In one aspect, the invention provides covalent conjugates between artemisinin-related endoperoxides and iron-carrying proteins. In some embodiments, the covalent conjugates comprise artelinate and holotransferrin. In another aspect, the invention provides methods for administering the covalent conjugates of the invention to treat cancer and infections by pathogens that bind iron-carrying proteins.

Artemisinin is a sesquiterpene lactone isolated from the plant Artemisia annua L, extracts of which has been used to treat malaria for at least 1600 years. The artemisinin molecule contains an endoperoxide bridge that reacts with an iron atom to form free radicals. The anti-malarial action of artemisinin is due to its reaction with intra-parasitic heme to generate free radicals, causing cell death. Cancer cells have a significantly higher influx of iron than normal cells. Accordingly, it has been shown that artemisinin and artemisinin analogs are cytotoxic against established tumors and tumor cell lines (see, e.g., Woerdenbag et al. (1993) J. Nat. Prod. 56(6):849-56; Lai & Singh (1995) Cancer Lett. 91:41-6; Efferth et al. (2001) Int. J. Oncol. 18:767-73; Li et al. (2001) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 11:5-8; Singh & Lai (2001) Life Sci. 70:49-56; Efferth et al. (2002) Biochem. Pharmacol. 64:617-23; Efferth et al. (2002) Blood Cells, Molecules & Diseases 28(2):160-8; Sadava et al. (2002) Cancer Lett. 179:151-6).
Many analogs of artemisinin and other compounds containing an endoperoxide bridge that are biologically active have been described (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 5,180,840; U.S. Pat. No. 5,216,175; U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,427; Cumming et al. (1998) J. Med. Chem. 41(6):952-64; Posner et al. (1999) J. Med. Chem. 42:300-4; Li et al. (2001) Bioorg. Med. Chem. Lett. 11:5-8; Wu et al. (2001) Eur. J. Med. Chem. 36:469-79; Posner et al. (2003) J. Med Chem 46:1060-5). Analogs of artemisinin that have been used in the treatment of malaria include dihydroartemisinin, artemether, artesunate, arteether, propylcarbonate dihydroartemisinin and artelinic acid.
Artemisinin is a relatively safe drug with few and minor side effects even at high doses. Oral doses of 70 mg/kg/day for 6 days has been used in humans for malaria treatment. No apparent adverse side effects were observed after treatment of a cancer patient with artesunate (oral dose of 50 mg per day; intramuscular dose of 60 mg/day, for a period of 9 months) (Singh & Verma (2002) Arch. Oncol. 10(4):279-80). Artemisinin and artemisinin analogs have also been used in the treatment of skin conditions such as psoriasis, blistering skin diseases, viral warts, mulluscum contagiosum, and hemorrhoids (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 4,978,676; U.S. Pat. No. 5,219,880). Artemisinin and artemisinin analogs have also been used for malaria prophylaxis.
It has been shown that administration of iron salts or the iron-carrying protein holotransferrin increases the susceptibility of cancer cells and implanted tumors to artemisinin and its analogs (Lai & Singh (1995) Cancer Lett. 91:41-46; Moore et al. (1995) Cancer Lett. 98:83-7; Singh & Lai (2001) Life Sci. 70:49-56; Sadava et al. (2002) Cancer Lett. 1179:151-6).
It has also been shown that certain pathogens obtain iron by binding to iron-carrying host proteins. For example, Neisseria meningitidis, the causative agent of bacterial meningitis, expresses cell surface receptors for iron-carrying compounds such as transferrin and lactoferrin (Evans & Oakhill (2002) Biochem. Soc. Trans. 30(4):705-7). Currently, no vaccine is available for the B strain of N. meningitidis, the most prevalent strain in the Western world. Furthermore, it has been shown that Helicobacter pylori, the etiologic agent of gastritis, gastric and duodenal ulcers, and adenocarcinoma in humans, obtains iron by binding human lactoferrin (Husson et al. (1993) Infect. Immun. 61 (6):2694-7).
There is a need in the art for artemisinin compositions with increased efficacy for the treatment of cancer and disease caused by pathogens that bind iron-carrying host proteins. There is also a need for methods for treating cancer and infections caused by pathogens that obtain iron by internalizing iron-carrying host proteins. The present invention addresses these needs.

Covalent conjugates between artemisinin-related endoperoxides and iron-carrying proteins and methods of use


A method for detecting a specific polynucleotide sequence in a material is disclosed. The method includes exposing said material to an oligonucleotide primer having a sequence complementary to part of said specific polynucleotide sequence wherein said primer binds to part of said polynucleotide sequence when present in said material. Primer bound to the polynucleotide sequence is extended wherein any extended primer includes a detectable element and/or a separation element. Any extended primer is then separated into a fraction wherein said fraction does not have detectable element not included in said extended primer. One then determines whether any extended primer is present in said fraction by assaying said fraction for said extended primer wherein the presence of said extended primer is indicative of the presence of the specific polynucleotide sequence in said material and the absence of said extended primer is indicative of the presence of the specific polynucleotide sequences in said material and the absence of said extended primer in said fraction is indicative of the absence of the specific polynucleotide sequence in said material.

At present, the most common technique for the detection of polynucleotide sequences is hybridization using oligonucleotide or polynucleotide probes. For this technique, the target nucleic acid is usually bound, irreversibly, to a solid support such as cellulose or nylon. The labelled probe is then added in solution under hybridizing conditions and if there is sequence homology between the probe and the target nucleic acid, the probe will form a hybrid molecule with the target polynucleotide. This hybrid can be detected in a variety of ways such as by radiolabelling or biotin labelling. The disadvantages of this technique are, firstly, that it requires considerable operator expertise, secondly, the technique is lengthy and time-consuming and thirdly, cannot be easily automated. Often the entire procedure can take more than 48 hours.
The liquid-solid methods normally employed for detecting specific nucleic acids in samples include Southern blot, Northern blot and dot blot hybridizations. These methods are slow, inefficient, technically demanding and are not easily automated. The Southern and Northern blot protocols have the further disadvantage of inefficient transfer of nucleic acid from gel to paper. Other groups have used liquid-solid hybridizations in which a capture probe is bound to a solid support and the DNA sequence of interest in the sample becomes bound to the capture probe. An example of this is in Australian Patent specification no. AU-70152/87 which describes using at least two oligonucleotide probes, which are complementary to mutually exclusive regions of the same target nucleic acid in a liquid hybridization format to anneal the probes to the target, if it is present, and detecting the presence of the target by immobilisation of the two-probe target sandwich by one of the probes and subsequent detection of the other probe. However, this method requires a second, detector probe to hybridise to the DNA sequence of interest. This step reduces the specificity of the assay and subsequently increases background. The present invention overcomes this problem by involving only one probe which acts both as capture probe and as detector probe.
In contrast to liquid-solid hybridization, liquid-liquid hybridization has very rapid kinetics and improved sensitivity due to greater access of the probe to the target sequence. For example, Gene-Probe, Inc., uses a liquid hybridization hydroxapatite method to detect DNA sequences. The main disadvantage of this system is that it relies on adsorptive discrimination of double-stranded DNA from single-stranded DNA sequences rather than sequence-specific separation of hybrid from excess probe. The present invention overcomes these disadvantages by allowing the nucleic acid hybridizations to occur in solution followed by the removal of the "hybrid" molecules onto a solid support matrix. Another potential advantage of liquid hybridization is that a generalised solid support can work for a multitude of targets if the support-binding probes are labelled with the same capture molecule.
Several cases exist (Australian Patent specification nos. AU-A-70152/87, AU-A-26755/88, AU-A-53105/86, AU-B-89575/82 and AU-A-80097/87) which use a combination of two oligonucleotide probes to detect specific nucleic acid sequences in a sample. All these require the use of two short sequences of DNA on the target. These sequences must both be conserved in all possible target, must be mutually exclusive and non-overlapping and must have a similar G+C ratio to enable both probes to hybridize to their complementary sequence under the same conditions.
There is related background art concerning the use of a capture probe to detect the nucleic acid sequence of interest and to remove it from solution by binding the hybrid to a solid support matrix (Australian Patent specification nos. AU-A-70152/87, AU-A-53105/86, AU-A-21781/88, AU-A-69724/87, AU-A-14005/88). However, these techniques use separate capture and detector probes, resulting in a number of disadvantages as detailed above. The present invention overcomes these problems by using a single capture/detector probe system.
There are many examples available of attaching non-radioactive reporter molecules to DNA, to enable the detection of specific hybrids. However, when biotin is incorporated into the DNA molecule for detection, even though several biotin molecules may be incorporated per target molecule (thereby increasing the sensitivity of detection) the mechanism of visualising the incorporated biotin is complex and time consuming.
By contrast, the incorporation of other non-radioactive reporter molecules (such as fluorescent, luminescent, chemiluminescent molecules) enables rapid and simple detection of the target sequence. However, the present art only enables a single reporter molecule to be attached to each target sequence. This fact reduces the overall sensitivity of the final assay. The present invention overcomes both these problems at the one time by using a chemiluminescent detection system for simple, rapid detection and also by incorporating several detector molecules into each target, thereby significantly increasing assay sensitivity.
There is, therefore, a demand for a simple method which utilises the rapid kinetics of liquid hybridization, which only requires a single probe for analysis, and which results in stable hybrids thereby allowing the unhybridized material to be easily removed from the sequences to be detected. Accordingly, the present invention provides a liquid hybridization system in which a single probe hybridizes to the sequence of interest and is then covalently extended to produce a stable hybrid. This hybrid is then captured on to a support matrix and subsequently washed to removed unhybridized material. The system described by the present invention is simple, rapid, sensitive, can be read visually or on a simple plate reader, and may be readily automated.
In this area of nucleic acid hybridization there is a need to detect two broad types of diseases: infectious and genetic. In relation to infectious diseases, a number of DNA based systems have been described to detect diseases caused by bacteria such as Salmonella, Neisseria, parasitic organisms such as Chlamydia and Rickettsiae, viruses such as hepatitis B and protozoa such as Plasmodium. However, all of these suffer one or more of the disadvantages listed above.
In relation to genetic diseases which are characterised by a mutation (deletion, insertion, point mutation or translocation), the technology is less well developed. These types of diseases are currently diagnosed either by using restriction fragment length polymorphism (RFLP) analysis or by precise hybridization of short oligonucleotide probes. RFLP detection requires that a restriction enzyme site is altered by the mutation and this is not always the case. In addition, RFLP analysis requires the use of Southern blot hybridization for detection. The use of short oligonucleotide probes to detect point mutations also has several serious disadvantages. In particular, the hybridization conditions must be precise to ensure that a single base-pair mismatch does not result in hybridization. In practice, salt concentration and temperature determine the specificity of the hybridization conditions and these are not easily controlled to the required preciseness. The present invention overcomes the need for Southern hybridization analysis and for precise control of hybridization conditions. It achieves this by the specific primer probe hybridizing to a constant section of the gene adjacent to the mutation and allowing the enzyme, a DNA polymerase, to extend the DNA chain up to and including the nucleotide or base mutation. By manipulation of the dideoxynucleotide added to the polymerase reaction all of the possible nucleotide changes can be detected.
Detection of both infectious and genetic diseases requires the incorporation of some type of labelled molecule into the system. Various radioactive isotopes or radioactivity labelled compounds may be used as labels. However, radioactive labels have several disadvantages, including; (i) hazardous, (ii) expensive, (iii) limited shelf life, (iv) require expensive equipment for measuring the signal generated. More recently, a range of non-radioactive substances have been used to detect DNA molecules. Examples of non-radioactive labels are fluorescent, luminescent, chemiluminescent, enzymatic or immunological compounds. Labels based on the affinity of biotin and avidin or streptavidin, lanthanide chelates, lectins and proteins may also be used. The preferred detection means would be by spectroscopy or photochemistry or by the formation of a detectable complex between the label moiety and the polypeptide, lectin, or antibody linked to an entity capable of generating a detectable change, including enzymes such as; alkaline phosphatase or horseradish peroxidase.
However, what is lacking in the current technology is a single system which encompasses: (i) a rapid means of detecting a polynucleotide sequence, (ii) which is sufficiently sensitive to detect low numbers of the target sequence in the sample and (iii) which is non-radioactive. At present, no single system satisfies all these requirements.
As a final aspect, the need to detect specific polynucleotide sequences in a sample requires the organisation of all steps either; (i) into a simple kit format, or (ii) into an automated device. Whereas both, kits and automated machines, are available for detecting proteins by way of antibodies, no systems are yet available which simply, rapidly and inexpensively detect specific polynucleotide sequences in a sample.

Detection of a nucleic acid sequence or a change therein


An automatic system for drying high moisture content material from a source. The system includes a dryer enclosing a bed inclined upwards from the bottom portion thereof to the top portion thereof, and a slat and picker drive motor for urging material downward from the top portion to the bottom portion of the bed. A first material feed system transports the high moisture content material from the source to the top portion of the bed, and includes a surge bin disposed between the source and the dryer for assuring a constant supply of material to the dryer for constant operation thereof. There are sensors for detecting the amount of material delivered to the surge bin; and a controller, responsive to the sensors, which adjusts the rate of material transferred from the surge bin to the dryer and the rate material is processed through the dryer.

The waste product of papermills, commonly called sludge, comprises approximately 98% moisture. A belt press may be used to press some of the moisture out of the sludge before disposal but the waste material taken to the landfill still often contains as much as 70% moisture. Since landfills generally charge by the pound, it is consequently very expensive to dispose of the sludge.
The prototype gravity fed dryer shown in U.S. Pat. No. 4,888,885 (incorporated herein by this reference) was designed to dry this type of high water content material but, for a number of reasons, was found to be unsuitable for inclusion into a commercial paper manufacturing facility.
First, a typical paper plant facility often operates and therefore generates sludge 24 hours a day. The gravity fed system shown in the '885 patent requires manpower to feed the dryer and discharge the dried material. Second, the quantity of sludge produced by a commercial paper mill varies over time. Thus, without some means of assuring a constant feed to the dryer shown in the '885 patent, there will be times that the dryer is not working efficiently or not drying material at all requiring inefficient shut down/start-up cycles. Worse, there may be times when the dryer cannot handle the large amount of material fed to it.
Third, the quality of sludge (fiber, filler, and moisture content) produced by the mill varies over time. The paper mill may be set up to produce a high quality bond paper one day, cigarette paper the next day, and a cardboard type paper at other times. The sludge from different types of paper has different qualities. In the '885 patent disclosure, there is no way to control the operating parameters of the dryer (e.g., processing time, air temperature, pressure heads), and consequently it was found unsuitable for use in actual commercial paper mills. Use of the dryer shown in the '885 patent resulted in an end product which may not be dry enough, or too dry resulting in a waste of energy.

Automatic system for drying high moisture content material from a source


Disclosed are methods and compositions for early diagnosis, monitoring and treatment of cartilage degenerative conditions, including forms of arthritis. In particular, the invention relates to a protein, termed “adlican,” that is differentially transcribed and expressed in human subjects suffering from arthritis, such as osteoarthritis (OA) and rheumatoid arthritis (RA) compared with non-arthritis sufferers, antibodies which recognize this protein, and methods for diagnosing arthritis.

Arthritis involves both cartilage breakdown and new bone formation, and in many cases, leads to the loss of joint function. While there are some insights as to the mediators contributing to cartilage remodeling, there is only limited knowledge of the underlying molecular mechanisms of arthritis. At a cellular level, the articular chondrocyte plays a key role in both to cartilage breakdown and new bone growth, and this is likely to be reflected in changes in cellular transcriptional activity. The application of genomic approaches to the understanding of the complexities of arthritis promises to yield significant advances in the diagnosis and treatment of this prevalent disease of joint degeneration.
An important priority for the investigation and clinical application of potential therapies for arthritis is the identification of biochemical markers that could be used to assess various aspects of disease activity (Chevalier, X. (1997) Rev.Rhum. Engl. Ed. 64: 562-577.
Lohmander, L. S. (1997) Baillieres Clin. Rhematol. 11: 711-726). Current research in this field is focusing on a number of possible surrogate markers of arthritis that reflect metabolic changes in the joint associated with cartilage destruction and remodeling, including hyaluronate, cartilage oligomeric matrix protein, keratan sulfate, metalloproteinase activity, and various cytokines.
To identify gene products involved in human arthritis, the present inventors have analyzed the differences in mRNA populations in diseased cartilage compared to age-matched healthy cartilage using differential display RT-PCR (Hu, S-I, Carozza, M., Klein, M., Nantermet, P., Luk, D., and Crowl, R. M. (1998) J. Biol. Chem. 273: 34406-34412). The inventors have discovered a large protein, termed "adlican," the presence of which in cartilage is strongly associated with arthritis, particularly osteoarthritis. An anti-peptide antibody was generated against the carboxy terminal sequence and used for immunoblot analysis to detect adlican protein in synovial fluid samples obtained from patients with arthritis.


A multiple media sheet stack selection mechanism for selectively presenting multiple media sheet stacks to the same sheet separation and feed mechanism. The multiple media stack selection mechanism includes a primary sheet holder and at least one secondary stack holder. In the first embodiment, the multiple media stack selection mechanism includes a rotatable feed arm mechanism for holding the second paper stack and for positioning the second paper stack for picking and advancement. In the second embodiment, the multiple media sheet stack selection mechanism includes a paper stack gripping device for holding a second paper stack and for positioning the second paper stack for picking and advancement. In both the first and second embodiment, the paper stacks are positioned at a near vertical angle. The near vertical angle provides additional advantages in that the gravity force assists in constantly urging the sheets toward the feed zone, and results in a greater feed reliability. In the third embodiment, the multiple stack selector includes two tray mechanisms that selectively position two separate stacks of paper to the same picking and advancement device by the use of a dual cam and associated cam follower arrangement.

It is often desirable for a printer or copier to have capability to selectively print on multiple media types. Further, it is desirable to selectively print on multiple media types without having to reload the printer each time a different media type is selected for printing. As a result, a generally desired printer or copier (printer/copier) feature is the ability to automatically select and feed from multiple media sheet stacks stored in the printer.
Unfortunately this feature adds to the cost of a printer/copier if each media sheet stack has an associated sheet picking and advancement mechanism. This added cost is especially prohibitive for less expensive or "low-end" printers/copiers as the added increase in cost of an additional sheet picking and advancement mechanism is a large percentage of the overall cost of the printer/copier. As a result, the capability of a printer/copier to hold and print from multiple media sheet stacks is correspondingly limited.

Multiple media sheet stack selection mechanism


A method of manufacturing a acute tip, multi-wall carbon nanotube radial aggregate, comprising the steps of leading a graphite rod into plasma flame generated in a hydrogen-added inert gas atmosphere to evaporate carbon from the graphite rod and stacking, on the surface of the graphite rod, the acute tip, multi-wall carbon nanotube radial aggregation of novel carbon nano-structure useful as field emission electron sources such as probes for STM and APM, display elements, and displays.

Conventionally, a number of studies have been carried out in which a carbon nano-structure material such as a carbon nanotube, a carbon nanohorn or the like is used as a conductor of a micro-electronic element, an electrode of FPD or the like, a microstructure, an adsorbent made of a material having high strength, or the like.
Such a carbon nanotube as described above has a cylindrical shape obtained when a graphite sheet were to be rounded in a cylindrical shape. A carbon nanotube can be classified into a single-wall carbon nanotube having a single sheet and a multi-wall carbon nanotube in which a plurality of sheets are overlapped like a plurality of nests. A single-wall carbon nanotube of well known type generally has diameter of 1 to 2 nm and length of a few μm. In a multi-wall carbon nanotube, the diameter of the outermost layer thereof is generally tens of nm, the diameter of the innermost layer thereof is a few to 10 nm, and the length thereof is generally a few μm.
On the other hand, a carbon nanohorn represents a structure in which the tip end of a single-wall carbon nanotube is closed in a conical shape. In practice, such a carbon nanohorn is obtained as a carbon nanohorn aggregate in which a plurality of carbon nanohorns are radially aggregated with the conical tip ends thereof being oriented outward so as to form a spherical body whose diameter is approximately 100 nm.
Among such carbon nano-structures as described above, a multi-wall carbon nanotube has been discovered in which, although the diameter of the outermost layer thereof is 10 nm or so, carbon nanotubes are densely stacked in the multi-wall carbon nanotube to the core portion thereof and diameter of the innermost layer as the smallest tube is approximately 0.4 nm. The diameter of approximately 0.4 nm of the innermost layer of this multi-wall carbon nanotube is the smallest of the diameters of the relevant carbon nanotubes that have ever been discovered. Further, the aforementioned diameter of approximately 0.4 nm of the innermost layer of the multi-wall carbon nanotube substantially corresponds to the diameter of a molecule of the smallest fullerene (C20). This means that the aforementioned diameter of the innermost layer has reached the ultimate smallness, a diameter smaller than which would not allow a carbon nanotube to exist in a stable manner. In other words, the multi-wall carbon nanotube having the aforementioned diameter of the innermost layer is a multi-wall nanotube in which tubes are densely stacked to a degree that no further inner tubes can be generated therein.
It is assumed that the above-described, densely stuffed multi-wall carbon nanotube has a characteristic that, in addition to being chemically stable like the conventional multi-wall carbon nanotube, the mechanical strength thereof has been significantly enhanced. Further, there has been revealed another interesting characteristic of the densely stuffed multi-wall carbon nanotube that the innermost carbon nanotube thereof having diameter of 0.4 nm has a metallic characteristic. The latter characteristic differs from the characteristic, observed in the conventionally obtained single-wall carbon nanotube whose diameter is 1 to 2 nm, that the conventional single-wall carbon nanotube may have either a metallic characteristic or a semiconductor-like characteristic, depending on the sequence of carbon atoms.
Thus, a carbon nano-structure, whose characteristic significantly changes by a slight change in the structure thereof, has potential as a material for various functions, which potential is not known yet. Further, it is expected that more carbon nano-structures of new types will be discovered in future.
The invention of the present application has been achieved in consideration of the above-described discoveries. An object of the present invention is to provide a acute tip, multi-wall carbon nanotube radial aggregate as a novel carbon nano-structure, which is useful as field emission electron sources such as probes for STM and AFM, display elements and displays, a method of producing the same aggregate, a film of the acute tip, multi-wall carbon nanotube radial aggregate and a method of producing the same film.

Sharp end, multi-layer carbon nano-tube radial aggregate and method of manufacturing the aggregate


A connector comprises a plurality of movable terminals, a a frame for holding the plurality of movable terminals in a row at prescribed intervals, a contact bar for joining under pressure the plurality of movable terminals and the terminal conductors of a cable disposed on the plurality of the movable terminals, and a cover for pressing the contact bar, whereby the cable is connected to the connector by a simple operation without the use of special tools.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a connector used in the internal wiring of small-sized equipment, and more particularly to a connector for connecting flexible flat cables, tape cables and other flat multicore cables.
2. Description of Related Art
In the past, flexible flat cables, tape cables and other flat multicore cables (hereinafter "cables") have been used in the internal wiring of notebook computers and other types of small-sized equipment. In such cables, single wires, double wires, coaxial wires and other wiring materials are arranged in a row inside an insulator, and because the cable wiring is flexible, the advantage is that the density of wiring inside a device can be increased.
In the past, terminal conductors of such cables and electrode terminals on a substrate have been connected by crimping or coupling.
However, the crimping operation involves achieving connection by crimping the terminal conductor of a cable against an electrode terminal, and is thus disadvantageous in that it requires special tools and involves complicated mounting procedures. Coupling also requires special tools for crimping numerous conductors at the same time.
Thus, conventional connection processes are disadvantageous in that they require special tools for connecting electrode terminals and the terminal conductors of cables, and that mounting requires considerable time and labor.


An error rate measuring apparatus includes a data transmission unit that transmits a test signal of a known pattern and a parameter value defined by a communication standard to a device under test, and a bit error measurement unit that measures a bit error of a signal transmitted from the device under test. The data transmission unit sequentially changes the parameter value and transmits the parameter value to the device under test. The bit error measurement unit measures a bit error of a signal transmitted from the device under test corresponding to the parameter value. The error rate measuring apparatus further includes a discrimination unit that discriminates a parameter value at which the number of bit errors is the least in a measurement result of the bit error measurement unit, as an optimum value of emphasis of an output waveform of the device under test.

For example, as described in Patent Document 1 described below, an error rate measuring apparatus is hitherto known as an apparatus that transmits a test signal of a known pattern including fixed data to a device under test (DUT) in a state in which the device under test transits to a state of signal pattern return, and compares a signal under test returned and received from the device under test in compliance with the transmission of the test signal with a reference signal to be a reference in units of bits to measure a bit error rate.
Incidentally, as one item of a compliance test defined by PCI Express (hereinafter, abbreviated as PCIe) PHY Test Specification that is performed using this kind of error rate measuring apparatus, there is a Link Equalization Test for evaluating the reception performance of the device under test. The test is a test that, during link training, performs bit error measurement using a signal looped back from the device under test after the device under test optimizes the emphasis of an output waveform of the error rate measuring apparatus. A test is conducted about whether or not the device under test can control the output waveform of the error rate measuring apparatus to optimize the output waveform for reception in the device under test. That is, emphasis optimization of the output waveform of the error rate measuring apparatus is executed in a transmission path from the error rate measuring apparatus toward the device under test.
On the other hand, in a transmission path from the device under test toward the error rate measuring apparatus, emphasis optimization of an output waveform of the device under test is not specified. It is considered that this is because the reception performance of the error rate measuring apparatus is generally higher than the reception performance of the device under test, and thus, there is no need for optimization so far.

Error rate measuring apparatus and error rate measuring method


Apparatus is provided which includes a housing, configured for insertion into a body of a subject. The apparatus includes functional cells coupled to the housing and a source of oxygen configured to supply oxygen to the functional cells. The apparatus further includes an oxygen delivery interface configured to receive oxygen from the source of oxygen, and to facilitate passage of the oxygen to the functional cells, while the housing is disposed within the body of the subject. Other embodiments are also described.

Oxygen is vital to all physiological processes. An insufficient supply of oxygen to implanted cells often leads to cell injury or death. Oxygen provision is a vital component in sustaining transplanted cells.
In healthy individuals, insulin release is regulated so as to maintain blood glucose levels in the range of about 70 to 110 milligrams per deciliter. In diabetics, insulin is either not produced at all (Type I diabetes), or the body cells do not properly respond to the insulin that is produced (Type II diabetes). The result is elevated blood glucose levels.
The success of many cellular transplants is compromised not only due to graft-host rejections, but also on account of ischemic conditions generated by insufficient oxygen supply to the transplant. Following implantation of the cells, oxygen is provided to the implanted cells from the body tissue (mainly via diffusion), and in some cases, from vascular structures that form around the transplanted cells with the help of angiogenic factors, e.g., VEGF and bFGF. However, the natural diffusion rate is too low to provide the cells with a significant, necessary amount of oxygen.
PCT Publication WO 01/50983 to Vardi et al., and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/466,069 in the national phase thereof, which are incorporated herein by reference, describe an implantable device comprising a chamber for holding functional cells and an oxygen generator for providing oxygen to the functional cells. In one embodiment, the oxygen generator is described as comprising photosynthetic cells that convert carbon dioxide to oxygen when illuminated. In another embodiment, the oxygen generator is described as comprising electrodes that produce oxygen by electrolysis.
US Patent Application Publication 2005/0136092 to Rotem, which is incorporated herein by reference, describes apparatus including a chamber, which is adapted to be implanted in a body of an individual, the chamber including functional cells and chlorophyll-containing elements comprising chlorophyll of an obligate photoautotroph. Typically, the chlorophyll-containing elements include intact photosynthetic cells and/or isolated chloroplasts. The chlorophyll-containing elements provide oxygen to the functional cells and/or consume carbon dioxide produced by the functional cells. The chamber has one or more walls that are adapted to be permeable to nutrients and substances produced or secreted by the cells. The walls also typically immunoisolate the cells from constituents of the body. The chamber is adapted to be implanted under skin of the subject, or in the peritoneum. The apparatus further comprises a light source that is adapted to provide light to the chlorophyll-containing elements. The chamber may comprise an oxygen sensor that detects an oxygen concentration in a vicinity of the functional cells, and/or in a vicinity of the chlorophyll-containing elements. Providing the light in the series of pulses generally reduces power consumption of the apparatus, and/or provides control of the quantity of oxygen produced by the chlorophyll-containing elements, and/or provides control of the quantity of carbon dioxide consumed by the chlorophyll-containing elements. In some embodiments of the invention, the chamber comprises an oxygen reservoir, which typically comprises a material that stores and releases oxygen, such as responsively to an oxygen concentration in a vicinity of the reservoir. The oxygen reservoir typically stores oxygen produced by the chlorophyll-containing elements that is in excess of the current needs of the functional cells, and releases the stored oxygen if insufficient oxygen is later generated by the chlorophyll-containing elements.
PCT Publication WO 06/059322 to Evron et al., describes apparatus including a chamber which is adapted to be implanted in a body of an individual. The chamber includes functional cells and chlorophyll-containing elements comprising chlorophyll of an obligate photoautotroph. Other embodiments are also described.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,888 to Neuenfeldt et al., describes an implant assembly for a host tissue. The implant assembly comprises a pouch including wall means defining a chamber for holding a second member. The wall means includes an outer vascularizing membrane having a conformation that results in growth of vascular structures by the host tissue, close to an interface between the vascularizing membrane and host tissue. The assembly includes a second member that can be removably inserted in the chamber including an interior for receiving cells and wall means defining an immuno-isolating membrane that isolates the cells from the immune response of the host tissue.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,592 to Colton et al., describes techniques for supplying oxygen to cells in vitro or in vivo by generating oxygen with an oxygen generator that electrolyzes water to oxygen and hydrogen.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,960,351 to Dionne et al., describes an immunoisolatory vehicle for the implantation into an individual of cells which produce a needed product or provide a needed metabolic function. The vehicle is comprised of a core region containing isolated cells and materials sufficient to maintain the cells, and a permselective, biocompatible, peripheral region free of the isolated cells, which immunoisolates the core yet provides for the delivery of the secreted product or metabolic function to the individual. The vehicle is described as being particularly well-suited to delivery of insulin from immunoisolated islets of Langerhans, and as being used advantageously for delivery of high molecular weight products, such as products larger than IgG.
The following patents and patent applications may be of interest:
PCT Publication WO 07/138590 to Gross
U.S. Pat. No. 2,564,977 to Hu
U.S. Pat. No. 4,721,677 to Clark, Jr. et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,614,378 to Yang et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,268,161 to Han, et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,383,478 to Prokop, et al.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,630,154 to Fraker, et al.
US Patent Application Publication 2003/0113302 to Revazova et al.
US Patent Application Publication 2005/0025680 to Monzyk et al.
US Patent Application Publication 2006/0024276 to Ricordi et al.
The following articles may be of interest:
Kaisers U et al., "Liquid ventilation," British Journal of Anaesthesia 91(1):143-151 (2003)
Lacy P E et al., "Maintenance of normoglycemia in diabetic mice by subcutaneous xenografts of encapsulated islets," Science 1782-4 (1991)
Lorch H et al., "Central Venous Access Ports Placed by Interventional Radiologists: Experience with 125 Consecutive Patients," Journal CardioVascular and Interventional Radiology, Pages 180-184, Issue Volume 24, Number 3 (2001)
Silva A I et al., "An overview on the development of a bio-artificial pancreas as a treatment of insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus," Med Res Rev 26(2):181-222 (2006)
Waschke K F and Frietsch T, "Modified haemoglobins and perfluorocarbons" (Current Opinion in Anaesthesiology. 12(2):195-202 (1999)

Apparatus for transportation of oxygen to implanted cells


A system and method for adding a burst of a single-input multiple-output mode or collaborative spatial multiplexing mode to a frame in a spatial multiplexing system. A base station is configured to add a burst of a single-input multiple-output mode to a frame in a spatial multiplexing system. The system and method includes backing up a pilot pattern and a number of slots allocated for connections with terminals; releasing slots allocated for a burst; resetting a pilot pattern of a collaborative spatial multiplexing mode burst of the terminals: and recalculating the number of remaining slots; comparing the number of slots that can be additionally allocated to the single-input multiple-output mode with the number of slots released in the releasing step; and determining a transmission format.

In general, spatial multiplexing is a scheme for increasing the data rate through use of spatial diversity between divided transmission/reception antennas. In uplink, it is difficult to utilize transmit antenna diversity due to various restrictions. In order to solve such a problem, a Collaborative Spatial Multiplexing (C-SM) mode for obtaining an effect similar to that of the conventional transmit antenna diversity through use of collaboration between terminals is disclosed in IEEE 802.16. In the C-SM mode, when each of the two terminals has one transmission antenna, the two terminals are allocated the same frequency resource and transmit data at the same time. In such a C-SM mode, the two terminals output pilot signals through code multiplexing, wherein the two terminals can output two different data streams.
FIG. 1 is a view illustrating a pilot pattern when the general C-SM mode is used.
A first terminal using pilot pattern A and a second terminal using pilot pattern B share one tile (that means a resource unit having a predetermined size) with each other. The two terminals use pilot tones constituted by at least one pilot subcarrier on a division basis while sharing and using data tones constituted by at least one data subcarrier. Accordingly, although the data rate that one terminal can obtain does not change, the throughput increases from the viewpoint of a sector.
A significant characteristic of a method of allocating a burst to an uplink frame using the C-SM mode, as compared with using only a single-input multiple-output (SIMO) mode, is that an uplink burst is allocated for each layer using two pilot patterns. This characteristic is restricted when a terminal cannot use both pilot patterns of one slot, when a terminal cannot use one slot in the SIMO mode and the C-SM mode at the same time, and when a terminal uses only the SIMO mode from necessity.
According to IEEE 802.16, methods for allocating a C-SM burst to a frame are roughly classified into two methods.
The first method is to allocate a burst using pilot pattern A and a burst using pilot pattern B to both sides through use of a Multiple-Input-Multiple-Output Uplink Basic Information Element (MIMO UL Basic IE). This method has disadvantages in that a part of the slots is wasted because of the a difference in size between the burst using pilot pattern A and the burst using pilot pattern B, and it is not easy to make both sides effective.
The second method is to separately allocate a burst using pilot pattern A and a burst using pilot pattern B one by one through use of a UL H-ARQ Chase Sub-Burst information element.
Of these methods, particularly, a method for allocating an uplink burst through use of the C-SM mode requires two functions.
First, in order to maintain efficient Rise-over-Thermal (RoT) at a predetermined level, an interference control function of controlling a rate of slots using the C-SM mode to be proper is required. Generally, with respect to the same number of slots, using the slots in the C-SM mode causes greater interference to neighboring cells than using the slots in the SIMO mode. For this reason, one pilot pattern may be used in the same manner as when only the SIMO mode is used, while the other pilot pattern is used only when a specific condition is satisfied. According to the conventional method, an additional pilot pattern is used only for terminals very near to the base station so as to minimize the increase in the efficient RoT as much as possible. In this case, a part of the slots may use one pilot pattern while the other slots use both pilot patterns. The slots using both pilot patterns require greater uplink transmission power than the slots using only one pilot pattern. Meanwhile, with respect to a terminal located in the boundary of a cell, it may be necessary to prevent the terminal from using both pilot patterns in order to ensure coverage. According to the conventional method, since it is not easy to control a specific burst to use one pilot pattern, a separate consideration is required in order to complement the coverage problem. A simple solution to prevent a terminal located in a cell boundary from using both pilot patterns is to make the terminal use the SIMO mode. Since interference is influenced by the conditions for use with the SIMO mode, the conventional interference control scheme needs to be modified.
Second, it must be possible to efficiently add a burst with a specific size. Even in the case of using only the C-SM mode, a newly selected current burst may, or may not, be added according to the disposed position of a pre-allocated burst. Such a result is very undesirable when the newly selected burst includes a connection having relay-related Quality-of-Service (QoS) requirements. In order to avoid such a problem, a function of rearranging the disposition of the pre-allocated burst before the newly selected burst is added to a frame is required. In addition, when the SIMO mode is used together with the C-SM mode, the problem becomes more complex. A burst including a connection selected according to the scheduling priorities may use the SIMO mode or the C-SM mode. That is, bursts using the SIMO mode and bursts using the C-SM mode are alternately selected. However, since a scheme of disposing a pre-allocated burst in order to add a burst using the SIMO mode is different from a scheme of disposing a pre-allocated burst in order to add a burst using the C-SM mode, it is necessary to develop supplementary technology for adding the bursts.

Apparatus and method for adding burst of single-input multiple-output mode or collaborative spatial multiplexing mode to frame in spatial multiplexing system


The project of the present disclosure is to provide a measure for easily putting an earthworm and the like onto a fishhook without causing a finger to touch the earthworm.

During fishing, especially during fishing with a bait, live earthworms, seaworms and other small animals are often pierced into a fishhook and fixed for use. The operations of piercing these live small animals into a curved fishhook are complicated. In addition, there are many people resisting touching these small animals directly with their fingers. As a conventional method, there is a method below: pinching an earthworm with fingers, piercing the earthworm with an injection needle-like guide tube, and hooking the front end of a needle portion of the fishhook on the front end of the guide tube to cause the pierced earthworm to move towards the fishhook, thus cutting through the earthworm by the fishhook for mounting (referring to Patent literature 1). In addition, a method for pressing an earthworm and the like against a bent component with a concave surface (referring to Patent literature 2), a method for arranging a bait pressing plate that presses a live bait, and the like (referring to Patent literature 3) are also known.

Abstract: [Solution] A bait hooking device 1 is provided with: a first clamping component 2 having a first clamping portion 23 and a fishhook guide member on the front end side 2b, wherein the first clamping component 2 is connected with the start end side 2a to enable opening and closing by a shaft; a second clamping component 3 provided with a second clamping portion 33 on the front end side 3b; a guide rod 41 provided between the first clamping component 2 and the second clamping component 3 and running through a bait clamped to the first clamping portion 23 and the second clamping portion 33, so as to be clamped to a fishhook guided by the fishhook guide member; and a bait moving component 5 having a pressing portion 52 close to the guide rod 41 and causing the pressing portion 52 to move along the guide rod 41 to the fishhook side.


A workpiece is fixed by a retracting mechanical chuck mounted on a spindle head of a five-axis control machining center. The apparent outer diameter of the workpiece is increased by a jig. Clamp surfaces of the jaws and a support surface of the jig are formed on the machining center. A cutting tool is mounted on a spindle by an automatic tool exchanger. The workpiece is rotated about an axis to grind an end surface of the workpiece to approximately a predetermined target shape, which is a spherical surface. A grinder is then mounted on the spindle by the automatic tool exchanger, and the grinder is set relative to the workpiece by five-axis control such that the inclination angle, the offset amount, etc. satisfy a predetermined relationship according to the desired grinding. The grinder is then fed in the Z-axis direction to form the spherical surface by grinding.

The shape of an end surface of a roller affects friction heat due to contact with a flange and edge loads near a chamfer of the roller. Thus, a portion of the roller end surface that affects such factors is ground to ensure necessary dimensional accuracy. For example, in order to reduce friction heat, the spherical portion of the roller end surface that is continuous with the chamfer is formed by grinding. A cup-shaped grinder having a cylindrical grinding portion is typically used for such grinding (JP Patent Publication 2005-297181 (see especially paragraphs 0002-0004, 0016-0018, and 0023, and FIGS. 3 and 4)).
FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b) show a conventional grinding method using a cup-shaped grinder, which is called a two-roll, one-shoe method. In this method, a workpiece 61 formed with a radially outer surface of a roller is held in a lateral position by two roll type driving rings 62, a shoe 63, and a packing plate 64 and rotated about its center axis. Simultaneously, a grinder 65 is cut into an end surface of the workpiece 61. When the grinder 65 is pressed against the end surface, the grinder 65 is inclined relative to the center axis of the workpiece 61 so that a spherical surface can be formed utilizing the self-sharpening characteristics of the grinder 65.
When grinding the workpiece by pressing the cup-shaped grinder while rotating the workpiece about its center axis in the above manner, as shown in FIGS. 7(a) and 7(b), the workpiece 61 or 71 may be inserted into a support surface 66a or 72a of a jig 66 or 72 in a lateral position, and the grinder 65 or 73 may be pressed against the workpiece while rotating the jig 66, 72 coaxially with and together with the workpiece 61, 71. Since the radially outer surface of the workpiece 61, 71 is supported by the support surface 66a, 72a of the jig 66, 72, the jig serves to increase the apparent outer diameter of the workpiece 61, 71, thus increasing positioning accuracy in the direction perpendicular to the center axis of the workpiece 61, 71. The radially outer surface of the workpiece 61, 71 is finished to a rolling surface of one of a tapered roller, a convex roller and a cylindrical roller. Since the radially outer surface of the workpiece 61, 71 is used as a reference surface when positioning the workpiece for grinding, it has to be finished to sufficient accuracy.
In another conventional method shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), an end surface of a workpiece 81 that is not machined is magnetically fixed to a spherical attracting surface 82a of an electromagnetic turntable 82. A grinder 83 which rotates about an axis parallel to the rotation axis of the electromagnetic turntable 82 is held in a fixed position. The grinder 83 is pressed against the workpiece 81 based on predetermined feed control, while revolving the workpiece 81 around the axis of the turntable 82 with the turntable.
In the conventional arrangement of FIGS. 6(a) and 6(b), if the angle of the radially outer surface of the workpiece 61 for a tapered roller is large, force acts on the workpiece 61 that tends to push out the workpiece 61, which makes it difficult to stably achieve sufficient machining accuracy. In the conventional arrangement of FIG. 7(a) too, if the angle of the radially outer surface of the workpiece 61 is large, since the wedge effect relative to the support surface 66a of the jig 66 is scarcely produced, it is difficult to stably achieve sufficient machining accuracy. In the conventional arrangement of FIG. 7(b), since a workpiece 71 for a convex roller is laterally inserted into the support surface 72a of the jig 72, the jig 72 can retain the workpiece 71 only up to its maximum outer diameter portion. Thus, workpieces that can be stably supported by the jig 72 are limited to workpieces having such an asymmetrical radially outer surface that the maximum outer diameter portion is located nearer to the ground portion as shown in FIG. 7(b). The conventional arrangement shown in FIG. 7(b) cannot be used for workpieces for any convex rollers.
In the conventional arrangement shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), since the workpiece 81 is fixed in position simply by magnetically attracting its end surface which is not ground to the electromagnetic turntable 82, it is difficult to uniformly retain the attitude of the workpieces 81. This deteriorates machining accuracy. Since the workpiece 81 is magnetized, it is necessary to demagnetize the workpiece after grinding. Further in the conventional arrangement shown in FIGS. 8(a) and 8(b), since the accuracy of the surface finished by grinding depends on the accuracy of the sphere of spherical attracting surface 82a of the electromagnetic turntable 82, a long time is needed when exchanging the electromagnetic turntable 82 for setup change, or when re-polishing the electromagnetic turntable 82 for quality adjustment. Productivity is thus extremely low.
One way to improve productivity of the grinding operation would be to replace the grinding operation with a cutting operation. Ordinarily, tapered rollers and convex rollers are formed by hardening steel, typically bearing steel. In the retaining methods of FIGS. 6(a)-8(b), it is difficult to achieve retaining force sufficient to allow cutting of a workpiece made of hardened steel.


Disclosed herein are systems and methods for bone preparation with designed areas having accurate tolerance profiles to enable improved initial fixation and stability for cementless implants and to improve long-term bone ingrowth/ongrowth to an implant. A method of preparing a bone surface to receive a prosthetic implant thereon having an articular surface and a bone contacting surface includes resecting the bone surface at a first location to create a first resected region having a first tolerance profile with a first cross-section, resecting the bone surface at a second location to create a second resected region having a second tolerance profile with a second cross-section less dense than the first cross-section, and contacting the bone contacting surface of the prosthetic implant with the first resected region.

In a traditional knee arthroplasty surgery, the diseased bone and/or cartilage of a patient is generally removed and replaced with a prosthetic implant. A surgeon may prepare the bone using a hand-held oscillating saw blade, for instance, which generally results in a series of planar bone surface resections. Additionally, the surgeon may use a drill, broach or tamp instrument to make cylindrical holes into the bone to accommodate peg fixation features on the implant. The planar bone resections and cylindrical bone holes are generally oriented to interface with generally flat bone contacting surfaces and pegs of a prosthetic implant.
In such arthroplasty surgeries, the cartilage and/or bone of a patient may be prepared by a surgeon using conventional manual instrumentation. The instrumentation used may include, for example, planar resection guides, oscillating saws, drills, chisels, punches and reamers.
Robotic surgery may also be used in arthroplasty procedures, as well as in many different medical applications. The use of a robotically controlled bone preparation system allow for increased accuracy and repeatability of bone preparation. Rotational preparation instruments may be used during robotic surgery to prepare the bone and/or cartilage surfaces.
Bone preparation using these known methods generally provides surfaces of variable accuracy. Further, implant surfaces are generally prepared with the same level of consistency across the entire prepared bone surface. These methods of bone preparation may have a negative effect on the initial fixation of a cementless implant. If the surface does not provide a stable base for a cementless implant when initially fixed to the bone, the long term success of bone ingrowth/ongrowth onto the implant may be compromised due to micromotion, which may lead to fibrous ingrowth and subsequent bone resorption.
With advancements in robotically controlled bone preparation systems, bone preparation with specifically designed regions having increased levels of accuracy are now considered. Therefore, robotic bone preparation enables select aspects of the bone to be prepared at a generally more accurate and "tighter" tolerance compared with alternate methods of bone preparation. The degree of accuracy to which a prosthetic implant is implanted on a prepared or resected bone through robotic control depends on several factors. Among those factors include the tolerance to which the prosthetic implant is manufactured or know, the tolerance of any required tracking equipment used to position the robotic arm, and the tolerances of the robotic arm itself.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A method and apparatus for implementing proportional sharing in a single processor system and/or in a multi-processor system. The invention can also implement proportional sharing in a system that executes multi-threaded computer programs. The invention uses the metaphor of "tickets." Each process in the system has a number of tickets and each ticket entitles the process to use a processor for a period of a time quantum. The operating system allocates the processor(s) first to the process with the highest number of tickets. As each process (or thread) finishes being executed for a predetermined amount of time, the tickets of that process/thread are adjusted accordingly and a new process (or thread) is chosen for execution. Tickets can be allocated to each process in the system. Alternatively, tickets can be allocated to each process and shared by all threads of the process. Alternatively, tickets can be allocated to a group of processes and shared by all processes within the group.

Most modern computer systems are multi-tasking systems. That is, they allow more than one "job" or "process" to be active at a given time. Since there is often only one processor in the system (or a number of processors less than the number of jobs/processes), it becomes necessary for the jobs/processes to share the processor resources. In a shared processor system, a processor spends some time executing part of a first job/process before switching to execute part of another job/process. Thus, to a human user, it appears that more than one job/process is being executed at a given time.
When multiple applications, processes, or jobs are sharing one or more processors in a computer system, an equitable method of processor sharing needs to be determined. For instance, Job A might be twice as urgent as Job B. As another example, if User X and User Y share a computer system and User X pays a fee three times as much as User Y pays, then User X wants to be allocated three times more processor resources than User Y.
Moreover, some computer systems execute "multi-threaded" computer programs in which multiple "threads" of a process can be executing at the same time. Multi-threading adds an extra note of complexity to the operating system and to processor sharing.
As an example, many conventional operating systems use a priority-based approach to allocate jobs, threads, users, or processes to one or more processors. Thus, jobs having the highest priority execute before jobs having a lower priority. In some conventional operating systems, a high priority job will run until it is done before a lower priority job gets to run.
In at least one implementation of the Solaris operating system (available from Sun Microsystems, Inc), a highest priority job will run for a period of time and then its priority is redetermined. There are currently four different scheduling classes that define the priorities of the applications in a conventional Solaris system: Real Time (RT); System (SYS); Interactive (IA), and Timesharing (TS). If, after its execution, a job still has the highest priority in the system, it is allowed to run for another period of time (e.g., between 20 to 200 milliseconds), after which the priority is redetermined again. If it is no longer the highest priority job in the system after the redetermination, then a job that has a higher priority gets to run. Unfortunately, if a job maintains a highest priority, other applications do not always get a chance to execute.

Method and apparatus for processor sharing


This invention relates to methods for making a stabilized transition alumina of enhanced hydrothermal stability, which include the introduction of at least one structural stabilizer; a steaming step before or after the introduction step, wherein steaming is effective in transforming a transition alumina at least partially to boehmite and/or pseudoboehmite; and a calcining step to create a stabilized transition alumina. The combination of the structural stabilizer and the steaming step is believed to impart high hydrothermal stability to the alumina crystal lattice. Particularly preferred structural stabilizers include boron, cobalt, and zirconium. The stabilized transition alumina is useful as a catalyst support for high water partial pressure environments, and is particularly useful for making a catalyst having improved hydrothermal stability. The invention more specifically discloses Fischer-Tropsch catalysts and processes for the production of hydrocarbons from synthesis gas.

A heterogeneous catalytic process is a chemical reaction that takes place between gaseous and/or liquid reactants and a solid catalyst, where a catalyst is defined as something that accelerates a chemical reaction without being ultimately changed. In reactor configurations including, but not limited to, fixed bed, fluidized bed and slurry phase reactors, it is desirable to optimize the extent of contact between the reactants and the solid catalyst while addressing other important issues such as heat transfer, mass transfer, product removal and gas recycling. With respect to supported catalysts, control of the morphological properties of the support, such as surface area, pore volume, pore size and concentration of the pores per unit volume of support material is desirable because these properties can affect the course of the reaction and the products obtained therefrom. In particular, such properties tend to influence the nature and concentration of active catalytic sites, the diffusion of the reactants to the active catalyst site, the diffusion of products from the active sites, and the useful lifetime of the catalyst. In addition, the support and its dimensions influence the mechanical strength, density and reactor packing characteristics, control of which are desirable.
Alumina is a typical catalyst support material and can exist as any one or combination of crystallographic phases, or polymorphs, commonly known as transition aluminas. Transition aluminas are ubiquitous as supports and/or catalysts for many heterogeneous catalytic processes. The synthesis of the transition aluminas typically begins with the hydroxides or oxyhydroxides of aluminum, both of which are effectively hydrates of alumina. Examples of such include the naturally-occurring or synthetic aluminum hydroxides, such as aluminum trihydroxides (gibbsite, bayerite, and nordstrandite) or monohydroxides (boehmite or diaspore). Progressive dehydration and accompanying lattice rearrangement in the series of transition aluminas leads to increasingly stable and ordered materials, and culminating in all cases with alpha alumina, which is a material unsuitable for catalytic applications and that requires high surface areas. Alpha alumina is typically obtained at calcination temperatures in excess of 1,000° C. There exist preparative processes within the art that can provide for transition aluminas having any number of distinct combinations of desirable properties, e.g., particle size, surface area, pore volume and average pore diameter. Some catalytic processes within the art for which transition aluminas are employed as catalyst and/or catalyst supports subject the transition alumina to conditions of high temperature, high pressure and high water vapor pressure.
Catalytic reactions that produce water vapor of high temperature and high partial pressure create an environment that challenges the hydrothermal stability of transition alumina supports, with the supports being prone to degradation, fragmentation, or other processes that compromise the ability to effectively support catalytic metals. Finding or preparing transition alumina of sufficient hydrothermal stability for use in protracted steam-producing reactor runs remains an important problem in the art. For purposes of the present discussion, hydrothermal stability is defined as the property of resisting morphological and/or structural change in the face of elevated heat and water vapor pressure.
The Fischer-Tropsch process (also called the Fischer-Tropsch reaction or Fischer-Tropsch synthesis) is an example of a process that can generate water vapor of high partial pressure at high temperatures. The Fischer-Tropsch process comprises contacting a feed stream comprising carbon monoxide and hydrogen gases, known as synthesis gas or syngas, with a catalyst at conditions of elevated pressure and temperature to produce mixtures of hydrocarbons and by-products comprising water and carbon dioxide. Syngas can be made from the gasification of coal or, alternatively, methane found in natural gas reserves by partial oxidation with an oxygen source or by reaction with steam (steam reforming). Natural gas is typically stranded gas found with oil deposits during drilling operations. Such stranded gas presents a problem in those areas where there is no close market for this commodity because transportation of gases as compared to liquids is costly and impractical. As a result, on-site conversion of gaseous resources to easily transportable liquids represents a large potential gain in revenue. The Fischer-Tropsch process is one use of syngas and as such presents an attractive market for gas to liquids technology. It has long been recognized that syngas can be converted to liquid hydrocarbons by the catalytic hydrogenation of carbon monoxide. The general chemistry of the Fischer-Tropsch reactions are as follows:n CO+(2n+1)H2→CnH2n+2+nH2O  (1)CO+H2O→CO2+H2  (2)A competing reaction is often the water-gas shift reaction, equation (2), in which carbon monoxide is consumed in a reaction with water generated from equation (1), above, to form carbon dioxide (CO2) and hydrogen (H2). The catalytic metal used can influence the nature and composition of the mixture of products and by-products formed. For example, it is well known that iron-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts have high water gas shift activity while cobalt-based Fischer-Tropsch catalysts have a much lower water gas shift activity.
Catalysts for the Fischer-Tropsch process typically comprise a metal selected from the group comprising cobalt, iron, ruthenium, or other Group VIIIA (according to the Previous IUPAC Form of the Periodic Table of the Elements as illustrated in, for example, the CRC Handbook of Chemistry and Physics, 82nd Edition, 2001-2002, which will serve as the standard herein and throughout for all references to element group numbers in this application) metals; optionally, a cocatalyst selected from the group consisting of copper, thorium, zirconium, rhenium or titanium; and, optionally, a promoter selected from the group consisting of the alkali metals, the alkaline earths, the lanthanides, Group IIIB, IVB, VB, VIB and VIIB metals; and may be supported or unsupported. The current practice with respect to supported catalysts is to use porous, inorganic refractory oxides as the carrier. γ-Al2O3 is an example of such a carrier.
Fischer-Tropsch reactors utilizing a cobalt-based catalyst can generate significant amounts of water due to the relatively low water gas shift activity of cobalt catalysts. Under typical reactor conditions, e.g., temperatures in excess of 200° C. and pressures in excess of 20 bar, the water produced in these reactions can reach partial pressures in excess of 5 bar. Under these conditions, catalyst support particles, such as those comprising γ-Al2O3 for example, can degrade and disintegrate, causing cobalt to dislodge from the support particles and permitting for the appearance of cobalt fines in the product stream. The formation of subparticles that are in the submicron range in a product stream has multiple undesirable repercussions: 1) purification and complete removal of subparticles from the product stream tends to become quite difficult; 2) a reduced lifetime of the catalyst; 3) regeneration of recovered cobalt catalyst tends to be severely hindered; and 4) the loss of costly cobalt metal can represent a significant loss of revenue.
Other industrial processes that involve steam and consequently require catalyst supports stable to high-temperature and high-pressure steam include steam reforming, water gas shift reaction and catalytic conversion for emission control in automobiles.
Thus, there have been attempts to address the general problem of making catalyst supports that do not degrade at elevated temperatures with concomitant loss of high surface area. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,837,634 discloses a process for preparing a stabilized alumina that exhibits an enhanced resistance to structural degradation at high temperatures, e.g., greater than about 1,000° C. The process comprises aging an admixture of a precursor boehmite alumina and an effective amount of a stabilizer such as a water-soluble salt of a polyvalent metal at a pH of from about 3 to about 9 and at a temperature greater than about 70° C. to convert the greater portion of the alumina to a colloidal sol, wherein the colloidal sol is recovered and calcined to produce a stabilized alumina. Surface areas (m2/g) were measured on these stabilized alumina powders after calcination for 3 hours at 1,200° C. and show that the addition of stabilizers results in the persistence of surface areas in about the 10 m2/g to 60 m2/g range.
It will be apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art that the calcination conditions employed in the '634 patent will most likely provide an alpha alumina, which is a polymorph of alumina that is not suitable for some catalytic applications.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 6,262,132 B1 provides a method for reducing catalyst attrition losses in hydrocarbon synthesis processes conducted in high agitation reaction systems, in which the phrase "high agitation reaction systems" refers to slurry bubble column reactor systems and to other reaction systems wherein catalyst attrition losses resulting from fragmentation, abrasion, and other similar or related mechanisms at least approach the attrition losses experienced in slurry bubble column systems. It is disclosed that, in one aspect of the method for producing an attrition-resistant catalyst support, the catalyst support is gamma alumina including an amount of titanium effective for increasing the attrition resistance of the catalyst.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,303,531 B1 relates to hydrothermally stable, high pore volume aluminum oxide/swellable clay composites and methods for their preparation and use. The patent is based on the teachings that when active alumina is dispersed and subjected to a rehydration process in the presence of controlled amounts of a dispersed swellable clay the resulting composite particles exhibit and maintain the properties of high surface area and hydrothermal stability, wherein the properties are retained when catalytically active metal components are impregnated before or after the shaping of extrudates. It is also disclosed that the hydrothermal stability of the composite particles could be further improved by the incorporation of silicate salts therein.
Pore size and mechanical strength in γ-Al2O3 have been influenced by low temperature hydrothermal treatment of γ-Al2O3. As disclosed in Preparation of Catalysts V, 1991, page 155-163, wherein gamma alumina in the form of 1.5 mm extrudates was subjected to hydrothermal treatment in an autoclave in the presence of water vapor, it was found that the crushing strength was observed to increase progressively with increasing duration of heating for γ-Al2O3 hydrothermally treated at 150° C., with a considerable increase (about 65%) in the volume of 100-250 Å diameter pores. At higher temperatures, a reverse trend is noticed. X-ray diffraction analysis of the hydrothermally treated samples showed no peaks corresponding to other phases of alumina.
The problem of contamination of a Fischer-Tropsch product with catalyst ultra fines has been addressed by introducing to an untreated catalyst support a modifying component that is capable of suppressing the solubility of the catalyst support in acidic or neutral aqueous solution. The ultimate effect is that of preventing the formation of loosely bound hydrotalcite-like structures upon which the active catalytic cobalt metal can precipitate and subsequently become dislodged during extended Fischer-Tropsch reactor runs. International Application No. WO 99/42214 discloses that such catalysts have hitherto been produced by slurry impregnation of an alumina support with cobalt nitrate in acidic to neutral solution, a medium in which the alumina is partially soluble. Upon dissolution, the cobalt and aluminum ions can co-precipitate as hydrotalcite-like structures, e.g. Co6Al2CO3(OH)16.4H2O, that are physically adsorbed and loosely bonded to the original alumina surface. Commercialization of the slurry phase Fischer-Tropsch process reveals a serious problem that can arise when such catalysts using the known untreated alumina supported cobalt catalyst are used as the wax product as they could contain relatively high amounts of attrided catalyst. Evidently, during slurry impregnation of an untreated alumina support, cobalt nitrate will deposit on the loosely bonded hydrotalcite-like structures. The cobalt on loosely bonded hydrotalcite-like structures can dislodge during extended runs and contaminate the wax product with cobalt rich ultra fines. Attempts to solve or at least alleviate this problem have included protecting the alumina support during aqueous impregnation by improving the inertness of the alumina surface.
U.S. Pat. No.6,224,846 B1 discloses a process for making a modified boehmite alumina comprising reacting at elevated temperatures a boehmite alumina with an alkyl or aryl mono- or disulfonic acid derivative as the acid or its salt to produce a reaction mixture containing a modified boehmite alumina, with the modified boehmite alumina being recovered from the reaction mixture.
Many in the art have attempted to solve the general problems of catalyst attrition and hydrothermal stability in catalysts. However, creating a catalyst on a stabilized transition alumina support that possesses high hydrothermal stability and low attrition resistance remains a problem. In particular, creating catalysts suitable for use in Fischer-Tropsch reactors, which produce substantial quantities of water vapor at high partial pressure, remains a need within the art. Further needs include providing a stabilized transition alumina having high hydrothermal stability.

Stabilized transition alumina catalyst support from boehmite and catalysts made therefrom


Embodiments herein provide computer-implemented techniques for allowing a user computing device to extract financial card information using optical character recognition (“OCR”). Extracting financial card information may be improved by applying various classifiers and other transformations to the image data. For example, applying a linear classifier to the image to determine digit locations before applying the OCR algorithm allows the user computing device to use less processing capacity to extract accurate card data. The OCR application may train a classifier to use the wear patterns of a card to improve OCR algorithm performance. The OCR application may apply a linear classifier and then a nonlinear classifier to improve the performance and the accuracy of the OCR algorithm. The OCR application uses the known digit patterns used by typical credit and debit cards to improve the accuracy of the OCR algorithm.

When a consumer makes an online purchase or a purchase using a mobile device, they are often forced to enter credit card information into the mobile device for payment. Due to the small screen size and keyboard interface on a mobile device, such entry is generally cumbersome and prone to errors. Users may use many different cards for purchases, such as credit cards, debit cards, stored value cards, and other cards. Information entry difficulties are multiplied for a merchant attempting to process mobile payments on mobile devices for multiple transactions.
Current applications for obtaining payment information or other card data from a payment card requires a certain amount of processing capacity from the user computing device. Many current methods for extracting the card data from the image require an amount of processing capacity that is greater than the user computing device can easily provide. The strain on the processing capacity may cause delays, errors, battery drain, and other processor problems.
Current applications do not allow various classifications, models, and machine learning algorithms to be used for more accurate results.


A method of building up and maintaining beach sediment, building and changing beach profiles, and controlling beach erosion that uses a series of varying diameter plastic pipes joined to obtain various lengths, laid parallel and on top of each other and situated perpendicular or at various angles to the shoreline. The pipes act to slow bottom currents and promote sand accretion in and around the pipes thereby stabilizing shoreline profiles and controlling beach erosion. The pipes are held together by cables or in a “cradle” to help stabilize the pipes on the sea bottom. Certain pipes have pre-drilled holes of various diameters through their sidewalls to allow in-flow of sand-carrying water such that the pipes become filled with sand acting to stabilize the pipes. Pipe diameter sizes are selected as necessary to accomplish most efficient sediment accumulation around the pipe structures.

Coastal beach erosion is defined by actual removal of sand or other soil from a beach and depositing it offshore, inland or along tidal bays or estuaries. Such erosion can result from normal tidal action, severe wave action arising from storms and hurricanes, and from simple inundation due to rising water levels. The capacity of a Newtonian fluid, such as water, to carry solids is dependent upon the velocity and the density of the fluid. The density of water is related to the composition and amount of dissolved solids. Seawater for example will have salt and other solid particles carried in suspension. The size of suspended particles can range from microscopic to sand grains and on up to parts of sea shells and other organic matter.
The primary mechanisms responsible for erosion or accretion of sand/sediment are bottom currents flowing within a few inches up to as much as a foot or more above the shore bottom. These bottom currents act on the sand or sediment in a way that depends on the velocity of the currents and the force of the water against the sand, sediment or rocks situated along the shore. The bottom features (such as slope, smoothness, and undulations) affect the degree of packing of the sediment and thus has a large effect on the ability of current flow to erode or deposit sediment onto the bottom.
Water currents are produced by wind, tidal action, and variations in temperature, salinity or turbidity. Man-made coastal inlet, in particular ones that have hardened and have dredged channels tend to shunt inland or estuary water offshore. When this outflow of fresh and brackish water from land and estuaries combines with tidal flows into and out of the estuaries and bays into the gulfs or seas, it can cause instability in the water flow along the near-shore on both sides of inlets that can extend for great distances along the coast line.
If the predominant flow of water is outward from the coastal inlets this action will pull or suction water along the coastline and into the channel flow of an inlet. Gravitational effects causing current oscillations in and out of the inlets will increase the flow of water parallel to the shoreline. Bottom currents, generated by this flow of water to the inlets, are generated further offshore and typically run parallel to the shoreline between the beach and an offshore sandbar. These offshore, long-shore currents differ from classical near long-shore currents, normally identified as littoral currents that carry sand into the shore at an angle (depending upon the wind), but also carry sand out, perpendicular to the shoreline. These near-shore long-shore currents can be very strong and fast. They can move sand along the beach at several miles per hour. Wind-generated waves will also cause erosion or accretion of sand onto the beach or near-shore environments. Long-shore currents are one of the principal factors for the movement of sand into, along or from the beach and near-shore areas. To differentiate these two currents that act parallel to the shore line, we will stick to the term of "near-long-shore" currents that are near shore, normally very visible on the beach and refer to "offshore-long-shore currents" that are generated by inlets, currents which are present a distance from the beach, between the beach and an offshore sand bar.
The most common and well-known method for beach restoration is depositing sand dredged from a nearby offshore location. Less often, sand can also be excavated onshore and hauled overland to the point where it is deposited onto the beach, (see: Method of building or restoring marshes and beaches U.S. Pat. No. 4,759,664 and others). This restoration method was designed not only to build up beach sand, but also to construct a shallow-slope profile away from the beach to a point as far offshore as possible. An advantage of having a shallow-slope beach profile is that the wave energy and erosional power, particular storm event waves, are dissipated resulting in less beach erosion. However, this method of beach restoration has proven to be somewhat temporary and very costly. It can also be harmful to the environment by having a negative effect on the benthonic life on the bottom. In many places it has been effective for only a short period of time which requires it to be repeated periodically and especially after a major storm event.
Some of the more common and well-known methods of beach erosion control are barrier walls, concrete riprap, and concrete revetments. These structures are normally installed parallel to the beach. Despite being unnatural and eyesores, such structures have been successful in preserving or protecting property on the landside of the structure, however, they often accelerate the beach sand erosion process due to the fact that the full force of the incoming wave energy is not dissipated, particularly storm waves. The velocity of water energy contained in the wave does not allow time for the sand to drop out under the force of gravity and accrete on the beach. These structures can also have a negative impact by causing erosion on adjacent beaches. Construction permits for such structures are difficult to obtain where they may impact sea turtle nesting grounds.
Other erosion control devices include "groins." These structures normally extend into the water and perpendicular from the beach and are designed for high frequency, low magnitude storms. Many times they are used in tandem with seawalls. Groin structures are anchored into or lie on the seabed and can extend considerable distances into the water. They can be submerged or their tops can appear above the water surface. Structures in this category include T-groins, permeable groins, Longard Tubes (geo-tubes), jetties, seawalls, and bulkheads. These devices are designed to trap sand on the upside of the direction of the current while diverting the entire water column, current energy and excess sand to deeper water further offshore. In other words, sand is accreted on the upside beaches, and downside beaches become deprived of their sand supply. To be effective multiple groins must be placed along the entire shoreline at intervals of several hundred feet. The accretion process must be jump-started by filling in the front of each structure with sand. The disadvantage of groins is they are unnatural eyesores, they can be dangerous to surfers and swimmers and they can have a negative impact on turtles and other sea life. Plastic mesh groins are not durable and can be subject to vandalism.
Geosynthetic textile tubes can be made out of a variety of specialized, strong, UV and water-resistant synthetic fabrics. The material can be one tube or a series of tubes with different diameters sewn together. The tubes can be filled with sand or concrete once placed on the sea bed. Geo-textile tubes are disadvantageous because they are often expensive eyesores that are time consuming and difficult to install. They are subject to breakage and vandalism. Using sand fill involves dredging from a nearby source or truck-hauling to the fill site. Using concrete fill makes the geo-textile tubes more durable, but also rigid, permanent fixtures that become very expensive to remove if they did not work. Being rigid structures they may break during high magnitude storm events and thus less effective and may become an environmental hazard.


A surface defect data display and management system comprises a risk score calculation unit for calculating the magnitude of an influence a surface defect on a wafer detected by a wafer inspection system or review system has upon a reduction in the yield of a final product as a risk score of the surface defect based on a defect size of the surface defect on the wafer and a pattern concentration obtained from design data of a pattern figure nearby a location corresponding to the position of the surface defect, and a correlation graph and defect image display unit for preparing a correlation graph showing the correlation between the defect size and the risk score of each defect, displaying the prepared correlation graph on the display apparatus and displaying additionally a defect image list of one or more defects selected by using the correlation graph.

The present invention relates to a surface defect data display and management system for managing data concerning defects of a pattern formed on the surface of a planar substrate such as a semiconductor wafer and a method of displaying and managing surface defect data.
Foreign matters on the surface of a wafer and defects of a circuit pattern as well which take place in the semiconductor production steps are responsible for causes of a faulty semiconductor product such as an integrated circuit manufactured from the semiconductor wafer. Accordingly, in the semiconductor production line, the foreign matters on the wafer surface and circuit pattern defects (hereinafter referred to as "surface defects" or simply "defects") are detected and besides, the defect occurrence condition is quantified with a view to constantly monitoring the condition of the production steps. Further, it has also been practice to confirm whether or not the surface defect has a fatal influence upon the semiconductor product by observing the shape or contour of the surface defect in detail.
The work of observing the surface defect has hitherto been carried out with the help of human eye but lately, through techniques of automatic defect review (ADR) and automatic defect classification (ADC) using the computer aided image processing technique, the defect size, shape and kind have been able to be decided automatically (see JP2007-040910A1 and JP2007-184565A1, for example).
Thanks to the automatic function as above, a large amount of defect data can be acquired within a short period of time and consequently, causes of surface defect to be searched can be narrowed down efficiently. But when the wafer surface defect is much more fatal so as to largely affect the production yield of a final product such as an integrated circuit, the final confirmation of the surface defect cannot help relying on the human eye. Accordingly, the frequency by which the engineer or operator observes defects with a review system or has another look at images the review system has automatically captured is not always reduced.
On the other hand, in the review system, the performance such as sensitivity of a detector has been improved and various functions have been becoming sophisticated. Therefore, the load imposed on the engineer or operator engaged in operation of the review system rather increases. For mitigation of the load, an example of an expedient which manages to realize improvements in operability of operations ranging from the defect observation to the image collation and carried out reiteratively in defect analysis by contriving the graphical user interface (GUI) is disclosed in JP 2006-173589A1, for example.

Surface defect data display and management system and a method of displaying and managing a surface defect data