Site 1- and site 2-selective derivatives of cAMP have been found to inhibit the of a variety of cancer and leukemic cells. The compounds have been found to have a synergistic effect in cancer and leukemic cell growth inhibition when a site 1-selective compounds is used in combination with a site 2-selective compound.

Cyclic adenosine monophosphate (cAMP) is a naturally occurring compound that is present in all cells and tissues, from bacteria to humans. In animal cells, cAMP appears to promote the expression of differentiated (specialized) properties. Well-known examples are the stimulation by cAMP of gluconeogenesis in liver, lipolysis in fat tissues, and water permeability in toad bladder epithelium. The functional development of the mammary gland is another example. The content of cAMP in rat mammary gland shows a diphasic pattern during the gestation cycle. The level of cAMP rises continuously toward the end of pregnancy, and then falls progressively to its lowest value by the 16th day of lactation. The transition at the time of parturition coincides with a considerable increase in the metabolic activity of the gland consequent to the onset of lactation.
Morphological alterations induced by cAMP in cultured cells in vitro include acinar formation and ultrastructural changes in thyroid cells, elongation and array formation in fibroblasts, development of neurite-like outgrowths in neuroblastoma cells, growth of processes in glioma cells, and pigmentation of melanocytes. The rapid changes in cell morphology are probably mediated through an effect by cAMP in interaction with Ca.sup.2+ on the cytoskeleton. Among the functional effects of cAMP are induction of specific enzymes stimulation of collagen synthesis in fibroblasts, and neurotransmitter synthesis in cells of neural origin. It is significant that cAMP-induced differentiation may occur without concomitant inhibition of cell division.
While a role for cAMP in cell differentiation seems to be established, it is much more difficult to define a general function for this nucleotide in the regulation of cell proliferation. The available data are interpreted very differently.
In fibroblasts, a number of studies have shown that treatment, which relieves growth inhibition in quiescent cells, such as serum addition or trypsinization, leads to decreased adenylate cyclase activity and a rapid fall in cAMP before the onset of DNA synthesis, supporting the idea that a drop in cAMP level is the decisive signal triggering cell division. However, conclusive evidence that the reduction in cAMP is causally related to the initial release from the resting state has not been presented. In cultured human fibroblasts, when DBcAMP or methylisobutylxanthine was added to prevent the cAMP drop during the first eight hours after serum addition, subsequent DNA synthesis was not delayed, whereas these agents were inhibitory when added more than eight hours after serum addition, in mid Gl, and in late Gl and S phases of the cell cycle. This indicates that a reduction in cAMP may not be involved as the initial trigger for serum-stimulated DNA synthesis, but it may be a factor at later stages, necessary for further progression toward DNA replication. However, in Balb/3T3 cells (Ca.sup.2+ deprived) stimulated by serum, there is an increase in cAMP in late Gl, suggesting a positive role for cAMP in the control of DNA replication in fibroblasts.
Apparent contradictory data also exist in the study of lymphocytes. Cyclic AMP in low concentrations (10.sup.-8 to 10.sup.-6 M) triggers DNA) synthesis in suspension cultures of rat thymic lymphocytes, providing one of the main arguments for a growth-promoting role of cAMP. Experiments on peripheral lymphocytes have yielded data that partly support and partly conflict with these results. For liver cells, there is increasing evidence that cAMP may have a positive effect on growth.
Studies showing growth inhibition by cAMP have tended to use higher concentrations of DBcAMP or the other agents than those studies showing growth stimulation, possibly indicating that the growth inhibitory effects seen are less physiological. It has become increasingly evident that effects seen after addition to biological systems of high concentrations of cAMP or DBcAMP are not necessarily direct effects of cAMP, but may be caused by metabolites, such as 5'AMP, adenosine, or butyrate. Similarly, methylxanthines have effects that probably are not mediated through cAMP. Physiologically, it seems that cAMP has several intracycle modulatory effects on normal cell growth, although it is quite certainly not the single growth regulator. Probably various growth factors operate by mechanisms independent of cAMP. In fact, cAMP may not be essential for cell cycle progression per se.
The effect of cAMP observed in malignant cells in culture in many cases constitutes a striking redifferentiation, which amounts to apparent renormalization of a number of properties of the transformed cells, including morphological features, adhesive properties, lectin agglutination, cell movement, biochemical functions, and anchorage-dependent growth.
It is unclear how fundamental this "normalization" is. For example, the tumorigenicity of DBcAMP-treated neuroblastoma cells has been reported to be decreased by Prasad (Biol. Rev. 50: 129-165, 1975), but was found to be unaltered in another study by Furmanski et al. (J. Schultz, and H. G. Gratzner, Eds., The Role of Cyclic Nucleotides in Carcinogenesis, pp. 239-261). New York and London: Academic Press, 1973. The presence of transformation-associated antigens on the cell surface is not prevented by cAMP. There is considerable variation in the morphological response to cAMP from cell to cell, even among fibroblasts.
Animal experiments have shown that various cAMP derivatives may inhibit: tumor growth in vivo (cf. Keller, Life Sci. 11: 485-491, 1972, and Cho-Chung et al., Science 183: 87-88, 1974). An interesting observation was that one single injection of cholera toxin, which is a potent adenylate cyclase activator, caused an almost complete inhibition of YAC lymphoma cell proliferation for up to four days in mice without noticeable toxic effects on the animals (Holmgren et al., Exp. Cell Res. 108: 31-39, 1977). Some of the most striking examples of malignant cell differentiation by cAMP in vitro have been observed in neuroblastoma cultures (Prasad, Biol. Rev. 50: 129-165, 1975).
A preliminary clinical study with the phosphodiesterase inhibitor papaverine, included in a combined drug regimen for disseminated neuroblastomas that in most cases were unresponsive to other drugs, has yielded promising results (Helson et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 57: 727-729; 1976). Also, human oat cell lung carcinoma cells treated in vitro with DBcAMP have differentiated into neurone-like cells (Tsuji et al., Cancer Lett. 1: 311-318, 1976). Another interesting example is the induction of differentiation by DBcAMP of spindle cell sarcoma with multiple metastasis (Williams et al., Proc. Am. Assoc. Cancer Res. 23: 142, 1983). In this latter case, the patient was treated with DBcAMP (3-6 mg/kg) intravenously daily over five hours on days 1-9 and again on days 47-56. The tumor size plateaued and even decreased during both infusion periods and increased during intervals off treatment and after cessation of the second treatment. Histology of tumors biopsied on days 2, 14, and 60 showed evidence of differentiation during the DBcAMP infusion.
Because cAMP manifests almost ubiquitous biological effects, the unphysiologically high levels of cellular AMP that would result from prior compounds would disturb many cellular processes nonspecifically, resulting in a masking of a specific function of cAMP, such as growth regulation.
Cyclic AMP in mammalian cells functions via binding to its receptor protein, the regulatory subunit of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. There are at least two distinct isozymes for cAMP-dependent protein kinase, namely, type I and type II protein kinases, having different regulatory subunits but an identical catalytic subunit, and differential expression of these isozymes has been shown to be linked to regulation of cell growth and differentiation. Recently, two genes have been identified that code for two different catalytic subunits (C.alpha., C.beta.) of cAMP-dependent protein kinase. However, preferential coexpression of either one of these catalytic subunits with either the type I or the type II regulatory subunit has not been found.
Because a mixture of type I and type II kinase isozymes is present in most tissues, selective modulation of these isozymes in intact cells may be a crucial function of cAMP. All past studies of the cAMP regulation of cell growth employed either a few early known cAMP analogues that require an effective concentration of unphysiologically high millimolar range or agents that raise cellular cAMP to abnormally and continuously high levels. Under these experimental conditions, separate modulation of type I and type II kinase isozymes is not possible, because cAMP at high levels activates both isozymes maximally and equally without discrimination.
Recent studies on extensive cAMP binding kinetics, using purified preparations of protein kinase isozymes in vitro, identified site-selective cAMP analogs that selectively bind to either one of two different binding sites on the cAMP receptor protein. Furthermore, the site-selective analogues in appropriate combinations demonstrate synergism of binding and exhibit specificity toward either type I or type II protein kinase. This unique site-specificity of site-selective cAMP analogues is not mimicked by cAMP itself or by previously studied earlier analogues.
Human breast cancers often regress after hormone therapy, treatment that frequently involves the removal of the ovaries. The cancer regression has been linked to the presence of an ER in the tumor, to the extent that assays designed to measure the receptor are now used extensively to identify patients likely to respond to hormone therapy. However, it has become apparent that the mere presence of ER is not a reliable criterion for the response of mammary tumors to endocrine therapy. While patients with undetectable levels of tumor ER rarely respond to endocrine therapy, only 50-60% of ER-positive human breast tumors regress after hormone treatment. There is, therefore, a need to identify hormone-dependent cancers within the group of ER-positive tumors. The presence of PgR in ER-positive tumors has been reported to improve the prediction of endocrine responsiveness in some studies, but in other studies, PgR did not enhance prediction. The presence of PgR, therefore, does not necessarily improve the predictive value of ER. Additional discriminating factors are clearly required.
Evidence that cAMP receptor protein may represent such a parameter has come from studies in which regression of hormone-dependent mammary tumors followed administration of dibutyryl cyclic AMP, the effect being apparently mediated by cAMP receptor protein. Cyclic AMP receptor protein appears to be a marker of tumor sensitivity to hormonal manipulation as was shown in animal tumors and in a limited number of human breast cancers.
It has been suggested that regulation of the growth of hormone-dependent mammary tumors may depend on the antagonistic action between estrogen and cyclic AMP. Estrogen stimulates, whereas cAMP arrests, the growth of mammary carcinomas induced by 7,12-dimethyl-benz(.alpha.) anthracene (DMBA) in the rat. During growth arrest of the tumors, after either hormone removal via ovariectomy or treatment of the hosts with N.sup.6,O.sup.2' -dibutyryl-cAMP (DBcAMP), estrogen binding decreases; whereas cAMP binding and cAMP-dependent protein kinase activity increase in the cytosol and nuclei of the tumor cells. It was further demonstrated that the growth of DMBA-induced mammary tumors is associated with an enhanced expression of a cellular oncogene, c-ras. The p21 transforming protein of the ras gene product was a predominant in vitro translation product of mRNAs of the growing tumors, and a sharp reduction of the translated p21 protein preceded regression of these tumors after either ovariectomy or DBcAMP treatment.
Recent studies on cAMP binding kinetics, using purified preparations of cAMP-dependent protein kinases, identified cAMP analogues that are potent activators of protein kinase and selectively bind to either one of the two different cAMP binding sites of protein kinase (cf. Rannels et al. J. Biol. Chem. 255: 7085-7088, 1980). Generally, analogues modified at the C-8 position of the adenine ring are site 1-selective, and those modified at the C-6 position are site 2-selective. Furthermore, the Site 1- and Site 2-selective analogues in combination demonstrate synergism of binding to and activation of protein kinase, (Robinson-Steiner et al., J. Biol. Chem. 258: 1032-1040, 1983).

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


A thermosetting coating composition containing. A) one or more binders convertible into liquid or dissolved form at least at the curing temperature and containing acidic groups, basic groups or ionic groups of similar charge, PA1 B) one or more binders convertible into liquid or dissolved form at least at the curing temperature and containing basic groups where (A) contains acidic groups, acidic groups where (A) contains basic groups or ionic groups of like charge opposite to the charge of the ionic groups of (A), binder (B) being noninterdiffusible under storage and application conditions, but interdiffusible with binder (A) under hardening conditions, and PA1 C) optionally standard solvents, pigments and/or typical paint auxiliaries and/or additives which do not lead to any interdiffusion of the binders A) and B) under storage and application conditions,. and a process for the production of coatings by application of the coating composition and subsequent thermal curing.

The production of anionic and cationic ionomers is known. It is also known from the literature that an insoluble mass precipitates from a mixture of a solution of cationic ionomers with a solution of anionic ionomers ("RECENT ADVANCES IN ION-CONTAINING POLYMERS" by M. F. Hoover and G. B. Butler, J. Polymer Sci., Symposion No. 45, page 16). However, ionomers such as these have not hitherto been considered for application in paint technology. Copolymerisates are described in FR patents 1 493 043, 1 493 044, 1 493 045 and 1 493 046, which are obtained by precipitation of anionic and cationic polymers by mutual neutralisation. The thus prepared copolymerisates can be used for different purposes such as forming of films, preparation of fibers amd for preparation of coatings.
In industry, workpieces are mainly painted with coating compositions which, after application, are cured by heating to temperatures of 80.degree. to 200.degree. C. in baking ovens. In chemical terms, the cured process generally involves crosslinking of the binder system.
Self-crosslinking and externally crosslinkable binder systems which cure by chemical reactions are known. The functional groups which react during crosslinking may be hydroxyl groups, methylol groups, amino groups, epoxy groups, masked isocyanate groups and acetal groups. Physiologically harmful cleavage products are often formed during such chemical curing processes. In addition, heavy metal compounds sometimes have to be used as catalyst. The chemical crosslinking of lacquer binders by stoving on the surface of a workpiece is basically difficult and complicated because very little liberty is available under the given conditions for controlling and modifying the organic reaction.
The problem addressed by the present invention is to provide binder systems or coating compositions which can be cured by baking and of which the crosslinking is easy to control without the formation of cleavage products and without any need for cured catalysts, particularly heavy metal catalysts.

Thermosetting coating compositions and their use


A system for detecting a person and estimating pose information comprises a processor and a memory storing instructions causing the system to: retrieve depth data from a sensor, the depth data describing distance information associated with one or more objects detected by the sensor; cluster the depth data to determine two or more candidate leg clusters, each candidate leg cluster including a portion of the depth data that may represent a human leg detected by the sensor; identify a candidate leg cluster pair including two candidate leg clusters within a certain distance between each other; determine whether there is a connectivity between the two candidate leg clusters included in the candidate leg cluster pair; and responsive to determining that there is a connectivity between the two candidate leg clusters, determine that the candidate leg cluster pair is qualified to be a leg cluster pair representing a person.

1. Field of the Invention
The specification relates to person detection systems. In particular, the specification relates to a system and method for detecting a person through a leg connectivity test based at least in part on depth data from a sensor and estimating pose information for the detected person.
2. Description of the Background Art
Today many computer systems and machines rely on person detection techniques. Under many situations, machines and computer systems need to know if there is a human present at a particular location in order to turn on/off or activate a particular program if a human or humans are present or absent. Therefore, the machines and computer systems are often equipped with a particular sensor for measuring surrounding objects and loaded with a program for processing data from the sensor to detect whether a human is present. For example, a surveillance system is equipped with a consumer camera. The surveillance system can automatically adjust the focus of the consumer camera when detecting humans and further identify the humans. Examples for such machines and computer systems can also include an automobile safety system that monitors a driver's status; and a robotic application that needs an accurate detection and pose estimation of humans. These machines and computer systems apply drastically different methods based on different types of sensors equipped.
Among these machines and computer systems, there are several of them designed to detect one or multiple persons based on a depth image. The existing method is to utilize red-green-blue color and depth ("RGB-D") information of pixels composing the image to fit a skeleton model of a human. This method often requires the visibility of the whole body of a human. Therefore, one of the main problems of the existing method is that this method becomes inapplicable if a human's body is not entirely visible because of occlusions or because of the sensor's limited field of view. Especially, when the sensor is placed at a low position, the existing machines and computer systems are unable to detect the position of the human and thus unable to calculate pose information for the human.
Another main problem of the existing methods is that the existing methods often require a training session or prior knowledge before being able to detect persons and estimate pose information for the persons.

Person detection and pose estimation system


An improved fusion welding system having a heating unit and welding device is adapted for increasing the efficiency of welding a plurality of workpieces. The system preferably presents a single-sided process, and includes first and second electrode wheels operable to heat a portion of the workpieces to a minimum temperature, and a translatable laser cooperatively configured to form a continuous weld within the heated portion. The preferred system provides the advantages of laser welding, such as precision, while enabling weld production at lower laser power outputs or faster welding speeds than conventional laser welding systems.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to welding systems, and more particularly to a fusion welding system including a heating unit and welding device for combination heating and welding.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
The process of material joining and treatment is a necessary condition for the industrial progress. As such, fusion-welding systems have been developed for joining multi-component workpieces. One such system, laser spot and seam welding utilizes laser heat energy during joining, and is commonly used, for example, in the automotive industry.
These conventional systems are typically used to provide faster welding speeds and produce more accurate and precise welds than do counterpart resistance welding technologies. The power associated with the laser, and the material composition and initial state of the workpieces are directly proportional to the aspect ratio of weld depth to width. In other words, the more powerful the laser and focused the beam, the greater the heat energy density. However, while these benefits help minimize stresses experienced by the workpieces, they present other concerns. For example, these systems are typically limited by strict requirements of tolerance, porosity formation, poor gap bridgeability and hot cracking in the weld. Of further concern are the relative high costs associated with high-powered lasers (i.e., lasers having a power output greater than 4 kW), which are not solely a result of increased input energy demands.
These systems may also present construction concerns, where a high-powered laser is utilized to produce the fusion weld. The rapid change in temperature from initial room temperatures to temperatures greater than the melting range of the material, coupled with the speed of weld formation contribute to the production of pores formed by trapped gas, and cracking within the relatively narrow weld. The formation of pores and cracking further reduces the structural integrity of the weld.
Other welding systems, such as conventional hybrid laser-arc systems that feature the simultaneous application of heat generated from laser radiation and an electric arc, have also been developed. As with conventional laser welding, these hybrid systems often require high powered laser output for, and therefore, experience the same concerns during combination welding.
Thus, there is need in the art for an improved laser welding system that minimizes costs and the likelihood of construction inefficiencies that arise from high powered laser welding.

Hybrid laser and resistance welding system and method


There is disclosed a built-in motor type electric injection molding apparatus which can prevent a decrease in the output ratings of a metering motor and a injection motor and which enables the selection of optimal drive characteristics corresponding to the load thereof in use. In a metering stage, the metering motor is driven in order to rotate its rotor. The rotation produced by the metering motor is transmitted to a screw via a drive force transmission mechanism, so that the screw is retracted with rotation so as to meter resin. In an injection stage, the injection motor is driven in order to rotate its rotor. The rotational motion produced by the injection motor is converted into linear motion by a motion conversion mechanism, and the linear motion is transmitted to the screw, so that the screw is advanced so as to inject the resin. Since a ventilation unit ventilates first and second motor accommodation chambers, heat generated by driving the metering motor and the injection motor is released to the outside of a casing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a built-in motor type electric injection molding apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in an injection molding apparatus, resin heated and melted in a heating cylinder is injected into a cavity of a die under a high pressure so that the cavity is filled with the resin. The molten resin is then cooled and hardened to obtain a molded product. The molded product is then taken out from the die after the die is opened.
The injection molding apparatus includes a die clamp apparatus and an injection apparatus. The die clamp apparatus is provided with a stationary platen and a movable platen, and the die is opened and closed by advancing and retracting the movable platen using a die clamping cylinder.
The injection apparatus includes a heating cylinder for heating and melting resin supplied from a hopper and an injection nozzle for injecting the molten resin. Further, a screw is disposed within the heating cylinder for advancing and retracting movement. The screw is advanced to inject resin and retracted to meter the resin.
An electric injection molding apparatus has been proposed in which electric motors are used to advance and retract the injection apparatus and to advance and retract the screw.
FIG. 1 is a schematic view of an injection apparatus used in a conventional electric injection molding apparatus.
In FIG. 1, numeral 2 denotes an injection apparatus, and numeral 4 denotes a frame of the injection apparatus 2. A heating cylinder 21 is fixed on the front side (left side in FIG. 1) of the frame 4, and an unillustrated injection nozzle is provided at the front end (left-side end in FIG. 1) of the heating cylinder 21. A screw 20 is disposed within the heating cylinder 21 such that the screw 20 is rotatable and axially movable. A ball screw 31 is formed at the rear end portion of the screw 20 and a spline shaft 32 is extended from the rear end of the ball screw 31.
An injection motor 34 is attached to the frame 4 such that the injection motor 34 surrounds the ball screw 31, and a ball screw nut 37 is fixed to the injection motor 34. Further, a metering motor 35 is disposed such that the metering motor 35 surrounds the spline shaft 32, and a spline nut 38 is fixed to the metering motor 35.
A numerical controller 39 is connected to the injection motor 34 and to the metering motor 35. Injection and metering are performed by selectively rotating these motors 34 and 35 by the numerical controller 39. In detail, in a metering stage, the metering motor 35 and the injection motor 34 are simultaneously rotated at the same speed, so that the spline shaft 32, the ball screw 31 and the screw 20 rotate for metering. At this time, power supplied to the injection motor 34 can be adjusted to provide a difference in rotational speed between the ball screw nut 37 and the spline nut 38, thereby retracting the screw 20. With this operation, back pressure can be controlled during metering.
In an injection stage, the injection motor 34 is rotated while the metering motor 35 is stopped, so that the ball screw 31 is advanced by rotation of the ball screw nut 37. As a result, the screw 20 is advanced to perform injection.
However, in the injection apparatus of the conventional electric injection molding apparatus, when heat generated by the metering motor 35 and the injection motor 34 is accumulated within an unillustrated drive case, the metering motor 35 and the injection motor 34 overheat, thus lowering the output ratings of the metering motor 35 and the injection motor 34. In addition, it is impossible to select optimal drive characteristics corresponding to the load of the electric injection molding apparatus in use.

Built-in motor type electric injection molding apparatus


A custom oral splint that is operatively secured to the maxilla and mandible of a subject/patient to assist in reduction and provide maintenance of reduction of maxillary and mandibular fractures in the edentulous or partially edentulous subject/patient. In this difficult patient population, there are very limited options for maxillomandibular fixation, and none provide stable reduction of fractures. The novel device minimizes operative time and equipment, as well as offers the ability to transition the patient from rigid fixation to elastics postoperatively. The novel device is custom-designed for each patient's degree of bone atrophy, ensuring a high quality, and effective product.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates, generally, to oral splints. More specifically, it relates to the reduction and maintenance of reduction in mandible and/or maxilla fractures of edentulous or partially edentulous patients.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Oral splints are commonly known in the art, including those utilized for fixation of the jaw during recovery from mandibular or maxillary fractures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,227,861 to Cartledge et al. discusses a pre-formed mandible splint and a method of aligning and stabilizing a fractured mandible with such a splint. The splint approximates the curvature of the lower teeth or gingiva of the lower jaw. The splint is U-shaped, follows the human dentition, and has rows of holes or slots along its outer and inner perimeter. The splint is placed on the teeth and wired through the holes or slots to the mandible to align the mandible. Fractures are then to be screwed into place according to the curvature of the splint. Cartledge attempts to improve upon the art by eliminating the need of wiring the patient's jaw shut. However, the splint of Cartledge is pre-formed and is intended to uniformly fit the population, and thus is not contoured to each patient's anatomy, but rather provides a singular, uniform flat surface in contact with variable anatomy. As the splint is in a fixed, straight plane, the patient's teeth may not all be at the same height in order to make adequate contact with the splint. Inconsistent dental height between adjacent teeth is common, especially in partially edentulous patients. Partially edentulous patients often have gaps between teeth from missing teeth. Any areas of missing teeth can lead to lengthening of the opposing tooth, as it does not have proper occlusal contact. For example, if a mandibular lateral incisor is absent, the opposing maxillary dentition will lack normal occlusal contact, which can result in lengthening of the opposing maxillary tooth. This further adds to any height discrepancies between teeth and leads to areas of non-contact between the tooth and splint, ultimately causing fracture malreduction. As such, Cartledge fails to provide either equally distributed contact or stability of fracture reduction. Further, the splint of Cartledge does not address the occlusion of the patient. If the splint rests in contact with dentition, it interferes with proper occlusion, which is the primary objective in fracture reduction. If the splint rests in contact with the gingiva directly, as in the case of an edentulous patient, then the proper distance is not maintained for the patient to wear their denture appliance postoperatively. Also, the Cartledge device is designed only for tooth-bearing regions of the mandible, including fractures of the symphysis, parasymphysis, and body. The device does not assist in reduction of mandible fractures of the angle, ramus, condyle or coronoid.
Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,539 to Gateno et al. describes a method of forming a surgical splint to receive a patient's dentition and align the upper jaw and the lower jaw during surgery. The method disclosed includes generating a computed tomography (CT) computer model of bone structure, generating a digital dental computer model of the patient's dentition, and combining the CT computer model and the digital dental computer model to form a composite computer model. The upper jaw and lower jaw are repositioned to form a "planned position" computer model. Thereafter, a computer model of the surgical splint is formed to direct fabrication of the splint. However, this methodology is quite complex and involves multiple steps, including separate dental trays, dental modeling, and merging of the facial bone CT with dental CT data. This can become very time-consuming and inefficient in the fabrication of the splint. This device also does not address fracture reduction but rather is for craniofacial and maxillofacial deformities requiring osteotomies, which is not used for fracture reduction. The device also does not address postoperative maintenance of the surgical splint. The device does not appear to be designed to remain in place postoperatively, but rather serves only as an intraoperative device.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,086,365 to Fields discusses fracture reduction and maxillary fixation by using a dental splint that is cemented directly to the patient's teeth to immobilize the patient's jaw during and following oral surgery. The splint includes an arch band having a back side that receives the bonding cement and a facial side from which multiple ligature studs project for engaging ligature wires. The arch band further includes flow passages that permit bonding cement deposited on the back side to flow onto the facial side as the arch band is pressed against the patient's teeth. However, this device is not personalized for individual patient and also requires bonding to the patients teeth. As it requires bonding to teeth, the device cannot be used in edentulous patients. Furthermore, the postoperative stability of the device is limited by the relative strength of the bonding agent used.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2007/0074729 to Magnin describes a mandibular advancement splint used to treat snoring and sleep apnea. The splint is formed of two thermoformable trays designed to envelop the upper and lower arch. In order to adapt to individual variations in teeth, the splint includes an articulated frame having rigid and flexible elements, immersed in the thermoformable flexible material or molded around it. However, as indicated, the device is incapable of assisting with fracture reduction and is constructed of a thermoformable tray. This device is also only used while sleeping.
Metzger et al. (Marc Christian Metzger. Bettina Hohlweg-Majert, Uli Schwarz, Matthias Teschner, Beat Hammer, Rainer Schmelzeisen, Manufacturing splints for orthognathic surgery using a three-dimensional printer, Oral Surgery, Oral Medicine, Oral Pathology, Oral Radiology, and Endodontology, Volume 105, Issue 2, February 2008, Pages e1-e7, ISSN 1079-2104) discusses the use of various tomographic techniques to produce a virtual rendering of a patient's jaw in order to produce splints for orthognathic surgery using a 3D printer. Data is acquired from the patient with orthognathic deformation via CT scan or cone beam computed tomography (CBCT) scan. The jaws are virtually repositioned and encoded, followed by printing of the splint. However, this device fabrication requires a separate dental scan or scanning of plaster dental models, the information of which is then incorporated into a facial bones CT scan. The device also addresses orthognathic surgical procedures, rather than reduction of maxillary or mandibular fractures and is incapable of performing as such. Further, the device utilizes intraoperative splints, but does not comment on the ability of the splint to remain postoperatively. The device can only be used in patients with dentition and thus cannot be applied to partially or completely edentulous patients.
Kocabay et al. (Ceyda Kocabay, Mustafa Sancar Ataç, Burak Öner, Nadir Güngör, The conservative treatment of pediatric mandibular fracture with prefabricated surgical splint: a case report, Dental Traumatology Volume 23, Issue 4, pages 247-250, August 2007) discusses the use of a pre-formed surgical splint for mandibular fracture fixation. This publication discusses the development of a custom, pre-formed splint for mandibular fracture fixation though the use of pressure molds. The device utilizes plaster dental modeling for formation of the acrylic splint, which can hinder the availability of the splint for operative use. The device further requires dentition to maintain fracture stability, and thus does not have application to partially or completely edentulous patients.
In the case described by Kocabay et al., the fracture was a midline symphyseal mandible fracture. In this type of fracture, the rotational forces are minimal. In all other types of mandibular fractures, the rotational forces acting to disrupt fracture alignment are much greater. As the device is depicted, it is unlikely the acrylic splint alone could maintain fracture reduction with these strong, additional rotation forces characteristic of mandibular fractures. The device is illustrated in a pediatric fracture, which is likely a greenstick fracture, as the authors acknowledge. This means that the periosteum overlying the fractured bone remains intact on at least one side. With intact periosteum from a greenstick fracture, reduction of the fracture becomes significantly easier than when the entire periosteum is disrupted and the fracture segments are freely mobile. In the adult patient, greenstick fractures are not seen, but rather, the entire periosteum is disrupted. Thus, in an adult fracture, it is doubtful that the acrylic splint would reduce the fracture and maintain postoperative alignment.
Generally, in difficult patient populations, such as those with edentulism or partial edentulism, there are very limited options for maxillomandibular fixation, and none provide stable reduction of fractures, including the foregoing devices and methodologies discussed. What is currently practiced in the art for an edentulous and partially edentulous patient with dentures, is that the patient's jaw is imaged upon removal of the dentures to ensure that the dentures are not blocking any visible fractures or other dentition. In many cases, the dentures are worn down and thus are not positioned where the patient's jaws should be aligned. As a result, the patient's jaw may have collapsed to an extent. To maintain the jaw in place then, the dentures are drilled or screwed into place since there is no other manner of estimating the spacing between the maxilla and mandible. This destroys the dentures for any future use and forces the patient to purchase a new set of expensive dentures.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved reduction splint, and method of fabrication thereof, for edentulous and partially edentulous subjects or patients. However, in view of the art considered as a whole at the time the present invention was made, it was not obvious to those of ordinary skill in the field of this invention how the shortcomings of the prior art could be overcome.
All referenced publications are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Furthermore, where a definition or use of a term in a reference, which is incorporated by reference herein, is inconsistent or contrary to the definition of that term provided herein, the definition of that term provided herein applies and the definition of that term in the reference does not apply.
While certain aspects of conventional technologies have been discussed to facilitate disclosure of the invention, Applicants in no way disclaim these technical aspects, and it is contemplated that the claimed invention may encompass one or more of the conventional technical aspects discussed herein.
The present invention may address one or more of the problems and deficiencies of the prior art discussed above. However, it is contemplated that the invention may prove useful in addressing other problems and deficiencies in a number of technical areas. Therefore, the claimed invention should not necessarily be construed as limited to addressing any of the particular problems or deficiencies discussed herein.
In this specification, where a document, act or item of knowledge is referred to or discussed, this reference or discussion is not an admission that the document, act or item of knowledge or any combination thereof was at the priority date, publicly available, known to the public, part of common general knowledge, or otherwise constitutes prior art under the applicable statutory provisions; or is known to be relevant to an attempt to solve any problem with which this specification is concerned.

Custom reduction splint for edentulous patients


The inkjet recording head comprises: a plurality of ink chambers aligned, each of the plurality of ink chambers having a nozzle; and a piezoelectric element arranged on an outer side of the plurality of ink chambers, the piezoelectric element using displacement in d31 direction, piezoelectric strain absorbing holes being formed through the piezoelectric element in regions of outer perimeters of active sections of the piezoelectric element, wherein when voltage is applied to one of the active sections of the piezoelectric element, corresponding one of the plurality of ink chambers is compressed by the piezoelectric element, and ink filled in the one of the plurality of ink chambers is discharged through the nozzle toward a recording medium.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to inkjet recording head, an inkjet recording apparatus and a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, and more particularly, to an inkjet recording head, an inkjet recording apparatus, and a method for manufacturing an inkjet recording head, whereby no cross-talk is generated.
2. Description of the Related Art
An inkjet printer used as an image forming apparatus, such as a printer, a facsimile apparatus, a copying apparatus, or the like, forms images on paper by discharging ink from nozzles of pressure chambers, in accordance with image forming data.
Ink discharging devices based on a piezo-actuator using a piezoelectric element, which deforms in accordance with an electric signal, are known. In a piezo-actuator method, a pressure wave is applied to a pressure chamber by deforming the wall of the pressure chamber by means of a piezoelectric element, thereby causing ink to be discharged from the nozzle of the pressure chamber, and therefore it is possible to generate a strong pressure wave by means of a low drive energy. In recent years, inkjet printers have been required to form images of high precision and resolution, and it has become necessary to eliminate differences in the flight characteristics of ink droplets, when one nozzle is driven and when a plurality of nozzles are driven, and to eliminate the generation of accidental droplets due to cross-talk between one pressure chamber and an adjacent pressure chamber. As a method for resolving these requirements, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-329320 discloses that cross-talk is prevented by forming strain absorbing holes in two or three of the outer edges of the pressure chamber of the piezoelectric element.
In the recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-329320, the piezoelectric elements corresponding to respective nozzles are connected partially with the adjacently positioned piezoelectric elements, and hence a problem arises in that cross-talk cannot be completely eliminated. Moreover, the recording head disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 10-329320 is formed by stacking green sheets in multilayer on which strain absorbing holes have been formed, and it is difficult to register the small strain absorbing holes in position, and hence productivity declines. Moreover, in an inkjet printer head based on a method wherein ink is discharged by using a bimorph effect between a vibration plate and a piezoelectric body, as in the present example, since the displacement of the piezoelectric body in a lateral direction is utilized, there is a very significant effect on adjacent nozzles if a structure is adopted wherein all of the piezoelectric bodies are connected.

Inkjet recording head, inkjet recording apparatus and method for manufacturing inkjet recording head


An operating method of a memory controller includes performing a soft read operation to read data stored in a semiconductor memory device using a soft read voltage, performing a soft decision ECC decoding operation to the read data based on a first log likelihood ratio (LLR) value, and performing the soft decision ECC decoding operation to the read data based on a second LLR value when the soft decision ECC decoding operation based on the first LLR value fails. The first and second LLR values are selected between a default LLR value and an updated LLR value. The updated LLR value is generated on a basis of numbers of error bits and non-error bits of the read data, which are obtained through the soft decision ECC decoding operation to the read data.

1. Field
Various exemplary embodiments of the present invention relate to a semiconductor design technology and, more particularly, to a controller, a semiconductor memory system and an operating method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Semiconductor memory devices are generally classified into volatile memory devices, such as dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM), and nonvolatile memory devices, such as read only memory (ROM), mask ROM (MROM), programmable ROM (PROM), erasable PROM (EPROM), electrically EPROM (EEPROM), ferromagnetic RAM (FRAM), phase change RAM (PRAM), magnetoresistive RAM (MRAM), resistive RAM (RRAM) and flash memory.
Volatile memory devices lose their data without a constant source of power, whereas nonvolatile memory devices are able to retain their data. In particular, flash memory devices are widely used as storage mediums in computer systems because of their high program speed, low power consumption and large data storage capacity.
In nonvolatile memory devices, especially in flash memory devices, data states of each memory cell are determined based on the number of bits of data stored in the memory cell. A memory cell storing 1-bit data is called a single-bit cell or a single-level cell (SLC). A memory cell storing multi-bit data (i.e., 2 or more bits of data) is called a multi-bit cell, a multi-level cell (MLC) or a multi-state cell. The multi-bit cell is advantageous for high integration. However, as the number of bits of data programmed in each memory cell increases, the reliability of the data decreases and the read failure rate of the data increases.
For example, when k-bit information is to be programmed in a memory cell, one of 2k threshold voltages is formed in the memory cell. Due to minute differences between the electrical characteristics of memory cells, the threshold voltages of memory cells programmed with the same data form a threshold voltage distribution. Threshold voltage distributions correspond to 2k data values corresponding to the k-bit information, respectively.
However, the voltage window available for each threshold voltage distribution is limited. Therefore, as the value k increases, the distance between the threshold voltage distributions decreases and the adjacent threshold voltage distributions overlap. As the adjacent threshold voltage distributions overlap, read data may include error bits.
FIG. 1 is a threshold voltage distribution diagram schematically illustrating program and erase states of a 3-bit multi-level cell (3-bit MLC) in a nonvolatile memory device.
FIG. 2 is a threshold voltage distribution diagram schematically illustrating program and erase states of a 3-bit MLC having deteriorated characteristics in a nonvolatile memory device.
In an MLC nonvolatile memory device, e.g., an MLC flash memory device in which k-bit data is programmed in a memory cell, the memory cell may have one of 2k threshold voltage distributions. For example, a 3-bit MLC has one of 8 threshold voltage distributions.
Threshold voltages of memory cells programmed with the same data form the threshold voltage distribution due to characteristic differences between the memory cells. In a 3-bit MLC nonvolatile memory device, as illustrated in FIG. 1, threshold voltage distributions corresponding to 7 program states 'P1' to 'P7' and an erase state 'E' are formed. FIG. 1 shows an ideal case in which threshold voltage distributions do not overlap and have read voltage margins therebetween.
Referring to the flash memory example of FIG. 2, a memory cell may experience charge loss, where electrons trapped at a floating gate or tunnel oxide film are discharged over time. Such charge loss may accelerate when the tunnel oxide film deteriorates by iterative program and erase operations. Charge loss results in a decrease in the threshold voltages of memory cells. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 2, the threshold voltage distribution may be shifted left due to charge loss.
Further, program disturbance, erase disturbance and/or back pattern dependency also cause increases in threshold voltages. As characteristics of memory cells deteriorate, as described above, threshold voltage distributions of adjacent states may overlap, as illustrated in FIG. 2.
Once threshold voltage distributions overlap, read data may include a significant number of errors when a particular read voltage is applied to a selected word line. For example, when a memory cell is sensed in an 'on' state by a read voltage Vread3 that is applied to a selected word line, the memory cell is determined to have a second program state 'P2'. When a memory cell is sensed as an 'off' state by a read voltage Vread3 applied to a selected word line, the memory cell is determined to have a third program state 'P3'. However, when threshold voltage distributions overlap, the memory cell, which actually has the third program state 'P3', may be erroneously determined to have the second program state 'P2'. In short, when the threshold voltage distributions overlap as illustrated in FIG. 2, read data may include a significant number of errors.
What is therefore required is a scheme for reducing failure of read operations for data stored in memory cells of a semiconductor memory device.

Controller, semiconductor memory system and operating method thereof


A mobile terminal and an antenna thereof are provided. The mobile terminal includes a housing, a main board arranged within said housing, and an antenna arranged on the outer surface of said housing such that the antenna is connected with said main board. The height of the mobile phone antenna can be effectively increased and, thus the performance of the antenna is improved.

With a raise of living standard, requirements for a mobile terminal such as a mobile phone by people are higher and higher. An antenna of the mobile terminal is an important component in the mobile terminal and its quality is an important index of the mobile terminal's performance.
A common-used form of the antenna in currently mobile terminals is Planner Inverted-F Antenna (PIFA). The PIFA antenna has strict demands for area and height.
A common-used design method nowadays is to dispose the PIFA antenna inside a housing of the mobile terminal, that is, use an embedded antenna schema.
Recently, the mobile terminal is hoped to be miniaturized for being carried conveniently. Therefore, the mobile terminal is now designed to be thinner and thinner and a space inside the housing of the mobile terminal is smaller and smaller, which is difficult to satisfy a design requirement that the height of the antenna should be or above 6.5 mm.


A method and system for improving power distribution and/or current measurement on a printed circuit board is disclosed. According to the invention, a first power plane adapted for current measurement includes a first segment to which a current source is connected and a second segment to which other devices may be connected, forming the current load. A third segment is used to measure the current between the first segment and the second segment through two vias that link two points of the third segment to, preferably, two pads of the external layer. In a preferred embodiment, vias are connected to the first segment so that current flow in the third segment is linear, to improve and simplify current determination. The resistivity between the pair of vias may be computed or estimated using calibrated currents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to printed circuit boards (PCB) populated with power supplies used to furnish DC voltages and DC currents to integrated circuits, and more specifically to a method and system for measuring and/or balancing DC currents flowing from current sources to integrated circuits.
2. Background of the Invention
Current sharing allows a distribution of load current amongst a number of parallel DC to DC converters to increase the current and power delivery to a load by having each of the converters contribute some component of the total current required. Current sharing improves the system transient response by spreading the load over all paralleled converters and improves reliability by reducing their individual power dissipation. With current sharing, each parallel converter contributes approximately a 1/N+1 portion of the load current, when there are a total of N+1 paralleled converters with a minimum of N converters required for providing maximum load current. One converter does not have to contribute a disproportionate amount or reach a current limit before other parallel converters contribute. If some of the paralleled converters should fail, the load current is distributed among the remaining converters and the system continues to operate.
Current sharing can be based on the output current of each of the DC to DC converters or can be based on the current carried by each of the switching devices in each of the converters. When output current or load current is monitored, an output sense resistor is used in each of the parallel regulators. The sense resistor dissipates considerable amounts of power when the converters provide high output currents.
Most commercially available DC converters do not provide current control or current monitoring. Therefore, external sensor circuits and external current sharing controllers are required. Generally, a discrete resistor is used to measure the current. FIGS. 1A and 1B illustrate the use of a discrete resistor to measure current to control DC to DC converters for efficient current sharing. FIG. 1A is a partial cross-sectional view of a printed circuit board 100 and FIG. 1B is a partial plan view of the external upper layer. PCB 100 comprises internal and external conductive layers, usually made of copper, in which wiring tracks may be designed and drawn. PCB 100 includes the conductive plane 105 that is part of the power plane grid implemented in one of the internal conductive layers. The conductive tracks 110 and 115 are part of the external conductive upper layer. Conductive vias 125 are used to electrically connect power plane 105 and conductive track 115, as illustrated. Distributing current through a sufficient number of vias 125 reduces the voltage drop at any given node on the board. Once conductive tracks of the external layers have been designed, PCB 100 is partially covered with an insulative solder mask protective coating 120 to protect the board and to avoid shorts. The parts that are not covered with insulative material are plated so that electronic components may be soldered to the PCB 100. A Pin-In-Hole (PIH) DC to DC converter 130 is connected to conductive track 110 of PCB 100 with pin 135 and a discrete resistor 140 is connected to conductive tracks 110 and 115 as illustrated. An electronic component 145 having a pin 150 connected to the power plane 105 is also shown in FIG. 1.
FIG. 1B illustrates the external upper layer comprising conductive tracks 110 and 115. Each conductive track 110 and 115 end with a pad referred to as 155-1 and 155-2, respectively, on which discrete resistor 140 is soldered. The footprint of discrete resistor 140 is represented by a dotted line. Two further conductive tracks 160-1 and 160-2 are connected to the pads 155-1 and 155-2, respectively, and to a current sharing controller, not represented for clarity. While a single internal power plane is shown on FIG. 1A, it is understood that a PCB generally comprises several internal power and wiring planes, in a multi-layered PCB. The number of internal power planes depends upon the power required and the number of DC to DC converters mounted on the PCB. Distributing current through several internal power planes reduces the voltage drop and therefore current loss.
A standard solution for measuring current between DC to DC converter 130 and power plane 105 consists in removing discrete resistor 140 so as to solder a copper wire between pads 155-1 and 155-2 and to use a current clamp.
To achieve a lower resistor value, two discrete resistors in close proximity may be arranged in parallel. However, using two discrete resistors per converter may increase the dedicated area for such components and the cost of PCB design.
A need exists in the art for a method and system for measuring current at the output of a DC to DC converter and for optimizing current sharing between several DC to DC converters employed on a PCB such that the problems described above are overcome. Particular scrutiny must be given to the additional cost and area required to implement a satisfactory PCB solution.

System for improving power distribution current measurement on printed circuit boards

International Business Machines Corporation


This invention relates to methods for purification of paclitaxel from a paclitaxel-containing material. The method comprises the following steps: (a) extracting a paclitaxel-containing material with an organic solvent to obtain an extract, and concentrating the extract; (b) adding the concentrate with an organic solvent which is not mixed with water to separate an organic solvent phase and then concentrating; (c) subjecting the concentrate to normal phase chromatography to obtain an eluate; (d) dissolving the eluate in an acetone or dichloromethane followed by adding pentane or hexane to form a precipitate; and (e) subjecting the precipitate to high performance liquid chromatography. According to the method of the present invention, paclitaxel of over 99.5% purity can be easily obtained from a Taxus genus plant with a high yield.

(a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods for purification of paclitaxel from paclitaxel-containing material.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Paclitaxel is the most important antineoplastic agent for ovarian cancer, breast cancer, etc. discovered in the United States in the 1960's when the National Cancer Institute began a large-scale screening program for selecting material having anti-cancer activity. Paclitaxel has been widely used as an antineoplastic agent since approval by the FDA (Federal Drug & Food Agency) in 1992.
Because paclitaxel is isolated and purified from the bark of Yew trees in which paclitaxel is present in a very low amount (about 0.02%), a high cost in purification of paclitaxel has been demanded, and destruction of nature and ecosystems has been provoked. To overcome the above problems, a method for semi-synthesis of paclitaxel using precursors obtained from the needles of Yew trees and a method for large scale production using a Yew tree-cell culturing method have been developed. The prior arts relating to methods of purification of paclitaxel are as follows.
The procedure of WO 00/40573 of Foo et al. provides a method for preparing a high purity paclitaxel from a paclitaxel-containing material, the method comprising: obtaining a low purity extract by a liquid/liquid extracting procedure; purifying the extract through a silica column; conducting precipitation of the extract with an acetone/aqueous solvent; and repeating the silica column and crystallization steps. However, this procedure needs performing of chromatography three times and of crystallizing two times to acquire high purity paclitaxel. In addition, a precipitation method using an acetone/aqueous solvent should be undertaken in this procedure, and productivity of Paclitaxel is 49–73%, which is very low.
The procedure of WO 00/078741 of Bui-khac et al. provides a method for the extraction and purification of paclitaxel that includes the steps of: a) extracting a raw material comprising paclitaxel with an organic solvent from the natural source of taxanes; b) treating the raw material with a base or acid to obtain a biomass by precipitation; c) percolorizing the biomass by removing resin and natural pigment contained therein; and d) chromatographically purifying at least once and crystallizing at least once by adding acetone and hexane. However, it is known that paclitaxel is decomposed to 10-deacetylpaclitaxel and baccatin III in an acidic or base condition. Therefore, this method has difficulty in purifying paclitaxel with a high yield, and needs much time because of complicated procedures.
The procedure of U.S. Pat. No. 5,900,367 of Hong et al. provides a method for mass production of paclitaxel. The steps include: a) synthetic absorbent treatment of a crude extract, prepared by a method of organic solvent extraction, to remove a tar component; b) addition of hexane to the filtrate to precipitate crude taxol; c) fractional precipitation of the crude taxol in a mixture of alcohol and water, and drying the precipitate to obtain taxol powder; and d) high performance liquid chromatography of the taxol powder. This method has an advantage in isolation and purification of high purity with a small quantity of solvent by using only three extracting and purifying solvents: dichloromethane, methanol, and hexane. However, there is a need for re-fractional precipitation of the filtrate recovered from precipitation solution to enhance purity and fractional precipitation yield.

Method for purification of paclitaxel from paclitaxel-containing materials


The preparation and use of acrylic and fluoroacrylic polymers suitable for luminescence oxygen sensing applications are described. These materials can be used in luminophor coatings for optical fiber sensors or as coatings on aerodynamic surfaces for wind tunnel study. Compositions containing these polymers have the advantages of: (1) reduced induction effect; (2) subsecond response times; (3) low photodegradation; and (4) low temperature dependence.

This invention relates to oxygen pressure measurements based on the quenching of luminescence of a luminophor or pressure-sensing dye dissolved or dispersed in a polymer matrix which is placed in contact with oxygen-containing gas or liquid. More specifically, pressure sensitive compositions consist of an oxygen permeable polymer matrix into which a fluorescent or phosphorescent dye is either dispersed or dissolved. The luminescence of the dyes that are used in these formulations are quenched in the presence of molecular oxygen. Thus, an increase of molecular oxygen in the polymer matrix results in a decrease of luminescence intensity. The concentration of oxygen in the polymer matrix is dependent on the oxygen pressure or concentration at the surface of the paint. More detailed explanations of the principle of pressure sensitive paint have been previously presented in the literature. In general the polymers are utilized either at the end of an optical fiber or else in a film coating an aerodynamic surface. In the latter case, when the aerodynamic surface is in a wind tunnel and is illuminated by exciting light with the light emission being recorded by a video or CCD camera, the quenching of luminescence can be used to map the pressure differences across the surface due to airflow. In the aerodynamic context, the luminescent coating quenched by oxygen has been referred to in the art as "pressure sensitive paint" or PSP. As in the dictionary definition of "paint," PSP is used herein to refer both to the luminescent coating and to the mixture of pigment, luminophor, vehicle, and additives that is applied to the aerodynamic surface to produce the luminescent coating.
The use of oxygen quenching to measure oxygen pressure has been previously described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,810,655; 5,186,046; and 5,341,676, which patents are incorporated herein by reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,810,655 describes the use of oxygen quenching of a luminophor at the end of an optical fiber to measure oxygen in a fluid, either liquid or gas, an application having particular utility in monitoring the human bloodstream. In the related 5,186,046 and 5,341,676 patents, oxygen quenching is used in connection with wind tunnel research. In these patents, the luminophor is present in a polymer film coated onto the airfoil surface. The effect of aerodynamic lift induced by airflow is to lower the effective oxygen pressure at the surface resulting in less oxygen quenching. The luminescence decay time accordingly lengthens and the luminescence intensity rises. Either of these changes can be monitored and used to measure the pressure changes of interest for aerodynamic studies.
A preferred class of pressure-sensitive dyes for these applications are the porphyrins. Porphyrins are macrocyclic tetrapyrrole structures, some of which are known to luminesce when exposed to specific frequencies of light. This luminescence is also known to be quenched by the presence of oxygen. The oxygen quenching properties of platinum porphyrins have been used for the determination of oxygen in vivo. For aerodynamic pressure studies, the photoluminescence of platinum octaethylporphyrin (PtOEP) is shown to be quantitatively measured as a function of the partial pressure of oxygen with video imaging techniques. When PtOEP in a suitable polymer is applied to an aerodynamic surface and placed in an operating wind tunnel under appropriate lighting, the molecules' luminescence is a function of the local pressure of oxygen over the surface of interest during aerodynamic flow. Since oxygen partial pressure is a fixed fraction of the total air pressure, the resulting image will be brightest in the areas of low pressure and less intense in the areas of high pressure. The luminescence data may later be used to map pressure fields.
Following the initial publication of a description of the use of luminescence paint for pressure measurement in connection with wind tunnel research, many different formulations of polymer with different luminophors have been tried. A familiar and commercially available polymer solvent mix called GP-197, sold by the Genesee Polymers Corporation as a mold release, has been used for PSP with platinum octaethylporphyrin, commonly abbreviated PtOEP, added as the luminophor. The polymer in GP-197 is a silicone resin. Additional details about the GP-197 formulation can be found in J. Kavandi et al., Rev. Sci Instrum, vol. 61 at page 3340 (1990). Other relevant prior art publications in this field include B. F. Carroll, et al., AIAA Journal, vol. 34 at page 521 (1996); R. H. Uibel, et al., AIAA Paper no. 93-0179, 31st Aerospace Sciences Meeting (Jan. 11-14, 1993); and, J. P. Bullock, et al., Seventh International Symposium on Flow Visualization, page 795 (Sep. 11-14, 1995).
Testing of PSP based on PtOEP in Genesee-197, however, has led to the discovery of a number of problems and limitations with this PSP formulation. First, it has been found that there exists what might be termed an "induction" effect: the intensity of luminescence increases for a period following the start of illumination thereby leading to inaccuracies in the pressure measuring. Second, the GP-197 formulation was found to respond rather slowly to pressure changes. Response times of tens of seconds were recorded. Because of the expense of wind tunnel research, however, it is desirable to take new wind tunnel readings without having to wait tens of seconds while the luminescence intensity stabilizes. Thus a response time shorter than I second is considered highly desirable.
Third, it was found that the luminescence of GP-197 decreased over the time period of irradiation, apparently due to photodegradation of the luminophor. This decrease creates a problem because of the measurement sequence commonly used in wind tunnel studies. Pressure measurement in a wind tunnel is usually determined from the ratio I.sub.x,y (wind-off,t.sub.1)/I.sub.xy (wind-on,t.sub.2), where I.sub.xy is the emission intensity recorded on a CCD camera at pixel xy and t.sub.1 and t.sub.2 are the times when the two measurements are taken. Customarily the I.sub.xy (wind-off,t.sub.1) readings are taken with the wind tunnel off for the series of attack angles of interest. The wind tunnel is turned on and the velocity is adjusted. The I.sub.xy (wind-on,t.sub.2) readings are taken for the same set of attack angles. The wind tunnel velocity can then be adjusted again and another set of I.sub.xy (wind-on,t.sub.2) readings taken. The result is that there can be a considerable period of exposure to exciting light between the times t.sub.1 and t.sub.2. If there is photodeterioration over this time, a new I.sub.xy (wind-off) should be taken right before each I.sub.xy (wind-on) reading. The cost for wind tunnel runs, however, makes it necessary to take only a few I.sub.xy (wind-off) images. Thus, if I.sub.xy (wind-off,t.sub.1)/I.sub.xy (wind-on,t.sub.2) is to provide an accurate measurement of the pressure on the airfoil, photodegradation between t.sub.1 and t.sub.2 must be minimized. The PSP based on PtOEP in GP-197 has been found to experience excessive photodegradation over the relevant time period leading to pressure measurement inaccuracies.
A fourth problem with GP-197 in PSP applications is its relatively high temperature dependence. As mentioned above, a considerable time (on the order of tens of minutes) can elapse between I(wind-off,t.sub.1) and I(wind-on,t.sub.2). Over the course of a wind tunnel run, the temperature in the wind tunnel drifts. Thus, the I.sub.xy (wind-off,t.sub.1) is often taken at a different temperature than I.sub.xy (wind-on,t.sub.2). The GP-197 formulation has been found to have a temperature dependence of nearly 3%/.degree.C. at 1 atm pressure. The temperature in the wind tunnel can drift as much as 40.degree. C. over the course of an all-day wind tunnel run. This introduces a source of serious inaccuracy if there are a few degrees difference in temperature between time t.sub.1 for the wind-off image and t.sub.2 for the wind-on image. In particular, at low wind velocities where pressure changes due to wind flow are only a few percent of atmospheric pressure, the change in I.sub.xy (wind-on) due to temperature drift can be of the same order of magnitude or even larger than the change in I.sub.xy (wind-on) due to pressure. Thus, minimizing the temperature dependence of a PSP formulation is another necessary prerequisite for accurate wind tunnel pressure measurement.
In addition, some other problems became apparent with the GP-197 formulation. It was found to be relatively brittle and would start to chip over the course of a wind tunnel run. On the other hand, GP-197 was easy to apply, it formed a smooth coating that was not sticky, and was relatively rugged to handling. It would therefore be desirable to develop a PSP formulation that eliminates or reduces the four problems mentioned above, while largely preserving the good features of GP-197. These and other problems with and limitations of the prior art PSP formulations in oxygen pressure measuring are, at least in part, overcome with the improved PSP compositions of this invention.

Acrylic and fluoroacrylic polymers for oxygen pressure sensing and pressure-sensitive paints utilizing these polymers


Automated low-complexity video-based vehicle speed estimation is described, that operates within the video stream to screen video sequences to identify and eliminate clear non-violators and/or identify and select potential violators within a multi-layer speed enforcement system, in which deeper layers provide enhanced accuracy on selected candidate (speeding) vehicles. Video motion vector clusters corresponding to a vehicle are identified and tracked across multiple frames of captured video. Movement of the motion vector clusters translated from pixels per second to real speed (e.g. miles per hour) to determine whether the vehicle was speeding. Estimated speed data is added to the video stream data is metadata, and video segments of candidate speeding vehicles are stored and/or transmitted for subsequent review (e.g. automated or manual).

Video-based vehicle speed estimation is an area in which significant effort is being expended in order to develop a robust video-based speed law enforcement solution. High spatial and temporal resolutions are required to yield accurate speed estimates and to perform other traffic enforcement tasks of interest such as automatic license plate recognition (ALPR). For example, one conventional video-based speed enforcement solution uses a 4 Mpixel, 60 fps camera. Achieving real-time processing at this high data rate is extremely challenging and increases the complexity associated with screening of candidate speeders, as well as increases the processing burden encountered in off-line video analysis. Using conventional approaches, video compression may be encountered in at least two scenarios. In one, you may have access to video data as it is being compressed in the conventional manner, such as having access to the compression methods in use in a smart camera. In another scenario, you may be the receiver of video data that has been previously compressed. Conventional approaches do not accommodate computation within the compression operation or using features of the compressed data stream to screen candidates speeding vehicles.
A typical video-based vehicle speed enforcement solution has two main components: a speed estimation module and a vehicle identification module (usually an ALPR mode). Conventional approaches are faced with a significant computational burden when attempting to provide accurate speed estimation for violators in addition to accurate ALPR and near-real-time processing performance. All three requirements are interdependent and difficult to satisfy using conventional approaches. For example, speed estimation generally involves detecting a vehicle, tracking the detected vehicle's feature(s), e.g., corners of its license plate or tire edges, converting the tracked trajectory (e.g., in image pixel coordinates, etc.) to real-world coordinates (e.g., in meters, feet, etc.) through camera calibration, and estimating the vehicle's speed by computing the ratio of travelled distance to time. These steps require significant computational resources, even when processing video acquired with traditional, low-resolution, low frame rate surveillance cameras. Moreover, in order to yield accurate speed estimates and achieve the required ALPR performance, high spatial and temporal resolutions are required.
Achieving real-time processing under the high data rate constraints imposed by the performance requirements (e.g., accurate speed measurement and successful ALPR) is extremely challenging under conventional approaches. Achieving near real-time processing for speed enforcement makes desirable a system capable of identifying most (if not all) speed violators while achieving accurate speed estimation.
Video compression is employed in applications where high quality video transmission and/or archival is required. For example, a surveillance system typically includes a set of cameras that relay video data to a central processing and archival facility. While the communication network used to transport the video stream between the cameras and the central facility may be built on top of proprietary technology, traffic management centers have recently started to migrate to Internet Protocol- or IP-compliant networks. In either case, the underlying communication network typically has bandwidth constraints which dictate the use of video compression techniques on the camera end, prior to transmission. In the case of legacy analog cameras, compression is performed at an external encoder attached to the camera, whereas digital or IP cameras typically integrate the encoder within the camera itself. Typical transmission rates over IP networks require the frame rate of multi-megapixel video streams to be limited to fewer than 5 frames per second (fps). The latest video compression standards enable the utilization of the full frame rate camera capabilities for transmitting high definition video at the same network bandwidth. For example, transmission of 1080p HD uncompressed video requires a bandwidth of 1.5 Gbps, while its compressed counterpart requires only 250 Mbps; consequently, transmission of compressed video with at least 6 times the frame rate of the uncompressed version would be possible over the same network infrastructure.
Video compression is achieved by exploiting two types of redundancies within the video stream: spatial redundancies amongst neighboring pixels within a frame, and temporal redundancies between adjacent frames. This modus operandi gives raise to two different types of prediction, namely intra-frame and inter-frame prediction, which in turn result in two different types of encoded frames, reference and non-reference frames. Reference frames, or "I-frames" are encoded in a standalone manner (intra-frame) using compression methods similar to those used to compress digital images. Compression of non-reference frames (e.g., P-frames and B-frames) entails using inter-frame or motion-compensated prediction methods where the target frame is estimated or predicted from previously encoded frames in a process that typically entails three steps: (i) motion estimation, where motion vectors are estimated using previously encoded frames. The target frame is segmented into pixel blocks called target blocks, and an estimated or predicted frame is built by stitching together the blocks from previously encoded frames that best match the target blocks. Motion vectors describe the relative displacement between the location of the original blocks in the reference frames and their location in the predicted frame. While motion compensation of P-frames relies only on previous frames, previous and future frames are typically used to predict B-frames; (ii) residual calculation, where the error between the predicted and target frame is calculated; and (iii) compression, where the error residual and the extracted motion vectors are compressed and stored. Throughout the teachings herein, we use the terms "motion vector" and "compression-type motion vector" synonymously.
For video captured with a stationary camera (the category under which most traffic cameras currently deployed fall), the main cause of changes between adjacent frames corresponds to object motion. In this setting the output from the motion compensation stage is the block matching algorithm describing the way pixel blocks move between adjacent frames. As such, the encoded set of motion vectors is a good descriptor of apparent motion of objects within the field of view of the camera.
Since video compression is typically performed at the camera end prior to transmission over the network, real-time hardware implementations of popular algorithms such as H264 and MPEG4 are commonplace. Implementing speed estimation modules based on compression motion vector analysis would add a small amount of computation which is conducive to real-time performance, as already existing highly optimized hardware implementations are leveraged.
There is a need in the art for systems and methods that facilitate using video compression motion vector information to estimate speed, while overcoming the aforementioned deficiencies.

Video-based vehicle speed estimation from motion vectors in video streams


A gear shift control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle can achieve enhancement of the transmission efficiency and enhancement of the fuel cost without damaging the drivability to the utmost. The gear shift control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle includes an engine, a transmission for changing the speed of rotation of the engine, and a motor for assisting the driving force of the engine. The assist torque maximum value of the motor is set higher when the gear position of the transmission is a predetermined gear position at which the transmission efficiency of the driving force is highest than when the gear position is any other gear position than the predetermined gear position.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a gear shift control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle which includes a motor and an engine.
(2) Description of the Related Art
Generally, an automatic transmission incorporated in an automobile includes a gear shift map in which the vehicle speed and the accelerator opening are used as parameters. Usually, a target gear position is set based on the gear shift map, and the gear position is changed over to the target gear position. On the other hand, in a manual transmission, the driver operates a shift lever of its own will to changeover the gear position.
A technique relating to a gear shift control apparatus for an automatic transmission is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. Hei 5-26335 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). In particular, according to the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, an automatic transmission which includes a main transmission section and a sub transmission section and wherein the gear position is changed over such that a low speed gear position is assumed when the sub transmission section is in a directly coupled state whereas a high speed gear position is assumed when the sub transmission section is not in a directly coupled state is configured such that, upon down shifting, the sub transmission section assumes the gear position of the directly coupled state.
According to the technique, the ratio of a period of time within which the sub transmission section assumes the directly coupled state upon down shifting is increased by such control as described above to achieve enhancement of the fuel cost and reduction of gear noise and further achieve enhancement of the durability.
Incidentally, in a transmission, a gear position (directly coupled gear position) at which the transmission gear ratio (output rotational speed/input rotational speed) is 1.0 is the gear position at which the highest transmission efficiency is obtained. Meanwhile, in a transmission which does not have a directly coupled gear position, a gear position at which the transmission gear ratio is nearest to 1.0 is the gear position at which the highest transmission efficiency is obtained. The transmission gear position at which the transmission efficiency is highest provides an advantage that an enhanced fuel cost is obtained when compared with the other gear positions.
However, conventional popular automatic transmissions are not configured taking such a situation as described above into consideration, but a gear shift map is set based on a torque characteristic of a driving source (engine). Accordingly, in conventional popular automatic transmissions, if the engine operation condition is changed to a region of another gear position on the gear shift map, then gear shifting is performed even if traveling at the directly coupled gear position is preferable from the fuel cost performance.
Further, in the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, while, upon down shifting, the subtransmission section is shifted to the gear position of the directly coupled state, the target gear position of the main transmission section is set based on an ordinary gear shift map. In this regard, the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1 is a similar technique to the popular automatic transmissions described hereinabove and does not take the transmission efficiency at the main transmission section into consideration. Further, with the technique disclosed in Patent Document 1, since the target gear position is likely to be set to a gear position different from an original target gear position, there is the possibility that the drivability may be damaged.

Gear shift control apparatus for a hybrid vehicle

Mitsubishi Fuso Truck and Bus Corporation


A correlated double sampling pixel gain amplifier includes an operational amplifier, an input sampling capacitor, and a feedback capacitor. The input capacitor samples the input signal during a first time phase and the feedback capacitor receives the signal charge from the input capacitor. No sampling switch is located between the input capacitor and the input terminal. The feedback capacitor may include a capacitor array.

A charge-coupled device (CCD) output waveform is a sequence of pixels, where each pixel is represented as the difference between a reset level and a data level. This signal waveform is initially processed before being passed on to the automatic gain control (AGC) circuit:
The data level is subtracted from the reset level on a pixel-by-pixel basis to remove the reset noise component common to both signals. This operation is called correlated double-sampling (CDS).
One prior art CDS is shown in block diagram form in FIG. 1. This is a pipelined CDS circuit. It has two non-overlapping time phases of operation: In the Q1 phase of the pipelined CDS circuit, the reset level is sampled by sample-and-hold (S/H) #1. A schematic diagram of a typical S/H is shown in FIG. 2. In the Q2 phase, the data level is sampled by S/H #2. Simultaneously, S/H #3 samples the output of S/H #1.
Drawbacks of the pipelined CDS technique are: (1) there are three sampling operations, which increases the noise over techniques requiring only two sampling operations; and (2) any gain or offset mismatch between the reset path (S/H #1 and S/H #3) and the data path (S/H #2) limits the ability of the CDS to remove reset noise.
Another prior art CDS is shown in FIG. 3. This is a dual CDS circuit.
S/H #1 and S/H #2 form a single CDS circuit, and S/H #3 and S/H #4 form a second single CDS circuit. Each single CDS processes alternate pixels. Thus, two CDS circuits are required to process all pixels.
The dual CDS has four phases of operation. In the Q1A phase, the reset level of the first pixel is sampled by S/H #1. The output switch is set to B. In the Q1B phase, the data level of the first pixel is sampled by S/H #2. The output switch is set to B. In the Q2A phase, the reset level of the second pixel is sampled by S/H #3. The output switch is set to A. In the Q2B phase, the data level of the second pixel is sampled by S/H #4. The output switch is set to A.
Compared to the pipeline CDS of FIG. 1, the dual CDS has lower noise because only two sampling operations are performed for each pixel. Also, the AGC has a full period to sample each pixel.
Drawbacks of the dual CDS scheme include: (1) two CDS circuits are required because the previous pixel value must be held while the reset level of the next pixel is sampled; and (2) even and odd pixels use different CDS circuits, causing gain and offset errors which must be removed.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


The present invention relates to an oral solid dosage form, in particular a tablet, comprising sorafenib tosylate polymorphic form III.

Sorafenib, 4-(4-{3-[4-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ureido}phenoxy)-N2-methylpyridine-2-carboxamide,
is a multikinase inhibitor. A method for its preparation is described in WO 00/42012.
Sorafenib tosylate, 4-(4-{3-[4-chloro-3-(trifluoromethyl)phenyl]ureido}phenoxy)-N2-methylpyridine-2-carboxamide 4-methylbenzenesulfonate, is a pharmaceutically active agent which can be used for the treatment of advanced renal cell carcinoma and hepatocellular carcinoma.
The preparation of different polymorphic forms of sorafenib tosylate, specifically polymorphic forms I, II, and III, is described in WO 2006/034797. In particular, WO 2006/034797 relates to the polymorphic form I, which is described as exhibiting superior stability in comparison to the other disclosed crystal forms. According to WO 2006/034797 this ensures that no undesired conversion to any other polymorph takes place as well as increased safety and quality of pharmaceutical preparations comprising polymorph I.
WO 2006/094626 relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing sorafenib. Among others, polymorphs in general, solvates, hydrates, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts of sorafenib are mentioned. As to the polymorphs, only the polymorphic form I is specifically mentioned.
WO 2009/092070 describes a processes for the preparation of the polymorphic forms I, II, and III of sorafenib tosylate, and further describes the preparation of a methanol solvate, an ethanol solvate, and a hemi-tosylate. Pharmaceutical compositions containing said compounds are only generally mentioned, and WO 2009/092070 is silent on specific pharmaceutical compositions, and no example is directed to a pharmaceutical composition.
Sorafenib tosylate is currently marketed as a coated tablet for immediate release under the trade name of Nexavar®, wherein the tablets contain the sorafenib tosylate having polymorphic form I. The tablets are packaged in expensive aluminum blisters, which are practically impermeable to water.
Additionally, in case the marketed tablets are to be dispersed in water prior to their use which becomes necessary if the respective patient in need of sorafenib tosylate struggles with swallowing problems or if the composition is to be fed to the patient via a tube, the disintegration of a tablet takes about 6 minutes. This very slow disintegration behaviour is another major drawback of the marketed tablets.
Further, the marketed tablets contain sodium lauryl sulfate which is usually used as surfactant or wetting agent. However, such a surfactant may impair both the taste and the gastric tolerability of the formulation, in particular in case the tablets have to be dispersed in water prior to their use and no taste masking is possible.
Therefore, there is a need for pharmaceutical compositions, in particular oral solid dosage forms, comprising sorafenib tosylate as active agent which allow the use of less expensive packaging materials.
Further, there is a need for pharmaceutical compositions, in particular oral solid dosage forms, comprising sorafenib tosylate as active agent which have an increased disintegration rate.
Yet further, there is need for pharmaceutical compositions, in particular oral solid dosage forms, which overcome the disadvantages of compositions containing critical surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate.

Pharmaceutical composition containing crystalline sorafenib tosylate


In an information system including an information processing apparatus and an in-vehicle apparatus, a synchronization process is performed in a highly efficient manner, which allows an improvement in usability in playing back playable data on the in-vehicle apparatus. The information processing apparatus acquires a list of playable data already existing in the in-vehicle apparatus and produces synchronization data by extracting, as the synchronization data, playable data from the playable data existing in the information processing apparatus in accordance with the acquired list such that the extracted playable data does not include any part of the playable data already existing in the in-vehicle apparatus.

1. Related Applications
The present application claims priority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2005-338269, filed Nov. 24, 2005, the entirety of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
2. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information processing apparatus, an in-vehicle apparatus, an information system, and an information processing apparatus control program, and more particularly, to an information processing apparatus, an in-vehicle apparatus, an information system, and an information processing apparatus control program which synchronize playable data between the information processing apparatus and the in-vehicle apparatus.
3. Description of the Related Art
A system has been proposed in which a home computer and an in-vehicle apparatus of a user are operated in a cooperative manner such that music data is transferred from the home computer to the in-vehicle apparatus to achieve synchronization in terms of music data between the music data stored in the in-vehicle apparatus and the music data stored in the home computer (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-313741).
In such a system, it is assumed that the home computer and the in-vehicle apparatus are connected to each other via communication means such as a wireless LAN, and music data is automatically transferred (downloaded) from the home computer to the in-vehicle apparatus at specified times.
Examples of music data playable by the in-vehicle apparatus include music data stored on a CD/DVD mounted in a CD/DVD changer disposed in the in-vehicle apparatus, music data stored on a hard disk drive (HDD) disposed in the in-vehicle apparatus, and music data stored in a portable audio player such as an iPod (trademark) connectable to the in-vehicle apparatus
In some cases, an overlap can occur between the music data existing in the home computer and the music data already existing in the in-vehicle apparatus. If music data is simply transferred without taking into account the possibility of duplication of music data, there is a possibility that music data the same as music data already existing in the in-vehicle apparatus is transmitted from the home computer to the in-vehicle apparatus. This causes inefficiency in transferring the music data. Furthermore, there is a possibility that the same music data is stored in a duplicated manner in the in-vehicle apparatus, which causes a user to have confusion when the user plays back music data on the in-vehicle apparatus. This is very inconvenient for the user.

Information processing apparatus, in-vehicle apparatus, information system, and information processing apparatus control program


An antenna module includes an inner circuit board, an antenna circuit board, an outer circuit board, and at least one chip. The inner circuit board includes at least one inner wiring layer and at least one inner dielectric layer. The antenna circuit board includes at least one antenna structure. The antenna circuit board and the outer circuit board are disposed on opposite sides of the inner circuit board. The inner wiring layer comprises at least one inner pad. At least one first opening passing through the outer circuit board is defined to expose the inner pad. Each chip is received in one first opening and electrically connects to the inner pad. The antenna structure electrically connects to the chip through the inner wiring layer. A method for manufacturing such antenna module is also provided.

With the development of the 5th generation wireless systems, more components need to be integrated in the antenna module. This would result in an increase in a size of the antenna module at a time when devices for the wireless system are becoming smaller.
Therefore, there is room for improvement within the art.

Antenna module and method for manufacturing the same

QING DING PRECISION ELECTRONICS (HUAIAN) CO., LTD


A supply voltage level detection circuit makes use of an additional supply already provided for power. A voltage detection circuit defines a first threshold, and a differencing circuit defines a second threshold. The output state of the differencing circuit is saved in a latch. The latch may be cross coupled gates of cross coupled inverters. When inverters are used, the differencing circuit output contends with the internal latch drive when setting or resetting the latch. The design allows the differencing circuit to overcome the inverter's internal drives to change the logic state of the latch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to monitoring voltages, and more particularly to monitoring power supply voltage levels in low power, portable products.
2. Background Information
Monitoring power supply voltage levels to ensure proper operating voltage levels is becoming more important as integrated circuit power dissipation levels decrease forcing power supply levels and current draws to decrease. Tighter operating supply voltage levels for ensuring sufficient supply voltages are required, and detecting when a supply voltage is within or without acceptable limits becomes more demanding.
There have been a number of recent patents addressing this issue. One such patent is U.S. Pat. No. 6,750,683 to McClure et al., owned by STMicroelectronics, Inc. and entitled "Power Supply Detection Circuitry and Method." This invention includes a feedback connection that provides a hysteresis to prevent oscillations. The invention uses a band-gap as a reference level for comparing the rising and falling power supply voltage level.
Another patent is U.S. Pat. No. 6,759,852 to Samad, owned by Xilinx, Inc. and entitled, "VDD Detection Path in Power-up Circuit." FIG. 1 illustrates this particular invention. Q1 is a p-type CMOS device that is fabricated with a threshold of about 430 mV. The resistor R1 and the threshold of Q2 and the resistor R2 are fabricated to trigger a Schmitt trigger at a value T1, when Vdd reaches a proper level. When this occurs, EN signals the circuitry 10 powered by VDD to begin operation. As VDD decreases, the level into the Schmitt trigger decreases until a value T2 is reached (T2<T1) whereupon the EN is made false (low) and the circuitry is informed that the power supply is too low. It is assumed the circuitry 10 would take suitable steps in such a condition.
The prior art circuits require special devices, like band-gaps, which are often not power efficient over the required range of operating conditions. Also, since the prior art circuits are powered by the power source being monitored, the inter-dependence leads to inadequate noise margins along with power inefficiencies over the typical operating conditions for the circuits.
The prior art did not realize that portable, low power devices that often receive an additional power supply from the cable interface to which they are attached or through an antenna (as in RFID, radio frequency identification, devices). These particular devices dissipate less than 100 microwatts and are often attached via USB (universal serial bus) ports. In such applications, low power operation, power efficiency and adequate noise margins are important for reliable operation. The present invention is directed to these devices, but may find advantageous use with other circuits and systems.

Voltage detection circuit with hysteresis for low power, portable products