In a composition comprising a therapeutic agent and a compound which is a trisaccharide or higher polysaccharide, that compound has the formula X[—Y-Z]n wherein X and Z are each saccharide molecules in which none, some or all OH groups are derivatised; Y is an ester linkage to an exocyclic C atom in X; and n in an integer.

Solid delivery systems are useful in a wide variety of applications such as controlled release of labile molecules, particularly bioactive materials such as organic pharmaceutical compounds, enzymes, vaccines and biological control agents such as pesticides and pheromones.
Drugs and other active agents are frequently administered orally by means of solid dosage forms, such as tablets and capsules. Other oral solid dosage forms include lozenges and other hard candies. Solid dosage forms can also be implanted subcutaneously for drug delivery. Additionally, solid dosage forms are delivered intravenously, or by inhalation to the pulmonary system.
Solid dose delivery of bioactive materials to biological tissues such as mucosal, dermal, ocular, subcutaneous, intradermal and pulmonary offers several advantages over methods such as hypodermic injection and transdermal administration via so-called "patches". Using injection, there may be physical discomfort, and there is a risk of infection using conventional needles and syringes. Many drugs are not suitable for transdermal delivery, nor have transdermal drug release rates for those capable of such delivery been perfected. Additionally, transdermal patches often cause topical reactions, in many instances precluding their long-term use.
A variety of formulations have been provided for administration in aerosolized form to mucosal surfaces, particularly "by-inhalation" (naso-pharyngeal and pulmonary). Compositions for by-inhalation administration generally comprise a liquid formulation of the pharmaceutical agent and a device for delivering the liquid formulation in aerosolized form.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,011,678 describes compositions containing a pharmaceutically active substance, a biocompatible amphiphilic steroid and a biocompatible hydrofluorocarbon propellant. U.S. Pat. No. 5,006,343 describes compositions containing liposomes, a pharmaceutically active substance and an alveolar surfactant protein that enhances transport of the liposomes across a pulmonary surface. U.S. Pat. No. 5,608,647 describes methods for administering controlled amounts of aerosol medication from a valved canister.
One drawback to the use of aerosolized formulations is that maintenance of pharmaceutical agents in aqueous suspensions or solutions can lead to lossofactivity and bioavailability. The loss of activity can be partially prevented by refrigeration, but this limits the utility of these formulations. The use of powdered formulations overcomes many of these drawbacks. The particle size of such powders is 0.5-5 μm, in order to attain deep alveolar deposition in pulmonary delivery. Unfortunately, powders of such particle size tend to absorb water and clump, thus reducing deposition of the powder in the deep alveolar spaces.
WO-A-96/03978 describes powders suitable for use in by-inhalation delivery. The powders are of uniform particle size and can be produced with varying degrees of hydrophobicity to reduce clumping and increase drug release in the surfactant environment of the lung. They may also be useful for ballistic delivery.
WO-A-96/03978 describes solid dose delivery systems which include a vitreous vehicle loaded with a guest substance, and which are capable of releasing the quest substance at a controlled rate. Controlled release is achieved by the use of glass-forming, hydrophobically derivatized carbohydrates as solid vehicles, the derivative group being selected to reduce solubility of the matrix material in aqueous media.
WO-A-99/01463 discloses polysaccharides, in which the saccharide units are linked via glycosidic bonds, and in which at least some of the OH groups are derivatised in the form of an ester or ether.
WO-A-99/33853 discloses derivatised carbohydrates, in which some OH groups are substituted with a branched hydrophobic chain, e.g. via an ester or other linkage. Such carbohydrates may be used to form solid delivery systems, e.g. incorporating a therapeutic agent, and which can be in the form of particles intended for administration by inhalation.
For drug delivery, it is advantageous if solid drug delivery systems can have defined size, shape, density and dissolution rate. It is also advantageous that solid drug delivery systems should be capable of sustained, controlled release of the drug. Further, it is desirable that solid dose delivery systems can be formulated using simple and economical methods.

Derivatised carbohydrates and their use in solid delivery systems


Microorganisms belonging to the genus Burkholderia and having the ability to decompose halogenated hydrocarbon, which are able to decompose 50% or more of 100 ppm of trichloroethylene in 2 days, or decompose 100% of 30 ppm of trichloroethylene in 18 hours, as well as providing a process for decomposing halogenated hydrocarbons in water or soil using those microorganisms.

Recently, organic solvents, and particularly halogenated hydrocarbons, have been used in large amounts as cleaners and so forth in advanced industries. Since growing attention is being focused on contamination of groundwater and soil caused by these substances or waste water containing these substances, there is a desire to implement countermeasures against this contamination immediately.
Examples of known physical methods that have been employed in the past as countermeasures include an air stripping method in which the contaminated soil is excavated and air is blown through the soil to volatilize the halogenated hydrocarbons and adsorb it with activated charcoal and so forth, and a vacuum extraction method in which the contaminated soil is pounded into a pipe after which a vacuum is drawn to aerate the soil and remove the contaminants. These methods are considered to be able to be applied to decontamination of groundwater as well.
However, these methods have the disadvantage of requiring a large amount of energy, such as for blowing in air. In addition, the former has the disadvantage of requiring that the soil be excavated, while the latter has the disadvantage of extraction efficiency decreasing as the concentration of contaminant decreases, thus making the cleaning difficult. Moreover, from the viewpoint of preventing secondary contamination such as air pollution, these methods require that separate contaminants be detoxified in order to adsorb onto activated charcoal and so forth.
On the other hand, research has been conducted in recent years on so-called biocleaning methods in which contaminants are efficiently decomposed and detoxified by microorganisms. Since these methods utilize the decomposition mechanism of microorganisms, they do not require a large amount of energy as compared with the above-mentioned physical methods. They are also able to completely decompose and detoxify contaminants without causing secondary contamination. Moreover, the cleaning can be performed even at low concentrations of contaminants, thus enabling decontamination to be performed over a wide area at the original location and creating significant expectations of low costs.
Examples of methods used to purify contaminated soil by microorganisms include a solid phase treatment in which microorganisms are mixed into excavated soil with nutrient sources such as phosphorous and nitrogen to promote decomposition of contaminants, a slurry treatment in which microorganisms are mixed into excavated soil with water and nutrient sources to treat the soil in the liquid state and promote decomposition of contaminants, and an original location treatment in which air, nutrient sources and so forth are injected into contaminated soil without excavating to promote decomposition of contaminants by microorganisms present in the soil.
Among the above-mentioned biotreatment techniques, since soil excavation is required and the application range is limited in the case of the solid phase treatment and slurry treatment method, treatment and equipment costs are relatively high.
On the other hand, the original location treatment method involves relatively low costs and allows treatment over wide area. However, the cleaning rate is slow since the the absolute number of soil microorganisms is low. In the case of compounds that are difficult to decompose such as halogenated hydrocarbons in particular, there is a possibility that microorganisms being able to decompose contaminants in the soil may not be present in the soil, thus making cleaning impossible. In this case, acquiring microorganisms that are able to decompose halogenated hydrocarbons and inoculating them into the soil enables the cleaning rate to be improved and soil to be purified even though microorganisms being able to decompose the contaminants are not present in the soil.
A halogenated hydrocarbon contaminant, trichloroethylene (TCE), is widely used in the IC industry, in dry cleaning and so forth. It is particular important as a contaminant since it is reported to be carcinogenic. Known examples of microorganisms that decompose TCE include the methane assimilating microorganisms Methyrosinus tricosiorium OB3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-501667, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 5-212371) and Methyrosinus tricosporium TUKUBA (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-92274 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 3-292970),
Pseudomonas, such as Pseudomonas putida F1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 64-34499), Pseudomonas putida BH (Fujita, et al., Chemical Engineering, 39, (6), p.494-498, 1994), Pseudomonas putida UC-R5 and UC-P2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 62-84780), Pseudomonas putida KWI-9 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-70753), Pseudomonas mendocina KR-1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2-503866 and 5-502593), Pseudomonas cepacia G4 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 4-502277) and Pseudomonas cepacia KK01 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-296711) and other microorganisms such as Alcaliaenes eutronus JMP134 (A. R. Harker, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 56, (4), 1179-1181, 1990), Alcaliaenes eutropus KS01 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-123976), and the ammonia bacteria Nitrosomonus europaea (D. Arciero, et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 159, (2), 640-643, 1989) are known.
Pseudomonas cepacia KK01 in particular is reported to decompose TCE at an initial concentration of 30 ppm to a concentration of 15 ppm in liquid culture, and TCE in soil having an initial concentration of 5 ppm to a concentration of 1 ppm (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 6-296711). In addition, Alcaliaenes eutropus KS01 is reported to have the ability to decompose TCE at a concentration of 50 ppm in a liquid culture to a concentration below the detection limit, and decompose TCE in the soil at 1 ppm below the detection limit (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 7-123976).
However, when testing the decomposing abilities of these microorganisms, decomposition is demonstrated at extremely high cell concentrations (1.times.10.sup.8 cells/ml) in all cases. When considering that this concentration is unrealistic in the actual soil environment, the decomposing abilities of these microorganisms is not always considered to be high. Thus, in the case of using microorganisms for soil cleaning, the microorganisms have sufficient decomposing ability and are able to demonstrate that ability in the special environment of the soil, such as in the presence of wild microorganisms. In addition, it is preferable that the tolerance of the microorganisms to TCE, the target of decomposition, be high, and that they also have the ability to decompose dichloroethylene (DCE), which is a partial decomposition product of TCE.
Disclosure of Invention
The object of the present invention relates to microorganisms that efficiently decompose halogenated hydrocarbons, and particularly high concentrations of TCE, DCE and so forth, as well as a cleaning process for water or soil that uses those microorganisms.
The present invention provides microorganisms having the ability to decompose halogenated hydrocarbon and belonging to the genus Burkholderia, and some of those microorganisms belonging to the species Burkholderia cepacia. Examples of these microorganisms include Burkholderia N16-1 (FERM BP-5504), Burkholderia cepacia N15-1 (FERM BP-5502) and Burkholderia cepacia N15-2 (FERM BP-5503). Moreover, the present invention provides a process for cleaning water or soil where the above-mentioned microorganisms are added to water or soil containing halogenated hydrocarbon.
The present invention is also characterized by the addition of microorganism activator in combination with the above-mentioned microorganisms. These microorganisms have the ability to decompose 50% or more of 100 ppm of trichloroethylene in 2 days, or to decompose 100% of 30 ppm of trichloroethylene in 18 hours.

Microorganisms that decompose halogenated hydrocarbons and their use


A method for polishing a silicon carbide crystal substrate according to the present invention includes a polishing process of polishing a silicon carbide crystal substrate having a surface roughness Rz of at most 50 μm, using an abrasive solution containing abrasive particles made of boron carbide. Accordingly, it is possible, by using boron carbide as abrasive particles instead of conventionally used diamond, to reduce the damage caused to silicon carbide crystals, which constitute the material to be polished, and to the surface of the polishing surface plate, and to perform surface polishing precisely.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to technologies pertaining to polishing of silicon carbide crystals, and particularly to crystal polishing technologies pertaining to rough polishing.
2. Description of Related Art
Power devices that handle electric energy with low loss are used widely since they achieve a significant reduction in power consumption. Currently available power devices are manufactured from silicon substrates. However, due to the inherent characteristics of silicon, there is a limit to the further enhancement of the performance of these devices. In particular, since silicon cannot be used at high temperatures, there is a need for a material to replace silicon.
For this reason, silicon carbide (SiC) recently has been receiving attention. The width of the forbidden band of silicon carbide is three times wider than the width of the forbidden band of silicon, so that silicon carbide can be used at a higher temperature than silicon. The dielectric strength of silicon carbide is about ten times greater than that of silicon, and therefore, further miniaturization of power devices can be achieved through the use of silicon carbide. Moreover, the thermal conductivity of SiC is about three times higher than that of silicon, so that silicon carbide also has an advantage in that it has excellent heat dissipation and is easier to cool. Since silicon carbide has excellent characteristics as described above, silicon carbide substrates are promising substrates to replace silicon substrates for power devices.
In order to produce power devices from silicon carbide substrates, it is ultimately necessary to polish the surface of the substrates to be as smooth as possible. At present, a silicon carbide ingot that has been manufactured by crystal growth is sliced first, for example, by a wire saw or a blade saw. Then, grinding is performed to remove any irregularities present in the substrate, and thereafter, rough polishing using a hard polishing surface plate and precision (mirror surface) polishing using a soft polishing pad are performed. Of these steps, precision polishing is the most important step, and known techniques, such as the polishing technique disclosed in JP 2001-508597A, that use a suspension containing abrasive diamond particles or SiO2 (colloidal silica) commonly are used for precision polishing at present. Similarly, rough polishing, which is a pre-treatment step for a final processed surface, is a step that is as important as precision polishing. If the substrate is in good state after rough polishing, then the processing time may be expected to be reduced in the final step.
However, since the technique disclosed in JP 2001-508597A uses diamond as abrasive particles, a significant amount of damage is caused to the objects to be polished, although the time required for polishing (processing rate) is short. That is, during polishing, great damage is caused to silicon carbide crystals, and flocs that are produced from the abrasive diamond particles tend to cause damage to silicon carbide crystals. Furthermore, the rough polishing step uses a hard polishing surface plate. Therefore, a significant amount of damage also is caused to the polishing surface plate, and it is necessary to correct the surface of the polishing surface plate during the subsequent polishing. In rough polishing using a hard polishing surface plate, the shape of the polishing surface plate is transferred onto the silicon carbide substrate, which is the material to be polished. Accordingly, when rough polishing is carried out with a polishing surface plate whose surface has not been corrected, the state of the processed surface of the silicon carbide substrate may deteriorate. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the damage caused to the polishing surface plate when polishing silicon carbide crystals.

Method for polishing silicon carbide crystal substrate

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A method and apparatus for providing programmable active termination of transmission lines with substantially reduced DC power consumption.

1. Technical Field of the Present Invention
The present invention generally relates to programmable active terminations, and more specifically to programmable active terminations of Input/Output devices.
2. Background of the Present Invention
The electronic industry is in a state of evolution spurred by the recent changes in technology which have allowed greater functionality in smaller devices. This has resulted in the explosion of new found uses for such small devices (e.g. medical, monitoring etc.), as well as greater functionality in increasingly smaller electronic devices.
The evolution has caused electronic devices to become an inseparable part of our society. Consumers are now buying and demanding electronic devices which are smaller, more powerful, and faster at unprecedented rates. These demands are constantly driving the electronic industry to exceed limitations which were previously considered unsurpassable.
One such area ripe for improvement is how various electronic devices communicate with one another. For example, the communication between the memory and cpu of a computer. This communication is accomplished using a system data bus. The primary concerns of this type of communication are signal propagation delay and capacitive loading. Propagation delay is minimized by placing the memory as close to the cpu as possible. Capacitive loading is minimized by using point-to-point networks. As the speed of the system data bus approaches one Giga Hertz and beyond, the data transfers must be point-to-point terminated. The point-to-point termination is accomplished by terminating each signal trace to a reference voltage via the use of resistors (xe2x80x9cterminating resistorsxe2x80x9d).
The implementation of the point-to-point termination while minimizing signal propagation delay and capacitive loading has resulted in requiring the terminating resistors to reside on the chip itself (xe2x80x9con-chipxe2x80x9d). Since the termination resistors are critical to both the timing and integrity of transmitted signals, they must be highly accurate (i.e. resistance values will not vary when exposed to changes in process and/or temperature). Unfortunately, the terminating resistors also require a considerable amount of space and consume a significant amount of Direct Current (DC) power.
It would therefore be a distinct advantage to have a method and apparatus for providing on-chip termination resistance that would be highly accurate, occupy less space, and consume less DC current than current terminating resistors. The present invention provides such a method and apparatus.
The present invention is a method and apparatus for providing programmable active termination of transmission lines.

Method and apparatus for programmable active termination of input/output devices

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention is directed to a blend comprising about 5 to about 95 percent by weight of an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and about 95 to about 5 percent by weight of an amorphous nylon polyamide copolymer having a glass transition temperature in the range of about 30 to 100.degree. C. The polyamide forms separate domains when blended with the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer. Such a structure has been found to surprisingly provide a composition capable of stretching at temperatures less than about 110.degree. C. without incurring problems known in the art.

This invention relates to blends of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer with an amorphous polyamide component and their use as a barrier layer in thermoformed multilayer containers or films as well as other applications.
Blends of ethylene vinyl alcohol polymers with polyamides in general are known, and have been used in packaging applications as barriers to inhibit the passage of atmospheric oxygen or other gases.
European patent application No. 0 305 146 discloses a blend of about 70 to about 95 percent by weight of an ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer having a copolymerized ethylene content of about 20 to about 60 mole percent and a degree of saponification of at least about 90%, and about 5 to about 30 percent by weight of an amorphous polyamide. The composition is useful as a barrier layer in the thermoformed containers.
European patent application No. 0 309 095 discloses a blend of about 50 to about 95 weight percent of an amorphous polyamide and about 5 to about 50 weight percent of a vinyl alcohol polymer having a copolymerized ethylene content of 0 to about 60 mol percent and a degree of saponification of at least about 90%. The blends have oxygen barrier properties which are relatively independent of humidity. Packaging films, laminates, and containers prepared therefrom are disclosed.
U.S. Pat. Application No. 07/301,473 discloses a blend of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and a polyamide blend of about 30 to about 90 percent by weight of at least one amorphous polyamide and about 10 to about 70 percent by weight of at least one semicrystalline polyamide which is miscible with the ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer. The blends are useful for forming films, multiple layer structures, and formed structures prepared by stretching or thermoforming such multiple layer structures.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,726,034 discloses mixtures of 70-99% polyamide and up to 30% of a hydroxyl containing polyolefin. The polyamides "consist of linear unbranched polymer chains containing no additional functional groups." Exemplified are blends of nylon 6 and EVOH.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,079,850 discloses a multilayer blow molded container, which contains a layer which may be EVOH, polyamide, or various blends, providing gas barrier properties. The polyamides which are mentioned are nylon 6, nylon 66, and nylon 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,825 discloses a composition of matter useful for making films, of polyamide and 1-65% EVOH. Nylons with melting points greater than 175.degree. C. are preferred, such as nylon 11 or nylon 12.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,677 discloses a resin composition comprising a mixture of two EVOH resins and a polyamide resin. The ratio of the EVOH resins to the nylon resin can be between 95:5 and 5:95. Nylon 6, nylon 6,6 and other polyamides having "linear alkylene group[s]" are specifically mentioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,716 discloses blends of a major portion of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and a minor portion of an amorphous polyamide and preferably also a semicrystalline nylon. These blends may be formed into films or multilayer structures, which can be thermoformed into containers or other articles.
U.S. Patent Application (based on AD5897) discloses blends of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymers and a mixture of an amorphous polyamide and a semicrystalline nylon. The polyamide mixture consists of 35 to 95 percent of at least one amorphous polyamide and about 5 to 65 percent of at least semicrystalline polyamide which has a methylene group/amide group ratio of about 5.5 to 7.5 and which forms separate domain when blended with ethylene vinyl alcohol.
EVOH is commonly used in the form of a thin layer together with thicker layers of less expensive structural materials, for example, polypropylene or polyethylene terephthalate, in order to form a structure which is resistant to the passage of atmospheric oxygen or other gases. To make containers of oriented, multilayer films, a solid phase thermoforming or a hot stretching (orientation) process is often used. However, EVOH generally cannot be formed at the relatively lower temperatures required for thermoforming or hot stretching of many common structural materials without rupturing the EVOH layer, resulting in a loss of overall barrier performance. Some of the above prior arts solve the problem under certain circumstances. However, multilayer EVOH structures exhibit relatively unattractive barrier properties after stretching at temperatures less than 110.degree. C., which is a major economic and performance hurdle for practical applications. The present invention provides an EVOH blend composition which may be used in orienting or thermoforming EVOH multilayer structures at temperatures less than 110.degree. C., while retaining the excellent barrier properties of EVOH.

Blends of ethylene vinyl alcohol copolymer and polyamides, and multilayer containers made therefrom


An information output system for tampering detection 100, including: a digital image acquiring unit 15 for acquiring a digital image including target information for tampering detection as an image; an encrypting unit 11 for converting the digital image based on an encryption key to generate an encrypted image; and an output unit 18 for outputting the encrypted image generated by the encrypting unit 11 so that the encrypted image is recorded on a paper medium on which the image of the target information is to be recorded or on which the image of the target information is recorded.

As a technology of detecting tampering of a paper document, there is a technology of calculating characteristic data including black pixel density and the like from a document and adding the characteristic data to a margin of the document in a format of a barcode or the like to make it possible to detect, when the document is tampered, the tampering of the document (see Patent document 1). There is also a technology of superimposing and printing dot patterns having regularity to make it possible to detect disorder of the regularity of the dot patterns due to tampering (see Patent document 2). Besides, several technologies of preventing tampering of a document are proposed (see Patent documents 3 to 8).    [Patent document 1] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2001-309157 A    [Patent document 2] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2005-12530 A    [Patent document 3] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2002-109113 A    [Patent document 4] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-264685 A    [Patent document 5] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2003-209676 A    [Patent document 6] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2006-14189 A    [Patent document 7] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-28324 A    [Patent document 8] Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 2007-281539 A

Information output system, method, and program for tampering detection


A sheet of ultraviolet-cutoff glass includes a primer layer, an ultraviolet-cutoff layer, and a water-repellent layer which are successively deposited on a glass sheet. The water-repellent layer is formed of a vitreous water repellent. Since the water-repellent layer doubles as an overcoat layer, it makes it unnecessary to form a overcoat layer in a separate overcoating process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sheet of ultraviolet-cutoff glass capable of cutting off or blocking ultraviolet rays applied thereto and also of repelling water applied thereto, and a sheet of heat-cutoff glass capable of cutting off or blocking heat radiations applied thereto and also of repelling water applied thereto.
2. Description of the Related Art
Some window glass sheets for use on automobiles comprise sheets of ultraviolet-cutoff glass capable of cutting off or blocking ultraviolet rays applied thereto in order to protect automobile drives and passengers from being sunburned and also protect seats and other interior parts from being deteriorated by ultraviolet radiations. Conventional sheets of ultraviolet-cutoff glass are roughly classified into those which have a composition of materials selected to cut off or block ultraviolet rays, and those which have a surface layer capable of cutting off or blocking ultraviolet rays.
The sheets of ultraviolet-cutoff glass of the latter category include a sheet of glass having a multilayer film capable of reflecting or absorbing radiations in an ultraviolet range, and coated on a surface of the sheet by a vacuum deposition process such as evaporation, sputtering, or the like, a CLD such as sol-gel processing, or the like, a sheet of glass having a surface coating agent containing a metal capable of absorbing radiations in an ultraviolet range, and applied or coated in vacuum on a surface of the sheet, and a sheet of glass having a surface coating agent containing an organic material (ultraviolet absorbent: UVA) capable of absorbing radiations in an ultraviolet range and coated on a surface of the sheet.
Certain automobile window glass sheets comprise sheets of heat-reflecting glass coated with a heat-reflecting film for reducing the level of solar energy that enters the passenger's compartment thereby to lessen the burden on the air-conditioning unit combined with the passenger's compartment. One known sheet of heat-reflecting glass has a heat-reflecting film formed on a surface of the sheet of glass, and an over-coat layer (protective layer) formed on the surface of the heat-reflecting film.
If those sheets of ultraviolet-cutoff glass which have a surface layer capable of cutting off or blocking ultraviolet rays are to remain uncolored and also to be as effective to cut off ultraviolet radiations as sheets of laminated glass, then they need to be coated with a surface coating agent that contains an ultraviolet absorbent (UVA). However, if the content of the UVA in the surface coating agent is increased, then the strength and hence surface hardness of the layer of the surface coating agent are lowered, making the layer of the surface coating agent vulnerable to damage. The UVA suffers a complex deterioration in the presence of water upon exposure to ultraviolet rays. For these reasons, the layer of the surface coating agent is required to be coated with a over-coat layer.
The over-coat layer thus coated as a protective layer on the surface coating layer that contains the UVA or the surface of the heat-reflecting film has its own problems. Specifically, it is necessary for the entire manufacturing process to include an additional process of growing the over-coat layer. Since the over-coat layer is normally grown in an oxygen atmosphere, the rate of growth of the over-coat layer is extremely low, resulting in reduced productivity. The sheets of heat-reflecting glass which are combined with the over-coat layer have a glaring appearance because the heat-reflecting film and the over-coat layer have refractive indexes higher than the refractive index of glass.

Water-repellent ultraviolet cutoff glass and heat-cutoff glass


A sticky leveler utilizing a window detection technique to preserve the relatively small level changes of an audio signal. The sticky leveler includes a voltage controlled amplifier (VCA) and a sticky detector, where an input signal is received by the VCA for creating a variable gain path to the VCA output. The control output of the sticky detector is coupled to the VCA control input for controlling the VCA gain. The detection input of the sticky detector may be coupled to the input signal for generating a feedforward automatic gain control leveler. Alternatively the sticky detector may be coupled to the output signal of the VCA for generating a feedback automatic gain control leveler.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to the field of signal processors. More particularly, the present invention relates to the field of automatic level controllers.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automatic level controllers, often called "levelers", are used extensively to maintain a relatively constant audio level. A problem with levelers is that compromises exist between keeping the natural sound quality and holding a limited dynamic range. For example, one compromise is the noticeable compression effect on the relatively small level changes of an audio signal while the leveler acts continuously upon the audio program. Levelers are frequently used as pre-processors ahead of other forms of dynamic range control devices such as multiband compressors. Significant improvements in the sound quality could be achieved if the leveler would preserve the relatively small level changes of the audio signal.
It is desirable to provide a sticky leveler to reduce the compromise that exists with levelers between keeping the natural sound quality and holding a limited dynamic range. It is also desirable to provide a sticky leveler which preserves the relatively small level changes of an audio signal.


The present invention is directed to a dual lumen cannula configured to be inserted into a patient's body as simple as a single lumen cannula. The dual lumen cannula includes at least one inner lumen configured to be inserted into an outer lumen and connected via an inner lumen connection unit and an outer unit connection unit. Embodiments of the presenting invention further allow for the connection of at least one flow router to the other end of the inner lumen connection unit. When installed, the outer lumen is first inserted into the patient's body, followed by the insertion of the inner lumen into the outer lumen of the already cannulated patient until the inner lumen connector unit is in coupling contact with the outer lumen connector unit. Advantages of the inventive cannula presented herein include, among other things, reduction of external forces on the dual lumen cannula.

Medical treatments that require extracorporeal treatment of blood, such as dialysis and extracorporeal oxygenation, require separate tubing for removal of untreated blood from the body and reinsertion of treated blood back into the body. There are two generally practiced techniques for implementing such tubing within the vascular system—two single lumen cannulas, and a dual lumen cannula. Both of these techniques have significant challenges.
Use of two single-lumen cannulas is disfavored because they require two separate incision sites. Use of multiple incision sites causes patient discomfort, especially for procedures in which the cannulas are retained within the body for hours or days, and also increases risk of infection. In addition, the medical team will need to repeat the insertion of the tubes twice, thus doubling the risk and the time required for this stage of the procedure.
Use of a dual lumen cannula is also challenging, for multiple reasons. One particular challenge of dual lumen cannulas relates to the manner in which the dual lumen cannulas are inserted and primed. Typically, a dual lumen cannula is inserted as a standalone device, with a distal end within the vascular system, and a proximal end outside the body. The proximal end includes two tubes, which may be branched in a Y-shape. With the dual lumen cannula fully inserted in the vein, each lumen of the proximal end of the dual lumen cannula is then connected to separate tubing. This connection process requires exertion of significant force on the dual lumen cannula, which raises the risk of puncturing of the blood vessel. In addition, it is necessary to exert care during the connection of each lumen to the tubing, to ensure that no air bubbles enter the vascular system. This is typically done by flushing saline in the open ends of each line. Despite the extensive training received by practitioners, it is still extremely difficult to prevent any air bubbles from entering the bloodstream. Entry of air bubbles may lead to formation of embolisms, which may be potentially fatal.
Some attempts were made in the art to use dual lumen cannulas. The following references may be considered as relevant to the field of the invention: US Patent Application No. 2021023336; U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,053,004; and 5,718,678.


Novel pharmacological treatment of bacterial infectious diseases in humans by use of apramycin of formula (I) or apramycin derivatives having significantly low toxicity.

Apramycin is an aminoglycoside antibiotic, originally named nebramycin factor II (U.S. Pat. No. 3,691,279). Its use in veterinary medicine has been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,876,767. Apramycin and some acylated or alkylated derivatives thereof have been further described as broad spectrum antibiotics in U.S. Pat. No. 4,360,665. Apramycin, however, has never been used in humans because it is thought to have a relatively high risk of toxicity (Kondo et al., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. 2006, 45: 3310-3314). Apramycin is not even authorised for use in cattle or sheep producing milk for human consumption.

Treatment of bacterial infectious diseases


A virtual object and stylus model as images to be composited to a real space image are rendered by changing background transparencies according to a mutual positional relationship. When the virtual object image is composited to the real space image, the image of the stylus included in the real space image is observed while reflecting the positional relationship with the virtual object. In this way, in an MR image, the depth ordering between real and virtual objects can be correctly and easily expressed.

Systems that make use of a mixed reality (MR) technique which naturally composites the real and virtual spaces have been extensively proposed. A typical MR system has the following arrangement. That is, an MR image is generated by aligning and compositing a virtual space image rendered by computer graphics (CG) to a real space image sensed by an image sensing device such as a camera or the like. The MR image is displayed on a display device such as a head-mounted display (HMD) that the user (observer/experiencer) wears, thus giving MR to the user.
In the field of virtual reality (VR), a technique that allows the user to manipulate (select, move, and so forth) a virtual object (an object on a virtual space) using a stylus (pen-like shaped pointing tool) as a real object has been prevalently known. The stylus as a real object has a sensor, which can measure the position and orientation of the stylus. Also, the stylus has a switch such as a button or the like. The user turns on/off the button to, e.g., select a virtual object pointed by the stylus.
In a normal MR system, upon generating an MR image, a virtual image that represents the virtual space is superimposed on a real image that represents the real space, and these images are composited. Hence, an image that always includes the virtual object in front of the real object is generated. When the user merely observes the MR image, no problem is posed. However, when the depth must be considered, e.g., when the user manipulates a virtual object by moving the stylus as a real object in his or her hand, a problem is posed.
That is, the stylus which is manually operated by the user often appears in the visual field of the image sensing device that senses the real space. Furthermore, the stylus is present at a depth position within about an accessible range of the user's hand. Therefore, when a virtual object is present outside the accessible range of the user's hand (farther than the stylus when viewed from the user), and the user makes some manipulation on that virtual object using the stylus, the stylus should be displayed in front of the virtual object, i.e., without being occluded by the virtual object. However, when a virtual image is merely composited on a real image, an MR image in which the stylus included in the real image is occluded by the virtual object is generated. The user who observes such MR image in which the depth ordering of the virtual object and real object (stylus) is reversed feels unnatural.
In order to solve such problem, a method of measuring the depth information of the real space including the stylus, and correctly expressing the depth ordering of the real and virtual spaces has been proposed. However, in order to precisely measure the depth information of real space in real time, an expensive apparatus such as a large-scale measuring device, multi-view stereo camera system, and the like must be used. For this reason, such method is often difficult to be adopted in terms of cost, thus calling improvements.
As a depth information acquisition method that can be implemented with relatively low cost, a method of obtaining depth information of the real space by applying an image process to real images sensed by a two-view stereo camera equipped on the HMD worn by the user is known. However, depth information obtained from two-view stereo camera images has low precision and resolution. Hence, such method is difficult to be adopted in an application that attaches importance on accurate expression of the depth ordering.
In order to solve these problems, the present applicant has proposed, in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-296759 (US2003/0185461A1), a technique for correctly expressing the depth ordering by registering color information of a real object (object) to be displayed in front of a virtual image, extracting an object region from a real image using this color information, and inhibiting the virtual image from rendering on the object region. However, with this method, the color information required to detect the object region must be manually registered in the system. The manual registration process of the color information requires knowledge and skills, and is not a process that everyone can easily make.

Image processing method and image processing apparatus


Disclosed is a catheter having an elongated cannula with an infusion lumen and a pressure-sensing lumen, and a portion of the cannula which tapers to form a distal end which is narrower than the more proximal portions of the cannula. The distal end of the cannula has a rounded tip and forms at least one infusion lumen opening and a pressure-sensing opening. A balloon is attached to and surrounds the cannula near the distal end while being in fluid communication with the infusion lumen through one or more inflation openings. The infusion lumen openings are smaller than the inflation openings so as to make the balloon self-inflating. Also disclosed is a method for using such a catheter to perform cardioplegia by the retrograde infusion of a cardioplegic fluid into the coronary sinus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a catheter for use in the clinical arrest of a beating heart, and more specifically to catheter for the retrograde administration of a cardioplegic fluid to the vasculature of the heart.
2. Description of the Related Art
When performing cardiac surgery, it is frequently necessary to temporarily arrest the beating of the patient""s heart before the desired surgery can be performed. The procedure for stopping the patient""s heart during surgery is known as cardioplegia. One recognized technique of performing cardioplegia is to introduce a cardioplegic fluid, typically a solution containing agents such as potassium, magnesium, or procaine, into the coronary arteries or veins, which supply blood to the heart muscle. This typically occurs after disconnecting the heart from the body""s circulatory system, the heart""s functions having been assumed by a heart-lung machine. The cardioplegic fluid interferes with the heart muscle""s response to electrical signals which normally command it to beat, thereby stopping the heart.
A surgeon can introduce cardioplegic fluid to the coronary-vessel system in either the antegrade direction, which is in the natural direction of blood flow, or in the retrograde direction, which is opposite the natural direction of blood flow. In antegrade cardioplegia, the cardioplegic fluid is directed into the coronary arteries, usually by injecting the fluid into the aorta near the coronary ostia, which join the coronary artery system to the aorta. The fluid then flows into the ostia and the coronary arteries, and eventually to the heart muscle itself.
Retrograde cardioplegia is often performed by infusing a cardioplegic solution into the coronary sinus, which is a sort of collection point into which drains most of the coronary blood supply through the coronary vein system. This infusion is done by inserting a catheter into the coronary sinus and injecting the cardioplegic fluid through the catheter. The catheter typically has a balloon which inflates to seal the opening of the coronary sinus, and one or more openings on the catheter distal of the balloon. The cardioplegic fluid flows the length of the catheter, exits at the distal openings, and then flows into the coronary sinus. From there it flows into the coronary veins to achieve cardioplegia. The balloon prevents the fluid from flowing back out of the coronary sinus in the undesired antegrade direction.
Various types of catheter have been developed for use in retrograde cardioplegia, but all have suffered from one or more drawbacks. Often the catheter incorporates a distal tip which either blunt or cut at an angle. This type of tip may have edges that can damage the tissues of the veins or coronary sinus during insertion of the catheter. Prior art catheters generally feature a cannula which has a uniform width all the way to the distal tip, which can make it difficult for the surgeon to insert the distal end of such a catheter into the veins or sinus. Another problem frequently observed is a catheter with only transverse infusion openings, which are formed in the sidewalls of the cannula, or only an axial infusion opening, at the very tip of the cannula. This type of catheter is easily occluded at the distal end, either by a vessel structure which fits very closely around the cannula sidewalls, or by an obstruction in the vessel just distal of the catheter tip.
One aspect of the invention is an improved retrograde cardioplegia catheter.
Another aspect of the invention is a retrograde cardioplegia catheter which is easier to insert into the veins or coronary sinus.
Yet another aspect of the invention is a retrograde cardioplegia catheter which will not cause trauma to coronary tissues when being inserted.
Still another aspect of the invention is a retrograde cardioplegia catheter which may incorporate the above features with a self-inflating balloon and a pressure monitoring capability.
Accordingly, there is provided a catheter having an elongated cannula with an infusion lumen, and a portion of the cannula which tapers to form a distal end which is narrower than the more proximal portions of the cannula. The distal end of the cannula forms at least one infusion lumen opening. A balloon is attached to and surrounds the cannula near the distal end while being in fluid communication with the infusion lumen through one or more inflation openings. The infusion lumen openings are smaller than the inflation openings so as to make the balloon self-inflating.


A push-fit spigot. The spigot includes a push-fit coupling member removably disposed within an internal passage of a body of the spigot. The coupling member enables simple push-fit installation of the spigot on a stub-out in a structure. The coupling member is retained within the internal passage of the spigot by a removable fastener. A removal plate is installed on the stub-out prior to making insertion of the stub-out into the coupling member. Removal of the spigot from an installation on the stub-out is simply performed by removing the fastener between the coupling member and the body to enable removal of the body. The removal plate is then useable to depress a release collar in the coupling member to disengage the push-fit mechanism therein from the stub-out.

A variety of ways are available for installing a spigot or faucet on a stub-out in a structure. These include ways for installing the spigot on a variety of forms of the stub-out including for example a copper stub-out as well as a stub-out formed from a PEX (cross-linked polyethylene), PVC (polyvinyl chloride), or CPVC (chlorinated polyvinyl chloride), among others. Such installations suffer from difficulties involved in insuring a proper liquid-tight seal while also providing a clean, finished appearance.
Difficulties in installation arise due to limited space available for use and operation of tools required to provide connections between the spigot and the stub-out and the stub-out to water supply tubing. Similarly, the length of the stub-out required to enable installation must be adjusted and sized to provide an acceptable finish of the spigot, such as by threading a selected pipe nipple of a required length between the spigot and a supply fitting disposed within the structure. These difficulties and others increase installation time and can lead to leaks, kinking, and breakage among other problems.


The described technology is directed towards an object-oriented programming (OOP) system and library that maps conventional object-oriented concepts such as class hierarchies, interfaces, and static methods and properties onto a prototypal object system such as JavaScript®. Various functions of the OOP system are called to create a class-like structure that is instantiated into an object instance upon request. The OOP system allows for use of a wrapper pattern to wrap selected objects with added functionality such as validation and tracing, and to provide enhanced functionality with respect to properties, such as to call a function associated with a property when the property's value changes, and/or to lazily generate property values only when accessed.

JavaScript® is an example of a programming language that is able to be used with a variety of platforms, and thus has become extremely popular among developers. At the same time, JavaScript® lacks certain features that developers find useful in other programming languages. For example, JavaScript® uses prototype-based object inheritance, unlike languages that have traditional object-oriented class inheritance (there are no classes in JavaScript®).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Object-oriented programming system and library


The invention relates to an equipment for fractionating a solution by a sequential SMB process, which equipment comprises a feed column and one or several other columns, which include a chromatographic separation resin bed. The equipment of the invention is characterized in that the feed column consists of or comprises a compartment where the resin bed is shallower than that of one or more of the other columns of the equipment. The invention also relates to a method for fractionating a solution into two or more fractions with the equipment of the invention.

Continuously operated chromatographic separation processes commonly employ a simulated moving bed method (SMB method), which is used in a variety of different applications. The SMB method may be continuous or sequential or comprise a combination of a continuous method and a sequential method. In the continuous SMB process, all fluid streams typically flow continuously. In the sequential SMB process, some of the fluid streams do not flow continuously. The sequential SMB process commonly comprises three basic phases: a feeding phase, an elution phase and a circulation phase. During the feeding phase, a feed solution and possibly also an eluant during a simultaneous eluting phase, is introduced into a predetermined column containing one or more partial packed beds, and simultaneously a product fraction or fractions are withdrawn. During the eluting phase, the eluant is introduced into a predetermined partial packed bed or predetermined partial packed beds, and during these phases two, three or even four product fractions are withdrawn. During the circulation phase all columns are connected into a loop, whereby no feed solution or eluant is supplied to the partial packed beds and no product fractions are withdrawn. However, circulation as such takes place during all three phases.
The continuous SMB process has been described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 2,985,589 (Universal Oil Prod. Co). In this process the mixture to be fractionated is introduced into one partial packed bed and an eluant is introduced into another partial packed bed, and two product fractions are withdrawn substantially simultaneously. U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,120 (Organo KK) describes a continuous SMB process in which the feed point is fixed. The feed is introduced sequentially once a cycle and simultaneously with the introduction of the feed a first extract fraction and raffinate are taken out from the system. The examples of this patent use a simulated moving bed consisting of eight packed columns linked with each other in series, and each column, including the feed column, having an equal packed bed height.
Sequential SMB processes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,623 (Mitsubishi Chem. Ind.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,751 (Sanmatsu Kogyo) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,002 (Mitsubishi Kasei Tech. Eng.), for instance. FIG. 1 of the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,332,623 (Mitsubishi Chem. Ind.) discloses an apparatus for carrying out said method, which apparatus has three unit packed beds, which may be of the same or different size. Furthermore, the above-mentioned U.S. Pat. No. 4,970,002 (Mitsubishi Kasei Tech. Ing.) discloses a chromatographic separation apparatus including two packed beds, which may be the same or different in terms of bed capacity or the volume of the packing material.
A sequential SMB process for the recovery of betaine and sucrose from beet molasses is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,957 (Heikkilä, H. et al.). To increase the separation capacity, yields and fraction purities and fraction dry substance concentrations, SMB modes including two or more loops or two or more separation profiles have been developed. In U.S. Pat. No. 6,093,326 (Danisco Finland Oy) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,225 (Xyrofin Oy) SMB processes including multiple loops are described. U.S. Pat. No. 6,224,776 (Cultor Corp.) discloses a method for fractionating a solution into two or more fractions in a SMB process where the separation system comprises at least two separation profiles in the same loop.
WO 01/54790 (Amalgamated Res. Inc.) describes a column apparatus for a fluid processing system containing a shallow bed of material between fluid transporting fractals of large active surface area. In said apparatus, said shallow bed of material has been provided as a column having greater diameter than height.
However, it does not appear from any of the above-mentioned references that the design of the feed column would differ significantly from that of the other columns used in the process.
One problem associated with the above SMB process modes is the so-called viscous fingering phenomenon which in turn causes the tailing effect of the chromatograms. Another problem with these SMB processes is the random resin movement which, as being irregular and turbulent, blends the frontiers and decreases the separation capacity.
It has now been found in accordance with the present invention that by using a shallow resin bed compartment as the feed column the problems above can be overcome or alleviated. With the use of a shallow resin bed compartment as the feed column, the viscous fingering and the random resin movement can be reduced. This leads to an improved separation profile in the feed column, which permits improved performance of the later columns.


A method for recognizing a target in a sonar image, the method comprising: normalizing a sonar image; using/defining multiple test objects; rotating each test object between multiple positions; using a projection of each test object in each position as a template, so that multiple templates are provided for each test object, each template corresponding to a different rotational position; applying the multiple templates for the multiple test objects to the normalized image; and creating at least one feature vector for the image for use in target recognition.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to sonar imaging, and in particular sidescan sonar and forward looking sonar imaging.
2. Related Art
Sidescan Sonar (SSS) is used for surveying large areas of the sea floor for sea bottom targets. Side-scan sonar uses a device that emits sonar pulses down toward the seafloor across a narrow angle perpendicular to the path of the sensor through the water. Reflections from the seafloor are recorded in across-track slices. When stitched together along the direction of motion, these slices form an amplitude image of the seafloor within the beam coverage.
Forward Looking Sonar (FLS) is used to provide a real time view of the seafloor in front of the vehicle. The sonar pulse is emitted in a narrow beam that is scanned across a field of view about the direction of travel to form radial slices of the sea floor. When stitched together, perpendicular to the direction of motion, these slices form an amplitude image of the sea floor.
SSS and FLS images are often searched visually by an operator to identify objects on the seafloor. This is time consuming and subject to human error. Automatic Target Recognition (ATR) algorithms can assist operators to identify sea bottom targets. Properly applied, this reduces the time taken to analyse a large survey and increases confidence in the results.
Whilst ATR algorithms help detect targets, the performance of current generation ATR algorithms is often specific to sensor payload and operational conditions. Particularly with supervised filter response algorithms, a small change to the speed of the vehicle or the Time Variable Gain (TVG) can cause a large drop in the probability of detection.


To manufacture a display using light emitting diodes (LEDs), the LEDs are transferred from fabrication substrates where they are fabricated to a target substrate (e.g., a backplane) that forms part of a display. The LEDs are transferred in three stages: first from fabrication substrates to hard handles, subsequently from the hard handles to a carrier substrate, and last from the carrier substrate to the target substrate. The LEDs are placed onto the carrier substrate to form pixel arrangements. One or more pick-up tools are used to transfer the LEDs. Switchable adhesives are used to facilitate the transfer of the LEDs from the fabrication substrates to the target substrate.

The present disclosure relates to an assembly process for use in, but not exclusively limited to, pick and place of very small display element(s) that need to be transferred from a native substrate to a target substrate using temporary carriers.
To manufacture a display with very small light emitting diodes (LEDs), such as micro-LEDs, the LEDs need to be transferred from the native substrate on which they have been manufactured to the display substrate that forms part of a display. On the display substrate, the LEDs are assembled such that they are separated by a defined separation distance or they are closely packed together on the target substrate. Conventional pick and place techniques are unsuitable due to the small size of these devices (e.g., smaller than 49×40 μm2).

Manufacture LED displays using temporary carriers


A tooth cap for construction machinery having a chisel-shaped body formed with a socket and a wedge-shaped portion extending from the socket and having a pair of mutually converging working flanks, at least one of the working flanks being formed with a plurality of ribs.

My present invention relates to a tooth cap for construction machinery and, more particularly, to a tooth cap having a socket portion which fits onto a stub of a bucket, shovel, scoop or other excavating unit of a construction machine, a wedge-shaped portion for biting into the ground and having two surfaces or flanks which converge toward one another and adjoin in a tip forming a cutting edge.
Tooth caps for construction machinery are wear parts of buckets, scoops, shovels, scoopers and like earth-engaging units of such machinery and are known in a variety of configurations. In general, the apparatus has a frustopyrimidal holder on the bucket, scoop or shovel which receives a tooth cap which is a chisel-like member replaceable on the holder in the case of breakage or wear.
The tooth cap can have an opening or socket which form-fittingly receives the holder and can be held thereon by an appropriate fastening element such as a pin which, for replacement of the tooth cap, can be knocked out to release the tooth cap from the holder. The socket forms a one-piece body with a wedge-shaped portion which constitutes the chisel part of the cap. The chisel part can be formed by a pair of broad surfaces or flanks which converge toward the tip of the tooth cap and may form a cutting edge at that tip. The result is a wedge-shaped body in which the convergent flanks form working surfaces.
It has been found that when such a tooth cap is driven into the ground, there is a tendency for the resistance of the ground to penetration to continuously increase with such penetration so that there is significant compaction of the ground and resistance to penetration ahead of the tip or edge of the tooth cap. Not only does this increase the force necessary to operate the machine, but it also increases the wear on the tooth cap.
It is, therefore, the principal object of the present invention to provide a tooth cap which is capable of penetration into the ground with a minimum of force and which results in only limited compaction of the earth in the course of such penetration and thus has reduced wear.
Another object of this invention is to provide a tooth cap for construction equipment which has improved ground penetration and can be utilized with greater efficiency than earlier systems.
Another object of the invention is to provide a tooth cap for the purposes described which avoids drawbacks of prior art tooth cap arrangements.
These objects and others which will become apparent hereinafter are attained, in accordance with the invention by providing a tooth cap of the type described in which at least one of the working surfaces or flanks is provided with a plurality of longitudinal ribs and/or transverse ribs.
It has now been found that, when the wedge-shaped portion which extends from the socket to the tip or cutting edge has a plurality of longitudinal ribs on at least one of the flanks of the pair of mutually-converging flanks defining the wedge-shaped portion and the ribs are relatively close together, the penetration of the tooth cap into the ground or the like is greatly facilitated because the ribs induce a displacement of the earth or rock without significant compaction of the ground while the spaces between the ribs appear to remain generally free from the earth and thus provide quasi-free spaces which remain as the tooth drives into the ground. As a consequence the friction against the tooth cap is reduced, the penetration with a certain driving force is increased and the wear on the tooth is reduced.
The spaces between the ribs serve to loosen the soil or the ground and thereby contribute to a reduced compaction because the amount of force required to drive the teeth of the tool into ground is reduced and the wear on the tooth cap is likewise reduced, lighter capacity machinery may be utilized for a given job.
Transverse ribs can be used in addition or alternatively and the transverse ribs appear to operate by presenting to the ground into which the tooth is driven, a wave-like pattern which likewise serves to displace the material and leave free space, generally behind the crests of the ribs so that again compaction is reduced along with friction against the tooth cap and the force with which the latter must be driven into ground can be reduced as well. Here again the ribs contribute to a loosening of the ground.
It has been found to be advantageous to recess at least one of the working flanks of the tooth cap and preferably the working flank provided with the ribs in a direction transverse to the longitudinal dimension or extent of the wedge-shaped pattern in a domed or curved pattern. The recess or indentation can extend between the edges of the wedge-shaped portion and the longitudinal ribs can be generally parallel to these edges.
The tooth cap as a whole can be relatively flat, i.e. the wedge angle may be small and the tooth cap can progressively be thicker toward the socket end of the tooth cap in a progressive manner. This configuration has been found to be optimum in reducing the force with which the tooth cap must be driven into the ground.
It has been found, in conjunction with such a configuration, to be advantageous to set back the height of the ribs below the edges of the wedge-shaped portion. The slightly higher edges tend to provide guides for the tooth cap which function similarly to the longitudinal ribs and facilitate penetration of the tooth cap into the ground.
Advantageously, the longitudinal ribs have a mutual spacing which is greater than the rib height and smaller than eight times the rib height. Preferably, when there is an uneven number of ribs, the central rib has a greater height than the remaining ribs and, in the case of an even number of ribs, the pair of central ribs can be of greater height than the remaining ribs. The rib height can diminish toward the edge of the tooth cap.
The longitudinal ribs can merge with rounded transitions into the flank surface and the crests of the ribs likewise can be rounded.
When the tooth cap is used for a tooth of a loader bucket or the like, it may be advantageous to form one of the working flanks with the longitudinal and/or transverse ribs of the invention while the other working flank is substantially planar and may be formed with longitudinal grooves. In this case, the planar or grooved surface may be the surface which is pressed against the ground while the surface formed with the longitudinal and/or transverse ribs is the tearing surface which lifts the ground structure. This has been found to maximize the direction-reducing effect and minimize the force required for penetration of the teeth. The longitudinal grooves in the working surface which is pressed against the ground has been found to be effective in reducing the force for displacement of the teeth by reducing the friction effect even when no loosening of the ground is effected.
When such longitudinal grooves are provided, they can be spaced apart across the width of the tooth cap and preferably these grooves can in cross section have a wavy pattern. The grooves can be provided in a number and in spacing to correspond to those of the longitudinal ribs and can have the same orientations as the ribs.
According to another feature of the invention, the edges of the tooth cap are outwardly bulged. The bulging appears to provide a form of undercut behind the advancing surfaces of the wedge-shaped portions that contributes to a reduction of friction during the penetration. The bulge can run from the tip of the wedge-shaped portion substantially the full length of the ribs and to the socket.
Especially for tooth caps which are used for excavators or where chisel-shaped teeth are required, it has been found to be advantageous to provide centrally of one or both of the working blanks a wedge-shaped longitudinal rib which can be defined by a pair of converging longitudinal ribs which meed substantially at the leading edge or tip of the tooth cap. Between these converging ribs, a flat or shallow valley may be formed and flanking these longitudinal ribs, there may be a pair of deeper valleys. The wedge-shaped longitudinal rib structure provides additional stiffening of the tooth cap and has also been found to be highly effective in a ripping and slight loosening action. The converging longitudinal ribs, moreover, have the effect of a fork in their loosening action.
It has been found to be advantageous, moreover, to provide the surfaces alongside the ribs with indentations or outwardly convex curved contours. Especially advantageous is an embodiment in which a central rib structure is provided, according to the invention, and transverse ribs are formed in the working flanks outwardly thereof. These transverse ribs can have a sawtooth configuration and can be provided with flanks turned toward the cutting edge or tip of the cap which are shallower or less steeply inclined than the flanks turned toward the socket portion.
The chisel action of the resulting cap has shown that it is effective in all kinds of excavators, grabs, back-hoes, front-loaders and the like. The transverse ribs also form undercuts or spaces behind the rib crests which reduce friction and hence the force required for operating with the respective teeth. The transverse ribs can be uniformly spaced from one another and as has been noted, one or both of the working flanks may be provided with the longitudinal and/or transverse ribs.
The tip of the tooth cap can be linear or arcuate transverse to the longitudinal dimension and centrally of the tip, a linear chisel edge can be formed which can be connected to arcuate or stepped edge regions connected to the lateral flanks of the tooth cap. The transverse ribs can be somewhat arcuate and can have centers of curvature located toward the end of the tooth cap which is remote from the tip and close to the axis of the pin holding the tooth cap onto the frustopyrimidal stump.
The transverse ribs also may be inclined outwardly away from the central rib. These configurations of the transverse ribs help the tooth cap in shedding loosened material and thereby contribute to a reduction in the compaction.
The spaces between the transverse ribs may also be grooved to form a channel structure which assists in the passage of the crushed or ground center and loosened soil away from the tooth cap when the latter is utilized in a chisel action.


A wheelchair having two rigid frames, two fixing combinations, two lever combinations and a transformation combination is provided. The rigid frame is connected to a wheel and has a front cross frame coupled between the rigid frames. The fixing combinations further include a linking frame and tooth frame, whereby the linking frame enfolds the tooth frame and couples to the rigid frame. The tooth frame includes a tooth fitting. The lever combination is located at the top of the rigid frame and further includes a rear cross frame coupled between the lever combination of lever. The raising wheelchair provides assistance to users for stable, convenient, and independent operation in rising from or sitting into the chair.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wheelchair, more specifically, the present invention discloses a wheelchair with raising seat for assisting users in standing and seating which improves a user's independence and safety.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Wheelchairs are a necessary form of transportation for injured patients in daily life. Wheelchairs are particularly useful for seriously injured or disabled persons, who without the wheelchair would be unable to be mobile.
However, a major concern to users is their safety while rising from or sitting into the chair. Typically, another person must assist the chair user while they are rising or sitting. Additionally, the assisting person must lift the body weight of the user while trying to keep the chair stable. Unfortunately, this often can not safely be accomplished, resulting in the chair user slipping or falling or the chair becomes unstable and crashes into nearby objects or bystanders.
As shown above, it is critical to protect users when they are rising or sitting and ensure their safety. Failing or slipping while exiting the chair not only can lead to further injury to the user, but also is embarrassing and lowers the user's confidence. Additionally, if the user is heavy, an assisting person can easily strain muscles or hurt themselves while helping the user rise.
Therefore, there is need for an improved wheelchair that can provide a self-raising support for assisting users and a fixing position for preventing instability.


A portable information processing unit, such as a personal computer, has a keyboard in which the normal, operating height of key switches is reduced to a more compact, reduced height automatically when a cover of the unit is closed and is automatically reinstated to the normal operating height when the cover is opened. Each key switch has a key top, a base, an actuating mechanism connecting the key top to the base, an elastic member and a switching layer, the elastic member extending through an opening in the base and interconnecting the key top and the switch. Depression of the key top produces movement thereof in a depressing direction and a depression force transferred through the elastic member to the switch, switching same from an off to an on state; upon release of the key top, the elastic member returns the key top to the normal position. A slide plate is positioned between the base and the switch and has an opening therein through which the elastic member extends and is moveable in reciprocating directions between first and second positions corresponding to, and in response to, movement of the cover between closed and open conditions, the slide plate, in the first position corresponding to the closed condition of the cover, causing the actuating mechanism to move the key top in the depressing direction, compressing the elastic member and reducing the height of the key switches.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a key switch, a keyboard comprising a plurality of key switches, and a portable information processing unit with a keyboard, and more particularly to a structure of a portable information processing unit allowing the height of key switches on the keyboard to be lowered in a closed state of a cover thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
One principal problem of a portable information processing unit, such as a notebook-size personal computer which has come into widespread use, is how to accomplish size reduction thereof, particularly a reduction of a height (thickness) thereof, for the purpose of making it more convenient to carry. Referring to Figures, as one example, a description will be made hereinbelow of a structure of a notebook-size personal computer. FIG. 9 is a perspective view schematically showing the whole structure of a notebook-size personal computer. In this figure, a housing of a personal computer 1 is composed of a main body 11a for accommodating a keyboard 12 and a cover 11b which mounts therein a display 19, such as a liquid crystal panel. The cover 11b is openable and closable about a hinge 11c fitted in one side of the main body 11a, to a desired angle a between 90 degrees and 180 degrees. When selectively holding down a plurality of key switches 129 arranged on the keyboard 12 according to a given rule, the letters and symbols corresponding to the pressed key switches 129 appear on the display 19 or the results of the designated processing appear thereon.
FIG. 10 is a partial perspective view showing a keyboard to be used in such a notebook-size personal computer 1, including an exploded illustration of one key switch and a cross section of a principal component. As illustrated, the keyboard 12 is composed of a membrane switch composite 121, in which switching areas 121a are assigned to given locations, a plurality of key switches 129 disposed in positions corresponding to the switching regions 121a, and a unitary molded base 123 common to the plurality of key switches 129. The membrane switch composite 121 includes two insulating films stacked and spaced from each other by a small gap. Each of the key switches 129 includes one rubber actuator 122, two links 124 and a key top 125. A plurality of electric contacts (the areas 121a are indicative of their positions) are made on the respective inner surfaces of the insulating films in the membrane switch composite 121. The rubber actuator 122 is disposed on the membrane switch composite 121 so as to be in corresponding relation to the switching areas 121a. The membrane switch composite 121 is fixed onto a bottom plate 11a' of the main body 11a.
The rubber actuator 122 with a bowl-like configuration is equipped with a flange 122a formed at the circumferential portion of its open end, and is inserted into a through hole 123b of the molded base 123 from the direction indicated by an arrow A. The rubber actuator 122 develops a reversible deformation when its head portion is pressed with a given pressure, so that its open end surface depresses the membrane switch 121, which accomplishes the connection of the electric contacts formed in the membrane switch 121. On release from this depression, the rubber actuator 122 is restorable from its deformed state, thereby to break the electric contact connection.
The molded base 123 has a planar dimension substantially equal to that of the membrane switch 121, where a plurality of through holes 123b are made with each corresponding to each of the switching areas 121a of the membrane switch 121. On the base 123 there is installed a wall 123a surrounding an area around each of the through holes 123b. The rubber actuator 122, inserted into the through hole 123b from the arrow A direction, is located so that its head portion 122b protrudes upwardly from a bottom surface 123d of the base 123. The rubber actuator 122 is fixedly secured onto the base mold 123 in the manner that its flange portion 122a is fitted in a step around the through hole 123b. On the upper surface of the bottom wall 123d of the base 123, in the vicinities of four corners of each of areas enclosed by the wall 123a, there are disposed two pairs of hooks 123c each comprising a column section 123c.sub.-1 and an arm section 123c.sub.-2 linked to make an L-shaped configuration. The two pairs of hooks 123c are fixed onto the base mold 123 in a state where they sit, back to back with each other and with the tip portions of the arm sections 123c.sub.-2 the respective opposed portions of the wall 123a.
Each of the pair of links 124 is composed of a connection section 124a and a pair of arms 124c extending at right angles from both ends of the connection section 124a. The length of the connection section 124a is slightly shorter than the separation a2 between each pair of hooks 123c fixed on the base 123. Each of the arms 124c has a projection 124b and a projection 124d on its outside surface. The projection 124b has a diameter to allow the insertion thereof into a gap between the arm section 123c.sub.2 of the hook 123c and the bottom surface 123d of the base mold 123, whereas the projection 124d has a diameter to allow the fitting in a bearing hole made in a hook 125c fixed onto the inner top surface of the key top 125.
Accordingly, the projection 124b on each of arms 124c of the link 124 is put into the space between the arm section 123c.sub.-2 of the corresponding hook 123c and the base 123 as indicated by an arrow B, the link 124 then being rotatable about the axis of the projection 124b. On the other hand, as indicated by an arrow D, the projection 124d on each of the arms 124c is fitted in the bearing hole of the corresponding hook 125c (indicated with a dotted line) formed inside the key top 125. Whereupon, the link 124 is rotatable about the axis of the projection 124d.
With this structure, the plural key tops 125 are coupled through the respective links 124 to the base 123. Each of the key tops 125 has a plane size substantially equal to that of each area surrounded by the wall 123a of the base 123, and in general its outer surface 125a has a configuration to make a portion of a square conical surface. A projection 125b which is rod-like or cylindrical, for example, is formed in the vicinity of the center inside of the key top 125.
A keyboard comprising the above-mentioned components is assembled as follows. First, the membrane switch 121 is mounted on the bottom surface 11a' of the main body 11a. Secondly, for example, the rubber actuator 122 is mounted on each of the switching areas 121a of the composite membrane switch 121, and subsequently the base 123 is fixed onto the main body 11a. The rubber actuator 122 mounted at a given portion of the composite membrane switch 121 is positioned by the base 123. Then, the base 123 and each of the key tops 125 are connected through the two links 124. Thus, the keyboard 12 as shown in FIG. 9 is completed with the plurality of key switches 129 provided.
FIGS. 11A and 11B show cross sections of the keyboard 12. FIG. 11A shows a non-operated state of the keyboard 12 (no depression of the key top), while FIG. 11B illustrates an operated state thereof (depression of the key top). In FIG. 11A, the tip surface of the projection 125b of the key top 125 is brought into contact with the head portion 122b of the rubber actuator 122. In this state, the switching area 121a of the membrane switch composite 121 is in a non-contact state as illustrated. When the key top 125 is depressed as shown in FIG. 11B, the projections 124b in the connection section sides of the two link 124 slide in directions of separating from each other (the direction of approaching the corresponding wall 123a) between the bottom surface 123d of the base 123 and the arm 123c.sub.-2 of the hook 123c. Thus, the depression of the projection 125b of the key top 125 against the head portion 122b of the rubber actuator 122 continues to create the deformation of the rubber actuator 122. At the time that the depression of the key top 125 reaches a given position, the rubber actuator 112 develops the maximum deformation so that the switching area 121a comes into the connecting condition. Commonly, the hollow rubber actuator 122 is rapidly bent in a ringlike form at the portion in the vicinity of the flange 122a (called reversible inversion), and the key top 125 reaches the maximum depression position. A click sensation is given in the process of this depression.
On releasing the key top 125 from the depressing operation, the rubber actuator 122 restores, or recovers, to its original shape as shown in FIG. 11A due to its own elastic force. In consequence, the projections 124b in the connection section sides of the links 124 slide in directions of approaching each other (the directions of separating from the corresponding walls 123a) between the bottom surface 123d of the base 123 and the arm 123c.sub.-2 of the hook 123c, so that the key top returns to its initial position. Thus, with the depression of the key top 125 or with the releasing from the depression, an electrical on and off operation takes place in the switching area 121a.
FIGS. 12A and 12B are cross-sectional views showing another keyboard to be used for the notebook-size personal computer as shown in FIG. 9, where the keyboard is cut in one key switch area and extracted. FIG. 12A shows a non-operated state of the key board, while FIG. 12B illustrates an operated condition thereof. In FIG. 12A, a keyboard 13 is made up of a composite membrane switch 121 fixed onto a bottom plate 11a' of a main body 11a and a plurality of key switches 139 fixedly disposed at given portions of the membrane switch composite 121, even a single key switch is shown. Each of the key switches 139 comprises a tongue-like actuator 132 corresponding to one of a plurality of contacts formed on the composite membrane switch 121, a base 133 to which one end portion of the actuator 132 is fixed, and a key top 134 mounted on the base 133 so as to be movable by a given stroke in a depressing direction. Each of the composite membrane switch 121 and the base 133 is one member common to the plurality of key switches 139, and the plurality of key switches 139 are disposed at the corresponding positions defined therein.
Each of the actuators 132 is constructed with a spring metallic plate and is provided with a contact pressing section 132b for pressing the corresponding contact of the composite membrane switch 121. In addition, the actuator 132 having one end portion fixed to the base 133 extends from the contact pressing section 132b toward the other free end portion 132c to gradually separate from the composite membrane switch 121. The base 133 has areas each corresponding to each of the key switches 139 and provided with a square through hole 133a in each of the areas. A plurality of projections 133b are formed on the upper portion (the portion most remote from the composite membrane switch) of the circumferential side wall surface of the through hole 133a. The key top 134 has a configuration similar to that shown in FIG. 9 and its outer surface 134a makes a square conical surface. Further, a projection 134b which is circular, for example, is provided in an inner central portion of the key top 134. In general, at the circumference of the projection 134b there is placed a sleeve section 134c which can be engaged into the through hole 133a of base 133 to be slidable. A plurality of projections 134d are formed on the outer surface of the sleeve section 134c. In a state where the sleeve section 134c is inserted into the through hole of the base 133, the key top 134 is movable by a given stroke in the insertion direction. The upper limit of the movement thereof is the position where the projection 133b in the base 133 side comes into contact with the projection 134d in the key top 134 side.
The assembly of the key top 134 is as follows. That is, first, the actuator 132 is amounted on a given location of the base 133. Secondly, the composite membrane switch 121 is mounted on the bottom plate 11a' of the housing main body 11a. Subsequently, for example, the base 133 is fixed onto the housing main body 11a so that the contact pressing section 132b of the tongue-like actuator 132 is located at each of the switching areas 121a of the composite membrane switch 121. Finally, the plurality of key tops 134 are set at given positions of the base 133, thus completing the keyboard 13, as now equipped with the key switches 139 whose number equals the number of contacts of the membrane switch composite 121.
FIG. 12A shows a case in which the key top 134 is at the upper limit position. The free end portion 132c of the actuator 132 is in the state with being placed into contact with the lower end surface of the projection 134b of the key top 134. FIG. 12B illustrates a state where the key top 134 is depressed up to the lower limit. The projection 134b presses the free end portion 132c of the actuator 132 so that the actuator 132 deforms. At the same time, the contact pressing section 132b presses the switching portion 121a of the composite membrane switch 121, with the result that an electrical connection is produced in the switching area 121a. On releasing from the depression (i.e., depressed state), the key top 134 returns to the initial state as shown in FIG. 12A due to the elastic force of the actuator 132. With the above operation, the key top 134 presses the free end portion 132c, separated by a plane projection distance e from the contact pressing section 132b, of the actuator 132. Accordingly, owing to the so-called lever principle, a completed connection in the switching area 121a is possible with a weak pressing force.
In the prior art key switches 129 and 139 on the above-described keyboards 12 and 13, the key top upper surface protrudes upwardly from the base , including the drop quantity (i.e., stroke length) at the depression. However, the respective thicknesses of the housing main body 11a and the cover 11b are required to be set so that the surface of the display 19 does not come into contact with the top surfaces of the key tops even when the cover 11b takes (i.e. is in) the closed condition. Accordingly, the thickness of the notebook-size personal computer 1 main body increases, with the result that difficulty is encountered to meet the customer's requirements for the size reduction.

Key switch, keyboard and portable information processing unit with keyboard


The present invention provides a synthetic gene control region which comprises a gene regulatory sequence comprising a binding site for a gene regulatory protein of a yeast strain, and a promoter from filamentous fungal strain located downstream of the gene regulatory sequence; wherein the promoter can be recognized by the general transcription factors and RNA polymerase of the yeast strain; wherein the gene regulatory sequence is capable of regulating transcription initiated by the filamentous fungal promoter in the yeast strain.

Saccharomyces cerevisiae, or baker's yeast, is widely used as a host for the expression of a variety of heterologous polypeptides. Many different proteins from a variety of species have been expressed in S. cerevisiae, some to levels of >10% of total cell protein. Typically, expression has been mediated by a plasmid containing a DNA sequence encoding the heterologous polypeptide and the gene control region that controls gene expressions in S. cerevisiae as well as other sequences required for the selection and amplification of the plasmid in both S. cerevisiae and in Escherichia coli. Alternatively, it is also possible to integrate the coding sequence and the gene control region into a S. cerevisiae chromosome and achieve high-level expression.
The gene control regions utilized in the expression of heterologous polypeptides in S. cerevisiae are typically those which naturally occur in S. cerevisiae, e.g., the gene control region for the expression of the divergent GAL1 and GAL10 genes. In contrast, heterologous gene control regions, when used in S. cerevisiae cells, have generally been found to be inactive, or lead to aberrant initiation of transcription. It has been proposed that use of S. cerevisiae gene control regions is essential for the efficient expression of heterologous genes in S. cerevisiae cells. (Romanos et al., YEAST 8:423-488 (1992)).
The references cited herein are not admitted to be prior art to the claimed invention.