Methods and systems are provided for generating automatic program recommendations based on user interactions. In some embodiments, control circuitry processes verbal data received during an interaction between a user of a user device and a person with whom the user is interacting. The control circuitry analyzes the verbal data to automatically identify a media asset referred to during the interaction by at least one of the user and the person with whom the user is interacting. The control circuitry adds the identified media asset to a list of media assets associated with the user of the user device. The list of media assets is transmitted to a second user device of the user.

Modern consumers often carry one or more personal electronic devices, such as mobile phones, smart phones, tablet computers, etc., with them at all times. Typical personal electronic devices have a network connection to a cell phone network or the Internet, for example, so that users can communicate with other users. Recently, personal electronic devices have also begun to incorporate voice recognition technology to take spoken commands from their users and perform actions based on the commands and image recognition technology to identify images captured by the devices.
As users go throughout their day, they often are told about media content they may be interested in, such as television programs, videos, movies, songs, and albums. Such discussions may occur in conversations over a network using the personal electronic device or in an in-person conversation in close proximity to a user's personal electronic device. At present, users have to manually create reminders or notes to recall these recommendations. However, creating reminders or notes is time consuming and often inconvenient, causing to users to forgo the effort and instead quickly forget the recommendations. In addition, multiple different people may recommend a particular media asset to a user without the user noticing that multiple people have endorsed it.

Systems and methods for automatic program recommendations based on user interactions


Disclosed is a process for separating chlorine gas from a mixture of gases. The mixture of gases is cooled to a temperature less than 0.degree. C. and is contacted with ice, which results in the formation of chlorine hydrate on the ice. The ice is separated from the mixture of gases and is heated or the operating pressure reduced to release chlorine.

This invention relates to a process for separating chlorine gas from a mixture of gases. In particular, it relates to a process in which a mixture of gases containing chlorine is cooled to less than 0.degree. C. and is contacted with ice, which results in the formation of chlorine hydrate on the ice. To release the chlorine gas from the chlorine hydrate, the ice is separated from the mixture of gases and is heated and/or the operating pressure on the ice is reduced.
In manufacturing chlorine, mixtures of gases that contain chlorine are inevitably produced. While the other gases in the mixture may be harmless, chlorine is toxic and must be removed from the mixture before the mixture can be released to the atmosphere. Many techniques have been used to separate chlorine from mixtures of gases, the particular technique chosen depending upon the concentration of chlorine in the mixture and the other gases that are present.
One technique is to pressurize the gas mixture while adding cold water to form solid chlorine hydrate crystals. The solid chlorine hydrate is separated from the remaining gases and the pressure on it is relieved and/or it is heated, which releases the chlorine. Liquid water is used in this process because it is believed that chlorine gas is insoluble in ice.

Method of recovering chlorine from a gas mixture


An antenna device for transmitting and receiving radio waves by an antenna element formed as a conductive pattern on a substrate, and the antenna element includes: a first element part which is electrically connected to a power supply line; and two second element parts which are electrically connected to the first element part via connection lines, the connection lines being different from the power supply line.

Recently, various technologies related to planar antennae having antenna elements formed as conductive patterns on substrates have been proposed. For example, a microstrip antenna proposed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2006-173963 has an antenna electrode which has a rectangular plate shape and is divided into a plurality of electrodes having a slender rectangle shape by slits formed along an excitation direction. Of the plurality of electrodes, one is a power supply electrode, and the others are parasitic electrodes. According to this configuration, it is possible to improve the efficiency of the antenna without increasing the size of the antenna electrode.


A system for reducing ringing artifacts on an image.

For image coding schemes undesirable ringing artifacts can appear in the decoded images.
Ringing artifacts tend to occur around edges in decoded images that are coded by coding schemes, such as by Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) schemes and Motion Picture Experts Group (MPEG) 1/2/4 schemes. Generally, a sharp edge in the spatial domain spreads energy over nearly the entire spectrum in the frequency domain. In low bit rate Discrete Cosine. Transform Based (DCT-based) coding, however, the high frequency coefficients are either removed or quantized coarsely, resulting in Gibbs phenomena around edges in the spatial domain, which is manifested as ringing artifacts in the decoded images. Ringing artifacts are more complicated for coded image sequences because they are rendered in motion, due to a different ringing pattern for every sequential frame. In coded image sequences (e.g., motion video), the ringing artifacts are often referred to as a "mosquito" or "corona" artifacts.
Generally, a de-ringing technique removes ringing artifacts from images while maintaining the edges and details of images. Many techniques have been developed for de-ringing. These techniques typically fall into two categories: first those that perform processing within the decoding loop of the image decoder; and second those that perform processing after decoding the image.
The techniques in the first category use coding information available in the decoding loop of the image decoder. These techniques are usually based upon information associated with the coding blocks (e.g., DCT coefficients) defined by the coding scheme.
The techniques in the second category use post-processing that is independent of the decoder, and therefore can be implemented independent of the decoder. Without coding information, the post-processing techniques tend to process every pixel. Processing every pixel of the image has much more calculation load than using information contained within coding blocks.
Many post processing algorithms that are sufficiently computationally simple to be implemented in low-cost TV sets use a form of low-pass filter (LPF). Unlike traditional linear LPFs, these modified LPFs preserve sharp edges while reducing ringing artifacts. There are other sophisticated techniques such as those based on principles of maximum a posterior probability estimation (MAP) or projection onto convex sets (POCS), but these are generally not suitable for inexpensive hardware implementations.
Noise reducing techniques can be used for reducing ringing artifacts. These techniques normally do not take into account the characteristics of the ringing artifacts, so their success is somewhat limited.


Disclosed is a method for the production of deletions in the chromosomal DNA of a single eukaryotic cell. More specifically, the method involves the creation of either random chromosomal deletions, or chromosomal deletions within a predetermined genetic loci. The deletions are created by integration of a DNA construct into the chromosomal DNA of the single eukaryotic cell, followed by spontaneous or irradiation induced deletion of the DNA construct from the chromosomal DNA. Also, disclosed is a method for the production of deletions in the chromosomal DNA of a multicell organism using a DNA construct.

Deletions are entire regions of chromosomes that are no longer present in the genome. Chromosomal deletions are powerful tools in the genetic analysis of complex genomes. They have been exploited extensively in several species including Drosophila melanogaster, humans and mice. Drosophila melanogaster is an organism in which deletions in the genome can be efficiently induced and selected. Chromosomal deletions in the genome of Drosophila melanogaster can be induced through the use of either irradiation or treatment with a mutagenic chemical. In humans, deletions that have arisen spontaneously have facilitated the dissection of phenotypes in contiguous gene syndromes. The identification of deletions in the genome of humans has led to the positional cloning of genes with functions critical to the normal functions of the individual. In mice, sets of deletions within particular regions of the genome created by whole animal irradiation experiments have enabled a systematic characterization of functional units along defined chromosomal regions. However, due to the inordinate amount of time required to identify sets of unique deletions within a particular predetermined genetic locus, classical mutagenesis in mice is logistically impractical.
Presently, the most efficient method that can be used to create a chromosomal deletion at a predetermined genetic locus in mice is the Cre/loxP system disclosed in the U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,317. This recombination system uses two DNA constructs that are integrated into predetermined genetic loci on a chromosome, thus enabling the generation of a precise, single deletion in between the two inserted constructs. When a chromosomal deletion is desired in the genome of a mouse, the deletion is first created in an ES (embryonic stem) cell. The ES cell is then injected into a murine multicell blastocyst or morula or aggregated to an earlier stage murine embryo. ES cells used in this manner have the ability of developing into a chimeric mouse which contains the predetermined chromosomal deletion. The Cre/loxP recombination system however, lacks the feature of creating sets of unique deletions at a predetermined genetic locus afforded by classical mutagenesis. In order to create these sets using the Cre/loxP system, it is necessary to produce two new DNA constructs for each desired deletion. Therefore, the Cre/loxP system requires a great deal of effort and time in order to create sets of unique deletions within a predetermined genetic region.


Embodiments of the present invention provide compositions including a complexes of papillomavirus capsid polypeptide L2 and polypeptide including an immunotherapeutic epitope, and GST fusions thereof. Other embodiments also provide complexes comprising chimeras of papillomavirus L2 polypeptides non-covalently associated with papillomavirus L1 polypeptides, and GST fusions thereof. These compositions may be used to elicit immune responses in a patient to papillomavirus. Therapeutic and prophylactic vaccines for the prevention and treatment of viral infection, especially papillomavirus infection and cervical cancers and warts associated therewith, made from compositions of this invention, are also disclosed. Nucleic acids and expression vectors coding for compositions are also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention provides novel vaccines and diagnostic agents for the prevention, treatment and/or diagnosis of viral infection, especially papillomavirus infection and cervical cancers associated therewith. More specifically, the present invention provides an efficient method for incorporating immunotherapeutic proteins into capsomeres, which may then be used to elicit immune responses.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Papillomaviruses infect a wide variety of different species of animals including humans. Infection is typically characterized by the induction of benign epithelial and fibro-epithelial tumors, or warts at the site of infection. Each species of vertebrate is infected by a species-specific set of papillomavirus, itself comprising several different papillomavirus types. For example, more than sixty different human papillomavirus (HPV) genotypes have been isolated. Papillomaviruses are highly species-specific infective agents. For example, canine and rabbit papillomaviruses cannot induce papillomas in heterologous species such as humans. Neutralizing immunity to infection against one papillomavirus type generally does not confer immunity against another type, even when the types infect a homologous species.
In humans, papillomaviruses cause genital warts, a prevalent sexually-transmitted disease. HPV types 6 and 11 are most commonly associated with benign genital warts condylomata acuminata. Genital warts are very common, and subclinical or inapparent HPV infection is even more common than clinical infection. While most HPV-induced lesions are benign, lesions arising from certain papillomavirus types e.g., HPV-16 and HPV-18, can undergo malignant progression. Moreover, infection by one of the malignancy-associated papillomavirus types is considered to be a significant risk factor in the development of cervical cancer, the second most common cancer in women worldwide. Of the HPV genotypes involved in cervical cancer, HPV-16 is the most common, being found in about 50% of cervical cancers. The prevalence of HPV-18 ranges from approximately 8-31% depending on the geographical location, and in most areas worldwide, HPV-45 is the third most frequent, oncogenic HPV type (Bosch, F. X., et al., J Natl. Cancer Inst., 87:796-802 (1995).
In view of the significant health risks posed by papillomavirus infection generally, and human papillomavirus infection in particular, various groups have reported the development of recombinant papillomavirus antigens and their use as diagnostic agents and as prophylactic vaccines. In general, such research has been focused toward producing prophylactic vaccines containing the major capsid protein (L1) alone or in combination with the minor capsid protein (L2).
Yuan, et al., J Virology, 75:7848-53 (2001), describe the preparation of canine oral papillomavirus capsid L1 protein-glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins and their expression in E. coli. This publication demonstrates the efficacy of non-VLP vaccines in the dog canine oral papillomavirus (COPV) model. COPV is the model previously used to validate VLP vaccines. Here, GST-L1 fusions were expressed in E. coli, and, although in capsomere form, had not been assembled into VLPs before use as a vaccine. The paper demonstrated that GST-L1 fusions retained their native conformations and further, completely protected dogs from viral infection with COPV. The authors conclude that VLPs are not necessary for efficacy of capsid protein L1 vaccines against papillomavirus, and that GST fusion proteins, which may be purified efficiently and economically in bacteria, are effective to protect dogs against COPV.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,165,471, issued Dec. 26, 2000 to Robert L. Garcea, et al., also discloses non-VLP vaccines composed of capsomeres of HPV L1 with carboxy-terminal deletions and mutations of specific cysteine residues which inhibit the formation of VLPs. These capsomeres were produced in bacterial expression systems, and they were efficacious in eliciting HPV neutralizing antibodies in rabbits. This reference is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
PCT/US01/18702 entitled "Stable (Fixed) Forms Of Viral Capsid Proteins, And Viral Capsid Protein Fusions, Preferably Papillomavirus L1 Proteins, And Uses Thereof," describes papillomavirus capsid protein L1 or L2 proteins expressed as glutathione-S-transferase fusion proteins in bacteria. These fusions expressed in E. coli retain L1 native conformation and immunogenic activity as measured by assays with neutralizing antibodies. This reference is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
Prophylactic vaccines currently in clinical trials are based upon VLPs (virus like particles) assembled from HPV16 L1. See, Cain, J. M., et al., Science, 288:1753-55 (2000); Gissmann, L., et al., Intervirology, 44:167-75 (2001); Harro, et al., J. Natl Cancer Inst, 93:284-292 (2001); Schiller, J. T., et al., J Clin Virol, 19:67-74 (2000); and Schiller, J. T., et al., Expert Opin Biol Ther, 1:571-81. However, these types of vaccines are relatively expensive to produce in that they require eukaryotic expression systems or complex purification, and are less stable than capsomere preparations.
Additionally, VLP vaccines have the shortcoming that they may not provide cross protection against other papillomavirus serotypes, as neutralizing immune responses tend to be predominately type-specific. See Christensen, et al., J Gen Virol, 75 (Pt 9):2271-76 (1994); Christensen, et al., Virology, 175:1-9 (1990); Roden, et al., J Virol, 70:5875-83 (1996); Roden, et al., J Virol, 70:3298-301 (1996); Rose, et al., J Gen Virol, 75 (Pt 9):2445-49 (1994); and White, et al., J Virol, 73:4882-9 (1999).
Papillomavirus capsid protein L2 has been shown to generate cross-neutralizing antisera. See Roden, "Minor capsid protein of human genital papillomaviruses contains subdominant, cross-neutralizing epitopes," Virology, 270:254-7 (2000).
A further drawback to approaches that do not incorporate papillomavirus capsid protein L2 into capsomeres of papillomavirus capsid protein L1 is that requirements for L1 capsomers to assemble into VLPs are somewhat strict, i.e. acidic pH, such as pH 5.2, is required for assembly. Thus, if it is desired to produce VLPs, it is desirable to produce capsomeres that assemble more readily into VLPs, i.e. at more physiological pH.
Currently, one approach to developing a therapeutic vaccine for treating established cervical carcinomas has been to create VLPs using papillomavirus capsid protein L1 also containing an immunotherapeutic protein, typically E7. See Miller, et al., Virology, 234:93-111. However, this approach does not include papillomavirus capsid protein L2, which can broaden the therapeutic usefulness of such a vaccine. Another drawback to this approach is that smaller amounts of immunotherapeutic protein can be incorporated into VLPs using this approach, certainly much less than one therapeutic protein per capsomere.
Thus, there remains a need in the art to produce papillomavirus vaccines containing both L1 and L2 viral capsid proteins to potentially generate a broader spectrum of protection against different papillomavirus serotypes. Additionally, there remains a need in the art to produce a therapeutic vaccine in order to treat established cervical cancer which represents an improvement over current therapeutic vaccines. There remains a need for such compositions to be produced economically, preferably from bacterial expression systems. Further, there is a need in the art to for bacterially produced papillomavirus capsomeres that assemble into VLPs at physiologic pH.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Therapeutic and prophylactic vaccine for the treatment and prevention of papillomavirus infection

The Regents of the University of Colorado, a body corporate


An adjustable headrest and integrated seat belt D-ring for a seat including a height adjustable headrest, D-rings on either side of the headrest and attached to the headrest for unitary movement with the headrest, slots in the D-rings configured to receive harness webbing which are also slanted to accommodate spacing adjustment between the two harnesses fed through the slots.

The present disclosure relates to a headrest for a seat and more particularly, to a height-adjustable headrest with integrated seatbelt guide rings for use in a vehicle.
Most vehicle seats are equipped with a headrest and seat belts. Both headrests and seat belts play an important role in the safety of the vehicle passenger. Headrests, when properly positioned, can prevent whiplash and other neck injuries in the event of a collision. Properly positioned seat belts are designed to secure the seat occupant against harmful movement that can occur as a result of a collision or other forces exerted on the passenger. To allow for proper positioning, headrests are often height-adjustable to accommodate varying heights of passengers. Additionally, many seat belts often include a mechanism to allow for adjustability to accommodate the shoulder height of the passenger.
Off-road vehicles such as tractors and construction equipment often include a three-point harness safety belt instead of the lap and shoulder belt commonly found in automobiles. In three-point harness arrangements, two guide rings or D-rings are generally located near the passenger's shoulders and the seat belt webbing is routed through the D-ring. The webbing is then secured by a buckle or other webbing lock mechanism in the passenger's lap area, while the other ends of the shoulder webbing are permanently secured to the back of the seat or the vehicle. To create a three-point harness, a lap belt is also used in connection with the shoulder webbing. The lap belt is typically adjustable depending on the girth of the passenger. However, in the typical arrangement, the shoulder webbing that is threaded through the b-rings generally cannot be adjusted according to the girth of the passenger. The varying girth of vehicle passengers without the ability to adjust the positioning of the shoulder webbing to accommodate those variances can create an ill-fitting and/or uncomfortable safety harness as well as a potential safety issue for the passenger.
There is a need, therefore, for guide rings that are height adjustable to accommodate varying passenger heights but that also allow adjustment of the shoulder webbing for varying girths of passengers.

Adjustable headrest and seatbelt guide rings


Described herein are methods and systems for an interface certification and design tool. An exemplary embodiment is a computer readable storage medium including a set of instructions executable by a processor, the instructions operable to receive a selection of packaged software components. The set of instructions operable to generate a simulator default response for the software component, validate user changes to the simulator default response to create a validated test file, execute at least one simulator using the validated test file, and publish the validated test file.

The term "Web 2.0" describes a changing trend in the use of Internet technology (e.g., the World Wide Web), such as within the area of web design. Accordingly, the intent of a Web 2.0 application may generally be to enhance creativity and communications through securely sharing information, thereby improving the collaboration and functionality of the World Wide Web. Various Web 2.0 concepts have led to the development and continuous evolution of specific web communities and hosted services, such as, for example, social-networking sites, video hosting/sharing sites, "wiki" pages, and user blogs. Although the term implies a new version of the World Wide Web, it does not refer to an update of any technical specifications, but rather to changes in the ways software developers and end-users utilize the Web.
Within the area of web design, a markup language may be described as an artificial language using a set of annotations to text that give instructions regarding the structure of text or how it is to be displayed. Extensible Markup Language ("XML") is a general-purpose specification for creating custom "meta" markup languages. XML is classified as an extensible language, since it allows the user to define the mark-up elements. In other words, as a meta-language, users of XML may create an extensible set of tags, as needed, and then describe those tags and their permitted uses. Accordingly, the purpose of XML is to aid information systems in sharing structured data, such as the Internet. Furthermore, XML allows users to encode documents and to serialize data. An XML Schema Definition ("XSD") may be described as a type of XML document, wherein the XSD is typically expressed in terms of constraints on the structure and content of documents of that type. These constraints are more strenuous than the basic syntactical constraints imposed by XML itself. Thus, an XML schema provides a view of the document type at a relatively high level of abstraction.
Web Services Description Language ("WSDL") is an XML-based language that provides a model for describing network services. Specifically, WSDL may describe network services as a set of endpoints operating on messages containing information such as document-oriented data or procedure-oriented data. The operations and messages are described abstractly and then bound to a concrete network protocol and message format in order to define an endpoint. The endpoint, or port, may be defined by associating a network address with a reusable binding, and a collection of ports may define a service. The abstract definition of ports and messages are separated from their concrete use or instance, allowing the reuse of these definitions. Accordingly, messages are abstract descriptions of the data being exchanged, and port types are abstract collections of supported operations. The concrete protocol and data format specifications for a particular port type may constitute a reusable binding, whereas the operations and messages may then bound to a concrete network protocol and message format to define an endpoint. In this way, WSDL is extensible to allow description of endpoints and their messages regardless of what message formats or network protocols are used to communicate.

Method and system for an interface certification and design tool


To provide a wiring substrate which can prevent short circuit between connection terminals, and which realizes reduction of the pitch between the connection terminals. The wiring substrate of the present invention includes a layered structure including one or more insulation layers and one or more conductor layers, and the wiring substrate is characterized in that a plurality of connection terminals are formed on the layered structure so as to be separated from one another; a filling member is filled between the connection terminals; and each of the connection terminals has a side surface composed of a contact surface which is in contact with the filling member, and a spaced surface which is not in contact with the filling member and which is located above the contact surface and below the top surface of the filling member.

Generally, a wiring substrate has, on a main surface (front surface) thereof, terminals for connection to semiconductor chips (hereinafter may be referred to as "connection terminals"). In recent years, connection terminals have been provided at high packing density, and the distance (pitch) between adjacent connection terminals has been reduced. Thus, there has been proposed a wiring substrate having an NSMD (non-solder mask defined) structure in which a plurality of connection terminals are arranged in a single opening of a solder resist layer.
However, when a plurality of connection terminals are arranged in a single opening at small pitches, solder applied (through coating) onto the front surface of a connection terminal may flow toward an adjacent connection terminal, and short circuit may occur between these connection terminals. Therefore, there has been proposed a wiring substrate in which an insulating partition wall is provided between adjacent connection terminals so as to prevent flow of solder applied (through coating) on the front surface of a connection terminal toward an adjacent connection terminal (see, for example, Patent Document 1).


An information processing device including a display unit and an input unit is driven by a first step of inputting an input signal from the input unit, a second step of starting to move an image displayed on the display unit, a third step of lowering luminance of the image, a fourth step of checking whether the image reaches a position of predetermined coordinates, a fifth step of increasing the luminance of the image in the case where the image reaches the position of the predetermined coordinates, and a sixth step of stopping moving the image so as to perform eye-friendly display with the display unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing device and a method for driving the information processing device. The present invention also relates to a program for driving the information processing device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, information processing devices each provided with an input unit, a display unit, and an arithmetic unit have been prevalent.
As the display unit, a variety of display units such as a liquid crystal display, a display device including an organic electroluminescence (EL) element, and an electronic paper are employed.
Examples of input units include a keyboard and a pointing device. Further, recently, a touch panel which can sense contact or proximity of an operating body, a gesture input unit which can sense the motion of the human hand or finger, and the like have been widely used.
For example, an information display device including a touch panel and a liquid crystal display panel is described in Patent Document 1.
On the other hand, eye fatigue (also called eye strain) is known to be accumulated by long-time viewing of a display device (e.g., Patent Document 2).

Method for driving information processing device, program, and information processing device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A method and device for trading off inhibit disturb against bit-line disturb in a non-volatile memory where a threshold shift per inhibit disturb is increased, a threshold shift per bit-line disturb is decreased and the total threshold shift over the expected lifetime of the non-volatile memory due to inhibit disturbs is approximately equalized with the total threshold shift over the expected lifetime of the non-volatile memory due to bit-line disturbs.

SONOS (silicon-oxide-nitride-oxide-silicon) is a nonvolatile, trapped-charge semiconductor memory technology that provides several advantages over conventional floating-gate flash memories, including immunity from single point failures and programming at lower voltages. In contrast to floating-gate devices, which store charge on a conductive gate, SONOS devices trap charge in a dielectric layer. SONOS transistors are programmed and erased using a quantum mechanical effect known as uniform channel, modified Fowler-Nordheim tunneling. This method of programming and erase is known in the industry to provide better reliability than other methods such as hot carrier injection. A SONOS transistor is an insulated-gate field effect transistor (IGFET) with a charge-trapping dielectric stack between a conventional control gate and a channel in the body or substrate of the transistor. A SONOS transistor can be fabricated as a P-type or N-type IGFET using CMOS (complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor) fabrications methods.
A SONOS transistor is programmed or erased by applying a voltage of the proper polarity, magnitude and duration between the control gate and the substrate. A positive gate-to-substrate voltage causes electrons to tunnel from the channel to a charge-trapping dielectric layer and a negative gate-to-channel voltage causes holes to tunnel from the channel to the charge-trapping dielectric layer. In one case, the threshold voltage of the transistor is raised and in the other case, the threshold voltage of the transistor is lowered. The threshold voltage is the gate-to-source voltage that causes the transistor to conduct current when a voltage is applied between the drain and source terminals. For a given amount of trapped charge, the direction of the threshold voltage change depends on whether the transistor is an N-type or P-type FET.
FIG. 1A illustrates the change in threshold voltage VT of an N-type SONOS transistor as a function of time for a programming voltage of +10 volts and an erase voltage of −10 volts. After approximately 10 milliseconds, the programmed threshold voltage is greater than +1 volt and the erased threshold is less than −1 volt. After a programming or erase operation is completed, the state of the transistor can be read by setting the gate-to-source voltage to zero, applying a small voltage between the drain and source terminals and sensing the current that flows through the transistor. In the programmed state, the N-type SONOS transistor will be OFF because the gate-to-source voltage will be below the programmed threshold voltage VTP. In the erased state, the N-type SONOS transistor will be ON because the gate-to-source voltage will be above the erased threshold voltage VTE. Conventionally, the ON state is associated with a logical "0" and the OFF state is associated with a logical "1."
FIG. 1B illustrates a small segment of a conventional array of one transistor (1T) N-type SONOS memory cells 100 containing four memory cells (A, B, C, D) in two rows (Row 0, Row 1) and two columns (Col 0, Col 1).
Each row includes a word line (WL0, WL1) that is used to select or deselect the row. All the cells share a common substrate voltage (SUB). Each column includes a source line (SL0, SL1) connected to the source terminals of all the transistors in that column, and a bit line (BL0, BL1) connected to the drain terminals of all the transistors in the column. Like other types of non-volatile memory, write operations in SONOS memories are performed on a row by row basis.
A write operation consists of a bulk erase operation on a row, followed by program or inhibit operations on individual cells in the row. Memory transistors that are to be written to a "1" (programmed) state are exposed to the full programming voltage (e.g., 10 volts). Memory transistors that are to be "written" to a "0" state are inhibited from programming because the previous bulk erase operation has already placed them in the "0" state. The inhibit function is accomplished applying an inhibit voltage to those memory transistors in the row that are to remain in the "0" or erased state, that lowers the total voltage across the transistor.
FIG. 1B illustrates a bulk erase operation on Row 0. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the voltages are selected to impress −10 volts between the gates of transistors A and B and their respective source and substrate terminals. In Row 1, however, the word line (WL1) voltage is selected so that the gate-to-source and gate-to-substrate voltages on transistors C and D are all zero, so the states of transistors C and D are unchanged. In particular, transistor D, in a programmed state (shown schematically as a shaded trapping region to represent stored electrons), remains programmed and transistor C, in an erased state, remains erased.
FIG. 1C illustrates the second step in a conventional write operation on Row 0, where transistor A is being programmed (written to a "1") and transistor B is being inhibited from programming (written to a "0"). In this step, the word line voltages and common substrate voltages in both rows are reversed, and the bit line voltage on column 0 (BL0) is also reversed, but an intermediate voltage (+2 volts) is applied to the bit line of column 1 (BL1). When the word line (WL0) voltage of +6V is applied transistor B, it is turned on, and the +2V from the bit line (BL1) is transferred to its channel. This voltage reduces the gate-to-drain and channel voltage on transistor B (to +4 volts) reducing the programming field so that the threshold shift (VTE) of SONOS transistor B is small. The tunneling that does occur is known as "inhibit disturb" or soft-programming and causes a small increase in threshold voltage (around +200 mV) during the inhibit write operation.
In Row 1, the voltages on transistor C are all the same, so transistor C is unaffected by the write operation on Row 0. However, transistor D is affected (assumed to be programmed with trapped electrons in the memory layer). As a result of the inhibit voltage on BL1, the gate-to-drain voltage on transistor C is −6 volts. This voltage condition, which can erase the programmed SONOS transistor over long periods of disturb, causes hole tunneling from the drain, source, and channel to the memory layer. The tunneling that occurs is known as "bit line disturb" or soft erase and causes a small decrease in the threshold voltage of the programmed cell each time a cell in Column 1 in any other row is inhibited during a write operation on that row. However over many bit line disturb cycles, the threshold shift may cause cell read failures.
The maximum number of consecutive inhibit disturbs on an erased cell is limited to one (1) because the cell is always erased during the first part of a write operation. In contrast, the maximum number of consecutive bit line disturbs on a programmed cell in a given row and column is the total number of write operations on all other rows where an inhibit voltage is applied to the bit line on the given column. For example, if there are 64 rows in an array, and each row is written to (cycled) 100,000 times, then the maximum number of bit line disturbs that can be seen by the programmed cell is 64 minus 1 times 100,000, which equals 6,300,000 bit line disturbs. This means, statistically, that shifts in programmed threshold voltages are the limiting factor in conventional SONOS memories. The reliability of non-volatile memories is measured by their endurance (number of write cycles) and data retention. FIG. 1D is a graph comparing the data retention of an undisturbed SONOS cell and a programmed SONOS cell after 1,000,000 bit line disturbs as described above.
In FIG. 1D, the undisturbed SONOS cell exhibits a large initial separation at its beginning of life (BOL) between its programmed and erased threshold voltages. Over time, charge leakage causes the programmed threshold voltage to decrease and the erased threshold voltage to increase. A sense widow for reading the cell (defined as the minimum threshold voltage that reliably represents a "1" and the maximum threshold voltage that reliable represents a "0") is positioned to maximize the time to the end of life (EOL) of the cell (so that on average, the programmed threshold voltage and erased threshold voltage decay to their respective sense window limits at the same time. In the case of the disturbed cell, however, the BOL value of the programmed threshold voltage is reduced by the cumulative effect of soft erase during cycling, and the rate of decay is increased because each bit line disturb may cause some damage to the tunneling layer that increases the charge leakage rate.

Method and apparatus for reduction of bit-line disturb and soft-erase in a trapped-charge memory


An energy absorbing vehicle knee bolster including a main body and a support member. The main body is shaped as a hollow rectangular box and is formed as a single body of an aluminum substance. The support member is fixed to a front side of the main body for supporting the main body on a vehicle tie bar.

Generally, a front panel of a car chamber within a vehicle is attached with side hinge pillars or A pillars onto the left and right sides thereof, and a tie bar shaped as a pipe is transversely installed across the side hinge pillars provided on both sides. An instrument panel which is fixed to the tie bar is equipped with various adjusting devices of the vehicle such as a speedometer and an audio system and an air bag for protecting passengers.
Meanwhile, when a car crash is taking place, a submarine phenomena occurs such that the lower part of the body of a driver or a passenger occupying an assistant driver's seat is forcibly pushed down to be put under the instrument panel due to the inertia. In this case, the knee of the driver or the passenger sitting on the assistant driver's seat is run into the framework of the vehicle and, furthermore, the upper parts of the bodies of the passengers are inclined to move forward to the bottom side due to the submarine phenomena. Thus, even though the air bag is properly inflated upon the car crash, the upper part of the body hits against the lower side of the air bag or is to be out of the protecting coverage of the air bag. Thus, the air bag is detrimental to effective protection for passengers.
Therefore, a knee bolster is installed to the front of the instrument panel for absorbing the impact upon the driver or passenger occupying the assistant driver's seat during the car crash, so that the impact upon the knee of the passengers is decreased while preventing or reducing the inadvertent influence of the submarine phenomena.
The knee bolster is largely classified into two kinds: one for driver's seat and the other for assistant driver's seat. Here, since an interior package in front of the driver's seat has a different structure from that in front of the assistant driver's seat, the knee bolsters for driver's seat and for assistant driver's seat have different structures.
Typically, the knee bolster is fabricated by a plurality of pieces of steel plate to be coupled with one another via bolts or a welding to involve a lot of working processes, which degrades workability and productivity. In addition to this drawback, the number of the parts constituting the knee bolster is so many to make the part management difficult and dimensional stability be low because of a welding deformation, which, in turn, degrade the workability and assembling productivity.
Also, a substance of the conventional knee bolster is a steel to have a disadvantage of being too heavy, thereby increasing overall weight of the vehicle.
A conventional knee bolster is filled with a foam substance into a hollowed internal space, which also is heavy and so expensive.
FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a general knee bolster 110 for assistant driver's seat. Knee bolster 110 is installed to an instrument panel (not shown) in front of the assistant driver's seat of an automobile to be integrally formed with a glove box 112 in a body. As shown in FIG. 8, knee bolster 110 includes an outer plate 114, an inner plate 116 and a shock absorbing plate 118 installed between outer plate 114 and inner plate 116. The shock absorbing plate 118 is formed of a steel.
In the conventional knee bolster formed as above, when the passenger collides against outer plate 114 of the knee bolster resulting from a car crash, the impact force caused by the collision is transferred to shock absorbing plate 118. If the impact force is slight, the stiffness of shock absorbing plate 118 elastically bears the impact force. Whereas, shock absorbing plate 118 is plastic-deformed by a strong impact force to absorb and eliminate the impact force.
In conventional knee bolster 110 described as above, however, the impact force is absorbed only by shock absorbing plate 118 formed of steel. Accordingly, the submarine phenomena cannot be prevented when the impact force is significantly powerful to be out of the confines of the deformation. What's worse, since shock absorbing plate 118 is formed of the steel, the impact applied to the passenger resulting from shock absorbing plate 118 is notably great as much, as a consequence, it has a drawback of involving a danger that the passenger is highly liable to be injured.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,662,649, 4,834,422, 5,071,162 and 5,312,133 disclose knee bolsters for automobiles which are related prior arts. Among these, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,162 issued to Takagawa dated in Dec. 10, 1992 describes a knee bolster 120 for assistant driver's seat, in which an impact volume in the car crash is doubly absorbed by both a steel plate 128 and a urethane member 121. Knee bolster 120, as shown in FIG. 9, is provided with a steel plate 128 between an outer plate 124 and an inner plate 126 and a reinforcing plate 123 attached with a urethane member 121 onto the inner surface thereof. Inner plate 126 and reinforcing plate 123 are spaced apart from each other by an interval of .delta.. A reference number I denotes an instrument panel.
In the event of the car crash, the knee of the passenger presses outer plate 124 of knee bolster 120, and steel plate 128 primarily tolerates the impact force while being inwardly plastic-deformed. After steel plate 128 contacts reinforcing plate 123, reinforcing plate 123 secondarily absorbs the impact force.
However, above-described knee bolster 120 requires separate reinforcing plate 123, and it is very difficult to mold the urethane corresponding to the shape of reinforcing plate 123. Moreover, since inner plate 126 and reinforcing plate 123 are spaced apart from each other by the interval of .delta. the shock absorbing effect by urethane member 121 is relatively slight. Furthermore, urethane member 121 is adhered to reinforcing plate 123 which is then supported by a support member 125 without being additionally supported. For this construction, urethane member 121 cannot effectively afford a reaction force with respect to a passenger who imposes the impact force. Consequently, it can be noted that the shock absorbing effect by urethane member 121 is trivial.
In addition, support member 125 has a complicated structure and supports merely a portion of reinforcing plate 123. Thus, the reaction force afforded by reinforcing plate 123 is relatively weak.


Orally active benzodiazepine derivatives and their salts are disclosed. These compounds and their salts have anxiolytic and anticonvulsant activity with reduced sedative/hypnotic/muscle relaxant/ataxic effects.

The present invention relates to a class of benzodiazepine derivatives which possess anxiolytic activity with decreased sedative, hypnotic, and ataxic side effects.
The most frequently prescribed medication for treatment of anxiety disorders (such as phobias, obsessive compulsive disorders) and seizure disorders are benzodiazepines such as diazepam (Valium), triazolam (Halcion), midazolam (Versed), lorazepam (Ativan), chlordiazepoxide (Librium), alprazolam (Xanax), and other benzodiazepine-based medications. However, these benzodiazepine-based medications have side effects such as drowsiness, sedation, motor incoordination, memory impairment, potentiation of effects of alcohol, tolerance and dependence, and abuse potential. Buspirone, tandospirone, and other serotonergic agents have been developed as anxiolytics with a potentially reduced profile of side effects. However, while these medications do show a reduced profile of side effects, they have other characteristics which make them less than ideal for treatment of anxiety disorders. In some cases, these agents cause anxiety before a therapeutic dose can be obtained or require dosing of the drug for several days before a therapeutic effect is seen. Development of anxiolytics with even fewer side effects is desired.
Receptors for the major inhibitory neurotransmitter, gamma-aminobutyric acid (GABA), are divided into three main classes: (1) GABAA receptors, which are members of the ligand-gated ion channel superfamily; (2) GABAB receptors, which may be members of the G-protein linked receptor superfamily; and (3) GABAC receptors, also members of the ligand-gated ion channel superfamily, but their distribution is confined to the retina. Benzodiazepine receptor ligands do not bind to GABAB and GABAC receptors. Since the first cDNAs encoding individual GABAA receptor subunits were cloned the number of known members of the mammalian family has grown to 21 including α, β, and γ subunits (6α, 4β, 4γ, 1δ, 1ε, 1π, 1θ, and 3ρ).
Subtype assemblies containing an α1 subunit (α1β2γ2) are present in most areas of the brain and are thought to account for 40-50% of GABAA receptors in the rat. Subtype assemblies containing α2 and α3 subunits respectively are thought to account for about 25% and 17% GABAA receptors in the rat. Subtype assemblies containing an α5 subunit (α5β3γ2) are expressed predominately in the hippocampus and cortex and are thought to represent about 4% of GABAA receptors in the rat.
A characteristic property of all known GABAA receptors is the presence of a number of modulatory sites, one of which is the benzodiazepine binding site. The benzodiazepine binding site is the most explored of the GABAA receptor modulatory sites, and is the site through which benzodiazepine-based anxiolytic drugs exert their effect. Before the cloning of the GABAA receptor gene family, the benzodiazepine binding site was historically subdivided into two subtypes, BENZODIAZEPINE1 and BENZODIAZEPINE2, on the basis of radioligand binding studies on synaptosomal rat membranes. The BENZODIAZEPINE1 subtype has been shown to be pharmacologically equivalent to a GABAA receptor comprising the α1 subunit in combination with a β subunit and γ2. This is the most abundant GABAA receptor subtype, and is believed to represent almost half of all GABAA receptors in the brain, as stated.
Two other major populations are the (α2β2/3γ2 and α3β2/3γ2/3 subtypes. Together these constitute approximately a further 35% of the total GABAA receptor population. Pharmacologically this combination appears to be equivalent to the BENZODIAZEPINE2 subtype as defined previously by radioligand binding, although the BENZODIAZEPINE2 subtype may also include certain α5-containing subtype assemblies. The physiological role of these subtypes has hitherto been unclear because no sufficiently selective agonists or antagonists were known.
It is now believed that agents acting as benzodiazepine agonists at GABAA/α2, GABAA/α3, and/or GABAA/α5 receptors, will possess desirable anxiolytic properties. Compounds which are modulators of the benzodiazepine binding site of the GABAA receptor by acting as benzodiazepine agonists are referred to hereinafter as "GABAA receptor agonists." The GABAA/α1-selective (α1β2γ2) agonists alpidem and zolpidem are clinically prescribed as hypnotic agents, suggesting that at least some of the sedation associated with known anxiolytic drugs which act at the BENZODIAZEPINE 1 binding site is mediated through GABAA receptors containing the α1 subunit. Accordingly, it is considered that GABAA/α2, GABAA/α3, and/or GABAA/α5 receptor agonists rather than GABAA/α1 receptors will be effective in the treatment of anxiety with a reduced propensity to cause sedation. For example, QH-ii-066 binds with high affinity to GABAA/α0.5 receptors (Ki<10 nM), intermediate affinity to GABAA/α2 and GABAA/α3 (Ki<50 nM), and lower affinity to GABAA/α1 receptors (Ki>70 nM), unlike diazepam which binds with high affinity to all four diazepam-sensitive GABAA receptors (Ki<25 nM), as disclosed in Huang, et al., J. Med. Chem. 2000, 43, 71-95. Also, agents which are antagonists or inverse agonists at α1 receptors might be employed to reverse sedation or hypnosis caused by α1 agonists.
Since the compounds of the present invention exhibit increased agonist efficacy at only a few GABAA types of receptors and/or selective efficacy at one or more ion channels and have been shown to be effective in animal models of anxiety and seizures, with reduced severity and/or incidence of side effects, they are useful in the treatment and/or prevention of a variety of disorders of the central nervous system. Such disorders include anxiety disorders, such as panic disorder with or without agoraphobia, agoraphobia without history of panic disorder, animal and other phobias including social phobias, obsessive-compulsive disorder, general anxiety disorder, attention deficit disorders, stress disorders including post-traumatic and acute stress disorder, and generalized or substance-induced anxiety disorder, neuroses, convulsions; migraine; depressive or bipolar disorders, for example single episode or recurrent major depressive disorder, dysthymic disorder, bipolar I and bipolar II manic disorders, and cyclothymic disorder, psychotic disorders including schizophrenia.

Anxiolytic agents with reduced sedative and ataxic effects


A container for protecting a fragile food product during transport and display is constructed from sheet material such as paperboard or the like. The container is formed by folding the sheet material into an open-ended box sized to accommodate the fragile food product inside. End flaps extending from the sides of said box are folded angularly inward and preferably lock in an inwardly folded position to secure the fragile food product inside the container. A retention band is preferably placed around the container and cinched by heat shrink or other method to further secure the end flaps in their inwardly folded position and reduce the movement of the fragile food product therein. Foot tabs are preferably included on the bottom of the container to allow the container to be shipped or displayed upright on a flat surface while maintaining clearance between the fragile food product and the flat surface.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a container used in the storage, shipping, and displaying of fragile food products such as edible salad bowls and the like.
2. Description of Related Art
There is a wealth of related art in the field which attempt to provide a suitable container for transporting and displaying a fragile food item such as edible salad bowls and the like. Ideally a container should protect the item from breakage during shipping while economizing space, and provide an attractive container to catch the consumers' attention. Additionally, it is preferred that at least part of the container be transparent so that a visual inspection of the contents of the container may be made. See for example, the inventions of Webinger, U.S. Pat. No. 4,451,001; Wallen, U.S. Pat. No. 4,299,850; and Warnock, U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,577. The related art typically suffer from one of two problems: either they lack the characteristic of providing visual inspection of the product, which is important to purchasers of fragile food products, or they lack sufficient sturdiness to protect the fragile food product from breakage. Therefore, it is an object of the present invention to provide a sturdy container for fragile food products such as edible salad bowls, tostada shells, and the like, which can be used for shipping and display purposes. It is another object of the current invention to provide a consumer with the ability to visually inspect the fragile food product within the container. Finally, it is an object of the present invention to minimize breakage of the fragile food product during shipping and display by providing extra clearance between the fragile food product and the surface upon which the container is rested, even if shipping or other activity causes the fragile food product to settle.

Container for protecting fragile food products during shipping and display


A device for hair addition comprises a band-shaped support comprising a first and a second side, an adhesive surface on its first side, and at least a first and a second partial length which each comprise a portion of the adhesive surface. Further, the device comprises a plurality of hairs which are each fixed to the second side of the support at one of their ends and which extend across and away from the support. The support is gradually plastically deformable until its first and second partial lengths lie flat against each other with their portions of the adhesive surface being arranged in between.

It is known to put natural or artificial hairs together in tufts, and to connect these tufts to the natural hairs of a person by means of a thermoplastic glue. The secure but nevertheless unremarkable attachment of such a device for hair addition, however, is only possible by trained personnel at a high expenditure of time.
Further, it is known to undertake a hair extension in that additional hairs and natural hairs of a person are jointly guided through a clamping ring and fixed with regard to each other by compressing the clamping ring. This kind of hair addition also requires trained personnel and a high expenditure of time for a secure and unremarkable attachment.
Further, devices for hair addition comprising a band-shaped support from which the individual hairs of the hair addition are extending in a transverse direction and which is to be connected to the natural hairs of a person by means of a sewing or knotting step are known. Their connection to the natural hair of a person may also only be made in a secure and unremarkable way by trained personnel at a high expenditure of time.
Another device for hair addition comprising a band-shaped support from which the individual hairs of the hair addition are extending in a transverse direction is known from DE 20 2005 010 845 U. This device is attached to the natural hairs of a person in that two sections of a band-shaped support occupied with hairs are adhered to each other with their adhesive surfaces with a strand of the natural hair of the person being arranged in between. Thus the two sections of the support are fixed with regard to each other and to the natural hairs. Particularly, the natural hairs are hermetically enclosed between the adhesive surfaces here, what ensures a permanent fixation of the two sections of the support to the strand. At the same time, this known device for hair addition is very unremarkable in its attached state, as it displays hairs on both sides even in the area of the support. The hairs are here attached to the support in parallel to each other, and they are arranged under a matt but translucent cover. In this known device for hair addition, the support itself essentially consists of a double-sided adhesive tape which forms the adhesive surface on its one side, whereas the hairs are attached to the adhesive tape on the other side. The attachment of this known device for hair addition is much easier than in case of the previously presented devices for hair addition, but, as a rule, it nevertheless requires the employment of trained personnel.
The employment of trained personnel which is not only associated with cost but also requires that the person interested in a hair addition visits such trained personnel for a longer period of time is avoided by using little clip combs with hair band sections attached thereto. The little clip combs, however, protrude considerably and do particularly not allow the person to lie on the respective parts of the head without the little clip combs being displeasingly pressed into the scalp.
Thus, there still is a need for a device for hair addition which does not require trained personnel for a secure and unremarkable attachment and which may even be attached by the person who desires the hair addition itself.


An improved magnetron which is capable of elongating the life span of the magnetron, reducing the fabrication cost, and enhancing the performance of the system without using a filament in the conventional art, which includes a center lead, an upper end shield engaged to an upper portion of the center lead for preventing thermal electrons from being escaped, a plate-type primary cathode arranged below the upper end shield and fixed to one side of the supporting layer surrounding the center lead, a cylindrical secondary cathode having an elongating slit formed in an outer circumferential surface thereof, through which slit a part of the plate-type primary cathode is outwardly extended beyond the outer circumferential surface of the cylindrical secondary cathode, and a lower end shield engaged to the lower portion of the secondary cathode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cathode of a magnetron, and in particular to an improved cathode of a magnetron which is capable of increasing the life span of the magnetron, reducing the fabrication cost, and enhancing the performance of the system without using a filament in the conventional art.
2. Description of the Conventional Art
FIG. 1A is a cross-sectional view illustrating a conventional magnetron, and FIG. 1B is a cross-sectional view illustrating a cathode, vanes, and an anode of a conventional magnetron.
As shown therein, a cathode 3 is arranged in the center portion of a yoke 30 (see FIG. 1A) encapsulating inner components of the magnetron.
A cylindrical anode 1 is arranged in the outer portion of the cathode 3, and a plurality of spaced-apart vanes 2 are radially arranged in the anode 1, each outer end of which vanes 2 is fixed to the inner circumferential surface of the anode 1.
In addition, an inner strap ring 9 is arranged on the vanes 2, and an outer strap ring 10 having a greater diameter than that of the inner strap 9 is arranged in the outer side of the inner strap 9.
Here, since the inner strap ring 9 and the outer strap ring 10 are alternately and fixedly engaged to the vanes 2, namely, the vanes 2 to which the inner strap ring 9 is fixedly engaged is not engaged to the outer strap ring 10. Here, the neighboring vanes 2 have a phase difference of 180.degree. from one another and are electrically connected to one another.
The construction of the cathode 3 will now be explained in more detail. As shown in FIG. 1B, an upper end shield 7 for supporting a filament 5 is arranged on the top portion of the filament 5 which is spirally formed so as to effectively radiating electrons.
A rim portion 6 having a larger diameter than the outer diameter of the filament 5 is formed in the upper end shield 7 so as to prevent thermal electrons generated from the filament 5 from escaping to the outside of an interaction space 4.
A lower end shield 8 is arranged in a lower portion of the filament 5 so as to upwardly support the lower portion of the filament 5.
Permanent magnets 12 are arranged in upper and lower portions of the anode 1 as shown in FIG. 1A.
In addition, a resonant portion 14 is formed in a portion surrounded by two neighboring vanes 2 and the anode 1, one side of the resonant portion 14 is open toward the cathode 3, and the resonating frequency of the magnetron is determined in accordance with the resonant frequency.
The operation of the conventional magnetron will now be explained with reference to FIGS. 1A through 1C.
First, a voltage is supplied to the cathode 3, an electric field is generated between the cathode 3 and the vanes 2 in the operational space 4, and an electricmagnetic field is generated in the direction parallel to a center stem 5a of the cathode 3 as shown in FIG. 1B.
Therefore, a high frequency electric field is generated in the LC resonant portion 14 (see FIG. 1C) and is focused to an end portion of each vane 2, and a part of the high frequency electric field is leaked into the interior of the interaction space 4.
In addition, since the inner strap ring 9 and the outer strap ring 10 are alternately engaged to the vanes 2, an electric potential is rapidly changed between the vanes 2, and the electrons radiated from the cathode 3 circles in the interaction space 4 and interacts with the high frequency electric field therein, for thus oscillating microwaves.
In addition, the oscillated microwaves are transferred to the outside of the magnetron through an antenna 11 connected to the vanes 2. Here, since a part of electrons is changed into heat energy, cooling fins 13 (see FIG. 1A) are arranged in the outer portion of the anode 1 so as to prevent the temperature from being increased due to the heat applied thereto.
As shown in FIG. 1A, a filter box 20 having a choke coil 21 and a through type condenser 22 is arranged below the yoke 30 for preventing the leakage of a unnecessary radiating wave which causes an interference with respect to a communication system such as a television, a radio, etc. when an electric wave having a range of 2450 MHz including a range from hundreds of KHz to tens of GHz is generated when a voltage is applied to the system as shown in FIG. 1D.
The conventional magnetron which uses the filament has the following disadvantages.
First, since a current is applied to heat the filament, a filament voltage supply system is additionally necessary, and since the filament becomes activated at a temperature of about 1700.degree., a center lead, a side lead, and other elements which support the filament should be made of an expensive molybdenum having a high melting point.
Second, since about 30 W through 50 W is consumed so as to heat the filament, the efficiency of the magnetron is degraded.
Third, since the heat source of about 1700.degree. C. is transferred to the choke coil through the center lead, the side lead, etc, it is impossible to thermally control the choke coil.
Fourth, it is impossible to effectively cool the magnetron because the resonant space in which the cylindrical anode body and vanes are arranged is heated therein due to the heat from the cathode having a temperature of about 1700.degree. C.
Fifth, since the strength of the filament is very weak, it may be easily damaged by external impact, so that the life span of the magnetron is shortened.
Sixth, since the filament is operated after a lapse of a predetermined time after a voltage is supplied to the filament, electric wave noise occurs during the abnormal operation, thereby degrading the performance of the magnet.

Cathode for a magnetron having primary and secondary electron emitters


The magnetic field in the vicinity of a conductor can be sensed by wire loops to measure the current in the nearby conductor. A sensor in a printed circuit board can detect and measure currents flowing through the PCB itself, yielding a thin, inexpensive, scalable solution for energy monitoring.

Energy monitoring, in its known and common usage, as a unique sensing point for an entire unit, such as a Smart Meter, has many limitations. For example, it is very difficult to track the behavior of one piece of equipment or appliance over time, because only the aggregate energy consumption is recorded, making it difficult to isolate that equipment. Additionally, appliance manufacturers have very little data concerning the way with which the users employ these appliances. This information, if available, would lead to more user-friendly and more energy efficient appliances. With the advent of the Smart Grid, real-time energy consumption data from specific appliances becomes necessary to better distribute the limited resources generated by the utility companies.
There have been some attempts in the prior art at providing a plug-level energy monitoring solution. However, most of the products on the market today use some sort of resistive sensor, which breaks the current path from the cord to the wall outlet. Moreover, this method of energy monitoring dissipates power and makes the sensor bulky and expensive, rendering it unattractive for the users. Additionally, the energy consumption of the sensor itself grows with the consumption of the equipment or appliance. Though this may seem insignificant in the context of one or two instruments, but when scaling this technology to every outlet in every residence or office it presents a major obstacle for adoption.
The present invention is an inexpensive and scalable solution for the plug-level energy monitoring problem. With many integration points, it is a very slim device that allows continuously measuring the energy consumption of the equipment or appliance, without breaking the current path to the wall. Additional benefits include (a) no additional series resistance to be inserted in the circuit for current sensing, which can save a significant amount of power for certain loads; and (b) the advantage of incorporating the sensor into PCB allows the use of standard manufacturing process, reducing component count and costs. Furthermore, in certain embodiments, the distance between a conductor and sensor can be fixed by PCB design, thereby mitigating concerns related to calibration for the distance between conductor and sensor.


An endoscope processor, according to the present invention, provides for cleaning and sterilizing an endoscope having a body, and a first flexible tube attached to the body. It includes an operational housing and an enclosure which is attachable to and detachable from the operational housing, the enclosure being sealed from ingress of potentially contaminating microorganisms when detached from the operational housing. The enclosure is shaped, sized and oriented to receive the endoscope in an orientation with the first flexible tube depending vertically downwardly from the endoscope body. The enclosure includes a liquid inlet and a liquid outlet. The operational housing includes a circulating system comprising at least one liquid pump having a pump outlet connected to the liquid inlet of the enclosure when the enclosure is attached to the operational housing, and a pump inlet connected to the liquid outlet of the enclosure when the enclosure is attached to the operational housing, whereby to circulate liquid through the enclosure. A source of sterilizing fluid is associated with the pump and a control system is programmed to control a sterilization procedure whereby the pump circulates a liquid comprising the sterilizing fluid through the enclosure.

The present invention relates to endoscope washing and decontamination.
Devices exist for washing and decontaminating endoscopes automatically. They are typically termed automated endoscope reprocessors (AER). One such device is shown in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2004/0118413 published Jun. 24, 2004, incorporated herein by reference (the '413 application). Typical AER will comprise a basin into which the endoscope is coiled and into which flows solution for cleaning and disinfection or sterilization. Individual connections are typically made to the various connectors on the endoscope to provide fluid under pressure to those channels for washing and disinfection. At the end of the procedure the endoscope is removed from the basin. Accordingly, even if the endoscope where completely sterilized in the procedure, its removal from the basin would break that sterility.
A system has been devised in which an endoscope is coiled into a cassette, which cassette is then placed into the basin for processing. When the cassette is removed from the AER the endoscope maintains its sterility within the cassette. Please see U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,221, incorporated herein by reference. However, such a cassette is not suitable for long-term storage of most endoscopes. Due to the delicate nature of their internal structure, it can be harmful to leave them coiled for extended periods of time.


The invention relates to continuous processes for making cyclic dimethylsiloxane oligomers by reacting in situ methyl bromide, dimethyl ether and activated silicon particles in a direct process reaction zone to produce methylsiloxanes, wherein the proportion of dimethylsiloxane produced in said reaction zone is greater than 75 mole % of the methylsiloxanes produced and recovering the dimethylsiloxane from the reactions zone. The invention favors making cyclic dimethylsiloxane oligomers by this in situ direct reaction.

Generically, the direct synthesis or process or aka "the Rochow direct process or synthesis" is recognized to include the reactions of promoted silicon with hydrogen halides, alkyl halides, alcohols, and dimethylamine. Alcohols and alkyl ethers may be used in combination with hydrogen halides and alkyl halides. The direct synthesis is the principal process for commercially making organosilicon compounds. However, alkyl ethers with or without alkyl halides have not been employed in any commercial process for making alkylsilanes and alkylsiloxanes. The commercial processes involve the exothermic reaction of methyl chloride or methanol with copper catalyzed particulate activated silicon. In the first stage of the reaction, they produce the methylchlorosilanes in the case of the methyl chloride reaction or methoxysilanes in the case of the methanol reaction. Catalyzation of the reaction with silicon is achieved in these commercial processes using copper per se or copper compounds. However, the art teaches that silver or silver compounds may be used as the catalyst. In its preferred and most commercial embodiment, the Rochow direct process involves the reaction of methyl chloride within a fluidized bed of activated silicon that is catalyzed by copper with additional promoters, such as aluminum, tin, zinc, phosphorus, and the like, including compounds containing such elements. (See, Rochow, CHEMISTRY of the SILICONES, second edition, pages 36-411, John Wiley and Sons, Inc., New York, N.Y., 1951 and Noll, Chemistry and Technology of Silicones, 1968, published by Academic Press, New York, N.Y., starting at page 26.2). 1 Incorporated by reference.2 Pages 26 through 41 of Noll, infra, are incorporated herein by reference. (Specific reference is made to footnotes 200-209 of Noll, cited at page 65)
According to Rochow (page 36 supra):                "There are several widely different methods for the synthesis of organosilicon compounds that have but one feature in common: they do not require other organometallic compounds as reagents, nor do they employ stoichiometric quantities of active metals for the preparation of such organometallic reagents in situ. The first of these methods to be considered employs elementary silicon as the source of that element; the others employ the reaction of hydrocarbons with suitable compounds of silicon."
Illustrative of the variety of chlorosilanes produced in the first stage of the Rochow direct synthesis, reference is made to Ward, et al., "EXPLORING THE EFFECTS OF PHOSPHORUS IN THE DIRECT PROCESS WITH A FIXED BED REACTOR," at page 309 of Silicon for the Chemical Industry V, Tromso, Norway, May 29-Jun. 2, 2000, Trondheim, Norway 2000 published by Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, Norway), which they characterize as follows:

"Me" stands for the methyl group
The commercial methylsilicones are made by the hydrolysis of methylchlorosilanes generated by the Rochow fluidized bed process and the condensation of the hydrolyzate into methylsiloxanes (methyl silicones). Of the methyl silicones, dimethyl silicones are the most widely utilized. Consequently, there is a strong preference for increasing the yield of and selectivity to dimethyldichlorosilane in the direct process. According to Rochow (page 38 supra): "The direct synthesis . . . it is best suited to the preparation of dialkyl- or diaryldihalosilanes, and the operation of the reaction is more satisfactory if limited further to the chlorosilanes and bromosilanes." Dialkylsilicon esters (e.g., alkoxides) are not made commercially by the direct process. As noted from the first stage (I) equation, byproduct silicon chlorides are inevitably formed in carrying out the direct synthesis. Because the direct synthesis is commercially carried out as a fluid bed process, the typical issues of fluid bed fines and disilanes as well as coking3 within the bed (inducing bed agglomeration) represent significant first stage processing problems. Essentially all of these byproducts and bed contamination represent environmentally hazardous and corrosive materials and their presence adds materially to the cost of making the dimethyldichlorosilane. 3 See The Lewis Report's reference to the work of Kim and Rethwisch, infra.
Whereas the commercial processes that are employed to make alkyl-silicon halides, particularly methyl and ethyl silicon halides, are typically carried out in a gas/vapor dynamic particulate fluidized or stirred bed of promoted silicon metal particles; the methoxysilanes, such as tetramethylsilicate, trimethoxysilane, and dimethoxysilane, are formed by the direct reaction of alcohol with silicon slurried in an inert liquid. Trimethoxysilane is commercially made in Italy by the reaction of methanol with silicon slurried in an inert liquid. These processes are discussed in greater detail below. Such methoxysilanes can be made by the non-direct process reaction of a chlorosilane with methanol.

Direct process for making cyclic dimethylsiloxane oligomers


A shielding unit of a network connector is disposed in an elongated casing of the connector adjacent to one connecting end thereof. The shielding unit includes a main shielding member that has a plate member fixed to on a bottom of the elongated casing with three upright posts that extend vertically from the plate member so as to form two gaps, and two auxiliary shielding plates connected detachably to the main shielding member. The two shielding plates cooperate with one another to form a wall body to close the two gaps. One of the auxiliary shielding plates has an inlet hole which serves as the sole access that leads to an interior of the elongated casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a shielding unit, more particularly to a modified shielding unit of a network connector which is used to connect a computer and a computer network, which modified shielding unit provides a better shielding effect than the prior art.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is an illustration of a conventional network connector which is used to connect a computer and a computer network so as to effect signal transmission therebetween. The conventional network connector has one end attached to a cable of the computer while two pairs of conducting pins are provided at the other end. When an end of the conventional network connector of the computer is attached to another network connector of the computer network, the conducting pins of the two network connectors are interconnected so that communication can be established between the computer and the computer network. The conventional network connector includes an elongated insulated casing (A) that has a front end (A1) which is provided with an insert head (B), a rear end (A2) which is provided with a connecting head (C), a bottom (A3), a top cover (E) opposite to the bottom (A3) and a surrounding wall (A4) which interconnects the bottom (A3) and the top cover (E) so as to define the elongated casing (A). The front end (A1) of the elongated casing (A) has two pairs of first and second conducting pins (A11) which are disposed lengthwise and which extend rearwardly therefrom. The surrounding wall (A4) of the elongated casing (A) is provided with three inlet holes (A21), one of which is formed through the rear end (A2) so that connecting wires of the connecting head (C) can enter into the elongated casing (A) via the inlet hole (A21) of the rear contact end (A21) while an adjacent inlet hole (21) permit entry of a first end of a computer cable therethrough so as to connect with other conducting elements in the elongated casing (A). The elongated casing (A) further includes a shielding unit disposed therein adjacent to the rear end (A2) for minimizing electromagnetic interference.
The shielding unit includes a main shielding member (D) having a plate member (D3) fixed to the bottom (A3) of the elongated casing (A) and four upright posts (D1) that extend upwardly from the plate member (D3) and that cooperatively form a fence to prevent electromagnetic interference signal from entering into the elongated casing (A) via one of the inlet holes (A21) of the surrounding wall (13).
A main drawback of the above-mentioned shielding unit is that the four upright posts (D1) in the main shielding member (D) cooperatively define four gaps (D2) which are in communication with the three inlet holes (A21) so as to achieve wire connection, these gaps consequently decrease the shielding efficiency of the network connector.


A slot antenna apparatus including: a grounding conductor having an outer edge including a first portion facing a radiation direction and a second portion other than the first portion, a one-end-open slot formed in the grounding conductor along the radiation direction such that an open end is provided at a center of the first portion, and a feed line including a strip conductor close to the grounding conductor and intersecting with the slot at least a part thereof to feed a radio frequency signal to the slot. The grounding conductor is formed to include at least one section at the second portion, the at least one section gradually approaches an axis passing through the slot and parallel to the radiation direction with increasing distance from the first portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna apparatus for transmitting and receiving analog radio frequency signals or digital signals in a microwave band, a millimeter-wave band, etc. More particularly, the present invention relates to a slot antenna apparatus operable in a wideband with a constant beam width.
2. Description of the Related Art
A wireless device operable in a much wider band than that of prior art devices is required for the following two reasons. As the first reason, it is intended to implement a novel short-range wireless communication system with the authorization of use of a very wide frequency band, i.e., an ultra-wideband (UWB) wireless communication system. As the second reason, it is intended to utilize a variety of communication systems each using different frequencies, by mans of one terminal.
For example, when converting a frequency band into a fractional bandwidth being normalized by a center frequency fc of an operating band, a frequency band from 3.1 GHz to 10.6 GHz authorized for UWB in U.S. corresponds to a value of 109.5%, indicating a very wide band. On the other hand, in cases of a patch antenna and a one-half effective wavelength slot antenna which are known as basic antennas, the operating bands converted to fractional bandwidths are less than 5% and less than 10%, respectively, and thus, such antennas can not achieve a wideband property such as that of UWB. For example, referring to the frequency bands currently used for wireless communications in the world, a fractional bandwidth to the extent of 30% should be achieved in order to cover bands from the 1.8 GHz band to the 2.4 GHz band with one same antenna, and similarly, a fractional bandwidth to the extent of 90% should be achieved in order to simultaneously cover the 800 MHz band and the 2 GHz band with one same antenna. Furthermore, in order to simultaneously cover bands from the 800 MHz band to the 2.4 GHz band, a fractional bandwidth of 100% or more is required. The more the number of systems simultaneously handled by one same terminal increases, thus resulting in the extension of a frequency band to be covered, the more a wideband antenna with small size is required to be implemented.
A one-end-open one-quarter effective wavelength slot antenna is one of the most basic planar antennas, and a schematic view of this antenna is shown in FIGS. 33A, 33B, and 33C (hereinafter, referred to as a "first prior art example"). FIG. 33A is a schematic top view showing a structure of a typical one-quarter effective wavelength slot antenna (showing a grounding conductor 103 on a backside by phantom), FIG. 33B is a schematic cross-sectional view along the dashed line in FIG. 33A, and FIG. 33C is a schematic view showing a structure of the backside of the slot antenna in FIG. 33A by phantom. As shown in FIGS. 33A, 33B, and 33C, a feed line 113 is provided on a front-side of a dielectric substrate 101, and a notch with a width Ws and a length Ls is formed in a depth direction 109a from an outer edge 105a of an infinite grounding conductor 103 provided on a backside thereof. The notch operates as a slot resonator 111, one of its ends is opened at an open end 107. The slot 111 is a circuit element which is obtained by completely removing a conductor in thickness direction, in a partial region of the grounding conductor 103, and which resonates near a frequency fs at which one-quarter of the effective wavelength is equivalent to the slot length Ls. The feed line 113 formed in a width direction 109b intersects with the slot 111 at a portion thereof, and electromagnetically excites the slot 111. A connection to an external circuit is established through an input terminal. Note that according to common practice, a distance Lm of the feed line 113 from its open-ended termination point 119 to the slot 111 is set to the extent of one-quarter effective wavelength at the frequency fs, so as to achieve input impedance matching. Further, note that according to common practice, a line width W1 is designed based on a thickness H of the substrate and a permittivity of the substrate, such that the characteristic impedance of the feed line 113 is set to 50 Ω.
As shown in FIGS. 34A, 34B, and 34C, Patent Document 1 discloses a structure for operating the one-quarter effective wavelength slot antenna shown in the first prior art example, at a plurality of resonant frequencies (hereinafter, referred to as a "second prior art example"). A slot 111 has a slot length Ls, and includes a capacitor 16 so as to connect points 16a and 16b each located a distance Ls2 away from an open end. When the antenna is excited at a plurality of resonant frequencies at a feeding point 15, the antenna operates with different slot lengths Ls and Ls2 as shown in FIGS. 34B and 34C, and thus the bandwidth can be extended. However, according to the frequency characteristics shown in Patent Document 1, it is not enough to obtain a currently required ultra-wideband characteristics.
Non-Patent Document 1 discloses a method of operating a slot resonator in a wideband, which is short-circuited at both ends of a slot, and is of a one-half effective wavelength slot antenna (hereinafter, referred to as the "third prior art example"). FIG. 35is a schematic top view showing a structure of a slot antenna described in Non-Patent Document 1. In FIG. 35, a grounding conductor 103 and a slot 111 on a backside of a substrate are shown by phantom. The slot 111 is formed in the grounding conductor 103, such that the slot 111 has a certain width Ws, and a length Ls equivalent to one-half effective wavelength, and such that the slot 111 is coupled to a feed line 113 at a position 51a which is offset by a distance d from the center of the slot 111. According to prior art methods for matching input impedance of a slot antenna, a method has been used in which for exciting the slot 111, the feed line 113 intersects with the slot 111 at a position on the feed line 113 apart from an open-ended termination point 119 by one-quarter effective wavelength at a frequency fs. However, as shown in FIG. 35, in the third prior art example, a region extending over a distance Lind from the open-ended termination point 119 of the feed line 113 is replaced by an inductive region 121 which is a transmission line with a characteristic impedance higher than 50 Ω, and that inductive region 121 is coupled to the slot 111 at substantially the center of the inductive region 121 (i.e., in FIG. 35, t1 and t2 are substantially equal to each other). In this case, a width W2 of the inductive region 121 is set to a certain width narrower than the width of the feed line 113, the length Lind of the inductive region 121 is set to one-quarter effective wavelength at a center frequency f0 of an operating band, and the inductive region 121 operates as a one-quarter wavelength resonator different from the slot resonator. As a result, an equivalent circuit structure includes two resonators, which is increased from one resonator that is included in a typical slot antenna, and a double-resonance operation is achieved by coupling the resonators resonating at frequencies close to each other. In an example shown in FIG. 2(b) of Non-Patent Document 1, a good reflection impedance characteristic of −10 dB or less is achieved at a fractional bandwidth of 32% (near 4.1 GHz to near 5.7 GHz). As shown in comparison of actual measurement results of reflection characteristics versus frequency in FIG. 4 of Non-Patent Document 1, the fractional bandwidth of the antenna of the third prior art example is much wider than a fractional bandwidth of 9% of a typical slot antenna fabricated under conditions using the same substrate.
Further, in Non-Patent Document 2 shown as a fourth prior art example, a printed monopole antenna as one type of monopole antennas, known by its wideband operation, is successfully operated with low reflection in the UWB band. However, as is clearly seen from an E-plane radiation pattern shown in FIG. 5(b) of Non-Patent Document 2, the main beam direction greatly changes depending on frequency. In addition, the half-width of the main beam in the E-plane also greatly varies depending on frequency.
Non-Patent Document 3 shown as a fifth prior art example reports the results of detailed analysis on current distributions for each operation mode, for the purpose of extending the operating band of a one-quarter effective wavelength slot antenna. Non-Patent Document 3 asserts that by adding a grounding conductor in a stub form to the center of a slot such that the slot is split in two in a width direction, it is possible to suppress a non-radiative current distribution mode, thus extending the operating band.
Prior art documents related to the present invention are as follows:
(1) Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2004-336328;
(2) Non-Patent Document 1: L. Zhu, et al., "A Novel Broadband Microstrip-Fed Wide Slot Antenna With Double Rejection Zeros", IEEE Antennas and Wireless Propagation Letters, Vol. 2, pp. 194-196, 2003;
(3) Non-Patent Document 2: H. R. Chuang, et al., "A Printed UWB Triangular Monopole Antenna", Microwave Journal, Vol. 49, No. 1, January 2006; and
(4) Non-Patent Document 3: M. Cabedo-Fabrés, "Wideband Radiating Ground Plane with Notches", IEEE Antennas and Propagation International Symposium, pp. 560-563, 2005.
As discussed above, sufficient wide band operation has not been achieved in the prior art slot antennas. In addition, in a printed monopole antenna which is expected as a wideband antenna for UWB, it is difficult to maintain the main beam direction across an operating band, and it is also difficult to maintain the half-width of the main beam in an E-plane across the operating band. As a result, even when such an antenna is applied to a UWB system, it is difficult to efficiently cover one same area.
First of all, in the case of a typical one-end-open slot antenna with only one resonator in its configuration as in the first prior art example, a frequency band, where a good reflection impedance characteristic can be achieved, is limited to a fractional bandwidth to the extent of a little less than 10%.
In the second prior art example, although a wideband operation is achieved by incorporating a capacitive reactance element into a slot, it can be readily noticed that additional components such as a chip capacitor are required, and the characteristics of the antenna vary depending on variations in characteristics of the newly incorporated additional components. Further, according to the examples disclosed in FIGS. 13 and 19 of Patent Document 1, it is difficult to achieve a characteristic of input impedance matching with low reflection in an ultra-wideband.
In the third prior art example, the fractional bandwidth characteristic is limited to the extent of 35%. Further, as compared to the antennas of the first and second prior art examples with one-end-open slot resonators which are of one-quarter effective wavelength resonators, it is disadvantageous in reducing size to use a slot resonator which is short-circuited at both ends and is of a one-half effective wavelength resonator.
In the fourth prior art example, although the low-reflection characteristic is achieved over the entire UWB band, the radiation characteristics considerably vary in the band. Referring to a radiation pattern diagram in FIG. 5(b) of Non-Patent Document 2, the gain in a 225-degree direction decreases by 6 dB at 5 GHz, and by as much as 15 dB at 7 GHz, as compared to a reference gain value at 4 GHz. When such gain variations occur, it becomes extremely difficult to stably establish communication conditions over the entire band. Further, since the half-width of the main beam varies depending on frequency, it can not be considered that the communication area is being efficiently covered.
According to the fifth prior art example, although it is asserted that the operating band of an unbalanced-feed one-quarter effective wavelength slot antenna is extended, reflection intensity is high over the entire band, and thus, the extension of the band can not be considered to be achieved. Further, the fifth prior art example does not mention radiation characteristics.

Wide-band slot antenna apparatus with constant beam width