A double-tube type stent is inserted into a hollow tubular organ such as a bile duct so as to relieve narrowing of the bile duct on, for instance, an anastomotic area of the intrahepatic bile duct of a liver transplant patient. A hollow cylindrical body has a plurality of rhombic spaces formed by weaving a superelastic shape-memory-alloy wire so as to be crossed. A silicon coating layer is coated on an outer surface of the cylindrical body using a silicon solution. A polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube is fixedly fitted around the cylindrical body having the silicon coating layer leaving a gap therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to a stent that is inserted into a hollow tubular organ such as a bile duct to relieve narrowing of the hollow tubular organ, for instance, on an anastomotic area of the intrahepatic bile duct of a liver transplant patient and, more particularly, to a double-tube type stent having a dual protection structure in which a silicon coating layer is formed on the outer surface of a hollow cylindrical body woven with a superelastic shape-memory-alloy wire using a silicon solution, in which a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube is fitted around the cylindrical body having the silicon coating layer leaving a gap therebetween, thereby providing maximum durability, long-term usability and safe removal with respect to the hollow tubular organ.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, when a hollow tubular organ, for instance a bile duct, on an anastomotic area of the intrahepatic bile duct of a liver transplant patient, is narrowed, causing a chance of blocking a flow of bile, a request is made to improve the flow of bile.
This improvement of the flow of bile has been mainly accomplished by relieving the narrowing of the bile duct using a stent.
In detail, as illustrated in FIG. 1, the stent 1 which is used is made by weaving a superelastic shape-memory-alloy wire so as to be crossed and thereby form a hollow cylindrical body 3 having a plurality of rhombic spaces 2.
At this time, the stent 1 is used to smoothly guide the flow of bile after a silicon coating layer is formed or after it is covered with a polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) tube.
When the silicon coating layer is formed on the stent 1, the silicon coating layer has a lubricating characteristic, and thus smoothly guides the bile in the bile duct. However, the silicon coating layer reduces flexibility, and thus makes it difficult to maintain the stent in the bile duct for a long time.
Further, due to the strongly acidic environment inside the bile duct, the silicon coating layer is dissolved, reducing durability. For this reason, in the case of the stent having such a silicon coating layer, the stent must be typically changed out approximately every three months.
In the case in which the stent is covered with the PTFE tube, the stent is maintainable in the bile duct for a long time due to flexibility of the PTFE tube. Nevertheless, the PTFE tube does not come into contact with the stent, and fails to be firmly fixed to the stent. Accordingly, the PTFE tube brings about inconvenient use, and fails to effectively guide the bile.
More specifically, the PTFE tube is fixed to the stent in such manner that upper and lower ends thereof are tied with a thread. However, since the thread is directly tied to the stent, it does not maintain a firmly tied state due to sliding, or the like.
Moreover, in the case in which only the silicon coating layer is formed on the stent 1, or in which only the PTFE tube is covered on the stent 1, a lesion area of the bile duct cannot be prevented from protruding through the rhombic spaces 2 formed on the outer surface of the stent 1.
In other words, since only one of the silicon coating layer and the PTFE tube has low resistance, it cannot prevent the lesion area of the bile duct from protruding, particularly, from protruding through the rhombic spaces 2 formed on the outer surface of the stent 1. Thus, bleeding occurs through the protruding lesion area of the bile duct. When the stent is to be removed, it is impossible to do so without cutting off the protruding lesion area of the bile duct.


An antiplaque oral composition such as a gel, paste or mouthrinse which is comprised of a vehicle having incorporated therein as the antiplaque agent an effective amount of an antibacterial salicylanilide compound and a surfactant mixture of an anionic surfactant, a polyoxyethylene/polyoxypropylene block copolymer and a taurate salt, the pH of the composition being adjusted to a pH of at least 8.0. An antibacterial-enhancing agent such as an anionic polymeric polycarboxylate which enhances the delivery of the salicylanilide compound to and retention on oral tissue surfaces is optionally incorporated in the composition to improve the efficacy of the salicylanilide compound.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an antibacterial, antiplaque oral composition. More particularly, it relates to an oral composition containing a substantially water insoluble salicylanilide antibacterial agent effective to inhibit plaque and more particularly to an oral composition containing a halogenated salicylanilide antibacterial agent wherein the oral composition exhibits a reduced tendency to undergo phase separation and exhibits improved antiplaque efficacy.
2. The Prior Art
Dental plaque is a soft deposit which forms on teeth as opposed to calculus which is a hard calcified deposit on teeth. Unlike calculus, plaque may form on any part of the tooth surface, particularly including at the gingival margin. Besides being unsightly, it is implicated in the occurrence of gingivitis.
Salicylanilide compounds have been identified by the art to be effective antiseptics against microorganisms prevalent in dental plaque. For example U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,287,191, 4,358,443 and 4,939,132 disclose that certain salicylanilide compounds such as 5-acylsalicylanilides, 5-alkyl salicylanilides and 5-alkylsulfonyl salicylanilides are highly effective against bacteria prevalent in plaque, including S. mutans. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,154,917, 5,145,667, and 4,749,562 disclose that halogenated salicylanilide compounds are effective antiplaque agents.
Accordingly, it is highly desirable to include salicylanilide compounds in oral compositions such as toothpastes, gels and mouthrinses. However the salicylanilide compounds are water insoluble and extremely hydrophobic and are incompatible with most conventional oral compositions which are aqueous based formulations containing anionic surfactants such as sodium lauryl sulfate. It has therefore been observed that when aqueous based oral compositions are prepared using a salicylanilide antibacterial agent such as a 5-acylsalicylanilide, there is a tendency for the oral composition to be unstable and separate into two distinct phases either liquid/solid portions or liquid/liquid portions, rendering the oral composition undesirable for use by consumers. When attempts are made to formulate stable oral care products with the salicylanilide compound using a variety of nonionic surfactants it has been determined that the antibacterial efficacy of the compound is compromised.
There is therefore a need in the art to provide oral compositions containing salicylanilide compounds effective for antiplaque activity wherein phase separation of the dentifrice is substantially avoided without compromise of the efficacy of the compound.

Oral composition containing salicylanilide antibacterial agent


Disclosed is a dust separating and carrier returning device, which comprises: an outer raw material transfer passage (1) and an inner carrier returning passage (2), and a sieve cage (4) with one end thereof connected with the raw material transfer passage (1) and the other end sealed; a spiral conveyer belt is provided between the sieve cage (4) and the carrier returning passage (2), with the two sides thereof connected to the inner wall of the sieve cage (4) and the outer wall of the carrier returning passage (2); and the end of the spiral conveyer belt is connected to the rear port of the carrier returning passage (2) via a guide plate (5). The above device achieves the dedusting of the carrier during the transmission process and the returning of the dedusted carrier to another working circle, thereby improving work efficiency and reducing the number of manufacturing process steps which in turn reduces the process cost.

Currently, in the continuously cracking technology of rubber or plastic, in order to realize the continuous cracking of rubber or plastic, the solid heat carriers with heat is often adopted to mix with and move in the same direction with raw materials in the cracking reactor, whereby the raw materials are heated. Usually, after fulfilling the cracking process, the surface of the solid heat carriers is attached with some dust consisting of solid objects after cracking; in order not to affect the next step of cracking, the solid heat carriers with dust on surface are usually discharged directly out of the cracking reactor, and continue to be used after dedusting treatment, which cannot only affect the processing efficiency, but also increase the processing cost substantially.

Dust separating and carrier returning device

JINAN YOUBANG HENGYU SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY DEVELOPMENT CO., LTD.


A sub-menu item is added to a menu item of a menu hierarchy to make available, offer or otherwise communicate the availability of a new version of a resource or a resource of like kind to a user. Visual representation of the menu item is changed from a first state to a second state to draw a user's attention to the addition of the sub-menu item. The visual representation of the menu item is subsequently restored back to the first state, responsive to an occurrence of a predetermined condition, such as selection of the sub-menu item by the user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of data processing. More specifically, the present invention relates to methodologies associated with communicating and/or transacting with clients.
2. Background Information
With advances in microprocessor, networking and telecommunication technologies, increasingly computing devices are networked together through private and public networks, such as the Internet. As a result, increasingly, software, content as well as service providers desire to communicate and/or transact with their clients online directly.
Examples of such desired communication and/or transactions include but are not limited to                an airline offering special airfares        an online retailer announcing special sales        a content provider announcing availability of new contents        an online application service provider or a software distributor announcing service bulletins, new functions, and/or new products.
Under the prior art, many of these announcements and/or offerings are made "passively", e.g. on the provider's home page. The "passive" approach has the desired characteristic of being "non-intrusive", i.e. the user's routine operations are not intruded upon, until the user connects to the provider's web site. However, the approach suffers from the obvious disadvantage of being "passive", i.e. the user is not alerted of the announcement or offering until the user connects to the provider's site. Further, the approach is "non-persistent", i.e. once the user accesses another page, the announcement or offering is no longer available to the user.
Alternatively, under the prior art, some announcements or offerings are made in more "active" or "assertive" manners. For examples, some announcements or offerings are made via "pushed" emails, user prompts (when a user logs in for online services), highlighting a program product and/or content offering's own icon (upon detecting the user being online), and so forth. While these more "active" or "assertive" approaches may be able to alert the user more effectively, they all tend to have the disadvantage of being intrusive, i.e. disrupting the user's routine online operation (requiring the user to at a minimum "cancel" the notification if the user elects not to accept the offering at the time, e.g. canceling an "upgrade available notice" if elected not to upgrade at the moment). Further, many also lack the desired characteristic of "persistency". That is, once the user "cancels", the announcement or offering is "gone", until the reoccurrence of the triggering event, causing the intrusive announcement or offering to be made again.
Accordingly, an improved approach to communicate and/or transact with clients is desired.

Communication and/or transaction with client through active management of a client menu hierarchy


A system for performing short wavelength imaging with a broadband illumination source includes an image processor that receives signals from a color image sensor. The image processor reduces the contribution of red illumination light to an image by computing blue, green, and blue-green (cyan) color components of display pixels from the signals received from the image sensor. The blue, green, and cyan color component values are coupled to inputs of a color monitor for display to produce a false color image of the tissue.

In an effort to detect and treat diseases, many physicians are using minimally invasive imaging techniques to view the internal body tissues of patients. Such techniques typically employ imaging devices such as video endoscopes, which are inserted into the patient and used to obtain images of the tissue. Such images are most commonly color images of reflected white light, where the image is composed of light from the entire visible spectrum. These images are typically displayed on a color video monitor.
A new imaging technique that may prove useful in detecting disease is one in which images are generated from a subset of wavelengths in the visible spectrum and, in particular, from blue and green wavelengths in the visible spectrum. In this imaging technique, tissue is illuminated with blue-green light which is preferentially absorbed by blood. As a consequence, superficial blood vessels appear dark in the resulting reflected light image. In addition, the blue-green light does not penetrate tissue and scatter as much as red light and, thereby, provides more detailed structural information about the tissue surface. Since the onset of diseases, such as cancer, are frequently accompanied by changes in tissue surface morphology and an increase in vascularity to support rapidly proliferating cells, such an imaging technique may be particularly useful in identifying early cancerous or precancerous lesions.
A conventional means of achieving such an imaging technique involves the use of specialized endoscopic light sources that are equipped with one or more filters to restrict the spectrum of illumination light to light in the blue-green wavelength band. However, because physicians often want to utilize both the full spectrum white light and the restricted spectrum, short wavelength imaging modes, such filters are generally incorporated into a mechanism which moves them into and out of the light path and thereby increases the cost and complexity of the light source. It is therefore desirable for an endoscopic imaging system not to require the incorporation and movement of filters to produce the light for the two different imaging modes, but still allow physicians to utilize the same light source for a full spectrum white light imaging mode and a restricted spectrum, short wavelength imaging mode.

Device for short wavelength visible reflectance endoscopy using broadband illumination


A connection operation for connecting a portable terminal to a prescribed server device can be carried out in an extremely simple and prompt manner. Thus, for example, an inquiry operation for inquiring about mail reception to the server device can also be performed extremely simply and quickly. A cellular phone (20) includes a main operation part (25) and a main LCD (21) which are coupled with each other in such a manner that they can be opened and closed with respect to each other. A rear key (22) is arranged on a rear surface of the cellular phone (20) in such a manner that it can be operated by a user. A sub LCD (23) is provided on the rear surface of the cellular phone (20) in such a manner as to be able to display prescribed information based on an operation of the rear key (22). By detecting when the rear key (22) is kept depressed for a predetermined time or longer, the cellular phone (20) is connected to the server device for receiving electronic mails, so that prescribed information from this server device is displayed on the sub LCD (23).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a portable terminal and a communication connection method thereof with a function of performing connection to a prescribed server device through a communication line, and more specifically, it relates to improvements in the operation for carrying out inquiries about mail or message information and/or download of data (hereinafter simply referred to as inquiries) with respect to the server device which receives electronic mails and message information.
2. Description of the Related Art
There have hitherto been known portable terminals such as cellular phones which have the function of inquiring about the reception of electronic mails (hereinafter also simply referred to mails) to a server device which receives such electronic mails, and downloading the mails, if received, from the server device to the portable terminals. In such known portable terminals, the operational procedure for making inquiries about received mails is carried out as follows. That is, a menu is first called in which a plurality of functions are able to be displayed, and items relating to electronic mails are then selected from the menu. Thereafter, by directing and selecting items to be inquired about at a mail center (i.e., mail server device), a portable terminal is connected to the mail center and an inquiry is made as to whether there are any mail arrivals. In this manner, the user is able to carry out an inquiry about the arrival of mails while operating an appropriate menu or menus, thereby alleviating the operation load on the part of the user.
However, when an inquiry about the reception of electronic mails is made through menu operations, it is generally necessary to take a lot of operational steps while following multiple stages from menus as mentioned above and hence such operations are not necessarily simple. In particular, the above-mentioned operations are rather complicated under situations where mail inquiries need be carried out frequently or promptly. Therefore, if an inquiry of mail reception could be performed through a reduced number of operational steps, for example only a single operational step, in a portable terminal, the user would be able to perform such an operation in an extremely simple and prompt manner, thus making it possible to improve the convenience or ease of operation. In addition, in case of a known foldable portable terminal, if inquiries could be made with the portable terminal being in its folded state while being carried about by a user, the convenience or ease of operation would be more excellent.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Portable terminal device having a function of connecting to a prescribed server device through a communication connection and communication connection method thereof


The L-monovaline ester derived from 2-(2-amino-1,6-dihydro-6-oxo-purin-9-yl)methoxy-1,3-propanediol and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts are of value as antiviral agents with improved absorption.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel antiviral drug, particularly an amino acid ester of a purine derivative, and most particularly to an ester derived from ganciclovir and L-valine and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The invent-ion also relates to intermediate compounds, synthetic methods for making the antiviral drug, and to methods of antiviral and related disease treatment, and pharmaceutical compositions therefor.
More specifically, the invention relates to the L-monovaline ester derived from 2-(2-amino-1,6-dihydro-6-oxo-purin-9-yl)methoxy-1,3-propanediol and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts.
2. Background Information
British Patent 1523865 describes antiviral purine derivatives with an acyclic chain in the 9-position. Among those derivatives 2-(2-amino-1,6-dihydro-6-oxo-1,6-dihydro-purin-9-yl)methoxy-ethanol with the INN name acyclovir has been found to have good activity against herpes viruses such as herpes simplex. While acyclovir has been found to be very effective upon topical or parenteral administration, it is only moderately absorbed upon oral administration.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,355,032 discloses the compound 9-(2-hydroxy-1-hydroxymethyl-ethoxy)methyl!-guanine or 2-(2-amino-1,6-dihydro-6-oxo-purin-9-yl)methoxy-1,3-propanediol with the INN name ganciclovir. Ganciclovir is highly efficacious against viruses of the herpes family, for example, against herpes simplex and cytomegalovirus. It has a relative low rate of absorption when administered orally and must be used at high dosages when administered by that route. Ganciclovir is most commonly administered via intravenous infusion. This mode of administration has the disadvantage of being very inconvenient to the patient, often requiring the services of a doctor, nurse or other health care professional. There is also a certain risk of infection which is particularly problematic for immunocompromised patients who receive treatment with ganciclovir and may have little resistance against infections. Therefore it has been highly desirable to provide ganciclovir with an improved oral absorption profile.
British Patent Application GB 2 122 618 discloses derivatives of 9-(2-hydroxyethoxymethyl)guanine of the generic formula ##STR1## wherein X represents an oxygen or sulphur atom, R.sup.1 represents a hydroxy or an amino group, R.sup.2 represents a hydrogen atom or a group of the formula --CH.sub.2 OR.sup.3.sub.s and R.sup.3 and R.sup.3.sub.s may be the same or different, each represents an amino acid acyl radical and physiologically acceptable salts thereof. These compounds are useful for the treatment of viral infections and have high water solubility which renders them of value in the formulation of aqueous pharmaceutical preparations. While the generic formula in the British patent application includes compounds in which R.sup.2 is the group --CH.sub.2 OR.sup.3.sub.s, specific compounds of this group are not disclosed. The patent application also discloses that formulations used with these compounds with improved water-solubility include oral, rectal, nasal, topical, vaginal or parenteral formulations.
British Patent Application GB 2 104 070 A discloses antiviral compounds of the formula ##STR2## wherein R is a hydroxy or amino group and X is an oxygen or sulphur atom and physiologically acceptable salts and esters. The general formula includes ganciclovir and physiologically acceptable salts and esters. The esters include those containing a formyloxy group, C.sub.1-16 (for example, C.sub.1-6) alkanoyloxy (e.g. acetoxy or propionyloxy), optionally substituted aralkanoyloxy (e.g. phenyl-C.sub.1-4 alkanoyloxy such as phenylacetoxy) or optionally substituted aroyloxy (e.g. benzoyloxy or naphthoyloxy) ester grouping at one or both of the terminal positions of the 9-side chain of the compounds of the general formula. The above-mentioned aralkanoyloxy or aroyloxy ester groups may be substituted, for example by one or more halogen (e.g. chlorine or bromo atoms) or amino, nitrile or sulphamido groups, the aryl moiety of the grouping advantageously containing 6 to 10 carbon atoms.
European Patent Application EP 0 375 329 discloses prodrug compounds with the following formula ##STR3## wherein R and R.sup.1 are independently selected from a hydrogen atom and an amino acyl residue providing at least one of R and R.sup.1 represents an amino acid acyl residue and B represents a group of the formulae ##STR4## in which R.sup.2 represents a C.sub.1-6 straight chain, C.sub.3-6 branched chain or C.sub.3-6 cyclic alkoxy group, or a hydroxy or amino group or a hydrogen atom and the physiologically acceptable salts thereof. These prodrug compounds are described as having advantageous bioavailability when administered the oral route, resulting in high levels of the parent compound in the body.
Example 3 b) European Patent Application EP 0 375 329 discloses the preparation of the bis(L-isoleucinate) ester of ganciclovir as white foam. Example 4 b) discloses the preparation of the bis(glycinate) ester of ganciclovir as a white solid. Example 5 b) discloses the preparation of the bis (L-valinate) ester of ganciclovir as a solid. Example 6 b) discloses the preparation of the bis(L-alaninate) ester of ganciclovir as a syrup containing 90% of the bis ester and 10% of the monoester. The described bis esters are non-crystalline materials which are difficult to process for the manufacture of oral pharmaceutical dosage forms.
British Patent Application No. 8829571 discloses amino acid esters of the compounds of the formula ##STR5## (wherein R represents a hydroxy or amino group or a hydrogen atom) and the physiologically acceptable salts thereof. Examples of preferred amino acids include aliphatic acids e.g. containing up to 6 carbon atoms such as glycine, alanine, valine and isoleucine. The amino acid esters include both, mono and diesters. However, this patent application as well as European Patent Publication 375 329 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,043,339 do not disclose the preparation of monoesters, much less any data suggesting their usefulness.
E. Jensen et. al., Acta Phaxm. Nord. 3(4) 243-247 (1991) disclose the synthesis, enzymatic hydrolysis and physico-chemical properties of N-substituted 4-(aminomethyl)benzoate diester prodrugs of ganciclovir of the formula ##STR6## wherein R can be ##STR7##
These esters were synthesized and evaluated with the aim of improving the delivery characteristics of ganciclovir. The esters were hydrolyzed enzymatically by human plasma to the parent drug, the hydrolysis proceeding through formation of the corresponding monoester. The authors evaluated these esters in terms of their rate of enzymatic hydrolysis, lipophilicity and concluded that the properties of these esters make the diesters a promising prodrug type for ganciclovir to enhance its delivery characteristics for e.g. parenteral administration.
John C. Martin et. al., J. Phazm. Sci. 76(2), p.180-184 disclose mono- and diacyl esters of ganciclovir which were tested to examine their bioavailability after oral administration. The authors indicate that the dipropionate ester is about 42% more bioavailable than ganciclovir itself.
European Patent Application 0 158 847 discloses inter alia that 6-deoxy-acyclovir and 6-deoxy-ganciclovir can be readily converted in vivo by the action of enzymes into acyclovir and ganciclovir, respectively. From experiments in rats the inventors found that oral administration of these 6-deoxy prodrugs results in efficient absorption from the gastro-intestinal tract and high plasma levels of the parent drugs.
P. C. Maudgal et. al., Arch. Ophthalmol. 1984; 102: 140-142 disclose the glycine ester of acyclovir as efficacious in the topical treatment of epithelial and stromal herpes simplex keratitis and associated iritis when administered as a 1% eye drop formulation to rabbits. The authors disclose the glycine, alanine, .beta.-alanine and succinyl esters of acyclovir and indicate that the solubility of the glycine ester is about 30-fold greater than the solubility of acyclovir itself, which permits the use of the glycine ester for eye drops with concentrations up to 6%, while acyclovir itself is used as ointment which is hardly effective in stromal disease or iritis.
Leon Colla et. al., J. Med. Chem. 98, 3, 26, 602-604 disclose several water-soluble ester derivatives of acyclovir and their salts as prodrugs of acyclovir. The authors indicate that acyclovir cannot be given as eye drops or intramuscular injections because of its limited solubility in water and have therefore synthesized derivatives of acyclovir which are more water soluble than the parent compound. The authors disclose the hydrochloride salt of the glycyl ester, the hydrochloride salt of the alanyl ester, the hydrochloride salt of the .beta.-alanyl ester, the sodium salt of the succinyl ester, and the azidoacetate ester. When assayed in primary rabbit kidney cell cultures against various herpes simplex virus type 1 and type 2 strains, according to the authors, the first four esters proved almost as active as acyclovir itself. The authors suggest that these acyclovir esters should be more practical for clinical use than the parent compound for topical treatment as eye drops and for systemic treatment of herpes virus infections that respond well to intravenous acyclovir treatment. In contrast with acyclovir, these esters could be given in much smaller volumes, and therefore via intramuscular injections.
L. M. Beauchamp et. al., Antiviral Chemistry & Chemotherapy (1992), 3 (3), 157-164 disclose eighteen amino acid esters of the antiherpetic drug acyclovir and their efficiencies as prodrugs of acyclovir, evaluated in rats by measuring the urinary recovery of acyclovir. Ten prodrugs produced greater amounts of the parent drug in the urine than acyclovir itself: the glycyl, D,L-alanyl, L-alahyl, L-2-aminobutyrate, D,L-valyl, L-valyl, DL-isoleucyl, L-isoleucyl, L-methionyl, and L-prolyl ester. The L-amino acid esters were better prodrugs than the corresponding D- or D,L-isomers, suggesting the involvement of a stereoselective transporter. From Table 1 of the publication which provides chemical data and oral bioavailability of the eighteen amino acid esters it follows that the D-amino acid esters have a lower oral bioavailability than acyclovir itself. Therefore, because the D-amino acid esters have no benefit over acyclovir they are not useful as prodrugs of acyclovir. The achiral glycyl ester of acyclovir, however, has a higher oral bioavailability than acyclovir (in the urinary recovery assay 30% of the acyclovir dosed as glycyl ester was recovered, whereas with acyclovir dosing 19% of the acyclovir was recovered). According to the authors the L-valyl ester of acyclovir was the best prodrug of the esters investigated.
European Patent Publication 308 065 discloses the valine and isoleucine esters of acyclovir, preferably in the L-form, as showing a large increase in absorption from the gut after oral administration, when compared with other esters and acyclovir.
Currently the leading drug for the treatment of cytomegalovirus infection is ganciclovir. However, its very limited oral bioavailability and the need for slow daily intravenous infusion of the drug (or for intravitreal injections or implants) indicate the urgent need for an oral dosage form with improved bioavailability.
The present invention provides a stable prodrug formulation of ganciclovir with improved oral absorption and low toxicity. Such characteristics are especially valuable for suppression of herpetic infections in immunocompromised patients where oral administration therapeutically is the preferred choice. In addition, the active ingredients exhibit pharmacopoeial properties which permit their improved characterization and pharmaceutical processing. Surprisingly, it was found that the L-monovaline ester of ganciclovir and its pharmaceutically acceptable salts exhibit these desired characteristics.


The invention relates to novel N-substituted indole-3-glyoxylamides, to processes for their preparation and to their pharmaceutical use. The compounds have antiasthmatic, antiallergic and immuno-suppressant/immunomodulating actions.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to novel N-substituted indole-3-glyoxylamides, processes for their preparation and pharmaceutical uses. The compounds have antiasthmatic, antiallergic and immunosuppressant/immunomodulating properties.
2. Background Information
Indole-3-glyoxylamides have various uses as pharmaco-dynamically active compounds and as synthesis components in the pharmaceutical chemistry.
The Patent Application NL 6502481 describes compounds which have an antiinflammatory and antipyretic profile of action and analgesic activity.
The British Patent GB 1 028 812 mentions derivatives of indolyl-3-glyoxylic acid and its amides as compounds having analgesic, anticonvulsant and .beta.-adrenergic activity.
G. Domschke et al. (Ber. 94, 2353 (1961)) describe 3-indolylglyoxylamides which are not characterized pharmacologically.
E. Walton et al. in J. Med. Chem. 11,1252 (1968) report on indolyl-3-glyoxylic acid derivatives which have an inhibitory activity on glycerophosphate dehydrogenase and lactate dehydrogenase.
Euoropean Patent Specification EP 0 675 110 A1 describes 1H-indole-3-glyoxylamides which are profiled as sPLA2 inhibitors and are used in the treatment of septic shock, in pancreatitis, and in the treatment of allergic rhinitis and rheumatoid arthritis.

N-substituted indole-3 glyoxylamides having anti-asthmatic antiallergic and immunosuppressant/immuno-modulating action


There are provided systems and methods for providing media content enhancement. A system for providing enhancement of media content displayed by a presentation unit of the system comprises the presentation unit configured to receive and display the media content, and a content enhancement module stored in a memory of the presentation unit. The presentation unit also includes a processor configured to control the content enhancement module to enhance the media content. A method for use by the content enhancement module comprises reading a context data received by the presentation unit, the context data describing a media content provided for display by the presentation unit, processing the context data to identify the media content, requesting an enhancement data corresponding to the media content, and executing instructions received in the enhancement data to enhance the media content displayed by the presentation unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the presentation of media content. More particularly, the present invention relates to enhancement of media content by a presentation system configured to receive the media content.
2. Background Art
The increased sophistication of consumer electronics devices has rendered the consumption of media content a more interactive process than ever before. Whereas media consumers, such as television (TV) viewers, were once passive recipients of media content entirely determined by relatively few broadcasters, and available for viewing only on a fixed schedule, media consumers now wield considerable control over the substance and timing of what they choose to view. For example, the wide distribution of digital video recorders (DVRs) has largely decoupled television programming content from the fixed schedules of the past, enabling consumers to store programming received by their cable tuners or set-top boxes, for viewing and repeated viewing according to personal scheduling preferences.
Although liberating for the typical consumer, DVRs and other media content storage devices have created challenges for media content providers and the advertisers on whom many of those providers rely for sponsorship of their programming. One challenge flows from the fact that media content providers are now forced to compete for viewer interest in each of their products over the entire viewing day.
Historically, media content provider "A" competed with media content providers "B" and "C" in discrete time slots, in which market research data could suggest that the majority of viewers would be of a certain age or prefer a certain format of content, such as family oriented content between 5:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m., for example. As a result, media content providers could focus on providing family content in that time slot that was more appealing than that offered by competitors, without substantial concern about competition from other genres of media content during that viewing period, or their own content produced for viewing at other times. Now, however, each item of media content offered by a media content provider must compete with every other item offered by that media content provider, as well as every item of content offered by every other media content provider, across every hour of the viewing day.
In the face of such increased competition for viewer attention, information about consumer viewing habits becomes especially critical for the competitive success of both media content providers and their advertisers. However, another challenge resulting from greater consumer control over viewing, is that market research data is more difficult to gather. For example, because media content consumption is substantially decoupled from media content delivery, it is now more difficult to determine what programming is being viewed, at what hour it is being viewed, how many times it is being viewed, and by whom it is being viewed. Consequently, effective advertising placement may become more difficult and costly to achieve for potential media content sponsors, perhaps discouraging their support for otherwise praiseworthy or socially beneficial programming.
One recent approach to stimulating consumer interest in a particular brand of media content, such as a serialized TV drama for example, is the distribution of consumer software applications for producing a small viewing window on a consumer's television screen that displays graphics and perhaps text promoting the particular brand. Such applications, sometimes called "widgets," are typically specific to a particular television series or broadcast network. Widgets may be designed to be customizable by the consumer. For example, the consumer may be able to control language, font, display size, and even some of the substance of the content displayed by the widget, which typically executes independently of content concurrently displayed on the TV or other presentation system.
Because they are designed to attract and engage a viewer's attention, however, widgets provided to promote a particular media content, while perhaps encouraging a consumer to view the media content, may in fact distract the viewer from being attentive to the media content while it is being presented. In addition, widgets associated with particular media content may be used by a consumer as an entertaining diversion from advertisements promoting the products or services of sponsors of that programming.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a solution for encouraging viewer interest in broadcast media content that enhances a consumer viewing experience while avoiding distraction from the broadcast media content or its associated advertising.

System and method for providing media content enhancement


Networking equipment often generates alarms that operators must sift through to troubleshoot the network. The heterogeneous nature of the equipment and their associated alarms renders this task difficult. Furthermore, a network fault may trigger collateral alarms in adjacent equipment, sometimes obscuring the root cause of the fault. The present disclosure includes a system for correlating multiple successive alarms to discriminate between alarms from a faulty network object and alarms from a properly functioning network object that is dependent on the faulty network object.

Field of Disclosure
Certain embodiments of the invention relate to communication networks. More specifically, certain embodiments of the invention relate to methods and systems for correlating alarms in a communication network.
Background
Modern communications carriers operate local, regional, and nationwide networks to provide connectivity to customers. These networks are built with a variety of equipment to perform various tasks, and such equipment may be manufactured by multiple vendors. Each piece of equipment, referred herein as a network element, may be complex enough to handle hundreds or thousands of simultaneous connections, and different pieces of equipment may be widely dispersed across a region. Wireless base stations, for example, are geographically distributed across a city to optimize coverage and efficiency. Customer expectations of network availability, given such distribution, complexity, and heterogeneity of equipment, mandates fast detection and accurate diagnosis of equipment problems that may arise.
To aid in the detection and diagnosis of problems, network equipment often generates alarms for sub-components within the system. For example, a failing port in a router may trigger an alarm. Even non-communications equipment such as cooling fans can generate alarms. Any physical or logical component associated with a network that generates or triggers alarms in the network is referred herein as a network object.
Alarms can be useful tools for detecting and diagnosing network problems, but they may not always indicate a failure in the network object generating the alarm. Specifically, a failure in one network object may generate an alarm from the failing element and cause the generation of nearly simultaneous alarms from several other elements that depend on the failing element. When a failure in a single network object causes a number of associated alarms, the operator is forced to sift through the alarms and perform extraneous diagnostics simply to determine where the true source of failure is. The problem is further compounded in networks with potentially millions of alarm-generating network objects manufactured by multiple vendors with different alarm protocols and formats.

Systems and methods for correlating alarms in a network


The present invention relates to a packaging comprising two containers (1, 2) each having an open end, and two lids. The two lids are a male lid (3) and a female lid (4) each having a topside and a underside and being adapted to close the open end of a container. The male lid (3) comprises a protrusion (7) and the female lid (4) comprises a cavity (8) adapted to receive the protrusion of the male lid. The protrusion (7) of the male lid has an edge (12) circulating at least a part of the protrusion at varying heights of the protrusion, and the cavity (8) comprises a ledge (13) mating the edge of the male lid, so that when the protrusion is received in the cavity the edge of the male lid abuts the ledge of the cavity. This results in that the two containers (1, 2) are combined into a single packing when the lids (3, 4) are arranged to close the opening of the containers and the protrusion (7) is received in the cavity (8). The packaging may be divided into two halves each comprising a container closed with a lid by turning movement of one of the lids relatively to the other lid resulting in the two lids being pushed away from each other by abutment between the ledge and the edge.

Today, a packaging for containing, transporting and storing until consumption e.g. food stuffs such as ice cream often comprises a container having a open end closed by a lid. The container may be re-closable by arranging the lid on the container after some of the content stored has been taken out from the container, or the container may be closed by a single time use lid, typically in the form of a sheet of plastic being welded to a rim encircling the open end of the container.
In many cases the volume of containers are selected so that the content stored either match a certain meal size in which case there is no need to reclose the container or the volume is selected to match a number of meal sizes, in which cases there is often a need to reclose the container for further storage.
When more than one container is desired by e.g. a consumer wishing more than one variety of a product, such containers with their content are either purchased separately, or in the form of multipacks or bundle regrouping individual containers. As an example, softdrinks cans are often sold in cartons containing e.g. six softdrinks cans. A multipack is usually a simple combination of packaging plus specific feature like tape, self adhesive label cardboard sleeve etc. That remains simple and only brings the grouping function. The convenience of such an execution is also limited. In particular, once the packaging/grouping assembly feature is removed, there is nothing to keep the several units from the multipack together.
US 2004/0245327 discloses an example of a separable dual carton for accommodating separate quantities of articles. The dual carton includes a plurality of panels hingeldly connected to one another. A center top panel includes a tear strip which overlies at least one starter orifice. The starter orifice is formed from apertures in opposing panels which are sized and positioned to register with one another when the dual carton is erected. By removing at least a portion of the tear strip, the starter orifice becomes accessible to facilitate the separation of the dual carton into separate individual cartons.
While such cartons solves the problem of keeping items such as cans in a fixed mutual relationship while being transported and stored, they still suffer from the problem that the carton maintains it original size although some or all cans are taken out from the carton, and at the same time the carton represent a disposal problem as the carton itself has no suitable use after being emptied from items.


A portable storage and display case for valuable items such as military decorations and jewelry having a rigid front member, and a rigid rear member, a spine joining the front member with the rear member, and an interior surface having first and second interior pockets, capable of holding an insert capable of slidably connecting into the first and second interior pockets. A portfolio further comprising at least one sheet of a recoverable plastic portfolio sheet capable of receiving pins and folded into halves. A padded protector panel having at least one pocket therein, and disposed between the two halves of the recoverable plastic portfolio sheet so that the two halves do not come into contact with one another.

Military and uniformed services personnel often must take their uniforms with them when traveling. These persons are often confronted with the problem of how to best transport their insignia pins and awards without losing them and without damaging them. If these pins are left attached to a uniform, they can catch the fabric during travel as a uniform is redistributed in a suitcase when being carried and during baggage handling. This can cause the pins to catch the fabric and snag the uniform material. If the pins are removed from the uniform, there is no suitable way of carrying them. Service personnel have relied on such methods as wrapping the metals in tissue paper and carrying them in plastic containers or plastic bags. This method is time consuming and subject to loss.

Portable storage and display case for military decorations and jewelry


A tool and method of manufacturing a tool for making ballpoint pen tips, called rough tips, in their seat zone and preferably in their cone zone. The tool is mounted in fast-rotating precision spindles and the position of the tool may be adjusted to adjust the dimensions of the tip to be formed by the tool. The equipment is configured in a single-piece unit. A seat zone element for making the seat zone and preferably a cone element for making the cone of the tip may be formed on a base component.

In the prior art, seat areas and cone areas of rough ball point pen tips (tips without a tip ball inserted therein and prior to deformation to enclose the tip ball therein) were machined in succession by means of ordinary automatic machines with speed change disks in different successive stages of working. As a result, neither the eccentricity nor the burring was sufficiently well controlled. Subsequently, multi-part tools which could be maintained in such a way as to be mounted and fixed individually in a common clamping device were developed. This admittedly resolved the problem of eliminating burring, but concentricity accurate to a micrometer and the desired dimensions of the writing tips could only be achieved with the greatest difficulty, since there were no available high-speed high-precision spindles whose axis of rotation, from the stationary state to the maximum rotation speed, showed a deviation of less than 0.5 micrometers.


A soft magnetic compact which is produced by using soft magnetic composite powder in which the surface of magnetic powder is covered with an electrical insulating material containing at least an inorganic insulating material, and a resin material is fusion-bonded to the surface of the inorganic insulating material so as to partially cover the surface of the soft magnetic powder. Accordingly, it is possible to ensure an electrical insulating property between pieces of soft magnetic material powder to secure a good magnetic characteristics and to easily mold a compact.

As a soft magnetic material to be used for a magnetic core of a transformer and choke coil for high frequency, and the like have been used carbonyl iron, ferrites, Sendust, and amorphous alloys. In the case of using these soft magnetic materials for a magnetic core, to increase the electric resistance in a high frequency region, a method of producing a soft magnetic compact by solidifying a powder of a soft magnetic material through an electrical insulating layer has been employed. For example, a method of obtaining a compacted powder by powder compaction molding using a low melting point glass as a binder for a soft magnetic material (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 63-158810) and a method of obtaining a fired body by compacting a powder using a low melting point glass and a resin as binders and burning only the resin (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-73062) are proposed and also is proposed a method of obtaining an injection molded body by molding a resin composition containing a soft magnetic material by injection molding (see Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication NO. 11-31612).

Soft magnetic composite powder comprising an inorganic insulating coating, production method of the same, and production method of soft magnetic compact


A direct vapor deposition (DVD) apparatus and method is taught, that provides a carrier gas flow entraining vapor atoms for the coating of regions on a substrate that are not in line-of-sight. The degree of non line-of-sight (NLOS) coating, hence thickness uniformity around the substrate is a sensitive function of the flow conditions. For a fixed background pressure in the region of deposition, an increase in the uniformity of the coating thickness is accomplished as the flow velocity is reduced. This improvement in uniformity is a result of an increase in the fraction of vapor atoms which deposit in NLOS positions on the substrate such as backside (21) of fiber (65) as indicated by vapor streamlines (51). Vapor impact width (VIW) is the width of the vapor flux impacting on some area of the fiber. Front side coating (FSC) width is the vapor width of atoms impacting on the substrate frontside (22).

The application of a coating to a substrate is required in a wide variety of engineering applications, including thermal or environmental protection, improved wear resistance, altered optical or electronic properties, decorative, biocompatibility, etc. In each of these cases, the ability to deposit compositionally controlled coatings efficiently, uniformly, at a high rate, with a high part throughput, and in a cost effective manner is highly desired. Electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) is a widely used method for the high-rate production of atomic and molecular vapor (metal or ceramic) for vapor deposition of a coating. During EB-PVD, vapor is transported to a substrate under high vacuum (10−4-10−8 Torr) conditions where it condenses on surfaces that are in the line-of-sight of the vapor flux source. This requires the use of complicated translation and rotation systems to deposit a uniform and conformal (non line of sight) coating onto ligament shaped structures.
Electron beam-physical vapor deposition (EB-PVD) of metal and ceramic coatings can be quite costly to apply due to high equipment cost, low deposition efficiencies and relatively low deposition rates. The high equipment costs of EB-PVD are a result of the high vacuum environment, which is necessary during deposition (typically below 10−6 Torr), the high cost of high power electron beam guns and the sophisticated component manipulation systems needed to achieve uniform and conformal (non line-of-sight) coating on non-planar substrates. The operating pressure defines the vacuum pump requirements with lower pressures generally needing more expensive pumps. The low deposition rate and low materials utilization efficiency (MUE) of EB-PVD is related to the distribution of vapor flux as it leaves the evaporated source. Generally, the vapor flux spreads out from the source with a distribution described by a cosn θ function (where n=2, 3, 4 or more). When relatively long source to substrate distances are required the deposition efficiency is dramatically reduced.
As stated above, the ability to uniformly deposit ceramic or metallic coatings onto structural fibers and wires (10 to 1000 μm in diameter) is desirable for a number of applications. They include the deposition of metal on fibers to create metal matrix composites [1-5], deposition of coatings having low shear resistance and good thermochemical stability on the fibers used in ceramic matrix composites [6-11] and the deposition of metals on sacrificial fiber templates to create hollow fibers [12,13]. More generally, vapor deposition approaches which allow the creation of conformal coatings on a variety of non-planar substrates is also of interest. For example, the deposition of reaction inhibiting coatings into the vias and trenches used for microelectronics [14], the growth of coatings on the ligaments of stochastic foam structures [15] and various coatings on medical stents [16, 17] are all growing in importance.
Several options for creating coatings of this type exist. These include chemical vapor deposition (CVD) [1,18], electroplating processes [7,18] and physical vapor deposition (PVD) approaches (such as electron beam evaporation [19] or inverted cylindrical magnatron sputtering [20]). However, despite the many needs, the advancement of processing approaches for these applications above are limited by several factors. Namely, the inability to uniformly coat such substrates without sophisticated substrate translation and rotation capabilities the inability to deposit metal, alloys and ceramics with the same process and low deposition rates which often limit high volume throughputs.
In CVD, uniform coating thicknesses are readily produced in some cases. However, the deposition rates can be low and the process often requires the use of toxic (and expensive) precursor materials [18]. The deposition of multicomponent alloys can also be challenging. Electroplating can provide uniform coating over the surface of complex shaped parts. Although useful for depositing elemental layers, this process is less suitable for the creation of alloy or ceramic coatings [18].
In PVD approaches vapor atoms are created in high vacuum and deposited onto a substrate. One method to created vapor atoms is sputtering. A wide variety of materials can be deposited, but deposition rates are low [3]. The high vacuums employed in these techniques result in few collisions with the background gas resulting in "line-of-sight" coating. Thus, substrate manipulation is required to achieve coating uniformity. Higher deposition rates require more energetic/higher density plasma sputtering (e.g. magnatrons). But even here rates are only about 0.3 μm/minute.
Atomic vapor can be more rapidly created using electron beam evaporation approaches. However, the materials utilization efficiency (MUE) of electron beam physical vapor deposition is often low (especially for the case of very small substrates such as fibers or wires). This is due to the vapor spreading out from the source with a flux distribution described by a cosn θ function (where n=2-4 or more) [21]. When a relatively long source to substrate distances is required, the deposition efficiency can be low and the deposition rate limited. The high vacuum environments required for the creation of electron beam (approximately 10−4 Pa) also lead to line of sight (LOS) coating.
Low deposition efficiencies result from flux spreading beyond the periphery of the substrate (which is exacerbated by small ligament shaped substrates) and non line-of-sight deposition. One approach to reduce the spread of the flux exploits entrainment of the vapor on a controllable inert (e.g. helium or argon) carrier gas flow. Such an approach is used in electron beam-directed vapor deposition (EB-DVD), details of the EB-DVD process can be found in co-assigned U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,314, issued Jul. 9, 1996, entitled "Directed Vapor Deposition of Electron Beam Evaporant," of which is hereby incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. In this approach, the combination of a continuously operating electron beam gun (modified to function in a low vacuum environment) and an inert carrier gas jet. In this system, the vapor plume is intersected with a rarefied trans- or supersonic inert gas jet, to entrain the evaporated flux in a non-reacting gas flow and transport it to a substrate under low vacuum (10−2-101 Torr) conditions. Deposition of the atomistic flux then occurs by gas phase scattering from the streamlines of the flow and is deposited onto the substrate at high rates and with high materials utilization efficiency.
Some illustrative examples of deposition systems and methods are provided in the following applications and patents and are co-assigned to the present assignee and are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety: 1) U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,931, issued Nov. 12, 2002, entitled "Apparatus and Method for Intra-layer Modulation of the Material Deposition and Assist Beam and the Multilayer Structure Produced There from," and corresponding divisional U.S. application Ser. No. 10/246,018, filed Sep. 18, 2002, entitled "Apparatus and Method for Intra-layer Modulation of the Material Deposition and Assist Beam and the Multilayer Structure Produced There from;" and 2) PCT International Application No. PCT/US01/16693, filed May 23, 2001, entitled "Process and Apparatus for the Plasma Activated Deposition in a Vacuum," and corresponding U.S. application Ser. No. 10/297,347, filed Nov. 21, 2002; 3) PCT International Application No. PCT/US02/13639, filed Apr. 30, 2002, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Efficient Application of Substrate Coating;" and 4) PCT International Application No. PCT/US02/28654, filed Sep. 10, 2002, entitled "Method and Apparatus for Application of Metallic Alloy Coatings," and these applications and patents are hereby incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Apparatus and method for high rate uniform coating, including non-line of sight

University of Virginia Patent Foundation


The ear pad according to the present invention has a number of gathered sound-insulating walls (12) monolithically provided on an outer periphery of a basic body (11) made of an elastic material such as rubber, for instance, a silicon rubber or soft synthetic resins, for instance, polypropylene in a ring form with a prescribed space in the axial direction and made of the same material as that for the basic body. With this feature, the ear pad according to the present invention can provide softness and adaptability to be set in an auditory means without stimulating sensitive portions thereof.

This type of ear pad 51 based on the conventional technology has, as shown in FIGS. 6 and 7, each showing the case in which the ear pad is applied to an ear plug, a fit section 53 slanted to the rear edge side and comprising, for instance, a thin and spherical silicone rubber sheet provided at a tip of a hollow and cylindrical basic body 52 and expanding toward a rear edge of the basic body 52, and because of the structure as described above, the ear pad can be fit in an auditory meatus with this fit section, and also provides flexibility to the size of an auditory meatus in the radial direction.
When the ear pad 51 as described above is inserted and set in an auditory meatus, the ear pad can be set therein because the fit section 53 provides softness, but as there is a tapered portion with the diameter gradually becoming smaller toward the depth thereof in the auditory meatus at its entrance, when the ear pad is inserted, the force P acting to crush the fit section 53 generates the force F to push back the ear pad as shown in the figures, so that the ear pad easily drops out. Only the frictional force between an external surface of the fit section 53 and the inner wall of the auditory meatus acts against the force P for pushing back the ear pad. Therefore, if the fit section 53 of the ear pad 51 is too soft, the frictional force becomes too small, and the ear pad easily drops out. On the contrary, if the fit section 53 is too hard, it presses the inner wall of an auditory meatus, and causes pain, even if the ear pad is set there only for a short period of time.
FIG. 8 is a cross-sectional view showing the situation where the fit section 53 of the ear pad 51 is deformed inside an auditory meatus. The form and size of an auditory meatus vary in each person, and the dimensional relations are delicate, and when the fit section 53 is inserted into a deeper position than the desired one, or when the fit section 53 is larger than the auditory meatus, there is no escaping space for deformation because of the monolithic structure of the spherical portion, so that deformation occurs to generate a clearance 55 on a portion of a periphery of the fit section 53 with the sound insulating properties degraded. Even if three types of ear pads, namely ear pads with small, medium, and large size are prepared to respond to the individual difference, at present it is difficult to completely overcome this problem. In addition, when the ear pad is set in an auditory meatus, an external surface of the fit section 53 closely contacts the internal wall of the auditory meatus on its entire surface, so that dermatitis often occurs in people having sensitive skin, and further if the ear pad is set for a long time, stimulation easily occurs due to becoming stuffy, and the ear pad easily drops out due to sweat or fat.
The present invention was made in the light of the circumstances described above, and it is an object to provide an ear pad having a softness and adaptability to being set in an auditory meatus without stimulating its sensitive portions, which can flexibly respond to individual differences and also can smoothly be set but is little affected by the decrease in the frictional force due to sweat or fat, which seldom generates becoming stuffy or dermatitis, even in people having sensitive skin, which can be used without causing any discomfort and is resistant even to the force acting in the releasing direction so that it hardly drops out, which can improve the capability of attenuating noises coming from the outside, and further, which is excellent in the sealing performance as well as in the sound insulating properties and also to provide an earphone with the pad.


The present invention provides a raw material, formed of a ruthenium complex, for producing a ruthenium thin film or a ruthenium compound thin film by a chemical deposition method, wherein the ruthenium complex is a ruthenium complex represented by the following formula, in which carbonyl groups and a fluoroalkyl derivative of a polyene are coordinated to ruthenium. The present invention provides a raw material for chemical deposition having a preferable decomposition temperature, and the production cost therefor is low:(nR-L)Ru(CO)3  [Chemical Formula 1]                wherein L is a polyene having a carbon number of from 4 to 8 and 2 to 4 double bonds, wherein the polyene L has n (n≧1) pieces of substituents Rs, wherein the substituents Rs are each a fluoroalkyl group having a carbon number of from 1 to 6 and a fluorine number of from 1 to 13, and in the case when the polyene L has two or more (n≧2) of the substituents Rs, the carbon numbers and the fluorine numbers of the substituents Rs may be different in the same molecule.

As ruthenium complexes that constitute raw materials for forming ruthenium thin films by chemical deposition methods such as a CVD process and an ALD process, various ruthenium complexes have been known heretofore. As the ruthenium complexes that have been reported to be useful among those, the following ruthenium complexes are exemplified.

The above-mentioned two ruthenium complexes are such that carbonyl groups and a polyene having plural double bonds (cyclooctatetraene, cyclohexadiene) are coordinated as ligands for ruthenium. The reasons why these ruthenium complexes are useful as raw materials for chemical deposition method include, firstly, that they have high vapor pressures. A compound having a high vapor pressure can feed a raw material gas at a high concentration, and thus can improve film formation efficiency. Furthermore, these ruthenium complexes also have an advantage that the decomposition temperatures are relatively low. The advantage allows the film formation temperature to be set to a low temperature, and stable formation of a thin film while suppressing the damage of a substrate is enabled.

Chemical deposition raw material formed of ruthenium complex and method for producing the same, and chemical deposition method


An elevator door control device includes an obstruction sensor adapted to detect an obstruction in the vicinity of any one of the vertical frames of the doorway frame and to output an obstruction detection signal, and a door control unit for controlling door opening operation and door closing operation of a car door and a landing door in response to the obstruction detection signal. The obstruction sensor has light emitters provided on the vertical frames of the doorway frame and light receivers provided on the upper frame of the doorway frame. The light emitters are provided in the vicinity of the lower ends of the vertical frames and emit detection lights substantially along the vertical frames. The light receivers are provided on the lower surface of the upper frame and receive the detection lights.

For example, Japanese Utility Model Application Laid-open No. Sho 53-49868 discloses a conventional elevator door safety device in which two light emitters are arranged on an upper frame of a landing three-way frame and in which two light receivers are arranged on vertical frames of the landing three-way frame. Detection lights emitted from the two light emitters cross each other at the center of a landing doorway and are received by the light receivers. When the detection lights are intercepted by an obstruction, such as a passenger, during door closing operation, the operating directions of the landing door and the car door are reversed, thereby preventing the obstruction from being caught between the doors.
While the above-described safety device is capable of preventing an obstruction from being caught between the doors during door closing operation, it is not capable of preventing the obstruction from being caught between a door and a doorway frame during door opening operation.
In this regard, JP 10-139333 A, for example, discloses a conventional device for protecting passengers from getting caught, in which a light emitter is arranged on one side of the car doorway or of the landing doorway and in which a light receiver is arranged on the other side thereof. Detection light is emitted horizontally from the light emitter along the door surface and is received by the light receiver. When the detection light is intercepted by an obstruction during door opening operation, the door operating direction is reversed, thereby preventing the obstruction from being caught between the door and the doorway frame.
The above-described device for protecting passengers from getting caught has a problem in that the door opening operation is reversed not only when the obstruction is near the vertical frame of the doorway frame but also when the obstruction is at the center of the doorway. That is, the door opening operation is reversed whenever the obstruction is situated in the vicinity of the door. Further, to secure the requisite accuracy in detection, it is necessary to arrange a large number of light emitters and light receivers in the vertical direction of the doorway.
JP 11-310375 A discloses a conventional door safety device in which a light emitter and a light receiver are arranged in a door case portion between the vertical frame of the doorway frame and the door. That is, the light emitter is arranged on an upper portion of the vertical frame, and the light receiver is arranged on a lower portion of the vertical frame. Detection light from the light emitter is emitted vertically downwards along the vertical frame and is received by the light receiver.
The problem with the above door safety device is that the detection light is intercepted only after the obstruction has been caught in the door case portion, which means it is impossible to prevent the obstruction from being caught.


An ink cartridge is provided with a body, a channel module attached to the body, a plurality of first engaging parts, and a plurality of second engaging parts. The first engaging parts are arranged on one of the body and the channel module, while the second engaging parts corresponding to the first engaging parts are arranged on the other of the body and the channel module. The relative position of the body and the channel module on a two-dimension plane is substantially fixed by the engagement of the first engaging parts and the second engaging parts.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink cartridge. More particularly, the present invention relates to an ink cartridge having flow channels fabricated separately by means of module and then assembled to the body.
2. Description of Related Art
Inkjet printing technique has been widely used in the office equipments having the function of printing graphics. Inkjet printing technique mainly uses a high pressure produced by a printhead (inkjet chip) to push ink instantly. Ink drops are then jetted from the printhead onto a surface of a document so as to form ink dots which form graphics or texts on the surface of the document.
In order to supply ink to the printhead, the ink cartridge has an ink chamber for storing ink and a flow channel for guiding the ink in the ink chamber to the printhead. As for a single ink cartridge supplying multiple colors of ink, the ink of each color has an independent ink chamber and an independent flow channel.
One of the several methods of fabricating cartridges in the conventional arts is to integrate ink chambers and flow channels as a whole by molding, and then sealing one side of the flow channels with a cover plate. However, the mold design of the ink cartridge in such method will be more difficult, resulting in the increase of the fabricating cost of the ink cartridge. The method is disclosed in, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,497,178 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,811,250.
Therefore, the Taiwan Patent No. I 259806 entitled "Ink Cartridge" has disclosed a technique of fabricating the ink chambers and the flow channels of the ink cartridge separately and then assembling them, which facilitates reducing the fabricating cost of the ink cartridge.
FIG. 1A is a perspective exploded view of a conventional ink cartridge obtained from a view angle. FIG. 1B is a perspective exploded view of the conventional ink cartridge of FIG. 1A obtained from another view angle. Referring to FIGS. 1A and 1B, the ink cartridge 100 includes a body 110 and a channel module 120. The body 110 has three ink chambers 112a, 112b, and 112c and three ink delivery ports 116a, 116b, and 116c. The ink delivery ports 116a, 116b, and 116c are located at the bottom of the body 110, and the ink chambers 112a, 112b, and 112c respectively fluidly communicate with the ink delivery ports 116a, 116b, and 116c, so that the ink in the ink chambers 112a, 112b, and 112c is supplied to the channel module 120.
The channel module 120 has three flow channels 122a, 122b, and 122c. The ink chambers 112a, 112b, and 112c respectively fluidly communicate to the flow channels 122a, 122b, and 122c by the ink delivery ports 116a, 116b, and 116c on the bottom. The flow channels 122a, 122b, and 122c farther respectively have three ink supply ports 124a, 124b, and 124c in a chip bonding area R, such that the ink is output to the printhead (inkjet chip) on the chip bonding area R.
The channel module 120 is attached to the bottom of the body 110 by means of ultrasonic welding, laser welding, or adhesive coating. No matter before or after the attaching, in order to locate the channel module 120 onto the bottom of the body 110, two blocks 118a and 118b of the body 110 are respectively engaged with two indentations 128a and 128b of the channel module 120, such that the channel module 120 is located at the bottom of the body 110.
However, by using the blocks 118a and 118b and the indentations 128a and 128b to locate the body 110 and the channel module 120, only one side (adjacent to the left side of FIG. 1B, or referred to as the front end of the channel module 120) of the channel module 120 can be located, and the other side of the channel module 120 (adjacent to the right side of FIG. 1B, or referred to as the back end of the channel module 120) can swing. Therefore, whether the location is accurate after assembling should be inspected by a measurement tool with at least a two-dimensional level. If the swing is serious, the yield of attachment between the channel module 120 and the body 110 is poor. Therefore, in order to prevent the swing of the channel module 120, one method is to fit the blocks 118a and 118b with the indentations 128a and 128b by means of interference.
However, when the blocks 118a and 118b and the indentations 128a and 128b are fitted by means of interference, stress will be concentrated on a junction between the blocks 118a and 118b and the indentations 128a and 128b. If the ultrasonic welding method is used to attach the channel module 120 to the body 110, the ultrasonic energy will be concentrated at the position where stress is concentrated, so the yield of attachment between the channel module 120 and the body 110 is reduced.

International United Technology Co., Ltd.


Separation of aspects of automated testing into architectural layers enables automated testing to occur sooner and faster and to provide more comprehensive testing. A physical layer provides an object model over the user interface of an application. A logical layer provides an object model around the functions of an application. A test case executor may execute a test case. A data manager may ensure variability in test data. A behavior manager may determine execution details appropriate for a particular test case. A verification manager may perform the verification processing after the test case has executed.

The major stages in the life cycle of software development are the design phase, the coding phase, the code complete phase, the alpha phase, the beta phase, and finally, release to market. During the design phase, the customer problems the software product will address and the functionality of the software product is defined. Typically, the completion of the functional specification marks the end of the design phase. The coding phase may already have begun. The code complete phase is reached when the code has been written but is not necessarily debugged. The alpha phase marks the point in time when the product is stable; that is, most of the major bugs have been found. In the beta phase, the product is ideally free of all major bugs; the only bugs remaining should be essentially harmless. When the product passes a final quality assurance checklist, it is ready for release to market.
As no one wants software that does not work, testing is an important part of the life cycle and can span several phases. Software testing involves devising a test case (or, more likely, a set of test cases), running the software with the test case as input, and checking that the performance of the software with the test case as input yields the expected results. Software testing can be conducted manually by humans or programmatically, referred to as automated software testing. Ideally, testing of the software should begin as soon as possible in the life cycle of the software. Generally, however, the software cannot be tested at all until the design phase has been completed, because until the design phase is complete, expected results cannot be determined. Typically, during the coding phase, the developer manually tests his code as he writes it. Automated software testing usually cannot begin until far later in the development process.
Sometimes, the only testing that is conducted is done by the developer who manually tests as he codes. A developer who tests his own work, however, is likely to overlook bugs that someone not so emotionally invested in the code will find. Furthermore, the scope of the developer's testing is typically limited to the functionality of his code and integration of his code with a limited number of other software applications.
To address these shortcomings, many software development houses have a separate software testing group that also tests the software, often using at least partially-automated testing techniques. Typically, the testing group tests complex interactions across features and across applications by writing and running test cases. It is generally agreed that involving the testing group early in the product life cycle, even as early as the design phase, reaps many benefits, including identification of inconsistencies in the functional specification, identification of hard-to-test areas and others. In general, however, the effort required to keep each test case current in the face of continued changes in feature definition, implementation and user interface (UI) tuning renders this approach impractical. Hence, writing and running test cases is typically a hurried matter that occurs at the tail end of product development. Testing and in particular, automated testing, thus tends to be perpetually behind the curve. It would be helpful if there were a way to write test cases and employ automated testing as soon as possible in the life cycle of a software product, ideally during the design phase.
Development of a suite of test cases is a challenge whenever it occurs. To test a specific feature of an application, numerous sets of tests must be written. For example, an application may permit many modes of interaction with a feature: via a mouse, keyboard, digitizer, accessibility software, programmatically, and so on. Therefore, to provide a comprehensive test for the feature, a suite of tests should include a set of tests interacting with the feature via the mouse (typing text just like a user might); one set interacting with the feature via keyboard, one set interacting with the feature via digitizer, one set interacting with the feature via accessibility software to invoke default actions and otherwise mimic an accessibility application, one set interacting with the feature via the application's coding model, and so on. It would be helpful if there were a way to make sure that the suite of test cases produced provided a comprehensive test of the feature or application and further, to decrease the total number of test cases that must be written to provide that comprehensive test.
Furthermore, much or all of the logic in each of these sets of test is identical to the logic in the other sets of tests and typically, much or all of the verification of results processing is identical as well. Hence, many tests are identical or very nearly so, merely varying execution options. For example, for all the multiple forms of input described above, the expected results are likely identical. Hence, writing a test case for each of these input sources typically requires writing a separate method for executing the test for each of the input sources, and duplicating most of the rest of the test script. Writing the same test over and over again with minor variations is tedious and time-consuming. It would be helpful if there were a way to eliminate or significantly reduce this duplicative coding and to reduce the total number of test cases that must be written.
Code written to determine if the actual results of running the test case coincide with the expected results (called verification of results, or verification) is often included within the test case. Changing the details of a particular result verification or adding new result verification typically requires the modification of each test case. It would be helpful if verification code were separate from the test case, making the test case easier to understand, and the verification code easier to reuse and to maintain.
Execution details are often hard-coded into the test case, requiring the design phase to be complete before the test case is written. It would be helpful if there were a way to define test cases in terms of user actions rather than in terms of specific execution details so that test cases could be written earlier in the software development life cycle.
Changes made to execution details and verification after the test cases are written typically requires a massive maintenance effort in which many test cases must be found and modified. It would be helpful if maintenance efforts could be localized so that modifications could be made in one place instead of in each test case.


The method of forming timbers especially for use as webs in timber roof trusses comprising feeding timbers in a predetermined path with the timbers extending transversely to the direction of feed and, as the timbers are so fed, shaping the ends thereof to rounded form, and apparatus for carrying out said method comprising conveyors for feeding the work, a saw for cutting the timbers to length, and cutters for the end shaping.

This invention relates to a method of and apparatus for forming timbers, for example, U.S. 2×4s, with rounded ends especially for use as web members ("webs") for timber trusses, being particularly concerned with a method of and apparatus for cutting timbers to such length as may be called for, and cutting the ends of the sized (cut to length) timbers to rounded form.
As is well known, timber roof trusses, such as Fink, Howe and Queenpost timber trusses, comprise upper and lower timber chords with timber web members extending therebetween triangulating the space between the chords, the chords and web members (which may be simply termed "webs") being constituted for example by 2×4 timbers fastened together at the panel points (the points where the webs intersect the chords) by nailing plates for example. In much of the timber truss construction in the past, the webs have been fabricated with each end cut off straight at the requisite angle for engagement of the respective end flush with the respective chord (i.e. mitered). This has entailed a great deal of sawing with the requirement for cutting at different angles and the problem of organizing the cut timbers according to the mitering angles. There has been a recent trend toward using timber webs with rounded ends instead of mitered ends, enabling the webs to be assembled in a truss extending at any of a wide range of angles with respect to a chord, in firm contact at a rounded end thereof with a chord. This has led to the desirability of manufacture of webs (e.g. 2×4s) with both ends rounded (i.e. of generally semi-circular conformation) at a relatively high rate of production and at relatively low cost for realization of savings in truss manufacture.

Method of and apparatus for forming timbers with rounded ends


A semiconductor device includes an array of electrical fuses having a structure which permits tight fuse pitches while enabling electrical fusing at voltages of about 10 volts or less. The fuses are useful to replace defective components of the device and/or to permit custom wiring. The semiconductor device includes a substrate with a tight pitch array of fuses including a plurality of fuse links of selective cross sectional area in closely adjacent arrangement, each connected at one end to an individual connector terminal of larger cross sectional area than that of the fuse link, and at another end to a common connector terminal of larger cross sectional area than that of the individual connector terminals. The common connector terminal is typically held at a less positive potential than one of the individual connector terminals during the time a fuse link thereat is to be opened such that electron flow is in a direction from the common connector terminal to the fuse link. The common connector terminal cross sectional area is desirably about 2 or more times that of the individual fuse links to enable electrical fusing at voltages of about 10 volts or less.

In fabricating microelectronic semiconductor devices on a wafer substrate or chip, such as of silicon, to form an integrated circuit (IC), various metal layers and insulation layers are deposited in selective sequence. To maximize integration of device components in the available substrate area to fit more components in the same area, increased IC miniaturization is utilized. Reduced pitch dimensions are needed for denser packing of components per present day very large scale integration (VLSI), e.g., at sub-micron (below 1 micron, i.e., 1,000 nanometer or 10,000 angstrom) dimensions.
Redundancy techniques are used in semiconductor fabrication to provide deliberate duplication of circuit components to decrease the probability of a circuit failure and thus increase circuit reliability. To offset defects that can occur in the circuitry, multiple copies of a given circuit component are connected in parallel to achieve continued operation upon failure of a particular component. Each such multiple component is provided with a set of fuses that can be blown to replace a failed component by a duplicate one during fusing operation of redundancy activation, e.g., at final IC chip testing.
Some ICs have conductive links between semiconductor devices that are coupled to fuses that can be laser cut (blown) after fabrication. Thus, in a dynamic random access memory (DRAM) circuit, fuses can protect transistor gate stacks from destruction due to inadvertent build-up charges. After IC fabrication, the fuses can be blown to permit the DRAM circuit to function as if the protective current paths never existed.
Also, fuses are used to set the enable bit and the address bits of a redundant array element in a DRAM circuit. To replace a defective main memory array element within a main memory array, a redundant array is provided which has a plurality of fuses in a fuse array coupled thereto via a fuse latch array and a fuse decoder array. In replacing a defective main memory array element, individual fuses in the fuse array are blown to set their values to either a "1" or a "0" required by the decoder circuit. During operation, the values of the fuses in the fuse array are loaded into the fuse latch array upon power up, and these values then decoded by the fuse decoder circuit during run time. This facilitates replacement of specific failed main memory array elements by specific redundant elements of the redundant array, all by well known techniques.
In particular, high density DRAMs are commonly designed with memory cell redundancy whereby the redundant memory cells avoid loss of an entire memory in the event that a minor number of memory cells fail to function. Redundant memory cell activation is effected by blowing fuses selectively placed throughout the memory. Blowing a set of fuses disables the defective memory cell and enables in its place a redundant memory cell.
Fuses may also be incorporated in an IC of a semiconductor device module adapted for custom wiring operation, depending on the requirements of the end user. By blowing selective fuses in the circuit, the semiconductor device module can be customized for particular purposes.
Fuse blowing is effected by heating the fuse to melt it and create an open circuit, e.g., to replace a defective memory cell or other component by a functional cell or different component. The fuse is usually of aluminum, copper or other highly conductive metal or metal alloy, and has a central portion or fuse segment (fuse link) of smaller cross sectional area than its ends (connector terminals) to reduce the energy needed to melt the fuse and create an open circuit condition.
The melting (blowing) of fuses can be effected by a laser beam with a controlled beam width. This can result in laser-induced damage to the area beneath the fuse link, mainly due to absorption of laser energy. Alternatively, electrical fuses can be blown by applying a high current thereto for heating the fuse link by electrical power without such damage.
To enable electrical fusing with voltages below about 10 volts in semiconductor devices, it is important that the cross sectional area reduction from the connector terminals to the electrical fuse segment (fuse link) be as large as possible, preferably greater than 5 or 10. However, the need for such large connector terminals limits the proximity of neighboring fuses.
The voltage necessary to activate an electrical fuse is very sensitive to the geometry of the fuse. The shape of the fuse, its linearity, and the size of the connector terminals all impact the voltage needed to blow the fuse. It is, therefore, important that the fuse geometry be optimized.
An electrical fuse is basically an expendable overcurrent protective device having a circuit-opening fusible (meltable) conductive, e.g., metal or metallic material, fuse segment (fuse link) heated and destroyed by passing an overcurrent through it. The overcurrent heats the fuse link beyond the normal level of radiation loss of the generated resistance heat that keeps its temperature below that at which it melts. The fuse link resistance is particularly determined by the material of which it is made, its cross sectional area, its length, and its temperature.
Like any electrically conductive wire (and apart from the material of which it is made and its temperature), if the length of a fuse link or connector terminal is doubled, its resistance is also doubled, whereas if its cross sectional area is doubled, its resistance is halved. In short, the resistance of a fuse link or connector terminal is directly proportional to its length and inversely proportional to its cross sectional area.
Some examples of the fabrication of semiconductor devices with fuse arrangements are shown in the following prior art.
[1] U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,345 (Hankins et al.), issued Jan. 13, 1987, discloses vertical (three-dimensional), as opposed to horizontal (two-dimensional), fuses in an IC memory array to increase the component density on a substrate in a semiconductor device. A thin oxide fusible element (fuse link) is provided between the emitter region of a bipolar resistor, which emitter forms a bottom electrode (bottom connector terminal), and a top electrode (top connector terminal), e.g., of aluminum. Applying a voltage, e.g., of 12-14 volts, between the top electrode and emitter blows the thin oxide fuse, causing the top electrode to come into contact with the emitter. This is also referred to as anti-fuse.
[2] U.S. Pat. No. 5,436,496 (Jerome et al.), issued Jul. 25, 1995, discloses an array of vertical fuses in an IC to increase the substrate component density in a semiconductor device. Each fuse is selectively permanently programmable after fabrication and the fuse structure includes a buried collector, an overlying base and an emitter above the base and having a metal contact, e.g., of aluminum, at its upper surface. Heating the metal contact/emitter interface to its melting point by a current or voltage pulse causes the aluminum to short through the emitter to the base, thereby programming the fuse. The vertical fuse functionally changes from a floating base transistor to a diode.
[3] Japanese Patent Document JA 403124047 (Saito) of May, 1991, per English Abstract, discloses a polycrystalline silicon fuse link in a vertical U-shaped arrangement in an IC on a substrate to increase the fuse length within a confined substrate area in a semiconductor device.
[4] U.S. Pat. No. 5,313,424 (Adams et al.), issued May 17, 1994, discloses a semiconductor substrate having an electrically blown fuse circuit based on anti-fuse technology. A resistance decrease, e.g., of only 50%, due to dopant redistribution, is exhibited on "blowing" a given fuse. A redundancy system includes circuits to test a memory array to locate a faulty element therein, a resistor to store an address of the faulty element and electrical fuses blown in response to binary digits of the address stored in the register on applying an enable signal from a single input to the semiconductor device. Programmable redundancy is provided by sensing resistance decreases due to dopant redistribution, e.g., in a polysilicon fuse link, in a programmable anti-fuse circuit.
[5] U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,456 (Galbi et al.), issued May 30, 1995, discloses a fuse link with a bend to reduce the power needed for driver transistors to blow the fuse to implement redundancy activation wiring or custom wiring in an IC on a substrate during semiconductor fabrication. Using stated blow control circuitry, the fuse can be blown with only about 10% of the input current density needed for a straight fuse of equal cross sectional area. This is due to current crowding at the bend inside corner which accentuates the current density and thus causes melting at the inside corner. This is enhanced by melt notching which occurs at the bend and causes the fuse link melting to propagate across the fuse link width. The contents of this patent are incorporated herein by reference.
It is known that the shape of an electrical fuse used in a semiconductor device can be changed to lower the voltage needed to blow the fuse. The fuse generally has a pair of connector terminals interconnected by a central fuse link. The fuse can have connector terminals of minimum fuse pitch cross sectional area and a fuse link of reduced cross sectional area to promote some differential resistance heating and some preferential melting of the fuse link.
Secondly, e.g., as noted in said [5] U.S. Pat. No. 5,420,456 (Galbi et al.), issued May 30, 1995, the reduced cross sectional area fuse link of the minimum fuse pitch connector terminal arrangement can be bent to promote even more local preferential melting thereat.
Thirdly, the cross sectional area of the connector terminals can be increased above the minimum fuse pitch to maximize the difference between the cross sectional area of the connector terminals and that of the fuse link to promote maximized differential resistance heating and maximized preferential melting of the fuse link. However, this maximized preferential melting of the fuse link occurs at the expense of the fuse pitch in the semiconductor device circuit because the increase in cross sectional area of the connector terminals limits the closeness of adjacent fuses in the given circuit arrangement.
It is desirable to have a redundancy activation circuit arrangement or other circuit arrangement with fuses of optimum geometry that enable electrical fusing at voltages of at most about 10 volts, and preferably below 10 volts, without limiting the proximity of a given fuse to neighboring fuses or compromising the desired maximum pitch reduction between adjacent fuses.

Electrical fuses with tight pitches and method of fabrication in semiconductors

International Business Machines Corporation