A system for measuring peak throughput in packetized data networks includes a remote monitoring probe and console. The probe is connected to a packetized data network to monitor network activity, while the console is in communication with the probe via a communications medium. The probe maintains a plurality of counters associated with different ranges of utilization percentage for access channel and individual circuit bandwidth. For each sampling interval, the probe measures the access channel and individual circuit bandwidth utilization and increments the appropriate counters associated with the percentage ranges encompassing the measured bandwidth utilizations. The console polls the probe for the percentage counter data to selectively display the access channel or individual circuit bandwidth utilization in the form of a bar graph and pie chart. The access channel and/or individual circuit bandwidth may ultimately be adjusted based on the displayed data. Alternatively, the system may analyze the data and determine conservative, moderate and aggressive recommendations for bandwidth adjustment. In addition, the system can generate reports containing the access channel or individual circuit bandwidth utilization for a user-specified time period, and the recommendations for bandwidth adjustment.

1. Technical Field
The present invention pertains to monitoring data transmission through communications systems. In particular, the present invention pertains to monitoring methods and apparatus for measuring and displaying peak throughput in data transmission systems to assess bandwidth utilization for an entire access channel or individual transmission circuits. The present invention is related to the system disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,521,907 (Ennis, Jr. et al) the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Communications systems, especially packetized data networks, are currently utilized in various applications for transmission and reception of data across varying distances. Packetized data networks (e.g., local and wide area networks) typically format data into packets for transmission to a particular site. In particular, the data is partitioned into separate packets at a transmission site wherein the packets usually include headers containing information relating to packet data and routing. The packets are transmitted to a destination site in accordance with any of several conventional protocols known in the art (e.g., Asynchronous Transfer Mode (ATM), Frame Relay, High Level Data Link Control (HDLC), X.25, etc.), by which the transmitted data are restored from various packets received at the destination site.
Packetized data communications are especially appealing for common carrier or time-shared switching systems since a packet transmission path or circuit is unavailable only during the time when a packet utilizes the circuit for transmission to the destination site, thereby permitting other users to utilize that same circuit when the circuit becomes available (i.e., during intervening periods between packet transmissions). The access channel (i.e., channel connecting a site to a communications system) and each individual transmission circuit typically have a maximum data carrying capacity or bandwidth expressed in units of bits per second (bits/second). The access channel utilization is typically measured as an aggregate of the individual circuit utilizations and has a fixed bandwidth, while the individual circuits may be utilized by several users wherein each user may utilize an allocated portion of the circuit bandwidth (e.g., the frame committed information rate (CIR)). In other words, the committed information rate is the amount of bandwidth guaranteed to the user for a data transmission circuit. When a user sends data on a circuit in excess of the circuit committed information rate, the additional data exceeding the rate might possibly be discarded during transmission, depending upon circuit traffic conditions, thereby requiring re-transmission and degrading performance. Since the cost of bandwidth is directly proportional to the bandwidth quantity, cost effective communications systems tend to utilize the minimum amount of bandwidth necessary to facilitate data communications.
In order to determine the proper bandwidth requirements for an access channel or specific circuit, it is desirable to monitor access channel and circuit activity and view the bandwidth utilization. Various prior art monitoring systems are available that measure traffic, throughput, load and other communications system characteristics. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,775,973 (Tomberlin et al) discloses a communications measurement matrix display for a protocol analyzer wherein the protocol analyzer measures, and the matrix display shows, communications between nodes on a packet-switched network. The protocol analyzer passively monitors the network and measures network traffic in accordance with a user selected time interval (i.e., one second through four hours). The matrix display shows the network traffic via a grid having markers indicating the volume of traffic between two specific nodes (i.e., the first thirty-one nodes are individually specified and a single grid location is reserved for remaining nodes in the network in excess of thirty one), or the magnitude of traffic between one specific node and each of the other nodes. The protocol analyzer utilizes counters to maintain the amount of frames transmitted between nodes during a user-specified interval.
Further, U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,152 (Notess) discloses a system for collecting and displaying statistical data for a plurality of local area networks (LAN) wherein several remote nodes attached to a LAN collect and analyze LAN data (i.e., traffic) to produce statistics relating to the data. The statistics are sent to a management node for storage in a history file. The history file is periodically compressed to maintain the history file size at a manageable level. The remote nodes employ various counters to produce the data statistics relating to network and packet characteristics, while the management node utilizes the statistics for various displays to show the network information. For example, the management node includes a traffic distribution display wherein vertical bars illustrate percentages of packets within a particular time interval having certain packet lengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,446,874 (Waclawsky et al) discloses a system for maintaining a standard of operation for a data communications network. The system initially monitors the network for a certain duration to generate benchmark data sets that contain the standard of operation for the network. The benchmark data sets are typically categorized by traffic type or activity (e.g., batch, interactive, voice, etc.). Current network activity is measured by the system and compared to the benchmark data sets via criteria modules that interface to an expert system. When the network activity is determined to be beyond normal behavior, the criteria modules notify the expert system such that the expert system may modify network routing, close applications or allocate additional bandwidth. In addition, the benchmark data sets may be modified or updated to include a recent representation of network behavior.
The prior art suffers from several disadvantages. Typically, probes utilized for monitoring communications system activity have limited resources and memory. Since communications system traffic bursts (i.e., peaks or surges in system traffic) endure for short periods of time, the probe must collect information from the system at short sampling intervals to properly monitor traffic burst activity. However, monitoring the communications system with short sampling intervals for extended periods of time generates a large sample base that may exceed the probe's memory. For example, a probe with a one second sampling interval monitoring a communications system for fifteen minutes accumulates nine-hundred measurements. Although Notess (U.S. Pat. No. 5,251,152) utilizes file compression to maintain file size, the compressed file may still grow to exceed the probe's memory capacity, while the additional processing to compress and read the compressed file degrades performance. Further, incorporating additional processing and memory resources into the probes to accommodate large sample bases increases costs. Moreover, prior art devices generally display the amount or lengths of data traversing a communications system, thereby requiring the operator to determine system traffic and bandwidth utilization based on the data volume information. There is typically no provision to display the percentage of bandwidth utilized over a predetermined time interval in graphical form showing periods of high and low bandwidth utilization to enable an operator to quickly determine appropriate actions for adjusting the bandwidth to accommodate system behavior.

Method and apparatus for measurement of peak throughput in packetized data networks


Process for producing a high-density printed wiring board, comprising:                providing an ultrathin-copper-foil-clad board having a hole and outermost copper foil thickness of 5 μm or less, plating the surface by electroless copper plating to form a layer of 0.1 to 1 μm thickness,        forming an electrolytic copper plating layer of 0.5 to 3 μm thickness using the electroless copper plating layer as electrode,        forming a plating resist layer on a portion of the copper plating layer,        forming a pattern copper plating layer of 6 to 30 μm thickness on the copper surface in where the plating resist layer is not formed, by electrolytic plating,        removing the plating resist layer, and        etching the entire surface to remove the thin electrolytic copper layer, the electroless copper layer and ultrathin copper foil layer at least where the pattern copper plating layer is not formed.

Conventionally, as a method for producing a fine pattern in a high-density printed wiring board used for a semiconductor plastic package, there is a method according to a subtractive process in which a through hole and/or a blind via hole is/are made in an ultrathin copper foil having a thickness of 5 μm or less with a mechanical drill or a carbon dioxide gas laser, then electroless copper plating is carried out to form a plating layer having a thickness of 0.5 to 3 μm, a negative type plating resist is formed, a copper plating layer having a thickness of approximately 15 μm is formed, the plating resist is removed and then the electroless copper plating and the ultrathin copper foil are removed by etching (flash etching). Since this method uses a negative type etching film, a negative type dry plate for exposure is placed thereon and exposure is carried out. In this method, it is difficult to form a pattern of 10 μm or less. Furthermore, the above method is insufficient with regard to a pattern location accuracy. On the other hand, there has been widely known a method of producing a pattern of a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal device by the use of a positive type resist. However, there has not been known a method of producing a fine pattern of a printed wiring board by the use of a positive type resist by flash etching.
Further, there is known a method in which a thorough hole and/or a blind via hole is/are made by directly irradiating a copper foil surface with a carbon dioxide gas laser, then copper foil burrs occurring in the hole portion are dissolved and removed, at the same time copper foils as external layers are dissolved and removed by SUEP (Surface Uniform Etching Process) until the thickness of each of the copper foils decreases from 12 μm to 5 μm or less, then a desmearing treatment is carried out, then copper plating is carried out to form a plating layer of approximately 15 μm, and an ultrafine pattern is formed by using a general etching resist. In this method, the upper portion of the pattern becomes narrower than the bottom portion because of the etching so that a cross section becomes trapezoidal or triangular, which causes the occurrence of defectives.
Further, there is a method in which, after plating is carried out by a semi-additive method, an ultrafine pattern is similarly formed by using an etching resist, etc. In this method, when the thickness of copper plating is thick or approximately 18 μm, a problem is that an obtained pattern form is similar to the above forms. When the thickness is thin or approximately 10 μm, the thickness of plating attached in a hole portion is insufficient so that reliability is poor. Further, there is also a problem with regard to adhesive strength to copper.
Further, when copper plating is carried out by a fully additive method, a problem is that copper foil adhesive strength is low even if the thickness of a copper layer is thick. On the other hand, there are a method in which an ultrathin copper foil is used, a plating layer is formed thereon by electroless copper plating and then a pattern is formed by a pattern copper plating method, and a method in which a thin electroless copper layer is formed on a substrate by a semi additive method and a pattern is formed by using the electroless copper layer by a pattern copper plating method. In these methods, however, the electroless copper layer is etched at its sides by a final flash etching to cause undercuts so that the above methods have a problem in adhesive strength to copper.

Process for the production of high-density printed wiring board


A method and system for synthesizing texture using upsampled pixel coordinates and a multi-resolution approach. The parallel texture synthesis technique, while based on a neighborhood matching technique having order-independent texture synthesis, extends that approach in at least two areas, including efficient parallel synthesis and intuitive user control. Pixel coordinates are upsampled instead of pixel colors, thereby reducing computational complexity and expense. These upsampled pixel coordinates then are jittered to provide texture variation. The jitter is controllable, such that a user has control over several aspects of the jitter. In addition, each neighborhood-matching pass is split into several sub-passes to improve correction. Using sub-passes improves correction speed and quality. The parallel texture synthesis system and method disclosed herein is designed for implementation on a parallel processor, such as a graphics processing unit.

Texture mapping is an efficient and popular way to add details on surfaces in computer graphics applications. However, creating large and detailed texture maps is a difficult and tedious task. Moreover, these texture maps are usually at high resolution and often do not fit into available memory. Texture synthesis algorithms (such as sample-based texture synthesis techniques) are aimed at automatically generating large textures from a small example image (known as a texture sample or exemplar). Sample-based texture synthesis both reduces content creation time and storage requirements since the large texture can be generated from the exemplar and a set of parameters.
In general, sample-based texture synthesis takes an exemplar and generates additional content based on that exemplar to create much more content that is contained in the exemplar. Sample-based texture synthesis analyzes a given exemplar to create visually similar images. In graphics, these images often contain surface attributes like colors and normals, as well as displacement maps that define geometry itself. Sample-based texture synthesis alleviates the need to store explicitly an entire expanse of content. Instead, the content is generated "on the fly" from the much smaller exemplar.
Currently, there are several approaches to sampled-based texture synthesis. These approaches include tiling, patch optimization, and neighborhood-matching techniques. There are several types of tiling techniques. One of the simplest tiling techniques is to merely generate "tiled" content by creating multiple copies of the exemplar and placing them together in a tiled pattern. At large scales, the pattern of the exemplar appears repeatedly in the final content.
Another type of tiling technique precomputes a set of Wang Tiles designed to abut seamlessly along their boundaries. With a complete tile set, runtime evaluation is simple and parallel, and is therefore achievable in the graphics processing unit (GPU) pixel shader. In addition, this type of tiling technique allows some coarse control by transitioning between tiles of different textures.
Although tiling techniques are the fastest of the sampled-based texture synthesis techniques, their main drawback is that due to the fixed tile set the textures generated are repetitious and lack variety. In other words, the tiling techniques create generally unvaried and uninteresting results because of the large scale repetitions. Also, the regular tiling structure may become apparent when the texture is viewed from afar (or at large scale), especially for non -homogeneous textures.
Another type of sample-based texture synthesis is patch optimization. The patch optimization technique creates a texture by iteratively overlapping irregular patches of the exemplar to minimize overlap error. Dynamic programming or graph cut methods can be used to improve inter-patch boundaries. Because patch layout is a nontrivial optimization it is precomputed. Moreover, the layout process is inherently sequential. Control is possible by allowing a user override the delineation and positioning of patches. Although patch optimization techniques produce some of the best results of the sample-based texture synthesis techniques, their main drawback is that they lack much fine-scale adaptability during synthesis.
Yet another type of sample-based texture synthesis is neighborhood-matching. Neighborhood-matching techniques generate one pixel at a time in scanline or spiral order. For each pixel, the partial neighborhood already synthesized is compared with exemplar neighborhoods to identify the most likely pixels, and one pixel is chosen. The selected pixel is the pixel whose neighborhood best matches the currently synthesized neighborhood. Improvements to neighborhood-matching include hierarchical synthesis, fast vector-quantization (VQ) matching, coherent synthesis to favor patch formation, and precomputed similarity sets.
The major drawback with the neighborhood-matching, tiling, and patch optimization techniques is that they synthesize sequentially. For neighborhood-matching, sequential synthesis requires the use of a neighborhood that has already been synthesized to determine the current neighborhood. This introduces a "chain of dependencies" or "dependency chain" in the synthesis process. For tiling and patch optimization, sequential synthesis requires positioning of one tile or patch at time, such as in a left-to-right or a top-to-bottom fashion. For example, in order to find a location of a patch or tile in the middle of the texture, the entire texture up to that point must be generated. It is not possible to jump to one position and render a small window of texture. Instead, every single position between the beginning and the position must be generated. This is computationally expensive. Moreover, it is impractical to define huge deterministic landscapes because the entire image must be synthesized even if only a small portion of the landscape is visible or being displayed to a user.
At least one current neighborhood-matching technique attempts to achieve order-independent texture synthesis. The goal of this order-independent texture synthesis is to go to any arbitrary point in any arbitrary order and be able to synthesis texture. Instead of using a sequential search, the technique replaces each pixel by what is closest or best matches its neighbors. The technique uses a multi-resolution synthesis approach that is not implemented in parallel. In this multi-resolution or pyramid synthesis approach, multiple passes of pixel correction are applied at each pyramid level to match neighborhoods of the exemplar. The crucial innovation of this order-independent texture synthesis is to perform correction on all pixels independently, to allow deterministic synthesis of pixels in arbitrary order.
For example, the coarsest level (or level 0) is initialized with random colors. This is similar to sequential synthesis. Then, a sequence of correction passes are used that replace each pixel by the one pixel from the exemplar that best matches its current neighborhood. Each such correction pass is called a generation of synthesis. For the first generation at each level, a previous level is used to match colors at the coarser level to define the best matching coordinates for the next current level. Thus, in generation 0 of level 1, a 5×5 neighborhood of the coarser level 0 is used to infer the first coordinate for the next finer level (level 1). The 5×5 level 0 neighborhood is run over the exemplar, and a coherence search is used to speed up the search for a best matching neighborhood. For subsequent generations at each level, the neighborhood at both the current level and the previous coarser level are taken so that the search compares neighborhoods of both levels. For every pixel at a current level, a 5×5 neighborhood is used along with the previous coarser level.
By way of example, generation 0, level 1, is only generated using neighborhoods from level 0, generation 0. Generation 1 of level 1, uses neighborhoods from level 0, generation 0 and level 1, generation 0. Then, from level 1, generation 1, level 1, generation 2 is generated, using both neighborhoods from level 1, generation 1 and level 0, generation 0. Information from generation 2, level 1 is used to produce generation 0, level 2. When generation 1, level 2 is produced, neighbors from level 2, generation 0 and level 1, generation 2 are used (because it is the latest available). Thus, this order-independent texture synthesis technique considers only the best available generations of the current level and the previous level.
This order-independent texture synthesis technique "pulls" information forward instead of the majority of texture synthesis schemes, which "push" the information forward. In other words, requests for pixel are generated one at a time. Next, examination occurs of all the pixels at the different levels of generations that contribute to the final color.
One problem, however, with order-independent texture synthesis is that it is quite complex. Specifically, the approach uses a texture cache architecture (which is a per pixel demand-based architecture) that adds complexity. For each pixel, the cache contains information about which other pixels are required in the previous generations from the previous levels. If this information is not in the cache, then a cascade of evaluations must be computed. This means that if the graphics hardware wants to color a particular pixel, and if the pixel color is not in the texture cache, the graphics hardware must perform the above cascade of calculations to obtain this color.
Another problem with the order-independent texture synthesis scheme is that it is not implemented in parallel architecture, such as graphics processing units (GPUs). In fact, most neighborhood-matching synthesis algorithms cannot support parallel evaluation because their sequential assignment of output pixels involves long chains of causal dependencies. The computation cannot be mapped efficiently onto a parallel architecture like a GPU or multi-core central processing unit (CPU).
For the purpose of computer graphics, it is advantageous to implement texture synthesis on a parallel processor such as the GPU because the texture synthesis output is then written directly to video memory which is more easily accessible for graphics. If processing is performed on a CPU, the output must be transferred from system memory to the video memory. Implementation on a parallel processing unit such as the GPU discharges the CPU from texture synthesis and frees the CPU for other processing. Parallel processing on the GPU also allows real-time texture synthesis, and therefore alleviates the need to store vast amounts of texture and reduces memory consumption.
While many of the above-mentioned synthesis schemes offer some form of user guidance, they provide little control over the amount of texture variability. Typically, output variation is obtained by random seeding of boundary conditions (such as the random colors chosen to initialize the coarsest synthesis level). As one modifies the random seeds or adjusts algorithmic parameters, the synthesized result changes rather unpredictably. Thus, current sample-based texture synthesis techniques offer the user little control over the amount, placement and type of variation of the synthesized texture.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Parallel texture synthesis by upsampling pixel coordinates


A display device connected to a signal source outputting a video signal using an encryption protocol and that transmits the encryption key to the signal source includes: a transmission unit that transmits an own encryption key uniquely set for the display device and an encryption key transmitted from another display device connected to the display device as a lower device to the signal source and another display device connected as an upper device; and a stop instruction unit that instructs another display device corresponding to a predetermined encryption key included in an encryption key group based on the order of the own encryption keys included in the encryption key group to stop transmitting the encryption key received when the own encryption key is included in the encryption key group including a plurality of encryption keys transmitted from another display device connected as the lower device.

FIG. 1 is a diagram illustrating an example of a video display system using a plurality of general projectors. The video display system shown in FIG. 1 projects the video A output from PC (Personal Computer) 5, which is the signal source of the video, onto screen A1 and screen B2 by projector No. 1 3 and projector No. 2 4, respectively, arranged in rooms A and B, which are different from each other. PC5, projector No. 1 3, and projector No. 2 4 are connected by a cascade connection using HDMI cables 6 (hereinafter referred to as daisy chain connection). Video display systems for displaying such the same image by using display devices such as a plurality of projectors and monitors for information sharing and video presentation at a distance from each other are widely used in, for example, conference rooms, event venues, showrooms and the like. Thus, by displaying a plurality of images through the use of a plurality of projectors, it is possible to share information at a distance from each other.
In recent years, consideration has been given not only to systems that display the same images to each using different projectors, for example, but to multi-display systems that do displays on a large screen using a plurality of projectors by dividing one image (e.g., see Patent Document 1). Even in such a multi-display system, the projector displays images assigned to each projector by daisy-chaining multiple projectors.
FIG. 2 is a diagram illustrating another example of a video display system using typical projectors. The video display system shown in FIG. 2 has a PC5 and a PC7 as a signal source, a system for switching the output video according to the application. In this case, as shown in FIG. 2, the connection between projector No. 1 3 and projector No. 2 4 is a loop connection which uses HDMI cabling 6.

Display device, control method and program


A method of treating disease-related cachexia comprises administering to a subject a composition comprising an anti-AGE antibody. A composition for treating disease-related cachexia comprises a first anti-AGE antibody, a second anti-AGE antibody and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. The first anti-AGE antibody is different from the second anti-AGE antibody. A method of treating or preventing the onset of disease-related cachexia comprises immunizing a subject in need thereof against AGE-modified proteins or peptides of a cell.

Cachexia is the loss of weight, muscle atrophy, fatigue, weakness and significant loss of appetite in a person who is not actively trying to lose weight. The diagnostic criteria for cachexia are a loss of 5% or more of body weight over 12 months combined with reduced muscle strength. Cachexia affects approximately 9 million people worldwide and is often seen in chronic illnesses such as cancer, congestive heart failure, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), chronic kidney disease, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) infection, acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), celiac disease, multiple sclerosis (MS), cystic fibrosis (CF), motor neuron disease, Parkinson's disease, rheumatoid arthritis (RA), tuberculosis, familial amyloid polyneuropathy, mercury poisoning, acrodynia and hormonal deficiency. Cachexia may also develop following an acute condition such as major trauma, surgery, malabsorption and severe sepsis.
Cachexia is particularly prevalent in cancer, and is often referred to as cancer cachexia when diagnosed in a patient with cancer. About 50% of all cancer patients develop cachexia. Cachexia is even more common in advanced and terminal cancers where as many as 80% of patients develop cachexia. Cachexia also frequently presents in rheumatoid arthritis and may be referred to as rheumatoid cachexia when diagnosed in rheumatoid patients. Approximately 67% of rheumatoid arthritis patients develop cachexia. The onset of cachexia can make basic physical tasks challenging and may be debilitating for patients who are already in a weakened physical state. Cachexia can be fatal since it increases the risk of death from complications such as infections as well as the risk of death from treatments such as chemotherapy or radiation therapy.
Although originally considered a symptom or side effect of an underlying chronic disease, cachexia is now recognized as a distinct treatable condition. Cachexia is understood to be caused by inflammation and metabolic imbalances. The exact mechanism is still being determined, but recent studies indicate that inflammatory cytokines such as tumor necrosis factor-alpha (also known as TNF-α, cachexin or cachectin), interferon γ (IFNγ), interleukin 1 (IL-1), interleukin 6 (IL-6) and leukemia-inhibitory factor (LIF) contribute to cachexia (Tisdale, M. J., "Biology of Cachexia", Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Vol. 89, No. 23 (Dec. 3, 1997)). In rheumatoid cachexia, TNF-α contributes to cachexia by accelerating muscle catabolism, causing loss of muscle mass and reducing peripheral insulin action, which relieves its anticatabolic effect (da Rocha, O. M. et al., "Sarcopenia in rheumatoid cachexia: definition, mechanisms, clinical consequences and potential therapies", Brazilian Journal of Rheumatology, Vol. 49, No. 3, 288-301 (2009)). Overall muscle loss results from the increased breakdown of muscle protein combined with reduced protein synthesis.
There is no standard treatment for cachexia. Current treatments include β-hydroxy β-methylbutyrate (HMB), steroids and progestins such as megestrol acetate. Non-drug treatment options include weight training/resistance training, nutritional counselling and consumption of a high-protein diet. Simply increasing caloric intake has not been found to be effective in treating cachexia. A number of other treatments that have been attempted or studied but are not recommended include thalidomide, cytokine antagonists, cannabinoids, omega-3 fatty acids, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), prokinetics, ghrelin and ghrelin receptor agonists, anabolic catabolic transforming agents, selective androgen receptor modulators, cyproheptadine and hydrazine. A cachexia treatment must address the characteristic inflammation and metabolic imbalances without causing side effects that would be dangerous or life-threatening for a physically weakened patient.
Senescent cells are cells that are partially-functional or non-functional and are in a state of proliferative arrest. Senescence is a distinct state of a cell, and is associated with biomarkers, such as activation of the biomarker p16Ink4a, and expression of β-galactosidase. Senescence begins with damage or stress (such as overstimulation by growth factors) of cells.
Advanced glycation end-products (AGEs; also referred to as AGE-modified proteins, or glycation end-products) arise from a non-enzymatic reaction of sugars with protein side-chains (Ando, K. et al., Membrane Proteins of Human Erythrocytes Are Modified by Advanced Glycation End Products during Aging in the Circulation, Biochem Biophys Res Commun., Vol. 258, 123, 125 (1999)). This process begins with a reversible reaction between the reducing sugar and the amino group to form a Schiff base, which proceeds to form a covalently-bonded Amadori rearrangement product. Once formed, the Amadori product undergoes further rearrangement to produce AGEs. Hyperglycemia, caused by diabetes mellitus (DM), and oxidative stress promote this post-translational modification of membrane proteins (Lindsey J B, et al., "Receptor For Advanced Glycation End-Products (RAGE) and soluble RAGE (sRAGE): Cardiovascular Implications," Diabetes Vascular Disease Research, Vol. 6(1), 7-14, (2009)). AGEs may also be formed from other processes. For example, the advanced glycation end product, Nε-(carboxymethyl)lysine, is a product of both lipid peroxidation and glycoxidation reactions. AGEs have been associated with several pathological conditions including diabetic complications, inflammation, retinopathy, nephropathy, atherosclerosis, stroke, endothelial cell dysfunction, and neurodegenerative disorders (Bierhaus A, "AGEs and their interaction with AGE-receptors in vascular disease and diabetes mellitus. I. The AGE concept," Cardiovasc Res, Vol. 37(3), 586-600 (1998)).
AGE-modified proteins are also a marker of senescent cells. This association between glycation end-product and senescence is well known in the art. See, for example, Gruber, L. (WO 2009/143411, 26 Nov. 2009), Ando, K. et al. (Membrane Proteins of Human Erythrocytes Are Modified by Advanced Glycation End Products during Aging in the Circulation, Biochem Biophys Res Commun., Vol. 258, 123, 125 (1999)), Ahmed, E. K. et al. ("Protein Modification and Replicative Senescence of WI-38 Human Embryonic Fibroblasts" Aging Cells, vol. 9, 252, 260 (2010)), Vlassara, H. et al. (Advanced Glycosylation Endproducts on Erythrocyte Cell Surface Induce Receptor-Mediated Phagocytosis by Macrophages, J. Exp. Med., Vol. 166, 539, 545 (1987)) and Vlassara et al. ("High-affinity-receptor-mediated Uptake and Degradation of Glucose-modified Proteins: A Potential Mechanism for the Removal of Senescent Macromolecules" Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, Vol. 82, 5588, 5591 (1985)). Furthermore, Ahmed, E. K. et al. indicates that glycation end-products are "one of the major causes of spontaneous damage to cellular and extracellular proteins" (Ahmed, E. K. et al., see above, page 353). Accordingly, the accumulation of glycation end-products is associated with senescence and lack of function.
The damage or stress that causes cellular senescence also negatively impacts mitochondrial DNA in the cells to cause them to produce free radicals which react with sugars in the cell to form methyl glyoxal (MG). MG in turn reacts with proteins or lipids to generate advanced glycation end products. In the case of the protein component lysine, MG reacts to form carboxymethyllysine, which is an AGE.
Damage or stress to mitochondrial DNA also sets off a DNA damage response which induces the cell to produce cell cycle blocking proteins. These blocking proteins prevent the cell from dividing. Continued damage or stress causes mTOR production, which in turn activates protein synthesis and inactivates protein breakdown. Further stimulation of the cells leads to programmed cell death (apoptosis).
p16 is a protein involved in regulation of the cell cycle, by inhibiting the S phase (synthesis phase). It can be activated during ageing or in response to various stresses, such as DNA damage, oxidative stress or exposure to drugs. p16 is typically considered a tumor suppressor protein, causing a cell to become senescent in response to DNA damage and irreversibly preventing the cell from entering a hyperproliferative state. However, there has been some ambiguity in this regard, as some tumors show overexpression of p16, while other show downregulated expression. Evidence suggests that overexpression of p16 is some tumors results from a defective retinoblastoma protein ("Rb"). p16 acts on Rb to inhibit the S phase, and Rb downregulates p16, creating negative feedback. Defective Rb fails to both inhibit the S phase and downregulate p16, thus resulting in overexpression of p16 in hyperproliferating cells (Romagosa, C. et al., p16Ink4a overexpression in cancer: a tumor suppressor gene associated with senescence and high-grade tumors, Oncogene, Vol. 30, 2087-2097 (2011)).
Senescent cells are associated with secretion of many factors involved in intercellular signaling, including pro-inflammatory factors; secretion of these factors has been termed the senescence-associated secretory phenotype, or SASP (Freund, A. "Inflammatory networks during cellular senescence: causes and consequences" Trends Mol Med. 2010 May; 16(5):238-46). Autoimmune diseases, such as Crohn's disease and rheumatoid arthritis, are associated with chronic inflammation (Ferraccioli, G. et al. "Interleukin-1β and Interleukin-6 in Arthritis Animal Models: Roles in the Early Phase of Transition from Acute to Chronic Inflammation and Relevance for Human Rheumatoid Arthritis" Mol Med. 2010 November-December; 16(11-12): 552-557). Chronic inflammation may be characterized by the presence of pro-inflammatory factors at levels higher than baseline near the site of pathology, but lower than those found in acute inflammation. Examples of these factors include TNF, IL-1α, IL-1β, IL-5, IL-6, IL-8, IL-12, IL-23, CD2, CD3, CD20, CD22, CD52, CD80, CD86, C5 complement protein, BAFF, APRIL, IgE, α4β1 integrin and α4β7 integrin. Many of these factors have been implicated in cachexia. Because senescent cells produce pro-inflammatory factors, removal of these cells alone produces a profound reduction in inflammation as well as the amount and concentration of pro-inflammatory factors.
Senescent cells secrete reactive oxygen species ("ROS") as part of the SASP. ROS is believed to play an important role in maintaining senescence of cells. The secretion of ROS creates a bystander effect, where senescent cells induce senescence in neighboring cells: ROS create the very cellular damage known to activate p16 expression, leading to senescence (Nelson, G., A senescent cell bystander effect: senescence-induced senescence, Aging Cell, Vo. 11, 345-349 (2012)). The p16/Rb pathway leads to the induction of ROS, which in turn activates the protein kinase C delta creating a positive feedback loop that further enhance ROS, helping maintain the irreversible cell cycle arrest; it has even been suggested that exposing cancer cells to ROS might be effective to treat cancer by inducing cell phase arrest in hyperproliferating cells (Rayess, H. et al., Cellular senescence and tumor suppressor gene p16, Int J Cancer, Vol. 130, 1715-1725 (2012)).
Recent research demonstrates the therapeutic benefits of removing senescent cells. In vivo animal studies at the Mayo Clinic in Rochester, Minn., found that elimination of senescent cells in transgenic mice carrying a biomarker for elimination delayed age-related disorders associated with cellular senescence. Eliminating senescent cells in fat and muscle tissues substantially delayed the onset of sarcopenia and cataracts and reduced senescence indicators in skeletal muscle and the eye (Baker, D. J. et al., "Clearance of p16Ink4a-positive senescent cells delays ageing-associated disorders", Nature, Vol. 479, pp. 232-236, (2011)). Mice that were treated to induce senescent cell elimination were found to have larger diameters of muscle fibers as compared to untreated mice. Treadmill exercise tests indicated that treatment also preserved muscle function. Continuous treatment of transgenic mice for removal of senescent cells had no negative side effects and selectively delayed age-related phenotypes that depend on cells. This data demonstrates that removal of senescent cells produces beneficial therapeutic effects and shows that these benefits may be achieved without adverse effects.
Additional In vivo animal studies in mice found that senescent cells using senolytic agents treats aging-related disorders and atherosclerosis. Short-term treatment with senolytic drugs in chronologically aged or progeroid mice alleviated several aging-related phenotypes (Zhu, Y. et al., "The Achilles' heel of senescent cells: from transcriptome to senolytic drugs", Aging Cell, vol. 14, pp. 644-658 (2015)). Long-term treatment with senolytic drugs improved vasomotor function in mice with established atherosclerosis and reduced intimal plaque calcification (Roos, C. M. et al., "Chronic senolytic treatment alleviates established vasomotor dysfunction in aged or atherosclerotic mice", Aging Cell (2016)). This data further demonstrates the benefits of removing senescent cells.
Vaccines have been widely used since their introduction by Edward Jenner in the 1770s to confer immunity against a wide range of diseases and afflictions. Vaccine preparations contain a selected immunogenic agent capable of stimulating immunity to an antigen. Typically, antigens are used as the immunogenic agent in vaccines, such as, for example, viruses, either killed or attenuated, and purified viral components. Antigens used in the production of cancer vaccines include, for example, tumor-associated carbohydrate antigens (TACAs), dendritic cells, whole cells and viral vectors. Different techniques are employed to produce the desired amount and type of antigen being sought. For example, pathogenic viruses are grown either in eggs or cells. Recombinant DNA technology is often utilized to generate attenuated viruses for vaccines.
Vaccines may therefore be used to stimulate the production of antibodies in the body and provide immunity against antigens. When an antigen is introduced to a subject that has been vaccinated and developed immunity to that antigen, the immune system may destroy or remove cells that express the antigen.

Methods and compositions for treating disease-related cachexia


A resist composition includes a photoacid generator (PAG) and a photosensitive polymer. The photosensitive polymer is polymerized with (a) at least one of the monomers having the respective formulae:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a chemically amplified resist composition, and more particularly, the present invention relates to a resist composition comprising a photosensitive polymer having lactone in its backbone.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the integration density and complexity of semiconductor devices continue to increase, the ability to form ultra-fine patterns becomes more and more critical. For example, in 1-Gigabit or higher semiconductor devices, a pattern size having a design rule of 0.2 μm or less is needed. For this reason, in lithography processes, the lower wavelength ArF eximer laser (193 nm) has emerged as a preferred exposure light source to the more conventional and higher wavelength KrF eximer laser (248 nm).
However, compared with conventional (KrF) resist materials, resist materials which are suitable for use with the ArF eximer laser suffer from a variety drawbacks. The most serious problems relate transmittance and resistance to dry etching.
Almost all well-known ArF resist compositions contain (meth)acryl-based polymers. Among these polymers, a methacrylate copolymer having an alicyclic protecting group, which is expressed by the formula below, has been suggested (J. Photopolym. Sci. Technol., 9(3), pp. 509 (1996))

This polymer has an adamantyl group, which contributes to enhancing resistance to dry etching, and a lactone group, which improves adhesiveness, in its methacrylate backbone. As a result, the resolution of the resist and the depth of focus are improved. However, resistance to dry etching is still weak, and serious line edge roughness is observed after line patterns are formed from the resist layer.
Another drawback of the aforementioned polymer is that the raw material used to synthesize the polymer is expensive. In particular, the manufacturing cost of a polymer having a lactone group, which is introduced to improve adhesiveness, is so high that its practical use as a resist is difficult.
As another conventional resist composition, a cycloolefin-maleic anhydride (COMA) alternating polymer having the following formula has been suggested (J. Photopolym. Sci. Technol., Vol. 12(4), pp. 553 (1999), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,843,624)

In the production of a copolymer, such as a COMA alternating polymer having the formula above, the production cost of raw material is relatively inexpensive, but the yield of the polymer sharply decreases. In addition, the transmittance of the polymer is very low at a short wavelength region, for example at 193 nm. The synthetic polymers have in their backbone the alicyclic group, which exhibits prominent hydrophobicity, and thus the adhesiveness to neighboring material layers is very poor.
The copolymer has a glass transition temperature of 200° C. or more due to the structural characteristic of the backbone. As a result, it is difficult to carry out an annealing process for eliminating free volume from the resist layer formed of the polymer, and accordingly the resist layer is influenced by ambient conditions which can cause, for example, a T-top profile of corresponding resist patterns. In addition, the resist layer itself becomes less resistant to ambient conditions during post-exposure delay, so that many problems can occur during subsequent processes with respect to the photoresist layer.
To improve the resolution of the resist layer, the polymer system must be charged with a polar group. In recent years, a technique of introducing a lactone group into a methacrylate monomer having an alicyclic protecting group, using the following alicyclic compounds with a lactone group, has been suggested so as to enhance the resistance to dry etching (J. Photopolym. Sci. Technol., Vol. 13(4), pp. 601 (2000), and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. hei 12-26446):

Unfortunately, the yield of the monomer having the above formula is so low as to substantially increase manufacturing costs.

Resist composition comprising photosensitive polymer having lactone in its backbone

Abstract: where R1 and R2 are independently a hydrogen atom, alkyl, hydroxyalkyl, alkyloxy, carbonyl or ester, and x and y are independently integers from 1 to 6, and (b) at least one of a (meth)acrylate monomer, a maleic anhydride monomer, and a norbornene monomer.


A verbena cultivar particularly distinguished by its violet colored flowers, vigorous, free-branching, upright growth habit, and tolerance to powdery mildew is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of verbena, botanically known as Verbena hybrida, and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Lan Upviot'. The new cultivar originated in 2003 in Gilroy, Calif. from the self-pollination of '1658-1', an unpatented blue flowered proprietary verbena.
The seeds produced by the self-pollination were sown in June 2003. A single plant selection was chosen for further evaluation and for asexual propagation in September 2003.
The new cultivar was created in 2003 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif. and Andijk, The Netherlands over a three-year period. The plant has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif., Andijk, The Netherlands and Hillscheid, Germany. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar have been applied for in Switzerland on Oct. 30, 2006.


The present disclosure provides Optical Transport Network (OTN) port protection systems and methods using flexible switch criteria. Specifically, the OTN port protection systems and methods provide linear protection in OTN such as 1+1 Protection with Automatic Protection Switching (APS) and/or 1+1 Subnetwork Connection Protection (SNCP) Protection. The OTN Port Protection with flexible switch criteria allows a user to provision a protection application on an OTN Port and select a switch criteria, Section Monitoring, Path Monitoring, or Tandem Connection Monitoring, without considering the provisioning state of an Optical channel Data Unit level k (ODUk) entity. The ODUk entity may either be cross-connected in the LO case or terminated in the HO case. The ODUk entity may be provisioned independently, after the port protection has been established.

The Optical Transport Network (OTN), defined in inter alia ITU G.709/Y.1331 (December 2009) "Interfaces for the Optical Transport Network (OTN)," the contents of which are herein incorporated by reference, allows network operators to converge networks through seamless transport of the numerous types of legacy protocols while providing the flexibility required to support future client protocols. In OTN networks, protection occurs by switching Low Order Optical channel Data Unit (ODU) entities. Conventionally, linear protection in OTN, e.g. as defined in recommendation ITU-T G.873.1 (July 2011) "Optical Transport network—Linear protection," the contents of which are herein incorporated by, requires a user to change switch criteria based on ODU connection state, either a Low Order (LO) ODUk cross connection or a High Order (HO) ODUk termination with LO ODUj cross connections. The LO ODUk connection may utilize either the subnetwork connection protection with inherent monitoring (SNC/I) Optical channel Transport Unit-k Section Monitoring (OTUk-SM) layer, the subnetwork connection protection with non intrusive monitoring (SNC/N) ODUk-Path Monitoring (PM), or the subnetwork connection protection with sublayer monitoring (SNC/S) ODUk-Tandem Connection Monitoring (TCMi) layer termination for switch criteria. However, the HO ODUk termination with LO ODUj cross connections may only utilize the Compound link based SNC group protection with inherent monitoring (CL-SNCG/I) ODUk-PM layer for switch criteria. This prevents the use of a common ODUk-TCMi layer switch criteria between HO ODUk and LO ODUk provisioning. The provisioning state of the ODUk, LO versus HO, limits the ODUk protection switch criteria available to the user and prevents a generic OTN Port Protection application.

Optical transport network port protection systems and methods using flexible switch criteria


A half-bridge circuit, in which an input signal that is applied between two input terminals can be picked up at a phase output comprises two switching transistors controlled by a respective control signal that is applied between a control electrode and an auxiliary electrode and two diodes. The first input terminal is connected to the first electrode of the first switching transistor and to the first diode's cathode. A second electrode of the first switching transistor is connected to the first diode's anode by means of the phase output, via a line, to a first electrode of the second switching transistor and to a cathode of the second diode. A second electrode of the second switching transistor is connected to an anode of the second diode and to the second input terminal. The auxiliary electrode of the first switching transistor is connected to the line of the phase output.

Half-bridge circuits are used quite generally to generate an AC signal from a DC voltage that is supplied on the input side. When connected up in an appropriate manner, half-bridge circuits of this type may also be used to generate polyphase AC signals, in particular also three-phase current signals. The output-side (if appropriate polyphase) AC signal is then supplied to a motor, for example.
A multiplicity of variations of half-bridge circuits are known in accordance with the prior art. Half-bridge circuits on which the invention is based are essentially based on two power transistors and two diodes which are usually respectively integrated on a single chip. In this case, the power transistors used are preferably so-called insulated gate bipolar transistors (IGBTs) on account of their low control powers and their small forward resistances on the collector-emitter path. Field effect power transistors, preferably MOSFETs, are also used for relatively low powers.
In this case, the forward current paths, i.e. the source-drain paths or collector-emitter paths, of the power transistors are connected in series on the input side. When the polarity is reversed, a respective diode is connected in parallel with the two power transistors in this case. In concrete terms, this means that, when using npn IGBTs, the collector electrode of an IGBT is respectively connected to the corresponding anode of the parallel-connected diode and the emitter electrode of the IGBT is connected to the cathode of the corresponding parallel-connected diode. The phase output, at which the AC voltage can be tapped off, is located at the node between the two series-connected power transistors.
In the event of a short circuit, it is desirable to negatively feed back the drive signal of the power transistors as much as possible in order to limit the turn-off speed. In the case of normal operation, however, too much negative feedback is associated with increased losses, which is undesirable.
In order to generate such negative feedback of the drive signal, in accordance with the prior art, said drive signal is therefore not applied directly to the corresponding control inputs (in particular the gate and source or the gate and emitter in the abovementioned embodiment variants) of the discrete power transistors (initially assumed to be ideal) but rather is applied via respective inductances arranged in the forward current paths of the two power transistors. The control inputs which are arranged in the forward current paths downstream of the inductances are generally referred to as auxiliary electrodes, i.e., for example, as the auxiliary source electrode or auxiliary emitter. In accordance with the prior art regarding inductive negative feedback the values selected for the inductances represent a compromise between limiting switching losses during normal operation and limiting the turnoff speed of the corresponding power (switching) transistor in the event of a short circuit.
In practice, use is made of the fact that, in the half-bridge circuit described above, each line section, i.e. each conductor track and each connection realized with the aid of bonding wires or the like, between the individual discrete components (initially assumed to be ideal), namely the power transistors and the diodes, represents a (line/leakage) inductance, it being possible to predetermine the magnitude of each of these inductances within a wide range, if appropriate with regard to the concrete application. Arranging the corresponding (auxiliary) electrodes (for example the auxiliary source electrode or auxiliary emitter) in a suitable manner in the respective line sections that lead away from the electrodes (for example the source or emitter) thus makes it possible to establish the magnitude of the inductances that are required for the negative feedback and the level of the respective negative feedback.
In order to elucidate the facts specified above, reference is made by way of example to a concrete embodiment of a half-bridge circuit (in accordance with the prior art) outlined in FIG. 3 of the drawings.
FIG. 3 shows an equivalent circuit diagram of a half-bridge circuit (in accordance with the prior art) based on two IGBTs and two diodes. In this case, in addition to the circuit symbols symbolizing these (ideal) components, the equivalent circuit diagram also reveals the (parasitic) leakage and/or line inductances that are implicitly or intentionally present in each lead and are identified by corresponding discrete circuit symbols.
The half-bridge circuit shown in FIG. 3 has two input terminals 15 and 16—via which an input DC voltage VE can be supplied—and a phase output P, at which the AC voltage generated can be tapped off. This phase output P represents, for example, a phase of a three-phase network.
The first input terminal 15 is connected to the node 7 via the (leakage) inductance L14. The node 7 is connected, on the one hand, to the collector C1 of the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 via the (leakage) inductance L12 and, on the other hand, to the cathode K1 of the first diode D1 via the (leakage) inductance L13. The emitter E1 of the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 is led to the node 8. Furthermore, the anode A1 of the diode D1 is connected to the node 9 and the latter is in turn connected to the node 8 via the (leakage) inductance L11. The node 8 is in turn led to the node 10 via the (leakage) inductance L24. In accordance with the prior art, this node 10 forms, on the one hand, the terminal point for the phase output P, the (line/leakage) inductances of which are symbolized, in the figure of the drawing in question, by corresponding circuit symbols identified by the reference symbols L15 and L16, and, on the other hand, the terminal point for the second series-connected power/switching transistor (IGBT 2).
Taking into account line and/or leakage inductances, the node 10 establishes a connection, on the one hand, to the collector terminal C2 of the second insulated gate bipolar transistor 2 via the (leakage) inductance L22 and, on the other hand, to the cathode K2 of the second diode D2 via the (leakage) inductance L23. The emitter E2 of the second insulated gate bipolar transistor 2 is led to the node 11. The anode A2 of the second diode D2 is likewise connected to the node 11 via the (leakage) inductance L21. A line that is represented by the inductance L27 in turn leads away from the node 11 to the node 12 and from there onward to the input terminal 16.
In order to obtain the abovementioned desired negative feedback, the drive signals for the two insulated gate bipolar transistors 1, 2 are not switched directly between the respective control terminals gate G1 and G2 and emitter E1 and E2 of the insulated gate bipolar transistors 1 and 2 but rather the drive signals are injected further away from these control terminals gate G1 and G2 and emitter E1 and E2 on the existing connection paths between the emitter E1 of the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 and the collector C2 of the second insulated gate bipolar transistor 2 and between the emitter E2 of the second insulated gate bipolar transistor 2 and the input terminal 16. The corresponding terminal points which are also referred to as auxiliary emitters in the jargon are identified by the reference symbols HE1 (auxiliary emitter of the IGBT 1) and HE2 (auxiliary emitter of the IGBT 2) in FIG. 3. Accordingly, the auxiliary emitter HE1 of the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 is situated directly at the node 10 to which the phase output P is connected and the auxiliary emitter HE2 of the second insulated gate bipolar transistor 2 is situated at the node 12 that in turn establishes a connection to the input terminal 16.
FIG. 3 shows the commutation of a DC voltage VE (which is supplied on the input side) during normal operation of the half-bridge circuit. Accordingly, when the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 is turned on, a current flows along the current path (identified by the reference symbol 13 in the figure of the drawing) to the phase output P on account of the positive voltage + applied to the first input terminal 15: in accordance with FIG. 3, the current path runs to the phase output P via the inductance L14, the node 7, the inductance L12, the collector-emitter path C1-E1 of the insulated gate bipolar transistor 1, the node 8, the inductance L24 and the node 10.
In accordance with Lenz's law, when the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 is turned off, the current flowing to the phase output P will initially continue to flow. However, since the current path 13 to the positive terminal 15 has been interrupted by the turned-off IGBT 1, the current commutates to the current path identified by the reference symbol 14. Accordingly, when the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 is off, the second input terminal 16 (negative voltage pole−of the input DC voltage VE) is connected to the phase output P via the node 12, the inductance L27, the node 11, the inductance L21, the diode D2 connected in the forward direction, the inductance L23 and the node 10.
During the normal commutation process, the current intensity in the negative feedback inductances L24 and L27 therefore changes. Negative feedback that is associated with undesirable switching losses therefore takes place.
The same applies to the case of a phase short circuit. Assume, by way of example, that there is a short circuit between the phase output P and the second input terminal 16. In this case, when the IGBT 1 is turned on, a current will flow from the positive input terminal 15 to the negative input terminal 16 via the inductance L14, the node 7, the inductance L12, the collector-emitter path C1-E1 of the IGBT 1, the inductance L24, the node 10, the inductance L15 and the short-circuit path.
When the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 is turned off, the current intensity in the inductance L24 changes. The negative feedback that is desired in this case in order to limit the turn-off speed of the first insulated gate bipolar transistor 1 therefore takes place.
Although the abovementioned embodiment has fundamentally proven successful, the negative feedback of the driving of the two switching transistors that is needed to limit the turn-off speed of the latter in the event of a short circuit leads to switching losses during normal operation of the half-bridge circuit.

Eupec Europaische Gesellschaft fur Leistungshalbleiter mbH Max-Planck-Str. 5


A portable data carrier (10) embodies an integrated circuit (12) with an EEPROM (24). The EEPROM has a number of rows of memory cells (32, 38) each having outputs respectively coupled to bit lines (50, 54). The EEPROM cells have a common array ground node (56). A pull-up transistor (74) is coupled to the common array ground node for developing a first positive voltage on the common array ground node which in turn develops a second positive voltage on the output of one of the memory cells corresponding to a negative threshold voltage of the memory cells. A sensing circuit (88) is coupled to one of the bit lines for detecting the level of the second positive voltage and thus determining the negative threshold voltage of the memory cell.

The present invention relates in general to non-volatile memory circuits and, more particularly, to measuring the negative threshold voltage of a non-volatile memory cell.
Electrically erasable programmable read only memories (EEPROMs) are found in many applications where it is necessary to use a non-volatile memory. One such application is in the field of portable data carriers (PDC), otherwise known as smart cards. A PDC is generally made of plastic, about the size of a conventional credit card, and includes one or more semiconductor die embedded in the PDC. The semiconductor die(s) include a microprocessor, memory, and various input and output (I/O) circuitry. While a conventional credit card with a magnetic strip typically stores a few hundred bits of data, the PDC with its expanded memory can store 8K or more 8-bit bytes of data.
The additional storage capacity of the PDC vastly expands its useful applications. For example, the PDC can be used to store the user's medical history. The user presents the PDC to a health care provider who, through a PDC reader, extracts the patient's medical history, including personal data, primary care physician, health insurance, allergies, medication, past procedures, blood type, religious preference, organ donor, etc. Other applications for PDCs include banking services, identification for nationality and passport, and transportation transactions such as ticket and fare collection. For example, the PDC can be programmed to hold a monetary value. When making a purchase, the user inserts the PDC into the PDC reader and the purchase amount is automatically deducted from the stored monetary value. PDCs are applicable virtually anywhere the user needs to convey or exchange data or information.
The PDC is available to operate in contact and contactless modes. In contact mode, the PDC is inserted into the PDC reader. The PDC reader comes in direct electrical contact with terminal pads on the PDC to supply operating power and to read and write data. In contactless mode, the PDC uses radio frequency (RF) transmission circuitry. The contactless PDC is placed in the vicinity of the PDC reader and the information exchange occurs over the RF link.
The PDC generally does not contain a local power source such as a battery. The PDC receives operating power at the beginning of each transaction by the direct electrical contact, or via the RF link. The memory area on the PDC is divided between random access memory (RAM), read only memory (ROM), and EEPROM. The RAM is volatile memory and maintains temporary data used only during the time that power is supplied by the PDC reader. The ROM and EEPROM are non-volatile memory and, although can only be accessed during the time that power is supplied by the PDC reader, maintain their contents even during times of zero operating power.
The EEPROM array is arranged in a matrix of memory cells. Each memory cell has a floating gate transistor that stores a logic one or a logic zero. A logic one is stored as a positive charge on the floating gate, and a logic zero is stored as a negative charge on the floating gate. A floating gate transistor with a negatively charged floating gate has a positive threshold voltage (VT) related to the stored charge. A floating gate transistor with a positively charged floating gate has a negative threshold voltage related to the stored charge. A fully charged floating gate yields a VT of about .+-.5 volts.
Once the EEPROM cell is written, the stored charge decays over time because of leakage. The stored charge typically has a life expectancy of about 10 years before the VT drops below a minimum value of about .+-.2 volts and the cell contents become unpredictable.
One way of determining the life expectancy of an EEPROM cell is to measure its VT during the manufacturing process. If the measured VT is greater than a specified value, e.g. 5 volts, then the stored charge is expected to last the projected lifetime. If the measured VT is less than the specified value, then the stored charge is unlikely to last the projected lifetime. If the VT begins at a level lower than the specified value, then as the stored charge decays over time, the VT will become less than the minimum acceptable value before the end of its projected life expectancy. When EEPROM cells with unacceptably low VTs are detected, the manufacturing process is evaluated for problems.
There are known techniques to measure a positive VT. For example, a variable positive voltage can be applied to the floating gate and increased until the transistor turns on. The point that the floating gate transistor turns on is the positive VT. However, the negative VT of the floating gate transistor cannot be measured in the same manner.
Hence, a need exists to measure the negative VT of a non-volatile memory cell.

Circuit and method of measuring the negative threshold voltage of a non-volatile memory cell


A method for data retrieval is described. Interface circuitry of an information processing apparatus receives a request for data retrieval from a database. The database stores content sharing information in a social network. The request includes a first user identifier and a first link identifier. The processing circuitry determines whether the first user identifier and the first link identifier are associated in the database as a consequence of a previous sharing of a first article corresponding to the first link identifier using the first user identifier. Further, when the first user identifier and the first link identifier are determined to be associated, the processing circuitry searches for a first message identifier in the database. The first message identifier identifies a first message that includes information of the previous sharing of the first article. The processing circuitry then retrieves the first message according to the first message identifier.

A related social network system (such as, a WeChat system and an instant messaging system) each has a retrieval function of a relationship link. Specifically, the social network system may retrieve a sharing situation of an article of a link by a friend of a user according to a keyword input by the user, and show the sharing situation to the user.
The related social network system usually uses a good object (Good Object, GOB for short) retrieval system to implement the foregoing retrieval function. Specifically, the social network system stores a relationship between the user and the shared article in an inverted data structure from a term to a message identity. In this way, when retrieving information about the article shared by the user, the social network system uses a user identity and a link identity as the terms, respectively searches for and obtains a first list and a second list of a message identity corresponding to the user identity and the link identity, and then performs an intersection operation on the first list and the second list to obtain correspondence of the link identity, the user identity and the message identity. Because the intersection operation is to be performed on the first list and the second list, if the number of terms of the two lists is relatively great, the calculation amount of data retrieval is relatively great.

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LIMITED


Under the granulating section 10a for performing fluidized-bed granulation coating of powder grains, a drying section 20a for drying powder grains granulated is provided. A drying section 30a for drying the powder grains that are not sufficiently dried is provided under the drying section 20a. A product discharging section 40a for discharging a dried product is provided under the drying section 30a. A fluidized-bed forming-gas is supplied downward to upward, and granulation and dryness are continuously performed by the fluidized-bed forming-gas, and the powder grains moved from the granulating section to the drying section located immediately thereunder are pneumatic classified.

A fluidized-bed device can perform granulation coating and drying of pharmaceuticals, food or the like within a single device and has an airtight structure, so that it is a suitable device in view of GMP. Therefore, granulation substances obtained by using this have characteristics of comparatively porous and amorphous shapes and good solubility, and so are widely utilized.
While there are many kinds of fluidized-bed devices (for example, "Granulation Handbook", edited by The Association of Powder Process Industry and Engineering, Japan, published from Ohmsha, pp.283–348), the devices are roughly divided into a batch type and a continuous type (including a semi-continuous type and a continuous type) as methods of operation.
Presently, in most cases of performing granulation for pharmaceuticals or the like, the batch type of the device is utilized. This is because the batch type thereof is more suitable for obtaining uniform granulation substances in particle size, and is superior in view of GMP since satisfactory dry products can be obtained within the same device and no generated particles need to be transferred to another drying device.
In contrast thereto, in the continuous type as illustrated, for example, in FIG. 7.56 of page 301 and FIG. 7.57 of page 302 in the "Granulation Handbook", raw materials are continuously injected and granulation substances classified by a principle of pneumatic classification or the like are continuously discharged. This does not need independent steps preceding and following a main step of raw material injection, preliminary mixing, heating, cooling, discharging or the like, and therefore the processing time thereof is shortened. Control and management of the step can be also facilitated since performing stationary operations becomes possible theoretically.
However, since particles of all stages of a granulation process are included in a fluidized-bed obtained by using the continuous type thereof, the particles are classified by the pneumatic classification and are discharged and so there are such drawbacks that classification effect is difficult to expect entirely and a particle size distribution of products to be discharged becomes large, and that products to be dried completely are not obtained since the granulation substances are discharged from a fluidizing chamber in which binder liquids are continuously sprayed, and the like.
Suggestions have been made for improving these drawbacks. For example, the device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 62-282629 is provided with a drying chamber adjacent to a granulation chamber, but the drying chamber has a drying effect and contributes to no improvement in a particle size distribution. Also, the devices described in FIG. 7.59 and FIG. 7.61 of page 303 of the "Granulation Handbook" are each provided with a classifier to keep particle sizes uniform. However, these devices are each suggested as a system and they themselves are not necessarily improved. Therefore, non-uniformity of particle sizes of the products obtained by the continuous type remains fatefully without being improved.
Also, since the batch type of the device intermittently performs injection and discharge, an operating property of the semi-continuous type has an intermediate property of those of the batch type and the continuous type and the semi-continuous type is a type more similar to either one regarding the relation between an injection and discharge amount and a process amount (a retention amount). Therefore, a merit and demerit of the semi-continuous type has an intermediate property of those of both types.
To compensate for such a demerit of the continuous type as described above, the device of a batch type is used in granulation, coating and the like of pharmaceuticals. However, the device has a problem of scaling up the fluidized-bed device as the production thereof is scaled up.
More particularly, upsizing the device causes extensions of the time required for a batch in comparison to a small-sized device, so that the production capacity per unit time does not become proportional to a charge amount but will be below the charge amount. This is because while the amount of charge increases in proportion to a device size to the third power, an amount of fluidizing gas for maintaining an optimal fluidized condition is proportional to the device size to the second power (cross section area) and a drying speed of contents is proportional to the amount of fluidizing gas and so the time required for the drying increases in proportion to the device size.
In a large-sized device, a bulk density of the granulated particles becomes large and thereby the above-mentioned advantages of the fluidized-bed granulation substances are reduced. It is thought that this is because the particles continuously repeat movements of dropping to a bottom portion thereof even during fluidization and thereby weight of the particles in being temporally deposited becomes larger than that of a small-sized device.
Even from the viewpoint of operation, the larger the device becomes, the more difficult maintaining a good fluidizing condition becomes and faulty fluidizing conditions such as channeling, bubbling, slagging or the like are likely to occur.
As described above, since it is not favorable to upsize the fluidized-bed device to a more degree than a certain degree, small-sized devices with used experience are arranged in parallel and the same granulating processes is performed by at least two of the small-sized devices.
However, in this method, it is likely that there will arise problems of no improvement in a floor area for setting the devices and/or in production efficiency per worker as the production scale is increased, and of being unable to enjoy merits of mass production, and further of non-uniform quality of the granulation substances owing to unevenness of respective operating conditions between the devices. This is because there is also the fact that, in the fluidized-beds, the number of operating conditions is large in comparison with other granulating methods and this method is more easily developed than other methods owing to an influence of the unevenness.
Therefore, the present inventors have considered that a continuous type device, which takes an advantage of the merits of a batch type device and improves producing capability per floor area, must be developed.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fluidized-bed granulation coating device such that the handling based on each of the steps constituting a fluidized-bed granulation coating process is vertically constituted as a batch method and thereby each of the steps constituted as such a batch method is processed continuously.
An object of the present invention is to provide a fluidized-bed granulation coating method, such that the handling based on each of the steps constituting a fluidized-bed granulation coating process is continuously done upward to downward.

Fluidized bed granulation coating device and fluidized bed granulation coating method


A method for determining an area of a region for receiving a heat sink on a surface of a chip-supporting substrate is disclosed. The method can include determining, in response to a specified voltage drop associated with substrate wiring, a first set of wiring cross-sectional areas and corresponding lengths that satisfy the specified voltage drop. The method can also include determining, by selecting, in response to a specified thermal resistance associated with substrate wiring and insulating layers, from the first set, a second set of wiring cross-sectional areas and corresponding lengths that satisfy the specified thermal resistance. The method can also include selecting, from a set of placement areas corresponding to the second set of wiring cross-sectional areas and corresponding lengths, a heat sink placement area that is greater than a lower size for a placement area and less than an upper size for a placement area.

The present disclosure generally relates to a technology for mounting an integrated circuit (IC) chip (hereafter referred to simply as "chip"). In particular, this disclosure relates to a method for selecting a surface region for arranging a heat sink thereon for removing heat from a chip on a rear face of a wiring portion of a chip-supporting substrate, a chip-supporting substrate on which a surface region for arranging a heat sink thereon is set, and a chip mounting structure which mounts a chip on the chip-supporting substrate.
For instance, in a chip mounting structure which has chips stacked three-dimensionally and mounted therein with a face-down bonding method, and has high heat generation density, it is desired to cool the flip chip not only from the upper face side of the flip chip but also from a chip-supporting substrate side which is the lower face side of the flip chip. Patent Document 1 (JP2002-270743A) describes a mounting structure which mounts a semiconductor apparatus including a chip, a chip bump, an interposer, and a ball grid array (BGA) bump of the interposer on a predetermined position of a printed wiring board having a core layer, arranges a heat sink for radiating heat of the chip in the core layer, and further has a via for heat radiation for transmitting the heat generated in the chip to the heat sink provided in the printed wiring board so as to thermally connect the BGA bump of the interposer with the heat sink. In this mounting structure, the via for heat radiation is provided in the printed wiring board under the chip. Accordingly, a wiring layer cannot be provided under the chip in the printed wiring board, but is routed up to the outer periphery of the chip, and is provided so as to surround the heat sink.

Surface region selection for heat sink placement

International Business Machines Corporation


A plug is suitable for use in preformed blind holes in rigid and soft material and also holes in sheet form material. The plug comprises a head portion joined to a tail portion by four identical legs, all having flexing points towards their ends and in a central portion, the radial thickness of the legs increasing towards the central portion, so that the outer diameter of that portion is greater than the diameter of the tail portion and the head portion, and the transverse thickness of the legs decreasing towards the central portion.

This invention is concerned with plugs for use in securing a screw in a previously formed hole in a work piece.
Plastic plugs, which are inserted into a hole in a work piece, to receive a conventional screw to secure the screw to the work piece are well known.
It is usual to use different plastic plugs for different work pieces, in particular for securing screws into a blind hole in a hard work piece, such as brick or concrete, into a blind hole in a soft friable work piece, such as blown concrete, or into a hole extending right through a sheet form work piece.
Attempts have been made to provide a plug which is suitable for use in all these three situations, but the requirements for a fastener to work satisfactorily in all three conflict with one another.
For a plug which is to secure a screw in a hole in rigid work piece, the plug is conventionally of uniform outside diameter so that it may readily be inserted in the hole. A central bore, to receive the screw is usually provided with ridges so that on the screw being driven into the plug the screw engages the plug firmly, and a small amount of expansion of the plug takes place to grip the hole firmly. Use of such a plug in a friable material will usually not provide a firm fixture as the expansion of the plug is inadequate to hold the plug securely in the material.
For a plug which is to secure a screw in a hole through a sheet form material, the plug usually comprises a tail portion connected to a head portion of the plug by a series of legs, and the screw is intended to pass freely through the bore of the plug until it reaches the tail portion, and then to draw the tail portion towards the head portion to force the legs to bend outwardly to secure the plug to the work piece. It will be realized that the provision of ridges in the bore of the plug (to enable the plug to be used, as above, in rigid material) will prevent easy passage of the screw from the head portion to the tail portion.
A plug which is intended to be used in the two above situations is described in WO/9008265.
This plug comprises a head portion having an enlarged flange adapted to engage the work piece and a generally cylindrical portion, tapering outwards slightly from the flange, a cylindrical tail portion of substantially the same diameter as the smallest part of the head portion and four legs interconnecting the tail portion and the head portion.
These legs are in two pairs, one pair of opposed legs of approximately a semicircular cross section, and another pair of opposed legs of somewhat smaller cross section.
This plug will operate successfully in a hole in rigid material, and will also operate in a hole in sheet form material of appropriate thickness.
However in soft friable material, the plug will not generally operate satisfactorily: the plug will not expand adequately into the friable material simply on insertion of a screw into the plug, and if the screw is driven further, the rigidity of the larger pair of the legs is such that only a small amount of lateral expansion, in a manner comparable to that taking place when used with sheet material, will take place, and a secure fastening cannot be ensured.
It is one of the objects of the present invention to provide a plug for use in securing a screw in a previously formed hole in a work piece which is useful in a wide variety of circumstances.


A light-emitting element includes a first electrode, a second electrode, and a light-emitting layer disposed between the first electrode and the second electrode, the light-emitting layer including an inorganic semiconductor material, a first material, and a second material, at least one of the first material and the inorganic semiconductor material having a function emit light.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light-emitting element, a light-emitting device, and an electronic apparatus.
2. Related Art
An element displaying various luminescent colors can be made by a light-emitting element including at least one light-emitting layer. For example, such light-emitting element is disclosed in the following examples of related art: Appl. Phys. Lett. 51(12), 21 Sep. 1987, p. 913; Appl. Phys. Lett. 71(1), 7 Jul. 1997, p. 34; Nature 357, 477 1992; JP-A-10-153967; JP-A-10-12377; and JP-A-11-40358.
Currently, researches, which include proposals of various device structures as well as developments and improvements of materials, are actively carried out in order to achieve a light-emitting element having higher performances.
In addition, an element having various luminescent colors, or an element having high luminance and high efficiency has already been developed as the light-emitting element. The light-emitting element is examined for various practical uses such as a use of pixels in display devices, or a light source.
Various researches are carried out to further improve a light emitting efficiency for its practical use.

Organic light-emitting element, organic light-emitting device, and electronic apparatus


Disclosed are (1) a human parathyroid hormone mutein which comprises at least one modification selected from the group consisting of (i) deletion of 3 to 6 amino acid residues on the N-terminal side in the amino acid sequence of human parathyroid hormones, (ii) substitution of another lipophilic amino acid residue for at least one methionine residue in the amino acid sequence, and (iii) substitution of a cysteine residue for one amino acid residue within the region of amino acid residue Nos. 34 to 47 in the amino acid sequence; (2) a recombinant DNA having a nucleotide sequence coding for the human parathyroid hormone mutein described in (1); (3) a vector containing the recombinant DNA described in (2); (4) a vector in which the recombinant DNA described in (2) is inserted into a region controlled by an E. coli T7 promoter; (5) a transformant which is transformed by the recombinant DNA described in (2); and a process for producing a human parathyroid hormone mutein which comprises cultivating the transformant described in (5) in a culture medium.

The present invention relates to novel human parathyroid hormone derivatives useful as hormone remedies and the production thereof.
Parathyroid hormone (hereinafter also briefly referred to as PTH) is a polypeptide hormone consisting of 84 amino acids which is secreted from the parathyroid, and one of the most important regulators for calcium metabolism. Accordingly, the application of human PTH to various bone diseases such as hypoparathyroidism and osteoporosis and further the application of human PTH antagonists to hypercalcemia and the like have been strongly desired.
The DNA sequence of human PTH was first revealed by G. N. Hendy et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 78, 7365-7369 (1981)!. Since then, many attempts have been made to obtain human PTH by genetic engineering techniques. Recently, it has been expressed in amounts satisfiable from the industrial viewpoint with much effort for example, Wing L. Sung et al., J. Biol. Chem., 266, 2831-2835 (1991) and European Patent Unexamined Publication No. 483509!.
Human PTH has the following amino acid sequence: ##STR1## Its biological activity has previously been known to be reproducible by the fragment consisting of amino acid residues situated in the 1- to 34-positions on the N-terminal side (the positions of amino acid residues are hereinafter represented by the numbers corresponding to those of the sequence of human PTH (1-84) taking Ser as the 1-position) G. W. Tregear et al., Endocrinology, 93, 1349-1353 (1973)!, and many derivatives thereof have been synthesized. As to this (1-34) fragment, a peptide in which 2 to 6 amino acid residues on the N-terminal side are deleted is known to have PTH antagonist activity. Furthermore, the binding activity of a C-terminal portion, from the 35-position on, to a receptor L. G. Rao et al., Endocrinology, 117, 1632-1636 (1985)! and the activating action thereof to alkaline phosphatase T. M. Murray et al., Endocrinology, 124 1097-1099 (1989)! have recently been disclosed.
However, when natural type PTH (1-84) is actually used as a drug, it has some problems to be solved. For example, Met residues in a peptide chain are gradually oxidized even under ordinary conditions, and PTH whose Met residue is oxidized is significantly reduced in biological activity A. L. Frelinger III and J. E. Zull, J. Biol. Chem., 259, 5507-5513 (1984)!. Furthermore, it is generally preferred to use drugs as non-injection drugs from the simplicity and easiness of their administration. The modification of human PTH (1-84) is considered to make it possible to change the physicochemical properties of the drugs, for example, to allow the drugs to be easily absorbed from the mucous membrane.
It is the most common method to replace an amino acid(s) in a peptide chain by another amino acid(s) to attempt to improve the biological and physicochemical properties of a biologically active peptide, in order to solve such problems. Previously, the present inventors provided a high expression system of human PTH (1-84) in Escherichia coli (European Unexamined Patent Publication No. 483509), and succeeded in obtaining anti-oxidative derivatives by substituting other amino acid for Met residues of human PTH, utilizing this expression system. In addition, the present inventors obtained derivatives in which various amino acid residues in the center portion of the peptide chain are substituted by Cys residues. For example, a highly lipophilic group is specifically introduced into this SH group, or a dimer is formed through an S-S bond, whereby the derivative can be derived to an agonist having high affinity to a receptor or difficulty to undergo decomposition in vivo. Cyano-group can be introduced into the side-chain of the Cys residue followed by cleavage of the peptide bond to give an active fragment of PTH. Further, compounds in which several amino acid residues on the N-terminal side of PTH (1-34) are deleted are known to function as inhibitors N. Horiuchi et al., Science, 220, 1053-1055 (1983)!.

Human parathyroid hormone muteins and production thereof


In one embodiment, the present invention includes a method for forming a sacrificial oxide layer on a base layer of a microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) probe, patterning the sacrificial oxide layer to provide a first trench pattern having a substantially rectangular form and a second trench pattern having a substantially rectangular portion and a lateral portion extending from the substantially rectangular portion, and depositing a conductive layer on the patterned sacrificial oxide layer to fill the first and second trench patterns to form a support structure for the MEMS probe and a cantilever portion of the MEMS probe. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Seek-scan probe (SSP) memory is a type of memory that uses a non-volatile storage media as the data storage mechanism and offers significant advantages in both cost and performance over conventional charge storage memories. Typical SSP memories include storage media made of materials that can be electrically switched between two or more states having different electrical characteristics, such as resistance or polarization dipole direction.
SSP memories are written to by passing an electric current through the storage media or applying an electric field to the storage media. Passing a current through the storage media is typically accomplished by passing a current between a probe tip on one side of the storage media and an electrode on the other side of the storage media. Current SSP memories use probe tips positioned on the free end of one or more microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) probes. In an idle state each MEMS probe maintains the probe tip at a certain distance from the storage media, but before the electric field or current can be applied to the storage media the probe tip must usually be brought close to, or in some cases in direct contact with, the storage media.
In some SSP memories, to obtain a sufficient signal-to-noise ratio for read/write/erase operations on the storage media, electrical circuitry such as amplifiers, signal processors, and so forth may be in close proximity to the MEMS probe. One way of achieving this proximity is to place the MEMS probes on a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) wafer in or on which the needed circuitry has already been formed. Unfortunately, placing sharp-tipped MEMS probes on a CMOS wafer has been exceedingly difficult because the high-temperature process required to make sharp-tipped probes are incompatible with the post-processing requirements of CMOS wafers; in essence, the high-temperature processes alter or destroy circuitry or other elements formed on the CMOS wafer.
One solution to putting sharp-tipped MEMS probes on a CMOS wafer has been to fabricate the MEMS probes separately and then transfer them and mount them on the surface of a CMOS wafer. This, however, is a difficult and time-consuming task that results in high costs and low yields.

Forming a cantilever assembly for vertical and lateral movement


A strap assembly for a device for carrying a load includes a plurality of compressible elements. Each compressible element has an aperture extending therethrough. A first strap extends through the aperture of each compressible element. A second strap extends along an exterior of each of the compressible elements. The second strap is connected to the first strap at a plurality of connection points.

Straps for devices such as briefcases, backpacks and messenger bags are well known. Due to the weight of the loads carried by such devices it is desirable to provide some cushioning or padding to provide comfort to the user.
Bags are often provided with one or more straps to assist individuals carrying the bag. For example, backpacks typically have a pair of shoulder straps to allow an individual to carry the backpack. Golf bags are typically provided with one, and sometimes two, straps that allow the bag to be carried over the shoulder or shoulders of an individual. Messenger bags, such as those used by bicycle messengers, are typically provided with a single strap, with the strap strung around the neck of the user and resting on their shoulder. Backpacks, golf bags, and other bags, when fully loaded, can be quite heavy. Consequently, providing comfortable straps is considered highly desirable. Such straps typically consist of a length of webbing that connects at either end to the bag, and include padding or a cushion along a central section of the strap. The cushion may consist of a soft fiber, or may include an air-filled bladder. The entire exterior surface of the cushion is typically in contact with a portion of the user's body, such as their shoulder. Such a cushion provides no air circulation between the strap and the user's body.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a strap assembly for a device for carrying a load that reduces or overcomes some or all of the difficulties inherent in prior known devices. Particular objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art, that is, those who are knowledgeable or experienced in this field of technology, in view of the following disclosure of the invention and detailed description of certain preferred embodiments.


According to one embodiment, a polymer electrolyte medium is represented by the following general formula (I)

1. Field
One embodiment of the invention relates to a polymer electrolyte medium and a direct methanol fuel cell.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a polymer electrolyte medium (proton conductive membrane) of a direct methanol fuel cell (DMFC), hitherto, a perfluoroalkyl sulfonic acid membrane has been known, for example, Nafion (trademark, manufactured by DuPont), which is a fluorine system ion exchange membrane.
However, a conventional proton conductive membrane has a carbon fluoride structure in the main chain of its polymer structure, and has an affinity for methanol, and therefore, it is dissolved in a fuel cell during use and deteriorates. Further, the proton conductive membrane deteriorates because of radical seeds and the electric field caused by electrode reaction during operation of the fuel cell. Due to the deterioration of the proton conductive membrane by such factors, crossover of methanol takes place, and the efficiency of use of methanol declines. In addition, the output of the fuel cell is lowered. Moreover, since Nafion (trademark) is expensive, the cost of the fuel cell is increased.
On the other hand, Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2003-36864 discloses a solid polymer electrolyte membrane for a fuel cell composed of a copolymer of a fluorine carbide vinyl monomer and a hydrogen carbide vinyl monomer, including a main chain having a carbon fluoride structure and a hydrogen carbide side chain having a sulfonic group, with an alpha-methyl styrene group coupled to the side chain.
However, the solid polymer electrolyte membrane has a carbon fluoride structure in its main chain, and has an affinity for methanol. Therefore, it is dissolved in the fuel cell during use and deteriorates, and further deteriorates due to radical seeds and electric field caused by electrode reaction. As a result, crossover of methanol takes place, and the output of the fuel cell is lowered.

Polymer electrolyte medium and direct methanol fuel cell

Abstract: where R is sulfonic acid or phosphoric acid, and n is an integer from 1 to 8000.