A digital-to-analog converter includes a full-type decoder, a fractional decoder and an averaging amplifier. The full-type decoder is configured to select, based on N-bit digital data, one of a set of first gamma reference voltages corresponding to a first interval of gamma reference voltages. The fractional decoder is configured to receive a set of second gamma reference voltages corresponding to a second interval of gamma reference voltages, and is configured to generate, based on the N-bit digital data, a plurality of output voltages including one of a pair of adjacent gamma reference voltages in the set of second gamma reference voltages. The averaging amplifier is configured to output an average of the plurality of output voltages of the fractional decoder. A source driver for a display panel includes a digital-to-analog converter as described.

Display devices are used in various types of electronic devices such as monitors, laptop computers, TVs and mobile communication terminals. For such devices, it is desirable for the display to be thin and/or light. To satisfy such requirements, various Flat Panel Displays (FPDs) have been developed as alternatives to more conventional cathode ray tube displays.
An LCD (Liquid Crystal Display) is one kind of Flat Panel Display. In an LCD, dielectric anisotropic liquid crystal is injected between an upper substrate's alignment layer having a common electrode and a lower substrate's alignment layer having a pixel electrode. An image is displayed by applying voltage into the common electrode and the pixel electrode to form an electric field between the common electrode and the pixel electrode, and then controlling intensity of the electric field to control transmittance of light of the liquid crystal.
RGB (Red, Green, Blue) data are input into the LCD from an external host system, e.g., a graphic source. The data format of the input RGB data is converted by a timing controller of the LCD, and transmitted to a source driver IC (Integrated Circuit). The source driver IC generates an analog gray scale voltage corresponding to the RGB data and supplies the analog signal to selected pixels of the LCD panel, to thereby cause the LCD panel to display an image.
Generally, the bit number of the RGB data input into the timing controller needs to be the same as that of the data signal of the source driver IC. In general, a color depth of 18-bits (i.e. each of the Red, Green and Blue data is 6 bits (n=6)), or 24-bits (i.e. each of the Red, Green and Blue is 8 bits (n=8)) is commonly used in LCDs.
As electrical devices including LCD displays have become bigger, a source driver IC capable of handling a data signal having more than 10 bits (n=10) so as to display a broader range of colors has been desired.
However, increasing the number of data bits of a source driver IC may be difficult and/or expensive. In particular, a digital-to-analog converter for converting input digital data to analog gray scale voltage is built in the source driver IC. Because the number of transistors included in a digital-to-analog converter increases greatly according as the number of data bits increases, the more the number of data bits is increased, the more the size of a conventional source driver IC chip must be increased.
FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional digital-to-analog converter having a full-type decoder.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, the digital-to-analog converter includes a gamma reference voltage generating circuit 10 which generates gamma reference voltages having a plurality of levels and a decoder 20 which receives 8-bit digital data to select one of the gamma reference voltages based on the 8-bit digital data.
The gamma reference voltage generating circuit 10 includes a plurality of resistor arrays connected in series between the GVDD and the VGS voltage levels, and generates 256 gamma reference voltages having 256 voltage levels using a voltage divider such as the resistor arrays.
Although not illustrated, the gamma reference voltage generating circuit 10 may include a gamma compensation circuit that can compensate for the gamma reference voltages so that the compensated gamma reference voltages may substantially conform to an ideal gamma curve.
The decoder 20 receives 8-bit digital data, i.e. bit values D0, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6 and D7 and inverted values of each of the bit values, i.e. D0B, D1B, D2B, D3B, D4B, D5B, D6B and D7B, and selects one gamma reference voltage from among V0, V1, V2, . . . , V254, V255 gamma reference voltages generated by the gamma reference voltage generating unit 10 based on the value of the 8-bit digital data.
The decoder 20 includes 256 MOS transistor arrays 21 respectively corresponding to V0, V1, V2, . . . , V254, V255 gamma reference voltages generated from the gamma reference voltage generating unit 10. Each of the 256 MOS transistor arrays 21 includes eight MOS transistors connected in series, and each of the eight MOS transistors corresponds to a bit of input digital data. The corresponding bit values of the input digital data, or the inverted values, are input into the gate of each of the eight MOS transistors.
For example, in case where the input digital data are '0000001', a gamma reference voltage V1 will be output, because the gate of MOS transistor M0 is connected to D0, while all of the MOS transistors M1 through M7 are connected to the inverted signals D1B to D7B, respectively, in a second MOS transistor array 21 that is configured to select the gamma reference voltage V1. The output gamma reference voltage V1, i.e. an analog gray scale voltage, is amplified to have predetermined voltage level, and then, input into an LCD panel (not shown).
However, in cases where an 8-bit module decoder is implemented as a full-type decoder, 256 (i.e. 28) MOS transistor arrays 21 are required in order to be able to select each of the 256 gamma reference voltages. As a result, a switching circuit may require a large number (8×256=2048) of MOS transistors. Therefore, it is difficult to miniaturize the chip size, and the circuit may consume excessive power.
Furthermore, configuring a decoder 20 for decoding 10-bit digital data requires 1024 MOS transistor arrays respectively having 10 MOS transistors in order to be able to select one of 1024 gamma reference voltages, so that 10×1024=10240 MOS transistors may be required. Thus, the number of the MOS transistors needed for a 10-bit decoder is increased more than 4 times compared with a decoder for decoding 8-bit digital data.
Consequently, such a full-type decoder selects one among the 2n input gamma reference voltages to decode n-bit digital data, so that the full-type decoder can output accurate analog gray scale voltage. However, a full-type decoder may require a very large chip area in order to decode 10-bit digital data. In addition, a full-type decoder may consume a significant amount of power. Because the decoder may occupy almost 50 percent of the chip area in a source driver IC, when the size of the decoder increased, it may not be possible to minimize the chip size.
Because of these problems, fractional decoders such as a half-type decoder and a quarter-type decoder have been used. A fractional decoder outputs a number of analog gray scale voltages by using two gamma reference voltages generated from a gamma reference voltage generating unit. As will be explained in greater detail below, an averaging amplifier coupled to the fractional decoder generates a weighted average of the two gamma reference voltage to provide gamma reference voltages intermediate and/or equal to the two gamma reference voltages. The half-type decoder and the quarter-type decoder can reduce the number of MOS transistors to one half or one fourth, respectively, compared with the full-type decoder using all the 2n gamma reference voltages.
FIG. 2 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional 10-bit standard half-type decoder used in a source driver IC.
As illustrated in FIG. 2, a half-type decoder 80 includes a gamma reference voltage selecting unit 40 and an averaging amplifier 50. The gamma reference voltage selecting unit 40 receives V0, V2, V4, V6, . . . from a gamma reference voltages generating unit, and receives 10-bit digital data, i.e. D0, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8 and D9 bit value and the inverted values of each bit value, i.e. D0B, D1B, D2B, D3B, D4B, D5B, D6B, D7B, D8B and D9B, for selecting the gamma reference voltage, and outputs two gamma reference voltages Y1 and Y2. The averaging amplifier 50 receives two gamma reference voltages output from the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 40, and outputs an average voltage of the two.
FIG. 3 is a table illustrating functioning of half-type decoder 80 illustrated on FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 2 and FIG. 3, the half-type decoder 80 selects and outputs two gamma reference voltages Y1 and Y2, by using a predetermined gamma reference voltage and a gamma reference voltage 2 gray scale levels higher than the predetermined gamma reference voltage, and then, outputs an average voltage Ya of the two gamma reference voltages Y1 and Y2.
For example, in case where the input digital data are '0000000000', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 40 selects V0 and outputs V0 as both Y1 and Y2, an average value V0 is output through the averaging amplifier 50.
In addition, in case where the input digital data are '0000000001', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 40 selects V0 and V2 and outputs V0 and V2 as Y1 and Y2, respectively, an average value V1 of V0 and V2 is output through the averaging amplifier 50 as output Ya. In addition, in case where the input digital data are '0000000010', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 40 selects and outputs V2 and V2 as Y1 and Y2, respectively, an average value Ya of V2 is output by the averaging amplifier 50.
In this manner, the half-type decoder 80 can choose all of the analog gray scale voltages to be input to a LCD panel by using only 512 gamma reference voltages among 1024 gamma reference voltages. Therefore, because the number of the MOS transistor arrays for selecting each of the gamma reference voltages can be greatly reduced, the area of the chip and the dissipated power can be reduced by almost one half compared with the full-type decoder.
FIG. 4 is a circuit diagram illustrating a conventional 10-bit standard quarter-type decoder used in a source driver IC.
As illustrated in FIG. 4, a quarter-type decoder 90 includes a gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 and an averaging amplifier 70. The gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 receives the gamma reference voltages, i.e. V0, V4, V8, V12, . . . from the gamma reference voltages generating unit 10, and receives 10-bit digital data, i.e. bit values D0, D1, D2, D3, D4, D5, D6, D7, D8 and D9 and inverted values of each of the bit values, i.e. D0B, D1B, D2B, D3B, D4B, D5B, D6B, D7B, D8B and D9B for selecting and outputting one of the gamma reference voltages, and outputs four gamma reference voltages Y1–Y4. The averaging amplifier 70 receives four gamma reference voltages Y1–Y4 output from the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60, and outputs an average voltage Ya.
FIG. 5 is a table illustrating the operation of a quarter-type decoder 90 illustrated in FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 5, the half-type decoder 90 selects and outputs four gamma reference voltages, i.e. Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4 by using a given gamma reference voltage and a gamma reference voltage 4 gray scale levels higher than the given gamma reference voltage, and then, outputs average voltage Ya of Y1, Y2, Y3 and Y4.
For example, in case where the input digital data are '0000000000', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 selects and outputs V0, V0, V0 and V0 as Y1–Y4, an average value V0 is output as Ya by the averaging amplifier 70.
In addition, in case where the input digital data are '0000000001', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 selects V0, V0, V0 and V4 and outputs V0, V0, V0 and V4 as Y1–Y4, an average value V1 is output as Ya by the averaging amplifier 70. In addition, in case where the input digital data are '0000000010', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 selects V0, V0, V4 and V4 and outputs V0, V0, V4 and V4 as Y1–Y4, Ya equals V2 when average value is output through the averaging amplifier 70.
In case where the input digital data are '0000000011', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 selects V0, V4, V4 and V4 and outputs V0, V4, V4 and V4 as Y1–Y4, Ya equals V3 when the average value is output by the averaging amplifier 70. In addition, in case where the input digital data are '0000000100', because the gamma reference voltage selecting unit 60 selects V4, V4, V4 and V4 and outputs V4, V4, V4 and V4 as Y1–Y4, Ya equals V4 when an average value is output by the averaging amplifier 70.
In this manner, the quarter-type decoder 90 can generate 1024 analog gray scale voltages to be input to an LCD panel by using only 256 gamma reference voltages. Therefore, because the number of MOS transistor arrays for selecting each of the gamma reference voltages can be greatly reduced, the area of the chip and the dissipated power can be reduced compared with a full-type decoder and/or a half-type decoder.
However, while such a half-type decoder and/or a quarter-type decoder can reduce the area of a chip used for the source driver IC and/or the power dissipation thereof, it may be difficult to output accurate analog gray scale voltage because the gamma reference voltage input to the decoder may not be linear over the entire range of gamma reference voltages.
FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating a gamma curve of gamma reference voltage. The y-axis represents brightness and the x-axis represents gamma reference voltage.
Referring to FIG. 6, because the gamma reference voltage is nonlinear in certain regions, such as in the vicinity of the beginning section V0˜V7 and in the vicinity of the last section V1016˜V023, and because, in the nonlinear intervals (a, c), the average voltage of 2 (or 4) gamma reference voltages selected by a given gamma reference voltage and a gamma reference voltage 2 gray scale levels (or 4 gray scale levels) higher than the given gamma reference voltage may not be exactly equal to a gamma reference voltage located between the two gamma reference voltages (i.e. the given gamma reference voltage and a gamma reference voltage 2 gray scale levels higher than the given gamma reference voltage), accurate analog gray scale voltages may not be output. Consequently, a distortion of the gamma curve occurs, and the display quality may be deteriorated.
While a conventional full-type decoder can output a relatively accurate analog gray scale voltage, such a circuit may require a large chip area and/or may have a large power dissipation. Moreover, while a conventional half-type decoder or a conventional quarter-type decoder may require less chip area and may have reduced power dissipation, such circuits may not output accurate analog gray scale voltage levels in the nonlinear intervals (a, c) of the gamma reference voltage curve.

Digital-to-analog converters including full-type and fractional decoders, and source drivers for display panels including the same


A semiconductor device includes a semiconductor element and a connector. The semiconductor element has a power device of a voltage drive type for controlling an on operation and an off operation of a main current by input of a drive signal. The connector receives the drive signal without making contact with an issuing unit issuing the drive signal, and transmits the drive signal to the semiconductor element. The semiconductor element preferably includes a control unit for converting the drive signal received by the connector into a voltage value, and transmitting the voltage value to the semiconductor element.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a semiconductor device, and particularly to a semiconductor device having a power device of a voltage drive type.
2. Description of the Background Art
In general, a semiconductor device having a semiconductor element is connected to an external system side via a main electrode and a signal terminal. The main electrode passes a main current to the semiconductor element in an on operation or an off operation. A drive signal (gate drive signal) is transmitted from the system side to the signal terminal for causing the semiconductor device to perform the on operation or the off operation. This drive signal is transmitted as a voltage from the system side such as an inverter.
As an example of the above semiconductor device, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2004-087871 (Patent Document 1) has disclosed a temperature sensing device of a semiconductor switch element. This patent document 1 has disclosed a temperature sensor, a non-contact temperature transmitting device and a power supply circuit. The temperature sensor senses a temperature in a desired position of the semiconductor switch element. The non-contact temperature transmitting device transmits, in a non-contact manner, a sensed temperature value obtained by the temperature sensor that is attached to the semiconductor switch element to a position remote from the semiconductor switch element. The power supply circuit uses, as a power supply, a gate signal provided to the semiconductor switch element, and supplies an operation power to the temperature sensor and the non-contact temperature transmitting device.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-324525 (Patent Document 2) has disclosed a method of signal transmissions between chips (semiconductor elements). The patent document 2 has disclosed the signal transmission method in which a second inductor element receives a first signal issued from a first inductor element and outputs it as a second signal, and particularly has disclosed the method in which the second inductor element receives the first signal and outputs the received signal by electromagnetic induction. The chip has a gate electrode that is driven by a pulse (drive signal) generated by a pulse generating circuit.
Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2000-020665 (Patent Document 3) has disclosed a semiconductor device provided with an LSI chip and an antenna. According to the disclosure of the patent document 3, the antenna receiving an electromagnetic wave generates an electric power by electromagnetic induction, and supplies it to an LSI chip (semiconductor element) so that the LSI chip operates,
According to the patent documents 1 to 3, a drive signal terminal for transmitting the drive signal to the semiconductor element inside the device must be electrically connected to a signal issuing unit on the system side. The semiconductor devices have been used in extremely wide ranges, and it is important to ensure reliability of electric connection between the system side and the semiconductor device.
The foregoing patent documents have not disclosed the electric connection between the drive signal issuing unit on the system side and the drive signal terminal of the semiconductor device described above. For example, the following three techniques may be employed for the electric connection between the drive signal issuing unit and the drive signal terminal. In a first technique, the drive signal terminal is joined to the drive signal issuing unit by solder. In a second technique, a connector is used, and the signal terminal is electrically connected to the drive signal issuing unit by a frictional force of the connector. In a third technique, a spring is used, and the drive signal terminal is electrically connected to the drive signal issuing unit by a pressing force applied to a surface.
However, the electric connection by the solder in the first technique suffers from the following problem. In recent years, lead-free solder has been used in view of environment. The lead-free solder generally has a high melting point. Therefore, a heat that is applied for soldering the drive signal issuing unit to the drive signal terminal is liable to damage at least one of the drive signal issuing unit and the signal terminal. This lowers the reliability of the semiconductor device.
When a stress is applied to a joined portion of the solder, e.g., due to vibrations, a crack or the like may occur. This lowers the reliability of the electric connection between the signal issuing unit and the drive signal terminal. When the reliability of the electric connection between the signal issuing unit and the drive signal terminal lowers, the drive signal cannot be transmitted reliably to the semiconductor device.
The electric connections by the connector or the spring in the foregoing second and third techniques suffer from the following problem. When a stress, e.g., due to vibrations is applied, the state of contact between the drive signal terminal and the drive signal issuing unit changes. Thereby, the drive signal issuing unit may be electrically disconnected from the drive signal terminal, which lowers the reliability of electric connection between the drive signal issuing unit and the drive signal terminal. Consequently, the drive signal cannot be transmitted reliably to the semiconductor element.


A combing cylinder of a comber includes a base and comb segments. The base includes mounting slots. Each comb segment includes a needle array and is detachably secured to the base via the associated mounting slot. The sizes of the needle arrays vary from one comb segment to another. The combing cylinder includes a cover. When at least one of the comb segments is detached from the base, the cover is mounted on the base to cover the mounting slot corresponding to the detached comb segment.

The present invention relates to a combing cylinder for a comber, and more specifically, to a combing cylinder for a comber including multiple replaceable comb segments.
A comber includes a working portion provided with multiple (typically, eight) combing heads. The combing heads perform a series of operation to form slivers from raw material, or laps. FIG. 5 shows a combing head 51 including a combing cylinder 54 and a nipper 53 having a feed roller 52. The combing head 51 further includes two pairs of detaching rollers 55, 56 arranged adjacent to each other in the front and rear direction of the combing head 51. The nipper 53 includes a nipper frame 57 arranged to reciprocate in the front and rear direction of the combing head 51 above the combing cylinder 54. The nipper 53 also includes a bottom nipper 58 located at the bottom of the nipper frame 57.
A nipper frame driving arm 59 pivots back and forth, or swings, together with a nipper shaft 60. This swinging motion reciprocates the nipper frame 57 such that the distal end of the bottom nipper 58 approaches and separates from the detaching rollers 55. The nipper frame 57 rotationally supports a nipper arm 61. The nipper arm 61 has a top nipper 61a secured to its distal end. The top nipper 61a approaches and separates from the bottom nipper 58 at predetermined timing in synchronization with the reciprocation of the nipper frame 57, and clamps a lap L in cooperation with the bottom nipper 58. The nipper frame 57 has a top comb 62 mounted such that the top comb 62 moves in a predetermined manner in synchronization with the nipper frame 57 in front of the bottom nipper 58.
Below the combing cylinder 54 is provided a brush 63, and below the brush 63 is provided a non-illustrated suction duct. The combing cylinder 54 and the top comb 62 remove, for example, short fibers and neps from the lap L, which are then sucked into the suction duct.
The combing cylinder 54 uses different kinds of needle arrays (teeth) in accordance with the kind of cotton and the required sliver quality. The combing cylinder 54 typically uses a circular comb including four rows of needle arrays. To respond to a demand for higher sliver quality or to further improve the productivity of the sliver, the combing cylinder 54 including five rows of needle arrays needs to be used.
FIG. 6 shows a combing cylinder 54 disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-146501. The combing cylinder 54 includes multiple comb segments 66 with needle arrays 66a detachably secured to a support 67. The sizes of the needle arrays 66a vary from one comb segment 66 to another. Each comb segment 66 includes a slot 66b on the end opposite to the end where the needle array 66a is arranged. The width of the slot 66b increases toward the needle array 66a. The support 67 has slots 67a formed on its surface to extend in the axial direction of the combing cylinder 54. Each slot 67a accommodates a mounting member 68 arranged to protrude from the slot 67a of the support 67. Each comb segment 66 is secured to the support 67 via the mounting member 68 including a fitting portion that fits with the slot 66b of the comb segment 66. The support 67 includes bolt insertion holes 69 formed to correspond to the slots 67a. Each bolt insertion hole 69 receives a bolt 70 from the opening farther from the slot 67a toward the slot 67a. The mounting member 68 includes threaded bores and is secured to the support 67 by screwing the bolts 70 in the threaded bores. The combing cylinder 54 rotates in the direction indicated by the arrow in FIG. 6, that is, clockwise.
In accordance with the kind of raw cotton and the required quality of the sliver to be spun, the combing cylinder 54 is used either with all the comb segments 66 secured to the support 67 or with one or some of the comb segments 66 detached.
When the combing cylinder 54 of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2005-146501 is used with four of the comb segments 66, the comb segment 66 located at the trailing end of the combing cylinder 54 is detached. In the slot 67a of the support 67 from which the comb segment 66 is removed, foreign object such as cotton fly accumulates, but cannot be cleaned with the brush 63. When a certain amount of foreign object builds up in the slot 67a, the foreign object mixes into a web (wide fiber bundle) and significantly deteriorates the sliver quality.


A connector for a medical electrical lead includes a single connector, which delivers three or more conductors to an implantable medical device (IMD). The connector includes integrated multiple electrode rings and conductors, and has a modular system of connector and spacer blocks for routing the conductors to a lead body.

The present invention relates generally to implantable medical device (IMD) leads for delivering active electrodes to various places in a human body, such as the heart. In particular, the present invention relates to connectors for connecting a lead with an IMD.
Advances in technology have led to IMDs having increased capabilities for performing therapeutic, diagnostic and other functions. Such advances can require the use of leads carrying additional electrodes, which require additional conductors that run from the IMD to a distal end of the lead. Recently, high voltage (HV), quadripolar leads having four conductors have been introduced for tachyarrythmia management and other applications. These leads include an industry standard IS-1 connector pin for connecting the IMD with a typical coil conductor and a sensing electrode conductor for performing Brady-type pacing. In addition, for performing other pacing, sensing, defibrillation therapy and diagnostic functions, for example, in the superior vena cava (SVC) or right ventricle (RV), additional conductors are connected to the IMD with standard DF-1 connector pins. Thus, these leads require up to three connector pins for inserting into the IMD. Because an additional connector port is necessary for each connector pin, the increased number of pins can result in an increased size of the IMD, which requires a larger space-volume and may pose hermiticity and patient comfort issues. Therefore, there is a need for a lead connector capable of connecting multiple conductors with a single connector pin.

Medical electrical lead connector assembly


A rear mounting having two scoop elements is detachably fastened in the rear cutout of a convertible vehicle by way of fastening elements. The scoop elements are constructed to be separable in a longitudinal center plane so that, in an in-use position on the vehicle, the two scoop elements form a connected unit and, in a transport position, these scoop elements can be stowed in the vehicle in a mutually detachable and separate manner.

This application claims the priority of German application 196 36 316.0 on Aug. 29, 1996.
The invention relates to a detachably fastened rear mounting for a motor vehicle having two scoops arranged behind the front seats.
From German Patent Document DE 85 23 831 U1, a vehicle having a rear mounting is known which has two scoops which are arranged behind the front seats and in which the rear mounting is constructed in one piece.
It is an object of the invention to provide a rear mounting which can be detachably fastened on a vehicle body and can be transported in the vehicle in a space saving manner.
According to the invention, this object is achieved by an arrangement wherein in an in-use position, the rear mounting includes two scoop elements which are connected to form a unit and can be fastened on the vehicle, and, in a transport position, the scoop elements can be divided in the longitudinal direction of the vehicle in a center plane and are constructed to be individually storable in the vehicle.
Principal advantages achieved by means of the invention are that the rear mounting is divided into two scoop elements and each scoop element can be individually stowed in the vehicle. Because of the division, the rear mounting can be transported in a space-saving manner because the elements can be distributed according to the available space in the vehicle or in the trunk. They are preferably accommodated in the rearward trunk.
In an in-use position, the two scoop elements of the rear mounting can be connected with one another on their longitudinal center edges by way of hooking elements in the form of strips. A fastening on the vehicle preferably takes place by way of a slide-in strip or slide-in strip pieces which in a clamping manner receive an edge area of a rear cutout edge between one another. Forward lateral sections of the rear mounting are, for example, connected with the vehicle body by way of fastening elements for a hardtop which exists on the vehicle.
In a transport position, the rear mounting with the two scoop elements is demounted from the vehicle in such a manner that the lateral fastenings are first detached from the vehicle and then the mounting is pulled out of the rear cutout, and then the two scoop elements are separated from one another in that the hooking elements are detached from one another. Preferably, the scoop elements are removed individually.
Preferably, it is also possible to use only one scoop element on the vehicle in an in-use position, the additional scoop element being stored in the vehicle. The space without the scoop element can be provided with a corresponding covering.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the invention when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Detachably fastened rear mounting for a motor vehicle


Methods of treating liver diseases are provided. Accordingly there is provided a method of treating a liver disease selected from the group consisting of fatty liver disease and chronic liver rejection in a subject in need thereof, wherein said liver disease is not associated with genetic alpha-1 anti-trypsin (AAT) deficiency, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of AAT.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to methods of treating liver diseases and, more particularly, but not exclusively, to the use of alpha-1 anti-trypsin (AAT) in the treatment of fatty liver disease and/or chronic liver rejection.
Alcoholic and non alcoholic fatty liver disease (also known as hepatosteatosis) is a prevalent liver condition that occurs when lipids accumulate in liver cells. The accumulation of lipids causes cellular injury, sensitization of the liver to further injuries and damage to the hepatic microvascular circulation. The etiology of fatty liver disease is associated with excessive alcohol consumption, metabolic disorders, dietary conditions, exposure to certain chemicals and medications and complications of pregnancy (e.g., preeclampsia).
Fatty liver disease is a major health burden worldwide. The prevalence of non-alcoholic fatty liver disease (NAFLD) ranges from 15% to 37% of the population and is considered the most common liver disease worldwide. Moreover, NAFLD is also believed to affect as many as 3-10% of obese children. NAFLD can progress to a more advanced liver disease such as nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH), a condition characterized by liver inflammation and damage, often accompanied by fibrosis or cirrhosis of the liver which can further lead to end stage liver disease and primary liver cancer. NASH has a prevalence of 3-10% of the general population.
Currently, there are no approved treatments for NAFLD and NASH which efficacy has been demonstrated by large-scale rigorous clinical trials. In general, current therapies include healthy lifestyle and non-specific metabolic modulators.
Chronic liver transplant rejection is a process which occurs over time, typically several months to years following engraftment, even in the presence of successful immunosuppression. While there have been improvements in the management of acute transplant rejection over the last thirty years as seen in the increased survival of transplants during the first year following the procedure, the half-life for long term organ survival has not improved and only about 50% of the transplants are functional at ten years.
To date, there are no therapeutic regimens which can effectively inhibit the chronic liver rejection process.
Alpha-1 anti-trypsin is a serine protease inhibitor (serpin) which inhibits a wide variety of proteases and protects the cells from proteolytic enzymes. The protein was called "anti-trypsin" because of its ability to covalently bind and irreversibly inactivate the enzyme trypsin in-vitro. AAT is synthesized in the liver and secreted into plasma, where it has a half life of approximately six days. Normal plasma concentration of AAT ranges from 1.3 to 3.5 mg/ml. However, under certain conditions AAT can behave as an acute phase reactant and its concentration increases 3-4-fold during host response to inflammation, tissue injury and/or distinct change such as acute infection and tumors. AAT easily diffuses into tissue spaces and forms a complex with target proteases, principally neutrophil elastase, which breaks down the connective tissue fiber elastin. Other enzymes such as trypsin, chymotrypsin, cathepsin G, plasmin, thrombin, tissue kallikrein, and factor Xa can also serve as substrates for AAT. The enzyme/inhibitor complex is then removed from the circulation by binding to serpin-enzyme complex (SEC) receptor and catabolized by the liver and spleen.
Beyond its anti-protease activity functions, AAT has been shown to play roles in processes such as immune-modulation, inflammation, proteostasis, necrosis and apoptosis [Hunt et al. Curr Mol Med (2012); 12:827-35]. Mutations in the AAT gene (SERPINA1) that lead to a deficiency in AAT are associated with respiratory complications such as emphysema and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). AAT treatment has been disclosed in a number of indications including AAT deficiency, diabetes, allo- and xeno-transplantation, autoimmune diseases and cancer [see e.g. Guttman et al. Clin Exp Immunol. (2015) 179(2):161-72].
Additional background art includes:    Jedicke et al. Hepatology (2014) 59: 2299-2308;    US Patent Application Publication No: US 20130251671;    US Patent Application Publication No: 20110319330;    US Patent Application Publication No: US 20100111940;    International Patent Application Publication No: WO2013128381; and    International Patent Application Publication No: WO 2010088415.

Alpha-1 anti-trypsin for treating liver diseases

Hadasit Medical Research Services and Development Ltd.


Certain aspects of the present disclosure provide a method of wireless communications, including: receiving, at a first user equipment from a network, a sidelink discontinuous reception (DRX) configuration; configuring a sidelink DRX cycle at the first user equipment based on the sidelink DRX configuration; receiving, at the first user equipment from the network, data for a second user equipment; and sending, from the first user equipment to the second user equipment on a sidelink in accordance with the sidelink DRX cycle, the data for the second user equipment.

Aspects of the present disclosure relate to wireless communications, and more particularly, to techniques for configuring discontinuous reception (DRX) on sidelink communication channels.
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various telecommunication services such as telephony, video, data, messaging, broadcasts, or other similar types of services. These wireless communication systems may employ multiple-access technologies capable of supporting communication with multiple users by sharing available system resources with those users (e.g., bandwidth, transmit power, or other resources). Multiple-access technologies can rely on any of code division, time division, frequency division orthogonal frequency division, single-carrier frequency division, or time division synchronous code division, to name a few. These and other multiple access technologies have been adopted in various telecommunication standards to provide a common protocol that enables different wireless devices to communicate on a municipal, national, regional, and even global level.
Although wireless communication systems have made great technological advancements over many years, challenges still exist. For example, complex and dynamic environments can still attenuate or block signals between wireless transmitters and wireless receivers, undermining various established wireless channel measuring and reporting mechanisms, which are used to manage and optimize the use of finite wireless channel resources. Consequently, there exists a need for further improvements in wireless communications systems to overcome various challenges.

Configuring discontinuous reception on a sidelink


A new motor vehicle trash bag for storing garbage that has accumulated in a vehicle. The inventive device includes an interior frame member having a generally V-shaped cross-section. The interior frame member has an inverted generally U-shaped inner member. The inner member has a spring member disposed thereon. The interior frame member has an inverted generally U-shaped outer member. The outer member is secured to the spring member whereby the spring member biases the outer member outwardly with respect to the inner member. The inner member and the outer member each have a pair of clips disposed thereon. The pair of clips are adapted for holding a garbage liner therebetween in an open orientation. An exterior portion is dimensioned for receiving the interior frame member therein. The exterior portion is dimensioned for positioning beneath a seat of a vehicle.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to trash bag brackets and more particularly pertains to a new motor vehicle trash bag for storing garbage that has accumulated in a vehicle.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of trash bag brackets is known in the prior art. More specifically, trash bag brackets heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art trash bag brackets include U.S. Pat. No. 5,246,190 to Swirkal; U.S. Pat. No. 4,280,643 to Cordova et al.; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 315,494 to Latham; U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,003 to Ma; U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,340 to Preston; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,723,740 to Courtemanche et al.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new motor vehicle trash bag. The inventive device includes an interior frame member having a generally V-shaped cross-section. The interior frame member has an inverted generally U-shaped inner member. The inner member has a spring member disposed thereon. The interior frame member has an inverted generally U-shaped outer member. The outer member is secured to the spring member whereby the spring member biases the outer member outwardly with respect to the inner member. The inner member and the outer member each have a pair of clips disposed thereon. The pair of clips are adapted for holding a garbage liner therebetween in an open orientation. An exterior portion is dimensioned for receiving the interior frame member therein. The exterior portion is dimensioned for positioning beneath a seat of a vehicle.
In these respects, the motor vehicle trash bag according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of storing garbage that has accumulated in a vehicle.


High solubility film product comprising a starch and/or a cellulose and at least one bacterium or enzyme chosen from those necessary for milk fermentation, coagulation or curdling.

To obtain milk by-products or derivatives such as yoghurt, cheese, butter, cream, etc., it is known to subject the milk to treatment with lactic acid cultures, coagulant substances and/or other microorganisms.
These processes, which utilize well known ancient procedures and techniques, use lactic acid cultures, coagulant substances such as bovine rennet or other microorganisms, generally in liquid or lyophilized form.
Both the liquid form and the lyophilized form present considerable drawbacks, both with regard to the stability of the microorganisms and their life duration, and with regard to the dosage.
In this respect, it is known that the liquid form possesses a high risk of bacterial contamination and moulds extraneous to those considered useful, the flora present therein rapidly evolving to modify the content (number) of useful microbacteria.
With regard to the lyophilized form, being strongly hygroscopic and hence influenced by moisture and temperature changes, it requires sophisticated procedures for correct preservation, otherwise there is the risk of contamination and alteration. Such preparations are suitable mainly for large or medium transformation firms, which can avoid prolonged storage of raw materials and can process considerable quantities of milk for each preparation, hence totally utilizing dosages ready prepared in bags for 500 or 1000 kg of milk, without having the problem of storing and preserving the remainder.
In contrast, small and medium enterprises process small or medium milk quantities at a time and do not possess adequate structures for correct storage of raw materials which can deteriorate. It would therefore be advantageous to have available a product with a sufficiently precise microorganism content for use in a single dose for small milk quantities, or in several doses for larger milk quantities, which is easily preservable, and is ready for use being immediately dissolvable in water or milk. The use of known technologies to obtain solid supports dissolvable in water represents a limit, as the production of tablets or other similar forms requires processing techniques, such as high pressure, which would destroy the highly heat-sensitive and pressure-sensitive flora. Another limit is that the production of these supports often requires considerable quantities of ethanol or other alcohols which for food bacteria, such as probiotic, prebiotic and symbiotic lactic acid cultures, would be destructive. This applies in particular to all groups of lactic acid bacteria (lactobacillus acidophilus, lactobacillus gasseri, lactobacillus johsonii, lactobacillus crispatus, lactobacillus amylovorus, lactobacillus gallinarum; lactobacillus casei subsp. casei, lactobacillus paracasei subsp. paracasei, lactobacillus rhamnosus; lactobacillus reuteri, lactobacillus plantarum, lactobacillus salivarius, pediococcus acidilactici, lactobacillus delbrueckii subsp. bulgaricus, Steptococcus thermophilus, etc.), all the bifidobactera (bifidobacterium longum, bifidum, breve, infantis, adolescentis, lactis, etc.), and other microorganisms (non-lactic acid bacteria and non-bifidobacteria) (Enterococcus faecium, bacillus subtilis, bacillus coagulans (Lactobacillus sporogenes), saccharomyces cerevisiae, etc.). Hence if they could be kept alive in a metered quantity in large number on a support dissolvable in milk or water, interest would be considerable in all dairy milk processes for which. products could hence be provided in quickly dissolvable solid film form of known strength ready for easy and immediate use.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Quick water-dissolved film product, for treating milk with bacteria and/or enzymes


Backlight unit comprising a supply source (4), a discharge lamp (2) having a tubular discharge vessel (6) with an ionizable filling, three or more electrodes (8, 10, 12) arranged in a row along and external of the vessel at spaced relation to each other. The supply source comprises lamp drivers (14, 16) and data processing means (18). Each pair of different pairs of electrodes is coupled to a corresponding lamp driver. Each lamp driver is suitable to supply a high frequency supply voltage to the pair of electrodes to which the lamp driver is coupled. The data processing means is suitable to process input display data (D) and to control the lamp drivers such that their supplied supply voltages are dependent on the input display data.

A backlight unit of the above type is disclosed by WO99/25001. The prior art backlight unit comprises a single lamp, which is bent to follow a serpentine path. There are three electrodes provided external to the lamp: one outer electrode at each extremity of the lamp and one center electrode in the middle between the outer electrodes. A supply source generates a high frequency supply voltage which is supplied to a primary winding of a transformer. The transformer has two secondary windings with two outer terminals and one common center terminal. Each secondary winding is connected to a different pair of an outer electrode and the center electrode, such, that the electrodes at the extremities of the lamp have opposite phases. Accordingly, the supply source provides lamp drivers for driving different pairs of electrodes in one manner. A goal thereof is to provide a uniform brightness distribution of light emitted by the lamp.


The technology provides embodiments for making static printed content being viewed through a see-through, mixed reality display device system more dynamic with display of virtual data. A printed content item, for example a book or magazine, is identified from image data captured by cameras on the display device, and user selection of a printed content selection within the printed content item is identified based on physical action user input, for example eye gaze or a gesture. A task in relation to the printed content selection can also be determined based on physical action user input. Virtual data for the printed content selection is displayed in accordance with the task. Additionally, virtual data can be linked to a work embodied in a printed content item. Furthermore, a virtual version of the printed material may be displayed at a more comfortable reading position and with improved visibility of the content.

Static printed material may be thought of as a form of read only memory which requires no power and stores its data in a form visible to the human eye. Vellum texts over a thousand years old survive to this day. Additionally, the data is presented generally in a format comfortable for human eye reading which presents printed text against a contrasting physical background of white or another contrasting colored paper. The physical nature of the printed material allows a user to physically sift through its data for "something of interest," for example, by flipping through its pages and looking at illustrations or catchy titles in a magazine. One can hold one's place in a physical book, and flip back a clump of pages, which the user's brain knows is about the right section, to reread a section and look back at the place held by a finger too. Of course, physical books, periodicals and paper have their disadvantages too due to the permanent setting of information on their pages.

Making static printed content dynamic with virtual data


A vehicle travels with a traveling electric motor controlled with a first control device. A synthetic circuit receives a driving signal from a second control device, which is for controlling another electric motor distinct from the traveling electric motor. The synthetic circuit synthesizes, according to the driving signal, the operation notification sound imitative of a motor sound emitted from the traveling electric motor. An emission unit emits an operation notification sound synthesized by the synthetic circuit to notify the vehicle being in an operation state.

In general, a vehicle employing an electric motor as a power source emits small noise when being ready to travel or when traveling. Therefore, people outside or inside the vehicle can hardly notice the vehicle being ready to travel and can hardly notice the vehicle being traveling. In consideration of this, a proposed device is configured to emit a specific sound to notify people of a vehicle being ready to travel or being traveling.
For example, JP-A-2005-343360 discloses a vehicular device configured to emit a predetermined alarm sound when the vehicle travels with an electric motor. The device of JP-A-2005-343360 employs a microcomputer to generate the alarm sound. The microcomputer is equipped with a memory device storing date related to the alarm sound. In the conventional configuration of JP-A-2005-343360, the microcomputer needs a storage area to store sound source data related to the alarm sound. In addition, a considerable processing load is applied to the microcomputer in order to generate the alarm sound at a high frequency of several kilohertz. Therefore, an exclusive electronic control unit is conventionally requisite to generate an alarm sound with a microcomputer. Alternatively, it is conceivable to employ an existing vehicular electronic control unit with an additional function to generate an operation notification sound. Nevertheless, in this configuration, the existing vehicular electronic control unit needs to be equipped with a high-performance microcomputer. Thus, in a conventional configuration, a large-scale device and/or a large number of additional circuit components are requisite to generate an operation notification sound.

Operation notification sound emission device for vehicle


A semiconductor device of the present invention in which a plurality of lead terminals are provided for only one side, comprising a plurality of leads connected to the lead terminals, a semiconductor chip provided on an island and having a plurality of pads electrically connected to the leads on one side, a first extension lead which is connected to one lead terminal among the leads and at least a part of which is provided along a side of the semiconductor chip perpendicular to the side of it having the pads, a second extension lead at least a part of which is provided for a side of the semiconductor chip opposite to the side of it having the pads, and a suspension pin provided between one end of the first extension lead and one end of the second extension lead and connected to the island. The semiconductor chip includes a power-supply-voltage provided for a side of the semiconductor chip opposite to the side of it having the pad and pad electrically connected with the other end of the second extension lead, a first auxiliary pad provided for a side of the semiconductor chip other than the side of it having the pads and electrically connected to one end of the first extension lead and a second auxiliary pad electrically connected to one end of the second extension lead, and wiring connecting the first auxiliary pad with the second auxiliary pad.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device, particularly to a semiconductor device having a lead terminal on only one side of a package.
2. Description of the Related Art
As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional semiconductor device is formed by radially connecting a lead 21 protruded from a margin 29a inside of a body to the inside 29 of the body with a pad 24 on a semiconductor chip 22 by a bonding wire 23. Therefore, the pattern of the lead 21 has a regular simple shape. Thus, it is possible to easily set a suspension pin 26 for holding an island 25 to mount a semiconductor chip 22 inside of the body 29 between patterns of the lead 21 and at four sides of the island 25 as illustrated. As a result, the island 25 is stably located without tilting in a resin sealing step and therefore, it is possible to easily form a package.
However, because an electronic unit circuit has more complicated and advanced functions, to attain high speed operation and reduction of the mounting area, the lead terminal of a package and the arrangement of pads of a semiconductor chip are specialized and the pattern of a lead frame is complicated. For example, as shown in FIG. 2, there is a case in which a lead terminal 30 is provided for only one side of a package, e.g., a zigzag inline package (ZIP). In this case, because it is necessary for a power-supply terminal pad to stably supply a power supply voltage to the whole of a chip 32, a power-supply-voltage pad 34b is also present on the side opposite to the lead terminal side. To bond the opposite-side pad 34b, it is necessary to extend the lead frame from the side where the lead terminal 30 is present and arrange a lead 31a enclosing the chip 32. Therefore, it is impossible to provide a suspension pin 36 for holding an island 35 for necessary portions around the island, that is, right and left sides of an island 35 in this case.
In the case of the above-described conventional semiconductor device, when the lead terminal 30 can be provided for only one side of the package and the pad on the chip is also present on the side opposite to the lead terminal, it is necessary to arrange leads extended so as to enclose the chip by extending the lead frame from the side where the lead terminal is present. Therefore, it is impossible to provide a joint (suspension pin) for holding the island for necessary portions around the island. Thus, there is a disadvantage that the number of joints decreases, the island becomes unstable and tilts in the resin sealing step, and finally the island protrudes from the package.

Semiconductor device having lead terminal on only one side of a package


A longitudinal beam for a turbojet engine nacelle support structure is provided. The longitudinal beam is primarily made from composite materials and in the shape of an L and includes a longitudinal web contacting with an attachment pylon of the nacelle and a sole. More specifically, the sole produces a receiving part capable of cooperating directly or indirectly by embedding with an end of an associated front frame.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
As is known in itself, an aircraft engine, 17 as illustrated in FIG. 8, which is generally of the turbojet engine type, is placed inside a nacelle 7 which, among other functions:                provides an aerodynamic fairing for the engine,        makes it possible to channel the outside air toward the engine,        makes it possible to connect the engine to the aircraft.
Traditionally, a cascade thrust reverser comprises two half-cowls 19 each slidingly mounted on a longitudinal support half-beam called the 12 o'clock beam 1 generally pivotably mounted on a support mast of the nacelle.
The rotational movement of each half-beam on the nacelle support thus makes it possible to pivot each half-cowl 19 relative to that mast 13 for maintenance operations.
A lower support beam also exists called the 6 o'clock beam 5 comprising two half-beams capable of opening by pivoting with the half-cowls 19 and therefore generally equipped with means for connecting to each other and locking the two half-structures.
Each 6 o'clock half-beam 5 is traditionally connected to the corresponding 12 o'clock 1 half-beam by means of an inner structure surrounding the turbojet engine 17.
Depending on the design of the nacelle, the 12 o'clock beam may be stationary and the opening of the half-cowls for maintenance purposes may be done by completely translating said sliding cowls. In that case, it is also possible to provide a single substantially peripheral moving cowl, in which case the 6 o'clock beam is then no longer present.
The support structures or beams are generally also equipped with guide rails allowing each half-cowl to slide on its associated half-beam alternating between a thrust reverser position called the direct jet position and a thrust reverser position called the reverse jet position.
Thus, traditionally, each 12 o'clock half-beam will have a structure, on its outer face, of primary and secondary rails able to allow the movement of the associated half-cowl 19, and multiple hinge yokes capable of allowing the half-beam to be articulated on the associated nacelle mast.
The 12 o'clock and 6 o'clock beams are connected to each other by a substantially annular structure called the front frame and generally formed by two front half-frames 3 each extending between said corresponding half-beams on either side of the middle plane of the nacelle.
This front frame is designed to be fastened to the periphery of the downstream edge of a casing of the fan of the engine 17, and thereby to contribute to the reaction and transmission of forces between the different parts of the nacelle 7 and the turbojet engine 17.
Furthermore, in the case of a nacelle equipped with a cascade thrust reverser device, the front frame also serves to support said vanes of the thrust reverser.
The connection of each 12 o'clock-beam with its associated front frame part is done by means of a mounted or integrated extension (for example, see document FR 2,920,192) on the upstream part (relative to the direction of airflow in the nacelle) of the half-beam, and intended to cooperate by snapping with a corresponding receptacle of the front frame. This receptacle of the front frame is traditionally called "ash pan".
Once this snapping is done, rivets are fastened to secure the extension of the beam with the wall of the front half-frame.
The 6 o'clock half-beams have substantially the same structure, with the exception that they do not comprise hinge yokes, but locking yokes and/or corresponding locking means.
Such an assembly method is not fully satisfactory, on the one hand because it only allows forces to pass over part of its section, and on the other hand because the fasteners, for example rivets, are mounted blind (i.e., they are only accessible from the outside), which makes them complicated to assemble and monitor.
In particular, by using such an assembly method, the working junction area substantially represents only half of the total height of the assembly.
Furthermore, the more frequent use of composite materials, in particular to produce part or all of said beams and/or front frame, raises issues regarding the relative orientation and the continuity of the fibers of the materials relative to one another so as to optimize the passages of forces and strength.
Various applications have sought to provide solutions to these drawbacks. Examples in particular include published PCT application WO/2011/135213.
WO/2011/135213 targets a support half-structure for an aircraft engine nacelle, comprising at least one longitudinal beam and one front half-frame, remarkable in that said beam and said half-frames are made from composite materials, in the said front half-frame has an open section, and in that said beam and said front half-frame form a single piece.
By producing a single-piece part in a single molding operation (using known RTM (Resin Transfer Molding) or infusion techniques, for example), continuity of the fibers of the composite materials is obtained, between the beam and its associated front half-frame: in this way, improved transmission of forces between those two members is obtained.
By placing the fibers in an optimized way (in the direction in which the forces pass), mass savings are achieved relative to an aluminum block.
Furthermore, in the case of such a single-piece part, no fastening means between the members are of course necessary, which makes it possible to eliminate the aforementioned assembly and monitoring problems.
The invention also makes it possible to move the junction between the beam and its associated front half-frame further away from the very charged transition zone between the (substantially vertical) 12 o'clock web of the beam and its front half-frame, by lengthening the extension of the beam (or the front half-frame, depending on the considered alternative).
According to one method for manufacturing a single-piece integrated front frame beam, this assembly is designed so as to be configurable from subassemblies assembled together to form a preform before polymerization and final treatment, thereby making the part a single piece.
More particularly, the beam structure substantially forms an L comprising a longitudinal web and a sole generally in the shape of an omega.
The front frame is integrated into a web and is attached on the structure of the beam at one upstream lateral end of the omega-shaped floor by means of right-angled returns glued to the beam structure. This same web will also be assembled by fastening as well as with a connecting flange connecting the front frame to the fan casing.
In general, many subassemblies are assembled using right-angled end returns.
At these connections, and in particular therefore at the web that is connected to the front frame transmits the forces from said front frame directly to the mast, in particular using an upstream connecting yoke; the forces therefore follow a transmission line in which the carbon fibers are curved at 90°. Such force transmission lines are not optimal.
The front frame creates torsion and traction forces on the beam. Currently, the forces pass through perpendicular webs.
The flange for connecting to the fan casing creates a significant traction force on the beam. Currently, the forces pass through perpendicular webs, and only through the omega-shaped floor of the beam.
Thus, it appears that the sole criterion of continuity of the fibers was not sufficient and that it was necessary to be able to still further improve the transmission of forces within such a nacelle support structure.

Composite beam for turbojet engine nacelle support structure


A riskiness reference value Riskm is corrected and calculated for each target object according the a road surface friction coefficient based on a vehicle-to-target time and a collision allowance time, and a riskiness Riskm (ΔAm) for each three-dimensional object is set based on the riskiness reference value Riskm with a range which uses a probability distribution given in an azimuthal angle direction where each target object exists, whereby a riskiness Risk (ΔA) is set for each azimuthal angle. Then, alarming and brake controlling are made to be executed according to a riskiness Risk (0) at an azimuthal angle of 0, and a steering angle control amount θstrt is obtained from the current riskiness Risk (ΔA) of each azimuthal angle and an estimated riskiness Risk (ΔA)e of each azimuthal angle after a set time period.

The present invention relates to a vehicle driving assistance system for enhancing the safety of a vehicle by executing alarming, automatic braking and automatic steering according to environment ahead of the vehicle.
In recent years, various techniques have been developed for vehicles in which a driving environment ahead of a vehicle is detected by a camera, a laser radar system and the like which are installed on the vehicle to thereby recognize obstacles and preceding vehicles from the driving environment data so detected, so as to enhance the safety of the vehicle by executing alarming, automatic braking and automatic steering.
For example, JP-A-5-52608 discloses a technique in which riskinesses on a plurality of risk factors are calculated based on external environmental conditions, how the driver is controlling the vehicle and running conditions of the moving vehicle, a degree of emergency is calculated which is an estimated value of time required from the current point in time until the riskiness reaches a predetermined limit value, the respective risk factors are put in order of priority based on their degrees of emergency, and certain operations are performed on some of the risk factors in order of priority within a time allowance for avoiding the risk factor put in the first place in the order of priority.
In addition, JP-A-10-211886 discloses a technique in which obstacles are detected by a plurality of radars provided on the periphery of a vehicle, and a potential riskiness then is obtained based on information on a relative moving state which is made up of respective azimuthal angles, relative speeds and distances of the plurality of obstacles so detected, and a steering control is performed on the potential riskiness so obtained.
Furthermore, JP-A-2004-362227 discloses a technique in which a vehicle condition of a subject vehicle and a driving environment of the subject vehicle are detected, a risk potential is set based on a collision allowance time and an inter-vehicle time, and an acceleration pedal reaction force is controlled based on the risk potential so set.
However, in the technique disclosed in JP-A-5-52608, a limitation is imposed on the order of priority that can be taken into account, and there is a fear that an avoidance control with good accuracy cannot be performed over a long period of time. In addition, in the technique disclosed in JP-A-10-211886, a risk distribution in a two-dimensional plate needs to be treated in three-dimension, this causing a problem that the quantity of operation is increased. In addition, since the plurality of radars or the like need to be provided on the periphery of the vehicle, a problem arises that spaces necessary for provision of the plurality of radars have to be secured. Furthermore, in the technique disclosed in JP-A-2004-362227, depending upon types (attributes) of target objects, there occurs a case where a high risk is set unnecessarily, for example, for an electric-light pole on the shoulder of the road or a low risk is set for a pedestrian whose future movement is difficult to be estimated, this resulting in a problem that the risk potential cannot be set with good accuracy.


The invention includes a viral vector method and composition comprising transcomplementary replication incompetent viral vectors, preferably adenoviral vectors, which are cotransformed to a recipient cell. The two vectors complement each other and thus allow viral replication, in a synergistic combination which enhances both gene delivery and gene expression of genetic sequences contained within the vector.

The field of gene therapy has made significant gains in recent years. The combination of genetic defects being identified and gene target/delivery methods being developed has led to an explosion in the number of clinical gene therapy protocols. The central focus of gene therapy is to develop methods for introducing new genetic material into somatic cells. To date two general classes of gene transfer methods have evolved. The first is DNA-mediated gene transfer and involves direct administration of DNA to the patient in various formulations. These methods use genes as medicines in a manner much like conventional organic or protein compounds. DNA-mediated gene transfer however has proven quite difficult. Methodology such as micro-injection, lipofection, and receptor mediated endocytosis have usually resulted in lower gene transfer, and have usually established only transient residence of the novel gene in the targeted cell. Permanent incorporation of genes into cells occurs rarely after DNA-mediated gene transfer in cultured cells (less than 1×105 cells) and has not been significantly observed in vivo. Thus DNA-mediated gene transfer may be inherently limited to the use of genes as medicines that are administered by conventional parenteral routes to provide a therapeutic effect over predictable period of time. Studies of a therapeutic gene product may be constituted by repetitively dosing the patient with degenerate material much like conventional pharmaceutical medicines.
Viral gene transfer on the other hand involves construction of synthetic virus particles (vectors) that lack pathogenic functions. The virus particles are incapable of replication and contain a therapeutic or diagnostic gene within the viral genome which is delivered to cells by the process of infection. To date the viral vector which has achieved the most success is the retroviral vector. The prototype for a retroviral mediated gene transfer is a retroviral vector derived from Moloney Murine Leukemia Virus. Retroviral vectors have several properties that make them useful for gene therapy. First is the ability to construct a "defective" virus particle that contains the therapeutic gene and is capable of infecting cells but lacks viral genes and expresses no viral gene products which helps to minimize host response to potential viral epitopes.
Retroviral vectors are capable of permanently integrating the genes they carry into the chromosomes of the target cell. Considerable experience in animal models and initial experience in clinical trials suggest that these vectors have a high margin of safety.
Vectors based on adenovirus have recently proven effective as vehicles for gene transfer in vitro and in vivo in several cell types. Adenoviral vectors are constructed using a deleted adenoviral genome that lacks either the e-3, e-4 or gene region and/or the e-1 gene region that is required for producing a replicating adenovirus particle. Recombinant genes are inserted into the site of the deleted gene region(s). Adenoviral particles are then produced in a cell line that is able to express e-1, e-4 or e-3 genes and thus capable of assembling a viral particle which contains only the recombinant viral genome with the therapeutic gene.
Adenoviral vectors differ from retroviral vectors in that they do not integrate their genes into the target cell chromosome. Adenoviral vectors will infect a wide variety of both dividing and non-dividing cells in vitro and in vivo with a high level of efficiency providing expression of their recombinant gene for a period of several weeks to months.
Current technology has enabled construction of adenoviral vectors that are incapable of proliferating however they are not completely "defective" translation of the protein encoding region, or to provide control over expression. The regulatory element may be located upstream or downstream of the protein encoding region, or may be located at an intron (noncoding portion) interrupting the protein encoding region. Alternatively it is also possible for the sequence of the protein encoding region itself to comprise regulatory ability.
The term "functional equivalent" refers to any derivative which is functionally substantially similar to the referenced sequence or protein. In particular the term "functional equivalent" includes derivatives in which nucleotide base(s) and/or amino acid(s) have been added, deleted or replaced without a significantly adverse effect on biological function and which will hybridize under high conditions of stringency according to protocols known in the art and disclosed in Maniantis et al., "Molecular Cloning" Cold Spring Harbor Press (1989).
As used herein, "heterologous" in reference to a nucleic acid is a nucleic acid that originates from a foreign species, or, if from the same species, is substantially modified from its native form in composition and/or genomic locus by deliberate human intervention. For example, a promoter operably linked to a heterologous structural gene is from a species different from that from which the structural gene was derived, or, if from the same species, one or both are substantially modified from their original form. A heterologous protein may originate from a foreign species or, if from the same species, is substantially modified from its original form by deliberate human intervention.
The term "host cell" or "recipient cell" encompasses any cell which contains a vector and preferably supports the replication and/or expression of the vector. Host cells may be prokaryotic cells such as E. coli, or eukaryotic cells such as yeast, insect, amphibian, or mammalian cells. The term as used herein means any cell which may be in culture or in vivo as part of a unicellular organism, part of a multicellular organism, or a fused or engineered cell culture.
The term "introduced" in the context of inserting a nucleic acid into a cell, means "transfection" or "transformation" or "transduction" and includes reference to the incorporation of a nucleic acid into a eukaryotic or prokaryotic cell where the nucleic acid may be incorporated into the genome of the cell (e.g., chromosome, plasmid, plastid or mitochondrial DNA), converted into an autonomous replicon, or transiently expressed (e.g., transfected mRNA).
As used herein, "nucleic acid" includes reference to a deoxyribonucleotide or ribonucleotide polymer in either single- or double-stranded form, and unless otherwise limited, encompasses known analogues having the essential nature of natural nucleotides in that they hybridize to single-stranded nucleic acids in a manner similar to naturally occurring nucleotides (e.g., peptide nucleic acids).
As used herein "operably linked" includes reference to a functional linkage between a promoter and a second sequence, wherein the promoter sequence initiates and mediates transcription of the DNA sequence corresponding to the second sequence. Generally, operably linked means that the nucleic acid sequences being linked are contiguous and, where necessary to join two protein coding regions, contiguous and in the same reading frame.
As used herein, "polynucleotide" includes reference to a deoxyribopolynucleotide, ribopolynucleotide, or analogs thereof that have the essential nature of a natural ribonucleotide in that they hybridize, under stringent hybridization conditions, to substantially the same nucleotide sequence as naturally occurring nucleotides and/or allow translation into the same amino acid(s) as the naturally occurring nucleotide(s). A polynucleotide can be full-length or a subsequence of a native or heterologous structural or regulatory gene. Unless otherwise indicated, the term includes reference to the specified sequence as well as the complementary sequence thereof. Thus, DNAs or RNAs with backbones modified for stability or for other reasons as "polynucleotides" as that term is intended herein. Moreover, DNAs or RNAs comprising unusual bases, such as inosine, or modified bases, such as tritylated bases, to name just two examples, are polynucleotides as the term is used herein. It will be appreciated that a great variety of modifications have been made to DNA and RNA that serve many useful purposes known to those of skill in the art. The term polynucleotide as it is employed herein embraces such chemically, enzymatically or metabolically modified forms of polynucleotides, as well as the chemical forms of DNA and RNA characteristic of viruses and cells, including among other things, simple and complex cells.
The terms "polypeptide", "peptide" and "protein" are used interchangeably herein to refer to a polymer of amino acid residues. The terms apply to amino acid polymers in which one or more amino acid residue is an artificial chemical analogue of a corresponding naturally occurring amino acid, as well as to naturally occurring amino acid polymers. The essential nature of such analogues of naturally occurring amino acids is that, when incorporated into a protein, that protein is specifically reactive to antibodies elicited to the same protein but consisting entirely of naturally occurring amino acids. The terms "polypeptide", "peptide" and "protein" are also inclusive of modifications including, but not limited to, glycosylation, lipid attachment, sulfation, gamma-carboxylation of glutamic acid residues, hydroxylation and ADP-ribosylation. It will be appreciated, as is well known and as noted above, that polypeptides are not entirely linear. For instance, polypeptides may be branched as a result of ubiquitination, and they may be circular, with or without branching, generally as a result of posttranslation events, including natural processing event and events brought about by human manipulation which do not occur naturally. Circular, branched and branched circular polypeptides may be synthesized by non-translation natural process and by entirely synthetic methods, as well.
As used herein "promoter" includes reference to a region of DNA upstream from the start of transcription and involved in recognition and binding of RNA polymerase and other proteins to initiate transcription.
The term "protein coding sequence" means a nucleotide sequence encoding a polypeptide gene which can be used to distinguish cells expressing the polypeptide gene from those not expressing the polypeptide gene. Protein coding sequences include those commonly referred to as selectable markers. Examples of protein coding sequences include those coding a cell surface antigen and those encoding enzymes. A representative list of protein coding sequences include thymidine kinase, β-galactosidase, tryptophane synthetase, neomycin phosphotransferase, histidinol dehydrogenase, luciferase, chloramphenicol acetyltransferase, dihydrofolate reductase (DHFR); hypoxanthine guanine phosphoribosyl transferase (HGPRT), CD4, CD8 and hygromycin phosphotransferase (HYGRO).
As used herein "recombinant" includes reference to a cell or vector, that has been modified by the introduction of a heterologous nucleic acid or that the cell is derived from a cell so modified. Thus, for example, recombinant cells express genes that are not found in identical form within the native (non-recombinant) form of the cell or express native genes that are otherwise abnormally expressed, under-expressed or not expressed at all as a result of deliberate human intervention. The term "recombinant" as used herein does not encompass the alteration of the cell or vector by naturally occurring events (e.g., spontaneous mutation, natural transformation/transduction/transposition) such as those occurring without deliberate human intervention.
As used herein, a "recombinant expression cassette" is a nucleic acid construct, generated recombinantly or synthetically, with a series of specified nucleic acid elements which permit transcription of a particular nucleic acid in a host cell. The recombinant expression cassette can be incorporated into a plasmid, chromosome, mitochondrial DNA, virus, or nucleic acid fragment. Typically, the recombinant expression cassette portion of an expression vector includes, among other sequences, a nucleic acid to be transcribed, and a promoter.
A "recombinant host" may be any prokaryotic or eukaryotic cell that contains either a cloning vector or an expression vector. This term also includes those prokaryotic or eukaryotic cells that have been genetically engineered to contain the clone genes in the chromosome or genome of the host cell.
The terms "recombinant virus vector" refers to any recombinant ribonucleic acid molecule having a nucleotide sequence homologous or complementary with a nucleotide sequence in an RNA virus that replicates through a DNA intermediate, has a virion RNA and utilizes reverse transcriptase for propagation of virus in a host cell. Such viruses can include those that require the presence of other viruses, such as helper viruses, to be passaged. Thus, retroviral vectors or retroviruses are intended to include those containing substantial deletions or mutations in their RNA.
As used herein the term "therapeutic gene" shall be interpreted to include any nucleotide sequence, the expression of which is desired in a host cell. This can include any genetic engineering protocol for introduction of such sequence which would benefit from reduced immunogenicity to the introduced gene and includes antisense type strategies, diagnostic protocols, or gene therapy.
As used herein, "vector" includes reference to a nucleic acid used in transfection of a host cell and into which can be inserted a polynucleotide. Vectors are often replicons. Expression vectors permit transcription of a nucleic acid inserted therein.

Methods and compositions for efficient gene transfer using transcomplementary vectors


A controller of a generator (1) for a vehicle comprising a voltage regulator (3) for regulating a generated voltage to a predetermined voltage by performing on/off control of a field current through a switching element and performing variable control of a regulated voltage with a control signal from an external control unit (4) is further provided with a maximum duty factor limiting circuit (300) for limiting the maximum duty factor of the switching element (Q3) performing on/off control of the field current.

FIG. 4 is a configurational diagram showing an example of the prior-art controller of a generator for a vehicle, which has the function of variably controlling a regulated voltage and which is stated in, for example, Japanese Patent No. 3,102,981.
The controller shown in FIG. 4 illustrates one example of the controller of the generator for the vehicle, which variably controls the regulated voltage to a voltage corresponding to a duty ratio, on the basis of a control signal that continuously and variably controls the regulated voltage at the duty ratio of 0-100% and that has been inputted through a single signal line from an external control unit.
Referring to FIG. 4, numeral 1 designates an AC generator which is driven by an engine not shown, and which is configured of armature coils 101 and a field coil 102. Numeral 2 designates a rectifier which performs the full-wave rectification of the AC output of the AC generator 1 so as to output a rectified voltage from a + side terminal 201 and a − side terminal 202, and numeral 3 a voltage regulator which controls the rectified AC generator output to a predetermined value.
Numeral 4 designates an external control unit, which controls the ON/OFF operation of a transistor Q1 by a control signal (hereinbelow, also termed the "duty signal") that can regulate a duty ratio to be outputted from a transistor 401, to 0%-100%.
One end of an operating resistor 318 is connected to the cathode of a Zener diode ZD3 whose anode is grounded, while the other end of the operating resistor 318 is connected to the plus side terminal of a storage battery 5 through a key switch 8. Numeral 321 designates a charging resistor which is connected to the collector of the transistor Q1, numeral 322 the discharging resistor of a capacitor Ce, and numeral 327 the base resistor of the transistor Q1.
The voltage regulator 3 further includes the following configuration:
More specifically, it includes voltage division resistors 319 and 320 which are connected in series between the voltage detection terminal of the storage battery 5 and the ground; a voltage division resistor 317 which is connected in series with voltage division resistors 310-312 that set reference voltages for comparators CP1 and CP2; a comparator CP3 for controlling an ordinary regulated voltage, which compares a point-F voltage (a voltage divided by the voltage division resistors 319 and 320) that changes depending upon a generated voltage and the reference voltage of a point E as is determined by the values of the voltage division resistors 310-312 and 317, and which outputs an L level signal to a transistor Q3 through a diode D5 and turns OFF the transistor Q3 when (the point-F voltage>the point-E voltage) has held; and a comparator CP4 for controlling a regulated voltage based on an external signal, which compares the point-F voltage and a point-A voltage that is set while being updated by the duty ratio of the duty signal, and which outputs the L level signal to the transistor Q3 through a diode D6 and turns OFF the transistor Q3 when the point-F voltage has become greater than the point-A voltage on that occasion.
Besides, it includes a transistor Q4 which is fed with an H level signal through its base resistor 326 and performs an ON operation when the outputs of the comparators CP1 and CP2 are both at an H level, thereby to ground the output of the comparator CP3 connected to its collector, through its emitter; a diode D4 which has its cathode connected to the output terminals of the comparators CP1 and CP2 and has its anode connected to the output terminal of the comparator CP4, and which turns ON and invalidates the output of the comparator CP4 when the output of the comparator CP1 or CP2 is at an L level; and supply voltage pull-up resistors 323-325 which pull up the levels of the output terminals of the respective comparators CP1-CP4 in a plus direction.
Next, the operation of the prior-art apparatus configured as stated above will be described.
First, a constant-voltage supply voltage obtained by closing the key switch 8 and operating the Zener diode ZD3 is applied to individual supply voltage terminals e. As a result, divided voltages generated at a point C, the point E and a point B through which the voltage division resistors 310, 311, 317 and 312 are connected in series are inputted to the respective comparators CP1-CP3 as reference voltages.
Here, the operations of the comparators CP1 and CP2 will be described.
The point-A voltage and the reference voltages of the points C and B are compared by the respective comparators CP1 and CP2.
More specifically, when (the point-A voltage<the point-B voltage) holds, the output of the comparator CP2 becomes the L level, and the output of the comparator CP1 becomes the H level. Further, when (the point-B voltage<the point-A voltage<the point-C voltage) holds, both the outputs of the comparators CP1 and CP2 become the H level, and when (the point-C voltage<the point-A voltage) holds, the output of the comparator CP1 becomes the L level, and the output of the comparator CP2 becomes the H level.
In addition, when at least either of the outputs of the comparators CP1 and CP2 is the L level, the output of the comparator CP4 whose reference voltage is the point-A voltage correlative to the signal level from the external control unit is invalidated, and the output of the ordinary voltage controlling comparator CP3 whose reference voltage is the divided voltage based on the voltage division resistors 310-312 and 317 is validated.
Besides, when both the outputs of the comparators CP1 and CP2 are the H level, the output of the comparator CP3 is invalidated, and the output of the comparator CP4 is validated.
On account of the above operating states, in a case where the duty ratio of the duty signal which is the control signal inputted from the external control unit 4 to the voltage regulator 3 is set into a range from 0% to a duty ratio at which a voltage level is raised to the point-B voltage level being a first predetermined value, at the point A, (the point-A voltage<the point-B voltage) holds while the duty ratio is within the set range, and the output of the comparator CP2 becomes the L level, whereas the output of the comparator CP1 becomes the H level.
Besides, in a case where the duty ratio of the control signal is set into a range from a duty ratio at which the voltage level at the point A is brought to the point-C voltage level being a second predetermined value, to 100%, (the point-C voltage<the point-A voltage) holds while the duty ratio is within the set range, and the output of the comparator CP2 becomes the H level, whereas the output of the comparator CP1 becomes the L level.
As a result, the output of the comparator CP4 becomes invalid, and the output of the comparator CP3 is inputted to the transistor Q3 through the diode D5.
In addition, while the generated voltage does not arrive at an ordinary regulated voltage of 14.4 V and (the point-E voltage>the point-F voltage) holds, the transistor Q3 turns ON and causes a field current to flow through the field coil 102, thereby to continue a power generation operation and to charge the storage battery 5.
When the generated voltage arrives at 14.4 V, the output of the comparator CP3 becomes the L level and turns OFF the transistor Q3, thereby to lower the field current and to weaken the power generation output.
Further, when (the point-B voltage<the point-A voltage<the point-C voltage) holds, both the outputs of the comparators CP1 and CP2 become the H level and turn ON the transistor Q4, thereby to invalidate the output of the comparator CP3 and to input the output of the comparator CP4 to the transistor Q3 through the diode D6.
Accordingly, when the duty ratio of the control signal is changed so as to change the voltage level of the point A within a range of from, at least, the point-B voltage level to the point-C voltage level, the point-A voltage at a level corresponding to the duty ratio is inputted to the + input terminal of the comparator CP4, and the point-F voltage proportional to the generated voltage is inputted to the − input terminal thereof.
In addition, when the voltage level of the point-F voltage proportional to the generated voltage arrives at the point-A voltage level corresponding to the duty ratio, the comparator CP4 inputs the L level signal to the transistor Q3, thereby to turn OFF the transistor Q3.
Besides, when the duty ratio is changed to alter the level of the point-A voltage, the comparator CP4 outputs the L level signal to the transistor Q3 on condition that the point-F voltage arrives at the point-A voltage level corresponding to the altered duty ratio.
As stated above, according to the prior-art apparatus in FIG. 4, the regulated voltage of the generator can be set at any desired value by regulating the duty ratio of the duty signal which is the control signal inputted from the external control unit 4 to the voltage regulator 3.    Patent Document 1: U.S. Pat. No. 3,102,981 (FIGS. 2 and 3)


A slow cooker having a thermometer such as a capillary thermometer and a graphic display device for indicating a temperature condition of the food product contained within the cooking vessel, the thermometer measuring the temperature of an outer surface of the cooking vessel and the graphic display device displaying the temperature measured by the thermometer but adjusted by a correlation factor to indicate at least an approximate temperature of the food product within the cooking vessel.

Slow cooker appliances have been broadly used in households since at least the 1970's and are commonly used for a variety of purposes. Slow cookers are convenient ways to cook a wide variety of foods including, but not limited to, soups, stews, dips, chilis, roasts, and other large cuts of meat at a lower temperature for extended periods of time. One benefit of slow cookers is that a user may add all the ingredients for a meal, namely, the meat, starches, vegetables, and so forth, together into one appliance and it will "slow cook" during the day and be ready for consumption at dinner time. Many slow cookers only have a "cooking" setting and an "off" setting. Some slow cookers may include a "warm" setting however the "warm" setting often may only be activated after a pre-determined cooking cycle has been completed.
Often times, slow cookers are used at potluck dinners, family reunions, smaller restaurants/bars, parties or other applications for holding and serving food items for an extended period of time. In this situation, the slow cooker is often transported from the cooking location to the serving location. Further, these events often require the food to be made available for serving for prolonged periods of time. Once the desired food product has finished cooking in the slow cooker, it is desirable to keep the food product at a comfortable consuming temperature in the slow cooker, rather than at the "cooking" temperature. Unfortunately, as stated above, since most slow cookers only have a "cooking" setting and an "off" setting, keeping the food product at a comfortable consuming temperature is oftentimes problematic. Thus, to prevent the served food product in the slow cooker from (1) being too hot to eat, (2) burning or over cooking, or (3) drying out the contents due to boiling off of the liquid or moisture associated with the food product, most users often serve the food product with the slow cooker turned off. This situation presents other undesirable issues including not being able to control the serving temperature of the food product in the slow cooker.
Leaving a food product unheated for a prolonged period of time presents obvious risks. First, if food is left unheated too long, it may become too cold and will not be at an ideal consuming temperature. Second, if the temperature of the food product gets too low, bacteria may reappear and/or start to grow. Thus, to prevent the served food product from getting too cold so as to be unappetizing, or worse, harmful to the consumer, it is desirable to monitor the temperature of the contents of the food in the slow cooker. There is therefore a need for a slow cooker which provides users with some indication of the actual temperature of the food product inside the cooking vessel so that a user can selectively re-heat the food product, if necessary, to keep the food product at an optimal serving temperature. There is also a need for a slow cooker that incorporates a heat sensor and/or thermometer combined with a visual/graphic indicator which will allow a user to monitor the temperature of the food product inside the cooking vessel after cooking and while the food product is being served.

Slow cooker with thermometer for indicating a temperature condition of the food in the cooking vessel