The purpose of the invention is to produce an imidafenacin-containing percutaneously absorbed preparation, wherein the drug not only is not allowed to crystallize but also has adequate skin penetration. The imidafenacin-containing percutaneously absorbed preparation comprises isostearic acid and a fatty acid ester, which function as crystallization-preventing agents.

In order to obtain drug efficacy by administering a drug, an oral administration method is generally used; however, transdermal administration method has many advantages compared to oral administration method. For example, in oral administration method, a drug absorbed in the bowel is first metabolized in the liver so that a large amount of the drug is decomposed before it exhibits drug efficacy in desired regions; whereas in transdermal administration method, the absorbed drug does not pass initially through the liver in the body circulation, and therefore its efficacy is not significantly decreased in the liver due to metabolism. Furthermore, transdermal administration method has other advantages such as, at the drug effect is continuous, and it has a sustained drug release characteristics.
In addition, as an advantage of transdermal administration method, reduction of side effects can be expected by sustained release of drugs and by maintaining their constant blood levels in particular, there is a tendency that transdermal administration preparations that can be administered for a long period of time (1 day to 7 days) are desired from the viewpoint of patient compliance.
In such percutaneous absorption preparations, an important issue is how to effectively release the drug (medicinal ingredient) from a base, namely, to effectively transfer the drug from the base to the skin. In general, when formulation design is attempted using a specific drug, quite often crystallization, etc. occurs due to insufficient dissolution of the drug in a base, resulting in a decreased level of drug release and insufficient therapeutic effect. In addition, crystallization is undesirable from the viewpoint of long-term storage of preparations. Accordingly, selection of a crystallization inhibitor is important for percutaneous absorption preparations. Furthermore, because a drug is absorbed through the skin, it is necessary to increase the skin permeability of the drug. Therefore, selection of the optimal dissolving agent for the drug is important in the formulation design; depending on the selection of dissolving agent, dissolution of the drug becomes insufficient, leading to a decreased level of release of the drug from the base and decreased level of transfer of the drug to a diseased part, and consequently, sufficient therapeutic effect cannot be exerted.
Imidafenacin (4-(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2,2-diphenylbutane amide) is a muscarinic receptor antagonist having a M3 and M1 muscarinic receptor antagonistic activity selective for the bladder, and is a therapeutic drug for urinary frequency and urinary incontinence.
While imidafenacin has been used as an agent for oral administration in the current clinical setting, from the viewpoints of reduction of side effects such as liver failure, stabilization of blood concentration for a long period of time, and long-sustaining effects, development of transdermal administration preparations such as adhesive patch, etc., rather than oral administration preparations, has been desired.
Based on such current situation, percutaneous absorption preparations comprising imidafenacin have been proposed (Patent Literatures 1 and 2).
In Patent Literatures 1 and 2, a percutaneous absorption preparation comprising 4-(2-methyl-1H-imidazol-1-yl)-2,2-diphenylbutane amide (imidafenacin) is described; however, since imidafenacin has low skin permeability, in order to use it in a skin-absorption type preparation wherein a drug is efficiently absorbed through the skin, it is necessary to increase its skin permeability and to suppress crystallization. However, in Patent Literatures 1 and 2, a means for solving such problems has not been provided.
In Patent Literature 3, an adhesive patch composed of a backing and an adhesive layer comprising a free-basic drug, an adhesive agent and a fatty acid having an aliphatic hydrocarbon group with a carbon number of 8-22; however, this does not provide a means for solving the problem of inhibiting the crystallization simultaneously without decreasing the skin permeability in percutaneous absorption preparations comprising imidafenacin as the therapeutic agent for urinary frequency and urinary incontinence.


A wall mount double-sided liquid crystal display is simple in structure, lightweight, thin, adjustable in angle, and fixed to a wall, including a base fixed to a wall; a frame pivotally connected to the base through a pivotal connection element; a first liquid crystal display panel unit disposed in the frame; a second liquid crystal display panel unit disposed in the frame in a manner to be parallel and adjacent to the first liquid crystal display panel unit; a first edge-lit backlight unit disposed in the frame; a second edge-lit backlight unit disposed in the frame; a control unit disposed in the base and electrically connected to the first liquid crystal display panel unit, second liquid crystal display panel unit, first edge-lit backlight unit, and second edge-lit backlight unit; and a power unit disposed in the base and electrically connected to the control unit.

At present, billboards displayed at plenty of public spaces, such as playgrounds, airports, shopping malls, bus stations, railway stations, and casinos, typically fall into two categories, namely acrylic billboards and LED (light-emitting diode) billboards.
Acrylic billboards can be updated only by making new ones. In doing so, the owners of the acrylic billboards not only have to pay for the new acrylic billboards but also must patiently await the delivery of new acrylic billboards—production of acrylic billboards takes time.
Owners of LED billboards are never confronted with the aforesaid problems but have to incur high LED billboard maintenance costs and expect that LED billboards usually display colors and patterns which are less attractive than colors and patterns displayed on acrylic billboards, and thus LED billboards attract lookers less than acrylic billboards do in terms of the average time the lookers spend watching the billboards.
In view of the aforesaid drawbacks of acrylic billboards and LED billboards, a promising alternative is LCD (liquid crystal display) billboards. Nonetheless, conventional LCD billboards are not free of drawbacks. For example, at the aforesaid public spaces, a conventional LCD billboard typically consists of two liquid crystal displays arranged in a back-to-back manner so as to face lookers in two opposite directions concurrently. As a result, the most obvious drawback of the back-to-back LCD billboards is that they are bulky and take up much space.
The conventional LCD billboard can also come in the form of a wall mount LCD billboard. As its name suggest, it is fixed to a wall. Its inherent drawbacks include being unadjustable in angle and being impossible to face lookers in two opposite directions concurrently.
Accordingly, it is imperative to invent a liquid crystal display which is capable of facing lookers in two opposite directions concurrently, simple in structure, lightweight, thin, adjustable in angle, and conducive to changing display contents quickly and conveniently.

Wall mount double-sided liquid crystal display


Feature descriptor matching described herein may include receiving a first input image and a second input image. A feature detector may detect features from the first and second input images. A descriptor extractor may learn local feature descriptors from the features of the first and second input images based on a feature descriptor matching model trained using a ground truth data set. The descriptor extractor may determine a listwise mean average precision (mAP) rank of a pool of candidate image patches from the second input image with respect to a queried image patch from the first input image based on the feature descriptor matching model, the first set of local feature descriptors, and the second set of local feature descriptors. The descriptor matcher may generate a geometric transformation between the first input image and the second input image based on the listwise mAP and a convolutional neural network.

A global positioning system (GPS) is often used to determine a location of a vehicle. For example, GPS may require a space based satellite navigation system that determines a location based on multiple GPS satellites. Often GPS is operational as long as there is an unobstructed view from the vehicle to respective GPS satellites. Because GPS requires an unobstructed view to GPS satellites, inclement weather conditions, urban regions, mountainous terrain, or other occlusions often pose challenges to determining the location or position of a vehicle or in implementing vehicle localization.


An apparatus is disclosed for measuring the permeability of an anode of a solid oxide fuel cell. The apparatus includes a specimen container, an air reservoir and a recorder. The specimen container includes a can and a cover. The can includes a tunnel defined therein and a cavity in communication with the tunnel. The anode can be disposed in the cavity. The cover includes a tunnel defined therein and a bulger inserted in the cavity and pressed against the anode so that air can penetrate the anode and travel into the tunnel of the can from the tunnel of the cover. The air reservoir is in communication with the cover. The recorder measures and records the pressure and temperature of air in the air reservoir before and after the air is introduced into the specimen container from the air reservoir.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a solid oxide fuel cell and, more particularly, to an apparatus of measuring the permeability of an anode of a solid oxide fuel cell.
2. Related Prior Art
A solid oxide fuel cell includes a solid electrolyte for separating an anode and a cathode. At the cathode, oxygen is turned into ions. The ions are transferred to the anode from the cathode via the solid electrolyte. At the anode, the ions react with hydrogen and releases electricity. The permeability of the anode influences the performance of the solid oxide fuel cell. In general, the anode is selected before the solid electrolyte and the cathode are selected. An anode will be selected only if the permeability thereof is acceptable.
However, the permeability of an anode is calculated based on the properties of the material of which the anode is made. There has not been any practical apparatus for measuring the permeability of an anode.
A Brugger's Gpp-C can be used to measure the permeability of an anode. A Brugger's Gpp-C however requires a vacuum pump to create vacuum so that the permeability of an anode can be measured.
A He-detector can only detect the leak of a system, but cannot measure the permeability of an anode.
The present invention is therefore intended to obviate or at least alleviate the problems encountered in prior art.

Apparatus for measuring permeability rate of anode of solid oxide fuel cell


A string-guiding structure for an automatic curtain-reeling device has an arc guiding frame pivotally attached at an entrance for a string corresponding to a connecting pin to extend the string via a limiting space defined between the arc guiding frame and the connecting pin. Therefore, the string is trimmed and depressed to avoid being seized caused by over-rebound or swing of the string and to make the string to work smoothly.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a string-guiding structure for an automatic curtain-reeling device that has a movable guiding frame to define a limiting space to constrain movement of the string to avoid the string being caught on the reeling device.
2. Description of Related Art
A cordless curtain structure substantially contains an automatic curtain-reeling device on its top rail and makes the blades or curtain to elevate or lower by pulling the string with the automatic curtain-reeling device. Therefore, the cordless curtain structure is safe and convenient in operation.
The conventional automatic curtain-reeling device is composed of two paired guiding wheels meshed by gears. The top side of the two guiding wheels is mounted with an S-shape coil spring, and a bottom side of the two guiding wheels secures two strings winding in counteractive directions. The two guiding wheels with two pivotal shafts respectively and a connecting pin are sandwiched by an upper board and a lower board to compose a stable combination to extend the strings downward to collect the blades or the curtain for the pulling function. Although the user can pull and stop the blade or the curtain at any position, the moving speed of the string is fast (the diameters of the guiding wheels are small so that the rotation speed is fast). Thus, the strings easily get stuck, because the strings violently swing and rebound when they are pulling or collecting. In operation, the strings are wound on the guiding wheels respectively and repeatedly. When the strings are pulled outward or collected inward by rebounding of the S-shaped coil spring, the strings swing rapidly up and down because of the different locations where the strings are mounted on the guiding wheels. When the string swings upward, it easily enters the gear gaps to be caught by the gears. When one string swings downward, it easily falls into the seam between the automatic curtain-reeling device and the top rail and also gets stuck. Therefore, the automatic curtain-reeling device malfunctions in both situations abovementioned.

String-guiding structure for an automatic curtain-reeling device


A cryogenic air separation system which is subject to periods of significant changes in product demand is controlled during such periods to minimize the impact of transient operation on product purity. A double-column distillation system is utilized in which a nitrogen-rich liquid is withdrawn from the higher-pressure column and introduced into the lower-pressure column as reflux. An inventory of this liquid is maintained in a holdup tank for storage or withdrawal during periods of transient operation. In addition, nitrogen vapor product from the lower-pressure column is recycled to the higher-pressure column, and the nitrogen vapor recycle rate is controlled as a function of the liquid level in the holdup tank. The flow rate of nitrogen-rich liquid withdrawn from the higher-pressure column is controlled as a function of its composition. The flow ratio of the nitrogen vapor recycle to the nitrogen-rich liquid reflux is controlled as a function of the composition of the nitrogen vapor withdrawn from the lower-pressure column. A feedforward control system increases the flow rate of the nitrogen-rich liquid withdrawn from the higher-pressure column during periods of increasing product demand and decreases the flow rate during periods of decreasing product demand.

The generation of electricity by advanced gasification combined cycle power generation systems offers the potential for reduced power cost and lower environmental impact than standard coal-fired power plants. In these advanced systems, coal or other carbonaceous material is gasified with oxygen and the produced gas is cleaned to yield a low-sulfur fuel gas. This fuel gas is utilized in a gas turbine generation system to produce electric power with reduced environmental emissions. Because these advanced systems are more energy efficient than traditional coal-fired power plants, the amount of carbon dioxide produced for a given power output is reduced significantly. The growing interest in gasification combined cycle (GCC) technology in recent years has been stimulated by the higher efficiency and demonstrated reliability of advanced gas turbines, coal gasification processes, and air separation systems which are utilized in integrated gasification combined cycle (IGCC) systems. The proper integration of these three main components of an IGCC system is essential to achieve maximum operating efficiency and minimum power cost.
A general review of the current art in GCC and IGCC power generation systems is given by D. M. Todd in an article entitled "Clean Coal Technologies for Gas Turbines" presented at the GE Turbine State-of-the-Art Technology Seminar, July 1993, pp. 1-18. A review of various integration techniques and the impact thereof on GCC economics is given in a paper by A. D. Rao et al entitled "Integration of Texaco TQ Gasification with Elevated Pressure ASU" presented at the 13.sup.th EPRI Conference on Gasification Power Plants, San Francisco, Calif., Oct. 19-21, 1994.
The integration of air separation units and gas turbines in IGCC systems are reviewed in papers entitled "Next-Generation Integration Concepts for Air Separation Units and Gas Turbines" by A. R. Smith et al in J. Eng. For Gas Turbines and Power, Vol 119, April 1997, pp. 298-304, and "Oxygen Production in an IGCC Plant" by R. J. Allam et al in Power-Gen Europe, Cologne (Germany), May 17-19, 1994, pp. 581-596. Representative process configurations for integrated gas turbine and air separation systems are given in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,388,395, 5,459,994, and 5,609,041 and in European Patent Publication No. EP 0 773 416 A2.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,078 describes a method of operating the air separation plant of an IGCC system under turndown conditions at reduced oxygen product pressure and purity.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,501,078, 5,224,336, 5,437,160, 5,592,834, and 5,566,825 describe process control methods for operating IGCC systems under changing oxygen and nitrogen product demand. A typical double-column air separation distillation system is used in which nitrogen-enriched liquid is withdrawn from the higher-pressure column and introduced as reflux into the top of the lower-pressure column. During periods of increasing or decreasing product demand, a portion of this nitrogen-enriched liquid is either stored to reduce the amount of reflux to the lower-pressure column or withdrawn from storage to increase the amount of reflux to the lower-pressure column. U.S. Pat. No. 5,224,336 teaches that nitrogen-enriched liquid is stored when the feed air pressure to the higher-pressure column increases, thereby decreasing reflux, and that nitrogen-enriched liquid is withdrawn when the feed air pressure to the higher-pressure column decreases, thereby increasing reflux. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,437,160, 5,592,834, and 5,566,825 teach that nitrogen-enriched liquid is stored when a decrease in the feed air flow rate to the higher-pressure column or a decrease in product demand occurs, thereby decreasing reflux, and that nitrogen-enriched liquid is withdrawn from storage when an increase in the feed air flow rate to the higher-pressure column or an increase in product demand occurs, thereby increasing reflux.
It is well-understood in the art that control of the air separation system in response to changing oxygen product demand from the gasifier, which in turn is a result of changing electric power demand, is of critical importance for efficient IGCC system operation. Off-design or transient operation of the gas turbine can occur for other reasons, for example changes in ambient temperature, which also will impact operation of the air separation system. Since the air separation system is closely linked with both the gasifier and gas turbine systems, lack of proper control in the air separation system will have a serious negative impact on the control of the entire IGCC system.
As described in the background art cited above, the air separation system is linked with the gasifier and gas turbine of an IGCC system in several ways. First, oxygen at the proper purity, pressure, and flow rate is supplied to the gasifier to produce fuel gas for the gas turbine combustor. Second, some or all of the byproduct nitrogen at the proper purity, pressure, and flow rate is withdrawn from the lower-pressure column, compressed, and mixed with the fuel gas to the combustor to recover additional energy and reduce combustion temperatures for nitrogen oxide control. Third, some or all of the compressed air feed to the air separation system can be provided by a portion of the air from the gas turbine compressor or some other source of compressed air. In addition, high pressure nitrogen can be supplied to the gasifier for inerting and solids handling requirements.
Close control of the oxygen content in the byproduct nitrogen to the gas turbine combustor is required in order to avoid the formation of explosive mixtures when this nitrogen is mixed with fuel gas prior to or within the gas turbine combustor. This is particularly critical during periods of changing demand for oxygen product, since a change in oxygen demand results in transient operation of the entire air separation system. The present invention, as described in the specification below and defined by the claims which follow, is an improved method to operate an IGCC system during both transient and steady state operation, in particular to control the purity of byproduct nitrogen to the gas turbine combustor during transient operation.

Nitrogen purity control in the air separation unit of an IGCC power generation system


A method for mobile node operations includes communicating with a first point of attachment in a first radio network through a radio interface tuned to the first radio network, and encapsulating a first frame in a second radio network format within a media independent control frame. The method also includes transmitting the media independent control frame with the first frame in the second radio network format encapsulated therein to a second point of attachment in a second radio network using the radio interface tuned to the first radio network.

The drive for wireless communications is to allow for greater levels of roaming and allow seamless roaming. Myriad issues, such as handoff between providers, authentication, communication system capabilities and limitations, become increasingly important when roaming, particularly when global roaming is contemplated.
When a mobile node (MN) (also commonly referred to as a mobile station, a subscriber, a user, a terminal, a User Equipment (UE), and the like) moves from an area covered by one network and enters another area covered by another network the call preferably is transferred to the second network without dropping the connection or losing packets. In cellular telecommunications, the term handover or handoff refers to the process of transferring an ongoing call or data session from one channel connected to the core network to another. This function can be referred to as handover with fast mobility.
The term handover or handoff may also apply to when a MN changes from one channel connected to the core network via a first communications controller (also commonly referred to as a base station, a controller, a base terminal station, a NodeB, an enhanced NodeB, and the like) to a second communications controller. Similarly, when a MN is powered on in a new location served by a different network than an immediately preceding network used by the MN, the wireless communications network must recognize the change in location of the MN and direct to the new network the information destined to the MN. This can be referred to as handover with slow mobility.
As more different types of access networks become available, a goal of equipment manufacturers has been to produce a single MN that is capable of operating in multiple access interfaces. These MNs may commonly be referred to as multi-mode MNs, multi-mode phones, global phones, and the like. In order to support multiple access networks, these MNs may have multiple transmit radios to allow for simultaneous access to more than one access network.
Existing methods to perform handover are primarily dual-radio handovers. Dual-radio handover generally requires high peak power consumption capability and sharp signal filtering in the MN due to the use of two or more radios.

System and method for cross-layer encapsulation messaging

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present disclosure relates to a display device including a touch sensor and a manufacturing method thereof, and more particularly, to a display device including a touch sensor using a piezoelectric material and a manufacturing method thereof. The display device includes a first substrate, wherein a plurality of thin film transistors are disposed on the first substrate; a second substrate disposed facing the first substrate; a plurality of piezoelectric elements disposed on the second substrate; and a first sensing electrode overlapping the piezoelectric elements, the first sensing electrode being configured to transfer a sensing voltage generated as a result of pressure applied to the piezoelectric elements.

(a) Technical Field
The present invention relates to a display device including a touch sensor and a manufacturing method thereof, and particularly, to a display device including a touch sensor using a piezoelectric material and a manufacturing method thereof.
(b) Description of the Related Art
A display device (such as liquid crystal display (LCD), organic light emitting diode display (OLED display), or electrophoretic display) includes an electric field generating electrode and an electro-optical active layer. An LCD may include a liquid crystal layer as the electro-optical active layer; an OLED display may include an organic light emitting layer as the electro-optical active layer, and an electrophoretic display may include a layer having charge-carrying particles as the electro-optical active layer. The electric field generating electrode may be connected to a switching element (e.g. a thin film transistor). When a data signal is applied to the switching element, the electro-optical active layer displays an image by converting the data signal to an optical signal.
In addition to the image display function, a display device may include a touch sensing function. The touch sensing function allows a user to interact with the display device when contact information is received (or sensed) from the user. For example, a display device having a touch sensing function can detect whether an object has approached or made physical contact with the screen of the display device, as well as the actual contact position on the screen (if contact has been made). The touch sensing function may be accomplished using, for example, a touch sensor to sense the change in pressure, charge, or reflected light in the display device when a user touches the screen with a finger or touch pen. The sensed information is then converted into an image signal for displaying an image on the display device.
The touch sensor may include resistive sensors, capacitive sensors, electro-magnetic (EM) sensors, optical sensors, or other types of sensors.
A capacitive touch sensor may include a sensing capacitor having a sensing electrode capable of transferring a sensing signal. Specifically, the capacitive touch sensor can detect whether contact has been made and the actual contact position, by sensing the change in capacitance of the sensing capacitor when a conductive element (such as the user's finger) approaches the sensor.
In a resistive touch sensor, a pair of electrodes spaced apart may come into contact due to external pressure from an object. When the two electrodes make contact at a particular position, the resistance of the electrodes changes. The contact position is then determined by measuring the corresponding change in voltage.
The resistive touch sensor typically works well for a single point of contact. However, if a user simultaneously touches a plurality of points on the screen of the display device, the resistive touch sensor may not be able to obtain touch information pertaining to the plurality of points since the voltages registered across the points are the same. A capacitive type touch sensor may be capable of obtaining information pertaining to a plurality of points. However, the capacitive type touch sensor may not be able to obtain contact information if an insulator makes contact with the screen (e.g. when a user is wearing hand-gloves).
In some cases, it may be useful if the display devices can sense contact strength in addition to contact position. Contact strength refers to the amount of pressure that a user applies on a particular spot on the screen of the display device. However, conventional display devices including the above touch sensors may lack the capability of sensing both contact position and contact strength.

Display device including touch sensor and manufacturing method thereof


A communication device includes a communicating unit that communicates with another electronic device, and a controller that intermittently controls the supply of power to the communicating unit by keeping the supply of power to the communicating unit during a first time period and stopping the supply of power to the communicating unit during a second time period, and determines whether the other electronic device is connected to the communication device within the first time period. When the other electronic device is connected within the first time period, the controller keeps the supply of power to the communicating unit. When the other electronic device is not connected within the first time period, the controller stops the supply of power to the communicating unit during the second time period after the first time period elapses.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to a communication device and a method for communicating information such as image data.
2. Related Art
Recently, communication devices having a communication function have become widespread. The communication device needs to supply power to a communication module which is provided for communicating with the other communication device. However, in cases where a communication device cannot find its communication counterpart, the power supplied to the communication module is wasted even though the communication device does not communicate with any communication device. To address such a problem, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. JP2010-245692A discloses a technique for performing an intermittent infrared communication in a standby state of a cellular phone to suppress power consumption.
In the terminal as described in Japanese Patent Paid-Open No. JP2010-245692A does, the communication device performs one-to-one communication in the infrared communication. On the other hand, there is also a need to suppress unnecessary power consumption in a device which communicates with a plurality of devices (one to N communication) such as a communication device having an access point function. However, it is highly more likely that such a device has established a communication with another device. Thus there is a need for any technique to solve the above described problem in the communication with a plurality of devices.

Controlling supply of power to a communication unit of a communication device based on user's activity of image capturing and transferring on the communication device

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Composition containing at least one silicone with quaternary ammonium groups and at least one liquid fatty alcohol. Method for the cosmetic treatment of keratinous materials, in particular hair. The compositions preferably are transparent and have a melting texture. Hair treated with these compositions is shiny, feels soft and is free of residues.

It is well known that hair which has been sensitized (i.e. damaged and/or embrittled) to various degrees under the action of atmospheric agents or under the action of mechanical or chemical treatments, such as dyeing, bleaching and/or permanent waving, is often difficult to disentangle and to style, and lacks softness.
The use of cationic polymers, cationic silicones or cationic surfactants to the disentanglement of the hair and to impart softness and suppleness to it has already been recommended in compositions for the washing or care of keratinous materials such as hair. The use of cationic polymers or of cations for this purpose exhibits various disadvantages. Because of their high affinity for the hair, some of these polymers become substantially deposited during repeated use, and lead to undesirable effects such as a lank, unpleasant feel, a stiffening of the hair, and an interfiber adhesion affecting hair styling.
In summary, it is found that current conditioning cosmetic compositions are not completely satisfactory.
Moreover, it is sometimes sought to obtain transparent cosmetic compositions which are particularly appreciated by consumers. Conventional conditioning compositions based on fatty alcohols of the prior art are not transparent.
The inventors have now discovered that the combination of a quaternary silicone and at least one liquid fatty alcohol makes it possible to overcome these disadvantages.
Hair treated with this composition is smooth, is easy to disentangle, is shiny, supple, individualized and has a soft feel and with no residue. The hair has a natural and nonlank look.
In addition, these compositions can be transparent and have a melting texture, that is to say which disappears rapidly into the hair.
Moreover, the compositions of the invention, when applied to the skin, in particular in the form of a foam bath or a shower gel, provide an improvement in the softness of the skin and are easy to rinse off with no unpleasant feel.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Composition comprising a quaternary silicone and a liquid fatty alcohol and method of treatment


The present invention relates to the delivery of biologically active molecules, such as peptides, nucleic acids and therapeutic agents, into the interior of cells by administering to the cells a complex comprising the molecule linked to an importation competent signal peptide. Such delivery can be utilized for purposes such as peptide therapy, gene transfer, and antisense therapy to regulate and/or eradicate systemic inflammatory response syndromes such as endotoxic shock.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to biologically active molecules and to methods for delivery of biologically active molecules into the interior of cells by administering to the cells a complex comprising the molecule linked to a signal peptide. The present invention also relates to the development of cell-permeable peptide analogs and to methods for the targeted delivery of these peptide analogs to control systemic inflammatory response syndromes such as endotoxic shock.
2. Background Art
Peptides have been developed for many therapeutic uses. For example, diseases currently targeted by new peptide drugs include heart conditions, cancers, endocrine disorders, neurological defects, respiratory conditions, allergies and autoimmune diseases. Although the manufacture of known therapeutic peptides can be achieved by known methods, i.e., classic synthetic techniques or recombinant genetic engineering, delivery of the peptides into a cell has remained problematic, since they cannot readily cross biological membranes to enter cells. Thus, current methods include permeabilization of the cell membrane, or microinjection into the cell. Both of these methods have serious drawbacks. Permeabilization of cells, e.g., by saponin, bacterial toxins, calcium phosphate, electroporation, etc., can only be practically useful for ex vivo methods, and these methods cause damage to the cells. Microinjection requires highly skilled technicians (thus limiting its use to a laboratory setting), it physically damages the cells, and it has only limited applications as it cannot be used to treat for example, a mass of cells or an entire tissue, because one cannot feasibly inject large numbers of cells.
Similarly, delivery of nucleic acids has been problematic. Methods currently employed include the permeabilization described above, with the above-described drawbacks, as well as vector-based delivery, such as with viral vectors, and liposome-mediated delivery. However, viral vectors can present additional risks to a patient, and liposome techniques have not achieved satisfactorily high levels of delivery into cells.
Signal peptide sequences,1 which share the common motif of hydrophobicity, mediate translocation of most intracellular secretory proteins across mammalian endoplasmic reticulum (ER) and prokaryotic plasma membranes through the putative protein-conducting channels.2-11 Alternative models for secretory protein transport also support a role for the signal sequence in targeting proteins to membranes.12-15
Several types of signal sequence-mediated inside-out membrane translocation pathways have been proposed. The major model implies that the proteins are transported across membranes through a hydrophilic protein conducting channel formed by a number of membrane proteins.2-11 In eukaryotes, newly synthesized proteins in the cytoplasm are targeted to the ER membrane by signal sequences that are recognized generally by the signal recognition particle (SRP) and its ER membrane receptors. This targeting step is followed by the actual transfer of protein across the ER membrane and out of the cell through the putative protein-conducting channel (for recent reviews, see references 2-5). In bacteria, the transport of most proteins across the cytoplasmic membrane also requires a similar protein-conducting channel.7-11 On the other hand, signal peptides can interact strongly with lipids, supporting the proposal that the transport of some secretory proteins across cellular membranes may occur directly through the lipid bilayer in the absence of any proteinaceous channels.14-15
Thus, though many attempts have been made to develop effective methods for importing biologically active molecules into cells, both in vivo and in vitro, none has proved to be entirely satisfactory.
The present invention provides a method for treating or preventing sepsis in a human subject, comprising delivering to the subject a compound comprising a nuclear localization sequence of NF-xcexaB such that nuclear importation of NF-xcexaB is inhibited.
The present invention further provides a method of importing a biologically active molecule into a cell in a subject comprising administering to the subject a complex comprising the molecule linked to an importation competent signal peptide, thereby importing the molecule into the cell of the subject.
Additionally, the instant invention provides a method of importing a biologically active molecule into the nucleus of a cell in a subject comprising administering to the subject a complex comprising the molecule linked to an importation competent signal peptide and a nuclear localization peptide, thereby importing the molecule into the nucleus of the cell of the subject.
The present invention also provides a complex comprising an importation competent signal peptide linked to a biologically active molecule selected from the group consisting of a nucleic acid, a carbohydrate, a lipid, a glycolipid and a therapeutic agent.

Method for importing biologically active molecules into cells


A method of reading surface levels of a field defined on a substrate using a sensing apparatus having at least one cell array composed of a plurality of cells, in which some of the cells constituting the at least one cell array are selected and designated as available cells. Light is radiated onto a surface of the field. Light reflected to the available cells from the surface is sensed to extract available level signals. The available level signals may be calculated to read the surface level of the field. The surface level of the field are used in a method of controlling the level of an exposure apparatus controlling the substrate mounted on a leveling stage in up, down, right, left, front, back, and rotational directions using the surface level.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to semiconductor manufacturing equipment, and more particularly, to a leveling algorithm for the semiconductor manufacturing equipment and a related apparatus.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A process of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes a process of forming fine patterns on a semiconductor substrate, such as a silicon wafer. The process of forming the fine patterns may include a deposition process, a photoresist coating process, an exposure process, a development process, and an etching process. The exposure process includes transferring patterns to the photoresist using an exposure apparatus. A specialized technique is required for accurately transferring the patterns to exact positions of the photoresist for high integration of the semiconductor device. In addition, exposure apparatuses such as a scanner and a stepper widely employ a reduction projection exposure technique in which patterns formed on a reticle are reduced and transferred.
In general, the exposure apparatus has a light source, a condenser lens, a reticle, a projection lens, a wafer holder, and a leveling stage. A wafer coated with a photoresist is mounted on the wafer holder. Light transmitted through the reticle is projected onto the photoresist through the projection lens. The patterns formed on the reticle are transferred onto some regions of the photoresist on a field basis.
The surface of the photoresist should be positioned at the focal distance of the projection lens in order to accurately transfer the patterns. When the surface of the photoresist is closer or farther than the focal distance of the projection lens, patterning defects such as line thinning, end line shortening, and contact-not-open occur. The surface of the photoresist has different levels depending on the position, even on the same wafer. Accordingly, it is very important to read and control the surface level of the photoresist.
The leveling stage acts to adjust the wafer mounted on the wafer holder in up, down, right, left, front, back, and rotational directions. In order to effectively operate the leveling stage, the surface level of the photoresist should be accurately read.
FIGS. 1 and 2 are conceptual diagrams for explaining a conventional method of reading a surface level.
Referring to FIG. 1, a field F defined on a semiconductor substrate is aligned with a sensing apparatus SA. The field F has a plurality of chips that are arranged in a two-dimensional manner along rows R1, R2, and R3, and columns C1, C2, and C3. That is, the field F has a first chip R1C1 arranged in the first column C1 of the first row R1 to a ninth chip R3C3 arranged in the third column C3 of the third row R3. In addition, the field F has scribe lines SL disposed between the chips R1C1 to R3C3. The field F may be classified into a measurement-allowed region and a measurement-restricted region. Light reflected from the surface of the photoresist is influenced by the pattern or the structure within the field F. Accordingly, the measurement-allowed region is set to overlap within the chips R1C1 to R3C3, and the measurement-restricted region is set to include the scribe lines SL.
The sensing apparatus SA has a plurality of sensors S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, and S9. Any of the sensors S1, S2, S3, S4, S5, S6, S7, S8, and S9 that overlap at least a part of the measurement-restricted region or that are out of the field F are turned off, and only those sensors that are completely within the measurement-allowed region are turned on.
Light is radiated onto the surface of the field F. Light reflected to the sensor S5 from the surface is sensed to generate a level signal. Radiating the light, sensing the reflected light, and generating the level signal are sequentially carried out while moving in the direction of an arrow 20.
The level signal is calculated to read the surface level of the field F. In this case, level signals are obtained from the fourth chip R1C2, the fifth chip R2C2, and the sixth chip R3C2 arranged in the second column C2. In contrast, level signals cannot be obtained from the first chip R1C1, the second chip R2C1, the third chip R3C1, the seventh chip R1C3, the eighth chip R2C3, and the ninth chip R3C3 arranged in the first and third columns C1 and C3. That is, the surface levels of the second column C2 of the field F can be read whereas the surface levels of the first and third columns C1 and C3 cannot be read. Accordingly, the directional inclinations of the rows R1, R2, R3 of the field F cannot be read.
Referring to FIG. 2, the field F may be positioned on an edge of the semiconductor substrate. An edge clearance EC is set on the edge of the semiconductor substrate. The edge clearance EC may be in contact with the third chip R3C1, the fourth chip R1C2, the fifth chip R2C2 and the sixth chip R3C2. In this case, the measurement-restricted region is set to include the scribe line SL, the edge clearance EC, and the chips R3C1, R1C2, R2C2, and R3C2 in contact with the edge clearance EC. However, according to the conventional method of reading the surface level, both of the sensors S3 and S4 corresponding to the first column C1 are turned off. As a result, the surface levels cannot be read from the first chip R1C1 and the second chip R2C1.
Consequently, according to the conventional method of reading the surface level, there are many regions where the surface level of the field F cannot be read, moreover surface level readings that can be obtained may be inaccurate.
Other methods associated with the conventional method of reading the surface level are disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-332471 entitled "Exposure Apparatus" to Hiroshi Kurosawa. According to Kurosawa, when a focus error is found at the edge of a wafer, an apparatus capable of carrying out a focused exposure is provided. However, the exposure apparatus may frequently produce inferior patterns.

Leveling algorithm for semiconductor manufacturing equipment and related apparatus


A variety of Cenizo shrub (Leucophyllum frutescens) having small, distinctively globose habit and dense and persistent leafiness. The variety is propagated by tip cuttings and is versatile as an evergreen shrub for use in landscapes.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct variety of Cenizo shrub (Leucophyllum frutescens) which was discovered in a population of containerized Leucophyllum frutescens "Compacta" at Turkey Creek Farms, Travis County, Austin, Tex. The invention is derived from a two year old plant initially selected in March 1991 for further evaluation and transplanted to a landscape on the Turkey Creek site. It has been successfully asexually propagated at facilities of Lone Star Growers in San Antonio, Tex., using a quick dip of 1% solution of IBA on semi-hardwood tip cuttings, placed under mist, April through September. The rooting percentage is 90% to 95%.
The genus Leucophyllum comprises 14 species distributed mostly in Mexico. Leucophyllum frutescens is the most geographically wide-ranging species of the genus as well as the one with the most northerly distribution. It is the only one reaching into south-central Texas in its native distribution. No formal taxonomic varieties have been recognized within Leucophyllum frutescens.
Plants of the typical (wild) form of Leucophyllum frutescens have commonly been planted as ornamentals throughout the southwestern United States in relatively frost-free regions. Several distinctive varieties derived from it also are widely marketed and grown. The following varieties have been selected and named by the Texas Agricultural Experiment Station over the last fifteen years:
(a) "White Cloud" is a gray-leaved form with white flowers; PA0 (b) "Green Cloud" is primarily distinguished from wild Cenizo by the reduced amount of leaf pubescence, which gives it a greener color; PA0 (c) "Compacta" is distinguished from wild forms by its reduced size; and PA0 (d) "Rain Cloud" is a gray leaved form with light pink flowers. PA0 (a) shorter height (Table I); PA0 (b) greater number of lateral buds, resulting in leaves and branches in greater density (a greater number of lateral buds per unit length of stem--shorter internodes) (Table I); PA0 (c) partial inhibition of terminal growth of main stems, with correspondingly increased elongation of stems from lateral buds, especially near the branch tips (Table I); and PA0 (d) persistence of leaves and lateral branches on the lower and proximal portions of branches (see sheet 4 photograph).


A process for hydraulically needling a web of staple fibers into an unbonded flash spun web made of continuous plexifilaments to form a spunlaced nonwoven fabric. The web of staple fibers is positioned against the unbonded flash spun web and then hydraulically needled such that the staple fibers are embedded into and entangled with the unbonded flash spun web to form a spunlaced nonwoven fabric. Optionally, the spunlaced nonwoven fabric can be thermally bonded to maintain or increase the permeability of the fabric. Thermal bonding can be used to control the level of permeability depending on the end-use desired. Spunlaced nonwoven fabrics made by the inventive process are particularly useful in filtration applications (e.g., vacuum cleaner bags) when thermal bonding is employed and as bulky, downproof and featherproof barrier liners for garments, sleeping bags, pillows, comforters and the like when thermal bonding is not employed.

Spunbonded sheets of flash-spun polyolefin plexifilamentary film-fibril strands have been used in the past as disposable industrial garments. Such sheets have been made commercially by E.I. du Pont de Nemours & Company and sold under the trademark "TYVEK" spunbonded olefin. The sheets are known for their strength, durability, opacity and ability to act as a barrier to particulate matter that is sub-micron in size. Because of these desirable characteristics, the spunbonded sheets have been fashioned into many types of industrial garments, such as those worn by asbestos workers and disclosed in "Protective Apparel of Du Pont "TYVEK"--SAFETY YOU CAN WEAR", E-02145, (1987).
Although these sheets are useful in garment and apparel applications, there has been a need to add bulkiness and permeability to the sheets so that they are also useful in other specific end-use applications (e.g., as microfiltration fabrics). Although unconsolidated flash spun sheets have fairly high permeability in the unfused state, it is lost when the sheet is thermally bonded since fusing reduces permeability to a level that is unsuitable for PG,4 sensitive filtration applications (e.g., vacuum cleaner bags). This is attributed to high mechanical consolidation of the microdenier, ribbon-like, high surface area fibers produced by the flash spinning process. Because of the limited ability of the flash spinning and thermal bonding process to increase permeability beyond a Gurley-Hill porosity of about 8 second/100 cc, there is a significant need for a method to be developed which will increase or even maintain the permeability to a Frazier porosity of at least 4 ft.sup.3 /ft.sup.2 /min following thermal bonding.
Various methods have been suggested in the past for providing filtration media from sheets made of flash spun plexifilaments. An example of such filtration media is commercially available from E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company under the trademark "HYSURF" filter media. However, these methods (e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,121 (Kochar)) require numerous process steps and equipment for cutting up and refining the flash spun sheets into pulp suitable for wet-laying on continuous papermaking machines. Only if these steps are carefully followed will subsequent thermal bonding produce a high grade paper suitable for microfiltration applications (e.g., vacuum cleaner bags).
In addition, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,023,130 (Simpson et al.) hydroentangled flash spun polyolefin webs are disclosed having enhanced softness and barrier properties. Spunlaced fabrics made according to the Simpson et al. process are commercially available from E.I. du Pont de Nemours and Company under the trademarks "TYPRO HC" and "ComforMax IB". These spunlaced fabrics have proven useful as inner-layer barrier liners for garments, sleeping bags, comforters and pillows. However, although these spunlaced fabrics work well with fiber insulating or filling materials, they do not work well in preventing perculation when duck feathers or down filling are used. Experience has shown that feather quills migrate through available openings in the fabric.
Moreover, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,681,801 (Eian et al.) melt-blown fiber webs are hydroentangled to force reinforcing fibers therethrough. The reinforcing fibers are hydraulically needled, preferably mechanically needled, through the melt-blown fibers and then bonded to fibers on the opposing faces of the layer of melt-blown fibers to hold the reinforcing fibers in position.
Clearly, what is needed is a process and spunlaced nonwoven fabric which do not have the deficiencies inherent in the prior art. In particular, in the unfused state, the spunlaced fabric should have bulk and should prevent perculation of feathers or down filling when used as a barrier liner in garments, pillows or the like. In addition, in the thermally bonded state, the spunlaced fabric should provide an increased level of permeability such that it is useful in sensitive microfiltration applications. Other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reference to the attached drawings and to the detailed description of the invention which hereinafter follows.

Hydroentangled flash spun webs having controllable bulk and permeability


Disclosed is a free-standing hybrid nanomembrane capable of energy storage. The free-standing hybrid nanomembrane includes carbon nanotube sheets and a conducting polymer coated on the carbon nanotube sheets. The carbon nanotube sheets are densified sheets formed by evaporating an alcohol from carbon nanotube aerogel sheets. The conducting polymer is coated on the carbon nanotube sheets by vapor phase polymerization. Further disclosed is a method for fabricating the free-standing hybrid nanomembrane.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a nanomembrane and a fabrication method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a free-standing hybrid nanomembrane capable of energy storage in which a conducting polymer is coated on densified carbon nanotube sheets, and a method for fabricating the free-standing hybrid nanomembrane.
2. Description of the Related Art
Freely suspended ultrathin (thickness<100 nm) membranes promise applicability of many types of sensors, actuators, optical devices, fuel cells, scaffolds for the organization of nanoparticles, and separation of biological macromolecules. Several approaches have been carried out for the fabrication of free-standing nanomembranes from polymers and/or from inorganic materials: spin casting of films, (Solid-state ionics 2007, 178, 19) layer-by-layer assembly of polyelectrolytemulti-layers, (Macromolecules 2011, 44, 2966) crosslinking of self-assembled monolayers, (Nano today 2009, 4, 4829) and assembly of triblockcopolymers (Chem. Mater. 1999, 11, 1174, Soft Matter 2011, 7, 1129). For mechanically robust and electrically conductive nanomembranes, nanoparticles such as gold nanoparticles or carbon nanotubes have been embedded in the films (Macromolecular science, part B: Physics, 2007, 46, 7, Adv. Mater. 2008, 20, 3131).
However, most methods are often time consuming, and have some limitations in electrical and electrochemical performances, and scale-up. Thereby, efficient alternative methods for the preparation of robust, free-standing and conductive nanomembranes with the capability of being produced in large dimensions are highly desired.

Free-standing hybrid nanomembrane as energy storage electrode and the fabrication method thereof

IUCF-HYU (Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University)


A method, system and device for enhancing detail in areas of saturated color in an image are described. As areas of saturated color are detected in an image the opponent color channel is used to calculate a factor to apply to the original pixel value. By calculating this factor to adjust the pixel values of the image detail may be enhanced in the color saturated areas. A user supplied value may also be included to control the amount of automatic adjustment to the pixel values.

The digital image sensor, such as a charged coupled device (CCD), of a digital camera has a plurality of photo-sites arranged in a colored filtered array or pattern, such as a RGB Bayer pattern described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,971,065. In the RGB Bayer pattern, each photo-site is filtered so that it is receptive to either red, green, or blue or some variation thereof. The original bit-for-bit digital image file captured by the digital imaging sensor is referred to as a RAW file or RAW image. Depending on a number of variables, the RAW image may typically require 8 to 18 MB of memory space. The type of colored filter array and digital imaging sensor varies typically based on the manufacture of the digital camera. For example, some color filtered arrays use a pattern of yellow, cyan, green, and magenta.
Typically, the digital camera has an image pipeline that performs a demosaicing or de-Bayering process on the RAW image and transforms the image with a compressing algorithm to output a JPEG or other type of compressed file suitable for display and viewing. However, the RAW image captured by the digital camera can be uploaded to a computer where computer software, such as Apple's Aperture 1.0, can allow a user to perform various manual operations on RAW image.
The color information of processed digital images can be characterized by a number of color models. One color model is the RGB color space, which uses combinations of red (R), green (G), and blue (B) to produce a plurality of colors. Some RGB color spaces used for digital cameras include Standard RGB (sRGB) and Adobe RGB. Another color model is the CIE XYZ color space created by the International Commission on Illumination (CIE) in 1931. Mathematical techniques can be used to transform color information from one color space to another.
Digital cameras have white balance settings, such as auto, incandescent, fluorescent, cloudy, sunny, or sensitivity (e.g., ISO 100, ISO 2000, etc). The settings are used to match the white balance of the digital camera to the color temperature of light from the illuminant that is illuminating the subject in the image. Characteristics of various standard illuminants are defined in the art. For example, illuminant A is used to represent incandescent lighting and is defined by the profile of a black body radiator at 2856 K. Illuminant series D is used to represent natural daylight. A number is used in the name of the D series illuminant to indicate the correlated color temperature (CCT) of the source. For example, illuminant D50 has a CCT of 5000 K, and illuminant D65 has one of 6500 K. Illuminant series F is used to represent various types of fluorescent lighting. For example, illuminant F2 represents cool white fluorescent, while illuminant F11 represents a narrow-band fluorescent. When a digital image is obtained under one illuminant with a digital camera, it is possible to use a white point conversion technique to estimate the characteristics of the image under a different illuminant.
Various considerations must be addressed when processing a digital image obtained with a digital camera or other imaging device. One consideration involves preserving the spatial quality and the detail of the digital image, while another consideration involves sufficiently representing the color of the digital image. In many ways, these two considerations are interrelated. In areas of high color saturation, there may be too little perceivable detail because these areas affect the camera sensors. Even if the area of highly saturated color has texture the detail may not be as sharp as desired. What is needed is a method to increase the detail in these areas of saturated color.

Opponent color detail enhancement for saturated colors


In a liquid crystal display device, in each unit pixel which is formed as a region surrounded by scanning signal lines and data signal lines, that is a pixel electrode to which signals of the data signal line are electrically supplied through a thin film transistor, and a common electrode is provided, which is electrically connected with a common signal line. The common electrode is arranged so as to be superposed on the common signal line by way of an insulation layer. The pixel electrode is electrically connected with a source electrode of the thin film transistor via a through hole which penetrates the insulation layer, and the common electrode is formed so as to extend in the inside of the unit pixel, while covering the common signal line.

The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device in which a technique is employed for suppressing the generation of undesired electric fields that can be the cause of image retention, which tends to degrade the image quality of the display device.
In a liquid crystal display device, a liquid crystal layer formed of liquid crystal molecules is sandwiched between two sheets of insulating substrates, preferably made of glass, and, at the same time, at least a pair of electrodes for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer are provided to either one- or both of the substrates. In an IPS (in-plane switching) type of liquid crystal display device, all of the above-mentioned electrodes for applying an electric field to the liquid crystal layer are formed on one substrate, and the pixels are turned on and off (that is, switching is effected) so as to selectively form an electric field having components that are parallel to the substrate surface with respect to the liquid crystal layer in selected pixels.

Liquid crystal display device with the source electrode having a projecting portion


A wire (12) is bent into a row of contactors (14) that are each of miniature cloverleaf shape with each cloverleaf having a plurality of loops (21-24), the cloverleafs are then cut apart at cuts (40) to electrically isolate them from each other, and the middles of the cloverleafs are embedded into a block (43) of polymer. The combination of a row of cloverleafs and the block, are placed between upper and lower groups of terminals (30, 32) and compressed between them, to connect each upper terminal to a lower one.

Two electronic devices with multiple closely-spaced miniature terminals often must be connected. One example is a component such as a cell phone with component terminals spaced at a pitch of one millimeter or less and a circuit board with board terminals at a corresponding spacing. A contactor assembly that engages the terminals of the two devices to connect them should have contactors that are each resiliently compressible to assure that all terminals are firmly engaged with corresponding contactors for low resistance connections. A miniature contactor assembly that could be constructed at low cost and assured good contact with each of a plurality of pairs of closely spaced terminals, would be of value.


A method of developing software capable of performing a task, the task comprising at least one task step required to perform the task. The task step has a resultant effect. The method comprises recording a use case comprising one or more scenarios, that comprise one of more further steps; recording the scenario or one of the scenarios as a main success scenarios such that the resultant effect of the main success scenario is the same as the resultant effect of the task step. Use cases which have been stripped of context-specific information may be re-used. Such information may be included in a reference to the re-used use case.

This invention relates to development of software, and more particularly to methods, software and tools to facilitate such development.
Software development projects in many cases involve as much manpower resources as architectural or civil engineering projects, however, the progress and the results are not as easy to visualise. Thus software development involving more than one person has always been difficult to control effectively, and for this reason it has been the consensus for some time that a defined process is required. Development without a process gives rise to the following problems:                over-reliance on having the right people.        Difficulties in co-ordination and communication between people.        Inaccurate planning.        Lack of code/module re-use.        Lack of predictability of the software.
Processes have been developed in recent years, however, for various reasons they have not been widely used. The following are some of the problems:                The process is not suitable for Object-Oriented (O) development.        There is a perception that implementation of a process involves too much overhead and additional developer time.        There is a perception that projects below a certain size are too small for implementation of a process.        The available processes do not strike a good balance between the traditional "waterfall" approach in which every stage must be completely finished before proceeding to the next stage, and the other extreme of constantly iterating in apparently endless cycles.


Handheld, unmanned vehicle controllers including interchangeable function bridge modules attached to the grip handles of the controllers are described herein. Interchangeable function bridge modules can include, but are not limited to, a display screen module, a pushbutton module, and a keyboard module. An operator may quickly and easily swap modules, using different modules to perform various tasks.

Unmanned vehicles, such as unmanned ground, aerial, and underwater vehicles, drones, and other vehicles, may be controlled by a human operator from a remote location using a variety of types of controllers. For example, an operator may sit at a control station equipped with one or more computers and control devices. As another example, an operator may use a handheld controller to control an unmanned vehicle.
Handheld unmanned vehicle controllers may include one or more controls, such as pushbuttons, switches, and other controls. Current handheld controllers are limited, however, in the number and quality of functions that may be performed and the accessibility and utility of vehicle data. Some handheld controllers include a display screen attached to the top of the controller, such as cantilevered from the top of the controller. Such a design is not well-balanced, and stresses the controller grip. Moreover, the display screen is not within the field of view of other controls on the controller, requiring an operator to move his eyes and/or head to switch between viewing the display screen and operating the controls.

Unmanned vehicle controller with interchangeable function bridge modules


A hair treatment composition comprising a mixture of polyvinylpyrrolidone and a member selected from the group consisting of an ethoxylated triglyceride, a quaternary ammonium chloride, phenyl trimethicone, an acrylate containing polymer and dimethicone copolyol ester and mixtures thereof, provided that the weight ratio of the polyvinylpyrrolidone to the ethoxylated triglyceride is greater than about 7:1 and the weight ratio of the polyvinylpyrrolidone to the acrylate containing polymer is greater than about 7:1 is described herein.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention deals with hair care products. In particular, the present invention deals with hair care products for treatment of the hair upon the scalp, and particularly products to impart desirable texture and body to the hair while avoiding a condition commonly known as the "frizzes" . The present invention deals with hair products which are substantive to the hair and which are intended to be left upon the hair after application. The product of the present invention permits a single product to be used to achieve conditioning and a gel type fixative in one operation typically following towel drying of the hair (to a damp condition).
2. Description of the Art Practices.
Various products are known for use in treating the hair. For instance, Pings in U.S. Pat. No. 5,482,703 issued Jan. 9, 1996 teaches hair care products which are utilized to treat the hair and then removed from the hair. The Pings patent discloses the use of polydimethyl siloxane, a lipid vehicle, a cationic surfactant material and a dimethicone copolyol.
Gross, et. al., in U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,954, issued Jul. 3, 1990, describes hair wax compositions containing polyeth-ylene glycol, a hydrogenated castor oil which is ethoxylated, glycerol or ethyl hexane diol, and/or a lower molecular weight polyethylene glycol, and water.
Pemulen.TM. polymeric emulsifiers bulletin P0048 bearing a date of Apr. 26, 1995 discloses certain formulations pertaining to the present invention. The Pemulen.TM. polymeric emulsifiers bulletin P0048 utilizes animal derived ingredients while the products of the present invention are free of animal derived products.
To the extent that the foregoing references are applicable to the present invention they are herein specifically incorporated by reference. Throughout the specification and claims, percentages and ratios are by weight unless otherwise indicated. Temperatures given herein are degrees Celsius unless otherwise indicated.


A front body structure for a vehicle including: a cowl box extending in a transverse direction of the vehicle and having a curved shape with its central portion in the transverse direction of the vehicle situated at a front end thereof; and a cowl top extension tying tops of strut towers, extending in front of the cowl box at a height substantially equal to that of each of the tops of strut towers, and having a curved shape with its central portion in the transverse direction of the vehicle situated at a rear end thereof. The cowl top extension and the cowl box are connected to each other at the central portions thereof.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a front body structure for a vehicle that improves the rigidity of the vehicle without increasing weight thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
During traveling of a vehicle, strut towers bear loads from suspension to have tops of the strut towers flex towards and away from each other in a transverse direction of the vehicle (hereinafter, referred to as inward flexing). The strut tower exhibits the rigidity sufficient to avoid the inward flexing.
In the vehicle structure disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 9(1997)-109929, a cowl box strides over the tops of the left and right strut towers to improve the rigidity of the strut towers against the inward flexing.
In other type of the vehicle body structure, the tops of the left and right strut towers are tied to each other with a strut bar. The strut bar is formed in a downwardly opening C shape in front view, striding over the engine and the like in the engine room, which has a pair of legs extending upward from the respective tops of the left and right strut towers and a connecting portion extending horizontally in the transverse direction of the vehicle and connecting upper ends of the leg portions.


A resin composition includes a polymer (A) mainly containing a structural unit represented by following Formula (1):

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to resin compositions and films and other molded articles of the resin compositions that have excellent gas barrier properties.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polymers having functional groups such as hydroxyl group in the molecule show various physical properties such as hydrophilicity or adhesiveness derived from the functional groups. Thus, they can be used as, for example, structural components for functional packaging materials, functional molding materials, sheets, films, fibers, coating agents, functional alloys and blends. A variety of such polymers have been synthesized. For example, PCT International Publication No. WO 99/50331 discloses a polymer represented by following Formula (2):
wherein X and Y are each hydroxyl group, carboxyl group, carboxylic ester group, amide group, nitrile group or carbonyl group; R is an alkyl group having 1 to 5 carbon atoms or aforementioned X; a and b are each an integer of 0 to 6 and the total of a and b is from 2 to 7, prepared by ring-opening metathesis polymerization of a cycloalkene compound containing 7 to 12 carbon atoms and having a functional group, such as 5-cyclooctene-1,2-diol; and a polymer prepared by hydrogenation of the double bond in the molecular chain of the polymer just mentioned above.
Such polymers can be molded by melt process and are very excellent resin materials that show high gas barrier properties at high humidity. In particular, a polymer prepared by hydrogenation of the polymer of Formula (2) in which X and Y are hydroxyl groups is useful as a constitutional component for packaging materials having high oxygen-barrier properties (PCT International Publication No. WO 00/18579).

Abstract: wherein m represents an integer of 2 to 10; X1 and X2 are each hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group or a functional group that can be converted into a hydroxyl group, wherein at least one of X1 and X2 is hydroxyl group or a functional group that can be converted into hydroxyl group; R1, R2 and R3 are each hydrogen atom, hydroxyl group, a functional group that can be converted into hydroxyl group, an alkyl group, an aryl group, an aralkyl group or a heteroaryl group, wherein the plural R1s may be the same as or different from each other; and a vinyl alcohol polymer (B).


A lifting fixture assembly adapted for shipping and/or lifting includes a lower turbine casing having two horizontal joint flanges adapted to engage mating flanges on an upper-turbine casing. The horizontal joint flanges are provided with plural bolt holes used for securing the upper turbine casing to the lower turbine casing. A plurality of cross-beams extend transversely across the lower turbine casing, removably secured to said horizontal joint flanges, using selected ones of the existing bolt holes.

This invention relates generally to turbine technology and, more specifically, to the manner in which a substantially fully-assembled, lower half-casing of a gas turbine can be shipped to and/or lifted into or out of position at its ultimate site of operation.
There are any number of problems associated with shipping and installing turbomachinery. In the case of gas turbines which are of particular interest here, many power plants do not have the crane capacity to lift a substantially fully-assembled gas turbine lower casing in the event an existing turbine needs to be replaced. In addition, many potential power plant sites do not have transport lanes (railroads or roads) that can support the weight of a substantially fully-assembled gas turbine, nor the cranes needed to lift a substantially fully-assembled gas turbine into position.
Currently, some power plant customers completely disassemble a gas turbine in order to replace an existing gas turbine. More specifically, after the upper casing is removed, the rotor must be removed from the lower casing, followed by removal of the compressor, combustor, and turbine stage components. The disassembly and subsequent reassembly process is time consuming and requires a costly realignment of the upper and lower casings at the site. The reassembly and alignment can take four weeks or longer in some circumstances.
For those sites that may not have the necessary roads, rails, etc. to accommodate a substantially fully-assembled turbine, nor the crane size and lifting capacity, it remains that fully- or partially-assembled turbines simply cannot be delivered to those locations.
It would therefore be desirable to provide a mechanism by which a substantially assembled lower-half casing of a gas turbine can shipped and/or lifted into (or out of) its operating position without requiring disassembly or subsequent realignment of the lower half casings.

Gas turbine half-casing lifting and shipping fixture


A web of flexible material is pressed between a counterroll and a pressing roll to which the pressing force is applied by magnetic, fluid-pressure or switching means via a force-multiplying lever arrangement.

It is known to provide a system which consists of a counterroll and a pressing or working roll which is urged toward the counterroll and between which a web, strip, band or discrete sheets or pieces of flexible material can be passed.
Such systems are used in the printing or coating of fabrics, in the application of flowable substances such as viscous or pasty materials or liquids to such materials and even in the pressing of such materials to smooth them or remove wrinkles therefrom.
The term "web" as used herein is intended to refer to a continuous strip or band of a flexible material, e.g. paper, fabric, nonwoven fabric or the like to be impregnated, coated, printed or smoothed, as well as to individual pieces of sheet material which can be passed in succession between the counterroll and the pressing or working roll, to strip materials and pieces of material entrained on a continuous carrier or belt between rolls and, to in general, material which can have a substantial width and which can be subjected to pressing between the rolls, i.e. materials having a relatively small thickness and a certain degree of flexibility to allow them to be impregnated or coated with the flowable substance, to allow the flexible substances to be pressed from the material or to allow the material to be pressed even in the absence of a flowable substance.
The term "flowable substance" as used herein is intended to refer to any material capable of being squeezed from or into such a web, for coating the web or impregnating the web, e.g. for printing, dyeing, conditioning, sizing or otherwise treating the web.
In machines or apparatus of the type described, i.e. having a counterroll and a pressing or working roll between which the web can pass, it is not uncommon to provide the counterroll so that it has a relatively large diameter and is axially journaled, i.e. rotatably supported at its axis or shaft, preferably at a fixed location and has relatively high bending stability (resistance to bending).
The pressing roll or working roll may have a smaller diameter than the counterroll and be urged toward the latter. It also may have a relatively smaller bending stability, i.e. a reduced bending resistance by comparison to the bending resistance of the counterroll.
In the past, with such systems, problems have been encountered in applying the pressing force via the pressing roll against the web uniformly over the entire length of the contact region and thus the width of the web. By and large, the pressing force must be relatively small if it is to be uniform across the width of the web.
The greater the diameter of the pressing or working roll and the greater the length of the rolls and the operating width, i.e. the width of the web which may also be referred to as the machine width, the greater are collateral effects and the more significant is the variability in the uniformity of the pressing force to the point that it is difficult to ascertain precisely how the pressing force will vary across the machine width and what losses may occur in the transmission of force because of undesired bending of the pressing roll.
Indeed, it has been found that roll bending is an important factor which depends upon the type of roll, its dimensioning, the materials from which it is constituted and the stresses to which the roll is subject along the length, on variation of the pressing force. Roll bending also causes problems in maintenance, requires frequent repair, increases the down time of the apparatus and contributes to problems in operation thereof.
The nonuniformity of the pressing force can give rise to nonuniformities in the product across the width thereof as well.
Accurate linearity of the rolls and a precise cylindrical configuration of the peripheral surfaces and parallelity of two rolls can only be approximated in practice. The smaller the diameter of the working or pressing roll and the greater its length, the smaller will be the pressing force which can result in bending. However, the greater the bending resistance, the greater will be the force which may be diverted from the pressing force to be lost in bending of a roll.
It is recognized that high quality results which are uniform along the full width of the web, i.e. along the machine width, will depend upon the uniform application of the pressing force over the full length of the pressing roll.
The pressing force in the past has been generated predominantly by applying a radial force at the axis of the pressing roll in the direction of the counterroll. Because of the bending tendency of the working roll, this has not been found to be fully satisfactory.

Apparatus for pressing webs usually in contact with a flowable substance


Provided is an apparatus for protecting a receiver circuit in a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) wireless communication system. In the protecting apparatus, an antenna switch transmits an output signal of a power amplifier to an antenna feed line and transmits an output signal of the antenna feed line to a low noise amplifier. A status monitor monitors a status of the antenna switch. A mode determiner disables an amplification operation of the power amplifier when a status monitoring signal output from the status monitor indicates an RX mode.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a radio frequency (RF) transceiver of a Time Division Duplexing (TDD) wireless communication system, and in particular, to an apparatus for protecting a Low Noise Amplifier of a receiver block.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, TDD wireless communication systems separate a transmission and a reception by time division of the same frequency. In the TDD wireless communication system, a transmit/receive antenna switch (TRAS) performs a switching function between a high power RF transmit (TX) signal and a low power RF receive (RX) signal. The TRAS protects a low noise amplifier (LNA) by interrupting a transmission power supplied to a receiver in a TX mode and reduces noise introduced from a transmitter in an RX mode.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram of an RF transceiver in a conventional TDD wireless communication system. Referring to FIG. 1, the RF transceiver includes a TDD controller 100, a transmitter block (TXB) 110, a power amplifier block (PAB) 120, a receiver block (RXB) 130, an LNA 140, a TRAS 150, a front end block (FEB) 160, and antenna 170.
The TDD controller 100 generates TDD control signals to the respective blocks according to TX/RX modes. In FIG. 1, a reference symbol "TCTX" represents a TDD control signal for the TXB 110 and will be referred to as a first control signal. A reference symbol "TCPA" represents a TDD control signal for the PAB 120 and will be referred to as a second control signal. A reference symbol "TCAS" represents a TDD control signal for the TRAS 150 and will be referred to as a third control signal. Also, a reference symbol "TCRX" represents a TDD control signal for the RXB 130 and will be referred to as a fourth control signal.
In the TX mode, the TXB 110 converts a baseband modulated signal input from a modem (not shown) into an RF signal according to the first control signal TCTX, and the PAB 120 power-amplifies a TX signal received from the TXB 110.
The TRAS 150 transmits a signal from the PAB 120 to the FEB 160 in the TX mode, and transmits an output signal of the FEB 160 to the LNA 140 in the RX mode. In the TX mode, the TRAS 150 protects the receiver circuit from a high power TX signal by isolating the receiver circuit from a TX path. In the RX mode, the TRAS 150 blocks a noise signal transmitted from the PAB 120 by isolating the transmitter circuit from an RX path. The TRAS 150 may be implemented using an RF switch or a circulator.
The FEB 160 includes a band pass filter (BPF). The FEB 160 performs a service band filtering operation on a TX signal received from the TRAS 150, and outputs the filtered TX signal through the antenna 170. Also, the FEB 160 performs a service band filtering operation on an RX signal received from the antenna 170, and outputs the filtered RX signal to the TRAS 150.
The LNA 140 amplifies the signal output from the TRAS 150 while suppressing its noise. In the RX mode, the RXB 130 converts an RF signal received from the LNA 140 into a baseband signal according to the fourth control signal TCRX, and outputs the baseband signal to the modem.
FIG. 2 illustrates a relationship between the TDD control signal and the TX/RX RF signal.
Referring to FIG. 2, the third control signal TCAS for controlling the operation of the TRAS 150 maintains a high state during a transmit time (TT) period and changes to a low state at a time point when the TT period is ended. Next, the third control signal TCAS maintains a low state during a receive guard time (RGT) period and a receive time (RT) period and changes into a high state at a time point when the RT period is ended. Then, the third control signal TCAS maintains a high state during the transmit guard time (TGT) period and the TT period and changes to a low state at a time point when the TT period is ended.
The TGT period is a guard time necessary for the blocks of the system to perform mode switching when the system switches from the RX mode to the TX mode. The RGT period is a guard time necessary for the blocks of the system to perform mode switching when the system switches from the TX mode to the RX mode.
The high power RF TX signal is transmitted while the third control signal TCAS is in the high state. On the other hand, the low power RF RX signal is transmitted while the third control signal TCAS is in the low state.
To operate the TDD system normally, the blocks of the system have to complete mode switching within the TGT period and the RGT period. All the blocks on the TX path have to maintain the normal state during the TT period, and all the blocks on the RX path have to maintain the normal state during the RT period. That is, to achieve the normal path switching of the TDD system, the TDD control signals for controlling the respective blocks have to be in the normal state, the blocks on the TX path have to switch to the TX mode within the TGT period, and the blocks on the RX path have to switch to the RX mode within the RGT period. In addition, the TRAS 150 has to secure a sufficient isolation level between the TX path and the RX path.
In mode switching, the blocks constructing the TX path and the RX path in the TDD system of FIG. 1 have different mode switching times and delay times of the RF signal. Therefore, the TDD controller 100 has to generate the TDD control signals TCTX, TCPA, TCAS and TCRX, considering the mode switching time of the respective blocks and the delay time of the RF signal.
However, when there occur problems in the TDD control signals generated from the TDD controller 100, or when there occur problems in the control connection between the TDD controller 100 and a corresponding block, the isolation degree between the high power TX signal and the highlow power RX signal cannot be sufficiently secured by the asynchronous operation of the blocks. In this case, the receiver block, especially the LNA 140, may be damaged by the high power RF TX signal.
FIG. 3 illustrates the high power RF TX signal that is introduced into the RX path when the third control signal TCAS is abnormal.
Referring to FIG. 3, the PAB power-amplifies an input signal while the second control signal TCPA is in a high state, but does not perform the amplification operation while the second control signal TCPA is in a low state. When the third control signal TCAS is in a high state, the TRAS 150 operates in the TX mode to transmit the output of the PAB 120 to an antenna feed line, and isolates the RX mode from the TX mode. On the other hand, when the third control signal TCAS is in a low state, the TRAS 150 operates in the RX mode to transmit signals supplied through the antenna feed line to the LNA 140.
If the high power RF signal from the PAB 120 is transmitted to the TRAS 150 during the RT period of the third control signal TCAS because the TT period and the RT period of the second and third control signals TCPA and TCAS do not coincide with each other, the TRAS 150 does not operate in the RX mode. Therefore, the high power RF signal is introduced into the LNA 140. In this case, the LNA is permanently damaged.
In practice, these problems often occur when the system is initially installed, the blocks are replaced or additionally installed so as to extend frequency allocation (FA), or the blocks are assembled/disassembled for their inspection. Therefore, there is a demand for an apparatus that can protect the receiver circuit even in an abnormal state.

Apparatus for protecting receiver circuit in time division duplexing wireless communication system


In a radiation image detector including a voltage-applied electrode, to which a voltage is applied, and a semiconductor layer for generating charges by irradiation with radiation, which are superposed one on the other, a charge injection prevention layer that covers at least the edge of the voltage-applied electrode is provided. Further, a protruding electrode is provided on the upper surface of the charge injection prevention layer in such a manner that the side surface of an edge of the protruding electrode is located on the outer side of the side surface of the edge of the voltage-applied electrode and the side surface of the other edge of the protruding electrode is located at the position of the side surface of the edge of the voltage-applied electrode or on the inner side thereof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a radiation image detector that records a radiation image by generating charges by irradiation with radiation and by storing (accumulating) the charges.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the medical field or the like, various types of radiation image detectors that record radiation images (radiographic images) of subjects by irradiation with radiation that has passed through the subjects have been proposed and used.
One of the examples of the radiation image detectors is a radiation image detector using amorphous selenium, which generates charges by irradiation with radiation. As such a radiation image detector, a light-readout-type radiation image detector and an electric-readout-type radiation image detector have been proposed.
As the radiation image detector of the light-readout-type, a radiation image detector as illustrated in FIG. 20 has been proposed, for example. In the radiation image detector, a first electrode layer 101, a photoconductive layer 102 for recording, a charge transfer layer 103, a photoconductive layer 104 for readout, a second electrode layer including a transparent linear electrode 106 and a light-shield linear electrode 107 are superposed one on another in this order. The first electrode layer 101 transmits radiation that carries a radiation image, and the photoconductive layer 102 for recording generates charges by irradiation with the radiation that has passed through the first electrode layer 1. The charge transfer layer 103 acts as an insulator for charges having one of the polarities of the charges generated in the photoconductive layer 102 for recording and acts as a conductor for charges having the other polarity. The photoconductive layer 104 for readout generates charges by irradiation with readout light. The transparent linear electrode 106 transmits the readout light and the light-shield linear electrode 107 blocks the readout light.
When a radiation image is recorded in a light-readout-type radiation image detector, as described above, first, a negative voltage is applied to the first electrode layer 101 of the radiation image detector by a high-voltage power source. Then, while the negative voltage is applied, radiation that has been transmitted through a subject, and which carries a radiation image of the subject, is output to the radiation image detector from the first electrode layer 101 side.
Then, the radiation that has been output to the radiation image detector passes through the first electrode layer 101 and irradiates the photoconductive layer 102 for recording. Then, dipoles (pairs of charges, electrons and holes) are generated in the photoconductive layer 102 for recording by irradiation with the radiation. The positive charges of the dipoles combine with negative charges charged in the first electrode 101 and disappear. The negative charges of the dipoles are accumulated, as latent image charges, in a charge storage portion 105 that is formed at the interface between the photoconductive layer 102 for recording and the charge transfer layer 103, and a radiation image is recorded (please refer to FIG. 20).
Next, while the first electrode layer 101 is set in a grounded state, readout light is output to the radiation image detector from the second electrode layer side. The readout light is transmitted through the transparent linear electrode 106 and irradiates the photoconductive layer 104 for readout. Positive charges generated in the photoconductive layer 104 for readout by irradiation with the readout light combine with the latent image charges in the charge storage portion 105. Further, an electric current that flows when negative charges combine with positive charges charged in the transparent linear electrode 106 and the light-shield linear electrode 107 is detected by a charge amplifier connected to the light-shield linear electrode 107. Accordingly, an image signal corresponding to the radiation image is read out.
When a radiation image is recorded in a radiation image detector, as described above, a negative voltage is applied to the first electrode layer 101. At this time, an electric field is concentrated in the vicinity of the edge of the first electrode layer 101. Therefore, charges are injected from the first electrode layer 101 into the photoconductive layer 102 for recording. Hence, there has been a problem that fluctuation in the density tends to occur at the edge portion of the radiation image. Further, there has been a risk of discharge breakdown by creeping discharge at the edge portion of the first electrode layer 101.
Meanwhile, as the radiation image detector of the electric-readout-type, a radiation image detector in which an upper electrode, to which a voltage is applied, a semiconductor layer and an active matrix substrate are superposed one on another has been proposed, for example. The semiconductor layer generates charges by irradiation with radiation. Further, in the active matrix substrate, a multiplicity of pixels, each including a collection electrode, a storage capacity and a TFT switch, are two-dimensionally arranged. The collection electrode collects the charges generated in the semiconductor layer. The storage capacity stores the charges collected by the collection electrode, and the TFT switch is used to read out the charges stored in the storage capacity.
When a radiation image is recorded in the radiation image detector of the electric-readout-type, as described above, first, a positive voltage is applied to the upper electrode of the radiation image detector by a voltage source. Then, while the positive voltage is applied to the upper electrode, radiation that has passed through a subject, and which carries a radiation image of the subject, is output to the radiation image detector from the upper-electrode side.
The radiation that has been output to the radiation image detector is transmitted through the upper electrode, and the semiconductor layer is irradiated with the radiation. Then, dipoles are generated in the semiconductor layer by irradiation with the radiation. Negative charges of the dipoles combine with positive charges charged in the upper electrode and disappear, and positive charges of the dipoles are collected, as latent image charges, by the collection electrode of each pixel in the active matrix substrate. Further, the positive charges are stored in each storage capacity, and the radiation image is recorded.
Then, the TFT switch of the active matrix substrate is turned on based on a control signal output from a gate driver, and the charges stored in the storage capacity are read out. The charge signals of the charges are detected by a charge amplifier. Consequently, image signals corresponding to the radiation image are read out.
However, in the radiation image detector of the electric-readout-type, when the positive voltage is applied to the upper electrode as described above, concentration of an electric field in the vicinity of the edge portion of the upper electrode occurs. Therefore, charges are injected from the upper electrode into the semiconductor layer. Hence, there has been a problem that fluctuation in the density tends to occur at the edge portion of the radiation image. Further, there has been a risk of discharge breakdown by creeping discharge at the edge portion of the upper electrode.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,885,005 proposes a radiation image detector using amorphous selenium. In the radiation image detector, an insulating material that has high withstand-voltage is formed between the edge portion of the voltage-applied electrode, to which a voltage is applied, and the semiconductor layer to prevent injection of charges and discharge breakdown as described above.
However, when the insulating material is provided between the edge portion of the voltage-applied electrode and the semiconductor layer, as in the radiation image detector disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,885,005, it is impossible to form a sufficient electric field in the semiconductor layer that corresponds to the area in which the insulating material has been provided. Therefore, it is impossible to generate sufficient charges and to read out sufficient image signals. In other words, it is impossible to use the area as an image area. Consequently, there has been a problem that the image area becomes small.