In order a safety device for a motor vehicle seat having a seat cushion part and a backrest, the backrest having a frame, a backrest cover, which faces rearward as seen in the direction of travel, and padding which faces forward, as seen in the direction of travel, and an airbag module is integrated into the backrest, said airbag module being arranged in that region of the backrest which faces the side wall structure of the motor vehicle in such a manner that an airbag is deployed when there is an impact between a driver and the side wall of the motor vehicle, said safety device ensuring a reliable and reproducible emergence of the airbag, it is proposed to arrange the airbag module to the rear of the backrest frame, when looking from the side wall of the motor vehicle.

The invention relates to a safety device for a motor vehicle seat.
Safety devices of this type are known, for example, from the utility model DE 200 17 919 U1. They are suitable for a motor vehicle seat having a seat cushion part and a backrest. The backrest has a frame, a backrest cover, which faces rearward as seen in the direction of travel, and padding which faces forward, as seen in the direction of travel. An airbag module is integrated into the backrest and is arranged in that region of the backrest which faces the side wall structure of the motor vehicle. The airbag is deployed when there is an impact between a driver and the side wall structure of the motor vehicle, for example the B-pillar and/or the side door.
In the known safety device, the airbag module is arranged between the frame and the backrest cover, so that it is placed to the rear of the backrest cover and in front of the frame, as seen from the side wall structure. An airbag outlet opening is provided in the region in which the backrest cover and padding butt against each other. This known arrangement has the disadvantage that, if there is a side impact, structural parts penetrating the interior of the motor vehicle may jeopardize the interference-free emergence of the airbag. This situation may occur, for example, if the penetrating parts butt against the backrest cover and deform it, and the airbag outlet opening is thus concealed or the airbag module arranged to the rear of the backrest cover is damaged. Deformation of the backrest cover is possible, since the backrest cover serves to line the motor vehicle seat and is therefore not of sufficiently stable design.
Against this background, it is the object of the present invention to develop a safety device in such a manner that reliable and reproducible emergence of the airbag is ensured.
This object is achieved according to the invention by a safety device for a motor vehicle seat that includes a seat cushion part, a backrest having a frame, a backrest cover, which faces rearward as seen in the direction of travel, and padding which faces forward, as seen in the direction of travel. The safety device includes an airbag module that has an airbag, and the airbag module is integrated into the backrest and arranged in a region of the backrest which faces a side wall structure of the motor vehicle. The airbag module 11 is at least partially surrounded the frame 5 and is arranged to the rear of the frame 5 when looking from the side wall structure of the motor vehicle.
Accordingly, the invention is distinguished by the fact that the airbag module is arranged, as seen from the side wall structure, to the rear of the backrest frame—i.e. to the rear of its supporting part in the backrest. The effect of this arrangement is that the airbag module is shielded against forces acting from the direction of the side wall structure. In addition, an airbag outlet opening can be effectively protected against penetrating structural parts and it can therefore be ensured that the opening is always free for an airbag to emerge. The backrest frame is preferably designed in such a manner that virtually no deformation occurs. In the event of a lateral application of force, the entire backrest together with the seat cushion part is rather displaced in the direction of the center of the motor vehicle than the frame is lastingly deformed. A backrest frame of this type can consist, for example, of magnesium diecasting.
A further advantage of the invention can be seen in the fact that the construction is very simple because no additional measures are necessary in order to ensure that the airbag deploys reliably. On the contrary, existing parts of the backrest are used in order to bring this about. Accordingly, the arrangement according to the invention of the airbag module in the backrest ensures that the airbag is deployed or emerges considerably more reliably.
According to one embodiment, the airbag module has a housing which at least partially surrounds the airbag, for example in the rear region and in the side regions. Since the housing does not completely surround the airbag module, it therefore has a relatively wide opening. This means that the housing provides a relatively small resistance to the deploying airbag thus assisting a reliable deployment.
A plate can be provided in the region in which the housing does not surround the airbag module. This plate serves, on the one hand, to close the airbag housing and therefore to provide a certain protection in the inoperative state to the airbag components arranged in the housing. Furthermore, it serves to damp the first thrust of the deploying airbag, with the result that the airbag emerges at a moderate speed. Finally, the plate enables the airbag to emerge. When, during deployment, the airbag presses against the plate, the plate is bent up and pushes the backrest components, which join the plate, for example the padding, to the side. For this purpose, the plate is preferably arranged on that side of the frame which faces away from the outer contour of the seat that faces the side wall structure.
The plate can be connected on one side fixedly to the frame of the backrest. When the airbag emerges, this fixed connection forms a hinge about which the plate moves. However, it is also conceivable for the plate to be connected directly to the airbag housing and for it to be pivoted open from this connection.
The function of the plate may also be fulfilled by other components of the backrest. If, for example, the padding is arranged on a padding support, then it is conceivable for this padding support, which is likewise arranged between the padding and airbag module, to take over the closing, damping and opening.
According to a further embodiment, the frame at least partially surrounds the airbag module. The frame preferably surrounds the airbag module in the regions in which the housing surrounds the airbag. This arrangement enables the airbag to be protected in a particularly reliable manner against actions from the outside—in particular from the rear and from the side, as a result of which damage to the airbag module is prevented, ensuring an interference-free deployment of the airbag. This arrangement is therefore particularly advantageous because no additional elements are necessary in order to achieve this protection. The airbag is simply arranged in structures which are already present. In addition, the frame can serve as a guiding device by being aligned in such a manner that it predetermines the direction of deployment.
The outlet or the outlet opening for the airbag may be provided, for example, between the frame and padding. The material combination of a rigid frame and elastic padding, which are also coordinated with each other in terms of their shape, makes it possible for an outlet opening for an airbag to be provided in a particularly simple manner without the use of additional components. If the frame and padding are not connected to each other in the region of the outlet opening, the padding is deformed, during the deployment of the airbag, by the force which the airbag applies to it, and thereby releases the path for the emergence of the airbag. The arrangement according to the invention is visually attractive because the opening is not seen. In addition, neither seams nor other known closure elements are necessary. As a result, firstly, a simple and therefore also cost-effective solution is proposed. Secondly, elements which may obstruct the emergence of the airbag are not provided.
The outlet opening may be arranged, for example, in that region of the motor vehicle seat which faces the side wall structure. If the direction of deployment points obliquely forward, a particularly advantageous positioning of the airbag arises during the deployment and in the deployed state.


A data storage device includes a non-volatile memory and a controller. A method includes receiving first data and second data from a host device. A first error-correcting code (ECC) codeword associated with the first data is written to a first word line of the non-volatile memory, and a second ECC codeword associated with the second data is written to a second word line of the non-volatile memory. The first ECC codeword includes a first bit and a second bit, and the second ECC codeword includes a third bit and a fourth bit. The method further includes writing parity information to a parity storage portion of the non-volatile memory that is distinct from the first word line and from the second word line. The parity information includes a parity bit that is based on the first bit, the second bit, the third bit, and the fourth bit.

Non-volatile data storage devices, such as embedded memory devices and removable memory devices, have enabled increased portability of data and software applications. For example, multi-level cell (MLC) flash memory devices may store multiple bits in each flash memory cell, enhancing data storage density. Data stored at such devices may be encoded using error correcting coding (ECC) techniques that protect the data from errors associated with power supply noise, temperature variations, and other causes of data corruption. In some cases, the ECC techniques may be insufficient to recover corrupted data. For example, some data storage devices sequentially store bits of data by first writing "lower page" data (e.g., a "0" bit in a "10" number) to a storage element and subsequently writing "upper page" data (e.g., a "1" bit in a "10" number) to the storage element. If a write abort event occurs after writing the lower page data and while writing the upper page data, the lower page data may be corrupted. For example, after occurrence of the write abort event, a threshold voltage representing a particular bit of the data may fall between a first threshold voltage range associated with "0" bits and a second threshold voltage range associated with "1" bits. Further, the corruption of many such bits may exceed an ECC capability associated with the particular ECC technique used to encode the data, causing data loss.

Method and device for write abort protection


A valved connector for a device for penetrating the arterial system of a patient. The connector comprises a tubular housing having a bore, plus a first valve for controlling back leakage through the tubular housing bore. The first valve is adjustably openable and closable to permit an elongated member to pass through the lumen of the first valve and bore of the housing, with the first valve providing selectively controllable sealing about the elongated member. A second valve is carried, typically proximal of the first valve. The second valve comprises a slit, resilient partition permitting the elongated member to pass through the slit partition with added sealing. Thus, back leakage through the housing can be controlled by the second valve when the first valve is opened, so that the elongated member passing through the connector can be easily moved by releasing the first valve without significant back leakage, so that the elongated member may be easily moved through the connector, but may be strongly sealed at any desired time.

Hemostasis connectors are well known in various surgical procedures, being used for access to the arterial system of a patient in angioplasty and angiography procedures. Also, hemostasis connectors may be used in conjunction with atherectomy procedures, the administration of laser catheters to the arterial system, and the like.
Typically, an elongated member such as an atherectomy device, a laser catheter, or a PTCA balloon catheter passes through a tubular hemostasis connector which carries a hemostasis seal, through which the elongated member penetrates within the tubular connector. In some circumstances, the hemostasis seal may be a slit elastomeric partition, which permits the passage of a catheter or the like, but seals around it, and also seals in the absence of the elongated member to prevent back bleeding due to arterial or flushing pressure.
In other hemostasis connectors, the hemostasis seal device is of the Tuohy-Borst type, in which a valve or gasket opening is variably adjusted in diameter. The Tuohy-Borst type of structure comprises a tubular, elastomeric member having a central opening therethrough, and a screw threaded member which can be advanced to adjustably pressurize the elastomeric member, with the result that the central opening is of variable size, depending upon the degree of pressurization. Thus, in this latter type of device, a catheter or the like may pass through the adjustable valve opening, with the diameter of the opening then being reduced or clamped down onto the catheter for a tight hemostasis seal. Such adjustable hemostasis valves are often used for larger catheters and other elongated members of a size of typically French 9 or larger, such as arthrectomy devices, laser catheters, and the like.
However, as a disadvantage of the adjustable, variable hemostasis connector valves, while they seal tightly against back bleeding due to arterial pressure, flushing, or the like, a catheter or other device passing through the valve is not advanced or retracted with ease while the adjustable valve is providing such good sealing. Thus, typically, the surgeon is forced to release the sealing pressure on the catheter passing through the adjustable valve for adjustment of the position of the catheter, sliding it through the valve to a different position. During this period of time, substantial back bleeding or other leakage can take place.
In accordance with this invention, a hemostasis connector is provided which is capable of adjustable valved sealing of a catheter or other elongated member passing therethrough, but when the sealing is released to facilitate movement of the catheter through the valve, back leakage is greatly suppressed. Thus, a valve is provided in which substantial pressures of flushing of x-ray contrast fluid or the like can be utilized without back leakage or back bleeding, but the device readily permits the sliding adjustment of the catheters, atherectomy devices, and the like passing through it.


A semiconductor device provided with: a channel region of a first conductivity provided in a surface of a semiconductor substrate; a source region of a second conductivity different from the first conductivity, the source region being provided on an edge of a trench which extends through the channel region; a gate oxide film provided on an interior wall of the trench; and a gate electrode provided in the trench in opposed relation to the channel region with the intervention of the gate oxide film. The interior wall of the trench includes a first interior side surface having a (100) plane orientation, and a second interior side surface having a plane orientation different from the plane orientation of the first interior side surface, and the source region is disposed away from a portion of the gate oxide film provided on the second interior side surface.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor device such as a MOS FET and, particularly, to a semiconductor device for switching.
2. Description of Related Art
MOS FETs (metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors) include a so-called trench-type MOS FET, which has a trench formed in a surface of a silicon substrate thereof. The MOS FET includes a plurality of cells each having a source region, a drain region, a channel region provided between the source region and the drain region, and a gate electrode. In each of the cells of the trench-type MOS FET, the source and drain regions and the gate electrode are disposed so that a channel is formed alongside an interior side surface of the trench.
This allows for microminiaturization of the cells (devices), so that the number of cells per unit area can be increased by densely arranging the microminiaturized cells. Thus, a channel formation area per unit area is increased, so that the ON-resistance is reduced.
FIG. 4 is a schematic sectional view of a conventional MOS FET 51 in production. An N−-type epitaxial layer 52 is provided in a surface of a silicon substrate. A P−-region 53 is provided on the epitaxial layer 52. A trench 54 is provided as extending through the P−-region 53 to the middle of the thickness of the epitaxial layer 52. N+-type source regions 55 are respectively provided on edges of the trench 54. A gate oxide film 57 of silicon oxide is provided on an interior wall of the trench 54.
A gate electrode 56 of polysilicon imparted with electrical conductivity by implantation of an impurity is provided in the trench 54. An electrode not shown is provided on the silicon substrate. When a predetermined voltage is applied between the electrode and the source regions 55 and the gate electrode 56 is kept at a predetermined potential, an electric current (drain current) flows between the source regions 55 and the epitaxial layer 52. The drain current flows alongside the gate oxide film 57 through portions of the P−-region 53 adjacent to the gate oxide film 57.
The surface of the silicon substrate has a (100) plane orientation. Therefore, the surface of the epitaxial layer 52 (parallel to the surface of the silicon substrate) also has a (100) plane orientation. The P−-regions 53 and the source regions 55 are each formed by implanting an impurity into the surface of the N−-type epitaxial layer 52 and, hence, have the same crystallographic orientation as the silicon substrate and the epitaxial layer 52.
Interior side surfaces 54s of the trench 54 each have a (100) plane orientation. Therefore, the drain current flows along planes each having a (100) plane orientation (hereinafter referred to as "(100) planes") in the P−-regions 53. Thus, the field effect efficiently occurs in the silicon surface to form channels, so that the ON-resistance is reduced.
MOS FETs having such a construction are disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. 10-154809 (1998) and No. 10-154810 (1998).
With a recent trend toward thickness reduction of the gate oxide film 57, however, the capacitance of the gate oxide film 57 (hereinafter referred to as "gate capacitance Qg") tends to be increased. This deteriorates the switching characteristic of the MOS FET 51, thereby increasing power consumption.
If the thickness of the gate oxide film 57 is increased, it is possible to reduce the gate capacitance Qg to improve the switching characteristic of the MOS FET 51. However, the width of an inversion layer (channel) formed when the gate electrode 56 is kept at a predetermined potential is reduced, as the thickness of the gate oxide film 57 is increased (in the extreme case, no inversion layer is formed). Therefore, the increase of the thickness of the gate oxide film 57 increases the ON-resistance. That is, it is impossible to simultaneously achieve the reduction of the ON-resistance and the improvement of the switching characteristic in the conventional MOS FET 51.
The ON-resistance can be reduced by reducing the thickness of portions of the gate oxide film 57 adjoining the P−-regions 53. Therefore, the reduction of the ON-resistance and the improvement of the switching characteristic may simultaneously be achieved by reducing the thickness of the portions of the gate oxide film 57 adjoining the P−-regions 53, and increasing the thickness of the other portion of the gate oxide film 57. However, such a structure cannot be realized for the following reason.
Since the trench 54 is formed perpendicularly to the silicon substrate, a bottom surface 54b of the trench 54 mainly has a (100) plane orientation like the interior side surface 54s. The formation of the gate oxide film 57 is typically achieved by thermally oxidizing the interior wall of the trench 54, so that the interior surfaces having the same plane orientation are oxidized to the same thickness. Therefore, the portions of the gate oxide film 57 on the interior side surfaces 54s and a portion of the gate oxide film 57 on the bottom surface 54b have substantially the same thickness, which is equal to a thickness d(100) resulting from the thermal oxidation of the (100) plane of the crystalline silicon. Therefore, the capacitance CGS per unit area of the portions of the gate oxide film 57 on the interior side surfaces 54s is virtually equal to the capacitance CGD per unit area of the portion of the gate oxide film 57 on the bottom surface 54b.
Therefore, the increase of the thickness of the gate oxide film 57 reduces the gate capacitance Qg to improve the switching characteristic, but increases the ON-resistance. Conversely, the reduction of the thickness of the gate oxide film 57 reduces the ON-resistance, but increases the gate capacitance Qg to deteriorate the switching characteristic.
It is also conceivable to allow the gate oxide film 57 to have different thicknesses on the interior side surfaces 54s and on the bottom surface 54b by allowing the bottom surface 54b to have a plane orientation different from the plane orientation of the interior side surfaces 54s. More specifically, it is possible to achieve the aforesaid thickness relation of the gate oxide film 57 by allowing the interior side surfaces 54s to have a (100) plane orientation and allowing the bottom surface 54b to have a specific plane orientation different from the (100) plane orientation.
However, the trench 54 has not only the interior side surfaces 54s (hereinafter referred to as "first interior side surfaces") shown in FIG. 4 but also interior side surfaces (hereinafter referred to as "second interior side surfaces") which are oriented differently from the first interior side surfaces 54s (e.g., perpendicularly to the first interior side surfaces 54s). If the bottom surface 54b has a plane orientation different from the (100) plane orientation, the second interior side surfaces also have the plane orientation different from the (100) plane orientation. Since the source regions 55 are provided along all the edges of the trench 54, channels are formed in portions of the P−-regions 53 alongside the second interior side surfaces.
Where the gate oxide film 57 is formed under the same conditions, a charge density (interfacial charge density) Qss per unit area in an interface between the gate oxide film 57 and the surface having the plane orientation different from the (100) plane orientation tends to be greater than an interfacial charge density Qss in an interface between the gate oxide film 57 and the surface having the (100) plane orientation. If the channel was formed alongside the surface having a greater interfacial charge density Qss in the channel region, the operation reliability of the semiconductor device would be deteriorated due to greater fluctuations in gate threshold voltage.


A vehicular steering controller includes an operating section for operating an actuator for steering-controlling a tire angle, a consistency-determining section, and a contribution ratio-increasing section. When a steering angle of a steering wheel is greater than or equal to a predetermined angle, the consistency-determining section determines whether consistency between first steering of the vehicle corresponding to an input operation performed on the steering wheel and second steering based on the target path is greater than or equal to a predetermined value. When the operating section operates the actuator based on the input operation performed on the steering wheel, the contribution ratio-increasing section increases a contribution ratio in which the target operation amount of the actuator contributes to an actual operation amount of the actuator by the operating section, provided that the consistency is greater than or equal to the predetermined value.

The present invention relates to a vehicular steering controller for calculating, based on a target path of a vehicle, an operation amount of an actuator that controls steering of a tire angle.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2012-51441 discloses a device for automatically switching manual steering to automatic steering. This device switches steering from automatic steering to manual steering when a user's steering angle of the steering wheel is greater than or equal to a predetermined value during automatic steering. Thereafter, if the steering angle is less than the predetermined value, the device automatically switches manual steering to automatic steering. After the steering angle of the steering wheel is less than the predetermined value, if the difference between a target path and an actual path of the vehicle is less than or equal to a threshold value, the device automatically switches steering to automatic steering.
The present inventors considered a configuration in which steering is switched to automatic steering when the steering angle of the steering wheel is greater than or equal to the predetermined value. When the steering angle of the steering wheel is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, the steering angle is varied in some cases. Time is required until variation in the tire angle corresponding to variation in the steering angle is reflected in the actual direction of the vehicle. Hence, there is a concern that the target path and the actual path of the vehicle are compared with each other before the variation in the tire angle is reflected in the actual path. As a result of such comparison, if it is determined that the difference between these paths is less than or equal to the threshold value, there is a concern that the automatic steering does not match with intended steering of a user. Hence, in a state where the steering angle of the steering wheel is greater than or equal to the predetermined value, if only a fact that the difference between the paths is less than or equal to the threshold value is employed as an execution condition for switching the automatic steering, behavior of the vehicle gives the user a feeling of strangeness when the automatic steering processing is started.
This device switches between manual steering for operating an actuator which steering-controls the tire angle based on an input operation performed on the steering wheel and automatic steering for operating the actuator independently from the input operation performed on the steering wheel. In this case, when manual steering is switched to automatic steering, the device switches a contribution ratio from 0% to 100%. The contribution ratio is the ratio in which an operation amount calculated for automatic steering contributes to an operation of the actuator. In a device that executes processing for increasing the contribution ratio when automatic steering is carried out, the above-described actual circumstance that behavior of a vehicle gives a user a feeling of strangeness is also generally in common. For example, the above-described actual circumstance also applies to a device that switches the contribution ratio to a predetermined value that is less than 100% when automatic steering is carried out.


In apparatuses and methods for adjusting a distance to an object, or examining an object, by using terahertz radiation, a sensor portion and a distance changing portion are used. The sensor portion includes a generator for generating terahertz radiation, a transmission line for transmitting the terahertz radiation, and a detector for detecting the terahertz radiation transmitted through the transmission line. The distance changing portion is configured to change the distance between the object and the sensor portion. The distance is adjusted based on information of the terahertz radiation detected by the detector. The object is examined based on the information of the terahertz radiation detected by the detector, after the distance is adjusted based on the information of the terahertz radiation detected by the detector. Under a condition of the adjusted distance, leaking electromagnetic field of the terahertz radiation transmitted through the transmission line interacts with the object.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a distance adjusting apparatus and method for adjusting a distance between a sensor portion and an object to be examined, and an object examining apparatus and method for examining an object using the distance adjusting apparatus and method. Particularly, the present invention relates to a distance adjusting apparatus and method, and an object examining apparatus and method, using terahertz (THz) electromagnetic radiation.
2. Description of the Related Background Art
In this specification, the terminology "terahertz (THz) radiation", or the like is used for electromagnetic radiation in a frequency range between about 30 GHz and about 30 THz. In recent years, non-destructive sensing technology using terahertz radiation has been developed and searched. Technical fields using such terahertz radiation include imaging fields using safe see-through examining apparatuses in place of X-ray apparatuses. Further, development has also been made with respect to spectroscopic technology for acquiring absorption spectra and complex dielectric constants to examine characteristics, such as bonding condition, of substances, analytic technology for analyzing bio-molecules, estimating technology for estimating carrier concentration and mobility, and the like.
An apparatus for examining an object using terahertz radiation is disclosed in JP 08-320254 A. In this apparatus, an object is irradiated with terahertz radiation transmitted in a space, and characteristics of materials in the object are examined based on changes in transmission condition of terahertz radiation transmitted through the object. According to this technology, a see-through image of an object can be obtained by scanning the object two-dimensionally.
It is well known that terahertz radiation can propagate through a transmission line used for transmission of high-frequency radiation signals. A paper published in the Applied Physics Letters ("APL"), 88, 212511, 2006, discloses an examining apparatus for examining characteristics of an object in an on-chip manner in which an object is placed on the transmission line, using the above-described property of terahertz radiation. The sensor chip described in that paper uses a generator for generating terahertz radiation, a microstrip line, and a detector for detecting terahertz radiation, integrated on a glass substrate. In the APL article, attenuation in intensity of terahertz radiation and delay of time-domain waveform of terahertz radiation due to interaction between leaking electromagnetic field and water placed on the microstrip line are measured. The leaking electromagnetic field is an electromagnetic field that appears due to slight leakage of terahertz radiation from the microstrip line.
The above-described terahertz radiation examining systems using the sensor chip have the following disadvantages due to the use of on-chip examination.
These systems are not suited for measuring a large amounts or quantities of the objects being studied at high rate. For example, where the purpose is screening various bio-molecules, chemical substances, or the like, sufficient examination speed and economical cost are required as well as sufficient examination accuracy. In the conventional system, however, a considerable number of steps of supplying a sample, placing a chip on the examining apparatus, removing the chip therefrom, and the like are necessary, so that speedy examination is difficult to attain.
In addition, where a large number of samples are examined, the number of chips to be used must correspond to the number of samples. However, considering that semiconductor crystal is generally used to generate and detect terahertz radiation, it is likely that the examination cost will increase to a problematic degree as the number of chips increases.

Distance adjusting apparatus and method, and object examining apparatus and method


Solid material, e.g., coal, is upgraded, e.g., the water content reduced and the BTU value increased, by a method comprising the steps of:

The present invention relates to upgrading a solid material.
The present invention relates particularly, although by no means exclusively, to upgrading solid material which has low thermal conductivity under conditions including elevated pressure and temperature.
The present invention relates more particularly to:
(a) upgrading porous, water-containing, carbonaceous materials (which term includes coal, wood, and biomass) under conditions including elevated pressure and temperature to increase the thermal value of the carbonaceous materials by removing water from the carbonaceous materials; and
(b) cooling the heated carbonaceous materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,290,523 to Koppelman discloses a process for upgrading coal by the simultaneous application of pressure and temperature.
Koppelman discloses thermal dewatering of coal by heating coal under conditions including elevated pressure and temperature to cause physical changes in the coal that results in water being removed from the coal by a xe2x80x9csqueezexe2x80x9d reaction.
Koppelman discloses maintaining the pressure sufficiently high during the upgrading process so that the by-product water is produced mainly as a liquid rather than as steam.
Koppelman discloses a range of different apparatus options for carrying out the upgrading process.
In general terms, the options are based on the use of a reactor which includes an inverted conical inlet, a cylindrical body, a conical outlet, and an assembly of vertically or horizontally disposed heat exchange tubes positioned in the body.
In one proposal to use a Koppelman-type reactor, the vertically disposed tubes and the outlet end are packed with coal, and nitrogen is injected to pre-pressurise the tubes and the outlet end. The coal is heated by indirect heat exchange with oil that is supplied as a heat transfer fluid to the cylindrical body externally of the tubes. Further heating of the coal is promoted by direct heat exchange between the coal and steam which acts as a working fluid within the packed bed. In addition, the steam pressurises the tubes and the outlet end to a required pressure.
The combination of elevated pressure and temperature conditions in the tubes and the outlet end evaporates some of the water from the coal and thereafter condenses some of the water as a liquid. A portion of the steam generated following the addition of water also condenses as a liquid in colder regions of the tubes due to the elevated pressure. Steam which is not condensed, and which is in excess of the requirements for optimum pressurisation of the packed bed, must be vented. In addition, non-condensable gases (e.g. CO, CO2) are evolved and need to be vented. Periodically, liquid is drained from the outlet end.
Finally, after a prescribed residence time, the reactor is depressurised and the upgraded coal, with virtually no retained water, is discharged via the outlet end and subsequently cooled.
There are a number of engineering issues and ultimately cost considerations that have inhibited commercialisation of the Koppelman process. There are also spontaneous combustion and dust problems associated with the product.
International applications WO98/30856, WO 98/39613, WO 98/42427, WO 98/50743, WO 98/59209, WO 99/10078 and WO 99/10079 in the name of KFx Inc disclose a series of improvements to the Koppelman process.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 1,679,078, 4,514,912, 4,628,619, 4,502,227, 4,339,306, 4,674,195 and 4,471,536 describe the so-called Fleissner process for upgrading coal.
The Fleissner process was invented in the 1920""s (U.S. Pat. No. 1,679,078) and was developed further in the 1980""s by Voest-Alpine AG (see the other US patents mentioned above). There has been commercial use of the process, mainly in Eastern Europe. The process uses saturated steam to heat batches of coal and removes some water as liquid to avoid a heat of vaporisation penalty. Pressures of 30-60 bar and temperatures of 445-535xc2x0 F. (230-280xc2x0 C.) are used, with a batch cycle time of approximately 160 minutes. Additional flash evaporative drying occurs during depressurisation. Batteries of 4-6 autoclaves are generally required to utilise the waste water and steam energy from each batch reactor. Waste water quality is poor and there are odorous emissions that require scrubbing or incineration. The energy required for upgrading is relatively low. However, spontaneous combustion and dust are problems.
An object of the present invention is to provide an improved method and apparatus for upgrading coal by the simultaneous application of pressure and temperature.
There are two aspects to the present invention.
According to a first aspect of the present invention, in broad terms, there is provided a method for upgrading solid material that includes the steps of:
(a) supplying solid material to a reactor;
(b) heating solid material in the reactor under water saturation pressure conditions and removing water from solid material; and
(c) cooling solid material by depressurising solid material under water saturation conditions.
In more specific terms, the first aspect of the invention provides a method for upgrading solid material that includes the steps of:
(a) supplying solid material to a reactor;
(b) heating solid material in the reactor under water saturation pressure conditions and causing shrinkage of pores of solid material and forcing water from pores as a consequence of pore shrinkage, the water saturation pressure conditions and the heating time being selected so that water is retained in the pores, particularly fine pores, of solid material; and
(c) cooling solid material by depressurising solid material under water saturation conditions and separating water as water vapour from solid material and retaining water in pores, particularly fine pores, of solid material.
The applicant has found that upgraded coal produced by the above-described method of the first aspect of the invention is considerably less likely to spontaneously combust than upgraded coal produced by the above-described known methods and has considerably less dustiness than the known products. In addition, the applicant has found that, unlike the known products, upgraded coal produced by the above-described method can be blended with raw coal without increased risk of spontaneous combustion. Moreover, the applicant has found that both the as-produced upgraded coal and blended product can be stockpiled.
The above-described method of the first aspect of the invention is based to a large extent on the realisation that problems of spontaneous combustion and dust can be significantly alleviated by retaining moisture in pores, particularly fine pores, of solid material.
Heating coal under elevated pressure and temperature conditions causes shrinkage of pores of less than 500 nanometres diameter in coal. Pore shrinkage forces water from pores. The degree of pore shrinkage is highly dependent on coal properties and operating conditions.
In the above-described method of the first aspect of the invention coal is heated under water saturation pressure conditions and is cooled under water saturation conditions. The combination of these heating and cooling conditions and appropriate selection of heating time removes water from pores of coal, and thereby improves the heating value of the coal, but does not remove all the water. The retained water in pores, particularly fine pores, is important because it limits access of oxygen to reactive sites in the pores and thereby reduces the possibility of spontaneous combustion of the coal. In addition, the surface of the product is less hydrophilic than known products and the retained surface water reduces the dustiness of the product.

Abstract: (a) supplying the solid material to a reactor;

Abstract: (b) heating the solid material in the reactor under water saturation pressure conditions and removing water from the solid material; and

Abstract: (c) cooling the solid material by depressurising the solid material under water saturation conditions.


Improved probing of closely spaced contact pads is provided by an array of vertical probes having all of the probe tips aligned along a single contact line, while the probe bases are arranged in an array having two or more rows parallel to the contact line. With this arrangement of probes, the probe base thickness can be made greater than the contact pad spacing along the contact line, thereby advantageously increasing the lateral stiffness of the probes. The probe tip thickness is less than the contact pad spacing, so probes suitable for practicing the invention have a wide base section and a narrow tip section.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
This invention relates to probe arrays for testing integrated electrical circuits.
2. Description of Related Art
Integrated electrical circuits are typically tested prior to final dicing and packaging. Such testing usually entails making temporary electrical contact to contact pads on the circuit or chip being tested. Probes or probe arrays are commonly employed to make such temporary electrical contact. Probes or probe arrays for this application have been under development for many years, since the ongoing technological evolution of chips and integrated circuitry to ever-smaller dimensions tends to raise problems which require new probing solutions.
For example, vertical probes have evolved significantly over time. In a vertical probe, at least a substantial portion of the probe is aligned along the vertical direction, where "vertical" is conventionally taken to the direction of probe travel when making contact. Vertical probes can provide improved control of scrub motion of the probe tip relative to the contact pad as contact is made, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,709 by the present inventor. Such improved control of scrub motion is increasingly important as contact pad dimensions decrease. Various aspects of arrays of vertical probes are also considered in U.S. Pat. No. 7,148,709, as well as in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,443,784, 6,731,123, and 6,847,221.
Vertical probes often have a well-defined probe plane, such that deformation of the probe during contact occurs primarily in the probe plane without significant lateral (i.e. out of plane) motion. This situation is preferred in practice, because it allows an array of vertical probes to be closely spaced in a direction perpendicular to the probe plane, thereby facilitating making contact to a corresponding array of closely spaced contact pads. As long as the probe deformation is in-plane, undesirable contact between adjacent probes as a result of probe deformation during contact will not occur.
However, this approach can encounter difficulty as the contact pad spacing decreases, since decreased probe width (to accommodate the reduced contact pad spacing) can lead to an undesirable tendency of the probes to laterally deform. Such lateral probe deformation is highly undesirable, since it can lead to electrical contact between different probes of the same probe array. Accordingly, it would be an advance in the art to provide probing of closely spaced contact pads with a vertical probe array having a reduced tendency for probes to laterally deform.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Vertical probe array arranged to provide space transformation


Embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a method, system and computer program product for service retention in a computing environment. According to the method, a deprovision request for deprovisioning a target service instance provisioned in a computing environment is received. In response to the deprovision request, a retention policy associated with the target service instance is determined. The retention policy indicates an action to be applied on the target service instance. The action causes a resource usage level of the target service instance to reduce. Based on the retention policy, the target service instance is modified to obtain a retention service instance provisioned in the computing environment for use in restoration of the target service instance.

The present disclosure generally relates to computer techniques and more particularly, to a method, system, and computer program product for service retention in a computing environment.
Cloud computing, which involves the delivery of hosted services in a computing environment, is one of the fastest growing technology in computer technologies. For example, cloud computing allows a consumer to obtain processing resources, such as networks, network bandwidth, servers, processing, memory, storage, applications, and virtual machines, as services provisioned when needed. A service provisioned in the computing environment is referred to as a service instance.
The consumer can provision new service instances or deprovision existing service instances. At certain times, the consumer may want to regain the deprovisioned service instance due to various reasons such as an accidental deletion. It is desired to restore the deprovisioned service instance for the consumer without data loss within a certain period of time.

Service retention in a computing environment

International Business Machines Corporation


A paperboard container for the containment and dispensing of small objects such as candies, including a back wall, a front wall, a pair of opposed side walls, a bottom wall and a top wall defining an inner chamber. In one preferred embodiment, the inner chamber is divided into three cells by a baffle. The front wall includes at least three openings, one each of the openings positioned to cooperate with one of each of the inner cells. A dial wheel is rotatably positioned between the inner cells and the front wall. The dial wheel includes a plurality of openings which are positioned in the dial wheel so that the dial wheel can be rotated to allow dispensing from any one of the cells or any combination of the cells, through aligned openings in the dial wheel and front wall. The dial wheel can be rotated to close the container.

This invention relates generally to containers and more specifically to a paperboard container having multiple individual compartments and a dial wheel type closure which allows dispensing from one or more of the individual compartments.
Containers or paperboard boxes are known to the art. Generally speaking, the uses for small paperboard containers or boxes are unlimited. These containers can hold any item from paperclips to pharmaceuticals. Commonly such containers are used to hold consumable items such as candy. Although the container of the present invention is intended have many uses, one preferred use is for the containment and dispensing of small individual candies. For simplicity, the preferred embodiment will be referred to in that environment, but such reference should not be construed to narrow the scope of the invention.
Paperboard containers used to contain small candies, for example, are generally comprised of four walls, a bottom wall and a top wall defining an inner chamber. The top wall can function as a lid, being movable about a fold line from an open position to a closed position or can have a small opening or even a spout-like structure formed therein. In most instances the container holds one homogeneous product in a single inner chamber. In exceptional circumstances the chamber can be divided by an internal wall or baffled to divide the inner chamber into discrete compartments.
It would be advantageous to have a paperboard container that could hold more than one type of candy, for example, in separate chambers or compartments from which one or more of the different types of candies could be dispensed. Dispensing containers are known to the art. Generally speaking, such containers are formed or molded from plastic, glass or the like and the designs do not lend themselves to construction from paperboard. Such dispensing containers are used to contain and dispense medicines, such as tablets, capsules or lead fishing weights. Examples of such dispensing containers are disclosed U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,866 to Sanford; U.S. Pat. No. 2,335,016 to Lorenzen et al; U.S. Pat. No. 2,410,923 to Beardsley; U.S. Pat. No. 2,774,466 to Liska; U.S. Pat. No. 2,948,389 to Horland; U.S. Pat. No. 3,182,789 to Sparks; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,166 to Crowther.
The known dispensers have limitations. For example, as stated above, they are designed to be manufactured from rigid materials such as plastic or glass and do not lend themselves to construction from paperboard. Further, some of the designs are limited in volume or capacity. For example, those container which are designed to dispense individual pills may only have the capacity to hold a 21 or 28 day supply. Often if the container can hold more than one type of product, for example, two different types of pills, the container is capable of dispensing only one type at a time. In other words, the container does not have the capacity to dispense a mix of different contents.


Pneumatic conveying of fine solids in the direct synthesis of alkylchlorosilanes conveying gas containing at least 50% by volume of alkyl chloride. The conveying apparatus preferably contains a means for switching conveying gas in the pneumatic conveying of fine solids.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for pneumatic conveying of fine solids in the direct synthesis of alkylchlorosilanes, in which the conveying gas used is alkyl chloride, and to a method and apparatus for switching conveying gases in the pneumatic conveying of fine solids.
2. Background Art
The pneumatic conveying of solids, especially fine solids, has long been known (for example, Muschelknautz, E.; Wojahn, H., Chem.-Ing.-Technik, 46, 1974, 223-235) and is utilized whenever a high adaptation capacity of the conveying zones to the local circumstances is necessary, when environmentally friendly, closed conveying is necessary, and when a high flexibility of the distribution means, for example via pipe flow switches, is required. Another feature of pneumatic conveying is a low level of maintenance, and not least, pneumatic conveying offers the option of handling air-sensitive substances under a protective atmosphere.
For pneumatic conveying, gases such as air or nitrogen are typically used (see also W. Siegel, Pneumatische Förderung, Vogel Buchverlag, Würzburg, 1991, p. 71-72). Especially when combustible substances are involved, inert gases such as nitrogen or else argon are used.
In the direct synthesis of alkylchlorosilanes, fine solids or mixtures of solids are used, for example Si, catalysts or a mixture thereof, also referred to as catalyst composition. The reaction forms a spent catalyst composition which, as well as Si, includes distinctly elevated proportions of catalysts, promoters and secondary elements in the metallurgical silicon used. The direct synthesis of alkylchlorosilanes is described, for example, in EP 671402 A. Si grains, catalyst composition and spent catalyst composition are conveyed pneumatically in vessels and reactors in the alkylchlorosilane synthesis.

Conveying of fine solids in the synthesis of alkylchlorosilanes


A friction brake interface health check system for dynamically diagnosing and monitoring the operational status of a plurality of input signals by using a pattern fault recognition and an intelligent diagnostic matrix which is generated by brake level demand, power/brake trainline, electric brake feedback and electric brake rate request modules to control an interface health determination fault monitor module which determines which errors are to be reported to the event interface file, the RAM fault log and which are displayed on a seven (7) segment display.

This invention relates to a circuit arrangement which performs a functional integrity check by polling the friction brake input signals and determining the actual operational status of each specific input and, more particularly, to an electronic friction brake interface health check system for dynamically diagnosing the primary input signals for effectively ascertaining both the requested braking rate and the required output of the friction brake equipment of a multiple-axle railway vehicle.

Friction brake interface health check system for multiple-axle railway vehicles


Methods and products for the treatment of a disorder characterized by the cleavage of a C-terminal lysine or arginine from an intact peptide are provided. In the methods of the invention a peptide that inhibits the activation of thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI) is administered in an effective amount and in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier to a subject having a disorder characterized by the cleavage of a C-terminal lysine or arginine from an intact peptide. The compositions are pharmaceutical compositions of peptides that inhibit the activation of TAFI. Also provided is a monoclonal antibody that binds TAFI zymogen but that does not bind to active TAFI and inhibits the activation of TAFI.

Coagulation and fibrinolysis are physiological pathways which are involved in maintaining normal blood hemostasis in mammals. Under conditions in which a vascular injury occurs, the coagulation pathway is stimulated to form a blood clot to prevent the loss of blood. Immediately after the vascular injury occurs, blood platelets begin to aggregate at the site of injury forming a physical plug to stop the leakage. Additionally, the injured vessel undergoes vasoconstriction to reduce the blood flow to the area and fibrin begins to aggregate forming an insoluble network or clot which covers the ruptured area. Once the vessel has been repaired, the fibrinolysis pathway is stimulated to dissolve the clot.
The balance between the coagulation and the fibrinolytic pathways is essential to the protection of the mammal from excessive blood loss and excessive fibrin build-up in the vascular system which would prevent normal blood flow. When an imbalance is created between the coagulation and fibrinolytic pathways, the physiological result in the mammal is often the development of a serious disease state. When the imbalance in the pathways shifts towards excessive coagulation, the result is the development of thrombotic tendencies which are often manifested as heart attacks, strokes, deep vein thrombosis and myocardial infarcts. When the balance shifts towards excessive fibrinolysis and decreased coagulation, the result is hemorrhage.
The coagulation pathway comprises a series of enzymatic activations which result in the formation of a fibrin clot. The tetrameric complex known as prothrombinase is an essential enzyme in the coagulation pathway. Prothrombinase is composed of a negatively-charged surface, Ca.sup.2+, factor Xa (the enzyme) and factor Va (essential cofactor). Loss or inactivation of factor Va or factor Xa results in a loss in prothrombinase activity. The active prothrombinase enzyme catalyzes the conversion of prothrombin to thrombin. Thrombin catalyzes the cleavage of fibrinogen releasing fibrinopeptides A and B resulting in the production of fibrin monomer which is capable of spontaneously polymerizing to form a clot.
The fibrinolytic pathway also comprises a series of enzymatic activations but which terminate in the solubilization of a fibrin clot resulting in the removal of fibrin clots after vascular injury repair. Plasminogen, which is the zymogen, or inactive, plasma form of plasmin, has an affinity for fibrin clots and forms complexes with fibrin throughout various regions of the porous fibrin network. Another protease, tissue plasminogen activator (t-PA) cleaves a specific bond within the plasminogen zymogen resulting in the formation of the active form of the enzyme, plasmin. t-PA, however, is a poor activator of plasminogen in the absence of fibrin. T-PA, in combination with the fibrin, is a potent activator of plasminogen. The resulting plasmin partially degrades fibrin exposing C-terminal lysines on the fibrin. This partially degraded fibrin is a particularly potent cofactor for the t-PA-induced activation of plasminogen. Further degradation leads to the solubilization and degradation of the fibrin clot.
Although thrombin is an essential component of the anticoagulation pathway (directly causing the cleavage of fibrinogen to fibrin), in the presence of a specific cofactor, thrombomodulin, thrombin assumes another role which leads to the downregulation of thrombin and thus the downregulation of the coagulation pathway. In the presence of thrombomodulin, which is a component of the blood vessel wall, thrombin develops a specificity for protein C and catalyzes the proteolytic activation of protein C to form serine protease activated protein C (APC). APC proteolytically inactivates the essential cofactors, factor Va and factor Villa resulting in the downregulation of the coagulation pathway. By inactivating cofactor Va, APC causes a loss in prothrombinase activity. Because active prothrombinase catalyzes the production of thrombin from prothrombin, the APC-induced loss in prothrombinase activity results in a decreased production of thrombin. The net result of this pathway is the negative feedback regulation of thrombin when thrombomodulin binds to thrombin.
Thrombin, thrombomodulin, and APC are critical factors in the balance between the coagulation and fibrinolytic pathways because in addition to being important components of the coagulation pathway, these components are also involved in the fibrinolytic pathway. Either high levels of thrombin and/or when thrombin is associated with the cofactor thrombomodulin, thrombin activates a fibrinolysis inhibitor, known as thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI, also known as procarboxypeptidase B, carboxypeptidase B, plasma carboxypeptidase B, carboxypeptidase U, or carboxypeptidase R). TAFI is ordinarily present in the plasma in a zymogen, or inactive, form. Thrombin/thrombomodulin catalyze the activation of TAFI to produce an active TAFI which has been demonstrated to inhibit fibrinolysis. Active TAFI inhibits plasminogen activation by removing C-terminal lysines from partially degraded fibrin. The fibrin which has been cleaved by active TAFI is less effective as a cofactor for a plasminogen activator, such as t-PA dependent activation of plasminogen, than non-cleaved fibrin. Because the potency of fibrin which is available to act as a cofactor is reduced, the amount of plasminogen activated to form plasmin is also reduced, thereby attenuating the solubilization of fibrin and the dissolution of fibrin clots. APC, which is also produced by thrombin/thrombomodulin, inhibits the activation of TAFI by inhibiting the production of thrombin (i.e., by the negative feedback loop-involving loss of prothrombinase activity). Therefore, thrombin, in the absence of thrombomodulin, is involved in the coagulation pathway and in the presence of thrombomodulin, thrombin is involved in the downregulation of the coagulation pathway and in promoting a balance between opposing factors which are involved in the regulation of fibrinolysis (active TAFI inhibits fibrinolysis and APC promotes fibrinolysis by inhibiting the activation of TAFI).
Current therapies for treating disorders associated with imbalances in the coagulation and fibrinolytic pathways involve many risks and must be carefully controlled so that the balance between the pathways is not shifted too far in the other direction. For example, thrombolytic agents such as plasminogen, streptokinase, staphylokinase, t-PA and urokinase are all agents which promote fibrinolysis when there is a risk of thrombosis, but each therapy is also associated with hemorrhagic toxicity. Hemorrhage due to thrombolytic agents results from two factors: (1) the lysis of fibrin at sites of vascular injury prior to the repair of the injury site which may cause bleeding; and (2) a systemic lytic state that results from the systemic formation of plasmin and destruction of other coagulation factors. Therefore, the administration of thrombolytic agents must be carefully monitored in order to provide enough therapeutic agent to result in the destruction of unwanted blood clots, but to prevent the administration of too much therapeutic agent which would cause hemorrhage. In cases of excessive bleeding when coagulants are administered to therapeutically aid in the repair of damaged tissue, there is a risk of forming blood clots due to an overactivation of the coagulation pathway.

Methods and compositions for inhibiting the activation of thrombin-activatable fibrinolysis inhibitor (TAFI)


The present invention relates to novel stable  less than  less than water-in-oil greater than  greater than  emulsions containing

Novel stable water-in-oil emulsions containing an oleyl glycoside-based and/or isostearyl glycoside-based emulsifier.
An object of the present invention is novel stable water-in-oil emulsions containing an oleyl glycoside-based and/or isostearyl glycoside-based emulsifier.
The invention especially finds application in the cosmetic field.
Alkyl glycosides or alkyl polyglycosides (APG""s) are well-known non-ionic surfactant compounds which can be used alone or in combination with other surfactants in a wide range of industrial applications, and especially in the cosmetic field.
Alkyl polyglycosides have firstly been used as foaming agents, and in this application, those the alkyl chain of which comprises 8 to 14 carbon atoms have proved to be particularly interesting.
More recently, alkyl polyglycosides have been used as emulsifiers, and in this application, those the alkyl chain of which comprises 16 to 18 carbon atoms have proved to be particularly interesting.
The patent application WO 92/06778, in the name of the Applicant, describes, for the first time, the use of mixtures of alkyl polyglycosides and fatty alcohols as self-emulsifying agents.
The term  less than  less than self-emulsifying greater than  greater than  designates any agent or composition which is capable of forming a stable emulsion with an aqueous phase, practically without the provision of energy, for example by dispersion in the aqueous phase by slow mechanical agitation.
More specifically, the mixtures described in this prior art document comprise:
60 to 90% by weight of at least one fatty alcohol having 12 to 22 carbon atoms, and preferably 16 to 18 carbon atoms; and
10 to 40% by weight of an alkyl polyglycoside, the alkyl part of which is preferably identical to that of the fatty alcohol.
The self-emulsifiable compositions described in the above-mentioned application are marketed under the designation Montanov(copyright) 68 and comprise a mixture of alkyl polyglycosides the fatty chains of which comprise 16 and 18 carbon atoms, as well as a mixture of fatty alcohols of the same fatty chain length.
In Example 3.5 of this prior art document, an emulsion is described which contains:
5% by weight of a fatty phase constituted of cetyl stearyl octanoate,
10% by weight of a self-emulsifying composition based on oleyl glycoside and oleyl alcohol.
This emulsion is of the classic oil-in-water type.
After the WO 92/06778 patent application, numerous patent documents have described the use of emulsifying or self-emulsifying compositions based on alkyl polyglycosides and fatty acids for the preparation of emulsions.
It is envisaged in these documents to use alkyl glycosides of various nature, the alkyl part of which can be branched and/or unsaturated, and present 4 to 54 carbon atoms.
If some of these documents also explicitly envisage the use of oleyl glycoside or isostearyl glycoside, such as the documents WO 97/02091 or WO 97/18033 for example, it is always under conditions which lead to the preparation of classic oil-in-water emulsions.
Consequently, none of these prior patents specifically cover the preparation of water-in-oil emulsions which are however of considerable interest, especially in the cosmetic field.
It has been discovered, and this constitutes the basis of the present invention, that oleyl glycoside-based and/or isostearyl glycoside-based emulsions combined with mixtures of oleyl alcohol and isostearyl alcohol can be used, under certain conditions, as emulsifiers for preparing water-in-oil emulsions.
This discovery is entirely unexpected, insofar as it has been furthermore noticed that compositions based on alkyl glycosides and corresponding fatty acids, such as an isooctadecyl glycoside for example, or an alkyl glycoside obtained from a Guerbet alcohol having 18 carbon atoms do not enable water-in-oil emulsions to be obtained.
Thus, according to a first aspect, the object of the present invention is novel stable  less than  less than water-in-oil greater than  greater than  emulsions, containing:
5 to 75% by weight of an aqueous phase;
20 to 90% by weight of a fatty phase; and
3 to 25% by weight of an emulsifier comprising:
10 to 90% by weight, preferably 10 to 50% by weight and more preferably 10 to 40% by weight of a mixture in any proportion of an oleyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3 and an isostearyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3; and
90 to 10% by weight, preferably 90 to 50% by weight, and more preferably 90 to 60% by weight of a mixture in any proportion of oleyl alcohol and isostearyl alcohol
and optionally:
0 to 10% by weight of a co-emulsifier;
0 to 10% by weight of a stabiliser.
Advantageously, the novel water-in-oil emulsions in accordance with the present invention contain
10 to 70% by weight of an aqueous phase
25 to 60% by weight of a fatty phase; and
5 to 15% by weight of an emulsifier comprising
10 to 90% by weight, preferably 10 to 50% by weight and more preferably 10 to 40% by weight of a mixture in any proportion of an oleyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3 and an isostearyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3; and
90 to 10% by weight, preferably 90 to 50% by weight, and more preferably 90 to 60% by weight of a mixture in any proportion of oleyl alcohol and isostearyl alcohol and optionally:
0 to 10% by weight of a co-emulsifier;
0 to 5% by weight of a stabiliser.
Stable water-in-oil emulsions which are particularly preferred within the context of the present invention contain:
10 to 25% by weight of an isostearyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3; and
90 to 75% by weight of an isostearyl alcohol.
Within the context of the present description, the expressions xe2x80x9coleyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3xe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cisostearyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3xe2x80x9d, are understood as meaning compounds of formula:
RO(G)x
in which:
R represents an oleyl and isostearyl radical, respectively, and
x represents a number between 1 and 3;
G represents a reducing glycopyranose or glycofuranose residue and preferably a glucose residue.
Advantageously, the degree of polymerisation of these alkyl glycosides represented by x is of between 1.05 and 2.5; and more preferably, between 1.1 and 2.
The alkyl glycosides used within the context of the present invention as emulsifiers are compounds the alkyl radicals of which are defined as indicated above.
However, these compounds are not always pure.
They can in fact further contain minor proportions of compounds of the same nature the alkyl radicals of which comprise a longer and/or shorter chain, such compounds originating especially from fatty acids generally of natural or synthetic origin which are used as starting material for the synthesis of these compounds.
The term  less than  less than minor proportion greater than  greater than  is understood as meaning a maximum combined amount of 5% by weight, and preferably of 1% by weight with respect to the total weight of the alkyl glycosides mentioned above.
The compositions based on isostearyl glycoside and isostearyl alcohol have proved to be particularly interesting as an emulsifier for preparing stable water-in-oil emulsions.
The expression  less than  less than mixture in any proportion greater than  greater than  is thus understood to cover the use of oleyl glycoside or isostearyl glycoside alone, i.e. mixtures are made which comprise 0 to 100% by weight of both of the constituents mentioned above.
The compositions based on oleyl glycoside and/or isostearyl glycoside and oleyl alcohol and/or isostearyl alcohol used as an emulsifier within the context of the present invention can be prepared by simply mixing their constituents in the pre-determined proportions sought after.
On an industrial scale, they will be prepared preferably according to one of the two routes classically used for the synthesis of alkyl polyglycosides, and notably by reaction, in an acid medium, between the corresponding fatty alcohol(s), and a saccharide having an anomeric OH group, such as glucose or dextrose.
Such synthetic routes are well known and have been widely described in the literature and in particular in the documents cited in the introduction.
If need be, it will be possible for this synthesis to be completed by operations of neutralisation, filtration, distillation or partial extraction of the excess fatty alcohol, or of discoloration.
In general, the novel emulsions in accordance with the present invention contain 20 to 90% by weight, preferably 20 to 60% by weight of a fatty or oily phase.
This fatty phase can be constituted by one or more oils selected from the following oils
oils of plant origin, such as sweet almond oil, coconut oil, castor oil, jojoba oil, olive oil, rapeseed oil, groundnut oil, sunflower oil, wheat germ oil, maize germ oil, soya oil, cotton oil, lucerne oil, poppy oil, marrow oil, evening primrose oil, millet oil, barley oil, rye oil, safflower oil, canelle nut tree oil, passionflower oil, hazelnut oil, palm oil, shea butter, apricot stone oil, Alexandria laurel tree oil, sysymbrium oil, avocado oil, calendula oil;
modified plant oils such as the products known under INCI designations Apricot Kernel Oil PEG-6 esters and Olive Oil PEG-6 esters;
oils of natural origin, such as perhydrosqualene, squalene;
mineral oils, such as liquid paraffin, and mineral oils, notably originating from petroleum fractions, such as isoparaffins, having a boiling point between 300 and 400xc2x0 C.;
synthetic oils, notably fatty acid esters such as butyl myristate, propyl myristate, cetyl myristate, isopropyl palmitate, butyl stearate, hexadecyl stearate, isopropyl stearate, octyl stearate, isocetyl stearate, dodecyl oleate, hexyl laurate, propylene glycol dicaprylate, ester derivatives of lanolic acid, such as isopropyl lanolate, isocetyl lanolate, monoglycerides, triglycerides such as glycerol triheptanoate, alkylbenzoates, isoparaffins, polyalphaolefins, polyolefins, such as polyisobutylene, synthetic isoalkanes such as isohexadecane, isododecane, perfluorinated oils, and silicone oils. Amongst the latter oils, dimethyl polysiloxanes, methylphenylpolysi loxanes, amine-modified silicones, fatty acid-modified silicones, alcohol-modified silicones, alcohol- and fatty acid-modified silicones, polyether group-modified silicones, epoxy-modified silicones, fluoro group-modified silicones, cyclic silicones, and alkyl group-modified silicones, may be more particularly cited.
This fatty phase can also contain one or more compounds selected from the fatty acids, fatty alcohols, waxes of natural or synthetic origin, and even more generally any fatty body of plant, animal or synthetic origin.
In general, the emulsions in accordance with the present invention contain 5 to 70% by weight, preferably 10 to 70% by weight, of a hydrophilic phase which is essentially constituted of water and optionally a hydrophilic solvent, such as glycerine for example.
The emulsions in accordance with the present invention can also contain, optionally, up to 100% by weight of a co-emulsifier and up to 100% by weight of a stabiliser.
Amongst the co-emulsifying agents which can be used within the context of the present invention, mention will be made especially of lipoamino acids and their salts, lipopeptides and their salts, non-ionic and anionic silicone emulsifiers, esters of sorbitan, esters of polyglycerol, hydrogenated ethoxylated castor oil, glycerol stearate, polyglycol polyhydroxystearates such as the product designated as HYPERMER(copyright) for example, ethoxylated plant oils, methyl esters of ethoxylated plant oils, ethoxylated sorbitan esters such as the products marketed under the designation POLYSORBATE 81(copyright), POLYSORBATE 61(copyright) and POLYSORBATE 21(copyright) for example; acylates of proteins which are weakly ethoxylated (with 1 to 3 EO groups); cationic emulsifiers such as aminoxides, quaternium 82 and surfactants described in patent application WO 96/00719 and mainly those the fatty chain of which comprises at least 16 carbon atoms; sucrose esters, ethoxylated or non-ethoxylated methyl glucoside esters; ethoxylated fatty acids; ethoxylated fatty alcohols; anionic emulsifiers such as decyl phosphate or cetearyl sulphate.
Advantageously, a sorbitan ester, particularly such as a sorbitan oleate in particular will be used within the context of the present invention as co-emulsifier.
Amongst the stabilising agents which can be used within the context of the present invention, mention may be made of hydrogenated castor oil, plant waxes such as, for example, beeswax and carnauba wax, stearic acid, aluminium polyoxystearate, such as, for example, the product marketed under the designation MANALOX(copyright), magnesium stearate, aluminium stearate, hydrophobic silicas, polyethylene glycol-alkyl glycol copolymers, polymers such as the products marketed under the designation KRATON(copyright) by the company SHELL CHEMICALS, mineral waxes such as ozokerite.
Advantageously, the stabilising agent will be a polyethylene glycol-dodecyl glycol copolymer, notably PEG-45 dodecyl glycol copolymer, such as the product marketed under the designation ELFACOS ST 9 (copyright), by the company AKZO NOBEL.
In a particularly preferred embodiment, use will be made as co-emulsifier and stabiliser of a mixture of beeswax, hydrogenated castor oil, stearic acid and sorbitan oleate, particularly such as the product marketed under the designation MONTANE(copyright) 481, by the company SEPPIC.
It will be possible for the stable water-in-oil emulsions in accordance with the invention to be prepared by simple dispersion, at a temperature of between 15xc2x0 C. and 85xc2x0 C., of the aqueous phase in the fatty phase, in the presence of the emulsifier, and optionally of the co-emulsifier and/or of the stabiliser, these latter compounds being generally present within the fatty phase.
In a way known per se, these emulsions can further comprise one or more compounds selected from moisteners, such as, for example, glycerine, preservatives, such as, for example, the products known under the designation SEPICIDE(copyright), colorants, perfumes, cosmetic active principles, mineral or organic solar filters, mineral fillers such as iron oxides, titanium oxides and talc, synthetic fillers such as nylons and micropearls and plant extracts.
It will be possible for these compounds to be introduced into the aqueous phase or into the fatty phase, according to their affinity for these phases, be it during the dispersion phase mentioned above, or in relation to compounds which are sensitive to temperature, afterwards during the cooling phase in the case in which the dispersion is carried out in the hot.
According to a second aspect, the object of the present invention is the use of a composition comprising:
10 to 90% by weight, preferably 10 to 50% by weight and more preferably 10 to 40% by weight of a mixture in any proportion of an oleyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3 and an isostearyl glycoside having a degree of polymerisation of between 1 and 3; and
90 to 10% by weight, preferably 90 to 50% by weight, and more preferably 90 to 60% by weight of a mixture in any proportion of oleyl alcohol and isostearyl alcohol as an emulsifier intended for the preparation of a stable water-in-oil emulsion.

Stable water-in-oil emulsions containing an emulsifier on oleyl-and/or isostearyl-glycoside

Abstract: 5 to 70% by weight of an aqueous phase

Abstract: and optionally

Abstract: 0 to 10% by weight of a co-emulsifier;

Abstract: 0 to 10% by weight of a stabiliser.

Abstract: Application: Cosmetic industry.

Societe d""Exploitation de Produits pour les Industries Chimiques-S.E.P.P.I.C.


A SMD transformer structure includes a substrate unit, a magnetic unit, a coil unit and a shielding unit. The substrate unit includes a support substrate. The magnetic unit includes at least one magnetic material core bar disposed on the support substrate. The coil unit includes at least one transformer coil assembly wound around the magnetic material core bar. The transformer coil assembly includes a plurality of transformer coils wound around the magnetic material core bar, and each transformer coil has two opposite end portions respectively and electrically connected to the corresponding first electrode and the corresponding second electrode of the substrate unit. The shielding unit includes at least one magnetic shielding board disposed on the magnetic material core bar. Whereby, the SMD transformer structure not only can be simplified to reduce its size, but also can be automatically manufactured to increase its production efficiency and product yield (reliability).

1. Field of the Invention
The instant disclosure relates to a transformer structure and a transformer array, and more particularly to a SMD (Surface Mount Device) transformer structure and a SMD transformer array.
2. Description of Related Art
There is an accelerating trend toward higher speed and greater capacity in communications on the Internet, local area networks (LAN), and other communication fields. In the background of this trend is development of a broad array of new transmission systems and ICs (integrated circuits) in conjunction with the digitalization of transmission signals. Among these developments, one indispensable electronic device is the pulse transformer (broadband transmission transformer) for use in communications, and there is a need for characteristics that accommodate the rapid progress of communications technologies.

SMD transformer structure and SMD transformer array


A method for the isolation of specific molecules which bind highly selectively to chosen target molecules. In particular, due to displacement with a specific competitor, binding molecules are selected which preferably bind to previously known epitopes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the isolation of specific molecules which bind highly selectively to chosen target molecules.
2. Related Technology
Today, a series of different methods are available for the identification of biochemical molecules such as peptides, antibodies, nucleic acids or synthetic-chemical substances which are to be developed for diagnostic or therapeutic purposes. In this connection, modern research work related to finding new active substances, has largely concentrated on the use of molecule libraries. In these libraries, biomolecules are made available—often in very large numbers, i.e. between 109 and 1015 of different species. In the ideal case, these libraries can be searched using different high throughput methods (Lenz, G. R. et al. (2000) Drug Discovery Today 5(4) 145-156; Jayasena, S. D. (1999). Clin. Chem. 45(9): 1628-1650; Khandurina, J. and A. Guttman (2002). Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 6(3), 359-366).
Such relatively new methods are already used in the preliminary searches for new active substances, e.g. for the functional characterisation of newly discovered proteins including the identification of their binding partners (MacBeath, G. and S. L. Schreiber (2000) Science 289(5485), 1760-1763). Screening methods involving molecule libraries are especially important for finding active substances which are identified by their binding to target proteins (target molecules). In this connection, there are libraries for macromolecules such as peptides or nucleic acids (aptamers) and combinatorial libraries of small organic molecules (Azriel-Rosenfeld, R. et al. (2004) J. Mol. Biol. 335(1): 177-192; Jayasena, S. D. (1999). Clin. Chem. 45(9): 1628-1650;; Khandurina, J. and A. Guttman (2002). Curr. Opin. Chem. Biol. 6(3), 359-366; MacBeath, G. and S. L. Schreiber (2000) Science 289(5485), 1760-1763).
Endothelial and immune cells play a central role in a large number of disorders and are often involved as causative factors in disease development. Here, very often, the decisive factors involved are the membrane molecules present on the cell surface whose function is activated by specific ligands. Here, below, a few examples are given to illustrate this:
Asthma: Cell activation and the aggravation of inflammation by specific interleukins has been observed in asthma (Doucet, C., D. Brouty-Boye, et al. (1998) J. Clin. Invest. 101(10): 2129-2139 ; Larche, M., D. S. Robinson, et al. (2003) J. Allergy Clin. Immunol. 111(3): 450-463.
Mucoviscidosis (cystic fibrosis): Chronic inflammation of the respiratory system is aggravated by stimulating factors (Dudez, T. S., M. Chanson, et al. (2002) J. Infect. Dis. 186(6): 774-781).
Fibrotic Lung Disease: Sustained inflammatory reactions lead to the release of growth factors which cause increased cell division (Krein, P. M. and B. W. Winston (2002) Chest 122(6 Suppl): 289S-293S).
Morbus Crohn and Ulcerative Colitis: In both intestinal affections, certain cytokines, by binding their receptors to the cell surface, promote the inflammatory processes (Schmidt, C., T. Marth, et al. (2002) Pathobiology 70(3): 177-83; Murakami, H., S. M. Akbar, et al. (2002) Clin. Exp. Immunol. 128(3): 504-510.)
Atherothrombosis in Diabetes patients: Diabetes is a risk factor for atherothrombosis and other vascular diseases whereby inflammation markers on immune cells and adhesion factors play a causative role (Berliner, S., O. Rogowski, et al. (2000) Cardiology 94(1): 19-25; Schram, M. T., N. Chaturvedi, et al. (2003) Diabetes Care 26(7), 2165-2173).
Rheumatoid arthritis: The disease is considered to be a chronic inflammatory process whereby the immune response stimulating and inhibiting factors are out of balance (Feldmann, M., et al. (1996) Cell 85(3): 307-310; den Broeder, A. A. et al. (2002) Ann. Rheum. Dis. 61(4): 311-318).
Cancer: Processes such as cell growth, angiogenesis, and the metastatic spread of tumors require the interaction of membrane receptors of the tumor cells with specific ligands (Baselga J. (2001) Eur. J. Cancer 37 suppl 4: P16-P22; Ribatti, D., A. Vacca, et al. (2002) Eur. J. Cancer 38(6): 750-757 ; Pecheur, I., O. Peyruchaud, et al. (2002) Faseb J. 16(10): 1266-1268).
Arteriosclerosis: A large number of membrane receptors play a decisive part in the development of arteriosclerosis (Freyberg, M. A., D. Kaiser, et al. (2001) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 286(1): 141-149; Lentsch, A. B. and P. A. Ward (2000) J. Pathol. 190(3): 343-348; Parker, C., 3rd, J. A. Vita, et al. (2001). Atherosclerosis 156(2): 417-424; Xu, Q. (2002) Arterioscler. Thromb. Vasc. Biol. 22(10): 1547-1559).
Alzheimer's Disease: In patients with Alzheimer's disease, the amyloid beta-protein can initiate an immune reaction in the brain which contributes to the course of the disease (Giri, R., Y. Shen, et al. (2000) Am. J. Physiol. Cell Physiol. 279(6): C1772-81; Johnstone, M., A. J. Gearing, et al. (1999) J. Neuroimmunol. 93(1-2): 182-193).
Today, many of these conditions are still very difficult or even impossible to treat successfully. In many cases, this is due to the fact that, as a rule, in spite of the substance libraries discussed above, faster and more sensitive screening methods and the recombinant manufacturing of target molecules, it has not been possible to isolate binding molecules which, under in vivo conditions, are highly effective and which have a strong binding to the chosen target molecule.
In this expert field therefore, there is still a great necessity for the development of active substances for medically relevant target molecules. Here, in almost all cases, the therapeutic effect is first mediated by the binding of the active substance to the medically relevant target molecule.
In particular, experience has shown that the screening methods employed with the current status of technology are rarely successful in isolating good binding molecules for native cell membrane molecules—and even then only with the greatest of difficulty. Here, the inclusion of the cell surface in the active substance development is particularly important because, using the methods to date, if at all, overwhelmingly binders against intracellular proteins or extracellular soluble proteins have been able to be isolated.
Among the problems here, there is the necessarily high cost for the isolation of the target molecules proteins as well as the fact that the isolated membrane proteins are possibly then present is the screening procedure in a changed structure. This would then no longer correspond with the in vivo situation, and thus the isolated binding molecules would demonstrate—if any at all—a reduced efficacy in vivo—in comparison with the experimental situation.
Previously published status of technology selection methods on mammalian cells (Arap, W., M. G. Kolonin, et al. (2002) Nat. Med. 8(2): 121-127; Blank, M., T. Weinschenk, et al. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276(19): 16464-16468; Daniels, D. A., H. Chen, et al. (2003) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A. 100(26): 15416-15421) were carried out with the purpose of first of all obtaining a wide spectrum of binding molecules (aptamers, peptides). These should then cover a large part of the surface proteins of the cell in question, e.g. a tumor cell, as targets. The only other additional option here, during the process or subsequently, would be to carry out a counter selection with a control cell (here not a tumor cell) in order to trap as many binding molecules as possible on this control cell and thus eliminate them. After this, in a high expenditure process, the target protein belonging to every binding molecule obtained must be searched for. Because however, today, many target proteins which have a medical relevance are already known, then these methods for finding an active substance against a protein which is already known are, in most cases, far too expensive. The applicability with a complete synthetic-chemical library (single pool) is, up to now, practically limited-to one technical principle: the specific binding to interesting targets remains limited to soluble proteins which can be first offered to the synthetic molecules as binding partners after expression and purification.
As yet, effective substances can only be identified as individual compounds on living cells but not in a "pool." This means that, especially here, binding tests are currently only possible as purely analytical tests in the form of numerous individual tests. The same applies to functional tests on cells where e.g. the modulation of cellular functions, such as cell division or the uptake of certain substances in the cell is carried out with a high workload for each individual substance, i.e. only in an analytical form but not as a preparative selection procedure from a pool of substances. As with other methods for the identification of substances from substance libraries (antibody, phage display, peptide and nucleic acid (aptamer) libraries), there is therefore, even for the highly promising synthetic chemical libraries, as yet no method which can be applied to the large number of potential target proteins on cell surfaces, usually receptors in cell membranes.
Therefore, according to the state of the art, there is an immense need for improved methods with whose help a large number of membrane proteins, which are associated with the origination of disease, can be made accessible to the modem methods of active substance development.

Method for manufacturing specific binding molecules against selected target molecules, kit, and binding molecules


Systems and methods for vehicle connectivity continuity are provided. In one embodiment, a vehicle communication system comprises: a first radio communication device having a predictive availability function, wherein the predictive availability function comprising an input configured to receive time correlated trajectory data for a planned route for a vehicle; and an attitude control model coupled to the predictive availability function, wherein the attitude control model generates and outputs predictions of vehicle attitude for a plurality of route positions defined along the planned route; wherein the predictive availability function generates a blockage schedule of predicted signal blockages of channels utilized by the communication device based on the predictions of vehicle attitude for the plurality of route positions; wherein the first radio communication device is configured to transfer between a first communication channel and a second communication channel at a predetermined position along the planned route based on the blockage schedule.

Radiation from a vehicle mounted line-of-sight radio communications antenna, for example a SATCOM antenna, may be blocked by vehicle structures in certain directions, dependent on the vehicle type and the location of the antenna. The scattering of the signal due to structural blockage may lead to non-compliant radiation causing interruptions in services relying on that communications link. The connectivity may be interrupted intermittently or possibly continuously when the vehicle's trajectory or attitude results in an extended structural blockage.
For the reasons stated above and for other reasons stated below which will become apparent to those skilled in the art upon reading and understanding the specification, there is a need in the art for alternate systems and methods for providing vehicle connectivity continuity.


Ascender for ascending on a rope, comprising a U-shaped clamp equipped with two lateral wings delineating an internal space for passage of the rope, and with an arresting surface with spikes against which the rope is blocked in case of a fall. The two wings are provided with two openings arranged facing one another and each having an edge in the form of an inclined ramp performing guiding of a karabiner passing through the two openings. The clamp comprises a mobile control part biased by a spring to an active actuation position of the karabiner along the ramp for the rope to come into contact against the arresting surface with spikes, so as to obtain a first ready-to-block state when ascending on the rope, and a second blocking state of the clamp on the rope in the event of a fall.

The invention relates to a safety ascender for ascending on a rope, comprising a U-shaped clamp equipped with two lateral wings delineating an internal space for passage of the rope, and with an arresting surface with spikes against which the rope is blocked in case of a fall, the two wings being provided with two openings arranged facing one another and each having an edge in the form of an inclined ramp performing guiding of a karabiner passing through the two openings.


An electronic control apparatus includes an exclusive power source line for a charge pump circuit which is discriminated from a common power source line. The exclusive power source line is connected to the common power source wiring via a via-hole va having an impedance larger than that of the exclusive source line. Similarly, the electronic control apparatus includes an exclusive ground line for the charge pump circuit which is discriminated from a common ground line. The exclusive ground line is connected to the common ground via an additional via-hole vb. Furthermore, a noise-suppressing capacitor C is connected between the exclusive power source and around lines.

The present invention relates to an electronic control apparatus, and more particularly to an electronic control apparatus equipped with a drive circuit for selectively controlling electric power supply to a driving objective.
According to a conventional electronic control apparatus, a switching type drive circuit is installed to selectively control electric power supply to a driving objective, such as an electronic element or an electric load, by turning on and off a switching element.
For example, the Japanese patent No. 2572408 or the Japanese patent No. 3368783 discloses a charge pump (charge-up) circuit for producing a high voltage by charging/discharging a capacitor. Another conventional drive circuit is, for example, a switching regulator (switching type power source circuit), or an electric load drive circuit for selectively driving an external electric load.
Especially, according to an electronic control apparatus, there is the tendency that electric power consumption increases in accordance with highly advanced functions. In this respect, adoption of a switching type drive circuit is effective in reducing the electric power loss. Meanwhile, an advanced electronic control apparatus incorporates numerous and various circuits.
In view of effectively installing numerous components, it is preferable to use a multilayered laminated printed board having as a plurality of wiring layers.
According to a switching type drive circuit, the current flows in a power supply path extending from the power source wiring to the ground wiring with a steep change in the rising-up or falling-down stage.
When such a pulse current is large and periodic, electromagnetic waves will be emitted as noises resulting from current changes from the wiring pattern of a printed board which serves as the power supply path of an electronic control apparatus, or from the wire harness of a power supply path which serves as the power supply path existing outside the electronic control apparatus. For example, in an automotive vehicle, the electromagnetic waves will give adverse effects to a radio or other electric wave receiving devices installed on this automotive vehicle. Furthermore, the electromagnetic waves will give adverse effects to other circuits in the electronic control apparatus.


A method and system for differentiating a vessel and a nodule within an image. The method and system first identifies a complex object in the image and then identifies portions of the complex object as a vessel or a nodule using a distance transform based method. A simplex object is identified in the image and the simplex object is identified as a vessel or a nodule using compactness values. Complex objects are analyzed using features in a distance transform map to identify a) nodule parts and b) vessels that are attached to or pass through the nodule parts.

The present invention relates generally to nodule segmentation, and more particularly to segmentation of nodules and vessels in Computed Tomography (CT) studies.
Lung cancer is a leading cause of cancer related death in the United States. However, when lung cancer is diagnosed and treated at its earlier and potentially more curable stage, better prognosis and higher survival rate can be achieved.
CT imaging uses x-ray equipment to obtain image data from different angles around the human body and then uses computer processing of the information to produce cross-sectional images of the body tissues and organs. CT imaging, which can provide detailed information regarding internal anatomic structures non-invasively, has been broadly used for early lung cancer screening and diagnosis. Using high-resolution volumetric pulmonary CT images, lung nodules, even with very small size, can be detected and the nodules followed through time to determine whether there are any changes in the nodules. Nodules are, for example, physical masses that have the radiographic appearances of hazy opacities in a CT image.
Nodules are more clearly shown in high resolution computed tomographic (HRCT) images than plain radiographs. In addition, the appearance of nodules in HRCT images is a highly significant finding as they often indicate the presence of an active and potentially treatable condition such as bronchioalveolar carcinomas or invasive adenocarcinoma.
Because nodules are typically associated with active lung disease, the presence of nodules often leads to further diagnostic evaluation, including, for example, lung biopsy. Thus, a computer-based segmentation can be of assistance to medical experts for diagnosis and treatment of certain types of lung disease. Accordingly, there is a need for a system and method of computer-based segmentation or differentiation of the nodules and the tissues that can be used to accurately and consistently segment nodules for quick diagnosis.
While nodule volume measure and subsequent calculation of growth rate are important clinic indices for cancer diagnosis, a variety of computer-based methods have been developed for fast, accurate, and consistent nodule segmentation and volume measure. One of the most common difficulties for computer-based methods is to remove attached vessels from the nodule segmentation. FIGS. 1 and 2 show CT images and enlargements from the CT images of a section of the lung. As can be seen from the enlarged portions of FIGS. 1 and 2, vessels 102 and 204 have a similar intensities as nodules 106 and 208. Therefore, vessels, 102 and 204 may erroneously be included when attempting to segment or differentiate the nodules 106 and 208.

Distance transform based vessel detection for nodule segmentation and analysis