The present invention relates to deletion and substitution mutant polypeptides of human chemokine xcex2-7 (Ckxcex2-7), as well as nucleic acid molecules encoding such polypeptides and processes for producing such polypeptides using recombinant techniques. In one aspect, the invention also relates to uses of the full-length and mature forms of Ckxcex2-7, as well as deletion and substitution mutants, in medical treatment regimens. In particular, the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptides described herein may be employed to treat a variety of conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation, respiratory diseases, allergy, and IgE-mediated allergic reactions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to deletion and substitution mutant polypeptides of human chemokine xcex2-7 (Ckxcex2-7), as well as nucleic acid molecules encoding such polypeptides and processes for producing such polypeptides using recombinant techniques. In one aspect, the invention also relates to uses of the full-length and mature forms of Ckxcex2-7, as well as deletion and substitution mutants, in medical treatment regimens. In particular, the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptides described herein may be employed to treat a variety of conditions, including rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation, respiratory diseases, allergy, IgE-mediated allergic reactions, kidney diseases and may be employed for transplantation therapy. xcex2-7 is also known as MIP-4, PARC, AMAC1 and DCCK1.
2. Related Art
Chemokines, also referred to as intercrine cytokines, are a subfamily of structurally and fimctionally related cytokines. These molecules are 8-14 kd in size. In general chemokines exhibit 20% to 75% homology at the amino acid level and are characterized by four conserved cysteine residues that form two disulfide bonds. Based on the arrangement of the first two cysteine residues, chemokines have been classified into two major subfamilies, alpha and beta. In the alpha subfamily, the first two cysteines are separated by one amino acid and hence are referred to as the xe2x80x9cCxe2x80x94Xxe2x80x94Cxe2x80x9d subfamily. In the beta subfamily, the two cysteines are in an adjacent position and are, therefore, referred to as the xe2x80x94Cxe2x80x94Cxe2x80x94C  subfamily. Thus far, at least eight different members of this family have been identified in humans. More recently, two additional chemokine families, the C and CX3C families, have been described.
The intercrine cytokines exhibit a wide variety of functions. A hallmark feature is their ability to elicit chemotactic migration of distinct cell types, including monocytes, neutrophils, T lymphocytes, eosinophils, basophils and fibroblasts. Many chemokines have proinflammatory activity and are involved in multiple steps during an inflammatory reaction. These activities include stimulation of histamine release, lysosomal enzyme and leukotriene release, increased adherence oftarget immune cells to endothelial cells, enhanced binding of complement proteins, induced expression of granulocyte adhesion molecules and complement receptors, and respiratory burst. In addition to their involvement in inflammation, certain chemokines have been shown to exhibit other activities. For example, macrophage inflammatory protein I (MIP-1) is able to suppress hematopoietic stem cell proliferation, platelet factor-4 (PF-4) is a potent inhibitor of endothelial cell growth, Interleukin-8 (IL-8) promotes proliferation of keratinocytes, and GRO is an autocrine growth factor for melanoma cells.
In light of the diverse biological activities, it is not surprising that chemokines have been implicated in a number of physiological and disease conditions, including lymphocyte trafficking, wound healing, hematopoietic regulation and immunological disorders such as allergy, asthma and arthritis. An example of a hematopoietic lineage regulator is MIP-1. MIP-1 was originally identified as an endotoxin-induced proinflammatory cytokine produced from macrophages. Subsequent studies have shown that MIP-1 is composed of two different, but related, proteins MIP-1xcex1 and MIP-1xcex2. Both MIP-1xcex1 and MIP1xcex2 are chemo-attractants for macrophages, monocytes and T lymphocytes. Interestingly, biochemical purification and subsequent sequence analysis of a multipotent stem cell inhibitor (SCI) revealed that SCI is identical to MIP-1xcex2. Furthermore, it has been shown that MIP-1xcex2 can counteract the ability of MIP-1xcex1 to suppress hematopoietic stem cell proliferation. This finding leads to the hypothesis that the primary physiological role of MIP-1 is to regulate hematopoiesis in bone marrow, and that the proposed inflammatory function is secondary. The mode of action of MIP-1xcex1 as a stem cell inhibitor relates to its ability to block the cell cycle at the G2S interphase. Furthermore, the inhibitory effect of MIP-1xcex1 seems to be restricted to immature progenitor cells and it is actually stimulatory to late progenitors in the presence of granulocyte macrophage-colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF).
Murine MIP-1 is a major secreted protein from lipopolysaccharide stimulated RAW 264.7, a murine macrophage tumor cell line. It has been purified and found to consist of two related proteins, MIP-1xcex1 and MIP-1xcex2.
Several groups have cloned what are likely to be the human homologs of MIP-1xcex1 and MIP-1xcex2. In all cases, cDNAs were isolated from libraries prepared against activated T-cell RNA.
MIP-1 proteins can be detected in early wound inflammation cells and have been shown to induce production of IL-1 and IL-6 from wound fibroblast cells. In addition, purified native MIP-1 (comprising MIP-1, MIP-1xcex1 and MIP-1xcex2 polypeptides) causes acute inflammation when injected either subcutaneously into the footpads of mice or intracistemally into the cerebrospinal fluid of rabbits (Wolpe and Cerami, FASEB J. 3:2565-73 (1989)). In addition to these proinflammatory properties of MIP-1, which can be direct or indirect, MIP-1 has been recovered during the early inflammatory phases of wound healing in an experimental mouse model employing sterile wound chambers (Fahey, et al. Cytokine, 2:92 (1990)). For example, International Patent Application Serial No. PCT/US92/05198 filed by Chiron Corporation, discloses a DNA molecule which is active as a template for producing mammalian macrophage inflammatory proteins (MIPs) in yeast.
The murine MIP-1xcex1 and MIP-1xcex2 are distinct but closely related cytokines. Partially purified mixtures of the two proteins affect neutrophil finction and cause local inflammation and fever. MIP-1xcex1 has been expressed in yeast cells and purified to homogeneity. Structural analysis confirmed that MIP-1xcex1 has a very similar secondary and tertiary structure to platelet factor 4 (PF-4) and interleukin 8 (IL-8) with which it shares limited sequence homology. It has also been demonstrated that MIP-1xcex1 is active in vivo to protect mouse stem cells from subsequent in vitro killing by tritiated thymidine. MIP-1xcex1 was also shown to enhance the proliferation of more committed progenitor granulocyte macrophage colony-forming cells in response to granulocyte macrophage colony-stimulating factor. (Clemens, J. M. et al., Cytokine 4:76-82 (1992)).
There are four forms of monocyte chemotactic protein, namely, MCP-1, MCP-2, MCP-3 and MCP-4. All of these proteins have been structurally and fimctionally characterized and have also been cloned and expressed. MCP-1 and MCP-2 have the ability to attract leukocytes (monocytes, and leukocytes), while MCP-3 also attracts eosinophils and T lymphocytes (Dahinderi, E., et al., J. Exp. Med. 179:751-756(1994)). MCP-4 attracts eosinophils and monocytes (Garcia-Zapeda, E. A., et al., J. Immunol. 157:5613 (1996); Uguccioni, M., et al., J. Exp. Med. 183:2379 (1996); Forssmann, U., et al., J. Exp. Med. 185:2171 (1997)).
Human MCP-1 is a basic peptide of 76 amino acids with a predicted molecular mass of 8,700 daltons. MCP-1 is inducibly expressed mainly in monocytes, endothelial cells and fibroblasts. Leonard, E. J. and Yoshimura, T., Immunol. Today 11:97-101 (1990). The factors which induce this expression is IL-1, TNF or lipopolysaccharide treatment.
Other properties of MCP-1 include the ability to strongly activate mature human basophils in a pertussis toxin-sensitive manner. MCP-1 is a cytokine capable of directly inducing histamine release by basophils, (Bischoff, S. C., et al., J. Exp. Med. 175:1271-1275 (1992)). Furthermore, MCP-1 promotes the formation of leukotriene C4 by basophils pretreated with Interleukin 3, Interleukin 5, or granulocyte/macrophage colony-stimulating factor. MCP-1 induced basophil mediator release may play an important role in allergic inflammation and other pathologies expressing MCP-1.
Clones having a nucleotide sequence encoding a human monocyte chemotactic and activating factor (MCAF) reveal the primary structure of the MCAF polypeptide to be composed of a putative signal peptide sequence of 23 amino acid residues and a mature MCAF sequence of 76 amino acid residues. Furutani, Y. H., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commu. 159:249-55 (1989). The complete amino acid sequence of human glioma-derived monocyte chemotactic factor (GDCF-2) has also been determined. This peptide attracts human monocytes but not neutrophils. It was established that GDCF-2 comprises 76 amino acid residues. The peptide chain contains 4 half-cysteines, at positions 11, 12, 36 and 52, which create a pair of loops, clustered at the disulfide bridges. Further, the MCP-1 gene has been designated to human chromosome 17. Mehrabian, M. R., et al., Genomics 9:200-3 (1991).
Certain data suggests that a potential role for MCP-1 is mediating monocytic infiltration of the artery wall. Monocytes appear to be central to atherogenesis both as the progenitors of foarn cells and as a potentyial source of growth factors mediating intimal hyperplasia. Nelken, N. A., et al., J. Clin. Invest. 88:1121-7 (1991). It has also been found that synovial production of MCP-1 may play an important role in the recruitment of mononuclear phagocytes during inflammation associated with rheumatoid arthritis and that synovial tissue macrophages are the dominant source of this cytokine. MCP-1 levels were found to be significantly higher in synovial fluid from rheumatoid arthritis patients compared to synovial fluid from osteoarthritis patients or from patients with other arthritides. Koch, A. E., et al., J. Clin. Invest. 90:772-9 (1992).
MCP-2 and MCP-3 are classified in a subfamily of proinflammatory proteins and are functionally related to MCP-1 because they specifically attract monocytes, but not neutrophils. Van Damme, J., et al., J. Exp. Med. 176:59-65 (1992). MCP-3 shows 71% and 58% amino acid homology to MCP-1 and MCP-2 respectively. MCP-3 is an inflammatory cytokine that regulates macrophage functions.
The transplantation of hemolymphopoietic stem cells has been proposed in the treatment of cancer and hematological disorders. Many studies demonstrate that transplantation of hematopoietic stem cells harvested from the peripheral blood has advantages over the transplantation of marrow-derived stem cells. Due to the low number of circulating stem cells, there is a need for induction of pluripotent marrow stem cell mobilization into the peripheral blood. Reducing the amount of blood to be processed to obtain an adequate amount of stem cells would increase the use of autotransplantation procedures and eliminate the risk of graph versus host reaction connected with allotransplantation. Presently, blood mobilization of marrow CD34+ stem cells is obtained by the injection of a combination of agents, including antiblastic drugs and G-CSF or GM-CSF. Drugs which are capable of stemcellmobilizationinclude IL-1, IL-7, IL-8, and NIP-1a. Both IL-1 and IL-8 demonstrate proinflammatory activity that may be dangerous for good engrafting. IL-7 must be administered at high doses over a long duration and MIP-1a is not very active as a single agent and shows best activity when in combination with G-CSF.
In one aspect, the present invention provides deletion and substitution mutants of human chemokine Ckxcex2-7, as well as biologically active and diagnostically or therapeutically useful derivatives thereof.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there are provided isolated nucleic acid molecules encoding polypeptides of the present invention including mRNAs, DNAs, cDNAs, genomic DNAs, as well as analogs and biologically active and diagnostically or therapeutically useful fragments, analogs and derivatives thereof.
The present invention further provides isolated nucleic acid molecules comprising polynucleotides which encode mutants of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the amino acid sequence shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2) or the amino acid sequence encoded by the cDNA clone deposited in a bacterial host as ATCC Deposit Number 75675 on Feb. 9, 1994. The nucleotide sequence determined by sequencing the deposited Ckxcex2-7 clone, which is shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:1), contains an open reading frame encoding a polypeptide of 89 amino acid residues, with a leader sequence of about 20 amino acid residues, and a predicted molecular weight of about 8 kDa in non-glycosylated form, and about 8-14 kDa in glycosylated form, depending on the extent of glycoslyation. The amino acid sequence of full-length and mature forms of the Ckxcex2-7 protein is also shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2).
Thus, one aspect of the invention provides an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) a nucleotide sequence encoding an N-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N-terminus; (b) a nucleotide sequence encoding an C-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the C-terminus; (c) a nucleotide sequence encoding a deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N- and C-termini; (d) anucleotide sequence encoding an N-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC Deposit No. 75675, wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N-terminus; (e) a nucleotide sequence encoding a C-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC Deposit No. 75675, wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the C-terminus; (f) a nucleotide sequence encoding a deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC Deposit No. 75675, wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N- and C-termini; and (g) a nucleotide sequence complementary to any of the nucleotide sequences in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above.
Further embodiments of the invention include isolated nucleic acid molecules that comprise a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence at least 90% homologous or identical, and more preferably at least 95%, 96%, 97%, 98%, or 99% identical, to any of the nucleotide sequences in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g), above, or a polynucleotide which hybridizes under stringent hybridization conditions to a polynucleotide in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e), (f) or (g), above. These polynucleotides which hybridize do not hybridize under stringent hybridization conditions to a polynucleotide having a nucleotide sequence consisting of only A residues or of only T residues.
The Ckxcex2-7 deletion mutant polypeptides encoded by each of the above nucleic acid molecules may have an N-termninal methionine residue.
The present invention also relates to recombinant vectors, which include the isolated nucleic acid molecules of the present invention, and to host cells containing the recombinant vectors, as well as to methods of making such vectors and host cells.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for producing such polypeptide by recombinant techniques comprising culturing recombinant prokaryotic and/or eukaryotic host cells, containing a nucleic acid sequence encoding a polypeptide of the present invention, under conditions promoting expression of said protein and subsequent recovery of said protein.
The invention further provides an isolated Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of: (a) the amino acid sequence of an N-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N-terminus; (b) the amino acid sequence of an C-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the C-terminus; (c) the amino acid sequence of a deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having the complete amino acid sequence in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N- and C-termini; (d) the amino acid sequence of an N-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC Deposit No. 75675, wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N-terminus; (e) the amino acid sequence of a C-terminal deletion mutant of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC Deposit No. 75675, wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the C-terminus; and (f) the amino acid sequence of the Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide encoded by the cDNA clone contained in ATCC Deposit No. 75675, wherein said deletion mutant has one or more deletions at the N- and C-termini.
Polypeptides of the present invention also include homologous polypeptides and substitution mutants having an amino acid sequence with at least 90% identity, and more preferably at least 95% identity to those described in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above, as well as polypeptides having an amino acid sequence at least 80% identical, more preferably at least 90% identical, and still more preferably 95%, 96%, 97%, 98% or 99% identical to those above.
An additional embodiment of this aspect of the invention relates to a peptide or polypeptide which has the amino acid sequence of an epitope bearing portion of a Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence described in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above.
An additional nucleic acid embodiment of the invention relates to an isolated nucleic acid molecule comprising a polynucleotide which encodes the amino acid sequence of an epitope-bearing portion of a Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f), above.
Further, each of the above Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide deletion mutants may have an N-terminal methionine which may or may not be encoded by the nucleotide sequence shown in SEQ ID NO:1.
The present invention also provides, in another aspect, pharmaceutical compositions comprising a Ckxcex2-7 polynucleotide, probe, vector, host cell, polypeptide, fragment, variant, derivative, epitope bearing portion, antibody, antagonist or agonist.
In accordance with yet a firther aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process for utilizing such polypeptide, or polynucleotide encoding such polypeptide for therapeutic purposes, for example, for treating rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation, respiratory diseases, allergy, and IgE-mediated allergic reactions, kidney diseases and may be employed for transplantation therapy.
An additional aspect of the invention is related to a method for treating an individual in need of an increased level of Ckxcex2-7 activity in the body comprising administering to such an individual a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of an isolated Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide.
A still further aspect of the invention is related to a method for treating an individual in need of a decreased level of Ckxcex2-7 activity in the body comprising, administering to such an individual a composition comprising a therapeutically effective amount of a Ckxcex2-7 antagonist of the invention. Such antagonists include the full-length and mature Ckxcex2-7 polypeptides shown in FIG. 1 (SEQ ID NO:2), as well as Ckxcex2-7 fragments (e.g., a Ckxcex2-7 fragment having amino acids 22 to 89 in SEQ ID NO:2).
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there are provided antibodies against Ckxcex2-7 polypeptides. In another embodiment, the invention provides an isolated antibody that binds specifically to a Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence described in (a), (b), (c), (d), (e) or (f) above.
The invention further provides methods for isolating antibodies that bind specifically to a Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide having an amino acid sequence as described herein.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, there are provided agonists of Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide activities which mimic the polypeptide of the present invention and thus have one or more Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide activity.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, there are provided chemokine antagonists. These chemokine antagonists may be used to inhibit the action of chemokines, for example, in the treatment of rheumatoid arthritis, inflammation, respiratory diseases, allergy, and IgE-mediated allergic reactions, kidney diseases and may be employed for transplantation therapy.
In accordance with yet a further aspect of the present invention, there is also provided nucleic acid probes comprising nucleic acid molecules of sufficient length to specifically hybridize to anucleic acid sequence of the present invention.
The present invention also provides a screening method for identifying compounds capable of enhancing or inhibiting a cellular response induced by a chemokine polypeptide. This method involves contacting cells which express a receptor to which a chemokine polypeptide binds with the candidate compound, assaying a cellular response induced by the chemokine polypeptide, and comparing the cellular response to a standard cellular response, the standard being assayed when contact is made in absence of the candidate compound; whereby, an increased cellular response over the standard indicates that the compound is an agonist and a decreased cellular response over the standard indicates that the compound is an antagonist. The above referenced receptor will generally be one which binds a chemokine other than Ckxcex2-7, wherein the activity induced by this other chemokine is inhibited by the candidate compound. Often this candidate compound will be a Ckxcex2-7 polypeptide.
These and other aspects of the present invention should be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

Human chemokine xcex2-7 deletion and substitution proteins


The present invention relates to (+)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane and pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, compositions comprising (+)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof, and methods for treating of or preventing relapse of depression, anxiety disorders, eating disorders, or urinary incontinence in a patient comprising administering (+)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof. The (+)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane or pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof is preferably substantially free of its corresponding (−)-enantiomer.

Depression is one of the most common of the mental illnesses, having morbidity rate of over 10% in the general population. Depression is characterized by feelings of intense sadness, despair, mental slowing, loss of concentration, pessimistic worry, agitation, and self-deprecation (Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine 2490–2497 (Fauci et al. eds., 14th ed. 1998)). Depression can have physical manifestations including insomnia, hypersomnia, anorexia, weight loss, overeating, decreased energy, decreased libido, and disruption of normal circadian rhythms of activity, body temperature, and endosine functions. In fact, as many as 10% to 15% of depressed individuals display suicidal behavior. R. J. Baldessarini, Drugs and the Treatment of Psychiatric Disorders: Depression and Mania, in Goodman and Gilman's The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics 431 (9th ed. 1996).
U.S. Pat. No. 4,435,419 to Epstein et al. discloses racemic, (±)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane for use as an anti-depressant agent.
Administration of a racemic, i.e., 50:50, mixture of the (+)- and the (−)-enantiomer of any drug, for example (±)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane, to a patient can be disadvantageous. First, the racemic mixture might be less pharmacologically active than one of its enantiomers, rendering racemic drugs inherently inefficient. Second, the racemic mixture may be more toxic to a patient than one of its enantiomers, so that administration of a racemic mixture can lead to undesirable side effects in a patient.
Accordingly, there is a clear need in the art for an enantiomer of (±)-1-(3,4-dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane, the enantiomer being preferably substantially free of the corresponding opposite enantiomer, which would overcome one or both of the aforementioned disadvantages.
Citation of identification of any reference in Section 2 of this application is not to be construed as an admission that such reference is prior art to the present application.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

(+)-1-(3,4-Dichlorophenyl)-3-azabicyclo[3.1.0]hexane, compositions and uses thereof


A pilot structure, a method, and a receiver for multi-carrier cellular communications defining a specific Time Division Multiplexer/Multiplexing pilot pattern and pilot sequence for a sub-frame with short system information. A primary synchronization sequence is configured to be transmitted every predetermine number of sub-frames in a defined bandwidth. A primary common pilot is configured to be transmitted for each sub-frame. Short system information is configured to be transmitted once per frame to define the pilot structure of sub-frames in a frame period to define a structure of a frame period.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is related to a pilot structure, a method, and a receiver for multi-carrier cellular communications defining a specific Time Division Multiplexer/Multiplexing pilot pattern and pilot sequence for a sub-frame with short system information.
2. Description of the Related Art
Wireless communication systems are widely deployed to provide various types of communication such as voice, packet data, and so on. These systems may be multiple-access systems capable of supporting communication with multiple users sequentially or simultaneously by sharing the available system resources. Examples of such multiple-access systems include Code Division Multiple Access (CDMA) systems, Time Division Multiple Access (TDMA) systems, and Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) systems, other types of multi-carrier access schemes, or any combinations of these.
An accurate estimate of the response of a wireless channel between a transmitter and a receiver is needed in order to effectively transmit data on the available sub-bands. Channel estimation is typically performed by sending a pilot from the transmitter and measuring the pilot at the receiver. Since the pilot is made up of symbols that are known a priori by the receiver, the channel response can be estimated as the relation of the received pilot symbols over the transmitted pilot symbols. This relation may include any channel dependent information as amplitude, phase, frequency shift, angular spread, interference, noise, etc.
Pilot transmission represents overhead in a wireless communication system. Thus, it is desirable to minimize pilot transmission to the extent possible. However, because of noise, fading, Doppler, interference, angular dispersion and other artifacts in the wireless channel, a sufficient amount of pilot energy needs to be transmitted frequently enough in order for the receiver to obtain a reasonably accurate estimate of the time-variant channel response. Because the contributions of physical scatterers and the propagation paths to the channel response vary over time, the pilot transmission needs to be repeated regularly. The time duration over which the wireless channel may be assumed to be relatively constant is often referred to as a channel coherence time. The repeated pilot transmissions need to be spaced significantly closer in time than the channel coherence time to maintain high system performance. Similarly, for a wideband transmission, the pilot spacing in frequency also has to be sufficiently tight, to be able to estimate the full frequency dependent channel, which possibly extends over the coherence band. The coherence time of a channel may depend, for instance, on the velocity of the receiver. The coherence bandwidth of a channel may depend, for instance, on the delay spread of the channel.
In the downlink of a wireless communication system, a single pilot transmission from an access point (or a network element or a base station or a base station controller) may be used by a number of terminals to estimate the response of the distinct channels from the access point to each of the terminals. Furthermore, the pilot signals of different access points need to be separable form each other, from random data and from noise or interference to allow reliable estimation of the channel between the access point and the terminal. In the uplink, the channel from each of the terminals to the access point typically needs to be estimated through separate pilot transmissions from each of the terminals.
A special Short System Information (SSI) message present in every frame provides information pertaining to the wireless communication system, which is receivable by all terminals. Thus, the SSI has to be received by the terminals with good probability in all propagation and mobility conditions, in any reasonable cell deployment, and with any of the specified system bandwidths. In addition to frame synchronization, system bandwidth in a scalable bandwidth system (as Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRA)), and the operation bandwidth is determined by receiving the SSI during the initial synchronization. In handover, the system bandwidth is given in the neighbor list, and decoding of the SSI is actually necessary mainly for frame timing detection. There is, therefore, a need in the art for a pilot structure and method that enables faster and more reliable finding of the system information message during the initial synchronization and during handover (preparation) in all propagation, mobility and interference conditions. The mobility conditions may include a receiver velocity up to 350 km/h.

Multicarrier pilot structure for reliable frame detection


It is known to represent a square block of an image which has a maximum horizontal or vertical extension N as N vectors each representing one column or row, and encode it using an N×N discrete cosine transform matrix. We introduce a technique which transforms an input vector, or array, representing a portion of an arbitrarily-shaped object block in which the maximum horizontal or vertical extension is at most N, by adding to it additional padding elements, to produce a vector or array which can be encoded using an N×N discrete cosine transform. The padding maximises the number of transformed elements which are zero. We propose encoding arbitrarily-shaped objects based on this padding technique.

In various application, a video signal is transmitted in a digital form. In many such applications the available bandwidth is limited, so some form of compression is required. In response to this requirement, various video compression standards or processes have been established, including MPEG-1, MPEG-2, H.26X and MPEG-4. For example, the MPEG-4 video compression process extends conventional block-based video codecs (e.g., H.263 and MPEG-2) to object-based coding of segmented video objects (VOs).
Such standard techniques include the transmission of still images. One of the most frequently used coding techniques for compression of a image is a DCT-based block transform coding, which converts a block of digital image data (for example a block of 8×8 pixels) into a set of transform coefficients. Thus, the original image is converted into such blocks, and each block is subject to the DCT transform, and the transformed block is compressed (normally by a process which involves quantization of each transformed coefficient). The DCT provides a good compromise between the energy packing ability and computational complexity.
The DCT transform matrix can be written as:C=[c(p,q)]N×N with:
                              c                                (                          p              ,              q                        )                          =                                            2              N                                                      c            p                              cos                                                                                p                (                                                      2                                        q                                    +                  1                                )                                          π                                      2                            N                                                          (        1        )            where N is the number of pixels along each side of the N×N block, and p,q=0, . . . , N−1. Here, cp=√{square root over (½)} if p=0 and cp=1 otherwise.
One advantageous feature of the MPEG-4 video compression standard is the ability to encode arbitrarily-shaped video objects (VOs). The separation of video contents into segments or objects has become an emerging key technique for improving the video quality in (very) low bit-rate applications. By transmission of object or segment contour information, annoying coding errors inherent of block-oriented hybrid DPCM/DCT coding schemes (DPCM stands for Differential Pulse Coded Modulation. In most video coding standard, the DC component of a transformed block is usually coded with a DPCM technique), such as mosquito noise and blocking artefacts, can be avoided to a certain extent, or sometimes to a great extent.
An efficient DCT is desirable for coding objects (note that the term "object" is used herein to refer also to a single segment of a larger object, e.g. a segment of an image) of arbitrary shapes. Generally, an object may contain a number of complete blocks (which may be coded using conventional DCT) and a number of blocks consisting of both pixels which are in the object and pixels which are not. The latter type of blocks often provide the boundary for the object, and accordingly they are sometimes referred to as boundary blocks. The object pixels in the boundary blocks may be at any positions within the blocks, and thus the set of object pixels may be of any shape. Computationally complex shape-adaptive DCT (SA-DCT) algorithms have been proposed in the literature, either based on the calculation of shape-adaptive orthogonal sets of DCT basis functions, for example see U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,212, or based on a DCT coefficient zeroing (H. H. Chen, M. R. Civanlar, and B. G. Haskell, "A block transform coder for arbitrarily-shaped image segments", Proc. Int. Conf. on Image Processing (ICIP), vol. 1, 1994, pp. 85-89). While the former method relies on expensive calculation of DCT basis functions for every different segment shape, the latter one employs the normal N×N DCT (N=8 typically) with additional numerical optimisation so as to minimise the number of DCT coefficients to be coded. A more efficient algorithm is proposed in (T. Sikora, "Low complexity shape-adaptive DCT for coding of arbitrarily shaped image segments", Signal Processing: Image Communication, vol. 7, no. 4-6, Nov. 1995, pp. 381-395; and P. Kauff and K. Schuur, "Shape-adaptive DCT with block-based DC separation and Δ-DC correction"). This algorithm is here denoted as the standard SA-DCT hereafter, based on some pre-defined sets of separable DCT basis functions. A given row (or column) of the block is transformed using a DCT matrix corresponding generally to equation (1) but in which the order of the DCT matrix is not N, but instead is a value K, which is the number of object pixels in the row (or column). In other words, a different transformation matrix is used for each value of K. Standard SA-DCT can be viewed as an approximation of the method outlined in see U.S. Pat. No. 5,666,212. One important feature of the standard SA-DCT is that it results in exactly the same number of non-zero transformed coefficients as the number of pixels within the original input data block (of an arbitrary shape). Furthermore, after SA-DCT, the coefficients are generally located at the low frequency corner, and are thus quite desirable for the subsequent processing such as zig-zag scan and non-uniform quantization. Note that there are some DCT-domain positions undefined by the standard SA-DCT. A modified shape-adaptive zig-zag scan method which skips these un-defined positions (if necessary) is adopted in the framework of the MPEG-4 verification model to increase the coding efficiency.
A disadvantage of standard SA-DCT is that since standard SA-DCT employs not just an 8×8 DCT matrix, but also DCT matrices for each value of K, it cannot be implemented using known chipsets which implement 8×8 DCT in a highly efficient manner.
It is clear that to employ eqn. (1) directly, an N×N image block has to be fully defined before the transform can take place. However, since for all boundary blocks, only part of an N×N block belongs to the object, some kind of padding has to be performed so as to pad an arbitrary shape back to the normal block of size N×N.
Intuitively, the simplest padding technique is perhaps to repeat the boundary pixels to fill all undefined positions. In the MPEG-4 video standards, a sophisticated padding scheme has been developed. This scheme is basically a low-pass extrapolation (LPE), performed in three steps as summarized in T. Ebrahimi, "MPEG-4 video verification model version 11.0", ISO/IEC JTC1/SC29WG11, MPEG98/N2172, March 1998, Tokyo:    1. Calculate the arithmetic mean value m of all block pixels situated within the object region.    2. Assign m to each block pixel outside the object region.    3. Apply the following transform to each block pixel outside the object region in a recursive manner, starting from the top-left of the block and proceeding row by row to the bottom.
                                          f            ~                                          (                          i              ,              j                        )                          =                                            f                                            (                                                      i                    -                    1                                    ,                  j                                )                                      +                          f                                            (                                  i                  ,                                      j                    -                    1                                                  )                                      +                          f                                            (                                  i                  ,                                      j                    +                    1                                                  )                                      +                          f                                            (                                                      i                    +                    1                                    ,                  j                                )                                              2                                    (        2        )
In Step 3, if one or more pixels used for filtering are outside the block, the corresponding pixels are not included into the filtering operation and the divisor 4 is reduced accordingly.
Another padding method has recently been proposed in J.-W. Yi, S.-J. Cho, W.-J. Kim, S.-D. Kim, and S.-J. Lee, "A new coding algorithm for arbitrarily shaped image segments", Signal Processing: Image Communication, vol. 12, no. 3, June, 1998, pp. 231-242. It is based on an extension-interpolation (EI) scheme and is thus denoted here as the EI method.
The idea is as follows: (1) A K-point DCT is done for each column or row (of length K) in a boundary block, (2) N−K zeros are added to the rear of the DCT coefficient vector, and (3) an N-point IDCT is performed on the new transformed coefficient vector.
In practice, these three steps can be implemented together via a multiplication matrix of dimension N−K in the pixel domain, as derived in J.-W. Yi, S.-J. Cho, W.-J. Kim, S.-D. Kim, and S.-J. Lee, "A new coding algorithm for arbitrarily shaped image segments", Signal Processing: Image Communication, vol. 12, no. 3, June, 1998, pp. 231-242.
Since human visual system is not as sensitive to high frequency details as to low frequency components, it is known to increase the quantization step-size from low frequency positions to high frequency positions.
Unlike SA-DCT, the LPE scheme adopted in MPEG-4 will always produce N2 DCT coefficients, which are generally non-zero before quantization, for each padded data block (of size N×N). Similarly, the number of non-zero transformed coefficients generated in the EI method will also be greater than the number of pixels within the original pixel block. This is undesirable: the data set has been expanded after DCT, leading to large reconstruction errors if big quantization steps are used to force some of the high frequency components to be zero, or high bit rate if fine quantization steps are used to keep the reconstruction error small.

Method and apparatus for coding an image object of arbitrary shape

The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology


Apparatus for determining whether cornea (vitro or in vivo) has been modified (surgically or otherwise). The method includes the steps of: passing a beam of collimated light through the cornea to produce a distorted wavefront; determining the characteristics of the distorted wavefront; and analyzing the distorted wavefront for characteristics that identify the presence of a modification. The analysis of the distorted wavefront can be for the presence of higher order aberrations, or Gausian characteristics which are indicative of modifications. The method includes the steps of providing an optical system that has a pupil plane and an image plane at a detector; positioning the cornea in the pupil plane; passing a collimated beam of light through the cornea to produce at least two images in the image plane; determining the characteristics of the distorted wavefront; and analyzing the distorted wavefront for characteristics that identify the presence of a modification.

In the United States about 40,000 corneal transplant operations are performed each year. While success of such surgery may depend upon a number of other factors, one factor that always has an effect on the outcome is the condition of the donor cornea. In the United States, a donor cornea must be transplanted within 7 days of harvesting. Outside the United States donor corneas may be used up to 14 days after harvesting. Additionally, it is essential to use only corneas which have not been modified (e.g., the subject of photorefractive surgery).
The growth of refractive surgery over the last five years has been dramatic. In the August 2000 issue of Archives of Ophthalmology, P. J. McDonnell, M.D. states that this year alone over 1,500,000 refractive procedures will be performed. As beneficial as these procedures are, the individual corneas are permanently altered, which makes them unsuitable for corneal transplanting.
The increase in refraction surgery increases the likelihood that a modified cornea will be harvested for transplant purposes. Unfortunately, it is generally not possible to conclusively tell, either visually or under a microscope, whether such a donor cornea has been subjected to a surgical procedure or otherwise altered.
Even when properly stored in a container (e.g., a Chiron Ophtholmics cornea container) filled with Optisol® or another appropriate solution, a donated cornea changes optically in the 14 day time period referenced above. The interior starts to develop optical scatter sources and the optical power of the cornea changes. The scatter resources manifest themselves as randomly distributed optical aberrations which increase over time. It is believed that this is caused by the cells of the harvested cornea not being able to reject waste material. The change in optical power is believed to be caused by an overall relaxation of the tissue. Regardless of the cause, the net result is that these aberrations produce scintillation and static aberrations when a beam of light is passed through a donated cornea.
PCT/GB99/00658 (International Publication No. WO 99/467768), based on applications filed in Great Britain on Mar. 10, 1998 and Dec. 23, 1998, discloses a three dimensional imaging system including a lens and a distorted diffraction grating which images objects located at different distances from the grating simultaneously and spatially separated in a single image plane. The grating is distorted according to a quadratic function so as to cause the images to be formed under different focus conditions. It is stated that the system is useful for simultaneously imaging multiple layers within a three dimensional object field, and has applicability in a number of fields including optical information storage, imaging short-time scale phenomena, microscopy, imaging three dimensional object structures, passive ranging, laser beam profiling, wavefront analysis, and millimeter wave optics. The ability to make wavefront measurements is not disclosed or claimed.
P. M. Blanchard et al., "Multi-Plane Imaging With a Distorted Grating," Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Adaptive Optics for Industry and Medicine, World Scientific, pp. 296-301, 12-16 July 1999, describe a technique for simultaneously imaging multiple layers within an object field onto the detector plane of a single detector. The authors, who are the named inventors in PCT/GB99/00658, state that the imaging of multiple layers within an object field is "useful in many applications including microscopy, medical imaging and data storage." (See page 296.) The apparatus includes the use of a binary diffraction grating in which the lines are distorted such at each different level of defocus is associated with each diffraction order. When such a grating is placed in close proximity to a lens, the grating creates multiple foci of the image. This multi-foci effect enables the imaging of multiple object planes onto a single image plane.
L. J. Otten et al. "3-D Cataract Imaging System," Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop in Adaptive Optics for Industry and Medicine, World Scientific, pp. 51-56, describe optics and an associated diagnostic system for volumetric, in vivo imaging of the human lens to characterize or grade cataracts. The described method and apparatus are based on the use of a distorted grating (of the type disclosed in PCT/GB99/00658 and the Blanchard et al. paper, supra) in conjunction with a focusing lens and a re-imaging lens. (See FIG. 1 of this reference.) The quadratic phase shift, introduced by the grating, leads to a different degree of defocus in all diffraction orders, which produces a series of images of different layers of the cataract, each with different defocus conditions, simultaneously and side-by-side on the detector. Thus, in-focus images of different object planes are produced.
Analysis of the optical images referenced above requires the use of the Intensity Transport Equation (I.T.E.) and the employment of a Green's function to produce a wavefront map. S. Woods, P. M. Blanchard and A. H. Greenaway, "Laser Wavefront Sensing Using the Intensity Transport Equation," Proceedings of the 2nd International Workshop on Adaptive Optics for Industry and Medicine, World Scientific, pp. 260-265, 12-16 July 1999, describe both the I.T.E. and a Green's function solution thereto in conjunction with laser wavefront sensing.


A toilet instruction method and apparatus is described in which toilet use is monitored and one or more audible messages is produced which instruct users of the toilet regarding next steps in toilet use and hygiene. The apparatus includes a housing which is removably attachable to the toilet. A switch arm extends from the housing and is coupled with the toilet flush handle. An audio speaker is partly enclosed within the housing and produces the audible messages. Electronic circuitry enclosed within the housing receives a switch activity signal indicative of the position of the switch arm and responsively activates production of the audible messages. The electronic circuitry includes a message storage unit for storing a plurality of messages.

Learning about toilet use and hygiene is an important stage in a child's development. Adults assist the child to learn the various steps involved, including lowering the toilet seat and lid, flushing the toilet, and properly washing hands following completed use of the toilet. Typically, children enjoy and have no difficulty learning to regularly flush the toilet. However, lowering the seat lid and properly washing hands is oftentimes the subject of repeated reminders.
Apparently, a number of adults (particularly men) never successfully complete their training in properly using the toilet. Given the frequency of letters to advice columnists on this subject, a significant number of grown men fail to complete one or more of the steps necessary to properly use the toilet. A number of attempts have been made to address the particular problem of properly lowering the toilet seat and lid. Devices have been constructed which automatically lower the toilet seat and/or lid. Other devices include lighted reminders to lower the toilet seat, or which set off an alarm in the event the toilet seat and/or lid is not lowered. In spite of the existence of such devices, a continued need exists for a method and apparatus which more effectively facilitates the various steps included in proper toilet use and hygiene.

Method and apparatus for instruction in toilet use and hygiene


A steel powder consisting of a combination of purified steel and prealloyed manganese, chromium, molybdenum and nickel. The steel powder is used in the production of metal parts using powder metallurgy. The addition of the prealloyed elements results in a metal part having greater strength and hardness with a low oxygen content and good compressibility.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to alloy powders, in particular, to compositions of such powders useful for forming high hardness metal parts by powder metallurgy (P/M), and to processes for making and using such compositions.
2. Brief Description of the Background Art
Powder metallurgy is a process of imparting high pressure to highly purified, substantially uniform ferrous powders to produce ferrous parts with high densities. The process is also known as "pressure forging." Sinterhardening is a P/M process in which P/M parts transform partially or completely into martensite during the cooling phase of a sintering cycle.
In both P/M and sinterhardening, minor amounts of secondary metals are typically added to the base P/M material to improve its hardenability. In order to achieve optimum hardenability, prealloying techniques are generally preferable to elemental additions.
Manganese is added to typical commercial steels in the range of 0.25 to 1.0% to increase strength and hardenability of plain carbon steels. Chromium is also commonly added to improve hardenability, strength and wear resistance of conventional steels. However, in steel powders for use in powder metallurgy, e.g., powders having an average particle size of from 55 to 100 microns, manganese and chromium contents are generally maintained below 0.3% in order to reduce oxide formation during annealing, "Design Criteria for the Manufacturing of Low Alloy Steel Powders", Advances in Powder Metallurgy, vol. 5, 1991, pp. 45-58.
Molybdenum and nickel are commonly used in low alloy P/M steel powders because their oxides are easily reduced during the annealing treatment of the water-atomized powders. Molybdenum and nickel efficiently increase the strength and the hardenability of steels, while nickel also increases the strength, toughness and fatigue resistance of the steel, S. H. Avner, Introduction to Physical Metallurgy, McGraw-Hill, N.Y., 1974, pp. 349-361. These elements are however more expensive than manganese and chromium and are subject to large price variations which have an obvious deleterious effect on the steel powder price.
Sinterhardening is an attractive technique for the manufacturing of high hardness P/M parts because it eliminates the need for post-sintering heat treatment, thus significantly reducing processing costs. Furthermore, high thermal stresses and part distortion resulting from conventional quenching are avoided, providing improved control of final part dimensions. Previous techniques for producing low alloy steel powders for P/M application include acid treatment to remove the oxide layer in U.S. Pat. No. 3,764,295 to Hoganas and use of high carbon (0.1 to 0.70%) in the annealed powder in British Patent No. 1,564,737. In contrast, the present invention eliminates the acid treatment while maintaining oxygen and carbon at low concentrations in order to improve compressibility and minimize powder oxidation during the atomizing and annealing process. Because of these parameters, the present invention is capable of producing a steel powder with high hardenability and minimal oxygen content.

Low alloy steel powders for sinterhardening


An intake system is provided for a barrel internal combustion engine. The intake system includes a main air inlet, an intake plenum for a plurality of combustion cylinders, a first throttle, a second throttle and a control unit. The first throttle is operative to control a flow of air from the main air inlet, through a charging unit, and to the intake plenum. The second throttle is operative to control a flow of air from the air inlet to the intake plenum. The control unit controls the operation of the first and second throttles in supercharged or normally aspirated modes, where the first throttle operates as a main throttle and the second throttle is closed in the supercharged mode, and where the first throttle is closed and the second throttle operates as the main throttle in the naturally aspirated mode.

Internal combustion engines are widely used for powering vehicles. Internal combustion engines include an intake manifold for receiving and directing air to a throttle, wherein the air is mixed with fuel and introduced into a cylinder and piston arrangement for combustion. The combustion causes reciprocating movement of the piston, which in turn is converted to torque usable for moving the vehicle. The products of the combustion are then expelled through an exhaust.
Supercharger and turbocharger systems (chargers) are commonly used for increasing the torque or power output of the engine. Chargers basically increase the pressure and density in the intake manifold. The increased pressure and density of air provided by the charger allows more fuel to be ignited, which results in a more powerful combustion stroke in the engine's cylinders. Superchargers are mechanically driven by the vehicle crankshaft, while turbochargers are driven by a flow of exhaust gases. Conventional charger systems, however, are typically continuously operative while the engine is running.
Accordingly, it remains desirable to provide an intake system that provides enhanced efficiency by allowing ambient operation of the engine during light loading conditions and super- or turbo-charged operation of the engine under heavy loading conditions.

Intake system for a barrel internal combustion engine


Acentric, tetragonal lithium borate crystals are disclosed along with a hydrothermal method for forming such crystals. The crystals possess unique optical, non-linear optical, and other photonic properties and may be formed of sufficient size to be useful in a wide variety of photonic devices. In addition, the disclosed crystals are very hard and can be used in specialty grinding applications such as for grinding optical components for deep UV applications.

It is well established that there is a constantly evolving need for new materials for optical devices and that the demands for quality are particularly high in the case of single crystals used in optical devices.
Recently there has been an increasing demand for materials that allow for the manipulation of light in the near UV, the UV and the deep UV. This region is roughly defined as light with wavelengths between 150 nm and 350 nm.
A particular need in this region is for coherent radiation with a completely solid state source. A fully solid state laser is desirable because such are generally compact, reliable, and rugged, with low power demands. In general, all-solid-state lasers capable of direct emission of coherent radiation in the UV region are not yet readily available.
Instead, the systems currently in use are very expensive, containing complex optical components that focus and refine coherent radiation.
A potentially superior alternative is to use IR diode laser sources to excite lasing ions such as Nd:YAG which emit in the IR (e.g. 1064 nm) and then employ a non-linear optical (NLO) crystal to generate second, third or fourth harmonics to multiply the frequency of the coherent radiation.
It is the acentricity of such NLO crystals that enables them to alter coherent radiation of one or more frequencies by frequency doubling or sum frequency generation. Thus, for example, two photons of 1064 nm wavelength can be frequency doubled by an appropriate acentric crystal to form one photon of 532 nm radiation. This ability to frequency sum and divide is a very important source of new coherent radiation wavelengths. The ability to alter the frequency of coherent radiation is generally referred to as non-linear optical (NLO) behavior. The general requirements of suitable NLO crystals are that they must form in an acentric structure and should preferably exist in a uniaxial structure for phase matching purposes. They should also be large enough (typically greater than 1×2×2 mm) for polishing and orientation in devices. They should also be of high optical quality, namely containing few impurities, defects or twinning
The most common inorganic crystals currently employed for NLO applications are K(TiO)PO4 (commonly referred to as KTP) and LiNbO3 (commonly referred to as LN). Both materials exhibit suitable NLO behavior in the visible region but their bandgaps are too narrow to exhibit satisfactory NLO behavior below 400 nm. Thus, there is a current demand for materials that have very wide bandgaps but display NLO behavior so they are suitable for use in the UV region as defined above. This is particularly the case for the next generation of ultra high-resolution photolithography. In this field it is anticipated that there will be demands for a wide variety of optical components capable of manipulating photons in the region between 120 nm and 200 nm. The list of demands for suitable UV NLO materials is well known. The crystals must be in an acentric space group for harmonic generation, have bandgaps wider than 200 nm (between 120 and 200 nm), good thermal stability and a very high optical damage threshold. Finally, they must be able to be grown as optical quality single crystals greater than several millimeters in size.
The primary class of compounds exhibiting this behavior is the metal borates. Borates generally have wide bandgaps (175-300 nm), high optical damage thresholds, and show a marked tendency to crystallize in acentric space groups. Thus, they are excellent materials for non-linear optical applications involving lasers with wavelengths below about 300 nm. Specifically, borates have recently received attention as potential NLO materials in the near UV, UV and deep UV. Several borate materials have recently been employed in commercial applications in UV optical devices. These include beta barium borate (β-BaB2O4, commonly referred to as BBO), LiB3O5 (commonly referred to as LBO) and CsLiB6O10 (commonly referred to as CLBO). Several other borates have also been proposed as potential UV NLO materials including Sr2Be2B2O7 (commonly referred to as SBBO) and YCaOBO3 (commonly referred to as YCOB). The primary limitation for full-scale employment of borate materials is based on the ability to grow high quality crystals of sufficient size for use in a device containing a coherent light beam. Borates often either decompose when they melt or, instead, tend to form highly viscous melts. These factors inhibit growth of good quality single crystals. The primary methods of growth are typically flux or stop seeded solution techniques requiring very high temperature. However, it is often difficult or impossible to grow large borate crystals of sufficient optical quality by either method.
Very small microcrystallites of tetragonal lithium borate of the formula LiBO2 with a uniaxial acentric structure have been formed by the simultaneous application of extremely high temperatures and pressures. These microcrystallites were incapable of scaleup to useful products, as they have dimensions of less than 1 mm on any side. Accordingly, this technologically demanding method prevents any foreseeable route to crystals of useful size or quantity.
Hydrothermal techniques are an excellent route to high quality single crystals for electro-optic applications. For example, all electronic grade quartz is grown commercially by the hydrothermal method. Further, KTP is grown by both flux and hydrothermal methods, and it is widely acknowledged by those familiar with the art that the hydrothermally grown product is generally of superior quality. The hydrothermal method involves the use of superheated water (liquid water heated above its boiling point) under pressure to cause transport of soluble species from a nutrient rich zone to a supersaturated growth zone. Generally, a seed crystal is placed in the growth zone to serve as a deposition site for growth, and supersaturation is achieved by the use of differential temperature gradients. The superheated fluid is generally contained under pressure, typically 5-30 kpsi, in a metal autoclave. Depending on the chemical demands of the system the autoclave can be lined with a noble metal using either a fixed or floating liner. These general techniques are well known to those of ordinary skill in the art and have been used for the growth of other electro-optic crystals, such as KTP and quartz.
Another need in deep UV optical component applications is for new grit material for grinding optical windows, mirrors, prisms and other optical components. Photonic applications in the deep UV, particularly, but not limited to 157 nm photolithography, require high quality material with bandgaps wider than 157 nm. The current materials of choice in these applications are CaF2 and MgF2. Both have very wide bandgaps but are somewhat soft and require extensive polishing for suitable use in photonic applications. The choice of polishing grit is particularly important because the softness of the fluorides invariably causes small amounts of grit to become embedded in the material resulting in imperfections in, for example, a finished photolithography map. Thus, it is important to use a very hard material with a bandgap greater than the wavelength in use. Finding a suitable grit for grinding wide bandgap optical components is difficult because few hard material such as nitrides, carbides, borides or metal oxides have a sufficiently wide bandgaps, while metal halides are rarely of sufficient hardness to serve as grit.

Acentric lithium borate crystals, method for making, and applications thereof


A method for extracting components includes the steps of heating an electronic device having one or more components to a predetermined temperature so as to substantially weaken a bonding substance arranged to bond the one or more components to the electronic device, and thereafter manipulating the electronic device to extract the one or more components from the electronic device.

Modern electronic devices such as computers, mobile phones and electronic control circuits contain various electronic components and circuitry which may be of specific value. Often when an electronic device such as a computer or Smartphone is no longer in operational condition, the electronic components used within the device may still be perfectly functional as certain electronic components can often outlast the life of the device itself.
As an example, certain electronic components such as central processing units (CPU), memory chips, programmable arrays, graphic processors, program counters or any other electronic components or integrated circuits may be considered more valuable than other components which are used in an electronic device. Accordingly, should an electronic device such as a control board of a smart phone or computer become redundant or partially damaged, it may well be that some of these electronic components on the control board of the device can be reused in other devices.
However, due to the manner in which these components are usually used in the manufacturing of an electronic device, it may be difficult to extract any individual components. In modern electronic devices, electronic components are usually bonded onto an electronic device, such as a control board, with the intention that the electronic component will not be removed from the board. This makes it difficult and costly to remove the components for reuse or recycling.

System and method for extracting components


One embodiment provides a method, including: receiving two documents, one of the two documents having at least one table that includes the same information as a corresponding table in the other of the two documents, wherein (i) one of the two documents comprises the at least one table in an unstructured table representation and (ii) the other of the two documents comprises the at least one table in a structured table representation; identifying text elements within the at least one table in the unstructured table representation; matching the identified text elements with table elements within the at least one table in the structured table representation; and annotating the at least one table in the structured table representation based upon the matches between the table elements and text elements.

Deep learning models are a type of machine learning model whose training is based upon learning data representations as opposed to task-specific learning. In other words, deep or machine learning is the ability of a computer to learn without being explicitly programmed to perform some function. Thus, machine learning allows a programmer to initially program an algorithm that can be used to predict responses to data, without having to explicitly program every response to every possible scenario that the computer may encounter. In other words, machine learning uses algorithms that the computer uses to learn from and make predictions with regard to data. Machine learning provides a mechanism that allows a programmer to program a computer for computing tasks where design and implementation of a specific algorithm that performs well is difficult or impossible.
To implement machine learning, models or training datasets are created to train the machine-learning model. The training datasets are then provided to the machine-learning model to effectively teach the model regarding how the model should react to different types of data. As the machine-learning model is presented with more and more data, the model is able to make predictions with respect to new data that the model has never digested or been presented with before. The datasets may also be used to test a machine-learning model to ensure that the machine-learning model is performing as expected.

Automated non-native table representation annotation for machine-learning models

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A gas injector including a tube extending into the hollow enclosure of a housing. The hollow enclosure of the housing is connected with gas pressure. The outside end of the tube being extendable into the cavity of a plastic material injection mold. That end of the tube defines a valve seat. A valve is seatable on the seat. A rod on the valve extends through the tube into the hollow enclosure of the housing. A spring in a cup shape support normally urges the rod to move the valve onto the valve seat. A solenoid plunger acting on the rod and activated by an electromagnet moves the rod against the spring to raise the valve off the valve seat.

The present invention relates to a gas injector for molding plastic hollow parts in an injection mold.
The injector includes a housing with a hollow enclosure or cavity within the housing.
The injector of the invention includes a tube connected through the hollow enclosure with a source of pressurized gas. The tube is designed to open out at its end into the cavity of an injection mold for molding plastic material to cause swelling of the plastic material and for making a hollow molded part. At that open end, the tube forms the seat of a sealing valve. The valve has a rod that extends inside the tube. A spring acting on the rod effects closure of the valve against the seat. This rod is also subject to the action of a type of motor means which are equipped with control means to open the valve against the spring force.
According to another feature of the invention, the spring is mounted in the enclosure or the cavity to surround the rod. One end of the spring bears against a cup which is integral with the rod and the other end bears against an end of the cavity.
The motor means comprises an electromagnet with a solenoid plunger. The electromagnet mounted at the other end of the enclosure from the valve causes the plunger to act axially on the rod to open the valve against the spring force.
Accordingly, the present invention has for its object the production of a gas injector with reliable operation, and particularly without the danger of the injection tube becoming clogged with plastic material that might flow back into the injection tube. Such flow back would in each case require the molding machine to be stopped causing loss of productivity associated with the time spent on taking down, cleaning and replacing the injectors.
Correct operation of the injector without clogging, even only without partial clogging, also produces better quality molded parts and assures constant quality. This substantially reduces the number of defective parts, which might have to be scrapped.
The improvement results from the fact that the injector of the invention makes it possible to bring a volume of gas that is constant from one operation to the next into the cavity of the mold within a specific period. This enables production of a hollow part of specific volume and shape to be repeated from one hollow part to the next, without the plastic part presenting local wall areas of a thickness that is abnormally too thin or too thick. This would create areas of too rapid cooling or too slow cooling on the part, resulting, at the very least, in appearance faults of the molded part.

Gas injector for the molding of plastic hollow parts


A method of interfacing with a media accelerator which includes providing a commands layer, providing a capabilities layer, and providing a discontinuity layer. The commands layer sends commands to the media accelerator. The capabilities layer obtains application capabilities from an application. The discontinuity layer provides discontinuity commands to the media accelerator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to media accelerators, and more particularly to application program interfaces (APIs) for use with media accelerators.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known to provide a software interface to interact between various aspects of a program or between various devices. This software interface is often referred to as an application program interface (API). Programmers rely on software interfaces so that they can focus on the specifics of their application rather than on the specifics of controlling a particular program or device.
Because they are designed for specific tasks, peripherals may be better at performing certain types of functions than the host processor. For example, a video card may have special purpose hardware that can copy pixels much faster than the CPU. A general software interface may not take advantage of this particular feature or may include additional layers of code that consume valuable processor cycles and time before the operation is even started on the peripheral.
One possible design for multimedia applications incorporates a host processor and a companion media processor. It is desirable to provide an application program interface for interfacing between the host processor and the companion media processor.


A module and a method of making the module is disclosed. The module is fod from a semiconductor and a silicon carbide chip for high temperature applications. The module is designed to be compatible with current silicon IC processes.

High temperature circuits are becoming a reality with the advent of silicon carbide substrate. Recent developments include a circuit that can withstand temperatures of up to 300.degree. C. for short periods of time. These circuits generally comprise silicon carbide transistors, resistive and capacitive elements and metallic interconnects mounted on an aluminum oxide substrate (ceramic). While ceramics can withstand high temperature, the material used to bond the discrete device to the substrate can not. Subjected to these high temperatures, the bonding material melts, breaks down, or degrades. Alternate bonding mediums can be cumbersome to use and do not have high temperature properties.
Currently, bonding silicon carbide to a substrate is conducted in a bond and etch back technique for fusing two silicon waters together, leaving a silicon dioxide layer in between. While this process produces a carbide/substrate module, these cannot hold up to the high temperature applications as our instant invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,494 to Arnold Reisman discloses a process for bonding first and second ceramic parts which may be bonded by forming bonding layers of silicon dioxide, silicon, metal or metal oxide on the parts, placing the bonding adjacent layers next to each other and heating in an oxidizing atmosphere to form an oxide bond therebetween. A layer of silicon dioxide may be formed on the first and second ceramic parts prior to bonding first and second ceramic parts. Reisman's bonding technique is used for bonding two ceramic parts at temperature lower than their melting points.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,352,120 to Kurihara et al. discloses a method of bonding silicon carbide to silicon carbide by forming silicon dioxide on at least one of the surfaces to be bonded. A conductive layer, for example copper, is then evaporated on one silicon dioxide surface and the two surfaces are solder-bonded together.

Bonding of silicon carbide chip with a semiconductor

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


Provided is a method for producing an oxime compound with satisfactory selectivity. Provide is a method for producing an oxime represented by the following formula (II):

An oxime is useful as a starting material of a lactam, and also a starting material of a synthetic fiber. WO 2005/009613 A describes, as a method for producing the oxime compound (II), for example, a method in which a primary amine is oxidized with oxygen in the copresence of a hydrazyl radical or a hydrazine compound, and an oxidation promoter such as titanium oxide.

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 are respectively the same as defined below, the method including oxidizing an amine represented by the following formula (I):

Abstract: wherein R1 and R2 each independently represents a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group, or an optionally substituted heterocyclic group (provided that R1 and R2 are not simultaneously hydrogen atoms), orR1 and R2, together with the carbon atom to which R1 and R2 are attached, form an optionally substituted alicyclic hydrocarbon group having 3 to 12 carbon atoms [hereinafter sometimes referred to as the amine compound (I)],with oxygen in the presence of a layered silicate.


An L-mode guided wave sensor 10 for inspecting an inspection target by using an L-mode guided wave. The L-mode guided wave sensor 10 is provided with a vibrator 3 which is attached to an inspection target 1, and a coil 5 which is wound around the vibrator 3 and to which an AC voltage is applied. The vibrator 3 is made of a ferromagnetic material.

An L-mode guided wave is generated, for example, by a configuration in FIG. 1. In FIG. 1, a coil 21 is wound around an inspection target 1 (pipe in the diagram), and a magnet 23 is attached to the inspection target 1. If an alternating current is passed through the coil 21 in this state, an alternating-current magnetic field is generated. By use of magnetic force resulting from this alternating-current magnetic field and a magnetic field resulting from the magnet 23, the inspection target 1 which is a ferromagnetic body is vibrated by a magnetostrictive effect, and a guided wave which is a kind of a sound wave is thereby generated. The generated guided wave propagates through the inspection target 1 along its longitudinal direction.
A reflected wave of the guided wave is detected to inspect the soundness of the inspection target 1. The guided wave is reflected as a reflected wave by a discontinuous part in the inspection target 1 and by a change in the cross-sectional area of the inspection target 1. By detecting the reflected wave, the soundness of the inspection target 1 is inspected. Regarding the soundness of the inspection target 1, for example, the inspection target 1 is inspected for defects such as a scarred or corroded part.
As compared with a sound wave used in general sound wave inspections, the guided wave attenuates less and enables the soundness of the inspection target 1 to be inspected over a wide range of the inspection target 1. The sound wave used in general sound wave inspections has, for example, a high frequency of 5 MHz and a small wavelength of 0.6 mm, and accordingly easily attenuates. In contrast, the above-mentioned guided wave has, for example, a low frequency of several kHz to several ten kHz and a great wavelength of 100 mm, and accordingly does not easily attenuate.
For example, as prior art of the present application, there is Patent Literature (PTL) 1 specified below.

IHI INSPECTION AND INSTRUMENTATION CO., LTD.


Methods are provided for promoting longevity and decreasing the incidence of ageing associated pathologies (e.g. cancer) by the administration of one or more of the following LFFA: linoleic, oleic, and palmitic acid. Secondary LFFA derived from this set, as well as their CoA derivatives and synthetic analogs, are effective also in promoting longevity and delaying the onset of age associated disorders. In addition, interventions including LFFA and CoA LFFA formulations are described which protect the organism from acute physical stress, tissue damage, and hypoxia, either due to trauma or secondary to surgical procedures.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention is directed to methods for increased longevity, delay of aging associated disorders, protection from acute physical stress and induction of regeneration and healing by administration of Long chain Free Fatty Acids (LFFA) and CoA derivatives of Long chain Free Fatty Acids (CoALFFA) in mammals.
2. Review of Related Art
Sixty years of active investigation has conclusively demonstrated that reduced caloric intake extends life span in a wide variety of animal species, including mammals (e.g., mice and rats) (Ingram, D. K. et al., "The Potential for Nutritional Modulation of the Aging Process," Food and Nutrition Press (1991)). Moreover, the incidence of pathologies associated with aging in rodents are also delayed by caloric restriction (CR) (Roth, G. S. et al., Nature Medicine 1:414-415 (1995) and Weindruch, R., Scientific American: 46-52 (January 1996)) More recently, on-going CR studies using primates seem to mimic comparable biochemical changes observed in rodents (Roth, et al., 1995), and, by extension, the same effects should be expected to occur in humans subjected to caloric restriction.
Several hypotheses have been proposed to explain the mechanism(s) underlying the beneficial effects of CR, and some of these have been discarded. Today, it is accepted that the anti-aging effects of CR are not mediated by a retardation in growth and development, or by a reduction in body fat of animals subjected to caloric restriction. Still under investigation is the hypothesis that the beneficial effects of CR are due to a reduction in oxidative damage secondary to the generation of oxygen radicals (Weindruch, R., 1996). Support for this hypothesis is derived from studies demonstrating a reduction in lipid peroxidation and induction of the enzyme Superoxide Dismutase (Heydari, A. R. et al., Annals N.Y. Academy Science 663-384-395 (1992) and Yu, B. P., "Free Radicals in Aging" CRC Press (1993)) in animals subjected to caloric restriction. Another hypothesis that has received considerable attention attributes the beneficial effects of CR to the induction of "protective genes". Investigators pursuing this hypothesis have demonstrated the induction of genes coding for SOD, HRP-70 and A2u-globulin and concluded that the effects of CR regulate gene expression at the transcriptional level (Heydari, A. R. et al., (1992). Most recently, using a genomics based approach to analyze gene expression in the skeletal muscles of aged and CR mice, it was proposed that CR retards the aging process by causing a metabolic shift resulting in increased protein turnover and decreased macromolecular damage (Lee, et al., 1999, Science, 285:1390-1393).
Although it is likely that protection against oxidative damage, and the induction of protective genes may play a role in the beneficial effects of CR, the underlying mechanism(s) involved remain a mystery.

Therapeutic intervention to mimic the effect of caloric restriction


A semiconductor device including a pumping capacitor for inducing a high voltage, a switching circuit for transferring the high voltage induced by the pumping capacitor and a switching control circuit for controlling the switching circuit, wherein the switching control circuit includes a first capacitor for inducing a switching control voltage to a first node in response to an oscillation signal, a first switching MOS transistor for transferring the switching control voltage applied to the first node to a second node, and a first turn-on controller for maintaining the first switching MOS transistor to be turned on, and allowing a voltage below a predetermined voltage difference to be applied between the first node and a gate of the first switching MOS transistor.

The present invention relates to a semiconductor device; and, more particularly, to a high voltage generation circuit for use in the semiconductor device.
As well-known in the art, a semiconductor memory device is a semiconductor device that stores a lot of data and reads out the stored data. In order to effectively store and read out a lot of data, the semiconductor memory device generates various internal voltages required for its internal operation by using a power supply voltage and a ground voltage provided from outside. For example, as the internal voltages, there are a core voltage used as a driving voltage in a data storage area in which a lot of data are stored, a driving voltage for peripheral areas used in peripheral areas for outputting the data stored in the data storage area outside or providing data received from the outside thereto, and a high voltage and a low voltage used for effective control of a MOS transistor arranged in the data storage area. Among these voltages, the high voltage generally refers to a voltage having a level higher than that of a power supply voltage by a certain level. This high voltage is mainly provided to a gate of the MOS transistor disposed in the data storage area. On the other hand, the low voltage generally refers to a voltage having a level lower than that of a ground voltage by a certain level. This low voltage is mainly used as a bulk voltage of the MOS transistor in the data storage area.
A conventional high voltage generation circuit generates a high voltage that is twice or thrice as high as a level of a power supply voltage by employing the power supply voltage and a ground voltage. It is a tendency that a level of the power supply voltage is gradually being lowered to reduce the power consumption of a semiconductor memory device. Meanwhile, the level of the high voltage generated by the high voltage generation circuit should be constantly maintained in order to drive the MOS transistor arranged in the data storage area. Therefore, the high voltage generation circuit generates a high voltage that is twice as high as the power supply voltage if it can provide the required level of high voltage by boosting the power supply voltage two times. Alternatively, it generates a high voltage that is thrice as high as the power supply voltage if it can provide the required level of high voltage by boosting the power supply voltage three times.
Accordingly, a plurality of MOS transistors arranged in the high voltage generation circuit should be connected to a node in which a voltage level that is twice or thrice as high as the level of the power supply voltage is provided. Since the MOS transistors disposed in the semiconductor memory device are designed to be smaller with the advancement of technologies of semiconductor integration circuits, it is inevitable that they are further weakened as a voltage level is higher than before. Specifically, since the gate length of MOS transistors is shorter, they are further weakened to a higher voltage. It is very difficult for the smaller MOS transistors of the high voltage generation circuit to operate stably when they receive a high voltage that is twice or thrice as high as the power supply voltage. Moreover, in a serious case, these MOS transistors are destroyed.
An example of solving the above problems is that high voltage generation circuits for generating high voltages that are twice and thrice as high as the level of the power supply voltage respectively are disposed separately. In this case, the MOS transistors arranged in the high voltage generation circuits are designed to be different from each other. However, this enlarges the size of a whole circuit to generate the high voltage, and in turn increases power consumption.


The present invention relates to environmentally safe aqueous saponifier compositions for cleaning electronic circuit assemblies, such as printed circuit or printed wiring boards, during their fabrication. Alkali metal carbonate and bicarbonate salts are utilized preferably with various adjuvants, such as a reducing agent, antioxidant, or antifoam agent, to achieve a variety of objectives, among which are the removal of solder flux, oils, waxes, and greasy substances and adhesive and other residues.

The cleanliness of electronic circuit assemblies (ECA), such as printed circuit boards (PCB) or printed wiring boards (PWB), is generally regarded as being critical to their functional reliability. Ionic and nonionic contamination on circuit assemblies is believed to contribute to premature failures of the circuit assemblies by allowing short circuits to develop.
In the manufacture of electronic circuit assemblies, ionic and nonionic contamination can accumulate after one or more steps of the process. Circuit assembly materials are plated, etched, handled by operators in assembly, coated with corrosive or potentially corrosive fluxes and finally soldered.
In the fabrication of electronic circuit assemblies, e.g., printed circuit boards, soldering fluxes are first applied to the substrate board material to ensure firm, uniform bonding of the solder. These soldering fluxes fall into two broad categories: rosin and non-rosin, or water soluble, fluxes. The rosin fluxes, which are generally non-corrosive and have a much longer history of use, are still widely used throughout the electronics industry. The water soluble fluxes, which are a more recent development, are being used increasingly in consumer products applications. Because they contain strong acids and/or amine hydrohalides and are thus corrosive, the water soluble soldering fluxes can cause circuit failure if residual traces of the material are not carefully removed. For that reason military specifications require the use of rosin fluxes.
Even the use of rosin soldering fluxes, however, can lead to premature circuit failure due to decreased board resistance if traces of residual flux are not removed following soldering. While water soluble fluxes can be easily removed with warm, soapy water, the removal of rosin flux from printed circuit boards has traditionally been carried out with the use of chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents such as 1,1,1,-trichlorethane, trichloromonofluoromethane, methylene chloride, trichlorotrifluoroethane, or mixtures or azeotropes of these solvents. These solvents are undesirable, however, because they are toxic. Thus, their use is subject to close scrutiny by the occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), and stringent containment equipment must be used. Moreover, if released into the environment these solvents are not readily biodegradable and are thus hazardous for long periods of time.
Alkaline cleaning compounds known as the alkanolamines, usually in the form of monoethanolamine, have been used for rosin flux removal as an alternative to the toxic chlorinated hydrocarbon solvents. These high pH compounds (e.g., about 12 pH), chemically react with rosin flux to form a rosin soap through the process of saponification. Other organic substances such as surfactants or alcohol derivatives may be added to these alkaline cleaning compounds to facilitate the removal of such rosin soap. Unfortunately, these compounds, as the water soluble soldering fluxes, have a tendency to cause corrosion on the surfaces and interfaces of printed wiring boards if they are not completely and rapidly removed during the fabrication process.
In other approaches, Daley et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,635,666 utilize a highly caustic solution having a pH of 13 in a batch cleaning process. This method severely oxidizes the solder applied to the circuit board. In Hayes et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,640,719 and 4,740,247 rosin soldering flux and other residues are removed from electronic assemblies by means of terpene compounds in combination with terpene emulsifying surfactants by rinsing in water.
The complete removal of adhesive and other residues also poses a problem. During the manufacture of electronic circuit assemblies the components are mounted on the upper surface of the board with leads protruding downwardly through holes in the board and are secured to the bottom surface of the board by means of an adhesive. Further, it is sometimes necessary to temporarily protect certain portions of the board from processing steps such as the process of creating corrosion resistant gold connecting tabs at the board edges. This transient protection of portions of the circuit board can be achieved by the application of special adhesive tape to susceptible areas. Once such protection is no longer needed, the adhesive tape must be removed. In both instances, a residue of adhesive generally remains which, if not thoroughly removed, can cause premature board failure. Removal of this adhesive residue has traditionally been carried out by the use of chlorinated solvents which, as already described, are toxic and environmentally undesirable.
Thus, the residual contaminants which are likely to be found on electronic circuit assemblies and which can be removed by the compositions and method of the present invention include, but are not limited to, for example, rosin flux, photoresist, solder masks, adhesives, machine oils, greases, silicones, lanolin, mold release, polyglycols and plasticizers.

Aqueous electronic circuit assembly cleaner and method


A method and device for inerting a vat having an upper wall and containing a consumable liquid and an overhead gas, including the steps of:                injecting an inerting gas heavier than air by way of a downward extending injection tube into the overhead gas above a free surface of the liquid and substantially below the upper wall of the vat and, during this injection,        removing excess gas through the injection tube and a purge orifice of the vat. The injection tube may have a gas diffuser at its lower end.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of inerting a vat containing a consumable liquid, in particular wine, of the type in which an inerting gas heavier than air is injected into the gas overhead of the vat and, during this injection, the excess gas is removed through a purge orifice of the vat.
(ii) Description of Related Art
In the current technique of inerting wine vats, the flushing with gas is carried out on vats provided with an orifice available for letting gas in, generally a lateral tap on the vent of the vat, and a purge orifice placed at the center of the hatch for accessing the vat.
In this case, it is possible to flush with gas by dilution with gases such as nitrogen or a nitrogen/CO2 mixture.
However, this technique is not fully satisfactory, because a relatively long flushing process, consuming a large quantity of inerting gas, needs to be carried out in order to reach a sufficiently low residual oxygen level (typically less than 1%). Furthermore, this technique cannot be employed when the vat is provided with a single opening in its upper part, which is frequently the case.

Device for inerting a vat for consumable liquid, in particular wine

L'air Liquide Societe Anonyme pour l'Etude et l'Explotation des Procedes Gerges Claude