An air bearing slider of a disk drive for moving a read/write head to a desired position on a disk by being lifted above a surface of the disk includes a body having a surface facing the disk. A first rail base protrudes from the surface of the body facing the disk and has a U shape open to a trailing end portion of the body. A first positive pressure generating rail portion protrudes from the first rail base and includes a cross rail separated from a leading end portion of the first rail base and extending in a first direction perpendicular to a direction in which air enters and a pair of side rails extending from both ends portion of the cross rail in a second direction parallel to the direction in which air enters. A negative pressure cavity is defined by the first rail base. A second rail base protrudes from the surface of the body facing the disk adjacent to the trailing end portion of the body. A second positive pressure generating rail portion protrudes from the second rail base. A negative pressure-generating pocket is formed in each of the side rails and separate from the negative pressure cavity and open to the outside of the side rails.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an air bearing slider for a disk drive, and more particularly, to an air bearing slider for a disk drive which can minimize the lowering of the flying height due to differences in elevations or altitudes.
2. Description of the Related Art
A disk drive, for example, a hard disk drive (HDD), is one of many auxiliary memory devices of a computer that is used to record data on the disk or reproduce stored data from the disk by using a read/write head.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view illustrating part of a typical hard disk drive. Referring to FIG. 1, a typical hard disk drive includes a magnetic disk (hard disk) 10 which is a recording medium for data recording, a spindle motor 20 for rotating the disk 10, a read/write head 31 for recording data on the disk 10 or reproducing data stored on the disk 10, and an actuator 30 for moving the read/write head 31 to a predetermined position on the disk 10.
The actuator 30 includes an actuator arm 36 rotated by a voice coil motor (not shown), an air bearing slider 32 where the read/write head 31 is mounted, and a suspension 34 installed at one end portion of the actuator arm 36 and supporting the air bearing slider 32 to be elastically biased toward a surface of the disk 10. The air bearing slider 32 having the read/write head 31 is lifted to a predetermined height above the disk 10 to maintain a predetermined gap between the read/write head 31 and the disk 10.
When the rotation of the disk 10 is stopped, the slider 32 is parked in a landing zone 11 provided on a surface of an inner circumferential side of the disk 10. However, as the disk 10 starts to rotate, a lifting force generated by airflow applies to a lower surface of the slider 32, that is, to an air-bearing surface, thus lifting the slider 32. The slider 32 is lifted to a height where a lifting force created by the rotation of the disk 10 and an elastic force created by the suspension 34 are balanced. The slider 32 in a lifted state is moved to a data zone 12 of the disk 10 according to a rotation of the actuator arm 36. The read/write head 31 mounted on the slider 32 records and reproduces data from the disk 10 while maintaining a predetermined gap with the rotating disk 10.
The air bearing slider described above has a variety of structures. An example thereof, is the basic structure of a conventional TF (taper flat) type air bearing slider illustrated in FIG. 2.
Referring to FIG. 2, a TF type air bearing slider 40 has a body 42 having a thin block shape. Two rails 44 extending in a lengthwise direction of the body 42 are formed to a predetermined height on one surface of the body 42, that is, on a surface facing the disk. An inclined surface 46 is formed at a leading end portion of each of the rails 44. In the above structure, when air flow is created in a direction indicated by an arrow A by the rotation of the disk, air is compressed on the inclined surface 46, thus applying positive pressure to the surface of each of the rails 44, and creating a lifting force which lifts the slider 40 above the surface of the disk.
However, in the TF type air bearing slider 40, the lifting force gradually increases as the rpm of the disk increase, gradually increasing the flying height. The rpm of a disk and the flying height are almost linearly proportional.
In the meantime, an NP (negative pressure) type air bearing slider which can maintain a constant flying height by generating a negative pressure as well as pulling the slider toward a surface of a disk is increasingly adopted. FIG. 3 shows a basic structure of a conventional NP type air bearing slider.
Referring to FIG. 3, two rails 54 extending in a lengthwise direction of a body 52 of an NP type air bearing slider 50 are formed on one surface of the body 52, that is, a surface facing a disk (not shown). A cross rail 58 extending in a widthwise direction of the body 52 is formed between the rails 54. An inclined surface 56 is formed at a leading end portion of each of the rails 54. The cross rail 58 is formed to have the same height as of the rails 54. In the above structure, when air flow is created by rotation of the disk in a direction indicated by an arrow A, the two rails 54 generate positive pressure at both side portions of the body 52 and the cross rail 58 generates a negative pressure cavity 59 at the central portion of the body 52. At the initial stage of the disk rotation, since the positive pressure is higher than the negative pressure, the slider 50 is lifted. As the speed of rotation of a disk increases, the negative pressure gradually increases. When the disk rotation speed reaches a regular rpm, the positive pressure and the negative pressure are balanced so that the slider 50 is no longer lifted and maintained at a constant flying height.
Forces acting on the above NP type air bearing slider are described in detail with reference to FIG. 4.
Referring to FIG. 4, when a disk 10 rotates in a direction indicated by an arrow D, air flow is formed in a direction indicated by an arrow A between the disk 10 and a surface of a slider 60 facing the disk 10, that is, an air bearing surface. Positive pressure is generated by the airflow on a surface of rails 64 protruding from a low surface of the slider 60, that is, on the air-bearing surface. Accordingly, lifting forces F1 and F2, which lift the slider 60, are generated. In contrast, negative pressure or sub-ambient pressure is generated at a negative pressure cavity 69 of the slider 60 so that a force F3 pulling the slider 60 toward the disk 10 is also generated. In the meantime, gram load F4 by suspension (refer to FIG. 1) acts on the slider 60. As a result, the slider 60 is maintained at a height at which the forces F1, F2, and F3 generated by the above-described positive and negative pressures and the gram load F4 are balanced. As the negative pressure increases, the positive pressure must also increase in order to maintain a balanced state. When the positive pressure and the negative pressure increase in a balanced state, air-bearing stiffness of the slider increases improving dynamic stability.
FIG. 5 shows a detailed example of the conventional NP type air bearing slider, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,309,303.
Referring to FIG. 5, an inclined surface 71 and a cross rail 72 are formed at a leading end portion of a slider 70. Two side rails 73 are formed at both side portions of the slider 70. An island 77 supporting a head 78 protrudes at a tailing end portion of the slider 70. A negative pressure cavity 76 defined by the cross rail 72 and the side rails 73 is formed at the central portion of the slider 70. A first groove 74 connecting the negative pressure cavity 76 and the outside of the slider 70 is formed at the leading end portion of each of the side rails 73 across the side rails 73. The first groove 74 is inclined with respect to a lengthwise axis of the slider 70 and has the same depth as the negative pressure cavity 76. The first groove 74 has a function of maintaining a gap between each of the side rails 73 and a disk (not shown) to be identical.
Also, a second groove 75 is formed at the tailing end portion of each of the side rails 73. The second groove 75 is open at the side surface edge of each of the side rails 73, but is separated from the negative pressure cavity 76. The second groove 75 has the same depth as the negative pressure cavity 76 and is inclined with respect to a lengthwise axis of the slider 70 to prevent debris from remaining therein. The second groove 75 generates negative pressure at the tailing end portions of the side rails 73 so that the flying height of the slider 70 can be lowered. Thus, according to the structure of the slider 70 shown in FIG. 5, a lower flying height can be obtained, thereby improving the performance of the head 78.
However, in the above-described conventional air bearing sliders, as altitude or elevation increases, flying height is generally lowered. This problem will now be described with reference to FIGS. 6A and 6B.
Referring to FIG. 6A, when the absolute altitude or elevation is 0 m, a slider 80 maintains a predetermined flying height H1, for example, a flying height of 10 nm, above the disk 10 rotating at a regular rpm. The slider 80 is maintained in an inclined state at a predetermined angle as the leading end portion where air enters is lifted higher than the trailing end portion where a head 81 is disposed. The flying height H1 signifies a gap between the trailing end portion of the slider 80 and the disk 10.
However, as the absolute altitude increases, the atmospheric pressure is lowered. Accordingly, the flying height of the conventional air bearing slider 80 is generally lowered due to a decrease in a lifting force. As shown in FIG. 6B, the flying height H2 of the slider 80 at a place where the absolute altitude is about 3,000 m is about 7 nm, which is 30% less than the flying height H1 at the place where the absolute altitude is 0 m. When the flying height of the slider 80 is lowered as the altitude increases, the head 81 easily contacts the disk 10 by a relatively weak impact or vibration. Accordingly, the head 81 is damaged and the lift span is reduced, deteriorating the reliability of a disk drive. In particular, since a lower flying height is needed to improve performance of the head as described above, the lowering of the slider according to the altitude becomes a serious problem.


A hand and forearm orthotic device for attachment to the forearm of chronically ill, elderly, handicapped, comatose or deliberated patients. The device comprises a block member, preferably formed of flexible foam or other soft material having a pair of support members releasably attached to the underside thereof. The block member incorporates a pair of retainer straps operative to hold a human forearm in a first position thereon. A hand support assembly is also connected to and/or incorporated in the block member so as to support the hand of the patient when the forearm is positioned on top of the block member. The hand support assembly may be adjustable so as to provide for varying degrees of rotation or dorsiflexion of the hand. A longitudinal groove formed by the support members and the underside of the block member may be used to facilitate placement of the block member on a wheelchair arm or other structure. The orthotic device further includes an optional axillary wedge member or abductor assembly attachable to the forearm support device to abduct the shoulder joint. The wedge member may be adjustable to accomplish varying degrees of abduction.

Chronically ill, elderly, severely handicapped, and/or comatose patients sometimes require restraint and/or cushioning of the hands and forearms to prevent self-injury and/or to maintain a posture which will present or minimize the development of muscular atrophy, edema, decubitus, and/or acute pressure sores.
Severely debilitated patients often tend to assume a posture wherein their arms become folded or retracted against the anterior thorax and/or shoulders. If such posture is allowed to remain uncorrected for an extended period of time, the muscles of the arms and shoulders will begin to atrophy. Additionally, the constant positioning of the patient's hands adjacent the anterior thorax often results in repeated scratching (i.e. fingernail trauma) of the chest and neck area.
Additionally, in some patients who remain comatose or bedridden for extended periods of time, a condition known as "wrist drop" (syn. carpoptasis, drop hand) may result. Wrist drop is a muscular atrophy due to paralysis or non-use of the extensor muscles of the hand and fingers.
Also, in some patients edema of the hands and wrists may develop if their hands and arms are not maintained in an elevated posture. This problem of edema formation is especially prevalent in patients whose cardiac function is compromised (e.g. edematous changes which result from congestive heart failure).
Those who provide care to chronically ill, elderly, severely handicapped, or comatose patients often undertake to restrain or affix the patient's arms in positions which will help to retain normal muscle tone and prevent accidental trauma. Such restraint is typically accomplished through the use of straps or tape. For example, the forearms of an elderly patient may be loosely taped or bound to the arms of a wheelchair so as to prevent the arms from falling into the spokes of the wheelchair wheels and becoming injured thereby. Also, to prevent patients from scratching or injuring themselves, it is common practice to cushion the hands or to place a pillow on the patient's chest and to allow the patient's arms to retract against the pillow, thereby avoiding direct contact between the hands and the patient's body.
Although wheelchair "arm trays" and other orthotic appliances are available, such appliances are generally usable only in fixed locations (e.g., on the arm of a wheelchair) and do not generally attach to the patient's limb in a portable manner so as to permit the patient to move the limb about with the orthotic device remaining attached thereto.
Although these prior art methods and practices and devices may be somewhat helpful in preventing muscular atrophy, injury and/or edema, the common practice of taping or strapping the arms is known to be cumbersome and also tends to be somewhat imposing in appearance. Thus, there exists a need in the art for a simple device, attachable to the forearm, to effect restraint and shielding of the forearms/hands of a patient without the need for deployment of ties, cords, tapes, or the like. Additionally, it is desirable that such device be usable to accomplish orthosis of the entire pectoral limb, including the hand, wrist, arm, elbow, and shoulder.
In recognition of the aforementioned need, applicant developed the hand and forearm orthotic device disclosed in parent application Ser. No. 07/452,627 entitled "ORTHOTIC AND RESTRAINING DEVICE POSITIONABLE ON THE HAND AND FOREARM". This particular device generally comprises a block member having a strap member attached thereto to bind a forearm to the upper surface thereof. The block member has a generally wedge-shaped configuration such that when resting on a generally flat surface, the forearm is elevated such that the hand is higher than the remainder of the forearm. The device further includes a generally cylindrical hand grip adjustably attached to the block member via arcuate mounting members so as to permit varying degrees of dorsiflexion of the hand.
Though this particular device alleviates many of the shortcomings of the prior art, the device possesses certain deficiencies which detracts from its overall utility. One such deficiency is the inability of the device to permit varying degrees of rotation of the hand in addition to dorsiflexion. Further, due to the wedge-shaped configuration of the block member, the block member may not be used to maintain the forearm in a generally horizontal orientation unless such is affixed to a support member such as the armchair portion of a wheelchair. Additionally, the block member is not constructed so as to allow for the adjustment of the inclination angle of the patient's forearm. The present invention alleviates these and other deficiencies associated with the prior art, including the orthotic device disclosed in the parent application.

Orthotic hand and forearm support device


A semiconductor light-emitting element assembly, comprising a composite substrate, a circuit layout carrier, a connecting structure, a recess, and a semiconductor light-emitting element, is disclosed. The connecting structure is used for bonding the composite substrate with the circuit layout carrier. The recess is formed by the circuit layout carrier and extends toward the composite substrate. The semiconductor light-emitting element is deposited in the recess and electrically connected to the circuit layout carrier.

U.S. Pat. No. 6,501,103 discloses a light emitting diode (LED) assembly comprising an LED (1), a circuit board (2), and a heat-dissipating substrate (3), wherein the LED (1) has a die (12) bound on a heat-dissipating plate (10), and pads electrically connected to a printed circuit board (13). The LED (1) is fixed on the circuit board (2) and the heat-dissipating substrate (3).
The above-mentioned technology generally uses a mechanical method or a soldering method to connect the printed circuit board (13) with the heat-dissipating plate (10). The mechanical method, such as screwing and buckling, needs a large space to install related mechanical devices, and thus is disadvantageous for miniature electronic elements. The soldering method needs to melt solder at a relative high temperature for connecting two different types of materials, wherein the solder temperature is generally higher than 450° C. Usually, the material forming the heat-dissipating plate (10) is metal, such as copper, etc., wherein the thermal expansion coefficient of copper is about 12×10−6/° C. However, the thermal expansion coefficient of the material forming the LED (12) is generally smaller than 10×10−6/° C. or between 4×10−6/° C. and 8×10−6/° C. The difference between the thermal expansion coefficients is likely to cause deformation and fatigue between the LED (12) and the heat-dissipating plate (10) under high temperature, thus reducing the reliability of products containing LED (12) and the heat-dissipating plate (10). In order to reduce the thermal expansion coefficient difference between two materials, the conventional technology adopts a ceramic material of a low thermal expansion coefficient, such as aluminum nitride (AlN), for forming the heat-dissipating plate (10). However, the ceramic material such as AlN is too expensive to be acceptable to market.
In view of the conventional technology's disadvantages, the present invention as described below is provided for achieving effective heat dissipation from the LED, while reducing the negative influence resulted from the difference of the thermal expansion coefficients between different materials.

Semiconductor light-emitting element assembly with a composite substrate


A method and apparatus for an electronic device 101 operating in a piconet 100 to assign itself a unique identifier 112 is provided. Once the device 101 assigns itself the unique identifier 112, which may be temporary in nature, the device 101 may use the temporary identifier 112 to identify itself to other devices 102-105 operating within the piconet 100, which may be a Bluetooth local area network. In accordance with one embodiment of the method, a device 101 may first scan the piconet 100 to determine device identifiers 113-116 corresponding to devices 102-105 that are operating within the piconet 100. After scanning the device 101 stores the device identifiers 113-116 in a list and queries the list to determine which identifiers are included in the list. The device 101 then selects the temporary, unique identifier 112 that is not found in the list. The unique identifier 112 may then be used to identify the device 101 to the piconet.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to a method and apparatus for self-assigning an identifier, and more particularly to a method and apparatus for self-assigning a unique identifier within a Bluetooth network.
2. Background Art
In recent years, mobile telephones have enjoyed explosive growth in popularity. Once a luxury for only a few, today millions of people use mobile telephones to stay connected with friends, family, and coworkers. Coupled with the rise in popularity of mobile telephones has been the evolution of sophisticated accessories to accompany these phones. For example, the evolution of Bluetooth equipped devices, like headsets and car kits, has expanded the functionality of the mobile telephone by adding wireless speakerphone and control capabilities.
To be sure, Bluetooth devices are appearing everywhere. Bluetooth is a local-area, wireless communication system that allows devices to seamlessly communicate with other devices. A Bluetooth headset, continuing the example from above, may wirelessly couple to a Bluetooth enabled mobile telephone so that a user could operate the mobile telephone in a "hands-free" mode without wires. Similarly, a Bluetooth printer may allow a user to print from a Bluetooth enabled personal computer without the need for bulky cables. As the Bluetooth communication circuitry and protocol is device independent, the Bluetooth enabled mobile telephone could communicate with the Bluetooth enabled personal computer, perhaps to share an address book or photographs.
While the Bluetooth protocol is device independent, when multiple Bluetooth devices are all within communication range, each device in the Bluetooth piconet must be able to distinguish itself from another. A Bluetooth device identifier enables this distinction. In other words, each device has programmed within a device identifier that serves as a piconet identifier/address with which devices may communicate with each other. Traditionally, these addresses are preprogrammed in a factory prior to shipment to an end user.
The problem with Bluetooth device identifiers, however, is that manufacturers prefer to program groups of like devices en mass, to save both time and manufacturing costs. For instance, a manufacturer of Bluetooth headsets for mobile phones may prefer to program ten, twenty, or a hundred or more devices at once. When the devices are first powered up, however, they generally have no device identifier or else they all have the same default device identifier. Consequently, a Bluetooth programming device is unable to distinguish the devices to properly program them.
There is thus a need for a method and apparatus for a Bluetooth enabled device, operating within a piconet, to be able to self-assign a unique device identifier to avoid communication conflicts.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of embodiments of the present invention.

Method and apparatus for self-assigning addresses


Methods, kits, and apparatus for obtaining cellular, chemical, and other materials from breast ducts are described. A single milk duct is accessed and washed with a washing fluid to obtain marker materials from the lining the duct. The washing fluid is then collected, and the marker materials in the washing fluid identified and analyzed. Usually, the washing fluid is introduced using a syringe through a lumen of a dual-lumen catheter. The ductal volume is filled with the washing fluid and excess fluid flows outwardly through a second lumen of the dual-lumen catheter, from which it is collected. Methods and kits provide for collection of fluid and cells by a lavage procedure that includes applying external pressure to the breast to improve the yield of fluid and cells from the breast duct.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical methods and apparatus for obtaining fluids and cellular materials from a patient. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatus for obtaining epithelial cells from the lining of a breast milk duct.
Breast cancer is the most common cancer in women, with well over 100,000 new cases being diagnosed each year (see e.g. Goodson W H and King E B, Chapter 4: Discharges and Secretions of the Nipple, The Breast: Comprehensive Management of Benign and Malignant Diseases 2nd Ed. vol 2, Bland and Kirby eds. W. B. Saunders Co, Philadelphia, Pa. pp. 51-74, (1998)). Even greater numbers of women, however, have symptoms associated with breast diseases, both benign and malignant, and must undergo further diagnosis and evaluation in order to determine whether breast cancer exists. To that end, a variety of diagnostic techniques have been developed, the most common of which are surgical techniques including core biopsy and excisional biopsy. Recently, fine needle aspiration (FNA) cytology has been developed which is less invasive than the surgical techniques, but which is not always a substitute for surgical biopsy.
A variety of other diagnostic techniques have been proposed for research purposes (see e.g. Sukumar et al., Molecular Medicine Today. 2(11):453-9, (1996); Sukumar et al., Mutation Research. 333(1-2):37-44, (1995)). Of particular interest to the present invention, fluids from the breast ducts have been externally collected, analyzed, and correlated to some extent with the risk of breast cancer. Such fluid collection, however, is generally taken from the surface of the nipple and includes material from all of the ductal structures. Information on the condition of an individual duct is generally not provided. Information on individual ducts can be obtained through cannulation and endoscopic or fluoroscopic examination, but such examinations have been primarily in women with nipple discharge or for research purposes and have generally not examined each individual duct in the breast.
Since breast cancer usually arises from a single ductal system and exists in a precancerous state for a number of years, endoscopy in and fluid collection from individual breast ducts holds great diagnostic promise for the identification of intermediate markers. Of particular interest to the present invention, it would be of great value to be able to reliably collect ductal fluids and cellular and non-cellular marker materials (e.g. epithelial and other cells as well as proteins, carbohydrates, and other non-cellular marker materials) from the individual breast ducts on a duct-by-duct basis. By examining the collected marker materials, cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions within each duct could be identified at a very early stage. Moreover, by associating the condition with a specific duct, treatment could be directed specifically at that duct in an attempt to enhance the effectiveness of the treatment and minimize trauma to the patient.
The ability to perform such diagnostic techniques, however, has been limited. Heretofore, it has been very difficult to identify ductal orifices in a reliable and consistent manner. That problem, however, has been addressed by the invention reported in co-pending, commonly assigned application Ser. No. 08/931,786, filed on Sep. 16, 1997, the full disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. By labeling the ductal orifices, the location of the entry orifice for each duct can be established.
Even though access to all of the ducts in a breast can now be achieved, successful diagnostic methods will depend on the ability to collect cellular and non-cellular materials from at least, most, and preferably all, regions of each ductal network. Breast ducts have highly complex and convoluted three-dimensional geometries, with more remote portions of the network having increasingly smaller diameters. Thus, obtaining representative material samples from throughout a ductal network represents a significant challenge.
Prior attempts to obtain cellular material from individual breast ducts have been only partly successful. As reported by the inventor herein, in Love and Barsky (1996) The Lancet 348:997-999 (1996), breast ducts have been cannulated with a rigid cannula and instilled with very small volumes (0.2 ml to 0.5 ml) of saline. Saline was recovered separately through a capillary tube, and cellular material recovered from the saline. It was not clear, however, if cellular material was recovered from most or all portions of the ductal network. Unless such representative samples can be obtained, reliable diagnostics cannot be performed. While the paper proposes development of a two-lumen catheter, no such catheter or its use is described in the publication.
For these reasons, to enable the performance of ductal diagnostic techniques, it will be useful to provide methods and apparatus which permit the collection of fluids and marker materials from individual ductal networks in a reliable and consistent fashion. Such methods should be minimally traumatic to the patient, should be useful for routine screening in at least high-risk patients, and should provide cellular and non-cellular materials suitable for reliable detection of cancerous and pre-cancerous conditions. At least some of these objectives will be met by the invention described hereinafter.
2. Description of the Background Art
Publications by the inventor herein relating to breast duct access include Love and Barsky (1996) Lancet 348: 997-999; Love (1992) xe2x80x9cBreast duct endoscopy: a pilot study of a potential technique for evaluating intraductal disease,xe2x80x9d presented at 15th Annual San Antonio Breast Cancer Symposium, San Antonio, Tex., Abstract 197; Barsky and Love (1996) xe2x80x9cPathological analysis of breast duct endoscoped mastectomies,xe2x80x9d Laboratory Investigation, Modern Pathology, Abstract 67. A description of the inventor""s earlier breast duct access work was presented in Lewis (1997) Biophotonics International, pages 27-28, May/June 1997.
Nipple aspiration and/or the introduction of contrast medium into breast ducts prior to imaging are described in Sartorius (1995) Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 35: 255-266; Sartorius et al. (1977) xe2x80x9cContrast ductography for the recognition and localization of benign and malignant breast lesions: An improved technique,xe2x80x9d in: Logan (ed.), Breast Carcinoma, New York, Wiley, pp. 281-300; Petrakis (1993) Cancer Epidem. Biomarker Prev. 2(1): 3-10; Petrakis (1993) Epidem. Rev. 15: 188-195; Petrakis (1986) Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 8: 7-19; Wrensch et al. (1992) Am. J. Epidem. 135(2): 130-141; Wrensch et al. (1990) Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 15: 39-51; and Wrensch et al. (1989) Cancer Res. 49: 2168-2174. The presence of abnormal biomarkers in breast aspirates is described in Fabian et al. (1993) Proc. Ann. Meet. Am. Assoc. Cancer Res. 34: A1556; Wrensch et al., American Journal of Epidemiology. 137(8):829-33, (1993) and Petrakis et al., Lancet. 2(8557):505, (1987). The use of a rigid 1.2 mm ductoscope to identify intraductal papillomas in women with nipple discharge is described in Makita et al. (1991) Breast Cancer Res. Treat. 18: 179-188. The use of a 0.4 mm flexible scope to investigate nipple discharge is described in Okazaki et al. (1991) Jpn. J. Clin. Oncol. 21: 188-193. The detection of CEA in fluids obtained by a nipple blot is described in Imayama et al. (1996) Cancer 78: 1229-1234. Delivery of epithelium-destroying agents to breasts by ductal cannulation is described in WO 97/05898.
A company called Diagnostics, Inc. formed in 1968, produced devices to obtain breast ductal fluid for cytological evaluation. The devices included a breast duct catheter to infuse fluid into and collect fluid from individual ductal orifices. The devices were sold prior to May 28, 1976, for the purpose of collecting breast ductal fluid for cytological evaluation.
The present invention provides improved methods, kits, and other apparatus for obtaining fluids, marker substances, cellular material, and the like (referred to hereinafter as xe2x80x9cmarker materialsxe2x80x9d) from single milk ducts in the breasts of human female patients. In particular, the methods of the present invention permit reliable washing and retrieval of marker materials from an entire network of a single milk duct to enable screening, diagnosis, and monitoring of diseases associated with the lining of the milk duct, particularly for identifying cancer and pre-cancerous conditions. As the marker materials are obtained entirely from a single ductal network, diagnosis can be made on a duct-by-duct basis. By obtaining specimens from each one of the multiple ductal networks in a breast, however, the presence of disease or increased likelihood of disease in the entire breast can also be determined.
In a first aspect of the present invention, a method for obtaining marker materials from a milk duct of a breast comprises locating a single milk duct, typically by labeling a ductal orifice present in the nipple of the breast. A washing fluid, typically saline, is introduced into the duct so that it passes substantially throughout the entirely ductal network, preferably without rupturing the duct. At least a portion of the washing fluid is then collected from the duct, and marker materials which may be present in the collected fluid (including fluids which might otherwise be secreted) are identified. While in some cases it may be desirable to collect specimens from only a single ductal network, it will usually be preferred to repeat the steps in order to identify the presence of marker materials in each of the ductal networks present in the breast. Cellular marker materials may comprise epithelial cells from the lining of the duct while the fluids will comprise normally secreted and non-secreted fluids present in the ducts. The epithelial and other cells obtained by the method will usually be morphologically histochemically, and/or immunohistochemically examined to determine if they are abnormal and to assess the likelihood of a cancer or pre-cancerous condition present in the cellular lining of the duct. Non-cellular marker materials include proteins, peptides, and other chemical species which may be secreted or otherwise released into a duct in response to a disease or other condition to be identified.
In a further aspect of the present invention, a preferred method for obtaining marker materials from a milk duct of a breast comprises locating at least one of the ductal orifices on the breast nipple. A dual-lumen catheter is then introduced through the orifice and into the ductal passage, usually over a guidewire. A washing fluid is then introduced through one of the lumens into the duct. Sufficient fluid is introduced so that the fluid will substantially fill the ductal volume and will then pass outwardly through the other of the catheter lumens so that it may be collected externally to the breast. Marker materials, such as epithelial and other cells, present in the collected washing fluid may then be isolated, detected and/or examined, as generally described above. Additionally, the ductal fluids present in the ducts prior to introduction of the washing fluid will be diluted and collected and may be examined for the presence of both small molecules and macromolecules, including proteins, carbohydrates, and other potential disease markers.
The volume of washing fluid introduced into the ductal network will usually be at least 5 ml, preferably being from 5 ml to 25 ml, usually being about 10 ml. The washing fluid will typically be introduced through the catheter lumen using a syringe at a generally low pressure which will not result in rupture of the ductal network. The washing fluid will be introduced over a relatively short time period, typically from 1 minute to 5 minutes, and will continue to be introduced even after the initial portions of the fluid begin to emerge from the second catheter lumen. As before, the method will usually be repeated for each of the ductal networks present in the breast.
The invention further provides an improved method for obtaining fluid and cellular material from distal areas of the ductal architecture of a breast milk duct. The method comprises introducing a washing fluid into a milk duct, applying external pressure to the breast, collecting at least a portion of the washing fluid from the duct, wherein the portion of the washing fluid collected comprises fluid and cells from the duct. The application of external pressure can be manual or mechanical. The external pressure can effectively mix fluid, cells and other ductal contents together in a duct. The external pressure can be applied beginning at the base of the breast and working up to the areola and nipple regions of the breast. Introducing a washing fluid can comprise continuous, or intermittent infusion of washing fluid over a period of time. The external pressure may be applied to the breast periodically, continuously, or cyclically during infusion of the wash fluid. Introducing and collecting can comprise access of a breast duct by an access tool having at least one lumen. Collecting can comprise applying suction to an outflow lumen of a dual lumen catheter to draw fluid out from the duct. The washing fluid can comprise a mixture of a gas (such as air or nitrogen) and fluid.
The invention provides a method for obtaining fluid and cellular material including fluid and cellular material from distal areas of the ductal architecture of a breast milk duct comprising introducing a washing fluid into a milk duct, and providing continuous or intermittent infusion of the wash fluid for a period of time; applying external pressure to the breast and repeating application of external pressure periodically, continuously, or cyclically during infusion of the wash fluid; collecting the washing fluid from the duct during the infusion and application of external pressures, wherein the washing fluid collected comprises fluid and cells originating from the duct. Introducing and collecting can comprise access of a breast duct by an access tool having at least one lumen. Collecting can comprise applying suction to an outflow lumen of a dual lumen catheter to draw fluid out from the duct. The washing fluid can comprise a mixture of air and fluid.
The invention also provides a method of obtaining material from a milk duct in a breast of a patient comprising locating at least one ductal orifice on a nipple of the breast; introducing an access tool having at least one lumen through one of the ductal orifices and into the ductal passage; introducing a washing fluid through a lumen into the ductal passage; applying external pressure to the breast; collecting the washing fluid from the ductal passage through a lumen of the access tool during or after fluid introduction and applying external pressure; and identifying materials present in the collected washing fluid. The washing fluid can comprise a mixture of air and fluid.
According to yet a further aspect of the present invention, a kit for obtaining marker materials from a breast duct comprises a dual-lumen catheter together with instructions setting forth a method for use as described above. The kit will usually further comprise a package, such as a pouch, tray, tube, box, or the like. The instructions for use may be printed on a separate piece of paper, or optionally may be printed in whole or in part on a portion of the packaging. Usually, the dual-lumen catheter will be sterilized and maintained in a sterile condition within the packaging. Optionally, other system components, such as guidewires, saline or other washing fluid(s), cell growth and maintenance media, cell fixation media, cell collection trays, or the like, could be provided as part of the kit.
The invention provides a kit for obtaining material from a milk duct of a breast, comprising an access tool having at least one lumen, and instructions setting forth a method for use of the access tool according to any of above described methods that comprise application of external pressure, and a container for the kit contents. The kit can also comprise reagents for washing, collection, preservation or analysis of ductal fluid.

Methods using pressure to obtain fluids and cellular material from breast ducts

The Regents of the University of California


Provided is an access mediator system for mediating convergence services of communication and broadcasting using a non-communicative appliance. The access mediator system includes: a non-communicative appliance access interface unit performing an interface function so as to converge a non-communicative appliance comprising an interface supporting image and voice multimedia data but not including a communication function; a broadband convergence network access interface unit performing an interface function so as to access a broadband convergence network connected to various service provider servers via wire and wireless interfaces; and a main processor accessing a selected service provider server via the broadband convergence network access interface unit to mediate the selected service provider server and the non-communicative appliance.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an access mediator system mediating convergence services of communication and broadcasting using a non-communicative appliance, and more particularly, to an access mediator system accessing a broadband convergence network using a non-communicative appliance having a multimedia data transmission interface, such as a camcorder, a digital camera, a television, to mediate convergence services of communication and broadcasting so as to provide the convergence services.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional portable multimedia systems relate to mobile communication systems including camcorder functions, i.e., convergence systems in which general portable phones include digital camera or camcorder functions. The convergence systems may perform multimedia communication functions using a single system but do not transmit real-time multimedia streaming data such as real-time IP broadcasting.
Conventional portable multimedia players (PMPs) include storages and access an external network to receive multimedia data and store the multimedia data in the storages. Users can carry PMPs and thus play stored data anytime anywhere. The conventional PMPs mainly provide a VoD service and thus cannot support services such as real-time IP broadcasting, video phones, and the like. In other words, according to the conventional techniques, a single system is embodied to provide specific services.

System for mediating convergence services of communication and broadcasting using non-communicative appliance

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


A bar counter (100) for use standing across a relatively upper floor (10) and a relatively lower floor (13) interconnected by steps (11 and 12), comprises a body (110) having a first side (110R) on the upper floor (10) and an opposite second side (110F) on the lower floor (13). The body (110) has a bottom (120) adapted to engage said upper and lower floors (10 and 13) and includes a top (130) having a relatively higher horizontal surface (130H) on the first side (110R) and a relatively lower horizontal surface (130L) on the second side (110F), for use by people on opposite sides of the counter (100).

People like to gather around a bar counter to drink and chat, socializing themselves with the others. There has been little attention paid to the design of bar counters to cater for the general difference in height of people, especially between men and women.
The invention seeks to provide a new or otherwise improved bar counter which allows people to stand and drink/chat more comfortably.


An oil cylinder has a valve body, an oil pressure chamber, and an oil storage chamber. A shaft extends from the oil pressure chamber. The valve body has a piston chamber, an arc-shaped through hole, an enlarged hole receiving a rotating post, a first oil passage, a second oil passage, a third oil passage, a fourth oil passage, an oil hole, a first channel, and a second channel. A piston is disposed in the piston chamber. A trip lever passes through the arc-shaped through hole. The trip lever is connected to the rotating post. A big ball is placed in the third oil passage. A small ball is placed in the second oil passage. A compression spring is connected to the bolt and the big ball. A coiled spring is connected to the big ball and the small ball. A swivel rod is connected to the rotating post. A V-ring oil seal encloses the piston. An oil relief device is disposed on the valve body and inserted in the first channel.

The present invention relates to an oil cylinder for a stand carriage. More particularly, the present invention relates to an oil cylinder for a stand carriage in a hospital.
Referring to FIGS. 1 to 3, a stand carriage comprises a U-shaped frame 1, four casters 6 connected to the U-shaped frame 1, a support frame 2 disposed on the 10 U-shaped frame 1, a bracket rod 3 disposed on the support frame 2, a support rod 54' disposed on the support frame 2 pivotally, an oil cylinder 5' disposed on the support rod 54', a shaft 53' extending from the oil cylinder 5' and connected to the bracket rod 3, and a button 52' disposed on the oil cylinder 5' to control the oil in the oil cylinder 5'. A hook device 4 is hung on the bracket rod 3. The oil cylinder 5' comprises a valve body 59', an oil pressure chamber 56', and an oil storage chamber 55'. A piston chamber 591' is disposed in the valve body 59'. A piston 57' is disposed in the piston chamber 591'. An annular groove 571' is formed on the piston 57'. An arc-shaped through hole 592' is formed in the valve body 59' communicating with the piston chamber 591'. A trip lever 512' passes through the arc-shaped through hole 592' and inserted in the annular groove 571'. An enlarged hole 597' is formed in the valve body 59' receiving a rotating post 511'. The trip lever 512' is connected to the rotating post 511' eccentrically. The rotating post 511' can be rotated in the enlarged hole 597' freely. A first oil passage 593' is formed in the valve body 59' communicating with the oil storage chamber 55'. A second oil passage 594' is formed in the valve body 59' communicating with the first oil passage 593'. A third oil passage 596' is formed in the valve body 59' communicating with the second oil passage 594'. A fourth oil passage 595' is formed in the valve body 59' communicating with the oil pressure chamber 56'. A big ball 501' is placed between the third oil passage 596' and the second oil passage 594'. A small ball 502' is placed between the second oil passage 594' and the first oil passage 593'. A bolt 581' is inserted in the third oil passage 596'. A compression spring 582' is connected to the bolt 581' and the big ball 501'. A coiled spring 583' is connected to the big ball 501' and the small ball 502'. The big ball 501 ' seals a first end of the second oil passage 594'. The small ball 502' seals a second end of the second oil passage 594'. The second oil passage 594' communicates with the piston chamber 591'. A swivel rod 51' is connected to the rotating post 511'. When the swivel rod 51' is operated, the rotating post 511' drives the trip lever 512' to move reciprocally. Therefore, the piston 57' can move upward and downward alternately. When the piston 57' moves downward, the oil in the oil storage chamber 55' flows into the first oil passage 593'. The small ball 502' is forced to move leftward so that the oil can flow into the piston chamber 591'. When the piston 57' moves upward, the oil in the piston chamber 591' flows into the third oil passage 596', the fourth oil passage 595', and the oil pressure chamber 56'. Since the shaft 53' extends from the oil pressure chamber 56', the shaft 53' will move upward to lift the bracket rod 3. An O-ring oil seal (not shown in the figures) is disposed in the piston chamber 591'. An oil hole 598' in the valve body 59' communicates with the third oil passage 596'. A steel ball (not shown in the figures) seals an end of the oil hole 598'. However, the O-ring oil seal cannot prevent the leakage of oil effectively. A V-ring oil seal can prevent the leakage oil effectively. Since the piston chamber 591' is very narrow, a V-ring oil seal cannot be disposed in the piston chamber 591'. Furthermore, the piston chamber 591' is too narrow and too deep to be fabricate precisely. Therefore, the motion of the piston 57' will be influenced. The operation of the oil cylinder 5' will be influenced also.


A reloading apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus includes a support for supporting a casing and a casing feed station for placing the casing on the support. The apparatus also includes a primer removal station for resizing the casing and removing a spent primer from the casing. The apparatus further includes an expanding station for enlarging a diameter of a mouth of the casing. The apparatus still further includes a primer insertion station for inserting a charged primer into the casing. The apparatus also includes a gunpowder dispensing station for dispensing a quantity of gunpowder into the casing. The apparatus further includes a bullet setting station for setting a bullet into the casing so as to form a cartridge. The bullet setting station includes a bullet aligner for positioning a bullet adjacent the mouth of the casing, and a plunger. The plunger is movable between a first plunger position and a second plunger position. The plunger contacts the bullet so as to advance the bullet into the mouth of the casing when the plunger is moved from the first plunger position to the second plunger position. The apparatus further includes a crimping station for advancing the bullet a distance into the casing and reducing the diameter of the mouth of the casing. The apparatus yet further includes an ejection station for ejecting the cartridge from the support. A method of reloading a casing is also disclosed.

Many gun enthusiasts involved in hunting or target shooting reload their own cartridges. There are several reasons to reload a cartridge rather than buying a new cartridge. Primarily, the gun enthusiast will reload a cartridge to save money. In particular, a cartridge includes a casing, a bullet, gunpowder, and a charged primer. After a cartridge has been fired, the casing and a spent primer remain. The cost of a bullet, gunpowder, and a charged primer is significantly less than the price of a new cartridge. In addition, the gun enthusiast is able to experiment with a variety of different bullet and gunpowder combinations, which enables the gun enthusiast to make customized cartridges for a specific purpose.
A typical reloading apparatus will consist of a rotable turntable with a plurality of stations. As the turntable is raised and lowered, the turntable is indexed to advance a casing to the next station. At each station one of the following reloading operations is performed: (1) placing a casing on the turntable, (2) removing the spent primer from the casing, (3) resizing the casing to eliminate any expansion caused by firing the cartridge, (4) opening the mouth of the casing to facilitate insertion of a bullet at a subsequent station, (5) inserting a charged primer into the casing, (6) dispensing a predetermined amount of gunpowder into the casing, (7) placing a bullet into the mouth of the casing, (8) advancing the bullet a distance into the casing, (9) crimping the mouth of the casing that was widened at a previous station which allows the bullet to be fed into the gun, and (10) ejecting the reloaded cartridge from the reloader.
The manner in which the casing is positioned and retained on the turntable is of paramount importance. Misalignment of the casing at one of the reloading stations has several disadvantages associated therewith. For example, small misalignments may adversely affect the accuracy of the reloaded cartridge. Larger misalignments many cause the reloading apparatus to become jammed, possibly damaging the cartridge and thereby making the cartridge unusable.
It is also important not to retain a casing on the turntable in too tight a manner. In particular, when a casing is retained on the turntable in an extremely tight manner, it is difficult to eject the cartridge at the final station. Therefore, a mechanism to eject the cartridge from the turntable must be found that is compatible with the mechanism used to retain the casing on the turntable.
Another critical station is the station that positions the bullet in the casing. The bullet must be properly aligned with the casing in a consistent manner. Highly accurate shooting requires that there be little variation from one cartridge to the next. A disadvantage associated with reloaders that have heretofore been designed is that bullets are not properly aligned in the mouth of cartridges in a consistent manner.
The present invention is directed to overcoming one or more of the disadvantages set forth above.

Reloading apparatus which automatically sets a bullet into the mouth of a casing


The invention provides a novel isolated sucrose synthase nucleic acid and its encoded protein. The present invention also provides methods and compositions relating to altering sucrose synthase levels in plants, and in particular, in plant stalks and/or plant seeds. The invention further provides recombinant expression cassettes, host cells, transgenic plants, and transgenic seeds.

Chemical composition and mechanical properties of plant materials determine to a major extent how those plant materials are utilized. Cell wall content and composition account for most of the variation in mechanical strength of plant tissues. Also, cell wall composition is a major determinant of silage quality. Cell walls constitute a major sink in the vegetative parts of plants, accounting, for example, for approximately 80% of the corn stalk (FIG. 1). For the whole corn plant, including grain, cell wall accounts for approximately 35–40% of the dry mass.
Cellulose, the most abundant organic molecule on Earth, is made at the plasma membrane and directly deposited into the cell wall [Ray, et al., (1976), Ber. Deutsch. Bot. Ges. Bd. 89:121–146]. By inter- and intra-chain hydrogen bonding, β-1,4-glucan chains form para-crystalline microfibrils which eventually form ribbons and fibers, giving cellulose a very high tensile strength [Niklas (1992), "Plant biomechanics: An engineering approach to plant form and function," The University of Chicago Press, p. 607]. Because of its para-crystalline nature, cellulose makes a disproportionately greater contribution toward tensile strength of plant tissues than it would if it were amorphous in nature.
Cell wall of a maize stalk consists mostly of cellulose and hemicellulose, with lignin constituting a minor proportion, i.e., ˜10% (FIG. 1). In a study conducted on three contrasting pairs of hybrids, we have determined that cellulose concentration in a unit length of stalk below the ear is correlated with tensile strength of the stalk (FIG. 2). Stalk lodging is a major problem in maize, accounting for significant yield losses. Increasing cellulose concentration in the wall will result in a mechanically stronger tissue, reducing the problem of stalk lodging.
The rate of cellulose synthesis exerts major control on the formation of the rest of the wall, as cellulose is its dominant constituent (FIG. 1). Formation of UDP-glucose, the substrate for cellulose synthase (CesA), occurs through two pathways in plants: one through UDP-glucose pyrophosphorylase (UGPase) and the other through sucrose synthase (FIG. 3). Sucrose synthase (SuSy) catalyzes the reversible reaction:                Sucrose+UDP⇄UDP−Glucose+FructoseThus, the cleavage reaction provides the precursor for synthesis of starch and cellulose. SuSy uses the energy of the glycosidic bond from sucrose to make UDP-glucose from UDP, releasing fructose in the process; fructose can then be channeled into UDP-glucose by the UGPase pathway (FIG. 3). While sucrose synthase has historically been considered active in the cytoplasm of plant cells, Amor et al. found tight association of about half of the total cellular SuSy with the plasma membrane in cotton and suggested that SuSy might channel substrate directly from sucrose to CesA [Amor, et al., (1995), "A membrane-associated form of sucrose synthase and its potential role in synthesis of cellulose and callose in plants," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:9353–9357]. Therefore, in a sink tissue, such as growing corn stalk, sucrose synthase provides an economical route for the formation of UDP-glucose from sucrose. In contrast, the UGPase pathway utilizes more energy in the form of nucleotide triphosphates to produce UDP-glucose from hexose sugars.
Until the present invention, only two sucrose synthase genes have been known in maize, shrunken-1 (Sh1) and constitutive sucrose synthase (Sus1), both of which map to chromosome 9 [Huang, et al. (1994), "Complete nucleotide sequence of the maize (Zea mays L.) sucrose synthase 2 cDNA," Plant Physiology Rockville 104:293–294; McCarty, et al. (1986), "The cloning, genetic mapping and expression of the constitutive sucrose synthase locus of maize," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:9099–9103; Werr, et al. (1985), "Structure of the sucrose synthase (EC 188.8.131.52) gene on chromosome 9 of Zea mays," EMBO J. 4:1373–1380]. These paralogs encode the sucrose synthase isozymes SS1 and SS2, respectively.
Membrane-associated SuSy has also been found in carrot and maize [Carlson, et al. (1996), "Evidence for plasma membrane-associated forms of sucrose synthase in maize," Molecular and General Genetics 252:303–310; Sturm, et al. (1999), "Tissue-specific expression of two genes for sucrose synthase in carrot (daucus carota L.)," Plant Molecular Biology 39:349–360]. Both the known forms of SuSy in maize were found to be associated with the plasma membrane fraction from developing endosperm. Interestingly, Sh1 was suggested to play a greater role in cell wall formation than the constitutive sucrose synthase (Sus1), which was purported to contribute more toward starch formation [Chourey, et al. (1998), "Genetic evidence that the two isozymes of sucrose synthase present in developing maize endosperm are critical, one for cell integrity and the other for starch biosyntheses," Molecular and General Genetics 259:88–96]. SuSy is known to become reversibly phosphorylated at a unique seryl residue [Huber, et al. (1996), "Phosphorylation of serine-15 of maize leaf sucrose synthase," Plant Physiology Rockville 112:793–802]. The unphosphorylated form, because of its relatively greater surface hydrophobicity, is favored to bind the membrane [Winter, et al. (1997), "Membrane association of sucrose synthase: Changes during the graviresponse and possible control by protein phosphorylation," FEBS Letters 420:151–155].
Sucrose synthase has been suggested to channel substrate to the matrix polysaccharide synthases, based on association with Golgi and a previous report of its involvement in cellulose synthesis [Buckeridge, et al., (1999), "The mechanism of synthesis of a mixed-linkage (1fwdarw3), (1fwdarw4) beta-D-glucan in maize. Evidence for multiple sites of glucosyl transfer in the synthase complex," Plant-Physiology-Rockville 120:1105–1116 ]. Direct evidence for the contribution of SuSy toward substrate generation for cellulose synthesis was provided by Nakai et al [Nakai, et al. (1999), "Enhancement of cellulose production by expression of sucrose synthase in Acetobacter xylinum," Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:14–18]. They obtained a higher level of cellulose production in Acetobacter xylinum upon expression of mung bean sucrose synthase. This bacterium lacks sucrose synthase so is limited to only the UGPase branch of the pathway for making UDP-glucose (FIG. 3). Expression of sucrose synthase also led to a higher level of UDP-glucose and a lower level of UDP in the bacterium, as would be expected based on the pathway in FIG. 3.
Down-regulation of SuSy by antisense approach in carrot reduced the growth rate [Tang, et al. (1999), "Antisense repression of sucrose synthase in carrot (Daucus carota L.) affects growth rather than sucrose partitioning," Plant-Molecular-Biology 41:465–479]. Levels of UDP-glucose and cellulose were reduced in the sink tissues in comparison to the wild type plants, again implying a role for SuSy in substrate production for cellulose synthesis. In work with the TUSC (Trait Utility System for Corn; see U.S. Pat. No. 5,962,764, incorporated herein by reference) SuSy mutant, knocking out the constitutive sucrose synthase led to a reduced cellulose concentration in the walls, as well as reduced amount of total cell wall (Example 8).
Formation of UDP-glucose from sucrose requires half as much energy as if it were to be made from hexose sugars (FIG. 3). Not even accounting for the channeling effect, as suggested by Amor et al. [1995, supra], involvement of sucrose synthase in providing substrate to cellulose synthase would lead to improved productivity, particularly under stressful conditions, as the energy conserved by this pathway could be used for other cellular processes. Over expression of sucrose synthase under the control of a stalk-preferred promoter in plants could lead to a greater synthesis of cellulose, thereby strengthening the stalk. Therefore, there is a need in the art for sucrose synthases that can be over-expressed under these conditions.
Sucrose phosphate synthase may participate in UDP-glucose metabolism, but its role appears to be more to dissipate energy in the sink tissues than to economize the use of sugars (FIG. 3). For example, assuming that all the fructose-6-phosphate and UDP-glucose are derived from the SuSy pathway, at least one ATP is consumed to make sucrose from these two substrates only for the former to be cycled through SuSy again. On the other extreme, i.e., when all the UDP-glucose and fructose-6-phosphate are derived from hexose sugars, formation of sucrose by sucrose phosphate synthase utilizes 3 NTP per sucrose molecule produced, two to form UDP-glucose from a hexose sugar and 1 to phosphorylate fructose. In other words, involvement of sucrose phosphate synthase would consume an extra 1–3 NTP per molecule of sucrose to be incorporated into cellulose, which means a consumption of 3–5 net NTP for this process.
Four NTP would be needed per sucrose molecule for its complete conversion to UDP-glucose even if all the sucrose were first to be cleaved by invertases, and hexoses were the only sugars available. Even invertases dissipate (waste) the energy of the glycosidic bond which is otherwise used by sucrose synthase to form UDP-glucose from UDP. Sucrose phosphate synthase may, however, be important in mediating the formation of sucrose from excess hexoses for transport to other sinks, such as developing ear. This could be important after the deposition of cellulose into the walls of stalk tissue has slowed down.
Each hexose sugar molecule, upon complete breakdown by glycolysis, citric acid cycle, and oxidative phosphorylation, produces 36 ATP equivalents of energy. As discussed above, each hexose upon activation into UDP-glucose uses 1 ATP if carried through the SuSy pathway and 2 ATP if through the UGPase pathway (FIG. 3). The fraction of sugar utilized, assuming all other processes to be constant, in supporting this conversion is:
      p    +          2            q        36where p is the proportion of substrates produced by the action of SuSy; q represents substrates produced from hexose sugars; and p+q=1. If all the UDP-glucose were to be derived from the SuSy-mediated pathway, then 2.8% of the sugar would be utilized in producing energy to support this reaction. If, on the other hand, hexose was the starting point for all the UDP-glucose produced, then 5.6% of the sugar would be utilized in generating energy for this series of reactions.
Routing of any proportion, n, of the sugars through the sucrose phosphate synthase pathway would reduce the efficiency further still as the NTP utilized for this cycling would be in addition to the ones used in making UDP-glucose from sucrose or hexose. The following expression provides an estimate of the reduction in efficiency:
            (              p        +                  2                    q                    )        +          n                    (                  p          +                      3                        q                          )              36If 50% of the sugar is cycled through the sucrose phosphate synthase pathway and the substrates for this enzyme are derived in equal proportion (i.e., p=q=0.5) from the SuSy and UGPase pathways then, without including the energy needed for the sucrose phosphate synthase pathway to operate, this would translate into 4.2% of the sugar converted into cellulose being utilized for energy generation to support this process. If, however, the energy utilized by the sucrose phosphate synthase pathway, based on above assumptions, is taken into account, then this number increases to ˜7%, a full 70% extra energy than if no sugar were cycled through this pathway. That is equivalent to burning nearly 3 extra bushels of sugar for every 100 bushels converted into polysaccharides.
Thus, the production of cellulose through the sucrose synthase pathway is the most economical means available to plants. One of skill in the art would know of the involvement of sucrose synthase in cellulose formation in plants. However, the present invention teaches that this enzyme is important in supplying substrate for cellulose synthesis (Example 8).
As stalk composition contributes to numerous quality factors important in maize breeding, what is needed in the art are products and methods for manipulating cellulose concentration in the cell wall and thereby altering plant stalk quality to provide, for example, increased standability. It would be desirable to over-express sucrose synthase, preferably under the control of a stalk-preferred promoter, to improve stalk strength in maize.
Another attribute of importance is grain handling ability, i.e., reducing grain breakage during combining, transport, and movement into storage. Grain strength in cereals such as wheat and barley is mainly derived from the pericarp, which allows for a softer endosperm. It would be desirable to increase cellulose in the pericarp by over-expressing sucrose synthase under the control of a pericarp-specific promoter.
The present invention provides these and other advantages.

Isolated sucrose sythase polynucleotides and uses thereof


An electromagnetic energy harvester for converting vibrations of a body to electricity that includes a coil with two ends that is wound along a longitudinal axis of a ferromagnetic core, a magnet, and a suspending device that its first end is designed to be fixed to the body and its second end is designed to be fixed to the magnet. The first end of the core is design to be at close proximity to the magnet and the longitudinal axis of the core is designed to be substantially aligned vertically to the magnetic axis of the magnet. The vibrations of the body can cause a relative alternating movement between the core and the magnet that can create alternating voltage between the ends of the coil.

This patent application is related to an electromagnetic energy harvesting that converts vibrations of a body into electricity. Vibrations may be caused by vibration of machines or may be caused by impulses generated for example by movement of human limb, inside a rotating tire, or by sport devices such as balls and rackets.
Applications may use vibration energy harvester to power devices such as sensors that are attached to a body that is subject to vibrations or impulses. Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvesters typically comprise a magnet moving near a coil. According to Lentz and Faraday's laws, such movement induces electromotive force between the coil wires that may be harvested to power devices.
This patent application uses a different configuration that is mostly suitable for small vibration. The configuration uses magnet moving relative to a core winded by coil such that small vibrations revere the magnetic flux in the core. Patent U.S. Pat. No. 8,704,625B2 shown schematically in FIG. 1a, is an Electromagnetic energy transducer based on Faraday's law. Faraday's law states that relative movement between magnet and a conductor changes the magnetic flax is which creates an electromotive force inside the conductor: F=−NdΦ/dt, where F is the electromotive force, N is the number of the conductor turns, Φ is the magnetic flux. It is shown that the electromotive force is proportional to the speed of flux change. In the prior art U.S. Pat. No. 8,704,625B2 shown in FIG. 1a magnetic circuit is formed using permanent magnets (30) (31) with north and south poles and ferromagnetic core (32) with 1st (321) and 2nd (322) sides. A coil (33) is wrapped around the core. In a first position the north pole of magnet (30) is connected to the 1st side (321) and the south pole of magnet (31) is connected to the 2nd side (322). By moving the core such that the north pole is connected to the 2nd side and the south pole is connected to the 1st side, the flux in the magnetic circuit is reversed thus dΦ/dt is high which generates an impulse of current inside the coil that may be used to power a wireless switch.
Prior art U.S. Pat. No. 9,509,304B2 and US 240267B2 use the same concept of reversing the magnetic flax across the inductor but using different mechanism.
In prior art WO2019002775 A1, shown schematically in FIG. 1B, relates to an electromagnetic energy converter (11) comprising: a conducting coil (20); a main magnet (30) in an inner space formed by the conducting coil (20), retaining means (40) allowing the main magnet to rotate about an axis YY′ between two stable equilibrium positions; a first actuator magnet (31) and a second actuator magnet (32) disposed facing the first end (21) and the second end (22) respectively, the first (31) and second (32) actuator magnets being arranged to slide simultaneously in the same direction and parallel to the main axis XX′ once a force is exerted on either one of the first (31) or second (32) magnets. By executing a rotational movement, under the action of actuator magnets, a temporal variation of magnetic flux in the conductive coil (20), and thus generates a voltage impulse at terminals of said coil.
Prior art US 2008/0048506 A1, shown schematically in FIG. 1c, uses a magnet (4001) sliding over a coil (221) to generate, voltage drop between the coil terminals. The coil has a magnet at its extremes 24a, 24b. The sliding is accomplished through a sliding mechanism that includes a rocker (10) having a pivot. The rocker has two magnets at its extremal ends (10a), (10c) and lending magnets (10b), (10d) on the landing sites such that when the rocker is switched from one position to the other, the magnet on one of the extremal moves closer to its landing magnet while the magnet on the other extremal moves away from its landing magnet. Moving the rocker from one position to the other, slides magnet (401) along the coil using a paddle (42). The action of the rocker with its magnets and the magnets on the extremes of the coil (24a), (24b) creates magnetic forces on the driver magnet (401) causing it to induce voltage impulse in the wire coil that is higher than if no rocker and face magnets were present.
FIG. 1d describes state of the art an Electromagnetic Vibration Energy Harvesting showing a magnet (100) suspended by a spring (101) inside a coil (102). The coil is fixed to a body (103) such that when the body moves or vibrates the magnet vibrates relative to the coil and induces voltage between the two ends of the coil (1021).

Electromagnetic vibration and energy harvester having vibrating body, magnets and stationary magnet and hinge


A method, an apparatus and an article of manufacture for estimating risk of impact of a natural disaster on a populated area. The method includes using dynamic natural disaster modeling information to estimate a spatio-temporal distribution of a parameter of a potential natural disaster, wherein the modeling information is input to an instance of a weather forecast model which computes simulation results for natural disaster parameters for an area at a given time interval and the results produced on each time step within the time interval the estimate of the spatio-temporal distribution, and using static demographic data to estimate risk of impact of the parameter of the natural disaster on a populated area based on the estimated spatio-temporal distribution, wherein the demographic data is overlayed with the estimated spatio-temporal distribution via applying a weight to each populated area based on historical natural disaster incidents and related impact for each area.

Predictive analytics can be powerful tools for natural disaster management. Natural disasters are difficult to forecast because of the complexity of the physical phenomena and variability of the parameters involved. Existing natural disaster forecasting approaches do not take into account the uncertainty of the physical models or the uncertainty of the physical parameters. Accordingly, there exists a need for management of natural disasters which takes into account the uncertainty of parameters and models.

International Business Machines Corporation


A collapsible container includes a base, and pairs of opposed side and end walls that are pivotally mounted on the base. When the side walls are pivoted to a raised position against inward flanges defined on the end walls, latch members on the side walls engage complementary shoulders defined on end wall flange projections to thereby lock the side walls relative to the end walls. Each latch member includes a base portion mounted proximate to a respective lateral edge of the side wall, a lever arm portion extending away from the side wall's lateral edge, and an intermediate portion having a camming surface and adjacent shoulder with which to engage the respective end wall flange projection. When raised, edge portions of each side wall are received in recessed shelves defined in the base while the side wall's inner face simultaneously engages cantilevered stop members defined in the base.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a collapsible container whose panels are interlocked and latched together at their respective edges when raised to thereby provide the assembled container with improved structural integrity.
2. Background Information
The prior art teaches collapsible containers featuring a generally square or rectangular bottom panel, and two pairs of opposed side panels (the latter sometimes being referred to as respective pairs of side and end panels or "walls"). Each side panel is pivotally connected to a respective bottom panel edge to move between a raised or "assembled" position in which each side panel is roughly perpendicular to the bottom panel, and a collapsed position. The side and bottom panels may include hinge components that conveniently permit the side panels to be "snapped" into place on the bottom panel, for example, by moving the basal edge of the side panel laterally (outwardly) relative to the bottom panel's peripheral edge.
The prior art teaches the placement of latch mechanisms on the adjacent edges of the raised side panels to thereby provide the container with greater structural integrity and improved vertical stacking capability when assembled. Generally, known latch mechanisms employ a resilient, cantilevered latch member that either is flush with, or projects from the nominal lateral edge or inner face of one side panel into engagement with a complementary recess defined in the opposed edge of an adjacent side panel. An example of a flush latch member is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,073,790. The projecting latch member and, often, the complementary recess respectively include a camming surface that cooperate to urge the latch member into engagement with the recess, whereupon opposed abutting shoulders on the latch member and the recess provide a "snap-in" engagement to secure the one side panel to the other.
When such a container is to be collapsed, the latch member is resiliently biased, for example, by application of finger pressure on a portion of its length so as to swing the latch member clear of the recess or striker, whereupon the one side panel may be pivoted free of the other side panel. One or more inwardly- or outwardly-directed flanges, defined on the opposed edges of the adjacent side panels, are often used in conjunction with such latches to prevent the overtravel of one side wall relative to the other. Interlocking webbing defined within one or more such flanges may be used to further enhance the torsional rigidity of the assembled container by preventing relative movement of one side panel edge along the other side panel edge.
Unfortunately, because the quality of the resulting interconnection between adjacent side panels is dependent upon the nature of the engagement between the opposed abutting shoulders of the latch member and the corresponding recess/aperture/striker, any damage to the exposed latch member, for example, during container assembly or use, including an unintended permanent bending of the latch member relative to the nominal edge of the side panel, may impair latch functionality. Moreover, when the latch member is integrally molded with the typically polymeric side panel, such outwardly-cantilevered latch members may exhibit a reduced service life due to a bending-induced failure mode.
Accordingly, what is needed is a latch mechanism for securely interconnecting the side panels of a collapsible container featuring a resilient latch member on one side panel proximate to an edge whose camming surface and associated abutting shoulder are neither located along, nor project beyond, the panel's edge, and further featuring an improved service life relative to known, outwardly-cantilevered latch members. It is also desirable to provide an inwardly-collapsible container that includes convenient, "snap-in" hinge components on the side and bottom panels while nonetheless better resisting the application to the side wall of external lateral loads.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Collapsible container with recessed side-panel latch


A method for machining a work in a work machining apparatus provided with a movable main spindle moving between a work supply position and a work take-out position, includes arranging a tool rest on the movable main spindle to move integrally with the movable main spindle, supplying the work at the work supply position to the movable main spindle, moving the movable main spindle from the work supply position toward the work take-out position, machining the work held on the movable spindle with a tool of the tool rest while moving the movable main spindle from the work supply position toward the work take-out position, and taking out the work at the work take-out position from the movable main spindle.

Conventionally, a work machining apparatus is known in which it is provided with three main spindles, i.e. a first main spindle, a second main spindle and a third main spindle, and the second main spindle is arranged such that it is opposed to the first and third main spindles, and a work can be transferred between the first main spindle and the second main spindle, and between the second main spindle and the third main spindle, whereby a work is sequentially transferred in the order of the first main spindle, the second main spindle and the third main spindle, thereby to enable continuous machining (see Patent Document 1).    Patent Document 1: JP-A-2008-36763


The present invention is a non-volatile semiconductor memory device comprising a plurality of memory cells arranged in an array of rows and columns and including electrically erasable and programmable non-volatile memory transistors, row selector and column selector for decoding an externally inputted address signals to select memory cells in row and column directions, respectively. A rise detecting circuit detects the rise of a power supply, so that a latch of a latch circuit is released. A determination circuit determines whether or not the data subjected to erasing read from the memory cells is erased, so that if the read data is erased, the latch circuit is latched to set an erase-inhibit mode, thereby preventing over-erasing.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to non-volatile semiconductor memory device. More particularly, the present invention relates to a non-volatile semiconductor memory device having a function of inhibiting erroneous erasing of electrically and collectively erasable flash EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read Only Memory).
2. Description of the Background Art
FIG. 10 is a schematic block diagram of a conventional flash EEPROM. The flash EEPROM shown in FIG. 10 is disclosed in "IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits" Vol. 23, No. 5, pp. 1157-1163, October 1988. Referring to FIG. 10, provided on the periphery of a memory cell array 1 are a Y gate 2, a source line switch 3, an X decoder 4 and a Y decoder 5. The X decoder 4 and the Y decoder 5 are connected to an address register 6 to which address signals are externally inputted. A writing circuit 7 and a sense amplifier 8 are connected to the memory cell array 1 through the Y gate 2. The writing circuit 7 and the sense amplifier 8 are connected to an input/output buffer 9.
A program voltage generating circuit 10 and a verify voltage generating circuit 11 are provided for generating voltages different from externally applied power supplies Vcc and Vpp and applying the same to the Y gate 2 and the X decoder 4. A command register 12 and a command decoder 13 are provided which set an operation mode in response to the externally inputted data and a control circuit 14 receives externally applied control signals WE, CE and OE.
FIG. 11 is a sectional view of the memory cell shown in FIG. 10. Referring to FIG. 11, the memory cell comprises a floating gate 16 formed on a semiconductor substrate 15, a control gate 17, a source diffusion region 18 and a drain diffusion region 19. An oxide film between the floating gate 16 and the substrate 15 is as thin as about 100 .ANG., enabling tunneling of the electrons in the floating gate 16 by Fowler-Nordheim tunneling mechanism. The memory cell 1 operates as follows. Namely, during the programming, a program voltage of about 6.5 V is applied to the drain 19 and Vpp (12 V) is applied to the control gate 17, and the source 18 is grounded. Hot electrons are injected into the floating gate in the same manner as in EPROM's. The threshold voltage of the memory cell 1 is increased in this way. This is defined as the storage of the information "0".
Conversely, erasing is carried out by disconnecting the drain 19 and grounding the control gate 17 to apply the Vpp to the source 18. The Fowler-Nordheim tunneling occurs due to a potential difference between the source 18 and the floating gate 16, whereby the electrons in the floating gate 16 are emitted. The threshold voltage of the memory cell 1 is lowered in this way, which is defined as the storage of the information "1".
FIG. 12 is a diagram showing the structure of the memory cell array shown in FIG. 10, assuming that the memory cell array includes 9 memory cells. Referring to FIG. 12, drains of three memory cells are connected to a bit line and control gates of the three memory cells are connected to a word line. The word line 25 is connected to the X decoder 4 and the bit line 24 is connected to an I/O line 27 through an Y gate transistor 26 having a gate receiving the output of the Y decoder 5. The I/O line 27 is connected to the sense amplifier 8 and the writing circuit 7 and a source line 28 is connected to the source line switch 3.
Description will be made of an operation of a conventional flash EEPROM with reference to FIGS. 10 through 12. First, an operation will be described in a case where data is written in the memory cell 1 encircled by a dotted line shown in FIG. 12. The writing circuit 7 is activated in response to externally inputted data, so that the program voltage is supplied to the I/O line 27. At the same time, the Y gate 26 and the word line 25 are selected by the Y decoder 5 and the X decoder 4, respectively, by using the address signals, so that the Vpp is applied to the memory cell 1. The source line 28 is grounded by the source line switch 3 during the programming. In this way, current flows to only a single cell in FIG. 12, whereby hot electrons are generated and the threshold voltage thereof is increased.
Conversely, erase is carried out as follows. First, the X decoder 4 and the Y decoder 5 are inactivated, thereby causing all the memory cells 1 to enter a non-selected state. Namely, all the word lines of each memory cell are grounded and the drains are disconnected. Meanwhile, a high voltage is applied to the source line 28 by the source line switch 3. The threshold voltages of the memory cells shift to a lower level due to the tunneling phenomenon. Since the source line 28 is shared, erase is made for all the memory cells.
A read operation will be described. Similarly to the writing operation, reading the memory cell encircled by the dotted line of FIG. 12 will be described. First, the address signals are decoded by the Y decoder 5 and the X decoder 4, so that the output of selected Y gate 26 and the word line 25 attain the "H" (logical high) level. At this time, the source line 28 is grounded by the source line switch 3. In the case where the memory cell is programmed, even if the "H" level signal is applied to the control gate of the memory cell from the word line 25, the memory cell is not turned on, whereby no current flows from the bit line 24 to the source line 28.
Conversely, when a memory cell is erased, the memory cell is turned on, whereby current flows from the bit line 24 to the source line 28. The sense amplifier 8 detects whether or not the current flows through the memory cell to obtain the read data "1" or "0". Data writing and reading of the flash EEPROM are performed in this way.
Meanwhile, another example of an ROM is an EPROM allowing data to be erased by irradiating ultra-violet rays. In such an EPROM, when a floating gate becomes electrically neutral, no more electron is emitted from the floating gate, so that a threshold voltage of a memory transistor never becomes less than about 1 V. In the tunneling phenomenon, the electrons are excessively emitted from the floating gate, so that the floating gate might be charged to be positive. This phenomenon is referred to as over-erase or over-erasure.
If the threshold voltage of the memory transistor becomes negative, the following reading and writing will be adversely affected. Namely, in the reading, even if a word line level is unselected, current flows from the bit line 24 through the over-erased memory transistor. In this case, when the memory cell, which is programmed successfully, is selected, ".phi." can not be read out because of the current flow of an over-erased cell. In addition, since leakage current flows through a over-erased memory cell during the writing, the writing characteristics are deteriorated, disturbing the writing.
Therefore, there is a method of preventing memory cells from excessive-erasing by reading after the erase to verify whether the erase is properly done or not (referred to as erase verify, hereinafter) and erase again when there is a bit which is not erased.
FIG. 13 shows flow charts of erase and program including the above-described verifying operation and FIGS. 14A and 14B are timing charts showing both operations.
Referring to FIGS. 10, 13, 14A and 14B, programming and erasing operations will be described. In the conventional flash EEPROM, program and erase modes are set by a combination of input data. Namely, mode setting is carried out by the data at the rise of the write enable signal WE. First program will be described with reference to FIG. 14A. First, Vcc and Vpp are caused to rise in step (abbreviated to S in the drawings) S1 and then, the write enable signal WE is caused to fall in step S2. Thereafter, input data 40.sub.H is latched in the command register 12 at the rise of the write enable signal WE. Then, the input data is decoded by the command decoder 13, changing the operation mode to the program mode.
Then, in step S3, the write enable signal WE is again caused to fall and the external address signals are latched in the address register 6, then the data is latched in the writing circuit 7 at the rise of the write enable signal WE. Then, the program pulse is generated from the program voltage generating circuit 10 and applied to the X decoder 4 and the Y decoder 5. The programming is carried out in this way.
Then, the write enable signal WE is caused to fall and the input data (CO.sub.H) is inputted and latched in the command register 12. Subsequently, at the same time as the rise of the write enable signal WE, the operation mode changes to the program verification mode (S6). At this time, the program verify voltage (.about.6.5 V) is generated in the chip by the verify voltage generating circuit 11 and applied to the X decoder 4 and the Y decoder 5. As a result, the voltage applied to the control gate of the memory cells becomes higher than that in the ordinary reading (.about.5 V), so that the memory transistors having insufficient threshold voltage shift turn on (data "1"), allowing detection of defective programming.
Then, reading is carried out to check the programmed data in step S7. If the determination is made in step S8 that the programming is false, processings are further carried out in steps S2-S7 to complete programming. If the program is done, the reading mode is set in step S9 to complete the programming.
Referring to FIG. 14B, an erase operation will be described. First in step S10, Vcc and Vpp are caused to rise and subsequently, "0" is programmed in all the bits in accordance with the above-described program flow processing in step S11. This is because, if the erased memory cells are further erased, one of memory cells in the memory cell array 1 might be over-erased. Then, the write enable signal WE is caused to fall to input the erase command. Namely, (20.sub.H) is inputted in step S12. Subsequently in step S13, command inputting is carried out to start the erase and the erase pulse is internally generated at the same time as the rise of the write enable signal WE. Namely, Vpp is applied to the sources of the memory cells through the source line switch 3. Thereafter, Vpp is applied to the source line 28 until the next falling of the write enable signal WE. At the same time, the addresses are also latched in the address register 6 at the falling edge. In step S15, the erase verify command (AO.sub.H) is inputted at the rise of the write enable signal WE to set the erasing verification mode.
In the erasing verification mode, the erase verify voltage (.about.3.2 V) is applied to the X decoder 4 and the Y gate 2 by the verify voltage generating circuit 11. As a result, the voltage applied to the control gates of the memory cells becomes lower than that (5 V) in the ordinary reading, so that insufficiently erased memory cells do not readily turn on (data "0").
Then, in step S16, reading is carried out to actually verify the erase. In step S17, if it is determined that the erase is insufficiently done, the erase is further repeated and if the erase is sufficiently done, the address is incremented to verify the erasing data of the next address in the step S18. If it is determined in step S19 that the verified address is the last, the operation mode is changed to the reading mode in step S20 to complete a series of operations.
Prior to shipment of the conventional flash EEPROM structured as described above, "0" should be surely written in all the bits or reading should be carried out to verify that all the bits are "0" before erase.
A user of the flash EEPROM might erroneously perform an erasing operation on the device which requires no further erase. This results in over-erase of the device.

Non-volatile semiconductor memory device with over-erasing prevention


An antenna includes a solar panel and a signal receiver panel pivotally coupled to and in electrical communication with the solar panel. The antenna also includes a level indicator disposed on the signal receiver panel. The level indicator indicates whether a top surface of the signal receiver panel is horizontally level with respect to a direction of gravity.

A communication network is a large distributed system for receiving information (e.g., a signal) and transmitting the information to a destination. Over the past few decades the demand for communication access has dramatically increased. Although conventional wire and fiber landlines, cellular networks, and geostationary satellite systems have continuously been increasing to accommodate the growth in demand, the existing communication infrastructure is still not large enough to accommodate the increase in demand. In addition, some areas of the world are not connected to a communication network and therefore cannot be part of the global community where everything is connected to the internet.
Satellites and high-altitude communication balloons can be used to provide communication services to areas where wired cables cannot reach. Satellites may be geostationary or non-geostationary. Geostationary satellites remain permanently in the same area of the sky as viewed from a specific location on earth, because the satellite is orbiting the equator with an orbital period of exactly one day. Non-geostationary satellites typically operate in low- or mid-earth orbit, and do not remain stationary relative to a fixed point on earth; the orbital path of a satellite can be described in part by the plane intersecting the center of the earth and containing the orbit.
Antennas for communication with satellites and high-altitude communication balloons generally include a satellite dish, which is a dish-shaped type of parabolic antenna designed to receive microwaves from communications satellites, which transmit data transmissions or broadcasts, such as satellite television.


Method for drilling and lining a well wherein at least one liner (1, 2, 32) with a larger external diameter than the substantial part of a drilling riser (10) is pre-installed at a point below the substantial part of the drilling riser (10). A bore hole section (21) is drilled after the drilling riser (10) has been installed, the bore hole section having a larger diameter than the at least one pre-installed liner (1, 2, 32). The at least one pre-installed liner (1, 2, 32) is subsequently lowered into the bore hole section (21, 22). A drilling and liner system for implementing the method is also described.

A slim well is highly desirable since it reduces the costs for drilling and completion substantially. Such a well should be designed with the smallest possible diameter needed. Slim hole drilling has been used onshore for a long time. A limited application of this technique has been used in offshore applications from a floating vessel. Slim hole drilling offers a significant potential in reduction of drill cuttings discharge, reduced volume of drilling fluids, cement, casing string weight, etc. One of the main limitations when drilling in deep waters from floating drilling vessels is the size and the weight of the marine drilling riser. A slim hole allows reduction of the size and the weight of the riser. However, due to the close distance between the pore pressure curve and the fracturing curve, relatively many casing points are normally required to reach the reservoir section. So, even with conventional slim hole drilling, the weight and the size of the marine drilling riser will be significant and require a relatively costly drilling vessel to be used.
Normally, riserless drilling takes place down to the setting point for, e.g., a 20″ surface casing, typically 800 m below mudline (BML). Riserless drilling in this context means that the drill string is not enclosed within a tube or riser. Since at this depth the risk of encountering a formation containing fluids and/or gas that may escape is increasing from this point, most deep water drilling systems are based on using a standard 18¾″ wellhead, a 18¾″ BOP and a 21″ marine drilling riser. If fluids and/or gas should escape from the well bore, these will flow into the drilling riser and not pollute the seawater. The standard system is hereafter termed 18¾″ wellhead system. Through the system, comprising the drilling riser, the BOP and the wellhead, the casings will be installed. As the second stage of the well bore normally a hole with a size to receive a 13⅜″ casing will be drilled. Then a third stage with a hole to receive a 9⅝″ casing will be drilled and subsequently a fourth stage to receive a 7″ liner will be drilled. Finally a 7″ tie-back string for production may be installed. Logging, coring and well testing will normally be performed in a 8½″ open hole section below the 9⅝″ casings.
Today, a 4¾″ open hole through the reservoir section is sufficient for application of standard tools for logging, coring and well testing equipment, etc.
The problem of applying slim hole drilling on deep wells is that there is a limit on how long each section of casing reasonably can be. This puts a limitation on how deep wells that can be drilled using this technique.