The present invention relates to an immunogenic composition comprising: a) a modified live H3 virus of swine influenza, and b) a modified live H1 virus of swine influenza. Furthermore, the present invention relates to methods for immunizing a subject comprising administering to such subject the immunogenic composition of the present invention. Moreover, the present invention relates to methods of treating or preventing clinical signs caused by swine influenza virus in a subject of need, the method comprising administering to the subject a therapeutically effective amount of an immunogenic composition according to the present invention.

Influenza infection in pigs was first reported in 1918 and the first swine influenza viruses were isolated from pigs in 1930 (Shope, R. E., 1931, J. Exp. Med. 54:373-385). Swine influenza (SI) is an acute respiratory disease of swine caused by type A and C influenza viruses. Its severity depends on many factors, including host age, virus strain, and secondary infections (Easterday, 1980, Philos Trans R Soc LondB Biol Sci 288:433-7). Before 1998, mainly "classical" H1N1 SI viruses (SIV) were isolated from swine in the United States (Kida et al, 1994, J Gen Virol 75:2183-8; Scholtissek, 1994, Eur J Epidemiol 10:455-8; Olsen et al, 2000, Arch Virol. 145:1399-419). In 1998, SIVs of the subtype H3N2 were isolated in multiple states in the United States.
SIV replication is limited to epithelial cells of the upper and lower respiratory tract of pigs, the nasal mucosa, ethmoid, tonsils, trachea, and lungs, and virus excretion and transmission occur exclusively via the respiratory route. Infectious virus can thus be isolated from the tissues mentioned, as well as from tonsils, bronchoalveolar lavage (BAL) fluid, and nasal, tonsillar, or oropharyngeal swabs (Kristien Van Reeth and Wenjun Ma, 2013, Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology 370: 173-200).
The influenza virions consist of an internal ribonucleoprotein core (a helical nucleocapsid) containing the single-stranded RNA genome, and an outer lipoprotein envelope lined inside by a matrix protein (M1). The segmented genome of influenza A virus consists of eight molecules of linear, negative polarity, single-stranded RNAs which encode eleven polypeptides, including: the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase proteins (PB2, PB1 and PA) and nucleoprotein (NP) which form the nucleocapsid; the matrix membrane proteins (M1, M2); two surface glycoproteins which project from the lipid containing envelope: hemagglutinin (HA) and neuraminidase (NA); the nonstructural protein (NS1), nuclear export protein (NEP); and the proapoptotic factor PB1-F2.
The type A influenza viruses are divided into 17 H (hemagglutinin) and 10 N (Neuraminidase) subtypes which can give rise to many possible combinations (designated as H1N1, H1N2, H2N1, H2N2, H5N1, H5N2 and so on) (Tong et al., 2012, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 109: 4269-4274). The hemagglutinin (HA) plays role in attachment of the virus to the surface of infected cells while the neuraminidase (NA) plays role in release of the progeny viruses from the infected cells therefore NA plays role in spread of the virus (Wang et al., 2009, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 386: 432-436).
The pathogenicity of influenza viruses is modulated by multiple virus and host factors. Among the host factors that fight virus infections, the type I interferon (IFN[alpha]/[beta]) system represents a powerful antiviral innate defense mechanism which was established relatively early in the evolution of eukaryotic organisms (Garcia-Sastre, 2002, Microbes Infect 4:647-55). Influenza A viruses express a non-structural protein in infected cells, the NS1 protein which counteracts the cellular IFN[alpha]/[beta] response (Garcia-Sastre et al., 1998, Virology 252:324-30).
Modification of the NS1 can be utilized to produce live attenuated SIVs as described by Solórzano et al. 2005 (J Virol 79:7535-7543), Vincent et al 2012 (Journal of Virology 19: 10597 to 10605) and in WO 2006/083286 A2. Attenuated SIVs expressing NS1-truncated proteins of an H3N2 SIV (sw/Texas/4199-2/98, Tx/98) with 73, 99, or 126 amino acids (Tx/98 NS1D73, Tx/98 NS1D99, and Tx/98 NS1D126) have been generated using reverse genetics.
However, commercial vaccines currently available against swine influenza virus (SIV) are inactivated, adjuvanted, whole virus vaccines, based on H1N1 and/or H3N2 and/or H1N2 SIVs for intramuscular injection (Kristien Van Reeth and Wenjun Ma, 2013, Current Topics in Microbiology and Immunology 370: 173-200). In sow herds with high antibody levels to SIV from either vaccination and/or natural infection, vaccination of piglets should be delayed until the age of 12-16 weeks to avoid interference with maternally derived antibodies (MDA).
There are two major weaknesses of the immune response induced by killed virus vaccines. First, such vaccines induce only serum antibodies, no mucosal antibodies and, further, the vaccine induced serum HI antibody titers decline rapidly between 2 and 6 weeks after the booster vaccination. Second, inactivated vaccines in general do not enter the endogenous pathway of antigen presentation and are unable to activate virus-specific CD8+ T cells or a CTL response.
Further, when combining different antigens for generating a combination vaccine the efficacy of the single components may be affected by a phenomenon called interference.
A further problem arises as most SIV vaccines are used for sow vaccination resulting in long lasting maternal SIV antibodies in piglets (Markowska-Daniel et al., 2011, Veterinary Immunology and Immunopathology, 142: 81-86). Regarding this, vaccination of piglets may be difficult to combine with vaccination of sows because of prolonged maternal immunity.
Thus, there is a need for SIV vaccines being highly efficacious and administrable early in age.


A combination ring and object holder with an integral spring is designed to secure and retain an object, such as a lollipop. The combination ring and object holder includes a ring, preferably fabricated from plastic, with a substantially flat upper surface to which a spring is secured, and further includes a coupling member secured to the opposite end of the spring which preferably defines a central opening in the upper surface thereof for receiving and retaining an object.

The present invention is a combination ring and object holder with an integral spring. In the preferred embodiments disclosed herein, the object holder is designed to secure and retain candy, such as a lollipop. Furthermore, in the preferred embodiments disclosed herein, the spring is a helical spring commonly referred to as a Slinky(copyright) (a registered trademark of Poof Products, Inc. of Plymouth, Mich.).
The Slinky(copyright) toy was invented in 1945 by Richard James, a naval engineer who was experimenting with tension springs. Since its introduction into the marketplace. various manufacturers have developed toy products and novelties incorporating a spring, such as a Slinky(copyright). Nevertheless, Applicant is aware of no efforts to include such a spring in a object holder as described herein or to attach such a spring to a ring.
It is a paramount object of the present invention to provide a combination ring and object holder with an integral spring, resulting in a novelty item that has great consumer appeal, especially to children.
This and other objects and advantages of the present invention will become apparent upon a reading of the following description.
The present invention is a combination ring and object holder with an integral spring that is designed to secure and retain an object, such as a lollipop. Specifically, the combination ring and object holder includes a ring, preferably fabricated from plastic, with a substantially flat upper surface to which a spring is secured. The combination ring and object holder further includes a coupling member secured to the opposite end of the spring which defines a central opening in the upper surface thereof for receiving and retaining an object.

Combination ring and object holder with integral spring


Corner connection for frames for double glazing, characterized in that it principally consists of two hollow profiles (1) to be connected to each other and a corner profile (20) of which the arms can be placed in open cavities (4) of the profiles (1) and that has a sealing wall (23) between the arms (21-22) which after joining together the profiles (1) seals the closed hollows (3) of the profiles (1).

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a corner connection for frames for double glazing, on the one hand, as well as to profiles used for realizing such frames, on the other hand.
2. Breif Description of Prior Art
It is known that double glazing can principally be realized in two ways namely, either by joining together two or more sheets of glass with the insertion of a frame, mostly in aluminum, or by installing one or more glass panels next to an existing mostly single glazing likewise with the insertion of a frame.
It is likewise known that such frames are formed by hollow profiles which are connected to each other at the placed in the hollow profiles in order the obtain a connection at a suitable angle.
Generally such a connection will form an angle of 90 degrees.
A difficulty found in realizing such frames is that the necessary sealing at the corners often leaves something to be desired.
It has therefore already been proposed to provide the arms of the corner profiles with a soft or relatively soft material, such as for example tin, lead, glue, bitumen or similar so that during the insertion of the arms of the corner profile in the hollow profiles already connected together to obtain a first seal between these profiles and the corner profile, on the one hand, and between the adjacent profile extremities, on the other hand, by scraping off the excess of material that is applied to the corner profile, after which possibly an additional seal is obtained by warming at least the corners of such frame joined together with the intention of melting the aforementioned soft or relatively soft material and letting it penetrate into the possible space still between the profiles and the corner profile.
All these corner connections have as common disadvantage that the arms of the corner profiles penetrate into the cavity of the profiles to be joined together through which the extremities of these profiles, have to be accurately pushed against each other to place the material applied to the corner profile between these extremities and thus to ensure the seal of the profiles in question, at their extremities.

Corner connection for frames for double glazing and profiles hereby applied

Atlas Isolaties, personenvennootschap met be-perkte aansprakelijkheid


A method that incorporates teachings of the subject disclosure may include, for example, receiving a query from a call session server for a first pointer associated with a telephone number of a terminating device of a requested communication session, transmitting to the call session server the first pointer including a session initiation protocol uniform resource identifier associated with the terminating device to initiate an internet protocol communication session, receiving a notification from the call session server responsive to the call session server failing to initiate the internet protocol communication session, and transmitting to the call session server a second pointer including a telephone protocol uniform resource identifier for originating a circuit-switched communication session responsive to receiving the notification. Other embodiments are disclosed.

As communications technology improves and demand for communication services grows, providers often seek to adjust those systems to incorporate the improved technology and expand those systems to accommodate the growing demand. Systems that are slow to adjust or expand can be undesirable and are often rendered obsolete. Systems that expand by providing unnecessary redundancy are inefficient and costly. Advances in telecommunication technologies create opportunities for integrating communication capabilities as well as challenges for transitioning between technological generations. Presently, some telecommunication consumers are subscribed for full access to services of internet protocol multimedia systems (IMS), while others are subscribed to legacy, non-IMS systems. It is desirable to allow non-IMS consumers to selectively access some IMS-based services, such IP-based messaging, while prohibiting similar access to IP-based voice calls to facilitate consumer acceptance and satisfaction with the IMS system while retaining incentives for full subscriptions.

Apparatus and methods for origination of voice and messaging communication in a network


A probe for an additive manufacturing system includes a probe body having a first air port therethrough between an inlet and an outlet, and a location sensing probe extending from the probe body. The location sensing probe includes a probe end and a probe bar, the probe bar coupled between the probe body and the probe end, and a channel surrounding the probe bar, the channel having an inner tube having an inlet proximate the probe body and an outlet proximate the probe end. A method of determining a position of an item being printed in an additive manufacturing system, includes probing the position with a location sensing probe having a resolution finer than a print resolution of the print head.

The present disclosure relates to additive manufacturing systems for building three-dimensional (3D) items with layer-based, additive manufacturing techniques. In particular, the present disclosure relates to additive manufacturing systems for printing large or elongated 3D items, and methods for printing 3D items in the additive manufacturing systems.
Additive manufacturing systems are used to print or otherwise build 3D items from digital representations of the 3D items (e.g., AMF and STL format files) using one or more additive manufacturing techniques. Examples of commercially available additive manufacturing techniques include extrusion-based techniques, jetting, selective laser sintering, powder/binder jetting, electron-beam melting, and stereolithographic processes. For each of these techniques, the digital representation of the 3D item is initially sliced into multiple horizontal layers. For each sliced layer, one or more tool paths are then generated, which provides instructions for the particular additive manufacturing system to print the given layer.
For example, in an extrusion-based additive manufacturing system, a 3D item may be printed from a digital representation of the 3D item in a layer-by-layer manner by extruding a flowable item material. The item material is extruded through an extrusion tip or nozzle carried by a print head of the system, and is deposited as a sequence of roads on a substrate in an x-y plane while the print head moves along the tool paths. The extruded item material fuses to previously deposited item material, and solidifies upon a drop in temperature. The position of the print head relative to the substrate is then incremented along a z-axis (perpendicular to the x-y plane), and the process is then repeated to form a 3D item resembling the digital representation.
In fabricating 3D items by depositing layers of an item material, supporting layers or structures are typically built underneath overhanging portions or in cavities of 3D items under construction, which are not supported by the item material itself. A support structure may be built utilizing the same deposition techniques by which the item material is deposited. The host computer generates additional geometry acting as a support structure for the overhanging or free-space segments of the 3D item being formed. Support material is then deposited from a second nozzle pursuant to the generated geometry during the printing process. The support material adheres to the item material during fabrication, and is removable from the completed 3D item when the printing process is complete.

Method of using a support structure as a fiducial for measuring position


A therapeutic vibrator comprising a motor contained in a housing, a diaphragm mounted on said housing, and a reciprocating arm connecting the motor to the diaphragm. The housing is fitted with at least one one-way air valve, and at least one air hole so that in operation, the changing volume in the housing effects the pumping of air across the motor and any circuitry to provide cooling. To improve efficiency, a divider plate with at least one air hole is disposed proximate the reciprocating arm to limit the volume of the pumping chamber.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanical therapeutic apparatus. More particularly, it relates to percussive vibrators used in chiropractic care.
2. Prior Art
Percussion is a treatment modality for those who suffer from problems such as musculoskeletal pain and myofascial trigger syndrome. It is non-surgical, non invasive procedure that may serve as a therapeutic alternative to trigger point and epidural injections or to be used when other treatments have failed.
There are many known devices that facilitate treatment or change in soft and hard tissue. A common element of these devices is that they tend to be small and hand held to facilitate use. For the device to work properly it must also be powerful enough to effect the necessary force to be therapeutic. A side effect of the combination of small size and power are the problems associated with excess heat generated by instruments in use.
Excess heat leads to shortened component life, and may add to discomfort in the use of the device.
Devices in the field of the invention are by their nature under extensive amounts of mechanical stress in their normal course of use. The nature of a vibrating tool makes the addition of a fan or other additional cooling apparatus difficult. In addition the adding any new moving member to such a tool adds to the potential of component failure and noise.
The present invention is directed to this shortcoming in the prior art in that it provides for quiet cooling at low cost, without adding additional components which may be subject to failure. The invention is also a means for providing cooling in vibratory or reciprocating tools of many other fields.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a percussive vibrator tool with quiet improved heat dissipating qualities.
The operation and benefit of the invention is to use the vibrating or reciprocating arm component to provide the percussive force of the invention and the impelling force to pump air through the device to provide cooling.
The body of the vibrator is a sealed case which serves as an air chamber. It is fitted with one or more one-way air valves. A reciprocating arm, or vibratory impeller is attached to a sealed diaphragm to permit vibration of an impact head while maintaining a largely air tight seal.
As the impact head is moved, the volume of the body of the vibrator oscillates. Air is permitted to enter at one point fitted with a one-way air valve on expansion, and expelled on retraction or contraction. The body of the vibrator essentially operates as a pump.
While multiple check valves may be used, an inexpensive and preferred option is to use a single air valve at one point, and small or air limiting restrictive openings at another. These restrictive openings may be one or more small holes that limit air flow so that on body volume expansion, air enters through the one-way air valve and the holes, but on contraction, there is a net movement of air as air moves out only through the air holes.
To effect a greater volume of net air flow and greater cooling, the volume of the air space in the vibrator should be kept as small as possible relative to the tidal volume created by the vibratory impeller. Though the entire body of the vibrator may be used as the air chamber or housing, for greater efficiency a divider plate or other divider may be used to create a smaller air chamber or housing surrounding the reciprocating components. In the preferred embodiment of the invention this is accomplished by limiting the air chamber or housing to the immediate vicinity of the reciprocating arm, with the air inlet and one way valve placed on the top of the device, and small restricted air holes placed on a divider plate, isolating the air chamber from the motor and circuitry to be cooled.
Air is pumped by the reciprocating arm through the housing and into the remainder of the body of the vibrator to cool the motor and any circuitry.
For a more complete understanding of the present invention, reference is made to the following detailed description and accompanying drawings.


Processes for fabricating components to have two or more regions with different grain structures, and components produced by such processes. First and second preforms are fabricated to comprise interface surfaces at which the preforms can be joined together. The first and second preforms are formed of first and second precipitation-strengthened alloys, respectively, and the first alloy differs from the second alloy by having a higher solvus temperature or a higher grain refiner content. The preforms are joined together to form an article comprising first and second portions formed by the first and second preforms, respectively, and corresponding to first and second regions of the component, respectively, and the interface surfaces of the preforms form a joint between the first and second portions of the article. A supersolvus heat treatment is performed on the article so that greater grain growth occurs in the second portion than in the first portion.

The present invention generally relates to processes for producing components having regions with different microstructures. More particularly, this invention is directed to a technique for producing components, as an example, rotating components of a turbomachine, from preforms having different compositions. The preforms are joined and heat treated to yield different microstructures within regions of the component defined by the joined preforms.
Components within the combustor and turbine sections of a gas turbine engine are often formed of superalloy materials in order to achieve acceptable mechanical properties while at elevated temperatures resulting from the hot combustion gases produced in the combustor. Higher compressor exit temperatures in modern high pressure ratio gas turbine engines can also necessitate the use of high performance superalloys for compressor components, including blades, spools, disks (wheels) and other components. Suitable alloy compositions and microstructures for a given component are dependent on the particular temperatures, stresses, and other conditions to which the component is subjected. For example, rotating hardware such as turbine disks and compressor spools and disks are typically formed of alloys that must undergo carefully controlled forging, heat treatments, and surface treatments to produce a controlled grain structure and desirable mechanical properties. Notable examples of alloys used in these applications include gamma prime (γ′) precipitation-strengthened nickel-base superalloys containing chromium, tungsten, molybdenum, rhenium and/or cobalt as principal elements that combine with nickel to form the gamma (γ) matrix, and contain aluminum, titanium, tantalum, niobium, and/or vanadium as principal elements that combine with nickel to form the gamma prime precipitate strengthening phase, principally Ni3(Al,Ti). Particular examples of gamma prime nickel-base superalloys include René 88DT (R88DT; U.S. Pat. No. 4,957,567), René 95 (R95; U.S. Pat. No. 3,576,681), and René 104 (R104; U.S. Pat. No. 6,521,175), as well as certain nickel-base superalloys commercially available under the trademarks Inconel®, Nimonic®, and Udimet®. Disks and other critical gas turbine engine components are often forged from billets produced by powder metallurgy (P/M), conventional cast and wrought processing, and spraycast or nucleated casting forming techniques. Forging is typically performed on fine-grained billets to promote formability, after which a supersolvus heat treatment is often performed to cause uniform grain growth (coarsening) to optimize properties.
A turbine disk 10 of a type known in the art is represented in FIG. 1. The disk 10 generally includes an outer rim 12, a central hub or bore 14, and a web 16 between the rim 12 and bore 14. The rim 12 is configured for the attachment of turbine blades (not shown) in accordance with known practice. A bore hole 18 in the form of a through-hole is centrally located in the bore 14 for mounting the disk 10 on a shaft, and therefore the axis of the bore hole 18 coincides with the axis of rotation of the disk 10. The disk 10 is presented as a unitary forging and representative of turbine disks used in aircraft engines, including but not limited to high-bypass gas turbine engines such as the GE90® and GEnx® commercial engines manufactured by the General Electric Company.
The bore 14 and web 16 of the turbine disk 10 (as well as those of compressor spools and disks) generally have lower operating temperatures than the rim 12. It is therefore permissible and often desirable that the bore 14 have different properties than the rim 12. Depending on the particular alloy or alloys used, optimal microstructures for the rim 12, bore 14 and web 16 can also differ. For example, a relatively fine grain size is often optimal for the bore 14 and web 16 to promote tensile strength, burst strength, and resistance to low cycle fatigue (LCF), while a coarser grain size is often optimal in the rim 12 to promote creep, stress-rupture, and crack growth resistance, for example, low dwell (hold-time) fatigue crack growth rates (DFCGR) at high temperatures. To satisfy these competing requirements, disks have been proposed that are formed of multiple alloys and/or have different microstructures within the rim and bore. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,820,358, 5,527,020, 5,527,402 and 6,478,896 disclose dual heat treatment techniques capable of producing single-piece, constant-composition disks having coarser grains within the rim and finer grains with the bore as a result of performing heat treatments at different temperatures on the rim and bore, thereby obtaining the different grain structures and resulting different properties.
Multiple alloy disks that have been investigated typically entail the fabrication of separate rim and bore portions formed of different alloys. The rim and bore portions are then joined together, such as by welding or another metallurgical joining process. One such example is known as forge-enhanced bonding which, as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,100,050, 5,106,012 and 5,161,950, entails simultaneously forging preforms of the rim and bore. During the forging operation, deformation of the preforms yields the rim and bore as well as results in metallurgical joining of the rim and bore. Another example is solid-state welding processes, which include inertia welding techniques of the types disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,969,238 and U.S. Published Patent Application Nos. 2008/0120842 and 2008/0124210. Because the different alloys may have different solvus temperatures such that the alloys are not conducive to a common solution heat treatment cycle, inertia welding has been limited to joining solution heat treated rim and bore portions, which are then subjected to an aging cycle after the welding operation.
Even with the advancements outlined above, in practice current certified commercial flight turbine disks have only been produced as monolithic structures formed by a single alloy and processed to have a uniform microstructure whose grain size is necessarily a compromise between the creep, stress-rupture and DFCGR properties desired for the rim and the LCF and burst properties desired for the bore.

Components and processes of producing components with regions having different grain structures


A disc drive includes a disc-guiding member provided with a positioning pillar, a rotating seat for receiving an optical disc when the disc is disposed at a reading position, and a transport roller for pushing the optical disc against urging action of the disc-guiding member to a temporary position above the reading position. The pillar has an enlarged first portion to contact the disc when the disc is at the temporary position and a constricted second portion to space apart from the disc when the disc is at the reading position.

Among all the data storage solutions, the optical discs are becoming more and more important for backing up data and exchanging information because the optical storage media have many advantages including a high storage capacity, easy to handle, and a long preserving time for the stored data. The optical disc drive also becomes more popular for this reason, and there are many types of the optical disc drive being provided for different users such as H/H type, slim type, slot-in type, and so on. Till now, the optical disc drive of slot-in type can be found all around such as notebook or laptop computers, DVD players, and even some instruments or electronic products with built-in microprocessors.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3 partly exploded and bottom views of a conventional disc drive of slot-in type are shown. The conventional disc drive includes a casing (not visible) having a front wall formed with a disc entrance-and-exit slot 10, a mounting frame 1 enclosed by the casing, a disc transport mechanism disposed in the casing adjacent to the entrance-and-exit slot 10 and mounted on the frame 1, and four positioning pillars 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d. The disc transport mechanism 6 includes a transport roller 6 journal led movably on the mounting frame 1, a pair of front disc-guiding members 101 disposed adjacent to the entrance-and-exit slot 10, and a pair of rear disc-guiding members 102 disposed distal from the entrance-and-exit slot 10. Each of the positioning pillars 1a, 1b, 1c, and 1d is attached to a respective one of the disc-guiding members 101, 102. Upon detecting presence of an optical disc 9 near the entrance-and-exit slot 10 in the casing, the transport roller 6 is actuated to rotate in a first direction in such a manner to push due to applying force on the optical disc 9 inward via the entrance-and-exit slot 10 against biasing action of the disc-guiding members 101, 102. The periphery of the optical disc will abut and push the front and rear disc-guiding members 101, 102 to a temporary position within the casing. The disc 9 is retained temporarily at the temporary position and is later conveyed to a reading position, where the disc 9 is disposed securely onto a rotating seat 2 with the assistance of a clamp 4 (see FIG. 5). At the reading position, a gap "g" needs to be formed between the disc 9 and the positioning pillars 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d (see FIG. 6) to permit smooth rotation of the disc 9.
Note that, in the conventional disc drive, each of the pillars 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d has a uniform width throughout the axial length. In order to provide the gap "g" between the positioning pillars 1a, 1b, 1c, 1d and the disc 9 when the disc is moved to the reading position, it may sacrifice the precision of positioning an optical disc onto a rotating seat. Under this circumstance, when the disc 9 is moved to from an exterior of the casing into the temporary position, the periphery of the disc 9 may not be coaxial with the rotating seat 2 (see FIG. 2), which in turn can result in improper positioning of the disc 9 on the rotating seat 2 when the disc 9 is moved to the reading position from the temporary position.

Disc-guiding member provided with a positioning pillar


A method of manufacturing a semiconductor device includes dividing a design pattern layout into a repetitive pattern part and a non-repetitive pattern part, obtaining an optical proximity correction (OPC) bias from an extracted portion, the extracted portion being a partial portion of the repetitive pattern part, applying the OPC bias obtained from the extracted portion equally to the extracted portion and other portions of the repetitive pattern part so as to form a first corrected layout in which corrected layouts of the other portions are the same as that of the extracted portion, and forming a photomask in all portions of the repetitive pattern part according to the first corrected layout.

1. Field
Embodiments relate to a method of manufacturing a semiconductor device by using optical proximity correction (OPC).
2. Description of the Related Art
At the time of designing an integrated circuit (IC), in order to form a desired circuit on a semiconductor substrate, a layout of the circuit is fabricated, and then the layout may be transferred on a surface of a wafer via a photomask in a photolithography process. Since a design of an IC becomes more complicated with increasing integration of a semiconductor device, it is very important to exactly implement a pattern layout on a photomask according to an initial design.
Where the wavelength of the illumination source used in the exposing equipment approaches a feature size, a pattern may be distorted due to diffraction of the light, interference of the light, or the like. Accordingly, an optical proximity effect may occur, such that a shape different from an original shape may be formed on a wafer, or a pattern shape may be distorted due to an effect of an adjacent pattern. In order to prevent problems, e.g., dimensional changes, due to the optical proximity effect, an OPC operation is performed so that a design pattern is changed, in advance of the photomask formation, by predicting the dimensional change during a transfer of a pattern during photolithography, such that a pattern shape according to a desired layout may be obtained after the transfer of the pattern.

Method of manufacturing semiconductor device by using uniform optical proximity correction


Radiation image information is read from a stimulable phosphor sheet by line sensors and corrected for shading by a shading corrector. Thereafter, the radiation image information is corrected for sharpness independently in main and auxiliary directions by a sharpness corrector using spatial filters which are selected from a spatial filter memory by a spatial filter selector according to recording or reading conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of and an apparatus for correcting the sharpness of image information in an image reading system in which a sensor comprising an array of photoelectric transducers arranged in a main direction is moved with respect to a recording medium in an auxiliary direction that is substantially perpendicular to the main direction for thereby two-dimensionally reading image information recorded on the recording medium with the sensor.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is known a radiation image information recording and reading system which employs a stimulable phosphor which, when exposed to an applied radiation (X-rays, xcex1-rays, xcex2-rays, xcex3-rays, electron beams, ultraviolet radiation, or the like), stores a part of the energy of the radiation, and, when subsequently exposed to applied stimulating light such as visible light, emits light in proportion to the intensity of the stored energy of the radiation. In the radiation image information recording and reading system, the radiation image information of a subject such as a human body or the like is temporarily recorded in a stimulable phosphor sheet which comprises a stimulable phosphor layer in the form of a sheet, and then stimulating light such as a laser beam is applied to the stimulable phosphor sheet to cause the stimulable phosphor sheet to emit light representing the recorded radiation image information. The emitted light is photoelectrically read to produce an electric image signal. Based on the image signal, the radiation image information of the subject is outputted as a visible image on a recording medium such as a photographic photosensitive medium or the like or a display unit such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or the like.
One type of such a radiation image information recording and reading system is known as a point-scan system. In the point-scan system, stimulating light which is moved in a main direction and applied to a stimulable phosphor sheet which is being fed in an auxiliary direction perpendicular to the main direction, and light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet in response to the stimulating light is transmitted through a light converging guide to a single photoelectric transducer device such as a photomultiplier or the like, which reads radiation information recorded on the stimulable phosphor sheet in synchronism with the position where the stimulable phosphor sheet is scanned by the stimulating light. In the point-scan system, reading conditions of the optical system from the stimulable phosphor sheet to the photoelectric transducer device are essentially the same in the main direction and the auxiliary direction. Therefore, if the light is emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet isotropically in the main and auxiliary directions, an image signal produced by photoelectrically converting the light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet has substantially equal spatial frequency characteristics in the main and auxiliary directions, and the sharpness of the image is also substantially the same in the main and auxiliary directions.
Another type of a radiation image information recording and reading system is known as a line-scan system. In the line-scan system, the radiation image information recorded on a stimulable phosphor sheet is read by a sensor comprising an array of photoelectric transducers in a main direction while the sensor is moving in an auxiliary direction perpendicular to the main direction. In the line-scan system, since reading conditions differ in the main and auxiliary directions, the spatial frequency characteristics of an image signal produced by photoelectrically converting the light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet are generally not equal in the main and auxiliary directions. The spatial frequency characteristics of the image signal in the main direction depend on the focusing capability in the main direction of a light-converging optical system for guiding the light emitted from the stimulable phosphor sheet to the line sensor, and the spacing of the photoelectric transducers of the line sensor in the main direction. The spatial frequency characteristics of the image signal in the auxiliary direction depend on the focusing capability of the light-converging optical system in the auxiliary direction and the reading spacing of the photoelectric transducers in the auxiliary direction.
If the light-converging optical system comprises a lens array of SELFOC lenses arranged in the main direction, then since the positional relationship of an image signal produced by the photoelectric transducers to the lens array in the main direction and the positional relationship of the image signal to the lens array in the auxiliary direction are different from each other, the spatial frequency of the image signal in the main direction and the spatial frequency of the image signal in the auxiliary direction are not in conformity with each other. Therefore, an image produced from the image signal has a sharpness difference between the main and auxiliary directions.
It is a general object of the present invention to provide a method of and an apparatus for correcting image sharpness in an image reading system to produce image information which has substantially the same sharpness in both main and auxiliary directions.
A major object of the present invention is to provide a method of and an apparatus for correcting image sharpness in an image reading system for reading image information from a recording medium by moving a sensor comprising an array of photoelectric transducers arranged in a main direction, in an auxiliary direction with respect to the recording medium, to equalize the image sharpness in the main direction and the image sharpness in the auxiliary direction highly accurately to each other.
Another major object of the present invention is to provide a method of and an apparatus for correcting image sharpness in an image reading system for reading image information with a line sensor comprising an array of photoelectric transducers in a main direction which is combined with a light-converging optical system comprising an array of condenser lenses arranged in the main direction.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which a preferred embodiment of the present invention is shown by way of illustrative example.

Method of and apparatus for correcting image sharpness in image reading system


A Peripheral Intravenous Safety Catheter with Quick, Painless Puncture System (PISCQPPS) and a cannula with a retractile needle mounted in a manually operated bellows mechanism to prevent re-use, avoid accidental perforation and ensure safe disposal. This PISCQPPS offers the advantages of reducing or eliminating pain; reducing the possibility of multiple perforation; reducing the need for experience and technical know-how in the matter of injection; being fitted with a safety system; and easy to use. The PISCQPPS consists of two sequential operating systems-namely, a painless insertion system that is located inside a case, consisting of a catheter, a catheter holder, a trigger guard, a trigger-guard holder, a catheter-holder tube, a cannula, a cannula holder, a spring, a filter holder, and a filter; along with a safety system inside whose case the cannula holder, the cannula and the bellows all operate at the same time.

As mentioned by Rivera, et al. [1], intravenous (IV) therapy springs from the need to transfer blood from one human being to another, and dates from around 1492. Currently, catheter-insertion devices are common; when a catheter is inserted in a patient in order to administer a liquid intravenously, a disposable needle is used that passes through a catheter to puncture a vein and enable the probe to enter. Subsequently, the needle is withdrawn, leaving the catheter in place so that it can be connected to an intravenous bag or bottle, or to a tip for later use.
There is epidemiological evidence, worldwide, that the main unease regarding mishaps in the use of perforating instruments and their later disposal as a part of infectious hospital waste relates to possible transmission of the AIDS virus and, more often, of the hepatitis-B and hepatitis-C viruses, due to lesions caused by needles that are contaminated with human blood. Hence, new products have been designed incorporating special coverings for the needle, or mechanisms for withdrawing the latter into a protective chamber. Such devices are, for example, described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,747,831, 4,828,548, 5,129,884, 5,501,675, 5,817,058, 5,989,220, 7,771,394 and 7,740,615. Many of the devices described in the aforesaid patents consist of numerous parts that substantially drive up their manufacturing costs, as well as hampering the user's ability to feel whether the needle is correctly inserted into the patient. Other devices need to be operated with two hands, or their needles are liable to become prematurely withdrawn during transportation, storage or handling.
Furthermore, studies [2] show that the pain associated with the penetration of the skin by the needle is caused by friction and the thrust load that occurs when the needle is inserted. Davis [3] states that there is only one relevant factor that affects the forces that occur when the skin is penetrated—i.e. the ratio between the force of the insertion and the surface area of the point. It should be added that pain—which is a mechanism for protecting the organism and occurs whenever tissue is being damaged, making the individual react in order to eliminate the painful stimulus—has been divided into two types—fast and slow. The former type is produced within around 0.1 seconds of receiving the stimulus, also being described as penetrating, stabbing, sharp, acute, electric, etc. For example, such pain is felt when a needle is stuck into the skin or when the latter is cut with a knife, though no quick, pulsing pain is felt in most of the deeper body tissues.
Since we know that venous canalization is currently carried out manually in patients, the staff who perform this operation must be very experienced and employ a special, highly polished technique in order to avoid hurting and harming the patient when they insert the needle into the vein. However, despite such experience and skill, the patient can sometimes be subjected to pain and multiple skin punctures when an appropriate vein cannot be found or due to bad insertion techniques. Some attempts have been made to produce devices aimed at reducing or doing away with pain by improving injection techniques or eliminating the need for such specialized techniques—e.g. the Auxiliary Device for Painless Venous Perforation (Spanish initials: DAPV), patented in Cuba in 1966, and the Device for Procuring Painless Peripheral Venous Catheterization (Mexican patent number: 247215).
The first of these devices, the DAPV, is a type of "crossbow" in which a plastic syringe is mounted along with its plunger and needle, which is shot into the selected vein by means of a mechanism that is triggered one single time by the technician carrying out the process.
The second of them, the Device for Procuring Painless Peripheral Venous Catheterization, consists of a mounting framework for the mechanisms for supporting, attaching and triggering catheters or hypodermic needles, with both patents permitting the uncontrolled shooting of the said catheters or hypodermic needles.
As can be inferred from this text, an intravenous catheter device must have certain qualities, including the ability to: (a) reduce or eliminate pain; (b) reduce the chances of multiple skin punctures; (c) reduce the need for special injection skills and experience, in addition to which it must: (d) be fitted with a safety system and (e) be easy to use, and these are the features that this invention claims to have.

Peripheral intravenous safety catheter with quick, painless puncture system


An image sensor includes a rod lens array. The rod lens array includes a plurality of rod lenses which are placed within a frame. The frame has an engagement part to secure it to a housing of the image sensor. The engagement part can be a groove in the frame which is secured to the housing by a ridge in the housing. In an alternative, the engagement part can be flanges on the frame which are engaged with shoulders in the housing. No adjusting mechanism for the array such as an adjustment screw, is needed.

The present invention relates to an image sensor used for example in an image reader.
FIG. 5 illustrates a conventional contact-type image sensor shown for example in Mitsubishi Denki Technical Journal. Vol. 60, No. 11, 1986.
As illustrated in FIG. 5, a linear light source 54 uniformly illuminates an original document 51 which is guided by an original document guide 52. A rod lens array 55 receives light reflected from the original document 51. The rod lens array 55 consists of a plurality of rod lenses and serves for formation of an erect image with one-to-one ratio. Light passing through the rod lens array 55 is focused on a linear sensor board 56 which includes an array of photodetectors, not shown. The light is converted by the photodetectors into electrical signals, and outputted to an external circuit, not shown. The linear sensor board 56 has the same width (dimension orthogonal to the direction of the relative movement of the original document 1 relative to the image reader). The linear light source 54 and the rod lens array 55 are accommodated in a housing 53.
FIG. 6A and FIG. 6B show another conventional contact-type image sensor shown in the Mitsubishi Denki Contact-type Image Sensor Catalogue (February 1989).
In this prior art image sensor, the original 51 is passed over a glass sheet 57, which is fixed to the housing 53 by means of side boards 59, only one of them being shown in FIG. 6B which is a sectional view of the rod lens array 55 as seen along the line 6B--6B in FIG. 6A. The side boards 59 are fixed by means of screws 60. The rod lens array 55 is supported by lens holder 58 in such a manner that its position along the direction of the light path can be adjusted. For this adjustment, a set screw 61 is turned, and a gap D is provided to allow the movement relative to the housing 53 for the position adjustment.
Light reflected from the original is passed through the rod lens array 55, focused to form an image on an array of photodetectors which are part of the linear sensor board. and converted into electrical signals representing the density or brightness at each area or pixels of the original document 1.
The electrical signals are transmitted to a signal detector, not illustrated, and electrical signals are thus obtained.
Used for the rod lens array, are Selfoc (trademark) supplied by Nihon Itagarasu K.K. FIG. 7 is a part of a explanatory diagram contained in the publication Nihon Itagarasu K.K. Technical Papers (SELFOC LENS ARRAY) printed in October 1987). The rod lenses 62 in FIG. 7A are made of glass which is a solid dielectric material. It has a distribution of the refraction index decreasing (graded) with the radial distance from the central axis as shown on the right side of FIG. 7A. Such light proceeds following a curved path with a certain pitch. The functional equivalent to that of a lens is thereby attained. The distribution of the refraction index is approximately given by the following relationship: ##EQU1## where n.sub.0 represents the refraction index at the central axis.
r represents the refraction index gradation coefficient, and PA1 r represents the distance in the radial direction from the central axis. PA1 r represents the distance from the central axis. PA1 n(r) represents the index of refraction at a location separated by r from the central axis PA1 n.sub.0 represents the index of refraction at the central axis and PA1 .sqroot.A represents the refraction index gradation coefficient.
FIG. 7B shows the structure of the rod lens array 55. The diameter of the rod lens 62 is normally about 1 mm and the range in which image is formed (radius of the field of vision) is about several mm. To obtain an image of a wide range, a multiplicity of lenses have to be used. As illustrated in FIG. 7B a multiplicity of lenses are arranged linearly in a frame 63 made of a glass epoxy resin having substantially the same thermal expansion characteristics as the lenses, and the interstices are filled with black rubber like silicone resin 64.
Conventional rod lenses 62 are made of glass, and to give them the refraction index gradation, wet ion exchange is conducted after spinning. The wet ion exchange however takes several days, and the process takes a long time. Because the process is of a wet type it is difficult to reduce the manufacture fluctuation in the refraction index gradation coefficient. .sqroot.A. As a result, the cost is high, and there is a fluctuation in the refraction index gradation coefficient, particularly between production batches. Consequently, the height Z.sub.0 of the rod lens array 55 had to be varied from one batch to another to obtain a constant conjugate length TC. With the type having an angular aperture of 20 degrees, which are most widely used, the range of the fluctuation is from +0.3 to +0.6 mm. Accordingly, conventional image sensors employing the conventional rod lens array is provided with the lens holder 58 and the set screw 61 for fine positioning of the rod lens array 55. The fine positioning of the rod lens array 55 in the direction of the optical axis is achieved by the rotation of the set screw 61 and the resiliency of the nails 58a of the lens holder 58 see FIG. 6B. Thus, the number of the parts required is large, and the work of the fine positioning is time consuming.

Contact reading image sensor with a rod lens array


An operation method of a switch apparatus in an Ethernet-based vehicle network, includes: receiving a first frame including original data from an end node; generating a second frame including the original data; duplicating the original data to generate duplicated data; and generating a third frame including the duplicated data and an indicator indicating that the third frame includes the duplicated data.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates generally to data transmission methods, and more specifically, to data transmission methods based on priority remapping in a vehicle network.
2. Description of the Related Art
The number and variety of electronic devices installed within a vehicle have been increasing significantly along with the recent digitalization of vehicle parts. Electronic devices may currently be used throughout the vehicle, such as in a power train control system (e.g., an engine control system, an automatic transmission control system, or the like), a body control system (e.g., a body electronic equipment control system, a convenience apparatus control system, a lamp control system, or the like), a chassis control system (e.g., a steering apparatus control system, a brake control system, a suspension control system, or the like), a vehicle network (e.g., a controller area network (CAN), a FlexRay-based network, a media oriented system transport (MOST)-based network, or the like), a multimedia system (e.g., a navigation apparatus system, a telematics system, an infotainment system, or the like), and so forth.
The electronic devices comprising each of these systems are connected via the vehicle network, which supports functions of the electronic devices. For instance, the CAN may support a transmission rate of up to 1 Mbps and may support automatic retransmission of colliding messages, error detection based on a cycle redundancy interface (CRC), or the like. The FlexRay-based network may support a transmission rate of up to 10 Mbps and may support simultaneous transmission of data through two channels, synchronous data transmission, or the like. The MOST-based network is a communication network for high-quality multimedia, which may support a transmission rate of up to 150 Mbps. Meanwhile, the telematics system, the infotainment system, as well as enhanced safety systems of a vehicle require higher transmission rates and system expandability. However, the CAN, FlexRay-based network, and the like may not sufficiently support such requirements. The MOST-based network, in particular, may support a higher transmission rate than the CAN and the FlexRay-based network. However, applying the MOST-based network to vehicle networks can be costly.
Due to these limitations, an Ethernet-based network is often utilized as a vehicle network. The Ethernet-based network may support bi-directional communication through one pair of windings and may support a transmission rate of up to 10 Gbps. The Ethernet-based vehicle network may include a plurality of communication nodes. The communication node may be a gateway, a switch (or bridge), an end node, or the like. The end node may transmit a frame including original data to the switch. Also, the switch may receive the frame from the end node, and generate an original frame including the original data. Also, the switch may generate duplicated data by duplicating the original data, and generate a duplicated frame including the duplicated data.
The original frame can be transmitted through a main path, and the duplicated frame can be transmitted through a redundancy path. Meanwhile, when a priority of the original frame (e.g., priority of the original data included in the original frame) is identical to the priority of other frames to be transmitted through the main path (e.g., priorities of data included in the other frames), preferential transmission of the original frame may not be guaranteed.

Method of transmitting data based on priorities in network

Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University


An environment arrangement robot includes a map creation unit that divides the target space into a plurality of cell spaces and provides an evaluation value to each of the cell spaces, in which the evaluation value indicates a probability of whether or not there is an object in the corresponding cell space, and an environment change unit that changes, among the plurality of cell spaces, a specific cell space having the evaluation value within a range evaluated that the probability of whether or not there is an object in the specific cell is low in such a way that the probability that the object is present will become greater or change a surrounding cell space in such a way that the specific cell space will be excluded from the measurement by the distance sensor.

The present disclosure relates to an environment arrangement robot and a control program thereof.
There is known a technique in which a mobile robot moving autonomously creates and updates an environment map while calculating its own location together with its reliability (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2014-203145).

Environment arrangement robot and control program thereof


A family of antennas, and a method for the same, are provided. The antennas include periodic electromagnetic structures to suppress non-radiating modes of propagation. Each antenna comprises a radiator resonant at a first frequency. A first dielectric is proximate to the radiator. Typically, a counterpoise is formed to the radiator. The periodic electromagnetic structures propagate a radiating mode, and suppress the propagation of a non-radiating mode. The periodic electromagnetic structures can be formed in the radiator, the counterpoise (when the counterpoise is distinctly distinguishable from the radiator), or in the first dielectric. The electromagnetic structures are a pattern of volumetric dielectric blocks having a predetermined shape and a predetermined spacing between blocks. For example, the shapes can be cylindrical blocks having predetermined diameters, cross-shaped blocks having predetermined arm widths and arm lengths, rectangular blocks having predetermined lengths and widths, or semi-spherical blocks having predetermined diameters.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to antennas and, more particularly, to an antenna with periodic electromagnetic structures that suppress undesired propagation modes at the antenna""s resonant frequency.
2. Description of the Related Art
A planar antenna comprises a dielectric, a groundplane (counterpoise), and a radiator. Current is induced from the radiator to the groundplane through the adjacent dielectric, and radiates electromagnetic wave energy into free space. Because of its small size and flat shape, the planar antenna occupies a small space. The planar antenna can be mass-produced and is commercially viable because of its cost and size.
FIG. 17 shows a microstrip patch antenna, which is a widely used type of planar antenna (prior art). The microstrip patch antenna 100 is comprised of dielectric 102, a conductor or groundplane 104 located adjacent the dielectric 102, and a microstrip line 106 for feeding the current to a radiator or radiating element 108. The microstrip line 106 can be connected to a wireless communications device, receiver, transmitter, or transmit/receive switch (not shown). The electrical characteristics of the antenna 100 are affected in general by the dimensions of its elements and in particular by the size of the radiating element 108 and its distance from the ground plane 104, and the dielectric constant of dielectric 102. The design of slot, waveguide, flare-notch, dipole, monopole, and loop antennas involve similar design criteria, as is well known in the art.
Several issues must be considered in the design of an antenna to maximize throughput to a communication partner. The antenna can be shaped to maximally receive or transmit for various radiation patterns. Likewise, the antennas can be made directional. Antennas are designed to generate space waves at the resonant frequency in an intended mode. However, due to perturbations of the standing wave in the transmission media, irregularities in the dielectric material, improper matching between the antenna and the transmission media, or irregularities in the fabrication of the antenna, so-called xe2x80x9cleaky wavesxe2x80x9d are unintentionally generated that sap energy from the antenna operation in the intended radiation mode. Similar issues exist with the unintended creation of surface waves. Related problems involve the generation of evanescent waves, or non-propagated waves, when an antenna creates an unintended cutoff wavelength.
As is well understood in the art, an antenna acts to transform a guided wave in a transmission media, such as a coaxial cable or waveguide, into a space wave radiation mode propagated into a dielectric, such as air. When the phase velocity of the waves traveling in the transmission media is equal to the velocity of light (c), the transformation to the radiation mode space waves can be made without the loss of energy. Due to complex coupling between transverse electric (TE) and transverse magnetic (TM) modes in the transmission media, waves can be generated in the transmission media that have a phase velocity that is either greater than, or less than c. When the phase velocity exceeds c, leaky waves traveling in the transmission media are radiated, causing a continual energy loss. When the phase velocity is less than c, surface waves attenuate exponentially away from the transmission media surface, another loss of energy. It is an important to design antennas and antenna interfaces that mitigate the generation of leaky waves, surfaces waves, evanescent waves, and other forms of unintended radiation and wave propagation that rob power from the intended mode of radiation.
It would be advantageous if unintended modes of propagation associated with leaky waves, and the like, could be suppressed in an antenna.
It would be advantageous if a means existed of suppressing the unintended modes of propagation without changing the fundamentals of basic antenna design.
It would be advantageous if the unintended mode suppression means could be simply appended to conventional designs for patch, slot, waveguide, flare-notch, dipole, monopole, and loop antennas.
Wireless communications devices are expected to deliver high performance and great efficiency in a small package. Many wireless devices are expected to operate at a number of frequencies corresponding to the operation of the wireless device. Many wireless telephones can operate in the analog (AMPS), time division multiple access (TDMA), and code division multiple access (CDMA) modes. In addition, some wireless telephones incorporate global positioning system (GPS) receivers, and some incorporate local network transceivers for systems such as Bluetooth. It would improve the efficiency of wireless communications if antennas could be designed so that the unintended modes of propagation could be suppressed.
Accordingly, a family of antennas is provided with periodic electromagnetic structures to suppress unintended modes of propagation. Each antenna comprises a radiator resonant at a first frequency, with a proximate first dielectric and a counterpoise. The antenna conducts electromagnetic fields between the radiator and the counterpoise. A plurality of periodic electromagnetic structures propagate a radiating mode, while suppressing the propagation of a non-radiating mode. The periodic electromagnetic structures can be formed in the radiator, the counterpoise (when the counterpoise is distinctly distinguishable from the radiator), in the first dielectric, or in combinations of the above-mentioned elements.
The electromagnetic structures are a pattern of volumetric dielectric blocks having a predetermined shape and a predetermined spacing between blocks. For example, the shapes can be cylindrical blocks having predetermined diameters, cross-shaped blocks having predetermined arm widths and arm lengths, rectangular blocks having predetermined lengths and widths, or semi-spherical blocks having predetermined diameters. The blocks can be filled with a second dielectric with a second dielectric constant. Likewise, the volumetric blocks in either the radiator or counterpoise can be filled with the first dielectric material.
Using the above-described periodic electromagnetic structures, non-radiating modes can be suppressed in conventional patch, slot, waveguide, flare-notch, dipole, monopole, and loop antenna designs. Additional details of the above-mentioned antennas and a method for forming an antenna with periodic electromagnetic structures are described below.

Antenna with periodic electromagnetic mode suppression structures and method for same


A method of servicing a wellbore in contact with a subterranean formation, comprising placing a wellbore servicing fluid comprising a drilling fluid and lost circulation material into a lost circulation zone within the wellbore, wherein the lost circulation material comprises a polyelectrolyte multilayer material and a first counterion. A wellbore servicing fluid comprising a drilling fluid and a lost circulation material comprising a polyelectrolyte multilayer material and a counterion comprising a halide, wherein the LCM has a first state that is hydrophilic. A tunable lost circulation material comprising a base material, a polyelectrolyte multilayer on said base material, wherein the polyelectrolyte multilayer comprises a first electrolyte layer, a second electrolyte layer, and a charged surface, and a counterion, wherein wettability of the lost circulation material is a function of the counterion.

1. Field
This disclosure relates to materials and compositions for servicing a wellbore. More specifically, this disclosure relates to introducing materials and compositions into a wellbore penetrating a subterranean formation to reduce the loss of fluid to the formation.
2. Background
A natural resource such as oil or gas residing in a subterranean formation can be recovered by drilling a well into the formation. The subterranean formation is usually isolated from other formations using a technique known as well cementing. In particular, a wellbore is typically drilled down to the subterranean formation while circulating a drilling fluid through the wellbore. After the drilling is terminated, a string of pipe, e.g., casing, is run in the wellbore. Primary cementing is then usually performed whereby a cement slurry is pumped down through the string of pipe and into the annulus between the string of pipe and the walls of the wellbore to allow the cement slurry to set into an impermeable cement column and thereby seal the annulus. Subsequently, oil or gas residing in the subterranean formation may be recovered by driving the fluid into the well using, for example, a pressure gradient that exists between the formation and the wellbore, the force of gravity, displacement of the fluid using a pump or the force of another fluid injected into the well or an adjacent well.
Fluids used in servicing a wellbore may be lost to the subterranean formation while circulating the fluids in the wellbore or otherwise placing the fluids in the wellbore. In particular, the fluids may enter and be "lost" to the subterranean formation via depleted zones, zones of relatively low pressure, lost circulation zones having naturally occurring fractures, weak zones having fracture gradients exceeded by the hydrostatic pressure of the drilling fluid, and so forth. As a result, the service provided by such fluids is more difficult to achieve. For example, a drilling fluid may be lost to the formation, resulting in the circulation of the fluid in the wellbore being terminated and/or being too low to allow for further drilling of the wellbore.
When considering remedies for lost circulation, a factor is the relative polarity of the subterranean formation which may be hydrophobic or hydrophilic depending on exposure of the surfaces of the subterranean formation to one or more oil-based or aqueous-based substances. As such, there is a need to consider the compatibility between the materials used to combat lost circulation and the surface of the subterranean formations with which they will interact (e.g., a surface associated with a lost circulation zone).
Accordingly, an ongoing need exists for compositions and methods of blocking the flow of fluid through lost circulation zones in subterranean formations.

Lost circulation materials and methods of using the same


The present invention is directed to novel compounds of Formula (I)

Chemokines are chemotactic cytokines that are released by a wide variety of cells to attract leukocytes, as illustrated by macrophages, T cells, B cells, eosinophils, basophils, and neutrophils to and from sites of inflammation or within specific compartments, as illustrated by lymph nodes (reviewed in Schall, Cytokine, 3:165-183 (1991), Schall, et al., Curr. Opin. Immunol., 6:865-873 (1994) and Murphy, Rev. Immun., 12:593-633 (1994)). In addition to stimulating chemotaxis, other changes can be selectively induced by chemokines in responsive cells, including changes in cell shape, transient rises in the concentration of intracellular free calcium ions ([Ca2+]), granule exocytosis, integrin upregulation, formation of bioactive lipids (e.g., leukotrienes), and respiratory burst, associated with leukocyte activation. Thus, the chemokines are early modulators of inflammatory response, effecting inflammatory mediator release, chemotaxis and extravasation to sites of infection or inflammation.
There are four classes of chemokines, CXC (α), CC (β), C (γ), and CX3C (δ), depending on whether the first two cysteines are separated by a single amino acid (C-X-C), are adjacent (C-C), have a missing cysteine pair (C), or are separated by three amino acids (CX3C). The α-chemokines, such as interleukin-8 (IL-8), melanoma growth stimulatory activity protein (MGSA), and stromal cell derived factor 1 (SDF-1) are chemotactic primarily for neutrophils and lymphocytes, whereas β-chemokines, such as RANTES, MIP-1α, MIP-1β, monocyte chemotactic protein-1 (MCP-1), MCP-2, MCP-3, and eotaxin are chemotactic for macrophages, T-cells, eosinophils and basophils (Deng, et al., Nature, 381:661-666 (1996)). The C chemokine lymphotactin shows specificity for lymphocytes (Kelner, et al., Science, 266:1395-1399 (1994)) while the CX3C chemokine fractalkine shows specificity for lymphocytes and monocytes (Bazan, et al., Nature, 385:640-644 (1997)).
Chemokines bind specific cell-surface receptors belonging to the family of G-protein-coupled seven-transmembrane-domain proteins (reviewed in Horuk, Trends Pharm. Sci., 15:159-165 (1994)) termed "chemokine receptors." On binding their cognate ligands, chemokine receptors transduce an intracellular signal through the associated heterotrimeric G protein, resulting in a rapid increase in intracellular calcium concentration. There are at least twelve human chemokine receptors that bind or respond to β-chemokines with the following characteristic pattern: CCR1 (or "CKR-1" or "CC-CKR-1") MIP-1α, MIP-1β, MCP-3, RANTES (Ben-Barruch, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270:22123-22128 (1995); Neote, et al., Cell, 72:415425 (1993)); CCR2A and CCR2B (or "CKR-2A"/"CKR-2A" or "CC-CKR-2A"/"CC-CKR2A") MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3, MCP-4; CCR3 (or "CKR-3" or "CC-CKR-3") eotaxin, RANTES, MCP; (Ponath, et al., J. Exp. Med., 183:2437-2448 (1996)); CCR4 (or "CKR-4" or "CC-CKR-4") TARC, MDC (Imai, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 273:1764-1768 (1998)); CCR5 (or "CKR-5" or "CC-CKR-5") MIP-1α, RANTES, MIP-1β; (Sanson, et al., Biochemistry, 35:3362-3367 (1996)); CCR6MIP-3a (Greaves, et al., J. Exp. Med., 186:837-844 (1997)); CCR7MIP-3β and 6Ckine (Campbell, et al., J. Cell. Biol., 141:1053-1059 (1998)); CCR8 I-309, HHV8 vMIP-I, HHV-8 vMIP-II, MCV vMCC-I (Dairaghi, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 274:21569-21574 (1999)); CCR9 TECK (Zaballos, et al., J. Immunol., 162:5671-5675 (1999)), D6 MIP-1 beta, RANTES, and MCP-3 (Nibbs, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 272:32078-32083 (1997)), and the Duffy blood-group antigen RANTES, MCP-1 (Chaudhun, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 269:7835-7838 (1994)).
Chemokine receptors, such as CCR1, CCR2, CCR3, CCR4, CCR5, CCR6, CCR7, CCR8, CCR9, CXCR1, CXCR2, CXCR3, CXCR4, CXCR5, CX3CR1, and XCR1 have been implicated as being important mediators of inflammatory and immunoregulatory disorders and diseases, including asthma and allergic diseases, as well as autoimmune pathologies such as rheumatoid arthritis and atherosclerosis.
The CCR2 chemokine receptor is expressed primarily in monocytes and activated T lymphocytes, and its functional activity can be measured by cytosolic calcium elevation or chemotaxis. CCR2 exists in two isoforms, CCR2A and CCR2B. These two isoforms are alternatively spliced variants of a single MCP-1 receptor gene and differ only in the carboxyl-terminal tails. The chromosomal location of the CCR2 gene is localized to 3p21. Ligands that have been identified that are selective and of high affinity are the CC chemokines, MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3 and MCP-4.
The highly selective expression of CCR2 makes it an ideal target for intervention to interrupt inappropriate monocyte and T cell trafficking. The clinical indications for such intervention are in inflammatory diseases and T-cell mediated autoimmune diseases such as multiple sclerosis, rheumatoid arthritis, asthma, allergy, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, atherosclerosis, restinosis, type I and type II diabetes, metabolic syndrome and neuropathic pain. Ectopic expression of MCP-1 and CCR2 in certain tumors indicate that selective antagonists of CCR2 will have value in tumor immunotherapy, particularly attenuation of metastasis.
In view of the clinical importance of CCR2, the identification of compounds that modulate CCR2 function represents an attractive avenue into the development of new therapeutic agents. Such compounds are provided herein.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Octahydropentalene compounds as chemokine receptor antagonists

Abstract: pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, pro-drugs thereof, biologically active metabolites thereof, isomers thereof or stereoisomers thereof wherein the variables are as defined herein. The compounds of Formula (I) are useful as chemokine receptor antagonists and as such would be useful in treating certain conditions and diseases, especially inflammatory conditions and diseases and proliferative disorders and conditions, for example, rheumatoid arthritis, osteoarthritis, multiple sclerosis and asthma.


For exchanging telecommunications traffic with land mobile telecommunication networks, it is proposed to make use of a satellite communication network, made up of a number of telecommunication satellites in different orbits around the earth, which are functionally connected to one or more ground stations via radio transmission connections, which ground stations are mutually connected via a transmission connection. By assigning a unique network address code added to the address code of the satellite communication network concerned to the mobile telecommunication networks connected to a ground station, telecommunication traffic with a mobile telecommunication network can be exchanged via the mutually connected ground stations by means of a combination of the address code of the satellite communication network and the network address code of the mobile telecommunication network concerned. In this way, an effective solution for the problem of xe2x80x98Mobile Terminating Chargesxe2x80x99 is provided. Besides, by application of the network address code, the xe2x80x98tromboningxe2x80x99 phenomenon on guest use of mobile telecommunication networks can be effectively prevented.

The present invention relates to exchanging telecommunication traffic in a telecommunication system, comprising a satellite communication network, made up from a number of telecommunication satellites in different orbits around the earth, which are functionally connected to one or more ground stations via radio transmission connections, which ground stations are mutually connected via a transmission connection, as well as a ground communication network made up from a number of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks, in which clusters of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks are functionally connected to ground stations of the satellite communication network and telecommunication traffic is exchanged under application of an addressing plan, in which an own, unique address code is assigned to the satellite communication network.
Next to, and in addition to the known, fixed telecommunication networks, in which users can set up speech and data communication via a fixed, wire-bound connection, mobile communication via radio connections has assumed enormous proportions in recent years. Apart from differences in the applied transmission techniques, land-mobile communication is characterised by a structure, in which the coverage area of a mobile radio telecommunication network is divided into areas of geographically limited size, also called cells. Within a cell, radio traffic is possible between so-called base station and radio communication users.
On displacement of the user, a communication connection from cell to cell is continued. The geographical position of a user, i.e. the cell in which he is momentary present, is scanned regularly and stored in the system. An example of such a cellular mobile radio communication system is the xe2x80x98Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM)xe2x80x99. Systems based upon this standard are currently designated as GSM-900, GSM-1800 and GSM-1900. Other mobile telecommunication systems based on a cell structure are among other designated by the acronyms AMPS, D-AMPS in the United States and PDC in Japan. In a certain area, different mobile networks can be exploited by different operators. In general, the exploitation of mobile telecommunication networks is limited to the national boundaries. In order to enable international mobile telecommunication traffic agreements have been made between the different national operators concerning the access of subscribers to each other""s mobile telecommunication networks. The fixed telecommunication networks and the mobile telecommunication networks are connected as well, in order to enable telecommunication traffic between xe2x80x98fixedxe2x80x99 and xe2x80x98mobilexe2x80x99 users. In general, telecommunication traffic between countries is exchanged via so-called xe2x80x98International Carriersxe2x80x99 and on a global level via so-called xe2x80x98Global Carriersxe2x80x99. These are telecommunication companies that provide transmission facilities for the exchange of telecommunication traffic at international or global level, respectively.
A further communication possibility for mobile users is formed by satellite communication networks, made up from a number of telecommunication satellites in different orbits around the earth, which are functionally connected to one or more ground stations via radio transmission connections. The ground stations are dispersed over the earth in such a way, that a global coverage is achieved.
Depending on the network, the ground stations can be mutually connected via a transmission connection, e.g. in the form of a ring network. The ground stations are, in their turn, again connected to clusters of fixed and land mobile telecommunication networks, if desired, by intervention of global and international carriers.
A user provided with suitable satellite radio communication equipment, can through a direct radio connection with a telecommunication satellite and a ground station concerned, be connected to a user in a fixed or land mobile telecommunication network and of course with other users of the satellite communication network.
Satellite communication networks, which have been proposed in practice, but which are still under development, are, among others, Globalstar and Iridium, in which use is made of a relatively large number of ground stations and satellites, which circle in a low orbit around the earth, i.e. xe2x80x98Low Earth Orbit (LEO)xe2x80x99. ICO and Odyssey are satellite communication networks, in which use is made of a relatively small number of satellites, which rotate in orbits of medium altitude around the earth, also called xe2x80x98Medium Earth Orbit (MEO)xe2x80x99 satellite communication networks.
In order to be able to use the existing charging structures, it has been proposed to settle telecommunication traffic originating from and to a satellite communication network in a similar way as the land mobile telecommunication networks by intervention of global and international carriers.
As will be understood by experts, the costs of mobile telecommunication are higher than the for telecommunication traffic through the fixed telecommunication network, that has been in use for a long time. This is expressed in the higher connection charges per unit of time for mobile telecommunication traffic in comparison to fixed connections. In communication between mobile users in the same network or mutually directly connected mobile telecommunication networks and in calls of mobile users to the fixed telecommunication network, these higher call charges can be directly settled with the mobile users. To this end, the mobile telecommunication networks have been provided with suitable charging options. At the national level, the higher call charges of use of the mobile telecommunication network can also be charged to a fixed user, who requests a call to a mobile user. This is because calls from the fixed network to a mobile user take place through one or more dedicated access exchanges.
On international and global level, calls of a fixed user to a mobile user and between mobile users of non connected mobile telecommunication networks are charged on the basis of connections between two users in different countries of the fixed telecommunication network. This can be explained from the fact that for international and global connections with mobile users use is made of the same transmission routes, via international and global carriers, as for the exchange of telecommunication traffic between users connected to fixed telecommunication networks. The costs for the use of the mobile part of the connection in the mobile telecommunication network of the called mobile user are then for account of the operator of the mobile telecommunication network concerned. Depending on the tariff structure, this can with the present tariffs, quickly lead to losses in the order of USD 0,50 per minute.
Another problem arises when a mobile subscriber cannot be reached in his home network, but temporarily makes guest use of a mobile telecommunication network elsewhere, e.g. in another country.
On making a connection from a fixed to a mobile user namely, first a connection is made with the home network of the mobile user and the call is, depending on the momentary position of the mobile user, switched through to the telecommunication network where the user is located at that particular time. When the mobile subscriber concerned unexpectedly does not answer the switched-through call, switching back can take place from the mobile guest network to the mobile home network. This is done for instance to make use of a message service etc., for leaving a spoken or written message for the mobile user concerned. It will be apparent that this switching through and back, also called xe2x80x98tromboningxe2x80x99, is highly undesired due to the unnecessary use of costly transmission facilities in the telecommunication systems concerned.
The invention is aimed at providing a solution for the disadvantages and shortcomings described above which occur on exchanging telecommunication traffic between fixed and mobile telecommunication networks on both international and global level. In a first aspect, the invention provides a process for exchanging telecommunication traffic in a telecommunication system mentioned in the preamble, characterised in that a unique network address code added to the address code of the satellite communication network concerned is assigned to the mobile telecommunication systems, which are functionally connected to a ground station, in such a way that telecommunication traffic with a mobile telecommunication network is exchanged via a combination of the address code of the satellite communication network and the network address code of the mobile telecommunication network concerned via the mutually connected ground stations. The invention uses advantageously the fact that, when the ground stations of a satellite communication network are mutually connected, e.g. in the form of a ring wire, thus an alternative transmission route can be made available for the exchange of telecommunication traffic between fixed and land mobile telecommunication networks. This next to and in addition to the transmission capacity provided by international and/or global carriers, which is currently still the regular route.
By adding, according to the invention, network address codes for the mobile telecommunication networks to the unique address code of a satellite communication network, these can be directly selected via the transmission route along the ground stations of the satellite communication network, whereby direct international and global exchange of telecommunication traffic with national mobile telecommunication networks is made possible.
In departure from the existing regular route for internationally and globally exchanging telecommunication traffic between fixed and mobile networks, in which existing routing tables in the international switching centres do not allow differentiation between fixed and mobile telecommunication networks, can in this embodiment of the process according to the invention a mobile telecommunication network be addressed in a unique way. That is to say, by routing the telecommunication traffic concerned via the ground stations of the satellite communication network.
Owing to the mobile telecommunication networks being directly addressable according to the addressing or number plan of the invention, it is now possible in international and global connections of fixed users to mobile users to settle the costs of the mobile transmission part with the calling fixed user. This is also being referred to as xe2x80x98Mobile Terminating Charges (MTC).xe2x80x99
For experts it will be apparent that the addressing plan according to the invention enables very flexible operation. Operators of ground stations and/or mobile networks have with this in a very flexible way transmission capacity for the exchange of international telecommunication traffic between fixed and mobile users at their disposal, without the disadvantages of mobile transmission costs that cannot be settled.
In a further embodiment of the process according to the invention, in which the clusters of fixed and mobile communication networks are functionally connected to the ground stations of the satellite communication network via so-called transmission gateways, which transmission gateways are mutually connected via a transmission connection, it is provided that telecommunication traffic between clusters of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks is exchanged partly via the mutually connected ground stations and partly via mutually connected transmission gateways.
With this embodiment of the process according to the invention, it is possible to have the telecommunication traffic to be exchanged in the ground communication network handled partly by the regular route (international carrier/global carrier) and partly via the alternative route between the connected ground stations. With this, a very flexible routing of telecommunication traffic is obtained, also in those cases in which ground communication networks are not directly connected to a ground station of the satellite communication network. In the currently presented concept of Odyssey for instance, seven mutually connected ground stations are provided, so that clusters of fixed and land mobile telecommunication networks, via e.g. an international carrier, will be connected to the ground station in an other country.
The addressing plan according to the invention offers furthermore an effective possibility of solving the problem of tromboning. An even further embodiment of the invention provides to this end in exchanging telecommunication traffic with a user, who makes guest use of a mobile telecommunication network, by establishing a communication connection under application of the network address code concerned of the mobile telecommunication network of which the user makes guest use.
Herewith, advantageous use is made of the fact that the momentary position of a mobile user is continuously scanned and stored. By providing this information in the domain of the satellite communication network, a connection of a fixed to a mobile user can be established directly via the network address code concerned of the mobile telecommunication network where the user is located. Without first switching to the home network and thereupon switching through to the guest network. It will be appreciated that the scarce mobile transmission facilities are thus used in an efficient way.
In an even further embodiment of the process according to the invention, in which the telecommunication satellites are set up for exchanging telecommunication traffic via radio transmission connections with users, who are provided with mobile satellite radio communication equipment, mobile telecommunication traffic between mobile telecommunication networks and the satellite communication network is exchanged by establishing a communication connection under application of the network address code, which is assigned to a mobile telecommunication network concerned.
In other words, in a satellite communication network in which users can establish direct radio connections with a communication satellite, such as e.g. in the Odyssey concept, the addressing plan according to the invention is advantageously used for directly exchanging telecommunication traffic between mobile satellite communication users and land mobile users. Charging can be done according to the costs of the transmission facilities and other desired compensations.
In a second aspect the invention also provides a telecommunication system, comprising a satellite communication network, made up from a number of telecommunication satellites in different orbits around the earth, which are functionally connected to one or more ground stations via radio transmission connections, which ground stations are mutually connected via a transmission connection, as well as a ground communication network made up from a number of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks, in which clusters of fixed and mobile telecommunication networks are functionally connected to ground stations of the satellite communication network and in which the ground stations are provided with routing means for exchanging of telecommunication traffic according to an addressing plan, comprising a unique address code for selecting the satellite communication network, characterised in that the routing means are provided with selection means for exchanging telecommunication traffic with a mobile telecommunication network, under application of a unique network address code added to the address code of the satellite communication network for selecting a mobile telecommunication network concerned.
By suitable selection, mobile telecommunication traffic can be routed according to the invention via the satellite communication network, in association with a suitable charging. For charging purposes, the existing charging devices of an existing network can be applied, by means of suitable controlling according to the addressing plan according to the invention.
In the case of a telecommunication system in which the clusters of fixed and mobile communication networks are functionally connected to the ground stations via so-called transmission gateways, which transmission gateways are mutually connected via a transmission connection, in an exemplary embodiment according to the invention, routing means are provided for exchanging telecommunication traffic between clusters of mobile and fixed communication networks, partly via mutually connected transmission gateways and partly via the mutually connected ground stations.
Routing, routing means and selection means for routing telecommunication traffic are known per se to experts and do not need further clarification. For optimised routing of telecommunication traffic to users in guest networks, advantageous use is made, according to an even further embodiment of the invention, of existing signalling systems in both the satellite communication network and the ground communication network. These signalling systems are preferably based on the same standard, e.g. fully compatible with the CCITT signalling system and fitted for assessing the momentary mobile telecommunication network with which telecommunication traffic with a user concerned is to be exchanged, under application of the network address code of the mobile telecommunication network concerned.
In the most advanced embodiment of the telecommunication system according to the invention, direct mobile radio communication between satellite communication users and land mobile users is provided as well, wherein the satellite communication network and the mobile telecommunication networks are preferably based on the same standard, e.g. the GSM standard, which was mentioned before. In the concept according to the invention, the ground stations function then as xe2x80x98super mobile gateway switchesxe2x80x99, with the advantages of an optimum settlement of call charges for calls with mobile users, optimum routing and without drastic adaptations of the existing infrastructure in international switching centres, international carriers and global carriers.
It will be appreciated by experts that in the transmission connections with which the ground stations are mutually connected, one or more routing stations can be included as well. By providing these routing stations with routing means and selection means for exchanging telecommunication traffic with a connected mobile telecommunication network under application of its network address code, the same advantages can be obtained as described in the above as related to the ground stations.
In the following, the invention is described in more detail with reference to the attached

Exchange of communication traffic in a satellite communication system


An irrigation system comprising a fluid-carrying conduit, two or more spaced-apart mobile towers, and a height-adjusting system. The two or more spaced-apart mobile towers are configured to support and move the conduit above a field. Each mobile tower includes a pair of legs, wheels, and a motor. Each leg has a first end coupled with the fluid-carrying conduit via a swivel connection and a second end. One of the wheels is connected to each of the second ends of the legs. The motor is for driving at least one of the wheels. The height-adjusting system is configured to move the second ends of the legs of each mobile tower relative to one another to raise or lower the irrigation system. The height-adjusting system may include an expansion mechanism for permitting adjustments to the height of the irrigation system or for applying a force to help make the adjustments.

Irrigation systems, such as linear and center-pivot irrigation systems, include elevated water conduits supported by mobile towers. The elevated water conduits are connected to sprinklers or other fluid emitters. The mobile towers are configured to travel across a field as water flows through the conduits and is applied to crops in the field via the fluid emitters.
The towers must be tall enough so that the conduits can travel above the crops in the field to avoid damaging them. Because the water conduits must be supported above crops at their tallest heights, there is typically a large distance between the fluid emitters and younger crops or crops having a shorter height at maturity. The large distance between the fluid emitters and crops results in inefficient water application because wind, heat, and low humidity evaporate a substantial portion of the water before it reaches the shorter crops.
One solution to these problems is to use sprinkler drops. Sprinkler drops are elongated tubes that connect to the conduits and extend downwardly closer to the crops. Sprayer heads or other fluid emitters attach to the lower end of the sprinkler drops to deliver water closer to the crops. However, the sprinkler drops must be adjusted as the crops grow or when an irrigation system is used for different crops having various heights, and such adjustments are difficult and time-consuming.
Another problem with supporting heavy, water-laden conduits from tall mobile towers is it causes a high center of gravity such that the irrigation systems are prone to tipping over or other damage when exposed to high winds and when moved over hills and valleys.
The background discussion is intended to provide information related to the present invention which is not necessarily prior art.

Irrigation system with height-adjusting system for adjusting tower height