An optical device for scanning an optical record carrier (20) has a radiation source (25) that can emit two radiation beams of different wavelength along different optical paths (28, 29). The emitted radiation is focused on the record carrier and reflected back to a detection system (40). A beam combiner 43 is arranged in the optical path between the radiation source and the detection system for combining the two radiation beams on one optical path, thereby allowing the use of a single detection system for both radiation beams. The beam combiner includes a grating that passes one of the beams undiffracted and diffracts the other beam mainly in the first order. The profile of the grating lines show alternating slanting grooves and slanting lands.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an optical device for scanning an optical record carrier, and to an optical grating for use in such a device. More particularly, the device includes a radiation source for generating a first radiation beam of a first wavelength traveling along a first path and a second radiation beam of a different, second wavelength traveling along a different, second path, a photo-detection system, an optical system for guiding the radiation beams via the optical record carrier to the photo-detection system, and a grating for combining the first and second beams such that they substantially coincide on the photo-detection system. Scanning may refer to reading, writing and erasing information from the record carrier.
2. Description of the Related Art
The increasing demand for storage capacity has led to the development of new optical scanning devices and matching record carriers having an increased storage capacity. As a consequence, old, low capacity record carriers and new, high capacity record carriers are simultaneously available on the market. For compatibility reasons, a scanning device for a new record carrier should be able to scan both old and new record carriers. This requires adaptation of the device to handle the different formats of the record carriers. As an example, a scanning device designed for scanning both the newer record carrier of the DVD type and the older writable record carrier of the CD-R type must form a 650 nm wavelength radiation beam for scanning the DVD and a 780 nm wavelength radiation beam for scanning the CD. The optical system of such a player includes two diode lasers, one for 650 nm radiation and one for 780 nm radiation. To reduce the cost of the optical system, as many of its components as possible should be traversed by both radiation beams.
Such a dual wavelength scanning device is known from U.S. Pat. No. 5,912,868 and is schematically presented in FIG. 1. Paths 1 and 2 of the two radiation beams from lasers 3 and 4 are mutually oriented under 90° and combined in a cube beam splitter 5 before entering an objective system 6 that focuses the beams on a record carrier 7. The choice of which radiation source is operated is determined by the type of record carrier being scanned. Radiation returning from the record carrier is guided to a photo-detection system 8 via a beam splitter 9. The photo-detector transforms the impinging radiation into electrical signals that represent information stored on the record carrier and tracking information indicating the positional accuracy of the focus of the radiation beam on the tracks of the record carrier on which the information is written. The tracking relates to tracking in a direction of the optical axis, i.e., focusing, and the tracking in a direction perpendicular to both the optical axis and the direction of a track being scanned in the record carrier. The latter type of tracking is also referred to as radial tracking where it relates to disc-shaped optical record carriers.
The tolerance in the mutual position of the two lasers is relatively tight in view of the accuracy with which the radiation beams must fall on the detection system. Errors in the position on the detection system may cause errors in the tracking information. FIG. 2 shows a scanning device known from Japanese Patent Application No. JP-A 10326428, in which the two lasers are arranged close together, drawn as a single component 10, making it easier to keep their mutual position within the tolerance. The paths of the two radiation beams are at an acute angle, and the beams are combined by a grating 11. The grating diffracts both incident radiation beams in transmission. The zeroth-order beam of one of the radiation beams passes from the grating to the objective system, whereas the first-order beam of the other radiation beam passes along the same path to the objective system.
Japanese Patent Application No. JP-A 10261241 discloses a grating for combining the radiation beams from the lasers. The grating is optimized for transmission of the radiation of 650 nm wavelength in the zeroth order and radiation of 780 nm in the first order. The ruling of the grating is in the form of a series of adjacent saw-tooth profiles, each saw-tooth being approximated by a stepped profile.

Optical device for scanning an optical record carrier


A data bus circuit connects a south bridge driven by a first voltage and a bay driven by a second voltage. The first voltage and the second voltage are different. The data bus circuit includes a data bus that electrically connects the south bridge and the bay, and a Thevenin termination circuit that is arranged on the data bus at a point. The Thevenin termination circuit maintains a voltage at the point substantially equal to the first voltage.

1) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to eliminating noise of a data bus circuit provided on a mother board.
2) Description of the Related Art
Mother boards of personal computer/advanced technology (PC/AT) compatible machines are typically provided with a 16-signal-line integrated drive electronics (IDE) data bus. This data bus is arranged on the mother board between a south bridge and a bay.
The south bridge includes a transmitting side device, which is a series of chip sets that administer data passing between a central processing unit (CPU), a random access memory (RAM), and an expansion card. On the other hand, the bay includes a loading side device, such as a compact-disc read only memory (CD-ROM) drive and a floppy disk drive. The data bus electrically connects the transmitting side device and the loading side device, to form a path that transmits and receives data. A related technology is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid Open No. H3-235111.
The data bus functions as an antenna and generates high-frequency noise near the bay. There are regulations that prohibit generation of high-frequency noise that can cause electromagnetic coherency. Specifically, operation of the data bus must not inhibit operation of other devices, or cause electromagnetic interference (EMI) that exceeds a predetermined level of interference and affects the human body.
Lot of High-frequency noise is generated when the transmitting side device and the loading side device are driven by different power sources of different voltages. The leakage of EMI to the outside can be prevented by adhering a gasket or a conductive cloth to a conductive surface of a frame ground (FG) that covers the bay, so as to shield the high-frequency noise emitted from the bay side of the data bus.
However, this method requires additional components and processing steps, which leads to increased cost and weight of the machine.

Technology for supressing noise of data bus circuit


A radio LAN system includes a server configured to hold a file; an access point connected with the server; a LAN terminal connected with the access point by radio; and a client terminal configured to issue a file transfer request to the server. An operation mode between the access point and the LAN terminal is set to a non-compression mode in which compression of the file is not performed, when the file is in a compressed state, and to a compression mode in which compression of the file is performed, when the file is in a non-compressed state. The file is transferred from the server to the client terminal in the operation mode in response to the file transfer request.

Data communication formats and types of data have become diversified due to increase of a communication rate. Under such circumstances, there is a demand for improving communication quality through performing more efficient communication by optimizing a type of data and a communication method of the data.
In particular, in a radio LAN (Local Area Network), a method is known in which data compression is performed on a radio LAN. In this case, it has no effect even if a secondary compression is further applied to the data to which primary compression has already being applied. Rather, a transfer time may be increased for the operation processing required for the secondary compression.
In conjunction with the above description, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication (JP-P2001-111432A) discloses a data compression control apparatus. This data compression control apparatus controls compression processing of data to be transmitted, and includes a compression section adapted to compress the data, and a path selection section adapted to select a processing path for the data to be transmitted. The path selection section determines whether or not to compress the data to be transmitted by the compression section in accordance with a physical or logical type of a communication interface that transmits the data.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication (JP-P2001-275112A) discloses a data compression apparatus. This data compression apparatus is used for a data transmission apparatus, and includes a transmission mode selection section adapted to select a first transmission mode or a second transmission mode in accordance with data indicative of a type of input data. A data compression section compresses the input data and sends it out to a data output terminal. A switching section sends out the input data to the data output terminal in the first transmission mode and sends out the input data to the data compression section in the second transmission mode.
Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication (JP-P2004-064171A) discloses an information processing apparatus. This information processing apparatus transmits a digital video data through radio communication, and includes a first video data compression section to compress the digital video data with a first compression rate, and a second video data compression section to compress the digital video data with a second compression rate. A detection section detects the radio communication state. A switching section outputs the video data by switching one of the first video data compression section and the second video data compression section in accordance with the radio communication state detected by the detection section.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication (JP-P2005-159774A) discloses an image transmission apparatus. This image transmission apparatus transmits and receives an image data via a telecommunication line, and includes an image input section adapted to input an image data. An image encoding section encodes the image data into a compressed image when the image data is not a compressed image, and re-encodes the compressed image with a different compression rate. A compressed image capacity detecting section detects a capacity of the compressed image. A transmission rate detecting section detects a transmission rate when transmitting the compressed image data. A transmission time calculation section calculates a transmission time of the compressed data based on the compressed image capacity that is detected by the compressed image capacity detecting section, and the transmission rate that is detected by the transmission rate detecting section. An image compression conversion determining section determines whether or not to compresses the compressed image further with a higher expression rate, based on the calculated transmission time. A condition storing section stores parameters for determination of whether or not to perform re-compression by the image compression conversion determining section.
Also, Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication (JP-A-Heisei 5-145437) discloses a data transmission system. This data transmission system includes a compression processing section for compressing a data. A data transmission time estimating section estimates from a speed of a communication line and a data compression time, a data transmission execution time spent for data transmission (from transmission of the data by applying compression processing to reception and decompression of the data) when the compression processing of the data is applied. The data transmission time estimating section estimates a data transmission execution time (from transmission of the data until reception of the data) when the compression processing is not applied. The data transmission time estimating section determines, before transmitting the data, whether to transmit the compressed data to which data compression processing is applied or the data to which the processing is not applied, based on the estimated transmission execution time. A data transmission executing section transmits the data based on the determination by the data transmission time estimating section.
Japanese Laid Open Patent Publication (JP-A-Heisei 10-294769) discloses a relay apparatus. This relay apparatus is connected to a computer network and exchanges communication data via the network. The relay apparatus includes a compression determination table which stores compression/non-compression of the communication data for each control data of protocol headers of the communication data, and the compression mode when the data is compressed. A control data obtaining section obtains control data that is registered in the datable, from the protocol header of the communication data. In a compression mode selecting section, a data compression determining section determines whether or not compression is necessary and the compression mode when being determined to perform the compression, in accordance with a corresponding compression type that is searched from the compression determination table by using the control data obtained by the control data obtaining section as a key. A data compression section generates compressed communication data by compressing the communication data when being determined by the compression determining section that compression of the communication data is necessary. A transmission section transmits the communication data when being determined by the data compression determining section that compression is unnecessary, and transmits the compressed communication data as the transmission data when being determined that the compression of the communication data is necessary.

Radio LAN system using communication apparatus, and method for setting operation mode


An aqueous adjuvant composition comprising an attenuated lipid A derivative and a non-immunostimulatory surfactant or surfactants enhances the immunological response in a warm blooded animal to a protein antigen. Attenuated lipid A derivatives useful according to the subject invention include monophosphoryl lipid A and 3-O-deacylated monophosphoryl lipid A. A surfactant or mixtures of surfactants are dissolved in a solvent. 1,2 Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine is a preferred surfactant. The dissolved surfactant is added to an attenuated lipid A derivative to obtain a mixture. The molar ratio of attenuated lipid A derivative to surfactant in the mixture is about 4:1. The solvent is evaporated and water is added to the resulting film. The suspension is sonicated in a 60xc2x0 C. water bath until it becomes clear. Animals administered the adjuvant formulation exhibited increased antibody responses to a given antigen as well as displayed enhanced lymphocyte proliferative and cytotoxic T-lymphocyte responses. Intranasal administration of the aqueous adjuvant composition and an antigen stimulates the production of serum and mucosal secreted IgA.

The compounds monophosphoryl lipid A (MLA) and 3-O-deacylated monophosphoryl lipid A (3D-MLA) are attenuated derivatives of the lipid A component of bacterial lipopolysaccharide (LPS). LPS and lipid A are potent immunostimulants inducing both a humoral antibody response and a cell-mediated immune response in patients administered the compounds. Lipid A and LPS however can also display toxic side-effects such as pyrogenicity and local Shwarzman reactions. MLA and 3D-MLA are lipid A-like molecules that have been modified to attenuate the toxicity of LPS.
Like lipid A, the MLA and 3D-MLA molecules have a sugar backbone onto which long chain fatty acids are attached. The backbone is comprised of two six carbon sugar rings in glycosidic linkage. MLA and 3D-MLA are phosphorylated at the 4 position. Five to eight long chain fatty acids (12-14 carbons) are attached to the sugar backbone making MLA and 3D-MLA very hydrophobic molecules which are not readily water soluble.
The attenuated lipid A derivatives (ALDs) MLA and 3D-MLA are used as immunologic adjuvants in prophylactic vaccines for infectious disease and therapeutic vaccines for the treatment of cancerous tumors and chronic infections. Antigen preparations included in most vaccines are often complicated mixtures of water-soluble proteins making it difficult to formulate the water insoluble adjuvant in a water based vaccine. Therefore, MLA and 3D-MLA must be first mixed with solvents before they are added to the antigen preparation. However, the presence of solvents can further complicate the formulation of the vaccine, and in some cases can reduce the efficiency of its components. Further, solvents can irritate mucosal surfaces or cause inflammation at an injection site. A simple formulation of MLA or 3D-MLA containing no interfering co-solvents would allow maximum benefits to be derived from both the adjuvant and the antigen in a vaccine composition. The instant invention satisfies this need.
The subject invention involves an aqueous formulation of an attenuated lipid A derivative (ALD) and a surfactant and methods for its preparation and storage. Attenuated lipid A derivatives useful according to the subject invention include monophosphoryl lipid A (MLA) and 3-O-deacylated monophosphoryl lipid A (3D-MLA). Aqueous formulations of MLA (MLA/AF) or 3D-MLA (3D-MLA/AF) eliminate the need for undesirable solvents or a co-solvent system for vaccine preparation. The invention provides a stable aqueous composition of the ALD and a surfactant which when administered to mice with an antigen, enhances the cellular and humoral immune response of the animal to that antigen. Surprisingly, the aqueous formulation of the present invention induces high levels of serum and mucosal secreted IgA in immunized animals when administered intranasally. An embodiment of the claimed aqueous composition comprises a MLA or 3D-MLA to surfactant molar ratio of about 4:1 and has a particle size of approximately 50-70 nm. 1,2-Dipalmitoyl-sn-glycero-3-phosphocholine (DPPC) is a preferred surfactant. Unexpectedly, when glycerol is added to the subject aqueous formulation before lyophilization, the composition is restored upon reconstitution with no additional sonication. Successful storage of the subject composition in a lyophilized state allows for convenient storage and transport of the aqueous formulation or vaccine compositions comprising the formulation.
A method of preparing the aqueous composition is disclosed. In one embodiment the ALD and the surfactant are dissolved and uniformly admixed in ethanol. The ethanol is then evaporated leaving a film. Water is added to the film. The ALD and surfactant are suspended in the water by sonication. The suspension is sonicated until clear. Animals administered the claimed composition with an antigen display enhanced humoral and cellular immune responses to that antigen. Methods for using the composition to enhance these responses are also disclosed and claimed.

Aqueous immunologic adjuvant compostions of monophosphoryl lipid A


A polarizing effect is achieved for light having wavelengths less than 250 nm by orienting an antireflector at an incidence angle between 65° and 75°. Despite limited choices for materials, the antireflector is constructed of layers that alternate in refractive index to exploit the mechanism of interference for limiting the reflectivity of one linear polarization component of the light. The same combination of layers supports the reflectivity of an orthogonal linear polarization component. The light reflected from the antireflector is highly polarized.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the polarization of light within the deep UV spectrum at wavelengths of less than 250 nm, particularly at high power densities above 5 milli-joules per square centimeter per pulse.
2. Description of the Related Art
Polarizing ultraviolet light at wavelengths below 250 nm, particularly at power densities above five milli-joules per centimeter squared per pulse, presents special challenges. The typical optical materials for longer wavelength applications are either insufficiently transmissive or subject to breakdown at the short wavelengths and high power densities. Excimer lasers operating at 157 nm can be arranged to cut through all known solids including diamonds. Thus, the challenges for conveying or manipulating such light at somewhat lower concentrations are high.
Traditional polarizers are available in a number of different designs. These include cemented birefringent crystals in different relative orientations. The birefringent crystals have different effective refractive indices for different directions of polarization. The result is that one polarization component is refracted in one direction and the orthogonal polarization component is refracted in another direction. To function properly, the two crystals must be precisely oriented with respect to each other. Generally, this is done by cementing the two crystals together at a common interface. However, such polarizers cannot be used in the specified UV energy regime, because the UV radiation breaks down all of the known cements.
A similar polarizer design omits the cement by forming the mating surfaces between crystals with a high degree of flatness so that local polar forces between intimately related surfaces hold the crystals together. However, even such precisely mating surfaces have defects containing atmospheric materials that suffer slight surface absorption, which causes heating and subsequent delamination.
Another type of polarizer orients a succession of plates at Brewster's angle to the incident light. At each leading interface, one of the polarization components, i.e., the P polarization component oriented within the plane of incidence, is transmitted while a significant portion of the orthogonally related polarization component, i.e., the S polarization component oriented normal to the plane of incidence, is reflected. The plates are stacked one after the other so that each subsequent plate renders the transmitted beam more P polarized. However, some distortion occurs at each of the reflective interfaces, which can spatially disperse the incident light. The spatial dispersion alters the angle of incidence at which the light approaches subsequent plates, degrading performance and causing losses. In addition, the design is bulky, sensitive to collimation errors and can be optimized for only a single wavelength.
A polarizer known as the "MacNeille polarizer", features a coating at a prism-to-prism interface formed by two coating layers having refractive indices that differ from each other and from the refractive indices of the adjacent prisms. The typical performance of the MacNeille polarizer includes a certain wavelength bandwidth over which reflection of the P polarization component remains near zero, while the reflection of the S polarization component is substantial. A substantial difference in the refractive indices of the two coated layers is required to achieve this type of performance. However, comparable coatings are not available for use a within the specified high-power, short-wavelength regime contemplated for the invention. The indices of the available coatings are too close to each other.
Another known type of polarizer is based on a thin film (quarter wavelength) dielectric stack. Here, alternating quarter-wavelength layers of differing refractive indices are deposited on a substrate. Although the reflectivity characteristics of both polarizations tend to parallel one another, there are gaps at limited wavelength ranges where one polarization is reflected much more than the other. However, the coating materials typically used for making such quarter-wavelength layers are not available for use in the high-power, short-wavelength regime contemplated for the invention. Again, the materials that are available tend not to differ very much in refractive index.

Polarizer for high-power deep UV radiation


A coating comprising a non-porous textured corrosion resistant and abrasion resistant base layer of metal is applied by a thermal flame spray process using a high-velocity oxy-fuel, and a top coating of a continuous film of fluoropolymer is used to enhance and protect the surface bare metal on industrial rollers in a multitude of industrial environments that are corrosive, abrasive or otherwise have elements present which tend to stick to the roller surface. The corresponding method comprises the steps of providing a body member having a relatively soft and corrodible metal first layer, applying a middle metal layer to the first layer by a high-velocity oxy-fuel type metal thermal spray process, applying an outer layer comprising a fluoropolymer coating over said middle layer to provide a non-sticking characteristic to the coating; and heating said outer layer to a level above the curing temperature of the fluoropolymer so as to bond the fluoropolymer to said middle layer.

This invention relates to metallic coatings for metal articles prone to corrosion, and, more specifically, to an industrial metallic roll coating with abrasion resistant and release properties that has no through grain porosity.
Metallic roll coatings with abrasion resistant and release properties have in the past been produced using a porous plasma type or wire type flame spray plated based layer and an impregnated Teflon.RTM. film top coat. It is believed that the through grain porosity in the plating has not offered completely adequate corrosion resistance in some cases. In fact, older processes such as wire type or plasma type flame spray plating processes are deficient because they do not result in through grain sealed properties, rather they are regarded as porous.
A known process for producing a composite metallic roll having a release surface is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,942,230 to Nalband. Nalband discloses application of a porous nickel chromium alloy (or other metal) by a flame spray process. Upon the resulting porous metal layer is deposited a fluorocarbon polymer (Teflon.RTM.), which is subsequently heated so as to impregnate and cover the porous layer.
In Nalband and other known coating processes, the Teflon layer only provides a corrosion barrier ancillary to the Teflon's principle function of providing a release surface. In recent years, however, operating conditions in industries such as the production of pulp and paper and plastics have generated significantly more demanding requirements in respect to corrosion resistance which are not necessarily within the capabilities of Nalband and other previously known processes.

Corrosion and abrasion resistant industrial roll coating with non-sticking properties


Disclosed is a line positioning device for use with fishing vessel outriggers. The positioning device employs a housing having a pulley, a resilient bushing positioned next to the pulley, and a lever arm that is strategically positioned to engage a halyard line against the resilient bushing. A halyard line placed through the device is partially wrapped around the pulley where the line can freely move. Locking of the line requires the partial rotation of the lever arm which includes a tip end that presses the line against the resilient bushing. The lever arm includes a detent for engagement of a biased ball for use in holding the lever arm in either a locked or unlocked position.

Halyard lines are commonly known as the lines that are used to pull sails up a mast on a sailboat. At the end of a halyard line is a shackle that attaches to the sail. The line then runs to a pulley block at the masthead and comes back down alongside the mast. When the sail is up, the halyard is tied off tight to the mast cleat using a cleat hitch. Conventional halyards are made of high strength synthetic polymer fibers which lack memory but have the disadvantage of "creep," whereby the material elongates under constant load.
All known line locking devices, commonly referred to as "halyard locks" are used to address line creep issues. Traditionally a halyard lock includes a hook that latches to a ball-like fitting on the halyard. The lock operates like a door latch when the tension is relieved on the lock the latch will open to release the line. Earlier halyard locks used a trip line that attached to the latch and was tensioned for releasing the line.
The principal of the Halyard style locks were adapted for use on outriggers commonly used on fishing vessels. Outriggers are defined as a pair of fiberglass, carbon fiber, or aluminum poles secured to the sides of a vessel for use in positioning fishing lines away from the vessel. Outriggers allow the fisherman to make a presentation in the water that would not otherwise be possible due to the width of the boat. For instance, a 30-foot boat, without outriggers, may have a 10 foot beam wherein fishing lines can only maintain a separate which equals the width of the boat. Placement of 15-foot outriggers on the same boat permits the placement of fishing lines at a distance of nearly 40 feet. On larger vessels the outriggers may be 40-feet and the width of the boat 20 feet wherein outboard fishing lines might be positioned 100 feet apart. By placement of fishing lines outside the width of the vessel, a greater "spread" of fishing lines and bait/lures are presented. The result is a greater opportunity to catch fish.
Outriggers are commonly formed of a tubular mast of modest diameter which is strengthened against bending or buckling by longitudinal cable truss systems that include spreader arms to stand off the cable from the mast to create a truss unit, as disclosed in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 4,632,050. Fishing with outriggers is performed when a fishing vessel is driven slowly, commonly referred to as trolling, which permits the strategic placement of bait behind the vessel. Each outrigger includes at least one pulley with a line, commonly referred to as the halyard line. To strategically place bait, a quick release clip is attached to the outrigger halyard line to hold the fishing line dragging bait. An outrigger halyard line can hold multiple fishing lines in this manner, spaced at intervals outwards from the boat.
The wake generated by the vessel can appear to predator fish like a school of fish. Bait which appears to be struggling or separated from the school, or wake, are the most attractive to predator fish. If the bait is properly placed, the bait dragging on the fishing line will appear as struggling or separated fish. Once a fish strikes, the line is released so that it can be landed with the use of the traditional rod and reel. However, while dragging bait, the fishing line can pull on the outrigger's halyard line causing the previously mentioned line creep which decreases the chance of catching a fish. Line creep on the outrigger halyard line causes the release clips to move back towards the boat, which decreases the fishing territory and can result in tangled lines. The halyard line is used to position the release clip, and thus the fishing line, outboard of the vessel.
Braided nylon is the most popular line material for outriggers. The line has no memory and is easy to deal with when the poles are retracted or removed from the bases. Monofilament may also be used and works well with fixed-length poles that remain on the boat. Trolling with fishing lines attached to outriggers can strain the halyard line wherein the line can easily creep as the release clip attachment is known to work its way back to the vessel while fishing. The most common fix to stop line creep is by use of a halyard style line lock.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,342,115 to Lindstrom discloses a device at a cleat for a vessels in order to provide detachable locking of the line to a sail, a rig or the like, where the line runs over a sheave on an elevated level and having a cleat for locking the line situated at a distance from the deck of the boat. In the device, the line runs over a sheave, which is provided with ratchet back stop, and is arranged to co-operate with a movably actuatable mechanism, which activates the ratchet back stop.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,974,125 to Renton discloses a line-handling block for vessels having an attachment device rotatably mounted in the body. A locking device is slidably connected in keyhole slots and can slide into or out of engagement with the attachment device. When the locking device is engaged, only limited rotation of the attachment device to either side of a central position may be permitted.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,129,033 to Jarrell discloses a pulley or roller-type block with a locking arrangement. The locking arrangement can form a permanent weak spot in the line due to a highly concentrated clamping contact. At least a portion of a rolling unit is formed of resilient material, whereby the clamping contact on the line, as squeezed between the rolling unit and the clamping mechanism, is distributed by flexion of the roller unit resilient material.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,023 to Muller discloses a pulley over which a rope moves with an eccentric cam which is pivotable to selectively clamp or release the rope against the pulley and a pivotable lever to which the cam is connected such that motion of the lever pivots the cam between its clamping and releasing position.
Accordingly, what is disclosed is a line positioning device that is used to prevent line creep in an outrigger fishing assembly. The line positioning device of the present invention overcomes the problems of the prior art by providing a simple locking pulley device which holds the line against a resilient bushing in a secure locked position. The locking lever can also provide quick visual confirmation of whether the device is in a locked position.


Methods are disclosed for manufacturing masks for charged-particle-beam (CPB) or X-ray transfer. The masks have substantially no pattern defects. In a representative method for making stencil masks, the mask is defined using multiple subfields each having a respective pattern of voids. The subfields are separated from each other by boundary regions lacking any pattern features. The boundary regions include supports to provide the mask with physical and thermal stability. The supports are formed by an etching step in which relatively large amounts of substrate are removed. In the methods, the mask pattern is formed, inspected, and "repaired" as required before performing the etching step that forms the supports. Thus, the forming, inspection, and repair steps can be performed before the mask is made too delicate.

Advances in semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) technology in recent years have been remarkable, with exceptional trends in the miniaturization and increased integration of semiconductor elements in IC devices. So-called optical stepper apparatus and other projection-exposure apparatus that employ light for transferring the pattern from the mask to the substrate are in common use as microlithography apparatus for imprinting integrated circuit patterns on semiconductor wafers and other substrates. Such apparatus comprise a projection-optical system to effect transfer of the mask pattern to the substrate.
As used herein, a "transfer apparatus" encompasses any of various projection-exposure apparatus operable to perform projection-imprinting (transfer) of a pattern defined by a mask onto a surface of a sensitive substrate. Transfer apparatus include steppers and the like. Most transfer apparatus are "reducing" which means that the image of the pattern formed on the substrate is smaller than the corresponding pattern on the mask.
With continued advances in the miniaturization of circuit patterns, and in consideration of the resolution limitations of light, much recent research and development on microlithography has been directed to transfer apparatus that employ shorter-wavelength electromagnetic radiation (e.g., X-rays) or charged-particle beams ("CPBs", e.g., electron beams, ion beams) rather than visible or UV light.
Conventional masks used in CPB reducing-transfer apparatus (specifically an electron-beam reducing transfer apparatus) are shown in FIGS. 4 and 5(a)-5(b). Referring to FIG. 4, the mask 21 comprises a silicon mask substrate 22 that defines through-holes (voids) 23. The mask substrate 22 is sufficiently thick (e.g., 50 .mu.m) to absorb electrons irradiated onto the mask 21. Some of the electrons in the beam EB pass through the voids 23 and are focused by a pair of projection lenses 24a, 24b onto a "sensitive" surface (e.g., a surface coated with a resist) of a suitable substrate (e.g., a silicon wafer). Thus, a pattern collectively defined by the array of voids 23 is transferred to the sensitive substrate 25. Such masks are conventionally termed "stencil" masks.
Referring to FIGS. 5(a) and 5(b), a portion of another type of conventional mask 100 is shown. The mask pattern is defined in part by selectively applied regions of an electron-scattering material 30a formed on the surface of a mask membrane 20 usually made of silicon. The mask membrane 20 is sufficiently thin to allow electrons to easily pass therethrough. Masks in which a pattern is formed by defined regions of scattering material on a membrane lacking voids, as in FIGS. 5(a)-5(b), are termed "scattering transmission masks" or simply "scattering masks".
When electrons are irradiated onto the scattering mask 100, the degree of forward scattering of electrons is greater for the electrons EB2 that have passed through the electron-scattering material 30a and the mask membrane 20 than for the electrons EB1 that have passed through only the mask membrane 20. An aperture stop 7 (defining an aperture 7a) is situated in the vicinity of a crossover CO of the electron beam formed by refraction of the beam by the projection lens 5. Contrast in an image formed on the sensitive substrate 110 is achieved according to the degree of scattering of the electrons EB1, EB2.
Stencil masks typically have the following problems: (1) it is impossible to form an annulus-shaped feature with a continuous through-hole; and (2) most of the irradiating electrons are absorbed by the mask substrate 22 which heats the mask and causes the mask to experience substantial heat deformation and pattern distortion. To solve such a problem, attempts have been made to reduce the thickness of the mask substrate and/or to provide the stencil mask with an electron-scattering membrane to create a "scattering stencil" mask in which through-hole features are formed in the membrane.
With scattering transmission masks, since the scattering material 30a is supported by the membrane 20, annular shaped features can be formed, resulting in free-standing islands in the scattering material 30a, as indicated by feature A shown in FIG. 5(a).
Further with respect to a scattering transmission mask, since the scattering material 30a need not completely block irradiating electrons, the proportion of the electrons obstructed by such portions of the mask can be relatively small. Consequently, heat generation can be reduced compared to a stencil mask.
For use in making the mask membrane in scattering stencil masks and in scattering transmission masks, Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, Be, C (diamond), SiC, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, Al, Si, SiO.sub.2, etc., have been evaluated. (Tungsten and gold have been evaluated as candidate materials for use as the scattering material in scattering transmission masks). Unfortunately, the oxide of Be is toxic, and light elements and light-element compounds such as Si.sub.3 N.sub.4, C (diamond), SiC, Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, Al, Si, SiO.sub.2, etc., exhibit low transmissivity to electrons due to the relatively short mean free path of electrons through such materials. Also, all of the conventional membrane materials are either monocrystalline or polycrystalline. Unless such materials are sufficiently thin, they are incapable of sufficiently suppressing absorption or scattering of the charged particles in the beam.
With a scattering transmission mask, the contrast of a projected pattern image is conventionally increased by increasing the scattering of the CPB in the scattering material 30a and decreasing the absorption or scattering of the CPB in the membrane 20. (With a scattering stencil mask, contrast is increased by decreasing the absorption of the CPB in the membrane.)
To such end, decreasing the thickness of the membrane 20 to approximately 10 nm has been studied in scattering transmission masks. Nevertheless, there remains a likelihood of the temperature of the membrane increasing excessively due to the radiant energy absorbed by the scattering material 30a, causing distortion of the mask (pattern distortion) and diminishing transfer precision. Also, if the membrane 20 is made too thin, its strength greatly decreases and the membrane becomes unable to support the scattering material 30a.
It is difficult for heat acquired by the scattering material 30a to escape. As a result, localized temperature increases can be extreme, especially in and around isolated islands of scattering material 30a (e.g., region A of in FIG. 5(a)).
Hence, in order to suppress absorption or scattering of a charged-particle beam in the membrane while preventing deterioration of transfer precision due to pattern distortion accompanying temperature increases in the mask membrane, the mask membrane should be very thin. In many instances, this requires that the mask include some additional structure providing thermal and mechanical support for the mask membrane. Consequently, contemporary masks for CPB microlithography are typically divided into multiple subfields each including a respective portion of the overall pattern defined by the mask. Each subfield is separated from its neighboring subfields by intervening boundary regions. The boundary regions do not define any portion of the pattern. Rather, each boundary region typically has an underlying structural feature. The structural features collectively form a comparatively rigid lattice substructure for the mask that thermally and structurally supports the entire mask. Such configurations are found in both scattering transmission masks and scattering stencil masks.
FIGS. 6(a)-6(b) show a conventional scattering transmission mask 100 for use in an electron-beam reducing transfer apparatus. The mask 100 comprises a regular array of multiple subfields 100a. Each subfield 100a contains a respective portion of the overall pattern defined by the mask 100 to be transferred to a sensitive substrate 110. The subfields 100a are separated from one another by boundary regions 100b that form a grid pattern across the mask 100. Referring to FIG. 5(b), supports Xa, Xb underlie respective boundary regions 100b of each subfield 100a and thus provide a structural grid for the entire mask. The mask 100 comprises a mask membrane 20 (FIG. 5(b)) that is transmissive to electrons. Applied to the upper surface of the mask membrane 20 within each subfield 100a are regions of an electron-scattering material 30a and spaces 20a therebetween that define, in each subfield 100a, the respective portion of the overall pattern defined by the mask.
When an electron beam is irradiated on a mask subfield 100a, electrons EB2 passing through the scattering material 30a and the membrane 20 experience a greater degree of forward scattering than electrons EB1 passing through the spaces 20a and the membrane 20.
A conventional electron-beam reducing transfer apparatus typically comprises a pair of projection lenses 5, 6 (FIG. 5(b)) for projecting the mask pattern onto a sensitive substrate 110. The apparatus also comprises a scatter aperture stop 7 defining an aperture 7a that transmits only those electrons passing through or near the crossover CO formed by the projection lens 5. As a result of the different degrees of electron scattering discussed above, and as shown in FIG. 5(b), most of the electrons EB2 scattered by passage through the electron-scattering material 30a and the membrane 20 are blocked by the scatter aperture stop 7. In contrast, most of the electrons EB1 passing through the spaces 20a and the membrane 20 pass through the aperture 7a.
An alternative scheme found in the prior art utilizes a scatter aperture stop 7 lacking a center aperture 7a and defining an annular aperture instead. With such a scheme, the resist is exposed in a differential manner that imprints a pattern whose features are defined by the scattering material 30a.
The mask subfields 100a are sequentially "transferred" to the sensitive substrate 110 subfield-by-subfield in each row and row-by-row. For example, as shown in FIG. 6(b), the subfields 100a are sequentially transferred by scanning the electron beam EB step-wise in the y-axis direction. After a row of subfields has been scanned, the mask 100 and substrate 110 are shifted in opposite directions along the x-axis, as shown by arrows Fm and Fw, respectively, to permit the next row of subfields to be transferred. (The subfield scanning sequence and the sequence by which the substrate 110 is exposed are indicated by arrows Am and Aw, respectively.) Such subfield-by-subfield transfer is termed "divided transfer".
During transfer, the mask and the substrate are moved in a coordinated manner. More specifically, the substrate 110 is moved in the -x direction at a velocity V.sub.W in synchrony with movement of the mask 100 in the x direction at a velocity V.sub.M. The reduction ratio imparted by the combination of the projection lens 5 and the objective lens 6 from the mask 110 to the substrate 110 is denoted by .beta.; the width of a mask subfield in the x direction is denoted by S.sub.x, and each boundary region has a width in the x direction denoted L.sub.x. The scan velocity V.sub.W of the substrate is expressed by: EQU V.sub.W =.beta..multidot.S.sub.x /(S.sub.x +L.sub.x)!.multidot.V.sub.M
Transfer of all the subfields of the mask defines one "die" on the substrate, and the substrate normally is exposed with multiple dies to form multiple devices.
When divided transfer is performed in the manner described above, the boundary regions 100b do not appear between adjacent "transfer subfields" 110b on the substrate. I.e., the transfer subfields are "stitched" together and made contiguous with each other on the substrate. To such end, a positional correction is made in the position of each transfer subfield by imparting a slight deflection of the electron beam EB after passing through each subfield 100a. The deflection is made in the y direction by an amount equivalent to the width Ly of the boundary region 100b. A similar deflection is also required (in the x direction) during each transition from one row of mask subfields to the next.
An exemplary mask 11 as would be used for X-ray projection exposure is shown in FIG. 7(a). The mask 11 comprises supports 13 on the lower surface of the mask membrane 12. (The mask membrane 12 is typically transmissive to X-rays.) The mask 11 also comprises X-ray absorbing regions 14 and "blind" regions 15 situated on the upper surface. The supports 13 provide thermal and mechanical support for the membrane 12, and serve to divide the membrane into multiple subfields 12a.
Transfer of the pattern defined by the mask 11 of FIG. 7(a) occurs by "divided transfer" as generally discussed above.
During manufacture of a mask of the types described above, when forming the pattern on the mask substrate, the pattern is not always formed as intended. Instances arise when the pattern is formed having certain defects.
If pattern transfer using a mask is used to expose only a portion of a die on a semiconductor chip, pattern defects would not be a large problem and there would be little need for pattern correction. Also, in instances in which a mask is used to expose an entire surface of a die, some pattern defects can often be tolerated due to, e.g., redundancy in the circuit. Nevertheless, only a few individual defects can usually be tolerated per chip. Also, many modern VLSI chips include regions in which defects absolutely cannot be tolerated. Thus, pattern defects have become a problem.

Manufacturing method for mask for charged-particle-beam transfer or mask for x-ray transfer


Salts of a pharmaceutically acceptable divalent metal and an organoboronic acid drug. Examples of such metals are calcium, magnesium and zinc. The organoboronic acid drug may be a boropeptide protease inhibitor. The salts may be formulated in oral dosage form.

The present disclosure relates to pharmaceutically useful products obtainable from organoboronic acids. The disclosure also relates to the use of members of the aforesaid class of products, to their formulation, their preparation, their synthetic intermediates and to other subject matter.
The disclosure further relates to oral pharmaceutical formulations containing the described products.
Boronic Acid Compounds
It has been known for some years that boronic acid compounds and their derivatives, e.g. esters, have biological activities, notably as inhibitors or substrates of proteases. For example, Koehler et al. Biochemistry 10:2477, 1971 report that 2-phenylethane boronic acid inhibits the serine protease chymotrypsin at millimolar levels. The inhibition of chymotrypsin and subtilisin by arylboronic acids (phenylboronic acid, m-nitro-phenylboronic acid, m-aminophenylboronic acid, m-bromophenylboronic acid) is reported by Phillip et al, Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 68:478–480, 1971. A study of the inhibition of subtilisin Carlsberg by a variety of boronic acids, especially phenyl boronic acids substituted by Cl, Br, CH3, H2N, MeO and others, is described by Seufer-Wasserthal et al, Biorg. Med. Chem. 2(1):35–48, 1994.
In describing inhibitors or substrates of proteases, P1, P2, P3, etc. designate substrate or inhibitor residues which are amino-terminal to the scissile peptide bond, and S1, S2, S3, etc., designate the corresponding subsites of the cognate protease in accordance with: Schechter, I. and Berger, A. On the Size of the Active Site in Proteases, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 27:157–162, 1967. In thrombin, the S1 binding site or "specificity pocket" is a well defined slit in the enzyme, whilst the S2 and S3 binding subsites (also respectively called the proximal and distal hydrophobic pockets) are hydrophobic and interact strongly with, respectively, Pro and (R)-Phe, amongst others.
Pharmaceutical research into serine protease inhibitors has moved from the simple arylboronic acids to boropeptides, i.e. peptides containing a boronic acid analogue of an α-amino carboxylic acid. The boronic acid may be derivatised, often to form an ester. Shenvi (EP-A-145441 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,499,082) disclosed that peptides containing an α-aminoboronic acid with a neutral side chain were effective inhibitors of elastase and has been followed by numerous patent publications relating to boropeptide inhibitors of serine proteases. Specific, tight binding boronic add inhibitors have been reported for elastase (Ki, 0.25 nM), chymotrypsin (Ki, 0.25 nM), cathepsin G (Ki, 21 nM), α-lytic protease (Ki, 0.25 nM), dipeptidyl aminopeptidase type IV (Ki, 16 pM) and more recently thrombin (Ac-D-Phe-Pro-boroArg-OH (DuP 714 initial Ki 1.2 nM).
Claeson et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,014 and others) and Kakkar et al (WO 92/07869 and family members including U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,338) disclose thrombin inhibitors having a neutral C-terminal side chain, for example an alkyl or alkoxyalkyl side chain.
Modifications of the compounds described by Kakkar et al are included in WO 96/25427, directed to peptidyl serine protease inhibitors in which the P2-P1 natural peptide linkage is replaced by another linkage. As examples of non-natural peptide linkages may be mentioned —CO2—, —CH2O—, —NHCO—, —CHYCH2—, —CH═CH—, —CO(CH2)pCO— where p is 1, 2 or 3, —COCHY—, —CO2—CH2NH—, —CHY—NX—, —N(X)CH2—N(X)CO—, —CH═C(CN)CO—, —CH(OH)—NH—, —CH(CN)—NH—, —CH(OH)—CH2— or —NH—CHOH—, where X is H or an amino protecting group and Y is H or halogen, especially F. Particular non-natural peptide linkages are —CO2— or —CH2O—.
Metternich (EP 471651 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,288,707, the latter being assigned to Trigen Limited) discloses variants of Phe-Pro-BoroArg boropeptides in which the P3 Phe is replaced by an unnatural hydrophobic amino acid such as trimethylsilylalanine, p-tert.butyl-diphenyl-silyloxymethyl-phenylalanine or p-hydroxymethylphenylalanine and the P1 side chain may be neutral (alkoxyalkyl, alkylthioalkyl or trimethylsilylalkyl).
The replacement of the P2 Pro residue of borotripeptide thrombin inhibitors by an N-substituted glycine is described in Fevig J M et al Bioorg. Med. Chem. 8: 301–306 and Rupin A et al Thromb. Haemost. 78(4):1221–1227, 1997. See also U.S. Pat. No. 5,585,360 (de Nanteuil et al).
Amparo (WO 96/20698 and family members including U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,538) discloses peptidomimetics of the structure Aryl-linker-Boro(Aa), where Boro(Aa) may be an aminoboronate residue with a non-basic side chain, for example BoroMpg. The linker is of the formula —(CH2)mCONR— (where m is 0 to 8 and R is H or certain organic groups) or analogues thereof in which the peptide linkage —CONR— is replaced by —CSNR—, —SO2NR—, —CO2—, —C(S)O— or —SO2O—. Aryl is phenyl, naphthyl or biphenyl substituted by one, two or three moieties selected from a specified group. Most typically these compounds are of the structure Aryl-(CH2)n—CONH—CHR2—BY1Y2, where R2 is for example a neutral side chain as described above and n is 0 or 1.
Non-peptide boronates have been proposed as inhibitors of proteolytic enzymes in detergent compositions. WO 92/19707 and WO 95/12655 report that arylboronates can be used as inhibitors of proteolytic enzymes in detergent compositions. WO 92/19707 discloses compounds substituted meta to the boronate group by a hydrogen bonding group, especially acetamido (—NHCOCH3), sufonamido (—NHSO2CH3) and alkylamino. WO 95/12655 teaches that ortho-substituted compounds are superior.
Boronate enzyme inhibitors have wide application, from detergents to bacterial sporulation inhibitors to pharmaceuticals. In the pharmaceutical field, there is patent literature describing boronate inhibitors of serine proteases, for example thrombin, factor Xa, kallikrein, elastase, plasmin as well as other serine proteases like prolyl endopeptidase and Ig AI Protease. Thrombin is the last protease in the coagulation pathway and acts to hydrolyse four small peptides form each molecule of fibrinogen, thus deprotecting its polymerisation sites. Once formed, the linear fibrin polymers may be cross-linked by factor XIIIa, which is itself activated by thrombin. In addition, thrombin is a potent activator of platelets, upon which it acts at specific receptors. Thrombin also potentiates its own production by the activation of factors V and VIII.
Other aminoboronate or peptidoboronate inhibitors or substrates of serine proteases are described in:    U.S. Pat. No. 4,935,493    EP 341661    WO 94/25049    WO 95/09859    WO 96/12499    WO 96/20689    Lee S-L et al, Biochemistry 36:13180–13186, 1997    Dominguez C et al, Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 7:79–84, 1997    EP 471651    WO 94/20526    WO 95/20603    WO97/05161    U.S. Pat. No. 4,450,105    U.S. Pat. No. 5,106,948    U.S. Pat. No. 5,169,841.
Peptide boronic acid inhibitors of hepatic C virus protease are described in WO 01/02424.
Matteson D S Chem. Rev. 89: 1535–1551, 1989 reviews the use of α-halo boronic esters as intermediates for the synthesis of inter alia amino boronic acids and their derivatives. Matteson describes the use of pinacol boronic esters in non-chiral synthesis and the use of pinanediol boronic esters for chiral control, including in the synthesis of amino and amido boronate esters.
Contreras et al J. Organomet. Chem. 246: 213–217, 1983 describe how intramolecular N→B coordination was demonstrated by spectroscopic studies on cyclic boronic esters prepared by reacting Me2CHCMe2—BH2 with diethanolamines.
Boronic acid and ester compounds have displayed promise as inhibitors of the proteasome, a multicatalytic protease responsible for the majority of intracellular protein turnover. Ciechanover, Cell, 79:13–21, 1994, teaches that the proteasome is the proteolytic component of the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway, in which proteins are targeted for degradation by conjugation to multiple molecules of ubiquitin. Ciechanover also teaches that the ubiquitin-proteasome pathway plays a key role in a variety of important physiological processes.
Adams et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,780,454 (1998), U.S. Pat. No. 6,066,730 (2000), U.S. Pat. No. 6,083,903 (2000) and equivalent WO 96/13266, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,297,217 (2001) describe peptide boronic ester and acid compounds useful as proteasome inhibitors. These documents also describe the use of boronic ester and acid compounds to reduce the rate of muscle protein degradation, to reduce the activity of NF-κB in a cell, to reduce the rate of degradation of p53 protein in a cell, to inhibit cyclin degradation in a cell, to inhibit the growth of a cancer cell, to inhibit antigen presentation in a cell, to inhibit NF-κB dependent cell adhesion, and to inhibit HIV replication. Brand et al, WO 98/35691, teaches that proteasome inhibitors, including boronic acid compounds, are useful for treating infarcts such as occur during stroke or myocardial infarction. Elliott et al, WO 99/15183, teaches that proteasome inhibitors are useful for treating inflammatory and autoimmune diseases.
Unfortunately, organoboronic acids can be relatively difficult to obtain in analytically pure form. Thus, alkylboronic acids and their boroxines are often air-sensitive. Korcek et al, J. Chem. Soc. Perkin Trans. 2:242, 1972, teaches that butylboronic acid is readily oxidized by air to generate 1-butanol and boric acid.
It is known that derivatisation of boronic acids as cyclic esters provides oxidation resistance. For example, Martichonok V et al J. Am. Chem. Soc. 118: 950–958, 1996 state that diethanolamine derivatisation provides protection against possible boronic acid oxidation. U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,978 (Matteson D S et al) teaches that 1,2-diols and 1,3 diols, for example pinacol, form stable cyclic boronic esters that are not easily oxidised.
Wu et al, J. Pharm. Sci., 89:758–765, 2000, discuss the stability of the compound N-(2-pyrazine) carbonyl-phenylalanine-leucine boronic acid (LDP-341, also known as bortezomib), an anti-cancer agent. It is described how "during an effort to formulate [LDP-341] for parenteral administration, the compound showed erratic stability behaviour". The degradation pathways were investigated and it was concluded that the degradation was oxidative, the initial oxidation being attributed to peroxides or molecular oxygen and its radicals.
WO 02/059131 discloses boronic acid products which are described as stable. In particular, these products are certain boropeptides and/or boropeptidomimetics in which the boronic acid group has been derivatised with a sugar. The disclosed sugar derivatives, which have hydrophobic amino acid side chains, are of the formula
wherein:
P is hydrogen or an amino-group protecting moiety;
R is hydrogen or alkyl;
A is 0, 1 or 2;
R1, R2 and R3 are independently hydrogen, alkyl, cycloalkyl, aryl or —CH2—R5;
R5, in each instance, is one of aryl, aralkyl, alkaryl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, heteroaryl, or —W—R6, where W is a chalcogen and R6 is alkyl;
where the ring portion of any of said aryl, aralkyl, alkaryl, cycloalkyl, heterocyclyl, or heteroaryl in R1, R2, R3 or R5 can be optionally substituted; and
Z1 and Z2 together form a moiety derived from a sugar, wherein the atom attached to boron in each case is an oxygen atom.
Some of the disclosed compounds are sugar derivatives of LDP-341 (see above).
Many drugs comprise an active moiety which is a carboxylic acid. There are a number of differences between carboxylic acids and boronic acids, whose effects on drug delivery, stability and transport (amongst others) have not been investigated. One feature of trivalent boron compounds is that the boron atom is sp2 hybridised, which leaves an empty 2pz orbital on the boron atom. A molecule of the type BX3 can therefore act as an electron-pair acceptor, or Lewis acid. It can use the empty 2pz orbital to pick up a pair of nonbonding electrons from a Lewis base to form a covalent bond. BF3 therefore reacts with Lewis bases such as NH3 to form acid-base complexes in which all of the atoms have a filled shell of valence electrons.
Boric acid, accordingly, can act as a Lewis acid, accepting OH−:B(OH)3+H2O→B(OH)4−+H+
Further, boronic acids of the type RB(OH)2 are dibasic and have two pKa's. Another point of distinction about boron compounds is the unusually short length of bonds to boron, for which three factors may be responsible:    1. Formation of pπ—pπ bonds;    2. Ionic-covalent resonance;    3. Reduced repulsions between non-bonding electrons.
The presumed equilibria of boronic and carboxylic acids in aqueous KOH are shown below (excluding formation of RBO22−):
Thrombosis
Hemostasis is the normal physiological condition of blood in which its components exist in dynamic equilibrium. When the equilibrium is disturbed, for instance following injury to a blood vessel, certain biochemical pathways are triggered leading, in this example, to arrest of bleeding via clot formation (coagulation). Coagulation is a dynamic and complex process in which proteolytic enzymes such as thrombin play a key role. Blood coagulation may occur through either of two cascades of zymogen activations, the extrinsic and intrinsic pathways of the coagulation cascade. Factor VIIa in the extrinsic pathway, and Factor IXa in the intrinsic pathway are important determinants of the activation of factor X to factor Xa, which itself catalyzes the activation of prothrombin to thrombin, whilst thrombin in turn catalyses the polymerization of fibrinogen monomers to fibrin polymer. The last protease in each pathway is therefore thrombin, which acts to hydrolyze four small peptides (two FpA and two FpB) from each molecule of fibrinogen, thus deprotecting its polymerization sites. Once formed, the linear fibrin polymers may be cross-linked by factor XIIIa, which is itself activated by thrombin. In addition, thrombin is a potent activator of platelets, upon which it acts at specific receptors. Thrombin activation of platelets leads to aggregation of the cells and secretion of additional factors that further accelerate the creation of a hemostatic plug. Thrombin also potentiates its own production by the activation of factors V and VIII (see Hemker and Beguin in: Jolles, et. al., "Biology and Pathology of Platelet Vessel Wall Interactions," pp. 219–26 (1986), Crawford and Scrutton in: Bloom and Thomas, "Haemostasis and Thrombosis," pp. 47–77, (1987), Bevers, et. al., Eur. J. Biochem. 122:429–36, 1982, Mann, Trends Biochem. Sci. 12:229–33, 1987).
Proteases are enzymes which cleave proteins at specific peptide bonds. Cuypers et al., J. Biol. Chem. 257:7086, 1982, and the references cited therein, classify proteases on a mechanistic basis into five classes: serine, cysteinyl or thiol, acid or aspartyl, threonine and metalloproteases. Members of each class catalyse the hydrolysis of peptide bonds by a similar mechanism, have similar active site amino acid residues and are susceptible to class-specific inhibitors. For example, all serine proteases that have been characterised have an active site serine residue.
The coagulation proteases thrombin, factor Xa, factor VIIa, and factor IXa are serine proteases having trypsin-like specificity for the cleavage of sequence-specific Arg-Xxx peptide bonds. As with other serine proteases, the cleavage event begins with an attack of the active site serine on the scissile bond of the substrate, resulting in the formation of a tetrahedral intermediate. This is followed by collapse of the tetrahedral intermediate to form an acyl enzyme and release of the amino terminus of the cleaved sequence. Hydrolysis of the acyl enzyme then releases the carboxy terminus.
As indicated above, platelets play two important roles in normal hemostasis. First, by aggregating, they constitute the initial hemostatic plug which immediately curtails bleeding from broken blood vessels. Secondly, the platelet surface can become activated and potentiate blood clotting, a property referred to as platelet procoagulant activity. This may be observed as an increase in the rate of activation of prothrombin by factor Xa in the presence of factor Va and Ca2+, referred to as the prothrombinase reaction. Normally, there are few (if any) clotting factors on the surface of unstimulated platelets but, when platelets are activated, negatively charged phospholipids (phosphatidylserine and phospatidylinositol) that are normally on the cytoplasmic side of the membrane become available and provide a surface on which two steps of the coagulation sequence occur. The phospholipid on the surface of activated platelets profoundly accelerates the reactions leading to the formation of thrombin, so that thrombin can be generated at a rate faster than its neutralisation by antithrombin III. The reactions that occur on the platelet surfaces are not easily inhibited by the natural anticoagulants in blood such as antithrombin III, either with or without heparin. (See Kelton and Hirsch in: Bloom and Thomas, "Haemostasis and Thrombosis," pp. 737–760, (1981); Mustard et al in: Bloom and Thomas, "Haemostasis and Thrombosis," pp. 503526, (1981); Goodwin et al; Biochem. J. 308:15–21, 1995).
A thrombus can be considered as an abnormal product of a normal mechanism and can be defined as a mass or deposit formed from blood constituents on a surface of the cardiovascular system, for example of the heart or a blood vessel. Thrombosis can be regarded as the pathological condition wherein improper activity of the hemostatic mechanism results in intravascular thrombus formation. Three basic types of thrombi are recognised:    the white thrombus which is usually seen in arteries and consists chiefly of platelets;    the red thrombus which is found in veins and is composed predominantly of fibrin and red cells;    the mixed thrombus which is composed of components of both white and red thrombi.
The composition of thrombi is influenced by the velocity of blood flow at their sites of formation. In general white platelet-rich thrombi form in high flow systems, while red coagulation thrombi form in regions of stasis. The high shear rate in arteries prevents the accumulation of coagulation intermediates on the arterial side of the circulation: only platelets have the capacity to form thrombi binding to the area of damage via von Willebrand factor. Such thrombi composed only of platelets are not stable and disperse. If the stimulus is strong then the thrombi will form again and then disperse continually until the stimulus has diminished. For the thrombus to stabilise, fibrin must form. In this respect, small amounts of thrombin can accumulate within the platelet thrombus and activate factor Va and stimulate the platelet procoagulant activity. These two events lead to an overall increase in the rate of activation of prothrombin by factor Xa of 300,000 fold. Fibrin deposition stabilises the platelet thrombus. Indirect thrombin inhibitors, for example heparin, are not clinically effective at inhibiting stimulation of platelet procoagulant activity. Accordingly, a therapeutic agent which inhibits platelet procoagulant activity would be useful for treating or preventing arterial thrombotic conditions.
On the venous side of circulation, the thrombus is comprised of fibrin: thrombin can accumulate because of the slower flow on the venous side and platelets play only a minor role.
Thrombosis is thus not considered to be a single indication but, rather, is a class of indications embracing distinct sub-classes for which differing therapeutic agents and/or protocols may be appropriate. Thus, regulatory authorities treat disorders such as, for example, deep vein thrombosis, cerebrovascular arterial thrombosis and pulmonary embolism as distinct indications for the purposes of licensing medicines. Two main sub-classes of thrombosis are arterial thrombosis and venous thrombosis. Arterial thrombosis includes such specific disorders as acute coronary syndromes [for example acute myocardial infarction (heart attack, caused by thrombosis in a coronary artery)], cerebrovascular arterial thrombosis (stroke, caused by thrombosis in the cerebrovascular arterial system) and peripheral arterial thrombosis. Examples of conditions caused by venous thrombosis are deep vein thrombosis and pulmonary embolism.
The management of thrombosis commonly involves the use of antiplatelet drugs (inhibitors of platelet aggregation) to control future thrombogenesis and thrombolytic agents to lyse the newly formed clot, either or both such agents being used in conjunction or combination with anticoagulants. Anticoagulants are used also preventatively (prophylactically) in the treatment of patients thought susceptible to thrombosis.
Currently, two of the most effective classes of drugs in clinical use as anticoagulants are the heparins and the vitamin K antagonists. The heparins are ill-defined mixtures of sulfated polysaccharides that bind to, and thus potentiate, the action of antithrombin III. Antithrombin III is a naturally occurring inhibitor of the activated clotting factors IXa, Xa, XIa, thrombin and probably XIIa (see Jaques, Pharmacol. Rev. 31:99–166, 1980). The vitamin K antagonists, of which warfarin is the most well-known example, act indirectly by inhibiting the post-ribosomal carboxylations of the vitamin K dependent coagulation factors II, VII, IX and X (see Hirsch, Semin. Thromb. Hemostasis 12:1–11, 1986). While effective therapies for the treatment of thrombosis, heparins and vitamin K antagonists have the unfortunate side effects of bleeding, heparin-induced thrombocytopenia (in the case of heparin) and marked interpatient variability, resulting in a small and unpredictable therapeutic safety margin.
The use of direct acting inhibitors of thrombin and other serine protease enzymes of the coagulation system is expected to alleviate these problems. To that end, a wide variety of serine protease inhibitors have been tested, including boropeptides, i.e. peptides containing a boronic acid analogue of an α-amino acid. Whilst direct acting boronic acid thrombin inhibitors have been discussed earlier in this specification, they are further described in the following section.
Neutral P1 Residue Boropeptide Thrombin Inhibitors
Claeson et al (U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,014 and others) and Kakkar et al (WO 92/07869 and family members including U.S. Pat. No. 5,648,338) disclose lipophilic thrombin inhibitors having a neutral (uncharged) C-terminal (P1) side chain, for example an alkoxyalkyl side chain.
The Claeson et al and Kakkar et al patent families disclose boronate esters containing the amino acid sequence D-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg [(R)-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg], which are highly specific inhibitors of thrombin. Of these compounds may be mentioned in particular Cbz-(R)-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg-OPinacol (also known as TRI 50b). The corresponding free boronic acid is known as TRI 50c. For further information relating to TRI 50b and related compounds, the reader is referred to the following documents:                Elgendy S et al., in The Design of Synthetic Inhibitors of Thrombin, Claeson G et al Eds, Advances in Experimental Medicine, 340:173–178, 1993.        Claeson G et al, Biochem J. 290:309–312, 1993        Tapparelli C et al, J Biol Chem, 268:4734–4741, 1993        Claeson G, in The Design of Synthetic Inhibitors of Thrombin, Claeson G et al Eds, Advances in Experimental Medicine, 340:83–91, 1993        Phillip et al, in The Design of Synthetic Inhibitors of Thrombin, Claeson G et al Eds, Advances in Experimental Medicine, 340:67–77, 1993        Tapparelli C et al, Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 14:366–376, 1993        Claeson G, Blood Coagulation and Fibrinolysis 5:411–436, 1994        Elgendy et al, Tetrahedron 50:3803–3812, 1994        Deadman J et al, J. Enzyme Inhibition 9:29–41, 1995        Deadman J et al, J. Medicinal Chemistry 38:1511–1522, 1995.
The tripeptide sequence of TRI 50b has three chiral centres. The Phe residue is considered to be of (R)-configuration and the Pro residue of natural (S)-configuration, at least in compounds with commercially useful inhibitor activity; the Mpg residue is believed to be of (R)-configuration in isomers with commercially useful inhibitor activity. Thus, the active, or most active, TRI 50b stereoisomer is considered to be of R,S,R configuration and may be represented as:

Whilst indirect acting thrombin inhibitors have been found useful for the treatment of patients susceptible to or suffering from venous thrombosis, the same is not true of arterial thrombosis, because it would be necessary to raise the dosage used in the treatment of venous thrombosis by many times in order to treat (prevent) arterial thrombosis. Such raised dosages typically cause bleeding, which makes indirect acting thrombin inhibitors unsuitable or less preferable for treating arterial thrombosis. Heparin and its low molecular weight derivatives are indirect thrombin inhibitors, and so are unsuitable to treat arterial thrombosis. Oral direct thrombin inhibitors are in development for arterial indications but may have lower than desirable therapeutic indices, i.e. may have higher than desirable levels of bleeding at therapeutic doses.
Oral Absorption
Absorption in the gastrointestinal tract can be by an active or a passive route. Active absorption by transport mechanisms tends to be variable between individuals and with intestinal content (Gustafsson et al, Thrombosis Research, 101:171–181, 2001). The upper intestine has been identified as the principal site of oral drug absorption. In particular, the duodenum is the customary target site for absorption of orally administered drugs because of its large surface area. The intestinal mucosa acts as a barrier that controls passive transcellular absorption: the absorption of ionic species is blocked whilst the transcellular absorption of lipophilic molecules is favoured (Palm K et al., J. Pharmacol and Exp. Therapeutics, 291:435–443, 1999).
Orally administered drugs are required to be consistently and adequately absorbed. Variability of absorption between individuals or between different occasions in the same individual is unwelcome. Similarly, drugs which have a low level of bioavailability (only a small portion of the administered active agent is absorbed) are generally unacceptable.
Non-ionised compounds are favoured for passive absorption, a route associated with invariability, and are therefore preferred for consistent absorption. Lipophilic species are particularly favoured by passive absorption mechanisms and, accordingly, non-ionic, lipophilic drugs are indicated to be most favoured for consistent and high oral absorption.
Many organoboronic acid compounds may be classified as lipophilic or hydrophobic. Typically, such compounds include amongst others:    boropeptides of which all or a majority of the amino acids are hydrophobic    boropeptides of which at least half of the amino acids are hydrophobic and which have a hydrophobic N-terminal substituent (amino protecting group)    non-peptides based on hydrophobic moieties.
Typical functionalities required for interaction of drugs with their physiological targets are functional groups such as carboxylic and sulphonic acids. These groups exist as the protonated form in the stomach (at pH 2–3), but will be ionised to some extent at the higher pH of the intestinal fluid. One strategy that has been used to avoid the ionisation of the carboxylates or sulphonates is to present them as ester forms, which are cleaved once absorbed into the vascular lumen.
For example, the direct acting thrombin inhibitor melagatran, which has sub-optimal gastrointestinal absorption, has terminal carboxy and amidino groups and is a pure zwitterion at pH 8–10 when the carboxylic acid and amidino groups are both charged. A prodrug H 376/95 was therefore developed which has protecting groups for the carboxylic acid and for the amidine and is a more lipophilic molecule than melagatran. The prodrug has a permeability coefficient across cultured epithelial Caco-2 cells 80 times higher than that of melagatran and oral bioavailability 2.7–5.5 times higher than that of melagatran as well as much smaller variability in the area under the drug plasma concentration vs. time curve (Gustafsson et al, Thrombosis Research, 101:171–181, 2001).
Boronic acids are divalent functional groups, with boron-oxygen bond lengths (1.6 Å) more typical of single bonds, unlike superficially comparable C—O and S—O bonds in carboxylic and sulphonic acids. Consequently the boronic acid group has two ionisation potentials. The boronic acid group will be partly ionised at pH's of the duodenal fluid and not suited to the desired passive duodenal uptake. Thus, a charged boronate inhibitor H-D-PheProBoroArg is absorbed by a predominantly active transport mechanism (Saitoh, H. and Aungst, B. J., Pharm. Res., 16:1786–1789, 1999).
Oral Absorption of Boropeptides, Boropeptidomimetics and other Organoboronates
The boronate ester group of TRI 50b is rapidly cleaved in the conditions of the plasma to form the corresponding boronic acid group, which is considered to be the active moiety which inhibits the catalytic site of thrombin.
The peptide boronic acid formed by such cleavage of TRI 50b (the acid is designated TRI 50c) is relatively insoluble in water, especially at acidic or neutral pH, and tends to be poorly absorbed in the stomach and duodenum. The acid has the structure Cbz-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg-OH.
Whereas the peptide boronic acid Cbz-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg-OH is partly ionised under duodenal conditions and, to that extent, unfavoured for passive transport, esters of the acid are designed for a high rate of passive (thus consistent) transport. The tripeptide sequence Phe-Pro-Mpg has a non-basic P1 side chain (specifically, methoxypropyl), such that the tripeptide consists of three non-polar amino acids. The esters of the peptide boronic acid are non-ionisable and the ester-forming species further impart lipophilic properties, so encouraging a high rate of passive transport.
Computational techniques have confirmed that TRI 50b and other diol esters of Cbz-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg-OH can be predicted to have good bioavailability. Thus, polar surface area (PSAd) is a parameter predictive of bioavailability and PSAd values of greater than 60 Å correlate well with passive transcellular transport and with bioavailability of known drugs (Kelder, J. Pharm. Res., 16:1514–1519, 1999). Measurements for diol esters of the above peptide boronic acid, including the pinacol ester TRI 50b, show that the diol esters have PSAd values well above 60 Å, predictive of passive transport and good bioavailability as shown in Table 1:
TABLE 1PSAd values of selected diol esters f Cbz-Phe-Pro-BoroMpg-OHDiolPSAd ValuePinacol98.74Pinanediol90.64
The corresponding monohydroxy alcohol (e.g. alkanol) esters were considered too unstable, spontaneously cleaving to liberate the acid in-vitro. Esters of diols such as pinanediol and pinacol have enhanced kinetic stability over esters of monohydroxy alcohols, in that after partial hydrolysis to the mono-ester derivative they will tend to reassociate by a facile intra-molecular reaction.

Multivalent metal salts of boronic acids


Exemplary techniques for modifying multimedia data based on content are disclosed. One technique comprises determining whether a first portion of multimedia content of multimedia data has a first content characteristic and performing one or more content actions associated with the first content characteristic when the first portion of the multimedia content is determined to have the first content characteristic, wherein the one or more content actions modify a first portion of the multimedia data associated with the first portion of the multimedia content.

Current trends in multimedia content distribution are directed to the storage of multimedia content for subsequent access or distribution. Presently, many households utilize personal video recorders (PVRs), also referred to as digital video recorders (DVRs) to store multimedia content received from a terrestrial broadcast as digital data. This data then may be accessed at a later date for display or transmission to another device, such as a cell phone or a portable video player. Current multimedia storage solutions face a choice of either content quality or storage space. As such, these conventional solutions either elect to indiscriminately reduce content quality content, thereby reducing the space required to store the data, or they elect to retain content quality, thereby limiting the amount of data that may be stored in a cost-effective manner. Accordingly, an improved technique for processing multimedia data for storage or distribution would be advantageous.

System and method for dynamic transrating based on content


An apparatus for the forming of a lay-up of fiber composite material, in particular in the aerospace sector is provided. In this case, the apparatus has at least one forming tool, which has a surface contour corresponding to a desired geometry of the lay-up after the forming, and a tool carrier, to which the at least one forming tool is releasably fastened. From a further viewpoint, the invention makes available an apparatus with a modular structure, it then being possible for any desired forming tools to be combined with the tool carrier according to requirements. This leads in particular to less laborious handling, since it obviates the need for handling of the comparatively large tool carrier.

According to the current state of the art, the hot forming of a lay-up of fibre composite material is performed by means of a solid metal tool, which has a surface contour corresponding to a desired geometry of the lay-up after the forming. After the hot forming, the pre-fabricated scrim is cured, in particular in an autoclave, to form a component.
This means that, to produce components with different geometries, for example T or L stringers, a large number of different solid metal tools are required.
A disadvantageous effect here has been found to be the fact that a change in the geometry of the component to be produced, for example with regard to the layer structure, apertures or ramps, makes it necessary to perform laborious modification work on the solid metal tool, even to the extent that it has to be exchanged entirely. For example, the application of material to the surface contour of the solid metal tool for an altered geometry of the component to be produced represents a considerable problem, since it is possible only to a very limited extent, with the result that in many cases the solid metal tool has to be exchanged entirely.
Furthermore, owing to their size—up to 35 meter in length—and resultant great weight, handling such solid metal tools, for example for the modification work described, is very laborious.

Apparatus for the forming of a lay-up of fibre composite material


A video data providing unit (10) connects to a restricted access providing-side VPN (20). A streaming server (60) connects to a restricted access transmitting-side VPN (50). A router (40) determines whether or not transmitting-side data such as request data or instruction data received via the transmitting-side VPN (50) is data that has been transmitted from the streaming server (60), and whether or not providing-side data such as video data received via the providing-side VPN (20) is data that has been transmitted from the information providing unit (10). The router 40 then transfers the transmitting-side data and providing-side data based on those determination results.

Conventionally, there have been communication systems, which transmit video data to mobile terminals by streaming (for example, "W-CDMA MOBILE COMMUNICATIONS SYSTEM" edited by Keiji Tachikawa, p. 357-360, Maruzen, Jun. 25, 2001). For example, a communication system, which transmits video data by streaming shown in FIG. 1 has been used. In a communication system 401 shown in FIG. 1, a plurality of cameras 410 recording video data, and a streaming server 430 transmitting video data to a plurality of mobile terminals 440 by streaming, connect to a single virtual private network (hereafter, referred to as VPN) 420, and are connected to each other via the VPN 420. In the communication system 401, a camera 410 transmits video data to the streaming server 430 via the VPN 420. The streaming server 430 then obtains and transmits the video data transmitted from the camera 410 to a mobile terminal 440. According to such communication system 410, since the cameras 410 and the streaming server 430 connect to a single VPN 420, there is an advantage that security between the cameras 410 and the streaming server 430 can be ensured.
In the conventional communication system 401, the cameras 410 and the streaming server 430 exchange data through connection to a single VPN 420. As a result, the cameras 410 providing video data, the streaming server 430 obtaining and transmitting the video data to a terminal, and the VPN 420 must have a unified security policy and address architecture.
In addition, since the cameras 410 and the streaming server 430 connect to a single VPN 420, it is necessary to provide as many VPNs 420, each connecting between the cameras 410 providing video data and the streaming server 430 obtaining and transmitting the video data to a terminal, as the number of groups, each needing to ensure security between the cameras 410 and the streaming server 430. As a result, costs for constructing such VPN 420 may increase widely. More specifically, when there are numerous groups that need to ensure security, it is necessary to construct as many VPNs 420 as there are cameras 410 and the streaming server 430 to be connected thereto. As a result, costs have remarkably increased.
An object of the present invention is to provide a communication system, which has high security and can be constructed at low cost, where an information providing-side providing information data and an information transmitting-side transmitting the information data obtained from the information providing-side to a terminal can maintain their own unique security policy, and a transfer device used for the communication system.

Communication system and transfer device


A vibration damper between outer platforms of adjacent composite-material blades of a turbine engine rotor wheel, the damper including a peg having a substantially spherical portion at each of its two ends, and two hollow inserts for being received in tangential cavities that are provided facing each other in outer platforms of two adjacent composite-material blades of a turbine engine rotor wheel, each spherical portion of the peg coming to bear with point contact against the inside of one of the inserts.

The present invention relates to the general field of composite-material blades for a turbine engine rotor wheel. The invention relates more particularly to damping the vibration that appears in operation between the outer platforms of two adjacent blades of a rotor wheel.
A turbine engine rotor wheel, e.g. a rotor wheel of a low-pressure turbine stage of a turbojet, comprises a disk having a plurality of blades mounted thereon. At their free radial ends, each blade has a transverse element referred to as an outer platform, which element serves in particular to define the outside of the flow passage for the gas stream passing through the turbine.
The outer platform of such a blade has an upstream edge and a downstream edge extending perpendicularly to the flow direction of the gas stream. These edges are connected together via two side edges via which the outer platform of the blade comes into contact with the outer platforms of the two blades of the rotor wheel that are directly adjacent thereto.
In general, with metal blades, the side edges have a so-called "Z-profile", i.e. each of them has two axial portions that are interconnected by a portion that is substantially transverse. In order to damp the vibration to which they are subjected while the turbine is in operation, it is known to mount the blades on the disk with a certain amount of twist about their main axes. At the outer platform of any one particular blade, this twist stress serves to put the transverse portions of the outer platform of the blade into contact with the transverse portions of the outer platforms of the adjacent blades. The contact and friction forces as generated in this way at the outer platforms of the blades serve to dissipate the vibratory energy resulting from operation of the turbine.
Such vibration damping is nevertheless not applicable to rotor wheels in which the blades are made of composite material. In particular for a ceramic matrix composite (CMC) blade the stresses generated by twisting the blade are excessive compared with the capacity of the composite material. Furthermore, having recourse to blades that are made of composite material also has the drawback of giving rise to large radial offsets or to large displacements between the outer platforms of adjacent blades in the event of mutual tilting between the blades.

Vibration damper comprising a peg between outer platforms of adjacent composite-material blades of a turbine engine rotor wheel


The present invention provides a level shift circuit, an array substrate and a display device. The level shift circuit comprising: a first level non-inverting input terminal, a first level inverting input terminal, a second level non-inverting input terminal, a second level inverting input terminal, a level state transferring unit and a second level driving unit; the level state transferring unit receives a first level input through the first level non-inverting input terminal and the first level inverting input terminal, and transfers a high and low state of the input first level to the second level driving unit; the second level driving unit outputs a second level of a corresponding state to the second level non-inverting input terminal and the second level inverting input terminal according to the input high and low state, wherein the first level is not equal to the second level.

Flat panel displays such as liquid crystal displays, plasma displays, OLED (organic light-emitting diode) displays and the like, due to their advantages of high quality, small volume, light weight, wide range of applications and the like, are widely used in consumer electronics such as mobile phones, notebook computers, displays, televisions and the like, and have gradually been replacing traditional cathode ray tube displays and become the mainstream of the displays.
As shown in FIG. 1, in a driving structure for a traditional display panel such as a liquid crystal panel, a timing control (T-CON) chip supplies signals such as data signal (DATA), clock signal (CLK), load signal (LOAD), polarity signal (POL) and the like to a source driving chip so as to generate charging signals applied to data lines connected to thin film transistors (TFTs), and supplies start pulse vertical signal (STV), clock pulse vertical signal (CPV) and output enable signal (OE) to a gate driving chip so as to control ON and OFF of the TFTs in respective pixel circuits. An internal structure of the gate driving chip is as shown in FIG. 2, a logic circuit, according to the start pulse vertical signals (STVs, such as STV1 and STV2), the clock pulse vertical signal (CPV), the output enable signal (OE), left or right shift indicating signal (L/R) and the like, controls a shift register to sequentially output gating signals for the gate lines, and the output signals of the shift register are output to the gate lines (G1, G2, . . . Gn) row by row via an output buffer after being enhanced by a level shift module (integrated in the gate driving chip in a form of an IC), thus sequentially gating/scanning the gate lines.
GOA (Gate On Array, a gate driver integrated on an array substrate) technique is one of the gate driving techniques for display panels (e.g., liquid crystal panels), and basic concept thereof is that a gate driving circuit of a liquid crystal panel is integrated on an array substrate to scan and drive the liquid crystal panel. Compared to a conventional driving technique, the GOA technique not only omits a bonding area for the gate driving circuit and a fan-out wiring space, but also achieves a narrow frame design, thus an artistic design symmetrical on both sides can be implemented. FIG. 3 illustrates a gate driving structure of a GOA in the prior art. In this solution, since a level shift module is designed to be inside a source driving chip (i.e. is integrated in the source driving chip in a form of an IC module rather than a TFT structure), it is necessary for the source driving chip to adopt a high voltage manufacturing process; in addition, the T-CON chip is integrated into the same chip as the source driving chip (i.e., the T-CON chip and the source driving chip are the same chip), and comprises a timing circuit for the gate driving circuit, which also makes it necessary to adopt a high voltage manufacturing process for the source driving chip, thus resulting in increased design cost. In addition, limited by the manufacturing process of the chip, |VGH|+|VGL| in source driving signals cannot be too high, and accordingly, a voltage for turning on a TFT output to a GOA unit is relatively low, which results in a problem that the GOA unit cannot be fully turned on or cannot even be started at a low temperature, and further leads to insufficient charging or even a failure to charge. In addition, in the prior art, there is also a GOA driving structure adopting an external level shift chip. In this structure, since signals, such as STV, CLKn and the like, output to the GOA by the external level shift module are of relatively high levels and relatively high frequencies, an anti-electromagnetic interference device cannot be provided between the level shift module and the panel, thus the risk of electromagnetic interference is extremely high, and this design may also result in increased design cost for a panel manufacturer.

Level shift circuit, array substrate and display device

HEFEI BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


A system of determining a location of a force exerted on a mobile communication device, the system comprising a first pressure sensor disposed within the mobile communication device and adjacent an outer surface of the mobile communication device, wherein the first pressure sensor is attached to the outer surface via a first interface material, wherein the first pressure sensor is configured to detect pressure below the outer surface, a second pressure sensor disposed within the mobile communication device and adjacent the outer surface of the mobile communication device, wherein the second pressure sensor is attached to the outer surface via a second interface material, wherein the second pressure sensor is configured to detect pressure below the outer surface, and a processor coupled to the first and second pressure sensors and configured to activate an associated mobile communication device command in response to the detected pressure being above a threshold.

Today's smartphones have typically three push buttons on the outside wall of the frame to switch the phone on and off as well as to control the audio volume. These buttons have several drawbacks, such as design limitations due to the mechanical presence of the buttons, milling and/or drilling of the phone frame is required which is a cost factor for OEMs, reduced water resistance of the phone, as well as dust.

System and method for utilizing pressure sensors in an electric device