The present invention describes a G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) family member newly identified as being modified, e.g., phosphorylated, and associated with tyrosine phosphorylated activation complexes, following exposure of cells to smoke from tobacco burning substances, namely, cigarette smoke. This GPCR protein is RAI-3, which was first found to be phosphorylated in cells treated with cigarette smoke and to be associated with other proteins activated in cigarette smoke treated cells by virtue of the present invention. Because cigarette smoke is considered to be a major causative factor of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and disorders and conditions related thereto, the RAI-3 protein is newly provided as a cellular drug target for screening, discovering, and identifying modulators for the treatment and/or prevention of COPD and its related disorders and conditions, such as emphysema and chronic bronchitis. In accordance with the present invention RAI-3 modulators, e.g., agonists and antagonists, can be used as therapeutics in the treatment of COPD and numerous other diseases and disorders that are associated with regulation of NF-κB and/or its associated or interacting signaling molecules. This invention further provides SNPs of RAI-3, e.g., for determining COPD association in individuals.

Many medically significant biological processes that are mediated by proteins participating in signal transduction pathways involving G-proteins and/or second messengers, e.g., cAMP, have been established (Lefkowitz, 1991, Nature, 351:353-354). These proteins are often referred to as proteins participating in pathways with G-proteins or PPG proteins. Some examples of these proteins include the G protein-coupled receptors (GPCR), such as those for adrenergic agents and dopamine (B. K. Kobilka et al., 1987, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 84:46-50; B. K. Kobilka et al., 1987, Science, 238:650-656; and J. R. Bunzow et al., 1988, Nature, 336:783-787), G-proteins themselves, effector proteins, e.g., phospholipase C, adenylate cyclase and phosphodiesterase and actuator proteins, e.g., protein kinase A and protein kinase C (M. I. Simon et al., 1991, Science, 252:802-8).
For example, in one form of signal transduction, the effect of hormone binding results in activation of the enzyme adenylate cyclase inside the cell. Enzyme activation by hormones is dependent on the presence of the nucleotide GTP, where GTP also influences hormone binding. A G-protein binds the hormone receptors to adenylate cyclase. The G-protein has further been shown to exchange GTP for bound GDP when activated by hormone receptors. The GTP-carrying form of the G-protein then binds to an activated adenylate cyclase. Hydrolysis of GTP to GDP, catalyzed by the G-protein itself, returns the G-protein to its basal, inactive form. Thus, the G-protein serves a dual role—as an intermediate that relays the signal from receptor to effector, and as a "clock" that controls the duration of the signal.
The membrane protein gene superfamily of G-protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) has been characterized as having seven putative transmembrane domains. The domains are believed to represent transmembrane α-helices connected by extracellular or cytoplasmic loops. GPCRs include a wide range of biologically active receptors, such as hormone, viral, growth factor, and neuronal receptors.
GPCRs are further characterized as having seven conserved hydrophobic stretches of about 20 to 30 amino acids, connecting at least eight divergent hydrophilic loops. The G-protein coupled receptor family includes, for example, the following types of receptors: dopamine, calcitonin, adrenergic, endothelin, cAMP, adenosine, muscarinic, acetylcholine, serotonin, histamine, thrombin, kinin, follicle stimulating hormone, opsins, endothelial differentiation gene-1 receptor, rhodopsins, odorant and cytomegalovirus receptors, etc.
Most GPCRs have single conserved cysteine residues in each of the first two extracellular loops which form disulfide bonds that are believed to stabilize functional protein structure. The 7 transmembrane regions are designated as TM1, TM2, TM3, TM4, TM5, TM6, and TM7. TM3 has been implicated in signal transduction. Phosphorylation and lipidation (palmitylation or farnesylation) of cysteine residues can influence signal transduction of some GPCRs. Most GPCRs contain potential phosphorylation sites within the third cytoplasmic loop and/or the carboxyl terminus. For several GPCRs, such as the β-adrenoreceptor, phosphorylation by protein kinase A and/or specific receptor kinases mediates receptor desensitization.
For some receptors, the ligand binding sites of GPCRs are believed to comprise a hydrophilic socket formed by the transmembrane domains of several GPCRs. This socket is surrounded by hydrophobic residues of the GPCRs. The hydrophilic side of each GPCR transmembrane helix is postulated to face inward and form the polar ligand-binding site. TM3 has been implicated in several GPCRs as having a ligand-binding site, which includes the TM3 aspartate residue. In addition, serines within TM5, a TM6 asparagine and phenylalanines or tyrosines within TM6 or TM7 are also implicated in ligand binding.
GPCRs can be intracellularly coupled by heterotrimeric G-proteins to various intracellular enzymes, signal transduction pathways and molecules, ion channels and transporters (see, e.g., Johnson et al., 1989, Endocrin. Rev., 10:317-331). Different G-protein β-subunits preferentially stimulate particular effectors to modulate various biological functions in a cell. Phosphorylation of cytoplasmic residues of GPCRs have been identified as an important mechanism for the regulation of G-protein coupling of some GPCRs. GPCRs are found in numerous sites within a mammalian host.
GPCRs are one of the largest receptor superfamilies known. These receptors are biologically important and malfunction of these receptors results in diseases such as Alzheimer's, Parkinson, diabetes, dwarfism, color blindness, retinitis pigmentosa, asthma and others. GPCRs are also involved in depression, schizophrenia, sleeplessness, hypertension, anxiety, stress, renal failure and in several other cardiovascular, metabolic, neural, oncological and immune disorders (F. Horn and G. Vriend, 1998, J. Mol. Med., 76:464-468). They have also been shown to play a role in HIV infection (Y. Feng et al., 1996, Science, 272: 872-877).
As mentioned above, the structure of GPCRs comprises seven transmembrane helices that are connected by loops. The N-terminus is always extracellular and C-terminus is intracellular. GPCRs are involved in signal transduction. The signal is typically received at the extracellular N-terminus side. The signal can be an endogenous ligand, a chemical moiety, another type of extracellular signal, and even light. This signal is then transduced through the membrane to the cytosolic side where a heterotrimeric G-protein is activated which in turn elicits a response (F. Horn et al., 1998, Recept. and Chann., 5: 305-314).
Modulators, e.g., ligands, agonists and antagonists, for GPCRs are utilized for preventative and therapeutic purposes to treat various diseases, disorders and/or conditions. The present invention has achieved the identification of a particular GPCR, newly linked by this invention to chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and COPD-related disorders and conditions. This COPD-related GPCR, as described herein and newly associated with COPD, provides a new target for drug discovery and treatments effective against COPD and disorders and conditions related thereto. In addition, modulators of this COPD-related GPCR have been newly found in accordance with the present invention and as described herein to affect transcriptional mediators and signaling molecules, thereby providing new agents for treating not only COPD, but also other diseases and conditions affected by regulation of these transcriptional mediators, components of pathways related thereto and/or cell signaling components.
Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), which encompasses both chronic bronchitis and emphysema, is one of the most common respiratory conditions of adults in the developed world. COPD poses an enormous burden to society both in terms of direct cost to healthcare services and indirect costs to society, primarily through loss of productivity. In the Western world, COPD is the fourth most common cause of death and it claims the lives of over 119,000 Americans annually. Approximately eighty to ninety percent of COPD patients have smoked and/or do smoke cigarettes.
The definition of COPD that is recognized by both the American Thoracic Society and the European Respiratory Society is a disorder characterized by reduced maximal expiratory flow and slow forced emptying of the lungs—features that do not change markedly over several months. This limitation in airflow is only minimally reversible with bronchodilators. The respiratory disease emphysema is defined pathologically as a condition in which there is permanent destructive enlargement of the air spaces distal to the terminal bronchioles without obvious fibrosis. Chronic bronchitis is defined clinically by the presence of chronic bronchial secretions, enough to cause expectoration, occurring on most days for a minimum of three months of the year for two consecutive years. The pathological basis of chronic bronchitis is mucus hypersecretion secondary to hypertrophy of the glandular elements of the bronchial mucosa. Patients with COPD have features of both conditions, although one of the conditions may be more prominent than the other.
Chronic bronchitis only really became recognized as a distinct disease, rather than as a set of symptoms, in the late 1950's. The great 'British Smogs' of the 1950's precipitated the deaths of many patients from respiratory failure. There is little doubt that at the present time, the most important risk factor in the development of COPD is smoking of tobacco burning products, in particular, cigarette smoking. Because approximately 80 to 90% of COPD cases are caused by smoking, a smoker is ten times more likely than a nonsmoker to die of COPD. According to the World Health Organization, 75% of deaths from COPD that occur in developed countries are directly related to smoking tobacco.
The effects of smoke from tobacco burning products, such as cigarette smoke, on the lungs are manifold. Cigarette smoke has been found to attract inflammatory cells into the lungs and stimulates the release of the proteolytic enzyme elastase from these cells. Elastase, in turn, breaks down elastin, a normal structural component of lung tissue. Normally, however, the lung is protected from the destructive effect of elastase by an inhibitor, alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT). One effect of cigarette smoke is to attract more cells and stimulate the release of more elastase. The development of COPD, and in particular emphysema, is thought to be due, in part, to the imbalance between the destructive elastase and the protective AAT.
Not all people who smoke develop COPD; and not all patients with COPD are smokers, or have smoked in the past (although 85% to 90% of COPD patients have smoked or are smoking). There seems to be a varying susceptibility to lung damage due to cigarette smoke within the general population. Only a proportion of smokers (maybe only 10-15%) or former smokers show a rate of decline of lung function over the years that is fast enough to result in the severe impairment that is typical of patients who present with breathlessness due to COPD. Unfortunately, these types of former smokers do not improve after they stop smoking. By the time these subjects are symptomatic with breathlessness, they will have already had severe impairment of lung function. Cessation of smoking at this stage may extend their life expectancy, but may not improve their symptoms.
Another well established risk factor for COPD is a deficiency of the protective protease inhibitor, alpha-1 antitrypsin (AAT), which is produced in the liver. The risk factor relates to an inherited autosomal recessive (designated PiZZ) disorder which is fairly rare in the general gene pool. The incidence of homozygous births is about 1 in 3000 live births. As such, AAT deficiency accounts for probably less than 5% of all cases of COPD. The onset of AAT deficiency emphysema generally occurs between the ages of 20 to 40 years and is characterized by shortness of breath and decreased exercise capacity. Blood screening is used if the trait is suspected and can determine if a person is a carrier, or is AAT-deficient. If children are diagnosed as being AAT-deficient through blood screening, they may undergo a liver transplant.
Low levels of AAT allow the uninhibited action of elastase on the lung parenchyma, thereby giving rise to destruction of the alveoli and the eventual development of emphysema rather than chronic bronchitis. The pattern of emphysema in AAT deficiency differs slightly from that of smoking-induced pure emphysema in that AAT deficiency produces panlobular emphysema affecting predominantly the lower lung fields, while smoking-induced emphysema is usually centrilobular affecting the upper lung fields initially.
The quality of life for a person suffering from COPD diminishes as the disease progresses. People with COPD may eventually require supplemental oxygen and may have to rely on mechanical respiratory assistance. A recent American Lung Association survey revealed that about half of all COPD patients (i.e., 51%) indicate that their condition limits their ability to work. It also limits them in normal physical exertion (70%), household chores (56%), social activities (53%), sleeping (50%), and family activities (46%).
None of the existing medications for COPD have been shown to modify the long-term decline in lung function that is the hallmark of this disease. Therefore, pharmacotherapy for COPD is used to decrease symptoms and/or complications. Bronchodilator medications are central to the symptomatic management of COPD. Additional treatment includes antibodies, oxygen therapy, and systemic glucocorticosteroids. The efficacy of inhaled glucocorticosteroids is currently under study. Chronic treatment with steroids is avoided because of an unfavorable benefit-to-risk ratio. Lung transplantation is being performed in increasing numbers and may be an option for people who suffer from severe emphysema. In addition, lung volume reduction surgery has shown promise and is being performed with increasing frequency. However, a recent study found that emphysema patients who have severe lung obstruction with either limited ability to exchange gas when breathing, or damage that is evenly distributed throughout their lungs, are at high risk of death from the foregoing procedures. Treatments for AAT deficiency emphysema, including AAT replacement therapy and gene therapy, are currently being evaluated.
Because of the magnitude of the health and health care problems that correlate with COPD and COPD related conditions and disorders, both at the level of the patient and the patient's care by the medical community, it is clear that new drug target molecules, as well as alternative drugs and treatments, are sorely needed to combat and counteract this disease. As discussed above, the present therapies are sometimes only palliative, and do not satisfactorily treat, reduce, ameliorate, or eliminate all of the debilitating effects of COPD.
In addition, as described herein, it is newly recognized that the prevalent use of tobacco burning materials and substances, such as cigarettes and cigars, generates smoke-related cellular products, e.g., proteins and peptides, which are major causative factors for COPD. Therefore, identifying the proteins, signal transduction pathways and components thereof that are activated and/or modified when cells are exposed to smoke from tobacco burning products can be key to identifying new drug targets for the treatment of COPD. The present invention newly provides previously unrecognized sources and targets for new anti-COPD drugs and compounds useful in profoundly needed treatments and therapies for COPD and COPD related diseases, which can benefit vast numbers of COPD patients and sufferers.
In their diverse cellular roles, GPCRs can also be involved in cell suicide, or programmed cell death, during the lifetime of a multicellular organism. Programmed cell death or apoptosis occurs during a number of events in the organism's life cycle, such as for example, in the development of an embryo, during the course of an immunological response, or in the demise of cancerous cells after drug treatment, among others. The final outcome of cell survival versus apoptosis is dependent on the balance of two counteracting events, namely, the onset and speed of caspase cascade activation (essentially a protease chain reaction), and the delivery of anti-apoptotic factors which block the caspase activity (B. B. Aggarwal, 2000, Biochem. Pharmacol., 60:1033-1039; N. A. Thornberry and Y. Lazebnik, 1998, Science, 281:1312-1316).
The production of anti-apoptotic proteins is controlled by the transcriptional factor complex NF-κB. For example, exposure of cells to the protein tumor necrosis factor (TNF) can signal both cell death and survival, an event playing a major role in the regulation of immunological and inflammatory responses (S. Ghosh et al., 1998, Annu. Rev. Immunol., 16:225-260; N. Silverman and T. Maniatis, 2001, Genes and Dev., 15:2321-2342; and V. Baud and M. Karin, 2001, Trends Cell Biol., 11:372-377). The anti-apoptotic activity of NF-κB is also crucial to oncogenesis and to chemo- and radio-resistance in cancer (A. S. Baldwin, 2001, J. Clin. Invest., 107:241-246).
Nuclear Factor-κB (NF-κB), is composed of dimeric complexes of p50 (NF-κB1) or p52 (NF-κB2) that are usually associated with members of the Rel family (p65, c-Rel, Rel B) which have potent transactivation domains. Different combinations of NF-κB/Rel proteins bind to distinct κB sites to regulate the transcription of different genes. Early work involving NF-κB suggested that its expression was limited to specific cell types, particularly in stimulating the transcription of genes encoding kappa immunoglobulins in B lymphocytes. However, it has been discovered that NF-κB is, in fact, present and inducible in many, if not all, cell types and that it acts as an intracellular messenger capable of playing a broad role in gene regulation as a mediator of inducible signal transduction. Specifically, it has been demonstrated that NF-κB plays a central role in the regulation of intercellular signals in many cell types. For example, NF-κB has been shown to positively regulate the human beta-interferon (beta-IFN) gene in many, if not all, cell types. Moreover, NF-κB has also been shown to serve the important function of acting as an intracellular transducer of external influences.
The transcription factor NF-κB is sequestered in an inactive form in the cytoplasm as a complex with its inhibitor, IκB; the most prominent member of the class of IκB inhibitors is IκBα. A number of factors are known to serve the role of stimulators of NF-κB activity, such as, for example, tumor necrosis factor (TNF). After TNF exposure, the inhibitor is phosphorylated and proteolytically removed, thus releasing NF-κB into the nucleus and allowing its transcriptional activity. Numerous genes are up-regulated by this transcription factor, among them IκBα. The newly synthesized IκBα protein inhibits NF-κB, effectively shutting down further transcriptional activation of its downstream effectors.
However, as mentioned above, the IκBα protein may only inhibit NF-κB in the absence of IκBα stimuli, such as TNF stimulation, for example. Other agents that are known to stimulate NF-κB release, and thus NF-κB activity, are bacterial lipopolysaccharide, extracellular polypeptides, chemical agents, such as phorbol esters, which stimulate intracellular phosphokinases, inflammatory cytokines, IL-1, oxidative and fluid mechanical stresses, and Ionizing Radiation (S. Basu et al., 1998, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 247(1):79-83). Therefore, as a general rule, the stronger the insulting stimulus, the stronger the resulting NF-κB activation, and the higher the level of IκBα transcription. As a consequence, measuring the level of IκBα RNA can be used as a marker for anti-apoptotic events, and indirectly, for the onset and strength of pro-apoptotic events.

Methods of diagnosing tumors using the G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR), RAI-3


The present disclosure provides a marker for predicting prognosis of liver cancer, a composition or kit for predicting prognosis of liver cancer, preferably, a composition or kit for predicting prognosis of liver cancer for predicting the prognosis according to the stage of liver cancer. The marker, composition or kit, and method of the present disclosure make it possible to effectively predict prognosis of liver cancer, preferably, prognosis of liver cancer according to stage.

Liver cancer is known as one of the most fatal cancers in the world. In particular, it is reported that at least about five hundred thousand people die of liver cancer every year in Asia and in Sub-Saharan Africa. Liver cancer can be largely classified into hepatocellular carcinoma which arises from the liver cell itself, and metastatic liver cancer which is cancer from other tissues spread to the liver. About 90% of liver cancer is hepatocellular carcinoma, and the term liver cancer is generally understood to refer to hepatocellular carcinoma.
Prognosis of liver cancer refers to anticipating various conditions of the patient suffering from liver cancer such as possibility of full recovery from liver cancer, possibility of recurrence after treatment, possibility of survival of patient after being diagnosed of liver cancer, etc. This may vary depending on various conditions such as severity of the disease, diagnosis point, treatment progress, etc. Liver cancer can be treated efficiently only when various treatment methods are properly applied according to its prognosis. For example, with regard to patients who are estimated to have good prognosis, it would be necessary to avoid dangerous treatment methods which have a possibility to cause severe side effects to the patients such as aggressive chemical treatment or operations, radiation treatment, and select treatment methods which are relatively moderate, conservative and safe. On the other hand, with regard to patients who are estimated to have bad prognosis, chemical treatment or operations, treatment methods such as radiation treatment should be actively conducted in an attempt to increase the survival period or rate.
According to researchers conducted until now, the prognosis of liver cancer that has already progressed is extremely bad, and shows a high fatal rate of dying within 6 months from diagnosis, which leaves an average duration of life of only 4 months. However, liver cancer having a size of less than 3 cm has good prognosis, and is known to have a survival rate of 90% for a year without any particular treatment and after surgery, the survival rate of five years is about 40˜50%. However, it is very difficult to estimate the prognosis of liver cancer patients precisely with prior art technology. In order to estimate prognosis accurately, an analysis method which classifies patients into each risk group is required. However, until now, prognosis has been determined depending only on the clinical pathological liver cancer stage at the time of diagnosis and primary surgical treatment without a means for accurately estimating prognosis of liver cancer.
The conventional analysis methods include the BCLC (Barcelona-Clinic Liver Cancer) staging system. Said system is a system for classifying liver cancer patients to determine a treatment method (liver resection, liver transplantation or radiofrequency ablation, etc. according to the stage of the disease) by determining the stage of a patient's liver cancer before conducting surgery on the patient (Llovert J M, Bru C, Bruix J. Prognosis of hepatocellular carcinoma: the BCLC staging classification. Semin Liver Dis. 1999; 19(3):329-338).
However, unfortunately, the prognosis of each liver cancer patient cannot be precisely determined by the liver cancer stage alone. Thus, it is necessary to develop a technology using gene markers to predict prognosis of liver cancer patients accurately. That is, by selecting patients expected to respond well to a specific treatment method (for example, liver resection) based on the stage and the prognosis result of each individual patient and providing the treatment to the patients, the overall treatment outcomes of liver cancer patients can be improved, and socioeconomic effects such as saving medical cost can be expected.
Meanwhile, with regard to UVRAG, NAMPT, STAT3, CIAP2, BHLHE41, MMP2, SESN2, HMGB1, SIRT1, RPS19BP1, LAMP2, AGER, SESN3, ID2, TCF3, HMGB2, TP63, RAGE, KIAA1967, SATB1, RAPTOR, SESN1, CCNG2, CDH1, FASLG, CASP3, BECN1, CDH2, TWIST1, MMP9, VEGF, ATG12, DIABLO, E2F1, LAMP1, LC3, ATG7, TKT, AIFM1, BNIP3, ATG3, DRAM, ATG5, NNMT, PRKAA1, CASP8, ULK1, BCL2L1, FAS, CSE1L, FRAP1, AKT1, BAX, BCL2, PTEN, CBS, XIAP proteins, it is not known how their expression level or expression pattern in liver cancer tissues changes according to the stage of liver cancer and how they can be used for predicting prognosis of liver cancer according to stage. Although there have been cases using the above proteins or some of the genes encoding the above proteins as a marker for prognosis of liver cancer, there has not been a case using them as a marker for prognosis of liver cancer according to stage.
As a result of conducting a research on predicting prognosis of liver cancer, the present inventors found genes whose expression level and expression pattern vary significantly (according to the stage of liver cancer), and completed the present disclosure.

Composition or kit for making a prognosis of liver cancer, and method for making a prognosis of liver cancer


A device for extracting objects from the body, such as urinary stones, using a low pressure inflatable toroidal balloon that serves to engulf the object during extraction while dilating and protecting the passageway. The balloon loads onto an ureteroscope prior to insertion, rather than through the ureteroscope as do existing balloons. The toroidal balloon is a simple and unique device that may be applied external to the extracting telescope and does not interfere with existing methods for stone manipulation such as laser lithotripsy, irrigation and basket extraction in the case of urinary stone manipulation.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates generally to medical devices, more particularly to devices for removal of stone, foreign bodies and the like from the body.
2. Discussion of Prior Art
Existing techniques for extraction of stones from the body such as in the case of stones lodged in the urinary collecting system and in the biliary tree can be cumbersome, inefficient and risky with respect to complications. For example, the extraction of urinary stones often requires cystoscopic balloon dilation of the distal ureter using a high pressure balloon to increase the capacity of the ureter in order to allow decreased resistance with passage of the ureteroscope and extraction of the stone or its fragments. This high pressure balloon requires a costly pressure gauge and can be traumatic to the ureter placing the ureter at risk for stricture formation. After dilation, an ureteroscope is inserted and lithotripsy performed if the stone is too large for extraction. The stone is then engaged under direct vision with a basket or similar device and then withdrawn into the bladder where the stone is then considered passed. This technique requires that the stone be of sufficiently diminutive size (which is usually not the case with a lodged stone) or that the stone be fragmented with a device such as a laser which in itself carries the risk of injury to the ureter. Furthermore, extraction of a stone engaged in a wire basket carries the risk of frictional damage to the ureteral mucosa and wall, the risk of a retained basket engaged with stone requiring tertiary referral or open surgery, or the risk of catastrophic avulsion injury of the ureter.
The above time consuming, costly and risky standard techniques begs for the development of a device which will provide a less cumbersome, safer, more efficient and less costly technique to treat the extremely common problem of urinary stone disease. Other inventors have attempted to address this vexing task.
Hardwick, U.S. Pat. No. 4,469,100, proposed a device in which the stone is drawn into the balloon by intussusception, protecting the ureteral walls from the friction with stone extraction. The deficiencies of this idea include the blind passage of the device to the stone (i.e.: not under direct visualization as with the standard technique), dependence upon suction to engage a stone which has an irregular surface not amenable to suction seal for traction, and, most significantly, the device's construction where the balloon is attached to the catheter near its proximal and distal ends. The result of the latter construction is that, while the stone achieves sanctuary within the confines of the balloon's wall during intussusception, the external surface of the balloon is withdrawn in direct opposition to the ureteral wall when extracting the stone which places the ureter at risk for injury.
Another inventor who attempts to solve the existing problems with stone extraction is Drettler, U.S. Pat. No. 4,927,426. Here a catheter-like device is used which allows a laser fiber for lithotripsy but suffers the same deficiencies as Hardwick's device. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,243,040 and 4,295,464, likewise, suffer similar problems.
Current techniques for biliary stone extraction also can be cumbersome, inefficient and risky for complication. Gallstones may become lodged in the biliary tree, often at the sphincter of Oddi which may result in biliary colic and cholangitis or pancreatitis. Many surgical devices and techniques exist for treatment of these stones confined to the biliary tree and unable to pass to the duodenum. Access to and extraction of biliary stones often require balloon dilation or sphincterotomy at the duodenal papilla which carries the risk of bleeding and perforation. The stone is then engaged with a basket, such as Cook's The Web™ Extraction Basket which risks, as with a urinary stone, injury of the biliary ductal system and retention of the basket.
Another technique for stone extraction uses a balloon such as that described by Karpeil, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 6,692,484 B1, where the sphincter is dilated and a second balloon is used to push the stone through into the duodenum. Similar balloons, such as the Cook Endoscopy Tri-Ex® Triple Lumen Extraction Balloon, often requires sphincterotomy. These balloons in general work well but do not directly control the stone as with a basket which can sometimes leave the stone wedged between the balloon and ductal wall.
Whatever the precise merits, features, and advantages of the above cited references, none of them achieves or fulfills the purposes of the present invention.

Method and device for extracting objects from the body


A composition useful for the protection of actinic light-exposed presensitized lithographic printing plates. The composition contains an effective amount of the di-potassium salt of hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid dissolved in water. The composition is applied to the surface of the revealed substrate of the plates after they have been developed but before treatment to heat, to prevent surface contamination from the heat treatment.

Radiation-sensitive plates suitable for lithographic printing are well known. Such plates typically consist of a substrate such as aluminum that may be grained and/or anodized, or of zinc, magnesium, copper or steel or a combination such as a bimetal or laminate, and a layer of radiation-sensitive material deposited on the substrate.
Image-wise exposing the radiation-sensitive layer to actinic radiation through a transparency causes the solubility of the radiation-exposed areas to change relative to that of the unexposed areas. Upon treatment of the exposed plate with a suitable developer, the more soluble areas can be readily removed to reveal the underlying substrate and leave an image on the substrate constituted by the less soluble areas. The areas of the substrate revealed upon development constitute the non-image areas.
A type of radiation-sensitive materials known as photopolymers become less soluble after exposure to radiation and therefore a negative transparency is used in the exposure. In this case, it is the non-radiation-exposed areas that are removed upon development and the radiation-exposed areas that remain on the substrate form the image. Examples of suitable photopolymers include diazo resins, chromium-sensitized colloids, diazonium or azide-sensitized resins or polymers bearing such groups. Plates having a radiation-sensitive layer based on such materials are known as negative-working plates.
Radiation-sensitive materials such as those based on orthoquinone diazides become more soluble after exposure to radiation and therefore a positive transparency is used in the exposure. In this case, it is the radiation-exposed areas that are removed by development and the non-radiation-exposed areas that remain on the substrate form the image. Plates having such radiation-sensitive layers are known as positive-working plates.
The life, in terms of the number of copies it can produce, of a printing plate can often be increased by ("burning-in") the image areas, provided, of course, that the material of the image areas is suitable. "Burning-in" is a well-established practice in the art of producing lithographic printing plates from radiation-sensitive plates. The "burning-in" causes extensive crosslinking to occur in the polymeric structure of the material comprising the image area. The limiting temperature and time of the "burning-in" is that at which the aluminum anneals, resulting in a loss of strength required for a printing plate.
U.K. Patent 669,412 discloses the burning-in of images based on naphthoquinone diazides. In accordance with the teachings of this patent, a radiation-sensitive plate including a layer of the diazide is image-wise exposed, developed with an alkaline solution to remove selectively those areas of the layer exposed to radiation, and then placed in an oven to heat the image constituted by those areas of the layer that were not exposed to radiation. Thereafter, it is necessary to treat the plate with an alkaline solution again in order to remove contaminating residues from the plate and make the plate ready for printing.
In many cases, the image areas to be heated may be reinforced by incorporating reinforcing material in the radiation sensitive layer and/or by applying the reinforcing material in the form of a reinforcing lacquer to the image areas after development. Novolak resins and/or resol resins are examples of commonly used reinforcing materials. However, as disclosed in U.K. Patent 1,154,749, heating at a temperature sufficient to harden resin-reinforced image areas causes those areas of the substrate revealed on development to be at least partially covered with a contaminating layer which is ink accepting and which would therefore cause scumming and yield a soiled background during printing. This layer must therefore be removed before printing is initiated and this is achieved in accordance with the teachings of the patent by treating the plate with aqueous alkaline solution.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,294,910 discloses the use of various aqueous compositions known as "gumming" or "pre-bake" solutions to avoid problems resulting from the burning-in process. Such solutions contain materials such as sodium dodecyl phenoxy benzene disulphonate, alkylated naphthalene sulphonic acid, sulphonated alkyl diphenyl oxide, methylene dinaphthalene sulphonic acid, etc.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,786,581 discloses the use of "gumming" solutions for protecting plates during the burning-in process; these aqueous solutions contain a hydrophilic polymer component and an organic acid component. The organic acid component (or water-soluble salt thereof) contains di- or greater acid functionality and encompasses the benzene carboxylic acids, sulphonic acids and phosphonic acids including alkane phosphonic acids. In contradistinction to the materials recited in the '581 patent, the present invention does not require the use of a hydrophilic polymer. Furthermore, the diphosphonic acid (present as the di-potassium salt) employed in the present invention provides superior results in protecting the surface of aluminum plates to be burned-in. Such superior protectant properties would be related to the ability of the di-potassium salt of the hydroxyethylidene diphosphonic acid to complex with the aluminum oxide surface of the printing plate, whereas the alkane phosphonic acids disclosed in the '581 patent do not possess such a property.
The contaminating layer produced as the result of the burning-in process is not, as a rule, discernible to the naked eye and it is difficult to ensure that all the contamination has been removed. Moreover, in the case of those substrate surfaces that are porous, as is the case of an anodized aluminum plate, contamination may be present in the pores. Such contamination is likely to cause scumming during long printing runs as the substrate surface is gradually worn away. The alternative of redeveloping the plates after burning-in in order to remove the contaminating layer is costly and inconvenient since the plates have to be returned to the plate fabrication facility after they have been removed from the oven.
In view of the difficulties associated with the removal of the contamination which is produced by the burning-in procedure, it is desirable to prevent such contamination from occurring in the first instance. It has been found that the contamination apparently arises as a result of some component of the image material subliming from the image areas during heating and subsequently being redeposited on the areas of the substrate revealed on development. Even plates that contain no substances that could generate contamination during heating nevertheless become contaminated by deposition of contaminating material previously deposited on the internal surfaces of the burning-in oven as a result of prior usage.


One example method of spatial query processing using query window indexes includes receiving a spatial query on spatial data that has an associated spatial data index. The spatial query specifies a query window. A query window index structure is constructed that describes a geometry of the query window. The query window index structure is compared to the spatial data index and, when necessary, to the spatial data to determine a spatial relationship between the query window and the spatial data.

A spatial or geographic database can include data concerning locations of features in space or on a surface. Spatial data can include geometric data that includes simple primitive elements such as lines, curves, polygons (with and without holes), and compound elements that are made up of a combination of the primitive elements. For example, a geographical database can include data concerning the location of various objects in a region. Along these lines, a geographic database can include mathematical representations of counties, cities, homes, apartment buildings, parks, businesses, subway stations, and other features. The location information could be in the form of latitude and longitude data or other data that defines position.
Once a database including this information is created it is typically desired to access and utilize the information. One way that the information in the databases is utilized involves determining the relative positions of particular locations. Along these lines, a person might want to find certain types of businesses in a zip code region. At times, it may be desirable to generally determine whether objects in a database have overlapping locations and, if so, the extent of the overlap.
Analyses such as those described above on data in spatial and/or geographic databases can present a number of problems. Determining relationships among data in a database can overtax memory and computing power, take an unacceptable period of time or cost an unacceptable amount of money. This is especially true with data in geographic databases.
For example, one problem concerning trying to determine whether objects have overlapping locations involves actually comparing the outlines of the objects to see if any interactions exist. However, carrying out a point-by-point comparison of two geometries typically requires quite a long time, in some cases, on the order of minutes and, in extreme cases, hours.
Spatial indexes are used by spatial databases (databases which store information related to objects in space) to optimize spatial queries. Indexes used by non-spatial databases cannot effectively handle spatial data features such as how far apart two points are and whether points fall within a spatial area of interest. Thus, other indexing techniques have been developed for spatial data. Common spatial indexing methods include an R-tree. In an R-tree, objects (shapes, lines and points) are grouped using minimum bounding rectangles (MBR). Objects are added to an MBR within the index that will lead to the smallest increase in its size. A hierarchy of MBRs is constructed in which child MBRs descend from a parent MBR that contains them. The index is stored as a set of node entries, with each entry storing coordinates of its associated MBR as well as an identifier that links the MBR to at least one child node.

Spatial query processing with query window index


The invention is directed to a skin-whitening agent comprising at least one sugar fatty acid ester and at least one plant extract selected from the group consisting of extracts of Waltheria indica, extracts of Pisum sativum and mixtures thereof. The invention is further directed to cosmetic compositions comprising such a skin-whitening agents.

Many chemicals are well known for skin whitening activities, as hydroquinone, kojic acid, arbutin and ascorbic acid derivatives. However, the safety, stability, smell, or efficacies of these whitening agents do not satisfy consumers needs.
WO 02/053121 (LG Household & Healthcare Company) discloses glucose- and sucrose-esters with fatty acids having a carbon chain length of C3 to C6 and their use in cosmetics for skin whitening. WO 03/074013 and EP 1 340 486 A1 (Cognis France S. A.) discloses the use of sugar fatty acid esters as inhibitors of the melanin synthesis in hair and skin cells.
When trying to achieve a highly effective skin whitening activity in a cosmetic composition, the use of fatty acid esters is limited due to their emulsifying properties. Thus with sugar fatty acids the skin whitening activity that can be achieved in standard cosmetic formulations is limited.
WO 98/55087 (Laboratories Serobiologiques) describes cosmetic compositions comprising an extract from Waltheria indica. The anti-UV A, anti-UV B and the anti-collagenase effects, anti-ageing, anti-elastase, anti-radical and glutathione auto-synthesis reducing activity are disclosed. WO 01/056541 (=EP 1 253 906 B1) (Cognis France S. A.) describe cosmetic compositions containing extracts of Waltheria indica in combination with ferulic acid. WO 01/056541 discloses that these mixtures can be used as skin whiteners and as tyrosinase inhibitors, it does not disclose that Waltheria indica extracts alone, or in combination with any other component, display tyrosinase inhibiting activity in melanocytes (i.e. acting through a decrease of cellular tyrosinase activity and not as direct tyrosinase inhibitors).
It is preferred that skin whitening cosmetic compositions themselves are white or of a very light colour. When trying to achieve a highly effective skin whitening activity in a cosmetic composition, the use of plant extracts is limited due to the colour of the plant extracts.
Aim of the invention was to provide a skin whitening active which overcomes the draw-backs of the prior art. Of special interest was that a highly effective skin whitening active can be easily incorporated into cosmetic composition e.g. without developing or adjusting the emulsifier system for each formulation; e.g. not to contribute to the colour of the final formulation; e.g. not to require a concentration which interferes with the formulation of the cosmetic composition, thus being highly effective at low concentrations. In addition it is desired that the skin whitening active does not or only to a much lower extend than products known in the market, cause an irritation of the skin onto which it is applied.
It has surprisingly be found, that the skin whitening active of the invention can be formulated at a highly efficient concentration in cosmetic compositions. It has been found the skin whitening active can be easily formulated into a broad range of cosmetic compositions (e.g. W/O emulsions, O/W emulsions) and that it—at the same time—leads to very lightly coloured, in some cases even colour-less end products. In addition the skin whitening active of the invention does not show any irritation on the skin.
The skin whitening actives according to the invention allow to formulate cosmetic compositions which are highly effective in skin whitening, show very little colour and can be formulated in a wide range of cosmetic formulations types, e.g. W/O emulsions or O/W emulsions without special requirement to the emulsion system.

Cosmetic composition comprising a combination of a sugar fatty acid ester with a plant extract of


A turbocharger system having a compressor housing containing a rotating compressor wheel with a plurality of impellers that define an impeller passageway from an inducer to an exducer. The compressor housing includes an annular upstream housing-portion forming an upstream shroud-wall, and a downstream housing-portion forming a downstream shroud-wall. The a rib supports the upstream housing-portion with respect to the downstream housing-portion such that they are respectively disposed to form an annular bypass port into the impeller passageway between the upstream and downstream shroud-walls. The rib extends along a non-axial path within the bypass passageway.

Rotary compressors are used in a variety of applications for compressing gases. As an example, with reference to FIG. 1, in turbocharger technology a rotating compressor wheel 11 within a compressor housing 13 sucks air through an intake port 15, compresses it in an impeller passage 17, and diffuses it into a volute 19. The compressed air is supplied to an intake manifold of an internal combustion engine. The operating range of a compressor extends from a surge condition (wherein the airflow is "surging"), occurring at low airflow rates, to a choke condition (wherein the airflow is "choking") experienced at high airflow rates. Surging airflow occurs when a compressor operates at a relatively low flow rate with respect to the compressor pressure ratio, and the resulting flow of air throughout the compressor becomes unstable. "Choking" occurs when a compressor tries to operate at a high flow rate that reaches the mass flow rate available through the limited area of an intake end of the compressor wheel (known as the inducer) through which air arrives at the compressor wheel.
In order to improve the operating flow range, some compressors include one or more bypass ports 21 (such as in the form of an annular opening) on a compressor housing inner wall 23 (also referred to as a shroud) of the impeller passage 17 surrounding the compressor wheel 11. This "ported shroud" forms a bypass passageway 25 that extends between the bypass port(s) and a substantially annular opening 27 into the intake port 15 that feeds air in to the impeller passage. The ported shroud thus creates a second passage connecting the intake port to the impeller passage, wherein this second passage does not extend through the inducer.
The ported shroud typically improves the surge characteristics of a compressor by rerouting some air passing through the impeller passage back to the intake port during low-airflow operation, thereby extending the range over which the compressor can operate without experiencing a surge condition. The ported shroud may improve the choke characteristics of a compressor by providing an additional flow path into the impeller passage that does not extend through the inducer during high-airflow operation. This extends the range over which the compressor can operate without experiencing a choke condition.
When the bypass port 21 is in the form of an annular opening, it is necessary to have support structure to hold an upstream portion 31 of the compressor, which forms the portion of the compressor housing inner wall that is upstream from the bypass port, with respect to a downstream portion 33 of the compressor, which forms the portion of the compressor housing inner wall that is downstream from the bypass port. This support structure is typically a plurality of radial ribs 35 extend axially through the bypass passageway 25.
Airflow received through the bypass port 21 from the impeller passage 17, i.e., bypass air, typically has a flow vector including both a substantial axial component (i.e., a component of flow direction through the bypass passageway 25 and parallel to the compressor wheel axis of rotation) and a substantial circumferential component (i.e., a component of flow direction tangent to the circumference of the bypass passageway at that location). The circumferential component may be useful in reducing the angle of incidence between air passing through the bypass passageway and external air initially entering the compressor housing. Radial ribs that extend axially through the bypass passageway guide the airflow in an axial direction, obstruct the circumferential component of the airflow, and therefore reduce the circumferential component of the flow vector.
Accordingly, there has existed a need for an apparatus and related methods to extend the flow range of a compressor without reducing the circumferential component of the bypass air. Moreover, it is preferable that such apparatus are cost and weight efficient. Preferred embodiments of the present invention satisfy these and other needs, and provide further related advantages.

Inclined rib ported shroud compressor housing


A system that optimizes packet transmissions during a convergecast operation in a convergecast network. During operation, the system receives a request to perform the convergecast operation in the convergecast network. In response to the request, the system constructs a convergecast-tree, which includes the base-station and the plurality of nodes, based on hop counts from the plurality of nodes to the base-station. Next, the system linearizes the convergecast-tree so that the convergecast-tree contains a plurality of linear branches. The system then schedules packet transmission for each of the linear branches and each node in each branch based on a set of predetermined criteria to obtain a scheduled order. Finally, the system performs packet transmissions in the convergecast-tree using the scheduled order. Note that performing the convergecast operation in this way substantially optimizes the convergecast operation by reducing a total number of timeslots required to complete the convergecast operation.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless sensor networks. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method and an apparatus for optimizing convergecast operations in a wireless sensor network.
2. Related Art
A convergecast operation is a type of many-to-one communication operation in a wireless sensor network in which some or all nodes in the network send data to a base-station during a relatively short time period. Convergecast operations are desirable in applications requiring periodic global state snapshots, such as in node residual energy monitoring operations, or in event-driven computations, such as a sniper localization application. In these applications, all of the data packets generated in the network have to be transmitted to a base-station for record-keeping or for intensive computational-analysis.
Generally, a time bound on convergecast latency and a guarantee on packet delivery are desirable in mission critical applications, e.g., surveillance and security applications. Specifically, a minimum convergecast latency facilitates timely detection of events which occur. Furthermore, a known time bound on the convergecast latency can help the base-station to schedule convergecast requests and related computations more effectively. Additionally, a high data delivery rate is desirable during a convergecast operation to allow the system to generate a more accurate picture of the sensing field.
Unfortunately, existing convergecast scheduling techniques are primarily based on contention-based medium access control (MAC) protocols, such as carrier sense multiple access (CSMA). When these techniques are employed during a convergecast operation, data packet collisions at sensors nodes create a major challenge, and can cause serious data losses. Furthermore, using recovery methods such as retransmission to remedy these data losses inevitably increases convergecast latency and leads to more collisions in high data rate applications, in addition to consuming extra energy. A radially coordinated transmission delay has been proposed to decrease the probability of collisions. However, as a result of using CSMA at the MAC layer, the additional convergecast latency resulting from radial coordination is far from optimal.
Hence what is needed is a method and an apparatus for performing convergecast operations in a wireless sensor network without the above-described problems.

Method and apparatus for optimizing convergecast operations in a wireless sensor network


A fuel cell has a gas diffusion layer (15A, 15C) provided on at least one surface side of a polymer electrolyte membrane (12). The polymer electrolyte membrane is structured with a conductive carbon sheet. Fluid flow passages (16A, 16C) are formed on the surface of the gas diffusion layer (15A, 15C) contacting a separator (21A, 21C). The roughness of the surface of the gas diffusion layer (15A, 15C) provided with the fluid flow passage is smaller than the roughness of its surface contacting the catalyst layer (14A, 14C). Thus, it becomes possible to achieve a further improvement in power generation performance, and to suppress a reduction in durability.

A fuel cell (e.g., a polymer electrolyte fuel cell) is configured to supply a fuel gas such as hydrogen to the one face of a polymer electrolyte membrane possessing hydrogen ion conductivity, and to supply an oxidant gas such as oxygen to the other face, to cause an electrochemical reaction via the polymer electrolyte membrane, so as to electrically acquire reaction energy produced thereby.
Generally, a fuel cell is structured by stacking a plurality of cells, and fastening them under pressure with fastening members such as bolts. One cell is structured with a membrane electrode assembly (hereinafter, referred to as the MEA: Membrane-Electrode-Assembly) clamped by paired plate-like electrically conductive separators. One of the paired separators is an anode separator. The anode separator has fluid flow passages for supplying the fuel gas, which is formed on the face of the anode separator contacting on the MEA. The other one of the paired separators is a cathode separator. The cathode separator has fluid flow passages for supplying the oxidant gas, which is formed on the face of the cathode separator contacting on the MEA.
The MEA is structured with a polymer electrolyte membrane, and paired porous electrodes respectively disposed on opposite faces of the polymer electrolyte membrane. One of the paired porous electrodes is an anode electrode, and the other is a cathode electrode. The polymer electrolyte membrane and the porous electrodes are integrally joined with hot press or the like. The paired porous electrodes are each structured with a catalyst layer stacked on the polymer electrolyte membrane, and a gas diffusion layer stacked on the catalyst layer, the gas diffusion layer being porous and conductive.
When the fuel gas is introduced into the fluid flow passages of the anode separator and the oxidant gas is introduced into the fluid flow passages of the cathode separator, an electrochemical reaction takes place via the polymer electrolyte membrane. The fuel cell is structured such that the electric power generated by the electrochemical reaction is acquired externally via the separators.
In the fuel cell of such a structure, the porous electrodes are required to possess excellent conductivity, air permeability, water permeability, and corrosion resistance. Accordingly, the porous electrodes are made of, for example, graphite carbon, which possesses excellent conductivity, corrosion resistance, and water repellency. Such graphite carbon can be prepared, for example, as follows: turning the carbon fibers into a paper-form or weaving the carbon fibers, to thereby prepare a sheet possessing air permeability attributed to its structure; and thereafter, subjecting the sheet to heat treatment, to thereby improve its graphitization degree.
Further, the separators are required to possess excellent conductivity, gas impermeability, and corrosion resistance. Accordingly, as the material of the separators, for example, a conductive material made of a graphite base material, a metal base material or the like is used. When a graphite base material is used as the material of the separators, the fluid flow passages of the separators are generally formed by subjecting a mixture of graphite powder and resin to compression molding. Further, when a metal base material is used as the material of the separators, the fluid flow passages of the separators are generally formed by performing presswork of a thin plate treated to be conductive on the surface of a highly corrosion resistive material such as stainless steel, titanium or the like. It is noted that, a separator which is formed of a mixture of graphite powder and resin is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 (International Publication No. WO 2002-035630). Patent Document 1 discloses a separator in which a plurality of flat graphite particles are exposed at the surface of the separator, and a resin lacking portion is formed between the plurality of flat graphite particles, for the purpose of reducing the contact resistance between the separator and the gas diffusion layer.
However, the separator using the graphite base material is low in strength, and therefore a reduction in thickness is difficult to be achieved. Therefore, it is disadvantageous in attaining a reduction in size and costs of the fuel cell. Further, the separator using metal base material is difficult to freely pattern the fluid flow passages.
As a solution for such issues, a fuel cell having the fluid flow passages disposed at a member other than the separator is disclosed in, for example, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2000-123850), Patent Document 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-203571), and Patent Document 4 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2006-339089).
FIG. 13 shows the structure of the fuel cell disclosed in Patent Document 2. The fuel cell of Patent Document 2 has a structure in which a catalyst layer 102, a first carbon sheet 103, a second carbon sheet 104, and a separator 105 are stacked in order on each face of a polymer electrolyte membrane 101. The second carbon sheet 104 is cut into a pattern shape of a fluid flow passage 106, to structure a gas diffusion layer with the first carbon sheet 103. That is, in the fuel cell of the Patent Document 2, the fluid flow passage 106 is secured by disposing the second carbon sheet 104 between the separator 105 and the first carbon sheet 103.
FIG. 14 shows the structure of the fuel cell disclosed in Patent Document 3. The fuel cell of Patent Document 3 has a structure in which a porous electrode 202 and a separator 203 are stacked in order on each face of a polymer electrolyte membrane 201. Each porous electrode 202 is structured by weaving carbon fibers of a low degree of crystal orientation and a great surface area into a sheet 205 made of carbon fibers of a high degree of crystal orientation and a small surface area, to form sidewall portions 206 of fluid flow passages 204. That is, in the fuel cell of Patent Document 3, each fluid flow passage 204 is formed at the porous electrode 202 serving as the gas diffusion layer. Further, in the fuel cell of Patent Document 3, the gas diffusion layer is structured to possess both the water repellency and water retentivity, by causing the carbon fibers structuring the bottom face of the fluid flow passage 204 and the carbon fibers structuring the side face of the fluid flow passage 204 to be different from each other in pore density.
FIG. 15A shows the structure of the fuel cell disclosed in Patent Document 4. The fuel cell of Patent Document 4 has a structure in which a catalyst layer 302, a gas diffusion layer 303, and a separator 304 are stacked in order on each face of a polymer electrolyte membrane 301. FIG. 15B is a cross-sectional view showing the structure of the gas diffusion layer 303. The gas diffusion layer 303 is structured by stacking a water-repellent layer 305 provided on the polymer electrolyte membrane 301 side, and a gas flow passage layer 307, the gas flow passage layer 307 having fluid flow passages 306 formed inside its body formed by a porous body. That is, in the fuel cell of Patent Document 4, the gas diffusion layer 303 is prepared as a two-layer structure made up of a water-repellent layer 305 and a gas flow passage layer 307, such that the fluid flow passages 306 are formed inside the gas diffusion layer 303.

Fuel cell and method for manufacturing same


To provide a small-sized electromagnetic relay capable of reducing an internal resistance of a contact circuit as much as possible, and also capable of carrying a high current to the relay. The electromagnetic relay includes an electromagnetic driving block composed by a coil, an iron core, a yoke, and an armature; fixed contacts each provided on one end of each of a pair of terminals fixed to a base; and a movable spring having movable contacts provided at positions corresponding to the respective fixed contacts, the armature driving the movable spring depending on whether or not a current is carried to the coil, thereby opening or closing a contact circuit, wherein the movable spring has both ends supported by the base, the movable spring arranged in parallel to the terminals, and the movable contacts are provided on the movable spring.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electromagnetic relay. More specifically, the present invention relates to a small-sized electromagnetic relay improved to reduce an internal resistance of a contact circuit as much as possible and to carry a high current to the relay.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional small-sized electromagnetic relay of this type will be described with reference to FIG. 11. FIG. 11 is a longitudinal side view that schematically shows an electromagnetic relay 1. An electromagnetic relay 1 shown in FIG. 11 is composed by a yoke 3 built on an insulation base 2 formed by molding, an iron core 4 fixed to the yoke 3, a coil 5 wound around a bobbin (not shown) with the iron core 4 provided in a central portion of the coil 5, an armature 6 provided to be pivotally rotatable about an upper end of the yoke 3 set as a fulcrum, an insulation card 7 provided in front of a lower end of the armature 6 and longitudinally reciprocating to follow rotation of the armature 6, a movable contact piece 8 abutting on a front end of the insulation card 7, having a lower end fixed to the insulation base 2 by a longitudinal movement of the insulation card 7, and provided to be longitudinally pivotally rotatable about the lower end set as a fulcrum, a movable contact 9 provided on an outer side surface of an upper end of the movable contact piece 8, a fixed contact piece 10 provided in front of and in parallel to the movable contact piece 8, a fixed contact 11 provided in rear of an upper end of the fixed contact piece 10 to face the movable contact 9, and a cap 12 that contains the preceding constituent elements.
The electromagnetic relay 1 is constituted as follows. When a power of the coil 5 is turned on or off, the iron core 4 attracts or separates one end of the armature 6 to pivotally rotate the armature 6 about the fulcrum, and to longitudinally move the insulation card 7 on the lower end of the armature 6. In addition, to follow the longitudinal movement of the insulation card 7, the movable contact piece 8 is longitudinally pivotally rotated about its lower end set as the fulcrum, the movable contact 9 provided on the movable contact piece 8 comes in contact with or separates from the fixed contact 11, thereby opening or closing the movable contact 9 and the fixed contact 11.
The movable contact piece 8 has a cantilever structure having the lower end fixed to the insulation base 2. Therefore, the electromagnetic relay of this type is employed if a current capacity is not very large (For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open Nos. H6-231 665, H 10-125202, and 2001-93393, respectively).
According to this conventional technique, since the movable contact piece 8 needs to be constituted by a spring plate, an internal resistance of a contact circuit cannot be set low. With a structure in which the movable contact 9 is attached to the movable contact piece 8 so as to reduce the resistance, and in which the movable contact piece 8 is set to have a large thickness and supported by the cantilever spring, the conventional electromagnetic relay disadvantageously, sometimes malfunctions when an impact is applied since the movable contact 9 having a heavy tip end is fixedly provided.


A combined isolator-diplexer device for supplying radiofrequency (RF) energy and microwave energy obtained from separate sources to a probe via a common signal pathway. The invention combines into a single unit all the necessary components to isolate a microwave channel from an RF channel whilst providing a high withstanding voltage (e.g. greater than 10 kV). The device comprises a waveguide isolator for isolating the microwave channel having a pair of DC isolation barriers arranged therein to provide a pair of series-connected capacitive structures between a ground conductor at an output of the combining circuit and a conductive input section of the waveguide isolator.

Surgical resection is a means of removing sections of organs from within the human or animal body. Such organs may be highly vascular. When tissue is cut (divided or transected) small blood vessels called arterioles are damaged or ruptured. Initial bleeding is followed by a coagulation cascade where the blood is turned into a clot in an attempt to plug the bleeding point. During an operation, it is desirable for a patient to lose as little blood as possible, so various devices have been developed in an attempt to provide blood free cutting. For endoscopic procedures, it is also undesirable for a bleed to occur and not to be dealt with as soon as quickly as possible, or in an expedient manner, since the blood flow may obscure the operator's vision, which may lead to the procedure needing to be terminated and another method used instead, e.g. open surgery.
Electrosurgical generators are pervasive throughout hospital operating theatres, for use in open and laparoscopic procedures, and are also increasingly present in endoscopy suites. In endoscopic procedures the electrosurgical accessory is typically inserted through a lumen inside an endoscope. Considered against the equivalent access channel for laparoscopic surgery, such a lumen is comparatively narrow in bore and greater in length. In the case of a bariatric patient the surgical accessory may have a length of 300 mm from handle to RF tip, whereas the equivalent distance in a laparoscopic case can be in excess of 2500 mm.
Instead of a sharp blade, it is known to use radiofrequency (RF) energy to cut biological tissue. The method of cutting using RF energy operates using the principle that as an electric current passes through a tissue matrix (aided by the ionic contents of the cells and the intercellular electrolytes), the impedance to the flow of electrons across the tissue generates heat. When an RF voltage is applied to the tissue matrix, enough heat is generated within the cells to vaporise the water content of the tissue. As a result of this increasing desiccation, particularly adjacent to the RF emitting region of the instrument (referred to herein as an RF blade) which has the highest current density of the entire current path through tissue, the tissue adjacent to the cut pole of the RF blade loses direct contact with the blade. The applied voltage then appears almost entirely across this void which ionises as a result, forming a plasma, which has a very high volume resistivity compared to tissue. This differentiation is important as it focuses the applied energy to the plasma that completed the electrical circuit between the cut pole of the RF blade and the tissue. Any volatile material entering the plasma slowly enough is vaporised and the perception is therefore of a tissue dissecting plasma.
GB 2 486 343 discloses a control system for an electrosurgical apparatus which delivers both RF and microwave energy to treat biological tissue. The energy delivery profile of both RF energy and microwave energy delivered to a probe is set based on sampled voltage and current information of RF energy conveyed to the probe and sampled forward and reflected power information for the microwave energy conveyed to and from the probe.
GB 2 522 533 discloses an isolating circuit for an electrosurgical generator arranged to produce radiofrequency (RF) energy and microwave energy for treating biological tissue. The isolating circuit comprises a tunable waveguide isolator at a junction between the microwave channel and signal combiner, and can include a capacitive structure between a ground conductor of the signal combiner and a conductive input section of the waveguide isolator to inhibit coupling of the RF energy and leakage of the microwave energy.

Isolation device for electrosurgical apparatus


A sensor configured to sense an external event including: a first component having a first impedance that changes when the external event occurs and being connected between a reference voltage node and an output node wherein the output node is configured to provide, when the external event occurs, a feedback signal to the first component that further changes the first impedance and wherein the first component is a field effect transistor comprising: a gate formed from a conductive core of a nanowire and connected to the output node; a gate dielectric formed from an insulating shell of the nanowire; a source/drain electrode connected to the output node; a source/drain electrode connected to the reference node; and a channel extending between the source/drain electrodes.

The principal figure of merit used to characterize a sensor is its sensitivity (S), defined asS=ΔI/I0
where I0 is the current flowing through the sensor and ΔI the current variation due to a sensing event.
Nano-scale devices typically function with currents in the nA range. Sophisticated measurement setups are thus needed to discriminate variations in conductivity of only a few percents and minimize other sources of noise that could overshadow detection events (light, vibrations, thermal drift, etc.).


An electrically-powered downlock actuation system for a landing gear that does not convert rotary motor output into linear motion during the actuation process, but instead uses the rotary motor output to directly drive a locking mechanism coupled to upper and lower landing gear braces. The electrically-powered downlock actuation system may include an electric motor, a gearbox (optional), a clutch (optional) and a fixed link to replace a hydraulically powered downlock actuation system. Further, the electrically-powered downlock actuation system may be controlled with motor control electronics that cooperate with one or more sensors arranged to detect a position of an output shaft.

Typically, a hydraulic downlock actuator directly linked to a linkage operates to lock an aircraft landing gear in an extended or deployed configuration. Conventional downlock actuators are linear actuators that are typically small in overall size and have a relatively low output load. Many installations of these actuators on landing gear systems have tight physical operating envelopes, and thus it can be difficult to route hydraulic conduits to and from the downlock actuator.
FIGS. 1 and 2 show a landing gear brace and lock linkage system 100 having a brace 102 and a linkage 104 coupled to lock mechanisms 106, 108, respectively. A conventional, hydraulic downlock actuator 110 is mounted on the brace 102, but can be mounted in any number of configurations in order to operate the lock mechanism. The brace 102 and linkage 104 are locked into a desired configuration by the lock mechanisms 106, 108, which are controllable for locking and unlocking the brace 102 relative to the linkage 104 using the downlock actuator 110 and a set of springs 112. The actuator 110 is hydraulically powered and will hydraulically unlock the brace 102 relative to the linkage 104 by overcoming the spring force and other unlocking loads. The springs 112 are sized to pull the lock mechanisms 106, 108 into their locked positions with or without the aid of the downlock actuator 110. Conduits 114, which may take the form of hydraulic fluid lines, are arranged to be in fluid communication with the aircraft's hydraulic system.

Electrically powered downlock actuation system


A wearable, self-contained drug infusion device is disclosed that is capable of achieving the precise flow rate control needed for dose-critical drugs such as insulin. In preferred embodiments of the device, at least two flow channels are utilized in conjunction with a series of valves for providing a user with selectable, constant flow rate control. The device can be made with small dimensions so that it can be worn by the user with a minimum of discomfort and inconvenience. In addition, the simple mechanical nature of the device provides the user with close control over the flow rate, which is required for safe and effective delivery of insulin and other drugs. Also, the absence of electronic components allows the device to be manufactured inexpensively. The device is provided with a first channel that is long and narrow, functioning as a flow restrictor. The first channel is preferably provided in a serpentine pattern. A second channel is also provided that has a larger cross section so that flow is not restricted. A series of valves are used to force the flow of fluid through a selectable portion of the serpentine portion of the first channel before entering the remainder of the second channel and flowing to the delivery cannula. In one embodiment of the device, a needle port is provided in fluid communication with the delivery cannula for delivering bolus injections. In another embodiment, a bolus button is provided for delivering bolus injections. A flow restrictor is preferably included in the bolus button to limit the rate at which the bolus button refills.

Diabetes is a chronic disease that is caused by both hereditary and environmental factors. It is characterized by the body's inability to control glucose levels. Left untreated, it causes damage to the circulatory and nervous systems and results in organ failures, amputations, neuropathy, blindness and eventually death. It has been definitively shown that the cost of the complications related to diabetes significantly exceeds the cost of therapy. The Diabetes Control and Complications Trial (DCCT) was a ten-year study of 1400 patients to assess the benefits of close control of blood glucose levels. The study found that such close control provided 50% to 75% reductions in retinopathy, nephropathy, neuropathy and cardiovascular risk.
There are roughly 17.5 million people with diabetes in the United States and Europe, and about 60 million more worldwide. Roughly 35% of these people use insulin to maintain close control of their glucose levels. Proper control of blood glucose levels through programmed insulin injection or infusion allows a high quality of life and a life expectancy of an additional 35 to 40 years from diagnosis.
Currently, there are two principal modes of daily insulin therapy. The first mode includes syringes and insulin pens. These devices are simple to use and are relatively low in cost, but they require a needle stick at each injection, typically three to four times per day. The second is infusion pump therapy, which entails the purchase of an expensive pump that lasts for about three years. The initial cost of the pump is a high barrier to this type of therapy. From a user perspective, however, the overwhelming majority of patients who have used pumps prefer to remain with pumps for the rest of their lives. This is because infusion pumps, although more complex than syringes and pens, offer the advantages of continuous infusion of insulin, precision dosing and programmable delivery schedules. This results in closer glucose control and an improved feeling of wellness.
The typical patient on intensive therapy injects insulin to provide a basal level and then takes supplemental boluses prior to meals during the day. Those on infusion pumps program their pumps to mimic this type of delivery schedule. There are several existing or anticipated means of insulin therapy that a patient might consider.
The first are so-called oral agents that enhance the ability of the body to utilize insulin. Typical compounds include sulfonylureas, biguanides and thiazolidinediones. Oral agents are initially appropriate for Type 2 diabetics, whose bodies produce some insulin, although after a period of years these patients generally need to supplement with additional insulin. For Type 1 diabetics, the body does not produce insulin and these agents are not effective.
Once the oral agents are no longer effective, insulin is injected using syringes or multi-dose insulin pens. The syringe is the least expensive means of delivery, but many patients are willing to pay a premium for the convenience of the insulin pen.
A recent advance has been the development of extremely long-acting insulins. While regular insulins have a physiological onset in 10 minutes and peak activity in about 90 minutes, current long-acting insulins peak in roughly 8 hours. This type of insulin can be taken in the morning and can be accompanied by bolus delivery at meals. The alternative of simply taking all of one's insulin requirement in basal delivery is believed by many to be therapeutically unsound. Insulin resistance is theorized to build as a result of high concentrations of insulin in the bloodstream, and as a result ever increasing amounts of insulin are necessary to control blood glucose levels. Unfortunately, the basal plus bolus profile still results in the same high and undesirable frequency of injections, typically four per day. Long-acting insulin does provide good therapy for those patients whose bodies benefit from supplemental basal insulin, but this is a temporary condition and simply delays a more rigorous insulin injection regimen for six months to two years.
As their interest in intensive therapy increases, users typically look to insulin pumps. However, in addition to their high cost (roughly 8 to 10 times the daily cost of syringe therapy) and limited lifetime, insulin pumps represent relatively old technology and are cumbersome to use. Also, from a lifestyle standpoint, the tubing (known as the "infusion set") that links the pump with the delivery site on the user's abdomen is very inconvenient and the pumps are relatively heavy, making carrying the pump a bother.
A new method of insulin delivery currently undergoing development is pulmonary delivery. The principal issue with pulmonary delivery is criticality of dose, as pulmonary delivery is relatively inefficient and difficult to quantify. As a result, it will be difficult to keep blood glucose levels in control with this delivery form, although it may prove very useful as a supplement for bolus delivery at mealtime. The inefficiency of delivery (currently about 10%) significantly drives up the cost of pulmonary therapy. The implications of chronic inhalation of insulin are also unknown.
In summary, patients on oral agents eventually move to insulin, and existing pump therapy is very expensive. Interest in better therapy is on the rise, accounting for the observed growth in pump therapy and increased number of daily injections. What is needed to fully meet this increased interest is a form of insulin delivery that combines the best features of daily injection therapy (low cost and ease of use) with those of the insulin pump (continuous infusion, precision dosing and variable delivery rates), and that avoids the disadvantages of each. This will allow a greater number of patients to have access to improved insulin therapy at lower cost.
Several attempts have been made to provide ambulatory or "wearable" drug infusion devices that are low in cost and convenient to use. Some of these devices are intended to be partially or entirely disposable. In theory, devices of this type can provide many of the advantages of an infusion pump without the attendant cost and inconvenience. Unfortunately, however, many of these devices cannot provide precise control over the flow rate of the drug at a low delivery cost, and are thus not compatible with dose-critical drugs such as insulin. In addition, devices that operate with fixed insulin flow rates may meet cost targets but still require bolus injections at mealtimes. Ultimately, therefore, these existing devices do not represent an optimal alternative to infusion pumps.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Constant rate fluid delivery device with selectable flow rate and titratable bolus button


A vehicle direction estimation section estimates an absolute direction of a heading direction of a vehicle based on GPS information and vehicle information. A satellite direction estimation section estimates an absolute direction of a target satellite of several satellites for positioning based on corresponding GPS information, and estimates a relative direction of the target satellite with respect to the heading direction based on the estimated absolute direction of the heading direction and the estimated absolute direction of the target satellite. A shield determination section determines a shielded state of the target satellite by determining whether a signal strength of a satellite signal from the target satellite is greater than a threshold value relative to a target partition of several partitions into which a three-dimensional sphere with respect to the heading direction is divided, the target partition which the calculated relative direction of the target satellite belongs to.

[Patent document 1] WO-2006-132003 A1
There is known a GPS positioning amendment method which amends a measuring position of a mobile station by determining a satellite signal undergoing an influence of the multipass with an easy and accurate method (see Patent document 1). In this method, a reference station transmits data for position amendment and a reception strength of a satellite signal to a mobile station such as a vehicle; the mobile station compares the reception strength in the reference station with the reception strength in the mobile station with respect to a satellite signal of each satellite. When the difference in such comparison is greater than a predetermined threshold value, the satellite signal of the satellite is removed from the satellite signals for positioning.
However, the technology in Patent document 1 assumes that a GPS receiver is installed outdoors while naturally not considering a signal attenuation due to a vehicle body. In contrast, when the GPS receiver is installed inside of the vehicle or vehicle body, a signal may decline because of a roof or a pillar of the vehicle; thus, the use of the threshold value of the signal strength (S/N) in the outdoors results in not determining the shielded state of the positioning satellite with sufficient accuracy, posing a problem.

Satellite signal determination apparatus


A vehicle seat comprising a seat back mounted to pivot on a seat proper by means of first and second hinges, each of which is made up of two pivotally-mounted cheek plates that can be locked by slugs controlled by a rotary cam so that they are caused to come to mesh in a fixed set of teeth. The cams of the two hinges are connected together via a lost motion mechanism, and the fixed set of teeth of one of the hinges has truncated teeth, each of which forms a flat.

The present invention relates to vehicle seats equipped with hinge mechanisms.
More particularly, the invention relates to a vehicle seat having first and second sides, said seat comprising a seat proper and a seat back mounted to pivot relative to the seat proper by means of a hinge mechanism, said hinge mechanism comprising first and second hinges which are disposed on respective ones of the first and second sides of the seat, and each of which comprises:
first and second cheek plates mounted to pivot relative to each other about an axis of rotation that is common to the first and second hinges, the first cheek plates of the first and second hinges both being secured to a first element chosen from the seat proper and the seat back, while the second cheek plates of the first and second hinges are both secured to a second element chosen from the seat proper and the seat back, the second cheek plate of each hinge being permanently secured to or integral with a first set of teeth which extends over at least an arc of a circle centered on the axis of rotation;
at least one slug provided with a second set of teeth suitable for coming into engagement with the first set of teeth, said slug being mounted to move at least radially relative to the first cheek plate between firstly a fully engaged position, in which the second set of teeth meshes fully with the first set of teeth to lock the corresponding hinge, and secondly a maximally separated position, in which the slug does not co-operate with said first set of teeth, and in which the second set of teeth is spaced apart from said first set of teeth to the maximum extent, the slug being mounted to move over a first stroke from its maximally separated position to a limit-of-engagement position in which the second set of teeth is at the limit of the first set of teeth, and said slug being mounted to move over a second stroke from its limit-of-engagement position to its fully engaged position;
a cam mounted to turn about said axis of rotation and suitable for pushing the slug into its engaged position, the cam being mounted to move between a rest position in which said cam places said first slug in its fully engaged position, and an active position in which said cam enables the slug to be placed in its maximally separated position, and said cam being urged resiliently into its rest position in a first angular direction about the axis of rotation, the cams of the first and second hinges being mounted to move over the same angular stroke between their respective rest positions and their respective active positions; and
a control member coupled to the cam and adapted to push the slug into its maximally separated position when the cam is in the active position, and to enable the slug to be placed in its fully engaged position when the cam is in the rest position;
the seat further comprising:
a drive member that can be actuated by the user and that is coupled to a first cam chosen from the cams of the first and second hinges, for moving said first cam from its rest position to its active position, in a second angular direction; and
a lost motion mechanical coupling which, with a certain amount of angular play, connects the first cam to a second cam chosen from the cams of the first and second hinges, and which is adapted to drive the second cam into its active position when the first cam is moved into its active position by the drive member, said mechanical coupling being adapted to enable the first and second cams to find themselves simultaneously in their rest positions.
Document FR-A-2 766 137 describes an example of such a seat.
The seat described in that document is quite satisfactory but does however suffer from the drawback that, because of the tolerances for assembling the structure of the seat, combined with the tolerances for assembling the seat to the floor of the vehicle, and also combined with a small amount of angular play in the first and second hinges, the teeth on the slugs can find themselves in angular positions that differ from one hinge to the other relative to the teeth of the corresponding first set of teeth.
In some cases, that can give rise to the two hinges being prevented from re-locking fully after they have been unlocked, in particular when the angular offset between the teeth on the slugs and the teeth in the first set of teeth is in a first direction in the first hinge and in an opposite second direction in the second hinge. In which case, the two hinges are latched only improperly after re-locking, so that the back of the seat offers only relatively weak resistance to torque that can be exerted on it about its axis of rotation.
Even if they are rare, such situations are dangerous for the user of the seat, particularly (but not exclusively) when the back of the seat carries a seat belt.
An object of the present invention is to mitigate that drawback.
To this end, in the invention, in a seat of the type in question, the second hinge is shaped so that the second set of teeth of said second hinge is in an intermediate position between its limit-of-engagement position and its maximally separated position when the second set of teeth of the first hinge is in its limit-of-engagement position.
By means of these provisions, it is possible for the first set of teeth of the first strength member to engage properly in the corresponding second set of teeth before the first set of teeth of the second strength member starts engaging in the corresponding second set of teeth, which makes it possible to avoid situations in which the first sets of teeth of the two strength members are offset angularly in opposite directions relative to the corresponding second sets of teeth. In addition, even when the second set of teeth of the first strength member remains offset relative to the corresponding first set of teeth, thereby preventing the slug of the second strength member from reaching its fully engaged position, the lost motion coupling nevertheless makes it possible for the slug on the first strength member to reach its fully engaged position.
In all cases, it is therefore certain that at least the first hinge is properly locked when the user releases the actuating member.
In preferred embodiments of the invention, any of the following provisions may optionally be used:
the second hinge is shaped so that the second set of teeth of the first hinge travels over at least one half of its second stroke when the actuating member is moved in a first angular direction far enough for the second set of teeth of the second hinge to go from said intermediate position to its limit-of-engagement position;
at least one of the first and second sets of teeth of the second hinge is constituted by truncated teeth, each of which has a free end forming a flat;
one only of the first and second sets of teeth of the second hinge is constituted by truncated teeth, each of which has a free end forming a flat, the other one of said first and second sets of teeth of the second hinge being constituted by teeth each of which has a free end that is rounded;
the flats formed by the free ends of the truncated teeth are all defined by the same circularly cylindrical surface centered on the axis of rotation;
the set of teeth that has the truncated teeth is the second set of teeth of the second strength member;
the seat is provided with a seat belt connected to the seat back in the vicinity of the first side of the seat;
the first hinge is stronger than the second hinge;
the first hinge is of diameter larger than the second hinge;
the control member of each hinge is a control mask provided with at least one cam edge that comes into abutment against a stud provided on the slug so as to push said slug into its retracted position when the cam of said hinge is in the active position; and
the first cam is the cam of the first hinge, and the second cam is the cam of the second hinge.

Vehicle seat equipped with a hinge mechanism


A remaining battery energy estimation device according to an embodiment includes a current corrector, an SOC calculator, a voltage estimator, an SOC correction amount determiner, and a current error estimator. The current corrector determines a corrected current value on the basis of a current value and a current correction amount of a storage battery. The SOC calculator calculates an estimated SOC value of the storage battery on the basis of the corrected current value and an SOC correction amount. The voltage estimator determines an estimated voltage value of the storage battery on the basis of a temperature value of the storage battery, the corrected current value, and the estimated SOC value. The SOC correction amount determiner determines the SOC correction amount on the basis of a comparison between a voltage value of the storage battery and the estimated voltage value. The current error estimator determines the current correction amount on the basis of the SOC correction amount.

The use of a storage battery system is spreading in applications for suppressing fluctuations in power generation that uses natural energy such as sunlight and wind power as an energy source for mobile vehicles such as electric vehicles or in applications such as suppressing fluctuations in power demand or peak shift. To properly operate a storage battery system, it is important to accurately determine a state of charge (SOC), which is an index of the remaining battery energy (or charge rate) of a unit to be monitored, in as close to real time and as accurately as possible.
Various methods for estimating the SOC of a storage battery are known (see "V Pop, H J Bergveld, P H L Notten, P P L Regtien, "State-of-the-art of battery state-of-charge determination," Meas. Sci. Technol. 16(2005) R93-R110"). Examples include an actual measurement method of actually causing discharge and integrating a current value of the storage battery until discharge is completed, an open circuit voltage (OCV) method of obtaining an SOC from an OCV during a current pause period on the basis of the relationship between the SOC and the OCV, a current integration method of integrating the current value to obtain an SOC change (ΔSOC) over a certain period of time, and a closed circuit voltage (CCV) method of estimating the SOC from information such as voltage, current, and temperature during charging/discharging using an equivalent circuit model of the storage battery.
Each of the above methods has its own shortcomings. The actual measurement method is difficult to use during operation and its practical value is low since actual measurement changes the SOC itself. The OCV method is difficult to apply to a system that does not have a pause period (or cannot guarantee the presence of a pause period). When the current integration method is executed for a long period of time, steady-state errors in current measurement values may be accumulated, resulting in a large estimation error. The CCV method is more practical relative to other methods, but as long as there is a characteristic difference between the equivalent circuit model of the storage battery and the actual storage battery, an SOC estimation error corresponding to the difference will occur. This error appears especially during a transient response when the current or SOC changes greatly.
The technique described in Patent Literature 1 (Japanese Patent No. 5393619) has a function of correcting a steady-state error in a current measurement value. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 1 has a problem that a residual error in a current offset that is uncorrectable cannot be corrected.
In the technique described in Patent Literature 2 (Japanese Patent No. 5616464), a steady-state error in a current measurement value is estimated on the basis of an error (a voltage difference) between an estimated voltage and an actual measured voltage and the estimated steady-state error is used for current correction. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 2 has a problem that a processing load is great because current correction is performed through a Kalman filter.
In the technique described in Patent Literature 3 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application, First Publication No. 2016-224022), a steady-state error in a current measurement value and a full charge capacity error together are estimated through periodic processing. However, the technique described in Patent Literature 3 has a problem that a processing load is great.
In the technique described in Patent Literature 4 (Japanese Patent No. 6055960), an equivalent circuit parameter of a storage battery is estimated, but it has a problem that a processing load is great. In addition, since a steady-state error in the current measurement value is not estimated, an error in a transient response occurs in a situation such as that where the SOC changes greatly.
In the technique described in Non-Patent Literature 2 (CALSONIC KANSEI TECHNICAL REVIEW vol. 10 2013 "Battery charge rate estimation for HEV/EV"), the Kalman filter is configured such that the error between the estimated SOC value based on the OCV method and the estimated SOC value based on the current integration method is small. However, the error may increase depending on the current waveform.

Remaining battery energy estimation device, remaining battery energy estimation method, and storage medium

Toshiba Energy Systems & Solutions Corporation