In order to remove a component from solid particle material by extraction, use is made of a column with one or more tubes which extend between the ends of the column, at least one filter being fitted in the wall of each tube. The particle material is fed in at a first end of the column and, forced by hydraulic pressure, moves along the abovementioned tubes to scraping means fitted at the second end of the column. Extraction liquid is fed into the column at the abovementioned second end and flows in countercurrent to the particle material in the direction of the abovementioned first end of the column. Extraction liquid with component from the particle material dissolved in said extraction liquid passes by way of the above mentioned filters into the abovementioned tubes and flows in countercurrent to the particle material to an outlet at the abovementioned first end. The particle material is scraped off at the abovementioned second end by the scraping means.

This application is a 371 of PCT/NL99/00651 filed Oct. 20, 1999.
The invention relates in the first instance to a method for removing a component from a solid particle material by extraction, in which an extraction liquid is brought in flowing contact with the particle material inside a column in which at least one tube extends, and the particle material is fed in at the first end of the column andxe2x80x94forced by hydraulic pressurexe2x80x94moves as a packed porous bed to scraping means fitted at the second end of the column, and the extraction liquid is fed into the column at the above-mentioned second end and flows in countercurrent to the particle material in the direction of the above-mentioned first end of the column, and the particle material is scraped off at the above-mentioned second end by the above-mentioned scraping means.
Such a method is disclosed in FR-A-2.213.080.
In the case of a known method the particle material for extraction and the extraction agent are in a number of successive vessels, the vessels with particle material being conveyed batchwise in a certain direction and the extraction agent being pumped in the opposite direction from one vessel to the next. The particle material gradually loses the above-mentioned component, and the extraction agent takes up said component. The bed of particle material stops in each vessel and the liquid extraction agent flows through it. Although on a macro scale this can be described as a countercurrent process, on a micro scale there is no question of countercurrent here. The process is relatively slow, and the extraction yield leaves something to be desired.
Another known process is described by George C. Blytas in xe2x80x9cChemical Engineering Communicationxe2x80x9d, 1990, Vol. 88, pp. 127-151, under the title xe2x80x9cContinuous countercurrent solid-liquid contacting in rotary disc contactorsxe2x80x9d. A column with discs placed above one another is described in this article. The force of gravity causes solid particles of resin to fall from the top to the bottom of the column and to absorb benzene from an upward-flowing supply stream. Situated between the perforated plates are siring elements which rotate at high speed in order to suspend the particle material. The particle material consists of, for example, resin. This process is also slow and can be carried out only when the particle material settles sufficiently in the extraction agent.
The object of the invention is to provide a method of the type described in the preamble which leads to a relative high speed and a relative high yield and which does not have the disadvantages of the known methods.
According to the invention, the method is characterized in that at least one filter is fitted in the wall of each tube and that extraction liquid with component from the particle material dissolved in said extraction liquid passes by way of the above-mentioned filter or filters into the above-mentioned tube and flows in countercurrent to the particle material to an outlet at the above-mentioned first end, said outlet being connected to the tube, and that the scraped particles are discharged via a washing chamber.
It is important that the solid bed of particle material is moved, forced by hydraulic pressure, in the column, which hydraulic pressure is produced as a result of the filtration resistance of the porous bed of particle material present in the column. The process is preferably a continuous countercurrent process. The main advantage is that a relatively high speed and a high yield are achieved. The material to be extracted is, for example, crushed rapeseed, and the extraction agent hexane. The hexane extracts the oil from the rapeseed.
In order to ensure that a certain extraction by immersion is achieved before the particle material is conveyed into the column, the particle material is mixed beforehand in a tank with extraction agent or a mixture of extraction agent and the above-mentioned component.
The particles which are scraped off at the above-mentioned second end of the column and pass into a washing chamber situated below the scraping means are taken up in a circulating stream of clean extraction agent.
Part of the extraction agent, and a component dissolved therein leaving the tubes at the above-mentioned first end of the column, can be conveyed to the particle material to be fed into the column, while most of said extraction agent is conveyed to a separator for separating extraction agent and component from each other.
In order to limit the consumption of extraction agent, the mixture of extraction liquid and extracted particle material (extracted meal) leaving the column at the above-mentioned second end is separated, and the extraction agent resulting therefrom is pumped back to the above-mentioned second end.
A better yield is generally achieved when the extraction agent is at a raised temperature.
The invention also relates to a device for removing a component from solid particle material by extraction according to claim 1, comprising a column in which at least one tube extends, said column having a first and second end, means for feeding extraction liquid into the column at the second end thereof, and scraping means at the first end of the column for scraping off particle material from a packed porous bed.
Such a device is also disclosed in FR-A-2.213.080.
According to the invention the device is characterized in that in the wall of each tube at least one filter is fitted, that at the first end the outlet is connected to the tube or tubes, and a washing chamber is situated near the scraping means so that scraped off particles are discharged via said washing chamber.

Method and device for removing a component from solid particle material by extraction

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO


The presently-disclosed subject matter describes distorted gold (I) phosphine compounds. The presently-disclosed subject matter also describes a method for killing fungus comprising contacting fungus with distorted gold (I) phosphine compounds. The presently-disclosed subject matter further describes a method of preventing or disrupting a biofilm on a surface comprising contacting a surface with distorted gold (I) phosphine compounds.

Fungal infections are deadly for patients with conditions that weaken the immune system,1 as demonstrated by mortality rates exceeding 50% for systemic fungal infections.2 Those most affected include patients (i) with acquired immune deficiency syndrome, (ii) having received recent chemotherapy, (iii) having had an organ transplant, as well as (iv) with underlying lung disease such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disorder and asthma.1,2 These systemic fungal infections are primarily caused by only a few fungal genera, specifically Candida3 and Aspergillus.4
For treatment of fungal infections, there are three classes of antifungal agents that can be used. One class, the polyenes, includes the widely used antifungal therapy, amphotericin B (AmB). While effective in treating a broad spectrum of infections, treatment is often associated with severe side effects. The second class, the azoles, specifically fluconazole (FLC) and voriconazole (VRC), are a first line of defense against fungal infections, but can cause drug-drug interactions. The third class is the echinocandins, which includes caspofungin (CAS). The echinocandins, are narrow-spectrum and can only be administered by intravenous catheter. What is of concern is the ability of fungi to be intrinsically resistant to antifungal agents. Examples include Candida glabrata5 to the echinocandins and the emerging pathogen, Candida auris, which in some cases is resistant to all three drug classes.6,7 C. auris is currently attracting attention due to recent outbreaks of resistant C. auris infections in the USA.8-10 In addition, infections can develop decreased susceptibility to antifungal agents during treatment. With a limited armament of antifungal agents, there is a need for new classes of agents.
In agriculture, metal salts (e.g., copper salts11) are widely used as fungicides to improve food production. As medicines, inorganic compounds have been predominantly developed as anticancer agents (e.g., cisplatin).12 These metal complexes typically consist of either platinum, ruthenium, silver, or copper. As anticancer agents, these compounds have been successful, but typically have problems with toxicity13 and associated acquired resistance.14 More recently gold(I) phosphine and gold(III) complexes have gained attention as anticancer agents15 as well as antimicrobial.16,17
The arthritis drug, auranofin (FIG. 1), is an exemplary gold complex that has been used in the clinic since 1983. It can be administered orally and has been shown to be well-tolerated at a 6 mg daily dose in patients (www.fda.gov/drugsatfda). Auranofin is believed to block inflammation in arthritis by regulating the secretion levels of various cytokines.18 In recent years, reports looking at repurposing auranofin as an antimicrobial agent against bacteria19-22 and fungi have been published.23-26 In fact, auranofin is currently in clinical trials for cancer, HIV, amoebiasis, and tuberculosis.27,28 As an anticancer and antimicrobial agent, auranofin acts to inhibit thioredoxin reductase.29,30 With no known inorganic antifungals on the market, auranofin speaks to the promise of using gold scaffolds to investigate and develop novel antifungal agents.
The present inventors have an interest the development of antifungal agents and have used different strategies to develop antifungals, including the development of azole analogues,31-33 combinations of antifungal drugs,34-36 and synthesis and biological evaluation of new scaffolds.37-41 The present inventors have also developed gold complexes as potential anticancer agents.42,43 The present inventors contemplated the applications of gold complexes to antifungal activity.
Herein, the antifungal activity of six distorted gold(I)-phosphine complexes, 1-6 (Scheme 1), which are not derived or related in structure to auranofin, against yeast, molds, and yeast biofilms are described. Herein, the activity of the two best complexes, 4 and 6, in time-kill studies, is identified. To evaluate the efficacy of complexes 4 and 6, both cytotoxicity studies against four mammalian cell lines as well as hemolysis assay with both murine and human red blood cells were used. Whole cell uptake assays and development of resistance studies are also presented herein.
The presently-disclosed subject matter includes unique antifungal compounds and methods for use of such compounds against fungal infections. In some embodiments, the compound can be chosen from compounds 1-6.

The gold complexes with square-planar geometry appear to show great promise for use as antifungal agents. As there are currently no metal complexes that have been thoroughly investigated for antifungal activity, the distorted gold(I)-phosphine complexes are innovative in the field of antifungal development.
The presently-disclosed subject matter is further illustrated by the following specific but non-limiting examples. The following examples may include compilations of data that are representative of data gathered at various times during the course of development and experimentation related to the present invention.

Distorted gold (I)-phosphine complexes and and methods for use as antifungal agents

University of Kentucky Research Foundation


The present invention relates to a rotor for gas or steam turbines having a disk (1), an outer cover (2) and a plurality of blades (3). The disk (1) defines the portion of less diameter of the rotor and has an inner surface configured to be coupled on a shaft (100) of the turbine or connected to an axially adjacent disk (1′, 1″); an outer surface configured for housing a plurality of blades (3). The outer cover (2) defines the portion of greater diameter of the rotor. The blades (3) have a root (31) configured to be coupled on the disk (1) and a tip (32) opposite to the outer cover (2). Between these blades there is a plurality of blades (3) welded together at the tip (32) to form groups of blades (3a) and individual blades (3b) intercalated between groups of blades (3a).

The design of highly slenderness rotors can be dominated by problems of aeroelasticity. These problems consist of two types depending on the source of excitation.
For small rotor frequencies in comparison with the inverse of the residence time (the time it takes for a fluid particle to pass through the rotor), the rotor may become aerodynamically unstable; under these circumstances, the amplitude of the vibration of the rotor is limited by friction. This phenomenon is known as limited amplitude flutter.
The second type of problems is known as forced response. In this case, the rotor is excited due to the wash of the preceding row and the amplitude of the vibration around the resonances is limited by aerodynamic damping and friction.
In both cases, increasing the aerodynamic damping has a beneficial effect on the life of the component.
There are several concepts for increasing the aerodynamic damping of rotors. Reference is herein made only to those that are related to the modification of the upper cover of the rotor or shroud. The main alternatives are the use of Z-shaped upper covers of the blade or rotor, commonly referred to as shrouds, making contact with the neighboring rotors and the use of the pairs of welded rotors (pairs of blades welded by the shroud).
Rotors with a Z-shaped upper cover for the blades, or shroud, and in contact with the adjacent rotors increase their stability essentially due to the increase of the natural frequencies provided by the support on the neighboring rotors. The main drawback is that they are difficult to precisely calculate and evaluate the influence of the wear of the contact over time which further introduces an additional dissipation. The pairs of welded rotors barely modify the natural frequencies of individual rotors, but not its mode shapes, which are very different. Its operating principle is that the welding prevents the relative movement between the blades of the pair for the most unstable modes, reducing virtually to zero the non-stationary pressure disturbances at the midway point of the passages between blades, significantly reducing the source of instability.
Both concepts have the same common point: they generate a single fundamental section that is repeated until the complete ring of the rotor is formed.
The Z-shaped interlock or shroud concept is widely used in the United States and Europe by all turbine manufacturers. The welded pair concept is only used by one turbine manufacturer, probably because its physical basis was not well understood until a short time ago.


An imaging system is provided which combines the perfect registration capabilities of xerocolography to form perfectly registered red, green and blue images in a single pass in one mode of operation. In another mode of operation, the color gamut possible with RGB toners is extended using black toner to develop an image that is formed using a second imager or exposure device. The result is an extended gamut color imaging process using four colors side by side in a single pass with a minimum amount of color desaturation and with a minimum number of image registrations. Yet another mode of operation provides for creating K+2 colors in a single pass. The three or two colors may be used to form highlight colors and/or logo colors.

This invention relates to a full color, xerographic printing system using a Raster Output Scanning (ROS) system incorporating a two wavelength (.lambda.) laser diode source for the ROS and a charge retentive surface in the form of a belt or drum structure which is responsive to the two wavelengths and, more particularly, a red, green, and blue (RGB) plus black (K) imaging system which minimizes image desaturation and which can be selectively utilized for creating perfectly registered RGB process color images or extended gamut process color using black toner in combination with the RGB colors or K+2 (black+2 colors) color images where the colors may comprise highlight and/or logo colors.
Additive p color imaging using RGB color toners requires exact registration of images. Misregistered images or image overlap of RGB color toners results in a dirty brown color which desaturates the colors. This is because RGB colors each absorb two thirds of the visible spectrum resulting in undesirable browns when overlap occurs. In contrast, cyan, magenta, and yellow (CMY) colors absorb only a third of the visible spectrum. Overlaps lead to RGB colors.
Xerocolography (dry color printing) is a color printing architecture which combines multi-color xerographic development with multiwavelength laser diode light sources, with a single polygon, single optics ROS and with apolychromatic, multilayered photoreceptor to provide color printing in either a single pass or in two passes. In a single pass imaging machine, an image is formed by passing portion of the image receiving member past the processing stations only once. Inherently perfect registration is achieved since the various color images are all written at the same imaging station with the same ROS. In all, three perfectly registered latent images are written in this manner. Two of the three images are immediately developable because their voltage levels are offset from a background level while the voltage level of the third image is at the time of its creation equal to the background voltage level. An electrostatically distinguishable third image is formed when the photoreceptor is exposed to flood illumination of a predetermined wavelength.
It is desirable to provide as many features in a single imaging apparatus as possible. One is to create perfectly registered process color images using the additive primary colors red, green and blue. It is also desirable to be able to achieve the full gamut of the RGB images with a minimum of desaturation, and to extend the gamut further with black or other colors. Another desirable feature is being able to create K+2 colors where the colors are highlight colors and/or logo colors.
Following is a discussion of prior art, incorporated herein by reference, which may bear on the patentability of the present invention. In addition to possibly having some relevance to the question of patentability, these references, together with the detailed description to follow, are intended to provide a better understanding and appreciation of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,731,634 entitled "Apparatus for printing black and plural highlight color images in a single pass" granted to Howard M. Stark on Mar. 15, 1988 discloses a method and apparatus for rendering latent electrostatic images visible using multiple colors of dry toner or developer and more particularly to printing toner images in black and at least two highlighting colors in a single pass of the imaging surface through the processing areas of the printing apparatus. Two of the toners are attracted to only one charge level on a charge retentive surface to thereby providing black and one highlight color while two toners are attracted to another charge level to form the second highlight color.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,868,611 entitled "Tri-Level Xerography Scorotron Neutralization Concept" granted to Richard P. Germain on Sep. 19, 1989 discloses the use of a scorotron after the development of a first image. The scorotron serves to bring that first image to complete charge neutralization which removes the voltage responsible for the fringe fields thereby precluding fringe field development during the development of a subsequent image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,949 entitled "Extension of tri-level xerography to black plus 2 colors" granted to Parker et al on Sep. 17, 1991 discloses a highlight color printing apparatus and method for forming one black and two color images. A tri-level image containing CAD (charged area development) and DAD (discharged area development) image areas and a background area is formed. A second DAD image is formed by discharging the background area forming part of the tri-level image.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,155,541 entitled "Single pass digital printer with black, white and 2-color capability" granted to Robert P. Loce et al on Oct. 13, 1992 discloses a method and apparatus for printing toner images in black and at least two highlighting colors in a single pass of the imaging surface through the processing areas of the printing apparatus. Imaging and development techniques of color photography and tri-level xerography are combined to produce images with black and two colors wherein the two highlighting colors are developed with only one color toner. A single imaging step forms a four level charge pattern on a charge retentive surface followed by development of two of the image levels using tri-level imaging techniques. Uniform exposure of the imaging surface, similar to that used in color photography techniques precedes development of the last image. The uniform exposure modifies the last developed image level and the background charge level allowing development of the last image with a single toner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,954 entitled "Single pass full color printing system using a quad-level xerographic unit" granted to Ellis D. Harris on Jun. 22, 1993 discloses a four color toner single pass color printing system consisting generally of a raster output scanner (ROS) optical system and a quad-level xerographic unit and a tri-level xerographic unit in tandem. The resulting color printing system would be able to produce pixels of black and white and all six primary colors. The color printing system uses a black toner and toners of the three subtractive primary colors or just toners of the three subtractive primary colors.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,223,906 entitled "Four color toner single pass color printing system using two tri-level xerographic units" granted to Ellis D. Harris on Jun. 29, 1993 discloses a four color toner single pass color printing system consisting generally of a raster output scanner (ROS) optical system and two tri-level xerographic units in tandem. Only two of the three subtractive primary colors of cyan, magenta and yellow are available for toner dot upon toner dot to combine to produce the additive primary colors. The resulting color printing system would be able to produce pixels of black and white and five of the six primary colors, with pixel next to pixel printing producing all but the strongest saturation of the sixth primary color, an additive primary color. The color printing system uses either four color toners or a black toner and three color toners.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,534,990 entitled "Full color printing system using a penta-level xerographic unit" granted on Jul. 9, 1996 to Ellis D. Harris discloses a single pass full color printing system consisting generally of a raster output scanner (ROS) optical system and a quad-level xerographic unit and a penta-level xerographic unit in tandem. This full color printing system produces pixels of black and white and all six primary colors without toner upon toner.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,337,136 entitled "Tandem Tri-level Process Color Printer" granted to John F. Knapp et al on Aug. 9, 1994 discloses a tandem tri-level architecture. Three tri-level engines are arranged in a tandem configuration. Each engine uses one of the three primary colors plus one other color. Spot by spot, two color tri-level images can be created by each of the engines. The spot by spot images are transferred to an intermediate belt member, either in a spot on spot manner for forming full color images or in a spot next to spot manner to form highlight and/or logo color images. The images created by the tri-level engines can also be transferred to the intermediate in a manner such that both spot next to spot and spot on spot transfer is effected.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,347,303 entitled "Full Color Xerographic Printing System With Dual Wavelength, Single Optical System ROS And Dual Layer Photoreceptor" granted on Sep. 13, 1994 to Kovacs et al discloses a full color xerographic printing system, either two pass or single pass, with a single polygon, single optical system Raster Output Scanning (ROS) system which has a dual wavelength laser diode source for the ROS which images the dual beams at a single station as closely spaced spots or at two stations as closely spaced spots on a dual layer photoreceptor with each photoreceptor layer sensitive to or accessible by only one of the two wavelengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,313 entitled "Color xerographic printing system with multiple wavelength, single optical system ROS and multiple layer photoreceptor" granted to Gregory J. Kovacs on Dec. 13, 1994 discloses single pass color xerographic printing system with a single polygon, a single optical system Raster Output Scanning (ROS) system which has a multiple wavelength laser diode source for the ROS which images the multiple beams at a single station as closely spaced spots on a multiple layer photoreceptor with each photoreceptor layer sensitive to or accessible to only one of the multiple wavelengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,463 entitled "Color xerographic printing system with dual wavelength, single optical system ROS and dual layer photoreceptor" granted to Kovacs et al on Aug. 22, 1995 discloses a single pass color xerographic printing system with a single polygon, single optical system Raster Output Scanning (ROS) system which has a dual wavelength laser diode source for the ROS which images the dual beams at a single station as closely spaced spots on a dual layer photoreceptor with each photoreceptor layer sensitive to or accessible by only one of the two wavelengths.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,565,974 entitled "Penta-level xerographic unit" granted to Ellis D. Harris on Oct. 15, 1996 discloses a penta-level xerographic unit which produces five exposure levels on a photoreceptor. The five exposure levels select between a subtractive and an adjacent additive primary color in both the CAD and DAD operational regimes of a xerographic process. Exposure levels intermediate between the CAD and the DAD result in white. The selection of two possible colors in CAD, or two possible colors in DAD, or the selection of no toner yields a possibility of five colors. This penta-level xerographic unit can be used for a K+3 reduced color gamut printer, typically cyan, yellow and red plus black.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,592,281 entitled "Development scheme for three color highlight color trilevel xerography" granted to Parker et al on Jan. 7, 1997 discloses the creation of multiple color images in a single pass utilizing a multilayered photoreceptor structure having layers which are responsive to different wavelength lasers. A composite image including three images areas is formed with substantially perfect registration. A CAD and DAD image are developed using CMB (conductive magnetic brush) development and a second DAD image is developed using a non-interactive development system. Development of the second DAD image without developing halos around the CAD image is accomplished by uniformly recharging the photoreceptor to the background potential prior to the formation and development of the second DAD image.

Extension of xerocolorgraphy to full color printing employing additive RGB+ K colors


A collision detecting system for a vehicle has a pressure detecting member for detecting a pressure in a substantially closed space which is arranged at a periphery portion of the vehicle, and a vibration detecting member for detecting a vibration of the vehicle. The pressure in the space is calculated for a detection of a vehicle collision, based on pressure signals detected by the pressure detecting member and vibration signals detected by the vibration detecting member. Therefore, the influence of the vehicle vibration on the detection of the pressure in the space can be restricted, thus improving the detection of the vehicle collision.

Generally, a vehicle is provided with a passenger protecting system for protecting passengers in a collision of the vehicle. The passenger protecting system has, for example, an airbag device for deploying an airbag to protect the head portion or the like of the passenger, and/or a pre-tensioner device for taking up a slack of a seat belt of the vehicle.
The airbag device and the pre-tensioner device are controlled by a control unit such as an ECU. The ECU performs a determination of a vehicle collision based on signals from sensors mounted to the vehicle, and actuates the airbag device and the pre-tensioner device when the vehicle collision is determined.
For example, the sensor for detecting the vehicle collision can be constructed of an acceleration sensor for detecting an acceleration variation of the vehicle, a touch sensor which is attached to a periphery portion of the vehicle to detect a stress thereat, a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure variation in a space formed at the periphery portion of the vehicle, or the like.
It is desirable for the passenger protecting system to protect the passenger not only from a vehicle collision in the vehicle traveling direction (i.e., vehicle front-rear direction), but also from a side collision of the vehicle which causes a vehicle-width-direction impact on the vehicle.
For example, as disclosed in JP-2-249740A, the airbag device for protecting the passenger from the side collision of the vehicle is provided with a side airbag, which can be deployed according to detection signals of the pressure sensor. The pressure sensor detects the variation of an inner pressure of the vehicle door.
However, in this case, because the pressure sensor is mounted to the vehicle door to detect the inner pressure thereof, the vibration information of the vehicle which is excited by the impact load of the collision will be included in the detection signals of the pressure sensor. Specifically, when the vehicle collision occurs, the impact load due to the collision is transmitted to the vehicle body such as the vehicle door. As a result, the vehicle door is excited to vibrate, and the vibration will be transferred to the pressure sensor. According to the conventional side-airbag system, the vibration of the vehicle door is added to the inner pressure thereof to be detected by the pressure sensor, thus causing an error in the collision determination which is performed based on the detection signals of the pressure sensor.
Although the error can be reduced by a correction of the detection signals of the pressure sensor by the ECU, the responsivity is inferior and processing time is needed, which is undesirable.


Computerized devices search each of a group of different calendars of a group of attendees of a proposed event for an available timeslot within each of the calendars that meets boundary conditions specified for the proposed event. In response to failing to find an available time slot in common to all attendee calendars that meets the boundary conditions, the devices autonomously identify a common existing event scheduled within the calendars of the attendees that can accommodate the boundary conditions and add the new event to the existing event, or reschedule a previously scheduled event of one or more of the attendees to create a common, free timeslot for the new event where the event cannot be accommodated within an existing event.

Automated, virtual scheduling assistants are applications ("apps") executing on computerized device processors that provide professional administrative, technical, or creative assistance to clients. Organizations may employ automated scheduling assistants to perform roles typically performed by a secretary; these roles may include meeting scheduling. Generally, a member of an organization reviews his or her calendar for available dates and times in response to a request to meet with another person, and when a free time is identified that is agreeable to all attendees of the meeting, employs an automated scheduling assistant to schedule the meeting within a calendaring application from dates and time data specified by a scheduling command or within email or other messaging content.

International Business Machines Corporation


An organic light emitting diode display includes a substrate including at least one folding part, two or more emission units parallel to each other and on a same surface of the substrate in an unfolded state of the substrate, the two or more emission units overlapping each other in a folded state of the substrate, and a moisture absorbent on an inner surface of the folding part.

1. Field
The described technology relates generally to an organic light emitting diode display, and more particularly, to a film-type organic light emitting diode display having high resolution.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting diode display includes an organic light emitting diode disposed in each pixel on a substrate. The organic light emitting diode includes an emission layer, an anode for injecting holes into the emission layer, and a cathode for injecting electrons into the emission layer. The electrons and the holes are combined in the emission layer to generate excitons, and light is generated by energy generated when the excitons are dropped from an excited state to a ground state.
The organic light emitting diode display includes red pixels, green pixels, and blue pixels to implement a full-color image. The red pixel, the green pixel, and the blue pixel include a red emission layer, a green emission layer, and a blue emission layer, respectively.


Two-way secure channels are provided between two parties to a communication with certification being provided by one party. One method comprises providing, by a first entity that provides a certificate authority, a first signed certificate to a second entity, wherein the first signed certificate is signed by the certificate authority and wherein the second entity generates a first request to sign a second certificate generated by the second entity, wherein the first request is generated by the second entity using a first credential generated by the second entity; receiving, from the second entity, (i) the first request to sign the second certificate, and (ii) the first signed certificate; and providing, in response to the certificate authority verifying the first signed certificate, a second signed certificate, signed by the certificate authority, to the second entity; wherein one or more additional communications between the first entity and the second entity use the two-way channel.

When deploying a software system across an untrusted network, a trusted connection is established between system components, such as servers and clients, to protect against, for example, man in the middle (MITM) and/or spoofing attacks. Trust is often achieved by agreeing on a common certificate authority (CA) to sign a certificate for each system component. A number of protocols allow one entity to identify and trust another entity by evaluating a certificate signed by the common CA.
A need exists for improved techniques for authenticating communications.

Two-way secure channels with certification by one party


Silicone hydrogel contact lenses having ophthalmically acceptable surface wettabilities are obtained from pre-extracted polymerized silicone hydrogel contact lens products having relatively large amounts of removable or extractable materials. The silicone hydrogel contact lenses can be obtained from non-polar resin based contact lens molds and without surface treatments or an interpenetrating polymeric network of a polymeric wetting agent. Related lens products, polymerizable compositions, and methods are also described.

Silicone hydrogel contact lenses have become popular due to the ability of contact lens wearers to wear such lenses on their eyes for longer times compared to non-silicone hydrogel contact lenses. For example, depending on the particular lens, silicone hydrogel contact lenses can be worn or prescribed for daily wear, weekly wear, biweekly wear, or monthly wear. Benefits to lens wearers associated with silicone hydrogel contact lenses can be attributed, at least in part, to the combination of hydrophilic components and the hydrophobic properties of silicon-containing polymeric materials of the contact lenses.
Non-silicone hydrogel contact lenses, such as 2-hydroxyethylmethacrylate (HEMA) based hydrogel contact lenses, are often produced in non-polar resin contact lens molds, for example, contact lens molds produced from polyolefin-based resins. In other words, lens precursor compositions for non-silicone hydrogel contact lenses are polymerized in non-polar resin contact lens molds to produce HEMA-based polymeric or polymerized lens products. Due to the hydrophilic nature of the polymeric components of HEMA-based contact lenses, the HEMA-based lenses are ophthalmically compatible and have ophthalmically acceptable surface wettabilities, even in spite of being produced using non-polar resin molds.
However, existing silicone hydrogel contact lenses obtained from non-polar resin molds have hydrophobic lens surfaces. In other words, the surfaces of such silicone hydrogel contact lenses have low wettability and therefore are not ophthalmically compatible or ophthalmically acceptable. For example, such silicone hydrogel contact lenses may be associated with increased lipid deposition, protein deposition, and irritation to a lens wearer. Surface treatments or surface modifications have been used on the surfaces of such silicone hydrogel contact lenses or lens products to increase the hydrophilicity and wettability of the lens surfaces. Examples of surface treatment of silicone hydrogel lenses include coating a surface of the lens, adsorbing chemical species onto the surface of the lens, altering the chemical nature or electrostatic charge of chemical groups on the surface of the lens. Surface treatments have been described which include using a plasma gas to coat the surface of a polymerized lens, or using a plasma gas on a contact lens mold surface to treat the mold prior to forming a polymerized lens. Surface treatment of contact lenses requires more machinery and time to produce contact lenses compared to manufacturing methods that do not use surface treatments or modifications. In addition, surface treated silicone hydrogel contact lenses can exhibit a decreased surface wettability as the lens is being worn and/or handled by the lens wearer. For example, increased handling of a surface treated lens can result in the hydrophilic surface being degraded or worn away.
An alternative approach to increasing the wettability and ophthalmic compatibility of silicone hydrogel lenses is to polymerize a silicone hydrogel contact lens precursor composition in the presence of a different composition that comprises a polymeric wetting agent, such as polyvinylpyrollidone (PVP). These types of lenses may be understood to be silicone hydrogel contact lenses with polymeric internal wetting agents. In addition, it may further be understood that these lenses comprise an interpenetrating polymer network (IPN) that includes a high molecular weight polymer, such as PVP. As understood by persons of ordinary skill in the art, an IPN refers to a combination of two or more different polymers, in network form, of which at least one is synthesized and/or cross-linked in the presence of the other without any covalent bonds between them. An IPN can be composed of two kinds of chains forming two separate networks, but in juxtaposition or interpenetrating. Examples of IPNs include sequential IPNs, simultaneous IPNs, semi-IPNs and homo-IPNs. Although silicone hydrogel contact lenses that include an IPN of a polymeric wetting agent avoid the problems associated with surface treatment, these lenses may not retain their ophthalmic compatibility, including surface wettability, for prolonged periods of time. For example, the internal wetting agents, since they are not covalently bound to the other polymerized lens forming components, may leach out from the lens while being worn by a lens wearer and thereby lead over time to a decreased surface wettability and increased discomfort to the lens wearer.
As an alternative to surface treatment or use of a polymeric wetting agent IPN, as described above, it has been found that silicone hydrogel contact lenses with ophthalmically acceptable surface wettabilities can be produced using polar resin molds instead of non-polar resin molds. For example, silicone hydrogel contact lenses formed in ethylene-vinyl alcohol or polyvinyl alcohol based molds have desirable surface wettabilities. One example of a useful polar resin used in the manufacture of contact lens molds for non-surface treated silicone hydrogel contact lenses free of an IPN of a polymeric wetting agent is a resin of ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymers such as the ethylene-vinyl alcohol copolymer resin sold under the trade name SOARLITE™ by Nippon Gohsei, Ltd. In addition to its polarity, SOARLITE™ is said to have the following characteristics: extremely high mechanical strength, antistatic properties, low contractility when used in molding processes, excellent oil and solvent resistance, small coefficient of thermal expansion, and good abrasion resistance.
Although SOARLITE™ based molds provide a desirable alternative for producing ophthalmically compatible silicone hydrogel contact lenses without the use of a surface treatment or a polymeric wetting agent IPN, SOARLITE™ molds are less deformable or flexible than non-polar resin molds, such as polypropylene molds, and are relatively more difficult to work with compared to non-polar resin molds.
Examples of documents which may relate to the production of contact lenses, such a silicone hydrogel contact lenses, include U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,121,896; 4,495,313; 4,565,348; 4,640,489; 4,889,664; 4,985,186; 5,039,459; 5,080,839; 5,094,609; 5,260,000; 5,607,518; 5,760,100; 5,850,107; 5,935,492; 6,099,852; 6,367,929; 6,822,016; 6,867,245; 6,869,549; 6,939,487; and U.S. Patent Publication Nos. 20030125498; 20050154080; and 20050191335.
In view of the above, there continues to be a need for ophthalmically compatible silicone hydrogel contact lenses that can be more easily produced compared to silicone hydrogel contact lenses obtained from SOARLITE™ contact lens molds, and that do not require surface treatment or use of a polymeric wetting agent IPN, including a PVP IPN, to achieve ophthalmic compatibility. An existing problem relates to obtaining an ophthalmically compatible silicone hydrogel contact lens, such as a silicone hydrogel contact lens that has an ophthalmically compatible surface wettability, from non-polar resin or polyolefin-based contact lens mold members without using a surface treatment or a polymeric wetting agent IPN.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Wettable silicone hydrogel contact lenses and related compositions and methods

CooperVision International Holding Company, LP


An antenna device having a power supplying portion 52 mounted on a main wiring substrate 53a and a radiating portion 56a provided in a space between the main wiring substrate 53a and the inner surface of a sheathing case 55, the lower surface of the radiating portion 56a being opposed to the power supplying portion 52.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to an antenna device, and more particularly, to an antenna device used for a mobile communication equipment such as a portable telephone set.
2. Description of the Prior Art
An antenna device superior in characteristics such as gain and reflection lose has been required. In addition, as an antenna device used for a mobile communication equipment, a smaller antenna device than conventional antenna devices is required.
As one example of the conventional antenna devices, an inverted-F antenna is described in "Small Antennas" (Research studies press Ltd., England) by K. Fujimoto, A. Henderson, K. Hirasawa and J. R. James. The inverted-F antenna is illustrated in FIG. 18. In FIG. 18, an inverted-F antenna 71 has a rectangular metal plate 72 functioning as a radiating portion. The metal plate 72 is bent so as to be orthogonal to the metal plate 72 from its one side edge, to form a ground terminal 73. On the other hand, the metal plate 72 is similarly bent from its other side edge, to form a power supplying terminal 74. Since the inverted-F antenna 71 has the foregoing structure, the inverted-F antenna 71 can be mounted on a wiring substrate by inserting the ground terminal and the power supplying terminal into through holes provided on the wiring substrate. Since the gain of the inverted-F antenna 71 is not sufficiently large, however, it is difficult to reduce the size of the metal plate 72. As a result, it is difficult to miniaturize the inverted-F antenna 71.
3. Description of the Related Art
In order to solve the problem of the above described inverted-F antenna 71, a substrate surface mounted type antenna having a dielectric substrate has been proposed in copending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/230,857 filed in the U.S. Patent Office, which has not been known to the public yet. One example of the surface mounted type antenna is illustrated in FIG. 4. In addition, a surface mounted type antenna constructed by carrying an antenna switch circuit in addition to the antenna shown in FIG. 4 will be described with reference to FIGS. 5 to 8.
Referring to FIG. 4, a surface mounted type antenna 13 comprises a rectangular parallelepiped dielectric substrate 1 composed of ceramics or synthetic resin. Ground electrodes 2 are formed on both side surfaces on the side of the long sides of the dielectric substrate 1. On the other hand, connecting electrodes 3a, 3b and 3c are formed on both side surfaces on the side of the short sides of the dielectric substrate 1. The antenna device further comprises a metal chassis 4 composed of a metal material such as copper or a copper alloy so as to be combined with the dielectric substrate 1. The metal chassis 4 has a rectangular plate-shaped radiating portion 5 and two fixing portions 6 and 7 constructed by bending the radiating portion 5 downward from both ends on the side of its short sides. A power supplying terminal 8 and a ground terminal 9 are integrally formed in an end of the fixing portion 6. The length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 6 is made smaller than the length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 7 by the length in the vertical direction of the power supplying terminal 8 and the ground terminal 9. In addition, the length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 6 including the power supplying terminal 8 and the ground terminal 9 and the length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 7 are respectively made larger than the thickness of the dielectric substrate 1.
In the surface mounted type antenna 13 shown in FIG. 4, the dielectric substrate 1 is inserted into the metal chassis 4. The side surfaces on the side of the short sides of the dielectric substrate 1 respectively abut against the inner surfaces of the fixing portions 6 and 7 of the metal chassis 4, while a space 10 is formed between the radiating portion 5 of the metal chassis 4 and the surface of the dielectric substrate 1. The space 10 is formed by the dimensional difference between the respective lengths in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 6 having the power supplying terminal 8 and the ground terminal 9 provided therein and the fixing portion 7 and the thickness of the dielectric substrate 1. The connecting electrode 3a formed on the dielectric substrate 1 and the fixing portion 7 of the metal chassis 4 and the connecting electrodes 3b and 3c formed on the dielectric substrate 1 and the power supplying terminal 8 and the ground terminal 9 of the metal chassis 4 are respectively joined to each other by solder.
Furthermore, the above described surface mounted type antenna 13 is mounted on a main wiring substrate 15. On the main wiring substrate 15, a microstrip line 16 for supplying power to an antenna which is connected to an antenna switch circuit (not shown) serving as an antenna circuit, for example, and a ground electrode 17a which is electrically insulated from the microstrip line 16 are formed. Further, a ground electrode 17b is formed on almost the whole reverse surface of the main wiring substrate 15.
In the case of mounting, the surface mounted type antenna 13 is disposed on the surface of the main wiring substrate 15. The power supplying terminal 8 and the microstrip line 16 are soldered to each other, and the ground electrodes 2 and the ground terminal 9 are soldered to the ground electrode 17a on the surface of the main wiring substrate 15. The surface mounted type antenna 13 is thus surface mounted on the surface of the main wiring substrate 15. Radio waves are transmitted to and received from the radiating portion 5 of the metal chassis 4.
In a surface mounted type antenna 35 having an antenna switch circuit 24 shown in FIGS. 5 and 6, a rectangular plate-shaped dielectric substrate 21 having a multilayer structure composed of ceramics or synthetic resin is used. A transmission input portion TX, a receiving output portion RX, control input portions VC1 and VC2 and a plurality of ground electrodes 22 of the antenna switch circuit 24 are formed as outer electrodes on both side surfaces on the side of the long sides of the dielectric substrate 21, while connecting electrodes 23a to 23c are formed on both side surfaces on the side of the short sides thereof. In addition, a strip line 24a, a capacitor 24b and the like are formed as circuit elements inside the dielectric substrate 21, while a diode 24c, a resistor 24d formed by printing and the like are carried as circuit elements on the surface of the dielectric substrate 21. The circuit elements constitute the antenna switch circuit 24. An antenna output portion 24e of the antenna switch circuit 24 inside the dielectric substrate 21 leads to a side surface of the dielectric substrate 21, and is connected to the connecting electrode 23b formed on the side surface. Further, the circuit elements are electrically connected to each other by a suitable inner electrode or a via hole electrode.
A metal chassis 26 is used in combination with the above described dielectric substrate 21. The metal chassis 26 is composed of a metal material such as copper or a copper alloy. The metal chassis 26 has a rectangular plate-shaped radiating portion 27 and two fixing portions 28 and 29 formed by bending the radiating portion 27 downward from both ends on the side of its short sides. A power supplying terminal 30 and a ground terminal 31 are integrally formed in an and or the fixing portion 28. The length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 28 is made smaller than the length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 29 by the length in the vertical direction of the power supplying terminal 30 and the ground terminal 31. In addition, the length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 28 including the power supplying terminal 30 and the ground terminal 31 and the length in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 29 are respectively made larger than the thickness of the dielectric substrate 21.
In the surface mounted type antenna 35 shown in FIG. 6, the dielectric substrate 21 is inserted into the metal chassis 26 in the case of assembling. The side surfaces on the side of the short sides of the dielectric substrate 21 respectively abut against the inner surfaces of the fixing portions 28 and 29 of the metal chassis 26, while a space 32 is formed between the radiating portion 27 of the metal chassis 26 and the surface of the dielectric substrate 21. The space 32 is formed by the dimensional difference between the respective lengths in the vertical direction of the fixing portion 28 including the power supplying terminal 30 and the ground terminal 31 and the fixing portion 29 and the thickness of the dielectric substrate 21. The connecting electrode 23a formed on the dielectric substrate 21 and the fixing portion 29 of the metal chassis 26 and the connecting electrodes 23b and 23c formed on the dielectric substrate 21 and the power supplying terminal 30 and the ground terminal 31 of the metal chassis 26 are respectively joined to each other by solder.
In FIG. 5, connecting electrodes 37 to 40 and a ground electrode 41a electrically insulated from the connecting electrodes 37 to 40 are formed on the surface of a main wiring substrate 36. A ground electrode 41b is formed on almost the whole reverse surface of the main wiring substrate 36.
The substrate surface mounted type antenna 35 is disposed on the surface of the main wiring substrate 36. The transmission input portion TX, the receiving output portion RX and the control input portions VC1 and VC2 are soldered to the connecting electrodes 37 to 40. In addition, the ground electrodes 22 and the ground terminal 31 are soldered to the ground electrode 41a. The surface mounted type antenna 35 is thus surface mounted on the surface of the main wiring substrate 36. Radio waves are transmitted to and received from the radiating portion 27 of the metal chassis 26.
The construction of the antenna switch circuit 24 has been conventionally known. One example of the antenna switch circuit is illustrated in FIG. 7. FIG. 8 is a block diagram showing the antenna 35 having the antenna switch circuit. Another antenna circuit such as a low-pass filter or a band-pass filter can be carried in addition to the antenna switch circuit 24 shown in FIG. 7.
Also in the above described antennas 13 and 35 shown in FIGS. 4 and 5, experience has shown that the following relationship holds among the gain, the frequency bandwidth and the volume occupied by the antenna, so that the miniaturization of the antenna is contrary to higher gain and wider bands: EQU (gain).times.(frequency bandwidth)=(constant).times.(volume occupied by antenna)
Since in the above described substrate surface mounted type antenna 13 or 35 which has not been known yet, the volume occupied by the antenna is small, therefore, gain and band characteristics are not more satisfactory, an compared with a large-sized antenna. Therefore, it is considered that the gain and band characteristics can be enhanced if the substrate surface mounted type antenna 13 or 35 is increased in size. If the antenna 13 or 35 is increased in size, however, the antenna occupies a large area on the main wiring substrate, whereby the size of the whole mobile communication equipment is forced to be increased.
In order to reduce reflection loss, the impedance of the antenna must be so designed that impedance matching is achieved in the mobile communication equipment. However, the impedance of the conventional inverted-F antenna 71 is determined by the position of the power supplying terminal 74, the distance between the ground terminal 73 and the power supplying terminal 74, and the like. In order to set or finely adjust the impedance, therefore, the shape of the inverted-F antenna 71 itself must be changed, thereby to make it difficult to adjust the impedance.
Also in the substrata surface mounted type antenna 13 or 35, the impedance of the antenna is determined by the position of the power supplying terminal, the distance between the ground terminal and the power supplying terminal, and the like. In order to set or finely adjust the impedance, therefore, the shape of the antenna itself must be similarly changed, thereby to make it difficult to adjust the impedance.
Furthermore, in the surface mounted type antenna 13, the power supplying terminal 8, the ground electrodes 2 and the ground terminal 9 are respectively soldered to electrodes on the main wiring substrate 15, whereby the antenna 13 is surface mounted on the main wiring substrate 15. If the antenna 13 is mounted on the main wiring substrate 15 once, therefore, it is difficult to remove the antenna 13 thereafter. On the other hand, after the antenna 13 is surface mounted on the main wiring substrate 15, the power supplying terminal 8 is connected to the antenna switch circuit through the microstrip line 16. Consequently, the impedance of the antenna 13 itself is added to a transmission output from the antenna switch circuit, thereby to make it impossible to accurately measure the transmission output from the antenna switch circuit.
Also in the surface mounted type antenna 35, the transmission input portion TX, the receiving output portion RX, the control input portions VC1 and VC2, the ground electrode 22 and the ground terminal 31 are respectively soldered to electrodes on the main wiring substrate 36, whereby the antenna 35 is surface mounted on the main wiring substrate 36. After the antenna 35 is mounted on the substrate 36 once, therefore, it is difficult to remove the antenna 35. In addition, after the antenna 35 is surface mounted on the main wiring substrate 36, the power supplying terminal 30 is connected to the antenna output portion 24e of the antenna switch circuit 24. Consequently, the impedance of the antenna 35 itself is added to a transmission output from the antenna switch circuit 24, thereby to make it impossible to accurately measure the transmission output from the antenna switch circuit 24.
In order to accurately measure the transmission output from the antenna switch circuit after the antenna 13 or 35 is mounted on the main wiring substrate, therefore, an electrical or mechanical switch for switching the transmission output to a transmission output measuring terminal is required, resulting in increased costs.

Antenna device having a radiating portion provided between a wiring substrate and a case


A method of manufacturing a capacitor stack for a flat capacitor includes sequentially stacking a plurality of capacitor layers on top of each other such that each one of the plurality of capacitor layers is, in turn, a top layer of the capacitor stack, and continually applying a compression force between a bottom layer of the capacitor stack and the top layer of the capacitor stack until all of the plurality of capacitor layers have been placed.

Implantable defibrillators detect the onset of abnormal heart rhythms and apply corrective electrical therapy, specifically one or more bursts of electric current to the heart. A defibrillator includes a set of electrical leads, which extend from a pulse generator housing into the heart. Within the pulse generator housing are a battery for supplying power, monitoring circuitry for detecting abnormal heart rhythms, and a capacitor for delivering the bursts of electric current through the leads to the heart. Since defibrillators are usually implanted in the left region of the chest or in the abdomen, a smaller size device, which is still capable of delivering the required level of electrical energy, is desirable. Accordingly, smaller and more powerful capacitors are desirable.
One type of capacitor is a flat capacitor. Flat capacitors have a layered stack of capacitor elements. The stack includes a series of anode and cathode foil layers each separated by a separator layer. To ensure that a capacitor stack does not short out and that it takes up as little volume as possible it is important to carefully align each layer of the capacitor stack when constructing the capacitor stack.

Apparatus for constructing a capacitor stack for a flat capacitor


The invention provides methods for identifying compounds suitable for treating a cardiovascular disorder, as well as methods for treating a cardiovascular disorder. The invention also provides methods for determining if a subject is at risk for a cardiovascular disorder.

Mammalian cell membranes are important to the structural integrity and activity of many cells and tissues. Of particular interest in membrane physiology is the study of trans-membrane ion channels which act to directly control a variety of pharmacological. physiological, and cellular processes. Numerous ion channels have been identified including calcium, sodium, and potassium channels, each of which have been investigated to determine their roles in vertebrate and insect cells.
Because of their involvement in maintaining normal cellular homeostasis, much attention has been given to potassium channels. A number of these potassium channels open in response to changes in the cell membrane potential. Many voltage-gated potassium channels have been identified and characterized by their electrophysiological and pharmacological properties. Potassium currents are more diverse than sodium or calcium currents and are further involved in determining the response of a cell to external stimuli.
The diversity of potassium channels and their important physiological role highlights their potential as targets for developing therapeutic agents or various diseases. One of the best characterized classes of potassium channels are the voltage-gated potassium channels. The prototypical member of this class is the protein encoded by the Shaker gene in Drosophila melanogaster. Proteins of the Shal or Kv4 family are a type of voltage-gated potassium channels that underlies many of the native A type currents that have been recorded from different primary cells. Kv4 channels have a major role in the repolarization of cardiac action potentials. In neurons. Kv4 channels and the A currents they may comprise play an important role in modulation of firing rate, action potential initiation and in controlling dendritic responses to synaptic inputs.
The Kv family of channels includes, among others: (1) the delayed-rectifier potassium channels, which repolarize the membrane after each action potential to prepare the cell to fire again; and (2) the rapidly inactivating (A-type) potassium channels, which are active predominantly at subthreshold voltages and and act to reduce the rate at which excitable cells reach firing threshold. In addition to being critical for action potential conduction. Kv channels also control the response for depolarizing, e.g., synaptic, inputs and play a role in neurotransmitter release. As a result of these activities, voltage-gated potassium channels are key regulators of neuronal excitability (Hille B., Ionic Channels of Excitable Membranes. Second Edition, Sunderland. MA; Sinauer. (1992)).
There is tremendous structural and functional diversity within the Kv potassium channel superfamily. This diversity is generated both by the existence of multiple genes and by alternative splicing of RNA transcripts produced from the same gene. Nonetheless, the amino acid sequences of the known Kv potassium channels show high similarity. All appear to be comprised of four, pore forming α-subunits and some are known to have four cytoplasmic (β-subunit) polypeptides (Jan L. Y. et al. (1990) Trends Neurosci 13:415–419, and Pongs, O. et al. (1995) Sem Neurosci. 7:137–146). The known Kv channel α-subunits fall into four sub-families named for their homology to channels first isolated from Drosophila; the Kv1, or Shaker-related subfamily; the Kv2, or Shaw-related subfamily; the Kv3, or Shaw-related subfamily; and the Kv4, or Shal-related subfamily.
Kv4.2 and Kv4.3 are examples of Kv channel α-subunits of the Shal-related subfamily. Kv4.3 has a unique neuroanatomical distribution in that its mRNA is highly expressed in brainstem monoaminergic and forebrain cholinergic neurons, where it is involved in the release of the neurotransmitters dopamine, norepinephrine, serotonin, and acetylcholine. This channel is also highly expressed in cortical pyramidal cells and in interneurons. (Serdio P. et al. (1996)J. Neurophys 75:2174–2179). Interestingly, the Kv4.3 polypeptide is highly expressed in neurons which express the corresponding mRNA. The Kv4.3 polypeptide is expressed in the somatodendritic membranes of these cells, where it is thought to contribute to the rapidly inactivating K+ conductance. Kv4.2 mRNA is widely expressed in brain, and the corresponding polypeptide also appears to be concentrated in somatodendritic membranes where it also contributes to the rapidly inactivating K+ conductance (Sheng et al. (1992) Neuron 9:271–84). These somatodendrite A-type Kv channels, like Kv4.2 and Kv4.3 are likely involved in processes which underlie learning and memory, such as integration of sub-threshold synaptic responses and the conductance of hack-propagating action potentials (Hoffman D. A. et al. (1997) Nature 387:869–875).
Thus, proteins which interact with and modulate the activity of potassium channel proteins e.g., potassium channels having a Kv4.2 or Kv4.3 subunit, provide novel molecular targets to modulate neuronal excitability, e.g., action potential conduction, somatodendrite excitability and neurotransmitter release, in cells expressing these channels. In addition, detection of genetic lesions in the gene encoding these proteins could be used to diagnose and treat cardiovascular disorders such as heart failure, hypertension, atrial fibrillation, dilated cardiomyopathy, idiopathic cardiomyopathy, or angina.
A.Summary of the Invention-3-B.Brief Description of the Drawings-4-C.Detailed Description of the Invention-8-I.Screening Assays-17-II.Predictive Medicine-24-1.Diagnostic Assays-25-2.Prognostic Assays-26-3.Monitoring of Effects During Clinical Trials-31-III.Methods of Treatment-32-1.Prophylactic Methods-33-2.Therapeutic Methods-33-3.Pharmacogenomics-40-D.Examples-42-

Methods for treating cardiovascular disorders


An objective is to perform pulse modulation so as to allow for an effect of inter-symbol interference in the UWB communication. For this purpose, a reference clock signal is generated. Spread data is sequentially output at a specified timing synchronized with the reference clock. In this case, the spread data results from directly spreading transmission data with a spreading code. The spread data is distributed into two sequences of data at a specified timing synchronized with the reference clock. First and second pulse shaping signals are generated at a specified timing synchronized with the reference clock. A cosine carrier and a sine carrier are generated. One of the two sequences of data is multiplied by the first pulse shaping signal and the cosine carrier. The other of the two sequences of data is multiplied by the second pulse shaping signal and the sine carrier. Outputs from the multiplications are synthesized to acquire an output signal for transmission.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transmission method and a transmitter using the Ultra Wide-Band (UWB) system for transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
Particular attention has been paid to the UWB system as one of wireless transmission systems. The UWB system realizes transmission using a very wide transmission band of, for example, several gigahertzes and using very short pulses.
A recent trend is to put SS (Spread Spectrum) based wireless LAN (Local Area Network) systems to practical use. There are proposed SS based UWB transmission systems for PAN applications and the like.
The SS systems include the DS (Direct Spread) system. According to this system, the transmission side multiplies an information signal by a random code sequence called a PN (Pseudo Noise) code to spread a dedicated band for transmission. The reception side multiplies the received spread information signal by the PN code to reversely spread the information signal for reproduction.
The UWB transmission system includes two types: DS-UWB and impulse-UWB. The DS-UWB system maximizes spread code speeds of DS information signals. The impulse-UWB system configures an information signal using an impulse signal sequence having a very short cycle of approximately several hundred picoseconds to send and receive the signal sequence.
The DS-UWB can control spectra using PN code speeds, but needs to fast operate logic circuits in units of GHz. The power consumption increases dramatically. On the other hand, the impulse-UWB system can be configured in combination with a pulse generator and a low-speed logic circuit. There is an advantage of decreasing the current consumption. However, the pulse generator makes it difficult to control spectra.
Both systems implement high-speed data transmission by spreading signals to an ultra-high frequency band, e.g., between 3 and 10 GHz for transmission and reception. The dedicated bandwidth is expressed in units of GHz so that a value approximate to 1 results from division of the dedicated bandwidth by a center frequency (e.g., 1 to 10 GHz). The dedicated bandwidth is ultra wide compared to bandwidths normally used for wireless LANs based on the W-CDMA or cdma2000 system, and the SS (Spread Spectrum) or OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) system.
Since the impulse-UWB system uses a very narrow pulse for the impulse signal, a very wide band is used in terms of the frequency spectrum. Consequently, an input information signal merely indicates a power smaller than the noise level in respective frequency domains. Available modulation systems include PPM (Pulse Position Modulation) to represent a code according to a position between pulses, Bi-phase Modulation to represent a code according to a pulse's phase change, and amplitude modulation.
FIG. 10 shows a configuration example of a conventional UWB transceiver. An antenna 11 is connected to an antenna changer 13 via a band-pass filter 12. The antenna changer 13 is connected to reception-related circuits and transmission-related circuits. The antenna changer 13 functions as a selection switch to operate in interlock with transmission and reception timings. The band-pass filter 12 passes signals of transmission bandwidths of several gigahertzes such as 4 to 9 GHz used for the system.
The reception-related circuits connected to the antenna changer 13 include a low noise amplifier 14, 2-system multipliers 15I and 15Q, low pass filters 16I and 16Q, and analog-digital converters 17I and 17Q. The low noise amplifier 14 amplifies an output from the antenna changer 13 for reception. The multipliers 15I and 15Q multiply an output from the low noise amplifier 14 by outputs from pulse generators 25I and 25Q. The low pass filters 16I and 16Q eliminate high frequency components from outputs from the multipliers 15I and 15Q. The analog-digital converters 17I and 17Q sample outputs from the low pass filters 16I and 16Q.
Output pulses from the pulse generator 25I and 25Q are phase-shifted from each other by the specified amount. The analog-digital converter 17I samples I-channel transmission data. The analog-digital converter 17Q samples Q-channel transmission data. Received data for each channel is supplied to the baseband circuit 30 for reception processing. In this example, received data for the I channel is used as is. Received data for the Q channel is used as an error signal.
As transmission-related circuits, the multiplier 26 is supplied with transmission data output from the baseband circuit 30. The transmission data is multiplied by an output from the pulse generator 25I. The transmission data output from the baseband circuit 30 is modulated, e.g., as an NRZ (Non Return to Zero) signal. The multiplier 26 multiplies the transmission data by an output from the pulse generator 25I to generate a bi-phase modulated pulse. This becomes a signal modulated by the so-called BPSK (Binary Phase Shift Keying) system. In order to allow the pulse generator 25I to generate pulses, there is provided a Voltage Controlled Temperature Compensated Crystal Oscillator (VCTCXO, hereafter simply referred to as an oscillator) 21 to control oscillation frequencies of the oscillator 21 based on an error signal acquired from received data for the Q channel, for example.
An oscillation signal from the oscillator 21 is supplied to a PLL (phase locked loop) circuit 22. A voltage control oscillator 23 constitutes a loop for the PLL circuit 22. An oscillated output from the voltage control oscillator 23 is supplied to the pulse generator 25I to generate a pulse synchronized to the oscillated output from the oscillator 23. A phase shifter 24 supplies a pulse generator 25Q with an output from the oscillator 23 by delaying a specified cyclic phase. This makes it possible to generate a short wavelength pulse synchronized with the oscillated output from the oscillator 23 at a timing delayed from an output pulse of the pulse generator 25I.
A multiplier 26 multiplies an output pulse from the pulse generator 25Q by the transmission data to use the multiplication output as a transmission signal. The transmission signal output from the multiplier 26 is supplied to a power amplifier 27 and is amplified there for transmission. The amplified output is supplied to the band-pass filter 12 via the antenna changer 13. The band-pass filter 12 limits the band to pass only signals for the transmission band. The transmission signal is then transmitted from the antenna 11.
Non-patent document 1 outlines the UWB system.
[Non-patent document 1]
Nikkei Electronics, 11 Mar. 2002, pp. 55–66.
A pulse used for the impulse-UWB system is a signal having the wideband frequency spectrum. The time domain is equivalent to a monocycle waveform expressed by equation 1, for example.
                              V                                (            t            )                          =                                            e                                      t              P                                ·          t          ·                      exp                                      [                                                -                                      1                    2                                                  ·                                                      (                                          t                                              t                        P                                                              )                                    2                                            ]                                                          [                  Equation                                                              1                ]
In equation 1, tP represents the time from the monocycle waveform center to a peak value. In the case of tP=200 [psec], for example, the time waveform becomes a monocycle waveform generated at its maximum value of ±200 [psec] as shown in FIG. 11. We can confirm that the monocycle waveform's spectrum has the maximum value of approximately 1 [GHz] and the −3 dB bandwidth of approximately 1 [GHz].
We examine generating a single sideband of the monocycle waveform for frequency conversion. The reason is that the UWB system specifies the following two spectrum requirements for transmission pulses.
(1) The US FCC spectrum mask specification, one of UWB specifications, requires that radiation levels be decreased in the bands except 3.1 through 10.6 [GHz].
(2) The band of 4.9 through 5.8 [GHz] contains 5 GHz wireless LANs that should be avoided.
In consideration for these requirements, we can assume to be able to solve the above-mentioned problems of the spectrum in the UWB communication system as follows. That is to say, the spectrum in FIG. 12 is converted into the frequency range, e.g., between 3.1 and 4.9 [GHz] to generate an upper side band spectrum as shown in FIG. 13. There is provided a method of frequency converting the monocycle waveform in the upper side band. The method subtracts a signal obtained as a product of multiplying a Hilbert transformed monocycle waveform in FIG. 14 by a 3.1 [GHz] sine carrier from a signal obtained as a product of multiplying the monocycle waveform by a 3.1 [GHz] cosine carrier.
A pulse waveform in FIG. 15 represents the time waveform resulting from the spectrum in FIG. 12. The envelope's amplitude gradually increases, peaks at the origin, and gradually decreases. Accordingly, it can be understood that the envelope approximates to a triangle. Further, it can be understood that a 6-cycle pulse waveform constitutes major amplitude components.
To solve the above-mentioned problems of the spectrum in the UWB communication system, we can come to a solution generate an N-cycle pulse whose envelope is amplified and is formed as a triangle. For example, the waveform in FIG. 15 has the duration of approximately 2 [nsec]. Arranging this pulse waveform in a series enables the BPSK communication at 500 [Mb/s] by preventing a series of pulse waveforms from overlapping with each other.
To achieve a higher communication rate such as 1 [Gb/s], however, the waveform in FIG. 15 needs to be arranged at a 1 [nsec] interval. Consequently, some waveforms may overlap with each other. When the receiver uses a band-pass filter, it is known that an impulse response of the band-pass filter causes a previous pulse's amplitude to affect the subsequent pulses. This problem is called an inter-symbol interference and should be considered when narrowing the band for improving the frequency utilization.
According to the Nyquist's theorem, a baseband bandwidth of ½T [Hz] is required to transmit pulses at a T [sec] interval without distortion, where 1/T [Hz] is the Nyquist bandwidth. Since the frequency under discussion ranges from 3.1 to 4.9 [GHz], the bandwidth is 1.8 [GHz] and the baseband bandwidth is its half, i.e., 900 [MHz]. It fully ensures the minimum baseband bandwidth of 500 [MHz] to transmit pulses at a T [sec] interval but is 10[%] fall short of the 1 [GHz] Nyquist bandwidth.
Nyquist showed that the Nyquist filter should be used to satisfy the condition of no distortion below the Nyquist bandwidth. However, it is difficult to create a 1 [GHz] baseband digital filter. The reason is that creating the intended digital filter requires, e.g., an 8-bit D/A converter operating at least at a sampling frequency of approximately 4 [GHz]. Presently, there is a marketed example as a standalone unit that uses four D/A converters at 1.25 [Gsamples/sec] to acquire 5 [Gsamples/sec] Though such product is available on the current technological level, the design is unfavorable from the viewpoint of the cost effectiveness between the power consumption and installation costs when the UWB communication is applied to the consumer equipment.
An alternative to the baseband digital filter may be a band-pass filter (BPF) for high frequency bands. FIG. 16 shows an impulse response when a 5-polar Butterworth filter is used for the BPF having the 4 [GHz] center frequency and the 1.8 [GHz]band. As seen from the impulse response in FIG. 16, its main wave in the vicinity of 0.8 [nsec] indicates that the BPF is subject to a delay time of 0.8 [nsec]. However, there is also generated a swell as large as one third of the main wave in the vicinity of 1.8 [nsec]. In this manner, an inter-symbol interference occurs due to the impulse response when a non-Nyquist filter is used.


The laptop flip and lift apparatus enables the screen of a laptop computer to be positioned at a height similar to that of a desktop computer. This is accomplished by providing a set of legs that can be extended from the body of the laptop. In addition, the hinge of the laptop rotates such that the body of the laptop can be positioned behind the screen. When in this configuration, the keyboard of the laptop faces down toward the desk surface. Users of this apparatus could attach a keyboard, mouse and/or other ancillary devices to the laptop using it as if it were a desktop unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a lifting apparatus that raises the relative height of a laptop computer screen to more closely resemble the height of a desktop computer screen.
2. Background Description
Laptop computers by their design are small compact devices. This is desirable when working in a confined area. However, when laptop users are working at a desk, the small size of the laptop computer places the screen below proper height relative to eye level of the user. In addition, the keyboard of a laptop, in order to fit within the restricted size profile, has a reduced key set. Users frequently connect standard desktop style keyboards and other ancillary devices to the laptop when working at a desk. This, however, does not address the screen height issue. Some users have attempted to solve this problem by placing the laptop on a box, pile of books or other methods to raise the height of the screen. In order to fit the laptop keyboard and the desktop keyboard on the desk, the screen needs to be at an uncomfortable distance from the user.


A man-machine interface system for a process controller according to the present invention enables its direct picture select button function to be effectively used by each user, and is improved in the operability of picture selection for interrupt display. The system includes a display, a picture data controller for controlling the pictures, which are displayed on the display, and at least one direct picture select button for requesting the display of an interrupt picture on the display to set control requirements and monitor operating conditions with the controller. In response to the interrupt picture display request by the button, a specified picture is displayed as an interruption on the display. The system further includes an interrupt picture definition table for setting by the user to changeably define on a user's setting picture the picture for interrupt display. The interrupt picture set by the user can be displayed independently of the initialization hierarchy by only operating the button.

The present invention relates to a man-machine interface system for a process controller, which controls and monitors the operation and processes of an injection molding machine or the like. In particular, the invention relates to such a man-machine interface system which can display a specified. picture as an interruption on its display in response to an interrupt picture display request by means of a direct picture select button.
A conventional man-machine interface system of a process controller for an injection molding machine or the like includes a display, which may be a liquid crystal panel, a picture data controller for controlling the pictures which are displayed on the display, and direct picture select buttons for requesting the display of interrupt pictures on the display in order to set control requirements and/or monitor operating conditions with the controller. In response to an interrupt picture display request with one of the buttons, a specified picture is displayed as an interruption on the display.
This man-machine interface system generally has a plurality of direct picture buttons. Each of the direct picture buttons corresponds to a group defined by dividing items according to their types, such as a controlled object or an, operated object. For example, the buttons, respectively correspond to groups of objects, such as clamping/extrusion, injection/measurement, production control, operation clamping, and maintenance. The conventional system further includes interrupt picture definition tables, which define the pictures for the interrupt display in response to the interrupt picture display request by the buttons, each within the range of each of the groups corresponding to the buttons. When one of the buttons is operated, the picture defined by the associated table is displayed as an interruption.
The items of the interrupt pictures grouped for the respective direct picture select buttons are hierarchically distributed. The conventional system further includes a subordinate picture select button, which can be operated to display a subordinate picture as an interruption in the condition for displaying an interrupt picture by means of a direct picture select button.
By only operating a direct picture select button of the conventional system, the most superordinate picture defined by the associated table is displayed. The interrupt picture definition tables, however, are only those set by the system maker, which cannot be changed by users. Therefore, some users cannot display interrupt pictures for frequently used items by only operating direct picture select buttons. In order to display these pictures, there is a need to operate direct picture select buttons and the subordinate picture select button. As a result, the functions of the direct picture select buttons may not be effectively used. In particular, if the hierarchy is deep, there is a need to operate the subordinate picture select button many times for the desired picture. This lowers the operability of picture selection for interrupt display.

Man-machine interface system for a process controller


The present invention relates to write operations in data storage systems. In an embodiment, the invention relates to a method of writing data across a plurality of disk arrays, including writing a first copy of the data as a first plurality of stripes corresponding to the plurality of disk arrays and writing a second copy of the data as a second plurality of stripes corresponding to the plurality of disk arrays, wherein the second copy of the data is staggered with respect to the first copy on the plurality of disk arrays. In another embodiment, the invention relates to a data storage system including a plurality of disk arrays and a host, coupled to the plurality of disk arrays, with a program that instructs the host to write a first copy of the data as a first plurality of stripes that correspond to the plurality of disk arrays and to write a second copy of the data as a second plurality of stripes that correspond to the plurality of disk arrays, wherein the second copy of the data is staggered with respect to the first copy on the plurality of disk arrays.

Today, many data storage systems use redundant array of inexpensive disks (RAID) technology. Chen et al., RAID: High-Performance, Reliable Secondary Storage (1994) gives an overview of RAID levels 0-6 and is incorporated herein by reference.
In RAID 0, an array controller stripes data across the disk array and accesses data in parallel which increases I/O performance. RAID 0 has good write performance because it has no need to update redundant data, but has decreased reliability because there is no data redundancy. Loss of a single disk in the array results in data loss. Also, the data distributed on N identical disks of a disk array has 1/N the reliability of a single disk.
In RAID 1, when an array controller writes data to a disk, it also writes the data to a redundant disk. The array controller can read data from either disk, and if one disk fails, the array controller can read the data from the other disk increasing reliability but RAID 1 doubles the storage required so is expensive.
In RAID 5, an array controller writes the data and the parity over the disk array. The array controller stores the parity of the data as blocks associated with a set of data blocks when it writes data, and updates that parity data as data is changed by further write operations. If one disk fails, its data can be reconstructed by reading the remaining disks and the parity disk. This permits all of the disks to service a read request, but write requests tend to be less efficient, because they must read-modify-write the parity of the data.

Staggered writing for data storage systems


Source transistor configurations are described for reducing leakage and delay within integrated circuits. Virtual power and ground nodes are supported with the use of stacked transistor configurations, such as a two transistor stack between a first virtual supply connection and VSS, and a second virtual supply connection and VDD. Gate drives of these stacked transistors are modulated with different voltage levels in response to the operating power mode of the circuit, for example active mode, active-standby mode, and deep power-down mode. Means for driving these source stacks are described. In one embodiment separate virtual nodes are adapted for different types of circuits, such as buffers, row address strobe, and column address strobe. Other techniques, such as directional placement of the transistors is also described.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains generally to integrated circuits, and more particularly to transistor source configurations and control methods for suppressing leakage current.
2. Description of Related Art
Leakage current is a critical parameter to be controlled and managed in fabricating ultra-deep sub-micron VLSI design. For example, in regard to 0.09 μm technology, leakage current is expected to comprise about 30˜40% of total chip power consumption. One issue that arises for leakage suppression techniques in source transistors is fast recovery of the virtual power line level, when the chip is changed into active mode from standby mode, so as not to incur additional delay in chip operation. Other issues also arise in how to properly control source transistors according to their chip operating modes. Invention and Related Circuits.
FIG. 1A and FIG. 1B illustrate previous source transistor configurations for MTCMOS and a self-reverse biasing scheme, respectively.
FIG. 2 illustrates a timing diagram for the MTCMOS and self-reverse biasing schemes of FIG. 1A-1B. The advantage of the self-reverse biasing scheme over MTCMOS scheme is to suppress leakage current more by forming a self-reverse biased condition between a source transistor (MNS2) and a logic transistor (MPL2). For example, the leakage current can be suppressed by about three orders of magnitude with self-reverse biasing scheme while about one order of magnitude suppression with MTCMOS scheme.
For the MTCMOS scheme shown in active mode in FIG. 1A, the levels of SB1 and S1 as VSS and VDD, respectively, and the level of virtual power (VVDD1) is VDD as shown in FIG. 2. When the chip is in standby mode, SB1 goes to VDD and MPS1 is turned off. The level of WDD1 is lowered by VD1 due to the flow of leakage current MPL1. As the chip goes back to the active mode, SB1 goes to VSS and the lowered virtual power line level (VVDD1) is recovered to VDD when the source transistor is turned on after the level of SB1 goes lower than VDD−VTP (MPS1), where VTP(MPS1) is a threshold voltage of transistor MPS1.
For the self-reverse biasing scheme shown in FIG. 1B, which is similar to the MTCMOS scheme, the voltage level of power line (VVDD2) is lowered by VD2 due to the leakage current flowing through the logic transistor MPL2. The level of the virtual power line is recovered to VDD when the source transistor, MNS2, is turned on. The source transistor is turned on when signal S2 reaches a level of VDD−VD2+VTN(MNS2), where VTN(MNS2) is a threshold voltage of the source transistor, MNS2.
Even though the leakage current can be suppressed more significantly by utilizing the self-reverse biasing scheme, this delays the timing of when a source transistor is turned on to recover the power line level to VDD beyond MTCMOS by an amount represented as tD in FIG. 2. Note that the source transistor in the MTCMOS scheme is turned on at a level of VDD−VTP(MPS1) and at VDD−VDD2+VTN(MNS2) in self-reverse biasing scheme. In consequence to this delay in turning on the source transistor, additional power line recovery time can be required that leads to chip operating delays.
Accordingly a need exists for source transistor configurations and control methods which can achieve fast recovery of virtual power level and proper operations with minimum leakage current. These needs and others are met within the present invention, which overcomes the deficiencies of previously developed circuit configurations and methods.

Source transistor configurations and control methods


An anatomical apparatus for supporting a head of a person by a person's mible is shown. The anatomical apparatus includes a support defining a cavity having a lower tier of a selected width and an open upper wider tier communicating with the lower tier. A ledge or mandible engaging support surface is defined between the upper tier and lower tier and terminates in an exterior opening. The support is adapted to be positioned between a base of a head and shoulder of a person with the exterior opening positioned adjacent the shoulder when a person is in a supine position. The support urges the ledge or mandible engaging support surface into engagement with the mandible to support the head of person in a suspend position and to concurrently transport the mandible anterior of a person's body to maintain an open airway. A method for using the anatomical apparatus for suspending the head of a person is also shown.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to a device which positions and supports the head of a user for decreasing blockage of a person's air passageway or airway and more particularly relates an anatomical apparatus for suspending a body of a person by a person's mandible to transport the mandible anterior to a person's head to prevent blockage of a person's airway. The anatomical apparatus encourages maintenance of a person's airway and discourages or prevents partial or complete obstruction of the airway.
2. Description of the Prior Art
It is known in the art to utilize devices which attempt to prevent blockage of a person's airway. There are a number of applications for such devices including surgical applications, treatment of sleep apnea and snoring.
In surgical applications, an anesthesiologist is charged with the duties of administering drugs to alter the state of consciousness and of insuring that bodily functions are stabilized. During surgery, the anesthesiologist must assure that the patient spontaneously maintains vital functions, such as breathing, and if not then to intervene and control such vital functions. This may include intubation of the airway or air passageway (endotracheal intubation) or, in some instances, physically maintaining the patient in a position so that the patient can exchange air and breath via the actions of the functioning autonomic nervous system.
It is also known that the anesthesiologist can manually transport the mandible or jaw in a forward position which is the manual holding of the jaw must occur, accomplished by the anesthesiologist's using hands and fingers, sometimes for the duration of a surgical procedure.
Another known prior art problem which involves maintaining a person's airway is sleep apnea. Sleep apnea generally occurs when a person turns on the person's back while the person is asleep.
Typically, the force of gravity causes the jaw including the mandible to move posterially in relationship to the person's body. Posterior movement of the jaw compromises and partially or completely blocks the person's airway by mechanical obstruction. The person having a blocked airway does not breath until the carbon dioxide builds up to a point causing agitation. The person then responds to such agitation by making an exaggerated movement of the head, neck and possibly the shoulders to relieve the mechanical obstruction.
In addition to sleep apnea, snoring of a person involves some of the above described mechanisms. Further, during snoring, the uvula may add to the obstruction of the upper airway. Snoring may also be due to the presence of increased parasympathetic activity due to ocular surface disease from dry eye syndrome. It is known that increased parasympathetic activity causes congestion and constriction of a person's airway, principally the upper airway, as well as thickening of mucus secretions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,132 discloses an anti-snoring pillow which reduces the snoring by the user when sleeping by positioning the head of the user at an angle reducing the degree of blockage. The user's pillow includes a base member which is preferably inclined and has a curved front edge which is lower in height than the rear edge. The upper surface of the base member is adjacent the front edge and has an elongated bolster secured thereto, which bolster is curved along its length to conform to the curved shape of the front edge of the base member. The bolster also includes a curved peripheral cross-sectional area for comfortable support of a user's neck. The bolster and the base member, and the choice of materials therefor act in conjunction to insure ensure comfort and also the positioning of a user's head so as to decrease the blockage of the user's breathing passageway when the user is in a back or in a side sleeping position.
The above described prior art devices and methods have certain deficiencies in successively eliminating blockage of a person's airway, sleep apnea and snoring.
During a surgical procedure, if an anesthesiologist utilizes the technique of physically or manually transporting the mandible anterior to a person's body in order to open an air passageway, the anesthesiologist's fingers and hand may become fatigued. If the surgical procedure is of a long duration, the anesthesiologist may be distracted from and(?) the anesthesiologist's other duties and obligations may be compromised due to the efforts required to maintain an open air passageway.
In the sleep apnea and snoring applications, a number of devices and procedures have been used to elevate a person's head or to otherwise maintain the head, neck, back, mouth and nose in predetermined positions to discourage blockage of a person's airway.
The anti-snoring device of U.S. Pat. No. 5,123,132, which is essentially in the form of a pillow attempts to maintain the elevation and/or position of the head at an angle to discourage blockage of a person's airway.
None of the known prior art devices disclose, suggest or teach the use of an anatomical apparatus having a mandible engaging support surface for using the weight of a person's head to develop a reactive force which transports the mandible anterior to the person's body to reduce or eliminate partial or complete blockage of a person's airway.

Anatomical apparatus for supporting a person's head

Herrick Family Limited Partnership A California Limited Partnership