The present invention provides a method of treating pancreatitis comprising administering to a human in need thereof an effective amount of hemin. The administration of hemin is preferably parenteral. In another aspect, the present invention provides a method of pancreatitis prophylaxis comprising administering to a human in need thereof an effective amount of hemin. In a still further aspect, the present invention contemplates a method of inducing an HO gene comprising administering to a human in need thereof an HO-inducing effective amount of hemin. Preferably, the HO gene is the HO-1 gene. In a still further aspect, the present invention contemplates a method of inducing an HO gene in leukocytes for recruitment to the pancreas to treat pancreatitis comprising administering to a human in need thereof an HO-inducing effective amount of hemin. In another embodiment, the present invention contemplates a method of inducing an HO gene in leukocytes for recruitment to the pancreas for prophylaxis of pancreatitis comprising administering to a human in need thereof an HO-inducing effective amount of hemin. In a yet further aspect, the present invention provides a method of ex vivo treatment of pancreatitis comprising providing peripheral blood leukocytes, followed by contact with hemin to form induced peripheral blood leukocytes then infusing the induced peripheral blood leukocytes into a human in need thereof.

Acute pancreatitis is a severely debilitating, sometimes lethal disease in humans. Most therapies are supportive and target the hemodynamic effects such as dehydration with removal of precipitating factors that include, among others, alcohol or biliary obstructing calculi. Banks, P. A. 1997. Practice guidelines in acute pancreatitis. Am. J. Gastroenterol. 92:377-386; Baron, T. H., and Morgan, D. E. 1999. Acute necrotizing pancreatitis. N. Engl. J. Med. 340:1412-1417. There is therefore a long-felt unmet need for a novel therapy for the treatment of pancreatitis that provides more than palliative care. There is also a need for effective agents that can be used as prophylaxis towards pancreatitis in high risk patients.
Hemin up-regulates HO-1, a stress-induced enzyme implicated in protection from a variety of injuries while its related isoform HO-2 is constitutively expressed. Poss, K. D., and Tonegawa, S. 1997. Heme oxygenase 1 is required for mammalian iron reutilization. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94:10919-10924; Soares, M. P., Lin, Y., Anrather, J., Csizmadia, E., Takigami, K., Sato, K., Grey, S. T., Colvin, R. B., Choi, A. M., Poss, K. D., et al. 1998. Expression of heme oxygenase-1 can determine cardiac xenograft survival. Nat. Med. 4:1073-1077; Lee, T. S., and Chau, L. Y. 2002. Heme oxygenase-1 mediates the anti-inflammatory effect of interleukin-10 in mice. Nat. Med. 8:240-246; Otterbein, L. E., Soares, M. P., Yamashita, K., and Bach, F. H. 2003. Heme oxygenase-1:unleashing the protective properties of heme. Trends Immunol. 24:449-455.; Durante, W. 2003. Heme oxygenase-1 in growth control and its clinical application to vascular disease. J. Cell. Physiol. 195:373-382; Sikorski, E. M., Hock, T., Hill-Kapturczak, N., and Agarwal, A. 2004. The story so far: Molecular regulation of the heme oxygenase-1 gene in renal injury. Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 286:F425-441. Heme oxygenases catalyze the rate-limiting step in heme degradation to produce carbon monoxide (CO), iron, and biliverdin in equimolar amounts. Otterbein, L. E., et al., Trends Immunol. 24:449-455; Sikorski, E. M., et al., Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 286:F425-441; Tenhunen, R., Marver, H. S., and Schmid, R. 1968. The enzymatic conversion of heme to bilirubin by microsomal heme oxygenase. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 61:748-755. Biliverdin is then reduced to bilirubin by biliverdin reductase. HO-1 (32 kDa; also referred to as heat shock protein-32) and HO-2 (36 kDa) are unique gene products that share nearly 40% identity at the amino acid level. Otterbein, L. E., et al., Trends Immunol. 24:449-455; Sikorski, E. M., et al., Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 286:F425-441. The role of HO-1 or hemin in the exocrine pancreas and their potential modulation of pancreatic injury are unknown. The only descriptions of HO-1 in the exocrine pancreas are two reports during 1997 that demonstrate HO-1 induction in caerulein-mediated mouse pancreatitis and in AR42J rat acinar cells exposed to H2O2 or CdCl2. Fu, K., Sarras, M. P., Jr., De Lisle, R. C., and Andrews, G. K. 1997. Expression of oxidative stress-responsive genes and cytokine genes during caerulein-induced acute pancreatitis. Am. J. Physiol. 273:G696-705; Sato, H., Siow, R. C., Bartlett, S., Taketani, S., Ishii, T., Bannai, S., and Mann, G. E. 1997. Expression of stress proteins heme oxygenase-1 and -2 in acute pancreatitis and pancreatic islet betaTC3 and acinar AR42J cells. FEBS Lett. 405:219-223, HO-1 null mice develop anemia and high tissue iron levels with consequent oxidative damage in the liver, glomerulonephritis and splenomegaly. These mice have >80% embryolethality and most surviving mice die within 6 months due to presumed multi-organ failure. Poss, K. D., and Tonegawa, S., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 94:10919-10924; Soares, M. P., et al., Nat. Med. 4:1073-1077; Yet, S. F., Perrella, M. A., Layne, M. D., Hsieh, C. M., Maemura, K., Kobzik, L., Wiesel, P., Christou, H., Kourembanas, S., and Lee, M. E. 1999. Hypoxia induces severe right ventricular dilatation and infarction in heme oxygenase-1 null mice. J. Clin. Invest. 103:R23-29. There is also a single reported case of HO-1 deficiency identified in a child who died at the age of 6 with renal disease and intracranial hemorrhage. Yachie, A., Niida, Y., Wada, T., Igarashi, N., Kaneda, H., Toma, T., Ohta, K., Kasahara, Y., and Koizumi, S. 1999. Oxidative stress causes enhanced endothelial cell injury in human heme oxygenase-1 deficiency. J. Clin. Invest. 103:129-135; Kawashima, A., Oda, Y., Yachie, A., Koizumi, S., and Nakanishi, I. 2002. Heme oxygenase-1 deficiency: the first autopsy case. Hum. Pathol. 33:125-30. The effect HO-1 absence in humans or mice on pancreatic pathology is unknown.
Hemin is the prosthetic moiety for a broad range of proteins that play essential roles in oxygen delivery, mitochondrial function, and signal transduction including hemoglobin, cytochromes, prostaglandin endoperoxide and nitrous oxide synthases, catalase and peroxidases. Various formulations of hemin such as hematin and other alternate intravenous formulations (e.g. panhematin) are currently available and have been used in patients since the 1970's with reported minimal side effects to successfully treat acute porphyrias, to control liver allograft failure due to recurrence of erythropoietic protoporphyria, and in patients with thalassemia intermedia. Tenhunen, R., and Mustajoki, P. 1998. Acute porphyria: treatment with heme. Semin. LiverDis. 18:53-55; Dellon, E. S., Szczepiorkowski, Z. M., Dzik, W. H., Graeme-Cook, F., Ades, A., Bloomer, J. R., Cosimi, A. B., and Chung, R. T. 2002. Treatment of recurrent allograft dysfunction with intravenous hematin after liver transplantation for erythropoietic protoporphyria. Transplantation. 73:911-915; Rund, D., and Rachmilewitz, E. 2000. New trends in the treatment of beta-thalassemia. Crit. Rev. Oncol. Hematol. 33:105-118; Anderson, K. E., Bloomer, J. R., Bonkovsky, H. L., Kushner, J. P., Pierach, C. A., Pimstone, N. R., and Desnick, R. J. 2005. Recommendations for the diagnosis and treatment of the acute porphyrias. Ann. Intern. Med. 142:439-50. Hemin is also an established agent for HO-1 induction in several tested cultured cells and in vivo. Sato, H. et al., FEBS Lett. 405:219-223; Ishikawa, K., Sugawara, D., Wang, X., Suzuki, K., Itabe, H., Maruyama, Y., and Lusis, A. J.2001. Heme oxygenase-1 inhibits atherosclerotic lesion formation in ldl-receptor knockout mice. Circ. Res. 88:506-512; Kanakiriya, S. K., Croatt, A. J., Haggard, J. J., Ingelfinger, J. R., Tang, S. S., Alam, J., and Nath, K. A. 2003. Heme: a novel inducer of MCP-1 through HO-dependent and HO-independent mechanisms. Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 284:F546-554; Alam, J., Killeen, E., Gong, P., Naquin, R., Hu, B., Stewart, D., Ingelfinger, J. R., and Nath, K. A. 2003. Heme activates the heme oxygenase-1 gene in renal epithelial cells by stabilizing Nrf2. Am. J. Physiol. Renal Physiol. 284:F743-752; Graca-Souza, A. V., Arruda, M. A., de Freitas, M. S., Barja-Fidalgo, C., and Oliveira, P.L. 2002. Neutrophil activation by heme: implications for inflammatory processes. Blood. 99:4160-4165.
Conversion of trypsinogen to active trypsin within pancreatic acinar cells is an important event in developing acute pancreatitis. Furthermore, it has been well demonstrated that infiltrating neutrophils significantly contribute to this intrapancreatic trypsin activation. Gukovskaya, A. S., Vaquero, E., Zaninovic, V., Gorelick, F. S., Lusis, A. J., Brennan, M. L., Holland, S., and Pandol, S. J. 2002. Neutrophils and NADPH oxidase mediate intrapancreatic trypsin activation in murine experimental acute pancreatitis. Gastroenterology. 122:974-84. However, the mechanisms and signals that mediate neutrophil or other inflammatory cell (such as macrophage) recruitment into the pancreas are less well understood. Demonstrated herein is a novel protective role for hemin in experimental mouse pancreatitis and which provides a cellular mechanistic basis for such protection. This role is mediated by HO-1 and leads to recruitment of HO-1 expressing macrophages to the pancreas.


8-Hydroxy-1-oxo-tetrahydropyrrolopyrazine compounds are inhibitors of HIV integrase and inhibitors of HIV replication. More particularly, the compounds are of Formula (I): wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5 and R6 are defined herein. The compounds are useful in the prevention and treatment of infection by ITV and in the prevention, delay in the onset, and treatment of AIDS. The compounds are employed against HIV infection and AIDS as compounds per se or in the form of pharmaceutically acceptable salts. The compounds and their salts can be employed as ingredients in pharmaceutical compositions, optionally in combination with other antivirals, immunomodulators, antibiotics or vaccines. Methods of preventing, treating or delaying the onset of AIDS and methods of preventing or treating infection by HIV are described.

A retrovirus designated human immunodeficiency virus (HIV) is the etiological agent of the complex disease that includes progressive destruction of the immune system (acquired immune deficiency syndrome; AIDS) and degeneration of the central and peripheral nervous system. This virus was previously known as LAV, HTLV-III, or ARV. A common feature of retrovirus replication is the insertion by virally-encoded integrase of proviral DNA into the host cell genome, a required step in HIV replication in human T-lymphoid and monocytoid cells. Integration is believed to be mediated by integrase in three steps: assembly of a stable nucleoprotein complex with viral DNA sequences; cleavage of two nucleotides from the 3′ termini of the linear proviral DNA; covalent joining of the recessed 3′ OH termini of the proviral DNA at a staggered cut made at the host target site. The fourth step in the process, repair synthesis of the resultant gap, may be accomplished by cellular enzymes.
Nucleotide sequencing of HIV shows the presence of a pol gene in one open reading frame [Ratner et al., Nature 1985, 313: 277]. Amino acid sequence homology provides evidence that the pol sequence encodes reverse transcriptase, integrase and an HIV protease [Toh et al., EMBO J. 1985, 4: 1267; Power et al., Science 1986, 231: 1567; Pearl et al., Nature 1987, 329: 351]. All three enzymes have been shown to be essential for the replication of HIV.
It is known that some antiviral compounds which act as inhibitors of HIV replication are effective agents in the treatment of AIDS and similar diseases, including reverse transcriptase inhibitors such as azidothymidine (AZT) and efavirenz and protease inhibitors such as indinavir and nelfinavir. The compounds of this invention are inhibitors of HIV integrase and inhibitors of HIV replication. The inhibition of integrase in vitro and of HIV replication in cells is a direct result of inhibiting the strand transfer reaction catalyzed by the recombinant integrase in vitro in HIV infected cells. A particular advantage of the present invention is highly specific inhibition of HIV integrase and HIV replication.
The following references are of interest as background:
Chemical Abstracts No. 33-2525 discloses the preparation of 5-chloro-8-hydroxy-1,6-naphthyridine-7-carboxylic acid amide from the corresponding methyl ester.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,294,620 discloses certain 1,6-naphthyridine-2-one derivatives having angiotensin II antagonist activity.
US 2003/0055071 (Publication of U.S. application Ser. No. 09/973,853, filed Oct. 10, 2001) and WO 02/30930 (Publication of International Application No. PCT/US 01/31456, filed Oct. 9, 2001) each disclose certain 8-hydroxy-1,6-naphthyridine-7-carboxamides as HIV integrase inhibitors, wherein the carboxamido nitrogen is directly or indirectly attached to phenyl or phenyl fused to a carbocycle. The carboxamides are disclosed to be useful, inter alia, for treating HIV infection and AIDS-WO 02/30426 discloses another group of 8-hydroxy-1,6-naphthyridine-7-carboxamides as HIV integrase inhibitors, wherein the carboxamido nitrogen is directly or indirectly attached to a heterocycle. WO 02/055079 discloses still another group of 8-hydroxy-1,6-naphthyridine-7-carboxamides as HIV integrase inhibitors, wherein the carboxamido nitrogen is part of a heterocyclic ring system.
WO 02/036734 discloses certain aza- and polyaza-naphthalenyl ketones to be HIV integrase inhibitors. The ketones include certain 1-aryl-1-(poly)azanaphthylenyl methanones and 1-heterocyclyl-1-(poly)azanaphthylenyl methanones. Quinolinyl, naphthyridinyl, and quinoxalinyl are disclosed as suitable (poly)azanaphthylenyl groups in the ketones.
WO 03/35076 discloses certain 5,6-dihydroxypyrimidine-4-carboxamides as HIV integrase inhibitors, and WO 03/35077 discloses certain N-substituted 5-hydroxy-6-oxo-1,6-dihydropyrimidine-4-carboxamides as HIV integrase inhibitors.

8-hydroxy-1-oxo-tetrahydropyrrolopyrazine compounds useful as HIV integrase inhibitors


The present invention provides a semiconductor device including: a semiconductor chip mounted on a substrate; a heat spreader provided above the semiconductor chip; and a sealing resin interposed between the semiconductor chip and the heat spreader and covering the semiconductor chip. The heat spreader is not in contact with any of the substrate and the semiconductor chip, and has an opening.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and an apparatus and method for manufacturing the same.
2. Related Art
FIG. 16 is a cross sectional view showing a semiconductor device described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-139223. In a semiconductor device 200, a semiconductor chip 202 is mounted over a substrate 201 by wire bonding. That is, the substrate 201 and the semiconductor chip 202 are electrically connected to each other via a wire 205. Above the semiconductor chip 202, a heat spreader 203 is provided via a sealing resin 204. The periphery of the heat spreader 203 is bent, and the tip of the bent portion (the portion surrounded by a broken line C1) is attached to the substrate 201.
As documents of the conventional arts related to the present invention, there are Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 2004-140275, 2001-102495, 2000-77575, 2002-270638, and 2002-252313 in addition to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-139223.
In the semiconductor device 200 of FIG. 16, from the viewpoint of heat dissipation performance, it is preferable to dispose the heat spreader 203 close to the semiconductor chip 202 as much as possible. On the other hand, when the heat spreader 203 is disposed too close to the semiconductor chip 202, there is the possibility that the heat spreader 203 comes into contact with the wire 205 and the wire 205 is damaged. Therefore, it is important to control the height of the heat spreader 203, that is, the interval between the heat spreader 203 and the semiconductor chip 202.
In the semiconductor device 200, however, the tip of the bent portion of the heat spreader 203 is attached to the substrate 201 as described above. Consequently, the height of the heat spreader 203 is determined by the height of the bent portion. In other words, the height of the heat spreader 203 is determined by the shape of the heat spreader 203 itself. Therefore, the heat spreader 203 has to be formed in accordance with a desired height of the heat spreader 203. For example, in the case where the desired height of the heat spreader varies among a plurality of semiconductor devices, the heat spreader has to be formed for each of the semiconductor devices. It increases the manufacturing cost of the semiconductor devices.

Semiconductor device having heat spreader with center opening


A modular link of a conveyor belt is provided with belt edge structure for retaining in the belt so that it may not escape or protrude from a belt edge a headless pivot rod journalled in apertures in interdigitated link ends interconnecting adjacent links. The retention structure provides a shuttling plug movable into two bistable positions within a mating shuttle cavity having an open end and a blind end. The cavity extends transversely in the link between two link end pivot rod journalling apertures to intersect only one journalling aperture. The two bistable states for the shuttle plug respectively (1) lock the headless pivot rod in place in a stable pivot rod occluding position extending into said journalling aperture, and (2) permits the headless pivot rod to enter or leave the journalled position by movement of the shuttle plug out of the occluding position into a second stable position. The belt edge structure provides an adjoining link with a cavity closure surface which confines the open end of the mating shuttle cavity to occlude movement of the plug out of the mating shuttle cavity when the conveyor belt is operating.

Typical art disclosing modular link belts with removable plugs or clips that occlude headless pivot rods journalled in module link end apertures comprise the following U.S. Pat. Nos.: 4,709,807 to N. J. Poerink, Dec. 1, 1987; 5,024,321 to J. M. Lapeyre, Jun. 18, 1991; 5,096,053 to W. G. Hodlewsky, Mar. 17, 1992; 5,217,110 to M. L. Spangler, et al., Jun. 8, 1993; 5,247,789 to G. Abbestam, et al., Sept. 28, 1993; 5,293,989 to C. Garbagnati, Mar. 15, 1994; 5,305,869 to P. E. Damkjaer, Apr. 26, 1994; 5,335,768 to T. J. Schladweiler, Aug. 9, 1994; and 5,435,435 to H. Chiba, et al., Jul. 25, 1995.
All of these have the common problem and deficiency in that the plugs, clips and the like, which hold the pivot rods in place, can work themselves loose under working conditions encountered in the operation of a conveyor belt. This catastrophically results in rods migrating out of the belts, causing total or partial breakage and possible contamination of carried products or fouling of the equipment. This problem is particularly evident in plastic belts with modular links that have some resiliency and which inherently have slick surfaces. Conditions that lead to such failures are particularly apt to be encountered in operation conditions, such as: regions of vibration, changing load weight patterns, regions of heavy or rapidly varying belt tension, and possible physical interfering items that may extend into the path of the belt, particularly at the belt edges.
It is the objective of this invention to solve that problem and to introduce improved novel structure for more reliably retaining headless pivot rods in place during the working life of conveyor belts with little likelihood of catastrophic failure or loss of plugs during normal belt working conditions.

Shuttle plugs for retaining headless pivot rods in conveyor belts


An apparatus for preventing cutting of a spiral spring for an engine starter includes a rope reel to be rotated by a rope rounded thereon, a spiral spring to be wound up by the rope reel in order to accumulate a power therein, an engine starting pulley driven by the power accumulated in the spiral spring, and a device for preventing the spiral spring from being cut due to an overwinding. The device has a projection which projects from an outer peripheral surface of the engine starting pulley when the spiral spring is wound up fully by the rope reel and an outer diameter of the spiral spring is reduced, and an engaging device which is provided on the rope reel and which engages the projection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for preventing cutting of a spiral spring and, more particularly, relates to an apparatus for preventing cutting of a spiral spring for an engine starter.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In the conventional engine starter, such as a so-called recoil starter, an engine starting pulley is rotated by pulling manually a rope wound around the pulley, and the rotation of the pulley is transmitted to a crank shaft of an engine through a centrifugal clutch. In such recoil starter, however, a large pulling force must be applied rapidly to the rope, and accordingly it is difficult to operate positively by a person of feeble strength.
Further, in case that the engine is an internal combustion engine, air pressure in the engine cylinder is fluctuated, and accordingly it is difficult to pull the rope of the conventional recoil starter smoothly and easily according to the load.
In the other conventional engine starter as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 174061/95, a spiral spring for driving the engine and a one-way clutch are used, and a rope is pulled manually several times to accumulate the spring force in the spiral spring so as to drive the engine.
In such engine starter, however, it is necessary to accumulate a large power in the spiral spring for driving the engine, and if the spiral spring is wound up excessively the spiral spring would be failed or cut.

Apparatus for preventing cutting of spiral spring for engine starter


A method of producing a fire-resistant glazing product comprising introducing a predetermined quantity of an epoxy based liquid resin material at an elevated temperature into a cavity defined between spaced apart glass panes so that at least one pane bows outwardly, moving the panes back into a substantially parallel, closely spaced apart relationship to cause the introduced resin material to fill the cavity and allowing the resin material to cure.

A known method of the kind referred to is described in GB-A-2032844. In particular reference is made to a liquid which sets to form a polymer being introduced into the cavity and the specification refers to suitable polymers being polyesters, vinyl polymers and epoxy resins. Although the use of epoxy resins is not discussed in detail in GB-A-2032844, reference is made to the addition of diluents to lower the viscosity of the polymer liquid in order to lower the viscosity of the liquid so that it can be suitably poured into the cavity.
Another known method similar to the kind referred to, but not disclosing the use of epoxy resins as a resin material, is described in WO 88/06096. In this known specification, methacrylate resin is referred to as the preferred resin material and fire-resistance is obtained by incorporating a wire mesh in the resin interlayer to retain the interlayer in a coherent form when it commences to melt when subjected to intense heat. In the preferred method of manufacture, the glazing assembly is tilted at an angle to the horizontal and the predetermined quantity of methacrylate resin is poured into the cavity between the spaced apart upper edges of the inclined glass panes. The inclined glazing assembly with the introduced methacrylate resin is then lowered to a substantially horizontal position and the weight of the upper glass panel squeezes the resin material between the glass panels so as to completely fill the cavity between the glass panels. A similar process, without any reference to the introduction of a wire mesh, is also disclosed in GB-B-2155856 although in this latter specification no claims are made to the process enabling the production of glazing products having improved fire-resistance.
It has now been found that epoxy based resin materials provide a far better fire resistance when incorporated as an interlayer between spaced apart glass sheets than an interlayer of methacrylate resin material. However epoxy based liquid resin materials are generally too viscous at normal operating temperatures of up to 25.degree. C. to spread naturally between large area glass panes, e.g. each typically up to a size of 3000 mm by 1630 mm, which are intended to be spaced apart only a small distance, e.g. typically no more than 2 mm, in the finished glazing product. However if a higher degree of fire resistance is required, the interlayer thickness can be increased up to approximately 12 mm or so for an unwired glazing product.
It is of course known to add diluents to epoxy based liquid resin materials to reduce their viscosity. However the addition of too much diluent reduces the fire-resistance of the resin material. Moreover, if the viscosity of the liquid resin material is too low or too high, air bubbles tend to become trapped between the glass panes. This is especially apparent when a wire mesh is additionally embedded in the resin material between the spaced apart glass panes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method of manufacturing a fire-resistant laminated glass by introducing between spaced apart glass panes an epoxy based liquid resin material having a suitable viscosity to enable it to flow and spread between the glass panes.


The present teachings disclose a multibeam satellite system and methods that can achieve orthogonality between spatially multiplexed signals in a multi-input multi-output (MIMO) configuration when operating in line-of-sight (LOS) uplink and downlink channels on the feeder link side, using essentially a common spot beam. The teachings maximize a MIMO capacity across multiple frequency bands by disclosing an antenna array geometry for disposition on-board a single satellite and for a ground segment.

Prior Art MIMO systems require channels that are scatter-rich, such as typically found in terrestrial wireless networks. Some prior art satellites systems use MIMO for low-earth orbit (LEO) applications as they would still benefit from scatter-rich environment, resulting from Ricean fading with low Rice factor. Some other prior art satellites systems use multiple satellites with one MIMO antenna disposed on each satellite, a very costly alternative. In contrast, LOS conditions, rather than scatter-rich, are encountered in geostationary satellite systems traditionally limiting the usefulness of MIMO.

Line-of-sight multi-input multi-output enabled multibeam satellite system


A self-gripping wire torquer including a sleeve body, a clamping device biased for automatically grasping the wire and releasably fixing the sleeve body in place on the wire, and a release mechanism for temporarily releasing the clamp means to slide and reposition the torquer along the wire.

Recent studies have suggested that the angioplasty procedure is superior to medication alone for relieving angina in selected patients. The angioplasty procedure has been shown to reduce symptoms in patients with coronory artery disease as well as in patients with peripheral vascular disease as well as being useful adjunct in patients experiencing an acute myocardial infarction.
During angioplasty and related procedures, a guidewire is inserted into an artery and maneuvered to the site of the stenosis. Since the guidewire is relatively fine and difficult to grip between the fingers, a device called a "torquer" is affixed to the wire and used to twist the wire to negotiate the various turns and branches in the coronary arteries. As might be expected, the angioplasty procedure requires precision and intense continuous concentration on the part of the surgeon.
Current torquers suffer from various disadvantages the most notable of which is that since the torquer must be manually locked onto the wire, repositioning the torquer from a locked position at one place on the wire to a locked position at another place on the wire is a two-handed operation. Conventional torquers employ a locking nut portion, which, when turned in one direction causes the torquer to lock onto the wire; and which, when turned in the opposite direction releases the torquer so that it may freely slide along the wire. Unlocking this type of torquer, moving it along the wire, and locking it in place is a tow-handed operation requiring the surgeon's full attention and generally necessitates a period of time when non-visualization of the patents coronary anatomy occurs. Hence, the physician's attention is directed away from fluoroscopy video monitoring equipment and hemodynamic monitoring equipment.
Since it is often a lengthy and arduous process to properly position the wire in the patient's artery, a loss of registration or position while the surgeon repositions the torquer on the wire is costly in the sense of loss of the physician's time, and also potentially painful, uncomfortable and subject to acute vascular complications in patients undergoing the procedure.
Another tool for steering an angioplasty guide wire includes a body of resilient material with a slit in which the guide wire is received. Therefore, the tool can be attached to the wire from the side. An outer sleeve encircles the resilient body and may be used to compress the resilient body holding the slit closed to grip the wire tightly. This tool, however, suffers from the same problem as conventional torquers: repositioning the tool on the wire requires pulling the wire out of the slit, repositioning the tool on the wire, and finally pressing the wire back into the slit. As delineated above, such a time consuming, two-handed operation is adverse to an efficient angioplasty procedure.
Finally, when these conventional torquers are released from the wire, a process which may be performed two to three times to reposition the torquer during the angioplasty procedure, the turning motion used to separate the torquer from the wire is transmitted to the wire itself causing the end of the wire to turn in the artery and even jerk slightly. Hence, a loss of registration can occur further interfering with the expeditious performance of the angioplasty procedure and possibly causing procedure lengthening and patient discomfort.


The heat fixing device includes a heating roller and a pressure roller disposed in contact with the heating roller, the heating roller includes a base member and a surface layer, and the surface layer has a surface resistivity of 1xc3x971016 xcexa9 or lower, and a residual elongation percentage of 3% or lower. By this arrangement, charging of the heating roller can be prevented so that the recording medium can be prevented from being curled around the heating roller.

This application is based on applications No. 2000-102938 and 2000-136540 filed in Japan, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a fixing device used in an image forming apparatus such as electrophotographic copying machine, a printer and the like and a fixing rotatable member therefor, that is, a heating roller and a pressure roller.
2. Description of the Related Arts
In the electrophotographic image forming apparatus such as a copying machine, a printer, a facsimile and the like, light according to an image is applied to a charged photosensitive member to form an electrostatic latent image according to the image. Toner is electrostatically adsorbed to the electrostatic latent image to be developed. The developed toner image is electrostatically transferred and adsorbed to a recording medium (or once to a toner image carrier, and then from the toner image carrier onto a recording medium). When the recording medium to which the toner image is electrostatically adsorbed passes through a fixing device, normally heat and pressure are applied to the toner image to be fixed to the recording medium. This electrophotographic image forming apparatus is well known, so the further description will be omitted.
FIGS. 1, 2 and 3 show an example of a fixing device for explaining the prior art and the embodiments of the invention. FIG. 1 is a sectional view for giving an outline of a fixing device, and FIGS. 2 and 3 are respectively a partial sectional view of a heating roller and a partial sectional view of a pressure roller, which are used in the fixing device of FIG. 1.
The fixing device 1 has a heating roller 2 and a pressure roller 3, and the pressure roller 3 has a cylindrical core member 31 made of rigid material such as metal or the like and a thin silicone rubber surface layer 32 on the outer surface thereof. The pressure roller 3 is pressed toward the heating roller 2 by an energizing member such as a spring 6 or the like. A recording medium 4 to which toner 5 is electrostatically adsorbed is transported in the direction of an arrow (c) from the left in the drawing. The heating roller 2 has a cylindrical core member made of metal such as aluminum and an elastic layer 9 on the periphery thereof. The interior of the core member 8 is provided with a heater 7, and the heating roller 2 is driven to rotate in the direction of an arrow (a) by a driving source not shown. The pressure roller 3 is rotated in the direction of an arrow (b), following the rotation of the heating roller 2.
When the heating roller 2 is subjected to the pressure of the pressure roller 3, the elastic layer 9 is mainly deformed to form a nip part (n) having a width. When the transported recording medium 4 passes through the nip part (n), the recording medium 4 is subjected to sufficient heat and pressure, so that the melted toner 5 enters between fibers of the recording medium 4.
The elastic layer 9 of the heating roller 2 is, as shown in FIG. 2, formed by three layers. The lowermost layer 91 coming into contact with the aluminum core member 8 is made of comparatively thick silicone rubber. An intermediate layer 92 coming into contact with the lowermost layer 91 has oil resistance, and is made of fluoro-rubber, for example. The intermediate layer 92 may be further formed by plural layers. A surface layer 93 coming into contact with the intermediate layer 92 is made of comparatively thin silicone rubber impregnated with silicone oil, and positioned on the outermost side of the heating roller 2.
The silicone rubber used as material of the surface layer 93 of the heating roller 2 and the surface layer 32 of the pressure roller 3 normally presents insulating property with the surface resistivity of 1016xcexa9 or higher. Therefore, the surface layers 93 and 32 show a very large negative charging characteristic at the time of coming into contact with and separating from the recording medium 4 to generate static electricity.
When the recording medium 4 passes through the fixing device 1, the recording medium is strongly sucked to the heating roller 2 and the pressure roller 3 by the generated static electricity. Consequently, encountered is the problem that the recording medium 4 is curled around the rollers 2,3 to cause a jam.
A known technique for solving the problem is such that a conductive filler is added to the lowermost layer 91 of the heating roller 2 or the surface layer 32 of the pressure roller 3, whereby the surface resistivity of the silicone rubber is adjusted to 1012xcexa9 or lower so that the generated charges are released to the core member 8 or 31 to prevent curling of the recording medium 4.
The surface layer 93 of the heating roller 2 directly comes into contact with toner on the recording medium 4. Though it is desirable that all of toner is fixed on the recording medium 4 by fixing, actually some of toner transfers and adheres to the surface layer 93 of the heating roller 2. This is the so-called toner offset phenomenon. To prevent this toner offset, a lubricant is further added to the surface layer 93. In the color copying machine and the color printer, the surface lubricating performance is especially thought important, so a comparatively large amount of a lubricant is added.
Further, as the surface layer 93 of the heating roller 2 and the surface layer 32 of the pressure roller 3 are repeatedly deformed and loosened, and further heated to a high temperature, they are rapidly deteriorated. An additive for preventing such deterioration is further added to the surface layers 93 and 32.
Since these kinds of additives have a tendency of mutually restraining individual properties, and from a viewpoint of keeping up strength and elasticity, a large quantity of additives can not be added to silicone rubber of the surface layers 93 and 32, it is very difficult to select the quantity of the above additives of many kinds and the combination of kinds.
This invention has been made to overcome the above disadvantages and provides a fixing rotatable member improved in conductive property, surface lubricating property, curling preventing performance and deterioration resistance to be well-balanced. Further, the invention provides a heat fixing device using an improved fixing rotatable member.
In the specification of this invention , the residual elongation percentage is defined as follows. A sample having an original length LO is elongated by applying force (tensile stress) to the sample so that a length of the elongated sample becomes 1.5 times as long as the original length LO. After that, when the applied force is made zero, the sample shrinks to reach a length L. The residual elongation percentage is (Lxe2x88x92LO)/L0, and expressed by %.
The fixing rotatable member used in the heating fixing device of the invention includes a base member and a surface layer, and the surface layer has a surface resistivity of 1xc3x971016xcexa9 or lower and a residual elongation percentage of 3% or lower. The surface layer may contain dimethyl silicone rubber or phenyl denatured silicone rubber as elastic material. Further, wet-type silica may be contained in the surface layer. Further, silicone oil may be contained in the surface layer. Further, the base member may be formed by the metallic core member and a first elastic layer on the outside thereof. Further, silicone rubber or fluorine containing rubber may be used in the first elastic layer. Further, the base member has a second elastic layer on the outside of the first elastic layer, and the second elastic layer may be formed of fluorine containing rubber.
Other objects and advantages besides those discussed above shall be apparent to those skilled in the air from the description of a preferred embodiment of the invention which follows. In the description, reference is made to accompanying drawings, which form a part thereof, and which illustrate an example of the invention. Such example, however, is not exhaustive of various embodiments of the invention, and therefore reference is made to the claims which follow the description for determining the scope of the invention.

Fixing rotatable member for heat fixing device and fixing device using the same


Cationic polymers having a molecular weight greater than about 200,000 can be added to the activated sludge in an MBR for industrial wastewater treatment for reasons, which include: conditioning the activated sludge; improving flux through a membrane in the MBR; reducing fouling of the of the membrane in the MBR; and reducing foaming of the activated sludge in the MBR.

In MBR processes, membrane fouling has always been a significant issue limiting the hydraulic performance of the process. Due to membrane fouling, throughput from the MBR often decreases and more membrane is often required to compensate for the throughput loss.
Recently, research results (Nagaoka et al, 1996, 1998; Lee et al., 2002) have shown that one of the main causes of membrane fouling is biopolymer, which includes polysaccharides and proteins secreted by biomass grown in the activated sludge of the MBR.
Consequently, methods of using cationic polymers that do not react with the negatively charged membranes in contact with the activated sludge were developed (Collins and Salmen, 2004; Collins et al., 2005). In this method, various polymers are directly added to the MBR activated sludge and react with the biopolymers. The resulting particles, which consist of biopolymers and synthetic cationic polymers, do not foul the membrane surface.
Though these methods have been successfully implemented in most MBRs it has been observed that some sludges, especially industrial sludges, did not always coagulate well when low molecular weight water soluble cationic polymers were used. Therefore, there is a need for a more efficacious way of coagulating industrial sludges.

Method of improving membrane bioreactor performance


A process for inhibiting polymerization of a vinyl compound comprising using (A) one or both of N-nitrosophenylhydroxylamine and a salt thereof in combination with (B) a salt of copper or in combination with (B') a metal salt of a dialkyldithiocarbamic acid and (C) at least one selected from the group consisting of inorganic acids, salts of inorganic acids, and water.. In accordance with the above process, stable continuous operation of a process for producing a vinyl compound, particularly acrylic acid or methacrylic acid, such as a distillation process of the vinyl compound, for a long time is enabled by effectively suppressing polymerization of the vinyl compound in the process or by effectively suppressing polymerization of the vinyl compound in the process while corrosion of the apparatus for the production is prevented.

It has heretofore been known that vinyl compounds, such as styrene, acrylic acid, methacrylic acid, esters of acrylic acid, esters of methacrylic acid, and acrylonitrile, are easily polymerized by light or heat. In processes for producing vinyl compounds, various types of distillation are conducted for separation and recovery, concentration, or purification of the desired vinyl compounds. However, because vinyl compounds form polymeric materials by polymerization by light or heat as described above, various problems arise in the distillation process and cause various undesirable phenomena, such as that a stable continuous operation for a long time is made impossible.
Therefore, distillation operation has heretofore been conducted in the presence of a polymerization inhibitor in order to avoid these problems caused by polymerization in the distillation process. As the polymerization inhibitor, for example, copper dibutyldithiocarbamate, hydroquinone, methoquinone (p-methoxyphenol), p-t-butylcatechol, t-butylhydroquinone, or phenothiazine is used. However, these polymerization inhibitors exhibit small or very limited effect to inhibit polymerization in parts formed by condensation of the gaseous phase although a relatively desirable effect is exhibited in parts of the liquid phase. Therefore, the problem that, in a distillation tower, formation of polymerized materials cannot be suppressed in parts where the fluid containing a polymerization inhibitor is not sufficiently supplied has persisted. There has also been another problem that copper dibutyldithiocarbamate described above cannot readily be used in an industrial plant because this compound corrodes apparatus, such as those made of SUS 316.
On the other hand, a process for inhibiting polymerization of acrylic acid by using a cobalt, nickel, or manganese complex of N-nitrosophenylhydroxylamine has been proposed (the specification of the U.S. Pat. No. 4,638,079. However, this process has a drawback in that the effect of inhibiting polymerization is not sufficiently exhibited in a system containing both of the gaseous phase and the liquid phase, such as the distillation process of acrylic acid.

Process for inhibiting polymerization of a vinyl compound


A data processing apparatus for carrying out a specific business logic data processing task, has a plurality of business activities running on at least one data processing machine, each activity communicates with other activities via a communications protocol in order to carry out the specific business logic data processing task. At least one of the activities includes a plurality of message broker data processing nodes.

The invention relates to the data processing field, and more specifically, to the field of developing and using a distributed business logic application made up of a plurality of inter-communicating business activities for carrying out a specific business logic data processing task.
In modern data processing systems a specific business logic data processing task (e.g., a customer order entry and processing task) is often handled by software which is distributed over a plurality of data processing machines which are inter-communicating with each other via a network (such as the Internet). In constructing such a distributed business logic data processing application, business xe2x80x9cactivitiesxe2x80x9d are commonly used. An activity is a reusable component of work which performs some specified business task in the context of other activities. In other words, a number of activities can be constructed (potentially independently) and then assembled together to produce a logical business application. An activity can communicate with another activity in the system via some well-defined protocol (for example, a message-based communication system, or TCP/IP). Such a composed application can then be deployed on the available middleware to form a running system.
As an example in the customer order entry area, one activity might accept the customer""s order for a specific product, another activity might do some initial processing of the order to make sure the order is valid (and ask the customer for revised information if the order is not valid), and yet another activity will contact the billing and shipment departments for further processing of the order. Each of these activities might advantageously be located on a separate machine in a separate geographic location.
When writing the software code for the respective activities, the software programmer needs to expend considerable development effort, time and expense in actually writing the code to accomplish the business logic for the respective activities.
According to one aspect, the invention provides a data processing apparatus for carrying out a specific business logic data processing task, comprising a plurality of business activities running on at least one data processing machine, each activity communicates with other activities via at least one communications protocol in order to carry out the specific business logic data processing task, wherein at least one of the activities includes a plurality of message broker data processing nodes.
According to a second aspect, the invention provides a computer program product for, when run on a computer, carrying out the functionality recited with respect to the apparatus of the first aspect.
According to a third aspect, the invention provides a data processing method comprising steps of: receiving a client request within a first business activity which is part of a network of inter-communicating business activities which carry out a specific business logic data processing task; processing the client request within the first business activity; and forwarding the client request to another business activity in the network of inter-communicating business activities; wherein at least one of the activities includes a plurality of message broker data processing nodes.
According to a fourth aspect, the invention provides a computer readable storage medium for, when run on at least one computer, instructing the at least one computer to carry out the steps of the third aspect.
Thus, with the present invention, because message broker data processing nodes are placed within a business activity, in a network of inter-communicating business activities, the message broker nodes become an integral part of the overall business logic application. Previously, a fully written business logic application was deployed on available middleware (such as a message broker) with the middleware being used only as a platform for running the fully written business logic application. In contrast, the present invention places such message broker nodes directly in the business logic application (as an integral part thereof).
Thus, the flexible and powerful message broker data processing nodes can be re-used in the business logic activity (or activities) in a very simple and straightforward way, saving much development effort since the developer of the business logic application can place message broker functionality into his business application without needing to separately write the code to achieve such functionality. For example, should the business logic application developer wish to have a message format transformation function added to his business logic application, he/she does not need to write such code from scratch, instead, he/she need only take a pre-existing format transformation message broker data processing node and place it in one of the activities of the business logic application.

Data processing with message processing nodes wrapped into a business activity

International Business Machines Corporation


A scheme for authentication, dynamic key generation and exchange provides means for authentication of mobile nodes (22) and generation of per session, per node, encryption keys for encrypting/decrypting communications between a mobile node (22) and an access point (24) in wireless local area networks (50). The scheme utilizes the same infrastructure and authentication information for both data link layers (layer 2) and network layers (layer 3). This scheme is particularly applicable to networks adhering to the IEEE 802 LAN family of standards.

Wireless local area networks (LANs) provide Internet access in hard-to-wire places such as airports, malls, and theaters. Due to the physically open and uncontrolled nature of the communications medium, e.g., radio frequency electromagnetic radiation, security is a concern. One of the existing standards for wireless LANs is a standard approved by the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE), commonly referred to as IEEE 802.11. This standard provides specifications related to access security, e.g., authentication and encryption.
Networks conforming to the IEEE 802.11 standard, referred to as 802.11 networks, typically comprise mobile nodes (MNs), such as personal computers (PCs) or personal digital assistants (PDAs). These MNs gain access to the 802.11 network via an Access Point (AP). An AP provides communication between a MN in a wireless LAN and another MN in the same or another LAN. In accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard, before a MN can access the network, (1) it must be authenticated to verify its access privileges, and (2) a security association in the form of a shared secret key must be established between the AP and the MN. The AP and the MN use this key to encrypt all data communications between the AP and the MN. However, there are several disadvantages associated with the current IEEE 802.11 authentication and encryption schemes. First, the current authentication protocol for 802.11 networks specifies a shared key authentication method, wherein the AP and the MN are previously (prior to attempted communications) provided with the same shared secret key, to realize the mechanism for the AP to grant authentication and association to a specific MN. This typically requires that the secret key be delivered to the MN via a secure channel or mechanism independent of the 802.11 network.
Another disadvantage is that the same shared key used for authentication is also used for encryption. This requires that each time a new MN is added or an existing MN leaves the trusted, shared relationship, the key must be changed and delivered reliably to each MN. This makes the authentication scheme cumbersome and unsuitable for public networks, which typically require per user, per session keys.
Along with authentication requirements at the initial connection between the MN and the AP (commonly referred to as the data link layer or layer-2), there are authentication requirements at higher levels, such as on the network layer (layer-3). It is not uncommon for a user to carry a mobile device across multiple LANs with different network addresses. In accordance with the IEEE 802.11 standard, this roaming ability also requires an authentication routine to be executed between the MN and each AP encountered. As currently contemplated, the aforementioned data link layer and network layer authentication schemes are separately employed and utilize different algorithms and authentication information. This dual process is inherently inefficient and slows the authentication process. An improved scheme for authentication and key exchange is desired.

Scheme for authentication and dynamic key exchange


The aqueous ink of the present invention comprises a suspension of a polymer, preferably a polyester or a polyester polyamide, having adsorbed a dye or a pigment, wherein the surface tension (.gamma.) and the viscosity (.eta.) of the ink at 20.degree. C. and the average particle size (d) of the suspended particles satisfy the following inequality (1): EQU 0.1.ltoreq..gamma..multidot..eta..multidot.d.ltoreq.11 (1). wherein the units of the parameters .gamma., .eta. and d are dyne/cm, cps, and .mu.m, respectively.

Aqueous inks are frequently used as printing or writing inks for the ease of manufacture and handling. For example, with the recent development and spread of computers, printers have also been spreading, and aqueous inks are made frequently use of in such printers.
The inks for an ink jet printer, one of typical printers, usually comprise a water-soluble dye capable of dissolving in water so as to avoid clogging of nozzles with the ink. Inks comprising a water-soluble dye hardly obstruct the nozzles but, in turn, the resulting printed image has poor waterfastness.
Therefore, the composition of inks is of importance to improve waterfastness of printed images.
In order to improve the waterfastness of the inks for ink jet recording, it has been proposed to use ink comprising a pigment (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 4-28776, 4-189876, 4-359071, and 4-359072), a non-aqueous medium (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 4-261478), or a dye having excellent waterfastness (see U.S. Pat. No. 4,963,189).
However, use of a pigment in inks tends to incur a reduction in chroma of printed images and to cause clogging of the nozzles. Further, a pigment has insufficient fixation properties onto paper or an OHP (overhead projector) sheet, so that the printed image has insufficient record preservability. Neither has the other proposals succeeded in providing inks fully satisfying all the requirements, such as anti-blurring properties, waterfastness, and fixation.
Accordingly, an object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous ink which is prevented from blurring and provides printed images exhibiting improved waterfastness and improved fixation.
Another object of the present invention is to provide an aqueous ink which is particularly useful as an ink for ink jet recording.


According to various embodiments, a user interface (UI) includes a precedence graph area and an icon list displaying multiple types of program icons. A user selection of one of the program icons is received, the user selection corresponding to moving the selected program icon to the precedence graph area, the selected program icon referencing a composer UI to generate content of a specific media type. The selected program icon is characterized as a first program-content-pairing icon that references the content created by the composer UI. Thereafter, a user interaction with a plurality of program-content-pairing icons in the precedence graph area is detected, the user interaction corresponding to specifying an ordering of the plurality of program-content-pairing icons. A program flow precedence graph referencing a program flow of an interactive program is the generated, based on the ordering of the program-content-pairing icons in the precedence graph area.

In an academic setting such as a classroom of a school or university, various types of educational content may be created and utilized by an instructor. For example, the instructor may create markings on a whiteboard, or type and print a quiz onto a sheet of paper, or refer to content in a physical text. In certain cases, classes conducted by an instructor may be recorded as a conventional video by a traditional video recorder, so that the recorded educational content may be provided to remote students that are not able to attend the classes in person.


ELL2 polypeptides and polynucleotides and methods for producing such polypeptides by recombinant techniques are disclosed. Also disclosed are methods for utilizing ELL2 polypeptides and polynucleotides in the design of protocols for the treatment of neoplastic disorders, among others and diagnostic assays for such conditions.

The elongation stage of eukaryotic messenger RNA synthesis is a major site for the regulation of gene expression (Reines, D. et al., Trends. Biochem. Sci. 21:351-355 (1996), Bentley, D. L., Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 5:210-216 (1995)). Moreover, a growing body of evidence suggests that mis-regulation of elongation may be a key element in a variety of human diseases (Aso, T. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 97:1561-1569 (1996)).
To date, one virally encoded protein (Tat) and five cellular proteins (SII, P-TEFb, TFIIF, Elongin (SIII), and ELL) have been defined biochemically and shown to be capable of controlling the activity of the RNA polymerase II elongation complex. Among these elongation factors, three have been implicated in human disease. The HIV-1 encoded Tat protein is required for efficient transcription of HIV-1 genes and for productive infection by the virus (Jones, K. A. & Peterlin, B. M., Annu. Rev. Biochem. 63:717-743 (1994)). Elongin (SIII) is a potential target for regulation by the product of the von Hippel-Lindau (VHL) tumor suppressor gene, which is mutated in the majority of clear-cell renal carcinomas and in families with VHL disease, a rare genetic disorder that predisposes individuals to a variety of cancers (Duan, D. R. et al., Science 269:1402-1406 (1995), Kibel, A. et al., Science 269:1444-1446 (1995)). The ELL gene on chromosome 19pl3.1 was originally isolated as a gene that undergoes frequent translocations with the Drosophila trithorax-like MLL gene on chromosome 11q23 in acute myeloid leukemia (Thirman, M. J. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 91:12110-12114 (1994), Mitani, K. et al., Blood 85:2017-2024 (1995)).
This indicates that these proteins have an established, proven history as therapeutic targets. Clearly there is a need for identification and characterization of further related proteins which can play a role in preventing, ameliorating or correcting dysfunctions or diseases, including, but not limited to, AIDS and neoplastic disorders, among others.

ELL2, a new member of an ELL family of RNA polymerase II elongation factors


An improved composition for and method of priming a concrete pump line is provided. The flowable composition comprises a solid particulate mixture and water, the particulate mixture being comprised of solvatable polymeric material preferably selected from a group consisting of polyacrylamide, polyacrylate and mixtures thereof; an organic complexing agent preferably of urea; and a buffering agent preferably of citric acid. The invention provides a flowable composition exhibiting improved coating and lubrication to the inner walls of a concrete line as it passes therethrough. The flowable composition mixes quickly with water to form a clear solution, hydrates quickly upon being mixed with water, and provides a composition for use in priming concrete pump lines that does not utilize cement or priming grout slurry.

The placement of concrete into forms is a critical phase of most commercial, highway, industrial and residential construction projects. Typically, construction contractors are required to place concrete into forms as soon as possible after mixing, while the concrete is in a plastic and workable state. In many projects it is also required that concrete placement be continuous to allow for appropriate consolidation of adjoining layers to allow formation of uniform, dense, impervious concrete with smooth faces on exposed surfaces. The failure to properly place concrete in conformance with such exacting standards can result in structurally defective concrete that in many instances must be replaced at great cost to the construction contractor.
The use of concrete pumps for the placement of concrete into forms has gained widespread acceptance as a safe, efficient, and cost effective method of concrete placement. Concrete pumping allows for direct placement of concrete into forms without rehandling, resulting in significantly reduced labor costs and improved concrete quality. Generally, the use of concrete pumps is faster than traditional methods, because pumping allows for continuous placement of concrete. This can increase the productivity of finishers and decrease total construction time for the overall project, minimizing overhead costs and monetary penalties associated with construction delays.
Placement of concrete utilizing the pumping method involves the flow of concrete from a pump through a conduit, or pump line, such as flexible hoses or metal pipe. Concrete exits the pump line in a precisely controlled manner directly into forms. Pumping concrete offers a steady, predictable flow of concrete delivered to the point-of-use resulting in a smooth-flowing operation. A significant concern in concrete pumping operations is ensuring that the inner, concrete-contacting surfaces of the pump line are lubricated to facilitate the flow of concrete therethrough. This is not a problem after the flow of concrete has been established, because as it passes through a pump line the concrete acts as a self-lubricating agent by leaving a layer of slick cement slurry on the inner walls of the pump line. This is a problem, however, in initially establishing concrete flow in a pump line. Attempting to pump concrete through a dry pump line will cause the pump line to plug, resulting in costly construction delays. To address this problem, concrete pumpers have traditionally added water to the first batch of concrete to allow it to pump easier. This conventional, "just wetting" technique is unacceptable because in most cases it does not prevent the pump line from plugging. Further, the introduction of excess water into the mixed concrete alters the target water-cement ratio of the concrete, causing decreased strength of the finished concrete and segregation of the components of the concrete. To address the problem, the American Concrete Pumping Association recommends always priming a concrete pump and line prior to initiating concrete pumping.
Priming a concrete pump line involves the application of a lubricating agent to the inner walls of the pump line to promote the establishment of concrete flow through the line. This is typically accomplished by pumping a priming fluid through the pump line immediately prior to initiating the pumping and flow of concrete through the pump line. The priming fluid is of a type that is easily pumped through a dry concrete pump line, and that will lubricate the inner, concrete-contacting surfaces of the pump line as it is pumped therethrough. In practice, the priming fluid once prepared is placed in fluid communication with the suction side of a concrete pump. In practice, the priming fluid is often placed in a vessel, referred to as a hopper, that is in fluid communication with the concrete pump. As the priming fluid is being pumped from the hopper, concrete is typically added to the hopper such that the final portion of the priming fluid is in contact with the initial portion of the concrete, with the priming fluid thereby preceding the concrete that is pumped through the concrete pump line. The priming fluid acts to lubricate the inner, concrete-contacting surfaces of the concrete pump line to facilitate the initial movement of concrete therethrough.
Various compositions for priming concrete pumps and pump lines are known in the prior art, however, all are disadvantageous when compared to the present invention. For instance, one method of priming concrete pumps utilizes ready-mixed priming grout. This priming grout slurry has the disadvantage of being expensive, requiring the use of a ready-mix truck. This method also has the disadvantage of utilizing large volumes of priming grout slurry that cannot be mixed with concrete, i.e., added to the form and mixed with concrete. This method therefore produces a large volume of priming grout slurry waste that requires offsite disposal. Another method of priming concrete pumps utilizes a concrete priming slurry, consisting of cement and water. Although the concrete priming slurry may be prepared without the use of a ready-mix truck, this concrete priming slurry method has the disadvantage of requiring the onsite delivery and handling of extra bags of cement. Additionally, similar to the priming grout slurry, the concrete priming slurry is a waste that requires offsite disposal.
The prior art also teaches the use of specialized lubricants as a priming fluid. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,997,633 to Montgomery teaches the use of a priming fluid comprising an additive mixed with water, the additive having a composition by weight of 80 to 90 percent alkaline material and 10 to 20 percent polymeric material. Such a priming fluid presents disadvantages, as the strongly alkaline nature of the priming fluid, having a pH of between 11 and 12, presents safety concerns associated with the handling of the priming fluid. Further, the strongly alkaline nature of the priming fluid increases the risk of producing weak or unstable set concrete as a result of alkali-silica reactivity and alkali-aggregate reactivity. Other disadvantages with the use of alkaline priming fluid are associated with the cost of the alkaline materials and the relatively long duration of additive mixing and hydration. The use of the priming fluid prior to full hydration presents the risk of drawing water from concrete as it passes through a pump line, which interferes with the desired lubricating effect of the priming aid.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,318,408 to Davidsson teaches the use of an aqueous suspension, in contrast to an aqueous solution, as a concrete priming fluid. This reference discloses the use of an aqueous suspension comprising amorphous silica, namely silica fume, and a water dispersable polymer consisting of vinyl esters, acrylic acid esters, styrene, butadiene, and vinyl-halogen compounds. The use of such suspensions instead of aqueous solutions as a priming fluid presents several disadvantages. For instance, the suspension becomes unpumpable if subjected to pumping pressures higher then the segregation pressure required to separate the solids and liquids in the suspension. Therefore, the user must carefully monitor the pumping pressure to ensure that it does not exceed the suspension's segregation pressure. Further, the limitation of using water dispersable polymers provides a pump primer having inferior lubricating properties. Other disadvantages with the use of an aqueous suspension are associated with the difficulty of maintaining a uniform suspension during use, which interferes with the lubricating effect of the pumping aid.
Accordingly, it is recognized in the construction industry that there is an increasing need for improved compositions for and methods of priming a concrete pump line to lubricate the pump line to promote the initial flow of concrete through the line. The present invention addresses the need for improved compositions for use in priming concrete pump lines in commercial, highway, industrial and residential construction projects


A method and apparatus determines continuously mean cardiac output by measuring the arterial pressure e.g. at a finger and calculating therefrom the mean arterial pressure and the time constant of the arterial system (in diastole). Compliance values are provided from a table. Mean cardiac output is then the product of mean arterial pressure and compliance divided by the time constant. Changes in cardiac output can be used for diagnostic purposes. A pressure cuff or pressure tonometer can be used to measure the arterial pressure with a microcomputer providing the necessary calculations.

The present invention relates to a method for determining cardiac output or total peripheral resistance from the measurement of an arterial pressure waveform and in particular from a non invasive measurement of peripheral circulation.
While it is preferred to use a non-invasive technique to measure the arterial pressure waveform, an invasive technique such as the use of an intra-arterial catheter can also be used. While such a technique is more accurate its use is more restricted to qualified personnel and has more limited use.
Intra arterial catheters are in common use during major surgery. These are commonly attached to pressure transducers and the electrical signal is processed to display the pressure waveform as a trace on a visual display monitor. The display indicates systolic, diastolic, mean arterial pressure and heart rate.
At present the most reliable and accepted method of measuring cardiac output for surgical patients derives the cardiac output from a thermodilution technique using the insertion of a pulmonary artery catheter. The procedure is potentially dangerous as the catheter must be passed through the right heart for correct placement. In children it is considered that the danger of the technique outweighs any benefits from the information received.
In each of U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,753 (Petrucelli et al) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,369 (Petrucelli et al), a non-invasive technique measures cardiac output using an unmodified Windkessel circuit model representing arterial compliance as a single lumped capacitance. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,535,753 cardiac output is calculated from the mean flow in diastole multiplied by the heart rate with mean flow determined by RMS averaging systolic xe2x80x9ccurrentxe2x80x9d over the diastolic period. Systolic current is calculated from a model using a LC charge pump circuit for the systolic portion of the cardiac cycle. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,647,369 (Petrucelli et al) provide an allegedly improved measure of cardiac output in a known equation involving a function of pulse pressure, heart rate and compliance. by representing compliance as a function of pulse pressure, age, height and/or weight.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,836,884 (Chio), cardiac output or peripheral resistance is calculated from a non-invasive cuff pressure method measuring systolic, diastolic and mean arterial pressure and employing formulae using diastolic flow velocity calculated from determinants of the pressure waveform.
Non invasive techniques for determining cardiac output include Doppler ultrasonography using an oesophageal probe and echo cardiography using a probe on the chest wall. The equipment for these techniques is bulky, expensive and unsuited to routine theater use where space is of a limited nature especially during major surgery.
Other techniques for measuring cardiac output use expired gas analysis using a variety of gases. Most of these techniques are experimental only and have not been accepted for general clinical use.
Another form of measurement involves a dye dilution technique but it is of limited use as it does not allow frequent repeated measurement.
The present invention seeks to overcome the disadvantages in the prior art and to provide a simpler and easier method for obtaining cardiac output by measuring the arterial pressure waveform and in turn providing measurement of cardiac output or total peripheral resistance.
According to the invention there is provided a method for deriving cardiac output in a patient including the steps of: measuring continuously the arterial pressure at a point within the cardiovascular system to derive an arterial pressure waveform; determining the mean arterial pressure from said arterial pressure waveform; determining the compliance of the arterial system for the patient; determining the time constant of the arterial system from the arterial pressure waveform and deriving the mean cardiac output as the product of the mean arterial pressure and compliance divided by said time constant.
The time constant of the arterial system corresponds to the time from the dicrotic notch to the time where the slope of the arterial pressure waveform at the dicrotic notch intersects the time axis, equivalent to extrapolation of the waveform to zero arterial pressure. The dicrotic notch corresponds to the pulse in the arterial pressure waveform produced by aortic valve closure. The arterial pressure waveform after the dicrotic notch can be represented by an exponential decay curve.
The compliance of the arterial system is obtained from a set of nomograms which are normalised and based on the weight, height, age and sex of a patient.
Other factors can be determined from these measurements including stroke volume which is the mean cardiac output divided by the heart rate. Cardiac contractility can be derived from the positive slope of the arterial pressure waveform, maximum contractility being taken from the steepest part of that slope which can then be displayed both as a rate of change of pressure or, when the stroke volume is known, as the rate of change of volume. Other determinations that can be provided by the current measurement techniques include the ejection period which is the interval from the commencement of the upswing of the arterial pressure waveform to the dicrotic notch.
Other parameters can also be determined from the above measurements, the explanation of which is made below.

Method and apparatus for determining cardiac output or total peripheral resistance


The present invention provides novel 3-heterocyclic benzylamides and related derivatives having the general Formula I

Potassium (K+) channels are considered to be the most diverse class of ion channels and have several critical roles in cell function. This has been demonstrated in neurons where K+ channels are responsible, in part, for determining cell excitability by contributing to membrane repolarization following depolarization, resting membrane potential, and regulation of neurotransmitter release. The M-current has long been described, by electrophysiology recording methods and by pharmacology, as a dominant conductance in controlling neuronal excitability. Pharmacological activation or suppression of M-currents by small molecules could have profound effects in controlling neuronal excitability. Recently, Wang et al., Science, 282:1890–1893, (1998) reported that co-assembly of the KCNQ2 and KCNQ3 potassium channels underlies the native M-current in neurons.
Activation or opening of the KCNQ channel(s), particularly the KCNQ2 or KCNQ2/3 channel(s), mutated or wild type, may prove to be beneficial in increasing hyperpolarization of neurons, thereby resulting in protection from abnormal synchronous firing during a migraine attack. The present invention provides a solution to the problem of abnormal synchronous firing of neurons related to migraine headache by demonstrating that modulators, preferably openers, of KCNQ potassium channels increases hyperpolarization of neurons which protects against abnormal synchronous neuron firing involved in migraine attacks.
Although the symptom pattern varies among migraine sufferers, the severity of migraine pain justifies a need for vigorous, yet safe and effective, treatments and therapies for the great majority of cases. Needed in the art are agents that can be used to combat and relieve migraine (and diseases similar to and mechanistically related to migraine), and even prevent the recurrence of migraine. Also needed are anti-migraine agents which are effective in the treatment of acute migraine, as well as in the prodrome phase of a migraine attack. Thus, a clear goal in the art is to discover new, safe, nontoxic and effective anti-migraine compounds for use as drugs, and in anti-migraine compositions and treatments.
Because migraine afflicts a large percentage of the population, there is a need to discover compounds and agents that are useful in therapeutics and treatments, and as components of pharmaceutical compositions, for reducing, ameliorating, or alleviating the pain and discomfort of migraine headache and other symptoms of migraine. The present invention satisfies such a need by providing compounds that function as openers of the KCNQ family of potassium channel proteins to serve as anti-migraine agents or drugs and to comprise compositions to treat migraine, as described herein.
A broad range of cinnamide compounds are known and new compounds continue to be reported with a broad range of utility. Some of these compounds can be found in the disclosures of WO 00/07993 published Feb. 17, 2000, EP 810220A1, published Dec. 3, 1997, U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,838 issued May 22, 1990 to Guthrie, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,046,239 issued Apr. 4, 2000 to Lennox, et al., WO 00.42013, published Jul. 20, 2000, WO 01/10381 published Feb. 15, 2001, WO 01/10380 published Feb. 15, 2001, JP45-14291 published May 21, 1970, and JP2-138159 published May 28, 1990. The compounds described in these patents are distinct from those of the present invention.

3-Heterocyclic benzylamide derivatives as potassium channel openers

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R5, R6, A and Het are as defined in the specification, or a nontoxic pharmaceutically acceptable salt, solvate or hydrate thereof which are openers or activators of KCNQ potassium channels. The present invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions comprising said novel 3-heterocyclic benzylamides and to the method of treatment of disorders sensitive to KCNQ potassium channel opening activity such as migraine or a migraine attack, bipolar disorders, epilepsy, acute and chronic pain and anxiety.


The maintenance assembly, for workers to perform maintenance activities within a gas turbine engine, is capable of being arranged within a cavity, generally around a combustor, accessible from a manhole of the gas turbine engine. The maintenance assembly includes a platform, and an inflatable member cooperatively configured to the platform. The inflatable member is at a normal condition, when placed outside of the cavity, being at a deflated position and is at a working condition, when arranged within the cavity, being at inflated position so as to accommodate a shape coordinating the cavity in such a manner that the platform is advance within the cavity up to a predetermined level to enable the workers on the platform to reach at a predetermined position within the cavity to perform the maintenance activities.

More often than not, in gas turbines, during closed conditions, it may be required for a worker to enter within a mid-section of an engine through a manhole for assembly, disassembly or timely and preventive maintenance to avoid any unnecessary breakdown or accidents, and to enable its effective and efficient working. For smaller gas turbines, it may be easy for workers to perform such activities, however, in case of larger gas turbines the workers may found quite difficult to perform such activities due to accessibility issues. In order to avoid such accessibility issues, conventionally, the workers may require carrying a set of unassembled components within the cavity of the engines from the manhole. Subsequently, such set of components are required to be assembled within the cavity of the gas turbine engine to form a suitable structure, such as a platform or scaffold etc., for enabling the workers to perform the maintenance activities within the gas turbine engine.
However, carrying such unassembled set of components within the engine's mid-section through the manhole, which are generally small in size, is quite a cumbersome task with potential Environment, Health and Safety (EHS) risks. Further, subsequent assembling of such set of components within the cavity to form the structure also adds to cumbersomeness, apart from long time in such assemblage.
Such conventional techniques may be quite in practice, and may have generally been considered satisfactory for their intended purposes, but may be unsatisfactory in terms of precluding risk of accidents and associated problems and huge time involved in carrying and assembling the structures every time the workers required to perform maintenance activities within the gas turbine engine.
Accordingly, there exists a need to preclude or minimize various such associated problems in an economical and adaptable manner.

Maintenance assembly adaptable within gas turbine engine


A table with a working surface has a parallel rail on each side of the working surface. A slide assembly includes a shaft with ends and a pair of brackets. Each bracket has a hole. The holes receive the ends of the shaft. The slide assembly includes cylindrical tunnels. The tunnels slidably receive the rails. An operating assembly has primary and secondary arms. Each arm has a free exterior end and an interior portion. The interior portion is coupled to the shaft. A router is secured to, and depends from, the free end of the secondary arm. Control mechanisms include a scribe. The scribe is secured to, and depends from, the free end of the primary arm. Movement of the primary arm and scribe with respect to a template will cause corresponding movement of the secondary arm and router with respect to work pieces to be routed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a fence router table system and more particularly pertains to supporting and routing linear fence components in a safe, accurate, and efficient manner.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of pantographs and routers of known designs and configurations is known in the prior art. More specifically, pantographs and routers of known designs and configurations previously devised and utilized for the purpose of fabricating fences through conventional methods and apparatuses are known to consist basically of familiar, expected, and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which has been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
By way of example, U.S. Pat. No. 1,696,032 issued Dec. 18, 1928 to Glover relates to an engraving cutter head and depth gauge. U.S. Pat. No. 3,222,984 issued Dec. 14, 1965 to Loshin relates to a coordinate transformation. U.S. Pat. No. 3,739,824 issued Jun. 19, 1973 to Hoenig relates to a pantograph apparatus. U.S. Pat. No. 4,554,740 issued Nov. 26, 1985 to Gill relates to pantographs. Lastly, U.S. Pat. No. 5,203,088 issued Apr. 20, 1993 to Morgan relates to a method and machine for the engraving of articles.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not describe fence router table system that allows supporting and routing linear fence components in a safe, accurate, and efficient manner.
In this respect, the fence router table system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in doing so provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of supporting and routing linear fence components in a safe, accurate, and efficient manner.
Therefore, it can be appreciated that there exists a continuing need for a new and improved fence router table system which can be used for supporting and routing linear fence components in a safe, accurate, and efficient manner. In this regard, the present invention substantially fulfills this need.


An apparatus (10) for increasing a pulse length of a pulsed radiation beam, the apparatus comprising: a beam splitter (16) configured to split an input radiation beam (18) into a first beam (24) and a second beam (22); an optical arrangement (12, 14), wherein the beam splitter and the optical arrangement are configured such that at least a portion of the first beam is recombined with the second beam into a modified beam after an optical delay of the first beam caused by the optical arrangement; and at least one optical element (30) in an optical path of the first beam, the at least one optical element configured such that the phase of different parts of a wavefront of the first beam is varied to reduce coherence between the first beam and the second beam.

A lithographic apparatus is a machine constructed to apply a desired pattern onto a substrate. A lithographic apparatus can be used, for example, in the manufacture of integrated circuits (ICs). A lithographic apparatus may, for example, project a pattern (also often referred to as "design layout" or "design") of a patterning device (e.g., a mask) onto a layer of radiation-sensitive material (resist) provided on a substrate (e.g., a wafer).
As semiconductor manufacturing processes continue to advance, the dimensions of circuit elements have continually been reduced while the amount of functional elements, such as transistors, per device has been steadily increasing over decades, following a trend commonly referred to as 'Moore's law'. To keep up with Moore's law the semiconductor industry is chasing technologies that enable to create increasingly smaller features. To project a pattern on a substrate a lithographic apparatus may use electromagnetic radiation. The wavelength of this radiation determines the minimum size of features which are patterned on the substrate. Typical wavelengths currently in use are 365 nm (i-line), 248 nm, 193 nm and 13.5 nm. A lithographic apparatus, which uses extreme ultraviolet (EUV) radiation, having a wavelength within a range of 4 nm to 20 nm, for example 6.7 nm or 13.5 nm, may be used to form smaller features on a substrate than a lithographic apparatus which uses, for example, radiation with a wavelength of 193 nm.
Pulse stretching devices (pulse stretchers) have been used in lithography to reduce radiation-induced optical damage to components of the optical column (primarily the projection lens but in some cases also the illuminator) and thus improve the lifetime of (the components of) the optical column. A pulse stretcher increases the temporal pulse length of a laser by creating copies of a laser pulse and separating them in time by an optical delay.
An additional benefit of pulse stretchers is a reduction of so-called speckle. Speckle is the optical interference between radiation beams due to temporal and spatial coherence. For deep ultraviolet (DUV) lithography, the radiation (light) source may be an excimer laser. Speckle, through interference of light originating from different parts of the beam, leads to local variations in intensity on the wafer, i.e., local dose variations. The varying dose leads to local critical dimension (CD) variations as determined by the sensitivity of the resist used in the lithography process.
Typical dimensions of speckles for DUV range from about 100 nm (as determined by the optical limits of resolution of the lithography system) up to the sub-millimetre range. Speckle is an essentially stochastic phenomenon and so every instance of a speckle pattern is unique and non-predictive of the next speckle pattern seen on, for example, another wafer. Speckle therefore gives rise to local critical dimension uniformity issues and local CD variations may translate directly into local overlay issues. Thus, it is desirable to reduce the effects of speckle.


An image processing system, a method thereof, and a recording medium thereof are disclosed. The image processing system includes a command converting unit for reading object information contained in a drawing command, and generating an attribute image; a resolution reducing unit for generating a low-resolution attribute image and a mixture flag that indicates that two or more objects are intermingled in a block of, e.g., 4×4 pixels; and a storing unit for storing a RGB image compressed by a compressing unit, the low-resolution attribute image, and the mixture flag.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to an image processing system, and especially relates to a suitable technology for an apparatus that rasterizes object information, stores, and transmits the information as a bit map image at a printing process, and an apparatus that determines an attribute, stores, and transmits the attribute as an attribute image at a copying process.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a document drawn up by a computer is printed by a printer through the following processes.                (1) Document data are converted into two or more drawing commands.        (2) The drawing command is analyzed by software known either as a printer driver or a printer controller, and a raster image is generated.        (3) A printer output signal is generated through a color conversion process, a pseudo halftone process, and so on performed on the raster image.        (4) Perform printing.
In order to output a high quality color image by the printer, a color process and a halftone process are required depending on the types of the images, such as a natural image, a graphic image, a line drawing (thin line), and a character. That is, if an image includes two or more of the image types, an optimal image process for each image type is needed.
For example, according to JPA 2000-11191, a document image described by a drawing instruction is developed (expanded) into a bit map image, and a code showing the image typed is included in a bit map image; thereby, the rastering process, wherein the image type is determined with sufficient precision, can be performed with a small capacity memory.
Here, there is a requirement to store the bit map image (also called an attribute image), to which the codes showing the image kinds are developed, with a still smaller storage space. For example, there is a method of storing the attribute information at a low resolution. According to JPA 8-98030, the attribute information for controlling UCR (undercolor removal) is compressed into one set of information per 4×4 pixels, and the compressed information is stored.
However, if resolution is lowered in an attempt to reduce the storage space, quality of the image is degraded. For example, when a character and a thin-line drawing are present on a graphic image, change of image processes for different attributes becomes noticeable at boundaries.

Image processing system, a method thereof, and a recording medium thereof


An image display device which displays a multiband image acquired by a multiband camera capable of capturing two or more bands comprises a parameter input/output and image outputting screen configured to represent each band itself or an image of the band, a band-RGB conversion table configured to use for converting a band number into a color represented in the a parameter input/output and image outputting screen, and wavelength information converting unit configured to calculate the band itself or the color representing the image of the band from the band number by use of the band-RGB conversion table to output the band or the color to the a parameter input/output and image outputting screen.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image display device and an image display method in which a multiband image acquired by a multispectral camera is designated for each band, and the designated band image is displayed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, a multiband camera refers to a camera which captures an image with a plurality of bands having more specific wavelength transmission characteristics as compared with R, G, and B filters of a usual three-band color camera. As means for switching the band, there are used, for example, a wavelength variable filter disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-99710 and a rotary filter disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,653. The number of the bands differs with a device or a purpose, but transmittance characteristics in the bands are shown in, for example, FIG. 2 of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-99710.
As many captured images generally exist as bands. Therefore, 16 images by 16 bands exist in FIG. 2 of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-99710, and ten images by ten bands exist in the rotary filter shown in FIG. 5B of U.S. Pat. No. 6,549,653.
Here, as to the switching of the band, for example, in the images of 18 bands, there is considered a method of displaying a graphical user interface (hereinafter abbreviated as GUI) for selecting the band from 18 bands to switch the band. Moreover, there is considered a method of displaying the GUI including various setting items to switch the band depending on, for example, the selection items of "Filter/Band". However, it is difficult to imagine the wavelength indicated by the band from the band number only.
The switching of the band means that certain information peculiar to the band or the image of the band is desired to be viewed. In the multiband camera, the band means that the band has peculiar wavelength information and that the information on the wavelength usually in a narrowband intends to be acquired as the characteristics of each band as in the transmittance characteristics shown in FIG. 2 of Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2001-99710. Therefore, the user constantly combines the transmittance characteristics of the wavelength with which the image is to be acquired, especially a central wavelength with the band to operate the GUI.

Image display device and image display method


A display method and an electronic device are provided. The display method includes sensing a first operation performed on a display screen of an electronic device. The display method also includes determining a first contact area of the display screen corresponding to the first operation based on information of the first operation. Further, the display method includes adjusting a first display area of the display screen to a second display area based on information of the first contact area.

With the continuous development of science and technology, electronic technology has also been rapidly developed, and the variety of electronic products is increasing. People are enjoying all kinds of convenience bought by the development of science and technology. Electronic devices with improved ease of operation and convenience through the use of touch screens are becoming more common in the marketplace. In recent years, touch screens of portable electronic devices that people usually use, such as mobile phone, are becoming bigger. Thus, performance of the electronic devices is becoming higher, and endurance and cooling capacity of the electronic devices are becoming better.
Currently, many electronic devices include touch screens. It is more convenient that user can directly perform an operation with fingers. However, when the user's hand holds an electronic device having a touch screen, the hand may accidentally hit the touch screen, resulting in erroneous response of the electronic device. The disclosed display method and electronic device are directed to solve one or more problems set forth above and other problems.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Display method and electronic device thereof