A passenger cabin air distribution system includes a ventilation system and an ejector-diffuser. The ventilation system is operable to provide a conditioned air. The ejector-diffuser is positioned to receive a flow of the conditioned air from the ventilation system. The ejector-diffuser includes an induction unit and a diffuser section. The induction unit includes a secondary inlet in communication with a cabin air from a passenger cabin and is configured to mix the flow of the conditioned air with an induced flow of the cabin air into a mixed air. The diffuser section includes a discharge to eject the mixed air to the passenger cabin. The diffuser section is shaped to provide for efficient mixing with low backpressure in order to maintain the low motive pressure in the nozzle.

Advances are continually being made in the area of human space flight and there is increased interest in further space exploration. Due to limited resources available in space, new technologies and techniques are needed to economize resources and reduce the size of components that are used within a spacecraft and lowering the costs associated with space travel. Some spacecraft may rely upon fans to pass air throughout a passenger compartment. Existing systems consume more fan energy to accomplish required ventilation. Other systems include multiple ducted cabin air intakes and multiple air distribution discharge points. These systems may have a greater mass, may be more complex, and/or may be more costly. In addition, these systems may include an orifice plate to provide restriction to allow proper airflow to an avionics branch.
FIG. 4 shows a cross-sectional view of a known ejector-diffuser 400. The ejector-diffuser 400 includes a motive fluid nozzle 410, a converging inlet cone 440, a diffuser throat 445, and a diverging outlet cone 465. The motive fluid nozzle 410 is supplied with a motive fluid 411 having a high pressure. The motive fluid 411 is used to induce a low-pressure inlet fluid 451 that is received through a side opening 450. The motive fluid 411 is mixed with the low-pressure inlet fluid 451 and discharged at a higher pressure than the pressure of the low-pressure inlet fluid 451. On an upstream side of the motive fluid nozzle 410, there is a high pressure and a low velocity. The motive fluid nozzle 410 creates an injected flow at a higher velocity and lower pressure. The motive fluid 411 expands to a pressure below a pressure of the low-pressure inlet fluid 451, which is drawn by the pressure differential through side opening 450 and combined with the motive fluid 411. The injected flow is directed towards the converging inlet cone 440, which further increases velocity and lowers pressure. The velocity of the injected flow is imparted to surrounding fluid and further entrains a flow of the low-pressure inlet fluid 451. The motive fluid 411 mixes with the low-pressure inlet fluid 451 through the converging inlet cone 440 and the diffuser throat 445 to create a mixed flow. The mixed flow passes through the diverging outlet cone 465, which slows the mixture down and increases its pressure to a mixture 460 having a pressure greater than the pressure of the low-pressure inlet fluid 451.
Known ejector-diffusers are limited by their need for a high-pressure motive fluid and their use of circular converging and diverging sections. Furthermore, known ejector-diffusers may include a pressure ratio of the pressure of the nozzle inlet fluid (motive fluid 411) to the pressure of the discharged mixture of 3:1 or greater. Additional disadvantages may exist.

Passenger cabin air distribution system and method of using


The invention relates to a vehicle test stand including a device for fixing a motor vehicle on the test stand. A loading machine is adapted to be coupled to the drive train of the motor vehicle, whereby the loading machine can both drive and brake the drive train. In accordance with the invention, the loading machine is directly or indirectly connectable to a rim of a motor vehicle wheel in force-locking manner.

A test stand for testing the drive train of a vehicle is known from EP 0 338 373 A2. Therein, two mutually independent moment-regulated electrical loading machines are flanged directly onto the shafts in the drive train being tested. Rollers upon which the wheels of the vehicle are adapted to roll are not used here. A simulation of the rolling resistances, the wheels and the behaviour of the vehicle under acceleration exclusively of the vehicle components present in the form of real parts is made by means of a simulating computer.


A medical instrument includes an elongated shaft, a plurality of implements mounted to the shaft, and an actuator coupled to produce relative movement between the implements. At least one of the implements is detachable from the shaft and the actuator and from another one of the implements. The actuator includes a distal portion with an inclined slot. One of the implements is detachably coupled to the slot such that movement of the actuator causes the relative movement between the implements. A coupler including an opening for receiving the actuator is mounted to a handle for rotation relative to the handle.

The invention relates to a surgical instrument, particularly to a surgical instrument for use during arthroscopic surgery.
Arthroscopic instruments generally have an actuating assembly attached to a handle with an end effector having at least one movable implement located at the distal end of the actuating assembly. Arthroscopic instruments are known which have an actuating assembly that is removable from a handle. It is also known to make arthroscopic instruments having an end effector that is replaceable as a unit.


Provided is an optoelectronic device that includes: a light source; an emission layer disposed on the light source and including light emitting particles dispersed in a matrix polymer; and a polymer film disposed on the emission layer. The polymer film includes two layers: a first layer including a first polymer and a second layer including a second polymer. The first polymer includes a polymerized product of a first monomer including at least two thiol (—SH) groups and a siloxane-based second monomer or oligomer including at least one carbon-carbon unsaturated bond at a terminal end, and the second polymer includes a polymerized product of a third monomer including at least two thiol (—SH) groups and a fourth monomer including at least two carbon-carbon unsaturated bonds at a terminal end.

1. Field
This disclosure relates an optoelectronic device and a stacking structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor nanocrystals, which are also called quantum dots, are a semiconductor material with a nano-sized and crystalline structure, and include hundreds to thousands of atoms.
Since the semiconductor nanocrystals are very small, they have a large surface area per unit volume, and also have a quantum confinement effect. Accordingly, they have unique physicochemical properties that differ from the inherent characteristics of a corresponding bulk semiconductor material.
In particular, since optoelectronic properties of nanocrystals may be controlled by adjusting the size of the nanocrystals, the semiconductor nanocrystals are the subject of active research, and are being utilized in display devices and a variety of biotechnology applications.
When the semiconductor nanocrystal is used in a display element or the like, a silicone polymer may be used as a matrix resin for dispersing the semiconductor nanocrystal. However, the silicone polymer may not sufficiently protect the semiconductor nanocrystal due to its reduced oxygen and moisture barrier properties.

Optoelectronic device and stacking structure


A method and apparatus for providing a portable device recommendation system. The method may include storing, on a portable device, preferences of a user of the portable device with respect to media content, and facilitating sharing of desirable media content between this user and a user of another portable device based on the user preferences.

Portable devices have become increasingly popular. One of most popular types of portable devices is a portable media player. Portable media players can load and play different formats of video (e.g., MPEG, DivX, XviD, SMV, etc.), audio (e.g., MP3, WAV, Ogg Vorbis, etc.), digital images (e.g., BMP, JPEG, GIF, etc.), and interactive media (e.g., Adobe® Flash, Flash LITE, etc.).
A user can download new media content to a portable media player by connecting the portable media player to a host computer, accessing a website of a media content provider via a browser on the host computer, and selecting desired media files listed on the website. A media content provider can track media files selected by the user and determine user preferences with respect to media content. Next time the user accesses the website of the media content provider, the media content provider can use the user preferences to identify media content that may be of interest to the user, and automatically offer this media content to the user. Although this feature is advantageous as it relieves the user from a task of browsing through numerous media files offered on the website, it is cumbersome to use because it requires the user to be connected to the network.

Portable media player recommendation system


A system and methods for modeling the death of tissue cells that are thermally treated using thermal treatment devices is disclosed. A cell-death model accurately predicts, in real-time, which voxels of cells are dead or are about to die as the thermal treatment is applied to these cells. The effects of thermal treatment are monitored by a thermal measurement device which feeds thermal information to the cell-death model. The cell-death model accounts for the temperature of each voxel of tissue cells with respect to a temperature threshold value and the duration over which the thermal treatment is applied. When the thermal measurement device is an imaging device, the results of the thermal treatment may be displayed to the user in real-time. As a result, a user of the thermal treatment device can determine, in real-time, which target voxels of cells he has killed and which still need to be killed. The user can also more easily avoid inadvertently killing healthy tissue that he does not intend to kill. The cell-death model may be implemented in software on the thermal measurement device, on the thermal treatment device, or on a separate processing device which interfaces to and communicates with at least one of the thermal measurement device and the thermal treatment device.

An alternative to surgically removing unwanted biological tissue (e.g., malignant tumors, infected tissue, etc.) from a patient is to use thermal treatment to destroy the unwanted tissue. Such thermal treatment is a process of heating up or cooling down (i.e., thermally ablating) biological tissue in order to destroy the cells of the tissue. Additional information with respect to thermal ablation can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,767 issued to McNichols et al. on Apr. 1, 2003 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Interventional image-guided ablation therapies using thermal energy sources such as radio frequency (RF), microwave, laser, high-intensity focused ultrasound (HIFU), and cryogenics have received much recent attention as minimally invasive strategies to cure cancer. Additional information with respect to image-guided ablation therapies using thermal energy sources can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,767 issued to McNichols et al. on Apr. 1, 2003 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. Potential benefits of such techniques include the ability for near real-time image guidance using magnetic resonance (MR), x-ray computed tomography (CT), or ultrasound, the ability to ablate cancerous tumor in non-surgical candidates, and the potential to perform the procedure on an out-patient basis. Further, it is believed that image-guided ablation therapy may eventually compete with some open tumor surgeries. The successful application of interventional technology to minimally invasive treatment of localized pathologies has the potential to prolong life while reducing the morbidity and cost associated with a more invasive surgical approach.
Typically, a medical doctor (i.e., the user of a thermal treatment tool) will perform the thermal treatment and then later have a medical image of the treated physiological region created to evaluate the success of the treatment. Such a post-treatment evaluation does not allow the doctor to determine, in real-time, if he has successfully destroyed all of the unwanted biological tissue, or if he has inadvertently damaged healthy tissue. Also, post-ablation structural images may not distinguish the edema that surrounds the thermal lesion from tumors, hemorrhage, or prior inflammation.
Methods of image-guided thermal treatment have been developed which use imaging thermometry techniques in conjunction with a cell-death model to allow a user to monitor the effects of the thermal treatment in real or near-real time. However, these cell-death models, used to date, are typically not very robust. The cell-death models often under-estimate or over-estimate the effects of the thermal treatment. Also, a cell-death model which is adequate for treating one type of tissue may not be effective in treating another type of tissue. Additional information with respect to medical thermometry can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,767 issued to McNichols et al. on Apr. 1, 2003 which is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety.
Some models assume that the tissue response is independent of temperature history. Others use a mathematical model of the temperature-time relationship for tissue damage. Such models usually consist of either a generalized Arrhenius function or a linear approximation of the Arrhenius function near 43° C. However, these models and parameters are based on experiments at lower temperatures and significantly longer heating durations than typical for clinical ablations. Previous studies have shown that the empirically-derived parameters used for these Arrhenius-based models can vary for different tissues, temperature ranges, and heating durations.
A time-temperature product model was not successful, and a critical temperature model which did not account for heating duration did not work very well and was sensitive to transient noise in the temperature data.
Therefore, it is desirable to develop and implement a robust cell-death model which accurately predicts the effects of thermal treatment on many different types of biological tissue.
Further limitations and disadvantages of conventional, traditional, and proposed approaches will become apparent to one of skill in the art, through comparison of such systems and methods with the present invention as set forth in the remainder of the present application with reference to the drawings.

System and methods for image-guided thermal treatment of tissue


A method and apparatus for classifying a plurality of elements in images, where electronic images of a field of view containing elements are formed. Each of the elements has a plurality of features. A first subgroup of the plurality of features from the images of the plurality of elements are extracted and processed to segregate the plurality of elements into first and second groups. A classification class only for each of the elements in the first group is determined by selecting and processing a second subgroup of the extracted features to determine a physical characteristic of the element, and by selecting and processing a third subgroup of the extracted features in response to the determined physical characteristic to determine a classification class of the element. The second group of elements bypasses the determination of classification class.

Biological particle analysis apparatuses are well known in the art. See for example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,338,024 and 4,393,466, which are assigned to the present assignee. Such prior art machines use a computer having a stored fixed program to detect and to classify detected biological particles.
Standard decision theory that is used to sort biological particle images is well known, and tends to sort particles by classification in a serial fashion. More specifically, for a urine sample containing a plurality of particle types, the particle images are searched for one or more particle features unique to a single particle type, and those images are extracted. This process is repeated for other particles one particle type at a time. The problem with this methodology is that each particle type can exhibit a range of values for the searched for particle feature(s), and the range of values can overlap with those of other particle types. There is also the problem of artifacts, which are particle images that have no clinical significance, e.g. talc or hair, or cannot be classified due to the sensitivity of the imaging device or other problems with the image (e.g. boundary of particle undefined due to partial capture). Artifact particle images need to be disregarded from the analysis in such a way as to not adversely affect the overall accuracy of the particle analysis. Thus, it can be difficult to accurately but reliably classify particles in a sample containing artifacts.
Most biological particle classification devices further necessitate manual manipulation to accurately classify the particles in the sample. While particle features can be used to segregate particle images by particle type, a trained user is needed to verify the result.
Neural net computers are also well known. The advantage of a neural net computer is its ability to "learn" from its experiences, and thus a neural net computer, in theory, can become more intelligent as it is trained.
There is a need for a biological particle classification method and apparatus for accurate and automated classification of biological particles in a sample, such as a urine sample.

Analyte recognition for urinalysis diagnostic system

International Remote Imaging Systems, Inc.


A pressure micro-sensor is formed by a sandwich of three silicon plates in contact by their periphery, with an interposed insulating layer in order to define an internal cavity. The lower plate (2) includes a thinner region (21) forming a diaphragm, on its internal side. The intermediate plate (1) includes a peripheral region (11) forming a frame coupled to the upper and lower plates by a silicon oxide layer (24, 25), a first stud (13) mounted onto the thinner region of the lower plate, a second stud (14) mounted onto a thick region of the lower plate, and a silicon beam (15) forming a resonator and disposed between the upper surfaces of the first and second studs in front of the upper plate (3). A first electrode (32) is connected to the upper plate, a second electrode (33) is connected to the frame and a third electrode (31) is connected to the second stud.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a silicon pressure micro-sensor of the capacitive type.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Over the last years, new silicon micro-sensors have been developed, taking advantage of the silicon etching techniques developed for the manufacturing of semiconductor electronic components. Initially, such microsensors were formed by the combination of suitably etched silicon plates and thin glass plates serving as airtight chamber or as separating insulating plates inserted between the silicon plates, these glass plates bearing various metal electrode patterns.
An exemplary prior art pressure micro-sensor is formed by the device described in French application 90/09,468 filed in the name of the applicant. In this prior art sensor, the active elements are formed by a sandwich of three silicon plates but the whole structure is delineated by two external glass plates which define a controlled atmosphere region.


A method for mounting a dielectric substrate to a semiconductor substrate, such as mounting a dielectric antenna substrate to an MMIC semiconductor substrate. The method includes providing a thin dielectric antenna substrate having metallized layers on opposing sides. In one embodiment, carrier wafers are used to handle and maintain the dielectric substrate in a flat configuration as the metallized layers are patterned. The dielectric substrate is sealed to the semiconductor substrate using a low temperature bonding process. In an alternate embodiment, the metallized layers on the dielectric substrate are patterned simultaneously so as to prevent the substrate from curling.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for attaching a dielectric substrate to a semiconductor substrate and, more particularly, to a method for attaching a dielectric antenna substrate to a monolithic millimeter-wave integrated circuit (MMIC) substrate using carrier wafers or other processes for maintaining the antenna substrate substantially flat.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Transceiver modules are known in the art that include an array of antennas each separately mounted to an antenna substrate and coupled to a transceiver front end including a plurality of antenna channels. Typically, the various amplifiers, filters, phase shifters, mixers, analog-to-digital converters, switches, etc. that are part of the front end of the transceiver module are separately fabricated as integrated circuits onto several semiconductor wafers, and then later assembled into the transceiver module using well known semiconductor assembly techniques.
It is typically difficult to mount a dielectric antenna substrate to a semiconductor substrate because the antenna substrate is made of a dielectric material and can be very thin for high frequency applications. Particularly, because the antenna substrate can be very thin and its usually flexible, it tends to curl when metal layers on both side of the substrate are patterned into the antenna patches and electrical connections.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,067,397, titled Method of Fabricating High Yield Wafer Level Packages Integrating MMIC and MEMS Components, issued Jun. 27, 2006, to Chang-Chien et al., assigned to the Assignee of this application and herein incorporated by reference, discloses a low temperature bonding process for bonding two semiconductor wafers to each other in a wafer-level packaging process.
FIG. 1 is a cross-sectional view of a wafer-level package 10 of the type disclosed in the '397 patent. The package 10 includes a semiconductor substrate wafer 12, such as an InP, GaAs, silicon, etc., and a semiconductor cover wafer 14 bonded to the substrate wafer 12 by a bonding ring 16. The bonding ring 16 defines a hermetically sealed cavity 18 in which an integrated circuit 20 fabricated on the substrate wafer 12 is sealed when the cover wafer 14 is bonded to the substrate wafer 12. The '397 patent discloses a process for sealing the cover wafer 14 to the substrate wafer 12 by bonding separate bonding rings together using a low-temperature process.

Method of batch integration of low dielectric substrates with MMICs


In one version of the invention, an apparatus intended for determining the disintegration time of rapidly disintegrating tablets is designed with a disintegration cell having two liquid inlets and outflow from the top. Visualization of tablet inside the disintegration cell is conducted using a camera aided by a base light source and images captured using a computer or any other recording system. Disintegration medium is introduced into the disintegration cell through both inlets to produce a swirling motion and images of the tablet disintegration process are captured. The captured images are analyzed in real-time or off-line, to determine the tablet disintegration time. A visual non-recording method using projected image may also be used.

One of the most important characteristics of a tablet formulation is its disintegration phenomenon. The disintegration time of a conventional tablet is commonly determined using United States Pharmacopoeia (USP) disintegration apparatus. However, no specific pharmacopoeial apparatus has been identified to determine the disintegration time of rapidly disintegrating tablets (RDTs). It is often difficult to precisely determine the disintegration time of RDTs using USP disintegration apparatus when the tablet disintegration process is very rapid. Moreover, USP disintegration apparatus has limitations in discriminating between disintegration times of different RDTs. Thus, it is necessary to develop a disintegration apparatus capable of determining precisely the disintegration time of RDTs.

Apparatus and method for visiometric disintegration


A shipping rack is provided for safe and secure transport of a plurality of generally elongate workpieces, each of the plurality of workpieces having a longitudinal axis and distinctly different first and second ends. The shipping rack comprises a rectangular base with a vertical members extending perpendicularly upwardly from the four corners of the base. Affixed to the vertical members are at least one pair of horizontal support members. Each such pair is positioned in spaced apart parallel relationship. Across the length of the horizontal support members are a plurality of pairs of alternating first and second slots for receiving the first and second respective ends of the workpieces. Because of the difference in depth of the first and second slots, the workpieces are held in the pair of support members with the axis thereof at an angle of about 5 degrees relative to the horizontal.

In assembly of vehicles, it is quite common to pre-assemble some of the parts at one site and to transport them to another site for final assembly. A particular part, the half-axle tube assembly, contains a steering dampener bracket which has demonstrated its fragility and that it can be easily damaged during transport.
Several pieces of the prior art teach devices for shipping rods, tubes and the like which are longitudinally symmetrical, unlike the present invention. These devices generally hold the tubes in a horizontal manner. The devices which teach the packaging of pieces which are not longitudinally symmetrical, such as wine bottles, usually hold the pieces in a "head to head" manner, that is, the adjacent pieces are all faced in the same direction rather than being faced in opposite directions.


A 1M.times.2 parity DRAM is salvaged from a defective 1M.times.4 parity DRAM having two or less unrepairable memory quadrants. Circuits are designed so "any" combination of 2 good quadrants can be accessed as a result of fuse blowing and steering logic which is controlled by the fuse signals.

Electronic component manufacturers presently make 1M.times.1 and 1M.times.4 Dynamic Random Access Memories (DRAMs). Two 1M.times.1 DRAMs can be used for parity bits on 1M.times.16 bit systems. In a 1M.times.16 bit system, two 1M.times.1 DRAMs provide 2 parity bits for the 2 bytes of memory array. Four 1M.times.1 DRAMs may be combined to accommodate 1M.times.32 bit systems. A 1M.times.4 DRAM may also be used to accommodate a 1M.times.32 bit system. In a 1M.times.32 bit system, the 1M.times.4 parity DRAM provides 4 parity bits for the 4 bytes of memory array. Each of these devices is a manufacturing expense to the electronic component manufacturer.
Unfortunately, a 1M.times.4 parity DRAM does not have the flexibility to be used in 16 bit systems which require 2 separate row address strobes for interleaved accesses. Electronic component manufacturers presently use two 1M.times.1 DRAMs for parity bits in 16 bit systems. What is needed for yield improvement is a 1M.times.2 parity DRAM salvaged from a 1M.times.4 parity DRAM reject which has two or less unrepairable memory quadrants. This 1M.times.2 DRAM can be used to replace two 1M.times.1 DRAMs, thus saving the user board space and reducing cost.

Method and apparatus for implementing .times.2 parity DRAM for 16 bit systems from .times.4 parity DRAM


A compound having the formula (I) or its salt, hydrate, hydrate salt or solvate:

In cellular disorders caused by advanced ischemia, the depletion of ATP, the fall in the pH in the cells, and the destruction of the mechanism for maintenance of the energy-dependent ion homeostasis inside and outside the cell cause the accumulation of a large amount of intracellular divalent Ca ions (Ca2+). It is believed that the Ca2+ overload causes functional disorders in the mitochondria and randomly activates various enzyme reactions and invites further Ca2+ overload [F. B. Meyer: Brain Res. Rev., 14, 227 (1989); E. Boddeke et al.: Trends Pharmacol. Sci., 10, 397 (1989)]. On the other hand, while a small amount of active oxygen and free radicals such as superoxide anion radical (O2−), hydrogen peoxide (H2O2), hydroxy radical (OH.) and peroxynitrite (ONOO−) produced along with the production of energy in the body and the metabolic process are effectively scavenged by enzymes such as SOD (superoxide dismutase) and catalase and natural antioxidants such as α-tocopherol ingested into the body, it is known that the excessive production of active oxygen/free radicals in ischemic diseases, neurodegenerative diseases, diabetes, arteriosclerosis, inflammatory diseases, or other diseases, imparts irreparable damage to the cell membrane through extensive lipid peroxidation or various radical reactions. Furthermore, arachidonic acid produced by the decomposition of the phospholipids in the cell membrane at that time is converted, through a peroxidation process (arachidonic acid cascade), to thromboxane A2, which has a vascular constrictive and blood platlet aggregating actions, resulting in a cause of formation of thrombus, and therefore aggravates the cellular disorder. The two processes of the above Ca2+ overload and excess production of active oxygen/free radicals, in cellular disorders caused by ischemia, act as mutually aggravating factors and are repeated in a vicious cycle which finally leads to cell death [J. M. McCall et al.: Ann. Rep. Med. Chem., 27, 31 (1992); C.-M. Andersson et al.: Advances in Drug Research, 28, 65. (1996)].
Therefore, pharmaceuticals which not only suppress cytotoxic Ca2+ overload but also scavenge active oxygen/free radicals or suppress lipid peroxidation are considered to be those for the alleviation or treatment of various ischemic diseases, for example, cerebral infarction, cerebral edema, intracerebral hemorrhage, transient ischemic attack, subarachnoid hemorrhage, head trauma, after effects of brain surgery, after effects of cerebral arteriosclerosis, and other cerebrovascular disorders, or variant angina, unstable angina, myocardial infarction, cardiovascular system disorders accompanying surgery for revascularization by PTCA/PTCR/CABG etc., malignant arrhythmia and myocardial ischemia-reperfusion injury, and further disorders of transplanted organs at the time of organ transplants and temporary blockage of the blood flow in organs at the time of surgery, various neurodegenerative diseases, for example, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's and Huntington's diseases and ALS, and seizures, epilepsy, migraine headaches, and diabetes, arteriosclerosis, inflammatory diseases, etc.
As the arylpiperidine and arylpiperazine derivatives having an action of suppressing Ca2+ overload, for example, there is known the compound described in International Patent Publication Nos. WO 96/22977 and WO 96/26924. No compound, however, is mentioned which has an action of suppressing lipid peroxidation as well as Ca2+ overload.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Arylipiperdinopropanol and arylipiperazinopropanol derivatives and pharmaceuticals containing the same

Abstract: wherein R1 to R4 independently represent H, halogen, OH, alkoxy, optionally substituted alkyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, R5 represents H, optionally substituted alkyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, E1 represents O, S, or —NR6, where R6 represents H, an optionally substituted alkyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, E2 represents O, S, or —NR7, where R7 represents H, an optionally substituted alkyl, aryl, or aralkyl group, A represents CH, C(OH), or N, X represents H, halogen, alkoxy, or an optionally substituted alkyl group, and Q represents an optionally substituted phenyl group, phenoxy, phenylmethyl, or cycloalkyloxy group, where when E1 represents O or S, E2 does not represent O or S, which has an action of suppressing the cytotoxic Ca2+ overload and lipid peroxidation and effective for pharmaceutical preparation for the alleviation and treatment of symptoms due to ischemic diseases, etc.


An improved compact searchlight utilizing the merging of multiple single beams to a concentrated light. This provides or light beam that is nearly constant illumination intensity across the beam of light. This reduces or eliminates bight and dim areas that are created from previous light systems that use desecrate lighting elements. The lighting elements includes an a power supply a light source and a lens projection system, wherein the lens projection system including a collecting lens, a negative lens, and a collimating lens such that the illuminance of an area illuminated by a beam and searchlight is projected by the improved light is homogeneous throughout the whole of the illuminated area.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a light source, and more particularly to a search light that uses multiple light sources to create a single concentrated beam of light as a menorah configuration of light sources.
2. Description of Related Art including information disclosed under 37 CFR 1.97 and 1.98
Collimators are well known in the optical arts, and typically include a plurality of lens or reflectors that act upon light to emit nearly parallel rays. Such collimators include searchlights, headlamps and light projectors. A typical example of a light projector designed to emit a collimated beam can be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,968, issued to Choi, which provides a parabolic reflector for converting light emitted from a lamp to parallel rays, a biconvex lens for collimating both direct and reflected light from the light source, a combination lens having a first lens and a second lens for focusing the collimated light from the biconvex lens to a focal point, and an image lens located beyond the focal point for converting the light focused at the focal point into a parallel beam.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,827,475, issued to Vetorino et al., combines a plurality of lens and reflectors to collimate light that includes a conical reflector disposed about the base of a light emitting diode (LED) and a lens specially designed to focus the collected light into a nearly collimated beam. The lens have opposite, substantially elliptical surfaces that collect and collimate the rapidly diverging light from the LED and the reflector. Vetorino et al., however, do not provide for the compression of the collimated beam.
It is also known in the art that the illuminance Lx of a light stream from a light source located perpendicular to an area illuminates that area according to the following relationship: Lx=Lm/m.sup.2. For example, one Lx of illuminance is equal to one Lm of luminous flux for an illuminated surface measuring one square meter in area, and with the light source arranged perpendicular to the surface. In another example, if the luminous flux is equal to 1,000 Lm and the uniformly illuminated surface is one square meter, then the illuminance of that area equals 1,000 Lx. Thus, in order to measure the luminous flux in a uniformly illuminated area of 1.0 square meters, a Lux Meter may be placed anywhere in the illuminated area.
Some prior art producers of light sources, e.g., prior art flashlights utilizing light emitting diodes (LED) claim values of luminous flux (Lm) which in some instances appear higher than the maximum value that can be emitted by the light emitting diode in all directions. Such claims do not account for the uniformity of illuminance (Lx) of an illuminated area where the measurement was taken. Experimentally, the illuminance of two prior art LED's, have been measured and compared to their maximum luminous flux. Two prior art flashlights were chosen for the measurement: (1) ND HB F5, 6V, 2CR 123, 107 Lm Cree LED (hereinafter "HB F5"), and (2) NH HB VIGOUR, 6V, 2CR 123, 107 Lm Cree LED (hereinafter "HB VIGOUR"). Each flashlight having substantially identical electrical specifications, but different optical schematics. The HB F5 appears to utilize an optical schematic that allows for concentrated light emission with uniform luminous flux through the light stream and +/−2.5° angle of dispersion relative to the optical axis. The HB VIGOUR utilizes a focusing output lens system.
Other light sources include flashlights which typically comprise a light source, a reflector located behind the light source, a lens or glass in front of the reflector, and a power supply. The reflector and the lens are intended to collect light from the source and collimate or focus the light into a desired beam. Such light sources are often portable, and generally produce a diverging beam of light whereby the brightness varies across the beam. Typically, the light beam is brightness at its center, and drops off dramatically at its peripheral edge. Examples of such prior art lights may be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,823,762, 2,228,078, 4,286,311, and 4,527,223.
An important advantage of the present invention is the provision of a light device where the light beam is minimally divergent or compressed along the optical axis, thereby allowing for increased intensity over an illumination range of interest.
A number of patents and or publications have been made to address these issues. Exemplary examples of patents and or publication that try to address this/these problem(s) are identified and discussed below.

Compact searchlight utilizing the concept of merging into a single beam the beams of multiple sources of concentrated light


A composite semiconductor integrated circuit device includes logic circuit blocks of a master slice system and function blocks such as memories all of which are integrated on a single semiconductor chip. The function blocks are constituted with n lower metal wiring layers. On a portion of a surface of the chip which overlaps with the function block, a (n+1)th metal layer is not provided as signal wiring, but a (n+2)th metal wiring layer or higher layers are provided. The step coverage of the metal wiring layers provided on the chip surface portion overlapping with the function block is improved and cross-talk between signal lines can be reduced.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor integrated circuit device (IC) and, particularly, to a semiconductor IC capable of realizing desired functions by using a CAD automatic wiring technique.
Such a semiconductor IC includes a master slice type semiconductor IC which includes, for example, a memory such as ROM or RAM and functional blocks such as ALU, PLA and/or CPU. The semiconductor IC of this type will be referred to simply as a "composite semiconductor IC" hereinafter.
In the composite semiconductor IC, a multilevel wiring technique of a three-level metal wiring structure or more is employed with an increase in number of gates to be integrated on a single semiconductor chip. For example, T. Takahashi et al., "A 1.4M-Transistor CMOS Gate Array with 4 ns RAM", ISCC DIGEST OF TECHNICAL PAPER, p. 178-179, February 1989 discloses a gate array including 130K logic gates and eight 128 word.times.36 bit RAMs integrated on a 14.5.times.14.5 mm.sup.2 chip by use of a three-level metal wiring structure. Further, a gate array using a four-level metal wiring structure is disclosed in NIKKEI MICRODEVICES, p. 86 to 101, June 1989.
Function blocks included in a composite semiconductor IC are manually designed on the basis of a standard IC and arranged in a particular area of the chip of the composite semiconductor IC. Therefore, the integration density of an element of the function block is higher and the block can be realized with a smaller number of wiring layers compared with the master slice portion thereof. However, higher integration density of a function block means that the surface of the function block area of the semiconductor chip becomes uneven after an uppermost metal wiring is provided.
In order to improve the integration density of the composite semiconductor IC, it is preferable to provide a metal wiring used for the master slice portion further on the area of the function blocks of the semiconductor chip surface. In such a case, an inter-layer insulating film covering the function blocks is formed and the metal wiring is provided thereon. Since, however, the unevenness of the chip surface of the function block area is large, the step coverage, which is a ratio of minimum thickness of the metal wiring in a stepped portion to thickness of the wiring on the flat portion, is low and may deteriorate reliability. Further, the metal wiring formed on the function blocks through the inter-layer insulating film necessarily includes signal lines connected to circuits in the master slice portion, resulting in a cross-talk between the signal lines and signal lines of the function blocks which may cause a malfunction of the function blocks.

Composite semiconductor integrated circuit device


This invention relates to an improved portable system for the delivery of a breathable, fire extinguishing gas mixture to a fire zone. The gas mixture comprises a normally gaseous inert material, such as nitrogen, helium or argon; an oxygen containing gas; and carbon dioxide. The system includes a means for storing or generating the inert material, means for storing the carbon dioxide, means for generating or introducing the oxygen containing gas, and means for mixing the components. The system also includes means for heating, vaporizing and controlling the temperature and proportions of the components.

When attempting to create in a fire zone a breathable, fire extinguishing gas mixture comprising an inert material, carbon dioxide and oxygen, one of the challenges is to ensure that there is an adequate quantity of oxygen in the fire zone in order to sustain mammalian life. When introducing only the inert material and carbon dioxide to the fire zone, there is a possibility that the combustion in the fire zone can consume the free oxygen originally present in the air and, thus, reduce the amount of oxygen in the fire zone below a level sufficient to support life. Accordingly, in accordance with my invention oxygen is included in the gas mixture delivered to the fire zone.
One of the general problems encountered in connection with fighting fires at substantial distances above grade level and using water as the fire extinguishing medium is the weight of the water in the hose or other means for delivering the water to the fire zone. In such situations it is generally not feasible to deliver water much above the seventh or eighth floor of a building. While it has been suggested is to use gaseous materials as the fire extinguishing media, there has been no portable means proposed for the delivery of breathable, fire extinguishing gaseous mixtures comprised of an inert material, carbon dioxide and oxygen to a fire zone.
When considering a portable system for delivering such a mixture to a fire zone several items must be addressed regarding the supply and/or storage of the components of the gas mixture and the admixing of the components of the final fire extinguishing, breathable mixture. Important items to be considered are the temperatures at which the various components are introduced into the system, the temperatures at which the various components liquefy or vaporize, the temperatures at which the various components freeze or solidify and the impact of the temperature of the mixture being delivered. Just as one example, while the temperature of the mixture being delivered to the fire zone can be quite low and not have an adverse impact on the fire extinguishing capability of the mixture, too low a temperature may be undesirable for any people in the fire zone. Additionally, the existence of relatively low temperatures (e.g., below 0° C. or even lower) may require the employment of specific materials in the delivery means. Thus, when very low temperatures are encountered, it becomes undesirable to employ standard fire hoses and other materials of construction must be used, such as, for example, metal conduits. Furthermore, when the temperature of the breathable, fire extinguishing mixture being delivered to the fire zone drops below 0° C. frost begins to form on the delivery means and any water from other hoses splashed onto the delivery means will freeze into ice on the delivery means. This adds additional weight to the delivery means and limits the height to which the delivery means can be lifted. Further, it permits the usual fire hose to remain flexible.
Thus when utilizing liquid nitrogen stored in the portable system of my invention, it is desirable that the liquid nitrogen be vaporized and raised to a temperature greater than the temperature at which carbon dioxide solidifies prior to admixing the vaporized nitrogen and the carbon dioxide. In this type of situation it is also desirable to insure that the temperature is above the freezing point of water (0° C.), thus preventing the formation of ice within the mixture, before having to pump or compress the mixture. Maintaining a temperature at this level will also permit the use of a normal fire hose as the delivery means, rather than heavy metal conduits. Additionally, it is advantageous that the mixture in the delivery means be at a temperature sufficiently high to prevent the formation of frost or ice on the delivery means.
The system of my invention addresses these challenges and provides an improved system for delivering the breathable, fire extinguishing mixture of an inert material, carbon dioxide and oxygen as described herein.
It has previously been suggested to employ various chemicals and mixtures of chemicals, particularly materials in gaseous form in connection with extinguishing fires. For example U.S. Pat. No. 1,926,396 discloses the use of halogen derivatives of hydrocarbons as fire extinguishing materials and suggests that such materials may be pumped from a container or used in pressure devices in which a low boiling compound is employed to create sufficient pressure to expel itself from the apparatus. The patent does not disclose the use of a mixture comprising an inert material, carbon dioxide and oxygen nor does it teach a portable means for dispensing the mixture, which means comprises separate storage vessels for the inert material and carbon dioxide and means for controlling the temperature of the components as they are mixed.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,537 describes an apparatus for delivering carbon dioxide to smother a fire by heating the carbon dioxide before introduction into the fire zone, thereby avoiding fogging. There is no mention of a breathable atmosphere much less a system designed to maintain a breathable atmosphere in the fire zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,438,445 discloses a system providing a fire fighting gas by burning a fuel and combining the combustion gases with nitrogen and air to produce a mixture of reduced oxygen content, for example about 8% or less. The patent does not recognize the criticality of ensuring a particular concentration of carbon dioxide to create a truly breathable mixture of reduced oxygen content and, thus, provides no apparatus to do so.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,486,562 disclosed an apparatus for detecting and extinguishing a fire in an enclosed environment. When a preselected temperature is reached in the enclosed environment, a heat sensor activates the means for evacuating the gaseous content of the enclosed environment to and accumulator which is at a much lower pressure than the enclosed environment. At the same time, means are provided for cutting off air and power to the enclosed environment, while nitrogen is being introduced to the enclosed environment in place of the evacuated gases.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,715,438 describes a combustion suppressant mixture consisting essentially of certain perfluoroalkane gases and from 16 to 36% oxygen, namely at least about 18% and preferably about 21%. The patent does not disclose or suggest the use of carbon dioxide as a critical component in the mixture and does not describe a portable apparatus for delivering a gaseous mixture.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,207 disclosed a fire-fighting composition. Chloropentafluorethane is a general purpose fire extinguishing agent of low toxicity. In a mixture with other halogenatedalkanes, especially bromo-chlorodiflouromethane and bromotriflouromethane, very effective extinguishing compositions may be made giving low concentrations of breakdown products in use against liquid fuel fires.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,840,667 discloses an oxygen-containing atmosphere which will not support combustion but will sustain mammalian life. The oxygen containing atmosphere comprises a mixture of sufficient oxygen to sustain mammalian life; an inert, stable, high heat capacity of polyatomic (perflouroalkane) gas in an amount which provides the oxygen-containing atmosphere with a total heat capacity per mole of oxygen of at least 40 calories per ° C. measured at 25° C. and constant pressure, and helium in an amount of from about 5% to the balance up to 100%. All percentages are in mole %. The atmosphere disclosed in the patent claims to be useful in sustaining mammalian life within any closed system wherein fire hazards would normally be present.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,844,354 also discloses chloropentafluorethane as an efficient and economic fire extinguishing agent for total flooding systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,893,514 disclosed a system and method of adding nitrogen under pressure to a confined area including a habitable atmosphere to suppress a fire without any deleterious effect on humans within the environment in which the fire is suppressed. In adding nitrogen to the confined area, the partial pressure of oxygen remains the same to human life, if necessary, whereas the percent by volume oxygen is lowered to a point which is not sufficient to support combustion of burning elements. Therefore, life is sustained while the fire is suppressed with any harmful effect on humans.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,311,198 describes an apparatus for removing smoke from an enclosure by means of a suction-blower unit capable of drawing smoke out of an enclosure or blowing smoke out on an enclosure. The patent also discloses introducing an inert gas, such as nitrogen, into the enclosure to replace the smoke and squelch combustion. The patent does not disclose creating a breathable mixture in the fire zone or the means of so doing.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,327,732 relates to a movable apparatus for storing liquid nitrogen, vaporizing liquid nitrogen and delivering the nitrogen to an oil well fire. There is no discussion of creating or maintaining a breathable atmosphere, particularly not one containing carbon dioxide.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,350 describes a method for fire fighting by delivering solid carbon dioxide to or near fire by means of firing capsules of carbon dioxide by means of standard artillery guns. The method apparently works by smothering the fire with carbon dioxide and lowering temperature in the fire area. The patent does not address the question of maintaining a breathable atmosphere in the fire zone. Further, the artillery gun of the patent does not even remotely resemble my system.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,446,731 B1 discloses a self propelled vehicle designed primarily for the removal of smoke from fire zones, but also states that the same apparatus can be used after smoke removal to deliver fire extinguishing materials, such as dry chemicals, water or carbon dioxide, to the fire. The patent does not address the issue of maintaining a breathable atmosphere in a fire zone and does not disclose an apparatus resembling that of the present application.
Thus the suggestions of the prior art do not fully address the creation of a system for the delivery of a breathable, fire extinguishing mixture as defined by my invention.

System for delivery of breathable fire extinguishing gas


A ball joint comprises: a ball stud which includes a stud part on one end side connected to a structure and a ball part on the other end side; a housing which oscillatably and rotatably supports the ball part of the ball stud; and a ball sheet disposed between the housing and the ball part. The ball sheet includes a recessed/protruding part formed of at least one of a recessed portion and a protruding portion on a surface facing the housing. The housing includes a fitting part having at least one of a protruding shape and a recessed shape each of which fits to the recessed/protruding part.

A stabilizer link in a vehicle is a component for linking a stabilizer with a strut, an arm and the like.
The strut is also referred to as a suspension, and is connected to a wheel. The strut absorbs and damps impacts, vibrations and the like which are transmitted from road surfaces to a vehicle body via the wheel.
The stabilizer increases the roll stiffness (resistance to distortion) of the vehicle body, against rolling due to displacement of the vehicle body caused by vertical movements of the wheel.
The stabilizer is linked with the strut, the arm and the like using ball joints at the two end portions of the stabilizer link. The stabilizer link includes a support bar and ball joints at the two end portions of the support bar.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2013-247338 discloses an example of a structure of a ball joint.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-265135 discloses a ball joint configuration as follows. Synthetic resin is injection-molded into a mold with a steel ball to be used as a ball part inserted in the mold to form a resin liner to be used as a ball sheet around the steel ball. Thereafter, a housing is integrally formed from an aluminum alloy or a zinc alloy around the steel ball by die casting. After that, a stud part is joined to the steel ball to be used as the ball part by resistance welding to form the ball part.

Ball joint and stabilizer link using same


A method, an apparatus, and a computer program product for wireless communication are provided. The apparatus may receive broadcast information related to a second UE from a third UE, relay the broadcast information and identifier information to a set of UEs, determine whether each UE in the set of UEs has received the broadcast information based on whether the identifier information is received from each UE in the set of UEs, and refrain from relaying the broadcast information upon determining that each UE in the set of UEs has received the broadcast information. In another aspect, the apparatus may receive broadcast information related to a second UE and a tag associated with the broadcast information from a third UE, relay the tag without the broadcast information to a set of UEs, receive a request for broadcast information from a third UE in the set of UEs, and relay the broadcast information to the third UE. In an aspect, the first, second and third UEs may be the same UE. In another aspect, the second and third UEs but not the first UE may be the same UE.

1. Field
The subject matter disclosed herein relates to fixed and mobile devices, and more particularly to methods, apparatuses and articles of manufacture for use by one or more electronic devices to enable or assist broadcast and relaying of information between two or more mobile devices.
2. Background
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, and broadcast. Typical wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power). Examples of such multiple-access technologies include code division multiple access (CDMA) systems, time division multiple access (TDMA) systems, frequency division multiple access (FDMA) systems, orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) systems, single-carrier frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) systems, and time division synchronous code division multiple access (TD-SCDMA) systems.
These multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide common protocols that enable different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level. An example of an emerging telecommunication standard is Long Term Evolution (LTE). LTE is a set of enhancements to the Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) mobile standard promulgated by the Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP). It is designed to better support mobile broadband Internet access by improving spectral efficiency, lowering costs, improving services, making use of new spectrum, and better integrating with other open standards using OFDMA on the downlink (DL), SC-FDMA on the uplink (UL), and multiple-input multiple-output (MIMO) antenna technology. However, as the demand for mobile broadband access continues to increase, there exists a need for further improvements in LTE technology. Examples of such improvements including supporting efficient transfer of information between mobile terminals in the absence of network support, determining when two or more mobile terminals may be in proximity to one another and enabling services (including transfer of information between terminals) that are conditional on terminals being in proximity to one another. Preferably, these improvements should be applicable to other multi-access technologies and the telecommunication standards that employ these technologies.

Efficient means of broadcast and relaying information between wireless terminals


A thermal desorption system for the treatment of contaminated solids.

The land disposal restrictions effective for wastes have created a need for technologies that can meet the best demonstrated available technologies (BDAT) treatment standards. However, such technologies are in short supply.
For example, the natural gas industry has begun to remediate the numerous metering sites that have been contaminated with mercury from manometers installed along their pipelines. In May of 1993, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) regulations no longer allowed soils contaminated with mercury to be landfilled without meeting certain treatment standards. These regulations are known as the land disposal restrictions or land ban. The EPA land disposal restrictions were developed to prevent hazardous substances from being landfilled that were considered leachable and would present future environmental problems or for those compounds that could be recycled. Originally, the land ban for mercury-containing wastes was to go into effect in May of 1992. However, due to the lack of available technologies considered BDAT for mercury-contaminated waste, the effective date for meeting the treatment standard for mercury-containing wastes was extended until May of 1993.
The land ban treatment standards for mercury-containing waste (non-wastewater) apply to media that is characterized to meet the condition of a toxicity characteristic leaching procedure (TCLP) concentration of greater than 0.2 milligram per liter. If soil fails the TCLP criteria, the waste must be treated to meet the treatment standards.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a remediation technique that is useful in separating contaminants from solids.


When transmitting an instruction for activating an immobilizer function to a vehicle, a base station also transmits a given password for releasing the immobilizer function. When receiving the instruction and the given password, an immobilizer ECU outputs an instruction for prohibiting an engine from starting. Prohibition of engine start is released only when the given password is inputted on a display. Therefore, a regular user alone, who knows the given password, can start the engine.

There is proposed a vehicle security system that is designed to prevent an unauthorized use of a stolen vehicle by disabling the use of the vehicle or deter a robbery of a vehicle by openly disclosing that a vehicle is mounted with the function of disabling the use of the stolen vehicle.
This security system is equipped with an immobilizer function that is to be remotely activated. When a vehicle mounted with this system is stolen, the following takes place. A regular owner of the stolen vehicle reports the robbery of the vehicle to a base station. The base station thereby transmits to the stolen vehicle an instruction signal for activating the immobilizer function using wireless communications. The vehicle that has received the instruction signal activates the immobilizer function so as to prohibit the engine from being started. Here, when the engine is running, the security system forcibly stops the running engine and then prohibits a re-starting of the engine, or, in view of safety, prohibits the re-starting of the engine after the running engine once stops (e.g., refer to Patent document 1).
Patent document 1: JP 2003-146185 A
In the above security system, releasing the activated immobilizer function after the stolen vehicle is sought out is performed so as to re-start the engine only by the following: a regular key capable of releasing the immobilizer function; or transmission of an instruction signal, which requests releasing of the immobilizer function, from the base station. Here, the regular key transmits a unique ID code so as to release the immobilizer function.
Therefore, when the vehicle is stolen along with the regular key, the robber of the vehicle can release the immobilizer function, possibly decreasing the meaning of the immobilizer function. Further, when the instruction signal to release the function is transmitted from the base station but the stolen vehicle is under a situation where the vehicle cannot receive the transmitted instruction signal, the immobilizer function cannot be released. This incapability of receiving the signal by the vehicle occurs: when the vehicle is parked at a place such as a basement or a tunnel; where no radio waves reach; or when the receiver mounted in the vehicle for the instruction signal is broken.


A display device having gate signal lines, a scanning signal driving circuit which supplies scanning signals to respective gate signal lines, drain signal lines, and a video signal driving circuit which supplies video signals to respective drain signal lines formed on one surface of an insulating substrate. The display device includes a first thin film transistor which is driven by the scanning signals, a pixel electrode to which the video signals are supplied through the first thin film transistor in each pixel region. The video signal driving circuit includes a dynamic memory which is comprised of a plurality of other thin film transistors formed in parallel with the first thin film transistor, and at least one thin film transistor among the plurality of other thin film transistors is covered with a conductive film having a potential which is fixed through an insulation film.

The present invention relates to a display device, and more particularly, to an active-matrix type liquid crystal display device, in which a liquid crystal display driving circuit is formed on the liquid-crystal-side surface of one of two substrates that are arranged to face each other with liquid crystal being disposed therebetween.
In an active-matrix type display device, pixel regions are defined on a liquid-crystal-side surface of one of two transparent substrates that are arranged to face each other with liquid crystal being disposed therebetween, wherein the pixel regions are surrounded by gate signal lines, which extend in the x direction and are arranged in parallel in the y direction, and drain signal lines, which extend in the y direction and are arranged in parallel in the x direction.
Each pixel region is provided with a thin film transistor which is driven by scanning signals from a gate signal line, on the one hand, and a pixel electrode to which video signals are supplied from a drain signal line, on the other hand, through that thin film transistor. An electric field is generated between the pixel electrode and a counter electrode which is formed opposite it on the liquid-crystal-side surface of the other transparent substrate with an intensity which corresponds to the applied video signal, so as to control the light transmittivity of the liquid crystal.
Further, there is a known liquid crystal display device having the above constitution, which also comprises a scanning signal driving circuit and a video signal driving circuit for respectively supplying signals to respective gate signal lines and respective drain signal lines on the other transparent substrate on the side facing the liquid crystals. Each circuit is comprised of a large number of MIS (Metal-Insulator-Semiconductors) type transistors having a constitution similar to that of the thin film transistors in the pixel regions. These circuits can be formed simultaneously with the formation of the pixels. In this case, polycrystalline silicon (Poly-Si) has been used as semiconductor layers of the thin film transistors and the MIS type transistors.
However, with respect to a display device having the above-described constitution, when the liquid crystal display device is used as a display device of a portable telephone, there is the problem that the power consumption is relatively large.
Further, since a video signal driving circuit uses a dynamic memory, is the problem that a leakage current flows into the thin film transistor which constitutes the dynamic memory.
Further, it has been also pointed out that when the dynamic memory generates photons in a semiconductor layer due to light from the outside, this generation of the photons gives rise to a more adverse influence than the thin film transistor formed inside of the pixel region, for example.

Display device with divided display regions


A synthetic antisense oligonucleotide comprising at least seven nucleotides or nucleotide analogues having a sequence complementary to the mRNA sequence of ribonucleotide reductase dimeric protein component R2 including SEQ ID Nos:1-102 is disclosed. A synthetic antisense oligonucleotide comprising at least seven nucleotides or nucleotide analogues having a sequence complementary to the mRNA sequence of ribonucleotide reductase dimeric protein component R1 including SEQ ID Nos:103-161 is also disclosed. The invention also discloses pharmaceutical compositions including the synthetic antisense oligonucleotides of the present invention and methods of using the antisense oligonucleotides to modulation proliferative cells including neoplastic cells.

The first unique step leading to DNA synthesis is the conversion of ribonucleotides to their corresponding deoxyribonucleotides, a reaction that is catalyzed in a cell cycle specific manner by the housekeeping gene ribonucleotide reductase [Lewis et al., 1978; Reichard, 1993; Wright, 1989a; Wright et al., 1990a; Stubbe, 1989]. The mammalian enzyme is composed of two dissimilar dimeric protein components often called R1 and R2, which are encoded by two different genes located on different chromosomes [Bjorklund et al., 1993; Tonin et al., 1987]. Mammalian protein R1 is a homodimeric structure, with a molecular weight of about 170 kDa, and has substrate sites and allosteric effector sites that control enzyme activity and substrate specificity [Wright, 1989a; Thelander et al., 1980; Caras et al., 1985; Wright et al., 1990a]. Protein R2 is a homodimer, with a molecular weight of 88 kDa, and forms two equivalent dinuclear iron centers that stabilizes a tyrosyl free radical required for catalysis [Wright et al., 1990a; Thelander et al., 1985; McClarty et al., 1990]. R1 and R2 proteins interact at their C-terminal ends to form an active holoenzyme [Reichard, 1993; Wright et al., 1990a; Davis et al., 1994].
R1 and R2 are differentially regulated during the cell cycle. There is an S-phase correlated increase in the R2 protein resulting from its de novo synthesis [Lewis et al., 1978; Mann et al, 1988]. The activity of ribonucleotide reductase, and therefore DNA synthesis and cell proliferation, is controlled in proliferating cells during the cell cycle by the synthesis and degradation of the R2 component [Eriksson et al., 1984]. The rate-limiting R2 component is a phosphoprotein capable of being phosphorylated by the CDC2 and CDK2 protein kinase mediators of cell cycle progression [Chan et al., 1993], and contains non-heme iron that stabilizes an unique tyrosyl free radical required for enzyme activity [Reichard, 1993; McClarty et al., 1990].
The levels of the R1 protein do not appear to change substantially during the cell cycle of proliferating cells and can be detected throughout the cell cycle. Synthesis of R1 mRNA, like R2 mRNA appears to occur mainly during S phase [Eriksson et al., 1984; Choy et al., 1988; Mann et al., 1988]. The broader distribution of the R1 protein during the cell cycle is attributed to its longer half life as compared to the R2 protein [Choy et al., 1988; Mann et al., 1988].
Regulation of ribonucleotide reductase, and particularly the R2 component, is altered in malignant cells exposed to some tumor promoters and to the growth factor TGF-.beta. [Amara, et al., 1994; Chen et al., 1993; Amara et al., 1995b; Hurta and Wright, 1995; Hurta et al., 1991]. Higher levels of enzyme activity have been observed in cultured malignant cells when compared to nonmalignant cells [Weber, 1983; Takeda and Weber, 1981; Wright et al., 1989a], and increased levels of R2 protein and R2 mRNA have been found in pre-malignant and malignant tissues as compared to normal control tissue samples [Saeki et al., 1995; Jensen et al., 1994]. However, these correlative studies did not show a direct role for ribonucleotide reductase in cancer cell transformation and tumor progression, because like so many other enzyme activities found to be altered in cancer cells [e.g. Weber, 1983], the results could easily be explained by the increased cell proliferation and altered cell cycle regulation characteristics of transformed and malignant cell populations [Morgan and Kastan, 1997].
Breakthroughs in molecular biology and the human genome project have opened previously unforeseen possibilities for targeted intervention with mammalian gene expression [Blaese, 1997; Felgner, 1997]. These include approaches such as disruption of specific genes. Antisense (AS) oligonucleotides (AS-ON) designed to hybridize with specific sequences within a targeted mRNA are one example of such targeted intervention. In general, antisense oligonucleotides interact well with phospholipid membranes [Akhter et al., 1991]. Following their interaction with the cellular plasma membrane, they may be actively, or passively, transported into living cells [Loke et al., 1989], and this may occur by a saturable mechanism predicted to involve specific receptors [Yakubov et al., 1989].
Many excellent reviews have covered the main aspects of antisense technology and its enormous therapeutic potential. There are reviews on the chemical [Crooke, 1995], cellular [Wagner, 1994] and therapeutic [Hanania, et al, 1995; Scanlon, et al, 1995; Gewirtz, 1993] aspects of this rapidly developing technology. Within a relatively short time, ample information has accumulated about the in vitro use of AS-ON in cultured primary cells and cell lines as well as for in vivo administration of such AS-ON for suppressing specific processes and changing body functions in a transient manner. Further, enough experience is now available in vitro and in vivo in animal models to predict human efficacy.
It would be useful to have antisense oligonucleotides available to control tumorigenicity and/or metastatic potential in premalignant or malignant cells wherein the R1 and R2 components of ribonucleotide reductase were utilized.

Antitumor antisense sequences directed against ribonucleotide reductase


A method for determining the resistivity of water in an oil well site that includes rock that is capable of water entrapment, includes the steps of:. (a) retrieving a sample of the rock; PA1 (b) identifying any entrapped water in the sample; and PA1 (c) determining the resistivity of the entrapped water. The so determined resistivity then enables oil reserves to be calculated in the well site.

Oil well sites often occur in porous rock formations (eg. sub-sea formations) whereby oil and water (and often gas) are stored or retained in the pores of the rock (eg. between grains of granular rocks such as sandstone). Specifically, the water is retained in the pore spaces as a film between any oil and, for granular rocks, individual grains and has low mobility. This water is referred to in the art as "irreducible". In other words, it is held in the rock in the pore spaces through capillary forces and is not removed when oil is retrieved from the site.
It is known that an estimation of oil reserves in a rock site can be made if the amount of irreducible water can be determined. One technique for determining this amount is to calculate and/or measure the water's resistivity (ie. electrical resistivity) and from this the water saturation (and thence oil saturation) of the oil well can be determined. However, existing tests for determining irreducible water resistivity are highly prone to error.
For example, resistivity manual measurement techniques involve the retrieval of a granular rock sample and the direct measurement of resistivity on water extracted from the rock sample but such tests are effected by mud filtrate contamination (ie. mud filtrate is captured when the sample is retrieved and contaminates the irreducible water in the sample).
To overcome introduced inaccuracies, calculating methods have been evolved which are not effected by mud filtrate contamination. One preferred technique is referred to as the "sp method" (spontaneous potential log method) which is a calculative technique based upon the voltage effect between the drilling mud and the formation water in a porous rock. The sign of the voltage switches polarity depending on whether the drilling mud is more or less saline than the irreducible water. The SP method is, however, notoriously uncertain and is effected by clay minerals and other influences not related to salinity. It would be advantageous to provide a technique that is not effected by such variables.

Methods for determining irreducible water resistivity and estimating oil well reserves

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation


A transmitting terminal creates a data PCM stream in which data is recognized as a PCM stream by placing a prefixed idle code string before data to transmit and a postfixed idle code string after the data to transmit. By switching between a voice PCM stream and a data PCM stream, PCM steam is transmitted to a receiving terminal. The receiving terminal, when detecting the prefixed idle code string from a received PCM stream, receive the data from the transmitting terminal until detecting the postfixed idle code string.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a PCM (Pulse Code Modulation)-based communications system and, more particularly, to a system and a method which enable data to be transmitted and received using PCM coding.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, as IP networks advance, the VoIP (Voice over IP) technologies are becoming important factors in network communications. In parallel, there is a growing trend among VoIP telephony service providers to guarantee communication quality by employing the PCM-based recommendation G.711 as a voice encoding method and securing a bandwidth for UDP (User Datagram Protocol) packets. Meanwhile, as mobile telephones, or those with digital cameras, become widespread, the uses of the service of transmitting instant messages, still images and the like are dramatically increasing in number.
Therefore, there is a need for a simple data-transmission technology that places no burden on a network. In ISDN (Integrated Services Digital Network), a B channel enables both a conversation service and a data communication service to be used. However, it has a problem that a burden on a network is increased because there is a need to setting a service mode per call at the network side.
As a method for switching between communication modes (voice communication mode and data communication mode) on the terminal sides without network-side control, for example, Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Publication No. S63-69364 discloses a communication mode switching system. According to this prior art, switching control is performed as follows. When switching to the data communication mode during the voice communication mode, the switching is done by transmitting a signal that can pass through a voice band, such as a multifrequency signal or a push-button signal. When switching to the voice communication mode during the data communication mode, the switching is done by transmitting a specific signal code.
Moreover, Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Publication No. H7-58804 discloses a voice-data composite communication system in which a start flag FS and an end flag FE, each having six or more consecutive "1"s, are added before and after a data signal, respectively, thereby making it possible for the receiving side to distinguish between voice and data.
However, in any of the above-mentioned prior arts, no consideration is given to PCM-based voice communications.
Moreover, in the communication mode switching system described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Publication No. S63-69364, special control signals (such as the push-button signal and the specific signal code), apart from communicated information, are transmitted to the other end of the line through a network, resulting in increased traffic on the network.
In the voice data composite communications system described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Application Publication No. H7-58804, it is necessary to add the start flag FS and the end flag FE, each having six or more consecutive "1"s as not occurring in voice signals and data signals. In other words, a string of consecutive bits at an arbitrary value, which does not exist in a voice signal and a data signal, is used as a flag. Accordingly, it is necessary to provide the receiving side with a means for detecting such special start and end flags, resulting in complicated circuit structure.

PCM-based data transmission system and voice/data communication switching method


A process for continuous casting of ultra low carbon aluminum killed steel, characterized in that the steel contains 6-20 ppm of calcium, less than 0.01 wt % of sulfur, and less than 30 ppm of oxygen, the molten steel superheat temperature in the tundish is higher than 16.degree. C., and the average flow rate of molten steel is greater than 1.2 m/sec in the straight part of the nozzle. This process prevents rusting and eliminates the necessity of blowing a gas into the immersion nozzle and hence prevents the swelling of cold rolled sheets.

First of all, a process for continuous casting is outlined with reference to FIG. 1 which is a schematic diagram showing the upper part of a continuous casting machine into which molten steel is poured.
A problem involved in the conventional process of continuous casting of ultra low carbon aluminum killed steel is the clogging of the immersion nozzle 1 with Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 sticking thereto. Common practice to prevent the clogging is to blow an argon gas into the immersion nozzle 1 from the upper nozzle 2 or sliding nozzle 3. A disadvantage of this practice is that the argon gas becomes bubbles which are entrapped in the solidified shell during the step of continuous casting. The entrapped bubbles expand when heated during the step of annealing after rolling, swelling the surface of a cold rolled sheet.
There are three methods for preventing the clogging of the immersion nozzle without blowing an argon gas. They involve the addition of calcium to the molten steel being cast so that calcium changes Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 into a composite compound of CaO--Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 having a lower melting point, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Nos. 99761/1989 (1), 276756/1986 (2), and 1457/1986 (3). According to the first disclosure, the tundish is provided with a refractory cylinder within 1 meter from the center of the tundish nozzle, with the lower end thereof immersion in the molten steel, and calcium is thrown into the cylinder in an amount equal to 5-20 ppm of the molten steel passing through the tundish nozzle. According to the second disclosure, calcium or a calcium alloy is added to the melt of aluminum killed steel containing less than 0.015 wt % of carbon, such that metallic calcium in an amount of 2-40 ppm remains to form CaO--Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 compounds in the steel. According to the third disclosure, an aluminum killed steel or aluminum-silicon killed steel containing more than 0.05 wt % titanium and more than 0.01 wt % aluminum is continuously cast after the composition has been adjusted such that the molten steel in the tundish contains 0.001-0.005 wt % calcium.
All the methods in the above-mentioned three disclosures have the following disadvantages.
(a) The resulting cold rolled steel sheet is subject to rusting depending on the chemical composition of steel (or the content of calcium and sulfur in steel) which determines the conditions of calcium addition. PA0 (b) The nozzle clogging may occur depending on the chemical composition of steel melt (such as content of calcium and oxygen in steel) or the continuous casting conditions, which prevents successive casting of many heats with one immersion nozzle.
Moreover, in the case where calcium is added but the blowing of argon gas into the immersion nozzle 1 is stopped, there exists no rising flow of molten steel induced by the buoyancy of gas in the mold 5. This results in the solidifying on the surface of the molten steel in the mold, which in turn leads to a high breakout ratio and the surface and inner defects of slabs cast. Also, in the case where the supply of argon gas is stopped, there exists no gas, which functions as a heat insulator, between the flow of molten steel and the inside of the immersion nozzle 1. This causes the molten steel to solidify on the inside of the nozzle above the surface of the molten steel in the mold. This in turn causes the nozzle clogging with solidified steel 6.
Incidentally, the ultra low carbon aluminum killed steel in the present invention denotes a steel which contains, in the steel melting step, less than 30 ppm of carbon and less than 40 ppm of oxygen (as the result of deoxidization mostly by aluminum).

Process for continuous casting of ultra low carbon aluminum killed steel


An image capturing apparatus includes an optical system having distortion aberration for expanding a central part and compressing a peripheral part of an object; a filtering device for cutting low-frequency components of each image signal; a filter setting device for assigning: first coefficients for cutting frequencies equal to or lower than a first frequency to an image area corresponding to the central part, and second coefficients for cutting frequencies equal to or lower than a second frequency higher than the first frequency to an image area corresponding to the peripheral part; a device for integrating each image signal and generating an evaluation value; a device for performing area division based on data relating to divided areas formed by dividing an effective image area, by setting each divided area for the integration device; and a device for controlling focusing based on the evaluation value with respect to each divided area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image capturing apparatus having an automatic focusing function.
Priority is claimed on Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-294509, filed Oct. 7, 2005, the content of which is incorporated herein by reference.
2. Description of the Related Art
In image input apparatuses such as video cameras or digital cameras, a zoom function is widely used for freely expanding or contracting the image in accordance with the distance to a subject to be photographed, or the size of the subject in the angular field, whereby it is executed by changing the focal length of the lens. The zoom function is classified into: (i) optical zooming generally implemented by mechanically moving internal lenses, and (ii) electronic zooming for performing image expansion by using a part of the image output from the image sensor and interpolating new pixels between existing pixels so as to generate an interpolated image. In comparison with the optical zooming, the electronic zooming includes no elements to be driven, and can be realized as a small device at low cost; however, image quality thereof is inferior.
With respect to such a problem, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. H10-233950 discloses an electronic zoom image input system (see FIG. 12) having: an optical system for optically compressing a periphery of an input image; and a light receiving element, having a substantially uniform pixel density, for photo-detecting the input image. This electronic zoom image input system has a function of correcting and converting the image which is detected by the light receiving element and includes distortion due to the above compression, thereby producing a zoom image having a resolution equivalent to the optical zooming.
FIG. 12 shows a telephoto angular-field image plane 1AS, a middle angular-field image plane 1AM, and a wide-area angular-field image plane 1AW on a subject plane 1A. These planes 1AS, 1AM, and 1AW respectively correspond to image planes 1BS, 1BM, and 1BW (with respect to compression) formed on the photodetective plane of an imaging device. Image data captured through the photodetective plane is appropriately corrected, so that a telephoto angular-field image plane 1CS, a middle angular-field image plane 1CM, and a wide-area angular-field image plane 1CW are each captured as a corrected zoom image plane 1C (i.e., a converted normal image). Accordingly, electronic zooming can be performed without degrading general resolution while the resolution varies locally.
On the other hand, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2001-255450 discloses an automatic focusing method used in an image input apparatus such as a video camera or a digital camera. FIG. 13 shows a block diagram relating to the disclosed method.
In FIG. 13, light incident via a focusing lens 100 is subjected to photoelectric conversion in a CCD element 101, thereby generating image signals which are each converted to a digital signal by an A/D converter. This digital signal is input into a signal processing circuit 103 in which the signal is subjected to correction processes such as white balance correction, γ correction, and the like. The processed signals are sequentially stored in a DRAM 104.
In a processing circuit 105, each image signal read out from the DRAM 104 is subjected to a signal processing such as color separation. Each image signal processed by the processing circuit 105 is stored in a storage medium 106.
Each image signal stored in the DRAM 104 is also supplied to a gate circuit 107. Based on a command issued from a CPU 112, the gate circuit 107 assigns each image signal to one of a plurality of independent areas, so as to set focusing areas (in FIG. 13, a control line between the gate circuit 107 and the CPU 112 is not shown).
Each image signal assigned to any one of the independent areas by the gate circuit 107 is converted to a brightness signal by a brightness signal generating circuit 108, which is then supplied to a HPF (high-pass filter) 109 and a LPF (low-pass filter) 110. The HPF 109 extracts a high-frequency signal component from each brightness signal, and sends the extracted signal component to an integrator 111. The integrator 111 integrates the high-frequency signal component, and sends the result of the integral to the CPU 112 as a focus evaluation value. The LPF 119 extracts a low-frequency signal component from each brightness signal, and sends the extracted signal component to the integrator 111. The integrator 111 integrates the low-frequency signal component, and sends the result of the integral to the CPU 112 as brightness data. Based on each focus evaluation value obtained by the integrator 111, the CPU 112 drives a motor 113 for changing the position of the focusing lens 100, so as to perform focusing.
As the method of driving the motor 113 for focusing, a so-called "hill-climbing control method" is used in the above example. Each focusing area has a position at which the focus evaluation value is maximum. The CPU 112 determines that the nearest position (to the camera) of such positions of the focusing areas is a focal position to be set, and drives the motor 113 so as to move the focusing lens to the focal position. Such control is performed because generally in camera photography (in particular, when taking portraits), a desired subject to be photographed is present near to the camera, while distant objects belong in the background. As discussed above, the focal position is determined by monitoring the variations in the focus evaluation values computed with respect to the plurality of focusing areas; thus, focusing can be appropriately performed for various types of subjects.
In each image obtained by the image input apparatus disclosed in the above publication H10-233950, a central part and a peripheral part have different characteristics. That is, the central part, in which the image is expanded, includes a large number of low-frequency signal components, while the peripheral part, in which the image is compressed, includes a large number of high-frequency signal components. In camera photography (in particular, in order to take portraits), a desired subject is generally positioned near to the camera and in the central part of the image, as discussed above.

Image capturing apparatus performing filtering process with variable cut-off frequency


A power transfer pad, having: a non-conductive board having a top and a bottom; a plurality of conductive substrate sections disposed across the top of the non-conductive board; at least one conducting element disposed on each of the conductive substrate sections; a plurality of electrical contacts on the bottom of the non-conductive board, wherein each of the electrical contacts on the bottom of the non-conductive board are in electrical communication with one of the conductive substrate sections on the top of the non-conductive board.

Various electrical devices (including, but not limited to cell phones, PDA's, laptops, tools, medical equipment, et.) can be powered by being placed on top of a charging plate. The charging plate then determines the type and amount of power required and then supplies power to the electrical device, which can, among other things, recharge the batteries of the device.
A first advantage of using a charging plate is that the device can be re-charged or powered without using cords. The user thereby avoids the problem of having to connect the device to a standard plug-in-the-wall power cord.
A second advantage of charging plates is that the electrical device to be powered can be placed on top of the charging plate in any position or orientation. This makes the charging plate very convenient for a user for several reasons. For example, users can simply place a cell phone to be re-charged anywhere on the charging plate and it starts charging. As such, the user does not need to orient the device in any specific direction or location.
A third advantage of charging plates is that they can be used for powering a plurality of devices at the same time. This is particularly advantageous in that it avoids the "Christmas Tree" tangle of power cords typically found when re-charging or powering a number of devices on a desk or countertop. Instead, using a charging pad, each of these devices can be placed next to one another on the same charging pad and they will each receive the proper amount of power.
There are two main types of charging pads: inductive (i.e.: magnetic) coupling charging pads and direct contact charging pads.
A main disadvantage of charging pads has been their cost. Current Charging pads have also been thick due to the need to contain all the electronics necessary to run the pad inside the device. As a consequence, it has been difficult to integrate existing charging pads into common items such as car dashboards, desks, countertops, floor tiles, etc. An inductive charger is also inherently less desirable because of the large amounts of EMI generated as a consequence of running large coils of wire at high power. Because these AC waves are used to power the devices in question, they inherently become EMI which becomes extremely difficult to effectively shield from other nearby devices (computers, radios, televisions, etc.)

Direct contact power transfer pad and method of making same