An array of dual trough radiator elements including orthogonally crossed trough waveguide cavities and RF feed members of predetermined adjustable length extending across the cavities from one radiator element to its neighbor, where the feed members are suspended in a slot formed in the body radiator elements and where the inner or proximal ends are connectable to an RF energy source while the outer or distal end is unconnected in an open circuit arrangement. The array also includes intermediate support members of electrical insulation located on an outer surface of the radiator element and a switchable parasitic ground plane consisting of a set of parasitic conductor elements is located on a top surface of the intermediate support member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to RF antennas and more particularly to an array of dual trough radiating elements capable of scanning from broadside to endfire.
2. Description of Related Art
Circularly polarized antenna arrays for radiating electromagnetic energy at microwave frequencies are generally known. However, scanning a circular polarized antenna including trough radiating elements is more difficult to achieve than scanning a specific polarization due to the greatly different aspects that each component wave, vertical and horizontal polarization, sees over the scanned volume. For example, even if the elements have the same phase center, i.e., physical location, each polarization""s phase shift to the far field is likely to be vastly different at or near endfire as compared to broadside radiation, the reason being the attenuation of each polarization is different as is shown in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a horizontally polarized signal tends to be shorted out as it propagates near a conducting surface, such as a ground plane, while the vertical polarization signal propagates relatively unattenuated. Thus, endfire radiation which comprises RF energy radiated coplanar with the ground plane is severely restricted due to the attenuation of the horizontally polarized signal.
The above-noted attenuation problem near endfire is solved by the subject invention in two ways: (a) by using a trough or notch radiator whose launch point is already a quarter wavelength up from ground, and (b) by utilizing a switchable parasitic ground plane structure in connection with switchable circuit elements that are activated or turned on when a beam to be radiated is scanned to or near endfire while being turned off for broadside radiation.
The present invention in its principal aspect is directed to a circularly polarized trough antenna, which is comprised of: an array of dual trough radiator elements including orthogonal trough waveguide cavities and RF feed members of predetermined adjustable length extending across the cavities from one radiator element to its neighbor, where the feed members are suspended in a slot formed in the body radiator elements and where the inner or proximal end is connectable to an RF energy source while the outer or distal end is unconnected in an open circuit arrangement; intermediate support members of electrical insulation are located on an outer surface of the radiator elements; and a parasitic ground plane structure consisting of a set of parasitic conductor elements are located on a top surface of the intermediate support members so as to enable scanning of the array to or near endfire when energized. In a preferred embodiment, the parasitic conductor elements are connectable to a source of electrical potential by a switching circuit arrangement.
Further scope of applicability of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed description provided hereinafter. It should be understood, however, that the detailed description and specific example, while disclosing the preferred embodiment of the invention, is given by way of illustration only inasmuch as various changes and modifications coming within the spirit and scope of the invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art from the detailed description.

Wide scan angle circularly polarized array


Methods and compositions for the treatment of anti-estrogen resistant breast cancer using retinoid compounds which are modulators of Retinoid X Receptors.

The vitamin A metabolite, retinoic acid, has long been recognized to induce a broad spectrum of biological effects. For example, retinoic acid-containing products, such as Retin-A® and Accutane®, have found utility as therapeutic agents for the treatment of various pathological conditions. In addition, a variety of structural analogues of retinoic acid (i.e., retinoids), have been synthesized that also have been found to be bioactive. Many of these synthetic retinoids have been found to mimic many of the pharmacological actions of retinoic acid, and thus have therapeutic potential for the treatment of numerous disease states.
Medical professionals have become very interested in the therapeutic applications of retinoids. Among their uses approved by the FDA is the treatment of severe forms of acne and psoriasis. A large body of evidence also exists that these compounds can be used to arrest and, to an extent, reverse the effects of skin damage arising from prolonged exposure to the sun. Other evidence exists that these compounds have clear effects on cellular proliferation, differentiation and programmed cell death (apoptosis), and thus, may be useful in the treatment and prevention of a variety of cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions, such as acute promyleocytic leukemia (APL), epithelial cancers, squamous cell carcinomas, including cervical and skin cancers and renal cell carcinoma. Furthermore, retinoids may have beneficial activity in treating and preventing diseases of the eye, cardiovascular disease and other skin disorders. Major insight into the molecular mechanism of retinoic acid signal transduction was gained in 1988, when a member of the steroid/thyroid hormone intracellular receptor superfamily was shown to transduce a retinoic acid signal. Giguere et al., Nature, 330:624-29 (1987); Petkovich et al., Nature, 330: 444-50 (1987); for review, see Evans, Science, 240:889-95 (1988). It is now known that retinoids modulate the activity of two distinct intracellular receptor subfamilies; the Retinoic Acid Receptors (RARs) and the Retinoid X Receptors (RXRs), including their subtypes, RARα, β, γ and RXRα, β, γ. Different retinoid compounds exhibit different activities with the retinoid reactor subtypes. For example, all-trans-retinoic acid (ATRA) is an endogenous low-molecular-weight ligand which specifically modulates the transcriptional activity of the RARs, while 9-cis retinoic acid (9-cis) is the endogenous ligand for the RXRs, and activates both the RARs and RXRs. Heyman et al., Cell, 68:397-406 (1992); Levin et al., Nature, 355:359-61 (1992).
Although both the RARs and RXRs respond to ATRA in vivo due to the in vivo conversion of some of the ATRA to 9-cis, the receptors differ in several important aspects. First, the RARs and RXRs are significantly divergent in primary structure (e.g., the ligand binding domains of RARα and RXRα have only approximately 30% amino acid identity). These structural differences are reflected in the different relative degrees of responsiveness of RARs and RXRs to various vitamin A metabolites and synthetic retinoids. In addition, distinctly different patterns of tissue distribution are seen for RARs and RXRs. For example, RXRα mRNA is expressed at high levels in the visceral tissues, e.g., liver, kidney, lung, muscle and intestine, while RARα mRNA is not. Finally, the RARs and RXRs have different target gene specificity. In this regard, RARs and RXRs regulate transcription by binding to response elements in target genes that generally consist of two direct repeat half-sites of the consensus sequence AGGTCA. RAR:RXR heterodimers activate transcription by binding to direct repeats spaced by five base pairs (a DR5) or by two base pairs (a DR2). However, RXR:RXR homodimers bind to a direct repeat with a spacing of one nucleotide (a DR1). See Mangelsdorf et al., "The Retinoid Receptors" in The Retinoids: Biology, Chemistry and Medicine, M. B. Sporn, A. B. Roberts and D. S. Goodman, Eds., Raven Press, New York, N.Y., 2nd ed. (1994). For example, response elements have been identified in the cellular retinal binding protein type II (CRBPII), which consists of a DR1, and Apolipoprotein AI genes which confer responsiveness to RXR, but not RAR. Further, RAR has also been recently shown to repress RXR-mediated activation through the CRBPII RXR response element (Mangelsdorf et al., Cell, 66:555-61 (1991)). Also, RAR specific target genes have recently been identified, including target genes specific for RARβ (e.g., βRE), which consists of a DR5. These data indicate that the two retinoic acid responsive pathways are not simply redundant, but instead manifest a complex interplay and control distinct biological processes. For example, it has been demonstrated in leukemic cells, activation of RAR pathways regulates cell proliferation and differentiation, whereas activation of RXR pathways leads to the induction of apoptosis.
Retinoid compounds which are RAR and RXR modulators, including both RAR specific and RXR specific modulators, have been previously described. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,193,931, 4,801,733, 4,831,052, 4,833,240, 4,874,747, 4,877,805, 4,879,284, 4,888,342, 4,889,847, 4,898,864, 4,925,979, 5,004,730, 5,124,473, 5,198,567, 5,391,569, 5,455,265, 5,466,861, 5,552,271, 5,801,253, 5,824,484, 5,837,725 and Re 33,533, and U.S. application Ser. Nos. 08/029,801, 872,707, 944,783, 08/003,223, 08/027,747 and 08/052,050; 60/004,897, 60/007,884, 60/018,318, 60/021,839. See also, WO93/03944, WO93/10094, WO94/20093, WO95/0436, WO97/12853, EP 0718285, Kagechika et al., J. Med. Chem., 32:834 (1989); Kagechika et al., J. Med. Chem., 32:1098 (1989); Kagechika et al., J. Med. Chem., 32:2292 (1989); Boehm et al., J. Med. Chem., 37:2930 (1994); Boehm et al., J. Med. Chem., 38:3146 (1995); Allegretto et al., J. of Biol. Chem., 270:23906 (1995); Bissonnette et al., Mol. & Cellular Bio., 15:5576 (1995); Beard et al., J. Med. Chem., 38:2820 (1995); Dawson et al., J. Med. Chem., 32:1504 (1989).
Breast cancer, like other malignant disease states, is characterized by a loss of cellular growth control followed by invasion of malignant cells into surrounding tissue stroma ultimately leading to metastatic spread of the disease to distant sites within the body. In 1987 over 180,000 new cases of breast cancer were diagnosed in the United States and there were 44,000 deaths due to breast cancer. Breast cancer is currently the second leading cause of cancer deaths in women and the leading cause of cancer deaths in women between the ages of 40 and 55. Population analysis on the incidence of breast cancer demonstrates that one-in-eight women in the United States will develop breast cancer at some point during their life. The primary therapy for breast cancer is surgery, either a partial or modified radical mastectomy with or without radiotherapy. This is typically followed by some form of adjuvant therapy.
The type of adjuvant therapy utilized is often dependant upon the estrogen receptor status of the tumor. Analysis of the hormone status of breast cancers demonstrates that 75% of all breast tumors are estrogen receptor positive and the majority of estrogen receptor positive tumors are found in postmenopausal women.
The anti-estrogen, tamoxifen, is presently the most commonly used drug worldwide for the treatment of breast cancer and approximately 66% of estrogen receptor positive breast cancers will respond to tamoxifen treatment. Tamoxifen is currently the first-line treatment for postmenopausal, estrogen receptor positive women with advanced breast cancer. The mechanism of action of tamoxifen in estrogen receptor positive breast cancer is thought to be due to competitive antagonism at the estrogen receptor of the estrogen driven growth of the tumor. Hence tamoxifen is a cytostatic, not a cytotoxic, agent.
It has previously been shown that as a chemopreventive, the RXR-selective retinoid LGD1069 (Targretin®) is as effective as the anti-estrogen tamoxifen (TAM) at inhibiting mammary carcinoma development in the NMU-treated rat. Gottardis et al., Can. Res., 56:5566-70 (1996).
Clinical evaluation of the efficacy of tamoxifen shows that a significant proportion of patients who initially respond to tamoxifen therapy will acquire resistance, and some on adjuvant tamoxifen therapy will suffer relapses. All advanced breast cancer patients eventually tend to develop tamoxifen resistance. The actual mechanisms underlying the development of tamoxifen resistance are most likely many fold and may involve decreased intra-tumor drug concentration, development of tumor cell clones that are now stimulated to grow in the presence of tamoxifen, and the development of estrogen receptor mutants among others.
Once a tumor develops tamoxifen resistance it will begin to proliferate even in the continued presence of tamoxifen. For breast cancer patients who develop tamoxifen resistance, secondary therapies include second-line hormonal agents such as progestins, aromatase inhibitors and LHRH agonists or cytotoxic chemotherapeutic agents. These commonly utilized second-line agents are at best only effective in approximately 25% of advanced cases. Hence, acquired tamoxifen resistance is the major cause of treatment failure in all stages of breast cancer. Accordingly, a need exists for improved methods and pharmaceutical compositions for treating anti-estrogen or tamoxifen resistant breast cancers.

Methods and pharmaceutical compositions for treatment of anti-estrogen resistant breast cancer using RXR modulators


A method and system for characterizing cell motion comprising: receiving image data corresponding to a set of images of a cell culture captured at a set of time points; segmenting, from at least one image of the set of images, a cell subpopulation from the cell culture; determining a resting signal for the cell subpopulation; determining a single-peak motion signal based upon the set of images, the set of time points, and the resting signal; detrending the single-peak motion signal of the cell subpopulation based upon the resting signal; determining values of a set of motion features of the cell subpopulation, thereby characterizing cell motion; and clustering the cell subpopulation with at least one other cell subpopulation based upon at least one of the single-peak motion signal and a value of the set of motion features.

Efficient and low-cost characterization of cell lines is of great interest due to applications in pharmaceutical, clinical, and research settings. With regard to pharmaceutical applications, characterization of cellular responses to a new drug in preclinical testing, at individual and population levels, can provide insight into the effectiveness of the new drug or detrimental effects of the new drug. In clinical and research settings, characterization of cellular responses from patients and donors can provide insight into the effects of applied experimental conditions. In recent years, there has been significant progress in using induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) and other cell types for modeling of human disease; however, characterization in an efficient and low-cost manner has not been successfully achieved. In particular, progress in testing and characterization of patient-specific cardiomyocytes (e.g., iPSC-derived cardiomyocytes) has been limited by several factors. In order to successfully capture dynamics of cardiomyocyte beating, several challenges need to be addressed. Appropriate methods and systems should be capable of handling variations in culture density, cultures of varying health state, and experimentally manipulated cultures. Furthermore, characterization is often challenging due to sensitivity of cultures to plating density, irregularities in motion (e.g., beating) patterns, and impurities in culture. Due to these and many other factors, proper characterization of cardiomyocytes, including characterization of cell motion in an efficient, low-cost, and accurate manner has been severely hindered.
Thus, there is a need in the sample imaging field to create a new and useful method and system for characterizing cell motion. This invention provides such a useful method and system.

Method and system for characterizing cell motion


An electronic apparatus comprising a housing, and an electronic part accommodated in the housing, wherein the housing includes a metallic member and a resin member molded integrally with the metallic member, the metallic member forming an outside part of the housing and being treated on its outer surface for enhancing a coefficient of heat radiation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable small-sized electronic apparatus such as a notebook type personal computer, a housing for the electronic apparatus, and a method for manufacturing the housing.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the portable electronic apparatus which is represented by a notebook-type personal computer, an electronic notebook, a pocket telephone and similar, a resin has been used for the housing which has the properties of light weight, good appearance, good insulating ability and similar.
However, about 30% of the weight of the apparatus is occupied by the housing. If the weight of the housing can be reduced, the apparatus can become lighter. For this reason, the housing has been made thinner. However, ABS resins which are usually used for the housing are hard to make thinner because of insufficient strength.
Accordingly, engineering plastics having high strength, such as aromatic polyamide or PPS resins or polymer alloys including PC-ABS resins, can be used, or a filler, such as carbon fiber, is added to the ABS resins, when the housing is molded.
However, the engineering plastics are difficult to mold thinner as compared with the ABS resins. Even if the engineering plastics are used, strength and rigidity are not enough. Also, in the case where the polymer alloys are used or the filler is added, the same problems arise.
In particular, a user may often drop the portable apparatus while carrying the same. For this reason, drop impact resistance is required, such that the apparatus is not broken, even if it is dropped at a height of about 1 m. In other words, the drop impact resistance must be such that as not only the housing, but also internal electronic parts, are not degraded if dropped.
In order to obtain such required performance, methods for forming the housing of metals are known, such as by aluminum sheet metal working, aluminum alloy die casting, Mg alloy die casting, or similar. However, the sheet metal working method is difficult to form a boss, a rib and a fitting portion. Furthermore, in the case where the aluminum alloy die casting method or similar is used, it is difficult to reduce the thickness of the housing to 1 mm or less.
In addition, there is a possibility that such a metal housing is so high in rigidity that the impact force of the housing being dropped cannot be absorbed. In other words, the housing is not, broken upon being dropped but the internal electronic parts are damaged or degraded.
Thus, the above-mentioned required characteristics of strength, moldability, impact resistance and similar cannot be completely obtained by a housing made of a single material such as a metal or a resin.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Nos. Hei 5(1993)-114664, Hei 5(1993)-261823 and Hei 5(1993)-269787 have disclosed the combination of a metal and a resin, for example, a laminated product of a resin layer formed on the inner face of a housing which is molded of a metal.
However, the electronic parts taught by the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Applications, are accommodated in a portable electronic apparatus at a higher density with the requirement of high performance and small size. For this reason, a structure in which heat generated from the electronic parts is efficiently discharged to the outside of the apparatus has been required.

Electronic apparatus, housing for electronic apparatus and housing manufacturing method


A device and method for tilting an unconscious patient's head rearward and lifting his chin to prevent an airway obstruction from developing during intravenous anesthesia when the patient is unconscious but still breathing spontaneously during surgery. The invention is comprised of a neck support for positioning a patient's head in a face-up, supine position and provide a fulcrum for tilting the head rearward on a surface, such as the top surface of an operating table or hospital cart. An extensible swing-arm mounted on an end portion of the neck support carries a cross-arm and a chin support. The swing-arm is rotated, the chin support is engaged with the patient's chin and the patient's head is extended and chin is lifted by an anesthetist provider. The swing-arm and chin cup are mechanically fixed to release the anesthetist provider from the task of maintaining the rearward tilt of the head and chin lifted positions.

Airway obstructions can strike persons of any age, even children. Risk factors include patients with sleep apnea, being male, overweight, poor health and over the age of forty. They occur in unconscious patients during surgical or postoperative procedures and most commonly occur from sagging tongues and relaxation of upper airway tissues during administration of anesthesia drugs. A lack of immediate intervention allows the patient to obstruct, resulting in hypoxia leading to cardiorespiratory arrest.
The current method of reversing an airway obstruction is for the anesthestist provider to tilt a patient's head backward, lift his chin and thrust the jaw foreward. After the airway has been completely established, the head tilt and chin lift are maintained to prevent the obstruction from re-occurring. This practice is wasteful and prevents the physician from performing other urgent services.
Devices for positioning chins exist in the relevant prior art. U.S. Pat. No. 3,645,259 discloses an inflatable bag for positioning a pilot's chin during an aircraft ejection or a crash. U.S. Pat. Nos. 460,451; 1,051,896; and 2,528,370 disclose chin supports for promoting breathing during sleeping. U.S. Pat. No. 678,417 discloses a chin support for promoting healing of a broken jaw. U.S. Pat. No. 4,757,983 discloses a rest for supporting a patient's head and face in a face-down position. None of these devices is particularly directed to preventing an airway obstruction in an unconscious patient during surgery or postoperative services.

Device and method for maintaining an airway


The present invention relates to thio-substituted, nitrogen-containing heterocyclic phosphonate compounds, including bisphosphonates, phosphonoalkylphosphinates, phosphonocarboxylates, and phosphonosulfonates, and the pharmaceutically-acceptable salts and esters thereof useful for the treatment and prevention of osteoporosis and arthritis. These compounds have the general structure: ##STR1## (a) Z is a monocyclic or polycyclic heterocyclic ring moiety containing one or more heteroatoms selected from O, S, or N, at least one of which is N;. (b) Q is covalent bond; O, S, N, or NR.sub.1 ; PA1 (c) R is COOH, SO.sub.3 H, PO.sub.3 H.sub.2, or P(O)(OH)R.sup.4, wherein R.sup.4 is substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; PA1 (d) each R1 is independently selected from --SR.sup.6 ; --R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; nil; hydrogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; unsubstituted or substituted aryl; hydroxy; --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3 ; --O.sub.2 CR.sup.3 ; --NR.sup.3.sub.2 ; --OR.sup.3 ; --C(O)N(R.sup.3).sub.2 ; --N(R.sup.3)C(O)R.sup.3 ; substituted or unsubstituted benzyl; nitro; or combinations thereof; PA1 (e) R.sup.2 is one or more substituents on atoms in the Z moiety and is independently selected from --SR.sup.6 and --R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; where R.sup.6 is H; --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3 ; --O.sub.2 CR.sup.3 ; --NR.sup.3.sub.2 ; --N(R).sup.3 C(O)R.sup.3 ; and nil; hydrogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; unsubstituted or substituted aryl; hydroxy; substituted or unsubstituted benzyl; nitro; or combinations thereof; PA1 (f) each R.sup.3 is independently selected from hydrogen; substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; or R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; PA1 (g) R.sup.5 is selected from --SR.sup.6 ; R.sup.8 SR.sup.6, hydrogen; hydroxy; amino; halogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; and PA1 (h) R.sup.6 is independently selected from H; --C(O)R.sup.7 ; C(S)R.sup.7 ; C(O)NR.sup.7.sub.2 ; C(S)NR.sup.7.sub.2 ; .sup.C(O)(OR7); and C(S)(OR.sup.7); wherein R.sup.7 is hydrogen; or unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; PA1 (i) R.sup.8 is a substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; and at least one of R.sup.1, R.sup.2, R.sup.3 or R.sup.5 must be SR.sup.6 or R.sup.8 SR.sup.6.

This invention relates to novel nitrogen-containing, thio-substituted, heterocyclic phosphonate compounds, including bisphosphonates, phosphonoalkylphosphinates, phosphonocarboxylates, and phosphonosulfonates. This invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing these novel compounds, as well as to a method of treating or preventing certain metabolic bone disorders characterized by abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism, utilizing a compound or pharmaceutical composition of the present invention. Specifically, this invention relates to a method of treating or preventing osteoporosis and arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis, by utilizing a compound or pharmaceutical composition of the present invention.
A number of pathological conditions which can afflict warm-blooded animals involves abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism. Such conditions may be divided into two broad categories.
1. Conditions which are characterized by anomalous mobilization of calcium and phosphate leading to general or specific bone loss, such as osteoporosis and Paget's disease,or excessively high calcium in the fluids of the body; such as hypercalcemia of tumor origin. Such conditions are sometimes referred to herein as pathological hard tissue demineralizations. PA1 2. Conditions which cause or result from deposition of calcium and phosphate anomalously in the body, such as rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. These conditions are sometimes referred to herein as pathological calcifications. PA1 (b) Q is covalent bond; 0, S, N, or NR.sup.1 ; PA1 (c) R is COOH, SO.sub.3 H, PO.sub.3 H.sub.2, or P(O)(OH)R.sup.4, wherein R.sup.4 is substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; PA1 (d) each R1 is independently selected from --SR.sup.6 ; --R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; nil; hydrogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; unsubstituted or substituted aryl; hydroxy; --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3 ; --O.sub.2 CR.sup.3 ; --NR.sup.3.sub.2 ; --OR.sup.3 ; --C(O)N(R.sup.3).sub.2 ; --N(R.sup.3)C(O)R.sup.3 ; substituted or unsubstituted benzyl; nitro; or combinations thereof; PA1 (e) R.sup.2 is one or more substituents on atoms in the Z moiety and is independently selected from --SR.sup.6 and --R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; where R.sup.6 is H; --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3 ; --O.sub.2 CR.sup.3 ; --NR.sup.3.sub.2 ; --N(R).sup.3 C(O)R.sup.3 ; and nil; hydrogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; unsubstituted or substituted aryl; hydroxy; substituted or unsubstituted benzyl; nitro; or combinations thereof; PA1 (f) each R.sup.3 is independently selected from hydrogen; substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; or R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; PA1 (g) R.sup.5 is selected from --SR.sup.6, R.sup.8 SR.sup.6, hydrogen; hydroxy; amino; halogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; and PA1 (h) R.sup.6 is independently selected from H; --C(O)R.sup.7 ; C(S)R.sup.7 ; C(O)NR.sup.7.sub.2 ; C(S)NR.sup.7.sub.2 ; .sup.C(O)(OR7); and C(S)(OR.sup.7); wherein R.sup.7 is hydrogen; or unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; PA1 (i) R.sup.8 is a substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; and PA1 (b) Q is covalent bond; O, S, N, or NR.sup.1 ; PA1 (c) R is COOH, SO.sub.3 H, PO.sub.3 H.sub.2, or P(O)(OH)R.sup.4 ; wherein R.sup.4 is substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; PA1 (d) each R1 is independently selected from --SR.sup.6 ; --R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; nil; hydrogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; unsubstituted or substituted aryl; hydroxy; --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3 ; --O.sub.2 CR.sup.3 ; --NR.sup.3.sub.2 ; --N(R.sup.3)C(O)R.sup.3 ; --OR.sup.3 ; --C(O)N(R.sup.3).sub.2 ; substituted or unsubstituted benzyl; nitro; or combinations thereof; PA1 (e) R.sup.2 is one or more substituents on atoms in the Z moiety and is independently selected from --SR.sup.6 ; --R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; --CO.sub.2 R.sup.3 ; --O.sub.2 CR.sup.3 ; --NR.sup.3.sub.2 ; --N(R).sup.3 C(O)R.sup.3 ; OR.sup.3 ; --C(O)N(R.sup.3).sub.2 ; nil; hydrogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; unsubstituted or substituted aryl; hydroxy; substituted or unsubstituted benzyl; nitro; or combinations thereof; PA1 (f) each R.sup.3 is independently selected from hydrogen; substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; or R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; PA1 (g) R.sup.5 is selected from --SR.sup.6 ; R.sup.8 SR.sup.6 ; hydrogen; hydroxy; amino; halogen; unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; amino; halogen and PA1 (h) R.sup.6 is independently selected from H; --C(O)R.sup.7 ; --C(S)R.sup.7 ; --C(O)NR.sup.7.sub.2 ; --C(S)NR.sup.7.sub.2 ; C(O)(OR.sup.7); or C(S)(OR.sup.7); wherein R.sup.7 is hydrogen; or unsubstituted or substituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; PA1 (i) R.sup.8 is a substituted or unsubstituted C.sub.1 -C.sub.8 alkyl; and PA1 (a) the active ingredient proper; PA1 (b) the pharmaceutically-acceptable excipients; so long as the variants do not interfere in the activity of the particular active ingredient selected; PA1 (c) the type of the excipient, and the concomitant desirable thickness and permeability (swelling properties) of said excipients; PA1 (d) the time-dependent conditions of the excipient itself and/or within the excipients; PA1 (e) the particle size of the granulated active ingredient; and PA1 (f) the pH-dependent conditions of the excipients.
The first category included the most common metabolic bone disorder, osteoporosis; osteoporosis is a condition in which bone hard tissue is lost disproportionately to the development of new hard tissue. Osteoporosis can be generally defined as the reduction in the quantity of bone, or the atrophy of skeletal tissue. Marrow and bone spaces become larger, fibrous binding decreases, and compact bone becomes fragile. Osteoporosis can be subclassified as menopausal, senile, drug-induced (e.g. adrenocorticoid, as can occur in steroid therapy); disease-induced (arthritic and tumor), etc.; however, the manifestations are essentially the same. In general, there are two types of osteoporosis: primary and secondary. "Secondary osteoporosis" is the result of a separate identifiable disease process or agent. However, approximately 90% of all osteoporosis cases are "primary osteoporosis". Such primary osteoporosis includes postmenopausal osteoporosis, disuse osteoporosis, age-associated osteoporosis (affecting a majority of individuals over the age of 70 to 80), and idiopathic osteoporosis, affecting middle-aged and younger men and women.
For some osteoporotic individuals, the loss of bone tissue is sufficiently great so as to cause mechanical failure of the bone structure. Bone fractures often occur, for example, in the hip and spine of women suffering from postmenopausal osteoporosis. Kyphosis (abnormally increased curvature of the thoracic spine) may also result.
The mechanism of bone loss in osteoporotics is believed to involve an imbalance in the process of "bone remodeling". Bone remodeling occurs throughout life, renewing the skeleton and maintaining the strength of bone. This remodeling involves the erosion and filling of discrete sites on the surface of bones, by an organized group of cells called "basic multicellular units" or "BMUs". BMUs primarily consist of "osteoclasts", "osteoblasts", and their cellular precursors. In the remodeling cycle, bone is resorbed at the site of an "activated" BMU by an osteoclast, forming a resorption cavity. This cavity is then filled with bone by an osteoblast.
Normally, in adults, the remodeling cycle results in a small deficit in bone, due to incomplete filling of the resorption cavity. Thus, even in healthy adults, age-related bone loss occurs. However, in osteoporotics, there may be an increase in the number of BMUs that are activated. This increased activation accelerates bone remodeling, resulting in abnormally high bone loss.
Although its etiology is not fully understood, there are many risk factors thought to be associated with osteoporosis. These include low body weight, low calcium intake, physical inactivity, and estrogen deficiency.
Current osteoporosis treatment largely consists of calcium and estrogen administration.
The second category, involving conditions manifested by anomalous calcium and phosphate deposition, includes myositis ossificans progressive, calcinosis universalis, and such afflictions as arthritis (including, for example, rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis), neuritis, bursitis, tendonitis, and other conditions which predispose involved tissue to deposition of calcium.
In addition to osteoporosis, bone loss can result from rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. Rheumatoid arthritis is a chronic, systemic and articular inflammatory disorder characterized by weakening of the joint capsules and ligaments, followed by destruction of cartilage, ligaments, tendon and bone, and a decrease in viscosity and other alterations in the synovial fluid. Rheumatoid arthritis symptoms include systemic weakness, fatigue, localized pain, stiffness and weakness and swelling and deformation of the joints of the body. Rheumatoid arthritis is most common in women in the fourth to sixth decade of life.
The pathogenesis of rheumatoid arthritis, leading to the destruction of the joints, is characterized by two phases: 1) an exudative phase involving the microcirculation and the synovial cells that allow an influx of plasma proteins and cellular elements into the joint and 2) a chronic inflammatory phase occurring in the sub-synovium characterized by pannus (granulation tissue) formation in the joint and sub-chondral bone, space, bone erosion, and cartilage destruction. The pannus may form adhesions and scar tissue which causes the joint deformities characteristic of rheumatoid arthritis.
The etiology of rheumatoid arthritis remains obscure. Infectious agents such as bacteria and viruses have been implicated. A current hypothesis is that the Epstein-Barr (EBV) virus is a causative agent for rheumatoid arthritis.
Current rheumatoid arthritis treatment consists predominantly of symptomatic relief by administration of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs. Non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug treatment is mainly effective in the early stages of rheumatoid arthritis; it is unlikely it will produce suppression of joint inflammation if the disease is present for more than one year. Gold, methotrexate, immunosuppressants and corticosteroids have been tried with limited success.
On the other hand, osteoarthritis is an inherently non-inflammatory disorder of the movable joints characterized by deterioration and abrasion of articular cartilage, as well as by formation of new bone at the joint surface. As osteoarthritis progresses, the surface of the articular cartilage is disrupted and wear particles gain access to the synovial fluid which in turn stimulates phagocytosis by macrophage cells. Thus, an inflammatory response is eventually induced in osteoarthritis. Common clinical symptoms of osteoarthritis include cartilaginous and bony enlargements of the finger joints and stiffness on awakening, and pain from movement.
Common symptomatic treatments for osteoarthritis include analgesics, anti-inflammatories, steroids, and physical therapy.
A variety of phosphonic acid derivatives have been proposed for use in the treatment and prophylaxis of diseases involving abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism. For example, numerous references, all incorporated by reference herein, disclose compositions containing polyphosphonates, in particular bisphosphonates such as ethane-1-hydroxy-1,1-diphosphonic acid ("EHDP"), and their use in inhibiting anomalous deposition and mobilization of calcium and phosphate in animal tissue: U.S. Pat. No. 3,683,080, issued Aug. 8, 1972 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,230,700, issued Oct. 28, 1980, both to Francis, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,164 to Ebetino, issued Sep. 19, 1989. Numerous other references describe heterocyclic-substituted diphosphonic acids useful for the treatment of osteoporosis and/or arthritis, and are hereby incorporated by reference herein: U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,164, to Ebetino, et al., issued Sep. 19, 1989; U.S. Pat. No. 5,104,863, to Benedict, et al., issued Apr. 14, 1992; U.S. Pat. No. 4,267,108, to Blum et al., issued May 12, 1981; European Patent Application Publication of Boehringer Mannhein GmbH No. 170,228, published Feb. 5, 1986; European Patent Application Publication No. 186,405, of Benedict and Perkins, published Jul. 2, 1986; U.S. Pat. No. 4,754,993, Bosies, et al. issued Nov. 15, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,939,130, Jaeggi, et al., issued Jul. 3, 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,958, Bosies, et al. issued Nov. 20, 1990; DE 40 11 777, Jaeggi, K., published Oct. 18, 1990; WO 90/12017, of Dunn, et al., published Oct. 18, 1990; WO 91/10646, Youssefyeh, R., et al., published Jul. 25, 1991; AU-A-26738/88, Jaeggi, published Jun. 15, 1989, AU-A-45467/89 (assigned to Ciba-Geigy), published May 31, 1990; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,208,401 to Bauman issued Jun. 17, 1980.
In addition, several references describe sulfur-containing phosphonic acids which are said to be useful in the treatment of inflammation symptoms, See e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 4,746,654 to Breliere et al. (assigned to Sanofi), issue May 24, 1988; U.S. Pat. No. 4,876,247 to Barbier et al., issued Oct. 24, 1989; and EPO 100,718 to Breliere et al. (assigned to Sanofi), published Feb. 15, 1984. Also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,071,840 to Ebetino et al., issued Dec. 10, 1991, discloses sulfur-containing heterocycle-substituted diphosphonates in which the diphosphonate-substituted carbon moiety is attached to a carbon atom in a nitrogen-containing six-membered ring heterocycle. The compounds described therein are useful in the treatment of conditions involving abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism, specifically osteoporosis and arthritis.
Further, European Pat. No. 0,298,553 to Ebetino, published Jan. 11, 1989 describes thiol-substituents amongst a myriad of other substituents, for suitable as substituents on methylene phosphonoalkylphosphinic acids. There is no teaching therein, however, that a thiol substituent increases anti-resorptive and antiarthritis activity over the numerous other substituents disclosed.
None of these references, however, disclose the utility of a thio-substituted, nitrogen-containing heterocyclic bisphosphonates, phosphonocarboxylates and phosphonosulfonates in preventing and treating osteoporosis and rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. The thio-substituents defined herein include thiol, alkyl thiols, thioesters, alkyl thioesters, dithioesters and alkyl dithioesters, thiocarbamates, alkyl thiocarbamates, dithiocarbamates, alkyl dithiocarbamates, thiocarbonates, alkyl thiocarbonates, dithiocarbonate, and alkyl dithiocarbonates. Further, the compounds of the present invention have osteoprotective activity of joint destruction in arthritic conditions and have that activity as an additional benefit in the treatment of arthritis over the above merely relieving the symptoms of inflammation. The term "osteoprotective activity" as used herein means disease-modifying activity on bone and surrounding soft issue at the site.
It has been surprisingly discovered that the compounds of the present invention have more potent bone antiresorptive activity, and also greater therapeutic utility in treating osteoporosis and arthritis, than heterocyclic bisphosphonate compounds not having a thio-substituent.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide new more potent, compounds which are potent bone resorption inhibiting agents useful in osteoporosis therapy and anti-arthritic agents useful in the treatment of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis. It is a further object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical compositions useful for the treatment and prophylaxis of abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism and for the treatment and prophylaxis of arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide methods for treating or preventing diseases characterized by abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism in humans or other mammals, including osteoporosis, and arthritis, especially rheumatoid arthritis and osteoarthritis.
These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent from the detailed disclosure of the present invention provided hereinafter.

Thio-substituted, Nitrogen-containing, heterocyclic phosphonate compounds, pharmaceutical compositions, and methods of treating abnormal calcium and phosphate metabolism


A steam cooled blade operating in a high temperature gas with a high cooling effect on a trailing edge portion has an impingement plate, disposed in the blade lengthwise direction within a trailing edge side cooling passage formed on a trailing edge side of a moving blade. The impingement plate partitions the trailing edge side cooling passage into a convection cooling steam passage, into which steam is introduced, and an impingement cooling steam passage, formed along a trailing edge of the moving blade. The steam cooled blade further has a by-pass passage 14 for joining the steam, after it is used for cooling the moving blade, flowing from a blade tip side of the impingement cooling steam passage with the steam flowing to a leading edge direction of the moving blade from the convection cooling steam passage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a steam cooled blade wherein steam is introduced in a moving blade operating in a high temperature operating gas to cool the moving blade, and especially to cool a trailing edge portion of the moving blade through impingement cooling, so that prevention of a high temperature and maintenance of structural strength can be ensured.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a moving blade used in a gas turbine, a low temperature compressed air is introduced into a cooling passage provided within the moving blade to cool the moving blade from its interior. Consequently, the temperature of the moving blade is lowered to or below an allowable value, thus maintaining the structural strength of the moving blade.
In such air cooling of the moving blade, cooling air is first supplied into the moving blade passages through an inner cooling passage to convectively cool the moving blade from its interior. The cooling air is then discharged into a high temperature gas flowing outside an outer periphery of the moving blade through holes provided at a leading edge portion, a blade tip portion and a trailing edge portion of the moving blade to film cool the edge or tip portions.
FIG. 3 is a longitudinal cross sectional view of a central portion of a prior art air cooled blade, wherein a compressed air passing through the blade interior cools the moving blade. The interior of the moving blade 01 contains a cooling passage 04 running in a lengthwise direction of the blade 01 between a blade root portion 02 and a blade tip portion 03. A plurality of rows of the cooling passage 04 is provided in a blade chord direction, in other words from front to rear, of the moving blade 01 and is sectioned into a plurality of systems in the blade chord direction.
A cooling air 05 is introduced into the cooling passage 04 from an air passage provided within a rotor (not shown). The cooling air then passes to an outer periphery of the blade root portion 02, which is fitted to be rotated together with the moving blade 01, via an inlet passage 010 provided within the blade root portion 02. While passing through the moving blade 01 in the lengthwise direction between the blade root portion 02 and the blade tip portion 03, the cooling an convectively cools the moving blade 01 from its interior.
A portion of the cooling air 05 entering the inlet passage 010, after convectively cooling the moving blade 01, is discharged with a high velocity into a high temperature operating gas 09, flowing outside an outer periphery of the moving blade 01, through openings 06 provided at a leading edge portion 011 of the moving blade 01 so as to make a film cooling of a blade profile portion. Also, a portion of the cooling air 05, after convectively cooling a blade trailing edge portion 012, is discharged into the high temperature operating gas 09 through holes 07 provided at the blade trailing edge portion 012 and openings 08 provided at the blade tip portion 03.
In addition, turbulator (a turbulence promoter) 014 is disposed perpendicular to a flow of the cooling air 05, within the cooling passage 04, to make the flow of the cooling air 05 turbulent so as to enhance a cooling efficiency.
As mentioned above, in the prior art air cooled blade, the blade thickness at the blade trailing edge portion 012 of the moving blade 01 is thinner than the rest of the blade for operating efficiency of the moving blade 01. Hence, the structural strength is low and a high temperature strength could damage the moving blade. Thus, an air passage of the cooling air is cooled by the use of a convection cooling structure so that a high temperature is prevented, the structural strength is maintained and a lowering of efficiency is prevented.
Further, a recent trend toward a high temperature gas turbine indicates the use of a higher temperature operating gas for further improvement of the gas turbine thermal efficiency. For this purpose, there have been attempts of using a material which maintains its strength at a higher temperatures. There have been also been attempts to use a steam cooled blade in which steam, having a high thermal capacity and therefore being able to enhance cooling efficiency, is used to cool the moving blade in place of compressed air.
However, if the steam in a steam cooled blade, after it is used for cooling, is discharged into the high temperature gas 09, thus cooling the gas as well, the thermal efficiency of the gas turbine is greatly reduced. Thus it is necessary for all of the cooling steam to be recovered in order to enhance the total thermal efficiency of a turbine plant. Thus the cooling structure used in air cooled blade cannot be used in the high temperature gas turbines. Cooling the trailing edge portion 012 of the moving blade 01 is especially difficult, as the blade thickness is relatively thin and forming the cooling passage 04 necessary for a steam flow for cooling is problematic.


A media server system and method are disclosed for playback of digital media. For playback, header information associated with a complex asset is received. The header information comprises information for initializing a decoder (56) for playback of the complex asset. Artificial headers (54) for the complex asset are then created using the header information. A digital packet stream for the complex asset is received and passed decoder (56) for playback. During playback, artificial headers (54) are injected as appropriate for initializing the decoder (56) for playback of the complex asset. In one implementation, the complex asset can be a clip asset (100), a parallel asset (102), a sequential asset (106) or a composite asset (110).

The present invention relates in general to the field of digital media and, more particularly, to a media server system and method having improved asset types for playback of digital media.
Digital media files are increasingly used to record a variety of media assets for playback on computer systems. Digital media assets are also delivered across networks in a real-time stream. In both cases, digital media data is typically organized with a header followed by a large number of data packets. The header and data packet components are generally separated by a packet start code. A decoder or player is a software or hardware component, such as a software application or hardware card, that receives the digital media data in this digital packet format and renders it for playback such as a displayable image, playable audio or a combination of the two. The header information is important in order to properly initialize the decoder for the media format. If the header information gets garbled or dropped, nothing will get played correctly by the decoder.
One distribution method used for digital media files is a media server which can hold a large repository of media files. The media files can be streamed as digital packets across a network connection such as a local area network, wide area network or the Internet, to client systems for playback. Typically, the media server divides the media files into data packets which are then delivered to the client system across the network connection. In order to provide continuous playback of digital media data, these packets need to arrive within a certain time range. Packets received after or before this time range typically can not be used to display or play the digital media data.
In general, reliable network protocols such as TCP (Transport Control Protocol) are not appropriate to guarantee timely delivery of packets. Consequently, UDP (Unreliable Datagram Protocol) is typically used as a delivery mechanism for the packets. Using UDP, however, packets may be lost and garbled (out of sequence) before they reach the client system destination. Conventional media servers address problems with packet delivery by using feedback information communicated by the client system during playback. However, such schemes are inefficient and can slow down the server when a number of client systems are actively playing media files.
Another means for addressing problems with packet delivery during playback is implemented by the MEDIABASE 1.0 media server available from SILICON GRAPHICS. This media server used a header injection technique where header information could be provided to a decoder separately from the streamed packets to allow decoder initialization to be more robust. In MEDIABASE 1.0, playback was supported only for simple assets consisting of single files that contain the video and/or audio that is to be delivered. Examples of simple assets include an MPEG-1 system stream that contains audio and video, an MPEG-1 elementary video stream (video only), an MPEG-1 elementary audio stream (audio only), and an MPEG-2 transport stream (video and audio combined). The header injection involved associating metadata with each simple asset that included the headers that were needed to play the given asset type.
In accordance with the present invention, a media server system and method having improved asset types are disclosed for playback of digital media and provide advantages over conventional digital media server systems.
According to one aspect of the present invention, for playback, a media server system and method are disclosed for playback of digital media. For playback, header information associated with a complex asset is received. The header information comprises information for initializing a decoder for playback of the complex asset. Artificial headers for the complex asset are then created using the header information. A digital packet stream for the complex asset is received and passed through a decoder for playback. During playback, artificial headers are injected as appropriate for initializing the decoder for playback of the complex asset. In one implementation, the complex asset can be a clip, a parallel, a sequential or a composite asset.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a method is provided for playback of a composite asset. The composite asset has a plurality of assets associated with it. Each of the associated assets encodes a common media title in a different format. For playback, a name of the composite asset is received, and format information for the composite asset is obtained. The formats that exceed an available bitrate on the client system are then discarded. From remaining formats, a format/player combination is selected that has a highest priority. Then, the selected player is launched to playback the associated asset that encodes the common media title in the selected format.
A technical advantage of the present invention is the use of extracted header information to create artificial headers that can be injected as appropriate for playback of complex assets, including clip, parallel, sequential and composite assets.
The extracted header information and artificial header allows the client side flexibility in handling initialization of the decoder for playback of these complex asset types. The client side media control application can work with a variety of decoders on many platforms and can provide high quality, robust playback with a rich feature set. Features can include rewind and fast forward functions and the handling of services such as live cast, web cast, delay TV and video bookmarks.
Another technical advantage of the present invention is the provision of a composite asset type that allows one asset name to refer to multiple encodings of the same asset. Also, the client side media control application is enabled to select the appropriate format and applications for playback based upon the specific characteristics of the client system.
Other technical advantages should be readily apparent to one skilled in the art from the figures, description, and claims.

Media server system and method having improved asset types for playback of digital media


A magnetoresistance effect element includes a multilayer obtained by stacking magnetic and nonmagnetic layers to exhibit a magnetoresistance effect, and an reversal assist layer formed on the multilayer to assist reversal of a magnetic moment of the magnetic layer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetoresistance effect element and a magnetoresistance effect sensor used in a magnetic field sensor, a magnetic head, and the like and, more particularly, to a magnetoresistance effect element and a magnetoresistance effect sensor utilizing an artificial lattice film.
2. Description of the Related Art
The magnetoresistance effect is an effect in which the resistance of an object is changed upon application of a magnetic field. Magnetoresistance effect elements that utilize this effect find a variety of applications including those for magnetic field sensors and magnetic heads because of their high sensitivity to magnetic fields and their ability to produce a relatively large output. While a Permalloy thin film is conventionally widely used for such magnetoresistance effect elements, the magnetoresistance ratio (.DELTA.R/Rs: where .DELTA.R is a difference in electric resistance between the zero magnetic field and the saturated magnetic field; Rs is the electric resistance obtained when the saturation field is applied) of a Permalloy film is as low as about 2 to 3% and, therefore, does not show a satisfactory sensitivity to changes in the magnetic field.
On the other hand, as a new magnetoresistance effect element, a multilayer formed of alternately stacked magnetic and nonmagnetic layers each having a thickness of several to several tens of Angstroms or a so-called artificial lattice film has received a great deal of attention in recent years. Known types of the multilayers include (Fe/Cr).sub.n (Phys. Ref. Lett. vol. 61(21) (1988)2472, (Permalloy/Cu/Co/Cu).sub.n (J. Phys. Soc. Jap. vol. 59(9) (1990)3061), and (Co/Cu).sub.n (J. Mag. Mag. Mat. 94(1991)Ll; Phys. Rev. Lett. 66(1991)2152).
These multilayers exhibit a high magnetoresistance ratio as scores of %. In particular, when these multilayers are formed by using a film formation apparatus comprising an ultra-high vacuum system, e.g., an ultra-high vacuum (UHV) vapor deposition and a molecular beam epitaxy (MBE), a high magnetoresistance effect exceeding 20% can be obtained at room temperature. Accordingly, when these multilayers are used in the magnetoresistance effect heads, a large increase in output is expected.
However, a saturation field H.sub.S of the known multilayers are as strong as about 10 kOe in contrast to only several Oe for Permalloy. It follows that, where the known multilayers are used in a magnetic sensor or a magnetic head designed to detect a weak magnetic field, the magnetic sensor or head fails to exhibit a sufficient sensitivity.
More specifically, when an application as a magnetic sensor or a magnetic head is considered, it is desirable for the artificial lattice film to exhibit a large magnetoresistance change under a weak magnetic field. To this end, the saturation field H.sub.S of the artificial lattice film is required to be diminished.
However, an artificial lattice film meeting these particular requirements has not yet been developed.
It is proposed to use a magnetoresistance effect head utilizing the magnetoresistance effect described above to read data recorded on a magnetic recording medium (IEEE MAG-7, 150, (1971)). In recent years, as the size reduction and capacity increase of a magnetic recording medium have been in progress, the relative speed of the data reading magnetic head and the magnetic recording medium during data read has been decreased. Hence, a magnetoresistance effect head capable of obtaining a large output even at a low relative speed is expected.
When a magnetoresistance effect head is to be put into practical use, two types of bias magnetic fields must be applied to this head. One bias magnetic field is generally called a transverse bias to be applied in a direction perpendicular to the sense current of the magnetoresistance effect element. The transverse bias is a magnetic field which is applied until the magnitude of an external signal and that of a detection signal reach a proportional state, i.e., a so-called operating point. An example of a method of applying the transverse bias includes a self-bias scheme disclosed in Published Examined Japanese Patent Application Nos. 53-37205 and 56-40406 and the like and a shunt-bias scheme disclosed in Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 53-25646 and the like. According to the self-bias scheme, a soft adjacent layer is formed adjacent to a magnetoresistance effect film through a thin nonmagnetic film, and a magnetic field generated by the sense current is utilized as the transverse bias. A method of applying the transverse bias by flowing a current through a coil disposed adjacent to a magnetoresistance effect film is disclosed in Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 53-37206. A method of a hard magnetic film with a magnetization in one direction formed adjacent to a magnetoresistance effect film in order to apply the horizontal bias is disclosed in Published Examined Japanese Patent Application No. 54-8291 and the like.
The other bias magnetic field is generally called a longitudinal bias to be applied in a direction parallel to the sense current of the magnetoresistance effect element. The longitudinal bias suppresses Barkhausen noise which is caused since the magnetoresistance effect element has a large number of magnetic domains. In other words, the longitudinal bias serves to minimize the number of magnetic walls which cause noise generation.
Various methods have been conventionally proposed to apply the longitudinal bias. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,103,315 discloses that a uniform longitudinal bias is generated in a magnetoresistance effect film by exchange-coupling an antiferromagnetic film and a ferromagnetic film. According to JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS VOL. 52, 2472, (1981), when an FeMn alloy film is used as an antiferromagnetic film and a Permalloy (Ni.sub.80 Fe.sub.20) film is used as a magnetoresistance effect film, a vertical bias is applied to the magnetoresistance effect film due to the magnetic exchange coupling of the alloy and Permally films. In any of these cases, the spin of the magnetoresistance effect film is fixed in one direction by the longitudinal bias to suppress the Barkhausen noise.
As another example of the method of applying the longitudinal bias, in addition to the methods described above, a method of using an one-direction magnetized ferromagnetic film in the same manner as that employed for applying the transverse bias is proposed. According to this method, the longitudinal bias, the transverse bias, and an intermediate bias of the two biases can be applied by selecting the direction of magnetization. Magnetic Recording Laboratory, MR-37, the Institute of Electronic and Communication Engineers of Japan introduces a method of applying the longitudinal bias by forming a CoP film at the end portion of a yoke type magnetoresistance effect film.
In this manner, various methods have been proposed to apply the longitudinal bias. When, however, these methods are applied to the magnetic head for hard disk drive, the following problems arise.
Of these methods of applying the longitudinal bias, one with which the most preferable characteristics can be expected in an application to the magnetic head for hard disk drive is a method of forming an FeMn alloy (.gamma.-FeMn alloy) film as an antiferromagnetic film on a magnetoresistance effect film made of a Permalloy or the like.
The longitudinal bias magnetic field is desirably of 10 to 30 Oe.
However, the FeMn alloy seriously adversely affects the reliability of the magnetoresistance effect element, as is reported in Nippon Kinzoku Gakkai (Japanese Metal Society) (543), fall 1990, since Mn is easily oxidized. When an antiferromagnetic film is to be formed by sputtering a .gamma.-FeMn alloy, an .alpha.-FeMn alloy phase is sometimes formed, as is pointed out in JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS VOL. 52, 2471, (1981), and it is difficult to obtain a stable .gamma.-FeMn alloy phase in the industrial level.
Regarding the longitudinal bias to be applied, if it is weaker than the antimagnetic field at the edge portion of the magnetoresistance effect film, the magnetoresistance effect film fails to have a single magnetic domain; if it is weaker than this, the sensitivity of the magnetoresistance effect film is decreased. Hence, the longitudinal bias to be applied preferably has a strength to cancel the antimagnetic field at the edge portion of the magnetoresistance effect film. The strength of the antimagnetic field depends on the shape of the magnetoresistance effect element, i.e., the width and depth of the tracks, and the film thickness. Hence, the level of the exchange-coupling energy must be changed in accordance with the specifications of the magnetic head by controlling the shape of the magnetoresistance effect element. However, in order to control the exchange-coupling energy between the FeMn alloy as the antiferromagnetic film and the NiFe alloy as the magnetoresistance film, the thickness of the NiFe or FeMn alloy film must be changed, as described in the above JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS VOL. 52, 2471, (1981). When the thickness of the NiFe alloy film is changed, the characteristics of the magnetic head itself are changed. Thus, it is not preferable to arbitrarily change the thickness of the NiFe alloy film. When the thickness of the FeMn alloy film is increased, an .alpha.-FeMn alloy phase is formed in the film, which is similarly non-preferable. In this manner, it is actually very difficult to change the exchange-coupling energy in accordance with the specifications of the magnetic head.
Furthermore, as is pointed out in JOURNAL OF APPLIED PHYSICS VOL. 53, 2005, (1982), the exchange-coupling energy between the FeMn alloy and the NiFe alloy largely depends on the temperature, and the characteristics of the magnetoresistance effect element may be undesirably changed by the environmental conditions and heat generation by the sense current. In order to avoid these drawbacks, IEEE TRANS. MAG-24, 2609 (1988) discloses a method of exchange-coupling a TbCo alloy with an NiFe alloy. However, since the TbCo alloy is easily oxidized, long-term reliability is not guaranteed even if the environmental conditions where the alloy is to be used are limited.
The method of applying the longitudinal bias by the ferromagnetic body with a magnetization in one direction is effective if the magnetoresistance effect film is formed to be spaced apart from the magnetic recording medium, as in the yoke type magnetoresistance effect head. However, if the magnetoresistance effect film is formed close to the magnetic recording medium, as in the sealed type magnetoresistance effect head, the magnetic recording medium may undesirably be demagnetized by the leakage magnetic field from the ferromagnetic body. When the coercive force of the ferromagnetic member is decreased to avoid demagnetization, the direction of magnetization of the ferromagnetic body may undesirably be changed by the leakage magnetic field of the magnetic recording medium.
In this manner, the conventional methods of applying the longitudinal bias have various drawbacks when they are applied to a magnetic recording system in which a magnetoresistance effect film and a magnetic recording medium are adjacent to each other, as in a case wherein the magnetoresistance effect head for hard disk drive is used.

Magnetoresistance effect element and magnetoresistance effect sensor


In a device and a method for coordinate measurement, a probe head generates a switching signal in response to contact with a workpiece. The device includes position-measuring units for each coordinate axis to be measured, with the aid of which the relative position of the probe head is measurable; and a processing unit, which operates in a discrete-time manner in time intervals of a controller clock signal. For coordinate measurement, position-measuring values are measured in time intervals of a probing clock signal, which is generated by a probing clock generator and has a higher frequency than a controller clock signal of a processing unit. The position-measuring values are stored in a position-data memory. A time span between a pulse of the controller clock signal and the occurrence of the switching signal at the switching probe head is measured in a time-measuring unit. With the aid of the measured time span, the position value in the position-data memory closest to the time of the switching signal is ascertained in the processing unit or in the position-measuring units.

In numerically controlled machine tools, in particular milling machines, switching probe heads are often used for carrying out automated coordinate measurements. Such probe heads have a stylus, which triggers a switching event when it contacts an obstacle, such as the surface of a workpiece. Typical fields of application for automated measurements include the aligning of workpieces, setting of reference points, measuring of workpieces for quality control, and the digitizing of three-dimensional workpiece surfaces.
To carry out the measurements, the probe head is inserted into the tool spindle in place of a tool. In this manner, it may be positioned in the different coordinate axes by the numerical control unit of the machine tool. For coordinate measurement, the probe head, controlled by the numerical control unit, is moved towards the workpiece until a switching event indicates that the surface of the workpiece has been reached. This operation is referred to as a probing operation. During the probing operation, the spatial position of the probe head in or with respect to the coordinate axes to be measured is continuously measured by position-measuring devices in time intervals determined by the cycle time of the numerical control unit, and the position values are transmitted to the numerical control unit. The position values are needed by the numerical control unit as actual position values for its internal control loops. Customary cycle times are, for example, on the order of 50 μs.
Since, in this procedure, the position values are ascertained in a discrete-time manner in fixed time intervals, but the switching event occurs asynchronously to this, a measuring error results that increases with the probing speed and the cycle time. This measuring error adds to the general measuring error of the machine tool and therefore reduces the quality of the overall system. If, for example, one takes the above-mentioned cycle time of 50 μs and a probing speed of 1 m/min, then a maximum position error of approximately 0.83 μm results. That corresponds to the distance that the probe head travels in 50 μs at a probing speed of 1 m/min. In many cases, an additional position error of this magnitude is not acceptable.
Since the cycle time of numerical control units, as is conventional, cannot be influenced, reducing the probing speed is mostly the only option for reducing the additional position error produced by the discrete-time method of functioning. However, this also results in a lower throughput and, therefore, reduction of economic efficiency.
European Published Patent Application No. 0 073 495 describes a compromise between high probing speed and low position error. Described is a method for coordinate measurement, where a first probing is carried out at high probing speed, the probe head is subsequently moved a short distance away from the workpiece surface again, and the probing is repeated at a lower probing speed. A higher accuracy is attained, using the lower probing speed during the second probing operation. The disadvantage of this method is that it sets high requirements for the programming of the numerical control unit, and the time expenditure from the two-time change of direction cannot be significantly reduced.

Device and method for coordinate measurement


A suture anchor assembly includes a suture anchor and a suture anchor inserter. The anchor includes a flexible distal tip and a rigid proximal anchor body. The distal tip includes a transverse suture eyelet and a cavity formed in a proximal end of the tip. The anchor body includes a lumen extending between proximal and distal ends of the body. The anchor inserter includes a tubular outer shaft and an inner inserter slidably received therein. The anchor assembly is actuatable to move the anchor tip and inner shaft proximally while the outer shaft and anchor body remain in place, urging the proximal end of the anchor tip against the distal end of the anchor body. The proximal end of the tip is deformable to accommodate at least a portion of the distal end of the anchor body within the anchor tip cavity.

Suture anchors are employed in surgical repair operations for fixing a suture in a desired location with respect to a patient's anatomy. Typically, one or more sliding knots are formed in the suture in order to secure the suture to the anchor. However, tying of sliding knots can be difficult and/or time consuming, especially in combination with evolving arthroscopic surgical procedures. Accordingly, there is an ongoing demand for improved suture anchors and corresponding delivery systems that do not rely upon sliding suture knots to secure the suture to the anchor.


A method and apparatus for performing simultaneous multi-point measurements of multiple velocity components in a gas flow is described. Pulses of laser light are directed to a measurement region of unseeded gas to produce Rayleigh or Mie scattered light in a plurality of directions. The Rayleigh or Mie scattered light is collected from multiple directions and combined in a single collimated light beam. The Rayleigh or Mie scattered light is then mixed together with a reference laser light before it is passed through a single planar Fabry-Perot interferometer for spectral analysis. At the output of the interferometer, a high-sensitivity CCD camera images the interference fringe pattern. This pattern contains the spectral and spatial information from both the Rayleigh scattered light and the reference laser light. Interferogram processing software extracts and analyzes spectral profiles to determine the velocity components of the gas flow at multiple points in the measurement region. The Rayleigh light rejected by the interferometer is recirculated to increase the accuracy and the applicability of the method for measurements at high temperatures without requiring an increase in the laser energy.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and apparatus for performing simultaneous multi-point measurements of multiple velocity components in an unseeded flow.
2. Description of Related Art
Gas flow velocity is an important parameter to measure in scientific, engineering and industrial applications. The velocity field dominates effects such as heat transfer, aerodynamics, and mass transport. Most known methods for measuring the velocity do not work in all environments and, in some cases, require undesirable modifications to the flow. For example, many known techniques require that particles or gasses be seeded into the flow.
Velocity measurement has been performed extensively using particle-based measurement techniques as mentioned above. First, particles are seeded into the flow. Then, Laser Doppler Velocimetry (LDV) or Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) is used. However, seeding the flow with particles is undesirable since it is time consuming and increases cost. Furthermore, it is not possible to seed some flows with particles. Additionally, such particles do not always follow the gas flow, especially in supersonic and hypersonic flows and with vortices at any speed.
Molecular-based velocimetry systems use molecules rather than particles. Such molecular-based velocimetry systems include planar laser-induced fluorescence (LIF or PLIF), flow tagging velocimetry (RELIEF), CARS (Coherent anti-Stokes Raman Scattering) velocimetry, laser-induced thermal acoustics (LILA), etc. All of these molecular based known methods have disadvantages or limitations, namely, they: (i) are limited to a small class of flows, (ii) do not work well at high temperatures, (iii) cannot be used to measure three velocity components simultaneously using a single probing laser beam, (iv) sometimes requires specific molecules to be seeded into the flow, and (v) cannot be used easily to measure at multiple points.
Another known technique is iodine-cell-filtered Rayleigh scattering. This technique was developed for unseeded velocimetry in airflows and is used for two-dimensional imaging. This technique uses two cameras to view the flow. One of the cameras looks through an iodine filter. However, this technique has limitations in that the spectroscopy of the iodine is fixed and the technique does not work well at high temperatures (e.g. >1000 K). These limitations result in limited dynamic range.
Interferometric Rayleigh scattering technique for single and multiple-point velocity measurements is known in the art. However, due to low efficiency of the interferometer that is used to analyze the Rayleigh spectra, this technique is generally limited to time-averaged measurements of one component of velocity. Fabry-Perot and confocal interferometers have been used for Rayleigh signal analysis in conjunction with cooled CCDs (Charge-Coupled Devices), intensified CCDs (ICCDs), or photomultipliers arrays that image the interferogram. However, in many cases, thermal and vibration stabilization of the interferometer is required in order to improve the measurements precision in a harsh experimental environment. Furthermore, this requirement prevents those known systems from being configured as a compact system.
Another known technique can measure simultaneously three velocity components using combined instruments of different types (Rayleigh and LDV) and having different methods of obtaining the velocity. However, such a technique is complex and expensive to manufacture. Furthermore, the use of such complex components prevents this known system from being compact and configured on a single platform.
A search of patented known techniques reveals the following patents: U.S. Pat. No. 6,856,396 to McGuire discloses an airborne wind shear detection system that measures wind by determining the Doppler shift of backscattered radiation that is generated by an onboard laser system. The collected, scattered light is mixed with a sample from the transmitting laser using a dual differential Mach-Zehnder interferometer and a demodulator. U.S. Pat. No. 6,847,437 to Bruel et al. discloses a laser anemometer for determining the relative velocity between the anemometer and an ambient medium. U.S. Pat. No. 6,603,535 to McDowell discloses a stereo imaging velocimetry system and method that includes a camera for recording image processing and particle track determination. U.S. Pat. No. 6,542,226 to Wernet discloses a planar particle imaging and Doppler velocimetry system and method. The seeded flow field is illuminated with pulsed laser light source and the positions of the particles in the flow are recorded on CCD cameras. U.S. Pat. No. 6,522,397 to Barricau et al. discloses a method and a device for measuring the speed of at least one object by effect, whereby the light diffused by an object illuminated by a laser sheet is transmitted to a CCD video camera by special filtering means. U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,121 to Erskine discloses single and double superimposing interferometer systems. U.S. Pat. No. 5,708,495 to Pitz et al. discloses a method and an apparatus for determining the velocity of a gas flow wherein an image is recorded by a CCD (ICCD) camera. U.S. Pat. No. 5,351,116 to Barton et al. discloses a differential laser Doppler velocimeter that is based on the use of a modified fiber optic Sagnac interferometer. U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,044 to Shaffer discloses a florescent image tracking velocimeter (FITV) detects and measures the motion of small particles close to light scattering surfaces. The FITV includes an imaging camera. U.S. Pat. No. 5,088,815 to Gamier et al. discloses a laser device for measuring wind speeds at medium altitudes by using a Doppler effect. The device uses a Fabry-Perot interferometer.

Interferometric Rayleigh scattering measurement system

The United States of America as represented by the Administrator of the National Aeronautics and Space Administration


A differential transmission for transmitting a torque to an axle of a motor vehicle, has at least one driveshaft and at least one output shaft, which are connectable in torque-transmitting manner via a clutch within a housing of the differential transmission, wherein the clutch is actuatable via an actuating device, wherein the actuating device is mounted on the housing, wherein the at least one output shaft is mounted in a rotatable manner via a bearing, wherein the bearing is mounted on the actuating device; wherein a stop is arranged on the at least one output shaft such that an actuating force that is provided for actuating the clutch and acts at least in an axial direction is supported on the stop at least via the actuating device and the bearing.

Via the differential transmission, a torque is usually transmitted from a vehicle drive unit into a differential transmission via an input shaft (for example via a longitudinal shaft). Within the differential transmission, this torque is transmitted to the wheels of the axle, wherein different speeds of the wheels can be equalized in the differential transmission and also a potentially different distribution of the torque to the wheels is intended to take place.
The input shaft transmits the torque to the output shaft via the at least one driveshaft and thus to the respective wheel of the axle. Via the clutch, the respective output shaft can be coupled to the driveshaft and thus to the input shaft. The clutch is actuated via an actuating device. With the differential transmission locked, at least one driveshaft is rigidly connected to the corresponding output shaft.
EP 0 414 086 A2 discloses such a differential transmission. Said document proposes supporting the actuating force required to actuate the clutch on a shaft or on a differential cage, such that the transmission housing of the differential transmission remains free of load. In this way, influences on the toothing ratios and on the bearing load can be reduced.
There is a constant need to improve components of motor vehicles. In particular, the components are desired to become lighter and more compact and in the process as cost-effective to produce as possible.


The present invention relates to an audio smoothing system for smoothing an audio waveform to generate a smoothed waveform, including an audio generator, an audio smoothing device and an operating interface. The audio smoothing device is provided for receiving an audio waveform of the audio generator to smooth a sound corresponding to the audio waveform, and the audio smoothing system includes a sound volume modulator, a waveform divider and a calculator. An audio smoothing method includes the steps of: dividing the audio waveform according to a predetermined cycle time while the audio waveform is received; calculating respectively average waveform amplitudes; after setting an input sound volume via the operating interface, dividing the input sound volume by amplitude values respectively to obtain amplitude parameters; and multiplying all the amplitude parameters with the amplitude values corresponding to the divided audio waveforms to obtain the smoothed waveform.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an audio system, device and method, and more particularly to a system, device and method for smoothing audio waveforms.
2. Description of Related Art
As science and technology advance rapidly, products with a music playing function are used extensively in our daily life. For example, handheld music players are usually used for listening to music and killing time while riding a bus or a mass rapid transit.
However, the sound volume of the playing music may vary with different amplitudes, and users have to adjust the sound volume manually, thereby causing inconvenience to the music appreciation. The range of the sound volume of a handheld music player is very narrow due to the cost concern of the hardware, so that a crushing sound effect may occur while playing music with a relatively high sound volume. It will be very convenient for users to play music, if the handheld music player comes with an automatic sound volume adjustment.
With reference to R.O.C. Pat. Publication No. I305321 entitled "A hearing protection system and method and a sound output device", a sound output device with a hearing protection function is disclosed. A sound volume exceeding a predetermined power volume will be lowered automatically by calculating an amplitude value, and a hearing protection signal or a visual protection signal is generated. However, it may scare a user when the hearing or visual protection signal appears suddenly. When the sound volume exceeding the predetermined power value, a higher music amplitude value will be disconnected directly so as to affect the user's fun of listening to the music.
Therefore, the inventor of the present invention developed an audio smoothing system and method to overcome the shortcomings of the prior art. The system and method are provided for smoothing a sound corresponding to an audio waveform to generate a smoothed waveform, such that the audio waveform is free of high and sharp amplitudes, and the higher music amplitude value is not cut off directly while appearing any higher music amplitude values, thereby maintaining the smoothness of the playing music.

Audio smoothing system, device, and method


A restraint clip for suspending a load-bearing object includes an engaging member having a body defining an engaging member hole, two abutting surfaces, and two non-abutting surfaces; a lock having a lock body with a base defining a lock hole spatially aligned with the engaging member hole, wherein the lock coacts with the engaging member; a fastener extending along a longitudinal axis threadably engaged with the engaging member hole engaged with the lock hole and threadably engaged with a threaded stop hole, whereby the engaging member is adapted to move along the longitudinal axis relative to the fastener when the fastener is rotated about a longitudinal axis.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a restraint clip for use in suspending a load-bearing object from a supporting roof structure.
2. Description of Related Art
It is commonplace in today's society to go to a theme restaurant, sports coliseum, shopping mall, convention center, and the like, and witness a heavy object hanging from the ceiling. These objects are suspended from the ceiling using a variety of methods, and the objects can be anything from an automobile, a motorcycle, a guitar, etc.
One current method of suspending heavy objects is to directly bolt the object from the ceiling. However, this method disrupts the integrity of the ceiling surface, allowing for leaks and the possibility that the strength of the ceiling is compromised.
Another method is to attach an object to the bottom of a bolt with a wedge at the top of the bolt, whereby the wedge fits snugly within the recess of a rib of roof decking. This method of suspending heavy objects from a ceiling is not failproof, however, as the wedge may shift from the weight of the load or due to high levels of vibrations, or seismic activity.
Thus, it is an object of the present invention to provide an apparatus designed to allow the suspension of heavy objects from a ceiling without affecting the structural integrity of the ceiling.


A zero-footprint remotely hosted phone application development environment is described. The environment allows a developer to use a standard computer without any specialized software (in some embodiments all that is necessary is a web browser and network access) together with a telephone to develop sophisticated phone applications that use speech recognition and/or touch tone inputs to perform tasks, access web-based information, and/or perform commercial transactions. Some embodiments support concurrent call flow tracking that allows a developer to observe, using a web browser, the execution of her/his application. A variety of reusable libraries are provided to enable the developer to leverage well-developed libraries for common playback, input, and computational tasks. Embodiments support rapid application deployment from the development environment to hosted application deployment to the intended audience.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to the field of application development. In particular, the invention relates to technologies for developing interactive telephone applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Prior techniques for developing telephone applications have required the application developer, also known as a programmer, to use specialized development software and/or hardware. For example, if a developer wanted to create phone applications using Nuance(™) voice recognition software, from Nuance Communications, Menlo Park, Calif., they would have to set up a specialized development computer system, obtain the required telephony equipment, obtain suitable development tools (e.g. compilers), as well as obtain and install the necessary speech recognition system.
This cumbersome process drastically limits the number of people who can develop and deploy phone applications. Further, the software license fees and hardware costs associated with obtaining the necessary tools limit who can be a developer. For example, an individual developer might need to obtain, configure, and have licenses to a variety of tools including: a speech recognizer, a speech programming toolkit, the target interactive voice response (IVR) system or telephony cards, a compiler, a comprehensive understanding of the grammars supported by the speech recognizer, and/or other specialized materials.
Further, emerging standards such as VoiceXML, see <http://www.voicexml.org/>, do not come pre-packaged with programming tools and development environments. This is in stark contrast to other World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) standards such as hypertext markup language (HTML) which is widely deployed in browsers such as Internet Explorer(™) from Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, Wash. Further, like HTML, specific platforms may provide implementation specific features that differ slightly from one provider to another.
The prior approaches to phone application development required proprietary tools that limited the ability of individuals to rapidly develop phone applications without specialized software and/or hardware. Accordingly, what is needed is a method and apparatus for developing phone applications that allows users with standard hardware and software, e.g. personal computer with Internet access, and a telephone to develop phone applications. The method and apparatus should support debugging of telephone applications as well as shared code reuse of VoiceXML components, grammars, audio prompts, sound files, and/or other phone application features. Further, the method and apparatus should minimize the need for the developer to understand the intricacies related to defining grammars by allowing the developer to easily define grammars in their phone applications and also leverage packaged grammars. Further, the method and apparatus should support rapid deployment of a phone application into a hosted environment for use by end users of the application.

Method and apparatus for zero-footprint phone application development


A method for forming self-aligned contact devices in a core region of a semiconductor substrate and non-self-aligned contact devices in a non-core region of the semiconductor substrate is disclosed in which a single gate film stack is used for forming gate structures in both the core region and in the non-core region. A dielectric layer is formed over a semiconductor substrate and a gate film stack is formed over the dielectric layer. The gate film stack is then patterned so as to form gate structures within both the core region and the non-core region.

In sub-micron Complimentary Metal-Oxide Semiconductor (CMOS) manufacturing self-aligned contact (SAC) technology has been successfully used to achieve chip size reduction. In conventional SAC processes structures that are to be connected with overlying layers using a self-aligned contact are closely spaced on the semiconductor substrate. An etch stop layer (e.g., silicon nitride) is formed over the structure that is to be contacted. One or more pre-metal dielectric layer is then deposited over the etch stop layer. An etch is then performed to form contact openings that extend through the pre metal dielectric layer. This etch stops on the etch stop layer. The exposed portions of the etch stop layer are then removed, exposing the structure that is to be contacted. A metal layer is then deposited and planarized to complete the self-aligned contact. The etch stop layer prevents over-etch, aligning the contact with the structure to be contacted and preventing current leakage that could result from improper alignment.
SAC processes allow for the use of closely spaced structures, giving high density semiconductor devices. However, the speed of devices formed with SAC processes is significantly less than the speed of devices formed with non-SAC processes.
Accordingly, what is needed is a process and structure that allows for forming CMOS devices that have both high density and high speed. The present invention meets the above needs.


A corporate linkage system and method provides customers with complete, accurate, and timely lists of corporate linkage locations, including monitoring company lists for changes to location lists, matching stored locations to a company or third party list of locations, providing detailed coding on matches, and batch updates to global files.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure generally relates to business information services. In particular, the present disclosure relates to corporate families, business information, linkage, multinational corporations, business intelligence, global data collection, and other fields.
2. Background of the Invention
Some providers of corporate linkage information provide incomplete, inaccurate, and outdated information. Often, data comes only from annual reports or is updated quarterly. Fragmented and uncoordinated update processes drive quality down and costs up. The conventional one-record-at-a-time approach to maintenance has reduced effectiveness. For example, local updates that are uncoordinated with global updates can introduce inconsistencies and errors. There is a need for a provider to pro-actively seek out changes in corporate linkage information and provide complete, accurate and timely information.
There is a need for monitoring for changes in company locations. New and closed locations need to be identified and added to stored data without the expense of telephone calls. This would provide more complete and accurate lists of corporate linkage so that customers are able to identify newly opened location sooner for better account penetration and not waste efforts on locations that are no longer operating.
There is a need for updating stored information with information from companies themselves as well as third parties through a matching process. This would reduce the time and effort needed to make these comparisons and improve the consistency and accuracy of the comparisons. There is a need to automate manual processes to enable them to be repeated periodically and to implement a monitoring process to identify changes. This would provide more complete and accurate corporate linkages. Stored data would be confirmable, ensuring the accuracy of name and address for locations and providing investigation for unmatched records. Coded match results would allow determination of missing and duplicate locations. This would provide more accurate and complete corporate linkage.
There is a need for batch updates to global files to ensure data is updated correctly and consistently. This would eliminate data entry mistakes and increase speed of updates. This would provide more complete corporate linkage.

Method and system for linking business entities using unique identifiers


The synthesis and purification of zosteric acid is described. The specification describes methods for preparing p-coumaric acid, for preparing zosteric acid, and purifying zosteric acid. Zosteric acid is prepared from p-coumaric acid. Zosteric acid, however, need not be prepared by any particular method to be purified by a method of the invention. All three methods may be used in combination to prepare and purify zosteric acid.

Surfaces in contact with marine environments (which include fresh water, brackish water and salt water environments) are known to become fouled by various types of organisms, both microorganisms and macro organisms. Vulnerable surfaces include, for example, the hulls of ships or the inside of pipes in circulating or pass-through water systems. Attaching themselves to these surfaces, organisms not only impede water flow across the surface hampering performance, but can also cause deterioration of the surface itself. As one example, Zebra mussels, which have relatively recently entered the Great Lakes, have been known to accumulate on and foul ship hulls and the water intake systems of power plants. Removing Zebra mussels takes ships or plant equipment out of service causing costly delays, repair, and cleanup. A need exists, therefore, for chemicals which combat biofouling and alleviate its adverse economic costs. Safety concerns, however, require that any such chemical should not pose undue harm to the environment or humans.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,176 describes the use of zosteric acid (p-sulfoxycinnamic acid) to control biofouling on surfaces in contact with marine environments. Zosteric acid is reported not only to be effective in combating biofouling but also to be environmentally safe. Zosteric acid occurs naturally in eelgrass Zostera marina. U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,176 discloses a method for isolating zosteric acid from methanolic extracts of eelgrass.
Extracting zosteric acid from eelgrass, however, can often be an expensive, time consuming processes with varying yields. If zosteric acid is to be a viable chemical to combat biofouling, there needs to be a synthetic route for its preparation and purification. The present invention answers that need by providing methods for the preparation of zosteric acid and its precursor, p-coumaric acid. The present invention also provides a method for purifying zosteric acid. These processes supply zosteric acid in good yield and high purity.

Synthesis and purification of zosteric acid

The University of Tennessee Research Corporation