Author: claimsbot

What is claimed is:

1. A power supply device that produces a predetermined voltage from a supply voltage through a voltage follower composed of a plurality of transistors, comprising:
a switch circuit connected between the supply voltage and a control electrode of one of the transistors constituting the voltage follower other than a first-stage transistor thereof; and
a voltage drop detecting circuit for turning on the switch circuit when a level of the supply voltage is lower than a threshold level.
2. A power supply device as claimed in claim 1,
wherein the switch circuit is an output-side transistor of a current mirror circuit.
3. A power supply device as claimed in claim 1, further comprising:
a constant voltage generating circuit that operates on an output voltage from the voltage follower to produce a constant voltage,
wherein the threshold level is set equal to a level of the supply voltage at which an output voltage from the constant voltage generating circuit starts falling.
4. A power supply device that produces a predetermined voltage from a supply voltage through a voltage follower composed of a transistor, comprising:
a switch circuit connected between the supply voltage and an output side of the voltage follower; and
a voltage drop detecting circuit for turning on the switch circuit when a level of the supply voltage is lower than a threshold level.
5. A power supply device as claimed in claim 4,
wherein the voltage follower has a function of preventing backflow current to a battery that supplies the supply voltage.
6. A power supply device comprising:
a voltage follower composed of a transistor and having one end connected to the supply voltage and another end connected to a capacitor;
a constant voltage generating circuit for producing a constant voltage from a voltage across the capacitor;
a switch circuit connected between the supply voltage and an output side of the voltage follower; and
a voltage drop detecting circuit for detecting a drop below a predetermined level in the voltage across the capacitor and turning on the switch circuit on detecting such a drop.
7. A power supply device comprising:
a voltage follower composed of a plurality of transistors and having one end connected to the supply voltage and another end connected to a capacitor;
a constant voltage generating circuit for producing a constant voltage from a voltage across the capacitor;
a switch circuit connected between the supply voltage and a control electrode of one of the transistors constituting the voltage follower other than a first-stage transistor thereof; and
a voltage drop detecting circuit for detecting a drop below a predetermined level in the voltage across the capacitor and turning on the switch circuit on detecting such a drop.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A method for manufacturing a semiconductor device, comprising:
forming a first resist on a workpiece;
patterning the first resist by performing selective exposure, baking, and development on the first resist;
forming a second resist on the workpiece after the patterning the first resist;
patterning the second resist by performing selective exposure, baking, and development on the second resist to selectively remove a part of the second resist and remove the first resist left on the workpiece; and
processing the workpiece by using the patterned second resist as a mask.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the first resist is made of a material not dissolving in a solvent of the second resist during forming the second resist.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein a part of the first resist is not covered with the second resist and the first resist is removed during developing the second resist by dissolving also in a developer used for developing the second resist.
4. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first resist is patterned in a pillar shape, and a part of a side surface of the pillar-shaped pattern of the first resist is not covered with the second resist.
5. The method according to claim 3, wherein the first resist is a positive-type resist, and the second resist is a negative-type resist.
6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the patterning the second resist includes
performing selective exposure and baking the second resist after forming the second resist on the workpiece,
developing the second resist by a solution after the baking of the second resist;
removing a portion of the second resist covering a pattern of the first resist after developing the second resist by the solution, and
removing the first resist after removing the portion of the second resist covering the pattern of the first resist.
7. The method according to claim 6, further comprising:
insolubilizing the first resist against a solvent of the second resist before forming the second resist.
8. The method according to claim 6, wherein the portion of the second resist covering the pattern of the first resist is removed by a dry etching process.
9. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first resist is removed by a dry etching process.
10. The method according to claim 6, wherein the first resist is an organic polymer resist, and the second resist is a silicon-containing resist.
11. The method according to claim 6, wherein
the pattern of the first resist is a line-shaped pattern,
a pattern of the second resist is a line-shaped pattern overlapping and crossing the pattern of the first resist, and
a narrow space splitting the line-shaped pattern of the second resist is formed by removing the pattern of the first resist.
12. The method according to claim 1, wherein the patterning the second resist includes
removing a portion of the second resist covering the pattern of the first resist after forming the second resist,
performing selective exposure and baking the second resist after removing the portion of the second resist covering the pattern of the first resist,
developing the second resist by a solution, and
removing the first resist.
13. The method according to claim 12, further comprising:
insolubilizing the first resist against a solvent of the second resist before forming the second resist.
14. The method according to claim 12, wherein the portion of the second resist covering the pattern of the first resist is removed by a dry etching process.
15. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first resist is removed by a dry etching process.
16. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first resist is an organic polymer resist, and the second resist is a silicon-containing resist.
17. The method according to claim 12, wherein the first resist is removed during developing the second resist by dissolving also in a developer used for developing the second resist.
18. The method according to claim 12, wherein
the pattern of the first resist is a line-shaped pattern,
the pattern of the second resist is a line-shaped pattern overlapping and crossing the pattern of the first resist, and
a narrow space splitting the line-shaped pattern of the second resist is formed by removing the pattern of the first resist.
19. The method according to claim 1, wherein
the pattern to be formed in the workpiece is divided into a first pattern and a second pattern,
the selective exposure to the first resist is performed by using a first reticle corresponding to the first pattern, and
the selective exposure to the second resist is performed by using a second reticle corresponding to the second pattern.
20. The method according to claim 1, wherein a pattern of the first resist corresponds to an inverted pattern of a pattern to be formed as a space or a hole in the workpiece.

1. A method of treating cancer in a patient, comprising determining the phosphorylation status of Akt, and if the phosphorylation status of Akt is determined to be positive, treating with a therapeutically effective amount of a taxane compound, wherein said treatment with a taxane compound is provided as treatment for advanced or metastatic cancer.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein said cancer is breast cancer.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the phosphorylation status is determined by conducting at least one immunohistochemistry assay of a tumor tissue sample before therapy so as to obtain physical data regarding the expression status of phosphorylated Akt-Ser473 (pAkt) protein in the sample.
4. The method of claim 3 wherein said determination comprises incubating an antibody specific for pAkt with a sample from said cancer and detecting the presence of bound pAkt-specific antibody.
5. The method of claim 4, wherein the antibody specifically binds to a phosphorylated peptide consisting of the Akt sequence SERRPHFPQF {pSerine473}YSA-NH2.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein said taxane compound comprises docetaxel or paclitaxel.
7. The method of claim 6, wherein the cancer is selected from the group consisting of breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, liver, renal, head and neck, prostate, and stomach.
8. The method of claim 1, wherein said taxane compound is paclitaxel.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the cancer is breast cancer.
10. A method for identifying a metastatic cancer patient that is likely to respond to or benefit from taxane therapy, comprising determining the phosphorylation status of Akt, wherein the patient will benefit from treatment with a therapeutically effective amount of a taxane compound if the phosphorylation status of Akt is positive.
11. The method of claim 10, wherein the response is tumor reduction during or after taxane therapy.
12. The method of claim 10, wherein the benefit is longer progression-free survival or overall survival.
13. The method of claim 10, wherein the cancer is breast cancer.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein the taxane therapy comprises treatment with taxane chemotherapy in HER2-negative breast cancer
15. The method of claim 13, wherein the taxane therapy comprises treatment with taxane in combination with anti-HER2 therapy in HER2-positive breast cancer.
16. The method of claim 10, wherein the phosphorylation status is determined by incubating an antibody specific for pAkt with a sample from said cancer and detecting the presence of bound pAkt-specific antibody.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the antibody specifically binds to a phosphorylated peptide consisting of the Akt sequence SERRPHFPQF {pSerine473}YSA-NH2.
18. A method for identifying a metastatic cancer patient that is not amenable to taxane therapy, comprising determining the phosphorylation status of Akt before therapy, wherein the patient will be amenable to treatment with taxane compound if the phosphorylation status of Akt is negative due to less responsiveness to taxane chemotherapy or shorter progression-free survival or shorter overall survival.
19. The method of claim 18, wherein the cancer is selected from the group consisting of breast, colorectal, lung, ovarian, liver, renal, head and neck, prostate, and stomach.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. An optical element including a surface having a finite curvature, comprising a plurality of convex optical pieces having an anti reflection function, each of which is smaller than a design wavelength being provided on the surface having the finite curvature of the optical element,
wherein the plurality of convex optical pieces are formed independently on surface having the finite curvature along a normal direction of the surface having the finite curvature, and
wherein the plurality of the optical pieces are arranged in a random manner so as to satisfy the following conditional expression,
D200<\u03c3<D10,
where D represents an average distance between the centers of the adjacent optical pieces and \u03c3 represents the standard deviation.
2. An optical element according to claim 1, wherein letting \u03bb be a used wavelength, a following condition is satisfied:
D<\u03bb12.
3. An optical element according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of convex optical pieces becomes radially slenderer as distant from the surface of the optical clement having the finite curvature.
4. An optical element according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of convex optical pieces becomes radially slenderer stepwise as distant from the surface of the optical element having the finite curvature.
5. An optical element according to claim 1, wherein each of the plurality of convex optical pieces becomes radially slenderer in a tapered form as distant from the surface of the optical element having the finite curvature.
6. An optical element according to claim 1, wherein the surface of the optical element having the finite curvature and having the plurality of convex optical pieces formed thereon is a refracting surface.
7. An optical element according to claim 1, wherein the plurality of optical pieces are formed on the surface of the optical element having the finite curvature through molding.
8. A method of manufacturing an optical element that is the optical element according to any one of claims 1,2, and 3 to 7, comprising:
a mold manufacturing step of forming pores formed when aluminum or aluminum alloy is anodized on a surface of a mold; and
an element forming step of transferring the pores using the mold to form the optical pieces.
9. An optical scanning device, comprising:
the optical element according to any one of claims 1,2, and 3 to 7; and
an f\u03b8 lens having the optical element installed on its surface.
10. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
the optical scanning device according to claim 9;
a photosensitive member disposed on a surface to be scanned;
a developing device for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive member with light beams scanned by the optical scanning device as a toner image;
a transferring device for transferring the toner image obtained through the development to a transfer material; and
a fixing device for fixing the transferred toner image on the transfer material.
11. An image forming apparatus, comprising:
the optical scanning device according to claim 9; and
a printer controller for converting code data inputted from an external device into an image signal to input the image signal to the optical scanning device.