In a variable matching circuit including an impedance device and a variable-capacitance capacitor, the variable-capacitance capacitor is formed in a manner that a plurality of variable-capacitance devices using thin film dielectric layers whose dielectric constants change depending on applied voltages are connected to each other in parallel regarding a direct current and connected to each other in series regarding a high frequency, between an input terminal and an output terminal. The variable matching circuit can be realized that can make the maximum use of the rate of a capacitance change of the variable-capacitance capacitor by a bias signal and make an impedance matching, that exhibits small waveform distortion and intermodulation distortion, and that is excellent in electric high power handling capability and low-loss even at a high frequency.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a variable matching circuit that uses a variable capacitance capacitor having a dielectric layer whose dielectric constant changes depending on an applied voltage, and that is capable of making an impedance variable according to a capacitance change, as a matching circuit used in communication equipments such as mobile phones and high-frequency components installed in the communication equipments, and in particular, relates to a variable matching circuit that has excellent characteristics, for example, that is excellent in electric high power handling capability, low-distortion, and low-loss.
The present invention relates to a variable resonance circuit that uses a variable-capacitance capacitor having a dielectric layer whose dielectric constant changes depending on an applied voltage, and that is capable or making a resonance frequency variable according to a capacitance change, as a resonance circuit used in communication equipments such as mobile phones and high-frequency components installed in the communication equipments, and in particular, relates to a variable resonance circuit that has excellent characteristics, for example, that is excellent in electric high power handling capability, low-distortion, and low-loss.
The invention relates to a variable phase-shifting circuit that uses a variable-capacitance capacitor having a dielectric layer whose dielectric constant changes depending on an applied voltage and being capable of changing capacitance, and that is capable of changing a phase-shifting amount according to a capacitance change, as a phase-shitting circuit used in communication equipments of microwave bands and millimeter-wave bands and high-frequency components of phased array antennas, amplifiers and the like, and in particular, relates to a variable phase-shifting circuit that has excellent characteristics, for example, that is excellent in electric high power handling capability, low-distortion, and low-loss.
The invention relates to a variable attenuation circuit that uses a variable-capacitance capacitor having a dielectric layer whose dielectric constant changes depending on an applied voltage and being capable of changing capacitance, and that is capable of changing an attenuation amount according to a capacitance change, as an attenuation circuit used in communication equipments of microwave bands and millimeter-wave bands and high-frequency components of variable beam antennas, amplifiers and the like and attenuating signals, and in particular, relates to a variable attenuation circuit that has excellent characteristics, for example, that is excellent in electric high power handling capability, low-distortion, and easy to operate.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, high-frequency components are designed to have input/output impedances of 50 Ω, and characteristics thereof are evaluated and guaranteed by a measurement system having a load impedance of 50 Ω. However, actually, the input/output impedances of the high-frequency components deviate from 50 Ω because of variations of used circuit components and wiring patterns. Therefore, for example, in the case of designing communication equipment using a plurality of high-frequency components, the high-frequency components are designed to have input/output impedances of 50 Ω, but there is a problem such that mismatching of the impedances occurs because of deviation of the input/output impedances of the high-frequency components from 50 Ω, or because of variations of the dimensions of the wiring patterns, interference and so on, and consequently, a characteristic desired for the communication equipment may not be obtained.
Accordingly, in order to control mismatching of the impedances among the high-frequency components, a countermeasure of, for example, using a matching circuit composed of impedance devices including a capacitor, a resistor, an inductor and a transmission line and replacing the impedance devices one by one is taken, whereby the impedances are regulated, and the desired characteristic is obtained.
Further, in the same way, when designing the high-frequency components, in order to obtain the desired characteristic, it is common to design on the assumption that the countermeasure of using a matching circuit composed of impedance devices including a capacitor, a resistor, an inductor and a transmission line and replacing the impedance devices one by one is taken to regulate the impedances and obtain the desired characteristic.
On the other hand, in the case of actually using mobile communication equipment such as a mobile terminal regulated so as to have a desired characteristic, there arises a problem such that an electromagnetic field in the communication equipment is disturbed under the influence of a human body holding the communication equipment when using, impedance mismatching occurs, and communication is hindered by deterioration in receiving sensitivity.
In order to solve these problems, a variable matching circuit made by combining impedance devices including a capacitor, a resistor, an inductor and a transmission line, and a variable-capacitance diode has been known since before.
Further, a variable matching circuit made by using a variable-capacitance capacitor instead of the variable-capacitance diode has been proposed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications JP-A 10-335980 (1998) and JP-A 11-111566 (1999), for example).
However, the variable matching circuit using the variable-capacitance diode has a problem such that the variable matching circuit can be used only in a receiving apparatus and a receiving circuit that need small operation power, because the electric high power handling capability of the variable-capacitance diode is low and a distortion characteristic due to the nonlinearity of capacitance is large. In other words, there is a problem such that the variable matching circuit cannot be used in a transmission apparatus or a transmission circuit that need large operation power. Additionally, the variable matching circuit has a problem such that loss at a high frequency is large.
Further, in the variable matching circuit using the variable-capacitance capacitor as proposed in JP-A 10-335980 and JP-A 11 111566, a capacitance change of the variable-capacitance capacitor is caused also by a high-frequency voltage, so that the variable matching circuit has a problem such that distortion characteristics such as waveform distortion and intermodulation distortion become large when the high-frequency voltage is high. Moreover, in order to make the distortion characteristics small, it is necessary to decrease the high-frequency electric field strength of the variable-capacitance capacitor and reduce the capacitance change by the high-frequency voltage. It is effective therefor to increase the thickness of a dielectric layer. However, there is a problem such that direct current electric field strength is also decreased when the thickness of the dielectric layer is increased, and therefore, a capacitance change rate is also decreased, and an impedance control width in the variable matching circuit becomes small.
Further, since an electric current easily flows to the variable-capacitance capacitor in a case of high-frequency signals, there is a problem such that the variable-capacitance capacitor generates heat and breaks down because of loss resistance while the variable-capacitance capacitor is used in a high-frequency circuit, and therefore, the electric high power handling capability of the variable matching circuit against the high-frequency signals is low. It is effective also for the problem of the electric high power handling capability to increase the thickness of the dielectric layer and decrease a heat generation amount per unit volume. However, there is a problem such that the direct current electric field strength is also decreased when the thickness of the dielectric layer is increased, and therefore, a capacitance change rate is also decreased, and an impedance control width in the variable matching circuit becomes small.
Furthermore, as shown in an equivalent circuit view of FIG. 19, bias signals are supplied from a bias terminal V via a bias supply circuit G to a variable-capacitance diode 201, so that the independent bias supply circuit G formed by a choke coil L2 is necessary in the variable matching circuit. Therefore, there is a problem such that it is necessary to design the bias supply circuit G separately from the variable matching circuit, it takes time for regulation thereof. Moreover, there is a problem such that the circuit becomes large-sized as a whole because the variable matching circuit and the bias supply circuit G are separately formed. The same problem occurs even if the variable-capacitance diode is replaced with a variable-capacitance capacitor.
Still further, there is a problem such that the variable-capacitance diode 201 has a polarity for an applied voltage, and therefore, it is required to pay attention to the polarity not only when designing but also when mounting, and it takes time for mounting.
Furthermore, a variable resonance circuit made by combining impedance devices including inductor components such as an inductor and a transmission line, and a variable-capacitance diode has been known since before, and has been used as a resonance circuit of a voltage controlled oscillator, a voltage controlled variable filter, and a notch circuit for eliminating unnecessary harmonics components and noise components.
However, the conventional variable resonance circuit using the variable-capacitance diode has a problem such that loss at a high frequency is large in the variable-capacitance diode, and therefore, loss in the entire resonance circuit becomes large, and a resonance characteristic is deteriorated. For example, in the case of using the resonance circuit in the filter, there is a problem such that selectivity, a passing characteristic, an attenuation characteristic and so on are deteriorated by deterioration in a resonance waveform at a resonance frequency. Moreover, in the case of using the resonance circuit in the oscillator, there is a problem such that the C/N and S/N of the oscillator are deteriorated.
Still further, the conventional variable resonance circuit using the variable-capacitance diode has a problem such that the variable resonance circuit can be used only in a receiving apparatus and a receiving circuit that need small operation power, because the electric high power handling capability of the variable-capacitance diode is low and a distortion characteristic due to the nonlinearity of capacitance is large. In other words, there is a problem such that the variable matching circuit cannot be used in a transmission apparatus or a transmission circuit that need large operation power.
Further, in the conventional variable resonance circuit using the variable-capacitance capacitor as proposed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 10-335903 (1998), a capacitance change of the variable-capacitance capacitor is caused also by a high-frequency voltage, so that the variable resonance circuit has a problem such that distortion characteristics such as waveform distortion and intermodulation distortion become large when the high-frequency voltage is high. Moreover, in order to make the distortion characteristics small, it is necessary to decrease the high-frequency electric field strength of the variable-capacitance capacitor and reduce the capacitance change by the high-frequency voltage. It is effective therefor to increase the thickness of a dielectric layer. However, there is a problem such that direct current electric field strength is also decreased when the thickness of the dielectric layer is increased, and therefore, a capacitance change rate is also decreased, and a resonance frequency variable width in the variable resonance circuit becomes small.
Further, since an electric current easily flows to the variable-capacitance capacitor in a case of high-frequency signals, there is a problem such that the variable-capacitance capacitor generates heat and breaks down because of loss resistance while the variable-capacitance capacitor is used in a high-frequency circuit, and therefore, the electric high power handling capability of the variable resonance circuit is low. It is effective also for the problem of the electric high power handling capability to increase the thickness of the dielectric layer and decrease a heat generation amount per unit volume. However, there is a problem such that the direct current electric field strength is also decreased when the thickness of the dielectric layer is increased, and therefore, a capacitance change rate is also decreased, and a resonance frequency variable width in the variable resonance circuit becomes small.
Furthermore, in the variable resonance circuit using the variable-capacitance diode, as shown in an equivalent circuit view of FIG. 20, bias signals are supplied from bias terminals V1 and V2 via a bias supply circuit G to a variable-capacitance diode 201, so that the independent bias supply circuit G formed by choke coils L2 and L3 is necessary in the variable resonance circuit. Therefore, there is a problem such that it is necessary to design the bias supply circuit G, it takes time for regulation thereof. Moreover, there is a problem such that the circuit becomes large-sized as a whole because the variable resonance circuit and the bias supply circuit G are separately formed. With respect to the need for the bias supply circuit C, the conventional variable resonance circuit has the same problem even if the variable-capacitance diode is replaced with a variable-capacitance capacitor.
Still further, the variable resonance circuit using the variable-capacitance diode also has a problem such that the variable-capacitance diode 201 has a polarity for an applied voltage, and therefore, it is required to pay attention to the polarity not only when designing but also when mounting, and it takes time for mounting.
Furthermore, a variable phase-shifting circuit made by combining a transmission line, a circulator and a variable capacitance diode has been known since before, and has been used as a phase-shifting circuit for beam control of a phased-array antenna, for an amplifier and the like.
Further, a variable phase-shifting circuit made by using a voltage control type of dielectric varactor instead of a variable-capacitance diode, and combining the varactor as a reflective terminal portion with a rat-race coupler or placing the voltage control type of dielectric varactor within a stub in a radius direction extending from a microstrip line has bean proposed (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication based on International Application JP-A 2002-528899, for example). The voltage control type of dielectric varactor is composed of a substrate having a first dielectric constant and having an almost flat surface, a controllable ferroelectric layer having a second dielectric constant larger than the first dielectric constant and disposed on the almost flat surface of the substrate, and first and second electrodes disposed on a surface of the controllable ferroelectric layer opposite to the almost flat surface of the substrate, the first and second electrodes are separated so as to form a gap therebetween. The voltage control type of dielectric varactor corresponds to a variable-capacitance capacitor.
However, the conventional variable phase-shifting circuit using the variable capacitance diode has a problem such that loss at a high frequency is large in the variable-capacitance diode, and therefore, loss in the entire phase-shifting circuit becomes large is deteriorated.
However, the variable phase-shifting circuit using the variable-capacitance diode has a problem such that the variable phase-shifting circuit can be used only in a receiving apparatus and a receiving circuit that need small operation power, because the electric high power handling capability of the variable-capacitance diode is low and a distortion characteristic due to the nonlinearity of capacitance is large. In other words, there is a problem such that the variable matching circuit cannot be used in a transmission apparatus or a transmission circuit that need large operation power.
Furthermore, in the variable phase-shifting circuit using the variable-capacitance diode, as shown in an equivalent circuit view of FIG. 21, bias signals are supplied from a bias terminal V via a bias supply circuit G to variable-capacitance diodes 201 and 202, so that the independent bias supply circuit G formed by choke coils L1 and L2 is necessary in the variable phase-shifting circuit. Therefore, there is a problem such that it is necessary to design the bias supply circuit G separately from the variable phase-shifting circuit, it takes time for regulation thereof. Moreover, there is a problem such that the circuit becomes large-sized as a whole because the variable phase-shifting circuit and the bias supply circuit G are separately formed. The same problem occurs even if the variable-capacitance diode is replaced with a variable-capacitance capacitor.
Still further, in the variable phase-shifting circuit using the variable-capacitance diode, there is a problem such that the variable-capacitance diode 201 and 202 has a polarity for an applied voltage, and therefore, it is required to pay attention to the polarity not only when designing but also when mounting, and it takes time for mounting.
Further, in the conventional variable phase-shifting circuit using the voltage control type of dielectric varactor as proposed in JP-A 2002-528899, a capacitance change of the voltage control type of dielectric varactor (i.e., the variable-capacitance capacitor) is caused also by a high-frequency voltage, so that the variable phase-shifting circuit has a problem such that distortion characteristics such as waveform distortion and intermodulation distortion become large when the high-frequency voltage is high. Moreover, in order to make the distortion characteristics small, it is necessary to decrease the high-frequency electric field strength of the variable-capacitance capacitor and reduce the capacitance change by the high-frequency voltage. It is effective therefor to increase the gap of a capacitance forming portion. However, there is a problem such that direct current electric field strength is also decreased when the gap of a capacitance forming portion is increased, and therefore, a capacitance change rate is also decreased, and a variable width of the phase-shitting amount in the variable phase-shifting circuit becomes small.
Further, since an electric current easily flows to the variable-capacitance capacitor in a case of high-frequency signals, there is a problem such that the variable-capacitance capacitor generates heat and breaks down because of loss resistance while the variable-capacitance capacitor in used in a high-frequency circuit, and therefore, the electric high power handling capability of the variable phase-shifting circuit is low. It is effective also for the problem of the electric high power handling capability to increase the gap of the capacitance forming portion (i.e., to increase the thickness of the dielectric layer) and decrease a heat generation amount per unit volume. However, there is a problem such that the direct current electric field strength is also decreased when the gap of a capacitance forming portion is increased (i.e., the thickness of the dielectric layer is increased), and therefore, a capacitance change rate is also decreased, and variable width of the phase shifting amount in the variable phase-shifting circuit becomes small.
Furthermore, since before, a variable attenuation circuit that is made by combining a distributor for distributing signals to a plurality of paths, a synthesizer for synthesizing the signals passed through the plurality of paths, and a variable-capacitance diode, that counteracts the signals according to the phase difference of the distributed signals of the respective paths, and that attenuates the signals has been known (refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication JP-A 6-177694 (1994), for example).
However, the conventional variable attenuation circuit using the variable-capacitance diode has a problem such that the electric high power handling capability of the variable-capacitance diode is low and a distortion characteristic due to the nonlinearity of capacitance is large.
Further, in the conventional variable attenuation circuit using the variable-capacitance diode, loss at a high frequency in the variable-capacitance diode is large, and therefore, for example, in a case where the variable attenuation circuit is used in a receiving circuit, the level of a reception signal is small, and there arises a problem such that a signal is attenuated when attenuation of the signal is not desired.
Furthermore, in the variable attenuation circuit using the variable-capacitance diode, as shown in an equivalent circuit view of FIG. 22, bias signals are supplied from a bias terminal V via a bias supply circuit G to a variable-capacitance diode 201, so that the independent bias supply circuit G formed by choke coils L1 and L2 is necessary in the variable attenuation circuit. Therefore, there is a problem such that it is necessary to design the bias supply circuit G, it takes time for regulation thereof. Moreover, there is a problem such that the circuit becomes large-sized as a whole because the variable attenuation circuit and the bias supply circuit G are separately formed.
Still further, in the variable attenuation circuit using the variable-capacitance diode, there is a problem such that the variable capacitance diode 201 has a polarity for an applied voltage, and therefore, it is required to pay attention to the polarity not only when designing but also when mounting, and it takes time for mounting.
In FIG. 22, reference numerals T11, T12, T13, T21, T22 and T23 denote λ/4 transmission lines, reference numerals R101 and R102 denote resistors, reference numerals C101 and C102 denote direct current restriction capacitance devices, reference symbol I denotes an input signal terminal, and reference symbol O denotes an output signal terminal.

Variable matching circuit, variable resonance circuit, variable phase-shifting circuit and variable attenuation circuit each having variable-capacitance capacitor


Embodiment of the present disclosure relates to a shared aperture antenna for continuous transmission of signal to ground station at two different spot frequencies. The antenna provides a broad side radiation pattern for frequency range of S band and squinted radiation pattern for frequency range of Ka band. The dual band microstrip antenna is configured on a single layer substrate, having a rectangular slot at small offset from the center on low frequency radiating patch. The positioning of radiating patch and length of high impedance microstrip feed are adjusted to fit into the slot and to get desired squint at high frequency. Two separate coaxial feeds are provided to excite the antenna independently. Third feed fulfil the termination needed by travelling wave array which increases the impedance bandwidth of antenna. A radome is provided to protect the radiating element from environment.

Communication systems need antennas which can perform multi functionality operation, and are also light weight, less mounting complexity and easier to make conformal to embed it with any surface to avoid aerodynamic disturbance due to protrusion. Airborne vehicles are equipped with various one way and two-way communication systems to communicate with the ground station for telemetry and transponder applications. They operate in different frequency bands and require different radiation patterns and polarizations therefore uses separate antennas to receive and transmit signal. As a consequence, it increases integration complexity and weight of the system. Evolution of multifunction antenna is slowly replacing the multiple individual antennas with single multifunction antenna which reduces the weight, mounting space occupied by antennas and RF signature of the system.
The multifunctional antenna uses time sharing of aperture and sharing of antenna aperture. The time sharing of aperture leads to transmission of data sequentially utilizing the same antenna having multiband or reconfigurability features. The sharing of antenna aperture involves transmission of data continuously employing separate radiating elements on single antenna aperture. The shared aperture antenna can be used to transmit at one frequency and receive at another frequency simultaneously or it can transmit two different frequency signals at the same time.
There exist conformal multifunction shared aperture models in combination of spiral mode microstrip antenna with loop antenna to receive signal above 300 MHz and in the FM band respectively. This antenna provides the use of frequency independent spiral as radiating element that radiates circularly polarized electromagnetic (EM) wave.
Known in the art is a concept of shared aperture in cavity backed slot antenna in array configuration, which operates in nearby UHF, S and L band using dual band or tri band feed network. These antennas are usually high directivity type and not suitable for Omni directional or broad beamed operation. Further, there exists a dual band shared aperture antenna designed in multilayer substrate integrated waveguide technology and working at X and Ka band frequencies. The concept of partially shared aperture antenna is also reported which has air-loaded microstrip stacked patch as radiating elements in array configuration, each including a driver patch and a parasitic patch spaced from ground plane through spacers. The multilayer antennas are generally needed considerable depth at mounting location to make it conformal to the vehicle surface.

Single layer shared aperture dual band antenna

DIRECTOR GENERAL, DEFENCE RESEARCH & DEVELOPMENT ORGANISATION (DRDO)


A potential parking area level indicator is provided that includes a centralized hub with a plurality of arms depending therefrom. Preferably, four arms are provided that are spaced 90 degrees from each other thereby defining two sets of opposing arms. In operation, a driver of an RV would locate the level indicator on a potential parking area thereby placing the arms onto the potential parking surface. If the line defined by a pair of opposed arms is placed on a generally level area, indicator lights will illuminate indicating that fact. If, however, the line defined by opposing arms is placed on a grade that is not acceptable for parking, the indicator lights will not illuminate showing that the potential parking area is unsafe for parking. Proper illumination of the lights is driven by accelerometers incorporated into the arms of the level indicator.

Travel by recreational vehicles (hereinafter "RV") has been a popular pastime such that on any given day thousands of RVs are on the nation's roads. An RV is generally a self contained mobile home that includes areas for cooking, living and sleeping, among other things. Generally, owners of RVs enjoy touring and parking at or near locations of interest, such as national parks, wherein RVs are often parked in preset parking or camping areas, for example. Unfortunately some camping locations do not provide a stable and level parking area for the RV. Thus it is the RV operator's responsibility to ascertain whether or not the potential parking area is a level and safe place to park the RV.
Ascertaining whether a potential parking area has an acceptable grade to park an RV is very important since RVs generally have a relatively high center of gravity. More specifically, as is well known in the art, the higher the center of gravity of an object, generally the less statically stable that object. A higher center of gravity equates to a higher risk of the RV tipping if it is parked in a less than ideal parking area. Further, RVs generally have a large aerodynamic profile wherein cross wind loads can adversely affect the stability and further exacerbate the risk of tipping a stationary RV. Even if the risk of tipping is slight, inclinations of the RV may make the interior cabin inhospitable to the individuals using it, wherein dishes, cups, or other items are apt to slide off the tables, for example. In addition, sleeping on an inclined bed or sitting in an inclined chair may be uncomfortable and/or dangerous.
The monitoring and display of the roll and pitch angle of a vehicle has been disclosed in the prior art. More specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 5,136,784 to Marantz (hereinafter "Marantz") teaches a vehicle level indicator that is permanently interconnected to the vehicle. The Marantz device and devices similar thereto display the roll and pitch angle of the vehicle at any given time, especially when in motion. Further, these devices are generally used to alert the driver of an unsafe driving condition, such as tipping, thereby allowing the driver to make corrective speed and/or steering adjustments. One drawback to devices of the prior art is that they are not autonomous and are permanently interconnected to the vehicle. Thus in order to ascertain whether a potential parking area is acceptable, the operator must position the RV onto the potential parking area and assess the roll and pitch angle of the vehicle. As it will be understood, this process is potentially dangerous if, for example, the potential parking area being assessed is inherently unsafe.
Further, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2004/0256815 to Eichhorn (hereinafter "Eichhorn") teaches a system for automatically leveling an RV. More specifically, EIchhorn discloses the use of pneumatically driven jacks that are interconnected to a roll and pitch sensing device. Once the device senses roll and tilt angle of a parked vehicle, the pneumatically driven jacks lift the vehicle such that the roll and tilt angle of the vehicle are placed within an acceptable range. Again, the device of Eichhorn is not autonomous such that it is always interconnected to the vehicle. Further, as in Marantz, in order to initiate leveling, the RV must be parked, at least for a small amount of time, in a less than ideal parking area.
Thus it is a long felt need in the field of recreational vehicle safety to provide an autonomous level indicating device that is easy to use and quickly indicates whether a potential parking area is level prior to positioning the RV onto that area. The following disclosure describes an improved level indication device that is autonomous, easily placed on a potential parking area, and that quickly indicates whether the desired parking area is acceptable and safe.


A component can be edited from within the context of a hosting file. A system and method for providing an in-place editing surface for a component such as a file, document or control, within the context of the hosting file is described. A non-persistable container is generated for the hosting file and another non-persistable container (e.g., an editing frame) is generated for the component. The current contents of the component are loaded into an editing frame. Modifications made to the component within the editing frame are saved and the hosting file is displayed. Any changes made to the component are visible in the hosting file.

Some editors support editing files that contain files within them. As an example, suppose a Microsoft WORD file (a container object) contains an EXCEL file (a server object) within it. If a user wishes to edit the EXCEL file from within the WORD file, he or she may be able to do so by double-clicking on the EXCEL object within the WORD file. Because EXCEL and WORD require running different executables, a new instance of an EXCEL application may be launched in order to edit the EXCEL object within the WORD file. Such an operation is called "in-place activation". In-place activation typically requires the implementation of a number of interfaces (e.g., in the case of the WORD/EXCEL example described above, these interfaces are implemented using OLE technology).
Additionally, in-place activation typically requires the server object and the container object to be executables in order to enable the direct WYSIWYG ("What You See Is What You Get") editing of the server object from within the container object. Because two different executables are involved, it follows that changes that are made to the EXCEL document, such as changing the font, will not be applied to the WORD document, and similarly, changes made to the WORD document will not be applied to the EXCEL document. Hence, it is not possible to edit the EXCEL object "within the context" of the WORD document.
There are times when it would be helpful to be able to edit a component from within the context of the containing or hosting file, so that changes made to the hosting file would be automatically reflected within the component. It would similarly be helpful to be able to directly edit a component that is not necessarily an executable. It would be helpful if such a task could be implemented without the establishment of a number of highly specific interfaces so that a generic architecture could be accommodated. Furthermore, it would be helpful to find a way to accomplish this task in such a way that the user is intuitively aware of the context in which the element is being edited. This concept is referred to herein as "in-context editing".

System and method for in-context editing of components


The present invention provides new chemical compositions with desirable biological activity and toxicity profiles for the enhanced treatment of malaria.

Malaria is the best known protozoal disease, caused by one of four species of the sporazoa type—Plasmodium falciparum, P. vivax, P. ovale, and P. malariae. It is one of the most common infectious diseases in at least 100 tropical and subtropical countries in Africa, Southeast Asia, and South America. According to WHO, one out of every seventeen people alive today will die from a disease transmitted by the bite of a mosquito. Worldwide, malaria infects 300-600 million people and kills about three million in a year. The increasing prevalence of multiple drug resistant strains of Plasmodium falciparum in most malaria endemic areas has significantly reduced the efficacy of current anti-malarial drugs for prophylaxis and treatment of this disease. Although drug resistance is a common problem in the treatment of most microbial infections, malaria and many neoplasms, the impact is more acute for malaria chemotherapy because of the limited number of clinically useful anti-malarial drugs.
Only six prescription drugs are available in the US for treating and/or preventing malaria: Atovaquone/proguanil, Doxycycline, Mefloquine, Primaquine, Chloroquine phosphate, and Hydroxychloroquine sulfate. All of them are discovered more than 40 years ago. Serious side effects are common. Primaquine is the only available causal prophylactics. It has a low therapeutic index. The use of chloroquine is limited because of the worldwide emergence of drug-resistant strains of P. falciparum and P. vivax. Proguanil has a short half-life and strains of P. falciparum resistant to proguanil are common. The newest antimalarial drug Mefloquine was developed in the late 1960s. It is initially reserved by WHO for use in regions where drug resistance to chloroquine is a serious problem. However, problems have arisen with mefloquine use. The cure rate for mefloquine-sulfadoxine-pyrimethamine treatment of P. falciparum in Southeast Asia fell from 96% in 1985 to as low as 50% in 1990. Mefloquine can also produce adverse neurological and psychiatric reactions. Artemisinin and its derivatives are currently under development. However, these compounds cannot be used during pregnancy since they have shown fetotoxicity in rodent models. The current generations of artemisinins possess poor efficacy of monotherapy. Artemisinins do not interfere with hepatic stages of parasite development and therefore have no causal prophylactic value.
Therefore, novel medicinal agents are urgently needed to overcome the emergence of resistance and to control an ever-increasing number of epidemics caused by the malaria parasite.
For decades, natural products have been a wellspring of drugs and drug leads. According to a recent survey, 61% of the 877 small-molecule new chemical entities introduced as drugs worldwide during 1981-2002 can be traced to or were inspired by natural products. These include natural products (6%), natural product derivatives (27%), synthetic compounds with natural-product-derived pharmacophores (5%), and synthetic compounds designed on the basis of knowledge gained from a natural product (that is, a natural product mimic; 23%). In certain therapeutic areas, the productivity is higher: 78% of antibacterials and 74% of anticancer compounds are natural products or have been derived from, or inspired by, a natural product.
Carica papaya L., a perennial tropical tree, belongs to the family of Caricaceae, and is commonly known as papaya, paw paw, kates, or papaw. It has an erect, branchless trunk with scars from old leaf stems. It is really only a very coarse and robust herb with leaves reaching sometimes nearly 3 feet across. Carica papaya L. is widely grown in tropical regions, including Central America, the Amazon region, and the Florida, Hawaii, Puerto Rico of the United States, for its edible fruit known as papaya. The fruit is high in vitamin A and is consumed fresh when ripe while the green fruits are grated in salads or boiled like squash. The green fruit of papaya is the source of the enzyme papain, which is used in meat tenderizers and many other biologically active phytochemicals. The leaves of papaya are divided into several lobes, which radiate like the fingers of the hand. In Suriname's traditional medicine, the boiled green leaves of papaya are used against malaria and as an anthelmintic, the seeds as a vermifuge and tea of the fallen leaves against hypertension. The decoction of the leaves has also been used as a treatment for intestinal parasites.
An ethanol extract of the dried leaves of Carica papaya L. exhibited considerable in vitro antimalarial activity to warrant fractionation. On the basis of the initial activity of crude extracts, attention was focused on the bioactivity-guided fractionation of the EtOH extract of the dried leaves, which resulted in the isolation of two new antimalarial natural products, Formula A and Formula B. Their chemical structures are shown in FIG. 1. Formula A, bearing two secondary amine moieties, was converted into the corresponding di-acetamide compound Formula I. Formula B, also bearing two secondary amine moieties, was converted into the corresponding di-acetamide compound Formula II. The chemical structures of the natural product derivatives, Formula I and Formula II, are shown in FIG. 2. The synthesis route is shown in FIG. 3.
Two Plasmodium falciparum malaria parasite clones, W2 (chloroquine resistant) and D6 (chloroquine sensitive), were utilized for in vitro efficacy testing. All new compounds were also tested for toxicity against human adult liver epithelial cells (THLE-3). Natural products Formula A and Formula B showed modest inhibitory activity against both chloroquine sensitive malaria strain (D-6) and chloroquine resistant malaria strain (W-2). The two derivative compounds Formula I and Formula II showed equally potent inhibitory activity against both chloroquine sensitive malaria strain (D-6) and chloroquine resistant malaria strain (W-2). The IC50's (concentration of compound that affords 50% of inhibition) were superior to the positive controls, chloroquine and mefloquine. Noticeably, these compounds also showed much reduced toxicity.
In mice models, both Formula I and Formula II have shown excellent blood schizonticidal activity and oral prophylactic activity.
The present invention relates to new, more active and less toxic natural product derivatives for the treatment of malaria.

Small molecules with antiprotozoal activity


The present invention provides universal transfer apparatus and method to use this universal transfer apparatus. This invention further provides a method to obtain speciation data for organometals in a complex matrix, such as cigarette smoke. Our data demonstrate that gas chromatography linked to inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer with the universal transfer apparatus provides metal speciation information for samples of tobacco smoke. The organometals include lead, tin, arsenic and cadmium.

Toxic metals in tobacco smoke present a significant health risk. (H. Milnerowicz et al., 13 Int. J. Occup. Med. Environ. Health 185 (2000)). Metals such as lead, cadmium, arsenic, and tin have a relatively high transfer rate from tobacco into smoke. (V. Krivan, et al., 348 Fresenius J. Anal. Chem. 218 (1994)). These metals are known to be carcinogens, nephrotoxins, hepatotoxins and neurotoxins and can persist in the body for long periods of time. The total concentrations of metals in cigarette and tobacco smoke have been well established. (K. Kalcker, et al., 21 Sci. Total Environ. 128 (1993); W. Torjussen, et al., 5 J. Environ. Monit. 198 (2003)). However, it has been recognized that the total metal concentration is not sufficient to evaluate the impact of these metals on the environment and on human health. (S. Rapsomanikis, 119 Analyst (1994)). It is the specific physiochemical form of the metal that governs its toxicity, bioavailability, and its potential for bioconversion and bioaccumulation. In the case of tobacco smoke the relative abundances of metals species, particularly organometals species, are unknown. By establishing the chemical species of metals in tobacco smoke, the risks associated with inhalation of these compounds can be evaluated. This requires the development of an analytical technique for speciation of metals in the tobacco smoke.
Speciation methods are usually based on hyphenated techniques combining a chromatographic separation method with an element specific detection system, such as atomic absorption spectrometry (AAS), atomic emission spectroscopy (AES) or inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer). Among the various speciation methods, gas chromatography with inductively coupled plasma-mass spectrometer (inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer) has been increasingly applied as a means of speciation analysis for organometals in different environmental samples. (T. De Smaele, et al., 50 Spetrochimica Acta Part B 1409 (1995)). Chromatographic separation is ideally suited to complicated sample matrices and low analyte abundances; it separates compounds in complex mixtures based on their molecular size, boiling point and polarity. State-of-the-art dynamic reaction cell (DRC) inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer provides superior sensitivities for metals and the capacity for simultaneous multi-element determination.
Coupling of a gas chromatograph to an inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer originated with Van Loon et al., 41 Appl. Spectros. 66 (1987); J. Van Loon, et al., 19 Spectrosc. Letters 1125 (1986)), but little was reported on the application of this instrument configuration during the subsequent five years. (B. Bouyssiere, infra, at 805). Since 1992, based on the need for a reliable method of speciating metals in environmental samples, more and more applications of gas chromatography-inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer have been reported. The gas chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer technique has been applied to speciation studies in atmospheric samples (A. V. Hirner et al., 8 Appl. Organometallic Chem. 65 (1994)) in natural waters (C. M. Tseng, et al., 2 J. Environ. Monit. 603 (2003)) and in solids, including atmospheric particulate matter. (I. A. Leal-Granadillo, et al., 21 Anal. Chim. Acta 423 (2000)). Despite the multi-element capabilities of the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer, all analytes have to be separable by the gas chromatography in order to be detected by the inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer. The gas chromatography requires volatile species. However, those organometal compounds with boiling points higher than the maximum gas chromatography column temperature cannot be adequately separated and so cannot be studied using direct sample injection and gas chromatography inductively coupled plasma mass spectrophotometer analysis.

Universal transfer apparatus and method to use same

Arkasas State University - Research and Development Institute (ASU-RDI)


Proteins are incorporated into protein or polysaccharide matrices for use in tissue repair, regeneration and/or remodeling and/or drug delivery. The proteins can be incorporated so that they are released by degradation of the matrix, by enzymatic action and/or diffusion. As demonstrated by the examples, one method is to bind heparin to the matrix by either covalent or non-covalent methods, to form a heparin-matrix. The heparin then non-covalently binds heparin-binding growth factors to the protein matrix. Alternatively, a fusion protein can be constructed which contains a crosslinking region such as a factor XIIIa substrate and the native protein sequence. Incorporation of degradable linkages between the matrix and the bioactive factors can be particularly useful when long-term drug delivery is desired, for example in the case of nerve regeneration, where it is desirable to vary the rate of drug release spatially as a function of regeneration, e.g. rapidly near the living tissue interface and more slowly farther into the injury zone. Additional benefits include the lower total drug dose within the delivery system, and spatial regulation of release which permits a greater percentage of the drug to be released at the time of greatest cellular activity.

Parathyroid hormone (PTH) is an 84 amino acid peptide that is made and secreted by the parathyroid gland. This hormone plays a primary role in controlling serum calcium levels through its action on various tissues, including bone. Studies in human with various forms of PTH have demonstrated an anabolic effect on bone, what makes them interesting for treatment of osteoporosis and related bone disorders (U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,456 to Chorev, et al. and WO 00/10596 to Eli Lilly & Co.). The parathyroid hormone acts on cells by binding to a cell surface receptor. This receptor is known to be found on osteoblasts, the cells that are responsible for forming new bone.
The N-terminal 34 amino acid domain of the human hormone has been reported to be biologically equivalent to the full length hormone. PTH 1-34 and its mode of action has been first reported in U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,196. Since research has been done on PTH 1-34 and other truncated versions of the native human PTH form, as e.g. PTH1-25, PTH1-31 and PTH1-38 (see e.g. Rixon R H, et al., J Bone Miner. Res., 9 (8): 1179-89 (August 1994).
The mechanism by which PTH influences bone remodeling is complicated, which has led to conflicting results and subsequently, a significant number of studies on the exact mechanisms involved. It has been demonstrated that if PTH is administered systemically in a continuous manner, that the bone density will decrease. In contrast, it has been reported that if the same molecule is administered in pulsatile fashion, the bone density will increase (see e.g. WO 99/31137 to Eli Lilly & Co.). This apparent contradiction can be explained by the mechanism in which PTH modulates bone remodelling and subsequently the observable parameter of bone density. Within mature bone, the PTH receptor has only been shown to be present on the surface of cells of the osteoblast lineage, but not on osteoclasts. The role that PTH plays in bone remodelling is directed through the osteoblasts as opposed to the osteoclasts. However, the cells at different stages of the osteoblast lineage respond differently when they bind to PTH. Therefore, the dramatic differences that are observed when the PTH is administered using different methods can be accounted for by understanding the different effects that the same molecule has on the different cells within the osteoblast lineage.
When PTH binds to a mesenchymal stem cell, the cell is induced to differentiate into a preosteoblast. Thus, by adding PTH to the system, there is an increase in the preosteoblast population. However, these preosteoblast cells have the PTH receptor as well, and the subsequent binding of the PTH to the receptor on these cells leads to a different response. When PTH binds to the preosteoblast, it results in two separate consequences that lead to bone resorption. First, it inhibits the further differentiation of the preosteoblasts into osteoblasts. Second, it increases the secretion of Interluekin 6 (IL-6) from the preosteoblasts. IL-6 both inhibits preosteoblast differentation as well as increases preosteoclast differentiation into osteoclasts. This dual response from the cells within the osteoblast lineage is what provides the complex reaction between bone remodelling and PTH exposure. If PTH is dosed periodically for short periods of time, then the mesenchymal stem cells are induced to differentiate into osteoblasts. The short dosing periods then prevent the newly formed preosteoblasts from producing IL-6, preventing activation of the osteoclasts. Therefore, during the intervals of dosing, these newly formed preosteoblasts can further differentiate into osteoblasts, resulting in bone formation. However, if a constant dose of PTH is applied, then the preosteoblasts will have the opportunity to begin producing IL-6, thus activating the osteoclasts and inhibiting themselves, leading to the opposite effect: bone resorption.
For tissue repair or regeneration, cells must migrate into a wound bed, proliferate, express matrix components or form extracellular matrix, and form a final tissue shape. Multiple cell populations must often participate in this morphogenetic response, frequently including vascular and nerve cells. Matrices have been demonstrated to greatly enhance, and in some cases have been found to be essential, for this to occur. Approaches have been made in developing matrices from natural or synthetic origins or a mixture of both. Natural cell in-growth matrices are subject to remodeling by cellular influences, all based on proteolysis, e.g. by plasmin (degrading fibrin) and matrix metalloproteinases (degrading collagen, elastin, etc.). Such degradation is highly localized and occurs only upon direct contact with the migrating cell. In addition, the delivery of specific cell signaling proteins such as growth factors is tightly regulated. In the natural model, macroporous cell in-growth matrices are not used, but rather microporous matrices that the cells can degrade, locally and upon demand, as the cells migrate into the matrix. Due to concerns regarding immunogenicity, expensive production, limited availability, batch variability and purification, matrices based on synthetic precursor molecules, such as modified polyethyleneglycol, have been developed for tissue regeneration in and/or on the body.
While much work has been done studying the systemic effects of PTH, research has not explored local or topical administration of PTH. As PTH has a direct anabolic effect on the osteoblast cell lineage, it should have a strong potential to heal bone defects in addition to influencing bone density if presented appropriately within a defect site. Once the defect has been filled with preosteoblasts, if the PTH signal is turned off, the newly formed preosteoblasts can then differentiate into osteoblasts and begin converting the wound bed, first into woven bone tissue and then into a mature bone structure.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide PTH in a form that can be bound to a matrix for tissue repair, regeneration, and remodeling.
It is a further object to present a PTH in a form suitable for topical or local administration to a patient to heal bone defects.

Growth factor modified protein matrices for tissue engineering

Eidgenossische Technische Hochschule Zurich


An In-Plane Switching mode liquid crystal display device includes a first substrate and a second substrate, a plurality of gate lines and data lines defining a plurality of pixels on the first substrate, a driving device disposed in each of the plurality of pixels, at least one pair of a first electrode and a second electrode arranged in each of the plurality of pixels to generate a horizontal electric field, a black matrix formed on the second substrate and having a slot around the plurality of pixels, and a liquid crystal layer formed between the first substrate and the second substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display (LCD) device and a method of fabricating an LCD device, and particularly, to an In-Plane Switching mode LCD device and a method of fabricating the same.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Recently, with the development of various portable electronic devices, such as mobile phones, PDAs, notebook computers, etc., a light, thin, small flat panel display device has been in great demand. Research and development are actively conducted for the flat panel display devices, such as an LCD, a PDP (Plasma Display Panel), an FED (Field Emission Display), a VFD (Vacuum Fluorescent Display), etc. Among these devices, the LCD attracts much more attention because of its simple mass-production technique, easy driving system, and implementation of a high picture quality.
There are various display modes for the LCD device according to arrangement of liquid crystal molecules. Currently, a TN (twisted nematic) mode LCD device is being generally utilized because of its easy black and white display, short response time, and low driving voltage. When a voltage is applied to the TN mode LCD device, liquid crystal molecules aligned to be horizontal to a substrate are aligned to be nearly perpendicular to a surface of the substrate. Accordingly, there is a problem in that a viewing angle is narrowed by refractive anisotropy of the liquid crystal molecules in applying of the voltage.
In order to solve this problem, LCD devices of various modes having wide viewing angle characteristics have been proposed. Among those, an In-Plane Switch (IPS) mode LCD device is applied to actual mass-production, and thus is being fabricated. This IPS mode LCD device forms a horizontal electric field that is substantially parallel to a surface of a substrate by forming at least one pair of electrodes arranged parallel in a pixel, so that liquid crystal molecules are aligned along the plane.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of a structure of the above-mentioned IPS mode LCD device according to the related art. As shown in FIG. 1, a liquid crystal panel 1 has a pixel defined by a gate line 3 and a data line 4 that are disposed along lengthwise and widthwise directions. Although only the (n, m)th pixel is shown in FIG. 1, N (>n) gate lines 3 and M (>m) data lines are disposed in an actual liquid crystal panel, thereby forming N×M pixels over the entire liquid crystal panel 1. A thin film transistor 10 is formed at an intersection of the gate line 3 and the data line 4 in the pixel. The thin film transistor 10 includes a gate electrode 11 to which a scan signal is applied from the gate line 3, a semiconductor layer 12 formed on the gate electrode 11 and activated to form a channel layer when the scan signal is applied thereto, and a source electrode 13 and a drain electrode 14 formed on the semiconductor layer 12, to which an image signal is applied through the data line 4, thereby applying an image signal input from the outside to a liquid crystal layer.
A plurality of common electrodes 5 and a plurality pixel electrodes 7 are arranged substantially parallel to the data line 4 in the pixel. In addition, a common line 16 connected with the common electrode 5 is disposed in the middle of the pixel, and a pixel electrode line 18 connected with the pixel electrode 7 is disposed on the common line 16 and is thus overlapped with the common line 16.
As discussed above, in the related art IPS mode LCD device, the liquid crystal molecules are aligned substantially parallel to the common electrode 5 and the pixel electrode 7. When the thin film transistor 10 is operated and thus a signal is applied to the pixel electrode 7, an horizontal electric field that is substantially parallel to the liquid crystal panel 1 is generated between the common electrode 5 and the pixel electrode 7. The liquid crystal molecules are rotated along the same plane by the horizontal electric field, thereby preventing a gradation inversion due to refractive anisotropy. Here, a black matrix 32 serves to prevent light from being transmitted to an unwanted area, namely, an image non-displayed area.
The related art IPS mode LCD device having such a structure will now be described in more detail with reference to FIGS. 2A and 2B. Here, FIG. 2A is a cross-sectional view taken along I–I′ of FIG. 1 to show a structure of the thin film transistor 10 according to the related art. FIG. 2B is a cross-sectional view taken along 11–11′ of FIG. 1 to show a structure of a pixel according to the related art. In FIG. 2A, the thin film transistor 10 (in FIG. 1) includes the gate electrode 11 formed on a first substrate 20, a gate insulating layer 22 laminated over the entire surface of a first substrate 20, the semiconductor layer 12 formed on the gate insulating layer 22, the source electrode 13 and the drain electrode 14 formed on the semiconductor layer 12. In addition, a passivation layer 24 is formed over the entire surface of the first substrate 20. In FIG. 2B, the plurality of common electrodes 5 are formed on the first substrate 20 in a pixel, and the pixel electrode 7 and the data line 4 are formed on the gate insulating layer 22, so that a horizontal electric field is generated between the common electrode 5 and the pixel electrode 7.
The black matrix 32 and a color filter layer 34 are formed at a second substrate 30. The black matrix 32 serves to prevent light from leaking to an area where the liquid crystal molecules are not operated (namely, undesired area where an image is not displayed), and is usually formed at the thin film transistor 10 area (in FIG. 1) and between pixels (i.e., gate line and data line areas). The color filter layer 34 includes R (Red), B(Blue) and G(Green) colors to implement an actual color. A liquid crystal layer 40 is formed between the first substrate 20 and the second substrate 30, and then the liquid crystal panel 1 is thus completed. In addition, a black resin is usually utilized for the black matrix 32, and the reason thereof will now be described next.
The black matrix 32 made of metal, such as Cr or CrOx, that is usually utilized for the TN mode LCD or the like may form an electric field between the data line 4 and itself by its characteristic low resistance. Such an electric field is a vertical electric field that is formed between the first substrate 20 and the second substrate 30. Meanwhile, another electric field is formed between the pixel electrode 7 on the first substrate 20 and the common electrode 5 on the second substrate 30. As a result, the vertical electric field may not greatly affect the electric field between the pixel electrode 7 and the common electrode 5.
On the contrary, in the IPS mode LCD device, an electric field applied to the liquid crystal layer 40 is a horizontal electric field that is substantially parallel to a surface of the substrate 20 or 30. Accordingly, when the horizontal electric field is formed by the black matrix 32, the vertical electric field affects the horizontal electric field, thereby distorting the horizontal electric field. Such distortion may cause a vertical cross talk on a screen as a main factor of image quality deterioration. Accordingly, in the IPS mode LCD device, a black resin with high resistance is usually utilized as the black matrix 32 to prevent distortion of the horizontal electric field. However, there exist several problems because of disadvantages of the black resin itself.
First, since the resin has a bad anisotropy etching characteristic compared to metal in a photolithography, it is difficult to form the black matrix 32 with a fine pattern to make good resolution. Accordingly, it is difficult to fabricate an IPS mode LCD of high resolution.
Second, since the black matrix 32 has a low light blocking rate compared to Cr or CrOx (because transmittance of light is high), its thickness has to be thick compared to Cr or CrOx in order to completely block light transmitted to the image non-displayed area. Accordingly, a step is generated at the color filter layer 34 and makes it difficult to be flat.
Finally, since the black resin has a bad dispensability compared to the metal, such as Cr or CrOx, a protrusion is easily formed at a surface of the black matrix 32 compared to Cr or CrOx. Thus, defection occurs at the black matrix 32, thereby degrading a yield of the LCD.

In-plane switching mode liquid crystal display device including a black matrix with slit around the pixels and method of fabricating the same


The present invention provides a method for producing a 4′-C-substituted-2-haloadenosine derivative represented by the following formula [I], [II], or [III]:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to 4′-C-substituted-2-haloadenosine derivatives and use thereof as a medicine, in particular a medicine which is useful for the treatment of acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS).
2. Background Art
The clinical setting for AIDS has been dramatically changed by a multi-drug combination therapy, which is sometimes called highly active antiretroviral therapy, or HAART. In HAART, nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTIs) such as zidovudine (AZT), didanosine (ddI), zalcitabine (ddC), stavudine (d4T), and lamivudine (3TC), and protease inhibitors (PIs) are employed in combination.
Although HAART has drastically decreased the number of deaths caused by AIDS, there has emerged a multi-drug resistant HIV-1 (human immunodeficiency virus-1) mutant exhibiting cross-resistance to various drugs. For example, in the early 1990s patients infected with an HIV exhibiting resistance to both AZT and 3TC were very rare, whereas in 1995-1996 the percentage of AIDS patients infected with such an HIV became as high as 42%.
Ohrui, et al. have synthesized 2′-deoxy-4′-C-ethynyl nucleosides and assayed the anti-HIV activity thereof, and as a result, have found that a 2′-deoxy-4′-C-ethynyl nucleoside having a specific structure exhibits potent anti-HIV activity equal to or higher than that of AZT, and has effective antiviral activity against a multi-drug-resistant viral strain exhibiting resistance to various anti-HIV drugs such as AZT, ddI, ddC, d4T, and 3TC. (See, for example, Nucleic Acids Symp. Ser., January 2000, (44): 105-6; J. Med. Chem., November 2000, 43 (23): 4516-25; Curr. Drug Targets Infect. Disord, May 2001, 1 (1): 1-10; Antimicrob. Agents Chemother., May 2001, 45: 1539-1546; Nucleosides Nucleotides Nucleic Acids, May 2003, 22 (5-8): 887-9; WO 00/69876; WO 00/69877; and WO 03/68796).
The present inventors have evaluated in vitro toxicity of 4′-C-ethynyl purine nucleoside derivatives and 4′-C-cyano purine nucleoside derivatives, which, among a variety of 4′-C-substituted nucleosides, exhibit particularly potent anti-HIV activity. As a result, the present inventors have found that: (1) 2,6-diaminopurine derivatives and guanine derivatives, which exhibit the most potent anti-HIV activity, exhibit toxicity in vitro and in vivo; and (2) adenine derivatives, which exhibit less toxicity, are readily converted into hypoxanthine derivatives in blood by adenosine deaminase, thereby weakening the anti-HIV activity of the derivatives.
In order to attain further enhancement of selectivity index; i.e., (concentration at which cytotoxicity is obtained)/(concentration at which anti-HIV activity is obtained) and to provide resistance to inactivation by adenosine deaminase, the present inventors have synthesized a variety of derivatives through chemical modification of 4′-C-substituted-2′-deoxyadenosine (a lead compound), which, among various 4′-C-substituted purine nucleosides, exhibits potent anti-HIV activity and less toxicity.
As has been known, when a halogen atom, which exhibits electron attraction, is introduced to the 2-position of the base moiety of an adenosine derivative, the resultant derivative exhibits a certain level of resistance to inactivation by adenosine deaminase (Chem. Pharm. Bull., 42 (1994), p 1688; J. Med. Chem., 39 (1996), p 3847). However, whether or not selectivity index can be improved through introduction of a halogen atom has remained unknown.
Only one literature discloses that introduction of an ethynyl group to the 4′-position of d4T (stavudine: 2′,3′-didehydro-3′-deoxythymidine) enhances the selectivity index of d4T (Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett., November 2003, 13 (21): 3775-7). However, effects similar to those of d4T are not expected to be obtained in an adenosine derivative, which is a purine nucleoside, whose basic skeleton differs considerably from that of d4T, and therefore, this literature does not provide useful information for the present inventors' purposes.

Abstract: wherein X represents a halogen atom, R1 represents an ethynyl group or a cyano group, and R2 represents hydrogen or a phosphoryl group. The present invention also provides the derivative, and a pharmaceutical composition containing the derivative and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier therefor. The derivative is useful as a medicine for the treatment of Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS).


Energy conversion systems utilizing nanometer scale assemblies are provided that convert the kinetic energy (equivalently, the thermal energy) of working substance molecules into another form of energy that can be used to perform useful work at a macroscopic level. These systems may be used to, for example, produce useful quantities of electric or mechanical energy, heat or cool an external substance or propel an object in a controllable direction. In particular, the present invention includes nanometer scale impact masses that reduce the velocity of working substance molecules that collide with this impact mass by converting some of the kinetic energy of a colliding molecule into kinetic energy of the impact mass. Various devices including, piezoelectric, electromagnetic and electromotive force generators, are used to convert the kinetic energy of the impact mass into electromagnetic, electric or thermal energy. Systems in which the output energy of millions of these devices is efficiently summed together are also disclosed.

This invention relates to nanometer scale electromechanical systems. In particular, the present invention relates to nanometer scale electromechanical systems that may be used in various applications, such as heat engines, heat pumps, or propulsion systems.
Electromechanical systems that rely on molecular motion are known. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,152,537 (the "'537 patent"), describes an electricity generator that produces electrical energy from the random movement of molecules in a gas, and the uneven distribution of thermal energy in different molecules of the gas, which is at an overall uniform temperature.
Other such systems are described in, for example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,365,653; 3,495,101, 2,979,551; 3,609,593; 3,252,013 and 3,508,089. These systems produce electricity or devices driven by electricity, such as an oscillator, based on molecular motion and thermal energy.
One problem common to all of these systems is the low level of output power when compared to the amount of power required to operate the systems. For example, such systems often require a certain amount of energy to maintain the systems at a constant overall temperature. While the '537 patent attempted to address some of the known deficiencies in such systems, the electricity generator described therein also suffers from similar deficiencies. For example, the '537 patent attempts to heat the thermocouple junction between two dissimilar materials by simply being in contact with a gas-molecule having an above-average speed. In addition, the '537 patent utilizes an array of electrical rectifiers (see, e.g., rectifier bridge 40 in FIGS. 2 and 4) that may have difficulty in operating properly due to the infinitesimally small voltages produced at the molecular scale.
Moreover, as the use of electronic devices continues to flourish, there is an ever increasing need to provide more efficient and/or quieter ways to cool the components that are typically the heart of such devices. For example, most personal computers include one or more fans that are required to maintain the temperature of the microprocessor within a certain operational range. These fans are often noisy; and often result in large quantities of dirty air being pulled through the computer from the air intakes.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide nanometer scale electromechanical systems that efficiently convert molecular-level energy into another form that can be used at a macroscopic scale.
Another object of the present invention is to provide nanometer scale electromechanical systems that efficiently convert molecular-level heat energy into useful mechanical and/or electrical energy.
A still further object of the present invention is to provide nanometer scale electromechanical systems that utilize molecular-level energy to create a pressure differential on a surface of an object to propel the object in a controllable direction.
An even further object of the present invention is to provide nanometer scale electromechanical systems that utilize molecular-level energy to heat or cool an external substance.

Energy conversion systems using nanometer scale assemblies and methods for using same


Methods, computer program products, and systems are presented. The methods include, for instance: obtaining sample essays, sample annotations corresponding to the sample essays, and a subject content for building a subject domain comprehension model and an essay annotation model, by use of one or more neural network. The nodes of the subject domain comprehension model and the essay annotation model are interconnected based on respective relevancies for automatically annotating student works according to a standard of review corresponding to submitting students.

In conventional school environments, essays written by students are reviewed and evaluated by individual teachers who teach respective subjects. Varying aspects during the review process of the essays may include, but are not limited to, respective experiences and/or qualities of the individual teachers, knowledge of the individual teachers on respective subjects and/or topics of the essays, and respective standards of review for the essays, as being applied by the individual teachers.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A display device includes a first substrate; a second substrate; a plurality of pixels; a shutter mechanism section formed in correspondence with each of the pixels, a fluid sealed in an space between the first substrate and the second substrate; and an impact absorption section located to face one substrate among the first substrate and the second substrate, on the side opposite to the side on which the fluid is located. The shutter mechanism section is formed on the second substrate and includes a movable shutter section for controlling a light transmittance of each of the pixels. The impact absorption section includes a third substrate located to face the one substrate, on the side opposite to the fluid, a sealing section for bringing together the one substrate and the third substrate, and a predetermined gap formed among the one substrate, the third substrate and the sealing section.

Conventionally, there are display devices in which the intensity of light transmitted through each of a plurality of pixels formed in a display panel is controlled to display an image. For example, in liquid crystal display devices, the intensity of light transmitted through each pixel is controlled by changing alignment directions of liquid crystal molecules. Display devices of another type in which the intensity of light transmitted through each pixel is controlled by mechanically moving a light-blocking member have been proposed (see, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-197668).
In a display device described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-197668, light-transmissive regions capable of transmitting light are provided in a substrate included in the display device. One light-transmissive region is provided in correspondence with each of a plurality of pixels. The display device also includes a shutter mechanism section which is formed in correspondence with the shape of the light-transmissive region and includes a movable light-blocking member. The intensity of light transmitted through each pixel is controlled by movement of the light-blocking member driven by the shutter mechanism section.
However, the display device described in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2008-197668 has a problem that when the display device is impacted on as a result of, for example, falling, the shutter mechanism section is easily damaged.
The present invention made in light of the above situation has an object of providing a display device capable of improving the impact resistance thereof.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In the process of correcting a color deviation caused by output characteristic variations among different colorants in a printing apparatus, a method of printing a test pattern allows an appropriate and highly accurate visual detection of the color deviation. More specifically, the test pattern has a plurality of patches printed therein, each of which has placed adjacent to each other a test area to be checked for the color deviation and a reference area serving as a criterion for color deviation and which has the test area and the reference area repeated alternately. If the colors of the two areas look different during the comparison of only one pair of the test area and the reference area, the pattern of the two alternately repeated areas makes the colors of the two areas appear more uniform, alleviates a high color difference sensitivity and thereby enables easy identification of a patch that matches the accuracy of the correction performed according to the color deviation detection.

1. Field of the Invention
This application is based on Japanese Patent Application No. 11-111498 (1999) filed Apr. 19, 1999, the content of which is incorporated hereinto by reference.
The present invention relates to a test pattern printing method, an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus, and more specifically to a test pattern printing method to print a test pattern which is checked for detecting a color deviation, the deviation being caused by variations in an output characteristic among print heads, and an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus to perform printing of the test pattern.
2. Description of the Related Art
As devices for automated office work have come into wide use, an opportunity of producing color images in an office has increased. Output devices for outputting color images is known as a printing apparatus of various methods, such as an ink jet method, an electro-photographic method and a heat transfer method. These printing apparatuses have become able to output picture-like color images of relatively high quality in recent years.
Such printing apparatus generally prints color images using three colorants of chromatic colors, cyan(C), magenta(M) and yellow(Y), or four colorants with an additional achromatic color, black(K). The printed color image, however, may have a color deviation or color misrepresentation (e.g., produced color in the printed image differs from a desired one) due to an imbalance of output characteristics (reflection density or lightness, saturation, hue, etc.) among print heads for respective colors. In the ink jet system, for example, the print heads may have, among themselves, differences in an amount of heat produced by heaters (film thickness of the heater) for ejecting ink and differences in a size and shape of ink ejection orifices, causing differences in an amount of ejected ink. This in turn may result in the output characteristic imbalance among the print heads for individual color, as described above. Not only do the print heads inherently having such differences, but it is also known that these differences are produced with elapse of time.
To cope with this problem, a personal computer functioning as a host computer for the printing apparatus, or the printing apparatus itself, may perform correction processing which involves detecting the color deviation due to the differences among respective print heads and, based on the result of detection, correcting the output characteristics of the print heads to have predetermined characteristics. The correction processing is generally known to be carried out in two ways, which are distinguished depending primarily on whether the detection of the color deviation is done by using an input device such as scanner or by a human visual check. An outline of these two correction methods, as distinguished by the way of detecting the color deviation, will be briefly explained below.
The method using an input device such as a scanner, for example, first prints a patch pattern by using the print heads of C, M, Y and K coloring materials that are subjects of the correction, as disclosed in the official gazette of Japanese Patent No. 2661917. Then, the patch pattern is read by means of the scanner to detect a difference between a read value (representing an output characteristic of the head) and an expected value calculated from the print data for the patch pattern. Based on the detected difference, the color deviation is corrected. The patch pattern used in this method may be a solid pattern of each of C, M, Y, K colors or a patch pattern of each color having patches showing a gradation in density. The gradation patch pattern can also be used to detect an output characteristic with respect to a halftone, thus improving precision of detecting the color deviation. A method is also known as that combines the C, M, Y and K to form second- or third-color patch patterns and thereby improves the detection and correction accuracy.
On the other hand, the method using the visual check, unlike the method using the input device, can not easily detect an absolute value with respect to the output characteristic for each color head. Hence, a detection method that uses a third-color patch pattern printed by mixing three colorants C, M, Y is mostly used. More specifically, a plurality of patches of almost gray color is printed. The plurality of patches includes a patch as a central patch of the plurality of patches, which is expected to be printed at a predetermined ratio of three colorants (represented by print data of three colorants) so as to be a patch of an achromatic color when the patch is printed by using print heads with an average ink ejection amount or without any deviation of ink ejection amount, and other patches which are printed with their three-color ratios successively changed slightly. From the plurality of patches a user visually chooses one patch closest to the achromatic color so as to detect the patch of the most appropriate output characteristic balance among the C, M, Y color print heads. Then, the correction data corresponding to the detected patch is used to correct the output characteristic of each print head. This method of detecting the color deviation takes advantage of the fact that a slight imbalance in the output characteristic among the C, M, Y color print heads causes the color having a relatively large output characteristic change to appear in the patch, resulting in the patch deviating from the achromatic color.
While the color deviation and the method of its detection have been described for the case of the print heads of ink jet system, differences in the output characteristics of the color print heads may also occur with the printing apparatus of electrophotographic system and heat transfer system due to causes peculiar to the operation principles of the respective printing systems. In these printing systems, also, the color deviation detection and correction are performed in a similar manner.
The conventional color deviation detection method described above, however, has the following drawbacks.
First, in a usual environment in which the printing apparatus is used, the method using an input device such as scanner requires a condition that the user owns the input device. Not all users have the input device available and thus the method using the scanner or other input devices is not realistic. If some input device is made available, the correction process on a basis of the color deviation detection using such wide variation of input devices is often very difficult to be carried out.
The method based on visual check, on the other hand, does not require any special input device and thus can be employed by any user to detect the color deviation. It is however not so easy to select a patch closest to achromatic color from a plurality of patches with their C, M, Y color ratios progressively changed slightly.
For example, JIS (JIS E3305, JIS Z8721, JIS L0600, etc.) and various other organizations provide specifications concerning a color difference (AE). In these specifications, a range of the color difference of 3.2-6.5 is defined as a xe2x80x9crange that can be handled as the same color in terms of impression.xe2x80x9d This suggests that visually picking up a patch closest to achromatic color from patches in this range of color difference is difficult. It is also stated that the color difference in such a range may xe2x80x9ccause a customer to complain about difference in color when selecting paint color,xe2x80x9d suggesting that even in this range of color difference, if a wrong patch is selected, an image printed after being corrected by a correction value corresponding to the selected patch may fail to provide a desired color.
For this reason, an effort is being made to improve the accuracy of the visual check-based color deviation detection method.
FIG. 1 is a view schematically showing an example of test pattern that enables an improvement of precision for detecting the color deviation. In FIG. 1, each frame represents a patch printed with a mixture of C, M and Y colors and with K. Four numbers in each of two areas in each patch represent multi-valued gradation data for printing the associated area and correspond, from top to bottom, to C, M, Y and K. Thus, the patch shown in FIG. 1 consists of two upper and lower areas. Then, a test pattern is made up of an array of such patches with their gradation value of M increasing vertically downward in five steps and that of C increasing horizontally toward right in five steps.
As apparent from FIG. 1, a test area defined by the upper area in each patch is an area printed with a mixture of C, M, Y colorants of chromatic colors (the mixed color is hereinafter referred to as xe2x80x9cPCBkxe2x80x9d that is xe2x80x9cprocess blackxe2x80x9d). A reference area defined by the lower area is an area printed with only K, a colorant of achromatic color. In the upper area printed with PCBk the gradation value of Y is fixed at a 128 level. Further, as described above, value of C in the pattern increases toward the right and value of M increases downwardly.
With the test pattern constructed in this way, the precision of visual detection can be improved. More specifically, this pattern takes advantage of a visual characteristic that when objects are close together, a small color difference can be perceived. More concretely, this pattern is based on a fact that even if the color difference is as small as 0.8-1.6, comparison between adjacent objects allows a human eye to perceive the color difference. The pattern of this method allows the user, rather than to search, without any criterion, through a plurality of patches printed with only PCBk to find a patch closest to achromatic color, to make one-tone comparison between an area printed with an achromatic color K and an area printed with PCBk which areas are adjacent to each other and thereby select a patch with a PCBk area having the least color difference from the area of achromatic color K. Thus, the precision of visual detection can be improved. This method is hereinafter called an xe2x80x9cadjacency comparison methodxe2x80x9d.
As described above, the precision of visual detection of color difference (color deviation) can generally be improved by using the adjacency comparison method. However, the conventional test pattern shown in FIG. 1 has some points to be improved in performing appropriate color deviation detection.
More specifically, the adjacency comparison method, as described above, has relatively high detection accuracy and therefore the detection accuracy may not match a variation width of the output characteristic of the printing apparatus for each colorant. For example, the output characteristic may vary relatively widely depending on the printing apparatus and, in such a case, the color difference between the patches are set large to make the correction width correspondingly large. In this case, because the detection accuracy of the adjacency comparison method is high, the color of the test area may look different at some degree from the achromatic color of the reference area in any of the patch, making it impossible to identify one patch that corresponds to the color deviation.
Also, when the perceptive characteristics for the two areas during the adjacency comparison are not equal, a correct comparison cannot be made.
The adjacency comparison method is intended to identify a test area that exhibits the color most close to an achromatic color. That is, it is desired that the color difference of the test area with respect to the reference area is perceived as a difference in a saturation, one of a variety kinds of color representing elements. However, it may not be possible with the conventional test pattern shown in FIG. 1 because the human perceptive characteristic of recognizing the patch color may not be able to strongly perceive the saturation difference, depending on the patch being checked.
The object of the present invention is to provide a test pattern printing method, an information processing apparatus and a printing apparatus capable of printing a test pattern that allows the visual color deviation detection to be performed appropriately and highly accurately during the processing for correcting a color deviation caused by output characteristic variations of the printing apparatus among the colorants.
In the first aspect of the present invention, there is provided a test pattern printing method of printing a test pattern used in correction processing, the correction processing making an output characteristic for each of a plurality of colorants a predetermined one to correct a color deviation, the method comprising the step of:
printing a plurality of patches each of which has a test area and a reference area placed adjacent to each other, the test area being printed with a mixture of the plurality of colorants and serving as an indicator for indicating a degree of the color deviation and the reference area serving as a reference to be compared with the test area for the color deviation, the plurality of patches being printed at different mixing ratios of the plurality of colorants, respectively;
wherein the test area and the reference area are arranged in each of the plurality of patches so that the test area and the reference area are repeated alternately.
In the second aspect of the present invention, there is provided an information processing apparatus for performing a process of printing a test pattern used in correction processing, the correction processing making an output characteristic for each of a plurality of colorants a predetermined one to correct a color deviation in printing by a printing apparatus, the apparatus including:
a unit for causing the printing apparatus to print a plurality of patches each of which has a test area and a reference area placed adjacent to each other, the test area being printed with a mixture of the plurality of colorants and serving as an indicator for indicating a degree of the color deviation and the reference area serving as a reference to be compared with the test area for the color deviation, the plurality of patches being printed at different mixing ratios of the plurality of colorants, respectively;
wherein the test area and the reference area are arranged in each of the plurality of patches so that the test area and the reference area are repeated alternately.
In the third aspect of the present invention, there is provided a printing apparatus capable of printing a test pattern used in correction processing, the correction processing making an output characteristic for each of a plurality of colorants a predetermined one to correct a color deviation, the apparatus including:
a unit for printing a plurality of patches each of which has a test area and a reference area placed adjacent to each other, the test area being printed with a mixture of the plurality of colorants and serving as an indicator for indicating a degree of the color deviation and the reference area serving as a reference to be compared with the test area for the color deviation, the plurality of patches being printed at different mixing ratios of the plurality of colorants, respectively;
wherein the test area and the reference area are arranged in each of the plurality of patches so that the test area and the reference area are repeated alternately.
According to the above construction, the patches each have a test area and a reference area arranged adjacent to each other and these two areas are repeated alternately. Hence, a degree to which the colors of the two areas when compared tend to be perceived as different is alleviated according to a number of repetitions of the two areas. Therefore, for example, when a correction amount at which an output characteristic variation is corrected based on the patch selection is set at not so large a value, the number of repetitions of the two areas of each of patches can be determined according to the correction amount. Among these patches, when selecting a patch that exhibits the most color uniformity with not so large perceivable color difference between the two areas, the selected patch is one corresponding to the color deviation equivalent to the correction amount.
The above and other objects, effects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description of embodiments thereof taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Test pattern printing method, information processing apparatus and printing apparatus


A method for applying a plural-layer coating to the outside of a liquid container to act as an anti-leakage barrier in the event of a penetration wound occurring in the container resulting from a penetrating projectile strike, such as a bullet strike. This method includes (a) forming on the outside of such a container, a first layer optimized for providing an elastomeric wound-closure response, (b) forming on the outside of this first layer a second layer optimized for providing combined elastomeric and liquid-imbibing wound-closure responses, and (c) forming on the outside of such a second layer a third, layer optimized in the same manner as the first layer.

There has recently been proposed, in general terms, a form of applyable protective barrier coating which may be used on the outside surface of a liquid container, such as a fuel tank or a fuel pipeline, to defeat liquid leakage which might occur as a consequence of a penetration wound, such as from a bullet strike, created in the exposed wall of such a container. This general coating concept is described in prior-filed U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/067,525, filed Feb. 25, 2005 for "Projectile Barrier and Method", and reference is made herein to that prior-filed regular patent application for the purpose of setting forth a background foundation relevant to the present invention.
In general terms, that prior-filed regular application describes a plural-layer coating in which differently functioning layers are furnished to provide different kinds of wound-closure responses, including liquid-reaction responses, to a liquid-container penetration wound. One of the wound-closure response mechanisms described in this earlier application is offered by a specific high-elastomeric material which alone forms plural ones of the several layers that are employed. This material responds to a puncture wound both with an elastomeric, resilience-memory response, and to some extent with a liquid-imbibing, material-swelling response. Another mechanism is furnished by another plurality of layers, each including a body of essentially the same high-elastomeric material which is used in the elastomeric-material-only layers, along with a distribution of dedicated liquid-imbiber beads that are embedded in this elastomeric body to furnish significant liquid-imbibing, and three-dimensional material swelling and coagulating, responses as a consequence of contact with any liquid which might leak from a penetrated container.
In observing the basic advantages offered by this prior general proposal for a multi-layer protective anti-leak costing, we have discovered that it is possible, utilizing preferably only three layers in a protective barrier coating, to tailor the respective structures of each of these three layers in such a fashion that a protective anti-leak coating can be prepared which may be specially and very effectively optimized to deal specifically with different liquid-container anti-leak protection situations.
In particular, we have observed (a) that a relatively wide range of materials, well beyond those specific materials suggested in the mentioned prior-filed Regular U.S. Patent Application, may be employed as a family from which the most useful elastomeric and liquid-imbiber bead materials may be selected for a particular situation, (b) that the relative thicknesses of different layers in an overall multi-layer coating structure may be adjusted for optimal performance, and (c) that a particular, and most desirable, by-weight population of selected liquid-imbiber bead-like elements may be used in a layer which is formed with an embedding body of a high-elastomeric material. We have also determined that, in each of such three layers wherein high-elastomeric material is employed, the specific elastomeric materials used in these three layers need not be the same. For example, for certain applications, an elastomeric material may be chosen which offers, in addition to an elastomeric memory response to a container penetration, liquid imbibing and material-swelling responses, in other applications, an elastomeric material may be selected which offer only an elastomeric memory response.
Further, we have determined that providing a user with a range of elastomeric material and imbiber-bead population selectivity, it is possible to optimize individually each of the three layers in an overall coating for best performance in accordance with a particular kind of container anti-leakage protection which is desired.
These and other important advantages and features of the present invention, which improve upon the invention disclosed in the above-mentioned, prior-filed, Regular U.S. patent application, will become more fully apparent as the description of the present invention which now follows is read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Material-selectable, self-healing, anti-leak method for coating liquid container