion in order from the most sensitive to the least sensitive layer. After recording a color frame in the most sensitive layer, this layer is optically fixed by electromagnetic rays of a specific wavelength range, so as not to develop color any more. Then, a next color frame is recorded in the second sensitive layer, which is, thereafter, fixed by electromagnetic rays of another wavelength range. Finally, recording in the least sensitive layer is executed to complete a full color image.
A lamp for radiating the electromagnetic rays for fixing is mainly an elongated discharge tube, and disposed across a transport path of the thermosensitive recording medium. Because the intensity of light from the lamp changes with the temperature of the tube wall, as described, for example, in JP-Y-63-33321, it is desirable, for uniform optical fixing, to measure light from the lamp and maintain the light intensity of the lamp to be constant based on the measured light value, as is disclosed in JP-B-4-54590.
To avoid interference with the light path from the lamp to the recording medium, a photosensor may not be disposed between the lamp and the recording medium. It is possible to place the photosensor on a rear side of the lamp. However, for the sake of accurate measurement of illuminance on the recording medium, it is preferable to place the photosensor as closer to the recording medium as possible.
Moreover, luminance of the elongated discharge tube changes in the axial direction. That is, the luminance steeply decreases in proximity to the ends of the tube. Accordingly, accurate measurement is impossible with the photosensor being placed in the end portion of the lamp tube, even though the photosensor in that place does not hinder the light path from the lamp toward the recording medium.
Incidentally, there are plural types of printers: a circular type and a back-and-forth type.
In the circular type thermal printer, a sheet of the recording material is mounted around a periphery of a platen drum, to be transported circularly relative to a thermal head. A clamp member clamps an end of the recording sheet to position it on the platen drum. An advantage of the circular type is in that only small area along one end of the recording sheet is needed for positioning at the clamp member. An image can be recorded on the recording sheet only with small margin portions. However, as the platen drum must have a sufficiently large diameter enough to support a recording sheet around it, there is a limit in reducing the size of the circular type printer when it is required to record sheets of a B5 or A4 size. In addition, as the size of the platen drum becomes the larger, a drive motor for the platen drum must have the larger power. Therefore, the circular type is preferable for recording on a sheet of smaller size such as postcard size.
FIG. 10 schematically illustrates a conventional color thermal printer of a back-and-forth type. A pair 15 of transport rollers, consisting of a nip roller 15a and a drive roller 15b, first nip a front edge of a color thermosensitive recording sheet 10, and transport the recording sheet 10 in forward and reverse directions alternately: the forward direction from a supply tray 11 toward an exit passageway 16, and the reverse direction from the exit passageway 16 to a backward passageway 13.
The recording sheet 10 is squeezed between a platen roller 17 and a thermal head 18, while yellow, magenta and cyan colors are recorded to it. The platen roller 17 has a smaller diameter compared with the above-described platen drum that must support the entire length of the recording sheet 10 therearound.
Downstream from the transport roller pair 15 as viewed in the forward direction, there is disposed an optical fixing device 9, which includes a yellow fixing lamp 9a generating ultraviolet rays for yellow fixation, a magenta fixing lamp 9b generating ultraviolet rays for magenta fixation, and a reflector 9c for reflecting light from the fixing lamps 9a and 9b toward the recording sheet 10. While the recording sheet 10 is transported in the forward or the reverse direction, the color images are recorded to the coloring layers. Then the fixing device 9 is actuated while the recording sheet 10 is transported in the either of the forward and the reverse directions, to fix the coloring layers photochemically.
The back-and-forth type thermal printer is advantageous in reducing the size of the printer, as the diameter of the platen roller 17 is irrespective of the size of the recording sheet 10. However, the recording sheet 10 should be kept nipped between the transport rollers 15a and 15b during the thermal recording, so as to achieve an exact color registration with simple sheet transporting mechanism and control operation. Therefore, at least a length L1 of an edge portion of the recording sheet 10 must remain behind the transport roller pair 15, as shown in FIG. 10. As a result, an end portion L1+L2 of the recording sheet 10 extending from its edge 10a to a trailing end of the reflector 9c in the forward transport direction of the recording sheet 10 cannot be positioned in an illumination area A1 under the fixing device 9, so that this end portion L1+L2 is obliged to be a blank margin.
Especially in a back-and-forth type color thermal printer wherein the fixing lamps 9a and 9b arranged side by side along the transport path as illustrated in FIG. 10, the magenta fixing lamp 9b is located farther from the transport roller pair 15. As a result, even in a portion L4 which precedes to the end portion L1+L2 and is located in the illumination area A1 when the recording sheet 10 stops in the position shown in FIG. 10, a trailing half of the portion L4 remains unfixed with the magenta fixing lamp 9b. Moreover, exposure amount of the portion L4 to the fixing lamp 9a decreases from the leading end to the trailing end within the portion L4, as the exposure time decreases from the leading end to the trailing end. As a result, an uneven and insufficient fixing condition is provided in the portion L4.
Because such an insufficient fixing condition lowers the quality of the recorded image, it is necessary for a satisfactory quality to avoid recording in the portion L4 as well as in the portion L2+L1. Accordingly, the back-and-forth moving type printer needs to keep a quite large portion L3 (=L1+L2+L4) of the recording sheet 12 out of use for printing. That means the smaller area is available for printing on the recording sheet 10. Especially in such a back-and-forth type printer wherein more than one lamp or a U-shaped lamp is used for fixing one color to allow a higher transport speed of the recording sheet, the illumination area A1 is correspondingly elongated, so that the available area of the recording sheet 10 would be still more reduced.

Thermal printer and optical fixing device therefor


Sensitive data associations for related data values are protected. A set of related data values is received. The set of related data values include at least a first data value and a second data value. The first data value is associated with a first data field and the second data value is associated to a second data field. First encrypted data is created by encrypting the first data value using a first encryption key and a second encrypted data is created by encrypting the second data value using a second encryption key. The first data value is stored in a first data table, the second data value is stored in a second data table, the first encrypted data is stored in the second table, and the second encrypted data is stored in the first table.

Federal and state governments are passing laws that define what constitutes personal information of individuals and mandating that there be procedures for protecting that personal information. An example of such a law is the California Security Breach Information Act (SB-1386) (enacted). This bill is a California state law requiring organizations that maintain personal information about individuals to inform those individuals if the security of their information is compromised. The Act stipulates that if there's a security breach of a database containing personal data, the responsible organization must notify each individual for whom it maintained information. The Act, which went into effect Jul. 1, 2003, was created to help stem the increasing incidence of identity theft. According to the Federal Trade Commission, the organization received 214,905 complaints of identity theft in 2003, up 40% from 2002. Accordingly, there is a need for a simple but useful technique that can be incorporated in commercial databases to protect personal data from theft without seriously affecting the availability of the personal data to those that have a need to use it.

George Mason Intellectual Properties, Inc.


Aluminum and its alloys are anodized with a hard finish by enhancing the anodizining electrolyte solution with a lignin or lignosulfonate salt.

This invention related to a process for anodizing aluminum and its alloys with a hard finish. More particularly this invention relates to a process for hard anodizing of aluminum and its alloys wherein the anodizing electrolyte is enhanced by the addition of lignin or a lignosulfonate salt.
It is well known in the art to provide for the anodic oxidation of aluminum and its alloys with an acid electrolyte such as sulfuric acid, oxalic acid, chromic acid, sulfamic acid and phosphoric acid to produce a hard corrosion resistant layer. More recently it has been proposed to utilize an addition along with the anodizing electrolyte. For example U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,350 utilizes 2-aminoethyl sulfuric acid as an additive to allegedly produce a thick dense hard oxide coating. Similarly U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,351 adds taurine (2-aminoethane sulfuric acid) and amino substituted taurines to also allegedly produce thicker, denser and harder oxide coatings than are produced by the conventional acid electrolyte. The next consecutively numbered patent U.S. Pat. No. 2,855,352 issued to the same inventor and assignee claims that sulfamic acid (NH.sub.2 SO.sub.2 H) and its substituents also produce the same effects as the previously mentioned patents.
About the same time a different invention having the same assignee alleged in U.S. Pat. No. 2,897,125 that a surface active agent added to the electrolyte gave improved results with an aqueous extract of lignite, brown coal or peat. The extract is stated on column 3, line 25 to have 4.5 to 5% nitrogen content. Similarly in U.S. Pat. No. 2,905,600 the same inventor discovered improved anodization with a peat extract containing 4.5 to 5% nitrogen in two steps anodizing process.
In a continuation-in-part U.S. Pat. No. 2,977,294 the same inventor utilized a two bath anodization process wherein the first bath contains a peat extract containing 4.5 to 5% nitrogen residue.
It is claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,434,943 that superior anodizing results are obtained by adding to the electrolyte bath an extract obtained by treating the quebracho tree with water. The patentee allegeded that this extract contained a derivative of orthodihydroxy benzine but did not wish to be held to any formula. According to The Condensed Chemical Dictionary, Sixth Edition, the chief constituents of the quebracho tree are aspidospermine C.sub.22 H.sub.30 O.sub.2 N.sub.2 which is an alkaloid, tannin C.sub.14 H.sub.10 O.sub.4 and yohimbrine C.sub.21 H.sub.26 O.sub.3 N.sub.2. Aspidospermine and yohimbine are both alkaloids.
A common functional or active group in all the above mentioned additives is nitrogen. Many of the compounds contain an amino group. Peat contains 2 to 3% ammonia and about 22% humus acids which have soluble nitrogen compounds.
While these compounds have been somewhat effective as additives, there are others which are superior.

Anodic oxidation of aluminum and aluminum alloys with a lignin electrolyte solution


An electromagnetic plunger pump of the reciprocating type including a vent valve means which allows only air bubbles in the pump to pass therethrough. This vent valve means is provided in a pressure adjusting plunger fitted in a pressure adjusting cylinder for reciprocating motion. The vent valve means comprises a vent valve rod which is fitted in a through-hole of the pressure adjusting plunger so as to form a passage about the vent valve rod, and a vent valve body which is normally energized by a spring in the direction away from a vent valve seat at a forward end of the pressure adjusting plunger to provide a clearance between the vent valve body and the vent valve seat. This clearance is such that it allows the air bubbles to pass therethrough, while it does not allow a liquid under pressure having a viscosity to pass therethrough with the result that the vent valve means is closed by such liquid under pressure. The air bubbles and the excess liquid under pressure from the pressure adjusting mechanism are returned to a storage tank.

This invention relates to an electromagnetic plunger pump, and more particularly it is concerned with an electromagnetic plunger pump of the reciprocating type having therein a means for preventing the flow passage in the pump from being blocked up with air bubbles.
Generally, such reciprocating type of electromagnetic plunger pump is small in the diameter of a delivery piston or in the cross-sectional area of a cylinder and short in the length of stroke. Accordingly, when the electromagnetic plunger pump is used to draw kerosene or light oil from a storage tank located below the pump to feed it under pressure to a gasoline type burner and spray it therein for ignition and subsequent burning, it is usually increased in the number of stroke per unit time to maintain the delivery amount and is made considerably smaller in the delivery volume in comparison with the size of a valve chamber. Such pump is so-called a pump of lower volume efficiency. The air contained in the fuel oil and the gas gasified from the flowing oil due to the pumping action merely repeat the expansion and compression thereof by the reciprocating motion of the delivery piston, thereby causing a vapour lock phenomenon which obstructs a pumping action comprising the suction and discharge of the fuel oil.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,841 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,152 disclose the electromagnetic plunger pumps of the type in which after adjusting the pressure by a pressure adjusting mechanism in the form of relief valve built in the pump, the excess liquid under pressure of the pump is returned to the side of the suction valve of the pump. Particularly, in U.S. pat. No. 4,021,152, the electromagnetic plunger pump is provided with a means for preventing a vapour lock phenomenon comprising a particular duct for returning the excess liquid under pressure due to the adjustment of pressure to the side of the suction valve to thereby convert the air bubbles into comminuted form and return to the suction side without stagnation of the air bubbles. However, if the air bubbles enter into the side of the suction valve of such pump from the pipe at the suction side, it will cause a vapour lock phenomenon and further the air bubbles will be circulated in the pump and not easily discharged from the pump, so that the decrease in the delivery force of the pump and the stoppage of the pumping action frequently produce troubles due to the discontinuation of the fuel oil in burners or combustion apparatuses.
This is mostly because the above-mentioned type of pump which is of so-called an internal circulation system can draw the oil only the amount equal to that discharged, and merely repeats the compression and expansion of the air bubbles from the pressure chamber defined by the piston and the cylinder toward the discharge opening, so that the discharge of the air bubbles requires considerably long time and for such a period of time, the feed of the fuel oil is discontinued with the result that the fire is extinguished.
It is therefore a main object of the invention to provide an electromagnetic plunger pump in which the air bubbles existing or produced in the suction pipe can be rapidly treated to prevent the discontinuation of discharge of the fuel oil from the delivery side of the pump.
It is another object of the invention to provide an electromagnetic plunger pump having a vent valve means which allows the air bubbles to pass therethrough at a relatively lower pressure but does not allow the liquid under pressure having a viscosity to pass therethrough.
It is a further object of the invention to provide an electromagnetic plunger pump in which the excess liquid under pressure from the pressure adjusting mechanism is returned to a tank on exceeding a predetermined pressure to thereby increase the sum of the discharge amount at the delivery side and the return amount, i.e. the suction amount from the suction side, so that a vapour lock phenomenon may be prevented.
According to one aspect of the invention, there is provided an electromagnetic plunger pump comprising a pump body, an electromagnetic coil, a plunger case arranged on the longitudinal axis of the electromagnetic coil, an electromagnetic plunger fitted in the plunger case for reciprocating motion by the alternating action of the magnetic attractive force produced by intermittent current flowing through the electromagnetic coil and the biasing force of springs, and a pressure adjusting mechanism in the form of a relief valve provided in the pump body and normally shutting off a passage leading to the delivery side of the pump from a pressure adjusting chamber, wherein said pressure adjusting mechanism is provided with a vent valve means which allows only the air bubbles set free from a liquid under pressure to pass therethrough and which shuts off the liquid under pressure having a viscosity, and a duct which opens in the pressure adjusting chamber and a return opening flow connected to the duct are provided in the pump body to discharge the air bubbles and the excess liquid under pressure from the pressure adjusting mechanism outwardly of the pump.


A control for a moisture sensing assembly, adapted for mounting on the inner surface of a vehicle window or windshield to control vehicle accessories such as windshield wipers, maximizes the window area being sensed in relationship to the size of the assembly and provides immunity to interference from environmental influences. In the preferred embodiment, moisture on the outer window surface is detected by first and second moisture sensors each including infrared energy radiating diodes and radiant energy detectors which detect and process radiant energy to produce a moisture signal that is a function of the moisture on the window. A synchronizing circuit intermittently actuates the radiating diode for the two sensors individually and alternatingly at equally-spaced intervals. The synchronizing circuit also inhibits the radiant energy detectors from processing the radiant energy signal except when the corresponding radiating diodes are emitting energy in order to prevent interference from the other radiating diodes and environmental influences. The synchronizing circuit includes a pair of oscillators which include capacitors and coupling devices that coordinate the discharging of the capacitors in a manner which provides equal intervals between alternating output pulses from the oscillators.

This invention relates to moisture sensors for detecting moisture such as rainfall and dew as well as other matter such as dirt, dust, salt film and the like on windows. The invention is especially adapted for vehicle windows to control accessories such as windshield wipers and the like. More particularly, the invention concerns a control for a moisture sensing apparatus mounted on one side of a window panel for detecting moisture and other matter on the opposite side of the window panel while maximizing the area sensed and minimizing the overall assembly size.
Various types of moisture sensing apparatus have been used on vehicles to control accessories such as windshield wipers. Optical moisture sensors have been found particularly useful since they require no special coatings or other structure on the exterior of the window or vehicle for physically contacting rainfall or moisture. One such device employs an infrared emitter and detector which senses infrared energy emitted from inside the windshield or window and refracted and reflected back at decreased levels when moisture or other matter is present on the outside of the windshield to a detector also mounted on the interior of the vehicle. Such a sensor is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,956 and includes an emitter which emits pulses of infrared energy toward the inside surface of a window at an incident angle. The radiant energy is refracted into the window at the inside air/window surface and reflected off the air/outside window surface back through the window where it is again refracted and detected by a detector/sensor positioned along a reflection angle equal to the incident angle. The emitter and detector are spaced and positioned at predetermined locations and angles all as set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,798,956.
An improved control for such moisture sensing device is disclosed in copending, commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/317,288, filed Feb. 28, 1989 by Kenneth L. Schierbeek, Mark L. Larson and Kenneth Schofield, entitled "CONTINUOUSLY ADAPTIVE MOISTURE SENSOR SYSTEM FOR WIPER CONTROL." That control is used with a moisture sensing device positioned on a portion of the windshield cleared by the wiper and provides an adaptive moisture sensor system. The disclosed control includes moisture sensing means responsive to the presence of moisture for producing a moisture signal, reference signal generating means for generating a reference signal and comparison means for producing an output to the vehicle wiper system that indicates the relationship of the moisture signal to the reference signal. In this control, the reference generating means is responsive to the moisture signal for continuously adapting the reference signal toward the moisture signal to cause the control to adapt to changes in the system as a result of component aging, mounting tolerances and the like. During rain conditions, the reference generating means adapts the reference signal to the moisture signal at a faster rate in response to decreasing sensed moisture than in response to increasing sensed moisture such that the control adapts to the driest sensed condition of the windshield. The reference generating means additionally adapts the reference signal at a fast rate, to offset the reference signal and terminate dry wiping, when the moisture signal becomes stable due to a soiled windshield. The fast adapting functions are disabled during non-moisture conditions to reduce the tendency of such a control to adapt to rapidly changing environmental factors such as overhead street lights.
Use of the optical moisture sensing devices revealed that the area of the window being sensed was relatively small, and that the probability of moisture impinging on the sensed area was likewise small, especially in light rain conditions. Thus, in conditions where a relatively small and scattered number of raindrops strike the vehicle and its window areas, the probability of such a drop falling on the sensed area and being indicated to control the desired vehicle accessory (such as the windshield wipers) often prevented operation of the wipers until long after significant rain had begun to fall.
In the above referred to Schierbeek et al. application, a plurality of moisture sensing units are provided, each of which includes a moisture sensor, a reference generating circuit and a comparison means. These units are positioned at selected locations on the windshield within the area cleared by the wiper(s). A master control receives output signals from all of the moisture sensing units and responds to any sensing unit output indicating the presence of moisture by enabling the fast adapting function for each and every moisture sensing unit.
In order to obtain a reliable indication of a moisture condition, however, the desired number of such moisture sensing units occupies a large portion of the windshield. Therefore, a need was recognized for an improved moisture sensing device of the optical type which would maximize the window area being sensed while minimizing the size of the sensing assembly.
This need is addressed in copending, commonly-assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 377,942 filed on even date herewith by Desmond J. O'Farrell and Kenneth Schierbeek, entitled "VEHICLE MOISTURE SENSOR AND MOUNTING APPARATUS THEREFOR." This application discloses a moisture sensor providing an increased sensing area while minimizing the assembly size through the inclusion of two or more energy emitting diode arrays (emitters) and energy detecting photosensor arrays (detectors) arranged in a stacked relationship. Radiant energy barriers reduce the reflection of radiant energy from the first emitter and the inner surface of the windshield to the first and second detector and from the second emitter and the inner surface of the windshield to the first detector.


A vibration-proof stepping motor of the type having a stator of a built-up construction is disclosed, wherein the stator is composed of a single socket-like stator core member and a plurality of plug-like stator core members assembled with the socket-like stator core member in stacking relation, with stator coils disposed between adjacent pairs of the stator core members. An upper end of the plug-like stator core members which are stacked in the socket-like stator core member together with the stator coils projects from an upper end of the socket-like stator core member. A bobbin of each of the stator coils is resiliently deformable so that the stator is firmly retained by and between upper and lower housings in a compressed condition when the housings are joined together. With the stator thus retained, the stepping motor is free from vibration which would otherwise lead to generation of unpleasant operation noise.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to stepping motors, and more particularly to a vibration-proof stepping motor with a built-up stator which is suitable for an automated assembling.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventionally, stepping motors include a stator and a rotor disposed in a housing and assembled together in a built-up construction by means of screw fasteners. With this screwed assembly, stator cores are prevented from interfering with each other.
For a purpose of automated assembling, various attempts have been proposed to construct stator cores which can be assembled layerwise without using screw fasteners. One such proposed stator core construction is a so-called "claw-pole" construction. In the case of the conventional construction, when a stator coil is energized, the assembled stator cores tend to oscillate in resonance with the excited stator coil, thus generating unpleasant noises.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,613 discloses vibration isolating dampers disposed between adjacent stator cores for solving the noise problem. The disclosed dampers are satisfactory in terms of vibration isolating effect. However, in terms of automated assembling, they needs an additional damper positioning and mounting operations which must be performed with accuracy. There is a demand for a stepping motor which is suited for automated assembling and is capable of reliably isolating vibrations and vibration-induced noises without increasing the number of components.

Vibration-proof stepping motor with built-up stator


The present invention is a valve control device (10) for an internal combustion engine (12). It comprises a housing (18) having a piston chamber (20), in which is mounted a power piston (22) for reciprocating movement. The power piston (22) is connected to the engine valve (26). An air reservoir chamber (62) connected to a high pressure air source (74), is formed above the piston chamber (20). A poppet valve (42) mounted on the upper surface of the power piston (22) blocks communication between the piston chamber (20) and the air reservoir chamber (62) when the power piston (22) is in its highest position. The air source (74) is also connectred to the upper portion of the piston chamber (20) through a timing valve (76), which controls flow of air to the piston chamber (20).

The fuel efficiency and power output of an internal combustion engine can be significantly improved by optimizing the intake and exhaust valve timing and duration as the engine speed changes during operation. Valve timing refers to the angular position of the engine crank shaft the moment the valve is opened. Valve duration refers to the length of time the valve remains in an open position.
A number of devices are conventionally used in engines to open and close intake and exhaust valves. These devices include cam shafts, push rods, rocker arms and hydraulic tappets. These devices do not permit variation of either valve timing or duration during engine operation and are expensive and subject to failure. In addition, their use results in substantial energy loss due to friction.
Consequently, a need exists for a device that permits variable valve timing and variable valve duration during transient engine operation and eliminates conventional valve operation gear.
Two patents issued to Richeson, U.S. Pat. No. 4,899,700 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,915,015, disclose an electronically controlled pneumatically powered valve mechanism actuator for use in an internal combustion engine.
U.S. Pat. No. 885,459 issued to Engler et al. discloses a pneumatic or hydraulic engine valve control mechanism.

Internal combustion engine valve control device


Paper from a roll or other supply is processed by an in-line magazine publishing and/or assembly system. A magazine with a cover made from two sheets of paper is produced. The cover is assembled from two sheets, one of which has a pattern of adhesive material printed on one sheet, the second sheet being placed over the first sheet forming a two sheet cover. One sheet has a pattern of perforations and pattern of slits cut in its surface. The pattern of perforations and pattern of slits and part of the pattern of adhesive material combine to form a tear-out portion in the cover. The tear-out portion may be an envelope or an invoice or an order blank.

The present invention relates to methods and apparatus for making and assembling magazines containing billing elements and envelopes. More particularly the invention relates to novel systems and apparatus for printing and assembling magazines or cataloges or booklets or other books, printing billing elements and addressing, forming and placing remittance envelopes in the magazine, catalog, booklet or other book as an integral part thereof, during the assembly thereof.
The mail order business and mail transactions have expanded at a very rapid rate. Mail order catalogs are no longer limited to the large stores having local stores throughout the country. As a method of expanding their business, single stores, such as a sporting goods store in Maine or a western tack store in Colorado or a sporting goods store in Wisconsin for example, are printing catalogs, mailing the catalogs nation wide, and are carrying on a nation wide mail order business, with a reasonable amount of success. Television has been used as a sales medium where products may be purchased via telephone and/or mail throughout most of the nation. Much of these transactions are carried out through the mail.
It is usual that the same article or product sold direct, that is, sold to a walk-in customer in the store, and sold by mail from the same store, are sold at the same price. Since the same product is sold at the same price whether the sale be a direct sale or a mail order sale, the margin of profit to the store from these different type sales differs because of the different over head costs involved.
One of the factors reducing the margin of profit for the seller in the mail order business is the cost of mail and billing the customer. The cost of mail, that is stamps is a fixed cost, fixed by the Postal Service but the billing costs, that is, providing billing elements including printed statements or invoices and return or remittance envelopes is a variable cost.
Although the billing elements are usually sent out in some form of invoice and forwarded to the purchaser as a separate sheet or sent with the purchased article, the remittance envelope is usually a separate envelope, separate from the invoice. The remittance envelope is a secure envelope provided to the purchaser for forwarding payment of the purchase made.
Paramount in the mail order business is the magazine or book subscriber business, that is where a person subscribes to a magazine or book and receives the magazine or book periodically, through the mail. In the case of a magazine or book, invoices and remittance envelopes are sent to the subscriber in several ways. Often the book is enclosed in a hard cover or box type package and the billing elements are in a separate envelope secured to the exterior of the box type package containing the book. In other cases, where the purchase is a magazine the invoice and remittance or return envelopes are often stapled or attached to the inside of the magazine.
The above defined methods of sending invoices and/or remittance envelopes are expensive and time consuming and often require additional and/or out-of-step operations from the packaging and/or assembly of the product sold.


A cassette loading apparatus, for loading a cassette onto a tape driving mechanism of a videocassette recorder, includes a master gear rotated by a motor installed in the tape driving mechanism, a first slide member that moves by the rotation of the master gear, a second slide member locked to the first slide member so as to move together with the first slide member, and an arm gear that rotates by the movement of the second slide member to thereby move a cassette holder. The locking state of the first and second slide members is released when cassette loading ends, whereupon drive power is transmitted to the tape driving mechanism via the master gear and first slide member. The structure of the apparatus is simplified for more efficient use of the drive power of the motor and quicker cassette loading.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette loading apparatus for automatically loading a cassette into a tape driving mechanism and, more particularly, to a cassette loading apparatus which uses the driving force of a motor provided in the tape driving mechanism.
2. Description of the Related Art
Videocassette recorders generally comprise a cassette loading mechanism for loading a cassette and a tape driving mechanism for performing such functions as drawing the tape from a loaded cassette and travelling a tape for recording and reproducing information with respect thereto. In this case, although there are various types of cassette loading mechanisms, most videocassette recorders for home use adopt a front-loading type system. Such a cassette loading mechanism adopting the front loading system generally includes a cassette holder for holding an inserted cassette, a guide for movably supporting the cassette holder so that the cassette holder can move horizontally and vertically in stages, and driving means (a motor) for moving the cassette holder.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,951,164 discloses a technique for using the driving force of a motor installed in the tape driving mechanism, without an additional motor for operating the cassette loading mechanism. In particular, the tape driving mechanism comprises a head drum for use in recording and reproducing, a capstan for travelling the tape, a pinch roller, a deck having a reel driving table for driving a tape reel in the loaded cassette, and a motor for providing the deck with a drive force, such that the operational state of each part can be converted according to a mode selection.
In order to operate a cassette loading mechanism by employing the driving force of the motor installed in the tape driving mechanism, the tape driving mechanism should not be operated when cassette loading is in progress. Thus, after cassette loading, the tape driving mechanism is operated while maintaining the cassette-loaded state. With such a driving portion constituted as in the aforementioned U.S. patent, a worm wheel has a toothless portion which is secured to the motor shaft and a rack is employed for delivering the driving force of the motor to the cassette loading mechanism from the worm wheel. That is, when a cassette is first inserted, the worm and the worm wheel mesh and rotate together, so that the cassette loading mechanism loads the inserted cassette onto the deck. With the cassette thus-loaded, the worm is placed on the toothless portion of the worm wheel, such that the driving force is no longer delivered to the cassette loading mechanism but delivered to the tape driving mechanism.
In the cassette loading mechanism as described above, after the completion of a cassette loading operation, the toothless portion of the worm wheel faces the worm while the tape driving mechanism is actuated. Additionally, in order to eject a cassette, some means for rotating the worm wheel is needed so that the worm wheel and the worm can be re-connected in the above-described state. The realization of such means, however, is extremely complex, making assembly difficult. Moreover, numerous intermediate gears are needed for linking a cassette holder to the rack. Accordingly, there is excessive power loss in the drive train and cassette loading is slow.

Cassette loading apparatus which utilizes the driving force of motor installed in tape driving mechanism