Telecommunications traffic is dynamically distributed at a telecommunications node among plural telecommunication routes. A current distribution of traffic is detected for both incoming routes and outgoing routes. Traffic is automatically redistributed among the outgoing routes based on the distribution currently detected for the corresponding incoming routes. More specifically, the detected amount of incoming traffic for a particular network operator, carrier, route bundles, or route is compared with the amount of outgoing traffic detected for a corresponding network operator, carrier, route bundle, or route at the switching point. Traffic is rerouted, in one example embodiment, so that each outgoing network operator, carrier, route bundle, or route receives its "fair" share of traffic based on how much traffic it is currently delivering to the node.

In accordance with the International Telecommunication Union E.170 relating to telephone network and ISDN operation, numbering, routing, and mobile service, the objective of telecommunications "routing" is to establish a successful connection between any two exchanges in the telecommunications network. More broadly, the function of traffic routing is the selection of one or more particular circuit groups or routes for a given call attempt to establish a call connection via the network.
A telecommunications network comprises a number of nodes or switching points interconnected by circuit groups. An example of a switching point is a telephone exchange. A telephone subscriber looking into the telecommunications network is served by a local exchange. Within a national network, there is typically a hierarchy of switching centers including for example local, trunk, regional, and international with each level performing different functions. Physical communications media connecting one switching point or exchange with another are often referred to as "trunks," and physical communications media connecting a subscriber to the local exchange that serves the subscriber are often referred to as "lines." There may be several direct connections, e.g., trunks, between a pair of nodes which can be either unidirectional or bi-directional. A circuit group includes all of the direct connections between two nodes. A route is defined as one or more circuit groups providing a connection between switching points or other network nodes.
A routing scheme in the network defines how a set of routes is made available for calls between a pair of nodes. The routing "scheme" may be direct or indirect, fixed or dynamic. A direct route connects two nodes by a single circuit group without any intermediate nodes. An indirect route is a series of circuit groups connecting two nodes provided in end-to-end connection via other nodes. For a fixed routing scheme, the set of routes in the routing, pattern is always the same. In the case of a dynamic routing scheme, the set of routes in the routine pattern varies. The route selected for a specific call may be sequential or non-sequential. In sequential selection, routes in a set are always tested in sequence, and the first available route is selected. For non-sequential selection, the routes are tested in no specific order.
Call control procedures in the network define the entire set of interactive signals necessary to establish, maintain, and release the connection between exchanges. In originating call control, the originating exchange maintains control of the call setup until the connection between the originating and terminating exchanges is completed. Progressive call control uses link-by-link signaling to pass supervisory controls sequentially from one exchange to the next. Call control is "reversible" when that control signaling can be passed "backwards" using automatic rerouting or "crank back" actions. Accordingly, if a congestion signal is received from one downstream exchange subsequent to the seizure of an outgoing circuit from the originating exchange, the call is rerouted at the originating exchange.
Routing schemes generally attempt to share the traffic load among routes. Traffic is defined generally as a process of events related to demands to use resources in a telecommunications network. The most commonly recognized traffic example is telephone calls. More specifically, routing schemes may be developed to ensure that call attempts are offered to certain preselected routes according to a preplanned distribution. Consider for example an incoming traffic stream to a switching point or node having a particular destination, e.g., the same area code. The switching node might have four outgoing routing patterns A, B, C, and D to that particular destination with each routing pattern including one or more routing options. In accordance with the preplanned distribution, each routing pattern may be preset to receive a certain ratio or percentage of the total number of outgoing calls.
However, distributing call attempts to a particular destination in a fixed ratio between the specified outgoing routing pattern can be problematic. Consider for example the situation where a country or other geographic region is served by more than one telecommunications carrier or network operator. Each outside carrier that supplies traffic to that country or region desires that other carriers inside that country or region return to it a "fair" amount of traffic. One example definition of "fair" is each carrier receives as outgoing traffic from the node substantially the same percentage of total node traffic that carrier supplies as incoming traffic to the node.
Even though traffic patterns at a particular switching point often change, fixed load share routing schemes do not account for such changes and therefore generally fail to return fair amounts of traffic. One solution to ameliorate this problem is to orchestrate payments between various carriers to compensate for distribution inequities, but this solution is difficult to monitor and costly to administrate.
A much better solution provided by the present invention is to dynamically distribute traffic in a switching point or node based on the current input traffic pattern at that node. Following the example above, if the four telecommunications operators A, B, C, D are operating in a switching point, the percentage of the total outgoing traffic routed to their respective carrier routes routing patterns A2, B2, C2, and D2 should be approximately the same as the traffic percentage received on corresponding incoming carrier routes A1, B1, C1, and D1.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to achieve dynamic traffic distribution at a switching point or other network node.
It is a further object of the present invention to ensure that different routes, groups of routes, carriers, operators, etc. connected to a switching point or other network node receive a fair share of traffic.
It is a further object of the present invention to minimize the cost and administration required to ensure that such different routes, groups of routes, carriers, operators, etc. receive their fair share of traffic at a particular switching point.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide network operators with a flexible and easy method to define traffic distribution patterns.
The distribution of traffic for incoming carriers to a switching point or other network node and for outgoing carriers from the node may be based on the amount of traffic currently being carried by each network operator/carrier. The amount of traffic may be measured in a variety of different ways such as percentage of total calls per unit time, number of call minutes or seconds over a particular time period or a preset number of calls, etc. Traffic is then redistributed among outgoing carriers based on the traffic distribution detected for corresponding incoming carriers. Such traffic rerouting among the outgoing carriers ensures that each carrier gets its fair share of outgoing traffic from the node based on the amount of traffic it brings to that node.
To implement dynamic traffic distribution at a switching point or other network node, incoming and outgoing traffic controllers detect the amount of traffic coming into and leaving the switching point for each of plural groups of communication routes through the switching point. The incoming traffic controller provides a traffic analyzer with the amount of traffic entering the switching point on each route, group of routes, carrier, etc. and the outgoing traffic controller provides the traffic analyzer with the amount of traffic leaving the switching point on each route, group of routes, carrier, etc.. The traffic analyzer then determines a new output traffic distribution based on the amounts of incoming and outgoing traffic on each route, group of routes, carrier, etc. The traffic analyzer sends a new traffic distribution message to a traffic router, and the traffic router changes the amount of outgoing traffic distributed to each outgoing route. In this way, each outgoing route, group of routes, carrier, etc. may be allocated a fair share of traffic based on the amount of incoming traffic on the corresponding incoming route, group of routes, carrier, etc. Moreover, the difficulties and costs associated with making monetary payments to various operators or carriers as a result of unfair distributions of calls are avoided.
Other features, advantages, and objects of the present invention will be evident from the following detailed description of the invention which provides an example and non-restrictive illustration of how the present invention may be implemented.


Provided are semiconductor packages and methods of manufacturing the semiconductor package. The semiconductor packages may include a substrate including a chip pad, a redistributed line which is electrically connected to the chip pad and includes an opening. The semiconductor packages may also include an external terminal connection portion, and an external terminal connection pad which is disposed at an opening and electrically connected to the redistributed line. The present general inventive concept can solve the problem where an ingredient of gold included in a redistributed line may be prevented from being diffused into an adjacent bump pad to form a void or an undesired intermetallic compound. In a chip on chip structure, a plurality of bumps of a lower chip are connected to an upper chip to improve reliability, diversity and functionality of the chip on chip structure.

1. Field of the Invention
Exemplary embodiments disclosed herein relate to semiconductor packages and methods of manufacturing the same, and more particularly, to semiconductor packages including two kinds of pads to which different kinds of external terminals are connected, and methods of manufacturing the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
A trend in the recent electronics industry is to manufacture a semiconductor device economically which is small, light, speedy, highly reliable, and highly efficient. One of the techniques which can manufacture the recently innovated semiconductor devices are semiconductor packaging techniques.
A recent application device of an integrated circuit requires a number of I/O pins, but a number of I/O pins causes many problems with relation to a conventional wire bonding package. A wire bonding package needs a number of pads to be formed around a semiconductor substrate. As the number of I/O pins increases, there is a limitation of a minimum bond pitch that occurs by a limited size of a substrate. Solder bump arrays have been developed to increase a capacity of I/O pins.
As a need to increase the number of I/O pins continuously increases, the technology needs to combine a solder bump array technique with a wire bonding technique so as to provide a high capacity of I/O pins. However, some characteristics of materials used in each of the techniques are unfavorable to work with. Materials suitable for use as solder bumps have poor characteristics of mechanical adhesion. Thus, a material like copper, for example, is a good soldering material but is not well selected for the use of a wire bonding. One reason is that copper easily forms an oxide layer that provides a bad bonding characteristic. Aluminum is also suitable for wire bonding. However, with aluminum, an oxide layer is formed on the entire surface thereof and the oxide must certainly be removed to get a strong soldering combination. However, corrosive agents for removing the oxide layer are very strong, so that aluminum disposed under an oxide layer is also corroded.
Gold is essentially needed for wire bonding. However, gold disposed on a solder bump pad is easily diffused into adjacent copper or adjacent solder and forms not only a void but also forms an undesired intermetallic compound that is vulnerable to an impact. Therefore, a structure of a redistribution pattern applicable to both a formation of a solder bump and wire bonding, and its manufacture may be required to alleviate the problems described above.

Semiconductor packages and methods of manufacturing the same


The present invention relates to a method for determining the depth of a buried structure in a semiconductor wafer. According to the invention, the layer behavior of the semiconductor wafer which is brought about by the buried structure when the semiconductor wafer is irradiated with electromagnetic radiation in the infrared range and arises as a result of the significantly longer wavelengths of the radiation used in comparison with the lateral dimensions of the buried structure is utilized to determine the depth of the buried structure by spectrometric and/or ellipsometric methods.

Electronics is dominated nowadays by microelectronic components with integrated circuits. Such integrated circuits comprise a complex arrangement of electronic structures which are interconnected in a plurality of planes arranged one above the other on a common semiconductor substrate, also referred to as chip. The fabrication of these circuits is characterized by a complicated succession of different process steps.
One of the principle requirements of the semiconductor industry is the continuous increase in performance as a result of ever faster circuits, which is linked with the miniaturization of the electronic structures. In the course of this development, a transition has been made to arranging the structures during the production of the chips on a semiconductor wafer in part for example in etching trenches etched into the semiconductor wafer, so that, as buried structures, they take up less space on the surface of the semiconductor wafer.
The miniaturization of the electronic structures is accompanied by an increase in the requirements made of the precision of the fabrication processes used. At the same time, precise measurement methods are relied on in order to determine the exact position and also the precise geometrical extent of the structures. In this case, the determination of the depth of buried structures, in particular, is accorded great importance since this parameter may have a significant influence on the functionality of the circuits.
In order to determine the depth of a buried structure, it is known to break the semiconductor wafer in the region of said structure and to examine the break edge with the aid of a scanning electron microscope. The image of the break edge that is recorded thereby can be used to determine the depth of the buried structure.
However, this method turns out to be complicated and laborious due to the required breaking of the semiconductor wafer. Furthermore, the semiconductor wafer is destroyed by being broken, as a result of which the method is extremely cost-intensive. Furthermore, since the method cannot be applied to the product wafers which continue in production, deviations may occur between the measured depth of a structure and the depth of a corresponding structure of a product wafer.
As an alternative, in order to determine the depth of a buried structure, it is indeed known to estimate the depth indirectly by way of the etching rates determined during the etching of comparable structures into planar test wafers. It is also correspondingly the case with this method that it does not measure the depths of structures at the product wafers, so that the estimated values may deviate from the depths of the structures in product wafers.

Method for determining the depth of a buried structure


A feed device for paste-like mixtures such as paper pulp is designed to form a flat film of paste through at least one nozzle at the outlet from a distribution chamber. Paste-like mixture feed circuits discharge into the distribution chamber and each circuit comprises a liquid feed channel and a concentrated paste feed channel each incorporating a flowrate adjuster valve and connected downstream of the valves by a mixer. The mixer comprises an outlet connected to an inlet of the distribution chamber. The distribution chamber comprises ejection channels delimited by longitudinal partitions. Each circuit is in corresponding relationship with one ejection channel.

1. Field of the invention
The invention concerns a feed device for paste-like mixtures (such as paper pulp) adapted to form a flat film of paste through a nozzle disposed at the outlet of a distribution chamber.
1. Description of the prior art
Known devices of this type designed for dispensing and forming fibrous or otherwise flat films from a paste-like mixture use a "liquid" process which is so-called because the moisture content is high, for example in the order of 99.4% in the case of paper pulp; in these flat films the concentration of the mixture is variable; the concentration is adjusted upstream of a set of circuits feeding a "chamber" dispensing the mixture to a nozzle feeding the paste to a drum (or between two drums) carrying drain cloths; the density of the flat film is varied by sectional control of the throughput of paste by locally moving further apart or closer together the lips of the nozzle disposed at the outlet from the distribution chamber; modifying the speed of the jet at constant concentration controls the density as required but also modifies the machine direction/crosswise direction resistance vector.
An object of the invention is to remedy this disadvantage and to provide a paste-like mixture feed device which is simple, reliable, inexpensive and easy to use.

S.E.M.T.I. Societe a Responsabilite Limitee


The present invention relates to a method for providing an embedded mammalian cell, comprising the steps of providing an alginate sulfate in aqueous solution; reacting the alginate sulfate to form a hydrogel in a gelation step, providing a precursor cell, and embedding the precursor cell in the sulfated alginate hydrogel in an embedding step, thus yielding an sulfated alginate hydrogel embedded cell. The invention further relates to sulfated alginate hydrogels, and cellular grafts comprising a mammalian cell embedded in sulfated alginate hydrogel.

The healing of cartilage lesions with currently available cell based therapies is hampered by the inconsistent retention and growth of the transplanted cells.
Likewise, nerve regeneration following injury is inhibited by multiple signals coming from the microenvironment of the glial scar, and biomaterials with a potent capacity to stimulate neurogenesis would have a high clinical importance.
Alginates, as an example of such a biomaterial, are natural polymers that consist of two monosaccharides, β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and α-L-guluronic acid (G), arranged in homopolymeric (poly-mannuronate or poly-guluronate) or heteropolymeric block structures (FIG. 1). They can be extracted from brown seaweed and do not exert any strong immunological reaction when injected into mammalian tissues [Suzuki et al., Journal of Biomedical Materials Research. 1998; 39:317-22].
Alginate is fully biocompatible, FDA-approved and used widely in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, cell encapsulation and drug delivery. Its properties can be tuned by varying the amount of α-L-guluronic acid (G) and (1,4)-linked β-D-mannuronic acid (M) and by functionalization with growth factors and adhesion molecules, such as a RGD-peptide (arginylglycylaspartic acid).
Alginate has been widely used, in combination with other biomaterials and/or functionalized with growth factors, as a drug delivery system and scaffold for tissue engineering. Francis et al. show that fibroblasts expressing brain-derived neurotrophic factor (Fb/BDNF) can be incorporated in alginate and guide neurite outgrowth of dorsal root ganglia (DRGs) [Francis et al., Journal of microencapsulation. 2011; 28:353-62]. Growth factors (GFs) can also bind directly to alginate, with their release being regulated by the disruption of ionic bridges between the positively charged factors and the poly-anionic alginate. NGF-grafted alginate/poly (gamma-glutamic acid) hydrogels have been used for inducing the neural differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells [Kuo and Chang, Colloids and surfaces B, Biointerfaces. 2012; 102C:405-11]. Moreover, the sulfation of uronic acids of alginate provides specific and strong binding to heparin-binding proteins, some of which do not normally bind to pure alginate. For instance, an alginate sulfate scaffold can sustain basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) release to the extracellular medium [Freeman et al., Biomaterials. 2008; 29:3260-8], as well as TGF-β release, the latter inducing chondrogenic differentiation of human mesenchymal stem cells [Re'em et al, Biomaterials. 2012; 33:751-61].
Alginate sulfate has been shown to possess anticoagulant properties similar to that of heparin [Ronghua et al., Carbohydrate Polymers. 2003; 52:19-24].
It is the objective of the present invention to provide means and methods for tissue engineering and for regenerative treatment, particularly for the treatments of cartilage lesions or nerve damage.
The objective is attained by the subject-matter of the independent claims.

Sulfated alginate hydrogels for cell culture and therapy


A fuel injection lance for an ore-smelting furnace includes a central conduit, a first conduit and a second conduit. The first and second conduits are concentric with the central conduit. A central conduit is connected to a fuel mixture. The first and second conduits are in flow communication with a gas source. The first and second conduits have gas flowing at independently controllable gas flow rates relative to the other conduit. A swirl portion has a cylindrical body with a hollow interior cylinder, and vertical and helical channels formed within the body portion. Vertical channels traverse the body portion vertically to the outer surface adjacent to the bottom surface. Helical channels traverse the outer surface in a helical pattern. Vertical channels intersect with corresponding helical channels at a predetermined angle selected to provide a desired particle distribution of a fuel injected into the furnace.

The application generally relates to an apparatus and method for feeding pulverized coal into a blast furnace through a pulverized coal injection lance. The application relates more specifically to a pulverized coal injection lance for controlling the swirl parameter of a gas flow to vary dispersion of coal particles injected through the injection lance, and a method for varying the dispersion of coal particles injected using the injection lance.
In metallurgical ore smelting operations, fuel and combustion gases may be supplied to a blast furnace through injection lances that end in tuyeres, which deliver a blast of air into a blast furnace. Pulverized coal injection lances are generally used to inject pulverized coal as a substitute to coke into a blast furnace. Pulverized coal is conveyed pneumatically through the injection lance and fed into an oxidizing atmosphere in a tuyere, through which hot blast air is blown into the furnace. To ensure that the pulverized coal burns completely the combustion reaction should begin as close to the lance tip as possible. Oxycoal lances exist that consist of an inner pipe for conveying the pulverized coal and a concentric outer pipe for conveying combustive gas, generally pure oxygen.
It has been found, however, that the flame at the lance tip is not stable and does sporadically go out. In some cases, the flame can automatically reignite without intervention. This can however not be guaranteed. If the combustion of the pulverized coal does not take place at the lance tip because the flame has extinguished, the pulverized coal and the oxygen are fed into the blast furnace, and complete burning of the pulverized coal cannot be guaranteed.
A number of solutions have been proposed to improve the burning efficiency at the lance tip, generally by improving the mixing of the pulverized coal and oxygen. For example, EP 1060272 describes that the burning of the pulverized coal can be improved and the flame maintained by providing a flow swirler between the coaxial pipes so as to impart a swirling motion to the oxygen fed to the lance tip. The effect of the flow swirler depends on the structure of the lance. If the spiral angle is too deep, the oxygen is directed away from the pulverized coal and the burning efficiency is decreased. If the spiral angle is too shallow, the improvement of the burning efficiency is negligible. The swirl ratio is geometry dependent and hence constant for the flow swirler lance, particularly since there is only one feeder channel for the oxygen.
Another proposed solution is described in U.S. Published Patent Application No. 2011/0180978 provides a pulverized coal injection lance having an inner pipe for conveying pulverized coal and an outer pipe, coaxially arranged around the inner pipe, for conveying combustive gas. The inner pipe forms a separation wall that separates the pulverized coal from the combustive gas. The pulverized coal injection lance includes a lance tip arranged in the tuyere that allows pulverized coal and combustive gas to form a mixture of at the lance tip, while ensuring that the flame is maintained at the lance tip. The coaxial pipe coal injection lance does not provide any capability for imparting swirl into the fuel train, and therefore no means for varying a swirl ratio.
What is needed is an injection lance that provides a desired distribution of coal particles that may be varied. Different smelting plants may have different requirements relative to their specific geometries and furnace operating conditions. In each of these cases, it may be possible to obtain a similar distribution of particles by changing the proportion of the air that enters the ports, if there were multiple gas flow channels. It may also be possible to achieve a change in the maximum possible swirl ration by changing the exit angle of helical ports.
Intended advantages of the disclosed systems and/or methods satisfy one or more of these needs or provide other advantageous features. Other features and advantages will be made apparent from the present specification. The teachings disclosed extend to those embodiments that fall within the scope of the claims, regardless of whether they accomplish one or more of the aforementioned needs.


An interchangeable jewelry insert for detachable attachment to a receptacle is described. The jewelry insert has a body with two ends, the first end has at least one dimension sized to fit within a receiving aperture of the receptacle of the item, the second end has at least one dimension larger than the receiving aperture. The first end of the body has a first magnetic element. The receiving aperture has a second magnetic element. The first magnetic element and the second magnetic element provide a repelling force to secure the interchangeable jewelry insert to the receptacle.

Jewellery has been with humanity since the beginning as people have always felt the need to adorn themselves for a variety of reasons including a sense of individuality, beauty and simply as a means of attracting attention. Jewellery is a multi-billion dollar worldwide business.
The ability to interchange, personalize and accessorize has always been a facet of the jewellery industry. It is an innate human desire to transform an item from an object one has purchased to an object that resonates with the owners personality, clothing or current moods. In modern times many different people have brought forward ideas to aid people in accomplishing this.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,427,487 to Morgan, 5,414,948 to Kudo, 6,588,067 to Efron et al., 6,026,658 to Weller, 4,374,470 to Isaacson, and 6,742,359 to Takessian, all disclose jewellery items with interchangeable inserts. Each of these jewellery items requires manipulation of moving or moveable parts in order to change and secure an insert.
Use of opposite polarized magnetic elements to join components is known in the field. For example, permanent magnets can be used to hold two jewellery components which are made of different types of precious metals and stones.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 7,013,674 to Kretchmer, and 6,851,279 to Hargrove, US patent applications 2006/0137396 by Ma, and 2006/0075781 by Kretchmer et al., describe jewellery items which include one or more magnets providing attractive force between the jewellery components.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,409,837 to Robert Smith describes an interchangeable jewellery insert for detachable attachment to a receptacle, the insert comprises a body with an end having at least one dimension sized to fit within a receiving aperture of the receptacle. The other end of the insert has at least one dimension larger than an inward extension of the receiving aperture. The insert has an extension formed of elastic material and coupled to the body. The extension is a closed continuous circuit along a periphery of the body, and extends outward and is deformed by the inward extension of the receptacle. The extension frictionally engages a surface of the receiving aperture.
The jewellery insert of an interchangeable jewellery may be difficult to exchange as the magnetic force attracting the jewellery components may be quite strong, especially where permanent, rare earth magnets are used.
For non-magnetic interchangeable jewellery items, frictional engagement between the insert and the receptacle is generally required. This may have the dual disadvantages that the use may need a rod-like instrument, such as a pen, to remove the insert from the receptacle, and that a strict manufacturing requirement for the dimension of the parts is needed. This requirement also results in the absence of any movement freedom for the insert within the receptacle which may be a desired feature for the consumer.
Accordingly, there is a need for improvement of an interchangeable jewellery insert that can be conveniently attached to or detached from a jewellery item.

Jewellery article with magnetic elements


A housing for an electronic device which can be removably mounted onto a mounting rail which includes a locking element located in an underside of the housing. The locking element can be moved from a first position in which the housing can be fastened onto the mounting rail into a second position wherein the housing can be lifted off the mounting rail. The locking element is associated with a retaining element for retaining the locking element in the second position. The retaining element includes a spring section extending substantially parallel to the locking element and a retaining section extending substantially perpendicularly thereto.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to housings for electronic devices which are removably mounted on a mounting rail with a locking element positioned in the underside of the housing, whereby the locking element can be moved from a first position in which the housing is fastenable onto the rail, into a second position in which the housing can be lifted off the rail, whereby the locking element is associated with a retaining element for fixing it in the second position.
2. Description of Related Art
In view of the trend to decentralization of electronics directly into the process and the miniaturization of electronics components into compact, installation-friendly devices, more and more suitable electronics housings are needed, whereby the connection technology is generally also integrated into the housing. The individual housings are then preferably connected with one another and with a control through a bus system. The overall construction of the housing must thereby be such that a direct mounting of the housing onto the mounting rail is possible.
Depending on the respective application, this then results in a multitude of different housing types which differ in size, construction and function. All these housings are similar in that they contain electronic components, mostly in the form of integrated circuit boards, which are protected by the housing from physical contact and dirt. Such housings are generally of modular construction, whereby the housings are built especially as a kit so that the individual housing components can be quickly and individually assembled into an optimal housing. The housings often consist of a housing top and a housing base, whereby the housing top includes connectors for electrical conductors. The connectors are connected with the housing base through plug-in contacts with the housing base creating the connection to a bus system. The individual housings are thereby constructed to allow several housings to be snapped side by side onto a mounting rail so that several housings together form a housing block. The individual adjacent housings or the individual adjacent electronic apparatus can thereby preferably be electrically contacted with one another.
The fastening of such housings onto the mounting rail is achieved by way of a locking element provided in the housing base, which locking element interlocks with the mounting rail when the housing is placed on the mounting rail. In order to detach the housing, and therefore also the electronic device, from the mounting rail, the locking element, which is typically spring biased, must be retracted against its spring force.
In a known housing (xe2x80x9cPHOENIX CONTACTxe2x80x94Catalogue 10 ELEKTRONIKGEHxc3x84USExe2x80x9d 98/99, pages 46 to 49), the locking element is retracted by insertion of a screw driver tip into an especially provided access opening, so that the locking element releases the mounting rail and the electronic apparatus can be lifted off the mounting rail. It is disadvantageous thereby that the locking element must be maintained in the release position for removal of the housing or electronic device. This is especially difficult when the locking element which is located at the underside of the base is only reachable with difficulty because of space constraints. In that situation the risk exists that the inserted screw driver quickly slides out of the access opening of the locking element which results in the housing locking anew onto the mounting rail. Finally, it is hardly possible with the known housing construction to simultaneously lift several housings off the mounting rail.
A housing as described above is known from Published German Patent application DE 296 12 121, in which the locking element latches in the open position. For that purpose, the locking element, which is shaped as a slider, has two laterally positioned elastic flaps which can interlock with receptacles provided in the housing, when the slider is correspondingly pulled from the locking position into the release position. The construction of the elastic flaps is thereby problematic, since they must also hold the locking element in the closed position. Furthermore, there is the risk of the flaps being damaged or even broken off upon unseating of the locking element from the release position. If damage or breakage occurs, the locking element may then neither be latched in the release position, nor held in the locked position, so that the housing can then no longer be safely held on the mounting rail.
A quick fastening element for electronic devices is known from German Utility Model DE 79 16 477 U1, by which the devices can be snapped onto the mounting rail. The quick fastening element consists of a snap element and a wire yoke which is located in a guide in the housing base. The quick fastening element can be latched in the open position by way of the wire yoke of U-shaped construction with two opposing offsets, and by the construction of the guide with complementary shaped multi-step contours. The construction of the quick fastening element and the construction of the guide in the housing is thereby also relatively costly. Furthermore, before setting the housing onto the mounting rail, the user must again move the quick fastening element out of the release position. A similar fastening element is also known from published German Patent application DE 41 17 465 A1 and German patent DE 42 10 556 C2, whereby the construction of the fastening element and the construction of the guide in the housing is again relatively costly, and the user must again first move the fastening element manually, or with a corresponding tool, out of the release position before setting down the housing.
It is therefore one object of the present invention to overcome the disadvantages of the prior art described above.
It is yet another object of the present invention to facilitate the detachment of a housing from, and especially its setting down onto, a mounting rail, whereby the locking element is maintainable by the retaining element in the second position, i.e. the open position.
The above objects and other objects are achieved by providing a retaining element having a spring section extending essentially parallel to the locking element and a retaining section extending essentially perpendicular thereto. In the first position, the spring section is deflected against its spring force while it is relaxed in the second position. The retaining section in the first position rests with its lower edge on an edge of the mounting rail and in the second position is positioned essentially perpendicularly in front of one end of the locking element, whereby the locking element is fixed in the second position.
By constructing the retaining element in accordance with the invention, it is especially easy to hold the locking element in the second position. Such a construction of the retaining element guarantees that the latter functions essentially automatically without separate interference by a user being required. For deflection of the retaining element back into the first position, the carrier edge is used to deflected the retaining element and hold it in the deflected position, so that again no separate component is required. The housing is even somewhat additionally fastened to the mounting rail by the lower edge of the retaining section sitting on the edge of the mounting rail, since this means that the edge of the mounting rail is wedged between the lower edge of the retaining section and the end of the locking element.
Once a user has brought the locking element of the housing into the second position, i.e. the release position, a subsequent undesired re-latching of the housing onto the mounting rail is prevented by way of the retaining element. Thus, the user needs to move the locking element only once from the first position into the second position, whereafter the locking element is then maintained in the second position by the retaining element. It is therefore no longer necessary for the user to hold the locking element in the release position during lifting of the housing off the mounting rail it. The user can therefore simply lift the housing off the mounting rail with one hand. This especially provides the further possibility to simultaneously detach several housings and, thus, electronic devices, from the mounting rail.
The locking element is preferably improved by including a latch nose which grips behind an edge of the mounting rail when the locking element is in the first position. This locking element with the latch nose is, on the one hand, easily manufactured, and on the other hand, provides sufficient securing of the housing against unintended detachment. With respect to manufacturing technology, it is further advantageous when the locking element is associated with a spring element by which the locking element is pressed against the edge of the mounting rail when in the first position. On the one hand, such a spring element can be easily manufactured and on the other hand, exchange of a defective spring element is possible without exchange of the complete locking element.
It is further advantageous to construct the retaining element as a resilient metal part, whereby the retaining element can be easily produced, for example, by stamping. Furthermore, the chance of the retaining element being damaged is relatively low, since the metal part is much more robust than the flaps known from the prior art. However, should the retaining element be damaged, it can be easily replaced without exchange of the complete locking element.
According to a further preferred embodiment of the housing in accordance with the present invention, the locking element can be operated by way of an auxiliary actuator, as generally known from DE 197 24 945, whereby the auxiliary actuator is mechanically connected with the locking element. Operation of the locking element thereby means that the locking element is moved from the first position, in which the housing is fastened to the mounting rail, to the second position in which the housing can be lifted off the mounting rail. The operation of the locking element is facilitated for the user by provision of the auxiliary actuator, which preferably includes a grip portion on that end which is directed away from the locking element. Since it is necessary for functional reasons to position the locking element in the underside of the housing, it is generally accessible to the user only with relative difficulty. By providing the auxiliary actuator, it is now possible for the user to operate the locking element from a more easily accessible location, through the auxiliary actuator, for example, in the vicinity of the housing top surface.


Disclosed is a postprandial glucose-measuring device for preventing the development of or reversing T2D. Included are methods for using the device as well as better use for invasive and noninvasive glucose meters. Further disclosed are novel exercise-sensitizing compositions useful for managing blood glucose levels in Type-2 diabetics with minimal risk of hypoglycemia. The disclosed glucose meters allow a user to also measure exercise and meal size—all with relatively instant feedback—more effectively than having to track the complexity posed by labels, glycemic index and calories. Also disclosed is integration of glucose-measuring devices with smartphones and health monitoring technology to make possible safe and effective interpretation of postprandial glucose readings by a patient to control or reverse Type-2 diabetes.

Type-2 diabetes ("T2D") is one of the most common chronic diseases afflicting humans. The hallmark of T2D is abnormally elevated blood glucose levels. Further, dyslipidemia is encountered in many T2D patients. Dyslipidemia typically manifests itself as elevated Low Density Lipoprotein (LDL), depressed High Density Lipoprotein HDL levels and elevated triglyceride levels. About 79 million Americans ages had prediabetes, a predisposition to develop diabetes, about 1.9 million cases of Americans ages were newly diagnosed with T2D adding to the 25.6 million, or 11.3 percent, of Americans with T2D in the United States according to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services' estimates. As T2D progresses the regulation of blood glucose levels falters to the point of requiring supplemental insulin. Sedentary lifestyles are believed to be responsible for the increase in T2D, but, on the other hand, the conventional wisdom holds that making lifestyle changes is impractical. Thus, T2D is one of the more pressing health problems treated imperfectly by medications.
As to consequences of T2D, PostPrandial HyperGlycemia (PPHG), but not Fasting HyperGlycemia (FHG), appears to independently predict the occurrence of cardiovascular disease (CVD) events. In addition sustained abnormally high glucose levels (Hyperglycemia) are associated with the long term increase in the risk of strokes, blindness, thickening of the skin, dry skin, infections, and the like. Thus, T2D negatively impacts both mortality and quality of life.
Considerable effort has been expended in developing better medications. Most T2D patients are treated with a combination of medications with most combinations exhibiting risk of hypoglycemia. The least risk of hypoglycemia is with excretagogues and carbohydrate digestion/absorption inhibitors—provided they are not combined with other medications. The medications fall in many classes such as (i) secretagogues (e.g., Sulfonylureas and Meglitinide), (ii) insulin sensitizers (also known as Thiazolidinediones), (iii) gluconeogenesis inhibitors (Biguanides and Dipetidyl peptidase-4 inhibitors), (iv) excretagogues (SGLT2 inhibitors), and (v) carbohydrate digestion/absorption inhibitors (alpha glucosidase inhibitors). There are in development medications/devices to control appetite by manipulating satiety etc. and surgical weight loss procedures—that cure T2D in about half of the patients.
For drugs approved for treating T2D, the Food and Drug Administration ("FDA") requires that their labels include language stating that the medication "is indicated as an adjunct to diet and exercise to improve glycemic control in adults with type 2 diabetes mellitus". How this is to be implemented in practice is still an unsolved problem.
Most medication for treating T2D increase the risk of hypoglycemia. For instance, extra exercise, a smaller or missed meal, or an infection can reduce blood glucose levels dangerously when diabetes is controlled primarily with medications. T2D patients may end up in the Emergency Room due to a minor infection—fighting which suddenly may have consumed plasma glucose with replenishment inhibited by their medications resulting in hypoglycemia and a visit to the Emergency Room. Although exercise is recommended, it is not advisable without close supervision in T2D patients due to the risk of hypoglycemia. Effectively exercise is contraindicated for T2D patients being treated with conventional medications—other than the new class of SGLT2 inhibitors. The latter carry the increased risk of urinary infections and possible elevation of creatinine levels. Thus, for most medication combinations levels physicians choose some hyperglycemia to guard against hypoglycemia.
With the possible exception of the glucagon-like peptide 1 analogs and the thiazolidinediones, which lose their effectiveness eventually as well, other antidiabetic medications lose their effectiveness to control hyperglycemia over time. Therefore, in view of the difficulty in achieving optimal glycemic control for T2D patients using current therapies, there is an unmet medical need for new antidiabetic treatments, particularly those that can reverse the irresistible disease progression.
The HbA1c test provides an indication of the average blood glucose levels over about three months to help evaluate the efficacy of a blood glucose control regime. It has become the de facto standard for diagnosis and evaluation of T2D treatments, but this has reduced the utility for T2D patients of sophisticated home glucose measuring instruments other than for confirming the infrequent hypoglycemia events. Naturally, attempts at developing a commercially successful and medically useful non-invasive blood glucose meter, i.e., requiring no skin punctures, have mostly failed because of their difficulty in reliably detecting hypoglycemia. Bodily fluids (such as saliva, sweat, urine, tears) have glucose at about one fiftieth or even less of that in blood/plasma. Thus, for non-invasive glucose meters the unmet challenge has been to accurately and reliably distinguish between about 70 mg/dL, which is the low end of the 'normal' blood glucose levels and about 60 mg/dL, when hypoglycemia sets in and flag 50 mg/dL levels as dangerous due to impairment of cognitive abilities.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,102,872 by Doneen et al. discloses a saliva based glucose measuring instrument. The '872 patent discloses detection of glucose levels in saliva when blood glucose levels were at about 100 mg/dL. U.S. Pat. No. 8,898,069 by Hood et al. discloses additional salivary glucose detection embodiments using a device enclosed in the oral cavity. US Published Patent Application No. US 2014/0197042 A1 by Zhang et al. discloses measurement of salivary glucose with a resolution of about 0.5 mg/dL with a lower limit of detection at about 1.5 mg/dL corresponding to blood/plasma levels of about 100 mg/dL. Saliva based glucose detection is being developed and tested by QUICK LLC. Some noninvasive meters also use combination of spectroscopic techniques, such as the GlucoTrack meter. These, naturally are very expensive compared to the practice of almost giving away meters that use strips—with the revenue from sales of strips providing the required return but need less consumables. With periodic HbA1c measurements dramatically reducing the utility of regular glucose monitoring in T2D patients, in effect, glucose meters are primarily sustained by their use by diabetics, who do need insulin to control their glucose levels.
Unmet remains the medical need for new and, more importantly, effective antidiabetic treatments for T2D to reverse its irresistible progression under the current treatment strategies.

Diabetes control using postprandial feedback


A computer network has a first computer which is locally coupled to a second computer. The first computer controls operation of the second computer according to a plurality of high level commands obtained from a third computer at a central station. The third computer includes apparatus for receiving the high level commands either from a program running on the third computer or an operator interface on the third computer. A communication facility is provided between the third computer and the first computer to transmit the high level commands to the first computer. The first computer includes a plurality of relatively low level programs corresponding respectively to the plurality of high level operation commands. Each of the low level programs implements the corresponding high level command to control operation of the first computer. The first computer also includes means for selecting the corresponding low level program in response to receipt of the high level command. One of the high level commands is Activate, and the corresponding low level program implements power on, initial microprogram load, and initial program load on the second computer in response to the Activate command.

The invention relates generally to computer systems and networks, and deals more particularly with remote control and operation of a computer processor.
A prior art IBM Computer Network comprises a central computer which provides remote control of an IBM System/370 computer processor. As described in more detail below with reference to FIG. 1, a program running at the central computer or an operator making keyboard inputs at the central computer generates function commands such as load processor, power on, and power off. A Target System Control Facility/Central Site Program (IBM Program Product 5688-139) running on the central computer converts the primitive function commands into corresponding keystrokes and the keystrokes are sent to a personal computer which is local to the System/370 processor. The keystrokes are similar to those that would be generated by an operator making keyboard inputs through a local processor console to locally control the System/370 processor. Then a terminal emulator program running in the personal computer converts the keystrokes to a form which can be read by an operating system of the local processor console which serves the System/370 processor. Then, the local processor console processes the reformatted keystrokes as if they came from the local processor console keyboard. While the aforesaid computer network provides remote control on a computer processor, it requires additional hardware i.e. the personal computer and adapter cards to interface the personal computer to the local processor console, and accompanying programs, microcode and delays.
Accordingly, a general object of the present invention is to provide a more efficient and faster system and network for remotely controlling a computer processor.

System for directly displaying remote screen information and providing simulated keyboard input by exchanging high level commands

International Business Machines Corporation


A gas mixture containing a fuel, water and air is supplied to one end of a reforming room, and a reformed gas containing hydrogen is discharged from the other end thereof. Two or more such reforming units are connected in series, and the upstream part of each reforming room is filled with a first catalyst which catalyzes a partial oxidation reaction in an oxygen-rich environment, and the downstream part is filled with a second catalyst which performs the reforming reaction. The gas mixture which has been heated in a heating unit passes through a distribution tube and is distributed evenly to the reforming units. The reforming room is composed of a reforming tube in which a reforming catalyst is charged, or two or more such reforming tubes, parallel to each other. After being reformed the high-temperature reformed gas is passed around the reforming tubes, and fed back to a manifold.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for reforming a hydrocarbon-based fuel, alcohol, etc. into a fuel gas containing hydrogen, for industries which use high-purity hydrogen as a fuel, such as for fuel cells.
2. Prior Art
When electric power is generated using fuel cells, hydrogen is supplied to the fuel cells; a fuel gas containing hydrogen is produced from a raw material consisting of hydrocarbon based fuels, e.g. butane or propane, or alcohol based fuel such as methanol; the raw material is reformed in a reforming vessel containing a catalyst, in which a mixture of the fuel gas, steam and air is reformed.
The reforming reaction proceeds at a rather high-temperature and heat is absorbed during the reaction, so when a conventional reforming device is used, the mixed gas is heated sufficiently in a preheater, and using the heat retained in the gas, the temperature of the catalyst is increased, or is otherwise heated by an external means, so as to expedite the reforming reaction.
Recently, a self-heating system is currently used for a reforming device. In the self-heating system, a mixed gas and reforming catalyst are heated by the oxidation of a part of the mixed gas and the gas is reformed by the heat.
If a gas mixture is supplied to one end of a reforming device filled with a partial oxidation catalyst and a reforming catalyst, and if the reformed gas is discharged from the other end after the gas mixture has made contact with the partial oxidation catalyst and the reforming catalyst, then only the upstream portion of the reforming catalyst near the partial oxidation catalyst is over-heated, and the temperature of the downstream portion of the reforming catalyst, located further away from the partial oxidation catalyst increases after a time delay. As a result, the temperature distribution of the reforming catalyst is uneven, therefore, a fairly long time is required before the temperature of the entire reforming catalyst has been increased, so the reforming device cannot be started up quickly.
In addition, because part of the reforming catalyst is over-heated due to the uneven temperatures distribution, deterioration of the catalyst, such as sintering occurs.
Recently, a new reforming device has been developed and is in practical use; the partial oxidation catalyst and the reforming catalyst are installed in multiple layers, so as to distribute the temperature increase of the reforming catalyst more evenly. This type of reforming device is typically classified into the series type shown in FIG. 1, and the parallel type in FIG. 2.
In the series-type reforming device, the reforming room is arranged in multiple stages (3 stages in FIG. 1) and each stage has a partial oxidation catalyst on the upstream side and a reforming catalyst downstream, and a gas mixture containing a fuel vapor such as methanol, steam and a small amount of air is introduced at one end of the device, and the reformed gas is discharged from the other end. To expedite the partial oxidation reaction of the gas mixture, additional air is fed into the second and third reforming rooms. In the series-type reforming device, the temperatures of the reforming catalysts in each stage are increased automatically by the heat of the partial oxidation reaction, and the length of the passage in which the gas mixture contacts the reforming catalyst can be made long, so the advantage of a high reforming rate can be expected.
Conversely in the parallel-type reforming device, partial oxidation catalysts and reforming catalysts are arranged in a number of stages (3 stages in FIG. 2), in the same way as with the series-type device, and each stage is separated from the others, and a gas mixture containing a fuel vapor such as methanol, steam and a small amount of air is supplied to each stage, and a reformed gas is discharged from each stage. Also with this parallel-type device, the temperatures of the reforming catalysts in each stage can be increased evenly using internally generated heat, and because only the gas mixture is distributed to each stage of the reforming device, the construction can be simplified which is an advantage. If part of the reforming catalyst etc. deteriorates accidentally, each stage can be quite easily replaced individually, which is also an advantage.
However, the aforementioned series- and parallel-type reforming devices are accompanied with the following problems.    (1) With the series-type reforming device, air must be supplied to the reforming rooms at the second and subsequent stages from an external source, so the air piping is complicated and requires a dedicated space. The air supplied from outside must be mixed completely with the gas mixture in the small space between adjacent reforming rooms and then fed to the reforming rooms, but this space is normally small, so the mixing often becomes incomplete. As a consequence, inappropriate reactions may sometimes take place, for example, irregularities may occur in the partial oxidation or reforming reactions.    (2) With the parallel-type reforming device, on the contrary, since the fuel mixture such as methanol, steam and air is mixed completely beforehand and then fed to each reforming room, the problems mentioned above for the series-type reforming device do not occur. However, as the length of the passage in which the gas mixture contacts the reforming catalyst is short, the necessary reforming rate may not be obtained when the distribution of reforming catalysts or the distribution of carrier materials are not maintained evenly.
When a reforming device is used for fuel cells in an electric automobile etc., the motor must be started quickly by generating electric power by supplying high-purity hydrogen into the stack of fuel cells as quickly as possible. The device must also be as compact as possible.
However, with a conventional self-heating system of series- or parallel-type reforming devices, compactness of the device is inconsistent with a high reforming rate as described above.
The hydrogen, required to generate electric power in a fuel cell, is produced by a reforming reaction using a raw material consisting of either a hydrocarbon based fuel, such as butane and propane, or an alcohol based fuel, such as methanol. However, because the hydrogen-rich reformed gas produced by the reforming reaction contains a large amount of carbon monoxide (CO) as an impurity, it should be removed before supplying it to a fuel cell that requires high-purity hydrogen. This is because if CO is fed into the fuel electrode of the fuel cell, it is adsorbed by the catalyst in the electrode, poisons the catalyst, decrease the reaction at the electrode, and lowers the electricity-generating performance.
Under these circumstances, the reforming device is normally provided with a CO removal unit filled with a CO removing catalyst, where a selective CO oxidation reaction (CO+1/2O2→CO2) or, if required, a CO shifting reaction (CO+H2O→CO2+H2) occurs, thus the concentration of carbon monoxide is reduced, in this additional mechanism.
With a reforming device that produces hydrogen-rich reformed gas from a hydrocarbon-based fuel or an alcohol fuel, the reforming reaction proceeds endothermically, so heat must be supplied to the reforming unit. In addition, it is also important to supply heat to increase the rate of the reforming reaction. Therefore, in many cases, fuel gas, water and air are heated by an external heat source to a temperature appropriate for the reforming reaction, to produce a high-temperature vapor which is then fed to the reforming unit, or the gas mixture is heated up to such a temperature in the reforming unit where the reforming reaction takes place.
On the other hand, a CO removal unit containing a catalyst mainly intended to decrease the concentration of CO contained in the reformed gas produced in the reforming unit. the selective CO oxidation reaction begins at about 100 to 200° C. and a CO shift reaction occurs at about 200 to 300° C. In addition these reactions are exothermic, the temperature of the CO removal catalyst should be prevented from increasing in order to obtain a high CO removal rate. For this reason a conventional reforming device of the reforming unit must be designed to be seperate from the CO removal unit, or if an integrated design is used, a thermal insulation material is required to prevent the heat transfer from the reforming unit to the CO removing unit, and a method of cooling the CO removal unit should be used.
Furthermore, carbon monoxide created in the reforming reaction poisons the electrode catalyst in the fuel cell as described above, and interferes with the reaction of the electrode, so it should be removed from the reformed gas by a CO removal reaction. However, since the CO removal reaction is exothermic, if heat is transmitted from the reforming unit to the carbon monoxide removal portion (CO removal unit), the CO removal reaction does not proceed.
Consequently, in an integrated reforming device composed of a reforming unit and a CO removal unit, the heat transfer from the reforming unit to the CO removal unit must be decreased and the loss of heat from the reforming unit at high operating temperatures must be prevented.
Conventionally, the reforming catalyst is installed in a single cylindrical or square vessel, therefore when the device generates a large output, the sectional area of the passages in the catalyst vessel is also large, often resulting in an irregular distribution of fuel gas flow in the catalyst vessel, and a satisfactory reforming reaction is often not achieved.
When the reforming unit is constructed with the reforming catalyst installed in a single catalyst vessel, if even part of the catalyst deteriorates as a result of operating with an unbalanced flow of the gas mixture, the whole reforming unit must be replaced.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


This invention comprises a novel approach to the assessment of antigen-specific T cells that quantitates and characterizes these cells with unprecedented clarity, and importantly, because it is performed in whole blood, is amenable to routine use in the clinical immunology laboratory. The methodology offers an improved flow cytometric intracellular cytokine assay in whole blood that can simultaneously measure multiple T cell subsets expressing multiple cytokines from a single whole blood culture. Evaluation of whole blood antigen specific cytokine responses has the important advantage of assessing T cell activation in the presence of ALL types of MHC autologous antigen presenting cells present in the native sample. It also has the advantage of enabling a culture system (whole blood) which can reflect effects of systemic environments (i.e. drug augmentation or suppression) on T cell responses to specific stimuli including antigen, by either culturing in the presence of such drug or analyzing the blood of a human or animal receiving such drug.

Despite widespread agreement that the basic unit of function of the T cell arm of the cellular immune system is the collection of memory/effector T cell clones responsive to a specific antigen (Ag), there is very little understanding of the development and homeostasis of Ag-specific human memory/effector T cells in either health or disease. In large part, this lack of definitive information is methodological; i.e. the simple lack of tools to reliably quantitate and functionally evaluate Ag-specific T cells in the human. For many years, assays of antigen specific T cell function relied on proliferation of cultured PBMC as the measure of the responding T cells.
New knowledge of immunological processes in the past decade, however, have highlighted serious problems with this approach. Proliferative responses require days to manifest, and it is now well documented that many, if not most, memory/effector T cells respond to Ag with an effector response (e.g. cytokine release or cytotoxicity) and then succumb to activation-induced apoptosis prior to any possible proliferative response. Those cells that survive to proliferate are thus a highly variable subset (depending on culture conditions) of the overall Ag-responsive cohort. This issue is even more critical for the evaluation of T function in diseases such as AIDS, as it has been clearly documented that memory/effector T cells from HIV+ individuals display an increased susceptibility to apoptosis, and indeed, show enhanced Ag-induced apoptosis in vitro . Similarly T cell responses to antigen in other diseases may be characterized by varying ratios of cells undergoing proliferation, cytokine expression, apoptosis, or cytotoxic T cell differentiation.
Recently, other assays of T cell function have also included cytokine release endpoints, a defining function of memory/effector T cells. While this addition to the measurement of proliferative responses represents a clear advance, in terms of a more comprehensive measure of T cell activation, these assays do not define the functional cell types that participate in these responses. Further, most of these analyses have relied on ELISA-based quantitation of expressed levels of cytokine in culture supernatants. These procedures yield only bulk measurements; individual cell types participating in the response are not evaluated.
To assess which cell types are expressing selected cytokines, subset purification or single cell-based methodologies such as the ELISPOT and cytokine-release limiting dilution assays have been employed. However, these assays are extremely laborious—especially if set up to measure the multiple, potentially relevant cytokines which may be produced by functionally heterogeneous Ag-specific memory/effector T cells—and therefore are not amenable to routine use in the clinical laboratory. Moreover, the sensitivity of these assays may be limited by (1) conditions which do not mimic in vivo cellular environments which may be more clinically relevant, (2) T cell stimulation conditions that must necessarily compromise between conditions optimal for T cell activation and those compatible with the single cell detection strategy of the assay (e.g. limiting dilution conditions or spot counting on nitrocellulose covered culture wells), and (3) vulnerability to some loss of Ag-reactive cells from activation-induced apoptosis (as these assays require from 1-2 to many days of in vitro culture, and activation-induced apoptosis, as measured by DNA strand breaks, can initiate in as few as 12-19 hours).
It has been previously shown that T cell cytokine responses occur in cells expressing the CD69 antigen. A TH1, or type I response, for example is typically identified as the percentage of CD3+ T cells co-expressing CD69 and γ-IFN, IL-2, or TNF-α. A TH2, type II, response can be characterized as the frequency of CD3+ T cells which co-express CD69, and IL-4 or IL-13. The distribution of individual cytokines of a type I or type II response may also be descriptive of a specific kind of cellular response to antigen. For example unique T cell subsets may express TNF-α and γ-IFN in response to different antigens and have been referred to as TH1 cells.

Method for detecting T cell response to specific antigens in whole blood


According to one example embodiment a storage medium having computer instructions which, responsive to being executed by at least one processor, cause the at least one processor to perform operations. The operations can include analyzing data from data sources of an internet-protocol television network where the data provided by the data sources includes set-top-box data having voice over internet protocol usage for a plurality of subscribers of the internet protocol television network in a geographic area and correlating video provisioning information obtained from the data sources, individual subscriber channel viewing information, internet-usage data, subscriber data and demographic data to produce correlated information. The operations can include generating one or more reports associated with the plurality of subscribers in the geographic area based on the correlated information. Other embodiments are disclosed.

Recently, IPTV (Internet Protocol TV) has attracted many service providers' attention to provide live TV programs and video-on-demand (VoD) services. The inherent flexibilities on top of an IP-based video service network can facilitate advanced and flexible video services (such as picture-in-picture), high quality pictures (high-definition TV), and large amount of information (large number of TV channels).

System and method for a video content service monitoring and provisioning architecture


An apparatus for a closed circuit television network having a plurality of video cameras producing video signals, a plurality of video display monitors and a video switcher apparatus coupled therebetween, comprising control apparatus coupled to the video switcher apparatus for controlling which video signals are displayed on each of the plurality of video display monitors. Also provided are graphics user interface apparatus coupled to the control apparatus for permitting a user to operate the control apparatus, thereby permitting the user to control which video signals are displayed on the plurality of video display monitors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to control systems for closed circuit television observation systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a closed circuit television observation system controlled by a computer and accessed by a graphic user interface.
2. Summary of the Prior Art
For quite some time now, closed circuit video cameras have been used as monitors. They have been used for security purposes and also for observation purposes, i.e., hospitals, etc. The primary use, however, has been for security. For example, prisons, military bases and private real estate, etc. use closed circuit television networks to provide security.
Often the closed circuit security setup includes a plurality of video cameras, a plurality of video monitors, a video switching unit and some type of mechanical interface which allows the user to determine which video camera output signals are going to be displayed on the monitors.
The user can physically select which of the cameras the user wants to appear on a particular monitor. Thus, the user will have perhaps 50 or 100 cameras and will be able to select which of the plurality of cameras he wishes to display on the monitor(s). The user effects the selection of cameras to view on the monitor(s) by flicking switches or pushing buttons located on the monitoring console.
The video switcher may be interfaced to an external alarm system and an alarm event may then cause a predetermined camera and view to be selected and displayed. It is not always clear to the user, where the source of video is coming from when the video is switched automatically.
Typically any one of the monitors may be setup to display a user selected sequence of camera views. Each view is held for a matter of seconds and then sequences to the next predetermined view. A sequencing monitor may be stopped at a particular view for further analysis.
Experience has shown that in the field of video surveillance that the most efficient number of video monitors is four to six. If more than six monitors are provided it has been shown that the operator may become visually overloaded and be incapable of accurately viewing all that transpires on the monitor screens. Therefore, the general practice in the industry is to reduce the number of display monitors. As a result, video output signals from the plurality of camera are viewed on a limited number of monitors.
Research has determined that approximately 99% of the time that the surveillance system is being monitored, nothing is happening. It is only 1% of the time that something of interest is taking place. What frequently happens in that crucial 1% of viewing is that the operator has a tendency to become confused about the proper operation of the surveillance system. Additionally, it may not be clear to an operator where a particular problem area, viewed on a monitor, is physically located.
Operators with little experience find it particularly difficult to operate the prior art's complicated control console in times of substantial duress. It is desirous, therefore, to reduce the confusion and resulting reaction time delays.

Camera selection and positioning system and method


The invention relates to the use of antagonists to the CB1 receptor for the preparation of a composition for the treatment of hepatic diseases and preferably to the use of N-piperidino5 5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2, 4-dichloropenyl)-4-methylpyrazole-3-carboxamide.

Liver fibrosis is the common response to chronic liver injury, ultimately leading to cirrhosis and its complications, portal hypertension, liver failure and hepatocellular carcinoma. The fibrogenic process is consecutive to intense proliferation and accumulation of hepatic myofibroblasts that synthesize fibrosis components and inhibitors of matrix degradation (Friedman, S. L., J Biol Chem 275, 2247-50 (2000)).
Cannabis Sativa contains over sixty compounds, the most active of which is (-) Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC). Endogenous natural cannabinoids have also been characterized, anandamide and 2-arachidonyl glycerol, which are arachidonic acid-derived lipids (Piomelli, D et al, Trends Phamacol Sci 21, 218-24. (2000)). Cannabinoids bind to two G protein-coupled receptors, CB1 and CB2, that equally bind THC (Pertwee, R. G., Curr Med Chem 6, 635-64. (1999)). CB1 is thus one of the two known cellular receptors for cannabinoids. This receptor being a G protein-coupled transmembrane receptor is known to be expressed in brain and blood vessels (Pertwee, R. G., Curr Med Chem 6, 635-64 (1999)) but not in hepatocytes (Guzman, M and Sanchez, C., Life Sci 65, 657-64 (1999)). CB1 mediates the psychoactive effects of cannabis. In contrast, CB2 receptors are mainly expressed in the immune system and are devoid of psychoactive effects (Friedman, S. L., J Biol Chem 275, 2247-50 (2000)). In addition to their psychotropic effects, cannabinoids display analgesic, antiemetic and orexigenic central effects (Harrold, J. A. and Williams, G. Br J Nutr 90, 729-34 (2003)). Moreover, cannabinoids also elicit anti-inflammatory and vasorelaxing properties (Kumar, R. N., Chambers, W. A. and Pertwee, Anaesthesia 56, 1059-68. (2001)). Several studies also suggest that cannabinoids may be potential antitumoral agents, owing to their ability to induce the regression of various types of experimental tumors, including glioma or skin tumors. These antitumoral effects are mainly attributed to their antiproliferative and apoptotic properties (Bifulco, M. et al., Faseb J 29, 29 (2001); Casanova, M. L. et al., J Clin Invest 111, 43-50. (2003); Sanchez, C. et al., Cancer Res 61, 5784-9. (2001)).
There are only few data concerning the hepatic action of cannabinoids. CB1 and CB2 receptors are not expressed in hepatocytes (Guzman, M. and Sanchez, C. Life Sci 65, 657-64 (1999)). However, CB1 receptors are present in endothelial cells isolated from hepatic arteries, and their expression increase during cirrhosis (Batkai, S. et al. Nat Med 7, 827-32. (2001)).
Two isoforms of the receptor CB1 have been isolated: a long isoform (corresponding to SEQ ID NO:1) and a shorter one truncated in the NH2 terminal part corresponding to a splice variant (corresponding to SEQ ID NO:2), which differ in their affinity for their ligands (Shire et al., J Biol Chem, (1995); Rinaldi-Carmona et al, J Pharmacol Exp Ther (1996)). There also exist 5 single nucleotide polymorphisms in the coding region of the CB1 receptor gene. Of these only three result in single amino acid changes to the CB1 receptor (these being, in SEQ ID NO:1, a Phenylalanine to Leucine substitution at position 200, an Isoleucine to Valine substitution at position 216 and a Valine to Alanine substitution at position 246 and the corresponding positions in SEQ ID NO:2). A consensus 7-domains sequence for the CB1 receptor exists which is strongly conserved in vertebrates but does not appear in other cannabinoid receptors (Attwood, T. K. and Findlay, J. B. C., Protein Eng 7(2) 195-203 (1994), Attwood, T. K. and Findlay, J. B. C., 7TM, Volume 2 Eds G. Vriend and B. Bywater, (1993), Birnbaumer, L., Ann. Rev Pharmacol Toxicol, 30, 675-705 (1990), Casey, P. J. and Gilman, A. G., J. Biol. Chem. 263(6) 2577-2580 (1988), 5. Attwood, T. K. and Findlay, J. B. C, Protein Eng 6(2) 167-176 (1993), Watson, S, and Arkinsall, S, In The G Protein-Linked Receptor Factsbook, Academic press, 1994, PP 80-83). That consensus amino acid sequence comprises the 7 protein domains of SEQ ID NO:3 to SEQ ID NO:9.
Antagonists to the receptor CB1, which include reverse or inverse agonists, have been previously described. These include the substituted amides described in WO03/077847, the substituted aryl amides described in WO03/087037, the substituted imidazoles described in WO03/063781, bicyclic amides described in WO03/086288, the terphenyl derivatives described in WO 03/084943, the N-piperidono-3-pyrazolecarboxamide and N-piperidino-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methylpyrazole-3- -carboxamide described in EP-B-656354, the aryl-benzo[b]thiophene and benzo[b]furan compounds respectively described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,106 and U.S. Pat. No. 5,747,524, the azetidine derivatives described in FR2805817, 3-amino-azetidine described in FR2805810, or the 3-Substituted or 3,3-disubstituted 1-(di-((hetero)aryl)-methyl)-azetidine derivatives described in FR2805818. These documents are incorporated herein by reference. Other antagonists are commercially available such as N-(piperidin-1-yl)-1-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-5-(4-iodophenyl)-4-methyl-1H-py-razole-3-carboxamide, known commercially as AM251 and the compound known as LY-320135.
Uses of these CB1 receptor antagonists are known for the treatment of sexual dysfunction (patent application WO 03/082256), or diarrhoea (patent application WO 01/85092), or neuro-inflammatory diseases or substance abuse disorders, obesity, asthma, constipation (patent application WO 03/077847).
Documents U.S. Pat. No. 5,939,429, WO 03/077847, WO 03/084930, WO 03/084943, WO 03/063781 and WO 03/087037 disclose that CB1 antagonists can reverse the systemic hemodynamic alterations in rats with cirrhotic portal hypertension.

Use of antagonists of the CBI receptor for the manufacture of a composition useful for the treatment of hepatic diseases


A synchronous signal conversion circuit converts a first synchronous signal, which is transmitted with a data signal, to a second synchronous signal conforming to a predetermined standard. In the synchronous signal conversion circuit, a transition detection circuit detects transition of the first synchronous signal. A synchronous signal generation circuit generates a second synchronous signal in response to a detection result by the transition detection circuit. An output timing control circuit delays the second synchronous signal generated by the synchronous signal generation circuit so that the second synchronous signal synchronizes with the data signal.

Conventionally, in data transmission technology, transmission systems of data signals and synchronous signals are defined by predetermined standards. For example, in a digital visual interface (DVI) which is an interface standard for input/output of video, and a high-definition multimedia interface (HDMI) which is an interface standard for input/output of video and sound, pulse width of horizontal synchronous signals, length of active periods of vertical synchronous signals, positions of valid periods of data signals (i.e., periods in which valid data exists), etc. are defined by a digital video transmission standard called "CEA-861D," as shown in FIG. 15.
In recent years, in order to improve compatibility between devices, standardization has been promoted in various technical fields. For example, the HDMI has been widely used not only for digital electronic apparatuses such as digital televisions and DVD players but also in technical fields such as mobile apparatuses represented by digital cameras and mobile phones.

Synchronous signal conversion circuit, signal processing system including it, and synchronous signal conversion method


A drawing apparatus include: a charged particle optical system configured to generate M×N charged particle beams; a limiting device configured to limit number of charged particle beams that the charged particle optical system emits toward a substrate; and a controller configured, if an abnormal beam that does not satisfy a use condition is present among the M×N charged particle beams, to control the limiting device such that only m rows, each of the m rows including n charged particle beams that are successive without intervention of the abnormal beam.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drawing apparatus for performing drawing on a substrate with a plurality of charged particle beams, and an article manufacturing method.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a circuit pattern becomes extremely fine, and its integration degree rises, a drawing apparatus for directly drawing the pattern on a substrate has strongly been required to not only be highly accurate but also have a high throughput. As a drawing apparatus capable of meeting these requirements, there exists a multi-beam drawing apparatus which draws a pattern on a substrate using a plurality of charged particle beams. International Publication No. 2009/147202 proposes a drawing apparatus which draws continuous stripe areas on a substrate by further dividing a plurality of charged particle beams to form sub-beams and individually turning on/off, deflecting, and scanning them in accordance with a pattern to be drawn. If the generated charged particle beams and sub-beams include defective beams, the desired pattern cannot be drawn on the substrate. However, no method of coping with it is mentioned in International Publication No. 2009/147202. Japanese Patent No. 4313145 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-245176 propose multi-beam drawing apparatuses in which each a plurality of charged particle beams draws an area of responsibility on a substrate. In these drawing apparatuses, abnormal charged particle beams are shielded with respect to the substrate, unlike the drawing apparatus proposed in International Publication No. 2009/147202.
When a specific charged particle beam (group) is shielded with respect to the substrate in the multi-beam drawing apparatus of International Publication No. 2009/147202, as described in Japanese Patent No. 4313145 and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2006-245176, continuous stripe areas cannot be drawn, although generation of defective stripes can be avoided.

Drawing apparatus, and article manufacturing method


A process optically transports digital data over an all-optical long-haul communication path. The process includes transporting digital optical data signals at a selected bit rate and a selected wavelength over a sequence of transmission spans. The sequence includes 70 percent or more of the spans of the long-haul all-optical communication path. Each span of the sequence has a primary local maximum optical power point for the wavelength on a transmission fiber and nearest to an input of the span. The transporting causes a cumulative dispersion of each signal to evolve such that residual dispersions per span are positive over some of the spans and are negative over other of the spans. At the primary local maximum power points, magnitudes of cumulative dispersions of the signals in pico seconds per nanometer remain at less than 32,000 times the inverse of the bit rate in giga bits per second.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to optical communication systems and processes.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
In optical communications systems, transmission optical fibers cause chromatic dispersion and nonlinear optical effects. Both effects degrade optical pulses in ways that increase transmission errors. To reduce the pulse degradation caused by chromatic dispersion, optical communication systems typically incorporate dispersion compensation devices, e.g., dispersion compensating fibers (DCFs), dispersion compensating interferometers, or dispersion compensating grating systems, to compensate for chromatic dispersion. To reduce the pulse degradation caused by nonlinear optical effects, long-haul optical communication systems typically manage dispersion through special processes and special dispersion maps.
The special processes involve transmitting optical pulses over transmission spans in a pseudo-linear transmission regime (PLTR). The PLTR is defined by the following operating conditions: a bit rate of 10 Giga bits per second (Gb/s) or higher, a wavelength of 1.25 micrometers (μm) to 1.7 μm, a pulse full width at half maximum power of 60 ps or less, and a pulse duty cycle of between 10% and 70%. The transmission spans are typically single mode optical fibers with high magnitude of the dispersions that are about +2 pico seconds (ps) or more per nanometer (nm) per kilometer (km) at communication wavelengths. Due to this high dispersion, the transmission spans cause substantial broadening of optical pulses. In the PLTR, this pulse broadening causes multiple optical pulses from nearby frequency channels to substantially overlap in time, which averages inter-pulse interactions and reduces pulse distortion from inter-channel interactions.
The special dispersion maps result from chromatic dispersion compensation devices that are located at the input and/or output ends of transmission spans. Herein, a dispersion map plots the cumulative dispersion as a function of transmission distance along an optical communication path. The dispersion compensation devices at the input and/or output ends of transmission spans produce abrupt changes in cumulative dispersion along the communication path thereby producing nontrivial dispersion maps.
FIG. 1 shows a dispersion map 8 of an optical communication path with eight identical transmission spans. Each transmission span includes 100 km of positive dispersion single mode fiber (SMF) 10. Between the ends of the SMFs 10 of adjacent transmission spans is a DCF 12. Along each transmission SMF 10, the cumulative dispersion increases linearly with distance. Along each DCF 12, the cumulative dispersion decreases linearly with distance. The lengths of the DCFs 12 are selected to produce full compensation of the dispersion 14 that accumulated on the preceding transmission SMF 10. This full compensation of chromatic dispersion produces a dispersion map in which the cumulative dispersion is periodic in a span-by-span manner. This dispersion map is referred to as a full-span compensation map.
While full-span compensation maps do compensate very well for the pulse degradation caused by chromatic dispersion, these maps do not completely correct for the pulse degradation caused by nonlinear optical effects. In particular, the span-by-span periodicity suggests that any residual pulse degradation from nonlinear optical effects will add constructively with the number of spans as a pulse travels along the optical communication path. In long haul communication systems, this constructive accumulation of nonlinear distortions can be the primary contribution to the bit error rate (BER) and pulse degradation:
FIG. 2 shows a dispersion map 16 for an optical communication system that includes a series of identical transmission spans of positive dispersion SMF, a DCF located after each transmission span, a pre-transmission dispersion compensator, and a post-transmission dispersion compensator. The dispersion map 16 provides pre-transmission dispersion compensation, CPRE, prior to the first span, in-line dispersion compensation, CIL, after each transmission span, and post-transmission dispersion compensation, CPOST, after the last transmission span. In the dispersion map 16, the in-line dispersion compensation, CIL, does not entirely compensate for the positive dispersion that accumulates in the preceding transmission span of positive dispersion SMF. Instead, a residual dispersion per span, CRDPS, remains after the in-line dispersion compensation for each span. A nonzero and constant value of CRDPS, as e.g., in the map 16, produces a dispersion map that is referred to as a singly periodic map. If the value of CRDPS is the same and zero for each span as, e.g., in FIG. 1, the dispersion map is referred to as a full-span compensation map.
Some special dispersion maps better compensate for the pulse degradation caused by nonlinear optical effects. In particular, it is believed that optimal values of CPRE exist for singly periodic dispersion maps that are EDFA pumped. For such maps, the approximately optimal CPRE is believed to satisfy:CPRE=−NCRDPS/2+(D/α)ln([1−exp(−αLspan)]/2)Here, α is the power loss per unit length in a transmission span, N is the total number of spans, D is the dispersion in optical fibers of the transmission spans, and Lspan is the length of each span. The above equation defines CPRE in terms of CRDPS when the physical parameters of the transmission spans, i.e., Lspan, D, and α, are given. A singly periodic map that satisfies the above optimization equation will compensate well for the effects of intra-channel cross-phase modulation and intra-channel four-wave mixing.
Among dispersion maps that satisfy the above optimization equation, singly periodic maps with small CRDPs's seem to produce large amounts of timing jitter in transmitted optical pulses. Normally, large amounts of timing jitter are not desirable, because timing jitter can cause reception errors.
Various nontrivial dispersion maps are described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,583,907 issued Jun. 24, 2003; U.S. Pat. No. 6,606,176 issued Aug. 12, 1999; and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/152,645, filed May 21, 2002 by R.-J. Essiambre et al all of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entirety. While special dispersion maps have reduced the amount of pulse degradation from nonlinear optical effects, processes for further reducing such pulse degradation are desirable. Such processes could enable higher bit rates and/or higher power levels that allow optical transmission of data over longer distances.


There is provided a computer-implemented method for detecting a fatty liver, comprising: receiving imaging data of a computed tomography (CT) scan performed using a single source CT Scanner with settings selected for imaging of non-fatty-liver pathology, segmenting a region of the liver by creating a binary image by applying binary segmentation to a sub-set of pixels of the imaging data according to a first set-of-rules, and mapping the region of liver of the binary image to the segmented region of the portion of the liver of the imaging data, calculating liver parameter(s) for the segmented region of the liver from Hounsfield unit (HU) value(s), and detecting the presence of a fatty liver by analyzing the calculated liver parameter(s) according to a second set-of-rules.

The present invention, in some embodiments thereof, relates to a systems and methods for analyzing computed tomography (CT) scans and, more specifically, but not exclusively, to systems and methods for detecting a fatty liver from a CT scan.
Fatty Liver, also termed Hepatic Steatosis, is relatively common. Studies report a rate of 11.4% of the adult population in the United States, and in particular, a rate of 22% among diabetic patients.
Fatty liver has been traditionally linked to alcohol consumption, and in some cases appears in patients that do not consume alcohol (e.g., nonalcoholic steatohepatitis (NASH)). However, recent studies suggest that fatty liver is a risk factor for several key preventable diseases. For example, studies suggest that the presence of fatty liver in a person that seams otherwise healthy is associated with subclinical cardiovascular changes, elevated inflammatory markers of atherosclerosis and heart dysfunction. In patients with medical conditions, for example diabetics (type II), studies suggest that fatty liver is associated with coronary artery disease (after adjusting for confounding factors like age, gender, obesity, hypertension, smoking status and low density lipoprotein LDL).
Studies suggest that fatty liver is independently associated with increased coronary artery calcification, and that fatty liver is a strong predictor of high risk coronary artery plaque. In particular, the presence of fatty liver increases the risk for having high risk coronary artery plaque by 2.13-4.6×. In another study, people with fatty liver were nearly two times as likely to experience a cardiovascular event (i.e., heart attack or sudden death) over a mean follow up interval of 7.3 years.

Systems and methods for detecting a fatty liver from a computed tomography (CT) scan


According to various embodiments, there is provided a method for testing a device driver software of a processor, the method including: configuring an identity field of a testing device based on a device emulation command received through a first testing device interface, wherein the identity field is accessible by the device driver software for recognising the testing device; running an emulation program on the testing device, the emulation program including an emulation of a human input device in accordance with the configured identity field; receiving an input instruction in the testing device via the first testing device interface, the input instruction indicative of an input performable on the emulated human input device; the emulation program, emulating an output signal generatable by the emulated human input device in response to the input being performed on the emulated human input device; outputting the emulated output signal via a second testing device interface to the device driver software of the processor to translate the emulated output signal to an event in an application program running on the processor.

Human input devices (HID) such as keyboards and computer mice may be used to provide user inputs to a computing device. For example, a user may type on the keys of a keyboard to activate functions in an application running on the computing device. The HID may send an output signal to the computing device based on the user input performed on the HID. A device driver software of the computing device may translate the output signal into an event in the application, to activate functions in the application. The device driver software may be configured to support more than one type of HID, for example, it may be capable of translating the output signals of several keyboard models and several computer mouse models. Typically, testing the device driver software may include coupling the supported HIDs to the computing device, one device at a time, followed by providing a series of user inputs on the coupled HID, and then observing the events that are activated in the application as a result of each user input.

Testing devices and methods for testing a device driver software