Disclosed are polymeric constructs that can advantageously be utilized in a wide variety of fluid contact devices. The constructs include two or more polymeric materials, at least one of which includes reactive functionality so as to preferentially interact with an analyte of interest. The polymeric constructs include the reactive materials in discrete areas of the devices, so as to provide the reactive functionality in a patterned array across a fluid contacting surface of the device. The reactive functionality can be provided in a macro-, a micro-, or a nano-patterned array, depending upon the specific parameters of the formation process. The devices can be utilized in separation protocols as well as other applications involving controlled fluid flow across a reactive surface.

Materials for use in separations and other techniques involving fluid contact are often expensive and usually offer little in the way of adaptability, in particular in regard to geometry of the devices. For instance, the materials themselves, e.g., the column or substrate material defining the fluid contact surfaces of the device, are usually formed to a predetermined geometry that offer no adaptability to the user, and as such the user must adapt their protocol to be compatible with the available separation materials, rather than the other way around.
Moreover, while advances have been made in methods of forming functional materials as can be utilized in such devices in a micro-patterned array, for instance via masking methodologies, utilization of self-assembled monolayers, and the like, nano-patterning of materials remains difficult and expensive. For instance, periodic arrays on a nanometer scale have been constructed for use as separation media by optical microlithography techniques, as described by Vokmuth, et al. ("DNA electrophoresis in microlithographic arrays," Nature 358:600 (1992)). In other research, block copolymers have been examined as a possible class of materials suitable for forming patterned arrays on a nanometer scale. For example, block copolymers have been developed having characteristics to enable either the self-assembly or the controlled formation of the polymer such that different domains of the copolymer form nanoscopic patterns and/or structures upon crystallization or solidification (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,705 to Thomas, et al.).
What is needed in the art are economical materials suitable for fluid contact applications that can include desired chemistries in micro- or nano-patterned orientations. In addition, what is needed in the art are devices including predetermined surface chemistries that are more user-friendly and easily adapted to meet the specific needs of consumers wishing to utilize the materials.

Polymeric structures with patterned reactivity


A fixing apparatus of the present invention is provided with (i) a roller, to which releaser gets applied (ii) a releaser applying member for applying the releaser on the roller by touching the roller while the roller is rotating, and (iii) a releaser dripping section for dripping the releaser to be applied on the roller by the releaser applying section, the fixing apparatus further including a guiding member for receiving the releaser dripped from the releaser dripping section, and for guiding, along a surface thereof, a certain amount of a total amount of the thus received releaser to a touch position at which the releaser applying member touches the roller. With this arrangement, it is possible to provide a fixing apparatus in which reduction in the amount of the releaser to be applied on the roller is avoided so as to surely prevent the toner offset and the jamming in the convey path, even if toner and/or debris is adhered, as a result of long use of the image forming apparatus, on the touch position at which the releaser applying member for applying the releaser touches the roller to which the releaser applying member applies the releaser.

A fixing apparatus is provided in an image forming apparatus such as a photocopying machine and a printer, in which a toner image formed on a recording sheet is fixed on a recording sheet so as to obtain an image-formed medium. Moreover, in fixing apparatuses disclosed in Japanese Publication of Unexamined Patent Application, Tokukaihei, No. 8-137317 (published on May 31, 1996), U.S. Pat. No. 6,266,509 (corresponding to Japanese Publication of Unexamined Patent Application, Tokukai, No. 2000-29344 (published on Jan. 28, 2000)), and U.S. Pat. No. 6,463,249 (corresponding to Japanese Publication of Unexamined Patent Application, Tokukai, No. 2001-265151 (published on Sep. 28, 2001)), as releaser, oil such as a silicone oil is applied onto a fixing roller and a pressing roller so as to prevent (i) offset toner due to adhesion of the toner on a surface of the fixing roller, and (ii) twining a recording sheet, in order to attain stable image formation.
Referring to FIG. 8, described below is such a fixing apparatus in which oil is applied onto the fixing roller and the pressing roller. As shown in FIG. 8, a fixing apparatus 140 is provided with a fixing roller 101 and a pressing roller 102. Around the fixing roller 101, an upper sheet removing section 111, an upper cleaning roller 109, a fixing roller temperature detector 105, and an oil applying roller 107. Around the pressing roller 102, a lower sheet removing section 112, a lower clearing roller 110, and a pressing roller temperature detector 106 are provided. Moreover, the fixing roller 101 is provided with a fixing roller heater 103, while the pressing roller 102 is provided with a pressing roller heater 104.
Next, a system for applying the oil (releaser) in the fixing apparatus is explained below, referring to FIG. 8. Under the fixing apparatus 140, an oil tank 120 is provided. The oil for application is stored in the oil tank 120 always. Further, the oil tank 120 is provided with an oil remaining amount detecting sensor (for detecting how much oil is currently stored in the oil tank 120). When the oil is not enough, the oil remaining amount detecting sensor 127 gives warning on an operation panel of a main body apparatus and the like so as to urge to refill the oil. The oil is refilled via an oil supplying inlet 134.
The oil stored in the oil tank 120 is transferred to an oil dripping section 122 through an oil tube 126 by means of an oil pump 121.
The oil dripping section 122 has a tube-like (pipe-like) shape having a plurality of holes facing upward. The oil flows out through the plurality of holes and is dripped down, so as to be supplied to an oil applying member 123, which is provided under the oil dripping section 122.
When the oil is dripped on the oil applying member 123, the oil is absorbed into the oil applying member 123, which is made of such a material as to allow the oil to be spread therethrough, for example, felt. The oil applying member 123 touches the oil applying roller 107 so as to apply the oil onto the oil applying roller 107. The oil applying roller 107 is a roller (an intervening applying roller) located between the oil applying member 123 and the fixing roller 101. Further, the oil applied on the oil applying roller 107 is evenly spread out on the oil applying roller 107 by the applying blade 124. Then, the oil applying roller 107, on which the oil is spread out evenly, applies the oil on the fixing roller 101. Next, the fixing roller 101, on which the oil is applied, applies the oil on the pressing roller 102.
Moreover, excess oil, which remains unused in the oil application, is recollected by an oil pan 125 located under the oil applying member 123. The oil recollected in the oil pan 125 is returned to the oil tank 120 via a recollecting tube 128, which is connected to the oil pan 125.
Next, referring to FIG. 9, how the oil is applied from the oil applying member 123 to the oil applying roller 107 is explained in detail. The oil dripping section 122 drips oil 133 so as to supply the oil 133 to the oil applying member 123. The oil applying member 123 made of a material such as felt absorbs the oil 133 when the oil 133 is supplied to the oil applying member 123. Then, the oil 133 evenly diffuses through the oil applying member 123. The oil applying member 123 in which the oil 133 is evenly diffused, touches the oil applying roller 107 so as to apply to the oil applying roller 107 the oil 133 in the oil applying member 123.
Moreover, as shown in FIG. 9, the oil 133 is dripped on a supporting member 131 so that the oil 133 is dripped on a position (drip position) at a level higher or equal to a position (touch position) at which the oil applying member 123 touches the oil applying roller 107, and is supplied to the oil applying member 123 so as to be supplied to the oil applying roller 107 via the oil applying member 123. By having such a positional relationship, the oil 133 is transferred from the drip position at which the oil 133 is dripped on, to the touch position at which the oil applying member 123 touches the oil applying roller 107. As indicated by Arrow B in FIG. 9, the oil 133 flows down on a surface of the supporting member 131 from the drip position of the oil 133 to the oil applying member 123, and is absorbed into the oil applying member 123 and then passes through the oil applying member 123. Then, as indicated by Arrow B′, the oil 133 moves to the touch position at which the oil applying member 123 touches the oil applying roller 107, and is exuded out of the oil applying member 123 so as to be applied on the oil applying roller 107. Note that excess oil 133′, which remains unused in the oil application, is dropped down into the oil pan 125 so as to be recollected.
However, as shown in FIG. 10 in the system for applying the oil in the conventional fixing apparatus, as a result of long use of an image forming apparatus, toner and/or debris, which is adhered on the oil applying roller 107, is transferred onto the oil applying member 123 and accumulated thereon. Thus, as shown in FIG. 10, the toner and/or debris is adhered on a surface of the oil applying member 123, especially, the touch position at which the oil applying member 123 touches the oil applying roller 107. Moreover, the toner and/or debris adhered on the oil applying roller 107 comes from the fixing roller 101 and the pressing roller 102 at which the toner and/debris remains.
When the toner and/or debris is adhered on the touch position at which the oil applying member 123 touches the oil applying roller 107, the adhered toner and/or debris reduces an amount of the oil (the oil indicated by Arrow B′) exuded out of the oil applying member 123. As shown in FIG. 10, when the toner and/or debris is adhered on at the touch position, the adhered toner and/or debris hinders the movement of the oil 133 indicated by Arrow B′ and the exuding of the oil 133 from the oil applying member 123.
As described above, if the amount of the oil 133 to be exuded is reduced at the touch position due to the adhesion of the toner and/or debris, the dripping of the oil 133 in a constant amount simply leads to an increase in the amount of the excess oil 133′, while an amount of the oil to be applied on the oil applying roller 107 is reduced. Further, the reduction in the amount of the oil to be applied on the oil applying roller 107 decreases an amount of the oil to be applied on the fixing roller 101 and the pressing roller 102. This causes toner offset to the fixing roller 102, and jamming of a recording sheet, for example, due to twining of the recording sheet into the fixing roller 102 and the like.

Fixing apparatus with guiding member for guiding releaser


The present invention relates to an aqueous polymer dispersion containing a multistage emulsion polymer particle. The multistage emulsion polymer particle contains a polysiloxane formed in the first stage; a transition layer formed in the second stage; and a polyacrylate formed in the third stage. The transition layer is made of silane coupling agents. The present invention also relates to a method of preparing the aqueous polymer dispersion and use of the aqueous polymer dispersion for preparing coatings.

Polyacrylates (PA) and polysiloxanes (PSi) each are widely used in various fields. However, due to poor compatibility between PA and PSi, it is difficult to balance the mechanical property, stability, and the water vapor permeability (WVP) of resulted coatings. For example, JP62127364A2 discloses a composite emulsion obtained by emulsifying silicone resin and acrylic resin simultaneously. Since the composite emulsion is obtained just by simply mixing silicone resin and acrylic resin in water, the properties of resulted film are not good.
Thus, various acrylate-siloxane copolymer dispersion is studied to obtain improved properties.
CN101781390B discloses a method of preparing silicone-polyacrylate emulsion having a core/shell structure, wherein the core is prepared from siloxane monomers and acrylate monomers, and the shell is prepared from acrylate monomers in the presence of silanes. According to this patent, exterior wall coatings formed from the silicone-polyacrylate emulsion have superior weather resistance and stain resistance over coatings formed from pure polyacrylate emulsion. Water-resistance of coating film is measured by dipping the coating film in water and as a result, the coating film becomes white after 120 h.
CN101550217A discloses a method of preparing soap-free silicone-polyacrylate emulsion having a core/shell structure, wherein the shell is prepared from siloxane monomers and silane coupling agents and the core is prepared from acrylate monomers. Water-resistance of coating film is measured by dipping the coating film in water and as a result, the coating film becomes white after 7 days.
JP2008012454A discloses a core/shell emulsion comprising an outer layer of acrylate-silicone copolymer and an inner layer of polyacrylate. The obtained emulsion could not well balance the mechanical property and the water vapor permeability.
Cheng You Kan et. al. discloses an acrylate-silicone copolymer emulsion synthesized by simultaneous free-radical and cationic copolymerization of acrylate monomers and silicone monomers in the presence of silane coupling agent in Journal of Applied Polymer Science, 2001, 82(13): 3194-3200. The obtained emulsion has uniform particles without core/shell structure.
Thus, there is still need to provide a dispersion being able to balance water vapor permeability, stability, and mechanical strength, which is well suited for preparing coatings, preferably exterior coatings, such as exterior wood/bamboo/rattan coatings and exterior wall coatings on buildings.

Aqueous polymer dispersion and preparation method thereof


An animal test chamber has one or more side walls, a ceiling, and a floor to define an internal space in which animals can be housed and exposed to a chemical agent, a door, a port for introducing animals, an exhaust port, and one or more of the following four features. The first feature is a projector for projecting an image onto the chamber floor to assist in the counting of the knocked-down animals. The second feature is the capability of automatically washing/cleaning the chamber after a test. The third feature is the capability of simulating real life insecticide application conditions. The fourth feature is the capability of automatically dispensing the contents of an aerosol can into the chamber.

The present invention relates to animal test chambers for testing the effect of a chemical agent on animals such as insects. More particularly it relates to test chambers with improved accuracy, consistency, efficiency, and/or versatility.
The efficacy of an insecticide is typically tested in a Peet-Grady chamber, an approximately 6 cubic meter box-like room named after its initial developers. A conventional Peet-Grady chamber has a tight-fitting door for accessing the inside of the chamber, an observation window for observing and counting insects from outside the chamber, various ports on the side walls of the chamber for introducing insects and chemical agents into the chamber, an exhaust opening in the ceiling connected to an exhaust duct for removing insecticide vapor from the chamber, and sometimes a removable grid marked paper on the chamber floor for assisting the counting of the knocked-down insects. Insects are "knocked down" if they are incapacitated and rendered inactive, whether or not actually dead.
To operate such a chamber, one closes the chamber door tightly, closes all ports including the exhaust, introduces a plurality of insects (e.g., mosquitoes or house flies) into the chamber, allows the insects to acclimate to the chamber environment for a minute or two, dispenses the test chemical agent in the chamber, and counts the number of knocked-down insects on the chamber floor. At the end of the test, the total number of insects is counted. This is typically done by a user entering into the chamber and catching the insects that are not knocked-down one-by-one with a vacuum. The user also picks up the knocked-down insects from the floor grid one-by-one with the vacuum.
After each test, the user turns on the exhaust fan to remove insecticide vapor from the chamber. The user then usually washes the chamber walls, floor, and any other devices in the chamber manually with a sponge and water containing mild detergents (e.g., household detergents). The chamber walls and floor are then left to dry after which the chamber is ready for the next test.
The conventional Peet-Grady chamber and its use, as described above, has several drawbacks. Although conventional Peet-Grady chambers have been used with success for testing the effect of a chemical agent dispensed from an aerosol can, various features are significantly inconvenient and require manual operation and associated delays. For example, dosing a chamber with an aerosol requires a complex combination of manual operation of the aerosol can plus use of timed shutters to measure out the dose of spray.
Another drawback of a conventional Peet-Grady chamber relates to the counting grid on the chamber floor. Typically, the floor of a Peet-Grady chamber is covered with a grid sheet. This introduces the extra step of removing and disposing contaminated sheets after each test.
Yet another drawback of a conventional Peet-Grady chamber relates to the inefficiency of preparing the chamber for the next test cycle. The conventional Peet-Grady chamber is manually washed after each test, a process that is time consuming and relatively labor intensive, and may expose the user to several chemicals.
Further, a conventional Peet-Grady chamber is not specifically equipped to bleed air in and out of the chamber during a testing period. Tests are typically conducted in static air with all ports closed. Thus, a test designed to mimic real life housing conditions, where open doors and windows result in air circulation, cannot be readily conducted with a conventional Peet-Grady chamber.
Hence, a need exists for an improved Peet-Grady type chamber.


Methods and systems provide an active chip configured for connection to the battery or other component of a host mobile communication device, such as a cellular phone, to thereby add functionality to the host mobile communication device. The system may be installed and used for covert operations (i.e. military and/or law enforcement), adding features such as location tracking and voice recognition and recording to monitor the movement and use of the host mobile device covertly. The system may be used to communicate with other locally enabled systems on a local network instead of communicating through the cellular network, or operate as a radio transceiver or “push-to-talk” device such as a “walkie-talkie.” It may be used as a “kid tracker” location tracking device, to find a lost host mobile device, lost person carrying the host mobile device, or track locations where a host mobile device has been.

Conventional mobile device batteries, such as the battery of a smartphone (i.e. the Blackberry by Motorola, Inc.), are contained in a separate battery compartment, normally located on the back of the host mobile device. Conventional mobile device batteries provide one feature to the host mobile device—a power source.
Conventional mobile device batteries are connected to the host mobile device via a series of battery connectors within the host mobile device's battery compartment and a corresponding series of battery connectors on the surface of the battery. In a conventional cellular telephone, the battery connectors are typically "plus wires" and "minus wires"—connections utilized for sending power from the battery to the cellular telephone. Conventional smartphones may instead utilize smart batteries. In these applications, the set of battery connectors may further comprise data connections allowing for transmission of information from the battery to the smartphone, for example the amount of battery power used by certain applications.
Conventional mobile devices may contain a set of enhancement features and/or applications. These features and/or applications may provide a map function with or without mobile device location information gleaned from the global positioning system ("GPS"), voice recording, and/or data encryption. However, at least some of these functions and/or applications require the mobile device to establish a connection to the cellular network for operability. Further, it is easy for the user of a conventional mobile device to know when the user's mobile device is running any or all of these features and/or applications, making it difficult for a third party to clandestinely run features and/or applications on a mobile device.
Accordingly, there is a desire for a solution to these and other related problems.

Method and system for active chip in a battery


A seal segment is positioned, in use, radially adjacent the rotor. The seal segment has first and second circumferentially spaced passageways each of which extends in the fore and aft direction. In use, a first support bar is contained within the first passageway, and a second support bar is contained within the second passageway. The first and second support bars being mountable to complementary formations provided by the casing of the engine. The first passageway is configured such that the seal segment is fixed relative to the first support bar in the radial and circumferential directions. The second passageway is configured such that the seal segment is fixed relative to the second support bar in the radial direction but allows relative movement of the seal segment and the second support bar in the circumferential direction to accommodate differential thermal expansion of the seal segment and the casing.

The performance of gas turbine engines, whether measured in terms of efficiency or specific output, is improved by increasing the turbine gas temperature. It is therefore desirable to operate the turbines at the highest possible temperatures. For any engine cycle compression ratio or bypass ratio, increasing the turbine entry gas temperature produces more specific thrust (e.g. engine thrust per unit of air mass flow). However, as turbine entry temperatures increase, it is necessary to develop components and materials better able to withstand the increased temperatures.
This has led to the replacement of metallic shroud segments with ceramic matrix composite shroud segments having higher temperature capabilities. To accommodate the change in material, however, adaptations to the segments have been proposed. For example, EP 0751104 discloses a ceramic segment having an abradable seal which is suitable for use with nickel base turbine blades, and EP 1965030 discloses a hollow section ceramic seal segment.
A difficulty with ceramic shroud segments is their typically lower thermal expansion coefficient relative to the metallic parts of the engine. Differential thermal mismatches can make fixing of the segments to the engine problematic and can lead to unacceptable loadings on the segments.
A further difficulty, particularly with ceramic matrix composite shroud segments, is configuring the segments in a way that is compatible with composite forming techniques.


Line pipe having good corrosion-resistance and weldability, in which at least the inner surface of the pipe that is in direct contact with the fluid moved through the pipe is formed of high chromium steel that contains, by weight percent, 7.5 to 16 percent chromium, a carbon content reduced to no more than 0.03 percent and a nitrogen content reduced to no more than 0.02 percent, and a substrate that is not in direct contact with the fluid and is formed of steel that contains 0.02 to 0.25 percent carbon, 0.1 to 1.0 percent silicon, 0.05 to 2.0 percent manganese and 0.005 to 0.1 percent aluminum, a phosphorus impurity content reduced to no more than 0.015 percent and a sulfur impurity content reduced to no more than 0.005 percent, and in which the thickness of the high chromium steel portion does not exceed 25 percent of the total thickness of the pipe.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to line pipe that has good weldability and corrosion-resistance, and more particularly to steel pipe used to transport oil and natural gas, for example, the steel pipe having good resistance to corrosion in an environment that contains wet carbon dioxide and small amounts of wet hydrogen sulfide and the like, and good weldability with respect to circumferential welds performed in the field.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In recent years there has been an increase in the production of oil and natural gas containing wet carbon dioxide and wet hydrogen sulfide. It is a known fact that in such an environment there is marked corrosion of carbon and low alloy steels. To prevent corrosion of line pipe owing to the transportation of oil or natural gas, the normal practice has been to add corrosion inhibitors.
However, in the case of marine pipelines it is very costly to add and recover corrosion inhibitors, and the risk of pollution of the marine environment is also making it increasingly difficult to use corrosion inhibitors. As a result, there is a major need for corrosion-resistant materials that do not require the addition of a corrosion inhibitor.
The use of stainless steel as a corrosion resistant material for applications involving oil and natural gas containing large amounts of carbon dioxide gas is being studied. As described by L. J. Klein in paper number 211 of Corrosion '84, martensitic stainless steels having a carbon content of around 0.2 percent and a chromium content of 12 or 13 percent are widely used as a high strength, relatively low-cost steel, AISI Type 420 steel being a typical example. However, a relatively high carbon content is needed to provide such steels with the necessary strength.
Pipelines are constructed by welding sections of pipe together in the field, but using the usual methods to weld this type of relatively high carbon martensitic stainless steel results in a marked increase in the hardness of the welding heat-affected zones and a degradation in the impact toughness. In addition, when the fluid being transported contains hydrogen sulfide, the increase in the hardness of welding heat-affected zones increases the risk of sulfide stress cracking, thereby degrading the safety of the line pipe.
Following the welding, the hardness of the welding heat-affected zones can be decreased and the toughness improved to some extent by the application of post-weld heat treatment involving heating the steel to at least 600.degree. C. In practice, however, temperature control and quality assurance requirements make it difficult and extremely costly to apply post-weld heat treatment to a line pipe under construction. Thus, there is a need for line pipe that can be welded by normal welding methods without causing much increase in the hardness of zones affected by the heat of the welding, and which also exhibits good low-temperature impact toughness, both at the welding heat-affected zones and of the base metal.
While a reduction in the carbon content of martensitic stainless steels can mitigate the increase in the hardness of the welding heat-affected zones, the resultant coarsening of the ferrite grains in the microstructure of the heat-affected zones produces a pronounced degradation in the impact toughness.


The present invention relates to a slurry containing water, amorphous silica panicles having a particle size less than 1 micron and silica flour with a particle size between 2-200 microns. In order to stablize the slurry, the slurry contains a polysaccharide. The invention further relates to a method for the production of a slurry containing water, amorphous silica having a particle size below 1 micron, and silica flour with a particle size between 2-200 microns, where a polysaccharide is added to a slurry of water and amorphous silica, whereafter the silica flour is mixed into the slurry of amorphous silica.

From EP-B 467921 it is known a method for the mixture of silicon dioxide to a hydraulic cement slurry, where amorphous silica with particles smaller then 1 μm is mixed with water to form an aqueous slurry of microsilica whereafter silica flour with particles with a size from 2-200 μm are mixed into the suspension of amorphous silica particles. Finally, the produced liquid slurry is added to a cement slurry in a mixing tank.
The cement slurry produced according to the method of EP-B 467921 is particularly useful for cementing oil wells at high temperatures of above 100° C. as it has been found that this prevent long time reduction of strength of the cement.
In order to make full economic and practical use of the method according to EP-B 467921 the slurry containing amorphous silica and silica flour should be produced and transported to the cementing site for mixing to the cement slurry shortly before cementing. For use in cementing of oil wells offshore and on shore, this means that the slurry of microsilica and silica flour must be produced ashore and transported to a rig before it can be mixed into a cement slurry. Unfortunately it has been found that the suspension of amorphous silica and silica flour shows a strong tendency of settling resulting in such a short shelf life that the suspension cannot be transported for mixing into cement slurries. There is thus a need for a slurry of the type disclosed in EP-B 467921 which have a reduced tendency of settling and which is compatible with cement slurries.

Silicon oxide slurry and method for producing such slurry


To provide a MOS varactor in which oscillation frequency variation is small and variation in a capacitance changing voltage is small, and a voltage-controlled oscillator using the MOS varactor, as a load capacitor of an oscillating circuit composed of a feedback resistor 1, an amplifier 2, and a crystal vibrator 3, a variable electrostatic capacitor, which is generated between drain/source terminals and a gate terminal of each of MOS transistors 5a and 6a each of which source and drain terminals are short-circuited, is connected. A bulk terminal of each of the MOS transistors 5a and 6a is connected to one terminal of a resistor 19, a voltage is applied to the other terminal of the resistor 19, the bulk terminal of each of the MOS transistors 5a and 6a is connected to one terminal of a capacitor 20, and the other terminal of the capacitor 20 is grounded.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a MOS varactor and to a voltage-controlled oscillator used as a VCTCXO (voltage-controlled temperature-compensated crystal oscillator).
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, according to the rapid development of mobile communication equipment such as a mobile phone, the communication equipment has been required to additionally have various functions such as a temperature compensating function, a small size, and a high use frequency. For this reason, similar to the communication equipment, even in a crystal oscillator used as a reference of a communication frequency, a temperature compensating function, a small size, and a high use frequency has been required.
Since a temperature compensated crystal oscillator has a temperature compensating function and the frequency variation thereof due to temperature change is small, the temperature compensated crystal oscillator is widely used as a reference frequency source of a mobile phone and so on. A voltage-controlled oscillator has, as a load capacitor in an oscillating loop, a variable capacitive element capable of changing the capacitance by a voltage, and can change the capacitance value of the load capacitor by controlling a terminal voltage of the variable capacitive element so as to control a frequency. As the temperature compensating crystal oscillator, there is one in which a terminal voltage of a varactor of a voltage-controlled oscillator is controlled such that a temperature characteristic of a crystal vibrator (a piezoelectric resonator) is canceled.
Recently, the temperature-compensated crystal oscillator has been made to have a small size as well as low phase noise, short starting time, and high accuracy of the temperature compensation. In order to reduce the size of the crystal oscillator, the size of a crystal vibrator should also be reduced. However, the rate of the frequency variation to the variation of the variable capacitance generally tends to decrease as the crystal vibrator becomes small.
Consequently, it is necessary to make the variation in the capacitance of a varactor used as a load capacitor with respect to a control voltage large. For example, as disclosed in JP-A-2003-318417 and JP-A-11-220329, it is possible to make the variation in the capacitance value with respect to the variation of the control voltage large by using an electrostatic capacitance generated between source/drain terminals and a gate terminal of a MOS transistor, thereby capable of improving the sensitivity of the crystal oscillator with respect to frequency variation (see FIG. 5).
For example, as an example of the voltage-controlled oscillator shown in FIG. 6, a voltage-controlled oscillator has been proposed in which first and second MOS transistors 5 and 6 serving as varactors are connected to both terminals of an amplifier having a feedback resistor 1 and an inverter 2 and both terminals of a piezoelectric resonator 3. In the varactors, source/drain terminals of the first and second MOS transistors 5 and 6 are short-circuited, and an electrostatic capacitance generated between the source/drain terminals and a gate terminal of each of the first and second MOS transistors 5 and 6 is controlled by a voltage source 7 connected to the gate terminal.
FIG. 7 is a view showing the configuration of a MOS varactor. The MOS varactor is composed of a thin silicon oxide film 12 and an N-type polysilicon gate electrode 13 formed on a P-type semiconductor substrate 11. The MOS varactor is a two-terminal variable capacitor which uses a bulk terminal 14 connected to the semiconductor substrate 11 as a ground potential and uses a gate terminal 15 connected to the gate electrode 13 for both a capacitive terminal and a control terminal. A flat band voltage of the MOS configuration is denoted by a symbol 'VFB' and a threshold voltage when an inversion layer is generated on a surface of the semiconductor substrate 11 is denoted by a symbol 'VTH'.
When a gate voltage Vg is lower than the VFB, as shown in a schematical configuration view of FIG. 7A, holes 16 are drawn and accumulated on a surface of the semiconductor substrate 11. At this time, the MOS capacitance is composed of only a capacitance Cox of a gate oxide film to be maximal, as shown in an equivalent circuit diagram of FIG. 7B.
Next, when the gate voltage is higher than the VFB, as shown in a schematically configuration view of FIG. 7B, a depletion layer 17 is formed on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 11. Therefore, the MOS capacitance becomes a series capacitance of the capacitance Cox of the gate oxide film and the capacitance of the depletion layer as shown in an equivalent circuit diagram of FIG. 7B. As a result, the MOS capacitance is reduced as the gate voltage increases.
Subsequently, when the gate voltage reaches the VTH, as shown in a schematical configuration view of FIG. 7C, a few electrons are induced on the surface of the semiconductor substrate 11 such that an inversion layer 18 is formed and the depletion layer 17 becomes wider than the inversion layer.
In the MOS varactor, when the gate voltage of a MOS transistor corresponds to the sum of the source terminal voltage and a threshold voltage, a channel is formed right under the gate oxide film and an electrostatic capacitance between the gate terminal and the channel, that is, the source terminal increases (the voltage is referred to as 'a capacitance changing voltage'). In this case, the capacitance between the source terminal and the bulk terminal corresponds to the sum of the capacitance Cdj between the channel and the bulk and the capacitance Cd of the depletion layer and a voltage is applied to the gate terminal such that the gate terminal is AC grounded. Therefore, it can be seen that the capacitance between the source terminal and the bulk terminal is in a grounded state, As a result, the capacitance between the source terminal and the grounded terminal is composed of the capacitance Cox of the gate silicon film, the capacitance Cdj between the channel and the bulk, and the capacitance Cd of the depletion layer. At this time, the MOS capacitance becomes maximal.
The above-mentioned MOS varactor according to the related art has a problem in that, in a general CMOS process, the electrostatic capacitance between the source terminal and the grounded terminal is changed by the variation of impurity concentration of the channel of the MOS transistor and the variation of impurity concentration of the N-type semiconductor region. For example, in a voltage-controlled oscillator using the example shown in FIG. 6, the variation of the oscillation frequency is large and the change of the capacitance changing voltage is large. In particular, it is difficult to arbitrarily determine the capacitance changing voltage and to control the frequency with a predetermined gate voltage as a center.

MOS varactor and voltage-controlled oscillator using the same

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Embodiments of a retractable electric candle system are shown and described, each for installation into a window sill so that the candle rises out of the sill for use and retracts down into the space under the sill for storage. The candle system includes a base for attachment over an aperture drilled in the sill, a candle that slides up and down through the base and the sill, and a tube member into which the candle retracts. When a cover is removed from the base, a spring pops up the candle enough to allow the user to grasp it for lifting. A slot and pin mechanism cooperate to reversibly lock the candle into a raised position when the candle is lifted and rotated about 1/4 turn. Electrical contacts, wiring, and electrical tape are positioned to electrify the bulb or other display unit on top of the candle when the candle system is connected to a power source and when the candle is in the raised position. The candle system may include the apparatus for connection to the power source, which may include a clock transformer for reducing the power source voltage to a lower, safer voltage for operation of the candle and for setting times for the automatic turning on and off of the candle.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to decorative electric window displays and specifically to electric candles that are set on window sills at holidays.
2. Background Art
Electric candles are often set in window sills of homes and offices for illumination during holiday seasons. These electric candles are reminiscent of old-fashioned wax candles set on window sills for decoration or for symbolic welcoming or lighting of the way.
Typically, electric candles are set on several windows in a home or office building and electric cords trail from the candles, down the wall, and along the floor to a 120 volt electric outlet. The candles are sometimes left unattached to the window sill, or often they are taped down to prevent them from falling over. The electric cords are also often taped down to keep them out of the way and make them less hazardous.
These installation methods can create unsightly and unsafe situations. People and pets can still knock over and break the candles or trip over the electric cords, creating the potential for exposure to 120 volt electricity or for a fire hazard. The appearance and safety issues become even more of a problem when additional wiring is used to reach candles set in more than one window. Another problem is the inconvenience, labor, and storage space required for taking down, storing, and reinstalling the candles for each season of use. Frequently, electric candles are purchased and tried for a season, but seldom used again because of these problems.
What is still needed is a safe, attractive, sturdy, and convenient candle system.


An adaptation of apparatus disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,058 to provide foundations or perimeter walls is effected with the drilling of circular holes within a range of four to sixteen feet overlapping to provide continuous area coverage in the case of foundations with a minimum of overlap and to provide a minimum wall thickness in the order of hole radius in the case of containment walls.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,135,058 discloses Crane-Mounted Drill and Method for In-Situ Treatment of Contaminated Soil for purposes of treating an entire field of contaminated soil. FIG. 9 of such patent illustrates a drilling pattern that may be implemented using the apparatus of the invention comprising substantially cylindrical holes drilled in succession in parallel laterally adjacent rows, The drill bit may then be changed to a drill of smaller diameter and "rosebuds" between holes may be covered by a succession of interstitial holes to effectively treat the entire field.

Method for constructing foundations and perimeter walls


A prosthetic vessel graft assembly has a tube of synthetic graft material surrounding a stent at its distal end, together with a plurality of collapsible anchors projecting radially from the stent. The assembly mounts on an introducer that may be tunneled through skin or inserted in an opening and pushed down to a vessel for introducing the graft through the vessel side wall. The introducer is configured to follow a guide wire which is inserted via a needle through an opening in the side wall of the vessel. A peel-away sheath covers the stent, graft, and anchor members at the distal end keeping them collapsed against the tubular body.

Not Applicable.
The present invention relates to methods and procedures for accessing and forming a bypass in a vessel or between vessels.
There are a great number of circulatory conditions requiring surgical intervention to place a graft either as a complete substitute for a dysfunctional vessel, a bypass about a stenotic portion of a vessel, or a replacement for a surgically removed portion of the vessel. For the most part, such vascular grafts are placed surgically, entailing surgical exposure of the native vessel at the junction sites, surgical arteriotomy or venotomy to open the vessel, and suturing of the graft material to the vessel or to tissue served by the vessel. A great number of prosthetic grafts have been developed to address problems such as the apportionment of flow at branching junctions, the matching of vessels of different sizes when such junction is necessary, and the fitting of vessels to a region of tissue such as the wall of a cardiac chamber, so as to establish a more or less natural blood flow.
In addition, recently a number of approaches have been proposed or developed for forming a junction with a natural vessel, or a bypass between points of one or more vessels, by percutaneous or interstitial access. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,443,497 of Venbrux and U.S. Pat. No. 5,755,775 of Trerotola et al. illustrate such devices wherein an acutely angled Y-junction or an expandable stent junction is inserted at a low angle to the side of a vessel and secured to form a connecting port or conduit. Percutaneous access and installation are effected, for example, by using a peel-away sheath to release the penetrating junction member, in a manner similar to that of various tunneling trocar placement procedures conventionally used for routing prosthetic vessels through muscle tissue. However, these approaches essentially create Y-junctions, using a structure analogous to a in-vessel stent to effect a seal along the remaining open portion of the vessel. This access geometry with a low angle of entry necessarily entails a long incision in the vessel side wall and requires an oblique and possibly traumatic access route through surrounding tissue for installation along a smoothly contoured path. The Y-geometry entrance may further partially obstruct a vessel or divert flow in an irregular or inappropriate manner.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide a method and system for percutaneous access to a blood vessel for establishing a graft bypass or shunt with the vessel.
It would further be desirable to provide such a system adaptable to diverse geometry, or adaptable to arterial bypass, arterial to veinous grafts for dialysis access, and veinous to veinous grafts for occlusions or stenosis.
It would also be desirable to provide such a system forming a true end-to-side anastomosis.
One or more of these desirable objects are achieved in accordance with the present invention by a prosthetic vessel graft having a tube of synthetic graft material surrounding a self expanding stent. The graft and stent are mounted on a stiff introducer member which may be tunneled through skin or inserted in an opening and pushed down to a vessel for introducing the graft through the side wall of a vessel. Preferably the introducer has a hollow core and is configured to follow a guide wire which may be initially inserted by conventional techniques up to and through an opening in the side wall of the vessel. A peel-away sheath covers the stent and graft, and the stent has a plurality of collapsible anchor members at its distal end in the form of wire-like arms or hooks which initially are held tightly against the circumference of the stent and which spring outwardly in a radial direction when released from the sheath. In use, the intravascular end of the graft is inserted through an opening in the side of the vessel and the sheath is removed to release the anchors and secure the graft as a pure end-to-side anastomosis to the vessel.
In a preferred practice of the invention, a basic graft unit consists of the prosthesis tube and anchoring stent within the tube at one end thereof. The other (extravascular) end of the graft tube may have a blood compatible fitting or connector, or may have a reinforced band or collar suitable for suturing or other surgical joining technique. Two such prostheses are employed in a bypass procedure, and one is installed as described above at each vessel access point of an intended shunt or bypass. The two extravascular ends and bodies of the respective prostheses are then tunneled through tissue to a common point at a proximal cut-down or opening. Each segment is then back-flushed with saline and the ends are joined to each other, by suturing or by a quick-connect fitting that is attached or preattached to each of the prostheses, thus connecting them into a single continuous bypass or shunt. The opening may then be closed.

Percutaneous stent graft and method for vascular bypass


A vehicle comprises an acceleration sensing module and a crash direction-computing module. The acceleration-sensing module is configured for generating acceleration information resulting from a vehicle collision event. The acceleration information includes a first direction acceleration value and a second direction acceleration value. The crash direction-computing module is coupled to the acceleration-sensing module for receiving the acceleration information therefrom and is configured for determining impact direction information resulting from the vehicle collision event. Generating the impact direction information includes deriving a first direction delta velocity value from the first direction acceleration value, deriving a second direction delta velocity value from the second direction acceleration value, determining a first delta velocity threshold value based on a delta velocity threshold angle and the first direction delta velocity value, and determining an impact zone based on the first delta velocity threshold value and the second direction delta velocity value.

It is well known that active/passive safety integration has become more prevalent in the automotive industry. This being the case, there has been a greater need for knowing not only if a vehicle has been in a collision, but also a primary direction of force resulting from the collision. By knowing the primary direction of force from the collision and preferably also a higher resolution of force direction, capabilities of vehicle safety features such as occupant restraint activation, vehicle post impact braking, post impact stability control, fuel cut-off, and the like can be enhanced.
Therefore, determining a primary direction of force resulting from a vehicle collision with a high degree of resolution would be beneficial, desirable and useful.

Method and system for determining a primary direction of force resulting from a vehicle collision


Various settings are stored into a setting storage table for stop-key processing. These settings are related to a job kind where an operation is stopped by manipulating a stop key, a job kind where an operation is made to pause, and a job kind where an operation is continued without any interruption. When the stop key is manipulated, the job set to the stop operation is directly stopped, and the job set to the execution continuation is continuously executed. The jobs set to the pausing operations are displayed in a list. These jobs are selected one by one, or in a batch mode. Thereafter, either the stop operation or the restart operation is instructed. Accordingly, even under such an environment that a plurality of jobs are executed in a parallel manner; a desirable job can be quickly stopped, and moreover, lowering of throughputs of other jobs can be suppressed.

The present invention is related to a job execution control apparatus suitable for a document processing apparatus having a plurality of functions such as copying, printing, faxing, and image filing. More specifically, the present invention is directed to a technique for stopping plural process operations executed in a parallel manner in response to an instruction from a user.
Recently, document processing apparatuses having a plurality of functions such as a digital copying machine, a printer, a facsimile, and an image filing apparatus (will also be referred to as a "hybrid machine" hereinafter) have been proposed. More specifically, in recent hybrid machines, while environments under which a plurality of jobs can be executed in a parallel manner are provided, such plural jobs are executed at the same time, for instance, a document is stored during a document printing operation, and communication is established between the hybrid machines and an external appliance during the document printing operation.
On the other hand, normally, such a hybrid machine includes an operation function so as to stop a job. For example, in Japanese Patent Publication No. 8 6745A, there is proposed such a system that all jobs are once caused to pause, and thereafter one job is selected to be canceled, and subsequently the remaining jobs are automatically restarted. Since this system may make all of these jobs pause at once, a job is conveniently stopped. However, in this system, since all of the jobs are at once brought into pausing states, such a job which must not be made to pause (for example, facsimile receiving operations) is also made to pause, resulting in a serious problem. Also, in an apparatus capable of executing a plurality of jobs at the same time, such a job that does not require a pausing operation would be brought into the pausing operation. As a result, overall productivity of the document processing apparatus would be lowered. Also, in this system, since only one job is canceled by a series of operations such as a pausing operation and a canceling operation, a user is required to execute the same operation several times so as to make a plurality of jobs pause. Accordingly, in order to solve such a problem, when a user requests to stop a job, the following method may be performed. For instance, during the simultaneous operations of these plural jobs, in order to confirm the job conditions are not made to pause, these jobs are displayed. A job to be stopped is selected from the displayed jobs, and a stop key is depressed with respect to the selected job to stop it. In accordance with this method, such a job which is not wanted, or is not required to be made to pause, is no longer brought into a pausing operation. However, in this system, the jobs are executed without any limitation for a time period during which a list of the jobs under execution is displayed, and a job which is required to be stopped is selected from the plural displayed jobs, and then this selected job is stopped. As a result, even when there is such a job which is required to be urgently stopped, this job cannot be stopped. Consequently, even when stopping a job under printing operation is desired, an ejection of paper cannot be avoided.

Execution control apparatus with key pad that enables selection of jobs to be run


A bypass system and method that mimics read timing of a memory system which includes a self-timing circuit and a sense amplifier. When prompted, the self-timing circuit initiates the sense amplifier to evaluate its differential input. The bypass system includes a memory controller that is configured to provide a bypass enable, to prompt the self-timing circuit, and to disable normal read control when a bypass read operation is indicated. A bypass latch latches an input data value, converts the input data value into an input complementary pair, and provides the complementary pair to the differential input of the sense amplifier. The sense amplifier, when initiated, evaluates the input complementary pair after its self-timing period and provides an output data value. The bypass latch and self-timing circuit may operate synchronous with a read clock in a read domain of the memory for more accurate memory read timing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates generally to memory systems, and more specifically, to a bypass system and method that performs a bypass process that mimics clock to data memory read timing, including mimicking timing in the read domain of a multiport register file.
2. Description of the Related Art
A bypass system may be used for testing on-chip timing to determine whether data or information received from a memory has arrived at a destination within a target time frame. In a typical bypass operation, data are provided to the memory interface and provided back out to a destination without actually writing data into the memory array or reading data from the memory array. In a conventional bypass system, a simple interface, such as a set of flip-flops, buffers, latches, pass gates, or the like, conveys the input data received at the memory input port directly to the output port completely bypassing all memory functions including timing functions. The timing of the memory read process, however, has not been incorporated so that the results are not accurate.

Bypass system and method that mimics clock to data memory read timing


Methods for calculating a MetaKG signal are provided. The method including illuminating a region of interest in a sample with a near-infrared (NIR) light source and/or a visible light source. The region of interest includes a sample portion and background portion, each having a different set of optical characteristics. Images of the region of interest are acquired and processed to obtain metadata associated with the acquired images. MetaKG signals are calculated for the region of interest and for the background. The MetaKG signal for the background is used to adjust the MetaKG signal for the region of interest to provide a final adjusted MetaKG signal for the region of interest.

Blood flow and perfusion in tissue/organs are defined by the amount of blood transferred per unit time over a 2-dimensional area or in a 3-dimensional structure. Blood flow generally relates to volume of flow/unit time in conduits larger than the arteriolar level (macrovascular level). Perfusion typically refers to the blood flow in the microvascular level, with no current parameters for quantification with non-invasive technologies. Direct measurement and quantification of blood flow and perfusion in real time is still being developed.
Currently, there are several imaging technologies that may be used to measure the magnitude and distribution of fluid velocity, such as Laser Doppler Imaging (LDI) and Laser Speckle Imaging (LSI). Fluid velocity is linear flow demonstrating the direction and magnitude of flow, but does not directly quantify flow in either the microvascular or macrovascular levels. To be linked with the more clinically intuitive concepts and terms of blood flow and perfusion, further assumptions or analysis may be required. Indeed, combined with proper fluid dynamic modeling, these imaging techniques of fluid velocity measurement have the potential to derive quantification information of blood flow and perfusion, in both experimental and human clinical conditions. Throughout this document, the terms "blood flow" and "perfusion" are used instead of the more technically oriented term "fluid velocity."
Blood flow is not a constant in the cardiovascular system in mammalian species. Experimental and clinical data document that there are blood velocity changes within one cardiac cycle because the cardiac output and aortic pressure are not constant within one cardiac cycle. Using the blood flow in coronary arteries as an example, in the systolic phase of the cycle the coronary blood flow is low or even stops due to the contraction of the ventricular myocardium. However, in the diastolic phase the blood flow is comparatively high and reaches a maximum level. Based on specific anatomic and physiologic characteristics, the blood flow and perfusion in other tissues and organs may vary as well influenced by the cardiac cycle, but these different organ systems also have specific conditions of blood flow and perfusion seemingly unrelated to the cardiac cycle. Current techniques to assess blood flow and perfusion cannot make this differentiation in these tissues and organ systems and, therefore, improved techniques may be desired.

Methods, systems and computer program products for calculating MetaKG signals for regions having multiple sets of optical characteristics


A whirlpool bath is provided having a support frame for contact with a supporting surface. The support frame includes a support section for separately supporting a water containing tank and an impeller for creating a water jet stream within the tank. The support section is vertically adjustable to adjust the position of both the tank and the impeller relative to the support surface and the impeller is separately adjustable vertically relative to the tank. The tank is not secured to the support section, and both the tank and the impeller may be separately removed for cleaning.

Hydrotherapy is a recognized treatment for a number of injuries and physical disabilities, and this has led to the development of numerous whirlpool bath units for providing such treatments. Many therapeutic bath units consist of large, fixed tubs or tanks which incorporate large motor and pump units that draw water from the bottom of the tub or tank and supply the water under pressure to a number of massage jets which introduce water streams into the tub. Often, the motor also drives an air compressor which aerates the water ejected from the massage jets. Such a unit is illustrated by German Patent DE3544002A to Trabert.
In some fixed bathtub systems for generating a jet stream or bubble jet of water, a pump is provided which pumps water from the bottom of the bathtub through a fixed pipe system and back into the bathtub through water discharge ports. In systems of this type, the normal bathtub drain pipe may be connected to the output of the pump by a changeover valve which permits the pump to discharge water from the bathtub into the drain pipe. A bathtub system of this type is illustrated by Japanese Patent No. 3-158532(A).
In an attempt to develop therapeutic bath devices having some adjustability, the tub or tank employed has been provided with a motor driven impeller for creating a water jet which is vertically adjustable. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,237,435 and 2,417,499 to Ille are illustrative of known adjustable impellers for use with the bathtub or tank.
Although known prior art devices operate effectively to create a water jet flow within the tank or bathtub, they lack the portability and total adjustability which would be ideal for an effective hydrotherapy unit. Tubs or tanks which are fixed in place to either the plumbing of a building or a support frame can prove difficult to completely drain and clean. This is particularly true for units having an impeller which pumps a water stream through fixed ports formed in the tub or tank, as it is extremely difficult to effectively clean and disinfect such ports and the conduits leading thereto.


A bioreactor for bioartificial organs, comprising a closed and substantially tubular body inside which there is a containment cavity; an animal and/or human cell culture and support structure, accommodated in the cavity and suitable to be crossed by a fluid to be processed; a port for the inflow of the fluid to be processed, which is formed in the body upstream of the structure; a port for the outflow of the processed fluid, which is formed in the body downstream of the structure; a first chamber for collecting the fluid to be processed, which is formed in the cavity upstream of the structure and is connected to the outside of the body by means of the inflow port; a second chamber for collecting the processed fluid, which is formed in the cavity downstream of the structure and is connected to the outside of the body by means of the outflow port; a first bundle of hollow capillary fibers for the inflow of the fluid to be processed, which is accommodated in the cavity and is interposed between the first collection chamber and the structure, and a second bundle of hollow capillary fibers for the outflow of the processed fluid, which is accommodated in the cavity and is interposed between the structure and the second collection chamber, the flow of the fluid being substantially parallel to the longitudinal axis of the bioreactor.

Bioreactors used in the biological, microbiological and medical field, for example for the perfusion of cultures of animal or human cells or for the creation of bioartificial organs, where the expression "bioartificial organ" is used to designate extracorporeal devices capable of supporting or temporarily compensating for insufficient functions of organs of a human being, have long been known.
Bioreactors used to create bioartificial organs can host cultures of animal or human cells capable of reproducing the specific functions of the organ to be supported.
Merely by way of example, bioreactors are used to create bioartificial livers, which are extracorporeal devices substantially constituted by a filtration unit, which separates the fluid to be processed, plasma or ultrafiltrate, from the corpuscular components of blood drawn from a patient; by a bioreactor, which contains a culture of metabolically active hepatocytes and is crossed by the fluid to be processed; and by a unit for recombining the processed fluid in output from the bioreactor with the corpuscular components of the blood, which is then reinjected into the patient.
The bioreactor must allow contact between the fluid to be processed and the hepatocytes, so that an exchange suitable to rebalance the concentration of the components of the fluid and of the gases dissolved therein occurs, and so that at the same time the passage of hepatocytes or of fragments thereof in said fluid is prevented, in order to avoid patient immunization phenomena.
The first bioreactors used specifically for bioartificial livers were built by using dialysis machines as their model and by using the basic principles of dialysis processes.
There has been a transition from the early flat-membrane bioreactors to the more recent bioreactors with bundles of hollow capillary fibers, on the outside or inside of which the cell cultures are accommodated.
The use of hollow capillary fibers has allowed to improve diffusion and exchange processes between the fluid to be processed and the cell cultures and to provide the oxygen input required for the metabolism of these cultures.
However, these known bioreactors have had some drawbacks, including the fact that the exchange between the cell culture that they host and the fluid to be processed that passes through them occurs unevenly, inconstantly and partially on the useful exchange surface, with a consequent limited utilization of their actual exchange capacity and a reduction of their efficiency.
This is due both to the low pressure at which it is necessary to introduce the fluid to be processed, in order to avoid subjecting the cells of the culture to stresses that would compromise their vitality, and to the shape and configuration of the supporting structure of the cell cultures, which cause a concentration of the exchange at the region where the fluid enters the bioreactor instead of distributing it over the entire useful surface.
Another drawback of known bioreactors is that the useful volume for the cell culture is greatly reduced with respect to their total volume, the former being on the order of one third of the latter; this, combined with the need to have a sufficient cell concentration capable of replacing the functions of the organ to be supported, entails an increase in the overall dimensions of bioreactors.
In order to obviate these drawbacks, bioreactors with hollow capillary fibers are known which are essentially constituted by a substantially tubular container which internally accommodates a cell culture and support structure and is provided, at one end, with a port for the inflow of the fluid to be processed, which is arranged upstream of the structure, and at the opposite end with a port for the outflow of the processed fluid, which is arranged downstream of the structure.
Upstream of the support and culture structure there is a first chamber for collecting the fluid to be processed, which is connected to the outside of the container by means of the inflow port; downstream of the support and culture structure there is a second chamber for collecting the processed fluid, which is connected to the outside of the container by means of the outflow port.
The support and culture structure is constituted by a multilayer panel, which is wound in a spiral around a coupling stem that is substantially coaxial to the container, is internally hollow and has a blind end and another open end that is connected to the outside of said container.
The panel has an edge that is rigidly coupled, by interlocking and/or gluing, to a longitudinal slit formed in the stem, and the opposite edge that is in contact with the inside wall of the container; the opposite ends of the spiral are embedded in a respective containment ring.
The panel is constituted by at least six superimposed flat layers: a first layer, constituted by an order of capillary hollow fibers for the outflow of the processed fluid, which are parallel to the axis of the container and are bent in a U-shape so that their free ends lead into the second collection chamber; a second layer, which is constituted by a permeable and filtering cell support medium; a third layer, which is constituted by a lattice for distribution of the cells to be seeded; a fourth layer, which is identical to the second layer; a fifth layer, which is constituted by an order of capillary hollow fibers for the inflow of the fluid to be processed, which are parallel to the axis of the container and are bent in a U-shape in the opposite direction with respect to the fibers of the first layer, so that their free ends lead into the first collection chamber; and finally, a sixth layer, which is constituted by an impermeable sheet that separates the capillary fibers of the first and fifth layer when the panel is wound in a spiral.
The cells to be seeded in the culture and support structure are inoculated, through the open end of the stem, into the cavity of said stem; the inoculated cells diffuse throughout the structure through the edge of the panel that is fixed to the stem.
Once seeding of the cells has ended, the bioreactor can be used as a bioartificial organ: the fluid to be processed is introduced through the inflow port into the first collection chamber and from there penetrates into the inflow fibers; after saturating them, it passes through their walls, and by following a substantially radial flow it reaches the layer that supports the cells with which the exchange of solutes occurs.
The fluid thus processed, again following a flow that is substantially radial with respect to the axis of the container, reaches the outflow fibers, and penetrates inside them through their walls in order to flow out into the second collection chamber and be evacuated through the outflow port.
These last known bioreactors, while having allowed to overcome the drawbacks noted earlier by allowing to provide a uniform exchange over the entire useful surface and to better utilize the available volume, nonetheless have drawbacks, including the fact that they have a very complex structure, require long, laborious and accurate assembly operations, and require the use of various kinds of material, with a consequent increase in production costs and times.
It is noted, for example, that precise operations for interlocking and bonding the edge of the panel to the central stem with adhesive are required.
Moreover, it is noted that the multilayer panel has a very complex configuration, which requires the superimposition of a plurality of different layers, including an impermeable one that is suitable to separate the hollow inflow fibers from the outflow fibers, so as to avoid any mixing of the fluid to be processed and the already-processed fluid.

Bioreactor, particularly for bioartificial organs


Systems and methods for authenticating users based on their gait. A sensor module with multiple sensors is placed inside a user's shoe and biometric data is gathered from the sensors when the user takes a step. The data gathered from each of the sensors is then received by a data processing module. The data is processed and compared with a stored signature from an authenticated user. If the processed data does not match the stored signature within predetermined limits, then the user using the system is not authenticated. An alarm may then be generated. If, on the other hand, there is a match, the user is authenticated and this authenticated result can be used to give the user access to restricted resources.

The increase in activity in the security field has highlighted some of the shortcomings of user authentication systems.
Security authentication systems generally come in a number of categories. Card or fob based systems use cards or fobs which, when swiped or placed near readers, authenticate their holder as being legitimate. Biometric systems require that the user use a biometric reader so that a biometric reading (usually a retina scan, a fingerprint, or any other known biometric based indicia) can be taken. Password/passcode based systems require a user to enter in a password/passcode for authentication. Other systems may use any combination of these general categories of authentication systems.
Of course, most of the above noted authentication systems have their drawbacks. Specifically, passwords/passcodes can be stolen. Similarly, cards and fobs can also be stolen and/or duplicated. Also, passwords/passcodes can be forgotten while cards and/or fobs can be lost. Biometric based authentication systems, while almost foolproof, require a more active participation from the user. As well, biometric based systems have sometimes been seen as too invasive for some people to use.
There is therefore a need for an authentication system that is neither invasive nor easy to lose. As well, such an authentication system should also not be vulnerable to theft and, even if stolen, it should not be usable by whoever stole it.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and interface are provided for using a memory that distinguishes transmission data from reception data and performs a First-In-First-Out (FIFO) operation on the transmission and reception data in a communication system. In the method, a controller receives from a register a last transmission address provided for dividing one memory module having L addresses into a transmission area having M addresses according to application, where M is less than or equal to L, and a reception area having (L-M) addresses. A codec interface allocates a first address up to the last transmission address of the memory module for the transmission area. The codec interface allocates an address increased by 1 from the last transmission address up to the last address of the memory module for the reception area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a communication system. In particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for communicating transmission/reception data of a codec interface that processes voice and audio information in a mobile communication chip.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a wideband stereo codec includes an analog-to-digital converter (ADC) for converting voice and audio information, that is an analog signal, received at a reception apparatus (for example, terminal) in a mobile communication system, into a digital signal, and a digital-to-analog converter (DAC) for converting a digital signal into an analog signal to output voice and audio signal. The wideband stereo codec further includes an apparatus for performing coding/decoding on the voice and audio information.
The wideband stereo codec is connected to a codec interface, and exchanges transmission/reception data with other hardware blocks prepared in the reception apparatus. The codec interface includes a transmission First-In-First-Out (FIFO) memory for storing transmission data and a reception FIFO memory for storing received data, and exchanges data associated with voice and audio information with the wideband stereo codec.
In this context, FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating a conventional FIFO structure that includes capacity-fixed transmission FIFO memory and reception FIFO memory and exchanges data with a wideband stereo codec connected thereto.
Referring to FIG. 1, the FIFO structure of the conventional codec interface 130 separately uses a transmission FIFO memory 135 and a reception FIFO memory 140. The codec interface 130 performs interfacing with a wideband stereo codec 115 via the transmission FIFO memory 135 and the reception FIFO memory 140 having a predetermined size. That is, the transmission FIFO memory 135 and the reception FIFO memory 140 are separated from each other by hardware. In Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) design, the transmission FIFO memory 135 and the reception FIFO memory 140 perform an interfacing operation using predetermined memory capacity.
In other words, the codec interface 130 adopts a scheme of controlling flow of transmission data using the transmission FIFO memory 135, and controlling flow of reception data using the reception FIFO memory 140. A description will now be made of a procedure for exchanging voice and audio information between the wideband stereo codec 115 and the codec interface 130.
In a voice and audio information transmission process, generated voice and audio information is input to the transmission FIFO memory 135 in the codec interface 130 via a bus 145 which is an information delivery path between peripheral hardware chips. The transmission FIFO memory 135 sequentially stores the sequentially received voice and audio information. The voice and audio information stored in the transmission FIFO memory 135 is sequentially delivered to the wideband stereo codec 115, and converted into an analog voice and audio signal by a DAC 120. Thereafter, the analog voice and audio signal is output over the air via a speaker 105.
In a voice and audio information reception process, an analog signal input via a microphone 110 is converted into digital data by an ADC 125 in the wideband stereo codec 115. The reception FIFO memory 140 in the codec interface 130 sequentially stores the sequentially received digital data. The digital voice and audio information is delivered to other hardware devices via the bus 145.
As described above, the conventional codec interface 130 has a fixed size, and transmits/receives voice and audio information using the transmission FIFO memory 135 and the reception FIFO memory 140, which are separated by hardware. That is, the codec interface 130 includes at least two FIFO memories of the transmission FIFO memory 135 and the reception FIFO memory 140. Therefore, the conventional mobile communication chip needs at least two Dual-Port Random Access Memories (DPRAMs).
Generally, in a semiconductor process, as the number of memories increases, a Design For Test (DFT) logic increases in size. This means an increase in layout and wiring efforts. Therefore, the need for the two separate DPRAMs causes unnecessary processing delay.
In addition, because the conventional codec interface unconditionally separately uses the transmission FIFO memory with predetermined capacity and the reception FIFO memory with predetermined capacity, it has a predetermined size in terms of hardware.
However, because the conventional codec interface has only the transmission FIFO memory or reception FIFO memory with predetermined capacity, when there is a large amount of voice and audio information, the transmission FIFO memory stores the information as much as the predetermined capacity and then must waits for memory to become available in order to continue processing.

Method and apparatus for communicating data using TX/RX FIFO structure in a wideband stereo codec interface


Disclosed herein is a polyethylene terephthalate film for magnetic recording medium, which contains 0.1 to 1.0% by weight based on the film of aggregated silicon oxide particles having an average particle size of 0.03 to 0.2 .mu.m, primary particle of which having an average particle size of 0.005 to 0.05 .mu.m, 0.1 to 1.0% by weight based on the film of aggregated aluminium oxide particles having an average particle size of 0.03 to 0.2 .mu.m, primary particle of which having an average particle size of 0.005 to 0.05 .mu.m and 0.005 to 0.3% by weight based on the film of a crosslinked polymer having an average particle size of 0.2 to 0.8 .mu.m, said film having a center line average surface roughness of 0.003 to 0.015 .mu.m and a sum of F-5 values in both the machine direction and the transverse direction of at least 25.0 kg/mm.sup.2. The film has a flat surface and is excellent in slipperiness, abrasion resistance, scratch resistance and protuberance resistance, which can be used as a base film for high-density magnetic recording medium.

The polyethylene terephthalate films are excellent in physical and chemical properties, especially in flatness, mechanical strength and dimensional stability, if compares with other films, and therefore, they have been widely used as base films for magnetic recording media.
Recently, the miniaturization and the increase in recording density of the magnetic recording media including video tape has been rapidly made. Because the high-density magnetic recording is effective at short wavelength, the thickness of a magnetic layer in the high-density magnetic recording medium is reduced so as to improve an output loss due to the thicker magnetic layer. For example, a standard video tape has generally a magnetic layer of about 5 .mu.m, while a high-density video tape where a metal powder, mainly a pure iron powder is applied has the magnetic layer of about 2 .mu.m. With the reduction in thickness of the magnetic layer, the influence of surface properties of the base film on the electromagnetic properties of the magnetic recording medium becomes more larger. Therefore, the surface of the base film should be as flat as possible.
Until now, the improvement in flatness of the base film is usually accompanied by the damages of other properties such as slipperiness, abrasion resistance, scratch resistance and protuberance resistance were impaired. Using a base film having poor abrasion resistance, a white powder produced due to the friction and abrasion between the film and various rollers during preparing the tape. It inhibited the uniform application of the magnetic layer and was partly transferred on the surface of the magnetic layer, which caused a drop-out. The white powder also produced during a calendering step after applying the magnetic layer to the film so as to be made into the magnetic tape. Then, it deposited on a surface of a calendering roll, which gave the rough surface of the magnetic layer and caused the lowering in electromagnetic properties of the resultant magnetic tape.
It is known to incorporate inactive fine particles in the film so as to inhibit the production of the white powder and to improve the abrasion resistance. By incorporating such particles in an amount enough to obtain a satisfactory abrasion resistance, naturally the flatness of the film is damaged.
The protuberance resistance is one of the properties which are requested for the base film. The term "protuberance" means herein a phenomenon which, when the base film is wound under tension, causes a partly protuberance due to the inclusion of a dust or other contaminants as well as the carrying of the concomitant air produced by winding at high speed. When the base film protuberated, it deformed in the form of circular projection, which also caused the drop-out.
It is known to incorporate particles effective for the improvement of the slipperiness in the base film so as to inhibit the protuberance. By incorporating such particles in an amount enough to obtain a satisfactory protuberance resistance, naturally the flatness of the film is damaged.
With the miniaturization of a magnetic recording system, the reduction in thickness of the tape, i.e. the base film is also made. Because the base film having the reduced thickness is poor in mechanical strength, the film is generally subjected by stretching in machine direction or in both machine and transverse directions at high draw ratio so as to increase the mechanical strength. Such a film is generally called "a tensilized film". However, the tensilized film is easily scratched. Especially if has the flat surface, the production of scratch increases, which invites the lowering in output and causes the drop-out, when made into the magnetic tape. Therefore, the flat film which is hardly scratched could not be obtained. In addition, the tensilized film has the poor abrasion resistance. By stretching at high draw ratio, large void at the interfaces between the particles incorporated in the film and the film are formed, thereby the particles are easily dropped out and the white powder is easily produced during the calendering step.
An object of the present invention is to provide a base film for magnetic recording medium, which has a flat surface and is excellent in abrasion resistance, scratch resistance and protuberance resistance when made into the tensilized film.

Polyethylene terephthalate film for magnetic recording medium containing three different kinds of particles


A can end that is attached to a metal can body with a bottom end forming a cavity that may be filled with food, liquid, etc. The can end is made of metal with a bead configuration located in the outer circumference of the can end that increases its resistance to deformation when subjected to high pressure cooking environments and assists in preventing the can end from separating along the frangible score.

The application generally relates to metal can ends. More specifically, the application relates to metal can ends that have a bead configuration that strengthens the can end. Can ends are used on can bodies with different dimensions that store a variety of materials, such as perishable food items. Can ends act to hermetically seal contents within the can and also provide an access point to the container contents.

Can end with strengthening bead configuration


Compounds of formula I: ##STR1## wherein R, R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3, and R.sup.4 have any of the values defined in the specification, and their pharmaceutically acceptable salts, are inhibitors of aromatase, and are useful for treating diseases such as breast cancer, in mammals. Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions, processes for preparing compounds of formula (I) and intermediates useful for preparing compounds of formula I.

The female sex hormones estradiol and estrone are involved in many physiological processes and have been studied extensively. The formation of these steroids is regulated by a number of enzymes. The enzyme aromatase is the rate limiting enzyme in the conversion of testosterone and androstenedione to estradiol and estrone. As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,322,416, granted 30 Mar. 1982, certain 10-alkynyl steroids that can regulate or inhibit aromatase may have the potential to treat clinical conditions which are potentiated by the presence of estrogens. Aromatase inhibitors have been used for the treatment of conditions such as gynecomastia, male infertility associated with oligospermia, fertility control, endometrial cancer associated with production of high levels of estrogens, and most importantly, for treatment of breast cancer.
Breast cancer is one of the leading causes of death in women in the United States. About two-thirds of breast cancers are hormone independent and are treated with radiation or chemotherapy. The remaining one-third are hormone-dependent and are treated with either endocrine ablative therapy, or with the antiestrogen tamoxifen, or with aromatase inhibitors.
Aromatase inhibitors have also been shown to be effective as second line therapeutic agents in tamoxifen resistant breast cancer. In March 1996, the FDA approved the first Type II aromatase inhibitor for use in the United States. Other nonsteroidal aromatase inhibitors are currently being evaluated for safety and efficacy. The steroidal aromatase inhibitor, 4-hydroxyandrostenedione, has been approved in the United Kingdom for treatment of breast cancer. Aromatase inhibitors are currently recognized as useful tools for the management and remission of metastatic breast cancer. Therefore, there is a need for effective aromatase inhibitors to treat breast cancer and other cancers.


A game or puzzle including a plurality of polyomino pieces which have the obverse sides and the reverse sides marked with different markings, there being a least three markings in total on the obverse and reverse sides of the piece. The pieces may be assembled using both sides into different arrays of eight by eight squares defining checkerboard patterns for use in playing the game of chess or checkers. The pieces may also be assembled into a cube comprising four by four squares.

Many two coloured checkered board puzzles and games of the type involving the assembly of a number of different pieces have been developed in the past but most such puzzles and games provide a fairly limited challenge. Examples of such puzzles are disclosed in the publication COMPENDIUM OF CHECKER BOARD PUZZLES by JERRY SLOCUM AND JACQUES HAUBRICH published August 1993. Further examples are shown in the FRANSEN 1930 U.S. Pat. No. 1,752,248 relating to an educational puzzle, an 1892 U.K. Patent No 16810 relating to a checkerboard puzzle and LUERS 1880 U.S. Pat. No. 2,319,63 relating to a sectional checkered board puzzle. Even though their challenge itself may be formidable in certain cases, the puzzles or games often lose part of their appeal after the challenge has been met.
The area of mathematics dealing with polyominoes is called combinatorial geometry and information relating to such games and puzzles, including pentominoes, may be found in the publication "Polyominoes" by Solomon W. Golomb (1965). A puzzle comprising a rectangular board composed of twelve pentominoes is disclosed in the 1959 U.S. Pat. No. 2,900,190 to Pestieau. A 1993 Pentominoes game marketed by the Binary Arts Corporation Inc. builds on Golomb's 1965 work. The 1976 U.S. Pat. No. 3,964,749 to Wadsworth also discloses a puzzle involving pentominoes for a rectangular board of ninety squares.
Many puzzles have also been constructed over the past century that involve the cutting up of a standard chess board in any number of pieces and each piece can comprise a varying number of squares. These pieces include pentominoes as well as higher or lower order polyominoes. In any of these puzzles, the test is to reassemble the chess board out of its constituent pieces. No relationship has ever been established between an obverse side and a reverse side of the puzzle pieces. Whenever the pieces were coloured in a checkered pattern on both sides, the colouring was either identical or the exact opposite. No difference between the obverse and reverse sides has ever been demonstrated nor has the interchange of colours (and patterns) between pieces from the obverse and reverse of the puzzle ever been alluded to.


Methods for removing an oxyanion from an aqueous source containing said oxyanion, comprising contacting said aqueous source with an aqueous-insoluble hydrophobic solution containing an oxyanion extractant compound dissolved in an aqueous-insoluble hydrophobic solvent to result in formation of an oxyanion salt of said extractant compound and extraction of said oxyanion salt into said aqueous-insoluble hydrophobic solution, wherein said extraction results in an extraction affinity (D) of said oxyanion of at least 1, wherein D is the concentration ratio of said oxyanion in the organic phase divided by the concentration of said oxyanion in the aqueous phase; wherein said extractant compound has the following composition:

Effective separation of highly hydrophilic anions (e.g., sulfate, phosphate, selenate, and chromate) from competitive aqueous solutions remains a major challenge, despite the tremendous progress in anion receptor chemistry over the past decade. In the particular case of sulfate, although a significant number of sulfate-binding receptors have been reported (e.g., I. Ravikumar et al, Chem. Soc. Rev., 41, 3077, 2012), they have shown limited success in the substantial removal of this anion from water. A significant obstacle in the development of anion receptors is often the expensive multi-step synthesis required for their assembly, which generally involves tedious purifications and the use of toxic reagents and solvents.
The removal of superhydrophilic anions, such as sulfate and phosphate, from brines, agricultural runoff, and industrial waste continues to be an ongoing challenge. Seawater, in particular, contains very high levels of sulfate (˜3,000 mg/L), and seawater is used on a large scale in oil-field injection operations. During such operations, the sulfate in the seawater combines with strontium and barium found in rock to form barium and strontium sulfate scale. The precipitation of barium and strontium sulfates is highly detrimental to the process, such as by clogging lines and destroying production wells. The conventional technology for removing sulfate from seawater is by nanofiltration, which can reduce sulfate levels to about 50 mg/mL. However, some drawbacks to this approach are the remaining high sulfate levels, the need to pressurize the system to 20-30 bars, which results in a significant expenditure in energy, and membrane fouling. Other methods involve scale-removing chemicals, but these are known to be difficult to use and very expensive, and they are not very effective against sulfate scales. Another technology, known as the MD-LPP process, yields sulfate-free seawater, but the process has the significant drawbacks of employing high pressures and pre-concentrating the seawater.
The difficulty in separating superhydrophilic anions, such as sulfate, from aqueous solutions can be attributed to their high free energies of hydration (−1080 kJ mol−1 for sulfate) which makes their removal from aqueous solutions very unfavorable in comparison to less hydrophilic anions (e.g., −381 kJ mol−1 for chloride) (e.g., Y. Marcus, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans., 1991, 87, 2995). Nevertheless, targeted separation of superhydrophilic anions from aqueous solutions is necessary for a range of important water treatment applications, including processing of radioactive wastes, oil production, and desalination. In a conventional method for separation of aqueous sulfate, the anion is hydrogen-bonded by cationic precipitants that are added to the aqueous phase (e.g., R. Custelcean et al., Angew. Chem. Ed. Int., 54, 10525 (2015) and R. Custelcean et al., Chem. Eur. J., 22, 1997 (2016)). This process is driven by the favorable lattice formation energy, which compensates for the unfavorable ion desolvation energy.
Liquid-liquid extraction is a common approach to ion separation, where ions are transported from water into an immiscible aliphatic solvent. However, liquid-liquid extraction has so far proven difficult for separation of superhydrophilic anions, such as sulfate, because (1) selectivity of anion extraction into oil generally follows the Hofmeister series, which favors extraction of less hydrophilic anions; and (2) hydrophilic ions and receptor groups are inherently unstable in aliphatic oil because of retention of their hydration shells, thereby causing uncontrolled aggregation and phase transitions. There would be a particular benefit in a liquid-liquid extraction process that could substantially remove superhydrophilic oxyanions, such as sulfate, from seawater or industrial waste by a straight-forward approach without the impediments and shortcomings of previous efforts.

Lipophilic guanidinium compounds for removal of oxyanions from aqueous solutions

Abstract: wherein at least one of R1-R10 is or contains a hydrocarbon (R) group containing at least 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, or 12 carbon atoms.


An image pick-up includes a number of active sensor elements (11; 12; 13; 14) arranged in an array and a number of conductive lines extending over the surface of the array for the transfer of supply and signals. Each sensor element includes a light sensor (20) and an amplifier. According to the invention, a reduction in the number of lines can be achieved while functionality is maintained. In a first and a second embodiment (11; 12), a sensor element includes a first switch (S1) associated with the sensor and a second switch (S2; S3) associated with the amplifier, the switches being controlled by a common control signal. In a third embodiment (13), a sensor element includes a series arrangement of a first switch (S1) and a second switch (S2) included between the sensor and a supply line. In a fourth embodiment (14), a select signal is also used as a supply for the amplifier.

The present invention relates in general to an image sensor with active sensor elements, more in particular to a CMOS image sensor.
Image sensors are generally known. Reference may be made, for example, to the publication xe2x80x9cCMOS Image Sensors: Electronic Camera-On-A-Chipxe2x80x9d by Erik R. Fossum in xe2x80x9cProceedings of the IEEE International Electron Devices Meeting 1995, pp. 17-25xe2x80x9d.
In general, an image pick-up or image sensor comprises a plurality of sensor elements which are positioned next to one another in a regular array. Each sensor element is sensitive to light and provides an electric signal which corresponds to the light received by the sensor element. When an image is projected onto the array of sensor elements of the image sensor, each sensor element provides an electric signal which is representative of one picture element or pixel of the projected picture.
Each of the active sensor elements comprises a photosensitive member such as, for example, a photodiode for converting a light signal into an electric signal, and an amplifier member for amplifying the electric signal generated by the photosensitive member. The sensor element is to be provided with a supply voltage and control signals for causing the sensor element to function. Furthermore, the output signals of the sensor elements are to be offered to a signal-processing device. For this purpose, conductive tracks extend over the surface of the pixel matrix, which tracks are connected to respective inputs or outputs of the sensor elements. Said tracks are made of metal and accordingly are impermeable to light, so that these tracks lead to a reduction in the surface area of the sensor elements which is effectively available for receiving light.
It is a main object of the present invention to provide an active image sensor in which the number of connection tracks extending over the sensor matrix is reduced while the functionality remains the same. A major advantage offered thereby is an improvement in the effective light-receiving surface area of each sensor element.

Image sensor with active sensor elements