A fuel injection start timing is determined based on the engine revolution or the engine load, and a common rail pressure is detected simultaneous to this fuel injection start timing. The fuel injection duration is then calculated based on the detected value of the common rail pressure. By doing this, it is possible to obtain a fuel injection duration that is suited for the common rail pressure at the actual fuel injection start time, resulting in an appropriate injection amount.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to accumulator (common rail) type fuel injection apparatuses, and internal combustion engines provided with those pressure accumulation-type fuel injection devices, that are furnished with an accumulator pipe (also known as "common rail") that is employed in the fuel supply system of an internal combustion engine (such as diesel engines). In particular, the invention relates to measures for appropriately obtaining the injection amount of the fuel that is to be supplied from the injectors to the combustion chamber.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the past, pressure accumulation-type fuel injection devices, which have superior controllability compared to mechanical fuel injection pump-nozzle apparatuses, have been proposed for the fuel supply system of a multi-cylinder diesel engine (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2 listed below).
Such fuel injection apparatuses store, in a common rail, fuel that has been pressurized to a predetermined pressure by a high-pressure pump, and the fuel that is stored in the common rail is injected into the combustion chamber from a predetermined injector in accordance with the fuel ejection timing. A controller performs calculations to control the fuel pressure within the common rail (hereinafter, called the common rail pressure) and the injectors so that fuel is injected under the most ideal injection conditions for the operating state of the engine.
Thus, in pressure accumulation-type fuel injection devices it is possible to control not only the fuel injection amount and the injection timing, but also the fuel injection pressure, which is determined by the common rail pressure, according to the operating state of the engine, and thus pressure accumulation-type fuel injection devices have gained attention as injection apparatuses that possess excellent control characteristics. In particular, such pressure accumulation-type fuel injection devices have favorable pressure increase properties in the low revolution speed region of the engine and this allows high-pressure fuel injection to be performed from the low speed region, and therefore the fuel can be atomized over all regions. For this reason as well, pressure accumulation-type fuel injection devices have garnered interest from the standpoint that they can significantly reduce the black smoke that is characteristic of diesel engines.
—Schematic Structure of the Pressure Accumulation-Type Fuel Injection Device—
A general pressure accumulation-type fuel injection device is described below.
FIG. 13 schematically shows the overall configuration of the fuel supply system of a multi-cylinder diesel engine provided with a pressure accumulation-type fuel injection device. This pressure accumulation-type fuel injection device is provided with a plurality of fuel injection valves (hereinafter, referred to simply as injectors) b1 each of which is attached to a cylinder of a diesel engine (hereinafter, referred to simply as an engine) a, a common rail c that accumulates high-pressure fuel that is at relatively high pressure (common rail pressure: 100 MPa, for example), a high-pressure pump (supply pump) f that pressurizes the fuel that is sucked from a fuel tank d by a low-pressure pump e to a high pressure and then ejects it into the common rail c, and a controller (ECU) g for electrically controlling the injectors b and the high-pressure pump f.
Each injector b is attached to the downstream end of a fuel pipe each of which is in communication with the common rail c. The injection of fuel from each injector b is controlled by supplying and cutting off electricity (ON/OFF) to an injection control solenoid valve h that is provided in an intermediate portion of the fuel pipe. That is, the injector b injects the high-pressure fuel that has been supplied from the common rail c toward the combustion chamber of the engine a while its injection control solenoid valve h is open. Thus, it is necessary for the common rail c to accumulate a high predetermined common rail pressure that corresponds to the fuel injection pressure, and thus the common rail c is connected to the high-pressure pump f via a fuel supply pipe i and an ejection valve j.
The ECU g is supplied with various types of engine information such as the engine revolution and the engine load, and outputs a control signal to the injection control solenoid valve h so as to obtain the most suitable fuel injection timing and fuel injection amount, which are determined from these signals. At the same time, the ECU g outputs a control signal to the high-pressure pump f so that the fuel injection pressure becomes an ideal value for the engine revolution or the engine load. Further, a pressure sensor k for detecting the common rail pressure is attached to the common rail c, and the fuel ejection amount that the high-pressure pump f ejects to the common rail c is controlled so that the signal of the pressure sensor k becomes a preset ideal value according to the engine revolution or engine load.
—Method for Calculating the Fuel Injection Timing and the Fuel Injection Duration—
Next, a conventional example of a method for calculating the fuel injection timing and the fuel injection duration with the ECU g is described. FIG. 14 shows the change in the crank signal, the electricity conduction signal to the injection control solenoid valve h, and the common rail pressure, at a timing when fuel is injected from a particular injector b. Here, the crank signal is a pulsed waveform that is transmitted every 6° of rotation of the crank. The operation of injecting fuel from the injector b is executed while the electricity conduction signal to the injection control solenoid valve h is ON.
First, the ECU g calculates the fuel injection start timing based on various types of engine information such as the engine revolution and the engine load. FIG. 14 shows a case in which fuel injection is started at the timing B by starting the supply of electricity to the injection control solenoid valve h.
The fuel injection duration, on the other hand, is calculated by the ECU g based on the fuel injection amount that has been determined and the common rail pressure so as to attain the engine revolution (target revolution) that corresponds to the opening signal that the ECU g receives from the throttle (regulator in marine engines). The injector b continues the fuel injection operation based on the common rail pressure so as to attain the determined fuel injection amount, and the engine revolution in this state is detected and compared to the target revolution, and the fuel injection amount is corrected so that the actual engine revolution approaches the target revolution (feedback correction).
To describe this in further detail, the ECU g determines the fuel injection amount before the timing B (the time when the supply of electricity to the injection control solenoid valve h is started) so as to obtain the engine revolution (target revolution) according to the opening signal of the throttle (regulator in marine engines). Then, the fuel injection duration (this corresponds to the time during which electricity is conducted to the injection control solenoid valve h; the time from the start of fuel injection to the end of fuel injection) is calculated according to the common rail pressure when the crank signal (pulsed waveform) rises (timing A in FIG. 14) before the timing B, and the fuel injection amount that has been determined as above. In FIG. 14, Tdur is found as the fuel injection duration and indicates the timing C at which point the supply of electricity to the injection control solenoid valve h is interrupted to cease fuel injection.
The fuel injection timing and the fuel injection duration thus are found through the above operation.    Patent Document 1: JP 2000-18052A    Patent Document 2: JP 2003-328830A

Pressure accumulation-type fuel injection device and internal combustion engine provided with this pressure accumulation-type fuel injection device


A system and method for real-time generation of segments for a computerized decision system provides an event segment list to a decision engine. The event segment list is generated based on consumer affinities determined from consumer data and modeled data on that consumer's consumption and geo-location. The consumer affinities are used in a query to obtain current events related to the consumer's affinities. The current events are associated with generic events, which together are included in the event segment list, which is delivered to the decision engine and used to make a decision based on the event segment list and specified decision criteria.

Computerized systems for generating data segments for use in decision systems are known. These systems, however, lack the ability to generate data segments in real time that reflect accurate information about a user's condition, including a combination of user-disclosed data, user-inferred data, and user situation/activity data. Prior systems use techniques such as internet-based cookie-level user attributes, manual content-based targeting, and manual event targeting to make decisions that may be used to generate recommendations, target messages, or take other actions customized to users
Audience targeting using cookie-level audience attributes from first party or third party sources has been used to target messages to an individual online. Content targeting, such as directing messages to consumers of certain types of content (e.g., football games) has been done manually by choosing to schedule advertisements or display other messages during such programming. Manual event targeting has been performed by predetermining a one-off event like a win of a given game and manually allocating creative options based on the outcome once the outcome is known.
Targeting in a television environment is generally limited to digital solutions and non-1:1 environments. Current systems are not capable of such automated, real-time targeting or customization at scale, requiring manual changes at a production switchboard.
Prior art systems are not designed to address the specific user conditions such as an inferred emotional state of a user, enabling 1:1 targeting to that user; they are only capable of mass targeting using rules-based decisions determined across sets of qualifying users.

System and method for real-time generation of segments for a computerized decision system


The present invention relates to compositions and methods for modulating or detecting allergy in a subject. The invention may be used to reduce allergenicity of compositions, such as food products, or to stimulate immunogenicity of products, such as vaccines by removal of cationic proteins resulting from transcription infidelity. The invention may be used in any mammal such as human.

Clinical manifestations of allergic reactions are highly diversified affecting virtually all organs that can be in contact with external environment i.e. respiratory, skin, digestive and gyneco urinary and can culminate in systemic anaphylactic shock with more or less serious haemodynamic consequences. IgE antibody are the cornerstone of Type I hypersensitivity causing diseases such as Asthma, Hay Fever, Eczema, Urticaria, food allergies and anaphylaxis. IgE are both circulating and anchored to FcεRI expressed at the surface of mast cells, basophils, eosinophils, monocytes, macrophages and
Langerhans cells. Allergen induced cross-linking of IgE anchored to FcεRI on tissue mast cells elicit a cascade of events liberating histamine and multiple cytokines that contribute to both amplification of the reaction by recruiting circulating basophils also armed with IgE anchored to FcεRI. While these events have been characterized in great details, the simple question as to why any given protein that for most individuals is harmless becomes a potentially lethal allergen for others remains unanswered. The work presented here explains that the initial trigger of IgE production stems not from known allergens but from minute amount of variants translated from mRNA with frame shift caused by transcriptional errors.


A multi-layer cylinder head gasket providing improved sealing performance, stability, and a more rigid joint between two components is provided. The gasket includes a plurality of functional layers each including a full bead located between an inner edge and outer edge and surrounding a combustion chamber opening. A stopper is disposed between the functional layers and is located radially between the combustion chamber opening and the full bead. A coating material is applied to at least one surface of at least one functional layer and extends along a majority of the length of the functional layer. To achieve the improved performance, a region along the surface located between the inner edge and the full bead remains uncoated, or includes a reduced amount of the coating material. Alternatively, the stopper can be located between the combustion chamber opening and the inner edges of the functional layers to provide the uncoated region.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to gaskets for providing a seal between two components, and more particularly to multi-layer gaskets, such as cylinder head gaskets.
2. Related Art
Cylinder head gaskets, particularly multi-layered gaskets, are commonly used in vehicle engines. The gaskets form a seal between mating components of the engine, particularly around cylinder bores presenting combustion chamber openings, in order to prevent leakage of combustion gases and engine fluids. Cylinder head gaskets typically extend circumferentially around the cylinder bores and are positioned between an engine block and a cylinder head.
Such cylinder head gaskets are commonly formed of multiple layers of a metal material, such as stainless steel, and typically have one or more sealing beads spaced annularly around the combustion chamber opening, or another opening or edge, to facilitate a tight seal between the engine block and cylinder head. The multi-layered gaskets can also have a stopper for controlling compression or adjusting the load on the beads. The metal layers are typically coated with a coating material to assist in sealing the metal layers together and preventing fluid or gas leaks between the engine block and cylinder head. Without the coating material, a higher load would be necessary to seal the layers. The coating material also fills any imperfections in the surfaces of the layers.
It has been found, however, that such coating materials can cause instability between the cylinder head and engine block due to compression, recovery, and wear of the coating material. Over time, the coating material, which is not as hard or durable as the metal layers, can soften. The coating material can also extrude under high pressures causing misalignment.


A wafer having an SOI configuration and active regions having different surface orientations for different channel type transistors. In one example, semiconductor structures having a first surface orientation are formed on a donor wafer. Semiconductor structures having a second surface orientation are formed on a second wafer. Receptor openings are formed on the second wafer. The semiconductor structures having the first surface orientation are located in the receptor openings and transferred to the second wafer. The resultant wafer has semiconductor regions having a first surface orientation for a first channel type of transistor and semiconductor regions having a second surface orientation for a second channel type transistor.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to semiconductor devices and more particularly to devices implemented with semiconductor on insulator (SOI) technology.
2. Description of the Related Art
The surface orientation of a semiconductor material is descriptive of the lattice orientation of the material at the surface of the material. With some semiconductor circuits, it may be desirable to implement the P-channel transistors and N-channel transistors in semiconductor active regions having different surface orientations. For example, some N-channel transistors have a relatively higher electron mobility in silicon having a surface orientation (100) as opposed to the electron mobility of an N-channel transistor in silicon with a surface orientation (110). On the other hand, some P-channel transistors will have a higher hole mobility with their channels being implemented in silicon having a surface orientation (110) as opposed to silicon having a surface orientation (100).
Prior semiconductor devices have had semiconductor on insulator (SOI) configurations where the active semiconductor area for the N-channel transistors has a surface orientation of (100) and the active semiconductor area for the P-channel transistors has a surface orientation of (110). The different surface orientations are formed by removing areas of the active silicon layer having a first orientation (e.g. (100)) and removing the underlying oxide in those areas to expose a silicon substrate having a second surface orientation (e.g. (110)). Silicon is selectively expitaxially grown in the exposed areas such that the expitaxially grown silicon has the same surface orientation as the substrate. Oxygen is then implanted into the epitaxially grown silicon (and the wafer subsequently annealed) to form an insulator layer between the epitaxially grown silicon and the substrate. However, the selectively epitaxially grown silicon may include defects in the subsequently epitaxially grown silicon active layer e.g. at a boundary of the epitaxially grown silicon. Also, maintaining a clean surface on which to selectively grow the epitaxial silicon may be difficult due to different materials on the wafer and their pattern densities. Also, selective epitaxially grown silicon processes may lead to non epitaxial silicon growth on unwanted areas (e.g. on dielectrics). Furthermore, the insulator formation in the epitaxially grown silicon may generate defects in the epitaxially grown silicon active layer.
What is desirable is an improved process for forming a semiconductor device having an SOI configuration with active layers having different surface orientations.
The use of the same reference symbols in different drawings indicates identical items unless otherwise noted. The features shown in the Figures are not necessarily drawn to scale.

SOI active layer with different surface orientation


A bingo table game includes a table with a playing surface that evokes the appearance of a table for playing craps. Players grouped around the table purchase bingo cards by placing chips in designated regions of the playing surface. Both a Primary Bingo Game card and Interim Bingo Game cards can be purchased or activated by placing chips in their corresponding regions. Cube-shaped bingo balls are randomly selected and rolled onto the playing surface by a blower mechanism to imitate a dice roll. The bingo indicium on each bingo ball is called out as it completes its roll. Players daub any indicia on their bingo cards that match the indicium on the ball. Interim games can be won on each “roll” of a bingo ball by a single match and daub, and payouts for that interim game can be paid to winning players after each roll. This continues until one or more players wins the Primary Bingo Game, whereupon chips remaining in the Interim Bingo Game regions are retained by the house and chips in the primary game region are awarded to the winner of the Primary Bingo Game.

The game of bingo traditionally is played by a plurality of players, each of whom holds a card bearing numbers arranged in a 5 by 5 matrix with the letters BINGO heading respective columns of numbers. A bingo game caller draws bingo balls randomly generated by a bingo blower, each bingo ball being printed with a combination of a letter and a number. For example, a bingo ball may be printed with the designation "B-8" corresponding to a number 8 in the B column of the matrix or "O-74" corresponding to the number 74 in the O column of the matrix. If a drawn combination of column and number appears on a player's bingo card, then the player covers the number on his or her card.
A bingo game is won, i.e. a "BINGO" is obtained, by the first person or persons covering a pre-designated pattern of numbers on his or her bingo card. There are a large number of possible patterns that can be designated as winning patterns, but most fall within the categories of static patterns (patterns that cannot be rotated or shifted), crazy patterns (patterns that can be rotated by 90, 180, or 270 degrees), or wild patterns (patterns that are fixed but can be shifted up and down or sided to side). For example, a wild pattern comprising a line of covered numbers across a bingo card may be designated as a winning pattern. The first player to obtain a line of covered numbers across any of the five rows of his or her bingo card may declare "BINGO" and win the game. Alternatively, a pattern of one covered number in the left column and one in the right column of a bingo card or simply a number in one designated column may be designated as a winning pattern. Any one or more of the very large number of possible patterns may be designated as a winning pattern including, for instance, happy faces, airplanes, diagonal lines, letters of the alphabet, around the corners, and so on.
In many states, traditional bingo and other games similar to bingo, which satisfy particular legal requirements, may be played for charitable purposes as well as in Native American gaming establishments on Native American land placed into trust for gaming by the Department of Interior, or on a Native American Tribe's reservation. These are sometimes referred to as Native American casinos. High stakes bingo has evolved over the years within Native American gaming facilities as Class II gaming where Class III gaming is prohibited. Such high stakes bingo has received considerable attention in recent years, and many Native American Tribes have invested in high end casino-like facilities where Class II bingo and other Class II games such as pull-tabs and electronic bingo can be played. Although traditional high stakes bingo has grown in popularity over the years, it typically requires a lot of space and a relatively large number of players to be economically feasible. Further, high stakes bingo has generally remained quite traditional and basic, lacking not only the excitement of Vegas-style gaming but also the intimacy and fast action of electronic gaming and traditional table games such as blackjack, poker, roulette and craps.
Variations in the game of bingo have been offered in the past in attempts to increase the excitement of play while striving to comply with the basic legal requirements for permissible bingo games. Some of these variations have attempted to adapt bingo to table play, with hopes of capturing the intimacy and excitement of traditional table games. One such form of bingo, generally known as "fast action" bingo and sometimes referred to as "lightning" or "bullet" bingo, while differing from traditional bingo by using a limited group of numbers (and in some cases three numbers), are nevertheless labor intensive and require large numbers of players to be financially successful, both for the players and for the bingo game operator.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,823,534 of Banyai discloses a bingo table game including a table having player stations arrayed around the table. Players sit around the table in an intimate group. The game permits each player to select a set of numbers to be matched during play by randomly drawn numbers on bingo balls. The selection may include a wild designation, which each player may deem to match one of his or her selected numbers. A dealer or caller draws random numbers printed on bingo balls and a "bingo" occurs whenever a player has matched all of his or her selected numbers to a set of randomly drawn numbers. The game is permitted to progress at multiple levels of play notwithstanding the occurrence of prior bingos in the game being played. While the bingo table game of Banyai may be a step in the right direction, it nevertheless remains quite simplified and still does not provide players with the more exciting experience of playing a Vegas-style betting game.
A need therefore persists for a Class II bingo table game and a method of playing bingo that supplies players with the excitement, intimacy, and enjoyment of playing a Vegas-style Class III casino game while complying with the legal definitions of Class II Bingo. It is to the provision of such a table game and method that the present invention is primarily directed.

Bingo table game and method of playing bingo


A pry bar (16) of the type used to move objects through the application of leverage includes a shaft (22) having a roughened surface (24) to increase its coefficient of friction. The roughened surface (24) may extend over an elbowed (28) transition and at least partially over the tip (18). A slip cover (30) is moveably disposed along the shaft (22) into a selective intervening position covering the roughened surface (24) to protect delicate fulcrum points from the roughened surface (24). The slip cover (30) preferably includes a resilient, cantilevered tongue (34) for covering the elbow (28) and a portion of the tip (18). In an alternative embodiment, the slip cover (230, 330) is fitted with a supplemental journaling member (240, 340). In one specific embodiment, the supplemental journaling member (340) includes a roller wheel (346) to provide a rolling interface at the fulcrum point.

1. Field of the Invention
The subject invention relates to pry bars and other types of levering devices used to move stubborn objects and to pry where leverage is needed, and more particularly toward an improved pry bar incorporating strategically roughened surfaces to prevent slippage at the fulcrum point.
2. Related Art
Pry bars are tools, usually made of steel, used to lift and move heavy objects and to pry where leverage is needed. They can also be used to remove nails and spikes if so fitted. The most commonly used types of pry bars include the wrecking bar, crow bar, pinch bar and alignment bar. These pry bar tools typically range from 12 inches to 72 inches in length, depending upon their design and the purpose for which they are used. However, other lengths and configurations may be desirable depending upon the application.
Typically, the pry bar is used by wedging a tip, or working end thereof under the object to be moved. An intermediate surface on the shaft is brought to rest against a stable purchase, which acts as a fulcrum. The user grasps a far, handled end and exerts as much force as needed to move the object. Sometimes, a very large amount of force is needed.
It is often the case that, while force is being exerted to the handle portion of a pry bar, the fulcrum slips from its perch, resulting in an abrupt, unexpected shifting of the handle portion of the pry bar. When this occurs, the user's hand can be inadvertently smashed into a surrounding structure causing injury. Accordingly, there is a long-felt yet unsolved need in this field for a pry bar tool which is less prone to slippage at the fulcrum point when in use.


The optical adapter includes a first housing 3, a second housing 5, and a sleeve 7. The first housing 3 includes a connector holding part 31, a first holder portion 33, an alignment part 35, and coupling portions 36. The first holder portion 33 is integrally formed with the connector holding part 31. The alignment part 35 includes an alignment part main body 351, a second holder portion 352 integrally formed with the alignment part main body 351, and a plurality of guide portions 352, 354, and 355, integrally formed with the alignment part main body 351. Protrusion-shaped coupling portions 36 for coupling the connector holding part 31 and the alignment part 35 are integrally formed with one of the connector holding part 31 and the alignment part main body 35.

Conventionally, there has been proposed an optical adapter comprising a first housing, a second housing, and a sleeve holder assembly (see Patent Literature 1).
The first housing is substantially hollow prism-shaped, and includes a pair of guides. The pair of guides are each long plate-shaped, and extend parallel to each other in the same direction.
The second housing is substantially rectangular parallelepiped-shaped. The second housing has a central portion formed with a hole for accommodating a split sleeve, one holder of the sleeve holder assembly, and a ferrule of one optical connector. Further, the second housing has opposite side surfaces formed with a pair of guide grooves for guiding the pair of guides of the first housing.
The sleeve holder assembly comprises a pair of sleeve holders and the split sleeve.
The pair of sleeve holders each have the same shape, but are assembled to each other such that one is inverted from the other. Each sleeve holder has a holder and a supporter. The holder holds the split sleeve. The supporter has a substantially rectangular shape, and is integrally formed with the holder.
To assemble this optical adapter, the split sleeve is held by the pair of sleeve holders, and then the sleeve holder assembly is assembled by engaging the sleeve holders with each other.
Next, the sleeve holder assembly is fitted into an opening of the first housing. As a result, the one sleeve holder of the sleeve holder assembly is accommodated in the first housing, and the other sleeve holder of the sleeve holder assembly protrudes out of the first housing.
To optically connect the optical connectors with each other using this optical adapter, first, the optical connectors are fitted to the first housing and the second housing, respectively. At this time, a ferrule of the first optical connector is inserted into the one sleeve holder of the sleeve holder assembly mounted to the first housing.
Next, the first housing and the second housing are fitted to each other. At this time, the guides of the first housing are guided by the guide grooves of the second housing, respectively, whereby fitting the first housing and the second housing to each other is normally performed.
When the first housing and the second housing are fitted to each other, a ferrule of the second optical connector connected to the second housing is inserted into the other sleeve holder of the sleeve holder assembly, and is brought into abutment with the ferrule of the first optical connector. As a result, both of the optical connectors are optically connected.

Japan Aviation Electronics Industry, Limited


An electrode constituted of: a fixture arranged for connection to a frame; and a probe exhibiting a closed face and a generally conically shaped protrusion extending longitudinally from the closed face towards an apex, the probe in communication with the fixture, wherein the fixture is arranged to allow the probe to travel in a generally unrestricted manner exclusively along a longitudinal axis of the probe, wherein the generally conically shaped protrusion is arranged such that when the closed face is in contact with a skin surface, the generally conically shaped protrusion penetrates an outer layer of the skin surface responsive to the weight of the probe and is in electrical contact with an inner portion of the penetrated skin surface, and wherein a portion of the closed face, surrounding the generally conically shaped protrusion, is arranged to be in electrical contact with the outer skin layer.

Medical practice shows that points in the skin of the human body exhibiting low electrical impedance are consonant with the location of pain sensation, and that providing electrical stimulation to those points can reduce the pain sensation temporarily. Moreover, if electrical stimulation is applied in a plurality of sessions over several days, the pain sensation can be reduced for long periods of time. Several devices and methods have been introduced for localizing the points exhibiting low impedance, and applying electrical stimulation thereto. One device is the Pointer Excel II Device, manufactured by TENS PLUS Industrial Company of Kwun Tong, Hong Kong, which consists of an apparatus comprising a probe for exploring the desired area of the body of the patient and searching for points exhibiting reduced impedance. When one such point is identified, the same apparatus is used to stimulate the point exhibiting low impedance using electrical currents. The electrode used for finding the points and providing the electrical stimulation consists of a metal rod with one end mechanically and electrically attached to the body of the apparatus and the other end having a round, ball-like termination that is pressed to the skin. It is well known that for this class of electrodes the amount of force applied to the skin during the low impedance detection phase affects the impedance measurement and consequently, for good results, the device must be operated by an individual skilled in finding points exhibiting low impedance. When used by an individual who is not sufficiently skilled, the device may not identify points exhibiting low impedance. Alternatively, a point that does not exhibit low impedance may be identified as exhibiting low impedance and electrical stimulation may be inappropriately applied without causing the desired effect.
An alternative device has been introduced, containing a plurality of sharp metal points or needles that are mounted on a flexible pad and applied to the skin with the sharp edges applying force on the skin and the other end mechanically supported by the flexible pad. An end of the pad is electrically connected to an electronic circuit that probes each needle, one at a time, determines if the point of the skin juxtaposed with the needle exhibits low impedance and, in the event that the point exhibits low impedance, applies electrical stimulation to that point. Unfortunately, because the needles are probed individually, the force applied to the skin by the plurality of needles may not be uniform and consequently the resulting impedance measurement is not reliable. Moreover, the sharp points have a reduced area for electrical connectivity with the skin, thereby complicating the supply of the relatively large voltage required for the electrical stimulation.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/301,464, filed Nov. 19, 2008 to Naroditsky, the entire contents of which are incorporated herein by reference, describes a device wherein a plurality of electrodes in the form of metal rods are mechanically positioned in at least one array. The rods can move freely in a longitudinal direction such that when the device is juxtaposed with the skin the electrodes advance onto the skin thereby applying force depending solely on the weight of the electrode. If all the electrodes have the same weight, the force will be uniform. In this configuration, one end of the electrode applies force to the skin while the other end of the electrode is electrically connected to an electronics circuit that can probe each electrode and determine if the area of the skin juxtaposed with the particular electrode exhibits a low impedance, and in the event that the area of the skin exhibits low impedance, apply electrical stimulation to the area of skin via the electrode. Unfortunately, the electrodes measure the impedance of the outer layer of the skin which exhibits relatively high impedance. Thus, the high impedance of the outer layer of the skin may interfere with the measurement of the low impedance of the inner layers of the skin.
A technical paper titled "Mapping Acupuncture Points Using Multi-channel Device" by G. Kwok, M. Cohen and I. Cosic, describes a device wherein each electrode is a small diameter metallic pin which can penetrate the outer layer of the skin and thus measure the impedance of the inner layers of the skin. Disadvantageously, the penetration is performed in an uncontrolled manner which can cause inconsistencies in the impedance measurement. Additionally, due to their small size, a disposable device cannot be attached to the pins.

Electrode for finding points of low impedance and applying electrical stimulation thereto


A magnet assembly for a plasma process chamber has a hollow collar comprising a cross-section that is absent seams. The hollow collar has an open end face and a cap is provided to seal the open end face of the collar. A plurality of magnets are in the hollow collar, the magnets being insertable through the open end face. The collar is capable of being snap fitted onto the chamber wall. The magnet assembly can also comprise one or more of the collars such that the collars, when installed, form a substantially continuous ring about a chamber wall.

An aspect of the present invention relates to a magnet assembly for a plasma process chamber.
In the fabrication of integrated circuits (ICs) and displays, a number of processes are performed on a substrate in a plasma process chamber, including the deposition and etching of layers on the substrate. Typically, the process chamber comprises a substrate support, a gas distributor, a gas energizer to form a plasma from gas, and a gas exhaust. In such chamber, a magnet assembly can also be used to generate a magnetic field about a substrate processing zone in the chamber, to for example, limit the passage of charged plasma species into an exhaust port that is part of the gas exhaust, or to control the distribution or movement of plasma species across the substrate surface. The magnet assembly is typically positioned about the chamber, for example, on a wall around the substrate support such as an external chamber wall or liner.
One type of magnet assembly comprises a housing holding a number of magnets, as described in commonly assigned U.S. patent publication No. U.S.-2003-0192646-A, filing on Apr. 12, 2002, entitled "Plasma Processing Chamber Having Magnet assembly and Method," which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety. The housing is U-shaped to fit around a number of magnets, and is sealed by a cover plate that is welded along the open edges of the U-shaped housing. However, such magnet assemblies can be unreliable during operation. The weld seam of the housing often develops microcracks or holes with thermal cycling in the chamber, and the plasma in the chamber permeates through these holes and cracks to degrade the housing and magnets. This can have undesirable effects on the substrate being processed and the ability of the magnet assembly to contain the plasma.
Magnet assembly housings sealed by a cover plate can also be difficult to fabricate or assemble. Welding the cover plate typically involves subjecting the magnet assembly contained in the housing to high temperatures that can demagnetize or thermally degrade the magnets. It is also difficult to maintain the magnets aligned in the housing while the cover plate is being welded on to the housing. Often, some of the magnets become misaligned during assembly and this results in the magnet assembly providing an undesirable magnetic field distribution.
Furthermore, when the assembled housing is subjected to an anodizing treatment to form a protective anodization layer on the housing, the anodizing treatment material can permeate thorough any fine microcracks or holes in the weld seam to enter into the housing. The magnets can be eroded or otherwise degraded by the anodization treatment material. Also, during chamber processing, the trapped anodization material can vaporize to outgas into the vacuum environment of the chamber, affecting the substrate process.
Thus, it is desirable to have a magnet assembly that is more resistant to plasma erosion. It is further desirable to have a magnet assembly that allows easier assembly and alignment of the magnets in the housing without damaging their magnetic properties.


According to one embodiment, there is provided an aviation weather control system including: a processing unit configured to receive weather information of an area to be overseen including a vertically integrated liquid water content, and specify a weather phenomenon affecting an airplane based on the received weather information; and a notification unit configured to notify the weather phenomenon specified by the processing unit.

Recent years have seen the frequent occurrence of torrential rain known as "guerrilla rainstorms." Sudden weather phenomena such as torrential rain may affect the operation of airplanes. It is therefore necessary for the air traffic controller to know about such sudden weather phenomena and accurately know the airplane affected by those weather phenomenon. On the other hand, it is difficult to predict such sudden weather phenomena, and it is necessary to accumulate knowledge and experience in order to instantaneously determine whether or not an airplane preparing for take-off and landing will be affected by such weather phenomena. There is thus a need for a system that can determine the airplane requiring attention without the need to depend on prior experience or place a burden upon the controller.

Toshiba Infrastructure Systems & Solutions Corporation


Disclosed herein, in certain embodiments, are methods, devices, and systems for dispensing bandages comprising: a dispenser body defining an interior compartment with an open or partially open top and comprising a front wall with an exposed upper edge and at least one interior compartment divider; at least one bandage pack disposed in the interior compartment, wherein the bandage pack comprises at least one individually wrapped bandage; and at least one retaining clip, wherein the clip retains a bandage pack in the dispenser body.

Medical emergencies pose a serious and prevalent threat to society. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), Americans suffered 29.6 million non-fatal injuries in 2009. Over 2 million of these non-fatal injuries were cuts or punctures. Emergency departments in the United States average approximately 400 visits for each 1000 people every year. The CDC further reports that injuries in the home result in about 30% of all injury-related emergency department visits. The National Institutes of Health and the Mayo Clinic recommend immediately covering wounds such as cuts, scrapes, and punctures with a sterile bandage.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Methods, devices, and systems for providing increased access to first aid supplies


Methods, systems, and computer-readable media are provided for generating and outputting medical billing data. Data is captured by pervasive devices before, during, and after a patient encounter with a healthcare provider. Any unstructured data is transformed into usable structured data, and determinations, such as a service provided by the healthcare provider, are made based on that data as well as other stored data. Based on those determinations, billing data for billing claims related to the patient visit is generated and outputted to a payer of the claims. The billing data may include a medical code that is predicted by a billing model. Billing models may be created from data captured by the pervasive devices from patient visits and data in external data stores, such as electronic health records.

It is often more beneficial to have data in a structured and possibly coded format within electronic health records (EHRs). Structured clinical data captured from healthcare providers is critical to fully realize the potential of health information technology systems. This is largely because structured clinical data can be manipulated, read, understood, and analyzed more easily than unstructured data. Further, medical records that are not organized and complete can lead to frustration and, possibly, misinformation.
Current methods for capturing and/or creating structured clinical data require significant effort and time with associated costs. Such methods include direct manual entry of information into structured data fields in a document, such as a table or a form. Manual entry is laborious and often impractical. Another current method is using dictation system in which a healthcare provider speaks into a dictation machine that outputs the text, often as free text, or a system in which unstructured data is converted to structured data using optical character recognition or mark sense forms. Yet another method is to use keyword and template based documentation systems that try to optimize between structured inputs and freeform entry. Historically, these methods have not proven to be extremely effective and result in limited user satisfaction.
Having correct and updated data derived from a patient visit is essential for several reasons, including being able to provide an efficient and effective billing system. Currently, various medical codes, such as Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes, are used in billing systems. The CPT code set is a medical code set maintained by the American Medical Association that describes medical, surgical, and diagnostic services and is designed to communicate uniform information about medical services and procedures among physicians, coders, patients, accreditation organizations, and payers. CPT coding identifies services provided and is used by insurers to determine the amount of reimbursement that a practitioner will receive when he or she performs that service. Current methods for capturing and/or creating information needed for billing purposes, including CPT codes, generally requires converting unstructured data into structure data, which, as previously mentioned, traditionally requires significant effort and time with associated costs.
Even where unstructured data can quickly and accurately be converted to structured data, there are inefficiencies in obtaining the unstructured and structured data in the first place. For example, before, during or after an examination or other interaction between a healthcare provider and a patient, the healthcare provider may need to manually type or otherwise enter data into a database. Or, the provider may need to dictate notes into a dictation machine, which creates free-text output that must be converted into structured data. Also adding to the time-consuming nature of this process are documentation guidelines implemented by payers. Though the goal of these guidelines is to ensure appropriate payment for services and avoid fraud and abuse, following them may add additional steps in the recording process. These additional steps to create and/or record structured and unstructured data for the patient record require extra time and effort by the healthcare provider and his or her staff. For example, providers are seeing fewer patients and spending more time to adhere to documentation guidelines from payers. There is currently no system for automated monitoring of healthcare provider-patient interactions and generation of structured data for billing claims.

Systems and methods for capturing data, creating billable information and outputting billable information


A wear bushing for a casing hanger mounts to the bore of a casing hanger before the casing hanger is lowered into the well. The running tool for running the casing connects to the wear bushing. The wear bushing has a setting ring that connects to the seal for the casing hanger. The running tool has a setting sleeve that connects to the setting ring. The running tool will release from the wear bushing and the setting ring after the casing has been cemented and the seal set.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to drilling equipment for use in a subsea wellhead, and in particular to a wear bushing which locates on a casing hanger for protecting the casing hanger during drilling operations.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In one type of offshore drilling, the drilling crew will locate a subsea wellhead housing on the sea floor. A riser will extend to a floating drilling vessel at the surface of the water. The drilling crew will lower drill pipe through the riser and wellhead housing to drill the well to a first selected depth.
Then, the drilling crew will lower a string of casing into the well with a casing hanger located at the top of the string. The casing hanger will land in the wellhead housing. The drilling crew pumps cement down the drill pipe, which flows back up the annulus surrounding the casing, cementing the casing string in the well. The drilling crew will than lower the drill pipe with a drill bit on the end for drilling the well to a next selected depth, at a lesser diameter than the upper portion of the well.
Once that depth has been reached, the drilling crew will lower a second and smaller diameter casing string into the first casing string. The drilling crew will land this second casing hanger above the first casing hanger and cement the second casing string in the well.
While the drilling crew drills through casing, there is a possibility that the drill pipe will damage the bore of the casing hanger. It is important to keep the bore of the casing hanger protected for receiving the seals of other equipment, such as a casing hanger or a tubing hanger.
In the prior art, after the casing hanger and casing string are cemented in the well, the drilling crew will lower a wear bushing on drill pipe into the bore of the casing hanger. Once secured in place, the drilling crew retrieves the running tool, then lowers the drill pipe with the drill bit on the lower end for drilling. The wear bushing protects the bore of the casing hanger.
While this is workable, running the wear bushing in a second trip after the casing hanger has been cemented requires additional time. The time could be extensive if the drilling is occurring in deep seas.


A video encoding/decoding apparatus includes an encoding unit which processes video data to be transmitted in unit of slice, a multiplexer/demultiplexer which multiplexes the video data from the encoding unit and de-multiplexes video data received through a communication channel, a decoding unit which processes video data from the multiplexer/demultiplexer in unit of slice. The video information delay is reduced less than or equal to the audio information delay such that there is no need for additional memory to delay the audio information so as to synchronize with the video information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a multimedia communication terminal and, more particularly, to an improved video encoding/decoding apparatus and method for the multimedia communication terminal.
2. Background of the Related Art
Recently, the development and commercialization of IMT-2000 services multimedia handsets for simultaneously transmitting audio and video information through wired or wireless channels has increased.
In a multiplexed transmission system, the audio and video information should be encoded to maintain balance of the audio and video information. However, video information occupies a large amount of the whole data set to be transmitted, in comparison with audio information. Typically, the audio and video information is separately coded and transmitted through separate channels. Also, there is a method using one transmission channel for both the audio and video information. In this case, the encoding/decoding algorithm becomes complex for calculating the video information delay time which is used to synchronize the audio and video information.
Generally, the end-to-end delay of the video information in multimedia communication is 200˜400 ms (total allowable delay is 400 ms in H.324 and 3G-324
Generally, the end-to-end delay of the video information in multimedia communication is 200˜400 ms (total allowable delay is 400 ms in H.324 and 3G-324 standards). This delay time causes the video to appear choppy and also is much greater than that of the audio information, which is 30˜60 ms. The delay difference between the video information and the audio information contributes to the degradation of the multimedia communication quality. Accordingly, to synchronize the video information with the audio information, the audio information should be delayed as much as the delay difference between the audio and video information. In order to delay the audio information as much as the delay difference, a memory buffer is required for temporary storing the audio information, and the greater the delay difference is, the greater the memory buffer size required. The total delay can be divided into a propagation delay and a processing delay caused at the codec. However, since the delay caused by the channel is relatively stationary, it is critical to reduce the processing delay caused at the codec.
In the related art video codec, which may be implemented in hardware as well as software, the video information delay includes a processing delay of about 200˜400 ms. Even though these delay levels satisfy the H.321 and the 3G-324 standard recommendations, choppy movement on the motion picture caused by the delay makes users feel uncomfortable and adversely affects picture quality. Also, since the difference between the video and audio delays is great and varies, it is difficult to precisely synchronize the audio information with the video information.
Furthermore, in the related art codec, since the audio information should be stored so as to be synchronized with the video information which is much delayed, the need for additional memory resources for storing the audio information is an inevitable design consequence.


A method for synchronizing a local reference frequency in a mobile station includes measuring a current ambient condition of the mobile station and using stored data indicating variance of the local reference frequency with known ambient conditions to determine the method by which the local reference frequency is synchronized.

This application claims priority under 35 U.S.C. xc2xa7xc2xa7119 and/or 365 to 9921978.4 filed in the United Kingdom on Sep. 16, 1999; the entire content of which is hereby incorporated by reference.
The present invention relates to communication systems and in particular to radio frequency communication systems in which mobile stations communicate with base stations.
In a communication system including base stations and mobile stations which communicate with the base stations, the mobile stations include reference oscillators which are used to decode received transmissions from base stations and to transmit signals to the base stations. The mobile station reference oscillator provides a local frequency to the mobile station which, in theory, should be synchronised with and equal to the network frequency. However, due to inaccuracies in the crystal oscillators usually used in mobile stations, it is necessary for the mobile station to adjust its local frequency so that it is synchronised with the network frequency. Conventionally, complex algorithms are used which can operate only with high signal to noise ratios of the input network signal. The main cause of oscillator instability is temperature change and so temperature compensated high accuracy crystal oscillators can be provided. However, such a solution is considered to be expensive.
In addition to initial frequency synchronisation, a synchronised mobile station must update its local frequency to the network frequency because of the variance of local reference frequency with temperature.
Whilst the mobile station is in an active mode and is communicating with the base station, the mobile station has constant access to frequency and time reference information from the network, and can use this to make the required adjustments to local frequency. However, when a mobile station is in an idle mode, access to network information is limited. In an idle mode, the mobile station will occasionally be activated in order to receive paging signals from the network. In order to preserve battery power, the mobile station must only become active for a short amount of time. It is therefore necessary that the frequency and time reference estimation is carried out in a short amount of time. However, large estimation errors can occur when large variations of frequencies combine with low signal to noise ratios and short estimation periods.
In the proposed IMT 2000 system based on a wide band code division multiple access (W-CDMA) system-time boundary reference synchronization is required. Synchronizing to a time reference is dependent upon the accuracy of the local crystal frequency, and so a mobile station initially synchronises to the network by looking for a symbol, the so-called long code mask symbol (LCMS) which is transmitted in the broadcast channel (BCCH). The received signal is filtered by matched filters and peaks in the output of those filters provide the location of the LCMS. However, if the local oscillator crystal is inaccurate, for example xc2x110 ppm, the frequency deviation between the local crystal and the reference can be up to plus or minus 20 kHz. This is due to the carrier frequency being 2 GHz. Since the symbol rate in the BCCH is 16 kHz the symbol rotates 450xc2x0 (360xc2x0xc3x9710 ppmxc3x972 GHz/16 kHz) within the symbol duration. Such large rotation results in severe loss of the signal energy at the peaks of the matched filters output. Thus, the LCMS is divided to a number of sequences, for example 4, which are searched separately and the results of the match filters are non-coherently summed. Splitting the LCMS in this way reduces the symbol rotation for that portion of the LCMS. However, dividing the LCMS into four segments can also deteriorate the signal to noise ratio and can cause problems when detecting the full LCMS. The wideband CDMA specification (3rd Generation partnership Project (3 GPP) document TS25.201, V2.1.0) describes this system in more detail.
In an example of frequency synchronization, the global system for mobile communications (GSM) system transmits synchronisation information from base stations to mobile stations in terms of a frequency correction burst (FCB) and synchronisation burst (SB). The FCB consists of a pure sinusoid which needs to be detected, and which a mobile station uses to obtain rough time synchronisation to the network as well as to adjust the local frequency reference. The SB is transmitted 8 bursts after the FCB and so detection of the FCB enables the position of the SB to be determined. The FCB can also be used to provide a coarse adjustment of the reference frequency, while the SB is used for fine adjustment. This method is used in the GSM system, a description of which can be found in xe2x80x9cThe GSM system for mobile communicationsxe2x80x9d, by Mouly and Pautet.
There are a number of algorithms used for initial synchronisation of a mobile station to a GSM network.
Since the FCB is a pure sinusoid, a frequency selective filter is usually used to suppress the noise outside the frequency zone of interest in order to improve the signal to noise ratio. This improvement depends on the bandpass of the filter. The narrower the bandpass, the better the signal to noise ratio. The inaccuracy of the local crystal (for example 10 ppm) however can effect the frequency of the received FCB. This frequency can be interpreted with the deviation of +/xe2x88x929 KHz if the carrier frequency is 900 MHz. Hence the cut off frequency of the filter should be greater than 9 kHz. In a case of a carrier frequency of 1800 MHz or 1900 MHz, in the GSM 1800 and 1900 systems, the cutoff frequency of the filter would need to increase to 18 or 19 KHz. The limitation of the cut off frequency due to the inaccuracy of the crystal oscillator therefore reduces the improvement of signal to noise ratio and hence reduces the likelihood of fast synchronisation.
It is therefore desirable to provide an apparatus in which synchronisation of the local reference frequency to the network frequency can be achieved quickly and with minimum power consumption.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for synchronising a local reference frequency in a mobile station, the method including measuring a current ambient condition of the mobile station and using stored data indicating variance of the local reference frequency with known ambient conditions to determine the method by which the local reference frequency is synchronised.
According to another aspect of the present invention, there is provided an apparatus for communicating with a wireless network having a network reference frequency, the apparatus comprising a local oscillator for producing a signal having a local reference frequency, a storage device for storing data indicating the variance of the local reference frequency with changes in a known ambient condition of the apparatus, control means for adjusting the local frequency, and measurement means for measuring the ambient condition of the apparatus and supplying that measurement to the control means, wherein the control means is operable to retrieve data stored in the storage device which is indicated by the received measurement, and to adjust the local reference frequency in accordance with an adjustment method determined by the retrieved data.

Method and apparatus for synchronizing a local reference frequency in a communication systems


A vehicle subframe attached to a vehicle body includes a first side member and a second side member that extend in a front-rear direction of a vehicle body and are arranged to be opposed to each other in a width direction of the vehicle body, a cross member that is arranged to extend in the width direction and couples the first side member and the second side member to each other, and a coupling member that is arranged to extend in the width direction to be apart from the cross member toward a rear side of the vehicle body and couples the first side member and the second side member to each other.

The present invention relates to a vehicle subframe and particularly relates to a vehicle subframe that supports components such as a driving source and a chassis, including various accessories, and is attached to a vehicle such as an automobile.
In recent years, a subframe attached to a vehicle such as an automobile is expected to be deformed in a desired deformation mode, that is, to exhibit a required collision performance typically in frontal collision of the vehicle to which the subframe is attached, in order to absorb a part of a kinetic energy applied to the vehicle in the collision, considering a portion where that deformation is actively allowed and a portion where that deformation is not allowed.
Further, various external-force application parts are attached to such a subframe, which include a driving source such as an internal combustion engine and an electric motor, driving-source-related parts, suspension-related parts such as a suspension arm and a stabilizer, steering-related parts such as a steering gear box, and a mount-related parts for an engine and transmission system.
Therefore, such a subframe is expected to be attached to a body of the vehicle, while the productivity or the like is improved and the strength and the rigidity are further increased.
Under such circumstances, European Patent Application Publication No. 2477875 relates to an automobile subframe, is directed to achieving an inexpensive and lightweight subframe having mechanical characteristics suitable during driving and at the time of collision, and discloses a configuration including two longitudinal members 11 and a single-shell stiffener 13 that extends between a cross member 12 and the longitudinal members 11. The stiffener 13 includes two longitudinal struts 20 and two transverse struts 21 that form an outer frame having a rectangular shape. The two longitudinal struts 20 each have a predetermined bending point 26.


Provided is a backlight unit (49) which includes a plurality of LEDs (11). The LEDs (11) are two-dimensionally disposed, thereby having the collection of light emitted from the LEDs (11) in a state of planar light. Furthermore, the backlight unit (49) has the planar light divided into a plurality of sections, and includes a luminance variable system (for instance, a system having disposition which a difference in the density of LEDs (11)), which can change luminance, corresponding to each section.

A liquid crystal display apparatus (display apparatus) that incorporates a non-luminous liquid crystal display panel (display panel) commonly also incorporates a backlight unit (illuminating apparatus) that supplies light to the liquid crystal display panel. As light sources for use in backlight units, there are many kinds. For example, the backlight unit disclosed in Patent Document 1 listed below employs an LED (light-emitting diode) as a backlight.
In the backlight unit disclosed in Patent Document 1, as shown in FIG. 31, a plurality of LEDs (point light sources) 111 are in a matrix-like lattice arrangement at equal intervals, and the light emitted from them is mixed to produce planar light (in a plan view like FIG. 31, no planar light is illustrated; it should still be interpreted that planar light having a shape similar to the shape around the edge of the group of LEDs 111 in a lattice arrangement is produced). The produced planar light is supplied to the entire surface of a liquid crystal display panel.

Illuminating apparatus and display apparatus


This invention discloses a genetically modified manganese superoxide dismutase nucleic acid molecule and protein. Also disclosed are recombinant molecules, recombinant cells, therapeutic compositions and methods of using the modified manganese superoxide dismutase to treat oxidative damage.

Active oxygen species are involved in the pathogenesis of a variety of diseases. Accumulation of active oxygen species, and oxygen-free radicals, as well as direct oxygen toxicity can cause oxidative damage to cells. Oxidative damage can occur in various lung diseases, cancer and inflammatory diseases, and in other conditions involving hypoxia or ischemia-reperfusion injury, such as organ transplantation.
In many laboratory models and in a few clinical trials, superoxide dismutase (SOD) has proven therapeutically useful in protecting injured tissues from one of these active oxygen species, the superoxide radical (McCord et al., Superoxide production and human disease, 1992, Molecular Basis of Oxidative Damage by Leukocytes, Boca Raton: CRC Press, pp. 225-239; Delanian et al., 1994, Radiother. Oncol. 32:12-20; Sanchiz et al., 1996, Anticancer. Res. 16:2025-2028). Other enzymes which are part of the cell's arsenal against these active oxygen species include catalase and glutathione peroxidase, which eliminate H.sub.2 O.sub.2. The ability of SOD to protect tissues against any particular insult (ischemia, inflammation, hyperoxia, etc.), however, depends on several parameters, such as its rate of plasma clearance, its ability to equilibrate between extracellular fluid compartments, and its ability to closely approach negatively-charged cell surfaces.
In humans, three isozymes of SOD have been extensively characterized: the cytosolic cuprozinc SOD (Cu,ZnSOD), a 32 kDa dimer; the mitochondrial manganese SOD (MnSOD), an 89 kDa tetramer; and an extracellular SOD (ECSOD), a 135 kDa tetrameric glycoprotein which is also a cuprozinc enzyme. ECSOD is genetically related to the smaller cytosolic enzyme, Cu,ZnSOD, and is found in a number of tissues but at a much lower concentration than either of the other two enzymes. It is, however, the major SOD in extracellular fluids. Plasma membranes of endothelial and parenchymal cells of various tissues are often exposed to the superoxide radical generated by activated phagocytes, and are partially protected from this oxidative attack by an extracellular superoxide dismutase (ECSOD) electrostatically bound to their surfaces. ECSOD is found as three different forms: ECSOD-A with no heparin affinity, ECSOD-B with low heparin affinity, and ECSOD-C with high heparin affinity. Sandstrom et al. (1992, J. Biol. Chem. 267:18205-18209) have suggested that forms A and B are generated by proteolytic cleavage of a carboxyl-terminal "tail" found on ECSOD-C. The highly hydrophilic positively charged nature of this carboxyl-terminal "tail" imparts the high heparin affinity which allows the enzyme to be largely bound to heparan sulfate on endothelial surfaces.
Under normal physiological circumstances, intracellularly generated superoxide is efficiently handled by the cytosolic Cu,ZnSOD and mitochondrial MnSOD. However, under pathological conditions, large amounts of superoxide and its metabolites are produced extracellularly by activated neutrophils and other phagocytic cells. In this case, one major site of oxidant attack is endothelial cell surfaces, where membrane perturbation leading to cell death (possibly through apoptosis or programmed cell death) may be induced. Therefore, it seems clear that the plasma membranes of vascular endothelial cells and parenchymal cells should be protected when there is excessive production of these species. Surface-bound ECSOD-C normally protects endothelial cell surfaces from superoxide attack. However, proteases released by inflammatory cells may cleave the ECSOD "tail" allowing the enzyme to become soluble and rendering the endothelium susceptible to superoxide attack.
To protect the endothelium, most therapeutic efforts prior to the present invention have attempted to utilize the cytosolic Cu,ZnSOD, which unfortunately has undesirable pharmacological properties, including a short plasma half life following intravenous (i.v.) injection (6 to 15 minutes, depending on species), with rapid clearance by the kidneys, and a net negative charge at physiologic pH. This net negative charge precludes close contact with cellular surfaces and/or movement into interstitial spaces. In contrast, MnSOD is positively charged at physiologic pH and has a longer plasma half-life of about 4 hours. In an isolated perfused heart model, MnSOD equilibrates more quickly than the native Cu,ZnSOD and is more protective (Omar et al., 1991, J. Mol. Cell Cardiol., 23:149-159; incorporated by reference herein in its entirety). ECSOD, however, may have a substantial advantage over both Cu,ZnSOD and MnSOD because of its ability to bind to the endothelium. Recombinant ECSOD, however, has been produced only in a low-yield mammalian cell culture system (Tibell et al., 1987, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84:6634-6638). All attempts to express this protein in a bacterial high-expression system have failed.
Moreover, while recombinant human ECSOD was found to be cardioprotective in the isolated rat heart subjected to ischemia and reperfusion, the effects noted by Sjoquist et al. "were essentially the same as those observed in hearts perfused with bovine Cu,ZnSOD" (Sjoquist et al., 1991, J. Cardiovasc. Pharmacol. 17:678-683), although Pisarenko et al. found ECSOD somewhat more than twice as effective as bovine Cu,ZnSOD (Pisarenko et al., 1994, J.Cardiovasc.Pharmacol. 24:655-663). In a similar study that used a spin-trapping agent to assess free radical production, the ECSOD was found to reduce free radical concentrations "at least to the same extent as Cu--Zn superoxide dismutase" (Johansson et al., 1990, Cardiovasc.Res. 24:500-503). Abrahamsson et al. (1992, Circ.Res. 70:264-271) used pyrogallol to generate superoxide radicals in a bath containing rabbit aorta rings. The free radical exposure inhibited the rings' ability to relax when acetylcholine was added to the bath, and this effect could be blocked by SOD added to the bath. Surprisingly, ECSOD produced a dose-response curve identical to that seen with Cu,ZnSOD. However, when the rings were pretreated with SOD, then washed, and then exposed to the radical-generating systeir. followed by acetylcholine, ECSOD showed its ability to "stick" and provide a degree of protection even after washing. The protection provided by Cu,ZnSOD was effectively all washed away. All in all, ECSOD has been rather disappointing in its ability to protect tissues from radical-mediated injury, being only marginally better than Cu,ZnSOD.
Inoue et al. (1990, FEBS Lett. 269:89-92) have attempted to improve the properties of Cu,ZnSOD by genetic engineering. They created a fusion gene consisting essentially of the cDNA encoding human Cu,ZnSOD fused to a synthetic oligonucleotide region that adds C-terminal amino acids of human ECSOD. This mutant is called HB-SOD, because it has heparin-binding properties similar to ECSOD. Functionally, the HB-SOD is superior to native Cu,ZnSOD in some models, but not in others. In the spontaneously hypertensive rat HB-SOD lowered the blood pressure, whereas native Cu,ZnSOD at the same dosage had no effect at all (Nakazono et al., 1991, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 88:10045-10048). In carrageenan-induced foot edema in the rat, however, HB-SOD and native Cu,ZnSOD had the same relative effect (Oyanagui et al., 1991, Biochem.Pharmacol. 42:991-995).
Therefore, although much work in the past three decades has attempted to utilize SOD as a therapeutic agent, with most of the effort being focused on the cytosolic SODs, while there have been successes under laboratory conditions where dosing and clearance may be carefully controlled, very little of this success has found its way into clinical application where the picture becomes more complex. Moreover, many of the recombinant SOD agents have been difficult to produce in useful quantities. Thus, there remains a need in the art for a therapeutic agent having the properties of a superoxide dismutase, which is effective both in the laboratory and for in vivo treatment of oxidative damage in a variety of conditions, and which can be expressed easily and economically in a high-yield expression system.

Genetically modified manganese superoxide dismutase for treating oxidative damage

Webb-Waring Institute for Biomedical Research


Techniques are described for updating a host operating system on a server while maintaining virtual machines running on the server. An updated host operating system is copied to the server. The currently active host operating system freezes the virtual machines but leaves them resident in RAM. The allocations and state for each virtual machine is copied to RAM or local storage. The active host operating system is shut down. Instead of issuing a command to reboot the server after it finishes shutting down, the active host operating system transfers execution to a loader. The loader reads the kernel of the updated host operating system into RAM along with an allocation map for the virtual machines and instructions to resume the virtual machines. The loader transfers execution to the updated host operating system entry point, and the updated host operating system loads the states of the virtual machines and resumes them.

Rebooting an operating system involves shutting down the running operating system and immediately starting it. There are several reasons for rebooting an operating system. For example, hardware maintenance and upgrades typically require the operating system to be offline before the hardware can be modified. More frequently, a reboot is required to apply code and configuration updates, and the operating system cannot adopt these updates without restarting.
Rebooting the operating system disrupts the applications running on the system, which must close client connections, commit their state to storage, and shut down. During the restart, those applications must then restore their state, rebuild memory caches, and resume accepting client connections. These disruptions are magnified in a virtualized environment because the reboot affects not only the applications operating on a host partition, but also the applications running on the hosted virtual machines.
During a reboot, applications running on a virtual machine will be offline during the time required to: shut down the virtual machine, shut down the host, run firmware Power-on Self-Test (POST), startup the host, startup the virtual machine, and startup the application. In some cases, the duration of this outage may be on the order of thirty minutes or more. If a Service Level Agreement (SLA) requires a specific availability for the application, the downtime caused by host operating system reboots will consume at least a portion of the SLA's downtime budget. This will leave less time in the SLA downtime budget for unplanned outages, which are unpredictable in terms of frequency and duration.
In a cloud environment, services typically require at least two virtual machines running on separate host servers to meet a compute-availability SLA. Using multiple, distributed virtual machines allows the cloud platform to update a first server hosting a first virtual machine while a second virtual machine continues to run on a second server. The second server may be updated after the updated first virtual machine is running again. However, the virtual machines on the rebooted servers lose in-memory caches. In the cloud environment, reboot downtime results in reduced capacity rather than a complete outage. Additionally, if only two virtual machines are used to support a service, then there is a risk of a complete outage during an update. For example, while one server is being updated, the virtual machine on that host is unavailable and, if the server hosting the other virtual machine fails during the update, then the other virtual machine will also be unavailable.
The end-to-end update of a cluster, which may include approximately one thousand servers, takes 12-24 hours depending upon the topology of deployed services, any server failures caused by the hardware reset during the reboot, and the length of time it takes to shut down virtual machines. Unless all of the servers are updated concurrently, which is likely to violate customer SLAs, the cluster's configuration is inconsistent during the end-to-end update and the cluster is likely exposed to the security and reliability issues fixed with the update.
While scale-out PaaS services have reduced capacity during the update, services that have tiers consisting of a single virtual machine—which includes the vast majority of IaaS-based tiers—experience a complete outage. Using thirty minutes as the time a virtual machine is offline during an update, updating once per month allows for only 2.75 hours of unplanned downtime over a year for an application with a 99.9% yearly availability SLA. Given the run rate of software and hardware incidents and variability of update times and unplanned outage mean time to detect (MTTD) and mean time to resolve (MTTR), it's unlikely the platform can meet that SLA for a very high percentage of customers with a monthly update.
To mitigate the impact of host-caused reboots on virtual machines, most small-scale virtualization platforms have implemented live migration, which enables virtual machines to seamlessly move from one server to another in order to avoid a host's planned reboot. The downsides of live migration are that it adds significant complexity to overall system management, places a burden on networking resources, and extends the time required to apply updates. Rebooting a group of servers requires migrating every virtual machine at least once. And unless an empty server is paired with every one hosting virtual machines that will be migrated, the migration of virtual machines becomes a tile shuffle game and server updating can become a serial operation.
Virtual machine suspend-update-resume (VM-SUR) is an alternative to shutting down virtual machines based on existing virtual machine technology. With this approach, the host OS suspends virtual machines, saves their state (including RAM and virtual CPU) to disk, restarts the server into the updated host OS, and then resumes the virtual machines. This allows virtual machines to retain their in-memory caches and avoids virtual machine shutdown and restart. The drawback of VM-SUR is that the RAM of all virtual machines hosted on a server must be read and written to local storage as part of the host OS update, during which time the virtual machines are suspended. Using approximate numbers that reflect contemporary cloud hardware, the save and restore of 100 GB of RAM to local storage that has throughput of 100 MB/s would take about thirty minutes. That disruption is no better than that caused by a typical shutdown/restart and while virtual machines retain their caches, the downtime would be long enough to cause a visible outage for single-instance virtual machines.
Because the surrounding application state may drastically change in the interim, the host would still be obligated to give virtual machines the opportunity to finish in-flight work and gracefully prepare, adding to the downtime. Assuming a 10× throughput improvement for local storage, the update duration is still at least three minutes, well beyond most client timeouts.


A new petunia plant particularly distinguished by medium, deep-blue flowers, medium-green foliage with elliptical to ovate leaves, a medium to tall, round, bushy, well-branched, moderately tight plant habit with moderately vigorous growth, an initially spreading to prostrate to later trailing plant habit with an early and continuous flowering response, is disclosed.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of petunia, botanically known as a Petunia sp., and hereinafter referred to by the cultivar name 'Whip Bule'. The new cultivar originated from a hybridization made in February 2002 in Gilroy, Calif. The female parent was 'Kakegawa S28' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 13,887, also known as 'Supertunia Royal Velvet'), a purple-flowered proprietary petunia plant, while the male parent was 'PY152', a proprietary blue-flowered petunia plant (unpatented).
The new cultivar was created in 2002 in Gilroy, Calif. and has been asexually reproduced repeatedly by vegetative cuttings and tissue culture in Gilroy, Calif. and Andijk, The Netherlands over a two-year period. The plant has also been trialed at Gilroy, Calif. and Andijk, The Netherlands. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.
Plant Breeder's Rights for this cultivar were applied for in Canada on Mar. 31, 2005, in Switzerland on Sep. 16, 2005 and with the European Union on Sep. 28, 2005.


This document describes tools capable of making a portion of operating-system memory associated with a protection agent unalterable or inaccessible from an operating-system privilege mode. In some embodiments, these tools are capable of creating a protection-agent privilege mode by requesting that a virtual machine monitor protect this portion of operating-system memory. In other embodiments, these tools are capable of creating the protection-agent privilege mode by virtualizing a physical processor into multiple virtual processors, at least one of which is a protection-agent virtual processor designed to run the protection agent. By making this portion of operating-system memory unalterable or inaccessible from the operating-system privilege mode, the protection agent may be less vulnerable to attacks by entities operating within the operating-system privilege mode.

Processors within computing devices often include privileged and unprivileged modes. Software running in a privileged mode is generally able to execute every instruction supported by the processor. Typically, the operating system kernel runs within the privileged mode, which is sometimes referred to as "Ring 0", "Supervisor Mode", or "Kernel Mode".
In contrast, some software running on the computing device may be constrained to run only in an unprivileged mode. This mode generally allows the software to execute a subset of the processor's instructions. An operating system can thus use the unprivileged mode to limit the activity of software running in this mode. For example, software might be restricted to a particular subset of the computing device's memory. This unprivileged mode is sometimes known as "Ring 3" or "User Mode". In general, computing-device user applications operate in this unprivileged mode.
If a software application operates in this unprivileged mode, the application may request access to a portion of memory that cannot be directly accessed from the unprivileged mode. The application may, for example, wish to perform an operation in this portion of memory such as "create a new file". This request is typically routed through a call gate or other system call instruction, which transitions this unprivileged-mode code into privileged-mode code. This transition ensures that the unprivileged mode does not have direct access to memory that is designated as accessible from privileged mode only.
In accordance with these modes, an author of malicious code may access the privileged mode and install malware that changes the behavior of the computing device. This malware may, for instance alter the location of files, hide files, modify files, change keystrokes, or the like. Some of this malware may comprise a "rootkit", which not only changes the computing device's behavior but also hides itself within the privileged mode's memory. Antivirus applications running on the computing device may accordingly fail to discover this hidden rootkit, thus allowing the malware to continue its malicious deeds. Furthermore, such malware may patch over an operating system's built-in protection system, as discussed below.
A malware author may access the privileged mode and load malware onto a computing device in a variety of ways, including by tricking the computing-device user into unknowingly installing the malware onto the user's own computing device. As a result, current operating systems often employ one or more protection systems to detect such malware. These protection systems generally monitor certain important operating-system resources to detect any changes to these resources. If such a protection system detects such a change, then the protection system may decide that the particular resource has been infected by malware. These protection systems may also provide, to the user's antivirus application, a list of applications currently resident in the unprivileged mode's memory. Of course, if the malware was successful in hiding, then it will not appear on the provided list. Furthermore, if the malware was successful in patching the protection system, then the protection system may fail to run or otherwise fail to detect any changes to the important operating-system resources.
While these protection systems can be effective, they can also suffer from a few weaknesses. First, these systems often rely on obscurity and are thus vulnerable to exploitation if identified by the malware. That is, if the malware deciphers the identity of and locates the protection system, it may disable the protection system itself. The malware author may also instruct others as to how to do the same. Furthermore and related to the first, these protection systems generally operate in a same protection domain as that of the operating system (e.g., within the privileged mode itself). Therefore, the protection system is itself subject to attack if the malware gains access to the privileged mode and is able to unmask the obscured protection system. Finally, these protection systems initialize at the same time as the operating system or privileged mode. Therefore, if the malware or malware author gains control of the computing device before this initialization, it may prevent the protection system from initializing.


The present invention relates to a key connecting module for triggering a switch circuit board, where the key connecting module includes a frame having a support structure, and a triggering assembly, and the triggering assembly is accommodated in the support structure and is moveable relative to the frame to trigger the switch circuit board. The triggering assembly includes a first combining part corresponding to a first keycap and a second combining part corresponding to a second keycap. When the key connecting module is connected to the first keycap, the first keycap is combined with the first combining part. When the key connecting module is connected to the second keycap, the second keycap is combined with the second combining part.

Common peripheral input apparatuses of a computer include a mouse, a keyboard, a trackball, and the like, where the keyboard can be used to directly enter text and symbols to the computer, and therefore draws great attention from users and input apparatus venders. Keyboards are classified into keyboards for desktop computers and keyboard modules for notebook computers.
Next, a structure of the keyboard for the desktop computer is described. Refer to FIG. 1, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of partial structure of a conventional keyboard. A conventional keyboard 1 includes a plurality of first keycaps 11 (where only one first keycap is shown in the figure), a frame 12, a plurality of elastic rubber bodies 13 (only one elastic rubber body is shown in the figure), a membrane switch circuit 14, and a bottom board 15, where the bottom board 15 may carry the plurality of first keycaps 11, the frame 12, the plurality of elastic rubber bodies 13, and the membrane switch circuit 14 thereon. The membrane switch circuit 14 is disposed on the bottom board 15 and has a plurality of key contacts (not shown in the figure). When a key contact of the membrane switch circuit 14 is triggered, the membrane switch circuit 14 outputs a corresponding key signal. The plurality of elastic rubber bodies 13 is disposed on the membrane switch circuit 14 and each elastic rubber body 13 corresponds to one first keycap 11. When the elastic rubber body 13 is pressed, the elastic rubber body 13 is deformed and presses the membrane switch circuit 14 to trigger the membrane switch circuit 14.
The frame 12 is disposed above the membrane switch circuit 14, and the frame 12 has a plurality of the support structures 121 (where only one support structure is shown in the figure) corresponding to the plurality of first keycaps 11, where each support structure 121 surrounds one elastic rubber body 13. A function of the plurality of the support structures 121 is to fix the plurality of first keycaps 11 thereon, and make the plurality of first keycaps 11 movable up and down relative to the frame 12. The first keycap 11 includes a contact part 111 and a connecting part 112, where the contact part 111 is a part exposed to an outer surface of the keyboard 1, and can be pressed by a user. The connecting part 112 and the contact part 111 are integrally formed, and the connecting part 112 extends downwards to be connected to the corresponding support structure 121. Because the support structure 121 in the frame 12 is shaped to surround the elastic rubber body 13 and is like a crater, the keyboard for the desktop computer is also commonly known as a crater-architecture keyboard.
When a user presses the contact part 111 of the first keycap 11, the connecting part 112 is stressed and moves downwards relative to the frame 12 and presses the corresponding elastic rubber body 13; in this case, the elastic rubber body 13 is deformed and presses the membrane switch circuit 14 to trigger the key contact of the membrane switch circuit 14, so that the membrane switch circuit 14 outputs a corresponding key signal. When the user stops pressing the contact part 111, the connecting part 112 is no longer stressed and stops pressing the elastic rubber body 13; therefore, the elastic rubber body 13 is restored due to its elasticity, and provides upward resilience at the same time. Therefore, the first keycap 11 is pushed back to a position at which it is located before being pressed.
Next, a structure of the keyboard module for the notebook computer is described. Refer to FIG. 2, which is a schematic cross-sectional view of partial structure of a conventional keyboard module. A keyboard module 2 includes a plurality of second keycaps 21 (where only one second keycap is shown in the figure), a plurality of scissors-type connecting assemblies 22 (where only one scissors-type connecting assembly is shown in the figure), a plurality of elastic rubber bodies 23 (where only one elastic rubber body is shown in the figure), a membrane switch circuit 24, and a bottom board 25. The bottom board 25 may carry the plurality of second keycaps 21, the plurality of scissors-type connecting assemblies 22, the plurality of elastic rubber bodies 23, and the membrane switch circuit 24 thereon, and the bottom board 25 is connected to the plurality of second keycaps 21 by using the plurality of scissors-type connecting assemblies 22. In other words, the scissors-type connecting assemblies 22 are separately connected to the bottom board 25 and the corresponding second keycaps 21.
The membrane switch circuit 24 is disposed on the bottom board 25 and has a plurality of key contacts (not shown in the figure). When a key contact of the membrane switch circuit 14 is triggered, the membrane switch circuit 24 outputs a corresponding key signal. The plurality of elastic rubber bodies 23 is disposed on the membrane switch circuit 24 and each elastic rubber body 23 corresponds to one second keycap 21. When the elastic rubber body 23 is pressed, the elastic rubber body 23 is deformed and presses the membrane switch circuit 24 to trigger the membrane switch circuit 24. The scissors-type connecting assembly 22 is located between and separately connected to the bottom board 25 and the second keycap 21, and the scissors-type connecting assembly 22 is moveable relative to the bottom board 25, so that the second keycap 21 moves up and down. Each scissors-type connecting assembly 22 surrounds a corresponding elastic rubber body 23. Because a shape and a motion manner of the scissors-type connecting assembly 22 are similar to scissors, the keyboard module for the notebook computer is commonly known as a scissors-architecture keyboard.
An operation of the second keycap 21 when the second keycap 21 is pressed is similar to the aforementioned operation of the first keycap 11 when the first keycap 11 is pressed. When a user presses the second keycap 21, the second keycap 21 is stressed and pushes the scissors-type connecting assembly 22 to move; therefore, the second keycap 21 may move downwards relative to the bottom board 25 and press the corresponding elastic rubber body 23. In this case, the elastic rubber body 23 is deformed and presses the membrane switch circuit 24 to trigger the key contact of the membrane switch circuit 24, so that the membrane switch circuit 24 outputs a corresponding key signal. When the user stops pressing the second keycap 21, the second keycap 21 is no longer stressed and stops pressing the elastic rubber body 23; therefore, the elastic rubber body 23 is restored due to its elasticity, and provides upward resilience at the same time. Therefore, the second keycap 21 is pushed back to a position at which it is located before being pressed.
The foregoing two types of keyboards are used according to different needs, for example, the conventional keyboard 1 has relatively low costs, while the appearance of the second keycap 21 of the conventional keyboard module 2 is relatively light and thin, and a user may choose a suitable keyboard according to different needs. However, some users favor the second keycap 21 that is light and thin, and also hope that costs of the keyboard using the second keycaps 21 can be reduced. This is a problem that keyboard manufacturers want to resolve.