A glasses type display that is connected to an information communication terminal via a wire line or a wireless line, in which the operation by the user is made simple by preventing error operation and the power consumption is decreased by not consuming the unnecessary power, is provided. The glasses type display provides lenses, a main frame, side frames, a microphone, a speaker(s), open and closed state detecting sensors, wearing state detecting sensors. When the user opened the side frames, the open and closed state detecting sensors react, and the wearing state detecting sensors become the on state. When the user put on the glasses type display, the lenses automatically become the on state by that the wearing state detecting sensors detected the wearing state. And when the reaction from a part of the wearing state detecting sensors was turned off, caused by some vibration, the lenses are not immediately turned off. Therefore, an error operation is avoided. When the side frames were closed, the lenses were turned off automatically by the operation of the open and closed state detecting sensors. Therefore, the unnecessary power consumption is avoided.

The present invention relates to a glasses type display and a controlling method thereof, in which the glasses type display is used with an audio-visual instrument and an information communication instrument, and in which error operation is prevented and operation by the user is simplified and power consumption is decreased by without using the unnecessary power.

Glasses type display and controlling method thereof


A liquid crystal display element of a dot matrix structure comprises a liquid crystal panel constituted by a first substrate equipped with a first electrode, a second substrate equipped with a second electrode, and a liquid crystal layer furnished between the first substrate and the second substrate, wherein the liquid crystal layer comprises a support column of a wall structure possessing adhesiveness, wherein a part of each of the support columns has a wider part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display element of a dot matrix system, and in particular to one excelling in flexibility.
2. Description of the Related Art
The rapid popularization of a type of electronic paper capable of retaining a display without a power source and enabling the electronic rewriting of the display content is predicted to happen in the near future. Research is in progress to find a type of electronic paper for accomplishing a reflective display that is gentle to the eyes so as not to tire them and that consumes an extremely low power amount, enabling a memory display to remain even after the power is cut off and enabling it to have a display body that is thin and flexible like paper. Conceivable applications of an electronic paper like this include, for example, electronic books, electronic newspapers, and electronic posters.
Electronic paper is categorized into an electrophoresis method, a twisted ball method, a liquid crystal display, an organic electroluminescence (EL) display, et cetera, depending on the difference of display method.
The electrophoresis method is a method for moving charged particles in the air or liquid. The twisted ball method is a method for rotating charged particles colored in two colors. The organic electroluminescence (EL) display is a self light-emitting display configured to sandwich a plurality of thin films made from an organic material by negative and positive electrodes. The liquid crystal display (LCD) is a non-self luminescent display configured to sandwich liquid crystal layers respectively by pixel electrodes and opposed electrodes.
Research and development of electronic paper made from an LCD is in progress, employing a selectively reflective cholesteric liquid crystal achieving bi-stability by utilizing an interferential reflection of a liquid crystal layer. Here, bi-stability means that a liquid crystal is stable in two different orientation states and a cholesteric liquid crystal is able to retain two stability states, i.e., planer and focal-conic states, for a long time even after the electric field is removed. In the cholesteric liquid crystal, an incident light is reflected in interference during the planer state and the incident light is transmitted during the focal-conic state. Therefore, a contrast of light can be displayed by using the selective reflection of an incident light on the liquid crystal layer in a liquid crystal panel using a cholesteric liquid crystal for the liquid crystal layer, thereby eliminating a necessity of a deflection plate. Note that the cholesteric liquid crystal is also called a chiral nematic liquid crystal.
A cholesteric liquid crystal that reflects a color via the interference of a liquid crystal is overwhelmingly advantageous in a color display of a liquid crystal display and therefore a color display is possible just by layering. Because of this, a liquid display system employing the cholesteric liquid crystal (which is called a "cholesteric liquid crystal system" herein for convenience) is overwhelmingly advantageous as compared to other systems, such as the electrophoresis method, in terms of color display. Other systems require a color filter divisionally colored in three colors for each pixel, causing the brightness to be one third that of the cholesteric liquid crystal. Because of this, the other systems are faced with a big obstacle in the improvement of the brightness for electronic paper.
As described above, while the cholesteric liquid crystal is a strong contender for electronic paper, the biggest problem has been the creation of physical flexibility that is a characteristic of electronic paper.
An LCD element requires a uniform cell with a gap of several micrometers, and a cell is formed by sandwiching a liquid crystal layer several micrometers thick where is between the top and bottom glass substrates. In some common liquid crystal panels of a twisted nematic (TN) type and a super twisted nematic (STN) type, an LCD element using a film substrate (i.e., a plastic liquid crystal) made from a transparent special resin has already been implemented. The plastic liquid crystal can be made thinner and of a lighter weight than a liquid crystal using a glass substrate, and further excels in durability and strength against bending. Therefore, the plastic liquid crystal is freely bendable like a paper and is accordingly suitable for electronic paper.
To accomplish a uniform cell gap in a liquid crystal panel of the TN or STN type, arraying support spacers 5 of a column form in the four corners of a pixel as shown in FIG. 1 has conventionally been proposed.
The liquid crystal panel of the TN type or STN type shown in FIG. 1 has arrayed the support spacers 5 in positions corresponding to grid points of a black matrix 6 on an upper surface substrate 2, wherein a liquid crystal layer is placed between the upper surface substrate 2 and a lower surface substrate 1 that are maintained at an equal distance from each other by the support spacers 5.
The support spacers 5 are featured on the lower surface substrate 1 on which, in addition to the support spacers 5, a seal member 3 for adhering between the upper surface substrate 2 and lower surface substrate 1 is featured. The seal member 3 is an adhesive member formed by printing or such, with the center of one side 3a being featured with an opening part, of which both ends are extended to form an injection hole 4. That is, the configuration is such that a part of the seal member 3 constitutes the injection hole 4 so as to inject a liquid crystal in the area enclosed by the seal member 3.
The top surface of the lower surface substrate 1 and the bottom surface of the upper surface substrate 2 are respectively featured with a plurality of transparent column electrodes (not shown in any drawing herein) and with a plurality of transparent row electrodes (not shown in any drawing herein), perpendicularly crossing the column electrodes. Also, the bottom surface of the upper surface substrate 2 is featured with a black matrix 6. In the LCD element configured, as described above, using a selectively reflective cholesteric liquid crystal in the liquid crystal layer, the part between pixels in which an electrode is not featured in the upper or lower opposed position is continuously lit. Consequently, the black matrix 6 is equipped for improving the contrast of a pixel by preventing it from being continuously lit. As for the method for forming circular or rectangular columns such as the support spacer 5, a forming method using photolithography has been proposed. Further, a liquid crystal display element in which the spacers are in a cross form have proposed.
In the case of a display panel of a selectively reflective cholesteric liquid crystal system, however, the mere accomplishment of a uniform cell gap cannot provide a material with flexibility. The reason for this is that the liquid crystal is a fluid so that the bending of a liquid crystal panel and/or the pressing of the display surface moves the liquid crystal forced by the added force of such action(s), resulting in a change in the display states. In the case of displaying a liquid crystal panel using the TN type or STN type, a change of display states can be reverted back to the original state because it is continuously driven electrically. In the cholesteric liquid crystal possessing a display memory property, however, the display cannot be reverted back to the original until it is re-driven.
An example of a method for featuring support spacers as shown in FIG. 1 for an element panel of the cholesteric liquid crystal is disclosed; a liquid crystal light modulation display element, however, mainly aims at securing uniformity in a cell gap therefore the liquid crystal light modulation display element is not configured to retain a memory property of a display element panel of a cholesteric liquid crystal system when performing operations such as bending a liquid crystal panel and/or pressing the display surface.
In the meantime, while the conventionally known capsule construction of a liquid crystal provides the effect of preventing a change in display states, it is faced with the problem of reduced contrast due to light diffusion noise from the capsule wall and that of increased drive voltage due to the capsule wall, thus resulting in a low possibility of implementing it as a commercial product. Particularly, such a light diffusion noise is a big problem for an LCD panel displaying color having a layered structure of liquid crystal layers for each of the colors red, green and blue (RGB).
With these backgrounds, the biggest problem has been implementing an LCD element having a structure that will not allow a change of display even if the electronic paper is pressed or bent in order to be able to apply a selectively reflective cholesteric liquid crystal to electronic paper.
The present applicant of the present invention has proposed an LCD element of the comprisal shown in FIGS. 2 through 4 as an LCD element of a cholesteric liquid crystal applicable to electronic paper.
FIG. 2 is a diagonal view diagram showing an overall three-dimensional configuration of the LCD element; FIG. 3 is a plain view diagram showing a positional relationship between support columns 15 and a matrix electrode for the LCD element; FIG. 4A is an overall layout pattern of the support columns 15 featured on the lower surface substrate 1; and FIG. 4B is a cross-sectional diagram of the column 15 in the horizontal direction.
The configuration is such that an adhesive support spacer 15 is formed to be a wall face structure body in approximately the form of a cross and gaps (i.e., opening parts) for injecting liquid crystal into the pixels are equipped between adjacent support spacers (i.e., columns) 15 as shown in FIG. 2. Also equipped is a wall face structure body 17 (which is called a wall face seal structure body 17 hereinafter for convenience) on the outer circumference of the surface of the lower surface substrate 1. The support column 15 and wall face seal structure body 17 may be made from the same material, making it possible to form them in the same photolithography process.
In the liquid crystal layer, a portion in which the column electrode (i.e., the signal electrode) 21 and row electrode (i.e., the scan electrode) 23 cross with each other constitutes a pixel 25, with the four corners thereof being equipped with support columns 15, respectively. A seal member 13 is placed on the outside of the seal structure body 17 with a prescribed distance apart therefrom. The necessity of the seal member 13 is arbitrary. While the bottom surface of the upper surface substrate 2 is featured with a black matrix 6, the plurality of support columns 15 is similarly patterned as the black matrix 6 with the layout position in the vertical direction of the pattern almost overlapping with that of the black matrix 6, and therefore it may be eliminated. Further, the support columns 15 are arrayed in the gap parts between the signal electrodes 21 and scan electrodes 23 so as to make the opening ratio of the pixels 25 be the maximum, as shown in FIG. 3.
The present applicant has proposed an LCD element having a configuration in which two kinds of support columns 15a and 15b are placed on the lower surface substrate 1 in the pattern as shown in FIG. 5A by virtue of the aforementioned PCT/JP/2005/4925. The LCD element is configured such that the support column 15a shown in FIG. 5 B and the support column 15b shown in FIG. 5C are placed alternately so as to make adjacent columns between the individual scan electrodes 23 different from each other.
Meanwhile, FIG. 6 is a diagram showing a plain view form of the wall face seal structure member 17 featured on the circumference of the lower surface substrate 1 (i.e., in the inside of the seal member 13) of the LCD element proposed. The wall face seal structure member 17 is of the same material as that of the support column 15 and is therefore formed simultaneously in the same process of forming the support column 15.
A prototype modeling of a cholesteric LCD element of the structure shown in FIGS. 2 through 4, however, has uncovered the problem with the LCD element as described in the following.
A fine and high-resolution display is desired for a display element, requiring a finer and smaller form of the electrode structure and wall face structure body (i.e., support columns 15). An electronic paper not using a light source such as a backlight is a reflective display element, strongly requiring improvement in an opening ratio for increasing the brightness (i.e., luminance) of the display.
In the aforementioned LCD display, a higher resolution was attempted by making the gap between electrodes be 10 to 30 micrometers and by narrowing down the width of the support columns 15 in association with the width of the gap, occurring the problem of the support column 15 coming off in the development process of the photolithography process.
The LCD element of the electronic paper commonly uses a plastic film for the substrate. When this is the case, aplastic surface of the substrate is exposed in the gap part between the electrodes on the substrate. The electrode uses a transparent electrode material such as indium tin oxide (ITO). The wall face structure body placed in the gap part between the electrodes has a low degree of adhesion to the plastic surface. A high-resolution pattern of the wall face structure body where the adhesion area size with the substrate 1 becomes small has a structure allowing easy detachment from the plastic surface. Because of this, it can seem that detachment of the support column 15 has occurred. Furthermore, observation of the phenomenon of the detachment shows that the beginning of the detachment is at the tip part of the branch part of the support column 15 of the cross form.
Meanwhile, the wall face seal structure body 17 as shown in FIG. 6 has conventionally been formed to be a few millimeters thick, in consideration of durability. In order to achieve a high-resolution LCD element, such a pattern must be formed finer and smaller, i.e., at a higher resolution. If the pattern is formed at a higher resolution, however, detachment will occur more remarkably in the development process of a photolithography process for forming the support columns 15. This is attributable to a decreased adhesiveness occurring as the seal structure body 17 of a line form becomes more slender.
The material of the wall face seal structure body 17 exerts the function of making the upper and lower surface substrates adhere with each other as a result of a pressurized heat treatment being applied. A reaction gas is generated in the process that the material becomes adhesive and hardened. Further, it has also been discovered that a large number of air bubbles remain in the adhesion surface between the lower surface substrate 1 and wall face seal structure member 17 due to the gas, causing an adhesion failure, which is a factor of the detachment. Furthermore, the remaining gas flows into the liquid crystal layer of the display part, and thus the remaining gas causes an occurrence of a display failure.


Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a Zero traffic hit synchronization switch over technique in a telecommunication network. The switch over is carried out by switching input reference of the receiver from one or more master (1) to at least one slave (2), wherein said slave (2) becomes new master (2) and said one or more master (1) becomes new slave (1) after switching. Now, the new master (2) locks to the new slave (1) for predetermined time period. Once the predetermined is elapsed, the new master (2) is disconnected from the new slave (1), wherein said new master (2) selects its own network reference clock upon disconnection of the new slave (1). The new slave (1) is locked to the new master (2) to synchronize the switchover in redundant systems.

Many telecommunications switching systems might include plurality of I/O Cards (called line cards) for processing different data from network interfaces like E1, DS1, STM-n, OC-n etc and send this processed data to traffic switch (Called Switch card) to switch data from one network interface to other. In such telecommunication systems the data from Line cards to switch card passes over a backplane which connects various cards in a system. Such telecommunication system is called network element. In a network there is plurality of such network elements. In networks like SONET/SDH, all these network elements need to work in locked mode traceable to PRC (Primary reference clock). For more information on network synchronization in SDH refer ITU-T standard G.813 and G.825. The synchronization from one network element to other is passed over various interfaces like E1, DS1, STM-n, OC-n etc. Each network element extract synchronization clock from one of these predefined interfaces and synchronize the network element (system synchronizer) so that all the outgoing interface from the said network element are in sync.
Further, to avoid single point of failure, it is well know method in telecommunication systems to replicate critical sub systems like power supply, switch card, network element controller (Called chassis controller), system synchronizer etc. Such sub systems are called redundant sub systems, one acting as master and one or more acting as slave sub systems.
In such redundant "system synchronizer" sub systems, the line cards, switch cards needs to switch from master synchronizer to slave synchronizer when master sub system fails or user initiates a switch over. In systems where the traffic switch and system synchronizer sub systems are on separate cards, the switch and Line cards need to switch form master synchronizer to slave synchronizer at the same time to avoid ppm (parts per million) difference in the system clock used by traffic switch and Line cards. This is not easily implementable.
Further it is very common to integrate traffic switch and system synchronizer in a single card to achieve more number of network interfaces in a given network element and to reduce cost. Also it is very common to use slave traffic switch using the timing from the slave system synchronizer and master traffic switch using timing from master system synchronizer. In such systems the above said problem (ppm difference in the system clock used by line cards and traffic switch during system synchronizer switch over) is more severe which lead to temporary or permanent logic errors which in turn lead to traffic hit. To recover from permanent traffic errors, system needs to be restarted. For bigger systems this may lead to traffic down for few seconds. Thus, prior techniques often do not allow the system to continue operating, uninterrupted and maintaining substantial data integrity.
In light of the foregoing discussion, there is a need for a method and device to solve the above mentioned problems.

Method for zero traffic hit synchronization switchover in telecommunication network


An electrophotographic photoreceptor is disclosed. The photoreceptor comprises a conductive support and a photosensitive layer provided thereon. The photosensitive layer contains a carrier generation material and a compound represented by the following formula 1, 2 or 3; ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1, R.sub.11 and R.sub.21 are each a hydrogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, a cycloalkyl group, an alkenyl group, an aryl group, and aryloxy group or a heterocylic group; R.sub.2 to R.sub.9, R.sub.12 to R.sub.19 and R.sub.22 to R.sub.29 are independently a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, a cycloalkyl group, an aryl group or a heterocyclic group, said groups represented by R.sub.1 to R.sub.9, R.sub.11 to R.sub.19 and R.sub.21 to R.sub.29 each may have a substituent selected form a halogen atom, an alkyl group, an alkoxy group, an aryl group, an aryloxy group, a thioether group, an acyl group and sulfonamido group.

In electrophotographic copying machines based on Carlson's method, charging the surface of a photoreceptor is followed by exposure to form an electrostatic latent image, which is developed with a toner, and the resulting visible image is transferred and fixed onto a transferee such as paper. At the same time, the photoreceptor is treated to remove the adhering toner, eliminate the charge and clean the surface to ensure long-term repeated use.
Therefore, the electrophotographic photoreceptor is required to have good physical properties such as printability, wear resistance and moisture resistance after repeated use and resistance to ozone generated upon corona discharge and to ultraviolet rays generated upon exposure (environmental resistance), as well as charging property and electrophotographic properties such as high sensitivity and low dark decay.
Conventional electrophotographic photoreceptors in common use are inorganic photoreceptors having a light-sensitive layer based mainly on an inorganic photoelectroconductive material such as selenium, zinc oxide or cadmium sulfide.
Meantime, the use of various organic photoelectroconductive materials for the light-sensitive layer of electrophotographic photoreceptor has recently been the subject of active R & D activities.
With respect to property requirements, the same applies to organic photoelectroconductive photoreceptors as for inorganic photoreceptors . For example, Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection (hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication) Nos. 71856/1988 and 71857/1988 propose the addition of particular compounds to improve performance.
However, improvements in potential stability and photoreceptor durability after repeated copying still remain unsatisfactory, requiring further improvement.
For example, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 71855/1988, 71857/1988, 52150/1988, 50848/1988, 50849/1988, 50850/1988 and 50851/1988 propose the use of some additives for improving durability. These proposals aim mainly at prevention of photoreceptor performance degradation due to ozone generated upon charging. It should be noted, however, that photoreceptor durability degradation is caused not only by ozonic oxidation but also by repeated migration of electrons and holes in the light-sensitive layer and by NOx and SOx; in addition to ozonic oxidation, chargeability decreases and residual potential rises in repeated use.
A means or additive solving all these problems is demanded.

Electrophotographic photoreceptor having an organic photoelectroconductive light sensitive layer


The invention provides methods for the detection of prion diseases, such as scrapie of sheep, bovine spongiform encephalopathy of cattle, Creutzfeld-Jacob disease of man, whereby aberrant proteins or prion proteins are detected in tissues which can be sampled from live animals.

Prion diseases are a focal point of public interest, recently fuelled by the detection of unexpected cases of CJD in teenagers and in farmers, both in Great Britain, where transmission of prion proteins from cattle to humans via meat consumption is postulated, thus indicating the transmission of BSE to humans, thereby causing CJD.
Several factors enhance public concern:    a) the nature of the causative agent, the so called prion protein, of SEs is unknown or at least controversial,    b) whatever its nature, the agent is highly resistant to procedures that eliminate other infectious agents (e.g., heating);    c) therapeutical interventions are apparently not possible, once symptoms occur;    d) SEs have an extremely long incubation period;    e) practical, sensitive and specific diagnostic methods to be used during the preclinical phase are not available. This all adds to the general feeling of "living with a time-bomb". Not only the possible presence of prion proteins in meat and neat products poses a health threat, also the possible presence of prion proteins in blood and blood products used in transfusion, the presence in pharmaceutical products of animal origin, in cosmetics of animal origin, in sera used for cell culture, in short, in an extensive array of products of animal origin, pose possible threats to human and animal health.
Until now, confirmatory diagnosis of scrapie and also other transmissible spongiform encephalopathies depended on histological examination of the brain, collected during post-mortem examination from animals or humans with clinical signs of the disease. Deposits of an aberrant or altered protein (PrPSc, prion protein) can be detected in the brain of diseased animals. This protein is very insensitive to methods, such as proteinase K digestion, that otherwise denature, lyse or remove normal proteins. The aberrant protein is considered central in the pathogenesis of prion disease. Albeit not infectious in a classical microbiological way due to the absence of specific nucleic acid, the aberrant protein itself is seen as the causal agent, and when a susceptible animal obtains such an aberrant protein in its body (i.e. by ingestion, inoculation or via mutation of the gene of the normal version of the PrP protein, PrPC) a chain reaction may start that ultimately will lead to a clinical manifestation of prion disease. The chain reaction entails the formation of more aberrant proteins formed out of the normal protein present in the animal's body. Normal and aberrant forms will interact in such a way that more aberrant forms are produced. Since the aberrant form is very resistant to proteolysis, deposits of the converted prion protein will be formed, especially in the brain and other parts of the central nervous system (CNS), giving rise to the spongiform encephalopathy and thus clinical manifestations of brain disease.
As SE-infected or affected animals and man lack a disease-specific immune response, identifying individuals before they develop clinical signs (which can take years) has been practically impossible so far. No biochemical, haematological, or gross pathological abnormalities are consistently associated with SEs. The diagnosis of SEs, therefore, depends on the recognition of clinical signs, electro-encephalography or magnetic resonance imaging techniques (both used only in human patients), or the more invasive method of taking brain-biopsies. The final diagnosis is made during autopsy, by histological examination of the brain. The neuro-pathological lesions, consisting of vacuolation (spongiform change) of the grey matter associated with gliosis and neuronal loss, are generally sufficiently characteristic. Further confirmation is possible by demonstrating scrapie associated fibrils (SAFS) in brain extracts, or by demonstrating the presence of its constituent protein, PrPSc. PrPSc is associated with the disease and is an aberrant form of the host encoded prion protein (PrP), the aberrant form is induced by a conformational change. PrPSc can be detected by immunological techniques such as Western blotting or immunohistochemistry. The latter technique is gradually becoming more and more accepted as a reliable diagnostic tool for clinical cases, in both the human and veterinary SE field.
The search for a practical preclinical diagnostic test has been and continues to be a main topic of research. This generally focuses on the detection of infectivity using a bio-assay, or the detection of the disease associated PrPSc. The bio-assay, in spite of being the most sensitive detection method, is far too cumbersome and time-consuming to ever become a practical diagnostic method: test results might become available long after the patient has passed away.
Most researchers have therefore focused on techniques to detect PrPSc. Although not all researchers agree with the statement that PrPSc is the causative agent, most, if not all, agree that the association of the presence of PrPSc and disease has been firmly established. Detection of PrPSc in tissues outside the CNS would allow sampling through less invasive methods than brain biopsies, thereby brightening prospects for a practical preclinical diagnostic technique substantially. Various tissues have been used in an attempt to develop an early detection technique: blood, urine, tissue fibroblasts, and, particularly in the animal field, lymphoid tissue. A short summary of the most promising and striking ones is given here (for an extensive review see Schreuder, 1994a, 1994b ).
Blood: In human SEs, there is the often disputed experimental transmission of CJD from buffy coat samples of human CJD-patients to rodents (Muaramoto et al., 1993), but there is little or no indication that blood and specifically, buffy coat contains any infectivity in animals affected naturally with scrapie, either in clinical or in preclinical stages (Fraser and Dickinson, 1978; Hadlow et al., 1982). Interesting results have recently been reported by Meiner et al. (1992) who detected PrPSc in peripheral tissues, both in cultured fibroblasts and in monocytes, in a group of eight CJD patients carrying the codon 200 mutation and suffering from clinical disease. These authors used both Western blotting and immunocytochemistry techniques. Their publication, however, appears to have had no follow-up and even if these results could be confirmed, the chances for a reliable blood test seem remote, at least in the case of animal SEs and given the number of negative reports from literature (reviewed in Brown, 1995).
Urine: Only once has a claim been made that infectivity in urine was demonstrated in a case of CJD, by transmitting it to mice. The same author was, however, unable to repeat this experiment (Brown, 1995). A totally different approach was reported recently (Brugere et al., 1991). Urine from scrapie affected and control animals was tested in a voltametric method by repeated capillary micro-electrolysis, which allowed discrimination of these two groups. This approach appeared promising, but, its value in detecting preclinical stages of in particular BSE could not be confirmed.
Lymphoid tissue: Lymphoid tissue has apparently not been used in the field of diagnosing human SEs, it has, however, in the veterinary field. The already classical work by Hadlow has shown that in the lymphoid tissue of naturally infected scrapie sheep, infectivity was detectable by bio-assay as early as 10–14 months of age. This was before any infectivity in the CNS was found (Hadlow et al., 1980). Western blotting has revealed the presence of PrPSc in the spleen of scrapie-infected mice (Diringer et al., 1983; Doi et al., 1988), in some cases PrPSc was detected as early as 4 weeks after experimental infection. Pooled lymph nodes from these mice also contained PrPSc. Similarly, also using Western blotting, PrPSc was detected fairly consistently in a group of naturally injected sheep showing clinical signs of scrapie, in samples from the CNS, spleen, and lymph nodes (Ikegami et al., 1991). The value of this Western blotting technique was, at least for clinical cases, confirmed by other groups. The results, however, from a group of experimentally infected sheep that were killed at 16, 18 and 21 months after inoculation but before clinical signs developed, were inconsistent and difficult to evaluate: PrPSc was detected in spleen samples of only 3 out of 12 supposedly positive animals, with lymph node samples only weak or doubtful results, but no positive results were found, illustrating the insensitivity of this technique. Therefore, using Western blotting techniques in pre-clinical diagnoses of TSE give erratic and not reliable results.
The reason for these erratic results can be found in the method to prepare the PrPSc protein (present in the affected tissues) and dissociate or separate it from the normal cellular isoform PrP protein that is also immunoreactive with the same antisera used for the Western blotting.
Ikegami et al. (1991) and Muramatsu et al. (1993) need to prepare the samples for Western blot analysis by various steps. They first enrich the samples by preparing tissue extracts containing fractions relatively enriched for both PrPSc and PrP, after which the need to remove the PrP protein with a proteinase K treatment. This procedure entails at least 10 separate incubation and separation steps in which the absolute amount of the proteins to be detected in the sample is reduced at every step. Although this protocol works very well for the diagnosis of the clinical phase of SE's, where an abundance of PrPSc is present in relation to the normal cellular isoform PrP, in the preclinical phase of TSE, the absolute amount of PrPSc is so small that it usually gets lost during the preparation.
In BSE, the situation differs from that of scrapie: on the one hand, results from mice-transmission experiments using different tissues of BSE affected cattle, may indicate that distribution of the BSE agent tissues outside the CNS is not as extensive as in the case of scrapie in sheep, on the other hand it may be that the mice used in the bio-assays are far less sensitive for BSE than for scrapie. Experimental transmission of BSE to mice only succeeded when brain material was used (Fraser et al., 1988; Fraser et al., 1990); mice inoculated with other materials, including spleen, semen, buffy coat, muscle, bone marrow and placenta remained healthy.
However, all above techniques other than bio-assays have in common that diagnosis of SEs can only be established in the clinical phase of the disease, often at autopsy only. Considering the fact that bio-assays are very slow, due to the very slow progress of the disease in the experimental animal that is used for the bio-assay as such, no methods are currently available that offer immediate diagnoses of SEs in a pre-clinical phase of the disease. Thus, although the average expert in diagnostic test development has currently a wealth of diagnostic techniques available to detect all kinds of proteins in biological samples, using monoclonal or polyclonal antisera in enzyme- or label-linked immunoassays, using techniques with or without enriching methods for the protein under study, no gold-standard is available to give guidance to the development of those diagnostic techniques that would be applicable in the case of pre-clinical diagnosis of prion disease. In other words, methods to establish sophisticated diagnostic tests are currently well known to the general expert in the field; the expert lacks, however, methods to establish the sensitivity and specificity of those sophisticated diagnostic tests due to the lack of a "gold standard".

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for the detection of prion diseases

Stichting Instituut Voor Dierhouderij en Diergezondheid


A cleaning method for removing foreign bodies during the fabrication of semiconductor devices including treating a substrate with a cleaning solution including an oxidizer to form a chemical oxide layer and then removing the chemical oxide layer, thereby removing foreign bodies from a surface of the semiconductor substrate. Accordingly, the foreign bodies can be substantially removed from the surface of the substrate without corroding a metal.

Generally, a semiconductor manufacturing process comprises unit processes such as a thin film process for forming a dielectric layer and a conductive layer on a semiconductor substrate, a photolithographic process for patterning the dielectric layer and conductive layer to a desired pattern, a contact window process for connecting conductive material layers (or patterns) to each other, a chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) process for planarizing surfaces of the material layers, etc.
During the manufacturing processes, undesirable foreign bodies, e.g., small particles, metal impurities and organic contaminants, etc, may remain on the surfaces of material layers, thereby causing problems in subsequent processes or in a manufactured device. For instance, the foreign bodies remaining on an interface between conductive material layers may deteriorate contact resistance characteristics of the manufactured device. In addition, if an upper material layer is formed on a lower material layer with foreign bodies on a surface thereof, the upper material layer may exhibit bad step coverage, an irregular surface, or poor growth. Therefore, a cleaning process is performed to remove foreign bodies on a material layer between the unit processes.
SC1 is a conventional cleaning solution used in semiconductor manufacturing and includes a mixture of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2), ammonium hydroxide (NH4OH) and deionized water. Although SC1 does not cause particular problems to polysilicon, silicon nitride, and oxide, SC1 contains hydrogen peroxide that causes problems to metals used in fabricating semiconductor devices because hydrogen peroxide is a strong oxidizer. For instance, the hydrogen peroxide corrodes various metals used in processes for fabricating semiconductor devices and has a disadvantage of requiring a high temperature for cleaning.
Therefore, a need exists for cleaning solutions that are capable of removing foreign bodies without corroding metals used in semiconductor fabrication, and cleaning methods using the cleaning solutions.

Cleaning solution and cleaning method of a semiconductor device


To provide a connector of which cover is easily opened even when the cover is firmly fixed to a housing due to freezing, and cannot be opened by only biasing force of a spring. A connector 1 includes: a housing 2; a cover 3 pivotally supported by the housing 2, and opening and closing openings 21a, 22a of the housing 2; and a lock 4 pivotally supported by the housing 2 and keeping the cover 3 covering the openings 21a, 22a by hooking on an edge 33 of the cover 3 covering the openings 21a, 22a. The lock 4 is provided with a base 40, a pushing claw 42, and a projection 43. The connector 1 is formed so that the edge 33 of the cover 3 positioned between the pushing claw 42 and the projection 43 is overlapped with a rotation track of the projection 43.

FIG. 8 is a sectional view showing a conventional connector (see PLT1). A connector 201 shown in this figure is mounted on an electric vehicle, and connected to a connector of a charging cable for charging a battery of the electric vehicle.
This connector 210 includes: a housing 202; a cover 203 pivotally supported by the housing 202, and opening and closing an opening of the housing 202; a spring 205 biasing the cover 203 toward a side away from the opening; a lock 204 for keeping the cover 203 closing the opening by hooking on an edge 233 of the cover 203 closing the opening; and a spring 206 biasing the lock 204 toward a side close to the opening.
The cover 203 opens the opening when the connector of the charging cable is inserted into the housing 202, and covers the opening any time other than charging to prevent water or dust from entering the housing 202.
The lock 204 is provided with a base 240 having a shaft hole into which a support shaft is inserted; a pushing claw 242 projected from the base 240, and positioned at an outer surface side of the cover 203 covering the opening; and a projection 243 projected from the base 240, and arranged nearer the shaft hole side than the pushing claw 242. This lock 204 is hooked on an edge 233 in a manner that the edge 233 of the cover 203 covering the opening is positioned between the pushing claw 242 and the projection 243.
Further, a dashed line K in FIGS. 8 and 9 indicates a rotation track of the projection 243. As known from FIGS. 8 and 9, the edge 233 of the cover 203 covering the opening is not overlapped with the rotation track K of the projection 233.
Next, an open/close operation of the cover 203 of the connector 201 will be explained. When closing the opened cover 203, while the lock 204 is rotated toward a side away from the opening of the housing 202 against a biasing force of the spring 206, the cover 203 is rotated to a position covering the opening against a biasing force of the spring 205, and the lock 204 is released to hook the lock 204 on the edge 233 of the cover 203. Further, when opening the closed cover 203, the lock 204 is rotated toward a side away from the opening and the cover 203 against the biasing force of the spring 206. Namely, the lock 204 is released. Then, the cover 203 is automatically opened due to the biasing force of the spring 205.


A system and corresponding method for reading out X-ray information stored in a phosphor layer, includes a read-out device for reading out the X-ray information stored in the phosphor layer, and an input unit integrated in to the read-out device for entering additional information by an operator where the input unit is in the form of a graphical input unit into which the additional information can be entered in graphical form by the operator. Moreover, an allocation device is provided for allocating the entered additional information in graphical form to the X-ray information read out.

One possibility for recording X-ray pictures includes storing the X-ray radiation passing through an object, for example a patient, as a latent picture in a phosphor layer. In order to read out the latent picture, the phosphor layer is irradiated with stimulation light, and so stimulated into emitting emission light. The emission light, the intensity of which corresponds to the picture stored in the phosphor layer, is collected by an optical detector and converted into electrical signals. The electrical signals are further processed as required, and finally made available for analysis, in particular for medical/diagnostic purposes, when they are displayed on an appropriate display unit, such as a monitor or printer.
In known systems and methods, before and/or after an X-ray is taken, additional information on the identity of the patient, the X-ray, the subsequent read-out of the latent picture and/or processing of the X-ray information read out are entered into a data input station, a so-called ID station.
In certain applications, in particular with emergency cases, time delays in entering additional information should be avoided as much as possible. The systems and methods known from the prior art are therefore only suitable to a certain extent for such applications.

System and method for reading out X-ray information stored in a phosphor layer


There is disclosed a polymer-based foam composition comprising a polymer and up to 20 M.-% particles of one or more inorganic particulate materials, based on the total weight of the composition, wherein the one or more inorganic particulate materials comprise less than 20 wt.-% Al, calculated as Al2O3-content. According to one aspect, the one or more inorganic particulate materials comprise phyllosilicates. Also part of the present invention is the use of such polymer-based foam compositions and their method of production.

Increasing oil prices have contributed to increased production costs of plastic resins and finished plastic products. Since plastic resin costs typically amount to 50 to 80% of the total cost of any given plastic product, a reduction of resin amounts in plastics while at the same time maintaining mechanical and other properties of the plastic products is of considerable economic benefit.
One of the main challenges involving polymer materials lies in the development of increasingly thinner and lighter components with improved properties for use in applications such as food packaging or the automotive industry. A possible strategy combines weight reduction by foaming of a base material with the incorporation of reinforcing and/or functional fillers acting as cell nucleants or promoters. One way to decrease the cost of materials incurred in plastics production is to develop a fine-celled or microcellular structure that maintains the overall functions and integrity of a particular product. Polymer foams are known in the art, but they have reduced stiffness and mechanical strength compared to conventional polymer.
Cell nucleating agents such as functional fillers are commonly used in polymeric foaming processes to enhance cell nucleation. With the presence of nucleating agents, heterogeneous nucleation becomes the predominant mode of cell nucleation during polymer foaming processes. Alongside improvements in stiffness and mechanical strength from nucleating agents, which are considerably reduced by the incorporation of a high gas volume fraction, their addition could result in lightweight materials with improved transport properties (thermal and/or electrical conductivities), thermal stability, flame retardancy, opacity, etc.
Blown film extrusion is a common technique to make polymer films. The process generally involves extruding a tube of molten polymer through a die and inflating the tube to several times its initial diameter to form a thin film bubble. This bubble is then collapsed and formed into a film. When blowing polymer foam films, it can be challenging to maintain a good cell structure because there is a tendency to distort the foam cells during the blowing process.
Accordingly, a technique for producing a polymeric foam film and other polymer-based foam compositions having a quality cell structure would be desirable.

Polymer-based foam compositions comprising inorganic particulate fillers


A cylindrical rotor core 10 for a rotating electrical machine having magnetic steel plates integrally connected by laminating in an axial direction, and having magnet insertion holes 24, 26 formed for inserting permanent magnets inside, wherein the magnet insertion holes 24, 26 are formed extending in the axial direction in a core inner section in the vicinity of an outer peripheral surface 11c of the rotor core 10, and with openings formed in axial direction end sections of the rotor core 10, and a plurality of magnetic steel plates, including magnetic steel plates at outermost sides in the axial direction in which the openings are formed, are fixed by welding at inner wall surfaces 42 of the magnet insertion holes 24, 26.

Conventionally, a rotating electrical machine (hereafter referred to appropriately as a motor) has been known as an electric motor for converting electrical energy into mechanical force, or an electrical generator for carrying out the opposite conversion. A motor generally comprises a substantially cylindrical stator having coils respectively wound around a plurality of teeth sections that are formed projecting inwards, and a rotor provided capable of rotation inside the stator.
As the rotor, the structure shown in FIG. 7, for example, is known. This rotor 50 comprises a rotor core 52 forming a cylindrical shape, a rotor shaft 54 passing through a center part of the rotor core 52, end plates 56 arranged in contact with both sides of the rotor core 52 with respect to an axial direction of the rotor shaft 54 (and rotor core 52) shown by the arrow X, and a fixing member 58 for fixing the rotor core 54 and the end plates 56 on the rotor shaft 56.
The rotor core 52 is formed by integrally coupling a large number of magnetic steel plates, that have been respectively formed by punching silicon steel plate etc. into a circular shape, by laminating in an axial direction and fastening. Also, a plurality of magnets are formed inside the rotor core 52, close to the outer periphery, by embedding a plurality of permanent magnets 60 at equal locations in the circumferential direction.
The rotor shaft 54 is formed from a round steel bar, with a flange section 55 protruding outward in a radial direction formed on an outer periphery. This flange section is brought into contact with an end plate 56 when the rotor 50 is assembled and functions as a contact section for setting an axial position of the rotor core 52 on the rotor shaft.
The end plate 60 is constructed using a circular plate having substantially the same outer shape as an axial direction end section of the rotor core 52. It is common practice, in the end plate 60, to use as a metal an aluminium plate that is comparatively lightweight, inexpensive and easy to machine. End plates 56 provided on both sides of the rotor core in the axial direction have a function to hold down the rotor core 52 from both sides, a function to correct imbalance of the rotor core, and a function to prevent the permanent magnets 56 from coming away from the rotor core 52 in the axial direction.
A fixing member 58 includes a fastening section 62 formed in a cylindrical shape, and a pressing section 64 projecting from one end portion of the fastening section 62 in a radial direction. The fixing section 58 is fixed on the rotor shaft 54 by fastening the fastening section 62 to the rotor shaft 54 in a state where the rotor core 52 and two end plates 56 are pressed in the direction of the flange section 55 by the pressing section 64. In this way the rotor core 52 becomes fixed to the rotor shaft 54 together with the end plates 56.
The end plate 60 is formed in a disk shape having substantially the same outer shape as an axial direction end section of the rotor core 52, specifically a magnetic steel sheet constituting the rotor core 52. By forming in this way, it is possible for the end plates 60 to cause a pressing force to act on the entire surface of the magnetic steel plate at both ends of the rotor core 52 in the axial direction.
Differing from this, it is conceivable to lower cost by making the end plates of smaller diameter than the rotor core. In this case, since a pressing force in the axial direction does not act on outer peripheral sections of the magnetic steel plates positioned at both ends in the axial direction of the rotor core, as described above, it becomes an essential point to suppress how much outer peripheral sections of the magnetic steel plates open up with warping deformation towards the outside in the axial direction due to reactive magnetic force between adjacent magnetic steel plates.
For example, Japanese patent Laid-open No. 2003-304670 (patent document 1) discloses a manufacturing method of a rotor for a rotating electrical machine having a step of laminating magnetic steel sheets to form a rotor core, a step of welding a surface of a desired region of the magnetic steel sheets so as to distort the desired region and form a non-magnetic region, a step of embedding the magnets in the rotor core. As an example of forming the non-magnetic region (embodiment 2 in the patent document 1), forming a rotor core 22 and then carrying out welding by laser welding across the entire axial direction length of the rotor core 22 at a surface 30 of a region between neighboring corner sections (bridge sections) of magnetic slots 28 is described and illustrated.

Rotor core for rotating electrical machine, and manufacturing method thereof


A nozzle contact device for guiding and clamping the injection nozzle for an injection unit of an injection molding machine onto an injection mold includes a linear drive for moving the injection unit back and forth, and a guide carriage which can be driven by the linear drive, with the guide carriage being articulated to the injection unit. The invention is characterized in that the axis of rotation of the articulation between the guide carriage and the injection unit extends horizontally, and that this axis of rotation and the injection axis are arranged on planes which are parallel to each other, preferably on the same horizontal plane. Rotary joints or flexural joints can be provided. In addition, the rear part of the injection unit, in particular a screw mechanism can be height-adjustable. As a result, the nozzle contact force is introduced into the injection unit in the absence of a bending moment. No tilting is caused between the injection nozzle and the sprue bush of the injection mold.

The present invention relates, in general, to a nozzle contact device for guiding and clamping of the injection nozzle of an injection unit of an injection molding machine.
Nothing in the following discussion of the state of the art is to be construed as an admission of prior art.
European Patent Application No. EP 0193617 A1 discloses a nozzle contact device having an injection unit mounted to a guide carriage which can be driven by a subjacent screw mechanism as linear drive. The injection unit is articulated by a vertical rotary pin to the guide carriage so as to be able to laterally swing outwardly in relation to the injection axis, for assembly or maintenance works for example. The screw mechanism includes a ball-screw shaft which has one end rotatably but axially immovably supported in bearings which are secured on the fixed platen. The other end of the screw shaft is connected via a coupling with the output shaft of a motor for the rotary drive of the screw shaft. A ball nut rotatably engages the ball-screw shaft and is supported non-rotatably on the support surface for the injection unit. A spring is arranged between the ball nut and a spring plate, which is secured on the support surface for the injection unit. As the ball-screw shaft rotates, the ball nut and thus the injection unit is able to move to and away from the fixed platen. The nozzle contact pressure can be adjusted via the spring constant and the degree of compression that the spring undergoes. This nozzle contact device is disadvantageous because of the asymmetric force introduction into the nozzle tip and thus into the fixed half of the injection mold and from there into the fixed platen. This results in a comparably significant bending moment, causing inclination of the fixed platen and the attached fixed half of the injection mold. As a consequence, the vertical disposition of the nozzle in relation to the sprue bush of the injection mold changes in dependence on the nozzle contact pressure. At higher contact pressures, the nozzle does not snugly fit upon the sprue bush. Thus, the nozzle contact pressure must generally be limited to prevent leakage between the nozzle and the sprue bush.
An attempt to address this problem is disclosed in Japanese Pat. No. JP 9-277306 which describes a nozzle contact device having two ball-screw shafts on a plane with the injection axis on both sides of the injection unit. Such a nozzle contact device has, however, the drawback that both ball nuts must be operated in synchronism to prevent the injection unit from moving out of the injection axis so that a lateral bending moment is ultimately still generated. A further drawback resides in the fact that the assembly and maintenance of the plasticizing cylinder is made difficult as a lateral swing-out motion is not possible via a vertical rotary pin, and a preceding dismantling of at least one ball-screw shaft is required.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,095 B1 discloses a nozzle contact device for an injection molding machine, whereby the injection unit is mounted on a guide carriage which can be driven by a screw mechanism as linear drive and to further articulate the injection unit by means of a vertical rotary pin to the guide carriage so as to be able to swing out laterally in relation to the injection axis. The ball screw and the bearing device of the ball-screw shaft, respectively, are fixed onto the fixed platen via a particularly configured connection piece. This connection piece has a horizontal part which is supported by the machine bed on two guide rails on both sides of the centrally disposed ball-screw shaft. The bearing device for the ball-screw shaft is secured below this horizontal part or forms an integral component of this part. Extending from this horizontal part are two vertical webs in parallel relationship to the platen, at a level of the injection axis, and bolted there to the platen. The bolts are disposed on both sides of the injection axis on one plane therewith. The bolted connection is, however, not tight but loose and in a manner that, on one hand, the bores in the webs have a slightly greater diameter than the bolts, and, on the other hand, sleeves are provided which are disposed between the washers of the bolts and the platen in the bores and are slightly longer than the thickness of the webs in this area so that a small gap is defined between the platen and the connection piece. When the nozzle contact pressure is conducted across the sprue bush and the fixed half of the injection mold into the fixed platen, the connection piece can deform and slightly tilt relative to the platen. As the ball screw-shaft is disposed below the plasticizing cylinder, the latter can be laterally swing via a rotary pin. As an alternative to both webs, the connection piece may also include a vertical piece with a ring, wherein the ring surrounds the nozzle through travel opening in the platen. The ring is loosely secured to the fixed platen in a same manner as the two webs.
This type of nozzle contact device has the drawback that the loose connection between the connection piece and the platen is relatively difficult to implement. The gap between the connection piece and the platen as well as the gap between the sleeve and the bore may not be adjusted too small, on one hand, in order to ensure a sufficient tilting of the connection piece; on the other hand, this gap mass may not be adjusted too great. As it is also desirable to locate the bolted connection of the connection piece as close as possible to the nozzle through travel opening, different connection pieces are to be provided for various diameters of the nozzle through travel opening.
It would therefore be desirable and advantageous to provide an improved nozzle contact device to obviate prior art shortcomings and to avoid the introduction of bending moments into the fixed half of the injection mold or into the injection unit.


A method for generating an unaliased 3-D DMO operator using two dimensional sampling theory to the spatial traverse of the operator as well as to the temporal axis. First a continuous DMO operator is generated along the line segment connecting a source and a receiver directed at an arbitrary azimuth relative to a biaxial output grid. The operator is discretized at spaced-apart sample points along the DMO aperture segment, the spacing being equal to or less than the output grid dimensions. A exponentially tapered sinc filter function is applied to the samples which are then interpolated onto the output grid.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a methodology for preventing dip-induced spatial aliasing of the 3-D Kirchhoff DMO operator applied to data acquired along random trajectory azimuths.
2. Discussion of Related Art
As is well known to geophysicists, a sound source, at or near the surface of the earth, is caused periodically to inject an acoustic wavefield into the earth at each of a plurality of regularly-spaced survey stations. The wavefield radiates in all directions to insonify the subsurface earth formations whence it is reflected back to be received by seismic sensors (receivers) located at designated stations at or near the surface of the earth. The seismic sensors convert the mechanical earth motions, due to the reflected wavefield, to electrical signals. The resulting electrical signals are transmitted over a signal-transmission link of any desired type, to instrumentation, usually digital, where the seismic data signals are archivally stored for later processing. The travel-time lapse between the emission of a wavefield by a source and the reception of the resulting sequence of reflected wavefields by a receiver, is a measure of the depths of the respective earth formations from which the wavefield was reflected.
The seismic survey stations of a 3-D survey are preferably distributed in a regular grid as in FIG. 1 over an area of interest with inter-station grid spacings, dx and dy on the order of 25 meters. The processed seismic data associated with a single receiver are customarily presented as a one-dimensional time scale recording displaying rock layer reflection amplitudes as a function of two-way wavefield travel time. A plurality of seismic traces from a plurality of receivers sequentially distributed along a line of survey such as 10 or 12 may be formatted side-by-side to form an analog model of a cross section of the earth (two-dimensional tomography). Seismic sections from a plurality of intersecting lines such as 10 and 12 of survey distributed over an area of interest, provide three-dimensional tomography.
To provide some definitions, the term "signature" as used herein means the variations in amplitude and phase of an acoustic wavelet (for example, a Ricker wavelet) expressed in the time domain as displayed on a time scale recording. The impulse response means the response of the instrumentation (source, receivers, data-processor, transmission link, earth filter, etc.) to a spike-like Dirac function. To prevent aliasing, the sample interval (spatial or temporal) must be less than half the signal period. DMO (dip moveout) is an imaging operator that offers a stratagem for correcting the reflection-point smear that results from stacking of dipping reflections.
If we can assume constant velocity, the 3-D Kirchhoff DMO operator is simply the 2-D DMO operator constructed along an arbitrary source-receiver trajectory. In FIG. 1. the line segment 10 containing the data, lying between the source, S.sub.1, and the receiver (sensor), R.sub.1, is the DMO aperture along that azimuth. Line 12 represents a DMO aperture lying along some other randomly-chosen azimuth. The grid-line intersections represent the stack output points or bins. The output grid points are characterized by biaxial, preferably but not limited to, orthogonal boundaries of preselected dimensions.
Theoretically, the aperture is a continuum. But in order to stack the impulse responses, the continuous aperture must be discretized in surface coordinates x and y as shown in FIG. 1. Conventionally that is done by stacking discretely sampled points along the aperture at the nearest output grid point. If the source-receiver azimuth is not favorably oriented in relation to the 3-D grid, spatial aliasing of the DMO operator results. In FIG. 2, 14 is an example of a conventionally discretized DMO aperture. Observe the stair-stepping distortion. FIG. 3 is the 2-D spectrum of the DMO aperture shown in FIG. 2 for -.pi.<kx,ky<+.pi., demonstrating the wrap-around aliasing thereof,where kx and ky are the wavenumbers in the x and y coordinates.
Early students of DMO application to 3-D geometries along arbitrary azimuths include Vermeer et al. and Cooper et al. Vermeer, in a paper entitled DMO in arbitrary 3-D acquisition geometries, presented at the 66th meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists (1995) and published as Expanded Abstract paper, pp 1445-1448 showed that for cross spread geometry, the locus of contributing midpoints for a given output point is a hyperbola in the (x,y) plane passing through the output point, provided the data are sampled alias-free. However in actual practice, according to Vermeer, correct, alias-free sampling of the hyperbolas is difficult to achieve. Even in regularly sampled data, the result of 3-D DMO is suboptimal.
The following year, Cooper et al, at the 1996 meeting of the Society of Exploration Geophysicists delivered a paper entitled 3-D DMO for cross spread geometry: a practical approach in multifold-field-data, which is published in the Expanded Abstracts, pp 1483-1486. Cooper follows the pathway marked by Vermeer except that he spatially over-samples the input data prior to "smiling" the data along the source-receiver azimuth. This technique results in improved signal-to-noise ratio but at a very considerable increase in computational costs due to the over sampling and the finer resolution of the "smiles".
There is a need for a practical, computationally efficient method for spatial de-aliasing of the 3-D Kichhoff DMO operator.

Spatial de-aliasing of the 3-D Kirchhoff DMO operator


Compounds of Formula (I): (I); wherein: R1 and R2 either the same or different, are H or linear or branched C1–C6 alkyl; R3=linear or branched C1–C6 alkyl; R4=halogen, and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof are useful as active ingredients in the preparation of medicaments used as ligands of the 5-HT6 and/or 5-HT7 serotoninergic receptors.

Over the past 10 years, molecular cloning has revealed 14 serotonin subtypes that have been divided into 7 subfamilies. The large multiplicity of serotonin receptors has been suggested to be a direct result of the evolutionary age of 5-HT system. With the exception of 5-HT3 receptors which are ligand-gated ion channels, all of receptors are members of the serotonin receptor superfamily belonging to a large class of receptors linked to their effector functions via G-protein. (Gerhardt, C. C. et al., Brain Res. 746:207–219, 1997; Hoyer, D. et al., Neuropharmacol. 36;419–428, 1997).
In 1994, 5-HT6 serotonin receptors were discovered on pig nucleus caudatum and cerebellum membranes. Since then, 5-HT6 serotonin receptors have been observed in the olfactory tubercle, frontal and entorinal cortex, nucleus accumbens, striatum, hippocampus and in the molecular layer of the cerebellum. 5-HT6 serotonin receptors appear to be almost exclusively present in the brain and in 5-HT projection fields and not in the 5-HT neurons of raphe nuclei suggesting that 5-HT6 receptors probably have a postsynaptic role. It has been further discovered that 5-HT6 receptors are members of the G-protein superfamily and they are positively coupled to an adenylate cyclase second messenger system.
Serotonin binding to the 5-HT6 receptors induces an activation of the adenylate cyclase enzyme, with concomitant increase of intracellular cAMP levels. The recent discovery of 5-HT6 serotonin receptors has stimulated research into 5-HT6-selective ligands to demonstrate uniqueness of the new receptor subfamily and its own exact clinical significance. It is actually known that many psychoactive drugs (antidepressants, antipsychotics) exhibit high affinity for 5-HT6, however, without selectivity (Monsma, F. J. et al., Molecular Pharmacology 43.320–327, 1993; Roth, B. L. et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 268, 1403–1410; 1994) and that 5-HT6 receptors might modulate cholinergic neurotransmission in the central nervous system. Furthermore, 5-HT6 receptors displayed on GABA-containing neurons in the striatum and on glutamate-containing neurons of hippocampus have been suggested to mediate endogenous serotonin actions. Thus, ligands for 5-HT6 receptors might be useful to treat: motor disorders, depression, anxiety, mood disorders, memory disorders, Huntington's disease, Parkinson's disease and Alzheimer's disease. (Branchek, T. A. and Blackburn, T. P., Annu. Rev. Pharm. Toxicol. 40: 319–34, 2000).
5-HT7 serotonin receptors were identified in several rodent and human tissues. In rat brain, 5-HT7 receptors appear with particularly high distribution in hypothalamus, thalamus and hippocampus, while lower 5-HT7 receptor RNAm levels were found in the cerebral cortex, striatum, olfactory bulb and olfactory tubercle. The presence of 5-HT7 receptor RNAm is not limited to the brain, it has also been found in peripheral tissues (spleen, stomach, intestine, heart, coronary artery). 5-HT7 receptors are functionally coupled to adenylate cyclase enzymatic system. Pharmacological in vitro evidences demonstrate increase of endocellular cAMP levels following 5-HT7 receptor stimulation. As with 5-HT6 serotonin receptors, the clinical value of 5-HT7 receptors is not currently known (Sleight, A. J., Boess, F. G., Bourson, A., Sibley, D. R., Monsma, F. J., 1997 DN&P 10 (4):214–224). It has been suggested that 5-HT7 receptors might be involved in the mechanisms regulating blood pressure. 5-HT7 receptors' high distribution on the blood vessels and pharmacological data demonstrating vasodilatation following serotonin binding to the 5-HT7 receptors suggest utilization of 5-HT7 ligands as hypotensive agents (Martin, G. R. and Wilson, R., (1995) British J. Pharmacol. 114: 383P). Furthermore, it was previously demonstrated that 5-HT7 receptors, abundantly present in the hypothalamus, are implicated in the control of circadian rhythm of spontanieus neuronal electrical activity in the central nervous system (Lowenberg, T. N. et al., Neuron (1993) 11:449–58).
Thus, 5-HT7 ligands may be modulator agents of many processes regulated by circadian rhythm particularly sleep cycle whose desynchronization induces sleep disorders. Other evidences demonstrate that 5-HT7 receptors might be involved in the pathogenesis and treatment of depression. The observation that, 5-HT7 receptor binding sites in rat hypothalamus determine a down-regulation following chronic treatment with antidepressant Fluoxetine, has supported this therapeutic indication (Sleight, A. J. et al., Mol. Pharm. (1996), 47: 99–103). The strict classical notions of neurotransmitter disregulation hypothesis that associate depression with a deficiency of available neurotrasmitter or subresponsivity of mainly noradrenergic and/or serotoninergic receptor systems have recently been expanded to include disturbances in biological rhythm regulation. Impairment of the efficiency of rhythm maintenance or rhythm desynchronization has been suggested by many to lead to mental fatigue and depression (Goodwin F. K., Wirz-Justice A., Wehr T. A., 1982. It Costa Ragni (eds.), Typical and atypical antidepressant: Clinical pratical).
Although melatonin is generally thought to be a primary modulator of circadian functions, serotonin also plays a critical role, particularly acting on 5-HT1a, 5-HT1b, 5-HT2a, 5-HT7 subtypes in the soprachiasmatic nucleus of the hypothalamus (Van Den Pol, A. N., Dudek, F. E., (1993) Neurosciensce 56:793–811; Mullins, U. L., et al., (1999): Neuropsychopharmacology 21, (3) 352–367).
Contemporary localization of 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 receptor sites, although with different density of distribution, in brain areas (hippocampus, frontal cortex) implicated functionally in the attention and learning processes and that same ability on the part of both receptors to increase endocellular cAMP levels following their stimulation have suggested that agents binding both 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 receptor might modulate neuronal plasticity mechanism underlying the acquisition and subsequently the learning processes of an individual.
Ligands with contemporary affinity for 5-HT6 and 5-HT7 receptors might have a therapeutic use in conditions requiring an improvement in cognitive processes (Menese, A., (1999) Neurosci. Biobehav. Rev., 23 (8):1111–25).
Probable use of 5-HT7-ligands in treatment of irritable bowel disease has been suggested by recent evidence. Gastric hypomotility is thought to be one of the mechanisms underlying pathophysiological mechanism of this syndrome and remains an attractive therapeutic target. Actually a new generation of prokinetics includes 5-HT4 receptor ligands (tegaserod, prucalopride). Preliminary evidence arouses interest in research of 5-HT7 receptor ligands to be directed toward the above therapeutic target (De Ponti, F., Tonini, M., (2001) Drugs, 61 (3):317–332). In fact, the observation that 5-HT7 receptors mediate smooth muscle relaxation and 5-HT7 binding sites localization on intestine tissue should suggest therapeutic use of 5-HT7 receptor ligands.
At the present, compounds with affinity for the 5-HT6 receptor have been identified belonging to different chemical classes. For example, EP 0 815 861 and EP 0 930 302, Hoffmann-La Roche, describe sulphonamides and benzosulphonate derivatives as selective ligands for the above-mentioned receptors; WO 98/27058, SmithKline Beecham, describe carboxyamide indole derivatives as 5-HT6 receptor antagonists, whilst WO 98/27081 and WO 99/42465, SmithKline Beecham, describe, amongst others, sulphonamide derivatives, as does U.S. Pat. No. 6,187,805, Merck Sharp and Dohme; WO 00/12623, SmithKline Beecham, describes sulphonate and sulphonamidederivatives: WO 00/37452, Merck Patent, describes sulphonyloxazolylamines: WO 00/63203 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,133,287, Allelix Biopharmaceutical Inc., describe piperidinoindoles as acting as 5-HT6 antagonists.
Tryptamine derivatives are well-known for several pharmacological uses. WO 97/06140 describes their use for the treatment of pathologies correlated with melatonin disturbances; WO 97/46525 and WO 98/23587 as selective ligands of the 5-HT1D receptor and their use in the treatment of migraine; WO 97/48680 for the treatment of vasospasms; WO 98/06695 for dermatological treatments; WO 98/47868 as combined activity antagonists of various subtypes of the 5-HT1 receptor; WO 00/11619 as selective antagonists of the 5-HT2A receptor; WO 99/51576 for the treatment of nervous disorders associated with the serotoninergic system; WO 99/54301 as antibacteric agents; WO 00/37441 for the treatment of cardiovascular, ischaemic, parasitic, inflammatory, neurodegenerative diseases, myopathy and sickle-cell anemia; WO 00/78716 and WO 00/44721 as active agents on the adrenergic system.
Other tryptamine derivatives are noted for their activity against serotoninergic receptors different from 5-HT6, for example WO 95/14004, WO 95/24200, WO 96/26922, WO 96/26923, WO 97/13512, WO 99/51576, EP 1023898 and WO 00/52002.
Regarding compounds with specific activity against the 5-HT6 receptor, WO 99/47516, Slassi et. al. describes 1-acyl or 1-sulphonylindole substituted at position 3 with an alkylpyrrolidine with affinity for the 5-HT6 receptor. WO 99/65906, Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc. discloses bicyclic piperidines and piperazines linked to an indole residue as inhibitors of the 5-HT6 receptor.
Patent application WO 00/34242, Virginia Commonwealth University, discloses serotonin derivatives with increased affinity and selectivity for the 5-HT6 receptor. Patent application WO 00/63203, Allelix Biopharmaceuticals Inc., discloses 1-acyl or 1-sulphonylindoles, substituted at position 3 with a piperidine, having affinity for the 5-HT6 receptor.
As for the 5-HT7 receptor, WO 00/37082, Smithkline Beecham, discloses the use of 5-HT7 receptor antagonists described in WO 97/29097, WO 98/48681 and WO 97/49695 for the treatment of neuronal degenerations resulting from ischemic events; EP 0 998 923, BASF, discloses the use of 5-HT7 receptor antagonists in the prevention of ischemias, in particular infarction; WO 99/54303 and WO 98/00400, Meiji, discloses tetrahydrobenzindoles for the treatment of mental and circulatory disorders.

5-halo-tryptamine derivatives used as ligands on the 5-HT

Sigma-Tau Industrie Farmaceutiche Riunite S.p.A.


An animal toy containing food having a first portion with food delivery means integrated therein adapted to securely house solid food treats, including a nutritional pet supplement, to be removed by the animal during play or through chewing action, and a second side with a plurality of gum stimulation teeth integrated within and projecting therefrom that act to massage the gums of the animal. Food delivery means may be provided as a plurality of cavities integrated within the first portion (and optionally, the second portion), preferably having a grooved or threaded interior for securely holding food pieces securely therein. Alternatively, the food delivery means is provided as a food portion composing the first portion. A pet supplement may be utilized, including joint preserving and joint rebuilding compositions comprising chicken collagen type II, glucosamine hydrochloride and chondroitin sulfate, a vitamin composition comprising vitamins C, D and K, a mineral composition comprising calcium, magnesium, zinc, copper, manganese and boron, a herbal anti-oxidant cofactor blend comprising citrus bioflavonoids, red grapes anthocyanins, turmeric rhizome, boswellia resin and fennel seed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an animal toy containing solid food; and more particularly, to an animal toy having a first portion with food delivery means integrated therein adapted to securely house solid food treats, including a nutritional pet supplement, to be removed by the animal during play or through chewing action, and a second side with a plurality of gum stimulation teeth integrated within and projecting therefrom that act to massage the gums of the animal.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Animal/pet chew toys are known in the art. Various chew toys are composed of a sturdy material, such as a polymer, and are presented for chewing by an animal or pet. Several of these toys fail to provide delivery of a food substance, but are for chewing alone. Even where toys are provided that deliver a food substance to the animal during chewing or play, these toys are not adapted to house food separately from their construct, but rather are composed of a food material so they are eventually chewed up and consumed. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 5,419,283 to Leo discloses a chew toy composed of a starch material and a polymeric material that is edible and degradable; and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 20030087008 to Axelrod discloses a molded animal chew toy with realistic appearance preferably made from ingredients that can be ingested by the animal.
Even where animal chew toys have been provided that contain or house replenish-able food or treats therein, these chew toys generally have a rubber or polymeric structure appointed with a hollow interior cavity for housing food/scented materials. For example: U.S. Pat. No. 5,595,142 to Chill discloses a therapeutic animal toy comprised of a hollow elongate body with outer surface ridges running parallel to the axis of the elongate body, inner surface circular ridges to effect a purchase of food held therein; U.S. Pat. No. 5,865,146 to Markham discloses a pet toy having an elongated hollow body extending along a longitudinal axis with first and second spaced bulbous sections; U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,096 to Miller discloses a pet chew toy having an elongated body member with a hollow cavity along its axis appointed to receive a screw rod with a hard chewable food product; U.S. Pat. No. 6,237,538 to Tsengas discloses a pet ball toy feeder which is formed from two (2) hollow semi-spherical halves; U.S. Pat. No. 7,146,934 to Staley discloses a synthetic pet chew toy and scent-training aid, formed with a hollow interior and with a plurality of small holes opening in the top and/or sides of the toy to form channels for scent dispersal to the ambient air; U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 20080083378 to Pearce discloses a pet toy that may be filled with food or scented material to attract and maintain the animal's interest while the pet tries to extract the material contained inside; and U.S. Pat. App. Pub. No. 20060112898 to Fjelstad et al. discloses an interactive pet toy, food delivery and training system wherein a toy object moves furtively in and out of a recess of an assembly and which when captured provides the pet an edible treat.
Further, pet and human supplements are known in the art. They comprise vitamins and minerals, various herbal products and, more recently, products that are designed to improve joint health and relieve arthritis pain. Studies have shown that collagen is a complex structural protein, which provides strength and flexibility to skin, hair and nails. Collagen is an essential and major component of muscles, tendons, cartilage, ligaments, joints and blood vessels in the human or pet body. There are three main types of collagen: I, II and III. Various agents for treatment of arthroses, and process for preparing compounds have been provided in the art, as well as pet food or nutrient formulations. See: U.S. Pat. No. 4,804,745 to Koepff et al; U.S. Pat. No. 5,162,506 to Hadden; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,364,845 and 5,587,363 to Henderson; U.S. Pat. No. 5,399,347 to Trentham et al.; "The Effective Treatment Of Rheumatoid Arthritis (Ra) With Water-Soluble Whole Chick Collagen Type Ii Or Biologically Active Peptides Derived Therefrom", Science 261:1727-1729, 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 6,156,355 to Shields, Jr., et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,428,817 to Collin; U.S. Pat. No. 6,524,609 to Myers; U.S. Pat. No. 6,596,303 to Bui et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 6,780,841 to Ishaq; and U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,841 to Rapisarda.
Notwithstanding the efforts of prior art workers to provide an animal/pet chew toy, there a is a need in the art for an animal/pet chew toy that includes gum stimulation projections or teeth integrated therein for massaging the animals gums and protecting the animals teeth from decay. Further, there is a need in the art to provide an animal pet chew toy that contains a food supplement or treat therein that is delivered to the animal during manipulation of the toy. Also, there is a need in the art for an animal pet chew toy that delivers a nutritional supplement to the animal that meets nutritional needs while at the same time protects and/or rebuilds joint tissue. Since the tissue building process requires both collagen generating compositions as well as trace minerals and vitamins at the same time, taking these vitamin supplements and joint building supplements separately does not provide this joint building and/or protecting functionality. Also there is a need for a pet toy that delivers a nutritional supplement that facilitates maintenance of the anti-oxidant level in the pet's blood stream to reduce degeneration of joint tissue by free radical associated damage.


A closure for a container having a closure lower member and a screw cap in which the closure lower member is connectable with a base member to the container aperture. The closure lower member has a pouring spout connected to the base member. The screw cap has a cap bottom and a cap side wall with an internal thread adapted to be screwed onto and unscrewed from the pouring spout which has an external thread. The cap side wall of the screw cap in a region of its free end face terminates in at least one latching lug, the latching lugs of the screw cap co-operating with latching projections of the closure lower member to form a latch connection. In a screwing on direction the closure lower member has a shallow rising flank which merges into a steep latching flank and also forms the latching connection with the latching lugs, the connection being reversible by displacement of the latching lugs in relation to the latching projections. A child protection means can easily be canceled because the closure lower member has an annular flange molded on, which projects towards the cap side wall, overlapping the latching lugs at least partly, and the annular flange carries latching projections on the inside which faces the latching lugs.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a closure for a container with a closure lower member and a screw cap in which the closure lower member is connectable by a base member to the container aperture and includes a pouring spout which is connected to the base member. The screw cap has a cap bottom and a cap side wall with an internal thread that is adapted to be screwed onto and unscrewed from the pouring spout which has an external thread. The cap side wall of the screw cap in the region of its free end face terminates in at least one latching lug, the latching lugs of the screw cap co-operating with latching projections of the closure member to form a latch connection. In a screwing on direction a shallowly rising flank merges into a steep latching flank and forms the latching connection with the latching lugs, the connection being reversible by displacement of the latching lugs relative to the latching projections.
2. Description of Prior Art
A conventional closure is known from German Patent Reference DE 42 09 784 A1. In this known closure the latching connection is formed between the screw cap and the bellows. For that purpose the end face of the cap walls has circumferential latching recesses into which latching projections molded onto the bellows of the closure lower member engage. In order to undo the latching connection the bellows must be compressed so that the latching projections are radially deflected inwardly and are disengaged from the latching rebates in the cap side wall. This deflection of the bellows requires considerable application of force, particularly in the case of a strong closure for large containers.
A need exists for latching connections in a closure of the type referred to above, that can be opened easily without, however, losing its function as a child protection means.

Safety closure for a container comprising a closure lower member and a screw cap