A projection optical system and an image projection apparatus that are small in size and can achieve projection with a wide angle while a good image forming performance is assured includes a first lens group having a negative refracting power and a second lens group also having a negative refracting power. The first and second lens groups are arranged in order from the projection side. The first lens group includes a negative meniscus lens that has a concave surface directed to the projection side and formed as an aspherical reflecting surface.

This invention relates to a projection optical system and an image projection apparatus, and more particularly to a technique for a projection optical system and an image projection apparatus which achieves projection with a wide angle and with a good image forming performance and allows reduction in size.
In recent years, it is demanded to make it possible for a projection optical system to project an image with a widened angle. Where the projection optical system is applied to an image projection apparatus, widening of the angle makes it possible for a rear projection television set, that is, an apparatus which projects an image from the back of a transmission type screen so that the image may be enjoyed from the front, to project an image on a screen of an increased size while decreasing the distance between the screen and the projection optical system. Consequently, widening of the angle provides an advantage that miniaturization, particularly reduction in size in the depthwise direction, of the apparatus of the type described can be achieved. On the other hand, widening of the angle makes it possible for a front projector, that is, an apparatus which projects an image on a reflection type screen such that the image is enjoyed from the image projection apparatus side, to project an image on a screen of an increased size even at a place where a great distance cannot be assured between the screen and the image projection apparatus. Consequently, widening of the angle provides an advantage that the spatial restriction to the place for the watching the image is comparatively small.
As one of projection optical systems which have achieved widening of the angle, a projection optical system which includes a combination of an aspherical mirror and a diffractive optical system and another projection optical system which includes a combination of a plurality of aspherical and spherical mirrors are disclosed in the published Japanese translation of PCT international publication for a patent application No. W001/006295 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 1). Meanwhile, another projection optical system which includes a combination of an aspherical mirror and a refractive optical system is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-207168 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 2). A further projection optical system which includes four aspherical mirrors is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-177320 (hereinafter referred to as Patent Document 3).
Incidentally, in a projection optical system which includes a combination of a single aspherical mirror and a refractive optical system as in the conventional projection optical system described hereinabove, it is easy to eliminate the chromatic aberration and widen the angle when compared with an alternative apparatus which is composed only of a refractive optical system. On the other hand, since the single aspherical mirror takes charge of almost all of a diverging action, the aberration generation amount of the distortion, curvature of field and so forth is so great that it is inclined to deteriorate the picture quality. Therefore, in order to appropriately correct the distortion aberration or the curvature of field, the refracting power of the aspherical mirror must be made moderate (the radius of curvature must be increased), which increases the scale of the aspherical mirror and hence increases the space for arrangement of the aspherical mirror. This signifies that, where the projection optical system described is applied, for example, a rear projection television set, a large space is required for a lower portion or an upper portion of the screen.
On the other hand, a projection optical system which uses a plurality of aspherical mirrors does not include a configuration of a refractive optical system, and therefore, it does not cause color aberration in principle and does not involve absorption by a lens at all either. However, since the projection optical system includes only mirrors, it is very susceptible to an error upon production and much time is required for adjustment. Therefore, the projection optical system of the type described is not suitable for an optical system for which mass productivity is required such as general television sets. Further, with the projection optical system disclosed in Paten Document 3, since four mirrors are disposed in a vertical direction, it is physically difficult to lower a lower portion or an upper portion of the screen.

Projection optical system and image projection apparatus


Example embodiments of a display system and method using a hybrid user tracking sensor are described. The display system may determine a final location of a user based on information of a face or eyes of a user generated based on information received from a plurality of cameras and posture information generated based on information received from a plurality of sensors.

1. Field
Example embodiments of the present disclosure relate to a display system and method using a hybrid user tracking sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
To effectively configure a three dimensional (3D) image to provide a feeling of space to a person, an image having viewpoints that are perceived differently by a left eye and a right eye of the person may be expressed. To configure the 3D image without using a filter such as glasses, a spatial division of the 3D image depending on a viewpoint may be required to express the 3D image, and such a scheme may be referred to as an autostereoscopic display scheme. In an autostereoscopic display, an image may be spatially divided to be expressed using an optical tool, and typically, an optical lens or an optical barrier may be used. In a case of the lens, a lenticular lens may be used to express each pixel image in a particular direction. In a case of the barrier, a slit may be configured in front of a display so that only a particular pixel may be viewed in a particular direction. In a case of the autostereoscopic display using the lens or the barrier, an image basically having two viewpoints, that is, a left viewpoint and a right viewpoint may be expressed. In this case, a relatively narrow sweet spot may be formed. The sweet spot may be expressed by a viewing distance and a viewing angle. The viewing distance may be determined based on a pitch of the lens or the slit, and the viewing angle may be determined based on a number of the expressed viewpoints. A display in which the number of the viewpoints is increased to widen the viewing angle may be referred to as an autostereoscopic multiview display.
In a case of a multiview 3D display using the lenticular lens or a variable parallax barrier, a 3D viewing area may be constrained since each viewpoint image may converge to an optimal view distance at regular intervals to form the each viewpoint image. The 3D image with no distortion may be viewed at a constrained angle and a particular distance. When a user tilts his or her face or lies on his or her side while watching the 3D image, a proper 3D image may not be viewed.
In the present disclosure, a display system and method for providing the image more effectively are disclosed.

Display system and method using hybrid user tracking sensor


A seat occupant sensing apparatus includes a notched foam bottom seat cushion and a pressure-responsive sensor disposed between the bottom cushion and a frame of the seat. The notch is a narrow channel on the underside of the foam cushion that extends upward into the foam to limit and direct dispersion of occupant loading through the cushion. A rectangular notch smaller in dimension than a child seat frame is formed in a central region of the foam cushion, and a fluid-filled bladder or other force-responsive sensor mat is disposed substantially within the perimeter of the notch. The sensor will detect a normally seated occupant due to the relatively uniform seat load, but will not detect a cinched-down child seat because the notch limits dispersion of child seat loading in the direction of the sensor.

Occupant sensing systems are frequently used in connection with air bags and other pyrotechnically deployed restraints as a means of determining if the restraints should be deployed in the event of sufficiently severe crash. For example, air bag deployment is generally allowed in the case of a normally seated adult occupant, but suppressed in the case of a child or infant seat (both of which are referred to herein as a child seat) placed on the vehicle seat and cinched down with a seat belt or child seat anchor.
One common and generally cost-effective approach to occupant sensing involves installing a fluid-filled bladder under the bottom foam cushion of the vehicle seat and measuring the fluid pressure in the bladder with a pressure-responsive sensor. The under-cushion location of the sensor is preferred because occupant comfort is not affected and because the cushion protects the sensor from sharp objects brought into contact with the exposed surface of the seat. Exemplary systems of this type are disclosed, for example, in the U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,987,370 and 6,246,936 to Murphy et al., and the U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,101,436 and 6,490,936 to Fortune et al., all of which are assigned to Delphi Technologies, Inc., and incorporated herein by reference.
While the above-described sensing approach works well for normally seated occupants, it is still difficult to reliably distinguish between a light-weight normally seated adult (a 5th percentile female adult, for example) and a cinched down child seat because the cinching increases the apparent weight of the child seat. Although it is possible to reliably distinguish between these two types of occupants by sensing the distribution of the occupant weight across the seat, it is difficult to obtain an accurate representation of the actual weight distribution because the occupant weight tends to disperse as it is transmitted through the foam seat cushion to the sensor. Accordingly, what is needed is a cost-effective occupant sensing apparatus having the capability of reliably distinguishing between a cinched child and a normally seated adult of similar apparent weight.

Occupant sensing apparatus with load dispersion limiting


A waterproof electric motor structure in which a yoke 5 is covered with a bottomed cylindrical waterproof cover 12. An open end edge portion 12a of the waterproof cover 12 is internally engaged with a recessed groove portion 10b of a pump bracket 10 by being abutted thereagainst and sealed by a seal member 13. Through holes 5d, 12c are defined in the yoke 5 and the waterproof cover 12, respectively, and a locking cylinder 12d is formed in the cover side through hole 12c. A coupler 14 assembled to pass through both the through holes 5d, 12c is supported by the locking cylinder 12d in a removal prevention state. Further sealing is made by interposing a seal member 16 between a cover side stepped portion 12f and a coupler side stepped portion 14d.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention belongs to the technical field of a waterproof electric motor structure constituting electrical equipment mounted on a vehicle.
2. Description of Related Art
In general, some of these types of electric motors must be subjected to a high degree of waterproof processing depending upon the locations where they are disposed. In waterproofing such electric motors, portions where a yoke communicates with the inside and outside of the electric motor must be sealed. This can include a portion where the yoke, in which an armature shaft as the output shaft of the electric motor is rotatably accommodated, is coupled with an end bracket for covering the opening end of the yoke. Further, a portion through which a cable is drawn from the outside to supply electric power to brushes and the like must be sealed.
An example of such an electric motor is shown in FIG. 10. A cover member 21 composed of a bottomed cylindrical rubber for covering the opening of a yoke 20 is outwardly engaged with an outer peripheral surface of the yoke and the cover member 21 is sealed by tightening the edge thereof using a hinge tie 22. In this arrangement, since a lead wire 23 for supplying electric power to brushes must be drawn from the outside, a through hole is defined to the yoke 20 and the lead wire 23 is passed therethrough. For this purpose, a cover member through hole must also be defined for the cover member 21 in confrontation with the above through hole.
In this arrangement, the cover member 21 must be manually mounted to the yoke 20 while causing it to be elastically deformed. Further, this must be carried out while aligning the cover member through hole with the yoke through hole. Thus, there is a problem that workability is made inevitably bad and it is necessary to fix the hinge tie 22 to tighten the edge of the cover member 21 for the seal of it. Since all of these steps are carried out manually, dispersion in products is caused.
Furthermore, there is also a problem that both the through holes must be sealed separately and a step of passing the lead wire through the respective through holes is time-consuming and troublesome. Thus, this problem is also a subject to be solved by the present invention.


A system to deliver gas/vapor from solid materials. Specifically, the delivery system for the use of gas or vapor released from a solid material, such as a non-aqueous/solid hydrogen peroxide complex. The system is comprised of a delivery system that is configured to receive a plurality of disks containing the solid material and provide these disks into an injector. The injector heats the disks to produce a gas or vapor that is then provided into a chamber. The sterilization process can be done by gas or vapor alone, or in combination with plasma or ultra violet radiation. In particular, a control system automatically induces the delivery system to provide the injector with a disk and then remove the disk once the injection sequence is complete.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to techniques using hydrogen peroxide released from hydrogen peroxide complexes for sterilizing articles such as medical instruments and materials.
2. Description of the Related Art
Modern medical and dental practices require the use of aseptic materials and devices, i.e., the materials and devices must be generally free from germs, bacteria, etc., and many of these devices are meant for repeated use. However, in order to achieve this asepsis, efficient sterilization processes are needed for treatment of reusable materials and devices. These processes are needed not only at hospitals and dental offices, but also at the manufacturers of these materials and devices.
Medical instruments have traditionally been sterilized using either heat, as is provided by steam, or a chemical, such as formaldehyde or ethylene-oxide gas or vapor state. Each of these methods has drawbacks. Many medical devices, such as fiber optic devices, endoscopes, power tools, etc., are sensitive to heat, moisture, or both. Formaldehyde and ethylene oxide are both toxic gases that pose a potential hazard to health care workers. Problems with ethylene oxide are particularly severe, because its use requires long aeration times to remove the gas from articles that have been sterilized. This makes the sterilization cycle time undesirably long. In addition, both formaldehyde and ethylene oxide require the presence of a substantial amount of moisture in the system. Thus, the device to be sterilized must be humidified before the chemical is introduced or the chemical and moisture are introduced simultaneously. Moisture plays a role in sterilization with a variety of other chemicals in the gas or vapor state, in addition to ethylene oxide or formaldehyde.
Sterilization using hydrogen peroxide vapor has been shown to have some advantages over other chemical sterilization processes, and the combination of hydrogen peroxide with plasma provides additional advantages. Hydrogen peroxide vapor can be generated from aqueous hydrogen peroxide solutions or from solid hydrogen peroxide complexes. However, the use of hydrogen peroxide in aqueous solutions of hydrogen peroxide to generate hydrogen peroxide vapor for sterilization may cause problems. At higher pressures, such as atmospheric pressure, excess water in the system can cause condensation. Thus, the relative humidity in the sterilization enclosure must be reduced before introducing the aqueous hydrogen peroxide vapor.
The sterilization of articles containing diffusion-restricted areas, such as long narrow lumens, presents a special challenge for hydrogen peroxide vapor that has been generated from an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide. The first problem arises because water has a higher vapor pressure than hydrogen peroxide and will vaporize faster than hydrogen peroxide from an aqueous solution. Another problem is that water has a lower molecular weight than hydrogen peroxide and will diffuse faster than hydrogen peroxide in the vapor state. Therefore, when an aqueous solution of hydrogen peroxide is vaporized, the water reaches the items to be sterilized first in a higher concentration. The water vapor, therefore, becomes a barrier to the penetration of hydrogen peroxide vapor into diffusion restricted areas, such as small crevices and long narrow lumens.
This problem cannot be solved by removing water from the aqueous solution and using more concentrated hydrogen peroxide, since concentrated solutions of hydrogen peroxide, i.e., greater than 65% by weight, can be hazardous due to the oxidizing nature of the solution. The shortcomings of aqueous hydrogen peroxide sterilizers of the prior art are overcome by using a non-aqueous source of hydrogen peroxide which releases a non-aqueous hydrogen peroxide vapor. In these processes, a solid peroxide complex is heated in a vaporizer and the vapor is diffused into the sterilization chamber.


Systems and methods for transmitting multimedia data are disclosed which, in some embodiments, may comprise polling a first wireless device to obtain at least a first statistics of consumption of content previously transmitted to the first wireless device and polling a second wireless device to obtain at least a second statistics of consumption of content previously transmitted to the second wireless device. The method also comprises determining the resources available to transmit a first content and a second content to the first and second wireless device, wherein the first content to be transmitted to the first wireless device is selected based on the first statistics of consumption, and wherein the second content to be transmitted to the second wireless device is selected based on the second statistics of consumption. The method also comprises creating a priority list based on the first statistics of consumption and the second statistics of consumption, wherein the priority list comprises the first wireless device and the first content and the second wireless device and the second content and transmitting the first content to the first wireless device and the second content to the second wireless device according to the priority list and according to the resources available.

Wireless networks permit the conveyance of multimedia content to wireless users. This content may include information that is delivered to an end user in the form of audio, video, and other content of interest to a wireless user. This content allows a wireless user to obtain information delivered directly to the wireless user while the wireless user is mobile.
While multimedia content offers rich content to a user, this content must be delivered to a wireless user. Several constraints may exist in a network that limit the amount of content that may be delivered to a wireless user including the available bandwidth provided by a local wireless base transceiver station, the number of concurrent users in the area, and interference that may be present.

Download prioritization for intelligent content distribution


A low dropout (LDO) PFET regulator circuit is disclosed for operating in two modes of operation. For higher supply voltage potentials the LDO PFET regulator circuit operates normally, as supply voltage potential drops, the LDO PFET regulator operates in a second mode of operation where a decision circuit determines whether to supply a first boost current thereto in order to compensate for the reduced transimpedance of the first PFET.

In typical RF systems, ON and OFF switching of transmitted RF signal power is controlled in order to avoid spectral splatter of the transmitted RF signal into adjacent transmission channels. Typically, a process known as burst shaping is employed in order to control the switching transients. In traditional RF transmission systems, a detector circuit in conjunction with a feedback loop is used to control PA output power. However, this traditional system has transient response limitations, which affects an attack ramp and a decay ramp of the transmitted RF signal and also offers complications in calibration procedures.
A publication, entitled "An advanced controller for multi-band open loop power control mode RF power amplifier," Microwave Engineering, July 2002, issued to Trauth et al., describes a scheme for regulating the PA output power by controlling supply voltage provided to the PA on the supply voltage rails. Trauth et al. describe the difficulty of controlling a fast PFET regulator as it operates in the triode region. A solution in this publication is proposed that precludes operation of the PFET in the triode region. The problem with not allowing operation of the PFET in the triode region, as described by Trauth et al., is that the PFET size has to be significantly increased in order to obtain the same DC low drop out voltage condition. Otherwise the available supply voltage provided by the PFET regulator to the PA is restricted. This restriction results in decreased power consumption efficiency of the combined PFET and PA circuit and is thus unacceptable.
A need therefore exists for a compact LDO PFET regulator that offers an operating efficiency that overcomes the limitations of the prior art when used in conjunction with a PA. It is therefore an object of the invention to provide a LDO PFET regulator that operates in the triode region.

Fast low drop out (LDO) PFET regulator circuit


A test waveform generator comprises a storage unit (1a , 1b) for storing timing information; a timing generator unit (2a, 2b) to which the timing information is input from the storage unit and which is adapted to output a timing pulse at a predetermined time on the basis of the timing information; and a waveform generating unit (3, 4) to which the pulse from the timing generator unit is input and which is adapted to output a test waveform. The timing generator unit is arranged so that the timing of the timing pulse is set with either (1) a period clock signal (CLK) serving as a reference or (2) another timing pulse serving as a reference.

A typical test waveform generator is depicted in FIG. 1. With such a waveform generator, a desired test waveform T.sub.OUT is generated on the basis of timing pulses TG1, TG2 from timing generators 12a, 12b as well as vector information VD from a vector generator, e.g., a vector memory 10. The vector information VD is a pattern comprised of a sequence of "1"and/or "0"s, but it does not include information concerning the timing of the test waveform, i.e., the time intervals between the respective pulse waveforms that make up the test waveform. The test waveform T.sub.OUT of a desired format is generated by combining the vector information VD and timing pulses TG1, TG2 by a formatter, e.g., a flip-flop circuit 13 in combination with an AND gate 14.
Referring now to FIGS. 1 and 2, timing data memories 11a, 11b output timing information (e.g., the contents of one memory includes delay times t.sub.1, t.sub.2 which are described below) to the timing generators 12a, 12b. The timing pulses TG1, TG2 are output by the timing generators 12a, 12b to a set terminal S and a reset terminal R of a flip-flop (FF) circuit 13 upon the lapse of delay times t.sub.1, t.sub.2 following the rising edge of a period clock signal CLK. Meanwhile, the vector memory 10 (corresponding to a vector generator) outputs for each period of the period clock signal CLK the vector information VD ("1" or "0") stored at an address designated by an address counter 15. The AND gate 14 then combines the vector information VD and the output of the FF circuit 13 and outputs the test waveform T.sub.OUT.
It should be noted that in FIG. 2 the test waveform T.sub.OUT is of the RZ (return-to-zero) type in period I and IV and the NRZ (non-return-to-zero) type in period III, i.e., T.sub.OUT is in mixed form.
It should also be noted that, in a frequently-adopted alternative arrangement (not shown), timing generators are used instead of the timing data memories 11a, 11b, fixed timing pulses TG1, TG2 are constantly output from the timing generators 12a, 12b, and a waveform is generated by only varying the "1" and "0"signals of the vector memory 10.
A disadvantage of the above-described test waveform generators is that, in a case where it is necessary to change the kind of test waveform and the timing of the test waveform (e.g., in a case where an on-the-fly function is required), there is an inconvenience in that settings of the timing generators 12a, 12b and vector memory 10 must be changed. That is, in the above-described case it is also necessary to change both the timing information stored in the timing data memories 11a, 11b for each period and the "1"and "0"outputs of the vector memory 10.
In addition, the data encoded on the test waveform is in many cases prepared on the basis of simulation data for a CAE system. That simulation data includes timing information concerning times at which the vector is inverted. In a case where a vector is generated from such vector data by using a conventional formatter, it is necessary to divide the vector data into predetermined time intervals (periods) and define the vector data in terms of elements of timing (e.g., time delays t.sub.1, t.sub.2, shown in FIG. 2) and elements of the vector magnitude ("1", 37 0"). In this case, however, there is a drawback in that the translation software is complicated.
Furthermore, in the case where the timing pulses TG1, TG2 are constantly generated by the timing generators 12a, 12b and the waveform is generated by only varying the signals "1", "0" of the vector memory 10, there is a drawback in that if the vector memory 10 continuously outputs "8" as the vector information, the timing generators 12a, 12b constantly output the timing pulses TG1, TG2.

Method and apparatus for generating test waveforms to be applied to a device under test


The present invention provides a fast method of super-resolution processing which realizes speedup of the high-speed super-resolution processing by speeding up the calculations of an evaluation function and the differential of the evaluation function with respect to a high-resolution image in a reconstruction-based super-resolution processing.

In recent years, many studies have been reported with regard to the super-resolution processing which estimates one high-resolution image from multiple low-resolution images having displacements (see Non-Patent Document 1). Various methods of the super-resolution processing, for example, the ML (Maximum-Likelihood) method disclosed in Non-Patent Document 2, the MAP method (Maximum A Posterior) method disclosed in Non-Patent Document 3, and the POCS (Projection Onto Convex Sets) method disclosed in Non-Patent Document 4 have been proposed.
The ML method is a method which defines an evaluation function as square error between the pixel value of a low-resolution image estimated from a presupposed high-resolution image and the actually observed pixel value, and obtains a high-resolution image by minimizing the evaluation function as an estimated image. In other words, the ML method is a super-resolution processing method based on the principle of maximum likelihood estimation.
The MAP method is a method which estimates the high-resolution image by minimizing the evaluation function which added probability information of the high-resolution image to square error. In other words, the MAP method is a super-resolution processing method which uses certain prior information regarding the high-resolution image to estimate the high-resolution image as an optimization problem that maximizes posterior probability.
The POCS method is a super-resolution processing method which generates simultaneous equations regarding the pixel values of the low-resolution image and the high-resolution image, and obtains a high-resolution image by solving the simultaneous equations successively.
All of the above-described super-resolution processing methods have the common features of presupposing a high-resolution image and estimating its pixel value for each pixel of all low-resolution images based on point-spread function (PSF) obtained from camera model from the presupposed high-resolution image so that these methods can search for a high-resolution image by minimizing the difference between the estimated value and the observed pixel value (the observed value) Therefore, these super-resolution processing methods are called reconstruction-based super-resolution processing methods.
As described above, the reconstruction-based super-resolution processing is formulated as the optimization problem of the evaluation function defined with respect to the high-resolution image. In other words, the reconstruction-based super-resolution processing is boiled down to the optimization problem of the evaluation function based on square error between the estimated low-resolution image and the observed image.
Since the reconstruction-based super-resolution processing is an optimization calculation with very many unknowns, in order to optimize the evaluation function of the optimization calculation, an iterative calculation method such as steepest descent method is often utilized. In such a case, it is necessary to calculate an evaluation function and differential of the evaluation function with respect to a high-resolution image in each iterative calculation. However, the cost of the iterative calculation is very large. Also, in each iterative calculation, it is necessary to conduct estimation for the pixels of all low-resolution images, and the calculation cost of estimation is also very large.
That is, in the reconstruction-based super-resolution processing, since calculation cost is very large, reducing of calculation cost becomes an important problem.
In order to solve this problem, the inventors of the present invention suggested a "fast method of super-resolution processing" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-316154 (Japanese Patent No. 3837575) from the viewpoint of reducing the pixel value estimating calculation number of times for calculating an evaluation function. That is, this fast method of super-resolution processing is characterized by implementing registration of multiple low-resolution images, setting the discretized points in a high-resolution image space and utilizing the mean pixel value of the pixels corresponding to the neighborhood of the discretized points. In this case, it was shown that a high-speed calculation is possible without losing estimation accuracy by considering the number of the pixels corresponding to the neighborhood of the discretized points as a weight.
In other words, in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-316154, the inventors of the present invention suggested a fast method of super-resolution processing which utilizes an evaluation function that can reconstruct a high-resolution image without losing estimation accuracy by a little pixel value estimating calculations of low-resolution pixels.
More specifically, the "fast method of super-resolution processing" disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-316154 is characterized by considering the pixels of multiple low-resolution images after registration as the pixels sampled at unequal interval within a high-resolution image space, dividing the high-resolution image space into multiple small areas, and utilizing the mean pixel value of the pixels within each small area. The evaluation function for such a small area is expressed by the following Expression 1.I=M| f−{circumflex over (f)}(xc,yc)|2  [Expression 1]
Where, the following Expression 2 holds.
                              f          _                =                              1            M                                                        ∑                              i                =                1                            M                                                                                f              i                                                          [                  Expression                                                              2                ]
Where, I represents the evaluation function for a small area, M represents the number of pixels within the small area, fi represents the pixel value of the i-th pixel within the small area, (xc, yc) represents the representative position of the small area, and {circumflex over (f)}(xc,yc) represents the estimated value of the pixel value corresponding to the representative position of the small area respectively. In the actual calculation, the sum of the evaluation functions for all the small areas becomes the evaluation function of the whole super-resolution processing.
Then, the inventors of the present invention further utilized the evaluation function disclosed in Japanese Patent Application No. 2004-316154 and suggested a fast method of super-resolution processing according to the present invention, from the viewpoint of speeding up the calculations of the evaluation function and the differential of the evaluation function with respect to a high-resolution image.

Fast method of super-resolution processing

Abstract: A fast method of super-resolution processing for speeding up a super-resolution processing that estimates a high-resolution image from multiple low-resolution images with displacements, the method characterized in that an evaluation function and a differential of the evaluation function with respect to the high-resolution image are calculated by a combination of basic image operations.


A method for assessing a performance-based seismic design by setting a seismic risk starts from the exceedance probability of the performance level. The method is configured to determine the structural performance level by setting an exceedance probability, determine the seismic demand when the performance level is constant, set the exceedance probability of the seismic demand in combination with the seismic risk of a set earthquake to finally determine the ground motion input and establish a novel probabilistic seismic risk assessment method that reaches the performance level. The main control and objective of the design are significantly enhanced by using this method.

At least one prior probabilistic seismic risk analysis of performance-based seismic design is based on the theory of total probability. Under that framework, which was authored by Cornell, Krawinkler (2000), and Moehle, Deierlein (2004), four elements are considered, including seismic hazard analysis, structural response analysis, damage analysis, and loss assessment. These elements are, in turn, linked through a conditional probability according to four indicators—ground motion intensity measures (IM), engineering demand parameters (EDP), damage measures (DM), and decision variables (DV)—to accomplish the performance-based seismic analysis. This framework has become recognized as the benchmark for the next-generation performance-based seismic design (FEMA 445, 2006).
The next-generation performance-based seismic design is a total-probability seismic hazard analysis design. Still in its formative stage, the design is characterized by numerous uncertainties, or variables, that remain difficult to quantify, such as ground motion uncertainty, structural uncertainty, uncertainty in the construction process, and incomplete knowledge. Thus, more research is needed. The probabilistic seismic risk analysis method has the following shortcomingss: (1) The total-probability seismic hazard analysis is based on the probability of earthquake occurrence to perform the seismic hazard analysis, probabilistic seismic demand analysis, and probabilistic seismic capability analysis to finally determine the probability of achieving a certain level of performance without starting from a "performance-based" method for calculating seismic hazards. This is not completely consistent with the original purpose of the "performance-based seismic design." Starting from the "performance-based level" is to grasp the design from the final result, and the main control and objective of the design are significantly enhanced. The "performance-based" seismic design method is stalled, however, because several key technologies of this design method have not been solved. (2) For at least three reasons, seismic engineering analysis is not easily combined with seismic design methods. First, there is a lack of a "performance-based" method for extracting the seismic actions and corresponding ground motion intensity. Second, the "performance-based" multimodal collaborative design technology, i.e. the technology of extracting the response spectrum intensity and selecting the ground motion in the multimodal space based on the "performance level", has not been developed. Third, the "probabilistic performance level" has not been developed, and the conditional probability chain has not been established to form the design method. (3) Design specifications are shifting from model specifications to performance specifications, and the performance specifications only specify the minimum performance objective requirements and design processes to ensure public safety. Other "personalized" and "diversified" performance objectives and corresponding design processes are determined by the designer and owner to obtain enhanced objectives (version 2.03 (2017)). The assessment methods for seismic design beyond the development specifications are indispensable and thus have a high potential social demand. Moreover, according to China's newly promulgated seismic ground motion parameter zoning map (GB18306-2015 "Seismic Ground Motion Parameter Zoning Map of China") under a magnitude four (4) earthquake, normative design methods under rare earthquakes have not been developed. It is thus highly desirable to develop a new, non-normative, method for assessing the performance-based seismic design.

Method for assessing a performance-based seismic design by setting a seismic risk


A pouch type battery and a method of using the pouch type battery that includes an electrode assembly that includes a first electrode plate, a second electrode plate, and a separator interposed between the first and second electrode plates, and a pouch case that includes the electrode assembly and an electrolyte, wherein the pouch case includes an additional electrolyte inlet that protrudes from the pouch case.

1. Field
One or more embodiments of the present invention relate to pouch type batteries and methods of using the pouch type batteries.
2. Description of the Related Art
Due to their advantages, secondary batteries are applied to various technical fields across a variety of industries as energy sources of various mobile electronic devices such as digital cameras, cellular phones, or notebook computers. Also, the secondary batteries are used as energy sources of hybrid electric cars which are proposed as a solution to environmental contamination caused by gasoline engines and diesel internal combustion engines. The secondary batteries are also used in energy storage systems for industries and households. Accordingly, research into stably using the secondary batteries for a long time has been actively conducted.

Pouch type battery and method of using the same


A message-hold decision maker system used with an electronic mail processing system that processes electronic messages for a protected computer network improves the electronic mail processing system's performance by increasing the throughput performance of the system. The improvements are achieved by providing an electronic mail processing gateway with additional logic that makes fast and intelligent decisions on whether to hold, block, allow, or sandbox electronic messages in view of potential threats such as viruses or URL-based threats. A message hold decision maker uses current and stored information from a plurality of specialized classification engines to quickly make the decisions. In some examples, the message hold decision maker will instruct an email gateway to hold an electronic mail message while the classification engines perform further analysis.

Sandboxing is a technique in which an isolated test environment, i.e., a "sandbox," is used to scan (e.g., execute or test) a suspicious file or universal resource locator (URL) that is attached to, embedded in, or otherwise included in an email coming into a computer network. A threat protection system can observe what happens in the sandbox and take appropriate action.
However, sandboxing is computationally expensive and time consuming which, in turn, can cause delay in email processing. Further, current solutions do not scale well and can only handle a small fraction of the email traffic.
In view of the foregoing, there is a need for a network-based, computer implemented solution that can process electronic messages for a protected computer network in an efficient, effective, and scalable manner. Embodiments of an invention disclosed herein can address this need and more.

Electronic message processing systems and methods


A method and apparatus for providing a Web application framework is provided. The framework includes four main components which are used in combination to create Web servers of varying complexity depending on the needs of the end use. The framework includes a Server object, a Handler object, a Properties object, and a Request object. A Server object is created with an initial set of properties and calls a Hander object. The Handler object defines how URL requests are processed by the Web server. When a request appears at the server, the Request object obtains and formats the request for subsequent processing. The Handler object works with the Properties object to process the request. Multiple Handler objects may be chained together to create a Web application that can perform many operations without being restricted to traditional server designs.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to Web applications. More particularly, the present invention relates to creating extensible and scalable Web applications.
2. Description of the Related Art
Web servers and Web applications constitute the single most important component of the network content delivery system we know as "The Web". The first Web Servers started to appear in 1994 on systems running the UNIX™ operating system (OS) or a UNIX-based OS on the Internet. The design of those early systems reflects its UNIX-based heritage. URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) are equivalent to UNIX-based OS file names. Each URL, when requested by a client program, typically a "Web Browser", is mapped to a file of the same name, wrapped in the HTTP (HyperText Transport Protocol) and delivered to the client. In those cases where the content can not be represented as a static file and needs to be dynamically generated, the file representing the URL of the client request specifies the program that is run to generate the content. This capability, known as CGI (Common Gateway Interface) stems from the traditional UNIX-based OS designers' practice of making everything look like a file. Thus each URL represents a file that either contains the content, or contains the program that is used to generate the content.
Over the next five years the Web saw explosive growth, and the architecture of the original Web servers, though simple and elegant, was beginning to strain. Static content was still delivered by mapping URL's into files, but dynamic content was becoming problematic. The notion of programs as files, as well as the mechanisms for launching, managing, and communicating with CGI programs is very specific to a UNIX-based OS, which makes porting Web servers and their corresponding content to a non UNIX-based OS difficult. In addition, as content management techniques required more of the content to be generated dynamically, even if simply to paste together several static files as a single URL, the CGI programs rapidly became the bottle neck. Each dynamic page requires a separate program to be launched and executed by the operating system, only to be terminated each time a request was completed. Additionally, the communication between the Web Server and the CGI program is very limited. Only the URL and its corresponding HTTP envelope information is made available to the CGI program, which can only return content; the ability to pass meta-information back to the server is almost non-existent.
The next state in the evolution of Web servers focused on eliminating the CGI bottle neck, and specifically the program creation and execution step required for each URL requested. Generally, three different approaches have been taken: keeping the basic CGI interface, only making it faster; building Web server specific APIs (Application Programming Interfaces) by requiring the dynamic code generating portions to be bound into the same process as the Web server; or defining language specific APIs whose implementations do not require the overhead implied by the CGI model.
The Fast CGI interface tries to improve the performance of the CGI specification by eliminating the process creation and execution step at every request, yet maintaining backward compatibility wherever possible. The Fast CGI interface, represented by the file that maps from the URL, is created and started once when the Web server starts. Multiple independent URL requests are sent to the same fast CGI process by defining a request packet protocol than can accommodate multiple requests and responses for each Fast CGI process. Fast-CGI has the advantage of preserving a separate execution context for dynamic content generation, while eliminating the bulk of the process creation overhead of traditional CGI programs. Consequently, Fast CGI programs are easily ported to work with many different Web servers.
The second approach to eliminating the CGI bottleneck is to move the dynamic content generation program into the same execution context as the server, by expressing the dynamic content generation in terms of APIs that are specific to a particular Web server. This approach eliminates the process creation and execution overhead of CGI programs entirely, but at the expense of close coupling to a particular Web server. Most major Web servers provide such API definitions. However, dynamic content generation using these APIs is rarely portable to a different server. In addition, by having the dynamic content generation in the same execution context as the server, a bug in a dynamic content generation module can negatively impact the entire Web server, including URL requests that have nothing to do with the bug-containing module.
The third approach used to eliminate the CGI bottleneck is to create a set of language specific APIs that can be logically bound into the execution context of the Web server, yet be defined in a Web server independent way. Servlets are the leading example of this approach. A servlet may be a JAVA™ programming language module that conforms to a defined set of language-specific APIs, which can be (and have been) implemented to provide dynamic content for many different Web servers. Thus servlets combine the advantages of Fast CGI portability to different Web servers—with the close coupling of server specific extensions.
Although all three approaches reduce performance problems associated with the CGI interface, they still fundamentally retain the notion of a one-to-one mapping between URLs and files, where all requests and their corresponding files are completely independent.
As the Web has grown, the notion that every URL request and its associated file is independent of any other request has become a serious architectural roadblock. It is now common for a single Web "form" to be spread over multiple pages (URLs), or for a single user to have unique state associated with a sequence of requests that may span days or even years. Finally, as the sheer volume of content on the Web has mushroomed, it is often no longer appropriate to assume, as is implicit in the CGI one-file-per-URL model, that the content resides on the server machine at all. The software architecture that was designed to deliver individual pages in response to URL requests is now being used to build sophisticated applications, whose content happens to be wrapped in HTTP. Somewhere in the switch from delivering static files as URLs to creating full blown applications, Web servers became Web application development frameworks.
As the need for more sophisticated features has grown, so too have the capabilities of the Web servers used to implement them. However, they are still based on the original one file per request architecture that was seemingly previously advantageous, but now burdensome. To support these added capabilities, the size and complexity of the APIs has grown. The descendants of the CGI architecture are stressed to provide functionality that isn't a good fit for their designs. As an example, a recent Servlet API (2.0) needs over two dozen classes and almost ten times that many methods to describe its interface.
The entire reason for the explosion of interface complexity isn't completely due to the complexity of the interactions required by implementors of the interface. As Web servers have become Web application frameworks, the notion that the same set of content can be delivered by any server has persisted. Somehow the "content" is viewed as separable from the server used to deliver it. Consequently, every new Web server designer feels obliged to incorporate every nuance and capability of every previously deployed server, to insure that pre-existing content can be delivered with the new software without change.
As the Web matures, a transition is occurring away from the current client-server paradigm, where browsers are pointed at particular Web sites, whose servers deliver all the content on that site, to a more distributed model. In this new model, both the traditional browsers and servers will still exist, but the content received by the client for a particular page is likely to have been retrieved from several traditional back-end servers, and modified to suit the requirements and desires of the particular client. This is a "work flow" model, where the content passes through various stages, and is transformed at each stage.
Early versions of these intermediate stages, termed meta-servers, are already starting to appear on the Web. Some of the meta-servers are called "portals", and others are known as "content aggregators". For the most part, portals and content aggregators are one in the same. It is a portal when viewed from the perspective of the client, and a content aggregator from the perspective of the traditional, or "content", server.
As these meta-servers begin to play a more prominent role in the infrastructure, they will have a profound impact on the way in which traditional content servers are constructed. No longer will the content server produce both the content and its presentation (look and feel). Meta-servers will transform the content after it leaves the content server, allowing content servers to be simpler. Today's content servers not only provide the content, but manage the presentation, user preferences, and browser differences as well.

Architecture for building web applications


A new latch hook for permitting secure hanging of strapped bags, such as purses and backpacks, to help prevent easy removal by thieves. The inventive device includes a mounting plate, a hook body, and a latch member. The root of the hook body is coupled to the mounting plate while the tip of the hook body is spaced apart from the mounting plate. The hook body also has a lower arcuate portion positioned adjacent the tip of the hook body. An arcuate inner hooked portion positioned adjacent the lower arcuate portion of the hook body is extended from the hook body towards the mounting plate. The upper end of the latch member is pivotally coupled to the hook body between the root of the hook body and the inner hooked portion such that the latch member extends toward the tip of the hook body.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to garment hooks and more particularly pertains to a new latch hook for permitting secure hanging of strapped bags, such as purses and backpacks, to help prevent easy removal by thieves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of garment hooks is known in the prior art. More specifically, garment hooks heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art garment hooks include U.S. Pat. No. 5,664,304; U.S. Pat. No. 3,317,972; U.S. Pat. No. 4,062,092; U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,451; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 229,870; and U.S. Pat. No. 5,094,417.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new latch hook. The inventive device includes a mounting plate, a hook body, and a latch member. The root of the hook body is coupled to the mounting plate while the tip of the hook body is spaced apart from the mounting plate. The hook body also has a lower arcuate portion positioned adjacent the tip of the hook body. An arcuate inner hooked portion positioned adjacent the lower arcuate portion of the hook body is extended from the hook body towards the mounting plate. The upper end of the latch member is pivotally coupled to the hook body between the root of the hook body and the inner hooked portion such that the latch member extends toward the tip of the hook body.
In these respects, the latch hook according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of permitting secure hanging of strapped bags, such as purses and backpacks, to help prevent easy removal by thieves.


A drying apparatus includes a gas flow channel, a first hollow fiber module, a second hollow fiber module, a gas driver and a control unit. The gas flow channel is used to accommodate an article and has a first terminal and a second terminal. The first and second hollow fiber modules are disposed at the first and second terminals respectively to adsorb water or to be electrified to desorb water. The gas driver disposed in a gas flow path of the gas flow channel drives the gas flowing into the gas flow channel through the first hollow fiber module and flowing out from the gas flow channel through the second hollow fiber module, or flowing into the gas flow channel through the second hollow fiber module and flowing out from the gas flow channel through the first hollow fiber module. The control unit provides power to the first and second hollow fiber modules and controls the gas driver.

Because the shelf life of food tends to be extended and the flavor of food is improved after drying, food drying technology is becoming very important in food processing. Food drying technology is divided into many categories, such as dry roasting, freeze-drying, low-temperature drying, etc. Other than food drying, drying technology may also be applied for drying clothes and medical material. When drying technology is applied for drying clothes, the moisture content of clothes is reduced to keep clothes dry and to prevent clothes from becoming moldy and stinky. When drying technology is applied for drying medical material, the moisture content of medical material is reduced so that bacterial growth is decreased.

INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY RESEARCH INSTITUTE


The application relates to specific binding members which bind to programmed death-ligand (PD-L1). The specific binding members preferably comprise a PD-L1 antigen-binding site located in structural loops of a constant domain of the specific binding member. The specific binding members find application, for example, in the treatment of cancer, as well as infectious diseases, inflammation, diseases and conditions associated with inflammation, and inflammatory diseases.

Programmed cell death 1 (PD-1) and its ligands PD-L1 (CD274, B7-H1) and PD-L2 (B7-DC) deliver inhibitory signals that regulate the balance between T cell activation, tolerance, and immunopathology. PD-L1 is constitutively or transiently expressed on multiple immune cell types and certain tumour cells.
PD-L1 is a type I transmembrane protein with two Ig-like domains within the extracellular region, a transmembrane domain and a short cytoplasmic domain. The complete human PD-L1 sequence can be found under UniProt accession no. Q9NZQ7. The cytoplasmic domain has no known signal transduction motif suggesting that there is no signaling by PD-L1 on interaction of the ligand with its receptor. The molecular weight of human PD-L1 is 40 kDa (290 amino acids) and it shares 70% and 93% amino acid identity with the murine and cynomolgus orthologs of PD-L1, respectively.
Human PD-L1 binds to its receptor PD-1 with an affinity (KD) of 770 nM. PD-1 is expressed on activated T cells, B cells and myeloid cells, and modulates activation or inhibition of cellular immune responses. Binding of PD-L1 to PD-1 delivers an inhibitory signal, reducing cytokine production and proliferation of T cells. Consequently, PD-L1 expression by cells can mediate protection against cytotoxic T lymphocyte (CTL) killing and is a regulatory mechanism that dampens chronic immune responses during viral infections. Cancer, as a chronic and pro-inflammatory disease, subverts this immune-protective pathway through up-regulation of PD-L1 expression to evade the host immune response. In the context of an active immune response, IFNγ also upregulates the expression of PD-L1.
PD-L1 also mediates immune suppression through interaction with another protein, B7.1 (also known as CD80), blocking its ability to deliver one of the secondary signals of activation on T cells through CD28.
PD-L1 expression has been shown in a wide variety of solid tumours. Of 654 samples examined in one study, spanning 19 tumours from different sites, 14% were PD-L1 positive. The highest PD-L1 positive frequencies were seen in head and neck (31%), cervical (29%), cancer of unknown primary origin (CUP; 28%), glioblastoma multiforme (GBM; 25%), bladder cancer (21%), oesophageal cancer (20%), triple negative (TN) breast cancer (18%), and hepatocarcinoma (15%) (Grosso et al, 2013). Tumour-associated expression of PD-L1 has been shown to confer immune resistance and potentially protect tumour cells from T cell mediated apoptosis.
Therapies targeting PD-L1 have shown excellent results in murine in vivo studies. In the B16 murine model of melanoma, treatment with anti-PD-L1 combined with either GVAX or FVAX vaccination strategies resulted in a significant effect both on survival (30 days for control vs 52 days for PD-L1-treated) and percentage of tumour-free (5%) animals upon conclusion of the study (Curran et al., 2010). Anti-PD-L1 therapy has also been used to study the mechanism of immune suppression in the P815 murine mastoma model. P815 cells injected into mice normally trigger a strong immune response, which results in their rejection. When PD-L1 is expressed on P815 cells, these cells escape immune attack, which in turn can be negated through administration of anti-PD-L1 antibodies (Iwai et al, 2002). It is evident that targeting the PD-1/PD-L1 axis in immunogenic human cancers (Herbst et al., 2014) results in a survival advantage through stimulation of an anti-cancer immune response (Wolchok et al., 2013; Larkin et al., 2015).
Clinical trials have shown the clinical benefit of targeting PD-L1 in patients leading to the approval of three anti-PD-L1 targeting monoclonal antibodies to date.
Atezolizumab (Tecentriq™) is a humanised IgG1 antibody which binds to PD-L1. It is in clinical trials as a monotherapy and also in combination with other biologic and/or small molecule therapies for treatment of solid cancers, including colorectal cancer, breast cancer, non-small-cell lung cancer, small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer, and renal cell carcinoma.
Avelumab (Bavencio™) is a fully human IgG1 antibody which binds to PD-L1 and is undergoing clinical testing in a number of cancers including bladder cancer, gastric cancer, head and neck cancer, mesothelioma, non-small-cell lung carcinoma, ovarian cancer, renal cancer, Merkel-cell carcinoma, and metastatic urothelial carcinoma (UC).
Durvalumab (Imfinzi™) is a human IgG1 antibody which binds to PD-L1 and is being tested in clinical trials alone or in combination with tremelimumab in squamous cell carcinoma of the head and neck, bladder cancer, pancreatic cancer and with other biologic and small molecules in trials for additional solid cancers such as gastric cancers, melanoma and unresectable hepatocellular carcinoma.
Durvalumab has been approved for the treatment of patients with locally advanced or metastatic urothelial carcinoma and unresectable stage III NSCLC.
Further anti-PD-L1 antibodies, including BMS-936559 (NCT00729664), have been tested in clinical trials, and others are in preclinical testing.
Infectious diseases show many parallels with oncology. It is thought that the role of PD-L1 in immune regulation could be harnessed to maximise the immune response against pathogens. Immunomodulation in infectious disease is an emerging area of medicine and early reviews suggest that PD-L1 blockade may improve biological responses to infection, in particular, helping to counteract T cell exhaustion, manage immune-mediated clearance, and generate long-term immunity (Wykes, M. N. and Lewin, S. R., 2018).
Furthermore, recent studies also suggest that the PD-1/PD-L1 pathway may be a therapeutic target for the treatment of inflammation, diseases and conditions associated with inflammation, and inflammatory diseases, such as stroke and stroke-related inflammation (Bodhankar et al., 2015), and vascular inflammation or vasculitis, e.g., medium and large vessel vasculitis, or vasculitis of the central and/or peripheral nervous system (Hid Cadena et al., 2018 and Daxini et al., 2018).
Whilst there are various anti-PD-L1 therapeutics in development, current data shows that overall treatment with existing anti-PD-L1 monotherapies results in a response in less than 50% of cancer patients. The spectrum and severity of reported adverse reactions differs between antibodies in clinical testing. To increase the objective response rate (ORR), and/or seek to reduce adverse effects, anti-PD-L1 antibodies may be combined with other biologics, such as antibodies against other checkpoint regulators, as well as with small molecule therapies and other immune system activating approaches, such as tumour vaccines.
Thus, there remains a need in the art for additional molecules which can target PD-L1 and which find application in cancer therapy.
In addition, there also remains a need in the art for additional molecules which can target PD-L1 and which find application in the treatment of infectious diseases.
Furthermore, there also remains a need in the art for additional molecules which can target PD-L1 and which find application in the treatment of inflammation, diseases and conditions associated with inflammation, and inflammatory diseases.

FC binding fragments comprising a PD-L1 antigen-binding site


A filter circuit arrangement comprising a circuit configuration having non-linear transmission characteristics for equalizing an input signal is disclosed. In one embodiment, the circuit configuration having the non-linear transmission characteristics is provided in a feedback loop of the filter circuit arrangement.

The invention relates to a filter circuit arrangement.
In semiconductor devices, in particular e.g., in corresponding, integrated (analog or digital) computing circuits and/or semiconductor memory devices, as well as other electric circuits or—more generally speaking—signal-processing systems, filter circuit arrangements, e.g., high and/or low pass filter circuit arrangements, are frequently used.
A high pass is a filter circuit arrangement that transmits signals with high frequencies substantially without modification and effects attenuation and, as a rule, a phase lead with signals with low frequencies.
As compared to this, a low pass is a filter circuit arrangement in which signals with low frequencies are transmitted substantially without modification; with signals with high frequencies, attenuation and, as a rule, a phase lag is effected.
Passive high and/or low pass filter circuit arrangements has one or several resistors and—as energy storage means—one or several capacitive devices (in particular e.g., capacitors) (and/or one or several inductive devices (in particular e.g., coils)).
As compared to this, active filter circuit arrangements comprise, as a rule—apart from passive devices such as resistors and capacitors—one or several active devices, in particular operational amplifiers.
In addition to the above-mentioned filter circuit arrangements, in conventional semiconductor devices, in particular e.g., in corresponding, integrated (analog or digital) computing circuits and/or semiconductor memory devices, as well as other electric circuits or—more generally speaking—signal-processing systems, one or several—separate—equalizer circuit arrangements are frequently also provided.
The separate providing of filter and equalizer circuit arrangements, however, results in a relatively high switching effort altogether and in relatively high energy consumption.
For these and other reasons, there is a need for the present invention.

Integrated circuit having a filter circuit


The present invention relates to the use of nanosized metal particles (e.g., ruthenium) grafted on inert solid support for oxidation of alkenes. The supported metal catalyst can effect cis-dihydroxylation and oxidative cleavage of alkenes to give the respective cis-diols and carbonyl products.

The addition of two hydroxy groups in a cis manner to the carbon-carbon double bond of an alkene, as shown in FIG. 1, is an important transformation in organic synthesis. The resulting cis-1,2-diol products are versatile building blocks for pharmaceutical products and fine chemicals.
Traditionally, cis-dihydroxylation can be performed using stoichiometric amounts of osmium tetroxide or potassium permanganate (see: Haines, A. H., in Comprehensive Organic Synthesis; Trost, B. M.; Fleming, I. (eds.) Pergamon: Oxford, 1991; Vol. 7, p. 437). However, an immediate drawback is that these processes produce a large amount of toxic effluent. Furthermore, osmium tetroxide is highly toxic and very expensive, which hampers its use in large-scale synthesis. For the use of permanganate as oxidant, the reaction usually produces undesired over-oxidized products, and yields are lower than with osmium tetroxide.
Catalytic systems for alkene cis-dihydroxylation have been extensively pursued. In particular, development of osmium-catalyzed alkene dihydroxylation and its asymmetric variants represents an important milestone in modern organic synthesis [see: (a) Johnson, R. A.; Sharpless, K. B. In Catalytic Asymmetric Synthesis; by Ojima, I. 2nd ed., VCH: New York, 2000. (b) Kolb, H. C.; Van Nieuwenhze, M. S.; Sharpless, K. B. Chem. Rev. 1994, 94, 2483]. Several secondary oxidants including metal chlorates (see: Hofman, K. A. ChemBer. 1912, 45, 3329), hydrogen peroxide (see: Milas, N. A.; Trepagnier, J.-H.; Nolan, J. T.; Iliopolus, J. Ji. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1959, 81, 4730), tert-butyl hydroperoxide [see: (a) Sharpless, K. B.; Akashi, K. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1976, 98, 1986. (b) Carlsen, P. H. J.; Katsuki, T.; Martin, V. S.; Sharpless, K. B. J. Org. Chem. 1981, 46, 3936. (c) Webster, F. X.; Rivas-Enterrios, J.; Silverstein, R. M. J. Org. Chem. 1987, 52, 689. (d) Martin, V. S.; Nunez, M. T.; Tonn, C. E. Tetrahedron Lett. 1988, 29, 2701 (e) Caron, M.; Carlier, P. R.; Sharpless, K. B. J. Org. Chem. 1988, 53, 5185], N-methylmorpholine N-oxide (NMO, Upjohn process) [see: (a) Schneider, W. P.; McIntosh, A. V. U.S. Pat. No. 2,769,824 (1956). (b) Van Rheenen, V.; Kelly, R. C.; Cha, D. Y. Tetrahedron Lett. 1976, 17, 1973] are known for effective catalytic cis-dihydroxylation reactions. For sterically hindered alkenes, the catalytic system employing trimethylammonia N-oxide as secondary oxidant has been reported to give improved product yields (see: Ray, R.; Matteson, D. S. Tetrahedron Lett. 1980, 21, 449).
To overcome problems of over-oxidation and inertness towards sterically hindered alkenes, catalytic system using hexacyanoferrate(III) as secondary oxidant has been developed (see: Minato, M.; Yamamoto, K.; Tsuji, J. J. Org. Chem. 1990, 55, 766). Consequently, an enantioselective version based on hexacyanoferrate(III) as oxidant was developed by Sharpless and co-workers (see: Ogino, Y.; Chen, H.; Kwong, H. L.; Sharpless, K. B. Tetrahedron Lett. 1991, 32, 3965). Currently, the "K2[OsO2(OH)4+K3[Fe(CN)6]" formulation is commercially available and branded as AD-mix.
The search for transition metal catalysts alternative to osmium for cis-dihydroxylation of alkene is receiving current attention. Earlier work by Shing and co-workers showed that RuCl3.xH2O is an effective catalyst for cis-dihydroxylation of alkenes when using NaIO4 as oxidant with a mixture of acetonitrile, ethyl acetate and water as solvent at reaction temperature=0° C. [see: (a) Shing, T. K. M.; Tai, V. W.-F.; Tam, E. K. M. Angew. Chem., Int. Ed. Engl. 1994, 33, 2313. (b) Shing, T. K. M.; Tai, V. W. F.; Tam, E. K. M. Chung, I. H. F.; Jiang, Q. Chem. Eur. J. 1996, 2, 50. (c) Shing, T. K. M.; Tam, E. K. M. Tetrahedron Lett. 1999, 40, 2179]. Recently, Que and co-workers disclosed that alkene cis-dihydroxylation can be achieved with moderate selectivity using some iron complexes as catalyst and hydrogen peroxide as oxidant [see: (a) Chen, K.; Costas, M.; Kim, J.; Tipton, A. K.; Que, L. Jr. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2002, 124, 3026. (b) Costas, M.; Tipton, A. K.; Chen, K.; Jo, D.-H.; Que, L. Jr. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 6722. (c) Chen, K.; Que, L. Jr. Angew. Chem. Int Ed. 1999, 38, 2227]. In addition, Jacobs and coworkers reported that some manganese cyclic triamine complexes could convert alkene to its corresponding cis-1,2-diol in low yield using hydrogen peroxide as secondary oxidant (see: De Vos, D. E.; de Wildeman, S.; Sels, B. F.; Grobet, P. J.; Jacobs, P. A. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1999, 38, 980).
At present, osmium-catalyzed alkene cis-dihydroxylation is still the system of choice because of its effectiveness and selectivity. However, recovery of the precious metal catalysts are difficult, and it may result in product contamination. This has restricted its use for large-scale reactions in industry. To this end, several research groups have already attempted to address the issues by heterogenization of the metal catalysts onto solid support[see: (a) Bolm, C.; Gerlach, A. Chem. Eur. J. 1998, 1, 21. (b) Salvadori, P.; Pini, D.; Petri, A. Synlett. 1999, 1181. (c) Gravert, D. J.; Janda, K. D. Chem. Rev. 1997, 97, 489. However, limited success was achieved with respect to recovery and reuse of the metal catalysts. For example, Kobayashi and co-workers recently developed a highly recoverable and reusable polymer-supported osmium catalyst for alkene cis-dihydroxylations using a microencapsulation technique (see: Kobayashi, S.; Endo, M.; Nagayama, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1999, 121, 11229). A recent work by Choudary and co-workers reported that immobilized OsO42− on layered double hydroxides by ion-exchange technique was found to attain good recoverability and reusability for alkene cis-dihydroxylation (see: Choudary, B, M.; Chowdari, N. S.; Kantam, M. L.; Raghavan, K. V. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2001, 123, 9220). Despite these advances, development of more easily handled metal catalysts with superior recyclability and catalytic activities is still highly desirable. A recent report by Park and co-workers showed that a 3-D networked osmium nanomaterial is an effective heterogeneous catalyst for dihydroxylation and oxidative cleavage of alkenes (see: Lee, K.; Kim, Y.-H.; Han, S. B.; Kang, H.; Park, S.; Seo, W. S.; Park, J. T.; Kim, B.; Chang, S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 6844).
Limited examples involving supporting transition metal catalysts other than osmium based complexes for alkene cis-dihydroxylation and alkene oxidative cleavage have been reported. Supported manganese cyclic triamine complexes converted alkenes to cis-diols when using hydrogen peroxide as oxidant, but poor yield and selectivity made this process impractical (De Vos, D. E.; de Wildeman, S.; Sels, B. F.; Grobet, P. J.; Jacobs, P. A. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 1999, 38, 980).
Application of nanosized metal particles as catalysts for organic transformations is receiving current attention [see: (a) Moreno-Mañas, M.; Pleixats, R. Acc. Chem. Res. 2003, 36, 638. (b) Roucoux, A.; Schulz, J.; Patin, H. Chem. Rev. 2002, 102, 3757. (c) Horn, D.; Rieger, J. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2001, 40, 4330. (d) Bönnermann, H.; Richards, R. M. Eur. J. Inorg. Chem. 2001, 2455. (e) Rao, C. N. R.; Kulkarni, G. U.; Thomas, P. J.; Edwards, P. P. Chem. Soc. Rev. 2000, 29, 27. (f) Johnson, B. F. G. Coord. Chem. Rev. 1999, 190, 1269. (g) Bradley, J. S. In Clusters and Colloids: from Theory to Application; Ed.: Schmid, G. VCH: Weiheim, 1994; p. 459. (h) Lewis, L. N. Chem. Rev. 1993, 93, 2693. (i) Schmid, G. Chem. Rev. 1992, 92, 1709]. Due to its high surface area and the high density of active sites, nanosized metal particles exhibit superior catalytic activities versus the corresponding bulk materials.
Various synthetic methods for ruthenium nanoparticles have been reported in the literature. The reduction of ruthenium salts in polyol solution at evaluated temperature is promising and simple for ruthenium nanoparticles [see: (a) Viau, G.; Brayner, R.; Poul, L.; Chakroune, N.; Lacaze, E.; Fiévet-Vincent, F.; Fiévet, F. Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 486. (b) Balint, I.; Mayzaki, A.; Aika, K.-I. J. Catal. 2002, 207, 66. (c) Miyazaki, A.; Balint, I.; Aika, K.-I.; Nakano, Y. J. Catal. 2001, 204, 364]. Besides, several research groups have developed some new preparation procedures for nanosized ruthenium particles. Chaudret and co-workers utilized the reaction of an organometallic ruthenium precursor under a hydrogen atmosphere in organic solvent to obtain a stable ruthenium colloid (see: Vidoni, O.; Philipport, K.; Amiens, C.; Chaudret, B.; Balmes, O.; Malm, J. O.; Bovin, J. O. Senocq, F.; Casanove, J. Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. Engl. 1999, 38, 3736). Also, Che and coworkers demonstrated that the solvothermal reduction of ruthenium salts is a viable route to nanosized ruthenium particles (see: Gao, S.; Zhang, J.; Zhu, Y.-F.; Che, C. M. New J. Chem. 2000, 739). In addition, Alonso-Vante and co-workers disclosed that highly dispersed nanocrystalline ruthenium particles could be prepared under mild conditions in an organic solvent from the ruthenium carbonyl precursor (see: Vogel, W.; Le Rhun, V.; Garnier, E.; Alonso-Vante, N. J. Phys. Chem. Chem. B 2001, 105, 5238). Furthermore, Lee and coworkers reported that nanosized ruthenium particles could be prepared by the sodium borohydride reduction of ruthenium chloride and ruthenium hydroxide (see: Lee, D.-S.; Liu, T.-K. Journal of Non-Crystalline Solids, 2002, 311, 323).
The reports on the catalytic reactivity of these ruthenium particles are, however, sparse in the literature. Miyazaki and co-workers reported alumina-supported ruthenium nanoparticles have a high reactivity for ammonia synthesis [see: (a) Balint, I.; Mayzaki, A.; Aika, K.-I. J. Catal. 2002, 207, 66. (b) Miyazaki, A.; Balint, I.; Aika, K.-I.; Nakano, Y. J. Catal. 2001, 204, 364]. Wakatsuki and coworker disclosed that TiO2-supported ruthenium nanosized metal particles exhibited the reduction of SO2 and H2 to give element sulfur (see: Ishiguro, A.; Nakajima, T.; Iwata, T.; Fujita, M.; Minato, T.; Kiyotaki, F.; Izumi, Y.; Aika, K.-I.; Uchida, M.; Kimoto, K.; Matsui, Y.; Wakatsuki, Y. Chem. Eur. J. 2002, 8, 3260). Schmid and co-workers revealed that ruthenium nanoparticles included in nanoporous alumina membranes catalyzed alkene hydrogenation (see: Pelzer, K.; Philippot, K.; Chaudret, B.; Meyer-Zaika, W.; Schmid, G. Zeitschrift fur anorganische und allgemieine chemie, 2003, 629, 1217). U.S. Pat. No. 6,551,960 discloses the fabrication of supported nanosized ruthenium catalyst and its reactivity for methanol reformation. Chan and co-workers reported that Ru—Pt nanoparticles, prepared by water-in-oil reverse micro-emulsion, displaced high catalytic activity for methanol oxidation when supported on carbon electrode (see: Zhang, Z.; Chan, K.-Y. Chem. Mater. 2003, 15, 451). Recently, it was reported that zeolited-confined nanosized ruthenium dioxide can efficiently promote aerobic oxidation of alcohols (see: Zhan, B.-Z.; White, M. A.; Sham, T.-K.; Pincock, J. A.; Doucet, R. J.; Rao, K. V. R.; Roberson, K. N.; Cameron, T. S. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 2003, 125, 2195). However, the reactivities of ruthenium nanoparticles toward cis-dihydroxylation and oxidative cleavage of alkenes are hitherto unknown in the literature.
Ruthenium salts and complexes are known to be versatile catalysts for various oxidative transformations [see: (a) Murahashi, S.-I.; Komiya, N. In Biomimetic Oxidations Catalyzed by Transition Metal Complexes; Ed.: Meunier, B.; Imperial College Press, 2000; p. 563. (b) McLain, J. L.; Lee, J.; Groves, J. T. In Biomimetic Oxidations Catalyzed by Transition Metal Complexes; Ed.: Meunier, B.; Imperial College Press, 2000; p. 91. (c) Ley, S. V.; Norman, J.; Griffith, W. P.; Marsden, S. P. Synthesis, 1994, 639. (d) Griffith, W. P. Chem. Soc. Rev. 1992, 21, 179]. Here, we report that ruthenium nanoparticles immobilized on hydroxyapatite is a superior catalyst for cis-dihydroxylation and oxidative cleavage of alkenes. With ethyl trans-cinnamate as a substrate, the supported catalyst has been recycled for successive cis-dihydroxylation reactions without significant deterioration of catalytic activities.
TABLE 1. provides representative examples of cis-dihydroxylation of alkenes catalyzed by ruthenium nanoparticles.
TABLE 2. provides representative examples of oxidative cleavage of alkenes catalyzed by ruthenium nanoparticles.
TABLE 3. provides representative examples of oxidative cleavage of α,β-unsaturated alkenes catalyzed by ruthenium nanoparticles.

Supported ruthenium nanoparticle catalyst for cis -dihydroxylation and oxidative cleavage of alkenes


The present invention is a device for conveniently collecting and storing liquid samples, as well as applying an aliquot of the sample to a test device, such as a lateral flow immunoassay. The present invention comprises an absorbent swab and a dropper container containing an expression means for expressing the collected sample from the swab. After the collected sample has been expressed into the reservoir of the device, the device is capped. The device can be inverted over a test device, the sides of the reservoir squeezed and an aliquot of the sample applied, in a drop-wise manner, to the sample application well of the test device. The present invention is particularly useful for collecting viscous samples, such as saliva or oral fluid, in a drug of abuse testing setting.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the fields of fluid collection devices, especially devices for the collection of viscous samples, such as saliva, and methods of use thereof. The collection device of the present invention can be used in conjunction with a test device for detecting an analyte of interest, such as an analyte relating to drug abuse, a disease state, medical condition or etiological agent, in the collected fluid.
2. Description of the Related Art
There are a variety of clinical lateral flow immunoassay devices useful for testing for the presence of an analyte, such as hormones, sugar, adulterants, drugs of abuse and the like, in a sample. In general, these test devices take the form of urine cups with accompanying test cards, dip sticks and cassettes. All of these devices require the use of a potentially infective biological fluid, such as urine, blood or serum that clinical workers find messy and offensive to work with and potentially expose the worker to disease. For example, urine cups are often urinated on the exterior and are easily spilt. Similarly, blood samples require the use of needles for collection, which can expose the clinical worker to a variety of blood-born diseases, such as AIDS and hepatitis.
An additional problem with tests that use urine is that urine can be contaminated with other substances. This is a constant problem in drug of abuse testing setting. Subjects using illegal drugs often attempt to hide the presence of those drugs in their urine, in order to have a negative test. These people do this by adding contaminating substances, such as bleach or ammonia, to the urine sample before giving the sample to the clinical worker. Using saliva as a sample fluid eliminates the contamination problem because the subject is never alone while producing the sample, thus eliminating an opportunity to contaminate the sample.
While the afore mentioned devices have been improving, there continues to be a long felt need for a device that is simple to use, not messy and poses little health risk to the clinical worker. This long felt need is met by the present invention, which is described in detail herein. The present invention contemplates the collection, storage and use of a subject's saliva, which is not classified as a biohazard, by simple, easy, clean and noninvasive methods.

Fluid collection and application device and methods of use of same


Transcriptional activator Islet-Brain 1 (IB1) is disclosed which is involved in the control of the GLUT2 and insulin genes by interacting with homologous cis-regulatory elements of the GLUT2 and insulin promoters, and to materials and methods deriving from this work. In particular, the use of IB1 nucleic acid, IB1 polypeptides and anti-IB1 antibodies in the diagnosis, and prophylactic and therapeutic treatment of conditions such as diabetes and neurological diseases such as dementia and/or parkinsonism is disclosed.

The GLUT2 facilitated glucose transporter isoform is a membrane protein present in the pancreatic .beta.-insulin-secreting cells, the basolateral membrane of intestinal and kidney absorptive cells, in hepatocytes and in a subset of neurons (21,31,44). In these cells, GLUT2 catalyzes the transepithelial transport of glucose. In pancreatic islets, GLUT2 allows a rapid equilibration of glucose between the extracellular space and the interior of the cells and it may play a crucial role in the glucose signaling mechanism leading to insulin secretion (43). However, the relative importance of GLUT2 in the sensing of the .beta.-pancreatic cells to glucose remains debated. In human .beta.-cells, the level of expression of GLUT2 is low and the intracellular glucokinase activity seems to be the rate-limiting step in the glycolytic pathway (5,11). On the other hand, insulinoma cells that had lost their normal glucose responsiveness have low GLUT2 content, but some glucose sensitivity may be recovered after reintroducing GLUT2 expression through stable transfection of these cells (10,16). Furthermore, transgenic mice that express GLUT2 antisense RNAs driven by the insulin promoter led to an 80% reduction in GLUT2 which was paralleled by a decreased glucose-induced insulin secretory response and by the onset of diabetes (48). These observations are critical since several experimental models of diabetes have shown that GLUT2 expression is dramatically reduced specifically in the pancreatic .beta.-cells, and that this mechanism could participate to the onset of the disease (18,29,30,32,45-47). Therefore, while GLUT2 levels are unchanged or even upregulated in several tissues such as the liver and the intestine during the hyperglycemic conditions observed in diabetes, the same gene undergoes a drastic dysregulation only in the pancreatic islets.
A fragment of the murine GLUT2 promoter has been cloned and shown to be glucose-responsive when transfected into differentiated insulin-producing cells or into hepatocytes (35,36,52). Important cis-regulatory sequences were identified within this promoter region including a functionally responsive PDX-1 element, a cyclic AMP responsive element, and three cis elements termed GTI, GTII and GTIII (3,36,53). The presence of GTI, II and III are both sufficient and necessary to confer pancreatic-specific expression to a reporter gene in vitro or in vivo, using a transgenic mice approach (3,51). GTI and GTIII have been previously shown to bind distinct, but ubiquitously expressed trans-acting factors.

Transcription factor Islet-Brain 1 (IB1)


Disclosed is a substrate processing method that dissolves and deforms a photoresist film having a first pattern formed on a substrate to reshape the resist film into a second pattern. The method includes: evacuating a processing chamber, thereby reducing an internal pressure of the processing chamber from a standard pressure to a first target pressure lower than the standard pressure; introducing a solvent vapor-containing atmosphere into the processing chamber, thereby bringing the internal pressure back to the standard pressure; dissolving the resist film by a solvent contained in the solvent vapor-containing atmosphere; and evacuating a processing chamber, thereby reducing the internal pressure to a second target pressure higher than the first target pressure and lower than the standard pressure and discharging the solvent vapor-containing atmosphere from the processing chamber. Owing to the relatively low second target pressure, undesirable deformation of the resist film or defects in the resist film due to rapid evaporation of the solvent penetrated in the resist film can be prevented.

In amorphous silicon TFT (thin film transistor) forming processes included in an LCD (liquid crystal display) fabrication, an etching process must be carried out for plural times to achieve a complicated etching pattern associated with the TFT. Thus, with the conventional art, a photolithography process including an exposing process and a developing process is carried out for plural times corresponding to the number of the etching processes. Since different coating-and-developing apparatuses and exposure apparatuses are required for forming different patterns as etch masks, the total system cost is expensive.
As one solution of the above problem, a reflow process, which dissolves and deforms a resist film of a first pattern once used as an etch mask to reshape the same into a new, second pattern, attracts attention in these days. With the use of the reflow process, it is not necessary for forming the second resist pattern to perform processes employing a coating-and-developing apparatus and an exposure apparatus. The reflow process not only reduces the total system cost but also improves the production efficiency.
A series of processes for formation of an amorphous silicon TFT including a reflow process will be described with reference to FIG. 10. As shown in FIG. 10(a), on a gate electrode 201 formed on a glass substrate 200, an insulating layer 202, an Si-layer 203 composed of an a-Si layer (i.e., non-doped amorphous Si layer) 203a and an n+a-Si layer (i.e., phosphor-doped amorphous Si layer) 203b, and a metal layer 205 for forming drain and source electrodes are stacked in that order.
Then, in order to perform a first etching process that etches the metal layer 205, a resist film 206 having a first pattern is formed on the metal layer by a photolithography process including a photoresist film forming step, an exposing step and a developing step. A half exposing technique is used in the exposing step so as to obtain the resist film 206 having thickness distribution (i.e., the resist film 206 has thick portions and thin portions.). The half exposing technique employs a half-tone mask having light-transmittance distribution. The half exposing technique is described in US2004126713A1 (JP2005-108904A), for example. The resist film 206 having the first pattern is used as a mask for etching the metal layer 205, and portions of the metal layer 205 which are not covered with the mask are etched and removed, as shown in FIG. 10(b).
Altered layer 207 is formed in the surface region the resist film 206 due to application of a wet etching liquid used for etching the metal layer 205. The altered layer 207 is removed by supplying thereto an alkaline solution, prior to a reflow process, as shown in FIG. 10(c).
Then, as shown in FIG. 10(d), portions of the resist film 206 which are not necessary for a second etching process (i.e., the thin portions of the resist film 206) are removed by re-developing process, while portions of the resist film 206 near targets Tg (i.e., the thick portions of the resist film 206) remain.
Then, the remaining resist film 206 as shown in FIG. 10(d) is exposed to a solvent vapor-containing atmosphere. Thereby, the resist film 206 dissolves and diffuses (i.e., reflow) to move onto the targets Tg to cover the same. Thus, the resist film 206 is reshaped into a second pattern, in other words, a second resist pattern is formed. Then, the Si layer 203 is etched by using the metal layer 205 and the resist film 206 as masks, as shown in FIG. 11(a); and the resist film 206 is removed, as shown in FIG. 11(b). Thereafter, the n+a-Si layer 203 in channel regions is etched so that a TFT structure is formed, as shown in FIG. 11(d).
In the reflow process, the substrate contained in a processing chamber is exposed to a solvent vapor-containing atmosphere such a thinner gas-containing atmosphere, and the solvent that penetrates into the resist film dissolves the resist film. When supplying or discharging the solvent vapor-containing atmosphere into and from the processing chamber, the processing chamber is evacuated to reduce the internal pressure of the processing chamber from the standard pressure to a predetermined target pressure in order to improve the atmosphere replacement efficiency.
With the conventional art, the target pressure when introducing the solvent vapor-containing atmosphere into the processing chamber is the same as that when discharging the solvent vapor-containing atmosphere from the processing chamber; and the evacuating rate, or the pressure reducing rate, when introducing the solvent atmosphere is the same as that when discharging the solvent atmosphere. To be specific, as shown in FIG. 12, the pressure reducing rate is set to be high (e.g., 100 L/min in discharge rate), and the target pressure is set to be low (e.g., −90 kPa) to improve the atmosphere replacement efficiency. Note that, in this specification, the value of the "target pressure" is expressed as a differential pressure which is the target pressure minus the standard pressure. The standard pressure is typically atmospheric pressure.
In the second evacuating operation for discharging the atmosphere in the processing chamber, it is possible that the photoresist pattern may deform into an undesirable shape due to rapid evaporation of the solvent having penetrated in the resist film caused by rapid pressure reduction in the processing chamber. If the resist pattern is deformed, defects such as disconnections or short-circuits may be developed in the circuit pattern.


A magnetic base body according to one embodiment of the invention includes soft magnetic metal particles that have an insulating film on their surfaces. In a Raman spectrum obtained by observing light scattered when the magnetic base body is irradiated with an excitation laser with a wavelength of 488 nm, a peak intensity ratio. that is defined as a ratio of the peak intensity of a first peak existing at around a wave number of 712 cm−1 to the peak intensity of a peak existing at around a wave number of 1320 cm−1, is 1 to 70.

Various magnetic materials have been used as a material for a magnetic base body used in electronic components. Ferrite is often used as a magnetic material for coils such as inductors. Ferrite is suitable as the magnetic material for an inductor because of its high magnetic permeability.
In addition to ferrite, a soft magnetic metal material is also used as the magnetic material for the magnetic base body. A soft magnetic metal material is contained in the magnetic base body in the form of soft magnetic metal particles (or powder). The magnetic base body containing the soft magnetic metal particles is produced through a pressure molding process in which a slurry is made by mixing and kneading the soft magnetic metal particles and a binder, the slurry is poured into a mold, and pressure is then applied to the slurry in the mold. An insulating film is provided on the surface of each soft magnetic metal particle contained in the magnetic base body so as to prevent a short circuit between adjacent particles. Since the soft magnetic metal material generally has a higher saturation magnetic flux densities than the ferrite material, it is suitable as a material for the magnetic base body of a coil element through which a large current flows.
Magnetic base bodies for electronic components such as inductors are required to have a high magnetic permeability. There have been proposals of techniques for increasing the filling factor of the magnetic particles in the magnetic base body to increase the magnetic permeability. For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication 2010-34102 ("the '102 Publication") discloses a clay-like magnetic base body in which two or more kinds of amorphous soft magnetic metal particles having different average particle sizes and an insulating binder are mixed. The '102 Publication describes that it is possible to realize a high filling factor and a low core loss with such a magnetic base body.
By increasing a compacting pressure at the time of molding the magnetic base body, the filling rate of the soft magnetic metal particles can be increased. However, when the compacting pressure is increased, the insulating film provided on the surfaces of the soft magnetic metal particles tend to be broken, which deteriorates the insulation property between the soft magnetic metal particles.
Since the insulating film provided on the surfaces of the soft magnetic metal particles generally has a lower magnetic permeability than that of the soft magnetic metal, the content ratio of the soft magnetic metal in the magnetic base body can be increased by thinning the insulating film in order to increase the magnetic permeability of the magnetic base body. There is such an idea to improve the magnetic permeability of the magnetic base body. However, when the insulating film is thinned, there is a drawback that the insulation between the soft magnetic metal particles is decreased.
When dielectric breakdown occurs between soft magnetic metal particles, adjacent soft magnetic metal particles merge into a single large particle. Eddy currents are likely to be generated in the large particles. Thus there is a drawback that the eddy current loss increases when dielectric breakdown occurs between adjacent soft magnetic metal particles contained in the magnetic base body.
As described above, it is desired to achieve both the high magnetic permeability and the high insulation property of the magnetic base body containing the soft magnetic metal particles. However, since the magnetic permeability of the insulating base and the insulation property between the soft magnetic metal particles are in a trade-off relationship, it is difficult to achieve both the high permeability and high insulation property.

Magnetic base body containing soft magnetic metal particles and electronic component including the same