In each of sub-decoding circuits at a first stage provided for a plurality of output candidates arranged adjacently, for selecting corresponding output candidates in accordance with a bit of multibit data for transmission to subsequent stage sub-decoding circuits, unit decoders are arranged in parallel in a direction perpendicular to an arranging direction of the output candidates. A size in a vertical direction along which reference voltages of the output candidates of a decoding circuit are arranged can be reduced without increasing a size in a horizontal direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a decoding circuit for decoding multibit digital data to output an electric signal (voltage) corresponding to the multibit digital data, and particularly relates to a decoding circuit used for digital to analog conversion by which multibit digital data is converted into an analog electric signal, and a display apparatus using such decoding circuit. Specifically, the present invention relates to a configuration of a decoding circuit of a digital/analog converter that generates pixel writing voltage in accordance with input pixel data in an image display apparatus.
2. Description of the Background Art
Where one candidate is to be selected from a plurality of output candidates, a decoding circuit is generally utilized. In the case of a digital signal of n bits, one candidate can be selected from 2^n output candidates, where the symbol "^" indicates a power. Thus, as compared with a configuration in which a selection signal is inputted to each output candidate, an occupancy area of the circuit can be reduced.
The configuration of the decoding circuit differs depending on application for which this decoding circuit is utilized. For example, where one of a plurality of signal lines is driven to a selected state as in an address decoding circuit in a memory circuit, a decoding circuit utilizing a logic gate such as a NAND type decoding circuit is used. According to combination (pattern) of bit values of n-bit digital data, a logic gate group drives one signal line out of the plurality of signal lines.
On the other hand, in the case where one electric signal is selected from a plurality of electric signals (indicating current or voltage) to be outputted, a ROM type decoding circuit using a switch matrix is generally used. A switching element in the switch matrix is selectively put into a conductive state in accordance with an input multibit digital signal, and a transmission path of one electric signal is decided. The one electric signal is transmitted to an output unit along this decided path. The connection between the switching element and the input multibit digital data is set uniquely and in a fixed manner, and a relation between an on/off states of the switching elements and the corresponding input multibit digital signal bits is also determined uniquely.
The ROM type decoding circuit as described above is in many cases utilized for a look-up table or the like, and one of specific applications of such decoding circuit is a digital/analog converting circuit that converts an input multibit digital data to an analog signal (voltage). Reference voltages corresponding to the respective levels which an input multibit digital data can represent are prepared. In a decoding operation, the reference voltage corresponding to a value of the inputted multibit digital data is selected. The values that input multibit digital data represents are discrete values, and the reference voltage levels are also discrete. This reference voltage takes a voltage level according to the bit value of an input digital data between a maximum value and a minimum value of the multibit digital data, and thus, a voltage resulting from converting the input multibit digital data to an analog voltage can be provided as an output voltage.
Such a digital/analog converting circuit is used in a driving circuit for generating a writing voltage to a pixel in a liquid crystal display apparatus. The reference voltage is selected corresponding to the input pixel data, and the selected reference voltage is written into a pixel electrode of a display element such as a liquid crystal element. In the case where the display element is the liquid crystal element, brightness of the pixel is set in accordance with the voltage between the pixel electrodes, an intermediate value between white and black can be represented in the liquid crystal element, and gradation display can be achieved. These liquid crystal elements are provided corresponding to red (R), green (G), and blue (B), respectively, thereby achieving the gradation display of a color image.
In the case where the data of pixels has n bits, the gradation displays of 2^n levels are enabled. Accordingly, for the reference voltage levels, 2^n levels are required. As an example, if n=6, then 2^6 is 64, and 64-level gradation display is enabled in each of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), so that multicolor display corresponding to 260,000 colors can be achieved. Moreover, if n=8, 256 (=2^8) level gradation display is enabled in each of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), so that multicolor display corresponding to 16,770,000 colors is enabled.
Now, a digital/analog converting circuit for one color is considered. In the case where the digital/analog converting circuit is implemented by the ROM type decoding circuit, in a configuration utilizing a switch matrix, simply, switching transistors receiving input digital signal bits respectively are connected in series corresponding to the respective reference voltage levels. In this case, (n×2^n) switching elements are required, which increases the decoding circuit in layout area. Here, "^" indicates a power. Accordingly, when a driving circuit is formed integrally with a display panel on the same chip, a chip area becomes large, which significantly hinders the downsizing of the display apparatus.
Configuration for reducing the size of the digital/analog converting circuit for generating pixel writing voltage in the pixel display apparatus are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-133754, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-283777, and Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-241716.
In the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-133754, a decoder is provided, in which based on a content of gradation selection bits introduced in a column direction, one of multilevel gradation voltage signals passes in a row direction and outputted. In each row, a least significant bit decoding unit and a higher-order bit decoding unit are provided. The least significant bit decoding unit selects and outputs one of the plurality of (two) gradation voltage signals in accordance with the least significant bit of the gradation selection bits. The higher-order bit decoding unit is provided corresponding to the least significant bit decoding unit, and selectively passes the gradation voltage signal in the corresponding row in accordance with the higher-order bits other than the least significant bit among the gradation selection bits. The higher-order bit decoding unit has a plurality of transistor elements arranged in series in each row, to which the different gradation selection bits are applied, respectively.
In this prior art reference, a signal line transmitting a gradation voltage signal is made common, and one of the plurality of gradation voltage signals selected by the lower-order bit is selected by the higher-order bit decoding unit and outputted. This reduces the number of the gradation voltage signal lines and the number of transistors arranged in a vertical direction in proportion with the number of gradations, to reduce the size in the vertical direction (direction in which the gradation voltages are arranged).
In Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-283777, a decoding circuit unit for selecting a gradation voltage is constructed by a dynamic circuit. In this decoding circuit, a transistor of the same logic is made common in decoders selecting adjacent gradation voltages. The gradation voltage is selected in accordance with a so-called "tournament method", in which 2 to 1 selection is performed at each bit position. In this prior art reference, the decoder circuit is constructed by a dynamic circuit, and when display pixel data successively applied, gradation voltages are prevented from being simultaneously put into a selected state in gradation voltage selection based on such successive display pixel data.
In Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-241716, the number of arranged decoders is reduced by applying a time-divisionally driven gradation reference voltage. Specifically, first, the least significant bit is forced to an even-number value, and a gradation reference voltage at each even number position is selected and held at an output capacitance. Subsequently, gradation reference voltages in odd number positions are selectively selected in accordance with the input data bits. When the input data is an even number value, the gradation reference voltage in the odd number position is not selected, but the even number gradation voltage selected previously is outputted.
In the configuration of the decoding circuit disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2001-133754, the transistor elements provided for the least significant bit are arranged in parallel in each row, and one of two gradation voltages is selected in each row in accordance with this least significant bit. In the higher-order bit decoding unit, a series body of the transistor elements selectively turning on in accordance with the higher-order bits is arranged in each row. Accordingly, this parallel arrangement increases a geometrical dimension in the horizontal direction (row extending direction), as compared with the configuration of a decoder in which a series body of the transistor elements turning on in accordance with the gradation voltage selection bits for each of the gradation voltages is arranged. Normally, in the image display apparatus, the decoding circuit selecting a gradation voltage is arranged corresponding to the data line of each pixel column. Accordingly, when the horizontal size of the decoding circuit increases, it becomes difficult to arrange the decoding circuit corresponding to each pixel column, which makes it difficult to achieve higher resolution of the display apparatus. In addition, in one decoding circuit, the higher-order bit decoding circuits arranged in the respective rows are commonly coupled to a gradation voltage Output line. Accordingly, the number of the transistor elements (switching elements) connected to this output line is reduced to only half times, as compared with the conventional configuration in which a series body of switching elements are arranged for each gradation reference voltage. As a result, there arises a problem in that parasitic capacitance associated with the output line is large, and a response speed of the decoding circuit slowed down, and thus, high-speed operation cannot be achieved.
Further in this prior art reference, the switching element selectively passing the gradation voltage is comprised of a single transistor element. Accordingly, for example, when the gradation voltage is an intermediate voltage, if a gate voltage is not set to a sufficient level, due to threshold voltage loss across this switching element, it is difficult to transmit the intermediate voltage precisely. Accordingly, in the configuration of the decoding circuit described in this prior art reference, there arises a problem in that it is difficult to set the output voltage within a specified time in a recent situation where the decoding time is reduced with an increase in number of pixels due to higher resolution, and others.
In the configuration described in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2005-283777, the gradation voltage selection bits are decoded through the so-called "tournament method", in which 2 to 1 selection is performed for each bit, and in accordance with the decoding result, a gradation voltage is selected to be transmitted to the output line. Accordingly, by sharing the decoding circuit unit, the transistor elements are reduced in number. However, the number of transistor stages of the decoder for the respective reference voltages is the same as in the case where the reference voltage is selected in accordance with a NAND type decoder configuration. Accordingly, it is difficult to reduce the vertical and horizontal sizes. In addition, transmission gates transmitting the respective gradation voltages are connected to the output line. Accordingly, the parasitic capacitance associated with this output line is large, which causes a problem that it is difficult to transmit a gradation voltage to the output line and stabilize the gradation voltage on the output line at high speed.
In the configuration disclosed in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2003-241716, the gradation reference voltage is time-divisionally driven to be supplied, the number of the decoding circuits is reduced, and thus, the vertical size can be reduced. However, since the gradation reference voltage is transmitted through the time division, transition to a corresponding potential needs to be made within a predetermined time in each reference voltage line. Therefore, a higher-speed driving is required in the decoding circuit because of the time-division driving, and there arises a problem that it is difficult to generate sufficiently stabilized gradation voltage even in the situation where the decoding time is reduced due to the increase in number of pixels.
In addition, in the configuration of such prior art reference, the reference voltage lines are arranged in parallel to transistor rows constructing the decoding circuits, and are commonly provided for the decoding circuits arranged corresponding to the respective pixel data lines. Accordingly, there arises a problem that when this reference voltage lines are time divisionally driven, a potential fluctuation generates an analog noise through the capacitive coupling, which makes it difficult to generate the precise gradation voltage.
These configuration of the decoding circuits are not only limited to the application to the configuration of the digital/analog converting circuit that generates the analog voltage in accordance with input digital data, but, for example, in a configuration of a switch matrix circuit in which a transmission path of a certain signal is established by the decoding circuit, and the like, similar problems to those of these decoding circuits as described above arise.

Decoding circuit for decoding multibit data, and a display apparatus utilizing the same


A portable x-ray viewer is configured as a clipboard. The clipboard configuration makes the portable x-ray viewer easy to handle by doctors and other medical personnel. Since the viewer is portable, the number of required x-ray viewers in a doctor's office or a medical facility is greatly reduced, thus reducing the overall cost. In addition, the portable x-ray viewer is provided with an automatic control for controlling the viewer. In particular, in accordance with an important aspect of the invention, the viewer is automatically turned on when an x-ray is inserted and is automatically turned off when the x-ray is removed. As such, use of the x-ray viewer is facilitated for medical personnel and also eliminates the problem of premature burnout of the display or lamp when the x-ray viewer is left on for extended periods of time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a film viewer and more particularly to a portable film viewer configured as a clipboard with an automatic control circuit which automatically turns the viewer on when a hard copy film is inserted and automatically turns the viewer off when the film is removed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Film viewers, such as x-ray viewers, are generally known in the art. Such x-ray viewers are known to be used in the medical industry by medical personnel to view x-ray films. Examples of such x-ray viewers are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,118,654; 4,510,708; 4,908,876; 6,031,516; 6,088,941; 6,208,437; 6,462,868; and 6,548,823. X-ray viewers are also known for viewing digital x-rays. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,031,516 and 6,462,868 disclose dual-function x-ray viewers that are configured to view both hard copy x-ray films as well as digital x-rays.
In the medical industry, hard copy x-ray films are predominately used. Such x-ray film viewers are normally wall-mounted and include a lightbox. One known conventional viewer includes a light source or lamp, a reflector plate, and a diffuser plate. The lamp and the reflector plate are disposed adjacent a rear wall of the light box. The diffuser plate forms the front wall of the lightbox. The diffuser plate causes relatively uniform light to be distributed across its surface to allow relatively accurate reading of the x-ray film. An example of such an x-ray viewer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,118,654 and 4,510,708.
There are several problems with such known x-ray viewers. First, in many medical applications, such as doctors' offices, such x-ray viewers are required in each of the patient examination rooms—especially in patient examination rooms of orthopedic surgeons. By having an x-ray viewer in the patient examination rooms, the orthopedic surgeon is able to show patients the exact nature of their problem. However, such x-ray viewers are relatively expensive. Thus, separate x-ray viewers in each patient examination room can be costly for a doctor.
Another problem with known x-ray viewers is that the light or display must be controlled manually by the medical personnel, which is cumbersome. Additionally, medical personnel are known to leave the lamp or display on for extended periods of time. Accordingly, the lamps and displays are known to burn out prematurely, thus increasing the cost to the medical facility. Thus, there is a need to reduce the cost of such x-ray viewers.

Ha-Lo Promotions Acquisition Corporation


Apparatus for rapidly vibrating tubes containing samples, e.g. biological samples, comprises a tube-support disk and concentric bearings for mounting the disk in a ring that is resiliently-suspended from a frame, the bearings comprising two rolling bearings mounted one within the other. The invention enables the tubes containing samples to be subjected to curvilinear reciprocating motion at high frequency.

The invention relates to apparatus for rapidly vibrating tubes containing samples, in particular biological samples, the rapid vibration of the tubes serving to grind up the samples.
It is already known to grind up biological samples by enclosing the samples in tubes that also contain microbeads made of glass or ceramic, and by subjecting the tubes that are closed in leaktight manner to axial vibration at high speed, e.g. at about 100 hertz (Hz), for a relatively short duration, of the order of 30 seconds (s) to 60 s, for example.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,050 describes apparatus for performing such a method and comprising a tube support disk and means for imparting oscillating motion to the disk about a center of rotation. The drive means comprise an electric motor whose outlet shaft is provided with a sleeve having an outside cylindrical surface that slopes obliquely relative to the axis of the outlet shaft of the motor. The sleeve is mounted free to rotate in the disk by means of rolling bearings in axial alignment, and the disk is associated with means for preventing it from rotating, so that when the sleeve is rotated by the motor, it causes the disk to oscillate about a center of rotation which is formed by the intersection between the axis of the motor shaft and the axis of the cylindrical outside surface of the sleeve. Tubes fixed at the periphery of the disk at equal distances from the center of rotation are thus subjected to substantially curvilinear reciprocating motion. In theory, the speed of rotation of the outlet shaft from the motor can lie in the range 3000 revolutions per minute (rpm) to 8000 rpm, and the samples are subjected to linear accelerations lying in the range 150 g to 400 g in order to be ground up, where g is the acceleration due to gravity.
Nevertheless, that known apparatus presents the drawback of the rolling bearings that serve to mount the disk on the sleeve and that support all of the forces for driving the disk, heat up rapidly, thereby causing the rolling bearings to wear quickly and very significantly reducing their lifetime, with the heating-up of the rolling bearings also leading to heating of the disk, which heat is then transmitted to the tubes and to the samples contained in the tubes. In practice, with that type of apparatus, it is not possible to cause the disk to oscillate at a speed greater than about 6000 rpm without destroying the apparatus fairly quickly. In addition, the heating of the rolling bearings and of the disk make it necessary to pause for a certain length of time between two grinding cycles, so as to allow the disk and the rolling bearings to cool down sufficiently.
Furthermore, in that prior art apparatus, the tubes need to be handled one by one in order to be placed in the housings provided in the disk, and in order to be taken away therefrom, and it is also necessary to install and maneuver by hands means for locking the tubes in their housings in the disk, thereby greatly lengthening the times required for loading and unloading the apparatus, thereby correspondingly increasing the total durations of sample analysis cycles.

Device for fast vibration of tubes containing samples


An approach is provided for template or component-based applications. A service platform determines one or more application components preloaded on at least one device. The service platform causes, at least in part, a generation of code for at least one application. The code is at least one graph of one or more references to the application components. The service platform then causes, at least in part, a transmission of the code to the at least one device, wherein the code is processed by the at least one device to construct the application from the application components.

Service providers and device manufacturers (e.g., wireless, cellular, etc.) are continually challenged to deliver value and convenience to consumers by, for example, providing compelling network services. Many of these services include providing access to applications through, for example, an application store or market place. Such services generally require device access to the Internet. Accordingly, service providers and device manufacturers face significant technical challenges to provide users of mobile devices that do not have a data plan (e.g., data connection from their mobile device to the Internet) and/or are not data-enabled access to mobile applications.

Method and apparatus for providing template-based applications


An information handling system, such as a disk drive, includes a base, a disk stack rotatably attached to the base, and an actuator assembly movably attached to the base. The actuator assembly also includes a load spring and a slider attached to said load spring. The slider includes an air-bearing surface which has roughened contact surface areas to reduce stiction in a contact start stop drive or in a drive that parks the slider on a ramp.

The present invention relates to the field of mass storage devices. More particularly, this invention relates to a disk drive which includes a slider having a roughened air-bearing surface.
One of the key components of any computer system is a place to store data. One common place for storing data in a computer system is on a disk drive. The most basic parts of a disk drive are a disk that is rotated, an actuator that moves a transducer to various locations over the disk, and electrical circuitry that is used to write and read data to and from the disk. The disk drive also includes circuitry for encoding data so that it can be successfully retrieved and written to the disk surface. A microprocessor controls most of the operations of the disk drive as well as passing the data back to the requesting computer and taking data from a requesting computer for storing to the disk. The magnetic transducer translates electrical signals into magnetic field signals that actually record the data xe2x80x9cbits.xe2x80x9d
The transducer is typically housed within a small ceramic block called a slider. The slider is passed over the rotating disk in close proximity to the disk. The transducer can be used to read information representing data from the disk or write information representing data to the disk. When the disk is operating, the disk is usually spinning at relatively high revolutions per minute (xe2x80x9cRPMxe2x80x9d). A current common rotational speed is 7200 RPM. Rotational speeds in high-performance disk drives are as high as 10,000 RPM. Higher rotational speeds are contemplated for the future.
The slider is usually aerodynamically designed so that it flies on the cushion of air that is dragged by the disk. The slider has an air-bearing surface (xe2x80x9cABSxe2x80x9d) which includes rails and a cavity between the rails. The air-bearing surface is that surface of the slider nearest the disk as the disk drive is operating. Air is dragged between the rails and the disk surface causing an increase in pressure which tends to force the head away from the disk. Simultaneously, air rushing past the depression in the air-bearing surface produces a lower than ambient pressure area at the depression. This vacuum effect counteracts the pressure produced at the rails. The opposing forces equilibrate so the slider flies over the surface of the disk at a particular fly height. The fly height is the thickness of the air lubrication film or the distance between the disk surface and the transducing head. This film minimizes the friction and resulting wear that would occur if the transducing head and disk were in mechanical contact during disk rotation.
The best performance of the disk drive results when the slider is flown as closely to the surface of the disk as possible. In operation, the distance between the slider and the disk is very small; currently xe2x80x9cflyxe2x80x9d heights are about 1-2 micro inches.
Information representative of data is stored on the surface of the memory disk. Disk drive systems read and write information stored on tracks on memory disks. Transducers, in the form of read/write heads attached to the sliders, located on both sides of the memory disk, read and write information on the memory disks when the transducers are accurately positioned over one of the designated tracks on the surface of the memory disk. The transducer is also said to be moved to a target track. As the memory disk spins and the read/write head is accurately positioned above a target track, the read/write head can store data onto a track by writing information representative of data onto the memory disk. Similarly, reading data on a memory disk is accomplished by positioning the read/write head above a target track and reading the stored material on the memory disk. To write on or read from different tracks, the read/write head is moved radially across the tracks to a selected target track. The data is divided or grouped together on the tracks. In some disk drives, the tracks are a multiplicity of concentric circular tracks. In other disk drives, a continuous spiral is one track on one side of a disk drive. Servo feedback information is used to accurately locate the transducer. The actuator assembly is moved to the required position and held accurately during a read or write operation using the servo information.
During the operation of a disk drive sometimes the slider may contact the surface of the disc. Such a contact is not intended and may happen during loading and unloading in a disc drive which includes a ramp or may occur while the slider is flying over the disc surface in any type of disc drive, such as a contact start stop (xe2x80x9cCSSxe2x80x9d) drive. Such a contact event is undesirable since the contact event may result in lost data. It has been postulated, that most of the data loss during contact between the slider and the disc is due to frictional heating during the contact event. A series of experiments where a ball is dropped on a stationary data zone resulted in no data loss. The same ball dropped in the data zone while the disc was spinning or moving resulted in data loss. Frictional heating is believed to be the cause for the data loss based on the above mentioned series of experiments. Frictional heating also causes degradation of the lubricant on the surface of the disc. Lubricant degradation further increases frictional heating since, if the lube has degraded, the slider is essentially contacting an unlubricated disc surface during a contact event.
Thus, there is a need for a method and apparatus for reducing the frictional heating produced between the surface of the disk and the slider. There is also a need for a method and apparatus that prevents or greatly reduces data loss that may result from a contact event. There is also a need for a method and apparatus that provides for reduced friction forces during a contact event and yet still provides a stable air-bearing surface on the slider. The method must also produce an air-bearing that is rugged and durable enough to last for the life of the disk drive.
An information handling system, such as a disk drive, includes a base, a disk stack rotatably attached to the base, and an actuator assembly movably attached to the base. The actuator assembly also includes a load spring and a slider attached to said load spring. The slider and load spring are attached to form a gimballing connection between the slider and the load spring. The slider includes an air-bearing surface which has a contact area. The slider also includes a transducer. The transducer is typically located near said contact area. The contact area includes a roughened surface portion and a smooth surface portion. The smooth surface portion is adjacent the transducer. The roughened surface portion is rougher than the smooth surface portion. The roughened surface portion is also rougher than the other surfaces associated with the air-bearing surface of the slider.
The roughened surface portion of the contact area is formed in one of several ways. If the slider is comprised of a multi-phase material, a selective etchant can be applied to the contact area for a selected amount of time. The selective etchant will act to remove a portion of at least one of the phases of the material and will be less active or inactive in removing at least another of the phases of the material. The amount of material removed using the selective etchant will be determined by the concentration of the etchant as well as the amount of time the etchant is left on the surface of the multi-phase material. The grain size of the materials used in the multi-phase material can also be used to determine the surface roughness of the contact portion. If the body of the slider is made of a single-phase material, this technique requires removal of a portion of the contact area of the air-bearing surface. The next step includes depositing an etchable multi-phase material on the portion of the contact area. The selective etchant is then applied to the multi-phase material at the contact area. At least one of the phases is removed by the selective etchant to form a roughened surface. The selective etchant is typically a wet or chemical etchant that reacts with one of the phases of the multi-phase material.
The other process is a dry process that can be used on any material. Photoresist is applied to the contact area. The photoresist is exposed and developed in certain areas to form a defined pattern across the contact area. Dry etch removal techniques are then used to remove material of the slider such that the defined pattern is transferred onto the slider. The photolithography technique using a dry etch works on both single-phase and multi-phase materials.
Advantageously, a roughened portion of the contact surface reduces the stiction forces produced between the surface of the disk and the slider and allows landing of a slider onto a smooth disk. Furthermore, since a smooth disk can be used the spacing between the transducing head associated with the slider and the disk can be controlled and minimized to provide for an enhanced recording density of the information stored on the disk. The roughened contact area of the air-bearing surface not only reduces stiction forces between the disk and the slider, but also provides a stable air-bearing surface for the slider. The resulting air-bearing is rugged and durable. The materials used to form the roughened surface are removed so the only materials remaining are those already in the drive. Thus, outgassing problems are minimal.

Patterned and directional selective roughening of a slider air-bearing surface


The bed cover support is designed to provide a way of supporting the sheets/blankets and preventing them from resting on the feet of an individual laying in bed. The bed cover support includes a first adjustable height bar and a second adjustable height bar which allows the bed cover support to adjust to varying mattress heights. The first adjustable height bar and the second adjustable height bar each have a support bar extending outward which fits between the mattress and box springs. Attached to the top of the first adjustable height bar and the second adjustable height bar is a cover support bar which supports the sheets/blankets preventing them from resting on the sleeping individual. The bed cover support is also adjustable for varying size beds including twin, full, queen and king.

Diabetes is disease that is rapidly spreading throughout the world. More and more people are being diagnosed with diabetes on a regular basis. This disease can range from very mild to very severe. It is not a disease that effects a specific age group. In fact, it is common to find children as well as older adults with diabetes.
Depending on the severity of the disease depends on the amount of symptoms that are present and the degree of the symptoms. The disease to seems to effect the feet of a lot of people who are inflicted with it, especially if the disease is in a more advanced state. An individual can suffer from mild discomfort and irritation in their feet to more advanced swelling. This discomfort can be increased when lying in bed. The weight of the sheet/blanket on their feet can provide undesired distress and uncomfortable effect. This can make it difficult to sleep and create many restless hours. This problem remains relatively unaddressed.
Diabetics are not the only ones that have potential problems which pressure from the sheet/blankets on their feet. People who are exceptionally tall, sometimes experience pressure on their feet, especially when their feet are very close to the end of the bed. Again the weight of the sheet/blankets creates pressure on their feet. This too creates an uncomfortable sleeping environment. If the individual also has any sort of back problems, the pressure placed on the feet compounds the problems in their back.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,680,158 a bedding support apparatus is disclosed that includes a post means which attaches to the frame of a bed and is capable of being moved upward and downward. The bedding support apparatus includes a cradle section that is capable of extending from the feet to up near the neck section of the bed.
An alternative bed covering apparatus is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,903. In this patent, the bed covering apparatus is attached to the foot board or the frame of an existing bed and then has arms that extend outward over the mattress in a substantially parallel position to around the shoulder area.
One of the options available are those described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,881,406. In this patent, an adjustable blanket support device is disclosed which includes a mounting member which is placed between the mattress an box springs. The sheet raising member 30 will then move upward and downward by an electrical motor.
While there are some options available that could potentially be used, they are substantially more burdensome to use or install and most of them go far beyond the scope of just being able to keep the sheet/blankets lifted off of an individual's feet.


An apparatus and method for accurately tuning the speed of an integrated circuit, i.e. a computer chip, using a built-in sense circuit and controller are provided. The sense circuit is provided in association with a monitored path. The sense circuit includes a variable delay element coupled to a controller. A data signal from the monitored path is provided to the sense circuit which adds an amount of delay as determined by the controller to the data signal. The delayed data signal and the original data signal are compared to determine if their values match. If they match, then the amount of delay added by the variable delay element is increased. If they do not match, then a previous amount of delay, prior to the mismatch, is output as the slack of the monitored path. The slack may then be used to tune the speed of the integrated circuit.

1. Technical Field
The present invention is generally directed to an improved mechanism for sensing a maximum speed of a path in an integrated circuit and controlling operation of the integrated circuit timing based on the sensed maximum speed. More specifically, the present invention is directed to an apparatus and method for accurately tuning the speed of a computer chip using a built-in sense circuit and controller.
2. Description of Related Art
When integrated circuits, or chips, are manufactured, due to inaccuracies in the manufacturing methodology the integrated circuits need to be tested to determine their actual operational characteristics. Typically, these chips are sorted at the device level to segregate them into performance ranges, e.g., slow, medium and fast with respect to their expected operational speed.
The testing of these chips is typically performed with regard to the critical path or paths of the chip. That is, the critical path timing limits the speed of the chip. The testing may be performed, for example, using an AC Built-In Self Test (BIST). During AC BIST, the critical paths on the chip are exercised and the chips are sorted based on the maximum speed obtained during the test. Faster chips are sold at a premium relative to slower chips.
While such AC BIST based testing of integrated circuits provides a mechanism for sorting integrated circuits at manufacture time, the results of such testing may not be completely accurate when the integrated circuit is placed in a functional system. That is, because the functional system may have different characteristics from the test, different results may be obtained from the chip when it is placed in a functional system.
A consumer of chips that purchases chips of a particular performance range may desire to obtain additional performance out of the chips. In order to gain the additional performance, the power supply voltage is increased at the system level. However, simply increasing the supply voltage to obtain a higher level of performance is often prohibited for cooling reasons.
Thus, it would be beneficial to have an apparatus and method for sensing the maximum achievable speed of an integrated circuit in a functional system. Moreover, it would be beneficial to have an apparatus and method for sensing the achievable speed of an integrated circuit dynamically such that the speed of the integrated circuit may be dynamically controlled in a functional system.

Apparatus and method for accurately tuning the speed of an integrated circuit

International Business Machines Corporation


A method, system, and program product are provided for x-ray pose recovery during an endoscopic procedure. An x-ray image is taken with a C-arm at a first pose, capturing a region of an endoscope with fiducials thereon. The C-arm is moved from the first pose to a second pose at another viewing angle while maintaining the position of the endoscope. Another x-ray image is taken with the C-arm at the second C-arm pose, capturing the region of the endoscope with the fiducials thereon. The location of the fiducials on each x-ray image is determined using segmentation. An iterative optimization is performed using the locations of the fiducials in the two x-ray images to form two-dimensional projections of the three dimensional curve of the region of the endoscope with fiducials thereon to determine the three-dimensional translation and rotation of the C-arm from the first x-ray pose to the second x-ray pose.

Throughout this application, the following terms are meant to convey the accompanying definitions.
C-arm: means an intra-operative x-ray (fluoroscopy)
C-arm pose: means the three-dimensional (3D) location and orientation of the x-ray source (intensifier)
C-arm pose tracking: means to estimate the C-arm pose from one pose to another pose (the same as pose recovery). A transformation matrix encodes 3 translations and three rotations to determine a second pose from a first pose.
Bronchoscopy is a real-time modality for inspecting the internal walls of the bronchial airways and conducting subsequent diagnostic or therapeutic interventions using an endoscope. During the bronchoscopy procedure, a C-arm can be used for real-time monitoring of the location of the endoscope. However, due to the low image contrast of x-ray images, both a lesion and the airways are difficult to see. This hinders the utility of the X-ray fluoroscopy as a real-time image guidance tool in assisting bronchoscopic interventions.
One solution to the low contrast problem is to fuse a three-dimensional (3D) computed tomography (CT) image volume with two-dimensional X-ray images, and overlay a lesion to the X-ray images. The 3D image volume is fused to the 2D x-ray images by registration between the 2D images and 3D image volume. The fused visualization provides an intra-operative guidance so that one can precisely localize the lesion and identify its spatial relationship to the endoscope.
2D-3D registration between x-ray images and CT volume can image-based or fiducial-based. Image-based registration methods, which use segmentation, have comparatively small capture range and slow convergence rate. Moreover, the computational overhead for image-based registration is intensive. Also, when employing the features in the image, the result is dependent upon the accuracy of the segmentation and the characteristics of the features.
To facilitate an image-based registration method, a good initialization pose of the C-arm has to be provided to reduce searching space in the optimization scheme. However, when the C-arm moves to a different pose intra-operatively, the initialization is no longer available in the new C-arm pose. Thus, real-time fusion of 2D x-ray and 3D image volume data is not always feasible.
Fiducial-based registration addresses the problem of pose recovery after intra-operative C-arm movement. In fiducial-based registration, radiopaque devices, called fiducials are placed externally on a patient's body. The fiducials are captured in both the x-ray frame prior to intra-operative C-arm movement and the x-ray frame after intra-operative C-arm movement. Because the fiducials must be captured in both frames, they limit the size of the volume available for intra-operative guidance.
The x-ray images of the fiducials are two-dimensional in nature. If the 3D configuration of the external fiducials is unknown, for registration to happen, epipolar geometry must be used to reconstruct the 3D location of the fiducials in x-ray space. Then, the fiducials in x-ray space can be registered to fiducials in the CT space. Epipolar geometry takes the two known C-arm poses as input.
Thus, both image-based and fiducial-based 2D/3D registration require a fast and accurate C-arm pose recovery method. Unfortunately, only a very few hospitals have the expensive, high-end mobile C-arms that have the capacity to estimate or track X-ray poses. Most clinical C-arms currently used in hospitals do not provide pose tracking capability.


A gas turbine engine includes a fan section having a fan rotatable with a fan shaft and a turbomachinery section having a turbine and a turbomachine shaft rotatable with the turbine. A power gearbox is also provided mechanically coupled to both the fan shaft and the turbomachine shaft such that the fan shaft is rotatable by the turbomachine shaft across the power gearbox. A torque monitoring system includes a gearbox sensor operable with a gear of the power gearbox and a shaft sensor operable with at least one of the turbomachine shaft or the fan shaft. The torque monitoring system determines an angular position of the gear of the gearbox relative to at least one of the fan shaft or the turbomachine shaft using the gearbox sensor and the shaft sensor to determine a torque within the gas turbine engine.

A gas turbine engine generally includes a fan and a core arranged in flow communication with one another. Additionally, the core of the gas turbine engine generally includes, in serial flow order, a compressor section, a combustion section, a turbine section, and an exhaust section. In operation, air is provided from the fan to an inlet of the compressor section where one or more axial compressors progressively compress the air until it reaches the combustion section. Fuel is mixed with the compressed air and burned within the combustion section to provide combustion gases. The combustion gases are routed from the combustion section to the turbine section. The flow of combustion gasses through the turbine section drives the turbine section and is then routed through the exhaust section, e.g., to atmosphere.
The fan of the gas turbine engine is typically driven by a shaft or spool coupled to a turbine within the turbine section of the gas turbine engine. For certain gas turbine engines, a power gearbox is provided, with the spool driving the fan across the power gearbox. Such a drive system may allow for the turbine to turn at increased rotational speeds, while still allowing for a relatively efficient fan rotational speed.
The inventors of the present disclosure have discovered, however, that it may be beneficial to monitor a health of the drive system for the fan during operation of the gas turbine engine by monitoring a torque or horsepower within the engine. Accordingly, a torque monitoring system for monitoring a torque within the gas turbine engine would be useful.

Torque monitoring device for a gas turbine engine


A method of transporting and storing a wind turbine blade includes providing a wind turbine blade including a blade root having a longitudinal central axis and a blade tip. The wind turbine blade curves in an unloaded state in such a manner that the blade presents a substantially concave face and a substantially convex face, and such that the blade tip is spaced apart from the longitudinal central axis of the blade root. The wind turbine blade is prestressed at a distance from the blade root in such a manner that the blade tip is brought closer to the longitudinal central axis of the blade root.

It is commonly known to transport fibre-reinforced polymer blades for modern wind turbines generating electricity by truck, by train or by ship. In order to include as many blades as possible at each transport, the blades are often packed upended in relation to each other. For example, three blades are often packed so that two roots are arranged at the one end interspaced by one blade tip, thus resulting in only one root and two blade tips being arranged at the other end.
Another example of a known packing method is disclosed in WO 02/083523, where the blades are arranged in frames secured at the blade root and the blade tip, respectively, and then joined with an upended blade arranged in corresponding frames. As a result, the blades may be arranged modularly close together in both the horizontal and the vertical plane.
During recent years, several wind turbine blade manufacturers have started manufacturing blades designed so that they curve away from the tower when mounted. The blade thus curves in the unloaded state in such a manner that the wind turbine blade presents a substantially concave face and a substantially convex face. The expression concave face refers to the face of the blade from which the longitudinal, geometrical centre line of the blade bents inwardly. The expression convex face refers to the face of the blade from which the longitudinal centre line of the blade bents outwardly. When the blade is mounted so that the blade tip curves away from the tower, the convex face thus faces the tower and the concave face faces away from the tower. In this way, an increased distance is ensured between the blade tip and the tower, which is desirable in order to reduce the risk of the often very long blades bending due to the wind pressure and hitting the tower during high wind. WO 99/14490 discloses such a solution.
The industry has provided examples of blades of a length of 54 meters and above being manufactured with a curvature of only approx. two meters, primarily due to the subsequent and necessary transportation from the manufacturing site to the application site/mounting site.
However, the present and increasing blade lengths have given rise to an increasing demand for the manufacture of blades with a significantly greater curvature in order to minimise or rather maintain an acceptably small projection on the nacelle.
Thus, it is also desirable to be able to transport blades having a significantly greater curvature than approx. two meters, which is hardly possible by using the known methods of transporting blades of this type to wind power plants.

Transporting and storing curved wind turbine blades


A chemical cogeneration process for producing chemical products and cogenerating electrical energy is presented. The process comprises the steps of providing a monolithic mass and energy transfer cell. Heating the monolithic mass and energy transfer cell to a temperature ranging from about 25.degree. C. to about 1000.degree. C. Introducing an oxidant into the first set of passages and introducing a fuel into the second set of passages. The chemical products are recovered from the monolithic mass and energy transfer cell and the electric current is recovered through the external electric circuit.

Chemical cogeneration processes involve the reaction of a fuel with an oxidant to produce electricity and byproducts. These processes are sometimes also referred to as fuel cell processes. Such processes utilize electrochemical reactor cells to produce power and valuable chemicals. In these processes, the solid electrolyte cell functions as a fuel cell and as a chemical reactor. Fuel cells convert chemical energy into electricity with no intermediate combustion cycle. Consequently, their thermodynamic efficiency compares favorably with thermal power generation. Fuel cells convert inexpensive chemicals such as H.sub.2, CO and O.sub.2 into low-value products such as H.sub.2 O and CO.sub.2 while generating electrical power. However, there are several important industrial reactions, such as the conversion of H.sub.2 S to SO.sub.2 and of NH.sub.3 to NO, that have free energy (.DELTA.G) values comparable to that of N.sub.2 oxidation.
Gur et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,364,506 disclose an electrochemical reactor for partially oxidizing methane and cogenerating electrical energy. A solid-state ionic reactor is described in which a solid electrolyte is provided with a cathode and a perovskite type anode having a wide range of oxygen nonstoichiometry. The cell generates electrical energy as a result of the chemical potential difference brought about by the catalytic oxidation of methane at the anode with oxygen that chemically diffuses from the cathode through the solid-state ionic conductor.
Pujare et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,997,725 disclose a solid oxide fuel cell and process for direct conversion of natural gas into DC electricity concurrently with the electrocatalytic partial oxidation of methane to C.sub.2 hydrocarbon species C.sub.2 H.sub.4, C.sub.2 H.sub.6, and minor amounts of C.sub.2 H.sub.2. They disclose a solid oxide fuel cell comprising a metallic oxide oxygen reducing electronic and oxygen vacancy conducting perovskite cathode in contact on one side with an oxygen vacancy conducting solid electrolyte having high oxygen ion conductivity at fuel cell operation temperatures. An anode contacts the other side of the solid electrolyte and comprises a metallic oxide oxygen ion conducting perovskite layer contacting the solid electrolyte. A rare earth metallic oxide layer contacts the opposite side of the anode metallic oxide perovskite layer and is capable of dimerization of methane to predominately C.sub.2 products. Their process includes passing oxygen containing gas in contact with the outside surface of the metallic oxide oxygen reducing electronic and oxygen vacancy conducting perovskite cathode forming oxygen ion. The formed oxygen ion is passed from the cathode to and through an oxygen vacancy conducting solid electrolyte having high oxygen ion conductivity at fuel cell operating temperatures to the anode contacting the other side of the solid electrolyte. The metallic oxide oxygen ion conducting perovskite anode layer is in contact with the solid electrolyte on one side and is also in contact with methane on the other side. The anode oxidatively dimerizes methane to C.sub.2 species which are predominately C.sub.2 H.sub.4. The C.sub.2 species and electrons are withdrawn from the anode region.
Mazanec et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 4,793,904 describe an electrocatalytic process for producing synthesis gas from light hydrocarbons such as methane or natural gas. An electrochemical cell is provided which comprises a solid electrolyte having a first surface coated with conductive metal, metal oxide or mixtures thereof capable of facilitating the reduction of oxygen to oxygen ions; and a second surface coated with conductive metal, metal oxide or mixtures thereof, provided that both coatings arc stable at the operating temperatures. The cell is heated to a temperature of at least 1000.degree. C. An oxygen-containing gas is passed in contact with the first conductive coating and methane, natural gas or other light hydrocarbons are passed in contact with the second conductive coating. Lastly, a synthesis gas is recovered.
Krist et al. in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,733 describe a process for concurrent gas phase electrocatalytic oxidative dimerization of methane at the anode on one side of a solid electrolyte and reduction of carbon dioxide to gaseous hydrocarbons at a cathode on the other side of the solid electrolyte. The process comprises passing methane containing gas in contact with a rare earth metallic oxide anode layer of an anode comprising a rare earth metallic oxide anode layer in contact with one side of an ionic and electronic conducting metallic oxide perovskite anode layer in contact with one side of a solid electrolyte on its opposite side. The anode catalytically oxidatively dimerizes the methane to C.sub.2 species, transferring through the solid electrolyte an ionic species selected from the group consisting of an oxygen ion species from the cathode to the anode and a proton mediating ion from the anode to the cathode at cell operating temperatures. Carbon dioxide containing gas is passed in contact with one side of an ionic and electronic conducting metal cathode electrocatalyst capable of providing adsorption sites for carbon dioxide and chemisorbed and Faradaically generated hydrogen species in proximity to the adsorbed carbon dioxide and capable of catalytic reduction of the carbon dioxide to predominantly C.sub.2 species. The produced C.sub.2 species is withdrawn from the region of the anode and the cathode.
Many of these processes utilize fuel cells which have designs that face problems in thermal cycling. In particular, mechanical stresses result from imperfectly matched thermal expansion coefficients causing delamination. In addition, operation at high temperatures leads to electrode sintering, interfacial reactions and migration of species which cause a significant voltage degradation over time. Moreover, because of the high operation temperatures, there is a need for large, costly heat exchange equipment.


A ski boot, designed for ski mountaineering, includes a rigid shell and sole, an inshoe of soft material, and a leg portion pivotally secured to the shell. A lever is located on one side of the leg portion for operating a traction cable located on the other side of the leg portion. The remote end of the traction cable is engaged with, or secured to, a retention element on the leg portion. A spoiler is pivotally mounted at the rear of the shell, and is interposed between the rear of the leg portion and the rear of the inshoe. A lug, or similar coupling element, is formed on the lever. The lever is mounted for pivotal movement in the horizontal direction, between an opened, and closed, configuration or condition. When the lever is in its closed configuration, the lug engages the leg portion and the spoiler, and blocks their pivotal movement, or articulation, relative to the shell.

Ski boots are known comprising an outer shell of plastic material, a sole, a leg portion pivotally mounted on the shell at bosses provided at the malleoli, and a plurality of clamping levers for the shell and leg portion to immobilize the skier's let and foot inside the boot.
During descent, ski mountaineering requires the leg portion to be rigidly clamped to the shell, whereas during ascent or walking, the leg portion has to be able to swivel longitudinally about the shell.
For this reason, devices have been proposed consisting of a lever disposed vertically on the rear of the leg portion and provided with a traction element which acts simultaneously as a device for closing the leg portion and for clamping the leg portion, or shank, to the shell.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,247,252, granted Jun. 19, 2001, to David Parisotto, discloses a telemark ski boot including a shell of plastic material and an inner sole. The shell is provided with a pair of parallel walls, and a flexible portion extends transversely to the shell in the metatarsus area. Leg piece 4 is joined to the shell by hinge 13. A control device, indicated generally by reference numeral 14, and including blade 15 and control lever 16 adjusts the inclination of the leg piece, or shank, with respect to the shell. The control device is located at the rear 20 of the ski boot, above the heel.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,708,425, granted Mar. 23, 2004, to David Parisotto, discloses a ski boot, particularly a ski-mountaineering or telemark boot. The boot comprises a shell made of plastic, a shank or leg piece hinged to the shell at the ankle, and a control mechanism 14 located at the rear portion of the boot for controlling the tilt of the shank relative to the boot. Lever 20 is hinged to a rear projection 24, and is movable between a work position which prevents rearward motion of the shank, and a release position. A ring 25, hinged to the lever, engages a recess 28 formed in the rear projection of the shell to prevent forward rotation of the shank with respect to the shell.
However, rear mounted, lever operated devices present certain drawbacks, in particular:                difficult to operate due to its position;        substantial bulk, requiring the construction of very tall leg portions which are difficult to adapt to small sizes or to women's boots, given the shape of their calves; and        susceptibility to damage by accidental impact with steps or rocks, thereby losing its operability.

Ski boot, in particular for ski mountaineering


In the pressure oscillation generator 1, self-excited vibration is generated in a work transfer tube 30 by heating a heat input section 22 and also a resonator 50 is resonated, and when a work is inputted into a heat exchanger 20, the work is amplified by the heat exchanger 20, and is transferred to the heat transfer tube 30 and is then outputted to an output section 40. Because of the configuration, an outputted work can be amplified to a work larger than the inputted work, so that, by using a portion of the outputted work as energy for driving the cylinder 10, the pressure oscillation generator 1 can continuously be driven only by heating and without using electric energy generated by a large scale solar system or the like, which enables substantial size reduction of the pressure oscillation generator 1.

Recently researches are very active in examining the possibility of mounting a refrigerating machine such as a pulse tube (cryo) refrigerator or the like in a satellite for cooling various types of components and devices in the satellite. The pulse tube refrigerator functions by supplying pressure oscillation to a pulse tube, and as the pressure oscillation generator for generating vibration pressure, there have been proposed those using electric energy, or more specifically those each comprising a compressor driven by an electric motor and an electronically controlled switch valve provided therein. In this case, a large size solar system for converting thermal energy from the Sun to electric energy is required to be mounted on the satellite to obtain sufficient electric energy for driving the pressure oscillation generator.
In the conventional types of solar systems, however, as the conversion efficiency from thermal energy to electric energy is extremely low, it is required to use solar panels or the like with very large size for obtaining sufficient electric energy, which causes various troubles when mounted on a satellite. Therefore, there has been strong need for size reduction of a pressure oscillation generator.

Nihon University School Juridical Person


A recirculating pet fountain having a cover mounted on a basin in a manner that removably seats the cover on the basin. An inclined spillway of the cover has an intake-defining edge below water in the basin producing a spillway that also is a debris and detritus blocking barrier. The fountain includes at least one removable orifice insert having a mounting stem received in an opening in the cover and a head from which water exits. Interchangeable inserts can be provided with one insert directing a water stream out a nozzle onto the spillway or into water in a bowl disposed below the insert that can be a drinking well. Another insert can be a flow dividing insert splitting flow into a plurality of streams.

While animal and pet watering devices have enjoyed considerable commercial success, improvements nonetheless remain desirable. While recirculating pet fountains have particularly enjoyed commercial success, they tend to accumulate debris and other detritus which can clog its filter which hi turn can block flow of water to its pump ceasing fountain operation. In addition, some pet fountains have been touted as being non-splashing teaching the undesirability of water splashing during operation and other pet fountains have employed splashing water during operation in effect teaching the desirability of splashing.
What is needed is an improved recirculating pet fountain that addresses one or more of the above issues.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Interchangeable flow directing orifice inserts and recirculating pet fountain with flow directing orifice inserts


Automatic focusing system is provided which comprises a mirror or a plurality of mirrors with a translation device. Automatic focusing can be made by the translation of mirror because focal plane can be changed by the translation of mirror. The translation device makes its motion by the electrostatic, electromagnetic and/or electrothermal forces. The mirror is controlled by the electrical signal from the image processor to get an in-focus image. Also the mirror can be controlled discretely. The image shift by translation is compensated by tilt of mirror and/or image processing.

As the technology of imaging devices progresses, many devices such as cameras, camcorders, and other alternatives use automatic focusing system to capture fine quality of the images easily. The automatic focusing is performed by a serial processes as taking an image, processing the image, finding the focus, changing the focus, and feedback of the whole system.
Conventional automatic focusing lens system comprises a series of lenses, lens moving mechanisms, image sensors, image processors, and feedback system of the systems. When the image device and/or the imaged object is moved abruptly, the imaging device loses focus of an image and finds a new focus for the image. Since conventional automatic focusing systems use mechanical movement of a lens, they require a motor, which causes a large volume of the system. Also their feedback process is slow and needs lots of power consumption for a mechanical movement of a lens. Therefore, the imaging device obtains a blurred image while the auto focusing process is being performed.
Most conventional system performs its auto focusing function by introducing an electro-magnetically driven motor and/or piezo-electrically actuated apparatus to move one or more lenses. Since the movements of a lens or lenses need a macroscopic mechanical motion, the system needs a large volume and has a considerable inertia of the system. In consequence, the response speed of conventional automatic focusing system becomes slow to have real-time automatic focused images.
For the electromagnetic motor, the response speed is limited by the magnetic inductance. Imaging devices with fast automatic focusing have not appeared yet.
Thus there is a practical need for an improved automatic focusing system that enables clear images to be captured within an instance of time. Such system must be easy to manufacture and adapted for use with existing imaging devices.

Automatic focusing by mirror translation


An absorptive article having a superior liquid-absorptivity, without returning of the absorbed body fluid and being compact is provided.. which article comprises a liquid-permeable front sheet, a liquid-impermeable back sheet and an absorbent placed between the above two sheets, this absorbent being composed of at least two layers. As those used in the first layer and the second layer in Examples 1 to 3 were mixed to obtain homogeneous absorbents.. The preparation conditions, the quantity of liquid absorbed, the percentage of absorbed liquid and the tensile strength after dried, these absorbers are shown in Tables 1 and 2.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to an absorptive article used for napkin for menstruation, pad for mother's milk, pad for incontinence of urine, throwaway diaper, pad for puerperium, etc. More particularly, it relates to an absorptive article having a superior liquid-absorptivity making the best use of the liquid-absorptivity of highly water-absorptive polymers and in which the body fluid once absorbed does not return, and is also compact in its structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
As absorptive articles using hotmelt-adhesive fibers, mixtures of hydrophilic fibers, hotmelt-adhesive synthetic crimped fibers and highly water-absorptive polymers have been known (Japanese patent application laid-open No. Hei 2-74254).
Further, Japanese Utility Model publication No. Sho 56-6098 discloses that an absorptive material composed of pulp fibers, gel-forming substance particles and filaments, can absorb a large quantity of water and the absorbed water does not return easily.
However, in the above known absorptive articles, highly water-absorptive polymers have been used in admixture in order to increase the water-absorbing force of pulp fibers or the like, but there have been raised such problems that the liquid-absorptive properties of the pulp fibers in the absorptive article are so directional that the absorption is carried out in spots, and since the absorbed liquid is not efficiently diffused into the highly water-absorptive polymers, the water-absorptivity of the polymers cannot be sufficiently effected. Thus, the highly water-absorptive polymers have to be used in a quantity exceeding a necessary one therefor.
Further, it is required for the absorptive articles that the liquid absorbed therein should not return to the surface thereof. Since the liquid-absorptivity of the highly water-absorptive polymers is not sufficiently effected as described above, there has been raised such a problem that although a large quantity of the highly water-absorptive polymer is used, it is impossible to satisfy the above requirement.


An immunostimulatory oligonucleotide that is represented by the general formula 5′-Gm-GACGATCGTC-Gn-3′ or 5′-Gm-CACGATCGTG-Gn-3′ (in the formula, m and n are each independently an integer from 1 to 9 and m+n=10) and that comprises any of the following base sequences: GGACGATCGTCGGGGGGGGG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 1), GGGACGATCGTCGGGGGGGG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 2), GGGGACGATCGTCGGGGGGG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 3), GGGGGGGACGATCGTCGGGG (SEQ ID NO: 4), GGGGGGGGACGATCGTCGGG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 5), GGGGGGGGGACGATCGTCGG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 6), GGGGGGGGGGACGATCGTCG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 7), and GGGGGGGGGCACGATCGTGG (SEQ. ID. NO.: 8).

The discovery of the immunostimulatory activity of bacterial DNA and the base sequence: A specific base sequence (CpG DNA) containing an unmethylated cytocine/guanine dinucleotide (5′-CpG-3′) that occurs at high incidence in bacterial DNA is recognized by Toll-like receptor 9 (TLR9) and thus activates the immune system of a mammal to induce the Th1 immune reaction. It was reported by Tokunaga/Yamamoto et al. (Tokunaga T. et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 72: 955-62, 1984) that the DNA fraction of BCG induces the production of type I interferon (IFN) and the subsequent activation of NK cells induced thereby and thus exhibit anti-cancer effect. In a series of studies, the investigators identified a palindrome type CpG DNA that is frequently found in bacterial DNA as the active sequence (Yamamoto S. et al., J. Immunol. 148: 4072-6, 1992). Several groups have demonstrated the immunostimulatory activity on mouse and human B cells by Escherichia coli DNA or non-antisense DNA, and Krieg et al. (Krieg A M. et al., Nature 374: 546-9, 1995) reported 5′-PuPuCpGPyPy-3′ that has unmethylated CpG and that is flanked by specific bases as a mouse B cell-activating motif. Other unique sequences of CpG DNA that exhibit an immunostimulatory activity have been presented and, at present, they are roughly grouped into the IFN induction type, the B cell activation type, and the mixed type (Verthelyi D. et al., Trends Immunol. 24: 519-22, 2003).
On the base sequence that activates mouse NK cells: In order to identify active base sequences, the Tokunaga/Yamamoto group selected at random and synthesized base sequences of a certain length from cDNAs that encode the BCG protein. After investigating 30-chain length bases 5′-ACCGATNNNNNNGCCGGTGACGGCACCACG-3′ (SEQ. ID. No. 1) (N is a complementary base pair), they thought it important that the N portions include CpG and that three consecutive bases on one side are followed by the complementary bases forming a palindrome structure (Yamamoto S. et al., J. Immunol. 148: 4072-6, 1992).
Krieg et al. discussed whether, as the mouse B cell activating motif PuPuCpGPyPy (specifically, GACGTT is potent) also has an activity of enhancing the NK activity, the important sequence for the activation of NK cells is the unmethylated CpG which is followed by a specific base, but that the motif does not have to take a palindrome sequence (Krieg A M. et al., Nature 374: 546-9, 1995; Ballas Z K. et al., J. Immunol. 157: 1840-5, 1996). Boggs et al. reported that the CpG dinucleotide alone, though required, cannot activate NK cells, and specific bases and background sequences surrounding CpG and their modifications such as thiolation or methylation define the NK cell activation by CpG DNA (Boggs R L. et al., Antisense & Nucleic Acid Drug Development 7: 461-71, 1997). For example, the thiolation of CpG DNA leads to an attenuated activity of activating NK cells.
The methylation of the active motif of CpG leads to decreased NK activity. However, depending on the base sequence of the motif, activity may be retained even after methylation of CpG. In this case, the methylation of all cytosines in CpG DNA leads to total annihilation of the activity. As the motifs of CpG DNAs so far reported to have an activity of enhancing the NK activity are not limited to palindrome or PuPuCpGPyPy and are composed of 6-chain length centering on the unmethylated CpG surrounded by specific base sequences, it is believed, the enhancement of the NK activity by CpG DNA is induced by a higher structure constructed by the entire base sequence comprising the active motif, the background sequence and modifications.
Reaction of mouse NK cells to CpG DNA requires activation: Yamamoto et al. have demonstrated that the enhancement of the NK activity by CpG DNA is mediated by type I IFN that was produced by cells other than the NK cells (Yamamoto S. et al., J. Immunol. 148: 4072-6, 1992). Klinman et al. report that the IFN-γ-producing cells in mouse spleen cells induced by CpG DNA are NK cells and the IFN-γ production is inhibited by IL-12 antibody (Klinman D M. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93: 2879-83, 1996). Halpern et al. demonstrated that bacterial DNA or CpG DNA stimulate monocytes/macrophages to induce the production of IL-12 or TNF-α, with a result that IFN-γ is produced by non-adhering cells (Halpern M D. et al., Cellular Immunol. 167: 72-8, 1996).
Ballas et al. have demonstrated that NK cells respond to CpG DNA in the presence of IL-12, IFN-α/β and TNF-α, and thus the NK activity becomes enhanced. Chace et al. also report that the activation of NK cells is macrophage-dependent and that NK cells, when activated by IL-12, acquire reactivity to bacterial DNA and IFN-γ production is amplified (Balla Z K. et al., J. Immunol. 157: 1840-5, 1996). These results suggest that inactivated mouse NK cells cannot react to CpG DNA but are activated by stimulation with cytokines derived from CpG DNA-stimulated monocytes/macrophages, and thus acquires CpG DNA reactivity.
Activation of human NK cells by CpG DNA: The effect of CpG DNA is conspicuous in the mouse immune system but the reactivity is generally low in the human immune system. However, the anti-cancer activity of BCG DNA mediated by host immunity had been reported in the 1980s, and the NK activity is enhanced both in vivo and in vitro. On the other hand, human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMC) produce IFN-α, IL-12 and IL-18 by stimulation with CpG DNA, and the production of IFN-γ is induced by IL-12 stimulation (Bohle B. et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 29: 2344-53, 1999). These results suggest that, in humans as well as in mice, dendritic cells and monocytes/macrophages are involved in the activation of NK cells by CpG DNA.
Iho et al. speculated that the action mechanism and the activity sequence of CpG DNA in humans are different from those in mice because stimulation of human mononuclear cells by BCG DNA does not significantly induce the production of IL-12. In fact, among the PuPuCpGPyPy type CpG DNAs that are reported to be active in mice, #1643 (gagaacgctcgaccttcgat) (SEQ. ID. No. 2) that activates B cells, #1618 (tccatgacgttcctgatgct) (SEQ. ID. No. 3) that induces IFN-γ, an antisense DNA #1758 (tctcccagcgtgcgccat) (SEQ. ID. No. 4) that activates NK cells, and #2105 (ttgcttccatcttcctcgtc) (SEQ. ID. No. 5) that activates human B cells were investigated for activation of NK cells with IFN-γ production as an index, but none of the sequences activated the purified human NK (CD56+) cells.
Thus, among cDNAs that encodes the BCG protein, ten 30-chain length DNAs (Iho S. et al., J. Immunol. 163: 3642-52, 1999), accgatNNNNNNgccggtgacggcaccacg (SEQ. ID. No. 6), that contain specific six-chain length CpG palindrome (NNNNNN) were investigated, and seven of them were found to have the IFN-γ-inducing activity. Then, mouse B cell-activating motifs aacgct and aacgtc that are not effective for the activation of human NK cells were inserted into the background sequence of CpG DNA that was activated with human NK cells to synthesize accgataacgctgccggtgacggcaccacg (SEQ. ID. No. 7) and accgataacgtcgccggtgacggcaccacg (SEQ. ID. No. 8) (underlined sequences were inserted), and they were investigated for activity, but no activity was recognized. This indicated that for CpG DNA to be recognized by NK cells the activity motif of CpG DNA must assume a palindrome structure.
However, as even for the same sequence there was variation in the amount of IFN-γ produced between donors, and there were individual differences for the optimum sequence, 12-chain G was added (g12CGA) on both sides of the underlined palindrome portion CGATCG for the weaker accgatcgatcggccggtgacggcaccacg (SEQ. ID. No. 9) and they were investigated. The reason for adding G is that poly G has a high affinity for cells and stabilizes the higher structure of DNA. As expected, G addition enhanced the IFN-γ-inducing activity of CGATCG. When sequences having further higher activity were investigated, higher activity was noted in a full-length 30-chain g10GACGA (GGGGGGGGGGGACGATCGTCGGGGGGGGGG (SEQ. ID. No. 10)) in which the palindrome portion of g12CGA was repeat-extended to 10 bases and 10-chain G was added to each side chain.
G10GACGA is a sequence that has the most potent activity among the human NK cell-activating sequences reported in 1999. As described below, though NK cells when activated exhibit a high reactivity to CpG DNA, the induction of IFN-γ by G10GACGA does not disappear after neutralization of non-NK cell-derived cytokines with anti-IFN-α antibody etc. and, therefore, it is thought that human NK cells are equipped with an ability to react to CpG DNA. IFN-γ produced by G10GACGA enhances the NK activity through an autocrine reaction and induces the expression of CD69 and HLA-ABC.
CpG DNA reactivity of activated human NK cells: Activated human NK cells have a higher reactivity to CpG DNA as compared to unactivated NK cells (Iho S. et al., J. Immunol. 163: 3642-52, 1999). This is in agreement with the fact that the expression of TLR9, a CpG DNA receptor, is weak in non-stimulated NK cells (Krug A. et al., J. Immunol. 31: 2154-63, 2001). However, there are no reports that TLR9 is induced by the activation of NK cells, and the mechanism in which CpG DNA reactivity is enhanced by activation is unknown. Furthermore, as NK cells activated by IL-2 also react to the non-palindrome type CpG DNA (Iho S. et al., J. Immunol. 163: 3642-52, 1999), the sequence selectivity of CpG DNA must be investigated.
The difference in CpG DNA reactivity between human NK cells and mouse NK cells: Human NK cells, even if unactivated, react to CpG DNA, but mouse NK cells do not react to CpG DNA unless activated. The reason for this difference in reactivity is not known. Ballas et al. (Ballas Z K. et al., J. Immunol. 157: 1840-5, 1996) investigated a CpG palindrome having a G-repeated sequence on both of 5′-end and 3′-end, but it could not activate mouse NK cells nor human NK cells. #2216 of Krug et al. (Krug A. et al., J. Immunol. 31: 2154-63, 2001) has GACGATCGTC but does not activate human NK cells. The difference between the present g10GACGA and the CpG DNA of Ballas/Krug et al. is the number of poly G added and modification thereof. The former is an unmodified type, while part of the latter has been thiolated.
The thiolation of DNA enhances resistance to DNase, but lowers the immunostimulatory activity because interaction with DNA-binding protein is weakened. Thus, it is likely that thiol modification may cause low CpG reactivity of NK cells. On the other hand, some unmodified CpG palindrome having poly G in the background sequence like ggggggggggggaacgttgggggggggggg (SEQ. ID. No. 11) have no activity (Iho S. et al., J. Immunol. 163: 3642-52, 1999). The sequence and length of the palindrome bases are considered important elements. It was later reported that the reactivity of human cells to the mouse activation motif is low, and reactivity to CpG DNA in primates was found to be different between humans, chimpanzees and monkeys, and therefore it is generally accepted that there is a species difference in CpG DNA reactivity (Hartmann G. et al., J. Immunol. 164: 1617-24, 2000). It is also becoming clearer that the CpG DNA sequence has cell selectivity (Verthelyi D. et al., Trends Immunol. 24: 519-22, 2003).
Intracellular incorporation of CpG DNA and recognition by TLR9: A recent study has revealed that CpG DNA is a ligand for TLR9 (Hemmi H. et al., Nature 408: 740-5, 2000). In an examination with a confocal microscope, it was shown that the binding of CpG DNA to the cell membrane and its incorporation into the cell are not sequence-specific and CpG DNA is localized together with TLR9 in the endosome. Thus, it is believed that CpG DNA is incorporated into the cell by endocytosis and it is recognized by TLR9 in the endosome. In order for CpG DNA to exhibit its biological activity, it must be modified in some way in the endosome. In the process of CpG DNAs being incorporated into the cell and recognized by TLR9 and of TLR9 signal transduction, a plurality of molecules need to work in concerted actions and research is on going.
Signal transduction of CpG DNA: While the incorporation of CpG DNA into the cell is effected in a CpG-nonspecific manner, the process from recognition by TLR9 to the expression of biological activity is CpG-specific. Cells that strongly express TLR9 in human peripheral blood are mainly B cells and plasmacytoid dendritic cells (PDC) (Hornung V. et al., J. Immunol. 168: 4531-7, 2002). In CpG DNA-stimulated B cells, the activation of p38 and JNK occurs very early and the ability of a transcription factor AP-1 to bind to DNA increases and the transcription of related genes are enhanced Hartmann G. et al., J. Immunol. 164: 944-52, 2000).
In PDC, CpG DNA is incorporated by endocytosis and then is recognized by TLR9 thereby to activate p38 MAPK. Subsequently, STAT1 is phosphorylated to form ISGF3 together with STAT2 and IRF-9. This leads to the enhanced transcription of the IRF-7 gene, and the IRF-7 thus produced induces the transcription of the IFN-α gene to produce IFN-α. Furthermore, extracellularly secreted IFN-α is fed back to stimulate the JAK-STAT pathway and thus a large quantity of IFN-α is produced (Takauji R. et al., J. Leukoc. Biol. 72: 1011-1019, 2002).
Significance of the poly G-added palindrome CpG DNA: CpG DNA is recognized by target cells centering on at least six-chain bases containing the CpG dinucleotide, and the activity greatly varies with slight differences in not only the core sequence but the surrounding bases (background bases). In order to directly induce PDC to produce IFN-α and to produce a large quantity of IFN-α by an autocrine reaction, it is important that the core sequence of CpG DNA takes a palindrome structure. Then, the length and the position and the types of bases on both sides are mentioned as factors that affect activity. In fact, the consecutive addition of G having a high affinity for the cell membrane to the core sequence "GACGATCGTC" (SEQ. ID. No. 12) induces a high activity.
On the other hand, poly G per se inhibits the IFN-γ production in mouse spleen cells (Halpern M D. et al., Immunopharmacology 29: 47-52, 1995), the addition of G has a risk of affecting the loss or inhibition of activity. This, in a different perspective, means a possibility that by changing the palindrome sequence and the mode of adding G, the CpG DNA activity may be regulated and CpG DNA that selectively induce specific cytokines may be developed. In fact, the poly G-added palindrome CpG DNA strongly induces the production of IFN-α or IFN-γ in PBMC but does not induce that of IL-12 or IL-6. In a later study this sequence was termed the D or A type oligo, and G10GACGA reported by Kuramoto/Iho et al. in 1992 (Kuramoto E. et al., Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 83: 1128-31, 1992) and 1999 is included in this type.
A DNA sequence composed of consecutive guanines is called a poly G sequence or a G-quartet, and enhances the incorporation of CpG DNA into the cell. Thus, it is believed that in the poly G-added palindrome CpG DNA a double stranded overlapping region is formed by the palindrome base sequences, and the poly G added to the end thereof enhances resistance to nuclease digestion and stabilize the higher structure of DNA so that activity may be efficiently developed. In fact, the CpG palindrome DNA in which poly G was introduced has a high activity of inducing IFN-α or CXCL10. Thus, it is thought that a Th1 immune reaction is efficiently induced and thus usefulness for application to the treatment of cancer, allergies and infections may be expected. In animal experiments, a thiol-modified CpG DNA is usually used, which is reported to bring about fatal side effects. From these facts, it is important to develop an unmodified poly G-added palindrome CpG DNA that is safe and has a highly effective Th1 immunostimulatory activity.
Patent document 1: Kohyo (National Publication of Translated Version) No. (A) 2002-510644
Patent document 2: Kohyo (National Publication of Translated Version) No. (A) 2002-517156
Non-patent document 1: Tokunaga T. et al., J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 72: 955-62, 1984
Non-patent document 2: Yamamoto S. et al., J. Immunol. 148: 4072-6, 1992
Non-patent document 3: Krieg A M. et al., Nature 374: 546-9, 1995
Non-patent document 4: Verthelyi D. et al., Trends Immunol. 24: 519-22, 2003
Non-patent document 5: Ballas Z K. et al., J. Immunol. 157: 1840-5, 1996
Non-patent document 6: Boggs R L. et al., Antisense & Nucleic Acid Drug Development 7: 461-71, 1997
Non-patent document-7: Klinmann D M. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 93: 2879-83, 1996
Non-patent document 8: Halpern M D. et al., Cellular Immunol. 167: 72-8, 1996
Non-patent document 9: Bohle B. et al., Eur. J. Immunol. 29: 2344-53, 1999
Non-patent document 10: Iho S. et al., J. Immunol. 163: 3642-52, 1999
Non-patent document 11: Krug A. et al., J. Immunol. 31: 2154-63, 2001
Non-patent document 12: Hornung V. et al., J. Immunol. 168: 4531-7, 2002
Non-patent document 13: Hartmann G. et al., J. Immunol. 164: 1617-24, 2000
Non-patent document 14: Hemmi H. et al., Nature 408: 740-5, 2000
Non-patent document 15: Hartmann G. et al., J. Immunol. 164: 944-52, 2000
Non-patent document 16: Takauji R. et al., J. Leukoc. Biol. 72: 1011-1019, 2002
Non-patent document 17: Halpern M D. et al., Immunopharmacology 29: 47-52, 1995
Non-patent document 18: Kuramoto E. et al., Jpn. J. Cancer Res. 83: 1128-31, 1992

Immunostimulatory oligonucleotide that induces interferon alpha