The electronic device includes a substrate, a lower conductive film provided on the substrate, a functional film provided on the lower conductive film, and a crystallinity barrier film provided between the lower conductive film and the functional film. The present invention prevents the crystallinity of the functional film being affected by the crystallinity or the material selection of the lower conductive film, so it becomes possible to use a low-cost metal such as aluminum (Al) for the lower conductive film, and to use a low-cost method for forming the film, thereby making it possible to improve the crystallinity of the functional film without using a costly film-formation method such as epitaxial growth. For the crystallinity barrier film, there can be used a material having an amorphous structure.

Functional films composed of ferroelectric material or piezoelectric material are used in some electronic devices such as film capacitors, ferroelectric nonvolatile memories, film bulk acoustic wave resonators and the like. A film bulk acoustic wave resonator, for instance, is configured by sandwiching a functional film made of a piezoelectric material between an upper conductive film and a lower conductive film. The film bulk acoustic wave resonator operates as a high-frequency filter when a high-frequency signal is applied across the two conductors.
To achieve good device characteristics in such an electronic device, it is necessary to enhance the crystallinity of the functional film. A method of improving the crystallinity of the lower conductive film that is generally employed is to improve the crystallinity of the lower conductive film and have that crystallinity reflected in the crystallinity of the functional film. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,475,931 and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 2001-313535 teach a method in which the X-ray rocking curve full width at half maximum (FWHM) of the lower conductive film is made to be not greater than 4.5 degrees, and by reflecting that crystallinity, a functional film X-ray rocking curve FWHM of not more than 3.5 degrees is achieved. JP 3,310,881 and Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. 11-312801 also describe methods of forming a lower conductive film having good crystallinity.
However, in order to have the crystallinity of the lower conductive film adequately reflected in the functional film, it is necessary to use a costly method of growing the film, such as, for example, epitaxial growth. Moreover, with an epitaxial growth method, the film growth rate is relatively low, so low productivity is a problem when the method is used to form functional films.
Furthermore, to have the crystallinity of the lower conductive film reflected in the crystallinity of the functional film, it is also necessary to form the lower conductive film of expensive materials having high crystal matching to the functional film, such as, for example, platinum (Pt) and iridium (Ir), so the high cost of the materials becomes a problem. The crystallinity of the lower conductive film is also not reflected in the functional film if the lower conductive film has a high surface roughness, so in some cases it is necessary to smooth the surface of the lower conductive film by polishing or the like.

Electronic device and method of fabricating the same


An optical module includes: a substrate; a wiring pattern; and a cover material. The wiring pattern includes, on the substrate, an electrode portion having a predetermined width and a signal line having a width smaller than the predetermined width and connected to the electrode portion. The cover material covers a part of the electrode portion and the signal line.

In recent years, an increase in the modulation speed and an increase in the configuration scale of an optical module such as an optical modulator have been in progress along with an increase in the capacity of an optical transmission system. Therefore, in an optical transmitter with an optical module mounted therein, it is desirable that a plurality of Mach-Zehnders forming optical waveguides be integrated in a single chip in order to achieve a size reduction. In an optical module, optical waveguides are formed in parallel with one another by four Mach-Zehnders, for example. Two signal electrodes and two ground electrodes are patterned on each of the optical waveguides. The optical module generates a multilevel-modulated signal by inputting electric signals different from each other to the two signal electrodes. In such an optical module, all the electric signal input units are disposed on one side of a package in order to facilitate the mounting of the input unit (such as a coaxial connector) and to reduce the mounting area thereof.
In the optical module with the input units disposed on one side thereof, an electric signal such as an RF (Radio Frequency) signal is inputted thereto via a coaxial connector provided on the side surface of the package. Moreover, a coaxial adaptor for inputting an external electric signal is connected to the coaxial connector. The optical module, however, needs to increase a pitch between the signal electrodes to which electric signals are inputted according to the width of the coaxial adaptor. Thus, when the number of channels is increased, the mounting area is correspondingly increased.
In order to suppress the aforementioned increase in mounting area, a surface-mount optical module in which an electric signal is inputted from a PCB (Printed Circuit Board) side via an FPC (Flexible Printed Circuit) provided in a package has been developed. In such an optical module, an electrode pattern on the PCB and an electrode pad on the FPC are connected to each other with a solder in order to input an electric signal thereto. This eliminates a need for the coaxial adaptor. Thus, a pitch between the signal electrodes to which electric signals are inputted can be reduced, thereby reducing the mounting area thereof. As a result, a reduction in the size of the optical transmitter can be achieved.
In an optical module handling high-frequency signals such as an optical modulator, however, if an impedance mismatch is generated at a connection between an electrode pattern on a PCB and an electrode pad on an FPC, the reflection of a high-frequency signal is increased, thereby deteriorating the high-frequency characteristics thereof. In order to prevent this, it is desirable that the optical module be designed so that the characteristic impedance of each signal electrode at the connection approximately equals an ideal value of 50Ω.
Patent Document 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-123744 and Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2012-182173 are introduced as the Rerated Art Document.
Two ground patterns are formed in parallel to each other on a rear surface of an FPC (a side adjacent to a PCB) so as to interpose one signal pattern therebetween. While a width of the signal pattern is set so that the characteristic impedance at the aforementioned connection equals 50Ω, the width varies depending on a component part thereof. More specifically, an electrode pad portion of the signal pattern has a width of about several hundred μm since the electrode pad portion is soldered to the electrode pattern on the PCB. A microstripline (MSL) portion extending toward a package side, on the other hand, has a width of only about several ten to 100 μm since no soldering is made.
In view of this, the microstripline portion of the aforementioned signal pattern is covered by a cover material (for example, a coverlay) in order to prevent the separation thereof or the like. In order to protect the microstripline and obtain the characteristic impedance of 50Ω, it is desirable that an end of the cover material on the electrode pad side coincide with a boundary between the electrode pad and the microstripline. However, the cover material tends to vary from product to product since the positional accuracy of outer shape machining or bonding in a manufacturing process of the cover material is generally as low as about several hundred μm. Therefore, there is a risk that part of the microstripline is not covered by the cover material due to a manufacturing error thereof such as tolerance and therefore is exposed. Such an exposure of the microstripline becomes a factor of disconnection due to the separation thereof.

Optical module with cover material covering part of electrode portion and signal line


An ethanol type marking ink composition comprises ethanol as a main solvent, titanium oxide and a condensation product of urea and aliphatic aldehydes. The composition is less toxic and gives good fixability, weather resistance and fastness of drawing lines. The redispersing property of titanium oxide is good even after a long time storage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ethanol marking ink composition, and more particularly, to an ethanol marking ink composition containing titanium oxide dispersed therein for a marking pen.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional quick-drying pigment inks for marking pens in which titanium oxide is dispersed contain an organic solvent harmful to man such as xylene and the like as a main solvent. When such a marking pen is actually used, man inevitably inhales the organic solvent harmful to man.
Therefore, it is desirable to use an ink comprising a less toxic and quick-drying organic solvent such as ethanol and the like as a main solvent. However, when ethanol is used as a main solvent, it is difficult to select a resin which can impart good fixability, weather resistance, and fastness to drawing lines and in which titanium oxide, a white coloring agent having a high hiding power, can be dispersed.
Among organic solvents, ethanol has a structure similar to water. Therefore, resins soluble in ethanol are also soluble in water.
On the other hand, xylene, a conventional main solvent, can dissolve a resin insoluble in water since xylene is an aromatic hydrocarbon, and therefore, xylene has been used for a long time in spite of the toxicity to man. The ink composition containing xylene is quick-drying and the drawing lines have excellent fixability, weather residence, and fastness, but there are disadvantages that when the pen is allowed to vertically stand, titanium oxide precipitates to form a hard cake and the titanium oxide thus precipitated can not be dispersed again by shaking the pen for stirring and moreover when the pen is allowed to stand still for a long period of time, writing becomes difficult.


The present invention relates to new kitchen utensils, in particular relates to an application of a material in kitchen utensils. The present invention solves the problems of long-term presence in the field. SUS436L is used for kitchen utensils. SUS436L chemical composition (wt %) comprises Cr 16-19, C≦0.025, Si≦1.00, Mn≦1.00, N≦0.02, Ni≦0.60, Ti≦0.75, Mo 0.75-1.50 and balance of Fe. The kitchen utensils have all excellence of present kitchen utensils, overcome its disadvantage and possess high property of heat conduction and magnetoconductivity. The kitchen utensils are used in induction cooker, possess the all and the one structure and have low cost.

Kitchen utensils, for example, cookware such as boilers and the like, have been developed rapidly, which were early made of iron, aluminum or ceramic and gradually superseded by stainless steel that mainly consists of Cr18Ni9. It is well known that early iron kitchenware is magnetic and prone to rust. Later-developed aluminum one is easy to manufacture and nonmagnetic, however, it should be under surface chemical treatment and oil injection during the manufacture process to obtain certain hardness and prevent it from oxidation, meanwhile, the inner surface of this kitchenware should be sprayed with a nonstick coating so that it can be used safely. Cr18Ni9 ( steel type No. 304, called material SUS304 for short bellow) is a kind of Austenitic Steel, whose chemical composition (WT %) comprises: Cr 17-19, Ni 8-11, C≦0.06, Si≦1.00, Mn≦2.00, S≦0.030, P≦0.035, and the balance of Fe. This material is nonmagnetic, corrosion proof and easy to manufacture. Furthermore, its products are antirust so that the surface is shiny and beautiful, and can be used in a gas furnace or an electric cooker. A compound base should be added to the bottom of the products when they are used in induction cookers.
Induction cooker, which makes use of the electromagnetic effect to heat is a stove developed rapidly recently. Since only magnetic materials could be applied in the induction cooker, generally speaking SUS304 itself does not conform to the manufacture of the products used for induction cooker. However, due to its excellent property in many aspects, this material can be made into cooking vessel used for induction cooker if the bottom of the vessel is necessarily covered with magnetic materials. At present, for example, the steel-aluminum-steel compound base is in common use, that is, first a layer of aluminum or copper is soldered on the bottom of the vessel made of the said material; and then a magnetic stainless steel layer is formed on. The material of steel-aluminum-steel, however, costs high and is hard to process. FIG. 1 shows the schematic view of the compound base, wherein material 304 can be used in part A; pure aluminum or copper can be used in part B; and in part C magnetic metal materials, such as steel 1Cr17 (called SUS430 for short, whose chemical composition comprises Cr 16-18, C≦0.12, Si≦0.80, Mn≦0.80, S≦0.030, P≦0.035, Ni≦0.60, trace amount of Mo and Ti, and the balance of Fe) and copper etc., can be used.
In order to solve the problem that SUS304 can not be directly used in the induction cooker, people have been looking for a multifunctional material to substitute for SUS304, which has the advantages of SUS304 and can be applied in manufacture of the products used in the induction cooker, but always failed. In addition, many materials, such as SUS430, perform badly in manufacture process. It certainly will increase the product cost and bring other problems, especially in the manufacture of deep-drawing vessels and containers. As a result, many researchers gave up with no suitable material being found.
SUS436L, which is a kind of Ferritic Steel, comprises in chemical composition (wt %) Cr 17-19, C≦0.025, Si≦1.00, Mn≦1.00, N≦0.02, Ni≦0.60, Ti≦0.75, Mo 0.75-1.50, and the balance of Fe. There is little nickel in this material, meanwhile, trace amount of molybdenum and titanium are added in. This material which is mainly used in automobile silencer and exhaust pipe has excellent anticorrosive property and high heat conductivity and magnetoconductivity.

Application of an alloy in kitchen utensil products

Xinhui Rixing Stainless Steel Product Company Limited


A positioning method includes: acquiring first geographic orientation information of a second device and first relative orientation information of the first device relative to the second device; acquiring second geographic orientation information of the first device; and determining second relative orientation information of the second device relative to the first device according to the first geographic orientation information, the second geographic orientation information, and the first relative orientation information.

Ultra Wide Band (UWB) technology is used to achieve short-range accurate positioning, and UWB has the advantage of accurate positioning compared to other similar technologies such as Bluetooth. In the related art, due to the size requirements of some electronic devices, only one UWB antenna is often installed and multiple UWB antennas cannot be installed. However, such single-antenna devices cannot implement the positioning of other devices.

Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.


The invention is directed to a method and apparatus for phase-locking microdischarge device arrays and an ac, rf, or pulse-excited microdischarge. The invention provides output from a non-laser optical source that is a phase-locked array of microdischarges formed of microdischarge cavities containing discharge filler and excitation electrodes. In exemplary embodiments, entire arrays of microdischarge device optical emitters that are not lasers can be fabricated into a surface area having a largest dimension smaller than the coherence length of at least one of the emissions produced by the individual elements. In other embodiments, arrays of microdischarge devices configured in a Fresnel pattern constitute a lens suitable for both producing and focusing light.

Lasers undergird a wide variety of products and applications in fields such as optoelectronics, medicine, environmental sensing, and manufacturing because of the unique properties of the coherent emission (light) they produce. Semiconductor lasers have proven to be of particular value because of their generally small size and cost, but for some applications the beam quality (beam divergence and mode) leaves much to be desired. Coupling semiconductor laser radiation into an optical fiber, for example, is often complicated by the aspect ratio of the output beam. The output of a semiconductor laser may diverge in an elliptical pattern, and collimation and beam shaping is generally required to couple the laser radiation into an optical fiber, for example, or to make use of it in other applications.
It has long been known that individual lasers can be phase-locked, yielding an array consisting of two or more individual sources that behaves as though it were a single emitter. Phased arrays are ubiquitous in science and engineering because a properly phased collection of sub-systems emulates a single large system. Ripper and Paoli demonstrated phase-locking of semiconductor lasers in 1970 (J. E. Ripper and T. L. Paoli, Appl. Phys. Lett. 17, 371 (1970)) and Schlossberg described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,367,554 the phase-locking of CO2 lasers. Today, arrays of CO2 lasers locked in phase are able to produce hundreds of watts of power in the infrared from an exceptionally small package.
It should be emphasized that phase-locking of these and other lasers is motivated by the fact that phase locking allows the output of a number of individual sources, each producing modest power, to be combined to yield much higher powers while still preserving the phase characteristics of a single high quality source. However, the prior art of phase-locked optical sources considers lasers exclusively. Optical sources are often characterized by the degree of spatial coherence they possess, which is generally expressed in terms of the coherence length. Most lasers have a high degree of spatial coherence and phase locking an ensemble of lasers usually requires locating the individual lasers within one coherence length of each other.

Phase locked microdischarge array and AC, RF or pulse excited microdischarge

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


A sheet conveying apparatus includes a sheet containing unit that contains sheets; a sheet conveying unit that conveys the sheets; a separating unit that separates a single sheet from the sheets; a holding unit that holds the separating unit; and a vibration applying unit that applies a vibration to any one of the sheets conveyed by the sheet conveying unit and the separating unit before starting conveyance of the sheets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technology for conveying a printing sheet in an image forming apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
The final object of a typical image forming apparatus is to form a visible image on a printing sheet irrespective of whether the image forming apparatus employs the technique of electrophotography or ink-jet printing. For example, in an image forming apparatus that includes an automatic document feeder (ADF), the ADF feeds an original onto an original glass plate sheet by sheet, and an image reading unit reads an image of the original. After the image is read, the original is conveyed onto a document receiving tray of the ADF. On the other hand, a printing sheet stored in a paper feed unit of the image forming apparatus is conveyed to an image forming unit, where the image of the original is transferred and fixed onto the printing sheet, and then the printing sheet with the image formed on it is output. In these days, functions of the image forming apparatus have improved, and there is a need for increasing the speed of conveying printing sheets.
A typical paper feed unit includes a paper feed tray rotatably disposed so that a pressing unit such as a spring forces the topmost printing sheet in the paper feed tray toward a conveyance roller, and a separating unit separates one printing sheet from other printing sheets supplied by the conveyance roller from the paper feed tray. At this time, if a paper feed pressure applied by the paper feed tray on the topmost printing sheet is too high, the separating unit cannot separate one printing sheet, resulting in feeding of multiple printing sheets. On the contrary, if the paper feed pressure is too low, i.e. lower than a conveyance load of a paper feed guide or the like, the printing sheet is not supplied to the conveyance roller. In other words, it is necessary to set the paper feed pressure within a proper range.
Furthermore, to prevent a damage to the printing sheet and a misfeed due to an edge of the printing sheet being caught while it is conveyed from the paper feed unit to the separating unit, the printing sheets in the paper feed tray need to be near the separating unit or a paper feed guide unit of the paper feed unit, where the printing sheets may possibly contact the separating unit or the paper feed guide. Moreover, a guide unit that aligns a side and a tail of the printing sheets is provided to the paper feed unit to prevent the printing sheet from misalignment and skewing, and the guide unit also needs to physically contact the printing sheets. Sliding resistance by such physical contact causes a loss of the paper feed pressure. The proper range of the paper feed pressure needs to be determined in consideration of the loss. However, the amount of the loss is greatly affected by how a user feeds the printing sheets, and therefore the loss may be much larger than what is expected.
Technologies for reducing frequency of the misfeed by detecting a failure to convey the sheet and retrying to convey the sheet are disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2006-117405 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2002-128323. However, because the printing sheet is conveyed again from the same point where the conveyance failed, and because static friction is higher than dynamic friction, there is even higher risk of a misfeed at the second time than the first time.
In another technology disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2007-183352, the frequency of the misfeed is reduced by intermittently conveying the printing sheets. However, because the force of conveyance after an interval needs to be higher than the static friction, there is also the risk of the misfeed.

Sheet conveying apparatus and image forming apparatus with vibration applying unit


A general-purpose processor expands and transmits to a volatile memory compressed program data and compressed parameter data stored in a nonvolatile memory. The DSP processor reads the expanded program data and the expanded parameter data into a program memory and the data memory of the DSP processor, respectively, and then, decodes compressed digital data or encodes expanded digital data.

Recently, high quality digital video and high quality digital audio are provided through DVDs, digital TV sets, and the like. Digital video data and digital audio increase in data amount as the qualities thereof are increased, and therefore, such data is compressed once for storage and transmission thereof in general. An encoding system (hereinafter referred to as an encoder) performs compression of digital data while a decoding system (hereinafter referred to as a decoder) performs expansion thereof, wherein these systems are composed of dedicated semiconductor elements usually.
Novel digital compression techniques for increasing the quality of video or audio are devised and reduced to practice day after day. In order to reduce to practice such novel digital compression techniques, the encoder and the decoder must cope with the novel techniques.
The decoder and the encoder for digital video or digital audio are required to be developed within a extremely short period of time in many cases. While, modification of hardware of semiconductors needs rather long time compared with modification of software. Therefore, a DSP (Digital Signal Processor) is usually used as the decoder and the encoder so that novel compression/expansion techniques are provided through software. The software implemented in the DSP includes two kinds of digital bit rows of program data that the DSP executes and parameter data that the program data uses.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a configuration of a conventional digital video or audio encoding/decoding device.
A DSP 100 reads out program data 110 from a nonvolatile memory 101 and stores it to a program memory 102 inside the DSP 100. Also, it reads out parameter data 111 from the nonvolatile memory 101 and stores it to a data memory 103 inside the DSP 100.
Thereafter, when the DSP 100 serves as a decoder, the DSP 100 reads compressed digital data 112 into the data memory 103, decodes it, and then, outputs expanded digital data 113 to the outside. On the other hand, when the DSP 100 serves as an encoder, the DSP 100 reads the expanded digital data 113 into the data memory 103, encodes it, and then, outputs compressed digital data 112 to the outside (see Japanese Patent Application Laid Open Publication No. 5-110448A).

Encoding/decoding device for compressing or expanding digital data

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


In one embodiment, a computing system may update a first 3D model of a region of an environment based on comparisons between the first 3D model and first depth measurements of the region generated during a first time period. The computing system may determine that the region is static by comparing the first 3D model to second depth measurements of the region generated during a second time period. The computing system may in response to determining that the region is static, detect whether the region changed after the second time period based on comparisons between a second 3D model of the region and third depth measurements of the region generated after the second time period, the second 3D model having a lower resolution than the first 3D model. The computing system may in response to detecting a change in the region, update the first 3D model of the region.

Augmented reality is a computer-generated simulation applied to an environment that users can interact with in a seemingly real or physical way. An augmented reality system, which may be a single device or a group of devices, may generate this simulation for display to a user, for example, on an augmented reality headset or some other display device. The simulation may include images, sounds, haptic feedback, and/or other sensations. As augmented reality becomes more and more prominent, its range of useful applications is rapidly broadening. The most common applications of augmented reality involve games or other interactive content, but other applications such as the viewing of visual media items (e.g., photos, videos) for entertainment or training purposes are close behind.

Adaptive model updates for dynamic and static scenes


Described herein are tissues containing semiconductor nanomaterials. In some embodiments, the tissues include vascular cells, cardiomyocytes, and/or cardiac fibroblasts. The tissue may be scaffold-free. In some embodiments, the tissue includes an electrically conductive network. The tissue may exhibit synchronized electrical signal propagation within the tissue. In some embodiments, the tissue exhibits increased functional assembly of cardiac cells and/or increased cardiac specific functions compared to a cardiac tissue prepared using a conventional tissue culture method. Methods of preparing and using such tissues are also described herein.

Cardiac tissue engineering may be desirable to provide functional heart tissue replacement for drug screening and heart repair. To this end, scaffold-based tissue engineering approaches have been extensively used to provide 3D microenvironments to promote cardiac tissue formation. However, current scaffolds lack the matched physical/chemical/biological properties of native extracellular environments of myocardium. On the other hand, scaffold-free, 3D cardiac spheroids (i.e., spherical-shaped microtissues) prepared by seeding cardiomyocytes into agarose microwells were shown to improve cardiac functions. However, cardiomyocytes within the spheroids could not assemble in a controlled manner and led to compromised, unsynchronized contractions.
There remains a need for improved tissues and methods for preparing such tissues that can be used for therapeutic and drug testing purposes.

Cardiac tissues containing semiconductor nanomaterials and methods of preparing and using the same

MUSC Foundation for Research Development


A gaming machine according to an embodiment of the present invention includes: a display panel configured to display images of a game, the display panel including a screen facing downward; a partial mirror disposed under the display panel and inclined with respect to the screen to partially reflect the images from the display panel into a forward direction; and a controller configured to execute the game and to control the display panel.

(a) Field
The present invention generally relates to a gaming machine.
(b) Description of the Related Art
Some of table games are hosted by a dealer or hosted by a computer in place of the dealer. A computer-hosting game may be played by a single player or a plurality of players connected via a network. Widely known multiplayer games may include craps, sic bo, roulette, for example. A craps game is disclosed in U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2011/0092266, for example.
The craps or sic bo games may use physical dice or virtual dice that may be seen from a plurality of players. When using virtual dice, an image display may be used in displaying the virtual dice. However, the virtual dice displayed by the image display may not attract more than the physical dice.


Mold for transforming a material comprising a plastic and/or a composite material, wherein the mold includes a mold body having at least one impression arrangement. A heating arrangement directly heats at least one of the material and an intermediary surface impression arranged adjacent to the material. The at least one impression arrangement includes an insulating material that prevents transfer of calorific energy from the material to the mold body, and vice-versa. The insulating material includes a mineral resin which includes an association of non-organic constituents. An insulating device is arranged one of within the insulating material and between the insulating material and the mold body. This Abstract is not intended to define the invention disclosed in the specification, nor intended to limit the scope of the invention in any way.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to molds adapted to transforming plastic and composite materials, and the related transformation methods.
2. Discussion of Background Information
In the transformation of plastic and composite materials, and namely the transformation of reinforced or non-reinforced thermoplastic or thermosetting polymers, as well as vulcanizable compounds, there are numerous methods that consist of heating the material within a mold while pressurizing it, so that it can polymerize while taking on the mold impression. These transformation methods generally use the thermal conduction of the molds to bring the material to the temperature desired for its polymerization. Thus, the molds used are made from materials that conduct heat, on the one hand, and that withstand the temperature at which one wishes to heat the material, on the other hand.
The molds used in the prior art are therefore of two types: metal molds that conduct heat well and that easily withstand the high temperatures, and composite molds that only allow working at relatively low temperatures and with which one can only work certain plastic or composite materials that have low transformation temperatures. These various molds from the prior art have numerous drawbacks related to their implementation and to their use.
Metal molds are very expensive and require heavy investments. In addition, they rise in temperature and therefore cause problems in handling the demolded elements, problems in cooling and heating the elements and the molds, and therefore problems related to the cycle times. Also, the necessity of heating the entire mold requires a very substantial use of energy, particularly in the case of large sized elements. Composite molds are less expensive, but they are made of materials that do not resist high temperatures; therefore, they can only transform plastic and composite materials having a low transformation temperature. In addition, they degrade easily when the temperature rises, and they only allow a number of cycles that is very limited compared to metal molds.

Moulds for transforming plastic and composite materials and related transformation method


An organic light emitting display apparatus including a substrate including a plurality of pixel areas; a pixel electrode on the substrate; an opposite electrode on the pixel electrode, the opposite electrode transmitting light; an organic light emitting layer between the pixel electrode and the opposite electrode, the organic light emitting layer emitting a first light toward the opposite electrode; a light emitting layer on the opposite electrode, the light emitting layer absorbing a portion of the first light and emitting a second light; and a sealing layer on the light emitting layer, the sealing layer sealing the pixel electrode, the opposite electrode, the organic light emitting layer, and the light emitting layer.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to an organic light emitting display apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
An organic light emitting display apparatus includes an organic light emitting device that may include a hole injection electrode, an electron injection electrode, and an organic light emitting layer between the hole injection electrode and the electron injection electrode. For example, holes and electrons injected into the organic light emitting layer may be recombined in the organic light emitting layer to generate excitons, and the organic light emitting device may emit light by the excitons that return to a ground state from an excited state. For example, the organic light emitting display apparatus is a self-emissive display apparatus.

Organic light emitting display apparatus


A digital radio frequency ("RF") communication unit (103, 104) measures digital signal quality based on received signal strength information ("RSSI") and/or bit error rate ("BER") information. The RSSI and/or BER information are compared with a predetermined threshold. If the predetermined threshold is exceeded, then simulated RF channel noise is injected into the speaker path during unvoiced periods in the message at a level which indicates the RF signal quality to warn the user of the digital communication unit that the outer limits of a given coverage area are being approached.

In general, communication systems can be separated into two types: analog and digital. Each type of communication system comprises at least a plurality of communication units and a limited number of communication channels transceived by repeaters. Analog and digital communication systems differ in their information representations, and hence, the manner in which information (particularly audio information) is transceived.
Within an analog transmitter, an analog waveform is used to directly modulate an RF (radio frequency) channel. When the modulated RF channel is received by an analog receiver, the analog waveform is recovered, with the possible addition of noise incurred by the RF channel itself. Within a digital transmitter, an analog waveform is typically sampled to create a continuous stream of digital data, which is then used to modulate an RF channel. When the digitally modulated RF channel is received by a digital receiver, the digital data is recovered. The noise inherent to the RF channel is reflected as errors in the recovered digital data, and thus, is present when the analog waveform is reconstructed from the recovered digital data.
To substantially eliminate noise from being reconstructed, error correction codes are used. Error correction codes provide protection against errors by creating redundancy for the data being transmitted. This redundancy takes the form of additional bits appended to the data, often called parity bits. Prior to transmission over a communication channel, the data is passed through a known encoding function which generates a unique code word, composed of the original data and its parity bits. The code word is then transmitted, via the communication channel, to a receiver. The receiver passes the received code word through a decoding function which will use the parity bits to determine if any errors have occurred in the digital data. Depending on the encoding/decoding function used, a finite number of errors within the data can be detected and corrected, leading to a reduced distortion in the reconstructed analog waveform. By detecting the number of errors which occur during a finite period of time, a bit error rate (BER) can be calculated. The error correction will cease correcting errors only when too many errors have occurred in the data, or alternately stated, when the BER is too high.
Thus, an audio message transmitted through a given RF channel in a digital error-corrected system can result in higher audio quality than the same message transmitted through the same RF channel in an analog system. Since the noise added to a message by an RF channel is directly proportional to the distance between the transmitter and the receiver, a digital error-corrected communication system can offer more uniform audio quality (i.e. less noise) over a larger portion of a given transmitter's coverage area than an analog system. However, when a digital communication unit approaches the outer limits of the transmitter's coverage area, the errors will affect the audio quality with rapidly increasing degradation. The extent of coverage improvement and the point at which audio quality rapidly degrades are both dependent upon the error correction capability of the particular error correction code used. Specifically, as the capabilities of the error correction code are increased, both the extent of coverage improvement and the point at which audio quality rapidly degrades are pushed closer to the outer limits of the coverage area.
While the provision of increased audio quality over a larger portion of a coverage area is useful in itself, it does create a problem in "fringe" coverage area determination by the user. A fringe coverage area can be defined as that portion of a transmitter's coverage area in which the increased presence of received, channel-induced, noise indicates the approaching outer limit of the coverage area. Typically, these fringe areas occur at the most distant regions relative to the transmitter's location, or the coverage area where the received signal is the weakest. Frequently, users of analog systems listen to the amount of background noise in received audio to judge the strength of the received signal, and consequently, where they are relative to the outer limits of the coverage area. A more direct measure of this can be obtained through the calculation of received signal strength information (RSSI). The use of RSSI is known for out-of-range indications in paging systems. RSSI is also used within cellular telephone systems to determine when a hand-off between cells should occur and to establish visual bar-graphs of relative signal strength as a cellular communication unit roams throughout a given coverage area. While these RSSI-based methods are useful in the indication of a low signal strength condition, current art provides an audible indication that interferes with the message. One example of such current art is U.S. Pat. No. 5,134,708 to Marui et al., granted Jul. 28, 1992, entitled "Radio Telephone Apparatus."
Within an error-corrected digital system, the error correction effectively reduces the perceptible fringe coverage areas by masking the added noise effects of reduced signal strength. This in turn leaves a user less time and distance to recognize the degradation in audio quality and thus take corrective actions which will return them to an area of improved coverage. Therefore a need exists for a method which provides an audible early indication that a user in a digital communication system is approaching the outer limits of a given coverage area, such that the received signal audio quality is not further degraded by the presence of the indicator.

Indication of coverage area limits within digital communication systems


The traditional computer system is modified by providing, in addition to a processor unit, a main memory and a cache memory buffer, remapping logic for remapping the cache memory buffer, and a plurality of registers for containing remapping information. With this environment the cache memory buffer is divided into segments, and the segments are one or more cache lines allocated to a task to form a partition, so as to make available (if a size is set above zero) of a shared partition and a group of private partitions. Registers include the functions of count registers which contain count information for the number of cache segments in a specific partition, a flag register, and two register which act as cache identification number registers. The flag register has bits acting as a flag, which bits include a non-real time flag which allows operation without the partition system, a private partition permitted flag, and a private partition selected flag. With this system a traditional computer system can be changed to operate without impediments of interrupts and other prior impediments to a real-time task to perform. By providing cache partition areas, and causing an active task to always have a pointer to a private partition, and a size register to specify how many segments can be used by the task, real time systems can take advantage of a cache. Thus each task can make use of a shared partition, and know how many segments can be used by the task. The system cache provides a high speed access path to memory data, so that during execution of a task the logic means and registers provide any necessary cache partitioning to assure a preempted task that it's cache contents will not be destroyed by a preempting task. This permits use of a software controlled partitioning system which allows segments of a cache to be statically allocated on a priority I benefit basis without hardware modification to said system. The cache allocation provided by the logic gives consideration of the scheduling requirements of tasks of the system in deciding the size of each cache partition. Accordingly, the cache can make use of a for dynamic programming implementation of an allocation algorithm which can determine an optimal cache allocation in polynomial time.

As background for our invention the present application relates to computer systems, which have an execution unit or processor known as a central processing unit or CPU, a main memory and a cache system. The cache is a memory which functions as a small fast barrier that is placed between the CPU and main memory to provide the functionality of the main memory at the speed of the CPU.
The first commercially successful system which employed a cache was the IBM 360/85, a 1969 mainframe system. Since then many system employ a cache, and today, personal computers and workstations have a cache. However, while it has been recognized that a cache may increase the overall system performance by reducing or eliminating processor wait states during memory access, caches are noticeably absent in real time systems which have real or hard deadlines which must be matched to effectively perform the required tasks.
Prior cache designs result in unpredictable performance improvements and therefor are not used or are disabled so they can not be utilized in "hard" real-time systems. Real-time system require predicable execution time in order to guarantee that the hard deadlines are met. Cache memories, while providing significant performance improvements over conventional memory designs, result in unpredictable execution times when exposed to task preemptions and interrupts and cache cold starts. As a result generally real time systems currently are trending toward algorithmic scheduling, as I discussed in my presentation on "Process Dependent Static Cache Partitioning for Real Time Systems", Proceedings of the Read-Time Systems Symposium, pp 181-190, Huntsville, Ala., December 1988.
Others might approach the problem with multiple, bank switched, caches or some method of unloading the contents of a cache, as part of a task swap out, then reloading the cache when the task is swapped in, these other approaches would be more expensive and slower than desirable.
The patent art includes a quite a number of patents dealing with cache memory organizations. U.S. Pat. 4,442,487 to Fletcher et al, issued Apr. 10, 1984 for instance, deals with a multi-processing memory for a processor, and how processors can share cache, not how multi-tasks can share cache. U.S. Pat. 5,025,366 to Baror, issued Jun. 18,1991 is a recent example of how cache can be employed on a single chip, and U.S. Pat. 4,997,498 issued Dec. 11, 1990 deals with a data processing system having a data memory interlock, as an example of line lock. The current improvements can be employed whether or not the cache is located on the chip, or externally. The line locking used by the cache memory need not be used with the current improvements, but it could be.
It also has been recognized by the general references which are discussed as general background (Thiebaut, Stone and Wolf, An internal IBM Technical Report entitled A Theory of Cache Behavior) that a computer system can have a cache which is partitioned for data and instruction to optimize cache performance, which does not handle predictability. A computer called ELXSI System 6400 has been also generally discussed. This computer is targeted for real time systems and provides partitioning. However, the dynamic allocation of these partitions prevents cache predictability.
Within International Business Machines it has been suggested, as illustrated by European Patent Application Publication No.0 391 871 published Oct. 10, 1990 on application 90850122.4, by Kevin Smith that one could within hardware dynamically allocate cache size based on a data structure. This patent is directed to a way of optimize performance, not to achieve the predictability of real-time requirements. IBM Technical Disclosure Bulletin Vo. 32. No. 8B, of January 1990 by K. Kawachiya et al, entitled Memory Management Mechanism to Reduce Cache-Line Contention, suggested partitioning a cache into functional areas to avoid contention. They suggest address mapping as a method of partitioning. Once again, this does not provide the necessary predictability.
Generally, systems which are designed for real-time applications could benefit from cache performance improvements if the effects of interrupts and preemptions can be overcome to provide a predictable cache operation.

Computer system with private and shared partitions in cache

International Business Machines Corporation


An axial and radial locking release collar adapted to be axially received on and to be removably fixed at any selected location along the length of an elongated shaft and radially locked in at least one direction around the shaft. The release collar includes an axially movable sleeve. Moveable balls are cammed into frictional engagement with the shaft. A tension ring includes angled segments removed from the inner surface thereof such that said movable balls are held in the angled segments to prevent radially movement around the shaft. The release collar may also be easily slid onto a threaded shaft and locked into place.

Release collars have a wide variety of applications. For example they have been used to retain weight plates on barbells, for tools such as retaining saw blades in place, hand held tools with removable chucks, telescoping devises such as drafting tables, beach umbrellas, etc, wheels on tables, toys and the like, etc. These collars may lock axially and radially on a bar, shaft, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,893,810 discloses a quick release collar for a weight lifting barbell. Specifically, it describes a release collar which includes a housing and an inner mechanism. The housing includes an inner body, an outer sleeve and an end release ring. The inner mechanism is comprised of three steel balls, a tension ring having a tapered inner diameter and a spring. The inner body includes three openings such that the three balls extend through the inner diameter of the inner body and are also adjacent the tapered tension ring. When the collar is placed around a shaft with the same size outer diameter as the collar's bore, the bearings lock by squeezing against the shaft and the tension ring. This locks the collar in place. The housing parts are spring loaded to facilitate placement and removal of the collar body on the shaft. To release the collar body, the inner body is pulled back through the inside of the outer sleeve, withdrawing the ball bearings out of the gap between the inner body and the shaft and thus release the collar's hold on the shaft. The spring forces the inner body back to the closed position.
Some of the other prior art release collars include the use of a grooved bar or shaft, a squared bar or shaft, set positions in the collar such that in which balls drop in to lock, thus requiring both a male and female interlocking pieces, etc.
Additionally there are some release collars which will lock both radially and axially, however these are not easy to use. For instance to prevent radial movement with one collar, one must use an allen wrench to tighten down a set screw onto a shaft. The set screw must be precisely locked onto the shaft. This locking procedure can involve some tricky manipulation. If the set screws are not properly set, the parts can fly off, jamming machines, cause injuries, etc.
Release collars are often used with devices/apparatus which require one to repeatedly place the release collars on a shaft and then remove the same. For instance the changing of the weight plates on the barbells, or bits in a hand-held tool such as a drill. Thus, the release collars must be easy to establish in place along the shaft and also fairly easy to remove. On the other hand, the release collars are often used with dangerous or heavy pieces of equipment such as weight plates, saws, drills, etc. and thus they must reliably maintain their position on the shaft.
A general objective of the present invention is to provide an improved quick release collar/fastener which locks both radially and axially thus preventing the collar from spinning off of a rotating or non-rotating shaft.
Another object of the invention is to provide a release collar that can be tighten down onto a threaded shaft and locked in place both axially and radially.
Still another objective of the invention is to provide a release collar that radially locks in one or both directions i.e. clockwise or counterclockwise.
Yet still another objective of the present invention is to provide a radial release collar to secure and adjust rollers on conveyors, automation assembly line, labeling machines, etc.
A companion objective of the present invention is to provide a release collar that will lock axially in two directions and also radially in both directions.
Another objective of the present invention is to provide a release collar which locks radially and axially on a spinning shaft and is further releasable without the use of a tool to position the collar or dislodge or detach the collar.
Still another object of the invention is to provide a release collar that may be locked onto a threaded shaft and then released by releasing the collar mechanism.

Specialized Marketing International, Inc.


A burner for liquid and/or gaseous fuels (A, B, C) for a premixing combustion system in graduated load operation of a combustion chamber includes at least one inner partial body (2) that extends in the flow direction; at least one outer partial body (4) which extends conically opposite to the inner partial body (2); and at least one other surrounding pipe (8). The inner and outer partial bodies form a central flow structure, whereby the two are supplied with the flow in effective connection with each other with combustion air (13, 14, 15). The main part of this combustion air (13) then flows through the two partial bodies through air inlet slits (11, 12) and forms one rotational flow in each of the adjoining flow chamber (5, 7).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a burner for premixing liquid and gaseous fuels during a graduated load operation in a combustion chamber.
2. Background of the Invention
EP-B1-0 321 809 discloses a conical burner that consists of several shells stacked inside each other and that is used to create a closed rotational flow in the cone head. Because of the increasing rotation along the cone tip, this rotational flow becomes unstable and then changes to an annular rotational flow with a backflow bubble in the core. With this burner, gaseous fuels are preferably injected in the flow direction along air inlet channels and are mixed homogeneously with the air flowing in, before the combustion starts as a result of the ignition at the backup point of the backflow bubble. The air inlet channels are formed by the shells which extend, offset to each other, in the longitudinal direction of the burner. The backflow bubble performs the function of a bodiless flame holder. Liquid fuels are injected preferably via a central nozzle at the burner head, and they then evaporate in the conical cavity formed by the shells. During the operation of such a burner, which indisputably is characterized by minimal noxious emissions, it was found that for operation with a gaseous fuel, a longer premixing section would actually be advantageous, while for an operation with a liquid fuel the long premixing section results in compromises regarding the injection of the liquid fuel.


According to the preferred embodiment, a defect monitor is provided that uses a floating gate structure. The defect monitor includes a common source, a common drain, and a plurality of floating gates interdispersed between the source and drain. Additionally, a conductor covers the plurality of floating gates. By applying a bias to the conductor and measuring the current flowing through the drain and source, the distribution of defects on the semiconductor wafer can be estimated.

1. Technical Field
This invention generally relates to semiconductor processing and more specifically relates to defect monitoring in semiconductor processing.
2. Background Art
An ongoing concern in semiconductor technology is the maximization of fabrication yield. One factor that leads to a reduction in fabrication yield is the presence of process-induced defects in the semiconductor device. Random defects are typically caused by foreign material (FM), particularly in the form of particles. The result of these defects are frequently circuit failure caused by unwanted shorts in conductive lines, between adjacent conductive lines, or between overlying conductive lines.
An analysis of the process-induced defects can be very useful in identifying and eliminating yield detractors. However, because of the complexity of modern Very Large Scale Integrated (VLSI) circuits, testing the actual semiconductor devices is very time consuming and costly. Additionally, the information gained from testing the actual devices is limited, as it is often impossible to determine the extent and frequency of the processing defects.
As a result of the above problems, it is preferable to fabricate special semiconductor-processing defect monitors that are dedicated to the analysis of processing defects. These defect monitors are built with structures comparable to those in the VLSI devices, but in such a way that the presence of defects in the defect monitors are more easily ascertained. These defect monitors are typically constructed at the same time but in a different location on the semiconductor substrate than the operation VLSI devices, and are discarded once the useful defect information is extracted from them.
These defect monitors can be used either by periodically fabricating a wafer with the defect monitor in the production line, or by including the defect monitor in otherwise unused portions of the semiconductor wafer. The latter approach has the advantage of having the defect monitor fabricated in the exact processing environment as the actual VLSI devices. Thus, the defects in the defect monitors more accurately reflect the defects that exist in the actual VLSI device.
For the same reason, it is desirable that the defect monitors use the same structure types and geometries found in the actual device, and are thus preferably manufactured using the same technologies as the actual device.
In the prior art, defect monitors that detect shorts between conductor levels (such as local conductor to polysilicon or first metal layer to local conductor in current DRAM and LOGIC technologies) are either limited to detecting the presence or absence of shorting defects or requiring sophisticated array circuits and time consuming analysis to locate defects and determine their size and distribution.
Therefore what is needed is a defect monitor that can more easily locate defect size and distribution, specifically, the size and distribution of interlevel defects.

Floating gate interlevel defect monitor and method


The present invention was conceived from the findings; that a specific higher-order structure can be formed in CrP-like viruses; that linkage of a gene reading frame downstream in the higher-order structure permits initiating the translation of a protein from various amino acids; and that a change in the combination of base pairs involved in the formation of the higher-order structure immediately upstream in the translation initiation site permits initiating the synthesis of any protein from any codon.

AUG translation initiation codon coding methionine is needed on translating a messenger RNA (mRNA) by use of a ribosome to synthesize a protein. The reason is that a special tRNA molecule dedicated to translation initiation, in the form of translation initiation methionine tRNA serving to define the initiation codon, is indispensable for initiation of translation. Therefore, in the protein synthesis system utilizing the conventional recombination DNA technique, the amino terminus of a protein, polypeptide and the like, which is produced via ribosome, always leads to methionine. Accordingly, the synthesis of the protein initiating from an arbitrary amino acid had been impossible. Recently, however, a method was published that permits synthesizing a protein having an amino acid other than methionine at the amino terminus (Toku Hyo 2000-517186). This method utilizes a DNA coding a mutant initiator tRNA containing an anticodon corresponding to an amino acid other than methionine.
On the other hand, in the translation initiation via the intergenic region-internal ribosome entry site (IGR-IRES) of an insect virus, the translation initiation point is determined by forming higher-order structure of IGR-IRES per se, i.e., the translation is initiated from glutamine (Ref. 2) or alanine (Refs. 3, 4, 5, and 7) without depending on the AUG translation initiation codon. About 40 bases at 3′ end of IGR-IRES had been reported (Ref 2), while the overall structure of IGR-IRES was not known. Previous reports (Refs. 1 and 6) had published a result showing that a partial sequence of the coding region of a coat protein gene of each virus locating downstream of IRES is also involved in the translation initiation, so that the translation initiation from the amino acid other than methionine, alanine, and glutamine had been thought to be impossible.

Translational activity-promoting higher-order structure

National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences


Provided herein are truck boxes, such as pickup truck toolboxes, that comprise an open box body and lid assembly fabricated from composite materials. The composite materials may be fiber-reinforced polymeric constructs and may have a solid laminate structure or a sandwich structure utilizing a plurality of plies. Also provided are composite toolboxes that have an open storage box and lid component affixed to an upper back edge of the box component in an opening and closing relationship and means for independently hinging and latching the lid component to the open storage box component. The open storage box and lid in the pickup truck tool box may each independently comprise a ply layup of fiber reinforced polymeric composites or may each independently comprise a solid laminate of a fiber reinforced polymeric composite.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of pickup truck boxes. More specifically, the present invention relates to a toolbox for a pickup truck substantially structurally comprising lightweight composite materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
A truck toolbox is a storage unit that can be mounted in the pickup truck bed on, for example, the bed rails or the floor of the bed itself. The toolbox can comprise one or more lids and latches/locking mechanisms. Currently, a majority of the toolboxes are made of aluminum and steel, as a quick search of the internet will corroborate. Moreover, some injection molded plastic truck boxes have been manufactured. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,206 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,439,649 discloses a pickup truck box made from molded plastic. However, these toolboxes are subject to corrosion, impact damage and wearing or fading of surface colors and/or patterns. Although less subject than metal truck boxes, plastic truck boxes still are susceptible to such damage, particularly impact damage and wear.
Composite materials offer a number of advantages over the metal and pure plastic counterparts. Although U.S. Pat. No. 8,544,708 discloses a folding toolbox for a pickup truck that can comprise a composite material, these materials are laminated between sheets or plates of metal or plastic. This toolbox would still be subject to corrosion and wearing, etc.
Thus, there is a recognized need in the art for truck toolboxes of equivalent strength to known toolboxes that are lighter weight but of equivalent strength to known truck boxes, more corrosion resistant and with improved impact resistance, customizable and protected colors and patterned designs built into the structure. The prior art is deficient in a sturdy, lightweight toolbox for a pickup truck. Particularly, the prior art is deficient in truck toolboxes made from composite materials for a sturdy, wear-resistant and lightweight product. The present invention fulfills this longstanding need and desire in the art.


Validating identification clusters formed of unique transmitter intercepts and validating clusters based on information within the cluster data with or without the aid of specific intercepts. Transmitter validation signals are allocated for validating specific ones of the transmitters. Analyzers identify specific received intercepts from specific ones of the transmitters to form an identification signal. Storage is provide for storing the specific received intercepts with corresponding identification clusters for marking the specific identification cluster as validated or invalidated. The valid and invalid states of the stored clusters are used to authorize or prevent access by the transmitters to the communication system.

This invention relates to wireless subscriber systems and, more particularly, to RF signal characterizing devices for granting or denying access to wireless subscriber systems to prevent cellular telephone cloning fraud.
A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.

Validation method and apparatus for preventing unauthorized use of cellular phones


An expandable tubular coupling (10) includes first and second thread portions (12,14) each comprising a plurality of inter-engaging teeth (20,22), wherein at least one tooth on the first thread portion (12) engages a corresponding tooth on the second thread portion (14) and the remainder of said inter-engaging teeth (20,22) define respective gaps (32) therebetween.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coupling tubulars, and in particular to coupling expandable tubulars, most particularly expandable downhole tubulars.
2. Description of the Related Art
Downhole tubulars, such as bore-lining casing and liners, are typically coupled together by means of threaded connectors, or by providing adjacent ends of tubulars with male and female, or pin and box, threaded ends. For conventional applications, such coupling arrangements are generally satisfactory, providing secure, pressure tight connections. However, where strings of tubulars are to be expanded to describe a larger diameter, it has been found that the integrity of the coupling may be compromised.
This is particularly the case where expansion is achieved using a rotary expansion tool. Such a tool expands the male or pin thread portion by cold working, reducing the wall thickness of the portion resulting in a corresponding increase in circumference and diameter of the portion, which tends to be accompanied by axial elongation of the threaded portion. However, the female or box thread portion is expanded by contact with the expanding male or pin thread portion. This tends to induce axial contraction of the female thread portion. The applicant has found that in a conventional thread this differential expansion tends to produce an adverse effect on the thread integrity. In particular, it has been found that the axial contraction or shrinkage of the box portion is greater than the elongation of the pin portion, and causes the wall sections over the roots of the box portion to neck giving the outer surface of the box portion a rippled appearance. In extreme cases the differential expansion is sufficient to part the connection.
Integrity problems may also occur in couplings which are expanded using alternative expansion methods such as solid cone expansion or hydraulic expansion techniques, which may also cause differential deformation in the different thread parts of the connection. For example, expansion of a tubular using a cone expander may cause the tubular to axially contract as it is radially expanded. However, when the expansion cone is passed through a conventional threaded connection, the male and female, or pin and box thread portions are caused to axially contract at different rates, thus causing adverse deformation due to the interference between the different thread portions. It is this adverse deformation which diminishes the mechanical and hydraulic integrity of the connection.
Specifically, applicant has observed that during solid cone expansion of a conventional connection, the box is initially caused to move or pull away axially with respect to the pin causing interference between adjacent threads resulting in deformation of inter-engaging thread portions, with further expansion causing differential axial shrinkage in both the pin and box, the overall result being an adverse interference in the connection.
It is among objectives of embodiments of the present invention to provide coupling arrangements for tubulars which will seek to retain mechanical and pressure integrity following expansion of the tubulars.


A breather structure of an engine having a crank case and a cylinder fastened to an upper side of the crank case can improve the strength of a cylinder and can prevent an increase of weight of the engine. The breather structure is provided with a breather chamber integrally formed with the cylinder in an outer peripheral wall of the cylinder, and the breather chamber separates air including an oil mist within the crank case into an oil component and a gas component, returns the oil component into an oil reservoir of the engine, and discharges the gas component out of the crank case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a breather structure of an engine, and more particularly to a breather chamber separating an air including an oil mist within the crank case into oil and gas.
2. Prior Art
In general, a breather chamber of the engine is formed in an upper wall portion of the crank case away from the cylinder. Particularly, in an engine provided with a transmission chamber in a rear portion of the crank case, as described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-218842, the structure is made such that the breather chamber for separating oil mist from the blow-by gas is formed in an upper wall of the transmission chamber in the rear portion of the crank case, the oil component after being separated in the breather chamber is returned to a bottom portion of the transmission chamber or an oil pan.
In an engine mounted to a vehicle such as a motor cycle or the like, in order to respond to a high power requirement in recent years, a cylinder is improved by making a bore diameter large and making a thickness of the cylinder large, or forming a reinforcing rib, thereby reinforcing the cylinder, however, in the case that the thickness is increased or the reinforcing rib is independently formed, a size of the engine is increased and a weight thereof is increased.
Further, in the structure in which the oil component separated in the breather chamber is returned to an oil reservoir via an oil return oil path, in the case that an oil level of the oil reservoir is high, the oil in the oil reservoir flows back through the oil return oil path so as to be pushed back to the breather chamber, on the basis of an oil level fluctuation of the oil reservoir at a time of a rapid acceleration or a rapid deceleration, for example, a back and forth movement of the oil, or a ruffling phenomenon generated by the air pushed down by a vertical motion of the piston pushing the oil within the oil reservoir, so that there is a risk that a breather function is affected.


An image processing apparatus that are capable of reducing the time required for image formation processing to generate image data from drawing data. A block segmentation section determines an encompassing region encompasses an object to be drawn and determines whether or not each of segments into which one page is segmented in a grid pattern overlaps the encompassing region. Image processing sections process segment by segment an object encompassed by an overlapped encompassing region.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, an image processing method, and an image processing program.
2. Description of the Related Art
Drawing data written in a Page Description Language (PDL) such as PostScript (registered trademark) or PDF (Portable Document Format) is input into an image forming section of an image forming apparatus or an apparatus solely used for image formation (hereinafter collectively referred to as the image forming apparatus). The input drawing data consists of a set of objects of different types (drawing objects to be drawn), including graphics, text, and other types of images. The drawing data is interpreted in the image forming apparatus and image data is generated for each page. Interpretation of drawing data in the image forming apparatus typically involves a large number of computations depending on the complexity of the data. In the image forming apparatus, image data for each page such as a raster image page or a compressed image is generated based on the drawing data. The image data generated on the image forming apparatus (e.g., the image forming section of the image forming apparatus) undergoes image processing such as page merging or rotation as required, which is performed by an image processing section of the image forming apparatus or an apparatus solely used for image processing, and is then sent to a printer engine and printed.
To increase the rate of printing, the time required for image formation and the time required for image processing must be minimized as much as possible.
Parallel processing in which image processing processes are performed in parallel and concurrently is effective for minimizing the time required for image processing. Examples of parallel processing include a method in which image data of multiple pages is processed in parallel on a page basis and a method in which a raster image output from the image forming apparatus is split into tiles, which are then processed in parallel.
Splitting a page image into tiles for parallel image processing is also known but has a problem that, when a horizontally oriented image is to be split, the image can be split only after all scan lines are provided.
The just-mentioned methods solely intended for high-speed processing of image data cannot increase the speed of image formation processing to form image data from drawing data, which is load-intensive processing.
Therefore, an approach has been devised in which the processes of image formation processing are parallelized to speed up image formation processing. For example, an apparatus has been disclosed which splits a drawing object into lines or strips in the horizontal direction and performs parallel processing on the horizontally split object to be drawn (see for example European Patent No. EP0860768). Another image processing apparatus has been disclosed which splits a two-dimensional region to be drawn into blocks (see for example Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication (Kokai) No. H04-170686).
Yet another approach is to pipeline the processes of image formation processing (see U.S. Pat. No. 6,483,519).
However, the conventional image forming apparatuses that split an object to be drawn into horizontal lines or strips has a problem that processing for printing an image, in particular a horizontally long image, takes much time.
An alternate approach that is suitable for tile-based parallel processing to speed up image formation processing may be to segment drawing data into blocks. In such a case however, intersections of all the drawing objects to be drawn contained in a page and the boundary of each block must be precisely calculated in order to identify drawing objects contained in PDL data for each block. The calculation of intersections is sequential processing because the order in which the objects are drawn must be stored, resulting in a problem that the block segmentation involves much computations and requires much time.

Image processing apparatus, image processing method, and image processing program


The present invention relates to methods and means for determining the replication rate of a viral population. More specifically, the invention provides methods and means for determining the replication rate of a viral population by performing a linear regression on signal data generated by cells infected with dilutions of the viral population. The methods are useful for monitoring the progression of diseases associated with viruses, identifying effective drug regimens for the treatment of viral infections, and identifying and determining the biological effectiveness of potential therapeutic compounds.

More than 60 million people have been infected with the human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), the causative agent of acquired immune deficiency syndrome (AIDS), since the early 1980s. See Lucas, 2002, Lepr Rev. 73(1):64-71. HIV/AIDS is now the leading cause of death in sub-Saharan Africa, and is the fourth biggest killer worldwide. At the end of 2004, an estimated 39.4 million people were living with HIV globally, and still newly infected people with HIV is amounting to 4.9 million at the end of 2004 (source: UNAIDS).
Antiviral therapy targets different stages of the HIV life cycle and a variety of enzymes essential for HIV's replication and/or survival. Amongst the drugs that have so far been approved for AIDS therapy are nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NRTI) such as AZT, ddI, ddC, d4T, 3TC, abacavir, non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (NNRTI) such as nevirapine, efavirenz, delavirdine, protease inhibitors such as saquinavir, ritonavir, indinavir, nelfinavir, amprenavir and lopinavir, entry inhibitors, etc.
In the absence of antiviral therapy, most HIV-1-infected individuals progress to AIDS and death. The median time between seroconversion and the development of AIDS is approximately 10 years (Easterbrook, 1999. J. Infect.). Rates of disease progression, however, are highly variable, ranging from rapid progression to AIDS within 1 year to long-term asymptomatic survival for over 15 years.
Several lines of evidence support an association between viral phenotype and rate of HIV-1 disease progression. Long-term non-progressors who harbor HIV-1 with mutations in nef have been described, and the viruses infecting those individuals have been characterized as less fit than wild-type viruses from individuals with progressive disease (Blaak et al. 1998. J. Infect. Dis.). Assays that measure the contribution of reverse transcriptase (RT) and protease (PR) to virus replication have been used to show that drug-resistant HIV-1 isolates have impaired replicative capacity. For instance, in Diallo et al. (Antimic. Agents and Chem., 2003) it is reported that a M184V substitution in HIV-1 reverse transcriptase, encoding high-level resistance to lamivudine (3TC), results in decreased HIV-1 replicative capacity, diminished RT processivity, and increased RT fidelity in biochemical assays.
In addition, diminished fitness of these isolates has been hypothesized to explain the clinical benefit of antiretroviral therapy in the setting of persistent virus replication. Further evidence for a link between virus replication rate and disease progression is suggested by the results of a study that showed that HIV-1 harbored by three long-term survivors had significantly less replicative fitness in growth competition experiments compared with HIV-1 harbored by three individuals with progressive disease (Quinones-Mateu, et al. 2000. J. Virol.). Campbell et al. (2003, J. Virol.) concluded that differences in HIV-1 replication rates among HIV-1 isolates are a major determinant of disease progression. As such, changes in the replication rate of a virus are of major clinical importance because they can affect the response of a patient to antiviral therapies, and are indicative of disease progression.
Fiebig Eberhard W. et al. in "Dynamics of HIV viremia and antibody seroconversion in plasma donors: implications for diagnosis and staging of primary HIV infection" AIDS (Hagerstown) vol. 17, no. 13, 2003, concludes that the quantitative analysis of preseroconversion replication rates of HIV is useful for projecting the yield and predictive value of assays targeting primary HIV infection.
WO04/003513 provides a method for determining the replication capacity of HIV. The method is based on an analysis of a panel of recombinant virus vectors created using site-directed mutagenesis containing one or more reverse transcriptase (RT) amino acid substitutions. The method basically detects whether the RT encoded by a HIV exhibits the presence or absence of a mutation associated with impaired replication capacity at amino acid position 98, 100, 101, 103, 106, 108, 179, 181, 188, 190, 225 or 236 of the amino acid sequence of said reverse transcriptase, wherein the presence of said mutation indicates that the HIV has an increased likelihood of having impaired replication capacity.
The method described in WO04/003513 thus relies on the knowledge of pre-existing data which associates specific RT mutations with a given replication capacity. Such method is thus not able to determine the replication rate of a diverse viral population encompassing other RT mutations, let alone protease mutations or any other enzymatic changes.
Campbell et al. (2003, J. Virol.) disclose a method for determining HIV-1 replication rates, said method encompassing the steps of culturing autologous virus isolates in phytohemagglutinin-treated peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC), and determining the rate of p24 antigen production during its phase of exponential increase by fitting by linear regression, whereby the slope of the regression is the viral replication rate. Campbell et al. provide as well a method for determining the RT and PR replication capacity in a single cycle-based assay using recombinant virus that contain the RT and PR genes of each HIV-1 isolate. The replication capacity is the percentage of virus replication relative to the reference virus strain, NL4-3.
There is still an unresolved problem when determining the replication rate of viral stock of unknown titer. The titer of a viral population indicates the strength or potency of said viral population in infecting cells. The titer of a specific viral population can be defined as the highest dilution of said viral population giving a cytopathogenic effect (CPE) in 50% of inoculated cell cultures. Viral stocks which have a much too high or a much too low titer are usually difficult to measure because the indicator signals thereof fall out of the limits of detection of the analytical instrument used in said methodologies.
There is thus a need for a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population of unknown titer.
There is also a need for a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population which is not limited to specific mutant strains exhibiting specific RT mutations.
There is as well a need for a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population which is standardized, which can mimic an in vivo setting, is easy to use and easy to quantify in a precise manner. Importantly, there is the need of a superior method in terms of accuracy for determining the replication rate of a viral population.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population with an unknown viral titer.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population consisting of different viral types, strains, and quasispecies, and is further not limited to specific mutant strains.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population which does not need to employ primers, probes, or any other analytical compounds designed and validated for each virus studied.
It is an object of the invention to provide a model for determining the replication rate of a viral population which can mimic in vivo conditions, is easy to use and easy to quantify in a precise manner.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population which is accurate in estimating the replication rate.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population which tests the complete full cycle of replication thereof.
It is an object of the invention to provide a method for determining the replication rate of a viral population in any chosen environment.

Method and means for determining the replication rate of a viral population


The invention comprises methods for treating and preventing a bacterial infection in a subject, methods for preparing a medicament for use in treating and preventing a bacterial infection in a subject, and pharmaceutical and veterinary antibacterial compositions when used therein.

A marked increase in prevalence of multi-drug resistance in disease-causing Gram-positive (G+ve) (Staphylococcus aureus, Enterococcus spp. and Streptococcus pneumoniae) and Gram negative (G−ve) pathogens (Escherichia Enterobacter spp., Salmonella spp., Acinetobacter baumannii, Klebsiella pneumoniae and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) has coincided with an unprecedented global decline in investment in new anti-infective drugs. There are few currently registered alternatives for multidrug resistant (MDR) bacterial infections, forcing clinicians to consider older generation drugs such as colistin with narrow spectrum and considerable potential for toxic side-effects. In addition, there are fewer novel classes of antiinfective therapeutics moving through the drug development pipeline.
Since the year 2000, a period of almost 15 years, only 5 novel mode of action (MOA) antibacterial agents have been approved by the US FDA—linezolid (an oxazolidinone) in 2000, daptomycin (a lipopeptide) in 2003, retapamulin (a pleuromutilin) in 2007, fidaxomicin (a macrolide tiacumicin) in 2011, and bedaquiline (a diarylquinoline) in 2012. Notably, none of these agents has significant activity against gram negative bacteria. No novel MOA antibacterial agents were approved in 2013 and to date in 2014 only tedizolid and dalbavancin, both analogs of existing classes, have been recommended for approval in the US. While there are more than 300 anti-infective medicines in various stages of development, the large majority of these medicines are previously approved antibacterial compounds or their derivatives that are undergoing studies for new indications.
Furthermore, the prevalence of multidrug-resistance in animal-specific pathogens together with greater regulation of the registration and usage of antimicrobials in animals, has caused veterinarians to become increasingly reliant on the traditional classes of antimicrobial agents. The risk of transfer of MDR zoonotic organisms from animals to humans has also led to calls for further restrictions on the usage of some recently registered antibacterial drugs such as the fluoroquinolones and the third and fourth generation cephalosporins.
Epidemiology of Antibacterial Resistance Development in Pathogens of Humans and Animals
Much of the evolution in resistance development is driven by changes in the epidemiology of key MDR organisms. Once only restricted to human hospitals and aged care facilities, methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) strains are now being isolated from the community in alarming proportions. Furthermore, community-acquired MRSA strains are more likely to carry the Panton-Valentine leukocidin (PVL) toxin, a virulence factor linked to skin and soft tissue lesions as well as a rapid, fulminating, necrotizing pneumonia with significant associated mortality. Recently MRSA strains have become host-adapted in several key animal species including livestock, horses and companion animals and regular cases of human-to-animal and animal-to-human transfer are being documented. This has important consequences for strain transmission and public health. A recent survey of 751 Australian veterinarians for MRSA nasal carriage found that a remarkable 21.4% of equine veterinarians were MRSA-positive compared to 4.9% of small animal veterinarians and 0.9% of veterinarians with little animal contact. These ecological shifts of MRSA together with the emergence of resistance to new drugs developed specifically for MRSA such as linezolid confirm that new MRSA anti-infectives are urgently needed. Furthermore, hospitals that use vancomycin for treating MRSA then have to contend with outbreaks of vancomycin-resistant enterococci (VRE) infections in their patients, once again with limited alternative antimicrobial choices.
The global emergence and spread within the community of highly virulent MDR Gram-negative (G−ve) bacteria such as E. coli O25b:ST131 confirms that bacterial pathogens can simultaneously evolve both virulence and resistance determinants. Echoing recent MRSA epidemiology, E. coli O25b:ST131, a major cause of urinary tract and bloodstream infections in humans, has now been isolated from extraintestinal infections in companion animals, and poultry. The increasing significance of E. coli O25b:ST131 and other MDR Enterobacteriaceae with combined resistance to fluoroquinolones and extended spectrum beta-lactams and carbapenems is another worrying trend, especially considering there have been few recent breakthroughs in the development of G−ve spectrum anti-infectives apart from incremental advances in the carbapenem family.
The World Health Organisation has identified antibiotic resistance as one of the three major future threats to global health. A recent report from the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) estimated that "in the United States, more than two million people are sickened every year with antibiotic-resistant infections, with at least 23,000 dying as a result." The extra medical costs, in the USA alone, associated with treating and managing a single case of antibiotic-resistant infection are estimated to be between US$18,588 and US$29,069 per year resulting in an overall direct cost to the US health system of over US$20 billion annually. In addition, the cost to US households in terms of lost productivity is estimated at over US$35 billion per annum. Twenty five thousand patients in the European Union (EU) still die annually from infection with MDR bacteria despite many EU countries having world's best practice hospital surveillance and infection control strategies. The EU costs from health care expenses and lost productivity associated with MDR infections are estimated to be at least 1.5 billion per year.
There is an unmet clinical need for antibacterial agents with novel mechanisms of action to supplement and replace currently available antibacterial agents, the efficacy of which is increasingly undermined by antibacterial resistance mechanisms. There remains a need for alternative antibacterials in the treatment of infection by multi-resistant bacteria. However, as reported by the Infectious Diseases Society of America and the European Centre for Disease Control and Prevention, few new drugs are being developed that offer promising results over existing treatments (Infectious Diseases Society of America 2010, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 50(8):1081-1083).
It is an object of the present invention to overcome at least one of the failings of the prior art.
The discussion of the background art set out above is intended to facilitate an understanding of the present invention only. The discussion is not an acknowledgement or admission that any of the material referred to is or was part of the common general knowledge as at the priority date of the application.

Methods for treating bacterial infections


An intraluminal stent, an intraluminal stent delivery system, and a method of manufacturing an intraluminal stent. The stent comprises a body and at least one pad operably attached to the stent body. The pad includes at least one therapeutic agent disposed thereon. The delivery system comprises a catheter and the stent disposed on the catheter. The manufacturing method includes providing a stent including a body, and at least one pad. The pad is operably attached to the stent body. The pad is treated with at least one therapeutic agent.

Balloon angioplasty has been used for the treatment of narrowed and occluded blood vessels. A frequent complication associated with the procedure is restenosis, or vessel re-narrowing. Within 3 to 6 months of angioplasty, restenosis occurs in almost 50 percent of patients. To reduce the incidence of re-narrowing, several strategies have been developed. Implantable devices, such as stents, have been used to reduce the rate of angioplasty-related restenosis by about half. The use of such intraluminal devices has greatly improved the prognosis of these patients. Nevertheless, restenosis remains a formidable problem associated with the treatment of narrowed blood vessels.
Restenosis associated with interventional procedures such as balloon angioplasty may occur by at least two mechanisms: thrombosis and intimal hyperplasia. During angioplasty, a balloon is inflated within an affected vessel, thereby compressing the blockage and imparting a significant force, and subsequent trauma, upon the vessel wall. The natural antithrombogenic lining of the vessel lumen may become damaged, thereby exposing thrombogenic cellular components, such as matrix proteins. The cellular components, along with the generally antithrombogenic nature of any implanted materials (e.g., a stent), may lead to the formation of a thrombus, or blood clot. The risk of thrombosis is generally greatest immediately after the angioplasty.
A second mechanism of restenosis is intimal hyperplasia, or excessive tissue re-growth. The trauma imparted upon the vessel wall from the angioplasty is generally believed to be an important factor contributing to hyperplasia. This exuberant cellular growth may lead to vessel "scarring" and significant restenosis. The risk of hyperplasia-associated restenosis is usually greatest 3 to 6 months after the procedure.
Prosthetic devices, such as stents or grafts, may be implanted during interventional procedures such as balloon angioplasty to reduce the incidence of vessel restenosis. To improve device effectiveness, stents may be coated with one or more therapeutic agents providing a mode of localized drug delivery. The therapeutic agents are typically intended to limit or prevent the aforementioned mechanisms of restenosis. For example, antithrombogenic agents such as heparin or clotting cascade IIb/IIIa inhibitors (e.g., abciximab and eptifibatide) may be coated on the stent, thereby diminishing thrombus formation. Such agents may effectively limit clot formation at or near the implanted device. Some antithrombogenic agents, however, may not be effective against intimal hyperplasia. Therefore, the stent may also be coated with antiproliferative agents or other compounds to reduce excessive endothelial re-growth. Therapeutic agents provided as coating layers on implantable medical devices may effectively limit restenosis and reduce the need for repeated treatments.
Several strategies have been developed for coating one or more therapeutic agents onto the stent surface. Standard methods may include dip coating, spray coating, and chemical bonding. The therapeutic agent coating may be applied as a mixture, solution, or suspension of polymeric material and/or drugs dispersed in an organic vehicle or a solution or partial solution. Further, the coating may include one or more sequentially applied, relatively thin layers deposited in a relatively rapid sequence. The stent is typically in a radially expanded state during the application process. In some applications, the coating may include a composite initial tie coat, or undercoat, and a composite topcoat, or cap coat. The coating thickness ratio of the topcoat to the undercoat may vary with the desired effect and/or the elution system. Examples of various stent coating strategies are discussed in the background portion of U.S. Pat. No. 6,517,889 issued to Jayaraman.
Regardless of the strategy used to coat the stent, the coating material is generally deposited directly on the stent framework and joints. The material, especially when it is thicker, may serve to "stiffen" the stent structure. As such, the stent may not easily be able to move (e.g., bend and flex) when deployed within the vasculature. In some instances, problems may arise when the "stiffened" stent is deployed in a mobile vascular site (e.g., arm, leg, neck, etc.). The vascular endothelium may even sustain damage should the coated stent not move in compliance with the vessel. This may negate the beneficial effects of the coating and the stent itself. Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a strategy for delivering a therapeutic agent associated with a stent that would not restrain the movement of the stent.
Another shortcoming associated with some coated stents relates to the generally complex and time-consuming coating/layering process. The use of multiple layers and various coating geographies (i.e., coatings differentially positioned on the stent) may be expensive, time-consuming, and inefficient due to the elaborate coating machinery, step number, and complexity sometimes involved. The process may be further complicated for stent coatings including multiple drugs, polymers, and solvents, some of which may be immiscible and/or incompatible with one another. As such, it would be desirable to provide a relatively inexpensive and efficient strategy for delivering one or more therapeutic agents on a stent.
Yet another shortcoming associated with some coated stents relates to drug load. Many stents are constructed from a thin mesh framework and thus do not include a sufficiently large surface area to retain substantial amounts of therapeutic agent(s). Therefore, it would be desirable to provide a strategy for increasing the amount of therapeutic agent(s) carried by the stent.
Accordingly, it would be desirable to provide an intraluminal stent including therapeutic agent delivery pads, and a method of manufacturing the same, that would overcome the aforementioned and other disadvantages.

Intraluminal stent including therapeutic agent delivery pads, and method of manufacturing the same