An adaptive signal filtering method is provided to reduce blocking effects caused by decompression the block-based compressed images. The method includes the steps of generating binary edge map information by globally thresholding and locally thresholding the decompressed image; determining whether the binary edge map information within a filter window corresponding to respective pixels corresponds to a homogeneous area or an edge area, by using the binary edge map information corresponding to the filter window; generating a filtered pixel value corresponding to a respective pixel using the filter window which has a predetermined first weight factors for the homogeneous area when the binary edge map information is determined to be a homogeneous area in the determining step; adapting a predetermined second weight factors according to binary edge map information included in the filter window when the binary edge map information determined as an edge area in the second step; and generating a filtered pixel value for the respective pixel, using the filter window which has adapted second weight factors in said adapting step.

The present invention relates to an adaptive postprocessing system for reducing blocking effects and ringing noise of an image signal. More particularly, the system of the present invention adaptively attenuates blocking effects and ringing noise appearing in a decompressed image which has been subject to highly efficient image compression.
Most picture coding standards, including H.263 of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) and MPEG-1 and MPEG-2 of the Organization for Standardization (ISO), use block-based processing for motion estimation and discrete cosine transformation (DCT). It is well-known that such block-based processing induces blocking effects and the ringing noise, which is particularly noticeable when an image has been highly compressed. Typical blocking effects include grid noise in monotone areas and the staircase noise along the image edges. Due to these effects, a viewer who views the decompressed image displayed on a screen perceives the boundary between the blocks composing the decompressed image. The ringing noise produces sinusoidal traces on the edges of an image.

Adaptive postprocessing system for reducing blocking effects and ringing noise in decompressed image signals


The making of plant cells which contain antisense RNA (aRNA) complementary to the mRNA of an alfalfa mosaic virus is disclosed. Construction of such aRNA genes and transformation thereof into plant cells is also taught. Such cells are relatively resistant to infection by the target virus when compared with cells not containing the aRNA. Methods and DNA molecules useful for producing plant cells containing said aRNA are also disclosed.

Overview of Agrobacterium
Virulent strains of the gram-negative genus Agrobacterium harbor large plasmids known as Ti (tumor- or transformation-inducing) plasmids (pTi) in A. tumefaciens and Ri (root-inducing) plasmids (pRi) in A. rhizogenes, often classified by the opine which they catabolize or cause to be synthesized. Ti and Ri plasmids both contain DNA sequences, known as T-DNA (transferred-DNA), which in tumors are found to be integrated into the genome of the host plant. Several T-DNA genes are under control of T-DNA promoters which resemble canonical eukaryotic promoters in structure. These plasmids also carry genes outside the T-DNA region. Ti and Ri plasmids are for many purposes functionally equivalent.
Reviews of Agrobacterium-caused disease, plant transformation, genetic engineering, and gene expression include those by, or found in, Merlo, D. J. (1982) Adv. Plant Pathol. 1:139-178; Ream, L. W. and Gordon, M. P. (1982) Science 218:854-859; Bevan, M. W. and Chilton, M-D. (1982) Ann. Rev. Genet. 16:357-384; Kahl, G. and Schell, J. (1982) Molecular Biology of Plant Tumors; Barton, K. A. and Chilton, M-D. (1983) Meth. Enzymol. 101:527-539; Depicker, A. et al. (1983) in Genetic Engineering of Plants: an Agricultural Perspective, Kosuge T et al. (eds.), pp 143-176; Caplan, A. et al. (1983) Science 222:815-821; Hall, T. C. et al., European Patent application 126,546; Binns, A. N. (1984) Oxford Surveys Plant Mol. Cell Biol. 1:130-160; Hall, T. C. (1985) Oxford Surveys Plant Mol. Biol. 2:329-338; Hooykaas, P. J. J. and Schilperoort, R. A. (1985) Trends Biochem. Sci. 10:307-309; Thomas, T. L. and Hall, T. C. (1985) Bioassays 3: 149-153; Weissbach, A. and Weissbach, H. (eds.) (1986) Meth. Enzymol. 118: (see especially Rogers et al. pp 627-640); Puhler, A. (ed.) (1983) Molecular Genetics of the Bacteria-Plant Interaction; and Schilperoort, R. A. (1984) in Efficiency in Plant Breeding (Proc. 10th Congr. Eur. Assoc. Res. Plant Breeding), Lange, W. et al. (eds.), pp 251-285.

Virus resistant plants having antisense RNA


An operating control device, such as for an appliance, is disclosed comprising sensor elements with a capacitive sensing function, the elements being located underneath a metallic surface that is used as the operating field. An insulating layer is situated between the elements and the metallic surface. When pressure is applied to the metallic surface the capacitance of the sensor element is altered by capacitive coupling. This alteration of capacitance can be determined by a corresponding evaluation circuit or the like for detecting activation of the device.

The invention generally relates to an operating device for an electrical appliance, as well as to an electrical appliance incorporating such an operating device.
Various types of operating devices for operating electrical appliances that are actuated by placing a finger or exerting a slight pressure with a finger are known. For example, EP 859 467 A and EP 859 468 A disclose an operating principle in which a capacitance change can be brought about in a capacitive sensor element, without exerting a significant pressure or a covered operating path. This can be evaluated as an actuation.
It is also known from DE 198 11 372 A to place beneath a panel of an electrical appliance on the metal frame of a glass ceramic cooking hob or electrical cooktop, a switch having a piezoelectric element. If a finger is placed on the panel area and a certain pressure exerted, said pressure can be detected by the piezoelectric element and evaluated as an actuation. However, the use of piezoelectric elements may be disadvantageous in that piezoelectric elements are relatively expensive and in part mechanically sensitive.

Operating control comprising a capacitive sensor element and an electrical device comprising an operating control of this type


A wafer level method of forming a protective coating on the back surface of integrated circuit devices is described. In one aspect, a tape having a backcoat layer and a mount layer is applied to the back surface of a wafer. The backcoat layer is cured or set such that the backcoat layer is affixed to the back surface of the wafer. Thereafter, the mount layer of the backcoat/mount tape is removed while leaving the backcoat layer affixed to the back surface of the integrated circuit devices. In some embodiments, the mount layer includes an ultraviolet (UV) sensitive adhesive material that releases when exposed to UV light. The described arrangements can be used to form integrated circuits having very thin protective backcoatings. By way of example, opaque protective films having thickness in the range of 5 to 50 microns are readily obtainable.

There are a number of conventional processes for packaging integrated circuits. One approach that is commonly referred to as "flip chip" packaging generally contemplates forming solder bumps (or other suitable contacts) directly on the face of an integrated circuit die. In some situations, the contacts are formed directly on I/O pads formed on the die, whereas in other situations the contacts are redistributed. The die is then typically attached to a substrate such as a printed circuit board or package substrate such that the die contacts directly connect to corresponding contacts on the substrate.
Some types of IC may be sensitive to light. That is, errors in IC operation may be introduced when the IC is exposed to certain light sources (e.g. infrared light). In many packaging approaches, an IC is encapsulated (typically by an opaque plastic material) or encased in a package that optically isolates the device. However, in flip chip (and other exposed die wafer level) packaging styles, the die may remain exposed. One approach to protecting the die from undesirable light penetration is to apply an optically opaque backcoat layer to the die. U.S. Pat. No. 6,023,094 which is incorporated herein by reference describes methods of applying backcoatings at the wafer level. The described backcoat layer can also have a number of other advantages, including reducing the probability of chipping during wafer sawing operations which can increase wafer yields.
In the semiconductor industry, there are continuing efforts to increase device yield per wafer or lot and reduce the costs and time associated with semiconductor fabrication and packaging. The present invention seeks to provide more efficient approaches to applying a backcoating layer at the wafer level.

Semiconductor devices having a back surface protective coating


An organic light emitting diode (“OLED”) display includes: a front display part including a plurality of front pixels disposed on a substrate, where the front pixels display an image on a front surface thereof; and a side display part including a plurality of side pixels disposed on the substrate, where the side pixels display an image on a side surface thereof, where the front display part and the side display part are configured to have different resonance structures from each other.

1. Field
The described technology relates generally to an organic light emitting diode ("OLED") display.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode ("OLED") display typically includes two electrodes and an organic light emitting member disposed therebetween. Electrons injected from one of the two electrodes and holes injected from the other of the two electrodes are combined in the organic light emitting member to form excitons, and light is emitted from the organic light emitting member as the excitons release energy.
For applying the OLED display to various types of applications, a flexible OLED display which can be easily flexible has been manufactured. Among the flexible OLED display, a bendable OLED display has a structure including a front display part embodied to have no dead space even when it is bent at an edge of the front display part and a side display part which is visible from the side.
A bottom light emission type of OLED display, in which light emitted from an organic material is downwardly transferred to a positive electrode, has a smaller color gamut and lower luminous efficiency than those of a top light emission type of OLED display, in which the light is transferred to a negative electrode. Accordingly, a microcavity structure may be applied to the bottom light emission type of OLED display.
By applying the microcavity structure, light beams are repeatedly reflected between a reflection layer and a transflective layer to generate a strong interference effect such that light beams having a specific wavelength range are amplified while other light beams are offset. The OLED display, to which the microcavity structure is applied, has high color purity at the front.
The viewing angle characteristic at the side of the OLED display, to which the microcavity structure is applied, is substantially reversely proportional to the viewing angle characteristic at the front thereof. That is, the color purity is reduced.
When an additional optical film is provided in a predetermined position, or an additional structure is provided below the OLED display to compensate the reduced color purity, manufacturing cost may be increased, and production yield may be reduced.


A column redundancy circuit for a semiconductor memory device, includes a plurality of DQ region units each including a memory cell array unit having cells sharing a local data bus and a global data bus, a column decoder unit for generating a column decoding signal for selecting one of the cells, a write driver unit for driving input data to the global data bus, and a read sense amp unit for amplifying input data, and transmitting the data to a global I/O line; and a repair region unit being provided at one side of the DQ regions, and consisting of a repair cell array unit having repair cells sharing the local data bus and the global data bus, N column decoder units for generating a column decoding signal for selecting one of the repair cells, N write driver units for driving input data to the repair global data bus, N read sense amp units for amplifying input data, and transmitting the data to the global I/O line, N DQ selection fuse box units for programming information of the DQ region unit having a defect cell, and N multiplexer and demultiplexer units for switching one write driver unit, one read sense amp unit, and the global I/O line according to output signals from the DQ selection fuse box units.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates in general to a column redundancy circuit for a semiconductor memory device, and more particularly to an improved column redundancy circuit which can improve repair flexibility and efficiency without increasing column redundancy. It does so by providing information of a DQ having a defect to a column redundancy fuse box in order to repair a defect of another DQ.
2. General Background and Related Art
In general, when a cell in a cell array has a defect, a column redundancy circuit replaces a bit line connected to the cell by a spare bit line, thereby compensating for the defect. When an address of selecting the defect cell is internally applied to a device, a normal path of selecting the defect cell is intercepted, and a redundancy circuit is operated, thereby enabling the bit line connected to the repaired cell. Accordingly, the column redundancy operation is performed.
FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a schematic diagram illustrating a conventional column redundancy circuit for a DRAM. The conventional column redundancy circuit includes DQ regions DQ0xcx9cDQn that are physically divided to access data, and have a plurality of normal cells 2 and a plurality of repair cells 3. A column decoder unit 4, 14 selects the normal cell 2, 12 of the respective DQ regions DQ0xcx9cDQn. A repair column decoder unit 5, 15 selects the repair cell 3, 13 of the respective DQ regions DQ0xcx9cDQn. A write driver and read sense amp unit 6, 16 having a write driver for driving data inputted through a global I/O line GIO less than n greater than  to a memory cell in a write operation, and a read sense amp for sensing and amplifying the data from the memory cell, and outputting the data to the global I/O line GIO less than n greater than  in a read operation.
When the DQ regions DQ0xcx9cDQn are physically divided from cell regions 1, 11, a local data bus LCD and a global data bus GDB share each other in their DQ, and thus the repair column cells 3, 13 can repair a defect cell only in the DQ which they belong to.
Accordingly, the number of the repair cells must be increased to improve repair flexibility and efficiency of the conventional column redundancy circuit. However, in this case, a size of a chip is increased, which results in high production cost and low productivity.
The claimed inventions feature, at least in part, a column redundancy circuit which can improve repair flexibility and efficiency without increasing column redundancy, by providing information of a DQ having a defect to a column redundancy fuse box so as to repair a defect of another DQ.
There is provided a column redundancy circuit including a plurality of DQ region units including a memory cell array unit having a plurality of cells sharing a local data bus and a global data bus. A column decoder unit generates a column decoding signal for selecting one of the cells. A write driver unit drives data inputted through a global I/O line to the global data bus. A read sense amp unit amplifies data inputted through the global data bus, and transmits the data to the global I/O line. A repair region unit including a repair cell array unit has a plurality of repair cells sharing the local data bus and the global data bus. N column decoder units generate a column decoding signal for selecting one of the repair cells. N write driver units drive data inputted through the global I/O line to the repair global data bus. N read sense amp units amplify data inputted through the repair global data bus, and transmit the data to the global I/O line. N DQ selection fuse box units program information of the DQ region unit having a defect cell among the plurality of DQ region units. N multiplexer and demultiplexer units switch one write driver unit among the N write driver units, one read sense amp unit among the N read sense amp units, and the global I/O line according to output signals from the DQ selection fuse box units.
The column redundancy circuit further includes N decoder units for decoding the output signals from the N DQ selection fuse box units, and outputting the decoded signals to the N multiplexer and demultiplexer units.


A data recording and reproducing apparatus (11) which generates a plurality of divided data through dividing input data D1 using a distributor (22) if recording data, while generating redundancy-code data P1 and P2 using Read-Solomon-code data which can perform error-correcting on a plurality of divided data, and records the divided data and the redundancy-code data P1, P2 on HDDs 211 to 21K, 281 and 28Z. The data recording and reproducing apparatus (11) reproduces the divided data and the redundancy-code data from the HDDs 211 to 21K, 281 and 28Z, performs error-correcting processing on the divided data based on the redundancy-code data by an error corrector (31), and outputs the divided data which have been error-corrected after multiplying the divided data by a data multiplier (32) if reproducing data.

The invention relates to an apparatus and a method for recording and reproducing data including video data and audio data, and AV (audio video) server.
In recent years, following multi-channeling of providing information owing to the familiarization of CATV (cable television) or the like, a demand for reproducing a plurality of visual/audio data simultaneously from a single data recording and reproducing apparatus, unlike VTRs (video tape recorder), has become higher. In order to satisfy this demand, a data recording and reproducing apparatus called a video server which records and reproduces visual/audio data using a random accessible recording and reproducing medium such as a hard disk is coming into wide use.
In general, a video server used in, for example, a broadcasting station is required to have a high transfer rate of data to be sent for obtaining high qualities of visual and audio, and a large capacitance to record data for a long period of time. Therefore, it has been tried to acquire a higher transfer rate of data and a larger capacitance by using a data recording and reproducing apparatus comprising a plurality of hard disk (HD in the followings) drives which can perform accumulation of visual and audio data, and parallel processing. Further, it has been tried to record parity data so as to ensure the reliability even if any of the HD drives accidentally breaks down. As a result, even in a case where different numbers of channels are requested due to contents or broadcasting systems of programs provided by a broadcasting station, it is possible to implement a multi-channel video server applicable to a variety of usage patterns, for example, establishing NVOD (near video on demand) systems by separately recording a plurality of material data and transmitting them through multi-channel simultaneously, or by reproducing the identical material data with a time-lag through multi-channel.
In a data recording and reproducing apparatus used in such a multi-channel video server, RAID (Redundant Arrays of Inexpensive Disks) technique proposed in the article presented by Patterson and some others in 1988, is used. In the article, the RAID is classified into five: RAID-1 to RAID-5. The typical ones among them are the RAID-1, the RAID-3 and the RAID-5. The RAID-1 is a method of writing the same contents on two HDDs.
The RAID-3 is a method of recording input data on a plurality of HDDs by dividing the data at a specific length, while generating parity data and writing them on another HDD.
FIG. 11 is a block diagram showing an example configuration of a data recording and reproducing apparatus using the RAID-3. This data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 comprises: a plurality of hard disk drives (referred as HDDs in the followings) 1021 to 102N (N is an integer of 2 or more); an HDD 109 for recording parity data P as redundancy-code data; a data distributor 106 for generating a plurality of divided data by dividing input data DI at a specific length and for distributing each of the divided data to each of the HDDs 1021 to 102N; a parity generator 107 for generating parity data P from the divided data outputted from the data distributor 106; input memories 1041 to 104N for temporarily keeping each divided data outputted from the data distributor 106; input memory 108 for temporarily keeping the parity data P outputted from the parity generator 107; controllers 1031 to 103N and 110, which are respectively connected to the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109, for controlling recording the data kept by the input memories 1041 to 104N and 108 on the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109, and for controlling reproducing data from the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109; output memories 1051 to 105N and 111 for temporarily keeping data read out from each of the HDDs 1021 to 102N and. 109; an error corrector 112 for restoring the divided data by detecting and correcting errors based on the data kept by the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111 and on error information which is described later; a data multiplier 113 for outputting the output data DO obtained by multiplying the output data from the error corrector 112; and a CPU 114 for controlling the whole apparatus.
Next, the data-writing operation of the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 will be described. The input data DI is inputted to the data distributor 106, and a plurality of divided data are generated. Each of the divided data is distributed to be recorded on the input memories 104, to 104N. It is also inputted to the parity generator 107. At this time, data may be distributed in order in the following manner: provided that, for example, the data are arranged in data lines D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, . . . , with a unit of bit or byte, the data D1 is distributed to the first HDD 1021, the data D2 is distributed to the second HDD 1022, and so forth, and if the data DN is distributed to the last HDD 102N, data is distributed in order to the HDDs beginning at the first HDD 1021 again.
The parity generator 107 generates the parity data P based on the divided data outputted from the data distributor 106 and outputs it. The input memory 108 temporarily records the parity data P. Then, the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 of the HDDs 1021, to 102N and respectively 109 read out the divided data and the parity data P from the input memories 1041 to 104N and 108 under the control of the CPU 114, and writes the data on the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109 respectively.
Next, the data-reading-out operation of the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 will be described. Each of the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 reads out the divided data and the parity data P from the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109 respectively, and writes them on the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111 respectively. At this time, if an error of data-reading-out operation (referred as reading-out error in the followings) occurs in the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109, error information indicating that an error has occurred is sent to the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 as status data from the control section in the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109. Then, the error information is sent to the CPU 114 as error information Er1 to ErN and ErP from the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110.
Each of the data recorded on the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111 is synchronized and outputted to the error corrector 112. At this time, if the reading-out error occurs, error information showing that an error has occurred is sent to the error corrector 112 from the CPU 114. The error information includes information for identifying the HDD in which the reading-out error has occurred. The error corrector 112 restores the divided data based on the error information and the parity data P and outputs the divided data to the data multiplier 113. Data can be restored by the error corrector 112 only when reading-out errors have occurred in one HDD. When reading-out errors have occurred in a plurality of HDDs, the error corrector 112 can detect the errors but can not restore the data. The data multiplier 113 rearranges the divided data outputted from the error corrector 112 in the original data line and outputs it outside as the output data DO.
In contrast, in the RAID-5, a unit(block) of dividing data is made larger and one divided data is recorded as a data block on one HDD, while exclusive OR (parity data) of the data blocks which correspond to one another and are recorded on the HDDs is calculated and the result is recorded as a parity block on another HDD. The parity block is thus distributed to all the HDDs.
FIG. 12 is a block diagram showing a configuration example of a data recording and reproducing apparatus using the RAID-5. This data recording and reproducing apparatus 201 comprises: a plurality of HDDs 2021 to 202N (N is an integer of 2 or more) for recording input data; a parity generator-cum-error corrector 212 for generating parity data based on the input data DI and the data recorded on the HDDs 2021 to 202N, while restoring the data by correcting the error based on the data read out from each of the HDDs 2021 to 202N and the error information; input memories 2041 to 204N for temporarily keeping the output data of the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212; controllers 2031 to 203N, which are connected to the HDDs 2021 to 202N respectively, for controlling the operation of recording the data kept by the input memories 2041 to 204N on the HDDs 2021 to 202N and the operation of reproducing the data from the HDDs 2021 to 202N; output memories 2051 to 205N for temporarily keeping the data read out from the HDDs 2021 to 202N respectively; and a CPU 214 for controlling the whole apparatus. Further, if an error of data-reading-out operation occurs in any of the HDDs 2021 to 202N, error information indicating that an error has occurred is sent to controllers 2031 to 203N as status data from the control section in the HDDs 2021 to 202N. Further, the error information are sent to the CPU 214 as error information Er1 to ErN from the controllers 2031 to 203N.
Next, the data-writing operation of the data recording and reproducing apparatus 201 will be described. For example, if writing the data D onto an address A in the HDD 2021, the CPU 214 controls the controllers 2031 and 2032 to read out the recorded data D1 from the HDD 2021 and so as to read out the parity data P from the HDD 2022, provided that the parity data P corresponding to the data D is recorded on the HDD 2022. At this time, the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212 calculates exclusive OR of the data D1 and the parity data P, and restores parity data Px without the data D1. Then, the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212 calculates exclusive OR of the data D and the parity data P1 to obtain another parity data D2. The CPU 214 controls the controllers 2031 and 2032 to write the data D onto the HDD 2021 and to write the parity data P2 onto the HDD 2022.
Next, the data-reading-out operation of the data recording and reproducing apparatus 201 will be described. For example, if reading out the data D from the address A in the HDD 2022, the CPU 214 controls the controller 2031 to read out the data D from the HDD 2021. At this time, if the reading-out error does not occur, the CPU 214 controls the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212 to output the data D read out from the HDD 202, as the output data Do through the output memory 2051 and the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212. At this time, no particular processing is performed in the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212.
On the other hand, if data in the data recording and reproducing apparatus 201 is not read out normally, that is, if the data D can not be read out from the address A in the HDD 202, because of a defective sector or the like, the CPU 214 receives the error information Er1 from the controller 2031. In such a case, the CPU 214 reads out data from the corresponding addresses in other HDDs 2022 to 202N, send them to the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212 and controls the parity generator-cum-error corrector 212 to reproduce the data D based on the above-mentioned data to output them as the output data DO.
As described, if writing input data in the data recording and reproducing apparatus 201 using the RAID-5, the number of access increases since reading out and writing the data block, and reading out and writing the parity block are required to be performed. Further, if an error occurs if reading out data, the data is restored by reading out data from another HDD so that the number of access also increases. Accordingly, the data recording and reproducing apparatus 201 using the RAID-5 is fit for use in a random access processing of logical blocks of a specific size, but not in a processing which requires a real-time operation.
In contrast, in the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 using the RAID-3, input data can be written by one access, and error-correction after reading out data can be immediately performed. Accordingly, the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 using the RAID-3 is fit for use in a processing for recording and reproducing data with high-speed. Therefore, a data recording and reproducing apparatus using the RAID-3 is suitable for a device such as a multi-channel video server which requires a real-time operation.
In the above-mentioned data recording and reproducing apparatus using the RAID-3, however, data can be restored only when reading-out errors have occurred in one HDD. This causes a problem that the apparatus becomes incapable of error detection and correction of data if any of the HDDs breaks down.
Moreover, in the data recording and reproducing apparatus using the RAID-3, if one of the HDDs reads out invalid data without an reading-out error being generated, it is impossible to obtain information indicating which HDD has read out the invalid data, although it is possible to detect the error of data. This results in a problem that data can not be restored.
The data recording and reproducing apparatus using the RAID-3 has another problem that data can not be restored if two or more HDDs break down, although it is possible to detect the error of data.
Furthermore, when an error (referred as writing error in the followings) occurs during the writing operation in any of the HDDs in the data recording and reproducing apparatus, it is necessary to restore the data in which the writing error occurred. This data-restoring processing performed on part of the recording region of the recording medium (hard disk) is called a portion-rebuild processing (Portion Rebuild) in this application. On the other hand, if any of the HDDs in the data recording and reproducing apparatus is replaced, it is necessary to rebuild the original data on the new HDD. This data-restoring processing performed on the whole recording region of the recording medium (hard disk) is called a whole-rebuild processing (Whole Rebuild) in this application. In the followings, the data-restoring-processing operation in the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 using the RAID-3 shown in FIG. 11 will be described.
First, the operation of the Portion Rebuild will be described. The CPU 114 stores the HDD and the address (sector) in which the writing errors have occurred, and the Portion Rebuild is performed on the HDD and the address. In the Portion Rebuild, first, the CPU 114 controls each of the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 to perform the reading-out operation, appointing the address on which the Portion Rebuild is to be performed. In response, the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 read out the data in the appointed address from the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109 respectively. The read-out data is inputted to the error corrector 112 through the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111. At this time, the CPU 114 gives a command for the error corrector 112 not to use the data read out from the HDD on which the Portion Rebuild is to be performed. The error corrector 112 restores the divided data using the data outputted from the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111 except the data read out from the HDD on which the Portion Rebuild is to be performed, and outputs the divided data which has been restored to the data multiplier 113. The data multiplier 113 rearranges the divided data outputted from the error corrector 112 in the original data line, and outputs it as the output data DO. Next, under the control of the CPU 114, the output data DO is inputted from the data multiplier 113 to the data distributor 106. The restored divided data is written onto the HDD on which the Portion Rebuild is to be performed by performing the same writing operation as the writing operation of input data DI, and the Portion Rebuild is ended.
Next, the operation of the Whole Rebuild will be described. If a predetermined HDD is replaced and the superior device issues a command for the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 to perform the Whole Rebuild, the CPU 114 makes the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 perform the reading-out operation upon receiving the command. In response, the controllers 1031 to 103N and 110 read out data from the HDDs 1021 to 102N and 109 respectively. The read-out data is inputted to the error corrector 112 through the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111. At this time, the CPU 114 gives a command for the error corrector 112 not to use the data read out from the HDD on which the Whole Rebuild is to be performed. The error corrector 112 restores the divided data using the data outputted from the output memories 1051 to 105N and 111 except the data read out from the HDD on which the Whole Rebuild is to be performed, and outputs the divided data which has been restored to the data multiplier 113. The data multiplier 113 rearranges the restored divided data outputted from the error corrector 112 in the original data line, and outputs it as the output data DO. Next, under the control of the CPU 114, the output data DO is inputted from the data multiplier 113 to the data distributor 106. The restored divided data is written onto the HDD on which the Whole Rebuild is to be performed by performing the same writing operation as the writing operation of input data DI. The processing described above is performed on the whole recording region of the hard disk.
In both cases of the Portion Rebuild and the Whole Rebuild described above, however, data-restoring during the rebuild processing can be performed only if the correct data has been read out in all the HDDs except for the HDD on which the rebuild processing is to be performed. If a writing error occurs even in one of the other HDDs than the HDD on which the rebuild processing is to be performed, the error can be detected in the error corrector 112 but data can not be restored. That is, the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 using the RAID-3 has a problem that data can not be restored if another trouble occurs since the apparatus is incapable of detecting errors and correcting of data during the rebuild processing.
In the meantime, a plurality of tracks are provided on a hard disk in a concentric circular pattern. A plurality of sectors, which are recording unit of data, are provided by dividing the tracks in a radial pattern. There may be a case where these sectors include sectors in which errors always occur at the time of writing or reading out data. Such sectors are called defective sectors. Defective sectors are considered to be in conditions in which reading out or writing data can not be correctly performed because of physical damage or the like. In case that there should be defective sectors, spare sectors may be provided on the hard disk so that data can be recorded on the spare sectors instead of the defective sectors if necessary. Such a spare sector is called a substitute sector. In the HDD having substitute sectors, the control section in the HDD includes a correspondence table showing the correspondence between logical sector numbers (LBA) and physical sector numbers so that the substitute sectors used instead of the defective sectors can be referred by the same sector number as the defective sectors from the superior devices. Accordingly, if there is a defective sector, a re-allotting processing (Reassign), in which the correspondence between LBA and the physical sector number in the recording region on the hard disk is changed, is to be performed.
The Reassign requires relatively long time (several seconds). Therefore, in general, it is not performed during the operation of a data recording and reproducing apparatus of the related art. In an apparatus which requires a real-time operation such as a multi-channel video server, however, it is desirable that the Reassign should be performed even during the operation of the apparatus, since stopping the operation of the apparatus because of the Reassign can be very inconvenient.
As described in the followings, the Reassign may also be performed during the operation of the data recording and reproducing apparatus. In the followings, the operation of the Reassign if performed during the operation of the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 using the RAID-3 shown in FIG. 11 will be described.
If the superior device gives a command for the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 to perform the Reassign, the CPU 114, upon receiving the command, suspends the writing operation and the reading-out operation on/from the HDD on which the Reassign is to be performed. Next, the CPU 114 makes the Reassign be performed on the HDD on which the Reassign is to be performed, appointing the sector on which the Reassign is to be performed. The Reassign is, as described, to change the correspondence between LBA and the physical sector number. If the CPU 114 receives a command to perform writing, during the Reassign, it makes the writing operation be performed on the HDDs except the HDD on which the Reassign is to be performed while storing the HDD on which the Reassign is to be performed and LBA onto which writing is to be performed according to the command. If the CPU 114 receives a command to perform reading-out, during the Reassign, it makes the reading-out operation be performed on the HDDs other than the HDD on which the Reassign is to be performed, and gives a command for the error corrector 112 to perform the error correction voiding the data from the HDD on which the Reassign is to be performed. If the Reassign is completed, the CPU 114 cancels the suspension of the writing operation and the reading-out operation onto/from the HDD on which the Reassign has been performed.
After the Reassign is performed as described, it is necessary to restore the data recorded on the HDD and the address on which the Reassign has been performed, and the data recorded on the HDD and the address which have been stored during the suspension of the writing operation in the process of the Reassign. This restoring processing of data is described above.
Accordingly, the data recording and reproducing apparatus 101 using the RAID-3 becomes incapable of detecting and correcting errors of data during the Reassign. It is, therefore, difficult to perform the Reassign during the operation of the apparatus without a considerable decrease in the reliability of the apparatus.
Incidentally, a method in which the RAID-5 is expanded is proposed as introduced in the document "The latest secondary storage :Disk array :by KIRENGAWA" (Information Processing, Vol.34, No.5, pp.642–651, Published in May, 1993). This is a method in which two parity blocks based on Read-Solomon coding are provided to be able to cope with troubles in two HDDs at most within a parity group.
In the method in which the RAID-5 is expanded, the number of the access increases compared to that of the RAID-5 when errors occur at the time of writing input data or reading out data. The method is, therefore, not suitable for a processing which requires the real-time operation any more than the RAID-5 is. Accordingly, it is difficult to use the above-mentioned method in which the RAID-5 is expanded in the apparatus which requires a real-time operation such as a multi-channel video server.
In addition, in a regular data recording and reproducing apparatus using a plurality of the HDDs, the data-restoring processing such as the Whole Rebuild or the Portion Rebuild as described is performed ifever necessary, and it is impossible to access the data recording and reproducing apparatus from outside during the restoring processing. This is a disadvantage of the apparatus which requires a real-time operation such as a multi-channel video server since stopping the operation of the apparatus because of the data-restoring processing can be very inconvenient.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Apparatus and method for recording and reproducing data, and AV server


A heat exchanger for an oil cooler including at least two heat exchanger members, each of which enclosing a first channel. A second channel is formed between the two heat exchanger members. An edge portion of a first one of the heat exchanger members, presents a bypass restrictor extending towards an edge portion of a second one of the heat exchanger members, and the bypass restrictor forms an outer wall of the heat exchanger. A system having such an oil cooler and a method for cooling oil are also disclosed.

A heat exchanger for use as an oil cooler in e.g. heavy vehicles may be formed from a plurality of parallel plates, which are stacked, such that parallel channels are formed between the plates. Typically, every second one is arranged to carry a flow of cooling medium, and the other channels are arranged to carry a flow of heat-emitting medium. The plates may be brazed together to form a single heat-exchanger unit.
The basic principle for forming such a heat exchanger is disclosed in e.g. WO90/13394A1 and WO2004027334A1.
When in use, the heat exchanger is typically arranged in a cavity, through which the cooling medium is caused to flow, while heat-emitting medium is fed through an inlet opening of the heat exchanger, through the channels for the heat-emitting medium, after which the cooled heat-emitting medium is extracted through an outlet opening of the heat exchanger. Hence, the channels for the cooling medium are open to the cavity.
Due to vibrations and manufacturing tolerances, there is always a space between the walls confining the cavity and the heat exchanger. This space will cause some of the cooling medium to bypass the heat exchanger, thus negatively affecting its efficiency.
GB2130354A discloses how a sealing strip comprising a rubber-elastic material may be used to prevent the cooling medium from bypassing the heat exchanger.
Similarly, DE 4020754A1 discloses how a plurality of sealing lips may be arranged to prevent the cooling medium from bypassing the heat exchanger.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,516,874 B2 discloses how a plurality of shims and baffle clips may be arranged to close the longitudinal sides of the heat exchanger, thus effectively preventing the cooling medium from bypassing the heat exchanger.
There is a need for an improved heat exchanger, which is suitable for use as an oil cooler in e.g. heavy vehicles.

Heat exchanger with bypass stopper, oil cooling system and method for cooling oil


An organic light emitting display device according to example embodiments includes a display unit, a test data line to which a test data voltage is applied during a sheet unit test, a test gate line to which a first voltage is applied during the sheet unit test and to which a second voltage is applied during a normal operation of the organic light emitting display device, a plurality of test transistors configured to selectively couple the test data line to a plurality of data lines in the display unit in accordance with a voltage provided by the test gate line, and at least one redundant element configured to maintain the test gate line at the second voltage during the normal operation even if the test gate line is damaged.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the inventive concept relate to display devices. More particularly, example embodiments of the inventive concept relate to organic light emitting display devices where a sheet unit test is performed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to effectively produce a large number of organic light emitting display devices, a production method of "sheet unit" has been developed in which panels of a plurality of organic light emitting display devices are formed on one mother substrate and then scribed into separate panels.
Tests for the separate panels of the organic light emitting display devices may be performed on each panel by a panel unit test apparatus. However, in this case, since the panels must be separately tested, the efficiency of the test deteriorates.
One way to address this deterioration is to perform the test in unit of sheet before the panels are separated from the mother substrate, and the test performed in unit of sheet may be referred to as a "sheet unit test." To accomplish this, a plurality of sheet unit lines for supplying power and/or signals for performing the sheet unit test to the plurality of panels are designed on the mother substrate. The sheet unit test may improve the efficiency of the test. However, if the plurality of sheet unit lines, or dedicated test lines for the sheet unit test are damaged, an organic light emitting display device may display an abnormal image even after the organic light emitting display device is separated from the mother substrate.

Organic light emitting display device including a redundant element for a test gate line


A printer includes a supply member that separates and supplies a recording sheet from a sheet storage means, and a recording-sheet turning member that can turn the recording sheet. A recording sheet supplied from the sheet storage means by the supply member is turned approximately 90 degrees by the recording-sheet turning member, and is then subjected to image formation in an image forming means.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer that performs printing on a recording medium, such as a recording sheet, according to image information.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, printers having the simplest configuration include two units, a sheet storage unit that contains recording sheets, and an image forming unit. Examples of configurations of the printers will be described with reference to FIGS. 16 to 18.
FIGS. 16A, 16B, and 16C are a perspective view, a plan view, and a side view, respectively, of a printer in which a sheet storage unit 11 (a dotted area indicates the largest possible recording sheets on which image formation is possible) is horizontally placed, and is connected at one end to an image forming unit 12. Recording sheets are supplied, fed, subjected to image formation, and ejected in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 15C. In this case, the installation area S of the printer is large, but the height H is small. This printer is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-68519.
FIGS. 17A, 17B, and 17C are a perspective view, a plan view, and a side view, respectively, of a printer in which a sheet storage unit 21 (a dotted area indicates the largest possible recording sheets on which image formation is possible) is vertically placed, and is connected at one end to an image forming unit 22. Recording sheets are supplied, fed, subjected to image formation, and ejected in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 17C. In this case, the height H is larger, but the installation area S is smaller than in the printer shown in FIG. 16A to 16C. This printer is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-68771.
FIGS. 18A, 18B, and 18C are a perspective view, a plan view, and a side view, respectively, of a printer in which a sheet storage unit 31 (a dotted area indicates the largest possible recording sheets on which image formation is possible) is horizontally placed, and an image forming unit 32 is provided thereon. Recording sheets are supplied, fed, subjected to image formation, and ejected in the direction of the arrow in FIG. 18C. In this case, the height H is larger than in the printer shown in FIGS. 16A to 16C, and the installation area S is larger than in the printer shown in FIGS. 17A to 17C. However, the height H and the installation area S are well balanced. This printer is disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 5-32349.
The first common characteristic of the above three printers is that the largest possible recording sheet on which image formation is possible is conveyed in the longitudinal direction thereof through the image forming means for image formation.
Image forming means of current printers adopt various recording methods such as electrophotography, ink-jet printing, and thermal printing. Regardless of the recording method, side plates serving as structures are provided on both sides of a feeding path in the feeding direction of a recording sheet in the image forming means. Since ends of feeding rollers and ends of element components for image formation are supported by the side plates, the lengths of the feeding rollers and the element components can be reduced by shortening the distance between the side plates. It is obvious that a smaller length of the element components improves various mechanical characteristics, for example, machining accuracy and time, material cost, machining cost, positioning accuracy during assembly, flexure strength, and ease of assembly. It is also obvious that the distance between the side plates needs to be longer than the width of the recording sheet that passes therebetween. For this reason, in most printers, a recording sheet is conveyed in the longitudinal direction thereof so that the direction of its short sides coincides with the width direction of the feeding path. A converse configuration in which the recording sheet is conveyed in the direction of its short sides so that the direction of its long sides coincides with the width direction of the feeding path is also practically used because printing on the entire recording sheet is completed in a period shorter than in the above configuration when the recording speed per unit length is not changed. However, it is more advantageous to improve the mechanical characteristics by reducing the lengths of the element components. Therefore, in the great majority of practical printers, the recording sheet is conveyed in the longitudinal direction thereof so that the direction of its short sides coincides with the width direction of the feeding path in the image forming means.
The second common characteristic of the above three printers is that the longer dimension of the image forming means is larger by at least approximately 10 mm than the shorter dimension of the largest possible recording sheet on which image formation is possible. As described above, side plates serving as structures are provided on both sides in the feeding direction of the feeding path of the image forming means in which the recording sheet passes, the distance between the side plates is longer than the width of the largest possible recording sheet, and the side plates support the ends of the feeding rollers and the element components for image formation. Outside the side plates, there are provided components that cannot be placed in a region, through which the recording sheet passes during printing, in terms of design and components that may be placed in the region, but should be placed outside the region if possible. The components that cannot be placed in a region, through which the recording sheet passes during printing, in terms of design are, for example, mechanical components such as gears for driving rollers, and fixed components such as bearings. Since these components must input driving force to the rollers for feeding the recording sheet without interfering with the fed recording sheet, they cannot be placed in the region. The components that may be placed in the region, but should be placed outside the region if possible are, for example, electrical components such as motors, power boards, and control boards. Since these components include large parts such as motor cases and electrolytic capacitors, when they are placed in the region, the height of the printer increases. Therefore, these components should be placed outside the region if possible. Furthermore, since the stability of operation of wires that are easily affected by electrical noise, such as signal lines for a thermal head, increases as the length of the wires decreases, it is usual to place control boards on both sides in order to reduce the lengths of the wires. As described above, reasonable dimensions are necessary outside the side plates. The longer dimension of the image forming means is determined with reference to the upper limit of the outside dimension, for example, the dimension of the motor serving as a rotating source for the rollers, and, in general, is larger by at least approximately 10 mm than the width of the largest possible recording sheet on which image formation is possible.


In at least some embodiments of the invention, a system may comprise a plurality of electronic devices adapted to send and receive data, wherein each electronic device uses any one of a plurality of communication protocols. The system may also comprise a switch comprising a plurality of ports, each port is adapted to couple to an electronic device, wherein each port is configurable for use according to the protocol used by the electronic device coupled thereto.

A communication protocol may permit an electronic device to transfer data to other electronic devices. Additionally, a communication protocol should permit an electronic device to interpret data received from another device. Often, as new electronic devices are developed, new communication protocols also are developed for use with those devices. Furthermore, new communication protocols are continually being sought to increase speed and/or efficiency of communication between electronic devices. Unfortunately, many communication protocols are not compatible with each other. Additionally, many electronic devices are designed to support only a particular protocol. Therefore, electronic devices that support these incompatible protocols are unable to easily communicate with each other.

Switch configurable for a plurality of communication protocols


A printing apparatus including: a plurality of reception units, wherein at least one of the plurality of reception units receives a printing job; a printing unit that performs printing based on the printing job received by the at least one of the plurality of reception units; a determination unit that determines a difficulty level of reprinting based on which of the plurality of reception units received the printing job; a setting unit that sets a correction-performing condition based on the determined difficulty level of reprinting, wherein the correction-performing condition becomes easier to satisfy as the determined difficulty level of reprinting increases; and a correction unit that performs a correcting process by causing the printing unit to form a pattern and by correcting an image to be printed based on a result of measuring the pattern, if the correction-performing condition is satisfied when the printing job is received.

There has been proposed a related-art printing apparatus having a function of correcting position and density of an image. When receiving a printing job, such a related-art printing apparatus carries out a correcting process by determining whether or not a certain condition to perform a correcting process is satisfied, e.g. whether or not the number of print pages that was printed out throughout a previous correcting process reaches a certain value, or the like, and if it is determined YES, performs a correcting process. In the correcting process, a print unit prints a certain pattern, measures the pattern, and corrects position and density of an image based on a result of measuring the pattern. By executing a printing job after the correcting process, high quality image can be ensured.
Meanwhile, since the correct process also leads to disadvantages such as an increase in consumption of a print toner and an increase in a user's waiting time, it is unfavorable to perform the correcting process frequently. However, the user likely to become more dissatisfied to quality of a printed image as the period during which the correcting process is not performed becomes longer.
In such a case, a user can obtain a high quality image by instructing the related-art printing apparatus to perform a correcting process and by reprinting a corrected image after the correcting process. However, such reprinting may be difficult to perform or may be troublesome according to situations. In the related-art, convenience for the user according to such situations was not considered.


A system and method for scoring movement disorder symptoms comprises a movement measurement data acquisition system and processing comprising kinematic feature extraction and an algorithm trained using Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS) and Movement Disorder Society UPDRS (MDS-UPDRS) scores from skilled clinicians. The movement data acquisition system, or “movement measuring apparatus,” may comprise sensors such as accelerometers or gyroscopes or may utilize motion capture and/or machine vision technology or various other methods to measure tremor, bradykinesia, gait and balance disturbances, dyskinesia, or other movement disorders in a subject afflicted with Parkinson's disease, essential tremor or the like. The method outputs, and system displays, a score that uses and inclusive 0-4 scale that correlates to the UPDRS and MDS-UPDRS, or to a particular component of the movement disorder such as speed, amplitude or rhythm, but has greater resolution and lower variability. In some embodiments, the system is used to diagnose and/or treat the patient by providing recommendations for treatment and/or by supplying treatment in the form of pharmaceutical drugs and/or electric stimulus as part of a closed-loop system.

The current standard in evaluating the severity of movement disorder symptoms is the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale (UPDRS). Patients are typically scored by a certified trained clinician during an office visit. The UPDRS includes a number of tests used to score movement disorders, many of which involve repetitive movement tasks such as touching the nose and drawing the hand away repeatedly, or rapidly tapping the fingers together. Each test is evaluated by a clinician based solely on visual observation and graded on a scale that ranges from 0 (normal) to 4 (severe disorder). Even though numerical values are assigned, UPDRS scores are qualitative assessments and have been shown to vary considerably both between different evaluators of the same test and between the same evaluator's assessment of the same test scored at different times. The subjective assignment of UPDRS scores may mean that two experienced clinicians may assign greatly differing score values to a patient's performance of a test, even if the two clinicians base their scores on the same videorecorded performance. Even more troubling, the same clinician may assign greatly differing scores when making an assessment from the same videorecorded test viewed at different times. Additionally, while the UPDRS standard calls only for the assignment of discrete-integer score values (0, 1, 2, 3, or 4, for normal, slight, mild, moderate, and severe), some clinicians assign scores further specified by decimal fractions (2.3 or 3.5, e.g.), complicating diagnosis by assigning score values for which there is no universally agreed-upon significance. Specifically, bradykinesia-related items have the lowest reliability among all UPDRS items.
In addition to the UPDRS, the Movement Disorder Society has developed their own version of the UPDRS, the MDS-UPDRS. The MDS-UPDRS was designed to address weaknesses of the UPDRS such as ambiguities in scale descriptors and poor rating uniformity between clinicians. Despite addressing these issues, many of the weaknesses from the original UPDRS remain. Although the MDS-UPDRS maybe more descriptive, ratings remain on a discrete-integer 0-4 scale as described above. Such a discrete scale affirms the inherent variance of subjective independent clinician ratings, continuing to complicate diagnosis. Moreover, insightful gauging of movement disorder symptoms from the interpretation of a single examination, particularly in patients with motor fluctuations, is not as efficacious as would be periodic, objective monitoring of symptoms, particularly if such monitoring could be conducted at home.
Because prescribed treatments, including dosages of dopaminergic pharmacological drugs such as levodopa, many times are based in part on these scores, the evaluation of the efficacy of treatment protocols and the improvement of overall patient management is dependent upon the meaningfulness and reliability of scores assigned to assess movement disorder symptoms and thus upon the objectivity, accuracy, resolution, and frequency of the measurements upon which the scores are based.
One currently-marketed system for quantifying Parkinson's disease symptoms, that of Motus Bioengineering Inc., uses a miniature gyroscope to measure rotational motion on a hand and a data acquisition system to send measured rotational motion data to a processor. The processor then computes several simple statistics such as displacement and peak frequency. Another currently-marketed system, that of FlexAble Systems, Inc., uses a miniature 3-axis accelerometer to measure linear acceleration on a hand and a data acquisition system to send measured linear acceleration data to a processor. The processor then likewise computes several simple statistics such as weighted mean frequency of tremor, frequency spread, tremor amplitude and percent tremor time, and further computes a simple score by multiplying these statistics together. However, neither system is capable of providing a score that approximates or is predictive of a score given on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale, and further, neither system is capable of providing a score that is based in part on reference data or uses an algorithm that has been trained from reference data consisting of UPDRS scores given by clinicians.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/030,490 of Klapper, filed Jan. 5, 2005, herein incorporated by reference, describes a system of five accelerometers placed in different positions over the entirety of the body of a Parkinson's patient to acquire movement measurements and thereby stage, or classify movement states of, patients exhibiting bradykinesia and dyskinesia by continuously collecting data over extended time spans (hours or days). A test that can be administered rapidly, for example, in just a few minutes, would be preferable to the one described in the application of Klapper, as it could be performed either at home or in a brief visit to a doctor's office. Further, use of a small number of judiciously-placed sensors, or a system capable of detecting body movements without the placement of sensors on the body, would be less cumbersome for a subject than is placing sensors in a large number of locations, and would therefore have the advantage of being more readily acceptable. A test capable of quantifying the symptoms of bradykinesia, dyskinesia, and tremor is also more desirable than a test capable of evaluating only a subset of these common movement disorders. The quantification algorithm described in the application of Klapper describes prediction of a patient's self-assessment scores, but the capability to generate scores that correlate to UPDRS scores of trained clinicians would be the more valuable determination.
Two publications of Arash Salarian et al. ("An ambulatory system to quantify bradykinesia and tremor in Parkinson's disease," Information Technology Applications in Biomedicine, 2003, 4th International IEEE EMBS Special Topic Conference on, 2003, pp. 35-38, and "Quantification of tremor and bradykinesia in Parkinson's disease using a novel ambulatory monitoring system," IEEE Transactions on Biomed Engineering, Vol. 54, No. 2, February 2007, pp. 313-22) describe a wrist-mounted, 2-gyroscope-based system for quantifying tremor and bradykinesia in Parkinson's disease patients, and report correlation with UPDRS scores. However, this UPDRS tremor correlation was computed by combining rest and postural scores, whereas computing correlations for the scores separately, or components of the scores separately, is essential to determining valid correlations with UPDRS scores given for the different tests on the UPDRS motor exam. As with the system described in Klapper, the system of Salarian examines data from continuous long-term recordings, and requires over 5 minutes of recorded data to produce significant correlations. A preferred system would record data for individual tests given in only 15-20 seconds. The worn apparatus of the system described by Salarian weighs 35 grams, or 50 grams with a data logger for wireless operation, whereas a preferred worn apparatus would weigh less than 15 grams, or, ideally, less.
It is therefore the object of the present invention to provide a method and system for objectively quantifying movement disorder manifestations by providing symptom scores that are readily comprehensible to clinicians as being in the same scale as, and substantially correlative to, scores given on the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale. This method should eliminate clinician subjectivity while providing quantitative scores of improved resolution. It is further the object of the present invention to provide such a method and system with improved time and frequency resolution that will aid in evaluating efficacy of treatment protocols and improve patient management. It is yet further the object of the present invention to provide such a method and system used to recommend a treatment or a treatment adjustment, or to directly control treatment in an automated closed-loop treatment system. Predicate to all the above, it is the object of the present invention to record movement data from subjects as they complete motor tasks, process that data into quantitative kinematic features that describe movement disorder symptom severity, and use those kinematic features as inputs to a trained algorithm to output scores highly correlated to clinician scores of standardized movement disorder rating scales, such as the UPDRS.
As the Unified Parkinson's Disease Rating Scale is broadly taught, accepted and practiced by clinicians, the movement disorder quantification system of the present invention advantageously produces scores that approximate or mirror reliable UPDRS scores, promoting ready acceptance of the invention as an improved standard for patient diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment.

Method and system for quantifying movement disorder systems


The invention relates to the use of an animal-protein-free botulinum toxin composition to treat a disease, disorder or condition in a patient in need thereof whereby the animal-protein-free botulinum toxin composition exhibits a longer lasting effect in the patient compared to an animal-protein-containing botulinum toxin composition.

Pioneered in the mid-late 1980s, chemical denervation of the corrugator and/or procerus muscles with botulinum toxin A (BoNT/A) met many of the criteria of an ideal cosmetic technique for the treatment of glabellar frown lines. When carried out by experienced personnel, BoNT/A injection rapidly and reversibly ameliorates or even eliminates glabellar lines, with virtually no significant adverse effect (Becker-Wegerich P, et al., Clin Exp Dermatol, 2001 October; 26(7):619-30; Letessier S., J Dermatol Treat, 1999; 10(1):31-6 and Alam M, et al., Arch Dermatol, 2002 September; 138(9):1180-5).
In 2002, a decade after the first published report on the use of BoNT/A in the treatment of glabellar frown lines (Carruthers JDA, et al. J Dermatol Surg Oncol, 1992 January; 18(1):17-21) the acknowledged efficacy and tolerability of BoNT/A's effect on glabellar lines was finally confirmed in two identical, large, multicenter, placebo controlled trials (Carruthers J A, et al., J Am Acad Dermatol, 2002 June; 46(6):840-9 and Carruthers J, et al., Journal of Plastic and Reconstructive Surgery 2003). Since then, BoNT/A has been used widely in a variety of manners to temporarily treat glabellar lines and other hyperfunctional facial lines, including horizontal forehead lines ('thinker's wrinkles') and lateral orbital lines ('crow's feet').
Currently commercially available BoNT/A all contain animal proteins such as albumin. Further commercially available BoNT/A compositions such as BOTOX® have a duration of effect of approximately 3 months for treating conditions such as crow's feet lines or glabellar lines.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art for a new type of BoNT composition that is effective and safe with a duration effect longer than commercially available BoNT compositions (e.g. BOTOX®, DYSPORT®, or XEOMIN®). The present invention fulfills this need.

Long lasting effect of new botulinum toxin formulations


Disclosed is a cartilage repair product that induces both cell ingrowth into a bioresorbable material and cell differentiation into cartilage tissue. Such a product is useful for regenerating and/or repairing both vascular and avascular cartilage lesions, particularly articular cartilage lesions, and even more particularly mensical tissue lesions, including tears as well as segmental defects. Also disclosed is a method of regenerating and repairing cartilage lesions using such a product.

Articular cartilage, an avascular tissue found at the ends of articulating bones, has limited natural capacity to heal. During normal cartilage ontogeny, mesenchymal stem cells condense to form areas of high density and proceed through a series of developmental stages that ends in the mature chondrocyte. The final hyaline cartilage tissue contains only chondrocytes that are surrounded by a matrix composed of type II collagen, sulfated proteoglycans, and additional proteins. The matrix is heterogenous in structure and consists of three morphologically distinct zones: superficial, intermediate, and deep. Zones differ among collagen and proteoglycan distribution, calcification, orientation of collagen fibrils, and the positioning and alignment of chondrocytes (Archer et al., 1996, J. Anat. 189(1):23-35; Morrison et al., 1996, J. Anat. 189(1): 9-22; and Mow et al., 1992, Biomaterials 13(2): 67-97). These properties provide the unique mechanical and physical parameters to hyaline cartilage tissue.
The meniscus, a C-shaped cartilaginous tissue, performs several functions in the knee including load transmission from the femur to the tibia, stabilization in the anterior-posterior position during flexion, and joint lubrication. Damage to the meniscus results in reduced knee stability and knee locking. Over 20 years ago, meniscectomies were performed which permitted immediate pain relief, but were subsequently found to induce the early onset of osteoarthritis (Fairbank, J. Bone Joint Surg. 30B: 664-670; Allen et al., 1984, J. Bone Joint Surg. 66B:666-671; and Roos et al., 1998, Arth. Rheum. 41:687-693). More recently, partial meniscectomies and repair of meniscal tears have been performed (FIGS. 9A-D; Jackson, D., ed., 1995, Reconstructive Knee Surgery Master Techniques in Orthopedic Surgery, ed. R. Thompson, Raven Press: New York). However, partial resection results in the loss of functional meniscus tissue and the early onset of osteoarthritis (Lynch et al., 1983, Clin. Orthop. 172:148-153; Cox et al., 1975, Clin. Orthop. 109:178-183; King, 1995, J. Bone Joint Surg. 77B:836-837). Additionally, repair of meniscal tears is limited to tears in the vascular ⅓ of the meniscus; tears in the semivascular to avascular ⅔ are not repairable (FIGS. 9A-D; Jackson, ibid.). Of the approximately, 560,000 meniscal injuries that occur annually in the United States, an estimated 80% of tears are located in the avascular, irreparable zone. Clearly, a method that both repairs "non-repairable" tears or that can induce regeneration of resected menisci would be valuable for painless musculoskeletal movement and prevention of the early onset of osteoarthritis in a large segment of the population.
The proximal, concave surface of the meniscus contacts the femoral condyle and the distal, flat surface contacts the tibial plateaus. The outer one-third of the meniscus is highly vascularized and contains dense, enervated, connective tissue. In contrast, the remaining meniscus is semivascular or avascular, aneural tissue consisting of fibrochondrocytes surrounded by abundant extracellular matrix (McDevitt et al., Clin. Orthop. Rel. Res. 252:8-17). Fibrochondrocytes are distinctive in both appearance and function compared to undifferentiated fibroblasts. Fibroblasts are elongated cells containing many cellular processes and produce predominantly type I collagen. The matrix produced by fibroblasts does not produce a sufficient mechanical load. In contrast, fibrochondrocytes produce type I and type II collagen and proteoglycans. These matrix components support compressive forces that are commonly exerted on the meniscus during musculoskeletal movement.
In the 1960's, demineralized bone matrix was observed to induce the formation of new cartilage and bone when implanted in ectopic sites (Urist, 1965, Science 150:893-899). The components responsible for the osteoinductive activities were termed Bone Morphogenetic Proteins (BMP). At least seven individual BMP proteins were subsequently identified from bone (BMP 1-7) and amino acid analysis revealed that six of the seven BMPs were related to each other and to other members of the TGF-β superfamily. During endochondral bone formation, TGF-β family members direct a cascade of events that includes chemotaxis, differentiation of pluripotential cells to the cartilage lineage, maturation of chondrocytes to the hypertrophic stage, mineralization of cartilage, replacement of cartilage with bone cells, and the formation of a calcified matrix (Reddi, 1997, Cytokine & Growth Factor Reviews 8:11-20). Although individual, recombinant BMPs can induce these events, the prevalence of multiple TGF-β family members in bone tissue underlies the complexity involved in natural osteogenesis.
Bone Protein (Sulzer Orthopedics Biologics, Wheatridge, Colo.), also referred to herein as BP, is a naturally derived mixture of proteins isolated from demineralized bovine bones that has osteogenic activity in vitro and in vivo. In the rodent ectopic model, BP induces endochondral bone formation or bone formation through a cartilage intermediate (Damien, C. et al., 1990, J. Biomed. Mater. Res. 24:639-654). BP in combination with calcium carbonate promotes bone formation in the body (Poser and Benedict, PCT Publication No. WO95/13767). In vitro, BP has been shown to promote differentiation to cartilage of murine embryonic mesenchymal stem cells (Atkinson et al., 1996, In "Molecular and Developmental Biology of Cartilage", Bethesda, Md., Annals New York Acad. Sci. 785:206-208; Atkinson et al., 1997, J. Cell. Biochem. 65:325-339) and of adult myoblast and dermal cells (Atkinson et al., 1998, 44th Annual Meeting, Orthopaedic Research Society, abstract). To ensure chondrogenesis in these in vitro systems, however, culture conditions must be tightly controlled throughout the culture period, including by controlling cellular organization within the culture, optimizing media formulations, and adding exogenous factors that must be carefully established to maximize chondrogenesis over mitogenesis. Such optimization of conditions makes the application of the disclosed in vitro methods to an in vivo system unrealistic and unpredictable. In addition, although in vitro cultures of adult myoblast and dermal cells initially resulted in chondrogenesis, the effect was only transient and over time, the cultures reverted to their original phenotype. Although certain embryonic and precursor cell types showed prolonged chrondrogenesis in vitro in these studies, it would be unpredictable or even impossible in the case of embryonic cells that these specific cell types could be recruited to a site in vivo in an adult patient.
Atkinson et al., in PCT Application No. PCT/EP/05100, incorporated herein by reference in its entirety, describe a delivery system for osteoinductive and/or chondroinductive mixture of naturally derived factors for the induction of cartilage repair.
Hunziker (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,368,858 and 5,206,023) describes a cartilage repair composition consisting of a biodegradable matrix, a proliferation and/or chemotactic agent, and a transforming factor. A two-stage approach is used where each component has a specific function over time. First, a specific concentration of proliferation/chemotactic agent fills the defect with repair cells. Second, a larger transforming factor concentration, preferably provided in conjunction with a delivery system, transforms repair cells to chondrocytes. The second stage delivery of a high concentration of transforming factor in a delivery system (i.e., liposomes) was required to obtain formation of hyaline cartilage tissue at the treatment site.
Chen and Jeffries (U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,962) describe osteogenic compositions consisting of collagen and sorbed factors to enhance osteogenesis.
Valee and King (U.S. Pat. No. 4,952,404) describe healing of injured, avascular meniscus tissue by release of the angiogenic factor, angiogenin, over at least 3 weeks.
Previously, Amoczky et al. described a method using an autogenous fibrin clot to repair an avascular, circular lesion in canine menisci (Amoczky et al., 1988, J. Bone Joint Surg. 70A:1209-1217). This approach enhanced repair of meniscal tissue compared to controls lacking the fibrin clot. However, the repair tissue was not meniscus-like tissue, but rather connective scar tissue.
Hashimoto et al. described a method using fibrin sealant with or without endothelial cell growth factor in avascular, circular meniscal defects in the canine model (Hashimoto et al., 1992, Am. J. Sports Med. 20:537-541). The growth factor added a modest benefit compared to healing with fibrin sealant alone and this additional effect was not observed until three months after treatment, indicating an indirect contribution of the growth factor. In addition, the defect was filled with hyaline cartilage-like cells, which are not typically present in normal meniscus tissue.
Shirakura, et al. describe the use of an autogenous synovium graft sutured into meniscal tears. While the synovium did enhance healing in ⅓ of the animals, the grafts healed with fibrous tissue, not fibrocartilaginous tissue normally observed in meniscus tissue (Shirakura, 1997, Acta. Orthop. Scand. 68:51-54). Furthermore, ⅔ of the grafts did not heal.
The molecular mechanism for cartilage and bone formation has been partially elucidated. Both bone morphogenetic proteins (BMP) and transforming growth factor β (TGFβ) molecules bind to cell surface receptors (i.e., TGFβ/BMP receptors) to initiate a cascade of signals to the nucleus that promotes proliferation, differentiation to cartilage, and/or differentiation to bone (Massague, 1996, Cell 85:947-950). In 1984, Urist described a substantially pure, but not recombinant, BMP combined with a biodegradable poly (lactic acid) polymer delivery system for bone repair (U.S. Pat. No. 4,563,489). This system blends together equal quantities of BMP and poly(lactic acid) (PLA) powder (100 μg of each) and decreases the amount of BMP required to promote bone repair.
Hattersley et al. (WO 96/39170) disclose a two factor composition for inducing cartilaginous tissue formation using a cartilage formation-inducing protein and a cartilage maintenance-inducing protein. Specific recombinant cartilage inducing proteins are specified as BMP-13, MP-52 and BMP-12, and specific cartilage maintenance-inducing proteins are specified as BMP-9. In one embodiment, BMP-9 is encapsulated in a resorbable polymer system and delivered to coincide with the presence of cartilage formation inducing protein(s).
Laurencin et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,629,009) disclose a chondrogenesis-inducing device, consisting of apolyanhydride and polyorthoester, that delivers water soluble proteins derived from demineralized bone matrix, TGFβ, epidermal growth factor (EGF), fibroblast growth factor (FGF) or platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF).
Bentz et al. (PCT Publication No. WO 92/09697) have described the use of a bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) with a TGFβ protein for bone repair. The ratio of BMP to TGFβ in the mixture is in the range of 10:1 to 1:10. The addition of TGF-β with either BMP-2 or BMP-3 results in increased osteoinductive activity and an increased ratio of cartilage to bone when compared to either factor alone (Bentz et al., Matrix 11:269-275 (1991); Ogawa et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267(20): 14233-7 (1992); WO92/09697). However, this composition produced substantial bone in the rodent subcutaneous assay.
Bulpitt and Aeschlimann found that TGFβ-2 and BMP-2 led to accelerated bone formation and decreased cartilage formation in the rat ectopic bone formation assay (Bulpitt et al., Tissue Engineering, pp. 162-169 (1999)).
Other studies demonstrate no or little effect of the combination of TGFβ-1 or -2 with BMP. In vitro, the combination of TGFβ-1 and porcine BMP demonstrated no synergistic effects on collagen production (Kim et al., Biochem. Mol. Biol. Int'l, 33(2):253-261 (1994)). Similarly, Ballock et al., demonstrated no synergy between TGFβ-1 and BMP-3 for collagen production in periosteum derived cells in vitro (Ballock et al., J. Ortho. Res., 15:463-7 (1997)).
In the Rosen modified Sampath-Reddi rodent assay (Sampath et al., Proc. Nat'l Acad. Sci. USA, 80(21):6591-5 (1983)), BMP-2 containing implants showed cartilage and bone formation after ten days and mostly bone (no cartilage) after 21 days (U.S. Pat. No. 5,658,882).
Previously, Li and Stone (U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,353) have described a Meniscal Augmentation Device that consists of biocompatible and bioresorbable fibers that acts as a scaffold for the ingrowth of meniscal fibrochondrocytes, supports normal meniscal loads, and has an outer surface that approximates the natural meniscus contour. After partial resection of the meniscus to the vascular zone, this device is implanted into the resulting segmental defect. The results have been described in both canines and humans (Stone et al., 1992, Am. J. Sports Med. 20:104-111; and Stone et al., 1997, J. Bone Joint Surg. 79:1770-1777).
The Meniscus Augmentation Device, the research reports and patent disclosures described above, and current repair surgeries provide encouraging results in the area of cartilage repair, but are not satisfactory to induce repair of "non-repairable" avascular tears in which the repair tissue is meniscus tissue, and are not satisfactory to produce short patient rehabilitation times and regenerated meniscus tissue in the vascular zone. Furthermore, no reports have been described that demonstrate enhanced healing rates of "repairable" meniscal tears in vivo.

Compositions for regeneration and repair of cartilage lesions


According to one embodiment, an information processing device includes a processor, a controller, and a memory. The memory stores a vector address related to an interrupt request executed on condition that the processor is in a sleep state. The controller receives the interrupt request and detects that the processor transitions to the sleep state, detects fetch of the vector address of the interrupt request after the sleep state of the processor is detected, and inputs the vector address that is related to the interrupt request and stored in the memory into the processor in a case where the fetch of the vector address of the interrupt request is detected.

Conventionally, there has been a technology of storing address information of interrupt processing into a write-once logic circuit.
However, when addresses of all pieces of interrupt processing are stored into a write-once circuit, the addresses of the pieces of interrupt processing cannot be corrected. Also, when the addresses of all of the pieces of interrupt processing are stored, there is a risk for falsification of an address of a certain piece of interrupt processing. Thus, it is desired to make it possible to change an address of another piece of interrupt processing while securely executing a certain piece of interrupt processing.

Information processing device and processing method

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