Disclosed is a wireless earphone charging adapter capable of charging a rechargeable battery of a wireless earphone using the power source from a reproducing device. The wireless earphone charging adapter comprises an adapter connection terminal detachably connected to a main body connection terminal electrically connected to a power source of the main body, a charging terminal electrically connected with the adapter connection terminal, wherein a terminal of the rechargeable battery of the wireless earphone is detachably connected with the charging terminal, and a housing securing the adapter connection terminal and the charging terminal. The housing is formed with a placing groove, within which the wireless earphone is placed so that the terminal of the rechargeable battery of the wireless earphone can remain in the state of being connected with the charging terminal.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an adapter for charging a rechargeable battery housed in a wireless earphone. In particular, the present invention relates to a wireless earphone charging adapter capable of charging the rechargeable battery of a wireless earphone using a power source of a main body in which the wireless earphone is employed.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, conventional wireless earphones are used with devices that reproduce music or other audible signals. These reproducing devices include hand-held portable cassette players, MP3 players, among others. The wireless earphone receives sound signals wirelessly transmitted from a sound signal transmission unit of a main body and reproduces the sound signals into sound through a speaker provided in the wireless earphone. Such a wireless earphone comprises a receiver for receiving radio sound signals, and a battery for supplying electric power required for the receiver. Rechargeable batteries are generally used as the portable power source, which are capable of being charged and discharged many times.
Conventional wireless earphones are therefore provided with an exclusive charger for charging a rechargeable battery housed in the wireless earphone. The charger for a wireless earphone is typically formed as a DC power supply unit that supplies current of a predetermined rating required for charging the rechargeable battery when it is connected to a commercial power source. Therefore, the rechargeable battery of a wireless earphone can be charged only at a place where the commercial power source is provided.
When the conventional wireless earphone is used with a hand-held portable cassette player, or an MP3 player while commuting or when outdoors, no commercial power source is available. There is a problem in that because the rechargeable battery of the wireless earphone cannot be recharged after having been completely discharged, it is impossible to continuously use the portable cassette player or the MP3 player.


A digital phase shifter is described where each bit of the phase shifter has a circuit block including one PIN diode in parallel with one transmission line. The phase shifter requires only one PIN diode and one transmission line per bit circuit block. Each PIN diode behaves like a simple switch for phase shifting. When the PIN diode is forward biased (“on” state), current flows through the PIN diode and the RF signal is not phase shifted. When the pin diode is not forward biased (“off” state), current flows through the transmission line parallel to the PIN diode and the RF signal is phase shifted by the transmission line. The digital phase shifter may have n circuit blocks in series, and adjacent PIN diodes may share a current when both are on. The phase shifter may be implemented in a phased array or reflect array antenna including multiple phase shifters.

Phase shifters are used in systems to change a transmission phase angle of an input signal. Their most recognized application is in phased array antennas that include multiple transmitting and/or receiving antenna elements that can be used together to form a directional radiation pattern. The relative phases or the respective signals feeding the antennas are controlled using phase shifters to create an effective radiation pattern that is strongest in a desired direction and suppressed in undesired directions. In this manner the antenna beam may be rapidly steered without any mechanical steering of the antenna (e.g., using a gimbal).
Quantized or "digital" phase shifters may be used to control the phases of the signals feeding the antenna elements by providing a discrete number of phase states controlled using phase bits having two states, where for n-bit phase shifter there are 2n states available. As such, the higher the number of phase bits, the more accurate the phase shifter. For example, in the case of an ideal 2-bit phase shifter, the phases of the signals may switch between four states, 0°, 90°, 180°, and 270°, which have a step size of 90° and a maximum quantization error of ±45°. In the case of an ideal 3-bit phase shifter, the phases of the signals may switch between eight states, 0°, 45°, 90° 135°, 180°, 225°, 270°, and 315°, which have a step size of 45° and a maximum quantization error of ±22.5°.
In commercial practice, switched line phase shifters are typically used in digital phase shifters as fundamental components for phased array antennas. These phase shifters typically use PIN diodes (diodes having an undoped intrinsic semiconductor region between p-type and n-type semiconductor regions) for switching between different transmission lines. FIG. 1 illustrates a basic schematic of a conventional design of a 1-bit (two state) switched line phase shifter 10. In this design, two, Single Pole Double Throw (SDPT) switches, including four PIN diodes 11a-d, are used to route a signal flow between one of two transmission lines, L1 or L2, having a different electrical length (e.g., in wavelengths). For each transmission line, the phase may depend on the electrical length of the line and the propagation constant of the line. As such, a phase shift between the two lines is realized by differing the electrical lengths of the lines. In this implementation, a RF signal (e.g., a signal having a frequency between about 3 kHz to 300 GHz) may be routed through line L1 (and thus have a phase delay ϕ1 based on the length of L1) by forward biasing (turning "on") PIN diodes 11a and 11b and applying no bias to or reverse biasing (turning "off") PIN diodes 11c and 11d. Alternatively, a signal may be routed through line L2 (and thus have a phase delay ϕ2 depending on the length of L2) by turning on PIN diodes 11c and 11d and turning off PIN diodes 11a and 11b. In this implementation, each of the turned on PIN diodes is individually forward biased using a PIN diode bias circuit (not shown) that provides a controlled forward bias current (e.g., about 5-10 mA) for each pin diode.
FIG. 2 illustrates a basic schematic of a conventional design of a 3-bit switched line phase shifter 20. As illustrated, the circuit block of FIG. 1 is repeated three times, in series, to provide 3-bits (i.e., eight possible phase states). Phase shifter 20 requires twelve PIN diodes and six transmission lines.

Digital phase shifter switch and transmission line reduction


A sensor system having a current interface includes a supply and current interface, an electronic control unit and an enhanced initialization sensor. The supply and current interface is configured to receive a supply voltage. The electronic control unit is coupled to the supply and current interface. The enhanced initialization sensor is coupled to the supply and current interface. The enhanced initialization sensor is configured to initialize the supply and current interface at a suitable current level to mitigate erroneous information. measurement system.

Automotive systems are complex systems that include computers and components to operate and monitor operation of automotive vehicles. The systems typically include a processor that controls and monitors engine operation and the like. The system generally operates various control systems that perform automotive functions. By monitoring, minor problems can be identified and corrected before becoming major problems.
Sensors are used in automotive systems to monitor characteristics or properties relevant to operation. The sensors then convey the information to an electronic control unit, which performs actions in response. The sensors monitor information such as speed, temperature, and pressure.
In interface systems using current, the sensor uses the same wires used to convey the information that are used to receive supply power. One common technique to convey the information to the ECU is to use first and second current levels to transfer the information digital. However, problems can occur if the supply power is insufficient.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Supply self adjustment for systems and methods having a current interface


An expandable medical implant that includes a lower lifting plate, an upper lifting plat, a distal lifting block, a proximal lifting block, a rotational block, a lifting screw, and a locking nut, and related methods of use. Also, an expandable medical implant that includes a lower lifting plate having a proximal lower angled lifting portion, an upper lifting plate having a proximal upper angled lifting portion, a center fork block, a lifting lobe, a distal screw, and a proximal nut, and related methods of use.

Spinal implants and interbody cages are conventionally used, for example, to correct deformities in the spine, stabilize the spine, fuse vertebrae, distract vertebrae, etc. Since spinal anatomy varies between patients, surgeons desire spinal implants and interbody cages that are capable of precise adjustment to accommodate such variation. However, known spinal implants and interbody cages have limited adjustments and, in particular, limit the adjustability in both the proximal and distal directions. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 10,363,142 discloses a spinal implant that has a proximal region and a distal region but has a limited range of proximal and distal expansion. Other known spinal cages, such as U.S. Pat. No. 9,028,550, offer differing ranges of adjustment, but require complicated hydraulic control systems and are limited in the adjustability in both the proximal and distal directions. Plug-style designs, such as U.S. Pat. No. 9,788,970, also lack the ability to adjust in both the proximal and distal directions. The inventors determined that there is a need for universally expanding cages that address the problems, such as those discussed above, with known spinal implants and interbody cages, such as limited adjustability.


A dual stage filter cartridge is provided for use in a reverse osmosis water purification system or the like. The filter cartridge includes a first stage having a filter medium for removing selected contaminants from incoming feed water, and a second stage including a reverse osmosis membrane for converting a portion of the filtered feed water to a relatively purified water supply. The filter media in the first state is particularly selected to remove contaminants which are otherwise potentially harmful to the reverse osmosis membrane. The dual stage cartridge is configured as a single unit adapted for simple drop-in installation into an open-ended cartridge housing.

This invention relates generally to improvements in water purification systems and equipment of the reverse osmosis type. More particularly, this invention relates to an improved filter cartridge for a reverse osmosis purification unit, wherein multiple filter stages are integrated into a compact and unitary cartridge form adapted for simplified installation and replacement on an as needed periodic basis.
Reverse osmosis water purification systems are, in general terms, relatively well known in the art for producing a relatively purified water supply used for drinking, cooking, etc. Such purification systems commonly include a reverse osmosis unit having a reverse osmosis membrane which, in the presence of appropriate flow and pressure conditions, separates an incoming tap or feed water supply into the purified water supply and a relatively impure or reject water supply. In particular, the membrane functions to remove particulate matter and a wide range of dissolved solids and other contaminants from a portion of the feed water to produce the purified water supply, and to concentrate those contaminants within the remainder of the feed water thereby producing the reject supply, sometimes referred to as brine, for disposal via a suitable drain. The purified water supply is normally collected for storage at a convenient location within a suitable reservoir, and for ready dispensing through a faucet valve or the like when desired. In this regard, available reverse osmosis systems may be designed to utilize compressed air to deliver purified water from the reservoir as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,834,873. Alternately, the system may be designed to use the pressure of the feed water to deliver purified water from the reservoir as described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,952.
Reverse osmosis membranes have been constructed from different materials which are known to provide different performance efficiency and rate of production of purified water. However, in many reverse osmosis systems, the choice of membrane material is dictated not by performance efficiency but instead by the chemical or bacteriological makeup of the feed water in a local water supply. For example, so-called thin film or thin film composite membranes are generally preferred in view of relatively high operational efficiencies which can be obtained from highly compact membrane cartridges having a large membrane surface area, substantially without degradation in the presence of certain bacterial organisms present in some feed water supplies. However, such thin film membranes are known to degrade rapidly in the presence of certain chemicals, particularly oxidants such as chlorine and/or compounds thereof which are often added to a local water supply to retard growth of bacteria and other organisms. Accordingly, when chlorine is present in the feed water supply, alternative and less efficient membrane materials such as cellulose acetate have normally been used to provide acceptable membrane operating life, but with an acknowledged reduction in pure water production rate and a relatively high susceptibility to bacterial attack. Alternatively, in some systems, carbon prefilters or the like have been used upstream of a thin film membrane to remove chlorine from the feed water supply prior to reverse osmosis processing. While this latter approach can prevent premature failure of the thin film membrane, it has also required additional filter housing and filter element structures to increase the overall size and cost of a reverse osmosis system.
The present invention overcomes the problems and disadvantages associated with the prior art by providing an improved filter cartridge for a reverse osmosis system, wherein the filter cartridge includes a compact membrane of the thin film type in combination with a prefilter stage which protects the membrane against contact with otherwise harmful constituents within the local water supply.

Dual stage filter cartridge for a reverse osmosis purification system


An antibody or a functional fragment thereof that specifically bind to PD-L1 with high affinity, a nucleic acid molecule that encodes said antibody or the functional fragment thereof, an expression vector and a host cell for use in expressing said antibody or the functional fragment thereof, and a method for producing said antibody or the functional fragment thereof. An immunoconjugate and a pharmaceutical composition containing said antibody or the functional fragment thereof, and a method for using said antibody or the functional fragment thereof to enhance the function of a T cell so as to up-regulate a cell-mediated immune response, for use in treating diseases caused by T cell dysfunction.

Programmed death-ligand 1 (PD-L1), also known as cluster of differentiation 274 (CD274) or B7 homolog 1 (B7-H1), is a type I transmembrane glycoprotein consisting of 290 amino acid residues, comprising an IgV-like region, an IgC-like region, a transmembrane hydrophobic region, and a 30-amino acid intracellular tail, the molecular weight of which is 40 kDa as a complete molecule. PD-L1 mRNA is expressed in almost all tissues, but sustained expression of PD-L1 protein is only found in a small number of tissues, including liver, lung, tonsil, and immuno-privileged tissues such as the eye and placenta. PD-L1 is also expressed in activated T cells, B cells, monocytes, dendritic cells, macrophages, and the like.
The receptor for PD-L1 is PD-1, which is mainly expressed on the surface of immune cells such as CD4+ T cells, CD8+ T cells, NK T cells, B cells, and activated monocytes. The binding of PD-L1 to PD-1 can initiate the phosphorylation of the tyrosine residue of ITIM (Immunoreceptor Tyrosine Inhibition Module) in the cytoplasmic region of PD-1, which promotes the binding of tyrosine phospholipase to SHP2 and activate SHP2, in turn causes the dephosphorylation of the downstream Syk and PI3K to deliver a termination signal, which limits the interaction of antigen presenting cells or dendritic cells with T cells. The binding can further inhibit the metabolism of T cells, inhibit the secretion of anti-apoptotic protein Bcl-X2, reduce the secretion of effector cytokines IL-2 and IFN-γ, induce T cell depletion and apoptosis, thereby reducing immune responses in which T cells is involved, and exerting a negative regulatory function.
T cells recognize the antigen and secrete IFN-γ after activation. T cell-derived IFN-γ augments and maintains T cell functions, such as up-regulating MHC molecules, enhancing antigen processing and presentation of the target cells, and promoting T cell differentiation. IFN-γ also induces PD-L1 expression in tissues of the immune inflammation site, preventing excessive immunity from harming tissues. IFN-γ can induce the expression of PD-L1 on the surface of normal epithelial cells, vascular endothelial cells, myeloid cells, naive T cells and the like. IFN-γ-induced interferon regulatory factor 1 (IRF-1) can also bind to the interferon regulatory factor binding site located at 200 bp and 320 bp upstream of the PD-L1 transcription initiation site to regulate PD-L1 from the transcriptional level. PD-L1 can bind to PD-1 on the surface of T cells to exert a negative regulatory function, so that the inflammatory site is protected.
The negative regulatory function of PD-L1 plays an important role in tumor immunity. In 2004, Konishi et al. first discovered the expression of PD-L1 in tissue samples from patients with non-small cell lung cancer. Subsequently, PD-L1 was found to be expressed in tissues of patients with various tumor, including gastric cancer, lung cancer, liver cancer, intrahepatic cholangiocarcinoma, colon cancer, pancreatic cancer, ovarian cancer, breast cancer, cervical cancer, head and neck squamous cell carcinoma, nasopharyngeal cancer, esophageal cancer, bladder cancer, renal cell carcinoma, skin cancer, oral squamous cell carcinoma, etc. During cell canceration, new protein molecules are produced due to gene mutations, foreign gene (viral) expression or quiescent gene activation. After these proteins are degraded in cells, some degraded peptide fragments can be expressed on the cell surface, becoming tumor antigens. The immune system can identify tumor antigens and eliminate tumor cells through immune surveillance, while tumor cells use PD-L1 to evade immune attacks.
Expression of PD-L1 at the tumor site can protect tumor cells from injury through a variety of ways. Tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs) secrete IFN-γ to induce expression of PD-L1 by tumor cells and surrounding stromal cells. The PD-L1 of tumor cells can bind to PD-1 on TILs, inhibiting the activation of TIL cells, and further causing the apoptosis of TIL cells. In vitro experiments have shown that tumor cell-associated PD-L1 can increase the apoptosis of tumor-specific T cells, while PD-L1 monoclonal antibodies can attenuate this effect. Tumor-associated PD-L1 can promote T cell expression of IL-10, further inhibiting the immune response. PD-L1 is not only a ligand for PD-1, but it can also act as a receptor to transmit a reverse signal to protect tumor cells from apoptosis induced by other anti-tumor pathways, such as FAS-FASL.
A variety of chronic and acute viruses also use PD-L1 signals to evade human immunodetection. Wang et al. found that the expression of PD-L1 was up-regulated in bone marrow-derived dendritic cells from HIV-infected patients. After anti-virus infection and inhibition of HIV replication, PD-L1 expression was down-regulated, accompanied by up-regulation of T cell numbers; according to Chen et al., the expression of PD-L1 on T lymphocytes and dendritic cells in chronic HBV-infected patients was also found to be up-regulated. Viral infection induces high expression of PD-L1 in infected cells, and induces CD8+ T cells to express PD-1, thereby inhibiting T cell action, resulting in the depletion of effector T cells.

Anti-PD-L1 antibody and application thereof


An electromagnetic wave generator for outputting wideband electromagnetic waves, including terahertz (THz) band waves, and for controlling wavelengths of the output electromagnetic waves and an optical shutter are provided. The electromagnetic wave generator includes two electrodes that separately face each other, a chargeable particle disposed between the two electrodes, and a chamber disposed to surround the chargeable particle between the two electrodes. When DC voltages are applied to the two electrodes to generate an electric field between the two electrodes, the chargeable particle may be charged. Then, the chargeable particle reciprocates between the two electrodes to generate the electromagnetic waves. A wavelength of the output electromagnetic wave may be controlled by adjusting a potential difference between the two electrodes.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to electromagnetic wave generators and optical shutters, and more particularly, to electromagnetic wave generators that may generate wideband electromagnetic waves, including waves having frequencies within the THz band, and which may control wavelengths of output electromagnetic waves, and optical shutters operating in a similar manner as the electromagnetic wave generators.
2. Description of the Related Art
Terahertz electromagnetic waves (hereinafter, referred to as terahertz waves) are electromagnetic waves generally having a frequency within the frequency band of between about 0.1 THz and about 10 THz. The terahertz waves may easily propagate through many materials through which microwaves or light waves may not propagate, and the terahertz wave may also be absorbed by moisture. Therefore, terahertz waves are increasingly being considered important for potential uses in various technical fields, such as medical, chemical, military, biological, environmental, and information communication fields. However, since apparatuses for reliably generating electromagnetic waves in the terahertz band have not been sufficiently developed, research into new terahertz generators is actively being conducted.
For example, certain types of terahertz generators, such as those using a solid state laser having non-linear crystals and terahertz generators of electromagnetic induction type using coils or magnets have been developed. However, the types of terahertz generators that have been developed thus far are limited. For example, these generators may only generate terahertz waves of a certain wavelength, or a usable band of the output terahertz waves may be too narrow to be applied to various fields. For example, terahertz waves of various wavelengths are necessary to perform tomographies of different organs (i.e., heart, blood vessels, stomach, etc.) in the human body, and the conventional terahertz generator may not satisfy this need. In addition, many of the conventional terahertz generators consume an excessive amount of power.

Electromagnetic wave generator and optical shutter using the same


A hand-washing apparatus configured to simultaneously wash hands includes an enclosure with openings for each hand, and members for finger support and thumb support. The finger support member extends upward from the enclosure's base and the thumb support member extends along a direction different from the finger support member. The finger support has a surface for receiving and orienting fingers of both hands at corresponding locations inside the enclosure. Similarly, the thumb support has a surface for receiving and orienting both thumbs. The finger-support surface has two recess sets, each of which receives fingers of one hand. First and second spray-nozzles are directed to irrigate the fingers and thumbs respectively.

All human surfaces harbor bacteria; some have favorite places. Certain forms of non-pathogenic streptococci limit their homesites to the first millimeter of oral mucosa at the gumline. Common forms of staphylococcus are found in a third of asymptomatic noses. By virtue of their role in touching public items, procuring food, picking noses, satisfying itches and handling-the-paper chores, the thumb and first two fingers probably provide the greatest sample and volume of bacteria from the daily environment. If those digits carry pathogenic E. coli, Salmonella or methicillin-resistant Staph aureus (MRSA), you may have a major health problem. If they invite more ordinary bacteria and viruses to the kitchen and dinner table, you may just get sick for a few days.
One way to stay healthy is to reduce the bacterial count on the hands. It is impossible, even with a ten-minute surgical scrub, to eliminate all of them. A unique problem exists in the nail beds, where accumulated oil and dirt may provide a refuge for bacteria and be hard to displace. Soaps and detergents act in two ways. Their main role is to cut the grease and soften the buildup under the nails and in the cuticles. They may also directly injure the cell membranes of bacteria, affecting their mobility or even killing them. Soaps and detergents require sufficient time and concentration at the work site to be effective.
Commonly used bactericidal chemicals intended for use on skin, for example, antiseptics, include iodine and mercury compounds, phenol, alcohol, benzalkonium chloride, mineral spirits, propylene glycol, chlorhexidine and hexachlorophine. Their role in routine hand cleaning is limited by their potential to irritate skin.
A number of devices have been developed over the years for assisting in the cleaning of fingertips, particularly the hard-to-clean nail beds and cuticles. However, each of these devices has at least one drawback, ranging from low cleaning efficiency to difficulty in cleaning the device between uses, among others.


An exemplary embodiment of the present application is a system and method for work allocation optimization. In the present disclosure, analytics are applied to work items while the work items are waiting in a work queue in order to optimize the routing and allocation of work items to agents in the most efficient manner possible, while optimizing the utilization of agents. By performing a look ahead at more than the initial work item, the system assesses the agent skills required by imminent work items in the work queue. This is then compared to a skillset of each available and/or soon to be available agent in order to achieve the optimal allocation of the work items to maximize utilization of agents. The work items are then routed to the agents accordingly.

In a modern high-volume customer engagement center(s) (CEC) work allocation is usually subject to routing and queueing rules. This allocation method can often lead to a mix of different work being routed to one department, and queued in that department on a simplistic chronological manner based on arrival time and any relevant service level agreements (SLAs).
This simplistic method of work allocation within a department can lead to inefficiencies because a next available agent method of work allocation blindly allocates the next available agent. Oftentimes, the next available agent may not have an appropriate skillset to handle the next work item appropriately. In other instances, the next available agent may be overqualified to handle the work item assigned whereas the next agent may not be assigned a work item because they are underqualified for the following work items. The aforementioned inefficiencies typically result in the agent taking a larger amount of time to complete the work item, the work item requiring reallocation to another agent with the appropriate skillset, or a qualified agent being unavailable for an advanced work item because they have been assigned a work item requiring lesser skills.
Modern electronic scheduling programs are unable to provide such capabilities. As a result, customers may face inefficient handling of their call, excessive wait times to speak with a customer service representative (CSR), and excessive transfers of their calls, leading to increased customer dissatisfaction, and CSRs will be handling calls not suited for their skill set, thus wasting an organization's money.
There is an unmet need in the art for a system and method capable of looking ahead into the work queue in order to optimize assignment of work items to agents while also optimizing the utilization of agents.

System and method for queue look ahead to optimize agent assignment and utilization


A method, apparatus, and computer program for controlling diversity reception in a radio receiver are provided. The radio receiver is configured to either activate or disable the diversity reception according to an application type of an application requesting transfer of data.

Many radio telecommunication systems utilize diversity reception to facilitate reliable detection of received radio signals in radio receivers. There are numerous alternative solutions for implementing the diversity reception in the radio receiver. The radio receiver may be configured to utilize at least one of the following diversity reception schemes: spatial diversity, polarization diversity, etc. Generally in the diversity reception, radio signals traveling through a plurality of separate signal paths to the radio receiver are received at separate reception branches in the radio receiver and processed in order to acquire payload data from the received radio signals. Each reception branch may include separate receiver components, and the power consumption of the radio receiver is typically increased upon activation of the diversity reception. This may not be a critical factor in radio receivers connected to a mains power supply, but it may be crucial in portable radio receivers relying on battery power supply. Therefore, there is a need for providing an intelligent control mechanism for diversity reception so as to employ the benefits of the diversity reception while keeping the power consumption of the radio receiver at a tolerable level.


Systems, methods, and non-transitory computer-readable media are disclosed that collect and analyze annotation performance data to generate digital annotations for evaluating and training automatic electronic document annotation models. In particular, in one or more embodiments, the disclosed systems provide electronic documents to annotators based on annotator topic preferences. The disclosed systems then identify digital annotations and annotation performance data such as a time period spent by an annotator in generating digital annotations and annotator responses to digital annotation questions. Furthermore, in one or more embodiments, the disclosed systems utilize the identified digital annotations and the annotation performance data to generate a final set of reliable digital annotations. Additionally, in one or more embodiments, the disclosed systems provide the final set of digital annotations for utilization in training a machine learning model to generate annotations for electronic documents.

Recent years have seen rapid development in the creation, use, and management of electronic documents. Indeed, conventional electronic document management systems can now generate, store, and even annotate electronic documents to assist individuals and businesses in reviewing and utilizing electronic documents. To illustrate, conventional systems can analyze electronic document and automatically apply digital highlights to pertinent portions of the electronic documents to assist reviewers in quickly identifying key points and assimilating pertinent information.
Although conventional electronic document management systems can generate annotated electronic documents, they also have a number of significant shortcomings in relation to accuracy, efficiency, and flexibility. For example, conventional electronic document management systems often fail to accurately annotate key portions of electronic documents. These inaccuracies result partly from errors and limitations of individual annotation models but also from the lack of accurate ground-truth examples (e.g., labeled datasets) for training or testing annotation models. For example, some conventional electronic document management systems attempt to utilize sequential labeling techniques to identify key portions of electronic documents; however, this approach often fails to accurately generate reliable training annotations because of high subjectivity levels amongst reviewers.
In addition, conventional electronic document management systems are oftentimes inefficient. For example, conventional electronic document management systems often require a significant amount of training data (and time) to generate annotation models. Indeed, conventional electronic document management systems oftentimes utilize unreliable training data to test or train annotation models, which increases the time and computational resources to converge on a trained model.
Additionally, conventional electronic document management systems are also rigid and inflexible. For instance, conventional electronic document management systems often rigidly require a set of expert annotators to generate a training data set of key sentences. This approach significantly limits scalability of conventional systems (while increasing expense and time required to implement them).
Furthermore, conventional electronic document management systems also require significant time and resources to navigate and identify information regarding digital annotations. Indeed, conventional electronic document management systems often require users to navigate through a number of different user interfaces and graphical elements to analyze annotations or the efficacy of annotation models. In addition, oftentimes, conventional document management systems do not provide user interfaces that efficiently collect annotations and corresponding information from annotators.

Generating digital annotations for evaluating and training automatic electronic document annotation models


An image resolution processing method includes: obtaining motion information of a display apparatus; determining a motion direction and rate information of the display apparatus according to the motion information; determining, according to the motion direction, a target object that is at least one of a horizontal resolution and a vertical resolution; determining a target value according to the rate information and a standard resolution of the display apparatus; and generating a to-be-displayed image, a value of the target object in an image resolution of the to-be-displayed image being equal to the target value.

With the development of electronic technologies and computer technologies, a user may obtain or generate various images and process and display various images according to requirements, to meet an image visual requirement. For example, in the field of virtual reality (VR) or augmented reality (AR), related image processing such as making some special images or rendering is involved, to finally display processed images on a display apparatus such as VR/AR glasses, helmets, and the like, to provide a satisfactory visual experience to the user.
In a system such as VR/AR, during display of an image, for example, during display of a game image, it is usually required to maintain an image refresh rate higher than a certain image refresh rate threshold, for example, an image refresh rate of 90 fps (frames per second). Maintaining the refresh rate is an important factor to ensure the image visual experience of the user. Therefore, a method of ensuring a certain refresh rate becomes an important issue and much research has been conducted.

Image resolution processing method, system, and apparatus, storage medium, and device

TENCENT TECHNOLOGY (SHENZHEN) COMPANY LTD


A chair assembly is mounted on a base member by a pivot that permits the chair assembly to tilt rearwardly from first position to a second position. The chair assembly includes a seat, a legrest that is forwardly extendible from the seat, and a back that is tiltable relative to the seat between a generally upright sitting position and a reclining position. When the chair assembly is at its rearwardly tilted second position, the legrest is in its extended position, and the back is in its reclining position, the head and ankles of an occupant are substantially at the same height for use in medical treatment in which the Trendelenburg is indicated. A releasable locking mechanism holds the cair assembly at a selected inclination angle relative to the base member. The locking mechanism has blades that are permanetly connected to the base and slidably connected to the tiltable chair assembly by a rod that extends through slots in the blades. Rotation of teh rod applies lateral pressure on the blades to lock the blades frictionally to the chair assembly. The chair assembly has arms that are located on opposite sides of the seat. A dropleaf table member is hinged to one arm, and this arm can swing down laterally below the height of the seat to enable attendants to move an occupant onto or off of the chair. When the arm is in this position, the dropleaf table member is vertical to act as a supporting leg.

This invention relates to a reclining chair which is particularly suited for use in hospitals and other healthcare facilities.
Heretofore, there have been a number of reclining chairs having seats, extensible legrest and reclining backs. The relative movement between these components is possible due to simple pivotal connections or complex mechanical movements. In general, however, the extent of reclining movement is such that the occupant's feet often do not rise to a height that is approximately equal to or greater than the height of the occupant's head. Such a position, generally referred to herein as the "Trendelenburg position," is used in connection with many different medical and therapeutic treatments. The present invention presents a relatively uncomplicated article of furniture which is extremely versatile and is capable of supporting an occupant in a Trendelenburg position.
The chair according to the invention has a number of features which are well suited to the healthcare environment. For example, it is readily movable from room-to-room or through corridors; it may have a dropleaf table mounted on its arm; an arm can be swingable laterally and downwardly to permit lateral movement of an occupant; the chair is capable of placing an occupant in many different positions for personal comfort or for facilitating medical treatments.


Methods are described for measuring the activity of dual substrate enzymes and for identifying compounds that inhibit such enzymes. The disclosed methods use a capture resin to bind to a first substrate of the dual substrate enzyme and a separation step to remove unreacted radiolabeled second substrate and the amount of radiolabeled first substrate is then measured by scintillation counting.

This invention concerns a method for measuring the activity of dual substrate enzymes, and for identifying compounds that regulate such enzymes, and as such are useful for treating bacterial infections, disorders of lipid metabolism and cellular proliferation.
Millions of individuals are afflicted with diseases that are caused by the inability to regulate important cellular processes such as fatty acid biosynthesis and cell proliferation. For example, the inability to regulate fatty acid biosynthesis results in lipid metabolism disorders that play a major role in diseases that include obesity, chronic hepatic encephalopathy, lipid diabetes, insulin resistant diabetes, and coronary heart disease. Failure to regulate cell cycle events can lead to unregulated cellular proliferation resulting in the growth of cancerous tissue and the malignant state. Some well known cancers that plague our society include breast cancer, prostate cancer and colon cancer. Thus, much research is carried out to understand fatty acid biosynthesis and cell proliferation to fulfill the need to treat these diseases and to maintain normal regulation of these processes. Much of the regulation of fatty acid biosynthesis and cell proliferation is carried out by enzymes. Often, too much or too little activity of specific enzymes can disrupt regulation of the processes they control. Since abnormal levels of activity of even a single enzyme can lead to the diseases described above, a great deal of research is being carried out to identify compounds that modulate the activity of key enzymes. For example, the enzyme acteyl CoA carboxylase (ACC) produces malonyl-CoA, which regulates fatty acid biosynthesis in cells. Mice lacking ACC were recently shown by Abu-Elheiga et al. (Science 291:2613-2616, 2001) to suffer major decreases in body fat (50%) despite increased food intake. Thus, inhibition of ACC might allow individuals suffering from obesity to lose weight while maintaining normal caloric intake.
Bacterial enzymes are also the focus of research to identify compounds that modulate enzyme activity, and thus can be used to treat bacterial infections. Resistance to commonly used antibiotics is widely prevalent and a growing concern in clinics and hospitals, thus causing a great demand today to identify new antibacterial compounds that are not plagued with resistance problems. Recently, much attention has been focused on targeting bacterial enzymes involved in fatty acid biosynthesis. In particular, enzymes involved in the bacterial fatty acid biosynthetic pathway are a popular target for the development of antibacterials for treating infectious diseases.
While some enzymes require a single substrate to function, others require two substrates. These are called dual substrate enzymes, or two-substrate enzymes. It is estimated that more than half of known biochemical reactions in mammals are catalyzed by dual substrate enzymes. Therapeutic areas whose drug discovery efforts focus on two-substrate enzymes include cancer, lipid metabolic disorders and anti-infectives. For example, some enzymes implicated in various cancers are kinases such as MEK, which are dual substrate enzymes. Enzymes involved in the fatty acid biosynthesis (FAB) pathway in the bacterial pathogen E. coli include malonyl coenzyme A-acyl carrier protein transacylase (FabD), B-ketoacyl-ACP reductase (FabG), B-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III (FabH) and enoyl-ACP reductase (FabI).
The current assays for identifying compounds that inhibit dual substrate enzymes have significant limitations. A new assay for the B-ketoacyl-ACP synthase III (FabH) was recently reported by He X. et al., 2000, Anal. Biochem. 282: 107-114. However, that assay is limited to using substrates that are radiolabeled with tritium, and substrates that are radiolabeled with other isotopes such as carbon-14 cannot be used in that assay. Assays for the identification of inhibitors of kinases often rely upon precipitation of a radiolabeled peptide or protein with trichloroacetic acid. Performing these assays requires the processing of large amounts of corrosive liquid, which is damaging to the instrumentation as well as the environment, and presents a high level of risk to the researcher. In addition, the use of viscous liquid scintillation cocktails in assays requiring radiometric detection presents a difficult challenge for high throughput screening processes. Individuals who perform these assays experience frequent equipment failure due to the corrosive liquid and precipitation of the peptide or protein. Consequently, these problems lower the quality of the assay, result in statistically unreliable data, and prohibit the use of these assays in high throughput screening processes. Furthermore, these conventional methods require numerous steps making the overall assay lengthy, and are an impediment to rapid drug discovery.
An object of this invention is to provide a rapid and reliable assay for identifying and analyzing compounds that modulate the activity of dual substrate enzymes.
This invention provides an assay for identifying and measuring the activity of compounds that interact with dual substrate enzymes. The assay utilizes a resin to capture and bind to one of the two substrates that interact with the dual substrate enzyme. Typical resins are in the form of beads, which can be charged. A typical substrate for the FabD enzyme is called Acyl Carrier Protein (ACP). The capture of ACP by a resin such as charged beads eliminates the need for trichloroacetic acid precipitation. The virtual unlimited surface area provided by such resins overcomes the limited binding capacity of standard microplate wells that are required by conventional assays. Use of these resins permits the use of a low-specific activity radiolabeled form of one of the substrates in the assay. Furthermore, the use of resins eliminates the need for modifying enzymatic substrates for capture, for example by synthesizing a biotinylated tag on the substrate. The present assay also uses scintillation proximity assay resins for measuring radioactivity, thus eliminating the need for liquid scintillation cocktails used in the prior art assays, which are comprised of toxic organic substances that are difficult to work with. The co-dispensing of resins (i.e., the capture resin and the scintillation resin) in this invention reduces the number of steps that must be performed according to prior art assays. The wide variety of commercially available resins that can be used in the present assay offers universal applications for substrate capture and scintillation counting. The utility of this invention is demonstrated by the measurement of enzyme activity and the activity of both known enzyme inhibitors, as well as potential inhibitors from chemical libraries.
This invention is a method for identifying an inhibitor of a dual substrate enzyme; wherein a first substrate is a macromolecule that is enzymatically modified in the presence of the dual substrate enzyme to accept the radiolabeled portion of a second substrate, said second substrate bearing a radiolabeled portion, such that some or all of the radiolabeled portion of the radiolabeled substrate is transferred to the macromolecule substrate to form a radiolabeled macromolecule, said method comprising:
a. adding a capture resin to a buffered mixture of an enzyme, a non-radiolabeled first substrate, a radiolabeled second substrate, allowing the enzyme to catalyze transfer of the radiolabeled portion of the radiolabeled second substrate to the non-radiolabeled first substrate, in the presence or absence of a test compound;
b. removing unreacted radiolabeled second substrate;
c. adding a scintillant resin to the enzyme-radiolabeled first substrate mixture; and
d. measuring the amount of radiolabeled first substrate reacted in the presence of a test compound by scintillation counting, measuring the amount of radiolabeled first substrate reacted in the absence of a test compound by scintillation counting, and comparing the two measurements.
The assay provided by this invention includes a method wherein the first substrate is a macromolecule selected from a peptide or protein.
In a preferred embodiment, the first substrate is an Acyl Carrier Protein (ACP).
In another embodiment, the enzyme is selected from a fatty acid biosynthesis enzyme, a phosphate transfer enzyme, or a protein kinase enzyme.
Another embodiment of the invention includes use of a scintillation proximity assay resin (SPA) as the scintillant used for measuring the radiolabeled first substrate.
In a preferred embodiment of this invention, the unreacted radiolabeled second substrate is removed by filtration.
Another aspect of the invention is a method wherein the filtration of radiolabeled second substrate is carried out using an automated filtration and washing apparatus.
In another embodiment of the invention, the first substrate may be radiolabeled, with the second substrate being nonradiolabeled, and wherein the enzyme is an agent that catalyzes the transfer of the radiolabeled portion of said first substrate to said second substrate.

Method for identifying inhibitors of dual substrate enzymes


A flat glass edging-bevelling machine is employed for rounded cutting or working of peripheral areas of cut flat glass. By disposing major operation parts of the machine higher in elevation than the flat glass wearing or abrasion of major operational parts of the machine by falling glass powder and diamond abrasive grinding wheel powder mixed with cooling water and cutting oil, produced in edging and bevelling the flat glass, is avoided. The major operational parts include a bevel angle control means, a diamond abrasive grinding wheel height control means, a sagging-prevention roller positioning means and major articulated parts.

The present invention relates to a flat glass edging-bevelling machine which is used for rounded working or cutting peripheral areas of the flat glass into various shapes, after cutting the flat glass with a glass knife.
More particularly, the present invention relates to a flat glass edging-bevelling machine which is designed to prevent machine fouling by falling glass powder and diamond abrasive grinding wheel powder, mixed with cooling water and cutting oil, produced in edging-bevelling the glass, by disposing major operational parts of the machine higher than the flat glass in height, to allow convenient bevel adjustment without change of bevel width by placing the rotational center of the bevel angle control means on the lower part thereof, to enable adjustment of the height of the diawheel by selection of height control bolts, to prevent sagging of the flat glass by a taperedly formed roller positioned by an air cylinder, and to avoid the production of cracks or flaws in the flat glass.
In the prior arts, as shown in FIGS. 1A and 1B, an advanced articulation part (44), rail (45), roller and bevelling angle control means (12') as major operational parts of the flat glass edging-bevelling machine have been disposed lower than vacuum glass holder means (43) upon which the flat glass (42) is set. When glass (42) placed on holder means (43) is edged-bevelled the glass powder and diamond abrasive grinding wheel (41) powder produced in edging-bevelling the glass are mixed with cooling water and cutting oil and the resulting mixtures fall on the major operational parts causing problems, failures and shortening of machine life.
Further, because it is very difficult for general workers to perform edging-bevelling on the flat glass (42) with a weighty machine and apparatus, in the prior art devices motor (46) and a diamond abrasive wheel (41) are spacedly disposed.
Thus, because the motor and the diamond abrasive grinding wheel are interconnected by a belt or the like, vibration and noise are produced in providing power transmission. Owing to such production of vibration, small cracks and flaws are produced on the flat glass (42).
Further, one end of a roller (47) for prevention of sagging of the flat glass (42) is flatly formed, and when it comes into contact with the glass (42), quality of the glass is considerably reduced.
The present invention provides a flat glass edging-bevelling machine which aims to dispose major operational parts of the machine higher than a flat glass in height, directly attach a diawheel to a motor shaft connected to a height control plate, and permit control of the height of the diawheel and the bevel angle at a fixed position without change of the bevel width. An explanation thereof according to the drawings attached hereto will be given hereunder.


The invention relates to growth-inhibited hydroxyapatite for improving bone healing. It differs from the apatites employed to date in that it releases calcium ions and phosphate ions in physiological solutions, which, unlike traditional hydroxyapatites, it does not bind. It thereby promotes bone regeneration and bone growth. The growth-inhibited hydroxyapatite contains in agglomerates of prestructured collagen templates on which hydroxyapatite crystals with a crystallite growth of below its critical nucleus radius are formed epitactically. It is prepared by the steps a) mineralization of prestructured collagen templates in supersaturated Ca- and phosphate-ion-containing solutions, where the prestructured collagen templates are capable of diffusion and/or migration, so that HAP crystallites grow epitactically on the collagen templates and the collagen templates grown together with HAP crystallites agglomerate due to their capability of diffusion and/or migration, b) separating off the agglomerates.

The invention concerns growth-inhibited hydroxyapatite (referred to in the following as wHAP) for the improvement of bone healing. It differs from the apatites used already up to now in that it releases calcium and phosphate ions in physiological solutions and, in contrast to customary hydroxyapatites, does not bind them. Thereby it promotes new bone formation and bone growth.
The development of new biomaterials is primarily driven by the desire to produce technically mature tissue implants and bone implants for medical applications, However, they are subject to special demands, depending on implantation site, with regard to biocompatibility, mechanical strength, degradation behavior in case of resorbable implants, and bioactivity. The term bioactivity characterizes the ability of a material to support the formation of an apatite layer (bone mineral) on the surface in the presence of natural or simulated body fluid.
The mammalian bone fulfils in the organism supporting functions as well as metabolic functions [Wintermantel, E.; Ha, S. W.: Medizintechnik—Life Science Engineering, Springer Verlag, 2008]. The bone masters the resulting varied demands by its hierarchical construction and by its material composition. The organic bone matrix which makes up approx. 30% of the bone is comprised of up to approx. 95% of collagen. In the course of a mineralization process, mineral calcium phosphate (primarily hydroxyapatite) is deposited between the collagen fibrils in the form of crystalline platelets having a thickness of about two to four nanometers [chapter Forschung aktuell. In: Max-Plank-Forschung (Ed.): Knochen auf den Zahn gefühlt; vol. 1., 2005, pages 10-1]. Depending on the degree of mineralization (in bone approx 65%) the flexible basic scaffold of collagen is strengthened mechanically causing the strength to increase enormously, primarily under pressure load. Based on such findings, for some time now possibilities for the imitation of naturally occurring composite materials, primarily of bone, have been worked on intensively.
In direct bone contact, primarily the degradation behavior decides the destiny of the interacting intravascular or tissue cells in case of resorbable biomaterials. The term degradation behavior is understood in this context as release of substances from the material into the surrounding tissue or the absorption of substances from the surroundings and deposition on the implant surface. In case of the calcium and phosphate balance, the absorption of ions from the surroundings with deposition on the implant surface in the form of an apatite layer is referred to as bioactive behavior. In the field of bone substitution materials it has been reported repeatedly that a high bioactivity can promote the formation of a force-fit connection between implant and recipient tissue. On the other hand, some publications also report negative effects on the cell behavior in connection with a high bioactivity of the biomaterial. From this it can be derived that the ion balance that is determined by the degradation behavior of the biomaterial has a determinative influence on the cell behavior, on the implant surface as well as in the tissue areas close to the implant, and thus on bone remodeling and finally on the success of the treatment.
Materials on the basis of collagen and collagen derivatives are of especially great interest for biomedical applications. As the body's own structural protein it is ubiquitous in all multicellular animals and is the most frequent protein, constituting about one third of the whole protein mass. It is nearly non-toxic, bioresorbable and hardly immunogenic, resulting in an excellent biocompatibility. As a starting material for industrial uses, collagen of the type I is mostly used which can be obtained, for example, from tendons, cartilage and skins of cattle, calves and pigs. Meanwhile numerous products on the basis of collagen have been developed and have been established in many areas of cosmetics and medicine. Gelatin, also established in numerous uses, is a denatured collagen. Since collagen-based products alone as a rule do not match the mechanical requirements as a bone substitute, they are substituted or supplemented with inorganic-non-metallic phases.
In the field of calcium phosphate-based bone substitution materials, these are primarily hydroxyapatite (HAP) and tricalcium phosphate (TCP) as well as mixtures of both phases used [Tadic D, Epple M.; A thorough physicochemical characterization of 14 calcium phosphate-based bone substitution materials in comparison to natural bone. Biomaterials 2004; 25 (6): 987-94]. Hydroxyapatite of biological origin (e.g., the commercially available Endobon, Cerabone) or synthetic origin (e.g., Cerapatite, Ostim) applied in powder form, granular form, block-shaped or pasty form is little bioresorbable [Murugan R, Ramakrishna S., Development of nanocomposites for bone grafting. Comp Sci Tech 2005; 65 2385-406. Hydroxyapatite is considered insoluble in the neutral pH range on account of its composition, crystalline structure and mostly low microporosity. The comparably slow degradation processes in vivo are attributed almost exclusively to cellular resorption [Detsch R A, Mayr H B, Seitz D B, Ziegler G.; Is hydroxyapatite ceramic included in the bone remodeling process? An in vitro study of resorption and formation processes. Key Engineering Materials 2008; 361-363 II 1123-1126], Higher degradation rates can be reached with HAP/TCP mixtures (e.g., 4-Bone, Bonesave) or pure TCP (e.g., Biobase, Cerasorb). However, the degradation behavior of TCP is calculable only with difficulty.
The calcium phosphate phase serves in the natural bone not only for increasing the strength, but is also a calcium supplier in the course of bone metabolism or remodeling. Knowledge of how this occurs in the human organism in the healthy bone is sketchy; in which manner this process intervenes in the healing of defects when degradeable biomaterials are used, is not understood in detail yet and is the object of research. Of special interest is the healing of defects of the osteoporotic bone which occurs, as is known, more slowly. In some publications it has been demonstrated that the calcium concentration in implant surroundings that is affected by the solubility of the implant material has effects on the proliferation and differentiation behavior of stem cells, osteoblasts and osteoclasts [Muller P, Bulnheim U. Diener A, Luthen F, Teller M, Klinkenberg E D, Neumann H G, Nebe B, Liebold A, Steinhoff G, Rychly J.; Calcium phosphate surfaces promote osteogenic differentiation of mesenchymal stem cells. J Cell Mol Med 2008; 12 (1): 281-91]. As described by Detsch et al., a high calcium ion concentration, as obtained e.g. for TCP-based materials, reduces the resorption activity of osteoclasts [Detsch R, Mayr H, Ziegler G.; Formation of osteoclast-like cells on HA and TCP ceramics. Acta Biomater 2008; 4 (1): 139-48]. The most recent publication attributes cytotoxicity in vitro to unsintered hydroxyapatite in the form of a composite of chitosan and HAP, which is explained by reduced calcium or magnesium contents [Malafaya P B, Reis R L. Acta Biomater 2009; 5 644-60].
DE 10 2004 058 893 A1 discloses a method for modifying biopolymers. An example of this process is the use of fibril-forming collagen modified with chondroitin sulfate (CS), wherein upon later implantation the modified collagen reacts with a monomer, glucuronic acid, produced by the metabolic decomposition of the heterodimeric CS present at the collagen. In the course of this reaction, amino acids of the collagen, primarily the ω amino group of lysine, was carboxymethylated causing regions of the collagen surface to become negatively loaded. As a result of the carboxymethylation, calcium ions present in the vicinity are bound. In this way, a heterogeneous nucleus formation of calcium phosphate phases is initiated and the mineral formation, e.g., the biomimetic preparation of HAP in the surroundings of carboxymethylated collagen, is accelerated and intensified.
The carboxymethylated templates are mineralized according to the DCCM or DMDM method. The carboxymethylated templates are fixedly adsorbed on a surface of the employed membranes. In the presence of calcium and phosphate ions the carboxymethylated templates mineralize.
When an supersaturated electrolyte solution with Ca and PO4 ions is present, nuclei of hydroxyapatite form on collagen fibril surfaces at individual selected sites and do not cover the surface evenly and grow together undefined in the course of growth. In this context, FIG. 1a and FIG. 1b show scanning electron microscope images of hydroxyapatite deposited on collagen I fibrils.
FIG. 1a shows the deposition process after 15 minutes in a calcium ion and phosphate ion containing saturated electrolyte solution. In the Figure, the collagen fibrils are easily recognizable in a branched network. On the surfaces of the fibrils mineralization has taken place at selected sites. The hydroxyapatite (HAP) crystallites are easily recognizable by brighter areas in needle-shaped form. The HAP crystallite formation does not occur evenly (heterotactic) on the collagen fibril surface but at some selected preferred sites.
FIG. 1B shows the HAP covering of the surface after an exposure time of two hours. The apatite crystallites have increased in numbers, they penetrate each other mutually and cover the collagen fibrils located underneath irregularly on account of their crystallographic structure.
The growth of the HAP crystallites occurs therefore not epitactically with respect to the collagen surface but heterotactically at individual selected sites of the surface with the crystal appearance that is typical for hydroxyapatite (needle formation). In contrast to living organisms, osteocalcin for nucleus formation is absent so that the mineral formation does not take place in platelet form in the gap regions of the collagen I fibrils. The needle formation is the result of the growth of the crystallites in crystallographically preferred directions. The growth of the needles is interrupted in the preferred direction only when they grow together. The formed crystal surfaces are still capable of growth afterwards. On account of the present surface morphology and surface energy, there is thus growth of other crystal surfaces or formation of new crystallites on the HAP-surface. This fact leads to the formation of a crystal appearance of the hydroxyapatite as it is likewise know from other biological surfaces. These HAP crystals have thus the undesirable property of removing from the electrolyte surroundings calcium as well as phosphate ions causing them to grow and the calcium and phosphate ions to be bound in physiological solutions.
A high bioactivity as it is usually exhibited by unmodified calcium phosphate phases leads, on the one hand, to the formation of an apatite layer which has been positively valued up to now, but then also to the depletion of the surroundings of the biomaterial with respect to calcium ions; this can affect negatively the cells involved in remodeling and thus bone healing or new bone formation. Therefore, one cannot speak of bioactivity in a narrowly defined sense. How high the calcium ion concentration must be in the cell surroundings of osteoblasts or also osteoclasts to create ideal conditions for new bone formation is still unclear up to now and will vary in a wide range. However, it is unambiguously clear that calcium phosphate-based materials are needed whose calcium binding and release behavior can be adjusted in a predetermined way. In this connection, according to the current level of knowledge, metastable calcium phosphate phases, as for example tricalcium phosphate, bruschite, and octacalcium phosphate, are unsuitable because their dissolution behavior is too fast with respect to the bone healing process.
It is therefore the object of the invention to form hydroxyapatites whose growth is inhibited after the nucleus formation and themselves in predetermined way release calcium and phosphate ions after implantation in the bone tissue. The proliferation and the differentiation of bone-forming cells should be influenced positively by this effect and the bone formation should be promoted.

Growth-inhibited hydroxyapatite, process for its preparation and use


A method of printhead registration in a duplex printer enables process direction registration of a first group of printheads and a second group of printheads in a single print zone that print first and second sides of a print medium concurrently. The first group of printheads is registered to a first reference printhead based on the process direction locations of a first plurality of marks printed by the first group of printheads at a first time between printed images on the first side of the print medium. The second group of printheads is registered to a second reference printhead based on the process direction locations of a second plurality of marks printed by the second group of printheads at a second time between printed images on the second side of the print medium.

Some inkjet printers perform duplex printing of a continuous media web, such as an elongated roll of paper, using a single pass with a single print zone that includes a single array of printheads. A media transport system including a series of rollers that moves the media web through the printer in a process direction. In the single-pass duplex configuration, the media transport moves the media web through the print zone for first-side printing by only a first group of printheads in the print zone. The media transport subsequently moves the media web through an inverter that flips the print medium to present the reverse surface for printing. The media transport then moves the inverted media web through the print zone a second time past a second group of printheads in the print zone for second-side printing. The first group of printheads and the second group of printheads are offset from each other in the cross-process direction with sufficient space to accommodate the first side and the second side of the continuous media web concurrently. Thus, the first and second groups of printheads operate concurrently to print on different portions of the first and second sides of the media web, respectively.
In order to maintain high quality printed output, the printer performs process direction registration of the multiple printheads in print zone. The process direction registration ensures that ink drops from different printheads land on predetermined locations of the media web as the media web moves past the printheads in the process direction. For example, in a multi-color configuration printheads that eject inks of two different colors are arranged at different locations along the media path. When the printheads are properly registered in the process direction, the relative timing of the operation of the inkjets from each printhead ensure that ink drops land on the predetermined locations of the media web as the media web passes both printheads at different times along the media path. Proper process direction registration enables the accurate reproduction of a wide range of colors using a smaller number of ink colors, such as cyan, magenta, yellow, and black (CMYK) inks. Errors in the process direction registration can, however, result in inaccurate color reproduction and other reductions in printed image quality.
In an existing process direction registration technique, all of the printheads in the print zone eject ink drops to form a printed test pattern on the media web, and an electronic controller adjusts the timing of the printheads relative to a reference printhead based on image data generated from the printed test pattern. As described above, the controller adjusts the relative timing of the printheads so that ink drops from different printheads arranged along the process direction land on the correct location of the print medium. In a single-pass duplex configuration, however, the two different sides of a single media web effectively act as two different print media. Existing methods require adjustments to the media path to ensure that the first side and the second side of the media web remain aligned with inter-document zones on both the first side and the second side of the media web passing through the print zone in tandem. The inter-document zones are blank regions of the media web between adjacent printed pages where the test patterns are printed without interfering with pages printed during a print job. The adjustment to the media path frequently requires manual intervention from an operator, which can reduce efficiency of operating the printer. Consequently, improvements to process direction registration techniques in inkjet printers that reduce or eliminate the need to align the first and second sides of the media web during a print job would be beneficial.

System and method for first and second side process registration in a single print zone duplex web printer


One or more techniques and/or computing devices are provided for communicating storage controller failures utilizing service processor traps. A first storage controller, of a first storage cluster, has a disaster recovery relationship with a second storage controller of a second storage cluster. The first storage controller comprise a first service processor configured to monitor health of the first storage controller. Responsive to identifying a failure of the first storage controller, the first service processor uses stored communication configuration of a second service processor of the second storage controller to send a service processor trap to the second service processor. In this way, the second service processor initiates a switchover operation by the second storage controller to provide clients with failover access to data previously available through the first storage controller before the failure. Proactive notification of storage controller failures utilizing service processor traps reduces client data access disruptions.

Many storage networks may implement data replication and/or other redundancy data access techniques for data loss protection and non-disruptive client access. For example, a first storage cluster may comprise a first storage controller configured to provide clients with primary access to data stored within a first storage device and/or other storage devices. A second storage cluster may comprise a second storage controller configured to provide clients with access to data stored within a second storage device (e.g., failover access to replicated data within the second storage device) and/or other storage devices (e.g., primary access to data stored within a third storage device). The first storage controller and the second storage controller may be configured according to a disaster recovery relationship, such that the second storage controller may provide failover access to replicated data that was replicated from the first storage device to the second storage device (e.g., a switchover operation may be performed where the second storage controller assumes ownership of the second storage device and/or other storage devices previously owned by the first storage controller so that the second storage controller may provide clients with failover access to data within such storage devices).
In an example, the second storage cluster may be located at a remote site to the first storage cluster (e.g., storage clusters may be located in different buildings, cities, thousands of kilometers from one another, etc.). Thus, if a disaster occurs at a site of a storage cluster, then a surviving storage cluster may remain unaffected by the disaster (e.g., a power outage of a building hosting the first storage cluster may not affect a second building hosting the second storage cluster in a different city).
If the first storage cluster merely comprises the first storage controller and the second storage cluster merely comprises the second storage controller (e.g., single storage controller cluster configurations that may be cost effective due to clusters merely comprising single storage controllers), then there may not be local high availability storage controllers paired with the first storage controller or the second storage controller that could otherwise provide relatively fast local takeover for a failed storage controller for non-disruptive client access to data of the failed storage controller (e.g., if the first storage cluster comprised a third storage controller having a high availability pairing with the first storage controller, then the third storage controller could quickly perform a local takeover for the first storage controller in the event the first storage controller fails). Instead, a cross-cluster switchover operation may need to be performed if a storage controller fails. Cross-cluster remote detection of a storage controller failure (e.g., the second storage controller, within the second storage cluster, detecting a failure of the first storage controller within the first storage cluster) may utilize timeouts, manual switchover, and/or other relatively slow or imprecise techniques that may not provide adequate non-disruptive client access to data (e.g., a client may lose access to data for more than 2 minutes while waiting on a manual switchover from a failed storage controller to a surviving storage controller). Thus, it may be advantageous to quickly and reliably detect storage controller failure cross-cluster for automatic implementation of switchover operations.

Service processor traps for communicating storage controller failure


According to one embodiment, a method for managing a merchant layout is provided. A card having an enabled RFID device coupled to the first card may be provided to a customer. Demographic data regarding the customer may be obtained. The traffic pattern of the customer within a merchant location may be determined by automatically tracking the position of the RFID device over time using a plurality of RFID detection devices. The demographic data and the traffic pattern of the first customer may be analyzed and a modification of a merchant layout associated with the merchant location may be determined based at least on the analysis of the demographic data and the traffic pattern of the first customer. The determined modification to the merchant layout may then be made.

Certain areas of a store or other merchant location are frequented by customers more often than other areas. As a result, certain categories of products and sections of the store incur lower sales than others. The reasons for this customer behavior are often unknown to the retailer. The retailer may wish to determine various aspects of the behavior of customers shopping in his store, such as the traffic pattern of each customer and how much time each customer spends in the store, so that the retailer may modify the physical layout of store or the placement of various products or product categories within the store in order to increase sales potential. To obtain such information, the retailer may use customer survey data or hire consultants to physically observe the traffic patterns of customers shopping in the store. The traffic pattern of a customer may be defined as the route of travel by a customer after entering a merchant location, such as a store or other establishment, which identifies where the customer travels and shops while in the merchant location.

System and method of using RFID devices to analyze customer traffic patterns in order to improve a merchant's layout


A variable volume infusion port is provided. The infusion port may include a port body having an internal fluid reservoir, a septum, a stem to fluidly couple to a catheter lumen, and a displaceable member disposed in the internal fluid reservoir. In a first position, the displaceable member is disposed proximate the septum, providing a relatively small fluid volume within the infusion port. Insertion of an injection device through the septum causes the displaceable member to move to a second location distal from the septum, providing a relatively large fluid volume within the infusion port for the duration the injection device remains in the infusion port. The displaceable member may include a rigid member operably coupled to a biasing element or a flexible member coupled to a biasing element.

An infusion port provides care providers with a readily accessible means for delivery of intravenous fluids, such as stem cell therapies and chemotherapies. A typical infusion port includes a port body, a septum, and a port stem to which a vascular delivery catheter may be attached. Once implanted, the septum is penetrated with a needle from outside the infusion port. The port body includes a fixed internal volume and has a depth that is typically restricted by the need to use non-coring needles to limit septum damage and maximize the life of the septum. The diameter of the port body and the septum is typically dependent on the indicated use and clinical requirements. Some fixed volume internal to the port body is inherent in its design and use. In use, injected medication may be flushed from the fixed volume of the port body (and the catheter) using saline solution. The saline solution necessarily dilutes the fluids or medications remaining in the port body and catheter. In the case of expensive or difficult to procure fluids or medications, it may be desirable to avoid such dilution. Examples of such medications include chemotherapy medications and stem cell therapies.
Although the following Detailed Description will proceed with reference being made to illustrative embodiments, many alternatives, modifications and variations thereof will be apparent to those skilled in the art.


Upstream and downstream grippers clamp to one or more seal zones on a bandolier of packaged premiums, such that the downstream gripper(s) and upstream clipper(a) are on opposite sides of a wakened separation line. The upstream and downstream gripper(s) are independently displaced by motive devices in a downstream direction. Further displacement of the downstream gripper(s) relative to the upstream gripper(s) causes the separation line to tear, thus separating an end premium package from the rest of the bandolier. In one embodiment, the grippers clamp to the seal zones at locations offset from the bandolier axis and to one side thereof, thus causing a gradual tearing along the separation line and easier, less stressful separation.

Packaged goods, such as boxes of cereal, often have a premium or prize inserted in them. These premiums or prizes typically are provided in a bandolier of serial packages, each package containing one such prize and being separated from adjacent packages by a seam or seal. Apparatus has been developed to automatically separate one packaged premium from a bandolier of such premiums and to insert the premium into the larger package of goods.
Interest in such inserted premiums has increased because they can be a targeted and very effective form of marketing. A sample inserted into a larger package or box of goods bought by a consumer has no extra distribution cost, has typically negligible additional weight and is highly targeted at a group of consumers which the marketer is trying to reach: consumers who have actually made a decision to buy a related product.
Conventional apparatus for doing this have placed limitations on the kinds of premiums which can be inserted: they have to be tough. Where a premium takes the form of a paper coupon or other flat medium, a bandolier of such coupons can pass through sets of rollers. The coupons are separated by lines of perforations. To separate a coupon from the bandolier, one set of rollers stops and another adjacent set keeps going, having the effect of putting tension on a perforation line and bursting the coupon along the perforation line from the rest of the bandolier. Typical of this kind of premium insertion apparatus is U.S. Pat. No. 6,722,108 issued to Kotsiopoulos. But burst-roller coupon inserters of this type would simply smash a fragile packaged premium. Quite apart from the fact that a pair of friction rollers would simply smash flat any fragile premium inserted into them, the sudden acceleration involved in bursting one premium from another can damage a fragile packaged premium (such as a pretzel or other baked good) to such an extent that the premium will be rendered unacceptable. A need therefore persists in developing premium separators and inserters which will place less stress on the packaged premium.


A powder material comprising a compound which electrochemically intercalates and deintercalates a lithium ion. The powder material is comprised mainly of a compound containing at least an oxygen element, a sulfur element and at least one transition metal element.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a powder material, an electrode structure, production processes thereof, and a secondary lithium battery, and more particularly to a secondary lithium battery which has an electrode structure comprised of a specific powder material and is high in capacity, and charging and discharging efficiency, and production processes of such powder material and electrode structure.
2. Related Background Art
It has recently been predicted that since the amount of carbon dioxide (CO2) gas contained in the air is increasing, the warming of the earth occurs due to a green house effect. For this reason, a new construction of a thermal power plant, from which CO2 gas is exhausted in plenty, has come to be difficult. Accordingly, there has been proposed, as an effective use of electric power generated by a generator in a thermal power plant or the like, the so-called load leveling in which night electric power is stored in a secondary battery installed in a general home, and this electric power is used in the daytime that power consumption increases, to level the load. It is also expected to develop a secondary battery having a high energy density as a secondary battery essential to electric cars having a feature that no air pollutant is exhausted. Further, it is of urgent necessity to develop a miniature, light-weight and high-performance secondary battery for a power source of portable equipment such as book type personal computers, word processors, video cameras and portable telephones.
Since an example where a lithium-graphite intercalation compound is applied to a negative electrode for a secondary battery was reported as such a miniature, light-weight and high-performance secondary battery in JOURNAL OF THE ELECTROCHEMICAL SOCIETY, 117, 222 (1970), the development of, for example, a rocking chair type secondary battery, or the so-called "lithium ion battery", in which carbon (also including graphite) is used as an active material for negative electrode and an intercalation compound, in which a lithium ion has been introduced, as an active material for positive electrode, and lithium is intercalated between layers of carbon by a charge reaction to store It, has proceeded, and such a battery is in practical use. In the lithium ion battery, carbon of a host material between the layers of which lithium is intercalated as a guest material is used in a negative electrode, whereby dendrite growth of lithium upon charging is controlled to achieve a long life in a charging and discharging cycle.
In the lithium ion battery in which carbon is used as an active material for negative electrode, however, the cycle life is long, but its energy density does not reach that of a lithium battery in which metallic lithium itself is used as a negative active material.
Accordingly, carbon materials of still higher capacity to be used in a negative electrode of a lithium ion battery are extensively researched and developed. In order to realize a secondary battery having a higher energy density, it is essential to develop not only a material for a negative electrode, but also a material for a positive electrode having a higher capacity. Under the circumstances, lithium-transition metal oxide in which a lithium ion has been intercalated into an intercalation compound is mainly used as an active material for positive electrode. However, a discharge capacity of 40 to 60% of the theoretical capacity is only achieved. Therefore, there is also a strong demand for development of a positive electrode having a cycle life of practical levels and a higher capacity in secondary lithium batteries including "lithium ion battery" utilizing a lithium ion as a guest for charging and discharging.


A crankcase filter assembly for filtering air in a crankcase ventilation system. The crankcase filter assembly (71) includes a crankcase filter housing disposed in an air cleaner assembly. The crankcase filter housing defines an opening in fluid communication with the air cleaner assembly and includes a first air inlet or drain hole spaced from opening and an air outlet in fluid communication with an engine crankcase. A filter cartridge supports first and second filters within the crankcase filter housing in respective first and second filter positions establishing a filter spacing therebetween. The filter cartridge interconnects the first and second filters for allowing their insertion and removable from the crankcase filter housing as a single unitary cartridge structure while maintaining the filter spacing between the first and second filters.

As explained above, air flowing through the PCV system passes from the air cleaner, through the inlet hose, into the engine valve cover and crankcase and then discharges through the PCV valve and outlet hose to the intake manifold. When an engine is operated under a heavily loaded condition for a relatively long period, an excess of crankcase air/vapors may be generated which exceeds the capacity of the PCV valve. When this happens, the excess volume of air/vapor may be discharged from the crankcase and through the normal intake hose into the air cleaner. In cold weather and under these conditions, this reverse flow of the air/vapor mixture could result in condensation of any water vapor where the air/vapor empties into the interior of the air cleaner assembly. To prevent accumulations of water in the air cleaner, a drain hole in its lower wall is provided to allow water to escape.
Under normal engine operating conditions, air flow to the PCV system may come from two sources. The primary source is air drawn from the engine air filter assembly and through its primary air filter. A secondary source of air is through the aforesaid drain hole. Since air which may mix with oil in the crankcase must be filtered to prevent contamination of engine oil, a secondary air filter is necessary for both of these sources.
Prior to the improved unitary filter assembly of this application, filters have been used to cover the outlet connection of the PCV system to the crankcase, one for each of the above identified sources. These filters naturally would absorb any water condensation. In cold weather and under certain operating conditions, this absorbed water can freeze. When this happens, the frozen water could block air flow of the PVC system.
In previous vehicles manufactured by the assignee of this application, the two secondary filters identified above are insertably supported in a recess-like filter housing or open ended subhousing of the air cleaner housing. This subhousing is conveniently formed in one corner of the air cleaner's interior. The drain hole is formed through the bottom wall of the air cleaner housing. The recess or sub-housing is formed with an opened upper end for insertion of the filters. In assembling the filters, a small spacer member is first inserted into the sub-housing. Next, a first filter is inserted and is positioned by the spacer over the drain hole. A second spacer member is then inserted. Finally, a second filter is inserted into a position spaced above the PCV's air outlet to the engine. The use of these many pieces is undesirable from a manufacturing and assembly viewpoint.
Functionally, the above described multi-piece filter arrangement is quite effective in filtering air and preventing freezing of the lower filter. After a period of use, the filters become dirty and should be replaced. With the above described multi-piece arrangement, replacement of the individual filters and insertion of spacer members is inconvenient and time consuming. Since the parts are disposed within the confines of the small housing, the assembly is also difficult. The lowest filter is particularly difficult to replace. Another concern is that the first spacer, first filter, second spacer and second filter may be reinstalled incorrectly into the housing or in an improper order. This is of concern since an engine which is operated without proper PCV air filtration can produce excessive emissions.


A power circuit includes a RF transistor and an input match network coupled to an input to the RF transistor and to an input to the power circuit. The input match network includes a resistor, an inductor and a capacitor that are coupled together in series between the input to the RF transistor and a ground. The values of the resistor and the inductor are selected to match an input impedance of the RF transistor to a source impedance at the input to the power circuit over at least a portion of a high frequency range, wherein the value of the capacitor has a substantially negligible contribution to the match at the high frequency range. The value of the capacitor is selected so that the series combination of the resistor, the inductor and the capacitor substantially reduce the magnitude of the impedance presented to the input of the RF transistor in a low frequency range relative to the source impedance at the input to the power circuit.

RF power amplifiers are used in a variety of applications such as base stations for wireless communication systems etc. The signals amplified by the RF power amplifiers often include signals that have a high frequency modulated carrier having frequencies in the 400 megahertz (MHz) to 4 gigahertz (GHz) range. The baseband signal that modulates the carrier is typically at a relatively lower frequency and, depending on the application, can be up to 300 MHz or higher.
RF power amplifiers are designed to provide linear operation without distortion. Input and output impedance matching circuits are used to match RF transistors that may have low input and output impedances (e.g., around 1 ohm or less for high power devices), to external transmission lines that provide RF signals to and from the RF transistor. These external transmission lines have characteristic impedances that are typically 50 ohms but could be any value as decided by a designer. The input and output matching circuits typically include inductive and capacitive elements that are used to provide impedance matching between the input and output of the RF power amplifier and the input and output of the RF transistor. The input and output matching circuits provide impedance matching for the signal frequencies that are amplified by the RF power amplifier, such as those in the 400 MHz to 4 GHz range.
The use of impedance matching circuits, however, can cause unintended consequences that occur outside of the range of signal frequencies that the impedance match is being provided for. For example, a typical output match network will include a blocking capacitor for blocking DC. The blocking capacitor in combination with the RF transistor drain bias inductance creates a low frequency resonance. This low frequency resonance causes the impedance in the low frequency region to increase. As a result, the frequency response of the RF power amplifier has a low frequency gain spike. Such a spike can appear anywhere from a few MHz to hundreds of MHz. The output of a nonlinear operation yields terms with frequencies at the sum and difference of the original signal frequencies, plus the original frequencies and multiples of the original frequencies, and those multiples are commonly referred to as harmonics. Current wireless signals have high modulation bandwidths. The second order distortion components of such wideband signals may fall in the region of the low frequency gain spike. Further, in most wireless communication applications distortion correction systems such as DPD or Digital Pre-Distortion are used. Such systems model the power amplifier, predict the non-linear performance and adjust the signal characteristics to reduce the distortion at the PA system output. The undesired high gain (or high impedance) in the baseband region due to the low frequency resonance negatively impacts the RF transistor and pre-distortion performance of the overall system.
A resonance in baseband frequency region causes a sharp change in gain at these low frequencies. The frequency at which the low frequency gain peak occurs is typically known as the video bandwidth of the RF power amplifier. Moreover, the magnitude of the gain peak also impacts the system performance. A higher magnitude of gain peak results in worse overall system performance. Additionally, the resonance in the baseband frequency region causes high peak voltages at the drain of RF transistors such as LDMOS (laterally-diffused metal-oxide semiconductor) transistors. These high peak voltages at the drain of the RF transistor can surpass the breakdown voltage of the device under certain conditions causing failures. Consequently, any increase of the gain peak within the low frequency baseband region can effectively reduce the ruggedness of the power device.


The invention provides a composition comprising novel lactic acid bacteria having immunoregulating activities. Specifically, the invention provides food, drinks or medicaments containing novel lactic acid bacteria separated from “Shibazuke,” one kind of traditional Kyoto pickles, and having immunoregulating activities. The lactic acid bacteria belong to Lactobacillus pentosus and have a weak assimilating activity or no assimilating activity for glycerol.

Lactic acid bacteria are known to exhibit various beneficial bioactivities such as an intestine regulating activity and immunostimulating activity. Many of the Lactic acid bacteria with such beneficial bioactivities are separated from the intestinal tract or fermented dairy products obtained from animal sources. Some lactic acid bacteria from plant sources are also known to exhibit immunostimulating activities.
An example of lactic acid bacteria having immunostimulating activities is found, for example, in Patent Document 1, which discloses the Lactobacillus plantarum L-137 strain. Other examples include the Lactobacillus brevis Labre strain separated from "Suguki," which is a particular kind of traditional pickles produced in Kyoto, and the Lactobacillus pentosus DA74N strain separated from "Shibazuke," another kind of Kyoto pickles (see Non-Patent Documents 1, 2).
[Patent Document 1]
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 167972/1998 (Tokukaihei 10-167972; published on Jun. 23, 1998).
[Non-Patent Document 1]
Screening of immune-enhancing Probiotics: Study of immune-enhancing effects of Lactobacilli strains by in vitro stimulation human peripheral blood mononuclear cells, Atsuko KISHI, Aoi KOKUBO, Kaoru AKATANI, Eriko OUGITANA, Setsuya FUJITA, Tsunataro KISHIDA, Pasken Journal 15. 21-26, 2002.
[Non-Patent Document 2]
The 6th Intestinal Bacteria Conference (Chonai Saikin Gakkai), May 30-31, 2002, Abstract, Kaoru AKATANI, Atsuko KISHI, Eriko OUGITANA, Aoi KOKUBO, Setsuya FUJITA, Tsunataro KISHIDA.
A wide variety of bacteria can be separated from the traditional Kyoto pickles, and it is believed that the pickles include other bacterial strains, in addition to the Labre strain, with the immunostimulating activities or other beneficial bioactivities. Among different bacterial strains separated from the pickles, Lactobacillus plantarum and Lactobacillus pentosus are most frequently separated. However, the effects of bacteria separated from the pickles have not been actively researched. In addition, since lactic acid bacteria separated from the pickles are originally contained in food, they are considered to be highly safe even if ingested by living organisms. Therefore, with the beneficial lactic acid bacteria separated from the pickles, a useful composition comprising such lactic acid bacteria can be realized.
The present invention was made in view of the foregoing problem, and an object of the invention is to provide food, drinks, medicaments, or the like that are safe and containing lactic acid bacteria, separated from traditional Kyoto pickles, having beneficial bioactivities.

Composition having immunoregulating activities