1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to hardware and software installation and maintenance, and more particularly to software programs for diagnosing product issues.
2. Description of the Related Art
Computer networks and other products may have multiple components. When a product issue affects one component, the product issue may eventually affect the other similar components on the products in a comparable way. For example, if an installer installed several similar components on multiple products, the same error may have been made in each installation. Once the error is detected on one component, it may need to be remedied on similar components of other products. In addition, many product issues with components may not be detected until later if product issue symptoms are delayed. In addition, product issues discovered on one product may affect other similar products over the course of the product's lifetime.
Expert repairmen and on-site expert personnel may fix many product issues. Repair manuals may be consulted to aid with unfamiliar product issues. In addition, experts may watch or consult other experts to find out how to fix a product issue they are unfamiliar with. However, the spread of knowledge from expert to expert may be slow and incomplete. In many repair instances, the repairs for similar product issues may not be uniform and therefore, the results of these repairs may be unreliable. Furthermore, product issue solutions may change with time. Previously repaired products may need to be repaired again or inconsistent repairs across products may affect the product's reliability.


Multiple input multiple output (MIMO) increases the efficiency of data transmission and reception using multiple transmit antennas and multiple receive antennas instead of a single transmission antenna and a single reception antenna. A receiver receives data through multiple paths when multiple antennas are used, whereas the receiver receives data through a single antenna path when a single antenna is used. Accordingly, MIMO can increase a data transmission rate and throughput and improve coverage.
A single cell MIMO scheme can be classified into a single user-MIMO (SU-MIMO) scheme for receiving a downlink signal by a single UE in one cell and a multi user-MIMO (MU-MIMO) scheme for receiving a downlink signal by two or more UEs.
Channel estimation refers to a procedure for compensating for signal distortion due to fading to restore a reception signal. Here, the fading refers to sudden fluctuation in signal intensity due to multipath-time delay in a wireless communication system environment. For channel estimation, a reference signal (RS) known to both a transmitter and a receiver is required. In addition, the RS can be referred to as a RS or a pilot signal according to applied standard.
A downlink RS is a pilot signal for coherent demodulation for a physical downlink shared channel (PDSCH), a physical control format indicator channel (PCFICH), a physical hybrid indicator channel (PHICH), a physical downlink control channel (PDCCH), etc. A downlink RS includes a common RS (CRS) shared by all user equipments (UEs) in a cell and a dedicated RS (DRS) for a specific UE. For a system (e.g., a system having extended antenna configuration LTE-A standard for supporting 8 transmission antennas) compared with a conventional communication system (e.g., a system according to LTE release-8 or 9) for supporting 4 transmission antennas, DRS based data demodulation has been considered for effectively managing RSs and supporting a developed transmission scheme. That is, for supporting data transmission through extended antennas, DRS for two or more layers can be defined. DRS is pre-coded by the same pre-coder as a pre-coder for data and thus a receiver can easily estimate channel information for data demodulation without separate precoding information.
A downlink receiver can acquire pre-coded channel information for extended antenna configuration through DRS but requires a separate RS other than DRS in order to non-pre-coded channel information. Accordingly, a receiver of a system according to LTE-A standard can define a RS for acquisition of channel state information (CSI), that is, CSI-RS.


The present invention relates to a system for automatically controlling the idling speed of an internal combustion engine, comprising a valve for supplying an adjustable quantity of additional air and generally set so as to choke a duct connecting zones up- and downstream from the throttle valve controlled by the accelerator.
On known automatic idling control systems, said valve consists of an electrovalve, the setting of which is controlled by a signal as a function of the difference between required and actually detected engine speed, for the purpose of maintaining engine speed constantly within a given range under varying operating conditions.
A major drawback on such known control systems is that they fail to provide for fast adjustment response, the disadvantage of which is particularly felt when applied to electronic injection systems providing for highly accurate, high-speed overall control of the engine via an electronic control system which, depending on signals from various sensors (mainly engine speed/stroke and air intake pressure/temperature sensors), determines, for example, air density inside the manifold, and engine speed, and calculates, via interpolation on respective memorized maps, the stroke and timing for injecting fuel into the injectors, as well as the spark lead.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device using a chip on film (COF) operating with a low driving voltage.
2. Background of the Related Art
Lately, display devices having wide image areas are the trend of the times. The display devices have much more data and scan lines in order to improve image quality.
However, if the number of the scan lines is increased to improve the image quality of the display device having a simple matrix structure, there are many limitations on driving the display device.
FIG. 1 illustrates a diagram of a display device using a COF according to a related art.
Referring to FIG. 1, data lines are connected straight to a chip on film (hereinafter abbreviated COF) from a display panel. And, scan lines, which are arranged on left and right sides of the display panel respectively, extend from the display panel with forming a curve so as to be coupled with the COF.
As mentioned in the above explanation, the scan lines forming curves from both sides of the display panel extend longer than the data lines. Such a structure results in increasing line resistance of the scan lines and further delays a signal response.
In display devices such as EL (electro-luminescence), LED (light emitting diode), FED (field emission display) and the like, the line resistance of the scan lines has a close relation to the driving voltage of the display devices.
Namely, if the line resistance of the scan lines increases, the driving voltage thereof increases as well. Thus, the line resistance of the display device having a low driving voltage is a major issue.
Accordingly, the present invention is directed to a display device using a COF that substantially obviates one or more problems due to limitations and disadvantages of the related art.
An object of the present invention is to provide a display device using a COF enabling to reduce line resistance of scan and data lines in a display device.
Additional advantages, objects, and features of the invention will be set forth in part in the description which follows and in part will become apparent to those having ordinary skill in the art upon examination of the following or may be learned from practice of the invention. The objectives and other advantages of the invention may be realized and attained by the structure particularly pointed out in the written description and claims hereof as well as the appended drawings.
To achieve these objects and other advantages and in accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, a display device using a COF according to the present invention includes a display panel, a COF having a connection part on which the display channel is placed and a chip part on which a chip is placed, data and scan lines extending from the display panel, scan line connection lines on the connection part, the scan line connection lines connecting the scan lines electrically to the COF, and data line connection lines on the connection part, the data line connection lines connecting the data lines electrically to the COF, wherein the scan lines are directly connected to the chip on a first line in parallel with an extending line from the COF through the scan line connection lines formed on the COF at both sides of the display panel.
Preferably, the scan line connection lines are straightly connected to the scan lines at both sides of the display panel corresponding to the first line and the data line connection lines are connected to the data lines extending from both sides of the display panel corresponding to the second line. Also, a substrate material of the COF is one of glass and plastic.
In another aspect of the present invention, a display device using a COF includes a display panel, the COF having a connection part on which the display channel is placed and a chip part on which a chip is placed, data and scan lines extending from the display panel, scan line connection lines on the connection part, the scan line connection lines connecting the scan lines electrically to the COF, and data line connection lines on the connection part, the data line connection lines connecting the data lines electrically to the COF, wherein the scan lines are straightly connected to the COF through the scan line connection lines at both sides of the display panel on a first line in parallel with a direction extending from the COF, a portion of the data lines extends toward the chip from both sides of the display panel corresponding to a second line in a direction different from the extending direction of the COF, and the other portion of the data lines extends toward the chip from both sides of the display panel corresponding to a second line in a direction different from the extending line of the COF and is connected to the COF through the data line connection lines.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a display device using a COF includes a display panel, a COF having a connection part on which the display channel is placed and a chip part on which a chip is placed, data and scan lines extending from the display panel, scan line connection lines on the connection part, the scan line connection lines connecting the scan lines electrically to the COF, and data line connection lines on the connection part, the data line connection lines connecting the data lines electrically to the COF, wherein the scan lines are straightly connected to the COF toward the chip through the scan line connection lines at both sides of the display panel on a first line in parallel with an extending direction of the COF, and the data lines are connected to the COF through the data line connection lines from both sides of the display panel on a second line in a direction different from the extending direction of the COF.
Preferably, the scan line connection lines extend straightly on the first line and the data line connection lines form a curve with a predetermined angle so as to extend from the first line to the second line. The predetermined angle is 90xc2x0.
It is to be understood that both the foregoing general description and the following detailed description of the present invention are exemplary and explanatory and are intended to provide further explanation of the invention as claimed.


As electronic and digital content use in enterprise settings and/or other organizational settings has become the preferred mechanism for project, task, and work flow management, so has the need for streamlined collaboration and sharing of digital content and documents. In such collaboration environments, multiple users share, access, and otherwise perform actions or tasks on content and files in shared workspaces.
When a user performs an action on a file in a collaboration environment, a corresponding job can be scheduled. For example, in response to a file being uploaded, the file might responsively be scanned. Current automation architectures for collaboration environments provide a mechanism to kick off the jobs at the front-end (e.g., at the web or application servers). Unfortunately, these current architectures are not easily scalable and do not provide for customizations of the jobs to be performed responsive to particular actions in a distributed computing environment.


The present invention relates to a method for detecting an aberrant animal-derived prion gene. The invention further relates to a prion gene modified mouse which exhibits heart anomalies, and to a method for detecting drugs which reduce anomalies in an electrocardiogram of said mouse.
Transmissible spongiform encephalopathy is a neurodegenerative disease observed in many kinds of mammal. These diseases are prion diseases caused by anomalies in prion proteins (PrP). Among these, kuru, Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD), Gerstmann-Straussler-Scheinker desease (GSS) in humans; and scrapie and bovine spongiform encephalopathy in ruminant livestocks such as sheep and cattle are known, and are a serious problems even today. A cause of the epidemic of prion diseases such as BSE in animals is thought to be livestock feed from sheep infected with scrapie, however, the causal link between the feed and incidence has not been confirmed.
The British medical journal xe2x80x9cLancetxe2x80x9d issued on Apr. 6, 1996 reported 10 cases of human transmissible spongiform encephalopathy, a new type of Creutzfeldt-Jacob disease (CJD) in the United Kingdom. This disease has been on the increase having killed 48 persons in the United Kingdom and 2 persons in France; and CJD has been under surveillance all over the world including Japan. The World Health Organization (WHO) has promoted research and development using transgenic animals. They are considered to be useful for detecting diseases sensitively in early stages and developing removal methods of pathogens. Owing to this research, the causal link between mad cow disease and CJD is gradually being elucidated.
At present, in Prusiner""s report (S. Prusiner et al. PNAS 96:15137-15192, 1999) a bovine prion gene modified mouse is presented; and each pathogen, BSE, scrapie and CJD is said to appear at around 200 days in this transgenic mouse. Accordingly, the transgenic mouse indicates the high possibility that these three pathogens are identical. On the other hand, in Collinge""s report (J. Collinge et al. PNAS, 91:9936-9940, 1994), a human prion gene modified mouse was presented; and CJD is said to appear at around 220 days in this mouse. However, a mouse in which the incubation period has been shortened using various animal-derived prion genes, is not yet known.
It is of great interest to note the fact that a wild ruminant such as kudu and oryx has a shorter incubation period compared with that of livestock ruminants such as sheep and cattle; and their progress after incidence is rapid. For example, it has been reported that generally the incubation period in sheep is 36-48 months and incidence is at age 36-48 months, and in cattle the incubation period is 36-72 months and the incidence is at age 60-80 months, but on the other hand, in Oryx demmah the incubation period is 21 months and incidence is at age 30 months. This indicates that the difference of transmissibility of spongiform encephalopathy and the incubation period might depend on the difference of amino acid sequence of each PrP. Up to now, the gene encoding a prion protein has been identified in many mammals such as human, sheep, cattle, mouse, hamster, etc; and it is known that their genes show not less than 90% amino acid homology to each other and they are highly conserved (N. Oesch et al., Cell, 40, 735 (1985); D. Westaway et al., Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. USA 91: 6418-6422 (1994); D. Westaway et al., Genes and Develop. 8:959-969 (1994); N. Hunter et al., J. Gen. Virol. 74 1025-1031 (1993)).
Now the system for rapidly detecting the scrapie pathogen is required to be established. Human or bovine prion gene modified transgenic mice have not yet been provided sufficiently in the world; therefore under present circumstances, the pathogen is detected by inoculating the animal tissues of interest in the brain of an ordinary CD-1 mouse (CLEA JAPAN). In the case of inoculating sheep brain tissue with this method, at least 300 days are required for the detection. Establishing a method for detecting the aberrant prion gene within a shortened incubation period before prion disease incidence may overcome the disadvantage of detection by the present bioassay which has high sensitivity but lacks rapidness.
On the other hand, a heart disease model in mouse is rare. Although the transgenic mouse with familial amyloid polyneuropathy has been reported, there is no report of a transgenic mouse as a heart specific disease model. The prion gene modified mouse with heart specific disease may also be useful for developing pharmaceuticals for heart diseases and studies on life-style related diseases.
The object of the present invention is to provide a method for detecting an aberrant animal-derived prion gene.
The present inventors have studied extensively and intensively to solve the above problems and have now found that a prion gene modified mouse exhibits heart disease when a foreign prion gene is aberrant, thereby completing the invention.
Furthermore, in the past, there was no report which confirms abnormal electrocardiogram wave profiles and abnormal tissues in the heart of a mouse which overexpresses mouse normal prion genes (m-Prnp) (Prion and Prion Disease, Jun Tateishi. KYORITSU SHUPPAN, p23 (1998)).
The present invention relates to a method for detecting an aberrant animal-derived prion gene in which the prion gene is determined to be aberrant when the prion gene modified mouse exhibits heart disease.
The invention further relates to a prion gene modified mouse which exhibits heart disease.
Still further, the invention relates to a method for detecting drugs which reduce abnormal waves in an electrocardiogram of the prion gene modified mouse.
The invention will be described in detail as follows.


1. Field of Invention
The invention is directed to downhole milling tools utilized in oil and gas wells to abrade, cut, or mill an object within the well and, in particular, to downhole cutting tools having a blade that is retracted during run-in and extended radially outward for cutting, abrading, or milling.
2. Description of Art
In the drilling, completion, and workover of oil and gas wells, it is common to perform work downhole in the wellbore with a tool that has some sort of cutting profile interfacing with a downhole structure. Examples would be milling a downhole metal object with a milling tool or cutting through a tubular with a cutting or milling tool. To facilitate these operations, cutting elements are disposed on the downhole cutting tool. In one type of milling tool, the cutting elements are disposed on blades that can be disposed in a retracted position and an extended position. In certain of these embodiments, the blades are extended by increasing the pressure across the tool. Upon reduction of the pressure, such as after the milling operation has been completed, the blades are moved back to their retracted position so that the tool can be retrieved from the well.


1. Field of the Invention
The disclosed concept relates to a switchgear and, more particularly, to a switchgear wherein an enclosure housing assembly includes an extendable conductor assembly and a ground bus bar assembly that does not extend over the path of travel of a movable carriage assembly.
2. Background Information
Electrical switching apparatus, such as but not limited to circuit breakers, are often disposed in an enclosure or housing assembly. The electrical switching apparatus is disposed on, or is incorporated with, a movable carriage assembly. When the electrical switching apparatus need repair or other maintenance, the electrical switching apparatus is drawn, at least partially, from the enclosure. The removal of the electrical switching apparatus from the housing assembly may, or may not, decouple the electrical switching apparatus from the power source (hereinafter “line”) and/or the load. For the safety of the operators, a movable carriage assembly ground connection, i.e. a grounded conductor, is required by various regulations and safety procedures. For example, the frame of the circuit breaker is, typically, an electrically conductive material which needs to be coupled to ground whenever secondary wiring connections mate and/or become energized with electrical power
The ground connection allows the electrical switching apparatus to be in electrical communication with the ground continuously from the fully inserted/connected position until the electrical switching apparatus is drawn out a safe distance from the housing assembly. The purpose of this grounding feature is to protect operators from injury as a result of an electrical issue in the secondary control voltage system, which is typically less than 250 volts. The ground connection is also used with Ground and Test Devices that connect the primary voltage terminals, which typically can carry up to 15,000 volts, to ground so that the operators are protected while working on the conductor buses.
To allow for such a continuous ground connection, the housing assembly includes a large conductive bar (hereinafter “ground bar”), such as, but not limited to a copper bar, secured to the housing assembly. Further, the electrical switching apparatus includes a sliding electrical coupling that is structured to be slidably coupled to, and in electrical communication with, the ground bar. That is, the ground bar extends over the path of travel of the electrical switching apparatus so that as the electrical switching apparatus moves out of, or into, the housing assembly, the sliding electrical coupling moves along the ground bar maintaining the electrical switching apparatus in a grounded state.
Because advancing technology continually reduces the overall size of an electrical switching apparatus and the associated housing assembly, physically locating large conductive bars that extend the full length of the housing assembly is becoming increasingly difficult. Additionally, market demand for copper makes large ground bars expensive. By employing a short ground bar at the rear of the housing assembly, testing equipment can still effectively connect to, and provide the shunted path for, primary voltage and current; however, the requirement for a continuous connection throughout the draw-out range still must be met.
There is, therefore, a need for a housing assembly that provides for a grounded connection over the length of the draw-out path of travel but which does not include a long ground bar. There is a further need for such a housing assembly to accommodate existing electrical switching apparatus.


In U.S. patent application Ser. No. 509,770, filed July 1, 1983, now U.S. Pat. No. 4,500,657, for DENTAL RESTORATIVE COMPOSITIONS HAVING IMPROVED MECHANICAL PROPERTIES AND HYDROLYTIC STABILITY, and assigned to the same assignee as this Application, there is disclosed dental restorative compositions containing a monomer having at least two olefinically unsaturated groups, a polymerization initiator, and a filler. In the invention of said Application, both the monomer and the filler are hydrophobic (as defined therein), and the filler has a critical particle size and constitutes a critical proportion of the formulation. The dental restorative compositions of said application exhibit excellent properties, and are serious contenders to be indicated for use in Class II restorations (that is, restorations on the biting surfaces of molars), a distinction that has, thus far, eluded most, if not all, commercial resinous dental restoratives.
This invention is directed to an improvement in the art of resinous dental restoratives, and is particularly useful in the restoratives described in said Application.


This invention relates to the field of terminal clips and blocks, and connecting block assemblies thereof, used in telephone and data transmission interconnect assemblies. More particularly, this invention relates to a material reduced and transmission enhanced clip and block for clips of the type generally referred to in the art as 66 type clips. This invention also relates to a novel method of manufacturing such terminal clips.
Clip and block assemblies for 66 type clips are well known in the art and have been in use for many years. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,112,147 and 3,518,618 to Pferd et al and to Swanson et al, respectively. These assemblies include a dielectric block or housing in which are located an ordered array of terminal clips. The clips are located in a series of openings in the block, and the top, or interconnect, end of each clip projects through the opening to extend above the upper surface of the central portion of the block. The bottom or base portion of each clip is retained within the body of the block by a combination of interaction with the block and a retainer plate which connects to the bottom of the block and retains the clips in position in the block.
Recently, a requirement has arisen for a small 66 type clip that will be both (a) less expensive, because of reduced volume of material present in the clip, and (b) suitable for and capable of functioning in and for the same applications for which the previous 66 type clips have been used.
One attempt at a smaller and less expensive 66 type clip, and a block therefore, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,845 to Ayer et al. According to the '845 patent, the thickness of the clip is reduced relative to a previous 66 type clip of U.S. Pat. No. 3,112,147, the upper portion of the clip is unchanged in configuration relative to that previous clip, and the base is reduced in size relative to that previous clip, so that the overall height of the clip is about three-fourths that of the previous clip and the clip requires about two thirds of the material of that previous clip. The '845 patent is the closest prior art to this invention known to the inventors of the subject matter of this application.
An important feature of the Ayer et al '845 patent is that the lower part of the clip has a downwardly divergent aperture (76) between the base and that portion of the clip which holds the wire, and that aperture is flanked by arm portions (78,80) of constant width. The aperture (76) is triangular in shape, and the opposed inner and outer surfaces of the arm portions (78 and 80) are parallel.
As with prior art patents, most notably the Swanson '618 patent, the terminal block assembly described by the Ayer et al '845 patent consists of a block body that positions clips at a constant spacing and a slidably engageable retaining plate designed to captivate the clips in said block body. An important limitation of these and other prior art patents is that the regular clip spacing causes uniform capacitive coupling between adjacent rows of clips such that, when used with twisted-pair wires, the capacitive coupling between "tip" and "ring" wires that constitute a pair is equal to that of adjacent conductors from different pairs. Since crosstalk performance is determined by the capacitive imbalance between pairs (i.e., the difference in capacitive coupling between each conductor of a pair and a conductor of another pair), the constant spacing between rows poses a limitation in terms of crosstalk performance between adjacent circuits.
While it is appreciated that crosstalk performance may be improved by simply increasing the constant spatial separation between rows, such an approach has limitations and trade-offs in terms of diminished insertion loss and return loss performance caused by increased separation between tip and ring conductors of a pair, as well as limited compatibility with tools, adapters and other devices designed to plug directly into selected groups of clips on the connecting block assembly. Examples of such tools and plug-on devices are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,194,256, 4,585,290, 4,820,195, 4,883,430, 4,924,345 and 4,944,698, all of which are assigned to the assignee hereof.
All prior art blocks of this type are also limited by their height and the amount of material used to manufacture the connecting block body. The heights of the Pferd and Swanson blocks are determined by the height of the clip whereas the height of the Ayer et al block is determined by the combined height of the clip and that of the retainer ribs that support the clips. The disadvantage of these designs is that they are more limiting than other popular connecting block designs, such as the well known 110-series blocks disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,964,812 (also assigned to the assignee hereof), in terms of the vertical clearance required for the block assembly when it is installed in telecommunications cabinets or other shallow telecommunications distribution facilities. The relatively greater height of the prior art block designs also requires more plastic material, which poses other limitations in terms of manufacturing cost and shipping weight.


The increasing complexity and compactness of present day electronic manufacturing provides increased packing density of various elements on semiconductor substrates and other electronic assemblies, such that a need exists for apparatus for holding and aligning preforms and especially preforms in the form of elongated elements, such as columns, or pins or the like, to facilitate appropriate mounting of these elements on similarly arrayed sites of an electronic component such as a substrate or package.
In the prior art, various devices for positioning discrete elements, such as solder balls, on electronic substrates have been provided. Typical of such arrangements, are devices which employ a vacuum for securing solder balls in a predetermined array in apertures of a principal face of a fixture for subsequent engagement of the solder balls with conductive pads, or other sites, on an electronic assembly.
In these prior art arrangements, the apparatus applies a vacuum to the fixture to provide a suction to secure a plurality of solder balls within apertures on a principal face of the fixture in an array that is complementary to select sites on an electronic substrate. Then, the fixture is appropriately positioned over the substrate with its arrayed solder balls essentially touching the selected sites of the electronic assembly, and subsequently upon termination of the vacuum, the solder balls are released from the fixture to their respective sites.
While the above noted arrangements are well utilized in the construction of electronic devices, they still suffer from various disadvantageous. That is, as electronic assemblies continue to increase in complexity, additional needs such as more compact substrates and board designs are also required. With these requirements, users also simultaneously demand ever smaller and more portable devices that not only retain the capacity of larger devices but also provide increased capabilities. Hence, to meet these needs and demands, the packing density of electronic assemblies continues to rapidly increase. And as to be expected, with both increased capacity requirements and miniaturization, still ever greater burdens are placed upon the density and compactness of sites such as conductive pads on electronic substrates.
In order to satisfy this ever increasing density of sites on electronic substrates, an ever higher degree of precision is required in the placement of discrete elements, and especially elongated elements such as columns or pins on the substrate sites. In the prior art, solder balls are often rigidly held by the applied vacuum within conical or stepped apertures in the fixture's principal face. However, the discontinuities resulting from these conical or stepped apertures often result in offsetting, and in many cases, jamming of the preforms in their receiving apertures.
Moreover, such discontinuities often trap debris which, in turn, will contribute to offsetting or jamming of the solder in their receiving apertures. These problems not only effect the precise positioning of the preforms in the fixture's array but, in addition to termination of the vacuum, often also require application of other mechanical forces to drive the tightly held solder balls from the fixture.
In turn, the difficulties of the above noted devices are further complicated where columns, including rods, pins, or other elongated preforms, rather than ball shaped preforms are utilized for mounting on electronic assemblies. For example, debris trapped in a conical, or stepped end of a column receiving hole can not only result in tipping and possible jamming of the column, but also can provide considerable variation in the relative position of their exterior ends.


The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory device having dynamic type RAM (DRAM) cells integrated and arranged, more specifically, to a semiconductor memory device capable of realizing a low power consumption, an enlarged operation margin and a high speed operation of a sense amplifier, a high reliability and a high current driving ability of a transistor by a transmission gate comprising a P-type MOS transistor.
Recently, according to the increase of the demand for portable apparatus, smaller appliances mounted with a semiconductor device are demanded. Therefore, the mounted semiconductor device is required to be highly integrated and to consume low power so as to prolong the time to be used with a battery.
Among semiconductor memory devices, since a memory cell has a comparatively simple structure in a semiconductor memory device such as DRAM, a high integration has been achieved. According to the high integration, patterns and elements have been even minute to deteriorate the pressure resistance, and the like so that a lower voltage is needed for the power source voltage for driving according to the scaling rule so as to ensure the reliability and a lower power consumption.
For example, in a 16 M bit DRAM, the power source voltage is being shifted from the conventional Vcc=5V to Vcc=3.3V. Further, in a 256 M bit DRAM, the power source voltage to be supplied is considered to become Vcc=2.5V.
Furthermore, as a minimum processing size, about 0.15 .mu.m is considered to be necessary. In a 1 G bit DRAM, a low power source voltage of about Vcc=1.8V is expected.
In these DRAMs, since a signal charge amount stored in a memory cell as data is minute, a highly sensitive bit line sense amplifier is needed for detecting, amplifying and reading it to the outside. Since the signal amount read out from the memory cell to be detected and amplified by the bit line sense amplifier is proportional to the power source voltage, when the power source voltage is scaled and lowered as mentioned above, the read signal amount decreases proportionally.
In general, as the bit line sense amplifier, a dynamic type differential amplifying circuit comprising an N-type sense amplifier where two sets of NMOS transistors (hereinafter NMOS is referred to as N-type) are connected by cross-coupling, and a P-type sense amplifier where two sets of PMOS transistors (hereinafter PMOS is referred to as P-type) are similarly connected by cross-coupling is used.
As shown in FIG. 28, as a precharge voltage of a bit line, which serves as the input terminal to the sense amplifier, the Vcc/2 precharge method, which is 1/2 of the power source voltage is used.
To explain the Vcc/2 precharge method simply, in a precharge cycle where the outside control signal RAS bar (hereinafter bar represents a reverse signal .sup.-) is at the "H" level, a bit line pair is precharged to Vcc/2. When the RAS bar signal shifts from the "H" to the "L" level to be in a state where the DRAM can read and write (active mode), the bit line precharge/equalize circuit is shut off so that the bit line precharged to be Vcc/2 becomes floating so that the word line WL selected by the external input address is driven, and data are read from the memory cell to the bit line.
The bit line sense amplifier is activated so that a minute signal read out to the bit line is detected and amplified.
More specifically, the "L" level side of the bit line pair is discharged to a ground voltage (Vss) by the above-mentioned N-type sense amplifier. On the other hand, the "H" level side of the bit line pair is charged to the power source voltage (Vcc) by the P-type sense amplifier. After completing the reading operation, the bit line is equalized and precharged to the Vcc/2 voltage again.
As a method for achieving a low power source voltage in a semiconductor memory device such as the above-mentioned DRAM, a method of reducing the bit line discharge current by having a smaller bit line voltage amplitude has been advocated conventionally.
However, in the case with a small amplitude for the bit line voltage amplitude, since the voltage difference between a gate and a source of the transistor comprising the flip flop type sense amplifier becomes small, a problem of deterioration of the operation speed of the sense amplifier is involved. In a semiconductor memory device having a memory capacity of the G bit level, since the power source voltage Vcc becomes extremely small as 1.8V or less, a voltage between the gate and the source necessary for the sense amplifier transistor operation, that is, a voltage not less than the threshold voltage of the sense amplifier transistor cannot be obtained between the gate and the source of the sense amplifier transistor to disable the sense operation, and thus it is problematic.
That is, in the case of a DRAM using the above-mentioned Vcc/2 precharge method, due to the lower source voltage, in the sense amplifier operation, the voltage between the gate and the source (Vcc/2) to be applied to the transistor comprising the sense amplifier itself inevitably lowers. As a consequence, there is a risk that the sense operation is drastically delayed or the sense operation cannot be implemented.
For example, in the case of the source voltage Vcc=1.8V, only Vcc=0.9V is applied between the gate and the source of the sense amplifier transistor. Actually, the voltage is lowered by the resistance of the common source wiring of the sense amplifier transistor, in particular, in the initial sensing time, the value can be further smaller.
On the other hand, the absolute value .vertline.Vth.vertline. of the threshold voltage of the sense amplifier transistor (it is a positive voltage in an N-type sense amplifier, but a negative voltage in a P-type sense amplifier) needs to be at least 0.3V to 0.5V in order to guarantee the threshold value irregularity and the cut off characteristic.
At the time of the initial sensing, the substantial .vertline.Vth.vertline. is further raised in combination with the back gate effect of the sense amplifier transistor. Therefore, the voltage between the gate and the source of the sense amplifier transistor and the threshold voltage are extremely close at the time of the initial sensing so that the initial sensing is drastically delayed. And thus a serious problem is involved in terms of the high speed operation of the DRAM.
Among the transistors used in the DRAM, a highest voltage (boosting voltage) is applied to the gate electrode of the memory cell transistor. This is because the "H" level needs to be written in the memory cell. The gate voltage needed therefor is represented by VBLH+Vth'. Herein VBLH represents the "H" level voltage, and Vth' represents the threshold voltage of the memory cell transistor where a negative voltage is applied to the back gate (substrate) of the memory cell transistor and the source voltage is VBLH.
In order to maximize the charge to be accumulated in the memory cell capacitor in general, VBLH is equal to the source voltage in the chip (Vdd).
In general, since the gate oxide film of the same thickness is used for all the transistors in the chip for the production cost reduction, a transistor, of which gate electrode is not applied with the boosting voltage inevitably uses the thick gate oxide film the same as the memory cell transistor. Therefore, the transistors used in the DRAM have a problem in that their performance such as the current driving ability is low compared with a transistor of a logical semiconductor, and the like.
In order to improve the transistor performance by having a thinner gate oxide film, the boosting voltage can be lowered to reduce the voltage to be applied to the gate oxide film of the memory cell transistor. However, in that case, the source voltage in the chip inevitably becomes low so that since only 1/2 Vdd can be applied between the gate and the source of the transistor comprising the sense amplifier at most in the general 1/2 Vdd precharge method, a problem is involved in that the sense amplifier cannot function.
In general, an equalize circuit is provided in a bit line pair, a data line pair, a sense amplifier driving line, and the like. For example, a bit line equalize circuit conventionally comprises only N-type transistors as shown in FIG. 29.
Since a large capacity is aimed at in a semiconductor memory these days, the redundancy technique for saving a defect memory cell generated in the production is in dispensable. However, even if it is saved, the defect cannot be eliminated.
For example, in the case a defect is generated in the short circuit between the bit line and the word line shown in FIG. 30, the memory cell is replaced (saved) by the redundancy technique. However, as mentioned above, since the defect remains as it is, at the time of operating the equalize circuit, through current flows in the route shown by the dot line in the figure, that is, VBL.fwdarw.PRCH.fwdarw.bit line.fwdarw.word line.fwdarw.row decoder.
When the through current is large, or a large number of short circuit defects are generated between the bit line and the word line, although the memory cell can be saved with the redundancy technique, since the current consumption becomes larger than the standard range, the chip becomes "defect".
In order to restrain the through current, a method of inserting a current limiting circuit between the precharge circuit and the precharge voltage supply line as shown in FIG. 31 is proposed. It is preferable that the current limiting circuit comprises a P-type transistor. At the time, problems are involved in that (1) the sense amplifying area is enlarged due to the necessity of the well separation with respect to the equalize/precharge circuit portion, and (2) a wiring is required for connecting the precharge circuit and the current limiting circuit.


The present invention relates generally to the field of luggage and equipment for carrying luggage and more particularly, to an improved shoulder pad.
The prior art related to luggage and hand-carried equipment which includes various types of shoulder straps and shoulder pads which attempt to decrease the discomfort associated with carrying luggage or equipment by using a shoulder pad to distribute the load exerted by the weight of the equipment. Typically, conventional shoulder pads consist of a generally flat rectangular pad which is made of various types of rubber and a means for attaching the pad to a shoulder strap.
Conventional shoulder pads typically do not accomplish the goals of reducing the discomfort which results from the use of a shoulder strap. Conventional shoulder pads flex easily and do not adequately spread the load exerted on the shoulder of a user by the shoulder strap and thus do not adequately reduce the load per unit of area of contact between the shoulder pad and the user""s shoulder. As a result, the conventional shoulder pad digs into the user""s shoulder and severely limits both the load which can be carried and the length of time that the load can be carried before the degree of user discomfort becomes unacceptable.
In addition, a shoulder strap, when used with a conventional shoulder pad, tends to slide off the shoulder of a user. As a result, a user is forced to interrupt walking or other activity and continually readjust the position of the shoulder strap. This need for continuing periodic adjustment creates a degree of discomfort which further limits the utility of conventional shoulder pads.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a shoulder pad which effectively prevents the shoulder strap from digging into the shoulder of a user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoulder pad which can be used with relatively heavy loads for projected periods of time.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoulder pad which prevents the shoulder strap from slipping off the shoulder of a user.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a high degree of comfort during use.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a shoulder pad which can be quickly and easily installed on a shoulder strap.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a shoulder pad which comprises a relatively small number of component parts which can be manufactured economically in volume resulting in a relatively low unit cost.
The foregoing and other objects and advantages of the invention will appear more clearly hereinafter.
In accordance with the present invention, a shoulder pad includes a relatively rigid body member and a relatively soft pad member. The pad member is mounted on a curved lower surface of the body member. The upper surface of the body member includes a slot which accepts a luggage strap and which is angled forwardly toward the lower surface. The curved lower surface accommodates the curvature of the user""s shoulder while the pad member conforms to the individual user""s shoulder anatomy. The upper and lower surfaces of the body member are formed in an angular relationship so that during use, the slot is always directed toward the user""s shoulder so that the load exerted by the shoulder strap keeps the shoulder pad in place on the user""s shoulder.
In an alternative embodiment of the invention, the body member is formed of a relatively flexible plastic material and includes a central portion which has an upper surface disposed at an angle relative to a lower surface. A pair of clip members facilitate attachment of the body member to a shoulder strap. During use, the shoulder strap extends over the upper surface of the central portion and under the clips with the angular central portion forcing the shoulder strap into the closed portion of the clips. The flexible body member bends to conform to the user""s shoulder.
A relatively soft pad member is mounted on the lower surface of the body member. The pad member increases the comfort of the body member on the user""s shoulder. A central portion of the pad member projects into an aperture which is formed in the central portion of the body member thereby aiding in locking the pad member and the body member together.


There is an increasing desire to develop sustainable fuel options that are not reliant of fossil fuels. One option being evaluated is the production of biofuels obtained from algae. The commercialization of such biofuels will likely require cultivating algae in large ponds. The ponds of algae would then be harvested and the lipids within the algae extracted and converted into biofuel. Existing methods of harvesting the algae have not proven commercially viable for numerous reasons, which include, but are not limited to: (i) too much water remains in the extracted algae for efficient lipid extraction, (ii) the algae cell walls are ruptured prematurely causing release of the valuable lipids before the extraction and conversion processes, and (iii) the algae cell walls are ruptured preventing the algae from being reused. Thus, there is a need for improvements related to the harvesting and processing of algae for the production of biofuels.


I. Technical Field
The present invention relates to twin-skeg ships having a pair of left and right skegs provided on the bottom of the stern so as to support propeller shafts.
II. Description of the Related Art
A twin-skeg ship having a pair of left and right propeller shafts supported by skegs integrated with the hull so as to form a tunnel-like bottom recess between the left and right skegs is known in the related art (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. HEI-8-133172).
On the other hand, a reaction fin has been devised as a propulsion-performance improving unit installed in a ship to improve the propulsion performance of the ship (unit for improving the speed of the ship with the same horsepower) (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, Publication No. HEI-5-185986).


Large and/or complicated computer networks may contain multiple routing devices and multiple bridging devices within the topmost level of the network hierarchy. Such a network can be considered to consist of several top-level routing realms. A routing realm is, within the context of this document, a term referring to the network space behind a routing device, or the network space behind a group of interconnected bridging devices.
For example, a network containing two top-level routers R1 and R2, and four top-level bridging devices B1, B2, B3, and B4, can be considered to have three top-level routing realms: R1, R2, and (B1, B2, B3, B4).
In the case of a network which is provisioned by a single device at the top-level of the network, the network's routing realms, by virtue of fundamental networking principles, must utilize a distinct collection of Internet Protocol (IP) addresses, relative to the other routing realms within that network.
A network consisting of several top-level routing realms, where at least one of those routing realms is defined by a routing device, presents challenges to a top-level network provisioning device, because the provisioning device must successfully process routed and bridged traffic simultaneously. Such routed traffic is ISO Open Systems Interconnection Layer-3 traffic and such bridged traffic is ISO OSI Layer-2 traffic.
When an end-user device moves from one routing realm to another, since each routing realm must utilize a relatively unique collection of IP addresses, the IP address of the end-user device must change as the end-user device enters into a new routing realm. Thus, the existing provisioning device cannot handle such user who moves from a routing realm to another.
It is therefore desirable to provide a network provisioning device that can recognize that an end-user device has moved from a routing realm to another in a network comprising multiple routing realms, and handle this situation automatically.


The present invention relates to thermal ink jet printers, and more particularly, to printheads incorporating a plurality of heater resistors which are selectively addressed to heat and expel ink from adjacent ink channels.
Thermal ink jet printing utilizes printheads which use thermal energy to produce vapor bubbles in ink-filled channels to expel ink droplets. A thermal energy generator or heater element, usually a resistor, is located at a predetermined distance from a nozzle of each one of the channels. The resistors are individually addressed with an electrical pulse to generate heat which is transferred from the resistor to the ink.
The transferred heat causes the ink to be super heated, i.e., far above the ink's normal boiling point. For example, a water based ink reaches a critical temperature of 280.degree. C. for bubble nucleation. The nucleated bubble or water vapor thermally isolates the ink from the heater element to prevent further transfer of heat from the resistor to the ink. Further, the nucleating bubble expands until all of the heat stored in the ink in excess of the normal boiling point diffuses away or is used to convert liquid to vapor which, of course, removes heat due to heat of vaporization. During the expansion of the vapor bubble, the ink bulges from the nozzle and is contained by the surface tension of the ink as a meniscus.
When the excess heat is removed from the ink, the vapor bubble collapses on the resistor, because the heat generating current is no longer applied to the resistor. As the bubble begins to collapse, the ink still in the channel between the nozzle and bubble starts to move towards the collapsing bubble, causing a volumetric contraction of the ink at the nozzle and resulting in the separating of the bulging ink as an ink droplet. The acceleration of the ink out of the nozzle while the bubble is growing provides the momentum and velocity to expel the ink droplet towards a recording medium, such as paper, in a substantially straight-line direction. The entire bubble expansion and collapse cycle takes about 20 microseconds (.mu.s). The channel can be refired after 100 to 500 .mu.s minimum dwell time to enable the channel to be refilled and to enable the dynamic refilling factors to be somewhat dampened.
To eject an ink droplet, each heater element must become hot enough to cause the ink to reach a bubble nucleation temperature of at least 280.degree. C. for water based ink. In order for the heater element to generate the thermal energy to cause bubble nucleation, an operating voltage is applied to a resistor of the heater element. Typically, the operating voltage is proportional to the resistance of the resistor, i.e., the higher the resistance, the higher the operating voltage.
Conventionally, polysilicon is used to form the resistors of the heater elements. The resistance value of the resistors is chosen based on the actual required power (Power=V.times.I=I.sup.2 .times.R=V.sup.2 /R) for ejection of the ink droplet through bubble nucleation. Once the required power and voltage has been chosen, the resistance value is determined. The fabrication of the determined resistance is controlled by the sheet resistance (ohms/square; .OMEGA./.quadrature.) of the polysilicon and the size of the resistor. The size of the resistor can be tightly controlled by photolithography and polysilicon etch techniques. The sheet resistance of the polysilicon is primarily controlled by impurity doping, preferably by ion implantation, and annealing of the doped polysilicon.
As drop ejection becomes more efficient, the heater element size required decreases and the resistance required increases. The more resistive the heaters, the lower the doping level, and the more difficult it is to accurately control the resistance. When resistance is too high, threshold voltage is too high and drops are not ejected. When resistance is too low, threshold voltage is too low, and the extra voltage applied to the printhead results in excess heat, which causes ink to bake on the heater. This results in an extra insulting layer on the heater, decreasing energy transferred to the ink, creating smaller drops and eventually completely failing to eject drops. In addition, "over voltage" operation results in decreased heater lifetime. Conventional techniques use doping to introduce impurities in the polysilicon heater structure. One method disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,639,386, whose contents are incorporated by reference, teaches methods of fabricating polysilicon resistors with improved threshold uniformity which includes steps for forming resistors with two doped regions, a lightly doped center region and more heavily doped end region. The heater element is formed on a polysilicon layer 8 (see FIG. 3 of the patent). N-type dopants, typically phosphorus, are ion implanted into the polysilicon layer to form a lightly doped heater center region. A photoresist layer 8 is patterned to protect the heater center region followed by heavier doping at the ends. This results in lightly doped center regions 8A and heavily doped end regions 8B. Regions 8B are heavily doped to make good electrical contacts to address leads and for low resistance to form transistor gates. The photoresist layer is removed, and the polysilicon is plasma etched to form the final resistor structure.


The present invention concerns a system for resampling, and in particular, to a digital resampling system which resamples signals using a quantized phase.
Sample re-conversion systems are well known for converting information bearing signals from one format to another format. Such systems are commonly used for data telemetry, audio signal processing, video signal processing, and video signal standards conversion.
An exemplary video signal processing system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,774,581 entitled TELEVISION PICTURE ZOOM SYSTEM, issued to Shiratsuchi, which is hereby incorporated by reference for its teachings on digital resampling techniques.
Another exemplary video system standards conversions system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,911 entitled, SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONVERSION OF DIGITAL VIDEO SIGNALS, which is hereby incorporated by reference for its teachings on digital resampling techniques.
The system described in the SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR CONVERSION OF DIGITAL VIDEO SIGNALS patent converts video signals having a normal sample rate of 13.5 MHz into a digital signal having a sample rate of 14.31818 MHz, (hereinafter 14.3 MHz) which is compatible with the National Television Standards Committee (NTSC) standard. The ratio of these two sample frequencies is exactly equal to the ratio of 33 to 35.
Accordingly, the standards conversions system described in the referenced patent generates 35 output samples for every 33 input samples it receives. This is accomplished using 35 interpolation filters which generate interpolated samples at 35 respective positions between any two of the input samples. The filter, X(i+1), which is selected to generate the i+1.sup.th output sample is defined by equation (1). EQU X(i+1)=(X(i)+33) MOD 35 (1)
In equation (1) 33 is the number of input samples, 35 is the number of output samples, MOD is an abbreviation of a modulo operation, X is the interpolation phase location for the current sample in the sequence, and i is the time index. The interpolation phase location defines a particular frequency response characteristic to be used to filter the input samples in order to generate the particular resampled output sample.
This technique of sample rate conversion works well when the input and output sample rates can be represented as a ratio of two relatively small numbers. When, however, the ratio of these rates cannot be represented to a high degree of precision by a manageable ratio, this conversion process may be inaccurate or unduly expensive to implement.
For example, consider a resampling circuit which converts from the CCIR (601) standard having a nominal sample rate of 13.5 MHz to the Phase Alternate Line (PAL) standard which has a sample rate of 17.734475 (hereinafter 17.7) MHz. The smallest exact ratio between these two sample frequencies is 540,000 over 709,379. Thus, if the scheme described above were used to resample the CCIR (601) signal in a PAL digital signal, 709,379 digital filters would be required. At the current state of the art, it is not practical to implement a video standards conversion system having 709,730 filters.
An alternative sampling scheme may be used where the resampling function is approximated by limiting the number of possible interpolation points. As a result, the actual interpolated point is estimated by choosing the filter that is closest to the desired interpolated point. This is known as sample phase quantization. This technique introduces a phase shift error in the signal. However, with proper quantization, this error may be acceptable.
A system employing sample phase quantization would include a fixed number of filters or a filter with a fixed number of frequency characteristics which number is designated as NPHASES. Next, the number of filters in the ideal system is quantized into the number of filters, NPHASES, for the system. This is accomplished using equations (2) and (3) below. EQU X.sub.i+1 =(X.sub.i +A) MOD B (2) EQU Q=X.sub.i+1 * NPHASES/B (3)
In equations (2) and (3), B is the number of samples in the output line of the filter, A is the number of samples in the input line of the filter, and Q is the quantized phase. The quantized phase is used to determine which filter in the system is to be selected to produce the new sample.
Although equations (2) and (3) may be used to quantize the filters and phases, the equations require division and multiplication operations which are computationally expensive.


The invention had the object of finding novel compounds having valuable properties, in particular those which can be used for the preparation of medicaments.
The present invention relates to compounds and to the use of compounds in which the inhibition, regulation and/or modulation of signal transduction by kinases, in particular tyrosine kinases and/or serine/threonine kinases, plays a role, furthermore to pharmaceutical compositions which comprise these compounds, and to the use of the compounds for the treatment of kinase-induced diseases.
In particular, the present invention relates to compounds and to the use of compounds in which the inhibition, regulation and/or modulation of signal transduction by Met kinase plays a role.
One of the principal mechanisms by which cellular regulation is effected is through the transduction of extracellular signals across the membrane that in turn modulate biochemical pathways within the cell. Protein phosphorylation represents one course by which intracellular signals are propagated from molecule to molecule resulting finally in a cellular response. These signal transduction cascades are highly regulated and often overlap, as is evident from the existence of many protein kinases as well as phosphatases. Phosphorylation of proteins occurs predominantly at serine, threonine or tyrosine residues, and protein kinases have therefore been classified by their specificity of phosphorylation site, i.e. serine/threonine kinases and tyrosine kinases. Since phosphorylation is such a ubiquitous process within cells and since cellular phenotypes are largely influenced by the activity of these pathways, it is currently believed that a number of disease states and/or diseases are attributable to either aberrant activation or functional mutations in the molecular components of kinase cascades. Consequently, considerable attention has been devoted to the characterisation of these proteins and compounds that are able to modulate their activity (for a review see: Weinstein-Oppenheimer et al. Pharma. &. Therap., 2000, 88, 229-279).
The role of the receptor tyrosine kinase Met in human oncogenesis and the possibility of inhibition of HGF (hepatocyte growth factor) dependent Met activation are described by S. Berthou et al. in Oncogene, Vol. 23, No. 31, pages 5387-5393 (2004). The inhibitor SU11274 described therein, a pyrrole-indoline compound, is potentially suitable for combating cancer. Another Met kinase inhibitor for cancer therapy is described by J. G. Christensen et al. in Cancer Res. 2003, 63(21), 7345-55.
A further tyrosine kinase inhibitor for combating cancer is reported by H. Hov et al. in Clinical Cancer Research Vol. 10, 6686-6694 (2004). The compound PHA-665752, an indole derivative, is directed against the HGF receptor c-Met. It is furthermore reported therein that HGF and Met make a considerable contribution to the malignant process of various forms of cancer, such as, for example, multiple myeloma.
The synthesis of small compounds which specifically inhibit, regulate and/or modulate signal transduction by tyrosine kinases and/or serine/threonine kinases, in particular Met kinase, is therefore desirable and an aim of the present invention.
It has been found that the compounds according to the invention and salts thereof have very valuable pharmacological properties while being well tolerated.
The present invention specifically relates to compounds of the formula I which inhibit, regulate and/or modulate signal transduction by Met kinase, to compositions which comprise these compounds, and to processes for the use thereof for the treatment of Met kinase-induced diseases and complaints, such as angiogenesis, cancer, tumour formation, growth and propagation, arteriosclerosis, ocular diseases, such as age-induced macular degeneration, choroidal neovascularisation and diabetic retinopathy, inflammatory diseases, arthritis, thrombosis, fibrosis, glomerulonephritis, neurodegeneration, psoriasis, restenosis, wound healing, transplant rejection, metabolic diseases and diseases of the immune system, also autoimmune diseases, cirrhosis, diabetes and diseases of the blood vessels, also instability and permeability and the like in mammals.
Solid tumours, in particular fast-growing tumours, can be treated with Met kinase inhibitors. These solid tumours include monocytic leukaemia, brain, urogenital, lymphatic system, stomach, laryngeal and lung carcinoma, including lung adenocarcinoma and small-cell lung carcinoma.
The present invention is directed to processes for the regulation, modulation or inhibition of Met kinase for the prevention and/or treatment of diseases in connection with unregulated or disturbed Met kinase activity. In particular, the compounds of the formula I can also be employed in the treatment of certain forms of cancer. The compounds of the formula I can furthermore be used to provide additive or synergistic effects in certain existing cancer chemotherapies, and/or can be used to restore the efficacy of certain existing cancer chemotherapies and radiotherapies.
The compounds of the formula I can furthermore be used for the isolation and investigation of the activity or expression of Met kinase. In addition, they are particularly suitable for use in diagnostic methods for diseases in connection with unregulated or disturbed Met kinase activity.
It can be shown that the compounds according to the invention have an antiproliferative action in vivo in a xenotransplant tumour model. The compounds according to the invention are administered to a patient having a hyperproliferative disease, for example to inhibit tumour growth, to reduce inflammation associated with a lymphoproliferative disease, to inhibit trans-plant rejection or neurological damage due to tissue repair, etc. The present compounds are suitable for prophylactic or therapeutic purposes. As used herein, the term “treatment” is used to refer to both prevention of diseases and treatment of pre-existing conditions. The prevention of proliferation is achieved by administration of the compounds according to the invention prior to the development of overt disease, for example to prevent the growth of tumours, prevent metastatic growth, diminish restenosis associated with cardiovascular surgery, etc. Alternatively, the compounds are used for the treatment of ongoing diseases by stabilising or improving the clinical symptoms of the patient.
The host or patient can belong to any mammalian species, for example a primate species, particularly humans; rodents, including mice, rats and hamsters; rabbits; horses, cows, dogs, cats, etc. Animal models are of interest for experimental investigations, providing a model for treatment of human disease.
The susceptibility of a particular cell to treatment with the compounds according to the invention can be determined by in vitro tests. Typically, a culture of the cell is combined with a compound according to the invention at various concentrations for a period of time which is sufficient to allow the active agents to induce cell death or to inhibit migration, usually between about one hour and one week. In vitro testing can be carried out using cultivated cells from a biopsy sample. The viable cells remaining after the treatment are then counted.
The dose varies depending on the specific compound used, the specific disease, the patient status, etc. A therapeutic dose is typically sufficient considerably to reduce the undesired cell population in the target tissue while the viability of the patient is maintained. The treatment is generally continued until a considerable reduction has occurred, for example an at least about 50% reduction in the cell burden, and may be continued until essentially no more undesired cells are detected in the body.
For identification of a signal transduction pathway and for detection of interactions between various signal transduction pathways, various scientists have developed suitable models or model systems, for example cell culture models (for example Khwaja et al., EMBO, 1997, 16, 2783-93) and models of transgenic animals (for example White et al., Oncogene, 2001, 20, 7064-7072). For the determination of certain stages in the signal transduction cascade, interacting compounds can be utilised in order to modulate the signal (for example Stephens et al., Biochemical J., 2000, 351, 95-105). The compounds according to the invention can also be used as reagents for testing kinase-dependent signal transduction pathways in animals and/or cell culture models or in the clinical diseases mentioned in this application.
Measurement of the kinase activity is a technique which is well known to the person skilled in the art. Generic test systems for the determination of the kinase activity using substrates, for example histone (for example Alessi et al., FEBS Lett. 1996, 399, 3, pages 333-338) or the basic myelin protein, are described in the literature (for example Campos-González, R. and Glenney, Jr., J. R. 1992, J. Biol. Chem. 267, page 14535).
For the identification of kinase inhibitors, various assay systems are available. In scintillation proximity assay (Sorg et al., J. of Biomolecular Screening, 2002, 7, 11-19) and flashplate assay, the radioactive phosphorylation of a protein or peptide as substrate with γATP is measured. In the presence of an inhibitory compound, a decreased radioactive signal, or none at all, is detectable. Furthermore, homogeneous time-resolved fluorescence resonance energy transfer (HTR-FRET) and fluorescence polarisation (FP) technologies are suitable as assay methods (Sills et al., J. of Biomolecular Screening, 2002, 191-214).
Other non-radioactive ELISA assay methods use specific phospho-antibodies (phospho-ABs). The phospho-AB binds only the phosphorylated substrate. This binding can be detected by chemiluminescence using a second peroxidase-conjugated anti-sheep antibody (Ross et al., 2002, Biochem. J.).
There are many diseases associated with deregulation of cellular proliferation and cell death (apoptosis). The conditions of interest include, but are not limited to, the following. The compounds according to the invention are suitable for the treatment of various conditions where there is proliferation and/or migration of smooth muscle cells and/or inflammatory cells into the intimal layer of a vessel, resulting in restricted blood flow through that vessel, for example in the case of neointimal occlusive lesions. Occlusive graft vascular diseases of interest include atherosclerosis, coronary vascular disease after grafting, vein graft stenosis, peri-anastomatic prosthetic restenosis, restenosis after angioplasty or stent placement, and the like.


It is difficult for a computer-implemented process to identify the part of a song that a listener would find interesting. For example, a computer process may receive a waveform of a song. However, the computer process may not be able to identify which part of the song a listener would find interesting or memorable.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to non-volatile magnetic memory and particularly to non-uniform switching of non-volatile magnetic based memory.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Computers conventionally use rotating magnetic media, such as hard disk drives (HDDs), for data storage. Though widely used and commonly accepted, such media suffer from a variety of deficiencies, such as access latency, higher power dissipation, large physical size and inability to withstand any physical shock. Thus, there is a need for a new type of storage device devoid of such drawbacks.
Other dominant storage devices are dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static RAM (SRAM) which are volatile and very costly but have fast random read/write access time. Solid state storage, such as solid-state-nonvolatile-memory (SSNVM) devices having memory structures made of NOR/NAND-based Flash memory, providing fast access time, increased input/output (IOP) speed, decreased power dissipation and physical size and increased reliability but at a higher cost which tends to be generally multiple times higher than hard disk drives (HDDs).
Although NAND-based flash memory is more costly than HDD's, it has replaced magnetic hard drives in many applications such as digital cameras, MP3-players, cell phones, and hand held multimedia devices due, at least in part, to its characteristic of being able to retain data even when power is disconnected. However, as memory dimension requirements are dictating decreased sizes, scalability is becoming an issue because the designs of NAND-based Flash memory and DRAM memory are becoming difficult to scale with smaller dimensions. For example, NAND-based flash memory has issues related to capacitive coupling, few electrons/bit, poor error-rate performance and reduced reliability due to decreased read-write endurance. Read-write endurance refers to the number of reading, writing and erase cycles before the memory starts to degrade in performance due primarily to the high voltages required in the program, erase cycles.
It is believed that NAND flash, especially multi-bit designs thereof, would be extremely difficult to scale below 45 nanometers. Likewise, DRAM has issues related to scaling of the trench capacitors leading to very complex designs which are becoming increasingly difficult to manufacture, leading to higher cost.
Currently, applications commonly employ combinations of EEPROM/NOR, NAND, HDD, and DRAM as a part of the memory in a system design. Design of different memory technology in a product adds to design complexity, time to market and increased costs. For example, in hand-held multi-media applications incorporating various memory technologies, such as NAND Flash, DRAM and EEPROM/NOR flash memory, complexity of design is increased as are manufacturing costs and time to market. Another disadvantage is the increase in size of a device that incorporates all of these types of memories therein.
There has been an extensive effort in development of alternative technologies such as Ovanic Ram (or phase-change memory), Ferromagnetic Ram (FeRAM), Magnetic Ram (MRAM), Nanochip, and others to replace memories used in current designs such as DRAM, SRAM, EEPROM/NOR flash, NAND flash and HDD in one form or another. Although these various memory/storage technologies have created many challenges, there have been advances made in this field in recent years. MRAM seems to lead the way in terms of its progress in the past few years to replace all types of memories in the system as a universal memory solution.
A prior art field-switching MRAM structure used in conventional MRAMs is depicted in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, an MRAM cell 10 is shown to include a bit line 12 and a transistor 14 and formed there between is the memory element 32 and a number of metal lines 20, 22, 24, 26 formed for ease of manufacturing. The word line (WL) 16 is shown formed on top of the gate of the transistor 14 and the digit line (DL) is shown formed on the bottom of the memory element 32. The memory element consists of three key layers namely the fixed layer, the barrier tunneling layer and the free-layer. In operation, the digit line (DL) 14 is used to change the magnetic orientation of the free-layer of the memory element and thereby creating “parallel” (low resistance) and “anti-parallel” (high resistance) states which become the “0” and “1”.
In FIG. 1, M1s 20 and 28, V1 22, M2 24 and V2 26 are examples of how these layers would be processed in order to connect the memory element (or cell) to the transistor 14. The M1 28, on the transistor 14's “drain” side, is connected to a common ground and is deposited, at substantially the same time, as the M1 20 on the “source” side of the transistor 14. The bit line 12 is typically connected through the memory element 32 to the source 30 of the transistor 14. The word-line (WL) 16 is typically connected to the control gate of the transistor 14 for selecting the specific transistor.
The problem with the MRAM cell 10 of FIG. 1 are two-fold namely, the large cell-size and therefore high cost and high-power. The switching of the memory element 32 is made through the magnetic-field generated from the digit-line 18 which limits how closely the neighboring cells can be and thereby leading to larger cell size and thereby higher cost.
One of the problems with prior art memory structures is that the current and power requirements are too high to make a functional memory device. This also poses a key concern regarding the reliability of such device due to likely dielectric break-down of the tunneling barrier layer and thereby making it non-functional.
FIG. 2 shows relevant layers of the memory elements 32 of prior art (MRAMs), such as the cells 10 (FIG. 1) and memory element 32. In FIG. 2, a free layer 60 is shown on top of which is shown formed a tunnel layer 62 on top of which is shown formed a fixed layer 64. The free layer's 60 magnetic moment can change, whereas, the moment of the fixed layer 64, below a known temperature, remains fixed. The tunneling layer 62 is commonly referred to as the “barrier layer”. In some prior art structures, the free layer 60 is made of several free layers. Application of current to the structure of FIG. 2 causes switching between anti-parallel (AP) and parallel (P) states, which, in turn represent two logical states for storing information in memory made from the structure of FIG. 2. The relationship between resistances of the two states depends on the tunneling-magneto-resistance (TMR) is defined as:TMR=(Rh−Rl)/Rl  Eq. (1)
Wherein Rh is resistance at a high state and Rl is resistance at a low state.
Low capacity MRAM memory based on a design relying on magnetic-field to switch the memory elements is another known memory. It has been shown that current can also be used to switch the memory elements. The challenge has been that the switching current is too high to allow the making of a functional device for memory applications due to the memory's high power consumption. Several recent publications, such as those cited below as references 5 and 6(5,6) have shown that the switching current can be reduced by having the memory element pinned by two anti-ferromagnetic (AF)-couple layers resulting in spin oscillations or “pumping” and thereby reducing the switching current.
What is needed is storage memory based on magnetic memory for storage of digital information and having reduced switching current in the magnetic memory thereby decreasing power consumption and reduced cell size thereby reducing costs associated with manufacturing the memory.


In order to comply with ever more stringent limitations on pollutant emissions, a plurality of actions are taken in present-day engines in order to reduce, in particular, emissions of particulates and of nitrogen oxides.
One essential action is exhaust gas recirculation (EGR), which represents a present-day arrangement for preventing nitrogen oxide emissions. Exhaust gas recirculation lowers the oxygen content in the cylinder, and a decrease in the temperature in the combustion chamber consequently occurs. A rise in particulates with increasing exhaust gas recirculation is problematic. The principal reason for higher particulate emissions is that the oxygen also necessary for carbon oxidation is limited. The reduction in oxygen content caused by exhaust gas recirculation thus always has the effect of decreasing nitrogen oxide emissions, and elevating particulate emissions. This creates a conflict of objectives between particulate and nitrogen-oxide emissions, especially in diesel engines.
As a result of existing regulatory stipulations for the exhaust test cycle, the requirements for passenger cars regarding reduction of pollutant emissions in dynamic operation have been undemanding. In the commercial vehicle sector, dynamic operation has been entirely excluded by a steady-state test.
The development of exhaust gas recirculation control systems has therefore been directed essentially toward reducing emissions under steady-state conditions. The EGR control structure has therefore been based on values for engine speed and engine load that were identified under steady-state conditions and stored in characteristics diagrams. Control of air masses or EGR rates is known from known EGR control systems. Future regulatory requirements for commercial-vehicle and passenger-vehicle engines provide for a substantially larger dynamic component. In the future, certification will focus on emissions occurring in actual driving operation, e.g. in dynamic operation (“real driving emissions” or RDE), and on fuel consumption.
Taking dynamic processes into account requires, in particular, taking into account abrupt load changes and rapid load increases, such as those that often occur in real driving operation and in future test cycles. In a diesel engine, abrupt load changes and rapid load increases result, because of the inertia of the air system, in a delay in boost pressure buildup. The reasons for this inertia include the moment of inertia of the turbocharger and the dead volume between the compressor and the engine intake valves. The injection system that implements the driver's load demand has a considerably shorter reaction time than the engine's air system.
Because cylinder filling in a diesel engine is determined substantially by the slow-reacting boost pressure, the target values of the air system—based on injection volume and engine speed—are mismatched with the dynamic state of the engine. The steady-state target value of an air mass control system thus results, in the context of a slow-reacting boost pressure buildup and thus decreased cylinder filling, in a sharp reduction in the EGR rate, thereby producing dynamic nitrogen oxide spikes. With an EGR rate control system, the result is a smaller air mass and thus elevated particulate emissions. In systems or operating states dominated by high-pressure EGR, the resulting additional negative effect on boost pressure buildup potentially limits the maximum possible injection volume, with a consequent delay in reaching the desired target torque.
Patent document DE 100 10 978 A1 discusses a method for regulating the boost pressure of an internal combustion engine having an exhaust gas-driven turbocharger whose turbine, disposed in the exhaust duct of the internal combustion engine, has a modifiable geometry, regulation of the boost pressure being accomplished by way of an adjustment of the turbine geometry. In order to ensure boost regulation such that in the context of a load change, the boost pressure tracks as quickly as possible the change in the desired target boost pressure value, this method and this apparatus provide for determining a control variable for the turbine geometry from the system as a function of the exhaust backpressure existing in the exhaust duct in front of the turbine. This is because the exhaust backpressure reacts considerably more quickly than the boost pressure to a change in the behavior of the controlled system, e.g. to a load alternation, change in engine speed, change in exhaust gas recirculation, or to malfunctions, e.g. in the actuation system.
Patent document DE 41 07 693 A1 discusses a system for regulating and controlling a turbocharger, in which a predefined target value of the boost pressure is compared with an actual value. As a function of the comparison, a control system generates an actuating signal for applying control to an actuating mechanism. The target value depends at least on an engine speed signal and on a load signal. An arrangement is provided which elevates the boost pressure upon a specific change in the load signal.
The methods from the existing art for identifying target values for the control function are not sufficient to react, in the control loops for exhaust gas recirculation, turbocharging, and fuel injection, to the state of affairs described above in transient driving situations. In methods known from the existing art, transient driving situations of this kind are implemented, for example, by monitoring accelerator pedal gradients or injection volume gradients. The problem here is that these variables are not relevant in terms of preventing the generation of pollutant emissions.
Strictly in principle, it is also possible to use electric motors (e-machines) or electrical auxiliary compressors (e-boosters) to accelerate the buildup of boost pressure or torque. Here as well, a transient driving situation must be optimally detected.


Nonflammable injection-molding resins composed of a low-molecular-weight styrene resin and a low-polymerization-degree vinyl chloride resin are superior materials in view of mechanical properties and cost. Recently, these resins have been used in increased amounts as materials for housings of office automation (OA) apparatuses and the like. However, the requirements of molded articles are becoming more severe each year in OA apparatus applications. In particular, miniaturization of OA apparatuses, because it brings about an increase in internal heat generation in the apparatuses, necessitates a decrease in the thickness of the housing materials, and requires the use of highly heat-resistant resins. A general means for raising heat-resistance is to use a styrene resin which contains .alpha.-methylstyrene as a third component, or to use a post-chlorinated vinyl chloride resin.
These resins, however, are disadvantageously liable to cause jellowing and flashing of the molded articles and are not readily moldable. The disadvantages of the molded articles are considered to relate to the extremely high melt viscosity of the resins in injection molding, particularly in the case of a resin which contains a post-chlorinated vinyl chloride type resin. The use of such a resin results in large heat generation by the shearing action of metal parts such as a screw, a cylinder, a mold, etc. and causes heat decomposition of the resin. For improving the molding of such resins, methods such as the addition of a large amount of a stabilizer or a lubricant, and the addition of a moldability-improving agent comprising an alkyl acrylate type resin are generally used. The former method is not preferable, because the cost of the starting materials increases and, further, the impact strength and the heat distortion temperature are decreased adversely affecting the quality of the molded articles. The latter method, namely the addition of an alkyl acrylate type resin as a moldability-improving agent, is remarkably useful since the increase in the cost of the material is not so large and lowering of the heat distortion temperature is not remarkable. This method, however, causes a decrease of the impact strength and peeling of the molded articles. In particular, with an increase in the amount of the additive for increasing the moldability-improving effect, lowering of the impact strength and deterioration of the non-peeling property of the molded articles become remarkable. These are serious problems.
These problems are assumed to be caused by the alkyl acrylate type resin which is used as a moldability-improving agent and which is designed to improve moldability particularly of extrusion-molding vinyl chloride resins having an ordinary molecular weight. The inventors of the present invention considered the facts that the shear rate of a resin in injection molding differs greatly from that in extrusion molding, the shearing rate being in the range of from 10000 to 100000 sec.sup.-1 in injection molding and being in the range of from 100 to 1000 sec.sup.-1 in extrusion molding, and that the nonflammable resin to which the moldability-improving agent is added is not a resin of ordinary molecular weight but is a special nonflammable injection-molding resin which comprises a styrene type resin having a high content of low-molecular weight .alpha.-methylstyrene and containing a post-chlorinated vinyl chloride type resin of low polymerization degree. Based on the above consideration, the present inventors comprehensively investigated moldability-improving agents of the alkyl acrylate resin type to find modifier which does not lower the effect of the moldability-improving agent, decrease impact strength, nor cause peeling of molded articles. As a result, it has been found that an alkyl acrylate copolymer having a specific composition achieves the above objective.


Enterprises adopt workflow management tools to automate their business processes and handle complex batch processing. Batch applications are computationally data intensive and if executed during business hours by an enterprise, may impact its critical customer front-end applications due to their high resource cost. In addition, delay or failures in batch-application execution have significant business impact potential due to their high do-over cost in time and compute resources.
To make quick business decisions, real-time inputs to business intelligence applications are critical and these applications have to perform complex operations and generate reports with speed and accuracy. Delays may impact business decisions and produce a rippling effect on business operations. In addition, front-end applications such as e-commerce and financial analysis platforms need to be served a large set of data in real-time as they perform complex and computationally intensive algorithms based on customer requests. Therefore, in a time when enterprises are experiencing pressure to make their business more agile, their business applications need to perform and scale optimally and, preferably, in real-time.
Current batch application processing solutions are based on dedicated clustering technologies for high availability and performance. Although clustering technologies allow computing infrastructure to scale-out on-demand to a certain extent they may be unable to grow beyond their local spatial environment and are generally homogenous computing clusters. However, batch processing applications may require a highly heterogeneous and distributed environment for fast real-time scale out that integrates fault tolerance. Therefore, merely clustered based batch solutions may be unable to meet an enterprise's demands.


1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of encoding/decoding effectively a fading image and a dissolve image and an apparatus therefor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In a video encoding standard scheme such as ITU-TH.261, H.263, ISO/IECMPEG-2, and MPEG-4, a motion compensated predictive interframe encoding is used as one of encoding modes. As a predictive model in the motion compensated predictive interframe encoding is adopted a model indicating the most high predictive efficiency when luminosity does not vary in a time axis. In the case of the fading image that luminosity of the image varies, for example, in the case of fading-in from a black image to a normal image, a method of performing a prediction adequately according to a change of luminosity of the image is not known. Consequently, there is a problem to need the large number of encoded bits for the purpose of maintaining an image quality in a fading image.
For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,716 discloses a technique of coping with the problem by detecting a fading image area and changing an allocation of the number of encoded bits thereto. Concretely, in the case of the fade-out image, the large number of encoded bits are allocated to an beginning part of the fade-out that brightness varies. The last part of the fade-out usually reduces allocation of the number of encoded bits since it normally becomes a monochrome image resulting in making the encoding easy. With such a way, a total image quality is improved without increasing the total number of encoded bits.
On the other hand, U.S. Pat. No. 2,938,412 discloses an encoding system that deals with the above problem in a fading image by compensating for a reference image according to two parameters of an amount of luminance change and an amount of contrast change.
Thomas Wiegand and Berand Girod, “Multi-frame motion-compensated prediction for video transmission”, Kluwer Academic Publishers 2001, provides an encoding system based on a plurality of frame buffers. This system intends to improve a predictive efficiency by generating a predictive image selectively from a plurality of reference frames saved in the frame buffers.
However, the system of U.S. Pat. No. 3,166,716 improves an image quality without increasing the total number of encoded bits in encoding a fading image by detecting a fading image area, and changing an allocation of the number of encoded bits. For this reason, there is the advantage that the encoding can be realized within the framewark of an existing encoding system. However, since the prediction efficiency is not essentially improved, a notable improvement of the encoding efficiency cannot be expected.
On the other hand, the system of U.S. Pat. No. 2,938,412 has a merit that the predictive efficiency on a fading image improves. However, the predictive efficiency to be enough for so-called a dissolve image (referred to as a cross fade image) which an image gradually varies from an image to another image cannot be obtained.
The system of Thomas Wiegand and Berand Girod cannot sufficiently deal with a fading image and a dissolve image, and cannot improve a predictive efficiency even if a plurality of reference frames are prepared.
According to the prior art as described above, the large number of encoded bits are required for the fading image and dissolve image to be encoded with high image quality. There is a problem that improvement of the encoding efficiency cannot be expected.


The present embodiments relate to video analytics. In particular, configuration of multiple cameras is provided for video analytics.
In order to meet the increasing needs of the security and safety, surveillance systems are becoming more complex. Besides the basic capabilities of video surveillance, such as recording and playback, video analytics technologies are used to enrich the functionality. A person or vehicle may be detected and tracked, events may be detected, an alarm may be triggered, and/or forensic searching may be provided.
In order to achieve accurate performance in terms of detection and false alarm rate, every camera needs to be configured properly. The camera configuration task varies based on the different functionalities. Camera configuration is time consuming. For example, a tunnel monitoring system monitors traffic flow and generates events, such as slow vehicle, stopped vehicle, traffic jam, wrong directional driver, and pedestrian detection. An experienced worker may need about eight minutes to configure a camera, during which the worker may click the mouse buttons more than 100 times. With forty cameras for every mile inside the tunnel, 5.5 hours and 4000 mouse clicks are needed to configure the cameras for every mile.
For indoor people detection and tracking functionalities, configuration tools are typically provided for a single camera. As a person travels from the field of view of one camera to the field of view of another camera, the person is re-identified. The facial recognition or other detection is performed again. To configure a typical site with 40 cameras, a worker may click 120 times to define camera positions and more than 150-600 times overall to define the calibration planes for all of the cameras.


A well contact diffusion layer (a so-called “guard ring”) is frequently used in a semiconductor device to electrically connect semiconductor elements such as a transistor to a well diffusion layer. Contacts connecting wirings from a semiconductor device to a guard ring are often formed to be circular or elongated-circular in a planar shape.
In terms of reducing a chip size of a semiconductor device, contacts of a guard ring are desirably circular-hole contacts having a circular shape. However, if all the contacts of a guard ring are circular-hole contacts, contact resistances to wells are increased when some of the circular-hole contacts are not opened.
On the other hand, in terms of reducing contact resistances to wells, contacts of a guard ring are desirably elongated-hole contacts having an elongated shape. However, if all the contacts of a guard ring are elongated-hole contacts, the chip size may be increased. For example, the width of the guard ring needs to be increased to match the major axis of the elongated-hole contacts. Alternatively, distances between adjacent wirings need to be increased to match the major axis of the elongated-hole contacts.