Lateral field emission devices ("FEDs") for display elements and methods of fabrication are set forth. The FED includes a thin-film emitter oriented parallel to, and disposed above, a substrate. The FED further includes a columnar shaped anode having a first lateral surface. A phosphor layer is disposed adjacent to the first lateral surface. Specifically, the anode is oriented such that the lateral surface and adjacent phosphor layer are perpendicular to the substrate. The emitter has a tip which is spaced less than the mean free distance of an electron in air from the phosphor layer. Operationally, when a voltage potential is applied between said anode and said emitter, electrons are emitted from the tip of the emitter into the phosphor layer causing the phosphor layer to emit electromagnetic energy. Further specific details of the field emission device, fabrication method, method of operation, and associated display are set forth.

Field emission devices ("FEDs") or micro-vacuum tubes have gained recent popularity as alternatives to conventional semiconductor silicon devices. Typical advantages associated with FEDs are much faster switching, temperature and radiation insensitivity, and easy construction. Applications range from discrete active devices to high density static random access memories, displays, radiation hardened military applications and temperature insensitive space technologies, etc.
Historically, the literature on field emission devices principally focused on process problems associated with producing the sharpest vertical emitter tip (e.g., with photolithography), and controlling cathode to anode and cathode to gate distances by achieving self-alignment between these elements.
Recently, lateral field emission devices have emerged as an alternative to traditional vertical emitter devices. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,233,263 entitled "Lateral Field Emission Devices," issued Aug. 3, 1993, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,439 entitled "Lateral Field Emission Devices And Methods Of Fabrication," issued May 3, 1994, lateral field emission devices employing a horizontal thin-film emitter are described. The sharp radius of curvature around the edge of the thin-film emitter produces the high intensity electric field necessary to cause the emission of electrons. In specific regard to the details of the devices described, the emitter tip is always separated from an anode by a distance of approximately 1 micron. In one embodiment, a light emitting FED is created by replacing the anode with a conductive-type phosphor. Electrons are thus transferred into the phosphor causing an emission of light.
These devices have several limitations when used as display elements. The large distance between the emitter tip and the anode results in a large voltage potential being required to excite emission of electrons from the emitter tip towards the anode. Due to the high voltage potential, careful control of the environment between the emitter and the anode is needed so as to avoid degradation of the emitter. For example, the device may be disposed in an evacuated atmosphere or in an inert gas. In regard to further device limitations, when the anode is replaced with a phosphor, ballistic steering effects due to electric fields deflect emitted electrons downward towards a metal extraction anode disposed below the phosphor. Due to the inherent resistance of conductive-type phosphors, coupled with the relatively large volume of phosphor electrons must travel through to reach the extraction anode, even higher voltage potentials are required, which hinders extraction of electrons from the phosphor.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,191 entitled "Horizontal Microelectronic Field Emission Devices," issued Sep. 1, 1992, another lateral field emission device is described. Again, the distance between the emitter tip and anode is on the order of 1 micron, thereby having the aforementioned problems associated therewith (i.e., large operating voltage, emitter degradation, and requirement of a controlled ambient environment). In one embodiment, the anode is replaced with a conductive-type phosphor for creating a light emitting field emission device. This embodiment suffers from further problems. The phosphor anode (i.e., composed entirely of a phosphor) is electrically resistive, making it less efficient in attracting electrons theretowards. Furthermore, the increased resistivity of the phosphor anode hinders the efficient extraction of electrons therefrom. Taken together, these problems decrease the efficiency of the device, and increase the voltages necessary for operation.
In summary, high operating voltages limit the usefulness of FEDs in low voltage applications such as portable computers. Moreover, a requirement that the FED be disposed in a vacuum (or other inert gas environment) adds to the complexity and fabrication costs of the device. The structure and methods of fabrication of the present invention contain solutions to the aforementioned problems.

Lateral field emission devices for display elements and methods of fabrication

International Business Machines Corporation


An information distribution and processing system contains a remote site, a sender and a receiving apparatus. The remote site contains a first set of digital data. The sender delivers a second set of digital data to the receiving device. In one embodiment of the present invention, the receiving device contain a timing device for automatically receiving the second set of digital data at predetermined times. The second set of digital data contains a first set of displayable data, a second set of displayable data, at least one non-displayable symbol, and at least one linking reference associated with the second set of displayable data. If desired, a user can select the second set of displayable data. The associated linking reference is sent to the remote site. The associated linking reference is used by the remote site to search for the additional information, and returns the requested information to the user.

This invention relates generally to information distribution and processing, and more particularly to distributing information using a broadcast channel and a bi-directional communication channel.
Recent advances in modem and computer technology allow large amount of digital data to be transmitted electronically. A number of information providers (such as newspaper and magazine publishers) and on-line information distributors (such as America Online, Dialog and Nexis) have formed partnerships to deliver newspaper and other information on-line. In this system, a subscriber uses a computer and a modem to connect (e.g., through a regular phone line) to the computer of an on-line information distributor. The subscriber can retrieve information, including newspaper articles, stored in the computer of the information distributor.
On-line delivery of newspaper has many advantages. For example, the information can be updated throughout the day while the printed version is printed only once or twice a day. Further, it is possible to do text-based searches on the information. However, it is found that on-line deliver of newspaper and other information is slow. For example, a subscriber has to wait many seconds for a newspaper article to be delivered. The quality of the electronic newspaper is low. For example, in order to reduce storage and communication requirements, graphic images appeared in the printed version are not universally supplied in the on-line version of newspaper. One of the reasons for such poor performance is the limited bandwidth of communication channels used by on-line information distributors. Another reason is that information is centrally processed by the computer at the site of the information distributor, with the result that each subscriber only gets a small slice of the time of the computer.
Another way to communication information on-line is through the Internet, which is a worldwide interconnection of millions of computers, from low end personal computers to high-end mainframes. An important development in the Internet is the World Wide Web (the "Web"). The Web is a wide-area hypermedia information delivery and retrieval system aimed to give universal access to a large universe of documents. When the Web was first developed around 1989, it was known to and used by the academic/research community only as a means for fast disseminating of information. There was no easily available tool which allows a technically untrained person to access the Web. An important development is the release of a Web "browser" around 1993. It has a simple but powerful graphic interface. The browser allows a user to retrieve web documents and navigate the Web using simple commands and popular tools such as point-and-click. Because the user does not have to be technically trained and the browser is easy to use, it has the potential of opening up the Internet to the masses.
A document designed to be accessed and read over the web is called a web page. Each web page must have an address in a recognized format—the URL, or Uniform Resource Locator—that enables computers all over the world to access it. Each web page has an unique URL. A web page typically contains both text and images. It is also possible to include audio and movie data.
The Web faces the same problem as the regular on-line delivery of information. This is because most people use the above described modem to access the Internet. Thus, the data transfer rate of the Web is also limited. Because multimedia data (comprising a combination of text, graphic, video and/or audio) has a large data size, even when compressed, it could take a long time to retrieve a document from the Web. Further, it is difficult to prevent unauthorized persons from access a web page because more than 20 million people in the world has access to the Internet.
Consequently, there is a need to have an improved system for distributing information electronically.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for accessing set of digital data at a remote site


An implantable apparatus for delivering electrical stimuli to a user, the apparatus including at least a stimulator adapted to generate stimulation signals, an electrode array, said array including a plurality of electrodes for delivering said stimulation signals; and a plurality of release sites for pharmaceutical agents, said release sites being positioned at locations along said array, said release sites being controlled such that said agents can be operatively delivered at selected ones of said locations.

The use of implanted medical devices to provide electrical stimulation therapy to individuals for various medical conditions has become more widespread in recent times. This has occurred as the advantages and benefits such devices provide become more widely appreciated and accepted throughout the population.
Electrical stimulation can be used for therapeutic effect at various locations within the body. For example, functional electrical stimulation systems may be used to deliver electrical pulses to certain neurons of a recipient to cause a controlled movement of a limb of such a recipient. Also, electrical nerve stimulators are used in applications such as cochlear implants for restoring hearing to people with sensorineural hearing loss.
An implantable hearing prosthesis can provide the benefit of hearing to individuals suffering from severe to profound sensorineural hearing loss. Sensorineural hearing loss is due to the absence or destruction of the hair cells in the cochlea which transduce acoustic signals into nerve impulses. An implantable hearing prosthesis simulates the cochlear hair cells by delivering electrical stimulation to the auditory nerve fibres. This causes the brain to perceive a hearing sensation.
Electrical stimulators pass electric current pulses through nerve tissue causing the nerves to depolarise and fire. The timing and magnitude of the current is usually controllable so that the timing and number of nerves fired is controlled. Each nerve has an energy threshold at which it fires and a time, known as the refractory period, before it can be fired again after stimulation. A problem exists, therefore, when the signals to the electrical stimulator require a nerve to be stimulated repeatedly prior to that nerve being reset to fire again.
It is generally desirable that electrical stimulation systems such as the noted implantable hearing prosthesis consume minimal power. Lower power consumption leads to smaller components and longer battery life.
Pharmaceutical agents can modify the response of nerves to electrical stimulation and induce neural firing in their own right. They are known to be delivered into the area to be treated by a pump mechanism through a tube. The position where the agent is injected is controlled by the placement of the end of the tube and the concentration of agent varies considerably at different parts of the structure.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved method and apparatus for the delivery of pharmaceutical agents using implantable devices.


Disclosed are methods and compositions for targeting antibodies to amyloid deposits. For example, amyloid-reactive peptides that bind amyloid deposits are administered to a subject. Antibodies to the amyloid-reactive peptides are then administered to the subject. Upon administration of the antibodies, the amyloid-reactive peptides bind the antibodies and thus pre-target the antibodies to the amyloid deposits. In other examples, an amyloid-reactive fusion peptide contains an epitope of a known antibody. When the fusion peptide is administered to a subject, the fusion peptide binds amyloids in the subject. Administration to the subject of the known antibody that binds the epitope of the fusion peptide then targets the antibody to the amyloid deposit to which the fusion peptide is bound.

Amyloidosis is a fatal protein-folding disorder characterized by the aggregation and deposition of proteinaceous fibrils and heparan sulfate proteoglycan in vital organs and tissues (Merlini, G. et al. (2003) N. Engl. J. Med. 349, 583-596; Merlini, G. et al. (2004) J. Intern. Med. 255, 159-178; De Lorenzi, E. et al. (2004) Curr. Med. Chem. 11, 1065-1084; Merlini, G. (2004) Neth. J. Med. 62, 104-105). The unrelenting accumulation of amyloid invariably leads to organ dysfunction and severe morbidity or death. The deposits can be cerebral, as in patients with Alzheimer's, Huntington's or prion diseases, or peripheral such as seen in patients with light chain (AL) amyloidosis and type 2 diabetes. Further sub-grouping into localized or systemic indicates whether the precursor protein is produced locally (at the site of deposition) or circulates in the blood stream and deposits at distant anatomic sites, respectively (Westermark, P. et al. (2007) Amyloid. 14, 179-183). Amyloid can affect any organ or tissue but the kidneys, pancreas, liver, spleen, nervous tissue and heart constitute the major sites of deposition in patients with familial or sporadic forms of peripheral amyloid disease. Alzheimer's disease currently affects more than 4 million Americans and this figure is estimated to increase to more than 16 million by the year 2050. It is by far the most common form of amyloidosis and poses the greatest socioeconomic impact. In contrast, the peripheral (or systemic) amyloidoses are orphan disorders but account for more than 5,000 new patients annually in the USA alone.
Of these, the major peripheral amyloidosis is light chain-associated (AL) amyloidosis, a sporadic monoclonal plasma cell dyscrasia resulting in the deposition of fibrils composed of immunoglobulin light chain proteins. AL accounts for approximately two thirds of all peripheral amyloid cases and has a calculated incidence of ˜1.4 per 100,000 persons per year in the USA, which is comparable to that of acute lymphocytic and chronic myeloid leukemia (Group, U. S. C. S. W. (2007) United States Cancer Statistics: 1999-2003 Incidence and Mortality Web-Based Report, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Centers for Disease Control and Prevention National Cancer Institute, Atlanta). Although AL is one fifth as common as the related plasma cell dyscrasia multiple myeloma it is arguably more devastating with a median survival of only 13.2 months due partly to the rapidly progressive nature of the organ destruction, the lack of effective anti-amyloid therapeutics and the inability to effectively diagnose the disease before organ failure occurs. Fewer than 5% of all AL patients survive 10 years or more from the time of diagnosis (Comenzo, R. L. et al. (2002) Blood 99, 4276-4282). Moreover, in patients with cardiac AL amyloidosis the median survival is less than 5 months.
Another prevalent form of peripheral amyloidosis in the U.S. is inflammation-associated (AA) amyloidosis, which is associated with chronic inflammatory disorders such as arthritis, tuberculosis and Familial Mediterranean Fever. The incidence of AA is greatest in certain regions of Europe and the frequency varies among ethnic groups (Buck, F. S. et al. (1989) Mod. Pathol. 2, 372-377). In areas where Familial Mediterranean Fever is prevalent and goes untreated, the incidence of AA can be 100%. In Europe the incidence, based on autopsy studies performed in the Denmark, is estimated to be 0.86% (Lofberg, H. et al. (1987) Acta pathologica, microbiologica, et immunologica Scandinavica 95, 297-302); however, in patients with rheumatoid or psoriatic arthritis the occurrence of AA can be as high as 26%. Such a high prevalence may warrant a screening program to detect the disease earlier. Deposition of amyloid is associated with a sustained increase in the plasma concentration of serum amyloid protein A (sAA), the precursor of the amyloid fibrils (Rocken, C. et al. (2002) Virchows Arch. 440, 111-122). AA differs from AL in the type of precursor protein that is deposited but both share common mechanistic features associated with fibril formation and deposition (Rocken, C. et al. (2006) J. Pathol. 210, 478-487; Rocken, C. et al. (2001) Am. J. Pathol. 158, 1029-1038).
In addition to the disorders in which the etiopathology of amyloid is well established, fibrillar deposits with the structural and tinctorial properties of amyloid have been identified in other syndromes although their relevance to the disease state has yet to be established. In type 2 diabetes for example, islet amyloid precursor protein (IAPP) deposits as amyloid in the Islets of Langerhans (Jaikaran, E. T. et al. (2001) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1537, 179-203). The aggregation of IAPP results in oligomeric structures that are toxic to pancreatic cells (Lin, C. Y. et al. (2007) Diabetes 56, 1324-1332). Thus, it is suggested that the formation of IAPP amyloid in type 1 diabetic patients contributes to 13 cell destruction and ushers in the transition to insulin dependence (Jaikaran, E. T. et al. (2001) Biochim. Biophys. Acta 1537, 179-203). In another example, plaques containing amyloid fibrils composed of apolipoprotein A-I have been identified in over half of patients with atherosclerotic carotid arteries (Westermark, P. et al. (1995) Am. J. Pathol. 147, 1186-1192; Mucchiano, G. I. et al. (2001) J. Pathol. 193, 270-275). The deposition of these fibrils was more common in older patients but apoA-I is undoubtedly present early in plaque development (Vollmer, E. et al. (1991) Virchows Arch. A. Pathol. Anat. Histopathol. 419, 79-88). As a final example, Apo-A-I amyloid was also recently identified in knee joint menisci obtained from patients having knee replacement surgery and may contribute to the physical deterioration of the joint (Solomon, A. et al. (2006) Arthritis Rheum. 54, 3545-3550).
In total, more than 29 proteins have been chemically or serologically identified as constituents of fibrils in amyloid deposits. It is the nature of these proteins that differentiate the diseases, determine the treatment, and establish the prognosis. Although amyloid fibrils are associated with a clinically heterogeneous group of diseases and can form from structurally distinct and functionally diverse precursor proteins, the deposits themselves share a number of remarkably similar characteristics including fibril structure, fibril epitopes and accrual of similar accessory molecules including heparan sulfate proteoglycans (HSPGs). Amyloid is a heterogeneous complex that includes, in addition to fibrils, glycosaminoglycans (GAGs) and in particular the perlecan HSPG (Ancsin, J. B. (2003) Amyloid 10, 67-79; Ailles, L. et al. (1993) Lab. Invest. 69, 443-448; Kisilevsky, R. (1994) Mol. Neurobiol. 9, 23-24; Kisilevsky, R. (1990) Lab. Invest. 63, 589-591; Snow, A. D. et al. (1987) Lab. Invest. 56, 120-123; Li, J. P. et al. (2005) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 102, 6473-6477). A partial list of amyloid and amyloid related disorders is provided in Table 1 (below).
TABLE 1Partial List of Amyloid and Amyloid-Related DisordersAquired (A)/Systemic (S) orHerditary (H)/Amyloid typePrecursorLocalized (L)OrgansSyndromeALImmunoglobulin light chainS, LA/All but *CNSPrimary, MyleomaAHImmunoglobulin heavy chainS, LA/All but CNSAβ2Mβ2-microglobulinS,A/MusculoskeletalHemodialysisATTRTransthyretin variantsS, LA/Heart,Familial, SeniletenosynoviumsystemicWild typeTransthyretinSH/heart, eye,AgingTTRleptomenAASerum amyloid protein ASA/All but CNSReactive, chronicinflammationAApoAIApolipoprotein AISH/heart, liver etcFamilialAApoAIIApolipoprotein AIISH/KidneyAGelGelsolinSH/PNS, corneaFamilialALysLysozymeSH/KidneyFamilialALect2leukocyte chemotactic factorSA/KidneyRenal amyloid2AFibFibrinogen α variantsSH/KidneyFamilialACysCystatin variantsSH/*PNS, skinACal(Pro)calcitoninLA/ThyroidThyroid tumorsAMedLactadherinLA/Senile aorticAgingmediaAIAPPIslet amyloid polypeptideLA/Islets ofType 2 diabetesLangerhansAProProlactinLA/PituitaryAging pituitaryAInsInsulinLA/Injection siteIatrogenicAPrPPrion proteinLA/H/, brainSpongiformencephalopathiesAβAβ precursor proteinLA/H/brainAlzheimer's diseaseand aging*PNS = peripheral nervous system; CNS = central nervous system
To date, the most effective therapeutic intervention for removing amyloid deposits, which may promote recovery of organ function and lead to an improved prognosis, involves the use of amyloid-reactive antibodies as a means of immunotherapy. Several immunotherapies (antibodies) have been developed for amyloid-related diseases, including monoclonal antibody 11-1F4 for the treatment of AL amyloidosis, NEOD001 for patients with AL amyloidosis, GSK2398852 (anti-SAP monoclonal antibody) for amyloidosis, Solanezumab for Alzheimer's disease, intravenous IgG (WIG) for Alzheimer's disease, and Bapineuzumab for Alzheimer's disease. Each of these approaches has limitations or has not been validated in extensive clinical trials (Phase 2/3).

UNIVERSITY OF TENNESSEE RESEARCH FOUNDATION


An apparatus and method for medical practitioners to detect the presence of abnormal cells including cancerous and pre-cancerous cells by using a transport capsule containing an imaging apparatus including UV sources and fluorescence detectors for obtaining images and fluorescence data of biological cells and tissue. The method includes the steps of scanning biological tissue using an ultra-violet (UV) source to obtain fluorescence data, transferring fluorescence data and/or images using a radio frequency (RF) or other suitable means to a personal computer (PC) system, analyzing the image and/or fluorescence data in the PC, identifying -tissues with precancerous and cancerous cells, and optionally determining their precise location, and assessing the accuracy of the calculated fluoroscopic images.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a medical imaging apparatus for biological tissue visualization and assessment and more particularly to a medical imaging apparatus and method for the detection of abnormal biological tissue including cancerous and precancerous cellular regions of arteries for detection of arterial disease.
2. Description of the Related Art
With the pervasiveness of cancer in modem times, it has become common to screen the aeorodigestive tract, gynecological (GYN) tract and breast(s) for malignancies. There are many ways to screen these sites including X-Ray imaging, MRI (magnetic resonance imaging), CT (computer tomography) scanning, and endoscopy. Disadvantages of X-Ray imaging, MRI and CT scanning include time consumption, high cost and harmful radiation exposure. Moreover X-Ray imaging, MRI and CT scanning cannot provide detailed photographic images of surfaces of sampled tissue when desired.
Endoscopy is a well-known method to screen for malignancies and uses an endoscope with an embedded optical fiber (or fiber bundle). A light from a light source is coupled into the fiber or fiber bundle and delivered through the endoscope to illuminate tissue located at a distal end of the endoscope. The light scattered from the tissue is collected by a one or more lenses and either imaged into a detector mounted on the distal end of the endoscope or coupled into an imaging fiber bundle. The image is then transmitted through the endoscope to an imaging means such as a computer or video system for examination by a physician, and for storage, printing, transmission, etc. as desired. During the procedure, if abnormal tissues are visually detected, a medical practitioner can acquire tissue specimens for biopsies and treatment. Moreover, as tissue samples are usually only taken at sites which have visual evidence of a malignancy, the detection of pre-cancerous, or early stage cancerous tissue is delayed, which can have catastrophic results.
Currently, endoscopy is an invasive method of imaging which requires that the patient be anesthetized and which can cause discomfort or pain to the patient after the procedure. Moreover, endoscopy is expensive and time consuming, and cannot immediately confirm the presence of cancer cells or pre-cancerous cells. Furthermore, the removal of tissue specimens for biopsies can cause additional discomfort or pain to the patient after the procedure.
Recently, there have been several advances in the field of endoscopy which were aimed at solving some of endoscopy's disadvantages. For example, a technology using native tissue fluorescence for detection of cancer and precancer cells by exciting a tissue with UV and/or visible light from an optical source (e.g., lasers, LEDs, lamps, etc.) and detecting the emission by photo-detectors has been developed. Because carcenogenesis modifies the molecular and structural properties of cells and tissues, resulting in changes of the cells' and tissues' optical properties, abnormal cells (e.g., precancerous and cancerous cells) can be optically detected. For example, fluorescence signatures from key tissue fluorophores, such as aromatic amino acids, collagen, elastin, reduced nicotinnamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) and flavins, can accurately and immediately distinguish normal tissues from malignant and pre-malignant tissues. This optical detection method does not require tissue acquisition and subsequent in-vitro biopsies, which greatly reduces patient discomfort and can allow for immediate detection of cancer. The immediate detection of cancer can be life-saving, as any reduction in time in the diagnosis of cancer can reduce the likelihood of the progression of the cancer—especially when dealing with highly malignant cancer. This technology was invented by the inventor of the present invention and is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,930,516, entitled, "Method For Detecting Cancerous Tissue Using Visible Native Luminescence,"U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,398 entitled, "Method And Apparatus For Distinguishing Cancerous Tissue From Benign Tumor Tissue, Benign Tissue Or Normal Tissue Using Native Fluorescence," and U.S. Pat. No. 6,091,985 entitled, "Detection Of Cancer And Precancerous Conditions In Tissues And/Or Cells Using Native Fluorescence Excitation Spectroscopy," all to R. R. Alfano, et al., the contents of all of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Although the use of a point source fluorescence for the detection of cancer has been demonstrated in areas of the body which do not require the use of a endoscope, such as areas of the gynecological (GYN) tract, aerodigestive tract, colon, breast and esophagus, in vivo fluorescence imaging through an endoscope has presented formidable problems such as: currently available imaging endoscopes use imaging fibers manufactured from glass and therefore cannot transmit the required UV and blue light; detectors located on the distal end of endoscopes have poor UV spectral response; and fluorescence signals in UV and blue light are weaker than scattered light and thus require electronic amplification.
Another technology to improve the screening of the aeorodigestive tract employs a remotely controllable micro-scale imaging device as a replacement to endoscopy. This technology has the potential to greatly reduce the invasiveness of endoscopy and to allow access to harder-to-reach organs such as the small intestine. This technology was invented by the inventor of the present invention and is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,240,312 B1, entitled, "Compact Photonics Explorer," to R. R. Alfano, et al., the contents of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Unfortunately, the use of fluorescence spectroscopy and imaging in a single micro-scaled device capable of both visually imaging and assessing tissue needs improvement.

Micro-scale compact device for in vivo medical diagnosis combining optical imaging and point fluorescence spectroscopy


A capsule (1) for insertion into a bore of a porous element to apply treatment substance to the interior of the element and having a container (2), with at least one internal cavity (3) for receiving treatment substance and an outer stop flange (8), and a plug (4) received in and fixed to the container through a common interconnecting land (5). A first container shank portion (6) that extends from a first insertion end (1A) of the capsule and up to the area of the interconnecting land has a uniform, generally cylindrical shape, a second container shank portion (7) extending away from said container first shank portion, from the area of the inter-connecting land towards the outer stop flange, at least at an inner surface (7B) thereof has an outwardly slightly diverging, conical shape and at an outer surface (7A) thereof, separated a short distance from the outer stop flange has a first circumferential beveled edge (9) serving as a transition to an outer increased diameter section (7C). A method for applying treatment substance by means of such a capsule is also provided.

U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,905,410 and 5,485,698 disclose tree treatment capsules including a plug for insertion into an end opening of an internal cavity of a container. The capsule is introduced into a bore formed in a tree, with a protruding end of the plug engaging a bottom of the bore. An impact force is applied to a head element of the plastic container to move the head element towards the plug and break a shank of the container. Chemical agent is released from the cavity when the shank is broken in this way. Generally, the use of these known capsules has advantageous effects and provides good final results, but involves rather time-consuming preparation due not only to the large number of bores required but also to the comparatively strict requirement for appropriate dimensions, especially depth, of the bores formed in the porous elements. EP2066171B1 discloses a capsule providing a container and a plug for insertion into an open rear end of the capsule and for closing the open end to retain treatment substance in a cavity. At the open end the capsule has a stop flange, for abutting an outer wall of a tree etc. when inserted into said bore. At the outer end this capsule has a straight cylindrical wall adjoining the stop flange. Generally, with all prior art solutions within this field it is a matter of great concern to maintain the capsule leak proof outwardly, towards the open end.


A detachable magnetic holder having a top side to gather implements and a bottom side that is interchangeable therewith top side for removable attachment from a base by a handle incorporated into a utility shape to gather, find, and hold ferromagnetic implements used by hobbyists and professional craftsmen engaged in fabrication of finished goods.

This invention relates to improvements made to detachable magnetic holder and, more particularly, enhancements for detachable magnetic holder that is useful on behalf of hobbyists and tradesmen who are engaged in assembly and fabrication of consumer goods. Fabrication of goods often requires repetitive motion using implements with magnetic response. Detachable magnetic holder saves time and increases productivity to quickly gather, find, and hold implements, and limits the need for a greater range of motion by keeping implements within arm's reach. Detachable magnetic holder is useful with, but not limited to, pins, needles, bobby pins, hair clips, screws, anchors, tacks, pegs, spikes, paper clips, miniature tools like scissors, and screw drivers, and may include any common ferromagnetic devices or small tools that have a magnetic response and have a proportionate size so that one or more such implements will fit thereonto the detachable magnetic holder which attaches to a base which is located thereonto a glove apparatus or a wristband apparatus. The detachable magnetic holder is useful in any vocation or hobby where fabrication methods utilize small ferromagnetic implements for production of, for example, textiles, clothing, home apparel, jewelry, cabinetry, radios, computers, scrapbooks, hairdos, and may be used by tailors, carpenters, jewelry makers, office workers, mechanics, and hairdressers. This description means to include all workers who regularly utilize ferromagnetic implements and devices for production of finished goods.


In accordance with the present invention at least two different grades of HOPG material with different d-spacings are combined to form a composite HOPG monochromator with increased spacing spread (.DELTA.d/d) defined by the combination of the two HOPG materials with each HOPG material oriented relative to one another so that their layer planes are parallel. The increased .DELTA.d/d should yield higher neutron beam intensities in certain types of backscattering instruments.

Graphite monochromaters are highly oriented forms of high purity pyrolytic graphite which diffract x-rays and neutrons to generate a monochromatic beam of x-rays and/or neutrons for use in a spectrometer for measuring the characteristics of crystalline materials.
Graphite monochromaters are classified according to their neutron mosaic spread characteristic. Each known type of HOPG material will exhibit a different lattice spacing known to those skilled in the art as "d-spacing" for each effective neutron mosaic spread. The neutron reflectivity of graphite monochromaters should be high for application in neutron scattering instruments. At high Bragg angles, near 90.degree., the diffracted beam intensity is determined by the lattice spacing spread i.e. the d-spacing spread of the HOPG material in the monochromater. HOPG has a natural d-spacing spread which is large enough for high luminosity in back-reflection arrangements. Methods for further increasing this d-spacing spread would be of great value in providing increased neutron flux in backscattering instruments.
The mosaic spread is a measurement of the full width at half maximum intensity of the reflection of an x-ray beam from a sample of HOPG material when rotated through the Bragg angle to generate an x-ray diffraction curve known as a "rocking curve". The rocking curve is a graph of the intensity of the reflected x-rays as a function of the angular distance from a reference plane using Bragg's Law to determine the angular deviation. This calculation is made for each HOPG sample to permit its mosaic spread range to be measured so that each sample can be categorized into different standard mosaic spread ranges. U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,075, the disclosure of which is herein incorporated by reference, teaches how to assure a yield of up to 100% of HOPG material having a mosaic spread tailored to any desired preselected narrow range starting from HOPG processed material having a mosaic spread below the desired final mosaic spread specification for the material.
The present invention provides a method for increasing the effective d-spacing spread of an HOPG graphite monochromator by combining two or more conventional types of HOPG materials to form a composite HOPG structure formed of layers of separate HOPG materials each having a different average d-spacing and oriented with their layer planes parallel to one another. For example, an arbitarily selected HOPG grade or type material defined, for purposes of the present invention, as a Type 1 HOPG material, showed a higher average interlayer spacing and a greater lattice spacing spread i.e. d-spacing spread over the same mosaic range relative to a second more ordered HOPG graphite material arbitrarily defined as a Type 2 HOPG material to distinguish the two from each other. In neutron reflectivity measurements at 4.42 .ANG., the peak reflectivity of the more disordered type 1 HOPG material was found to be 5-10% higher than that of the more ordered grade Type 2 HOPG material, and the average interlayer spacing was .about.0.003 .ANG. higher. The d-spacing spreads of the more disordered HOPG grade were 0.08-12% and those of the more ordered grade were 0.03-0.07%. It was discovered in accordance with the present invention that by combining the two different grades of HOPG material to form a composite HOPG structure defined by the combination of the two different grades of HOPG material with each oriented relative to one another so that their layer planes were parallel that the effective d-spacing spread would increase to 0.15-0.18%. The increased .DELTA.d/d should yield higher neutron beam intensities in certain types of backscattering instruments.

Pyrolytic graphite monocromator and method for improving lattice spacing spread of a pyrolytic graphite monocromator


A method is provided for selecting eligible nodes and item assignments to those nodes for fulfillment based on satisfaction of a reward constraint and fulfillment cost. This method includes several steps, including determining by a computer processor of the fulfillment engine whether each of the plurality of assignments to the plurality of nodes satisfies a reward constraint based on a first customer loyalty reward level of the plurality of customer loyalty reward levels, identifying by a computer processor of the fulfillment engine one or more satisfactory assignments to nodes by identifying which of the one or more assignments is both associated with an order fulfillment cost that is less than the maximum fulfillment cost and satisfies the reward constraint and automatically generating by a computer processor of the fulfillment engine a node order assignment assigning the current order to the one or more satisfactory nodes.

Typically when an individual orders one or more items from an online retailer that online retailer assigns the fulfillment of that order to one or more nodes, which can be a fulfillment center or a retail store that is capable of fulfilling orders from the retail store itself This assignment typically only takes into account availability of the ordered item or items at the node or nodes, or the shipping cost of the ordered item or items from the node or nodes.
The typical assignment cannot take into account various other potential impacts on the fulfillment process, such as a loyalty reward to the specific customer placing the order.
What is desired is a system and method that can determine a trade off between rewarding customer loyalty and total cost to serve that customer when determining item-node fulfillment of a specific online order.

System and method for differentiated customer service in terms of fufillment experience based on customer loyalty and cost to serve

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A security system comprises one or more sensor devices configured to detect conditions at one or more sites; one or more checkpoints at each of said one or more sites configured to receive signals from the one or more sensor devices; and a central headquarters processor configured to receive signals indicative of the conditions detected at said one or more sites from the one or more checkpoints. The central headquarters processor is configured to process the signals to determine if an event has occurred.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multiple site integrated security system method and communications protocol. More particularly, the present invention relates to a human oriented system of security service and a computer implemented universal communications protocol which facilitates communications between real time security hardware and a real time security monitoring software system.
2. Description of the Related Art
In addition to traditional threats to security such as burglary, vandalism and arson, today's complex national and international political conflicts are putting increased pressure on facilities and organizations of all kinds to provide effective security systems for the safety and protection of personnel, property and surroundings.
Devices and systems for the provision of safety and security of persons and property are well known. Examples of different types and kinds of security systems for protection and surveillance methods of building structures and surrounding areas are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,204,762 B1, 6,154,133, 6,097,429, and 5,825,283.
In general, the structure and function of most security systems involves electronic surveillance equipment monitored at a centralized location. Current development of security systems attempts to do away with human-oriented services and replace the human security guard with high technology solutions to security problems. Only a limited number of currently developed security systems utilize a combination of guards in close conjunction with the electronic equipment. Most of the time, these systems involve one guard who monitors a video feed or alarm panel for intrusion or other related alerts. These security systems are commonly built, installed and implemented without any regard for the particular facilities of other systems, for example, the facilities of built-in environmental and climate control, the tracking of people and assets within the building or complex, and fire/smoke detection as well as transport systems such as elevators, etc.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved security system which not only enhances the human security guard services, but also integrates facilities management, and allows for identification and global positioning satellite (GPS) tracking of people as well as assets such as computers, and other valuable instrumentation, all in a readily scalable configuration utilizing off the shelf electronic security and communications components.
An electronic surveillance system for remote guarding of an area using an operator station including a signal receiver with television display, radiant energy selection control, and energy level controller is known in the prior art. Such a device is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,204,762 B1. The novel invention remotely controls and directs an apparatus "weapon" for integration with traditionally secured facilities, remote detection devices, closed circuit TV, and a remotely-located, manned control station. While such a computerized system is helpful in detection of unauthorized personnel in a given area and does seek to incorporate pre-existing security devices, there is no provision which would allow for the irreplaceable and highly effective presence of human security guards, guards that are further enhanced by electronic wireless communications and monitoring.
Additionally, the entire system depends upon the installation and presence of numerous hard wired security devices in a given area and is not readily scalable to incorporate larger areas in the surveillance area in a short period of time without extensive outlay of effort and installation of new equipment. The acoustic energy "weapon" used as a deterrent to intruders is not confined to any given space and might pose a threat to anyone, including authorized individuals, within hearing distance.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved enhanced security guard system which would allow for computerized and wireless communications and monitoring of human security guards and their activities with a centralized location, in addition to conventional security devices and which would be scalable with minimal time and material expenditure, and which would provide for human guards to act as a more rapid and effective deterrent to intruders.
The exit guard system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,154,133 addresses the requirements of providing areas with detection of movement of a subject along an exit path in an unauthorized direction. This system further provides for a human monitor at a centralized location with added supervision of the deactivation of the security alarm system only by authorized personnel.
However, within this system there is no human security guard on site actively patrolling the area. This electronically augmented human presence is irreplaceable as a deterrent to potential intruders as well as providing for flexibility in terms of monitoring and responding to a variety of situations that might arise.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved, technologically augmented human presence automatically reporting to a centralized location, or a remote monitoring station through communications over a global computer network or via satellite link, which could then monitor and record guard activities as well as utilize pre-existing event detection technology, such as motion, video and perimeter control devices to alert those guards of real time events taking place on their shift.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,097,429 describes a relatively sophisticated security system utilizing video images obtained from a plurality of cameras relayed to a site control unit equipped with an automated image processor. The images are then relayed to a security system operator who then analyzes the images and informs authorities of an intrusion.
While this system utilizes advanced technological features to distinguish between actual intrusions and false alarms (friend or foe), the absence of a human guard which would serve to discourage intrusions is notably absent. Moreover, the presence of human guards makes those that are present within the facility feel protected and well taken care of, and these individuals will often speak to the security guards or become familiar with them to avoid any misunderstanding as to their access authorization or the like.
Additionally, the highly automated image processor and related complex software used to differentiate between actual foe intrusions and friendly false alarms is inherently limited in its capability to observe, compare and react to the myriad of potential one time or entirely novel situations which might occur. This type of security monitoring can only be accomplished with highly trained, well equipped, and competently supervised human security guards on duty in numbers corresponding to the amount of space or activity required to be secure from outside threats.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved system for technological augmentation of human guards who are irreplaceable in terms of providing a deterrent to intrusion and who are capable of observing, assessing and responding to novel and unusual situations and whose actions would automatically be reported to a centralized headquarters with integrated automated daily events and incident real time reporting.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,825,283 provides for an apparatus for monitoring subjects having a location determining device which provides the location of the subject to a processor. The processor then stores and retrieves data generated or received by the processor. The primary means by which the subject is tracked is by usage of a GPS. Comparison of the parameters of given geographical boundaries to the data from the location determining device may determine if the subject has deviated from those parameters. The claimed invention mandates detection of at least one physiological parameter of the subject in order to compare existing subject data previously stored.
This imaginative invention does provide for tracking and determination of the general area in which a subject is to be found and a means by which to compare the location with a pre-determined geographic location. Unfortunately, while the location and tracking device may show a general area in which the subject is located, there is no way of determining the exact location of the subject at any given point in time.
In addition, this system again depends upon a complex processor which must be programmed with any number of parameters. The system may fail to operate properly or may not operate at all if incorporated into a pre-existing security system, especially one having less complex processors available on site.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have a new and improved system for technological augmentation of human guards automatically reporting exact location and time to a centralized headquarters with daily events and incident reporting automation which could give exact locations and time records of movement of the guards which would readily incorporate pre-existing hardware and software. Moreover, it would be highly desirable to enable said guards to wear a garment which would incorporate a wireless communications apparatus, or have said guards carry hand-held computers for this purpose.
With respect to security system and environmental system monitoring there have been no significant advances recently, especially in the area of software development that can be used to integrate far flung and varying system hardware configurations. However, the development of global computer networks such as the Internet have sparked new languages capable of being effectively used in numerous alternative applications. One such language is Hypertext Markup Language or HTML and another such language is Extensible Markup Language or XML.
Most documents on the Web are stored and transmitted in HTML. HTML is a simple language well suited for hypertext, multimedia, and the display of small and reasonably simple documents. HTML is based on SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language, ISO 8879), a standard system for defining and using document formats.
SGML allows documents to describe their own grammar—that is, to specify the tag set used in the document and the structural relationships that those tags represent. HTML applications are applications that hard-wire a small set of tags in conformance with a single SGML specification. Freezing a small set of tags allows users to leave the language specification out of the document and makes it much easier to build applications, but this ease comes at the cost of severely limiting HTML in several important respects, chief among which are extensibility, structure, and validation.
$Extensibility. HTML does not allow users to specify their own tags orattributes in order to parameterize or otherwise semantically qualify theirdata.$Structure. HTML does not support the specification of deep structuresneeded to represent database schemas or object-oriented hierarchies.$Validation. HTML does not support the kind of language specificationthat allows consuming applications to check data for structural validity onimportation.
In contrast to HTML stands generic SGML. A generic SGML application is one that supports SGML language specifications of random complexity and makes possible the qualities of extensibility, structure, and validation missing from HTML. SGML makes it possible to define your own formats for your own documents, to handle large and complex documents, and to manage large information repositories. However, full SGML contains many optional features that are not needed for Web applications and has proven to have a cost/benefit ratio unattractive to current vendors of Web browsers.
The World Wide Web Consortium (W3C) has created an SGML Working Group to build a set of specifications to make it easy and straightforward to use the beneficial features of SGML on the Web. Extensible Markup Language (XML) is a simple, very flexible text format derived from SGML (ISO 8879). Originally designed to meet the challenges of large-scale electronic publishing, XML is also playing an increasingly important role in the exchange of a wide variety of data on the Web.
XML Advantages:
$Enables internationalized media-independent electronic publishing$Allows industries to define platform-independent protocols for theexchange of data, especially the data of electronic commerce$Delivers information to client users in a form that allows automaticprocessing after receipt.$Makes it easier to develop software to handle specializedinformation distributed over the Web$Makes it easy for people to process data using inexpensivesoftware$Allows people to display information the way they want it, understyle sheet control$Provides a standard packaging/transport mechanism for any type ofinformation
XML Syntax
The best way to appreciate what XML documents look like is with a simple example. Imagine a company that sells products on-line. Marketing descriptions of the products are written in HTML, but names and addresses of customers, and also prices and discounts are formatted with XML. Here is the information describing a customer:
<customer-details id+ "AcPharm39156"> <name>Acme Pharmaceuticals Co.</name> <address country+ "US">  <street>7301 Smokey Boulevard</street>  <city>Smallville</city>   <state>Indiana</state>   <postal>94571</postal>  </address> </customer-details>
The XML syntax uses matching start and end tags, such as <name> and </name>, to mark up information. A piece of information marked by the presence of tags is called an element: elements may be further enriched by attaching name-value pairs (for example, country+"US" in the example above) called attributes. Its simple syntax is easy to process by machine, and has the attraction of remaining understandable to humans. XML is based on SGML, and is familiar in look and feel to those accustomed to HTML.
Building Applications with XML
XML is a low-level syntax for representing structured data. You can use this simple syntax to support a wide variety of applications. For this reason, XML now underpins a number of Web markup languages and applications.
Outside and inside W3C, many groups are already defining new formats for information interchange. The number of XML applications is growing rapidly, and the growth appears likely to continue. There are many areas, for example, the health-care industry, the on-line revenue generation, database analysis and government and finance, where XML applications are used to store and process data. XML as a simple method for data representation and organization will mean that problems of data incompatibility and tedious manual re-keying will become more manageable.
Therefore, it would be highly desirable to have an XML based communications method and protocol capable of enabling the integration of varying security and environmental hardware monitoring devices, and allowing communication between said devices and a core system application for the purpose of monitoring security systems and/or environmental systems within one or more subject sites, both on site and remotely using direct and indirect means.

Method and protocol for real time security system


In a frequency hopping cellular communication system (40) having a number of base sites (41-48) and using mobile assisted handoff, a method is offered of providing base site identification signals. The method includes the steps of assigning each base site of the number of base sites to a slot of a intersite control frame; and, periodically transmitting, in the assigned slot of the intersite control frame, the identification signal of the base site.

Cellular communication systems are known. Such systems, typically, provide communication services throughout a broad geographic area through a number of base sites distributed throughout the geographic area. The base sites of the system, and associated coverage areas, are arranged within the geographic area in such a manner to provide substantially seamless coverage for communication units passing through the geographic area by being passed from one base site to another.
Base sites within the cellular system offer communication services to communication units within their service coverage areas on a number of communications frequencies (communication resources) (f.sub.1 -f.sub.n) reserved for such use. Such communication services are facilitated by the transmission of an identification signal by a base site. The identification signal is used by communication units as a means of identifying proximate base sites through which service may be requested.
Service within the communication system is provided to requesting communication units through a proximate base site upon receipt of an access request and upon verification that the communication unit is registered within the system. Notification of service may be provided to the communication unit by the base site transmitting a resource allocation to the communication unit. The base site may also allocate a transceiver and voice path through the base site providing access to a communication target.
The communication resource allocated for use by the communication unit is typically in the nature of a duplex traffic channel that, in the case of a frequency division multiple access system, may be a voice channel comprised of a frequency pair (transmit and receive). In other systems the duplex voice channel may exist within a common spectrum using spreading codes (as with a code division multiple access (CDMA) communication system). In still other systems the duplex voice channel may be comprised of slots on a transmit and receive frequency of a time division multiple access (TDMA/TDM) system such as, for example, the Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) Pan-European digital cellular system, as specified in GSM recommendations available from the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI). Under GSM a number of voice channels may exist within the slots of a repeating GSM frame.
As a means of reducing in reference within a GSM-like system the frequency of the traffic channel, over which the duplex voice signal is being exchanged with the base site, may be changed after each exchanged frame. Operating frequencies for each frame (over successive hopped frames), in such case, may be generated by a hopping algorithm such as, for example, GSM recommendation 6.2.3. The use of frequency hopping within a GSM system brings such a system within the definition of CDMA.
As the duplex voice signal is maintained, signal measurements are used to detect movement of the communication unit relative to the base site. As the communication unit moves out of the coverage area of a serving base site such movement must be detected and another base site selected for handoff before signal loss occurs.
The need for handoff in some systems may be detected by measurement of a signal quality factor (such a received signal strength indication (RSSI)) of the served communication unit by base sites surrounding the served communication unit. In other systems the served communication unit measures signals of surrounding base sites, using a method referred to as mobile assisted handoff (MAHO). In MAHO systems the most reliable signal for signal quality measurements is the control channel used by the measured base site.
MAHO signal measurements are transferred to the serving base site by the communication unit on a slow associated control channel (SACCH) used in conjunction with a traffic channel. Such signal measurements may be, in turn, transferred to a mobile switching center (MSC) for a determination of a handoff target. Handoff, in such case, is accomplished by the serving base site transmitting a handoff command to the served communication unit.
While handoff, under MAHO, has worked well in the past, such success has been based upon readily available control signals of surrounding base sites located on fixed frequencies, identifiable through a minimum of scanning or information transfer from a serving base site. Such availability is necessary because of the limited time that a communication unit has between communicated frames for scanning for nearby base sites.
In MAHO systems using frequency hopping, such hopping has been confined to traffic channels, with control channels existing on fixed frequencies. Because of the importance of frequency hopping in reducing interference, a need exists for a method of using MAHO in connection with frequency hopping control channels.

MAHO method for SFH-CDMA/TDMA using punctured frames


An amorphous silicon solar cell has an active body with two or a series of layers of hydrogenated amorphous silicon arranged in a tandem stacked configuration with one optical path and electrically interconnected by a tunnel junction. The layers of hydrogenated amorphous silicon arranged in tandem configuration can have the same bandgap or differing bandgaps.

Photovoltaic devices, i.e., solar cells, are capable of converting solar radiation into useable electrical energy. The energy conversion occurs as a result of what is well known in the solar cell field as the photovoltaic effect. Solar radiation impinging on a solar cell and absorbed by an active region generates electrons and holes. The electrons and holes are separated by a built-in electric field, for example a rectifying junction, in the solar cell. This separation of electrons and holes results in the generation of an electrical current as explained below. For example, a built-in electric field can be generated in a solar cell by an active semiconductor layer with regions of P-type, intrinsic and N-type hydrogenated amorphous silicon. The electrons generated in the intrinsic region, by absorption of solar radiation of the appropriate bandgap, produce electron-hole pairs. The separation of the electron-hole pairs with the electrons flowing toward the region of N-type conductivity, and the holes flowing toward the region of P-type conductivity, creates the photovoltage and photocurrent of the cell.
The photocurrent output of a solar cell is maximized by increasing the total number of photons of differing energy and wavelength which are absorbed by the semiconductor material. The solar spectrum roughly spans the region of wavelengths from about 300 nanometers to about 2200 nanometers, which corresponds to from about 4.2 eV to about 0.59 eV, respectively. The portion of the solar spectrum which is absorbed by the solar cell is determined by the size of the bandgap energy of the semiconductor material. In the past, solar cells were fabricated from single crystal materials such as gallium arsenide, which has a bandgap energy of about 1.45 eV, or crystalline silicon, C-Si, which has a bandgap energy of about 1.1 eV. Solar radiation having an energy less than the bandgap energy is not absorbed by the semiconductor material, and thus does not contribute to the generation of the photocurrent output of the cell.
Semiconductor materials such as GaAs and C-Si have been utilized together in solar cells to increase the overall conversion of solar energy into electrical energy. However, problems are encountered when different semiconductor materials are used in the same solar cell. One solution to the problem of fabricating a solar cell structure with different semiconductor materials was to use filters to reflect light of the appropriate wavelength onto a solar cell of the first material and transmit the non-absorbed light to a cell of the second semiconductor material. A second solution used semiconductor materials of differing bandgaps which could be epitaxially grown on one another, such as aluminum gallium arsenide, gallium arsenide, and gallium phosphide structures. Both these systems have been loosely called tandem junction solar cells. A third alternative was to stack individual solar cells of differing bandgap energies and connect the cells in series. These three alternatives are either cumbersome, expensive and/or bulky.
Thus, it would be highly desirable to have a solar cell structure which could function as a tandem junction solar cell with separate active regions arranged in a stacked configuration without the need for light filters, or epitaxially matching one active region to another, or serially connecting separate solar cells.

Tandem junction amorphous silicon solar cells


A scroll compressor, includes: a scroll compression mechanism including an orbiting scroll, a fixed scroll, and a thrust plate supporting a load of the orbiting scroll in a thrust direction; a back-pressure application mechanism that applies, as back pressure, the refrigerant gas compressed by the scroll compression mechanism to a rear surface of the thrust plate; and a floating amount restriction mechanism that restricts an amount of floating of the thrust plate caused by the back pressure. The floating amount restriction mechanism includes a restriction pin that includes a shaft part and a head part, and locks the thrust plate to the head part to restrict the amount of floating. The shaft part passes through the thrust plate and has a front end part fixed to a front housing, and the head part has a diameter larger than a diameter of the shaft part.

A scroll compressor used in a vehicle air conditioner includes a fixed scroll and an orbiting scroll. Each of the fixed scroll and the orbiting scroll is configured of a spiral wrap that is integrally formed on one surface of a disc-like end plate. The fixed scroll and the orbiting scroll face each other while the respective wraps are engaged with each other, to cause the orbiting scroll to revolve relative to the fixed scroll. Then, a compression space formed between the respective wraps is reduced in capacity while the compression space is caused to move from the outer periphery side to the inner periphery side, thereby resulting in compression of a refrigerant. Note that the mechanism that relates to the compression of the refrigerant and includes the fixed scroll and the orbiting scroll is also referred to as a scroll compression mechanism.
During operation of the scroll compressor, the orbiting scroll and the fixed scroll each receive force, in a direction separating from each other, from the compressed refrigerant, and the orbiting scroll accordingly moves in an axial direction. As a result, a gap is formed between a front end surface (a tooth top) of the wrap of each scroll and the end plate on the opposite side, and the refrigerant is leaked from the gap, which may deteriorate performance of the compressor.
Therefore, for example, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1, it has been proposed that, to prevent the orbiting scroll from moving during the operation of the compressor, the compressed refrigerant is applied to the rear surface of the orbiting scroll to cause the orbiting scroll to float, thereby controlling the front end surface of the wrap to be constantly brought into contact with the end plate on the opposite side. Note that the control is also referred to as orbiting back-pressure control.

Scroll compressor with controlled pressing force

MITSUBISHI HEAVY INDUSTRIES THERMAL SYSTEMS, LTD.


A light source unit of the disclosure includes a plurality of light source sections, a light quantity detector, and a controller. The plurality of light source sections emit rays of colors different from each other. The light quantity detector receives a plurality of color rays emitted by the plurality of light source sections as spatially common light. The controller controls a light emission timing of each of the plurality of light source sections and a gain of the light quantity detector, and measures light quantities of the respective plurality of color rays at different timings and with different gains on a basis of a detection result of the light.

In recent years, a projector (a projection-type display) that projects an image onto a screen has been widely used not only in offices but also at home. The projector generates image light by modulating light from a light source with a light valve (a spatial modulation device), and performs display by projecting the generated image light onto a screen.

Light source unit and projection-type display


In a data processing system a number of processing nodes share resources. Access to the shared resources is controlled by semaphores, each node having a local copy of all the semaphores. Nodes may acquire ownership of semaphores. When a node requires a semaphore operation on a particular semaphore, a semaphore message is broadcast to all the nodes instructing them to perform the semaphore operation on their local copies of the semaphore. If the semaphore is unowned, the node must suspend the semaphore operation until the message returns, so as to ensure correct chronology for the semaphore operation. If, however, the semaphore owned by this node, the node can perform the semaphore operation without waiting for the message to return. This speeds up the semaphore mechanism. If the semaphore is owned by another node, that other node relinquishes ownership so that the semaphore operation can be performed.

This invention relates to semaphore mechanisms for data processing systems.
More specifically, the invention is concerned with a data processing system having a number of processing nodes, interconnected by a communication network, wherein the nodes have access to shared resources such as shared memory.
A semaphore mechanism is a means for ensuring that only one processing node can access a shared resource at any given time. In one known form of semaphore mechanism, each shared resource (e.g. each area of the shared memory) has a semaphore location associated with it. Whenever a node wishes to access a shared resource, it first increments and tests the associated semaphore location, to find out whether another node is already accessing that resource. Conversely, when the node has completed its access to a shared resource, it tests and decrements the appropriate semaphore location. Each node holds local copies of all the semaphore locations, and to ensure that all these copies are kept consistent, each semaphore action requires sending a semaphore message over the network to initiate the required operation on each local copy of the semaphore location.
In such a system, it is necessary to provide some way of synchronising semaphore operations, to ensure that each node applies all such operations in the same chronological sequence, regardless of which node originated them. One way of achieving this is to broadcast the semaphore messages to all the nodes in the system, including the originating nodes. These messages are distributed to the nodes in such a way that all the nodes receive the messages in the same sequence. This sequence then defines a unique chronology for the semaphore operations.
A problem with this is that a process running in a node must be suspended each time it initiates a semaphore operation, until the associated semaphore message has been "turned round" (i.e. received back from the network) so that the process can be sure of the correct chronology for the operation. This can result in significant delays in performing the semaphore operations.
The object of the present invention is to provide a way of reducing the suspension time associated with semaphore operations, and hence to speed up the operation of the system.

Semaphore mechanism for a data processing system


The present invention relates to a method for increasing the stemness of human mesenchymal stem cells and, more particularly, to: a method for increasing the stemness of human mesenchymal stem cells by means of endothelin-1 treatment; the human mesenchymal stem cells having increased stemness by using the method; and a composition for increasing the stemness of human mesenchymal stem cells, containing endothelin-1 as an active ingredient. In the present invention, it is confirmed that the expression of a stemness marker is increased and that a stem cell characteristic is improved such as the length of telomeres being extended, by treating human mesenchymal stem cells with endothelin-1, and thus cellular life span is extended, aging is inhibited, and the growth and viability of cells are increased, thereby enabling mass culturing of human mesenchymal stem cells such that human mesenchymal stem cells are expected to be used effectively in cell therapy or regenerative medicine.

Mesenchymal stem cells (MSCs) first found in bone marrow have a high potential as totipotent cells in regenerative medicine. MSCs may be differentiated into various types of in vivo mesoderm lineages, for example, osteocytes, chondrocytes, tendinocytes, adipocytes, myocytes, fibroblasts, and the like. Also, MSCs may be trans-differentiated into nerve cells, myocardial cells, endothelial cells, and interstitial cells under appropriate medium conditions. In addition, bone marrow MSCs express class I MHC antigens other than class II MHC antigens or express co-stimulatory molecules indicating that the MSCs have no immunogenic activities (Klyushnenkova E. et al., J Biomed Sci, 12(1): 47-57, 2005).
In addition, because MSCs exhibit immunosuppressive activities, the MSCs may be used as graft enhancers or inhibitors for fatal graft and host diseases (Le Blanc K et al., Lancet, 363 (9419): 1439-1441, 2004; El-Badri N. S et al., Exp Hematol, 26(2): 110-116, 1998).
Such MSCs may be isolated from various adult tissues such as bone marrow, adipose tissues, cord blood, peripheral blood, neonatal tissues, human placenta, and the like, but have a limitation in the number of MSCs obtained from the adult tissues.
The minimum number of cells required for cell therapy or regenerative medicine is approximately 1×109, and the value thereof further increases when cells used in experiments for establishing conditions and setting criteria are included. To supply this amount of cells from existing MSCs of various origins, the cells should be passaged at least 10 times in vitro. Then, the cells have a problem in that the cells are aged and deformed so that they are not suitable for the concept of therapy any more. This is a major drawback of the existing culture systems for MSCs to be solved. And, even when the conditions and criteria are established for using such cells, there may not be enough of the cells when the cells are used for therapy, and thus MSCs from another human origin often should be used. In this case, additional experiments should be performed for the purpose of using the other cells. Therefore, to use MSCs as a cell therapeutic agent, there is an urgent need for development of a novel method capable of increasing stemness thereof to solve the above problems.
Stemness is generally used in a related art as a meaning generally encompassing pluripotency of stem cells to produce all types of cells such as embryonic stem cells and self-renewal capacity of stem cells to unlimitedly produce self-like cells. Therefore, the stemness may include an ability of stem cells to increase telomerase activity, increase expression of stem cell-mediated factors (stemness-acting signals), increase growth of undifferentiated cells while maintaining the cells in an undifferentiated state, or increase a cell migration activity (Pittenger, M. F. et al. 1999. Multilineage Potential of Adult Human Mesenchymal Stem Cells, Science 284(5411), 143-147).
Meanwhile, endothelin (ET) is a peptide that is produced in vascular endothelial cells and consists of 21 amino acid residues, and is also known as a vasoconstrictor peptide. ET has two S—S bonds in one molecule, and is produced by modifying an ET precursor by means of an ET converting enzyme. ET-1 was first isolated from a culture broth of porcine vascular endothelial cells in 1988, and there are three types of isopeptides (ET-1, ET-2, and ET-3) in most mammals.
ET causes transient vasodilation and sustained vasoconstriction. In this case, the three types of isopeptides have substantially the same effect on the transient vasodilation, and the effect of ET-3 on the vasoconstriction action is approximately one hundredth of those of ET-1 and ET-2. An ET receptor is known to have two types of subtypes. Among these, ETA participates in the vasoconstriction action, and ETB participates in the vasodilation action.
However, it is not yet known whether ET has an effect on the stemness of human MSCs.

Method for increasing stemness of human mesenchymal stem cells


A method and apparatus for preventing wrap-back of print media into a supply during a pick cycle provides a closed egress path regardless of orientation of a pick mechanism to the paper supply. In an exemplary embodiment, a biased, flexible member is mounted between a fixed position and a moving pick device such that the flexible member follows the pick device as the stack of print media depletes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to print media feeding for hard copy printing and plotting apparatus and, more particularly, to a cut-sheet, print medium, pick and feed mechanisms.
2. Description of Related Art
Many office products such as computer printers and plotters, plain paper facsimile machines, and photocopiers use mechanisms that pick a sheet of paper from a stack of media in an input tray and feed a single sheet of pre-cut printing medium (for example, a sheet of paper of a particular size such as standard letter size, legal size, or A4 (metric), or transparencies, or envelopes) into the hard copy producing apparatus. These mechanisms are generically referred to as "sheet feeders."
Sheet feeders usually are provided with an adjustable or replaceable media cartridge, tray, or other type of stacker in which a user can stack multiple cut-sheets of the media of choice. The use of media cartridges (essentially easily substituted paper trays) adapted to the various styles of media provide a mechanism for quick changes between any particular printing medium by the user. Upon receiving a media feed command ("FEED") from the hard copy machine controller electronics, a sheet picking device is actuated to deliver the top sheet from the stack into the hard copy machine. Under proper operating conditions, a sheet picking mechanism associated with the stacker should deliver a single sheet of the print medium to the hard copy machine input mechanism, such as a set of pinch rollers used for registration and feed into the actual printing subsystem of the machine.
Misfeeds, multiple sheet feeds, paper jams, and the like are common problems associated with sheet feeders. FIGS. 1 and 1A depict a typical problem of a misfeed caused by a premature bending ("wrap" or "wrap-back") of a picked sheet before its leading edge can be captured by an input mechanism (not shown; generally located close to the exit plane of the leading edge of a picked sheet) used to transport the sheet to a printing station. FIG. 1 shows a normal feed of a sheet 100 from a stack 101 of sheets in an input bin 102 by a pick mechanism 103 having a feed arm 104 and a motorized pick roller 105. In FIG. 1 the sheet 100 is being properly fed up the input tray angled wall 106. The details of a stack loader located below a hard copy apparatus' printing mechanisms are shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,507,478 by Nottingham et al. for PRINTING MEDIA STATUS SENSING, assigned to the common assignee herein and incorporated herein by reference.
FIG. 1A shows a misfeed in which the picked sheet 100 has wrapped around the pick mechanism 103 before properly exiting the bin and being received by the input feed mechanism. High humidity tends to exacerbate such a problem. Thin media or media that has any inherent curl in it is highly susceptible to the problem.
One solution to the problem is to flatten out the feed angle. U. S. Pat. No. 5,876,133 by Kleln et al. for a SHEET PRESENTER AND METHOD OF USING SAME has an elongated platform adapted to engage a printer. A pair of spaced walls extend upwardly from the platform to support pivotally an arm at one end thereof. A motor disposed at another end of the arm is operatively connected to a drive roller wherein the mass of the motor urges the corresponding end of the arm downwardly to engage a sheet. This however requires a much larger workspace footprint than a printer having a contained input tray located below the printing zone such as illustrated by FIGS. 1 and 1A and preferable in the marketplace.
Another solution is to provide a paper guide fixed to a pivotal feed arm 104. However, such paper guides move with the arm. When the rollers of the feed arm are on a full stack, the paper guides protrude above the highest level of the feed arm, requiring extra height in the media bin to accommodate them. If the guides are made to be very short to minimize the amount that they protrude above the feed arm's highest position, they will not be effective when the paper stack is low and the feed arm pivoted into a more vertical than horizontal orientation. The picked sheet of a low stack will tend even more to wrap around the feed arm before reaching the top of the wall 106 where it can be captured by transport rollers.
Therefore, there is a need to facilitate the transfer of a sheet of print media from an internal input supply stack to a hard copy machine's printing zone.

Print media pick and feed anti-wrap method and apparatus


A wire retaining clip has a mid-portion extending across the back of a vineyard post and forwardly extending arms with helical turns on the ends thereof. The retaining clip is engaged with a tensioned, horizontal trellis wire so that the trellis wire is bent sharply rearwardly of the front edges of the post and is locked into the turns of the clip. The retaining clip prevents the trellis wire from pulling away from the front of the post, prevents movement of the post along the length of the trellis wire and utilizes the tension of the trellis wire to restrain twisting of the post. An installing tool provides for easy installation of the retaining clips.

This invention relates to trellis systems for vineyards or the like and more particularly to the attachment of horizontal trellis wires to vertical posts.
A typical vineyard arranged to be mechanically harvested will be planted so that there will be a plurality of parallel rows with spaced apart grape plants in each row. A trellis system is provided by installing a plurality of vertical posts along each row, usually a post at each plant and with an end post at each end of the row. One or more horizontal trellis wires are extended down each row anchored under tension to the end posts and attached to the intermediate posts. The vines are grown along the trellis wires which support the vines so that the grapes can be readily harvested therefrom.
The conventional manner of attaching the trellis wires to the intermediate wooden posts has been by the use of simple staples. In vineyards which are not mechanically harvested, this is a rapid, inexpensive and effective way of forming a trellis system. However, staple attachment has proven ineffective in keeping the wires attached to the posts when the vineyard is mechanically harvested, particularly when the harvester imparts a shaking action to the trellis. Such shaking often pulls the staples out of the posts, allowing the trellis wire to drop.
Another disadvantage of the staple attachment is encountered when a post is struck or a force imposed thereon in a direction along the length of the row. Since the staple attachment affords very little resistance to sliding movement of the attachment along the length of the trellis wire, such force will oftentimes push the post over and/or break it.
Attempts have been made to provide a more permanent attachment of a trellis wire to a post. For example, one manner is to form a wire loop around the trellis wire and the post and to twist the loop tightly and clamp the trellis wire against the post. This has proven to be a reasonably satisfactory expedient, although it still allows some sliding of the attachment along the length of the trellis wire. However, this manner of attachment is time consuming and, as a result, quite expensive.
Steel posts are often used, instead of wood posts, in vineyard trellis systems. Typically, the stake is notched to hold the trellis wire at a desired height above the ground and the trellis wire is held in the notch by means of a wire loop encircling the post and passing over the trellis wire. Again there is very little resistance to movement of the attachment along the length of the trellis wire and forces imposed on the post in a direction along the row can cause bending of the post and permanent deformation thereof. In addition, the post can twist about the vertical axis thereof and permanently deform when struck by the harvester since such trellis wire attachment provides no resistance to such twisting.


Pulses detected by an earlobe sensor are inputted in a microcomputer, so that the number of pulses is stored every lapse of a prescribed time. The as-stored numbers of the pulses are so cumulated that an average pulse rate is calculated from the cumulative result. On the other hand, a pulse rate is calculated from the as-stored numbers of pulses, to calculate a consumed calorie. A display part indicates the cumulative result of the pulse rates, the consumed calorie and the like with a lapse time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pulsimeter, and more particularly, it relates to a pulsimeter which is employed for managing exercise such as jogging.
2. Description of the Background Art
In a conventional pulsimeter, upper and lower limit values of a pulse rate to be counted are so set that warning is given to the user by an alarm when the pulse rate is in excess or below the upper or lower limit value, thereby maintaining the strength of the exercise at a proper level.
Another conventional pulsimeter is adapted to store pulse rate data during exercise. Namely, this pulsimeter stores a pulse rate which is detected every constant period of 5 seconds, 15 seconds or 1 minute, and displays data showing relations between such pulse rates and times after completion of the exercise.
Another conventional pulsimeter cumulates respective times of those elapsing with pulse rates exceeding an upper limit value, between upper and lower limits and below the lower limit, to display the respective cumulated times after completion of the exercise.
In such a conventional pulsimeter, however, it is impossible to grasp the amount of exercise in real time, although the logged pulse rates and changes thereof can be recognized after completion of the exercise.

Pulsimeter capable of properly evaluating amount of exercise at arbitrary time


A multi-type air conditioner address setting method and address setting device for automatically setting an address with a simple structure. A dummy address sent from an exterior device is stored in an interior device. The interior device determines whether the interior device itself is operating in a designated operation mode. When the interior device is operating in the designated operation mode, the dummy address is set as an actual address. When an address request signal is sent from the exterior device, the set address is sent back thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multi-type air conditioner address setting method and address setting device, and in particular, to a multi-type air conditioner address setting method and device for setting the addresses of interior units of a multi-type air conditioner in which the interior units are connected, via coolant pipes and signal wires, to coolant pipe connecting portions and signal wire connecting portions of a single exterior unit, which is provided with a plurality of the coolant pipe connecting portions and signal wire connecting portions.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a multi-type air conditioner, a single exterior unit and a plurality of interior units are connected at an installation locale via coolant pipes and signal wires. If there is faulty connection of the coolant pipe connecting portions (valves) or signal wire connecting portions (connectors) of the exterior unit, much time is requires to confirm the connections.
Conventionally, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 3-11256, interior heat exchanger temperature sensors which detect the temperatures of interior heat exchangers are provided at the respective interior units, and valve temperature sensors (gas branch-pipe temperature sensors) are disposed at the respective coolant pipe connecting portions of the exterior unit, so that the status of connection of the interior units can be confirmed. In this method, first, numbers (i.e., addresses DC1 through DC4) are given in advance to the respective interior heat exchanger temperature sensors, and addresses DG1 through DG4 are given to the respective valve temperature sensors. Next, any one of flow regulating valves is completely opened, and one of the interior units is operated at a designated mode (e.g., a cooling mode). The address of the interior heat exchanger temperature sensor whose temperature has dropped and the address of the valve temperature sensor whose temperature has dropped are detected, and are stored in correspondence. Then, during normal operation, the respective interior units are controlled on the basis of the stored contents.
However, the above-described conventional method has a drawback in that it is necessary to set the address of each sensor in advance, and address setting requires much work. Further, because it is necessary to dispose a temperature sensor at each of the interior units and coolant pipe valves, the structure of the device is complex. Moreover, control is complicated as the corresponding relationships between the valves and the connected interior units must always be referred to.

Multi-type air conditioner address setting method and address setting device


A thermostat that is configured to be releasably secured to a wall mountable connector, wherein the wall mountable connector includes a jumper switch that permits an installer or other professional to easily form an electrical connection between different wiring terminals of the wall mountable connector in accordance with how particular field wires are connected to the wiring terminals of the wall mountable connector. The thermostat is further configured to automatically determine the position of the jumper switch of the wall mountable connector, and in some cases, change the control of at least some functionality of the thermostat and/or HVAC equipment depending on the position of the jumper switch.

Heating, Ventilation, and/or Air Conditioning (HVAC) systems are often used to control the comfort level within a building or other structure. Such HVAC systems typically include an HVAC controller that controls various HVAC components of the HVAC system in order to affect and/or control one or more environmental conditions within the building. In many cases, the HVAC controller is mounted to an internal wall of the building and provides control signals to various HVAC components of the HVAC system, sometimes via a number of control wires that extend through the wall. In some cases, the HVAC controller includes an HVAC controller head unit and a wall plate. During installation, the wall plate is typically mounted to an internal wall of the building, and the HVAC controller head unit is removably mounted to the wall plate. Improvements in the hardware, user experience, and functionality of such HVAC controllers would be desirable.

Automatic detection of jumper switch position of a wall mount connector


The present invention relates to a composite material, a high-frequency circuit substrate made therefrom and a making method thereof. The composite material comprises: thermosetting mixture including more than one liquid vinyl resin with the molecular weight being less than 10000 containing polar functional groups, and a polyphenylene ether resin with the molecular weight being less than 5000 containing unsaturated double bonds at the molecule terminal; fiberglass cloth; powder filler; flame retardant and cure initiator. The high-frequency circuit substrate made from the composite material comprises a plurality of prepregs mutually overlapped, and copper foils respectively covered on both sides of overlapped prepregs; each prepreg is made from the composite material. The composite material of the prevent invention realizes easy manufacturing of the prepregs and high bonding force to the copper foil. The high-frequency circuit substrate made from the composite material has low dielectric constant, low dielectric loss tangent, and excellent heat resistance, and is convenient for process operation. Therefore, the composite material of the present invention is suitable for making the circuit substrate of a high-frequency electronic equipment.

In recent years, with computers and information communication equipments developing toward high performance, high function and networking, to transmit and process large-capacity information at high speed, operation signals tend to be high-frequency. Therefore, the material of the circuit substrate material is required to be improved.
Among the conventional materials used for a printed circuit substrate, epoxy resins with excellent adhesion characteristics are widely used. However, an epoxy resin circuit substrate generally has relatively high dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent (the dielectric constant is more than 4, and the dielectric loss tangent is around 0.02), and inadequate high-frequency characteristics, which result in failure in meeting the requirement of high-frequency signals. Therefore, it is required to develop resins with excellent dielectric properties, that is, resins having low dielectric constant and dielectric loss tangent. For a long time, technicians in the field have studied thermosetting polybutadiene or copolymer resin of polybutadiene and styrene, which have excellent dielectric properties. The results of these studies are cited as the following.
PCT patent application (WO97/38564) disclosed a circuit substrate made from nonpolar styrene-polybutadiene divinyl benzene terpolymer with magnesium aluminum silicate as a filler and fiberglass cloth as a reinforcing material being added in, which has excellent dielectric properties but poor heat resistance. The glass transition temperature of the circuit substrate is only about 100° C., and the coefficient of thermal expansion is very large, so it is hard to meet the high temperature (over 240° C.) requirement in the lead free process of manufacturing PCBs.
A US patent (U.S. Pat. No. 5,571,609) disclosed a circuit substrate made from 1,2-polybutadiene resin or polyisoprene with molecular weight being less than 5000, polybutadiene styrene copolymer with high molecular weight, lots of silica as a filler, and fiberglass cloth as a reinforcing material, which has excellent dielectric properties. However, in the patent, a component with high molecular weight is adopted to improve the sticky property of the prepregs, so the processing property of the process of manufacturing prepregs becomes bad. Moreover, the proportion of rigid structure benzene ring in the resin molecule of the whole resin system is very small, and the cross-linked segments are mostly composed of methylene with very low rigidity. So, the made sheet has poor rigidity and very low flexural strength.
A US patent (U.S. Pat. No. 6,569,943) disclosed a circuit substrate made from amine modifier polybutadiene liquid resin with vinyl at the molecule terminal, lots of monomers (styrene dibromide) of low molecular weight as a curing agent and diluent, and impregnate fiberglass cloth, which has excellent dielectric properties. However, for the resin system is liquid at normal temperature, it can not be made into non-sticky prepregs. Therefore, in the compression moulding of sheets, it is difficult to adopt common stacked technology of prepregs, which results in difficult process operation.
Chinese patent No. CN1280337C used polyphenylene ether resin with unsaturated double bonds at the molecule terminal, and adopted vinyl monomer (such as styrene dibromide) of low molecular weight as a curing agent. However, since these monomers of low molecular weight have a low boiling point, which will volatilize during the drying process of impregnating fiberglass cloth to make a prepreg, the usage amount of the curing agent can not ensure to be enough. Besides, although the patent disclosed that polybutadiene resins can be used to improve the viscosity of the system, it did not clearly disclose that polybutadiene resins with polarity groups were adopted and polybutadiene resins with polarity groups were adopted to improve the peel strength.
The above said patents or patent applications still have a conspicuous problem, that is, the peel strength of the made copper cladded sheet is low (less than 0.8 N/mm), which causes the made copper cladded sheet to have the risk of the circuit peeling off while processing PCB circuits or using the equipments.

Composite material, high-frequency circuit substrate made therefrom and making method thereof