A vibratory roller machine includes a chassis supported on one or more drum assemblies including an exciter assembly for compacting the ground on which the machine travels. The machine is operated via a number of drive and exciter motors powered by a series hybrid drive system. The series hybrid drive system includes an engine and generator that are configured to provide power to the system under nominal operating conditions. The series hybrid drive system further includes a power storage system, such as battery bank or a capacitor bank that is configured to provide the motors with additional power during peak power demand. The vibratory roller machine may, for example, be a walk-behind trench roller or ride-on roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to a vibratory compactor used, e.g., to compact backfilled trenches after a pipeline is laid or to compact the floor of a trench or to compact asphalt or larger areas, and more particularly, relates to a vibratory compactor of the above-mentioned type having an electric drive.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Vibratory compactors are used in a variety of ground compaction and ground leveling applications. Most vibratory compactors have plates or rollers that rest on the surface to be compacted and that are excited to vibrate so as to compact and level the worked surface. A common vibratory compactor, and one to which the invention is well-suited, is a vibratory trench roller.
The typical vibratory trench roller includes a chassis supported on the surface to be compacted by one or more rotating drum assemblies. Two drum assemblies are typically provided, each of which may support a respective subframe of the chassis if the trench roller is an articulated trench roller. The subframes may be articulated to one another by a pivot connection. Each of the drum assemblies include a stationary axle housing and a drum that is mounted on the axle housing and that is driven to rotate by a dedicated hydraulic motor. Both hydraulic motors are supplied with pressurized hydraulic fluid from a pump powered by an internal combustion engine mounted on one of the subframes. In addition, each drum is excited to vibrate by a dedicated exciter assembly that is located within the associated sub-frame and is powered by a hydraulic motor connected to a pump. The exciter assembly typically comprises one or more eccentric masses mounted on a rotatable shaft positioned within the sub-frame. Rotation of the eccentric shaft imparts vibrations to the sub-frame and to the remainder of the drum assembly. The entire machine is configured to be as narrow as possible so as to permit the machine to fit within a trench whose floor is too compacted. Machine widths of less than 3 feet (1 meter) are common. Vibratory trench rollers of this basic type are disclosed, e.g., in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,732,507 to Artzberger, 5,082,396 to Polacek, and 7,059,802 to Geier et al., the entireties of which are hereby expressly incorporated by reference thereto.
The hydraulic systems of vibratory trench rollers of the kind generally known in the art are configured to control the functions thereof including forward and reverse travel, steering, and vibratory excitation. Hydraulic power is produced by hydraulic pumps connected to the engine. Pressurized fluid from the pumps is routed by a hydraulic manifold to the hydraulic motors and cylinders to control the operations of the machine. Low-speed hydraulic motors drive the drums through a gear reduction, and vibratory excitation is generated by a hydraulic motor driving eccentric shafts at high speeds. Hydraulic fluid, typically oil, flows through a heat exchanger and a filter prior to returning to the reservoir in order to maintain system performance and reduce wear on the hydraulic components.
The typical hydraulic systems, though adequately operating and carrying out the functions of the machine, exhibit several drawbacks and disadvantages. First, as in any hydraulic system, there is the potential for leaks at any connection point along the system. The amount of vibratory excitation present in trench rollers of the kind under consideration herein only exacerbates this problem. Over time, the vibrations experienced can cause the hydraulic fittings to loosen and the hoses to fail from abrasion with other components and/or hoses. In the case of a hydraulic fluid leak, the roller may cease to operate and/or hydraulic fluid may leak onto and contaminate the surrounding soil.
In addition, hydraulics are inefficient as compared to other types of power transfer. Such system inefficiencies result in an undesirable amount of heat generation which is transferred through the fluid to the other hydraulic components in the system. This heat must be eliminated so as to prevent damage to the components of the machine, which adds to the complexity, cost, and inefficiencies of the overall system.
Moreover, the hydraulic valves necessary to control the flow of the hydraulic fluid through the system are quite costly. Many different valves are required to perform the functions required of vibratory trench rollers thus substantially increasing the costs associated with the production of such machines. Further, simple hydraulic controls act in an on-off manner. Thus, the flow of hydraulic fluid to components is generally started and stopped very quickly. Relief valves are inserted into the system to limit the pressures generated by these quick changes to flow. As noted previously, valves are quite costly. The additional relief valves add to the cost of the machine. Further, the addition of a number of components such as relief valves only increases the number of elements capable of failure and requiring maintenance or replacement. Hydraulic functions could be activated in a more controlled manner using proportional valves. However, such valves are even more expensive and require more complicated control systems to drive them so they are generally not cost effective for vibratory trench rollers and similar machines.
As noted above, simple hydraulics operate in an on-off manner and create high pressure spikes during transition. The high pressure conditions last only a short time (under 2 seconds) but the engines that power hydraulic systems must be sized so that the engine does not bog down under maximum power draw, such as occurs when engaging the exciter while traveling up a slope. If a machine seldom operates under these conditions, as is often the case for vibratory trench rollers, the engine operates at less than peak efficiency the vast majority of the time. In other words, the engine needs to be considerably oversized so as to be capable of meeting relatively infrequent but steep spikes in demanded power. A larger engine, of course, also costs more and requires more fuel.
Finally, hydraulic hoses must be sized according to the flow requirements of the system. These hoses can measure more than one-inch in diameter. The coverings for the hoses are generally constructed to resist abrasive wear, which makes it difficult to bend or otherwise manipulate the hoses. As such, it is rather difficult to route multiple hoses in a relatively confined space.
The foregoing drawbacks and disadvantages result in a number of system shortcomings and failures including, but not necessarily limited to, hydraulic leaks caused by loose-fitting or damaged o-rings, exciter motor shaft seal failures or housing cracks, hose abrasion damage, hydraulic manifold leaking, and/or cartridge valve failure. Further, such system failures commonly occur in and affect the components inside the sub-frames and these issues are often time-consuming and therefore costly to remedy. The compact design of the rollers requires that the components thereof be placed in tight locations that are often blocked or impeded by other components of the roller. As such, it can be quite difficult to determine the location of and repair a leak.
Other types of vibratory compacting machines employ similar hydraulic drives and suffer from the same or similar drawbacks heretofore described. In addition, certain other types of vibratory compacting machines, such as ride-on rollers used for compacting soil or smoothing asphalt, also suffer from additional drawbacks.
For example, the hydraulic systems of ride-on rollers have a number of inefficiencies that require these rollers to use an engine large enough to operate all of the systems of the roller at peak pressures. For instance, the exciter systems of ride-on rollers are usually controlled with simple on-off hydraulic valves that start and stop the flow of hydraulic fluid to the exciter motor very quickly. Rapidly accelerating the exciter mass from stop to the rated operation speed requires a large amount of torque. Once the exciter is at operating speed, the torque requirements are greatly reduced. Torque is generated when the high pressure hydraulic fluid from the pump attached to the engine flows through the hydraulic motor. High pressures and high flows require more power from the engine.
In addition, ride-on rollers usually do not require the full torque of the drive system during use. High torque is required only when operating on steep hills, loading or unloading from a trailer, or when the machine operates in loose soil. This high torque may be required from 1-50% of the duty cycle depending on the specific application. Thus, the engine must be sized to meet these peak pressure and flow demands. However, as with trench rollers and other compactors, such high-load operating conditions are present for only a limited amount of the operational time, which may be as low as 1%. The extra engine power capacity therefore is seldom used. By requiring a larger engine for what amounts to a small fraction of the time of the overall operation of the machine, the overall size, weight, and cost of the roller is greatly increased.
Further, the drive systems used in modern ride-on rollers are typically also hydraulic, but these drive systems are different than those used in trench rollers. Ride-on rollers use a hydrostatic pump that is able to proportionally control the flow rate of the hydraulic fluid of the pump. These pumps provide variable speed and eliminate the on-off nature of the simple hydraulic valves. However, hydrostatic pumps are less efficient and also operate as a so-called "closed loop" system that can require additional measures for removing heat to avoid component damage.
Many hydrostatic drive systems for ride-on rollers are comprised of two parallel loops, one for the front drum and one for the rear drum. The hydraulic fluid in these systems flows to the path of least resistance so if one drum loses traction it will get all of the flow. A flow divider is sometimes used on these machines to provide so-called "traction control" for these situations. Flow dividers create additional heat and add to the complexity and cost of the roller. Hydrostatic pumps are also directly coupled to the engine, so they are constantly being driven, creating a parasitic load on the engine even when the machine is not moving. Finally, such hydrostatic drive systems are relatively expensive.
In addition, ride-on rollers typically are used in a cyclical manner, i.e. driving back and forth over a section of soil or asphalt to compact the surface. The cyclical operation of the machine requires energy to accelerate and decelerate the machine as it changes direction. The cyclical operation of the machine can also create varying levels of power required to drive the system, i.e. compacting material on a slope will require more power to drive up the slope than to drive down.
The need therefore exists to provide a drive system for a vibratory roller of the like that eliminates one or more of the foregoing disadvantages.

Vibratory compacting roller machine with an electric drive


A memory device comprises a nonvolatile memory device and a controller. The nonvolatile memory comprises a first memory area comprising single-bit memory cells and a second memory area comprising multi-bit memory cells. The controller is configured to receive a first unit of write data, determine a type of the first unit of write data, and based on the type, temporarily store the first unit of write data in the first memory area and subsequently migrate the temporarily stored first unit of write data to the second memory area or to directly store the first unit of write data in the second memory area, and is further configured to migrate a second unit of write data temporarily stored in the first memory area to the second memory area where the first unit of write data is directly stored in the second memory area.

The inventive concept relates generally to electronic memory technologies. More particularly, the inventive concept relates to nonvolatile memory devices and related methods of operation.
Semiconductor memory devices can be roughly divided into two categories according to whether they retain stored data when disconnected from power. These categories include volatile memory devices, which lose stored data when disconnected from power, and nonvolatile memory devices, which retain stored data when disconnected from power. Examples of volatile memory devices include dynamic random access memory (DRAM) and static random access memory (SRAM). Examples of nonvolatile memory include mask read only memory (MROM), programmable read only memory (PROM), erasable programmable read only memory (EPROM), and electrically erasable programmable read only memory (EEPROM).
Some nonvolatile memory devices are capable of storing more than one bit of data per memory cell. Such nonvolatile memory devices are commonly referred to as multi-bit nonvolatile memory devices or multi-level cell (MLC) nonvolatile memory devices. Nonvolatile memory devices that store more than one bit of data per memory cell may provide higher storage capacity than those that store only one bit of data per memory cell. However, they may suffer from slower operation and reduced reliability, among other things. Accordingly, researchers are engaged in ongoing efforts to improve these and other performance aspects of MLC nonvolatile memory devices.

Nonvolatile memory device and related method of operation


An illumination device includes a main body unit, a light source module and a cover unit. The light source module is disposed in an upper space of the main body unit to be separated therefrom and includes a substrate and at least one light emitting device respectively disposed on both surfaces of the substrate. The cover unit is disposed on the main body unit to cover the light source module and allowing light emitted from the light source module to be emitted from a surface of the cover unit in a radial manner.

A light emitting diode (LED) is a type of light emitting device capable of implementing light of various colors by utilizing various compound semiconductor materials such as GaAs, AlGaAs, GaN, InGaP, or the like.
Since LEDs have several advantages such as excellent monochromic peak wavelengths, excellent optical efficiency, compactness, environmental friendliness, low power consumption, and the like, they have commonly been applied to various devices such as TVs, computers, illumination devices, automobiles, and the like.
Recently, energy reduction initiatives have regulated the use of incandescent electric lamps, which are low-efficiency illumination devices. Thus, the replacement of incandescent electric lamps with high-efficiency illumination devices, such as an LED light emitting device, has been actively undertaken by light emitting device manufacturers and general illumination device manufacturers.
However, with a light emitting device, it is difficult to provide illumination having radiation characteristics similar to the light distribution characteristics of incandescent electric lamps, in terms of luminescent properties and a heat dissipation structure. Thus, recently developed light emitting device lamps do not have a wide light distribution angle due to the structural characteristics of the light emitting device in which light is only emitted from one side. Even when the shape of existing incandescent lamps is retained, illumination having a desired radiation form may not be realized.
In particular, an illumination area of a light emitting device lamp is small and the reverse side of a lamp cover, which is not illuminated, may be dark. Thus, research on a spherical light source having a radiation form such as that of an incandescent electric light bulb is under way.


The present invention provides a metal injection molded ammunition cartridge comprising a metal injection molded bottom portion comprising a primer recess in communication with a primer flash hole that extends into a propellant chamber and a metal injection molded body extending form the metal injection molded bottom portion.

Without limiting the scope of the invention, its background is described in connection with projectiles made by injection molding for use in ammunition. Conventional ammunition casings for rifles and machine guns, as well as larger caliber weapons, are made from brass or lead that are machined.
Shortcomings of the known methods of producing ammunition cartridges include the limitation of materials that can be used and the lengthy time for manufacturing.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Metal injection molded ammunition cartridge


The invention relates to a temperature probe which comprises a functional ceramic probe element and a ceramic housing. The probe element is mounted in the ceramic housing so that at a face of the probe element has direct and form-fitting contact with the ceramic housing. The invention further relates to a method for producing a temperature probe.

The measuring of temperatures for monitoring and controlling purposes in the most varied applications is effected, for example, using ceramic hot conductor thermistor elements (—"negative temperature coefficient thermistor" or "NTC thermistor"), silicon temperature sensors (for example what are known as "KTY temperature sensors"), platinum temperature sensors (—"platinum resistance temperature detector" or "PRTD") or thermo elements (—"thermocouple" or "TC"). Ceramic sensor elements are usually provided with a coating produced from a polymer or a glass for sufficient mechanical stability, for protection against external influences and for avoiding corrosion as a result of aggressive media, and for avoiding temperature-related material changes as a result of the gas atmosphere in an NTC material or in an electrode. The maximum operating temperatures of such sensor elements are limited to approximately 200° C. in the event of a polymer covering and to approximately 500° C. in the event of a glass covering.
However, it is not readily possible to use the described sensor elements permanently for measuring very high temperatures and/or in particularly aggressive media. Nevertheless, in order to be able to plan for use in aggressive media, the sensor elements are often built into a housing of plastics material or high-grade steel. In addition, casting materials are very frequently used for producing a thermal contact with the element. A great disadvantage of the systems constructed in this manner is their delayed response time on account of the additional structural-related thermal transfers and the low thermal conduction of the materials used. A particular disadvantage of temperature probes with a polymer or glass covering is the geometry of the temperature probe which fluctuates greatly and cannot be closely toleranced. Consequently, said temperature probes are not suitable for standard installations.

Temperature probe and method for producing a temperature probe


An embodiment of the invention includes a method for managing media files created by a digital camera. More specifically, a content analyzing module tags a media file with one or more location media tags, event media tags, and/or content media tags. The location media tags are indicative of the geographic location where the media file was created. The event media tags are indicative of an event where the media file was created; and, the content media tags are indicative of individual(s) in the media file. A priority analyzing module connected to the content analyzing module determines a priority of the media file based on priority rules and the location media tags, event media tags, and/or the content media tags. A storage management module connected to the priority analyzing module stores the media file based on the determined priority.

The present invention is in the field of systems, methods and computer program products for content storage management in cameras.
In the video and still camera market, recording media has shifted from tape to disc, and from disc to smart media cards (e.g., secure digital (SD) cards). Other recording media include micro drives, compact flash, digital video disc (DVD), portable high definition display (HDD), and Blu-ray Disc™. For instance, video cameras are available that employ a combination of HDD and Blu-ray Disc™ to facilitate data transfer.
The quality of digital recordings is subject to several factors, such as compression ratios, images stored per second, image size, and the duration of image retention before images are overwritten. Different manufacturers of digital video recorders use different compression standards and varying compression ratios. Video cameras offer various compression decompression algorithms (codecs) to optimize storage on the camera.

International Business Machines Corporation


A MEMS component includes a MEMS sound transducer having a membrane structure and an assigned counterelectrode structure, and a circuit unit, which is electrically coupled to the MEMS sound transducer and which in a first operating mode of the MEMS sound transducer in the audio frequency range detects an audio output signal of the MEMS sound transducer on the basis of a deflection of the membrane structure relative to the counterelectrode structure, the deflection being brought about by an acoustic sound pressure change, and in a second operating mode of the MEMS sound transducer in the ultrasonic frequency range to drive and read the MEMS sound transducer as an ultrasonic transceiver.

In the field of sensors there is a constant need for sensor elements which detect the desired measurement variables, such as e.g. various ambient conditions of a mobile device, with a sufficiently high accuracy.
Such a need can be met by the subject matter of the present independent patent claims. Developments of the present concept are defined in dependent claims.

MEMS component and mobile device comprising the MEMS component


A laser beam machine for carrying out a machining operation by converging a laser beam emitted from a laser resonator and irradiating the converged laser beam onto a workpiece. A beam interceptor (21) is arranged across a light path extending from a total reflection mirror (2) of the laser resonator (1) to a surface of the workpiece (5) and has a small inertia, and the position thereof is controlled at a high speed to permit the passage of the laser beam and to intercept the laser beam. The beam interceptor (21) is controlled in such a manner that the laser beam is allowed to pass during a full-scale discharge and is intercepted during a seed discharge. Accordingly, even if a seed discharge exists while a high-reflectivity material, for example, is machined, a laser oscillation of a composite resonator including the workpiece (5) can be reliably prevented.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a laser beam machine for machining materials, and more particularly, to a laser beam machine using a high-output power CO.sub.2 laser for machining high-reflectivity metals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Current CO.sub.2 lasers have an increased output, and thus are widely used for machining materials or the like.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram illustrating the arrangement of a conventional laser beam machine. As shown in the figure, a laser resonator 1 is composed of a total reflection mirror 2 and an output coupling mirror 3, and a laser beam emitted from the laser resonator 1 is focused onto a surface of a workpiece 5 by a light focusing lens 4.
An excitation means for such a laser resonator will be now explained,
FIG. 4(a) and FIG. 4(b) are diagrams illustrating the excitation means for a laser resonator, wherein FIG. 4(a) shows a seed discharge state of the laser resonator, and FIG. 4(b) shows a full-scale discharge state.
Gas lasers utilize an electric discharge for feeding energy into the laser resonator 1; for such a discharge, a high-frequency discharge (RF discharge) is used.
To turn the laser beam on and off at a high speed, the discharge must be switched on and off, and to carry out this operation without the occurrence of an erroneous shot, the discharge is not totally shut-down, but is partly retained in the form of a seed discharge 10, and a full-scale discharge 11 is developed from the seed discharge 10.
The level of such a seed discharge 10 is preferably maintained at as high a level as possible, to ensure a stability of the discharging operation, but if the discharge level becomes too high, a laser output occurs and the surface of the workpiece 5 is damaged. Although this drawback can be eliminated by lowering the level of the seed discharge 10, this can lead to an unstable operation. This can be prevented by maintaining a high level of the seed discharge 10 and reducing the reflectivity of the output coupling mirror 3, but in this case an optimum design of the laser resonator cannot be obtained.
Further, where the material of the workpiece 5 has a high reflectivity (e.g., aluminum, copper, brass, or stainless steel), there is no optimum design capable of suppressing a laser oscillation during the seed discharge, because the total reflection mirror 2, the output coupling mirror 3, the light focusing lens 4, and the surface of the workpiece 5 together form a kind of composite resonator. Namely, if the total reflection mirror 2 and the surface of the workpiece 5 have a reflectivity close to 100%, the value of Q of the composite resonator is increased, and thus the laser oscillation cannot be eliminated regardless of at how low a level the seed discharge is maintained. This is because the focus of the light focusing lens 4 is located on the surface of the high-reflectivity workpiece 5, and therefore, almost 100% of the laser beam output is returned to the laser resonator.
If the above-mentioned phenomenon occurs during a cutting operation, an unwanted scratch is formed on the workpiece 5 upon a machine transfer from a cut portion to a next portion to be cut.
Conventionally, when a laser oscillation occurs in the composite resonator, an external shutter is operated for interception, but this external shutter has large inertia and is unable to follow the on and off cycle of the high-frequency discharge, and thus the machining speed is lowered.


The invention relates to methods and devices for enabling access to a plurality of communication networks (107-110). A wireless communication device (101) acquires (S101) information regarding network access capabilities of any modems with which the wireless communication device is equipped, as well as information identifying operator profiles available to each of said any modems, and establishes (S102) a connection with a network connectivity selection node (106) that can determine which network access is available for each of said any modems. The wireless communication device further reports (S103) the acquired network access capabilities and operator profiles of each of said any modems to the network connectivity selection node, and receives (S105), in reply to the reporting, a recommendation on which one or more of said any modems to use for connecting to one or more of the plurality of communication networks.

The current way of providing connectivity is tightly connected to the traditional way telecom operators have provided services, for instance telephony where users are local and operators act on a geographical limited area with competition among the local operators.
Each operator also has their own separate network with spectrum, radio, core and services with some exceptions where resources are shared to share cost.
There is an increasing interest in "global connectivity" solutions, i.e. solutions which are not restricted to specific national public land mobile networks (PLMNs) alone or national PLMNs in collaboration with selected international roaming partners. Shipping and freight industries, car manufacturers, emerging Internet of Things (IoT) applications, etc., desire one global communication solution. This solution may, depending on e.g. commercial agreements, use almost any PLMN. This solution should also change from one "active PLMN" to another, e.g. when the car travels across a national border.
For example, a user accessing a packet-switched (PS) service via her mobile phone equipped with a Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) card being registered with Operator A while travelling by car in Germany will, when crossing or approaching the border of, say, France inevitably lose coverage if an attempt to access services of Operator B is made, and be disconnected from the currently ongoing PS service unless the connection can be continued with Operator A in France (or some agreement exists with Operator B).
In a more advanced example, suitable for e.g. freight applications, a wireless communication device carried by a vehicle has multiple modems and SIMs/UICCs, used simultaneously for network access. As the vehicle, for instance a car or a boat, crosses country borders, implying that a different Operator must be used for connectivity, or travels into areas within one and the same country where Operator A network performance or cost is inferior to that of Operator B, there is a need to change the network access of at least one of the modems of the wireless communication device from Operator A to Operator B. The evaluation of "better performance" is a joint optimization of Operator B characteristics such as Radio Access Technologies (RATs), frequency bands, supported features, etc., with the characteristics of the available modems.
With the emergence of the "next generation" of SIM cards proposed by Global System Mobile Association (GSMA), referred to as Embedded Universal Integrated Circuit Cards (eUICCs), there is a new possibility to load and/or enable new "SIM profiles" when needed. In contrast to traditional SIM cards, which are provisioned with an operator profile of a single mobile network operator, eUICC's are able to host multiple operator profiles and can be programmed to use a specific profile or change profile at any time without the need for physical replacement since the eUICCs can be provisioned from a remote location over the air.
Further, the European Telecommunications Standards Institute (ETSI) and GSMA are proposing a so called Integrated UICC (iUICC) also including the capability of remotely provisioning of SIM profile. The iUICC is conceptually a system-on-chip (SoC) solution in which the UICC is integrated as a separate secure processor core alongside other cores. SoC solutions would integrate a secure processor that leverages external non-volatile shared memory, using cryptographic means to protect data.
Another variant is a so called Soft SIM which also can be provisioned remotely with new operator profiles. In the case of Soft SIMs, there is no physical SIM card at all in the device, but the service of a SIM card is implemented in software.

Method of enabling access to a plurality of communication networks for a wireless communication device


A thermoacoustic device includes a loop pipe, a first stack that is disposed in the loop pipe and that generates a sound wave in the loop pipe by way of a temperature gradient, a second stack that is disposed in the loop pipe and that generates a temperature gradient, a first high temperature side heat exchanger that is disposed at one end of the first stack and that makes the temperature of the one end of the first stack be higher than the other end, and a first low temperature side heat exchanger that is disposed at the other end of the first stack and that makes the temperature of the other end of the first stack be lower than the one end.

In recent years, thermoacoustic devices employing a thermoacoustic effect which is a conversion phenomenon between thermal energy and sound energy are proposed. For example, JP-A-2008-101910 (Patent Literature 1) discloses a thermoacoustic device in which a first stack and a second stack are disposed within a loop pipe. The first stack is sandwiched between a first high-temperature side heat exchanger and a first low-temperature side heat exchanger. The second stack is sandwiched between a second high-temperature side heat exchanger and a second low-temperature side heat exchanger. In the thermoacoustic device, a self-excited sound wave is generated by a temperature gradient generated in the first stack. The second low-temperature side heat exchanger can be cooled by this sound wave.
JP-A-2008-101910 discloses a technique in which efficiency of heat exchange in the stack is improved by appropriately setting a length of the loop pipe, a state of a working fluid enclosed in the loop pipe, a diameter of a conduction path of the first stack and the second stack, and the like.
JP-A-2012-159266 (Patent Literature 2) discloses a configuration in which a blocking wall for blocking moving gas is installed in a pipe in which a motor and a refrigerator are formed. The blocking wall is installed so as to be capable of vibrating accompanying with vibration of gas. A circulation flow of the gas is prevented by the blocking wall. As a result, cooling insufficiency caused by the circulation flow of the gas is prevented.
JP-A-2011-127870 (Patent Literature 3) discloses a thermoacoustic engine, which includes: a first loop pipe in which a motor is disposed to convert thermal energy into sound energy; a second loop pipe in which a passive device is disposed to convert sound energy into thermal energy; and a connection pipe that connects the first loop pipe and the second loop pipe to each other. A vibrator that separates a working fluid of the first loop pipe and a working fluid of the second loop pipe is provided in the connection pipe. The vibrator is configured to be capable of vibrating in a vibration direction of a working fluid. The two separated working fluids and the vibrator vibrate at a predetermined resonance frequency. As a result, a sound wave is generated at a frequency lower than a frequency defined by loop lengths of the first loop pipe and the second loop pipe. Therefore, the same effect as in a case where a resonance pipe having a length equal to or longer than three times the loop lengths of the first loop pipe and the second loop pipe is provided between the first loop pipe and the second loop pipe is obtained. Since the resonance pipe having such a length is thus made unnecessary, the thermoacoustic engine can be downsized, and sound wave attenuation can be reduced.


A safety switch for reliably switching off a dangerous device has an actuator which can be moved between a first position and at least one second position. It also has a detector for detecting the actuator in at least one of the said positions. The detector comprises a transponder with an individual transponder identification and a reading unit for reading out the transponder identification. The transponder and the reading unit are arranged relative to one another such that the reading unit is capable of reading out the transponder in the first position of the actuator but not in its second position.

The present invention relates to mechanically operated safety switches, and more particularly to mechanically operated one-part switches, such as emergency stop switches ("mushroom buttons"), manual enabling buttons, position or limit switches, and other safety switches mechanically operated by means of levers, rollers, hinges or the like.
Prior art safety switches of this type are often used in automated installations in order to bring the installation into a safe state if a dangerous situation occurs. This may be, for example, that the installation is switched off when an emergency stop switch is manually operated. Depending on the application, however, is also possible that a safe inactive position is adopted or a partial function of the installation is blocked. Examples of safety switches of this type are disclosed by DE 38 41 458 C1, DE 199 02 910 A1, DE 199 02 919 A1, DE 199 37 947 A1 or DE 34 30 090 A1.
The prior art safety switches known heretofore share the common feature that they have a mechanically operated actuator, the respective position of which is monitored by means of a detector. In practice, the detectors until now have been formed as electromechanical switching elements, the contacts of which are opened or closed by the movable actuator. For safety switches, so-called positive opening arrangements are usually used, ensuring opening of the safety switch even when there is a malfunction in the safety switch itself, as for instance in the case of the contacts sticking in the closed position. These safety switches, particularly emergency stop switches, can be produced quite inexpensively and reliably on account of the many years of experience and on account of the high numbers involved.
In practice, however, "faith" in the functional reliability of the safety switches is nevertheless limited. For example, in the case of production installations for the automobile industry, there is a requirement that all the emergency stop switches must be manually operated at least once or twice a year in order to check their functional reliability. It is easy to see that, in the case of extensive, large installations with numerous emergency stop switches, these functional checks take up a certain amount of time and consequently a certain amount of effort. Therefore, apart from the low production costs for an emergency stop switch, there are over the service life of the installation in which the emergency stop switch is used operating costs for the regular functional checking.
DE 199 09 968 A1 discloses a safety switch for electrically-controlled machines in which the position of the movable actuator is to be evaluated by means of a number of fork light barriers. Alternatively, inductive, capacitive or pressure-sensitive, for example piezoelectric, position sensing devices are also proposed, but without any further explanation. The object of these measures is to avoid a complex mechanism for the prevention of unallowed switching sequences and, at the same time, achieve a high functional reliability.
DE 100 23 199 A1 discloses a safety switch for electrical machines which has a force or pressure sensor, so that it is possible to distinguish between a desired or intended operating state and a state of panic.
Furthermore, DE 100 37 003 A1 discloses a key-operated switch which is intended for checking access authorization in computer-aided control devices of machines, installations or the like. Instead of a mechanical key, use of a transponder is envisaged to establish the access authorization.
The last-mentioned key-operated switch is also shown in a book with the title "Sicherheitsschaltgeräte" [Safety Switching Devices], published by Verlag Moderne Industrie as volume 232 of the series "Bibliotek der Technik", ISBN 3-478-93234-3. As a general outlook for the technical development in this area, mention is also made here of the idea of integrating in an enabling switch a transmitter which, when operated, transmits a unique code to an assigned receiver by radio data communication, whereby the previously often troublesome cables for enabling switches are to be rendered superfluous.
Furthermore, EP 0 229 247 A2 or EP 0 968 567 B1 discloses signal transmitters operating contactlessly (that is per se two-part, non-mechanically operated signal transmitters), which also operate on the transponder principle. These contactless signal transmitters are to be used, inter alia, for the monitoring of guard doors.

Safety switch for reliably switching off a dangerous device


The connecting method of different kind optical fibers of the present invention is a connecting method able to improve the strength of connecting portions of the different kind optical fibers of different mode field diameters. In this connecting method, connecting ends of the different kind optical fibers removing their coating therefrom are mutually butted and fusion-spliced by gripping the coating in a step (S4). Next, the mode field diameters of different kind optical fiber connecting portions are conformed to each other by the heat treatment of a step (S5). This heat treatment is taken within a low dust space having a clean degree of 1000 or less in class. Thus, the heat treatment is taken under an environment in which foreign matters floated around the connecting portions of the different kind optical fibers are very small. Therefore, it is possible to restrain a crack from being caused by burning the foreign matters into the connecting portions. Accordingly, strength deterioration of the connecting portions of the different kind optical fibers caused by the crack can be prevented.

The present invention relates to a connecting method of different kind optical fibers for connecting the different kind optical fibers having different mode field diameters (MFDs) to each other.
In recent years, an increase in the capacity of an optical communication system is required. A dispersion management line for performing high bit-rate communication in a band of e.g., 1550 nm in wavelength is vigorously considered to satisfy this requirement. For example, this dispersion management line is formed by connecting a single mode optical fiber such as a 1300 nm zero dispersion optical fiber, and a dispersion-compensating optical fiber for compensating dispersion and a dispersion slope of this single mode optical fiber.
For example, the above dispersion-compensating optical fiber is formed by a DCF (Dispersion Compensating Fiber), a DSCF (Dispersion Slope Compensating Fiber), an RDF (Reverse Dispersion Fiber), etc. When such a dispersion management line is used in an optical submarine cable, etc., it is desirable to connect different kind optical fibers with low transmission loss and high strength.
For example, the 1300 nm zero dispersion optical fiber is a single mode optical fiber, and the MFD of the 1300 nm zero dispersion optical fiber at a wavelength of 1550 nm ranges from 9 to 11 xcexcm. Further, the MFD of an MFD enlarged type single mode optical fiber at the wavelength of 1550 nm is 11 xcexcm or more.
In contrast to this, the MFD of the dispersion-compensating optical fiber having negative high dispersion characteristics at the wavelength of 1550 nm is about 5 xcexcm. Accordingly, the MFD of the dispersion-compensating optical fiber is small in comparison with the single mode optical fiber. The dispersion-compensating optical fiber has a high relative refractive index difference A of about 3% and a small core diameter of 2 to 3 xcexcm.
When the above different kind optical fibers of different MFDs are connected to each other, splice loss is increased by the difference in MFD. For example, the splice loss is about 1.94 dB when the single mode optical fiber having 10 xcexcm in MFD and the dispersion-compensating optical fiber having 5 xcexcm in MFD are connected to each other by conforming their optical axes.
For example, processing using a TEC method (Thermally Diffused Expanded Core) is performed to restrain this increase in splice loss after connecting end faces of the different kind optical fibers are connected to each other. For example, the processing using the TEC method is performed by heating connecting portions of the single mode optical fiber and the dispersion-compensating optical fiber. The processing using the TEC method is processing for enlarging the MFD of the dispersion-compensating optical fiber by diffusing Ge (dopant) within a core and conforming this MFD to the MFD of the single mode optical fiber by heating the above connecting portions. The splice loss is greatly reduced by performing this processing.
FIG. 9 is a flow chart showing one example of a conventional connecting process of the different kind optical fibers. For example, the different kind optical fibers such as the single mode optical fiber and the dispersion-compensating optical fiber are connected to each other as follows in accordance with the flow shown in FIG. 9. A step 101 of FIG. 9 is a coating removing process for removing the coating layers of respective connecting end portions of the different kind optical fibers and exposing the connecting end portions of the optical fibers. A step 102 is a fiber cleaning process for cleaning an exposed portion of each of these optical fibers. A step 103 is a process for forming a protecting layer on the surface of the exposed portion of each cleaned optical fiber.
A step 104 is a process for cutting a tip portion of each optical fiber. A step 105 is a process for fusion-splicing the cut different kind optical fibers by butting their connecting end faces. The above cutting processing of the optical fiber and the fusion splice processing of the optical fiber are performed by arranging the exposed portion (tip portion) of the optical fiber in e.g., a V-groove formed in a fixing member.
The exposed portion of the optical fiber arranged in the V-groove is positioned and fixed to the fixing member by pressing this optical fiber from its upper side by a clamp member. In such a gripping fixing state (glass gripping state), the cutting processing and the fusion splice processing of the above optical fiber are performed. The protecting layer formed on the surface of the exposed portion of the optical fiber in the above step 103 is arranged to reduce a bad influence on the optical fiber due to the gripping fixation.
A step 106 is a process for taking heat treatment for conforming the MFDs of the connecting end portions of the optical fibers connected to each other.
A small crack is caused in a surface portion of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber by heating of the fusion splice processing and the heat treatment. When there is such a crack, strength of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber is reduced. Therefore, an operation for preventing this strength deterioration is performed. This operation is performed by the etching process of a step 107, and is an operation for removing the crack by etching the surface portion of the connecting portion of the optical fiber after the above heat treatment.
A step 108 is a recoating process for coating the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber by forming a coating layer on the surface of the exposed portion of the optical fiber. A step 109 is a process for inspecting whether or not the different kind optical fiber is connected in accordance with a standard by a proof test.
However, in a conventional method, the connecting portions of the single mode optical fiber and the dispersion-compensating optical fiber were about 1 GPa in average breaking strength, and no satisfactory strength was obtained. Further, this strength was greatly dispersed.
Therefore, the present inventors examined the cause of the strength deterioration of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber. As a result, it has been found that one of causes of the strength deterioration of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber resides in an environment in the heat treatment for conforming the mode field diameters of the respective optical fibers in the connecting portions.
Namely, when the heat treatment is taken, foreign matters floated around the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber and foreign matters attached to the surface of the connecting portion are burned onto the surface of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber by the heat treatment. Therefore, there is a case in which a small crack is caused in the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber by these burned foreign matters. Thus, it has been found that the strength of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber is deteriorated by this crack.
In the conventional method, processing for removing the crack from a surface portion of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber by etching this surface portion is performed after the heat treatment. However, it is confirmed that no crack caused by the burned foreign matters due to the heat treatment can be almost removed by this etching processing.
Further, the present inventors have also found the following matters by examining the cause of the strength deterioration of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber. The heat treatment of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber was conventionally taken after the protecting layer was formed on the surface of an exposed portion of the optical fiber. Therefore, the protecting layer formed in the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber was burned and a large amount of foreign matters was generated at a heat treatment time of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber. These foreign matters were burned onto the optical fiber surface and many small cracks were caused.
As mentioned above, no cracks caused by the burned foreign matters due to the heat treatment can be almost removed by the etching processing after the heat treatment. Therefore, the strength of the connecting portion of the different kind optical fiber is deteriorated by these unremoved cracks.
The present invention in its one aspect provides a connecting method of different kind optical fibers able to obtain a connecting state of the different kind optical fibers with low splice loss and satisfactory strength.
The present invention provides a connecting method of different kind optical fibers having the following construction. Namely, the connecting portions of the different kind optical fibers of the present invention is a connecting method of different kind optical fibers for performing plural processings including processing for mutually fusion-splicing connecting end faces of the different kind optical fibers of different mode field diameters, and heat treatment for heating their connecting portions and conforming the mode field diameters of the respective optical fibers in these connecting portions; wherein at least said heat treatment among the plural processings in a connecting process of the different kind optical fibers is taken within a low dust space having a clean degree of 1000 or less in class.
In a preferable mode example of the present invention, processing for cleaning at least a portion of a heat treatment object is performed just before the heat treatment is taken.
In a more preferable mode example of the present invention, a protecting layer is formed on the surface of each of the optical fibers after the heat treatment by avoiding a heat-treated area, and an optical fiber surface portion of an etching processing area including said heat-treated area is then etched.
Further, in a more preferable mode example of the present invention, the optical fibers connected to each other are respectively coated with coating layers, and fusion splice is performed after the coating layers of connecting end portions of these respective optical fibers are removed, and the length interval of the etching processing area is a length interval equal to or greater than a length interval for taking the heat treatment and smaller than an interval for removing the coating layers therefrom.
Further, another mode example of the present invention resides in a connecting method of different kind optical fibers for connecting the different kind optical fibers of different mode field diameters having fiber outer circumferences coated with coating layers, wherein the optical fibers are exposed by removing the coating layers of connecting end portions of the optical fibers, and connecting end faces of the different kind optical fibers are then mutually butted and fusion-spliced, and heat treatment for heating these connecting portions and conforming the mode field diameters of the respective optical fibers in these connecting portions is then taken, and at least a root outer circumferential face of the exposed optical fiber is then coated with a protecting layer together with a removing end face portion of the coating layer, and a heat-treated optical fiber surface portion is then etched.
Further, in one mode example of the present invention in another aspect of the present invention, processing for cleaning at least a portion of a heat treatment object is performed just before the heat treatment is taken.
Further, in one mode example of the present invention in another aspect of the present invention, the above etching processing interval includes a heat treatment interval, and a non-etching processing interval is formed between the etching processing interval and coating layer removing end faces on both sides of this etching processing interval.

Connecting method of different kind optical fibers


A control apparatus for a fuel injector has a microcomputer which calculates a basic pulse width of pulses to be applied to a fuel injector. When the voltage of a battery which powers a fuel pump and the fuel temperature fall below levels which cause the discharge pressure of the fuel pump to drop below a prescribed pressure, the microcomputer corrects the basic pulse width by lengthening it to compensate for the drop in fuel pressure. Pulses having the corrected pulse width are applied to the fuel injector.

This invention relates to a control apparatus for a fuel injector of an automotive engine. More particularly, it relates to a control apparatus which can properly control the supply of fuel to a fuel injector even when there are variations in the discharge pressure of a fuel pump which supplies fuel to the fuel injector.
A controller for an electronic fuel injection valve (hereinbelow referred to as a fuel injector) of an automobile engine turns the fuel injector on and off by the application thereto of electronic pulses having a prescribed pulse width. In a conventional controller the pulse width is determined on the basis of the engine rotational speed, the intake manifold pressure, and other parameters of engine operation.
Recently, in-tank fuel supply systems which have a turbine-type pump housed inside a fuel tank are becoming common since they reduce the noise which is generated by the fuel pump. The fuel pump is powered by the battery of the automobile. When the battery voltage falls, the discharge pressure of a turbine-type fuel pump correspondingly decreases.
The discharge pressure of a fuel pump is also affected by the temperature of the fuel. Namely, a decrease in the fuel temperature causes an increase in the viscosity of the fuel, which causes the discharge pressure of the fuel pump to drop. Accordingly, when the battery voltage and the fuel temperature decrease to certain values, the discharge pressure of the fuel pump will fall below a level at which the fuel pressure can not be maintained at its normal level, such as 2.55 kg/cm.sup.2.
In a conventional fuel injector controller, the pulse width of the pulses which are applied to the fuel injector are not corrected for the decrease in the fuel pressure resulting from a decrease in the battery voltage or the fuel temperature. Therefore, at times when the fuel pressure falls below its normal level due to a decrease in the battery voltage or the fuel temperature, such as when the engine is first started, the proper amount of fuel can not be supplied to the engine by the fuel injector.


An outer chain plate for a bicycle drive chain includes an elongated plate body with upper and lower edges, two end portions formed with a respective hole, and a waist portion interconnecting the end portions. The plate body has an outer face which is formed with a generally S-shaped longitudinal recess that includes a straight connecting portion formed in the waist portion, and insert portions which are disposed on two ends of the straight connecting portion and which surround a respective one of the holes. The longitudinal recess has two open ends which extend respectively from the insert portions and which open in opposite directions toward a respective one of the upper and lower edges of the plate body. The plate body further has an inner face which is formed with a generally S-shaped longitudinal projection. The longitudinal projection has a shape that corresponds to that of the longitudinal recess and includes a connecting portion formed in the waist portion and two flat portions which are disposed on two ends of the connecting portion and which surround a respective one of the holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a bicycle drive chain, more particularly to an improved outer chain plate of a bicycle drive chain.
2. Description of the Related Art
The construction of a conventional bicycle drive chain has been modified continuously in order to achieve smoother operation of the bicycle transmission system and in order to facilitate shifting of the gear ratio. Ease of shifting of the gear ratio depends primarily on the construction of the outer chain plate of the bicycle drive chain. There are two important factors usually considered in the design of the outer chain plate. First, the outer chain plate should be designed so as to minimize friction between the outer chain plate and the sprocket wheels, thereby reducing the noise that is generated when the bicycle transmission system is in motion or when the gear ratio is being shifted. Second, the outer chain plate should be designed so as to facilitate engagement between the bicycle drive chain and the teeth of a selected sprocket wheel when the gear ratio is shifted.
The following are several examples of bicycle drive chain patents which have been granted in the United States:
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,098,349 and 5,066,265 disclose a chain which includes inner and outer chain plates that have inclined surfaces along upper and lower edges of an inner face thereof. The inclined surfaces cooperatively form curved surfaces to facilitate sliding of a tooth of a sprocket into a space defined by either the inner or outer chain plates of the chain. U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,066 discloses a streamline chain which includes inner and outer chain plates that have inclined surfaces along upper and lower edges of an inner face thereof. As with the two previous patents, the inclined surfaces facilitate sliding of a tooth of a sprocket into a space defined by either the inner or outer chain plates of the streamline chain.
Note that the above three patents are directed to a bicycle drive chain which is capable of engaging smoothly the teeth of a selected sprocket wheel when the gear ratio is shifted.
In order to minimize friction between the outer chain plate and the sprocket wheels, U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,327 discloses a chain which includes an outer chain plate that is formed with a recess to receive one end of a pin therein, thereby preventing the pin from projecting relative to the outer surface of the outer chain plate so as to minimize the generation of friction. The same technique is applied in U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,147 to reduce the noise that is generated when the bicycle transmission system is in motion or when the gear ratio is being shifted.
Note that each of the above described conventional bicycle drive chains can satisfy only one of the aforementioned factors. Furthermore, both the inner and outer plates of the conventional bicycle drive chain are modified in order to satisfy said one of the aforementioned factors.

Outer chain plate of a bicycle drive chain


This invention provides compounds which comprise modified oligonucleotides capable of inhibitory expression of connective tissue factor and composition containing same as well as methods of treating hyperprolific disorders and fibrotic diseases, and of reducing scarring resulting from wound healing using such compounds.

Antisense technology is emerging as an effective means for reducing the expression of specific gene products and may therefore prove to be uniquely useful in a number of therapeutic, diagnostic, and research applications for the modulation of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) expression. (See U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,025B2 to Gaarde et al.)
An antisense compound is an oligomeric compound that is capable of undergoing hybridization to a target nucleic acid (e.g. a target mRNA molecule).
Antisense compounds, compositions and methods for modulating expression of CTGF and for treating disease associated with expression of CTGF are disclosed in aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 6,965,025B2, herein incorporated by reference. However, there remains a need for additional such compounds capable of providing enhanced inhibition of CTGF expression and functions as well as other advantageous properties.
In one embodiment, this invention specifically provides preferred modified antisense oligonucleotides for inhibiting CTGF expression. These have been demonstrated to be significantly, and unexpectedly more potent than previously described ASOs targeting CTGF.
Connective tissue growth factor (CTGF; also known as ctgrofact, fibroblast inducible secreted protein, fisp-12, NOV2, insulin-like growth factor-binding protein-related protein 2, IGFBP-rP2, IGFBP-8, HBGF-0.8, Hcs24, and ecogenin) is a member of the CCN (CTGF/CYR61/NOV) family of modular proteins, named for the first family members identified, connective tissue growth factor, cysteine-rich (CYR61), and nephroblastoma overexpressed (NOV), but the family also includes the proteins ELM-1 (expressed in low-metastatic cells), WISP-3 (Wnt-1-induced secreted protein), and COP-1 (WISP-2). CCN proteins have been found to be secreted, extracellular matrix-associated proteins that regulate cellular processes such as adhesion, migration, mitogenesis, differentiation, survival, angiogenesis, atherosclerosis, chondrogenesis, wound healing, tumorigenesis, and vascular and fibrotic diseases like scleroderma (Lau and Lam, Exp. Cell Res., 1999, 248, 44-57). The connective tissue growth factor protein was shown to stimulate DNA synthesis and promote chemotaxis of fibroblasts (Bradham et al., J. Cell Biol., 1991, 114, 1285-1294).
In most cases, a single 2.4-kilobase CTGF transcript has been reported in expression studies, although 3.5- and 7-kilobase transcripts have been reported in glioblastoma cells. Connective tissue growth factor is expressed in fibroblasts during normal differentiation processes that involve extracellular matrix (ECM) production and remodeling, such as embryogenesis and uterine decidualization following implantation. Connective tissue growth factor is also frequently overexpressed in fibrotic skin disorders such as systemic sclerosis, localized skin sclerosis, keloids, scar tissue, eosinophilic fasciitis, nodular fasciitis, and Dupuytren's contracture. Connective tissue growth factor mRNA or protein levels are elevated in fibrotic lesions of major organs and tissues including the liver, kidney, lung, cardiovascular system, pancreas, bowel, eye, and gingiva. In mammary, pancreatic and fibrohistiocytic tumors characterized by significant connective tissue involvement, connective tissue growth factor is overexpressed in the stromal compartment. In many cases, connective tissue growth factor expression is linked spatially and temporally to the profibrogenic cytokine transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-beta) (Moussad and Brigstock, Mol. Genet. Metab., 2000, 71, 276-292).
Connective tissue growth factor has been mapped to human chromosomal region 6q23.1, proximal to the c-myb gene, and chromosomal abnormalities involving this region have been associated with human tumors, such as Wilms' tumor (Martinerie et al., Oncogene, 1992, 7, 2529-2534).
Tumors with significant fibrotic and vascular components exhibit increased CTGF expression, and CTGF may be involved in the pathogenesis of pediatric myofibroblastic tumors. Of 12 pediatric tumors examined, all showed moderate to intense CTGF expression in tumor cells and/or endothelial cells of the associated vasculature (Kasaragod et al., Pediatr. Dev. Pathol., 2001, 4, 37-45).
Connective tissue growth factor mRNA is also specifically upregulated in malignant human leukemic lymphoblasts from children with acute lymphoblastic leukemia (ALL) (Vorwerk et al., Br. J. Cancer, 2000, 83, 756-760), and both mRNA and protein levels are upregulated by TGF-beta in Hs578T human breast cancer cells in a dose-dependent manner, indicating that CTGF is an important neuroendocrine factor and a critical downstream effector of TGF-beta (Yang et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 1998, 83, 2593-2596).
In a murine lung fibrosis model, an increase in connective tissue growth factor mRNA expression is also induced by bleomycin, a known lung fibrogenic agent (Lasky et al., Am. J. Physiol., 1998, 275, L365-371), as well as in bronchoalveolar lavage cells from patients with idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis and pulmonary sarcoidosis, in comparison to healthy nonsmoking control subjects, indicating that connective tissue growth factor is involved in the fibroproliferative response to injury (Allen et al., Am. J. Respir. Cell Moll. Biol., 1999, 21, 693-700). Similarly, in an experimental model of proliferative glomerulonephritis, connective tissue growth factor mRNA expression was strongly increased in extracapillary and mesangial proliferative lesions and in areas of periglomerular fibrosis. The early glomerular connective tissue growth factor overexpression coincided with a striking upregulation of TGF-beta proteins, and the kinetics of connective tissue growth factor expression strongly suggest a role in glomerular repair, possibly downstream of TGF-beta in this model of transient renal injury (Ito et al., J. Am. Soc. Nephroi., 2001, 12, 472-484).
Disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,730 is a substantially pure or isolated polypeptide characterized as having an amino acid sequence corresponding to the carboxy terminal amino acids of a connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) protein, wherein the polypeptide has an amino acid sequence beginning at amino acid residue 247 or 248 from the N-terminus of connective tissue growth factor, an isolated polynucleotide sequence encoding the connective tissue growth factor polypeptide, a recombinant expression vector which contains said polynucleotide, a host cell containing said expression vector, and a pharmaceutical composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of connective tissue growth factor polypeptide in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Antisense oligonucleotides are generally disclosed (Brigstock and Harding, 1999).
Disclosed and claimed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,783,187; 5,585,270; 6,232,064; 6,150,101; 6,069,006 and PCT Publication WO 00/35936 are an isolated polynucleotide encoding the connective tissue growth factor polypeptide, expression vectors, host cells stably transformed or transfected with said vectors; an isolated polynucleotide comprising 5′ untranslated regulatory nucleotide sequences isolated from upstream of connective tissue growth factor, wherein said untranslated regulatory nucleotide sequences comprises a transcriptional and translational initiation region and wherein said sequence is a TGF-beta responsive element; an isolated nucleic acid construct comprising a non-coding regulatory sequence isolated upstream from a connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) gene, wherein said non-coding regulatory sequence is operably associated with a nucleic acid sequence which expresses a protein of interest or antisense RNA, wherein said nucleic acid sequence is heterologous to said non-coding sequence; and a fragment of connective tissue growth factor (CTGF) polypeptide having the ability to induce ECM synthesis, collagen synthesis and/or myofibroblast differentiation, comprising an amino acid sequence encoded by at least exon 2 or exon 3 of said polypeptide. Further claimed is a method for identifying a composition which affects TGF-beta-induced connective tissue growth factor expression, and a method of diagnosing a pathological state in a subject suspected of having a pathology selected from the group consisting of fibrotic disease and atherosclerosis, the method comprising obtaining a sample suspected of containing connective tissue growth factor, whereby detecting a difference in the level of connective tissue growth factor in the sample from the subject as compared to the level of connective tissue growth factor in the normal standard sample is diagnostic of a pathology characterized by a cell proliferative disorder associated with connective tissue growth factor in the subject. Further claimed is a method for ameliorating a cell proliferative disorder associated with connective tissue growth factor, comprising administering to a subject having said disorder, at the site of the disorder, a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an antibody or fragment thereof that binds to connective tissue growth factor, wherein said antibody or fragment thereof does not bind to PDGF. Antisense oligonucleotides are generally disclosed (Grotendorst, 2000; Grotendorst and Bradham, 2001; Grotendorst and Bradham, 2000; Grotendorst and Bradham, 1996; Grotendorst and Bradham, 1998; Grotendorst and Bradham, 2000).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT Publication WO 00/27868 is a substantially pure connective tissue growth factor polypeptide or functional fragments thereof, an isolated polynucleotide sequence encoding said polypeptide, said polynucleotide sequence wherein T can also be U, a nucleic acid sequence complementary to said polynucleotide sequence, and fragments of said sequences that are at least 15 bases in length and that will hybridize to DNA which encodes the amino acid sequence of the connective tissue growth factor protein under moderate to highly stringent conditions. Further claimed is an expression vector including said polynucleotide, a host cell stably transformed with said vector, an antibody that binds to said polypeptide, and a method for producing said polypeptide. Further claimed is a method for inhibiting the expression of connective tissue growth factor in a cell comprising contacting the cell with a polynucleotide which binds to a target nucleic acid in the cell, wherein the polynucleotide inhibits the expression of connective tissue growth factor in the cell, wherein the polynucleotide is an antisense polynucleotide, as well as a kit for the detection of connective tissue growth factor expression comprising a carrier means being compartmentalized to receive one or more containers, comprising at least one container containing at least one antisense oligonucleotide that binds to connective tissue growth factor (Schmidt et al., 2000).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT Publication WO 00/13706 is a method for treating or preventing fibrosis, the method comprising administering to a subject in need an effective amount of an agent that modulates, regulates or inhibits the expression or activity of connective tissue growth factor or fragments thereof, and wherein the agent is an antibody, an antisense oligonucleotide, or a small molecule. The method is directed to treating kidney fibrosis and associated renal disorders, in particular, complications associated with diabetes and hypertension (Riser and Denichili, 2000).
Disclosed and claimed in PCT Publication WO 01/29217 is an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from a group comprising NOV1, NOV2 (connective tissue growth factor), and NOV3, a mature form or variant of an amino acid sequence selected from said group, as well as a nucleic acid molecule comprising a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from said group as well as mature and variant forms or fragments of said polypeptides, and the complement of said nucleic acid molecule. Antisense oligonucleotides are generally disclosed (Prayaga et al., 2001).
Hypertrophic scar formation, in particular, is a major clinical problem in the resolution of severe burns and can give rise to exuberant scarring that result in permanent functional loss and the stigma of disfigurement. Annually, over 1 million people require treatment for burns in the United States. The incidence of hypertrophic scarring following burns is a common outcome that creates a problem of enormous magnitude. Therefore an inhibitor of CTGF such as an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) should be highly effective in preventing the severity of hypertrophic scars subsequent to burns. This activity could be evaluated by applying formulated ASO topically and monitoring the severity of the developed scar subsequent to occurring of the burn.
CTGF may be an attractive target for modulating hypertrophic scarring for several reasons. As a cofactor and downstream mediator of TGF-β1 or TGF-β2, CTGF may represent a more specific target than TGF-β1 or TGF-β2 for gene-directed molecular therapies aimed at scarring, particularly since TGF-β1 or TGF-β2 has pluripotent effects unrelated to scar formation. In addition, CTGF may have TGF-β1 or TGF-β2 independent functions in maintaining a fibrotic phenotype that would be neglected by anti-TGF-β1 or TGF-β2 strategies. Despite advances in understanding CTGF's roles in augmenting fibrosis in multiple organ systems and in chronic dermal diseases such as scleroderma, CTGF's roles in acute scarring and wound healing remain largely observational.
Currently, there are no known therapeutic agents which effectively inhibit the synthesis of connective tissue growth factor and to date, investigative strategies aimed at modulating connective tissue growth factor function have involved the use of sodium butyrate (NaB), function blocking antibodies and antisense oligonucleotides.
Dietary factors are believed to play an important role in both the development and prevention of human cancers, including breast carcinoma. The dietary micronutrient NaB is a major end product of digestion of dietary starch and fiber, and is a potent growth inhibitor that initiates cell differentiation of many cell types in vitro. NaB exerts its biological effects, in part, as a histone deacetylase inhibitor in mammary epithelial cells, induces apoptotic cell death in Hs578T estrogen-non-responsive human breast cancer cells, and can activate different genes involved in cell cycle arrest depending on cell type. NaB specifically upregulates the expression of connective tissue growth factor in a dose-dependent manner, stimulating an increase in both mRNA and protein levels in both cancerous and non-cancerous mammary cells (Tsubaki et al., J. Endocrinol., 2001, 169, 97-110).
TGF-beta has the unique ability to stimulate growth of normal fibroblasts in soft agar, a property of transformed cells. Connective tissue growth factor cannot induce these anchorage-independent growth normal rat kidney (NRK) fibroblasts, but connective tissue growth factor synthesis and action are essential for TGF-beta-induced anchorage-independence. Antibodies to connective tissue growth factor specifically blocked TGF-beta-induced anchorage-independent growth, and NRK fibroblasts transformed with a construct expressing the connective tissue growth factor gene in the antisense orientation were not responsive to TGF-beta in the anchorage-independent growth assay (Kothapalli et al., Cell Growth. Differ., 1997, 8, 61-68). These CTGF-antisense expressing NRK cells were also used to show that TGF-beta-stimulated collagen synthesis is mediated by connective tissue growth factor, indicating that connective tissue growth factor may be a useful target for antifibrotic therapies (Duncan et al., Faseb J., 1999, 13, 1774-1786).
The 3′-untranslated region (UTR) of the human connective tissue growth factor cDNA bears several consensus sequences for regulatory elements. When the 3′-UTR was fused downstream of a reporter gene, it was found to act as a strong cis-acting repressive element, and the antisense 3′-UTR had a similar, but stronger effect. (Kubota et al., FEBS Lett., 1999, 450, 84-88). Comparison of the human and mouse connective tissue growth factor 3′-UTRs revealed a conserved small segment of 91 bases. This region was amplified by RT-PCR from NIH3T3 mouse fibroblasts and used to make a chimeric fusion construct for analysis of its repressive effects. The mouse connective tissue growth factor 3′-UTR in either the sense or the antisense orientation had a strong repressive effect on transcription of the reporter gene, indicating an orientation independence of this regulatory element (Kondo et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 2000, 278, 119-124).
A phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotide, 16 nucleotides in length and targeted to the translation initiation start site, was used to inhibit expression of connective tissue growth factor and suppress proliferation and migration of bovine aorta vascular endothelial cells in culture (Shimo et al., J. Biochem. (Tokyo), 1998, 124, 130-140). This antisense oligonucleotide was also used to show that connective tissue growth factor induces apoptosis in MCF-7 human breast cancer cells and that TGF-beta-induced apoptosis is mediated, in part, by connective tissue growth factor (Hishikawa et al., J. Biol. Chem., 1999, 274, 37461-37466). The same antisense oligonucleotide was also found to inhibit the TGF-beta-mediated activation of caspase 3 and thus to inhibit induction of TGF-beta-mediated apoptosis in human aortic smooth muscle cells (HASC) (Hishikawa et al., Eur. J. Pharmacol., 1999, 385, 287-290). This antisense oligonucleotide was also used to block connective tissue growth factor expression and demonstrate that high blood pressure upregulates expression of connective tissue growth factor in mesangial cells, which in turn enhances ECM protein production and induces apoptosis, contributing to the remodeling of mesangium and ultimately glomerulosclerosis (Hishikawa et al., J. Biol. Chem., 2001, 276, 16797-16803).
Consequently, there remains a long felt need for additional agents capable of effectively inhibiting connective tissue growth factor function.

Methods for inhibiting expression of connective tissue growth factor


An implantable electrical medical system comprises a low voltage cathode electrode assembly, including a cathode surface adapted for, intimate contact with electrically active tissue, and a low voltage anode electrode assembly, including an anode surface and a porous layer extending over the anode surface. The cathode surface and the anode surface function as a bipolar pair for pacing and the porous layer extending over the anode surface allows conduction therethrough and prevents the anode surface from contacting the electrically active tissue in order to prevent anodal stimulation.

In the field of cardiac pacing and/or defibrillation, therapy delivery from an implanted medical device may rely upon cardiac signals sensed and pacing therapy delivered via a bipolar pair of implanted electrodes included on one or more medical electrical leads coupled to the medical device.
With respect to sensing, accurate detection and classification of arrhythmias relies upon an adequate signal-to-noise ratio picked up by the bipolar pair of electrodes; the signal being a near-field cardiac conduction signal and the noise being either a far-field cardiac conduction signal or electrical activity in other muscles of the body or a combination thereof. Many medical devices incorporate sensing algorithms to blank or ignore far-field signals, however this may lead to under-sensing or under-detection of fast regular rhythms. As an alternative, a spacing between the bipolar pair of electrodes on the lead may be decreased in order reduce and localize the field of sensing between the two electrodes.
With respect to pacing, an effective stimulating pulse is focused via intimate tissue contact with a first electrode, serving as a cathode, included in the bipolar pair; if a second electrode of the bipolar pair, serving as an anode, comes too close to active tissue there is a chance of anodal stimulation, which impairs the therapy delivery.

Medical system including a novel bipolar pacing pair


Processes for synthesizing tertiary alkynols by reacting carbonyl-group-containing compounds with alkynes in the presence of a basic catalyst are disclosed. Preferred products are 6,10,14-trimethyl-4-pentadecyn-6-ol compounds having the structure: ##STR1## A preferred, novel compound, 6,10,14-trimethyl-4-pentadecyne-2,6-diol, can be used in the synthesis of Vitamin E or Vitamin K.sub.1.

A. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to processes for synthesizing tertiary alkynols, in particular, 6,10,14-trimethyl-4-pentadecyn-6-ol compounds having the formula: ##STR2## wherein "R" represents H, or an alkyl group which can be aliphatic (e.g. tert-butyl), arylalkyl (e.g. benzyl) or part of a mixed acetal derivative ##STR3## These 6,10,14-trimethyl-4-pentadecyn-6-ol compounds can be readily converted to 3,7,11,15-tetramethyl-1-hexadecen-3-ol (isophytol), an intermediate used in both the manufacture of alpha-tocopherol (the most active Vitamin E factor known to occur in nature) as well as in the synthesis of Vitamin K.sub.1.
The 6,10,14-trimethyl-4-pentadecyn-6-ol compounds of the present invention can be prepared using the following novel alkylation reaction: ##STR4## R, R.sup.1 =alkyl and/or H and/or form part of an alicyclic ring (e.g., cyclohexanone).
R.sup.11 =an alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or arylalkyl group. PA1 (a) Section 302 (pages 218-220) in COMPENDIUM OF ORGANIC SYNTHETIC METHODS, VOLUME 2, edited by I. T. Harrison, et al. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1974). PA1 (b) Section 302 (page 337) in COMPENDIUM OF ORGANIC SYNTHETIC METHODS, VOLUME 3, edited by L. S. Hegedus, et al. (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1977). PA1 (c) T. W. G. Solomons, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, Fifth Edition, page 471 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992) . PA1 R.sup.11 =an alkyl, alkenyl, aryl or arylalkyl group. PA1 (i) cyclohexanone and 1-octyne.fwdarw.1-(1-octynyl)cyclohexanol PA1 (ii) cyclohexanone and 1-hexyne.fwdarw.1-(1-hexynyl)cyclohexanol PA1 (iii) 3-pentanone and phenylacetylene .fwdarw.3-ethyl-1-phenyl-1-pentyn-3-ol PA1 (iv) cyclohexanone and 2-methyl-3-butyn-2-ol .fwdarw.1-(3-hydroxy-3-methyl-1-butynyl)cyclohexanol PA1 (v) cyclohexanone and 3-[(tetrahydropyran-2-yl)oxy]propyne.fwdarw.1-[3-[(tetrahydro-2H-pyran-2-y l)oxy]-1-propynyl]cyclohexanol. PA1 (b) excess acetone with a catalytic amount of aluminum isopropoxide; such conditions are used on an industrial scale in the manufacture of carotenoids. For some examples, see: PA1 (c) air, with a transition--metal catalyst. See: J. Chem. Soc. Chem. Commun., 157 (1977). PA1 (d) aqueous H.sub.2 O.sub.2 with a catalytic amount of WO.sub.4.sup.-2. See: J. Org. Chem., 51, 2661 (1986).
The process can also be used to synthesize tertiary alkynols in addition to 6,10,14-trimethyl-4-pentadecyn-6-ol derivatives.
B. Technical Background
The addition of an acetylide anion to a ketone to yield a 3.degree. alkynol is not a novel process per se; however, the conditions (i.e., catalytic amount of a relatively weak base) used in the present invention differ from those shown in the literature.
Numerous examples have been reported in the literature of transformations of the following type: ##STR5## However, all such examples (except for certain reactions involving acetylene, discussed below) teach that the use of one equivalent of strong base is required for a successful reaction. Specific examples can be found in the following references:
The commonly-held notion that one equivalent of a strong base is required for alkylation is not surprising in view of the known acidities of a terminal alkyne and representative alcohols. For example, Table 8.1 on pages 250-252 in ADVANCED ORGANIC CHEMISTRY: REACTIONS, MECHANISMS AND STRUCTURE, Fourth Edition, by J. March (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992) lists the following pK.sub.a values:
______________________________________ R.sub.2 CHOH (a 2.degree. alcohol, as found in 4-pentyn-2-ol) 16.5 R.sub.3 COH (a 3.degree. alcohol) 17 RCOCH.sub.2 R (an enolizable ketone) 19-20 HC.tbd.C--H 25 NH.sub.3 38 CH.sub.3 CH.sub.2 --H 50 ______________________________________
Similar pK.sub.a values are listed in a widely-used organic chemistry textbook: T. W. G. Solomons, ORGANIC CHEMISTRY, FIFTH EDITION, Table 3.1 on page 94 (John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1992). Such data indicate that strong bases such as NaNH.sub.2 or ethylmagnesium bromide can convert a terminal alkyne to an acetylide salt, which can subsequently be treated with a ketone to give a 3.degree. alkynol. On the other hand, alkoxides derived from 2.degree. and 3.degree. alcohols are expected to be too weakly basic to convert (appreciably) a terminal alkyne to an acetylide anion. Indeed, under the reaction conditions utilized in the present invention, one would instead predict conversion of an enolizable ketone to its enolate anion.
There are a number of patents, cited in R. J. Tedeschi, et al., J. Org. Chem., 28, 1740 (1963), that at first glance seem to suggest the alkynylation step of the present invention. These patents relate to the use of potassium hydroxide (comparable in basicity to an alkoxide) as a catalyst in the reaction of gaseous acetylene or vinylacetylene with aldehydes and ketones in liquid ammonia--a process referred to as the Favorskii reaction. However, a subsequent article by R. J. Tedeschi, J. Org. Chem., 30, 3045 (1965), confirmed that the Favorskii conditions do not involve an acid-base reaction. Rather than involving the formation of an alkali metal acetylide, Tedeschi verifies the existence of an acetylene-alkali hydroxide complex in the Favorskii reaction.
In contrast, the alkynylation step of the present invention proceeds more rapidly with the strongest alkoxide bases: i.e., rates are greater when KOC(CH.sub.3).sub.3 is used rather than KOCH.sub.3 ; and reaction is even slower when powdered KOH is used as the basic catalyst. Moreover, unlike the Favorskii reaction, the process of the present invention proceeds poorly for several representative aldehydes, including isobutyraldehyde and benzaldehyde. Indeed, attempted use of the alkynylation process of the instant invention with benzaldehyde resulted in a significant amount of reduction of the latter compound to yield benzyl alcohol.
Attempts to alkylate 6,10-dimethyl-3,5,9-undecatrien-2-one (pseudoionone) using ##STR6## produced none of the expected 3.degree. alkynol, nor was any unreacted pseudoionone recovered. Since alpha, betaunsaturated ketones such as pseudoionone are known to react with alkali-metal acetylides (generated by use of strong bases) to yield 3.degree. alkynols, the failure of the reaction when applied to pseudoionone was surprising. In contrast, the same alkylation using the related ketone, 6,10-dimethyl-2-undecanone, proceeded easily.
C. Utility of Products and Processes
F. G. Fischer and K. Lowenberg, Ann, 475, 183-204 (1929), have reported a synthesis of both isophytol and phytol utilizing the C-18 ketone (1) shown below as the key intermediate: ##STR7## Other syntheses of phytol have been reported in the literature, but they generally require lengthy sequences of reactions.
Treatment of either phytol or isophytol with the commercially available compound, trimethylhydroquinone, and an acid catalyst affords alpha-tocopherol, as outlined below: ##STR8## This synthesis is shown at pages 392-3 in Chemistry of Vitamin E, by O. Isler, et al., a chapter in VITAMINS AND HORMONES; ADVANCES IN RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS, VOLUME 20, edited by R. S. Harris, et al. (Academic Press, 1962).
Other processes for synthesizing vitamins E and K.sub.1 are illustrated in Chem. Abstracts, 67, 100,279z (1967); at pages 389-405 of VITAMINS AND HORMONES: ADVANCES IN RESEARCH AND APPLICATIONS, VOLUME 20, edited by R. S. Harris, et al. (Academic Press, 1962); in N. Cohen, et al., J. Am. Chem. Soc., 101, 6710 (1979); and in K. Chan, et al., J. Org. Chem., 43, 3435 (1978).


A congestion/overload control method and apparatus are provided. The method includes: learning, by a gateway device, information about network access time of a User Equipment (UE) or UE group; and rejecting or discarding, by the gateway device, session management request messages of the UE or UEs in the UE group beyond the network access time of the UE or UE group; or discarding, by the gateway device, data of the UE or the UEs in the UE group beyond the network access time of the UE or UE group. Embodiments of the present invention can perform congestion/overload control differentially on the UE or UEs in the group, implement congestion/overload control on the gateway device, avoid congestion/overload caused by a large number of UEs on the gateway device, and improve the efficiency of congestion/overload control.

In Machine Type Communications (MTC) applications with a large number of User Equipments (UEs), multiple UEs (UEs of MTC applications) may constitute a whole, which is hereinafter referred to as a group or a UE group, so that network operators or MTC users may manage and control the group as a whole. When a large number of such UEs access the network, a mobility management element may be congested/overloaded, and therefore congestion/overload control is performed. The mobility management element may select one or several gateway devices for a group of UEs, that is, different UEs in the same group may be connected to one or several gateway devices through different mobility management elements. Therefore, the mobility management element may converge connectivity requests of the UEs in the group in the network to one or several gateway devices. Even if the mobility management element is not congested/overloaded, the gateway device may be congested/overloaded under the impact of a large amount of signaling.
In the process of implementing the present invention, the inventor finds at least the following problems in the conventional art:
The mobility management element can perform congestion/overload control to control the access of the UE according to only its own state information, but cannot learn whether the gateway device is in the congested/overloaded state. Therefore, the mobility management element cannot perform congestion/overload control; as a result, the connectivity requests initiated by the subsequent UEs impact the gateway device, and the congestion/overload of the gateway device may get more serious. Consequently, the gateway device cannot work normally.
Further, if the mobility management element is in the congested/overloaded state, the mobility management element notifies an access network element to perform congestion/overload control, and the access network element does not differentiate UEs when performing congestion/overload control. In Machine to Machine (M2M) applications, because a lot of MTC users exist, service features of M2M applications of different MTC users are different. Therefore, the M2M applications of some specific MTC users cause network congestion/overload, for example, UEs of some MTC users initiate an access or detach procedure to the network frequently, resulting in network congestion or overload. Even if the network device can perform congestion/overload control on the gateway device, the network device cannot differentiate and control the UEs that cause congestion/overload of the gateway device, thereby reducing the efficiency of congestion/overload control.

Congestion/overload control method and apparatus


A system, and a corresponding method, are used to implement rank sparing. The system includes a memory controller and one or more DIMM channels coupled to the memory controller, where each DIMM channel includes one or more DIMMS, and where each of the one or more DIMMs includes at least one rank of DRAM devices. The memory controller is loaded with programming to test the DIMMs to designate at least one specific rank of DRAM devices as a spare rank.

In modern computer systems, the concept of DIMM (for dual inline memory module) sparing is well known and used by different server chipsets to increase memory system reliability. DIMM sparing requires that at boot time, one DIMM pair (or quad—depending on memory loading rules) per memory controller be set aside as a spare DIMM. If a persistent, correctable error occurs in one of the non-spare DIMMs connected to the same memory controller, data in the failed DIMM is copied to the spare DIMM and the memory system health is restored. While DIMM sparing provides memory redundancy, it does so at the obvious cost of increased memory overhead, as well as other not so obvious drawbacks.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


Disclosed is a method for enabling a relay node to transmit uplink control information. The relay node can receive resource allocation information and sequence information according to the transmission format of a physical uplink control channel set from a base station in advance. Additionally, the relay node can transmit the uplink control information, to which a sequence corresponding to the received sequence information is applied, in at least one slot of a resource area, which is indicated by the received resource allocation information, through a fixed number of symbols.

If a channel condition between the eNode B and the UE is poor, a relay node (RN) is installed between the eNode-B and the UE such that it can provide an RF channel having superior channel conditions to the UE. In addition, a relay node (RN) is introduced to a cell edge region having a poor channel condition such that it can provide a higher-speed data channel and can extend a cell service region. As described above, the relay node (RN) has been widely used to solve the propagation shade region in a wireless communication system.
Compared to the conventional art that is restricted to functions of a repeater capable of amplifying/transmitting a signal, the latest technology is being developed to cover more intelligent techniques. Furthermore, the relay node (RN) technology can reduce costs associated with increasing the number of eNode-Bs and maintenance costs of a backhaul network in next generation mobile communication systems, and is requisite for extending the service coverage simultaneously while increasing the data processing rate. With the increasing development of relay node (RN) technology, the necessity for the relay node (RN) used in the conventional wireless communication system to be supported by the new wireless communication system is also increasing.
As the technology for forwarding a link connection between the BS and the UE is introduced to a relay node (RN) in a 3rd Generation Partnership Project Long Term Evolution—Advanced (3GPP LTE-A) system, two links having different attributes are applied to an uplink (UL) carrier frequency band and a downlink (DL) carrier frequency band. The connection link between the BS and the RN is defined as a backhaul link. Transmission of data using downlink (DL) resources according to a Frequency Division Duplexing (FDD) or Time Division Duplexing (TDD) scheme is referred to as backhaul downlink. Transmission of data using uplink (UL) resources according to the FDD or TDD scheme is referred to as backhaul uplink.
In order to implement effective communication between the eNode-B and the RN, there is a need for the RN to transmit UL control information to the eNode-B. However, a method for allocating a transmission format of the eNode-B for the relay node (RN) in an LTE system, a method for signaling the above-mentioned allocation method, etc. so as to implement effective communication between the eNode-B and the RN have not been investigated yet.

Method for enabling relay node to transmit uplink control information in wireless communication system and the relay node


The present disclosure is directed toward a method for measuring a seal gap between a closing member and a fixed member. The method includes applying a liquid agent having transferable properties along one or more regions of a stamping member to form one or more base marks. The stamping member is one of the closing member or the fixed member. The method further includes engaging the closing member with the fixed member, disengaging the closing member from the fixed member, and assessing a seal gap between the closing member and the fixed member based on one or more remnant patterns formed on an imprinted member. The imprinted member is the other one of the closing member and the fixed member, and the remnant patterns are formed by the transfer of the liquid agent from the base marks.

The statements in this section merely provide background information related to the present disclosure and may not constitute prior art.
A vehicle includes many closure panels (i.e., a closing members) that are operable to open and close against a body of the vehicle (i.e., vehicle body or fixed member). For example, the doors, trunk, hood, sunroof panel, and deck lid are all closure panels that mate with the vehicle body. To prevent debris from entering between the closure panel and the vehicle body (i.e., between two mating members), weather-strips or seals are typically arranged between the two mating members to seal against debris, such as water. In addition to sealing against debris, the seals also control wind noise that is caused by air passing through the two mating members.
Typically, the amount of interference between the seal and the surface upon which it seals, controls wind noise and debris leakage. The interference can also affect the amount of effort (i.e., energy) required by a user to close the closure panel onto the vehicle body. Specifically, as the amount of interference between the seal and the surface increases, the amount of effort needed to close the panel also increases. These and other issues are addressed by the present disclosure.

Method and system for measuring seal contact