The tread surface of a tire according to the present invention is molded with a tire mold having a tread molding surface, and at least a portion of the tread molding surface is formed by projecting spherical projection material having a predetermined sphericity and causing the spherical projection material to collide.

In the past, a variety of approaches have been taken with winter tires in order to improve on-ice performance and on-snow performance.
For example, JP2002-192914A (PTL 1) proposes a technique for providing a plurality of sipes on each block formed in the tread portion in order to increase the edge component in the tire ground contact area while also improving snow-biting and improving driving performance of the tire on icy and snowy roads (frozen roads and roads with accumulated snow).
On the other hand, JP11-301217A (PTL 2), for example, proposes a technique for a tire having tread rubber with a so-called cap and base structure formed by cap rubber and base rubber. By using foam rubber as the cap rubber, this technique greatly improves water drainage and improves on-ice performance and on-snow performance.
Furthermore, JP2009-067378A (PTL 3), for example, proposes a technique related to surface properties of a tread portion 1 of a tire, as illustrated in FIG. 1A. This technique improves on-ice performance and on-snow performance of the tire by providing protrusions 2 with a pointed edge on the surface of the tread portion in order to increase the surface roughness and increase the frictional force between the tire surface and the road surface.

Tire mold, tire, and tire manufacturing method


A radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) is reconfigured to operate in a low power mode from a high power mode. The RF PA has a first RF amplifier is connected to the first and second inputs of a first transformation network. The RF PA has a second a second RF amplifier connected to a second transformation network. During high power mode, both RF amplifiers drive a load coupled to the transformation networks. In low power mode the first RF amplifier is disabled and the first and second inputs of the first transformation are coupled together so as to change the load impedance seen by the second RF amplifier. The second RF amplifier continues to supply power to the load during operation in the low power mode.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention relate to power amplifiers and more particularly to reconfiguration of power amplifiers for operation in different power modes.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1a shows an example of a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA) known in the art. The RF PA shown in FIG. 1a has a gain stage, 11, followed by a matching network 13. Output node 10 is coupled to the load, symbolically presented as resistor 7, typically 50 ohms. The matching network 13 plays the role of an impedance transformation network, which converts the relatively high load impedance (e.g. 50 Ohms) into a lower impedance (e.g. 5 ohms) as seen by the output 8 of the final PA stage 11. The lower impedance reduces the maximum voltage swing present at node 8 necessary for injecting the needed maximum output power into the load 7. The matching network exemplified in FIG. 1 consists of the inductor 4 and capacitor 5, which, together with load inductor 3, form a tuned transformation circuit. Capacitor 6 blocks the DC voltage present at node 9 from reaching the load 7. The RF amplifier stage 11 receives its input on node 1.
The RF PA stage 11 consists of active device, MOSFET 2, connected in a common-source configuration, and inductor 3, connected between node 8 and power supply Vdd. The current through transistor 2 is controlled by the voltage difference between the gate terminal, connected to input node 1, and the source terminal, connected to ground. The drain of transistor 2 is connected to node 8. The voltage signal at node 8 is substantially in phase opposition to the voltage signal on the gate node 1 as a direct consequence of the common-source configuration of transistor 2. Inductor 3 plays two roles: it supplies the DC power to the active device 2 and it completes the resonant transformation network in conjunction with block 13.
The operation of the PA presented in FIG. 1a is qualitatively illustrated by the waveforms in FIG. 1b. The PA stage 11 receives on node 1 the sinusoidal voltage waveform shown in the top graph. As a result, the current traversing the active element MOSFET 2 from drain to source will present a waveform substantially in phase to the waveform on node 1, exemplified in the middle graph of FIG. 1b. The voltage on node 8 will present a waveform substantially in phase opposition to the waveform on node 1, exemplified in the bottom graph of FIG. 1b.
The electrical power absorbed from the power supply connected to Vdd is dissipated in only two devices shown in FIG. 1a: load resistor 7 and MOSFET 2. The power dissipated in load resistor 7 represents the useful generated power that the RF PA produces and is the sole purpose of the PA. The power dissipated on the active device 2 is generally wasted as heat and brings no benefits to the PA. Thus, the efficiency of the PA, defined as the ratio of useful power to the total power absorbed from the supply, is greater if the amount of power dissipated on the active device 2 is smaller.
The PA of FIG. 1a can generate an arbitrary output RF power up to a maximum output power by means of controlling the amplitude of the voltage waveform at the input node 1. When the voltage on input node 1 changes, the amplitude of PA output 8 changes and power generated in PA load 7 changes. Maximum output power is limited by the maximum voltage amplitude achievable at node 8.
The graph presented in FIG. 2, curve 1 shows the typical relationship between the PA efficiency and the output power generated by the PA. This relationship is described as the smaller the output power, the lower the efficiency and is further explained below.
With respect to FIG. 1a, the average voltage between the drain and the source of the MOSFET 2 is always constant and equal to VDD. The RF voltage swing across the device periodically reduces and enhances the drain to source voltage. Due to the substantial phase opposition between the current waveform traversing MOSFET 2 from drain to source and the voltage waveform between the drain and source, the power dissipated as heat by MOSFET 2 is greater when the amplitude of the voltage waveform between the drain node 8 and the ground node is smaller. When the input of the PA stage is driven such that it generates a smaller output power, the amplitude of the voltage waveform at node 8 is smaller, increasing the power dissipated by the MOSFET 2. Thus, the smaller the output power, the lower the efficiency.
A PA that supports operation on two different power curves such as those shown in FIG. 2 is said to be operating in high power mode when on curve 1 and is said to be operating in low power mode when on curve 2. Some PAs may also offer more than 2 power modes. For example a PA that provides 3 power curves is said to operate in high, mid, and low power modes depending on which curve it is on. For simplicity the following discussion assumes only two power modes are present. However, it should be understood that the embodiments described below could be modified to add additional power modes.
FIG. 3a shows an embodiment of a PA stage of the prior art. It comprises gain stage 15 and transformation network 16. Resistor 10, connected between node 14 and ground, is the single-ended PA load. Gain stage 15 comprises a pair of complementary MOSFET devices, pFET 3 and nFET 4. The complementary MOS devices 3 and 4 are employed in common-source configuration, where their sources are connected to two power supply nodes, Vdd and ground, respectively, while their drains are connected to nodes 11 and 12, respectively. Inductor 5 connects node 11 and node 12 together and has two functions: allows for the flow of DC current between the two complementary devices and resonates with the capacitive component of the load impedance presented by the transformation network 16 and with parasitics to power and ground on nodes 11 and 12. The gates 1 and 2 of the complementary devices 3 and 4 are the inputs of the gain stage. Even though the PA in FIG. 3a resembles a push-pull amplifier topologically, it is fundamentally different in that the inputs 1 and 2 are driven by signals with waveform in phase opposition, as shown in the bottom graph of FIG. 3b. It is said that the inputs 1 and 2 of the gain stage form a differential node pair. The output nodes of the gain stage, 11 and 12, present voltage waveforms that are also substantially in phase opposition, as depicted in the top graph of FIG. 3b. Nodes 11 and 12 also form a differential node pair.
The gain stage 15 can operate either in nonlinear or linear modes. In nonlinear operation the inputs 1 and 2 are driven hard and the outputs 11 and 12 have voltage swings that are independent of the input amplitude. In linear operation the inputs 1 and 2 are driven with small signals and the outputs 11 and 12 have voltage swings that are proportional to their inputs. In the event that the PA is in linear operation a smaller output power is the result of smaller swings at nodes 11 and 12. Maximum output power is limited by the maximum differential voltage amplitude achievable at differential nodes 11 and 12. The gain stage described above will be, hereafter, referred to as the Class P amplifier stage.
The prior art transformation network 16 of FIG. 3a comprises the impedance elements inductor 6 and capacitors 7, 8, and 9. The values of inductor 6 and capacitor 7 can be chosen to transform the value of the PA single-ended load resistance, 10, (e.g. 50 Ohm) into a desired differential impedance between nodes 11 and 12 (e.g. 5 Ohms). Inductor 6 and capacitor 7 in the configuration of FIG. 3a, simultaneously perform the functions of impedance transformation and differential-to-single-ended conversion. Capacitor 8 controls the reactive nature of the impedance seen by the gain stage at node 11 as it is presented by the transformation network. Capacitor 9 is employed as a DC blocking element and can be chosen to have a very large value so as to not significantly influence the behavior of the transformation network.
In a manner substantially analogous to the behavior of the PA gain stage 11 of FIG. 1a, the gain stage 15 of FIG. 3a presents drain node voltages, differential nodes 11 and 12, exhibiting a substantially constant DC voltage irrespective of the output power generated by the PA. The relationship between efficiency and output power for the amplifier of FIG. 3a is also characterized by curve 1 of FIG. 2.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Reconfigurable power amplifier for improved low-power efficiency


A fixture for functional testing of an assembled wireless device, the wireless device having a data port and a removable casing concealing a battery cavity having battery contacts, the fixture comprising: a base having an opening formed therein for receiving a retainer, the retainer being rotatably mounted in the opening for rotating from a first position to a second position, the retainer for receiving the wireless device with the removable casing removed while in the first position; a connector mounted in the retainer for engaging the data port of the wireless device when the wireless device is received by the retainer in the first position; and, a battery emulator insert rotatably mounted on the base, the battery emulator insert having power contacts for engaging the battery contacts in the battery cavity of the wireless device when the retainer is rotated to the second position.

Current wireless mobile communication devices include microprocessors, memory, soundcards, and run one or more software applications. Examples of software applications used in these wireless devices include micro-browsers, address books, email clients, and wavetable instruments. Additionally, wireless devices have access to plurality of services via the Internet. A wireless device may, for example, be used to browse web sites on the Internet, to transmit and receive graphics, and to execute streaming audio and/or video applications.
Wireless devices are typically fully tested before being shipped from a manufacturer's factory. This is especially important for the newer generations of wireless devices which have increased functionality as described above.
Once a wireless device is assembled in full plastics, it typically progresses through various test stages to test the function of each of its components. These test stages may include the following: manual testing (e.g., keyboard, buttons, the functions initiated by each, etc.), radio frequency ("RF") testing, electrical and software tests (e.g., charger, vibrator, software applications, display, etc.), audio testing (e.g. internal microphone, internal speaker, buzzer, etc.), environmental testing, etc.
With respect to manual testing, connecting wireless devices to test equipment often requires the use of bulky external fixturing (e.g., "bulls-eye") that may not only hinder access to and portability of the device under test ("DUT"), but may also require the partial disassembly of the DUT which in turn may compromise the integrity of the DUT.
A need therefore exists for the efficient functional testing of assembled wireless devices. Accordingly, a solution that addresses, at least in part, the above and other shortcomings is desired.

fixture for manual functional testing of wireless devices


An arc fault detector turns on an electronic switch connecting a power distribution cable to ground thereby actuating a cable limiter to isolate the power distribution cable in response to an arc fault even though the arc fault itself does not create a low enough impedance fault to actuate the cable limiter directly. The electronic switch can be a sacrificial low cost silicon controlled rectifier which is destroyed by the ground fault it creates as long as the let-through current of the cable limiter is below the explosion current of the SCR. A single arc fault detector and SCR which fails as a short circuit can be used to actuate cable limiters at both ends of a short power distribution cable fed at both ends, or preferably separate protection can be provided adjacent both cable limiters.

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention relates to protecting cables in electric power distribution networks, and particularly networks in which the cables are protected by cable limiters which, by themselves, are insensitive to arcing faults. Specifically, it relates to sacrificial arc fault circuitry which generates a deliberate ground fault to actuate the cable limiters.

Apparatus providing response to arc faults in a power distribution cable protected by cable limiters


A surface relief grating (SRG) image machining process and/or product. For the SRG image machining process a material and a cutting tool are provided. The material is contacted by the cutting tool to a predetermined depth. The cutting tool is rotated to cut the material at a predetermined rotational speed. The cutting tool is moved to cut the material at a predetermined travel speed. A SRG image effect is produced in the material through the contacting, rotating, and moving steps. A product with a SRG image effect has a surface with rotational cuts effected therein to create the SRG image effect. The SRG image has an effect based on a rotational speed of a cutting tool effecting the cuts, a travel speed of a cutting tool effecting the cuts, and a depth of the cuts. A light source can be used to emit light on the surface of the product.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to images formed by particular arrangements of reflective surface relief diffraction gratings and, more particularly to a surface relief grating image effect machining process and/or product.
2. Description of Related Art
Holographic images are three-dimensional images visible from an oblique angle. They appear to float in space and can change perspective. Numerous techniques for producing products with holographic images are known in the art. For example, a layer of plastic can be passed through a machine which imparts an image within the covering or upper strata of the plastic layer. A powdered metallic constituent or component is then applied thereon by a metalizing process. After metalizing, a holographic or three-dimensional image is imparted on the metalized layer of plastic. Such a holographic image is widely used within the credit card and security industries since the resulting image is difficult to duplicate and thus assists in the prevention of fraud by counterfeiting, for example.
Another example involves laminating the holographic image to a polymeric support by contacting the holographic image on the polymeric support to a substrate such as tissue paper or foil via an adhesive, and delaminating the polymeric support, thereby transferring the holographic image from the polymeric support to the tissue paper or foil substrate. The image cannot be directly applied to a substrate having a rough surface because the rough surface of the substrate will refract light and will not have a highly reflective finish, thereby disrupting the holographic image.
Currently, no processes are available which produce holographic images on the surface of a material by cutting material out of the surface of the material. As such, a need exists for a holographic image machining process and/or product.

Surface relief grating image machining process and product


In an image signal coding and decoding method in which feature points in an image signal are detected and information concerned with sets of continuous feature points is chain-coded, the quantity of information is reduced without deterioration of image quality. An image signal coding and decoding method in which components of a direction displacement between the direction of transition from a feature point two feature points before a current feature point to a preceding feature point and the direction of transition from the preceding feature point to the current feature point are detected and subjected to entropy coding. By this method, coding can be performed which uses stochastic correlation between the direction of transition from the feature point two feature points before the current feature point to the preceding feature point and the direction of transition from the preceding feature point to the current feature, so that the number of direction codes expressing the positions of respective feature points can be reduced, and therefore the quantity of information can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an image signal coding and decoding method, and more particularly is applicable to the case where feature points in an image are detected to thereby encode an image signal with high efficiency.
2. Description of the Related Art
Heretofore, as a method of encoding an image signal with high efficiency, there has been used a method in which an input image is orthogonally transformed by means of DCT (Discrete Cosine Transform) to thereby perform adaptive quantization corresponding to human visual characteristic for each frequency band, or a method in which an image is divided into bands by wavelet bases to thereby perform weighting for each band before encoding of the image. According to those methods, a high compression ratio can be obtained without distortion made prominent visually.
However, if the compression ratio is made higher, those methods have a disadvantage in that visually undesirable effects such as block distortion, and so on, are revealed. For this reason, as a coding method which makes such visually undesirable effects (distortion) avoidable even under the high compression rate, there is used a structure extraction coding method using detection of feature points in an image, in which feature points in a structure of an image are extracted to thereby perform efficient coding.
For example, as shown in FIG. 1, a structure extraction encoder 1 for detecting feature points in an image and encoding an image signal makes an input image signal S1 pass through a filter 2 constituted by a smoothing filter or by a wavelet-based band split filter to thereby generate a filter coefficient signal S2 and feed it to a quantizer 3 and to a two-dimensional feature point detecting circuit 4, respectively.
The quantizer 3 quantizes the filter coefficient signal S2 to thereby generate a quantized coefficient signal S3 and feed it to a select multiplexing circuit 5. The two-dimensional feature point detecting circuit 4 detects a feature point on the basis of the filter coefficient signal S2 and feeds a flag as a select signal S4 to the select multiplexing circuit 5 so that the flag has a value "1" when the current signal is detected as the feature point whereas the flag has a value "0" when the current signal is not detected as the feature point.
The select multiplexing circuit 5 multiplexes the quantized coefficient signal S3 at the feature point in the case of the select signal S4 of "1" and the chain-coded coordinates of the feature points and feeds the resulting multiplexed signal as a feature point signal S5 to a variable-length coding circuit 6. The variable-length coding circuit 6 applies entropy coding to the feature point signal S5 and feeds the thus obtained variable-length coded feature point signal S6 to a buffer memory 7. The buffer memory 7 smoothes the quantity of information of the variable-length coded feature point signal S6 and outputs the resulting signal as an output signal S7.
Here, the select multiplexing circuit 5 is configured as shown in FIG. 2. That is, the select multiplexing circuit 5 temporarily stores the select signal S4 in a frame buffer 8 and temporarily stores the quantized coefficient signal S3 in a frame buffer 9.
A chain coding circuit 10 extracts all sets of continuous feature points as chains from one scene by reference to the contents of the frame buffer 8 and outputs information with respect to each chain. For each chain, the coordinates of a starting point of the chain and the number of feature points contained in the chain are expressed at the starting point, and at each of feature points following the starting point are expressed at the feature point, a direction from a preceding feature point to a current feature point is outputted in accordance with codes as shown in FIG. 3 for expressing the coordinates thereof.
A chain code output signal S8 and a corresponding feature point quantized coefficient signal S10 taken out from the frame buffer 9 on the basis of an addressing signal S9 are multiplexed by a multiplexing circuit 11, so that the resulting multiplexed signal is outputted as a feature point signal S5.
That is, the multiplexing circuit 11 receives the chain code output signal S8 expressing the coordinates of a starting point of the chain, the number of feature points contained in the chain and the respective directions of transition of feature points following the starting point of the chain as shown in FIG. 4A and the feature point quantized coefficient signal S10 expressing the quantized coefficients at the respective feature points as shown in FIG. 4B, and multiplexes these signals S8 and S10 to thereby output a feature point signal S5 as shown in FIG. 4C.
The image data encoded by the structure extraction encoder 1 are decoded by a structure extraction decoder 12 as shown in FIG. 5. That is, the structure extraction decoder 12 makes a buffer 13 smooth the quantity of information of the image data signal S7 outputted from the structure extraction encoder 1 and then makes a variable-length decoding circuit 14 perform variable-length decoding to thereby obtain a feature point signal S11, which is fed to a split output circuit 15.
The split output circuit 15 divides the feature point signal S11 into positional information and quantized coefficient information and arranges quantized coefficients in the order of line scanning to thereby feed the quantized coefficients as a signal S12 to an inverse quantizer 16 which follows the split output circuit 15. The inverse quantizer 16 inverse-quantizes the quantized coefficient signal S12 to thereby generate a reconstructed coefficient signal S13 and feed it to an inverse transformation circuit 17. The inverse transformation circuit 17 outputs the reconstructed coefficient signal S13 without any change or applies transformation such as inverse wavelet transformation, or the like, to the reconstructed coefficient signal S13 and then supplies the resulting signal as an output signal S14, for example, to a television monitor, or the like.
Here, the conventional split output circuit 15 is configured as shown in FIG. 6. That is, the split output circuit 15 makes a splitting circuit 18 split the feature point signal S11 to thereby obtain a chain-coded positional information signal S15 and a quantized coefficient signal S16 and feed the two kinds of signals S15 and S16 to a chain decoding circuit 19 and a frame buffer 20, respectively. The chain decoding circuit 19 decodes the chain-coded positional information signal S15 so that the coded coordinates of the starting point of the chain is decoded at the starting point and that the direction of transition from a preceding feature point to a current feature point is decoded at each of feature points following the starting point in accordance with the coding as shown in FIG. 3. The chain decoding circuit 19 calculates the coordinates of the respective feature points on the basis of the decoded directions successively and supplies a feature point addressing signal S17 to the frame buffer 20 on the basis of results of the calculation. The frame buffer 20 stores the quantized coefficient signal S16 in addresses assigned by the addressing signal S17 successively and then outputs the quantized coefficient signal S16 as a split output circuit output S12 in the order of line scanning after processing for one scene is completed.
The aforementioned conventional feature point coding method is designed so that directions of transition which express the positions of feature points are encoded independent of each other only in accordance with the direction of transition from a preceding feature point to a current feature point. As a result, direction codes become redundant when there is some stochastic correlation between the direction of transition from a feature point two feature points before a current feature point to a preceding feature point and the direction of transition from the preceding feature point to the current feature point. There arises a disadvantage in that the codes increase in quantity.
Further, some specific pattern of direction codes of feature points can be replaced by another shorter pattern of direction codes without any visual difference between an image signal decoded from feature points and the original image signal. For example, the patterns which change sharply at pixel level can be hardly perceived actually. Moreover, most of patterns which change sharply at pixel level are caused by noise and should not be encoded normally. In the conventional feature point coding method, however, direction codes expressing the positions of feature points are obtained by equally coding all feature points. As a result, there arises a disadvantage in that direction codes become so redundant as to be increased in quantity correspondingly.
Further, in the conventional feature point coding method, quantized coefficients of feature points must be encoded correspondingly to the feature points. Accordingly, even in the case where quantized coefficients of feature points take the same value continuously, the same coefficient information must be fed repeatedly for the feature points. There arises a disadvantage in that the codes of the feature points contain a large amount of redundant components so as to increase the codes in quantity.

Image signal coding and decoding method and apparatus


A maximum power point tracking controller includes an input port for electrically coupling to an electric power source, an output port for electrically coupling to a load, a control switching device, and a control subsystem. The control switching device is adapted to repeatedly switch between its conductive and non-conductive states to transfer power from the input port to the output port. The control subsystem is adapted to control switching of the control switching device to regulate a voltage across the input port, based at least in part on a signal representing current flowing out of the output port, to maximize a signal representing power out of the output port.

Photovoltaic cells produce a voltage that varies with current, cell operating condition, cell physics, cell defects, and cell illumination. One mathematical model for a photovoltaic cell, as illustrated in FIG. 1, models output current as:
                    I        =                              I            L                    -                                    I              0                                                  {                                                exp                                                        [                                                                  q                                                                          (                                                      V                            +                                                          IR                              S                                                                                )                                                                    nkT                                        ]                                                  -                1                            }                                -                                    V              +                              IR                S                                                    R              SH                                                          EQN        .                                          1            Where
IL=photogenerated current
RS=series resistance
RSH=shunt resistance
I0=reverse saturation current
n=diode ideality factor (1 for an ideal diode)
q=elementary charge
k=Boltzmann's constant
T=absolute temperature
I=output current at cell terminals
V=voltage at cell terminals
For silicon at 25° C., kT/q=0.0259 Volts.
Typical cell output voltages are low and depend on the band gap of the material used to manufacture the cell. Cell output voltages may be merely half a volt for silicon cells, far below the voltage needed to charge batteries or drive most other loads. Because of these low voltages, cells are typically connected together in series to form a module, or an array, having an output voltage much higher than that produced by a single cell.
Real-world photovoltaic cells often have one or more microscopic defects. These cell defects may cause mismatches of series resistance RS, shunt resistance RSH, and photogenerated current IL from cell to cell in a module. Further, cell illumination may vary from cell to cell in a system of photovoltaic cells, and may vary even from cell to cell in a module, for reasons including shadows cast by trees, bird droppings shadowing portions of a cell or module, dust, dirt, and other effects. These mismatches in illumination may vary from day to day and with time of day—a shadow may shift across a module during a day, and rain may wash away dust or dirt shadowing a cell.
From EQN. 1, output voltage is greatest at zero output current, and output voltage V falls off nonlinearly with increasing output current I. FIG. 2 illustrates the effect of increasing current drawn from a photovoltaic device at constant illumination. As current I is increased under constant illumination, voltage V falls off slowly, but as current I is increased to an output current near the photocurrent IL, output voltage V falls off sharply. Similarly, cell power, the product of current and voltage, increases as current I increases, until falling voltage V overcomes the effect of increasing current, whereupon further increases in current I drawn from the cell cause power P to decrease rapidly. For a given illumination, each cell, module, and array of cells and modules therefore has a maximum power point (MPP) representing the voltage and current combination at which output power from the device is maximized. The MPP of a cell, module, or array will change as temperature and illumination, and hence photo-generated current IL, changes. The MPP of a cell, module, or array may also be affected by factors such as shadowing and/or aging of the cell, module, or array.
Maximum Power Point Tracking (MPPT) controllers for operating a photovoltaic cell at or near its maximum power point have been proposed. These controllers typically determine an MPP voltage and current for a photovoltaic device connected to their input, and adjust their effective impedance to maintain the photovoltaic device at the MPP. However, conventional MPPT controllers often have one or more drawbacks. For example, some proposed MPPT controllers may be relatively slow under certain conditions, thereby delaying MPP operation.

Maximum power point tracking controllers and associated systems and methods


A therapeutic product formed from a high concentration of white blood cells having a high degree of cell viability. The white blood cells are sequestered from their normal population presence in whole blood by placing the blood into a container and preventing coagulation of the blood, separating the blood into two components, one of which is extremely rich in white blood cells through the use of a reagent and centrifugation, sequestering the white cell concentration, and freezing the white cells.

The following invention is directed generally to the therapeutic utilization of white blood cells, a technique for sequestering the white blood cells by causing them to coalesce in a population density greater than they normally occur in nature, and a method for causing an enriched concentration in conjunction with an array of bags oriented in a set that facilitates both the concentration process and a method for preserving the white blood cells.
It is now recognized that placenta/umbilical cord blood (PB) contains large numbers of hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells that endow PB with extraordinary therapeutic capabilities in the reconstitution of bone marrow damaged as a result of inherited diseases, accidents or medical procedures. As in the case of ordinary collection of bone marrow for transplantation, PB contains immune cells potentially capable of mounting specific responses against the recipients of such transplants, but in contrast to adult immunological cells, those in PB display a lower, perhaps much lower tendency to produce damaging immune responses against the recipient. The clinical syndrome produced by the immuno responses of the graft against the recipient""s cells and tissues is designated xe2x80x9cGraft versus Host Diseasexe2x80x9d (GVHD). In the typical clinical situation, the recipient""s own immune response against the graft is abrogated by drugs and irradiation treatments designed to reduce or eliminate the immunological and other hematopoietic cells and thus avoid the host versus graft immune reaction that would cause rejection of the graft. It has been proven that the principal targets of these Graft versus Host and Host versus Graft immune reactions are antigens encoded by the genes of the HLA (Human Leukocyte Antigen) system and that successful outcomes of bone marrow transplants are dependent on the sharing of HLA antigens by donor and recipient. Sibling donors who have inherited the same paternal and maternal HLA genes present in the recipient are HLA-identical and thus, optimal from this viewpoint. Patients lacking such HLA-identical sibling donors must receive transplants from more distant relatives or from unrelated donors. Because the HLA system includes several discrete genes each of which displays an extremely large number of antigenically different variants in the population, such distant relative-donor or unrelated-donor transplants must be expected to contain a variable number of HLA incompatibilities unless they are selected from among potential donors by identifying the specific variants present in each and choosing donors whose HLA antigens match those of the recipient. To perform this selection with significant probability of success, it is necessary to have access to large panels of potential donors whose HLA antigens are known. In the case of unrelated donor PB, this requires establishing a bank of frozen HLA-typed units collected from random placentas. Heretofore, the most widely accepted method for freezing PB consisted of adding to the whole PB unit an equal volume of a cryopreservative solution, with the double disadvantage that the volume of. each cryopreserved unit becomes very large and that a relatively large amount of possibly deleterious cryopreservative is eventually administered to the recipients of such PB units. Administration of cryoprotectant and hemoglobin from erythrocytes destroyed by using a freezing and thawing method designed to protect the stem and progenitor cells but not the erythrocytes may have toxic effects generally and especially on specific organs such as the kidney of the recipient. In addition, there is the logistical consequence that a large number of freezers would be needed to contain useful numbers of the large volume frozen units in reserve, with the attending increase in up-front and running costs. The applicants have developed a practical method that allows a substantial reduction of the volume of PB Units by eliminating the unneeded mature red blood cells and an equivalent volume of plasma. This submission describes this method and a specially designed set of plastic bags and connecting tubes intended to facilitate the accomplishment of the desired concentration of the needed stem cells and progenitor cells with minimal manipulation and risk of contamination. Essentially, this method will allow an experimental, time consuming laboratory process to become a routine procedure in blood banks.
The following submission reflects the state of the art of which applicant is aware insofar as these documents appear germane to the patent process. However, it is respectfully stipulated that none of these patents teach singly nor render obvious when considered in any conceivable combination the nexus of the instant invention as set forth hereinafter.
Pablo Rubinstein, Richard E. Rosenfield, John W. Adamson and Cladd E. Stevens (The Lindsley F. Kimball Research Institute of The New York Blood Center); Stored Placental Blood for Unrelated Bone Marrow Reconstitution; May, 1993; entire paper.
The therapeutic product of the present invention is advantageous, first, because it recovers all or almost all of the stem and progenitor cells of the original collection of PB in a small and uniform volume that requires minimal and predictable storage space, second, because it permits a consistent methodology for processing PB units which results in a routinely dependable product with less dependence on operator skill and third, because the potentially deleterious effects of the cryoprotectant and of the free hemoglobin are minimized.
One first aspect to the nature of the product improved according to the present invention involves the methodology by which the white blood cells (which include the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells) are separated from the bulk of other components in the whole PB and the manner in which the viability of such white cells is preserved by avoiding exposure to bacterial and fungal contamination, potentially damaging chemical agents, excessive centrifugal forces and osmotic imbalances. Typically, bacterial and/or fungal contamination occurs when PB or white blood cell suspensions derived from PB are exposed to ambient air in the course of preparatory manipulations; chemical damage is possible when certain chemicals are used to lyse the accompanying red blood cells or to aggregate white cells; and physical damage follows the use of excessive centrifugal speed in separation of the cellular components of the blood according to their density, by centrifugal stratification. In addition, the method according to the present invention provides for avoidance of prolonged exposure of the separated white blood cells to cryopreservation solutions at room temperature, an exposure that results in decreased viability of the white blood cells and of the stem and progenitor cells contained therein because of osmotic imbalances and, possibly, other toxic effects of the intracellular cryoprotectants themselves.
Another aspect of the present invention involves the set of interconnected plastic containers (designated as bags). The set under the present invention permits a selective concentration of the white blood cells and of the stem and progenitor cells contained therein without reducing their normally high viability and freedom from contamination by infectious organisms from the environment. Whole PB is collected into a mother bag and is subsequently processed through a series of bags of appropriate chemical structure and physical shape and capacity culminating in storage of a separated fraction containing most of the white blood cells of the collected PB in liquid nitrogen at xe2x88x92196 C inside a specially constructed freezer bag. Intervening steps include the addition of substances that enhance the aggregability of red blood cells and the separation of components by transferring supernatants into connected satellite bags. A special bag and its connecting assembly permits the addition of measured amounts of cryoprotectant to the separated white blood cell concentrate. This connecting assembly allows the cryoprotectant to be added to the white cells at a precise, slow speed required to maintain optimal cell viability.
The bag which is to be used for freezing and storage includes a plurality of connected, but detachable, compartments for sequestration of the white blood cells into different discrete chambers. One chamber, the main compartment, is intended to keep the bulk of the white blood cells. A smaller compartment lends itself to the storage of a smaller fraction of the bag contents which may be separated from the main compartment without thawing, and extemporaneously detached from it for separate thawing and subsequent in vitro expansion of the hematopoietic stem and progenitor cell populations contained in the corresponding fraction of the white blood cells. A third and subsequent chamber contains very small aliquots of the white blood cell suspension that are intended to serve as detachable samples for testing the aptness of the unit to be transplanted or assessing its suitability as donor tissue for a specific recipient. The freezing bag also includes indicia on the outer surface of each of its detachable areas for identification of the specific unit that will be stored in it, to facilitate storage and retrieval from designated sectors of cryogenic storage depots. Means are also provided in an exterior surface of the freezer bag to facilitate the placing and removing of the freezer bag into and from, respectively, its assigned storage location by automated instrumentation.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide the means for preparing PB derived hematopoietic stem and progenitor cells in a novel and therapeutically more useful form. The product becomes a bag containing a high concentration of white blood cells having a high degree of cell viability.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a novel and useful method for generating the therapeutic product according to the previous object.
A further object of the present invention is to provide an aseptic and interconnected bag set for use in conjunction with the method of developing the therapeutic product hereinabove.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a freezer storage bag configured to contain the therapeutic dose in a cryoprotected environment for protracted periods of time until needed for dosage.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a freezer bag as noted above provided with a plurality of compartments in which the therapeutic dose has been sequestered so that various aliquots can be strategically excised from the freezer bag for several purposes.
Viewed from a first vantage point, it is an object of the present invention to provide a system for developing placental stem cells, comprising in combination: a first blood bag adapted to receive blood from a placenta therewithin, means within the blood bag to prevent coagulation, reagent means removably coupled to the blood bag, means for separating supernatant from the first blood bag and into a white cell bag, means for separating white cells from plasma in the white cell bag, a plasma bag removably coupled to the white cell bag for receiving the expressed plasma from the white cell bag, cryoprotectant means operatively coupled to the white cell bag, and a stem cell freezing bag operatively coupled to the white cell bag for transferring contents from the white cell bag to the stem cell freezing bag.
Viewed from a second vantage point, it is an object of the present invention to provide a method for preparing concentrated and partially purified white blood cell suspensions containing placental stem cells, comprising the steps of: placing blood from a placenta into a first blood bag, preventing coagulation within the blood bag, coupling reagent means into the blood bag, centrifuging and separating white blood cell rich supernatant from the first blood bag and placing the supernatant into a white cell bag, separating white cells from plasma in the white cell bag, removably coupling a plasma bag to the white cell bag and expressing the plasma from the white cell bag into the plasma bag. Coupling cryoprotectant means to the white cell bag, transferring contents from the white cell bag to a stem cell freezing bag, and freezing the stem cell freezing bag with its contents follows.
Viewed from a third vantage point, it is an object of the present invention to provide a therapeutic product comprising at least 80% of the white blood cells (including stem and progenitor cells) with viability greater than 90% and fewer than 10% of the red blood cells in the original PB collection.
These and other objects will be made manifest when considering the following detailed specification when taken in conjunction with the appended drawing figures.


An appliance door particularly suited for use as a refrigerator or freezer door includes a hollow, blow molded door slab, and a food storage shell or casing projecting from one wall of the slab. The parts forming the shell are prepared in a first step, e.g., by blow molding, and then are removably mounted as inserts in registering recesses formed in the bottom of the cavity of one of two plates or sections forming the mold for the door slab. The two mold sections are then closed over a tubular, plastic parison which is then inflated to form in the mold the hollow door slab, portions of one wall of which mold over and around a series of male projections which extend into the mold cavity from the mold inserts, thus causing the shell to be molded to and to project from the slab upon subsequent opening of the mold sections and removal of the slab therefrom. Additional mold inserts may be used to create expansion grooves in the slab wall which supports the shell, and the opposite or outer wall of the slab may be curved to reduce undesirable effects of thermal bow.

This invention relates to improved appliance doors and panels, and more particularly to an improved method of manufacturing such doors and panels. Even more particularly this invention relates to a two-step manufacturing procedure for producing a blow molded plastic refrigerator door assembly that is specially designed to reduce the impact thereon of thermal bow.
As used hereinafter, thermal bow refers to that characteristic common to most of the plastic articles referred to herein--i.e., the tendency of plastic to move away from cold and toward heat. A refrigerator/freezer presents an extreme temperature difference of 60.degree. to 90.degree. F. from inside to outside, and within approximately two inches of distance. In a horizontal plane, where gravity is a contributor, a minimal temperature deviant will exhibit the bow condition. Previous attempts to create a plastic solution have not succeeded in managing the thermal bow characteristics. In normal conditions a plastic refrigerator door would distort outwardly, overcoming formed structural details intended to stiffen the part. Several features integrated into the new design methodology described below are believed to manage the thermal bow condition.
The conventional method of constructing refrigerator doors includes providing a stamped and formed metal shell (exterior door panel) which is adjoined to a vacuum formed plastic shell (interior door panel), either by enclosing the perimeter of the plastic shell with formed flanges on the metal shell, or by a plurality of retaining strips and screws. A gasket may also be attached to the interior shell by means of the same retaining strips and screws. Then, according to the former, a foaming agent that solidifies to become a rigid insulating material may be blown in-between the interior and exterior shells, or according to the latter, a rigid foam insulation may be inserted therebetween prior to their connection to provide additional structural support. Finally, the door handle and other decorative features are attached to the exterior shell, and pivot pin bushings are inserted into the four corners on the top and bottom ends of the exterior shell to allow reversible hanging of the door on a refrigerator. The metal shell, due to its rigidity and conductivity, does not visually exhibit the characteristic of thermal bow. There are, however, several problems using conventional refrigerator door design details for a plastics solution such as, first, the lack of structural and design features fully effectively to manage the thermal effects resulting from the internal/external temperature difference; second, the use of rigid insulation results in a direct transfer of thermal effects from the interior surface to the exterior surface; and third, the number of steps required to assemble the door.
Extrusion blow molding using special plastic resins, such as Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (ABS), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyphenylene Oxide (PPO) and Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), is a manufacturing process which is characterized by the extrusion of a tubular, molten plastic parison between opposing mold plates prior to their closure. Once the mold plates are closed the force of air introduced by a blow pin into the center of the captured parison causes the molten plastic to expand and to conform to the mold cavities and to any incongruities or inserts projecting from the confronting internal faces thereof. Efforts to use a one-step blow molding process for refrigerator or freezer door manufacture have previously been unsuccessful due to the failure of such doors adequately to manage the above-noted thermal bow problems, and material distribution problems caused by disproportionate blow ratio conditions on opposing sides of the pinch line.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide a two-step manufacturing process and design details for the construction of an appliance door, the structural integrity of which resists the effects of thermal bow.
Another object of this invention is to provide an improved, hollow refrigerator or freezer door containing insulation types alternative to rigid foam, which enhance structural considerations and thermal bow management of such doors.
Another object of this invention is to provide a refrigerator door, the construction of which utilizes more efficient manufacturing procedures and allows for improved quality, thereby rendering such refrigerator doors more economical to produce.
Another object of this invention is to illustrate that a simplified mold design for appliance doors is possible without the need for inclusion of sophisticated slide or cam action, thereby reducing initial and on-going production costs.
Yet another object of this invention is to provide a novel refrigerator door and manufacturing method therefor which permits product line distinction, design options and model changes to be effected on a selective basis without the need for total retooling.
Other objects of this invention will become apparent hereinafter from the specification and the recital of the appended claims, particularly when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A novel and improved polishing apparatus is disclosed which employs ice particles as an abrasive material, the hardness of which can be changed so as to match that of an article being polished for performing polishing operation in a most efficient manner without impairing or marring the polished surface of the article. To this end, the polishing apparatus includes a freezing vessel defining therein an ice particle producing chamber, a coolant supply nozzle mounted on the freezing vessel and connected with a coolant source through a coolant supply line for spraying a coolant into the ice particle producing chamber to form a freezing atmosphere, a liquid supply nozzle mounted on the freezing vessel and connected with a liquid supply for spraying a liquid into the ice particle producing chamber so that the liquid thus sprayed is cooled and freezed by the freezing atmosphere to produce superfine ice particles, a particle hardness adjuster for adjusting the hardness of the ice particles to be produced so as to match the hardness of an article being polished, and an injection nozzle for injecting the ice particles towards a surface of the article for polishing thereof. Preferably, the particle hardness adjuster comprises a flow control valve which is disposed on the coolant supply line between the coolant supply nozzle and the coolant source for adjusting and changing the amount of coolant sprayed therefrom into the ice particle producing chamber so as to control the temperature therein.

The present invention relates to a polishing apparatus using ice particles which is suitable for polishing a surface of an article having a relatively low hardness such as a compound semiconductor, a crystalline block, etc.
FIG. 3 shows a typical example of conventional polishing apparatus for such purposes. In this conventional polishing apparatus, a major or large-diameter rotary plate 102 is rotatably mounted on a fixed support member 101, and a plurality (3 in the illustrated example) of minor or small-diameter rotary disks 103 are rotatably mounted on the major rotary plate 102. On each of the rotary disks 103, a plurality of articles 104 to be polished such as semiconductor wafers are disposed substantially in a circumferentially spaced apart relation and fixed thereto through appropriate fixing means (not shown) such as vacuum chucks and the like.
In operation, a top plate (not shown) is first disposed on the top surfaces of the articles to be polished with some kind of fine abrasive particles such as Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, SiO.sub.2, etc. being interposed therebetween. Then the major rotary plate 102 and the minor rotary disks 103 are rotated with respect each other and with respect to the fixed support plate 101 under the action of a certain drive means (not shown) while supplying thereto purified water as a lubricant.
With the conventional polishing apparatus as constructed above, however, if the hardness of the articles to be polished is relatively low as compared with that of the abrasive particles employed, there will be a problem that the surfaces of the articles being polished are damaged, impaired or marred due to the excessive abrasive action of the abrasive particles. In order to avoid such a problem, it is necessary to carefully choose an appropriate kind of abrasive which has hardness matching that of the articles being polished. The selection of such an abrasive suited to the hardness of the articles being polished is generally a troublesome task, and it is often difficult to find an appropriate abrasive.

Apparatus for polishing an article with frozen particles


The present invention is an implantable adhesive mesh prosthesis for reinforcing and/or repairing a defect in tissue that is easy to roll into a small diameter cylinder or other low-profile shape for passing through a trocar, incision, or other surgical instrument. More specifically, the adhesive may be applied to the mesh material in a pattern that leaves a significant portion of the surface area of the mesh material free of adhesive. In one embodiment, the adhesive is applied only near the outer perimeter of the mesh product. In another embodiment, the adhesive is applied in spots over all or a portion the surface of the mesh product. In yet another embodiment, the adhesive is applied in parallel lines on the surface of the mesh product and the mesh may be rolled up around an axis parallel to the lines of adhesive.

Various prosthetic mesh materials have been proposed to reinforce the abdominal wall and to close abdominal wall defects in animals (including humans). It has been known to repair hernias and other tissue defects and tears by implanting a sheet of surgical mesh fabric prosthesis that is stitched to the surrounding tissue. Commonly, a flat or three dimensional sheet that is appropriately sized and shaped for the particular repair is introduced to the surgical site through an incision in the skin and/or through a trocar or other tubular surgical device. A three dimensional prosthesis might be formed, for instance, by manufacturing a flat sheet of mesh and then heat forming it into a predetermined shape in a mold or on a mandrill.
Hence, the mesh fabric typically is folded into a cylindrical shape with a relatively narrow diameter in order to pass through the incision or trocar. In one technique using a trocar, for example, the surgeon grasps the mesh with a long-nosed surgical grasper and pushes the grasper and mesh through the trocar into the body leading with the distal end of the grasper and with the mesh trailing behind it and folding up around the long jaws of the grasper. The mesh will inherently fold upon itself to pass through the trocar and then can expand back toward its natural shape once it has passed completely through the trocar. After insertion into the animal's body cavity, the surgeon may need to manipulate the mesh with the grasper or another surgical tool in order to spread it out fully into the proper shape and navigate it to the desired position.
In another technique, the mesh is specifically rolled like a cigar into a small-diameter tube and grasped by a surgical grasper with the leading end of the grasper grasping what will be the leading longitudinal end of the tube of mesh material and the rest of the mesh tube disposed between the long jaws of the grasper tool (or possibly disposed with one jaw of the grasper tool within the rolled up prosthesis and the other jaw outside of the mesh tube). The mesh is passed through the trocar, other surgical instrument, or incision and expanded just as described above.
After the prosthesis is introduced into the body and properly positioned, it is fixed to the tissue over the repair site. Traditionally, the mesh is fixed by suturing. However, more recently, mesh prostheses have been developed with a layer of adhesive disposed on a surface thereof so that the mesh prostheses may be adhered to the tissue, rather than stitched. The adhesive typically is pressure activated (i.e., it will stick upon being pressed firmly against the tissue). In addition, the adhesive may be activated (i.e., become sticky) when it is exposed to moisture. Hence, the mesh is kept dry prior to introduction into the patient's body so that it may be rolled up into a narrow tube (or other low profile shape) without sticking to itself. However, once the prosthesis is introduced into the body, it is likely to become wet, and thus sticky, quickly. Thus, once it is in the body, the surgeon typically must work fast to unfold and properly position the prosthesis.
The elimination of stitching is beneficial in that it simplifies the surgery and saves time. However, in addition to the need to work quickly with such adhesive-based mesh prostheses, the additional layer of adhesive usually makes the overall mesh prosthesis stiffer, especially when it is dry, so that it cannot be rolled up into as small a diameter cylinder as non-adhesive based mesh products. It also makes the prosthesis thicker, further exacerbating the problem of minimizing its insertion profile in order to fit through the cannula of a trocar or an incision.

Self adhering implantable mesh prosthesis with reduced insertion profile


Disclosed are structures formed as bulk support media having carbon nanotubes formed therewith. The bulk support media may comprise fibers or particles and the fibers or particles may be formed from such materials as quartz, carbon, or activated carbon. Metal catalyst species are formed adjacent the surfaces of the bulk support material, and carbon nanotubes are grown adjacent the surfaces of the metal catalyst species. Methods employ metal salt solutions that may comprise iron salts such as iron chloride, aluminum salts such as aluminum chloride, or nickel salts such as nickel chloride. Carbon nanotubes may be separated from the carbon-based bulk support media and the metal catalyst species by using concentrated acids to oxidize the carbon-based bulk support media and the metal catalyst species.

Nanostructured materials have many structural, electronic, and physical chemistry applications. Nanostructured materials are generally defined as materials that have at least one dimension less than 100 nm, and more typically a dimension that is less than 50 nm. Some authorities restrict the definition of nanostructures to materials having a least one dimension that is less than 30 nm. The smallest size that is used in reference to nanostructures is generally recognized to be approximately 0.2 nm. Materials having a dimension smaller than 0.2 nm are generally considered to be atomic/molecular-scale materials, not nanostructures. Of particular interest is the form of nanostructures called carbon nanotubes. Carbon nanotubes are tubular in shape where the wall of the tube is typically formed as a matrix of carbon atoms arranged in a replicated hexagonal pattern. Carbon nanotubes may be singled-walled or multi-walled. Single-walled carbon nanotubes have walls that are only one carbon atom thick. The diameter of single-walled carbon nanotube is typically about 1 nm. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes have walls formed as a plurality of layers of hexagonally-arranged carbon atoms. Multi-walled carbon nanotubes typically have a diameter that is on the order of a few nanometers. The ends of carbon nanotubes may be capped with a hemispherical pattern of carbon atoms like a buckminsterfullerene ("bucky—ball"). Carbon nanotubes may have lengths that are in the micron range, or even longer, which provides a material of extraordinarily large aspect ratio (ratio of length to diameter) compared with other basic material building blocks. Carbon nanotubes also have extremely high specific tensile strengths and extremely high specific elastic modulus values. Carbon nanotubes also have an electro-chemical affinity for certain atomic and molecular species. Because of these properties, carbon nanotubes have important prospective applications in such fields as high-performance mechanical materials, electronics, and chemical processing. However, despite over a decade of research, problems still exist with production methods for carbon nanotubes. As a consequence high quality carbon nanotubes are expensive. Furthermore, because carbon nanotubes are tiny by most standards, it is difficult to handle them and position them in desired application configurations. What are needed therefore are better methods of fabricating desirable configurations of carbon nanotubes that are less expensive and easier to adapt for consumer and industrial applications.

Carbon nanotubes grown on bulk materials and methods for fabrication


Disclosed are methods for inhibiting the side effects attendant treatment with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors. Treatment of a patient with and HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor in combination with coenzyme Q.sub.10 provides a reduction in patient cholesterol levels and guards against typical HMG-CoA reductase-inhibitor side effects, most notably liver dysfunction and cardiac dysfunction. The combination of lovastatin, an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, and coenzyme Q.sub.10 in ratios of between 1:2 to 1:29 provide significant enhancement of a patient's caridac condition. By way of example, other HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors which may be included in the claimed combinations include pravastatin, compactin, fluvastatin, dalvastatin, simvastatin, BMY 22089, GR-95030, HR-780, CI-981, SQ 33,600, and BMY 22566 and XU-62-320.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of the present invention relates to methods and compositions for reducing side effects HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor therapy particularly those related to the physiologically depressed levels of coenzyme Q.sub.10 in the animal. Most particularly, the invention provides methods effective for the reduction of cholesterol using an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor, while reducing and/or inhibiting the side effects clinically linked to the use of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, such as liver dysfunction, musculoskeletal, nervous system/psychiatric, cardiac dysfunction, skin and special senses disorders. The invention also provides specifically defined formulations which include a mixture of an HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor and coenzyme Q.sub.10.
2. Description of the Related Art
Coronary artery disease is the major cause of death in Western countries. Hypercholesterolemia is known to be a primary risk factor for death from coronary artery disease. It is known that 50% or more of the total body cholesterol in humans is derived from intrinsic biosynthesis. It is also known that a rate-limiting step of major significance in the biosynthesis of cholesterol is at the level of the enzyme known as 3-hydroxy-3-methylglutaryl-coenzyme A reductase or HMG-CoA reductase. This enzyme then was logical for inhibition to reduce the intrinsic biosynthesis of cholesterol toward reducing the risk factor of hypercholesterolemia and coronary artery death.
Alberts et al. described the isolation, structure and biochemical properties of an active inhibitor of HGMCoA reductase which they named mevinolin. The scientific name, mevinolin, introduced in 1980, corresponds to the subsequent trademark name, MEVACOR.RTM.. This chemical substance is 1,2,6,7,8,8a-hexahydro-.beta.,.delta.-dihydroxy-2,6-dimethyl-8-(2-methyl-1 -oxobutoxy)-1-naphthaleneheptanoic acid.delta.-lactone.
The Product Monograph on lovastatin (i.e., mevinolin) by Merck, Sharp and Dohme (issued May 1988, DC 7,489,503) states that lovastatin is highly effective in the treatment of hypercholesterolemia. Further, at maximum doses, lovastatin produced a mean reduction of LDL cholesterol of 394 in two large multicenter control studies. In general, lovastatin was found to be well-tolerated in continuing extensive clinical trials as based on data from studies worldwide. Unfortunately, approximately 2% of patients were discontinued from therapy due to drug-related adverse effects in all clinical studies. The most frequently reported adverse side-effects were: headache (9.3%), flatus (6.4%), abdominal pain/cramps (5.7%), diarrhea (5.5%) and rash/pruritus (5.2%) (Id. at page 56).
Further, (Id.) the adverse experiences on treating patients with lovastatin in controlled clinical studies were GASTROINTESTINAL (constipation, diarrhea, dyspepsia, flatus, abdominal pain/cramps, heartburn and nausea); and MUSCULOSKELETAL (muscle cramps and myalgia); and NERVOUS SYSTEM/PSYCHIATRIC (dizziness, headache); SKIN (rash/pruritus); and SPECIAL SENSES (blurred vision and dysgeusia). Although some of these adverse experiences were also recorded when a placebo was administered, lovastatin consistently and definitely produced such adverse experience.
Also, (Id. at page 68), liver dysfunction from lovastatin can occur and approximately 0.5% of patients in clinical trials developed a myopathy.
Also, (page 68), there were eye dysfunctions indicated by a high prevalence of baseline lenticular opacities and during clinical trials, the appearance of new opacities was noted. The causal relationship of lovastatin to these opacities was not established. Of 431 patients, 34 had opacities at the final examination which occurred during 5-15 months after initiating therapy with lovastatin. However, existing opacities did not appear to increase.
In summary of the tolerability or the side effects from the clinical administration of lovastatin, this drug does have a variety of definite side effects some of which, particularly liver dysfunction, have justified discontinuation of therapy with lovastatin. Providing a method whereby the valuable group of HMG-CoA reductase inhibitors, such as lovastatin, could be used with a diminished risk for, or with the elimination of, the above-described physiological side effects, would provide a significant advance in the media acceptability and scope of treatable population for whom the use of such agents may be utilized.

Use of coenzyme Q.sub.10 in combination with HMG-CoA reductase inhibitor therapies

Karl Folkers Foundation for Biomedical and Clinical Research


A backlight assembly and a liquid crystal display device having the same backlight assembly are provided. The backlight assembly includes a bottom case, a plurality of printed circuit boards (PCBs) disposed on the bottom case, wherein substantially all of the PCBs have predetermined inclinations with respect to a front surface of the bottom case, and a plurality of light emitting diodes (LEDs) mounted on the PCBs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a backlight assembly having improved color mixture and heat dissipation. The present invention also relates to a liquid crystal display device having the present backlight assembly.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since a liquid crystal display (LCD) device has a variety of advantages in terms of size, weight and power consumption, it has been widely used in a variety of files such as a laptop computer field, a personal computer field, and a monitor field.
Since an LCD device is not a light emissive display, it requires a backlight assembly that emits light to a liquid crystal panel.
The backlight assembly is classified according to the disposition of a light source. A backlight assembly may thus be classified as an edge-type or a direct-type backlight assembly. The edge-type backlight assembly includes a light guide plate and a light source disposed on a side surface of the light guide plate. The light guide plate guides the light emitted from the light source frontward. The direct-type backlight assembly includes a plurality of light sources formed on a rear surface of the liquid crystal panel. The light emitted from the light sources is directly emitted to the liquid crystal panel.
As a light source for the backlight assembly, an electroluminescent (EL), a cold cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL), a hot cathode fluorescent lamp (HCFL), and a light emitting diode (LED) may be used.
The backlight assembly using the CCFL may be reduced in service life due to mercury filled in the CCFL, which can be easily coupled to metal to generate an amalgam. Furthermore, the luminance variation is so high according to the variation of the temperature. Furthermore, the mercury may cause environmental pollution.
To solve the above problems of the backlight assembly using the CCFL, the LED has been widely used as a light source for the backlight assembly.
In the backlight assembly using the LED, a plurality of LEDs is disposed on a bottom case at predetermined intervals. A variety of optical sheets for diffusing and focusing light are disposed above the LEDs.
A reflective plate is disposed in the rear of the LEDs.
The LEDs that are point light sources emit white light by a combination of red, green and blue LEDs or by white LEDs.
Since the LED is a point light source, there may be a luminance difference between areas where the LEDs are disposed and areas where the LEDs are not disposed. To prevent such luminance difference, a light mixing plate for generating white light by mixing red, green and blue lights is provided above the LEDs. Alternatively, the distance between the optical sheets and the LEDs must be increased.
However, when a light mixing plate is provided, the manufacturing cost and weight of the LCD device increases. Also, when the distance between the optical sheets and the LEDs increases, the overall thickness of the LCD device increases. As will be seen from a review of the present invention, it is possible to omit a light mixing plate from the LCD device according to the present invention.
In addition, heat generated from the LEDs may cause a reduction in the service life of the LCD device.

Backlight assembly and liquid crystal display device having the same


The present invention provides the laser irradiation apparatus that has a galvanometer mirror and an f-θ lens optical system, can offset the change of the energy due to the transmittance change of the f-θ lens, and can scan a laser beam while the change of the energy on a substrate is suppressed. Further, the laser beam energy that is incident on the lens is controlled in advance by combining the optical system changing the branching ratio of polarization of the laser beam and the optical system having dependence on direction of polarization of the laser beam and changed continuously according to the transmittance of the lens on which the laser beam is incident. The laser energy is controlled to offset the transmittance of the lens, and thereby energy fluctuation of the laser beam irradiation of a substrate can be prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a laser irradiation apparatus for crystallizing a semiconductor film and the like or for activating the semiconductor film after ion implantation by using a laser beam. Specifically, the present invention relates to a laser irradiation apparatus for irradiating the laser beam on a semiconductor film which is polycrystalline or similar to polycrystalline and enhancing crystallinity of the semiconductor film. Further, the present invention relates to a method of manufacturing semiconductor device using a crystalline semiconductor film formed by the laser irradiation apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, the technology for forming a thin film transistor (TFT) over a substrate has made great progress and such a TFT has been developed and applied to an active matrix semiconductor device. Particularly, a TFT made by using a polycrystalline semiconductor film is superior in field-effect mobility to a conventional TFT with an amorphous semiconductor film and thus, high-speed operation becomes possible. Therefore, it is possible that control of a pixel is performed by a driver circuit that is provided over the same substrate as the pixel, instead of being performed by a driver circuit provided outside of the substrate.
Incidentally, a substrate for a semiconductor device is expected to be a glass substrate rather than a single crystalline silicon substrate in terms of the cost. However, a glass substrate is inferior in heat resistance and the shape thereof is changed easily by heating. Therefore, when a polysilicon TFT is formed over a glass substrate, in order to prevent the heat distortion, laser annealing is often performed to crystallize a semiconductor film.
The characteristic of laser annealing is that the processing time can be drastically shortened as compared with other annealing methods by radiation heating or conductive heating, and that a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film can be heated selectively and locally, so that the substrate is hardly damaged thermally.
It is noted that the laser annealing method described here is the technology to recrystallize an amorphous layer formed over a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film, or the technology to crystallize an amorphous semiconductor film formed over a substrate. Moreover, the technology to flatten or modify a surface of a semiconductor substrate or a semiconductor film is also included.
Lasers used for laser annealing are broadly classified into two sorts according to their oscillation sorts. One type is a pulsed laser sort and the other sort is a continuous wave laser sort. In recent years, it has been known that in crystallization of the semiconductor film, a crystal grain formed in the semiconductor film is larger by using a continuous wave laser than by using a pulsed laser. When the diameter of a crystal grain formed in a semiconductor film is large, the number of grain boundaries in a channel region of a TFT formed by using the semiconductor film decreases, and thereby enhancing the mobility. As a result, such semiconductor film can be applied to a device with high-performance. For this reason, continuous wave lasers have attracted attention.
Moreover, when laser annealing is performed on a semiconductor or a semiconductor film, a method for shaping a laser beam emitted from a laser into a linear shape or an elliptic shape by an optical system and scanning a beam spot (surface to be irradiated) to a surface to be irradiated is known. Since this method enables an effective irradiation of a laser beam on a substrate and enhances mass-productivity, this method is employed industrially preferably (Reference 1: Japanese Patent Laid Open No. Hei 8-195357).
In order to perform laser annealing on a semiconductor film formed over a substrate effectively, a method for shaping a spot of a laser beam emitted from a continuous wave laser into a linear shape or an elliptic shape by an optical system, and scanning the shaped beam over the substrate is employed.
In addition, a galvanometer mirror is used as a means for scanning a laser beam. The laser beam that is incident on the galvanometer mirror is deflected toward the substrate. By oscillating the galvanometer mirror to control the oscillating angle of the galvanometer mirror, the deflected laser beam can be scanned on the whole substrate. With the structure in which the laser beam can be scanned by only oscillating the galvanometer mirror, it is not necessary any more to move the substrate back and forth on a stage and the like, and thereby it becomes possible to conduct laser irradiation in a short time.
It becomes possible to focus the beam deflected by the galvanometer mirror constantly on the plane surface by converging the beam with an f-θ lens. The beam deflected by the galvanometer mirror is scanned from the edge to the center of the lens to scan the semiconductor film arranged on the plane surface. However, since the f-θ lens used as a means for converging a laser beam has different transmittance in the center and in the edge of the lens, when the f-θ lens is used for laser crystallization the energy distribution of the laser beam irradiation of the semiconductor film is not uniform and thus, the whole semiconductor film cannot be irradiated uniformly with the laser beam. When a semiconductor film is irradiated with a laser beam, however, it is required to process uniformly the semiconductor film by irradiating the laser beam uniformly. Therefore, a means for offsetting the difference in the energy distribution due to the difference of the transmittance of the lens and equalizing the irradiation energy of the laser beam on the surface to be irradiated have been required.

Laser irradiation apparatus and method of manufacturing semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


The invention relates to flight control systems for aircraft, which have large control loops delivering load factor commands and which are applied to flight controls more suited to the following by the pilot of a longitudinal attitude deviation instruction than to the following of a load factor instructions. It consists of a small control loop generating a deviation indicator displayed by the flight director on the PFD screen, with a converter for converting a controlled load factor into a longitudinal attitude deviation instruction comprising a bandpass filter allowing the integration for the calculation of the longitudinal attitude deviation instruction value in the piloting frequency span only.

Flight control systems are automation facilities making it possible, in their basic operating modes, to bring an aircraft into and maintain it in a flight configuration corresponding to a predetermined speed vector and/or trim vector, and, in so-called "higher" operating modes, to bring an aircraft onto a type of predefined trajectory. They act on the flight controls, either directly, when they operate as automatic pilot, or by way of the pilot whom they provide with instructions, when they operate as flight director. They incorporate computers programmed to estimate the deviations existing between the trim, the speed vector or the current trajectory of the aircraft with respect to a trim, a speed vector or an instruction trajectory and to deduce therefrom the orders to be executed by the flight controls or the direction and amplitude of the maneuvers to be advised to the pilot so as to reduce these deviations.
In order to imitate the behavior of a pilot as closely as possible, flight control systems are designed with two levels of control loops: a first level of control loops termed "large loop" determining the values that must be taken by the primary flight parameters used by pilots when flying by instruments to reach the correct altitude, speed vector or trajectory, and a second level of control loops termed "small loop" translating the parameter values delivered by the large loop, either into commands for the actuators controlled by the flight controls for automatic-pilot operation, or into indications of deviation to be corrected, displayed in the cockpit, on the PFD screen for viewing the primary flight parameters for flight-director operation.
With conventional flight controls, having simple mechanical, hydraulic and/or electrical assistance, comprising a stick allowing the pilot to prescribe the position of the airfoils and admitting the longitudinal attitude angle as primary control parameter in the vertical plane, flight control systems comprise, for controlling the trajectory parameters in their various operating modes, large loops delivering longitudinal attitude angle commands utilized by small loops delivering, during automatic-pilot operation, the signals for actuating the controls and, during flight-director operation, a longitudinal attitude instruction made available to the pilot on the PFD screen.
With electric flight controls (fly-by-wire) comprising a stick or lever allowing the pilot to enter, in relation to the vertical axis, instructions regarding load factor, which is likened hereinafter to a vertical acceleration although in all strictness, a cosine coefficient due to the angle of roll comes into the relation which links them, and therefore admitting the load factor as primary flight parameter instead of the longitudinal attitude angle, flight control systems comprise, for controlling the trajectory parameters in their various operating modes, large loops delivering load factor commands utilized by small loops delivering, during automatic-pilot operation, the signals for actuating the controls and, during flight-director operation, a load factor instruction made available to the pilot on the PFD screen.
It is apparent that, during automatic-pilot operation, flight control systems with large loops delivering load factor commands are more reactive than those with large loops delivering longitudinal attitude angle deviation commands, so that it would be beneficial to adapt them to conventional flight controls were it not for the pilot's difficulty in following a load factor instruction with conventional flight controls that are more appropriate to the following of longitudinal attitude angle instructions.

Converter for converting a load factor command into a longitudinal attitude deviation instruction


Under one aspect of the present invention, a catheter includes an elongate member; a plurality of septa configured to define a plurality of lumens along the elongate member; and a plurality of slits defined through the elongate member, each slit configured to provide fluidic communication between an environment about the catheter and a corresponding lumen of the plurality of lumens, at least one slit having a different length than at least one other slit.

Fluid drainage catheters are known in the art. A class of catheters now commonly known as "Blake drains" were initially described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,398,910 and 4,465,481 to Blake et al., the entire contents of both of which are incorporated by reference herein. The Blake patents disclose wound drain catheters that include a flexible drain portion that is placed in a patient's body and in fluidic communication with a wound, and an outflow tube that exits the patient's body and connects to a suction device that draws fluid from the wound via the drain portion and the outflow tube. The Blake patents point to the deficiencies of perforated drain portions such as were previously known at that time, that included a length of tubing perforated by forming spaced apertures through the tubing wall. According to the Blake patents, one major problem with such perforated drains is that wound debris, such as clots, may block the apertures. Additionally, tissue may grow into the apertures, which not only may block the apertures, but also may make it difficult to remove the drain at a later time.
FIGS. 1A-1E, which have been adapted from U.S. Pat. No. 4,465,481, illustrate an exemplary embodiment of a "Blake drain" that includes longitudinal slits intended to overcome the deficiencies of perforated drains. Specifically, catheter 111 illustrated in perspective view in FIG. 1A, and in greater detail in 1B, includes a single continuous elongate member 115, which includes a drain segment 131, a second segment 151, called the transition tube segment, and a third segment 171, called the extension tube segment.
FIG. 1C illustrates a cross section of drain segment 131 along line 1C-1C in FIG. 1B. Drain segment 131 includes central core portion 133 with T-shaped members 137 projecting therefrom. T-shaped members 137 cooperate to define longitudinal flutes, lumens, or channels 136 that communicate with the environment surrounding the drain segment through grooves 135. FIG. 1D illustrates a cross section of transition tube segment 151 along line 1D-1D in FIG. 1B. Transition tube segment 151 includes core portion 153, which is colinear with core portion 133 of drain segment 131. Each of strut portions 155 projecting from core portion 153 is colinear with a corresponding T-shaped portion 137 of drain segment 131. The inner surface of tubular portion 159 is connected to the ends of the strut portions 155 so the tubular portion 159 and the strut portions 155 cooperate to form enclosed longitudinal channels 156. Each of the channels 156 communicates a corresponding lumen 136 of drain segment 131. FIG. 1E illustrates a cross section of extension tube segment 171 along line 1E-1E in FIG. 1B. Extension tube segment 171 includes tubular portion 177 defining internal longitudinal cavity 175. Tubular portion 177 is a continuation of tubular portion 159 so that cavity 175 communicates with all of the channels 156 of the transition tube segment 151.
As disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,398,910, such a longitudinally fluted drain, rather than a perforated drain, is advantageous for a number of reasons. For example, a fluted wound drain has an increased tissue contact drainage area, increased luminal flow drainage area, and an increased cross-sectional area as compared to a perforated drain, resulting in increased fluidic throughput and increased strength. Moreover, the fluted configuration reduces the risk that tissue growth will inhibit removal of the drain.
The fluted wound drains disclosed in the Blake patents have been modified so as to enhance their suitability for certain purposes. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,976,973 to Ruddell et al. discloses a dual-lumen catheter for peritoneal dialysis that includes an "inflow" lumen allowing fluid to flow from outside the patient, through the catheter, and into the patient, and an "outflow" lumen allowing fluid to flow from the peritoneal cavity, through the catheter, and out of the patient. The outflow lumen may include a plurality of perforations, or alternatively a plurality of elongated slots through which fluid may flow out of the patient's body and a plurality of septa that partition the lumen. One such outflow lumen disclosed by Ruddell includes four slots and four septa, and appears generally similar to the fluted wound drain illustrated in FIGS. 1A-1E. FIG. 1F, which has been adapted from Ruddell, illustrates an alternative outflow lumen 88, which includes slots 80 on one side of a tube, a plurality of septa 82 defining lumens 86, an enclosed lumen 90 that may be part of the outflow lumen or party of the inflow lumen, and a radiopaque stripe 54. Ruddell discloses that slots 80 alternatively may be opposite from the radiopaque stripe (not shown here).
Although the fluted wound drains disclosed in the Blake patents and the peritoneal dialysis catheters disclosed by Ruddell may be partially implanted into a patient, both designs may have shortcomings rendering them unsuitable for long-term use, particularly within the peritoneal cavity. For example, slits 135 illustrated in FIG. 1B are equally susceptible to blockage as one another, as are slits 80 illustrated in FIG. 1F. In particular, if a wound drain or catheter having such slits is implanted in the peritoneum and a given portion of the patient's intestine drapes over the catheter, fluid flow through multiple of the slits potentially may be blocked simultaneously. Additionally, the catheter potentially may become ensnared in the greater omentum or the lesser omentum, which again may potentially block fluid flow through multiple of the slits simultaneously.
Accordingly, what is needed is a fluid drainage catheter with enhanced resistance to blockage.

Implantable catheters with staggered slits, and methods of using same


An optical pickup using a two-wavelength light source module includes a light source module, a collimating lens, and a first optical element. The light source module includes first and second light sources which emit first and second light beams of different wavelengths and are formed in a single package. The collimating lens directs the first and/or second light beams into convergent light or divergent light so that the convergent light or the divergent light is incident on the objective lens. The optical pickup is a finite optical system due to the collimating lens. The first optical element is disposed on the traveling paths of the first and second light beams, operates as a lens only for one of the first and second light beams, and corrects a position difference between the first and second light sources along a traveling direction of light. The optical pickup further includes a second optical element which is disposed on the traveling paths of the first and second light beams and matches traveling optical axes of the first and second light beams with each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical pickup, and more particularly, to an optical pickup using a two-wavelength light source module in which two light sources which emit light of different wavelengths are formed in a single package.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, optical pickups that may be compatibly used in both digital versatile discs (DVDs) and compact discs (CDs) are configured such that a light source for the DVDs and a light source for the CDs are used individually. In this case, since an optical lens of the optical pickup must be configured depending on a feature of each of the DVDs and the CDs and two light sources for the DVDs and for the CDs must be assembled individually, an optical structure of the optical pickup is complicated. Also, an installation space of the optical pickup is limited.
Recently, a light source module (for example, TWIN-LD) has been developed in which two light sources (for example, two semiconductor laser chips) for DVDs and for CDs for emitting light of different wavelengths are formed in a single package. However, since a position difference between the two light sources of the light source module is significant, the light source module may be used in some reproduction optical pickups, but may not be used in recording optical pickups.

Optical pickup using two-wavelength light source module


An elastic blade is used in a developing device for controlling the amount of a developing agent (or a thickness of a developing agent fed onto a developing sleeve). The blade has on its surface an electrifying layer formed out of a specific polyamide elastomer. The polyamide elastomer is comprised preferably of a block copolymer of polyamide and polyester.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an elastic blade for controlling the amount of feed of a developing agent (hereinafter referred to as a "developer") for developing and visualizing an electrostatic latent image formed on an image-holding member, and also to a development device employing the elastic blade.
2. Related Background Art
Known development devices, as shown in FIG. 7, comprise a developer-bearing member 3 (hereinafter referred to occasionally as a "development sleeve") which is attached to a development vessel 2 at a small distance to an electrophotographic photosensitive member 1, an elastic blade 14 for controlling the amount of the feed of a developer, an elastic roller 5, and a one-component developer 6 (hereinafter referred to also as a "toner"). The elastic blade is brought into contact with the development sleeve to control the thickness of the toner layer delivered to the development section. A thin toner layer is formed on a development sleeve by allowing the toner to pass through the contacting portion between the elastic blade and the development sleeve, and simultaneously given electrification (triboelectricity) for developing latent images by the friction at the contacting portion.
Such an elastic blade includes ones constituted of a rubber plate, a metal thin plate, a thin plastic plate, or a laminate thereof.
For a positive type toner, the elastic blade is used which is formed by laminating an electric charge-imparting layer (hereinafter referred to as an "electrifying layer"), such as a charge-controlled silicone rubber, onto a thin plate, such as a metal plate, as a supporting layer.
For a negative type toner containing magnetite, a urethane rubber sheet is used which has been subjected to charge control treatment.
On the other hand, a low-temperature melting toner (sharp-melting toner) which is used in view of energy saving involves a problem that the toner tends to be fusion-bonded to the development blade to cause defective image formation. This problem can be solved by decreasing the contact pressure between the development blade and the development sleeve. At the lower contact pressure, however, the development blade should have a surface layer having higher triboelectrification ability at lower contact pressure. The conventional material such as urethane rubber used therefor was found to be insufficient in triboelectrification ability, disadvantageously.
The non-magnetic toner, which has come to be used for color image formation, is required to be more highly electrified and to be applied onto the development sleeve because of the non-magnetic properties of the toner itself. Since the urethane rubber as the surface layer of the development blade is not sufficient in triboelectrification ability as mentioned above, a polyamide having high electrification ability is used as the surface layer.
However, in the case where the polyamide is used as the surface layer material of the development blade, an ordinary non-magnetic toner is electrified excessively under low humidity conditions. The excessive electrification (charge-up) prevents the toner from being attracted from the development sleeve to the photosensitive drum, thereby resulting in defective image formation.
Further, for higher image quality and full color image formation by electrophotography, a finer particle size of the toner and uniform contact pressure onto the development sleeve are required. However, in conventional elastic blades, there is the limitation of uniformity of the press-contact with the development sleeve in its axis direction, and therefore, uniformity of the electric charge and thickness of the applied toner is insufficient, resulting in image defects such as image irregularity and streaks.

Elastic blade for control of developer feed, and development device employing the same