A device for fixation of vertebral bodies including a longitudinal support with a central axis and two or more anchoring elements. Each anchoring element having a longitudinal axis, a front end, and a back end. The longitudinal axis of each anchoring element may be arranged at an angle of between 65 degrees and 115 degrees relative to the central axis of the longitudinal support, while the anchoring elements are designed to abut the back end. The anchoring elements may be shaped in the form of a blade toward the front end.

Instabilities in spinal-column motion segments that may be caused by vertebral fractures, degenerative changes, etc. often require that the segments in question be fused. In order to ensure the immobilization of the segments to be fused as required for bone fusion, the corresponding segments are often stabilized with a fixation system. Fixation systems may either be inserted and anchored from the posterior, whereby the anchoring is done by means of bone screws in the pedicles, or from the anterior or antero-lateral, in which case the anchoring is done by means of bone screws in the vertebral bodies.
The quality with which fixation systems are anchored is heavily dependent on the quality of the bone structures. This is especially true of antero-laterally anchored fixation systems. The greater the degree of osteoporosis, the greater the danger that the bone screws will cut through the bone when subjected to even small loads. The use of thick screws reduces the risk of cutting through the bone. However, overly thick screws should be avoided lest there be excessive destruction of the bone structure in the vertebral body.
Known approaches in the related art for reducing the risk of the anchoring elements cutting through the bone are presented in DE 296 00 879 and in WO 00/10473. These publications deal basically with a hollow screw that is screwed into the vertebral body. The hollow screw does not need to displace a great deal of bone, because a peg of bone maybe left in place in the center of screw. However, when the hollow screw is being screwed in, the vascular supply to the peg of bone left in the center may be impaired, which may lead to complications, especially in osteoporotic bones. Also, in bones with still-functioning repair mechanisms, the hollow screw may be so heavily in-grown that it may be difficult to remove it if the area is to be inspected or, if removed, it will do serious damage to the bone (in some cases, for example, it has proved to be impossible to remove hollow screws inserted into the cervical vertebral column).
In connection with the surgical treatment of fractures in long bones, intramedullary stabilization techniques have been developed that, with modification, may also be successfully employed in the spinal column to solve the problem of anchoring anterior and antero-lateral spinal-column fixation systems. Intramedullary pins, for instance, may be used to splint fractured tubular bones by providing an intramedullary connection between the proximal portion of the broken tubular bone and its distal portion. Because of its geometry, however, the intramedullary pin can withstand only minor rotational and axial loads. This may not be potentially problematic as long as the fractured bone is able under axial load to maintain its height and the fracture is more or less diaphyseal. As soon as multi-fragment fractures arise, however, the intramedullary pin typically has to be anchored proximally and distally. In this way, the intramedullary pin can provide not only splinting but, as in the case of the spinal column, may act as a proximately and distally anchored longitudinal support that can transfer forces and moments at all levels from proximal to distal. In the case of the intramedullary pin, the anchoring implants may be screws that are run transversely through the bone and the intramedullary pin on the proximal and distal sides. In patients with osteoporosis and in cases where the fractures lie close to the joint, anchoring the intramedullary pin with screws is often not a satisfactory approach. Also, spiral-twisted blade-shaped implants known in the related art and as used in clinical practice are not particularly suitable for use on spinal column.


A heat exchanger assembly having an insertable distributor tube retainer tab configured to position and retain a distributor tube disposed within a first manifold extending along an axis Amanifold. The first manifold includes a manifold wall having an interior surface defining an interior chamber, an exterior surface opposite of the interior surface, and a retainer slot connecting the interior surface and the exterior surface. The retainer slot extends substantially transverse to the manifold axis Amanifold. The retainer tab is inserted through the retainer slot and includes a first tab portion disposed within the interior chamber and a second tab portion 104 engaged to the wall of the first manifold, and may also include a third tab portion engaged to a width surface of the retainer slot. The retainer tab includes a tab opening configured to engage and maintain the distributor tube within the predetermined position.

Air conditioning and heat pump systems for residential and commercial applications are known to employ modified automotive heat exchanger assemblies because of their high heat transfer efficiency, durability, and relatively ease of manufacturability. A typical automotive heat exchanger assembly includes an inlet manifold, an outlet manifold, and a plurality of extruded multi-port refrigerant tubes hydraulically connecting the inlet and outlet manifolds. The core of the heat exchanger assembly is defined by the plurality of refrigerant tubes and corrugated fins disposed between the refrigerant tubes for improved heat transfer efficiency and increased structural rigidity. For residential and commercial applications, the inlet and outlet manifolds typically extend horizontally while the refrigerant tubes extend vertically with respect to the direction of gravity.
The increased in scale of an automotive heat exchanger assembly for residential and commercial applications dramatically increases the lengths of the inlet and outlet manifolds, which may result in increased refrigerant mal-distribution through the core of the heat exchanger. For heat pump systems, in cooling mode the indoor heat exchanger assembly acts as an evaporator, and in heating mode the outdoor heat exchanger assembly acts as the evaporator. During operation in evaporative mode, a partially expanded two-phase refrigerant enters the lower portions of the refrigerant tubes from the inlet manifold, the lower manifold in evaporative mode, and expands absorbing heat from a stream of ambient air as it rises within the tubes and changing into a vapor phase. Momentum and gravity effects, due to the large mass differences between the liquid and gas phases of the refrigerant, can result in separation of the phases within the inlet manifold and cause poor refrigerant distribution throughout the core of the heat exchanger. Poor refrigerant distribution degrades evaporator performance and can result in uneven temperature distribution over the core.
Distributor tubes are known in the art to be used within inlet manifolds to aid in the even distribution of refrigerant through the core. Also, distributor tubes are known to be used in the outlet manifolds, the upper manifold in evaporative mode, to assist in the collection of refrigerant vapors to reduce the pressure drop through the core of the heat exchanger assemblies. A typical distributor tube includes a plurality of apertures axially spaced from one another for dispensing or receiving a refrigerant in a radial direction. The distributor tube is held in position as it extends through the inlet manifold by a braze joint on either ends of the manifold.
Audible noises are created due to the unconstrained increased length of the distributor tube swaying or vibrating resulting in repeated contact with the inside wall of the manifolds of a modified automotive heat exchanger assembly. Excessive continuous vibrations of the distributor tube may create fatigue fractures to the wall of the manifolds or to the distributor tube itself, as well as damaging the ends of the refrigerant tubes from repeated impacts of the distributor tube to the refrigerant tube ends. There exists a need to reduce the excessive vibrations of the distributor tube to reduce or eliminate audible noise and to prevent damage to the heat exchanger assembly.

Heat exchanger assembly having a distributor tube retainer tab


The present invention relates to the use of vanadate compounds, or analogues of vanadate compounds, to treat arthropathies, and to compositions containing vanadate compounds adapted for such use.

Cancer is a global problem which affects an estimated 5.9 million people worldwide annually. There are many types of cancer, some of the most common in North America include breast, lung, colon and lymphatic cancer. Although chemotherapy has had positive impact on the survival rate of cancer patients in the last 30 years, most human cancers are, or become resistant to chemotherapy. Thus, there is a tremendous need for anticancer drugs which are more effective and which can act on drug resistant tumors.
Two important features of cancer cells is their ability to proliferate abnormally leading to tumor formation and growth, and to invade other tissues leading to metastases. It is thought that genetic damage to specific genes is responsible for the transformation of cells and the development of cancer in humans. The genetic damage found in human cancer cells can be divided into two types. One of these involves the mutation of oncogenes which results in continuous proto-oncogene activation. The second involves the mutation of tumor suppressor genes which results in the loss of their function. Genetic damage to proto-oncogenes or to tumor suppressor genes leads to oncogene activation in the absence of stimuli and to uncontrolled cellular proliferation. Damage has been found to one or another proto-oncogenes and tumor suppressor genes with some consistency in a variety of human malignancies.
Two oncogenic transcription factors, fos and jun, have been shown to be involved and required for the induction of genes involved in cellular proliferation and in particular, in cellular proliferation in many tumor cell lines. Inhibition of the expression of these two genes leads to the inhibition of cellular proliferation. One of the most life threatening aspects of cancer is the development of metastases. Generally, most solid tumors can be removed surgically from the primary site resulting in a local cure. However, if the cancer cells have invaded vascular channels and metastasized to a different organ, then the likelihood of a complete cure is reduced. Thus, agents which reduce the metastatic properties of cancer cells would be beneficial for the treatment of cancer.
The cellular processes thought to play an important role in metastases include; increased cellular attachment, tumor cell proteolysis of host tissue, tumor cell locomotion and colony formation. These processes occur in a sequential order. First, tumor cells attach to the basement membrane through their surface receptors of integrin and non-integrin types to ligands such as collagen, laminin and fibronectin in the basement membrane. After attachment, a localized zone of lysis of the basement membrane occurs at the point of cell attachment. The tumor cells produce and secrete degradative enzymes, such as collagenase and gelatinase, which degrade the basement membrane and allow the infiltration and locomotion of tumor cells into the host organ. There is a positive association between tumor aggressiveness and the ability of cells to produce a group of enzymes, matrix metalloproteases, involved in the invasive process. Inhibition of certain proteases, such as metalloproteases or serine proteases, have been shown to prevent invasion and metastasis (Alvarez et al. 1990. J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 82: 589-595; Schultz et al 1988, Cancer Res. 48, 5539-5545; and, Wang & Stearns 1988, Cancer Res. 48, 6262-6271). Metalloproteases, such as collagenase have also been associated with cartilage erosion and pathology in arthropathies, such as arthritis.
Ionic vanadium compounds such as vanadyl or vanadate salts in combination with thiosulphate or sulfite compounds have been reported to be useful for treating malignant tumors, arteriosclerosis and mental syndromes in the elderly ((U.S. patent Ser. No. 5,045,316 to Kaplan). Kaplan discloses a daily dose ranging from 0.0043 mg/kg to 0.14 mg/kg of vanadyl or vanadate salts. No mechanism for the action of vanadate and thiosulphate in the disclosed treatments is provided by Kaplan.
In the background of the Kaplan patent it is disclosed that others have reported that vanadium salts have an antineoplastic effect and dietary vanadyl sulphate has been reported to inhibit chemically induced mammary carcinogenesis in rats.
Saxena et al. (Biochem. Pharmacology 45(3): 539-542, 1993) examined the in vivo effects of vanadate on the antioxidant status of control and alloxan diabetic rat livers. Diabetic rats were administered 0.6 mg sodium orthovanadate/ml in drinking water. It should be noted that the present inventor has found that oral administration of orthovanadate to animals at 0.5 mg/ml results in gastric toxicity (See Example 9 herein).
Antioxidants such as .beta.-carotene, n-tocopherol, vitamin E, vitamin C, and glutathione have been reported to have anticancer activity (G. Shklar et al. Nutrition and Cancer, 1993, p.145). It has also been disclosed that a mixture of antioxidants (.beta.-carotene, dl-n-tocopherol acid succinate (vitamin E), vitamin C, and reduced glutathione) was very effective in preventing carcinogenesis in an in vivo cancer model and was more effective than the individual components of the mixture as cancer chemopreventive agents.

Treatment of arthropathies with vanadate compounds or analogues thereof


In a radio wave radar system using a two-frequency CW modulation method, it is possible to detect a distance between a host vehicle and a forward vehicle and to realize a stable ACC following travel, even in a condition in which the relative speed is 0. By combining the two-frequency CW modulation method with the frequency pulse CW modulation method, that is, by using combination with the two-frequency CW method when the relative speed occurs and the frequency pulse CW method when the relative speed is close to 0, even if the relative speed is 0, the IF signal obtained from the reflected wave from the forward vehicle can be generated to detect the existence of the ACC target vehicle, so that it is possible to realize a stable ACC following travel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radio wave radar system for detecting a distance or a relative speed between a host vehicle and an object such as a preceding vehicle or an obstacle, and application technologies thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Since attenuation of the radio beam is small even in case of bad weather such as rainy or misty weather, and thus the radio wave propagates to a long distance, the radio wave radar has been widely used in the fields of air traffic control, meteorological observation and the like. Recently, in the field of active safety of vehicles, a radio wave radar using millimeter wave bandwidths (hereinafter, referred to as "millimeter wave radar") for measuring a distance and a relative speed between a host vehicle and a preceding vehicle was studied, developed and commercialized.
There are several modulation methods used in millimeter wave radar, and a radar technology of two-frequency CW method disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 3203600 is typical. The technology (the principle of detection) disclosed in the Patent Publication will be described with reference to FIGS. 14 to 17. FIG. 14 is a block diagram illustrating a constitutional example of a millimeter wave radar of a two-frequency CW method. As shown in FIG. 14, a millimeter wave oscillator 601 radiates a transmission signal 618 from a transmitting antenna 604, the transmission signal 618 being a modulation signal modulated by the modulation circuit 603 which generates a two-frequency CW modulation signal 602 and the modulation signal being modulated to switch two frequencies f1 and f2 alternatively by time division (here, Δf=f2−f1).
The transmission signal having two frequencies is reflected from a preceding vehicle 605, and this reflected signal is input to a receiving antenna 606 as a reception signal 619. At that time, when there is a relative speed between the preceding vehicle 605 and the millimeter wave radar system 600, Doppler frequencies fd1 and fd2 are generated, and the frequencies of the reception signal 619 become f1+fd1 and f2+fd2, respectively. If the reception signal 619 passes through a mixer 608, the reception signal 619 becomes a time-divided signal (intermediate frequency signal (hereinafter, referred to as "IF signal")) including information of each of fd1 and fd2. The IF signal 614 is amplified by an amplifier 609, and then is divided in directions of two low pass filters LPFa 611 and LPFb 612 by a switch 610 being switched in synchronization with the two-frequency modulation signal 602. The two-frequency CW modulation signal 602 and the switch 610 are controlled by a control unit 616.
A relationship between the two-frequency CW modulation signal 602 shown in FIG. 14 and the IF signal 615 after passing through the low pass filters 611 and 612 is shown in FIG. 15. The IF signal 615 passing through the low pass filters 611 and 612 becomes two kinds of IF signals indicated by trochoidal curve of the time-divided IF signal 614 before passing through the switch 610. These signals are Doppler signals for the modulated frequencies f1, f2. If these Doppler signals are converted into discrete values by an ADC (AD converter) 616, and then the discrete values are analyzed with FFT by a signal processing unit 617, the frequencies fd1, fd2 and the phase differences Φ1, Φ2 can be obtained. The relative speed V between the host vehicle and the preceding vehicle 605 can be obtained by Equation (1).V=C×fd1/(2×f1) or V=C×fd2/(2×f2)  (1)
Herein, C is a propagation speed of a radio wave, and when fd1<<f1, fd2<<f2 and Δf<<f1, fd1≈fd2 can be approximated. Therefore, V≈C×fd1/(2×f0), where f0=(f1+f2)/2.
In addition, a distance R between two vehicles can be expressed by Equation (2).R=C×(Φ1−Φ2)/(4πΔf)  (2)
Herein, as shown in FIG. 16, if the traveling speeds of a host vehicle 801 and a preceding vehicle 802 existing at the fore are V1 and V2 (V1>V2), respectively, the relative speed V is (V1−V2). If the respective Doppler signal frequencies for this relative speed are fd1 and fd2, the frequency spectrum of power obtained by the FFT analysis of the signals is shown in FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 17, a sharp peak of the power spectrum is observed on the frequency axis corresponding to the Doppler frequencies fd1, fd2. The relative speed V=(V1−V2) and the distance R between two vehicles can be obtained using Equations (1) and (2) on the basis of the frequency information and the phase information at the peak of the power spectrum.
According to the signal processing in the two-frequency CW method described above, a spectrum is detected from the result of the FFT analysis, one spectrum corresponding to one preceding vehicle is observed as shown in FIG. 17, and the relative speed V from the frequency information and the distance R between vehicles from the phase information can be concurrently obtained. Hence, a stable detection of a preceding vehicle can be realized without a complex signal process.

Radio-wave radar system and adaptive cruise control system


Gold(III) complexes with mixed ligands as anticancer agents. The gold(III) cations are coordinated to bidentate ligands having diamino functional groups: a diaminocyclohexane ligand and a 1,3-propylenediamine ligand. The diaminocyclohexane ligand can exist in both cis- and trans- configurations, resulting in isomeric gold(III) complexes. Also described are pharmaceutical compositions incorporating the gold(III) complexes, methods of synthesis, methods of treating cancer and methods of inhibiting cancer cell proliferation and inducing cancer cell apoptosis.

Technical Field
The present invention relates to pharmaceutical compounds. More particularly, the present invention relates to gold(III) complexes having mixed diamine ligands. The present invention includes the use of these gold(III) complexes for treatment of cancers and cell proliferative disorders.
Description of the Related Art
The "background" description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description which may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly or impliedly admitted as prior art against the present invention.
The development of new metal based therapeutic drugs with a pharmacological activity different from platinum drugs is one of the major goals of modern bioinorganic and bio-organometallic medicinal chemistry research [Bertrand B, Bodio E, Richard P, Picquet M, Gendre P L, Casini A (2015) J. Organomet. Chem. 775:124-129; Sadler P J, Sue R E (1994) Met. Based Drugs 1:107-144; Sava G, Bergamo A, Dyson P J (2011) Dalton Trans. 40:9069-9075; Shaw C F (1999) Chem. Rev. 99:2589-2600; Best S L and Sadler P J (1996) Gold Bull. 29:87-93; vanRijt S H and Sadler P J (2009) Drug Discov. Today 14(23-24):1089-1097; Panteli N, Stanojkovi T P, Zmejkovski B B, Sabo T J, Kaluderovic G N (2015) European Journal of Medicinal Chemistry 90:766-774; Al-Jaroudi S S, Fettouhi M, Wazeer M I M, Isab A A, Altuwaijri S (2013) Polyhedron 50:434-442—each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety]. The high effectiveness of cisplatin in the treatment of several types of tumors is severely hindered by some clinical problems such as normal tissue toxicity and the frequent occurrence of initial and acquired resistance to the drug [Kelland L (2007) Nat. Rev. Cancer 7:573-584; Thayer A M (2010) Eng. News 88:24-28; Dhar S, Lippard S J (2011) Bioinorg. MedChem, Wiley-VCH, Ch 3:79-96; Wang X, Guo X Z (2011) Bioinorganic MediChem, Wiley-VCH, Ch 4:97-149—each incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. Gold(III) complexes, which are isoelectronic and isostructural to platinum(II) complexes, show promising antitumor activity [Sadler P J (1976) Struct. Bond 29:171-214; Cutillas N, Yellol G S, de Haro C, Vicente C, Rodriguez V, Ruiz J (2013) Coord. Chem. Rev. 257:2784-2797—each incorporated herein by reference in their entirety]. Gold(III) complexes have recently gained considerable attention because they have strong antiproliferative effects and exhibited pharmacodynamics and kinetic properties that are different from cisplatin [Shaw C F (1999) Chem. Rev. 99:2589-2600—incorporated herein by reference in its entirety]. In general, gold(III) complexes are unstable under physiological conditions because they have a high reduction potential and hydrolyze fast. Therefore, selecting suitable ligands to enhance the stability of gold(III) complexes is a challenge.
In view of the foregoing, the present disclosure aims to provide stable gold(III) complexes having efficacy against a variety of cancers that also lack the severe toxic side effects associated with platinum-based drugs.
Brief Summary of the Invention
According to a first aspect, the present disclosure relates to a gold(III) complex having Formula I:
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate, or prodrug thereof. The group, W, is selected from W1 or W2.
R1-R8 are each independently a hydrogen, an optionally substituted C1-C8 alkyl group, or an optionally substituted C6-C8 aryl group. R9-R14 are each independently a hydrogen, a halogen, a hydroxyl, an amino, a nitro, a cyano, an optionally substituted alkyl, an optionally substituted cycloalkyl, an optionally substituted heterocyclyl, an optionally substituted arylalkyl, an optionally substituted heteroaryl, an optionally substituted alkoxyl, an optionally substituted thioalkoxyl, an optionally substituted aryl, a N-monosubstituted amino group, or a N,N-disubstituted amino group. R15-R26 are each independently a lone pair of electrons, a hydrogen, a halogen, a hydroxyl, an amino, a nitro, a cyano, an optionally substituted alkyl, an optionally substituted cycloalkyl, an optionally substituted heterocyclyl, an optionally substituted arylalkyl, an optionally substituted heteroaryl, an optionally substituted alkoxyl, an optionally substituted thioalkoxyl, an optionally substituted aryl, a N-monosubstituted amino group, or a N,N-disubstituted amino group. Z1-Z4 are each independently a carbon, an oxygen, a sulfur, or a nitrogen atom. Z5-Z8 are each independently a carbon, or a nitrogen atom.
In some embodiments, the gold(III) complex has a formula selected from the group consisting of Formula II, Formula III, and Formula IV:

In at least one embodiment, the gold(III) complex is a pharmaceutically acceptable salt having one or more pharmaceutically acceptable anions selected from the group consisting of fluoride, chloride, bromide, iodide, nitrate, sulfate, phosphate, methanesulfonate, ethanesulfonate, p-toluenesulfonate, salicylate, malate, maleate, succinate, tartrate, citrate, acetate, perchlorate, trifluoromethanesulfonate, acetylacetonate, hexafluorophosphate, and hexafluoroacetylacetonate.
According to a second aspect, the present disclosure relates to a composition comprising the gold(III) complex or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate or prodrug thereof, and one or more pharmaceutically acceptable carriers.
In some embodiments, the composition further comprises one or more other active pharmaceutical agents.
In at least one embodiment, the composition has 50-99.9 wt% of the gold (III) complex relative to the total weight of the composition.
In some embodiments, the composition is in solid, semi-solid or liquid dosage forms.
In most embodiments, the composition is formulated for one or more modes of administration, including, oral administration, systemic administration, parenteral administration, inhalation spray, infusion, rectal administration, topical administration, intravesical administration, intradermal administration, transdermal administration, subcutaneous administration, intramuscular administration, intralesional administration, intracranial administration, intrapulmonal administration, intracardial administration, intrasternal administration, and sublingual administration.
According to a third aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for treating one or more types of cancer in a mammalian subject in need thereof, by administering a therapeutically effective amount of the composition of the second aspect to the mammalian subject.
In at least one embodiment, the gold(III) complex or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate or prodrug thereof, is administered in a dose of 0.05 mg/kg to 200 mg/kg based on the weight of the mammalian subject.
In some embodiments, the one or more types of cancer are prostate cancer and/or gastrointestinal cancer.
In at least one embodiment, the one or more types of cancer is resistant to cisplatin.
In at least one embodiment, the mammalian subject has renal disease.
According to a fourth aspect, the present disclosure relates to a method for inhibiting proliferation of cancer cells by contacting the cancer cells with the gold(III) complex or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate or prodrug thereof.
In some embodiments, the cancer cells are human cells.
In at least one embodiment, the cancer cells are prostate cancer cells and/or gastrointestinal cancer cells.
In some embodiments, the prostate cancer cells are PC3 cells, and the gastrointestinal cancer cells are SGC7901 cells.
In some embodiments, the gold(III) complex exhibits an IC50 of 1-20 μM for inhibiting the proliferation of the cancer cells.
The foregoing paragraphs have been provided by way of general introduction, and are not intended to limit the scope of the following claims. The described embodiments, together with further advantages, will be best understood by reference to the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for treating a cancer with a mixed ligand gold(III) complexes as anti-cancer agents

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals


A sound reproduction system has been developed, for converting signals on two input channels into surround signals on five or seven output channels and vice-versa. A decoder is included in the sound reproduction system which enhances the correlated component of the input signals in the desired direction and reduces the strength of such signals in channels not associated with the encoded direction, while preserving the apparent loudness of all output channels, the separation between the respective left and right output channels and the total energy of the uncorrelated component of the input channels in each output channel. The decoder may include a uniquely defined matrix that helps to ensure that the surface of the output signals is smooth and continuous.

This invention relates to sound reproduction systems involving the decoding of a stereophonic pair of input audio signals into a multiplicity of output signals for reproduction after suitable amplification through a like plurality of loudspeakers arranged to surround a listener, as well as the encoding of multichannel material into two channels.

Harman International Industries, Incorporated


The invention relates to an oral pharmaceutical composition comprising the combination of an ibuprofen salt or S(+)-ibuprofen with L-arginine and/or the pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and additionally pharmaceutically acceptable vehicles and/or excipients. The invention also relates to the method of producing the composition and to the use of said composition having synergic therapeutic activity, for treating moderate to severe inflammatory pain, fever and inflammation.

The treatment of pain having an inflammatory origin requires the use of different strategies, for example, the use of non steroidal ant i-inflammatory agents (NSAID's). However, depending on the pain extent, the only use of an NSAID is not capable of controlling pain satisfactorily, and additionally, important adverse effects may appear with the chronic use of these agents, especially gastric damage, gastric ulcers (Gambero et al., 2005).
The balanced or multimodal analgesia is a therapeutic approach for pain control, which is based on the combination of two or more analgesics (Dalhet, 1990). In this sense, the combination of ibuprofen, a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory agent, with different adjuvants, has been previously described.
Ibuprofen (IBU) is a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory analgesic (NSAID), relatively insoluble in water, soluble in organic solvents, with a melting point between 75 and 77° C. It has been demonstrated that ibuprofen is a potent, effective analgesic, useful in the treatment of pain from moderate to severe. Aside from its analgesic effect, it is a moderate anti-inflammatory and antipyretic agent.
Ibuprofen acts on the cyclooxygenase II enzyme, which intervenes in the process of inflammation and pain, with a plasma half life between 1.9 and 2.2 hours. Around 99% of ibuprofen is linked to albumin. It is metabolized in the liver, it has a bioavailability of from 49 to 73% when administered orally. Food reduces the absorption rate, but not the absorbed amount.
Ibuprofen belongs to the group of the 2-arylpropionic acids, it has two enantiomeric forms, R(−) and S(+), being the racemic ibuprofen one of the most used NSAIDs. The anti-inflammatory activity resides almost exclusively in the S(+) enantiomer. In vivo, ibuprofen undergoes chiral inversion, in such way that the inactive R enantiomer is converted into the active S isomer.
The commonly recommended oral dose of ibuprofen in adults is from 900 mg to 2400 mg per day, without exceeding 3,200 mg per day.
Arginine (ARG) is one of the twenty amino acids that form part of proteins, it is classified as a semi-essential amino acid. Arginine participates in the nitric oxide synthesis mechanism, which causes the relaxation of the blood vessels (vasodilatation).
This amino acid is involved in a plurality of activities of the endocrine glands, it can stimulate the immunologic function by increasing the number of leucocytes, it has a vasodilatator effect, moreover, it is involved in the synthesis of creatine, polyamines and DNA. It can decrease cholesterol levels, and stimulate the release of the growth hormone (somatotropine). It is also involved in collagen production.
Similarly to L-carnitine (L-CAR), L-arginine (L-ARG) is believed to have potentiating functions in the conversion of fatty acids into energy (muscular fuel). It can decrease cholesterol levels by improving the capacity of the circulatory apparatus, as well as stimulate the growth hormone release, reduce the body fat levels and facilitate the athletes' recovery due to its effects in withdrawing ammonia (muscular residue resulting from anaerobic exercise) from the muscles and converting it into urea, which is excreted through urine.
The combination of ibuprofen has already been described previously with different active agents. Previous clinical studies have disclosed that ibuprofen plus oxycodone or paracetamol provide analgesia and comfort to the patients, reducing the amount of ibuprofen required for managing pain, and thus, the gastropathological complications associated to its use.
Other previous studies have disclosed that ibuprofen arginate promotes a fast onset of the analgesic action, compared to ibuprofen alone (Black et al., Eur J Clin Pharmacol. 2002), basically due to the increase in the NSAID dissolution and absorption. However, there are no studies demonstrating, aside from the pharmacokinetical process (absorption), the existence of pharmacodynamical processes that favor the potentiation of the analgesic effect of ibuprofen with L-arginine. The present invention demonstrates, by means of a pre-clinic study, the pharmacodynamic progression exhibited by this composition, and additionally, it demonstrates a synergistic effect in the therapeutic activity of the combination of ibuprofen and L-arginine.
In Mexico, patent No. MX 181134, discloses a pharmaceutical composition having between 9% and 17% weight-weight (w/w) ibuprofen, combined with between 17% and 33% w/w arginine, as well as between 20%-25% w/w sodium or potassium bicarbonate, and between 25%-40% w/w sodium bitartrate, wherein up to 40% arginine is substituted by lysine. This composition is in the form of an effervescent tablet o granulate that additionally contains sweeteners and flavoring agents.
In contrast with the formulation described in patent No. MX181134, the present invention evidences synergism between two components. Additionally, the preferred interval claimed in the present invention is outside the compositions claimed by patent No. MX181134.
Patent No. MX190245 discloses a pharmaceutical composition with analgesic activity, which is adequate for manufacturing pharmaceutical preparations with complete solubility in water, characterized because it comprises from 33% to 46% w/w ibuprofen; from 34% to 51% w/w L-arginine and from 9% to 29% w/w sodium bicarbonate, wherein the molar ratio between ibuprofen and L-arginine is between 1:1.1 and 1:1.5, and the weight ratio between ibuprofen and sodium bicarbonate is between 1:0.251 and 1:0.75; said composition is in the form of an effervescent granulate that additionally contains sweeteners and flavoring agents. Moreover, the combination of the present invention is not preferred as effervescent formulations.
In contrast with the formulation described in patent No. MX190245, the present invention evidences synergism between two components.
Patent MX241292 presents a pharmaceutical composition comprising an aqueous solution of arginine and ibuprofen, wherein the molar ratio arginine to ibuprofen is lower than 1:1 and the aqueous solution is sterilized and lyophilized; ibuprofen may be (RS)-Ibuprofen or (S)-Ibuprofen and arginine may be L-arginine or D-arginine. This composition can be administered by intravenous, intramuscular and oral route.
In contrast with this formulation, the present invention refers specifically to a non-sterile combination of ibuprofen and L-arginine, in a pharmaceutical form that is preferably solid, wherein the selected ratio allows obtaining a synergistic effect in its therapeutic activity, and wherein the preferred ibuprofen/L-arginine ratio is between 1.6 and 5.6. This feature allows decreasing the use of active agents, as well as their possible adverse effects, without reducing its therapeutic activity.
To date, there are commercial pharmaceutical formulations comprising ibuprofen arginate. These formulations can be found in the form of effervescent granules with 400 mg and 600 mg or as an ibuprofen arginate formulation in injectable solution in presentations of 400 mg and 800 mg. Ibuprofen and arginine are present in equimolar ratio in the ibuprofen arginate salt, said proportion is outside the synergistic interval of the present invention. Therefore, the mentioned formulations have an additive therapeutic effect, whereas the combination of the present invention presents a synergistic effect, which allows obtaining formulations with a lower amount of the active agents and with the same analgesic-anti-inflammatory and antipyretic therapeutic effect.
We have discovered that the effective dose at 30% (ED-30) of the ibuprofen-L-arginine association, ED30 (experimental) is 52.05±0.07 mg/Kg, which is considerably lower than the theoretical ED30 of 80.6±7.6 mg/Kg. The above result suggests that after oral co-administration of ibuprofen and L-arginine, the same level of analgesic effect is achieved (30% anti-nociceptive) but it can be reduced in about 1.5 times the dose of both drugs. For this reason, the present invention discloses the active agents preferably having an ibuprofen/L-arginine ratio of 1.6 to 5.6.
With this combination it is possible to preserve the therapeutic effect by reducing the amount of ibuprofen and its possible adverse effects, such as nausea, diarrhea, abdominal pain, dizziness, gastric hyperacidity, constipation, headache and some other less frequent effects, such as edema, fever, rash and blurred vision.

Combination of an NSAID and an amino acid


Apparatus (10) for separating intermixed particulate materials. The apparatus (10) includes a housing (12) having a coaxial core (14) disposed therewithin to define an annular space (24) between the core (14) and the wall of the housing (12). A recirculator (46) is provided to provide gas to the housing (12) for cyclonic flow within the annular space (24). The intermixed particulate materials are introduced into the housing (12) and permitted to fall, under the influence of gravity, into the annular space (24) where separation is effected by interaction of the upwardly spiralling gas with the downwardly-passing, intermixed particulate materials.

Various applications exist wherein it is necessary to employ a device to separate particulate solids. For example, in the processing of vegetable granular materials having meat portions and hull portions to be separated therefrom, particles of each portion are intermixed as a result of processing. It is desirable and economically efficient to separate the meat portions from the hull portions for further disposition. The meat portions tend to be relatively large compared to the hull portions.
Other applications, of course, exist for separating intermixed granular materials. U.S. Pat. No. 2,795,329 (Shaub) illustrates a device for the separation of fine-grained portions from intermixed granular material. The device illustrated in that document allows introduction of a bulk product into a chamber by gravity flow through a center-line pipe. A blast pipe, having annular slots, provides a counter-current air stream which interacts with downwardly-moving granular flow.
Such a device serves to somewhat accomplish the goals of a particulate material separator and overcomes some of the shortcomings of the prior art. It is important, however, that both by-products of the separation action be able to be recovered and removed from the gas or other fluid being employed in the separation process. The Shaub '329 patent does not permit recovery and retrieval of all by-products.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,766,880 (Shaub et al.) is similar in its teachings to the Shaub patent previously discussed. Materials are introduced, by gravity flow, through a center-line pipe. Airflow through a series of louvered slots is introduced in a counter-current direction to the downwardly passing granular material. As in the case of the Shaub '880 patent, however, a basic deficiency continues to be present. Not all by-products of the process performed are able to be recovered and retrieved. Certainly, the gas employed in separation is not purified so that it can be recycled and used again.
It is to the desirable dictates of a separator outlined above and the shortcomings of the prior art that the present invention is directed. It is an improved separator which not only accomplishes efficient separation, but it is also one which provides for simultaneous removal of particulate materials from the gas being employed in operation of the separator.


A radiation source for obliquely launching a narrowband electromagnetic radiation into a cavity, comprises an emitter structure having a main radiation emission region for emitting the narrowband electromagnetic radiation, wherein the emitter structure is optically coupled to the cavity, and a layer element coupled to the main radiation emission region of the emitter structure, wherein the layer element comprises a radiation deflection structure configured for deflecting the radiation emission characteristic of the emitter structure with respect to the surface normal of the main radiation emission region of the emitter structure.

The sensing of environmental parameters in the ambient atmosphere, such as noise, sound, temperature and gases, gains more and more importance in the implementation of appropriate sensors within mobile devices, home automation, such as smart home, and the automotive sector. Harmful gas concentrations can occur due to air pollution and malfunction of certain devices. The well-being is strongly influenced by the air quality. Gas detection by inexpensive, always available and connected sensors is an upcoming topic in the future. However, with the evermore extensive use of sensors, there is also a particular need to be able to produce such sensors as inexpensively as possible and, thus, cost effectively. However, the resulting reliability and accuracy of the sensors should nevertheless be maintained or even increased.
In particular, the field of monitoring the air quality in our environment gets more and more attention. A typical optical sensor, e.g. a photo acoustic sensor, comprises a radiation source, filter elements for a wavelength selection, a detector and the sample area where the light between the light source and the detector interacts with the environmental medium.
Generally, there is a need in the field for an approach to implement improved radiation sources for gas sensors, e.g. PAS sensors (PAS=photo-acoustic spectroscopy), having reduced fabrication requirements and providing an adequate sensitivity for the target gas to be detected by the sensor device.
Such a need can be solved by the radiation source according to claim 1 and the gas sensor according to claim 13.
Further, specific implementations of the radiation source are defined in the dependent claims.

Radiation source and gas sensor using the radiation source


A resource allocation method of a Base Station (BS) in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes estimating a size of a MAP message, and evaluating a size of an available burst allocation region according to the estimated size of the MAP message and allocating bursts in the evaluated-sized burst allocation region. Accordingly, when a DownLink (DL) subframe is used by being divining into a plurality of regions according to a burst characteristic, a throughput can be improved without waste of resources by estimating a resource amount occupied by a MAP message in the DL subframe.

In the next generation communication system, also known as the 4th Generation (4G) communication system, research is actively in progress to provide a Quality of Service (QoS) with a data transfer rate of about 100 Mbps. In particular, the 4G communication system currently is being developed to ensure mobility and QoS in a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) communication system, such as a Wireless Local Area Network (WLAN) system and a Wireless Metropolitan Area Network (WMAN) system. A representative example of such a communication system is an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16 system. The IEEE 802.16 system employs an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM)/Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) scheme so that a broadband network can be supported in a physical channel.
In the broadband wireless communication system such as the IEEE 802.16 system, data is transmitted in a frame unit, and one frame is divided into a DownLink (DL) subframe for transmitting data from a Base Station (BS) to a Mobile Station (MS) and an UpLink (UL) subframe for transmitting data from the MS to the BS. The DL subframe and the uplink subframe are divided along a frequency axis and a time axis. A slot is a unit of a two-dimensional array divided along the frequency axis and the time axis. A subcarrier is one of resources shared in the broadband wireless communication system such as the IEEE 802.16 system. The subcarrier is channelized, and a concatenation of at least one subcarrier is used as a unit called a subchannel. A burst is a physical concatenation of data transmitted and received through a plurality of slots.
The BS allocates radio resources indicated in a unit of the subchannel, slot, symbol, etc., to the MSs. Each MS receives data by demodulating and decoding a burst received through a radio resource allocated by the BS to each MS. Thus, the BS transmits a MAP message for reporting resource allocation information to the MS. In general, the MAP message includes resource allocation information for one frame, and occupies a fixed amount of resources in each frame. That is, the MAP message is fixed in size. When the MAP message is fixed, it implies that the number of pieces of resource allocation information that can be included in the MAP message is fixed. In other words, since the number of resource allocation Information Elements (IEs) is fixed in one frame, there is a problem in that resource utility and resource efficiency are decreased.

Apparatus and method for estimating size of map message in broadband wireless communication


A method for transmyocardial revascularization of the heart of a patient includes positioning an active electrode surface in close proximity to a target site on the wall of a patient's heart, and applying high frequency voltage between the active voltage surface and a return electrode to ablate tissue at the heart wall. The high frequency voltage ablates, i.e. volumetrically removes the heart tissue, and the electrode surface is axially translated into the space vacated by the removed tissue to bore a channel through the heart tissue. The active electrode surface may be introduced into the thoracic cavity and placed adjacent the epicardium to form an inward channel toward the ventricular cavity, or it may be delivered into the ventricular cavity of the heart and positioned adjacent the endocardium to form a channel extending outward towards the epicardium. In either case, the channels formed through the myocardium promote direct communication between blood within the ventricular cavity and that of existing myocardial vasculature to increase blood flow to the heart tissue.

Devices incorporating radio frequency electrodes for use in electrosurgical and electrocautery techniques are described in Rand et al. (1985) J. Arthro. Surg. 1:242-246 and U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,281,216; 4,943,290; 4,936,301; 4,593,691; 4,228,800; and 4,202,337. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,943,290 and 4,036,301 describe methods for injecting non-conducting liquid over the tip of a monopolar electrosurgical electrode to electrically isolate the electrode, while energized, from a surrounding electrically conducting irrigant. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,195,959 and 4,674,499 describe monopolar and bipolar electrosurgical devices, respectively, that include a conduit for irrigating the surgical site.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,380,316, 4,658,817, 5,389,096, PCT Application No. WO 94/14383, European Patent Application No. 0 515 867, and Articles "Transmyocardio Laser Revascularization", Mirhoseini et al., Journal of Clinical Laser Medicine & Surgery Vol. 11, No. 1:15-19 (1993); "New Concepts in Revascularization of the Myocardium", Mirhoseini, et al., The Annuals of Thoracic Surgery Society of Thoracic Surgeons, Vol. 45, No. 4:415-420 (1988); "Transmyocardial Acupuncture", Sen, et al. Journal of Thoracic and Cardiovascular Surgery, Vol. 50, No. 2:181-189 (1965); "Transmural Channels Can Protect Ischemic Tissue", Whittaker, et al. Circulation, Vol. 93, No. 1:143-152 (1996); "Regional myocardial blood flow and cardiac mechanics in dog hearts with CO.sub.2 laser-induced intramyocardial revascularization", Hardy, et al., Basic Res. Cardiol, 85:179-196 (1990); "Treatment of Acute Myocardial Infarction by Transmural Blood Supply From the Ventricular Cavity", Walter, et al., Europ. Surg. Res., 130-138 (1971); "Revascularization of the Heart by Laser", Mirhoseini and Clayton, Journal of Microsurgery, 2:253-260 (1981); "Transventricular Revascularization by Laser", Mirhoseini, et al., Lasers in Surgery and Medicine, 2:187-198 (1982) describe methods and apparatus for percutaneous myocardial revascularization. These methods and apparatus involve directing laser energy against the heart tissue to form transverse channels through the myocardium to increase blood flow from the ventricular cavity to the myocardium.

Systems and methods for electrosurgical myocardial revascularization


A force transducer and method of measuring an applied force such as a weight of material, comprising a balance beam, said balance beam being supported at a preset position on a base at a fulcrum between its two ends, a voice coil actuator comprising an electrically conductive coil and a magnet, the coil being mounted on the base and the magnet being mounted on one side of the fulcrum of the balance beam, a counterbalance mounted on the second side of the fulcrum of the balance beam whereby said balance beam is generally unresponsive to low frequency vibration at the base, a beam position sensor for detecting beam movement from its preset position by a force applied to the beam, a control system associated with the sensor and coil and responsive to the sensor for supplying an electric current through the coil in an amount sufficient to maintain the magnet and thereby the beam at the present position, and a current detector for measuring the amount of current so supplied and thereby the amount of the applied force. According to one embodiment, the conductive coil and magnet are located on the same side as the object to be weighed. A force concentration assembly may further concentrate the force to be weighed to a small-area on said balance beam. According to another embodiment, a double-beam force transducer is provided in which force of an object to be weighed is applied to a pair of balance beams.

This invention relates to active force transducers, and more particularly to a beam style active force transducer, and its control and measurement electronics as for high speed high accuracy weighing of material in a production operation, e.g., of filling powders and liquids into containers, or determining the mass weight of an object.
This invention arose from a recognition that modern high speed manufacturing operations, as for assembling small fill containers, would greatly benefit by the capability of rapidly measuring, in a small fraction of a second, the weight of an individual substance or material to be included or incorporated into the assembled product, and to do so with highly accurate results. Such capability would include that of repeatedly measuring the tiny quantities on a production basis.
In order to increase efficiency and the quality of products manufactured on assembly lines, manufacturers are searching for automated methods of monitoring the manufacturing operations as well as the products themselves. As technology advances, assembly line production rates are increasing, requiring more advanced and faster transducers. Commercially available units have a range limit of about 600 grams, plus or minus 50 milligrams, for weight checking.
The accuracy, response time and range are the main characteristics that determine the suitability of a transducer for a particular application. Accuracy and response time are typically functions of the range. In addition, since the potential exists for mechanical vibrations to significantly reduce the achievable accuracy of transducers in manufacturing environments, it is important to design transducers with vibration disturbance rejection.
Thus, a force transducer system with a fast response time, a high level of accuracy, and vibration disturbance rejection characteristics is desirable. The target parameters for such a force transducer are accuracy up to 0.04% of full scale 0.3N, accurate measurement in 0.05 seconds, and accuracy minimally affected by vibrations.
There are many different methods and devices used for measuring force, of which the following are representative of the basic underlying principles for most force transducers. Almost all sensing elements designed to measure force utilize one of two basic principles relating to "elastic force" and "electromagnetic force." Most of these methods and devices are passive.
In instruments utilizing elastic force, the amount of force applied is measured in terms of displacement and deformation of a known elastic member, and is the property exploited in most "force transducing" methods. These instruments, based on the equilibrium of the force on or by the object and the elastic force, are generally referred to as dynamometers, more commonly known as load cells. The working principle of the dynamometer is based on Hooke's law, which is the linear proportional relationship of stress and strain. The strain of the elastic element is measured when subjected to the load of an object, with the force exerted on or by the object being determined. The elastic element ranges from the following: helical elements subjected to compression or twisting (springs); solid or hollow columns working in compression or tension (load cells); circular, square, and flattened rings, working in compression-and-bending or in tension-and-bending; tension bars; shear bars; etc.
There are other systems of force transducers that also use linear functions, like Hooke's law, but in which the force applied modifies some other measurable property of the transducer. Piezoelectric material falls into this category in that, when deformed, it yields an electric charge proportional to the deformation. If the deformation is maintained, however, the charge will gradually decrease. Therefore, piezoelectric transducers are not suitable for static loads. Instead, these materials are utilized in situations where dynamic force characteristics are required.
In instruments utilizing electromagnetic force, the amount of force applied is measured in terms of electric current. Electromagnetic forces are generated by a magnetic field of an electric charge in motion. The generation of electromagnetic forces has been applied in construction of electromagnetic compensation transducers, in which the force of an object is balanced by the electromagnetic force generated by a coil assembly in a magnetic field. The force is determined by the magnitude of the electric current necessary to bring the system to equilibrium.
In the initial stages of the present development project, a voice coil actuator was arranged to receive a direct force by applying an item to be weighed directly to it and attempting to measure the current required to create an equal but opposite force. This was found to have inherent complications that prevent it from being a useful, accurate system. These complications include excessive sensitivity to environmental vibrations even if a vibration isolator is used, inability to keep in calibration, and measurement interference by lead wires to the coil, to name a few. This type of system was therefore discarded as flawed, with further development leading to the invention herein.
A subsequent search revealed a system with an additional complication of a mechanical diaphragm in the form of an annular blade spring. Specifically, U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,541 to Bator et al. describes a weighing scale employing a tray supported on annular blade springs and having a conductive coil movable therewith relative to a fixed magnet. A control system senses a change in position of the tray with applied weight, and causes sufficient current to the coil to return the coil and tray to the original position. This proposed apparatus is considered to have significant shortcomings, however, among which are the non-uniformity and variable characteristics of springs which are used, the undesirable effects of moving coil lead wires on the weighing action, and the limited capacity of vibration isolators to actually isolate the apparatus from low frequency vibration found, for example, in production facilities. Present units employ passive isolation, as contrasted with detecting motion and actively responding with a control system.
Achievable accuracies are usually specified by manufacturers of force transducers. Typical sensors based on elastic elements can achieve approximately 0.25% of full scale, and the best ones are accurate up to 0.05%. Force transducers utilizing electromagnetics are available with accuracies up to 0.00004% of scale. Usually to achieve such accuracy requires a weighing response time of >1.0 second. Certain factors can adversely influence accuracy, however. It was determined by the inventors herein that low frequency vibrations in the range of below about 2 Hertz are highly disruptive of a voice coil actuator system such as in U.S. Pat. No. 4,802,541, since the isolator does not isolate the coil from such vibrations. Such low frequency vibration is common in production facilities, e.g., from stamping presses, so that it presents a significant problem. Also, it has been determined that the drag or weight effects of wire leads on a movable coil disrupt accurate readings. If these effects were not present, the achievable accuracies of "off the shelf" force transducers could easily meet the accuracy requirement, but their response time does not meet the speed requirement. Manufacturers do not generally give specifications for a required time to achieve the given accuracy. Speed claims that are made by manufacturers of force transducers are generally of the nature "responds in about one second with stable readings." The reason for this vagueness is that achieving a high level of speed is dependent on having a controller tuned very accurately for the particular application. Available force transducers are not easily tuned by the user to meet a strict speed requirement for a particular application.
A suitable electromagnetic actuator for an active force transducer application is what is commonly known as a voice coil actuator (VCA). VCAs have been utilized in many advanced motion control systems requiring high acceleration, high frequency actuation and linear force output. In its simplest form, a linear VCA, i.e., linear motor, is a tubular coil of wire located within a radially oriented magnetic field. The field is produced by permanent magnets. The inner core of the magnet along the axial centerline of the coil is used to complete the magnetic circuit. The force generated axially upon the coil when current flows through the coil will produce relative motion between the magnet assembly and the coil. The electromagnetic conversion mechanism of the VCA is governed by the Lorentz Force principle. The direction of current flow through the coil dictates the direction of the axial force, while the magnitude of the force is proportional to current. For precise servo control applications utilizing VCAs, it is required to have a control and power amplifier circuitry and also a feedback device for closed-loop control. Many types of position, velocity, and force transducers can function as feedback devices, as is known. In order to eliminate the potential of static friction, the coil must be centered within the magnet/core gap throughout the entire stroke. It is not necessary to center the coil precisely; however, contact between the coil assembly and magnet assembly must be avoided.
Because the force transducer would be expected to be located in a manufacturing environment, ambient vibrations including low-frequency and high-frequency vibrations from manufacturing operations will be present and need to be precluded from significantly affecting accuracy of the output readings.
Conventional beam style force transducers generally employ relatively large beams which tend to have a large mass and can experience undesirable beam bending moments. In addition, known beam style force transducers can experience excessive beam pivot friction which degrades the accuracy of the force transducers. Further, such conventional beam style transducers often require precise position placement of an object to be weighed on the beam to maintain accuracy.

High speed high accuracy active force transducer


A technique includes providing a butter to receive data from a processor of a wireless device in response to an active mode of the processor and selectively coupling an input terminal of a filter to the buffer based on a status of the buffer. The techniciue may be used with a wireless system that includes a digital signal processor, a buffer, a wireless interface and a switch. The buffer receives data from the digital signal processor in response to an active mode of the digital signal processor. The switch selectively couples a terminal of the wireless interface to the buffer in response to a determination of a status of the buffer.

The invention generally relates to a startup apparatus and technique for a wireless system that uses time domain isolation.
A typical wireless device, such as a cellular telephone, includes a radio frequency (RF) circuit, or radio, that establishes communication between the wireless device and a wireless network. The wireless device typically also includes digital circuitry for purposes of performing such functions as encoding/decoding data, compressing/de-compressing data, modulating/de-modulating data, scanning a keypad of the wireless device, etc.

Startup apparatus and technique for a wireless system that uses time domain isolation


A refrigerator has a multi-purpose chamber in which foods can be selectively cooled or thawed. Thawing is performed by actuating a heater at the top of the chamber. The heat is circulated within the chamber by a flow of cooled air received through an orifice at the rear of the chamber. If the temperature within the chamber reaches a predetermined temperature after a minimum time period has elapsed, then the heater is deactivated. If the predetermined temperature has not been reached, then the heater remains activated until a maximum time period elapses, whereupon the heater is deactivated regardless of the sensed temperature. After the heater is deactivated, cooled air is continued to be supplied to the chamber for a preselected time period.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a refrigerator, more particularly, to a thawing apparatus for a refrigerator.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In general, such a refrigerator having a thawing apparatus includes a separative thawing or multi-purpose chamber 70 arranged between a freezing chamber 100 and a cooling chamber 200, as shown in FIG. 1.
A heater 72 is disposed at an upper side of the thawing chamber 70 and a thawing fan 74 is provided at a rear side of the thawing chamber 70 and functions to circulate a heat generated by the heater 72.
An evaporator 76 is disposed between the freezing chamber 100 and the thawing chamber 70 to cool an air introduced. That is, the evaporator 76 cools the air by using a refrigerant which is compressed by a compressor 78 and circulated in the refrigerator. In this case, the air is increased in temperature by passing through the freezing and cooling chambers 100 and 200 and then introduced into the evaporator 76 through inlet orifices 80 and 82. The air cooled by the evaporator 76 flows into a cooled air path 86 upon the operation of a fan member 84 and simultaneously flows into a guide channel 88 through a cooled air orifice 92a which is controlled to be close and open by a damper 90.
The air introduced in the cooled air path 86 is supplied to the freezing chamber 100 through a cooled air orifice 92b, while the cooled air introduced in the guide channel 88 is supplied to the cooling chamber 200 through multiple cooled air orifices 94a to 94c.
A thawing damper 96 serves to control the cooled air introduced in the guide channel 88 from being passed though a cooled air orifice 98.
In the construction of such a refrigerator described above, when the thawing chamber 70 is used as a general-purpose cooling chamber or special-purpose chamber, the cooled air orifice 98 is opened by the thawing damper 96 so as to supply the cooled air in the guide channel 88 into the thawing chamber 70.
Alternatively, when using the thawing chamber 70 for the purpose of thawing frozen foods the cooled air orifice 98 is closed and then a power supply voltage is applied to operate the heater 72 and the thawing fan 74.
Accordingly, the heater 72 is heated and, hence, the heat produced from the heater 72 is circulated within the thawing chamber 70 by the thawing fan 74.
With such a refrigerator thus constructed, however, the thawing fan and the thawing damper are essentially needed, so a construction is complicated and thereby a manufacturing cost for the product is increased undesirably.

Method of controlling a food thawing apparatus


A universal shift apparatus and method for a swimming pool cover motor has a rotatable drive shaft and a rope attached to the end of the swimming pool cover. A reel element collects the rope, and a roll-up element collects the swimming pool cover. A gear drive assembly on the rotatable drive shaft drives the reel element in a first rotational direction as the shaft rotates in a first direction and drives the roll-up element in a second rotational direction as the shaft rotates in a second direction. A shift assembly is associated with the gear drive assembly to selectively reverse the first rotational direction of the wind-up reel element and to selectively reverse the second rotational direction of the roll-up element.

Swimming pool covers are often used for keeping the water free of trash, to shield the water from sunlight that could degrade protective chemicals in the water and for other purposes. Automatic pool covers are often preferable over manually-operated covers, because the cover can be easily extended when the pool is not in use and retracted during use. In most cases, a pool cover box is located at one end of the pool to hold the pool cover system.
Referring to FIG. 1A, an abstract view of a typical pool cover system 10 is shown. System 10 includes a motor 12, a drive shaft 14 extending from motor 12, a wind-up reel 16 for collecting a rope 18, a gear box 20, a swimming pool cover 22 and a roll-up tube 24 on which to wind the cover 22. Rope 18 extends to a remote pulley system (not shown) and then back to a leading edge of the cover 22. Reel 16 and a roll-up tube 24 are usually mounted in a free-wheeling fashion on drive shaft 14 to turn independently therefrom. Gear box 20 includes mechanisms to engage either the reel 16 or the roll-up tube 24, depending on whether the cover 22 is to be extended or retracted.
By turning drive shaft 14 in direction A, clockwise relative to motor 12 as shown, shaft 14 engages the gear mechanism in gear box 20 to drive reel 16 in direction A. This action winds rope 18 on reel 16, thereby causing cover 12 to be extended outward over the pool (not shown). Alternately, by rotating drive shaft 14 in direction B, counter-clockwise relative to motor 12, roll-up tube 24 is engaged by drive shaft 14 via the mechanism in gear box 40, so that the pool cover 22 is retracted on tube 24 and removed from above the pool. The pool cover system 10 shown in FIG. 1A is referred to as a right-hand system, since the pool cover motor is located on the right side in the pool cover box (not shown).
Sometimes the layout of the pool and its surroundings dictate that the pool cover motor be located on the left-hand side of the pool cover box, as shown in FIG. 1B. The pool cover system 30 shown in FIG. 1B is referred to as a left-hand system, since the pool cover motor 32 is situated on the left side of the pool cover box. As in FIG. 1A, the drive shaft 34, reel 36, rope 38, cover 42 and roll-up tube 44 are substantially identical to the corresponding elements shown in FIG. 1A. The main distinction is that different mechanisms are needed in gear box 40, compared to the mechanisms in gear box 20, in order for reel 36 and roll-up tube 44 to be engaged to rotate in directions opposite to the directions of rotation in the right-hand pool cover system shown in FIG. 1A.
Accordingly, in FIG. 1B, if the drive shaft 34 rotates in a direction C, counter-clockwise to motor 32, this action turns reel 16 in direction C to collect the rope 38 on reel 36. Alternately, if drive shaft 34 rotates in a direction D, clockwise to motor 32, then cover 42 is retracted onto roll-up tube 44.
FIG. 2A shows a gear box 20 having a prior art gear mechanism 50 for the right-hand system in FIG. 1A. A single dog gear 52 is fixedly mounted to roll-up tube 24 (shown in FIG. 1A). Another single dog gear 54 is fixedly mounted to reel 16 (shown in FIG. 1A). A double dog gear 56 is rotatably mounted on drive shaft 14 to be free-wheeling along shaft 14. A shear pin 57 is secured into drive shaft 14 to extend orthogonally outward from the drive shaft 14. The shear pin 57 extends into a slanted slot 58 formed in double dog gear 56.
Accordingly, as drive shaft 14 is rotated in direction A, double dog gear 56 is moved along drive shaft 14 in the direction E, so that double dog gear 56 couples single dog gear 54 to drive reel 16 and collect rope 18, shown in FIG. 1A. Alternately, as drive shaft 14 is rotated in direct B, double dog gear 56 is moved along drive shaft 14 in the direction F, engaging single dog gear 52. This action drives the roll-up tube 24 and collects the pool cover 22, shown in FIG. 1A.
Similarly, FIG. 2B shows gear box 40 having a prior art gear mechanism 60 that drives the left-hand system shown in FIG. 1B. A single dog gear 62 engages roll-up tube 44, and a single dog gear 64 engages reel 36. A double dog gear 66 is mounted to free-wheel on drive shaft 34. When drive shaft 34 rotates in direction C, double dog gear 66 is forced by shear pin 67 along shaft 34 in direction H. This engages the reel 36 to collect the rope 38, shown in FIG. 1B. When drive shaft 14 rotates in direction D, double dog gear 66 is forced by shear pin 67 along shaft 34 in direction G. This engages the roll-up tube 44 to retract cover 42, as shown in FIG. 2B.
Accordingly, prior art systems involve a swimming pool builder using both right-hand and left-hand motor systems, including different gear boxes, in order to work with various pool layouts and the requirements of customers. Consequently, both right-hand and left-hand types of motor systems must be readily supplied by a pool equipment supplier, adding to the supplier's inventory demands. Moreover, it is difficult to forecast which type of system will be in greater demand, resulting in over-supply and under-supply of right and left-hand motor systems. Furthermore, complex prior art gear boxes, such as shown in FIGS. 2A and 2B, are relatively expensive and are maintenance-intensive.
A pool cover motor system may also be equipped with a torque limiter separately mounted, so that, in the event the cover or one of its components becomes jammed or stuck, the motor or other parts of the pool cover motor system will not be damaged. Typically, torque limiter apparatus includes some type of device that slips relative to the rotatable shaft in the event that a predetermined torque limit on the device is exceeded. However, adding a torque limiter to the motor system also adds extra cost to the manufacture of the motor system.

Universal shift apparatus and method for swimming pool cover assembly


Methods for monitoring an application running on a server are described. Method steps include maintaining counters of statistics related to operation of the application, collecting first operational statistics based on counters from one or more application components, collecting second operational statistics based on counters from one or more application runtime environment components, updating aggregation statistics based on the collected statistics, and storing the statistics for access by a presentation agent which can interface with external monitoring tools. The nature and level of the collected statistics provide valuable insight into the operation of the application of interest.

With the proliferation of the World Wide Web and the Internet, the demand for web content and web-based application services has increased dramatically. Consequently, the demand for robust, scalable, and manageable servers to serve the content and to service the application requests has also increased dramatically. The term "server" in this context is intended to generally mean the computer software that provides the logic to serve at least the needs for content and application services.
Web servers are employed by enterprises and service providers to serve content. The demand for web servers includes stringent requirements with respect to the serving of content and to the management of the server in order to meet the high network traffic demands. Furthermore, with the trend toward development and delivery of more and more dynamic content, often based on user input and requests, web servers are required to provide a platform for servicing requests for dynamic content. Servicing content requests on a web server often requires execution of applications on the web server, in order to accept and process user input and to respond accordingly.
Application servers are employed by many organizations, from organizations that want to maintain an e-commerce presence to organizations that are in the business of providing applications through a network, i.e., application service providers. The demands on application servers are also high, due to requirements with respect to developing, deploying, and managing the applications that run on the server. Furthermore, application servers are required to provide services to, and thus interact with, other servers, enterprise directory, database repositories, client software, and multiple device platforms. Additional challenges are present as a result of the increasing number of available computing platforms that can access an application server, such as hand-held computers, Internet appliances, and wireless devices.
Application servers allow IT departments to fully leverage their back-end resources, e.g., legacy applications, distributed systems databases, and even other Web-based content, and make them available to customer, partners, and employees over enterprise networks, and/or the public Internet
Since applications are increasingly being run on web servers, and since applications running on application servers are requiring increasingly demanding functionality, a previously unmet need is recognized for leading-edge servers to provide a platform that serves the needs of application developers as well as server administrators. Application developers need to be able to monitor the loading and execution of their applications running on a server, during development, deployment, and the entire life-cycle of the application. Network, server, and service administrators, among others, need the capability to monitor applications running on their servers and networks. Furthermore, a previously unmet need is recognized for the ability to monitor applications at a certain level of operation, thus, to have an intimate knowledge of the application execution cycle. In order to efficiently and effectively monitor server-based applications, access to information about the execution of an application through standard or commonly used mechanisms is also needed.

Server-based application monitoring through collection of application component and environmental statistics


An underwater laser processing system has a laser torch; a laser torch driving mechanism for changing a laser emission position of the laser torch; and a chamber with one end opened to an external environment, which contains the laser torch; wherein a partitioning wall for preventing permeation of water is provided between a free end of the chamber and the laser torch. The system is used for detecting a sensitized portion and repairing it at one time using a sensitization detecting arrangement. Moreover, it is used for forming an alloying layer by melting a sprayed coating film, and for forming a new surface layer by emitting a laser beam through a solution containing a metal component.

The present invention relates to a laser processing system used for performing surface treatment or welding of an underwater structure and a method using the system, and particularly to a laser processing system used for repairing a structure in a pressure vessel of a nuclear reactor in a state in which the structure is disposed in water, and a method using the system.
The interior of a nuclear reactor which has operated for a long period of time is high in the dose equivalent of .gamma.-rays, and accordingly, upon thermal repairing of a structure in a nuclear reactor, the apparatus and the operators must be prevented from being exposed to .gamma.-rays. For this reason, the repairing operation should be performed in a state in which the structure is disposed in water capable of shielding .gamma.-rays. Namely, it is desirable to perform the surface reforming and welding for a structure in a pressure vessel of a nuclear reactor in water. Even for bridges and ships, an effective technique for repairing a structure in water has come to be in high demand.
With respect to thermal processing, such as welding or surface treatment applied to an underwater structure, a wet-type thermal processing without removal of the water near a target portion is now in reliability because the target portion tends to generate defects, such as blow-holes, and thereby the quality is deteriorated. In particular, the repairing of a structure in a nuclear reactor by welding or surface treatment must be performed at a high reliability, and thereby a processing method capable of reducing defects is required. For these reasons, there has been proposed a local dry type processing method in which thermal processing is performed in the state in which water in a target portion is partially discharged.
The local dry type processing method, however, is insufficient in the case of using a laser as a thermal source. This is because a laser beam is scattered by hazing and dew formation of the laser emitting optics which are caused by a slight amount of water content remaining near the target portion, causing a reduction in the workability of the laser processing. As a result, for laser processing, it is important to reduce the water content in a chamber of a laser processing system as much as possible. In this regard, various techniques have been examined.
For example, techniques for locally excluding the water content in the neighborhood of a laser torch of a laser processing system used in water and on a target portion to be processed to effect drying of such portions, have been disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Nos. Sho 63-215392, Sho 63-242483, Hei 3-146286, Hei 4-249799 and Hei 5-31591. These repairing techniques are effective to obtain a processed region having less defects as compared with the wet-type processing method.
The above-described techniques, however, do not take into account problems generated during the actual applications. Specifically, in the actual repairing of a structure in a nuclear reactor, the repairing operation is started after an underwater processing system is moved in the water to a target portion. However, in each of these techniques, part of a water shield (chamber) for preventing water from permeating into the interior of the system is opened to a water environment (that is, the shielding mechanism is not a perfectly closed system). Consequently, to prevent permeation of water when the system is moved in water, a water curtain must be formed usually by allowing gas or water to flow. In this case, it may be considered that permeation of water can be prevented by increasing the flow rate of water. However, to increase the flow rate of water, a generator for generating a high pressure gas or high pressure water flow is required, or the water shield (chamber) must have a high strength for withstanding the high pressure gas or high pressure water flow. For the system capable of coping with the above problem, there arises another problem. In the case of processing in a downward posture, for example, for repairing the bottom of a reactor, the permeation of water is not so large; however, in the case of processing the side surface of the interior of a reactor, the processing system must be located with a horizontal posture. In this case, permeation of water becomes larger. The reason for this is that, if the system is not sufficiently close to a wall facing the opened portion of the system, the high pressure gas tends to flow upward because of its light specific gravity, and thereby the formation of the water curtain on the lower side of the system becomes insufficient. Namely, for a horizontal processing using a conventional system, it must be assumed that the facing wall is sufficiently close to the system. For this reason, up on operation of the conventional processing system for a target portion of an underwater structure, there is a fear that permeation of water will occur in the system or that generation of hazing or dew formation will occur in the laser emitting optics.
A slight amount of water content, which has presented no problem in thermal processing using an arc, causes hazing or dew formation of the laser emitting optics of a laser processing system during laser processing. In particular, for processing, such as cutting, welding or surface-treatment using emission of a laser beam, the high energy of the laser beam heats the material to a high temperature, and thereby the laser torch or the surrounding portion thereof is also heated during processing. As a result, the difference in temperature between the exterior and the laser torch becomes large, causing dew formation during processing, thus causing an inconvenience due to the dew formation. Specifically, a laser beam is abnormally scattered due to dew formation on a laser lens, causing reduction in the condensing performance or failure of the system due to heating of the portion of the lens where the dew formation is generated.

Underwater laser processing device including chamber with partitioning wall


In accordance with the invention, there is a method of forming a nanochannel including depositing a photosensitive film stack over a substrate and forming a pattern on the film stack using interferometric lithography. The method can further include depositing a plurality of silica nanoparticles to form a structure over the pattern and removing the pattern while retaining the structure formed by the plurality of silica nanoparticles, wherein the structure comprises an enclosed nanochannel.

Micro and nano structures including nanoparticle assembly with two and three dimensional periodicity can have potential applications in the areas of photonic crystals, chemical sensors, catalysts, and biotechnology. Patterned surfaces can be used as hard templates to assist the self assembly of not only relatively simple clusters but also complex and unique crystallization structures. Soft polymer templates have been used for directed self assembly of particle arrays on flat substrates. Binary colloidal crystals have been fabricated using two different sizes of colloidal particles. Further, micro and nano particles have been used as templates for the preparation of porous metallic nanostructures and monodisperse colloidal crystals. Even though nanochannel structures for nanofluidic applications have been fabricated using thermal oxidation or nanoimprint, there is a need for a simple and inexpensive approach for the fabrication of enclosed channels formed of nanoparticles.
Thus, there is need to solve these and other problems of the prior art and provide a simple method for the fabrication of nanochannel structures.

Fabrication of enclosed nanochannels using silica nanoparticles


Embodiments of the invention provide processes for selectively forming a ruthenium-containing film on a copper surface over exposed dielectric surfaces. Thereafter, a copper bulk layer may be deposited on the ruthenium-containing film. In one embodiment, a method for forming layers on a substrate is provided which includes positioning a substrate within a processing chamber, wherein the substrate contains a copper-containing surface and a dielectric surface, exposing the substrate to a ruthenium precursor to selectively form a ruthenium-containing film over the copper-containing surface while leaving exposed the dielectric surface, and depositing a copper bulk layer over the ruthenium-containing film.

1. Field of the Invention
Embodiments of the invention generally relate to a metallization process for manufacturing semiconductor devices, and more particularly, to depositing ruthenium and copper materials on a substrate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Copper is the current metal of choice for use in multilevel metallization processes that are crucial to semiconductor and electronic device manufacturing. The multilevel interconnects that drive the manufacturing processes require planarization of high aspect ratio apertures including contacts, vias, lines, and other features. Filling the features without creating voids or deforming the feature geometry is more difficult when the features have higher aspect ratios. Reliable formation of interconnects is also more difficult as manufacturers strive to increase circuit density and quality.
As the use of copper has permeated the marketplace because of its relative low cost and processing properties, semiconductor manufacturers continue to look for ways to improve the boundary regions between copper and dielectric material by reducing copper diffusion and dewetting. Several processing methods have been developed to manufacture copper interconnects as feature sizes have decreased. Each processing method may increase the likelihood of errors such as copper diffusion across boundary regions, copper crystalline structure deformation, and dewetting. Physical vapor deposition (PVD), chemical vapor deposition (CVD), atomic layer deposition (ALD), electrochemical plating (ECP), and electroless deposition, are processes for depositing copper while chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) and electrochemical mechanical polishing (ECMP) are processes for removing copper. These processes utilize mechanical, electrical, and/or chemical techniques to manipulate the copper materials that form interconnects. Barrier and capping layers may be deposited to contain the copper material.
In the past, a layer of tantalum, tantalum nitride, or copper alloy with tin, aluminum, or magnesium was used to provide a barrier layer or an adhesion promoter between copper and other materials. These options are costly or only partially effective or both. As the copper atoms along the boundary regions experience changes in temperature, pressure, atmospheric conditions, or other process variables common during multiple step semiconductor processing, the copper may migrate along the boundary regions and become agglomerated copper. The copper may also be less uniformly dispersed along the boundary regions and become dewetted copper. These changes in the boundary region include stress migration and electromigration of the copper atoms. The stress migration and electromigration of copper across the dielectric layers or other structures increases the resistivity of the resulting structures and reduces the reliability of the resulting devices.
Barrier layers containing ruthenium have been deposited by PVD, CVD, and ALD processes. PVD processes for depositing ruthenium are often hard to control the precise thicknesses of the deposited material. CVD processes usually suffer from poor conformality and contaminants in the deposited ruthenium-containing film. During a typical ALD process, a ruthenium precursor and a reducing agent are sequentially exposed to a substrate to form the desired ruthenium-containing film. ALD processes have several advantages over other vapor deposition processes, such as very conformal films and the ability to deposit into high aspect ratio vias. However, the deposition rates of an ALD process are often too slow, so that ALD processes are not often used in commercial applications. Also, ruthenium is usually deposited across the overall substrate surface by ALD, regardless that the exposed substrate surface may have various types of materials.
Therefore, a need exists to enhance the stability and adhesion of copper-containing layers, especially for copper seed layers. Also, a need exists to improve the electromigration (EM) reliability of copper-containing layer, especially for copper line formations, while preventing the diffusion of copper into neighboring materials, such as dielectric materials. A further need exists for an improved vapor deposition process to deposit ruthenium materials.

Selective ruthenium deposition on copper materials


A racket frame including a first laminate composed of a plurality of first prepregs consisting of fiber reinforced resin and a second prepreg, consisting of fiber reinforced resin, which is layered on the first laminate. The first laminate has a loss factor (=tan δ) set to not less than 0.005 nor more than 0.02, when the loss factor is measured at a temperature of 10° C. and a frequency of 10 Hz. The second prepreg has a loss factor (=tan δ) set to not less than 0.10 nor more than 0.50, when the loss factor is measured at a temperature of 10° C. and a frequency of 10 Hz.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a racket frame and more particularly to a racket frame composed of a laminate of prepregs consisting of fiber reinforced resin. The racket frame of the present invention is intended to have a high vibration-damping performance without deteriorating the strength and rigidity thereof, although the racket frame is lightweight.
2. Description of the Related Art
In playing tennis, vibrations generated on a racket when a player hits a tennis ball therewith and shocks applied to the player's hand make the player uncomfortable and are considered to be a cause for tennis elbow. Therefore various devices have been made to suppress vibrations generated when the player hits the tennis ball. In a representative vibration-suppressing method, thermoplastic resins having a high vibration-damping performance are used as the matrix resin of the fiber reinforced resin composing the racket frame.
For example, in the racket proposed by the present applicant and disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-33645 (patent document 1), the thermoplastic resin consisting of the nylon resin having a high vibration-damping performance is used as the matrix resin. According to the disclosure, the vibration-damping ratio of this racket is about twice as high as that of a racket whose frame contains a thermosetting resin (for example, epoxy resin) as its matrix resin, supposing that the volume ratio of the fiber reinforcing the thermoplastic resin is equal to that of the fiber reinforcing the thermosetting resin.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-290851 (patent document 2), the present applicant also proposed the racket frame composed of the epoxy resinous composition containing the rubber-like polymeric component and the (meta) acrylic polymeric fine particles in a dispersed state. The racket frame has an improved vibration-damping performance without deteriorating its rigidity and strength and has a low degree of fluctuations in its vibration-damping performance.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-29613 (patent document 3), there is disclosed the prepreg containing the rubber-modified epoxy resin, having a sea-island structure, as its matrix resin. The epoxy resin and the liquid rubber compatible with the epoxy resin are hardened by uniformly compatibilizing the epoxy resin and the liquid rubber with each other.
As disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-45444 (patent document 4), the present applicant also proposed a racket frame having the viscoelastic material disposed at one or more positions of the layer of fiber reinforced resin as the vibration-absorbing material. The viscoelastic material has a loss factor (=tan δ) not less than 1.00 and a thickness not less than 0.1 mm nor more than 0.6 mm, when the loss factor is measured at a temperature of 6° C. and a frequency of 10 Hz.
In the racket disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 5-33645, the reason the nylon resin serving as the matrix resin has excellent vibration-damping performance is because water serves as a plasticizer and the glass transition temperature drops greatly. The glass transition temperature is about 60 degrees in an absolute dry state, but drops as the water absorption increases. Thus the glass transition temperature becomes about 20 degrees in the vicinity of the room temperature when the water absorption becomes 3%. Therefore the vibration-damping ratio of the racket is 0.005 in the absolute dry state, but 0.020 when the water absorption is saturated. That is, when a humidity changes, the performance of the racket changes. Thus although the vibration-damping performance of the racket can be enhanced, there is room for improvement in the degree of dependence on environment and in making its weight lightweight.
In the racket frame disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 10-290851, although the racket frame has an excellent vibration-damping performance, the epoxy resinous composition containing the rubber-like polymeric component and the (meta) acrylic polymeric fine particles in a dispersed state has a high viscosity. Thus it is frequently difficult to mold the epoxy resinous composition. Further there is still room for improvement in making the weight of the racket frame lightweight and efficient realization of its vibration-damping performance.
Although the prepreg disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 61-29613 has a high self-adhesion, the prepreg is incapable of enhancing the vibration-damping performance of the racket efficiently by making the racket lightweight and durable.
In the racket frame disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-45444, the rigidity of the racket frame may deteriorate owing to the influence of the viscoelastic material partly interposed between the adjacent fiber reinforced resins, which leads to deterioration of the restitution coefficient of the racket frame. Thus this racket frame is demanded to improve its rigidity, strength, and vibration-damping performance in a favorable balance without increasing its weight.