A method of directly growing graphene of a graphene-layered structure, the method including ion-implanting at least one ion of a nitrogen ion and an oxygen ion on a surface of a silicon carbide (SiC) thin film to form an ion implantation layer in the SiC thin film; and heat treating the SiC thin film with the ion implantation layer formed therein to graphenize a SiC surface layer existing on the ion implantation layer.

1. Field
Provided are graphene-layered structures, methods of preparing the same, and transparent electrodes and transistors including the graphene-layered structures. The methods of preparing the graphene-layered structures do not require a transferring process, and thus graphene may be directly grown on a substrate to be subsequently used. Therefore, defects in the graphene are minimized.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, graphite is an allotropic form of the element carbon having a structure in which two-dimensional ("2D") graphene sheets are stacked.
The graphene has high transparency and conductivity, and thus is widely used in electrodes for various electric devices such as display devices and solar cells.
Such graphene is formed by providing a carbon source to a metal catalyst and then heat treating the resultant, and the obtained graphene is purified and transferred onto a predetermined substrate, thereby completing the manufacture of electric devices.
However, unexpected defects in the graphene, which are caused by the transferring process, such as tearing or wrinkles, may occur, and thus may adversely affect the physical properties of manufactured electric devices.

Graphene-layered structure, method of preparing the same, and transparent electrode and transistor including graphene-layered structure


Text is processed to construct a model of the text. The text has a shared vocabulary. The text is partitioned into sets and subsets of texts. The usage of the shared vocabulary in two or more sets is different, and the topics of two or more subsets are different. A probabilistic model is defined for the text. The probabilistic model considers each word in the text to be a token having a position and a word value, and the usage of the shared vocabulary, topics, subtopics, and word values for each token in the text are represented using distributions of random variables in the probabilistic model, wherein the random variables are discrete. Parameters are estimated for the model corresponding to the vocabulary usages, the word values, the topics, and the subtopics associated with the words.

In many practical situations, sections of text with different patterns of vocabulary usage may refer to the same subject matters, whereas they may use different key terms to express the same meanings. For example, different regional dialects of the same language, different levels of formality or technicality in discourse, different styles of writing, represent such differences in vocabulary usage, all of which we may refer to as dialects in a broader sense. An important problem then is: given query terms in one dialect, how can one reliably return relevant sections in different dialects. Solving such a problem would have practical value in information retrieval, where searching for useful information in an unfamiliar domain can be a difficult task with differing key terminology. Examples of such situations are user manuals for different programming languages, user manuals for products of different brands, or course catalogues from different universities.
In statistics, latent Dirichlet allocation (LDA) is a generative model that attempts to find clusters of words known as topics by analyzing the cooccurence of words across documents. LDA and its extensions model each document as a mixture of topics, where each word is generated from one of the topics.
LDA is a generative model, in the sense that it specifies a probabilistic procedure to generate the words in documents. For a given document, a set of multinomial topic probabilities and a set of multinomial probabilities of words, given topics, are drawn from Dirichlet distribution prior probabilities. Then, for each word position in the document, a topic is drawn according to the document's topic probabilities; finally, a word is drawn according to that topic's word probability distribution. However, when observing data, the topic distribution of each document, the probability distribution of words given topics, and the topic that generated each word in the document are not known. Inference in LDA is generally the estimation of the posterior distributions of the topic probabilities in each document, the probabilities of the words given the topics, and the assignments of topics to each word.
Although. LDA itself is not intended to model the dialect dependencies, several extensions of it have been developed for this purpose.
Word-sense disambiguation methods using topic models attempt to learn a polysemantic word's hidden sense according to a predefined labelled hierarchy of words. Other models for multi-lingual corpora require aligned or syntactically similar documents. Other models work on unaligned documents, however, they model corresponding topics in different vocabularies. In comparison, our method is completely unsupervised and models dialects within shared vocabularies.
One related work in these respects is the "dialect topic model" (diaTM), which associates different documents in a corpus with different draws from both a mixture of dialects and a mixture of topics. We are considering applications where each corpus is associated with just one dialect and all corpora share a universal set of topics. However, each corpus can associate different terminologies to each topic. This would account for systematic changes in language across corpora (corresponding to dialects) without imposing differences in the topics. The structure of the "dialect topic model" does not facilitate the formulation of such constraints, as it allows each corpus to define different sets of topics.
Further related works are the topic-adapted latent Dirichlet allocation model (τLDA), which models a technicality hierarchy in parallel with the topic hierarchy, and the hierarchical latent Dirichlet allocation (hLDA) model, which models a tree structured hierarchy for the learned topics using the nested Chinese restaurant process. These models are best suited to address documents of differing levels of specificity (or "technicality"), which is not necessarily the case in the applications we consider.
Another problem with the above methods is that they are unable to directly identify the sets of equivalent terms which vary as a function of the dialect. This indicates a failure to precisely model the inherent constraints of the problem, and could lead to inaccurate results for information retrieval.

Method and apparatus for processing text with variations in vocabulary usage

Mitsubishi Electric Research Laboratories, Inc.


The invention relates to novel N-(substituted phenyl)-Nxe2x80x2-[xcfx89-(5-substituted-7-oxo-7H-thieno[3,2-b]pyran-3-carbonylamino)alkyl]piperazines their N-oxides and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof. The compounds are endowed with enhanced selectivity for alpha1-adrenergic receptors and a low activity in lowering blood pressure. The compounds are useful in the treatment of obstructive syndromes of the lower urinary tract, including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and in the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) and neutogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), and other conditions. The compounds may be administered alone or in combination with an anticholinergic compound.

The present invention relates to thienopyranecarboxamide derivatives, to pharmaceutical compositions containing them and to uses for such derivatives and compositions.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,842, Leonardi et al., and its continuations in part (U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,474,994 and 5,605,896) claim heterobicyclic derivatives bearing substituted phenylpiperazines as basic moieties linked to the heterocyclic ring by a variety of spacer groups. Among said derivatives, compound A (Ex. 11) is of relevant interest due its very high uroselective activity.
Compound A is endowed with good affinity for the xcex11A adrenoceptor and is able to selectively inhibit contractility of the prostatic urethra in a dog model without substantial effects on blood pressure (Leonardi et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Therap., 281:1272-1283, 1997.)
7-Oxo-7H-thieno[3,2-b]pyran-3-carboxylic acid and its N,xcfx89-aminoalkylamides are compounds not yet reported in the literature. The present invention is directed to the new structural class of the N-(substituted phenyl)-Nxe2x80x2-[(xcfx89-(5-substituted-7-oxo-7H-thieno[3,2-b]pyran-3-carbonylamino)alkyl]piperazines.
Compounds of this class are endowed with enhanced selectivity toward the xcex11 adrenergic receptor (with or without further selectivity for the xcex11A receptor or for both xcex11A and xcex11D), in particular with respect to the 5-HT1A receptor, and improved in vivo uroselectivity even compared to compound A, with remarkable effects on relaxation of prostatic urethra and very low activity in lowering blood pressure. This activity profile suggests the safer use of the compounds of the invention in the therapy of obstructive syndromes of the lower urinary tract, including benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) as well as of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), without side-effects associated with hypotensive activity.
In one aspect, the invention is directed to compounds of Formula I:
wherein
R is an aryl, cycloalkyl or polyhaloalkyl group,
R1 is chosen from the group consisting of alkyl, alkoxy, polyfluoroalkoxy, hydroxy and trifluoromethanesulfonyloxy; each of R2 and R3 independently is chosen from the group consisting of a hydrogen, halogen, alkoxy and polyfluoroalkoxy group, and n is 0, 1 or 2.
The preferred aryl group which R may represent without limitation is phenyl. The preferred cycloalkyl group that R may represent without limitation is cyclohexyl. The preferred polyhaloalkyl group that R may represent without limitation is trifluoromethyl. The preferred alkyl group which R1 may represent without limitation is C1-4 lower alkyl. Preferred alkoxy groups (C1-4) which R1, R2, and R3 may represent without limitation are lower alkoxy groups, most preferably methoxy. Preferred polyfluoroalkoxy which R1, R2, and R3 may represent without limitation are trifluoromethoxy or 2,2,2-trifluoroethoxy.
The preferred value for n is 1.
Also preferred is where R1 is chosen from the group consisting of alkoxy and hydroxy; R2 is chosen from the group consisting of hydrogen and halogen; R3 is chosen from the group consisting of hydrogen and halogen; and n is 0, 1 or 2.
Also preferred is where R1 is chosen from a group consisting of alkoxy, hydroxy and polyfluoroalkoxy; R2 is chosen from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen and alkoxy; R3 is chosen from the group consisting of hydrogen, halogen and alkoxy; and n is 0, 1 or 2.
Also preferred is where R1 is chosen from the group consisting of alkoxy, polyfluoroalkoxy, hydroxy; R2 is halogen; R3 is hydrogen; and n is 0, 1 or 2.
The invention also includes the N-oxides and pharmaceutically acceptable salts of these compounds.
The invention further provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising a compound of Formula I or a N-oxide or pharmaceutically acceptable salt of such a compound in admixture with a pharmaceutically acceptable diluent or carrier.
In another aspect, the present invention is directed to methods for selectively preventing contractions (including noradrenaline-mediated contractions) of the urethra and lower urinary tract, without substantially affecting blood pressure, by administering one or more selected compounds of Formula I to a mammal (including a human) in need of such treatment in an amount or amounts effective for the particular use.
In yet another aspect, the invention is directed to methods for blocking xcex11 receptors, by delivering to the environment of said receptors, e.g., to the extracellular medium, (or by administering to a mammal possessing said receptors) an effective amount of a compound of the invention, in this way relieving diseases associated to overactivity of said receptors.
The very high uroselectivity of the compounds of this invention has been tested in the dog model described in Example 10, where their efficacy in antagonizing the contractions of prostatic urethra in the presence of very limited effects on blood pressure has been shown, in comparison to compound A and to another well-known xcex11-antagonist, prazosin.
Accordingly, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide a method of treating BPH which avoids any undue side effects due to acute hypotension (i.e., limited effects on blood pressure).
It is another object of the present invention to provide pharmaceutical compositions comprising 7-oxo-7H-thieno[3,2-b] pyran compounds which are selective xcex11 adrenoceptor antagonists, which compositions are effective for the treatment of BPH optionally including a carrier or diluent.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a method of treating BPH using 7-oxo-7H-thieno[3,2-b] pyran compounds which are selective a, adrenoceptor antagonists.
Another aspect of the invention is the use of new compounds for lowering intraocular pressure, inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, reducing sympathetically-mediated pain, the treatment of cardiac arrhythmia and erectile dysfunction, as well as treatment of LUTS and NLUTD.
An object of the present invention is to provide a method of preventing contractions of the urethra and lower urinary tract comprising administering to a mammal including a human in need of such treatment an effective amount of compounds of the present invention and/or pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds of the present invention.
A further object of the present invention is a method of administration of compounds of the present invention or pharmaceutical compositions comprising compounds of the present invention to mammals including humans which causes very limited effects on the blood pressure of said mammal.
A further object of the present invention is a method for blocking xcex11 adrenergic receptors comprising releasing in the environment of said receptors compounds of the present inventions or pharmaceutical compositions of the present invention to relieve diseases associated with overactivity of said receptor.
A further object of the present invention is the release of compounds of the present invention or pharmaceutical compositions containing compounds of the present invention in the environment of xcex11 adrenergic receptors wherein said release is effected by administering compounds of the present invention or pharmaceutical compositions containing compounds of the present invention to a mammal including a human possessing said receptors.
A further object of the present invention is the method of treatment of a patient suffering from benign prostatic hyperplasia, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method of treatment of a patient suffering from excessive intraocular pressure, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method of treatment of a patient suffering from cardiac arrhythmia, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method of treatment of a patient suffering from erectile dysfunction, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method of treatment of a patient suffering from sexual dysfunction, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method for inhibiting cholesterol synthesis, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method for reducing sympathetically mediated pain, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment.
A further object of the present invention is the method for the treatment of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), which include but are not limited to filling symptoms, urgency, incontinence and nocturia, as well as voiding problems such as weak stream, hesitance, intermittency,, incomplete bladder emptying and abdominal straining, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a patient in need of such treatment, optionally further comprising the inclusion of an anticholinergic compound which may to be selected from the group consisting of tolterodine, oxybutinin, darifenacin, alvameline and temiverine.
A further object of the present invention is the method for the treatment of neurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to the patient, optionally further comprising the inclusion of an anticholinergic compound which may be selected from the group consisting of tolterodine, oxybutinin, darifenacin, alvameline and temiverine.
A further object of the present invention is the treatment of LUTS in females which include but are not limited to filling symptoms, urgency, incontinence, and nocturia as well as voiding problems such as weak stream, hesitance, intermittency, incomplete bladder emptying, and abdominal straining, the method comprising administering an effective amount of a compound of the present invention or a pharmaceutical composition containing a compound of the present invention to a woman in need of such treatment, optionally further comprising the inclusion of an anticholinergic compound which may be selected from the group consisting of tolterodine, oxybutinin, darifcnacin, alvameline and temiverine
Other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description and claims.
All patents, patent applications and literature references cited in this application arc incorporated by reference in their entirety.
The adrenergic antagonistic activity of the compounds of the invention renders them useful as agents acting on body tissues particularly rich in xcex11-adrenergic receptors (such as prostate and urethra). Accordingly, the anti-adrenergic compounds within the invention, established as such on the basis of their receptor binding profile, can be useful therapeutic agents for the treatment, for example, of micturition problems associated with obstructive disorders of the lower urinary tract, including but not limited to benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH).
BPH is a progressive condition, which is characterised by a nodular enlargement of prostatic tissue resulting in obstruction of the urethra. This results in increased frequency of urination, nocturia, a poor urinary stream and hesitancy or delay in starting urine flow. Chronic consequences of BPH can include hypertrophy of bladder smooth: muscle, a decompensated bladder and an increased incidence of urinary tract infection. The specific biochemical, histological and pharmacological properties of a prostate adenoma leading to the bladder outlet obstruction are not yet known. However, the development of BPH is considered to be an inescapable phenomenon for the ageing male population. BPH is observed in approximately 70% of males over the age of 70. Currently, the worldwide stated method of choice for treating BPH is surgery. A medicinal alternative to surgery is clearly very desirable. The limitations of surgery for treating BPH include the morbidity rate of an operative procedure in elderly men, persistence or recurrence of obstructive and irritative symptoms, as well as the significant cost of surgery.
xcex1-Adrenergic receptors (McGrath et at., Med. Res. Rev., 9:407-533, 1989) are specific neuroreceptor proteins located in the peripheral and central nervous systems on tissues and organs throughout the body. These receptors are important switches for controlling manly physiological functions and, thus, represent important targets for drug development. In fact, many xcex1-adrenergic drugs have been developed over the past 40 years. Examples include clonidine, phenoxybenzamine and prazosin, terazosin, alfuzosin, doxazosin, tamsulosin (treatment of hypertensioni), naphazoline (nasal decongestant), and apraclonidine (treating glaucoma). xcex1-Adrenergic drugs can be broken down into two distinct classes: agonists (clonidine and naphazoline are agonists), which mimic the receptor activation properties of the endogenous neurotransmitter noradrenaline, and antagonists (phenoxybenzamine and prazosin, terazosin, alfuzosin, doxazosin, tamsulosin are antagonists), which act to block the effects of noradenaline. Many of these drugs are effective, but also produce unwanted side effects (for example, clonidine produces dry mouth and sedation in addition to its antihypertensive effects).
The above reported agonists are selective for the xcex12 adrenergic receptor whereas most antagonists are selective for the xcex11 adrenoceptor, with the exception of tamsulosin which shows a relevant affinity also for the 5-HT1A receptor. Many of the cited xcex11 antagonists are currently used for the therapy of BPH but, due to their poor uroselectivity, they are liable to cause side effects of cardiovascular type.
Recent pharmacological, biochemical and radioligand-binding studies evidenced three different xcex11-receptor subtypes with a high affinity for prazosin, namely xcex11Axe2x88x92(xcex11axe2x88x92), xcex11Bxe2x88x92) (xcex11bxe2x88x92) and xcex11Dxe2x88x92(xcex11dxe2x88x92), with lower case subscripts being used for recombinant receptors and upper case subscripts for receptors in native tissues (Hieble et al., Pharmacol. Rev., 47:267-270, 1995). In functional studies xcex11-receptors with a low affinity for prazosin have also been identified and termed xcex11L-receptors (Flavahan and Vanhoutte, Trends Pharmacol. Sci., 7:347-349, 1986; Muramatsu et al., Pharmacol. Comm., 6:23-28, 1995).
Several studies have demonstrated the presence of these xcex11-adrenergic receptor subtypes in the lower-urinary-tract tissues as reviewed by (Andersson, K. E., xe2x80x9c4th International Consultation in Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH)xe2x80x9d, Paris, Jul. 2-5, 1997, pages 601-609).
Several studies have shown that the human prostate receives innervation from both the sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous systems.
The adrenergic nerves are considered responsible for prostatic smooth-muscle tone by releasing noradrenaline, stimulating contraction-mediating xcex1-adrenoceptors. Approximately 50% of the total urethral pressure in BPH patients may be due to xcex1-adrenoceptor-mediated muscle tone. Functional studies have indicated the occurrence of important adrenoceptor functions in prostatic adenomatous and capsular tissue. Clinical studies with the prototypical adrenoceptor-selective antagonist, prazosin, reinforced the key role of xcex11 adrenoceptors in the control of prostatic smooth-muscle tone. This was also confirmed in the laboratory by studies showing that, although both xcex11 and xcex12xe2x88x92 adrenoceptors can be identified within the human prostate, contractile properties are mediated primarily by xcex11 adrenoceptors. Many clinical investigations have confirmed that xcex11-adrcnoceptor blockade relieves lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS), both of irritative and obstructive type, in patients with BPH.
Lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) also develop in women as they age. As in men, LUTS in women includes both filling symptoms such as urgency, incontinence, and nocturia, and voiding symptoms, such as weak stream, hesitancy, intermittency, incomplete bladder emptying and abdominal straining. That both men and women experience a similar high prevalence of filling and voiding LUTS suggests that at least part of the underlying etiology may be identical. In a recent study, an xcex11-antagonist was reported to reduce LUTS in women to a greater extent than an anticholinergic (Serels, S. and Stein, M., Neurology and Urodynamics 17: 31-36, 1998). The authors concluded that there appeared to be a role for xcex11-antagonists in treating LUTS in women. The possible mechanisms implicated to explain these results are: a) dysfunction of the bladder neck and urethra, causing functional outlet obstruction, analogous to BPH-induced outlet obstruction, with secondary detrusor overactivity; and b) increased xcex11-adrenoreceptor activity in the detrusor, causing frequency and urgency. On these bases, xcex11-antagonists are used in clinical practice to treat LUTS in women. (Fitzpatrick, International British J. Urol. 85, Supp. 2: 1-5 (2000); Kakizaki, M. et al., Brit. J. Urol International 85, Supp. 2: 25-30 (2000)). The results of Serels also indicate that the combined administration of xcex11-antagonists and anticholiniergics can have improved efficacy in treatment of LUTS, as suggested by Fitzpatrick (International British J. Urol. 85. Supp. 2: 1-5 (2000)). The results of Serels also indicate that the combined administration of xcex11-anitagonists and anticholinergics can have improved efficacy in treatment of LUTS, as suggested by Fitzpatrick, International British J. Urol. 85, Supp. 2: 1-5, 2000).
Another possible use of xcex11-antagonists is the management of nieurogenic lower urinary tract dysfunction (NLUTD), as can be caused by neurological disease or trauma. NLUTD may lead to debilitating symptoms and serious complications, including increased urinary frequency, incontinence, voiding difficulty, recurrent upper urinary tract infections, and upper urinary tract deterioration. Management of NLUTD is indicated to preserve renal function and avoid urological complications. Administration of xcex11-antagonists may benefit patients with NLUTD by facilitating urine storage by alleviating high detrusor pressure during bladder filling, which is evidenced by poor bladder compliance and detrusor hyperreflexia. In both animal models and patients with spinal cord injury resistant to anticholinergics, xcex11-antagonists improved bladder compliance. (Kakizaki, M. et al., Brit. J. Urol International 85, Supp. 2: 25-30, 2000; Sundin, T. et.al., Invest. Urol. 14: 322-328, 1977; McGuire et al., Neurology and Urodynamics 4: 139-142 ,1985; Swrerzewski, S. J. etal., J. Urol. 151: 951-954, 1994).
Two distinct xcex11xe2x88x92 adrenoceptor subtypes have been suggested to be present in the human prostate, one with high (xcex11H) and one with low (xcex11L) affinity for prazosin. All three high-affinity xcex11 adrenoceptor subtypes found in molecular cloning studies have been identified in prostatic stromal tissue. The xcex11a subtype was found to be the dominant, representing about 60-85% of the xcex11xe2x88x92 adrenoceptor population. Recent findings suggest that there may be differences in subtype populations between normal and hyperplastic prostates, the ratios between the subtypes xcex11a:xcex11b:xcex11d being 85:1:14 in BPH and 63:6:31 in non-BPH tissue.
The xcex11Axe2x88x92 adrenoceptor was reported to mediate the contractile response of the human prostate in vitro. Ford et al. found that the xcex11A adrenoceptor may not mediate contractile responses to noradrenaline, and suggested as a candidate the xcex11L adrenoceptor. Findings by Kenny et al. (Br. J. Pharmacol., 118:871-878, 1996) support the view that the xcex11L adrenoceptor, which appears to share many of the characteristics of an xcex11A adrenoceptor, mediates the contractile response of the human prostate.
On the other hand, it has also been suggested that the xcex11A and xcex11L adrenoceptors may represent distinct pharmacological forms of the same receptor.
In the female urethra, mRNA for the xcex11 subtype was predominant and autoradiography confirmed the predominance of the a,A adrenoceptor (Andersson, K. E., Brit. J. Urol. Intl. 85, Supp. 2: 12-18, 2000). The xcex11A and xcex11D subtypes are reported to be present in the human detrusor, with the latter subtype predominant (Malloy, B. et al., J. Urol 160: 937-943, 1998). Accordingly, the evidence that xcex11 adrenoreceptor antagonists are useful in treating lower urinary tract symptoms of both prostatic and non-prostatic origin in both males and females can be used to support the usefulness of the compounds of the present invention in treating such symptoms regardless of whether they are of obstructive origin or not and regardless of the sex of the patient.
The affinity of the compounds of the invention for each receptor can be assessed by receptor binding assays, for example as follows:
(1) xcex11-adrenergic-receptor subtypes: using the specific ligand 3H-prazosin, according to Testa et al., Pharmacol. Comm. 6: 79-86, 1995; Cotecchia, S., Schwinn, D. A., Randall, R. R. and Lefkowitz, F. J., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 85: 7159-7163 (1988); Furchgott. R. E., Handbook of Experimental Pharmacologyxe2x80x94New Series, 283-335 (1972); Michel, M. C., Hanft, G. and Gross, G., Brit. J. Pharmacol. 111: 533-538 (1994) Schwinn, D. A., Lomasney, J. W., Lorenz, W., Szklut, P. J., Fremcau, R. T., Yang-Feng, T. L., Caron, M. G., Lefkowitz, R. J. and Cotecchia, S., J. Biol. Chem. 265: 8183-8189 (1990); Testa, R., Guarneri, L., Ibba, M., Strada, G., Poggesi, E., Taddei, C., Simonazzi, I. and Leonardi, A. Europ. J. Pharmacol. 249: 307-315 (1:993).
(2) 5HT1A-serotonergic receptor: using the specific ligand 3H-8-OH-DPAT according to Fargin et al., Nature 335: 358-360, (1988); Kobilka, B. K. et al., Nature 329: 75-79 (1987); Cullen, B. R., Meth. Enzym. 152: 684-704 (1987); Gozlan, H. et al., J. Receptor Res. 7: 195-221 (1987).
The xcex11L-adrenergic receptor is not yet cloned and, therefore, the functional affinity of the compounds of the invention for this subtype can be assessed by using an isolated organ preparation as reported by Testa et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 281: 1284-1293, (1997); Oshita, M., Kigoshi, S. and Muramatsu, I., Br. J. Pharmacol. 108: 1071-1076 (1993).
In vitro testing of the compounds of this invention on the above receptors is described in Examples 8 and 9 below.
The drugs having xcex11-antagonistic activity currently used for the symptomatic therapy of BPH are poorly subtype selective and subject to cause relevant side effects due to their hypotensive activity.
Thus there is a need for selective xcex11-antogonists which do not subject the BPH patient to the side effects, especially the cardiovascular side effects of said treatment.
The high uroselectivity of the compounds of the invention has been demonstrated by the dog model of the Example 10 below, where their efficacy in counteracting the contractions of prostatic urethra at doses that do not influence blood pressure has been shown.
The compounds according to the invention may be generally prepared as follows:
Direct condensation of 7-oxo-7H-thieno[3,2-b]pyran-3-carboxylic acids of the formula I with the xcfx89-aminoalkylamino derivatives 2 (SCHEME 1) leads to the compounds of the invention. The condensation can be carried out in the presence of a condensing agent (e.g., dicyclohexylcarbodiimide or diethyl cyanophosplhonate) optionally in the presence of a promoting agent (e.g., N-hydroxysuccinimide, 4-dimethylaminopyridine or N,Nxe2x80x2-carbonyldiimidazole) in an aprotic or chlorinated solvent (e.g., N,N-dimethylformamide or chloroform) at xe2x88x9210/140xc2x0 C. (Albertson, Org. React., 12:205-218, 1962; Doherty el al., J. Med. Chem., 35:2-14, 1992; Ishihara, Chem. Pharm. Bull., 39:3236-3243, 1991). In some cases the activated ester or amide intermediates (such as O-(N-succinimidyl) esters or acyl imidazolides) can be isolated and further reacted with 2 to be transformed into the corresponding amides (I) in an aprotic or chlorinated solvent at 10/100xc2x0 C. This kind of condensation is well illustrated in the
Examples. Another activated intermediate which can be used is the mixed anhydride of 1, obtainable reacting I with an alkyl chloroformate in the presence of a tertiary amine (e.g., triethylanine or N-methylmorpholine), which is reacted with 2 at 0-80xc2x0 C.; optionally a promoting agent (e.g., 1-hydroxypiperidine) may be added before the amine addition (Albertson, Org. React., 12:157, 1962).
Alternatively the condensation can be carried out without a solvent at 150-220xc2x0 C. (Mitchell et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 53; 1879, 1931) or in highi-boiling ethereal solvents (e.g., diglyme).
The condensation can also be performed through preparation and optional isolation of reactive derivatives of 1 such as acyl halides. Formation of acyl halides of compounds of formula 1 and reactions with amines 2 to form amides is well documented in the literature and known to people skilled in the art.
Also less reactive derivatives of 1 can be used, such as alkyl esters, which in turn can be converted into I in the presence of a condensing agent (e.g., trimethylaluminum) in an aprotic and/or chlorinated solvent (e.g., hexane, dichloromethane) at xe2x88x9210/80xc2x0 C., or without solvents at 80-180xc2x0 C., (Weinreb et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 4171, 1977; Lipton et al., Org. Synth., 59:49, 1979).
By the same methods of condensation reported above and using H2NCH2(CH2)nCH2X (with X=halogen or OH) as a reagent, 1 can be transformed into 3. In the case of X=OH, the alcoholic group is then converted into a suitable leaving group by methods well known to those skilled in the art. Compounds 3 (with X= leaving group such as halogen or alky/arylsulphonyloxy group) can be subsequently reacted with an appropriate phenylpiperazine 8 bearing the desired phenyl group. The nucleophilic substitution is carried out preferably, but not necessarily, at a temperature within the range of 20-200xc2x0 C. in a polar solvent such as dimethylformamide, acetonitrile, methanol, or without any solvent,; usually in the presence of a base such as potassium carbonate. See also Gibson""s chapter in Patai: xe2x80x9cThe Chemistry of the Amino Groupxe2x80x9d, p. 45 et seq., Wiley International Science, N.Y., 1968.
The preparation of compounds 2 which are not commercially available is disclosed in the literature and is well known to those skilled in the art, and is usually carried out performing nucleophilic substitution of a phenylpiperazine 8 on a N-(xcfx89-haloalkyl)phthalimide or a proper xcfx89-haloalkylnitrile or haloalkylamide by the method illustrated above for the condensation of compounds 3 and 8, or by addition of an xcex1,xcex2-unsaturated alkylnitrile or alkylamide in a proper solvent (e.g., acetonitrile, dimethylformamide, a chlorinated solvent or other aprotic polar solvent) at a temperature between 0xc2x0 C. and the reflux temperature of the solvent. Standard phthalimido-group deprotection or reduction of the amido or cyano group then provides compounds 2, and can be performed by methods well known to those skilled in the art.
The acids 1 of the invention in which R represents cycloalkyl or aryl group can be synthesized (SCHEME 2) starting from methyl 2-acetyl-3-hydroxythiophene-4-carboxylate (prepared as described in J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans I, 507, 1986), which can be esterified with the proper alkanoyl or aroyl chloride by using methods very well known to those skilled in the art. Alternative procedures include the same methods described above for the amidification of 1, which could be applied as well in the esterification step to afford 4.
Monobromination of the methylketo group of 4 can afford 5, which can then be reacted with triphenylphosphine (typically by reflux in acetonitrile, toluene, or other aprotic solvent), to give the phosphonium salt 6. A subsequent intramolecular ester-Wittig reaction applied to this substrate yields the thieno[3,2-b]pyranes, 7. Hydrolysis of the ester group of compounds 7 is accomplished by acid or base catalysed procedures that are well known to those skilled in the art, yielding compounds 1.
Such hydrolysis procedures include the use of sodium hydroxide in aqueous ethanol at 40-75xc2x0 C., or lithium hydroxide in aqueous dimethylformamide, or tetrahydrofuran at 40-100xc2x0 C.
The compounds 1 where R is a polyfluoroalkyl group can be prepared from 2-acetyl-3-hydroxythiophene-4-carboxylate following the cyclization procedure described by Riva et al., (Synthesis, 195-201, 1997) by direct cyclization in the presence of anhydrous polyfluoroalkanoyl anhydrides catalysed by 1,8-diazabicycloundec-7-ene.
The compounds I where R1 is a trifluoromethanesulphonyloxy group can be synthesized starting from compounds I where R1 is a hydroxy group using procedures well known to those skilled in the art, by way of example without limitation, using trifluoromethanesulphonic anhydride or N-phenyltrifluoromethanesulphonimide in aprotic solvents such as 1,2-dichloroethane or other chlorinated solvents or toluene, at a temperature in the range between 20xc2x0 C. and the temperature of reflux of the solvent (Hendickson et al.,Tetrahedron Letters, 4607-4510, 1973). The N-oxides of the compounds I may be synthesized by simple oxidation procedures known to those skilled in the art. The oxidation procedure described in P. Brougham in Synthesis, 1015-1017 (1987) allows differentiation of the two nitrogen atoms of the piperazine ring and both the N-oxides and N,Nxe2x80x2-dioxides to be obtained.
Preparation of the phenylpiperazines 8, which has not been described in the literature, is well documented in the examples and uses synthetic procedures well known to those skilled in the art, which comprise the synthesis of the proper aniline through standard reactions and of the subsequent cyclization with bis-(2-chloroethyl)amine to afford the piperazine following the method of Prelog (Collect. Czech.Chem.Comm., 5:497-502, 1933) or its variations (Elworthy, J. Med. Chem., 40:2674-2687, 1997).
Below are some examples intended only to illustrate the invention so as described in the test, with no intention to limit it.

Recordati S.A. Chemical and Pharmaceutical Company


There is provided a display element capable of efficiently emitting generated light externally and a method of manufacturing the display element, without damaging an organic electroluminescent layer. First, a transparent electrode protection material (11) is deposited on a first holding substrate (10); then organic electroluminescent light-emitting elements (12, 13, 14) are manufactured thereon; and then after sealing and holding with a sealing material (15) and a second holding substrate (16), the first holding substrate (10) and a transparent electrode protection material (11) are removed by etching or the like. According to the present invention, the removal of the first holding substrate (10) enables improvement of the emission rate generated in the electroluminescent layer (13), and improvement of brightness and contrast in the display element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display element and a method of manufacturing a display element, and particularly, to a display element capable of efficiently emitting generated light externally and a method of manufacturing the display element.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, in the case of display elements which use, for example, an organic electroluminescent element or the like as a light emitting element, the organic electroluminescent element is typically formed over a glass substrate. FIGS. 2A to 2C are explanatory diagrams showing constructions and operations of a conventional display element. FIG. 2A is an explanatory diagram showing an example construction of a first conventional element. Note, however, that in the diagram, each layer is depicted in an exaggerated fashion and differs from actual relative proportions.
The EL (electroluminescent) elements referred to in this specification include triplet-based light emission elements and/or singlet-based light emission devices, for example.
The conventional sequence for forming the film coating is to sputter a transparent electrode 31 (e.g., ITO: indium oxide-tin oxide alloy) on a glass substrate 30, and then an organic electroluminescent layer 32 is formed by vapor deposition or by spin coating onto the substrate 31, and a cathode 33 is evaporated. After that, sealing material 34 is used to adhere a facing substrate 35 to prevent deterioration of the organic electroluminescent layer 32 and the cathode 33 due to the atmosphere.
FIG. 2B is an explanatory diagram showing an optical path in the first conventional example element. In the above-mentioned conventional structure the cathode material of the cathode 33 is a metal. Therefore, light emerges from the substrate 30 side (FIG. 2B, optical path A), but, due to differences in the refraction indices of each of the layers, the light cannot escape from the front surface of the element at a angle greater than the critical angle (FIG. 2B, optical paths B and C). Therefore, the emergence ratio of the light is 1/(2n2); where n is the refraction index of the luminous layer 32 (approximately 1.6). Therefore, there was a problem that 80% of the light generated was guided inside the glass substrate 30 and escaped sideways.
In order to avoid this problem, a method has been proposed for forming the film coating on the glass substrate in the reverse sequence starting with the cathode. FIG. 2C is an explanatory diagram showing a structure of a second conventional example element. The sequence for forming the film coatings was, first, to vapor deposit a cathode 36 on the glass substrate 30. Then, after vapor depositing or spin coating an organic electroluminescent layer 37 for film coating, a transparent electrode 38 such as that of ITO was formed by sputtering. In this case it was necessary to sputter a transparent conducting film 38 such as that of ITO onto the electroluminescent film 37, but there was a problem that the organic electroluminescent layer 37 was altered due to damage suffered and increased temperature experienced during sputtering.

Display element and method of manufacturing the same

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


A drill/driver (2) includes first (32) and second (52) drive shaft. The two drive shafts (32, 52) are independently rotatable about respective axes (A-A, B-B) thereby to selectably choose the radial and axial position of the final output drive of the drill/driver.

Furthermore most drill/drivers define a central axis along which the output shaft and the attached bit lie and, hence, rotate.
Should the body of the drill/driver be bulky, however, it is possible for some areas of potential use to become inaccessible. For example, a large battery for powering the drill/driver, or a large integral gearbox could make its outer dimensions so large that they extend far beyond the lateral sides of the drill/driver output shaft or its attached bit. This could mean, therefore, that the operator of the drill/driver is unable to use it in enclosed spaces (or next to walls) as the sheer bulk is too great to permit alignment of the bit with the work piece it is intended for the bit to act upon.
The possibility, therefore, of being able to axially offset the output shaft of a drill/driver relative to the central output axis is an attractive proposition, as this allows greater accessibility to confined areas, particularly with a hexagonal bit drive output spindle of relatively small diameter compared to the overall outside dimensions of the drill/driver. If, for example, the drill/driver were to utilise a relatively large chuck (large as compared to the overall outside dimensions of the drill/driver) then little advantage would be gained from being able to axially offset the position of the chuck, or its drive shaft. Such proposals are known and one example is that of a screwdriver sold by the Japanese tool manufacturer, National, under model number EZ 7680. This screwdriver has an output shaft which is permanently axially offset from the central motor output shaft, yet is freely rotatable in a plurality of positions thereabout. The output shaft may be locked in any one of these plurality of positions.
DE-A-3834886 discloses a hand-held electric drill having a gearbox 7 with the tool spindle 8 laterally offset with respect to the motor 2 armature shaft 3 and coupled therewith via gearing. The gearbox housing 10 is mounted to the front end of the motor housing 1 so that it can be angularly adjusted or rotated and is held in a fixed position by means of a connection ring 11 which ma be a clamp and can comprise indexing means.
However, in certain circumstances an operator of a drill/driver may wish to lock the output shaft against rotation thereby to facilitate manual operation of a screwdriver bit or a drill bit. This need may arise where delicate or controlled drilling or screwdriver work is required such as in fragile work pieces. Using a drill/driver such as the National toot described above in these circumstances, however, is not ideal. The fact that the output shaft is radially offset from the central drive shaft of the drill/driver means that very often a uniform application of torque in a manual mode is not possible. Even if it is possible, however, because the axis of application of applied force is not central with the axis of application of output drive, then problems such as slipping of the screwdriver bit from the screw head due to misalignment, for example, can occur.
A drill/driver which combines the facility to radially offset the rotational shaft driving the screwdriver bit or drill bit with the facility to allow the rotational drive shaft to be coaxial or collinear with the shaft along which the force is applied for use in a manual mode is a desirable aim.

Abstract: A shaft lock (56) is provided to enable the user to selectively lock either or both of the shafts (32, 52) against rotation about their respective axes.


In an image processing apparatus including a reconfigurable device, a plurality of configuration data items for configuring a circuit for realizing a predetermined function in the reconfigurable device and for arranging and wiring the respective circuit at differing locations of the device to each other are stored in a memory, and operation information is obtained and accumulated based on an operation time of the circuit for realizing the predetermined function each time a job using the circuit for realizing the predetermined function is executed. Then, when the accumulated value exceeds a threshold, the circuit for realizing the predetermined function is configured in the reconfigurable device using other configuration data corresponding to the circuit for realizing the predetermined function and stored in the memory.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing apparatus, a method of controlling the same, and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Reconfigurable devices, such as a PLD (Programmable Logic Device) that is able to modify an internal the logical circuit configuration, or an FPGA (Field Programmable Gate Array), are well-known. Function modification for a PLD or an FPGA is realized by writing circuit configuration information that is stored in a non-volatile memory, such as a ROM, to an internal configuration memory, which is volatile memory, at an activation time, and thereby switching a function of an internal logical block. The circuit configuration information of the configuration memory is cleared at a time of a power supply disconnection for the apparatus, so it is necessary to perform reconfiguration by writing the circuit configuration information to the configuration memory once again at a time of a power supply activation. In this way, an approach of performing configuration of a hardware resource only once is called static reconfiguration.
In contrast, a circuit for which it is possible to change a logical circuit configuration while the circuit is operating has also been developed, and an approach of changing a logic circuit during operation is referred to as dynamic reconfiguration. There is also an FPGA for which it is possible to rewrite just a particular region rather than the entire chip, and this rewriting is called partial reconfiguration. With partial reconfiguration, partial reconfiguration of a logical block within an FPGA is realized by rewriting only a portion of a configuration memory, rather than by rewriting the entire configuration memory at a time of dynamic reconfiguration.
For example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-235074 discloses, as an example of reconfiguring during operation of an FPGA, a method of, when a software error or the like occurs after configuration of the FPGA, reconfiguring a corresponding circuit.
In such a semiconductor device, refinement of semiconductor process rules has been performed conventionally to improve a capability and to improve yields at a time of manufacture. Thereby, because it is possible to configure a large scale circuit with the same die size, it was advantageous from a point of cost-performance. In contrast, through refinement of the process rules of a semiconductor in this manner, the width of a wiring line for conveying a signal becomes thinner, so it is not possible to ignore effects of a phenomenon—in which a defect occurs in the form of a wiring line—called electromigration. A technique in which electromigration does not occur and that does not reduce the life span of a semiconductor device is also in demand for reconfigurable devices.

Image processing apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium for configuring a reconfigurable device


A toy racetrack including a partial loop section is configured to maintain a partial loop configuration when maintained in an unloaded, freestanding configuration, and to collapse when in a loaded state in which a toy vehicle passes over such partial loop section. When a force is applied to the upper section of the pathway from a traversing toy vehicle, the added force shifts the center of gravity past the balancing point that maintains the partial loop section in its freestanding configuration, and the partial loop section collapses. A spring-loaded head may be provided at the end of the upper portion of the partial loop section, and may be configured to spring away from the partial loop section when contacted by a toy vehicle. A wind-up motor may be provided that drives a diverter in the base of the partial loop section, which may direct a toy vehicle through the partial loop section or onto an alternative racetrack path.

Toy racetracks are popular among children of varied ages, and a variety of track configurations have previously been provided that include various features, such as traps, loops, stunts, and the like to add to the excitement a child experiences while playing with the toy. For instance, toy racetracks have been provided having varied loops and turns that may form complex pathways for the toy vehicle, as well as varied obstacles or stunt devices that the toy vehicle must successfully traverse in order to continue through the racetrack path.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,575,350 to Hippely et al. discloses a toy racetrack having a snake head at the end of the track, the snake head including a flexible, rolled tongue. As a toy vehicle impacts the rolled tongue, it will unroll the tongue and continue along its path only if it has enough energy at that time to fully unroll the tongue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,358,112 to Lambert et al. discloses a toy racetrack having a stunt loop portion with a movable creature head on the inner portion of the loop, which movable creature head will move from a toy vehicle non-capture position to a toy vehicle capture position based upon the amount of energy that is transferred to the loop from a toy vehicle as it traverses the loop.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,628,674 to Nuttall et al. discloses a toy racetrack having moveable track segments that vary position through an indexing mechanism that operates in response to a toy vehicle travelling through the racetrack.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2005/0287919 of Sheltman et al. discloses a toy racetrack having a swinging traveler that captures a toy vehicle as it travels through the racetrack, and rotates about a support until it aligns with a subsequent section of track, after which it releases the toy vehicle to continue its travel through the racetrack.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0164914 of O'connor et al. discloses a toy racetrack having a variety of track segments that change position as a toy vehicle traverses those segments.
U.S. Patent Publication No. 2012/0322342 of De La Torre discloses a toy racetrack having a swinging and spinning toy vehicle support that intercepts a toy vehicle as it travels through the racetrack, and thereafter swings and spins to a new position that releases the toy vehicle onto a subsequent track section.
While the foregoing configurations do provide varied obstacle and stunt features, there remains an ongoing need to provide toy racetrack features capable of maintaining the interest of a child and increasing the excitement and amusement they experience when playing with a toy racetrack. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a toy racetrack that further enhances the excitement and amusement offered to a child as they engage in such play.

Toy racetrack having collapsible loop portion


Methods, systems and computer program products are disclosed for enhanced system boot processing that is faster to launch an operating system, as certain devices such as user input hardware devices may not be initialized unless it is determined that a user-interruption to the boot process is likely. That is, although an interface for the devices is exposed, no initialization occurs unless a call to the interface occurs. Other embodiments are described and claimed.

Many computing systems have traditionally allowed a user to interrupt a boot process in order to perform various setup functions such as setting the system clock, managing memory settings, configuring a new hard drive, changing the boot order, password reset, etc. The interruption may be initiated by the user's activation of a particular keyboard button(s), such as delete, F1, F2, F10, or ctrl-alt-delete during basic input/output system (BIOS) boot processing. For such systems, the boot time may be significantly lengthened as input/output (I/O) devices, such as a universal serial bus (USB) keyboard, are enumerated and polled to determine if the user has indeed initiated such interruption.

Method for reducing platform boot times by providing lazy input/output abstractions


A portable blower having a motor unit that includes a drive motor disposed in an engine housing. The blower has a blower unit that is provided with a blower housing that is separate from the engine housing. The blower unit includes an axial fan that is driven by the drive motor via a drive shaft. During operation the axial fan conveys operating air in the direction of the axis of rotation of the axial fan through a blower tube disposed downstream of the axial fan. An ergonomic operation and a good operating result can be achieved if the motor unit includes a guide tube on which is secured at least one handle. The engine housing is disposed at one end of the guide tube and the blower unit is disposed at the other end of the guide tube. The drive shaft extends through the guide tube. The length of the guide tube between the engine housing and the blower unit corresponds to at least half of the length of the blower tube.

The present invention relates to a portable blower.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,413,371 discloses a portable blower having a motor unit and a blower unit. The blower unit has an axial fan that is disposed directly adjacent to the motor unit. A long blower tube extends to the ground from the fan. Operating air is drawn in via a gap between the blower tube and the drive motor and via openings in the upper side of the blower tube.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a portable blower with which a good cleaning result can be achieved and which enables ergonomic operation.


A highly efficient line transient protection circuit is provided for high power loads that are designed to operate through a high line transient. The transient protection circuit for high power loads is provided with a primary leg circuit, a load circuit and a secondary circuit. The load circuit may be a switching regulator circuit, a load circuit containing an oscillator, a push-pull circuit, a boost converter circuit, a buck converter circuit or the like. The transient protection circuit is provided with a simple driver circuit to turn on a bypass n-channel MOSFET. It operates at a higher efficiency; I.E., conduction losses are minimized during normal input voltage conditions. Furthermore, the transient protection circuit provides a programmable voltage clamp which is implemented through selecting zener diode VR1. The transient protection may be used to protect medium to large current circuits from line transients. Additionally, the transient protection circuit it is suitable for applications in loads that have to operate through a high line transient (e.g. military, medical, etc.).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to line transient protection circuits. In particular, the present invention relates to highly efficient line transient protection circuits for high power loads that are designed to operate through a high line transient (e.g. military and medical applications, etc.).
2. Background of the Invention
In general, transient electric phenomena occur, for instance, when a load is suddenly changed and an appreciable time elapses before the power level and circuit adapt to the new conditions. The voltages and currents during the intermediate time are known as transient. A transient may further be described as the momentary departure of a characteristic from steady-state conditions and back to steady-state conditions as a result of a system disturbance, such as a load or line change.
In high power load applications, line transient protection circuits (or voltage limiting circuits) have traditionally been designed using a power bipolar transistor. One well-known bipolar approach is the darlington power transistor transient protection circuit (1) is shown in FIG. 1 The darlington configuration typically includes a primary circuit having an input VIN (4), a bipolar transistor Q1A and Q1B (54) and an output VIN′ (5). A secondary leg connected to the primary leg between VIN and the bipolar transistor (54) includes a resistor R1 (34). The secondary leg is then fed into the bipolar transistor (54). A zener diode VR1 (28) is further arranged between the resistor R1 and the bipolar transistor (54) where the anode of VR1 is grounded (26). Additionally, the transient protected load depicted as RL circuit leg (50) is arranged between the bipolar transistor (54) and VIN′ where the return RL leg is grounded (26). However, a major disadvantage of the darlington circuit (1) is that it is not very efficient with respect to power consumption. In particular, at mid to high current levels, the power bipolar transistor suffers from poor current gain requiring high base current and high forward collector to emitter voltage drop, thus, is typically inefficient.
Another traditional approach to transient protection circuitry is to use a power MOSFET transient protection circuit as shown in FIG. 2. The power MOSFET transient protection circuit (2) typically includes a primary circuit having an input VIN (4), an n-channel enhancement power MOSFET Q1 (8) and an output VIN′ (5). A secondary leg connected to the primary leg between VIN and Q1 includes a resistor R1 (34). The secondary leg is then fed into the gate connection of Q1. A zener diode VR1 is further arranged between the resistor R1 and Q1 where the anode end of the zener diode is grounded (26). Additionally, a load, depicted as an RL circuit leg 50 is arranged between Q1 and VIN′ where the return of the RL leg is grounded (26). However, a major disadvantage of the power MOSFET transient protection circuit (2) is that it is typically more inefficient with respect to power consumption than that of the darlington transient protection circuit (1). Thus, one of the overall primary disadvantages of the aforementioned designs is that they are not power efficient.
It would be advantageous to provide a highly efficient line transient protection circuit for high power loads. In particular, it would be beneficial to provide a transient protection circuit that is adapted to operate through a high transient line. It would further be ideal to provide a transient protection circuit that can be used to protect medium to large current circuit from line transients.

Highly efficient line transient protection circuit for high power loads


A plurality of connecting members are provided to a tool adaptor to which a tool is mounted, a plurality of connecting jaw members having inclined faces which are engaged with and detached from the connecting members when the connecting jaw members are displaced in radial directions, a rod that expands and contracts due to operation of air pressure, and a cam-type converting mechanism for converting the expanding/contracting operation of the rod to operations of displacement of the jaw members are provided to a mounting unit mounted to a robot hand, and a stopper portion for preventing the connecting member from being detached and falling from the inclined face when the air pressure reduces is provided to each the jaw member.

The present invention relates to a robot hand tool mounting device for mounting a tool such as a pneumatic chuck to a hand of an assembly robot installed in an automated assembly line of electronic equipment or other products.
An assembly robot is installed in an automated assembly line of electronic equipment or the like and one of various tools such as a pneumatic chuck is mounted to a hand of the assembly robot such that the one tool can be replaced by another according to operation. A tool mounting device for mounting the tool to the hand of such an assembly robot is generally formed of a tool adaptor to which the tool is mounted and a mounting unit which is mounted to the robot hand and to which the tool adaptor is detachably connected. To the mounting unit, a pair of clamp arms opened and closed by operation of air pressure and a return spring are provided. To a central portion of the tool adaptor, on the other hand, a connecting shaft having a locking flange at its top portion is provided and the mounting unit and the tool adaptor are connected to each other by clamping the connecting shaft between the clamp arms.
However, because the mounting unit and the tool adaptor are connected by the clamp arms extending from the mounting unit and the connecting shaft extending from the tool adaptor in the above prior-art tool mounting device, an axial length of the mounting device is increased and it is difficult to reduce a thickness of the mounting device. Furthermore, because the one connecting shaft positioned at the center of the tool adaptor is clamped between the clamp arms positioned at the center of the mounting unit, an axis is likely to incline.
On the other hand, it is required that such a tool mounting device should have a superior level of safety such that the tool adaptor is not detached and does not fall from the mounting unit if the air pressure for clamping reduces unexpectedly.
It is a technical object of the present invention to provide a robot hand tool mounting device which can reliably connect a tool adaptor and a mounting unit such that an axis does not incline and a tool does not fall off and which has a small thickness and excellent connecting accuracy and safety.
To achieve the above object, a tool mounting device of the invention comprises a tool adaptor to which a robot hand tool is mounted and a mounting unit which is mounted to a robot hand and to which the tool adaptor is detachably connected, wherein the tool adaptor has a plurality of connecting members engaged with jaw members of the mounting unit, the mounting unit has a rod that expands and contracts by operation of air pressure, the plurality of connecting jaw members disposed at regular angles about an axis of the rod and displaced in radial directions, a converting mechanism for converting an expanding/contracting operation of the rod to operations of displacement of the jaw members, and connecting locked portions formed at outer end portions of the respective jaw members, and each the locked portion has an inclined face which is inclined downward as it extends outward and which is engaged with the connecting member to draw the tool adaptor wedgewise and a stopper portion connected to the inclined face for preventing falling of the connecting member from the locked portion.
In the tool mounting device of the invention having the above structure, if the rod is actuated by operation of the air pressure and the plurality of jaw members are displaced outward in the radial directions through the converting mechanism, the inclined face of the connecting locked portion formed on the outer end portion of each the jaw member is engaged with the connecting member of the tool adaptor and the jaw member is displaced further to pull the connecting member up along the inclined face. As a result, the tool adaptor is drawn toward the mounting unit and connected to the mounting unit. At this time, while the tool adaptor is drawn toward the mounting unit, displacement of cores of the tool adaptor and the mounting unit from each other is corrected and the tool adaptor and the mounting unit are connected coaxially and reliably. Furthermore, because the tool adaptor and the mounting unit are connected at a plurality of points by engagement of the plurality of jaw members and the connecting members with each other, inclination of axes with respect to each other is not generated and high connecting accuracy can be obtained. Moreover, by wedge effect of the inclined faces, the connecting force is increased significantly.
If the air pressure for connecting reduces in a state in which the tool adaptor and the mounting unit are connected, each the jaw member is pushed back inward in the radial direction by load that acts on the inclined face through the connecting member. However, the stopper portion is provided to an outside of the inclined face and the connecting member stops in the position of the stopper portion when the connecting member reaches the position. Therefore, the connecting members are not detached from the jaw members, thereby reliably preventing falling of the tool adaptor.
In the tool mounting device, the plurality of jaw members that can be displaced in the radial directions are provided to the mounting unit, the inclined faces formed on the jaw members are locked to the connecting members of the tool adaptor, and the tool adaptor is pulled up wedgewise by the inclined faces and connected. Therefore, an axial length can be reduced and a thickness can be reduced as compared with the prior-art mounting device in which connecting is carried out by using the clamp arms and the connecting shaft.
According to a concrete embodiment of the invention, each the stopper portion includes a horizontal face or a reversely inclined face that is inclined reversely to the inclined face and an inward component of force of load that-acts on each the jaw member through each the connecting member is canceled in a position of the stopper portion.
According to another concrete embodiment of the invention, the converting mechanism includes a cam formed on one of the rod and the jaw member and a cam groove formed on the other and the cam and the cam groove are inclined with respect to the axis of the rod and are engaged with each other such that they can slide along the inclination.
According to yet another concrete embodiment of the invention, the tool adaptor and the mounting unit respectively have air connecting portions for connecting their air piping ports, a check valve elastically biased by a spring in a valve closing direction is mounted and a push rod elastically biased by a spring in such a direction that a tip end of the push rod projects from the connecting portion on the mounting unit is provided in the air connecting portion on the mounting unit, the push rod is pushed in by the tool adaptor to open the check valve when the tool adaptor and the mounting unit are connected, and the tool adaptor is forcibly separated by elastically biasing force of the spring when the tool adaptor and the mounting unit are separated from each other.


A reactor having a predetermined small capacity is connected to a rectifier, and a capacitor having a predetermined small capacity is connected between DC bus lines of the inverter, so that a small, light and low-cost inverter controller for driving a motor can be implemented, and even when an inverter DC voltage largely fluctuates and it is difficult to drive the motor, the motor can be kept driving by operating the inverter such that a voltage applied to the motor may stay constant by a motor voltage command corrector which generates a motor voltage command correction value of the motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inverter controller for driving a motor, which uses a small-capacity reactor and a small-capacity capacitor, and also relates to an air conditioner using such an inverter controller as an inverter apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a general inverter controller for driving an induction motor used in an all-purpose inverter and the like, a V/F control type of inverter controller for driving an induction motor shown in FIG. 11 is well-known as disclosed, for example, in a non-patent document 1 (see page 661 to 711 in "Inverter Drive Handbook", compiled by an editing committee of the Drive Handbook, first edition in 1995, published by THE NIKKAN KOGYO SHIMBUN, LTD, for example).
Referring to FIG. 11, a main circuit includes a DC power supply apparatus 113, an inverter 3 and an induction motor 4. The DC power supply apparatus 113 includes an AC power supply 1, a rectifier 2, a smoothing capacitor 112 storing electric energy for a DC voltage source of the inverter 3, and a reactor 111 for improving a power factor of the AC power supply 1.
Meanwhile, a control circuit includes a V/F control pattern section 13, a motor voltage command generator 14 and a PWM controller 18. The V/F control pattern section 13 is provided for deciding a motor voltage value applied to the induction motor 4 based on a speed command ω* of the induction motor 4 applied from the outside. The motor voltage command generator 14 is provided for generating a motor voltage command value of the induction motor 4 based on the motor voltage value decided by the V/F control pattern section 13. The PWM controller 18 is provided for generating a PWM signal of the inverter 3 based on the motor voltage command value generated by the motor voltage command generator 14.
FIG. 12 shows an example of the general V/F control pattern generated by the V/F control pattern section 13. As shown in FIG. 12, it is constituted such that the motor voltage value applied to the induction motor 4 is unambiguously decided in relation to the speed command ω*. In general, the speed command ω* and the motor voltage value are stored in a memory of a calculating device such as a microcomputer as table values, and the motor voltage value is provided by liner interpolation from the table values for the other speed command ω* which is not included in the table values.
Here, when the AC power supply 1 is 220 V (AC power supply frequency is 50 Hz), the input of the inverter 3 is 1.5 kW, and the smoothing capacitor 112 is 1500 μF, a relation between a harmonic component of an AC power supply current and an order to an AC power supply frequency when the reactor 111 for improving the power factor is 5 mH and 20 nH is shown in FIG. 13.
FIG. 13 shows the relation together with the IEC (International Electrotechnical Commission) standard, from which it is seen that the third harmonic component especially largely exceeds that of the IEC standard when the reactor 111 for improving the power factor is 5 mH. Meanwhile, the IEC standard is satisfied until the fortieth harmonic component in the case of 20 mH.
Thus, it is necessary to take measure to further increase an inductance value of the reactor 111 for improving the power factor in order to clear the IEC standard at the time of especially high loading, and it causes the inverter to increase in size and weight, which increases in cost.
Therefore, there is proposed a DC power supply apparatus shown in FIG. 14, for example, in a patent document 1 (Japanese Patent Unexamined Laid-open Publication H9-266674). Referring to FIG. 14, a DC power supply apparatus is improved to prevent an increase of the inductance value of the reactor 111 to increase the power factor, while reducing the power supply harmonic component and increasing the power factor.
In FIG. 14, an AC power supply voltage of an AC power supply 1 is applied to an AC input terminal of a full-wave rectifier constructed by bridge connection of diodes D1 through D4, the output thereof is charged into a middle capacitor C through a reactor Lin, the charges of the middle capacitor C is discharged to a smoothing capacitor CD and a DC voltage is supplied to a load resistance RL. In this constitution, a transistor Q1 is connected in a negative and positive DC current path connecting a loading side of the reactor Lin to the middle capacitor C, and this transistor Q1 is driven by a base driving circuit G1.
In addition, pulse generation circuits I1 and I2 applying a pulse voltage to the base driving circuit G1, and a dummy resistance Rdm are further provided. Each of the pulse generation circuits I1 and I2 comprises a circuit for detecting a zero cross point of the AC power supply voltage and a pulse current circuit for applying a pulse current to the dummy resistance Rdm after the zero cross point is detected until an instantaneous value of the AC power supply voltage becomes equal to a voltage at both ends of the middle capacitor C.
Here, the pulse generation circuit I1 generates a pulse voltage in the former half of a half-cycle of the AC power supply voltage, and the pulse generation circuit I2 generates a pulse voltage in the latter half of the half-cycle of the AC power supply voltage.
In addition, when a current is forced to flow in the reactor Lin by turning the transistor Q1 on, a diode D5 for backflow prevention is connected such that the charge in the middle capacitor C may not be discharged through the transistor Q1, and a diode D6 for backflow prevention and a reactor Ldc for increasing a smoothing effect are connected in series in a path in which the charge in the middle capacitor C is discharged to the smoothing capacitor CD.
In the above constitution, the transistor Q1 is turned on at a part or a whole of a phase section in which the instantaneous value of the AC power supply voltage does not exceed the voltage at both ends of the middle capacitor C, and thus the harmonic component is reduced and a high power factor is attained without making the apparatus large.
However, in the above conventional constitution as disclosed in the patent document 1 which describes a simulation result in the case of 1500 μF and 6.2 mH, the smoothing capacitor CD and the reactor Lin having large capacity are still provided, and the middle capacitor C, the transistor Q1, the base driving circuit G1, the pulse generation circuits I1 and I2, the dummy resistance Rdm, the diodes D5 and D6 for backflow prevention, and the rector Ldc enhancing the smoothing effect are further provided. Therefore, the apparatus becomes large in size and its cost is increased because the number of parts is increased.

Inverter controller for driving motor and air conditioner using inverter controller

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


Substituted thiazolidinone carboxylic acid amides and substituted thiazolidine carboxylic acid amides according to formulae (I) and (II) are disclosed

Prostate cancer accounts for 33% of all newly diagnosed malignancies among men in the United States (American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts and Figures (2003)). According to the American Cancer Society, an estimated 230,110 men will be diagnosed with prostate cancer in 2004, and 29,900 men will die of it (American Cancer Society: Cancer Facts and Figures (2004)). The incidence of prostate cancer varies worldwide, with the highest rates found in the United States, Canada, and Scandinavia, and the lowest rates found in China and other parts of Asia (Quinn and Babb, "Patterns and Trends in Prostate Cancer Incidence, Survival, Prevalence and Mortality. Part: International Comparisons," BJU Int. 90:162-173 (2002); Gronberg, "Prostate Cancer Epidemiology," Lancet 361:859-864 (2003)). These differences are caused by genetic susceptibility, exposure to unknown external risk factors, differences in health care and cancer registration, or a combination of these factors.
Cancer of the prostate is multifocal and it is commonly observed that the cancerous gland contains multiple independent lesions, suggesting the heterogeneity of the disease (Foster et al., "Cellular and Molecular Pathology of Prostate Cancer Precursors," Scand. J. Urol. Nephrol. 205:19-43 (2000)). Determinants responsible for the pathologic growth of the prostate remain poorly understood, although steroidal androgens and peptide growth factors have been implicated (Agus et al., "Prostate Cancer Cell Cycle Regulators: Response to Androgen Withdrawal and Development of Androgen Independence," J. Natl. Cancer. Inst. 91:1869-1876 (1999); Djakiew, "Dysregulated Expression of Growth Factors and Their Receptors in the Development of Prostate Cancer," Prostate 42:150-160 (2000)). As long as the cancer is confined to the prostate, it can be successfully controlled by surgery or radiation, but in metastatic disease, few options are available beyond androgen ablation (Frydenberg et al., "Prostate Cancer Diagnosis and Management," Lancet 349:1681-1687 (1997)), the mainstay of treatment in the case of lymph node involvement or disseminated loci. Once tumor cells have become hormone refractory, the standard cytotoxic agents are marginally effective in slowing disease progression, although they do provide some degree of palliative relief. Current chemotherapeutic regimens, typically two or more agents, afford response rates in the range of only 20-30% (Beedassy et al., "Chemotherapy in Advanced Prostate Cancer," Sem. Oncol. 26:428-438 (1999); Raghavan et al., "Evolving Strategies of Cytotoxic Chemotherapy for Advanced Prostate Cancer," Eur. J. Cancer 33:566-574 (1997)).
One promising drug development strategy for prostate cancer involves identifying and testing agents that interfere with growth factors and other molecules involved in the cancer cell's signaling pathways. G-protein coupled receptors ("GPCRs") are a family of membrane-bound proteins that are involved in the proliferation and survival of prostate cancer cells initiated by binding of lysophospholipids ("LPLs") (Raj et al., "Guanosine Phosphate Binding Protein Coupled Receptors in Prostate Cancer: A Review," J. Urol. 167:1458-1463 (2002); Kue et al., "Essential Role for G Proteins in Prostate Cancer Cell Growth and Signaling," J. Urol. 164:2162-2167 (2000); Guo et al., "Mitogenic Signaling in Androgen Sensitive and Insensitive Prostate Cancer Cell Lines," J. Urol. 163:1027-1032 (2000); Barki-Harrington et al., "Bradykinin Induced Mitogenesis of Androgen Independent Prostate Cancer Cells," J. Urol. 165:2121-2125 (2001)). The importance of G protein-dependent pathways in the regulation of growth and metastasis in vivo is corroborated by the observation that the growth of androgen-independent prostate cancer cells in mice is attenuated by treatment with pertussis toxin, an inhibitor of Gi/o proteins (Bex et al., "Influence of Pertussis Toxin on Local Progression and Metastasis After Orthotopic Implantation of the Human Prostate Cancer Cell Line PC3 in Nude Mice," Prostate Cancer Prostatic Dis. 2:36-40 (1999)). Lysophosphatidic acid ("LPA") and sphingosine 1-phosphate ("S1P") are lipid mediators generated via the regulated breakdown of membrane phospholipids that are known to stimulate GPCR-signaling.
LPL binds to GPCRs encoded by the Edg gene family, collectively referred to as LPL receptors, to exert diverse biological effects. LPA stimulates phospholipase D activity and PC-3 prostate cell proliferation (Qi et al., "Lysophosphatidic Acid Stimulates Phospholipase D Activity and Cell Proliferation in PC-3 Human Prostate Cancer Cells," J. Cell. Physiol. 174:261-272 (1998)). Further, prior studies have shown that LPA is mitogenic in prostate cancer cells and that PC-3 and DU-145 express LPA1, LPA2, and LPA3 receptors (Daaka, "Mitogenic Action of LPA in Prostate," Biochim. Biophys. Acta. 1582:265-269 (2002)). Advanced prostate cancers express LPL receptors and depend on phosphatidylinositol 3-kinase ("PI3K") signaling for growth and progression to androgen independence (Kue and Daaka, "Essential Role for G Proteins in Prostate Cancer Cell Growth and Signaling," J. Urol. 164:2162-2167 (2000)). Thus, these pathways are widely viewed as one of the most promising new approaches to cancer therapy (Vivanco et al., "The Phosphatidylinositol 3-Kinase AKT Pathway in Human Cancer," Nat. Rev. Cancer 2:489-501 (2002)) and provide an especially novel approach to the treatment of advanced, androgen-refractory prostate cancer. Despite the promise of this approach, there are no clinically available therapies that selectively exploit or inhibit LPA or PI3K signaling.
Melanoma is the most aggressive form of skin cancer and is the fastest growing cancer currently in the United States (Ries et al., "The Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1993-1997, with a Special Section on Colorectal Cancer," Cancer 88:2398-2424 (2000); Jemal et al., "Recent Trends in Cutaneous Melanoma Incidence Among Whites in the United States," Cancer Inst. 93:678-683 (2001); Jemal et al., "Cancer Statistics, 2004," CA Cancer J. Clin. 54:8-29 (2004)). It is the most common cancer in young adults aged 20-30. Approximately two to three out of 100,000 people per year die from melanoma in the northern hemisphere (Marks, "Epidemiology in Melanoma," Clin. Exp. Dermatol. 25:459-463 (2000); Lens et al., "Global Perspectives of Contemporary Epidemiological Trends of Cutaneous Malignant Melanoma," Br. J. Dermatol. 150:179-185 (2004)). While in situ melanoma (stage 0) can usually be cured surgically, melanoma metastized to major organs (stage IV) is virtually incurable. Patients with advanced melanoma have median survival time of 7.5 months and the estimated five year survival rate is only 5-9% (Barth et al., "Prognostic Factors in 1,521 Melanoma Patients with Distant Metastases," J. Am. Coll. Surg. 181:193-201 (1995); Buzaid et al., "The Changing Prognosis of Melanoma," Curr. Oncol. Rep.2:322-328 (2000); Anderson et al., "Systemic Treatments for Advanced Cutaneous Melanoma," Oncology (Williston Park) 9:1149-1158, discussion 1163-1144, 1167-1148 (1995)).
Currently, dacarbazine ("DTIC") is the only U.S. Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") approved drug to treat advanced melanoma, and it provides complete remission in only two percent of patients (Anderson et al., "Systemic Treatments for Advanced Cutaneous Melanoma," Oncology (Williston Park) 9:1149-1158, discussion 1163-1144, 1167-1148 (1995); Serrone et al., Dacarbazine-based Chemotherapy for Metastatic Melanoma: Thirty-year Experience Overview," J. Exp. Clin. Cancer Res. 19:21-34 (2000)). The FDA also approved the use of high-dose interferon alpha-2b ("IFN-α2b") as adjuvant treatment of patients at high risk of recurrence of melanoma, but a total of four recent Phase III randomized trials failed to detect a survival advantage with the addition of IFN-α2b to DTIC (Lawson, "Choices in Adjuvant Therapy of Melanoma," Cancer Control 12:236-241 (2005); Bajetta et al., "Multiicenter Randomized Trial of Dacarbazine Alone or in Combination with Two Different Doses and Schedules of Interferon alpha-2a in the Treatment of Advanced Melanoma," J. Clin. Oncol. 12:806-811 (1994); Thomson et al., "Interferon alpha-2a Does Not Improve Response or Survival when Combined with Dacarbazine in Metastatic Malignant Melanoma: Results of a Multi-institutional Australian Randomized Trial," Melanoma Res. 3:133-138 (1993); Young et al., "Prospective Randomized Comparison of Dacarbazine (DTIC) Versus DTIC Plus Interferon-alpha (IFN-alpha) in Metastatic Melanoma," Clin. Oncol. (R. Coll. Radiol) 13:458-465 (2001)). Several extensive clinical trials have been conducted in recent years with a variety of cancer drugs or combination of cancer drugs, but thay all failed to demonstrate clear effect against advanced melanoma (Lawson, "Choices in Adjuvant Therapy of Melanoma," Cancer Control 12:236-241 (2005); Mandara et al., "Chemotherapy for Metastatic Melanoma," Exp. Rev. Anticancer Ther. 6:121-130 (2006); Kaufmann et al., "Temozolomide in Combination with Interferon-alpha Versus Temozolomide Alone in Patients with Advanced Metastatic Melanoma: A Randomized, Phase III, Multicenter Study from the Dermatologic Cooperative Oncology Group," J. Clin. Oncol. 23(25):9001-9007 (2005)). Therefore, DTIC still remains the gold standard for advanced melanoma despite its very limited efficacy (Eggermont et al., "Re-evaluating the role of Dacarbazine in Metastatic Melanoma: What Have We Learned in 30 Years?" Eur. J. Cancer 40:1825-1836 (2004); Atallah et al., "Treatment of Metastatic Malignant Melanoma," Curr. Treat Options Oncol. 6:185-193 (2005)). With the rapidly rising incidents reported for melanoma in the United States, clearly there is an urgent need to develop more effective therapeutic agents to combat advanced melanoma.
The present invention is directed to overcoming these and other deficiencies in the prior art.

Thiazolidinone amides, thiazolidine carboxylic acid amides, and serine amides, including polyamine conjugates thereof, as selective anti-cancer agents

Abstract: where the various substituent groups are as defined in the specification. Methods of making these compounds, pharmaceutical compositions containing the compounds, and their use, particularly for treating or preventing cancer, are also disclosed.

Ohio State Univesity Research Foundation

The University of Tennessee Research Foundation


A method and apparatus for setting a networked computer with a power saving on into a power saving mode in which power is selectively supplied to only those resources of the computer used in processing network interrupts. The method includes: the first step of supplying power and determining from a user the time operated with a power saving mode, and the computer is set to a first power saving mode if the access of input/output address of the resource does not occur for a predetermined time on a normal operation of the computer; the second step that the computer is set to a second power saving mode for processing an IRQ signal when the IRQ signal is generated in a state of the first power saving mode; the third step that the computer is set to a suspend mode if the access of input/output address of the resource and the IRQ signal is not detected for a predetermined time in a state of the first power saving mode, and is changed to a first power saving mode or a second power saving mode for processing an IRQ signal when the IRQ signal is generated; and the fourth step that the computer is set to a normal operation state if the access of input/output address of the resource occurs in a state of the first power saving mode or a second power saving mode. The present invention relates to the method having a power saving function which supplies power only to a basic device used in a network.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reducing power consumption in a computer coupled to a network, and more particularly, to a method and apparatus for setting a computer with a power saving function into a power saving mode in which the computer supplies power to those devices that are used in communicating over the network and supplies no power to those devices not used network communications.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Advanced technological developments in computers have necessitated power saving functions, such as hibernation systems and related systems, in order to manage efficiently the supply of power to the various components in computers. A hibernation system may have either of two functions:
An emergency automatic restoration function for storing the present operating state in an auxiliary memory, such as a hard disk, when power to the computer is cut off by a sudden interruption in electric service or by an error on the part of a user. The hibernation system provides for restoring the operating state of the computer to the previous state, according to the contents of the auxiliary memory, when power to the computer is restored.
A power saving function for automatically storing the present operating state in the auxiliary memory and cutting off the power when the computer is idle for a predetermined length of time. The system resumes supplying power and returns the computer to its previous operating state when use of the computer is resumed.
In recent years demand in the personal computer market has expanded for a hibernation system having both an emergency automatic restoration function and a power saving function. Now various kinds of computers and software are also being supplied for various specialized applications. On the other hand, the volume of computation required for a computer to run a specific application has increased because of the requirements of advanced software and the capabilities of advanced hardware. This increase in computational requirements has brought about innovations such as multimedia computers. To compensate for the increased power consumption of multimedia computers, a power saving function is a very important feature of power management for such advanced hardware and software.
A computer having a power saving function has the following general structure. The basic components needed to operate the computer are the central processing unit (CPU), a memory, and a power supply. The computer can also have one or more resources, which can include, for example, an input device such as a keyboard or a mouse for receiving data to be processed by the CPU; an output device such as a monitor for displaying processed data or a printer for printing data; or an input/output device such as a hard disk drive for inputting data to and outputting A data from the CPU. Another resource the computer can have is a network device coupling the computer to a network and allowing the computer to communicate over the network. Various combinations of these and other resources are helpful or necessary for the computer to be used in many applications.
Among these devices and the other constituent elements of the computer, some are required to operate for operation of the computer, while the operation of others is not necessary to operation of the computer. A computer having a power saving function can include a power managing unit that controls the supply of power according to the needs of a user or predetermined criteria. The power managing unit provides for efficient use of power by reducing the use of power by elements of the computer whose operation is not necessary to the user's current activity or when conditions indicate that the computer is presently idle.
A power saving function generally operates in such a computer as follows. When power of the computer is turned on, the CPU and the memory operate. The computer receives from user input a time delay setting that determines how long the computer should operate in an idle state (e.g., without input from the user) before entering into a suspend mode; that is, the time delay setting determines the length of a time delay. The CPU determines whether such an input occurs before the time delay lapses. If an input from an input device occurs before the time delay lapses, then the computer continues to operate in a normal mode. While no input has occurred since the beginning of the time delay, CPU monitors whether the time delay has lapsed. As long as the time delay has not lapsed, the computer continues to operate in its normal mode (i.e., at fill power demand). As soon as the CPU determines that the time delay has lapsed without the occurrence of an input, though, it transmits a mode switching signal to the power managing unit.
The power managing unit regulates the power delivered by the power supply to the various constituent devices of the computer. When the power managing unit receives a mode switching signal and the computer is operating in its normal mode, it responds by setting the computer into the suspend mode and thereby reducing the computer's power consumption.
This approach has provided a certain degree of success in reducing unnecessary power consumption in a computer, but I have found that it contains a basic drawback. Even if a user does not enter an input directly, such as through an input device, during the predetermined time delay the computer's memory or another resource, such as an attached storage device, occasionally can be accessed during the time delay if the computer is coupled to a network. In such a case, the computer should not be set into the suspend mode merely because no direct user input has occurred.

Method and apparatus for setting a computer coupled to a network into a power saving mode


A balanced optical-RF phase detector for the extraction of low-jitter radiofrequency (RF) signals from optical pulse trains is demonstrated. The extraction of the low-jitter radiofrequency signals is based on the precise phase detection by use of a differentially biased Sagnac-loop interferometer and synchronous detection. The phase-error signal from this balanced optical-RF phase detector, which is robust against drifts and photodetector nonlinearities, is used to regenerate low-jitter radiofrequency signals from optical pulse trains. Alternatively, the phase-error signal is used to generate a low-jitter optical pulse train, synchronized with a master radiofrequency signal or to synchronize multiple modelocked lasers with each other.

Precision timing distribution is important for future accelerator facilities and, in particular, for precise synchronization between low-level radiofrequency (RF) systems in such facilities as well as to the extraction of microwave signals from optical clocks.
Seeding of free-electron lasers operating in the extreme ultraviolet and soft X-ray regime with radiation generated via high harmonics from noble gases may result in a fully coherent X-ray laser. For seeding of such large-scale facilities spanning over several hundreds meters, it is critical to synchronize lasers and radiofrequency systems with low (preferably sub-femtosecond range) timing jitter in a long-term stable arrangement.
To achieve this synchronization, the pulse repetition rate of an optical master oscillator implemented as a mode-locked laser is stabilized to a frequency standard or to an ultra-low noise microwave oscillator that is clocking the facility. The pulse train is distributed to all critical sub-systems by use of timing-stabilized fiber links; i.e., the pulse trains leaving different fiber links are synchronous. The radiofrequency or optical sub-systems are then synchronized to the pulse trains at the fiber outputs.
It has been shown that the extraction of a microwave signal from an optical pulse train emitted by a mode-locked laser using direct photo-detection is limited in precision by excess phase noise [see E. N. Ivanov, et al., "Analysis of Noise Mechanisms Limiting the Frequency Stability of Microwave Signals Generated with a Femtosecond Laser," IEEE J. Sel. Top. Quant. Elec. 9, 1059-1065 (2003), and A. Bartels, et al., "Femtosecond-Laser-Based Synthesis of Ultrastable Microwave Signals from Optical Frequency References," Optics Letters 30, 667-669 (2005)].
The origin of this excess noise has been identified as amplitude-to-phase conversion in the photo-detection process, beam-pointing variations, and pulse distortions by photodetector nonlinearities. In addition to this excess phase noise and timing jitter by photodetector nonlinearities, the long-term synchronization stability is limited by the temperature dependence of semiconductor photodiodes. Thus, a new synchronization scheme to avoid these problems is highly desirable.
The great potential of mode-locked lasers for generating ultra-low-jitter radiofrequency signals has been recognized. Recently, the extraction of a radiofrequency signal from an optical pulse train emitted by a mode-locked laser using direct photo-detection has been shown to be limited in precision by excess phase noise. The major origin of this excess noise has been identified to be the amplitude-to-phase (AM-to-PM) conversion in the photodetector. The inventors have measured the AM-to-PM conversion factor at ranges from 1 to 10 picoseconds per milliwatt (ps/mW), depending on the bias voltage and diode types. The intensity noise of the laser can be converted into a significant amount of phase noise by this conversion process. The inventors previously demonstrated a scheme to avoid this conversion by transfer of timing information in the optical domain based on a free-space Sagnac interferometer, as described in US Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0265406 A1.

Balanced optical-radiofrequency phase detector