Enclosure and windshield retaining brackets for retaining a golf cart enclosure panel and a golf cart windshield in a position adjacent a golf cart windshield frame. The bracket has two preferred embodiments, the first embodiment having a U-shaped frame member for engagement with a windshield frame, and a longitudinal rail member for engagement with a bead portion of an enclosure panel, permitting linear movement of the bead portion along the length of the rail member and the second preferred embodiment having a U-shaped frame member, a longitudinal rail member, and a U-shaped windshield pane member for engagement with the windshield pane edge.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to all-weather enclosures and windshields for golf carts. More particularly, this invention relates to brackets for retaining a golf cart enclosure panel and a golf cart windshield in a position adjacent a golf cart windshield frame.
2. Description of the Background Art
Golf carts are typically motorized vehicles, gas or electric, that comprise a body portion, or carriage, including a driver's seat and a passenger seat with a storage area in the rear for storing a pair of golf bags in an upright position. Most golf carts include a roof structure supported above the body portion by a windshield frame and two rear, vertical supports. The windshield frame is typically a quadrangle structure, with two vertical portions and two horizontal portions. The roof structure provides at least partial protection to the golfers in the golf cart from precipitation or inclement weather, and also at least partially shades the golfers during sunny weather.
Golf cart roof structures do not provide complete protection since the front, rear and sides are open. Accordingly, there presently exist numerous types of enclosures for golf carts which are designed to provide added protection to the golfers seated therein. Generally, golf cart enclosures are composed of a canvas or vinyl material having a plurality of panels which are configured to be supported about the front, rear and side openings of the golf cart. The panels are often attached to each other by attachment means, such as zippers. The panels in some enclosures are suspended directly from the roof structure of the golf cart whereas others are suspended from a canvas or vinyl roof panel designed to be positioned over the roof structure of a golf cart so that the panels are suspended downwardly therefrom about the front, rear and side openings of the golf cart. Most importantly, the front and typically the rear and side panels include sections of transparent vinyl which function as windshields or windows permitting the golfers to see out of the golf cart when fully enclosed in the enclosure. Various means are provided for securing the lower edges of the panels to the lower edges of the golf cart in order to retain them in proper position. Representative golf cart enclosures are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,259,656, 4,621,859, 5,310,235, 4,773,694, 4,098,536 and 4,488,750, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
Typically, the enclosure panels are temporarily fastened to the lower edges of the golf cart or to the windshield frame so that, despite cart motion or wind gusts, the side panels stay vertically oriented, maintaining the integrity of the enclosure. Various means of securing the enclosure panels to the golf cart have been used. For example, straps been sewn to the panels to tie around the windshield frame or to the golf cart bottom edge. As one may expect, it has been found inconvenient and time consuming to tie and untie such straps. Snaps have also been used and have been found to be equally inconvenient to snap and unsnap.
The current state of the art for securing the enclosure panels to the golf cart windshield frame involves the use of a hook and loop fastener such as that known by the trademark "Velcro". Hook and loop fasteners have been used by adhering one component of the fastener (hook or loop) to the opposing edges of the enclosure side panels and adhering the other component of the fastener (loop or hook) to either the body portion's lower edge or the windshield frame's side surface. Unfortunately, however, due to the nature of the hook and loop fasteners, it is inconvenient and often difficult for the golfer to conscientiously align the edges of the enclosure panels with the corresponding golf cart surface and apply pressure in such a way as to mate hook and loop and thereby reliably secure the enclosure panels. Further, hook and loop fasteners tend to wear over time, accumulating thread debris within the hook component, thereby becoming less effective fasteners. It would be advantageous, therefore, to have a means of reliably and conveniently securing the enclosure panels while simultaneously preserving ease of occupant ingress and egress.
The earliest models of golf cart enclosures included four panels (front, rear and side panels) as described above. However, it was soon realized that most golfers kept the front panel rolled down to function as a windshield even during good weather conditions. Golfers particularly favored keeping the front panel rolled down to function as a windshield to block the flow of air during operation of the golf cart. These front panels soon became known as "soft" fronts or windshields, and were particularly favored by golfers during cooler weather and light rain, because the soft windshield sufficiently deflected oncoming air to keep the golfers comfortable during movement of the golf cart. In many situations, the soft windshields were left in place almost year round.
Windshields composed of transparent hard materials such as a transparent acrylic or glass, for golf carts were soon developed. These became known as "hard" windshields to distinguish them from the "soft" windshields composed of the transparent vinyl front panel of a golf cart enclosure. Indeed, golf cart enclosures were soon being manufactured as "four-sided" versions with a front panel having a soft front or windshield, paired side panels, and a rear panel and "three-sided" versions having only side panels and a rear panel intended to be used on golf carts with hard windshields.
Presently, there exist many types of hard windshields. Some are composed simply of a flat, hard transparent material that is permanently affixed to the front surface of the windshield frame, others are entirely removable and still others are connected to the windshield frame in such a manner that the windshield may be rolled on tracks, out of the way, up under the roof structure. Representative windshields for golf carts are described and illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,195,797, 5,192,109, 5,110,174, 4,819,979, 4,795,205, 4,792,175, 4,773,695, 4,343,503, 4,014,589 and 3,958,826, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference herein.
One particular type of hard windshield consists of lower and upper sheets of transparent material, such as clear acrylic or polycarbonite, that are dimensioned to be positioned about the lower and upper openings of the golf cart, with the sides thereof secured to the vertical portions of the windshield frame, thereby functioning as lower and upper windshields. The mating edges of the lower and upper windshields are hinge connected together such as by means of a living hinge or the like. The opposing sides of the lower windshield are secured to the front surface of the vertical frame by means of threaded fasteners, rivets, or the like. Because of the living hinge, the upper portion windshield is permitted to fold down over the lower portion windshield in a stacked, parallel configuration such that the upper area of the front of the golf cart is "open". When desired, the upper portion windshield may then be pivoted upwardly to a position substantially planar with the lower portion windshield, thereby "closing" the upper area of the front of the golf cart. Fastener means are provided for securing the upper portion windshield in such a "closed" position. In the industry, these types of windshields became known as "hinged windshields".
Presently, there exists numerous means for securing the upper portion windshield of the hinged windshield of the golf cart to the windshield frame. Historically, a hook and loop fastener was first used by adhering one component of the fastener (hook or loop) to the opposing side edges of the upper portion windshield and adhering the other component of the fastener (loop or hook) to the vertical portions of the frame. In this manner, as the upper portion windshield is moved to the vertical, closed position, the components of the hook and loop fastener are engaged and securely retains the upper portion windshield in the closed position. Unfortunately, however, due to the nature of the hook and loop fasteners, it is sometimes difficult for the golfer to pull the hook and loop fastener apart in order to lower the upper portion windshield.
Another type of fastener for golf cart hinged windshields comprises generally U-shaped retainer clips that are dimensioned and configured to resiliently grasp about the windshield frame. Typically, one of these U-shaped clips is rigidly connected to each opposing side of the upper portion windshield such that when the upper portion windshield is closed, the U-shaped retainer clips snaps onto their respective portions of the windshield frame, thereby securing the upper portion windshield in its closed position. Importantly, the golfer can easily open the windshield since U-shaped clips of this structure can more easily release from the frame than hook and loop type fasteners.
Still another type of fastener for golf cart hinged windshields comprises a rubber latch. Rubber latches of this type are permanently affixed to the windshield frame. They include an L-shaped or U-shaped configuration that can be bent backward during closing of the upper portion windshield and then released to resiliently engage the opposing side edges of the upper portion windshield when closed. Unfortunately, rubber latches of this character tend to lose their inherent "memory" after repeated use thereby requiring replacement.
Still other types of fasteners for golf cart hinged windshields include articulated knobs or latches positioned through holes in the opposing sides of the upper portion windshield in such manner that when the upper portion windshield is closed, the knob or latch can be operated to rigidly engage into a hole in the frame or a bracket affixed to the frame, respectively. Unfortunately, articulated knobs and latches of this character require holes to be drilled through the opposing sides of the upper portion windshield, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost since acrylic is notch sensitive and relatively brittle. Moreover, repeated operation of the knob or latch of this character sometimes results in a degradation of the hole in the acrylic.
Still another type of latch has been patented by the applicant of the present invention (U.S. Pat. No. 5,568,953 the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) for an improved retaining latch for golf cart hinged windshields. In the referenced patent, the applicant created an S-shaped latch which held the upper portion of a hinged windshield securely in place. The improved latch does not degrade over time and allows a person to easily latch or unlatch the upper portion of the hinged windshield on the golf cart.
Another type of hard windshield used on golf carts is a solid or one piece (no hinge) windshield. The one piece windshields, as well as the lower portion of the hinged windshields, require a retaining device to hold the windshield to the vertical portions of the windshield frame. The prior art uses a plastic bracket that is two "u" shaped slots that are positioned 90.degree. to each other. The prior art teaches that the plastic brackets are to be slid onto the side edges of the lower part of the hinged windshield or onto the side edges of the solid windshield to an approximate middle location. Then either windshield is to be attached to the frame of the golf cart by placing the brackets over the frame allowing the "u" shaped portion to engage with the frame of the golf cart.
Still another type of latch has been taught by the applicant of the present invention (U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/991,420, the disclosure of which is incorporated by reference herein) for a bracket for retaining golf cart windshields. The windshield retaining brackets have a generally S-shape configuration that are attachable to windshield frame of a golf cart. A first slot of the S-shaped retaining bracket is positioned about the frame and a second slot is positioned about the windshield.
While all the aforementioned windshield latches function to retain the golf cart windshield, none of them retain the golf cart enclosure.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to provide an improvement which overcomes the aforementioned inadequacies of the prior art devices and provides an improvement which is a significant contribution to the advancement of the golf cart windshield and enclosure art.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved retaining bracket for reliably and conveniently securing the enclosure panels of a golf cart while simultaneously preserving ease of occupant ingress and egress.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved retaining bracket for use in connection with an enclosure and windshield for a golf cart, wherein the retaining bracket simultaneously retains the enclosure panels and the windshield adjacent to the windshield frame.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved retaining bracket for use in connection with an enclosure and windshield for a golf cart, the enclosure having panels with first and second side edges, the windshield having a portion overlying the front of a windshield frame, the retaining bracket comprising a U-shaped frame member defined by a serially connected first longitudinal member, a first transverse member and a second longitudinal member, wherein the frame member is adapted for connection to the windshield frame. The first channel of the retaining bracket is positioned about the roof structure support and slid down each support of the golf cart. A longitudinal rail member is disposed upon the first longitudinal member, the rail member having a longitudinal bore. The enclosure bears a bead portion to which the rail bore is adapted to movably engage. A U-shaped window pane member is defined by the first transverse member, a second transverse member and a third longitudinal member. The window pane member is slid over the side edges of the windshield as the frame member of the bracket is slid over the windshield frame, thereby securely engaging the lower portion windshield to the windshield frame. The enclosure bead portion is then movably engaged with the rail member, thereby securely, but movably, engaging the golf cart enclosure to the retaining bracket.
The foregoing has outlined some of the pertinent objects of the invention. These objects should be construed to be merely illustrative of some of the more prominent features and applications of the intended invention. Many other beneficial results can be attained by applying the disclosed invention in a different manner or modifying the invention within the scope of the disclosure. Accordingly, other objects and a fuller understanding of the invention and the detailed description of the preferred embodiment in addition to the scope of the invention defined by the claims taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Golf cart enclosure and windshield bracket


A recording sheet including a cellulose pulp, wherein a water retention value C of the sheet according to the following formula (1) is 50 to 100% and a wet tensile strength residual ratio R of the sheet in CD according to the following formula (2) is 5 to 20%:Water retention value C(%)={(A−B)/B}100   Formula (1)Wet tensile strength residual ratio R(%) in CD=(Sw/S)×100.  Formula (2)

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a recording sheet, an ink-jet recording method using the sheet, and an electrophotographic image recording method using the sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ink-jet recording system has characteristics such as easy colorization, reduced consumption of energy, low noise during recording and low manufacturing cost of a printer. Thus, wide attention is directed to this system. Further, improvements in image quality, high-speed operation and reliability have been made in recent years. Printing is frequently made on plain sheet and it is therefore very important to improve recording quality on plain sheet.
In conventional major ink-jet printers, black ink includes a pigment as a colorant and has low penetrability in recording sheets (hereinafter simply referred to as "sheet") and color inks use dyes as colorants and have high penetrability in recording sheets. These inks are selected in order to improve image quality of black characters and prevent mixed color bleeding.
Therefore, when the color ink, which have high penetrability in sheets, are used to print an image with high recording density, heavy curl and cockle of a recording sheet occur immediately after printing, leading to jamming in a printer and the rubbing of the image part. Moreover, when duplex printing is conducted, the time required for improvement of the curl and the time required for drying of ink reduces print productivity extremely. Further, when an image having high recording density is printed, heavy curl and cockle occur after air drying of the image. It is therefore impossible to satisfy high quality, suppression of curl and cockle simultaneously at high levels.
The following methods have been proposed to prevent the aforementioned curl and cockle after printing: a method in which a sheet obtained by sheet-making is humidified once to lighten the stress of sheet, thereby reducing curl and cockle (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 3-38375), a method in which the in-water ductility of sheet in a CD is limited to reduce curl and cockle (see, for example, JP-A No. 3-38376), a method in which the ratio of the in-water ductility of sheet in a MD to the in-water ductility of sheet in a CD is designed to be 1.3 or less to reduce curl and cockle (see, for example, JP-A No. 3-199081), a method in which the in-water ductility of a ink-discharged part in a moving direction is designed to be 2.0% or less to reduce curl and cockle (see, for example, JP-A No. 7-276786), a method in which the in-water ductility in a CD is designed to be 1.8% or less to suppress curl and cockle (see, for example, JP-A No. 10-46498) and a method in which the amount of a pigment contained in a support is designed to be 5 to 35% by weight and the internal binding strength of a recording sheet (recording sheet) is designed to be 150 to 455 g/cm to suppress the cockle of a coat-type ink-jet recording sheet (see, for example, JP No. 3172298).
In these methods described in the aforementioned documents, it is reported that curl and cockle are suppressed. However, when ink having high penetrability into a recording sheet is used and a lot of ink is discharged or printing speed is so high that the amount of ink to be discharged per time is increased, heavy curl occurs and the sheet is impractical for document use.
Also, the method described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,172,298 attempts to reduce swelling after printing by limiting the internal binding strength of a recording sheet having an ink receiving layer within a specified rang. However, the limitation to the internal binding strength alone fails to obtain a sufficient effect on the prevention of curl, cockle and swelling. Particularly, when ink having high penetrability into a recording sheet is used and a lot of ink is discharged or printing speed is so high that the amount of ink to be discharged per time is increased, heavy curl occurs and the sheet is impractical for document use.
In order to suppress curl and cockle after air drying of a sheet, there is proposed a method in which the irreversible shrink ratios in a MD and in a CD when environmental relative humidity is changed, is made to fall within a specified range to thereby suppress curl and cockle after the drying (see, for example, JP No. 3127114). However, when there is no limitation on the penetration of ink into a recording sheet and ink having high penetrability into a recording sheet is used and a lot of ink is discharged, the ink penetrates into the inside of the recording sheet. As a result, an absolute amount of fibers which are to shrink after drying is increased as a whole, causing an increase in curl after the drying, leading to only insufficient effects.
On the other hand, a method is proposed in which an ester type nonionic surfactant having an HLB of 11 or more is compounded in an ink receiving layer to improve image quality (see, for example, JP-A No. 10-278409). However, this surfactant is highly hydrophilic and therefore, the hydrophilic groups of a base material (base sheet) cannot be coated with the hydrophobic groups of the surfactant. When a large amount of ink is used, a recording sheet is easily deformed, leading to heavy curl and the sheet is impractical as a document.
Also, a method is proposed in which a surfactant having an HLB ranging from 3 to 12 is compounded in an ink receiving layer on the film surface to improve image quality (see, for example, JP-A No. 62-144986). However, even if the above technologies are applied to plain sheet, the amount of the surfactant is as low as less than 0.1% by weight and therefore the hydrophilic groups of a base material cannot be coated with the hydrophobic groups of the surfactant. Particularly, when ink having high penetrability into a recording sheet is used and a lot of ink is discharged or printing speed is so high that the amount of ink to be discharged per time is increased, large cockle occurs and the sheet impractical as a document.
Also, a method is proposed in which dry oxidized starch is subjected to size press treatment for preventing curl (see, for example, JP-A No. 2002-348798). However, when a lot of ink is used for printing, the above technologies cause water in the ink to elongate a base material, thus heavy curl occurs and the sheet is impractical as a document.
Further, in order to improve image quality in an ink-jet system, an ink receiving layer containing a silanol modified polyvinyl alcohol (PVA), 11 to 20% by weight nonionic surfactant and a synthetic amorphous silica as a filler is proposed (see, for example, JP-A No. 11-115304). In this method, there is no teaching on the HLB of a surfactant and also, since the hydrophilicity of the surfactant is high whose example is the surfactant used is in the examples with the HLB of 14, the hydrophilic groups of the base material cannot be coated with the hydrophobic group of the surfactant when this method is applied to a sheet derived from cellulose pulp. The above technologies likewise allows water in the ink to elongate a base material, thus heavy curl occurs and the sheet is impractical as a document.
Also, a method in which a bulky-softening agent having a HLB of 6 or less is compounded in a print sheet is proposed to improve the bulkiness-softness. However, a surfactant having a HLB of 6 or less, particularly a surfactant having a HLB of 4 or less, has poor dispersibility. Consequently, the hydrophilic groups of a base material cannot be coated with the hydrophobic groups of the surfactant and the absolute amount of fibers which stretch and shrink increases, and heavy curl occurs. As a result, only insufficient effects are obtained (see, for example, JP-A No. 2002-155494).
Further, a method is proposed in which, in an electrophotographic system, water retention and freeness of the pulp obtained by disintegrating a recording sheet is adjusted within ranges of 80 to 110% and 480 to 600 ml respectively to improve reliability (see, for example, JP-A No. 9-119091). In this method, curl can be reduced by controlling the water retention value of pulp. However, sheet strength is reduced and there is therefore the case where sheet powder is easily produced in an electrophotographic printer and a copying machine, and low stiffness causes jamming. Also, when this method is applied to an ink-jet system, owing to vaporization of water in ink, heavy curl occurs at printing and drying.
Also, in an ink-jet system, a method is proposed (see, for example, JP-A No. 2002-201597) which aims at shape stabilization by impregnation with a cellulose cross-linking agent. In this method, however, if the degree of bonds between fibers becomes excessive by the cross-linking treatment, heavy curl occurs as water in ink vaporize when a sheet is dried after printing. Also, this technology cannot suppress deformation of a sheet immediately after printing and jamming is likely to occur in a machine. Moreover, when this sheet is applied to an electrophotographic copying machine and printer, residual formaldehyde is vaporized in a fixing unit and there is a fear that not only the machine is contaminated but also the vapor is harmful to people who touch the sheet.

Recording sheet and image recording method using the same


The invention is an improved process for the preparation of a compound of formula I wherein R and R.sup.1 are each independently alkyl of from 1 to 3 carbon atoms; and R.sup.2 is alkyl of from 1 to 8 carbon atoms. ##STR1##

(S)-3-Hydroxybutyrolactone and a derivative, methyl (S)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-3,4-dihydroxybutanoate, are optically active starting materials in the preparation of [R-(R*,R*)]-2-(4-fluorophenyl)-.beta.,.delta.-dihydroxy-5-(1-methylethyl)- 3-phenyl-4-[(phenylamino)carbonyl]-1H-pyrrole-1-heptanoic acid calcium salt (2:1) (atorvastatin), a new HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor (Nanninga, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1992;33:2279).
Chiral dihydroxybutyric acids and the corresponding esters, lactones, and derivatives have proven to be valuable chemical entities. In addition to useful intermediates in synthetic efforts towards natural products (Cf Benezra, et al., J. Org. Chem., 1985;50:1144; Hanessian, et al., Can. J. Chem., 1987;65:195; Ahn, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1992:507), a number of clinical applications have been disclosed. (S)-3-Hydroxybutyrolactone has been reported as a satiety agent (Okukado, et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 1988;61:2025) as well as a potentiating agent to neuroleptic drugs (Fuxe, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,138,484).
Clearly, there is a need for a simple and inexpensive method for the large scale preparation of (S)-3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid, (S)-3-hydroxybutyro-lactone, and derivatives of these chiral molecules. A large number of small scale complex syntheses have been reported demonstrating the value of these compounds.
Preparation of methyl (S)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-3,4-dihydroxybutanoate has been reported in the literature. It is prepared by reduction of dimethyl malate with borane-dimethyl sulfide complex/NaBH.sub.4 followed by acid catalyzed reaction with dimethoxypropane to yield the acetonide (Saito, et al., Chem. lett., 1984:1389; Tetrahedron, 1992;48:4067).
The acetonide has been prepared from isoascorbic acid via a multi-step sequence, but the yield was quite low due to the instability of an intermediate in the synthetic strategy (Tanaka, et al., Synthesis, 1987:570). The ethyl ester of the acetonide can be prepared from D-isoascorbic acid (Abushanab, et al., Synth. Comm., 1989;19:3077) via a similar multi-step route. An enzymatic resolution starting with racemic dimethyl malate has also been employed to produce the acetonide methyl ester on a small scale (Benezra, et al., J. Org. Chem., 1985;50:1144).
An additional reported procedure (Williams, et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1988;29:5087) involves the direct oxidation of the corresponding acetonide aldehyde with alcoholic bromine to give the acetonide methyl ester in good yield.
Although there are a variety of routes to this acetonide ester, they all involve either expensive starting materials, difficult to handle reagents, or multi-step sequences.
There are a number of procedures in the literature for the preparation of (S)-3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid and the corresponding internal ester, (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone. The oxidation of water soluble carbohydrates to (S)-3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid and the corresponding lactone, (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone, has been reported (Hollingsworth, U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,292,939; 5,319,110; and 5,374,773). However, there is no discussion on how to isolate the product, (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone, except by chromatography. This hydroxylactone is very difficult to isolate from the reaction mixture due to the high water solubility of the molecule and the ease of decomposition/dehydration at the high temperatures required for purification by distillation. The preparation discussed in these patents is performed at high dilution, presumably due to the highly exothermic nature of the oxidation. In addition, this preparation does not provide the hydroxylactone ((S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone) in the yields reported. Thus, this process is not readily amenable to large scale, economical preparations of (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone. Further, the above patents do not discuss the preparation of esters of (S)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-3,4-dihydroxybutyrate directly from carbohydrate oxidation reaction mixtures.
Preparation of (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone has been reported in a multi-step procedure starting with (S)-malic acid (Prestwich, et al., J. Org. Chem., 1981;46:4319). A slightly shorter route from either (S)-malic acid or aspartic acid has been reported (Larcheveque, et al., Synth. Commun., 1986;16:183) although the optical conversion of aspartic acid to malic acid was not 100% due to racemization of an intermediate. Esters of (S)-malic acid have also been utilized (Saito, et al., Chem. Lett., 1984:1389) using borane-dimethyl sulfide/sodium borohydride to prepare the dihydroxy ester followed by acid catalyzed cyclization to (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone.
A six-step procedure from D-isoascorbic acid has been reported (Tanaka, et al., Synthesis, 1987:570) but requires a diastereomeric separation and has been performed only on a small scale with purification by silica gel chromatography.
Oxidation and acid catalyzed cyclization of 6-(2,3-dihydroxypropyl)-1,3-dioxin-4-one has provided (s)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone in high optical purity but entails a six-step procedure (Sakaki, et al.; J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1991:434).
Rabbit muscle aldolase catalyzed condensation of 3-hydroxy-4-oxobutanoate with dihydroxy acetone phosphate (DHAP) provided (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone with excellent optical purity on small scale (Whitesides, et al., J. Org. Chem., 1993;58:1887).
The preparation of (S)-3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid from (R)-3-chloro-1,2-propanediol via cyanation and hydrolysis of the dihydroxynitrile has been reported (Inoue, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,994,597). Oxidation of the corresponding hydroxyketone with perhexahydrobenzoic acid provides the 3-hydroxybutyrolactone (Cotarca, et al., International Published Patent Application, WO 94/29294) but no report of chiral purity is made.
The opposite enantiomer has been prepared by yeast reduction and cyclization of the appropriate ketoester (Seebach, et al., Synthesis, 1986:37). L-ascorbic acid (Luk, et al., Synthesis, 1988:226; Tanaka, et al., Synthesis, 1987:570) has been utilized to synthesis (R)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone via multi-step processes.
Optical resolution of racemic hydroxylactones using lipase has been reported (Miyazawa, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,084,392) but suffers due to only moderate enantiomeric excess and loss of the opposite enantiomer. Long reaction times are also reported with this procedure. Carbonylation of glycidol using a cobalt catalyst has been employed but requires high pressures to effect carbonylation and produces a significant quantity of unsaturated ester. The use of a chiral glycidol in the process to provide optically active lactones is not addressed (Brima, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,968,817). Acid catalyzed deprotection and subsequent lactonization of methyl (R)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-3,4-dihydroxybutanoate has been employed to prepare (R)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone (Luk, et al., Synthesis, 1988:226; Tanaka, et al., Synthesis, 1987:570). The corresponding cyclohexylidene protected ester of methyl (S)-3,4-dihydroxybutyrate has been deprotected and lactonized with dilute aqueous acid to provide (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone (Tanaka, et al., Synthesis, 1987:570).
Direct formation of the acetonide methyl ester from a similar hydroxylactone has been reported in the literature, but this procedure employs a purified lactone as the starting material (Larcheveque, et al., Tetrahedron, 1987;43:2303).
The object of the present invention is an inexpensive, scalable, direct route to esters of (S)-3,4-O-isopropylidene-3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid and (S)-3-hydroxybutyrolactone from a carbohydrate source.

Process for the synthesis of protected esters of (S)-3,4-dihydroxybutyric acid


Objects of the present invention are to provide an oxidative stress inhibitor which is capable of suppressing the expression of a cytotoxic protein and the activation of a gene transcriptional regulatory factor taking part such expression of a cytotoxic protein and exhibits good feeling upon use and safety; to provide a method for preventing, retarding, alleviating or treating a skin change due to aging or an undesirable aesthetic skin change, both caused or promoted by an oxidative stress; and to provide a cosmetic composition or dermatologic preparation for external use comprising the oxidative stress inhibitor as an effective ingredient, and for those purposes are employed an oxidative stress inhibiting agent which comprises, as an effective ingredient, at least one selected from cysteine or cystine derivatives and the salts thereof.

In recent years, causes of diseases or dermal injuries or diseases brought about by an oxidative stress such as ultraviolet rays, active oxygen, free radicals or the like have been searched briskly. For example, it is known that cytotoxic cytokines such as IL-1α, TNF-α and the like or extracellular matrix proteases such as collagenase and the like are closely related to aging, canceration or malignant alteration, edema, pigmentation or the like as its cause (for example, "Oxidative Stress in Dermatology", Marcel Dekker, Inc., pp. 187–205, 1993). Expression of a gene coding for such a protein is mainly controlled at the level of genetic transcription, whereas, regarding cytotoxic proteins such as cytotoxic cytokines and extracellular matrix proteases, it is controlled by a transcriptional regulatory factor such as NF-κB or AP-1 (for example, "Active oxygen and Signal transmission", Kodansha Scientific, pp. 37–46, 1996). In practice, NF-κB and AP-1 are known to be activated by an oxidative stress and promote the expression of cytotoxic protein (for example, "Active oxygen and Signal transmission", Kodansha Scientific, pp. 1–20, 1996). Diseases or dermal injuries or diseases caused by an oxidative stress are therefore expected to be prevented, retarded, alleviated or treated if it becomes possible to suppress the activation of NF-κB or AP-1 due to an oxidative stress.
There is a description that the activation of NF-κB is inhibited by a sulfur-containing antioxidant such as N-acetyl-L-cysteine or pyrrolidine dithiocarbamate (for example, "Active oxygen and Signal transmission", Kodansha Scientific, pp. 37–46, 1996). It is reported that N-acetyl-L-cysteine can also suppress the activation of AP-1 (for example, "FEBS Letters", Vol. 384, pp. 92–96, 1996). These compounds are, however, accompanied with such drawbacks as insufficient effects or strong cytotoxicity. Sulfur-containing compounds such as N,N′-diacetyl-L-cystine are known to suppress dermal inflammation induced by leukotrienes (ex. U.S. Pat. No. 4,827,016), but not known to inhibit cytokines or transcription factor taking part in aging, canceration, edema, pigmentation or the like. In addition to sulfur-containing antioxidants, there are reports on retinoic acid used for inhibiting the activation of AP-1 and the expression of extracellular matrix proteases (for example, "Nature", Vol. 379, pp. 335–339, 1996); and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs or non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs used for suppressing the activation of NF-κB (for example, "Bio Essays", Vol. 18, pp. 373–378, 1996). Retinoic acid and steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs are not free from side effects such as detachment of the skin and steroid-induced skin diseases, respectively, so that they cannot be used freely. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs do not cause systemic side effects which are observed upon use of a steroidal anti-inflammatory drug, but there is room for improvement in its local side effects. In addition, its effects for suppressing the activation of inflammatory factors are insufficient.
As one of the diseases or dermal injuries or diseases caused by an oxidative stress, a change in the skin due to aging or an undesirable esthetic change in the skin can be mentioned. It is reported that in order to prevent or retard such a change, a natural extract having action for alleviating skin roughness or the component contained therein, such as astaxantin, and a cystine derivative are in combination applied to the skin (for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (Kokai) No. Hei 9-143,063). According to the report, such a combination contributes to the recovery of resilience or luster of the skin or the amelioration of the somber coloring, but does not exhibit sufficient effects. In addition, its effects against skin wrinkles or flabby skin, the most eminent symptoms in the observation of the aged skin, are, however, not revealed.
Induction or promotion of skin wrinkles or flabby skin is a typical example of skin change due to aging or an undesirable aesthetic skin change, both brought about by an oxidative stress. The sun light or ultraviolet rays therefrom can be mentioned as its cause (for example, "Shin Keshohin-gaku", Nanzando, pp. 38–46, 1993). As a method for preventing or retarding such a change, application of an antioxidant such as tocopherol, ascorbic acid, N-acetyl-L-cysteine or the like to the kin is reported (for example, "Photodermatol. Photoimmunol. Photomed., Vol.7, pp. 56–62, 1990 or Japanese Language Laid-Open Publication (PCT) No. Hei 6-510,542). Prevention or retardation is also effected by the application of an anti-inflammatory drug or an ultraviolet absorber, other than an antioxidant (for example, "Photodermatol. Photoimmunol. Photomed., Vol.7, pp. 153–158, 1990 or J. Photochem. Photobiol. B: Biol., Vol. 9, pp. 323–334, 1991) or improvement is conducted using retinoic acid (for example, "J. Invest. Dermatol., Vol. 98, pp. 248–254, 1992). These compounds are, however, accompanied with the problems such as insufficient effects, strong cytotoxicity and low light stability. Moreover, anti-inflammatory drugs and retinoic acid are not free from side effects as described above.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A new and distinct cultivar of Alstroemeria plant named ‘Natalie’, characterized by its upright, compact and mounded plant habit; durable and long-lasting leaves; freely flowering habit; large umbels with white and red-colored flowers; and good postproduction longevity.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Alstroemeria plant, botanically known as Alstroemeria hybrida, commercially used as a potted Alstroemeria, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Natalie'.
The new Alstroemeria is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Chichester, United Kingdom. The objective of the breeding program was to develop new compact potted Alstroemeria cultivars with freely flowering habit, large flowers, attractive flower colors and excellent postproduction longevity.
The new Alstroemeria originated from a cross-pollination made by the Inventor in Chichester, United Kingdom, in 1999 a proprietary selection of Alstroemeria hybrida identified as code number T 10, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a Alstroemeria hybrida selection identified as code number 465/l, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Alstroemeria was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination in a controlled environment in Chichester, United Kingdom in 1999.
Asexual reproduction of the new cultivar by tissue culture in a controlled environment in Chichester, United Kingdom, has shown that the unique features of this new Alstroemeria are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual propagation.


A damping apparatus including a piston having an axis therethrough. The piston includes a coaxial body portion and a first and second end extending oppositely therefrom along the axis. A rigid housing is coaxial with and surrounds the body of the piston for forming a rigid fluid volume between the piston and the rigid housing. The rigid fluid volume includes a first fluid chamber at a first end of the piston and a second fluid chamber at the second end of the piston. The first and second fluid chambers are connected by a damping path. The damping apparatus further includes a flexible housing coupled to the first and second ends of the piston and surrounding the rigid housing to form a fluid return of lower resistance to flow than the damping path between the rigid housing and the flexible housing and to allow movement of the rigid housing with respect to the piston. The rigid housing forms a first and second restrictive path about the first and second ends of the piston, respectively, of higher resistance to flow than the damping path to allow fluid to flow between the fluid return and the rigid fluid volume.

Precision structures are susceptible to disturbances that can produce structural vibrations. Since precision structures, such as precision truss structures for space, bridge, or building applications, tend to have little inherent damping, these vibrations can lead to serious performance degradation. An efficient means of adding damping to large precision structures in a controlled manner is of considerable importance. Both active and passive damping techniques have been utilized. However, active systems suffer from high cost, low reliability, and poor low-level or threshold performance. On the other hand, passive damping systems require no power, are often less expensive than active damping devices and do not drive the structure unstable. Thus, passive damping systems have proven to play a significant role in the overall design of large precision structures.
There are several manners of implementing passive damping in a structure such as a truss structure. Two of the more common methods are viscoelastic damping and viscous damping. Both such methods can be incorporated into strut-like elements for use in truss structures. Viscoelastic damping methods have been in widespread use in vibration absorbing applications and are often applied in panel-like structures. These devices, though capable of providing isolation or damping for most applications, exhibit cyclic wear and excessive sensitivity to temperature and are susceptible to other environmental conditions.
Viscous dampers include a fluid reservoir sealed in a damping structure which utilizes viscous fluid sheer forces to provide damping. One particular viscous damper is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,996 to Davis issued Aug. 2, 1988 and assigned to Honeywell Inc. The viscous damper described therein achieves common axis and which is attached to an end piece and a base at opposite ends of the shaft; the shaft maintaining a fixed separation distance therebetween. A piston having an axial bore hole and a flange extending therefrom for coupling to a load is positioned about the shaft in a coaxial relationship forming a fluid annulus between the piston and the shaft. A first and second bellows are positioned in axial alignment with the shaft and are fluidly sealed at opposite ends of the bellows by the end piece and the base, respectively, and the flange to form two fluid chambers therein. A fluid gap couples the fluid chambers in the first and second bellows that are formed between the piston, inner walls of the bellows and the flange extension from the piston. This arrangement obtains damping by purely viscous fluid sheer forces. As the load attached to the flange moves, the volume of one chamber increases while the volume of the second decreases. The overall volume, due to the fixed distance between the end piece of the first bellows and the base piece of the second bellows maintained by the shaft, remains constant. Thus, fluid of constant volume that is contained within the two chambers and the gap is distributed to the chambers in accordance with the movement of the load providing a damping function.
A viscous damper such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,760,996 has several associated problems. The damping potential of such a viscous damper is partly determinable by the axial compliancy of the bellows. The pressure in the chambers of the viscous damper is determined by the fluid in the chambers and is distributed variably to the bellows in accordance with the velocity of the load. The expansion of the bellows due to the pressure reduces the fluid shear forces through the fluid annulus with a resultant loss in damping. Thus, the ability to dampen large loads and/or handle loads of high velocity is diminished. In order to prevent the bellows from expanding in a manner to increase their volume, or in other words volumetric expansion, when pressure is increased in a chamber, the bellows must be kept relatively stiff. Because of the necessary stiffness, due to the potential pressure in the chamber being relatively high, a decrease in the relative possible stroke along the axis of the viscous damper results. In addition, in order to keep the fluid gap continually retained between the piston and the shaft to prevent contact and friction therebetween, the bellows must also be made relatively stiff to prevent the bellows from extending in a radial direction due to volumetric expansion. Such stiffness once again decreases the stroke potential of the viscous damper.
A viscous damping technique which offers high damping for truss structures is the D-Strut.TM. as described in "Viscous Damped Space Structure for Reduced Titter," by J. F. Wilson and L. P. Davis, 58th Shock and Vibration Symposium, August 1987. The D-Strut.TM. which is used to replace a nominal type strut in a truss structure includes a small viscous damper placed in series with an inner tube and the damper and inner tube are placed in parallel with an outer tube. An axial displacement across the strut produces a displacement across the damper. The damper forces a fluid through a small diameter orifice causing a shear in the fluid and providing viscous damping for the structure. The damper is basically two compliant cavities connected by the small diameter orifice. The compliancy of the cavities reduces the shear forces when a pressure of the fluid in the compliant cavities causes the cavity volume to change. Thus, a resultant loss in damping occurs. However, the D-Strut.TM. provides much higher damping capabilities.
As indicated above, there are various problems with regard to both viscoelastic damping devices and viscous devices. Therefore, there is a need to provide isolation and damping which can withstand environmental conditions, application of cyclic forces and which is structured such that minimal pressure is applied to flexible portions of the viscous damping structure so as to allow for maximum stroke capability and/or to afford large load or high velocity capability.


A display apparatus includes: a location acquisition unit that acquires an image location designated by an operation of the user in the planar image of the user symbol; a direction setting unit that specifies an area to which the image location of the user symbol belongs from among a plurality of areas into which the planar image is divided and with which a predetermined direction is associated in advance, respectively, and sets, as a direction of eyes of the user, a direction that is associated in advance with the area specified; and a display control unit that displays the planar image in which the seat symbols and the user symbol are arranged in such a way of being associated with a seat layout in a room visually recognized when the user views in the direction of eyes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus, a method, and a program for displaying a seat layout in a room.
2. Related Art
Conventionally, when designing or checking a seat layout or an arrangement of seats for staff in a room such as a company office or a call center, a planar image in which seat symbols are arranged is used. Locations of seat symbols in the planar image correspond to actual seats, respectively, and thus reflect positional relationships among the seats in the planar image (for example, refer to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. 2008-9713).

Seat layout display apparatus, seat layout display method, and program thereof


Pulsed or mutual interference in a pulse radar system is ameliorated by a process that includes a pulse-Doppler filter, some frequency bins of which correlate with clutter. Pulsed interference is identified, and the corresponding column vectors of a pulse-Doppler-filter-equivalent matrix are identified. The row values of the corresponding interference-affected column vectors that correlate with clutter are nulled. The vectors are orthogonalized, and then converted to measurement and correction signal vectors for application to the pulse-Doppler received signals. Vector dot products of the measurement signal vectors with the received signals are calculated, to produce pulsed interference measurements that are nominally free of clutter. The pulsed interference measurements are combined with the correction signals which are then subtracted from the received signals to produce signals that are nominally free of pulsed interference. In one embodiment, the pulsed interference-free received signals are applied to a pulse-Doppler filter to suppress the clutter signals.

Radar (including sonar and lidar) has been known and used by man for 60 years or more. During this time, many improvements have been devised for correcting various sensor deficiencies and frailties. Among the early improvements was the suppression of clutter by adoption of moving target indication (MTI), which tended to suppress the display of targets which had little or no motion, as measured by lack of a pulse-to-pulse phase shift in the reflected signal echo. The problem of the inverse-fourth-power amplitude of the signal returns was substantially solved by increasing the gain of the radar receiving systems as a function of the fourth-power of time following transmission of each energy pulse, in order to maintain relatively constant amplitude of the target signal returns during processing.
Among the remaining problems of radar-type sensors are lack of good remedies for mutual interference between or among multiple radar sensors located in close proximity to each other. It is easy to understand that if two or more radars that are in close proximity to each other, transmit pulses in a common operating frequency band, each radar system will receive signals directly from the other radar(s) that are more-or-less indistinguishable from reflections from radar targets. These directly-received pulsed interference signals can be of large-amplitude and can tend to saturate receiving systems and target displays. This well-known problem manifests itself in increases in false alarm rates and in undesirable losses of sensitivity for detecting radar targets. Mutual interference is a serious problem for many types of radar, and is expected to be a continuing problem for future radar concepts.
More recently, pulse-Doppler radars were devised to improve upon MTI radars. Pulse-Doppler radars can operate in conditions where signals from severe clutter environments are received together with signals from intended targets. Pulse-Doppler radars use pulse-Doppler filters to convert the time-domain reflected radar signals to the frequency domain in order to suppress the clutter and maintain target detection sensitivity. Clutter suppression is accomplished by rejection or attenuation of those components of the signal returns that show zero or small frequency offsets from the transmitted signals. Mutual interference can be a more severe problem for pulse-Doppler radars than for other radars due to the inherent nature of pulse-Doppler signals and pulse-Doppler filter processing. The increased severity is due to the fact that if mutual interference occurs anytime during the transmission and reception of a pulse-Doppler waveform, detection sensitivity can be degraded for the entire waveform. And since pulse-Doppler waveforms can consist of long sequences of high-energy pulses, not only can mutual interference be more likely to occur, but it can also render useless more significant amounts of expended radar resources consisting of high-energy pulses.
In a simple prior-art arrangement, radar pulse-Doppler signal returns consisting of target and clutter signals are applied to a pulse-Doppler filter to transform the input time-series signal returns, into output Doppler-frequency domain signal measurements. This allows the system to resolve and separate the clutter signals from the intended target signals based on differences in their Doppler frequencies. The clutter signals are then suppressed either by setting their Doppler-frequency components to zero or by excluding them from detection processing. If pulsed interference occurs in the radar pulse-Doppler signal returns, together with target signals and clutter signals, then the pulsed interference appears on the output of all of the pulse-Doppler filters because of its wide frequency distribution. It can therefore mask the existence of intended target signals, which in turn degrades radar target detection sensitivity.
Methods which have been used in the prior art to ameliorate the problem of mutual interference for pulse-Doppler radars include blanking of the portions of the signals that are contaminated with pulsed interference; "repair" by interpolation of the portions of the signals that are contaminated with pulsed interference; pulse-Doppler filters that are adapted to the pulsed interference, and coherent sidelobe signal cancellation. While blanking effectively removes pulsed interference, it is not compatible with pulse-Doppler filter suppression of high levels of clutter signals. When blanking is used during occurrences of combined pulsed interference and clutter signals, the portions of the clutter signals that overlap with the pulsed interference are also blanked. Radar target detection sensitivity is degraded because blanking of portions of the clutter signals degrades pulse-Doppler filter capabilities for suppressing the clutter signals. This is a serious shortcoming because combined pulsed interference and high levels of clutter signals are a common occurrence. "Repair" by interpolation improves upon blanking by replacing clutter signals that are contaminated by pulsed interference with interpolated signals that are compatible with pulse-Doppler filter suppression of high levels of clutter signals. "Repaired" signals are obtained by applying an interpolation algorithm to the received signals that are temporally adjacent to the contaminated signals. (This process is sometimes referred to as "linear prediction".) Interpolation fails if any of the temporally adjacent signals are also contaminated by pulsed interference. This is a serious shortcoming because contamination of temporally adjacent signals commonly occurs. Pulse-Doppler filters that are adapted to the pulsed interference solve the problem by synthesizing and applying a new pulse-Doppler filter for each change in condition of the pulsed interference. While this method is compatible with pulse-Doppler filter suppression of high levels of clutter signals, and is also compatible with occurrences of temporally adjacent signals also being contaminated by pulsed interference, its implementation is generally considered to be too costly to be practical due to the large amount of computer computation that is required to synthesize new filters. Additionally, it is not compatible with existing and optimized pulse-Doppler filter architectures that are based on fast-Fourier transform processing algorithms. Coherent sidelobe signal cancellation is an effective solution to pulsed interference, but only if a sufficiently large number of coherent sidelobe signal cancellation channels are implemented in the radar, and the levels of the pulsed interference are sufficiently low so that the receiver does not exceed its linear dynamic region. When the linear dynamic region of the receiver response is exceeded, intermodulation and cross-modulation signal products are produced which are incompatible with coherent sidelobe signal cancellation. This is a serious shortcoming because pulsed interference will commonly exceed receiver linear dynamic regions when radars are in close proximity.
Improved andor alternative mutual interference suppression for pulse-Doppler radar, sonar, lidar, and equivalent, is desired.

Mutual interference processor for pulse radar


A shaving razor comprising a razor head or blade holding compartment, an elongate planar body portion, and a perpendicular tab portion. This structure allows the thumb and fingers of a user's hand to grasp the razor by the perpendicular tab portion and against the planar body portion; or the perpendicular tab portion to be grasped between the user's extended fingers, and the planar body portion to be grasped between those fingers and the user's thumb. The perpendicular tab portion may be foldable against the planar body portion for compactness in storage and transport.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to shaving implements, and more specifically to an improved shaving razor structure.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Shaving razors are well known, and typically include a shaving head attached to a handle for grasping by the user's hand. Such a configuration, while acceptable, does not provide a structure that lends itself to an ideal shaving technique with the user's thumb and fingers comfortably grasping the razor. In addition, known shaving razor structures are not particularly conducive to compact storage.
Some prior art devices have attempted to address these issues. For example, Foltis U.S. Pat. No. 2,534,861 discloses a foldable safety razor with a back surface that can be grasped between a user's thumb and forefinger. However, such a structure still does not allow for a comfortable grip, nor does it enable the user to control and prevent pivoting of the razor body. Other patents, such as Christmas U.S. Pat. No. 1,875,990, describe a folding-type razor body, although the resultant erected structure is still not conducive for the desired grasping purposes.


A dual spool retractor for a motor vehicle seat belt system. The dual spool retractor includes shoulder belt and lap belt spool assemblies engaging with the shoulder belt and lap belt portions of the seat belt webbing. The dual spool retractor incorporates a gas driven pretensioner system incorporating a common gas generator connection for both the shoulder belt spool assembly and the lap belt spool assembly. Both spool assemblies are caused to undergo pretensioning retraction energized by a single gas generator.

Numerous designs of passive and active automotive occupant restraint systems are known for enhancing occupant protection in the event of a vehicle impact. Passive systems such as inflatable restraints or air bags for frontal and side impacts and automatically deployed seat belt systems are known. Active seat belt systems have been used for many decades and are manually deployed by the occupant. The conventional seat belt system uses three points of connection with the vehicle structure and incorporates a lap belt section for engaging the occupant's lower torso, and a shoulder belt section for engaging the occupant's upper torso. When used, the seat belt restrains movement of the occupant in the event of a vehicle impact or rollover event. In order to enhance the comfort and convenience provided by the seat belt system, retractors are used which permit the belt webbing to be extracted from and retracted into the retractor, allowing movement of the occupant while maintaining the belt in close contact with the occupant. An inertia sensitive vehicle sensor which may be used with a webbing sensor, locks the retractor when an impact or rollover event is detected, preventing further extraction of webbing to restrain the occupant.
A more recent development in the area of seat belt systems is that of the so-called inflatable seat belt. An inflatable seat belt system incorporates a section of the shoulder belt which is inflated by a gas, typically by a pyrotechnic inflator, to increase its size and volume. Thus, when an inflatable seat belt is deployed, the normally narrow seat belt webbing expands significantly to reduce the contact pressure between the shoulder belt and the occupant during an impact event. Inflatable seat belts also act as a belt pretensioner by reducing belt slack. Inflatable seat belts are typically deployed using the crash sensing systems also used to deploy other inflatable restraint systems upon the detection of a vehicle impact or rollover event having predetermined dynamic characteristics.
Various approaches have been proposed to properly position the inflatable seat belt section with respect to the occupant's upper torso. One approach utilizes a pair of seat belt retractors, one having a spool for winding and storing the lap belt portion of the webbing, and a second retractor for winding and stowing the shoulder belt portion of the webbing. In addition to applications involving inflatable seat belt sections, dual retractor systems are also incorporated in certain vehicles to provide enhanced comfort and convenience for the vehicle occupants, and provides them with greater freedom of movement. This is particularly appropriate in luxury vehicles where the additional costs for the benefits of a dual retractor system are acceptable.
Providing dual retractors for the seat occupants increases the cost and complexity of the restraint system. Further compounding the cost duplication of a dual retractor system is the emergence of an increasing number of sophisticated control systems for retractors. An example of such a control system is a retractor pretensioner. Retractor pretensioners cinch the seat belt webbing against the occupant, eliminating slack immediately upon the detection of a vehicle impact. Reducing the slack in the seat belt system enables the occupant's forward motion to quickly engage the seat belt to begin dissipating impact energy. Various designs of pretensioners are presently known, including a type known as a Roto-Pretensioner which incorporates a series of balls in a gas duct which are driven by the deployment of a micro gas generator to engage with and wind the retractor spool sprocket to retract the webbing.
Another retractor control device presently considered are so-called pre-pretensioners. These devices begin to cinch the seat belt webbing against the occupant even before an actual impact is detected. This can be provided using, for example, radar, ultrasonic, or other sensing systems which anticipate a vehicle crash event before actual impact has occurred. Electronically controlled retractors are also being developed in which the locking function is controlled by a solenoid, as opposed to the more prevalent inertia sensitive rolling ball or pendulum type locking devices. Other electronic controlled designs of these devices are also available involving the use electrodynamic devices to cause locking or even actively winding the seat belt retractors as desired. The implementation of these retractor control systems further increases the cost of providing such features in a dual retractor system, since these functions may be duplicated for each retractor.


A sliding clamp and clamp assembly are provided. The clamp assembly includes a cam member that, when actuated, biases a stationary clamp jaw assembly toward another jaw assembly. The cam member utilizes a ball-and-socket coupling to couple the cam member to the sliding clamp bar. The ball-and-socket coupling allows the cam member, and an extended actuator, to be pivoted and rotated into an infinite number of positions.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a sliding clamp and, more specifically, to an improved clamping assembly for a sliding clamp.
2. Background Information
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, a sliding clamp typically includes an elongated bar 1, a stationary jaw assembly 2, and a clamp assembly 3. The sliding clamp further includes a sliding jaw (not shown). The two jaw assemblies are coupled to the bar 1. The sliding jaw assembly is structured to slide over, essentially, the length of the bar. The sliding jaw assembly includes a locking assembly structured to limit the direction of travel of the sliding jaw assembly. That is, when the locking assembly is engaged, the sliding jaw assembly may not be moved away from the stationary jaw assembly 2. The stationary jaw assembly 2 does not travel over the length of the bar 1 but may be moved a short distance longitudinally along the bar 1. The stationary jaw assembly 2 includes a cam follower 4. The stationary jaw assembly moves in response to actuation of the clamp assembly 3. It is noted that the word "stationary" is not used in a strict sense, but rather indicates that the stationary jaw assembly's 1 range of motion is very limited relative to the sliding jaw assembly.
The clamp assembly 3 is coupled to the bar and includes a cam member 5 and a cam actuator 6. The cam member 5 has, generally, a flat body with a pivot point 7, a first flat side 8, a second flat side 9, and a transition between the flat sides. The first flat side 8 is located closer to the pivot point 7 than the second flat side 9. The cam member 5 is coupled to the bar at the pivot point 7. Thus, the cam member 5 is structured to pivot relative to the bar 1 between a first position and a second position. In the first position, the first flat side 8 is adjacent to, and engages, the stationary jaw assembly cam follower 4. In the second position, the second flat side 9 is adjacent to, and engages, the stationary jaw assembly cam follower 4. Because the second flat side 9 is disposed further from the pivot point 7 than the first flat side 8, when the cam member 5 is in the second position, the stationary jaw assembly 2 is shifted longitudinally toward the sliding jaw assembly. Further, because the cam flat sides 8, 9 engage a flat surface on the stationary jaw assembly 2, the cam member 5 tends not to rotate without actuation. The cam member 5 is actuated by the cam actuator 6 which is, typically, an elongated handle.
In use, the sliding jaw assembly is initially spaced from the stationary jaw assembly 2 and the clamp assembly cam member 5 is in the first position. A user places the object(s) to be clamped between separated jaw assemblies and in contact with the stationary jaw assembly 1. The user slides the sliding jaw assembly against the object and engages the locking assembly. Thus, at this point, the object is loosely held between the jaw assemblies. That is, while the jaws, which have been biased against the object with manual force, may hold the object, the object is not securely clamped between the jaws. When the user actuates the clamp assembly 3, the stationary jaw assembly 2 shifts toward the sliding jaw assembly thereby securely clamping the object between the jaws with a mechanical force.
The disadvantage to this configuration is that the cam member 5 and the cam actuator 6 pivot about a stationary axis. That is, the cam member 5 and the cam actuator 6 are coupled to the bar 1 by a pivot coupling that is, typically, an opening in the bar 1 and a rod extending therethough. Thus, the cam member 5 and the cam actuator 6 may only pivot about this stationary axis. This is a disadvantage as the cam actuator 6 may not be rotated away from external obstacles or may interfere with work being performed on the clamped object.


A first load bearing component is adapted to provide load bearing strength when the modular building block is used in a building panel. A second load bearing component is coupled to the first load bearing component via a first coupling arrangement and is adapted to provide load bearing strength when the modular building block is used in the building panel. A building services component is positioned between the first load bearing component and the second load bearing component for providing a conduit for at least one building service. The first and second load bearing components and the building services component are adapted to be configurable in a plurality of positions relative to the other.

Home buyers of today demand products that are cost-effective, flexible in use, and visually pleasing. In addition, home buyers desire an immense variety of choice in the areas of architectural styles and floor plans. For instance, some buyers may desire homes with traditional floor plans and construction materials while others may prefer more contemporary styles and materials.
In the construction industry, the cost of materials, labor, and land are some factors that are typically taken into account when constructing a building or other structure. In order to reduce the cost of some or all of these factors and still meet the demands of buyers, various materials have been developed such as cement board siding, high efficiency energy saving windows, and engineered wood products. In other examples, prefabrication techniques have been used to construct homes in factories.
Unfortunately, the previous materials, products, and approaches described above have not necessarily decreased the cost of constructing buildings and still meet the design needs of customers. For instance, prefabrication approaches can only provide design versatility at the expense of high fabrication costs. In addition, the quality of the home constructed using such techniques is often inadequate due to the necessity of using low cost materials to reduce the overall home cost. As a result of these problems, previous approaches for home construction have proven inadequate to provide a cost-effective product while at the same time meeting the design requirements of consumers.

Modular building block system and method of manufacture


A method and device neutralize alternating stray current flowing through a ground return circuit in the proximity of an animal susceptible to be affected by this current. The alternating stray current flowing through the ground return circuit is sensed and a signal representative of that stray current is produced. In response to this current representative signal, an alternating compensatory current is generated and injected in the ground return circuit. The alternating compensatory current has an amplitude equal to the amplitude of the sensed stray current and is out of phase with respect to that stray current by an angle of 180.degree.. Therefore, the alternating compensatory current and the alternating stray current add in the ground return circuit and substantially cancel each other whereby the stray current can no longer affect the animal. A plurality of different configurations for the connection of the stray current neutralizing device to the ground return circuit are described, each configuration being adapted to a specific application.

When stray current from the concrete floor of a farm building flows through the body of an animal to reach the metallic structures of that farm building and their grounding connection network, the animal(s) feels this stray current. The animal(s) is affected and has a physiological reaction resulting into abnormal health conditions.
As an example, the physiological reaction of a man when an electric current flows through his body (hand-trunk-foot) can be summarized as follows:
perception threshold: 1--3 mA (duration of 1 sec); PA1 strong sensation threshold: 3.5-8 mA (duration of 1 sec); PA1 contraction and release threshold: 8-15 mA (duration of 1 sec); PA1 fibrillation current threshold: 30 mA and more (duration of 1 sec). PA1 means for sensing the alternating stray current flowing through the ground return circuit; PA1 means for producing a signal representative of the sensed stray current; means for generating, in response to the current representative signal, an alternating compensatory current having an amplitude substantially equal to the amplitude of the sensed stray current and being out of phase with respect to the stray current by an angle substantially equal to 180.degree.; and PA1 means for injecting the alternating compensatory current in the ground return circuit. PA1 sensing the alternating stray current flowing through the ground return circuit; PA1 producing a signal representative of the sensed stray current; PA1 generating, in response to the current representative signal, an alternating compensatory current having an amplitude substantially equal to the amplitude of the sensed stray current and being out of phase with respect to the stray current by an angle substantially equal to 180.degree.; and PA1 injecting the alternating compensatory current in the ground return circuit whereby the stray current and the compensatory current add together and substantially cancel each other.
The symptoms specific to each species can be seen when stray current is flowing.
For example, cows will refuse to give their milk and to enter in the cowshed. They may also paw the ground and kick the milker. In the most critical situations, the cows present problems of mastitis, of reproduction, of leucocyte, etc.
Pigs can present similar symptoms; cases of cannibalism and mastitis, and problems of diarrhoea, of temperature and of constipation can be found. In the most critical cases, the dead-rate of the little pigs may considerably increase.
Regarding fish breeding basins, stray current may cause luxation of the vertebral column of the fish and will greatly stress the fish to cause repeated furunculosis epidemic.

Stray current neutralizing method and device

13, rue Marie-Claude St-Charles-de-Bellechasse, Quebec


The hand-held pipette comprises at least one track having increments, at least one brush, and a register area arranged to come into contact with each brush after it has traveled a predetermined number of increments.

There is known, in particular from the document FR-2 807 558, a hand-actuated pipette for moving a piston in the pipette with a view to sampling a liquid and subsequently ejecting this liquid. The pipette comprises means of adjusting the value of the volume of liquid to be sampled and an electronic screen 12 for displaying this value.
It is possible to calibrate this pipette by recording in the pipette control microprocessor a calibration value corresponding to a predetermined mechanical configuration of the adjustment means. The pipette comprises one or more brushes traveling over one or more tracks having increments and connected to the volume adjustment means. When the user modifies the adjustment of the volume to be sampled, the brush or brushes travel over the increments in the tracks and the microprocessor counts the number of increments traveled, which enables it to display the new volume value corresponding to the adjustment obtained.
Nevertheless, one drawback is that, if the user modifies the adjustment of the volume when the electronic part of the pipette is not supplied with current (the pipette being switched off or the energy source being exhausted), the pipette loses count of the increments traveled. The pipette, when it is once again supplied with energy, is then no longer in a position to display a correct value corresponding to the volume adjustment obtained.
One aim of the invention is to mitigate this drawback by making it possible to display a correct volume value to be sampled, even if the volume adjustment means is manipulated while the pipette is not supplied with power.

Hand-held pipette comprising at least one track and one brush for displaying a volume value to be sampled


A refrigerating machine oil containing: a lubricating base oil; and a compound represented by the following formula (1):

A refrigerating machine such as a refrigerator or an air conditioner includes a compressor for circulating a refrigerant in a refrigerant circulation system. The compressor is filled with refrigerating machine oil for lubricating the sliding members. In general, the lower the viscosity of the refrigerating machine oil is, the more stirring resistance and friction of the sliding portion can be reduced. Therefore, the reduction of the viscosity of the refrigerating machine oil leads to energy saving of the refrigerating machine, Patent Document 1 discloses, for example, a refrigerating machine oil having VG3 or more and VG8 or less.

Refrigerator oil and hydraulic fluid composition for refrigerators

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 each independently represent a monovalent hydrocarbon group, R3 represents a divalent hydrocarbon group, and R4 represents hydrogen atom or a monovalent hydrocarbon group, and the refrigerating machine oil having a kinematic viscosity at 100° C. of 0.5 mm2/s or more and 2.5 mm2/s or less.


This invention relates to a method and apparatus for blocking spam messages originated in a different network. An anti-spam check is made in response to an initial Send Routing Information (SRI) message received in a destination network of a message. The result of this check is sent back to the originating network along with a destination address of a switch in the destination network, and SRI spam code and Mobile Terminated (MT) Routing Address Correlation ID. If SRI spam code indicates a spam, then subsequent transmission of the MT message with the same Correlation ID is blocked in the interworking switch or SMSC.

With the advent of the Internet, it has become easy to send messages to a large number of destinations at little or no cost to the sender. The messages include the short messages of short message service. These messages include unsolicited and unwanted messages (spam) which are a nuisance to the receiver of the message who has to clear the message and determine whether it is of any importance. Further, they are a nuisance to the carrier of the telecommunications network used for transmitting the message, not only because they present a customer relations problem with respect to irate customers who are flooded with spam, but also because these messages, for which there is usually little or no revenue, use network resources. An illustration of the seriousness of this problem is given by the following two statistics. In China in 2003, two trillion short message service (SMS) messages were sent over the Chinese telecommunications network; of these messages, an estimated three quarters were spam messages. The second statistics is that in the United States an estimated 85–90% of e-mail messages are spam.
A number of arrangements have been proposed and many implemented for cutting down on the number of delivered spam messages. Various arrangements have been proposed for analyzing messages prior to delivering them. According to one arrangement, if the calling party is not one of a pre-selected group specified by the called party, the message is blocked. Spam messages can also be intercepted by permitting a called party to specify that no messages destined for more than N destinations are to be delivered.
A called party can refuse to publicize his/her telephone number or e-mail address. In addition to the obvious disadvantages of not allowing callers to look up the telephone number or e-mail address of the called party, such arrangements are likely to be ineffective. An unlisted e-mail address can be detected by a sophisticated hacker from the IP network, for example, by monitoring message headers at a router. An unlisted called number simply invites the caller to send messages to all 10,000 telephone numbers of an office code; as mentioned above, this is very easy with present arrangements for sending messages to a plurality of destinations.
Special spam detection problems occur in calls between different, referred to in the industry as foreign, networks, i.e., calls between networks served by different carriers. Such calls are very frequent since there are at least two giant cellular carriers in the United States—Cingular and Verizon. This necessitates having to go between different networks for a large portion of the traffic. This complicates the spam detection problem because each network has access only to its own database.
The prevalence of spam from foreign networks can also be indicated by the estimate of Chinese engineers that in China 80–90% of spam messages for short message service are sent from foreign networks. Thus, control of spam messages from foreign networks is a major objective of a good spam control system.


The present invention provides the compounds of formula I-A

Protein tyrosine kinases (PTKs) catalyze the phosphorylation of tyrosyl residues in various proteins involved in the regulation of cell growth and differentiation (Wilks et al., Progress in Growth Factor Research 97 (1990) 2; Chan, A. C., and Shaw, A. S., Curr. Opin. Immunol. 8 (1996) 394–401). Such PTKs can be divided into receptor tyrosine kinases (e.g. EGFR/HER-1, c-erB2/HER-2, c-met, PDGFr, FGFr) and non-receptor tyrosine kinases (e.g. src, lck). It is known that many oncogenes encode proteins which are aberrant tyrosine kinases capable of causing cell transformation (Yarden, Y., and Ullrich, A., Annu. Rev. Biochem. 57 (1988) 443–478; Larsen et al., Ann. Reports in Med. Chem., 1989, Chpt. 13). Also over-expression of a normal proto-oncogenic tyrosine kinase may result in proliferative disorders.
It is known that receptor tyrosine kinases of the HER-family like HER-2 and EGFR (HER-1) are frequently aberrantly expressed in common human cancers such as breast cancer, gastrointestinal cancer such as colon, rectal or stomach cancer, leukemia and ovarian, bronchial and pancreatic cancer. High levels of these receptors correlate with poor prognosis and response to treatment (Wright, C., et al., Br. J. Cancer 65 (1992) 118–121).
Accordingly, it has been recognized that inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinases are useful as selective inhibitors of the growth of mammalian cancer cells. Therefore several small molecule compounds as well as monoclonal antibodies are in clinical trials for the treatment of various types of cancer (Baselga, J., and Hammond, L. A., Oncology 63 (Suppl. 1) (2002) 6–16; Ranson, M., and Sliwkowski, M. X., Oncology 63 (Suppl. 1) (2002) 17–24).
Some substituted oxazoles are known in the art. WO 98/03505, EP 1 270 571, WO 01/77107, WO 03/031442 and WO 03/059907 disclose related heterocyclic compounds as—tyrosine kinase inhibitors.
However there remains a need for new compounds with improved therapeutic properties, such as enhanced activity, higher metabolic stability and improved pharmacokinetic properties to name only a few.

Abstract: their pharmaceutically acceptable salts or esters, enantiomeric forms, diastereoisomers and racemates, the preparation of the above-mentioned compounds, pharmaceutical compositions containing them and their manufacture, as well as the use of the above-mentioned compounds in the control or prevention of illnesses such as cancer.


The present invention relates to a train control device. The train control device sets an emergency brake pattern and a regular brake pattern as patterns of maximum speed according to the distance to a stopping point, and outputs a braking command when the train speed exceeds the maximum speed. Then, when the maximum speed defined in the regular brake pattern falls below a set speed, the maximum speed of the regular brake pattern is kept constant for a predetermined distance. After that, the maximum speed is gradually reduced toward a stopping point of the emergency brake pattern. This allows a train to make an approach to a fixed stopping position in an automatic train operation even when the fixed stopping position is located farther than a stopping point of the regular brake pattern, and excessive output of an emergency braking command based on the emergency brake pattern can be reduced.

1. Field
The present invention relates to a train control device that sets a pattern of maximum speed according to a distance to a stopping point, and outputs a braking command when the speed of a train exceeds the maximum speed.
2. Description of Background
Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2002-315115 discloses a train control device that sets two kinds of brake patterns, an emergency brake pattern and a regular brake pattern, as maximum speed patterns according to the distances to stopping points, and sets the stopping point of the regular brake pattern nearer than the stopping point of the emergency brake pattern.
Suppose that the stopping point of the regular brake pattern and the stopping point of the emergency brake pattern are located at the same position or positions close to each other. In this case, if the train speed exceeds the maximum speed of the regular brake pattern in a low-speed range near the stopping points, the probability that the train speed will exceed the maximum speed of the emergency brake pattern becomes high due to a response delay in reducing the train speed through the regular braking, and hence the emergency braking, under which the brake is not released until the train comes to a complete stop, will be being put to use with high frequency.
Suppose on the other hand that the stopping point of the regular brake pattern is set nearer than and away from the stopping point of the emergency brake pattern. In this case, even when the train speed exceeds the maximum speed of the regular brake pattern, the probability that the train speed will exceed the maximum speed of the emergency brake pattern can be reduced.
However, when a fixed stopping position (a ground coil P0 placed in a position opposite to an on-board coil when the train is at a stop) in an automatic train operation is located between the stopping point of the regular brake pattern and the stopping point of the emergency brake pattern, since the stopping point of the regular brake pattern comes nearer than the fixed stopping position, the train cannot make an approach to the fixed stopping position.


A recording medium, a method and an apparatus for managing text data and main data are provided. The method includes recording text data in a text data file separate from a file containing main data associated with the text data, recording navigation information that links the main data and the text data, and recording, in the text data file, attribute information associated with the text data.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data managing method that records lyrics associated with recorded audio data in a file separated from audio data management information called RTR_AMG (Real Time Record Audio Management) allocated in a rewritable recording medium, and that searches for a lyric unit written in the separate file prior to reproducing the recorded audio data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk-type recording medium such as a Compact Disk (CD) can store high-quality digital audio data permanently, so that it is very popular recording medium in these days.
Recently, a Digital Versatile Disk (called 'DVD' hereinafter) has been developed as a new disk-type recording medium. A DVD can store much larger size than a CD, that is, high-quality moving pictures or audio data are recorded in a DVD for much longer time. Therefore, a DVD will be used widely in the near future.
There are three types in a DVD, DVD-ROM for read-only, DVD-R for write-once, and DVD-RAM or DVD-RW for rewritable. For a rewritable DVD, the standardization of data writing format is in progress.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an optical disk device that records/reproduces audio data to/from a recording medium.
The disk device configured as FIG. 1 comprises an optical pickup 11 reading signals recorded in a rewritable DVD 10 such as a DVD-RW and writing data streams processed into writable signals onto the rewritable DVD 10; a reproduced signal processor 12 restoring the read signals into compressed digital data; a decoder 13 decoding the compressed digital data to original data; a sampler 18 digitizing an inputted analog signal at a preset sampling rate; an encoder 17 encoding the digitized LPCM data into MPEG-, or AC3-formatted data; a writing processor 16 converting the encoded data from the encoder 17 or LPCM data from the sampler 18 into signals suitable to be written; a controller 14 controlling all elements to conduct user's command such as playback or record; and a memory 15 for storing data temporally.
If an analog signal is applied to the disk device of FIG. 1, the sampler 18 samples the analog signal at the preset sampling rate. Each sampled signal, which is LPCM data, is applied to the encoder 17 that encodes a block of sampled data into compressed data of pre-specified format, for example, MPEG format. The compressed data are then applied to the writing processor 16.
The writing processor 16 converts a series of the compressed data into binary signals which are written in mark/space patterns on the writable DVD 10. Already-compressed digital data from outside are directly processed by the writing processor 16 to be written onto the writable DVD 10.
After recording of audio data, navigation data for them are created and then recorded the writable DVD 10.
FIG. 2 shows the structure of RTR_AMG (Real Time Record Audio ManaGement) recorded as navigation data on a rewritable disk. The RTR_AMG includes RTR_AMGI (RTR Audio Manager General Information), AUDFIT (AUDio File Information Table), ASVFIT (Audio Still Video File Information Table), ORG_PGCI (ORiGinal PGC (ProGram Chain) Information), UD_PGCIT (User Defined PGC Information Table), TXTDT_MG (TeXT DaTa ManaGer), and MNFIT (MaNufacturer's Information Table).
The TXTDT_MG can include lyrics of recorded songs. Therefore, when the controller 14 selects and reproduces a recorded song from the rewritable disk 10, it is able to present lyric text in characters on a screen by reading it from the TXTDT_MG.
Consequently, when a user selects a recorded song to play back from the rewritable DVD 10, he or she is able to view its lyric on a screen.
By the way, the size of RTR_AMG including the TXTDT_MG may be restricted below a certain limit, e.g., 512 KBytes for the purpose of saving resources of a disk player. Furthermore, because an MP3 audio file, which is relatively small in size by lossy coding, is about 2˜4 Mbytes in size, a DVD-RW of about 4.7 GBytes in storage capacity is able to store more than about 1,000 MP3 audio files. Thus, if all lyrics of such many recorded MP3 audio files were written in the TXTDT_MG, the size of RTR_AMG including TXTDT_MG would exceed by far the size limitation.

Method of managing lyric data of audio data recorded on a rewritable recording medium


A semiconductor memory device includes a memory cell unit, word lines, a driver circuit, and a voltage generator. The memory cell unit includes a plurality of memory cells connected in series. Each of the memory cells includes a charge accumulation layer and a control gate. The word lines are connected to the control gate. The driver circuit selects one of the word lines and applies voltages to a selected word line and unselected word lines. The voltage generator includes first and second charge pump circuits and outputs a voltage generated by the first and second charge pump circuits to the driver circuit. The first charge pump circuit is exclusively used to generate a voltage for a first word line. The first word line is one of the unselected word lines located adjacent to the selected word line.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device. For example, the present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device comprising memory cells each having a charge accumulation layer and a control gate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Electrically erasable and programmable ROMs (EEPROMS) are known as nonvolatile semiconductor memories that allow data to be electrically rewritten. NAND flash memories are known as EEPROMs for which the capacity and integration degree can be increased.
An increasing number of voltage types have been required for the recent NAND flash memories which have reduced sizes and use multi-level data. For example, when data is written, plural types of voltages need to be applied to unselected word lines. A configuration using a plurality of voltages is described in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,088,620.
However, an increase in the number of voltage types or in the number of variations in a load on a charge pump circuit that generates voltages increases the number of charge pump circuits and the number of charge pump circuit types. This also makes it difficult to control the charge pump circuit.

Semiconductor memory device which includes memory cell having charge accumulation layer and control gate


Disclosed herein are corrosion-resistant composites. In particular, the composites can include a piezoelectric material embedded within a binding medium that can impede or inhibit the corrosive effects caused by salts and acids. Also disclosed herein are methods of making the composites and methods of protecting a concrete or concrete-related substrate from corrosion.

There has been a growing demand to improve the durability of concrete structures in the fields of civil engineering or construction. Concrete structures in coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to deterioration caused by salt damage. For example, chloride ions can neutralize a concrete material, which causes embrittlement and cracking. The chlorine ions may eventually reach internal reinforcing steel bars in the concrete structure and erode passive films on the reinforcing bars. This can cause the reinforcing bars to corrode and the concrete structure may ultimately fail. Various methods have been developed for protecting the reinforcing steel bars in concrete structure, including patching and setting up a moisture proof barrier. However, concrete patching can accelerate corrosion to adjacent reinforcing steel bars in the non-patching region, and the effectiveness of the protective layer can be reduced by friction and cracking. There is a need for effectively protecting concrete structures from corrosion caused by salts or acids.