Absorbent personal care articles, such a diapers and adult incontinent briefs, are provided comprising an absorbent article and having disposed thereon a skin irritant sequestering effective amount of an unmodified particulate skin irritant sequestering agent, and a lipophilic skin health benefit agent. An unmodified particulate skin irritant sequestering agent can be a clay, such as bentonite or laponite unmodified by organic amphiphilic compounds. A lipophilic skin health benefit agent can be stearic acid, isoparrafin, petrolatum, and a combination thereof. The skin irritant can be bound to the sequestering agent either on an individual""s skin or on the absorbent article.

The stratum corneum is the outer-most layer of the skin that provides a barrier against internal water loss and the absorption of potentially hazardous materials from the environment. Its structure has been compared to a xe2x80x9cbrick and mortarxe2x80x9d system where skin cells (bricks) are imbedded in a complex mixture of lipids (mortar). Disruption of either of these two components can lead to the impairment of skin barrier function.
Enzymes commonly found in biological fluids, particularly proteases and lipases, are known to damage skin barrier function and cause skin inflammation. For example, prolonged exposure of the skin to fecal proteases and lipases is thought to be a major cause of skin damage that leads to diaper dermatitis in infants. The care of skin in individuals with ostomies is difficult due to the frequent contact of digestive enzymes with skin surrounding the ostomy. These enzymes can degrade skin proteins and lipids and cause irritation of the skin.
Compositions and/or materials or articles that reduce the action of these enzymes on skin will allow for enhanced skin health and the prevention of inflammatory skin diseases such as diaper dermatitis.
There are several approaches known in the art for inhibiting the action of fecal enzymes on skin. WO 99/45974 discloses the use of protease inhibitors in absorbent articles in preventing diaper dermatitis. Inhibitors are defined in this reference as any substance that inhibits the activity of proteases in seven in vitro assays against defined substrates. These inhibitors are required to meet at least one of seven criteria for IC50 (the concentration that inhibits 50% of the enzyme activity) and to reversibly or irreversibly inhibit the hydrolytic action of one or more proteases. WO 99/26610 discloses the use of lipase inhibitors in absorbent articles in preventing diaper dermatitis. These above-mentioned approaches to inhibiting the action of digestive enzymes on skin are limited in that diffusion of the inhibitors into the skin may cause adverse effects by inhibiting endogenous enzymes that are important to normal skin function. For example, it is known that topical application of cholesterol sulfate, a potent serine protease inhibitor, inhibits skin proteases that are responsible for normal desquamation (J. Invest. Dermatol. 111:189-193, 1998). Abnormally dry, or xerotic, skin may arise from topical treatment with protease inhibitors that are able to diffuse into the skin. Thus, what are needed are substances that do not penetrate the surface of the skin and prevent the degradative action of exogenous enzymes, such as fecal enzymes, on proteins within the skin. WO 99/46316 discloses the creation of polymeric inhibitors to inhibit fecal protease-mediated skin irritation. These polymers purportedly do not penetrate the skin surface but still exert their action by directly inhibiting the activity of the enzymes against other substrates.
Compositions that adsorb and inactivate fecal enzymes and thereby prevent them from penetrating into the skin have been disclosed. PCT publication WO 97/38735 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,869,033 teach the use of organophilic clays, such as activated quarternium-18 bentonite, to absorb and deactivate fecal proteolytic enzymes to purportedly prevent diaper rash. These clays are created by modification of well-known clays with long-chain organic amphiphilic compounds, such as long-chain quaternary amines. A diaper fabric incorporating the organophilic clay or a diaper containing organophilic clay dispersed in a superabsorbent polymer is suggested. The ability of unmodified clays to adsorb fecal enzymes was not described. The organophilic clays were incorporated into various pharmaceutically suitable vehicles, such as lotions, emulsions, creams, gels, and other aqueous vehicles. The vehicle, however, must be inert with respect to the organophilic clay and therefore be devoid of substances that bind to the clay and inactivate its ability to bind fecal enzymes. In particular, substances with hydrocarbon chains of C-8 and longer should be excluded from the composition. This restriction limits the inclusion of lipophilic skin health benefit agents that may, for example, enhance skin barrier function, moisturize and/or nourish the skin.
Various lipophilic compositions have been described for the prevention of diaper rash. Typically, barrier creams, lotions or ointments that contain these lipophilic skin health benefit agents are used to provide a barrier on the skin and treat skin conditions such as diaper rash. Typical lipophilic skin health benefit agents include petrolatum, mineral oil, natural oils and fatty acids. While these compositions can enhance the barrier properties of the skin, in many instances the application of these chemistries to the skin can be messy and inconvenient. They are also typically used only when signs of diaper rash are visually present.
Diaper liners may be treated with lipophilic skin health benefit agents, such as petrolatum, which can be transferred to the skin through normal diapering practices. Once transferred to the skin, diaper liner formulations may provide a barrier against feces and urine. These formulations may require high concentrations of petrolatum to ensure sufficient transfer to the skin for a health benefit. High concentrations of petrolatum can be messy, greasy to the touch, and may impair the fluid handling properties of an absorbent article, such as a diaper. The slow penetration of petrolatum into the skin can lead to smearing of the agent over the skin and onto clothes and other materials.
Based on the above-mentioned limitations, compositions are needed that adsorb irritants in biological fluids, such as fecal enzymes, and are compatible with lipophilic compositions that may improve skin health by other mechanisms. None of the above mentioned approaches to preventing diaper rash have explored the combination of lipophilic chemistries with particulate agents to adsorb enzymes and thus prevent skin inflammation, such as diaper dermatitis. Furthermore, the ability of unmodified clay particles to bind fecal enzymes has not previously been described.
The present invention provides that lipophilic chemistries and particulate skin irritant sequestering agents, such as non-organophilically modified clays, work synergistically to provide superior enzyme binding characteristics, and thus prevent damage to skin. These compositions can be used as superior diaper rash preventing agents and their incorporation into absorbent articles, such as diapers, allows for transfer of the beneficial agents to the skin.
Therefore, the present invention provides absorbent personal care articles, such diapers and adult incontinent briefs, comprising an absorbent article and having disposed thereon a skin irritant sequestering effective amount of non-organophilically modified particulate skin irritant sequestering agent and a lipophilic skin health benefit agent.
The present invention provides that the combination of particulate skin irritant sequestering agents and lipophilic skin health benefit agents provides a superior ability to adsorb, or sequester, irritants in biological materials, such as fecal enzymes, and prevent inflammatory skin diseases caused by said irritants, such as diaper dermatitis. The adsorption, or sequestration, of these irritants prevents their penetration into the skin where they cause skin damage and inflammation. A composition suitable for practicing this invention comprises a skin irritant sequestering effective amount of a non-organophilically modified clay, such as bentonite or laponite, in combination with a lipophilic skin health benefit agent, such as petrolatum.
In a further embodiment of the invention, particulate sequestering agents in combination with various lipophilic skin health benefit agents demonstrate a synergistic effect. Lipophilic skin health benefit agents include petrolatum, steric acid, isoparrafins, various emollients, sterols, fatty acids, triglycerides and waxes, for example. A further embodiment of this invention includes the incorporation of said compositions on the body facing material of disposable absorbent articles, such as diapers, training pants, adult incontinent products, underpants, feminine care products and the like.

Absorbent article composition for sequestering skin irritants


A method to superplastic form sandwich structures is provided. A series of worksheets are joined together at selected locations through the use of partial penetration welding. The worksheets are subsequently superplastic formed in order to form a sandwich structure. The method allows a different number of worksheets to be used at different points throughout the sandwich structure. This results in a sandwich structure with a different internal reinforcement at different locations in the sandwich structure. In the preferred embodiment, a wing is fabricated from a series of worksheets partial penetration welded together using a laser. The worksheets are superplastic formed to producing a wing with a different internal reinforcement at two or more locations in the wing.

Under certain conditions, some materials can be plastically deformed without rupture well beyond their normal limits, a property called superplasticity. This property is exhibited by certain metals and alloys within limited ranges of temperature and strain rate. For example, titanium alloys are superplastic in the temperature range 1450.degree.-1850.degree. F.
Superplastic forming (SPF) is a fabrication technique that relies on superplasticity. A typical SPF process involves placing a sheet of metal in a tool, heating the sheet to an elevated temperature at which it exhibits superplasticity, and then using a gas to apply pressure to one side of the sheet. The pressure stretches the sheet and causes it to assume the shape of the tool surface. The pressure is selected to strain the material at a strain rate that is within its superplasticity range at the elevated temperature.
One advantage of SPF is that very complex shapes can be readily formed. In addition, the SPF process is generally applicable to single and multi-sheet fabrication, and can be combined with joining processes such as diffusion bonding to produce complex sandwich structures at a relatively low cost. The simplicity of the SPF process leads to lighter and less expensive parts with fewer fasteners, and higher potential geometric complexity. Applications of SPF include the manufacturing of parts for aircraft and other aerospace structures.
The SPF process is often used to form sandwich structures which have a complex exterior surface geometry and an integral internal structural core. This core is used to stabilize the exterior surface geometry and to provide shear strength and stiffness to the structure.
One method to superplastic form sandwich structures is described in Hamilton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,927,817. In Hamilton, a sandwich structure is formed by joining three metallic worksheets together at selected areas. The worksheets are joined by first masking the areas of the worksheets where joining is not desired. Masking prevents the masked areas from joining during SPF. The worksheets are then placed adjacent to each other and heated to temperatures at which diffusion bonding is possible. Pressure is applied to the worksheets in order to cause the worksheets to diffusion bond together at the locations where no masking agent was used. The joined worksheets are then placed in a forming tool having a surface that defines the exterior surface of the formed structure. A pressure differential is then applied between the interior and the exterior of the worksheets. This pressure differential, combined with heating the worksheets to superplastic forming temperatures, results in the upper and lower worksheets superplasticly deforming to the shape of the tool surface. As the upper and lower worksheets expand, the middle worksheet forms a core structure. The locations at which the worksheets are joined together define the subsequent shape of the interior core structure.
An example of a sandwich structure formed with the method described in Hamilton is shown in FIG. 1. The sandwich structure consists of a coresheet 10 that is alternately joined to an upper sheet 14 and a lower sheet 16 along joints 12. The Hamilton method is commonly referred to as the "three sheet method." The "three sheet method" produces a sandwich structure with an internal truss core. The truss is formed from coresheet 10 and has webs 11 that extend diagonally between upper sheet 14 and lower sheet 16. These diagonal webs provide very good shear support and shear stiffness for the sandwich structure.
One problem with the "three sheet method" is that it results in surface grooving 18 or surface nonuniformity along joints 12 where coresheet 10 attaches to upper sheet 14 and lower sheet 16. Surface grooving 18 results at joints 12 due to the forces exerted on upper and lower sheets 14 and 16 by coresheet 10 during SPF. These forces prevent upper and lower sheets 14 and 16 from fully forming into the shape of the tool surface. Surface grooving 18 must be filled or covered when a smooth outer surface is required. Additionally, surface grooving 18 reduces the strength and stiffness of the finished structure.
Surface grooving 18 can be minimized by making upper sheet 14 and lower sheet 16 thicker (e.g. three times thicker) than coresheet 10. This stiffens the upper and lower sheets and reduces the effects of the forces applied by coresheet 10. However, thicker sheets result in a much heavier structure unless expensive chemical milling operations are used to remove extra material in the sheets.
In addition to the problems associated with surface grooving 18, the "three sheet method" has other disadvantages. The use of masking agents to prevent joining of the worksheets is time consuming and expensive. Additionally, the masking agents prevent the formed structure from being used in locations where contaminants cannot be tolerated. As an example, masking agents prevent the "three sheet method" from being used in "wet areas" of an aircraft structure. Wet areas are locations that are filled with aircraft fuel. Masking agents would contaminate any aircraft fuel located in these areas.
Another commonly used superplastic forming method is described in two patents to Hayase et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,217,397 and 4,304,821. As shown in FIG. 2, a sandwich structure fabricated with the Hayase method uses two coresheets 20 and 22 which are welded to one another at selected areas 24. An upper cover 26 and lower cover 28 are placed over the coresheets. The resulting assembly is placed within a tool having a surface that defines the exterior surface of the formed sandwich structure. In the Hayase method, the assembly is heated to superplastic forming temperatures and a pressure differential is placed between the interior and exterior surface of covers 26 and 28 resulting in superplastic forming of the cover sheets. A pressure differential is then placed between the interior and exterior of coresheets 20 and 22 resulting in superplastic forming of the coresheets. Superplastic forming of the coresheets continue until coresheets 20 and 22 contact covers 26 and 28 and diffusion bond to them. This method, also known as the "four sheet method," eliminates surface grooving because cover sheets 26 and 28 are formed prior to forming the coresheets.
The four sheet method results in a number of new problems. It produces a core structure with webs 23 normal to cover sheets 26 and 28. In some respects, this type of core structure is not as structurally efficient in shear as a core structure with diagonal webs which form a truss. The four sheet method also results in excessive thinning at the 90.degree. corners 30, formed at the location where coresheets 20 and 22 contact cover sheets 26 and 28. This excessive thinning is a result of forming the small radius of curvature corners 30 preferred in the Hayase method. Furthermore, a longer processing cycle than the "three sheet method" must be used in order to allow time for coresheets 20 and 22 to form corners 30. The increased processing time increases costs and decreases part output.
Both the Hayase method and the Hamilton method form sandwich structures having the same internal reinforcement or number coresheets throughout the sandwich structure. A uniform internal reinforcement limits the structural engineer's ability to tailor superplastic formed sandwich structures to applications that have differing loads throughout the structure. Therefore, the structural engineer must design the entire internal reinforcement for the peak structural loading expected in the part. This results in an increased weight and a loss of structural efficiency.

Multiple density sandwich structures and method of fabrication


A method and system for printing 3D structures using 2D monochromatic images (for example, greyscale images) is provided. The method can include instructing a printing device to print a 2D monochromatic image using print material in a reservoir known to contain a structural print material. Greater amounts of print material are printed in locations corresponding to relatively darker regions of the 2D monochromatic image.

The present embodiments relate generally to printing systems, including three-dimensional printing systems and methods.
Printing systems can be used to print 2D structures or layers of ink as well as 3D structures formed from various kinds of 3D printing materials. Three-dimensional printing systems and methods may be associated with various technologies including fused deposition modeling (FDM), electron beam freeform fabrication (EBF), selective laser sintering (SLS) as well as other kinds of three-dimensional printing technologies.
Structures formed from three-dimensional printing systems can be used with objects formed by other manufacturing techniques. These include textile materials used in various articles of footwear and/or articles of apparel.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method and apparatus for printing three-dimensional structures with image information


The present method provides annealing of a resistive memory device so as to provide that the device in its erased state has a greatly increased resistance as compared to a prior art approach. The annealing also provides that the device may be erased by application of any of a plurality of electrical potentials within an increased range of electrical potentials as compared to the prior art.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to resistive memory devices, and more particularly, to methods for improving performance of resistive memory devices.
2. Background Art
Recently, resistive memory devices have been developed for use in storage applications in electronic devices. A typical resistive memory device is capable of selectively being placed in a low resistance ("programmed") state and a high resistance ("erased") state. The state of the device is read by providing an electrical potential across the device and sensing the level of current through the device. These devices are appropriate for use in a wide variety of electronic devices, such as computers, personal digital assistants, portable media players, digital cameras, cell phones, automobile engine controls and the like. While such devices have proven effective in use, it will be understood that it is desirable to improve performance thereof. For example, improvements in erase performance and reduced current leakage are being sought.
FIGS. 1-5 illustrate a metal-insulator-metal (MIM) resistive memory device 20 and operating characteristics thereof. With reference to FIG. 1, the device 20 includes a Ta or TaN bottom electrode 22, a deposited or grown Ta oxide layer 24 on the electrode 22, and a top Al electrode 26 deposited on the Ta oxide layer 24, which deposition, undertaken at a temperature of for example 190° C., causes formation of a thin (for example ˜20 angstroms thick) Al oxide layer 25 between the Ta oxide layer 24 and the electrode 26, so that Ta oxide layer 24 and Al oxide layer 25 make up the insulating layer of the MIM device 20. The electrode 22 is connected to a transistor 28 so that the device 20 is in series with the transistor 28.
The programming of the device 20, i.e., the changing of the device 20 from a high resistance (erased) state to a low resistance (programmed) state is described with relation to FIGS. 2 and 5, the curve A illustrating programming characteristics of the device 20. As shown therein, a positive voltage +V is applied to the electrode 26, while terminal 23 is held at ground, so that higher to lower potential is applied in the direction from electrode 26 to electrode 22. This potential is increased (by increasing +V applied to electrode 26 and holding terminal 23 at ground), resulting in current flow with increasing potential as shown at A1. When this potential reaches ˜5.3V, the device 20 switches into a low resistance state (indicated at A2), and current increases rapidly with increased potential until current is limited to a selected level A3 by current limiting transistor 28 (gate voltage Vg1).
Erasing of the device 20, i.e., the changing of the device from a low resistance (programmed) state to a high resistance (erased) state is described with relation to FIGS. 3 and 5, the curve B illustrating erasing characteristics of the device 20. As shown therein, a positive voltage +V is applied to the terminal 23, while the electrode 26 is held at ground, with Vg2 applied to the gate of the transistor 28 greater than Vg1 of FIG. 2, so that higher to lower potential is applied in the direction from electrode 22 to electrode 26. This potential is increased (by increasing +V applied to terminal 23 and holding electrode 26 at ground), resulting in current flow with increasing potential as shown at B1. When this potential reaches ˜1.2V, the device 20 switches into an erased (high resistance) state (indicated at B2). With further increase in this potential, the device 20 remains in its erased state until the potential reaches ˜1.8V, whereupon the device 20 switches back to its programmed (low resistance) state (indicated at B3).
The memory device 20 may be erased using a second approach (FIGS. 4 and 5). In this approach, the erase electrical potential is applied across the memory device 20 from higher to lower potential in the direction from the electrode 26 to the electrode 22, i.e., in the same direction as applied in the programming of the device 20, by applying +V to the electrode 26 and holding terminal 23 at ground.
The increase in resistance from the conductive state to the erased state (indicated by small decrease in current E1, FIG. 5) is relatively small. This shallow erase causes relatively small ON-OFF ratio, i.e., the ratio of the ON state resistance to the OFF state resistance. Increasing the voltage V+ does not improve the situation as it has been found that further increase in V+does not increase the level of erase resistance and that after a relatively small increase in V+, the device returns to its programmed state (FIG. 5).
Furthermore, the range of potentials R1 which achieve erasure of a programmed device 20 is relatively small, i.e., 0.6V, that is, any of a plurality of applied potentials in the range or window from ˜1.2V to ˜1.8V will achieve erase of a programmed device 20. However, an applied potential outside this range R1 will not provide an erased state of a programmed device 20. Control of the erase potential so that it falls within such a small range R1 can be problematical.

Erase, programming and leakage characteristics of a resistive memory device


Disclosed herein is a method and system for charging a battery of a hybrid electric vehicle driven with power of an engine and/or a motor, the method including detecting an accelerator pedal position by an accelerator position detector, detecting a brake pedal position by a brake position detector, determining, by a controller, when the vehicle is coasting based on manipulation of the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal; determining when a state of charge of the battery is a charged state having a value equal to or smaller than a set value; and maintaining the engine in a driving state and rotating the driving motor with engine power to charge the battery with generated power of the driving motor when the state of charge of the battery is the charged state having the value equal to or smaller than the set value and the hybrid electric vehicle is coasting.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a system for charging a battery of a hybrid electric vehicle driven by power of an engine and/or a motor.
(b) Description of the Related Art
As is well known, due to increases in oil prices and exhaust gas regulations, eco-friendly policies and fuel efficiency improvement have been researched in the development of a vehicle. Accordingly, vehicle manufacturers have developed a technology for reducing fuel and decreasing exhaust gas to meet eco-friendly policies and improve fuel efficiency. Additionally, the vehicle manufacturers have focused efforts in developing a technology of a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) which efficiently combines and uses power of an engine and power of a motor to achieve high fuel efficiency.
FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration of a conventional parallel hybrid electric vehicle.
Referring to FIG. 1, the hybrid electric vehicle may include an engine 10, a driving motor 20, an engine clutch 30 for combining or releasing power between the engine 10 and the driving motor 20, a transmission 40, a differential gear device 50, a battery 60, a starting/generating motor 70 for starting the engine 10 or generating power to be output by the engine 10, and a plurality of wheels 80.
Further, the hybrid electric vehicle may include a hybrid control unit (HCU) for controlling entire operations of the hybrid electric vehicle and a battery control unit (BCU) 120 for managing and controlling the battery 60. The battery control unit 120 may be called a battery management system (BMS).
The constituent elements of the hybrid electric vehicle are obvious to those skilled in the art, and thus a more detailed description will be omitted. The starting/generating motor 70 may be called an integrated starter and generator (ISG) or a hybrid starter and generator (HSG) in the known art.
The hybrid electric vehicle may be driven in a driving mode, such as, an electric vehicle (EV) mode using only power of the driving motor 20; a hybrid electric vehicle (HEV) mode using torque of the driving motor 20 as auxiliary power while using torque of the engine 10 as main power; and a regenerative braking (RB) mode collecting braking and inertia energy through power generation of the driving motor 20 to charge the battery 60 during braking or driving using the inertia of the vehicle.
As described above, the hybrid electric vehicle uses both mechanical energy of the engine and electric energy of the battery, uses an optimum operation region of the engine and the driving motor, and collects the energy of the driving motor while braking, thereby improving fuel efficiency and efficiently using the energy. Moreover, in the hybrid electric vehicle, a driving method may be generally divided according to a state of charge (SOC) of the battery 60.
FIG. 2 is an exemplary diagram illustrating an SOC state of the battery 60 according to a driving method of the hybrid electric vehicle. Referring to FIG. 2, the battery 60 of the hybrid electric vehicle may be divided into a critical overcharge region CH (critical high), an overcharge region H (high) a normal charge region B (normal), a low charge region L (low) and a critical low charge region CL (critical low) according to an SOC. The low charge region may be divided approximately in half to be two regions L1 and L2.
A battery control unit 120 of the hybrid electric vehicle may perform part load charge control, idle charge control, and power limit control to maintain the SOC of the battery 60 as illustrated in FIG. 2. Based on the contents illustrated in FIG. 2, the part load charge control is generally performed when the SOC of the battery is in the normal charge region N. The idle charge control is generally performed when the SOC of the battery is in the upper low charge region L1. The power limit control is generally performed when the SOC of the battery is in the lower low charge region L2 and the critical low charge region CL.
When a driver accelerates during driving and the engine is maintained in an operation state, the part load charge control controls the rotation of the driving motor 20 to generate power of the engine 10 to charge the battery with the output power. While the vehicle accelerates, the part load charge control may maintain a SOC by using a redundant power of the engine.
The idle charge control controls the rotation of the starting/generating motor 70 to generate power of the engine 10, regardless of manipulation of the accelerator pedal, the brake pedal and a vehicle speed, to change the low SOC of the battery to charge the battery with the output power. The idle charge control is control of charging the battery in order to get out of a charge insufficient state of the battery 60 regardless of a vehicle speed.
The power limit control limits power used in electronic equipment of a high voltage power module system. However, since the hybrid electric vehicle repeatedly stops when running in a congested area, a possibility of the part load charge control using the driving motor 20 decreases so the SOC of the battery lowers.
Accordingly, when the hybrid electric vehicle runs in a congested area, a hybrid control unit 110 and/or the battery control unit 120 may perform the idle charge control mode using the starting/generating motor 70 having poor charging efficiency to prevent the SOC of the battery from being decreased.
Further, since the hybrid control unit 110 and/or the battery control unit 120 of the hybrid electric vehicle according to the exemplary embodiment of the related art charge the battery 60 only with power by regenerative braking of the driving motor 20 as illustrated in FIG. 3, when an accelerator pedal position sensor (APS) and a brake position sensor (BPS) are off (e.g., when a driver does not manipulate the accelerator pedal and the brake pedal), in other words, the hybrid electric vehicle performs coasting, charging efficiency is not high.
The above information disclosed in this section is only for enhancement of understanding of the background of the invention and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.

Method and system for charging battery for hybrid electric vehicle


A methotrexate-containing transdermal preparation effective for rheumatoid arthritis comprises an organic amine. The organic amine may preferably be an alkonolamine such as monoethanolamine, diethanolamine, triethanolamine or diisopropanolamine, or an alkylamine such as ehtylamine, diethylamine or triethylamine. The transdermal preparation is, for example, a plaster, a cataplasm, an ointment, a cream or a lotion.

a) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to percutaneously-applicable preparations (hereinafter called xe2x80x9ctransdermal preparationsxe2x80x9d) capable of administering methotrexate, which is at present considered to be most effective for rheumatoid arthritis (hereinafter abbreviated as xe2x80x9cRAxe2x80x9d), more safely than conventional oral preparations while permitting high compliance.
b) Description of the Related Art
As the cause of RA has not been ascertained yet -RA has neither appropriate preventive method nor radical treatment method and is a so-called inveterate disease. RA is a chronic constitutional inflammatory disease and develops characteristic articular lesions. Although RA begins from arthralgia in many cases, its continuation is accompanied by multi-articular destruction or deformity and results in problems of moving functions. It is also often accompanied by extra-articular lesions such as skin, blood vessel, nerve, heart and lung lesions. It is hence a systemic disease lesions of which are not confined to joints. RA patients in Japan are reported to reach as many as 300,000 even on a conservative estimate.
Principal therapeutic drugs for RA at present are non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and disease-modifying antirheumatic drugs (DMARDS) and, unless they can provide sufficient effects, immunosuppressants are used.
As first-choice drugs for RA, non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs such as salicylic acids, anthranilic acids, phenylacetic acids, indoleacetic acids, propionic acids, pyrazolones, phenacetins, oxycams or solantal type are used.
As second-choice drugs, DMARDs such as gold-containing agents (auranofin, gold sodium thiomalate), SH-containing agents (bucillamine, D-penicillamine), CCAs (disodium lobenzarit) and sulfa drugs (sulfasalazine) are used.
As third-choice drugs, various steroidal drugs are selected.
Further, as fourth-choice drugs, immunosuppressants such as mizoribine, azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, methotrexate and tacrolimus hydrate are used.
Methotrexate that is indicated to be extremely useful among these therapeutic drugs. This drug is indicated that, even when administered at low dosage level against RA, anti-inflammatory effects can be observed from a relatively early stage and remission may be maintained over an extended time. It is usually to RA patients at a dosage of from 2.5 to 7.5 mg/week.
Incidentally, methotrexate is classified as first-choice for RA in Europe and America.
Methotrexate is a metabolic antagonist which was initially developed as therapeutic drug for malignant tumors. For the first time in 1951, it was used for RA and was reported to have effectiveness. It was approved as therapeutic drug for RA in the United States (as early as 1988). Since then, it has been approved as therapeutic drug of RA in 17 countries outside Japan. In Japan, however, it was as late as in 1999 that the application of the national health insurance to methotrexate as a therapeutic drug for RA was approved, although it had already been widely used in clinical fields under the discretion of attending physicians.
Nonetheless, methotrexate is well known to induce various problems such as leukopenia and thrombocytopenia, hepatic problems, gastrointestinal ulcer, diarrhea, mucosal erosion, erythema and alopecia. Development of serious side effects such as bone marrow failure and interstitial pneumonia his arisen as an especially serious problem.
Administration of this drug to patients has conventionally been performed orally, for example, in the form of tablets or capsules. preparation is, however, accompanied by the problem of the first-pass effect at the liver in that upon passage through the liver, a drug is substantially metabolized there before it reaches an affected part. Further, methotrexate has a potential problem of development of side effects as mentioned above although its drug efficacy is strong. For its use, an utmost care is therefore needed. Under these circumstances, methotrexate is used only when an advantage which would be available from its administration is judged to surpass the risk of development of side effects.
If a transdermal preparation which would permit absorption of this drug into blood can be developed, it would then become possible to avoid the first-pass effect at the liver, which is unavoidable for oral preparations, and moreover, to avoid side effects such as gastrointestinal problems. In particular, plasters have some additional advantages. For example, control of percutaneous absorption of the drug makes it possible to maintain its blood at a constant level an extended time and further, to prevent side effects which would otherwise occur due to rapid absorption of the drug in a short time as is observed in the case of oral administration. On top of these, if any problem should arise, simple removal of the preparation makes it possible to immediately stop the supply of the drug, and further, it is also possible to obviate the potential problem of forgetting to give a dose or to give a dose twice. Methotrexate, however, has a high molecular weight and high polarity, so that its percutaneous absorption for transdermal preparations is poor. Therefore, no preparation of the percutaneous absorption type has been disclosed yet for the absorption of the drug into blood.
Incidentally, methotrexate has been confirmed to have therapeutic effect for psoriasis, and its topical preparation has been disclosed (JP 63-27432 A). This topical preparation is, however, effective only to an affected topical part to which the drug is applied, and no additional absorption can be achieved (namely, a topical treatment is intended). On the other hand, JP 55-149212 A states the incorporation of methotrexate in a particular water-insoluble hydrophilic polymer makes it possible to control the velocity of dissolution of the drug by relying upon its water content, and discloses a sustained release preparation useful as a villous tumor therapeutic agent for topical administration to the uterine cavity. However, this sustained release preparation is likewise not intended to achieve absorption of the drug into blood, so that absorption of the drug to the whole body has not been achieved yet.
Presently-available external preparations are intended primarily to give topical effects and under the current circumstances, are physically unable to exhibit the therapeutic effect of methotrexate where inflamed lesions spread at many sites as in RA. If it becomes possible to make the drug reach an effective concentration at the whole body level, its clinical usefulness will be assured. In particular, more people are expected to suffer from deteriorated kidney or liver function as the aging of population in the society advances. Here too, the merits of transdermal preparations are believed to be enjoyed.
To solve the above-described drawbacks of the conventional oral preparations of methotrexate, the present invention has as a theme thereof the completion of a technique for the delivery of methotrexate into blood, which has heretofore remained as a problem upon formulation of methotrexate into transdermal preparations, and as an object thereof the provision of a transdermal methotrexate preparation effective for RA.
As a result of extensive research on transdermal preparations, the present inventors have found that inclusion of an organic amine along with methotrexate in a base for an external preparation makes it possible to achieve delivery of methotrexate into blood although this delivery has heretofore been difficult.
The present inventors have also found that in an external preparation added with methotrexate, addition of an organic amine in a base leads to a significant improvement in the absorption of methotrexate as an active ingredient.
These findings have led to the completion of the present invention. In one aspect of the present invention, there is accordingly provided a methotrexate-containing transdermal preparation effective for rheumatoid arthritis, which comprises an organic amine.
The methotrexate-containing transdermal preparation according to the present invention can deliver methotrexate, which is now considered to be most effective for RA, into blood more safely than conventional oral preparations while permitting high compliance.


A composite thermal transfer sheet 100 comprising: a thermal transfer film 10 comprising a base film 11 and a heat-fusible ink layer 13 formed on the base film 11; and a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet 20 comprising a substrate 21 and a receptor layer 22 formed on the substrate 21, the receptor layer 22 comprising a thermoplastic resin, which has an adhesive property, and an inorganic and/or organic filler, the receptor layer 22 and the heat-fusible ink layer 13 being peelably bonded to each other by the adhesive property of the thermoplastic resin in the receptor layer 22, so that the thermal transfer film 10 and the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet 20 are peelably bonded to each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a so-called composite thermal transfer sheet constructed of a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet having a receptor layer on a substrate and a thermal transfer film having a heat-fusible ink layer on a base film, peelably bonded to each other, such that the receptor layer of the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet and the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer film are peelably attached to each other.
The present invention also relates to a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet having a receptor layer on a substrate to be used for the composite thermal transfer sheet.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, a thermal transfer medium of a heat-fusible transfer type is often used for output prints of a computer, a processor or the like.
As one example of such a thermal transfer medium of the heat-fusible transfer type, a thermal transfer film of the heat-fusible transfer type is constructed of: a base film composed of a plastic film having a thickness of about 3 to 20 .mu. m! such as a polyester film or a cellophane film; and a heat-fusible ink layer which is coated on the base film and is composed of a mixture of vehicle (e.g. wax) and colorant such as pigment or dye.
When printing is affected on a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet using the aforementioned thermal transfer film, the thermal transfer film is supplied from a roll thereof, while a continuous or cut-sheet-like thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is also supplied, so that the former and the latter are superposed on each other on a platen. Then, in such a state, heat is applied to the thermal transfer film from the back side surface thereof by a thermal head, so that the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer film is melted and transferred to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet. Therefore, a desired image is formed on the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet.
However, if the aforementioned thermal transfer film would be applied to a thermal printer used for printing on a heat-sensitive color-forming paper, a problem is posed as followings. Namely, the heat-sensitive color-forming paper develops coloring by itself (i.e. without the thermal transfer film). Therefore, the thermal printer used for printing on a heat-sensitive color-forming paper does not have any means for transporting the thermal transfer film. Thus, the thermal transfer film cannot be used in the aforementioned thermal printer.
In order to solve the aforementioned problem, the composite thermal transfer sheet is proposed. The composite thermal transfer sheet is constructed by peelably bonding a thermal transfer film and a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet. The thermal transfer film is constructed ofa base film and a heat-fusible ink layer formed thereon, and a thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is constructed of, for example, a plain paper, a synthetic paper, a coated paper and so on. Further, the thermal transfer film and the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet are peelably bonded through a temporary adhesive layer formed on the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer film. Furthermore, in the composite thermal transfer sheet, the thermal transfer film is peeled from the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet after printing, and thus an image is formed on the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet.
Here, the aforementioned composite thermal transfer sheet is produced by two kinds of methods as followings. Namely, in the first method, a heat-fusible ink layer is formed on the base film of the thermal transfer film, and then, the thermal transfer film is bonded to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet by an adhesive component in the heat-fusible ink layer. On the other hand, in the second method, a temporary adhesive layer, which includes an adhesive component, is formed on the heat-fusible ink layer of the thermal transfer film, and then, the thermal transfer film is bonded to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet though the temporary adhesive layer.
However, in the aforementioned composite thermal transfer sheet, since the thermal transfer film is bonded to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet by the adhesive property of the thermal transfer film side, the adhesive property must be given to a layer to transfer an ink to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet by heating (i.e. the heat-fusible ink layer). Therefore, there is a problem that an ink of the heat-fusible ink layer is easily transferred to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet when the composite thermal transfer sheet is preserved for a long period, or preserved in a condition of high temperature. Therefore, a preservation environment and a preservation period are considerably restricted.
If the membrane strength of the heat-fusible ink layer is improved, or if the melting point thereof is made higher, the aforementioned problem may be solved. However, in this case, another problem is posed. Namely, in this case, the ability to transfer the ink of the heat-fusible ink layer to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is reduced. Therefore, the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet which can be used for the composite thermal transfer sheet may be restricted, and a printer having high energy with respect to printing is required.
On the other hand, as the usage of printed matter is broadened for various purposes, it is required that the composite thermal transfer sheets constructed of various kinds of the thermal transfer image-receiving sheets and various kinds of the thermal transfer films. Thus, it is necessary that an ink receptor layer is formed on a substrate of the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet, in order to improve the ability of ink reception and in order to improve the ability of paratripsis of printed matter. Further, as polychrome printed matter is developed, it is necessary that a layer to give coloration to the thermal transfer image-receiving sheet is formed on the composite thermal transfer film.

Composite thermal transfer sheet and thermal transfer image-receiving sheet


In order to provide a synthetic resin clip and a hanger with synthetic resin clips that are high in safety and can yet be produced at low cost, a synthetic resin clip and synthetic resin clips to be provided on a hanger are arranged with engaging portions being formed on inner surface portions of tips of a synthetic resin spring, which is formed in a “U” shape by being folded back at an intermediate portion, window holes for sliding of molding dies being formed on outer portions of clip members in order to form receiving portions, engaging with the engaging portions, at inner portions of the clip members, insertion spaces, into which the tip portions of the synthetic resin spring are inserted, being formed in the direction of sliding of the dies between upper edges of the window holes and upper end portions of the receiving portions, and fly-apart preventing bars being disposed across the upper and lower edges of the window holes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a synthetic resin clip and a hanger with synthetic resin clips.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, clothes, etc., are delivered in the state of being hung on an above-mentioned hanger when being delivered from a manufacturer of the clothes, etc., to a trading firm or from a trading firm to a retail shop, and recently, in accordance with product liability laws, that is, so-called "PL laws," deliveries are made upon confirming by a metal detector that needles, etc., are not remaining in the clothes and other sewn products. With a synthetic resin clip, with which clamping portions of clip members are elastically urged in the direction of pressing against each other by a "U" shaped metal spring, the metal detector responds to the metal spring.
In order to accommodate for such a metal detector, an arrangement is used wherein a synthetic resin spring, which has elasticity, is folded back in a "U" shape at a central portion, and is formed of a composite material having high-density carbonate resin as the main component, is fitted into a synthetic resin clip, and such clips are mounted onto a hanger.
However, with this synthetic resin clip fitted with the synthetic resin spring made of a composite material having high-density carbonate resin as the main component, the synthetic resin spring breaks at the folded-back portion occasionally upon repeated use of the clip, and since pieces of the broken synthetic resin spring that fly apart may injure a hand, face, etc., there was an issue in terms of safety.
Though the covering of the synthetic resin spring in the process of molding the clip members may be considered, this may disable the release from a molding die or make the molding die become complicated in structure or increase the number of dies (number of die parts) etc., and thereby increase the initial cost or the running cost.
In view of these problems, the applicant of the present invention has priorly proposed in a synthetic resin clip, wherein clip members, each having a clamping portion formed at one end, are made to face each other, a synthetic resin spring, which is folded back and formed to a "U" shape, is fitted across the clip members, and the clip members are elastically urged in the direction in which clamping portions of both the clip members press against each other by the elastic force of the synthetic resin spring, an arrangement wherein engaging portions are formed on inner surface portions of tips of the synthetic resin spring, the clip members are provided with receiving portions, which engage with the engaging portions, and fly-apart preventing portions, each formed so as to extend from an operating portion to a position near the tip of the receiving portion, spaces for insertion of the engaging portions of the synthetic resin spring are formed between the tip portion sides of the receiving portions and the tip portion sides of the fly-apart preventing portions, and the tips of the receiving portions and the tips of the fly-apart preventing portions are formed so as not to overlap in a manner wherein there are no gaps or there are only slight gaps for enabling the sliding of dies for molding the clip members in a direction orthogonal to the direction of sliding the dies. The synthetic resin clip is shown in Japanese Patent No. 2956956.
With the synthetic resin clip proposed by the applicant of the present invention, since an opening that opens below each fly-apart preventing portion is opened across its entire width, when the synthetic resin spring breaks, the broken pieces thereof can fly out of the opening and fly apart to the surroundings. There was thus the possibility that safety could not be secured adequately.
This invention has been made in view of the above problem and an object thereof is to present a synthetic resin clip and a hanger with synthetic resin clips that are high in safety and yet can be produced at low cost.

Synthetic resin clip and hanger with synthetic resin clips


A solid combination of elemental sulfur and an inorganic support material prepared in an inert atmosphere to provide a composition for absorbing trialkyl arsines. The composition prepared thereby and the method for absorbing trialkyl arsines using the composition.

Supported sulfur compositions, such as alumina which has been impregnated with liquid elemental sulfur, are effective trialkyl arsine sorbents. These materials and their use as trialkyl arsine sorbents have been described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,085,844 and 5,360,779. The present invention is directed to an improved method of making supported sulfur compositions which exhibit enhanced trialkyl arsine sorption capacity.
It is an object of this invention to provide an improved process for preparing supported sulfur compositions which are effective as trialkyl arsine sorbents. It is a further object of this invention to provide supported sulfur compositions made by the process of this invention and a method for absorbing trialkyl arsine using the supported sulfur compositions of this invention. Particular objects and advantages of this invention will become apparent from the detailed description and the appended claims.
In a process for preparing a supported elemental sulfur composition, the improvement comprises contacting molten elemental sulfur and an inorganic support material in an inert atmosphere thereby preventing the formation of sulfur oxides which are ineffective as absorbents for trialkyl arsines.
Preferably, the inorganic support material is alumina. It is presently preferred to employ a solid combination consisting essentially of elemental sulfur and inorganic support material that has been prepared by impregnating the inorganic support material (preferably alumina) with molten elemental sulfur at a temperature above the melting point of elemental sulfur in an inert atmosphere, and then lowering the temperature below the melting point of elemental sulfur while retaining the composition in an inert atmosphere so as to afford solidification of the elemental sulfur on the inorganic support material.
Any suitable, effective inorganic support material can be employed as the support (carrier) component of the solid combination of elemental sulfur and an inorganic support material which is the final product of this invention. Preferably, the support material is selected from the group consisting of alumina, fluorided alumina (i.e., alumina which has been treated with HF or NH4HF2 under conditions as to incorporate fluoride ions into the crystal lattice of alumina), aluminum phosphate, magnesia (MgO), silica, titania (TiO2), zirconia (ZrO2), hafnia (HfO2), zinc oxide, zinc aluminate (ZnAl2O4), aluminates of alkaline earth metals (i.e., of Be, Mg, Ca, Sr, Ba), zinc titanate (Zn2TiO4), titanates of alkaline earth metals, activated carbon, and mixtures of two or more than two of the above materials. Presently more preferred support materials are alumina, silica, titania, activated carbon, zeolites and mixtures of two or more of these materials. Particularly preferred is alumina.
The elemental sulfur component is combined with the inorganic support material by impregnating the support material with molten sulfur, followed by cooling below the melting temperature of sulfur with the processes of impregnating and cooling below the melting temperature of sulfur carried out in an inert atmosphere. Generally the elemental sulfur will be contacted with the inorganic support and the temperature then raised above the melting point of elemental sulfur to impregnate the inorganic support. The temperature is then decreased so that the sulfur solidifies on the inorganic support while the inert atmosphere is maintained thereby providing solid sulfur on an inorganic support.
Generally, the sulfur content in the supported composition is in the range of from about 1 to about 50, preferably from about 3 to about 25, weight-% elemental S. It is within the scope of this invention to have, in addition to elemental sulfur, metal oxides and/or metal-sulfur compounds (such as Fe(III) oxide and/or sulfite and/or sulfate or the corresponding compounds of Co and/or Ni and/or Mn) present in the supported composition.
The supported elemental sulfur composition produced by this invention can have any suitable surface area (preferably about 10-1000 m2/g, as measured by the B.E.T. method employing N2), any suitable shape (such as spherical, cylindrical, ring-shaped, trilobal, etc.), and any suitable particle size (such as about 0.2-20 mm diameter of spherical particles).
This invention yields improved results in the removal of trialkyl arsines from fluid streams that contain trialkyl arsines as compared to using supported sulfur compositions made in every way by the same process except for carrying out the impregnation of the support with molten sulfur under an inert atmosphere.
The term xe2x80x9ctrialkyl arsinexe2x80x9d, as used herein, refers to compounds having the general formula of R3As, wherein each R is a radical independently selected from among alkyl groups (straight or branched), preferably having a 1-6, more preferably 1-3, carbon atoms. Particularly preferred trialkyl arsines are trimethyl arsine, triethyl arsine, dimethyl ethyl arsine and diethyl methyl arsine.
Any suitable liquid or gaseous fluid stream which contains trialkyl arsine can be used as feed in the process of this invention. Preferably, the feed is gaseous. Non-limiting examples of suitable feeds are: natural gas, gaseous petroleum fractions comprising paraffins and olefins containing 1-6 carbon atoms per molecule and gaseous products from thermal and catalytic cracking of petroleum, shale oil or coal. Generally the gases comprise methane, ethane, ethylene, propane, propylene, n-butane, isobutane, butenes and the like. These gas streams can contain other impurities, such as hydrogen sulfide, carbonyl sulfide (COS), mercaptans, organic sulfides, carbon monoxide, carbon dioxide, inert gases (N2, He, Ne, Ar),and the like. The process of this invention is effective even when H2S is present.
Other arsenic compounds may also be present in the fluid stream which is treated by the process of this invention, such as AsH3, RAsH2, R2AsH, R3AsO (trialkyl arsine oxides), R3AsS (trialkyl arsine sulfides) and the like; wherein R is an alkyl group, as defined above. It is also possible to have triphenyl arsine, dialkyl phenyl arsines, dialkyl cycloalkyl arsines and the like present in the feed. Preferably free oxygen is substantially absent from the feed.
Generally, the total concentration of the trialkyl arsines in the preferably gaseous feed is in the range of from about 1 ppb (1 part by weight of trialkyl arsenic per billion parts by weight of feed) to about 0.1 percent arsenic. The concentration of other impurities and the exact composition of the feedstock will vary widely from feedstock to feedstock.
Any suitable contacting conditions can be employed in the sorption process of this invention. Generally, the temperature in the contacting zone is in the range of from about xe2x88x9220 to about 50xc2x0 C. Generally, the pressure in the contacting zone is in the range from about 1 to about 500 atm., preferably about 1 to about 70 atm. Generally, the hourly space velocity of the gaseous feed in the contacting zone is in the range from about 10 to about 20,000volume of feed/volume of sorbent/hour, preferably from about 1,000 to about 10,000volume/volume/hour, measured at about 25xc2x0 C.,/1 atm. Generally, the contacting is continued until trialkyl arsine breakthrough occurs, i.e., when the treated product contains more trialkyl arsines than can be tolerated, such as an amount of about 50 ppb.
Treatment of the feed stream in accordance with the process of this invention can be carried out in any suitable manner. In one embodiment of the invention, a bed of the sorbent is placed in a fixed bed in a confined zone and a fluid stream, preferably a gas, is passed therethrough in either upward or downward flow. Other less preferred methods of treatment include a fluidized operation in which the feed and the sorbent particles are maintained in a state of turbulence under hindered settling conditions in a confined zone, moving bed operations in which the sorbent passes as moving bed countercurrently to or cocurrently with the feed. In a fixed bed operation of a continuous process the flow of fluid can be rotated between two or more sorbent beds with at least on bed in sorbent operation with another in regeneration mode. Continuous processes are preferred, but it is understood that batch operation is also possible.
The following examples are provided to further illustrate this invention. The examples are not to be construed as unduly limiting the scope of this invention.

Supported sulfur compositions and the preparation and use thereof


A method for generating a digital map that can be stored on an electronic storage medium and in which a geographic area is described by a multitude of data sets includes the following steps:                a) loading an original database (01), in which the geographic area is described by a multitude of data sets, into an electronic analyzer, wherein each data set describes an object of the map, wherein each data set consists of a defined number of attributes, and wherein each attribute may assume a defined number of different attribute values,        b) detecting attribute value combinations or attribute value subcombinations that occur in the data sets of the database,        c) assigning a distinct combination characteristic to each attribute value combination or attribute value subcombination,        d) storing the attribute value combinations or attribute value subcombinations detected in the database with the respectively assigned combination characteristics as a first partial database (02) of the digital map,        e) analyzing all data sets of the original database (01), wherein a new data set is generated for each data set by replacing the attribute value combinations or attribute value subcombinations that exist in each data set with the combination characteristic assigned to the attribute value combinations or attribute value subcombinations, and        f) storing the new data sets in a second partial database (03) of the digital map.

Digital maps that can be stored on an electronic storage medium are used, for example, but by no means exclusively, for the operation of mobile or permanently installed navigation devices. In this case, the satellite navigation is based on the description of a geographic area such as, for example, the road network of Germany by a multitude of digital data sets.
In known navigation devices, databases that contain a multitude of such data sets are provided in order to describe the geographic area, wherein each data set describes an object of the map such as, for example, a road section or a terrain segment. These databases that are known from the prior art and contain data sets for describing map objects are referred to as original databases below. In this case, each data set for describing a map object consists of a certain number of attributes that can respectively assume a certain number of different attribute values. The attributes may consist, for example, of the geographic position of the map object and of the specification as a road section.
When operating devices, particularly navigation devices, or when utilizing such databases for describing a digital map, the data sets stored in the database need to be retrieved many times. During the composition of the graphic illustration of a section of the map, in particular, the data sets for describing the map objects in this section need to be read out of the database and processed by a graphics processor. If the map section changes in rapid succession, for example, due to the vehicle driving through the geographic area or the user manipulating the map section to be displayed, very many data sets with the attributes contained therein need to be read out and processed. In this case, the data quantities to be processed may be very large because the individual map objects need to be respectively specified by a multitude of attribute values and the new area itself contains a large quantity of map objects.
Consequently, very large quantities of data need to be managed when utilizing databases (original databases) known from the prior art for electronically processing digital maps, particularly for the graphic illustration thereof. This is a significant disadvantage because it is either necessary to provide a correspondingly large and fast main memory or the respective data needs to be very often read out of a mass memory and copied into the main memory.

Method for generating an electronically storable digital map


An anode for a lithium air battery including an anode active material layer including an anode active material; a first protective layer disposed on the anode active material layer; and a second protective layer disposed on the first protective layer, wherein the first protective layer includes a liquid electrolyte having a viscosity of 5 centipoise or less at a temperature of 20° C., and the second protective layer includes an ion conductive solid electrolyte membrane.

1. Field
Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to an anode for a lithium air battery and a lithium air battery including the anode.
2. Description of the Related Art
A lithium air battery generally includes an anode including lithium, e.g., an anode capable of intercalating and deintercalating lithium ions, a cathode that oxidizes and reduces oxygen from the air, and an electrolyte disposed between the cathode and the anode.
Since the lithium air battery may use lithium metal as a negative electrode and does not have to store air which is used as a positive active material (i.e., oxygen in air) within the battery, the lithium air battery may have high capacity. A lithium air battery has a high theoretical specific energy of 3,500 Wh/kg or greater, which is about ten times greater than that of a lithium ion battery.
When an anode of an air lithium battery is a lithium metal, a lithium dendrite is formed on a surface of the anode during charging and discharging. The dendrite may cause a short circuit, and thus deterioration of the battery is accelerated.
Therefore, there remains need for methods to improve the lifespan of a lithium air battery.

Anode for lithium air battery and lithium air battery including the anode


A circuit includes a latch circuit, a buffer transistor having a control terminal coupled to a first output of the latch, a first write transistor having a conduction terminal coupled to the first output and a control terminal coupled to a first write bitline, and a second write transistor having a conduction terminal coupled to a second output of the latch and a control terminal coupled to a second write bitline. A method of operating a memory cell circuit includes providing a first value on first and second write bitlines when a read operation is performed, and when a write operation is performed, providing first and second values on the first and second write bitlines, respectively, when a first storable value is to be stored, and providing the first and second value on the second and first write bitlines, respectively, when a second storable value is to be stored.

A Static Random Access Memory (SRAM) cell may have reduced performance and reliability because of conflicting current flows to a circuit node of the cell (fighting), and unintended alteration of a data stored in the cell (disturb) during read or write operation. Fighting and disturb may have a more frequent and more detrimental effect as operating voltages of the cell are decreased.
Fighting may occur in the cell when, for example, a p-channel Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field Effect Transistor (pMOSFET) configured to operate as a pull-up transistor sources current into a circuit node at a same time that an n-channel MOSFET (nMOSFET) configured to operate as a pass transistor sinks current from the circuit node. Fighting may decrease the reliability of the cell or increase the time needed to perform write operations to the cell.
Disturb may occur in the cell when a word line connected to the cell has a value that selects the cell, in either read operations (read disturb) or write operations (write disturb). Disturb may be a result of a storage node of the cell being coupled to a low or high voltage on a bit line having a capacitance substantially higher than a capacitance of the storage node of the cell.


A contact enrichment system is provided to determine whether contacts stored in a mobile device match profiles stored on a social network server. Profiles matching the contacts are used to enrich the contacts by appending information such as images and video to the contacts. The appended information in the contacts are also linked to the source profile so that the contact information may be periodically updated. Information may be drawn from multiple profiles on multiple social network servers to fully enrich the contacts stored on the mobile device.

The present advancements relate to a system, apparatus and associated methodology for updating contact information in mobile devices, such as cell phones, smart phones, and personal digital assistants (PDAs).
Many mobile devices, such as cell phones, smart phones and PDAs, store contacts for quick access to phone numbers, postal addresses and even email addresses corresponding to people and/or business with which communication is frequently performed. Contact information may be organized within mobile devices by an address book, or other such application, according to a user-defined setting, such as alphabetically or based on predefined social, work and/or school groups.
Early mobile devices stored only text-based contact information, such as names, address, phone numbers and other such text-based information. However, modern mobile devices may also store multimedia information, including images, video and audio, as part of a contact. When receiving a call, a mobile device may display, for example, a picture of the caller that has been stored as part of the contact information corresponding to the incoming call. The mobile device may even play an audio clip corresponding to the contact as the ringtone for the incoming call.
However, for the mobile device to make use of contacts stored thereon, the contact information must be manually created and managed. This may involve manual entry of phone numbers, addresses, email addresses and multimedia content. Further, entry of multimedia content into a contact may require downloading the content from a camera or other source into a computer, formatting the content to be compatible with the mobile device, and downloading the content to the mobile device. Thus, creating new contacts or appending new information to existing contacts on a mobile device requires a high degree of interaction between the mobile device and its user, making the process tedious.
The contacts of a mobile device may be synchronized with contacts stored on a computer or other device. During synchronization, the mobile device exchanges contact information with, for example, a computer, such that both the mobile device and the computer have the same contact information. Synchronization allows for contact entry on a computer, which has a larger keyboard better suited to data entry, but still requires manual entry of all data and any updates or additions thereto.
Recently, social networking sites establishing new ways of communication have emerged on the Internet. Users of these social networking sites may exchange emails, photographs, video, instant messages, and the like. Each user of the social networking site may also identify other users as "friends" with which to communicate and share information, provided the other users consent to the "friendship." Once established, friendships allow users access to each other's profile information, which may include multimedia content, such as images, audio and video, as well as messages posted by friends to others or to groups.
Further, when a user first joins a social networking site, the user may fill out a profile including personal information. Such profiles are then used by other users to determine whether they share interests, location, or to gain general background information. Profiles may also be used by the social networking site itself to relay messages to, for example, an email address of the user. As these profiles include such basic information as name, email address, postal address, phone number, images, video, audio, and may even include postings and/or messages created by the user, and any responses thereto, a social networking site profile includes information that may be applicable to contacts stored on a mobile device.

System, apparatus and associated methodology for enriching contact of a remote client


Transgenic plants having increased growth rate and increase yield are disclosed, and methods for making the same. In one embodiment, the method comprises: transforming a plant or plant cell with a nucleic acid molecule comprising a plant kinase and/or phosphatase gene selected from NG6, NG21, NG24, NG28, and NG32, and over-expressing said kinase and/or phosphatase gene in the plant or plant cell.

Purple acid phosphatases (PAPs) catalyze the hydrolysis of a wide range of activated phosphoric acid mono- and di-esters and anhydrides (Klabunde et al., 1996). The PAP proteins are characterized by seven conserved amino acid residues (shown in bold face) in the five conserved motifs XDXX, XDXXY, GNH(D/E), XXXH, XHXH, which are involved in the coordination of the dimetal nuclear center (Fe3+-Me2+) in the active site (Li et al., 2002), where Me is a transition metal; Me2+ is mostly found to be Fe2+ in mammals, and Zn2+, or Mn2+ in plants (Klabunde and Krebs, 1997; Schenk et al., 1999).
Multiple PAP-like sequences are present in plant genomes. In the Arabidopsis genome, twenty-nine potential PAP genes have been identified based on sequence comparison. Most of the functions of characterized plant PAPs are related to phosphorus metabolism. None of the plant PAPs that had been functionally or biochemically characterized carry any transmembrane motif. In addition, no AtPAPs or any other plant PAPs had been discovered to affect sugar signalling and carbon metabolism in plants. Overexpression of AtPAP2 in Arabidopsis, a PAP with a C-terminal motif, can significantly speed up plant growth, increase sugar content in plants and improve seed yield (U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2010/0159065).

Method for speeding up plant growth and improving yield by altering expression levels of kinases and phosphatases


A treatment for subcutaneous fat and/or cellulite includes delivering a beam of radiation to a subcutaneous fat region disposed relative to a dermal interface in a target region of skin. The beam of radiation affects at least one fat cell in the subcutaneous fat region without causing substantial unwanted injury to the epidermal region and causes thermal injury to a dermal region to induce collagen formation to strengthen the target region of skin in a target region of skin. The treatment can include cooling an epidermal region of the target region of skin.

Cellulite is a common cosmetic problem of skin that appears as an irregularity of skin contour, and is often characterized by a dimpled or bumpy appearance of the skin. Cellulite commonly can be found around the thigh region, buttocks, arms, abdomen, and other regions of the body where large masses of fat can be found in close proximity to the skin surface.
Cellulite can result from fat permeating a dermal interface between a dermal layer and a subcutaneous fat layer of skin, which can be described as herniation of fat into the dermis. Typically, the dermis is weakened, as a result of stretching of the dermal tissue, tissue injury, or hormonal changes. A cellulite bump can result from subcutaneous fat that protrudes and/or permeates into the weakened dermis. A thinning of the dermal layer also can be associated with cellulite.
Cellulite can be treated by an invasive surgical procedure such as liposuction, but an invasive procedure can involve pain, can result in swelling and inflammation of tissue, and can require considerable recovery time. Massage can enhance circulation and lymphatic drainage, resulting in fluids being drained from the area, but massage only provides a temporary improvement in the condition. Repeated massage treatments can be required to maintain a cellulite-free appearance, and massage does not preclude new fat being formed from permeating into the dermal layer.
Treatments that include a massage component and irradiation of the tissue with light or ultrasonic energy have also been proposed to treat cellulite. These systems purport to break down the fat and promote its removal from the tissue, but they can not result in long-lasting benefits, since the normal fat regeneration process can result in the reappearance of cellulite as fatty tissue permeates into the dermal layer.


An arrangement for controlling the flight of a launch vehicle and a coupled payload, such a spaceplane, from launch to the separation of the payload from the vehicle. The launch vehicle is provided with controllable gimballed rocket engines and optionally with aerodynamic control surfaces, that are controlled by flight control systems. The payload having controlled flight surfaces has control systems that cooperate with those flight control systems carried by the launch vehicle to jointly control the coupled launch vehicle and coupled payload during coupled flight. The cooperating flight control systems provide open and closed loop control systems that react to winds measured prior to launch and atmospheric disturbances as indicated by on-board sensors during flight. The payload is mounted on the launch vehicle at a cant angle relative to the longitudinal axis of the launch vehicle to optimize its lift to the coupled launch vehicle and payload. Roll steering is also used to minimize the exposure of the vehicle's most critical plane to atmosphere disturbances and/or to maximize available control authority, in addition to pitch and yaw steering.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an improvement in the imposition of flight loads on and the control of launch vehicles, and more particularly, but not by way of limitation, to an arrangement which uses the positioning of a payload and flight control means that it carries to assist in the control of the associated launch vehicle as it carries the payload aloft.
2. Description of the Prior Art
At present the flight vehicle that is used to carry a payload from the surface of the earth to a desired altitude is commonly a launch vehicle that is powered by a plurality of rocket engines. The thrust of the launch vehicle may also be aided by separable rocket boosters which are detachable from the launch vehicle when expended. Launch vehicles are typically controlled during atmospheric ascent by controlled gimballing of their rocket engines or other means of thrust vectoring. In some instances where additional control authority of the launch vehicle is required, fins and other control surfaces on the aft end of the launch vehicle are used.
With the advent of non-encapsulated spaceplane payloads with a lifting body or winged design, the airloads created at the front end during atmospheric flight will be significantly higher than for a traditional payload that is encapsulated in a fairing designed to generate minimum airloads. Such a configuration causes the bending moments along the vehicle and the required rocket engine gimbal angles to be excessive when conventional control is used. Instead of carrying those loads and the resulting weight, performance and cost penalties, it is believed that the present invention will reduce those loads to a minimum and permit achievement of the optimal design for the coupled launch vehicle and coupled spaceplane.

Methods and arrangements tailoring aerodynamic forces afforded by a payload to reduce flight loads and to assist flight control for the coupled system

General Dynamics Corporation Space Systems Division


Methods and apparatus are provided for managing an IP network interconnecting a plurality of network hosts (2). Status information, indicative of status of a host, is automatically acquired from each host (2). The status information, such as MAC address, security and/or operational information, acquired from a host (2) is automatically recorded in at least one DNS record, associated with the IP address of that host (2), of a DNS server (4). The host status information in the DNS records can then be accessed for network management operations. The automatic acquisition and recording of the status information may be performed by a DHCP server (3) of the network on allocation of dynamic IP addresses to hosts (2).

This invention relates generally to management of IP (Internet Protocol) data communications networks, and more particularly to systems for the automatic acquisition and recording of information about network hosts for use in network management operations.
On an IP network, network hosts (i.e. computer systems and devices) are normally identified by their IP addresses. However, it is often desired to obtain additional information about devices for network management purposes such as network monitoring or security operations. For instance, it is often desirable to obtain the hardware network address, i.e. the MAC (Media Access Control) address, of the host at a given IP address. This might be desired, for example, to allow isolation of a virus-infected host from the rest of the network. As another example, host security compliance information, as obtained by security scanning or checking tools, may be desired to control host access to a network. In general, access to various types of host-specific information may be useful or desirable for the spectrum of network management operations. Unfortunately, there is no convenient way of obtaining such information about hosts. Some types of host information might be captured in various system logs during operation of a network, but retrieving specific host information by analysis of such logs can be difficult or even impossible in practice. Some host information might be manually recorded by network administrators in a system repository, e.g. for network or system configuration details, but maintaining up-to-date information on all network hosts can involve considerable effort.
To compound the problem described above, IP addresses are often assigned dynamically in operation of IP networks. This can be done, for example, using DHCP (Dynamic Host Configuration Protocol). With this system, a DHCP server maintains a pool of IP addresses which can be allocated on request to devices joining a network. A dynamically-assigned IP address is effectively leased to a requesting host by the DHCP server. A host can renew the lease periodically to maintain its IP address allocation. Failure to renew the lease results in the IP address being returned to the pool for reallocation to another device. Dynamic DNS (Domain Name System) provides another mechanism for dealing with dynamic IP addresses. DNS is a well known and widely-used system, but it is useful at this point to give a brief explanation of the DNS system to assist understanding of the invention to be described.
DNS servers form a distributed database whose primary purpose is to map host names, in the form of fully-qualified domain names such as abc.domain.com, to IP addresses. The distributed system of DNS servers provides the mechanism for obtaining the IP address corresponding to a particular host name, for instance in a URL (Universal Resource Locator) typed into a web browser, thus allowing the application in question to communicate with that host, e.g. to retrieve a web page. Information is stored in DNS servers in records of various types which are defined by the DNS protocol. A DNS Address record specifies the IP address corresponding to a host name, but other types of DNS records may be associated with the name, and hence IP address, of a host. By way of example: multiple host names can be specified as aliases for a given IP address using Canonical Name (CNAME) records; a Host Information (HINFO) record can be set up to give operating system information for a host name; and arbitrary text can be associated with a host name in a Text (TXT) record. The DNS server(s) for a domain are typically maintained by the owner of that domain. In traditional networks with static IP addresses, all DNS record entries were made manually by network administrators, for example when devices were added to a network. With dynamic IP addresses managed by a DHCP server as described above, the DNS server contains a set of manually-entered DNS records, pointing to the corresponding addresses in the address pool of the DHCP server, for the range of IP addresses in question. As mentioned above, Dynamic DNS provides another mechanism for dealing with dynamic IP addresses. This protocol allows a host to notify the DNS server of its name and IP address whenever its IP address changes. The DNS server can then update the IP address in the DNS Address record for the host name accordingly.
Whatever the dynamic IP address mechanism, the effect is that a given host may not always have the same IP address, and a given IP address may be associated with multiple hosts over time. This is a major obstacle to obtaining reliable host information in IP networks where the primary host identifier is the IP address. Existing solutions rely on dynamic querying of individual devices when information is desired. As an illustrative scenario, a network administrator may wish to locate the host with a particular MAC address in a network. A host MAC address is not generally visible to network systems beyond the first switch or router to which the host is connected. The administrator therefore dynamically queries the routers and switches in the network, effectively asking each one "Have you seen this MAC address?" In general, the "dynamic query" approach to obtaining host information depends heavily on the brand of network devices being used and on the specific layout of the network. Furthermore, for tasks such as host-identification based on MAC address as just described, querying is needed for each device that needs to be identified, introducing additional delays and overhead when a large number of devices need to be identified.

IP network management based on automatically acquired network entity status information

International Business Machines Corporation


A dispatch communications system is disclosed that facilitates dispatch communications respectively between subscriber units residing within a first geographical area, subscriber units residing within a second geographical area, and subscriber units residing respectively in the first and second geographical areas. The dispatch communications system includes a first intra-area dispatch communications network to facilitate dispatch calling between subscriber units residing within a first geographical area; a second intra-area dispatch communications network to facilitate dispatch calling between subscriber units residing within a second geographical area different than the first geographical area; and an inter-area dispatch communications network to facilitate dispatch calling between subscriber units residing respectively in first and second geographical areas. A call processing unit controls both inter-area and intra-area dispatch calls for the dispatch communications system.

Dispatch calling between users is becoming increasingly popular. One of the main reasons for its popularity is that the setup time for a dispatch call is relatively small as compared to, for example, the setup time for a cellular telephone call. Another distinction between a dispatch communication and a cellular telephone communication is that a dispatch communication is typically half-duplex. That is, a dispatch communications link is allocated to a single user at a time for transmitting voice and/or data.
In the past, private dispatch calling (a dispatch call between only two parties, a calling party and a target (called) party) was limited to users situated within a limited geographical area, such as, for example, Chicago. The reason is that the dispatch communications network processing dispatch calls had limited coverage within such geographical area. It follows then that if a user roamed beyond the geographical area covered by the corresponding dispatch communications network, for example, to Los Angeles, the user would not be able to make dispatch calls.
Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of providing private dispatch calling between users in distinct geographical areas covered respectively by distinct intra-area dispatch communications networks.

System and method of providing private dispatch calling between users in distinct geographical areas


Charge pump circuits for stepping up high voltages for flash memory array are disclosed. A first circuit comprises a plurality of series-coupled charge pumps having pump capacitors connected to each pump stage. A first group of charge pumps of the pump circuit are AC coupled through pump capacitors to two non-overlapping pulse trains. To reduce the high voltage that a pump capacitor has to withstand, each pump capacitor after the first group is connected to an earlier pump stage instead of the non-overlapping pulse trains. Therefore, the charge pump circuit can output voltage higher than the breakdown voltage of the pump capacitors. A second circuit comprising a configurable charge pump circuit is also presented. By connecting selected pump stages through diode paths to the output of the charge pump circuit and having a plurality of pulse train inputs, the charge pump circuit can be configured as a high voltage low current charge pump or a low voltage high current charge pump dependent on how pulse train signals are provided to the pulse train inputs. Finally, an improved structure for pump capacitors used in the charge pump circuit is presented.

Flash memory devices have been widely used in computer related equipment and other electronic appliances as storage devices. The nonvolatile and on-chip programmable capabilities of a flash memory are very important for storing data in many applications. As an example, flash memories are frequently used for the BIOS storage of a personal computer. In addition, the small physical size of flash memories also makes them very suitable for portable applications. Therefore, they have been used for storing programs and data for many portable electronic devices such as cellular phones, digital cameras and video game platforms.
A flash memory array circuit requires high positive or negative voltage to program and erase its memory cells. Typically, charge pump circuits are built in an integrated circuit along with a flash memory array to provide the high voltages. In order to supply high voltages and adequate current, two or three pump circuits with fairly large circuit areas are commonly included in a flash memory array circuit.
FIG. 1 shows a popular conventional charge pump circuit having eight pump stages. In the circuit structure as shown, two-phase non-overlapping pulse trains .PHI.1 and .PHI.2 are provided, for example from a pulse generator. By non-overlapping it is meant that 0 to 1, and 1 to 0 voltage transitions of one pulse never overlap with transitions of the other pulse, although duty cycle of the two pulses is not critical. As shown in FIG. 1, each waveform has a 0 to 1 voltage differential E1 that typically is equal to a power supply voltage Vdd.
The initial voltage at node A1 is Vdd-Vt, where Vt is a threshold voltage drop across M1. The rising edge of waveform .PHI.1 AC-couples through capacitor C1 to superimpose a positive transition of magnitude E1 upon the voltage at A1, raising the peak voltage at A1 to Vdd+Vdd-Vt.
Node A2 follows the potential at A1 less a threshold voltage drop Vt. Therefore, the voltage at A2 is Vdd+Vdd-Vt-Vt. However, the positive-rising transition of the .PHI.2 waveform AC-couples through capacitor C2 to initially superimpose an E1 transistion on node A2, increasing the peak voltage at node A2 to Vdd+Vdd+Vdd-Vt-Vt. Comparing the peak voltage at A2 to A1, the circuit pumps up the voltage level by a magnitude of Vdd-Vt.
Similarly, the peak voltage at each node A3, A4, . . . , A8 is also pumped up by Vdd-Vt as compared to its preceding node. As shown in FIG. 1, the eight stage charge pump circuit can output a peak voltage of Vdd+8*(Vdd-Vt) ideally. If Vdd is assumed to be 3 VDC and Vt is assumed to be 1 VDC, the output of the charge pump circuit can reach a peak voltage of 19 VDC. In practice, Vt may be much higher than 1 VDC if body effect is present. The output voltage can be much lower than 19 VDC realistically even if the device and capacitors can sustain more than 19 VDC.
The charge pump circuit as shown in FIG. 1 has a major drawback in that the capacitors in the later stages such as C5, C6, C7 and C8 must be able to withstand very high voltage to avoid being broken down if the trend of technology requires lower device breakdown voltage such as 12 VDC. Therefore, the voltage level that can be provided by the conventional pump circuit is limited by the pump capacitor junction breakdown voltage and oxide breakdown voltage.
A charge pump circuit for providing a high voltage requires many pump stages to step up the voltage level. Each stage has a pump capacitor and a diode associated with it. Therefore, to output high voltage it is necessary to fabricate the charge pump circuit and diode with thick oxide layers that are usually not desirable in manufacturing flash memory array.
The pump capacitor used in a charge pump circuit is usually constructed by connecting together the drain and source of a MOS transistor. There exists a channel turn-off problem in a MOS capacitor. When the channel is on, the full gate oxide of the transistor is used as the capacitor. However, when the channel is off, the gate is equivalently connected to two capacitors, a source which has much smaller overlap with the gate and a gate-substrate overlap capacitor. FIG. 2 illustrates an N-MOS pump capacitor that has a channel turn-off problem.
The gate-substrate overlap capacitor behaves like a parasitic capacitor connecting to ground. Therefore, the coupling ratio from the source to the gate is as low as 10%. As a result, the pump capacitor can work only when the MOS channel is turned on. The efficiency of the pump circuit is degraded.
Another issue is related to the supply current of a high voltage level. As an example, during the initialization for memory programming, a high stage charge pump with 100 .mu.A current may be needed to quickly step up the 10 VDC within a reasonable time.
Although after the initialization a low stage charge pump providing 5 VDC with 1 mA and a high stage charge pump providing 10 VDC with 100 nA are sufficient to sustain the programming, a high stage charge pump having very large circuit area has to be built in order to provide enough current for the initialization.


In an electronic control unit, high-heat-generating devices are mounted on a first surface or a second surface of a board, a heat-dissipating member is located facing the first surface of the board, and a heat-conducting member is located between the board and the heat-dissipating member. The heat-conducting member is in contact with the high-heat-generating devices to transfer heat of the high-heat-generating devices to the heat-dissipating member. A ratio of the number of the high-heat-generating devices mounted on the board to the number of the high-heat-generating devices arranged inside a first limited region of the first surface or a second limited region of the second surface is greater than a predetermined ratio. The second limited region is located at a position corresponding to the first limited region.

An electronic control unit in which high-heat-generating devices, such as a switching device, a relay, a coil, and a capacitor, are mounted on a circuit board is known. The high-heat-generating device generates a lot of heat when operating. For example, in JP-A-2012-59759 corresponding to US 2012/0057318A1, a switching device, a relay, a coil, a capacitor, and a shunt resistor are mounted on the opposite side of a circuit board from a heat-dissipating member.
In the electronic control unit disclosed in JP-A-2012-59759, a heat-conducting member is located between the heat-dissipating member and part of a region where the switching device, the shunt resistor, and the capacitor are mounted. Accordingly, heat of the switching device, the shunt resistor, and the capacitor is transmitted to the heat-dissipating member through not only the heat-conducting member but also the circuit board. As a result, heat of the switching device, the shunt resistor, and the capacitor may be dissipated inefficiently.
The relay and the coil are mounted on a region separated from the region where the switching device, the shunt resistor, and the capacitor are mounted, so that the relay and the coil are located away from the heat-dissipating member. That is, JP-A-2012-59759 does not consider dissipating heat of the relay and the coil. Therefore, the electronic control unit may be heated by the heat of the relay and the coil.
In particular, the electronic control unit disclosed in JP-A-2012-59759 is used to control a motor of an electric power steering apparatus for a vehicle. When the motor of the electric power steering apparatus is driven and produces assisting-torque to help a driver to steer a vehicle, a large current flows through the motor and the high-heat-generating devices of the electronic control unit. Therefore, when the motor is driven, the high-heat-generating devices generate a lot of heat. For this reason, when an electronic control unit is used to control a motor of an electric power steering apparatus, it is preferable that heat of high-heat-generating devices of the electronic control unit should be dissipated efficiently.

Electronic control unit and electric power steering apparatus having the same