The present invention is a device that provides a trouble free method to invert glove appendages expeditiously; especially but not exclusively, industrial, heavy duty, lined, rubber gloves; to facilitate efficient cleaning and subsequent rapid drying of the lining, which consists of a base that has an opening and a pushrod that fits into the opening in the base to be securely mounted therein, wherein the exposed concave tip of the pushrod engages the tip of the glove appendage and insures continuous engagement thereof while the glove is peeled down over the pushrod, thereby accomplishing complete inversion of the glove appendage further providing means to promote and maintain healthy morbidity free hands.

The inception of this invention arose from my personal experience in the Pearl and Construction industry in Japan. I spent too much of my break time turning rubber gloves inside out by hand to clean and dry them. I discontinued this practice because it was too frustrating and time consuming, and as a result, I began to have serious health problems with my hands including redness, itching, chaffing, etc. not to mention the stress accompanying such discomfort I searched for a device to invert rubber gloves at numerous outlets that cater to industries utilizing industrial, heavy duty, lined, rubber gloves; but to no avail.
1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a device that eliminates maladies of the hands typically associated with the use of substantially thick gloves. This invention is used for inverting glove appendages. Well suited but not limited to industrial, heavy duty, lined, rubber gloves it can also be applied to any thick material glove. Moreover, this invention facilitates the expeditious inversion and subsequent efficient cleaning and/or rapid drying of the lining of the gloves, thereby providing a means to maintain healthy morbidity free hands.
Perspiration soaked, lined rubber gloves are extremely difficult and frustrating and time consuming to invert by hand for efficient cleaning and/or rapid drying of the lining. Also the bacteria and fungus that thrive and multiply in moist, unsanitary rubber gloves precipitates a plethora of health complications ranging from mere discomfort due to itching, chaffing, sore hands, to more severe ailments including fungal infections associated with improper sanitation and desiccation; not to mention the stress, the reduction in concentration, diminished efficiency and lower productivity associated thereof.
2. Prior Art
I would like to urge the reader to consider this as a brand new field per se. The present invention deals with a specific field of inversion that is notably absent in development. Most prior art in the field of inversion deals with tools to assist in the manufacture of products. Others deal with oblong finished products such as belts, ties, stockings etc. The present invention deals with gloves as finished products, the purpose of which is to provide a means to maintain healthy morbidity free hands for the users of a variety of thick material gloves.
Fabric inversion of all kinds have employed the use of numerous and varied tools. U.S. Pat. No. 4,749,111 by Hardwick appears similar in structure to the present invention, however there are significant differences, especially the technique employed to invert a fabric and the field of application is dissimilar.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,572 to Smith is quite similar to the present invention on the surface. Even though it performs the same function as the present invention, it consists of 3 components and requires twice as many steps and requires at least twice as much time to perform the function of inverting glove appendages. Moreover it incurs an added expense to manufacture an additional component. Therefore the need exists for an improvement in the field that costs less to manufacture and is more efficient and requires less time to perform the function of inverting glove appendages. Also the present invention is lighter and more compact.
Furthermore there are significant improvements the present invention provides. The new technology of the present invention is practically unnoticeable. Precisely, the configured tip of the guide provides a means to insure continuous engagement with the tip of the glove appendages, thereby increasing efficiency and reducing the time necessary to perform the function of inverting glove appendages.
Moreover, the technique is dissimilar. U.S. Pat. No. 6,568,572 employs a method of insertion: insert the tube into the glove appendage socket; subsequently insert the pushrod into the tube to invert the appendage. Whereas the present invention utilizes a technology based upon a guiding principal, wherein the configuration of the tip of the guide provides a means to insure continuous engagement of the tip of the glove appendage thereby resulting in complete inversion by virtue of a definitive guidance procedure.


Cardiac ventricular assist apparatus adapted to be placed by insertion through an incision in the wall of the upper abdomen below the rib cage and an incision in the inferior aspect of the pericardium proximate the heart apex comprises a flexible bladder assembly that adapted to be passed through the incision in the pericardium to a position between the pericardial sac and the epicardium. The bladder assembly is of a size such and shape such as to be engageable with a substantial portion of the outer surface of the left ventricle of a heart. The bladder assembly includes a distensible pumping bladder that is attached to a tube through which a gas can be introduced into it to compress the left ventricle and withdrawn from it to allow the ventricle to fill and a non-distensible retaining bladder, which is substantially coextensive with the pumping bladder and receives a packed body of particulate material.

Several forms of heart failure can be treated by ventricular assistance, such as by closed chest compression (an aspect of cardiopulmonary resuscitation), manual heart message, or mechanical ventricular assistance. Closed chest compression, coupled with medication, must be stopped and replaced by some other treatment if effective rhythm and adequate blood flow are not restored expeditiously. Similarly, while manual heart message can be performed for an indefinite period, it is impractical to do so. Manual message also requires a thoracotomy, with its own morbidity, high cost, and potential complications.
Direct mechanical ventricular assistance has been the subject of considerable research for many years. The requirements for highly specialized equipment and major surgery for implantation has limited widespread applicability, especially in emergency situations.
Maintenance of blood circulation by a failing heart can also be provided by removing blood from the ventricles and pumping it back to the aorta. Indirect mechanical ventricular assistance, like direct assistance, requires extensive surgery. It also involves direct contact between the blood and the apparatus. Blood can clot in areas of the apparatus where flow rates are low, and clots can break away and cause a stroke.
Direct mechanical ventricular assist devices have been described in the medical literature and in patents, the following being exemplary:
U.S. Pat. No. 2,826,193 (Vineberg, 1958) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,034,501 (Hewson, 1962) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,233,607 (Bolie, 1966) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,371,662 (Heid et al., 1968) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,455,298 (Anstadt, 1969) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 3,496,932 (Prisk et al., 1970) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,048,990 (Goetz, 1977) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 4,690,134 (Snyders, 1987) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,131,905 (Goofers, 1992) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,381 (Snyders, 1992) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,256,132 (Snyders, 1993) PA1 U.S. Pat. No. 5,385,528 (Wille, 1995). PA1 An introducer tube and an inserter wire adapted to be passed through the introducer tube and having a distal end attached to the distal edge of the bladder assembly and having a length such that it is adapted to extend out of the proximal end of the introducer tube for manipulation to move the bladder through the incision in the pericardium and into position between the epicardium and the pericardium; PA1 A light-transmitting cable received through the introducer tube for conducting light through the introducer tube to illuminate a portion of the pericardium; PA1 An image receptor and cable received through the introducer tube for transmitting an image of the illuminated portion of the pericardium through the introducer tube to its proximal end. PA1 making an incision in the upper abdomen of a cardiac patient inferior to the xiphoid process and medial to the border of the left coastal arch; PA1 inserting an introducer tube through the abdominal incision; PA1 guiding the introducer tube to a position proximate to the medial aspect of the heart apex; PA1 illuminating a portion of the pericardium proximate to the medial aspect of the heart apex and forming on a monitor an image of said portion; PA1 making an incision in said portion of the pericardium; PA1 providing in collapsed condition a bladder assembly of the type described above; PA1 moving the collapsed bladder assembly through the pericardial incision and guiding it along the heart to a predetermined position, such as by manipulation of an inserter wire; PA1 deploying the collapsed bladder assembly to engage it with the left ventricle; PA1 introducing a fluid material, such as a particulate material entrained in a gas, into the second bladder through the second tube so as to render the second bladder semi-rigid; and PA1 repeatedly pumping a gas under pressure into the first bladder and withdrawing the gas from the first bladder to compress and release the left ventricle.
"First Successful Bridge to Cardiac Transplantation Using Direct Mechanical Ventricular Actuation," J. E. Lowe et al., Ann Thorac Surg 1991; 52:1237-45
"Direct Mechanical Ventricular Actuation: A Review," M. P. Anstadt et al., Resuscitation, 1991; 21:7-23
"The Concept of Direct Mechanical Ventricular Assistance in the Treatment of Left-Ventricular Failure," P. Feindt et al., Thorac. cardiovasc. Surgeon 43 (1995:1-12
Most of the devices proposed heretofore for direct mechanical ventricular actuation are implaced by performing a thoracotomy, opening a window in the pericardium, and placing a cup-like squeezing element over the ventricles. The squeezing element typically has a rigid or semi-rigid outer cup and two chambers, one for each ventricle, formed by panels of an extensible material attached and sealed to the outer cup. The chambers are periodically inflated with a gas under pressure supplied through a tube leading from a mechanical pump to squeeze the ventricles and discharge blood (systole) and then deflated by evacuation by the mechanical pump to draw blood from the atria (diastole).
The squeezing action of the chambers requires that the outer non-extensible cup-like wall member of the squeezing device sustain the reaction loads of the pressure applied to the heart. That means, in turn, that the element must be sized and shaped to fit the heart snugly. Inasmuch as the exact size of the patient's heart is often not known in advance, it is necessary to have a range of sizes of squeezing elements on hand for selection and use after access to the heart has been obtained. While the need to maintain an inventory of squeezing elements and for measuring the heart and selecting an element of the right size is by no means an insurmountable impediment to clinical use of such devices, it is an inconvenience and delays the operative procedure. In an emergency situation, such as heart arrest during surgery, time is critical. The sooner that normal or near normal blood flow can be restored, the lower is the probability of irreversible damage to the patient due to temporary loss of cardiac function.
Because the ventricular portion of the heart is roughly conical, the squeezing action of the squeezing element against the ventricles tends to push the element away from the heart. Thus, it is necessary to hold the element in place. Anstadt et al. (referred to above) provide retention of the element by applying a vacuum within the squeezing element. Snyders (also referred to above) provides retention by suturing the squeezing element to the pericardium.
In addition to the requirement for highly invasive surgery for implanting the device and the need for closing the pericardium window and the thoracotomy wound if the device is to be left in place for a significant period of time, which will almost always be the case, reoperation is required to remove it. Both the operation to implant the assist device and the operation, if required, to remove it place the patient at additional risk beyond the heart condition that called for its use. Even if thoracotomy is not required for removal of the device, as proposed by Goetz (referred to above), surgical implantation of previously known mechanical ventricular assist devices requires relatively complicated surgery that offers little chance for success unless performed by a skilled surgical team in an operating room.
Snyder's '132 and Wilk '528 propose implanting a heart assist device endoscopically, i.e., by inserting the device through an introducer tube that passes through a small incision in the pericardium. The incision is made with the aid of a light source and video imaging equipment for locating the site of the incision and a suitable cutting instrument for making the incision. The assist devices, like those described and shown in other references, are cup-like or cuff-like and thus surround both ventricles and squeeze both ventricles.
The present inventor believes that squeezing both ventricles is inadvisable and may actually be deleterious. That belief is supported by the results of research reported by P. Feindt et al. (cited above).


The imprint apparatus of the present invention molds an uncured resin on a substrate using a mold to form a resin pattern on the substrate. The apparatus includes a measuring device configured to project a light onto the mold, to receive a light scattered by the mold, and to measure the scattered light; and a controller. The controller is configured to store a reference signal, to cause the measuring device to measure the mold to obtain a measurement signal, and to obtain an index indicating a discrepancy between the measurement signal and the reference signal.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an imprint apparatus that molds an uncured resin on a substrate using a mold to form a resin pattern on the substrate, and an article manufacturing method using the same.
Description of the Related Art
As the demand for microfabrication of semiconductor devices increases, not only a conventional photolithography technique but also a microfabrication technique in which an uncured resin on a substrate is molded by a mold to thereby form a resin pattern on the substrate have attracted attention. This technique is also referred to as an "imprint technique", by which a fine structure with dimensions of a few nanometers can be formed on the substrate. One example of imprint techniques includes a photo-curing method. An imprint apparatus employing the photo-curing method firstly applies an ultraviolet curable resin (imprint resin, photocurable resin) to the shot area (imprint area) on the substrate (wafer). Next, the resin (uncured resin) is molded by a mold. After the ultraviolet curable resin is irradiated with ultraviolet light for curing, the cured resin is released from the mold, whereby a resin pattern is formed on the substrate.
On the other hand, since the imprint apparatus brings the mold into contact with the substrate, the cured resin may be released from the substrate to thereby attach to the mold, or a defect may occur in the mold due to being pulled by the cured resin. When a foreign matter is attached to the mold or a defect is present on the mold, a desired resin pattern cannot be formed, which is undesirable in terms of production yield. Accordingly, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-523492 discloses a method for determining a mold abnormality by measuring the characteristics of a film formed on a substrate.
However, although the method disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2007-523492 measures the characteristics of a film formed on a substrate, an abnormality in the characteristics of a film may also occur due to a foreign matter on a substrate or a defect in a mold. Consequently, the method may determine that the mold has an abnormality even if no abnormality actually exists in the mold. Therefore, even if no abnormality actually exists in the mold, the mold may need to be removed from the imprint apparatus to perform an inspection and washing of the removed mold.

Imprint apparatus and article manufacturing method


A method and system for reading various codes, such as codes imprinted on an item, includes a first and a second code reader that each scan the code on the item to read the code. The data obtained by the first and the second code reader is merged to reconstruct the code on said item. The position of the code readers may be adjusted such that the maximum reading efficiency of said code by each code reader occurs at different points of the scanned code. The method and system may be employed with different types of codes including various forms of bar codes.

Paper handling systems frequently include bar code recognition systems. These systems are often employed in mail processing equipment, such as sorters or inserters.
Posts and private carriers frequently provide discounts to mailers who presort mail. The discounts vary from country to country and are often dependent on the level of presort. In general, the more specifically the mail has been sorted in relation to delivery by the post or carrier, the greater the discount. In the United States, mail sorting equipment reduces the cost of sorting mail, which may be from $45 per thousand pieces when manually sorted, to $3 per thousand pieces when automatically sorted. Furthermore, when mailers presort mail before presentation to the United States Postal Service (USPS), the postal discounts from the full postal charge for first class mail presently provided to the mailer by USPS can be as high as 9.5 cents per mail piece.
These mail sortations implemented by the mailer, by the posts or the private carriers, often utilize a multiple pass radix sort algorithm. The United States National Institute of Standards and Technology defines a radix sort as a multiple pass distribution sort algorithm that distributes each item to a bucket according to part of the item's key, beginning with the least significant part of the key. After each pass, items are collected from the buckets, keeping the items in order, then redistributed according to the next most significant part of the key. In a mailing system radix-type sortation, the key can be the delivery point sequence number which may be accessed with reference to a ZIP code, and the bucket can be the destination sortation bin. Use of a radix sort allows mail pieces to be sorted into delivery point sequence (carrier walk sequence) and eliminates the need for the delivery person to sort the mail before delivery. However, in implementing multiple sortations of this type, to achieve a delivery point sequence requires that the ordering or layering of mail from prior sortations be maintained when mail pieces from each of the sortation bins are combined for the next sortation pass.
In processing mail, the systems may read the bar codes applied to the face of the envelope to determine the destination sortation bin for the mail piece during a particular sortation pass. In the United States, USPS POSTal Numeric Encoding Technique (POSTNET) bar codes are printed on the face of the envelope and are read by the bar code reading system. The POSTNET specifications are documented in the USPS Domestic Mail Manual issue 58 in section C840 (bar coding standards for letters and flats) and in USPS Publication 25 (Designing letter mail) in chapter 4. The POSTNET bar code encodes the destination ZIP code (postal code) on the face of the mail piece and is employed for the sortation process. A problem occurs when the imprinted postal code cannot be properly read such as from a POSTNET or other bar code by the sortation equipment. In such a case, the mail piece is outsorted from the sortation run to a reject bin for manual processing. This is a very expensive cost in processing mail. It is particularly problematic because of the requirement for maintaining the careful layering of the mail in for multipass sequence sorts.
This required layering for multipass sequencing is not maintained with respect to the outsorted mail piece. Accordingly, the outsorted mail piece loses its place in the sortation process and must be manually placed in the appropriate sequence if multipass sortation sequencing is to be maintained. The problem may be further compounded since typically a very small time window exists before the next batch of mail is processed for a different delivery area. These problems reduce the mailing handling system productivity and throughput.
Prior attempts to deal with the problem of the bar code reader being unable to accurately read the imprinted code on the mail piece have provided plural bar code readers from different vendors. Since it is known that rejected or unread mail is often properly read when submitted to different readers, in the hope that if one of the bar code readers cannot completely recover a bar code imprinted on a media item, the other bar code reader type would be able to make the full read. The subsequent bar code reader provides another opportunity for a correct read of the imprinted bar code on the mail piece. If any of these bar code readers provide a complete and proper reading of the bar code, the mail piece is not outsorted to a reject bin and is included in the sortation process.
Prior art systems also rerun unread pieces in the system, while the pieces often read on the second attempt by the same reader, these pieces may have lost their sequence position within the multipass sort and therefore may not gain the full benefit of the sortation process. Each pass is a stand alone event, either the bar code read reads the bar code or it does not.
Additionally, the error recovery capability within the USPS POSTNET bar code as explained in the above-noted USPS publications, has been employed to obtain a valid ZIP code from a partially read code. POSTNET encodes each ZIP digit in a cluster of 5 bars (two of which are long and three of which are short). If this requirement is not met, then the digit cluster is known to be corrupted. The modulo 10 check digit (last digit) may then be used to recover a single missing ZIP code digit. It has sometimes been possible to recover two digits in some limited instances. Such recovery has been within a single read of a single POSTNET bar code where two different clusters of five bars (each cluster encoding a numerical digit) are corrupted if there is only one unique possible solution compatible with the known data. Recovery has been by means of a use of a lookup table of possible cluster combinations that provide the solution and are consistent with the check sum data.
Inexpensive tracing and tracking of mail is a feature requested by many postal customers. The USPS developed the PostaL Alpha Numeric Encoding Technique (PLANET) bar code to enable tracing and tracking of mail pieces by providing a unique identifier for each mailing. In combination with the POSTNET bar code identifying the destination, PLANET bar codes make it possible to uniquely identify each mail piece. The encoding scheme is the complement of the POSTNET encoding scheme (three tall bars and two short bars in each cluster of five). Thus, the same bar code reader can operate to read both POSTNET and PLANET bar codes. At the same time, the different symbology conventions make it possible to distinguish the two bar codes (mostly tall vs. mostly short bars). Error correction principles associated with POSTNET codes also apply to PLANET codes. With the use of both the POSTNET and PLANET bar codes, the mail piece is uniquely defined only by the combination of the two bar codes, either code alone is typically insufficient. However, if each of plural bar codes, for example, a POSTNET and a PLANET code, are read with a certain probability, the probability of all bar codes being read is the product of the individual probabilities. The need to read both codes reduces the probability of a full correct reading of the entire bar coding on a mail piece. Thus a 95% read probability of a single bar code will become a 90% probability (0.95*0.95) of reading two bar codes or an 86% probability of reading three.

Bar code recognition method and system for paper handling equipment


The invention relates to a method for producing PUR/PIR rigid foam materials, having the steps of reacting at least one polyester polyol (a), which can be obtained by reacting a. I.) at least one cyclic carboxylic acid anhydride; a.2.) at least one low-molecular dial with a molecular mass of 62 to 450 Da; and a.3.) at least one alkylene oxide; by esterifying the components a.I.) and a.2.) and subsequently oxalkylating the resulting carboxylic acid half-ester using component a.3.); wherein at least the oxalkylation is carried out using a.4.) at least one amine catalyst in which (the) nitrogen atom(s) is/are part of an aromatic ring system, with (b) at least one polyisocyanate-containing component, (c) at least one propellant, (d) at least one or more catalysts, (e) optionally at one flameproofing agent and/or other auxiliary agents, and (f) optionally at least one additional compound with at least two groups which are reactive towards isocyanates and which differ from polyester polyol (a). The invention also relates to a PUR/PIR rigid foam material which can be obtained using a method according to the invention, to a composite element comprising the PUR/PIR rigid foam material according to the invention, at least one cover layer selected from concrete, wood, press board, aluminum, copper, steel, stainless steel, paper, non-wovens, and plastic, and multilayer composites or a combination thereof. The invention also relates to the use of the PUR/PIR rigid foam materials according to the invention or the composite element according to the invention for heat damping.

Short-chain polyester polyols are widely used in the prior art as polyol components of these rigid PUR/PIR foams. There are in principle two possibilities available for synthesis of these short-chain polyester polyols: Firstly, they can be produced by a polycondensation reaction from low-molecular-weight polyols, mostly diols, with low-molecular-weight polycarboxylic acids, mostly dicarboxylic acids, and/or with polycarboxylic acid equivalents such as anhydrides or esters with monohydric alcohols. Secondly, however, there is also the possibility of producing short-chain polyester polyols by a polyaddition reaction of alkylene oxides with hemiesters of the type that can by way of example be obtained by an additional reaction between diols and polycarboxylic anhydrides.
The variant involving the polyaddition reactions has many inherent advantages. Mention many be made by way of example of a greatly reduced reaction time in comparison with the polycondensation reaction, significantly less introduction of energy, because the reaction actually proceeds exothermically, and, not least, a practically quantitative reaction yield, for example because no yield-reducing water of reaction is eliminated.
There has therefore hitherto been no lack of attempts to utilize these polyaddition reactions for the production of short-chain polyester polyols.
DE 36 21 039 A1 describes this procedure and states in relation thereto that oligoesters which have hydroxy groups and have OH numbers of from 200 to 600 mg KOH/g by a reaction of cyclic dicarboxylic anhydrides with polyhydric alcohols and/or dialkanolamines in a molar ratio of 1:from 0.5 to 1.5, preferably 1:from 0.7 to 1.2, to give the corresponding dicarboxylic hemiesters and/or dicarboxylic hemiamides at temperatures of from 50 to 150° C., preferably from 90 to 130° C., followed by alkoxylation of the carboxy groups with ethylene oxide and/or propylene oxide, using an equivalents ratio of acid groups to alkylene oxides of 1:from 0.8 to 1.7, preferably 1:from 1.0 to 1.6, at temperatures of from 80 to 150° C., preferably from 90 to 130° C., characterized in that the alkoxylation reaction is carried out with use of propoxylation products of ammonia, of lower C2-C6-aliphatic diamines and of piperazine, where all of the NH functions in these have been propoxylated, as catalysts.
In relation to the catalysts to be used, DE 36 21 039 further states (page 3, line 56) that N-methylimidazole, which is an excellent transesterification catalyst, gives products with (undesirably) broad molar mass distribution, this being an outcome that should be avoided.
Although, therefore, the production of this type of N-methyimidazole-catalyzed polyol is described in a non-inventive comparative example (comparative example 2b, page 7, line 10), it is not reacted to give rigid PUR/PIR foam because according to the teaching of DE 36 21 039 the product has a broadened molar mass distribution and correspondingly increased viscosity, i.e. has to be regarded as clearly unsuitable for this purpose. However, during the research work underlying this patent application it has been found that when the catalysts favored in DE 36 21 039 are used, the preferred oligoester-OH-number range of from 100 to 280 mg KOH/g, corresponding to equivalent molar masses of from 200 to 560 g/mol, is obtainable only with very great difficulty, because the propoxylation products of ammonia, of lower C2-C6 aliphatic diamines and of piperazine rapidly lose their catalytic activity as OH number decreases.
DE 33 15 381 likewise describes a process for the production of polyester polyols or of polyether-polyester polyols, characterized in that polyols, preferably poly ether polyols with hydroxy numbers of from 15 to 250 mg KOH/g, are esterified with at least one carboxylic anhydride, preferably phthalic anhydride, in the presence of N-methylimidazole, triethylenediamine, triphenylphosphine or mixtures of at least two of these compounds, to give a carboxylic hemiester, and this is then alkoxylated with at least one alkylene oxide, preferably ethylene oxide, in the presence of N-methylimidazole as catalyst.
It should be noted, however, that the process disclosed in DE 33 15 381 is suitable (page 8, lines 27 and 28) for molar ratios of alkylene oxide/carboxy group of at most 1.5:1, preferably 1:1. However, it was an object of the present invention to broaden the prior art by providing, as oligoester components for rigid PUR/PIR foams, components whose dicarboxylic acid units have been esterified mainly with dialkylene glycol structural units, thus requiring more than 1.5 mol of alkylene oxide in the addition reaction with the intermediate hemiester structures. DE 33 15 381 did not acknowledge the possibility that simple imidazole catalysis or catalysis with imidazole derivatives could also be used to link genuine dialkyleneglycol structural units to hemiester structures. Nor, moreover, are there any indications that polyester polyols or polyether-polyester polyols of this type could be useful as polyol component in rigid PUR/PIR foams. DE 33 15 381 merely makes very general mention of the production of polyurethanes (page 3, line 4) from products of this type, but provides no relevant inventive examples, and does not claim the production of polyurethanes in general terms or specifically of rigid PUR-PIR foams.
The person skilled in the art could not therefore conclude from DE 33 15 381 and/or DE 36 21 039 that it is possible to use aminic catalysts in which the nitrogen atom(s) is/are part of an aromatic ring system, as is the case by way of example in imidazole or imidazole derivatives, as catalyst in the production of the ester structures desired in the present invention having oligoether units, and in particular to use these subsequently as polyol component in rigid PUR/PIR foams.

PUR/PIR rigid foams made of polyaddition oligoesters


When a whole image having a large area or high resolution is displayed, the boundary lines are made less noticeable with a small amount of calculation by displaying partial images by a plurality of image projection units. An apparatus has a division position creation unit to create division positions such that the division positions vary at given timings, an image division unit to divide images at the division positions created by the division position creation unit, and plural image projection units PJ1, PJ2, . . . , PJN to display the images divided by the image division unit.

Exemplary aspects of the present invention relate to image display control methods, image display control apparatus, and image display control programs adapted to display a large-screen image and/or high-resolution image by arranging plural image projection units and projecting partial images from the projection units.
The size of a display provided by a related art single display unit and the resolution of the display have limitations. Related art methods and apparatus for arranging and using plural image display control units to achieve a large screen exceeding the limitation or a display of high resolution exceeding the limitation are available. At this time, a method of how to make unnoticeable the boundaries between the displays provided by the individual display units to provide one natural display as a whole is a problem to be addressed and/or solved.
Related art methods of making unnoticeable the boundaries are roughly classified into two major categories: combining method and overlapping method. The feature of the composite method is that any point on the whole displayed image is displayed by any one display unit. The feature of the overlapping method is that regions capable of being displayed by the individual display units are made to overlap with each other and that a display on such overlapping regions is superimposingly provided by the plural display units.
One example of the composite method is a method using a mechanical combination. This method includes mechanically bonding together flat-panel display units (e.g., liquid crystal display units) themselves at their edges. This has the advantage that once the units have been bonded, the state is maintained stably. However, it is difficult to create a display device having bondable edges.
Another composite method uses image projection units. Images projected by image projection units are apparently combined on the surface of the display. This makes it unnecessary to bond together display units themselves and hence the apparatus has a relatively large number of degrees of freedom. However, the composite state produces error due to mechanical or electrical aging of the apparatus because mechanical bonding is not used. Furthermore, the errors greatly affect the display quality. It is difficult to maintain good state of display.
One example of the overlapping method is a method of using plural image projection units. A part of an image projected from one image projection unit is superimposed on a part of an image projected from the other image projection unit.
In particular, one output is gradually reduced in an overlapping region while the other output is gradually increased at the same time. Thus, boundary regions are connected smoothly. This overlapped state produces error due to mechanical or electrical aging of the apparatus in the same way as the composite method. However, in the overlapping method, error affects the quality of display to a lesser extent than in the composite method. However, it is difficult to control the display in the overlapping region.
These are described in further detail below with reference to the drawings.
FIG. 21 is a schematic of a related art composite method using plural (four, in this example) image projection units (such as projectors) PJ1, PJ2, PJ3, and PJ4. As shown in this FIG. 21, the image projection units PJ1, PJ2, PJ3, and PJ4 are arranged such that their respective display regions A1, A2, A3, and A4 can be displayed without overlap or gap. However, the display provided by each of the image projection units PJ1, PJ2, PJ3, and PJ4 easily deforms into an irregular quadrilateral having no right angles due to slight installation error or aging. Therefore, it is difficult to precisely arrange their display regions A1, A2, A3, and A4 in this way and to maintain the arrangement.
FIG. 22 is a schematic of a case in which the four image projection units PJ1, PJ2, PJ3, and PJ4 display the individually displayable display regions A1, A2, A3, and A4 such that there are overlapping regions Z in parts of the regions A1-A4. In this related art method, a display can be provided either by the composite method or by the composite method.
FIGS. 23A-23D show a method of providing a display by the composite method of FIG. 22. To simplify the explanation, only the three image projection units PJ1, PJ2, and PJ3 are taken into account. Also, only processing on one line is herein considered. It is assumed that the three image projection units PJ1, PJ2, and PJ3 already know what regions of the displayable display regions of the image projection units overlap with each other.
Specific related art methods for knowing the overlapping regions include methods described, for example, in JP-A-H8-294073 and JP-A-2002-238064, respectively. The method described in JP-A-H8-294073 permits the user to have a clear view of both ends of each overlapping region. The method lets the user indicate the overlapping regions, whereby the method knows them. The method described in JP-A-2002-238064 knows overlapping regions using an entry made by a camera.
FIGS. 23A-23C indicate the values of weights about displays provided by the three image projection units PJ1, PJ2, and PJ3 on some line. As shown in the figure, each weight has two values, "1" and "0". They can be quite easily implemented in software or by a circuit. Here, the weight "1" means the output value itself is responsive to some input. Also, the weight "0" means a black output. P1, P3, P4, and P6 in the figure indicate the end points of the overlapping regions. P2 and P5 indicate image division positions to carry out a composition in this example. One specific example of implementation of the method of FIG. 23 is described in JP-A-2002-277958. The sum of these weights is a constant value of"1" over the whole display region as shown in FIG. 23D.
FIGS. 24A-24D show the image projection unit PJ2 located in the center of FIGS. 23A-23D has shifted ΔX in the direction of the arrow X. At this time, summation of the weights of the displays shown in FIGS. 24A-24C, respectively, produces portions of weight 0 (i.e., black portions that provide no display) and portions of weight 2 (i.e., very bright portions because of superimposition of displays) as shown in FIG. 24D. These can be quite easily discerned visually. The quality of display deteriorates greatly.
FIGS. 23A-23D and 24A-24D assume only processing on same line. Where a two-dimensional way of thinking is introduced, more difficult circumstances will exist.
FIGS. 25A-25C illustrate this. As shown in FIG. 25A, a case in which display regions A1 and A2 of two image projection units PJ1 and PJ2 overlap with each other at an angle is disclosed. It is assumed that the display region A1 of the image projection unit (referred to as the image projection unit PJ1) displaying the left side of FIGS. 25A-25C is a region in gray color of FIG. 25A and that the display region A2 of the image projection unit (referred to as the image projection unit PJ2) displaying the right side of FIGS. 25A-25C is a region in gray color of FIG. 25B.
As shown in FIG. 25C, the display regions A1 and A2 of the both image projection units PJ1 and PJ2 overlap with each other, producing a portion (portion al in gray color) of excessive brightness. Also, a portion (black portion a2) that is displayed by none of the image projection units PJ1 and PJ2 exists. This is a phenomenon that cannot be avoided in the case where the minimum unit of display of the image projection units has a finite size and the displays of image projection units overlap at an angle.
FIGS. 26A-26D show a method of achieving a display provided by the overlapping method. FIGS. 26A-26C show the values of weights on some line of the displays provided by the three image projection units PJ1, PJ2, and PJ3.
As shown in FIGS. 26A-26D, one weight gradually decreases in the overlapping region, while the other increases gradually. Summation of the weights produces a constant value over the whole display region as shown in FIG. 26D.
FIGS. 27A-27D show a circumstance in which the image projection unit PJ2 located in the center of FIG. 26 has produced a positional deviation in the same way as in FIGS. 24A-24D. At this time, summation of the weights of the displays shown in FIGS. 24A-24C produces unevenness as shown in FIG. 27D. This indicates that deterioration of the display quality due to a positional deviation is smaller, as can be seen by comparison with FIGS. 24A-24D showing an example of the composite method. That is, concave portions of the weights are displayed slightly darkly. Conversely, convex portions are displayed slightly brightly. This indicates the superiority of the overlapping method over the composite method in which black and bright lines are noticed clearly as to positional deviation of image projection units.
However, it is not so straightforward to connect images in the overlapping regions smoothly, because a nonlinear relation exists between the input to each image projection unit and the display output (output brightness) due to gamma correction to adjust the nonlinear characteristics of the human perception.
FIG. 28 is a schematic of the aforementioned nonlinear relation between the input and output. In particular, the human perception has logarithmic characteristics. Where a proportional relation is created between the input and the output brightness, it follows that variations in the output brightness are felt to be greater at small inputs while variations in the output brightness are felt to be smaller at large inputs. As a result, as shown in FIG. 29, it is not felt that twice of the value of the output brightness when the input value is 127, for example, is a value close to the output brightness when the input value is 255. Therefore, in a normal display device, the correspondence between the input and output brightness is often set to a function inverse to a function as shown in FIG. 28 such that the value of the brightness perceived by a human approaches the input value. Specifically, the function of FIG. 28 is upwardly convex. As a function inverse to this function of FIG. 28, a downwardly convex relation is often set.
The effects of the nonlinearity are particularly shown in FIGS. 30A and 30B. As shown in FIG. 30A, it is assumed that an input value to be displayed (i.e., output value) is constant. In this case, if the sum of input values to the respective image projection units in the overlapping region is made constant, the sum of the output values decreases in the overlapping region as shown in FIG. 30B, for the following reason. As described previously, a downwardly convex nonlinear relation exists between the input value and output value as an inverse function to the function of FIG. 28.
FIGS. 31A and 31B illustrate a method of correcting this and making constant the output value over the overlapping region. To make constant the output value as shown in FIG. 31B, it is necessary to gradually nonlinearly increase or reduce the input to each image projection unit in the overlapping region as shown in FIG. 31A. The nonlinearity depends on the function shown in FIG. 28. The function varies depending on the value of the gamma adjustment or the nonlinearity of other component. Furthermore, the nonlinearity changes depending on user's change of settings or varies due to aging characteristics. Accordingly, in order to control the sum of the output values to a desired value, it is necessary to perform nonlinear processing including many parameters.

Image display control method, apparatus for controlling image display, and program for controlling image display


A composite material comprising at least one polymer matrix. The polymer matrix comprises at least one inorganic load composed of a biphasic material that comprises at least one mesoporous substrate at least partially coated with carbon nanotubes. The composite material is remarkable in that the mesoporous substrate is composed of diatoms.

Diatoms are microscopic unicellular aquatic organisms that have a siliceous cell wall (50 nm thick). They have different shapes and sizes varying between 1 and 10 microns and the silica in diatoms is constituted of nano-pores, self-organized nano-channels, which gives them a large specific surface area of the order of 3 to 200 m2/g. This large specific surface area offers the possibility of making a high density of carbon nanotubes (CNTs) as well as having a large contact surface with the matrix.
Diatomites are Defined as Siliceous Rock of Organic Origin.
Producing a biphasic CNT/diatom silica material is a technological challenge to take up in so far as diatoms are structures with complex shapes and because growing carbon nanotubes requires several steps according to the growth method chosen.
It is supposed that using CNTs to replace carbon black (amorphous carbon) in composite materials will boost the emergence of new materials with all sorts of new interesting properties.
Indeed, CNTs are known to have better properties than carbon black. Improved wear resistance and/or better retention of mechanical properties may be cited, among others.
Methods for chemical deposit in the vapour phase allow the deposit of films or nanoparticles onto substrates from precursors injected near the substrate in the gas phase. The principle consists in putting the precursors, which may be liquid, solid or gas, in a gaseous form and making them react together to form a film or solid nanostructures on the substrate. The advantage of gas phase methods compared to liquid phase methods is being able to consider all types of substrates, including substrates having complex morphology, such as diatoms.
Atomic layer deposition (ALD) (see FIG. 1) consists in alternatively reacting the precursors at the surfaces of the substrates and presents the advantage of being the technique that leads to the highest coverage (He M., et al., Nano Res., 2010, 4, 334-342).
The principle of ALD consists in alternatively injecting two precursors separated by a purge gas. The precursors may be solid, liquid or gas but they are transformed into vapour before being sent to the reaction chamber. The steps of the process for an ALD cycle are described as follows:                a. Introduction of precursor 1: regardless of its nature (solid, liquid or gas), this must be vaporized from its container and transported by an inert carrier gas to the reaction chamber. This precursor adsorbs on the surface of the substrate. The duration of exposure of the precursor is a parameter that influences the structure of the film since it is what modulates how the molecules saturate the surface of the precursors.        b. Purge: after precursor 1 is adsorbed onto the substrate, an inert gas is added to purge and evacuates the molecules that could not be adsorbed onto the surface to the pump.        c. Introduction of precursor 2: the vapour from precursor 2 (or reactant) is introduced into the chamber and is intended to react with the molecules of precursor 1 that are already adsorbed. The reaction product forms the first atomic layer of the film. This type of precursor is often a reducing agent, an oxidizing agent, a nitrosing agent, an agent that can remove a ligand from precursor 1 or provide a missing element.        d. Second purge: the chamber is purged again to evacuate all the by-products of the reaction between the two precursors.
The temperature, pressure, and number of cycles also influence the ALD technique.
A second method that is used to increase the carbon nanotubes is the method called chemical vapour deposition (CVD). The substrate is exposed to one or more precursors in the gas phase, which react and/or decompose on the surface of the substrate to generate the desired deposit.
A third method that may be envisaged is the vapour-impregnation method, which consists in saturating the surface of the substrate by the molecules intended to be grafted. In reality this method is a variant of CVD that is used when the substrate that has to be functionalized is fibrous in nature.
The formation of vertical carbon nanotubes has been reported (Duraia E. M., et al., Vacuum, 2010, 84, 464-468) (CNT) using diatomite as substrate, therefore combining the advantages of CNT (electric and optical properties) and those of diatomite (natural inexpensive material that is useful in water purification) in a single material. The technique of chemical vapour deposition assisted by microwave plasma was used for CNT growth on diatomite. A pre-treatment step was necessary before the growth step for CNTs whose main source of carbon is methane (CH4).
Moreover, it has been reported (Zhao J., et al., Composites: Part A, 2014, 58; 1-6) that composite materials (synthesized by the sol-gel process) based on polyurethane and strengthened by silica and multi-wall CNTs can increase the thermal conductivity of the base material, i.e. polyurethane. By incorporating silica in the polymer matrix the polyurethane's electric resistivity can be maintained.
It has also been reported (Zhang W. D., et al., Macromol. Rapid Commun., 2004, 25, 1860-1864) that nanocomposites based on nylon-6 strengthened by CNTs and mesoporous silica particles of the MCM-41 type can improve the Young's modulus and solidity of the material.

Composite element comprising a biphasic silica and carbon nanotube-based material


A liftable carrying apparatus for loading a pocket wagon with vehicles by a lifting apparatus includes a first support portion for at least one vehicle that extends over a length, at least one second support portion for at least one vehicle, that is arranged above the first support portion and extends over a length, and receiving locations, in particular receiving pockets, for a lifting apparatus, that are arranged at the first and the at least one second support portions. The length over which the first support portion extends and the length over which the at least one second support portion extends differ from each other, and the first and the at least one second support portions are or can be releasably connected together for joint lifting by a lifting apparatus.

The invention concerns a liftable carrying apparatus, a pocket wagon having such a carrying apparatus, and a method of loading or unloading a pocket wagon.
Cargo which itself does not have to be directly cranable can be loaded in many different forms with such a carrying apparatus as the carrying apparatus itself is cranable. The cargo can be for example vehicles (for example semitrailers, traction units, tractors, buses) or non-drivable cargo (for example containers).
WO 2014/017917 A2 discloses a liftable carrying apparatus which is not of the general kind set forth and which is not suitable for use in combination with a pocket wagon as a pocket wagon loaded with such a carrying apparatus, in the loaded state, would be of an inadmissibly great height. The loading and unloading operation is only possible with difficulty because vehicles which are already loaded impede loading and unloading.
A liftable carrying apparatus of the general kind set forth, a pocket wagon having such a carrying apparatus and a method of the general kind set forth are disclosed in EP 297 081 A2. The specification discloses a modular carrying apparatus in the sense that there is provided a plurality of support means which can be loaded and unloaded independently of each other and which can be lifted on to or from a pocket wagon and in operation can be stacked one upon the other in the region of a pocket of the pocket wagon. A respective support means of higher structure is provided outside the pocket of the pocket wagon. A loading and unloading operation takes up a very long time because each support means in itself has to be lifted on to or from the pocket wagon.
The object of the invention is to provide a liftable carrying apparatus of the general kind set forth, a pocket wagon having such a carrying apparatus and a method of the general kind set forth, with which quicker loading and unloading is possible, wherein the loading and unloading operation is not to be made more difficult by vehicles which are already loaded.


A closure is provided for a container. The closure has a body and a lid. The closure includes a tamper-indicating member connected to the body of the closure by an anchor member received in an anchor member-receiving aperture defined in the closure body. The tamper-indicating member is also connected along a frangible junction to the lid of the closure. A plug member extends from the tamper-indicating member and is receivable in a plug member-receiving aperture defined in the body. When the tamper-indicating member is depressed to force the plug member into the plug member-receiving aperture, the frangible junction is broken, and the tamper-indicating member is retained in its depressed position. This provides an indication that the closure may have been previously opened. Also, an overhanging portion of the lid can be readily engaged by a finger to facilitate opening of the lid relative to the body of the closure.

A variety of container closures have been developed or proposed wherein an initial opening of a lid or a dispensing spout structure provides visual evidence of such an occurrence--even after the lid or spout has been subsequently closed. U.S. Pat. No. 4,487,324 and No. 4,941,592 disclose closures which incorporate a locking band or tab that is attached to either the lid or body of the closure with a plurality of frangible webs so as to initially retain the closure lid to the body in the closed position. To initially open the closure, the user must break the frangible webs by pushing or pulling on a tab or band.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,201,440 describes a container closure which includes a body for mounting on a container. The body defines a dispensing orifice. A lid is disposed on the body for being moved between open and closed portions relative to the dispensing orifice. A tamper-indicating member is provided as a unitary extension from the lid. A first frangible web connects the member to the lid. An anchor is connected with a second frangible web to another portion of the tamper-indicating member, and the anchor is retained by the closure body. The tamper-indicating member includes a graspable pull tab which can be pulled to completely sever the frangible webs connecting the tamper-indicating member to the lid and to the anchor. This permits the lid to be opened while providing evidence of tampering with the closure.
While the above-discussed closures can function well for the purposes for which they have been designed, it would be desirable to provide an improved tamper-evident closure which could be readily fabricated with certain types of lids or flow control elements and which, prior to the initial opening, could blend in with, or enhance, the cosmetic appearance of the closure. It would also be desirable for such a tamper-evident closure to be easily molded as one piece, including lid, body, and tamper-indicating portion, and to be easily deployed after molding to its tamper-indicating ready condition for eventual delivery to a user.
Further, it would be advantageous if such an improved closure could be initially opened relatively easily by the user. After such an improved closure has been initially opened and then closed, the closure should furnish a very clear indication that it has been previously opened. It would also be desirable to provide an improved tamper-evident closure design that includes a tamper-indicating member which, when altered during opening of the closure, would not result in the creation of a separate scrap piece that would require disposal.
The present invention provides an improved tamper-evident or tamper-indicating closure which can accommodate designs having the above-discussed benefits and features.

Tamper-evident dispensing closure for a container


The control unit, especially a motor vehicle control unit, includes a microcomputer (13), a programmable nonvolatile memory (14) connected with or integrated in the microcomputer (13), a serial interface (15) for the microcomputer (13) to which a serial data transmission line (12) can be connected over which data for programming the programmable nonvolatile memory (14) is received in the microcomputer from an external programming unit (11), and a low pass filter connected to a terminal (16) for the serial data transmission line. The low pass filter includes components that produce a signal for enabling the programming of the programmable nonvolatile memory (14) of the external programming unit is connected to the control unit via the serial data transmission line (12). These components preferably include a first resistor (R2) connected between the terminal (16) and a programming-enabling input (19) of the microcomputer (13), a capacitor (C1) connected between the programming-enabling input (19) and ground and a second resistor (R1) connected to ground between the capacitor (C1) and the programming-enabling input.

The present invention relates to a control unit including a microcomputer and a programmable nonvolatile memory and, more particularly, to a motor vehicle control unit including a microcomputer and programmable nonvolatile memory.
A control unit and a device for programming it are already known from EP 0 266 704 A2. In this case an external programming unit is provided for programming the nonvolatile memory of the control unit. The external programming unit is connected to the control unit via a serial transmission line. The data to be programmed are transmitted to the control unit via this serial transmission line. The microcontroller of the control unit receives the data and then programs them into the nonvolatile memory to be programmed. To this end, the necessary programming voltage is fed to the control unit via a separate connection between the programming unit and control unit. Therefore, there is a separate input pin provided at the control unit, to which input pin the programming voltage can be applied from the outside.
It is also known to generate the programming voltage internally in the control unit. The programming process is initiated using control instructions which are transmitted to the control unit via the serial transmission line. It is disadvantageous here that as a result of electromagnetic interference the program sequence of the control unit may be arbitrarily altered so that it is not ensured that the programming of the nonvolatile memory cannot be initiated wrongly.

Control unit and device for programming it


A multiple pump fuel delivery system is provided, which in one preferred embodiment includes a tank. Mounted within the tank are multiple fuel pumps. The fuel pumps have intakes connected to filters. One pump may be connected to a fuel only passing filter, and another pump may be connected with a fuel-water mixture passing filter. Fuel from the outlets of the pumps is delivered past non-return check valves through a manifold. The manifold is connected with a pressure regulator valve, which is fluidly communicative with the engine of the vehicle. A relief outlet is also provided to return excess fuel.

Vehicles, by definition, are not stationary. Therefore, the fuel delivery system for an internal combustion engine of a vehicle must operate regardless of the angular orientation of the vehicle. The fuel delivery system must also operate regardless of the acceleration forces on the fuel within the fuel tank. This is particularly true of marine-type vehicles. Additionally, the fuel delivery system of a vehicle must be highly reliable. Accordingly, many marine-type vehicles rely on redundant systems.
A problem that can be particularly prevalent in marine vehicle applications is contamination of the fuel by water. The water contamination may be a result of poor underground storage facilities by the fuel supplier, fuel tank condensation during vehicle operation, or ingestion during refueling of the vehicle.


A position control apparatus for synchronously controlling the movement of fine stages in a high-precision scanning positioning instrument. The position control apparatus uses actuators to adjust the fine stages with six degrees of freedom. By adjusting the fine stages, any synchronous errors between the fine stages during scanning may be dynamically corrected. Further, the fine stages may be adjusted during periods of acceleration and deceleration to reduce the settling time and consequently increasing throughput. Encoders directly attached to the actuators produce signals that are used in a velocity feedback loop. The locations of the fine stages are measured by interferometers. The position control apparatus uses a position control circuit to control the actuators to compensate for synchronous error.

Position control apparatuses are used to drive systems, such as machining tools and lithography stages, in accordance with a defined path. The path may have one direction, e.g., the X coordinate, or two directions, e.g., the X and Y coordinates. Typically in a lithography apparatus for semiconductor wafer processing, a stage is used to position a mask (reticle) in two dimensions, while a separate stage is used to position the plate (wafer). The stages are moved relative to a base structure which supports the stages and other components such as a source of radiant energy and a projection lens to focus the energy. The stages may be moved in a step-and-repeat pattern or in a scanning pattern, in which the stages maintain a constant velocity during exposure.
A position control apparatus used to drive and position stages are known; see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,184,055 and 4,952,858. Generally, position control apparatuses are concerned with compensating forces to limit vibration of the stages. This is particularly true with a step-and-repeat system where there are many accelerations (and decelerations) of the stages being driven. To limit vibrations or resonance of the system, the position control apparatuses use acceleration as a feedback control mechanism.
FIG. 1 is a block diagram showing a position control apparatus 10 which limits vibrations in the controlled system 16. Position control apparatus 10 has a control circuit 12 which receives a positioning error signal from node 14. The positioning error signal represents the difference between the desired position of the controlled system and the actual current position. The actual position may be determined by an interferometer or other appropriate measurement device. The control circuit 12 receives the positioning error signal and produces a control signal. The controlled system 16, such as an X-Y stage, receives a signal from node 18, which represents the difference between the control signal from control circuit 12 and an acceleration feedback signal from feedback circuit 20. An acceleration sensor (not shown), which provides an acceleration feedback signal, is mounted on controlled system 16. Feedback circuit adjusts the gain of the acceleration feedback signal and provides the resulting signal to node 18. A position gauge 22, such as a laser interferometer provides a signal representing the current actual position of controlled system 16. The signal from position gauge 22 is then fed back to node 14.
The position control apparatus of FIG. 1 thus moves controlled system 16 to the new desired location. Use of an acceleration feedback loop permits modifying the control signal from control circuit 12 in response to the current acceleration of controlled system 16. Consequently, controlled system 16 is moved such that the resonance of controlled system 16 is reduced.
Where the stages are moved in a scanning pattern, however, the stages are moved at a constant velocity. The stages are subject to acceleration primarily at the beginning and end of the scan. Consequently, in a scanning system, problems created by the resonance of the system are not as prevalent as found in a step-and-repeat system.
However, in a scanning system the stages must be moved in a synchronous fashion. The position control apparatus must drive the stages at a constant velocity while maintaining the alignment of the stages. Where extreme precision is required, such as in a microlithographic system that produces images on the sub-micron scale, any misalignment of the stages will result in defects in the exposed image. Misalignment of the stages is known as synchronous error. Thus, a position control apparatus that drives stages at a constant velocity with a minimum of synchronous error is needed.
Further, because exposure of the plate can only occur while the system is at a constant velocity, the system must wait for the stages to accelerate to the constant velocity at the beginning of the scan before beginning the exposure and must end the exposure prior to decelerating the stages at the end of the scan. The time spent accelerating and decelerating the system is known as the settling time of the system and is a limitation on the throughput of the system. To increase the efficiency of the system, it is desirable to reduce the settling time.

Position control apparatus for fine stages carried by a coarse stage on a high-precision scanning positioning system


A disk player having a self-compensating dynamic ring balancer to restrict internal vibrations due to an eccentric center of gravity of a disk, includes a deck base, a deck plate elastically coupled to the deck base, a buffering member interposed between the deck base and the deck plate, a spindle motor coupled to the deck plate and having a stator, a rotor and a rotational shaft, a turntable installed at the rotational shaft, a clamper, and an optical pickup for recording/reproducing information on/from the disk. A self-compensating dynamic ring balancer is coupled to the spindle motor and positions the center of gravity thereof opposite to that of the disk with respect to the rotational shaft during rotation of the disk. Therefore, the revolution of the rotational shaft of the spindle motor due to the eccentric center of gravity of the disk can be reduced.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk player and, more particularly, to a disk player having a self-compensating dynamic ring balancer for restricting internal vibrations generated due to an eccentric center of gravity of a disk.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk player records and/or reproduces information on and/or from a recording medium such as a compact disk (CD), a CD-ROM, or a digital video disk (DVD). Also, it is required to protect a disk or an optical pickup from external impacts and internal vibrations.
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional disk player includes a deck base 10 hinge-coupled to a housing (not shown) capable of pivoting in a vertical direction, a deck plate 20 coupled to the deck base 10, a spindle motor 21 installed at the deck plate 20 to supply a rotational force to a disk 1, a turntable 23 coupled to a rotational shaft 22 of the spindle motor 21 for accommodating the disk 1, a clamper 40 installed in the housing opposite to the turntable 23 to clamp the disk 1 placed on the turntable 23, and an optical pickup 25 coupled to the deck plate 20 capable of transferring across the disk 1 and performing a recording/reproducing operation.
The disk player includes buffering members 30 disposed between the deck base 10 and the deck plate 20 to prevent the external vibrations transferred through the deck base 10 from being transferred directly to the deck plate 20, the spindle motor 21 and the optical pickup 25. The buffering members 30 are formed of a material such as soft rubber or polyurethane to dampen the external vibrations sufficiently.
The disk player constructed as above can effectively protect the disk 1 and the optical pickup 25 from the external vibrations. However, there is no solution for dampening internal vibrations caused by an eccentric center of gravity of the disk during rotation of the spindle motor 21. In this case, the eccentric center of gravity of the disk is generated from a discrepancy between the rotational center of the disk 1 and the center of gravity of the disk 1 due to errors in the manufacturing process of the disk. Thus, the rotational shaft 22 of the spindle motor 21 revolves because of whirling.
Such revolution of the rotational shaft of the spindle motor does not cause a considerable problem to a low speed model such as a 1X or 2X speed model. However, in the case of a high speed model such as 6X, 8X, 12X or 24X speed models, the effects of the revolution of the spindle motor become serious making recording/reproducing of information difficult.
In consideration of the above problem, in the conventional high speed disk player, the mass of the deck plate where a spindle motor is installed is increased, or the rigidity of the buffering members is increased to reduce movements of the deck plate due to the eccentric center of gravity of the disk. However, the deck plate thus having increased mass is ineffective for a high speed rotation. Also, when the rigidity of the buffering members is increased, it is not possible to effectively dampen the external vibrations or impacts.

Disk player having a self-conpensating dynamic ring balancer


The present invention provides electronic parts for amplifying high frequency power capable of expanding a dynamic range of an output power detection circuit, obtaining a continuous detection output having no inflexion point from a low region of output power to its high region and thereby improving controllability of the output power. In a wireless communication system which controls output power of a high frequency power amplifier, based on an output power detection signal and a signal indicative of an output level, an output power detection circuit is provided with a multi-stage configured amplifier which amplifies a high frequency signal taken out via a coupler and capacitive elements. Further, a plurality of detection circuits which detect outputs of amplifiers of respective stages, and a detection circuit which detects the high frequency signal without passing through the multi-stage configured amplifier are provided. One obtained by combining the outputs of these detection circuits is inputted to an error amplifier for generating an output power control signal, as the output power detection signal to thereby generate a control signal for the high frequency power amplifier.

The present invention relates to a technique for expanding a dynamic range of an output detection circuit in high frequency power amplifying electronic parts (RF power module) with a high frequency power amplifier built therein and enhancing controllability of output power, and to a technique effective if applied to, for example, an RF power module used in a cellular phone and a wireless communication device using the same.
An RF power module having built therein a high frequency power amplifier (PA) in which transistors such as MOSFETs (Metal Oxide Semiconductor Field-Effect-Transistor), GaAs-MESFETs, etc. is incorporated in a transmission output section of a wireless communication device (mobile communication device) such as a cellular phone, etc.
In a cellular phone, a system is generally configured in such a manner that a phone call is made while output power is changed in accordance with transmission power indication information sent from a base station so as to adapt to an ambient environment and interference is avoided between the cellular phone and other cellular phones. In a GSM (Global System for Mobile Communication) type cellular phone, for example, an output power detection signal and an output level indication signal Vramp outputted from a baseband circuit are compared with each other by an APC (Automatic Power Control) made up of an error amplifier and the like to thereby generate a control voltage Vapc for controlling the output power.
Then, the gain of each amplifying stage of a high frequency power amplifier of a transmission output section has been controlled by a bias circuit so as to reach output power necessary for a call by the control voltage Vapc.

Electronic parts for high frequency power amplifier and wireless communication device


A wavelength division demultiplexer includes a channel dropping component for receiving optical signals transmitted through a plurality of optical channels, defined by successively different light wavelength bands at intervals ranging between a first channel having the lowest wavelength band to a last channel having the highest wavelength band. The channel dropping component separates at least one channel having a wavelength band intermediate the lowest wavelength band and the highest wavelength band. The demultiplexer further includes an edge filter for separating optical signals received from the channel dropping component that have wavelengths below the intermediate wavelength band from optical signals having wavelengths above the intermediate wavelength band. The separated optical signals are transmitted from the edge filter in two different optical paths. The demultiplexer further includes a channel separator for separating optical signals transmitted in at least one of the optical paths from one another.

Reference is made commonly assigned copending patent application serial number, filed simultaneously herewith in the name of Weller-Brophy, Laura and entitled xe2x80x9cNarrow Band Wavelength Division Multiplexer and Method of Multiplexing Optical Signals.xe2x80x9d
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to optical demultiplexers and more specifically relates to wavelength division demultiplexers.
2. Technical Background
Wavelength divisions multiplexers are used in optical communication networks to combine various optical signals (channels) carried by two or more optical wavelengths into a single, common carrier (for example, an optical waveguide such as a single fiber). Wavelength division demultiplexers are used in optical communication circuits to separate a plurality of signals transmitted on a common carrier based upon the wavelength of the light onto which the signal is modulated. Wavelength division multiplexers and demultiplexers typically include various combinations of optical elements for performing the combination and separation function respectively. The most common of such components are band edge dichroic filters, which reflect light having wavelengths above or below a certain characteristic wavelength into a first transmission path while allowing the remaining light (i.e. the light having wavelengths below or above the characteristic wavelength) to be transmitted through the band edge filter into a second transmission path. Such edge filters are not ideal in that they have a transition zone surrounding the characteristic wavelength. See, for example, FIG. 1, which shows the characteristics of a hypothetical ideal band edge filter F1 that does not exist or is otherwise extremely expensive to create, and FIG. 2, showing the characteristics of an actual band edge filter F2 as commonly used in these types of devices. Incident light having a wavelength in the transition zone (e.g. xcex4) is partially reflected and partially transmitted. When a band edge filter only partially transmits or reflects incident light that is supposed to be entirely transmitted or reflected, the band edge filter reduces the intensity of the light signal that is transmitted through the intended transmission path while introducing noise into the other path (i.e. transmission path). To avoid such signal loss and noise, either the separation between the channels must be large enough so that no channels fall within the transition zone of the filter, or the filter must be nearly ideal so as to have a transition zone smaller than the channel separation. To accommodate more signals on a single optical fiber trunk line, designers must decrease channel (i.e. wavelength) separation, which makes the non-ideal band edge filters less practical for use in a wavelength division multiplexers and demultiplexers.
The following description of prior art is directed to both multiplexers and demultiplexers, because these devices are similar to one another and generally a multiplexer will function as a demultiplexer when the input and output are reversed so as to separate (with a demultiplexer) instead of combining (with a multiplexer) different wavelength signals.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,652,814 issued to Pan et al. discloses a wavelength division demultiplexer made up entirely of such band edge filters. This demultiplexer is shown in FIG. 3. As illustrated, a first filter 271 reflects signals having wavelengths xcex1 through xcex4 while transmitting signals having wavelengths xcex5 through xcex8. A second filter 272 receives signals having wavelengths xcex1 through xcex4 and reflects signals having wavelengths xcex1 and xcex2 while transmitting signals having wavelengths xcex3 and xcex4. Similarly, a third filter 273 receives signals having wavelengths xcex5 through xcex8 and reflects signals having wavelengths xcex5 and xcex6 while transmitting signals having wavelengths xcex7 and xcex8. Additional band edge filters 274 through 277 are provided as a final separation stage. Because the band edge filters are not ideal, the demultiplexer disclosed in Pan et al. would exhibit large levels of signal loss and crosstalk, particularly when the channel separation is small.
To overcome these difficulties, wavelength division demultiplexers have been constructed with wavelength channel dropping components that include a combination of an optical circulator and various fiber Bragg gratings (FBGs). An example of such a demultiplexer is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,754,718 issued to Duck et al. This demultiplexer is illustrated in FIG. 4. As shown at the left side of FIG. 4, eight channels having wavelengths xcex1 through xcex8 are transmitted into port 1 of an optical circulator 610. All these signals are transmitted out of circulator 610 at port 2. These signals are then passed through the four FBGs that are configured to reflect the signals of non-adjacent wavelengths xcex2, xcex4, xcex6,and xcex8 back into port 2 of optical circulator 610. The remaining non-adjacent wavelengths are transmitted into port 1 of a second optical circulator 612. First circulator 610 transmits the signals of wavelengths xcex2, xcex4, xcex6, and xcex8, which are reflected into port 2, out of port 3. Two FBGs reflect wavelengths xcex2 and xcex6 and provided at port 3 of optical circulator 610, reflect signals having wavelengths xcex2 and xcex6 back into port 3 of optical circulator 610. Optical circulator 610 transmits these signals from port 4. Signals of wavelengths xcex4 and xcex8, however, which exit port 3 of circulator 610, are transmitted through the FBGs to a band edge filter 626. Band edge filter 626 transmits signals of wavelength xcex4 and reflects signals of wavelength xcex8 (signals xcex5, xcex6, and xcex7 are already removed from the optical path). Similarly, a band edge filter 628 separates signals of wavelengths xcex2 and xcex6, which exit port 4 of circulator 610. Optical circulator 612 and band edge filters 622 and 624 similarly separate the signals of wavelengths xcex1, xcex3, xcex5, and xcex7. As will be apparent, the wavelengths of the signals transmitted to each of band edge filters 622 through 628 are not in adjacent channels. Therefore, any transition zone present in band edge filters 622 through 628 does not necessarily degrade the strength of the signals or the ability to separate the signals based on their wavelengths.
While the wavelength division demultiplexer shown in FIG. 4 overcomes the above noted problems relating to channel separation using band edge filters, the construction of such a demultiplexer is quite expensive due to the very large number of FBGs and other necessary optical components. In addition, the demultiplexer shown in FIG. 4 is designed to separate eight optical channels. If the number of channels to be separated were increased, the demultiplexer would need to be substantially redesigned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,748,350 is directed to both wavelength division multiplexers and demultiplexers. The multiplexers are illustrated, for example, in FIGS. 1A, and 6A of this patent. FIGS. 7A and 7B illustrate 4nxc3x971 wavelength division multiplexers. FIGS. 8A and 8B of this patent illustrate 4nxc3x971 wavelength division demultiplexers, while FIGS. 9, 10A and 10B show devices that function as wavelength division multiplexers and demultiplexers. These multiplexers and demultiplexers utilize multi port optical circulators, fiber Bragg gratings and band pass wavelength division couplers. The multiplexers disclosed in this reference require fiber Bragg gratings for more than 50% of the optical channels, and typically, optical bandpass filters for each of the optical channels to be multiplexed. That is, a separated bandpass coupler is required for each channel.
As stated above, an exemplary multiplexer is shown schematically in FIG. 6A of that reference. In this multiplexer the multiple fiber Bragg gratings are inserted directly after the optical circulator and are used to direct particular wavelengths of light to specific ports of the optical circulator. Different wavelength channels transmitted by the specific circulator ports interleaved, as shown in FIGS. 2F and 2G, so that the spectral edges of the bandpass devices will not coincide with any optical channel to be multiplexed. The 12 channel multiplexer as described in FIG. 6A utilizes 21 optical components. These components are: one optical circulator, twelve filtering elements, and eight fiber Bragg gratings. Because every optical component introduces impairments (including optical and polarization dependent losses) into the system, it would be desirable to minimize the number of optical components and, therefore to increase the efficiency of multiplexers and demultiplexers.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a wavelength division demultiplexer that is less expensive to manufacture than most prior systems and that has little, if any, signal loss. To achieve these and other objects and advantages, the wavelength division demultiplexer of the present invention comprises a channel dropping component for receiving optical signals transmitted through a plurality of optical channels. The channels are defined by successively different light wavelength bands at intervals ranging between a first channel having the lowest wavelength band to a last channel having the highest wavelength band. The channel dropping component separates at least one channel having a wavelength band intermediate the lowest wavelength band and the highest wavelength band. The demultiplexer further comprises an edge filter for separating optical signals received from the channel dropping component that have wavelengths below the intermediate wavelength band from optical signals having wavelengths above the intermediate wavelength band. The separated optical signals are transmitted from the edge filter in two different optical paths. The demultiplexer further comprises a channel separator for separating optical signals from one another that are transmitted in at least one of the optical paths.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a wavelength division demultiplexer that has a scaleable design to enable separation of differing numbers of channels without requiring substantial redesign of the demultiplexer. To achieve this and other objects and advantages, an optical demultiplexer is provided for separating optical signals in n channels (where n is an even integer greater than 4). The channels are defined by successively different light wavelength bands at intervals ranging between a first channel having the lowest wavelength band to a last channel having the highest wavelength band. The demultiplexer, according to one aspect of the invention, comprises initial separation stage and (n/2xe2x80x942) secondary separation stages. The initial separation stage includes a channel dropping component and an edge filter. The channel dropping component receives optical signals transmitted through all n optical channels, and drops two channels having wavelength bands intermediate the lowest wavelength band and the highest wavelength band of the received signals. The edge filter separates optical signals received from the channel dropping component that have wavelengths below the lowest of the dropped intermediate wavelength bands from optical signals having wavelengths above the highest of the dropped intermediate wavelength bands. The edge filter transmits the separated optical signals having wavelengths below the lowest of the dropped intermediate wavelength bands in a first transmission path and transmits the separated optical signals having wavelengths above the highest of the dropped intermediate wavelength bands in a second transmission path.
Each of the secondary separation stages includes a channel dropping component and an edge filter. The channel dropping component receives optical signals in a subset of the n total channels and drops at least one channel having a wavelength band intermediate the lowest wavelength band and the highest wavelength band of the channels received. The edge filter is positioned to receive the optical signals that are transmitted from the channel dropping component. The edge filter separates the received optical signals by transmitting signals having a wavelength greater than the wavelength band of the at least one channel dropped by the channel dropping component into a first transmission path and transmitting signals having a wavelength less than the wavelength band of the at least one channel dropped by the channel dropping component into a second transmission path. The secondary stages are connected to one another or to the initial separation stage such that the channel dropping component for a given secondary separation stage is connected to a first or second transmission path from an edge filter of a preceding separation stage.
Additional features and advantages of the invention will be set forth in the detailed description which follows, and in part will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from that description, or recognized by practicing the invention as described in the detailed description which follows the claims, as well as the appended drawings.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description are merely exemplary of the invention, and are intended to provide an overview or framework for understanding the nature and character of the invention as it is claimed. The accompanying drawings are included to provide a further understanding of the invention, and are incorporated in and constitute a part of this specification. The drawings illustrate various features and embodiments of the invention, and together with the description serve to explain the principles and operation of the invention.

Narrow band wavelength division demultiplexer and method of demultiplexing optical signals


A storage control device specifies, based on association information, blocks in each of which the boundary is included from among a plurality of blocks. The storage control device generates, for each of the specified blocks, first image data and second image data. The first image data is image data that includes a first object and that does not include a second object, whereas the second image data is image data that includes a second object. The storage control device stores the generated first image data and the second image data in a storage unit so as to be identifiable.

In conventional technologies related to an image analysis, an analysis that uses probability models is performed based on captured images compressed by Joint Photographic Experts Group (JPEG) or the like. For example, among the conventional technologies, there is a technology that is used to recognize an object included in a captured image by performing maximum likelihood estimation based on an expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm or the like and by using probabilistic region segmentation or probabilistic edge detection.    Patent Document 1: Japanese National Publication of International Patent Application No. 2005-516553    Patent Document 2: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-005844    Patent Document 3: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2014-063376

Non-transitory computer readable recording medium, storage control method, extraction method, storage control device, and extraction device


A dental implant system for providing a progressively tightening anti-rotational connection between a post and a socket. Engagement means on the post and/or socket provide for a small degree of relative rotation between the post and socket upon initial connection, then a progressively tightening connection upon further penetration of the post into the socket and then a final connection which substantially eliminates the relative rotation between the post and socket.

In dental implantology as currently being practiced it is common to use rotation-limiting connecting mechanisms consisting, for example, of a hexagonal post or socket on an implant and a mating socket or post on an article intended to be attached to the implant. There being a wide variety of such articles (posts, copings, artificial teeth, etc.), it is the prevailing manufacturing practice to employ standard sizes of such posts and sockets so that all such articles will fit interchangeably on all available implants of a given manufacturer. The dimensions being used are small. Owing in part to the limitations of manufacturing tolerances, the sockets are a little larger across than the posts in order to assure that in every case the dentist will be able to put two parts together at chairside, and when necessary to take them apart without difficulty. Typically, the distance between opposing flat surfaces of a hexagonal post may be about 0.0005 inch smaller than the distance between opposing flat surfaces of a mating hexagonal socket. While this arrangement provides an essential rotation-limiting connection, it leaves a small amount of rotational looseness which is undesirable in that it does not provide the stability of a natural tooth. More importantly, the rotational wiggling between parts creates an environment in which the screw that holds an article fixed to an implant can work itself loose. It is critically important to a successful dental restoration on an implant that the restoration not come loose on the implant.


This invention provides methods of using Rhenium radioisotopes to detect and treat tumors that express a Na+/I− symporter. The invention also provides compositions and methods of making compositions comprising Rhenium radioisotopes for detection and treatment of tumors that express a Na+/I− symporter.

Throughout this application various publications are referred to in parenthesis or brackets. Full citations for these references may be found at the end of the specification immediately preceding the claims. The disclosures of these publications are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties into the subject application to more fully describe the art to which the subject application pertains.
Breast cancer remains the major cause of cancer death in women in the developed world. Novel therapeutic modalities are needed for patients with tumors resistant to conventional therapies such as chemotherapy, hormonal treatment and external radiation. Recently Tazebay et al. [31, 41] found that more than 80% of human mammary cancers, but not normal healthy non-lactating breast tissue, express a sodium/iodide symporter (NIS) which was named the mammary gland NIS (mgNIS). Kilbane et al. [11] found NIS expression to be a feature of both fibroadenomata and breast carcinoma tissues.
NIS mediates iodide accumulation in the thyroid gland [2], and the capability to concentrate and organify iodide allows the use of radioactive iodine isotope 131I for the treatment of differentiated thyroid cancers and hyperthyroidism [10, 24]. However, as pointed out by Daniels and Harber [5], organification of iodide is unlikely to occur in breast cancer cells as the thyroid is the only organ known to organify iodide, a process that involves the conversion of inorganic iodide to an organic form by conjugation to tyrosine residues on the protein thyroglobulin, a precursor to iodinated forms of thyroid hormone [30]. The organification process causes radioiodine to be retained within the thyroid gland for several days [16]. This relatively long retention time matches the physical half-life of 131I (8 days) and allows a significant radiation dose to be delivered to the tumor.
NIS gene expression has been detected in several tissues in humans, including the thyroid gland, mammary gland, salivary glands, and gastric mucosa [43].
Several studies have reported transfection of NIS into different non-thyroid or undifferentiated thyroid tumors for the purpose of subsequent therapy with 131I [1, 3, 15, 17, 21, 27]. In all of these studies, although 131I uptake in NIS-expressing tumors was substantial (up to 27% injected dose in [27]), the residence times of 131I in the tumors were relatively short and no tumor shrinkage was observed [1, 3, 27]. In a recent report by Spitzweg et al. [28], impressive therapeutic results were seen in NIS-transfected prostate tumor xenografts in mice when treated with a very high single 3 mCi dose of 131I. However, as no biodistribution and no dose-escalation studies were reported, it is unclear why such high dose was administered. The lack of therapeutic gains observed by other investigators [1, 3, 27] can be attributable to the long physical half-life (8 days) and decay properties of 131I, as the beta-particles emitted by 131I are low energy (Eaverage=0.134 MeV) and have an optimal tissue range of only 2.6-5.0 mm [22].
Several different approaches to circumvent the problem of insufficient iodide radiation dose to NIS-expressing tumors have been suggested. Daniels and Haber [5] and Nakamoto [21] suggested that pharmacologic modulation of fast cellular radioiodide efflux from breast cancer cells might be possible by administering lithium salts which increase radioiodide half-life in thyroid tumors. Boland et al. [1] proposed to improve the efficiency of NIS gene transfer and thus the iodide uptake capacity of the target tissue by the use of modified vectors and/or higher viral doses. The same authors also proposed to increase the biological half-life of radioiodide in the tumor tissues by coupling transfer of the NIS gene with the delivery of a gene involved in the iodide organification process, such as thyroperoxidase. Such an approach is not easy to implement because of the inherent complexity of gene therapy procedures especially in the case of 2-gene transfer and the difficulty in transfecting only the target tissue (tumor) in vivo.
A short-lived isotope of technetium 99mTc is used in ˜90% of all diagnostic nuclear medicine procedures [e.g., 42]. It has long been recognized by nuclear medicine practitioners that due to their common ionic characteristics, iodide and 99mTc-pertechnetate (99mTcO4−) behave similarly following intravenous administration [23]. Like iodide, 99mTcO4− localizes in the thyroid, salivary glands, gastric mucosa, and choroid plexus of the brain. It is trapped but not organified in the thyroid gland and is used in nuclear medicine as an alternative to Na123I for assessing thyroid condition.
Rhenium is a chemical analogue of technetium and exhibits practically identical chemical and biodistribution properties [6]. 188-Rhenium (188Re), a powerful beta-emitting radionuclide (Eaverage=0.764 MeV) with a 16.7 hour half-life has been recently used in a number of therapeutic applications in humans including cancer radioimmunotherapy, palliation of skeletal bone pain, and endovascular brachytherapy to prevent restenosis after angioplasty [8, 12, 25], as well as in the pre-clinical development of novel therapeutics [4, 19]. 186-Rhenium (186Re), which has a half-life of 3.7 days and Eaverage=0.362 MeV, is also being used in clinical applications [33-36]. Because of its chemical similarity to pertechnetate, the perrhenate anion (188ReO4−) is concentrated in thyroid and stomach [14]. Co-injected 99mTcO4−, 125I−, and 188ReO4− have similar uptake and biodistribution in NIS-expressing (thyroid, stomach, salivary gland) and non-expressing tissues in normal, healthy mice, with the exception of the thyroid gland where only 125I− is retained by organification [32]. In contrast, a study employing rat thyroid NIS expressed in Xenopus laevis oocytes found that ReO4− is a potent blocking agent for NIS, second to only perchlorate (ClO4−), and that ReO4− is transported via NIS only to a very small extent and only when the concentration of ReO4− is high [44]. Accordingly, the ability of NIS to mediate the transport of ReO4− in general, and its potential for doing so in tumor cells in particular, have not been resolved.

Rhenium-188 and rhenium-186 for treatment of tumors expressing a Na

Albert Einstein College of Medicine of Yeshiva University