Disclosed herein is a transnasal anticonvulsive pharmaceutical composition comprising diazepam as an active ingredient, water, a fatty acid ester, diethylene glycol monoethyl ether, ethanol and sodium glycocholate, wherein the weight of the fatty acid ester is at least 2-fold higher than that of water and is at least 2-fold higher than that of ethanol.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a transnasal anticonvulsive pharmaceutical composition. More specifically, the present invention relates to an anticonvulsive pharmaceutical composition for transmucosal delivery of diazepam having improved solubility and transmucosal permeability of diazepam.
2. Description of the Related Art
Status epilepticus (SE), a prolonged epileptic seizure, refers to a serious neurological emergency which may lead to the mortality rate of from 3 to 35% in the total SE patients. The primary goal of the treatment of SE resides in the rapid management of pathological seizure activity since the longer that an episode of status epilepticus remains untreated, the more difficult it is to control and the greater the risk of permanent brain damage. Thus, critical to the management of the patients is a prompt treatment involving administration of a pharmaceutical composition in the form of a proper pharmaceutical formulation containing an active drug ingredient at an adequate dose.
Currently, several drug regimens known in the art have been proven to be efficacious in the treatment of status epilepticus. Diazepam is one of the most widely used benzodiazepines for this purpose. Intravenous (IV) administration of anticonvulsants, such as diazepam, is the most rapid way to suppress epileptic convulsions. However, other routes of administration may be highly desirable when intravenous administration is inconvenient or is delayed, for instance, because of technical difficulties such as requirements for sterile equipment and trained personnel, and because of the probable development of phlebitis. In addition, intravenous administration of such medication is often associated with hypotension, cardiac dysrhythmia or central nervous system (CNS) depression. In this connection, Moolenaar et al (Int. J. Pharm., 5: 127-137) have attempted an administration of diazepam to humans via several other routes such as intramuscular injection, oral tablet and rectal solution. Only the rectal administration was found to provide a fairly rapid absorption of the drug and thus, it might be considered as an alternative administration route to IV injection. However, the rectal route is a very inconvenient way of drug administration particularly in the patients requiring emergency treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,863,720, issued to Burghardt, discloses a sublingual sprayable pharmaceutical preparation wherein the active drug ingredient can be a benzodiazepine. Such preparations preferably contain polyethylene glycol (PEG), and ethanol, di- and/or triglycerides of fatty acids and a pharmaceutically acceptable propellant gas are required components.
More recently, it appears that the nasal mucous membrane offers a practical route of administration for therapeutic effects of various medicinal substances. Intranasal administration has an advantage in that drugs of interest may be administered readily and simply to achieve systemic or topical effects, as required. However, the major problem associated with intranasal drug administration is the fact that most drug molecules diffuse poorly and slowly through the nasal mucous membrane and thus the desired level of the therapeutic agent cannot be achieved by means of simple transnasal administration. An additional limitation concerning nasal administration is that it is typically limited to a small volume. That is, it is generally not possible to administer the drug at a dose level of more than approximately 150 μl per nostril. Volumes of the formulation exceeding the above level will be drained out and swallowed into the pharynx. Hence, it is necessary that the required dose of the drug is provided in such a volume.
In addition, it is difficult to develop a pharmaceutical formulation of diazepam suitable for nasal spray administration, due to a low solubility of diazepam in water which is conventionally used to dissolve the drug for administration. Therefore, there is a strong need for the development of a solvent vehicle which can dissolve the desired medication, i.e. diazepam, to a high concentration, while not causing irritability to the nasal mucosa.
The intranasal drug absorption rate can be increased by co-administration of the desired drug with a chemical adjuvant or a penetration enhancer. For example, Lau and Slattery (Lau et al., Int. J. Pharm., 54: 171-174 (1989b)) have attempted an intranasal administration of a benzodiazepine such as diazepam by dissolving it in a variety of solvents such as triacetin, dimethylsulfoxide, PEG 400, Cremophor EL, Lipal-9-LA, isopropyl adipate and Azone.
However, it was found that, while the majority of the solvents dissolved diazepam to the desired concentration, the resulting solutions were too irritating to be used for transnasal administration. Cremophor EL was found to have the lowest irritability for nasal mucosal tissues, but the nasal absorption of the drug with the use of such a vehicle in humans was rather slow (Tmax of 1.4 hours) and the peak concentration was low, as compared to that observed after IV administration.
In recent years, Li et al (International Journal of Pharmaceutics Vol. 237, pp 77-85, 2002) have disclosed microemulsions for rapid-onset transnasal delivery of diazepam. Further, U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,211 discloses a composition for transnasal administration of diazepam via a solubilized preparation wherein diazepam is dissolved using an aliphatic alcohol, glycol and water as a polar solvent. In addition, US Patent Application No. 2005-0002987 A1 discloses a microemulsion for transnasal administration of diazepam wherein diazepam is dissolved using an emulsion vehicle comprised of equal amounts of a fatty acid and water with the remainder being a hydrophilic surfactant, and a polar solvent, e.g. glycol.
The pharmaceutical preparation disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,211 is a solubilized preparation wherein an aliphatic alcohol, a glycol as a polar solvent, and ethanol are used in large amounts. According to this art, when a small amount of diazepam is contained in the preparation, it is possible to enhance the transmucosal permeability of diazepam. However, when the content of diazepam is increased to a level of more than 2.5% as in Example 4 therein, thus resulting in poor dissolution of diazepam and consequently requiring transnasal administration of diazepam in a large volume so as to deliver an effective concentration of the drug, this may lead to the problems associated with a need for repeated administration because a possible maximum amount of intranasal administration is limited to within a level of 150 μl, as discussed hereinbefore. Further, the preparation disclosed in US Patent Application No. 2005-0002987 A1 is a microemulsion preparation using equal amounts of a fatty acid ester and water and large amounts of a hydrophilic surfactant, and a polar solvent, e.g. glycol and an alcohol. According to this art, the concentration of diazepam in the preparation is 41 mg/mL and therefore diazepam can be dissolved up to an about 4.1% concentration, thus resulting in an increased solubility of diazepam as compared to the preparation of U.S. Pat. No. 6,627,211. However, this pharmaceutical formulation suffers from a decreased transmucosal permeability, and therefore also requires transnasal administration of diazepam at a large volume so as to deliver an effective concentration of the drug, thus causing an inconvenience associated with a need of repeated administration. There is thus a need for a pharmaceutical composition for transmucosal administration of diazepam having improved solubility and transmucosal permeability of diazepam. Such compositions and a method of treatment are provided in accordance with the present invention.

Transnasal anticonvulsive pharmaceutical composition

Abstract: The anticonvulsive pharmaceutical composition for transmucosal delivery of diazepam according to the present invention includes a minimized content of water and ethanol, a fatty acid ester as a main ingredient and no use of a polar solvent, e.g. glycol, and, exhibits improved diazepam solubility and transmucosal permeability due to using a small amount of water and ethanol. The present invention also includes treatment of convulsions by transnasally administering to a patient in need thereof a therapeutically effective amount of the disclosed compositions.


The present invention relates to compounds of formula I which are prodrugs of caspase inhibitors and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. This invention further relates to the release of caspase inhibitors from these compounds through selective bond cleavage. This invention further relates to pharmaceutical compositions comprising these compounds, which are particularly well-suited for treatment of caspase-mediated diseases, including inflammatory and degenerative diseases. This invention further relates to methods for preparing compounds of this invention.

Apoptosis, or programmed cell death, is a principal mechanism by which organisms eliminate unwanted cells. The deregulation of apoptosis, either excessive apoptosis or the failure to undergo it, has been implicated in a number of diseases such as cancer, acute inflammatory and autoimmune disorders, ischemic diseases and certain neurodegenerative disorders [see generally Science, 281, pp. 1283-1312 (1998); and Ellis et al., Ann. Rev. Cell. Biol., 7, p. 663 (1991)].
Caspases are a family of cysteine protease enzymes that are key mediators in the signaling pathways for apoptosis and cell disassembly [N. A. Thornberry, Chem. Biol., 5, pp. R97-R103 (1998)]. These signaling pathways vary depending on cell type and stimulus, but all apoptosis pathways appear to converge at a common effector pathway leading to proteolysis of key proteins. Caspases are involved in both the effector phase of the signaling pathway and further upstream at its initiation. The upstream caspases involved in initiation events become activated and in turn activate other caspases that are involved in the later phases of apoptosis.
The utility of caspase inhibitors to treat a variety of mammalian disease states associated with an increase in cellular apoptosis has been demonstrated using peptidic caspase inhibitors. For example, in rodent models, caspase inhibitors have been shown to reduce infarct size and inhibit cardiomyocyte apoptosis after myocardial infarction, to reduce lesion volume and neurological deficit resulting from stroke, to reduce post-traumatic apoptosis and neurological deficit in traumatic brain injury, to be effective in treating fulminant liver destruction, and to improve survival after endotoxic shock [H. Yaoita et al., Circulation, 97, pp. 276-281 (1998); M. Endres et al., J. Cerebral Blood Flow and Metabolism, 18, pp. 238-247, (1998); Y. Cheng et al., J. Clin. Invest., 101, pp. 1992-1999 (1998); A. G. Yakovlev et al., J. Neurosci., 17, pp. 7415-7424 (1997); I. Rodriquez et al., J. Exp. Med., 184, pp. 2067-2072 (1996); and Grobmyer et al., Mol. Med., 5, p. 585 (1999)]. However, due to their peptidic nature, such inhibitors are typically characterized by undesirable pharmacological properties, such as poor cellular penetration and cellular activity, poor oral absorption, poor stability and rapid metabolism [J. J. Plattner and D. W. Norbeck, in Drug Discovery Technologies, C. R. Clark and W. H. Moos, Eds. (Ellis Horwood, Chichester, England, 1990), pp. 92-126]. This has hampered their development into effective drugs. These and other studies with peptidic caspase inhibitors have demonstrated that an aspartic acid residue is involved in a key interaction with the caspase enzyme [K. P. Wilson et al., Nature, 370, pp. 270-275 (1994); and Lazebnik et al., Nature, 371, p. 346 (1994)].
Accordingly, peptidyl and non-peptidyl aspartic acid compounds are useful as caspase inhibitors. For examples, WO96/03982 reports azaaspartic acid analogs effective as interleukin-1β converting enzyme ("ICE") inhibitors.
However, due to their acidic nature such peptidic and non-peptidyl aspartic acid derivatives are charged at physiological pH. This has inhibited their ability to cross the blood brain barrier and to penetrate cells at therapeutically useful levels.
Accordingly, it would be advantageous to have drug derivatives that are targeted at the diseased organs, especially the brain and central nervous system. In addition, it would be advantageous to have drug derivatives that are targeted at the diseased cells rather than at healthy cells, thus reducing undesirable side-effects.
The use of prodrugs imparts desired characteristics such as increased bioavailability or increased site-specificity for known drugs. Various lipids and phospholipids can be used in the preparation of particular types of prodrugs.
WO94/22483 reports cell permeable prodrugs, comprising a pharmacologically active carboxylic acid such as branched-chain aliphatic carboxylic acids (e.g., valproic acid), salicylic acids (e.g., acetylsalicylic acid), steroidal carboxylic acids (e.g., lysergic and isolysergic acids, monoheterocyclic carboxylic acids (e.g., nicotinic acid) and polyheterocyclic carboxylic acids (e.g., penicillins and cephalosporins), covalently linked to an intracellular transporting adjuvant. One such embodiment of the intracellular transporting adjuvant is a lysophospholipid.
WO99/02485 reports compounds of the formula:
wherein R1 is a saturated or unsaturated chain of 1-5 carbons in length; R2 is a saturated or unsaturated chain of 3-10 carbons in length; and A is COOL or CONR′R″, wherein L is a lipid moiety selected from the group consisting of glycerol, C3-20 fatty acid monoglycerides, C3-20 fatty acid diglycerides, hydroxy-C2-6-alkyl esters of C3-20 fatty acids, hydroxy-C2-6-alkyl esters of lysophosphatidic acids, lyso plasmalogens, lysophospholipids, lysophophatidic acid amides, glycerophosphoric acids, sphingolipids, lysophophatidylethanolamine, and N-mono and N,N-di-(C1-4)alkyl derivatives of the amines thereof; and R′ and R″ are each independently selected from the group consisiting of hydrogen and a lower alkyl group comprising 1-5 carbon atoms.
WO00/31083 reports compounds of the formula:
wherein R1 is a saturated or unsaturated, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon chain having from 2 to 30 carbon atoms; R2 is H or a phospholipid head group; D is a residue of a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drug having a functional group selected from the group consisting of carboxyl, hydroxyl, amine and thiol, wherein D is attached through said functional group to a bridging group, —C(O)-Z-X—, wherein Z is a saturated or unsaturated carbon chain having from 2 to 15 atoms, and X is selected from amino, hydroxy, thio and carbonyl groups, such that when the functional group of D is carboxyl, X is selected from amino, hydroxy and thio, and when the functional group of D is amino, hydroxy or thio, X is a carbonyl group.
WO01/19320 reports compounds of the formula:
wherein R1 is a saturated or unsaturated, straight-chain or branched, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon chain having from 2 to 30 carbon atoms; R2 is H or a phospholipid head group; Z is a saturated or unsaturated, straight-chain or branched, substituted or unsubstituted hydrocarbon chain having from 2 to 15 carbon atoms, which may include cyclic elements, and optionally is interrupted by one or more atoms selected from oxygen and sulfur atoms; X is a direct covalent bond or selected from the group consisting of O, S, NH and C(O) groups; and D is a residue of an anti-proliferative drug, wherein the bound anti-proliferative drug residue is an inactive form of the drug which is selectively activated in cells and tissues with elevated phospholipase activity.
WO02/11666 reports compounds of the formula:
or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, wherein R1 and R2 are the same or different, saturated or unsaturated aliphatic chain comprising from 2 to 30 carbon atoms; R3 is A-[CH2]m—B—[CH2]n—C—[CH2]p-D, wherein m, n and p are each independently zero or an integer from 1 to 12, and A, B, C and D are each independently selected from a covalent bond, amino, amido, oxygen, thio, carbonyl, carboxyl, oxycarbonyl, thiocarbonyl, phosphate, amino phosphate, mono-, di- and tri-amino phosphate group with the proviso that no two oxygen atoms are directly connected to each other; Z1 and Z2 are the same or different, each may be absent or independently selected from a) hydrogen, sodium, lithium, potassium, ammonium, mono-, di-, tri- and tetraalkylammonium, or b) together with the phospho group form a phospho ester of glycerol, choline, ethanolamine, inositol, serine, mono- or oligosaccharide.
WO03/000173 reports compounds of formula (I):
and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein R1 is a saturated or unsaturated chain of 1-18 carbons in length; and R2 is a saturated or unsaturated chain of 1-18 carbons in length, with the proviso that R1 and R2 are not both propyl; and compounds of formula (II):
and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, wherein R1 is a saturated or unsaturated chain of 1-18 carbons in length; R2 is a saturated or unsaturated chain of 1-18 carbons in length; and A is selected from the group consisting of PO4—X, COOL and COHR′—R″, wherein X is a hydrogen or choline, L is a lipid moiety selected from the group consisting of glycerol, C3-20 fatty acid monoglycerides, C3-20 fatty acid diglycerides, hydroxy-C2-6-alkyl esters of C3-20 fatty acids, hydroxy-C2-6-alkyl esters of lysophosphatidic acids, lyso plasmalogens, lysophospholipids, lysophophatidic acid amides, glycerophosphoric acids, sphingolipids, lysophosphatidylethanolamine, and N-mono-(C1-4)alkyl and N,N-di-(C1-4)alkyl and quaternary derivatives of the amines thereof; and R′ and R″ are each independently selected from the group consisting of hydrogen and a lower alkyl group comprising 1-5 carbon atoms.


In the process of dry etching or the like, the bond between specific atoms contained in a deposit attached on the interior wall of a chamber and composed of an etching by-product is monitored by using an infrared ray. An incoming infrared ray generated from a light source for monitoring is directed to the deposit so that the absorption spectrum of an outgoing infrared ray passing through the deposit is measured by an infrared-ray measuring device. As a result, accurate information on the inside of the chamber can be obtained and a reduction in production yield due to variations in etching characteristics and generated particles can be prevented. Moreover, the availability of an apparatus can be increased by optimizing a maintenance cycle based on a specific variation in the absorption spectrum of the infrared ray. In particular, process administration and process control in such processing using plasma as dry etching and plasma CVD can be improved.

The present invention relates to a method of monitoring a deposit in a chamber wherein such processing as etching or CVD is performed, to a method of plasma processing, to a method of dry-cleaning a chamber, and to a semiconductor manufacturing apparatus.
With the increasing miniaturization of semiconductor devices in recent years, the problem of increased investment in plants and equipment has become more conspicuous To efficiently make profits from recovering the investment, it is essential to reduce production cost and increase production yield. In the process of manufacturing a semiconductor device, in particular, individual process steps and the structure of the semiconductor device have increased in complexity, which inevitably necessitates improved methods of administering and controlling the process The following are conventional techniques used to administer and control the process of manufacturing semiconductor devices with regard to dry etching for patterning a conductive film and an insulating film.
To implement a conventional method of process administration for dry etching, periodic maintenance is performed with respect to a dry-etching apparatus based on the number of processed wafers (number of lots). Specifically, periodic maintenance is performed with respect to the dry-etching apparatus when the number of processed wafers has reached a given value empirically determined to maintain required etching performance, since the number of particles in the chamber increases with the number of wafers processed in the manufacturing process. Similar process control and administration is performed in another processing using plasma, such as plasma CVD.
In a conventional method of process control, if dry etching is performed to remove a given film in a semiconductor device, e.g., the emission intensity of a specific particle in the plasma varies at the completion of removal of the film in the absence of a material to be processed. When the variation reaches a given value or higher, it is judged that dry etching should be completed.
However, the above conventional method of controlling the dry-etching process has the following problems.
Even if emission light from the specific particle is monitored, it does not reflect the representative state of the entire chamber. For instance, as increases in the number of processed wafers (number of processed lots) change the state of the interior wall of the chamber with time, plasma parameters also change. The changing of the plasma parameters in turn causes variations in etching characteristics. Eventually, when the process control becomes unsuitable for the current state, production yield is lowered. For example, when the state of a deposit on the interior wall of the chamber changes, the concentration (density) of a specific active species in the plasma also changes, resulting in a variation in etching rate and a reduction in etching selectivity Such deteriorations of the etching characteristics may cause an abrupt processing failure or the like.
On the other hand, the above conventional method of administering the dry-etching process has the following problems.
In the above conventional method, the judgment of whether or not periodic maintenance should be performed is not based on any theoretical endorsement but is based on the empirical parameter of the number of processed wafers, so that it is difficult to attain the intended object successfully. For example, unnecessary maintenance is performed oftentimes. Moreover, the availability of the apparatus is lowered by such a factor as the time required by a dry-etching process, which is performed with respect to a wafer for monitoring in order to check various parameters including the number of particles and etching rate.
The problems as mentioned above arise not only with the dry-etching process but also with all types of processing that may produce a deposit on the interior wall of the chamber, involving or not involving the use of a plasma, such as plasma CVD, CVD not using a plasma, and sputtering.
In the case of dry-cleaning a chamber where cleaning gas is allowed to flow in a chamber to remove a deposit attached on the interior wall of the chamber during plasma processing, the cleaning period has conventionally been set out of experiences so that it is not necessarily optimum As a result, even after dry cleaning is performed, the number of counted particles is not within speculations so that cleaning should be performed again, which partly contributes to low efficiency and reduced availability of the apparatus.
Although the time at which dry etching should be completed is generally judged through a monitor window, a deposit attached on the inner surface of the monitor window reduces the intensity of light for monitoring, which prevents a correct judgment from being made.

Method of monitoring deposit in chamber, method of plasma processing, method of dry-cleaning chamber, and semiconductor manufacturing apparatus

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


The present application relates to a method of processing data corresponding to an image (42; 52; 68; 70; 78, 80; 98). The method includes the step of generating an identifier (56, 58, 60, 62; 74, 76; 83, 84; 91, 92, 93) for identifying a region of the image (42; 52; 68; 70; 78, 80; 98) to which a block of said data relates; and then storing the identifier (56, 58, 60, 62; 74, 76; 83, 84; 91, 92, 93). The application further relates to apparatus for processing data corresponding to an image (42; 52; 68; 70; 78, 80; 98).

There are many cases with image data where it is desirable to combine or segment images. These may include the segmentation of images into several or many 'tiles', for processing of each image, or the combination of several source images together on one display. There are even cases where it is desirable to segment very large images, process parts of the image through separate processing platforms, and to either combine them into a displayable stream for display on one very high resolution display, or to drive many physically adjacent displays that give the illusion of being one display. This application relates to the combining, segmentation, and separate processing of sections of these images.
Consider first the process of producing finished cinematographic works (films). For the first Eighty years in the history of film production, all work in editing, special effects, and compositing was done optically. This involved manually cutting film, and optically printing from one or more pieces of film onto a new film stock.
Approximately twenty years ago, it was demonstrated that the film as exposed in a film camera could be digitised in a frame by frame basis, and the result of this digitisation stored in digital storage media (such as magnetic computer discs). This data could then be processed by use of a digital computer, and a new digital image created from the first. Typical effects to be performed on the digital image may be to increase or decrease the brightness of a scene, or to alter one colour of the image differentially to other colours of that image. Other effects include the combination of two or more different images into one composite scene (this process is referred to as compositing). The resulting digital images may be shot back to film, using a film recorder. Thus this process has created a finished film from imperfect elements. This process is now common, and is referred to as 'Digital Intermediate', as the intermediate results only occur in the digital domain.
It will be appreciated that it is now possible to film digitally, avoiding the need to perform a separate step of digitising the images. Equally, a digital projector may display the digital images directly, thereby removing the need to transfer the digital images back to film.
The images and/or graphics are typically stored as a 2-Dimensional Matrix of Digital values, as illustrated in FIG. 1. To display images in this form, it is usual to have a Digital frame store 1, input means 2, and an image display means 3. It is usual in this arrangement to have a Digital-to-Analogue converter 4 which converts the digital stored values into equivalent analogue values for driving display means such as a cathode ray tube display.
The processing of digital images takes place in a variety of systems. Since a complete movie may be represented digitally by many Terabytes of data, significant computational resources are required to perform the necessary processing in a cost effective manner. Dedicated hardware systems such as the 'iQ' are available from the UK organisation Quantel Ltd., based in Newbury, Berkshire, UK. The dedicated hardware offers the necessary high speed performance, but has little flexibility for the addition of new features. Also, because the market for such systems is relatively very small compared with general purpose computers such as Personal Computers (PCs), the cost is relatively high. Thus there are several alternative systems available that use a general purpose PC. One such system is the 'Lustre' system from the Canadian company Discreet Logic. These systems have a lower cost, as the hardware is a mass commodity PC. However, since PCs are built for a wide variety of purposes, such systems do not perform optimally with very large quantities of data as is found in digitised film.
However, since PCs are built for a wide variety of purposes, such systems do not perform optimally with very large quantities of data as is found in digitised film. Thus the operator of such systems often has to wait whilst the system implements his required changes. This means that interactive response, where the operator alters a variable control, and wants to see interactively how much change is made whilst he alters the control cannot happen. This results in a great amount of frustration and lost productivity.
The Applicant has recognized that systems containing a number of industry standard PC computers to process different parts of the same film frame can be extremely useful. At least in preferred embodiments, these systems can result in much greater efficiency and provide real-time response in nearly all circumstances.
One problem occurs where it is necessary to show the changes made by each computer in combination, to show a desired change on the whole image. Whilst it would be quite usual in a multi PC architecture for each PC to write into part of a frame buffer, and to assemble the combined image in that buffer, for display to a display device such as a Monitor or projector, in practice this frame store would be expensive and cumbersome. Further disadvantages of using a frame store include the added delay that this causes. Thus frames viewed are yet another frame later than the operator's controls. Thus by the time the operator sees a frame, the computer is already handling frames that are ahead of this displayed frame. This lag makes the Human computer interaction difficult. The Applicant's co-pending UK patent application GB 0414897.9 filed on 2 Jul. 2004 teaches how problems such as these may be overcome using standard PC graphics cards, incorporating a simple modification to synchronise the output of the graphics cards, together with a low cost combiner card for combining the images from the graphics cards.
There are two principal classes of visual operation that are desirable in an image workstation. Firstly there are the manipulations that are performed on the data. Such operations include the lightening or darkening of an image, or part of an image. Other changes of this class may include the altering of the hue, saturation, or 'green-ness' of an image. A third example in this class may be to improve the sharpness of the image or part of the image. The defining factor of this class of change is that it is desired to change the look of the image or images for output. In other words, these are the changes that form part of the purpose and function of the 'Digital Intermediate' workflow.
A second class of function exists, where the function is only for display. One such function may be to make the image larger, so that a cut-out of a feature to be guided by the operator can be performed more easily. In this case, the enlargement is for the convenience of the operator to work on the image—there is no desire to make the output image larger. In another similar mode in this class, it may be desirable to compare two images. In digital film post production, it is often desirable to make changes on an image, whilst comparing the original (unchanged) image with the image that is being changed. This is often necessary to show how great or small a change has been made, as it is extremely difficult for the operator to remember precisely details of the original image, such as colour. FIG. 2 shows the monitor display that is desirable for the operator to perceive differences between two images. A first image 5 is displayed on the left hand side and a second image 7 is displayed on the right hand side. The second image 7 is the modified version of the first image 5. This class of display operation is intended to make the operator's job easier, and not intended to change the final film output to show both images. Putting it another way, this class of operation is intended to indirectly enable the operator to use the first class of operation to perform Digital Intermediate functions.
Some operations, such as a resize, can come into either class of operation. In the first class, it is desired to permanently change the size of the output image, to frame the material in a different way. In the second, it is desired not to change the output image, but to merely display it larger, so that the operator can see an area of the picture in greater detail.
To meet this need, it is desirable in the system described in the Applicant's co-pending application GB 0414897.9 to write onto the overall composite monitor space two different images. Thus it is necessary to allow the image combiner, described in the Applicant's co-pending application, to enable the display of two different images, rather than the display of different parts of the same image. This basically extends the concept introduced in GB 0414897.9 to allow display of a composite image from multiple graphics cards, without needing a frame buffer. The extensions consist of methods of using these same building blocks to display more complex image fields that meet the needs of post production, but by techniques that still do not necessitate a complex and expensive frame buffer.
There are a range of further processing techniques commonly employed when handling digital images. For example, there are many cases where it is desirable to segment images and display a number of these segments simultaneously, often but not limited to 'video Wall' displays. These are often the preferred image display means to overcome the physical limitations in display technologies such as flat panel displays and cathode ray tube displays. FIG. 3 illustrates an arrangement whereby six display panels 9, arranged in a 3×2 array, are used to display a large image at a size that it is not possible for any one display to be physically used. In this architecture it is necessary to segment an image into tiles, each of which is individually loaded into a digital frame store for that tile, and each tile is individually displayed. It is only the physical proximity of the display panels that creates the illusion of one image being displayed.
A system 11 for splitting an image into six tiles for display on a video wall is shown schematically in FIG. 4. The system 11 comprises an image disc store 13 and an image splitter 15 for splitting the image data into six separate blocks of data corresponding to the image tiles. The blocks of data are supplied to respective frame stores FS1 to FS6 and the image tiles displayed on corresponding screens 17, 19, 21, 23, 25, 27.
For many years there have existed a class of device for professional use known as 'Video Switchers'. These devices have the properties of being able to switch between multiple streams of video information. These devices have further capabilities of being able to take various parts of several images and create a composite image. These devices are also referred to as DVE (Digital Video Effects) systems. These have been manufactured and sold for many years by companies such as PINNACLE Systems, based in Mountain View, Calif., USA. Typical usage of such systems is to provide dynamic transitions between image sequences, where the first image wipes into a second, or where the first image undergoes a 'page turn' to reveal the second image on the 'reverse side' of that image.

Method and apparatus for image processing


A head drum assembly for use in a digital video cassette recorder includes a miniaturized transformer which has a rotor piece provided with a groove and a stator piece provided with an identical groove as that of the rotor piece groove, wherein the groove of the rotor piece is commonly used for a pair of heads.

There is shown in FIG. 1 a conventional head drum assembly for use in a digital video cassette recorder including a fixed shaft 1, a drum motor 2, a flange 3, a rotary drum 4, a stationary drum 5, an upper and a lower bearings 6, 6', a first and a second heads 7, 8 and a transformer 10 having a rotor and a stator pieces 11, 13.
The drum motor 2 is adjoined to an upper portion of the fixed shaft 1. The flange 3 on which the rotary drum 4 is fixedly pressed is joined with a middle portion of the fixed shaft 1 via the bearings 6, 6' in such a way that the flange 3 rotates by a driving force of the drum motor 2. The pair of heads 7, 8 are attached on a lower surface of the rotary drum 4. The stationary drum 5 is tightly pressed onto a lower portion of the fixed shaft 1.
The rotor piece 11 of the transformer 10 is attached on the flange 3 and the stator piece 13 thereof is attached on a top surface of the stationary drum 5 in such a way that the rotor and the stator pieces 11, 13 are aligned but separated from each other by a predetermined gap therebetween. Further, the rotor piece 11 is provided with a pair of circular grooves 11a, 11b, wherein the rotor piece groove 11a is used for the first head 7 and the rotor piece groove 11b is used for the second head 8; and also the stator piece 13 has a pair of circular grooves 13a, 13b identical as those of the rotor piece 11, wherein a winding 17 connected to a signal processing system (not shown) is inserted into each of the stator piece grooves 13a, 13b.
Meanwhile, a wire 15 connected to the first head 7 is wound around the rotor piece groove 11a so as to transmit a signal from the first head 7 into the stator piece 13 or vice versa, and another wire 16 connected to the second head 8 is wound around the rotor piece groove 11b so as to transmit a signal from the second head 8 into the stator piece 13 or vice versa.
In such a transformer, at least one rotor piece groove per one head is required, which, in turn, sets a limit on the degree of transformer miniaturization.

Head drum assembly for use in a digital video cassette recorder


A noncontacting displacement measuring system therefor a sensor (2) with a housing (11), at least one coil (1) accommodated in the sensor housing (11) and an embedding substance (13) for anchoring the coil (1), and further therefor an electronic supply/evaluation unit, is designed such that the influence of fluids and solids with a high dielectric constant on the measured values is large eliminated. To this end, a shield (15) is provided on the measuring side (8) of the sensor (2), which is at least largely impervious to electric field lines (9) emanating from the coil (1), but largely permeable to electromagnetic field lines emanating from the coil (1).

The invention relates to a noncontacting displacement measuring system, comprising a sensor with a measuring side and a connection side, an electronic supply/evaluation unit, and a cable leading from the sensor to the electronic supply/evaluation unit and having preferably two inner conductors, with the sensor comprising a housing, at least one coil arranged in the housing, connecting lines leading from the inner conductors of the cable to the coil or respectively coils, and, if need be, an embedding substance which anchors the coil or respectively coils and the connection lines.
For years, noncontacting displacement measuring systems of different types have been known from the practice. They can be classified by their basic mode of operation, first, into displacement measuring systems on the basis of eddy currents, and inductive and capacitative displacement measuring systems, and, second, into optical or acoustical displacement measuring systems.
The present invention relates to a noncontacting displacement measuring system comprising a sensor with at least one coil, i.e., displacement measuring systems, which operate either on eddy-current basis or by induction.
In displacement measuring systems operating by the eddy-current measuring method, a high-frequency alternating current flows through a coil normally cast into a housing, which forms an oscillating circuit by the parallel connection of capacitances. In this process, an electromagnetic field emanates from the coil. This field induces eddy currents in a conductive object, which withdraw energy from the oscillating circuit. Primarily at higher operating frequencies, a reaction of the induced eddy currents appears, which changes as a back induction the real part of the impedance of the coil. The influence on the imaginary part of the coil impedance is, in this process, dependent on the magnetic characteristics and the operating frequency. Nonmagnetic objects of measurement reduce the inductance of the coil when approaching the latter.
The amplitude of the oscillating circuit changes as a function of the spacing. Demodulated, linearized, and amplified, if need be, the change in amplitude supplies a voltage which varies proportionally to the spacing between the sensor and the object of measurement.
In the case of the inductive measuring method, the coil arranged in the sensor is likewise a part of an oscillating circuit. When a conductive object of measurement is approached, the imaginary part of the coil impedance will change primarily. This applies mainly to low operating frequencies, i.e, operating frequencies of up to several 100 kHz. Magnetic objects increase the inductance as they approach the coil, nonmagnetic objects lessen it. Also here, a demodulated output signal is proportional to the distance between the sensor and the object of measurement.
Both in the case of the eddy-current measuring method and in the inductive measuring method, the change in the impedance of a measuring coil arranged in a sensor is measured, when an electrically and/or magnetically conductive object of measurement is approached. The measuring signal thus corresponds to the distance of measurement.
The change in impedance which is create by varying the spacing between the sensor and the object to be measured, thus, results on the one hand from a change in inductance of the coil, and on the other hand from the change in real resistance of the coil. The imaginary part of the coil impedance is thus predetermined, among other things, by the self-capacitance of the measuring coil and, thus, by the entire configuration of the sensor. The electric field lines exiting from the sensor during a measurement, are accordingly also decisive for the self-capacitance of the sensor. When an electrically conductive object of measurement approaches the sensor, the electric field emanating from the sensor is thereby also influenced. This applies likewise, when an object with a relatively high dielectric constant approaches. Consequently, a substance with a high dielectric constant located between the sensor and the actual object of measurement causes a change in the self-capacitance and thus in the total capacitance of the measuring coil.
For example, when water (.epsilon.r .apprxeq. 80) enters between the sensor and the object of measurement, the self-capacitance of the measuring coil will be influenced. In the case of conventional sensors, the change in capacitance amounts to few pF. Should water or another substance with a high dielectric constant be continuously present, it will be possible to consider the influence of the water on the self- capacitance of the coil when calibrating the measuring system. However, if the space between the sensor and the object of measurement is, for example, not splash-proof, that is, should water enter uncontrolled and only temporarily into the range of measurement, errors in the distance measurement will occur, which increase along with the distance between the sensor and the object of measurement. The reason for this is that a movement of the object of measurement effects only a slight change in impedance of the coil at a great distance between the sensor and the object of measurement.
The operating frequency or respectively resonant frequency is calculated with the known formula ##EQU1## wherein C.sub.Spule is the self-capacitance of the sensor coil and C.sub.Erg the supplemental capacitance for the desired operating frequency.
At low frequencies and a given inductance L, the percentage change of the resonant frequency is only slight, since the capacitance C.sub.Erg is substantially greater than the self-capacitance of the coil. The percentage change of the resonant frequency, however, increases quadratically with the frequency, since C.sub.Erg decreases correspondingly. This means that the influence at 1 MHz is 100 times as great as at 100 kHz.
It is therefore the object of the invention to provide for a noncontacting displacement measuring system, in which the influence of fluids or solids with a high dielectric constant on the measured values is largely eliminated.
The noncontacting displacement measuring system according to the invention solves the aforesaid problem in that a shield is provided on the measuring side of the sensor, and that on the one hand the shield is at least largely impervious to electric field lines emanating from the coil or coils, and on the other hand at least largely permeable to electromagnetic field lines emanating from the coil or coils.
According to the invention it has been recognized that the influence of fluids or solids with a high dielectric constant located in the range of measurement on the measured values can be eliminated, when the electric field lines which normally emanate from the sensor, are shielded toward the outside, i.e., when the electric field is closed all around. The material which is used to shield the electric field, should not influence or only slightly influence the electromagnetic field necessary for the measurement.
There are various possibilities of advantageously expanding and further developing the teaching of the present invention. In conjunction with the description of the preferred embodiment of the invention with reference to the drawing, also generally preferred embodiments and further developments of the teaching will be described. Illustrated in the drawing is in

Noncontacting displacement measuring system having an electric field shield


The present invention provides a semiconductor device comprising a semiconductor substrate, and transistors formed on the semiconductor substrate, wherein control electrode terminals constituting external electrode terminals of the transistors, and first electrode terminals which transmit output signals, are provided on a main surface of the semiconductor substrate, wherein the control electrode terminals are provided at least one, and a plurality of the first electrode terminals are arranged on one side and a plurality of the first electrode terminals are arranged on the other side with the control electrode terminals being interposed therebetween, wherein a portion including the control electrode terminals and a plurality of the first electrode terminals located on one side of the control electrode terminals constitute a first transistor portion, and wherein a portion including the control electrode terminals and a plurality of the first electrode terminals located on the other side of the control electrode terminals constitute a second transistor portion. The semiconductor device is quadrangular.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, a high-frequency power amplifying device (high-frequency power amplifying module) and a wireless communication apparatus with the high-frequency power amplifying device built therein. The present invention relates to, for example, a technology effective for application to a cellular telephone of a multiband communication system, which has a plurality of communication functions different in communication frequency band.
An AMPS (Advanced Mobile phone Service) of an analog system, which has heretofore been used and covers the North America all over the land, and a so-called dual mode cellular telephone wherein digital systems such as TDMA (time division multiple access), CDMA (code division multiple access), etc. are built in one cellular phone, have recently been used in a North American cellular market.
On the other hand, a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) system and a DCS (Digital Cellular System) system both using a TDMA technology and an FDD (frequency division duplex) technology have been used in Europe and the like.
"Nikkei Electronics" issued by Nikkei Business Publications, Inc., the Jul. 26 issue in 1999 [no.748], P140 to P153 has described a dual mode cellular phone wherein a GSM whose use frequency ranges from 800 MHz to 900 MHz, and a PCN (another name for DSC) whose use frequency ranges from 1.7 GHz to 1.8 GHz, are integrated into one. The same reference has described a multi-layered ceramics•device in which passive parts are brought into integration to downsize the whole circuit.
A dualband-oriented RF power module has been described in "GAIN", No. 131, 2000.1 issued by the Semiconductor Group of Hitachi, Ltd.


A capacitor (100) is disclosed that is formed as part of an integrated circuit (IC) fabrication process. The capacitor (100) has conductive top and bottom electrodes (140, 144) and a nonconductive capacitor dielectric (142). In one example, the dielectric (142) includes first and second thin dielectric layers (112, 114) that sandwich a layer of antireflective material (118). The thin layers (112, 114) provide the dielectric behavior necessary for the capacitor while the antireflective layer (118) promotes reduced feature sizes by mitigating reflected standing waves, among other things.

It can be appreciated that several trends presently exist in the electronics industry. Devices are continually getting smaller, faster and require less power, while simultaneously being able to support and perform a greater number of increasingly complex and sophisticated functions. One reason for these trends is an ever increasing demand for small, portable and multifunctional electronic devices. For example, cellular phones, personal computing devices, and personal sound systems are devices which are in great demand in the consumer market. These devices rely on one or more small batteries as a power source and also require an ever increasing computational speed and storage capacity to store and process data, such as digital audio, digital video, contact information, database data and the like.
Accordingly, there is a continuing trend in the semiconductor industry to manufacture integrated circuits (ICs) with higher device densities. To achieve such high densities, there has been and continues to be efforts toward scaling down dimensions (e.g., at submicron levels) on semiconductor wafers. In order to accomplish such high densities, smaller feature sizes, smaller separations between features and layers, and/or more precise feature shapes are required, such as metal interconnects or leads, for example. The scaling-down of integrated circuit dimensions can facilitate faster circuit performance and/or switching speeds, and can lead to higher effective yield in IC fabrication processes by providing more circuits on a semiconductor die and/or more die per semiconductor wafer, for example,—where this also satisfies or furthers ongoing desires to streamline fabrication processes, enhance efficiency and/or reduce costs.
By way of example, high precision analog integrated circuits (IC's), such as analog-to-digital and digital-to-analog converters, for example, often require a number of capacitors for proper operation. Some of the capacitor requirements in a true eighteen bit converter IC, for example, are a ratio stability of less than 0.00075% over 10 years, a voltage coefficient of less than 10 ppm per volt, a temperature drift match of less than 0.05% per degree Celsius, dielectric absorption of less than 0.00075% and capacitance greater than 0.5 fF per square micrometer, among other things.
Such integrated circuit capacitors are generally formed as part of the IC fabrication process whereby a thin dielectric layer is established between two conductive plates. However, conventional IC fabrication techniques, such as patterning and/or etching, for example, have limitations as to the size and/or accuracy to which features can be produced thereby. It would, therefore, be desirable to be able to form one or more integrated circuit capacitors in a cost effective manner that allows smaller feature sizes to be more accurately produced without complicating the fabrication process so that device scaling can be furthered.

Integrated circuit capacitor having antireflective dielectric


A substrate including an NMOS transistor region and a PMOS transistor region is prepared. A silicon-germanium layer is formed on the PMOS transistor region. Nitrogen atoms are injected in an upper portion of the silicon-germanium layer. A first gate dielectric layer is formed on the NMOS transistor region and the PMOS transistor region. The nitrogen atoms are injected into the upper portion of the silicon-germanium layer before forming the first gate dielectric layer.

1. Field
Some example embodiments herein relate to methods of fabricating the semiconductor devices, more particularly, methods of fabricating the semiconductor devices including a silicon-germanium layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
As the electronic industry becomes more developed, requirements for diverse characteristics of the semiconductor device have been increased. For example, requirements of higher reliability, higher speed, and/or multi-functional characteristics are increasing. For satisfying these requirements, the inner structure of the semiconductor device is becoming more complicated, and the integration density is therefore increasing.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods of fabricating semiconductor devices


A method, system and computer program product for reducing the execution cost of sampled queries of tables in a database. A subset of entries comprising row identifiers or key values based on an input query of data in the tables of the database is generated. A sampling predicate to reduce the number of entries in the subset is generated. The sampling predicate is applied to the subset to reduce the number of entries in the subset. The data in the database corresponding to the reduced subset is retrieved from the database.

A database management system (DBMS) is a computer based system that stores data in tables and retrieves such stored data. Queries are used to obtain data from these tables based on characteristics/parameters set forth in the query. It is often desirable to obtain quick approximate answers to a query from large databases. Sampled queries are one means of obtaining these answers.
Sampled queries are queries performed on sampled tables. A sampled table is the result of randomly selecting a specified number of rows from the table, rather than all rows that match a selection criteria. Sampled queries are used to quickly gather an approximate profile of data within a large table. If a sufficiently large sample size is used, trends in the data can be examined by sampling the data instead of scanning all the data.
For the sampling to be effective from an efficiency point of view, the sampling done early in the query should be considered. However, sampling does not commute with many of the operations in the query. Even for a query of a single relation, sampling may be problematic if the query is more complex.
In a relational model of data, data entries are arranged into columns of values forming one or more multicolumn tables referred to as relations. Relations typically represent an entity, storing attributes of the entity in each record. A join of two relations is a method of combining multiple relations to obtain a consolidated view of the relations. The join may involve matching relevant values of a column of one table with values of a column of a second table. When there are two or more tables in the query, the decision to push the sampling to the access of the base relation in order to reduce the set of rows considered early may be problematic. Many methods, such as, dividing the sampling rate and sampling the individual relations often results in few or no records output. Another approach evaluates the complete join result and then takes the appropriate sample of this result, however, this uses a large number of computing resources to complete join result.

Execution cost reduction of sampled queries in a database

International Business Machines Corporation


An eccentric drive rotates inside a ring that is hinged to a plate and an astomeric curtain is wrapped around the ring and across an articulated plate. The curtain moves along a cylindrical wall inside the pump cavity to move fluid from an inlet to an outlet end of the chamber. Two or more chambers can be coupled in series or in parallel with one another.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to rotary type positive displacement pumps, and deals more particularly with a positive displacement rotary pump for achieving high flow rates of incompressible fluids in an underwater environment where a vehicle's acoustical noise must be kept to a minimum.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In a shipboard environment where torpedoes are to be launched by either a positive displacement ram-type piston, or by a rotary pump system difficulties have been encountered with such prior art systems chiefly for two reasons, first due to the acoustical noise created, and secondly due to the space requirements for such systems generally.
In a ram-type piston system the volume of water to be pumped must be approximately equal to the volume of the weapon which is to be launched. This problem of volume is magnified by the fact that the water piston is powered by an in-line air piston, effectively doubling the length of the overall ejection system required. In addition, as the piston completes its stroke, it must be stopped or decelerated without generating excessive noise. The piston must then be returned to its ready position before a second launch can be achieved.
These factors have led to the development of a rotary impeller pump system to replace the so-called ram or piston-type system. An air turbine has been used to drive the impeller so as to pump seawater behind the weapon to effect its launch. Such a system is considerably smaller than the ram or piston-type system and does permit a gradual deceleration of the pump at the end of the power stroke and does not require any return to a ready position. However, one difficulty with a turbine driven impeller pump launching system can be attributed to the fact that the pump will never reach steady state operation as the weapon will have been launched before the pump reaches this condition. Torpedo tube-weapon exit velocity requirements dictate that the weapon be launched in less than one second.
The development of a quiet system with a pump of the impeller type that will not cavitate while in a start-up or transient mode of operation has encountered problems. Excessive noise has been generated in impeller-type pump systems due to cavitation. Large diameter pumps rotating relatively slowly have been proposed, but the size requirements are such that there is a need for a more efficient and cost effective pumping system to launch weapons from underwater vehicles.

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Navy


A communication apparatus is provided. A processor is coupled to a first radio access technology (RAT) module, a second RAT module and a radio transceiver shared by the first and second RAT modules. The first RAT module camps on a first serving cell belonging to a first wireless network and is in a packet transfer mode to perform data transfer in the first wireless network via the radio transceiver. The second RAT module camps on a second serving cell belonging to a second wireless network. The processor schedules the second RAT module to receive at least one neighbor cell's information in a portion of a plurality of predetermined frames during the data transfer of the first RAT module via the radio transceiver.

Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for scheduling radio activities for multiple radio access technology (RAT) modules in a communications apparatus, and more particularly to a method for scheduling radio activities for multiple RAT modules sharing one antenna in a communications apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
The term "wireless", normally refers to an electrical or electronic operation, which is accomplished without the use of a "hard wired" connection. "Wireless communications", is the transfer of information over a distance without the use of electrical conductors or wires. The distances involved may be short (a few meters for television remote controls) or very long (thousands or even millions of kilometers for radio communications). The best known example of wireless communications is the cellular telephone. Cellular telephones use radio waves to enable an operator to make phone calls to another party, from many locations world-wide. They can be used anywhere, as long as there is a cellular telephone site to house equipment that can transmit and receive signals, which are processed to transfer both voice and data to and from the cellular telephones.
There are various well-developed and well-defined cellular communications technologies. For example, the Global System for Mobile communications (GSM) is a well-defined and commonly adopted communications system, which uses time division multiple access (TDMA) technology, which is a multiplex access scheme for digital radio, to send voice, data, and signaling data (such as a dialed telephone number) between mobile phones and cell sites.

Method for scheduling radio activities for multiple rat modules sharing one antenna in a communications apparatus and communications apparatuses utilizing the same


Multiple parallel-job scheduling method and apparatus are provided which can improve the utilization of all processors in a system when a plurality of parallel jobs are executed concurrently. A plurality of processors constituting a computer system and each having the equal function are logically categorized into serial processors for executing a serial computing part or a parallel computing part of a parallel job and a parallel processor group consisting of multiple processors for executing the parallel computing part of the parallel job in parallel. In order that the parallel processors are shared by a plurality of parallel jobs, a synchronization range indicator is provided which can control by program whether the parallel processors are available in correspondence to the respective serial processors. In response to a request for using the parallel processors from a serial processor for which the parallel processors are so set as to be available by means of the synchronization range indicator, operation can be carried out without invoking an interrupt.

The present invention relates to multiple parallel-job scheduling method and apparatus and more particularly, to a multiple parallel-job scheduling method and apparatus suitable for parallel or concurrent execution of a plurality of parallel information processing programs.
Hayes, John Patrick, "Computer Architecture and Organization", McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1988, pp. 626-629 discloses a parallel-job executing system in which processors consisting of serial processors and parallel processors are used and when a plurality of information processing programs are processed in parallel, the processors are utilized in a time sharing manner.
Hwang Kai, "Advanced Computer Architecture: Parallelism, Scalability, Programmability-Multiprocessors and Multicomputers", McGraw-Hill Book Co., 1993, pp. 364-367 discloses barrier synchronization. U.S. Pat. No. 4,809,157 discloses a technique of dynamically assigning a plurality of jobs to a plurality of processors.
In the conventional systems, however, when a plurality of parallel jobs are executed, parallel processors and serial processors in the processors are handled collectively and utilized in a time sharing fashion to perform the parallel computation, with the result that when the processors are assigned to one parallel job and a serial computing part of the parallel job is executed within a time for the assignment, the parallel processors are placed in idle condition, raising a problem that the utilization of the whole of the computer system is degraded.
In a system called a dual scalar processor system, two serial computing components are prepared, a single parallel computing component is shared by the two serial computing components and the parallel computing component is also utilized in a time sharing manner, thus raising a problem that the parallel computing component is idled during the execution of the serial computing component and the utilization of the whole of the computer system is degraded.


A dual primary, single secondary ignition coil and control provides for establishment of a continuous extended arc across a pair of electrodes or dual arcs across the pair of electrodes. Continuous extended arcs are advantageous in extended burn applications and dual arcs are advantageous in gas plasma ion sense misfire detection applications.

Conventional single strike ignition systems for producing a combustion arc across electrodes of a spark plug disposed within a combustion chamber are well known. The predominant application for such systems is timed combustion of a compressed fuel charge in a combustion cylinder of an internal combustion engine. Ignition systems conventionally employ an ignition coil which provides an auto-transformer function to generate a high voltage across the electrodes of a spark plug sufficient to result in the desired combustion arc. Known ignition systems may employ a single ignition coil with mechanical or electronic distribution of the high voltage sequentially to multiple spark plugs in a multi-cylinder engine. So called distributorless concurrent discharge ignition systems are known in which pairs of combustion cylinders share a single ignition coil and its high-voltage output. The one of the cylinders undergoing compression of a fuel charge is said to receive a combustion spark while the other of the cylinders undergoing exhaust of gases is said to receive a waste spark. Another known variety of distributorless ignition systems is may be referred to as a coil at plug or coil near plug. As the name suggests, the coil at plug systems have a coil associated with each cylinder of a multi-cylinder internal combustion engine and are characterized by packaging challenges due to the desired proximal placement of the ignition coil to the spark plug.
Generally, desirable objectives of any internal combustion engine ignition system is to maximize the energy delivered across the electrode gaps of the spark plugs and to increase the time of the discharge or burn time. Such an objective has the benefit of extending the combustion process for more complete burn. However, the relationship between energy delivered and ignition coil size is generally one of direct correspondence. Increase in ignition coil size is generally disadvantageous or impractical since mass is likely to also increase as is packaging difficulty particularly with respect to distributed ignition systems and most notably with respect to coil at plug systems in which available space for the coils is significantly limited.
Another shortfall of high burn time ignition coils in general relates to the turns ratio of the secondary to primary winding. Typically, high burn time ignition coils require a relatively high turns ratio. This may be problematic as a breakdown voltage induced across the secondary winding, and hence across the gapped electrodes, may be reached at the beginning of the primary charging prior to the desired ignition timing. Early breakdown voltages yield undesirable premature light-off of the fuel charge or, alternatively stated, ignition on make. Additional secondary winding circuitry in the form of expensive high-voltage blocking diodes are therefore commonly introduced to block ignition on make in high turns ratio ignition coils.
AC ignition systems are also known for providing extended burn benefits but typically employ expensive DC-DC converters at the input to raise the input voltage to a level providing adequate performance of the ignition coil in both transformer and induction modes. Additionally, and consistent with size and mass minimization objectives, high switching frequency DC-DC converters are used which may produce undesirably high levels of radio frequency (RF) interference.
Dual strike ignition systems are also known for producing a first combustion arc across electrodes of a spark plug disposed within a combustion cylinder followed by a second arc across the electrodes. The second arc may be characterized as a secondary combustion arc when used for the purpose of extending the burn, or may be characterized as a measurement arc when used for the purpose of detecting misfire in conjunction with a plasma induced misfire detection system. Co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 08/651,416 and 08/651,320 also assigned to the Assignee of the present invention disclose an exemplary dual strike ignition system and plasma induced misfire detection system. Such exemplary systems, while providing improvements to the art, may require high turns ratios subject to ignition on make events. Additionally, such systems provide for discontinuous or piecemeal introduction of energy into the ignition process.

Method and apparatus for producing electrical discharges


A separation and guidance structure comprises an arm having an inner end with a crosspiece secured in use to a pontoon or the like, and an outer end provided with fenders extending above and beyond the end of the arm. Flotation is provided to support the outer end of the arm, and may be in the form of a flotation member or be provided by the fenders. In use a number of such structures are secured in parallel to a pontoon or dock to form a berthing system.

In some sailing areas, such as the United Kingdom, a marina has floating pontoons from which extend floating fingers. Generally the fingers are spaced apart such that two craft can occupy the space between, each craft being adjacent and attached to a finger. Generally the fingers include decking allowing users to walk on the finger and access the attached craft, flotation units provided beneath the decking, and mooring points allowing the securing of ropes to attach the adjacent craft. To enter the berth, the user has to approach parallel to the pontoon and then make a right-angle turn into the berth. This manoeuvre can present some difficulty, especially where there is a strong wind or tidal current across the berth, or if the user lacks experience, and it is quite common for a craft entering or leaving a berth to make contact with the neighbouring vessel or with the corner of the finger. Such contact is frequently sufficiently heavy to case damage. Also, in an attempt to minimise such occurrences marina operators may increase the spacing between fingers; this makes maneuvering simpler but is wasteful of valuable mooring space.
In other sailing waters, such as the Mediterranean, small craft commonly berth bows-to or stern-to a floating pontoon or a fixed dock. In this case, the craft must approach at right angles to the pontoon or dock into a clear space between vessels already berthed. The leading end (bows or stern) must be made fast to the pontoon or dock, and the opposite end is secured to permanent mooring ropes with pick-up buoys, or by dropping an anchor during the approach. Here again, the manoeuvre can be difficult in cross-wind or cross-tide conditions, especially if made into a space which is just sufficiently wide, and damaging collisions can occur.
It will be appreciated that floating pontoons are generally used wherever there is a significant tidal range, while fixed docks are commonly used where tidal range is small, e.g. the Mediterranean or the Baltic. For simplicity, the term "pontoon" will be used herein to include both.

Berthing system and structure for use therein


In a steering lock device used for a vehicle in which the locking member allows a steering shaft to rotate when an inner cylinder of a cylinder lock moves to ON position by the operation of a key, while the locking member locks the steering shaft when the key is withdrawn at a LOCK position, the steering lock device comprises a key lever disposed in the inner cylinder such that it can swing depending on the insertion and withdrawal of the key, an engaging portion disposed on the outer cylinder that engages the key lever when the inner cylinder is rotated from the ON position to the LOCK position by the key operation and a locking member disposed on the outer cylinder which retracts when the inner cylinder is positioned at the key withdrawal position, thereby unlocking the steering lock shaft, while protrudes when the key is withdrawn, thereby locking the steering shaft non rotatably.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a steering lock device used for a vehicle car in which a steering shaft of a vehicle steering handle is non-rotatably locked upon operation of an engine ignition key.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The steering lock device of the aforementioned type is adapted such that the steering shaft is kept unlocked, unless the key is withdrawn. The shaft remains unlocked even if a driver should erroneously or accidentally rotate a rotor of the cylinder lock device to a locking position during running of a car. This ensures safety during operation of the vehicle.
Heretofore, a steering lock device used for a vehicle having such a system has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Utility Model Laid Open Sho 63(1988)-74360 and it has the following constitution. That is, in order to hold a lock pin at an unlock position until withdrawal of a key, an engaging lever is movably disposed in a cylinder body that contains a rotor of a cylinder lock. The forward end of the lever is engaged with a slide member which is disposed slidably in the rotor of the cylinder lock for detecting the insertion of the key and radially and outwardly displacing to the rotor. The rear end of the lever is detachably engaged to another slider which is connected to a lock pin and slides in accordance with the rotation of the rotor. When the key is inserted into the rotor of the cylinder lock device, the top end of the engaging lever is raised by the slide member. The rear end of the engaging lever engages the slider to hold the lock pin at an unlock position. On the other hand, when the key is withdrawn from the rotor, the top end of the engaging lever retracts together with the slide member into the rotor. The rear end of the engaging lever detaches from the slider, thereby causing the lock pin to protrude out of the cylinder body under the force of a spring to lock the steering shaft in a non-rotatable position.
However, in the prior art system as described above, since the engaging lever is disposed on the cylinder body, there has been a problem that diametrical size of the cylinder body increases, thereby requiring an increased number of parts for mounting the engaging lever.


The present invention provides a high-resolution membrane-based method for removing a virus from a manufactured protein-containing solution, the method being particularly characterized by its capacity to be performed quickly (i.e., as measured by flux) and efficiently (i.e., as measured by log reduction value, LRV). Towards such results, the present invention employs a plurality (i.e., greater than 2) of interfacially-contiguous asymmetric ultrafiltration membranes, the foremost of which is oriented with its “tight side” facing downstream. The present invention also provides a filtration capsule, useful in the conduct of the method, comprising a pleated tube formed of three interfacially-contiguous asymmetric ultrafiltration membranes.

Virus removal from liquid streams, particularly process streams in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry, has been practiced for some time. High viral clearance, high product flux, complete protein passage and simplicity of operation are the goals of the operator, yet the prior art does not provide a solution that satisfies all of these goals. Since high viral clearance is always needed, it is the other process goals that have suffered. Meeting these other goals would substantially lower processing cost.
The prior art provides several membrane types and filtration modes for viral clearance. For a general discussion concerning the state of prior art, see Chapter 20 of Filtration in the Biopharmaceutical Industry, Marcel Dekker, Inc. (1988). Chapter 20 is entitled "Filtration and the Removal of Viruses from Biopharmaceuticals."
One of the products discussed in Filtration was the Viresolve™ product line produced by Millipore Corporation. This is a system that used a composite ultrafiltration membrane in a tight side-up-stream (TSUS) orientation in a tangential flow filtration (TFF) device.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,017,292 discloses technology used to produce the Viresolve product. It provides a composite membrane comprising a porous membrane substrate, a tight side (the surface having smaller diameter pores) having ultrafiltration separation properties and an intermediate porous zone between the substrate and the skin which intermediate zone has an average pore size smaller than that of the substrate. The intermediate zone is free of macrovoids that may break the skin. The composite membrane is capable of a log reduction value (LRV) of at least 3 (99.9% removal) of virus particles (collectively "virus") selectively from solution. A limitation of this system is that in order to achieve adequate protein solution flux, a complex pumping system is needed to operate effectively in a TFF mode. This needed complexity results in a substantial filtration cost.
While more conventional virus removal applications are available from several manufacturers, they also cannot attain all the goals set forth above. Indeed, they either use conventional ultrafiltration membranes in single layer TSUS orientation in a TFF device or a hollow fiber ultrafiltration TFF device. They similarly lack the simplicity of use and result in a high filtration cost.
Normal flow filtration (NFF) devices, also known as dead—ended filtration devices, are currently available for use in removing viruses from process streams. Indeed, Pall Corp. of East Hills, N.Y. manufactures a dead-ended virus removal membrane under the Ultipore® DV50 brand (hereinafter the "DV50") and DV20 brand (hereinafter the "DV20").
The DV50 consists of three-layers of an isotropic, skinless, porous polyvinylidene fluoride ("PVDF") membrane. While this product has the desired virus removal capabilities and simplicity of use for large virus removal, the isotropic structure of the membranes employed limits its permeability. A low permeability (water permeability of 2 Imh/psi) increases the costs of filtration. This product also does not meet all the goals set forth above.
The DV20 is a similar product, but designed for small virus removal. It has a permeability of 0.6 Imh/psi with IgG.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,736,051 discloses a PVDF membrane and method for removing viruses from solutions. More particularly, it provides an isotropic, skinless, porous PVDF membrane. We believe this is the membrane used in the DV50 and DV20.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,788,862 discloses a supported ultrafiltration membrane with a coated skin. In the patent, the membrane is described as having been used in a 2-layer configuration in NFF mode with a coated skin to filter viruses from protein streams. While satisfactory levels of virus removal were achieved, the protein passage and flux were very low: maximum disclosed flux with IgG was 0.6 Imh/psi and max IgG passage was only 84%.
In addition to the prior art providing multi-layered virus removal membranes, the prior art also provides multi-layered ultrafiltration membranes with at least one membrane being oriented TSDS. U.S. Pat. No. 4,261,834 provides two anisotropic ultrafiltration membranes positioned in series with at least one membrane juxtaposed with at least one other membrane so that substantially all the skin surface of one membrane is in intimate contact with substantially all of the skin surface of the other membrane. This invention, however, was directed to mask pinhole defects for ultrafiltration membranes used to remove proteins (pyrogens) from aqueous streams in a tangential flow filtration (TFF) system.
In light of the above, there is a clear need for filtration materials and devices that remove viruses at high log reduction values (LRV), having essentially complete passage of the protein product and operating at high flux. Furthermore, there is a need that such materials and devices should be easy to operate, preferably in NFF mode.

High-resolution virus removal methodology and filtration capsule useful therefor


A cobalt on transition alumina catalyst, containing between 3 and 40% by weight of cobalt has a cobalt surface area above 30 m.sup.2 /.sub.g of cobalt, preferably above 50 m.sup.2 /.sub.g of cobalt, most preferably above 80 m.sup.2 /.sub.g of cobalt.

In catalysts, cobalt is normally fixed on a carrier such as silica, aluminium silicate, alumina.
In these catalysts, the useful cobalt atoms are those which are exposed at the surface of the cobalt particles. The cobalt atoms which are not exposed (i.e not at the surface) will not participate in catalytic reaction.
Cobalt is an expensive metal and, in order to optimize its use as a catalyst, it is essential to increase as much as possible the (number of exposed cobalt atoms/ total number of cobalt atoms) ratio of the catalyst which, in turn, increases the cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt.
It is known from EP-A-13,275 to produce a supported coprecipitated cobalt-silica catalyst wherein a reaction mixture of cobalt ions, silicate ions and solid porous carrier particles is prepared and allowed to form a coprecipitate of cobalt and silicate ions onto the solid porous support particles. The obtained cobalt-silica catalyst has a BET total surface area ranging from 150 to 350 m.sup.2 /g and a cobalt surface area ranging from 5 to 20 m.sup.2 /g of cobalt.
It is also known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,591,579 to provide a process for the preparation of a transition metal-silicate catalyst in which an insoluble, basic compound of a transition metal (e.g. cobalt, nickel or copper) is precipitated with an alkaline precipitation agent from an aqueous solution of such a metal salt after which this compound is reacted with a silicate solution. In example 5, it is described such a catalyst wherein the cobalt surface area is 8.9 m.sup.2 /g of catalyst.
In `Stoichiometries of H.sub.2 and CO Adsorptions on cobalt`--Journal of Catalysis 85, page 63-77 (1984)--are disclosed on page 67, table 1, cobalt catalysts on different carriers. From the total maximum H.sub.2 uptake, it is possible to calculate the cobalt surface area per gram of catalyst and the cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt. It can be seen that, for cobalt on silica catalysts the cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt ranges between 6 and 65 m.sup.2 /g whereas for cobalt on transition alumina catalysts the cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt ranges between 15 and 26 m.sup.2 /g.
Thus, cobalt catalysts with a high cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt exist for cobalt on silica catalysts (and also for cobalt on carbon catalysts), but don't exist for cobalt on transition alumina catalysts.
Nevertheless, cobalt upon transition alumina catalysts present some distinct advantages towards other cobalt catalysts.
First of all, a cobalt on transition alumina catalyst is easier to shape by extrusion than a cobalt on silica catalyst and the mechanical strength of the resulting catalyst is higher.
In reactions where water is present (e.g. methanation, Fisher Tropsch), silica can be unstable. Alumina, however, is much more stable under such conditions.
There is therefore a need for a cobalt on transition alumina catalyst with a cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt higher than previously obtained.
Its is a first goal of the present invention to provide a cobalt on transition alumina catalyst with a cobalt surface area per gram of cobalt higher than previously.
It is a second goal of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing such catalyst.
Tests and Definitions
i) cobalt surface area
Approximately 0.5 g of sample is used for the analysis. The weight used to calculate the metallic surface area is that obtained after pretreatment. During this pretreatment the sample is degassed and dried under vacuum at 120.degree. C. The pretreated sample is then reduced. Sample is heated to 425.degree. C. at a rate of 3.degree. C./min whilst hydrogen gas is passed through the sample at a flow rate of 250 ml/min. Still with the same hydrogen flow the sample is maintained at 425.degree. C. for 18 hours. Under vacuum the sample is heated up to 450.degree. C. over a 10 min time period. The sample is maintained at 450.degree. C. under vacuum for 2 hours. PA1 The chemisorption analysis is carried out at 150.degree. C. using pure hydrogen gas. An automatic analysis program is used to measure a full isotherm up to 800 mmHg pressure of hydrogen. PA1 The method is to extrapolate the straight-line portion of the chemisorption isotherm between 300 and 800 mmHg to zero pressure to calculate the volume of gas chemisorbed (V). PA1 Metallic surface areas were calculated in all cases using the following equation, ##EQU1## Where V=uptake of hydrogen in ml/g SF=Stoichiometry factor (assumed to be 2 for H.sub.2 chemisorption on Co) A=area occupied by one atom of cobalt (assumed to be 0.0662 nm.sup.2) PA1 This equation is disclosed by Micromeretics in Operators Manual for ASAP 2000 Chemi System V 1.00, Appendix C, Part No. 200-42808-01, 18 January 1991. PA1 Transition aluminas are defined in "Ullmans Encyklopaedie der technischen Chemie", 4., neubearbeitete und erweiterte Auflage, Band 7 (1974), pp.298-299. PA1 The document divides transition aluminas in several categories: PA1 -gamma-group PA1 delta-group
ii) Transition alumina
Included in the gamma-group are, apart from gamma-Al203, all low-temperature forms such as eta-A1203 and chi-A1203. They are formed on calcination of aluminiumhydroxides at 400.degree.-750.degree. C. PA2 The specific surface area of gamma-group forms of aluminas is in the range of 150-400 m.sup.2 /g. PA2 The delta group of aluminas includes all high-temperature forms, e.g. delta-, theta- and chi-Al203. The delta group aluminas are formed on heating gamma-group aluminas at approximately 800.degree. C. or higher. PA2 The specific surface area of delta-group forms of aluminas is in the range of 50-150 m.sup.2 /g.
General Description of the Invention
It is a first object of the present invention to provide a cobalt, on transition alumina support, catalyst, containing between 3 and 40% by weight-of cobalt wherein the cobalt surface area is above 30 m.sup.2 /g of cobalt, preferably above 40 m.sup.2 /g, more preferably above 50 m.sup.2 /g of cobalt, even more preferably above 80 m.sup.2 /g of cobalt.
Preferably, the transition alumina support is a gamma alumina or a theta alumina, more preferably a theta alumina.
Preferably, the cobalt catalyst contains 5% to 20% by weight of cobalt, more preferably 10 to 20 % by weight.
It is a second object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing a cobalt, on transition alumina support, catalyst, containing between 3 and 40% by weight of cobalt, the cobalt surface area being above 30 m.sup.2 /g of cobalt, wherein a slurry of transition alumina in an aqueous solution of cobalt ammine carbonate is heated to a temperature of 60.degree. C. to 110.degree. C., in order to allow cobalt hydroxycarbonate to precipitate, the resulting product being then dried and calcined. Optionally, the calcined product may be further reduced.
Preferably, the transition alumina support is a gamma alumina or a theta alumina, more preferably a theta alumina.
It is a third object of the present invention to provide a process for manufacturing a cobalt, on transition alumina support, catalyst, containing between 3 and 40% by weight of cobalt, the cobalt surface area being above 30 m.sup.2 /g of cobalt, wherein, transition alumina particles are saturated with an aqueous solution of cobalt ammine carbonate, the excess solution being removed by filtration, the resulting product being heated to a temperature of 60.degree. C. to 110.degree. C. , in order to allow cobalt hydroxycarbonate to precipitate, the resulting product being then dried and calcined.
Preferably, the transition alumina support is a gamma alumina or a theta alumina, more preferably a theta alumina.
Successive impregnation and precipitation steps may be applied to increase the cobalt content, the deposited cobalt hydroxycarbonate being converted into cobalt oxides during a calcination treatment at a temperature of 200.degree. to 600.degree. C.
The product can then be activated with hydrogen gas at temperatures between 200.degree. and 600.degree. C. preferably between 350.degree. and 550.degree. C. and then optionally passivated
Specific Description of the Invention


A scheduling method includes: transmitting a scheduling signaling to a terminal, wherein the scheduling signaling includes indication information for indicating a plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in a time domain, and the terminal is configured to receive the scheduling signaling and determine the plurality of transmission units that are discontinuous in the time domain according to the indication information; and exchanging data with the terminal through the plurality of transmission units.

In the communication system, data transmission between a base station and a terminal is implemented based on the scheduling of the base station. The base station transmits a scheduling signaling to the terminal, wherein the scheduling signaling is used for indicating a location of a scheduled transmission unit. The terminal receives the scheduling signaling, so as to determine the location of the transmission unit according to the scheduling signaling. Then, the base station exchanges data with the terminal through the scheduled transmission unit.
Generally, one scheduling signal only indicates the location of one transmission unit. However, communication systems are constantly evolving with the continuous emergence of new Internet applications. Accordingly, the current communication systems provide a plurality of service types, such as eMBB (Enhanced Mobile Broad Band), URLLC (Ultra Reliable Low Latency Communication), mMTC (massive Machine Type Communication), and the like. Considering that different service types have different requirements for the communication system, a more flexible scheduling method is proposed, which may transmit a scheduling signaling in any symbol in a slot, wherein there are a plurality of continuous symbols in a time domain in one slot, and the scheduling signaling is used for indicating that the plurality of symbols that are continuous in the time domain serve as transmission units to be scheduled.

Scheduling method, base station, terminal and storage medium

Beijing Xiaomi Mobile Software Co., Ltd.


The invention discloses a coal decomposition method and equipment in cycle heating gas style. The coal decomposition equipment can avoid introducing impurity, ensure a pure decomposed gas and keep continuous heating without extrinsic heat source, which includes an airtight kiln body with coal inlet and coal outlet; a facility for impelling and decomposing coal set in the kiln body; a coal decomposed gas collecting pipe set in one end of the airtight kiln body, and a high temperature gas input pipe set in the other end of the airtight kiln body; wherein the coal decomposed gas collecting pipe is connected with a post-processing facility and communicates with the high temperature gas input pipe through a circle pipe, and the circle pipe and/or the high temperature gas input pipe comprises a heating device.

In convention technology, coal is used to produce coral gas, natural gas, or used to produce gas by coking at high temperature, medium temperature or low temperature. However, the above-mentioned process is required to block pulverized coal or sift lamp coal, as a result, it increases the cost of raw material, or cause the produced gas without a high heat value, a big additional value, and a significant economy and social benefits. The heating methods of furnace can be classified as external-heating style, internal heating style and hybrid-heating style. Specifically, the heating medium in external-heating furnace is not contact directly with raw materials and heat is conducted from furnace wall. The heating medium in the internal-heating furnace contacts with the raw materials directly, and the heating methods are classified as solid heat carrier style and gas heat carrier style according to different heat mediums. In order to attain more purified coal decomposed gas, the heating source part extends out of a channel for impelling and decomposing coal in a shape of flame gas pipe so as to get more purified coal decomposed gas. However, in practical production process, on the one hand, the manufacturing process for each close-packed heating pipe is very complicated and there would be some problem of leakage and cross-channeling in this kind of sealing model, which may cause a potential safety problem. In particularly, the problem of double rotation high temperature airtight between flame gas converged pipe of the flame gas heating pipe and coal decomposed gas collecting pipe also blocks a fast development of decomposition equipment. In addition, the combustion chamber which has problems easily is set inside of the kiln body, so it is not convenient for inspection, overhaul and timely mastering combustion dynamic thereof, and thus increasing the quantity of security blind spots.

Coal decomposition method and equipment in cycle heating gas style