An unloading system for an agricultural vehicle includes: a grain tank; at least one cross auger placed within the grain tank; a discharge tube having an inlet in communication with the grain tank and at least one discharge auger placed therein; and a drive system configured to drive the at least one cross auger and the at least one discharge auger. The drive system includes: a main driver; a discharge coupling continuously coupled to the main driver and the at least one discharge auger; and a variable speed coupling continuously coupled to the main driver and coupled to the at least one cross auger.

An agricultural harvester known as a "combine" is historically termed such because it combines multiple harvesting functions with a single harvesting unit, such as picking, threshing, separating and cleaning. A combine includes a header which removes the crop from a field, and a feeder housing which transports the crop matter into a threshing rotor. The threshing rotor rotates within a perforated housing, which may be in the form of adjustable concaves, and performs a threshing operation on the crop to remove the grain. Once the grain is threshed it falls through perforations in the concaves and is transported to a grain pan. From the grain pan the grain is cleaned using a cleaning system, and is then transported to a grain tank onboard the combine. The cleaning system includes a cleaning fan which blows air through oscillating sieves to discharge chaff and other debris toward the rear of the combine. Non-grain crop material such as straw from the threshing section proceeds through a straw chopper and out the rear of the combine. When the grain tank becomes full, the combine is positioned adjacent a vehicle into which the grain is to be unloaded, and a discharge system, e.g., one or more discharge augers, on the combine is actuated to transfer the grain into the vehicle.
To unload the grain from the combine, the grain tank may have one or more cross augers placed in the tank which rotate and convey grain material toward the discharge auger(s) to keep the discharge auger(s) fed with grain. In some combines, the rotational power for the cross auger(s) and discharge auger(s) can be provided by a common drive system which couples to a source of rotational power, such as a drive shaft driven by the power plant of the combine. Having a common drive system for the cross auger(s) and discharge auger(s) allows for driving the augers without the need for separate drive systems, which can reduce the space and weight requirements to drive the augers.
One particular problem that is encountered by such drive systems can occur at start-up of the drive system. Since the drive system starts stationary, the initial start-up must overcome inertia to begin rotation of the augers, requiring additional power and which can result in a significant amount of torque on the components during start-up. Further, the unload rate of the augers tends to be directly proportional to the power provided to the augers by the drive system. In some instances there may be excess or reserve power available from the power plant that could be used to increase the unload rate of the augers, but is not provided to the drive system.
What is needed in the art is an unloader system for a combine harvester which can address some of the previously described limitations of known systems.

Drive system for an agricultural unloader


The present disclosure relates to a method and apparatus for electronic voting performed in response to insertion of an electronic ballot by a voter into an electronic voting machine. The method includes storing candidate information in a candidate database, issuing an electronic ballot by a ballot dispenser in response to a ballot issuance request of a voter, displaying by the electronic voting machine a list of candidates from the candidate database when the electronic ballot is inserted into the electronic voting machine, and printing by a printer vote data related to a selected candidate on the electronic ballot, followed by dispensing the printed electronic ballot when the voter selects the candidate whom the voter wishes to vote from among the list of candidates. The electronic ballot is printed with a barcode corresponding to vote information containing at least one of data for authentication, precinct ID and polling place ID.

Electronic voting and ballot-counting techniques have recently been introduced. Electronic voting and ballot-counting techniques are not inherently difficult to perform, although problems relating to fair election, voter convenience, efficiency, system error, external intrusion, etc. need to be addressed.
For example, the U.S. presidential elections employ a touch screen-based direct recording electronic voting machine (DRE), a DRE with a voter-verified paper trail, a precinct counter optical scan, etc. In a general voting procedure, a voter goes to a polling place and obtains a smart card (granting voting rights) as a voucher for participation in voting. This smart card is used in voting and votes are stored in a memory of a voting machine. However, these techniques have the following disadvantages.
Software attack—Software embedded attacks may cause an error in a voting system without difficulty, and all types of electronic voting machines are vulnerable to this attack. In particular, for a DRE generating no paper ballot, parallel testing may be conducive to tracking not only software-based attacks but also any software bug not discovered during inspection or other tests.
Wireless attack—Wireless components of a voting machine are vulnerable to a wide range of attacks.
DRE generating no paper ballot—DREs having no voter-verified paper trail (VVPT) do not have any way of detecting software-based attacks. This is because an automatic routine audit of comparing a paper record to an electronic record after an election is impossible.
Ballot trail—The VVPT is considerably suspect in itself with regard to security. Paper records are reliable only when the automatic routine audit is performed. Also, a series of well-designed filing and physical security procedures has been established for paper ballots.


An image forming apparatus includes a fixing unit, an apparatus main body, a nip pressure changing member, a driving source, and a clutch mechanism. The fixing unit includes a first rotating member, a second rotating member, and a fixing nip forming mechanism. The fixing nip forming mechanism forms a fixing nip between the first rotating member and second rotating member. To the apparatus main body, the fixing unit is detachably installed. The nip pressure changing member presses the fixing nip forming mechanism and to change a pressure of the fixing nip by rotating around a rotation axis. The driving source rotates the nip pressure changing member. The clutch mechanism permits a transmission of a rotation from the driving source to the nip pressure changing member and restricts a transmission of a rotation from the nip pressure changing member to the driving source.

The present disclosure relates to an image forming apparatus comprising a fixing unit configured to fix a toner image on a sheet.
An electrographic image forming apparatus, such as a copying machine or a printer, comprises a fixing device configured to fix a toner image on a sheet. The fixing device includes a first rotating member (for example, a roller or a belt) heated by a heating source and a second rotating member (for example, a roller or a belt) forming a fixing nip between the first rotating member and second rotating member by being brought into pressure contact with the first rotating member. When the sheet passes through the fixing nip, the toner image is fixed on the sheet by heating and pressing the toner image.
In the above-mentioned fixing device, there is a fixing device unitized as a "fixing unit". The fixing unit is configured to be detachable to an apparatus main body of the image forming apparatus for the convenience of maintenance and part replacement.
In the above-mentioned fixing nip, the toner image may be fixed to various sheets with different thickness and dimensions. For instance, in a case where the toner image is fixed on a nonstandard sheet, such as an envelope or a thin paper, when a pressure (hereinafter, called as a "nip pressure") of the fixing nip is the same as that of another case where the toner image is fixed on a standard sheet, there is fear that the sheet is crinkled. In recent years, particularly, the sheet is diversified according to speeding up and colorization of the image forming apparatus, it is difficult that one nip pressure satisfies conveying performance and fixing performance to various types of the sheets.
Then, various mechanisms for changing the nip pressure in accordance with types of the sheets are being developed. For instance, there is a fixing unit including a compression spring that brings the first and second rotating members into pressure contact with each other and a nip pressure changing member that moves the second rotating member in a direction in which an inter-shaft distance from the first rotating member increases. In this art, the nip pressure changing member is provided with a gear which meshes with a gear on the apparatus main body side. The gear on the apparatus main body side is connected with a driving source provided in the apparatus main body.
In the art described above, the nip pressure changing member is provided in the fixing unit, enlarging and complicating the fixing unit. Still further, because the nip pressure changing member is provided in the fixing unit, the fixing unit inevitably receives a great load generated in changing the nip pressure, possibly receiving an excessive load.
In the abovementioned art, a rotation of the driving source provided in the apparatus main body is transmitted to the nip pressure changing member via the gear on the apparatus main body side and the gear on the nip pressure changing member side. According to this, there is a possibility of causing a tooth skipping between the gear on the apparatus main body side and the gear on the nip pressure changing member side and another possibility of malfunction due to an excessive axial torque applied to the gear on the apparatus main body side and the gear on the nip pressure changing member side.
Still further, in the abovementioned art, it is unable to rotate the nip pressure changing member without driving the driving source and it is difficult to rotate the nip pressure changing member when the driving source is stopped.


A through substrate via (TSV) die includes a substrate including a topside semiconductor surface having active circuitry. The die includes a plurality of TSVs that each include an inner metal core that extend from the topside semiconductor surface to protruding TSV tips that extend out from the bottomside surface. A metal cap is on the protruding TSV tips that includes at least one metal layer that has a metal that is not in the inner metal core. A plurality of protruding warpage control features are on the bottomside surface lateral to the protruding TSV tips, wherein the plurality of protruding warpage control features do not have the protruding TSV tips thereunder. The plurality of protruding warpage control features can include the same metal layer(s) used for the metal cap.

As known in the art, through-substrate vias (referred to herein as TSVs), which are commonly referred to as through-silicon vias in the case of silicon substrates, are vertical electrical connections that extend the full thickness of the IC die from one of the electrically conductive levels formed on the topside semiconductor surface of the IC die (e.g., contact level or one of the BEOL metal interconnect levels) to its bottomside surface. Such IC die are referred to herein as "TSV die." The vertical electrical paths are significantly shortened relative to conventional wire bonding technology, generally leading to significantly faster device operation. In one arrangement, the TSVs terminate on the bottomside of the TSV die as protruding TSV tips, such as protruding a distance of 5 to 15 μms from the bottomside substrate (e.g., silicon) surface. To form the protruding tips, the TSV die are commonly thinned to expose the TSVs and to form the tips, such as to a die thickness of 25 to 100 μm, using a process generally including backgrinding. The TSV die can be bonded face-up or face-down, and can be bonded to from both of its sides to enable formation of stacked die devices.
In die areas having TSVs, there can be no active devices because TSVs extend the full thickness of the TSV die. TSVs on the TSV die are generally arranged in a plurality of separate TSV arrays that cover a relatively small percentage of the TSV die area, and thus TSVs collectively do not approach uniformly covering the area of the TSV die. The TSVs within the TSV arrays are typically regularly spaced having a fixed pitch. Regions beyond the TSV arrays (referred to herein as "gap regions") result in an irregular bottomside topography caused by the protruding TSV tips being elevated, with the gap regions having a consistent lowest elevation. The TSV tips may include a metal cap thereon, such as a cap including a nickel layer, that can function as an inter-metallic compound (IMC) barrier to overlying Sn-based solder in the case of solder mediated joints to a workpiece (e.g., a package substrate or another die or a die stack) to avoid, or at least delay, the consumption of the inner metal core (e.g., copper) of the TSV from forming an IMC which can lead to cracking of the outer dielectric sleeve of the TSV, and resulting failures (e.g., leakage or shorts) on the TSV die. The metal cap can significantly increase the height of the TSV tips relative to the gap regions.
Thermo-compression (TC) bonding is a common IC assembly method that involves the use of pressure applied by a bond head and a significant temperature (e.g., a temperature high enough to melt solder, such as 250 to 350° C.) to join two materials by interdiffusion across the boundary of the materials. The bonding process relies on pressure to push pillars or other bonding features on the topside semiconductor surface of TSV die or a TSV wafer against opposing pads on a substrate or another die that are to be bonded, and to heat and melt the solder. During TC bonding of a thin (e.g., <100 μm thick) TSV die having bottomside TSV tips to a substrate (e.g., package substrate, die, or die stack) in which the topside of the TSV die is bonded to pads on a substrate, the TC bond head comes in direct contact with the bottomside of the TSV die that has the above-described TSV tip-induced irregular topography.

Warpage control features on the bottomside of TSV die lateral to protruding bottomside tips


According to one embodiment, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a static magnetic-field generating unit, a gradient magnetic-field generating unit, a plurality of metal shim plates in a plate shape, and a shim holding unit. The metal shim plates adjust uniformity of the static magnetic field. The shim holding unit holds the metal shim plates in a layered state. Each of the metal shim plates includes a convex having a certain angle at a certain position, and the metal shim plates are layered such that the convex of each one metal shim plate comes into contact with a back of the bent convex of another metal shim plate.

A magnetic resonance imaging apparatus is an apparatus that images an inside of a subject by using a magnetic resonance phenomenon. Such magnetic resonance imaging apparatus includes a static magnetic-field magnet that generates a static magnetic field in an imaging area, a gradient magnetic-field coil that applies a gradient magnetic field onto a subject placed in the static magnetic field, and a radio frequency coil that receives a magnetic resonance signal from the subject applied with the gradient magnetic field.
Some of conventional magnetic resonance imaging apparatuses include a shimming unit for correcting ununiformity of a static magnetic field in an imaging area. As an example of such shimming unit, a technology that uses, for example, metal shims formed in a plate shape, is proposed (for example, see JP-A H8-299304 (KOKAI)). According to the conventional technology, ununiformity of a static magnetic field is corrected by stacking in layers and arranging a certain number of metal shims at respective positions in the vicinity of a static magnetic-field magnet.
However, according to the conventional technology described above, the metal shims provided on a gradient magnetic-field coil sometimes move in some cases, resulting in a problem that noise appears on an image due to the movement of the metal shims.
Specifically, while imaging, when a gradient magnetic field is generated by the gradient magnetic-field coil, an eddy current is induced in the metal shims. When a plurality of metal shims is provided, a potential difference arises between each of the metal shims due to the eddy current. In such state, for example, if relative positions of the respective metal shims are changed due to vibration of the gradient magnetic-field coil, as respective metal surfaces are brought close to each other, a weak discharge phenomenon occurs at ends of the metal shims. The discharge phenomenon causes a pop noise, and the pop noise causes noise to appear on a taken image.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus and shimming apparatus with convex to concave layered stacking of shim plates


Methods and apparatus for purifying gases having organic impurities, including the use of granulated porous glass. A system for purifying an impure gas includes a source of an impure gas, a purification element operatively associated with the source of impure gas for purifying the impure gas, and a conduit operatively associated with the purification element for receiving a flow of purified impure gas from the purification element and directing the purified impure gas to a container or point of use. The impure gas includes a first gas and an organic compound. The purification element includes a vessel containing a packed bed of granulated porous glass.

In some applications involving the use of hydrogen, or gas mixtures containing hydrogen, contamination of the process gas (or gases) can occur due to the presence or generation of organic gases, organic vapors, organic mists, or particulate matter during the particular processing application. And, if the initial, relatively pure, process gas (or gas mixture) is used in large volumes, purification and re-use of this gas may be an economic necessity.
Although there is an extensive body of literature covering varying methods of purifying gases, many of these methods are often problematic in dealing with relatively high concentrations of organic contaminants in gas streams containing high concentrations of hydrogen. For example, membrane purifiers can easily and rapidly become so contaminated themselves by the removal of organic vapors and oil mists, that they quickly become ineffective. Even the use of pre-filtration (for example, standard types of cartridge filters or activated carbon beds) to protect membrane type purifiers is often not effective for very long when there are high levels of organic mists or high molecular weight oil contamination within the gas(es) so purified. These kinds of pre-filtration/adsorption schemes can sometimes lead to frequent maintenance or complete replacement of the active filtering means and can also sometimes lead to irreparable deterioration in membrane elements if the contamination eventually "breaks through" any of the pre-filtering devices. One proposed solution includes that disclosed by Kidnay, A. J., Hiza, M. J., and Dickson, P. F., "The Kinetics of Adsorption of Methane and nitrogen from hydrogen Gas", and "Advances in Cryogenic Engineering", Vol. 14, K. D. Timmerhaus (Editor), plenum Press, NY 1969, pp. 41-48 (hereinafter, Kidnay et al.).
Another frequently used method of purifying gases, such as hydrogen or helium, involves cryogenic trapping of impurities entrained within these gases. In this kind of process, contaminants are removed by condensation, or adsorption, or by "freezing out" as solids within a low temperature adsorption bed. Often, at least one adsorption bed employed in using this kind of technique involves the use of activated carbon (or activated charcoal, zeolitic molecular sieves, activated alumina, silica gels, and the like, as well as combinations of these conventional adsorbents) in a low temperature adsorption process [Kidnay et al.]. The main problem with this approach is that it is difficult to regenerate conventional packed bed adsorbents that become saturated or nearly saturated with high molecular weight organic impurities. Typically, high temperature steam must be used in these cases, and then an involved process of moisture removal by inert gas purging, at high temperatures, must follow that kind of regeneration step.
Many adsorbents are used in the field of gas separation, one of which includes silica gel. Silica gel is a granular, highly porous form of silica (SiO2). Generally speaking, it is formed by reaction of a sodium silicate solution with a mineral acid such as HCI or H2SO4, followed by polymerization of the produced hydrosol. Because of the —OH functional groups, silica gel is a relatively polar material. On the other hand, porous glass is a relatively less polar material in comparison to silica gel.

Systems for purifying gases having organic impurities using granulated porous glass


A manufacturing apparatus of a liquid crystal display includes a spacer supply plate provided with a plurality of grooves into which spacers are injected, a transcribing roller into a surface of which the spacers are first-transcribed thereof, and a support plate mounting a panel into which the spacers on the surface of the transcribing roller are second-transcribed.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a manufacturing apparatus of a liquid crystal display, and a manufacturing method of a liquid crystal display using the same.
(b) Description of Related Art
A liquid crystal display (LCD) includes upper and lower panels provided with field-generating electrodes and a liquid crystal (LC) layer interposed therebetween. The upper and the lower panels are combined with a sealant printed along the periphery thereof, enclosing the LC layer, and spaced apart with a gap and supported by a plurality of spacers.
The LCD applies voltages to the field-generating electrodes to generate an electric field in the LC layer that has dielectric anisotropy, and controls the magnitude of the voltages applied to the electrodes to control the strength of the electric field, thereby controlling the transmittance of light passing through the LC layer to display images.
The spacers are spacer beads with a spherical shape and formed in an irregular pattern, or column spacers or rigid spacers formed in a regular pattern.
The column spacers are formed corresponding to portions where the light does not pass through. For example, portions may include a channel of the thin film transistor (TFT), a gate line, and a storage electrode line.
However, the spacer beads that are distributed irregularly function as alien material and cause light leakage, thereby reducing a contrast ratio. A portion of spacer beads moving even slightly damages an alignment layer. Moreover, the column spacers increase process steps during manufacturing which increases manufacturing cost and have such small elasticity so that the extent and accuracy to which the spacers can be shaped, formed or spread during drop filling is reduced, thereby causing imperfect filling or smear faults.

Manufacturing apparatus of liquid crystal display and manufacturing method of liquid crystal display using the same


A method of analyzing ethylated thymidine DNA adducts is disclosed. The method comprises the steps of: providing leukocyte DNA; adding at least one isotope-labeled internal standard and a plurality of enzymes to the leukocyte DNA, and hydrolyzing the leukocyte DNA into a plurality of nucleosides; using a solid-phase extraction column to extract the plurality of nucleosides; and using a stable isotope dilution nanoflow liquid chromatography-nanospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry to detect and quantify at least one ethylated thymidine DNA adduct in the plurality of extracted nucleosides.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of analyzing DNA adducts, in particular to the method of analyzing ethylated thymidine DNA adducts.
2. Description of the Related Art
Humans are often exposed to various chemicals that will change the structure of DNA to produce excessive DNA adducts, and if these DNA adducts cannot be repaired effectively, mutation or carcinogenesis may occur. The amount of DNA adducts in tissues may reflect a balance between the capability of forming and the capability of repairing the adducts in the tissues when the tissues is chemically damaged. Since DNA adducts participate in carcinogenesis, DNA adducts have been used as a biomarker of carcinogens and cancer risk assessments [1].
Alkylating agents are usually found in our living environment. For example, the smoke of cigarettes contains polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons (PAHs) and tobacco related nitrosamines become potential alkylating agents after a metabolism takes place by cytochrome P450 enzymes [2, 3]. A direct reaction of non-bulky alkylating agents usually occurs in the smoke of cigarettes. Methylated and ethylated DNA adducts were found in human tissues and urine [4-13]. Unlike the methylated DNA adducts, some researches discovered that the amount of ethylated DNA adducts in smokers is higher than that in nonsmokers [5, 6, 9-13]. The ethylation of DNA may occur on phosphate backbone [14, 15] or on bases of DNA. For example, reports [8-13, 16] show that ethylations are found at positions such as N3 of adenine, O6 and N7 of guanine, and O2, O4, and N3 of thymidine (as shown in FIG. 1). In an ethylated DNA adduct, O6-ethylguanine (O6-edT) and O4-ethylthymidine (O4-edT) will cause miscoding lesions, and researches of animal models discovered that these adducts are related to carcinogenesis [17, 18]. In addition, O6-ethylguanine can be repaired effectively, but O2-ethylthymidine (O2-edT) or O4-ethylthymidine (O4-edT) cannot be repaired effectively [18-22]. Both O2-edT and O4-edT are accumulated in living organisms to cause persistent DNA lesions [18-20]. 3-ethyladenine and N7-ethylguanine can be spontaneous depurinated and can be detected in a smoker's urine [9-11].
In smokers' urine, the average amount of 3-ethyladenine is higher than that of non-smokers [9, 10]. Similarly, the average amount of N7-ethylguanine in smokers' urine and liver is higher than that of non-smokers [11, 12]. The amount of O4-edT in the DNA of cancer patients' lung is directly proportional to the amount of PAH-DNA adducts, showing that these two DNA adducts are formed mainly by the smoke of cigarettes as an exposure source [5]. Further, some researches pointed out that the average amount of N-ethylvaline in smokers' hemoglobin rises significantly than that of non-smokers [23]. From the aforementioned results, we can derive that these ethylated DNA adducts may be produced by the ethylating agents in the smoke of cigarettes.
In an evaluation of the role of the ethylated DNA adducts played in the carcinogenesis, a highly sensitive, specific, qualitative and quantitative method is required to analyze the ethylated DNA adducts in vivo. Gas chromatography with electron impact ionization mass spectrometry (GC-EI/MS) was used by previous studies to analyze 3-ethyladenine in urine [8-10]. However, liquid chromatography together with electrospray ionization tandem mass spectrometry (LC-ESI/MS/MS) was used for the analysis of N7-ethylguanine in human urine and liver samples [11, 12].
In a complicated matrix, an appropriate internal standard is generally required for quantifying a trace of analyte accurately. However, an isotopomer with the same structure of the analyte has the same expected physical and chemical properties of the analyte except in the mass spectrometer, so that the isotopomer can be used as an ideal internal standard. The stable isotope-labeled internal standard also can be used as a carrier for carrying a trace of analyte processed with a sample processing procedure. The isotope-labeled standard also can be used to label a signal position of the analyte in a chromatogram and used to find a peak of the analyte from the standard in the complicated chromatogram via the isotope according to the substantially the same retention time.
Up to now, there is no method primarily using the mass spectrometer to analyze ethylated thymidine DNA adducts. Present researches have succeeded detecting and quantifying O4-edT, which induces mutation, in healthy persons' livers [4], cancer patents' lung tissues [5], cells of lower respiratory tracts [6], and smokers' lung tissues [13]. However, the white blood cells of healthy ones have not been used for the detection of O4-edT. In these researches, the detection of O4-edT adopts the 32P-postlabeling technique. Unlike the stable isotope dilution chromatography, internal standards [5, 6, 13] used in the 32P-postlabeling technique have different structures and retention time for the high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) and thin layer chromatography (TLC) are different from those of the analytes.
In summation, the conventional methods for detecting DNA adducts require a large number of samples, fail to find the distributed positions of the analytes from the chromatogram easily, and fail to detect several adducts at the same time, thus the conventional methods have the drawbacks of wasting labor, materials and examination time, and also have the shortcoming of a low sensitivity. Therefore, the inventor of the present invention designs a method of analyzing ethylated thymidine DNA adducts to overcome the drawbacks of the prior art and enhanced industrial applications.

Method of detecting ethylated thymidine DNA adducts


The present invention relates to a method of selecting of a path to establish a communication link between a first node and one of a plurality of access points of a wireless cellular telecommunication system, the wireless cellular telecommunication system having second nodes being adapted to serve as relay nodes. The method comprises the steps of receiving of data from at least one of the second nodes, the data being indicative of a first quality measure of a first path from the one of the second nodes to its access point, comparing of a second quality measure of a second path from the first node to its access point with the first quality measure, selecting of the first path to replace the second path if the first quality measure is superior to the second quality measure.

Various wireless cellular telecommunication systems are known from the prior art, some of which have been standardized. A common feature of such wireless cellular telecommunication systems is that the network has a number of access points for coupling of mobile nodes to the wired backbone of the system. Each of the access points defines a cell having an assigned frequency in accordance with a certain frequency reuse pattern. In the case of GSM the access points are commonly referred to as "base transceiver stations" and in the case of UMTS the access points are commonly referred to as "node-Bs".
In addition, so called ad hoc networks have been investigated (cf. "performance evaluation of modified IEEE 802.11 MAC for multi-channel, multi-hop ad hoc network", Li et al, http://wnl.ece.cornell.edu/Publications/aina03.pdf, A highly reliable broadcast scheme for IEEE 802.11 multi-hop ad hoc networks, Shiann-Tsong Sheu, Yihjia Tsai, Jenhui Chen; Communications, 2002. ICC 2002. IEEE International Conference on Pages:610-615; 2002). It is to be noted that ad hoc networking is possible with the standard IEEE 802.11 only on a single frequency channel.
Ad hoc wireless networks are constructed by several mobile handsets or laptops and characterized by multi-hop wireless connectivity, constantly changing network topology and the need for efficient dynamic routing protocols. There is no stationary infrastructure or base station to coordinate packets transmissions and distribute the information of network topology. According to these characteristics, each mobile node in the multi-hop ad hoc networks must act as routers, relaying data packets to their neighboring mobile nodes. Since network resource is limited, any transmission will interfere the neighbors, which also have packets to transmit in the same radio channel.
For multi-channel, multi-hop, IEEE 802.11 ad hoc networks two basic methods are known: the Measurement-Based Method and the Status-Based Method. In the Measured-Based Method, a node is equipped with the capability to measure either the signal strength, the signal to noise ratio, or the signal to interference ratio. A node periodically scans each channel to find the channels with acceptable interference conditions. In the Status-Based Method, each node acquires the channels' Busy/idle status through listening to the MAC-layer control packets. Based on the channel status, an available channel is selected for use.
The present invention aims to provide an improved wireless cellular telecommunication system and an improved method and computer program for operating of such a telecommunication system.

Method of selecting of a path to establish a telecommunication link


An observation device is an observation device observing an observation target and includes: an emission light source that generates emission light; a projection light source that generates projection light; a scanning mirror that scans the emission light and the projection light toward the observation target along the same optical path; a light guide optical system that guides detection target light generated in the observation target in accordance with emission of the emission light without it passing through the scanning mirror; an optical detector that detects the detection target light guided by the light guide optical system; and a control unit that controls an intensity of the projection light on the basis of a result of the detection of the detection target light.

As a conventional observation device, for example, there is a projection system disclosed in Patent Literature 1. This projection system is configured as an operation support system and includes an infrared excitation light source that emits excitation light toward an affected part of a patient, an infrared camera that images fluorescence occurring in the affected part in accordance with emission of excited light, a projection unit that projects a projection image based on a result of the imaging of fluorescence to an affected part, and the like.

Observation device and observation method


A one-piece dispenser cap adapted for the controlled dispensing of liquids in droplet form is particularly configured to enable the use of a living hinge and closure cover combination that is of convenient size to reduce the complexity and cost of construction of the device. The described cap construction includes a funnel surface for directing fluid for discharge whereby dispensing of substantially all of the fluid from the container is insured. Appropriate sealing structure prevents contamination of the contained liquid and use of the living hinge uncomplicatedly prevents interference by the closure cover with liquid as it is dispensed.

The present invention relates to liquid dropper dispensers. More particularly, the invention involves an integrated container cap having a drop dispensing nozzle and a pivotably attached cover for releasably closing the nozzle tip.
Dropper nozzles may be used, inter alia, to dispense precise amounts of liquid products, such as diagnostic reagents, adhesive, ophthalmic solutions and other liquid chemicals. Conventionally, the dispensing of liquid drops from a container, such as a bottle, is effected by inserting a dropper nozzle, or spindle, into the internal diameter of the neck of the bottle and securing a cap thereto in a manner as to operatively fix the spindle to the bottle. Such nozzles are normally closed by separate covers and the covers and the nozzles can, respectively, be snap fit or friction fit elements.
Numerous liquid dispensing devices are known in the prior art. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,010,875 and 4,807,768, among others, indicate that it is not new to construct liquid dispensing caps having an integrally formed closure cover and U.S. Pat. No. 2,514,576 indicates that it is old to provide the spindle body of a dispensing nozzle with a funnel-shaped surface about the inlet opening of the spindle passage for directing liquid thereto.
The principal problem that is particularly addressed by the present invention, however, is the need to incorporate into a wholly integrated cap and closure cover for liquid dispenser bottles the ability to accurately and repeatedly dispense controlled amounts of liquid as precisely sized droplets until the liquid is completely dispensed from the bottle. The concerned cap must be inexpensive to construct and easy to operate. It must further be designed to prevent both liquid leakage from the cap and container as well as the ingress of contaminants into the container.
It is to the achievement of these ends therefore, to which the present invention is directed.


The present invention relates to a knit made in one piece, based on an arrangement formed by at least two sheets of yarns, comprising at least one first sheet that defines a first chain structure and at least one or more non-meshing sheets, of partial weft, each of these non-meshing sheets defining a structure, which knit comprises at least one free chain yarn, a free chain yarn being defined as a chain yarn for which, along the entire longitudinal dimension of the knit, all yarn of said meshing sheets approaching said free chain yarn makes a 180 degree turn at this free chain yarn.

The present invention relates to a prosthetic knit having zones that can be unraveled and permit easy separation of knitted bands or tapes in the direction of production of the knit. These bands or tapes can be used as textile medical devices that may or may not be implanted in the human body.
Textile devices that are not implantable include, for example, compresses, textile support dressings, etc. Devices that can be implanted in the human body include, for example, textile prostheses in general, such as wall reinforcements in parietal surgery for example, urethral support tapes in the treatment of female stress urinary incontinence, and in the treatment of pelvic floor disorders, which are generally found mainly in females and are also referred to as prolapses.
These textile devices generally need to have a specific strength suited to their application. This is particularly the case of textile prostheses implanted in the human body. Thus, parietal reinforcements are used to replace and/or strengthen and/or support the abdominal wall, at least on a temporary basis. Likewise, suburethral support tapes have to support the middle urethra, preferably in a definitive and permanent manner. The same applies to support implants used in the treatment of prolapses.
These textile prostheses therefore need to have a certain dimensional stability. To achieve this, these textile prostheses are generally subjected to a thermosetting step which increases their dimensional stability. The prostheses are then easier to manipulate.
However, the manipulation of tapes of small width, particularly with a view to a thermosetting operation, is particularly awkward and may lead to substantial numbers of tapes being discarded when they become unusable because the thermosetting has not been carried out properly. Moreover, thermosetting each tape on an individual basis means that the thermosetting of the tapes is not homogeneous and not reproducible.

Abstract: The invention also relates to a textile medical device obtained by unraveling of at least two free chain yarns of said knit.

Abstract: The invention also relates to a method of production of said knit.


A chromium plating bath containing trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions is prepared by a method including the steps of: (A) mixing chromic acid and an organic acid in an aqueous solution containing these acids and reducing chromic acid by the organic acid so as to prepare an aqueous solution not containing hexavalent chromium ions; (B) adding a pH adjustor to the aqueous solution not containing hexavalent chromium ions so as to adjust pH to a value of 1 to 4; and (C) further adding chromic acid to the aqueous solution not containing hexavalent chromium ions and having undergone the pH adjustment so as to prepare an aqueous solution containing trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions. The chromium plating bath containing both trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions can be prepared while easily and assuredly adjusting the contents (content ratio) of trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions to predetermined values (a predetermined value).

Chromium plating baths which have been known include a chromium plating bath containing both trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions. In order to make the most of the characteristics of the chromium plating bath containing both trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions, the contents (content ratio) of trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions in the bath have to be adjusted to predetermined values (a predetermined value). In general, such a plating bath is prepared by a method in which part of chromic acid is reduced to trivalent chromium ions by an organic acid. In the case of preparing the plating bath by this method, the contents (content ratio) of trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions will vary depending on the degree of reduction of the hexavalent chromium ions to the trivalent chromium ions. Particularly, both the reaction of dissolution of chromic acid and the organic acid into water and the reduction reaction are exothermic reactions. Therefore, a rigorous temperature control is required for adjusting the contents (content ratio) of trivalent chromium ions and hexavalent chromium ions to predetermined values (a predetermined value).
Furthermore, the hexavalent chromium ion is highly hazardous and, hence, handling of the ion needs a sufficient control or management. Particularly, for avoiding leakage during transportation, it is desirable to obviate as securely as possible the transportation of the hexavalent chromium ions in the state of solution.
Besides, in the fields of utilizing plating films including a chromium plating film, there is a need for chromium plating films having more excellent characteristics, and there is also a need for simplified working steps from the viewpoint of reservation of natural resources and energy saving.
The following references relate to the present invention.
JP-B 46-40761
JP-A 52-125427
JP-A 59-185794
JP-A 59-223143
Seiichiro EGUCHI, "Formation of Electro-deposits of Bright Chromium from Chromic Acid Bath, containing Saturated Dicarboxylic Acids," Journal of the Metal Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 19, No. 11, pp. 451-456, 1968
Hisashi FURUYA, Yoshinari MISAKI and Yoshimi TANABE, "Preparation of Amorphous Cr and Amorphous Cr Binary Alloys," Journal of the Metal Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 32, No. 12, pp. 631-636, 1981
Seiichiro EGUCHI and Tooru YOSHIDA, "Bath Composition and Electrolytic Condition for Decorative Chromium Plating from Oxalic Acid Baths," Journal of the Metal Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 33, No. 6, pp. 272-277, 1982
Seiichiro EGUCHI, Tsutomu MORIKAWA and Masayuki YOKOI, "Bath Voltage and Covering Power of Chromium Plating from Oxalic Acid Bath," Journal of the Metal Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 104-108, 1984
Tsutomu MORIKAWA and Seiichiro EGUCHI, "Hardness of Chromium Deposition from Oxalic Acid Baths," Journal of the Metal Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 37, No. 7, pp. 341-345, 1986
Tsutomu MORIKAWA, Masayuki YOKOI, Seiichiro EGUCHI and Yukio FUKUMOTO, "Preparation of Cr—C Alloy Plating from Cr(III) Sulfate-Carboxylate Baths," The Journal of the Surface Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 95-99, 1991
Tsutomu MORIKAWA, Masayuki YOKOI, Seiichiro EGUCHI and Yukio FUKUMOTO, "Amorphous Cr—C Alloy Plating from Cr(III) Sulfate-Ammonium Oxalate Bath," The Journal of the Surface Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 42, No. 1, pp. 100-104, 1991
Kazuo WATANABE, "Decorative Trivalent Chromium Plating," The Journal of the Surface Finishing Society of Japan, Vol. 56, No. 6, pp. 320-324, 2005

Method of preparing chromium plating bath and method of forming plating film


The present disclosure relates to methods and systems for oil and gas field production management. An example system includes a production site and a production sensor configured to obtain information about a process parameter associated with the production site. The system also includes an on-site chemical tank and a mobile delivery vehicle with a chemical delivery system. The chemical delivery system is configured to dispense a chemical. The system also includes a controller that carries out operations, which include receiving, from the production sensor, information indicative of a process parameter value associated with the production site and determining, based on the received information, a chemical delivery request. The operations also include, in response to determining the chemical delivery request, routing the mobile delivery vehicle to the production site and causing the chemical delivery system to dispense the chemical to the on-site chemical tank according to the chemical delivery request.

Unless otherwise indicated herein, the materials described in this section are not prior art to the claims in this application and are not admitted to be prior art by inclusion in this section.
Mobile resource delivery may include goods or services that may be provided on a continuous or on an as-needed basis. Namely, the resource delivered may include specialty chemicals for the production, completion, and stimulation of various types of sites, such as oil and natural gas wells and their associated pipelines, as well as field processing equipment (e.g., separators, scavenger towers, vessels of various types, heat exchangers, and tanks).

Systems and methods for mobile resource delivery and management


This invention comprises cellular vaccines and methods of using them in cancer immunotherapy, particularly in humans. The vaccines comprise stimulated lymphocytes allogeneic to the subject being treated, along with a source of tumor-associated antigen. The allogeneic lymphocytes can be stimulated by combining or coculturing them with leukocytes obtained from the subject to be treated or from another third-party donor. Tumor antigen may be provided in the form of primary tumor cells, tumor cell lines or tumor extracts prepared from the subject. Stimulated allogeneic lymphocytes and tumor antigen are combined and administered at a site distant from the primary tumor, in order to prime or boost a systemic cellular anti-tumor immune response. This approach overcomes the natural refractory nature of the immune system to stimulation by tumor antigens, generating a host response and potentially improving the clinical outcome.

In spite of numerous advances in medical research, cancer remains a leading cause of death throughout the developed world. Non-specific approaches to cancer management, such as surgery, radiotherapy and generalized chemotherapy, have been successful in the management of a selective group of circulating and slow-growing solid cancers. However, many solid tumors are considerably resistant to such approaches, and the prognosis in such cases is correspondingly grave.
One example is brain cancer. Each year, approximately 15,000 cases of high grade astrocytomas are diagnosed in the United States. The number is growing in both pediatric and adult populations. Standard treatments include cytoreductive surgery followed by radiation therapy or chemotherapy. There is no cure, and virtually all patients ultimately succumb to recurrent or progressive disease. The overall survival for grade IV astrocytomas (glioblastoma multiforme) is poor, with .about.50% of patients dying in the first year after diagnosis. Because these tumors are aggressive and highly resistant to standard treatments, new therapies are needed.
An emerging area of cancer treatment is immunotherapy. The general principle is to confer upon the subject being treated an ability to mount what is in effect a rejection response, specifically against the malignant cells. There are a number of immunological strategies under development, including: 1. Adoptive immunotherapy using stimulated autologous cells of various kinds; 2. Systemic transfer of allogeneic lymphocytes; 3. Intra-tumor implantation of immunologically reactive cells; and 4. Vaccination at a distant site to generate a systemic tumor-specific immune response.
The first of the strategies listed above, adoptive immunotherapy, is directed towards providing the patient with a level of enhanced immunity by stimulating cells ex vivo, and then readministering them to the patient. The cells are histocompatible with the subject, and are generally obtained from a previous autologous donation.
One approach is to stimulate autologous lymphocytes ex vivo with tumor-associated antigen to make them tumor-specific. Zarling et al. (1978) Nature 274:269-71 generated cytotoxic lymphocytes in vitro against autologous human leukemia cells. Lee et al. (1996) abstract, Gastroenterology conducted an in vitro mixed lymphocyte culture with inactivated leukemic blast cells and autologous lymphocytes, and generated effector T lymphocytes cytotoxic for a tumor antigen on autologous blast cells. An MHC D-locus incompatibility was thought to be necessary to provide proper help in the lymphocyte culture. Lesham et al. (1984) Cancer Immunol Immunother. 17:117-23 developed cytotoxic responses in vitro against murine thymoma cells by allosensitization.
Gately et al. (1982) J. Natl. Cancer Inst. 69:1245-54 found that 5 out of 9 human glioma cell lines did not elicit allogeneic cytolytic lymphocyte responses in ex vivo cultures. However, if inactivated, allogeneic lymphocytes were provided as stimulator cells in the cultures, tumor-specific cytolytic T lymphocytes and non-specific non-T effectors were generated to 4 of the nonstimulatory lines. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,192,537, Osband suggests activating a tumor patient's mononuclear cells by culturing them ex vivo in the presence of tumor cell extract and a non-specific activator like phytohemagglutinin or IL-1, and then treating the culture to deplete suppresser cell activity.
Despite these experimental observations, systemic administration of ex vivo-stimulated autologous tumor-specific lymphocytes has not become part of standard cancer therapy.
Autologous lymphocytes and killer cells may also be stimulated non-specifically. In one example, Fc receptor expressing leukocytes that can mediate an antibody-dependent cell-mediated cytotoxicity reaction are generated by culturing with a combination of IL-2 and IFN-.gamma. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,308,626). In another example, peripheral blood-derived lymphocytes cultured in IL-2 form lymphokine-activated killer (LAK) cells, which are cytolytic towards a wide range of neoplastic cells, but not normal cells. LAK are primarily derived from natural killer cells expressing the CD56 antigen, but not CD3. Such cells can be purified from peripheral blood leukocytes by IL-2-induced adherence to plastic (A-LAK cells; see U.S. Pat. No. 5,057,423). In combination with high dose IL-2, LAK cells have had some success in the treatment of metastatic human melanoma and renal cell carcinoma. Rosenberg (1987) New Engl. J Med. 316:889-897. This strategy is labor-intensive, costly, and not suited to all patients. Schwartz et al. (1989) Cancer Res. 49:1441-1446 showed that A-LAK cells are superior to LAK cells at reducing lung and liver metastases of breast cancer in experimental animal models, but this was not curative and there were no long-term survivors.
For examples of trials conducted using LAK in the treatment of brain tumors, see Merchant et al. (1988) Cancer 62:665-671 & (1990) J. Neuro-Oncol. 8:173-198; Yoshida et al. (1988) Cancer Res. 48:5011-5016; Barba et al. (1989) J. Neurosurg. 70:175-182; Hayes et al. (1988) Lymphokine Res. 7:337-345; and Naganuma et al (1989) Acta Neurochir. (Wien) 99:157-160. Another study proposes therapy for recurrent high-grade glioma using autologous mitogen-activated and IL-2 stimulated (MAK) killer lymphocytes, in combination with IL-2. Jeffes et al. (1991) Lymphokine Res. 10:89-94. While none of these trials was associated with serious clinical complications, efficacy was only anecdotal or transient. Induction of tumor-specific immunity in patients receiving such treatments has not been shown.
Another form of adoptive therapy using autologous cells has been proposed based on observations with tumor-infiltrating lymphocytes (TIL). TILs are obtained by collecting lymphocyte populations infiltrating into tumors, and culturing them ex vivo with IL-2. Finke et al. (1990) Cancer Res. 50:2363-2370 have characterized cytolytic activity of CD4+ and CD8+ TIL in human renal cell carcinoma. TILs have activity and tumor specificity superior to LAK cells, and have been experimentally administered, for example, to humans with advanced melanoma. Rosenberg et al. (1990) New Engl. J. Med. 323:570-578. The effector population within TILs may be cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) which are primed to be tumor-specific in the host and are devoid of lytic granules, and become transformed into cytolytic lymphoblasts when stimulated in culture. Berke et al.(1988) J. Immunol. 129:303 ff. Unfortunately, TILs can only be prepared in sufficient quantity to be clinically relevant in a limited number of tumor types. These strategies remain experimental, especially in human therapy.
The second of the strategies for cancer immunotherapy listed earlier is adoptive transfer of allogeneic lymphocytes. The rationale of this experimental strategy is to create a general level of immune stimulation, and thereby overcome the anergy that prevents the host's immune system from rejecting the tumor. Strausser et al. (1981) J. Immunol. Vol. 127, No. 1 describe the lysis of human solid tumors by autologous cells sensitized in vitro to alloantigens. Zarling et al. (1978) Nature 274:269-71 demonstrated human anti-lymphoma responses in vivo following sensitization with allogeneic leukocytes. Kondo et al. (1984) Med Hypotheses 15:241-77 observed objective responses of this strategy in 20-30% of patients, and attributed the effect to depletion of suppressor T cells. The studies were performed on patients with disseminated or circulating disease. Even though these initial experiments were conducted over a decade ago, the strategy has not gained general acceptance, especially for the treatment of solid tumors.
The third of the immunotherapy strategies listed earlier is intra-tumor implantation. This is a strategy directed at delivering effector cells directly to the site of action. Since the transplanted cells do not circulate, they need not be histocompatible with the host. Intratumor implantation of allogeneic cells may promote the ability of the transplanted cells to react with the tumor, and initiate a potent graft versus tumor response.
Kruse et al. (1990) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci U.S.A. 87:9577-9581 demonstrated that direct intratumoral implantation of allogeneic cytotoxic T lymphocytes (CTL) into brain tumors growing in Fischer rats resulted in a significant survival advantage over other populations of lymphocytes, including syngeneic CTL, LAK cells, adherent-LAK cells or IL-2 alone. Redd et al. (1992) Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 34:349-354 developed cytotoxic T lymphocytes specific for an allogeneic brain tumor in rats. The lymphocytes were specific for a determinant expressed only by the tumor, and were predicted to be useful for therapeutic purposes in vivo. Kruse et al. (1994) J. Neurooncol. 19:161-168 prepared CTLs from four MHC incompatible rat strains, and used them to treat Fischer rats bearing established 9L brain tumors. CTL were administered on a biweekly schedule, a different MHC incompatible CTL preparation being administered each time. Animals without tumor showed minimal localized brain damage. Those with tumors either showed: a) mononuclear cell infiltration, massive tumor necrosis beginning 2-4 days after treatment, and total tumor destruction by 15 days; or b) cellular infiltration, early tumor destruction, and then tumor regrowth progressing to death of the animal. Tumor regressor animals were resistant to intracranial rechallenge with viable tumor cells. Kruse et al. (1994). Intratumor CTL implants may optionally be combined with chemotherapy using cyclophosphamide. Kruse et al. (1993) J. Neurooncol. 15:97-112.
Despite the promise of intratumor implantation techniques, several caveats remain. For one thing, implantation is frequently performed by surgical techniques, which may be too invasive for routine maintenance. In addition, the strategy is directed at generating a local response, not at generating a systemic response that is generally necessary for protection against metastases.
The fourth of the immunotherapy strategies listed earlier is the generation of an active systemic tumor-specific immune response of host origin. The response is elicited from the subject's own immune system by administering a vaccine composition at a site distant from the tumor. The specific antibodies or immune cells elicited in the host as a result will hopefully migrate to the tumor, and then eradicate the cancer cells, wherever they are in the body.
Various types of vaccines have been proposed, including isolated tumor-antigen vaccines and anti-idiotype vaccines. Mitchell et al. (1993) Ann. N.Y. Acad. Sci. 690:153-166 have treated cancer patients with mechanical lysates from a plurality of allogeneic melanoma cell lines, combined with the adjuvant DETOX.TM.. These approaches are all based on the premise that tumors of related tissue type all share a common tumor-associated antigen. For patients with tumors that did lot acquire expression of the antigen during malignant transformation, or that subsequently differentiated so as not to express it, none of these vaccines will be successful.
An alternative approach to an anti-tumor vaccine is to use tumor cells from the subject to be treated, or a derivative of such cells. For review see, Schirrmacher et al. (1995) J. Cancer Res. Clin. Oncol. 121:487-489. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,484,596, Hanna Jr. et al. claim a method for treating a resectable carcinoma to prevent recurrence or metastases, comprising surgically removing the tumor, dispersing the cells with collagenase, irradiating the cells, and vaccinating the patient with at least three consecutive doses of about 10.sup.7 cells. The cells may optionally be cryopreserved, and the immune system may be monitored by skin testing. This approach does not solve the well-established observations that many tumors are not naturally immunogenic. Many patients from which tumors have been resected are either tolerant or unable to respond to their own tumor antigen, even when comprised in a vaccine preparation.
Several ways of preparing autologous or syngeneic tumor cells have emerged that potentially enhance immunogenicity. Tumor cells may be combined with extracts of bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) or the A60 mycobacterial antigen complex, or mixed with vaccinia virus or Newcastle Disease Virus (NDV). Guo and coworkers (WO 95/16775) suggested that tumor cells be fused with membrane components of a second cell such as a B cell that has a greater immunogenic potential.
In yet another approach, autologous or syngeneic tumor cells are genetically altered to produce a costimulatory molecule. Examples of costimulatory molecules include cell surface receptors, such as the B7-1 costimulatory molecule or allogeneic histocompatibility antigens. Other examples are secreted activators, including cytokines. For reviews see, Pardoll et al. (1992) Curr. Opin. Immunol. 4:619-23; Saito et al. (1994) Cancer Res. 54:3516-3520; Vieweg et al.(1994) Cancer Res. 54:1760-1765; Gastl et al. (1992) Cancer Res. 52:6229-6236; and WO 96/07433). Tumor cells have been genetically altered to produce TNF-.alpha., IL-1, IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, IL-6, IL-7, IL-10, IFN-.alpha., IFN-.gamma. and GM-CSF. See, for example, Santin et al. Gynecol. Oncol. 58:230-239, 1995b; Int. J. Gynecol. Cancer 5:401-410, 1995c; Am. J. Obst. Gynecol. 174:633-639, 1996.
Golumbek et al. (1989) reported that mouse renal carcinoma cells inserted with a gene for IL-4 was strongly immunogeneic for systemic T cell immunity, and protected mice against a subsequent lethal challenge with unmodified, parental tumor cells. Cavallo et al. 1991 & 1992. Antitumor immunity is intensified by a cancer vaccine that produces both GM-CSF and IL-4. Wakimoto et al. (1996) Cancer Res. 56:1828-33. The cytokine or cytokine combination may recruit or stimulate cells of the immune system, and thereby overcome the normal barrier to immunity. Certain cytokines also affect the expression of major histocompatibility molecules and intercellular adhesion molecules by cancer cells (Santin et al. 1995a, Int. J. Cancer 65:688-694; Santin (1996) Am. J. Obst. Gynecol), potentially improving immunogenicity.
The experiments with cytokine-secreting histocompatible tumor cells have been done chiefly in genetically restricted animal models, which are not directly equivalent to a heterogeneous human patent population. Colombo et al. (1995) Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 41:265-270. Not all cancer types are responsive to the same cytokines. There are concerns about injecting human patients with replication-competent tumor cells, particularly after genetic alteration. In addition, there is usually not enough time to genetically alter and grow up sufficient cells of the patient to be treated for use in a vaccine.
Blumbach (WO 96/05866) has suggested vaccines of live tumor cells transduced with: a) a gene coding for an immunostimulatory protein; b) a cytokine; and c) a thymidine kinase gene. The composition is provided as live cells which can grow in vivo and stimulate a response, and then be selectively killed via the thymidine kinase. The possibility of escape mutants is likely to be a subject of regulatory concern for this approach in human therapy. Golumbek et al. (1992) J. Immunother. 12:224-230 have shown that proliferating tumor cells with suicide genes can also survive toxin treatment when they exit the cell cycle temporarily or are sequestered pharmacologically.
As an alternative, Cohen (WO 95/31107) suggested that neoplastic disease can be treated with a cellular immunogen comprising allogeneic cells genetically altered to express one or more cytokines, and also to express tumor-associated antigens encoded by autologous genomic tumor DNA. In this approach, an allogeneic cell (exemplified as a mouse LM cell) is genetically altered to express: a) a cytokine; and b) a tumor-associated antigen autologous to the subject to be treated. Accordingly, the vaccine need not comprise live tumor cells.
However, application of the Cohen invention to human subjects would require prior knowledge for each patient of a particular tumor-associated antigens expressed by the particular tumor. Many human cancers of widespread clinical interest do not have reliable commonly-shared markers. Once a relevant marker is identified for a particular patient, a cell line must be engineered accordingly, and cultured to the required density prior to treatment. Thus, each patient would become their own research and development project. Since the immune response would be focused only at the particular tumor-associated antigen used, it may be less effective than one directed against the spectrum of antigen expressed by a complete tumor cell. Furthermore, the vaccine comprises a live genetically altered cell line, raising the concerns outlined earlier. Cohen demonstrated only a modest improvement in survival in the animal studies, and failed to provide any evidence that his formulation would be effective in human cancer patients.
A suitable strategy for a human anti-tumor cellular vaccine has to contend with the following problems: a) heterogeneity amongst tumors (even tumors of the same type) in the display of tumor-associated antigens; b) heterogeneity in the immune response between individuals with regards to both antigens and cytokines; c) ethical and regulatory concerns about compositions that may be used in humans; and d) lack of development time in most clinical settings, limiting the ability to engineer new cell lines or otherwise tailor the vaccine to each patient.

Cancer immunotherapy using tumor cells combined with mixed lymphocytes

The Regents of the University of California


A domestic water tap (1000) is disclosed. The present application relates to a tap and an inner body for routing liquid within a tap, for example, a domestic water tap or faucet. The domestic water tap (1000) comprises an outer body (1010, 1012) and an inner body (100). The inner body (100) is housed within the outer body (1010, 1012). The outer body (1010, 1012) comprises at least one flow channel (1020, 1022) in which water can flow through the tap (1000) without contacting the outer body (1010, 1012). The inner body (100) is made from plastics and comprises at least one non-threaded bore for securely receiving a connector for delivering water from a source into the inner body (100).

Various types of taps are known, including single lever or dual lever taps which deliver a mixture of hot and cold water from mains sources as well as dual lever taps which deliver water from a plurality of sources, including mains sources, filtered water sources, near boiling or boiling water sources or carbonated water sources. The parts of the tap body which contact water must be manufactured from a material which is approved for domestic water use. Typically metals such as brass are used. Such materials are expensive and may also become hot.
As described, for example in WO2017/042586 to the present applicant, this can be addressed by providing a tap having a valve which is mounted within a housing and spaced from the exterior wall of the housing. In use, water is routed through the valve but heat transfer to the housing is minimised. Thus, the material for the housing can be freely selected based on cost considerations and/or aesthetic or tactile criteria.
The applicant has recognised that where internal components of the tap are housed within a separate housing, these internal components need to be securely mounted within the housing and to be robustly connected to the respective water sources.


In general, the subject matter described in this specification can be embodied in methods, systems, and program products for monitoring application program resource consumption. Information that identifies consumption, by multiple computing devices and at requests of a particular application program, of resources that correspond to the computing devices is accessed. Each of the multiple computing devices provided a portion of the information. The accessed information is analyzed by a computing system to determine one or more values that identify consumption of the resources by at least a subset of the computing devices. An indicium that illustrates the one or more values is provided for display on a particular computing device and in cooperation with a display of a network-accessible application program software marketplace. The application program software marketplace provides application program software for execution by the particular computing device and other computing devices.

A computing system may include multiple application programs, and these application programs may execute upon startup of the computing system or upon the computing system receiving user input to launch the application programs. For example, a display of the computing system may present multiple icons that each corresponds to a respective application program. A user can select one of the icons (e.g., by clicking with a mouse or touching the icon with the user's finger) to launch the corresponding application program. An application program may be a computer program that a computing system can execute. For example, the application program may include instructions that are encoded in a computer-readable device and that one or more processors of the computing system can execute.
The application programs may come pre-loaded with the computing system when a user purchases the system or may be added to the computing system at the request of the user. An example technique for adding an application to the computing system includes inserting a compact disc that contains an installation file for the application program. The user may select the installation files in order to prompt the computing system to install the application program.
A user may also add application programs to the computing system through the use of a network-accessible application program software marketplace. In some examples, the application program software marketplace may be a web site that allows users to browse through a list of application programs that are able to be installed on the users' computing systems.
A user can elect to install or execute specific application programs that are presented by the application program software marketplace. In response, the application program software marketplace may provide one or more application program installation or executable files for receipt by the user's computing system. Upon the computing system receiving the installation files, the computing system may decompress information that is stored within the installation files and configure the computing system for operation of the application programs.
A computing system may use, at request of an application program, resources that correspond to that computing system. Such resources can include, for example, central processing unit (CPU) cycles, computing system energy or battery consumption, wireless network data usage, and text messages. A computing system's resources may be costly or limited. For example, a computing system's use of a wireless network may be metered, for example, by a wireless network service provider. A user of the computing system may be billed for use of the wireless network for each unit of bandwidth used, or for each unit of bandwidth used above a data cap. Similarly, a computing system may have a limited amount of battery power that is available before the computing system may require a recharge, and may have a limited level of processing that the computing system may expend over a given period of time.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Monitoring application program resource consumption


A control method for a variable capacity automotive air conditioning compressor in which the compressor operating point is tailored to the nonlinear control characteristics of variable displacement compressors. When the error between the desired and actual values of a specified system parameter is relatively large, the operating point is determined by a coarse gain closed-loop control. When the error is within a fine control range defined in relation to the desired value, the control point is set to one of three predetermined values for effecting small displacement increases, small displacement decreases, or no change in displacement. An adaptive tuning technique is used to update the predetermined control point values to compensate for compressor-to-compressor differences and changes in the operating conditions of a given compressor system. An anticipation technique shortens the transition from coarse control to fine control by minimizing gross overshoots of the specified system parameter.

Variable displacement refrigerant compressors have been employed in engine driven automotive air conditioning systems in order to reduce engine load variations associated with compressor cycling. In the system manufactured by the Harrison Radiator Division of General Motors Corporation, for example, the compressor displacement is controlled by regulating the compressor crankcase pressure. To this end, a pneumatic control valve integral to the compressor variably connects the compressor crankcase to the inlet (suction) and outlet (discharge) chambers of the compressor.
In an electronic version of the control, the control valve is mechanized with a solenoid valve positioned to achieve the ratiometric control. In one mechanization, the valve may be pulse-width-modulated at a variable duty cycle to alternately connect the crankcase to the inlet and outlet chambers. In another mechanization, the valve may be linearly positioned by controlling the solenoid current, a direct analog to the pneumatic control referred to above.
With any such control, the objective is to adjust the crankcase pressure as required to achieve a desired system condition, such as a desired system temperature or pressure. However, nonlinearities inherent in the operation of a variable displacement compressor make it difficult to achieve an accurate and stable control. For example, the control gain (which may be defined as the change in compressor displacement per unit change in PWM duty cycle in the case of an electronic control) varies with internal friction, ambient temperature and the system loading. This means that the variation occurs not only from compressor to compressor, but also in a given compressor installation with wear, ambient conditions and control setting.

Control method for a variable displacement air conditioning system compressor


Correction data tables or look up tables (LUTs) are stored in a table memory. When an overshoot calculation section switches an active LUT, the overshoot calculation section obtains the new active LUT not out of an external memory but out of the table memory. A table managing section deletes, from the internal memory, LUTs to which the new active LUT does not switch over directly, for example non-adjacent LUTs, meanwhile the table managing section obtains a new adjacent LUT from the external memory so as to store the new adjacent LUT in the table memory. With the arrangement, it becomes possible for a drive circuit to (i) operate at the same processing speed as a drive circuit in which all tables are stored in the internal memory, and simultaneously, (ii) reduce the amount of memory.

An overshoot drive technique has been widely known as a technique for improving response speed in driving a display device. According to the technique, a correction data table (LUT) is prepared in advance. Image data of a current frame is compared with that of a previous frame (one frame before the current frame). Based on the result of the comparison, display drive data is produced with the use of values defined in the LUT.
The following description deals with a case where a liquid crystal display device adopts the overshoot drive technique. Liquid crystal usually has temperature dependence. That is, the liquid crystal has changes in its property depending on the temperature. The temperature of a display device varies widely. Especially, a liquid crystal display device applied to a mobile terminal device tends to have considerable changes in its temperature.
Therefore, it is necessary for a display device to keep display quality constant regardless of changes in its temperature. In order to attain the object, it has been attempted conventionally to (i) prepare LUTs for temperature ranges respectively in advance, and (ii) depending on a change in temperature, select and use one of the LUTs. Such a technique is disclosed in Patent Documents 1 and 2, for example.
Specifically, the technique of using the tables has been put into practice in the following two arrangements. (1) Tables are prepared for temperature ranges respectively, and all of the tables are stored inside a drive circuit in advance. If the temperature changes, a table corresponding to the changed temperature is obtained from an internal memory.
(2) Tables are prepared for temperature ranges respectively, and all of the tables are stored in an external memory of a drive circuit in advance. An internal memory stores only one table that is necessary at the time. If the temperature changes, the table of the internal memory is replaced with another table that is obtained from the external memory and corresponds to the changed temperature.


A transportable launch and landing pad for drones includes a round surface member for supporting a drone on a ground surface. The surface member includes an endless flexible weighted ground surface contacting, engaging and conforming perimeter disposable on the flat or undulating topography of the ground surface. The endless flexible weighted ground surface contacting, engaging and conforming perimeter is formed of a stranded carbon steel wire rope. The surface member has a diameter establishing an area of the pad that is greater than any linear distance across an area of downwardly moving air of the drone when operated. The pad maintains a position on the ground surface without any separate securing member inserted into the ground, and the pad is not lifted from the ground surface by air from the thrust of the drone during approach and departure of the drone relative to the pad.

It is known in the art relating to unmanned, flying drone vehicles (also known as unmanned aerial vehicles or unmanned aircraft systems), such as drones that are used for video and photography, that the camera is mounted beneath the drone. Upon take off, the amount of thrust created to lift the drone off the ground causes dust and debris to pummel the video/camera lens prior to the drone becoming airborne. A dirty lens greatly degrades the quality and limits the usefulness of any video or photos captured by the camera during the drone flight.
Conventional drone launch pads placed underneath the drone prior to initiation of flight may protect the camera lens from debris, and also prevent drone rotor damage from tall grass and pebble strikes. Drone launch pads also prevent dirt from being sucked through the motor bearings, which would otherwise lead to motor failure. However, conventional drone launch pads to date have been made of tarps that require stakes to be pounded into the ground to keep the pads from being blown away by or sucked into the drone propellers. Also, if the drone is launched from a cement surface, a rocky surface, or other hard surface, the stakes cannot be used to hold the launch pad tarp.
Further, conventional pads have been developed to keep a piece of material forming the body of the pad from being blown out of shape by wind that moves in a direction generally parallel to the earth's surface and that engages the pad at its outer edge. However, in addition to the wind, drone pads are subjected to the thrust that a drone exerts on the pad. Unlike the wind, a drone approaching or moving away from a pad can send thrust at angles ranging from a right angle (90 degrees) to the earth's surface all the way to a 10 degree angle to the earth's surface. This thrust factor lifts up and blows away conventional pads.
Some known mats, towels, or pads use a flat band in a circular/oval shape that is designed to resist wind moving generally parallel to the earth's surface. The flat band has no aerodynamic shape to be able to withstand thrust blowing from 90 degrees to 10 degrees relative to the earth's surface. The flat bands are not mechanical devices and are not heavy enough to hold in place when a drone flies over it. Flat bands also do not have a mechanical tensile strength factor to multiply the force exerted by the band at the point of thrust intersection with the band. Other tarps have rectangular shapes that are designed to resist wind moving parallel to the earth's surface. And some tarps or cloths have a perimeter that is filled with a liquid or granular filling, that has no mechanical tensile strength component, and which cannot withstand the thrust angles that it would be exposed to by a drone.
Additionally, at the end of a flight, a drone does not always return to the same location as the launch because its GPS system is not precise. In this case, a staked-down tarp that was used for launch cannot be moved in a timely or easy fashion to accommodate a new return landing site.
Other drone pads have been made of carpet, hard plastic, or other bulky materials. However, due to their materials of construction, these pads are not collapsible.


According to one embodiment, a semiconductor light emitting device includes a plurality of semiconductor layers, a first electrode, a second electrode, an insulating layer, a first interconnection layer, a second interconnection layer, a first metal pillar, a second metal pillar and a resin layer, and is mounted in a bent state on a curved surface. The plurality of semiconductor layers includes a first main surface, a second main surface opposite to the first main surface, and a light emitting layer, the plurality of semiconductor layers being separated from one another. A material is provided between the plurality of the semiconductor layers separated from one another. The member has a higher flexibility than the semiconductor layers being.

The applications of light emitting devices capable of emitting visible light and white light have been expanding to a wide range of fields including illuminating devices, backlight sources for image display devices, and display devices. For such applications, the light emitting devices have been demanded to be capable of brightly illuminating wider areas when used as linear light sources and surface light sources. In addition, various forms of implementation of the light emitting devices have been demanded in response to the expansion of the applications.


The invention relates to a method for producing a bent torsional profile comprising the following process steps:                a) provision of a plate made of planar sheet metal,        b) reshaping of the plate through the introduction of a bent trough oriented in the longitudinal direction of the plate in a central length portion (6) of the plate at a distance from the front edges of the plate, forming legs between the trough and the longitudinal edges of the plate,        c) reshaping of the legs in such a manner that an open profile is created,        d) reshaping of the legs in such a manner that a hollow profile is produced, wherein a longitudinal gap is formed between the two legs over the entire longitudinal extent thereof and wherein an air gap is created between the legs and the trough in the region of the trough,        e) joining of the two legs over the entire longitudinal gap.

Bent torsional profiles can be used in, among other things, axle systems in four-wheel-drive motor vehicles, in which a twist-beam axle is to be used. The use of bent torsional profiles is appropriate in this case, as it means that the space required for the installation of modules assigned to the drive train in the region of the axle system, or of the torsional profile, can be made available.
Torsional profiles of this kind are already known in a multiple forms. It is already known from EP 2 020 314 A1 and EP 2 310 217 B1 for bent torsional profiles to be used. These torsional profiles are made from a tubular semi-finished product that is bent accordingly and reformed in a U-, V-, L- or X-shape in a center length region of the torsional profile, wherein, however, walls of the torsional profile come to rest against one another in this region. Torsional profiles produced in this manner have an adequate torsional strength, particularly for applications in the automotive field, which is necessary particularly in safety-relevant regions in the automotive sector for torsional profiles of this kind. However, inherent in torsional profiles of this kind is the aggravating property that unwanted noises are produced under certain circumstances when torsional stress is applied, as the walls of the torsional profile rub against one another in the central length portion at which they come to rest against one another and which can have torsional stress applied. These noises can lie within a frequency range that is unpleasant or possibly even painful to the human ear, which means that torsional profiles of this kind are not suitable for comfortable operation of a motor vehicle.
Special lubricating oils must be used in order to suppress these noises. However, even when lubricating oils of this kind are used, noise generation cannot be precluded entirely, as process-related issues mean that wrong doses of the lubricating oil can occur.
These noise problems are also known in the case of torsional profiles which are produced from plates made of sheet metal and have a straight, so not a bent, profile. In this case, however, measures were taken during the reshaping of the plates which prevent the walls from rubbing against one another by introducing an air gap over the entire longitudinal extent of the torsional profile, so that no disturbing noises can occur. Torsional profiles of this kind made of sheet metal plates are known from DE 10 2015 114 943 A1 and DE 10 2014 109 680 A1. However, torsional profiles of this kind cannot simply be bent from plates made of sheet metal, as then the air gap that has been introduced closes again, at least sectionally, leaving walls able to rub against one another again, which can in turn result in disturbing noise generation.

Method for producing a bent torsional profile and torsional profile


Provided is a method of allocating a resource in a small cell system. The method includes: selecting a temporary base station for each user terminal; measuring a signal-to-noise ratio (SNR) through a downlink pilot in a small cell base station; transmitting the signal-to-noise ratio measured for each user terminal to the temporary base station; receiving base station selection and resource allocation information from the small cell base station; and selecting the small cell base station to which most frequency resource block are allocated as a home base station.

Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to a small cell system and a method for allocating a resource thereof, and more particularly, to a technology of selecting a base station and allocating an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing (OFDM) resource in a small cell system.
Description of the Related Art
In a conventional cellular system, when selecting a base station, an average signal-to-noise ratio (hereinafter, referred to as SNR) is measured through a downlink pilot to select a base station having the largest SNR. After the base station is selected, each base station independently allocates resources of a serving user. Since all small cells can perform independently user selection and resource allocation without sharing information between small cells by using the above described method, it is most simple in terms of implementation complexity. However, since such a method does not consider at all the interference from other small cells, the SNR performance is not ensured such that the performance is degraded significantly as the density of the small cell becomes higher.
On the other hand, a coordinated multi-point (CoMP) method shares all information such as a channel of all user, data, and the like by a plurality of base stations through a direct link backhaul (e.g., X2 link in a 3GPP LTE system) between base stations and accomplishes cooperatively a resource allocation, a user selection, and a data transmission. Typically, such a cooperative method requires the most expensive cost for the backhaul installation and the highest complexity for the implementation, but it can be expected to achieve a high performance compared to the above independent method.
Since the backhaul exists between small cells within a cluster, such a cooperative user selection and resource allocation method is necessary to increase performance. However, the backhaul between the small-cell base stations defined in the 3GPP has various types ranging from an ideal case of a 10 Gbps to a 10 Mbps wireless backhaul. A compatibility for supporting these various backhauls is essentially required in a next generation LTE system. However, the conventional method has strict requirements necessary for the performance of backhaul for each technology, and lacks a compatibility and a flexibility for supporting various backhaul performances.
In addition, since tens or hundreds of users exist in a next-generation small cell network, there is a limit of cooperatively selecting a user and optimizing the resource allocation with respect to those many users. Furthermore, in order to accomplish the user selection and the resource allocation for optimizing a signal-to-noise-plus-interference ratio (SINR), each user terminal have to measure the signal strength between a plurality of small-cell base stations and report this through a feedback. Hence, there is a burden in that such an overhead significantly increases as the number of users increase.

Small cell system and method for allocating resource thereof

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A general-purpose document folding machine comprises a folding module including at least one folding blade on a main document path. A pair of feed rollers and a pair of ejector rollers for advancing and ejecting documents are associated with each folding blade, disposed one on each side thereof and adapted to have the rollers driven to advance documents along the main path. At least one deflector flap on the main path diverts selectively from the main path documents that are to be folded. Drive means displace each folding blade transversely to a diverted document facing it in order to fold the document and also displace each folding blade along the main path at a longitudinal speed substantially equal to the rate of advance of the documents along the main path. This is in order to fold a diverted document while in motion and insert it between the rollers of the respective pair of ejector rollers. A guide flap associated with each folding blade is disposed transversely to the main path between the folding blade and the associated pair of ejector rollers and is linked to the main path by the deflector flap when the latter is in its diversion position to define a secondary document path between the folding blade and the associated pair of ejector rollers.

1. Field of the invention
The present invention relates to machines for folding documents comprising single or multiple sheets. It applies in particular to a machine for folding automatically mail to be placed in envelopes.
2. Description of the prior art
Document folding machines are already widely used in the automatic handling of mail and newspapers. In the case of automatic mail handling they are usually of the so-called "pocket" type. In the case of automatic processing of newspapers they are generally of the so-called "knife" type.
Known pocket type folding machines comprise for the first fold three rollers and an associated trough (the "pocket") which is fitted with an adjustable stop member. First and second rollers receive between them each sheet to be folded which they insert into the pocket as far as the stop member. When the sheet is stopped by the stop member it forms a loop as the rollers continue to feed it. The loop is gripped between the second and third rollers to achieve the required folding. For a second fold these folding machines comprise two further rollers associated with the third of the previously mentioned rollers and an additional trough or pocket with a stop member.
The second fold is made by the third roller, the two additional rollers and the pocket associated with the latter, in the same way as the first fold.
The stop member in each pocket is adjusted to the required fold length. It is possible to obtain a single fold from a machine with multiple pockets by shutting off access to all but one pocket or by replacing each unnecessary pocket with a guide deflector.
Generally speaking, such pocket type folding machines operate in a very satisfactory way. However, their main disadvantage is that they can only accept multiple documents for folding simultaneously if they have the same format and a limited overall thickness, in other words if they comprise only a small number of identical single sheets. Also, adapting these folding machines to the number of folds required and to different fold lengths, which adjustments are made to the pockets, is an operation which although simple is relatively time-consuming.
Knife type folding machines essentially comprise a blade mounted to one side of and in line with a path along which documents to be folded are fed and on which each document is stopped, together with a pair of ejector rollers associated with the blade and mounted on the opposite side of this path. The blade is actuated transversely to the document to be folded when the document is stopped so that the document is then taken up by the pair of ejector rollers associated with the blade. A second fold can be achieved in a similar way on a second feed path coupled to the pair of rollers which eject documents from the first path. A second blade is mounted in line with this second path and is associated with a second pair of ejector rollers.
Such knife-type folding machines also function in a satisfactory way. They are generally employed to fold multiple documents having some significant thickness, such as newspapers for example. On the other hand, because the documents are stopped for each folding operation, the throughput remains low. These machines are also bulky. They also render each folding operation mandatory as otherwise the documents cannot be ejected.
The document FR-A-No. 2.424.354 discloses a machine for folding cloth articles such as tablecloths or sheets. The machine comprises pairs of belts, one long and the other short, for advancing and ejecting the articles, pivoting folding blades and deflector flaps associated with the blades. Each deflector flap diverts the article to be folded as it is advanced; the associated folding blade is pivoted to fold the diverted article. In this machine the feed direction of one of the belts is reversed to advance and divert the article and to eject it.
This machine is bulky. Also, its control system is complex because of this reversing of the feed direction of one of the belts during each folding operation.
An object of the present invention is to provide a new folding machine avoiding the disadvantages of the aforementioned known folding machines whilst incorporating their advantages. Specifically, the folding machine in accordance with the invention, which processes documents, can accept multiple documents to be folded simultaneously with different formats and with a greater or smaller overall thickness and can function with long fold lengths and at high speeds which are easy and quick to adjust; furthermore, it has small overall dimensions whereby it is extremely compact.