A capsule medical apparatus includes a tissue obtaining unit that obtains a tissue from a body site of a subject; a detecting unit that detects a state of the tissue obtaining unit that varies depending on whether the tissue obtaining unit succeeds in obtaining a tissue; an output unit that outputs information representing whether the tissue obtaining unit succeeds in obtaining a tissue; and a control unit that determines whether the tissue obtaining unit succeeds in obtaining a tissue based on the state of the tissue obtaining unit, which is detected by the detecting unit, and causes the output unit to output the information representing whether the tissue obtaining unit succeeds in obtaining a tissue.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a capsule medical apparatus and a medical system and, more particularly, to a capsule medical apparatus that is introduced into a subject to obtain a tissue from a body site (site to be examined) in order to perform a biopsy, such as a pathological diagnosis.
2. Description of the Related Art
Capsule endoscopes are available in the field of capsule endoscopy that are introduced into the organs of a subject and images (hereinafter, "in-vivo images") of the inside of internal organs. These capsule endoscopes have image capturing and wireless communication functions. A subject, such as a patient, swallows a capsule endoscope, which then moves through the alimentary canal due to peristalsis. As the capsule endoscope moves, it captures in-vivo images of the subject. Each time the capsule endoscope captures in-vivo images, it wirelessly transmits the in-vivo images sequentially to a receiving device outside the subject. The capsule endoscope is eventually discharged to the outside with excrement.
An example of the kind of capsule endoscope described above includes a capsule medical apparatus that includes a tool, such as a forceps-shaped cup or a brush, for obtaining a tissue at the site to be examined (target site) in the subject (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-325438). When the conventional capsule medical apparatus disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid open No. 2003-325438 is introduced into a subject and has reached a target site, the tissue-sampling tool takes a tissue. The tissue-sampling tool is operated by a rotating magnetic field, which is applied from outside the subject.
Various types of medical systems for performing medical procedures, such as obtaining or excising tissue from a body site of a subject, have been developed in the field of capsule endoscopy. For example, a medical system is known in which ultrasound cross-sectional images that represent a puncture needle inserted into a target site in a subject are displayed so that the user can confirm that the puncture needle is actually inserted into the target site (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2005-40204). A capsule endoscope is also known in which an observing unit is provided to a suturing member that sutures a tissue, for example, a wound in the large intestine from which a lesion has been excised, so that the user can observe the suture (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-111763). A capsule endoscope is also known in which an image converter, such as an ultrasonic sensor, is arranged on a tube that is inserted into the tissue of a subject (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-116657). Using the technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-116657, information from an image converter is displayed on a display device, which allows the user to confirm whether an affected area is excised appropriately.

Capsule medical apparatus and medical system


A system and method is provided for overload and fault current protection of a permanent magnet generator. The system comprises a permanent magnet machine, a DC link, an inverter, coupled between the permanent magnet machine and the DC link, and a controller adapted to provide a linear decrease in voltage for the DC link when the permanent magnet machine is in at least one of an overload and fault current condition.

Many airplanes have high-speed electrical generators that are used for generating power during flight. The electrical generators generate AC power, which is converted to DC power. The DC power is then supplied through a DC distribution system to on-board electronics such as radar, vapor cycle compressors, flight control electronics, electromechanical/electro-hydrostatic actuators, and the like. The electrical generators can be wound field synchronous machines, switched reluctance machines, permanent magnet machines, or other types of machines.
Conventional wound field generators can provide short circuit protection. However, conventional wound field generators are incompatible with high-speed prime movers unless a gear reduction stage is added. Unfortunately, the gear reduction stage adds cost and complexity to the airplane design.
For high-speed applications, the permanent magnet machine is desirable because of its robust rotor design and a low magnetic spring rate associated with its large air gap. However, the permanent magnet generator's excitation is fixed which does not provide for a "graceful survival" of short circuit conditions.
For example, because of their low impedance, short circuit currents in excess of the permanent magnet generator's current rating can flow, causing excessive heat build up in the generator's stator windings. A short at the terminals of the machine, or at the DC link can literally melt the windings and destroy the generator. Thus, if a generator cannot survive the short circuit conditions, the generator cannot recover and deliver power to the aircraft when the short circuit is removed.
There is a need for a high-speed permanent magnet generator that can gracefully survive short circuit conditions.

Method and system for providing current limiting controllers for high reactance permanent magnet generators


An antivibration actuator which alleviates vibration applied to a machinery or a building accommodating the machinery to protect the machinery and building from earthquake or other external perturbing vibration. A signal from a sensor disposed on a vibrated body can be inputted thereto through a control device and a waveform opposite to that of a vibration transmitted to the vibrated body is generated in order to reduce the vibration transmitted to the vibrated body. In particular, it is so constructed that it includes a coil member including a holding plate and flat coils disposed on a front and a rear surface of the holding plate and secured to a fixed member disposed independently from the vibrated body; a movable member including a pair yokes and a plurality of permanent magnets disposed on said yokes opposite to the flat coils through magnetic air gaps and magnetized in a thickness direction so that opposite poles appear alternately in a longitudinal direction. The movable member is movable in the longitudinal direction. Further, the movable member is joined with the vibrated body, and the flat coils generate a magnetic field in a direction opposite to that of the magnetic field generated by the permanent magnets by making a control current, based on the signal coming from the sensor, flow therethrough. In this way, a compact antivibration actuator having a simple construction, good response characteristics and high reliability can be obtained.

The present invention relates to an antivibration actuator constituting an antivibration device, which alleviates vibration applied to an electronic computer, a precision machine, etc. or a building, etc., in which these devices are accommodated, to protect these apparatuses, building, etc. from earthquake or other external perturbing vibration, and in particular to an antivibration actuator, in which moving parts are composed of permanent magnets so that vibration transmitted to a vibrated body is reduced by a repulsing magnetic field between the magnets and fixed coils.
Heretofore antivibration springs, antivibration rubber, etc. have been used as antivibration devices for machineries, buildings, etc. Each of these antivibration devices is disposed between a moving side consisting of a machine device, a floor of a building, etc. and a fixed side consisting of a foundation of the building, etc. to transform external perturbing vibrations such as traffic vibrations, vibrations due to construction work, earthquake, vibrations due to wind, etc. into slow movements having long periods.
In some of such antivibration devices, e.g., ball bearings or rollers are incorporated in a bottom part of a construction to be protected, or rubber, air springs, etc. are used. However, in the former, since they have great friction coefficients, their vibration preventing action or antivibration action is not always satisfactory. On the other hand, in the latter, since they have certain characteristic frequencies determined by their weight and elastic modulus, it is not assured that they will produce no resonances with seismic waves.
Further, antivibration devices utilizing oil dampers, steel plate dampers, etc. have been proposed. However, the former which is an antivibration device utilizing an oil damper has a drawback in that not only daily maintenance for preventing occurrence of oil leak or other inconveniences is complicated but also the viscosity of the oil is varied by temperature variations, which makes its antivibration action unstable. On the other hand, although the latter which is an antivibration device utilizing a steel plate damper has an advantage in that maintenance is easy and at the same time it has no variations due to temperature variations, it has a drawback that it has hysteresis and thus it is lacking in linearity.
A ball screw type antivibrator with a magnetic attenuator has been proposed as a mechanical antivibration device capable of removing the drawbacks as described above (refer to NIPPON KIKAIGAKKAI ROMBUNSHUU (Reports of The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers (Book C), Vol. 51, No. 471 (November 1985)). In this antivibration device, a disk made of a conductive material such as copper or aluminium is disposed at the extremity of the ball screw and when this disk is rotated in magnetic field, braking force due to eddy current produced in the flat plate is utilized. It was realized for studying theoretically and experimentally antivibration the effect when an antivibration device of the type consisting of a flywheel and a magnetic attenuator (mechanical snapper) and an antivibration device consisting only of a ball screw and a magnetic attenuator (mechanical dashpot) are mounted on separate simple supporting beams and for confirming experimentally temperature characteristics of an antivibration device.
Further a proposition has been disclosed, which is characterized in that a damper consisting of a magnetic and a conductor plate braked by magnetic force of the magnetic body is combined with an antivibration or vibration preventing device constructed by combining a rotating sphere and a cone- or arc-shaped concave receptor (JP - A - 63 - 223244).
An advantage that periodical inspection work is made unnecessary and stability of characteristics is assured can be obtained by using a damper, which is a combination of a conductor plate and a magnet, as described above. However, in the prior art antivibration device described above, since the intensity of the magnetic field, into which the conductive plate is inserted, is constant, a problematical point that the antivibration effect or the vibration preventing effect for a vibrated body is not always satisfactory coexists.
Therefore, recently, so-called active vibration controlling means, which cancel or reduce a pertinent vibration by vibration positively produced, studied. Owing to such means, an active antivibration effect can be expected more strongly than the conventional so-called passive antivibration effect.
FIG. 1 is a simplified block diagram showing an example of the active vibration controlling means for explaining the principle of the present invention. In FIG. 1, T represents transmission characteristics of an antivibration supporting system; A represents transmission characteristics including an actuator system for generating controlling vibration (compensated system) and H represents transmission characteristics of a compensating system, which should be realized by means of a digital filter, H being set so as to satisfy H=-T/A. That is, in the present active vibration controlling means, transmitted vibration is canceled by the fact that a vibration having a waveform opposite to the waveform of the vibration propagating through the antivibration supporting system is generated by making vibration coming from a base plate pass through the digital filter satisfying the formula described above.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram indicating an example of the active vibration controlling means for explaining the principle of the present invention, in which the simplified block diagram indicated in FIG. 1 is concertized. In FIG. 2, reference numeral 31 is a base plate, which is put on the surface of a floor 32 through a rubber plate 33; 34 is a table, which is disposed on an antivibration supporting device 35 standing on the base plate 31; 36 is a horizontal vibrator disposed on the base plate 31; and 37 is an actuator disposed on the table 34.
Next 38 represents digital filter means consisting of an A/D converter 39, a digital filter 40 and a D/A converter 41. The digital filter means 38 is so constructed that a signal coming from a sensor 42 disposed on the base plate 31 is inputted thereto through a charge amplifier 43 and a low pass filter 44 and outputted to the actuator 37 through a low pass filter 45 and a power amplifier 46. Further, 47 represents a monitor sensor disposed on the table 34, which outputs a signal to an FET device 49 through a charge amplifier 48. On the other hand, the signal from the sensor 42 described above is inputted through the charge amplifier 43 to the FET device 49, which outputs a signal processed therein to the digital filter means 38 described above.
In the construction indicated in FIG. 2 described above, in a state where the horizontal vibrator 36 is operated, the transmission function T of the antivibration supporting system is measured between the output sides of the charge amplifiers 43 and 48, i.e., a and b in the figure, respectively. Next, a noise signal is inputted through a point a and the transmission function A of the compensating system is measured. The transmission function H is calculated by using these two transmission functions T and A and the formula H=-T/A to obtain an impulse response, which is written-in as a coefficient for the digital filter 40 (FIR filter).
It is confirmed that a great vibration reducing effect can be obtained, as a result of generating vibration in a horizontal direction in the table 34 by means of the horizontal vibrator 36 in the device described above and applying vibration having a waveform opposite to the waveform of the vibration transmitted to the vibrated body to the actuator 37 through the digital filter means 38 (Conference Reports of NIPPON ONKYO GAKKAI (The Acoustical Society of Japan), published March 1989).
For the active vibration controlling means as described above, it is important to generate surely a vibration having a waveform opposite to the waveform of the vibration applied to the table 34 by means of the actuator 37. Various types are known for such an actuator 37, but no actuators, which are satisfactory from the point of view of construction, weight, practicability, etc., are known for the antivibration, as indicated in FIG. 2.


A vibration actuator with good driving performance, and a lens barrel and camera equipped therewith, is provided. There is provided a vibration actuator comprising: an electromechanical conversion element that is excited by a driving signal; a vibrating body including a joining face, to which the electromechanical conversion element is joined, and a driving face, at which a vibration wave is produced by the excitation; and a relative motion member that is pressingly touched against the driving face, is driven by the vibration wave, and relatively moves with respect to the vibrating body, wherein at a first and a second portion of the electromechanical conversion element in a direction parallel to the joining face and orthogonal to a direction of the relative movement of the vibrating body and the relative motion member, thickness in a direction orthogonal to the joining face differs between the first portion and the second portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration actuator and to a lens barrel and camera equipped therewith.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, vibration actuators have been known in which expansion and contraction of an electromechanical conversion element is used to generate progressive vibration waves (hereinafter referred to as progressive waves) at a driving surface of a vibrating body, elliptical movements are produced at the driving surface by the progressive waves, and a relative motion member that pressingly touches against wave peaks of the elliptical movements is driven.
In recent years, reductions in size of these vibration actuators have been demanded. Among vibration wave actuators with configurations in which the resilient member has a substantially annular form and the relative motion member is rotatingly driven or the like, actuators with larger diametric direction widths produce greater driving force. When these vibration actuators are reduced in size, it is necessary to increase the diametric direction width of the resilient member in order to obtain driving force. Therefore, as the resilient member is reduced in size, there is a tendency for a ratio between the external diameter and the internal diameter of the resilient member to increase.
When the ratio between the external diameter and internal diameter of the resilient member increases, a difference between vibration amplitudes of the progressive waves at the outer periphery of the driving surface and vibration amplitudes of the progressive waves at the inner periphery becomes larger. Consequently, a problem arises in that driving of the relative motion member becomes unstable, losses of vibration occur, and driving efficiency of a vibration wave motor falls.
As a measure to reduce the difference between the vibration amplitudes of progressive waves at the outer periphery and the vibration amplitudes at the inner periphery, Patent Reference 1 discloses a technique of forming indentation portions (grooves) in the face of the relative motion member that touches against the vibrating body (a driving surface). The indentation portions do not reach as far as the outer periphery end of the vibrating body. Thus, thickness at the outer periphery of the vibrating body and thickness at the inner periphery are altered, and stiffnesses thereof with respect to bending displacements are altered (for example, see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H3-273874).

Vibration actuator, lens barrel and camera


A passive shield system for a syringe including a body, shield, spring and ring which provide an interlock of the shield in the retracted position prior to receipt of the syringe for bulk transportation and processing and wherein the user selects the timing of the release of the shield to its extended position following injection, but which assures shielding of the syringe needle following release of the syringe plunger.

Injection devices including syringes are well known medical devices for administering medicaments, drugs and vaccines to patients. As used herein, the term "syringe" is intended to cover the various types of injection and medical delivery devices. They are also used for other well known purposes in the medical field. Prefilled syringes, for example, are generally considered as those which are filled with a selected dosage of medicament, drug or vaccine by a pharmaceutical manufacturer for distribution to the end user. They are generally comprised of a tubular barrel, which contains the medicament, drug or vaccine and a stopper is slidably received in the barrel. The distal end of the barrel typically includes a needle cannula affixed thereto or a connector for a hypodermic needle, such as a Luer fitting. The open proximal end of the syringe barrel generally includes an integral radial flange and a stopper is inserted by the pharmaceutical manufacturer following loading of the barrel with a suitable medicament, drug or vaccine. The plunger of a prefilled syringe generally includes a stopper, which is moveable in the syringe barrel, a plunger rod, which extends through the open proximal end of the barrel with a thumb pad is typically integrally formed on the proximal end of the rod. The syringe barrel is typically formed of glass, but may be formed of any suitable material including plastic and metal. The plunger and stopper assembly allows the user to apply manual force to the plunger, driving the stopper through the barrel and causing the medicament, drug or vaccine to be delivered through the needle cannula to the patient during an injection.
The use of any sharp-pointed piercing element entails the risk of an accidental needle stick. To avoid accidental needle sticks, the prior art has proposed various types of safety shields for syringes including prefilled syringes as described above. Such safety shields typically include a tubular shield or needle cover which is located in a retracted position for injection and an extended position following injection enclosing at least the end point of the needle cannula of the syringe and preventing accidental needle sticks. The tubular shield or needle cover of the syringe shield systems proposed by the prior art are typically mounted on a body having a cavity for receipt of a syringe and the syringe is inserted into the body by the pharmaceutical company after filling the syringe with a suitable medicament, drug or vaccine. Alternatively, the shield may be mounted directly on the barrel of the syringe.
There are generally three types of safety shield systems for syringes proposed by the prior art. The first type may be characterized as manual shield systems. That is, the shield or needle cover is manually manipulated by the user to move the needle cover from the retracted position, wherein the needle is exposed for injection or aspiration in the case of reconstitution or vein test, to the extended position, wherein the needle is enclosed. Such manual shield systems typically include some means to prevent the shield from being inadvertently moved to the extended position and prevent the shield from retracting following shielding of the syringe needle cannula, such as detents, interlocking ribs, threads, spiral grooves and the like. The principal disadvantages of manual syringe shield systems are that there is no positive assurance that the user will properly shield the needle cannula following use or that the needle cover is properly locked in the shielded position. In addition, some designs can allow inadvertent activation of the shield.
A second type of shield systems for syringes may be characterized as active shield systems. Active shield systems will typically include an energizer, such as a spring, which biases the shield or needle cover toward the extended position. Generally, the shield is initially retained in the retracted position by ribs, detents or the like and actuated by some action by the user. The principal advantage of active syringe shield systems is that, upon activation by the user, the shield or needle cover will move to enclose the needle cannula and lock the shield. Such active shield systems are generally activated by a button, movement of a component following injection or other release mechanism. That is, the user can generally activate the shield following injection to avoid contact of the shield with the patient's skin prior to disposal. The principal problem with active shield systems for syringes is that again there is generally no positive assurance that the end user will properly shield the needle cannula of the syringe. Further, the shield may be inadvertently or prematurely activated prior to use as discussed further below. The shield may also be inadvertently or prematurely activated particularly during bulk shipping and processing.
The third type of shield systems may be characterized as passive shield systems. Passive shield systems also include an energizer, such as a spring, biasing the shield or needle cover toward the extended position as described above in regard to the active shield systems. However, the shield system is activated automatically generally upon completion of the injection. The primary disadvantages of the passive shield systems proposed by the prior art are that the user cannot select the timing of the actuation of the shield system and the shield or needle cover may be inadvertently or prematurely activated prior to use or completion of the delivery of the fluid in the syringe. That is, the shield can be activated while the needle cannula remains in the patient or the shield may be prematurely activated, particularly during normal manufacturing and assembly procedures and shipping. Shield systems are generally manufactured and assembled by the manufacturer of the shield system. The shield systems are then transported in bulk to a pharmaceutical company and must be handled using automatic feeding equipment, including feed bowls, etc., possibly resulting in inadvertent or premature activation of the shield.
The prior art also includes passive safety shield systems for syringes, wherein the shield system is actuated upon release of the plunger rod resulting in retraction of the syringe into the shield. However, in such shield systems, the syringe is withdrawn into the shield as the plunger rod is released, requiring the user to maintain the plunger against the force of the spring and requiring complete release of the plunger to shield the needle cannula of the syringe. In addition, the shield may contact the patient's skin.
As described below, the passive shield system of this invention reduces the likelihood of premature activation of the shield and permits the end user to select the timing of the activation of the shield. That is, the user can activate or authorize the activation of the shield after removing the needle cannula from the patient, thereby reducing the risk of hitting the patient's skin with the shield or needle cover. Further, the shield or needle cover moves axially relative to the syringe to enclose the needle cannula and lock the shield in the extended position following actuation, requiring only release of the plunger thumb pad.

Passive safety shield system for injection devices


An illumination device for a motor vehicle includes one or more multi-color LED units which each have a settable color point and settable brightness, wherein each multi-color LED unit is an individual semiconductor component having multiple single-color LEDs of different colors and a microcontroller. The single-color LEDs and the microcontroller are surrounded by a housing of the semiconductor component. The microcontroller is designed to control each single-color LED of an associated multi-color LED unit depending on a current temperature value of the associated multi-color LED unit in such a way that a set color point and a set brightness are held constant during operation of the associated multi-color LED unit.

The invention relates to an illumination device, in particular for a motor vehicle.
It is known in the prior art to use multi-color LED units for illumination devices in motor vehicles. These LED units comprise a plurality of single-color LEDs and are generally controlled by LED drivers to vary the brightness and the color point (e.g. the mixed color). Used to this end is a module having a microprocessor that communicates with a motor vehicle databus and additionally drives the LED units, typically via PWM outputs. A suitable motor vehicle databus used frequently here is what is known as a LIN bus (LIN=local interconnect network).
Furthermore, novel multi-color LED units that have an integrated circuit are known from the prior art. In these LED units, the single-color LEDs and the integrated circuit are accommodated in a common package, as a result of which a high packing density can be achieved. The individual LED units are controlled via a data stream.
Until now, parameterizations, required in illumination devices with multi-color LED units for operating the individual LED units, are stored in a central processing module. This has the disadvantage that locally varying operating conditions of the individual LED units can be only insufficiently compensated, which can result in a non-uniform appearance of the illumination device.
Document WO 2014/067830 A1 discloses a method and an arrangement for the temperature-corrected control of LEDs by means of lookup tables. Here, a lookup table is provided in an LED module made of a plurality of LED channels for each target color point that is reachable by the LED module, the operating current for each LED channel being stored in said lookup table. A configuration of the LED module as a single semiconductor component with a temperature-corrected control contained therein cannot be gathered from this document.
It is the object of the invention to provide an illumination device of at least one multi-color LED unit with improved appearance.
This and other objects are achieved by way of an illumination device according to the invention preferably provided for a motor vehicle, such as a passenger car and possibly also a truck. The illumination device comprises one or more multi-color LED units which each have a settable color point and a settable brightness (i.e. light intensity). The term color point is well known to a person skilled in the art and describes the mixed color produced by the respective multi-color LED unit. The color point can be given for example as a point in a chromaticity diagram, in particular in a chromaticity diagram of the CIE color space.
In the illumination device according to the invention, each multi-color LED unit is an individual semiconductor device having a plurality of, and preferably at least three, single-color LEDs of different colors. The individual semiconductor device furthermore comprises a microcontroller. The single-color LEDs and the microcontroller are enclosed by a package of the semiconductor device, i.e. they are accommodated in a common package of the semiconductor device. In the illumination device according to the invention, the microcontroller is set up to control each single-color LED of a respective multi-color LED unit depending on an instantaneous (i.e., currently present) temperature value of the respective multi-color LED unit in such a way that a set color point and a set brightness are kept constant during the operation of the respective multi-color LED unit.
The illumination device according to the invention has the advantage that an algorithm for temperature compensation is integrated in a microcontroller, which is a constituent part of an individual semiconductor device of the multi-color LED unit. In this way, it is possible to set a desired brightness or a desired color point individually and highly accurately taking account of local temperatures of the individual multi-color LED units as a result of which a continuously uniform appearance of the illumination device is achieved.
In a preferred variant, the microcontroller of the respective multi-color LED unit is set up to control each single-color LED on the basis of the control of the operating current of the respective single-color LED, for example by way of pulse width modulation.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, integrated within the semiconductor device of at least some of the multi-color LED units is a temperature sensor, which is set up to measure the instantaneous temperature value of the respective multi-color LED unit. As a result of this, the instantaneous temperature of the multi-color LED unit is ascertained particularly exactly.
In a further variant, a temperature sensor for measuring the instantaneous temperature value is dispensed with. Instead, the microcontroller of at least some of the multi-color LED units is set up to ascertain the temperature value based on at least some of the operating voltages and/or operating currents of the single-color LEDs of the respective multi-color LED unit.
Preferably, the aforementioned ascertainment of the instantaneous temperature value is carried out on the basis of tables or characteristics. In contrast to a table, a characteristic describes a continuous relationship between a plurality of variables. For the purposes of realizing such an embodiment, characteristics or tables for a respective single-color LED of at least some of the single-color LEDs of the respective multi-color LED unit are stored in the microcontroller of at least some of the multi-color LED units, wherein a respective characteristic or table is specific to an operating current of the respective single-color LED. Expressed differently, a plurality of characteristics exist for the various settable operating currents. The respective characteristic or table specifies a temperature depending on the operating voltage of the respective single-color LED. Here, the microcontroller is set up to read the temperature for the instantaneous operating voltage, which is measurable using a suitable sensor, from the characteristic or table for the instantaneous operating current, which is set in the respective single-color LED, and to ascertain the instantaneous temperature value on the basis of the read temperature or temperatures. Should temperature values of a plurality of, or of all, single-color LEDs of the corresponding multi-color LED unit be ascertained in the process, it is possible, for example, to use the mean value of these read temperatures as the instantaneous temperature value.
In a further preferred variant of the illumination device according to the invention, the microcontroller of at least some of the multi-color LED units is configured such that, if the instantaneous temperature value exceeds a specified threshold, it reduces the brightness of the respective multi-color LED unit (i.e. the multi-color LED unit to which the microcontroller belongs). This ensures that the multi-color LED unit is not damaged due to excessive temperatures. In this context, a specification may be preferably made according to which the brightness of the multi-color LED unit is decreased more strongly the more the specified threshold is exceeded. If needed, the brightness of the multi-color LED unit can also be lowered to zero, i.e. the corresponding multi-color LED unit can be switched off. This can be achieved for example by way of a second threshold that is higher than the specified threshold. If the instantaneous temperature exceeds this second threshold, the multi-color LED unit will be switched off.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the illumination device according to the invention comprises a plurality of multi-color LED units, which are connected to an internal databus (i.e. a databus within the illumination device). This internal databus in turn is coupled to a processing module, wherein the processing module is set up to pass internal control commands for setting the brightness and the color point of the individual multi-color LED units to the internal databus. The above processing module is preferably set up to receive external control commands from a motor vehicle databus and convert them to the above internal control commands.
In the embodiment that was just described, simple control of the individual multi-color LED units via an internal databus is achieved. The internal databus can be e.g. an SPI databus (SPI=serial protocol interface) or possibly even a different databus, such as e.g. a differential databus, which codes digital data between two lines via a voltage difference. The above motor vehicle databus can be, for example, a LIN bus (LIN=local interconnect network) or a CAN bus (CAN=controller area network).
In a further preferred embodiment, at least some of the multi-color LED units comprise one or more RGB-LED units and/or RGBW-LED units. In a manner that is known per se, an RGB-LED unit comprises a red, green and blue single-color LED, and an RGBW-LED unit comprises, in addition to a red, green and blue LED, a white light LED.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, the illumination device is an interior illumination means in a motor vehicle or possibly an exterior illumination means on the outside of the motor vehicle. Hereby, pleasing light effects with a homogeneous appearance can be generated.
In addition to the above-described illumination device, the invention relates to a motor vehicle, in particular to a passenger car or possibly also a truck, which comprises one or more of the illumination devices according to the invention or of preferred variants of said illumination devices.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


The number of design processes for fabricating semiconductor devices can be reduced by parallel connection of a plurality of unit bipolar transistors Qu that are completely electrically isolated from each other in a semiconductor layer of an SOI substrate 1 to form a bipolar transistor having a large current capacity.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and a method for fabricating the same, and more particular to technology that is effective when applied to bipolar transistor-based semiconductor devices of the insulating element isolation type.
One known type of semiconductor device includes a base substrate and an element-forming-semiconductor layer with an insulating layer disposed between them. Devices of this type include SOI (Silicon On Insulator) devices and devices in which the element-forming semiconductor layer is divided into a plurality of semiconductor islands by isolation trenches or trenches into which an insulating material is filled. An SOI semiconductor device has quite less parasitic capacitance than a pn-junction element isolation semiconductor device and has smaller leakage current, thereby making it possible to increase the processing speed and reduce power consumption, so this technology has been applied to BiCMOS and C-Bipolar semiconductor devices with digital circuits, analog circuits or a mixture of both types, configured with bipolar and CMOS (Complementary-MOS) transistors and complementary bipolar transistors, respectively. The SOI semiconductor device also requires various types of bipolar transistors with different current capacities for various types of application circuits including logic circuits, driver circuits, and output circuits.
The bipolar transistor-based SOI semiconductor device technology that has been studied by the inventors of the present invention provides a plurality of types of large-current bipolar transistors in different geometrical sizes, and arranges and connects these large-current bipolar transistors depending on current capacities (allowable currents) required, thereby configuring an entire semiconductor device.

Semiconductor device and method for fabricating the same


Photoluminescent polydisilacyclobutanes are made by reacting a dialkenyldihalosilane with an organolithium reagent in the presence of a solvent at 0-25.degree. C. Optional reactants such as aromatic acetylenic hydrocarbons or bicyclic dienes may also be included.

This invention is directed to polycarbosilanes, more particularly to polymers in which silicon atoms are linked through substituted alkylene bridges. Specifically, these substituted polysilalkylenes are polydisilacyclobutanes.
While the literature makes reference to processes using components similar to the components used according to our invention, we are not aware of any reference in the literature specific to the use of a halosilane containing two unsaturated radicals. Thus, according to the teachings in the literature, the halosilanes contain only a single unsaturated linkage. See for example, Z. anorg. allg. Chem., Volume 558, Pages 55-86, (1988); Chem. Ber., Volume 126, Pages 575-580, (1993); and J. prakt. Chem., Volume 337, Pages 79-92, (1995).
By using halosilanes containing two unsaturated linkages, as exemplified in Journal of Organometallic Chemistry, Volume 377, Pages 175-195, (1989), we are enabled to produce higher molecular weight materials, i.e., polymers.


Neural stimulation and optical monitoring systems and methods are disclosed. In one embodiment, an apparatus for treating a neural condition includes a signal delivery device configured to be implanted into a patient proximate to a skull of the patient and positioned to apply electromagnetic signals to one or more target sites within the patient. The apparatus also includes an implantable optical monitoring assembly configured to monitor optical properties at one or more optical monitoring sites within the patient. The apparatus further includes a controller configured to be implanted into the patient. The controller is operatively coupled to the signal delivery device and the optical monitoring assembly and programmed to control both the signal delivery device and the optical monitoring assembly. The controller also includes a power source to power both the signal delivery device and the optical monitoring assembly.

A wide variety of mental and physical processes are controlled or influenced by neural activity in particular regions of the brain. For example, the neural functions in some areas of the brain (i.e., the sensory or motor cortices) are organized according to physical or cognitive functions. In general, particular areas of the brain appear to have distinct functions in most individuals. In the majority of people, for example, the areas of the occipital lobes relate to vision, the regions of the left interior frontal lobes relate to language, and the regions of the cerebral cortex appear to be consistently involved with conscious awareness, memory, and intellect.
Many problems or abnormalities with body functions can be caused by dysfunction, damage, disease and/or disorders in the brain. Effectively treating such abnormalities may be very difficult. Epidemiological profiles indicate that the treatment and/or rehabilitation of neurologic dysfunction is extremely challenging due to patient population heterogeneity, for example, due to factors such as age, gender, ethnicity, cause, physiologic location, severity, and time since onset. For most patients exhibiting neurologic damage arising from, for example, a stroke, conventional treatments are not sufficient, and little can be done to significantly improve the function of an affected body part or cognitive function beyond the limited recovery that generally occurs naturally without intervention.
Optical monitoring may facilitate the evaluation of various types of tissue conditions and/or properties, for example, through near infrared spectroscopy (NIRS). A need exists for neural stimulation systems and methods that include or incorporate particular optical monitoring techniques.


Apparatus for extruding a profile on a glazing comprises drive means on which is mounted an extrusion head with an extrusion nozzle, and means for rotating the nozzle relative to the drive means. The apparatus may be used in a process which comprises extruding the profile through the nozzle while it is being moved by the drive means along a first edge of a glazing, around a corner of the glazing and along a second edge of the glazing, the nozzle being rotated relative to the drive means as it moves around the corner. The extruded profile comprises a first edge portion extending along a first edge of the glazing, a sharp corner portion extending around a sharp corner of the glazing and a second edge portion extending along a second edge region of the glazing, the portions of the profile being continuous.

It is known to provide glazings, in particular vehicle glazings, with extruded profiles around the margin of the glazing. Profiles on vehicle glazings act as weather seals, and improve the appearance of glazings when the glazings are in position in a vehicle body. Profiles may also be used to receive and retain an adhesive bead used in fixing the glazing in position in the vehicle body. The material used for extruded profiles usually comprises a suitable polymer, for example, polyurethane or a thermoplastic elastomer.
The conventional extrusion process for extruding polymer profiles on to glazings, usually involves extruding the polymer material through an extrusion nozzle, incorporated in an extrusion head, whilst the head is driven along a path along which it is desired to extrude the profile. The extrusion head is usually driven by a robot which is programmed to follow the extrusion path.
Unfortunately, there are disadvantages associated with conventional extrusion.
When extruding a profile on a curve, for example around a corner of a glazing, there is a difference in circumference between the inner and outer edge of the profile. As a consequence of this, extruded profiles can exhibit imperfections at corners, a problem which is particularly acute with sharp corners (i.e. a corner having a small radius or width).
The problem of extruding on a curve, especially around sharp corners, has been addressed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,526. U.S. Pat. No. 5,108,526 discloses a polymer extrusion die apparatus wherein polymer is supplied to the die head by means of at least one supply line. The supply line(s) delivers polymer under pressure to at least one supply channel, at least one of which includes means for controlling the flow of polymer therethrough. By using the means for controlling the flow of polymer through a supply channel, the flow of polymer through the inner or outer portion of the die orifice can be controlled. On a corner, the supply channel to the outer portion of the die is controlled to have a higher polymer flow than the inner portion resulting in an improved profile being extruded.
However, there is a further problem in extruding profiles on curves, especially extruding around sharp corners. Commercially available robots typically have six axes of motion which may be insufficient to allow precise extrusion around relatively sharp corners. Thus, it may be difficult to extrude a profile which follows the edge of the glazing precisely when the profile is to be extruded around a relatively sharp corner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,829 discloses extruding a profile on a glazing and then after extrusion, and in a separate step, completing the profile with a complementary component. This is accomplished by using a mould that rests on the glazing, connecting the mould to the profile and injecting into the mould a hardenable material which adheres to the polymer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,316,829 further discloses that where a glazing has a pointed corner where it is difficult to extrude a profile, it is possible to stop the extrusion in the corner, or if the profile has already been produced, to remove the profile after hardening, and to complete or repair it by casting the profile part.
This procedure has disadvantages in that moulding corner parts in a separate step complicates manufacturing and is expensive. Furthermore, a moulded corner will either consist of a material different to that of the extruded profile, or will consist of the same material but produced using different process parameters to those used to produce the extruded profile. As a consequence, the corner portion and the extruded portion of the profile may have different material properties including different adhesion properties. For example, they may exhibit different wettability to adhesives and/or to water (e.g. rain water) and may have different ageing properties. Also, the primer used to bond the material to glass may be degraded by the heat generated by the mould, or may consist of a different material and therefore the adhesion value may be different from that of the extruded profile. Such a difference in materials properties and/or adhesion properties results in the profiled glazing being less reliable in use and in the interface between the corner portion and extruded portion being visible as a seam in the profile. A seam in the profile is unattractive and, therefore, undesirable in a commercial product.


The invention relates to the use of one or more targets to measure surfaces. The target may comprise a first portion adapted to reflect a laser beam towards a laser tracking device, a second portion adapted to reflect a light beam towards a photogrammetry device, and a third portion adapted to identify to a computer a unique identifier of the target.

Photogrammetry devices are known in the art as being relatively useful for measuring large areas of surface in a relatively timely fashion. However, photogrammetry devices are known to have accuracy deficiencies. Conversely, laser tracking devices are known in the art as being relatively useful for taking accurate measurements at predetermined locations. However, laser tracking devices are known to have difficulties measuring large surface areas in a relatively timely fashion. Coded targets are also known in the art for identifying the unique identity of the coded targets, which may be located in a pre-determined location, to a computer. However, many of the existing coded targets do not incorporate the use of both photogrammetry devices and laser tracking devices in order to accurately and efficiently measure a surface. Additionally, many of the existing coded targets are not mobile, do not attach to non-coded targets, and/or have other types of problems.
A target and method for its use is needed which may allow a surface to be measured simultaneously utilizing both photogrammetry and laser tracking, while identifying the unique identify of the target to a computer, to solve one or more problems in measuring surfaces with either photogrammetry or laser tracking alone.

Coded target for use with combination laser and photogrammetry targets


A method of diagnosing and treating a glioma or a breast cancer is disclosed. The method of diagnosing comprises analyzing an amount or activity of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 (hnRNP A2/B1) in a brain or breast cell sample of the subject, wherein an up-regulation in an amount or activity of hnRNP A2/B1 beyond a predetermined threshold with respect to a control cell sample is indicative of the breast cancer or glioma. The method may also be used for staging the cancer and for predicting patient's prognosis of survival. The method of treating glioblastoma and metastatic breast cancer includes inhibiting the expression and/or activity of hnRNP A2/B1.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to methods of diagnosing and treating cancer and, more specifically breast cancer and brain cancer.
The process of alternative splicing is widely misregulated in cancer and many tumors express new splicing isoforms which are absent in the corresponding normal tissue. Many oncogenes and tumor suppressors are differentially spliced in cancer cells and it has been shown that many of these cancer-specific isoforms contribute to the transformed phenotype of cancer cells. However, the contribution of alternative splicing regulators to cancer development has been largely unknown. Only recently the first functional evidence showed that some splicing factors can act as potent oncogenes and are up-regulated in human cancers. hnRNP proteins are abundant RNA-binding proteins expressed in most human tissues. The hnRNP A/B family is a subset of hnRNP proteins with closely related sequences and a conserved modular structure. They can affect alternative splicing, frequently by antagonizing SR proteins, in part through the recognition of exonic splicing silencers (ESS) elements. Additional functions of these proteins in post-splicing events, such as mRNA trafficking, and replication and transcription of cytoplasmic RNA viruses, have also been reported. Recent studies have shown that hnRNP A1 also affects the maturation of specific miRNAs among them pre-miR-18a which is part of a cluster of miRNAs with oncogenic activity (oncomirs). Previous studies showed overexpression of hnRNP A1 and hnRNP A2/B1 in lung and breast cancer (Fielding P et al., Clin Cancer Res 1999; 5: 4048-52, Zhou J et al., Lung Cancer 2001; 34: 341-50). Moreover, knockdown of hnRNP A1 and A2/B1 in breast cancer cells induced apoptosis which was specific for cancer cells (Patry C et al., Cancer Res 2003; 63: 7679-88).
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0212738 teaches method of assessing responsiveness of a cancer patient to an EGFR kinase inhibitor, wherein high expression levels of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1 correlate with a tumor that will respond less effectively to treatment with an EGFR kinase inhibitor.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,586 teaches methods of early diagnosis of breast cancer by analyzing expression levels of heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1. In addition, U.S. Pat. No. 6,251,586 teaches methods of treating cancer by administering antisense oligonucleotides which are substantially complementary to heterogeneous nuclear ribonucleoprotein A2/B1.

Method of diagnosing and treating cancer

Yissum Research Development Company of the Hebrew University of Jerusalem Ltd.


A power delivery system for a computing device includes a power connector, a power delivery switch, a charging circuit, and a hardware controller. The power connector is configured to selectively electrically connect with a power supply unit. The power delivery switch is electrically intermediate the power connector and the charging circuit. The hardware controller is configured to limit a charging current at the charging circuit to a sub-threshold level for a current-limiting duration based at least on initiation of a transition of the power delivery switch from an OFF state to an ON state that lasts for a switching duration that is less than the current-limiting duration. The charging circuit is configured to modulate the charging current to a regulated charging current and deliver the regulated charging current to a system load of the computing device after the current-limiting duration has elapsed.

A computing device may selectively electrically connect with a power supply unit (PSU) to receive electrical power for charging the computing device. The PSU may be configured to modulate electrical power received from a power source to a form that is suitable for consumption by the computing device. For example, a PSU may be configured to convert alternating current (AC) electrical power received from an electrical socket to direct current (DC) electrical power which may be a suitable form to charge a computing device

Power delivery system with charging current limiting


A first contact surface of a semiconductor laser chip can be formed to a target surface roughness selected to have a maximum peak to valley height that is substantially smaller than a barrier layer thickness. A barrier layer that includes a non-metallic, electrically-conducting compound and that has the barrier layer thickness can be applied to the first contact surface, and the semiconductor laser chip can be soldered to a carrier mounting along the first contact surface using a solder composition by heating the soldering composition to less than a threshold temperature at which dissolution of the barrier layer into the soldering composition occurs. Related systems, methods, articles of manufacture, and the like are also described.

A tunable laser-based trace gas analyzer, such as for example a tunable diode laser absorption spectrometer (TDLAS) can employ a narrow line width (e.g. approximately single frequency) laser light source that is tuned across a trace gas absorption frequency range of a target analyte for each measurement of a sample volume of gas. Ideally, the laser light source in such an analyzer exhibits no material change in the starting and ending frequency of successive laser scans under a constant laser injection current and operating temperature. Additionally, long term stability of the frequency tuning rate of the laser as a function of the laser injection current, over the scan range, and over repetitive scans over a prolonged period of service can also be desirable.
Depending on the operational wavelength, however, currently available tunable laser sources (e.g. diode lasers and semiconductor lasers) can typically exhibit a wavelength drift on the order of a few picometers (on the order of gigahertz) per day to fractions of picometers per day. A typical trace gas absorption band line width can in some instances be on the order of a fraction of a nanometer to microns. Thus, drift or other variations in the output intensity of the laser light source can, over time, introduce critical errors in identification and quantification of trace gas analytes, particularly in gas having one or more background compounds whose absorption spectra might interfere with absorption features of a target analyte.

Semiconductor laser mounting with intact diffusion barrier layer


A power-branched transmission, particularly for agricultural vehicles such as tractors or similar, includes a stepped planetary gear which is disposed between an input shaft and an output shaft and is used for dividing the power supplied at the input shaft onto a mechanical power branch and a hydraulic power branch. The hydraulic power branch is formed by two hydraulically interconnected, identical hydrostatic axial piston engines which can be selectively operated as a pump or an engine, can be swiveled within a predefined pivoting angle, and can be connected to the input shaft or the stepped planetary gear in a different manner via two respective clutches so as to cover different operating ranges or running steps. In order to obtain better efficiency in such a power-branched transmission, the two hydrostatic axial piston engines are configured as wide-angle hydrostats that are provided with a minimum pivoting angle range of 45°.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of vehicle transmissions. It refers to a power-branched transmission, in particular for agricultural vehicles, such as tractors or the like, and to a method for the operation of such a transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
Power-branched transmissions, particularly for use in vehicles employed for agricultural or construction purposes, such as, for example tractors, have been known for a long time. In such power-branched transmissions, the power prevailing at an input shaft or drive shaft and normally output by an internal combustion engine is apportioned to a first mechanical power branch with a fixed ratio and to a second power branch of continuously variable ratio and is subsequently combined again in order to be available at an output shaft or take-off shaft. The second power branch is mostly designed as a hydrostatic branch, in which two hydrostatic axial piston machines (hydrostats) of the oblique axis or swashplate type, which are connected hydraulically to one another, operate selectively as a pump or as a motor. The ratio can in this case be varied by a variation in the pivot angle of the cylinder block or of the swashplate. Apportioning the power to the two power branches and combining the branched powers normally take place by means of a planetary gear. Power-branched transmissions of the type described are disclosed in various embodiments in DE-A1-27 57 300, DE-C2-29 04 572, DE-A1-29 50 619, DE-A1-37 07 382, DE-A1-37 26 080, DE-A1-39 12 369, DE-A1-39 12 386, DE-A1-43 43 401, DE-A1-43 43 402, EP-B1-0 249 001 and EP-A2-1 273 828.
So that a power-branched transmission can be used successfully in practice, it should generally be distinguished by the following properties:                The transmission should have high efficiency over the entire speed range. This should be the case particularly at the high driving speeds which occur in road traction over a lengthy period of time.        The transmission should have a compact construction, in order to allow installation in the most diverse possible vehicles, if possible without structural restrictions.        The transmission should make it possible to transfer high powers.        The transmission should have as simple a construction as possible in order to limit the power losses and increase operating reliability.        The transmission should allow fully comprehensive electronic control in connection with engine management and, even in the event of a failure of specific control elements, make sufficient emergency driving programs available.
In DE-A1-43 43 402 initially mentioned, a power-branched transmission designated as an SHL transmission (continuously variable hydrostatic power-branched transmission) has already been described, distinguished by two hydraulically coupled identical hydrostats in the oblique-axis type of construction which can be coupled in different ways to a planetary differential gear via pairs of clutches or selective shift elements K1/K2 or K3/K4. The known SHL transmission has been used and tested in town buses under the type designation SHL-Z. The two hydrostats used have a pivoting range of only 0-25°. For forward drive, in this case, there are 3 driving steps or driving ranges: in the first driving range, at the starting point, the hydrostatic fraction of the transferred power is 100% and then approaches zero linearly with the speed. In the second driving range, it goes from zero to a maximum of about 27% and then back to zero again. In the third driving range, it goes from zero to a maximum value of 13% at the highest forward speed.
The known SHL transmission has the disadvantages not only of the subdivision of the forward drive into three driving ranges, which leads to an increased outlay in shift and control terms but, above all, of the hydrostatic power transfer fraction which deviates markedly from zero at maximum speed. This leads, on long-distance trips in which the high speeds are maintained virtually constantly over a lengthy period of time, to unnecessary efficiency losses which have an adverse effect on consumption and on exhaust gas emission.
The object of the invention, therefore, is to provide a continuously variable hydrostatic power-branched transmission which avoids the disadvantages of known transmissions and which is distinguished, in particular, by high and improved efficiency in rapid forward drive, and also to specify a method for the operation of such a transmission.

Power-branched transmission and method for the operation of such a transmission


Pharmaceutical kit comprising (i) a targeting construct which comprises a targeting ligand and an anti-polymer antibody and (ii) a polymer-containing liposome or gas-filled microvesicle capable of binding or associating to said construct. Also disclosed are methods of preparing and of administering said assembly, as well as an assembly comprising said targeting construct and said liposome or gas-filled microvesicle.

Diagnostic imaging employing agents capable of enhancing the images obtainable with different imaging techniques (known as "contrast agents" or "image enhancing agents") has become a widely adopted practice in the diagnostic field.
Rapid development of contrast agents in recent years has generated a number of different formulations, which are useful in contrast-enhanced imaging of organs and tissue of the human or animal body.
A class of contrast agents, particularly useful for ultrasound contrast imaging, includes suspensions of gas bubbles of nano- and/or micro-metric size dispersed in an aqueous medium. Of particular interest are those formulations where the gas bubbles are stabilized, for example by using emulsifiers, oils, thickeners or sugars, or by entrapping or encapsulating the gas or a precursor thereof in a variety of systems. These stabilized gas bubbles are generally referred to in the art with various terminologies, such as, for instance, "microvesicles", "microspheres", "microbubbles", "microcapsules" or "microballoons". In the present description and claims, the term "microvesicles" is used to identify any of the above described stabilized gas-bubbles.
Other contrast agents include iodinated products (such as iopamidol or iomeprol), which are widely employed in X-ray contrast analysis, in particular computer tomography (CT) X-ray, whilst compounds containing paramagnetic ions (such as ProHance® or MultiHance®, Bracco Imaging), are widely employed in MRI analysis. The active (X-ray or MRI) imaging agent can advantageously be incorporated in liposome structures (see e.g. Ref. 1 or Ref. 2).
Gas-filled microvesicles may include in their formulation a polymer, in particular a hydrophilic polymer (e.g. polyethyleneglycol, PEG), which has been found useful, for instance, for reducing immunogenicity, improve biocompatibility, reduce receptor mediated uptake by the reticuloendothelial system (RES) and/or increase the serum half-life of the contrast agent. For similar reasons, polymers, such as PEG, have also been included in the formulation of liposomes employed as carriers for contrast or therapeutic agents.
More recently, gas-filled microvesicles have been modified with suitable target-specific components, capable of selectively binding the microvesicles to a desired organ or tissue.
For instance, microvesicles or liposomes can be associated (e.g. by inclusion in their boundary envelope) with specific components which are capable of binding to a determined target or region within a patient's body (known as "targeting ligands"), so to selectively enhance the imaging of said target or region.
Examples of targeting ligands include, for instance, peptides, proteins or antibodies, capable of binding to a specific organ or tissue such as, for instance, angiogenic inflammatory or thrombosed tissue.
For instance, the structure of a microvesicle or of a liposome can be modified by binding the targeting ligand to suitable molecules which are employed for the formation of the microvesicle's or liposome's envelope. The targeting moiety can be directly linked to the envelope-forming molecule or through a suitable spacer. This methodology thus typically entails a modification of the components forming the microvesicle or liposome envelope, to allow the binding thereof to the desired targeting moiety.
The Applicant has now found a new method where the targeting ligand is associated with a polymer-containing liposome or gas-filled microvesicle by means of an antibody capable of specifically recognising said polymeric component comprised in said liposome or microvesicle.

Targeting construct comprising anti-polymer antibody and contrast/therapeutic agents binding to the same


A wireless communication device of the present disclosure, to which an electric power measurement value is input that is measured in an electric power measurer to which a power supply side power line and a load side power line are connected, includes a first antenna element that transmits and receives radio waves and a wireless circuit connected to the first antenna element. The first antenna element has a longitudinal side perpendicular to a line along which the power supply side power line and the load side power line extend.

An electricity meter is used for measuring consumption of electricity for household and industry. While a conventional electricity meter has a single function of just measuring and displaying an amount of electric power, in recent years, an electricity meter including a communication function is becoming the mainstream. This is because, in view of energy conservation and environmental protection, it is necessary to manage electricity consumption by energy management, and an energy management system is constructed in which measurement data of electricity meters are transmitted to and collected in a management server in real time. As a communication method to be mounted in the meter, there is a PLC method using power line transmission, or a wireless method using radio waves. In the wireless method, radio frequency bands such as a 400 MHz band, a 900 MHz band, and a 2.4 GHz band are used depending on each country, and an antenna corresponding to the radio frequencies of each country is incorporated in a case of the electricity meter. In order to perform stable wireless communication, an incorporated antenna having good radiation performance is necessary.
In situations as described above, already several proposals have been made with respect to a method to incorporate the antenna in an electricity meter or a gas meter (see PTL 1 to PTL 3).
FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a conventional example of an electricity meter incorporating an antenna. In FIG. 5, antenna element 112 is disposed in a direction along a wiring direction of power lines 103, 106, and there is one antenna element 112.
However, the conventional proposal has a problem as follows.
A first problem is that a directivity characteristic of antenna radiation is prone to be biased. To the electricity meter, a power supply side power line drawn from an outdoor electric pole and a load side power line drawn into a building are connected. The power lines are made of metal wires, and by influence of the power lines, antenna radiation directivity does not become isotropic, and the radiation direction becomes uneven. By radio waves radiated from the antenna, a high-frequency signal is excited on the power lines, which causes reflection of radio waves. When the antenna is disposed on a front side in the electricity meter, the directivity is to intensely radiate radio waves forward of the electricity meter, and backward, leftward, and rightward radiations are relatively weak.
As a wireless communication mode of the electricity meter, a mesh network is used. That is, data are relayed and transmitted among a plurality of electricity meters, and data are collected to a concentrator (master device). In the mesh network communication, data are successively transferred among the electricity meters. At this time, a relative positional relation between electricity meters cannot be specified. Thus, the antenna is desired to have radiation directivity to be able to receive radio waves in an isotropic manner from the whole circumference. When a direction in which antenna radiation becomes weak occurs, a communication distance in this direction decreases, and communication among the electricity meters becomes unstable or impossible.
A second problem is that an installation location of the electricity meter is in a harsh environment where a multipath phasing occurs. For example, in a case of an apartment house, the electricity meter is installed in a small space, called a pipe shaft, surrounded by concrete walls. Wireless communication between electricity meters is communication through a plurality of concrete walls, which is an environment where large radio wave attenuation and strict multi-path incoming waves are present. Accordingly, due to multi-path phasing, there locally occurs a spot where received electric field intensity drops, and there occur cases where necessary received electric field intensity cannot be obtained. In PTL 2, a diversity antenna method to mount a plurality of antennas so as to avoid local dropping is used. However, because a correlation coefficient of radiation characteristics between antennas is not lowered, sufficient diversity gain is not obtained. Accordingly, it is necessary to differentiate respective radiation characteristics of the antennas, and lower the correlation coefficient of the radiation characteristics, so as to improve the diversity gain.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


A method for producing a ferro-alloy in an electric arc furnace is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of removing steel from a carbon-containing organic material, and charging the furnace with the carbon-containing organic material product.

Internationally, there are increasing problems with both plastics disposal and the disposal of waste products of plastic and rubber (such as tires). At the same time, the steel industry worldwide is facing pressure to minimise its impact on the environment, for example, by reducing fuel (typically coke) consumption.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,554,207 and JP2004-052002 each disclose a process in which electric arc furnace (EAF) waste dust is combined with waste plastic to form a solid, which is then added to the EAF. On the other hand, WO2006/024069 (to the present applicant) teaches the addition of an un-agglomerated carbon-containing polymer to an EAF.
In blast furnaces, plastic charging has been proposed as a substitute fuel and to reduce CO2 emissions. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,949 discloses cutting up and charging worn pneumatic tyres into a blast furnace to replace some of the coke.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,544 discloses a method for melting steel using scrap metal and scrap automotive tires. In the method the scrap metal and whole scrap rubber tires are deposited in an electric arc furnace, and the whole scrap rubber tires are combusted with air or oxygen to provide an auxiliary source of heat to melt the scrap metal. This document teaches that whole scrap rubber tires are preferred so as to control combustion (ie. if shredded scrap rubber tires were used, the combustion would occur too rapidly and generate an undesirable amount of heat, and also fumes could escape from the EAF before the roof could be replaced). U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,949, on the other hand, teaches disintegrating the tires prior to charging, because excessive combustion and high heat can be accommodated (and are likely to be desirable) in a blast furnace.
US2003/0066387 discloses a process for melting steel using scrap metal and scrap rubber in an electric arc furnace. In this process, the scrap metal and scrap rubber (which can be whole, shredded or chopped) are combined and deposited into an electric arc furnace, and the rubber is combusted using oxygen or natural gas. This document teaches that the steel belts from rubber tires can be included in the scrap rubber, with the steel belts becoming part of the molten steel in the electric arc furnace. This document also teaches that whole scrap rubber tires are preferred so as to control the combustion rate.
In short, the prior art teaches that, when scrap rubber tires are introduced into a furnace, the steel present therein is also so introduced, whereby the addition of the steel is beneficial, in that it supplies additional steel to the furnace, and is not seen as detrimental.


A securing structure for securing a measuring member having a sensor element and a lead elongated from the sensor element to a subject to be measured, the securing structure includes the measuring member including a measuring section having a covered portion in which a part of the lead elongated from the sensor element and having a predetermined length is covered by a material having a rigidity larger than that of the lead, the covered portion being folded toward the side of the lead elongated from the covered portion to produce a folded end portion; and the subject to be measured having an insertion section through which the measuring section is inserted from the side of the folded end portion, a container section which contains the measuring section inserted through the insertion section, and a contact section with which the head portion of the covered portion comes into contact and by which the measuring section is prevented from falling out, when the lead is pulled.

The present invention relates to a securing structure and a securing unit for securing a measuring member, which has a sensor element and a lead elongated from the sensor element, to a subject to be measured, in particular to a securing structure and a securing unit suitable for securing a thermistor to a reactor.
In general, a reactor has, for example, a winding and a core made of a magnetic substance and the winding is wound around the core to make up the coil of the reactor, which enables inductance to be obtained. Conventionally, the reactor is used in a voltage boosting circuit, inverter circuit, active filter circuit, or the like, and, in many cases, such the reactor has a structure in which the core and the coil wound around the core are housed, together with other insulating members or the like in a case made of metal or the like. Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-124039 discloses an example of such a reactor.
For a reactor to be used in a vehicle-mounted voltage boosting circuit, a coil is used which has a structure in which two single-coil elements each having a predetermined winding diameter and the number of windings that can provide a high inductance value in a high current region are formed in parallel to each other and are coupled (connected) to each other so that the directions of currents flowing through both the coils are reversed to one another. If high current has been continuously applied to a reactor thus mentioned, the coil comes to be overheated and an electric characteristic of the reactor is thereby deteriorated. Under the circumstances, an internal temperature of the reactor is measured using a sensor such as a thermistor, or the like. The reactor is thereby controlled so as to prevent the coil from generating heat up to a certain temperature or a higher temperatures thereof. Namely, the measuring member, which has the sensor element and the lead elongated from the sensor element, is secured within the reactor in order that the sensor element, such as a thermistor, or the like, may be positioned at a measured point near the coil within the reactor, that is the subject member to be measured. Thereby, the internal temperature of the reactor is measured, so that a current flowing in the reactor is controlled to prevent the coil from generating heat up to the certain temperature or the higher temperatures thereof.
In order to stably fabricate reactors having the sensor elements, such as thermistors, or the like each capable of measuring temperature with high precision, it is necessary that the sensor elements are positioned at the same points within the reactors, respectively. However, it is almost impossible that the sensor element connected to a head portion of a lead is directly secured at the measured point within each reactor. Therefore, another portion of the lead other than the head portion thereof is secured at a portion of a reactor case with a screw. Under the circumstances, it is difficult that the sensor elements are precisely positioned at the same points within the reactors, respectively. Further, it becomes necessary to provide a securing structure with the screw in the another portion of the lead other than the head portion thereof. This causes a much cost up of members for measuring temperature of the reactor.
However, in fact, no effective proposal has been made about a technique for precisely positioning and securing the sensor element connected to the head portion of the lead within the reactor in spite of a compact configuration by the no use of the securing structure with the screw thus mentioned.
Accordingly, it is desired to develop a non-complicated and effective securing structure suitable for various subjects to be measured. In particular, it is strongly desired to develop such a non-complicated and effective securing structure suitable for a compact and thin-sized reactor that has come to be often used in a reactor mounted on an automobile in recent years.

Securing structure of sensor element having lead and securing unit thereof


Provided herein are photochemical separations. The methods herein can include exposing a first metal complex and a second metal complex to light to facilitate an irreversible chemical reaction to form a modified first metal complex. The modified first metal complex then may be separated from the second metal complex. Compositions also are provided.

Due to cost, public safety concerns, or a combination thereof, there is demand for improved methods of separating metal ions in a number of applications, ranging from water purification to nuclear waste management. A number of separation strategies have been employed, such as transmutation, ion exchange, and redox chemistry, which can be expensive, have limited selectivity, and/or can be ineffective due to the similarity of at least one of charge density, size, or binding affinity of the metal ions.
For example, due at least in part to their similar atomic radius and binding affinities, separating lanthanide and actinide ions, such as Am(III) and Cm(III), using chelating agents or ion exchange resins can be difficult.
Considerable effort has been dedicated to using electrochemical reactions (see, e.g., Dares, C. J. et al., Science., 2015, 350, 652-655) or chemical redox reactions (see, e.g., Mincher, B. J. et al., Inorg. Chem., 2008, 47, 6984-6989) to generate and separate the oxidized/reduced products.
However, these reactions typically require harsh redox reagents, high applied potentials, or a combination thereof, which can lead to one or more difficulties, such as the degradation of a solvent and/or electrodes.
Reversible photoinduced electron transfer reactions have been demonstrated with Yb(III) (Nakashima, N. et al. J. Phys. Chem. A., 2013, 47, 8352-8359), Eu(III) (Kusaba, M. et al., Chem. Phys. Lett. 1994 221 407-411), and Sm(III) halide complexes (Nishida, D. et al., J. Phys. Chem A., 2010, 114, 5648-5654).
Photochemical separations, which can use light to facilitate chemical transformations, may achieve separations by relying on one or more intrinsically unique photophysical properties of a metal ion, coordination complex, or a combination thereof.
A common type of photochemical separation occurs by way of photo-reduction. where, upon excitation, a metal ion is reduced and then separated via coordination with a suitable precipitating agent (Borgarello, E. et al., Inorg. Chem., 1986, 25, 4499; Donohue, T., Chem. Phys. Lett., 1977, 48, 119; Donohue, T., J. Chem, Phys., 1977, 67, 5402; and Van den Bogaert, B. et al., Green Chem., 2015, 17, 2180). Although photochemical separations can be used for some rare earths and several d-block elements, the technique typically relies on high-energy irradiation (e.g., 150 nm to 300 nm), relatively expensive light sources, hazardous acids, or a combination thereof. The technique also can be unreliable with metals that have high reduction potentials, or for solutions that include more easily reduced ions/solvents.
There remains a need for separation methods that do not include the use of harsh redox agents and/or reaction conditions, high applied potentials, or a combination thereof. There also remains a need for separation methods that do not rely on the solubility and/or binding affinity of a metal ion, but, instead, on an intrinsically unique absorption spectrum of a metal complex and/or the properties of a reacted ligand.

Photochemical separations and compositions

The Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.


A stress-tolerant transgenic plant comprising an exogenously-introduced polynucleotide encoding a protein kinase which activates stress-responsive transcription factors. The polynucleotide may encode a protein kinase which comprises SEQ ID NO: 2 (SRK-2C) or a sequence having a significant degree of similarity with SEQ ID NO: 2. The transgenic plant has increased stress-tolerance to environmental stresses, such as to dehydration, osmotic stress or low temperature stress, compared to a similar non-transgenic plant.

Plant growth is considerably influenced by environmental factors such as dehydration, salt, or low temperature. This is directly correlated to the issue of agricultural production, and development of crops having environmental stress tolerance has been awaited as a technique of improving agricultural production efficiency around the world. From such a point of view, development of a variety of environmental stress tolerant plants was achieved with the utilization of a classical breeding method and biotechnology such as gene recombination. In the case of plants to which enzyme genes that synthesize an amino acid (proline) or an oligosaccharide (galactinol) have been introduced, for example, proline or galactinol imparts the osmoregulatory mechanism to such plants. Accordingly, such plants gain tolerance to dehydration or salt stress. A method for imparting stress tolerance to plants via overexpression of a single gene therein is effective to some extent. However, such method is often disadvantageous for plants because it affects plant growth or because the effects attained thereby are insignificant. Many plants actually possess genes that can impart environmental stress tolerance as mentioned above, and such genes actively function to acquire tolerance when the plants receive stresses. Since these genes are considered to express upon reception of instructions from a given upstream factor, all the downstream genes are regulated and stress tolerance can be enhanced if such upstream factor can be identified. Such perspective is referred to as "regulon biotechnology" and has drawn attention in recent days. An example of the upstream factor that regulates gene expression is a "transcription factor" that directly regulates transcription of messenger RNA. Recently, DREB/CBF was identified as a transcription factor associated with dehydration and low temperature stresses. The transgenic plants thereof were found to have activated expression of downstream genes and have tolerance to dehydration, salt, or low temperature stress (Quiang Liu et al., The Plant Cell, vol. 10, 1391–1406, 1998; Mie Kasuga et al., Nature Biotechnology, vol. 17, 287–291, 1999). However, no signal transduction factor that would activate the DREB/CBF transcription factor has been found in the upstream region. Accordingly, elucidation of the upstream signal transduction factor associated with such environmental responses is considered to be useful for the development of plants having enhanced stress tolerance.
Abscisic acid (ABA) is a plant hormone associated with seed dormancy, stomatal opening and closing, and osmotic stress tolerance. ABA is deeply involved in the expression of the stress responsive gene group. When a plant receives stress such as dehydration, signal transduction takes place via the ABA-dependent path and the ABA-independent path, and this signal transduction is known to regulate the expression of the stress responsive gene group. It is reported that ABA signal transduction is involved in a wide variety of factors, and protein kinase is one of them. The present inventors have focused on the correlation between the ABA signal transduction system and protein phosphorylation, identified the SnRK2 (SNF1-related protein kinase 2) family as the protein kinase group that is specifically activated by ABA, and demonstrated that a member thereof, i.e., SRK2E, regulates stomatal opening and closing and is involved in the expression of ABA inducible genes (Riichiro Yoshida et al., Plant Cell Physiol., 43 (12), 1473–1483, 2002).

Plant having tolerance to environmental stress


An adjustable chair can support an occupant that sits on a front portion of a seat cushion. When the user leans back, the chair can provide back support without requiring that the user slide rearwardly along the seat cushion, thereby providing back support to minimize, limit, or substantially eliminate lower back fatigue, discomfort, or the like. A back support of the chair can be located at a desired forward/rearward position based on the user's position on the seat. In some settings, the chair can be used by a card dealer who tends to sit on a forward portion of the seat when dealing cards. The back support can be positioned to comfortably support the dealer's back when, for example, the dealer sits generally upright. The chair can also be used by other individuals that frequently sit on the front of the seat cushion.

Conventional chairs are not designed to support an occupant's back when the occupant sits on a front portion of a seat cushion. When the occupant sits on the front portion of the seat cushion, the occupant's lower back may experience fatigue and discomfort because the chair's back support may be too far back to provide support. For example, card dealers at casinos often sit on the front edge of a seat cushion so that they can lean over a table to deal cards. Unfortunately, conventional chairs do not comfortably support the dealers back when, for example, the dealer sits upright. Sliding rearwardly along the seat cushion in order to contact the back support may be time-consuming and inconvenient. Accordingly, there is a need for chairs that comfortably support an occupant's back when the occupant tends to frequently lean forward and/or sit on the front section of a seat cushion.


An organic compound and a manufacturing method thereof, and an organic light emitting diode electroluminescent device are provided. The organic compound has a suitable HOMO energy level and a high hole mobility. Compared with traditional hole transport materials, when the organic compound is applied in a hole transport layer of the organic light emitting diode electroluminescent device, the organic light emitting diode electroluminescent device has enhanced maximum current efficiency, maximum external quantum efficiency, and service lifespans.

Organic light emitting diodes (OLEDs) have great application prospects because of their advantages of active illumination without a backlight, high luminous efficiency, large viewing angles, fast response times, a wide temperature adaptation range, relatively simple production and processing technology, low driving voltages, low energy consumption, lightness and thinness, and flexible display, etc., which attract the attention of many researchers.
For currently used top-emitting OLED devices, a hole transport material is used as the thickest layer. There is always a contradiction between the energy level and the hole mobility. Particularly, the highest occupied molecular orbital (HOMO) energy level of the hole transport material with a high hole mobility does not match the material on both sides thereof, and the mismatch of the energy level may increase the driving voltage of the OLED devices.
Thus, it is necessary to provide a hole transport compound with high mobility and energy level matching.

Organic compound and manufacturing method thereof, and organic light emitting diode electroluminescent device

WUHAN CHINA STAR OPTOELECTRONICS SEMICONDUCTOR DISPLAY TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


An invention is disclosed for performing online upgrades using a control module, executed as part of an application, that includes application-specific strategies for the application, yet can be coded using the JAVA programming language. An application is executed that includes an original service module and an original control module. The original control module includes application-specific policies for the application. To upgrade the application, an upgraded control module is generated. Then, the upgraded control module is used to create an upgraded service module. Both the upgraded control module and the upgraded service module can be generated using class files for the original modules, which are loaded from a system repository. In this manner, the original control module and the original service module are upgraded.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to JAVA programming, and more particularly to methods for providing online software upgrades in a Java environment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Today's world of computer programming offers many high-level programming languages. Java, for example, has achieved widespread use in a relatively short period of time and is largely attributed with the ubiquitous success of the Internet. The popularity of Java is due, at least in part, to its platform independence, object orientation and dynamic nature. In addition, Java removes many of the tedious and error-prone tasks which must be performed by an application programmer, including memory management and cross-platform porting. In this manner, the Java programmer can better focus on design and functionality issues.
One particular JAVA environment is the Java 2 platform, Enterprise Edition (J2EE), which facilitates building Web-based applications. Broadly speaking, J2EE services are performed in the middle tier between the user's browser and the databases and legacy information systems. J2EE comprises a specification, reference implementation and a set of testing suites. J2EE further comprises Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB), JavaServer Pages (JSP), Java servlets, and a plurality of interfaces for linking to information resources in the platform.
The J2EE specifications define how applications should be written for the J2EE environment. Thus the specifications provide the contract between the applications and the J2EE platform. However, there exist a class of JAVA applications that require customization of the J2EE platform. These applications generally utilize application specific strategies created by a particular vendor to accomplish specific tasks that are not provided by the general JAVA platform on which the application executes. Examples of this class of JAVA applications include telecommunications applications and services that are deployed within a particular service provider's environment. This class of applications typically requires continuous availability, which means the environment in which the applications operate requires the applications to be available most of the time.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a prior art J2EE environment 100. The J2EE environment 100 includes a platform 102, which is generally provided by the user of the J2EE environment 100. The platform 102 generally includes the hardware and operating system on which J2EE applications will execute. Present on the platform 102 are an application client container 104, a web container 106, and an enterprise JavaBeans container 108.
Using the J2EE environment 100, application developers can create JAVA applications 110 using EJB, Java servlets, or application clients, which then execute in the appropriate container 104, 106, and 108. An advantage of the J2EE environment 100 is that the applications 110 can be simple since the application developer does not need to be concerned about transactions and other system-level programming concepts. These aspects are handled by the containers 104-108 of the J2EE environment 100.
However, as mentioned above there exist a class of programs that require developers to provide application-specific policies to the applications 110. Unfortunately, the prior art J2EE environment 100 does not allow developers to provide these application-specific polices without breaking the basic JAVA paradigm, which define how a particular application 110 will interact with specific aspects of the underlying platform 102.
Practically speaking, it is difficult to include application-specific policies within a generic Java platform itself because there generally is no prior knowledge of what specific policies any particular application will need. Thus, vendors have individually configured their Java platforms to include application-specific policies 112 that will be needed by the particular programs executing on that particular vendor's platform 102. However, when this type of individual configuration is done, the platform 102 is still unable to execute applications that need application-specific polices that were not built into the particular vendor's platform. Moreover, it is difficult to upgrade these vendor specific applications while they are executing on the Java platform. There is currently no defined mechanism for online upgrades of software on a J2EE platform. Such upgrades require the system to continue providing services to clients while the software upgrade is being performed.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for systems and methods that allow online upgrades to occur that generally do not have any detectable impact of the clients using the service provided by the applications during the upgrade. Moreover, the methods should allow developers to provide application-specific strategies in the form of Java code for individual JAVA applications. The systems and methods should allow these application-specific strategies to be provided to the underlying Java platform while preserving compatibility with existing Java programming models.

Method and apparatus for performing online application upgrades in a java platform


The invention relates to a method and system for testing and evaluating a response of an automotive radar system for a specific automotive safety scenario, wherein the method and system generates a simulated reflected radar signature corresponding to at least one virtual target in a specific virtual scenario. The simulated radar signature is generated from one or more of:                a pre-recorded real reflected radar signature from at least one real target in a specific real scenario,        an analytical representation of a radar target signature from at least one virtual target in a specific virtual scenario.

In order to evaluate the functionality of radar systems in many applications, it is required that they are tested under reproducible, controlled and known conditions similar to real environment. Simulation of radar targets makes it possible to test actual radar systems in an enclosed space, e.g. an electromagnetic chamber or in a lab environment.
Verification of the performance of such radar-based safety system is highly demanded.

System for generating virtual radar signatures