Integrated circuits that include bi-directional protection diode structures are disclosed. In one example, an integrated circuit includes a test circuit portion for testing the functionality of the integrated circuit during or after fabrication of the integrated circuit. The test circuit portion includes first, second, and third diode structures and a resistor structure. The first and third diode structures are in parallel with one another and in series with the resistor, and the resistor and the first and third diode structures are in series with the second diode structure. The first and third diode structures are configured for current flow in a first direction and the second diode structure is configured for current flow in a second direction that is opposite the first direction.

The majority of present day integrated circuits are implemented by using a plurality of interconnected field effect transistors (FETs), also called metal oxide semiconductor field effect transistors (MOSFETs), or simply MOS transistors. A MOS transistor includes a gate electrode as a control electrode and spaced apart source and drain regions between which a current can flow. A control voltage applied to the gate electrode controls the flow of current through a channel between the source and drain regions.
In an integrated circuit fabrication facility, a plurality of different product types are usually manufactured at the same time, such as memory chips of different design and storage capacity, CPUs of different design and operating speed and the like, wherein the number of different product types may even reach a hundred and more in production lines for manufacturing ASICs (application specific ICs). Since each of the different product types may require a specific process flow, different mask sets for the lithography, specific settings in the various process tools, such as deposition tools, etch tools, implantation tools, chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) tools, metrology tools and the like, may be necessary. Consequently, a plurality of different tool parameter settings and product types may be encountered simultaneously in a manufacturing environment, thereby also creating a huge amount of measurement data, since typically the measurement data are categorized in accordance with the product types, process flow specifics and the like.
The measurement data for controlling production processes, such as lithography processes and the like, may be obtained by dedicated structures, which may be positioned within the die region of the semiconductor wafer if a corresponding area consumption of these structures may be compatible with the overall design criteria of the circuit layout under consideration. In other cases, the test structures may typically be provided in an area outside of the actual die region, which may also be referred to as a frame of the wafer, which may be used for dicing the substrate when separating the individual die regions. As used in the present disclosure, the term "active portion" of the integrated circuit refers to those portions of the die including the functional circuits that are used during standard operation of the integrated circuit, whereas the "test portion" refers to those portions including the aforementioned test structure and may include, for example, the frame. During the complex manufacturing sequence for completing semiconductor devices, such as CPUs and the like, an immense amount of measurement data may be created, for instance by inspection tools and the like, due to the large number of complex manufacturing processes, the mutual dependencies of which may be difficult to assess, so that, usually, factory targets may be established for certain processes or sequences, which are assumed to provide process windows to obtain a desired degree of final electrical behavior of the completed devices. That is, the complex individual processes or related sequences may be monitored and controlled on the basis of respective inline measurement data such that the corresponding process results may be maintained within specified process margins, which in turn may be determined on the basis of the final electrical performance of the product under consideration.
Consequently, in view of enhanced overall process control and appropriately targeting the various processes on the basis of the final electrical performance, electrical measurement data may be created on the basis of dedicated test structures that may be provided in the frame region in combination with appropriate probe pads formed in the metallization system at a very advanced manufacturing stage. These electrical test structures may comprise appropriate circuit elements, such as transistors, conductive lines, capacitors and the like, which may be appropriately connected to the probe pads so as to allow dedicated measurement strategies for assessing electrical performance of the various circuit elements in the test structure, which may then be related to the performance of the circuit elements in the actual die region. These electrical measurement data may include resistance values of conductive structures, threshold voltages of transistors, drive current capability of the transistors, leakage currents and the like, wherein these electrical characteristics may be influenced by the large number of manufacturing processes involved.
In order to ensure that the dedicated test structures accurately reflect the performance of the devices in the active portion of the integrated circuit, the same design rules are often used to fabricate both the devices in the active portion and the dedicated test structures. One such design rule, well-known in the art, is the "antenna rule" that is employed to prevent against the "antenna effect." For example, in recent semiconductor process wiring steps, various plasma techniques have been used. The representative plasma techniques include dry etching at the wiring layer patterning, plasma TEOS film deposition of wiring layer insulating film in a multi-layered wiring step, and the like, for example, which will be hereinafter referred to as plasma steps. When plasma etching is executed, if a diffusion layer does not connect to metal wiring, plasma charges accumulate in the metal wiring and an electric current flows into the gate oxide film of the transistor to which the metal wiring connects. The current may potentially cause damage to the gate oxide film, change in the transistor characteristics because of film quality change of the gate oxide film, or degradation of the hot carrier life. Such phenomena are called "antenna effects," and damage caused by the antenna effect will be hereinafter referred to as "antenna damage."
To protect against antenna damage, countermeasures may be taken in accordance with various design rules that include the addition of a protection diode structure. As is known in the art, diodes only allow current to flow therethrough in one direction. If a protection diode is provided, plasma charges escape through a diffusion layer of the protection diode so that the occurrence of antenna damage is eliminated.
However, during certain testing procedures utilizing the testing structures, non-standard electrical biasing conditions are required for the electrical test structures. This especially happens in cases where negative gate bias has to be applied on NFETs or positive gate bias has to be applied on PFETs. Furthermore, depletion devices or zero-Vt devices regularly require opposite gate biasing. The inclusion of protection diodes in testing structures results in testing problems when opposite biasing conditions are required. That is, currently used protection diodes are not capable of operation under non-standard gate biasing conditions.
Accordingly, it is desirable to provide improved integrated circuits with testing structures that are operable under a broad range of testing conditions, including the application of both positive and negative biases. It is additionally desirable to provide integrated circuits that include test structures with protection diodes that are capable of operating under both positive and negative bias conditions. Furthermore, other desirable features and characteristics of the present disclosure will become apparent from the subsequent detailed description and the appended claims, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings and the foregoing technical field and background.

Integrated circuits with test structures including bi-directional protection diodes


A material handling system with a drag mechanism including a wheel for a table saw that controls the orientation and speed of material as it moves through the system.

Material handling and processing systems employ pushing devices for moving materials through processing equipment, such as a saw. In some material handling systems, it may be advantageous to provide a return conveyor so that once pieces are processed, they return to the operator for sorting. One problem with some return conveyor devices is that pieces of material are not transferred smoothly to the return conveyor and consequently reach the operator in an unpredictable orientation. Other return systems are undesirable because they require complicated electronic and/or mechanical equipment.
Another problem with some material handling systems is that they tend to push pieces beyond the target processing location if operated too quickly. If a pusher moves at too high of a speed, then the piece of material may float beyond the target processing location. Even small amounts of float may cause significant inaccuracies in dimension and waste. This problem may significantly limit a productivity and/or manufacturing efficiency.

Material handling system with saw and wheel drag mechanism


An armature for a direct current motor, in particular for a permanent-magnet-excited DC motor, has an armature body, with armature teeth joined in one piece together via a short-circuit ring and offset by equal circumferential angles, each with a tooth neck for receiving an armature winding and with a tooth head that protrudes past the tooth neck in the circumferential direction. For an axial lengthening of the armature body that is simple and economical to produce, one preferably stacked flux-conducting element each, whose profile corresponds to the tooth head profile, is placed on the axially pointing end faces of the tooth heads.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is directed to an improved armature for a direct current motor, in particular for a permanent-magnet-excited direct current motor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In permanent-magnet-excited direct current or DC motors, to increase the magnetic flux in the armature body, the axial length of the permanent magnets is selected to be greater than the axial length of the armature body (German Patent Disclosure DE 199 42 903 A1, FIGS. 5 and 12). This effect is further reinforced if the armature body as additionally lengthened in the axial direction as well. By increasing the magnetic flux, the specific weight of the DC motor can be increased, or for the same motor power, a shorter axial length of the motor can be attained.
In a known DC motor (German Patent Disclosure DE 100 45 549 A1), the armature body comprises a supporting part made of resin, which is embodied in one piece with the armature shaft and has a shorter axial length than the permanent magnets, and a core, seated on the supporting part in a manner fixed against relative rotation, the core being made as a mold-cast part from a soft magnetic powder. The core has an integral outer wall of soft magnetic powder, which leaving an air gap is located opposite the permanent magnets and has approximately the same axial length as the permanent magnets. The concave portion defined by the outer wall, a stepped portion of the core, and a concave portion of the core defined by the support part bring about the position of the armature winding.


Pharmacologically active compounds corresponding to the formula I ##STR1## which are optionally substituted in the benzene ring and in which X denotes oxygen or sulfur,. Y denotes oxygen or sulfur, PA1 R.sup.1 denotes hydrogen or lower alkyl, PA1 n is an integer from 0 to 4, PA1 R.sup.4 denotes hydrogen, and PA1 R.sup.5 denotes hydrogen, hydroxy or cyano, or PA1 R.sup.4 and R.sup.5 together form a bond, PA1 R.sup.6 denotes an A--R.sup.7 group in which R.sup.7 denotes an optionally substituted phenyl group, and A denotes a --CH.sub.2 -- group, a CO group or a bond, or PA1 R.sup.6 is a halogen-substituted 1-phenylmethyl-1H-benzimidazol-2-ylamino group,. and physiologically acceptable acid addition salts thereof.

The present invention relates to novel benzoxazine-3-one and benzothiazine-3-one derivatives carrying a substituted piperidinoalkyl radical in the 2-position, and the corresponding 3-thione derivatives and salts thereof; to pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds, and to processes for preparing such compounds.
1,4-Benzoxazine-3-one derivatives which carry a phenylpiperazinoalkyl group in the 2-position are known from published European patent application No. EP 233,728. These compounds have pronounced hypotensive and vasodilating effects.

Piperidinoalkylbenzoxazine and piperidinoalkylbenzothiazine compounds, and medicaments containing them


A method, computer system, and computer program product. A list of items to be rendered on a display screen is received by a computer system. A display priority of each item in the list is determined by the computer system. Each item in the list is rendered in chronological order on the display screen, based on the determined display priority of each item in the list by the computer system.

The present disclosure relates to the field of contents display, and more specifically, to a method, system and computer program product for rendering a list in chronological order on a display screen.
Consumers obtain information from the Internet by way of content displayed by web pages, mobile applications, and the like. Where the content includes a listing of items, viewers of the content may generally only pay attention to the first several items in the listing. As such, methods for recommending certain items of listings to viewers, while maintaining efficiency, has become an increasingly important issue.

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


An object of the present invention is to provide an image forming apparatus which can guarantee the originality of a document consisting of a plurality of pages. To achieve the object, an image forming apparatus of the present invention includes an extracting unit that extracts fiber information from paper media; a first storage unit that synthesizes and storing fiber information extracted from pages of a first paper medium consisting of a plurality of pages by using the extracting unit as first fiber information; a second storage unit that synthesizes and stores fiber information extracted from pages of a second paper medium consisting of a plurality of pages by using the extracting unit as second fiber information; and a comparing unit that compares the first fiber information and the second fiber information and determining whether these match each other.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and image forming apparatus control method, program, and storage medium which can handle paper fingerprint information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Paper is made of plant fibers with a thickness of 20 to 30 microns. By entwining these, a random pattern is created. This random pattern is different paper by paper as in the case of fingerprints, and such a random pattern of paper is called paper fingerprint information.
The paper fingerprint information is different paper by paper, so that when "the original that I published is made of paper having this paper fingerprint information" is registered, it can be determined whether the paper is "original" or "fake" later. As a matter of course, "fake" includes "copy of the original."
However, by using the technique of paper fingerprints, when paper fingerprints of pages of a paper document consisting of a plurality of pages are registered in advance and an attempt is made to prove the originality by comparing these with paper fingerprint information extracted from a paper document as a collating object, the following problem occurs. That is, this paper document is easily falsified and this falsification cannot be detected.
For example, when a page in this paper document was thrown away by a third party, it cannot be proved that the page was thrown away. When a third party added a new page created by the third party to the paper document which consists of a plurality of pages or replaced one page of the paper document with the new page, this addition or replacement cannot be proved.
In other words, in this technique of paper fingerprint information, although the originalities of pages can be proved, the originality as a whole of the paper document consisting of a plurality of pages cannot be proved.

Image forming apparatus that synthesizes fiber information extracted from pages of a paper medium having a plurality of pages, and an image forming apparatus control method, a program, and a storage medium relating thereto


Provided are a variable gain amplifier and a receiver including the same. The variable gain amplifier includes: a gain controller generating a gain control voltage; a variable gain amplifier amplifying an input signal and a feedback signal by using a voltage gain that is linearly proportional to the gain control voltage, and converting the amplified signal into a predetermined magnitude of a signal; and an offset canceller removing an offset from an output signal of the variable gain amplifier and outputting the offset removed result as the feedback signal. The variable gain amplifier includes a plurality of operational transconductance amplifiers.

The present invention disclosed herein relates to a variable gain amplifier capable of automatically adjusting the magnitude of a signal, and more particularly, to a variable gain amplifier having a high dynamic range and a receiver including the same.
The present invention has been derived from research undertaken as a part of IT R & D program of the Ministry of Information and Communication and Institution of Information Technology Association (MIC/IITA) [2005-S-017-03], Integrated development of ultra low power RF/HW/SW SoC.
In various application fields such as disk drivers, hearing aids, medical equipment, and optical receivers, a variable gain amplifier (VGA) is an indispensable device block. Especially, the VGA is required to provide a high gain in order to reduce noise in a low signal power while signal environments are exposed to noise, and also to provide a low gain in order not to worsen distortion when a receiving signal is inputted at the maximum power, in a mobile communication system. To this end, the VGA needs to have a high dynamic range in which a variable gain range is possible. Only so, a digital signal processor (DSP) can stably demodulate a received signal to an original signal.
The VGA using a bipolar junction transistor (BJT) with characteristics of an exponential function is typically used to provide a voltage gain of a decibel (dB) unit, which is proportional to a control voltage. However, because of demands for a complementary metal oxide semiconductor (CMOS) system-on-chip (SoC) and circuit technology developments, the VGA having characteristics of an exponentially linear gain is currently realized as a CMOS device. However, because this CMOS VGA requires a plurality of device blocks to achieve characteristics of an exponentially linear gain, its structure becomes very complex and requires high power consumption. Most of all, the CMOS VGA, because it is a high gain amplifier, is extremely vulnerable if design variables change during manufacturing processes, and thus its design value characteristics can be sensitively changed and greatly deteriorated. Moreover, although a chip of the CMOS VGA can be perfectly realized, frequency or gain characteristics can be deteriorated when a chip temperature changes.

Variable gain amplifier and receiver including the same

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A printing system for use in printing objects of any of a plurality of different object types includes a printer; and a printer control device with a user interface having a first option for associating printer-independent print-quality characteristics with a selected object type to be printed by the printer. A printer-independent print-quality characteristic is an instruction associated with an element, such as object type, in an electronic page which indicates printer-independent features that are preferentially emphasized when printing the element. Examples of printer-independent print quality characteristics include “make sharp edges”, “reduce mottle”, “distinguish neighboring colors”, “reduce moiré”, “distinguish tone and edges”, “maximum tone depth”, “perceptual colors” and “compress without loss of detail”. The printing system may also include a device for retrieving printer-independent print-quality characteristics associated with a document to be printed by the printer and for associating printer-dependent imaging actions with the printer-independent print-quality characteristics.

Prior to the advent of high quality computer-generated page images, page images such as those found in newspapers, newsletters, magazines and the like were formed by graphic artists composing the page images by hand. During the process of combining each different element on a page image, including text, photographs, constant color areas or graphs such as pie charts, and sampled or continuously changing images such as sweeps, the graphic artist could consult with the creators of each of the elements to determine what features of each element were most important to preserve (e.g., "sharp edges", "depth of tone", and so on). Thus the operator was able to optimally form each element on the page, independent of the other elements, by processing each according to the creator's selected features during the combining process.
Because these page images, including one or more of these elements, were composed by hand, each element was inherently treated independently of the others according to the desired features for that element. Thus, the optimal halftone screen design for a particular photograph with a large sky area, which may differ from the optimal halftone screen design for a different photograph with skin tones, could be optimally selected and arranged to an optimal angle according to the imaging processes expressed and carried along with the particular photograph with the large sky area.
With the advent of digital color workstations, copiers and printers, creators of page images who would previously have had to rely on graphic artists to compose and print their page images could instead create, compose, and print them on their own using a computer connected to the digital color copier/printer. However, most digital systems for creating a page image, decomposing the page image into print engine instructions, and controlling the print engine to print the page treated a page image as a single, unitary image. Creators of pages using such digital systems were unable to specify specific processes for rendering the individual page elements. Thus, elements which might have benefited from the use of a halftone screen that emphasized sharp edges, such as a photograph containing many fine lines, were nevertheless treated the same as elements that might have needed to suppress engine noise, such as a large headline color text area where mottle and streaking would be visible within the large letters.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,704,021 to Smith et al., Adaptive Color Rendering By an Inkjet Printer Based on Object Type, describes a method of using a printer system for identifying one or more different types of color objects in a document, selecting a preferred rendering option such as halftoning and/or color matching for each one of such different color object types, respectively, and then printing the document in accordance with the rendering options selected for each of such different color object types. U.S. Pat. No. 5,579,446 to Naik et al., Manual/Automatic User Option for Color Printing of Different Types of Objects, describes an interactive user interface which allows a choice between one "button" automatic control of color output or multi-button control of color output, with both automatic and manual options providing independent control for color halftoning and for color correction based on the types of objects to be printed.
While the foregoing system is an improvement over the single, unitary page system, there are several problems with this user interface. First, this user interface system provides only for selections based on object types, such as "photo", "text", and "other graphics". Using an object's type to decide on image processing actions, in some cases, is simply only a rough approximation. For example, large text may not benefit from the same halftone as small text, because a smooth interior color may be more important for large text than the extremely sharp edges which are crucial to small text. Text above a certain size will have a very visible interior, and may exhibit noticeable quality defects if a compact, edge-sharpening halftone is chosen instead of a coarser halftone that provides robust color transfer and therefore reduces the tiny color deletions known as mottle in the interior. Both cases are text, but two different halftone choices may be called for. As a second example, one scanned photo image may contain fine lines with important edge information while a different scanned image may need large tone depth and smooth color transitions for realistic color. Both are photos, but two different halftones and color maps are needed for optimal printing. It would be desirable to have a system by which rendering can be selected based on more information than simply an object's type.
Second, since this user interface maps object types to printer dependent processes, it requires expert knowledge by the user of the printing response for every printer used and every media desired to be used. Most users are not familiar with the response of each printer to printer-dependent imaging action combinations to effectively improve quality. Deciding the low-level color processing combinations to use to get the best results for each object type demands that users have intimate, expert knowledge of a particular printing system and its responses to all combinations of the low-level color processing choices presented. Even if the user is experienced, the problem is compounded in a networked printer environment, where a file could be sent to any of a number of different color printers. To get optimal quality from all the printers no matter which one is used, a user must now have intimate knowledge of the effect of image processing action combinations on each of the printers on the network.
Third, the user interface system does not take into account the media being used as part of the data deciding what printer imaging actions to take. In addition to being familiar with a printer's image processing actions, an experienced user must also be familiar with how different media are printed on the same printer. The response of any given printer, for example, to both halftone and color map tables varies considerably depending on the media being printed on. For example, the halftone used on smooth, synthetic paper would be optimally different from that used to create the same effect on textured papers or heavy papers. Each media responds differently to the deposition of ink or toner and therefore needs different image processing for optimal results. It would be desirable to have a method which will account both the printer and the media being used as factors in determining printer-dependent imaging actions to take.

Printing system employing printer-independent print quality characteristics


Enzyme exhibiting cellobiose oxidase activity, which enzyme has a relative activity of at least 70% at a pH of about 9 and a temperature of about 50.degree. C. An enzymatic agent comprising cellobiose oxidase and an endoglycanase and/or oxidoreductase. A process of bleaching paper pulp using cellobiose oxidase.

Chemical pulping (known as Kraft pulping) of wood chips for paper production involves alkaline sulphate cooking of the wood chips to remove 90-98% of the lignin present in the wood. The remaining 2-10% lignin imparts a dark brown colour to the pulp which tends to darken in UV light or by oxidation. To obtain a white pulp, the lignin present in the pulp must therefore be removed by a variety of bleaching procedures, most of which involve treatment with chlorine or chlorine dioxide, ozone, oxygen or hydrogen peroxide.
Due to an increasing concern about the environmental impact of the chemicals generated in the bleaching process, enzymatic treatment of the pulp has been proposed with a view to removing lignin from paper pulp while reducing the amount of bleaching chemicals needed in the process, vide e.g. "The third International Conference on Biotechnology in the Pulp and Paper industry", Stockholm, 16-19 Jun., 1986, pp. 67-69.
The enzymatic treatment of paper pulp hitherto described has mostly been carried out at an acid pH with hemicellulases with an acid pH optimum, vide e.g. "4th International symposium of Wood and Pulping Chemistry", Paris, 22-30 Apr., 1987, Vol. 1, pp. 151-154, or with a fungal preparation from Trichoderma, cf. M. G. Paice and L. Jurasek, J. Wood Chem. Technol. 4, 1989, pp. 187-198; or D. J. Senior et al., Biotechnol. Lett. 10, 1988, pp. 907-912, requiring a pH adjustment of the wood pulp to below a pH of 6.
Xylanase compositions are also used in the pulp and paper industry in the pulp bleaching process to enhance the brightness of bleached pulps, decrease the amount of chemicals used for bleaching as well as in the bleaching of recycled paper, cf. K. E. L. Eriksson, Wood Science and Technology 24, 1990, pp. 79-101, M. G. Paice et al., Biotechnol. and Bioeng. 32, 1988, pp. 235-239, J. C. Pommier et al., Tappi Journal, 1989, pp. 187-191. The use of an alkaline xylanase for pulp treatment is described in WO 91/02839.
In wood, lignin is linked to xylan. Xylanase is capable of catalysing the hydrolysis of the xylan so that an increased release of lignin occurs during bleaching. Another enzyme, cellobiose oxidase, has been found to be important for lignin degradation in that it reduces phenoxy radicals and guinones formed by the action of phenol oxidases on degradation products from lignin, thereby oxidising cellobiose and higher cellodextrins to the corresponding lactones. A cellobiose oxidase from Phanerochaete chrysosporium has been described in A. R. Ayers et al., Eur. J. Biochem. 90, 1978, pp. 171-181, and further characterized by F. F. Morpeth, Biochem. J. 228, 1985, pp. 557-564. This cellobiose oxidase was found to have a pH optimum at pH 5. Cellobiose oxidases have also been found in brown rot fungus Coniophora puteana (D. R. Schmidhalter and G. Canevascini, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 37, 1992, pp. 431-436) and soft rot fungi such as Monilia sp. (R. F. H. Dekker, J. Gen. Microbiol. 120, 1980, pp. 309-316), Chaetomium cellulolyticum (P. Fahnrich and K. Irrgang, Biotechnol. Lett. 4(12), 1982, pp. 775-780), Myceliophthora (Sporotrichum) thermophile (M.-R. Coudray et al., Biochem. J. 203, 1982, pp. 277-284) and Sclerotium rolfsii (J. C. Sadana and R. V. Patil, J. Gen. Microbiol. 131, 1985, pp. 1917-1923). It is believed that these cellobiose oxidases participate in cellulose degradation.

Cellobiose oxidase, and enzymatic agent and a process for treating paper pulp


A process for isolating N-butylbenzenesulfonamide (NBBS) from biological material, the chemical synthesis of benzenesulfonamide derivatives, the use of NBBS and benzenesulfonamide derivatives for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia and/or prostate carcinoma, the production of medicaments for the treatment thereof, and the use of NBBS and benzenesulfonamide derivatives as a lead substance in the development of active substances for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia and/or prostate carcinoma are provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia and/or prostate carcinoma. More particularly, the present invention relates to a process for isolating N-butylbenzenesulfonamide (NBBS) from biological material, the chemical synthesis of benzenesulfonamide derivatives, the use of NBBS and benzenesulfonamide derivatives for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia and/or prostate carcinoma, the production of medicaments for the treatment thereof, and the use of NBBS and benzenesulfonamide derivatives as a lead substance in the development of active substances for treating benign prostatic hyperplasia and/or prostate carcinoma.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Benign enlargement of the prostate, also called benign prostate syndrome (BPS) or benign prostatic hyperplasia (BPH), and prostate cancer (also known as prostate carcinoma) are among the most common diseases affecting males as they age.
About 50% of men over the age of 60 years are afflicted by a benign form of prostate enlargement.
Benign prostatic hyperplasia is closely related to the development of prostate cancer, which is the most common cancer affecting men in middle age in the western countries and the second most common cause of cancer death in men.
BPH and prostate cancer are characterized, inter alia, by the progressive enlargement of the prostate. Enlargement of the prostrate causes increasing narrowing ( i.e., obstruction) of the urethra and obstruction of the bladder outlet, leading to problems when urinating. In the advanced stage the complete obstruction of the urethra, so-called anuria, leads to an emergency that requires immediate treatment.
The growth of the prostate is controlled by the male sex hormones, the androgens.
Several methods are available for the effective treatment of prostate carcinoma, amongst others, hormone therapy. Once the cancer has disseminated, a cure of prostate cancer is no longer possible. This applies to as many as one third of the patients at the time of the first diagnosis. In these cases, suppression of tumour growth and alleviation of the accompanying complaints are at the focus of the therapy. By suppressing the production of male sex hormones (testosterone) in order to counteract the transactivation function of the androgen receptor, it is possible to achieve temporary growth inhibition.
The major aim of the current therapies is to inactivate the androgen receptor (AR). The androgen receptor regulates male sex differentiation, is responsible for male fertility and promotes the growth of the normal prostate gland, but also promotes the proliferation of cancer cells of the prostate. Therefore, the androgen receptor has become an important target for prostate carcinoma therapy.
However, the current therapies are clearly limited since a prostate carcinoma will eventually exhibit resistance to this therapy.
The AR induces the expression of AR-responsive genes when it is bound to androgens. The inactivation of the androgen receptor is achieved either by reducing androgen synthesis or by administering androgen antagonists. So far, bicalutamide, flutamide, hydroxyflutamide (OH—F), nilutamide and cyproterone acetate (CPA) are used for the treatment of prostate cancer. These substances are administered with the aim of inactivating the transactivation of human androgen receptor.
However, eventually during the therapy the prostate carcinoma starts to regrow and exhibit resistance to the hormone deficiency. It has been found that androgen receptors are present and still remain active despite the treatment. The causes underlying this phenomenon remain largely unclear.
It is, however, apparent that there is a need for novel active substances for a successful treatment of BPH and/or prostate carcinoma.
Plant extracts for treating symptoms accompanying the enlargement of the prostate are traditionally wide-spread in many countries. The most commonly used extracts are those from the African plum tree (Pygeum africanum), which is also called Prunus africana (Hook. F.) Kalkm. according to more recent nomenclature, the Saw palmetto (Serenoa repens) and the pumpkin (Cucurbita pepo). The standardised lipophilic extracts from these plants contain sterols, saturated and unsaturated fatty acids as well as n-docosanol. The exact mechanism of action is yet unknown; it has been presumed, however, that the improvement of the symptoms associated with prostate enlargement is attributable to the sterol compound β-sitosterol, which is the quantitatively predominant component contained in the extracts.
Most of the clinical studies on the efficacy of extracts from the African plum tree were performed using chloroform extracts from its bark. This chloroform extract contains, inter alia, phytosterols, short-chain unsaturated fatty acids (lauric acid, myristic acid) and long-chain unsaturated fatty acids (oleic acid, linoleic acid. It is licensed under the designation TADENAN® in Italy, France and other European states, but not in Germany, for symptomatic treatment of BPH.
The placebo-controlled short-term studies using chloroform extracts from P. africana indeed showed a moderate clinical efficacy, but their concept was not even in accordance with the minimum requirements of the International Consultations on BPH. For this reason, a clear assessment of these studies is regrettably not possible.


A wound dressing for an aspirated wound dressing system, with a wound interface region for contacting or facing a wound site; an aspiration port for receiving suction for aspiration of wound exudate; a liquid permeable pressure barrier disposed between the wound interface region and the aspiration port for substantially preventing application of negative pressure from the aspiration port to the wound interface region; at least one atmospheric vent for equalizing with atmosphere the pressure at the wound interface region; and a liquid sensor for sensing liquid within the wound dressing for controlling application of suction by the aspiration unit.

Wound exudate can be described as the liquid produced from chronic wounds, fistula, or acute wounds once haemostasis has been achieved. For centuries, the production of exudate was regarded as inevitable with certain types of wound, and inconsequential with respect to wound healing.
More recently, considerable attention has been given to the development of wound dressings that prevent the accumulation of large volumes of fluid within a wound, and also prevent the fluid from spreading over the surrounding healthy tissue. This is because excessive wound exudate can cause maceration of the peri-wound skin, which in turn can lead to infection. One technique known in the art is the application of suction through the wound dressing, to create and maintain negative pressure at the wound site. Negative pressure means pressure below surrounding atmospheric pressure. Such a technique is referred to in the art as Topical Negative Pressure (TNP). This is believed by some researchers to aid drainage of wound exudate away from the wound bed, reduce infection rates, and increase localized blood flow.
Maintaining negative pressure at the wound site may create some practical problems:
(i) The negative pressure may be able to draw tissue growth into the pores of a foam piece inside the wound dressing. This can result in discomfort to the patient during use of the device, especially when the dressing is removed or replaced. Removal or replacement of the dressing may also cause damage to that newly grown tissue.
(ii) The wound is vulnerable to drying out of wound exudate. This condition may be undesirable because exudate is believed to contain a complex mixture of bioactive molecules that have both positive and negative effects. While removal of excess exudate is desirable, removal of all exudate may hinder rather than aid wound healing. Proper use of the wound dressing may depend to a large extent on the expertise of medical staff in assessing the rate of production of wound exudate at the wound site, and adjusting the negative pressure accordingly. If frequent removal of the dressing is required to assess the state of the wound, this merely exacerbates discomfort caused by drawback (i) above.
Some of the potential drawbacks may be partly mitigated by the use of hydro-fiber as described in U.S. Patent Publication No. 2006/0100594.
The present invention has been devised bearing potential issues in mind.


Compounds are quickly selected from a combinatorial library by contacting the library with a target (e.g., receptor), separating non-binding compounds from compound-target complexes, and analyzing the complexes or eluted compound by mass spectroscopy. SAR information is obtained by performing this selection at two or more different ratios of compound to target.

Geysen, EP 198855, disclosed a method for the simultaneous synthesis of a large number of different peptides. Basically, this method involves the synthesis of peptides on a solid polymeric surface, such as polyethylene, which may be molded into the shape of a rod or pin. In a preferred embodiment of the method, these rods or pins are positioned in a holder so that they form a 12 by 8 matrix, with the rods or pins being positioned so that the spacing corresponds to that of the wells of microtiter plates which are widely used for ELISA (enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay) tests.
Huebner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,182,366 (incorporated herein by reference) disclosed a method for preparing large mixtures of peptides on solid phase resins in equimolar ratios. This enables one to quickly search for compounds that bind to or react with a ligand by contacting the ligand (e.g., a bound receptor) with a set of peptide mixtures and noting which members of the set bind or react. Typically, the sets are prepared by specifying a known amino acid at one or two positions of an oligopeptide and providing mixtures of amino acids at the other positions. Thus, one peptide mixture might consist of a pool of hexapeptides of the formula Gly-Gly-X.sub.1 -X.sub.2 -X.sub.3 -X.sub.4 (SEQ. ID. No.:1), where each X indicates that all amino acids are found at that position. The next peptide mixture would be Gly-Ala-X.sub.1 -X.sub.2 -X.sub.3 -X.sub.4 (SEQ. ID. No.:2), followed by Gly-Cys-X.sub.1 -X.sub.2 -X.sub.3 -X.sub.4 (SEQ. ID. No.:3), and so forth. The set consisting of all of these mixtures is termed a "library." A library is screened by testing each individual mixture and noting which mixtures produce a positive response. In some formats, the mixtures may be screened simultaneously. The positive mixtures are then resynthesized with additional positions specified. Thus, for example, if the mixture containing Phe-Tyr-X.sub.1 -X.sub.2 -X.sub.3 -X4 (SEQ. ID. No.:4) was positive, the next mixture synthesized might be Phe-Tyr-Gly-X.sub.2 -X.sub.3 -X.sub.4 (SEQ. ID. No.:5). This process (called "deconvolution") is reiterated until individual peptides are synthesized and tested.
Bartlett et al., W091/19735, and Zuckermann et al., W094/06451 disclosed a method for extending combinatorial library synthesis to compounds other than peptides. Bartlett and Zuckermann disclosed modular compounds based on N-substituted polyamides, polycarbamates, and other backbones, which permits one to research non-peptide compounds. These libraries are also analyzed by deconvolution.

Affinity selection of ligands by mass spectroscopy


Body restraint systems for vehicles that include buckles for latching and retaining latch plates associated with safety belts. The buckle of each system includes a pair of oppositely biased latching mechanisms that are operative in such a manner that an inertial force applied to release one latching mechanism from a latch plate inserted within the buckle creates an opposite and equal force against the opposite latching mechanism to thereby positively retain the latch plate within the buckle in a locked position. Release of a latch plate can only occur upon the simultaneous movement of both of the oppositely biased latching mechanisms away from one another by application of manual force on a slide release member.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is generally directed to vehicle safety restraint systems including shoulder and lap seat belts and more particularly to such restraint systems that include a buckle that houses oppositely biased locking or latching mechanisms that are operable to resiliently engage a locking tong of a latch plate as the latch plate is inserted within the buckle. The latching mechanisms prevent release of the latch plate due to inertial forces created during a vehicle accident, such as a vehicle roll-over. The latch plate can only be released by manual operating a slide release member which cause the simultaneous movement of the latching mechanisms in opposite directions relative to one another to positions wherein the locking tong of the latch plate is no longer engaged.
2. Description of Related Art
Body restraint systems including seat belts, lap belts, shoulder harnesses and the like have been credited with saving numerous lives which otherwise would have been lost in vehicular accidents. The positive benefits obtained due to body restraints systems has been so recognized that, in the United States, the use of seat belts is mandated in all states.
Since their inception, there have been numerous innovative advances made to improve upon the safety and reliability of vehicle body restraint systems. Improvements have been made to the belt and belt materials, the manner in which the belt restraint systems are mounted within vehicles, the manner in which such restraint systems may be automatically adjusted to provide proper tension to suit not only safety standards but to also provide for a measure of passenger comfort and further to improve upon the security of the locking devices and belt buckles associated with such systems.
Most conventional vehicle body restraint systems incorporate a belt which either crosses in front of the lap or diagonally across the body of the vehicle operator or passenger in such a manner as to not adversely interfere with a region of an individual's neck. Belts are retained by latching assemblies including belt buckles into which latch plates carried by the belts can be inserted so as to automatically become locked to the buckles which are normally anchored relative to vehicle frames.
Conventional systems generally utilize two types of release mechanisms for allowing latch plates to be removed from buckle housings such that drivers and passengers can disembark vehicles. A first or side release system includes an operating release button which is generally resiliently urged outwardly at an angle which is perpendicular to an axis or line of insertion of the latch plate into a buckle housing. A second type of conventional release system is known as an end release system and includes an operating lever or button for releasing the latch plate from the buckle housing and which lever is mounted at an end of the buckle housing.
Currently, virtually all types of latching mechanisms for body restraint systems in automotive vehicles are subject to premature release when subjected to at least one mode of inertial force which can be created under various conditions resulting from collisions, roll-overs and other types of loss of vehicle control. Side release latching assemblies or mechanisms, referred to as Type 1 and Type 6 in the industry, will inertially release when subjected to lateral forces which are applied to a backside of a buckle during a vehicle collision or roll-over. Such latching assemblies will also release by the release buttons being forcibly engaged by an object in a vehicle accidently depressing the buttons during an accident, collision or roll-over, thereby prematurely destroying the effectiveness of the restraint systems which can cause severe or deadly injury to persons using the systems.
By way of example, if a person's hip strikes the backside of a buckle frame during an accident, the interior latch which engages a latch plate of a seat belt can and will release when the striking force level is sufficient to cause the inertia of the latch mass, relative to the acceleration and displacement of the buckle frame, to compress a leaf spring and unlatch the buckle.
End type release latching systems will inertially release due to the mass of the release buttons associated therewith when taken into consideration the mass of movement of the latch plate and the direction of rotational release of the latch plate when subjected to an upward or upward and lateral force opposite the locking direction of a latch dog associated with such a mechanism, especially during vehicle roll-overs. This upward or upward and lateral mode of failure occurs when an occupant is more apt to be ejected from a vehicle and thus can result in severe bodily injury or death.
An example of end release latching system for seat belts is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,358,879 to Magyar. The system uses a release button which is pushed down to release the latch plate as opposed to being pushed laterally as in the side release systems.
Virtually all end release buckles, generally referred to as Type II buckles, operate using an over-the-center mechanism so the actual latch uses either a fairly weak compression spring or a leaf spring for a latching force. A so called "lock for the latch" is a rod or bar that follows an "L" shaped track where the lock bar moves laterally across the buckle frame in a direction of latch movement and then moves vertically along a leg of the "L" and behind the latch after the latch goes over-the-center to its latched position. This movement supposedly locks the latch from moving laterally from lateral forces acting on the buckle frame that would inertially move the latch laterally relative to the buckle frame.
However, the end release buckles have a release button, release slider, lock bar (pin) latch and two compression springs, all of which have mass. One spring actuates the latch laterally and the other spring acts against the latch plate to keep a locking edge in contact with the latch surface or "dog" and applies an upward force against the release button. This spring also acts to eject the latch plate from the buckle when the latch button is depressed and the latch is disengaged.
When vertical forces, or forces with enough vertical component on a buckle, such as forces created by impacts to a bottom of a vehicle in a roll-over, are sufficiently high enough, the buckle latch will release. The design of these buckles is such that both a vertical (longitudinal) and horizontal (lateral) component of force will cause a premature release. In many cases, a vertically upward forces causes an equally vertical downward inertial force to the release button and related components, which causes them to move in a downward (release) direction due to their mass and acceleration relative to the buckle frame. When the components of the release mechanism approach an elbow of the locking "L" slot, the locking pin or bar follows the path of the slot and releases the latch and the compression spring against which these inertia forces are acting, and ejects the latch plate.
The forces acting on a latch plate/buckle assembly that create inertia forces in a release direction come from various and foreseeable sources and directions and always follow Newton's Law. Some of these are:                a) vertical to horizontal forces acting on a vehicle and thus a buckle assembly from impact to the ground during vehicle roll-overs;        b) vertical to horizontal forces acting on a vehicle and thus on a buckle assembly from impact to the vehicle from another vehicle, fixed object or other movable object within a path of the vehicle;        c) vertical to horizontal forces acting on a buckle assembly by objects within the vehicle, such as occupants or loose objects;        d) vertical to horizontal forces acting on a buckle assembly from it being driven into objects within the vehicle, such as a center console between a driver and a passenger or between vehicle occupants; and        e) vertical to horizontal forces acting on a latch plate and release mechanism mass from impulses resulting from emergency management loop release as well as harness mounted air bags and the like where tension on a harness/lap belt webbing is suddenly tightened or released causing a large, near longitudinal impulse force into the buckle, latch plate and release mechanism mass sufficient to cause an acceleration of the mass of the release mechanism parts to develop an inertia force exceeding a release mechanism spring force acting against a release mechanism mass.
A latch plate weighs anywhere from approximately two (2) to five (5) ounces, depending on whether it is a slip, partial slip or slip lock latch plate. A weight (mass) of the release components of the buckle (button, slider, locking pin, etc.) is a fraction of the latch plate weight.
The dynamic problem with the end release buckles is that when there is an upward force or upward component of force acting on the buckle or a downward impulse from sudden tensile loading/unloading of seat belt webbing through the latch plate, the latch plate mass applies a downward inertia force or impulse that drives an unlatch mechanism downward toward an unlatch position, accelerating the unlatch mechanism masses downward and thus causing the latch to release. Any horizontal or lateral force acting on the buckle frame in an opposite direction to the unlatch direction compounds the unlatching due to acceleration forces acting on the buckle frame.
The above modes of failure are inherent in virtually all conventional side and end release latching mechanisms of conventional vehicle restraint systems. The side release buckle systems are generally simpler and have fewer moving parts and thus are more economical to construct and to install, whereas the end release systems are more complex having multiple moving parts and are thus more expensive to manufacture.
In view of the foregoing, there remains a need to further improve upon the reliability and effectiveness of vehicle body restraint safety belt systems to ensure that the latching mechanisms associated therewith cannot be accidently released during substantially any type of vehicular movement caused during accidents, collisions or resulting from loss of control of a vehicle, such as by operator error or vehicle equipment failure. There is a further need to provide for improvements in vehicle body restraint systems which permit the latching assemblies to be more reliable and more economical to construct.
In applicants application Ser. No. 10/462,738, the contents of which are incorporated herein, in their entirety, by reference, a safety belt restraint system is described which prevents the release of a latching or locking mechanism of a safety belt restraint system by inertial forces which may be directed against the latching assembly during a vehicle accident. In accordance with the invention, each buckle includes a first latch mechanism including a latch dog which is engageable within an opening in a latch plate as the latch plate is inserted within a buckle housing. The latching mechanism is positively retained in engagement with the latch plate by two equally resisted and oppositely oriented push button release mechanisms. The release mechanisms are connected by a resilient element, such as a spring, such that any force tending to push one of the release buttons inwardly of the buckle to effect a release of the latch plate places an equal and opposite force on the opposite release button to sustain it in a locked position thereby preventing release of the latch plate from the buckle. With this structure, equal and opposite forces must be simultaneously applied to each of the release buttons in order to cause a camming of the latch relative to the latching mechanism to thereby permit withdrawal of the latch plate.
In applicant's application Ser. No. 10/669,381, the contents of which are incorporated herein, in their entirety, by reference, an embodiment of the invention is disclosed wherein latching mechanisms are provided in the form of slide blocks which are positively guided between a pair of fixed guide blocks which define channels therebetween in which the latching mechanisms are reciprocally moveable against a spring or other resilient element which extends therebetween so as to apply equal and opposite biasing force against each latching mechanism. Each of the slide blocks of the latching mechanisms also includes a lock dog which is engageable with bifurcated hooked tongs of a latch plate when the latch plate is inserted within the buckle housing to thereby retain the latch plate in a locked position. The slide blocks further include a tapered camming surfaces which extend inwardly toward a central longitudinal axis of the buckle housing from the lock dogs toward the opposite end of each slide block. In the embodiment, a single longitudinally slidable release member is used to create an equal and opposite force to move the latching mechanisms from their first locked position to their second release position. The forward end of the slide member includes two spaced legs which are designed to cooperatively engage the camming surfaces associated with each of the slide blocks. To release the latching mechanisms from engagement with the locking tongs of the latch plate, the release member is manually urged inwardly of the buckle housing wherein the legs will engage the camming surfaces of the slide blocks thereby simultaneously urging them toward one another against the spring or other resilient element extending therebetween, thereby moving the latching mechanisms to their second release positions.

Non-inertial release safety restraint belt buckle system


Methods for modifying an OEM vehicle into a wheelchair-accessible vehicle. The methods include the steps of removing the OEM rear axle, fabricating a modified rear axle, attaching the modified rear axle, repositioning the secondary catalytic converter, and modifying the floor of an interior compartment of the OEM vehicle. Method steps include installing a body lift kit and lowering the airbox.

Presently, no major automobile manufacturers mass-produce highway vehicles that accommodate wheelchair access for private use. Consequently, these OEM vehicles must be modified and converted to properly accommodate wheelchair access. Wheelchair modifications usually require raising the vehicle's body and lowering the floor. Ideally, the floor of a converted vehicle is flat to allow for wheelchair access and maneuverability inside the vehicle.

Method for converting an existing vehicle to a wheelchair-accessible converted vehicle


An apparatus for calculating torque of a variable capacity compressor, including: a sensor configured to detect internal and external states of an air conditioner; an OFF-torque calculator configured to calculate and store a steady-state torque according to a state detected by the sensor just before a clutch is turned off; a start torque calculator configured to calculate a start torque according to a state detected by the sensor after the clutch is turned on; a steady-state full-stroke calculator configured to calculate a steady-state full-stroke torque based on an assumption that the compressor was in a full-stroke-state according to a state detected by the sensor after the clutch is turned on; and a determiner configured to provide, when an elapsed time after the clutch is turned on is less than a predetermined time, a maximum one of the torque values calculated by the OFF-torque calculator, start torque calculator, and steady-state full-stroke calculator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for calculating torque of a variable capacity compressor arranged in a refrigeration cycle.
2. Description of Related Art
A variable capacity compressor is utilized in a refrigeration cycle of, for example, an air conditioner of a vehicle. In the vehicle, the compressor is connected to a vehicle engine by an endless belt. The belt connects a main pulley fixed to a drive shaft of the engine to a follower pulley fixed to a drive shaft of the compressor. The engine serves as a driving source for driving the compressor. If the compressor varies its coolant discharge capacity, the load on the engine varies, which may cause an engine stall during an idling operating. To prevent this, an engine controller must control an intake air quantity (fuel mixture supply quantity) in response to the load (torque) of the compressor. To achieve this, the engine controller must know the torque of the compressor. For this, there have been proposed various compressor torque calculating apparatuses, such as those disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. Hei-5-99156, No. 2004-211663, and No. 2003-278660.
Among these torque calculation apparatuses, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications No. Hei-5-99156 calculates a coolant flow rate according to information (a high pressure in a refrigeration cycle, a coolant temperature in a condenser, an ambient temperature, and the like), and according to the calculated coolant flow rate, estimates torque of the compressor. The torque estimated by this related art is a steady-state torque, i.e., an operating torque of the compressor during a period in which a refrigeration cycle is steadily passing coolant.

Apparatus for and method of calculating torque of variable capacity compressor


Systems, computer-readable media, and methods for selecting channel bandwidths to a user equipment (UE) device for carrying out a communication session. Selection of the channel bandwidth can be based on a data-usage tendency of the UE device. The data-usage tendency can indicate a data-usage rate of the UE device or a set of user equipment devices similar to the UE device. The channel bandwidth can comprise a plurality of subcarriers. Two or more of the subcarriers can be adjacent to one another or be separated by one or more subcarriers of a channel bandwidth assigned or assignable to another UE device for another communication session. A processor that selects the channel bandwidth can further base its selection on a service plan associated with the UE device and load conditions of frequency bands of a radio access network.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the elements described in this section are not prior art to the claims and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
User equipment (UE) devices, such as cell phones, are operable to communicate with radio access networks, such as cellular wireless networks. These UE devices and access networks typically communicate with each other over a radio frequency (RF) air interface according to a wireless protocol such as 1× Evolution Data Optimized (1×Ev-DO), perhaps in conformance with one or more industry specifications such as IS-856, Revision 0, IS-856, Revision A, and IS-856, Revision B. Other wireless protocols can be used as well, such as Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA), Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM), Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA), or some other wireless protocol.
Randomly assigning RF resources of a radio access network air interface to a UE device may not provide the radio access network with sufficient flexibility to use the RF resources efficiently. Assigning RF resources in a manner that provides for more efficient use of RF resources may increase user satisfaction of users of user equipment using the RF resources.

Methods, systems, and computer readable media for selecting wireless channel bandwidth based on data-usage tendency of user equipment


Disclosed are a polyimide resin containing a structural unit represented by the following formula (1-1), and a polyimide film containing a structural unit represented by the following formula (1-2) and having a thickness of 10 to 50 μm. R1 and R2 in the formula (1-1) each independently represent any group of the following formulae (i) to (iv), R1 and R2 in the formula (1-2) each independently represent a group of the following formula (i) or formula (ii), and in these formulae, * bonds to the carbon with * in the formula (1-1) and the formula (1-2) and ** bonds to the carbon with ** in the formula (1-1) and the formula (1-2). A polyimide resin capable of forming a polyimide film excellent in transparency and having a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion, and a polyimide film having a lower coefficient of linear thermal expansion are provided.

Recently, with the advent of a highly information-based society, materials satisfying both heat resistance and transparency have become desired in the field of optical communications including optical fibers, optical waveguides, etc., and in the field of display devices including liquid-crystal orientation films, color filters, etc.
In the field of display devices, an alternative technology of employing plastic substrates that are lightweight and are excellent in flexibility, in place of glass substrates, and a development of displays capable of being bent or rolled up are now under way. However, for example, when an electronic element composed of an inorganic material is formed on a film, the film having the inorganic element formed thereon may warp and, as the case may be, the inorganic element may often peel away from the film, since the inorganic material and the film significantly differ in the coefficient of linear thermal expansion. Accordingly, it is desired to develop a resin material for films having both transparency and heat resistance and having a low coefficient of linear thermal expansion.
Polyimide has not only excellent heat resistance but also other excellent properties in mechanical characteristics, chemical resistance, electric characteristics and the like, and therefore films formed by using polyimide as a material are widely used in various fields of molding materials, composite materials, electric and electronic components, display devices, etc. However, those films are further required to have higher transparency and dimensional stability than ever.
In general, it is known that polyimides having the polymer chains which are more rigid and have a higher linearity have a lower coefficient of linear thermal expansion, and for improving the dimensional stability of polyimides by lowering the coefficient of linear thermal expansion thereof, various structures of both acid dianhydrides and diamines that are raw materials of polyimides have heretofore been proposed.
For example, PTL 1 discloses a polyimide having 1,2,3,4-cyclobutanetetracarboxylic acid dianhydride (hereinafter also referred to as "CBDA") as an acid dianhydride component and 4,4′-bis(4-aminophenoxy)biphenyl as a diamine component.
PTL 2 discloses a polyimide having CBDA as an acid dianhydride and bis(4-aminophenyl) terephthalate (hereinafter also referred to as "BAPT") as a diamine component.


In a mobile X-ray apparatus and a method for determining projection geometries therein, an X-ray system, including an X-ray source and a planar X-ray detector, is provided which is displaceable relative to an examination subject by a displacement arrangement for obtaining a series of 2D projections which are used to construct a 3D image of the subject. Each 2D projection has a projection geometry associated therewith. The X-ray system and the displacement arrangement exhibit mechanical instabilities, due to the light weight construction necessary for mobility of the apparatus, which would preclude accurate identification of the 2D projection geometries. The displacement arrangement therefore includes components for assuring a reproducible displacement movement of the X-ray system, so that projection geometries for respective positions of the X-ray system can be identified in advance, in a calibration procedure, allowing offline determination of the projection geometries.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mobile X-ray device of the type having an X-ray system including an X-ray source and a planar X-radiation detector, the X-ray system being displaceable relative to the subject for picking up series of 2D projections of a subject for a reconstruction of at least one 3D image of the subject. Further, the invention relates to a method for determining projection geometries for such an X-ray device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
X-ray devices of the aforementioned type are used, for example, in the medical field to reconstruct 3D images of a body part from a series of picked up 2D projections of the body part of a patient. The projection geometries, i.e., the positions of the X-ray source and of the X-ray detector, as well as the projection angle with respect to each of the individual 2D projections of the series, must be known in order to reconstruct accurate 3D images from the 2D projections that are picked up by the X-ray system.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,053,780 discloses an axially operating, room mounted tomographic scanning device with an X-ray system that has an X-ray source and an X-ray detector, this X-ray system being attached to a frame and being displaceable relative to the subject for picking up projections of the subject. Further, the scanning device has means for displacing the X-ray system, which means, in a calibration process, allow the determination of data required for purposes of reconstructing an image.
German PS 35 31 741 describes a tomography device with a movable system for generating radiation and with a movable radiation measuring system that can be set up independently of the position of the radiation generating system.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,014,293 describes an X-ray computed tomography device with a device cart and with an X-ray system, which is arranged at the C-arm of the device cart. The X-ray system has an X-ray source that emits a fan-shaped X-ray bundle and an X-ray detector in the form of a detector array. For acquiring X-ray pickups, the C-arm can be moved around a subject, whereby the fan-shaped X-ray bundle penetrates the subject an strikes on the detector array. 3D images of the subject can be acquired from the X-ray pickups.
German PS 43 35 300 describes a computer tomography device with an X-ray system and a measuring means for the position of the center of rotation, which measuring means controls a focus deviation unit in the sense of a guidance of the focus given a displacement of the center of rotation.
German OS 197 46 093 discloses a movable X-ray device of the type initially described, wherein transmission and reception devices for sound waves or electromagnetic waves are provided, which allow the detection of projection geometries during the pickup of a series of 2D projections.
German PS 195 12 819 describes an X-ray computed tomography device, wherein, during the pickup of 2D projections, X-ray-positive markers are arranged in the measuring field above and below the area of the subject to be examined. The markers are imaged in the 2D projections. The projection geometries can be detected for each 2D projection by evaluating the 2D projections.
In the last two cited known X-ray devices in particular, online detection of the projection geometries is used, namely detection of the projection geometries during the pickup of a series of 2D projections of a subject, or at least during the recording of data during the pickup of a series of 2D projections, which allow the detection of the projection geometries. Such online detection is necessary in these devices, since the X-ray devices are mechanically unstable with respect to the displacement movement of the X-ray system because, being mobile, a lighter structure must be used (as opposed to the heavier, and thus more stable, structure which can be used in a non-mobile device). These mechanical instabilities rule out an exactly reproducible displacement movement of the X-ray system, so that the positions of the X-ray source and the X-ray receiver, at the respective point in time of the pickup of a 2D projection by means of, for example, locators or position transmitters that are present in the X-ray devices, cannot be exactly determined such that 3D images of high quality could be reconstructed.
Online detection of the projection geometries, however, requires the use of a large amount of computing power in order to, in a desired way, arrive at 3D images of the subject in an optimally short time after the series of 2D projections have been picked up. Therefore, realtime reconstruction of 3D images is only possible when expensive computers with high computing power are utilized.
An object of the present invention is to provide the projection geometries, which are necessary for reconstructing 3D images, in a simplified way for a movable X-ray device.
This object is inventively achieved in a mobile X-ray device with an X-ray system that includes an X-ray source and a planar X-ray detector, the X-ray system being displaceable relative to the subject for picking up a series of 2D projections of a subject for reconstruction of at least one 3D image of the subject and which has a displacement arrangement for assuring a reproducible displacement movement of the X-ray system by means of which the projection geometries of the X-ray system required for the reconstruction of a 3D image are determined in a calibration process prior to the pickup of series of 2D projections of the subject. As a result of the displacement arrangement which assures a reproducible displacement movement of the X-ray system, it is possible to determine the projection geometries prior to the pickup of series of 2D projections of a subject in a (normally) onetime calibration process. Thus, the once detected projection geometries can be repeatedly used for reconstructing 3D images from series of 2D projections of different subjects picked up at different points in time, which hitherto has been regarded as impossible with respect to mobile X-ray devices due to the light construction necessary for mobility and the instabilities associated therewith. The realization of an offline determination of the projection geometries, namely a determination of the projection geometries prior to the actual pickup of 2D projections of a subject, is based on the recognition that the twists of the C-armxe2x80x94which occur when the X-ray system arranged at the C-arm is displacedxe2x80x94can be considered as mechanical constants; these twists leading to deviations of the X-ray system from its ideal displacement movement, which can be detected by means of locators. Under equal conditions guaranteed by the drive for the displacement of the C-arm, this assumption proves sufficiently correct, so that the displacement movement of the C-arm or X-ray system can be regarded as reproducible.
In an embodiment of the invention the displacement arrangement has a digitally controlled drive, which effects the displacement movement of the X-ray system. The digitally controlled drive preferably is a software-controlled drive, and can be a pulse motor according to an embodiment of the invention, and makes a precise displacement of the X-ray system possible. The pulse motor cooperates, for example, with the C-arm, which accepts the X-ray system. Thus, individual positions can be repeatedly reached in an accurate manner within 500 xcexcxc2x0 in the displacement movement of the X-ray system, so that the positions of the X-ray source and the X-ray detector identified during the calibration can be almost exactly achieved again with respect to later displacement processes of the X-ray system. Thus, the conditions that are present for later measurements with regard to the mechanical constants of the X-ray system correspond to the conditions that are present during the calibration.
According to a version of the invention, the X-ray system is arranged at a carrying device borne by a support which is displaceable along an axis in a holding device and which is pivotably arranged for rotation around the axis relative to the holding device, and the displacement arrangement include compensation components, which exhibit a defined effective direction and which compensate any mechanical play that is present between the support and the holding device.
In a further version of the invention the holding device, in a height-adjustable manner, is arranged at a lifting device having at least two elements that can be moved relative to one another, these elements forming additional compensation components, which exhibit a defined effective direction and which compensate any mechanical play that is present between the elements of the lifting device.
The compensation components can be locking components, for example, such as springs or spring-biased locking pins, which, during the calibration process and during later measuring processes, clamp the support against the holding device, or clamp, the elements of the lifting device against one another, in a defined effective direction, so that equal conditions always exist with respect to different measuring processes.
According to an embodiment of the invention, the carrying device for the X-ray system is a C-arm.
The above object also is achieved in an inventive method for the offline determination of the projection geometries for a movable X-ray device, wherein the X-ray system of the X-ray device is arranged at a carrying device, which is held in a support and which is displaceable relative to the support, and wherein the support can be pivoted relative to a holding device around an axis extending through the support and the holding device and/or wherein the support, along the axis, is displaceably arranged at the holding device and/or wherein the holding device is height-adjustably arranged at a lifting device. The inventive method includes the following steps:
a) adjusting a first pivot position of the support relative to the holding device and/or a first position of the support relative to the holding device along the axis and/or a first height adjustment of the holding device,
b) arranging a phantom, which is provided for determining the projection geometries, relative to the X-ray system such that it can be penetrated by an X-ray bundle proceeding from the X-ray source to the X-ray detector,
c) picking up a series of 2D projections of the phantom by displacing the carrying device in the support,
d) evaluating the 2D projections of the phantom for detecting (identifying) the projection geometries for each of the 2D projections,
e) storing the projection geometries for the selected position of the support and/or the holding device, and
f) repeating the steps a) through e) if and when the position of the support and/or the holding device changes.
The inventive method makes it possible, in a simple way, to detect projection geometries prior to an examination of a subject for all desired displacement movements or adjustments of the X-ray system relative to a subject and makes it possible to have these projection geometries available for later subject measurements, or for the reconstruction of 3D images from measured 2D projections of a subject. Normally, as far as the construction of the X-ray device does not change, the calibration must be undertaken only once. Therefore, a computerized online determination of projection geometries for reconstructing 3D images from a series of 2D projections is no longer necessary.

Mobile X-ray apparatus and method for determining projection geometries therein


A seat adapter arranged to be secured to a rear surface of a car seat having one or more holes, the seat adapter including a plate, including a first surface arranged to be secured to the rear surface, a second surface, and one or more perforations operatively arranged to create one or more breakaway sections, a first section extending from the second surface, and a through-hole extending through the plate and the first section, the through-hole arranged to be at least partially aligned with one of the one or more holes.

Child car seat apparatuses, often used in standard vehicle seats, are small seats usually made of hard plastic covered in a padded fabric covering and equipped with straps and buckles to secure a child in the vehicle. Child car seats are usually used to ensure the safety of a child by restricting the movement of the child within the vehicle and providing a restraint that is fitted to the smaller physical size of a child. Child car seats are also designed to provide for specific positioning of the child within the vehicle such that the child's safety is maximized in the event of a vehicle collision. There are many variations of this apparatus currently on the market for purchase, and parents or other consumers often put a lot of research and thought into the choice of a specific model of car seat for a child.
While recent car seats show improvements for both the safety and comfort of the child occupant, the car seat can still become uncomfortable for the child during a long drive. On a car trip which requires more time in the vehicle, restriction of the car seat's straps restrict movement so as to force the child to sit in substantially the same position for long periods of time, which generates heat and discomfort. The padding of a car seat can contribute to this heat discomfort, especially over these long drives. While modern vehicles usually have built-in heating, ventilation, and air conditioning (HVAC) capabilities, the car seat's proper installation position is usually far away from the vehicle's vents, and there are currently no ways to exploit the vehicle's cooling system to cool an existing child's car seat.
Thus, there has been a long felt need for a child car seat having a device to provide cooling and/or heating to the car seat using the vehicle's existing HVAC capabilities.

Apparatus for providing a car seat with ventilation


A method is described for determining a relative position of an axis of rotation of a rotary table of a coordinate measuring machine. The rotary table has or forms a reference element that is arranged eccentrically in relation to the axis of rotation. The method includes a measuring step including performing a rotary movement of the rotary table, and producing measuring points that encode a position of the reference element by a sensor of the coordinate measuring machine during the rotary movement. The method includes a determining step including determining the relative position of the axis of rotation of the rotary table based on the measuring points.

WO 2013/164344 A1 discloses a method for repeatedly determining the relative position of an axis of a rotary table in the machine coordinate system of a coordinate measuring machine. It describes probing a test body located on the rotary table in a number of positions of the rotary table by the measuring system of the coordinate measuring machine and determining the X coordinate and the Y coordinate of the axis of the rotary table in the machine coordinate system from the probe points. This only involves probing the test body at a standstill, therefore not during a rotary movement.
Something similar is described by the website "http://ibspe.com/category/machine-tool-inspection-and-analyzer-solutions/rotary-analyzer.htm", retrieved on Mar. 28, 2019, this website describing that the range of movement of the rotary table is passed through in incremental steps and in each step measuring points are produced. It is likewise assumed there that measuring points are only produced while a test body is at a standstill. The methods described there for determining a relative position of the axis of rotation are time-consuming.
WO 02/090879 A2 discloses a method for determining properties of a coordinate measuring machine and also a test object for it. The document discloses that it is important to know the relative position of the axis of rotation in the coordinate system of the base.
DE 198 15 098 B4 discloses a method for measuring rotary table deviations.
When measuring workpieces with a coordinate measuring machine, usually first a workpiece coordinate system is determined or established by so-called calibration. In the subsequent measurement of the workpiece, the coordinates of the measured values are however determined in the machine coordinate system, which is also referred to hereinafter as the inertial system. For the subsequent evaluation of test features, the measured values must then be transformed into the previously determined workpiece coordinate system. This allows for example the relative position (and orientation) of a bore, or the diameter of a bore, to be determined with reference to the workpiece coordinate system. These dimensions then usually have the reference indicated on the corresponding production drawing.
If a rotary table is used for holding the workpiece in a coordinate measuring machine, the measured values obtained in the inertial system must first be transformed into the rotary-table rotor coordinate system and subsequently into the workpiece coordinate system. For this purpose, it is required that the exact relative position of the rotary-table rotor coordinate system with respect to the inertial system is known.
For this reason, the relative position and orientation of the rotary table, which can be established by the position and orientation of the rotary table axis, is calibrated before measuring begins. This process is referred to as "calibration of the rotary table axis".
It is possible that the reference between the inertial system and the rotary table axis is not constant over time, for example on account of changing ambient conditions such as the temperature. It is also possible that the movement trajectories of the movable parts of the coordinate measuring machine change over time, whereby a calibrated reference between the rotary table axis and the inertial system may be lost.
It may therefore be desirable to calibrate the rotary table axis cyclically, for example at the beginning of each measuring sequence (test plan run). This gives rise to the following problems.
The calibration of the rotary table axis generally takes place by the previously explained probing of a reference element at a standstill, for example by the probing of a test sphere, generally with single-point probings. In particular, such single-point probings may be carried out here in 6 or more angular positions that are different from one another of the rotary table and consequently also of the test body. On account of the single-point probings and the required readjusting of the coordinate measuring machine in relation to the reference element, this procedure causes a relatively great expenditure of time.
In spite of this great expenditure of time, the number of measuring points generated is often low. This has the consequence that the calculated relative position of the rotary table coordinate system may be inexact.
In the case of a further commonly used method for calibrating the rotary table axis, a so-called reversal measurement is carried out on a cylinder. This generally requires complex, laterally projecting probe configurations, which in a time-consuming procedure have to be fitted and possibly calibrated. Often, the achievable accuracy is also reduced in the case of these probes, or, depending on the measuring head system that is used, greatly projecting probe configurations are not possible.
Furthermore, there is often the problem that, for calibrating the rotary table axis, a suitable reference element (generally a sphere or a cylinder) has to be arranged on the face plate of the rotary table. For this purpose, it may be required first to remove the workpiece from the face plate, whereby the expenditure of time is once again increased or the accuracy of the calibration of the rotary table axis is also reduced because the gravitational forces and moments caused by the workpiece may have an effect on the relative position of the rotary table axis.

Method and apparatus for determining a relative position of an axis of rotation of a rotary table for a coordinate measuring machine

Carl Zeiss Industrielle Messtechnik GmbH


The present invention discloses systems and methods for both viewing and interacting with a virtual reality (VR), an augmented reality (AR) or a mixed reality (MR). More specifically, the systems and methods allow the user to interact with aspects of such realities including virtual items presented in such realities or within such environments by manipulating a control device that has an inside-out camera mounted on-board. The apparatus or system uses two distinct representations including a reduced representation in determining the pose of the control device and uses these representations to compute an interactive pose portion of the control device to be used for interacting with the virtual item. The reduced representation is consonant with a constrained motion of the control device.

When an item moves without constraints in a three-dimensional environment with respect to stationary objects, knowledge of the item's distance from and inclination to these objects can be used to derive a variety of the item's parameters of motion as well as its pose. Particularly useful stationary objects for pose recovery purposes include a ground plane, fixed points, lines, reference surfaces and other known features.
Over time, many useful coordinate systems and methods have been developed to parameterize stable reference frames defined by stationary objects. The pose of the item, as recovered and expressed in such stable frames with parameters obtained from the corresponding coordinate description of the frame, is frequently referred to as the item's absolute pose. Based on the most up-to-date science, we know that no absolute or stationary frame is available for defining truly absolute parameters. Stable frame is thus not to be construed to imply a stationary frame. More precisely stated, the stable frame in which the absolute pose is parameterized is typically not a stationary or even an inertial frame (for example, a reference frame defined on the Earth's surface is certainly stable, but not stationary and non-inertial due to gravity and Earth's rotation). Nevertheless, we shall refer to poses defined in stable frames as "absolute" in adherence to convention.
Many conventions have also been devised to track temporal changes in absolute pose of the item as it undergoes motion in the three-dimensional environment. Certain types of motion in three dimensions can be fully described by corresponding equations of motion (e.g., orbital motion, simple harmonic motion, parabolic motion, curvilinear motion, etc.). These equations of motion are typically expressed in the stable frame defined by the stationary objects.
The parameterization of stable frames is usually dictated by the symmetry of the situation and overall type of motion. For example, motion exhibiting spherical symmetry is usually described in spherical coordinates, motion exhibiting cylindrical symmetry in cylindrical coordinates and generally linear motion in Cartesian coordinates. More advanced situations may even be expressed in coordinates using other types of parameterizations, e.g., sets of linearly independent axes.
Unconstrained motion of items in many three-dimensional environments, however, may not lend itself to a simple description in terms of equations of motion. Instead, the best approach is to recover a time sequence of the item's absolute poses and reconstruct the motion from them. For a theoretical background, the reader is referred to textbooks on classical mechanics and, more specifically, to chapters addressing various types of rigid body motion. An excellent overall review is found in H. Goldstein et al., Classical Mechanics, 3rd Edition, Addison Wesley Publishing, 2002.
Items associated with human users, e.g., items that are manipulated or worn by such users, generally do not move in ways that can be described by simple equations of motion. That is because human users exercise their own will in moving such items in whatever real three-dimensional environment they find themselves. It is, however, precisely the three-dimensional motion of such items that is very useful to capture and describe. That is because such motion may communicate the desires and intentions of the human user. These desires and intentions, as expressed by corresponding movements of the item (e.g., gestures performed with the item), can form the basis for user input and interactions with the digital domain (e.g., data input or control input).
In one specific field, it is important to know the absolute pose of an item associated with a human user to derive the position of its tip while it contacts a plane surface. Such position represents a subset of the absolute pose information. Various types of items, such as elongate objects, can benefit from knowledge of their pose, which includes the position of their tip. More precisely, such items would benefit from knowing the absolute position (in world coordinates parameterizing the stable frame) of their tip while it is in contact with a plane surface embedded in the three-dimensional environment. These items include walking canes when in touch with the ground, pointers when in touch with a display or projection surface, writing devices when in touch with a writing surface, and styluses when in touch with an input screen.
The need to determine the absolute position of the tip or nib is deeply felt in the field of input devices such as pens and styluses. Here, the absolute position of the tip has to be known in order to analyze the information written or traced by the user on the writing surface. Numerous teachings of pens and related input devices providing relative tip position and absolute tip position are discussed in the prior art. Some of these teachings rely on inertial navigation devices including gyroscopes and accelerometers as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,492,981; 6,212,296; 6,181,329; 5,981,884; 5,902,968. Others combine inertial navigation with force sensing as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,081,261; 5,434,371. Still other techniques rely on triangulation using signal receivers and auxiliary devices on or adjacent to the writing surface as found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,177,927; 6,124,847; 6,104,387; 6,100,877; 5,977,958 and 5,484,966. Furthermore, various forms of radiation including short radio-frequency (RF) pulses, infra-red (IR) pulses, and even sound waves in the form of ultrasound pulses have been taught for triangulation and related techniques. A few examples of yet another set of solutions employing digitizers or tablets are discussed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,050,490; 5,750,939; 4,471,162.
The prior art also addresses the use of optical systems to provide relative, and in some cases, absolute position of the tip of a pen or stylus on a surface. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,153,836 teaches emitting two light beams from the stylus to two receivers that determine angles with respect to a two-dimensional coordinate system defined within the surface. The tip position of the stylus is found with the aid of these angles and knowledge of the location of the receivers. U.S. Pat. No. 6,044,165 teaches integration of force sensing at the tip of the pen with an optical imaging system having a camera positioned in the world coordinates and looking at the pen and paper. Still other teachings use optical systems observing the tip of the pen and its vicinity. These teachings include, among others, U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,031,936; 5,960,124; 5,850,058. According to another approach, the disclosure in U.S. Pat. No. 5,103,486 proposes using an optical ballpoint in the pen. More recently, optical systems using a light source directing light at paper have been taught, e.g., as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,650,320; 6,592,039 as well as WO 00217222 and U.S. Patent Appl. Nos. 2003-0106985; 2002-0048404.
In some prior art approaches the writing surface is provided with special markings that the optical system can recognize. Some early examples of pens using special markings on the writing surface include U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,661,506; 5,652,412. More recently, such approach has been taught in U.S. Patent Appl. 2003-0107558 and related literature. For still further references, the reader is referred to U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,203,384; 7,088,440 and the references cited therein.
The rich stream of information expressing an item's absolute pose combines its three linear or translational degrees of freedom with its three rotational degrees of freedom. Typically, translations are measured along linearly independent axes such as the X, Y, and Z-axes. The translation or displacement along these axes is usually measured by the position (x, y, z) of a reference point on the item (e.g., the center of mass of the item). The three-dimensional orientation of the item is typically expressed by rotations taken around three linearly independent axes. The latter are typically expressed with three rotation angles, such as the Euler angles (ϕ, θ, ψ).
However the prior art comes short on several fronts when it comes to providing a rich, and comfortable virtual reality, augmented reality or mixed reality experience to the user along with the ability to interact with such a reality. In particular, the prior art does not teach a system or methods for utilizing a viewing mechanism to view a reality/environment with real and/or virtual objects, where the virtual objects may be altered or modified through interactions based on one or more properties of an inside-out camera. Examples of such one or more properties include the pose of the camera or a reduced homography. The reality viewed by the user may be a virtual reality, an augmented reality or a mixed reality. The above alteration or modification of the virtual objects may be necessary to avoid motion sickness for the user. Such a sickness occurs because of the conflict between the vestibular and ocular responses of the brain, as a result of the motion of the user and the system's inability to render appropriate and timely changes to the images/reality viewed by the user.
The prior art is also silent about the many different choices available for the properties of the inside-out camera according to which the virtual object(s) in the reality may be modified as described above. Such modification(s) may be necessary to enhance the experience of the user in viewing the reality. The prior art is also silent about the fact that the reality may be viewed from either a user viewpoint or the viewpoint of a device which is detached from the user and which may be deployed by the user to interact with the virtual/augmented or mixed reality.

Realistic virtual/augmented/mixed reality viewing and interactions