Use of cardiotrophin in liver diseases. The invention describes the increased expression of cardiotrophin (CT-1) during the process of hepatic regeneration coinciding with maximum proliferation of hepatocytes and the role of CT-1 as a stimulator of hepatic regeneration. Furthermore, it describes the hepatoprotective role of CT-1 in various models of acute liver damage.

The liver, both in humans and in animals, has the unique capacity of regulating its growth and its weight. If a harmful agent destroys part of the hepatic parenchyma, the surviving hepatocytes are able to replicate and thus replace the damaged parenchyma. If hepatic resection or hepatocellular lesion of viral, toxic, immunologic or metabolic origin affects a very high proportion of the parenchyma so that the regenerative capacity of the hepatic tissue that remains is exceeded, a hepatic insufficiency develops which can prove fatal. At present, no drug exists with liver-protecting and regeneration-stimulating effect that can be used in acute or chronic hepatic insufficiency. It is therefore urgent and important that the array of drugs used in hepatology should include therapeutic products for these indications. An hepatoprotective agent is a product or active principle able to protect hepatic cells against a variety of stimuli causing toxicity and/or damage in hepatocytes and ultimately necrosis or apoptosis. Thus, whenever liver damage is induced, the administration of hepatoprotective agents at the right doses will improve the survival of hepatic cells facilitating hepatic regeneration, contributing to liver function normalization and in extreme cases, to the survival of the individual. Liver damage can be induced by toxic agents (including alcohol), viruses, autoimmune disorders, ischemia, ischemia/reperfusion (as in the case of the damage induced in the liver implanted during liver transplantation) and in general by any inflammatory processes. A good hepatoprotective agent will preclude or decrease the development of liver damage and hepatic cell death in those situations.
By liver regeneration we understand the reaction of the liver to compensate a decrease in its functional mass (either decrease in tissue or cells loss) by the proliferation of normal hepatocytes until the liver mass is restored. There are several clinical settings in which liver regeneration plays an important role, including hepatic resection during surgery (partial hepatectomy or liver transplantation by live donors) or situations of liver damage as described above (toxic agents, viruses, ischemia, ischemia/reperfusion, etc). A stimulating agent of liver regeneration is an agent able to induce such hepatocellular proliferation, helping to reduce mortality related with functional mass decrease.
The present invention proposes the use of cardiotrophin in liver diseases.
Cardiotrophin (also called CHF or cardiac hypertrophy factor) has been employed previously in the treatment of cardiac disorders and neurodegenerative and neurologic diseases (WO 95/29237), as a modulator of local inflammatory processes linked to the LIFRβ receptor (WO 97/30146), in the diagnosis and treatment of tumors (WO 00/43790), and in the treatment of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and Parkinson's disease (WO 97/39629).
The invention does not relate to any of these applications, but focuses on the uses of CT-1 in therapeutic compositions that can be used in the treatment of hepatocytes, and especially as an agent for protecting the latter against processes of apoptosis and necrosis and as an agent for stimulating hepatic regeneration in general.
CT-1 is one of the so-called neuropoietic cytokines belonging to the IL-6 family (1). The receptors of the cytokines of this family are made up of distinct subunits, but they all share the gp130 subunit (2). Some members of the family (IL-6 and IL-11) induce homodimerization of gp130 (3), whereas others such as leukemia inhibitory factor (LIF), oncostatin and ciliary neurotrophic factor (CNTF) induce heterodimerization of the gp130 subunit with the 190 kDa LIF receptor (4). The CT-1 receptor contains the gp130 chain, the β subunit of the LIF receptor (LIFRβ) and a third component known as the α subunit of the CT-1 receptor (5, 6). The latter participates in the formation of a three-part complex that confers high sensitivity and specificity to CT-1. Activation of the CT-1 receptor induces a series of intracellular signals that include the early activation of tyrosine kinases of the JAK family (JAK-1, JAK-2 and Tyk2). The main effectors of the JAKs are the group of cytosolic transcription factors STATs (STAT-1 and STAT 3; signal-transducing activators of transcription). Activation of the JAKs also signals via the Ras-MAP kinase pathway and is involved in activation of the PI3-K (phosphatidyl inositol 3-kinase) pathway (2).
CT-1 was originally identified as a hypertrophic factor in cardiomyocytes (7, 8) as it had been shown to have a role in stimulating the embryonic development of cardiomyocytes and a protective action on cardiomyocytes against apoptosis induced by hypoxia, ischemia, and damage by ischemia-reperfusion and (8, 9, 10, 11, 12). A protective effect on the myocardium has also been described in cases of heart failure (10). Other effects of CT-1 include promotion of the survival of motoneurons and dopaminergic neurons (13, 14).

Abstract: The importance of using CT-1 in the manufacture of compositions for use in the treatment of hepatopathies is demonstrated. The invention describes such use in various forms and methods, including the recombinant protein and the use of the gene sequences that code for CT-1.


A digital lane mark generation apparatus generates a highly accurate and inexpensive three-dimensional mathematical expression orbit map (a digital lane mark). The apparatus includes a GPS coordinate reception unit obtaining GPS coordinates (X, Y, Z), a gyro sensor calculating measurement values of a gradient (ψ, θ, φ), a camera device, a distance meter measuring a driving distance measuring point (l), a speed meter measuring a speed, a steering angle sensor measuring a steering angle (ρ), a road surface roughness sensor detecting a road surface roughness (δ), an IC tag information reception unit detecting IC tag position information, an internal timer, and a digital lane mark generation unit generating the digital lane mark by relating obtained information to a standard time, and by using a line segment, a circular arc, and/or a clothoid curve.

Conventionally, there are a driving support apparatus to support driving a vehicle like a car safely and an automatic driving apparatus to drive a vehicle automatically. For example, Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 11-212640 and Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 10-261193 disclose such examples. Below, conventional vehicle systems to drive a car automatically are explained.
The conventional vehicle system installed in each vehicle obtains traffic conditions of the driving route from the GPS (Global Positioning System) to calculate the best driving route and the system drives a car automatically based on (i) position information of lane marks of the road obtained from the CCD (Charge Coupled Device) camera and the like, (ii) information communicated between nearby vehicles, and (iii) navigation information from the GPS.
The other vehicle system installed in a vehicle obtains traffic conditions of the driving route from the GPS and the LCX (Leakage Coaxial Cable) to calculate the best driving route and detect lane markers placed on the road with certain intervals. Then the system drives a vehicle automatically based on detected information of these lane markers and information obtained from the communication between driving vehicles on the road and the LCX.
In such systems, to grasp the driving orbit accurately is substantially important, therefore, some people make a suggestion to use a map database of a car navigation system.

Apparatus for generating digital lane mark


A connector has terminal fittings (20) with a touching section (41) to be held in contact with a mating terminal (30) and a housing (10) formed with press-in holes (14, 14A), into which the terminal fittings (20) are pressed. The terminal fittings (20) are pressingly held in the housing (10) after the touching sections (41) pass through the press-in holes (14, 14A). A part of the inner surface of each press-in hole (14, 14A) of the housing (10) corresponding to a passage area of the touching section (41) is shaped to be gradually distanced from the passage area towards an apex (62, 62A) at a widthwise middle part (65) of the passage area. Accordingly, mutual abrasion of the touching section (41) and the inner surface of the press-in hole (14, 14A) can be avoided when the touching section (41) passes through the press-in hole (14, 14A).

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a connector and to an assembling method therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 7,134,886 discloses a connector to be mounted on a printed circuit board. This connector has a housing formed with press-in holes and terminal fittings that are mounted in the press-in holes. Each terminal fitting has a touching section to be held in contact with a mating female terminal. A front part of each terminal fitting, including the touching section, has a rectangular cross-section, and the press-in hole has a similarly dimensioned rectangular cross-section. The terminal fitting is inserted into the press-in hole of the housing from behind, and a rear part of the terminal fitting behind the touching section is held pressingly in the press-in hole after the touching section passes through the press-in hole.
The front part of the terminal fitting, including the touching section, has substantially the same cross-sectional size and shape as the press-in hole. Thus, there is a likelihood that the inner surface of the press-in hole will abrade against a plated surface of the touching section each and will damage the plated surface as the touching section passes through the press-in hole. The cross-sectional sizes could be selected to define a clearance between the touching section and the inner surface of the press-in hole. However, the touching section still could contact the inner surface of the press-in hole in view of tolerances, displacements, and such.
The invention was developed in view of the above situation and an object thereof is to prevent a touching section of a terminal fitting from being damaged.

Connector and assembling method therefor


A water soluble functional polyethylene glycol-grafted polysiloxane polymer comprising a polysiloxane backbone and polyethylene glycol side chains is provided having the general formula:

Biosensor technology has improved rapidly in the past decade because of its potential application in areas such as diagnosis of diseases, monitoring of clinical or environmental samples, fermentation and bio-processes, testing of pharmaceutical or food products, and early warning chemical and biological warfare detection systems. Generally, a biosensor is an analytical device, which uses biologically-sensitive materials for detecting biological or chemical species without the need for complex sample processing.
Biosensors are usually made by immobilizing a biologically sensitive material to a suitable transducer system, which converts the biochemical response into a quantifiable and processable electrical signal (Sethi R. S. Biosens. Bioelectron., 1994, 9, 243). The biologically-sensitive materials can be enzymes, multi-enzyme systems, organelles, membrane components, complete cells, antibodies or antigens, whole slices of mammalian or plant tissues, and the like. These materials are responsible for the recognition of the test or target species in the mixture that is analyzed and provide the selectivity and sensitivity of the final sensor device. For immobilizing these biological components onto the transducer surface, the transducer surface is first modified to form a suitable interface, e.g., by providing it with a suitable interface layer. This interface layer plays a key role in the biosensor performance. Several critical parameters of the biosensor, such as stability, reliability, sensitivity, and selectivity, ultimately depend on the properties of this interface layer (Byfield M. P. and Abuknesha in Biosens. Bioelectron.,1994, 9, 373).
For this purpose, self-assembled monolayers (SAMs) technology provides a powerful tool to generate an interface layer on a variety of substrates [Chaki N. K. and Vijayamohanan K. Biosens. Bioelectron. 2002, 17, 1]. For this kind of SAMs, a wide variety of chemical manipulation procedures can be utilized to achieve immobilization of the biological-sensitive materials in a quantitatively and spatially controllable way [Ostuni E. et al., Colloids and Surfaces B: Biointerfaces 1999, 15, 3], [Zammatteo N. et al., Anal. Biochem. 2000, 280, 143], [Shriver-Lake L. C., in: Immobilized Biomolecules in Analysis, Eds. Cass A. E. G. and Ligler F. A., Oxford University Press, Oxford, UK, 1998, 1-14].
For substrates based on, for example, gold, silver, platinum, copper and GaAs, alkane thiol SAMs are mostly used. However, there are several limitations to the use of these kinds of alkane thiol SAMs. Firstly, the stability of alkane thiol has always been an issue of debate [Gothelf K. V. and Larsen A. G., Journal of Colloid and Interface Science 2002, 255, 356], [Bearinger, J. P. et al., Nat. Mater. 2003, 2, 259]. Their limited robustness has limited their application in cell based biosensors (Mrksich M., Dike L. E., Tien J., Ingber D. E., Whitesides G. M. in Exp. Cell Res., 1997, 235, 305). Another important limitation is that the use of multi-component alkane thiol SAMs or mixed SAMs to control the density of the functional groups usually results in non-uniform structure caused by the micro-phase separation of different components [Brewer N. J. and Leggett G. J. Langmuir 2004, 20, 4109]. In addition, the density of the surface functional group cannot be easily controlled. It is assumed that the ratio of the two components in a mixed alkane thiol solution will determine the ratio of the two components in the resulting monolayer. However, this ratio may change when the two alkane thiol components, for example, chemisorb onto the substrate due to the possible adsorption kinetic difference of these two alkane thiols.
On the other hand, functional organo-silane SAMs are mainly used to modify oxide and glass surfaces. A main drawback of the organo-silane SAMs is that the density of the functional groups on the surface cannot be controlled easily. Attempts to control the functional group density either consist of complex surface modification procedures or result in non-uniform molecular structure [Buseman-Willams J. and Berg J. C., Langmuir 2004, 20, 2026].
Recently, a kind of self-assembled polymeric monolayer, which is able to chemisorb onto a gold surface through multiple thiol or disulfide groups grafted on the polymer backbone, has been reported. Compared to alkanethiol SAMs, this kind of self-assembled polymeric monolayer has improved stability by cooperative binding through multiple thiol-gold or disulfide-gold bonds [Johnson, P. A.; Levicky, R. Langmuir 2003, 19, 10288], [Sun, F. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 1856]. Levicky R. et al. demonstrated a thiol-derived polysiloxane, i.e. poly(mercaptopropyl)methylsiloxane, on the gold support. DNA oligonucleotides can be immobilized onto this polymeric interface with improved stability (Johnson, P. A.; Levicky, R., Langmuir 2003, 19, 10288). However, suitable cross-linker molecules had to be used to derive this polymeric interface in order to introduce suitable functional group onto the surfaces. The procedure complicates the surface modification and sometimes results in poor reproducibility. Meanwhile, the density of the surface functional groups cannot be controlled under these conditions.
Xia N. et al. reported an improved self-assembled polymeric monolayer on gold substrates (Xia, N.; Hu, Y. H.; Grainger, D. W.; Castner, D. G., Langmuir 2002, 18, 3255). A poly(methylhydrosiloxane) backbone with a molecular weight of 4500 was grafted with dialkyl disulfide chains, 600 Mw methoxy-terminated poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) chains, and 3400 Mw PEG side chains terminated with N-hydroxysuccinimide (NHS) reactive ester groups. The ability of using this functionalized PEG-grafted polysiloxane monolayer to control protein binding was demonstrated. Despite the advantages reported by Xia et al., there are still several main drawbacks that could not be overcome easily. First, due to the limited solubility of this PEG-grafted polysiloxane polymer in other solvents, toluene has to be used as a solvent to prepare the polymeric monolayer. Toluene is a toxic solvent and thus disadvantageous to use when bio-related applications are considered. A lot of bio-molecules, such as short peptide (RGD for example), extra-cellular materials, biotin, and the like, which can serve as functional groups to immobilize the biologically-sensitive materials, cannot be integrated into this graft polysiloxane polymer due to the incompatibility of toluene with these bio-molecules. Using toluene as a solvent thus greatly limits the applications of this grafted polysiloxane polymer in the biosensor field. Furthermore, the architecture of the polymeric monolayer is not optimal when the polymeric monolayer is prepared from a toluene solution. For this PEG-grafted polysiloxane polymeric monolayer, the ideal architecture is a stratified structure, wherein the PEG side chains are enriched at the outermost surface to interact with biologically-sensitive material, the polysiloxane backbones present in between, and the alkyl disulfide chains stay close to the gold surface. However, when toluene is used as a solvent to prepare the polymeric monolayer, a lot of PEG side chains are buried under the polysiloxane backbones. At the same time, the surface coverage and packing density of the resulting polymeric monolayer are limited. These architectural problems are induced by the solvent effect on the organization of the PEG side chains and polysiloxane backbones. As a consequence, the nonspecific adsorption increases due to the exposed hydrophobic polysiloxane backbones and the defects in the polymeric monolayer, and the specific binding decreases because parts of the functional groups (active ester) are buried under the polysiloxane backbones.
In addition, for the polymer reported by Xia et al., there are two different kinds of PEG chains grafted onto the polysiloxane backbone. One kind of PEG chain has methoxy end groups, and is used to decrease the nonspecific adsorption. The other kind of PEG chain has active ester end groups, and is used to specifically immobilize a biomolecule. Counting the alkane disulfide chains also grafted onto the polysiloxane backbones, there is a total of three components that are grafted onto the polysiloxane backbones. For such a complex structure, the controllability of the graft ratio and the yield of the product are poor in the polymer synthesis step. Consequently, due to the poor controllability of the graft ratio, the surface density of the functional groups is not well controllable in the resulting polymeric monolayer. Moreover, due to the steric repulsion between the two kinds of PEG chains, the grafted ratio of the PEG chains with functional groups (active ester groups, for example) cannot go higher. This means that the surface density of the functional groups is limited to a low degree, which in turn significantly decreases the immobilization capacity of the surface. This is a big disadvantage in biosensor applications.

Selfassembled grafted polymeric layer for use in biosensor technology

Abstract: wherein A is selected from the group consisting of hydrogen, methyl, methoxy and functional polyethylene glycol based chains, B is a functional group for binding biologically-sensitive materials, D is a functional group for binding to a substrate, m is from 3 to 5, v is from 0 to 5, w is from 4 to 11, x is from 0 to 35 and z is from 1 to 33. In order to be water soluble, the polysiloxane polymer h the following properties: x+y+z is from 8 to 40, n is from 8 to 30, and y is from 7 to 35.


A method of making an oxochlorin comprises the steps of oxidizing a chlorin to produce a mixture of hydronchlorin and oxochlorin, and then oxidizing the hydroxychlorin in said mixture, preferably with DDQ, to produce a mixture consisting essentially of oxochlorin. The step of oxidizing a chlorin is carried out by exposing the chlorin to alumina, typically in the presence of an oxidizing agent such as air or alumina. The oxidizing steps may be carried out in an organic solvent such as toluene. The chlorin is preferably a C-methylated chlorin, and is preferably metalated.

The synthesis of light-harvesting rods can be achieved through use of porphyrinic building blocks. A major goal in the development of porphyrin or chlorin building blocks for application in light-harvesting systems is to fine-tune their photophysical and electrochemical properties. Tuning has been achieved with porphyrins by incorporating various substituents at the meso as well as β-positions, introduction of different core metals, etc. (Li, F. et al., J. Mater. Chem. 1997, 7, 1245-1262; Yang, S. I. et al., J. Porphyrins Phthalocyanines 1999, 3, 117-147; Yang, S. I. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 4008-4018). Chlorins have two considerable advantages for light-harvesting applications in comparison with porphyrins: (1) the extinction coefficient of the long-wavelength absorption band is greater than that of porphyrins (Chang, C. K. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 1981, 78, 2652-2656; Stolzenberg, A. M. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1981, 103, 4763-4778), and (2) chlorins are linear oscillators whereas metalloporphyrins are planar oscillators. These differences make chlorins superior to porphyrins for use in photosynthetic systems. Chlorin building blocks are quite attractive for applications in light-harvesting systems. The important photochemical properties of chlorins have motivated the development of a number of new syntheses of these green pigments in the past few years (Taniguchi, M. et al., J. Org. Chem. 2001, 66, 7342-7354; Jacobi, P. A. et al., Org. Lett. 2001, 3, 831-834; Montforts, F.-P. et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2000, 39, 599-601; Shea, K. M. et al., Tetrahedron. 2000, 56, 3139-3144; Burns, D. H. et al., Chem. Commun. 2000, 299-300; Strachan, J.-P. et al., J. Org. Chem. 2000, 65, 3160-3172; Balasubramanian, T. et al., J. Org. Chem. 2000, 65, 7919-7929; Krattinger, B. et al., J. Org. Chem. 1999, 1857-1867; Johnson, C. K. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1998, 39, 4619-4622; Mironov, A. F. et al., J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. l 1998, 3601-3608).
Chlorin dyads are of particular interest as benchmarks for assessing the extent of electronic communication and the rates and efficiency of energy transfer between chlorins. Nevertheless, relatively little attention had been paid to the synthesis and comparative studies of covalently linked chlorin dyads, because chlorins have limited stability and the synthesis of chlorin building blocks has been quite challenging. A number of chlorin dyads with various linkages and configurations have been prepared. These chlorin dyads are categorized in the following groups: (1) chlorins with electron acceptors for electron-transfer studies (Tkachenko, N. V. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 9378-9387; Malinen, P. K. et al., Liebigs Ann. 1997, 1801-1804; Abel, Y. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1997, 38, 1745-1748; Zheng, G. et al., Chem. Commun. 1999 2469-2470; Lindsey, J. S. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1988, 110, 3610-3621), (2) chlorins possessing fused aromatic rings (Kozyrev, A. N. et al., Tetrahedron 2000, 56, 3353-3364; Silva, A. M. G. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 2000, 41, 3065-3068; Johnson, C. K. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1998, 39, 4753-4756; Krattinger, B. et al., Chem. Commun. 1998, 757-756), (3) chlorin-porphyrin dyads for energy-transfer studies (Faustino, M. A. et al., Photochem. Photobiol. 2000, 72, 217-225; Zheng, G. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1997, 38, 2409-2412; Wasielewski, M. R. et al., Solar Energy Materials and Solar Cells 1995, 38, 127-134; Johnson, D. G. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1993, 115, 5692-5701; Zenkevich, E. I. et al., J. Luminescence 1997, 75, 229-244), (4) chlorins with accessory pigments (Kutzki, O. et al., Helv. Chim. Acta, 2000, 83, 2231-2245; Wedel, M. et al., J. Org. Chem. 2001, 1681-1687; Vicente, M. G. H. et al., Chem. Commun. 1998, 2355-2356), (5) chlorin-chlorin dimers (Arnold, D. P. et al., Tetrahedron 2001, 57, 1335-1345; Zheng, G. et al., J. Org. Chem. 2000, 65, 543-557; Osuka, A. et al., Heterocycles 1997, 44, 165-168; Jaquinod, L. et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1996, 35, 1013-1016), (6) oxochlorin-containing dyads (Kessel, D. et al., Photochem. Photobiol. 1991, 53, 475-479; Osuka, A. et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 1995, 68, 262-276; Osuka, A. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 155-168).
The conversion of chlorins to oxochlorins has little effect on the spectral properties but renders the macrocycle more resistant to oxidation (Chang, C. K. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1986, 108, 1352-1354; Stolzenberg, A. M. et al., Inorg. Chem. 1986, 25, 983-991; Zaleski, J. M. et al., J. Phys. Chem. 1993, 97, 13206-13215; Osuka, A. et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 1993, 66, 3837-3839). The general approach for forming an oxochlorin employs treatment of a β-substituted porphyrin with a suitable oxidizing agent such as hydrogen peroxide followed by acid-catalyzed pinacol rearrangement of the resulting diol (Inhoffen, von H. et al., Liebigs Ann. Chem. 1969, 725, 167-176; Bonnet, R. et al., J. Chem. Soc. (C) 1969, 564-570; Chang, C. K. Biochemistry 1980, 19, 1971-1976; Chang, C. K. et al., J. Org. Chem. 1986, 51, 2134-2137) or OsO4 (Chang, C. K. et al., J. Org. Chem. 1985, 50, 4989-4991; Chang, C. K. et al., Heterocyclic Chem. 1985, 22, 1739-1741; Chang, C. K. et al., J. Biol. Chem. 1986, 261, 8593-8596; Brückner, C. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1995, 36, 3295-3298; Brückner,-C. et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1995, 36, 9425-9428; Pandey, R. K. et al., J. Org. Chem. 1997, 62, 1463-1472). This procedure works well with those porphyrins that give rise to only one oxochlorin isomer. Although this method takes advantage of porphyrins as readily available starting materials, multiple oxochlorin isomers are obtained from porphyrins that possess any of the following structural features: (1) at least one of the four pyrrole rings bears substituents that are different from the others, in which case multiple products are formed due to the reaction of OsO4 at different sites; (2) different substituents (e.g., methyl/ethyl) are present at the two β-positions of the pyrrole ring that is attacked by OsO4, in which case pinacol rearrangement gives multiple products; and (3) the presence of meso-substituents that cause the symmetry of the porphyrin to be less than four-fold, in which case pinacol rearrangement of the diol gives multiple products. Oxochlorins of the latter type have been incorporated in a few multi-pigment arrays for studies of energy and electron transfer (Osuka, A. et al., Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn. 1995, 68, 262-276; Osuka, A. et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1996, 118, 155-168).

Regioisomerically pure oxochlorins and methods of synthesis


When a MOSFET containing a tantalum pentoxide film as a gate insulating film is formed, ion implantation is applied such that the end of an insulating film containing a tantalum pentoxide film situates to the outside of a gate electrode to thereby form source and drain regions. This can effectively prevent troubles such as short-circuitting due to tantalum pentoxide film and a highly reliable MOSFET can be obtained without applying light oxidation.

The present invention concerns a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device and, more in particular, it relates to a method of manufacturing a field effect transistor (hereinafter referred to as MOSFET) using a film of transition metal oxide as a gate insulating film.
In manufacturing a MOSFET, after patterning a gate electrode and a gate insulating film into a predetermined shape, the surface of a substrate or polysilicon gate electrode has been slightly oxidized before the formation of source and drain as is well-known in the prior art.
Since edges of the gate insulating film suffers from damages caused by etching, the above-mentioned oxidation step is applied for recovering the damage and prevent the occurrence of leak current and failure of voltage withstanding and this is an indispensable step, being referred to as "light oxidation".
However, if a film of transition metal oxide such as a tantalum pentoxide film is used as the gate insulating film, the rate of oxygen diffusing in the film of such material is much greater than that in silicon dioxide used so far. Accordingly, when a tantalum pentoxide film 2, a silicon dioxide film 3, a tungsten film 4 and a PSG (phosphosilicate glass) film 5 are formed in lamination on a silicon substrate 1 applied with patterning and then light oxidation as shown in FIG. 1a, oxygen diffuses from the exposed edges to the inside of the gate insulating films 2,3 to oxidize the semiconductor substrate 1 and the gate electrode 4 present above and below thereof respectively. As a result, a wedge-like oxide layer 101' is formed at the edge of the gate region as shown in FIG. 1b. This phenomenon is remarkable in a case where streams are contained in an oxidizing atmosphere upon applying light oxidation. As a result, this causes a problem that an inversion voltage is increased in a channel region at a portion in which the wedge-like oxide layer 101' is formed to increase a threshold voltage. It is difficult to completely prevent this phenomenon even by forming an oxide film 5' on the side wall of the gate 2 as shown in FIG. 1c.
It has further been found that when the transition metal oxide film 2 as the gate insulating film is patterned simultaneously with the formation of the gate electrode 4, a leak current tends to flow through the edge of the gate insulating film 2. Further, as shown in FIG. 2a, if oxidation is applied in a state where a gate insulating film 23 is exposed at the outside of a gate electrode 24, oxygen diffuses from the exposed portion to the inside of the gate insulating film 23 to oxidize a semiconductor substrate 21 or the gate electrode 24 present below and above thereof to form wedge-like oxide layers 28, 28' at the end of the gate region as shown in FIG. 2b. This results in a problem that an inversion voltage is increased at a channel region of MOSFET in a portion where the wedge-like oxide layers 28, 28' are formed to increase the threshold voltage.
In FIGS. 2a, 2b, denoted at 22 is a thick insulating film for inter-device isolation and at 23' an insulating film formed by the oxidation of the surface of the gate electrode 24.
In recent years, the width of the gate electrode in MOSFET has been narrowed extremely and a MOSFET having a gate electrode with width of 0.2 .mu.m or less has been proposed. Then, if wedge-like oxide layers should be formed below such a fine gate electrode, it is apparent that the operation as the MOSFET is scarcely possible.

Method of manufacturing a semiconductor device


A package containing a stack of wet wipes moistened with aqueous lotion is disclosed. The package comprises a polymeric film wrap, the film wrap comprising a laminate with an inner layer of a first polymer and an outer layer of a second polymer, and a surface bearing scoring along a path defining a substantially closed shape, the scoring at least partially penetrating the outer layer and not entirely penetrating the inner layer.

Wet wipes are currently sold for a variety of applications, including for use in personal cleansing in circumstances where soap, water, cloths, towels and a sink or washtub facility are unavailable or inconvenient.
Wet wipes as packaged and sold typically comprise a stack of individually cut sheets, or a continuous folded stack or roll of material having perforations dividing the material into lengths that may be torn away at the perforations as individual sheets. The material of which the sheets are formed may be a nonwoven material formed of polymeric or natural fibers, or a combination thereof. The material is typically highly porous and capable of absorbing and holding a substantial fraction of its weight, or more, of an aqueous lotion. The stack or roll may be moistened or even saturated with the aqueous lotion. The aqueous lotion may be a solution or an emulsion, or a combination thereof, and may contain one or more cleansing agents, skin care agents, preservatives (antibacterial agents) and perfumes. As such, the wipes may constitute a convenient and pleasant product useful for a variety of personal cleansing applications, such as hand wipes, child wipes, baby wipes, etc.
In order prevent the water portion of the lotion from evaporating from the wipes stack or roll after manufacture and packaging, it is necessary to package the moistened or saturated stack in a container that substantially retains the moisture content over the expected time between manufacture and use of the product. This is currently done in a variety of ways.
One way in which wet wipes are packaged is within a flow-wrap film package. A polymer film having a suitably low water vapor transmission rate is selected and used to form stock package material. Wet wipes stacks are formed and conveyed to a flow wrapping machine, which wraps the stock package material about each stack and forms seams in the material to join it to itself and seal it about the stack, thereby forming a moisture-retaining package of wet wipes that is sufficient to retain the moisture content from the time of manufacture to the time of purchase.
More is needed, however. Since a consumer will not ordinarily use the entire stack of wet wipes at one time, it may be desirable to provide some form of recloseable opening in the package, which allows the consumer to open the package easily and relatively non-destructively, withdraw wet wipes individually, and reclose the package. To retain the moisture in the remaining supply of wipes, it is desirable that the reclosure mechanism provide a sufficient barrier to moisture loss when properly closed.
Currently some flow-wrap wipes packages are sold with rigid plastic recloseable fitments. The fitment includes a ring portion that is adhered substantially about its perimeter to a face of the package, and a recloseable lid portion hingedly connected to the ring portion. The lid and ring portions may have cooperating features designed to retard moisture transmission between their respective contacting edges or surfaces, when in a closed configuration.
On the package face within the ring portion of the fitment, the package film may have therein a perforated outline of a tearaway portion. The outline is a series of perforations through the film that outline a shape, usually a closed shape. Because the perforations through the film may allow moisture to escape and the fitment may not be sufficiently effective to retard moisture loss over the time between manufacturing and application of a fitment lid covering the perforations, or manufacturing and purchase, an adhesive-backed sticker of sufficient size to cover all of the perforations may be applied over the film within the ring portion. When the consumer wishes to open the package, he or she may open the fitment lid and peel away the sticker. If the perforations, the shape, the sticker material and the adhesive are suitably selected and configured, the adhesive on the sticker will cause the underlying film within the perforated outline to remain adhered to the sticker, tear along the perforations, and pull away with the sticker, leaving an opening into the package in the shape of the perforated outline. The wipes may then be accessed and withdrawn through the opening. Following that, the consumer may reclose the lid, and the package may thereby retain moisture sufficiently during the time it takes for all of the wipes to be consumed.
It will be appreciated from the foregoing that the requirement for use of an adhesive sticker adds processing steps and cost to the wet wipes package. Therefore, an alternative way to provide a wipes package that effectively retains moisture between the time of manufacture and the time of opening by the consumer, while providing an easy opening feature and recloseable feature that sufficiently retains moisture during the time between package opening it takes for all of the wipes to be consumed, would be advantageous.

Package of wet wipes with easy openability, improved moisture retention and manufacturing efficiency


An electrical connector is provided with a circuit board with interconnecting conductors respectively extending between spring contact termination locations and other termination locations. Sets of spring contact conductors are provided terminating at respective spring contact termination locations. Each of the spring contact conductors of the set of spring contact conductors has a plug contact zone and defines a spring contact conductive path from an associated plug contact zone to a respective spring contact termination location. The sets of spring contact conductors provide different conductive path lengths from an associated plug contact zone to a respective spring contact termination location.

The increasing Internet traffic and the increased complexity and use of web applications has forced network providers and network infrastructure managers to seek enhanced transmission speeds for network equipment. The TIA/EIA set up a high-performance cabling category to fulfill this requirement often referred to as CAT 6.
Such high-performance cabling uses a format with RJ 45 jacks and plugs. The agreed to format for the lines at such a connector involves a line with a center pair of conductors at the connector and a split pair of conductors at the connector. One conductor contact of the split pair is on each side of the center pair conductor contacts. When such an RJ45 plug mates with an RJ 45 jack with signals at such high frequencies (as per the standard), the split pair will suffer a significant Near End Cross Talk (NEXT) problem from the other pairs.
It is known that electrical signals of one pair of conductors may be coupled onto the other pair of conductors for compensating or canceling crosstalk. JP 64[1989] 20690 (JP '690) discloses a modular telephone jack with a crosstalk prevention function where a capacitor is installed within a housing. A printed circuit board has traces connected to the capacitors and also connected between insulation displacement contacts (IDCs) and contact springs of the jack. In FIG. 4 an arrangement is shown wherein the traces are used to form a capacitor, to counteract the crosstalk. These traces cross each other with left to right crossing. JP '690 shows both discrete capacitors connected to interconnecting traces of a circuit board to reduce cross talk in jacks as well as traces of the interconnecting traces of the circuit boards providing capacitive interaction to reduce crosstalk.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,358 (U.S. '358) discloses an electrical connector that achieves high transmission performance (CAT 6) by providing compensation stages for introducing predetermined amounts of compensation between pairs of conductors. Two or more of such compensation stages are provided. A first compensation stage adds a compensation signal that is time delayed with respect to the other compensation stages. In the first stage, compensating crosstalk is introduced between the pairs of a first predetermined magnitude and phase in a given frequency. In a second stage, compensating crosstalk is introduced between pairs that has a second magnitude and phase at a given frequency. The first stage magnitude is larger than the offending crosstalk and the second stage reintroduces the offending crosstalk. Multiple compensation stages may be used to compensate for a phase issues, because, at high frequencies, compensating crosstalk cannot be introduced that is exactly 180° out of phase with the offending crosstalk.

Electrical connector with shortened contact and crosstalk compensation


An electrical connector (100) for being mounted on a printed circuit board includes an insulative housing (10) defining a number of terminal slots (141, 151), a number of terminal modules (20), a number of inner shielding plates (30) each disposed between two adjacent terminal modules and an outer shield (40) attached to the insulative housing. The outer shield has a top wall (41), a rear wall (42) extending downwardly from the top wall and a bending portion (43) extending inwardly downwardly from end of the rear wall for engaging with the inner shielding plates.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a backplane connector having an improved conductive outer shield for engaging with inner shielding plates.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the manufacture of computers and various other electronic assemblies, daughter boards are commonly connected to mother boards by an electrical connector such as backplane connector. U.S. Pat. No. 6,354,877, issued on Mar. 12, 2002, discloses a backplane connector having an external shield and a plurality of inner shielding plates for reducing crosstalk. A plurality of horizontal eyelets are disposed on an inner surface of the external shield. Each inner shielding plate has a transverse section, a pair of notches located on the transverse section, and a pair of vertical latches extending into the notches and inserting into the horizontal eyelets of the external shield. In this manner, the inner shielding plates are fixed onto the external shield. It would be complicated to assemble the inner shielding plates to the external shield.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,433,618, issued on Jul. 18, 1995, discloses a backplane connector having an external shield defining a plurality of longitudinal slots. The backplane connector also comprises a plurality of inner shielding plates each provided with an extension coupling with the longitudinal slot and projecting beyond a rear surface of the external shield. It is difficult to withstand electrical interference for the inner shielding plates. Additionally, the engagement between the inner shielding plate and the external shield is not reliable, since the extensions project beyond the external shield to have a collision easily.
Hence, an improved electrical connector is needed to solve the above problem.

Electrical connector having improved outer shield


Provided is a liquid lacquer, acrylic and permanent marker remover that is particularly effective for graffiti removal. The remover is effective on marker graffiti, which is common in areas such as public restrooms, educational institutions, traffic direction devices, public transit vehicles and stations. The remover is also effective on fresh and semi-dry paint. Existing products for this purpose are relatively ineffective and generally toxic. These problems are addressed by providing an effective, environmentally benign, graffiti remover.

Strong solvents are required to remove permanent marker, lacquers and acrylics from surfaces including walls, bathroom stalls, or vehicle bodies as the lacquer, acrylic and other high VOC solvents must be solubilized before removal. The most common solvent systems used to remove lacquers from walls are acetone, methylene chloride, N-Methyl-2-Pyrrollidone, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether and ethyl acetate, methyl ethyl ketone, acetonitrile, and butyl acetate. These solvents have undesirable properties such as volatility, flammability, toxicity, and strong odor. The use of these types of toxic chemicals in graffiti removers is exemplified in the related art, including U.S. Pat. No. 7,337,788 and WO Patent Application No. 2,011,041,837.
Toxic chemicals of the variety used in lacquer, acrylic and permanent marker removers have been found in fresh water such as ponds, lakes, and streams in high levels. Aquatic organisms, including both plants and animals, are at risk from exposure to high levels of these chemicals in water systems. Further, humans exposed to these chemicals through water systems may suffer from health problems. Additionally, many strong solvents contain toxic or carcinogenic chemicals, including volatile organic compounds (VOCs) and hazardous air pollutants (HAPs) that can pollute the air.
The undesirable and unsafe properties of existing graffiti removers limit their use in public places like schools and bus stations, where people might be exposed during application. While patents have been granted for low toxicity lacquer removers, such as U.S. Pat. No. 5,990,062, attempts to develop alternative formulations for removing graffiti by reducing or eliminating undesirable solvents have met with limited success.
Accordingly, there is a need for alternative lacquer, acrylic and permanent marker removers which do not contain compounds detrimental to the environment and human health.

Graffiti remover comprising a solvent mixture of propylene carbonate and soy methyl ester


Systems and methods for determining whether to retire a data entry from a buffer using multiple retirement logic units. In one embodiment, each retirement unit concurrently evaluates retirement conditions for one of the buffer entries in an associated subset (e.g., even or odd) of the buffer. Selection logic coupled to the retirement units alternately selects the first or second retirement unit for retirement of one of the entries in the associated subset. Because the aggregate number of entries retired by the combined retirement logic units is divided by the number of retirement logic units, each retirement logic unit has more time to process the retirement conditions for corresponding queue entries. The buffer may be any of a variety of different types of buffers and may comprise a single buffer, or multiple buffers.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally processor design, and more particularly to systems and methods for using multiple units to manage retirement of queue entries, enabling faster and more efficient retirement of the entries.
2. Related Art
Memory buffers, also referred to as queues, are often used in digital circuits. Memory buffers are temporary holding areas for data that is in transit from one device to another (or from one process to another). Communicating devices often process data at different rates, and as a result, communication between these devices may be difficult and even impossible without intermediate buffers. If one device is ready to transmit data and the receiving device is not yet ready to receive the data, the data can be stored temporarily in the buffer between the devices until the receiving device is ready to accept the data.
Memory buffers can facilitate communication between devices such as processors, RAM, hard disks, etc. Most keyboards have memory buffers for the temporary storage of keystrokes. Most printers have buffers for queuing documents to be printed. Memory buffers can also be created for software programs by allocating a portion of the RAM of a computer system to act as a buffer to facilitate communication between a software program and the operating system. Within an operating system itself, buffers can facilitate the communication between processes and improve processor usage. For example, a destination process may be slower than a source process. Using a buffer between them to temporarily store the exchanged data can allow the source process to finish as soon as possible (also avoiding active waiting). Memory buffers can also exist between a software program and a hardware device. A CD-writing program, for example, creates a memory buffer in RAM during the writing process to temporarily store data before writing the data to the CD.
Typically, an entry is stored (registered) in the buffer and then removed (retired) if certain conditions are met. In very simple buffers, such as simple first-in-first-out queues (FIFOs), data entries can be retired from the buffer after the data has been transmitted successfully to the receiving device. In more complex devices, however, the number of conditions that must be met before a data entry can be retired from a buffer can significantly increase. For example, in complex multiprocessor systems, entries in a load or store queue can have many (e.g., ten or more) conditions that must be met before a data entry can be retired from the queue.
Traditionally, entries in a load or store queue of a processor have been retired according to read pointers which are incremented every cycle. In other words, a read pointer is incremented to one entry, which is retired in a first cycle, then the pointer is incremented to the next entry, which is retired in the next cycle. This was sufficient with longer cycle times and few entries (e.g., 8 entries or less). It is not sufficient, however, for some current processors which operate at higher clock frequencies (with shorter clock periods.) Further, these processors may have more (and more complex) retirement conditions than earlier processors. To process these retirement conditions, complex logic which is many levels deep is required. In addition, if it is determined by the logic that a data entry is to be retired, additional logic must generate multiple outputs whose purpose is to facilitate the retirement of the data. For example, the transferring of the data entry may require write requests to be made, pointers to be updated, counters to be incremented, etc. These additional requirements further increase the complexity of the logic and the time required to retire each entry.
Because the complexity of retirement logic is increasing while clock periods are decreasing, it is becoming very difficult to retire entries from processor load/store queues at the rate of one per clock cycle. As a result, the retirement logic can become a bottleneck, particularly in high-clock-frequency, high-performance systems. It would therefore be desirable to provide means to improve the speed and efficiency with which queue entries are retired, and to enable the retirement of one entry per clock cycle, even in high-performance systems.

Systems and methods for processing buffer data retirement conditions

International Business Machines Corporation


Transmission system for the polarization-insensitive transmission of signals over a signal route (ST) between a first system connection point (S1) for a transmitter (T) and a second system connection point (S3) for a receiver (R), and between two further system connection points (S2 and S4) for an additional transmitter and a receiver. On one side the high-order retarder (HR) is disposed between the system connection points and the signal route (ST). The system comprises a first and a second hybrid circuit (H1, H2) each provided with two unidirectional connection points and a bidirectional connection point. The unidirectional connection points form the system connection points (S1 to S4 inclusive). The bidirectional connection point of one of the hybrid circuit (H1) is connected via the high-order retarder (HR), and the bidirectional connection point of the other hybrid circuit (H2) is connected directly, to the signal route (ST).

The invention relates to transmission systems for the polarisation-insensitive transmission of signals over a signal route.
The article entitled "Polarization-Switching Techniques for Coherent Optical Communications", published in Journal of Lightwave Technology, Volume 6, No. 10, October 1988, pages 1537 to 1548 inclusive, discloses a unidirectional transmission system with polarisation-intensitive transmission of signals over an optical fibre between a transmitter and a receiver.
It is generally known that at the end of an optical waveguide or optical fibre the polarisation state of the light transmitted over the optical waveguide fluctuates. This can be attributed to various causes, such as a mechanically twisted optical fibre, temperature variation, bends in the optical fibres and the like. Because of the varying mismatch between the polarisation of the received signal and the polarisation of the signal from the local oscillator, the sensitivity of the receiver is adversely affected. In the abovementioned article a number of solutions are mentioned for achieving a transmission over an optical fibre which as far as possible is insensitive to the varying polarisation. One of the solutions is the polarisation switching method, using a high-order retarder, in which use is made of a birefringent medium.
From the abovementioned article it is known that a high-order retarder (preferably a birefringent optical fibre) may be provided at the transmission side of a coherent communication system, in order to make this system insensitive to polarisation by applying the principle of "data-induced polarisation switching". When a receiver is shared by a number of transmitters, it would be advantageous to apply said method at the receiver side. However, this method only works if the polarisation of the signal supplied to the high-order retarder is at a fixed angle of approximately 45.degree. relative to the main axis of the high-order retarder. In practice, unfortunately, the signal supplied to the receiver has on the contrary, a strongly fluctuating polarisation, which will consequently produce problems if the high-order retarder is used on the receiver side without further measures being taken.
Dutch Patent Application 9002713 in the name of the Applicant describes a unidirectional transmission system in which the high-order retarder is connected at the receiver side between the optical fibre and the coupling device. This is possible because the angle between one of the main axes of the retarder and the polarisation of the local oscillator is greater than 0.degree. and less than, or equal to, 180.degree. according to the Poincare representation. Preferably this angle is 90.degree. according to the Poincare representation. In the case of a linearly polarised signal from the local oscillator and a high-order retarder with linear retardation, this angle of 90.degree. according to the Poincare representation, corresponds to an angle of 45.degree. between the polarisation axis of the local oscillator and the main axes of the retarder.

Transmission systems for polarization-independent transmission of signals


A magneto-resistance effect element, including: a first magnetization layer of which a magnetization is substantially fixed in one direction; a second magnetization layer of which a magnetization is rotated in accordance with an external magnetic field; an intermediate layer which contains insulating portions and magnetic metallic portions and which is provided between the first magnetic layer and the second magnetic layer; and a pair of electrodes to flow current in a direction perpendicular to a film surface of a multilayered film made of the first magnetic layer, the intermediate layer and the second magnetic layer; wherein the magnetic metallic portions of the intermediate layer contain non-ferromagnetic metal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magneto-resistance effect element which is configured such that a current is flowed in the direction perpendicular to the film surface thereof. The present invention also relates to a magnetic head, a magnetic recording/reproducing device which utilize the magneto-resistance effect element according to the present invention. Moreover, the present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a magneto-resistance effect element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, the performance of a magnetic device, particularly such as a magnetic head is enhanced by means of Giant Magneto-Resistance Effect (GMR) made of a multilayered magnetic structure. Particularly, since a spin valve film (SV film) can exhibit a larger GMR effect, the SV film has developed the magnetic device such as a magnetic head and MRAM (Magnetic Random Access Memory).
The "spin valve" film has such a structure as sandwiching a non-magnetic metal spacer layer between two ferromagnetic layers and is configured such that the magnetization of one ferromagnetic layer (often called as a "pinning layer" or "fixed magnetization layer) is fixed by the magnetization of an anti-ferromagnetic layer and the magnetization of the other ferromagnetic layer (often called as a "free layer" or "free magnetization layer") is rotated in accordance with an external magnetic field. With the spin valve film, the large MR effect can be obtained by the variation of the relative angle in magnetization between the pinned layer and the free layer.
A conventional spin valve film is employed for a CIP (Current In plane)-GMR element. In the CIP-GMR element, a sense current is flowed to the SV film in the direction parallel to the film surface thereof. Recently, attention is paid to a CPP (Current Perpendicular to Plane)-GMR element and a TMR (Tunneling Magneto Resistance) element because the CPP-GMR element and the TMR element can exhibit the respective large MR effect in comparison with the CIP element.
Recently, it was confirmed that a large MR effect with high MR ratio can be obtained from the minute coupling of Ni wires (Reference 1).
Then, the minute magnetic coupling is formed three-dimensionally so as to realize a magneto-resistance effect element with high MR ratio (Reference 2). In this case, the three-dimensional minute magnetic coupling is carried out by means of EB (Electron beam) irradiation, FIB (Focused Ion beam) irradiation or AFM (Atomic Force Microscope).    [Reference 1] Phys. Rev. Lett. 82 2923 (1999)    [Reference 2] JP-A 2003-204095 (KOKAI)
It is considered that the MR effect as described above is originated from the rapid variation in magnetization at the minute magnetic coupling points. However, if the boundaries (wall surfaces) between the minute magnetic coupling points are roughed, the current (electrons) are scattered by the wall surfaces of the minute magnetic coupling points so that the ratio of the current contributing to the MR effect is decreased when the current is flowed so as to generate the MR effect. As a result, the variation loss in resistance of the minute magnetic coupling may occur so that the magneto-resistance effect element made of the minute magnetic coupling can not exhibit the inherent variation in magnetic resistance.

Magneto-resistance effect element, magnetic head, magnetic recording/reproducing device and method for manufacturing a magneto-resistance effect element


A method and apparatus for routing traffic around geographic location (such as an incident scene) is provided herein. During operation, base station RF load levels will be obtained. Any vehicle not part of the incident will be geographic routed around overloaded base stations. Because vehicles will be geographic routed around overloaded base stations, the overloaded base stations will not have to handle the additional RF load from the appropriately-geographic routed vehicles.

Oftentimes a public-safety incident will over tax any communications network handling the incident. For example, due to a large number of public-safety vehicles and personnel at, for example, a large fire, the base station(s) handling wireless communications may be overloaded. It would be beneficial to reduce radio frequency (RF) load at an over-taxed base station.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention. It will further be appreciated that certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required.

Method and apparatus for routing traffic within a communication system


A method semantically labels an image acquired of a scene by first obtaining a local semantic feature for each local region in the image. The local semantic features are combined recursively to form intermediate segments until a semantic feature for the entire image is obtained. Then, the semantic feature for the entire image is decombined recursively into intermediate segments until an enhanced semantic feature for each local region is obtained. Then, each local region is labeled according to the enhanced semantic feature.

Semantic labeling is the task of generating pixel-wise labels for an acquired image in terms of semantic concepts such as tree, road, sky, water, and foreground objects. The semantic labeling problem can be formulated as a problem of mapping a set of nodes arranged on a 2D pixel grid representing the acquired image to their corresponding semantic concepts.
Semantic labeling can be achieved via a two step process: 1) feature extraction and 2) inference. Feature extraction retrieves descriptive information useful for semantic labeling under varying illumination and view-points. Generally, the features are colors, textures, or gradients. The features can be extracted from a local patch around each pixel. The inference predicts the labels of the pixels using the extracted features. The rich diversity in the appearance of even simple semantic concepts, such as sky, water, trees, or grass, makes automatic semantic labeling difficult.
Semantic labeling can use model-based methods or non-parametric methods for inference. Model-based methods learn the appearance of semantic categories and relations among the categories using a parametric model. Conditional random fields (CRF) can be used to combine unary potentials devised through visual features extracted from superpixels with the neighborhood constraints. The differences among various CRF models are mainly in terms of the visual features, unary potentials and the structure of the CRF.
Non-parametric methods find images that are similar to the acquired image from a pre-labeled image database. The pixel labels of the found images are then copied to the acquired image, according to the similarity of the pixels. Because the variations in images of natural scenes are large, it is difficult to cover an entire space of conceptual variation with a reasonable size database, which limits the accuracy. On the other extreme, a large database would require a large retrieval-time, which limits the scalability of these methods.
In U.S. 20130343641, a neural network is trained to predict a probability that a pixel belongs to an object class by minimizing an objective function that a predicted posterior probability term for pixels in labeled aerial images differ from true labels for the pixels. That network only performs per pixel classification without propagating any information.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,460,709 describes a multi-label image segmentation method where edge weights and pixel based color potentials are used to label an image. That method labels by solving an optimization problem and by selecting a maximum of a potential function making the method slow.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,170,330 describes a learning based segmentation and labeling framework for processing tissue images. A classifier function for each label is evaluated for every pixel in the image. The functions operate separately on features originating from different pixels and do not use the context information.

Method for semantically labeling an image of a scene using recursive context propagation

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


Some implementations disclosed herein provide techniques and arrangements for an specialized logic engine that includes translation lookaside buffer to support multiple threads executing on multiple cores. The translation lookaside buffer enables the specialized logic engine to directly access a virtual address of a thread executing on one of the plurality of processing cores. For example, an acceleration compute engine may receive one or more instructions from a thread executed by a processing core. The acceleration compute engine may retrieve, based on an address space identifier associated with the one or more instructions, a physical address associated with the one or more instructions from the translation lookaside buffer to execute the one or more instructions using the physical address.

A processor with multiple (e.g., two or more) cores may include resources that are shared by multiple threads executing on the multiple physical or logical cores. A single physical core may provide multiple logical cores using techniques such as simultaneous multi-threading (e.g., Hyper-threading). The multiple threads executing on the multiple cores may contend with each other to access the relatively few resources.

Translation lookaside buffer for multiple context compute engine


A clamping device for an external fixation system includes a post component having a yaw axis, a first clamp secured to the post component and rotatable about the yaw axis, and a second clamp secured to the post component and rotatable about the yaw axis relative to the first clamp. The device includes a tightening component configured in a manner that an action of tightening the tightening component simultaneously locks both the first and second clamps in a gripping arrangement and substantially eliminates their relative rotation about the yaw axis. Interdigitating components can be spaced apart by high spring rate biasing elements that so as to allow for smooth adjustment of the clamping device components relative to each other until the appropriate position is achieved and until after a sufficiently high clamping load has been applied.

External fixation systems are used to stabilize fractured bones or hold bones after corrective surgery. They are usually made up of structural members held together by clamps, all assembled by the surgeon during surgery. The clamps are placed on bone pins and are attached to bars, creating a frame to hold the bones in particular relationships. Typically, the external fixation frame is assembled in the configuration the surgeon desires, then the fracture is reduced and the clamps are tightened.
Multi-pin clamps, a common type of component of external fixation systems, are configured to hold two or more bone pins. Typically, these multi-pin clamps include posts that are connected to other fixation system components, such as bars, by separate clamping devices. Some known multi-pin clamps and some known separate clamping devices each have two bolts used to connect them to the other fixation system components. When assembling an external fixation system, this can result in six bolts that need to be tightened. Other known multi-pin clamps have built-in bar clamps or bar clamps that are directly attached to them. These typically don't have the flexibility of positions provided by using an independent clamping device, but they are frequently less costly. These typically have four to six bolts that need to be tightened to lock the fixation system in the final position. Either method often requires that a number of connections are tightened to lock the multi-pin clamp to the pins and to the rest of the external fixation system. Individually tightening these multiple connections can be time consuming and can be confusing and distracting in the operating room.
Furthermore, if the system employs protective sleeves during placement, the problem of adjusting a large number of bolts is compounded. Protective sleeves are used to limit damage to soft tissue caused as the pin is advanced to or screwed into the bone. Protective sleeves are also used as guides where the multi-pin clamps have specific locations for the pins to fit relative to other pins. One common method for maintaining the position of one pin relative to another is to have a protective sleeve guide that holds the pins in a particular relationship to each other while they are driven into bone. Another method includes holding the protective sleeves in the clamps themselves in the same slots that will hold the pin. When using the clamp and a protective sleeve, the clamp has to be tightened onto the sleeves to keep it from slipping and to allow the easy transfer of force from the surgeon to the sleeves. However, both of these methods can create inefficiencies. When using a separate guide, the surgeon has to remove the guide, obtain the clamp, manipulate the clamp over the pins in the proper orientation, and then tighten the clamp onto the pins. The advantage of using the definitive clamp along with protective sleeves is that the clamp can be loosened, the sleeves can be removed from the clamp and the clamp tightened on the final pins without having to relocate the clamp over the pins. The disadvantage is that the surgeon has to provisionally tighten the clamp, typically using a separate wrench for this, then loosen the clamp and retighten it after the pins are placed, again requiring individual loosening and tightening of connections.
As described above, the fixation frame is typically assembled first, then the fracture is reduced. During this reduction phase, the bars and pins may slide in the clamps and the clamps may rotate to the final desired position. In order to maintain rigidity when the clamps are in the final position, some clamps use features that interdigitate with other features. While reducing the fracture, the interdigitating components are typically loosely held together, permitting the components to rotate relative to each other, jumping on the interdigitating features. However, to hold the rods and the pins snugly for final adjustment, the clamps are usually tightened to a load that exceeds the spring force separating the interdigitating features. This makes further adjustment of the fixation system difficult when the rods and pins are snugly held.
For example, helical wire springs that fit into conventional external fixation system clamps have spring rates that range from less than 1 pound per inch to higher than 20 pounds per inch. Loads that completely close the springs are in the single or low double digits. Typical loads achieved by finger tightening are more on the order of 100 to 200 pounds. This means the springs compress and interdigitating components completely come together well before the user can generate any significant clamping load on the pins or rods. If the surfaces have features that interdigitate with each other, adjustment of the clamp once some clamping load has been applied can be difficult, with the components catching and jumping when adjusted.
The system of the present disclosure is directed to overcoming one or more of the shortcomings of prior devices.

Single lock external fixation clamp arrangement and method


A developer cartridge may include: a first gear having a small-diameter gear portion and a large-diameter gear portion; and a second gear including: a first columnar portion centered on a second axis; a second columnar portion having a smaller diameter than the first columnar portion; a first engagement portion extending along a portion of a peripheral surface of the first columnar portion and engageable with the small-diameter gear portion; a second engagement portion extending along a portion of a peripheral surface of the second columnar portion and positioned closer to a housing than the first engagement portion in an axial direction and engageable with the large-diameter gear portion; and a protruding portion protruding in the axial direction and rotatable together with the first engagement portion and the second engagement portion. The second engagement portion may engage the large-diameter gear portion after the first engagement portion engages the small-diameter gear portion.

Conventionally, there is known in the art a developer cartridge including a detection protrusion that can be in contact with an actuator provided at a housing of an image-forming apparatus, and a detection gear including the detection protrusion (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Publication No. 4848632). Specifically, in this art, the detection protrusion pushes the actuator when the developer cartridge is attached to the image-forming apparatus, and when a drive force is input to the cartridge thereafter, rotation of the detection gear causes the detection protrusion to push the actuator further and then to move away from the actuator. Further, in this art, the number of detection protrusions varies according to the specification of the developer cartridge. With this structure, how many times the actuator is pushed by the detection protrusion(s) is configured to be detected by a control device, thereby allowing the control device to determine the specification of the developer cartridge.

Developer cartridge provided with gear having engagement portions


A conductive hanger plate having a flat external face and a conductive hanger knob are so provided as to be electrically isolated with each other at the same side of the external face of a non-conductive rear casing of a microphone casing. A conductive hanger hook hanging the microphone casing via the hanger knob is provided with a notch for catching the hanger knob. The hanger hook has a first elastic member which pushes the caught hanger knob in a direction toward a hanger face, and second elastic members which urges the hanger plate in a direction apart from the hanger face.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microphone of a communication device and a microphone hanger-hook.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, as a hanger-switch which detects that a microphone is hanged on a hanger-hook, there is a device that comprises a microphone having a circuit board for detection and a conductive hanger knob, and a grounded metallic hanger hook. Such a hanger-switch detects that the microphone is hanged on the hanger-hook as the circuit board is electrically connected to the hanger-hook via the hanger knob.
According to the foregoing microphone hanger-switch, a wiring that extends from the hanger-hook and causes the hanger-hook to be grounded is obstructive. Moreover, when the hanger-hook is disposed, the wiring becomes bothersome. Accordingly, the following literatures disclose microphones which have no such a wiring so as to avoid the occasion where a wiring is obstructive and bothersome.
For example, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. H9-37373 discloses a microphone hanger-switch having a circuit board that the first contact point thereof is electrically connected to a hanger plate via a spring pin which pushes the first contact point, and the second contact point of that circuit board is electrically connected to a hanger knob via a plate spring which pushes the second contact point. Such a structure enables omission of a soldering process when a microphone is assembled. Moreover, according to such a structure, when the microphone is subjected to maintenance, the rear casing of the microphone can be completely apart from the front casing.
Moreover, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2003-224897 also discloses a microphone hanger-switch comprising a hanger plate member. The hanger plate member comprises a hanger spring having a spherical and elastic pushing member protrudingly formed at each arm in a substantially cross-like shape, and a hanger plate main body for protecting a microphone against any shocks. As the microphone is hanged on a hanger hook, at least two contact points among four contact points of the hanger plate member contact the hanger hook. Therefore, the feeling when the microphone is hanged on the hanger hook and the durability are improved.
Furthermore, Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2001-160993 discloses a microphone hanger-switch having a spring plate protruding from the surface of a hanger plate. According to such a structure, when a microphone is hanged on a metallic engagement member provided in a vehicle or the like, the microphone is fastened. Accordingly, against sudden vibration, the possibility that the microphone is released from the engagement member is little.
However, the foregoing conventional technologies have the following problems.
The shape of the hanger plate is complicated in the microphone hanger-switches disclosed in both Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publications No. 2003-224897 and No. 2001-160993. In particular, because the hanger plate of Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication No. 2003-224897 is comprised of two parts, it takes a cost to prepare separate dies used for manufacturing the hanger plate. Moreover, the hanger plate is provided with protrusive members, such as the elastic pushing member and the spring plate. Accordingly, there are problems that a person who holds the microphone with his/her hand has a feeling of a foreign body, and the degree of freedom for the designing of the microphone is limited.


There is provided an apparatus for converting an object display description document, which enables to reduce load for displaying an image and a capacity necessary for storing document data. A browser including the apparatus is also provided. The apparatus comprises a generating means for generating, from a set of source objects in a document, a set of new objects to obtain a display image equivalent to a display image obtained from the set of source objects. The new objects are fewer than the set of source objects.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method for converting an object display description document having functions of spatial synchronization and time synchronization and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for converting an object display description document in conformity with such a standard as MHEG (Multimedia and Hypermedia Expert Group)-5, DHTML (Dynamic Hyper Text Markup Language), and SMIL (Synchronized Multimedia Integration Language).
2. Description of the Prior Art
JPA 9-503088 entitled "APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR BROWSING INFORMATION" discloses a conventional system for optimizing data obtained at a viewer or browser for a document described with an object display description language.
As shown in FIG. 1, this reference exemplifies information browsing system 101 for browsing and organizing information from plural information sources 123. Knowledge base 109, which includes information source description 113, worldview 115 and system network view 117, is used for establishing a query plan including a sub plan. When the query sub plan is executed, the query plan is optimized by pruning redundant sub plans in accordance with information browsed by the executed sub plan. Graphical user interface 103 includes a hypertext browser integrated at a knowledge base browser/editor. Graphical user interface 103 allows a user to store an information source description in knowledge base 109 via a graphic operation and to browse information source descriptions previously stored. System 101 provides the use of query results that are constructed for avoiding of inquiring on constructed information sources and of concentrating queries from hypertext browsers on associated data sources that are not constructed. According to the above method, such an object is attained that information needless to inquire is fetched from the information source as seldom as possible.
With respect to an arrangement of sending optimized data from a server, JPA 10-171730 entitled "METHOD OF TRANSFERRING IMAGE" discloses an image transfer method capable of reducing the network load to transfer image data when a high resolution data is required at a client. As shown in FIG. 2, data received at the client is converted into an optimized high-resolution image using image conversion plug-in module 308. In this case, screen resolution setting program 306 is employed to check a resolution of a display device at the client. The result from program 306 is sent to image conversion program 304. The sent data becomes the most easy-to-view and high-qualified image at a browser watched from a reader. Although the optimization at the server side is considered in such a manner, all of servers do not send optimized data. Thus, users are required to display or store received data.
The above conventional technology has the following disadvantages.
A first disadvantage may be caused when the user selects necessary data with reference to its contents and obtains minimal necessary data while the minimal data contains data unnecessary to output or display for the user to the last. In such a case, the viewer or browser is loaded to work for analyzing and displaying the data unnecessary for showing the user. Therefore, a display output is delayed, and a data capacity is increased in case of storing data that also includes unnecessary data.
This is because the conventional viewer/browser has been developed to interpret the data sent from the server and make a display output. Therefore, thus configured viewer/browser analyzes all the obtained data and makes a display output even if all of the data are not required to be displayed because of introduced functions of spatial synchronization and time synchronization.
A second disadvantage is that although the server optimizes individual object data including an image as far as possible, the server does not perform optimization in consideration of a combination of data to be displayed. In this case, the data simply becomes a motion picture (object) group with a plurality of motion pictures (objects) but does not become substantially optimized data when images overlap with each other as the whole data.
This is because the server can superimpose the motion pictures and the like at the same time by the functions of spatial synchronization and time synchronization. In addition, when the server makes data to send, it sends the data with information, which indicates superimposition of the corresponding plural motion pictures, to the user.

Apparatus and method for converting an object display description document


A housing for electronic equipment includes a fan and a plurality of coolant channels in a passage of a cooling fluid introduced by the fan. A passage width defined by a cooling member blocking the passage, the member being one of the plurality of coolant channels closer to the fan, is smaller than a passage width defined by a cooling member blocking the passage, the member being one of the plurality of coolant channels farther away from the fan.

In information processing apparatuses, such as computers and servers, and communication devices, such as repeaters and exchanges, a trend toward increases in integration density and performance of electronic equipment and electronic components incorporated therein causes an increased amount of heat to generate and thus power consumption for cooling and emitting waste heat to increase. Methods are known that cool the inside of a housing and emit waste heat therefrom with cooling fans installed near heat sources such as a central processing unit (CPU) and a graphic processing unit (GPU) or a case fan that takes in cooling air from the outside of the housing to generate airflows in a housing.
Some of the former methods are applied to a blade server that can contain multiple blades, each of which includes a CPU, a power supply device, an input/output device, and a cooling fan integrated into one narrow-box unit. The blades, each of which can operate as one server, generate heat dependent on each blade in the blade server. For this reason, a cooling fan is provided in each blade depending on the load thereon, and the fans are individually controlled to properly cool the inside of the housing.
Such a method, disadvantageously, needs a larger number of controlled cooling fans with the increase in the number of blades, often resulting in louder noise, a complicated configuration of an apparatus, and increased costs. On the other hand, the latter methods, which distribute the cooling air introduced by case fans around a housing, can solve such a problem.
Some of the latter methods are applied to a tower-model or rack-mount server, the housing of which contains a plurality of electronic circuit packages. For example, a case fan takes in air from the outside of a housing and the air is blown to each electronic circuit package through a duct provided in the housing. Furthermore, a guide member for adjusting the flow rate is disposed in the flow passage of air, and each electronic circuit package is cooled by an airflow volume dependent on the heat.

Housing for electronic equipment with variable coolant channel widths


A device (1) for generating and projecting light marks (MP, ML) in which projection optics (P) have a cylindrical lens (Z). The cylindrical lens (Z) can be irradiated by a light beam bundle (L2) such that a central beam bundle (L2Z) radiates completely through a cylinder portion area (A) and at least one marginal beam bundle (L2R) travels directly past the edge of the outer surface of the cylinder portion area (ZA). A light mark (ML) in the shape of a line is projected by the central beam bundle (L2Z), while a light mark (MP) in the shape of a point is projected through the marginal beam bundle (L2R).

The invention is directed to a device for generating and projecting light marks.
In manufacturing processes, design or construction steps and building projects, it is known to use devices by which light marks can be generated and projected in a suitable manner. These light marks are used in the above-mentioned processes to define absolute or relative positions, orientations, and the like, of objects, spatialities or localities and display them to a user.
Known devices for generating and projecting light marks have a light source device, collimating optics and projection optics for this purpose. The light source device serves to generate and radiate a primary light beam bundle. The collimating optics are constructed and provided for receiving the primary light beam bundle, collimating, parallelizing and, in so doing, expanding it into a secondary light beam bundle and for radiating the secondary light beam bundle in a directed manner. The projection optics serve to receive at least a portion of the secondary light beam bundle and to convert the secondary light beam bundle into it least one tertiary light beam bundle or marking beam bundle for at least one light mark and to radiate it and, in so doing, to project at least one light mark.
It is disadvantageous that line marks, that is, light marks in the shape of a line, and point marks or spot marks, that is, light marks in the shape of a point or spot, can be generated and projected simultaneously only at a considerable expense. As a rule, this requires a plurality of projection units with corresponding optics which can be operated independently from one another but must be adjusted and adapted to one another.
It is the object of the invention to develop a device for generating and projecting light marks of the type mentioned above such that easily visible point marks and line marks can be generated and projected in a particularly simple and reliable manner with a particularly low expenditure on optics while dispensing with adjustment processes to a great extent.

Device for the generation and projection of light marks


The invention relates to a security element for protecting objects which has at least one mechanically testable magnetic layer and at least one further layer consisting of a layer semitransparent in the visual spectral region. The semitransparent layer is additionally disposed over the magnetic layer so as to cover the magnetic layer. The invention further relates to a security document with such a security element.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a security document such as a bank note, security, ID card or the like with a security element having at least one mechanically testable magnetic layer and at least one further layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
It has been known for some time to provide security documents such as bank notes or ID cards with magnetic security elements. German patent no. 16 96 245 discloses for example an antifalsification paper in which a security thread with a ferromagnetic coating is embedded. The customarily used magnetic material has a very dark body color, however, so that the security thread is recognizable as a dark strip on the paper surface even when embedded completely in the paper. In order to avoid this disadvantage German patent no. 16 96 245 already proposes additionally providing the thread coated with magnetic material with an opaque white coating on both sides to avoid the optical effect of the magnetic material on the paper surface.
It is further known from German patent no. 27 54 267 to equip a security thread with a magnetic coating and a further security feature. An important selection criterion for the security features to be combined is that the features not be readily recognizable and imitable for a forger. For this reason the magnetic layer is combined for example with a metal layer or an opaque lacquer fluorescent under UV light. However, the measures described in German patent no. 27 54 267 only increase forgery-proofness in case the document is actually checked by machine. The described security features do not, or not readily, permit visual checking of the document""s authenticity.
Therefore, a security thread has also been proposed (WO92/11142) which permits both a mechanical check of magnetic properties and a visual authenticity check. In this case the magnetic layer is combined with an opaque metal layer having gaps in the form of characters or patterns, the magnetic layer being disposed under the metal layer, as regarded by the viewer, so that the optical effect of the magnetic material does not appear on the paper surface. The gaps are virtually unrecognizable in the paper in reflected light but stand out in high contrast from their opaque surroundings in transmitted light. This presupposes, however, that the left-out areas of the characters are transparent, i.e. there must be no magnetic material in the area of the characters. When producing the security element one must therefore make sure that the magnetic layer and visually recognizable characters are produced in register with each other so that they do not overlap.
The invention is based on the problem of proposing a security document with a security element which has a magnetic coating whose inherent color hardly appears in reflected light and which can be provided with additional visually testable features in a simple way.
It has surprisingly turned out that a cover layer semitransparent in the visual spectral region already suffices to weaken the dark appearance of the magnetic material so as to avoid the usually undesirable optical effects. The semitransparent cover layer additionally makes it possible to provide the security element with visually and/or machine recognizable information, e.g. by providing gaps in the form of characters in the magnetic layer or forming the magnetic layer itself in the form of visually and/or machine recognizable characters or patterns. No exactly registered arrangement of cover layer and magnetic layer is necessary any longer in this case since the visually recognizable information is recognizable through the semitransparent layer.
In its simplest embodiment, the security element therefore consists of a magnetic layer and a semitransparent layer covering the magnetic layer.
According to a preferred embodiment, the semitransparent layer consists of a thin semitransparent metal layer. With sufficient layer thickness, a semitransparent metal layer has optical reflection properties which are very similar to an opaque metal layer.
This can be utilized advantageously in the production of security threads, which are usually embedded at least partly in antifalsification paper. In the areas where the thread is embedded completely in the paper it is hardly recognizable on the paper surface in reflected light since the magnetic layer is covered sufficiently by the metal layer. In transmitted light, however, the thread appears as a dark strip in high contrast with the surroundings like an opaque metallic thread.
Instead of a contiguous semitransparent metal layer, one can of course also use other semitransparent materials or layers, such as printing inks with optically variable interference layer pigments, liquid crystal layers or diffraction structures with a semitransparent reflecting layer.
According to a further preferred embodiment, the semitransparent layer of the security element is formed by a screened layer, the individual screen elements being opaque, preferably metallic. The screen elements can have any desired form. One can use standard geometric shapes such as dots, lines, triangles, etc., as well as special patterns, numbers, letters, etc. The screen width is selected so as to effect a sufficient cover of the magnetic layer while any information present under the screened layer simultaneously also remains recognizable. The screen elements can be produced with the aid of any printing ink, but preferably a white or light ink, or by any coating methods, such as vapor deposition, hot embossing, etc.
The magnetic layer can be provided either all over or only in certain areas independently of the kind of cover layer used. According to a preferred embodiment, the magnetic layer is applied in the form of a coding, in particular a bar code. However, the magnetic layer can also contain only gaps in the form of visually and/or machine recognizable characters. Additionally, further visually and/or machine recognizable information can be disposed in the magnetic layer free areas of the code or in the gaps.
According to a special embodiment, the magnetic layer free areas can be filled for example with a nonmagnetic layer having the same color as the magnetic material. This additionally disguises the presence of a magnetic code. This nonmagnetic layer can also have gaps in the form of characters, patterns, etc.
The inventive combination of a magnetic layer and a semitransparent cover layer makes it possible not only to provide testable information in the magnetic layer, however, but also to include the semitransparent cover layer in the design of the security element. This yields a great variety of embodiments which have, along with various specific advantages, the common advantage of increasing the forgery-proofness of the security element or the object provided with this security element.
The security element can, as mentioned above, be formed as a security thread or planchets which are incorporated at least partly into a security document. It is also conceivable, however, to form the security element in a band or label shape and fasten it to the surface of an object. These objects can likewise be security documents. However, the inventive security element can also be used very advantageously in the field of product protection. In this case the security element can have, besides the inventive magnetic layer and semitransparent cover layer, further antitheft elements such as a coil. According to a further variant, the security element can also be provided on or in a document material which is in turn applied to any-shaped objects for product protection.


An object is to provide a zoom lens system having compactness, a high zoom ratio, and high optical performance with preferably correcting various aberrations. The zoom lens system includes, in order from the object, a first lens group G1 having positive refractive power, a second lens group G2 having negative refractive power, a third lens group G3 having positive refractive power, and a fourth lens group G4 having positive refractive power. When a state of lens group positions varies from a wide-angle end state to a telephoto end state, a distance between the first lens group G1 and the second lens group G2 increases, a distance between the second lens group G2 and the third lens group G3 decreases, a distance between the third lens group G3 and the fourth lens group G4 varies, and the fourth lens group G4 moves along a zoom trajectory having a convex shape facing to an image.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a zoom lens system suitable for a compact camera using a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD and in particular to a zoom lens system having a four-lens-group configuration of a positive-negative-positive-positive power arrangement.
2. Related Background Art
As a zoom lens system suitable for a solid-state imaging device such as a CCD, a zoom lens system constructed by a four-lens-group lens system having a lens group with positive refractive power disposed to the most object side has been disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-241092.
In accordance with a recent trend in high integration of a solid-state imaging device, a zoom lens system capable of obtaining a high contrast in even higher special frequency has been requested. However, it causes a problem that a conventional zoom lens system becomes larger in the diameter of a lens increasing the number of lens elements in order to increase optical performance.
In accordance with popularization in a digital camera, contradictory requests of portability (specifically, compactness and light weight) and a high zoom ratio are required to be satisfied at a time.
In the zoom lens system disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2003-241092, although compactness and a wide angle of view are accomplished, the zoom ratio is about four or five, so that the request for a higher zoom ratio has not been satisfied.