An evaporator for an automotive air conditioning refrigeration circuit includes first and second header pipes, a plurality of communicating members which comprise a substantially U-shaped communication path therein, and a corrugated fin unit fixedly disposed between the U-shaped flat pipes. The first and second header pipes are disposed parallel to each other. Each of the U-shaped flat pipes includes a pair of straight portions and a U-shaped curved portion which connects the lower ends of the straight portions. An upper end of one of the straight portions is fixedly and hermetically connected to the first header pipe, and an upper end of the other straight portion is fixedly and hermetically connected to the second header pipe. The pair of the straight portions and the U-shaped curved portion of the U-shaped flat pipe extend along a plane which is parallel to the flow direction of air passing an exterior surface of the evaporator.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates to a heat exchanger for a refrigeration circuit and more particularly, to an evaporator for an automotive air conditioning refrigeration circuit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Evaporators for use in automotive air conditioning refrigeration circuits are known in the art, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,892,143 to Ishii. With reference to FIG. 1, a serpentine-type evaporator or heat exchanger discussed in the Ishii '143 patent is shown. Evaporator 100 includes a continuous serpentine tube 101 through which refrigeration fluid flows. Serpentine tube 101 includes a plurality of spaced, planar portions 101a and a corresponding plurality of curved connecting portions 101b. The planar portions 101a are parallel to one another and vertically disposed so as to be parallel to the flow direction "A" of air which passes an exterior surface of evaporator 100. One end of serpentine tube 101 is brazed to a fluid inlet pipe 102. The fluid inlet pipe 102 is linked to the output of a compression or an expansion means (for example, a compressor, not shown) of a refrigeration circuit. The other end of serpentine tube 101 is brazed to a fluid outlet pipe 103. The fluid outlet pipe 103 is linked to the inlet of the compressor.
Refrigeration fluid is provided to serpentine tube 101 from the compressor via inlet pipe 102, flows through each successive planar portion 101a and connecting portion 101b towards outlet pipe 103, and is then returned to the compressor. Of course, the refrigeration circuit may include other elements disposed between the compressor and evaporator 100.
The curved connecting portions of the evaporator discussed in Ishii '143 are formed by bending a straight tube. However, when the number of planar portions of the evaporator are increased in order to increase its ability to exchange heat, the radius of curvature of the curved connecting portions must be decreased. When a straight tube is bent with a small radius, the outer region of the resulting curved connecting portion becomes excessively thin. As a result, the mechanical strength and corrosion resistance of the outer regions is remarkably decreased. Therefore, the life of the evaporator decreases considerably. Accordingly, the ability of the Ishii device to exchange heat can only be increased a small amount due to the limits on the number of planar portions which can be formed.
Furthermore, since the refrigeration fluid flows through each of the planar portions and the curved connecting portions in succession from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe, the efficiency of the heat exchange between the refrigeration fluid flowing through the serpentine tube and the air passing the exterior surface of the evaporator gradually decreases from the inlet pipe to the outlet pipe. Therefore, the air temperature leaving the exterior surface of the evaporator is not uniform across the evaporator. As a result, an improved elaborate automobile air conditioning system cannot be obtained.
Moreover, the water drops condensed on the exterior surface of the evaporator tend to be concentrated at an inner surface of each of the lower curved connecting portions. These gathered water drops may be scattered into the passenger compartment of an automobile by the air blown from an evaporator fan.


A medical stylet for guiding a lead includes a first elongate member for attachment of the lead to the target tissue, a second elongate member to reshape the lead. The first elongate member of the medical stylet includes a proximal end portion, and a distal end portion wherein the distal end portion of the first elongate member includes a tip feature configured to engage the lead on application of torque externally. The second elongate member defines a lumen along its length. The lumen of the second elongate member can be configured to enclose at least a portion of the first elongate member. The second elongate member can have a pre defined shape. The pre defined shape of the second elongate member allows the lead to be reshaped when inserted into the lead, this reshaped lead now can be guided to an anatomical pass way.

Implantable medical leads can be used to deliver electrical stimulation to the body tissue through implantable medical devices. Exemplary implantable devices include cardiac rhythm management (CRM) systems (e.g., pacemakers, defibrillators, and cardiac resynchronization therapy devices) and neurostimulation systems (e.g., spinal cord stimulation (SCS) systems). For CRM systems, the medical leads typically extend intravascularly to an implant location within or on a patient's heart. The implantable medical leads can be equipped with at least one electrode. The implantable medical leads are often positioned so that the electrode delivers electrical stimulation to a target tissue without stimulating adjacent tissue. The implantable medical leads can be flexible and can require use of a support device (e.g., a stylet) to effectively guide the implantable medical lead into a desired location inside the heart of a patient. A stylet-driven implantable medical lead can have a pre-formed shape to facilitate advancement of the medical lead to certain locations within the heart.
Implantable medical leads are often anchored or fixed to heart tissue using an active (i.e., movable or deployable) fixation anchor, such as a rotatable helix, located at or near a distal end of the lead. As the medical leads are typically flexible in torsion, it can be a challenge to use the lead body to rotate the helix. For stylet-driven implantable medical leads, the stylet can operate to deliver torque from a proximal end of the lead to an active fixation mechanism at or near the distal end of the lead.

Compound-shaped stylet for torque transmission


A technique for trusted social networking involves enabling parties to join a social network and provide a list of trusted content sources. The system can maintain folders associated with each of the trusted content sources for a first member. If one of the trusted content sources is a second member that indicates the first member is trusted, then the system can maintain a master folder for the first and second member.

Since their introduction, blogs (like Mashable, Lifehacker, The Huffington Post) and social network sites (like MySpace, Facebook, and Twitter) have attracted millions of users, many of whom have integrated these sites into their daily practices. There are now hundreds of social networks and thousands of blogs supporting a wide range of interests and topics. However, if you are interested in follow or participate any number of these blogs or social network sites, you would have to go to their individual URL one by one and access to the content. This presents another problem, and that is users now have to be familiar with multiple user interfaces. In addition data is accessed in different ways which also makes it difficult for users learn all these different sites.
There are some alternatives like social network aggregators, but they do not provide social network capability of their own. Still others provide social network capability, but only for separate groups or organizations made up of small unconnected social network groups, but does not have the power of combined networks. In addition, there are no solutions to manage information on these blogs and social network sites all together, like searching, sorting, organizing, accessing, etc. in a combined manner. Users have to do that one by one in every site. Furthermore, most social network sites do not provide sufficient capability to users for categorizing content based on some general topics which makes relevant data spread around and make it difficult for searching and finding.
In these blogs and social network sites, user typically do not have the ability to send a message to only one person, or only to those select group of people. Typically information open to anyone and user has very little control on who to communicate with. To address this problem, instead, individuals and businesses also have been using emails for communication, which provides control over who to communicate with. However, emails do have number of drawbacks as well. For example, when an email is sent to five people, five copies of the original email is sent increasing the overall storage requirements substantially. Another problem with emails is the lost emails. Many users complain that they did not receive the email. For number of reasons emails do not arrive at their intended destinations. Some of them end up in so called "junk mail" folders, which some people do not look at or check only rarely. Another problem with emails is that anyone who knows your email address can send and email and you cannot effectively control that. So, users end up with hundreds of emails in their inbox that they have to review and delete, which wastes time and causes distraction. Another problem with email is that all emails come to your only email inbox. It takes time and effort to review and sort them based on content or who it is coming from.
Another problem with these sites is that they provide only one way of communication like, either posting, or text messaging, etc. User cannot use posting, text messaging, emailing, and private messaging for communication in one site. Another problem with these blogs and social network sites is generally users do not know if there is a message or communication or content until user logs in to the sites individually one by one.
Another problem is the privacy issue. In many of these blogs and social network sites, information is open to the public and shared. This aspect of the social networks limits use of social networks for businesses, government agencies, educational institutions, etc. Blogs and social networks, as the name suggest, are primarily connecting people in a social environment, but not meant to be used in a business environment where privacy and security are important.
Another problem with these sites that they do not have rating or ranking of content or users. Not having such capabilities typically promotes content that is not desirable by many users. In addition, these sites do not provide incentives to users for participation and contribution. As a result, quality of the content created in these sites may suffer.
Therefore, there is a strong need for a system and methods for creating, managing, searching, categorizing, sharing, collecting, aggregating and communicating public and private content and personal messages through multiplicity of communication channels like posting, personal email, and text, audio, and video messaging. Furthermore, system and methods for connecting users to multiplicity of content like social networks, blogs, events, discussion boards, news and for enabling users to access content through wireless as well as wired networks, utilizing portable and non-portable electronic hardware device. Furthermore, system and methods for providing a unified hierarchical user interface for content display, management, access and communication. Furthermore, system and methods for incentivizing users for participation and quality content by use of credits, and ranks and ratings of users and content. Furthermore, system and methods for enabling sponsors to engage with users by sponsoring categories or target users at specific categories based on user interest and by providing incentives to those users for their participations. Furthermore, system and methods for enabling business managing their content and internal communications in a private and secure environment.
The approaches described in this section are approaches that could be pursued, but not necessarily approaches that have been previously conceived or pursued. Therefore, unless otherwise indicated, the approaches described in this section may not be prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
A system for providing a trusted network includes a one-way trust lists data store loaded in the memory including a first one-way trust list of a first member and a second one-way trust list of a second member. The first one-way trust list stores information identifying a first set of members related to the first member that reciprocally trust each other and the second one-way trust list information identifying a second set of members related to the second member that reciprocally trust each other. In order to become a reciprocal trusted member between two members, both members have to send a specific message to the other counterpart member to specifically agree to be a trusted member of the other counterpart member. The system further includes a master reciprocated trust folders data store loaded in the memory to store a plurality of reciprocated trusted folders, each of the reciprocated trusted folders storing content exchanged amongst corresponding members that reciprocally trust each other. The system further includes a reciprocated trust management engine loaded in the memory and executed by the processor, the reciprocated trust management engine being coupled to the one-way trust lists data store and to the master reciprocated trust folders data store.
The reciprocated trust management engine receives first content exchanged between the first member and the second member; in response to the first content, matches a first entry in the first one-way trust list with the second member to determine whether the first member trusts the second member, where the first entry includes identifying information of the second member if the first member trusts the second member; matches a second entry in the second one-way trust list with the first member to determine whether the second member trusts the first member, wherein the second entry includes identifying information of the first member if the second member trusts the first member; creates a first reciprocated trust folder for a group of members including the first member and the second member only if the first entry of the first one-way trust list matches the second member and the second entry of the second one-way trust list matches the first member; stores the first content as trusted content in the first reciprocated trust folder; maintains the first reciprocated trust folder in the master reciprocated trust folders datastore as one of the plurality of reciprocated trust folders stored therein; only both the first member and the second member have access to the trusted content from the first reciprocated trust folder, including modifying the trusted content stored in the first reciprocated trust folder; and the first reciprocated trust folder stores a single instance of the trusted content that is shared between the first member and the second member.


A circuit for controlling charging includes a transistor provided on a charging path between a position of a charging terminal and a position of a battery, an input voltage detecting circuit configured to detect a potential of a point on the charging path coupled to the charging terminal's side of the transistor, and a drive circuit configured to control an ON resistance of the transistor between a conductive state and a nonconductive state in response to the potential detected by the input voltage detecting circuit.

1.Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to charging circuits used in battery packs for electronic apparatus, and also relates to such battery packs and electronic apparatus. The present invention particularly relates to a charge control circuit for controlling the charging of a battery in the battery pack of electronic apparatus, and also relates to such a battery pack and electronic apparatus.
2.Description of the Related Art
In portable apparatus such as notebook-type personal computers or the like, an internal power supply circuit for supplying electric power to core electronic circuitry is required to be small. The internal power supply circuit is also required to be operable with high efficiency in order to achieve a long battery-powered operating time.
Notebook personal computers use a battery pack or an AC adapter receiving power from a commercial power supply as the source of electric power. A predetermined voltage (e.g., 16 V) supplied from this source of electric power is converted to other voltage levels by an internal power supply circuit, thereby supplying internal voltages needed by respective core electronic circuits. For example, CPU uses a voltage level of 0.9 V or 1.5 V, a hard-disc drive and CD-ROM drive using 5 V, an LSI using 3.3 V, and a memory using 2.5 V. In order to charge the battery pack, the 16-V voltage level output from the AC adapter is lowered to 12.6 V by a charger, and this lowered voltage is supplied to the battery pack such as a lithium-ion battery pack. When the commercial power supply is not used, the battery pack charged in this manner is used to supply electric power to the internal power supply circuit.
As the circuit density of semiconductor integrated circuits increases, with resultant improvement in functionality and performance, the operating voltage of semiconductor integrated circuits is increasingly lowered. With such lowering of an operating voltage, an internal power supply circuit provided inside notebook personal computers or the like needs to make a significant voltage reduction to a predetermined voltage supplied from an AC adaptor in order to produce a stepped-down voltage that is to be supplied to core electronic circuitry.
A DC-DC converter serving as the internal power supply circuit, however, has a problem in that efficiency drops as a difference between the input voltage and the output voltage widens. An on/off ratio of the output transistor of a DC-DC converter is determined according to a ratio of the output voltage to the input voltage. As a difference between the input voltage and the output voltage widens, therefore, the "on" period of the output transistor becomes extremely short. As a result, the time length of a rise and a fall of the output transistor ends up having a significant proportion relative to the time length of the "on" period, resulting in voltage conversion efficiency deteriorating. When the "on" period of the output transistor becomes extremely short, also, it becomes difficult to increase the frequency of a DC-DC converter. Because of this, there is no choice but to use the DC-DC converter at low operating frequency, which ends up requiring a bulky coil. This is not preferable when considering the miniaturization of a DC-DC converter.
The above-stated problems are obviated if a difference between the input voltage and output voltage of a DC-DC converter is reduced. The output of an AC adaptor, which also serves as the source of electric power, cannot be lowered below a predetermined level (e.g., 16 V) because this output is also used to drive the display of the notebook personal computer. Against this background, proposals have been made to utilize a voltage level of 12.6 V output from the charger as described above as an input to a DC-DC converter.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing an example of the construction of a system supplying the output of a charger to a DC-DC converter. In FIG. 1, an AC adapter 10 receives an alternating voltage (e.g., 100.V) from a commercial power supply or the like, and generates a direct-current voltage (e.g., 16 V) for provision to a charger 11. The charger 11 generates a predetermined voltage (12.6 V) from the voltage supplied from the AC adapter 10. The generated voltage is supplied as a charge voltage V+ to a battery pack 13 through a current detecting resistor 14, which provides charging to be performed with a constant current. The predetermined voltage (12.6 V) output from the charger 11 is also supplied to a DC-DC converter 12 where it is converted to other voltage levels. Then, the stepped-down voltages (e.g., 0.9 V, 2.5 V, 3.3 V, 5.0 V) are supplied to respective internal electronic circuits.
The battery pack 13 includes a PMOS transistor 21, a PMOS transistor 22, an overcharge and over-discharge detecting circuit 23, and a lithium-ion battery 24. In this example, the lithium-ion battery 24 has a construction in which three batteries are connected in series. The overcharge and over-discharge detecting circuit 23 measures the voltage level of the lithium-ion battery 24 to detect whether it is in an overcharged state or in an over-discharged state. Upon detecting an overcharged stage, the overcharge and over-discharge detecting circuit 23 provides a HIGH overcharge detection signal to the gate of the PMOS transistor 21. In response, the PMOS transistor 21 becomes nonconductive, thereby preventing further charging. If an over-discharged state is detected, the overcharge and over-discharge detecting circuit 23 provides a HIGH over-discharge detection signal to the gate of the PMOS transistor 22. In response, the PMOS transistor 22 becomes nonconductive, thereby preventing further discharging.
In the construction of FIG. 1, the input voltage supplied to the DC-DC converter 12 is not the output voltage (e.g., 16 V) of the AC adapter 10 but the stepped-down voltage (e.g., 12.6 V) lowered by the charger 11. Since a difference between the output voltage and input voltage of the DC-DC converter 12 is not so large, advantage is gained in terms of voltage conversion efficiency and circuit size.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2002-10509
In the construction of FIG. 1, the input voltage of the DC-DC converter 12 is clamped to the input voltage V+ of the battery pack 13. When the input voltage V+ of the battery pack 13 drops in an over-discharged state, the input voltage of the DC-DC converter 12 also drops. If the voltage V+ falls below 5 V in the over-discharged stage, the DC-DC converter 12 cannot supply an output voltage of 5 V to the core electronic circuitry.
Moreover, since the charger 11 is a DC-DC converter operating based on constant-current and constant-voltage control, its output voltage fluctuate (drops) if the electric-current load exceeds a specified level. If the load of the DC-DC converter 12 increases while the battery pack 13 is charged, the voltage V+ equal to the output of the charger 11 fluctuates (drops). This may cause a failure with respect to the operation of the DC-DC converter 12 and the charging of the battery pack 13.
Accordingly, there is a need for a charge control circuit that controls a charging process such as to keep constant the input voltage V+ of a battery pack of electronic apparatus. There is also a need for such a battery pack and electronic apparatus.

Charge control that keeps constant input voltage supplied to battery pack


In general, the invention is directed to techniques for delivery of pacing in response to a premature atrial contraction (PAC) to prevent atrial arrhythmia, i.e., delivery of post-PAC pacing pulses. The techniques may involve monitoring the success rate of prior post-PAC pacing sequences, and adjusting the number of post-PAC pacing pulses delivered subsequent post-PAC pacing sequences based on a success rate. In addition, the techniques may involve adjusting the post-PAC pacing interval based on the success rate.

Tachyarrhythmias are episodes of high-rate cardiac depolarizations. Tachyarrhythmias may occur in one chamber of the heart or may be propagated from one chamber to another. Some tachyarrhythmias are sufficiently high in rate to compromise cardiac output from the chamber affected, leading to loss of consciousness or death in the case of ventricular fibrillation, or weakness and dizziness in the case of atrial fibrillation. Atrial fibrillation is often debilitating, due to the loss of atrial cardiac output, and may sometimes lead to ventricular fibrillation.
Fibrillation may be terminated by administering high energy level cardioversion or defibrillation shocks until the fibrillation is terminated. For example, an implanted device may deliver defibrillation shocks via an electrode carried by a lead implanted within the heart. Unfortunately, the high energy levels associated with cardioversion/defibrillation shocks can cause significant pain to the patient. In addition, atrial defibrillation shocks can sometimes give rise to ventricular arrhythmias. Therefore, it is generally desirable to avoid the onset of atrial fibrillation, and the need to apply defibrillation shocks.
Some implanted devices deliver anti-tachycardia pacing pulses to terminate detected episodes of atrial tachycardia. Other devices are configured to predict the onset of atrial fibrillation, and deliver pacing pulses to prevent the atrial fibrillation from occurring. In particular, a device may be configured to detect premature atrial contractions (PACs) as trigger events that indicate the onset of atrial fibrillation. Delivery of pacing pulses in response to PAC detection can help prevent or decrease the occurrence of atrial fibrillation. Pacing pulses delivered in response to PAC detection are sometimes referred to as post-PAC pacing pulses.

Identification of premature atrial contractions that trigger arrhythmia


A transgenic plant transformed by a pyrophosphatase stress-related protein (PPSRP) coding nucleic acid, wherein expression of the nucleic acid sequence in the plant results in increased tolerance to environmental stress as compared to a wild type variety of the plant. Also provided are agricultural products, including seeds, produced by the transgenic plants. Also provided are isolated PPSRP, and isolated nucleic acid coding PPSRP, and vectors and host cells containing the latter. Further provided are methods of producing transgenic plants expressing PPSRP, methods of identifying novel PPSRP, and methods of modifying the expression of PPSRP in plants.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins that are associated with abiotic stress responses and abiotic stress tolerance in plants. In particular, this invention relates to nucleic acid sequences encoding proteins that confer drought, cold, and/or salt tolerance to plants.
2. Background Art
Environmental stress causes significant crop losses. The stresses are numerous and often crop- and location-specific. They include drought, high salinity, temperature extremes, hypoxia, mineral nutrient deficiency and UV-B radiation. Research in this area is driven by the hope of improving crop yield in afflicted areas. Currently, actual but slow advances are being made by crop breeders and agronomists using tried- and tested methodology. However, biotechnology will increasingly have a role as genes involved in stress tolerance are cloned and their mode of action elucidated (Quarrie S A, 1996 Plant Growth Reg. 20:167–178). By improving a plant's performance in response to different environmental stresses, the losses in productivity and risks to farming can be greatly reduced. Modifying a plant's tolerance to environmental stresses also allows a plant to be grown in regions where a plant or plant variety is typically unable to grow (Bohnert and Jensen, 1996 TIBTECH 14:89–97).
The biochemical and physiological basis for plant stress tolerance is not well understood. However, it does appear that common damage from different stresses (drought, salt and cold stress) is mostly due to dehydration (Smirnoff, 1998 Curr. Opin. Plant Biol. 9:214–219). The response that distinguishes drought-tolerant and -sensitive species most clearly is a dramatic accumulation of osmoprotective substances and also of ions that leads to osmotic adjustments (Bohnert and Jensen 1996 TIBTECH 14:89–97).
Sucrose is an important osmoprotectant under dehydration stress conditions (water deficit and freezing stress). The biosynthesis of sucrose has several control steps (Stitt and Sonnewald, 1995 Ann. Rev. Plant Physiol. Plant Mol. Biol. 46:641–368) and pyrophosphate (PPi) metabolism plays an important role in this biosynthetic pathway (Stitt, 1998 Bot. Acta 111:167–175). PPi is mainly produced as a by-product of biosynthesis of macromolecules such as RNA, proteins and cellulose in elongating cells (Nakanishi and Maeshima, 1998 Plant Physiol. 116:589–597). There are three enzymatic activities involved in metabolizing PPi in the cytosol, two reversible reactions catalyzed by PFP (Pyrophosphate dependent Fructose-6-P Phosphofructokinase; Paul et al., 1995 Planta 196:277–283) and UGPase (UDP-Glucose Pyrophosphorylase; Zrenner et al., 1993 Planta 247–252), respectively, and the tonoplast membrane bound inorganic pyrophosphatase (PPase, Rea et al., 1992 Tr. in Biochem. 17:348–353). A soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase exists only in chloroplasts, but not in the cytosol (Weiner et al., 1987 Biochem. Biophys. Acta 893:13–21).
Two families of soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase are known to date. Family I, including most of the currently known PPases, and family II, including PPases from certain bacterial species. The two families do not show any sequence similarity to each other. In addition to soluble PPases, plants (and certain bacteria) have a membrane-bound PPase that works as a reversible pump. Membrane-bound PPases are much larger and do not have any sequence similarity to any of the two families of soluble PPase. Plant soluble PPase resemble prokaryotic PPase more closely than animal/fungal PPases (Sivual et al., 1999 FEBS Letters 454:75–80).
The ectopic expression of a soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase in the cytosol has been shown to shift carbon metabolism towards the synthesis of sucrose in the transgenic plants due to the removal of PPi as a product of the PFP and UGPase reaction. The constitutive over-expression (35S promoter) of E. coli soluble pyrophosphatase in the cytosol of plant cells leads to an accumulation of sucrose in the leaves of the transgenic tobacco plants (Jellito et al., 1992 Planta 188:238–244). The same effects were obtained upon expression of the enzyme only in the phloem (rolC promoter) indicating the essential role of PPi for phloem loading of sucrose (Lerchl et al., 1995 Plant Cell 7:259–270). Additionally, both the 35S- and the rolC-plants were reduced in growth. These examples show the importance of PPi for plant metabolism and growth. The alteration of the amount and/or availability of inorganic phosphate in the cell also has profound effects on plant lipid metabolism (Haertel et al., 2000 PNAS 97:10649–10654), and thereby can lead to changes in the composition of the plasmalemma as well as the organelle membranes.
The response of transgenic plants expressing a soluble inorganic pyrophosphatase in the cytosol to environmental stresses like drought, salt and freezing has not been determined thus far. Therefore what is needed is the identification of genes and proteins encoded by those genes that have pyrophosphatase-like activity and that are involved in stress tolerance in plants. Elucidating the function of genes expressed in stress tolerant plants will not only advance our understanding of plant adaptation and tolerance to environmental stresses, but also may provide important information for designing new strategies for crop improvement. Newly generated stress tolerant plants will have many advantages, such as increasing the range that crop plants can be cultivated by, for example, decreasing the water requirements of a plant species. This invention fulfills in part the need to identify new, unique pyrophosphatases capable of conferring stress tolerance to plants upon over-expression.

Pyrophosphatase stress-related proteins and methods of use in plants


Sharing a desktop screen is implemented on a Hypertext Transfer Protocol (HTTP) web server using variable interval GET and POST requests. Connection to a web server bypasses firewall or shared IP limitations. In the described HTTP/HTTPS only solution, an existing web server is used to allow one or more clients to view a remote computer's screen and control it (remoting). The web server can act as an intermediary to enable one computer to “take control” of a second computer by enabling the first computer (a client) to view the desktop session of the second computer (a host) and enable the first computer to act as master for input device input (e.g., keyboard input, mouse input, stylus input, etc.) for the second computer.

Remote desktop sharing allows a user to access applications and data on a remote computer over a network. For example, Microsoft® Remote Desktop is a model where one computer "takes control" of a second computer by viewing its desktop session and acting as master for keyboard and mouse input.
For security reasons, most users who access an external network like the Internet do so from behind one or more firewalls. A firewall is a device or set of devices configured to permit or deny access of computer applications to the firewall-protected computer based upon a set of rules and other criteria. A firewall can be implemented in either hardware or software, or in a combination of hardware and software. Firewalls are frequently used, for example, to prevent unauthorized Internet users from tunneling in to private computers and computer networks connected to the Internet. All messages entering the firewall-protected computer pass through the firewall, which examines each message and blocks those that do not meet the specified security criteria.
In order to bypass the firewall to enable remote desktop sharing, currently a user has to take a deliberate action to open a channel through a well known protocol like hypertext transfer protocol (HTTP) to a central location. The centralized location needs specialized software or hardware or a combination thereof in order to act as an intermediary for requests from the user. That is, the centralized location has to be a proxy server. The user connects to the proxy server, and requests a service, such as remote desktop sharing, from a different computer. The proxy server evaluates the request according to its filtering rules (e.g., by IP (Internet protocol) address or protocol). If the request is validated by the filter, the proxy server provides the service by connecting to the relevant computer and requesting the service on behalf of the user. A proxy server that passes requests and replies unmodified is usually called a gateway or a tunneling proxy.


In accordance with the invention, a method, system and apparatus are presented that matches the output impedance of a driver to the impedance of a transmission line. A method for matching the impedance between a driver and a transmission line, wherein the transmission line is between the driver and a load can include transmitting a first pulse from the driver to the load through the transmission line, wherein a first reflection from the transmitted first pulse occurs after a first time, measuring a second reflection from the transmitted first pulse after a second time, and adjusting the calibration of the driver in response to the measured second reflection.

Electrical impedance occurs when there is opposition between a source that transmits an electric pulse and a receiver of that electric pulse. Impedance is a combination of two components, resistance and reactance. Resistance is generally in phase with the source signal and is represented by the real component of the impedance. Reactance refers to the out-of-phase portion of the impedance and is represented by the imaginary component of the impedance. When the impedance of a driver and that of its load, which may include a transmission line and/or a receiver, are not matched, then signals transmitted from the driver will be reflected by the load. These reflections cause noise and ringing in the signal. In an arrangement with a driver, a receiver and a transmission line, impedance mismatch may occur between the driver and the receiver as well as between the driver and the transmission line. Thus, there may be two reflections of a transmitted signal; one from the driver's mismatch with the receiver, and one from the driver's mismatch with the transmission line. Reflections from impedance mismatch should be avoided in circuit design.
The impedance of the driver can be matched to the impedance of the transmission line by adjusting the voltage-to-current (voltage/current) characteristics of the driver. Efforts to accomplish this impedance matching are tedious and may not be accurate because of the introduction of parasitics into the driver circuit during adjustments. Furthermore, the output impedance of a driver is typically adjusted once and then set. The driver output impedance, then, is insensitive to changes in the impedance of the transmission line.
There is a need, therefore, to provide more effective ways of correcting for impedance mismatch in the transmission of a pulse from a driver to a load.


Systems and methods are described for distributing and updating trusted certification authorities to computer systems and users. When a digital certificate is encountered during a secured electronic transaction, the root authority of the certificate is determined. It is then determined whether the root authority is a trusted authority by attempting to locate the root authority in a trusted root list. If the root authority is not included in the trusted root list, a remote site is accessed and an updated version of the trusted root list is downloaded. The new trusted root list is checked for the presence of the encountered certificate and, if found, the transaction is allowed to proceed. In one implementation, the entire trusted root list is not downloaded. Instead, if an appropriate digital certificate is located, then the certificate is downloaded and added to the trusted root list of the computer system. The transaction may then proceed.

Today, millions of computer users use all types of computers to shop online, trade stocks, made travel plans, etc., with the knowledge that their transactions are secure. Use of secure transactions has increased over the last few years with the use of the Internet.
Such secure transactions are due in large part to the user of digital certificates that are issued by certificate authorities. Users who participate in secure online transactions interact with digital identities, or certificates, that are tamper-proof digital documents that identify a person or a machine. Theoretically, anyone can create a digital identity claiming to be anybody else. But for secure transactions, digital identities must be issued by a trusted entity or organization.
If a computer operating system recognizes trusted authorities, it maintains of list of trusted certificate authorities. When a user encounters a certificate used in a secure transaction, the transaction may proceed if the operating system identifies the certificate as being issued by a trusted authority.
The certificate does not identify the trusted authority per se, but it must indicate that the trusted authority issued the certificate, because the trusted authority may also issue trusted certificates to other identities. Because a trusted authority is authorized to issue certificates to secondary authorities that may, in turn, issue certificates to other authorities, and so on, the trusted authority is also called a "certifying authority" or a "root authority."
Each issuing authority digitally signs the certificate of an entity that it authorizes so that all certificates emanating from a root authority are cryptographically secure. When a computer system attempts to verify a certificate, the digital signature may be read to identify the authority that issued it until the root authority from which the authorization originated can be identified. If the root authority is identified as a trusted authority, the certificate is verified as authentic.
If the operating system does not recognize the certificate as being issued by an authority that was ultimately approved by a root authority, then the transaction may be automatically terminated by the operating system. Alternatively, the user may receive a prompt giving the user an option to manually authorize the transaction or to abort the transaction. Such an out-of-band transaction to authorize a site is an inconvenience that is fundamentally unfair to legitimate sites that don't happen to be listed as an authorized site on a particular computer system.
The number of root authorities has increased with the growth of electronic transactions. This has presented a problem for manufacturers of operating systems that are configured to recognize trusted authorities in online transactions. When digital certificates were first coming into use, the number of root authorities did not increase very rapidly. It was simple to update a list of root authorities that were trusted by an operating system whenever a new version of the operating system (or an add-on service pack) was loaded into the host computer system.
However, since the number of requests by entities to be accepted as a root authority is increasing so rapidly, simply updating a trusted root authority list with operating system updates has become unacceptable. Also, since the trusted authority identification process is a process that a majority of users typically does not want to be bothered with, it is impractical to have users periodically obtain a new authority list, whether online or from a disk. A new process of updating a list of trusted authorities in a computer system must be virtually transparent to a user of the computer system in order to provide the most satisfying secure computing experience for the user.
Another problem that may occur with present systems and methods for distributing trusted root authorities is that sometimes a root authority may be compromised so that it can no longer be trusted. An operating system manufacturer currently has no way to recall trusted root authority lists that have already been shipped or installed in computer systems.

Systems and methods for distributing trusted certification authorities


A technique for prefix limit exchange for route advertisement is disclosed. In one particular exemplary embodiment, the technique may be realized as a method for prefix limit exchange for route advertisement. The method comprises communicating a prefix limit from a first element to a second element, wherein the first element and the second element are routing neighbors in a network. The method also comprises advertising a plurality of routes from the second element to the first element. The method further comprises recording, at the second element, a number of the plurality of routes that the second element has advertised to the first element. The method additionally comprises suspending route advertisement from the second element to the first element when the number is the same as or greater than the prefix limit.

Routing is the act of moving information across a network from a source to a destination. In a complex network such as the Internet, information is typically relayed by a plurality of network elements located between the source and the destination. In order to achieve a fluent and efficient flow of information, it is crucial for these network elements to communicate and cooperate with one another.
A number of network protocols have been proposed and/or implemented to ensure proper communication and cooperation among network elements. For example, Border Gateway Protocol (BGP) is a routing protocol for exchanging network reachability information between neighboring gateways in different autonomous systems. For each autonomous system, there may be one or more network elements, known as "BGP speakers", that carry out the functions of receiving routes, storing routes, modifying routes and advertising routes to their counterparts in other autonomous systems. Due to certain limitations (e.g., system resource capacity), there is typically provisioned a maximum number of routes (i.e., "prefixes") that can be handled by a BGP speaker. Such maximum number may be referred to as a "prefix limit".
In current practice, if the number of routes received from a BGP peer exceeds a BGP speaker's prefix limit, a peering session between the BGP speaker and the BGP peer will be restarted or any heretofore advertised routes will be discarded. This practice results in overhead costs, such as unnecessary processing, network bandwidth usage and network service disruption to both BGP speakers involved in the peering session. The root cause of this problem is the inability of each individual BGP speaker to predict the prefix limits on its peers, which is an indeterministic condition. The cost of restarting the BGP peering session and/or re-advertising the route(s) is borne by both the BGP speaker and the BGP peer. Therefore, both of them need to assume responsibility in maintaining a stable peering session. Corrective action is needed by the offending BGP speaker in maintaining a stable BGP peering session.
Though it has been proposed that new protocol messages be introduced to solve this problem, this solution can lead to increased processing and undesired complexity in the routing protocol.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to provide a technique for route advertisement which overcomes the above-described inadequacies and shortcomings. More particularly, it would be desirable to provide a technique for prefix limit exchange for route advertisement in an efficient and cost effective manner.

Technique for prefix limit exchange for route advertisement


A technique is provided for capturing browsing history of a webpage. A processor receives a webpage from a server, determines that a trigger associated with a user is fulfilled, and captures a page of the webpage responsive to the trigger associated with the user being fulfilled.

Exemplary embodiments relate to web browsing, and more specifically, to providing history of a webpage for a user.
A web browser (also referred to as a browser) is a software application for retrieving, presenting, and traversing information resources on the World Wide Web. The primary purpose of a web browser is to bring information resources to the user. This process begins when the user inputs a uniform resource locator (URL) and/or a uniform resource identifier (URI) into the browser. The prefix of the URL (or URI) determines how the URL will be interpreted.
An information resource is identified by a URI/URL, and the information resource may be a webpage, image, video, or other piece of content. Hyperlinks enable users to easily navigate their browsers to related resources. A web browser can also be defined as an application software or program designed to enable users to access, retrieve, and view documents and other resources on the Internet.
Although browsers are primarily intended to access the World Wide Web, they can also be used to access information provided by web servers in private networks or files in file systems. Some examples of the major web browsers include Google® Chrome, Internet Explorer®, Firefox®, etc.

Providing browsing history on client for dynamic webpage

International Business Machines Corporation


A pair of transparent substrates are arranged to oppose each other and bonded to each other through a seal member. A polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer and spacers are provided between the pair of transparent substrates. A plurality of pixel electrodes respectively provided with TFTs are disposed in a matrix form on the counter surface of one substrate opposing the other substrate, and the spacers for regulating the gap between the substrates are fixed, through resin films, to remaining regions of the counter surface of one substrate obtained by excluding pixel regions corresponding to the pixel electrodes from the region inside the seal member. A black mask is formed on the remaining regions of the counter surface of the other transparent substrate, and a flat counter electrode opposing the plurality of pixel electrodes is formed on the black mask. The polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device is obtained by injecting, into a cell in a vacuum state, a solution mixture of a photo-setting polymeric material and a liquid crystal material that are mixed in a formulating proportion not less than a solubility at a normal temperature and a normal pressure, increasing the temperature of the solution mixture to a temperature not less than the soluble limit temperature of the liquid crystal, and thereafter photo-setting the photo-setting polymeric material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device and a method of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A polymer dispersed liquid crystal is obtained by dispersing a nematic liquid crystal in a transparent polymeric material. In a liquid crystal display device using the polymer dispersed liquid crystal, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer is provided between a pair of transparent substrates on which transparent electrodes are formed.
A transmission type liquid crystal display device having the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer is driven when an electric field is applied across the electrodes of the two substrates, so that display is performed. The molecules of the liquid crystal in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer are directed in various directions when an electric field is not applied. In this state, light transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer is scattered by the light-scattering function caused by the liquid crystal and by the light-scattering function that occurs at the interface between the liquid crystal and the polymeric material. Hence, a portion of the display device to which the electric field is not applied is set in a dark display state which is close to black.
When an electric field higher than the threshold voltage of the liquid crystal is applied across the electrodes, the molecules of the liquid crystal are uniformly aligned so as to be perpendicular to the surfaces of the substrates. Then, the transmitted light is transmitted through the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer without substantially being subjected to the light-scattering function. Hence, a portion of the display device to which the electric field is applied is set in a bright display state.
Since the polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device realizes display by controlling the amount of transmitted light and the amount of scattered light, it does not need a polarizing plate. Therefore, this polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device can obtain brighter display than that of a conventional TN liquid crystal display device.
In recent years, it is proposed to adapt the polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device having the above advantages to an active matrix type liquid crystal display device which is driven by a thin film transistor (to be referred to as a TFT hereinafter). Although the TFT-driven polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device can be driven in a high time-division manner and can obtain a bright and high-definition dot display image, it is difficult to obtain a high contrast. This is because at the portion among adjacent pixels to which an electric field is not applied, light is always scattered by the polymer dispersed liquid crystal, and the scattered light leaks to the outside.
The liquid crystal display device is manufactured in accordance with a method wherein the device is assembled by bonding a pair of substrates through a frame-shaped seal member, a solution obtained by mixing a monomer of a photo-setting polymeric material and a liquid crystal is filled in the device, and thereafter, the monomer of the polymeric material is polymerized by light radiation, thereby forming a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer. If, however, the gap between the substrates of the device assembled in this manner is non-uniform, the thickness of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer formed between the substrates becomes non-uniform to cause non-uniformity in display. For this reason, conventionally, transparent substrate gap regulating spacers made of spherical glass particles or short glass fibers are distributed between a pair of substrates. The substrate gap is regulated by these spacers, thereby setting the thickness of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer substantially uniform throughout the entire layer.
However, in the conventional liquid crystal display device, light that passes through portions where the substrate gap regulating spacers are located is transmitted through the spacers and emitted without substantially being scattered. Therefore, bright spots corresponding to the shapes of the spacers appear in the dark display region which is displayed by light scattering in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer. The display quality is degraded by the bright spots.
Especially, in the TFT-driven polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device which is often used for small-pixel high-definition display, e.g., a video display, occurrence of bright spots as described above in the small pixel poses a serious problem.
Furthermore, although the polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device has a bright screen, it requires a high drive voltage since the liquid crystal is dispersed in the resin, so that it is hindered from being put into practical use as a display device. Therefore, it is conventionally proposed to increase the proportion of the liquid crystal in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer. If the proportion of the liquid crystal in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer is increased, the voltage drop caused by the resin component is decreased by the increase in proportion of the liquid crystal, thereby decreasing the drive voltage. According to the conventional manufacturing method, however, if the proportion of the liquid crystal in the solution mixture to be injected into the cell is increased, a polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer in which the liquid crystal is uniformly dispersed cannot be obtained, causing display non-uniformity in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device. This is due to the following reason.
Namely, even if the solution mixture is composed by dissolving the liquid crystal in the saturated state, when the solution mixture is injected into the cell in accordance with vacuum injection, the pressure of the mixture injected in the cell in the vacuum state is decreased to decrease the solubility of the liquid crystal. When the solubility of the liquid crystal of the mixture is decreased, an amount of liquid crystal that exceeds the solubility is separated to form in the mixture a liquid crystal mass constituted by only the gathered liquid crystal. To form the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer, the mixture is injected into the cell, and thereafter the photo-setting resin in the mixture is subjected to photopolymerization. Hence, if a liquid crystal mass is present in the mixture, the dispersed state of the liquid crystal in the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer becomes non-uniform, and thus the optical characteristics (transmitting and scattering characteristics) of the polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer become non-uniform, causing display non-uniformity.
In photopolymerization described above, if a smooth polymerization reaction of polymers is interfered with by the molecules of the liquid crystal, the structure of a uniform polymer dispersed liquid crystal layer cannot be obtained, and the optical characteristics become nonuniform, thereby causing display non-uniformity.

Polymer dispersed liquid crystal display device


A method of milling a powder comprising introducing a gas stream containing a cryogenic liquid and a drug carrier gas into a jet mill, and milling a powder with the jet mill in one or more milling passes. A product produced by the method. A milling apparatus comprising a cryogenic gas input system, a powder feeder, a main jet-mill, and at least one output port for collecting the powder.

A. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for milling and preparing powders, changing the surface properties of a drug particle, and compositions produced thereby. In some embodiments, the process described utilizes jet-milling with a cold stream of gas mixed with air and powders. More specifically the cold gas stream is nitrogen gas mixed with liquid nitrogen, under controlled conditions. The resulting milled particle size can range from less than 200 nanometers to greater than one micrometer, depending on the processing conditions and application. The process described can be used to form a stable powder of a single material, a mixture of materials and/or excipients, as well as modify the surface of particles to improve the dispersion and/or stability of a powder intermediate or final product. The powder compositions produced thereby possess improved properties including, but not limited to, improved flow and dispersibility, stability, resistance to moisture, dissolution/release profiles, and/or bioavailabilities. This process, and the compositions produced, provide significant advantages in the manufacture of pharmaceutical particle delivery systems (PDS), as well as biomedical, diagnostic, and chromatography particulate compositions, where insoluble compounds or sensitive particles, such as proteins or vaccines, are involved that would be degraded using more rigorous, high temperature processing conditions.
B. Description of the Related Art
There has been substantial effort in the last decade to produce drug particles from 100 nanometers to a few microns because of their improved dissolution properties (especially with insoluble drugs) and ability to be absorbed more efficiently. Solid nanoparticle formulations are typically made by wet-milling and subsequent packaging into vials or lyophilization, and may contain large amounts of stabilizers that inhibit aggregation and growth of the particle during drying or storage. Dry-milling of inhaled dry-powder formulations in fluid energy or jet mills, such as for inhaled asthma drugs, has been described, but not under reduced temperature. Use of pure nitrogen gas (non-cryogenic) while jet-milling (U.S. Pat. No. 5,354,562) formulations for inhalation has been shown to reduce insoluble contaminants and inactive fractions in the milled product.
Jet mills are shear or pulverizing machines in which the particles to be milled are accelerated by gas flows and pulverized by collision. There are a number of different types of jet mill designs, such as double counterflow (opposing jet) and spiral (pancake) fluid energy mills. Gas and particle flow may simply be in a spiral fashion, or more intricate in flow pattern, but essentially particles collide against each other or against a collision surface. In counterflow fluid-energy or jet mills, i.e., mills of the character described whereby two particle-entraining streams are directed against one another, the carrying gas may be derived from steel bottles or flasks and is permitted to flow through two venturi nozzles in parallel into the fluid-energy or jet mill chamber, the reduced pressure developed in the venturi nozzle together with increased velocity causes the granular or coarse-particle material to be entrained with high speed along a trajectory counter to the trajectory of the particles of the other stream. When two particle streams moving at high velocity and with high kinetic energy in opposite directions collide, the impact releases this kinetic energy in the form of energy of breakdown whereby the structure of the granules is altered or destroyed. Glancing collisions have a similar effect and are also valuable because they provide a mutual abrasion and rounding of the particles. Air or hot steam are generally used as the milling gas.
Inherently brittle materials that are not affected by moderate heat rise are usually easy to grind under ambient conditions with commercial impact or shear milling equipment. Other less brittle materials may be adequately cooled during grinding by simply passing air or another gas through the grinding mill along with the material to be ground. Many substances, for example, plastic, are difficult or impossible to mill to a fine grain size because of their toughness. However, when such tough materials are exposed to cold, they become brittle, which improves their milling properties. A single propellant gas is cooled before introduction into a jet mills, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,897,010. Cooling the complete propellant gas flow makes it possible to mill materials that could not be milled under normal conditions in jet mills. However, in spite of intensive cooling, and in spite of the self-cooling effect of the cooled propellant gas flow as a result of its expansion, the attainable improvement of the milling properties leaves a great deal to be desired. Although fine grain sizes can be achieved, this is only possible at an excessively high consumption of time and energy. Typically such a gas-cooled system makes economic sense only if the material can be ground at 0° C. or higher, less then that requiring significant cooling equipment and energy consumption.
More resilient or elastic materials and those that are particularly sensitive to heat rise, including many chemicals, pharmaceuticals, food, powder coatings, and organic dyes, can require significant precooling and grinding at 0° C. or below. In this case, the materials require processing in a cryogenic grinding system that's cooled by a cryogen, a refrigerant that produces a low-temperature environment in the system. The low-temperature environment chills the material below the glass-transition point, the temperature at which the material becomes brittle and glass-like, to facilitate grinding in a mill that applies impact or shear, such as a jet-mill.
Cryogenic jet-milling is a well-suited size reduction technique for elastic, resilient materials likely to be damaged or destroyed by heat, i.e. pharmaceuticals. It is known that the rate of dissolution of a particulate drug can increase with increasing surface area, i.e., decreasing particle size. Consequently, methods of making finely divided drugs have been studied and efforts have been made to control the size and size range of drug particles in pharmaceutical compositions. Pharmaceuticals, such as oral nanoparticle delivery systems, may be prepared without using wet processes such as with fine grinding media, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,592,903 and related patents, or homogenization, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,835,396 and related patents. Using cryogenic conditions while milling for these and other resilient or heat-sensitive materials controls heat build-up, which can protect and enhance final product properties, produce finer particles/improve nanoparticle size yield, and increase the production rate.
Delivery of discrete nanoparticles and microparticles have been investigated for inhalation, nasal, topical, ocular, buccal, and injectable delivery. Pulmonary delivery of low molecular-weight drugs, peptides/proteins, and gene-therapy agents for local or systemic therapies presents unique formulation challenges. Efficient and reproducible drug deposition to central sections of the lung, such as glucocorticoids for asthma therapies, and peripheral sections of the lung for systemic delivery, such as insulin for patients with diabetes, is difficult because of limitations involved in aerosolization, stability, and clearance of micron-sized liquid droplets and powders. Currently available delivery systems for the inhalation of drugs include metered-dose inhalers (MDI's), dry-powder inhalers (DPI's), and nebulizers. Inhaled delivery of small molecule drugs including beta-agonists, such as albuterol, and glucocorticoids, such as budesonide and fluticasone propionate, have been used clinically for decades where small portions (20-200 μg) of the packaged dose are deposited in the desired portions of the lung (typically 5-10%). New non-invasive inhaled therapies being developed, such as peptides and proteins intended for systemic delivery, have distinctive physicochemical properties that further complicate efficient delivery, as well as may require large 'lung-doses' in the order of 2-20 mg, i.e. insulin. Dry-powder formulations of macromolecules are of particular interest for inhaled therapies since their stability is higher in the dry-state. Unfortunately, current formulations and inhalers are inefficient with fine particle doses of 5-20% of total emitted dose and high dose-to-dose variability. Spray-dried insulin particles aerosolized in an active pressured inhaler device, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,848 and related patents, are able to provide >50% respirable fraction, although only 5-15% of insulin is absorbed systemically. Improved inhaler devices and particle processing techniques are needed to efficiently deliver therapeutics through the pulmonary route.
Final dosage forms that incorporate drug particle compositions, such as a tablet, inhaled powder, or a solution for injection, typically contain bulking agents and/or surface stabilizers that may be chemically or physically attached on the surface, or more simply physically mixed, to disperse effectively. Oral tablets and capsules, as well as inhaled dry-powders, typically incorporate at least one pharmaceutically acceptable water-soluble or water-dispersible excipient. Common agents include carriers, dispersants, or generally excipients, which require additional mixing to obtain biological activity upon storage and administration of a final dosage form. Because of the inherently high electrostatic forces present in nanoparticles and microparticles, direct mixing with carrier particles, such as in dry-powder inhaled formulations, may be inefficient and result in low quality final products. For this reason, manufacturing of nanometer and micrometer size drug particles that include excipients before the bulk mixing phase to improve the dispersion properties are of great interest to produce an improved final product. An example of a drug particle microencapsulation process is also described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,406,745 which may be used to microencapsulate drug particles efficiently without the use of solvents or high temperatures, which may damage the drug molecule or activity.
Particle formation methods by crystallization, solvent evaporation, and granulation are practiced in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and food industry. Particle size is often reduced through secondary processing such as milling, while particle size may be increased through granulation and spray-coating techniques. Unfortunately, for small nanoparticles and microparticles used for inhaled, nasal, injectable, oral, and topical delivery, the resulting particles are highly charged and very cohesive, reducing their manufacturability and delivery efficiency and subsequent therapeutic efficacy. Therefore, what is needed are improved, cost-effective methods for preparing particles that do not suffer these limitations, and that are useful in preparing particles with distinct particle sizes and surface properties to obtain a superior final product.

Process for milling and preparing powders and compositions produced thereby


A substrate for suspension comprises a metallic substrate, an insulating layer formed on the metallic substrate, a conductor layer formed on the insulating layer, and a cover layer covering the conductor layer. The insulating layer and the cover layer are formed from different materials, whose coefficients of hygroscopic expansion are in the range between 3×10−6/% RH and 30×10−6/% RH. The difference between the coefficients of hygroscopic expansion of the two materials is 5×10−6/% RH or less.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a substrate for suspension for use in a hard disk drive (HDD) or the like, and, more particularly, to a substrate for suspension that warps only a little even when it has decreased rigidity.
Background Art
In recent years, the spread of the Internet, etc. have generated demand for personal computers increased in information processing capacity and speed. To meet this demand, it has come to be needed to increase the storage capacity and information transmission rate of hard disk drives (hereinafter sometimes referred to simply as HDDs) incorporated in personal computers. As for a component called a magnetic head suspension that is used to support a magnetic head in an HDD, a conventional suspension to which signal conductors made of gold wires or the like are connected has come to be replaced with a so-called wireless suspension of conductor-integrated type (flexer), in which signal conductors made of copper lines or the like are formed directly on a stainless-steel-made spring.
Demand on HDDs for use in a variety of small-sized devices including mobile phones has increased recently, and disks on which information is recorded have become smaller in size and higher in recording density with the increase in the demand. To read out the data from, or write the date on, tracks on a disk with a smaller diameter, it is necessary to revolve the disk slowly, i.e., to reduce the speed of the disk relative to a magnetic head (circumferential speed). A substrate for suspension therefore needs to access the disk with a weaker force, so that it is necessary to produce a substrate for suspension having decreased rigidity.
A laminate of a metallic substrate, an insulating layer, a conductor layer and a cover layer that are laminated in the order named, each layer being formed pattern-wise, has been commonly used for a substrate for suspension. As a technique for making such a substrate for suspension less rigid, there has been discussed decreasing the percentage of the metallic substrate, a material having relatively high rigidity, that remains in the substrate for suspension finally obtained.
However, when the metallic substrate, which has high rigidity, remains with a decreased percentage, the substrate for suspension tends to warp.
The difference between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the metallic substrate and that of the insulating layer has been considered to be the cause of warping of the substrate for suspension. Patent Document 1 discloses a technique for reducing the tendency of the substrate for suspension to warp, in which the insulating layer is formed from a resin whose coefficient of thermal expansion is nearly equal to that of the metallic substrate.
The substrate for suspension that has decreased rigidity because of the metallic substrate remaining with a decreased percentage, as described above, has been at a disadvantage in that its tendency to warp cannot be satisfactorily reduced only by decreasing the difference between the coefficient of thermal expansion of the metallic substrate and that of the resin for forming the insulating layer.
[Patent Document 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2006-248142

Substrate for suspension, process for producing the same, suspension for magnetic head, and hard disk drive


A transcoronary sinus pacing system comprising a sheath having a lumen, a pacing catheter having a pacing needle, wherein the catheter can be advanced within the lumen and placed in the LV summit, and a right ventricular pacing device. A LV summit pacing device. An early mitral valve closure pacing device configured to operate with a right ventricular apex pacing device. A method for implanting a pacing device at a target coronary sinus tissue location, wherein the target can be the posterior LV summit. A method for achieving early closure of a mitral valve. A method for using visualization devices such as fluoroscopy or ultrasound and/or catheter features such as a radiopaque marker to locate a target location for LV pacing and to avoid piercing an artery or the pericardium when anchoring the LV pacing electrode.

Ventricular pacing has been a useful technique for at least 50 years, and transvenous pacing for nearly that long. In the transvenous pacing system the lead is placed from a vein, usually in the thorax, and threaded into the right ventricle 22 of the heart 10. The lead in the right ventricle 22 permits pacing and sensing within that chamber. Of course, pacing from the right ventricle 22 depolarizes the heart in a completely different way than the heart is normally depolarized and does not make use of the patient's own, usually diseased, conduction system. The indication for pacing is an impairment of the patient's conduction system which prevents the system from being able to transmit electrical impulses that allow the heart to depolarize. The depolarization process is what leads to contraction in the cardiac muscle and a beat of the heart. Ventricular pacing, however, while very effective in preventing deaths from such entities as complete heart block, has several problems associated with it. One problem associated with ventricular pacing is pacemaker syndrome, which is a hemodynamic abnormality that can result when use of ventricular pacing is, for example, uncoupled from the atrial contraction. It can also result from a less effective contraction caused by the abnormal mechanism of depolarization caused by the right ventricular pacing catheter. In other words, the heart, depolarized from the right ventricular apex, does not squeeze as efficiently as the heart would have squeezed if it had been depolarized by its own conduction mechanism. Patients sense the decline in cardiac output when their pacemaker kicks in. In other patients, pacing induces a long term malfunction of the heart called cardiomyopathy that is caused by this slower depolarization of the heart and the associated decline in pump efficiency.
Over the past five to six years, first Medtronic and then other companies have developed devices to counter the deleterious effects of ordinary right ventricular apex pacing. The basic idea is to use two different pacing catheters in different parts of the ventricles 22, 26 to simultaneously depolarize the heart. This is called biventricular (or biV) pacing. Biventricular pacing (also referred to as cardiac resynchronization therapy (CRT)) uses leads that stimulate the right ventricle 22 from the apex and the left ventricle 26 from the lateral wall via the coronary sinus. One of the electrodes is the standard right ventricular apical pacing catheter and the other is a left ventricular lead usually placed, as indicated above, on the posterior left ventricular wall 15 through a vein branch 6 of the coronary sinus 5. When these two leads are hooked together to the same generator and simultaneously stimulate the ventricle, it takes less time to depolarize the ventricle and therefore a more synchronous contraction of the muscle ensues. The heart pumps blood more efficiently.
Biventricular pacing is also indicated for patients with congestive heart failure (CHF) due to left ventricular dysfunction. It is estimated that in approximately 30% of patients with heart failure, an abnormality in the heart's electrical conducting system causes the heart to beat in an asynchronous fashion. That is, the left ventricle fails to contract toward its theoretical center of mass. This asynchrony greatly reduces the efficiency of the heart in some patients with heart failure. Biventricular pacing resynchronizes the contraction of the heart by shortening the actuation time of the ventricles. Biventricular pacemakers differ from other pacemakers, which pace only the right ventricle 22. Biventricular pacing systems (BVPS), as they are currently constituted, require an operator to thread a catheter from an introducer in the coronary sinus 80 down into a vein branch 82 of the coronary sinus 80, shown in FIG. 1C, and then wedge that lead into the branch 82 to hold it in position. This technique has been useful but has had some difficulty associated with it and therefore a supplanting technique to solve such difficulty is desirable. Additionally, one of the risks associated with placement of the device is the potential to damage the coronary sinus or coronary veins by, e.g., dissection or perforation.
Biventricular pacing has now demonstrated utility in several situations. For example, it reverses the symptoms in patients with the pacemaker syndrome described above. It also improves many cardiomyopathies caused by long term pacing. In addition, it improves cardiac contraction in some patients who have enlarged ventricles 22, 26 and prolonged QRS duration who are suffering from heart failure. It has been sufficiently useful so that it is now included in many of the latest models of internal cardioverters and defibrillators (ICD) which are used to treat patients with heart failure and arrhythmia. See, for example, InSync Sentry™ and InSync Maximo™ (www.medtronic.com). Biventricular pacing is now a standard part of the armamentarium and medical science accepts that biventricular pacing, because it leads to more synchronous contraction, is a better way to pace patients than pacing from the right ventricular apex alone. A conventional implantable medical device, such as an ICD, is coupled to a patient's heart by leads such that the patient's heart forms part of the circuit. The device may include, for example, a pacemaker or defibrillator or any device that performs pacing or defibrillating functions. A housing houses a battery and pacing or defibrillating circuitry. Each lead typically is adapted to engage at least one stimulating electrode for delivery of electrical impulses to excitable myocardial tissue. The leads can be unipolar or bipolar.
Notwithstanding the clinical benefits of biventricular pacing, correctly placing the LV lead to achieve optimum performance may be difficult. The placement of the first lead, the one that goes in the right ventricle 22, has been standard for fifty years. When biventricular pacing was first tried, the placement of the second left ventricular lead was done surgically. However, the surgical procedure requires a small incision in the chest and most cardiologists cannot do this and do not want to refer patients to surgeons. Therefore, the standard cardiologic technique for LV lead placement now requires placement of a sheath from the subclavian vein into the coronary sinus 80 and through that sheath, an angiogram of the coronary sinus 80 can be obtained. From the angiogram the branches 82 of the coronary sinus 80 can be identified and a small pacing catheter is then directed through the coronary sinus and into the small coronary sinus vein 82 (see FIG. 1C) where it is lodged. The guiding catheter is then removed and the patient has a lead on the posterior left ventricular wall 15 (see FIG. 1C). The exact location of the lead is therefore a prisoner of the accidental anatomy of the veins that feed into the coronary sinus 5. The optimal location of the left ventricular lead and solutions for routine pacing from this location have not previously been discussed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transcoronary sinus pacing system, LV summit pacing, early mitral closure pacing, and methods therefor


Disclosed is a method for preventing the transmission of an ectoparasite-borne pathogen to a mammal exposed to predation by the ectoparasite, wherein a time delay exists between attachment of the ectoparasite to the mammal and transmission of the pathogen from the ectoparasite to the mammal. The method comprises applying to the mammal an ectoparacide to kill the ectoparasite in place on the mammal, without necessarily finding or mechanically detaching the ectoparasite, at a time after the exposure of the mammal to the ectoparasite, and within the time delay, thereby preventing transmission of the pathogen from the ectoparasite to the mammal.

This invention relates generally to methods for preventing diseases caused by pathogens transmitted to a mammal by an ectoparasite attached to the mammal.
Current public health measures for preventing the transmission of the Lyme disease spirochete (Borrelia burgdorferi) focus around public education and awareness of the tick vector, Ixodes dammini. Throughout the northeastern United States, where this serious zoonotic disease is common, the usual recommendations suggest avoiding woody, brushy or grassy vegetation, and performance of self-inspections for ticks following exposure to such tick-bearing habitats. Ciesielski et al., Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 539:283-288 (1988). Insect repellents may help ward off ticks (Schreck et al., J. Med. Entomol., 23:396-399 (1986)), and a product has been designed to suppress transmission by killing ticks as they feed on white-footed mice. Mather et al., Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg., 36:609-614 (1987); and Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 539:402-403 (1988). Physical removal of embedded ticks within 24 hours also appears to prevent spirochete transmission in animal models. Piesman et al., J. Clin. Microbiol., 25:557-558 (1987).
The prompt removal of ticks requires that the ticks be found, which is not easily accomplished. Statistics show that up to 70% of those patients diagnosed as having Lyme disease reported no history of tick bite. Hanrahan et al., J. Inf. Dis., 150:489-496 (1984); and Curran et al., NY Med. Quart., pp. 18-21, 1989. Thus reliable methods are needed for preventing diseases, such as Lyme disease, which are caused by pathogen transmission by ectoparasites, such as ticks.
An object of the invention is to provide methods which may be used effectively and reliably to prevent ectoparasite-mediated disease transmission, and which may be conveniently and rapidly implemented after or during exposure to areas known or suspected to contain pathogen-bearing ectoparasites.

Method for the prevention of ectoparasite-mediated pathogen transmission

The President and Fellows of Harvard College


A game apparatus includes a CPU. In the game apparatus, it is determined whether movement state of a player object formed by a plurality of parts has satisfied a predetermined requirement or not. The predetermined requirement is, for example, that a movement speed is equal to or more than a predetermined threshold value, or that an event where a difference in angle between a current movement direction and an immediately preceding movement direction is equal to or more than a predetermined value has been detected a predetermined number of times or more within a given length of time. When the predetermined requirement is satisfied, that is, when there is an input operation to move the player object quickly or when there is an input operation to shake the player object, for instance, the player object is separated into the plurality of parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a storage medium storing a game program and a game apparatus. More specifically, the present invention relates to a storage medium storing a game program and a game apparatus in which a player object formed by a plurality of parts is separated.
2. Description of the Related Art
One example of game for separating a player object formed by a plurality of parts is disclosed in document 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-open No. 2003-251076). More specifically, a player is required to successfully roll a ball as a player object and collide it with another object so that the collided object is combined with the surface of the ball, whereby the ball grows to an enormous size at an accelerating rate. When coming into collision with the ball, an object smaller than the ball is combined and integrated into the ball. On the contrary, an object larger than the ball acts as an obstacle, and when the obstacle collides with the ball, some of the previously combined objects are disconnected and separated from the ball.
In the above mentioned related art, the separation of an object is expressed such as the collapse of the object caused by a collision with another object. In this game, the player object formed by combining a plurality of parts is merely separated by a collision with another object, and thus a player may not enjoy a feeling of operation or find pleasure in playing the game.

Storage medium storing game program and game apparatus


A mobile play list method, comprising the steps of: broadcasting a work and identification for the work over a broadcast system; receiving the broadcast work and identification in a mobile device; receiving, from a user, an input identifying the broadcast work as desired by the user; monitoring at the mobile device for a subsequent broadcast of the work; storing the work in the mobile device during the subsequent broadcast, and selectively playing the work in the mobile device in response to a request of the user.

It is known to use networks such as the Internet to sell digital copies of works, such as music. It has also been proposed to link sales of items to listeners of broadcast radio content, allowing the user to select purchases based upon what the user is listening to in the broadcast content.
It is also known to digitally store music in mobile players, such as MP3 players.


The present invention provides a display apparatus in which destruction of an insulating film by water or water vapor and generation of air bubbles in the display apparatus can be suppressed. The display apparatus includes a display element having a display layer together with a pixel electrode and an opposite electrode, an insulating film in contact with an under face of the pixel electrode and a metal-containing film that contains a metal element, covers an end face of the insulating film, and covers a part of a top face and a part of an under face which continue to the end face of the insulating film.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display apparatus such as a liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, in a display apparatus such as a liquid crystal display, an insulting film made of silicon nitride (SiN), silicon oxide (SiO2), or the like is provided in contact with an electrode, a wiring, and the like. In many cases, the insulting film is formed over a display region so as to extend to the outside of a seal layer (refer to, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. H11-295764, FIG. 6).
FIGS. 11 to 13 show an example of a display apparatus of related art having such an insulating film. The display apparatus is obtained by, for example, disposing a first substrate 210 and a second substrate 220 in parallel, adhering the peripheries with a seal layer 230, and providing a display layer 240 made of liquid crystal between the substrates 210 and 220.
The first substrate 210 is obtained by sequentially forming, on a glass substrate 211, a TFT 212, a protection film 213, a wiring 214, a peripheral wiring 215, a planarization film 216 made of an organic material, an opposite electrode 217, an insulating film 218 made of silicon nitride, and a pixel electrode 219. The protection film 213, the planarization film 216, and the insulating film 218 are formed on the entire surface of the glass substrate 211, and the seal layer 230 is provided on the insulating film 218.
In the same layer as the pixel electrode 219, a pixel-electrode-layer film 250 made of the material similar to the pixel electrode 219 is provided. The pixel-electrode-layer film 250 has the function of a dummy electrode for suppressing occurrence of burn-in and spot in the liquid crystal in the pixel periphery, and is electrically connected to the peripheral wiring 215 via the opposite electrode 217.
The second substrate 220 is obtained by sequentially forming a color filter 222, a peripheral light shield layer 223, and an overcoat layer 224 on a glass substrate 221.


A dummy cell having a low threshold voltage is disposed in a memory cell array in alignment with a memory cell. A dummy cell with a low threshold voltage adjacent to a selected memory cell column is selected, and a source-side local bit line of the selected memory cell is coupled to a global bit line via such dummy cell. Since the source-side local bit line is coupled to a ground node at its both ends, source resistance of the memory cell can be reduced, and dependency of the source resistance of the memory cell on the position within the memory cell array can also be reduced. This allows for reducing dependency of source resistance of a memory cell on the position within the memory cell array and on the temperature in a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, and in particular to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device in which a memory cell is formed of a stacked gate field effect transistor having a floating gate for accumulating electric charge to store data. More specifically, the present invention relates to a configuration for improving read margin in an AG (assist gate)-AND type flash memory utilizing an inversion layer formed on the surface of a substrate region as a bit line.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, a memory cell transistor has a threshold voltage changed according to stored data. To read the data, a voltage of a certain level is applied to a control gate of the memory cell transistor and the amount of a current flowing through the memory cell transistor is sensed with a sense amplifier. During the data read, the drain side of the memory cell transistor is supplied with predetermined current and voltage, and the source side is grounded via a source line. The grounding is effected by connecting the source line to a common source line (common line) provided on one side of a memory array. Interconnection resistance is present in the source line, and source line resistance exists between a ground node and the memory cell transistor, of which value depends on the distance therebetween.
When a current flows through the source line, a voltage drop occurs according to the source line resistance, increasing a source potential of the memory cell transistor. If a constant voltage is applied to the control gate when the source potential is increased, a voltage Vgs between the control gate and the source is reduced, and an absolute value of the threshold voltage is increased due to a substrate effect (back gate effect). Accordingly, even in the case where the memory cell transistor is to be conductive when selected, it may not become so fully conductive as to drive a read current of a sufficient magnitude, which may cause a read error.
In particular, when the source line is formed of a diffusion layer or an inversion layer, its resistance value is increased, as compared to the case where it is formed of a metal interconnection line, and it also has great temperature dependency, so that the influence of variation of source line resistance of a memory cell transistor according to the position of the memory cell in an array is increased. In particular, when the source line is formed of an inversion layer, it resistance value is further increased compared to the case where it is formed of a diffusion layer, and thus the influence of variation becomes further greater.
Prior art Document 1 (Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-285692) discloses a configuration for reducing such dependency of the source line resistance on the position in an array. In the configuration described in Prior art Document 1, a voltage level applied to a word line (control gate) is changed according to a distance from a source line grounding node. A word line voltage is increased to compensate for an increase in source potential, and thus each memory cell has the same control gate to source voltage Vgs.
In Prior art Document 1, the voltage level for selecting a word line is changed according to the magnitude of the source line resistance, that is, the position of a memory cell. Accordingly, the voltage applied to a word line should be changed according to a selected row, complicating the control when selecting a word line.

Nonvolatile semiconductor memory device having reduced dependency of a source resistance on a position in an array


A disseminated vapor capture device for challenging a gas sampling apparatus with a vapor stream, includes an inlet being adapted for connection to a vapor generating apparatus producing a vapor stream containing target particles or analytes, an outer shell enclosing an inner chamber in communication with the inlet, the inner chamber being adapted for passing the vapor stream therethrough, an outlet being adapted for connection to a vacuum source, the outlet being in communication with the inner chamber for passing the vapor stream out of the inner chamber, and at least one sampling port in communication with the inner chamber, the at least one sampling port each being configured for coupling engagement with a gas sampling apparatus.

Chemical weapons used for dispersing chemical warfare (CW) agents over a wide target area pose serious threats to both civilian and military personnel throughout the world. CW agents can be classified into four categories: nerve agents, blister agents, choking agents and blood agents. Some examples of CW agents, which are formulated to inflict death or harm to people, include sarin (GB), soman (GD), distilled mustard (HD), cyanogen chloride (CK), and hydrogen cyanide (AC). In the face of such threats, the ability to rapidly detect and identify CW agents becomes critical to initiating an immediate and effective response to minimize casualties. Such detection relies on the use of vapor detection instruments configured to detect CW agents and other such hazardous vapors. To ensure operational effectiveness, these vapor detection instruments, especially those of newly developed systems, must undergo specific procedures for testing and evaluation prior to service and periodically thereafter.
During testing, test fixtures are typically used to deliver vapor streams containing target particles or analyte to the vapor detection instrument under testing. These test fixtures are generally constructed with an open cup design through which the vapor stream is passed. The open cup includes a closed end through which an inlet is connected to a vapor generating apparatus, and an open end located opposite from the closed end. The gas sampling inlet of the vapor detection instrument is positioned in the test fixture's cup through the open end prior to activating the vapor generating apparatus. Once the vapor generating apparatus is activated, the vapor detection instrument is challenged via the test fixture as the vapor stream disseminates into the open cup from the inlet. Samples of the vapor stream can be collected by the vapor detection instrument through the corresponding gas sampling inlet to provide the necessary test readings.
The open cup design of the test fixtures offers a suitable means for delivering a vapor stream challenge to vapor detection instruments. However, this design provides no safeguard against inadvertent release of potentially dangerous target particles or analytes into the atmosphere at large and contamination of the environment or individuals testing the vapor detection instrument. Because portions of the vapor stream not sampled by a typical vapor detection instrument are expelled through the open end of the cup portion of the associated test fixture, the testing must be carried out under a fume hood to capture the expelled vapors, and minimize its release into the testing work area.
The above arrangement provides sufficient safety for non-toxic or slightly toxic target particles or analytes. However, this arrangement is especially impractical where the target particles or analytes are extremely toxic and too dangerous to handle directly. The operation of the test fixtures in fume hoods can pose undue safety hazards to the testing worker. In such circumstances, the test must be performed with the entire assembly (i.e., vapor generating equipment, reference detector, and vapor detection instrument) inside a glovebox under a fume hood. There are several disadvantages associated with above-mentioned test fixtures and their reliance on fume hoods and/or gloveboxes.
Fume hoods alone provide only limited protection against exposure. In addition to their limited protection, the relatively large size and complexity of such equipment necessitates costly and labor intensive cleanup after multiple testing. With regard to gloveboxes, they are quite expensive to fabricate and use. Although gloveboxes are vastly safer and more effective in isolating the toxic target particles or analytes from the immediate work area, the thick gloves and placement of all the equipment therein, make the testing process more difficult to carry out. Furthermore, the placement of the test equipment including the vapor generating equipment and the vapor detection instrument within the glovebox means that they are exposed to the dangerous chemicals during testing. This necessitates not only cleanup and decontamination of the glovebox interior, but also all the equipment housed therein. Accordingly, extensive labor and cost expenditures are accrued after each use.
Accordingly, there is a need to develop a disseminated vapor capture device configured for challenging a gas sampling apparatus, such as a vapor detection instrument, with a vapor stream containing target particles or analytes in a safe, reliable and cost effective manner. There is a further need for a disseminated vapor capture device capable of disseminating a vapor stream that significantly reduces the risks of a testing worker's exposure to the vapor stream, while offering enhanced portability and convenient operation. There is a further need for a disseminated vapor capture device that is lightweight, compact and relatively inexpensive.

The United States of America as Represented by the Secretary of the Army