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10956191
| 2,004
|
Dynamic sample data switch
|
A technique for preventing modification of productive data in a database. In response to a database access request in a productive data database access configuration, a database interface facilitates access to a sample database when a sample switch is enabled. The database interface facilitates normal database access when the sample switch is disabled.
|
BACKGROUND It is common to test a database, or a system or program associated with the database, by accessing sample data in the database. However, when productive databases are tested or used to test a program, productive data may be retrieved or modified. This may have undesirable consequences. For example, a company that maintains the database may worry about retrieval of productive data for testing purposes out of security or privacy concerns. Moreover, the company may not want sample data read out during normal use of the database. Plus, as a common sense rule, it is simply unwise to risk modification of productive data for the purposes of testing.
|
Title:
Dynamic sample data switch
Abstract:
A technique for preventing modification of productive data in a database. In response to a database access request in a productive data database access configuration, a database interface facilitates access to a sample database when a sample switch is enabled. The database interface facilitates normal database access when the sample switch is disabled.
Background:
BACKGROUND It is common to test a database, or a system or program associated with the database, by accessing sample data in the database. However, when productive databases are tested or used to test a program, productive data may be retrieved or modified. This may have undesirable consequences. For example, a company that maintains the database may worry about retrieval of productive data for testing purposes out of security or privacy concerns. Moreover, the company may not want sample data read out during normal use of the database. Plus, as a common sense rule, it is simply unwise to risk modification of productive data for the purposes of testing.
|
10799046
| 2,004
|
Method for driving LCD device
|
Disclosed is a method for driving pixels of an LCD device, wherein an overlapping area between a data line connected to a data driver and a gate line connected to a gate driver defines a pixel of an LCD device. A first gate driver is selected from the LCD device' at least two gate drivers based on a selection rule. Starting from a line A, the first gate driver displays a part of a picture image by sequentially displaying the image line by line up to a number of lines according to a pre-determined display range. Then a second gate driver based on the selection rule displays a part of an all black image by displaying, from a line B, a number of lines based on a pre-determined display range simultaneously. The line B is separated from the line A by a number of lines according to a pre-determined gap range.
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is known to people skilled in related arts, an LCD device has an inherent limitation on its grey-scale response time due to some characteristics of the LCD device. When used as a display for a personal computer, a user cannot perceive a significant difference between an LCD device and a CRT device. However, when used for displaying television programs, the limitation of an LCD device on the grey-scale response time becomes profound as television programs contains almost all moving images. In other words traditional LCD televisions have a significantly inferior display effect compared to CRT televisions. Conventionally, an LCD device contains a plurality of pixels driven by a driver circuit of the LCD device. The driver circuit contains a plurality of data drivers and gate drivers. The data drivers are connected to data lines and the gate drivers are connected to gate lines of the LCD device. An overlapping area between a data line and a gate line then defines a pixel of the LCD device. In the following a traditional method for controlling the driver circuit of an LCD device is described. FIGS. 1A and 1B are waveform diagrams showing various control and data signals seen in traditional LCD devices. When a vertical synchronization signal appears, a brand new screen would be displayed on an LCD device line by line in a raster scan pattern. Each scan line has n pixels. FIG. 1A shows waveforms of data and control signals for input a scan line's data into data drivers according to a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1A , when a STH signal becomes active, data for a first scan line's n pixels is input sequentially one pixel a time into data drivers controlled by a horizontal clock signal. When the horizontal clock signal is on a first rising edge, a data for a first pixel is shifted into a data driver, then on a second rising edge, a data for a second pixel is shifted, and following this pattern, data for the n pixels is input into the data drivers. The data for a pixel includes digital data for the pixel's R, G, and B colors. After the data for all n pixels is input, on a rising edge of a conversion signal, the data drivers convert the R, G, and B digital data of all pixels on the first scan line into corresponding driving voltages and apply the voltages on data lines. FIG. 1B shows waveforms of data and control signal for displaying a plurality of scan lines on an LCD device according to a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1B , on a first rising edge of a vertical clock signal, a gate driver will “turn on” a first gate line by asserting a gate driving signal on the first gate line, which in turn allows the driving voltages on the data lines to be applied to all pixels of the first scan line of the LCD device. The first scan line of the LCD device is thereby displayed. Subsequent scan lines will follow a same pattern to be displayed sequentially on the LCD device. Currently, a number of methods for enhancing a grey-scale response time of an LCD device have already been proposed. Among them a method referred to as Pseudo Impulse Drive (PID) is a more promising one. As implied by its name, the PID method simulates an impulse driving method used by a CRT device to drive an LCD device, so that a display effect of the LCD device would be close to that of a CRT device. There are three commonly known PID methods as described below. FIGS. 2A-2C are schematic diagrams for methods simulating impulse drive according to prior arts. As shown in FIG. 2A , a picture image is composed by sequentially displaying frames 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 . In a first PID method, all black data frames 11 , 12 , 13 are interposed between frames 1 and 2 , frames 2 and 3 , and frames 3 and 4 , respectively. At their time of display the foregoing frames' corresponding backlight sources 14 - 20 are all at light-emitting state. In this way the first PID method achieve a simulation of the impulse drive. As shown in FIG. 2B , a picture image is composed by sequentially displaying frames 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 . In a second PID method, at their time of display, frames 2 , 4 , and 6 have corresponding backlight sources 22 , 24 , and 26 all at turn-off state. On the other hand, frames 1 , 3 , 5 , and 7 at their time of display have corresponding backlight sources 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 all at light-emitting state. In other words the second PID method utilizes a flashing mode to achieve a simulation of the impulse drive by alternating light-emitting and turn-off backlight sources. As shown in FIG. 2C , a picture image is composed by sequentially displaying frames 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 . In a third PID method, all black data frames 11 , 12 , 13 are interposed between frames 1 and 2 , frames 2 and 3 , and frames 3 and 4 , respectively. In addition, at their time of display, frames 11 , 12 , and 13 have corresponding backlight sources 22 , 24 , and 26 all at turn-off state, while frames 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 at their time of display have corresponding backlight sources 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 all at light-emitting state. In other words the third PID method combines the foregoing two methods to achieve a simulation of the impulse drive.
|
Title:
Method for driving LCD device
Abstract:
Disclosed is a method for driving pixels of an LCD device, wherein an overlapping area between a data line connected to a data driver and a gate line connected to a gate driver defines a pixel of an LCD device. A first gate driver is selected from the LCD device' at least two gate drivers based on a selection rule. Starting from a line A, the first gate driver displays a part of a picture image by sequentially displaying the image line by line up to a number of lines according to a pre-determined display range. Then a second gate driver based on the selection rule displays a part of an all black image by displaying, from a line B, a number of lines based on a pre-determined display range simultaneously. The line B is separated from the line A by a number of lines according to a pre-determined gap range.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION As is known to people skilled in related arts, an LCD device has an inherent limitation on its grey-scale response time due to some characteristics of the LCD device. When used as a display for a personal computer, a user cannot perceive a significant difference between an LCD device and a CRT device. However, when used for displaying television programs, the limitation of an LCD device on the grey-scale response time becomes profound as television programs contains almost all moving images. In other words traditional LCD televisions have a significantly inferior display effect compared to CRT televisions. Conventionally, an LCD device contains a plurality of pixels driven by a driver circuit of the LCD device. The driver circuit contains a plurality of data drivers and gate drivers. The data drivers are connected to data lines and the gate drivers are connected to gate lines of the LCD device. An overlapping area between a data line and a gate line then defines a pixel of the LCD device. In the following a traditional method for controlling the driver circuit of an LCD device is described. FIGS. 1A and 1B are waveform diagrams showing various control and data signals seen in traditional LCD devices. When a vertical synchronization signal appears, a brand new screen would be displayed on an LCD device line by line in a raster scan pattern. Each scan line has n pixels. FIG. 1A shows waveforms of data and control signals for input a scan line's data into data drivers according to a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1A , when a STH signal becomes active, data for a first scan line's n pixels is input sequentially one pixel a time into data drivers controlled by a horizontal clock signal. When the horizontal clock signal is on a first rising edge, a data for a first pixel is shifted into a data driver, then on a second rising edge, a data for a second pixel is shifted, and following this pattern, data for the n pixels is input into the data drivers. The data for a pixel includes digital data for the pixel's R, G, and B colors. After the data for all n pixels is input, on a rising edge of a conversion signal, the data drivers convert the R, G, and B digital data of all pixels on the first scan line into corresponding driving voltages and apply the voltages on data lines. FIG. 1B shows waveforms of data and control signal for displaying a plurality of scan lines on an LCD device according to a prior art. As shown in FIG. 1B , on a first rising edge of a vertical clock signal, a gate driver will “turn on” a first gate line by asserting a gate driving signal on the first gate line, which in turn allows the driving voltages on the data lines to be applied to all pixels of the first scan line of the LCD device. The first scan line of the LCD device is thereby displayed. Subsequent scan lines will follow a same pattern to be displayed sequentially on the LCD device. Currently, a number of methods for enhancing a grey-scale response time of an LCD device have already been proposed. Among them a method referred to as Pseudo Impulse Drive (PID) is a more promising one. As implied by its name, the PID method simulates an impulse driving method used by a CRT device to drive an LCD device, so that a display effect of the LCD device would be close to that of a CRT device. There are three commonly known PID methods as described below. FIGS. 2A-2C are schematic diagrams for methods simulating impulse drive according to prior arts. As shown in FIG. 2A , a picture image is composed by sequentially displaying frames 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 . In a first PID method, all black data frames 11 , 12 , 13 are interposed between frames 1 and 2 , frames 2 and 3 , and frames 3 and 4 , respectively. At their time of display the foregoing frames' corresponding backlight sources 14 - 20 are all at light-emitting state. In this way the first PID method achieve a simulation of the impulse drive. As shown in FIG. 2B , a picture image is composed by sequentially displaying frames 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , and 7 . In a second PID method, at their time of display, frames 2 , 4 , and 6 have corresponding backlight sources 22 , 24 , and 26 all at turn-off state. On the other hand, frames 1 , 3 , 5 , and 7 at their time of display have corresponding backlight sources 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 all at light-emitting state. In other words the second PID method utilizes a flashing mode to achieve a simulation of the impulse drive by alternating light-emitting and turn-off backlight sources. As shown in FIG. 2C , a picture image is composed by sequentially displaying frames 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 . In a third PID method, all black data frames 11 , 12 , 13 are interposed between frames 1 and 2 , frames 2 and 3 , and frames 3 and 4 , respectively. In addition, at their time of display, frames 11 , 12 , and 13 have corresponding backlight sources 22 , 24 , and 26 all at turn-off state, while frames 1 , 2 , 3 , and 4 at their time of display have corresponding backlight sources 21 , 23 , 25 , and 27 all at light-emitting state. In other words the third PID method combines the foregoing two methods to achieve a simulation of the impulse drive.
|
11002247
| 2,004
|
Stacked semiconductor device including improved lead frame arrangement
|
A semiconductor device comprising a resin mold, two semiconductor chips positioned inside the resin mold and having front and back surfaces and external terminals formed on the front surfaces, and leads extending from the inside to the outside of the resin mold, wherein each of said leads is branched into two branch leads in at least the resin mold, the one branch lead is secured to the surface of the one semiconductor chip and is electrically connected to an external terminal on the surface thereof through a wire, the other branch lead is secured to the surface of the other semiconductor chip and is electrically connected to an external terminal on the surface thereof through a wire, and the two semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other, with their back surfaces opposed to each other.
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a technology that can be effectively adapted to a semiconductor device in which two semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other and are molded with a resin. In a semiconductor device in which a semiconductor chip constituting a DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is molded with a resin, there has been employed an LOC (lead on chip) structure which can be applied to a semiconductor chip of even a large size, thereby eliminating die pads (also referred to as tabs) of the lead frame. A semiconductor device employing a LOC structure has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-246125/1990 (laid open on Oct. 1, 1990). In order to accomplish a large capacity, there has been developed a semiconductor device employing a LOC structure; i.e., in which two semiconductor chips constituting DRAMs of the same capacity are stacked one upon the other and are molded with the same resin. The above semiconductor device is constituted by a resin mold, two semiconductor chips positioned inside the resin mold and having external terminals on the circuit-forming surfaces thereof, which are the front surfaces out of the front surfaces and the back surfaces, and leads extending from the inside to the outside of the resin mold. The two semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other in a state where the circuit-forming surfaces are opposed to each other. Each lead has two branch leads branched in the up-and-down direction in the resin mold. The one branch lead is adhered and secured, via an insulating film, to the circuit-forming surface of the one semiconductor chip and is electrically connected, via an electrically conductive wire, to an external terminal of the circuit-forming surface. The other branch lead is adhered and secured, via an insulating film, to the circuit-forming surface of the other semiconductor chip and is electrically connected, via an electrically conductive wire, to an external terminal of the circuit-forming surface. The two branch leads are constituted by separate members. The one branch lead is led to the outside of the resin mold and is integrated with an external lead formed in a predetermined shape. The other branch lead is joined to the one branch lead in the resin mold and is electrically and mechanically connected thereto. That is, the lead extending from the inside to the outside of the resin mold is constituted by an external lead led to the outside of the resin mold, the one branch lead integral with the external lead, and the other branch lead joined to the one branch lead. The above-mentioned semiconductor device has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-58281/1995 (laid open on Mar. 3, 1995).
|
Title:
Stacked semiconductor device including improved lead frame arrangement
Abstract:
A semiconductor device comprising a resin mold, two semiconductor chips positioned inside the resin mold and having front and back surfaces and external terminals formed on the front surfaces, and leads extending from the inside to the outside of the resin mold, wherein each of said leads is branched into two branch leads in at least the resin mold, the one branch lead is secured to the surface of the one semiconductor chip and is electrically connected to an external terminal on the surface thereof through a wire, the other branch lead is secured to the surface of the other semiconductor chip and is electrically connected to an external terminal on the surface thereof through a wire, and the two semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other, with their back surfaces opposed to each other.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to a semiconductor device and, more particularly, to a technology that can be effectively adapted to a semiconductor device in which two semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other and are molded with a resin. In a semiconductor device in which a semiconductor chip constituting a DRAM (dynamic random access memory) is molded with a resin, there has been employed an LOC (lead on chip) structure which can be applied to a semiconductor chip of even a large size, thereby eliminating die pads (also referred to as tabs) of the lead frame. A semiconductor device employing a LOC structure has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2-246125/1990 (laid open on Oct. 1, 1990). In order to accomplish a large capacity, there has been developed a semiconductor device employing a LOC structure; i.e., in which two semiconductor chips constituting DRAMs of the same capacity are stacked one upon the other and are molded with the same resin. The above semiconductor device is constituted by a resin mold, two semiconductor chips positioned inside the resin mold and having external terminals on the circuit-forming surfaces thereof, which are the front surfaces out of the front surfaces and the back surfaces, and leads extending from the inside to the outside of the resin mold. The two semiconductor chips are stacked one upon the other in a state where the circuit-forming surfaces are opposed to each other. Each lead has two branch leads branched in the up-and-down direction in the resin mold. The one branch lead is adhered and secured, via an insulating film, to the circuit-forming surface of the one semiconductor chip and is electrically connected, via an electrically conductive wire, to an external terminal of the circuit-forming surface. The other branch lead is adhered and secured, via an insulating film, to the circuit-forming surface of the other semiconductor chip and is electrically connected, via an electrically conductive wire, to an external terminal of the circuit-forming surface. The two branch leads are constituted by separate members. The one branch lead is led to the outside of the resin mold and is integrated with an external lead formed in a predetermined shape. The other branch lead is joined to the one branch lead in the resin mold and is electrically and mechanically connected thereto. That is, the lead extending from the inside to the outside of the resin mold is constituted by an external lead led to the outside of the resin mold, the one branch lead integral with the external lead, and the other branch lead joined to the one branch lead. The above-mentioned semiconductor device has been disclosed in, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-58281/1995 (laid open on Mar. 3, 1995).
|
10927809
| 2,004
|
Element defined sequence complexity reduction
|
A method for providing defined mixtures of nucleic acids is described. In certain embodiments, the method uses oligonucleotide probes attached to a solid support as a sequence-specific affinity agent to isolate and facilitate the amplification of defined nucleic acid fragment mixtures.
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The isolation of discrete, sequence-defined genetic elements from complex genomic samples is an essential step in many genetic analysis protocols including, de novo sequencing, re-sequencing, gene expression, epigenetic state analyses, genetic variation discovery and scoring (e.g. SNPs and STRs). Defined sequence elements or fragments that share a common sequence element can be isolated using a common primer such as oligo dT to target the poly-A tails of messenger RNA (Chow et al., (1988) Anal. Biochem., 175; 63). Protocols to isolate and amplify defined mixtures of ragments from complex genomic samples currently rely upon defined primer pairs and some form of amplification protocol such as PCR, isothermal amplification or LCR. However, these method suffer significant limitations since the degree of multiplexing is generally limited to only 10 to 20 primer pairs which must be co-optimized for a given reaction condition. As a result, genetic analysis protocols that require the interrogation of a large number of sites or sequence elements within a complex sample mixture such as SNP genotyping or comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) have relied upon various genome complexity reduction methods that utilize various LCR, PCR and random priming techniques that are not element defined (Kinzler & Vogelstein, Nucleic Acids Res (1989) 17; 3645, Telenius et al., Genomics (1992) 13;1718, Kristjansson et al., Nature Genetics (1994) 6; 19, Lucito et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1998) 95; 4487, Kennedy et al., (2003), Nat. Biotechnol. 21;1233 & Bignell et al., (2004) Genome Research 14; 287). What is needed is a convenient method for providing defined mixtures of nucleic acids from complex samples.
|
Title:
Element defined sequence complexity reduction
Abstract:
A method for providing defined mixtures of nucleic acids is described. In certain embodiments, the method uses oligonucleotide probes attached to a solid support as a sequence-specific affinity agent to isolate and facilitate the amplification of defined nucleic acid fragment mixtures.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The isolation of discrete, sequence-defined genetic elements from complex genomic samples is an essential step in many genetic analysis protocols including, de novo sequencing, re-sequencing, gene expression, epigenetic state analyses, genetic variation discovery and scoring (e.g. SNPs and STRs). Defined sequence elements or fragments that share a common sequence element can be isolated using a common primer such as oligo dT to target the poly-A tails of messenger RNA (Chow et al., (1988) Anal. Biochem., 175; 63). Protocols to isolate and amplify defined mixtures of ragments from complex genomic samples currently rely upon defined primer pairs and some form of amplification protocol such as PCR, isothermal amplification or LCR. However, these method suffer significant limitations since the degree of multiplexing is generally limited to only 10 to 20 primer pairs which must be co-optimized for a given reaction condition. As a result, genetic analysis protocols that require the interrogation of a large number of sites or sequence elements within a complex sample mixture such as SNP genotyping or comparative genomic hybridization (CGH) have relied upon various genome complexity reduction methods that utilize various LCR, PCR and random priming techniques that are not element defined (Kinzler & Vogelstein, Nucleic Acids Res (1989) 17; 3645, Telenius et al., Genomics (1992) 13;1718, Kristjansson et al., Nature Genetics (1994) 6; 19, Lucito et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1998) 95; 4487, Kennedy et al., (2003), Nat. Biotechnol. 21;1233 & Bignell et al., (2004) Genome Research 14; 287). What is needed is a convenient method for providing defined mixtures of nucleic acids from complex samples.
|
10972890
| 2,004
|
Imaging apparatus and method for producing the same, portable equipment, and imaging sensor and method for producing the same
|
A plurality of imaging regions are provided in one-to-one correspondence with a plurality of optical systems and are disposed on optical axes of the respective optical systems. Each imaging region has a plurality of pixels. The imaging apparatus further comprises an origin detecting means for detecting an origin of each imaging region, a pixel position specifying means for specifying positions of a plurality of pixels included in each imaging region using the origin as a reference, and a combination means for combining a plurality of images captured by the respective imaging regions. Thereby, it is possible to make a thin imaging apparatus capable of being easily assembled.
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small imaging apparatus capable of obtaining a sharp color image and a production method thereof. The present invention also relates to a portable device comprising the imaging apparatus. The present invention also relates to an imaging sensor for use in the imaging apparatus and a production method thereof 2. Description of the Related Art Portable equipments, such as a mobile phone with camera and the like, have become widespread. As the portable equipment is made smaller, thinner and more multifunctional, there is a demand for a smaller, thinner and more multifunctional imaging apparatus. Conventionally, an imaging apparatus that uses a composite lens and an imaging sensor to take a magnified picture (zoomed picture) by mechanically moving a portion of the composite lens, has been known (e.g., see JP 2003-255225A). FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional imaging apparatus. In FIG. 33, 2001 indicates a concave lens, 2002 indicates a convex lens, 2003 indicates a filter, 2004 indicates an imaging sensor, 2005 indicates a substrate including a computing apparatus, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) or the like. The concave lens 2001 , the convex lens 2002 , the filter 2003 , the imaging sensor 2004 , and the substrate 2005 are disposed in a housing 2007 in a manner such that an optical axis 2006 of the lens system passes through substantially the center of the imaging sensor 2004 . Light that is incident from a object through an opening 2007 a of the housing into the housing 2007 is converged on the imaging sensor 2004 by the concave lens 2001 and the convex lens 2002 . The filter 2003 prevents unnecessary light, such as infrared light and the like, from entering the imaging sensor 2004 . In this case, the concave lens 2001 and the convex lens 2002 are appropriately combined in a manner such that light in a red wavelength band, light in a blue wavelength band and light in a green wavelength band that are included in light from a object are converged to the same imaging position with the same image magnification factor, thereby making it possible to prevent deterioration of a captured image due to chromatic aberration. The light converged on the imaging sensor 2004 is converted to an electrical signal by the imaging sensor 2004 , and the electrical signal is processed by the computing apparatus included in the substrate 2005 . In general, a sharp image can be obtained by moving a part of or the whole lens system to control focusing, depending on a distance between a object and the lens system, though no actuator is shown in FIG. 33 . In addition, a magnified picture (zoomed picture) can be taken by moving the convex lens 2002 to change the magnification factor of the optical system. Moving the lenses is carried out with an actuator that is electromagnetically operated and is constructed using a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, a spring material and the like. However, the above-described conventional imaging apparatus cannot be made thin due to use of the composite lens, disadvantageously leading to an increase in the thickness of a portable equipment with camera.
|
Title:
Imaging apparatus and method for producing the same, portable equipment, and imaging sensor and method for producing the same
Abstract:
A plurality of imaging regions are provided in one-to-one correspondence with a plurality of optical systems and are disposed on optical axes of the respective optical systems. Each imaging region has a plurality of pixels. The imaging apparatus further comprises an origin detecting means for detecting an origin of each imaging region, a pixel position specifying means for specifying positions of a plurality of pixels included in each imaging region using the origin as a reference, and a combination means for combining a plurality of images captured by the respective imaging regions. Thereby, it is possible to make a thin imaging apparatus capable of being easily assembled.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a small imaging apparatus capable of obtaining a sharp color image and a production method thereof. The present invention also relates to a portable device comprising the imaging apparatus. The present invention also relates to an imaging sensor for use in the imaging apparatus and a production method thereof 2. Description of the Related Art Portable equipments, such as a mobile phone with camera and the like, have become widespread. As the portable equipment is made smaller, thinner and more multifunctional, there is a demand for a smaller, thinner and more multifunctional imaging apparatus. Conventionally, an imaging apparatus that uses a composite lens and an imaging sensor to take a magnified picture (zoomed picture) by mechanically moving a portion of the composite lens, has been known (e.g., see JP 2003-255225A). FIG. 33 is a cross-sectional view of a conventional imaging apparatus. In FIG. 33, 2001 indicates a concave lens, 2002 indicates a convex lens, 2003 indicates a filter, 2004 indicates an imaging sensor, 2005 indicates a substrate including a computing apparatus, such as a digital signal processor (DSP) or the like. The concave lens 2001 , the convex lens 2002 , the filter 2003 , the imaging sensor 2004 , and the substrate 2005 are disposed in a housing 2007 in a manner such that an optical axis 2006 of the lens system passes through substantially the center of the imaging sensor 2004 . Light that is incident from a object through an opening 2007 a of the housing into the housing 2007 is converged on the imaging sensor 2004 by the concave lens 2001 and the convex lens 2002 . The filter 2003 prevents unnecessary light, such as infrared light and the like, from entering the imaging sensor 2004 . In this case, the concave lens 2001 and the convex lens 2002 are appropriately combined in a manner such that light in a red wavelength band, light in a blue wavelength band and light in a green wavelength band that are included in light from a object are converged to the same imaging position with the same image magnification factor, thereby making it possible to prevent deterioration of a captured image due to chromatic aberration. The light converged on the imaging sensor 2004 is converted to an electrical signal by the imaging sensor 2004 , and the electrical signal is processed by the computing apparatus included in the substrate 2005 . In general, a sharp image can be obtained by moving a part of or the whole lens system to control focusing, depending on a distance between a object and the lens system, though no actuator is shown in FIG. 33 . In addition, a magnified picture (zoomed picture) can be taken by moving the convex lens 2002 to change the magnification factor of the optical system. Moving the lenses is carried out with an actuator that is electromagnetically operated and is constructed using a permanent magnet, an electromagnet, a spring material and the like. However, the above-described conventional imaging apparatus cannot be made thin due to use of the composite lens, disadvantageously leading to an increase in the thickness of a portable equipment with camera.
|
10925410
| 2,004
|
Solder pads and method of making a solder pad
|
A device including a first solder pad and a second solder pad comprised of a post-soldering alloy composition on a substrate is provided. The alloy composition comprises two or more elements, and the post soldering alloy composition of the first solder pad has different amounts of the two or more elements than the alloy composition of the second solder pad. A method of making a solder pad comprises masking a substrate comprising at least a first solder pad and a second solder pad, wherein the mask exposes a greater area of the first solder pad so that the deposited element becomes part of an alloy composition of the first solder pad upon soldering thereby changing the melting point of the first solder pad.
|
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Manufacture of electronic assemblies often makes use of a technique called “step-soldering.” In step-soldering, solder alloys of decreasing soldering temperature are used to bond a die to a substrate, a substrate to a package, and a package to a housing or printed wiring board. When made in a step soldering process, solder bonds made in a prior operation do not reflow when subsequent operations are performed at step by step decreasing temperature decrements. The operation that is performed first, generally die to substrate bonding, uses a solder that has a soldering temperature that is higher than that of any solder used in a subsequent operation. Consequently, subsequent soldering operations do not disturb the previously soldered components. In microelectronics and optoelectronics manufacturing, solder alloys are generally gold-based, like gold-tin and gold-germanium, to provide a high soldering temperature and to provide compatibility with gold and other precious-metal metallization used for electrical contact between a semiconductor die and substrate. Solder pads are applied by depositing alternating layers of the desired final alloy-constituents in separate layers, for example: gold, tin, gold, tin, gold, tin with eleven layers total not being unusual. The layered structure is heated, and, upon reaching a soldering temperature which is above the melting point of tin, the metals inter-diffuse to form the-desired solder alloy. Note that a dwell time at a temperature below melting may also be used to achieve inter-diffusion of the layers. For example, inter-diffusion is essentially complete after one second at 210° C. In a step-solder process, each subsequent step occurs at a soldering temperature lower than the previous soldering step so as not to remelt previous solder connections. To be robust in a manufacturing environment, there should be a large difference in the soldering temperature between one solder step and the next. From a practical perspective, step-soldering is limited to about three or four steps between the first solder used and the last. The last solder used is typically a tin-lead solder having a low soldering temperature. For this reason, conventional step soldering has difficulty accommodating the mounting of multiple dies on a substrate in multistep mounting operations. It would be desirable to be able to precision place a die, like a gallium arsenide laser, on a substrate such as silicon, to solder it into position, to move the substrate, and then to repeat the operation to precision mount another die, like a photodetector chip. Thus, a need exists for a configuration of solder pads which facilitates the mounting of multiple components in a multi-step process.
|
Title:
Solder pads and method of making a solder pad
Abstract:
A device including a first solder pad and a second solder pad comprised of a post-soldering alloy composition on a substrate is provided. The alloy composition comprises two or more elements, and the post soldering alloy composition of the first solder pad has different amounts of the two or more elements than the alloy composition of the second solder pad. A method of making a solder pad comprises masking a substrate comprising at least a first solder pad and a second solder pad, wherein the mask exposes a greater area of the first solder pad so that the deposited element becomes part of an alloy composition of the first solder pad upon soldering thereby changing the melting point of the first solder pad.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Manufacture of electronic assemblies often makes use of a technique called “step-soldering.” In step-soldering, solder alloys of decreasing soldering temperature are used to bond a die to a substrate, a substrate to a package, and a package to a housing or printed wiring board. When made in a step soldering process, solder bonds made in a prior operation do not reflow when subsequent operations are performed at step by step decreasing temperature decrements. The operation that is performed first, generally die to substrate bonding, uses a solder that has a soldering temperature that is higher than that of any solder used in a subsequent operation. Consequently, subsequent soldering operations do not disturb the previously soldered components. In microelectronics and optoelectronics manufacturing, solder alloys are generally gold-based, like gold-tin and gold-germanium, to provide a high soldering temperature and to provide compatibility with gold and other precious-metal metallization used for electrical contact between a semiconductor die and substrate. Solder pads are applied by depositing alternating layers of the desired final alloy-constituents in separate layers, for example: gold, tin, gold, tin, gold, tin with eleven layers total not being unusual. The layered structure is heated, and, upon reaching a soldering temperature which is above the melting point of tin, the metals inter-diffuse to form the-desired solder alloy. Note that a dwell time at a temperature below melting may also be used to achieve inter-diffusion of the layers. For example, inter-diffusion is essentially complete after one second at 210° C. In a step-solder process, each subsequent step occurs at a soldering temperature lower than the previous soldering step so as not to remelt previous solder connections. To be robust in a manufacturing environment, there should be a large difference in the soldering temperature between one solder step and the next. From a practical perspective, step-soldering is limited to about three or four steps between the first solder used and the last. The last solder used is typically a tin-lead solder having a low soldering temperature. For this reason, conventional step soldering has difficulty accommodating the mounting of multiple dies on a substrate in multistep mounting operations. It would be desirable to be able to precision place a die, like a gallium arsenide laser, on a substrate such as silicon, to solder it into position, to move the substrate, and then to repeat the operation to precision mount another die, like a photodetector chip. Thus, a need exists for a configuration of solder pads which facilitates the mounting of multiple components in a multi-step process.
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10979154
| 2,004
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Glucopyranosyloxypyrazole derivatives, medicinal compositions containing the same and intermediates in the production thereof
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The present invention relates to glucopyranosyloxypyrazole derivatives represented by the general formula: wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group; one of Q1 and T1 represents a group represented by the general formula: while the other represents a lower alkyl group or a halo(lower alkyl) group; and R2 represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, a lower alkoxy group, a lower alkylthio group, a halo(lower alkyl) group or a halogen atom, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, which have an inhibitory activity in human SGLT2 and are useful as agents for the prevention or treatment of diabetes, diabetic complications or obesity, and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the same and intermediates thereof.
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BACKGROUND ART Diabetes is one of lifestyle-related diseases with the background of change of eating habit and lack of exercise. Hence, diet and exercise therapies are performed in patients with diabetes. Furthermore, when its sufficient control and continuous performance are difficult, drug treatment is simultaneously performed. Now, biguanides, sulfonylureas and insulin sensitivity enhancers have been employed as antidiabetic agents. However, biguanides and sulfonylureas show occasionally adverse effects such as lactic acidosis and hypoglysemia, respectively. In a case of using insulin sensitivity enhancers, adverse effects such as edema occasionally are observed, and it is also concerned for advancing obesity. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, it has been desired to develop antidiabetic agents having a new mechanism. In recent years, development of new type antidiabetic agents has been progressing, which promote urinary glucose excretion and lower blood glucose level by preventing excess glucose reabsorption at the kidney (J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 79, pp. 1510-1515 (1987)). In addition, it is reported that SGLT2 (Na + /glucose cotransporter 2) is present in the S1 segment of the kidney's proximal tubule and participates mainly in reabsorption of glucose filtrated through glomerular (J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 93, pp. 397-404 (1994)). Accordingly, inhibiting a human SGLT2 activity prevents reabsorption of excess glucose at the kidney, subsequently promotes excreting excess glucose though the urine, and normalizes blood glucose level. Therefore, fast development of antidiabetic agents, which have a potent inhibitory activity in human SGLT2 and have a new mechanism, has been desired. Also, since such agents promote the excretion of excess glucose though the urine and consequently the glucose accumulation in the body is decreased, they are also expected to have a preventing or alleviating effect on obesity. As compounds having pyrazole moiety, it is described that WAY-123783 increased an amount of excreted glucose in normal mice. However, its effects in human are not described at all (J. Med. Chem., Vol. 39, pp. 3920-3928 (1996)).
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Title:
Glucopyranosyloxypyrazole derivatives, medicinal compositions containing the same and intermediates in the production thereof
Abstract:
The present invention relates to glucopyranosyloxypyrazole derivatives represented by the general formula: wherein R1 represents a hydrogen atom or a lower alkyl group; one of Q1 and T1 represents a group represented by the general formula: while the other represents a lower alkyl group or a halo(lower alkyl) group; and R2 represents a hydrogen atom, a lower alkyl group, a lower alkoxy group, a lower alkylthio group, a halo(lower alkyl) group or a halogen atom, or pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, which have an inhibitory activity in human SGLT2 and are useful as agents for the prevention or treatment of diabetes, diabetic complications or obesity, and to pharmaceutical compositions comprising the same and intermediates thereof.
Background:
BACKGROUND ART Diabetes is one of lifestyle-related diseases with the background of change of eating habit and lack of exercise. Hence, diet and exercise therapies are performed in patients with diabetes. Furthermore, when its sufficient control and continuous performance are difficult, drug treatment is simultaneously performed. Now, biguanides, sulfonylureas and insulin sensitivity enhancers have been employed as antidiabetic agents. However, biguanides and sulfonylureas show occasionally adverse effects such as lactic acidosis and hypoglysemia, respectively. In a case of using insulin sensitivity enhancers, adverse effects such as edema occasionally are observed, and it is also concerned for advancing obesity. Therefore, in order to solve these problems, it has been desired to develop antidiabetic agents having a new mechanism. In recent years, development of new type antidiabetic agents has been progressing, which promote urinary glucose excretion and lower blood glucose level by preventing excess glucose reabsorption at the kidney (J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 79, pp. 1510-1515 (1987)). In addition, it is reported that SGLT2 (Na + /glucose cotransporter 2) is present in the S1 segment of the kidney's proximal tubule and participates mainly in reabsorption of glucose filtrated through glomerular (J. Clin. Invest., Vol. 93, pp. 397-404 (1994)). Accordingly, inhibiting a human SGLT2 activity prevents reabsorption of excess glucose at the kidney, subsequently promotes excreting excess glucose though the urine, and normalizes blood glucose level. Therefore, fast development of antidiabetic agents, which have a potent inhibitory activity in human SGLT2 and have a new mechanism, has been desired. Also, since such agents promote the excretion of excess glucose though the urine and consequently the glucose accumulation in the body is decreased, they are also expected to have a preventing or alleviating effect on obesity. As compounds having pyrazole moiety, it is described that WAY-123783 increased an amount of excreted glucose in normal mice. However, its effects in human are not described at all (J. Med. Chem., Vol. 39, pp. 3920-3928 (1996)).
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10809827
| 2,004
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Organic electroluminescent device
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An organic EL device comprises a transparent substrate, a hole injection electrode, an electron-donating organic compound layer, a light emitting layer, an electron-accepting organic compound layer, an electron injection electrode and a filter. The filter is integrally formed on the lower surface of the transparent substrate. The filter blocks transmission of light in a prescribed wavelength range. The prescribed wavelength range is a range up to a wavelength longer by 50 nm with reference to the wavelength of light generating the maximum electromotive force in optical power generation of the organic EL device.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent device. 2. Description of the Background Art In recent years, with increasing diversity in information equipment, there is a growing need for flat panel display devices that require smaller power consumption than CRTs (Cathode Ray Tube) generally in use. As one of the flat penal display devices, an organic electroluminescent (hereinafter abbreviated as organic EL) device characterized by having high efficiency, small thickness, light weight, and low angular-field-of-view dependency is drawing attention. An organic EL device is a self-light emitting device injection electrons and holes into a light emitting layer of an organic material from an electron injection electrode and a hole injection electrode respectively and recombining the injected electrons and holes with each other at the light emitting center thereby exciting organic molecules, for generating fluorescence when the organic molecules return from the excited state to a ground state. This organic EL device is deteriorated due to incidence of light into the device, employment over a long period use or heating. More specifically, the deterioration of the organic molecules results in reduction of the luminance of the organic EL device, or an increase of a drive voltage for attaining constant luminance (this deterioration is hereinafter referred to as voltage increase deterioration), for example. In general, the cause for deterioration of an organic EL device resulting from incidence of light into the device has been regarded as photo decomposition of organic molecules caused by ultraviolet light (light having wavelengths of about 1 to 400 nm). Further, the main factor for such photo decomposition of the organic molecules caused by ultraviolet light has been regarded as the presence of residual oxygen and moisture in the device or the like. In order to prevent this deterioration of the organic EL device, a method of sealing the organic EL device itself in an inert gas atmosphere or a method of preventing the organic EL device from entrance of ultraviolet light by providing a layer blocking ultraviolet light has been proposed (refer to JP-4-334895-A or JP-2002-184572-A). However, the voltage increase deterioration is caused when not only ultraviolet light but also visible light enters the device.
|
Title:
Organic electroluminescent device
Abstract:
An organic EL device comprises a transparent substrate, a hole injection electrode, an electron-donating organic compound layer, a light emitting layer, an electron-accepting organic compound layer, an electron injection electrode and a filter. The filter is integrally formed on the lower surface of the transparent substrate. The filter blocks transmission of light in a prescribed wavelength range. The prescribed wavelength range is a range up to a wavelength longer by 50 nm with reference to the wavelength of light generating the maximum electromotive force in optical power generation of the organic EL device.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent device. 2. Description of the Background Art In recent years, with increasing diversity in information equipment, there is a growing need for flat panel display devices that require smaller power consumption than CRTs (Cathode Ray Tube) generally in use. As one of the flat penal display devices, an organic electroluminescent (hereinafter abbreviated as organic EL) device characterized by having high efficiency, small thickness, light weight, and low angular-field-of-view dependency is drawing attention. An organic EL device is a self-light emitting device injection electrons and holes into a light emitting layer of an organic material from an electron injection electrode and a hole injection electrode respectively and recombining the injected electrons and holes with each other at the light emitting center thereby exciting organic molecules, for generating fluorescence when the organic molecules return from the excited state to a ground state. This organic EL device is deteriorated due to incidence of light into the device, employment over a long period use or heating. More specifically, the deterioration of the organic molecules results in reduction of the luminance of the organic EL device, or an increase of a drive voltage for attaining constant luminance (this deterioration is hereinafter referred to as voltage increase deterioration), for example. In general, the cause for deterioration of an organic EL device resulting from incidence of light into the device has been regarded as photo decomposition of organic molecules caused by ultraviolet light (light having wavelengths of about 1 to 400 nm). Further, the main factor for such photo decomposition of the organic molecules caused by ultraviolet light has been regarded as the presence of residual oxygen and moisture in the device or the like. In order to prevent this deterioration of the organic EL device, a method of sealing the organic EL device itself in an inert gas atmosphere or a method of preventing the organic EL device from entrance of ultraviolet light by providing a layer blocking ultraviolet light has been proposed (refer to JP-4-334895-A or JP-2002-184572-A). However, the voltage increase deterioration is caused when not only ultraviolet light but also visible light enters the device.
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10975427
| 2,004
|
Semiconductor display device
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To provide a semiconductor display device capable of displaying an image having clarity and a desired color, even when the speed of deterioration of an EL layer is influenced by its environment. Display pixels and sensor pixels of an EL display each have an EL element, and the sensor pixels each have a diode. The luminance of the EL elements of each in the display pixels is controlled in accordance with the amount of electric current flowing in each of the diodes.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an EL display that is formed by fabricating an EL (Electro Luminescence) element on a substrate. Particularly, the present invention relates to an active matrix type EL display that uses a semiconductor element (an element employing a semiconductor thin film), and furthermore to a semiconductor display device employing the EL display. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, technology for forming a TFT on a substrate has been largely improved, and an application development of the TFT to an active matrix type semiconductor display device has been carried out. In particular, the TFT using a polysilicon film has a higher electric field effect mobility than the TFT using a conventional amorphous silicon film, and therefore, the TFT may be operated at a high speed. Thus, the pixel control which has been conducted at a driver circuit outside of the substrate may be conducted at the driver circuit which is formed on the same substrate as the pixel. Such an active matrix type semiconductor display device can, by preparing various circuits and elements on the same substrate, obtain various advantages such as a decrease in manufacturing cost, a decrease in the size of the semiconductor display device, an increase in yield, and a decrease in throughput. Further, research on the active matrix type EL display having an EL element as a self-light-emitting element is becoming more and more active. The EL display is referred to as a light-emitting display, an organic EL display (OELD) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED). The EL display is a self-light-emitting type unlike a liquid crystal display device. The EL element is constituted such that a layer containing an organic compound (hereinafter, referred to as an EL layer) is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode). However, the EL layer normally has a lamination structure. Typically, the lamination structure of a “hole transport layer/a light emitting layer/an electron transport layer” proposed by Tang et al. of the Eastman Kodak Company can be cited. This structure has a very high light-emitting efficiency, and this structure is adopted in almost all the EL displays which are currently subjected to research and development. When the EL element obtains Luminescence (Electro Luminescence) which is generated by applying a voltage to the EL element, it is composed of an anode layer an EL layer, and a cathode layer. There are two types of luminescence in an organic compound, one being a luminescence that is generated when the organic compound returns from a singlet excitation state to a around state (fluorescence) and the other being a luminescence that is generated when the organic compound returns from a triplet excitation state to a ground state (phosphorescence). Either type of luminescence may be used in the EL display of the present invention. In addition, the structure may be such that on the electrodes, a hole injection layer/a hole transport layer/a light emitting layer/an electron transport layer, or a hole injection layer/a hole transport layer/a light emitting layer/an electron transport layer/an electron injection layer may be laminated in order. Phosphorescent dye or the like may be doped into the light emitting layer. In this specification, all the layers provided between a pair of electrodes are generally referred to as EL layers. Consequently, the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, the light emitting layer, the electron transport layer, the electron injection layer and the like are all included in the EL layers. In this specification, a light emitting element, which is composed of an anode, an EL layer and a cathode, is referred to as an EL element. The deterioration of the EL material of the EL layer has become a problem in the realization of the EL display, which leads to the reduction in the luminance of the EL element. The EL material of the EL layer is inferior to moisture, oxygen, light, and heat, which are the factors that promote the deterioration of the EL layer. To be more specific, the rate at which the EL layer deteriorates is influenced by the structure of a device driving the EL display, characteristics of the EL material structuring the EL layer, materials of an electrode, conditions of the manufacturing processes, a driving method of the EL display and the like. The EL layer deteriorates even if a constant voltage from a pair of electrodes is applied thereto, whereby the luminance of the EL element is reduced. Thus, an image displayed on the EL display is not clear because of the reduction in the luminance of the EL element. Further, Color display systems of the EL display are roughly divided into four; a system where three kinds of EL elements corresponding to R (red), G (green), and B (blue), respectively, are formed; a system here EL elements emitting white light are combined with a color filter; a system where EL elements emitting blue or blue-green light are combined with a fluophor (fluorescent color conversion layer: CCM); and a system where EL elements corresponding to R, G, and B are superimposed on a transparent electrode used as a cathode (an opposing electrode) (RGB stacking method). The EL material that structures the EL layer differs depending on the luminescing color of the EL layer. Therefore, in the color display system that employs three kinds of El elements corresponding to the colors R (red), G (green), and B (blue), the three kinds of EL elements of the EL layer corresponding to RGB each may deteriorate at different rates. In this case, the luminance of the EL elements that correspond to RGB becomes dissimilar, respectively, as time passes. Consequently, an image having a desirable color cannot be displayed on the EL display.
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Title:
Semiconductor display device
Abstract:
To provide a semiconductor display device capable of displaying an image having clarity and a desired color, even when the speed of deterioration of an EL layer is influenced by its environment. Display pixels and sensor pixels of an EL display each have an EL element, and the sensor pixels each have a diode. The luminance of the EL elements of each in the display pixels is controlled in accordance with the amount of electric current flowing in each of the diodes.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an EL display that is formed by fabricating an EL (Electro Luminescence) element on a substrate. Particularly, the present invention relates to an active matrix type EL display that uses a semiconductor element (an element employing a semiconductor thin film), and furthermore to a semiconductor display device employing the EL display. 2. Description of the Related Art In recent years, technology for forming a TFT on a substrate has been largely improved, and an application development of the TFT to an active matrix type semiconductor display device has been carried out. In particular, the TFT using a polysilicon film has a higher electric field effect mobility than the TFT using a conventional amorphous silicon film, and therefore, the TFT may be operated at a high speed. Thus, the pixel control which has been conducted at a driver circuit outside of the substrate may be conducted at the driver circuit which is formed on the same substrate as the pixel. Such an active matrix type semiconductor display device can, by preparing various circuits and elements on the same substrate, obtain various advantages such as a decrease in manufacturing cost, a decrease in the size of the semiconductor display device, an increase in yield, and a decrease in throughput. Further, research on the active matrix type EL display having an EL element as a self-light-emitting element is becoming more and more active. The EL display is referred to as a light-emitting display, an organic EL display (OELD) or an organic light-emitting diode (OLED). The EL display is a self-light-emitting type unlike a liquid crystal display device. The EL element is constituted such that a layer containing an organic compound (hereinafter, referred to as an EL layer) is sandwiched between a pair of electrodes (anode and cathode). However, the EL layer normally has a lamination structure. Typically, the lamination structure of a “hole transport layer/a light emitting layer/an electron transport layer” proposed by Tang et al. of the Eastman Kodak Company can be cited. This structure has a very high light-emitting efficiency, and this structure is adopted in almost all the EL displays which are currently subjected to research and development. When the EL element obtains Luminescence (Electro Luminescence) which is generated by applying a voltage to the EL element, it is composed of an anode layer an EL layer, and a cathode layer. There are two types of luminescence in an organic compound, one being a luminescence that is generated when the organic compound returns from a singlet excitation state to a around state (fluorescence) and the other being a luminescence that is generated when the organic compound returns from a triplet excitation state to a ground state (phosphorescence). Either type of luminescence may be used in the EL display of the present invention. In addition, the structure may be such that on the electrodes, a hole injection layer/a hole transport layer/a light emitting layer/an electron transport layer, or a hole injection layer/a hole transport layer/a light emitting layer/an electron transport layer/an electron injection layer may be laminated in order. Phosphorescent dye or the like may be doped into the light emitting layer. In this specification, all the layers provided between a pair of electrodes are generally referred to as EL layers. Consequently, the hole injection layer, the hole transport layer, the light emitting layer, the electron transport layer, the electron injection layer and the like are all included in the EL layers. In this specification, a light emitting element, which is composed of an anode, an EL layer and a cathode, is referred to as an EL element. The deterioration of the EL material of the EL layer has become a problem in the realization of the EL display, which leads to the reduction in the luminance of the EL element. The EL material of the EL layer is inferior to moisture, oxygen, light, and heat, which are the factors that promote the deterioration of the EL layer. To be more specific, the rate at which the EL layer deteriorates is influenced by the structure of a device driving the EL display, characteristics of the EL material structuring the EL layer, materials of an electrode, conditions of the manufacturing processes, a driving method of the EL display and the like. The EL layer deteriorates even if a constant voltage from a pair of electrodes is applied thereto, whereby the luminance of the EL element is reduced. Thus, an image displayed on the EL display is not clear because of the reduction in the luminance of the EL element. Further, Color display systems of the EL display are roughly divided into four; a system where three kinds of EL elements corresponding to R (red), G (green), and B (blue), respectively, are formed; a system here EL elements emitting white light are combined with a color filter; a system where EL elements emitting blue or blue-green light are combined with a fluophor (fluorescent color conversion layer: CCM); and a system where EL elements corresponding to R, G, and B are superimposed on a transparent electrode used as a cathode (an opposing electrode) (RGB stacking method). The EL material that structures the EL layer differs depending on the luminescing color of the EL layer. Therefore, in the color display system that employs three kinds of El elements corresponding to the colors R (red), G (green), and B (blue), the three kinds of EL elements of the EL layer corresponding to RGB each may deteriorate at different rates. In this case, the luminance of the EL elements that correspond to RGB becomes dissimilar, respectively, as time passes. Consequently, an image having a desirable color cannot be displayed on the EL display.
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11017701
| 2,004
|
Timing-adjusting method and apparatus, and diversity receivign method and apparatus
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An A-D conversion unit performs analog-to-digital conversions on baseband signals. A correlation processing unit carries out a correlation processing. A power computing unit computes the power of correlation values. An inter-signal condition determining unit compares a relationship between the peak of a main signal and the peak of sub-signals to a first condition, and excludes, from combining diversity, baseband signals corresponding to the sub-signals if the relationship does not satisfy the first condition. An intra-signal condition determining unit 30 compares the main signals and sub-signals to a second condition, respectively, and excludes signals from combining diversity if the signals do not satisfy the second condition. A timing adjusting unit adjusts the timing of sub-signals so that the timing thereof comes close to the timing of the main signal. A shift unit shifts the timing of sampled signals corresponding to the sub-signals.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the timing adjusting technologies, and it particularly relates to timing-adjusting method and apparatus and diversity receiving method and apparatus with which to adjust the timing of a plurality of signals received by a plurality of antennas so as to carry out the diversity reception. 2. Description of the Related Art In digital radio communication, signals transmitted from a transmitting apparatus travel through radio propagation paths before they are received by a receiving apparatus. The receiving apparatus extracts information symbols, which are the object of transmission, from the signals received. In order to extract such information symbols accurately, the receiving apparatus must carry out extraction with a timing synchronized with the timing of the information symbols sent from the transmitting apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “synchronous timing”). Generally, a receiving apparatus, which is not informed of a synchronous timing from a transmitting apparatus, extracts one from the signals it has received. However, where the signals transmitted between a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus are multi-carrier signals, application of an extraction method of synchronous timing for single-carrier signals may result in an increase in the amount of processing with the increase in the number of carriers. On the other hand, one of the methods for suppressing the amount of processing, which results from the extraction of synchronous timing for multi-carrier signals, is such that the correlation value between the pilot signal contained in the received signals and the pilot signal prepared beforehand is calculated and the timing when the peak of the correlation value is attained is extracted as the synchronous timing (See, for example, Reference (1) in the Related Art List below). Related Art List (1) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei8-46659. To improve the quality of signal transmission, a receiving apparatus may be provided with a plurality of antennas and a plurality of signals received by the plurality of antennas may be subjected to a diversity processing, or sometimes a combining diversity processing. In such a case, timing errors of the respective antennas may add up and, therefore, they are likely to lead to larger timing errors. If the difference in timing between antennas becomes large, the received signals rotates, and a combining diversity processing for the rotated signals may not result in any improvement in the transmission characteristics of signals. With multi-carrier signals, the rotation occurs with the sub-carriers, so that a combined diversity processing between sub-carriers with opposite phases may lead to a worsening of transmission characteristics of signals.
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Title:
Timing-adjusting method and apparatus, and diversity receivign method and apparatus
Abstract:
An A-D conversion unit performs analog-to-digital conversions on baseband signals. A correlation processing unit carries out a correlation processing. A power computing unit computes the power of correlation values. An inter-signal condition determining unit compares a relationship between the peak of a main signal and the peak of sub-signals to a first condition, and excludes, from combining diversity, baseband signals corresponding to the sub-signals if the relationship does not satisfy the first condition. An intra-signal condition determining unit 30 compares the main signals and sub-signals to a second condition, respectively, and excludes signals from combining diversity if the signals do not satisfy the second condition. A timing adjusting unit adjusts the timing of sub-signals so that the timing thereof comes close to the timing of the main signal. A shift unit shifts the timing of sampled signals corresponding to the sub-signals.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to the timing adjusting technologies, and it particularly relates to timing-adjusting method and apparatus and diversity receiving method and apparatus with which to adjust the timing of a plurality of signals received by a plurality of antennas so as to carry out the diversity reception. 2. Description of the Related Art In digital radio communication, signals transmitted from a transmitting apparatus travel through radio propagation paths before they are received by a receiving apparatus. The receiving apparatus extracts information symbols, which are the object of transmission, from the signals received. In order to extract such information symbols accurately, the receiving apparatus must carry out extraction with a timing synchronized with the timing of the information symbols sent from the transmitting apparatus (hereinafter referred to as “synchronous timing”). Generally, a receiving apparatus, which is not informed of a synchronous timing from a transmitting apparatus, extracts one from the signals it has received. However, where the signals transmitted between a transmitting apparatus and a receiving apparatus are multi-carrier signals, application of an extraction method of synchronous timing for single-carrier signals may result in an increase in the amount of processing with the increase in the number of carriers. On the other hand, one of the methods for suppressing the amount of processing, which results from the extraction of synchronous timing for multi-carrier signals, is such that the correlation value between the pilot signal contained in the received signals and the pilot signal prepared beforehand is calculated and the timing when the peak of the correlation value is attained is extracted as the synchronous timing (See, for example, Reference (1) in the Related Art List below). Related Art List (1) Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. Hei8-46659. To improve the quality of signal transmission, a receiving apparatus may be provided with a plurality of antennas and a plurality of signals received by the plurality of antennas may be subjected to a diversity processing, or sometimes a combining diversity processing. In such a case, timing errors of the respective antennas may add up and, therefore, they are likely to lead to larger timing errors. If the difference in timing between antennas becomes large, the received signals rotates, and a combining diversity processing for the rotated signals may not result in any improvement in the transmission characteristics of signals. With multi-carrier signals, the rotation occurs with the sub-carriers, so that a combined diversity processing between sub-carriers with opposite phases may lead to a worsening of transmission characteristics of signals.
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11013735
| 2,004
|
Winch gate for protection barrier system
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A winch gate for a waterborne protection barrier system includes a winch containing a length of wire wrapped around a spool. The winch gate also includes a metal fair lead that is disposed adjacent to the winch and that is positioned so as to accept the wire when the winch is controlled to unspool the wire from the spool. A hook is coupled to an end of the wire and configured to be coupled to a chain that is itself coupled to a protection barrier module of the protection barrier system. When the winch is controlled to spool the wire back onto the spool after the winch was controlled to unspool the wire from the spool and after the wire has been coupled to the chain, the chain is pulled through the metal fair lead and thereby onto the winch gate, to thereby allow the chain to be affixed to the winch gate.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A. Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to protection barriers and, more particularly, to durable, floating boat barriers that are used to protect areas such as harbors, water regions, or other types of land or water areas from high speed and low speed water craft attack. B. Description of the Related Art In the current environment with terrorist activities on the rise, there is a need to protect assets from terrorist attacks. One type of protection device is a floating harbor protection barrier system designed to provide protection to military and commercial harbors from high speed surface boat attacks. Initial research into harbor protection by the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center led to the development of a mostly mild-steel structure called the Port Security Barrier. The Port Security Barrier consists of three steel pontoons supporting a steel box beam, steel supports for netting, steel braces, and primary netting made up of 1.125 inch diameter nylon 12-plait line with a mesh size of one foot. Another type of floating barrier device is described in the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center Technical Report TR-2027-SHR, dated September, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as “Technical Report”). As described in the Technical Report, a lightweight floating barrier for defeating a high speed boat attack includes at least one 40-foot-long barrier module with a lightweight glass reinforced plastic (GRP) frame, low density closed cell foam floats, and a capture net woven from high strength Spectra™ line. Each barrier module can be folded for ease in transportation between locations, and assembly and installation of a lightweight floating barrier can be done with unskilled labor using simple tools and support craft. While the use of GRP for components of a harbor protection barrier is an improvement over the use of a mostly-steel or an all-steel construction for a harbor protection barrier in some respects (e.g., lower maintenance costs), it still has problems associated with not being as structurally strong as the mostly-steel construction, and thereby it does not provide as good a protection or durability as one would get from the mostly-steel construction or all-steel construction of a harbor protection barrier. For example, a test described in the Technical Report (see FIG. 29 of the Technical Report) shows that a GRP protection barrier frame was shattered by a high-speed boat impacting the GRP protection barrier. One can surmise from that test that boats following a lead boat (which impacted the GRP protection barrier) may be able to follow the same path in the water as the lead boat and thereby penetrate into a region protected by one or more GRP protection barriers, which is clearly undesirable. Furthermore, conventional GRP Port Security barrier modules are not particularly sturdy with respect to dealing with forces due to boat attacks and/or forces due to severe weather conditions. Also, for an all-steel construction or for a mostly-steel construction of a Port Security barrier, there is a problem in that maintenance costs are very high. For example, when the Port Security barrier is floating in the water, it deteriorates over time due to the sea water that comes in contact with the steel. This leads to rusting, which causes deterioration of the Port Security barrier, thereby making it less structurally sound. While such steel-constructed Port Security barriers typically have a paint coat to partially counter the rusting problem, the conventional Port Security barriers have to be painted fairly often in order to maintain the structural integrity of the paint barrier, which again results in high maintenance costs. Furthermore, with conventional Port Security barriers, there is a problem associated with coupling two or more harbor protection barrier modules together to protect a large region, such as a harbor. As described in the Technical Report, each protection barrier module is 40 feet long, and thus to protect a length of harbor of 150 feet would require four (4) protection barrier modules coupled together. The conventional method of coupling protection barrier modules to each other is via a loose coupling at the respective ends of adjacent protection barrier modules, typically by coupling a steel cable to respective ends of adjacent protection barrier modules. This loose coupling results in undesired stresses being imparted to individual protection barrier modules as they flop around in the water due to inclement weather conditions such as high wave and high wind conditions. Such a loose coupling between protection barrier modules may result in damage to individual protection barrier modules, with results in an undesired cost associated with repairing protection barrier modules already installed or having to utilize new protection barrier modules to replace protection barrier modules that are damaged beyond repair. The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above, such as to provide a sturdy harbor protection barrier structure that can withstand hurricane force winds and that does not require much upkeep
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Title:
Winch gate for protection barrier system
Abstract:
A winch gate for a waterborne protection barrier system includes a winch containing a length of wire wrapped around a spool. The winch gate also includes a metal fair lead that is disposed adjacent to the winch and that is positioned so as to accept the wire when the winch is controlled to unspool the wire from the spool. A hook is coupled to an end of the wire and configured to be coupled to a chain that is itself coupled to a protection barrier module of the protection barrier system. When the winch is controlled to spool the wire back onto the spool after the winch was controlled to unspool the wire from the spool and after the wire has been coupled to the chain, the chain is pulled through the metal fair lead and thereby onto the winch gate, to thereby allow the chain to be affixed to the winch gate.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION A. Field of the Invention The invention relates generally to protection barriers and, more particularly, to durable, floating boat barriers that are used to protect areas such as harbors, water regions, or other types of land or water areas from high speed and low speed water craft attack. B. Description of the Related Art In the current environment with terrorist activities on the rise, there is a need to protect assets from terrorist attacks. One type of protection device is a floating harbor protection barrier system designed to provide protection to military and commercial harbors from high speed surface boat attacks. Initial research into harbor protection by the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center led to the development of a mostly mild-steel structure called the Port Security Barrier. The Port Security Barrier consists of three steel pontoons supporting a steel box beam, steel supports for netting, steel braces, and primary netting made up of 1.125 inch diameter nylon 12-plait line with a mesh size of one foot. Another type of floating barrier device is described in the Naval Facilities Engineering Service Center Technical Report TR-2027-SHR, dated September, 1994 (hereinafter referred to as “Technical Report”). As described in the Technical Report, a lightweight floating barrier for defeating a high speed boat attack includes at least one 40-foot-long barrier module with a lightweight glass reinforced plastic (GRP) frame, low density closed cell foam floats, and a capture net woven from high strength Spectra™ line. Each barrier module can be folded for ease in transportation between locations, and assembly and installation of a lightweight floating barrier can be done with unskilled labor using simple tools and support craft. While the use of GRP for components of a harbor protection barrier is an improvement over the use of a mostly-steel or an all-steel construction for a harbor protection barrier in some respects (e.g., lower maintenance costs), it still has problems associated with not being as structurally strong as the mostly-steel construction, and thereby it does not provide as good a protection or durability as one would get from the mostly-steel construction or all-steel construction of a harbor protection barrier. For example, a test described in the Technical Report (see FIG. 29 of the Technical Report) shows that a GRP protection barrier frame was shattered by a high-speed boat impacting the GRP protection barrier. One can surmise from that test that boats following a lead boat (which impacted the GRP protection barrier) may be able to follow the same path in the water as the lead boat and thereby penetrate into a region protected by one or more GRP protection barriers, which is clearly undesirable. Furthermore, conventional GRP Port Security barrier modules are not particularly sturdy with respect to dealing with forces due to boat attacks and/or forces due to severe weather conditions. Also, for an all-steel construction or for a mostly-steel construction of a Port Security barrier, there is a problem in that maintenance costs are very high. For example, when the Port Security barrier is floating in the water, it deteriorates over time due to the sea water that comes in contact with the steel. This leads to rusting, which causes deterioration of the Port Security barrier, thereby making it less structurally sound. While such steel-constructed Port Security barriers typically have a paint coat to partially counter the rusting problem, the conventional Port Security barriers have to be painted fairly often in order to maintain the structural integrity of the paint barrier, which again results in high maintenance costs. Furthermore, with conventional Port Security barriers, there is a problem associated with coupling two or more harbor protection barrier modules together to protect a large region, such as a harbor. As described in the Technical Report, each protection barrier module is 40 feet long, and thus to protect a length of harbor of 150 feet would require four (4) protection barrier modules coupled together. The conventional method of coupling protection barrier modules to each other is via a loose coupling at the respective ends of adjacent protection barrier modules, typically by coupling a steel cable to respective ends of adjacent protection barrier modules. This loose coupling results in undesired stresses being imparted to individual protection barrier modules as they flop around in the water due to inclement weather conditions such as high wave and high wind conditions. Such a loose coupling between protection barrier modules may result in damage to individual protection barrier modules, with results in an undesired cost associated with repairing protection barrier modules already installed or having to utilize new protection barrier modules to replace protection barrier modules that are damaged beyond repair. The present invention is directed to overcoming or at least reducing the effects of one or more of the problems set forth above, such as to provide a sturdy harbor protection barrier structure that can withstand hurricane force winds and that does not require much upkeep
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10976028
| 2,004
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Method, apparatus, and system for transmitting information
|
A server controls client apparatuses to transmit the same information to the client apparatuses without imposing workload on each client apparatus. The server is free from any interruption of the transmission of information signal unintended by the server. The server receives information designating at least one client apparatus as a destination of the information signal through a keyboard of the server, and transmits audio contents stored in a content storage hard disk to each of the client apparatuses, designated in the received designate information, through a controller and a communication unit. At least one client apparatus concurrently plays the audio content.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method, an apparatus, and a system for transmitting information in a local area network (LAN), such as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802 network environment. 2. Description of the Related Art With the widespread use of personal computers and the advances of the Internet, users use personal computers at home or offices to access a variety of servers over the Internet. The users download a diversity of content data, exchanges electronic mails, or participates in a chat system to exchange opinions through text data on a real-time basis. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-184292 discloses a technique of a chat system of the Internet in which a limited number of persons participating in a chat is allowed to concurrently listen to audio data. Via a wide area network (WAN), users quickly acquire information at home or in offices, and smoothly exchange and share information. Communication technology has thus substantially advanced, providing convenient environments. Sharing of files and printers is performed not only in a WAN but also in a LAN which is constructed in a limited area, such as home or offices, with personal computers and peripheral devices interconnected. Known LANs employing universal asynchronous receiver-transceiver (UART) are unable to provide a sufficiently high data rate. It takes long time for the LAN to transmit or receive audio data requiring a data rate of about 1.4 MBps (Mbytes/s). With universal serial bus (USB) introduced, personal computers transfer audio data from a USB connector. The maximum length of a USB cable is limited to 5 m. Under this limitation, a typical application of a peripheral device is a loudspeaker device of the personal computer used in the same room. Communications in accordance with the today's widely used transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) not only achieve data rate and reliability in a performance level high enough to transfer audio data but also work with a cable extended to a maximum of 100 m in a LAN system installed at a home. Under these conditions, music is thus listened to everywhere in a wide area. With an apparatus, such as a network hub, the number of networked apparatuses is increased. A plurality of pieces of audio data can be transferred at a time in view of communication bandwidth. If one server having a typical throughput is available, the server can concurrently supply client apparatuses in a plurality of rooms with audio data. Personal computers and a variety of audio visual (AV) apparatuses, installed at a home, are connected via a LAN. Content data stored in a personal computer, such as audio data, video data, and AV data (containing audio data and video data synchronized with each other), are enjoyed on respective apparatuses in a living room, a study room, a bed room, etc. As in the WAN system, a client apparatus receiving information issues a request to a server providing information in the LAN system in a typical operation mode. In response, the server supplies the client apparatus with desired information. In a LAN system with a plurality of client apparatuses configured therewithin, the client apparatuses access the server to concurrently receive the desired contents thereof. In the case of the LAN system installed at a home, typically referred to as a home network, users may wish the personal computer working as a server to play the same content on the AV apparatus in each of the rooms, or in predetermined rooms only. More specifically, the same audio data is transmitted to all rooms so that the same music is enjoyed in all rooms. Alternatively, the same audio data is transmitted to two rooms, which could be child's rooms. Rather than in response to a request from the client apparatuses, the server actively controls the client apparatuses. The technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-184292 for sharing the audio data can be used in a WAN system. However, in accordance with the disclosed technique, not only text data but also audio data is shared among participants in the Internet chat system. Without completing registration, any user cannot enjoy audio data as a supply destination in the chat group. Even a registered user cannot receive audio data unless the client apparatus of the user issues a request to transmit. The technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-184292 has no concept that a predetermined controller, such as a server, actively controls a client apparatus as a destination of content data. The disclosed technique thus fails to fully satisfy the need that the predetermined controller, such as the server, flexibly controls the client apparatus in accordance with intended usage. In the home network LAN system, the client apparatuses are typically consumer electronics (CEs) dedicated to processing audio data and video data, including AV apparatuses, such as hard disk recorders. With a TCP/IP application running on such a client apparatus, it is advisable not to impose a large workload on the client apparatus.
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Title:
Method, apparatus, and system for transmitting information
Abstract:
A server controls client apparatuses to transmit the same information to the client apparatuses without imposing workload on each client apparatus. The server is free from any interruption of the transmission of information signal unintended by the server. The server receives information designating at least one client apparatus as a destination of the information signal through a keyboard of the server, and transmits audio contents stored in a content storage hard disk to each of the client apparatuses, designated in the received designate information, through a controller and a communication unit. At least one client apparatus concurrently plays the audio content.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to a method, an apparatus, and a system for transmitting information in a local area network (LAN), such as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802 network environment. 2. Description of the Related Art With the widespread use of personal computers and the advances of the Internet, users use personal computers at home or offices to access a variety of servers over the Internet. The users download a diversity of content data, exchanges electronic mails, or participates in a chat system to exchange opinions through text data on a real-time basis. Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-184292 discloses a technique of a chat system of the Internet in which a limited number of persons participating in a chat is allowed to concurrently listen to audio data. Via a wide area network (WAN), users quickly acquire information at home or in offices, and smoothly exchange and share information. Communication technology has thus substantially advanced, providing convenient environments. Sharing of files and printers is performed not only in a WAN but also in a LAN which is constructed in a limited area, such as home or offices, with personal computers and peripheral devices interconnected. Known LANs employing universal asynchronous receiver-transceiver (UART) are unable to provide a sufficiently high data rate. It takes long time for the LAN to transmit or receive audio data requiring a data rate of about 1.4 MBps (Mbytes/s). With universal serial bus (USB) introduced, personal computers transfer audio data from a USB connector. The maximum length of a USB cable is limited to 5 m. Under this limitation, a typical application of a peripheral device is a loudspeaker device of the personal computer used in the same room. Communications in accordance with the today's widely used transmission control protocol/internet protocol (TCP/IP) not only achieve data rate and reliability in a performance level high enough to transfer audio data but also work with a cable extended to a maximum of 100 m in a LAN system installed at a home. Under these conditions, music is thus listened to everywhere in a wide area. With an apparatus, such as a network hub, the number of networked apparatuses is increased. A plurality of pieces of audio data can be transferred at a time in view of communication bandwidth. If one server having a typical throughput is available, the server can concurrently supply client apparatuses in a plurality of rooms with audio data. Personal computers and a variety of audio visual (AV) apparatuses, installed at a home, are connected via a LAN. Content data stored in a personal computer, such as audio data, video data, and AV data (containing audio data and video data synchronized with each other), are enjoyed on respective apparatuses in a living room, a study room, a bed room, etc. As in the WAN system, a client apparatus receiving information issues a request to a server providing information in the LAN system in a typical operation mode. In response, the server supplies the client apparatus with desired information. In a LAN system with a plurality of client apparatuses configured therewithin, the client apparatuses access the server to concurrently receive the desired contents thereof. In the case of the LAN system installed at a home, typically referred to as a home network, users may wish the personal computer working as a server to play the same content on the AV apparatus in each of the rooms, or in predetermined rooms only. More specifically, the same audio data is transmitted to all rooms so that the same music is enjoyed in all rooms. Alternatively, the same audio data is transmitted to two rooms, which could be child's rooms. Rather than in response to a request from the client apparatuses, the server actively controls the client apparatuses. The technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-184292 for sharing the audio data can be used in a WAN system. However, in accordance with the disclosed technique, not only text data but also audio data is shared among participants in the Internet chat system. Without completing registration, any user cannot enjoy audio data as a supply destination in the chat group. Even a registered user cannot receive audio data unless the client apparatus of the user issues a request to transmit. The technique disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2001-184292 has no concept that a predetermined controller, such as a server, actively controls a client apparatus as a destination of content data. The disclosed technique thus fails to fully satisfy the need that the predetermined controller, such as the server, flexibly controls the client apparatus in accordance with intended usage. In the home network LAN system, the client apparatuses are typically consumer electronics (CEs) dedicated to processing audio data and video data, including AV apparatuses, such as hard disk recorders. With a TCP/IP application running on such a client apparatus, it is advisable not to impose a large workload on the client apparatus.
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10830733
| 2,004
|
Optical products for displays
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An optical sheet is comprised of an optical film laminated onto an adhesive layer. The perimeter of the adhesive layer is inset from the perimeter of the optical film. Multiple optical films may be stacked onto each other to form an optical sheet set that efficiently assembles into an optical display. The optical sheet set has no exposed adhesive, which tends to collect dust and particles or transfer to other parts of the display.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to optical films. In particular, the present invention relates to optical sheets formed by bonding adhesive to optical films. Optical films are used to increase the amount of light exiting an optical display in a direction normal, or “on-axis,” to the surface of the display. Increasing the amount of on-axis light reduces the amount of energy required to generate a desired amount of on-axis luminance. This is particularly important for optical displays that use battery powered light sources such as those used in laptop computers, calculators, digital wristwatches, cellular phones, and personal digital assistants. The 3M brand Brightness Enhancement Film is used to address this problem. The film collects light from “off-axis” and redirects or “recycles” this light on-axis toward the viewer. In use, this material increases the on-axis luminance at the expense of off-axis luminance. A “turning” film is also used to increase the amount of on-axis light exiting a display. Turning films are usually used in combination with a wedge-shaped light guide. Light rays exiting the light guide at the glancing angle, usually less than 30° to the output surface, are internally reflected such that they are directed substantially on-axis. Representative embodiments of turning films are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. RE 38,243 and 4,984,144. Another film used to increase on-axis light exiting a display is a multilayer polymer film such as DBEF from 3M Company. The film is formed of about 700 to 800 layers of polymer each having about 150 nm thickness and provides high reflectivity over a wide bandwidth. Representative embodiments are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,421. Other films, such as diffuser-type films, along with the films described above, are used extensively in optical displays. Multiple films are arranged between the optical light guide and liquid crystal panel of a liquid crystal display (LCD), and it is difficult and inefficient to insert each film individually. This is especially true for small displays. In addition, these films have a structured surface that is fragile and easily damaged and must be protected until the films are assembled into a display. To prevent scratching or other damage prior to assembly in a display, a protective cover, or pre-mask, is laminated to the film to protect the structured surface. Placing and then removing the pre-mask from each film are added steps in the manufacture of displays, which increases the cost and time required for assembly.
|
Title:
Optical products for displays
Abstract:
An optical sheet is comprised of an optical film laminated onto an adhesive layer. The perimeter of the adhesive layer is inset from the perimeter of the optical film. Multiple optical films may be stacked onto each other to form an optical sheet set that efficiently assembles into an optical display. The optical sheet set has no exposed adhesive, which tends to collect dust and particles or transfer to other parts of the display.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to optical films. In particular, the present invention relates to optical sheets formed by bonding adhesive to optical films. Optical films are used to increase the amount of light exiting an optical display in a direction normal, or “on-axis,” to the surface of the display. Increasing the amount of on-axis light reduces the amount of energy required to generate a desired amount of on-axis luminance. This is particularly important for optical displays that use battery powered light sources such as those used in laptop computers, calculators, digital wristwatches, cellular phones, and personal digital assistants. The 3M brand Brightness Enhancement Film is used to address this problem. The film collects light from “off-axis” and redirects or “recycles” this light on-axis toward the viewer. In use, this material increases the on-axis luminance at the expense of off-axis luminance. A “turning” film is also used to increase the amount of on-axis light exiting a display. Turning films are usually used in combination with a wedge-shaped light guide. Light rays exiting the light guide at the glancing angle, usually less than 30° to the output surface, are internally reflected such that they are directed substantially on-axis. Representative embodiments of turning films are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. RE 38,243 and 4,984,144. Another film used to increase on-axis light exiting a display is a multilayer polymer film such as DBEF from 3M Company. The film is formed of about 700 to 800 layers of polymer each having about 150 nm thickness and provides high reflectivity over a wide bandwidth. Representative embodiments are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,421. Other films, such as diffuser-type films, along with the films described above, are used extensively in optical displays. Multiple films are arranged between the optical light guide and liquid crystal panel of a liquid crystal display (LCD), and it is difficult and inefficient to insert each film individually. This is especially true for small displays. In addition, these films have a structured surface that is fragile and easily damaged and must be protected until the films are assembled into a display. To prevent scratching or other damage prior to assembly in a display, a protective cover, or pre-mask, is laminated to the film to protect the structured surface. Placing and then removing the pre-mask from each film are added steps in the manufacture of displays, which increases the cost and time required for assembly.
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10917650
| 2,004
|
Electrical connector
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An electrical connector (1) includes an elongate insulative housing (10), a number of contacts (20), a shell (30), a cover (40) and a pair of soldering pads (50). The insulative housing includes a mating surface (11), two side walls (12) and a channel (13) between the side walls. The contacts are received in the insulative housing and each comprises an engaging portion (21) and a soldering portion (22). The shell is assembled to outer surfaces of the side walls. The cover is adhered to the mating surface for obstructing the shell from moving upwardly.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having a shell securely retained thereon. 2. Description of the Related Art Electrical connectors are used in a variety of applications. One type of connector is commonly known as a board-to-board connector for interconnecting two circuit boards. A board-to-board connector typically includes interengageable male and female connectors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,976 discloses such a plug connector comprising an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing, and a pair of grounding plates positioned on two sides of the housing of the plug connector wherein a plurality of grounding pins of each grounding plates are selectively connected to some of the contacts of the plug connector, and a corresponding number of engagement arms are positioned opposite to such grounding pins, respectively. In such a way, the housing of the plug connector includes a number of pairs of protrusions positioned on an exterior surface of each side wall for mating with corresponding retention arms of the grounding plates. The structure of the housing will occupy too much space on a printed circuit board (PCB). Furthermore, assembling of the engagement arms of the grounding plates is inconvenient. Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
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Title:
Electrical connector
Abstract:
An electrical connector (1) includes an elongate insulative housing (10), a number of contacts (20), a shell (30), a cover (40) and a pair of soldering pads (50). The insulative housing includes a mating surface (11), two side walls (12) and a channel (13) between the side walls. The contacts are received in the insulative housing and each comprises an engaging portion (21) and a soldering portion (22). The shell is assembled to outer surfaces of the side walls. The cover is adhered to the mating surface for obstructing the shell from moving upwardly.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to an electrical connector having a shell securely retained thereon. 2. Description of the Related Art Electrical connectors are used in a variety of applications. One type of connector is commonly known as a board-to-board connector for interconnecting two circuit boards. A board-to-board connector typically includes interengageable male and female connectors. U.S. Pat. No. 5,915,976 discloses such a plug connector comprising an insulative housing, a plurality of contacts received in the insulative housing, and a pair of grounding plates positioned on two sides of the housing of the plug connector wherein a plurality of grounding pins of each grounding plates are selectively connected to some of the contacts of the plug connector, and a corresponding number of engagement arms are positioned opposite to such grounding pins, respectively. In such a way, the housing of the plug connector includes a number of pairs of protrusions positioned on an exterior surface of each side wall for mating with corresponding retention arms of the grounding plates. The structure of the housing will occupy too much space on a printed circuit board (PCB). Furthermore, assembling of the engagement arms of the grounding plates is inconvenient. Hence, an improved electrical connector is required to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art.
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10503085
| 2,004
|
Polyaphron fuel compositions
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A fuel composition which comprises a biliquid foam consisting of from 10% to 97.5% by weight of non-coalescing droplets of a non-polar liquid comprising a petroleum derivative, paraffin or a liquid halogenated hydrocarbon and from 2 to 87% by weight of a continuous phase polar liquid comprising a C1-C3 alcohol, a C4 alcohol containing at least two hydroxy groups, or ethylene glycol, or mixtures thereof, in an amount of from 60% to 100% by weight thereof, wherein the biliquid foam is stabilized with an amount of from 0.5 to 3.0% by weight based on the total formulation of a surfactant which is selected from castor oil/poly(alkylene glycol) adducts containing from 20 to 50 alkoxy groups, or hydrogenated castor oil/poly(alkylene glycol) adducts containing from 20 to 60 alkoxy groups, or mixtures thereof.
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Title:
Polyaphron fuel compositions
Abstract:
A fuel composition which comprises a biliquid foam consisting of from 10% to 97.5% by weight of non-coalescing droplets of a non-polar liquid comprising a petroleum derivative, paraffin or a liquid halogenated hydrocarbon and from 2 to 87% by weight of a continuous phase polar liquid comprising a C1-C3 alcohol, a C4 alcohol containing at least two hydroxy groups, or ethylene glycol, or mixtures thereof, in an amount of from 60% to 100% by weight thereof, wherein the biliquid foam is stabilized with an amount of from 0.5 to 3.0% by weight based on the total formulation of a surfactant which is selected from castor oil/poly(alkylene glycol) adducts containing from 20 to 50 alkoxy groups, or hydrogenated castor oil/poly(alkylene glycol) adducts containing from 20 to 60 alkoxy groups, or mixtures thereof.
Background:
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10506711
| 2,004
|
Deflection device for a cathode-ray tube
|
Deflection system for a cathode-ray tube comprising a pair of vertical deflection coils and a pair of horizontal deflection coils, the two pairs being electrically insulated by a separator. The system also comprises auxiliary coils modulating the horizontal scan velocity. The support 9 for the auxiliary coils, made of plastic, comprises openings 32 placed under the location 30 of the said auxiliary coils so as to decrease the relative permittivity of the space between these coils and the neck of the tube, which tends to decrease the occurrence of electric arcs in the neck of the tube when switching it on.
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Title:
Deflection device for a cathode-ray tube
Abstract:
Deflection system for a cathode-ray tube comprising a pair of vertical deflection coils and a pair of horizontal deflection coils, the two pairs being electrically insulated by a separator. The system also comprises auxiliary coils modulating the horizontal scan velocity. The support 9 for the auxiliary coils, made of plastic, comprises openings 32 placed under the location 30 of the said auxiliary coils so as to decrease the relative permittivity of the space between these coils and the neck of the tube, which tends to decrease the occurrence of electric arcs in the neck of the tube when switching it on.
Background:
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10950917
| 2,004
|
Rifalazil formulations
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The invention features pharmaceutical compositions including rifalazil and a micelle-forming excipient and methods of use thereof.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of antimicrobial therapy. Rifalazil, an ansamycin-class antibiotic, has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,602, where its antibacterial activity has been disclosed. A microgranulated formulation of rifalazil is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,683. This microgranulated rifalazil was shown to exhibit improved oral bioavailability in comparison to rifalazil crystals, mortar-milled crystals, and suspensions of mortar-milled crystals as determined by the relative AUCs produced for each formulation orally administered to beagles. Phase I clinical trials for rifalazil are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,566,354 and 6,316,433. A formulation for the oral administration of rifalazil that produces more consistent pharmacokinetics and an enhanced degree of bioavailability among subjects is desirable.
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Title:
Rifalazil formulations
Abstract:
The invention features pharmaceutical compositions including rifalazil and a micelle-forming excipient and methods of use thereof.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to the field of antimicrobial therapy. Rifalazil, an ansamycin-class antibiotic, has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,602, where its antibacterial activity has been disclosed. A microgranulated formulation of rifalazil is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,547,683. This microgranulated rifalazil was shown to exhibit improved oral bioavailability in comparison to rifalazil crystals, mortar-milled crystals, and suspensions of mortar-milled crystals as determined by the relative AUCs produced for each formulation orally administered to beagles. Phase I clinical trials for rifalazil are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,566,354 and 6,316,433. A formulation for the oral administration of rifalazil that produces more consistent pharmacokinetics and an enhanced degree of bioavailability among subjects is desirable.
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10880224
| 2,004
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Techniques for providing services and establishing processing environments
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Techniques are provided for the delivery of client services and for the establishment of client processing environments. A client receives services within a processing environment which is defined by a processing container. The processing container includes one or more processing groups, and each processing group has a particular context that supports one or more applications or services which are processing within that context. The processing groups communicate with one another via connector interfaces included within the processing container. Services and processing containers can be dynamically added or removed from the processing container.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Attempts have been made to integrate software over the Internet, such that services need not physically reside or be installed on a client in order for a client to acquire, process, and benefit from those services. In some cases, the client dynamically acquires the services and locally processes them. This technology is nascent and is gradually beginning to gain ground in the industry. The basic idea is that services are registered, located, acquired, and processed on demand. Services may be processed local to the client or remote from the client. The idea of creating an integrated Development Environment (IDE) has been around for some time and recent developments have held some promise that at these technologies will catch on and eventually become pervasive. Largely, efforts to integrate services has been slow, since in most instances each service needs to abstract its own interfaces and make them available for use by a variety of other services. Additionally, the services themselves must be available to process on a variety of operating system (OS) platforms. Consequently, making legacy services available in an IDE has been and continues to be problematic. Thus, services are still largely provided via dedicated servers or as appliances. That is, developers continue to view services as either an appliance application or as a server application. One problem with the newer and older IDE models for providing services is that any particular client is difficult to manage and support, because the client's services which may originate from a variety of disparate platforms. In fact, the services may not even be within the management control of an administrator for a particular client. Additionally, some client services may not be compatible or interface with other client services. Accordingly, management and integration has been more easily achieved with physical hardware, such as servers that are integrated in a rack with one another. However, physical devices require a definite physical location, have moving parts that can break, and cannot be easily transported from place to place as needed. The benefits of having services within a client's physical environment are that the services can be centrally managed, distributed, and controlled by administrators. Another significant benefit is that security can be better enforced in a centrally distributed physically controlled processing environment. In fact, a more optimal solution to an IDE is a technique that is capable of centrally managing client services as if they were being locally stored and administered while at the same time having no requirement that those services be associated with traditional servers or appliances. Correspondingly, techniques are described herein for providing services and establishing processing environments over a network, where these techniques are capable of being centrally controlled, managed, and administered.
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Title:
Techniques for providing services and establishing processing environments
Abstract:
Techniques are provided for the delivery of client services and for the establishment of client processing environments. A client receives services within a processing environment which is defined by a processing container. The processing container includes one or more processing groups, and each processing group has a particular context that supports one or more applications or services which are processing within that context. The processing groups communicate with one another via connector interfaces included within the processing container. Services and processing containers can be dynamically added or removed from the processing container.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Attempts have been made to integrate software over the Internet, such that services need not physically reside or be installed on a client in order for a client to acquire, process, and benefit from those services. In some cases, the client dynamically acquires the services and locally processes them. This technology is nascent and is gradually beginning to gain ground in the industry. The basic idea is that services are registered, located, acquired, and processed on demand. Services may be processed local to the client or remote from the client. The idea of creating an integrated Development Environment (IDE) has been around for some time and recent developments have held some promise that at these technologies will catch on and eventually become pervasive. Largely, efforts to integrate services has been slow, since in most instances each service needs to abstract its own interfaces and make them available for use by a variety of other services. Additionally, the services themselves must be available to process on a variety of operating system (OS) platforms. Consequently, making legacy services available in an IDE has been and continues to be problematic. Thus, services are still largely provided via dedicated servers or as appliances. That is, developers continue to view services as either an appliance application or as a server application. One problem with the newer and older IDE models for providing services is that any particular client is difficult to manage and support, because the client's services which may originate from a variety of disparate platforms. In fact, the services may not even be within the management control of an administrator for a particular client. Additionally, some client services may not be compatible or interface with other client services. Accordingly, management and integration has been more easily achieved with physical hardware, such as servers that are integrated in a rack with one another. However, physical devices require a definite physical location, have moving parts that can break, and cannot be easily transported from place to place as needed. The benefits of having services within a client's physical environment are that the services can be centrally managed, distributed, and controlled by administrators. Another significant benefit is that security can be better enforced in a centrally distributed physically controlled processing environment. In fact, a more optimal solution to an IDE is a technique that is capable of centrally managing client services as if they were being locally stored and administered while at the same time having no requirement that those services be associated with traditional servers or appliances. Correspondingly, techniques are described herein for providing services and establishing processing environments over a network, where these techniques are capable of being centrally controlled, managed, and administered.
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10925820
| 2,004
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Teeth whitening composition and method
|
A dental whitening composition is formed from tablet formulation containing a metal ion catalyst and an alkaline pH raising compound and a peroxide solution having a concentration of about 1 percent to about 15 percent peroxide. The combination of the tablet formulation containing the metal ion within an alkaline composition along with the peroxide rinse forms a dental composition having foam like consistency, which whitens the surface of teeth. The tablet formulation can also be in the form of a gel or solution. The process of whitening teeth is accelerated by using a light emitting device producing a selected wavelength range. The light emitting device can be incorporated into a dental tray having a dental receiving area formed from a polymer having optical properties.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Increasingly, it has become popular to whiten teeth that are naturally off white or have become stained by smoking or food intake. In order to whiten teeth in the past, people either have had them capped or have had veneers placed over them, which both entail costly and involved dental procedures. Recently, chemical bleaching of teeth has allowed people to whiten their teeth without resorting to these previously costly and involved dental procedures. In early bleaching methods, dental patients who desired to have their teeth bleached had to utilize conventional dental office bleaching techniques. These techniques usually involved placing a peroxide solution on the teeth, protecting the sensitive soft tissues with a ligated rubber dam, and applying heat or light to the solution. Unfortunately, the lights used in dental office procedures are high power high voltage lights that desiccate teeth and cause greater postoperative sensitivity. Additionally, such dental office treatments are extremely time consuming as they typically required multiple appointments for a significant color change. The need for multiple professional office visits results in a procedure that is costly. Despite the expense and other problems associated with professional whitening of teeth, these professional methods are primarily concerned with the whitening of only the buccal, facial surface only. Because of the time consuming nature of these multiple office visits and costs associated therewith, there has been a growing interest within the dental profession for in-home tooth bleaching products and methods. One of the first in-home approaches required a professional making an alginate impression of a patient's teeth; making a cast of the impression; vacuum forming a tray from the cast, and trimming the impression to exclude gingival coverage. In using this early home use apparatus and method, the patient is instructed to place several drops of bleaching solution into each area of the tray for each tooth to be bleached, placing the tray containing the bleaching solution in the mouth and expectorating any excess bleaching solution. Unfortunately, use of this apparatus and method requires the patient to change the bleaching solution every 1 to 2.5 hours, and remove the dental tray during meals. As a result, this in-home approach is expensive, time consuming, cumbersome and suffers from a lack of compliance. As a result of this inconvenient and expensive in-home method, there have been more recent in-home approaches that embed various bleaching agents onto substrates such as fabric or fiber strips that a patient applies to their teeth at bedtime. One known in-home method uses various peroxides within gel foam as dental bleaching agents. The most commonly used dental bleaching agent is 10% carbamide peroxide (CO(NH 2 ) 2 H 2 O 2 ), also called urea hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide carbamide, and perhydrol-urea. While useful results have been experienced using the foregoing in-home techniques, their effectiveness has been largely dependent upon such factors as type and intensity of tooth enamel stain, bleaching agent contact time, and the amount of available active ingredient in the bleaching agent. The advantage, however, is that the time commitment for the actual bleaching process takes place outside the dental office and without the need for professional application. Thus, the cost for these in-home procedures is substantially less than conventional in-office bleaching techniques. Unfortunately, despite improvements in these in-home methods, there remain disadvantages and limitations to in-home bleaching products and techniques. A significant disadvantage of the known in-home approaches is the long application or contact time needed by these methods. Because of the required long contact time, bleaching agent must be frequently replaced or replenished during application. Replenishment is needed because of saliva dilution and swallowing of the bleaching agent causing the volume of bleaching agent in the dental application tray to diminish rapidly over time. Various studies have shown that after one hour, less than one-half the original volume of bleaching agent was present in an application tray. Thus, existing bleaching agents, because of their method of application and the need for a long contact time, need to be replenished about every hour in order to be effective. Because of the inconvenience of replacing bleaching agents constantly and the long contact time needed, patient compliance is difficult to maintain and therefore in-home methods have not achieved the level of success as professional in-office bleaching techniques. An additional problem with current in-home bleaching compositions and methods is that it often takes several weeks of application to see desired results. Although some methods have promoted lightening of teeth in shorter periods of time, noticeable results of in-home bleaching requires approximately 4 to 6 weeks. This lengthy period of treatment and compliance issues have resulted in dissatisfaction with many if not all of the present in-home compositions and methods. It should therefore be appreciated that what is needed in the art are improved compositions and methods for faster and more efficient treatment of tooth surfaces which facilitate greater patient compliance and satisfaction. Additionally, it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide fast acting dental bleaching compositions for treating tooth surfaces which do not need to be continuously replaced so that patient compliance is enhanced. Thus there is a need for a tooth whitening method that will bleach stained teeth and inhibit tooth yellowing that does not require complex, time consuming and expensive equipment.
|
Title:
Teeth whitening composition and method
Abstract:
A dental whitening composition is formed from tablet formulation containing a metal ion catalyst and an alkaline pH raising compound and a peroxide solution having a concentration of about 1 percent to about 15 percent peroxide. The combination of the tablet formulation containing the metal ion within an alkaline composition along with the peroxide rinse forms a dental composition having foam like consistency, which whitens the surface of teeth. The tablet formulation can also be in the form of a gel or solution. The process of whitening teeth is accelerated by using a light emitting device producing a selected wavelength range. The light emitting device can be incorporated into a dental tray having a dental receiving area formed from a polymer having optical properties.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Increasingly, it has become popular to whiten teeth that are naturally off white or have become stained by smoking or food intake. In order to whiten teeth in the past, people either have had them capped or have had veneers placed over them, which both entail costly and involved dental procedures. Recently, chemical bleaching of teeth has allowed people to whiten their teeth without resorting to these previously costly and involved dental procedures. In early bleaching methods, dental patients who desired to have their teeth bleached had to utilize conventional dental office bleaching techniques. These techniques usually involved placing a peroxide solution on the teeth, protecting the sensitive soft tissues with a ligated rubber dam, and applying heat or light to the solution. Unfortunately, the lights used in dental office procedures are high power high voltage lights that desiccate teeth and cause greater postoperative sensitivity. Additionally, such dental office treatments are extremely time consuming as they typically required multiple appointments for a significant color change. The need for multiple professional office visits results in a procedure that is costly. Despite the expense and other problems associated with professional whitening of teeth, these professional methods are primarily concerned with the whitening of only the buccal, facial surface only. Because of the time consuming nature of these multiple office visits and costs associated therewith, there has been a growing interest within the dental profession for in-home tooth bleaching products and methods. One of the first in-home approaches required a professional making an alginate impression of a patient's teeth; making a cast of the impression; vacuum forming a tray from the cast, and trimming the impression to exclude gingival coverage. In using this early home use apparatus and method, the patient is instructed to place several drops of bleaching solution into each area of the tray for each tooth to be bleached, placing the tray containing the bleaching solution in the mouth and expectorating any excess bleaching solution. Unfortunately, use of this apparatus and method requires the patient to change the bleaching solution every 1 to 2.5 hours, and remove the dental tray during meals. As a result, this in-home approach is expensive, time consuming, cumbersome and suffers from a lack of compliance. As a result of this inconvenient and expensive in-home method, there have been more recent in-home approaches that embed various bleaching agents onto substrates such as fabric or fiber strips that a patient applies to their teeth at bedtime. One known in-home method uses various peroxides within gel foam as dental bleaching agents. The most commonly used dental bleaching agent is 10% carbamide peroxide (CO(NH 2 ) 2 H 2 O 2 ), also called urea hydrogen peroxide, hydrogen peroxide carbamide, and perhydrol-urea. While useful results have been experienced using the foregoing in-home techniques, their effectiveness has been largely dependent upon such factors as type and intensity of tooth enamel stain, bleaching agent contact time, and the amount of available active ingredient in the bleaching agent. The advantage, however, is that the time commitment for the actual bleaching process takes place outside the dental office and without the need for professional application. Thus, the cost for these in-home procedures is substantially less than conventional in-office bleaching techniques. Unfortunately, despite improvements in these in-home methods, there remain disadvantages and limitations to in-home bleaching products and techniques. A significant disadvantage of the known in-home approaches is the long application or contact time needed by these methods. Because of the required long contact time, bleaching agent must be frequently replaced or replenished during application. Replenishment is needed because of saliva dilution and swallowing of the bleaching agent causing the volume of bleaching agent in the dental application tray to diminish rapidly over time. Various studies have shown that after one hour, less than one-half the original volume of bleaching agent was present in an application tray. Thus, existing bleaching agents, because of their method of application and the need for a long contact time, need to be replenished about every hour in order to be effective. Because of the inconvenience of replacing bleaching agents constantly and the long contact time needed, patient compliance is difficult to maintain and therefore in-home methods have not achieved the level of success as professional in-office bleaching techniques. An additional problem with current in-home bleaching compositions and methods is that it often takes several weeks of application to see desired results. Although some methods have promoted lightening of teeth in shorter periods of time, noticeable results of in-home bleaching requires approximately 4 to 6 weeks. This lengthy period of treatment and compliance issues have resulted in dissatisfaction with many if not all of the present in-home compositions and methods. It should therefore be appreciated that what is needed in the art are improved compositions and methods for faster and more efficient treatment of tooth surfaces which facilitate greater patient compliance and satisfaction. Additionally, it would be a significant advancement in the art to provide fast acting dental bleaching compositions for treating tooth surfaces which do not need to be continuously replaced so that patient compliance is enhanced. Thus there is a need for a tooth whitening method that will bleach stained teeth and inhibit tooth yellowing that does not require complex, time consuming and expensive equipment.
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10963433
| 2,004
|
Private information storage device and private information management device
|
The events experienced are stored automatically, so that the information of higher utility for a user may be taken out with responsiveness and efficiency higher than is possible with a technique of keyword retrieval over a network. An information registration unit 10 includes an information acquisition unit 11, for acquiring the empirical information, a private information adding unit 12, for adding the private information, a data recognition processing unit 13, for recognizing the acquired information, a data definition processing unit 14, for classifying the recognized data in accordance with the preset definitions, a data storage unit 15 for storage of the classified data, and a data processing unit 22 for generating the predictive information inferable from the empirical information and the private information. The information exploitation unit 30 includes an information acquisition unit 31, for acquiring the current state, a retrieval inputting unit 32, supplied with the retrieval conditions, a data recognition processing unit 33, for recognizing the acquired information, a retrieving unit 34, for extracting the information fitted to the retrieval conditions or the analogous information from the data storage unit 15, and an information presenting unit 35 for presenting the extracted information to the user.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a private information storage device and a private information management device in which the information pertinent to the event experienced by a user and the information privately required by the user are stored in a correlated fashion. This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-352896, filed on Oct. 10, 2003, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. 2. Description of Related Art Recently, with the progress in the network structure, such as the so-called Internet, and with the widespread use of a large-capacity recording medium, an environment is being created for providing or acquiring the voluminous information. In keeping up therewith, a large variety of information providing services have been proposed and, in these information providing services, attempts are being made for handling a large quantity of the information efficiently and efficaciously. As an example, the information providing party extracts the taste of each user as an information accepting party to feature each individual to supply the information or services best fitted to each such individual (personalization of the information provided). This technique is used in online services allowing for purchase of articles of commerce from a site on the Internet. By introducing the information personalization, the services which allow for purchase of books on the Internet have realized the function of presenting recommended books to a user who purchased a book, from a list of works of the author of the book purchased by the user, the function of presenting other books purchased by other users who purchased the same book as that purchased by the user, the function of the apprising other users of the information the user feels useful for these other users. The party accepting the information (the party browsing the information) is able to change the operating conditions or setting according to the taste of the user (customization). For example, the responsive properties of a mouse, the window coloring or the fonts can be changed. Such as system which, by the above information personalization or customization, enables the efficient and efficacious use of the information, has already been known. As a developing phase of the personalization, such techniques as real-time profiling of the user's behavior on the network, learning the user's operating habit to provide the user with the GUI suited to the user's taste, or monitoring the user's reaction to observe the taste or the reaction of the user to the contents recommended by an agent. As described above, the so-called push-type information furnishing, in which the information supplied by the provider is tailored to the individual user to provide a party desiring the information or services with the optimum information, becomes possible, while the party accepting the information may acquire the desired information extremely readily. However, for tailoring the information provided to each individual (personalization), the information provider has to collect the individual-level information, by enquetes, through paper medium or Internet sites, or to collect the behavior hysteresis (purchase hysteresis of books in the above example) of the individual users. Among the information providing services, employing the Internet, there is such a service consisting in collecting the fee information pertinent to a marriage ceremony, a reception hall, an English school or a variety of culture schools, or the information pertinent to the atmosphere or service contents, from those who utilized these in the past, such as by enquetes, fitting the collected results to the rules already determined, and by displaying together the matched information, that is, the information pertinent to establishments or the experience information from the user, on a display image surface, to provide a latent user with the information in determining the establishments or the service providers. If, in these information providing services, the information is to be made available among plural users, the retrieving step in retrieving the desired information from a large quantity of the text information is simplified by having the user intending to lay open his/her experience data furnish the information, depending on the experience level, and by visualizing the collected experience data of the users in order for the user retrieving the information to acquire the information of high fidelity (information close to the desired information), as disclosed for example in Patent Publication 1. In the technique described in this Patent Publication 1, the majority of the information, collected from those who already exploited the ceremony halls and reception halls, is the text information, and hence it is difficult to recognize readily whether or not the information contents on which the user places emphasis are contained in the text information furnished. Thus, with the conventional system, a large quantity of the text information, which inherently is not needed, has to be read, such that it is frequently difficult to find the information needed by the user. The majority of the techniques for tailoring the furnished information to the individual (personalization) consist in the information provider using intricate artifices to extract a user taste model. These conventional techniques are used for information management for such cases where services desired by the individual users are provided, or where the information is co-owned by plural users. However, these techniques do not reflect variegated tastes of the individual users in need of the information. [Patent Publication 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2003-16202
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Title:
Private information storage device and private information management device
Abstract:
The events experienced are stored automatically, so that the information of higher utility for a user may be taken out with responsiveness and efficiency higher than is possible with a technique of keyword retrieval over a network. An information registration unit 10 includes an information acquisition unit 11, for acquiring the empirical information, a private information adding unit 12, for adding the private information, a data recognition processing unit 13, for recognizing the acquired information, a data definition processing unit 14, for classifying the recognized data in accordance with the preset definitions, a data storage unit 15 for storage of the classified data, and a data processing unit 22 for generating the predictive information inferable from the empirical information and the private information. The information exploitation unit 30 includes an information acquisition unit 31, for acquiring the current state, a retrieval inputting unit 32, supplied with the retrieval conditions, a data recognition processing unit 33, for recognizing the acquired information, a retrieving unit 34, for extracting the information fitted to the retrieval conditions or the analogous information from the data storage unit 15, and an information presenting unit 35 for presenting the extracted information to the user.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention This invention relates to a private information storage device and a private information management device in which the information pertinent to the event experienced by a user and the information privately required by the user are stored in a correlated fashion. This application claims priority of Japanese Patent Application No. 2003-352896, filed on Oct. 10, 2003, the entirety of which is incorporated by reference herein. 2. Description of Related Art Recently, with the progress in the network structure, such as the so-called Internet, and with the widespread use of a large-capacity recording medium, an environment is being created for providing or acquiring the voluminous information. In keeping up therewith, a large variety of information providing services have been proposed and, in these information providing services, attempts are being made for handling a large quantity of the information efficiently and efficaciously. As an example, the information providing party extracts the taste of each user as an information accepting party to feature each individual to supply the information or services best fitted to each such individual (personalization of the information provided). This technique is used in online services allowing for purchase of articles of commerce from a site on the Internet. By introducing the information personalization, the services which allow for purchase of books on the Internet have realized the function of presenting recommended books to a user who purchased a book, from a list of works of the author of the book purchased by the user, the function of presenting other books purchased by other users who purchased the same book as that purchased by the user, the function of the apprising other users of the information the user feels useful for these other users. The party accepting the information (the party browsing the information) is able to change the operating conditions or setting according to the taste of the user (customization). For example, the responsive properties of a mouse, the window coloring or the fonts can be changed. Such as system which, by the above information personalization or customization, enables the efficient and efficacious use of the information, has already been known. As a developing phase of the personalization, such techniques as real-time profiling of the user's behavior on the network, learning the user's operating habit to provide the user with the GUI suited to the user's taste, or monitoring the user's reaction to observe the taste or the reaction of the user to the contents recommended by an agent. As described above, the so-called push-type information furnishing, in which the information supplied by the provider is tailored to the individual user to provide a party desiring the information or services with the optimum information, becomes possible, while the party accepting the information may acquire the desired information extremely readily. However, for tailoring the information provided to each individual (personalization), the information provider has to collect the individual-level information, by enquetes, through paper medium or Internet sites, or to collect the behavior hysteresis (purchase hysteresis of books in the above example) of the individual users. Among the information providing services, employing the Internet, there is such a service consisting in collecting the fee information pertinent to a marriage ceremony, a reception hall, an English school or a variety of culture schools, or the information pertinent to the atmosphere or service contents, from those who utilized these in the past, such as by enquetes, fitting the collected results to the rules already determined, and by displaying together the matched information, that is, the information pertinent to establishments or the experience information from the user, on a display image surface, to provide a latent user with the information in determining the establishments or the service providers. If, in these information providing services, the information is to be made available among plural users, the retrieving step in retrieving the desired information from a large quantity of the text information is simplified by having the user intending to lay open his/her experience data furnish the information, depending on the experience level, and by visualizing the collected experience data of the users in order for the user retrieving the information to acquire the information of high fidelity (information close to the desired information), as disclosed for example in Patent Publication 1. In the technique described in this Patent Publication 1, the majority of the information, collected from those who already exploited the ceremony halls and reception halls, is the text information, and hence it is difficult to recognize readily whether or not the information contents on which the user places emphasis are contained in the text information furnished. Thus, with the conventional system, a large quantity of the text information, which inherently is not needed, has to be read, such that it is frequently difficult to find the information needed by the user. The majority of the techniques for tailoring the furnished information to the individual (personalization) consist in the information provider using intricate artifices to extract a user taste model. These conventional techniques are used for information management for such cases where services desired by the individual users are provided, or where the information is co-owned by plural users. However, these techniques do not reflect variegated tastes of the individual users in need of the information. [Patent Publication 1] Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 2003-16202
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10901243
| 2,004
|
Peptides antibodies directed thereagainst and methods using same for diagnosing and treating amyloid-associated diseases
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Peptides having at least 2 amino acid residues and no more than 15 amino acid residues are provided. The peptides comprise amino acid sequence X-Y or Y-X, wherein X is an aromatic amino acid and Y is any amino acid other than glycine. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions and kits including such peptides as well as methods using same for diagnosing and treating amyloid associated diseases.
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FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to peptides and antibodies directed thereagainst which can be used to diagnose, prevent, and treat amyloid-associated diseases, such as Type II diabetes mellitus. Amyloid material deposition (also referred to as amyloid plaque formation) is a central feature of a variety of unrelated pathological conditions including Alzheimer's disease, prion-related encephalopathies, type II diabetes mellitus, familial amyloidosis and light-chain amyloidosis. Amyloid material is composed of a dense network of rigid, nonbranching proteinaceous fibrils of indefinite length that are about 80 to 100 Å in diameter. Amyloid fibrils contain a core structure of polypeptide chains arranged in antiparallel β-pleated sheets lying with their long axes perpendicular to the long axis of the fibril [Both et al. (1997) Nature 385:787-93; Glenner (1980) N. Eng. J. Med. 302:1283-92]. Approximately twenty amyloid fibril proteins have been identified in-vivo and correlated with specific diseases. These proteins share little or no amino acid sequence homology, however the core structure of the amyloid fibrils is essentially the same. This common core structure of amyloid fibrils and the presence of common substances in amyloid deposits suggest that data characterizing a particular form of amyloid material may also be relevant to other forms of amyloid material and thus can be implemented in template design for the development of drugs against amyloid-associated diseases such as type II diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's dementia or diseases and prior-related encephalopathies. Furthermore, amyloid deposits do not appear to be inert in vivo, but rather are in a dynamic state of turnover and can even regress if the formation of fibrils is halted [Gillmore et al. (1997) Br. J. Haematol. 99:245-56]. Thus, therapies designed to inhibiting the production of amyloid polypeptides or inhibiting amyloidosis may be useful for treating amyloid associated diseases. Inhibition of the production of amyloid polypeptides—Direct inhibition of the production of amyloid polypeptides may be accomplished, for example, through the use of antisense oligonucleotides such as against human islet amyloid polypeptide messenger RNA (mRNA). In vitro, the addition of antisense oligonucleotides or the expression of antisense complementary DNA against islet amyloid polypeptide mRNA increased the insulin mRNA and protein content of cells, demonstrating the potential effectiveness of this approach [Kulkami et al. (1996) J. Endocrinol. 151:341-8; Novials et al. (1998) Pancreas 17:182-6]. However, no experimental results demonstrating the in vivo effectiveness of such antisense molecules have been demonstrated. Inhibition of the formation of amyloid fibrils—Amyloid, including islet amyloid, contains potential stabilizing or protective substances, such as serum amyloid P component, apolipoprotein E, and perlecan. Blocking their binding to developing amyloid fibrils could inhibit amyloidogenesis [Kahn et al. (1999) Diabetes 48:241-53], as could treatment with antibodies specific for certain parts of an amyloidogenic protein [Solomon et al. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:4109-12]. The following summarizes current attempts to engineer drugs having the capability of destabilizing amyloid structures. Destabilizing compounds—Heparin sulfate has been identified as a component of all amyloids and has also been implicated in the earliest stages of inflammation-associated amyloid induction. Kisilevsky and co-workers (Mature Med. 1:143-148, 1995) described the use of low molecular weight anionic sulfonate or sulfate compounds that interfere with the interaction of heparin sulfate with the inflammation-associated amyloid precursor and the β peptide of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Heparin sulfate specifically influences the soluble amyloid precursor (SAA2) to adopt an increased β-sheet structure characteristic of the protein-folding pattern of amyloids. These anionic sulfonate or sulfate compounds were shown to inhibit heparin accelerated Aβ fibril formation and were able to disassemble preformed fibrils in vitro, as monitored by electron micrography. Moreover, these compounds substantially arrested murine splenic inflammation-associated amyloid progression in vivo in acute and chronic models. However, the most potent compound [i.e., poly-(vinylsulfonate)] showed acute toxicity. Similar toxicity has been observed with another compound, IDOX (Anthracycline 4′-iodo-4′-deoxy-doxorubicin), which has been observed to induce amyloid resorption in patients with immunoglobin light chain amyloidosis (AL) [Merlini et al. (1995) Proc. Nal. Acad. Sci. USA]. Destabilizing antibodies—Anti-β-amyloid monoclonal antibodies have been shown to be effective in disaggregating β-amyloid plaques and preventing β-amyloid plaque formation in vitro (U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,561). However, no experimental results demonstrating the in vivo effectiveness of such antibodies have been demonstrated. Destabilizing peptides—The finding that the addition of synthetic peptides that disrupt the β-pleated sheets (“β-sheet breakers”) dissociated fibrils and prevented amyloidosis [Soto et al. (1998) Nat. Med. 4:822-6] is particularly promising from a clinical point of view. In brief, a penta-residue peptide inhibited amyloid beta-protein fibrillogenesis, disassembled preformed fibrils in vitro and prevents neuronal death induced by fibrils in cell culture. In addition, the beta-sheet breaker peptide significantly reduced amyloid beta-protein deposition in vivo and completely blocked the formation of amyloid fibrils in a rat brain model of amyloidosis. Small molecules—The potential use of small molecules which bind the amyloid polypeptide, stabilizing the native fold of the protein has been attempted in the case of the transthyretin (TTR) protein [Peterson (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:12965-12960; Oza (1999) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 9:1-6]. Thus far, it has been demonstrated that molecules such as thyroxine and flufenamic acid are capable of preventing the conformation change, leading to amyloid formation. However, the use of the compounds in animal models has not been proved yet and might be compromised due to the presence in blood or proteins, other than TTR, capable of binding these ligands. Antioxidants—Another proposed therapy has been the intake of antioxidants in order to avoid oxidative stress and maintain amyloid proteins in their reduced state (i.e., monomers and dimers). The use of sulfite was shown to lead to more stable monomers of the TIR both in vitro and in vivo [Altland (1999) Neurogenetics 2:183-188]. However, a complete characterization of the antioxidant effect is still not available and the interpretation of results concerning possible therapeutic strategies remains difficult. While reducing the present invention to practice, the present inventors have demonstrated that contrary to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,112 to Kapumiotu, peptide aggregation into amyloid fibrils is governed by aromatic interactions. Such findings enable to efficiently and accurately design peptides, which can be used to diagnose and treat amyloid-associated diseases.
|
Title:
Peptides antibodies directed thereagainst and methods using same for diagnosing and treating amyloid-associated diseases
Abstract:
Peptides having at least 2 amino acid residues and no more than 15 amino acid residues are provided. The peptides comprise amino acid sequence X-Y or Y-X, wherein X is an aromatic amino acid and Y is any amino acid other than glycine. Also provided are pharmaceutical compositions and kits including such peptides as well as methods using same for diagnosing and treating amyloid associated diseases.
Background:
FIELD AND BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to peptides and antibodies directed thereagainst which can be used to diagnose, prevent, and treat amyloid-associated diseases, such as Type II diabetes mellitus. Amyloid material deposition (also referred to as amyloid plaque formation) is a central feature of a variety of unrelated pathological conditions including Alzheimer's disease, prion-related encephalopathies, type II diabetes mellitus, familial amyloidosis and light-chain amyloidosis. Amyloid material is composed of a dense network of rigid, nonbranching proteinaceous fibrils of indefinite length that are about 80 to 100 Å in diameter. Amyloid fibrils contain a core structure of polypeptide chains arranged in antiparallel β-pleated sheets lying with their long axes perpendicular to the long axis of the fibril [Both et al. (1997) Nature 385:787-93; Glenner (1980) N. Eng. J. Med. 302:1283-92]. Approximately twenty amyloid fibril proteins have been identified in-vivo and correlated with specific diseases. These proteins share little or no amino acid sequence homology, however the core structure of the amyloid fibrils is essentially the same. This common core structure of amyloid fibrils and the presence of common substances in amyloid deposits suggest that data characterizing a particular form of amyloid material may also be relevant to other forms of amyloid material and thus can be implemented in template design for the development of drugs against amyloid-associated diseases such as type II diabetes mellitus, Alzheimer's dementia or diseases and prior-related encephalopathies. Furthermore, amyloid deposits do not appear to be inert in vivo, but rather are in a dynamic state of turnover and can even regress if the formation of fibrils is halted [Gillmore et al. (1997) Br. J. Haematol. 99:245-56]. Thus, therapies designed to inhibiting the production of amyloid polypeptides or inhibiting amyloidosis may be useful for treating amyloid associated diseases. Inhibition of the production of amyloid polypeptides—Direct inhibition of the production of amyloid polypeptides may be accomplished, for example, through the use of antisense oligonucleotides such as against human islet amyloid polypeptide messenger RNA (mRNA). In vitro, the addition of antisense oligonucleotides or the expression of antisense complementary DNA against islet amyloid polypeptide mRNA increased the insulin mRNA and protein content of cells, demonstrating the potential effectiveness of this approach [Kulkami et al. (1996) J. Endocrinol. 151:341-8; Novials et al. (1998) Pancreas 17:182-6]. However, no experimental results demonstrating the in vivo effectiveness of such antisense molecules have been demonstrated. Inhibition of the formation of amyloid fibrils—Amyloid, including islet amyloid, contains potential stabilizing or protective substances, such as serum amyloid P component, apolipoprotein E, and perlecan. Blocking their binding to developing amyloid fibrils could inhibit amyloidogenesis [Kahn et al. (1999) Diabetes 48:241-53], as could treatment with antibodies specific for certain parts of an amyloidogenic protein [Solomon et al. (1997) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 94:4109-12]. The following summarizes current attempts to engineer drugs having the capability of destabilizing amyloid structures. Destabilizing compounds—Heparin sulfate has been identified as a component of all amyloids and has also been implicated in the earliest stages of inflammation-associated amyloid induction. Kisilevsky and co-workers (Mature Med. 1:143-148, 1995) described the use of low molecular weight anionic sulfonate or sulfate compounds that interfere with the interaction of heparin sulfate with the inflammation-associated amyloid precursor and the β peptide of Alzheimer's disease (AD). Heparin sulfate specifically influences the soluble amyloid precursor (SAA2) to adopt an increased β-sheet structure characteristic of the protein-folding pattern of amyloids. These anionic sulfonate or sulfate compounds were shown to inhibit heparin accelerated Aβ fibril formation and were able to disassemble preformed fibrils in vitro, as monitored by electron micrography. Moreover, these compounds substantially arrested murine splenic inflammation-associated amyloid progression in vivo in acute and chronic models. However, the most potent compound [i.e., poly-(vinylsulfonate)] showed acute toxicity. Similar toxicity has been observed with another compound, IDOX (Anthracycline 4′-iodo-4′-deoxy-doxorubicin), which has been observed to induce amyloid resorption in patients with immunoglobin light chain amyloidosis (AL) [Merlini et al. (1995) Proc. Nal. Acad. Sci. USA]. Destabilizing antibodies—Anti-β-amyloid monoclonal antibodies have been shown to be effective in disaggregating β-amyloid plaques and preventing β-amyloid plaque formation in vitro (U.S. Pat. No. 5,688,561). However, no experimental results demonstrating the in vivo effectiveness of such antibodies have been demonstrated. Destabilizing peptides—The finding that the addition of synthetic peptides that disrupt the β-pleated sheets (“β-sheet breakers”) dissociated fibrils and prevented amyloidosis [Soto et al. (1998) Nat. Med. 4:822-6] is particularly promising from a clinical point of view. In brief, a penta-residue peptide inhibited amyloid beta-protein fibrillogenesis, disassembled preformed fibrils in vitro and prevents neuronal death induced by fibrils in cell culture. In addition, the beta-sheet breaker peptide significantly reduced amyloid beta-protein deposition in vivo and completely blocked the formation of amyloid fibrils in a rat brain model of amyloidosis. Small molecules—The potential use of small molecules which bind the amyloid polypeptide, stabilizing the native fold of the protein has been attempted in the case of the transthyretin (TTR) protein [Peterson (1998) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95:12965-12960; Oza (1999) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 9:1-6]. Thus far, it has been demonstrated that molecules such as thyroxine and flufenamic acid are capable of preventing the conformation change, leading to amyloid formation. However, the use of the compounds in animal models has not been proved yet and might be compromised due to the presence in blood or proteins, other than TTR, capable of binding these ligands. Antioxidants—Another proposed therapy has been the intake of antioxidants in order to avoid oxidative stress and maintain amyloid proteins in their reduced state (i.e., monomers and dimers). The use of sulfite was shown to lead to more stable monomers of the TIR both in vitro and in vivo [Altland (1999) Neurogenetics 2:183-188]. However, a complete characterization of the antioxidant effect is still not available and the interpretation of results concerning possible therapeutic strategies remains difficult. While reducing the present invention to practice, the present inventors have demonstrated that contrary to the teachings of U.S. Pat. No. 6,359,112 to Kapumiotu, peptide aggregation into amyloid fibrils is governed by aromatic interactions. Such findings enable to efficiently and accurately design peptides, which can be used to diagnose and treat amyloid-associated diseases.
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10867351
| 2,004
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Image sensing apparatus and control method thereof
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This invention enables deleting and protecting a part of sensed image data in accordance with a situation so as to enable efficient utilization of a finite capacity of a storage medium. To realize this, an image subjected to deletion from the image data stored in a storage medium is selected and displayed in a display unit of a digital camera. If a region of interest (ROI) is set in this image, a user is asked to select the ROI, non-ROI region, or entire image as the deletion target, and the designated region is deleted from the storage medium.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In rapidly prevailing digital cameras these days, image data obtained by image sensing is subjected to compression by a JPEG (Joint Photographic Coding Experts Group) method, and the compressed image data is stored in a memory card which is an attachable/detachable storage medium. According to the JPEG method, DPCM (differential pulse-code modulation) is adopted for reversible compression, while DCT (discrete cosine transform) is adopted for irreversible compression. Since the DPCM which is a reversible encoding method does not lose image data, it has excellent image preservability and achieves excellent image quality in a reproduced image. However, compared to the DCT, the DPCM has a lower encoding compression ratio. On the contrary, in the DCT which is an irreversible encoding method, 8×8-pixel block data is subjected to two-dimensional DCT, then with respect to the coefficient of the transformation non-linear quantization is performed, then AC components are subjected to zigzag scan, and two-dimensional Huffman coding is performed. In the non-linear quantization, fine quantization is performed with respect to a low-frequency component and coarse quantization is performed with respect to a high-frequency component so that image compression can be performed at a high ratio while maintaining reasonable image quality. However, when the image compression ratio is increased, image deterioration (block noise or the like) becomes conspicuous. Furthermore, in the JPEG method, a uniform quantization table is used for the entire image. Therefore, it is impossible to print a certain area of an image with higher quality than other area of the image. If a user wants to increase the image quality of a particular area of a screen, the user has to increase the quality of the entire image before storage. As a result, the user has no other choice but to reduce the total number of images to be recorded in a memory card. On the contrary, a so-called JPEG 2000 method is under review as the next-generation compression method. More specifically, image data is broken down to hierarchy data for each of a plurality of resolutions by wavelet transformation or the like, and the broken-down hierarchy data in units of resolution is encoded in order of hierarchy to be compressed and stored as a file (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-103460). By virtue of the fact that image data is hierarchically encoded, efficient image data transfer is achieved because only the data of necessary resolution can be transferred. Furthermore, an image can be restored without using the encoded data of all the frequency components, but only using the low-resolution data. In other words, the amount of data can easily be reduced by eliminating the high-resolution data. Furthermore, according to a characteristic aspect of the JPEG 2000, a region of interest (hereinafter referred to as a ROI) is designated in an image, and the image of the ROI can be encoded by a compression coefficient (compression ratio) different from that of the other regions of the image. By employing the compression technique and aspect of the JPEG 2000, it is considered possible to realize a user-friendly digital camera having various functions. Meanwhile, most of the currently available digital cameras are capable of setting plural levels of recording image quality modes referred to as image sensing modes, e.g., Super Fine (high image quality mode), Fine (medium image quality mode), and Normal (low image quality mode). If the image quality is high, the image size is large. Therefore, selecting image quality means selecting the number of sensing images. With the current technique, if image data is once sensed and stored in a high image quality mode, it is impossible to lower the image quality of the stored image. In a case where the storage medium inserted in the digital camera runs short of the storage area but there are more objects to be sensed, the image data that has been sensed and stored in the past must be erased, which is problematic to the user.
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Title:
Image sensing apparatus and control method thereof
Abstract:
This invention enables deleting and protecting a part of sensed image data in accordance with a situation so as to enable efficient utilization of a finite capacity of a storage medium. To realize this, an image subjected to deletion from the image data stored in a storage medium is selected and displayed in a display unit of a digital camera. If a region of interest (ROI) is set in this image, a user is asked to select the ROI, non-ROI region, or entire image as the deletion target, and the designated region is deleted from the storage medium.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION In rapidly prevailing digital cameras these days, image data obtained by image sensing is subjected to compression by a JPEG (Joint Photographic Coding Experts Group) method, and the compressed image data is stored in a memory card which is an attachable/detachable storage medium. According to the JPEG method, DPCM (differential pulse-code modulation) is adopted for reversible compression, while DCT (discrete cosine transform) is adopted for irreversible compression. Since the DPCM which is a reversible encoding method does not lose image data, it has excellent image preservability and achieves excellent image quality in a reproduced image. However, compared to the DCT, the DPCM has a lower encoding compression ratio. On the contrary, in the DCT which is an irreversible encoding method, 8×8-pixel block data is subjected to two-dimensional DCT, then with respect to the coefficient of the transformation non-linear quantization is performed, then AC components are subjected to zigzag scan, and two-dimensional Huffman coding is performed. In the non-linear quantization, fine quantization is performed with respect to a low-frequency component and coarse quantization is performed with respect to a high-frequency component so that image compression can be performed at a high ratio while maintaining reasonable image quality. However, when the image compression ratio is increased, image deterioration (block noise or the like) becomes conspicuous. Furthermore, in the JPEG method, a uniform quantization table is used for the entire image. Therefore, it is impossible to print a certain area of an image with higher quality than other area of the image. If a user wants to increase the image quality of a particular area of a screen, the user has to increase the quality of the entire image before storage. As a result, the user has no other choice but to reduce the total number of images to be recorded in a memory card. On the contrary, a so-called JPEG 2000 method is under review as the next-generation compression method. More specifically, image data is broken down to hierarchy data for each of a plurality of resolutions by wavelet transformation or the like, and the broken-down hierarchy data in units of resolution is encoded in order of hierarchy to be compressed and stored as a file (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 11-103460). By virtue of the fact that image data is hierarchically encoded, efficient image data transfer is achieved because only the data of necessary resolution can be transferred. Furthermore, an image can be restored without using the encoded data of all the frequency components, but only using the low-resolution data. In other words, the amount of data can easily be reduced by eliminating the high-resolution data. Furthermore, according to a characteristic aspect of the JPEG 2000, a region of interest (hereinafter referred to as a ROI) is designated in an image, and the image of the ROI can be encoded by a compression coefficient (compression ratio) different from that of the other regions of the image. By employing the compression technique and aspect of the JPEG 2000, it is considered possible to realize a user-friendly digital camera having various functions. Meanwhile, most of the currently available digital cameras are capable of setting plural levels of recording image quality modes referred to as image sensing modes, e.g., Super Fine (high image quality mode), Fine (medium image quality mode), and Normal (low image quality mode). If the image quality is high, the image size is large. Therefore, selecting image quality means selecting the number of sensing images. With the current technique, if image data is once sensed and stored in a high image quality mode, it is impossible to lower the image quality of the stored image. In a case where the storage medium inserted in the digital camera runs short of the storage area but there are more objects to be sensed, the image data that has been sensed and stored in the past must be erased, which is problematic to the user.
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10955723
| 2,004
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Tine plate
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To provide a tine plate wherein the independency of the through holes is secured to improve the strength of the tine plate and enhance its moldability and in turn improve its yield while it can prevent the trouble that, due to variations in the service ambient temperature, cracks are generated in the soldering parts of the legs. It is a tine plate that is to be mounted on an electric connector, which comprises a plurality of contacts, each of which is provided on one end with a leg that is to be inserted into an insertion hole of a printed circuit board and on the other end side of the leg with a contacting part, and an insulative housing in which these contacts are so provided that their legs substantially extend in parallel to each other. The tine plate is provided with a plurality of through holes, which penetrate the tine plate in the thickness direction thereof and into which the legs of the contacts are to be inserted, and as to at least through holes on both ends substantially in the longitudinal direction of the tine plate, the largest value of the inside dimension in the longitudinal direction of the tine plate when seen in the thickness direction is made greater than the largest value of the inside dimension in the transverse direction of the tine plate.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the field of tine plate, which is mounted on an electric connector to line up the legs of contacts. 2. Related Art Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 9-35829 discloses, in an electric connector, which comprises a plurality of contacts, each of which has a tine part that is to be inserted into a through hole of a board and a contacting part that is to contact a contact of a counterpart mutually-engaging connector, and a housing in which the plurality of contacts are arranged, a tine plate in which a plurality of through holes are formed, through which respective the tine parts of the plurality of contacts are to be put, and which is arranged in a lining-up position to line up the tine parts by making respective the tine parts penetrate through the plurality of through holes, the tine plate being characterized in that a slot, which interconnects at least two or more through holes of the plurality of through holes, is provided. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 10-154537 discloses a board mount type connector, and this connector is provided with a tine plate. This tine plate has three rows of through holes that correspond to the number. of contacts. Some through holes of a row of through holes, which is the closest to the housing among these rows of through holes, are interconnected with each other by slots. With this arrangement, even when there is a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between a board and the tine plate, stresses that are generated in the soldering parts of the legs are moderated, hence solder cracking does not take place (refer to paragraph 0012 of the publication). When such a tine plate is mounted on an electric connector, the legs of a plurality of contacts, which substantially extend in parallel to each other, will be neatly lined up by the tine plate, hence when these legs are to be inserted into the insertion holes of a printed circuit board so as to mount the electric connector on the printed circuit board, the workability of this mounting can be enhanced. Moreover, the tine plate can cover and protect the legs of the contacts. When there is a difference in thermal expansion quantity between a tine plate and a printed circuit board due to a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion, etc. between them, it will pose such a trouble that, due to variations in the service ambient temperature, the tine plate and the legs of the contacts that are soldered onto the printed circuit board interfere with each other, resulting in generation of cracks in the soldering parts of the legs. The inventions of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 9-35829 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 10-154537 prevent this trouble by providing the tine plate with slots that interconnect through holes.
|
Title:
Tine plate
Abstract:
To provide a tine plate wherein the independency of the through holes is secured to improve the strength of the tine plate and enhance its moldability and in turn improve its yield while it can prevent the trouble that, due to variations in the service ambient temperature, cracks are generated in the soldering parts of the legs. It is a tine plate that is to be mounted on an electric connector, which comprises a plurality of contacts, each of which is provided on one end with a leg that is to be inserted into an insertion hole of a printed circuit board and on the other end side of the leg with a contacting part, and an insulative housing in which these contacts are so provided that their legs substantially extend in parallel to each other. The tine plate is provided with a plurality of through holes, which penetrate the tine plate in the thickness direction thereof and into which the legs of the contacts are to be inserted, and as to at least through holes on both ends substantially in the longitudinal direction of the tine plate, the largest value of the inside dimension in the longitudinal direction of the tine plate when seen in the thickness direction is made greater than the largest value of the inside dimension in the transverse direction of the tine plate.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention belongs to the field of tine plate, which is mounted on an electric connector to line up the legs of contacts. 2. Related Art Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 9-35829 discloses, in an electric connector, which comprises a plurality of contacts, each of which has a tine part that is to be inserted into a through hole of a board and a contacting part that is to contact a contact of a counterpart mutually-engaging connector, and a housing in which the plurality of contacts are arranged, a tine plate in which a plurality of through holes are formed, through which respective the tine parts of the plurality of contacts are to be put, and which is arranged in a lining-up position to line up the tine parts by making respective the tine parts penetrate through the plurality of through holes, the tine plate being characterized in that a slot, which interconnects at least two or more through holes of the plurality of through holes, is provided. Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 10-154537 discloses a board mount type connector, and this connector is provided with a tine plate. This tine plate has three rows of through holes that correspond to the number. of contacts. Some through holes of a row of through holes, which is the closest to the housing among these rows of through holes, are interconnected with each other by slots. With this arrangement, even when there is a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion between a board and the tine plate, stresses that are generated in the soldering parts of the legs are moderated, hence solder cracking does not take place (refer to paragraph 0012 of the publication). When such a tine plate is mounted on an electric connector, the legs of a plurality of contacts, which substantially extend in parallel to each other, will be neatly lined up by the tine plate, hence when these legs are to be inserted into the insertion holes of a printed circuit board so as to mount the electric connector on the printed circuit board, the workability of this mounting can be enhanced. Moreover, the tine plate can cover and protect the legs of the contacts. When there is a difference in thermal expansion quantity between a tine plate and a printed circuit board due to a difference in coefficient of thermal expansion, etc. between them, it will pose such a trouble that, due to variations in the service ambient temperature, the tine plate and the legs of the contacts that are soldered onto the printed circuit board interfere with each other, resulting in generation of cracks in the soldering parts of the legs. The inventions of the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 9-35829 and Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication Heisei 10-154537 prevent this trouble by providing the tine plate with slots that interconnect through holes.
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10799130
| 2,004
|
Medical apparatus and method useful for positioning energy delivery device
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A medical apparatus and method useful for the efficacious thermal treatment of lumen such as varicose veins during laser surgery is provided. An energy delivery device comprising a diffusing optical fiber with a light-emitting section and a memory device having data programmed therein is also provided. The optical fiber includes a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature at a treatment site. An energy generator is connected to the optical fiber and to a positioning device. The optical fiber engages positioning device so that the positioning device can moveably position the light-emitting section of the optical fiber. Consequently, the optical fiber can be inserted directly into an appropriate position within a varicose portion of a vein or other lumen for thermal treatment of the vein. The memory device and a main processor are used to automatically control the operation of the medical apparatus including the intensity of energy emitted and the movement or position of the light-emitting section of the optical fiber within the vein being treated.
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BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Currently physicians employ endovascular techniques to deliver laser energy conductively while treating blood vessels such as varicose veins. One such technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,777 issued to Navarro et al. on Jun. 4, 2002 which discloses a method for treating varicose veins using a tipped laser energy carrier to deliver laser energy into the blood vessel lumen to produce vein wall damage with subsequent fibrosis. The method includes compressing the greater saphenous vein over the tip of the fiber optic line so that the tip of the fiber optic line makes direct contact with the vein wall while bursts of laser energy are delivered, and incrementally retracting the fiber optic line along the saphenous vein. During the treatment of varicose veins using conductive energy delivery devices, accurately controlling the temperature achieved by the human tissue is desirable to assure efficacious treatment. One difficulty with the use of such typical fiberoptic technology to deliver energy to the wall of a vein or lumen is that unless the fiberoptic can evenly distribute energy radially outwardly, in a substantially uniform manner to the wall of the lumen, the shrinkage and fibrosis of the vein will not be uniform. An uneven distribution of energy will lead to detrimental results. Use of a diffusing fiberoptic can help avoid any uneven distribution of energy. Physicians have used diffusing type energy delivery devices to treat damaged intervertebral disc when the damage has resulted in a bulge and where heating of the annulus will shrink the collagen in the annulus to help reduce the bulge. U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,269 issued to Nield et al. on Jan. 7, 2003 discloses a method for treating intervertebral discs including insertion of a light source into the damaged disc, activation of the light source to emit diffuse light, optically measuring the temperature of tissue near the light source, and modifying the intensity of the light emitted according to the measured temperature. While some fiber optic devices may be useful in controllably heating the annulus of an intervertebral disc, the anatomical differences and desired medical outcomes are distinctly different in the treatment of intervertebral disc and the incremental treatment along the length of a lumen such as a varicose vein. In the treatment of a varicose vein, the amount of energy absorbed by the vein can be monitored by measuring the temperature along each incremental segment of the vein while an entire length of the vein is being treated. Even minor variations in treatment effectively from one segment to another segment can change the therapeutic effects of the overall treatment. Detrimental results may also occur if there is an over exposure at one treatment segment or under exposure at another treatment segment of the vein during the medical procedure as the fiber optic line is incrementally moved within the vein. Accurate measurement of the tissue temperature at each treatment segment can be used to assure the proper level or intensity of treatment is given along the length of the entire treatment site. In particular, any inconsistencies or shifts in the tissue temperature at a specific segment of the vein or along the length of the vein during treatment may indicate unwanted variations in energy delivery that may lead to over treatment or under treatment of the tissue, which can result in inferior clinical outcomes including failure to achieve fibrosis of the vein and additional surgical procedures. Use of diffusion instead of conduction for energy delivery will assure a more even distribution of energy along the length of the vein. It is therefore desirable to utilize a diffusing fiberoptic device having the capability to monitor and control the temperature at each treatment segment and along the entire length of the vein by automatically controlling the amount of energy delivered at each treatment segment. Consequently, there is a need for specific medical apparatuses that can assure an even distribution of energy along the entire length of the cylindrical surface of a lumen such as the saphenous vein. There is also a need for such devices that provide for monitoring of temperatures at each treatment segment while also providing for incrementally treating each segment along the length of the lumen. Such an apparatus and methodology will help assure that patients receive the most efficacious treatment that their physicians can provide.
|
Title:
Medical apparatus and method useful for positioning energy delivery device
Abstract:
A medical apparatus and method useful for the efficacious thermal treatment of lumen such as varicose veins during laser surgery is provided. An energy delivery device comprising a diffusing optical fiber with a light-emitting section and a memory device having data programmed therein is also provided. The optical fiber includes a temperature sensor for measuring a temperature at a treatment site. An energy generator is connected to the optical fiber and to a positioning device. The optical fiber engages positioning device so that the positioning device can moveably position the light-emitting section of the optical fiber. Consequently, the optical fiber can be inserted directly into an appropriate position within a varicose portion of a vein or other lumen for thermal treatment of the vein. The memory device and a main processor are used to automatically control the operation of the medical apparatus including the intensity of energy emitted and the movement or position of the light-emitting section of the optical fiber within the vein being treated.
Background:
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION Currently physicians employ endovascular techniques to deliver laser energy conductively while treating blood vessels such as varicose veins. One such technique is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,398,777 issued to Navarro et al. on Jun. 4, 2002 which discloses a method for treating varicose veins using a tipped laser energy carrier to deliver laser energy into the blood vessel lumen to produce vein wall damage with subsequent fibrosis. The method includes compressing the greater saphenous vein over the tip of the fiber optic line so that the tip of the fiber optic line makes direct contact with the vein wall while bursts of laser energy are delivered, and incrementally retracting the fiber optic line along the saphenous vein. During the treatment of varicose veins using conductive energy delivery devices, accurately controlling the temperature achieved by the human tissue is desirable to assure efficacious treatment. One difficulty with the use of such typical fiberoptic technology to deliver energy to the wall of a vein or lumen is that unless the fiberoptic can evenly distribute energy radially outwardly, in a substantially uniform manner to the wall of the lumen, the shrinkage and fibrosis of the vein will not be uniform. An uneven distribution of energy will lead to detrimental results. Use of a diffusing fiberoptic can help avoid any uneven distribution of energy. Physicians have used diffusing type energy delivery devices to treat damaged intervertebral disc when the damage has resulted in a bulge and where heating of the annulus will shrink the collagen in the annulus to help reduce the bulge. U.S. Pat. No. 6,503,269 issued to Nield et al. on Jan. 7, 2003 discloses a method for treating intervertebral discs including insertion of a light source into the damaged disc, activation of the light source to emit diffuse light, optically measuring the temperature of tissue near the light source, and modifying the intensity of the light emitted according to the measured temperature. While some fiber optic devices may be useful in controllably heating the annulus of an intervertebral disc, the anatomical differences and desired medical outcomes are distinctly different in the treatment of intervertebral disc and the incremental treatment along the length of a lumen such as a varicose vein. In the treatment of a varicose vein, the amount of energy absorbed by the vein can be monitored by measuring the temperature along each incremental segment of the vein while an entire length of the vein is being treated. Even minor variations in treatment effectively from one segment to another segment can change the therapeutic effects of the overall treatment. Detrimental results may also occur if there is an over exposure at one treatment segment or under exposure at another treatment segment of the vein during the medical procedure as the fiber optic line is incrementally moved within the vein. Accurate measurement of the tissue temperature at each treatment segment can be used to assure the proper level or intensity of treatment is given along the length of the entire treatment site. In particular, any inconsistencies or shifts in the tissue temperature at a specific segment of the vein or along the length of the vein during treatment may indicate unwanted variations in energy delivery that may lead to over treatment or under treatment of the tissue, which can result in inferior clinical outcomes including failure to achieve fibrosis of the vein and additional surgical procedures. Use of diffusion instead of conduction for energy delivery will assure a more even distribution of energy along the length of the vein. It is therefore desirable to utilize a diffusing fiberoptic device having the capability to monitor and control the temperature at each treatment segment and along the entire length of the vein by automatically controlling the amount of energy delivered at each treatment segment. Consequently, there is a need for specific medical apparatuses that can assure an even distribution of energy along the entire length of the cylindrical surface of a lumen such as the saphenous vein. There is also a need for such devices that provide for monitoring of temperatures at each treatment segment while also providing for incrementally treating each segment along the length of the lumen. Such an apparatus and methodology will help assure that patients receive the most efficacious treatment that their physicians can provide.
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10961293
| 2,004
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Actuator for a fuel injector of an internal combustion engine
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In order to increase the lifetime for a piezoactuator of a fuel injector and to make possible a reliable seal of the piezoactor especially for comparatively thin head plates as well a gas exchange passage running through an actuator housing (52, 54) is provided, where a sealing unit (2) placed on the head arrangement (16, 18) is provided for sealing the piezoactor (12) which features a carrier (28) on which a sealing material (30) is arranged which forms a seal around the piezo contact pins (14) and the head arrangement (16, 18) and on which a microporous gas exchanger (26) to create gas permeability of the sealing unit (24) is integrated such that any fluid which has penetrated through to the gas exchanger (26) can flow out of the gas exchanger (26) under the force of gravity.
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TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an injector for an internal combustion engine.
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Title:
Actuator for a fuel injector of an internal combustion engine
Abstract:
In order to increase the lifetime for a piezoactuator of a fuel injector and to make possible a reliable seal of the piezoactor especially for comparatively thin head plates as well a gas exchange passage running through an actuator housing (52, 54) is provided, where a sealing unit (2) placed on the head arrangement (16, 18) is provided for sealing the piezoactor (12) which features a carrier (28) on which a sealing material (30) is arranged which forms a seal around the piezo contact pins (14) and the head arrangement (16, 18) and on which a microporous gas exchanger (26) to create gas permeability of the sealing unit (24) is integrated such that any fluid which has penetrated through to the gas exchanger (26) can flow out of the gas exchanger (26) under the force of gravity.
Background:
TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION The present invention relates to an injector for an internal combustion engine.
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