A semiconductor device (1) includes a circuit having at least one transistor Tr1 and first and second electrodes (30) and (32). A protection element (20) having a device region (21) forming a pn junction (23) within the semiconductor body (10) and covered by an electrode layer (21c) is connected via an electrode (27) to one (30) of the first and second electrodes for providing a conductive path between the first and second electrodes (30) and (32) when a voltage above a threshold voltage is applied to the first electrode (30). The electrode layer (21c) forms with at least part (21a) of the device region (21) a potential barrier (B) for causing the conductive path provided by the protection element (20) to pass from the electrode (27) to the pn junction (23) at least partly via the device region (21) of the protection element (20) thereby increasing the resistance of the path to the pn junction (23).

This invention relates to a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor body having device regions defining at least one transistor with first and second electrodes and a protection element having a device region forming a pn junction within the semiconductor body and covered by an electrode layer connected via an electrode to one of the first and second electrodes for providing a conductive path between the first and second electrodes when a voltage above a threshold voltage is applied to the first electrode.
Such a protection device is provided for protecting the transistor and other device elements against the excessive voltages which may arise when, for example, the semiconductor device is subjected to an electrostatic discharge such as may arise when the semiconductor device or one of its connector pins is accidently touched by a person. The protection element is designed to provide a good conductive path during the application of such an excessive voltage so as to prevent damage to or destruction of the semiconductor device and to return to its normal non-conducting state when the excessive voltage is removed.
The subject of ESD (ElectroStatic Discharge) protection for CMOS integrated circuits is described in, for example, a paper entitled `ESD protection reliability in 1 .mu.m CMOS technologies` by C. Duvuury et al published in the proceedings of the IEEE International Reliability Physics Symposium Volume IRPS-86 at pages 199-205.
As the packing density of integrated circuits increases and thus the size of the individual transistors is reduced, the importance of forming good low-resistance contacts increases. As discussed in the aforementioned paper, it is conventional to provide an electrode layer, usually in the form of a metal silicide layer, on a device region to be contacted to improve the electrical connection to the subsequent contact metallization. However, the provision of such electrode layers severely degrades the performance of ESD protection devices within the integrated circuits as explained in the aforementioned paper. It has been proposed, as set out in, for example, the English language Abstract for Japanese Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-63-70553 to reduce this problem by masking the area of the ESD protection devices during the formation of the metal silicide electrode layer. This, however, introduces an additional masking stage into the manufacturing process, so increasing costs.

ESD protection element for CMOS integrated circuit


A substrate support is provided in a chamber of a plasma processing apparatus according to an exemplary embodiment. The substrate support has a lower electrode and an electrostatic chuck. A matching circuit is connected between a power source and the lower electrode. A first electrical path connects the matching circuit and the lower electrode to each other. A second electrical path different from the lower electrode is provided to supply electric power from the matching circuit to a focus ring. A sheath adjuster is configured to adjust a position of an upper end of a sheath on/above the focus ring. A variable impedance circuit is provided on the first or second electrical path.

In plasma etching of a substrate, a plasma processing apparatus is used. The plasma processing apparatus is provided with a chamber, an electrostatic chuck, and a lower electrode. The electrostatic chuck and the lower electrode are provided in the chamber. The electrostatic chuck is provided on the lower electrode. The electrostatic chuck supports a focus ring placed thereon. The electrostatic chuck supports a substrate disposed in a region surrounded by the focus ring. When etching is performed in the plasma processing apparatus, a gas is supplied into the chamber. Further, radio frequency power is supplied to the lower electrode. Plasma is formed from the gas in the chamber. The substrate is etched by chemical species such as ions and radicals from the plasma.
When the plasma etching is performed, the focus ring wears down, so that the thickness of the focus ring is reduced. In a case where the thickness of the focus ring is reduced, the position of an upper end of a plasma sheath (hereinafter referred to as a "sheath") on/above the focus ring is lowered. The position in a vertical direction of the upper end of the sheath on/above the focus ring should be equal to the position in the vertical direction of the upper end of the sheath on/above the substrate. Therefore, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. 2008-227063 discloses a plasma processing apparatus making it possible to adjust the position in the vertical direction of the upper end of the sheath on/above the focus ring. The plasma processing apparatus disclosed in this publication is configured to apply a direct-current voltage to the focus ring.

Plasma processing apparatus and etching method


A flat-type stapler is provided which can fasten a large number of sheets of paper with a small force and in a smooth fashion. The stapler includes a base portion, a magazine portion, a push-down member, handle supporting members, and a handle portion. The handle portion causes the push-down portion to descend by virtue of the principle of the lever with the handle shaft made to act as a movable fulcrum. A portion of the handle may be used to apply force, and the connecting shaft may be used as a point of action.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a stapler of a flat type in which ends of a wire staple are driven flat after they have penetrated and fastened together sheets of paper.
2. Background Art
A stapler, which is stationery for fastening sheets of paper, is an inevitable item as one of office materials, and there have been made many proposals on staplers. In the staplers, there are two types: one is a type in which distal end portions of a staple are bent curvedly after they have penetrated and fastened sheets of paper and the other is a type in which end portions of a staple are bent flat after they have penetrated and fastened sheets of paper.
A general flat type stapler includes a base portion having a clincher, a magazine which houses staples, a handle which is rotatably attached to a portion of the base portion which lies in the vicinity of an end thereof, a driving blade disposed at a distal end portion of the handle and adapted to drive out a wire staple in the magazine towards the clincher in association with rotation of the handle, and furthermore, a table having a clincher surrounding portion and adapted to cause the clincher surrounding portion to ascend or descend relative to the clincher, a slider made to slide in such a manner as to permit a descending action of the clincher surrounding portion at a predetermined timing in association with a clinching action of the table, and a slider pushing member fixed to the handle to cause the slider to slide through rotation of the handle.
In the stapler configured as has been described above, since when it is grabbed in such a manner as to shorten the distance between the handle and the base portion, the slider pushing member causes the slider to slide, a locking state between the table and the slider is released, whereby the table is allowed to descend, and a staple is pressed between the driving blade and the clincher in such a manner that distal ends of the staple are bent to fasten sheets of paper.
Staplers which are each made up of two members which can rotate a clincher are proposed in the Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 63-43027 and the Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 2-48229. In these staplers, when the distance between a handle and a base portion is shortened, the clincher rotates in such a manner that an upper portion of the clincher is made into a flat surface, so as to bend flat distal ends of a staple.
In addition, in such staplers, there are a hand-held type stapler which is used by being grabbed by the hand and a desktop type stapler. A basic construction of this desktop type stapler is substantially the same as that of the hand-held type stapler. However, the desktop type stapler is larger in size than the hand-held type stapler, and since when in use, the handle member is lowered by the weight of the user being applied thereto, a large number of sheets of paper can be fastened.
In the flat type stapler, when the slider is caused to slide to lower the clincher surrounding portion, since the clincher surrounding portion descends drastically, there is caused a problem that an impact is produced at the time of clinching, and this makes it difficult to effect clinching.
In addition, in the desktop type stapler, large force is necessary to fasten a large number of sheets of paper, and where the handle portion is made large to make use of the principle of the lever to reduce the force required for clinching for fastening such a large number of sheets of paper, the balance of the stapler is deteriorated due to the handle portion being too large, and this causes a problem that in the event that a strong force is applied to the handle portion, a rear end of the stapler is caused to float. Furthermore, where the base portion is made large to improve the balance of the stapler, there is also caused a problem that the stapler becomes large in size.


A video signal clamping circuit for maintaining a constant clamping output level is disclosed including a clamper for generating a clamping output level in response to a reference voltage by use of an external condenser receiving a video signal and a plurality of transistors, a level variation detector for sensing a variation the clamping output level of the clamper and generating a level variation signal corresponding to the variation in the clamping output level, and a reference voltage compensator connected to the level variation detector, for receiving the level variation signal and compensating for the reference voltage of the clamper.

Recently, developments in video signal input/output techniques for a variety of video media have been demanding a video screen of higher quality. A clamping circuit for fixing a peak value, such as a minimum or maximum value of an input signal, to a constant power source level is used primarily in cases in which a reference direct current (DC) level is lost due to distortion of the video signal or the input signal of a television, etc. Since a conventional video signal clamping circuit typically has a clamping level at an output terminal that varies with the peak level of an input video signal, the inconstant peak level acts an a unstable factor in reproducing the video signal.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of such a conventional video signal clamping circuit. The circuit of FIG. 1 is constructed such that if a video signal is supplied, an output signal having a constant peak level is formed by external condenser 11 and clamper 10. FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram of the conventional clamping circuit of FIG. 1. Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, transistors Q.sub.B and Q.sub.C have the same characteristics, and resistors R.sub.D and R.sub.E have the same resistance values. Since transistors Q.sub.B and Q.sub.C operate at the same base-to-emitter voltage V.sub.BE, respective base currents flowing into the respective bases of transistors Q.sub.B and Q.sub.C are the same, and likewise, respective collector currents flowing into respective collectors thereof are the same, thereby forming a current mirror. One terminal of resistor R.sub.B is connected to the base and collector of transistor Q.sub.B. The other terminal of resistor R.sub.B is connected to resistor R.sub.A and the base of transistor Q.sub.A. The input video signal is transmitted to node N1 through external condenser (CB) 11. The emitter of transistor QD is connected to constant current source Is at output node N2 connected to output terminal VOUT.
In operation, since transistors Q.sub.B and Q.sub.C have a current mirror structure, if resistors R.sub.D and R.sub.E have the same resistance values, then the base currents of transistors Q.sub.B and Q.sub.C are the same, and the collector currents thereof are the same. Assuming that each collector current flowing into the collectors of the transistors Q.sub.B and Q.sub.C is I.sub.B, I.sub.B can be represented by the following equation (1): ##EQU1## where V.sub.BE (Q.sub.B) is the voltage between the base and emitter of transistor Q.sub.B. Since elements V.sub.CC, V.sub.BE (Q.sub.B), R.sub.A, R.sub.B and R.sub.D have constant values, current I.sub.B can be treated as a constant.
A voltage V1 across the base node of transistor Q.sub.A can be obtained by substituting Ohm's law (V=IR) for I.sub.B given from equation (1): ##EQU2## A voltage at node N1 directly connected to the input terminal is obtained by subtracting the base-to-emitter voltage V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) of transistor Q.sub.A from voltage V1 across the base node of transistor Q.sub.A. That is: EQU V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) (3)
When there is no input signal, since the voltage at node N1 given from expression (3) is a voltage across the base of transistor Q.sub.D, a voltage at output node N2 connected to the emitter of transistor Q.sub.D is obtained by adding V.sub.BE (Q.sub.D) to V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A). That is, the output voltage is as follows: EQU V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A)+V.sub.BE (Q.sub.D) (4)
FIG. 3 is a waveform chart illustrating an operation of the video signal clamping circuit of FIG. 2. A clamping voltage of the output terminal for the input video signal having a varied peak level varies by a varying difference.
If the input signal level received to the input terminal is lower than the voltage at node N1 connected to the input terminal, EQU V.sub.IN <V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A), (5)
then the current of transistor Q.sub.A with the emitter connected to node N1 is increased and thus V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) is increased. The voltage level of V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) of expression (3) is lowered. The peak level of the output signal is clamped to a voltage determined by equation (6). Since V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) is lowered, the clamping level is lowered . EQU V.sub.OUT =V1-V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A)+V.sub.BE (QD) (6)
Therefore, if the peak level of the input video signal varies, then the conventional video signal clamping circuit reflects the varied peak level in the clamped output signal. Current I.sub.A is divided into I.sub.B and I.sub.C by node N1 connected to the input terminal as can be represented by the following equation (7): EQU I.sub.A =I.sub.B +I.sub.C ( 7)
If the peak level of the input video signal varies, then I.sub.C also varies. Since I.sub.B calculated by equation (1) can be treated as a constant, IA varies in proportion to I.sub.C.
The base-to-emitter voltage V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) of transistor Q.sub.A is determined by emitter current I.sub.A of transistor Q.sub.A. If I.sub.A varies, then V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) varies. Therefore, clamping level V.sub.OUT represented by equation (6) varies according to V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) since V1 and V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) have a constant value.
That is, the clamping level V.sub.OUT of the output terminal varies with V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A), V.sub.BE (Q.sub.A) varies with I.sub.A, I.sub.A varies with I.sub.C, and I.sub.C is proportional to a variation in the peak level of the input video signal. As a result, clamping level V.sub.OUT varies according to variations in the peak level of the input video signal. Hence, the desired results can not be obtained in reproducing the video signal.


There are disclosed compounds of the formula

Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines that are released by a wide variety of cells to attract macrophages, T-cells, eosinophils, basophils, neutrophils and endothelial cells to sites of inflammation and tumor growth. There are two main classes of chemokines, the CXC-chemokines and the CC-chemokines. The class depends on whether the first two cystepnes are separated by a single amino acid (CXC-chemokines) or are adjacent (CC-chemokines). The CXC-chemokines include interleukin-8 (IL-8), neutrophil-activating protein-1 (NAP-1), neutrophil-activating protein-2 (NAP-2), GROα, GROβ, GROγ, ENA-78, GCP-2, IP-10, MIG and PF4. CC chemokines include RANTES, MIP-1α, MIP-2β, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), MCP-2, MCP-3 and eotaxin. Individual members of the chemokine families are known to be bound by at least one chemokine receptor, with CXC-chemokines generally bound by members of the CXCR class of receptors, and CC-chemokines by members of the CCR class of receptors. For example, IL-8 is bound by the CXCR-1 and CXCR-2 receptors.
Since CXC-chemokines promote the accumulation and activation of neutrophils, these chemokines have been implicated in a wide range of acute and chronic inflammatory disorders including psoriasis and rheumatoid arthritis. Baggiolini et al., FEBS Lett. 307, 97 (1992); Miller et al., Crit. Rev. Immunol. 12, 17 (1992); Oppenheim et al., Annu. Fev. Immunol. 9, 617 (1991); Seitz et al., J. Clin. Invest. 87, 463 (1991); Miller et al., Am. Rev. Respir. Dis. 146, 427 (1992); Donnely et al., Lancet 341, 643(1993).
ELRCXC chemokines including IL-8, GROα, GROβ, GROγ, NAP-2, and ENA-78 (Strieter et al. 1995 JBC 270 p. 27348–57) have also been implicated in the induction of tumor angiogenesis (new blood vessel growth). All of these chemokines are believed to exert their actions by binding to the 7 transmembrane G-protein coupled receptor CXCR2 (also known as IL-8RB), while IL-8 also binds CXCR1 (also known as IL-8RA). Thus, their angiogenic activity is due to their binding to and activation of CXCR2, and possible CXCR1 for IL-8, expressed on the surface of vascular endothelial cells (ECs) in surrounding vessels.
Many different types of tumors have been shown to produce ELRCXC chemokines and their production has been correlated with a more aggressive phenotype (Inoue et al. 2000 Clin Cancer Res 6 p. 2104–2119) and poor prognosis (Yoneda et. al. 1998 J Nat Cancer Inst 90 p. 447–454). Chemokines are potent chemotactic factors and the ELRCXC chemokines have been shown to induce EC chemotaxis. Thus, these chemokines probably induce chemotaxis of endothelial cells toward their site of production in the tumor. This may be a critical step in the induction of angiogenesis by the tumor. Inhibitors of CXCR2 or dual inhibitors of CXCR2 and CXCR1 will inhibit the angiogenic activity of the ELRCXC chemokines and therefore block the growth of the tumor. This anti-tumor activity has been demonstrated for antibodies to IL-8 (Arenberg et al. 1996 J Clin Invest 97 p. 2792–2802), ENA-78 (Arenberg et al. 1998 J Clin Invest 102 p. 465–72), and GROα (Haghnegahdar et al. J. Leukoc Biology 2000 67 p. 53–62).
Many tumor cells have also been shown to express CXCR2 and thus tumor cells may also stimulate their own growth when they secrete ELRCXC chemokines. Thus, along with decreasing angiogenesis, inhibitors of CXCR2 may directly inhibit the growth of tumor cells.
Hence, the CXC-chemokine receptors represent promising targets for the development of novel anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor agents.
There remains a need for compounds that are capable of modulating activity at CXC-chemokine receptors. For example, conditions associated with an increase in IL-8 production (which is responsible for chemotaxis of neutrophil and T-cell subsets into the inflammatory site and growth of tumors) would benefit by compounds that are inhibitors of IL-8 receptor binding.

3,4-Di-substituted cyclobutene-1,2-diones as CXC-chemokine receptor ligands

Abstract: or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt or solvate thereof which are useful for the treatment of chemokine-mediated diseases such as acute and chronic inflammatory disorders and cancer.


A method and a device for solvent injection in a subsurface well (1) where the solvent flows towards the formation wall (4) of the subsurface well (19) via a releasable duct (8).

This invention regards a method of injecting solvent in a subsurface well. More particularly, it regards a method in which the solvent is directed towards the formation wall of the subsurface well by means of a releasable duct. The invention also regards a device for implementing the method.
It is common, in order to stimulate the production from a subsurface well, to inject a solvent in the well. If the well formation comprises a carbonate material, acid is often used as solvent, e.g. hydrochloric acid, HCl, at an appropriate concentration.
It is known to pump the solvent into a casing and out into the well formation via perforations in the casing. Thus Norwegian patent application no. 20034790 describes a method in which the solvent is pumped out through said perforations at a sufficient concentration and in sufficient quantity to cause the surrounding formation to collapse to a certain extent.
The drawback of prior art is that it is difficult to direct the solvent to the area of the well formation that requires treatment. The solvent may for instance follow natural fractures to areas where the introduction of these types of chemicals is not desirable. Uncontrolled inflow of the solvent may dissolve the formation around the well without effecting the formation of fractures that are deep enough to create flow paths to the reservoir.
This type of incorrect treatment of the well formation may cause e.g. a significant increase in water production from the subsurface well.

Method and a device for solvent injection in a subsurface well


A system and method for sales optimization having a store database storing information about past shopping experiences and preferences of different customers, a business rules engine connected to the store database, a biometric database containing biometric data, a customer identification engine connected to the biometric database; and a biometric detector detecting customer's presence in the store. The biometric detector is connected to the biometric database through the customer identification engine. The customer identification engine identifies detected customers using data stored in the biometric database. The system also includes at least one sales representative terminal connected to the business rules engine. When sales optimization tactic is determined, it is conveyed from the business rules engine to the sales representative terminal.

The traditional retail commerce is characterized by a product offer by a large number of manufacturers to a mass market of consumers via a range of intermediary retail channels (sellers). The seller must utilize various methodologies, including advertising, packaging, and pricing, to attract potential buyers. Further, the seller assumes all risks and costs associated with consummating a sale.
Often, various products are offered to customers at department stores having a plurality of departments, each department selling a particular range of products, for example children apparel, women's shoes, etc. It is known in the art to accumulate information about customers' shopping preferences, for example through the use of credit cards. Preferred customers may then be rewarded through various reward programs. However, these reward programs may only influence a particular customer's shopping experience after the purchase is already completed. Thus, these reward programs are not very effective to influence a customer's experience while he/she is in the process of making shopping decisions. Furthermore, it is recognized that customers go through several stages of decision making process prior to making a purchase. In order to influence customer's experience the seller needs to understand the current stage of the buyer's decision making. However, it has been noted that purchase history alone does not provide enough insight into the ways buyers decide on their purchases.

Methods for alerting a sales representative of customer presence based on customer identification information


A core-shell structure comprises a core (2) comprising nanoparticles and a shell (4) coating the core (2), and its void space (3) formed by the core (2) and the shell (4) is controlled. A method of preparing the core-shell structure comprises: forming particles comprising a photoetchable semiconductor, metal or polymer and coating the particles with a shell (4) comprising a non-photoetchable semiconductor, metal or polymer, to form a core-shell structure (5); and irradiating the core-shell structure with a light having a controlled wavelength in the photoetching solution to form an adjustable void space inside a shell (3) within the core-shell structure by the size-selective photoetching method. The core-shell structure allows the preparation of a catalyst exhibiting an extremely high efficiency, and can be used as a precursor for preparing a nanomaterial required for a nanodevice.

Porous materials are widely used for catalysts, adsorbents, surface active agents, and the like. A porous material is a material having micropores of a certain shape, and, among them, a porous material having micropores the diameter of which is 2 nanometer (hereinafter the abbreviated term nm to be used) or less is called a microporous material, and that the diameter of which is 2-50 nm is called a mesoporous material. As a microporous material, for example, zeolite is well known. Zeolite is a crystalline material in which such metal atoms as Si and Al are bonded via oxygen, having micropores of a certain shape, and is used, by utilizing said micropores, for example, as a cracking catalyst to crack heavy oil to gasoline, or as a molecular sieve adsorbent not passing branched alkanes but passing linear alkanes only.
Further in the recent years, the porous material having larger void, that is, the mesoporous material is proposed for improvement of catalytic function and realization of a new function, and the preparation of mesoporous materials consisting of metal oxides such as silica is widely studied. The mesoporous material represented by mesoporous silica is prepared by forming metal oxide thin film around the template which is self-organized organic molecule aggregate such as surface active agent micelles and inorganic or organic nanoparticles, and removing said template. The pore structure of mesoporous material can be controlled by controlling the size and arrayed structure of the material used for a template, and mesoporous materials with randomly dispersed mesopores, those with regularly arrayed mesopores, or those with spherical mesopores regularly arrayed in three dimension, and many others have been realized.
Although mesoporous materials have no regularity on atomic level, they are the crystals of new type so far not existent in which the voids of mesoscale are regularly arrayed, and are expected hereafter in the active role as industrial materials as adsorbing and separating materials (the materials to adsorb specific molecules in voids and separate them), catalysts, and surface active agents. Their applications in various fields are anticipated very much such as utilization as new electron device materials by introducing the aggregate of various atoms and molecules into voids.
Here, the size of a void formed between a nanoparticle and a mesopore enclosing it is quite important as the quantity to characterize the space of chemical reaction for catalytic reactions and material syntheses, and the fields of material adsorption or material enclosing. That is, it is predictable that a structure having an adjustable void space near a nanoparticle, and the structure having as a constituent said structure can be a catalyst of extremely high efficiency compared with conventional catalysts, can give the selectivity of chemical species involved in chemical reaction, can be a catalyst for the chemical reaction for which no catalyst has so far been available, or can be used as the basis for preparation of a nanomaterial required for nanodevice.
For example, since the photocatalytic reaction takes place on the surface of photocatalyst such as titanium oxide, many studies have been made to realize the photocatalyst of high efficiency by increasing the surface area by converting photocatalyst to a nanoparticle. However, since nanoparticles coagulate by Van der Waals force, the chemical species involved in catalytic reaction cannot be adsorbed on a nanoparticle, thereby an expected result cannot be realized. That is, a photocatalyst of high efficiency cannot be realized because an adjustable void space does not exist near a nanoparticle.
If a void space can be made near a nanoparticle, then the chemical species involved in catalytic reaction can be adsorbed on a catalyst nanoparticle, and a photocatalyst of high efficiency can be realized. If also the size of a void space near a nanoparticle can be controlled, in another word, if an adjustable void space can be formed near a nanoparticle, then the molecular species to be adsorbed can be controlled, thereby the selectivity of chemical species involved in catalytic reaction can be realized. Since also the structure having as a constituent a structure having an adjustable void space near a nanoparticle can array specific molecular species based on the shape of structure, it can be the catalyst for the chemical reaction for which no catalyst has so far been available, and can be used as the basis to prepare the nanomaterial required for nanodevice.
The conventional porous material having a void space near a nanoparticle is the combination of a mesoporous material and a nanoparticle made of a metal or a semiconductor. The conventional method to form a nanoparticle inside mesoporous material is to introduce the reactive gas as the starting material for a nanoparticle into mesoporous material, let it react and decompose, and to have a nanoparticle grow inside the micropore of mesoporous material. However, in the nanoparticle-mesoporous material complex prepared by said method, the particle diameter of a nanoparticle differs by the location inside mesoporous material, and therefore it is quite difficult to control particle diameter. For this reason, it is extremely difficult by the prior art to prepare porous material having the controlled nano void space near a nanoparticle. In other words, it has been difficult by the prior art to prepare the structure having the controlled nano void space near a nanoparticle, and structures having said structure as a constituent unit.

Core-shell structure having controlled cavity inside and structure comprising the core-shell structure as component, and method for preparation thereof


A nozzle tip adapter has a suction duct, a supply duct, and a base body with a device end and a substrate end. The base body has a nozzle tip recess at its substrate end for receiving a nozzle tip and a projecting portion extending into the nozzle tip recess, wherein the suction duct extends through the projecting portion and the supply duct opens into the nozzle tip recess, wherein the suction duct is being at least partially surrounded by the supply duct. Further, a nozzle assembly and a nozzle are disclosed.

In known substrate processing devices for nano- and microfabrication, it is necessary to dispense a liquid onto the substrate. The substrate may be a wafer or the like. The fluid may be developer, water, solvent, or any aqueous solution and is supplied to the substrate via a nozzle. Usually, the liquid is dispensed for a defined dispense period so that a predefined amount of liquid is dispensed. However, at the end of dispense period, a rest of the liquid remains in the nozzle and may drip onto the substrate in an uncontrolled manner.
In substrate processing devices of the state of the art, it is known to prevent the nozzle from dripping after a dispense period by reversing the flow of the liquid to pull back excess liquid from the nozzle.
However, due to air bubbles and the like in the liquid, dripping cannot be prevented completely with this approach.

Nozzle tip adapter, nozzle assembly as well as nozzle


The present invention relates to microfabrication and utilization of microscale electrophoresis devices as well as the separation and detection of biomolecules in microscale electrophoresis devices. The device of the present invention utilizes novel fabrication and detection methods.

Capillary electrophoresis (CE) and other analytical techniques have greatly benefited from micromachining. Microfabrication technology provides a means for implementation of complex CE devices with a high degree of functionality (Woolley, A. T. and R. A. Mathies, "Ultra-high speed fragment separations using microfabricated capillary array electrophoresis chips", Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 91:11348–11352, 1994; Bousse, L. et al., "High performance DNA separations in microchip electrophoresis systems", Proc. micro-TAS '98 Workshop, pp. 271–275, 1998) yielding fast and highly efficient separations. The majority of micromachined CE devices, however, have been fabricated using bonded, glass substrate technology with off-chip laser induced fluorescence detection. The advantages of miniaturization are greatly reduced when large detection systems are used in microanalysis.
A prior art method of on chip detection utilized a photodiode on silicon (Webster, J. R., et al., "Electrophoresis system with integrated on-chip fluorescence detection", IEEE MEMS 2000 conference, Miyazaki, Japan, pp. 381–385, January 2000). However, compatibility of the silicon photodiode with plastic substrates, which are favored because of bio-compatibility and cost, is difficult to achieve. Additionally, the optical detection method required additional optical devices such as LEDs, lasers and optical filters for efficient detection thereby increasing the systems bulk.
Electrochemical detection methods have also been tried in micromachined CE, however, the methods tried thus far have been end column methods. End column detection limits resolution (Voegel, P. D. and R. P. Baldwin, "Electrochemical detection in capillary electrophoresis", Electrophoresis, 18:2267–2278, 1997; Gavin, P. F. and A. G. Ewing, "Continuous separations with microfabricated electrophoresis-electrochemical array detection", J. Am. Chem. Soc., 118:8932–8936, 1996). Inline electrochemical methods have been used in large scale HPLC, for example (Kafil, J. B., et al., "Quantitation of nucleic acids at the picogram level using HPLC with electrochemical detection", Anal. Chem, 58:285–289, 1986). However, inline electrochemical detection methods have not been employed in micromachined CE because of problems in coupling detection and separation fields and in bubble generation in aqueous solution at the high CE fields.
What is needed is an inexpensive, easy to fabricate electrochemical detection system that provides improved resolution and a higher limit of detection.

Microscale electrophoresis devices for biomolecule separation and detection

The Regents of the University of Michigan


In the case of a control unit for a vehicle heating or air-conditioning unit having a vehicle-borne monitor permitting access to different display and control menus, in addition to a selection possibility for an automatic program by way of an automatic key, an individual adjusting possibility is provided for the temperature distribution and/or air distribution in different zones of the vehicle interior which can be displayed and selected on the vehicle-borne monitor. The different zones of the vehicle interior can be selected by way of a control element by means of a symbolic representation on the vehicle-borne monitor. An air quantity selector is provided which is arranged in a hidden manner with respect to a temperature selector constructed as a rotary-type knob. For this purpose, a rotary-type knob for the air quantity is provided concentrically with respect to the rotary-type knob for the temperature adjustment and is normally recessed with respect to this rotary-type knob and can be brought into a protruding position with respect to it.

This application claims the priority of German priority application 196 09 589.1, filed in Germany on Mar. 12, 1996, and German priority application 196 10 148.4, filed in Germany on Mar. 15, 1996, the disclosures of which are expressly incorporated by reference herein.
This invention relates to a control unit for a vehicle heating or air-conditioning system having a vehicle-borne monitor which permits access to different display and control menus. European Patent Document EP 0 199 916 B1 describes a central control input and information output for accessories of vehicles; that is, a so-called vehicle-borne monitor. This document also contains information about operating a vehicle climate control unit by means of such a vehicle-borne monitor. However, the document supplies no details in this respect.
German Patent Document DE 34 09 321 contains a conventional control unit for a vehicle heating and air-conditioning system which, although it has multiple adjusting possibilities, is confusing because of the large number of control knobs. However, such a control unit should, on the one hand, offer many adjusting possibilities but, on the other hand, be easy to operate, particularly when, while driving, the driver of a motor vehicle wants to make changes on the control unit.
It is therefore an object of this invention to provide an easily and nevertheless multiply adjustable control unit for a vehicle heating or air-conditioning system having a vehicle-borne monitor.
For achieving this object, it is provided that, in addition to the selection possibility for an automatic program, an individual adjusting possibility is provided for the temperature distribution and/or air distribution in various zones of the vehicle interior which can be displayed on the vehicle-borne monitor and selected.
According to the invention, an automatic program is provided first which is customary in the case of modern vehicle heating or air-conditioning systems. As a function of a selected temperature--as in any customary heating or air-conditioning system, a temperature selector is provided for this purpose--, this automatic program controls the air distribution and the temperature distribution in the vehicle interior, also while taking into account current actual temperatures in a basically favorable manner which, however, must not be optimal for every vehicle occupant. On the contrary, sensitivity with respect to temperature varies among people so that there are vehicle occupants who desire a temperature distribution or air distribution other than the one provided by the automatic program. For this reason--and this is also known prior art--, an individual adjusting possibility for the distribution of temperature and/or air is provided. According to the invention, this individual adjusting possibility is now implemented by means of the vehicle borne monitor, in which case so-called zones can be displayed and selected on the vehicle-borne monitor in which the temperature distribution and/or the air distribution can be adjusted. Preferred zones of this type are the head area of a vehicle occupant, the foot space, the chest area as well as optionally the seat area.
In order to be able to easily recognize these zones on the vehicle-borne monitor, a symbolic representation, preferably in the form of the symbol of a sitting vehicle occupant, may be provided. In this case, the different zones can be marked relative to the vehicle occupant. It will then be possible to select the respective desired zone by means of a control element, such as a rotary-type knob or a slider control device. After the selection of a zone, preferably the temperature can be adjusted, for example, also by means of a simple rotary-type knob, for this zone.
Also in this case, a particularly simple strategy can be used which the user or operator can easily understand and according to which preferably only the temperature in the vehicle interior or in a portion thereof is adjusted. The above-mentioned automatic program can then automatically set the most favorable air quantity and air distribution. However, based on its principle, a hot-air heater, in contrast to a convection heater customary in living spaces, requires that also the air quantity is varied when a vehicle occupant indicates that he wants a higher temperature. Particularly while the current inside temperature is taken into account but also as a function of the respective ambient temperature, this respective, most favorable air quantity is indicated by the automatic program. The vehicle occupant therefore does not have to bother with the adjustment of the respective most favorable air quantity, which results in a high operating comfort.
However, in certain cases, a vehicle occupant may want an air quantity which differs from that indicated in the automatic program. For this purpose, the vehicle occupant is provided with the possibility of either trimming the automatic program; that is, of superimposing an air quantity difference on the program, or of indicating a separate air quantity wish completely independently of the automatic program. In the state of the art described in the above-mentioned German Patent Document DE 34 09 321, separate keys are provided for this purpose which are normally hidden behind a cover and are accessible only after the cover has been folded away. Since, for adjusting a separate desired air quantity volume, several hand movements are required in the case of this known control unit, according to an advantageous further development of the invention, a particularly advantageous adjusting possibility for the air quantity can be provided. However, for reasons of clarity, the temperature adjustment should have preference. It is therefore suggested that an air quantity selector be arranged in a hidden manner with respect to a temperature selector. For this purpose, a rotary-type knob for the air quantity can be provided concentrically with respect to a rotary-type knob for the temperature adjustment and is normally recessed with respect to the rotary-type temperature adjusting knob. The rotary-type air quantity control knob can be brought into a position in which it protrudes with respect to the rotary-type temperature adjusting knob only after a corresponding operation, such as a pressure exercised on the rotary type button.

Control unit for a vehicle heating or air-conditioning system

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


Methods and systems for assisting individuals (101) arrange meetings such as networking meeting with other individuals (101) at a specified time (or within a specified time range) and/or at a specified place (or within a specified geographic region). More specifically, methods and systems for allowing individuals (110) to post an invitation to for a meeting on an on-line network and for allowing one or more other individuals (101) to accept such invitation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates an on-line and/or wireless system and method for facilitating the arrangement of networking meetings between two or more individuals. More specifically, the invention relates to providing a system and method for allowing communications between two or more parties relating to the scheduling and arrangement of a meeting between the two or more parties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Several publications are referenced in this application. The references describe the state of the art to which this invention pertains and are hereby incorporated by reference.
Today's worker often finds him or herself with more to do, with less time. The pressures of work, family, social obligations and time for leisure activities combine to transform the average individual's daily or weekly schedule into one which is overloaded with commitments. Yet for some individuals, particularly business travelers, there are periods of time when one finds oneself with time to fill—"down time". For example, the business traveler often shuttles from city to city for meetings and the like. When the meetings in a particular city are over and/or delays caused by travel disruptions, the business traveler often finds himself or herself with a considerable amount of free time before the next meeting or the next leg of the business trip. There may be an evening during a business trip or morning where the individual has a block of time for relaxing, catching up on work, etc. Although these periods are sometimes a welcome breather from the daily grind, they can typically seem like lost opportunities or wasted time. If "catching up" on the work doesn't require much time, the business traveler may find an entire evening free of obligations in a city far from home. Currently, this time may be spent eating a dinner alone in the hotel's restaurant, eating alone in the room using room service or other solitary activities.
Today, there is a heightened awareness of the value of time and the importance of utilizing one's time efficiently to maximize one's professional and personal endeavors. It would be desirable to provide a service for such individuals which enables them to better utilize "down time" in a highly constructive manner.
Although there are products and services such as television, movies, etc. which provide a form of entertainment during "down time", these products and services do not necessarily provide the individual with the human interaction with others that can make an evening or other period of time rewarding in both the professional and personal sense.
Although not geared to the business traveler or to optimizing "down time", dating services are gaining popularity as more and more people do not have the time or opportunity to meet potential dates. Many individuals who have been displaced from a network of family and/or friends sometimes find themselves bored with the "bar scene" and have not had much luck with "blind dates." There are several existing computer-based methods and systems directed to providing dating services. Initially, most dating services were provided by mail or over the telephone where participants would input their personal characteristics (e.g., gender, sexual orientation, age, geographic location, etc.) and their preferences for a date (e.g., gender, age, etc.). As the use of the Internet has become more popular, many systems and methods were developed for providing dating services on-line.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,963,951 to Collins relates to a computer-implemented dating service, and more particularly, to a method, system and apparatus for real-time, on-line computer searching and matching of database entries based on location and user-selectable search criteria. The system provides user-controlled perusal of the on-line dating search results. A database of subscriber information is searched to find at least one subscriber matching user search criteria. The subscriber information includes preferences of subscribers to the service. Both the personal preferences and the subscriber information include at least: a gender preference; a geographic location preference; a geographic location preference; an age preference; appearance preferences; religious belief preferences; educational level preferences; and a goal preference, wherein the goal preference is one of "romance"; "friendship" or "a walk on the wild side", wherein the geographic location preference is at least one of a postal code, a country, a city, a suburb, a block, or a street. The subscriber information includes a date of last payment of a use fee by each subscriber and a date of last updating of a personal profile by each subscriber. First the system locates, from the database, all valid subscribers whose gender preferences matches the required gender preference and who are located "nearby" the given postal (zip) code. Then, for each subscriber found in the first step, the system also retrieves the user's system information such as user name, phone number and geographic location. Next, for each subscriber retrieved (who matched the gender and geographic location criteria), the system determines a score based on the subscriber's input information, the subscriber's preferences and the user's input and preferences. The list of matching subscribers is then sorted in descending order by "score", then in ascending order by zip code and then in descending order of last access and/or payment.
Thus, the system and method of Collins provides an on-line dating service which matches subscribers with other subscribers for possible dating. Such a system would be unsuitable for providing an on-line networking system for arranging meetings such as dinner meetings at a specified time and place. The on-line dating service of Collin would not, for example, enable an individual to better utilize "down time" which occurs as a result of a layover at a particular city on a business trip. Or for an individual at home who has just had their evening plans cancelled but would still like to meet with other individuals for dinner, a drink or the like. See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,395 to de Honda.
Moreover, a "dating service" is not always an acceptable alternative of the individual. First, the individual may not be interested in a date in the romantic sense. Such dating services are geared to matching people together in a romantic sense. For individuals who are married, for example, the "dating services" currently offered do not offer an attractive choice for better utilizing their down time. Second, many people feel a stigma is associated with seeking and/or finding a "significant other" using a dating service. Furthermore, such services typically first match the individuals and then the individuals, if willing, communicate via email and/or telephone to learn more about each other. Such systems are not suitable for setting up a networking meeting at a particular time and place.
Finally, such services are not primarily geared to helping an individual promote oneself through "networking" with other individuals. Business "networking" has become an integral part of many professions. Individuals spend a considerable amount of time going to conferences, joining social clubs and professional associations to meet and network with other business people to further their professional aspirations. Professional conferences, although primarily planned to provide lectures and discussion roundtables, almost always include "networking" functions such as luncheons or cocktail receptions to allow participants to network with each other and "exchange business cards". For some professionals, such as salespeople, a considerable amount of their "work" includes simply networking with other individuals in the hopes of creating business contacts and/or product/service customers.
Another good indication of the importance of "networking" are the number of social clubs offered to individuals and the amount of money individuals will pay to join such clubs. In the City of New York, there are a variety of social clubs that offer opportunities to network with other members. Such clubs include university alumni clubs such as the Yale Club or the Harvard Club and non-alumni clubs such as the New York Yacht Club and Union Club. However, not all members of such clubs join to "networking" purposes. Many join because of the fine amenities offered including dining services and overnight accommodations. A recent article illustrated the possible friction between members attempting to network with non-interested members: "The oh-so-proper Harvard Club of New York is polling members about a proposal that they wear an 'H' pin in their labels to signify a willingness to socialize while at the club. Seems certain members resent unsolicited efforts of others to network". Forbes, "How about $ for $tuff", Jan. 24, 2000.
Private social clubs have in the past provided "communal tables" in the club's dining facilities. This would allow members of the club, who are dining alone, to sit together and thereby interact. Since all those at the table were members of the same club, each shared at least some common interests. Recently, an increasing number of restaurants are offering seating at "communal tables" which allow strangers to dine together. "The Nearness of . . . . Who?" by Jennifer Tung, New York Times, Feb. 20, 2000. Such tables offer diners the opportunity to dine with others rather than dine alone. However, ironically, the attractiveness of such public "communal tables", the diversity of individuals who may participate, is also one of its drawbacks. More specifically, it is difficult to predict who will be seated next to who. Since individuals can have a wide variety of interests and backgrounds, the "communal table" does not always result in the most desirable dining experience for all those participating. Moreover, not all restaurants, in fact very few, offer such seating arrangements.
Thus, although there is a great deal of opportunities to "network", it is sometimes difficult to determine the who's, where's and when of networking. Although some events sponsored by social clubs or associations are clearly intended for networking, and thus all participants are willing to network, the timing of such events are typically outside the control of individuals. An individual is unable, for example, to attend such an event on a particular business trip layover in Chicago. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide an improved method and system for networking since, today, career advancement may rely not only on working hard and keeping abreast of the latest developments in one's field, but also professionally networking with others in a variety of business settings such as conferences and the like.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,459,859 to Senda provides an information providing apparatus and system for providing registered subscribers with information required for meeting with desired people while traveling. The apparatus includes attribute/schedule storing means for storing for each subscriber, attribute data and schedule data of a subscriber, and attribute data of a person expected to meet, subscriber selecting means for selecting a specific subscriber having common attribute data and common schedule data among subscribers by reference to the attribute/schedule storing means, information accumulating means for accumulating information as to the expected person for each subscriber selected by the subscriber selecting means, and information providing means for providing subscribers via a communication network with the information accumulated by the information accumulating means. In operation, the attribute data and schedule data of a subscriber and the attribute data of an expected person are stored in advance in attribute/schedule storing means for each subscriber who expects to meet with a desired person while traveling. The subscriber selecting means selects a specific subscriber having common attribute data and common schedule data among subscribers by referring to the attribute/schedule storing means. The drawback of the system of this system is that it generates information regarding the other party who the subscriber can meet with. The system does not allow for "two-way" arranging and scheduling which would allow for a more synergistic networking. The system of Senda is analogous to the system of Collin except Senda includes "travel schedule data" in the preference information and the system generates a list of possible matches based on the attribute data of a desired person and the travel schedule data. The system fails to provide individuals with a flexible and dynamic system for networking. Although the system provides information required for meeting with a desired person while traveling, it is the system that "selects a specific subscriber having common attribute data and common schedule data among subscribers by referring to the attribute/schedule storing means". This is disadvantageous since the parties participating in the service are "matched" by the system, rather then by themselves.
Thus, it would be desirable to provide an improved system and method which overcomes the above described disadvantages. More specifically, it would be desirable to provide a method and system which provides personalized, dynamic interactive means which allows individuals to schedule a time and place for a meeting for the purpose of business or personal networking.

Location-based networking methods and systems for performing the same


A process to control the trajectory of a spinning projectile. The projectile's accelerations are measured by means of an inertial unit in three axes within a reference linked to the projectile so as to prepare the piloting commands for the projectile's trajectory. The velocity vector V components (VX, VY, VZ) of the projectile are measured using a global positioning system (GPS) along three axes and within a land reference (GX, GY, GZ). Based on these measurements, the components (ΓX,ΓY,ΓZ) of the acceleration vector Γ are evaluated in the same land reference (GX, GY, GZ). At each of these measurements and periodical evaluations by the GPS, the Euler angles of the projectile are recalculated by combining the resultants of the velocity (V) and acceleration (Γ) measurements given by the GPS and those of the acceleration given by the inertial unit.

The technical scope of the invention is that of processes enabling the control of the trajectory of a spinning projectile and namely the control of the trajectory of a projectile fired from a cannon.
Projectiles fired from cannons have, in theory, a well known trajectory. However, non reproducible external factors (such as wind, temperature and atmospherical pressure) or internal factors (such as initial velocity and aerodynamic coefficients) can influence the trajectory.
This results in deviations in the impact on the ground of the projectile which, at the current maximum artillery range (around 35 km) can approach, as standard deviations, 500 m in range and 150 m in direction.
So as to improve firing accuracy, it is known to correct the projectile's trajectory in range by deploying one or several aerobrakes. Patent FR2786561 describes such a solution. Standard deviations in accuracy are, at 35 km, of around a hundred meters in range as well as in direction.
Another known solution is to ensure the autonomous and continual command of the trajectory by means of aerodynamic elevons. These are controlled by an autopilot onboard the projectile. The standard deviations in accuracy may thus be reduced to around ten meters or so in range and in direction. Moreover, by using the gliding effect it is possible to notably increase the maximal range (which may exceed 65 km with no additional propellant).
These autonomous in flight projectiles are provided with a satellite positioning system (more commonly known as GPS or global positioning system) which allows them to self locate with respect to their trajectory. Before being fired, the projectile is programmed with the coordinates of the target. It thereafter determines for itself its actual position in flight and prepares, using data supplied by an on-board inertial unit and appropriate algorithms, the control commands for the elevons.
The projectile also incorporates an inertial unit, comprising accelerometers and gyros, which supplies (for a reference linked to the projectile) the non-gravitationial instantaneous spin and acceleration vector components to which the projectile is subjected.
Three integrations made using the spin instantaneous vector components may thus supply the Euler angles of the projectile (pitch, yaw and roll) required to prepare the control commands of the trajectory.
Such a solution is classically used in projectiles such a cruise missiles that do not spin, or spin very little, (sp in rate of around 0.5 revs/s) and which are only subjected to reduced longitudinal accelerations (of around 10 times gravitational acceleration g). These projectiles incorporate very accurate but costly inertial units.
Such inertial units cannot be used in cannon-fired projectiles, since they are subjected to substantial accelerations borne by the projectile during firing. Additionally, the cost of the inertial units used in such projectiles must be as low as possible.
Inertial units that can be used in cannon-fired projectiles are of average accuracy and present drift leading to statistically high error in roll position reaching up to 90°. It is thus impossible to pilot the projectile, which is unable to reach its target. This phenomenon is further accentuated when the auto-spin velocity of the projectile is not nil.
One previously envisaged solution consists in estimating the initial roll position by applying reference piloting commands, during a preliminary phase, and deducting the roll position of the velocity components measured by the GPS locater.
However, this process has the drawback of not ensuring the guidance of the projectile during the application phase of the reference piloting commands. This results in a diminution of performances (reduction in maximal range and deterioration of accuracy for a given range).

Process to control the trajectory of a spinning projectile


A driving circuit for a vacuum fluorescent display having a filament, a grid electrode and a segment electrode, the driving circuit comprising a filament driving unit for driving the filament; a grid driving unit for pulse-driving the grid electrode; and a segment driving unit for pulse-driving the segment electrode, wherein the driving circuit comprises a controlling unit for validating or invalidating the output of the filament driving unit at a proper timing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a driving circuit for a vacuum fluorescent display.
2. Description of the Related Art
A vacuum fluorescent display (hereinafter, referred to as "VFD") is a display device of a self-illuminating type for displaying a desired pattern by causing a direct-heating type cathode called a filament to emit thermoelectrons by causing the filament to generate heat by applying a voltage thereto in A vacuum chamber, and by causing the thermoelectrons to collide against fluorescent material on an anode (segment) electrode and causing it to illuminate, by accelerating the thermoelectrons using a grid electrode. VFDs have excellent features in terms of visibility, multi-coloring, a low operating voltage, reliability (environmental resistance) etc. and are utilized in various applications and fields such as cars, home appliances and consumer products.
For a VFD, as one scheme for applying a voltage to its filament, pulse-driving scheme has been proposed. Pulse-driving scheme is a scheme in which a pulse voltage (hereinafter, referred to as "filament pulse voltage") generated by chopping a DC voltage relatively high compared to the ordinary nominal voltage of the filament is applied to the filament, and an illuminating state having a small intensity gradient etc. can be obtained.
FIG. 13 illustrates a conventional pulse-driving scheme. As shown in the figure, in the conventional pulse-driving scheme, a filament pulse voltage having a constant duty ratio is set in an external oscillator 30 or an external controller 40 based on a reference clock signal (an oscillation clock for the external oscillator 30 or a system clock for the external controller 40) and is continuously applied to a filament 11.
As an example of VFD driving circuit using a conventional driving scheme such as the external oscillator 30 or the external controller 40 (hereinafter, referred to as "conventional VFD driving circuit"), there is a technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Publication No. 2002-108263.
Furthermore, in a conventional VFD driving circuit, a mechanism for adjusting the intensity of a VFD 10 is provided such that the VDF 10 can be displayed with proper intensity in response to the surrounding environmental conditions (such as the environmental illumination intensity) when operating the VFD 10. As mechanisms for adjusting the intensity of the VFD 10, a scheme called "grid dimming" in which the duty ratio of a voltage applied to a grid electrode 12 (hereinafter, referred to as "grid voltage") is adjusted and a scheme called "anode dimming" in which the duty ratio of a voltage applied to a segment (anode) electrode 13 (hereinafter, referred to as "segment voltage") is adjusted are commonly used. Hereinafter, the grid dimming and the anode dimming are collectively referred to as "dimming".
Here, a conventional VFD driving circuit executes dimming based on a reference table of dimmer adjustment data and dimmer values as shown in FIG. 12 (a), for example. The dimmer adjustment data is data correlated to values that can be set as the duty ratios of the grid voltage and the segment voltage and are designated when dimming is executed by an external device to the VFD driving circuit. The dimmer adjustment data can be bit number of binary data in response to the resolution of dimming such as, for example, 10-bit binary data (DM0-DM9) in which DM0 shown in FIG. 12 (a) is the LSB (Least Significant Bit). On the other hand, the dimmer value is a value that can be set as the duty ratio described above, and can be defined as "pulse width TW/pulse cycle T" using the pulse width TW and the pulse cycle T shown in the wave form diagram in FIG. 12 (b).
== First Task ==
FIG. 14 shows a wave form diagram of the main signal in the case where dimming is executed such that the duty ratios of the grid voltage and the segment voltage are reduced by "½", "¼", "⅛", in a state that a conventional VFD driving circuit keeps applying a filament pulse voltage having a constant duty ratio to the filament 11. The time period in which both of the grid voltage and the segment voltage shown in the figure are at a level H represents a time period that is at a voltage by which both of the grid electrode 12 and the segment electrode 13 are driven (hereinafter, referred to as "ON period") and, during that time period, it is assumed that fluorescent material on the driven segment electrode 13 illuminates and a desired pattern is displayed on the VFD 10.
Here, during the ON period, in the time period in which the filament pulse voltage is at the level H, the intensity of the VFD 10 is reduced because the potential difference between the filament, and the grid electrode and the segment electrode becomes small. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 14, the ON period becomes shorter and the rate of the time period in which the filament pulse voltage is at the level H increases in the ON period as the duty ratios of the grid voltage and the segment voltage are reduced. Therefore, the reduction of the intensity of the VFD 10 as described above becomes remarkable (It is said that the duty ratio, "⅛" of the grid voltage and the segment voltage is the minimum threshold).
That is, in the conventional VFD driving circuit, dimming is executed such that the duty ratios of the grid voltage and the segment voltage are reduced in order to reduce the intensity of the VFD 10. In this case, the rate of reduction in the intensity of the VFD 10 becomes larger, as the rate of the occupation in the time period in which the filament pulse voltage is at the level H receives influence to become larger in the ON period than that of the rate of the reduction in intensity of the VFD 10 based on the dimming. Therefore, for the conventional VFD driving circuit, it has been a challenge to execute desired intensity adjustment by dimming when the ON period is short.
== Second Task ==
In the conventional VFD driving circuit, the filament pulse voltage is designed to be applied to the filament at a constant duty ratio while fluctuation of the duty ratio is caused by variations and thermal properties of elements driving the filament and fluctuation of the filament power voltage etc. Furthermore, due to the fluctuation of the duty ratio, the effective value of the filament pulse voltage goes out of the tolerance defined for its nominal value (for example, nominal value±approximately 10%) and a problem has been raised, that degrading is caused for the intensity grade of the VFD display and the life of the VFD display is shortened due to degradation of the filament.
Then, in recent years, demand for improvement in further reliability has been increased for the VFD driving circuit. Therefore, in order to cope with the above problems, it is required to equip a mechanism for finely adjusting the duty ratio of the filament pulse voltage at an appropriate timing (improving the resolution). In the conventional VFD driving circuit, it is possible to improve the resolution relating to the adjustment of the duty ratio of the filament pulse voltage by setting high the frequency of the reference clock signal that is to set the filament pulse voltage.
However, in the conventional VFD driving circuit, the power consumption increases and, concurrently, noises interfering with apparatuses such as radio are generated when the frequency of the reference clock signal is set at a too high frequency in order to improve the resolution relating to the adjustment of the duty ratio of the filament voltage. On the other hand, when the frequency of the reference clock signal is set at a low frequency (the cycle is made longer), the frequency of the filament pulse voltage is also decreased. Thus, the frequency of the filament pulse voltage reaches within the audible band (generally, 20 kHz or lower) and sound noises are generated from the filament.
As described above, the method of adjusting the frequency of the reference clock signal, the problems described above might occur. Therefore, a new technique is sought for a mechanism for adjusting the duty ratio of the filament pulse voltage.

Driving circuit for vacuum fluorescent display


According to a method for selecting and feeding articles to blisters or containers, a first hopper filled with unselected articles feeds a second main hopper with selected size-matching articles, by means of a tapered inlet section. Size non-matching articles get jammed and stopped within the tapered inlet sections and are removed by means of a shutter hinged to each inlet section. A sensor detects when the flow of size-matching articles is interrupted. According to a second embodiment the inlet sections are replaced by swinging tubular portions. The shutters and tubular portions can be operated cyclically, thus avoiding the need for the sensor. An apparatus is also described for carrying out the method.

Currently used packs, commonly called "blister packs", or similar containers, such as bottles, small boxes, and so on, are filled in a filling station, where at least one article is introduced into each blister or a series of articles are filled to each bottle or each box.
In the following, reference will be more often made only to the blister-packaging method. However, it should be understood that the invention, as well as all considerations made herein below, apply mostly also to packaging articles into bottles or boxes or other similar containers, as long as the feeding method and apparatus used are the same or very similar.
The known apparatuses for filling the blisters, according to different techniques, are particularly efficient and reliable for high quality articles, such as pharmaceutical or pharmaceutical-like products, that is for articles, whose dimensions are very homogeneous.
However, feeding articles having substantially different dimension, can be particularly difficult.
Typically, the blister filling apparatuses known to those skilled in the art, and often similar devices for filling bottles and boxes as well, include a plurality of feeding channels, along which the articles are taken in rows to the blisters, for instance made in a band, or to the bottles or boxes.
The lower ends of the channels touch the band surface and the articles are fed into the respective blisters, as they pass therebelow.
The channels are connected in parallel with a feeding device, e.g. a vibrating hopper, inside which the articles are contained in bulk.
The hopper vibrations, of prefixed amplitude and frequency, facilitate a systematic introduction of the articles into each channel.
As already mentioned, in case of high quality articles, which all match perfectly the required size, all articles pass freely through the channels and enter the blisters each time underlying, without creating jams inside the channels and allowing a substantially continuous and regular flow therein.
In case of lower quality articles, e.g. for alimentary use (chewing gum, candies, etc.), the hopper can contain articles which do not match perfectly the nominal size and can provoke jams and obstacles in the channels, usually in their inlet area. This fact negatively affects the flow of articles being fed to the containers.
The jams and obstacles can be caused by articles, whose dimensions are not compatible with the channels sections, or by articles sticking together, which thus form groups.
Typically, the articles placed in bulk in the hopper after a selection or they are selected as they are fed to the containers. However, generally only one hopper is provided and the selection causes a temporary interruption of the flow of articles. The article flow interruption may provoke either missing articles in the containers or delay in the package operation. Sometimes, it can even require the machine to be stopped, all this resulting in considerable downtime.

Method and apparatus for selecting and feeding articles


Briefly, a method and apparatus to estimate a collision rate parameter by manipulating a first probability value with a second probability value. The first probability value may be the probability of an attempt to transmit a data packet within a desired time slot of a contention window. The second probability value may be a probability of data packet transmitted from the desired time slot within the contention window to collide with an at least one other data packet transmitted by other station of wireless communication network.

In wired and/or wireless local area networks (e.g. LAN and WLAN, respectively) devices may use an access mechanism to access the network. An example of an access mechanism may be a Carrier Sense Multiple Access with Collision Avoidance (CSMA/CA) and, more specifically, CSMA/CA with a binary exponential backoff method.
In CSMA/CA with a binary exponential backoff method, the devices, also termed stations, may use a predefined time slot of a time interval to access the channel of WLAN. This time interval may be known in the art as a contention window (CW). The CW may include a predetermined number of slots. In order to reduce the probability of collisions, a station may monitor transmissions of other stations over the channel and may decide to access the channel in a desired time slot of the CW. The desired time slot may be selected randomly from the time slots of the CW and the size of CW may be varied based on a probability of collisions and/or a collision rate parameter, if desired.
It will be appreciated that for simplicity and clarity of illustration, elements shown in the figures have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements may be exaggerated relative to other elements for clarity. Further, where considered appropriate, reference numerals may be repeated among the figures to indicate corresponding or analogous elements.

Method and apparatus to estimate collision rate parameter


Antenna related features of a mobile phone or computing device are disclosed. In one embodiment, wireless control and signal are fed separately through difference types of flexes to optimize performance and cost. In one embodiment, active switching and processing of differing conductive trace lengths are performed on an antenna flex so that antenna performance can be optimized for multiple wireless technologies covering a wide range of wavelengths. In one embodiment, a cantilever arm affixed to a ground screw can provide double grounding in a region with no available screw points due to high z constraint. In one embodiment, a device can provide double feed for antenna through a single screw. In one embodiment, a short pin can be configured to support thinner metal. In one embodiment, a “vibrator bracket/LDS short pin” structure can be used to share a common screw point.

The quest for production of smaller, lighter, and cheaper devices is ongoing. In this regard, by way of example, it may be desirable to produce components and layers of components for in computing devices that are relatively thin in order to provide benefits such as reduced material usage, reduced size, and reduced weight. However, the production of such components may present certain challenges.
For example, when a circuit board is manufactured to fit into a thin device, the number of electrical connections that can be configured to and from the circuit board may be limited by the compact design specifications for the device. Attempts to make the most of such thin geometries can result in signal leakage between components and loss of signal quality over certain connections. Moreover, by having limited configurations for connections within a device, grounding pathways may be limited creating even more of a risk for electrical shorts. Therefore, improving the arrangement of electrical connections within a device continues to be an ongoing challenge for device designers.


A rotary internal combustion engine has a base and a housing rotatably mounted to the base and forming a radial cylinder. An output shaft is rotatably mounted concentrically with the housing and has an arm rigidly extending therefrom. A piston slides in the cylinder for forming a combustion chamber, the piston being operatively connected to the arm. Relative rotational movement between the housing and the output shaft causes the piston to reciprocate in the cylinder. Rotation of the housing is caused by expansion of exhaust gases from the cylinder passing through a turbine which is fixedly connected to the housing. Adjustable stator blades are mounted to the base downstream of the turbine. Stop means are arranged on the shaft for limiting the relative movement between the shaft and the housing. Brake means are arranged on the base and the housing for facilitating starting and stopping sequences of the engine.

Conventional engines need a transmission to obtain output power. In order to simplify the complicated structure of the engine, the invented transmission mechanism can use the two-times satisfaction of Newton' Third Law in the double-rotor rotary engine end turbine to adjust the output power relative to the speed of engine, which is caused by a velocity-pressure change of the combustion products passing through the turbine of the engine.
The double-rotor rotary engine and turbine, which was patented in U.S. Pat. No. 4,912,923, has the most important feature that the output power is produced by two-times satisfaction of Newton's Third Law in each explosion stroke. This feature can be caused by the combustion products to move the piston relative to the cylinder and also to make the turbine produce a tangential-force on the rotatable housing which, in turn, takes the role of base to react on the shaft of the engine. Hence, the speed of the engine is in response to the torque reaction between the rotatable housing and the base of the engine as produced by the exhaust turbine, and between the rotatable housing and the shaft of the engine as produced by the expansion of combustion products in the cylinder.
Therefore, the invented transmission mechanism uses said features of the engine to change the speed and pressure of combustion products passing through the turbine for adjusting the output power relative to the speed of the engine without the transmission of conventional engines.


Electronic pedal control systems and methods for a vehicle are provided. One electronic pedal control system includes a first sensor configured to produce a first output corresponding to a user applied force and a second sensor configured to produce a second output corresponding to a release of user applied force. A controller is configured to receive the first output and the second output and to control one of a brake system, a clutch system, and a throttle system of the vehicle based on the first and second outputs, and the first and second sensors are positioned relative to one another such that an application of force to the first sensor unloads the second sensor and the removal of force from the first sensor loads the second sensor.

In motor vehicles, pedals are often provided to enable a user to communicate with one or more control systems in the vehicle to regulate the power output of the vehicle in accordance with the demand from the user. For example, an accelerator pedal is often provided to enable the user to communicate the amount of desired acceleration to the vehicle controller. Other pedals, such as brake and clutch pedals, may also be provided to enable the user to communicate other operational commands to the system controller. Existing pedals typically use lever style assemblies in which a pedal is mounted to a pivoting arm and is physically depressed by the user to indicate a desire for an operational change, such as increased or decreased power output.
However, the need for the physical displacement of the pedals may result in pedal failure in instances in which the movement path of the pedal is obstructed. Additionally, such lever style assemblies may present additional drawbacks due to their mechanical complexity, which introduces high monetary cost. Accordingly, there exists a need for systems and methods that address these drawbacks with traditional pedals for motor vehicles.

Systems and methods for pressure actuated pedal control


A method for polishing or texturing a magnetic disc, comprises bringing a tape traveled in a predetermined direction and made of fibers having a fineness of not more than 0.1 denier, and a slurry containing polishing grains dispersed therein, into contact with a substrate of the magnetic disc. Such method has an extremely low surface roughness (Ra) and an extremely low maximum projection height (Rp) with an excellent high accuracy, thereby efficiently producing a magnetic recording medium which is free from head crash and errors upon reading and writing of information.

The present invention relates to a method for texturing a magnetic disc, and more particularly to a method for efficiently and precisely polishing or texturing a surface of a substrate of a magnetic disc.
In recent years, magnetic recording media such as magnetic discs have been increasingly utilized as an external storage device in association with the development of information processing techniques such as computers.
Hitherto, as the magnetic recording media, there have been used those produced by subjecting an aluminum alloy substrate to an alumite treatment or plating the substrate with a non-magnetic material such as Ni--P, and then forming in turn a undercoat layer composed of Cr or the like, a magnetic thin film layer composed of Co-based alloy and a protective layer composed of a carbonaceous material on the substrate.
Further, in association with recent increasing demands for high capacity and high density of such magnetic recording media, the distance between a magnetic disc and a magnetic head, i.e., the flying height of the magnetic head from the surface of the magnetic disc has been required to be reduced to a value as low as 0.15 .mu.m or less. However, in the case where such an extremely small flying height of the magnetic head is used, when any unusual projections exist on the surface of the magnetic disc, there arises a risk that the magnetic head and the projections are contacted with each other, thereby causing a head crash and damaging the surface of the magnetic disc. Even when the projections are not so high as to undergo the head crash, the contact between the magnetic head and the projections is likely to cause various errors upon reading and writing of information.
On the other hand, miniaturization of the magnetic discs has been demanded in addition to the high capacity and high density. For this reason, a spindle motor or the other components used in a disc driving apparatus have also been required to be correspondingly miniaturized in size. This tends to cause the lack of motor torque, so that there arises such a phenomenon that the magnetic head is stuck and fixed on the surface of the magnetic disc, and therefore, cannot fly thereover. In order to prevent, the sticking of the magnetic head onto the surface of the magnetic disc by reducing the contact area therebetween, there have been used so-called "texturing", i.e., formation of fine traces or traces on the surface of the magnetic disc substrate.
Hitherto, as the methods of applying the texturing onto the surface of the magnetic disc substrate, there are known, for example, a tape abrasion method using a fixed grinding particle-type polishing tape (Japanese Patent. Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 1-86320(1989), etc.), a slurry abrasion method using a polishing tape to a surface of which a slurry containing polishing grains is applied (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open (KOKAI) No. 3-147518(1991), etc.), or the like.
However, in the case where the magnetic disc substrate is surface-treated by the texturing to such an extent as to satisfy both a flying property (low flying height, high flying stability, etc.) of the magnetic head and a high anti-wear property (i.e., reduction in surface roughness of the substrate and strengthening of the finishing treatment of the disc), the surface roughness of the substrate must be extremely reduced to meet the requirement of recent drastic increase in recording capacity and recording density of magnetic recording media.
That is, it has been required to achieve, with a high accuracy, extremely low surface roughness (Ra), for example, not more than 15 .ANG. and extremely low maximum projection height (Rp), for example, not more than 40 .ANG., by the texturing. Further, the texturing must be conducted with a high efficiency as well as the high accuracy.
However, in the afore-mentioned conventional texturing methods, it has been extremely difficult to conduct the texturing with such a high accuracy.
As a result of the present inventors' earnest studies to solve the afore-mentioned problems, it has been found that by bringing a specific tape into contact with a magnetic disc substrate in a slurry in which polishing grains are dispersed, there can be formed a textured surface of the magnetic disc substrate, which can exhibit a low surface roughness (Ra) and a low maximum projection height (Rp) with an excellent high accuracy. The present invention has been attained on the basis of this finding.


The present invention is to provide a diamond sintered compact having good conductivity together with the characteristics, such as hardness, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance, chemical stability, almost equal to those of a natural diamond. A boron-doped diamond sintered compact having good conductivity and high thermal resistance is produced by a sintering process, in which 90 to 99.9 wt. % of a boron-doped diamond powder and 0.1 to 10% wt. % of a powder comprising, one or more of carbonates including Mg, Ca, Sr or Ba, and/or one or more of composite carbonates composed by two or more of these elements, as a bonding phase component, are sintered together under Ht/HP conditions, and the bonding phase component melts and then fills into the space between the boron-doped diamond powder particles.

Since, diamonds have inherent characteristics as high hardness, high thermal conductivity, high thermal resistance, and excellent chemical stability;
diamonds have been utilized for many applications, such as, abrasion resistance materials, electronic device/sensor materials, biotechnological materials, and optical materials. Widely applied methods to produce diamonds are; the vapor-phase synthesis method using various kinds of CVD processes, and/or a synthesis method using an ultrahigh pressure/high temperature (HP/HT) apparatus.
It is well known that diamonds are inherently non-conductive material. However, in recent years, the boron-doped diamond has attracted notice due to its semiconductor characteristics. The following are known examples of producing the boron-doped diamond; the vapor-phase synthesis method in which a small amount of boron components are added to a reaction gas while synthesizing the diamond; and the HP/HT synthesis method in which under the conditions of a pressure in the range of 5 to 10 GPa and a temperature in the range of 1300 to 2000° C., the diamond is synthesized from graphite powder and boron powder as the material powders.
Also, since diamonds inherently have characteristics such as hardness and abrasion resistance, thus diamond sintered compacts are used in various cutting tools. Such diamond sintered compacts are generally produced by sintering under HP/HT conditions. The following are known examples of producing the diamond sintered compact: a method in which the diamond-Co (cobalt) based sintered compact is produced from diamond powder and Co powder as material powders; the material powders are sintered in the HP/HT apparatus under the conditions of a pressure of about 5.5 GPa and a temperature of about 1500° C. Another method in which the diamond-ceramics based sintered compact is produced from diamond powder, Ti (titanium) powder, Zr (zirconium) powder and Cr (chromium) powder as material powders; the material powders are sintered in the HP/HT apparatus under the conditions of a pressure of 6.5 GPa or higher and a temperature in the range of 1700 to 1900° C., then further heated up at a temperature of 2000° C. or higher: and a method in which the diamond-carbonate based sintered compact is produced from diamond powder and carbonate powder as material powders; the material powders are sintered in the HP/HT apparatus under the conditions of a pressure in the range of 6 to 12 GPa and a temperature in the range of 1700 to 2500° C.
Known references are: Japanese Patent Publication No. 2004-193522; Japanese Patent Publication No. H04-312982; Japanese Translation of PCT Publication No. 2006-502955; Japanese Patent Publication No. H05-194031; and
Japanese Patent No. 2,795,738.
The inherent characteristics of the diamond sintered compact have been utilized widely. For example, the aforementioned conventional art refers to a diamond-Co based sintered compact that has electrical conductivity, since the bonding phase in the diamond-Co based sintered compact consists of Co metal. So this diamond-Co based sintered compact has an advantage that the electrical discharge machining process is usable for machining this diamond-Co based sintered compact, but also has the disadvantage of low thermal resistance. On the other hand, the aforementioned conventional art refers to a diamond-carbonate based sintered compact that has the advantage of excellent thermal resistance; but due to its non-conductivity, the electrical discharge machining process is not usable for machining this diamond-carbonate based sintered compact. Therefore, there is a problem that only the laser beam machining process is usable for machining this diamond-carbonate based sintered compact. Hence, in conventional arts, it is very difficult to obtain a diamond sintered compact having both good electrical conductivity and other inherent characteristics of a diamond, such as hardness, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance and chemical stability. This is one of the limitations which prevent wide application of the diamond sintered compact.
The present invention relates to obtaining a diamond sintered compact, having both good conductivity and other characteristics of a natural diamond, such as, hardness, thermal conductivity, thermal resistance and chemical stability. The present invention also relates to a simplified and effective production method for the diamond sintered compact.

Diamond sintered compact having high electrical conductivity and production method thereof


A method and composition for prophylaxis and/or treatment of bacterial infections, particularly bacterial respiratory infections. A fusion protein of lysozyme and the carboxyl terminal propeptide of surfactant protein-B (SP-B) with the preceding ten amino acids of the mature SP-B peptide is administered in a pharmaceutically acceptable medium to an individual. The fusion protein may be selected so as to deliver it to a target infection site, such as the lungs or gastrointestinal tract. The method and composition eliminates problems associated with conventional antibiotic treatments, such as inefficacy and promotion of antibiotic resistant bacterial strains.

Bacterial infections remain a leading cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. While antibiotics are often safe and efficacious, there is widespread concern over bacterial strains that have become resistant to classic antibiotic treatment regimens. In individuals infected with resistant strains, antibiotic administration results in incomplete and ineffective treatment necessitating additional treatment along with propagation of the resistant strains. Preventative measures and alternative treatments that do not rely on antibiotics are therefore desirable.
The respiratory and gastrointestinal tracts are frequent sites of bacterial infections in normal individuals. The normal respiratory tract has natural clearance mechanisms that help to prevent bacterial colonization. These mechanisms include the presence of a mucus gel that acts as a barrier to bacterial invasion, the propulsive forces of the cilia on the epithelial lining of the airways, and the secretion of antibacterial humoral factors such as the secretory immunoglobulins IgA and IgM, the proteins lactoferrin, betalysin and fibronectin, complement components and the enzyme lysozyme. Of these antimicrobial factors, lysozyme is the best established antimicrobial substance in airway secretions.
In certain individuals such as those who are immunocompromised, who are in less than optimal health, who lack fully functional immune systems such as neonates or geriatric patients, or who suffer from a disease affecting the respiratory tract such as cystic fibrosis or the gastrointestinal tract such as ulcerative colitis or sprue, bacterial infections may have severe consequences leading to serious illness or even death. For example, production of altered mucus in cystic fibrosis patients leads to dilation of the exocrine ducts, destruction of acinar tissue, and replacement of the destroyed tissue by fibrous connective tissue. Involvement of the lungs leads to pneumonia and bronchiectasis. The paucity of systemic dissemination of infection in these patients, even in the presence of substantial bacterial colonization of the lungs, indicates that their systemic immunity is essentially intact, yet they are susceptible to pulmonary infections. These patients often die in their teens or early twenties from terminal lung infections in spite of aggressive antibiotic therapy.
Human lysozyme is an naturally occurring enzyme that is known to exhibit bactericidal activity in vitro and thus would appear to be a promising way to prevent and/or treat bacterial infections. Lysozyme is a small (15 kilodaltons), basic protein that is produced in most tissues. It is secreted and is present in most body secretions such as mucus. In the lungs, immunohistochemical methods have localized lysozyme to the bronchial serous submucosal glands, alveolar macrophages and lamellar bodies in Type II alveolar epithelial cells. Approximately 80% of lysozyme secreted into the airway comes from the mucosal layer of the upper airways.
In vitro, lysozyme has been demonstrated to act independently to cause bacterial death. It is known that one way lysozyme kills bacteria is by hydrolyzing the glycosidic bond between C-1 of N-acetylmuramic acid and C-4 of N-acetylglucosamine in the bacterial polysaccharide cell wall. Lysozyme can also kill bacteria by acting synergistically with other proteins such as complement or antibody to lyse bacterial cells. Lysozyme, produced by polymorphonuclear leukocytes such as neutrophils, inhibits chemotaxis of polymorphonuclear leukocytes and limits the production of oxygen free radicals following an infection. This limits the degree of inflammation, while at the same time enhances phagocytosis by these cells. Lysozyme is also probably involved in the response of airway tissue to injury.
While the antibacterial effects of lysozyme in vitro have been well documented, there has heretofore been no way to exploit these effects of lysozyme for in vivo use. Previous reports furthermore implied that sustained lysozyme administration would be harmful.
Surfactant protein-B (SP-B) is one of the protein components of pulmonary surfactant. Pulmonary surfactant, a complex mixture of phospholipids and proteins, is synthesized and secreted by alveolar type II epithelial cells, a specialized exocrine cell. Normal respiratory function requires pulmonary surfactant for maintenance of alveolar patency.
A method and composition for the prophylaxis and/or treatment of bacterial infections, particularly respiratory bacterial infections as frequently occurs in patients with cystic fibrosis, is thus desirable.