A system and method for mounting and charging a portable electronic device on or in contiguity to a wireless charging device. The wireless power transferring and charging device includes a suction pump that provides a suction vacuum to mount/hold a portable electronic device onto an induction charging surface of the wireless charging device in a vertical or semi-vertical position to be wirelessly powered and/or charged.

The charging of portable electronic devices such as cell phones, smart phones, tablets, MP3 players, etc. within vehicles has evolved. Many vehicles utilized typical wired charging apparatuses that require a user to position the portable electronic device in a specific manner that would allow a DC power cord to be plugged in to a DC connector such as a vehicle power supply, power adapter, or cigarette lighting receptacle. With the advent of inductive charging, vehicles started to utilize in-vehicle inductive chargers. An inductive charger typically uses an induction coil to create an electromagnetic field to transfer power to a portable electronic device which also contains an induction coil to receive power from the electromagnetic field and coverts it into an electrical current in order to charge the battery of the portable electronic device.
Wireless/inductive chargers have been located within the center panel of a front portion of the vehicle compartment, between the driver and passenger seats of a vehicle. These charging arrangements require that inductive wireless charging can only occur when the portable electronic device is placed in a horizontal position while charging. However, horizontal charging is associated to many types of issues and places limitations as to the user's use of the device. These issues and limitations are caused by a difficult angle of operating the device, difficult viewing of the device screen, and high likelihood of an object or other individual obstructing access to the device. In addition, horizontal charging requires vehicles to be equipped with a tray or specific area within the center panel of the vehicle to hold and charge the portable electronic device in a stationary position in order to maintain a wireless charge. Additionally, horizontal positioning also increases the likelihood of wasted charging energy as foreign objects such as coins tend to collect in a vehicle's horizontal surface.
To counter these issues, manufactures have employed the use of suction cups, suckers, or hook and loop fasteners to hold a portable device in place in a vertical charging position. However, such components tend to have a very short lifecycle as they do not maintain a hold on the devices for an extended period of time, rendering the charger useless after a short amount of time. In many cases, such components can not retain or mount a device for an extended period of use causing the portable electronic device to be released and dropped due to a lack of prolonged suctioning or fastening strength.
Also many of these devices require that the user append hook and loop fasteners, a cover, or an adhesive material onto the surface of the portable electronic device in order to retain the portable electronic device to the charger. Additionally, many of these inductive charges include claps, cradles, or holders only configured for a limited amount of electronic device form factors. In many instances, the limitations of these devices cause driver's to be distracted as portable electronic devices fail to retain a charge or fall to the ground, which can result in damage to the portable electronic device in some cases.

Method and system to mount a portable electronic device to wirelessly charge


An IC card includes an antenna formed as a flat coil wound several times having an inner vacant area, said antenna being made by punching or etching a thin metal strip and having an outermost loop partially connected to and supported by an outer frame of said thin metal strip, and said antenna having respective innermost and outermost terminals. A semiconductor element is electrically connected to said innermost and outermost terminals, respectively. One of said innermost and outermost terminals having an accommodation hole in which said semiconductor element is accommodated. The semiconductor element and the antenna are supported to maintain their form by a supporting material made of biodegradable resin.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an antenna frame, an integrated circuit (IC) card and a manufacturing method thereof. The antenna frame is used for IC cards or IC tags which are generally called xe2x80x9cIC cardsxe2x80x9d in this specification hereinafter and send and receive signals using a non-contact system. More particularly, the present invention relates to an IC card and manufacturing method thereof, the characteristic feature of which is the method of holding an antenna of the IC card.
2. Description of the Related Art
The IC card is composed as follows. A semiconductor element is electrically connected with and mounted on an antenna which is formed into a flat coil-shape, for sending and receiving signals, and a film which forms the outside of the IC card is laminated on both sides of the antenna and semiconductor element. In this connection, there is provided a tag product which is used for the discrimination of baggage, and this tag product is similar to the IC card. In the same manner as that of the IC card, this tag product is composed in such a manner that a semiconductor element is mounted on an antenna and a film is laminated on both sides of the antenna and semiconductor element. In the same manner as that of the IC card, the tag product is advantageous in that information can be sent and received in a non-contact system so that baggage can be effectively discriminated. In this connection, in this specification, the IC card includes a product such a tag product which is provided with an antenna and semiconductor element and is capable of sending and receiving a signal using a non-contact system.
When the IC card is manufactured, a metal sheet is subjected to punching or etching so that the metal sheet can be formed into a predetermined coil-shape antenna, and a semiconductor element is electrically connected with and mounted on the antenna, and then a film is laminated on both sides of the antenna and semiconductor element. FIG. 16 is a view showing a state in which a metal sheet is subjected to punching and formed into an antenna 10, and a semiconductor element 12 is mounted on the antenna 10. In this case, the tape 14 is made to adhere to the antenna 10 as a support member so that the coil-shaped antenna 10 cannot be deformed in the case of conveying the antenna or laminating the film on both sides of the antenna and semiconductor element. The periphery of the antenna 10 is supported by the frame 16.
FIG. 17 is a view showing an example in which the antenna 10 and the semiconductor element 12 are interposed between the protective films 18 on both sides. The protective films 18 may be previously removed before the outside film for the IC card is laminated. Alternatively, the protective films 18 may be left being interposed between the outside film and the antenna 10 and semiconductor element 12.
In this connection, it can be considered that a very large number of IC cards are used and discarded after they have been used. Due to the foregoing, as the number of the used IC cards has increased, disposal of the IC cards becomes a big problem. As described before, according to the conventional method of manufacturing the IC card, the tape 14 and the protective film 18 are used to prevent the antenna from being moved, and further the film is laminated outside the antenna 10. The tape 14, protective film 18 and film, which covers the outside of the IC card, are made of synthetic resin such as polyvinyl chloride (PVC) or polyethylene terephthalate (PET). These synthetic resins used for the conventional IC card cannot be easily degraded in the nature. Even when these synthetic resins are incinerated, various environmental problems may be caused.
The present invention has been accomplished by considering a IC card which will be consumed in large quantities. It is an object of the present invention to provide an antenna frame used for the IC card, IC card and preferable manufacturing method thereof, characterized in that: the IC card can be easily discarded at low cost without affecting the natural environment; the IC card can be mass-produced because the manufacturing cost is low; and the IC card can be effectively used for many purposes.
According to the present invention there is provided an IC card comprising: a semiconductor element; an antenna electrically connected to said semiconductor element; and a supporting material for supporting said semiconductor element and said antenna, said supporting material being made of biodegradable resin.
The antenna is made of a material which can be easily oxidized and eroded. Particularly, the antenna is made of iron.
The antenna is a flat coil wound several times having an inner vacant area. A whole surface of said flat coil including said inner vacant area is entirely supported by said supporting material. Otherwise, the whole surface of said flat coil except for said inner vacant area is entirely supported by said supporting material.
An IC card further comprises a pair of films laminated to respective surfaces of said flat coil and said semiconductor element to form outer surfaces of said IC card and said pair of films are made of biodegradable resin or paper.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for manufacturing an IC card comprising the following steps of: mounting a semiconductor element on an antenna and electrically connecting said semiconductor element to said antenna; and supporting said semiconductor element and said antenna by means of supporting material made of biodegradable resin.
The supporting material is made of liquid-like or paste-like biodegradable resin and said method further comprises: coating said antenna with said supporting material.
The supporting material is made of granular biodegradable resin and said method further comprises: melting said supporting material to support said antenna.
The antenna is a flat coil wound several times having an inner vacant area. In this case, the method comprises the following steps of: mounting a semiconductor element on said flat coil and electrically connecting said semiconductor element to said flat coil; arranging a pair of supporting sheets made of biodegradable resin over respective sides of said flat coil and said semiconductor element; and pressing said pair of supporting sheets toward said flat coil and said semiconductor element.
The method further comprises a step of: laminating a pair of films, made of biodegradable resin or paper, to respective surfaces of said flat coil and said semiconductor element to form external surfaces of said IC card.
According to a still another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an antenna frame used for an IC card comprising: an antenna formed as a flat coil wound several times having an inner vacant area, said antenna being made by punching or etching a thin metal strip and having an outermost loop partially connected to and supported by an outer frame of said thin metal strip, and said antenna having respective innermost and outermost terminals; one of said innermost and outermost terminals having an accommodation hole in which a semiconductor element is to be accommodated; and supporting material for supporting said antenna to maintain its shape, said supporting material being made of biodegradable resin.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided an IC card comprising: an antenna formed as a flat coil wound several times having an inner vacant area, said antenna being made by punching or etching a thin metal strip and having an outermost loop partially connected to and supported by an outer frame of said thin metal strip, and said antenna having respective innermost and outermost terminals; a semiconductor element electrically connected to said innermost and outermost terminals, respectively; one of said innermost and outermost terminals having an accommodation hole in which said semiconductor element is accommodated; and supporting material for supporting said semiconductor element and said antenna to maintain their form, said supporting material being made of biodegradable resin.
The IC card further comprises a wiring pattern film for electrically connecting terminals of said semiconductor element to said innermost and outermost terminals of the antenna, respectively.
The IC card further comprises a pair of films laminated to respective surfaces of said flat coil and said semiconductor element to form external surfaces of said IC card and said pair of films are made of biodegradable resin or paper.

IC card, antenna frame for IC card and method for manufacturing the same


An integrated circuit chip package with an integrated chip carrier having differing coefficients of thermal expansion (CTE) in the x-y plane. The chip carrier is comprised of two main regions. The first is a core region having a CTE approximately equal to that of the semiconductor chip CTE. This core region also has approximately the same dimensions in the x-y plane as the semiconductor chip. The chip is mounted just above this core region. The second region is a peripheral region which surrounds the core region in the x-y plane. This second region has a CTE approximately equal to that of the printed circuit board CTE. During thermal cycling, the materials expand and contract. The core region expands at nearly the same rate as the chip and the area outside the chip footprint, the peripheral region, expands at a rate similar to that of the printed circuit board. This characteristic prevents thermal stress-induced fatigue on the package components and solder joints.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to integrated circuits and, more particularly, to an integrated circuit (chip) carrier with zones in the x-y plane of controlled coefficients of thermal expansion.
2. Background of the Invention
The reliability and performance of integrated circuit packages is enhanced by matching the coefficient of thermal expansion (CTE) of the printed circuit board and the semiconductor chip. Such a structure prevents discontinuous expansion during thermal cycling and its resultant stresses on the chip package components. Generally, however, a chip has a CTE of 2.7 ppm/C.degree. and the printed circuit board has a CTE of 10 to 25 ppm/C.degree.. This mismatch is especially a problem where ball grid array (BGA) interconnections and controlled collapse chip connector (C4, or "flip chip") technologies are used. Often, chip carriers are interposed between the chip and the circuit board; the CTE of the chip carrier is itself chosen as some intermediate value to provide a reasonable match to both the chip and to the printed circuit board.
In the progression of chip package technology development, as chip input-output (I/O) increased beyond the capabilities of peripheral lead devices, BGA interconnections and other soldered interfaces emerged as the solution. Where the CTE of the chip does not match the CTE of the circuit board, however, the footprint size of the BGA and C4 interconnections is limited because of stress-induced fatigue on the solder joints during thermal cycling.
Thermal cycling is encountered during normal circuit operation and, where the CTEs of the package components do not match, movement of the chip with respect to the circuit board results. The use of standard area array soldering to join the carrier to the board often provides an insufficient mechanical fatigue strength to mediate a significantly different expansion of the two materials. Consequently, under conditions of thermal cycling, the solder joints break, disrupting the circuit operation and necessitating repair.
To strengthen the carrier-to-substrate bond, attempts were made to increase the diameter of the connection, thus rendering the bond connection more compliant. When this is done, however, pin out density is decreased dramatically. For example, when similar materials are used for the carrier and board, a contact area of 0.25 mm (10 mils) with a gap between contacts of 0.25 mm (10 mils) provides a contact array having a 0.50 mm (20 mils) pitch. When dissimilar materials are used for the carrier and board, a 1.0 mm (40 mils) contact must be provided which results in a contact array having a 1.25 mm (50 mils) pitch. Such a decrease in pin out density is undesirable.
The use of heatsinks was another proposed solution to the problems with organic chip carriers and the related poor thermal conductivity associated with BGA technology. Heatsinks were employed to manage the thermal and power performance requirements of these packages, but the CTE mismatch still remained. Thus, although heat accumulation was decreased, mechanical failure within the chip due to stress and cracking still existed.
Some partial solutions to the above problems eventually emerged. One solution was to provide a separate connection system to relieve the CTE mismatch. Such connection systems included flex cables or sockets. Most of the past solutions employed some type of interface between the chip and the printed circuit board. The material for the interface was selected such that it had an intermediate CTE within the CTE range of both the chip and board.
Thus, FIG. 1A depicts a wirebond BGA package, where a baseplate 10 (CTE of 17 ppm/C.degree.) would be provided with a CTE near that of the printed circuit board 20 (CTE of 20 to 25 ppm/C.degree.). The chip 30 has a CTE of about 2 ppm/C.degree.. Thus, the baseplate 10 would provide an intermediate match to the printed circuit board 20 and the chip 30. It is more important that the baseplate 10 come close to matching the printed circuit board, because the thermally induced stresses increase directly with the overall size of the mismatched interface. For this type of structure, the overall size of the BGA array is always larger than the chip size. Furthermore, the wirebond interconnections 26 are somewhat compliant, as is the adhesive 36 connecting the chip to the baseplate. Also illustrated in FIG. 1A are the solder balls 22, which connect the circuitry (not shown in FIG. 1A) on the surface of the baseplate 10 to the printed circuit board 20 and the molding compound or encapsulant 24 which encapsulates chip 30.
FIG. 1B shows a C4 flip chip BGA package, where a chip 30 (about 2 ppm/C.degree.) is connected using C4 solder balls 42 to a baseplate 10. The C4 interconnections are reinforced with an encapsulant 36. The C4's are connected to the BGA balls 22 with circuitry (not shown) on the baseplate 10. The BGA balls 22 connect to the printed circuit board 20. This type of package offers more dense interconnections than the package shown in FIG. 1A, but the C4 connections are less compliant than wirebond connections, thus requiring a closer match in CTE between the chip 30 and the baseplate 10.
The partial solutions illustred in FIGS. 1A and 1B can be optimized to provide the best possible compromise of CTEs among the various components. When the temperature of the package increases during operation, however, the printed circuit board 20 expands the most, the chip 30 expands the least, and the baseplate 10 expands at some intermediate value. Although it is intended for intermediate expansion of the baseplate 10 to reduce the thermal stress, it is not eliminated. As the array size of the BGA interconnections grows, and as the chip size increases, the CTE mismatch becomes increasingly problematic, resulting in reliability and performance problems.
Another proposed solution is to have a carrier with a CTE varying in the z-plane (where z is the thickness). This proposed solution matches the CTE of the chip on one side of the baseplate and the CTE of the printed circuit board on the other side of the baseplate. This layered baseplate, however, causes warping during processing because each layer expands at a different rate. Thus, the problem of preventing BGA and C4-ball shear and chip cracking remains unsolved.
Other alternatives include full compensation planes and chip encapsulation. These alternatives tend, however, to restrict the size of the chip carrier. Still another proposed solution is to incorporate low CTE materials such as INVAR (INVAR is a registered trademark of Creusot-Loire used in connection with a steel alloy containing 36% nickel) or quartz into the laminate. If the overall CTE is lowered too much, however, BGA failure results. And chip cracking and C4 failure can result if the CTE is not lowered enough. Therefore, this proposed solution also has drawbacks and there remains a need for a chip package which removes the stresses caused by inconsistent expansion during thermal cycling.
To overcome the CTE shortcomings of conventional integrated circuit chip packages, a new integrated circuit chip package is provided. An object of the present invention is to provide a package with improved CTE matches between the chip and carrier and between the carrier and the printed circuit board. A related object is to improve these CTE matches in BGA applications. Another object is to reduce thermal stress, and resulting defects, without limiting the size of the chip or chip carrier. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a package which minimizes warping.

Organic controlled collapse chip connector (C4) ball grid array (BGA) chip carrier with dual thermal expansion rates

International Business Machines Corporation


A header fabricated of a lightweight non-metallic material includes a pair of opposed ears which are adapted for sliding mated engagement within a channel support. The header includes reinforced ribs which present relatively planar surfaces with spaced openings that accommodate a plurality of spray nozzles.

In many industrial, agricultural, and commercial fluid spraying applications, it is necessary for a plurality of spray nozzles to be mounted in a longitudinal array. It is common to support such a plurality of spray nozzles along the length of an elongated manifold pipe, commonly known as a header, and to communicate liquid from a supply source through the manifold to the plurality of nozzles. Such manifolds typically are formed from stainless steel pipe, and by virtue of their long length, can be heavy and difficult to handle, assembly, and support. While it is often desirable that the manifold have a relatively large diameter, both to enable large volume liquid passage and to facilitate nozzle attachment and internal threading and axial coupling of components thereon, increasing the diameter of the header further increases the weight and difficulty in handling. Thus, it is often difficult to implement large diameter manifolds in known fluid spraying systems.

Non-metallic spray nozzle manifold and support therefor


Disclosed are apparatus and methods for delivery of transcranial magnetic stimulation. The apparatus includes a TMS coil which when energized generates an electric field substantially parallel to a long axis of the coil and substantially normal to a surface of the coil. Furthermore disclosed an apparatus for delivery of TMS in which a coil is adapted to a robotic member for computer-aided control and delivery. Further disclosed are methods of TMS planning and delivery in which subject images are utilized to plan, position and orient the TMS coil for precise delivery. Disclosed also are TMS coils having unique designs to better focus and direct magnetic stimulation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to apparatus and methods particularly suitable for precise aiming and delivery of magnetic stimulation, and more specifically, transcranial magnetic stimulation.
2. Description of the Related Art
Transcranial magnetic stimulation ("TMS") is a means of repetitively stimulating the human brain through an intact scalp and skull, i.e., non-invasively. TMS is delivered by passing a brief (200 microsecond), strong (10,000 volts, 6,000 amps) electrical current through a coil of wire (a TMS stimulator) placed adjacent to the head. The passage of electrical current induces a strong (2 Tesla) magnetic field which, in turn, induces electrical currents in nearby tissues. In the case of nerve cells, if the induced current is sufficiently intense and properly oriented, it will result in synchronized depolarization of a localized group of neurons (i.e., neuronal "firing"). Initially, magnetic stimulation was used only for peripheral nerves, in which instance it is affecting nerve fibers rather than neuronal cell bodies. More recently (Barker et al., 1985), magnetic stimulation has shown to be able to depolarize neurons in the brain. The cellular element of the brain being affected by TMS was assumed, but not proven, to be fibers rather than neuronal cell bodies.
TMS has several present and potential applications, in the domains of basic neuroscience research and of the treatment of brain disorders. Applications for neuroscience research include, for example: imaging brain connectivity (e.g., Fox et al., 1997); establishing inter-regional and inter-hemispheric conduction times (e.g., Meyer et al., 1995); testing the function of specific brain areas by means of transient functional disruptions, so-called "virtual lesions" (e.g., Shipley & Zeki, 1995); and, studying the modification of synaptic efficacy induced by repetitive stimulation, termed LTP (long-term potentiation) and LTD (long-term depression). Potential clinical applications include, for example: pre-operative mapping, e.g., of language related brain areas (Epstein (et al., 1996); testing for neuronal conduction delays due to dysmyelinating disorders; and, treating brain disorders by selective modification (up or down regulation) of the synaptic efficacy of pathways (i.e., by inducing LTP and LTD; Wang, Wang and Scheich, 1996).
At present, TMS delivery is crude. The TMS effector or stimulator (commonly referred to as a "TMS coil") is a wire-wound coil, typically shaped like a "B." The B-shaped coil is placed against the scalp and held in place by a human operator. For the primary motor cortex and primary visual cortex (small sections of the total brain surface), proper positioning is established by the elicited response: muscle contractions when stimulating the primary motor cortex; illusory lights (phosphenes) when stimulating the primary visual cortex. In both of these areas, the effects are very sensitive to coil position and orientation.
For brain regions in which proper positioning cannot be determined by the induced effects (i.e., muscle contractions or subjective experience), position is generally determined by reference to a traditional pattern used for placement of EEG electrodes (10/20 system). The 10/20 system is based on scalp/skull landmarks which do not bear a reliable relationship to the functional anatomy of the brain. Further, when using the 10/20 system, there has been no strategy enunciated for determining proper orientation of the coil. Thus, a reliable method for determining the proper position and orientation of TMS coil placement for brain areas lacking immediately observable feedback is needed.
Application of TMS during radionuclide imaging (using positron-emission tomography ("PET") or single photon emission tomography ("SPECT")) has two important uses. First, radionuclide imaging can be used to monitor the induced response, determining precise location and quantifying response magnitude. This is extremely important for testing aiming algorithms and for determining the effect of stimulation parameters, such as intensity, rate, duration and the like. Second, an important use of TMS is to map brain connectivity using radionuclide imaging. For both of these applications, hand-held TMS delivery is inappropriate, for at least three reasons. First, hand-held delivery is unsafe, unnecessarily exposing the experimentor to the radiation used for imaging. Second, hand-held delivery is positionally unstable, degrading image quality by small movements of the holder. Third, hand-held delivery is intrinsically inaccurate and imprecise.
Further, current coil designs for delivery of TMS have been mainly intuitive and somewhat crude. Typical coil designs consist of two loop figure eight type coils, for peripheral nerve and brain stimulation, four loop coils for peripheral nerve stimulation, and variations in angles of these. While attention is paid to coil inductance, it is only for simple circuits that this may be easily calculated.
The target field method has been used to produce minimum inductance cylindrical gradient coils for MRI (Turner, 1986) and has been adapted for bi-planar coils (Martens et al., 1991). Minimum power designs have also been presented (Bowtell et al.). However, such design methods have not been applied to the design of magnetic stimulation coils.
Various combinations of circular or rectangular coil shapes have been designed. Figure eight type designs appear to be the most common. Further, B-shaped and slinky-type coils have also been designed (Cadwell; Lin et al.). Sections of toroids (Davey, Epstein, Carbunaru) with magnetically permeable cores are also known, and appear to be an efficient design. However, none of these provide an extremely focused field penetration. Two and four wing coils with a straight section joined with curves for peripheral nerve stimulation have been designed. (Ruohonen et al.) However, these designs are largely limited by intuition.
Thus, fundamental limitations on the utility of TMS for research and treatment include a lack of methods for precise, automated aiming (positioning and orienting) and safe, rigid (i.e., non-human) holding of the TMS stimulator, as well as the poor suitability of present coils for TMS.

Apparatus and methods for delivery of transcranial magnetic stimulation

Board of Regents, The University of Texas System


A cutting machine includes a motor assembly, a cutting blade powered by the motor assembly for cutting a work piece, and a cooling arrangement which includes a fluid nozzle unit for delivering cooling fluid onto a cutting edge portion of the cutting blade to ensure the cooling fluid to adhere on the cutting blade by means of adhesion and cohesion of the cooling fluid so as to cool the cutting blade during the cutting operation and to combine the cooling fluid with residual particles of the work piece after the work piece is cut. Therefore, no excessive cooling fluid is stayed on the cutting blade to minimize the formation of dust, and misting of the cooling fluid during the cutting operation.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a cutting machine, and more particularly to a cutting machine with a power saw blade cooling arrangement, which is arranged for directly cooling the cutting blade of the cutting machine and for effectively collecting the residual particles during the cutting process so as to reduce the pollution of spitting out of the residual particles. The cooling fluid further acts as a lubricant which does cool the cutting blade by allowing the cutting blade to encounter less friction as it cuts away the work piece.
Description of Related Arts
Conventional cutting machines are widely used in various industries for provision of rapid and high quality cutting of such construction and manufacturing materials as granite, marble, slate, pave, brick, ceramics, and masonry. A conventional cutting machine generally comprises a cutting platform for supporting a work piece thereon, and a cutter head which is suspended and supported above the cutting platform, wherein the cutter head comprises a cutting saw driven by a motor to cut the work piece laid on the cutting platform. In particular, the cutting saw is rotated at a spin direction to define a front cutting point at the circumferential edge of the cutting saw, wherein the front cutting point of the cutting saw contacts with the work piece to cut through the work piece.
Especially the tile and masonry saws, the motor must provide a higher power to drive the cutting saw to rotate. As the friction between the cutting saw and the work piece generates heat, the cutting machine further comprises a cooling machine to cool down the cutting saw during the cutting operation to prevent the damage of the cutting saw by the heat. Therefore, the cutting machine further comprises a cooling mechanism for cooling the cutting saw during the cutting operation. As shown in FIGS. 1 and 2, the cooling mechanism is arranged to deliver liquid coolant, such as water, directly onto the cutting saw in the direction of the blade rotation before it is contacted with the work piece, such that the liquid coolant will be encouraged to stay on the cutting saw causing over saturation. In other words, the cutting saw will carry more than enough liquid coolant onto the work piece during the cutting operation. As soon as the cutting saw contacts with the work piece being cut spraying and misting happens. The severity is dependent on how much liquid coolant remains on or around the cutting saw. Therefore, the prior art methodology for saw cooling is to deliver as much liquid coolant on the cutting saw and the work piece, which creates puddles of liquid coolant on the job site. It is a waste that most of the liquid coolant cannot be remains on or around the cutting saw because of the centrifugal force of the cutting saw during the cutting operation.
It is worth mentioning that residual particles are formed while the cutting saw is rotatably cutting on the work piece, wherein the rotational force of the cutting saw will spit the residual particles everywhere. As a result, the rotational force of the cutting saw will spit the residual particles and the liquid coolant rearwardly from the cutting saw as shown in FIG. 1, and sidewardly from the cutting saw as shown in FIG. 2. Accordingly, the residual particles will not only be spit on the entire frame but also be spit out of the cutting platform. Therefore, a rear guard is installed at the rear side of the frame to collect the residual particles and the liquid coolant splashed from the cutting blade at the rearward direction. However, it is impossible to collect residual particles and the liquid coolant splashed from the cutting blade at the sideward direction. More importantly, the residual particles will also be sucked into the motor with air through the ventilating holes during operation. Therefore, the motor may be burned or permanent damage while the residual particles gradually accumulate to the motor.


An all-fiber configuration system and method for generating temporally coherent supercontinuum pulsed emission are provided. The system includes a sequential structure of all-fiber sections including: a fiber laser seed source to produce a seed pulse with given optical properties; a stretching section including an optical fiber to temporally stretch the seed pulse; an amplification section including an active optical fiber, doped with a rare earth element, to amplify the stretched pulse by progressively stimulating radiation of active ions of the doped active optical fiber; a compressing section to temporally compress the amplified pulse; and a spectrum broadening section including an ANDi microstructured fiber that spectrally broadens the compressed pulse by a nonlinear effect of Self Phase Modulation (SPM) while maintaining the temporal coherence of the pulse.

Supercontinuum (SC) lasers emit ultra-broadband spectra in short pulses of high repetition rates. Hence, supercontinuum lasers are in principle an ideal source for Fluorescent Lifetime Imaging Microscopy (FLIM) and Multiphoton Excitation (MPE) Microscopy. The broadest SC spectra (up to 400 to 2500 nm using SiO2 fibers) are generated by pumping highly nonlinear Microstructured Optical Fibers (MOFs), also known as Photonic Crystal Fibers (PCFs), with femtosecond or picosecond pulses in the anomalous group velocity dispersion (GVD) regime of the PCF, close to the zero-dispersion wavelength (ZDW). In this case, spectral broadening is dominated by soliton effects where higher order solitons break down into a series of fundamental solitons. Each fundamental soliton is then Raman shifted to a longer wavelength. This broadening mechanism leads to complex temporal pulse profile, lack of spectral flatness, increase of noise, and low coherence across the bandwidth due to the fluctuations in relative phase and intensity. Under these conditions, the generated pulses are useless for applications requiring high temporal coherence, e.g. advanced efficient multiphoton microscopy.
Nevertheless, in the last years, research on supercontinuum generation, has demonstrated new successful approaches to overcome lack of coherence of supercontinuum pulses, obtaining very high-quality few-cycle pulses: pumping near the flattened top of the convex dispersion curves of all-normal dispersion (ANDi) PCFs (whose dispersion lies completely in the normal dispersion region), spectral broadening appears due to the action of self-phase modulation (SPM). In this way, highly coherent, flat-top, supercontinuum can be generated, preserving a compressible single pulse in the temporal domain.
Proofs of concept of such approach have been demonstrated in the last years [1-3]. But yet, the whole system comprising pump laser plus ANDi PCF plus pulse compression management is complex, fragile, and sensitive to environmental variations, expensive and with very low efficiency.
In state-of-the-art systems [1-3], the ANDi PCF is pumped using a high power laser (Solid State Ti-Sa laser, OPO or MOPA lasers of already-short pulses of tens to hundreds of femtoseconds). The pumping light is launched into the ANDi PCF after a complex focusing and/or dispersion pre-compensating free-space optical setup. In this process, a high amount of power (typically >95%) is wasted. Unlike in the prior art, see FIG. 1, such pumping of light in the present invention is monolithic, meaning that the output of the pumping laser is coupled by direct splice or fiber transition to the ANDi PCF. This decreases enormously (up to 2 orders of magnitude) the required power of the pumping laser to obtain the same result at the output of the ANDi PCF. Dramatic implications arise, consequently, in cost, simplicity, robustness and energy-saving of the fiber laser seed source.
Moreover, one of the main interests of all-fiber optical sources is the fact that the signal remains confined in the core of the fibers in every stage/section of the source structure and also in the transitions between stages/sections. Avoidance of free-space propagation between stages confers unequalled robustness to all-fiber lasers, since mechanical vibrations or environmental fluctuations (temperature, pressure, and humidity) do not bias misalignment of light between stages of the source.
However, none of the current state-of-the-art configurations of temporally coherent supercontinuum generation using ANDi PCFs is an all-fiber configuration. On the one hand, in [2 and 3] the seed stage (or pump stage) of the laser is not fiber-based, but built with free-space optics technology: e.g. Ti-Sapphire crystals lasers, Optical Parametric Oscillators (OPOs) or Optical Parametric Amplifiers (OPAs). On the other hand, in [1], the seed stage is a fiber laser but light coupling to the ANDi PCF is performed with free-space optics.
There are also known some patents and/or patent applications in the field. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 9,553,421-B2 relates to compact, low noise, ultra-short pulse sources based on fiber amplifiers, and various applications thereof. At least one implementation includes an optical amplification system having a fiber laser seed source producing seed pulses at a repetition rate corresponding to the fiber laser cavity round trip time. A nonlinear pulse transformer, comprising a fiber length greater than about 10 m, receives a seed pulse at its input and produces a spectrally broadened output pulse at its output, the output pulse having a spectral bandwidth which is more than 1.5 times a spectral bandwidth of a seed pulse. A fiber power amplifier receives and amplifies spectrally broadened output pulses. A pulse compressor is configured to temporally compress spectrally broadened pulses amplified by said power amplifier. Applications include micro-machining, ophthalmology, molecular desorption or ionization, mass-spectroscopy, and/or laser-based, biological tissue processing. Unlike present invention, in this optical amplification system ANDi PCFs are not included neither a fiber-based compression stage previous to a spectrally broadening stage of the pulse is performed.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,971,358-B2 discloses coherent and compact supercontinuum light sources for the mid IR spectral regime. The supercontinuum generation is based on the use of highly nonlinear fibers or waveguides. In at least one embodiment the coherence of the supercontinuum sources is increased using low noise mode locked short pulse sources. Compact supercontinuum light sources can be constructed with the use of passively mode locked fiber or diode lasers. Wavelength tunable sources can be constructed using appropriate optical filters or frequency conversion sections. Highly coherent supercontinuum sources further facilitate coherent detection schemes and can improve the signal/noise ratio in lock in detection schemes. Contrary to present invention, the design proposed by this prior art document is for central wavelengths >1700 nm, includes free-space propagation in the structure of the short pulse source, and does not generate pulses with a temporal coherence such that they can be compressed down to the Fourier transform limit pulse width corresponding to their spectral bandwidth.
U.S. Pat. No. 9,341,920-B1 provides a wavelength convertor that includes a beam splitter which splits a pulsed laser beam at wavelength /gyp into a first higher power pulse portion and a second low power pulse portion. A fiber super continuum (SC) generator is coupled to receive the second pulse portion which converts the second pulse portion into a SC pulse having a bandwidth of >100 nm including a narrow spectral portion at wavelength λs. An optical parametric amplifier (OPA) having a periodically poled material is included with domains arranged to provided quasi-phase matching for amplification at λs and pumping at λp. The arrival of the SC pulse portion at As and the first pulse portion at the OPA is synchronized to overlap in time. The OPA is seeded by the SC pulse portion at λs and pumped by the first pulse portion to provide an amplified OPA seed at λs. Unlike present invention, this solution is not an all-fiber scheme.
US 2012281720-A1 discloses a low noise fiber based coherent supercontinuum source allowing for broad spectral coverage. In order to increase the coherence of the supercontinuum, highly nonlinear fibers having a nonlinear response with an enhanced vibrational contribution are implemented. In particular, the relative vibrational contribution α to the nonlinear response function is selected to be α>0.18 in silica glasses. Alternatively, the ratio R=(peak Raman gain coefficient)/(nonlinear refractive index) is selected such that R>5×10<6>m<−1>. The optical system proposed by this patent application is also for central wavelengths >1700 nm. Moreover, ANDi PCFs are not used. Likewise, compression of a pulse width is not performed via an all-fiber compression section.
Other optical systems are known by US 2012033686-A1, U.S. Pat. Nos. 9,590,381-B2, 9,986,904-B2 and 9,825,419-B2.
Therefore, despite all these prior art solutions, up to now, a complete all-fiber solution to obtain femtosecond temporally coherent supercontinuum using ANDi PCFs (also referred to as ANDi microstructured fibers) has not been yet proposed. This is difficult mainly for the following reasons:
On the one hand, to generate a temporally coherent spectral broadening in an ANDi PFC fiber by the SPM nonlinear effect, input pulses to the ANDi fiber have to present a very high peak power (typically >15 kW for an ANDi fiber of 20 cm length and core diameter of 2.6 μm). To achieve such intense input pulses with a moderate average power (typ. less than 1 W, since average powers over ˜1 W induce irreversible thermal damage in the ANDi fiber), their temporal width has to be already very short (typ. <250 fs). OPOs, Ti:sapphire Lasers or MOPAs, with laser generation architectures based in free-space configuration, deliver naturally pulses of this type. On the contrary, for an all-fiber laser architecture it is a challenge to offer pulses with these properties to be delivered to an ANDi fiber because the light is completely confined in the cores of fibers, whose core diameters are typically below 10 μm. Peak powers of >15 kW inside guiding fibers of 10 μm core diameters yield intensities of >15 GW/cm2 which are over the threshold of many non-desired nonlinear effects that distort the laser pulses propagating inside and, in particular, destroy the temporal coherence of the laser pulse. The present invention discloses particular all-fiber laser configurations that overcome this problem delivering pulses of typically >15 kW peak power and <250 fs pulse width maintaining temporal coherence, to be used as exciting sources of the ANDi PCFs.
On the other hand, it is relatively easy to focus the output pulses from an OPO, Ti:sapphire or MOPA laser in a free-space configuration into the input of a PCF ANDi fiber [2, 3]. On the contrary, delivering the output of the exciting laser through a fiber to the input of the ANDi fiber is complex, mainly for 2 reasons:    1. In a standard optical fiber transition from a given exciting laser output to the input of an ANDi PCF of core diameter as small as 2.6 μm, peak powers of >15 kW generate non-desired nonlinear effects (spectral and temporal) in the fiber transition that destroy the temporal coherence of the pulse, which cannot be recovered afterwards.    2. Since peak powers required for efficient SPM generation in the ANDi PCF are very high (typ. >15 kW), an efficient energy coupling from the output of the exciting laser to the PCF is required to avoid thermal damage in the fiber transition. Energy coupling in a standard fiber transition or splice from large to small core diameters is inefficient. The typical core diameters of the amplifying fibers used to reach high peak powers at the output of an exciting laser is in the range of 6-10 μm. More than 90% of the power is lost in a standard transition or splice from such fiber to an ANDi PCF fiber. Consequently the power required at the output of the exciting laser is at least an order of magnitude higher than the power required at the input of the ANDi PCF fiber. Such powers (>150 kW) exceed the thermal damage threshold of the fiber transition or splice, hence the transition is unfeasible.

All-fiber configuration system and method for generating temporally coherent supercontinuum pulsed emission


The present invention relates to compositions and methods for treating cancer, especially epithelial and eutopic cancers using inhibitors of H-HCG or β-H-HCG, as well as vaccines for use in oncostasis or reducing the likelihood of recurrence of cancer after remission. In addition, the present invention provides a method for reducing the likelihood that a woman will become pregnant or that an unwanted pregnancy may be terminated.

Human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) measurement is the basis of all pregnancy tests. hCG is produced by trophoblast cells of the placenta in pregnancy. It is also produced by trophoblast cells in gestational trophoblastic diseases (hydatidiform mole, quiescent gestational trophoblastic disease and choriocarcinoma) and in testicular and other germ cell malignancies. hCG is a glycoprotein composed of 2 dissimilar subunits, α- and β-subunit, coded by separate genes on separate chromosomes, held together by charge interactions. hCG α-subunit is composed of 92 amino acids and contains 2 N-linked oligosaccharides. hCG β-subunit is composed of 145 amino acids and contains 2 N-linked and 4 O-linked oligosaccharides. The 8 oligosaccharide side chains comprise >30% of the molecular weight of hCG, making it an exceptionally highly glycosylated glycoprotein (1-7).
hCG is a heterogeneous molecule. Peptide variants, cleaved or nicked forms of hCG, free subunits of hCG, and fragments of hCG are all detectable in serum and urine samples during pregnancy (1). Oligosaccharide variants reflect availability of sugar substrates, and general cellular metabolism (7-9), expression of different glycosyltransferases by cells (8,9). It has long been recognized that the hCG molecule, particularly the β-subunit of hCG, produced in choriocarcinoma (trophoblastic cancer) and testicular germ cell cancer migrates slower than hCG β-subunit standards on electrophoresis gels and elutes earlier than hCG β-subunit standards from gel filtration columns (10-12). Both of these findings indicate a larger molecular weight molecule. This has long been assumed to be due to the presence of large oligosaccharides on hCG β-subunit (10-12). Further studies with lectins and structural studies have indicated the presence of larger or more complex oligosaccharides on choriocarcinoma hCG (3,4,13). In 1987, there was demonstrated a major difference between the 4 O-linked oligosaccharides on hCG in choriocarcinoma and normal pregnancy hCG. The hCG from 10 normal pregnancies primarily contained a mixture of tri- and tetrasaccharides, with 13% hexasaccharide (range 0 to 14%). In contrast, choriocarcinoma hCG preparations contained over 50% of the hexasaccharide structure (4,5). This observation was confirmed one year later by Amano et al (6).
In 1997 it was shown that the difference in the 4 O-linked oligosaccharides is the principal variation between choriocarcinoma and pregnancy hCG. While first trimester normal pregnancy urine hCG contained 12.3 to 19% (mean=15.6%) hexasaccharide structures, choriocarcinoma urine hCG contained 48 to 100% (mean=74.2%) hexasaccharide structures (7). A smaller change was observed in α-subunit and β-subunit N-linked oligosaccharides (from an average of 6.8% and 14% triantennary structures in first trimester pregnancy to 9.8% and 51% triantennary structures in choriocarcinoma, on α- and β-subunit respectively (7)). We call the hCG produced in choriocarcinoma H-hCG because of the large size due to overly large sugar units (14,15). Using an individual choriocarcinoma preparation with 100% hexasaccharide type O-linked oligosaccharides (C5 hCG), we generated in collaboration with Birken and colleagues a H-hCG-specific antibody (antibody B152) (16), and established an immunoassay using the C5 hCG calibrated by amino acid analysis as standard (14,16,17). This assay specifically detect the hexasaccharide O-linked oligosaccharides on the C-terminal of choriocarcinoma H-hCG (18). In 1998 O'Connor et al. used the B152-based assay to show that H-hCG is the principal form of hCG made during early pregnancy, in the weeks following implantation (17). This finding has now been confirmed by these and other investigators (14, 15,19-22). It has also been shown that early pregnancy H-hCG is the same size as choriocarcinoma H-hCG (18)
Root trophoblast cells, or cytotrophoblasts, are mostly phenotypically invasive cells. These are the principal cells in choriocarcinoma tumors and in blastocysts at the time of implantation (20,23,24). While cytotrophoblasts produce H-hCG, differentiated syncytiotrophoblast cells produce regular hCG (14,20). As published previously (15), H-hCG and its free β-subunit account for all of the hCG immunoreactivity in the conditioned medium of JAR, JEG-3 and BeWo choriocarcinoma cell lines. Lectin Western blot studies indicate that these cell lines produce hCG with very similar oligosaccharide structures to C5 choriocarcinoma hCG (10,25).
A standard was needed for the antibody B152-base H-hCG assay, other than an individual urine H-hCG (patient C5). Culture fluid from JEG-3 cell line was selected for this purpose because H-hCG consistently accounted for ˜100% of the dimer immunoreactivity at 3 time points, reflecting sub-confluent and confluent culture densities and showing consistency with culture time (15). Large quantities of culture fluid were produced, and H-hCG was purified. The JEG-3H-hCG is used as standard for the commercial H-hCG test (invasive trophoblast antigen or H-HCG test, Nichols Institute Diagnostics, San Clemente Calif.). While this standard has not yet been calibrated against W.H.O. hCG standards, or formally adopted by W.H.O. it is the only standard available.
hCG's primary function in pregnancy is to maintain progesterone production by corpus luteal cells, however, H-hCG may have an independent function. As published, the total hCG immunoreactivity in the conditioned medium of JAR choriocarcinoma cells is H-hCG and its free β-subunit (15). Studies by Lei et al. (26), show that JAR cells are invasive in Matrigel membrane inserts in vitro, and are rapidly tumorigenic when transplanted into athymic nude mice in vivo. Lei et al. (26) treated JAR cells with hCG α-subunit antisense cDNA. This blocked secretion of the H-hCG and its free β-subunit. It also blocked Matrigel membrane insert invasion and tumorigenesis in athymic nude mice.

Method for treating cancer and identifying novel anti-cancer compounds


An arm support is provided for the occupant of a vehicle having a strap encircling a seat back rest, a pair of bolsters, each having one end attached to the strap in spaced apart relation, and a lumbar support attached to the strap midway between the bolsters. The bolsters lie on the seat bench and are proportioned to support the elbows and forearms of the occupant, thereby relieving neck and shoulder strain. When used by a driver, the bolsters do not interfere with operation of the vehicle and the upper arms of the driver are free to contact the seat back rest.

It is well known that driving a vehicle can strain the neck, shoulders and arms of a driver. Some drivers seek support by leaning against the door, window ledge or console. But, the failure to maintain an upright posture can cause imbalances in the muscles supporting the spine and negatively impinge upon one's nervous system. Various prior art devices have been proposed to support the arms of a vehicle driver or passenger.
Clarke—U.S. Pat. No. 2,168,976 discloses a pair of adjustable cushions mounted on a rigid, cross-supporting rail. The rail rests on the driver's lap.
Gorman—U.S. Pat. No. 2,524,659 provides a portable armrest that can be placed on a bench seat next to the driver. The armrest has a wire projection that is inserted in the crack between the bottom seat and the back rest. The armrest does not provide bilateral support.
Conning—U.S. Pat. No. 2,602,488 discloses a detachable armrest supported by a frame, which hangs from the back rest of the seat. While providing arm support, the frame is interposed between the seat back and the upper arms of the driver, which is likely to lead to discomfort. The frame may not be compatible with modern vehicle seat designs.
Hall et al.—U.S. Pat. No. 6,508,513 B1 provide a portable armrest having a U-shaped frame that attaches to a vehicle seat back. The frame supports retractable arm support members. The frame is clamped to the sides of the vehicle seat, which appears to be inadequate to support the armrests, for example, if the driver chose to shift his or her weight by leaning on the armrest.
Santa Cruz et al.—U.S. Pat. No. 6,164,725 disclose a detachable passenger armrest for motorcycles. A "U-shaped" bracket supporting an arm cushion at each end can be fastened to the back of a passenger back rest, for example, by bolting the bracket in place. The armrest does not appear to be compatible with a typical seat in an automobile or truck.
Pearson—U.S. Pat. No. 7,644,990 B2 provides a body support to assist a passenger in a vehicle to sleep in a seated position. The support apparatus has first and second side arm support members and a collar member for supporting the passenger's head. The body support is not suggested for use by a driver and such use appears likely to interfere with the operation of a vehicle.
Despite the proliferation of armrests disclosed in the prior art, there is an unfulfilled need for an ergonomic, comfortable, economical, easy-to-install, detachable support for both arm's of the occupant of a vehicle, which places a minimum of restrictions on the occupant's movements, particularly the driver's movements.

Ergonomic arm support for vehicle occupant


An electric series circuit with plural loads such as light bulbs connected in series and plural solid state switching devices, with each switching device connected in parallel with one of the loads. Each switching device conducts current when the load that it is connected in parallel with does not conduct current because the load is burned out. The solid state switching means may be any device with a breakthrough voltage which is high enough that it does not conduct when all of the loads conduct current normally. When one of the loads is burned out, that load does not conduct current and the entire line voltage appears across the switching means in parallel with the burned out load. The switching means breaks down. Accordingly, the switching means conducts current and current flows to the remaining loads. Accordingly, the remaining light bulbs in a string of light bulbs continue to light. The burned out load may be immediately detected and replaced. The switching means may be a sidac. Alternatively, a combination of an SCR and a zener diode controlling the gate of the SCR are also disclosed as the switching means. A diac may replace the zener diode.

Electrical series circuits such as a series circuit of low voltage light bulbs are known. Low voltage loads such as light bulbs may be connected in series to built up to a normal line voltage. This is the usual "Christmas Tree" light string scheme. However, if one bulb burns out, the whole string will extinguish. For Christmas tree lights, this is not a big problem, because the strings of lights are inexpensive and can be easily discarded and replaced. There are some types of these string lights which are intended to continue to light even if some bulbs are extinguished. They make use of a spring as one of the terminals connecting to the bulb filament. The spring keeps the filament in tension. When the filament burns out, the spring travels and makes contact with the other terminal for the filament, thus shorting that bulb out. No provision is made for keeping the voltage across the remaining bulbs from increasing. This increase of voltage could cause premature burnout of other bulbs. As at least a partial offset it might be possible to start with a minimum operating voltage so that the burnout of a small number of bulbs can be tolerated.
In the 1920's and 30's municipalities employed series circuits for street lights in order to save on the cost of copper. To avoid the opening of the whole series circuit if one of the lamps should burn out, the lamps in a high voltage series circuit are provided with by-pass protectors connected in parallel with them. Current regulators were employed to provide constant current even if one light was burned out. If one of the lamps should burn out, the full voltage of the series circuit is then impressed on the by-pass protector. The excessive voltage breaks down the insulating film in the by-pass protector which then becomes conducting and permits the remainder of the circuit to continue in operation.
In other lighting applications, the by-pass protector was a thin disc of paper held between a pair of contacts in parallel with a light bulb for each bulb connected in a series circuit. The thin paper acted as insulation between the contacts and current flowed through each light bulb to light the bulb. Only about a hundred Volts appeared across each bulb which was not enough to burn through the thin paper. However, if a bulb burned out, 5-10 K Volts would appear across the contacts and burn out the thin paper so that the contacts would make a connection. Consequently, current would flow in a path parallel to the burned out light bulb and the remaining bulbs would light. A current regulator would ensure that the remaining bulbs would operate at their previous voltage.
The above electric series circuits do not provide an adequate solution to the problem of an entire string of series connected loads such as light bulbs becoming extinguished when one load burns out for most applications. In many lighting applications, it is not possible to bear the cost of discarding the string of series connected bulbs. It is undesirable for the life of the remaining bulbs to be significantly decreased. Further current regulators are expensive and bulky for low voltage lighting applications. Additionally, insulating film by-pass protectors are not appropriate for low voltage lighting. Further, inserting discs of thin paper in electric circuits is not practical nor effective enough to meet modem standards for low voltage electric lighting.
There is, therefore, a need for an electric series circuit for low voltage loads such as light bulbs in which current flows through the plural light bulb loads connected in series even if one or more of the loads bums out, in order to identify the burned out load or loads for replacement. Further, there is a need for an electric series circuit which is practical for use in modem lighting applications. There is a need for an electric series circuit that permits current to flow through the light bulb loads that are not burned out and which does not significantly reduce the life of the remaining bulbs. Additionally, there is a need for an electric series circuit which is simple in construction and inexpensive and which permits current to flow through a string of series connected loads such as light bulbs when one or more loads have burned out. There is a need for an electric series circuit for assuring current flow to a string of series connected loads such as light bulbs when one bulb burns out which does not require a current regulator. There is a need for an electric series circuit that permits current to flow to a string of series connected loads when one load stops conducting current for low voltage loads. There is a need for a transformerless low voltage electric series circuit.


The invention relates to a method for determining the temporal phase of acute kidney injury, comprising obtaining a test sample from a subject and measuring the expression level of at least one biomarker selected from the group comprising Chac1, Birc5 and Angptl7. The invention also relates to a method for determining the early early phase, the late early phase, the severity and/or timing of acute kidney injury via analysis of the biomarkers Chac1, Birc5 and/or Angptl7, in addition to a test kit for carrying out said methods and antibodies directed against Chac1, Birc5 or Angptl7.

Renal injuries or disease, such as acute kidney failure or chronic kidney failure, can result from a variety of different causes (such as illness, injury, and the like).
Acute kidney injury (AKI) is a rapid loss of kidney function. AKI is so far diagnosed on the basis of clinical history, like decreased urine production, elevated blood urea nitrogen and creatinine. AKI can lead to numerous complications, including metabolic acidosis, high potassium levels, changes in body fluid balance, and effects to other organ systems. AKI is observed in 5% of hospitalized patients and associated with a high mortality.
The molecular mechanisms of tubular regeneration after ischemic renal injury remain largely unknown. An understanding of the mechanisms that lead to renal cell proliferation and regeneration will be necessary for the exploration of novel therapeutic strategies for the treatment of ischemic AKI. Some reports have proposed that regeneration processes may recapitulate developmental processes to restore organ or tissue function. The adult tubular epithelial cells have a potent ability to regenerate after cellular damage. Under a condition of ischemic renal damage, normally quiescent cells undergo dedifferentiation and acquire the ability to proliferate after their DNA synthesis is enhanced.
AKI begins by inducing molecular modifications later evolving into cellular damage. The cells start producing markers of injury and the clinical syndrome develops subsequently. Biomarker expression represents an earlier stage in progression to clinical syndrome (Ronco et al., 2008). Thus, detection of biomarkers may provide the much needed window of opportunity for early intervention. Based on the differential expression of the biomarkers, it is also likely that the biomarker panels will distinguish between the various types and etiologies of AKI. Possible newer biomarkers of AKI can be components of serum or urine or can be imaging studies or any other quantifiable parameter. New biomarkers are likely to be useful in facilitating early diagnosis, guiding targeted intervention and monitoring disease progression and resolution.
The early identification and treatment of renal injuries and disease would be useful in preventing disease progression. Currently, serum creatinine is frequently used as a biomarker of kidney function. However, serum creatinine measurements are influenced by muscle mass, gender, race and medications. Unfortunately, these limitations often result in the diagnosis of kidney disease only after significant damage has already occurred.
The diagnosis and prognosis of acute kidney injury (AKI) by current clinical means is inadequate (Parikh et al., Ann Clin Biochem 2010; 47: 301-312). In an effort to enhance diagnosis, biomarkers for the early detection of acute kidney injury have recently been introduced into clinical practice. These biomarkers, such as NGAL (Mishra et al., J Am Soc Nephrology, vol. 14, 2003) or Kim-1, can be detected in urine, serum or kidney biopsies and, when levels of the biomarkers are elevated, allow acute kidney injury detection within 2-4 hours of the precipitating event (e. g. surgery, shock, sepsis, nephrotoxin administration). In this regard, the newly introduced biomarkers (e. g. NGAL, Kim-1) outperform conventional biomarkers (e. g. serum creatinine, blood urea nitrogen), which are elevated only later in the course of kidney injury. However, both the conventional and newly introduced biomarkers known in the art at the present time exhibit the significant disadvantage, that their expression is elevated for an extended time after acute kidney injury (in some cases more than 7 days after injury). Recent studies outline that NGAL for example is still strongly expressed long after injury (Krawczeski, et al, 2011, Journal of Pediatrics, 158(6):1009), in some cases more than 120 hours after injury (Mishra et al., Lancet 2005; 365: 1231-38).
Therefore, the biomarkers currently available exhibit expression profiles that enable identification that acute kidney injury has occurred at some point in the past, but allow neither a precise estimate of the time point of the precipitating event nor estimation or determination of the temporal stage of kidney regeneration. Large-scale approaches have been published, in which a number of genes or proteins are disclosed as being relevant biomarkers for detection of kidney injury, albeit only for detection of injury. Sufficient detail on the conciseness of expression profiles and their relation to the temporal phase of injury or regeneration in order to provide an accurate determination of injury time is not provided (WO 2009/083950 A2, WO 2009/127644 A1). Other biomarkers for AKI such as Keratinocyte-derived chemokine (Molls et al., Am J Physiol Renal Physiol 290:F1187-F1193, 2006) also show expression long after injury, thereby preventing use of such markers for determination of injury time or temporal phase after injury.
The biomarkers of the present invention relate to Chac1, Birc5 and Angptl7. Chac1 has been disclosed as useful in identifying substances that are active in preventing or treating a disease associated with a malfunction of carbohydrate or lipid metabolism (WO 2006/094735 A1) and has not previously been related to kidney disease. Birc5 has been implicated in kidney regeneration (WO 2006/051075 A1) and prevention of apoptosis in kidneys (Kindt et al., FASEB J. 2008 February; 22(2):510-21), although no mention has been made of Birc5 as a biomarker with the specific properties disclosed herein. Angptl7 has until now only been disclosed in relation to expression in human eyes in glaucoma patients (Kuchtey et al., IOVS, vo. 49, no. 8, 2008, Peek et al., Invest. Opthalmology & Vis. Science, vol. 39, no. 10, 1998). The inventive properties of the biomarkers of the present invention, which enable the method of the present invention, have been neither suggested nor disclosed by the prior art.
Known biomarkers, such as NGAL, can be seen as useful and early indicators for kidney injury, which remain present for very long times after injury. The biomarkers of the present invention and their use in a method of determining temporal phase, enable, in light of the known markers, the determination of more specific phases of injury and regeneration within the broad window of NGAL or creatinine expression.
In clinical practice, the time point of the precipitating event is frequently unknown. Hence, there is a need for biomarkers that allow a precise determination of the time point of acute kidney injury and facilitate a temporal staging of the disease.

Biomarkers for determination of temporal phase of acute kidney injury

MAX-DELBRUECK-CENTRUM FUER MOLEKULARE MEDIZIN


A semiconductor structure fabrication method. The method includes providing a semiconductor structure which includes a first semiconductor layer and a dielectric bottom portion in the first semiconductor layer. A second semiconductor layer on the first semiconductor layer is formed. The first and second semiconductor layers include a semiconductor material. A dielectric top portion and a first STI (Shallow Trench Isolation) region are formed in the second semiconductor layer. The dielectric top portion is in direct physical contact with the dielectric bottom portion.

In a conventional integrated circuit which includes NFETs (N-channel field effect transistors) and PFETs, shallow trench isolation regions are usually formed to electrically isolate the NFETs from one another and to electrically isolate the PFETs from one another. These same shallow trench isolation regions, in combination with well doping, also electrically isolate the NFETs and the PFETs. As the spacing requirements of integrated circuits become more exacting, formation of deep wells perfectly aligned with the very narrow shallow trench isolation becomes impractical. Therefore, there is a need for a method for forming deep trench and shallow trench isolation regions in the integrated circuit.

Shallow and deep trench isolation structures in semiconductor integrated circuits

International Business Machines Corporation


Disclosed herein are systems and method for generating synthetic events. A method may include: monitoring user activity on a website of a conversion entity; collecting, for a monitored user session, first-party data including clickstream information on the website; calculating, using a machine learning algorithm, a prediction score indicative of a likelihood that a user associated with the monitored user session will request an asset depicted on the website after a threshold period of time, wherein the machine learning algorithm is trained using training vectors that map at least website clickstream information from various user sessions to offline asset conversion information collected after the threshold period of time from the various user sessions; in response to determining that the prediction score is greater than a threshold prediction score, generating a synthetic event indicative of the request being made by the user; and transmitting the synthetic event to a content platform.

The growing shift of buyers and sellers to online platforms has led to a natural consequence of increased seller competition and rising marketing costs (increasing by over 20% annually). A rise in customer acquisition costs has also been propelled by strict privacy configurations set by Internet users. For example, third-party cookies, which were once essential for tracking an assessing audience quality, are commonly blocked due to said privacy configurations.
Analytics are useful for directing impressions, creating new marketing campaigns, and targeting specific users. However, because there is a lack of data (specifically third-party data), it is difficult to produce effective analytics. Companies are forced to rely on the limited amount of first-party data that they own and not all first-party data is created equal. For example, entities with long conversion cycles (e.g., long sales-cycles and lifetime value (LTV) driven businesses) largely have mid-funnel optimization data (e.g., leads, registrations, free trials) and offline conversions data (e.g., rare events available with a long delay) accessible to them. Mid-funnel information is not directly indicative of a conversion (i.e., generation of revenue by a paying customer) because in these entities, customer value is revealed over time. In addition to the lack of data, useful data is not received for a considerable amount of time. This makes the issue two fold—a lack of information and a delay in acquiring the information that is available.
Thus, in view of the lack of available useful data, there exists a need for predictive analytics that extrapolate from first-party data and have at least the same effectiveness as analytics for short-term conversion entities with a greater variety and amount of data—including third-party data. The need is even greater for long-term conversion entities that cannot estimate conversions immediately.

Predictive analytics using first-party data of long-term conversion entities


A method for producing silicon tetrafluoride includes combining uranium tetrafluoride and silicon dioxide; heating the combination below the melting point of the uranium tetrafluoride to sufficiently react the uranium tetrafluoride and the silicon dioxide to produce non-radioactive silicon tetrafluoride and an oxide of uranium; and removing the silicon tetrafluoride.

Silicon tetrafluoride is widely used in the manufacturer of semi-conductor chips, pyrogenic silica, and other industrially important chemicals.
Silicon tetrafluoride can be produced in several ways all of which are based on reacting silica (SiO.sub.2) with either hydrofluoric acid (HF) or fluorosilicic acid (H.sub.2 SiF.sub.6). Thus to produce SiF.sub.4 from SiO.sub.2, the production of either hydrofluoric or fluorosilicic acid intermediate is required.
Current processes to produce SiF.sub.4 in, varying degrees of purity, include the reaction of silica with hydrogen fluoride gas according to the reaction: EQU SiO.sub.2 (s)+4HF(g).fwdarw.SiF.sub.4 (g)+2H.sub.2 O
See U.S. Pat. No. 4,382,071.
Purity of the SiF.sub.4 is dependent on the source of the silica and hydrogen fluoride reagents. The reaction is typically carried out at 25.degree.-55.degree. C. in concentrated sulfuric acid (>80% H.sub.2 SO.sub.4) in order to diminish the reverse reaction through capture of the product H.sub.2 O. This process also uses large amounts of anhydrous HF which raises concerns for corrosion, safety and environmental management.
Production of SiF.sub.4 from fluorosilicic acid can be accomplished according to the reaction: EQU SiO.sub.2 (s)+2H.sub.2 SiF.sub.6 (aq).fwdarw.3SiF.sub.4 (g)+2H.sub.2 O
See U.S. Pat. No. 4,470,959. This reaction is also carried out in concentrated sulfuric acid (>80% H.sub.2 SO.sub.4), but usually at a slightly higher temperature, between 25.degree.-95.degree. C.
It is also possible to produce SiF.sub.4 directly from fluorosilicic acid by thermal decomposition: EQU H.sub.2 SiF.sub.6 (aq).fwdarw.SiF.sub.4 (g)+2HF(g)
However, typical input fluorosilicic acid (20-30% aqueous) comes from fertilizer and phosphoric acid/super phosphate manufacturing waste tails. The fluorosilicic acid is generally low grade containing many impurities such as phosphorus, nitrogen and sulfur, all of which are detrimental to producing high purity SiF.sub.4.
Yet, another multi-step process for producing SiF.sub.4 utilizes the reaction of fluorosilicic acid with sodium fluoride and silicon dioxide according to the reaction: EQU 2H.sub.2 SiF.sub.6 (aq)+6NaF+SiO.sub.2 .fwdarw.3Na.sub.2 SiF.sub.6 (s)+2H.sub.2 O
followed by thermal treatment of the fluorosilicate salt at 600.degree. C. to release SiF.sub.4 according to the reaction: EQU Na.sub.2 SiF.sub.6 .fwdarw.SiF.sub.4 (g)+2NaF
See U.S. Pat. No. 4,615,872.
As with the processes discussed above, this introduces impurities through use of low grade fluorosilicic acid diminishing the purity of the silicon tetrafluoride produced.
Uranium is a naturally occurring element which is comprised of approximately 0.7%.sup.235 U and 99.3%.sup.238 U. .sup.235 U is used to produce Nuclear Energy, while .sup.238 U is not. Because of the low percentage of .sup.235 U found in naturally occurring uranium, naturally occurring uranium must be enriched in order to obtain sufficient amounts of .sup.235 U which will support nuclear fission. This enrichment process, aside from producing high concentrations of .sup.235 U, produces huge amounts of depleted uranium hexafluoride (UF.sub.6) by-product which is a very hazardous compound posing a serious health threat. Since depleted uranium metal is radioactive and expensive to produce, it is used in limited quantities for highly specialized applications. Accordingly, alternative uses are needed in order to avoid having to dispose of the UF.sub.6 at great expense by storing it indefinitely.
One solution to reducing the large stores of UF.sub.6 is to reduce UF.sub.6 to UF.sub.4 and convert the UF.sub.4 into SiF.sub.4, and an oxide of uranium, e.g. UO.sub.2 or U.sub.3 O.sub.8.
One use for uranium oxide is to add it to the concrete which is used to build bunkers in which radioactive waste is stored in order to provide high density shielding for the stored high level radioactive waste. Uranium oxide possesses outstanding radioactive shielding properties, and when added to concrete in the form of aggregate makes a very effective, low cost shielding material.
Thus, the use of UF.sub.4 as the fluorine source for production of silicon tetrafluoride eliminates the problems of impurities introduced by the use of fluorosilicic acid, and the expense and safety hazards associated with handling anhydrous HF. UF.sub.4 is a relatively inert solid that is easy to handle with proper precaution for containment of low level radioactive materials. UF.sub.4 is also produced in very high purity, being derived from the highly refined UF.sub.6. Thus, the uses of UF.sub.4 has both technical and economic advantages in the production of high purity SiF.sub.4.

Method for producing silicon tetrafluoride from uranium tetrafluoride


A method includes receiving, from a three-dimensional (3D) sensing device coupled to a computer, a sequence of 3D maps including at least part of a hand of a user positioned in proximity to the computer. In embodiments of the present invention, the computer is coupled to one or more peripheral devices, and upon identifying, in the sequence of 3D maps, a movement of the hand toward a given peripheral device, an action preparatory to disengaging the given peripheral device is initiated.

Computer interfaces based on three-dimensional (3D) sensing of parts of the user's body are known in the art. For example, PCT International Publication WO 03/071410, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes a gesture recognition system using depth-perceptive sensors. A 3D sensor provides position information, which is used to identify gestures created by a body part of interest. The gestures are recognized based on a shape of a body part and its position and orientation over an interval. The gesture is classified for determining an input into a related electronic device.
As another example, U.S. Pat. No. 7,348,963, whose disclosure is incorporated herein by reference, describes an interactive video display system, in which a display screen displays a visual image, and a camera captures 3D information regarding an object in an interactive area located in front of the display screen. A computer system directs the display screen to change the visual image in response to changes in the object.
Documents incorporated by reference in the present patent application are to be considered an integral part of the application except that to the extent any terms are defined in these incorporated documents in a manner that conflicts with the definitions made explicitly or implicitly in the present specification, only the definitions in the present specification should be considered.
The description above is presented as a general overview of related art in this field and should not be construed as an admission that any of the information it contains constitutes prior art against the present patent application.

Detecting user intent to remove a pluggable peripheral device


An improved arrowhead features two sets of expandable blades. The expandable blades are pivotally movable from a first, concealed position to a second expanded position when spurs on the front of the blades contact a target. The first concealed position of the blades allows the arrowhead to penetrate the target upon contact. The fixed blades may be diamond-shaped, double-edged replaceable blades. The expandable blades comprise at least two pivotable blades that can be held in the first safe position by an elastic band. The spurs are located at a first end of the expandable blades, and these spurs are located proximate the base of the fixed blade portion of the arrow head, to allow the fixed portion to penetrate the target before the expandable blades are deployed by the spurs contacting the target.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to arrowheads, used in connection with arrows, for the sport of archery or for hunting. More particularly, the present invention relates to a mechanically expandable broadhead having a single fixed, deflection-resistant spear-point blade at the tip thereof, in combination with multiple pivotally movable blades.
2. Description of the Background Art
People in the field of archery or bow hunting commonly use arrowheads for:                (1) preserving the integrity of an arrow; (2) maintaining an accurate arrow flight pattern; and (3) creating a more effective means of harvesting game.
In the past, to maintain the integrity of an arrow, some type of metal has been provided at the arrow tip. Metals used for arrowhead manufacture include stainless steel and steel alloys. Titanium is also becoming fairly common in arrow tip manufacture.
While almost any metal arrowhead would suffice to preserve an arrow's structural integrity, one objective, among arrowhead makers, is to create an arrowhead that both maintains an accurate flight pattern, and maximizes the effectiveness of a strike, to allow the bow-hunting enthusiast to efficiently harvest game. An arrowhead with relatively small blades provides accurate arrow flight, but offers a less effective or efficient means of harvesting game. In contrast, an arrowhead with large blades gives the arrow a less effective flight pattern, but provides for a more effective strike and harvest.
Today, selected hunters and some archery enthusiasts use mechanically expandable broadhead-type arrowheads. The expandable blade arrowhead offers a combination of both accurate arrow flight and effective harvest ability, in a single arrowhead. Expandable blade arrowheads tend to be accurate during flight, since the arrowhead remains small in diameter. Upon contact with the target or game, the arrowhead expands in diameter as large blades spring open, creating a larger area of penetration, and consequently, a more effective harvest. In this type of arrowhead, expansion of the blades, from a stored position to a fully deployed position, is caused by the mechanical action of the arrowhead striking the target.
Several inventors have independently patented different designs for mechanically expandable arrowheads.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,246 to Stagg (1990) discloses a mechanically expandable arrow attachment and/or arrowhead in which two actuator members protrude from opposite sides of a cylindrical central body. When the arrowhead of Stagg strikes a target, the actuator members open integrally attached cutting blades, which are initially folded into the central body. During deployment of the cutting blades, the actuator members move through the cylindrical body and emerge on the opposite side.
While the Stagg reference discloses the combination of a fixed arrow tip with mechanically expandable blades, the actuator members of Stagg are spaced significantly away from the fixed tip, requiring significant entry depth of the fixed tip into a target before the mechanical blades begin to expand. In addition, in the design of Stagg, the actuator members are located relatively close to the pivot point, providing a relatively small lever arm to pivotally move the blade.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,178,398 to Eddy (1993) discloses another use of expandable blades. A rubber band is positioned over two expandable blades, to keep the blades closed during an arrow's flight. The band's position also prohibits the opening of the blades until the arrowhead penetrates its target, as the blades must break the band to expand.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,803,848 to Anderson (1998) uses a tip-actuated method of deploying two retractable blades. However, in typical hunting conditions it is possible that debris could collect in the actuator lip of the arrowhead of this design, limiting the effectiveness of the arrow.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,015,357 to Rizza (2000) contains two opposed blades that can either remain stationary or become expandable, depending on the consumer's desired use.
Several arrowhead patents have been issued with expandable blades retained by an annular member, such as an O-ring or rubber band, during flight. U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,297 to Smith (1994), U.S. Pat. No. 5,564,713 to Mizek et al. (1996) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,879,252 to Johnson (1999) all contain expandable blades retained by an annular member; however, none of these arrowheads contain a fixed-in-place blade, to ensure that the arrowhead retains some level of effectiveness, in the event that the expandable blades fail to deploy.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,554,727 to Armstrong et al. discloses another expandable blade arrowhead.
It has been discovered that if the known expandable blade arrowheads do not hit directly on a solid target area, or if they strike a target at an angle, these arrows may become deflected rather than entering into the target. Expandable blade arrowheads have been known to "bounce off" or ricochet away from the target in some instances. In addition, expandable arrowheads of the known type may have a greater tendency to bounce off than standard arrows, because of the requirement of the target causing the blades to open mechanically.
While the known arrowheads have some utility for their intended purposes, a need remains for improvement in the arrowhead art. A need exists for an arrowhead having multiple parallel expandable blades, in which actuators for the expandable blades are situated close to a fixed blade at the tip of the arrowhead, in order to minimize the time between entry of the fixed blade and the beginning of deployment of the expandable blades.

Arrowhead having both fixed and mechanically expandable blades


A liquid crystal display device is characterized by comprising first and second substrates on a surface of which electrodes are formed, a liquid crystal material with ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity interposed between the first and second electrodes, and an orientation film and disposed between the electrode or electrodes formed on the surface of said first and/or second substrate whose surface has been subjected to a process which gives optically uniaxial orientation to the liquid crystal material, wherein said orientation film has a pretilt angle of 1.6 to 3.1 degree with respect to a nematic liquid crystal. Further, a value of a polar term of surface tension on the surface of the orientation film ranges from 11 to 15 dyne/cm.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display device using a liquid crystal material having ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity superior in a high-speed response.
2. Prior Art
The liquid crystal display device performs display by applying an electric field to the crystal material from the exterior so that the optical anisotropy of the material is changed to thereby convert an electric signal into a light signal.
FIG. 1 shows a structure of a general liquid crystal display device. The liquid crystal display device includes electrodes 103 and 104 formed on substrates 101 and 102 for driving a liquid crystal material. The electrodes 103 and 104 are disposed in such a manner that the respective electrodes 1 03 and 104 on the substrates 101 and 102 face each other. A liquid crystal material 105 is interposed between the substrates 101 and 102. The liquid crystal devices which utilize birefringence of the liquid crystal material have been widely known. In order to effectively utilize the birefringence of the liquid crystal material, one side of the respective substrates which is brought in contact with the liquid crystal material 105 is subjected to some orienting process 106 so that an optical axis of the liquid crystal material 105 is oriented in an intended direction.
Among the above-mentioned liquid crystal display devices, ones using the liquid crystal material having ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity provide such an excellent characteristic that a response speed is approximately 1,000 times as high as that of the TN type or STN type liquid crystal display device.
As described above, in the liquid crystal device using the liquid crystal material having the ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity, the surfaces of two substrates, which interpose the liquid crystal material therebetween and is to be in contact with the liquid crystal material are subjected to orienting process, and in the case of using the liquid crystal material, a uniaxial orientation is given to the liquid crystal material. As the orienting processes, there have been known a method of obliquely depositing SiO.sub.2 on two substrates interposing a liquid crystal material therebetween, a rubbing method of forming dielectric thin films on the surfaces of two substrates at the side of electrodes formed thereon as oriented films and of rubbing the surfaces of the dielectric films, and a method of applying an electric field or a magnetic field to a liquid crystal material from the exterior. Among these orienting processes, the rubbing method is superior in view of industry.
In the rubbing method, in general, an orientation film of 100 to 1000 .ANG. is formed on at least one side of two substrates of the liquid crystal display device, which is in contact with the liquid crystal material, and the surface of the orientation film is subjected to the rubbing process, that is, the surface of the film is rubbed with cloth made of cotton, nylon or the like. The orientation films are made of organic component such as polyvinyl alcohol, nylon, polyimide or the like, or inorganic component such as silicon oxide.
When the liquid crystal has been optically uniaxially oriented by the rubbing process, the molecules of the liquid crystal are not arranged in parallel with the substrates interposing the liquid crystal therebetween, but is obliquely oriented with a certain oblique angle. In general, this angle is called a pretilt angle. Conventionally, there has been considered that it is good to set the pretilt angle to 5.degree. or more in view of various points.
However, the liquid crystal using the liquid crystal material with ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity has the following problems.
When the liquid crystal display device manufactured by orienting the liquid crystal material with ferroelectricity or antiferroelectricity is actuated by means of a square wave, there may occur a portion within a pixel where a light is leaked while displaying the dark state. Such a light leakage causes the contrast of the liquid crystal display device to be lowered.
In the liquid crystal display device of this type, in the case where the orientation state of the liquid crystal material is observed under the crossed Nicol through a polarization microscope, it is recognized that while the greater parts of the liquid crystal material are optically uniaxially oriented, however, defects in a line state or zigzag state occur partly.
Further, if the display mode is switched between the dark state and the bright state, it takes much time to obtain a given quantity of transmitted light after changing between the dark state and the bright state. Also, if any state is maintained as it is, there is a case where the quantity of transmitted light is changed. For example, there has been found such a phenomenon that the quantity of transmitted light of a pixel is gradually increased in the dark state.
Since the liquid crystal display device like this is unstable in the optical characteristics, it is not suitable for simple matrix drive for driving the display device by means of a pulse waveform and active matrix drive.
FIG. 2 shows a current-to-voltage characteristic of such a liquid crystal display device. Shown in the figure is a case where the liquid crystal material with ferroelectricity is used. The current-to-voltage characteristic has been measured by connecting a resistor of 100 k.OMEGA. in serial to the liquid crystal display device, and by measuring a voltage drop of the resistor through an oscilloscope when applying a chopping wave of the 5 Hz frequency and the .+-.30 V voltage to the element. The current value in the figure represents a value resulting from dividing a voltage read by the oscilloscope by the above-mentioned resistance value. As shown in FIG. 2, the current component is classified into three parts, that is, a component 201 acting as a capacitor disposed between the electrodes of the liquid crystal display device, a current component 202 flowing when the spontaneous polarization of the liquid crystal material is inverted with the direction of the electric field being changed, and the other current component 203. The third current component will be hereinafter represented by a 2nd peak current.
As the second peak current is large, the initial transmissivity is not held and the optical characteristics become unstable. Therefore, the reduction of the 2nd peak current has been required.

Antiferroelectric LCD having particular rubbing density and pretilt angles

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


An iontophoretic drug delivery system having a patch including a medicament containing surface, and a controller having circuits which supply electric current to effect the iontophoretic drug delivery. The patch is detachably coupled to the controller and includes a plurality of spaced-apart electrical contacts. The controller includes an elastomeric connector which is made of alternating sections of electrically conductive and electrically non-conductive material. The electrically conductive material of the elastomeric connector is coupled to the controller circuiting. During transcutaneous drug delivery, the patch is connected to the controller such that the electrically conductive sections of the elastomeric connector are also coupled to respective spaced-apart electrical contacts of the patch so that the controller can control the rate and duration of the drug delivery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to iontophoretic drug delivery systems for transdermally delivering a drug or medicine to a patient, and more specifically relates to a connector which electrically couples a drug-containing patch and a controller.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Iontophoresis may be defined as the non-evasive transdermal delivery of medicine/chemicals. This process has become an increasingly popular and effective method for the delivery of pharmaceuticals. In practice, the process of iontophoretic drug delivery is typically achieved by placing a medicine (in ionic form) on a carrier, and attaching the medicine-containing carrier upon a patient's skin. A pair of electrodes are placed in contact with the patient's skin and in close proximity with the carrier. An electric current is provided by the electrodes through the skin. The electric current causes the ionic medicine to diffuse from the carrier of the patch through the skin.
Delivery of a drug to a patient iontophoretically may be best accomplished in a number of ways, such as at a constant rate over a long time period, or periodically at regular intervals. In order to ensure proper drug delivery, it is necessary for the drug-containing carrier to be maintained in contact with the patient's skin. The iontophoretic delivery system may include a drug-containing carrier such as an adhesive patch. The system may also include a source of electric power which is connectable to the patch for providing the proper electric current for transmission of the drug in accordance with the desired rate of delivery.
The electrical connections between the patch and controller in known drug delivery devices typically utilize resiliently biased conventional mechanical contacts. With this type of connection, wear and corrosion on the resiliently biased contacts from the repeated cycling of connection and removal of the patch with respect to the controller and from environmental conditions may have a deleterious effect on the contacts. The deleterious effects include the abrupt cessation of current delivery to the patch due to the "making and breaking" between the contacts. These current transients which may be produced may result in an uncomfortable sensation to the patient.
In transdermal delivery devices where the controller is detachable from the patch, the materials utilized on the patch and controller for electrical coupling must be electro-chemically compatible with one another. Otherwise, electrolysis and corrosion may result affecting the quality of the electrical connection. This may result in electrical noise or current transients which may cause patient discomfort.

Iontophoresis patch/controller interconnection using a conductive elastomer to provide noise-free electrical contact between patch and controller