Systems and techniques are disclosed relating to wireless communications. These systems and techniques involve wireless communications wherein a device may be configured to recover an information signal from a carrier using a reference signal, detect a frequency error in the information signal; and periodically tune the reference signal to reduce the frequency error.

1. Field
The present invention relates generally to electronics, and more specifically, to telecommunications using a tunable oscillator.
2. Background
Consumer demand for mobile wireless services has led to the development of an ever increasing number of cellular networks. One such network is based on code division multiple access (CDMA) technology which supports wireless voice and data services using spread-spectrum communications. In spread-spectrum communications, a large number of signals share the same frequency spectrum and, as a result, provide a high level of user capacity. This is achieved by transmitting each signal with a different pseudo-noise (PN) code that modulates a carrier, and thereby, spreads the signal. The transmitted signals are separated in the receiver by a correlator that uses a corresponding PN code to despread the signal. The undesired signals, whose codes do not match, are not despread and contribute only to noise.
A competing network which has become the defacto standard in Europe and Asia is Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) technology. Unlike CDMA, GSM uses narrowband time division multiple access (TDMA) technology to support wireless voice and data services. Other popular networks that have evolved over the years using TDMA technology include General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and EDGE, both which support high speed data services. These networks may be dispersed throughout the geographic landscape, each with its own unique set of protocols, services, and data rates.
Today, wireless communication devices are being deployed with technology that supports multiple cellular networks. Typically, these devices are equipped with a dedicated receiver for each network. A local oscillator (LO) circuit may be used to provide a stable reference signal to each receiver. The stable reference signal may be used by each individual receiver to recover information signals from a high frequency carrier. The LO circuit is typically implemented with a crystal oscillator driving several frequency multiplier circuits. The frequency multiplier circuits may be individually programmed to provide a reference signal to each receiver at the proper frequency. In order to maintain good receiver performance, a highly accurate and stable crystal oscillator is often employed. Alternatively, a tunable oscillator, such as a voltage controlled temperature compensated crystal oscillator (VCTCXO) may be used. A frequency tracking loop may be used to tune the oscillator to compensate for manufacturing tolerances, Doppler frequency shifts, and drift.
In more advanced systems, wireless communication devices may be equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS) receiver. GPS is part of a satellite based navigation system developed by the United States Department of Defense. It provides global coverage with navigational capability under various environmental conditions. In a fully operational GPS, the entire surface of the earth is covered by up to twenty-four satellites dispersed in six orbits with four satellites in each orbit. A GPS receiver in the wireless communications device uses signals modulated by a pseudo-random-noise (PRN) code from multiple satellites to pinpoint its exact location on earth. The raw data generated from the GPS receiver may be used for various applications. By way of example, the raw data may be plugged into map files stored in memory.
To improve the economic viability of these wireless communication devices, the GPS receiver often shares a common LO circuit with the cellular receivers. The problem with this approach is that the performance of the GPS receiver may be degraded if the crystal oscillator in the LO circuit is being tuned by the frequency tracking loop during GPS operation. Accordingly, there is a need for an innovative approach that can be used to tune a crystal oscillator in an LO circuit without degrading the performance of the GPS receiver.

Telecommunications using a tunable oscillator


A display device may include a display module and a cushion layer. The display module may include a display panel, which includes a circuit layer, a light emitting device layer on the circuit layer, and an encapsulation layer encapsulating the light emitting device layer, and a window substrate, which is on the display panel. A pattern including a vibration attenuating line extending in a direction may be defined by the cushion layer, and the cushion layer may be below the display module. The vibration attenuating line may be spaced apart from an edge of the cushion layer by a first length, and the first length may be a value obtained by dividing a sound speed in the display module by a natural frequency of the display module.

Various display devices are being developed for use in multimedia devices, such as televisions, mobile phones, tablet computers, navigation systems, and gaming machines.
In the case where a display device falls and hits another surface, the display device may be cracked by a collision or impact. A display device may include a cushion layer to absorb the impact.
However, even if the cushion layer is provided in the display device, the impact may be concentrated on a specific portion of the display device due to resonance caused by a standing wave, and this may lead to the display device being broken or damaged.


Methods of fabricating a semiconductor device may include forming guide patterns exposing base patterns, forming first nanowires on the base patterns by performing a first nanowire growth process, forming a first molding insulating layer between the first nanowires, forming holes exposing surfaces of the base patterns by removing the nanowires, and forming first electrodes including a conductive material in the holes.

Technical Field
Embodiments of the inventive concept relate to a method of fabricating a semiconductor device using nanowires, and more specifically, a method of forming a capacitor structure, contact structure, and line structure of a semiconductor device using silicon nanowires and insulating nanowires.
Discussion of Related Art
As the degree of integration of semiconductor devices has been increasing, horizontal sizes are decreasing and, at the same time, vertical heights are increasing in storage electrodes of capacitor structures, contact structures, and line structures. Accordingly, photolithography and etching processes for forming these patterns have become difficult. To solve the technical challenges, methods of forming fine patterns using a nanowire process and forming air-gaps between the patterns to reduce parasitic capacitance existing between the patterns are proposed.

Methods of fabricating semiconductor devices using nanowires


A method and device for treating a mammalian organism to obtain a desired local or systemic physiological or pharmacological effect is provided. The method includes administering a sustained release drug delivery system to a mammalian organism in need of such treatment at an area wherein release of an effective agent is desired and allowing the effective agent to pass through the device in a controlled manner. The device includes an inner core or reservoir comprising the effective agent; a first coating layer, which is permeable to the passage of the effective agent; a second coating layer, which is essentially impermeable to the passage of the effective agent; and a third coating layer, which is permeable to the passage of the effective agent. The first coating layer covers at least a portion of the inner core. The second coating layer covers at least a portion of the first coating layer and inner core; however, at least a small portion of the first coating layer or inner core is not coated with the second coating layer. The second coating layer includes an impermeable film and at least one impermeable disc. The third coating layer essentially completely covers the second coating layer and the uncoated portion of the first coating layer or inner core.

Over the years, various drugs have been developed to assist in the treatment of a wide variety of ailments and diseases. However, in many instances such drugs are not capable of being administered either orally or intravenously without the risk of various detrimental side effects.
For example, intravenous ganciclovir (GCV) is effective in the treatment of CMV retinitis in AIDS patients, but bone marrow toxicity limits its usefulness. The incidence of neutropenia (absolute neutrophil count < 1000) during intravenous GCV therapy ranges from 30 to 50%. Continuous maintenance GCV therapy is necessary to prevent progression or recrudescence of the disease, but despite maintenance therapy 30 to 50% of patients experience a relapse during treatment. Other problems associated with systemic GCV administration include the risk of sepsis related to permanent indwelling catheters and the inability to receive concurrent therapy with zidovudine (AZT) which has been shown to prolong life and improve the immune function in AIDS patients.
Intravitreal GCV injections of 200 to 400 .mu.g administered once or twice weekly have resulted in temporary remission of CMV retinitis in AIDS patients. Intravitreal GCV injections may provide a higher intraocular drug concentration than systemic therapy and reduce the incidence of neutropenia. Current treatment of CMV retinitis in AIDS patients is clearly suboptimal. Ganciclovir is virustatic and thus disease inhibition requires maintenance drug administration.
Due to the risks that certain drugs impose, researchers have developed systems for administering such drugs to aid in the treatment of these ailments and diseases. Many of these systems provide a release rate which reduces the occurrence of detrimental side effects.
One such delivery device is an orally administered pill or capsule which contains a drug encapsulated within various layers of a composition that dissolves over a period of time in the digestive tract, thereby allowing a gradual or slow release of the drug into the system.
Another type of device for controlling the administration of such drugs is produced by coating a drug with a polymeric material permeable to the passage of the drug to obtain the desired effect. Such devices are particularly suitable for treating a patient at a specific local area without having to expose the patient's entire body to the drug. This is advantageous because many possible side effects of the drug could be minimized.
Such systems are particularly suitable for treating ailments affecting the eye. Advances for administering a drug to the external surface of the eye are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,335 to Arnold. Arnold describes various ocular inserts that act as a deposit or drug reservoir for slowly releasing a drug into the tear film for prolonged periods of time. These inserts are fabricated of a flexible polymeric material that is biologically inert, non-allergenic, and insoluble in tear fluid. To initiate the therapeutic programs of these devices, the ocular inserts are placed in the cul-de-sac between the sclera of the eyeball and the eyelid for administering the drug to the eye.
Devices formed of polymeric materials that are insoluble in tear fluid retain their shape and integrity during the course of the needed therapy to serve as a drug reservoir for continuously administering a drug to the eye and the surrounding tissues at a rate that is not effected by dissolution or erosion of the polymeric material. Upon termination of the desired therapeutic program, the device is removed from the cul-de-sac.
Another type of device used for sustained release of a drug to the external surface of the eye, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,416,530, is manufactured with a plurality of capillary openings that communicate between the exterior of the device and the interior chamber generally defined from a polymeric membrane. While these capillary openings in this construction are effective for releasing certain drugs to the eye, they add considerable complexity to the manufacture of the device because it is difficult to control the size of these openings in large scale manufacturing using various polymers.
Another device, described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,618,604, does not involve such capillary openings, but instead provides for the release of the drug by diffusion through a polymeric membrane. The device, in a preferred embodiment, as disclosed in that patent, comprises a sealed container having the drug in an interior chamber. Nonetheless, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,335, certain problems have been identified with such devices such as the difficult task of sealing the margins of the membrane to form the container. In addition, stresses and strains introduced into the membrane walls from deformation during manufacturing of those devices may cause the reservoir to rupture and leak.
Another such device, described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,014,335, comprises a three-layered laminant having a pair of separate and discrete first and third walls formed of a material insoluble in tear fluid with one of the walls formed of a drug release material permeable to the passage of drug and the other wall formed of a material impermeable to the passage of the drug.
The above described systems and devices are intended to provide sustained release of drugs effective in treating patients at a desired local or systemic level for obtaining certain physiological or pharmacological effects. However, there are many disadvantages associated with their use including the fact that it is often times difficult to obtain the desired release rate of the drug. The need for a better release system is especially significant in the treatment of CMV retinitis.
Prior to the development of the present invention, there was developed a novel sustained release delivery device which ameliorated many of the aforementioned problems associated with drug delivery. The device, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,475, included a first coating essentially impermeable to the passage of the effective agent and a second coating permeable to the passage of the effective agent. In the device, the first coating covered at least a portion of the inner core; however, at least a small portion of the inner core is not coated with the first coating layer. The second coating layer essentially completely covers the first coating layer and the uncoated portion of the inner core. The portion of the inner core which is not coated with the second coating layer allows passage of the agent into the second coating layer thus allowing controlled release.
While the devices described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,378,475 solve many of the aforementioned problems pertaining to drug delivery, the devices and the method of making the devices are not without problems. In particular, polymers suitable for coating the inner core are frequently relatively soft and technical difficulties can arise in production of uniform films. This is especially true when attempting to coat non-spherical bodies with edges (such as a cylindrical shape). In such case, relatively thick films must be applied to achieve uninterrupted coatings. Thus, the devices tend to be larger than necessary as a result of the thickness needed to seal the ends of the inner core.
The problem of device size is extremely important in the design of devices for implantation into limited anatomical spaces such as the eye. Larger devices require more complex surgery to both implant and remove. Furthermore, the extra polymer required to achieve a uniform coating reduces the potential volume of the implant and hence limits the amount of drug that can be delivered.
As a result of all of the above, there remains a need in the art for improving the design and the method of preparing devices which provide a sustained release of a drug to a patient to obtain a desired local or systemic physiological or pharmacological effect especially for ocular use.


A system for managing objects in a clustered network includes a file system containing at least one copy of a data object. The system can include several clustered servers in communication with the file system. A distributed consensus algorithm is used to select a host server. The selected host server can contain a copy of the data object, such as in local cache, providing access to the local copy to any other server in the cluster. Any change made to an item hosted by the host server can also be updated in the file system. If the host server becomes unable to host the object, a new host can be chosen using the distributed consensus algorithm. The other servers are then notified of the new host by multicast messaging.

In distributed computer systems, it is often the case that several servers and/or networking nodes need to work together. These servers and nodes have to be coordinated, as there is typically networking information that needs to be shared among the machines in order to allow them to function as a single entity. Typical approaches to machine coordination can be very expensive in terms of resources and efficiency.
In general, some synchronization is required for the nodes to agree, as there may be several messages passing between the nodes. This requirement for synchronization may, however, be undesirable in a clustered networking environment. Many clustered environments simply avoid imposing any such synchronization requirement. There are applications, however, where agreement is necessary.
In one case where agreement is needed, a device can exist to which a cluster may want exclusive access. One such device is a transaction log on a file system. Whenever a transaction is in progress, there are certain objects that need to be saved in a persistent way, such that if a failure occurs those persistently-saved objects can be recovered.
For these objects that need to be saved in one place, there is typically a transaction monitor that runs on each server in that cluster or domain, which then uses a local file system to access the object. Each server can have its own transaction manager such that there is little to no problem with persistence. There is then also no need for coordination, as each server has its own transaction manager.
For example, there can be a cluster including three servers, each server having a transaction manager. One of those servers can experience a failure or other problem causing the server to be unavailable to the cluster. Because the failed server is the only server having access to a particular transaction log, none of the transactions in that particular log can be recovered until the server is again available to the cluster.
Recovery of the log can be difficult or at least inefficient, as a problem with the server can take a significant amount of time to fix. Significant server problems can include such occurrences as the shorting out of a motherboard on the server or a power supply being burnt out.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method for calibrating a radio frequency (RF) transmitter begins by mixing a modulated RF signal with an in-phase (I) component of a local oscillation or a quadrature (Q) component of the local oscillation to produce a baseband representation of the modulated RF signal. The method continues by converting the baseband representation of the modulated RF signal into a digital baseband signal. The method continues by filtering the digital baseband signal to produce at least one frequency spectrum component. The method continues by interpreting the at least one frequency spectrum component to produce a calibration signal. The method continues by calibrating at least one of DC offset and gain offset of digital transmitter processing module based on the calibration signal.

Communication systems are known to support wireless and wire lined communications between wireless and/or wire lined communication devices. Such communication systems range from national and/or international cellular telephone systems to the Internet to point-to-point in-home wireless networks. Each type of communication system is constructed, and hence operates, in accordance with one or more communication standards. For instance, wireless communication systems may operate in accordance with one or more standards including, but not limited to, IEEE 802.11, Bluetooth, advanced mobile phone services (AMPS), digital AMPS, global system for mobile communications (GSM), code division multiple access (CDMA), and/or variations thereof.
Depending on the type of wireless communication system, a wireless communication device, such as a cellular telephone, two-way radio, personal digital assistant (PDA), personal computer (PC), laptop computer, home entertainment equipment, et cetera communicates directly or indirectly with other wireless communication devices. For direct communications (also known as point-to-point communications), the participating wireless communication devices tune their receivers and transmitters to the same channel (e.g., one of the plurality of radio frequency (RF) carriers of the wireless communication system) and share information over that channel. For indirect wireless communications, each wireless communication device communicates directly with an associated base station (e.g., for cellular services) and/or an associated access point (e.g., for an in-home or in-building wireless network) via an assigned channel. To complete a communication session between the wireless communication devices, the associated base stations and/or associated access points communicate with each other directly, via a system controller, via the public switch telephone network, via the internet, and/or via some other wide area network.
For each wireless communication device to participate in wireless communications, it includes a built-in radio transceiver (i.e., receiver and transmitter) or is coupled to an associated radio transceiver (e.g., a station for in-home and/or in-building wireless communication networks, RF modem, etc.). As is known, the receiver receives RF signals, removes the RF carrier frequency from the RF signals directly or via one or more intermediate frequency stages, and demodulates the signals in accordance with a particular wireless communication standard to recapture the transmitted data. The transmitter converts data into RF signals by modulating the data in accordance with the particular wireless communication standard and adds an RF carrier to the modulated data in one or more intermediate frequency stages to produce the RF signals.
As the demand for enhanced performance (e.g., reduced interference and/or noise, image rejection, improved quality of service, compliance with multiple standards, increased broadband applications, et cetera), smaller sizes, lower power consumption, and reduced costs increases, wireless communication device engineers are faced with a very difficult design challenge to develop such a wireless communication device. Typically, an engineer is forced to compromise one or more of these demands to adequately meet the others. For instance, an engineer may choose a direct conversion topology (i.e., convert directly from an RF signal to a base-band signal or directly from a base-band signal to an RF signal) to meet size requirements and/or broadband application requirements. However, for direct conversion transceivers, noise and/or interference increases due to local oscillation leakage, imaging problems, non-linearities due to component mismatches and/or process variations are more detrimental to overall performance are more pronounced.
As is known, local oscillation leakage results from I-Q DC offset and imperfections of the mixers within a transmitter that allow the local oscillation, which equals the RF, to be present in the resultant RF signal. The local oscillation leakage can be minimized by using multiple IF stages within the transmitter. In such an implementation, each IF stage uses a local oscillation that has a significantly different frequency than the RF, with the sum of the multiple local oscillations equals the RF. Since each local oscillation has a significantly different frequency than the RF, each local oscillation is outside the RF band of interest (i.e., the frequency spectrum of the resulting RF signal). But this requires an abandoning of the direct conversion topology and its benefits with respect to size reduction, power consumption reduction, reduced costs, and reduced complexity for broadband applications.
Therefore, a need exists for a low power, reduced size, reduced cost, and robust performance direct conversion topology radio, radio transmitter, radio receiver, and/or components thereof.


A magnetic catch is used on coverings for architectural openings to releasably retain the coverings in an extended position and immediately adjacent to the framework of the opening. Magnetic components are installed on the covering and the framework surrounding at least part of the architectural opening. The covering is then placed in a position such that the magnetic components on the covering and the framework are close enough to attract each other through their respective magnetic forces. The magnetic forces work to releasably hold the covering in position relative to the framework.

a. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to retractable coverings for architectural openings, and more particularly, magnetic components installed on the coverings and the framework surrounding the architectural openings to hold the coverings in position.
b. Background Art
Retractable coverings for architectural openings, such as window blind assemblies, are known in the art. When a window blind assembly is installed on an open window, wind blowing through the window can cause slats of the blind assembly to swing back and forth. Further, sometimes blind assemblies are installed on doors and will undesirably swing to and from the door when it is opened and closed.
One way to prevent the slats of the blind assembly from moving relative to the window or door is to secure the bottom slat to the framework surrounding the window or door. Many window blind assemblies currently available, however, do not provide a means for securing the bottom slat to the framework. Some blind assemblies do provide such means, but the assemblies require the user to mechanically latch and unlatch a mechanism which is time consuming and a nuisance.
It is to overcome these shortcomings in prior art coverings that the present invention was developed.

Magnetic catch for bottom rails of coverings for architectural openings


A driving device for a light emitting display, which includes a plurality of scan lines for transferring a selection signal, comprises: a first driver for shifting a first signal having a first integer multiple of first pulses by a first period, and sequentially outputting the first signal; a second driver for shifting a second signal having a second pulse by a second period, and sequentially outputting the second signal; and a third driver for sequentially outputting the selection signal having a second integer multiple of third pulses corresponding to at least one of the first integer multiple of first pulses, and a fourth pulse corresponding to the second pulse, in response to the first signal and the second signal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a light emitting display, a driving device thereof, and a driving method thereof. More specifically, the present invention relates to a light emitting display using an organic light emitting diode (OLED), and a driving method thereof.
2. Related Art
In general, an OLED display electrically excites a phosphorous organic compound to emit light, and it voltage-drives or current-drives a plurality of organic emitting cells to display images. The organic emitting cell includes an anode, an organic thin film, and a cathode layer.
A method for driving the organic emission cells can be classified as a passive matrix method or as an active matrix method using thin film transistors (TFTs). The passive matrix method provides anodes and cathodes that cross (or cross over) each other, in which method a line to drive the organic emission cells is selected. The active matrix method provides TFTs that access respective pixel electrodes, and a pixel is driven according to a voltage maintained by a capacitance of a capacitor accessed by a gate of a TFT. Depending on the formats of the signals applied to capacitors for establishing the voltage, the active matrix method can be categorized as a voltage programming method or a current programming method.
The pixel circuit of the voltage programming method has a difficulty in obtaining high gray scales because of deviations of the threshold voltage VTH and carrier mobility, the deviations being caused by non-uniformity in the manufacturing process. For example, in order to represent 8-bit (i.e., 256) gray scales in the case of driving thin film transistors by a voltage of 3V (volts), it is required to apply the voltage to the gate of the thin film transistor with an interval less than a voltage of 12 mV (=3V/256). If the deviation of the threshold voltage of the thin film transistor caused by the non-uniformity in the manufacturing process is 100 mV, it is difficult to represent high gray scales.
However, the pixel circuit of the current programming method achieves uniform display characteristics when the driving transistor in each pixel has non-uniform voltage-current characteristics, provided that a current source for supplying the current to the pixel circuit is uniform throughout the whole panel.
However, the pixel circuit of the current programming method involves a long data programming time because of a parasitic capacitance component provided on the data line. In particular, the time for programming the data on the current pixel line is influenced by the voltage state of the data line according to the data of a previous pixel line, and in particular, the data programming time is further lengthened when the data line is charged with a voltage which is very different from the target voltage (the voltage corresponding to the current data). This phenomenon becomes an even greater factor as the gray level becomes lower (near black).

Light emitting display and driving device and method thereof


According to one embodiment, a controller includes a generator and a creator. The generator generates a channel matrix by counting a number of times a combination of a correct bit value and a read level appears for each bit forming a decoded first frame, based on readout data indicating a read level of each of a plurality of bits forming a frame and the decoded frame. The creator creates a table by statistically calculating a likelihood of a correct bit value of each read level based on the channel matrix.

Data read out from a nonvolatile semiconductor memory is normally converted into an LLR (Log-Likelihood Ratio) in accordance with a pre-created table called an LLR table, and undergoes error correction. The likelihood of write data (i.e., a correct bit value) with respect to readout data changes in accordance with stress on a storage area of the readout data.
Even when a plurality of LLR tables optimized for a plurality of typical stresses (e.g., PD (Program Disturb), DR (Data Retention), and RD (Read Disturb) are pre-created, it is difficult to adapt the tables to all of various stresses that can be applied to memory cells of a nonvolatile semiconductor memory. That is, even when a plurality of LLR tables are pre-created, it may be impossible to suppress deterioration of the error correctability under a given unexpected stress (e.g., a composite stress of the DR stress and RD stress).


A sensor device, having a flexible printed circuit board that has a fastening section for a chip structure, a chip structure situated on the fastening section of the flexible printed-circuit board, and a damper element for damping the chip structure from mechanical influences. The fastening section of the flexible printed circuit board, the chip structure and the damper element are situated one on top of the other.

Sensor devices which are used, for example, in security systems of motor vehicles, usually have a chip structure having a sensor chip and an evaluation chip that is electrically connected to the sensor chip. The sensor chip is developed in the form of a micromechanical component (MEMS, microelectromechanical system), in order to record a physical measured quantity, such as an acceleration or a rotational rate. The evaluation chip is used for controlling the sensor chip and for the evaluation or further processing of measuring signals of the sensor chip.
Depending on their applications, the sensor devices may be developed undamped or damped. In one conventional specific embodiment, the chips are provided on a floor plate, which is situated within a frame-shaped housing base body (premold frame). The base plate is surrounded at its edge by an electric damper element, and connected on the inside to the housing frame by the damper element. In this way, the floor plate is deflectable with respect to the housing frame, whereby damping of the chip from outer mechanical influences, such as jolts or vibrations is made possible. The housing frame has contact elements, via which the sensor device is able to be contacted from the outside. Within the housing frame, the contact elements are electrically connected via bonding wires to the evaluation chip.
In the conventional sensor device, there may be the problem that the damping is effective only at certain frequencies, whereby vibrations are able to lead to interferences of the sensor chip and with that, of the measuring signals. The damping properties are a function of the geometry of the damper element and the material properties of the damper material (usually a silicone). Besides the required elasticity, however, the damper element is subject to further requirements, so that selection of the material is greatly restricted. It is required, for example, that the damper material be sprayable, in order to make simple processing possible, as well as good adhesion with regard to the floor plate (e.g., steel) and the housing frame (e.g., plastic). For the decoupling of various interference frequencies, it may be required for each case to have its own housing, which is connected with high expenditure.
Furthermore, the construction of the sensor device may lead to the impairment or interruption of the electrical connection. Jolts or accelerations, which may occur, for instance, during a drop test or improper handling of the sensor device, result in a relatively great deflection of the base plate with respect to the housing frame. This creates a corresponding relative motion in the bonding wires, which are fastened to the evaluation chip and at the housing frame. Connected with this is a drifting away of the bonding wires or tearing or loosening of the bonding wires from their contact locations. The essentially horizontal construction of the sensor device also has a relatively great lateral requirement for space. Also provided are dead areas in the form of sealing areas within the housing frame and around the base plate, by which the base area of the sensor (footprint) is clearly greater than that of the chip.
German Patent Application No. DE 10 2009 000 571.4 describes a further damped sensor device in which an electrical connection between contact elements of a housing frame and an evaluation chip is produced with the aid of a flexible printed-circuit board, in order to achieve a construction that is insensitive to jolts. In one specific embodiment, the flexible printed circuit board has a section used as the base part, on which the chip is situated. The base plate is surrounded at its edge by an electric damper element, and connected on the inside to the housing frame by the damper element.


A circuit board device comprises a first wiring board (79) having plural first electrode terminals (73, 75, 77) for connection row-arranged on a surface layer, a second wiring board (87) having plural second electrode terminals (81, 83, 85) for connection row-arranged on a surface layer, and an anisotropic conductive member (89) disposed therebetween to the electrode terminals (73, 75, 77, 81, 83, 85). A local portion of each of the wiring boards (79, 87) has a step difference to divide and dispose the electrode terminals (73, 75, 77, 81, 83, 85). A local portion of the anisotropic conductive member (89) corresponding to the step difference has a step shape that is capable of contacting with the step difference. A laminate comprising respective wiring boards (79, 87) and the anisotropic conductive member disposed therebetween is pressed and held in a lamination direction.

Conventionally, mobile phones, PDA (Personal Digital Assistant) terminals or other electronic devices include plural wiring boards on which printed wirings are formed and a number of electronic parts are mounted. The wiring boards are generally connected each other via a connector or using a connecting medium such as solder.
In recent years, the electronic devices have high-functionality and multifunctions. Plural printed wiring boards including a number of electrode terminals for connection should be connected. The electrode terminals are often disposed in a matrix array in the printed wiring board (the matrix array herein means that the electrode terminals are systematically, not always orthogonal, arranged in a matrix).
In the conventional electronic device, an example of the circuit board device including plural wiring boards connecting each other has a configuration that electrode (signal) terminals arranged in the matrix array on respective wiring boards can be connected. The circuit board device is a most general-purpose type such that two printed wiring boards are connected via a connector. Specifically, a convex (male) connector is attached as a connecting part at the predetermined portion of one printed wiring board, and a concave (female) connector is attached as a mating connecting part at the predetermined portion of the other printed wiring board. The electrode terminals on the respective printed wiring boards are electrically connected each other by fitting the connectors.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-56907 (FIG. 3, page 4, hereinafter referred to as Reference No. 1) discloses a circuit board device including plural wiring boards in the conventional electronic device that electrode (signal) terminals arranged in a matrix array on the wiring boards can be connected. The circuit board device comprises a first wiring board having plural first electrode terminals 33 for connection row-arranged on a surface layer, a second wiring board having plural second electrode terminals for connection row-arranged on a surface layer, and a square pole-shaped anisotropic conductive member disposed between the first wiring board and the second wiring board into which metal terminals are embedded corresponding to the positions of the electrode terminals. Specifically, vias are formed on the first electrode terminals of the first wiring board to draw wiring patterns onto an inner layer, vias are also formed on the second electrode terminals of the second wiring board to draw wiring patterns onto an inner layer, and the anisotropic conductive member is disposed between the first wiring board and the second wiring board to provide the laminated circuit board device. The electrode terminals of respective wiring boards are electrically connected each other via the metal terminals embedded into the anisotropic conductive member.
In this regard, in any of the conventional circuit board devices described above, the wiring boards are easily separated each other, whereby the wiring board can be replaced if an electronic part to be mounted is defective.
Similarly, it is known that electrode (signal) terminals arranged on a wiring board can be connected in a circuit board device including plural wiring boards in the conventional electronic device. The circuit board device is a general-purpose type that a flexible print wiring board having a connect portion is directly connected to a rigid print wiring board via a connecting means. Specifically, the electrode terminals of the flexible printed wiring board and the rigid printed wiring board are connected using a connecting medium such as solder, ACF (Anisotropic Conductive Film), ACP (Anisotropic Conductive Paste) and the like to provide the circuit board device. Thus, the electrode terminals of the flexible printed wiring board and the rigid printed wiring board are electrically connected via the connecting medium. When the solder is used as the connecting medium, typical solder generally used for mounting the electronic parts to the wiring board can be used. Before the wiring boards are connected, a solder paste may be applied to the electrode terminals of the wiring board to fix the boards temporarily, and the connected parts may be heated and pressed to connect and fix the wiring boards. When the ACF or the ACP is used upon the connection of the wiring boards, a film or a paste may be sandwiched between the electrode terminals to be connected, and heated and pressed to connect and fix the wiring boards as in the case of using the solder, since the ACF is a film-like form comprising an adhesive resin and fine conductive particles and the ACP is a paste-like form comprising the similar materials.
In regard to the applicability of the connecting medium, the solder is advantageously used with low costs because the solder is generally used for mounting other electronic parts. However, the solder liquefies upon the connection to shorten adjacent electrode terminals (conductive patterns) and is therefore not suitable for connecting the terminals with a narrow pitch (in fact, connecting the terminals having 0.3 mm pitch or less is technically difficult). Although the ACF or the ACP invites high costs as compared with the solder, the narrow pitch (even 0.05 mm pitch) can be realized and the ACF or the ACP is therefore generally used for connecting a glass substrate of a crystal liquid display and a crystal liquid driver.
Japanese Unexamined Utility Model Registration Application Publication No. 2-74784 (FIG. 1, claim of utility model, hereinafter referred to as Reference No. 2) discloses a circuit board device including plural wiring boards in the conventional electronic device that electrode (signal) terminals arranged in a matrix array on the wiring boards can be connected. A connector is inserted and mounted into/to a printed board having a guide to fit and contact the connector into/with contact pads having conductive patterns to provide a circuit board device. Specifically, a local portion at one side of the printed board is stepped as a pad plate. Plural contact pads (electrode terminals) are arranged on the pad plate. The guide having concave portions for catching near the local portion at one side of the printed board. One end of the connector having a thickness that is substantially same as that of the printed board has a step-like shape so that a contact plate can be engaged with the pad plate. Plural contacts are disposed under the contact plate such that the contacts are protruded in the same arrangement as the contact pads. Convex portions (spheres are attached to a panel) that apply a force to be caught by the concave portions of the guide are formed. One end of the guide of the printed board is inserted into one end of the connector. The guide is engaged and flushed with the connector in a state that the convex portions of the connector are caught by the concave portions of the guide. Thus, a circuit board device is provided. The contacts are slid and contacted with the contact pads to electrically connect the electrode terminals of the printed board and the connector.
The electrode terminals arranged on the wiring boards of the above-mentioned circuit board devices are evaluated for connection. All circuit board devices described above have the following problems.
The configuration using the solder, ACF, ACP and the like as the connecting medium as described above advantageously realizes a compact body accompanied by slimming and space-saving of the recent electronic devices. In this configuration, the wiring board cannot be easily removed. Therefore, once a defective part is found, all wiring boards including the wiring board to which the defective part is connected cannot be usable (this is noticeable especially when the solder is used), since a probability that a defective part is mounted on a latest-type LSI cannot be ignored (the probability that the defective part is found corresponds to the number of the parts, and the more the parts are, the more the probability increases). As a result, the manufacturing costs undesirably become high due to the defective part.
In contrast, in the configuration using the connector described earlier or using the anisotropic conductive member described in Reference No. 1, each wiring board can be removed. Accordingly, if the defective part is mounted, only the wiring board to which the defective part is connected is removed and replaced with a new one. The problem of an increase in the manufacturing costs caused by the defective part can be advantageously solved or reduced. However, in this configuration, a mounting height becomes high and therefore the compact body cannot be sufficiently realized.
In order to decrease a mounted area of the connection in such a configuration, a configuration of a CSP type substrate and a substrate connector is under review. The electrode terminals of the wiring board to which the connector is mounted are arranged in a matrix array, thereby reducing the mounted area. When respective electrode terminals are arranged in a matrix array for densification, vias are formed on the electrode terminals and the wirings should be drawn into the inner layer. When the vias are formed on the electrode terminals, the surfaces of the electrodes are dented about 15 to 40 μm. Accordingly, mounting the rigid CSP type connector may cause voids and a poor contact at the vias or stress concentration thereby decreasing reliability.
These problems also arise on the circuit board device using the anisotropic conductive material described in Reference No. 1. When the electrode terminals are arranged in a matrix array for densification, the wirings should be drawn into the inner layer. The vias dent the surfaces of the electrodes about 15 to 40 μm. Accordingly, a poor contact is provided at the vias.
Furthermore, in the circuit board device described in Reference No. 2, a contact pressure is produced only by a metal elasticity on a contact formed on a contact plate of the connector that fits into the stepped wiring board. In this case, the contact pressure may be changed depending on a height difference of the steps by the contact plate variations produced. When there are contact-to-contact variations upon the production, the contact pressure may be changed per contact even on the same step. Thus, the contact pads (electrode terminals) on the step are not electrically contacted with the contacts by the uniform contact pressure, resulting in poor connection.
In summary, solving the following problems is desirable: the circuit board device using the anisotropic conductive material described in Reference No 1 becomes high upon the mounting although the increase in the manufacturing costs caused by the defective part can be solved, the poor contact is produced at the vias, and the vias are difficult to be formed.
The present invention is made to solve these problems. An object of the present invention is to provide a circuit board device that can connect wiring boards on which plural electrode terminals for connection are arranged in a matrix array and can be removed and that is easily produced to realize further slimming and space-saving, and to provide a method of interconnecting wiring boards.

Circuit board device and method of interconnecting wiring boards


A mailer for disks. The mailer has first and second pockets for receiving disks, each pocket formed of front and back rectangular panel members joined at at least one pair of corresponding edges and unconnected on at least one pair of corresponding edges. The pockets are foldably attached by a spine at an edge of each of said pockets. There is a sealing member for adhering the first pocket to the second pocket to maintain the mailer in a closed conformation. At any pocket edge not retaining the received disk by the joined edges, the spine, or the sealing member, the disk is retained in the pocket by retaining means.

The invention relates to mailers for mailing computer disks.
When a disk is to be mailed, it must be enclosed in a mailer. The mailer must comply with postal regulations--size requirements, address positioning and clarity, optical character scannability for preferred rates, etc. It is desireable that the mailer protect the disk from shipping damage, and offer some security against tampering during transit.


There is provided a device and a method capable of simply manipulating a sample, without the need for an expensive device.

For example, in a cell operation such as rotation and positioning of an ovum in microfertilization or microinsemination, controlling of position and attitude of a cell, being a small sample, is important. As an operation method for a small sample, a method using a manipulator, a method using an alternating electric field, a method using laser light, and a method using vibration are known. Outlines of these methods will be described in the following.
(Method Using a Manipulator)
As a method using a manipulator, for example, a holding pipette is physically hooked and turned, or inner pressure of a holding pipette is varied to suck in or expel, to incidentally vary the attitude of a sample. However, this type of method requires skill and takes a lot of time for a beginner, and is known to be inefficient. With this method, therefore, there is the disadvantage that a system for assisting adjustment of physical attitude and position, or alternatively a system for automatic injection, are required.
(Method Using an Alternating Electric Field)
As a method using an alternating electrical field, attitude and position of a dielectric such as a cell are controlled by, for example, placing a plurality of electrodes inside a dish, and applying an alternating electrical field. With this method, it is necessary to take into consideration damage inflicted on the cell etc. by application of the electric field. Also, arranging a sample with good accuracy close to a glass pipette is difficult, and it is necessary to bring the glass pipette close to the sample. Therefore, the method using an alternating electric field is currently only used in extremely limited operations.
There have also been reports of a method used with organic sample microscopic operations, where electrodes are attached to a holding pipette and an injection pipette, and an alternating electric field generated between the two glass pipettes to carry out rotation of the sample (refer to patent publication 1, below). However, with this procedure there is a problem that a new operation is required to attach electrodes to the glass pipettes.
(Method Using Laser Light)
As a method using laser light, laser light is condensed by a lens, and a transparent sample is manipulated. With this method, by increasing output of the laser light used, it is also possible to perform processing of a few μm or less. This method can carry out non-contact sample manipulation and processing at the same time, but since laser light is used it is not possible to use directly in normal microscopic manipulations, and it is necessary to newly install a dedicated structure. There is therefore the drawback with implementation of this method that is demands extremely high cost.
(Method Using Vibration)
As a method using vibration, a rod-shaped vibrator such as a glass pipette is vibrated, to generate at least one standing wave in the vibrator (refer to patent publication 2 below). With this method, a sample is trapped at a node portion of a standing wave generated in the vibrator, and the sample is rotated.
However, the position of the standing wave node is more or less fixed according to the vibration mode. For this reason, with this method the position where it is possible to manipulate a sample is limited by the vibration mode. In particular, with this method manipulation of a sample at the tip end of a pipette is considered difficult. This is because it considered that a node is not generated at the pipette tip.
Besides the methods described above, there have also been reports of using ultrasound and using thermosetting resin in manipulation methods for microscopic samples, but in practical terms there are still many unresolved problems.
Patent Publication 1
Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 2001-239500
Patent Publication 2
International Patent Publication No. WO01/072951

Sample movement control unit, sample movement parameters acquisition method, and sample movement control method

Abstract: A device of the present invention comprises a pipette 4, and vibration section 5, a control section 7 and a storage section 8. At least part of the pipette 4 will be disposed within a liquid 2. The control section 5 causes the pipette 4 to vibrate. The control section 7 supplies vibration signals to the vibration section 5. The storage section 8 stores parameters for generating vibration signals. These parameters include information for generating a first vibrating wave causing a wave motion for drawing a particular sample 3 being within a specified distance from a tip of the pipette 4 to occur within a liquid 2, and information for generating a second vibrating wave causing a wave motion for rotating the drawn in sample 3 to occur. The information for generating the first standing wave and the information for generating the second standing wave are, for example, amplitude and frequency of vibration.

The University of Electro-Communications


System and method embodiments are disclosed here to resolve Internet Protocol (IP) address overlap of Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) endpoints in packets forwarded between the VXLAN and an external or public network. An embodiment method includes assigning different port number ranges to different virtual private networks of the VXLAN, mapping private IP addresses for endpoints at the virtual private networks to corresponding public IP addresses known to a public network, and mapping local ports of the endpoints to corresponding port numbers from the port number ranges assigned to the virtual private networks, wherein each of the endpoints at the virtual private networks is assigned to a unique combination of public IP address and port number. The mapping can be done at a VXLAN gateway or at the endpoints on physical servers of the virtual private networks.

Server virtualization poses issues in data center networks, such as having the range of virtual network restricted to L2 domain, Media Access Control (MAC) address table overflow on Ethernet switches, and limited IDs to partition traffic for different virtual machines (VMs), on physical servers, also referred to as hosts. Virtual eXtensible Local Area Network (VXLAN) is an overlay technology that addresses the above issues. A VXLAN is a network virtualization technology to segregate traffic in a physical data network into multiple virtual networks. VXLAN extends a L2 virtual network across L3 networks by tunneling the L2 MAC traffic from the individual VMs over the L3 Internet Protocol (IP) core network. Each VXLAN endpoint, e.g., at a physical server comprising VMs, can encapsulate VM traffic into an IP tunnel upon egress and decapsulate VM traffic upon ingress. Thus, each individual VM's IP address is kept private and hidden to external switches.
The VXLAN divides a physical network into multiple virtual private networks using a different VXLAN ID (VNI) to uniquely identify each virtual private network. Each encapsulated packet carries a VNI, and hence the VM traffic can be classified into different partition domains. Since different virtual private networks can be owned and managed by different tenants (e.g., operators or administrators), the private IP addresses assigned to endpoints in these virtual private networks could overlap. The endpoints can be VMs or applications running on a VM. When these endpoints communicate with an external endpoint, e.g., in a public network, a mechanism is needed to translate these overlapping IP addresses into unique public IP addresses in order to avoid ambiguity and ensure proper packet forwarding and operations.

Supporting IP address overlapping among different virtual networks


A luggage identifier, which is disposed on a luggage case or a luggage bag, includes a chassis and an identifying device, wherein the chassis includes a retaining space. The identifying device is disposed in the retaining space. The identifying device includes an identifying unit and a circuit board. The identifying unit is connected to the circuit board with a power switch connected therebetween. Accordingly, the user can easily and quickly identify his/her luggage case by recognizing the identifying device, thereby saving time on looking for the luggage case, and preventing himself/herself from claiming a luggage of other people.

The present invention relates generally to a luggage identifier, and more particularly to a luggage identifier that is installed on a luggage case or bag, so as to identify the luggage of oneself, thereby reducing the time for searching for the luggage, and the possibility of claiming a wrong luggage.
Due to the advancement of transportation technology, more and more people travel around the world for leisure, for business, or for study. Among them, traveling around the world for leisure is one of the most exciting activities for modern people. However, one needs to prepare many things, such as documents and clothes, before departure. For this reason, a luggage case or bag is needed to place all those documents or clothes therein. In order to lower the cost for manufacturing luggage cases or bags, the manufacturer thereof needs to adopt a modulized design, thereby enhancing the efficiency of mass production. Therefore, there is no significant difference between the shape, style and color of luggage cases or bags. It is thus difficult for users to distinguish the luggage of themselves and those of others. Consequently, to provide a luggage identifier that can be used to easily identify a luggage is an important issue to address for people in the relevant industry.
One conventional luggage identifier is developed and disclosed in Taiwanese published patent no. 509018. In this conventional luggage identifier, a retaining space is formed on the handle of a luggage. A holding layer is then wrapped around the outer surface of the handle. Further, a control element is assembled on the handle. The handle is composed of transparent or semi-transparent materials. The retaining space formed on the handle includes a battery, a light emitting element and an electronic circuit therein. The light emitting element is connected to the battery via the electronic circuit. Therefore, the luggage handle can emit predetermined light source, so as to enhance the overall esthetics of the luggage.
However, conventional luggage identifiers comprise the following problems. Since the handle and the luggage main body are manufactured by the same factory, it is still very difficult to distinguish between luggage cases manufactured by the same company, which increases the possibility of claim a wrong luggage. In addition, the light emitting element of the conventional luggage identifier only emits light when holding the handle to switch on the electronic circuit. Therefore, the light emitting element is normally in a short circuit status, which is impossible to help identifying a luggage case.
In light of the above, the inventor of the present invention has developed a new luggage identifier so as to solve the problems set forth above.


A stiffening arrangement (22) for a forward structure (10) of a motor vehicle has a mounting bracket (20) for mounting a motor vehicle radiator. A shear field (24) is connected to the mounting bracket (20) to dissipate shear forces. A right stiffening strut (28) connects the shear field (24) to a right suspension-strut dome (16) and supports the mounting bracket (20) on the right suspension-strut dome (16), and a left stiffening strut (30) connects the shear field (24) to a left suspension-strut dome (18) and supports the mounting bracket (20) on the left suspension-strut dome (18). Thus, a major part of the crumple zone of the forward structure (10) provided for a frontal crash can be utilized, so that the risk of damage to engine components in an engine bay of the forward structure (10) is reduced and vibrational comfort for the driver is improved.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a stiffening arrangement for a forward structure of a motor vehicle for preventing damage to engine components in an engine bay of the forward structure in the event of a crash, and/or for preventing vibrations of the forward structure to improve vibrational comfort.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 7,766,420 discloses a bracket for a radiator grille to be supported by obliquely running supporting struts on suspension-strut domes of a forward structure of a motor vehicle.
There is a constant demand to prevent damage to engine components in an engine bay of the forward structure and to improve vibrational comfort for the driver.
Objects of the invention are to reduce the risk of damage to engine components in the forward structure and to improve vibrational comfort for the driver.

Stiffening arrangement for a forward structure of a motor vehicle

DR. ING. H.C.F. PORSCHE AKTIENGESELLSCHAFT


Monoclonal antibodies (MAbs) capable of binding to native PDGF, and MAbs capable of specifically binding to the PDGF-AA, PDGF-BB and PDGF-AB isoforms are disclosed. The subject MAbs may be used in the detection or purification of native PDGF or selected PDGF isoforms. In addition, the MAbs may be labeled with an imaging agent and used for in vivo diagnostic purposes, or combined with a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or diluent for use within wound healing compositions.

Platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF) has been identified as one of the principal mitogens for many types of mesenchymal-derived cells grown in culture (reviewed by Ross et al., Cell 46:155-169, 1986). Due to both its ubiquitous distribution within the body and its chemotactic and mitogenic activities, PDGF has been proposed to play a role in a wide variety of multicellular responses, including wound healing, atherosclerosis, growth and development and neoplasia (Ross et al., ibid., 1986).
PDGF was first identified (Ross et al., Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA 71:1207-1210, 1974; Kohler and Lipton, Exp. Cell Res. 87:297-301, 1974) and purified (Antoniades, Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA 78:7314-7317, 1981; Deuel et al., J. Biol. Chem. 256:8896-8899, 1981; Heldin et al., Biochemistry J. 193:907-913, 1981; Raines and Ross, J. Biol. Chem. 257:5154-5160, 1982) from human platelets, where it is sequestered in the alpha granules and released upon platelet activation. It has subsequently been isolated from a variety of cell types (for review see Ross et al., ibid., 1986). These cell types include endothelial cells, vascular smooth muscle cells, monocytes and macrophages, dermal fibroblasts, several tumor cell lines and a variety of virally transformed cell lines. Platelets have remained a major source of PDGF because outdated platelet material available through blood banks provides a large source of starting material. With the advent of recombinant DNA technology, PDGF has now been expressed in yeast cells (Murray and Kelly, EP 177,957, 1986), thus providing a non-mammalian source of material for therapeutic use.
PDGF is a cationic glycoprotein of approximately 31 kDa which exists as a disulfide-bonded, two-chain molecule. The protein exhibits size heterogeneity, with multiple species ranging from 27 to 31 kDa being observed (Raines and Ross, ibid., 1982). Upon reduction of the molecule, multiple protein species of 14 to 18 kDa are generated (Raines and Ross, ibid., 1982; Kaplan et al., Blood 53:1043-1052, 1979). These reduced species lack the biological activity of the native protein (Raines and Ross, ibid., 1982).
Amino acid sequence analysis of purified PDGF has revealed sequences for two distinct polypeptides, termed A-chain and B-chain, which have been reported to be present in equimolar amounts (Antoniades and Hunkapiller, Science 220:963-965, 1983; Waterfield et al., Nature 304:35-39, 1983; Doolittle et al., Science 221:275-277, 1983; Johnsson et al., EMBO J. 3:921-928, 1984). It is generally believed that the major form of PDGF in platelets is an A-B heterodimer (Johnsson et al., ibid. 1984). Naturally occuring A-chain homodimers and B-chain homodimers have been isolated from osteosarcoma cell conditioned media (Heldin et al., Nature 319:511-514, 1986) and porcine platelets (Stroobant and Waterfield, EMBO J. 3:2963-2967, 1984), respectively. Kelly et al., (EMBO J. 4:3399-3405, 1985) have reported the production of mitogenically active recombinant B-chain homodimer using transformed yeast cells.
Amino acid sequence analysis of the A- and B-chains isolated from human platelets has shown them to be 54% homologous and to have lengths of 104 and 109 amino acids, respectively (Johnsson et al., ibid., 1984). The B-chain sequence has been shown to be highly homologous to the putative transforming protein (p28-sis) of the simian sarcoma virus (SSV) (Waterfield et al., ibid.; Doolittle et al., ibid.).
Both PDGF A-chain and B-chain cDNAs have recently been obtained (Betsholtz et al., Nature 320:695-699, 1986; Tong et al., Nature 328:619-621, 1987; Collins et al., Nature 328:621-624, 1987), including cDNAs encoding A-chain peptides of 110 and 125 amino acids.
In addition to its mitogenic and chemotactic activities, PDGF has been reported to trigger a wide variety of events following its binding to cell-surface receptors. At least two classes of PDGF receptors have been identified in our laboratory. These have been designated the "B-receptor," which binds only BB-homodimers (BB isoform), and the "A/B-receptor," which binds all three isoforms (AA-homodimers, BB-homodimers and AB-heterodimers) of PDGF. The existence of such receptor classes may indicate differences in the biological events triggered by the different PDGF isoforms.
Various purification methods have been used to isolate PDGF. These methods generally involve numerous steps and are characterized by low overall yields of purified protein. Isolation of PDGF from human platelet lysates has been described by Heldin et al. (ibid., 1981). This method utilizes sequential chromatography on CM-Sephadex, Blue Sepharose, Bio-Gel P-150 and Sephadex G-200. This method, which provides an overall yield of 6%, was carried out on fresh platelets, a starting material which is not readily available. In another example, Johnsson et al. (Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm. 104:66-74, 1982) used a series of three sequential chromatographies on CM-Sephadex, Blue Sepharose and Bio-Gel P-150 followed by high pressure liquid chromatography on a Lichrosorb RP-8 column to isolate PDGF derived from platelet lysates. Raines and Ross (ibid., 1982) reported a method to purify PDGF from outdated platelet-rich plasma which resulted in a maximum overall yield of 21%. In this method platelet lysates were subjected to four sequential chromatographies on CM-Sephadex, Sephacryl S-200, Heparin-Sepharose and Phenyl-Sepharose. Antoniades (U.S. Pat. No. 4,479,896, 1983) has reported a method for purifying PDGF from platelet lysates with a 1.5% yield. According to this method, platelet lysates are subjected to sequential precipitations with a primary fractionating reagent, comprising 1M NaCl and 1M acetic acid, and an alcoholic reagent, at a final volumetric concentration of 75%, to extract PDGF polypeptides. The partially purified PDGF polypeptides are then precipitated with acetone. The resultant precipitate is dissolved in chromatographic fluid and subjected to sequential chromatographies on CM-Sephadex, Bio-Gel P-150, and Blue Sepharose. These purification methods are complex and expensive, requiring extensive handling of samples resulting in large losses of material. These problems make the currently available purification methods unsuitable for commercial use.
The previously described methods also, provide a PDGF protein product which is heterogeneous and of unknown dimer composition. Commercially available PDGF preparations are also of unknown composition. The dimer composition of the preparation may prove to be important in the therapeutic use of PDGF in view of the discovery of multiple PDGF receptors with different ligand binding specificities. None of the methods currently used to isolate PDGF provides separation of its isoforms (AA, BB and AB) from heterogeneous preparations while retaining the native conformation of the molecules. The only reported method for identification of A-chain and B-chain populations requires the purification of reduced forms of PDGF followed by HPLC analysis (Johnsson et al., ibid., 1982). This method does not lend itself to commercial application because renaturation of the reduced polypeptides does not restore native biological activity.
Previously described antibodies are unsuitable for isolation of specific PDGF isoforms. Available polyclonal antibodies against PDGF (Kelly et al., ibid.) do not demonstrate specificity for the individual isoforms. Monoclonal antibodies which recognize reduced forms of PDGF have been developed using a synthetic peptide derived from the amino-terminal amino acid sequence of the B-chain of PDGF as an immunogen (Niman et al., Proc. Nat'l. Acad. Sci. USA 82:7924-7928, 1985; (Niman, Nature 307: 180-183, 1984). However, these antibodies detect the individual chains of PDGF only after reduction of the intact molecule and are therefore unsuitable for purifying or detecting the intact, active isoforms of PDGF.
In view of PDGF's clinical applicability in the treatment of injuries in which healing requires the proliferation of fibroblasts or smooth muscle cells and its further value as an important component of a defined medium for the growth of mammalian cells in culture, the production of useful quantities of PDGF is clearly invaluable. With the identification of two receptor classes for PDGF which have different ligand binding properties and with the potential that the individual isoforms of PDGF will stimulate biochemical events unique to each isoform, there is a clear need in the art for methods which allow the isolation of individual isoforms of PDGF in their native, active conformation. Present purification methods are complex and expensive, involving multiple manipulations of the starting material which result in substantial losses of active PDGF. The resultant PDGF product is heterogeneous in nature and contains unknown quantities of the various PDGF isoforms.

Purified PDGF AB isoform and method of making it


A particle detection system is provided, including a sensing chamber having an inlet nozzle, an outlet nozzle, and an interrogation zone defined therebetween. Particles in a sampled environmental gas are prevented from escaping the interrogation zone by pressurizing the sensing chamber such that the pressure therein is higher than that in the outlet nozzle. This is accomplished by providing a source of extra gas to the sensing chamber, for example, by diverting gas from an inlet flow path directly to the sensing chamber.

A variety of manufacturing environments require strict control over the presence of foreign debris in the air. Semiconductor manufacturing, for example, has long required "clean-rooms" that use extensive air filtering to reduce the number and size of particles in the air to some acceptable level. Other manufacturing environments have similar but distinct requirements. For example, in pharmaceutical or medical device manufacturing environments, hospitals, and food processing or preparation environments, it is critical to control not only the number of particles in the air, but minimization of biologic particles is of particular importance. Microbial contamination, for example, can render an entire batch of pharmaceutical product unusable leading to significant monetary losses in the manufacturing process. Additionally, it is advantageous to have instantaneous detection of contamination events, including instantaneous information about whether a contamination event is biologic or non-biologic, during the manufacturing process for pharmaceuticals or medical devices.
Various systems and methods exist to detect and determine the size of airborne particles. Systems are also available to detect and characterize detected airborne particles as biologic or inert. For example, systems have been designed to detect the presence airborne particles by measuring the amount and directionality of light scattered by particles to determine particle size and the measurement of fluorescence excited in particles by illumination with a source light to classify measured particles as biological or non-biological.
In most conventional systems, fluid to be sampled (e.g., environmental air), is pulled into the system and introduced into a sensing chamber, for example, through an inlet nozzle. The fluid is then measured for particles in some way, for example, by illuminating the fluid with a beam of light. The fluid is then evacuated from the sensing chamber through an outlet nozzle.
This arrangement poses certain challenges. For example, particles may escape the flow of fluid between the inlet nozzle and the outlet nozzle and enter the sensing chamber. In other cases, particles may back up against the flow of fluid, and enter the sensing chamber though the outlet nozzle. In both cases, such particles can cross the illumination beam and scatter light or fluoresce, just as they would if they were being measured in the interrogation zone between the inlet and outlet nozzle. These particles create spurious optical emissions, which may be detected by the optical detectors in the particle detection system, thereby degrading the accuracy of the measurement data.
The problem is illustrated in FIGS. 1(a) and 1(b), which show a particle detection system 100. System 100 includes a sealed sensing chamber 102. Fluid (e.g., a gas) containing particles 115 is drawn into sensing chamber 102 and introduced thereto through inlet nozzle 105. The fluid is then drawn out of sensing chamber 102 through outlet nozzle 110 after temporarily occupying an interrogation zone 112. Negative pressure, is supplied by non-illustrated suction pump or blower in fluid communication with outlet nozzle 110. Ideally, suction pump provides a first negative pressure in the vicinity of 114, which is lower than a second negative pressure in the interrogation zone 112, which is lower still than the negative pressure at an exit aperture of inlet nozzle 105, which is lower still than the pressure in the ambient environment from with the fluid is drawn. Ideally, this ensures orderly flow of fluid from the environment, through the interrogation zone 112, and out through outlet nozzle 105.
While in interrogation zone 112, the fluid is illuminated by a light beam, generated by a light source, for example, a laser, laser diode or LED, in the vicinity of 135. While illuminated, particles in the fluid scatter light in the direction of 140, where scattered light may be detected by a scatter detector. Additionally, while illuminated, biological particles in the fluid fluoresce, and this fluorescence light is collected by an ellipsoidal reflector 125 and directed to a fluorescence detector in the vicinity of 130.
In certain systems, stray particles 142 can escape the fluid flow in the interrogation zone, leave the vicinity of the interrogation zone, and occupy other areas of the sensing chamber 102. Stray particles 142 are particles that either never reach outlet nozzle 110 to be evacuated from the system, particles that back up from outlet nozzle 110 (as shown in FIG. 1(b)), or particles from some other source. Such particles can create spurious readings at the fluorescence and scatter detectors, thereby degrading the accuracy of the measurement data. The presence of particles within the sensing chamber 102 outside of interrogation zone 112 is particularly troublesome as such particles can become deposited on the interior walls that define sensing chamber 112, from which they are difficult to dislodge.
A conventional solution for dealing with the problem of particles escaping the flow of fluid into a sensing chamber utilizes a "sheath flow" of clean air, which encapsulates the flow of particles under test as they travel through an interrogation zone. In a conventional arrangement an inlet nozzle is provided having an inner or central portion embedded in and surrounded by an outer annular portion. The outer annular portion divided into an upper and lower section. Environmental air from the upper annular section is diverted from an input stream. This "sheath air" is then filtered and accelerated with a sheath pump. The sheath air is then re-introduced into a lower annular section of the inlet nozzle. Meanwhile, air containing particles to be measured proceeds in the inner portion. In the region of the interrogation zone (i.e., near the input aperture to the sensing chamber), the lower annular section of both the central nozzle (carrying the air to be measured), and the outer annular portion taper to accelerate both flows of air. The combined air flows are then introduced to the interrogation zone, sampled, and then evacuated using a total flow pump. The result is that the air containing particles to be sampled is encapsulated in a relatively more quickly flowing sheath of clean, filtered air. This prevents particles from escaping the interior flow of sample air before both flows are drawn from the sensing chamber. A device operating according to this method is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,561,515 to Hairston, et al., at FIG. 6.


A cell culture device allows co-cultivation on both sides of a membrane and has an outer tubular body with upper end having an opening and lower end closed by the membrane, an inner surface and an outer surface, which can be colonized with biological material, a complementary tubular body whose inner diameter fits onto the outer diameter of the lower end and a hanger component with upper end and a lower end. A flange extends from the upper end and the outer diameter component fits the inner diameter of the outer tubular body. The outer tubular body in a first step is connected to the complementary tubular body to form a standing insert for a first cell cultivation, and in a second step wherein the outer tubular body is disengaged from the complementary tubular body and is attached to the hanger component for a second cell cultivation.

Cell culture inserts have become a valuable tool in cell biology as they promote growth and differentiation of a variety of cell types. Cell culture inserts can be used to investigate transport, diffusion, uptake, metabolization and secretion of both synthetic and natural compounds. Furthermore, inserts allow the cultivation of complex three-dimensional tissue.
Apart from the scientific value of studying tissue growth and organization in vitro in biological studies, such tissues are of major importance for the development of in vitro assays to assess toxicity and pharmacokinetic parameters of chemicals, cosmetics and pharmaceutical substances.
With this, the number of animal experiments which are performed to assess such parameters can be significantly reduced. Moreover, the use of human cells and tissue cultivated in cell culture inserts yields much more significant results and reduces the rate of "false positives" i.e. the rate of compounds defined as safe or positive but where a correlation of animal and human data is not possible. Often such false positives are identified only late in drug development or even in clinical trials causing high investments which have to be written off.
Inserts typically consist of a hollow body, closed at one end with a membrane, on which the cells are grown. The membranes are either permeable or, if impermeable, contain microperforations to ensure transport of nutrients across the membrane. The insert is positioned into the well of a cell culture plate in a way that the membrane is in contact with the cell culture medium, either submerged or at the media/air interface.
Cells are usually seeded on the side of the membrane which is showing away from the well of the plate. To allow free diffusion of the cell culture medium, such inserts are positioned into the well plate standing on small feet thus creating a space between the lower part of the insert and the bottom of the well plate. Alternatively, a hanging device can be used, having flanges protruding sideways from the upper part of the insert structure.
The possibility to culture cells on both sides of the insert membrane has gained more attention during the recent years. Cell-to-cell communication across the insert membrane, chemotaxis and other cell migration phenomena can be studied. Electrophysiological analyses are possible on either side of the insert membrane. Apical and basolateral regions of polarized cells can be investigated separately. Stem cells can be separated from feeder cells by cultivation on both sides of the membrane. However, the types of inserts specifically developed for such applications are difficult to use and show significant disadvantages in their practical handling in the cell culture laboratory.
One such insert structure is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,470,743A. This document describes an assembly consisting of an inverted standard insert on which a support device is positioned. Both support device and insert are connected via a gasket which leaves an inner space consisting of the outer surface of the membrane of the inverted insert on which cells can be grown. After successful cultivation, the assembly is taken apart and the insert with the cells cultivated on the outer surface of the membrane can be hanged into the well of a cell culture plate. Subsequently, cells can be cultured on the inner surface of the membrane. The assembly has to be protected against contamination by a sealing on its upper and lower end. Furthermore, this document discloses a gasket comprising a double sided adhesive to keep support device and insert closely connected during the initial cell culture step. This is a major disadvantage for the disassembly of the parts as there is the risk that the membrane and/or the cells will be damaged during this step. Moreover, the assembly can be used only as a stand-alone device, not in connection with cell culture plates impairing an effective handling especially when many of such cultures are performed at the same time.
Another solution for cell cultivation on both sides of the membrane of an insert is provided in U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,851A. This document describes a movable frame which is placed inside a cylindrical body. A precise positioning of said movable frame within the tubular structure is possible e.g. by using a jig having a flange at one end which exceeds the diameter of the tubular body. The movable frame carries a membrane for the cultivation of biological material. Cultivation on both sides of the membrane is possible by inverting the cylindrical body. To avoid leakage of cell culture medium, the movable frame bears a sealing around its outer diameter. This solution has the disadvantage that a separate tool is needed for height adjustment of the movable frame. Another disadvantage is that it is mandatory to have a firm rim structure or border upon which the jig exerts its action and which, at the same time, serves as a carrier for the membrane. If cells are seeded on such a structure, they grow either on the free, non-supported membrane or on the membrane supported by the rim structure or, in the worst case, on the rim structure itself. Another structure which will come in unwanted direct contact with cells and the culture medium is the sealing of the movable frame. It is obvious that the growth conditions on these different surfaces deviate substantially. Both the movable frame and the sealing ring are artificial materials which influence cell growth, cell proliferation and/or cell differentiation. It can also not be guaranteed that the sealing ring between the frame and the inner wall of the cylindrical body is leak-proof especially when it is shifted by the jig. All these factors make a safe and easy handling difficult and obviate many possible applications.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,759,851A further describes a solution to suppress the formation of air bubbles in the standing insert. This is achieved by forming the end of the movable frame which is pointing towards the bottom of the well plate in a shallow angle. The user then has to carefully lower the device at a defined angle into the cell culture medium and watch for air bubble entrapment. This angular form obviously requires a broader frame; the free-standing part of the membrane which can be used for cell culture is significantly reduced. Furthermore, the handling is difficult. Finally, in most cases inserts are formed in a way that their outer walls fit with minimal distance to the wall of the cell culture plate. It is obvious that the use of a frame with shallow angles is only possible in a well plate which has a very large inner diameter compared to the outer diameter of the insert. Only in this case it is possible to tilt the insert in a way that the angle of the frame and the level of the medium are the same and no air is entrapped.


An electrically connectable module is manufactured from a substrate of an electrically insulating polymer matrix doped with an electrically insulating fibrous filler capable of heat conversion to an electrically conductive fibrous filler to form a fiber-doped substrate. One end of an electrical connector is embedded in the fiber-doped substrate to locate the one end adjacent the surface of the substrate while exposing an opposite end of the electrical connector. The surface of the fiber-doped substrate is locally heated preferably with a laser to form a conductive trace by the in-situ heat conversion of the electrically insulating fibrous filler, the localized heating including the one end of the electrical connector to electrically connect the electrical connector to the conductive trace. In another embodiment, a conductive material is electrodeposited on the conductive trace by applying a voltage to the opposite end of the electrical connector. The substrate is molded into a desired shape to form the module, and a plurality of electrical connectors can be embedded into the substrate in any one of several different standardized arrangements.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an electrically connectable module in which an electrical connector is embedded in a substrate of an electrically insulating polymer matrix doped with an electrically insulating fibrous filler capable of heat conversion to an electrically conductive fibrous filler. Localized heating of the substrate adjacent the electrical connector produces a conductive trace formed in the substrate and forms an electrical connection between the pre-embedded electrical connector and the conductive trace. More particularly, the invention relates to an electrically connectable module in which an electrical connection is formed between one end of an electrical connector (previously embedded in a polymer matrix) and a laser-produced conductive trace formed in the polymeric substrate, for the dual purposes of using the electrical connector for electrodepositing a conductive material onto the conductive trace and for subsequent electrical connection to an external electrical component.
2. Discussion of Related Art
In electrical machines such as image reproducing devices, it is necessary to distribute power and/or logic signals to various sites within the machine. Traditionally, this has taken the form of using conventional wires and wiring harnesses in the machine to distribute the power and logic signals to the various functional elements in the machine.
As an alternative to wires, it is known to use a CO.sub.2 laser to burn conductive traces in a polymeric material that has been doped with carbon fibers so that the untreated material (not subjected to the laser) is not conductive. When locally heated by the laser, the polymeric material volatilizes to leave a conductive network of polymer residue and conductive dopant. U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,099 teaches how an electrically insulating polymer matrix is filled with an electrically insulating fibrous filler capable of heat conversion to an electrically conducting fibrous filler, to form a continuous electrically conductive path by the in-situ heat conversion of the electrically insulating fibrous filler using a laser. The entire disclosure of U.S. Pat. No. 4,841,099 is herein incorporated by reference.
In order to make the conductivity of the traces more sufficient for many applications, it has been proposed that metal be electrodeposited onto the traces. One advantage of this electrodepositing approach is to place metal conductors onto the polymeric material in the trough or channel created by the laser with the metal adhering to the polymeric material. However, the prior art has not developed or suggested methods for reliably electroplating the trace, or for connecting the traces to electrical connectors in the polymeric material for distributing power or signals between the trace and an external component.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,604,678 to Hagner discloses a circuit board plated with high density electrical traces connected to respective terminals of a number of electrical current components mounted on a substrate. Grooves on the substrate can be machined by a laser. The components are assembled before the grooves are plated to minimize production costs and assure electrical connection between the plated laser-formed grooves and the terminals of respective components. The conductive traces overlie and are in electrical contact with chip pads.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,984,620 to Robillard et al. discloses an integrated circuit chip test and assembly package having a semiconductor interconnection substrate with apertures for integrated circuits. The assembly package includes an interconnection with external leads which are located between insulating layers of the substrate.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,818,279 to Seeger, Jr. et al. discloses an electrical interconnection and contacting system comprising a flexible plastic insulator, most preferably an elastomeric substrate having at least one layer of electrically conductive elastomeric material embedded therein. The system is useful in coupling integrated circuits to other circuitry.

Electrically connectable module with embedded electrical connectors electrically connected to conductive traces


An input device includes a touch panel which detects proximity or contact of a detection target, a coordinates extraction unit which extracts coordinates information including at least a z coordinate, in a direction perpendicular to a surface of the touch panel, of the proximity or contact-detected detection target, and a control unit which determines a contact threshold value for detection of contact of the detection target to the touch panel on the basis of coordinates information of the detection target extracted with an initial manipulation on the surface of the touch panel.

In recent years, electronic apparatus incorporating a touch panel have come into wide use. And touch panels which allow users to make intuitive manipulations have come to be used widely as devices for receiving input manipulations on electronic apparatus including cellphones. Touch panels enable, through the same screen of a display unit (e.g., LCD (liquid crystal display) or organic EL (electroluminescence) display) provided in an electronic apparatus, reception of an input manipulation on the screen and display processing for a processing result of the electronic apparatus.
On the other hand, touch panels capable of detecting coming into proximity of an indication medium (e.g., finger) have appeared. In touch panels of this kind, signals detected in accordance with a finger movement in a space that is spaced from the surface of the touch panel and is in a prescribed height range can be used like signals produced as a result of a slide manipulation that a finger is moved across the surface of a touch panel being kept in direct contact with it. As such, touch panels of this kind are expected to become a new user interface.
Users make manipulations on touch panels in two kinds of manners: a direct manipulation with a finger of a bare hand and a manipulation with a finger of a gloved hand (e.g., the glove is made of a transparent or semitransparent resin). It is necessary to set touch threshold values for both cases, that is, the case of manipulations with a bare hand (hereinafter referred to simply as "bare hand manipulations") and the case of manipulations with a gloved hand (hereinafter referred to simply as "gloved hand manipulations"). For example, in the case of capacitance touch panels, the touch threshold value is represented by a capacitance value. And it is judged that a touch manipulation has been made if a capacitance value that is larger than the touch threshold value is detected.
The touch switch disclosed in Patent document 1 is known as a prior art technique relating to the touch threshold value for bare hand manipulations and the touch threshold value for gloved hand manipulations. In this touch switch, a touch threshold value for bare hand manipulations and a touch threshold value for gloved hand manipulations are held in advance. And it is judged tentatively that a touch has been made if the touch threshold value for gloved hand manipulations is exceeded for a prescribed time or longer even if the touch threshold value for bare hand manipulations is not exceeded. Furthermore, in the touch switch, when it is judged tentatively that a touch has been made, the tentative touch is judged a true touch unless a bare hand touch is detected at another position on the touch panel.

Input device, input support method, and program

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY CORPORATION OF AMERICA