The present invention includes: receiving an optical signal from a transmission link via an STM-4 optical port; converting the received optical signal into an electrical signal; recovering an E1 signal; performing HDLC link deframe mapping, removing a frame header and an interpolated zero part in the HDLC link, and extracting the payload of a sliced HDLC packet; and processing and outputting a received HDLC data stream to a host. The present invention further provides a device for acquiring data via a channelized optical port STM-4 HDLC according to the method for acquiring data via a channelized optical port STM-4 HDLC.

With the constant development of a communication technology and the increasing complexity of a communication network, signaling, as the nerve of the communication network, supports and controls the normal operation of the communication network. Signaling No. 7 is currently the most important inter-office signaling in China, and is widely used in both a fixed network and a mobile network. Signaling No. 7 network, as a nerve hub of modern network communication, plays a growing role in communication, and becomes more and more important. Signaling No. 7 protocol bears all the information required for the operation of a service network, and is a very valuable information resource. The signaling No. 7 protocol can accurately and effectively acquire relevant information, and provide effective support means for the management and maintenance of the whole communication network and the monitoring and analysis of service quality.
In a signaling No. 7 monitoring system, the accurate acquisition and reliable transmission of a signaling packet are the prerequisite and basis for the success of the whole system. The signaling No. 7 links in China all operate in PCM lines. The commonest line code pattern in the PCM lines is HDB3 code, wherein E1 uses the HDB3 code. It can be seen from the time slot feature of E1 in a PCM (pulse code modulation) code that E1 is totally divided into 32 time slots, namely TS0-TS31, wherein each time slot is 64K; the TS0 time slot is used for frame delimitation, and the other time slots can transmit data, and can also transmit a speech and a signaling.
The signaling links E1 bears are classified into three types: the first is to use the entire 2M as one link, such as a high rate 2 Mbit/s link; the second is to divide 2M into 31 time slots, 64K for each time slot, and the combinations thereof N64K (31>=N>=1); for example, when N=1, the signaling link is 64 Kbit/s that people are familiar with, and when N=31, the signaling link is 2 Mbits/s. The values of N are different, and the locations of the N 64K are different; therefore, the combinations of N64K are varied; and the third one is the link the sub-time slots of which are 8K, 16K and 32 k; and the third link is generally used in an Abis interface.
At present, data acquisition methods are mainly divided into two types according to different network devices and networking modes:
1. E1 electrical port link, most links in existing networks are such type of links at present; the access method is high resistance cross connection; and the E1 electrical port link can directly use an electrical port acquisition card to perform acquisition. Different types of links can be converged to one E1 by a convergence device, so as to improve the utilization ratio of an acquisition device.
2. Optical port link, the acquisition optical port in existing networks at present is mainly a synchronous transmission module with the rate 155.520 Mbps, namely the STM-1 optical transmission link; the data can also be transmitted on a higher rate optical transmission link such as STM-4, STM-16 and the like, in which case, however, an optical port acquisition card with higher acquisition capability is required.
In order to improve the data acquisition integration level, the electrical interfaces of method 1 can be first converged; then a plurality of electrical interface links are converted into an optical interface via an electrical-optical conversion device; and finally an optical port acquisition card is used to perform acquisition. Alternatively, the low rate optical interfaces of method 2 can also be converted to a higher rate optical interface.
At present, existing test cards can only monitor 2M and 155M interfaces, but has no monitoring means for the newly emerging and persistently increasing STM-4 622M link on the Internet. On the other hand, 2M and STM-1 155M acquisition cards have a low integration level, and occupy card insertion positions of a server, while the acquired data only uses a small part of performances of the server, thus wasting the capability of the server.
In view of the two situations, the newly researched STM-4 622M acquisition card not only fills the gap of STM-4 622M acquisition, but also improves the acquisition integration level of a single card, saves the card slot positions of the server, and improves the utilization ratio of the server, thus greatly reducing the number of deployed servers, reducing investment cost, and satisfying the application of an acquisition product line.

Method and device for acquiring data via channelized optical port STM-4 HDLC

BEIJING ZHONGCHUANG TELECOM TEST CO., LTD


A Taylor reactor (1) according to FIG. 1, comprising                1. an annular reaction volume (2) which widens in the flow direction and is defined by an outer reactor wall (3), a rotor (4) which is mounted rotatably at the end (4.1) in the reactor floor (5) and at its other end (4.2) is unmounted, and a reactor floor (5) having a seal (6) for the drive shaft (7),        2. an inlet region (8) above the reactor floor (5), having at least one side feed (8.1) and/or at least one feed (8.1) through the reactor floor (5) for the reactants and/or the process media,        3. an outlet region (9) which is disposed above the annular reaction volume (2), widens further beyond the annular reaction volume (2) in the flow direction, and subsequently tapers toward a product offtake (10),        4. a product offtake (10) which at its greatest diameter opens toward the outlet region (9) and tapers in the other direction, and        5. a pressure maintenance valve (11);and its use for continuous bulk polymerization.

The present invention relates to a novel process for continuous preparation of (co)polymers, block copolymers and graft copolymers of at least one olefinically unsaturated monomer by (co)polymerization, block copolymerization and graft copolymerization in bulk. The present invention also relates to a novel Taylor reactor for implementing this process.
In the text below, (co)polymerization, block copolymerization and graft copolymerization are referred to collectively as "polymerization". Accordingly, the (co)polymers, block copolymers and graft copolymers are referred to collectively as "polymers".
As is known, olefinically unsaturated monomers are polymerized continuously in bulk by a free-radical, anionic or cationic method in the presence or absence of small amounts—i.e., up to 25% by weight of the reaction mixture—of organic solvents. In the course of the polymerization reaction, the kinematic viscosity ν changes by a factor of at least 10, so that the handling of the polymers becomes difficult. It is therefore often necessary to take the polymerization only to a comparatively low conversion, for example, a maximum of 70 mol %, so that the reaction mixtures comprising polymers and monomers can still be mixed thoroughly and discharged from the reactors. It is then necessary to separate the unreacted monomers from the polymers, something which is complex and expensive from the standpoints of safety, energy, and process engineering. Monomers whose volatility is low can in many cases not be separated off at all, with the consequence that the monomer content of the polymers remains undesirably high.
In the German patent application DE 198 28 742 A1 it is proposed to conduct the polymerization of olefinically unsaturated monomers in bulk in a Taylor reactor under the conditions of Taylor vortex flow.
Taylor reactors, which serve to convert substances under the conditions of Taylor vortex flow, have been known for a long time. They consist essentially of two coaxial concentric cylinders of which the outer is fixed while the inner rotates. The reaction space is the volume formed by the gap between the cylinders. Increasing angular velocity ωi of the inner cylinder is accompanied by a series of different flow patterns which are characterized by a dimensionless parameter, known as the Taylor number Ta. As well as the angular velocity of the stirrer or rotor, the Taylor number is also a function of the kinematic viscosity ν of the fluid in the gap and of the geometric parameters, the external radius of the inner cylinder, ri, the internal radius of the outer cylinder, ro, and the gap width d, the difference between the two radii, in accordance with the following formula:Ta=ωirid ν−1(d/ri)1/2  (I)Where d=ro−ri.
At low angular velocity, the laminar Couette flow, a simple shear flow, develops. If the rotary speed of the inner cylinder is increased further, then, above a critical level, alternately contrarotating vortices (rotating in opposition) occur, with axes along the peripheral direction. These vortices, called Taylor vortices, are rotationally symmetric, possess the geometric form of a torus (Taylor vortex ring), and have a diameter which is approximately the same size as the gap width. Two adjacent vortices form a vortex pair or a vortex cell.
The basis of this behavior is the fact that, in the course of rotation of the inner cylinder with the outer cylinder at rest, the fluid particles that are near to the inner cylinder are subject to a greater centrifugal force than those at a greater distance from the inner cylinder. This difference in the acting centrifugal forces displaces the fluid particles from the inner to the outer cylinder. The centrifugal force acts counter to the viscosity force, since for the motion of the fluid particles it is necessary to overcome the friction. If there is an increase in the rotary speed, there is also an increase in the centrifugal force. The Taylor vortices are formed when the centrifugal force exceeds the stabilizing viscosity force.
If the Taylor reactor is provided with an inlet and an outlet and is operated continuously, the result is a Taylor vortex flow with a low axial flow. Each vortex pair passes through the gap, with only a low level of mass transfer between adjacent vortex pairs. Mixing within such vortex pairs is very high, whereas axial mixing beyond the pair boundaries is very low. A vortex pair may therefore be regarded as a stirred tank in which there is thorough mixing. Consequently, the flow system behaves like an ideal flow tube in that the vortex pairs pass through the gap with constant residence time, like ideal stirred tanks.
If, however, there is a sharp change in the viscosity ν of the fluid in the axial flow direction as conversion progresses, as is the case with polymerization in bulk, the Taylor vortices disappear or are not even formed. In that case, Couette flow, a concentric, laminar flow, is observed in the annular gap. There is an unwanted change in the mixing and flow conditions within the Taylor reactor. In this operating stage it exhibits flow characteristics which are comparable with those of the laminarly flow-traversed tube, which is a considerable disadvantage. For example, in the case of polymerization in bulk, there is an undesirably broad molecular mass distribution and chemical polydispersity of the polymers. Moreover, the poor reaction regime may result in considerable amounts of residual monomers, which then have to be discharged from the Taylor reactor. However, there may also be instances of coagulation and polymer deposition, which in some cases may even lead to blockage of the reactor or of the product outlet. Overall, it is no longer possible to obtain the desired products, such as polymers of comparatively narrow molecular mass distribution, but only those whose profile of properties does not meet the requirements.
In order to solve these problems, a Taylor reactor was provided having                a) an external reactor wall located within which there is a concentrically disposed rotor, a reactor floor and a reactor lid, which together define the annular reactor volume,        b) at least one means for metered addition of reactants, and        c) a means for the discharge of the product, where        d) during the polymerization there is a change in the viscosity ν of the reaction medium and        e) the reactor wall and/or the rotor are or is geometrically designed in such a way that the conditions for Taylor vortex flow are met over substantially the entire reactor length in the reactor volume.
Condition e) is met by the annular reactor volume widening, in particular widening conically, in the direction of flow traversal. As a result, the known Taylor reactor is able substantially to solve the problem of maintaining the Taylor flow when there is a sharp increase in the kinematic viscosity ν in the reaction medium.
In the known Taylor reactor, the annular reactor volume is defined by the concentrically disposed rotor, the reactor floor, and the reactor lid. This means that the product outlet must be disposed at the side of the Taylor reactor or in the reactor lid and cannot be designed without edges. With this configuration, however, an undisrupted product discharge is difficult to realise, since edges and dead spaces result in deposition of polymers. Moreover, in this area, the Taylor flow which is still present in the highly viscous reaction medium may easily collapse, thereby impairing the mixing of monomers and polymers and increasing the likelihood of deposition at edges and in dead spaces.
In the known Taylor reactor, furthermore, the passage of the drive shaft for the rotor is rotated in the reactor lid. This means that the rotor is driven in the area in which the kinematic viscosity ν is at its highest. As a result, the seals and connections are subject to a particularly high mechanical load.
Owing to the disadvantageous combined effect of flow and geometric configuration, on the one hand the known Taylor reactor is unable to solve all of the safety and process engineering problems which occur in connection with polymerization in bulk and on the other hand it is still not possible to increase the monomer conversion to an extent where substantial freedom from monomers and a narrow molecular weight distribution and molecular weight polydispersity of the polymers are achieved.
It is true that the problem of insufficient mixing of the reactants may be solved to a certain degree by inserting a mixer upstream of the entry point for the reactants, as is described in the German patent application DE 199 60 389 A1. However, the problems set out above continue to occur in the outlet region in the case of polymerization in bulk.
The American patent U.S. Pat. No. 4,174,907 A discloses a Taylor reactor in which the rotor is mounted rotatably in the inlet region of the reactants. At its other end, the rotor is not mounted but instead ends substantially before the outlet region, which at its broadest point has the same diameter as the outer reactor wall. The outlet region narrows in the form of a funnel to an outlet pipe. The known Taylor reactor is used to mix liquids of different viscosity and electrical conductivity. Moreover, it may be used for the reaction of polyisocyanates with polyols. To what extent it can be used for the polymerization of olefinically unsaturated monomers in bulk, the American patent does not reveal.
In the known Taylor reactor, the drive shaft is passed through the reactor floor and is connected to the rotor in the inlet region of the reactants. However, in the inlet region of the reactants the rotor does not have the diameter which would be necessary in order to establish Taylor flow in this region. Moreover, the annular reaction volume does not widen in the direction of flow traversal. It is true that the American patent does specify, in column 10 lines 29 to 33, that the concentric parts may also have configurations other than the cylindrical—for example, substantially spherical or conical—configurations, but there is no teaching as to what configurations are of particular advantage for polymerization in bulk.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a novel Taylor reactor which no longer has the disadvantages of the prior art but which is instead especially suitable for the polymerization of olefinically unsaturated monomers in bulk, in the course of which the kinematic viscosity ν in the reaction medium multiplies by a factor of at least 10 in the course of the reaction. The novel Taylor reactor should readily permit the preparation of polymers with a conversion >70 mol % without being accompanied by the formation of gas bubbles and/or the deposition of polymers in the annular reaction volume and/or in the outlet region. Furthermore, the novel Taylor reactor should have a particularly long operational duration and service life.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for continuously polymerizing in mass quantities and taylor reactor for carrying out this method


An optical receiver according to the present invention is used for detecting FSK or PSK signal light directly. The receiver has a PM fiber and a peak detector. The peak detector detects an amplitude of a demodulated output signal. In accordance with an output signal of the peak detector, a polarization condition of a signal light to be supplied to the PM fiber is controlled so as to keep the output of the peak detector maximum.

An optical communication system includes an optical transmitter for transmitting a signal light, an optical receiver for receiving the signal light from the optical transmitter, and an optical fiber for connecting the optical transmitter and the optical receiver. In such an optical communication system using a direct detection method, the optical transmitter is provided with a modulator for modulating a bias current in accordance with a data signal to provide a signal light (transmission light). On the other hand, the optical receiver is provided with a demodulator for demodulating a received signal light to reproduce the data signal.
Recently, in such an optical communication system, an optical FSK (frequency shift keying) and an optical PSK (phase shift keying) have been used as a signal modulating method. In a situation that FSK or PSK is used in an optical communication system, a heterodyne detection method can be also used for receiving a transmission light as well as a direct detection method.
According to an optical receiver using a heterodyne detection method, a wide bandwidth is required for receiver circuit. On the other hand, according to optical transmitter and receiver using a direct detection method, a signal light is directly modulated by a baseband signal and the baseband signal is directly detected, so that a high bit rate transmission can be carried out easily.
The optical receiver of a direct detection type includes an optical frequency discriminator or an optical phase discriminator to detect an FSK signal light and a PSK signal light.
One of optical frequency discriminators has been described on pages 376 to 377 in a "Electronics Letters", Vol. 26, No. 6, 1990. According to the letter, a signal light is demodulated in accordance with a transmission characteristics of a Mach-Zehnder interferometer. In this case, the interferometer is required to have a center frequency which is coincided with that of the signal light in order to increase a detection efficiency thereof. For the purpose of controlling the frequency of the interferometer, one of two waveguides of glass (SiO.sub.2) is heated by a heater to be adjusted in phase.
According to the conventional optical receiver, however, there are disadvantages in that a frequency of the interferometer is difficult to be coincided with the center frequency of the signal light at high speed, because the frequency of the interferometer is controlled by heating process. As a result, a detection efficiency is not stable sufficiently. Further, a receiving sensitivity of the conventional receiver is low.
Otherwise, an optical frequency discriminator for demodulating a signal light in accordance with a propagation delay-time difference between two intrinsic optical axes (principal optical states) of a PM (polarization maintaining) fiber has been described in a report, R. S. Vodhanel, "Frequency modulation response measurements to 15 GHz using a novel birefringent fiber interferometer", Tech. Dig. Topical Meeting Opt. Fiber Commun., pager WQ13, 1989. The frequency discriminator performs the same operation as the Mach-Zehnder interferometer as described above.

Optical receiver of direct detection type


A keyboard. A keyboard subassembly is disposed on a base and moves between a first position and a second position. The keyboard subassembly provides a first angle of elevation when in the first position, and a second angle of elevation when in the second position. The first angle of elevation is less than the second angle of elevation.

The invention relates to keyboards, and in particular to keyboards providing adjustment of angle of elevation and height.
Referring to FIG. 1A, a conventional keyboard 10 comprises a plurality of keys 12. The keyboard 10 can be provided with a predetermined inclined angle for ergonomic operation, providing a proper angle of elevation to the keys 12. Furthermore, as shown in FIG. 1B, when the predetermined inclined angle of the keyboard 10 is insufficient, an extra supporting shaft 13 disposed on the bottom thereof can be pulled out to support the keyboard 10, thereby increasing the inclined angle thereof.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the angle of elevation of the keyboard 10 can be adjusted only by means of the supporting shaft 13. The amount by which the angle of elevation of the keyboard 10 can be adjusted is thus fixed. Moreover, when the angle of elevation of the keyboard 10 is adjusted, the keyboard 10 must be lifted, the supporting shaft 13 must be pulled out from a recess on the bottom thereof and rotated to a predetermined position, creating inconvenience of use.
Hence, there is a need for keyboards providing simple and fast adjustment of angle of elevation and operational height.


A light emitting diode (LED) display panel is provided. The LED display panel includes a printed circuit board (PCB), a flexible substrate disposed on the PCB, and a pixel array. The flexible substrate has a plurality of holes. The pixel array is formed by a first matrix circuit disposed on the flexible substrate, a second matrix circuit disposed on the PCB, and a plurality of LEDs disposed on the PCB, collectively defining a plurality of pixels. Each of the pixels comprises a corresponding one of the LEDs and pixel circuits formed by the first matrix circuit and the second matrix circuit. A projection of each of the LEDs correspondingly overlaps with a projection of one of the holes on the flexible substrate along an extending direction of the holes. A mosaic LED display panel may be formed by multiple LED display panel butted or tiled together.

The background description provided herein is for the purpose of generally presenting the context of the disclosure. Work of the presently named inventors, to the extent it is described in this background section, as well as aspects of the description that may not otherwise qualify as prior art at the time of filing, are neither expressly nor impliedly admitted as prior art against the present disclosure.
In recent years, light emitting diode (LED) display panel has become a trend. Specifically, mini-LED or micro-LED display panels have the advantages of high brightness and large color gamut. Active matrix driven mini-LED or micro-LED display panels can increase the brightness and life of the display panels. However, the sizes of active matrix driven mini-LED or micro-LED display panels are limited due to limitations in ohmic drops (also known as IR drops) in the power lines and common lines and signal distortions of the scan and data signals. A mosaic structure can increase the sizes of mini-LED or micro-LED display panels. However, the resistance-capacitance (RC) loading of the power driving of an active matrix driven mini-LED or micro-LED display panel is a severe limitation on the size and efficiency of the display.
Therefore, a heretofore unaddressed need exists in the art to address the aforementioned deficiencies and inadequacies.

Mosaic active matrix driven light emitting diode (LED) display panel


Novel catalytic materials and novel methods of preparing M-N—C catalytic materials utilizing a sacrificial support approach and using inexpensive active polymers as the carbon and nitrogen source and readily available metal precursors are described.

Fuel cells are receiving increasing attention as a viable energy-alternative. In general, fuel cells convert electrochemical energy into electrical energy in an environmentally clean and efficient manner. Fuel cells are contemplated as potential energy sources for everything from small electronics to cars and homes. In order to meet different energy requirements, there are a number of different types of fuel cells in existence today, each with varying chemistries, requirements, and uses.
As one example, Direct Methanol Fuel Cells (DMFCs) rely upon the oxidation of methanol on an electrocatalyst layer to form carbon dioxide. Water is consumed at the anode and produced at the cathode. Positive ions (H+) are transported across a proton exchange membrane to the cathode where they react with oxygen to produce water. Electrons can then be transported via an external circuit from anode to cathode providing power to external sources.
As another example, polymer electrolyte membrane (PEM) fuel cells (also called proton exchange membrane fuel cells) use pure hydrogen (typically supplied by a hydrogen tank) as a fuel. A stream of hydrogen is delivered to the anode side of a membrane-electrode assembly (MEA), where it is catalytically split into protons and electrons. As with the DMFC, the positive ions are transported across a proton exchange membrane to the cathode where they react with oxygen to produce water.
Currently, one of the limiting factors in the wide scale commercialization of PEM and DMFC fuel cells is the cost associated with precious metals. Both DMFC and PEM fuel cells commonly use platinum as an electrocatalyst. Nobel metals such as platinum are needed to catalyze the sluggish oxygen reduction reaction (ORR) at the cathode. One of the major routes to overcome this limitation is to increase the platinum utilization in noble-metal based electrocatalysts. Another viable route is to use a less expensive, yet still sufficiently active catalyst in larger quantities. Several classes of non-platinum electrocatalysts have been identified as having adequate oxygen reduction activity to be considered as potential electrocatalysts in commercial fuel cell applications.
Generally, known non-platinum electrocatalysts are supported on high surface area carbon blacks. This is done to increase dispersion, active surface area, and conductivity of the catalytic layer. The synthesis procedure usually includes precipitation of the precursor molecules onto the supporting substrate and pyrolyzation of the supported precursor.
Metal-Nitrogen-Carbon (M-N—C) catalysts have been found to be very promising for electrochemical oxygen reduction applications in fuel cell membrane electrode assemblies (MEAs), stacks and fuel cell systems. Critical aspects of the materials include the presence of metallic particles, conjugated carbon-nitrogen-oxide-metallic networks, and nitrogen-bonded carbon. The metallic phase includes metallic, oxide, carbide, nitride, and mixtures of these states. The chemical states and bonding of the N/C/M networks and N/C networks influences performance, for example, increased overall nitrogen content improves ORR performance. However, these systems still suffer from several significant drawbacks including: low stability in acidic environments, low durability in acid and alkaline environments, high costs of nitrogen precursors and low activity in ORR compared with platinum. The problem of low stability in acid is connected to leaching of metal from carbon-nitrogen network. Low durability in acid and alkaline solutions is explained by the evolution of significant amount of H2O2 in these environments which is corrosive for both metal and carbon-nitrogen networks. The low activity is possibly due to the low metal loading, and as a result in low concentration of active sites in such catalysts due to using external carbon source (high surface carbons like Vulcan, KetjenBlack etc).

Non-PGM catalyst for ORR based on pyrolysed poly-complexes


A joint connector includes a cap, a plug received in the cap in a mounting direction, and a clip mounted along the mounting direction to fix the cap and the plug, wherein the plug comprises a flexible locking element configured to simultaneously fix the cap and the clip. The locking element is connected to the plug deformably in a vertical direction with respect to the plug.

A wiring harness is where wires used for ignition, lighting, charging, and the like of a vehicle are bound. The wiring harnesses are installed throughout a vehicle, from a headlamp at the front end of the vehicle to a rear lamp at the rear end of the vehicle around a battery. The wiring harnesses for vehicles have circuit components, such as power/signal input and ground/signal output, and the same circuit components need to be connected to each other.
Joint connectors are used to connect the same circuit components, e.g., power/ground, indicator lamps, communication signals, etc., of the wiring harnesses to each other. The joint connectors can reduce the number of circuits and simplify configuration of circuits and circuit paths.
As an example of such joint connectors, known is a joint connector in which a clip is engaged with a connector housing. However, this type of joint connector requires a structure that allows easy assembly and securely holds its components together to prevent separation of the components. Also, the structure must prevent vibration or noise caused by gaps between components, like between the housing and the clip.
The foregoing is intended merely to aid in the understanding of the background of the present disclosure, and is not intended to mean that the present disclosure falls within the purview of the related art that is already known to those skilled in the art.
Korean Patent Application Publication No. 10-2018-0138525 (published on Dec. 31, 2018) describes information related to the present subject matter.


A line memory and control system comprises a line memory, for example a first in first out (FIFO) device. A comparator compares a first value, specifying a location in the horizontal line period where reading or writing of the line memory is to begin, with a second value, fixing pixel location within each line period. A register stores the number of data samples stored in the line memory. A counter counts the number of data samples which have actually been written into the line memory or read from the line memory. The counter has an output of the comparator as a first input and the number of data samples previously stored in the line memory as a second input. In the case of both compression and expansion, a line memory control system assures that the number of samples written into each FIFO line memory be the same as the number of samples read out of each FIFO line memory.

The invention relates to the field of televisions, for example those televisions having a wide display format ratio screen, which must interpolate video data to implement various display formats. Most televisions today have a format display ratio, horizontal width to vertical height, of 4:3. A wide format display ratio corresponds more closely to the display format ratio of movies, for example 16:9. The invention is applicable to both direct view televisions and projection televisions.
Televisions having a format display ratio of 4:3, often referred to as 4.times.3, are limited in the ways that single and multiple video signal sources can be displayed. Television signal transmissions of commercial broadcasters, except for experimental material, are broadcast with a 4.times.3 format display ratio. Many viewers find the 4.times.3 display format less pleasing than the wider format display ratio associated with the movies. Televisions with a wide format display ratio provide not only a more pleasing display, but are capable of displaying wide display format signal sources in a corresponding wide display format. Movies "look" like movies, not cropped or distorted versions thereof. The video source need not be cropped, either when converted from film to video, for example with a telecine device, or by processors in the television.
Televisions with a wide display format ratio are also suited to a wide variety of displays for both conventional and wide display format signals, as well as combinations thereof in multiple picture displays. However, the use of a wide display ratio screen entails numerous problems. Changing the display format ratios of multiple signal sources, developing consistent timing signals from asynchronous but simultaneously displayed sources, switching between multiple sources to generate multiple picture displays, and providing high resolution pictures from compressed data signals are general categories of such problems. Such problems are solved in a wide screen television according to this invention. A wide screen television according to various inventive arrangements is capable of providing high resolution, single and multiple picture displays, from single and multiple sources having similar or different format ratios, and with selectable display format ratios.
Televisions with a wide display format ratio can be implemented in television systems displaying video signals both at basic or standard horizontal scanning rates and multiples thereof, as well as by both interlaced and noninterlaced scanning. Standard NTSC video signals, for example, are displayed by interlacing the successive fields of each video frame, each field being generated by a raster scanning operation at a basic or standard horizontal scanning rate of approximately 15,734 Hz. The basic scanning rate for video signals is variously referred to as f.sub.H, 1f.sub.H, and 1H. The actual frequency of a 1f.sub.H signal will vary according to different video standards. In accordance with efforts to improve the picture quality of television apparatus, systems have been developed for displaying video signals progressively, in a noninterlaced fashion. Progressive scanning requires that each displayed frame must be scanned in the same time period allotted for scanning one of the two fields of the interlaced format. Flicker free AA-BB displays require that each field be scanned twice, consecutively. In each case, the horizontal scanning frequency must be twice that of the standard horizontal frequency. The scanning rate for such progressively scanned or flicker free displays is variously referred to as 2f.sub.H and 2H. A 2f.sub.H scanning frequency according to standards in the United States, for example, is approximately 31,468 Hz.
Considerable signal processing of the main video signal is necessary to implement many of the display formats which are especially appropriate for a wide screen television. The video data must be selectively compressed and expanded, depending upon the desired format. In one case, for example, it is necessary to compress the 4.times.3 NTSC video by a factor of 4/3 to avoid aspect ratio distortion of the displayed picture. In the other case, for example, the video can be expanded to perform horizontal zooming operations usually accompanied by vertical zooming. Horizontal zoom operations up to 33% can be accomplished by reducing compressions to less than 4/3. A sample interpolator is used to recalculate the incoming video to a new pixel positions because the luminance video bandwidth, up to 5.5 MHz for S-VHS format, occupies a large percentage of the Nyquist fold over frequency, which is 8 MHz for a 1024f.sub.H system clock.
The luminance data for the main signal is routed along a main signal path including a FIFO line memory for compressing and expanding the data and an interpolator for recalculating sample values, based on the compression or the expansion of the video, to smooth the data. However, the relative positions of the FIFO and the interpolator are different for compression than for expansion. In accordance with an inventive arrangement, switches or route selectors reverse the topology of the main signal path with respect to the relative positions of the FIFO and the interpolator, avoiding the need for two main signal paths requiring two FIFOs and two interpolators. In particular, these switches select whether the interpolator precedes the FIFO, as required for compression, or whether the FIFO precedes the interpolator, as required for expansion. The switches can be responsive to a route control circuit which is itself responsive to a microprocessor.
An interpolator control circuit generates pixel position values, interpolator compensation filter weighting and clock gating information for the luminance data. It is the clock gating information which decimates or repeats the FIFO data to allow more samples to be written than read for effecting compression or more samples to be read than written for expansion. In order to process a 4/3 compression, for example, every fourth sample can be inhibited from being written into the FIFO. The average slope of a ramp read out of the luminance FIFO is 33% steeper than the corresponding input ramp. Note also that 33% less active reading time is required to read out the ramp as was required to write in the data. This constitutes the 4/3 compression. It is the function of the interpolator to recalculate the luminance samples being written into the FIFO so that the data read out of the FIFO is smooth, rather than jagged.
Expansions may be performed in exactly the opposite manner as compressions. In the case of compressions the write enable signal has clock gating information attached to it in the form of inhibit pulses. For expanding data, the clock gating information is applied to the read enable signal. This will pause the data as it is being read from the FIFO. The average slope of a ramp read out of the luminance FIFO is 33% more shallow than the corresponding input ramp for a 4/3 expansion or zoom. In this case it is the function of the interpolator, which follows the FIFO, to recalculate the sampled data from jagged to smooth after the expansion. In the expansion case the data must pause while being read from the FIFO and while being clocked into the interpolator. This is different from the compression case where the data is continuously clocked through the interpolator. For both cases, compression and expansion, the clock gating operations can easily be performed in a synchronous manner, that is, events can occur based on the rising edges of the 1024f.sub.H system clock.
There are a number of advantages in this topology for luminance interpolation. The clock gating operations, namely data decimation and data repetition, may be performed in a synchronous manner. If a switchable video data topology were not used to interchange the positions of the interpolator and FIFO, the read or write clocks would need to be double clocked to pause or repeat the data. The term double clocked means that two data points must be written into the FIFO in a single clock cycle or read from the FIFO during a single clock cycle. The resulting circuitry cannot be made to operate synchronously with the system clock, since the writing or reading clock frequency must be twice as high as the system clock frequency. Moreover, the switchable topology requires only one interpolator and one FIFO to perform both compressions and expansions. If the video switching arrangement described herein were not used, the double clocking situation can be avoided only by using two FIFO's to accomplish both compression and expansion. One FIFO for expansions would need to be placed in front of the interpolator and one FIFO for compressions would need to be placed after the interpolator.

Video processing circuit with line memory control


An arrangement for contactless transmission of signals, e.g., between at least one circuit unit installed on the vehicle body and at least one circuit unit in a vehicle seat mounted displaceably on rails is described. This arrangement is free of wear and guarantees interference-free signal transmission. This arrangement consists of at least one repeating coil whose primary winding and secondary winding are in separate pot-type cores, one of which is mounted on a stationary vehicle part (body) and the other is mounted on the movable vehicle part (vehicle seat). Both pot-type cores are designed as rails sliding along one another and having sections such that together they form a closed circuit for the magnetic flux between the primary winding and the secondary winding.

Various electrical devices are often installed in vehicle seats, such as the driver's seat or the passenger seat, e.g., for heating or adjustment of the seat. The seat may also have electronic circuits for detection of seat occupancy in conjunction with airbag systems. Passenger seats have recently also been equipped with side bags in the armrest of the seat. For all these devices, control or power signals must be transmitted from central circuit units permanently installed on the vehicle body. Therefore, it is advantageous to provide an arrangement that is wear-resistant and transmits with a high reliability signals between a stationary vehicle part and a vehicle part (e.g., a vehicle seat) that moves linearly with respect thereto.

Arrangement for contactless transmission of signals between vehicle parts movable linearly with respect to one another


A semiconductor memory device, including a plurality of programmable memory cells each one adapted to be brought into one among at least a first status and a second status, said plurality of memory cells including memory cells intended to store data, and means for accessing the memory cells for reading/modifying their status. At least one memory cell in said plurality is used as detector memory cell, and control means operatively associated with the at least one detector memory cell are provided, said control means being adapted to establishing a potential loss of the data stored in the memory cells of said plurality based on a detected first status of the at least one detector memory cell.

The OUM is a type of electrically-alterable non-volatile semiconductor memory device that has emerged in the last few years. This memory device exploits the properties of so called "phase-change" materials that can be reversibly switched between two phases, namely a generally amorphous, disordered phase and a generally crystalline, highly ordered phase.
A phase-change material exhibits different electrical characteristics, particularly a different resistivity, peculiar to each one of the two phases; in particular, when the phase-change material is in the amorphous phase, it exhibits a relatively high resistivity, whereas when the material is in the crystalline phase, it has a relatively low resistivity. Thus, each material phase can be conventionally associated with a corresponding one of the two logic binary values, "1" and "0". An example of a phase-change semiconductor memory is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,166,758, which is incorporated by reference.
Typically, the memory device includes a matrix of phase-change memory cells, arranged in rows and columns with associated word lines and bit lines, respectively. Each memory cell consists of a storage element connected in series to an access element, for example the base-emitter junction of a Bipolar Junction Transistor (BJT), particularly a PNP BJT, associated with the storage element.
The storage elements are made of a phase-change material, typically a calcogenide (e.g., a Ge2Sb2Te5 alloy); if the programmable storage element is in the amorphous phase, the memory cell is conventionally considered to be in a "reset" status, and this status is associated with a first logic binary value, typically the "0"; if the programmable storage element is in the crystalline phase, the memory cell is conventionally considered to be in a "set" status, which is associated with the opposite logic binary value, in the example the "1".
Without entering into particulars, which are per-se well known to those skilled-in the art, the phase of the phase-change material is stable below a predefined temperature (a typical temperature value is 150° C.). The material phase can be changed by heating the material over such a temperature; for this purpose, a voltage higher than a corresponding phase-change voltage value (for example, 0.6V) is applied to the memory cell's storage element; the applied voltage causes the flow of a current through a resistive element placed in contact with the phase-change material of the programmable storage element, which resistive element acts as a local Joule-effect heater, and accordingly raises the temperature of the phase-change material. Depending on the voltage applied thereacross, and thus on the current flowing therethrough, if the programmable storage element is heated over a so-called "nucleation temperature" (typically, 200° C.) and then cooled down slowly, the phase-change material becomes crystalline; conversely, if the programmable storage element is heated over a higher, so-called "melting temperature" (such as 600° C.) and then cooled down rapidly, the phase-change material becomes amorphous.
OUMs are thus intrinsically sensitive to high temperatures: if, after a memory cell has been brought to the reset status (shortly, it has been reset), it is exposed to a high temperature for a sufficient time, it may happen that the memory cell switches to the set status (i.e., the memory cell is set), with the consequence that the information previously stored therein is lost. Thus, any operation on the memory IC that involves the exposure thereof to relatively high temperatures (e.g., temperatures approaching 150° C.) is at least potentially dangerous, because it may cause a partial or even total loss of the stored data.
It has been observed that a problem arises when, for the correct operation of the memory device, a preliminary device initialization procedure is required, which typically means properly configuring selected storage elements, e.g. some memory cells of the memory device.
Typically, the device initialization procedure may consist in one or more steps that are performed at the first power up of the memory device. The first power up of the memory device usually takes place during the post-manufacturing test phase (so-called EWS, acronym for Electrical Wafer Sorting) in which the device initialization procedure is necessary for the correct operation of the memory device under testing.
For example, during the EWS, defects in the memory device are identified. Manufacturing processes of integrated circuits are inherently affected by defectiveness, especially in the early stages of a newly-developed manufacturing technology. Semiconductor memories, being characterized by a very large integration scale, are greatly affected by manufacturing defects. Within a semiconductor memory, defects in the memory cell matrix are highly probable; unfortunately, a defect that impairs the functionality of even a single memory cell may cause the whole memory device to be discarded, with a consequent significant reduction of the process yield, and an increase of costs. For this reason, redundant word lines or bit lines of memory cells (structurally identical to the normal memory cells that would be strictly necessary for achieving the desired storage capacity, and provided in the memory matrix in addition thereto) are normally provided in the memory device, for functionally replacing a defective word line or bit line.
Thus, in order to fully test the memory device, it may be necessary to functionally replace defective memory cells (or entire defective word lines, or bit lines) with redundancy ones, and this may involve storing information concerning, for example, the defective cells' addresses.
As another example, during the EWS, it may be necessary to set trimmerable circuit structures, like voltage/current generators, partitioners and the like, and this as well may involve storing in the memory IC a selected trimming configuration.
All this initialization data, and other, may have to be stored in OUM cells. A typical case in which initialization data are to be stored in OUM cells is the programming of OUM cells to be used as reference voltage/current generators for, e.g., reading the other memory cells during the normal memory device operation.
After the EWS phase, the wafer is separated into dies, and the dies are packaged; the packaged dies are then assembled on PCBs (acronym for Printed Circuit Boards). Both these operations involve very high temperatures, well above the temperature ensuring phase stability of the phase-change material; such high temperatures may cause the OUM memory cells to switch from the reset status to the set status, loosing the information previously stored.
In particular, initialization data that had been stored in OUM cells during the EWS may be lost. This may be critical, for example because at the successive power-up of the memory device (usually, taking place on field when the memory has already been incorporated in a user's electronic system), the memory device circuit structures will not be properly initialized, and thus they will not operate correctly and the user may even not be aware of this, expecting instead that everything goes right.
It has also been observed that similar problems are incurred in other types of semiconductor memory devices, whenever the memory cells are sensitive to temperatures, such as for example in ferroelectric memories.

Semiconductor memory device with information loss self-detect capability


The present disclosure relates to indolinone compounds, compositions, and methods for the inhibition of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK). The present disclosure further relates to indolinone compounds, compositions, and methods for the treatment or prevention of a cancer (for example, triple negative breast cancer). Disclosed herein are compounds according to Formula I:

Over the last two decades, protein kinases have represented a major field for drug discovery and development. However, one of these protein kinases, maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK), has yet to be targeted by an FDA approved therapeutic.
Maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase (MELK) is evolutionarily conserved in eukaryotes from nematodes to humans. In contrast to most members of the AMPK-RK family, which mediate cell survival under stressful metabolic conditions, MELK has been implicated in multiple cellular processes, including cell cycle checkpoint regulation, proliferation, apoptosis, and RNA processing. MELK is expressed in the early stages of murine embryonic development, but MELK knockout mice develop normally with no obvious pathologic phenotype, suggesting that MELK's developmentally-related functions may be redundant. Yet despite its apparent dispensable nature in differentiated adult cells, evidence has implicated MELK's importance in proliferating progenitor populations, including multipotent neural progenitors, myoblasts, and mammary progenitors. Interestingly, MELK inhibition does not affect survival in normal neural stem cells, but siRNA-mediated MELK knockdown induces apoptosis selectively in glioma stem cells. Such data reinforces the redundancy of MELK function in noncancerous cells, but also implicates the existence of an exploitable target in certain cancer stem cell populations.
In addition to its putative role in cancer stem cells, upregulated MELK mRNA and protein levels have been observed in a wide array of cancer cell types and clinical tumor samples. Of particular note is the fact that MELK expression correlates with poor prognosis in the most aggressive subsets of disease, including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and triple negative breast cancer (TNBC). Factors contributing to poor outlook for TNBC patients in part stems from the cancer's ability not only to proliferate quickly, but also its propensity to spread and recur in distant organs. From a molecular biology perspective, mounting evidence continues to implicate MELK in direct and transcriptional regulation of cell division in the context of malignancy. Furthermore, MELK has also been preliminarily linked to metastasis through its involvement with TGF-ß driven epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition (EMT). The cancer-specific expression pattern, combined with the clinical and biological data have therefore justifiably fostered strong interest in MELK as a clinical target.
The compounds, compositions, and methods disclosed herein address these and other needs.

Indolinone derivatives as inhibitors of maternal embryonic leucine zipper kinase

BOARD OF REGENTS, THE UNIVERSITY OF TEXAS SYSTEM


An interchangeable chamber is provided for a 3D printing device, wherein the interchangeable chamber includes a building space for receiving a building platform on which a three-dimensional object can be produced, which building space is designed to be temporarily open in the direction of a top of the interchangeable chamber, as well as optionally a storage container for storing building material and wherein the interchangeable chamber comprises a side wall and a cover, wherein the cover is adapted to close the interchangeable chamber at the top such that building material cannot get through the cover out of nor into the interchangeable chamber and the cover is coupled with the side wall.

WO 2000/021736 describes a device and a method for generatively producing a three-dimensional object in which device and in which method an interchangeable container forming a boundary frame is inserted into a building space, in which interchangeable container a workpiece platform being movable in height is integrated as a bottom. The interchangeable container can be removed from the building space after sintering of the object in order to let it cool outside the sintering machine. Immediately after removing the interchangeable container, a new interchangeable container can be inserted into the sintering machine.

Interchangeable chamber for a device and a method for generatively producing a three-dimensional object


An initial digital image is blurred to form a blurred image which is subtracted from the initial image in order to form a sharpened version of the initial image. Unidirectional blurs provide for blurring the initial image, wherein the value of each pixel in the blurred image depends on the values of all the pixels in the original image. One blurring method involves the performance of four unidirectional blurs: a left-right blur, a right-left blur, a top-down blur and a bottom-up blur. In one embodiment, the first three of the above unidirectional blurs are intermingled, thereby resulting in superior access to the image data, i.e. in greater availability of the accessed image data from a cache.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to digital image processing and, in particular, to unsharp masking techniques for crispening edges.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Images are sometimes displayed or printed on an output device (e.g. printer, terminal etc) using closely spaced dots, each such dot referred to as a "pixel". Such images, known as digital images, are typically stored in a storage device (such as a conventional computer memory) as a sequence of binary integers, where each integer is a sequence of zeroes and ones (such as the sequence "01101101") and specifies for a corresponding pixel one of a fixed number of intensities at which the pixel is to be displayed. For example, if each integer is allocated 8 bits, then one of 256 intensities can be specified.
Several image enhancement techniques have been developed to accentuate, or sharpen, various features of digital images such as edges and boundaries. One such technique, known as unsharp masking, is commonly used in the printing industry to crispen edges (i.e. to enhance the contrast between the dark and light areas which define an edge). The process of unsharp masking typically comprises the following three steps:
1) Blurring the original image, thereby removing high frequency components of the original image. PA1 2) Subtracting the blurred image from the original image, thereby creating a differential image in which low frequency components of the original image have been subtracted out. This provides enhanced contrast on the dark-light transitional area (edges) and, thus, gives the impression of enhanced sharpness. PA1 3) Adding some real multiple, .lambda., of the differential image to the original image. The choice of .lambda. reflects a tradeoff between the goal of removing low frequency image components in order to enhance edges (favored by a large value for .lambda.) and the goal of preserving the resemblance between the original image and the final sharpened image (favored by a small value for .lambda.). The preferred value for .lambda. is application specific and, thus, the setting of .lambda. is typically under user control.
This process of unsharp masking can, thus, be described by the equation EQU V=U+.lambda.(U-B),
where U represents the original unsharpened image, B represents a blurred version of image U, V represents the final sharpened image and .lambda. is greater than zero. The most time consuming step in the above unsharp masking process is that of producing a blurred image.
Neighborhood operations are often used to form the blurred image, required for unsharp masking, from the original unsharpened image. A neighborhood operation computes the value for a pixel in the blurred image from the values of the pixel and some (e.g. the eight closest) neighboring pixels in the original unsharpened image. For example, the neighborhood averaging method computes the value for a pixel in the blurred image by averaging the values in the original image of that pixel and of some neighboring pixels.
While neighborhood operations using a small neighborhood may efficiently compute a blurred image, such blurring methods possess the undesirable property of computing the value for each pixel in the blurred image only on the basis of the values of a few of the pixels in the original unsharpened image. As a result, the edge crispening achieved in the final sharpened image may not be satisfactory.
One solution to this problem involves the use of a larger neighborhood. For example, a Gaussian smoothing filter could be used (as described, for example, at pages 127-8 in Lewis, R. (1990) Practical Digital Image Processing, Ellis Horwood). One possible blurring method using a Gaussian filter computes a value for each pixel in the blurred image from a weighted sum of the values of some or all the pixels in the original image. The weight applied to a particular pixel value in the original image in calculating the value of a pixel in a blurred image is given by the quantity Ae.sup.-(r.spsp.2.sup./2.sigma..spsp.2.sup.), where A and .sigma. are constants and r is the distance between the particular pixel and the pixel whose value in the blurred image is being computed.
Unfortunately, neighborhood operations using a large neighborhood (such as the Gaussian technique described above) may require excessive computation. What is needed is an efficient method for blurring (preferably whose computation time is linear in the number of pixels in the original image) where the value of each pixel of the blurred image depends on the value of every pixel in the original unsharpened image and the quality of the blurred image is of adequate quality, at least for the purposes of sharpening.

Fast digital image sharpening method and structure


An apparatus and method for retaining a seismic cable connector module to permit in-water repair of seismic cables. A clamp is supported by a vessel positioned over the submerged seismic cable. The seismic cable is raised above the water surface, and the clamp is attached to the exterior surface of the connector module. The clamp can include a lock for securing the connector module, and a swivel between the clamp and the vessel can permit movement of the connector module relative to the vessel as the vessel heaves due to wind and wave action. The clamp can release the connector module if the environmental forces acting on the connector module exceed a selected amount. The clamp can be attached to a separate vessel for in-water use or can be attached to the vessel deck. A clasp within the exterior surface of the connector module is detachably engagable with a clamp supported by the vessel.

The present invention relates to the field of seismic cable repair. More particularly, the present invention relates to an apparatus and method for facilitating in-water seismic cable repair at an offshore survey location.
Marine seismic cables known as streamers are towed behind seismic vessels to collect data related to subsurface geologic formations. The streamers typically include communication lines for transmitting signals, cable stress elements for providing strength, and hydrophones for detecting seismic waves reflected from the geologic formations.
Seismic cables are normally constructed by joining multiple cable sections with multiple connecting modules. Each cable section is typically one hundred meters long, and a streamer cable is typically 4000 to 8000 meters long. The connecting modules, constructed with titanium or stainless steel, provide a waterproof seal between adjacent cable sections. When a seismic cable section needs to be replaced because of damage or a failure, the cable section must be detached from adjacent connecting modules so that a new cable section can be installed.
Historically, marine seismic repair has been performed by stopping the tow vessel and by removing the entire streamer cable from the water. The streamers are retrieved onto the vessel deck, a new cable section is substituted for the damaged cable section, and the entire seismic cable is re-deployed into the water behind the tow vessel. Deck site repair is typically performed because of the difficulty and potential hazards of in-water seismic cable repairs.
Conventional deck site repair of seismic cables slows seismic operations and increases operation cost. Seismic cable repair causes significant down-time expense because the seismic operations necessarily cease during repair operations. The replacement of a single seismic cable section can require a number of days. Additionally, tow vessel movement and cable handling equipment can stretch and break seismic cables, thereby increasing the overall cost and delay of seismic cable repairs. Accordingly, a need exists for an improved apparatus and method for facilitating in-water repair of damaged seismic cable sections.


An improved process for coating implantable medical devices utilizes a number of techniques for improving the stability of therapeutic agents contained within the coating. The stability of the therapeutic agents may be improved by creating substantially solvent-free, amorphous forms of the therapeutic agents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods for coating stents with therapeutic agents and more particularly to developing and utilizing stable, amorphous therapeutic agents for coating stents as well as for other applications.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Many individuals suffer from circulatory disease caused by a progressive blockage of the blood vessels that profuse the heart and other major organs. More severe blockage of blood vessels in such individuals often leads to hypertension, ischemic injury, stroke, or myocardial infarction. Atherosclerotic lesions, which limit or obstruct coronary blood flow, are the major cause of ischemic heart disease. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is a medical procedure whose purpose is to increase blood flow through an artery. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is the predominant treatment for coronary vessel stenosis. The increasing use of this procedure is attributable to its relatively high success rate and its minimal invasiveness compared with coronary bypass surgery. A limitation associated with percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is the abrupt closure of the vessel, which may occur immediately after the procedure and restenosis, which occurs gradually following the procedure. Additionally, restenosis is a chronic problem in patients who have undergone saphenous vein bypass grafting. The mechanism of acute occlusion appears to involve several factors and may result from vascular recoil with resultant closure of the artery and/or deposition of blood platelets and fibrin along the damaged length of the newly opened blood vessel.
Restenosis after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty is a more gradual process initiated by vascular injury. Multiple processes, including thrombosis, inflammation, growth factor and cytokine release, cell proliferation, cell migration and extracellular matrix synthesis each contribute to the restenotic process.
While the exact mechanism of restenosis is not completely understood, the general aspects of the restenosis process have been identified. In the normal arterial wall, smooth muscle cells proliferate at a low rate, approximately less than 0.1 percent per day. Smooth muscle cells in the vessel walls exist in a contractile phenotype characterized by eighty to ninety percent of the cell cytoplasmic volume occupied with the contractile apparatus. Endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi, and free ribosomes are few and are located in the perinuclear region. Extracellular matrix surrounds the smooth muscle cells and is rich in heparin-like glycosylaminoglycans, which are believed to be responsible for maintaining smooth muscle cells in the contractile phenotypic state (Campbell and Campbell, 1985).
Upon pressure expansion of an intracoronary balloon catheter during angioplasty, smooth muscle cells within the vessel wall become injured, initiating a thrombotic and inflammatory response. Cell derived growth factors such as platelet derived growth factor, basic fibroblast growth factor, epidermal growth factor, thrombin, etc., released from platelets, invading macrophages and/or leukocytes, or directly from the smooth muscle cells provoke a proliferative and migratory response in medial smooth muscle cells. These cells undergo a change from the contractile phenotype to a synthetic phenotype characterized by only a few contractile filament bundles, extensive rough endoplasmic reticulum, Golgi and free ribosomes. Proliferation/migration usually begins within one to two days' post-injury and peaks several days thereafter (Campbell and Campbell, 1987; Clowes and Schwartz, 1985).
Daughter cells migrate to the intimal layer of arterial smooth muscle and continue to proliferate and secrete significant amounts of extracellular matrix proteins. Proliferation, migration and extracellular matrix synthesis continue until the damaged endothelial layer is repaired at which time proliferation slows within the intima, usually within seven to fourteen days post-injury. The newly formed tissue is called neointima. The further vascular narrowing that occurs over the next three to six months is due primarily to negative or constrictive remodeling.
Simultaneous with local proliferation and migration, inflammatory cells adhere to the site of vascular injury. Within three to seven days post-injury, inflammatory cells have migrated to the deeper layers of the vessel wall. In animal models employing either balloon injury or stent implantation, inflammatory cells may persist at the site of vascular injury for at least thirty days (Tanaka et al., 1993; Edelman et al., 1998). Inflammatory cells therefore are present and may contribute to both the acute and chronic phases of restenosis.
Numerous agents have been examined for presumed anti-proliferative actions in restenosis and have shown some activity in experimental animal models. Some of the agents which have been shown to successfully reduce the extent of intimal hyperplasia in animal models include: heparin and heparin fragments (Clowes, A. W. and Karnovsky M., Nature 265: 25-26, 1977; Guyton, J. R. et al., Circ. Res., 46: 625-634, 1980; Clowes, A. W. and Clowes, M. M., Lab. Invest. 52: 611-616, 1985; Clowes, A. W. and Clowes, M. M., Circ. Res. 58: 839-845, 1986; Majesky et al., Circ. Res. 61: 296-300, 1987; Snow et al., Am. J. Pathol. 137: 313-330, 1990; Okada, T. et al., Neurosurgery 25: 92-98, 1989), colchicine (Currier, J. W. et al., Circ. 80: 11-66, 1989), taxol (Sollot, S. J. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 95: 1869-1876, 1995), angiotensin converting enzyme (ACE) inhibitors (Powell, J. S. et al., Science, 245: 186-188, 1989), angiopeptin (Lundergan, C. F. et al. Am. J. Cardiol. 17(Suppl. B):132B-136B, 1991), cyclosporin A (Jonasson, L. et al., Proc. Natl., Acad. Sci., 85: 2303, 1988), goat-anti-rabbit PDGF antibody (Ferns, G. A. A., et al., Science 253: 1129-1132, 1991), terbinafine (Nemecek, G. M. et al., J. Pharmacol. Exp. Thera. 248: 1167-1174, 1989), trapidil (Liu, M. W. et al., Circ. 81: 1089-1093, 1990), tranilast (Fukuyama, J. et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol. 318: 327-332, 1996), interferon-gamma (Hansson, G. K. and Holm, J., Circ. 84: 1266-1272, 1991), rapamycin (Marx, S. O. et al., Circ. Res. 76: 412-417, 1995), steroids (Colburn, M. D. et al., J. Vasc. Surg. 15: 510-518, 1992), see also Berk, B. C. et al., J. Am. Coll. Cardiol. 17: 111B-117B, 1991), ionizing radiation (Weinberger, J. et al., Int. J. Rad. Onc. Biol. Phys. 36: 767-775, 1996), fusion toxins (Farb, A. et al., Circ. Res. 80: 542-550, 1997) antisense oligionucleotides (Simons, M. et al., Nature 359: 67-70, 1992) and gene vectors (Chang, M. W. et al., J. Clin. Invest. 96: 2260-2268, 1995). Anti-proliferative action on smooth muscle cells in vitro has been demonstrated for many of these agents, including heparin and heparin conjugates, taxol, tranilast, colchicine, ACE inhibitors, fusion toxins, antisense oligionucleotides, rapamycin and ionizing radiation. Thus, agents with diverse mechanisms of smooth muscle cell inhibition may have therapeutic utility in reducing intimal hyperplasia.
However, in contrast to animal models, attempts in human angioplasty patients to prevent restenosis by systemic pharmacologic means have thus far been unsuccessful. Neither aspirin-dipyridamole, ticlopidine, anti-coagulant therapy (acute heparin, chronic warfarin, hirudin or hirulog), thromboxane receptor antagonism nor steroids have been effective in preventing restenosis, although platelet inhibitors have been effective in preventing acute reocclusion after angioplasty (Mak and Topol, 1997; Lang et al., 1991; Popma et al., 1991). The platelet GP IIb/IIIa receptor, antagonist, Reopro® is still under study but Reopro® has not shown definitive results for the reduction in restenosis following angioplasty and stenting. Other agents, which have also been unsuccessful in the prevention of restenosis, include the calcium channel antagonists, prostacyclin mimetics, angiotensin converting enzyme inhibitors, serotonin receptor antagonists, and anti-proliferative agents. These agents must be given systemically, however, and attainment of a therapeutically effective dose may not be possible; anti-proliferative (or anti-restenosis) concentrations may exceed the known toxic concentrations of these agents so that levels sufficient to produce smooth muscle inhibition may not be reached (Mak and Topol, 1997; Lang et al., 1991; Popma et al., 1991).
Additional clinical trials in which the effectiveness for preventing restenosis utilizing dietary fish oil supplements or cholesterol lowering agents has been examined showing either conflicting or negative results so that no pharmacological agents are as yet clinically available to prevent post-angioplasty restenosis (Mak and Topol, 1997; Franklin and Faxon, 1993: Serruys, P. W. et al., 1993). Recent observations suggest that the antilipid/antioxident agent, probucol, may be useful in preventing restenosis but this work requires confirmation (Tardif et al., 1997; Yokoi, et al., 1997). Probucol is presently not approved for use in the United States and a thirty-day pretreatment period would preclude its use in emergency angioplasty. Additionally, the application of ionizing radiation has shown significant promise in reducing or preventing restenosis after angioplasty in patients with stents (Teirstein et al., 1997). Currently, however, the most effective treatments for restenosis are repeat angioplasty, atherectomy or coronary artery bypass grafting, because no therapeutic agents currently have Food and Drug Administration approval for use for the prevention of post-angioplasty restenosis.
Unlike systemic pharmacologic therapy, stents have proven useful in significantly reducing restenosis. Typically, stents are balloon-expandable slotted metal tubes (usually, but not limited to, stainless steel), which, when expanded within the lumen of an angioplastied coronary artery, provide structural support through rigid scaffolding to the arterial wall. This support is helpful in maintaining vessel lumen patency. In two randomized clinical trials, stents increased angiographic success after percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty, by increasing minimal lumen diameter and reducing, but not eliminating, the incidence of restenosis at six months (Serruys et al., 1994; Fischman et al., 1994).
Additionally, the heparin coating of stents appears to have the added benefit of producing a reduction in sub-acute thrombosis after stent implantation (Serruys et al., 1996). Thus, sustained mechanical expansion of a stenosed coronary artery with a stent has been shown to provide some measure of restenosis prevention, and the coating of stents with heparin has demonstrated both the feasibility and the clinical usefulness of delivering drugs locally, at the site of injured tissue.
As stated above, the use of heparin coated stents demonstrates the feasibility and clinical usefulness of local drug delivery; however, the manner in which the particular drug or drug combination is affixed to the local delivery device will play a role in the efficacy of this type of treatment. For example, the processes and materials utilized to affix the drug/drug combinations to the local delivery device should not interfere with the operations of the drug/drug combinations. In addition, the processes and materials utilized should be biocompatible and maintain the drug/drug combinations on the local device through delivery and over a given period of time. For example, removal of the drug/drug combination during delivery of the local delivery device may potentially cause failure of the device.
Accordingly, there exists a need for drug/drug combinations and associated local delivery devices for the prevention and treatment of vascular injury causing intimal thickening which is either biologically induced, for example, atherosclerosis, or mechanically induced, for example, through percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty. In addition, there exists a need for maintaining the drug/drug combinations on the local delivery device through delivery and positioning as well as ensuring that the drug/drug combination is released in therapeutic dosages over a given period of time.
A variety of stent coatings and compositions have been proposed for the prevention and treatment of injury causing intimal thickening. The coatings may be capable themselves of reducing the stimulus the stent provides to the injured lumen wall, thus reducing the tendency towards thrombosis or restenosis. Alternately, the coating may deliver a pharmaceutical/therapeutic agent or drug to the lumen that reduces smooth muscle tissue proliferation or restenosis. The mechanism for delivery of the agent is through diffusion of the agent through either a bulk polymer or through pores that are created in the polymer structure, or by erosion of a biodegradable coating.
Both bioabsorbable and biostable compositions have been reported as coatings for stents. They generally have been polymeric coatings that either encapsulate a pharmaceutical/therapeutic agent or drug, e.g. rapamycin, taxol etc., or bind such an agent to the surface, e.g. heparin-coated stents. These coatings are applied to the stent in a number of ways, including, though not limited to, dip, spray, or spin coating processes.
While the selection of an appropriate therapeutic agent and an appropriate coating in which to incorporate the therapeutic agent is important, maintaining the stability of the agent is also important. Accordingly, there exists a need for developing a process for coating the implantable medical device that incorporates steps to stabilize the therapeutic agent. In addition, there exists a need for creating more stable formulations of the therapeutic agent or agents.


Disclosed is an apparatus and a method for detecting a boundary of a frame in a wireless communication system. The apparatus includes: a controller for measuring correlation energy with preambles with respect to received signals transmitted from a transmitter, measuring strength of the received signals, and removing a sample from frames constituting the received signals, the preambles predetermined and used by the system, the sample having a ratio of the correlation energy with respect to the strength of the received signals, the ratio being smaller than a reference value; and a classifier for extracting a maximum value from the correlation energy received from the controller, and determining a boundary of a downlink of the frames constituting the received signals.

A TDD denotes technology for time-dividing a signal frame of the same frequency band according to an uplink and a downlink, and supporting bidirectional transmission.
As compared to Frequency Division Duplexing (hereinafter, referred to as FDD) in which different frequency bands are used for uplink and downlink signals, a TDD is suitable for the transmission of an asymmetric or burst application by dynamically allocating time slots, can support the same transmission speed by using few time slots, and can provide a service by using ½ frequency as compared to the FDD.
Such a TDD has been recognized as attractive technology to a communication provider intended for proving of a portable Internet service at low cost, and has attracted public attention as important technology for proving a portable Internet service. However, a TDD is disadvantageous in that the timing and synchronization processes of an application according to the dynamic allocation of a time slot are very difficult.
Accordingly, in a wireless communication system using a TDD, a synchronization process is necessary. For the synchronization process, a preamble must be detected. In order to detect the preamble, it is necessary to detect the boundary of a downlink frame including the preamble.

Apparatus and method for detecting frame boundary in wireless communication system


A device (1) serves for creating perforations, borings or perfusion channels in the heart wall (2), especially in the myocardium, for generating channels running in the heart wall (2) for supplying it with blood. So that the chest cavity need not be opened in an operation for introducing such perforations, the device (1) has a catheter (4) introducible intracardially into the heart (3), which has at least one electrode or pole on its operating end and has a connection of this electrode or pole to a high frequency generator (5). Moreover, this distal operating end has at least one needle (6) insertible into the heart wall (2) from the inside, which needle functions as a coagulation tool, so that the lumen of the channel generated by it remains open and can be supplied with fresh blood from the interior of the heart (3).

The invention relates to a device for creating perforations, borings or channels in the heart wall, especially the myocardium, for producing channels running in the heart wall for supplying it with blood.
For treating low circulation areas of the heart muscle, creating perforations and channels from the exterior with the aid of laser beams is known, which perforations and channels after a certain time grow over again on the heart exterior, but owing to the energy of the laser beams, remain as permanent channels in the heart interior which are supplied from the interior of the heart with a part of the blood conveyed by the heart, so that in this way an improvement in the general blood supply of the heart muscle can be attained. Moreover, it has become apparent that such perforations in the heart wall generated by laser beams can even form channel-like side branches, so that creating such perforations at a certain spacing suffices to again provide a relatively large area of the heart muscle with a better blood supply.
This treatment of the heart of course requires opening the chest cavity (thoracotomy), which is not possible in every case with patients whose heart is poorly supplied with blood, because they cannot withstand a serious operation of this type under all circumstances. In addition, the heart bleeds for a while with the new operation, so that the patient also suffers a loss of blood.
Moreover, only a relatively short channel corresponding approximately to the thickness of the heart wall can be constructed, and whether in this connection a sufficient number of side branches also arise to lead to an ample blood supply is uncertain. Consequently, the surgeon is faced with the question of how many perforations of this type, and at what intervals, he must make in order to perform a successful operation.


A modular system for hybrid fixation of a joint prosthesis into a bone cavity includes a sleeve having a bore therethrough. The sleeve is cementable within the bone cavity. A prosthetic component is insertable into the bore of the sleeve. The prosthetic component is retained within the sleeve and secured to the bone without cement.

Disease and/or trauma cause deterioration of natural joints of the human body. Replacement of natural joints with joint prostheses can distinctly enhance the quality of life of an individual affected by such joint conditions. Various joint prostheses are known. Among the more common joint prostheses are those that replace all or part of the natural knee and hip joints.
Components of joint prostheses must be implanted and secured within existing bone. In the case of hip arthroplasty, a surgical technique in which the hip joint is replaced by a prosthetic joint, a cavity is prepared in a proximal portion of the patient's femur to receive a femoral stem, a portion of a prosthetic hip joint. Other joint replacement surgical techniques require the formation of similar cavities within existing bone for the installation of various prosthesis components.
Once such a cavity is prepared, the prosthesis component may be secured within the cavity by a number of techniques. For example, the prosthesis component may be cemented within the cavity, or it can be installed through mechanical fixation by a friction fit or the use of a fixation device.
Yet another technique, known as "hybrid fixation," uses cement to secure a portion of a component in place, whereas other portions of the component are secured by directly mating with the bone or other methods of securement. This technique can be particularly challenging, however, as cement must be confined to a selected portion of the component, avoiding the non-cemented surfaces, yet be applied in sufficient abundance to create a void-free cement mantle. The difficulty is even greater when the portion to be cemented is bounded by non-cemented surfaces.
Although techniques exist to combine cement-based and cement-free fixation of bone prosthesis components within bone, it is desirable to provide additional techniques that can be easily implemented and that address the challenges presented by hybrid fixation.

Modular prosthesis system with hybrid fixation