A heating apparatus includes an inverter power supply for driving the high frequency generating device, a holding member for holding the inverter power supply and cooling fan for cooling down the inverter power supply. The holding member is provided with a holding portion for holding the inverter power supply and an air guide portion for guiding cooling air from the cooling fan toward the inverter power supply, and the air guide portion covers the inverter power supply and guides the cooling air in a manner that a semiconductor switching device and a high voltage transformer of the inverter power supply are primarily cooled down.

Referring to FIGS. 8 and 9, there is illustrated a schematic cross-sectional view of a conventional high frequency heating apparatus. On a rear wall of casing 1, cooling fan 2 is mounted. Disposed above and in front of cooling fan 2 is magnetron 3 to which blast duct 5 for guiding cooling air to heating chamber 4 and air guide 6 for guiding cooling air to magnetron 3 are mounted. Disposed under magnetron 3 is inverter power supply 7 on which semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9 are mounted adjacent to cooling fan 2. Cooling guide 10 is provided on another at a side portion of inverter power supply 7. Some of cooling air blown from cooling fan 2 is guided to magnetron 3 by air guide 6 to flow into heating chamber 4 through blast duct 5. In the meanwhile, the remainder of the cooling air is directed toward inverter power supply 7 to flow along a path defined by the surface of inverter power supply 7 on which semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9 are mounted and, cooling guide 10 disposed on the outer side portion of the inverter power supply 7 adjacent to casing 1 and a sidewall of heating chamber 4, so that it cools down semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9 of inverter power supply 7 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H2-244587).
Further, as shown in FIG. 10, there has been proposed another conventional high frequency heating apparatus wherein a cooling air produced by cooling fan 103 is axially directed by orifice 104 to cool down magnetron 101 and inverter power supply 102 (see, for example, Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H8-31562).
Nowadays, in order to satisfy demands for fast cooking, the heat output of the high frequency heating apparatus is increased by an increase in input power, thereby resulting in an increase in heat generated by the semiconductor switching device and a semiconductor rectifying device of the inverter power supply.
However, in such a conventional structure in which the cooling air uniformly flows throughout the inverter power supply, it is difficult to effectively suppress an increased heat generation of the semiconductor switching device and the semiconductor rectifying device of the inverter power supply due to the increased output, which may cause thermal failures thereof, thereby leading to a malfunction of the inverter power supply.
For example, in case semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9 are not enclosed by a top cover, the flow rate of the cooling air flowing along sidewalls of an airflow path tends to be greater than that of the cooling air along semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9 and some of the cooling airflows above semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9. Accordingly, semiconductor switching device 8 and high voltage transformer 9 cannot be cooled down efficiently.
Further, as the output of inverter power supply 7 becomes higher in order to speed up cooking, the heat generation due to switching loss of semiconductor switching device 8 is increased. The increased heat generation, however, cannot be sufficiently cooled down in such a conventional structure, and therefore, the thermal failure of the semiconductor switching device 8 is likely to occur rather frequently. Accordingly, a time period during which the high output is produced becomes short, thus failing to achieve the fast cooking.
Alternatively, because of the heat generation due to the switching loss of semiconductor switching device 8, cooling fins for radiating heat therefrom are required to be larger. Further, since temperature of winding of high voltage transformer 9 becomes higher, the diameter of the winding is required to be greater, which makes high voltage transformer 9 bulky.
Accordingly, in such a case, inverter power supply 7 and hence the high frequency heating apparatus becomes undesirably larger. In addition, since a blowing capacity of cooling fan 2 should be increased, wind noise becomes also undesirably increased.


A system and method for correlating the command queue depth of the servers of a storage area network to the command queue depth of the storage controllers of the computer network are provided. For each storage controller, the servers are identified that have logical ownership of the logical storage units managed by each respective storage controller. For each storage controller, the execution throttle levels for those servers that have logical ownership over logical storage units of the storage controller are verified according to rules governing the command throughput of the servers and the storage controllers. If, for any of the storage controllers of the network, the summed execution throttle level exceeds the command queue depth of the storage controller, the execution throttle level of one or more of the servers of the network is adjusted to insure that the potential command throughput of the servers of the network conforms to the standards established for governing the relation of command throughput between servers and storage controllers.

A storage area network (SAN) may be used to provide centralized data sharing, data backup, and storage management. A storage area network is a high-speed network of shared storage devices. Elements of a SAN include servers, switches, storage controllers, and storage devices. A storage device is any device that principally contains a single disk or multiple disks for storing data for a computer system or computer network. Each server is usually connected to the network by a host bus adapter (HBA) and will include an HBA device driver, which is the software driver for the HBA. The collection of storage devices is sometimes referred to as a storage pool. The storage devices in a SAN can be collocated, which allows for easier maintenance and easier expandability of the storage pool. The network architecture of most SANs is such that all of the storage devices in the storage pool are potentially available to all the servers that are coupled to the SAN. Additional storage devices can be easily added to the storage pool, and these new storage devices will also be accessible from any server on the SAN.
In a computer network that includes a SAN, the server can act as a pathway or transfer agent between the end user and the stored data. Network servers can access a SAN using the Fiber Channel protocol, taking advantage of the ability of a Fibre Channel fabric to serve as a common physical layer for the transport of multiple upper-layer protocols, such as SCSI, IP, and HIPPI, among other examples. With respect to storage, any element of storage on a SAN may be assigned its own SCSI logical unit number (LUN). The LUN address of each storage element is used to identify the storage element within the SAN. Each storage element and its associated LUN are assigned to one or more of the servers of the SAN. Following this assignment, each server will have logical ownership of one or more LUNs, allowing data generated by the server to be stored in the storage devices corresponding to the LUNs owned by the server.
Along with its advantages, the SAN environment also has additional complexities. One of the complexities relates to the relationship between the execution throttle levels of servers and command queue depth settings of storage controllers in a SAN. As noted above, a SAN may be used to provide access to multiple storage devices from multiple host servers. In a SAN, the number of hosts that each storage controller can support is described as the fan out for the storage controller. The fan out value for a storage controller is the number of servers that can access its storage resources. The command queue depth of the storage controller is the maximum number of input/output (I/O) commands that the device can queue up for processing, past which the commands are either dropped or returned with a busy status. Dropping commands or returning a busy status results in a degradation of the performance of the overall system. The maximum number of I/O commands that a server can have outstanding is generally referred to as the server's execution throttle. The execution throttle is typically controlled by configuration settings in the HBA device driver. A SAN will generally operate most efficiently when the command queue of each storage controller of the network is at or near capacity without ever having exceeded capacity.
A difficulty with the selection of execution throttles for the servers of the SAN concerns the possibility that the execution throttle of a server will be set too high or too low. When an execution throttle value is set too high, that is, when the sum of execution throttles on host servers that own LUNs on a particular storage device exceeds the command queue depth for that storage device, the total I/O demand from the servers is too high as compared to the command capacity, as measured by the command queue depth, of the storage controllers of the SAN, resulting in dropped commands or busy signals returned by the storage controllers. In addition, when an execution throttle value is set too low on a particular server, such as when a low setting is desired in order to insure that the I/O demand from the servers does not exceed the command capacity of the coupled storage controllers, the performance of the server may be severely affected by the inability to process commands fast enough to satisfy the demands of the operating system and application programs that generate the commands.
For many SANs and SAN administrators, a common method for selecting the execution throttle levels of the servers of the SAN is to set the execution throttle for each host to a value that is determined at setup by dividing the smallest command queue depth value of all of the storage controllers on the SAN by the number of servers. This method, however, does not take into account the possibility of varying command queue depths among the several storage controllers on the SAN. As a result, all storage controllers, including those having the capacity for higher command queue depths, are treated as though they have the capacity of the storage controller with the smallest queue depth. Thus, one difficulty of setting a server execution throttle according to this technique is the likelihood that many storage controllers on the SAN will operate at less than their maximum capacity.
Another difficulty of establishing the server execution throttles of the servers of the SAN concerns the process of individually or manually adjusting the execution throttles of one or more of the servers on the SAN. This task is often logistically challenging, burdensome, and time-consuming. An administrator of the SAN must calculate a new value for the execution throttle and must manually reset the execution throttle of every server on the SAN. The problem of resetting server execution throttle is exacerbated when a SAN has multiple storage devices that have different queue depths. Therefore, a method is needed to calculate and reset the execution throttle of servers on the SAN in a manner that is less burdensome and time-consuming to the administrator of the SAN. Another issue with the current method of managing the execution throttle of the servers on the SAN relates to the manual process that the administrator must perform to calculate and set the execution throttle of all the servers on the SAN. Because the process is manual in nature, relying primarily on hand calculations and the manual setting of the execution throttle of each server on the SAN, the process is subject to errors that are potentially very difficult to troubleshoot.

System and method for matching storage device queue depth to server command queue depth


In a controller for avoiding interference between a mold body comprising a mold and a peripheral equipment installed to said mold and a product removing unit in an injection molding machine, a distance between the position of the mold body and the position of the product removing unit is determined. It is then judged whether or not the distance is smaller than a predetermined distance. If the distance is smaller than the predetermined distance, the operation of product removing unit is decelerated or stopped.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a controller for avoiding interference between a mold or ejector and a product removing unit in an injection molding machine.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Some injection molding machines have a product removing unit for removing a product molded by using a mold. This product removing unit, which removes a molded product automatically, is configured by a robot or a special-purpose product removing unit. The product removing unit must be operated in association with the injection molding machine, so that the operation timing of the product removing unit is set so as to match the operation timing of the injection molding machine.
Generally, when the product removing unit begins its operation upon receipt of a mold opening finish signal after a mold has been opened and finishes removing a molded product, a product removal finish signal is sent to an injection molding machine. Upon receipt of this product removal finish signal, the injection molding machine starts the next molding operation, that is, a mold closing or mold clamping operation.
In the above-described general method for removing a molded product, the product removing unit starts its operation after waiting until the mold has opened completely, and the injection molding machine starts the mold closing operation for the next molding cycle after waiting until the product removing unit has removed the molded product completely. Therefore, the waiting time consumes time wastefully, and the cycling time for molding is prolonged.
To reduce this waiting time, there is used a method for controlling the operation of the product removing unit in synchronization with the mold opening/closing operation, in which a signal is generated before the opening of mold is finished, the operation of the product removing unit is started by this signal, and a signal is sent to the injection molding machine before the removal of molded product is finished by the product removing unit, by which the mold closing operation is started. For example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 62-273816 describes an invention in which the operation of the product removing unit is controlled according to the mold travel amount in mold opening operation so that when the mold opening is finished, a holding portion of the product removing unit is moved so as to reach a position where a molded product can be removed, and when the movable mold moves in the mold clamping direction, the product removing unit is controlled according to the travel amount of movable mold to retreat the holding portion from the position where the molded product is removed.
With the above-described method in which the operation of the product removing unit is controlled in synchronization with the mold opening/closing operation of the injection molding machine, it is very difficult to adjust the operation timing of the product removing unit. The operation start timing changes each time the opening/closing speed of mold or the operation speed of the product removing unit changes, so that readjustment is needed. Also, if a bit unnatural operation is effected, a hand etc. of the product removing unit gets caught in the mold, whereby the expensive mold or hand is damaged. Therefore, in order to adjust the timing of operation start etc., a test must be conducted repeatedly. That is, the operation start timing of the product removing unit at the time of mold opening and the mold closing operation timing must be determined by transmitting signals between the injection molding machine and the product removing unit. If this work is incorrect, there is a fear of damaging the mold, hand, etc., so that this work must be done carefully, which requires much time and long-term experience.


An RF communication system is for operating in the presence of a repetitive RF interference source powered from an Alternating Current (AC) power line. The system uses redundant transmission synchronized to the power line to ensure accurate reception by at least one second device. The RF communication system includes a first device powered from an AC power line which also powers the repetitive RF interference source. The first device, in turn, preferably includes an RF transmitter for transmitting in a frequency band of the repetitive RF interference source, a power line sensor, and a data transmit controller. The data transmit controller generates a plurality of data packets with each data packet including an error detecting portion. The data transmit controller also operates the RF transmitter to produce repetitive first and second transmissions of a same data packet responsive to the power line sensor. Accordingly, at least one of the first and second transmissions occurs during an OFF period of the repetitive RF interference source. The second device also preferably includes a data receive controller for receiving the repetitive first and second transmissions of same data packets and selecting one based upon the error detecting portions thereof to thereby avoid interference from the repetitive RF interference source.

Radio frequency communications systems commonly operate in the presence of interfering sources. Unfortunately, interference may degrade or totally impede communications. One particularly troublesome interference source is a microwave oven.
The microwave oven emits interference in a pulsating manner with a repetition rate equal to that of the power line, and at a 50% duty cycle. In the United States, for example, the nominal repetition period is 1/60 of a second or once every 16.7 msec. Microwave ovens typically do not include any filtering of the half-wave rectified operating voltage applied to the microwave magnetron. In other words, the microwave oven emits a noisy, unstable radio frequency pulse that is controlled by the half-wave rectification of the primary power line frequency. The resulting radio frequency interference is at a nominal frequency of 2.45 GHz, and presents a difficulty with communications systems sharing this band. This frequency range has also been allocated for certain communications systems, such as wireless local area networks (WLANs).
A WLAN is a flexible data communication system that may be an extension to, or an alternative for, a wired LAN within a building or campus. A WLAN uses radio technology to transmit and receive data over the air, thereby reducing or minimizing the need for wired connections. Accordingly, a WLAN combines data connectivity with user mobility, and, through simplified configurations, also permits a movable LAN.
Of course, there are other communications systems, typically used in the home, and that may also be affected by the interference from a microwave oven. For example, a cordless telephone, home automation communication systems, or a wireless audio speaker system may be affected by microwave oven generated interference.
The interference problem presented by a microwave oven is addressed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,574,979 to West and entitled "Periodic Interference Avoidance in a Wireless Radio frequency Communication System". The patent discloses a hierarchical communication scheme including wireless roaming computing and data collection devices. The system monitors the received signal strength and error rates to determine if the interference is periodic in nature so that the system can predict the future interference and transmit only during off periods of the interference.
When a communication time interval is forced to cut off due to an impending presence of interference, the adjusting protocol can determine when it is most efficient to stop the communication, and can continue the rest of the communication time interval structure after the interference abates. Unfortunately, the system for monitoring received signal strength and error rates is relatively complicated and synchronization may be difficult. In addition, both a forward and return channel are needed, thereby complicating the system for certain applications.
Also related to operating a communication system in the presence of interference, U.S. Pat. No. 5,428,669 to McCarthy discloses a cordless telephone set including a base and a handset. One of the units select alternate frequencies in response to a series of unacknowledged communications, until it receives an acknowledgment on a particular channel. If no acknowledgment is received the system reverts back to the originally selected RF channel.
Unfortunately, a microwave oven presents a source of electrical interference that is not readily filtered, and which is capable of causing disruption of communications in a frequency band of the interference. Prior attempts to address the periodic interference caused by a microwave oven have required relatively complicated circuitry, have required two-way communication, and may not have been robust in the presence of the high interfering signals.

RF communications system operable in the presence of a repetitive interference source and related methods


A teeth whitening system includes a heating module, a mouthpiece thermally connected to the heating module such that heat can be transferred to the mouthpiece, and a thermocatalytically activated whitening gel positioned in the mouthpiece such that the gel contacts a user""s teeth, whereby when heat is transferred from the heating module to the mouthpiece, the gel is activated by heat, metal surface catalysis, and water or saliva to whiten the user""s teeth.

The present invention relates to a system and method for whitening teeth, and, more particularly, to a system and method employing the use of heat and a delivery system which provides catalytic action thus accelerating the action of a bleaching medium.
Whiter teeth are desired for cosmetic reasons, and several processes to accomplish this have been described in the prior art. These processes have always included the use of bleaching gels or solutions containing various concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (H2O2) or carbamide peroxide (CH6N2O3), which on an equal molar basis contains 35% H2O2 (by weight) which is released from activation by water or other sources such as heat or light. The degree of whitening provided by these processes increases with (a) peroxide concentration, (b) time of contact between the reacting species of peroxide and the tooth enamel surface, (c) diffusion rate into the dentine layer, (d) a favorable structure (texture) of tooth surface, and most importantly, (e) the rate of activation of the gel in terms of generating available peroxide (H2O2) and/or its reactive species (OH and O). Due to its chemical structure, the peroxide must produce transient species such as OH and O before the final products, H2O and O2, are generated by the following mechanism, 2 H2O2xe2x86x924OHxe2x86x922H2O+2Oxe2x86x922H2O+O2. The presence of these active transient species (radical OH and atomic oxygen O) play the most important role in the whitening process due to their higher reactivity. In other words, two peroxide molecules must break down to four OH molecules, which react to produce two water (H2O) molecules and two atoms of oxygen. The final step is the recombination of atomic oxygen into molecular oxygen.
In most cases, tooth whitening is accomplished with custom fitted plastic trays filled with bleaching gels (known as xe2x80x9ctake home traysxe2x80x9d) which are worn for one to several hours a day or overnight over extended periods of time such as several weeks or months before a satisfactory level of whitening is realized. Gel activation by light from laser sources or arc lamps in several regions of the electromagnetic spectrum, including infrared, visible, and ultraviolet, have been introduced with various and ambiguous levels of success due to: (a) lack of fundamental understanding of the mechanism involved in the whitening process, (b) lack of control in terms of the density of delivered energy, (c) the fraction of the energy absorbed by gel or absorbed by teeth, (d) shadowing effects, and (e) the necessity for prolonged periods of treatment if one tooth is treated at a time. (See, e.g., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,952,143 and 4,661,070.)
Furthermore, some of the peroxide concentrations used (from 15% up to 30% H2O2) require effective gum isolation in order to prevent tissue burns. There is also a lack of information on the temperature that is generated by the light source and lack of temperature control. These factors can lead into gum burns, tooth sensitivity after the treatment, and possible long-term effects that are presently unknown.
Another method, U.S. Pat. No. 4,983,381, involves the use of applying heat directly to the teeth with a thermocube or plate, which covers the teeth. This method is difficult to implement and requires soft tissue isolation and protection due to high concentrations of H2O2 (30-70%) as well as requiring many steps and high temperatures (up to 55xc2x0 C.). This design is also problematic because its close fit on the teeth does not allow enough volume for whitening gel. It also requires custom made plates (upper and lower arches) for each person.
Still another method, U.S. Pat. No. 5,927,981, utilizes a high temperature chamber for producing a high temperature (60xc2x0 C.). In this method, a bleaching vapor is directed to the teeth from the chamber. This process is difficult to implement and exposes the recipient to unnecessary safety risks due to both the tooth pulp and the gums (if not isolated) being exposed to high temperatures. In addition, its whitening effectiveness is uncertain and further complicated by the fact that the transient species OH and O may no longer be present in the xe2x80x9cbleaching vaporxe2x80x9d when it reaches the teeth due to the length of travel.
The present invention provides a process which has the following advantages over the prior art: (a) lower peroxide concentrations (16% to 20% carbamide or 5 to 10% H2O2); (b) no gum isolation is required; (c) within one hour it can provide up to eleven shades of improvement, depending on age and level and type of coloration; (d) it provides greater comfort to recipient than take home trays or light activated whitening procedures; (e) it requires less peroxide over the course of the treatment than xe2x80x9ctake home trays;xe2x80x9d and (f) it is safer than the light activation methods, especially those using high intensity lasers or other uncontrolled high intensity light sources, including those in the blue portion of the spectrum.
It should also be pointed out that this invention will accelerate the whitening process as well when the gel is confined by dentist-made take home trays or current office bleaching procedures which employ higher concentrations of hydrogen peroxide (30%) with isolation.
The present invention provides a safe and effective way for whitening teeth through a combination of new techniques, including a balanced and controlled delivery of activated bleaching medium. The present invention accelerates the action of the bleaching medium by increasing (a) the gel temperature; (b) the concentration of active peroxide species of the gel at the interface between the tooth surface and the attached gel; (c) the reaction rate between the active transient species (OH and O) of the peroxide and the coloring compounds in the teeth; and (d) the diffusion rate of the active species through the enamel. A heating wave is provided by a controlled thermal source which allows the temperature of the gel to reach a safe temperature range of 40xc2x0-42xc2x0 C. on the tooth surface. The heating is also controlled by a combination of state of the art devices which control the temperature to xc2x11xc2x0 C. or on a simpler approach by heat transfer.
In a first embodiment, the device includes a heating element embedded into an aluminum (or other metal or conductive material) cylinder referred to as a xe2x80x9cheat sinkxe2x80x9d which is thermally insulated from the atmosphere with a plastic coating, highly insulating Styrofoam composite, or other insulator. The temperature of the heat sink is controlled and maintained at a level of 50xc2x0-65xc2x0 C. so that a controlled, constant amount of thermal energy flows into a mouthpiece. The mouthpiece is made from metal, a metal matrix composite, or other thermally conductive material. The mouthpiece preferably includes a metallic substructure with a plastic/organic filler and a low conductivity coating or an open cell foam cover.
The heat sink temperature is controlled so that the temperature of the mouthpiece and the gel does not exceed a preset level (about 41xc2x0 C.xc2x11xc2x0). In case this temperature is exceeded in an electrically-powered embodiment, a safety thermocouple at the base of the mouthpiece automatically shuts off the power of the control box. For added safety, the heating element is electrically insulated from its case by ceramic cement and the case is also insulated from the heat sink by another layer of cement. The exteriors of heat sink and the mouthpiece are further insulated by plastic or Styrofoam coatings, thus providing a third level of safety. In addition, the demand of electric current(of the 30 watt heater at 120 V) is low and is limited to 0.25 amperes.
The increased effectiveness and speed of the whitening process is due to the faster generation and mobility of H2O2 in the peroxide gel, the decomposition of H2O2 to OH and O, the enhanced diffusion rate into the tooth as well as the enhancement of the reaction rate between the active peroxide species (which can be radicals of OH or atomic oxygen O) and the compounds on the enamel and dentine responsible for the stains and coloration. It is the change in the molecular state and bond structure (from double to single carbon bonds) of the coloring compounds which accounts for the lighter color, as well as the removal of stain compounds from the enamel surface.
The mouthpiece of the present invention is preferably made of a metal matrix composite consisting of a high conductivity, high heat-capacity metal skeleton (e.g., aluminum, copper, steel or other conductive alloy) that is surrounded by or impregnated with an open cell, porous, flexible foam. The mouthpiece may also be covered with a perforated plastic material. One important feature of this invention is based on the heat flow delivery from the heat sink, which is kept in the range of 50xc2x0-70xc2x0 C. (depending on the relative size of heat sink to mouthpiece), to the metal matrix composite and is designed so that the foam temperature does not exceed levels of comfort or safety, which is in the vicinity of 41xc2x0 C.
The method of the present invention controls the flow of thermal energy from a heat sink in order to provide thermal activation of bleaching gels. It accelerates the reaction of peroxide active species with pathological and normal colorations thus resulting in a faster whitening process via controlled heat flow, enhanced catalytic H2O2 decomposition by the metal mouthpiece and the fast transfer of reactionary ingredients through the open cell foam to the teeth. The advantages of the proposed methods are as follows: (a) temperature control at the base of the mouthpiece ensures safety by protection from overheating higher than 41xc2x0 C., which is an acceptable safe level; (b) the conductive portion of the mouthpiece is isolated from the flesh of the mouth and the teeth; (c) it allows use of gels with lower peroxide concentrations which do not require protection and/or isolation of the gums through the application of coatings; (d) it works with a variety of hydrogen peroxide and/or carbamide peroxide gels, both hydrous and non-hydrous, the latter being more effective; (e) it provides a reservoir of peroxide sufficient to last at least a 30-minute treatment, to be repeated two or three times with new gel for best results; (f) the energy flow created by the heat sink as well as the construction of the mouthpiece provide the necessary balance required for the safety of the system; and (g) the flexible foam allows one size to fit all and its open cell structure allows easy transfer of more reactive species to travel from the metal side of the mouthpiece, which is hotter, to the tooth surface without raising the temperature of the tooth itself. This non-equilibrium event allows for even faster whitening results.
Other useful features of this invention include the fact that the metal component of the mouthpiece does not require plaster models to be made (to custom fit to the teeth) because it is large enough to fit most, if not all, mouth sizes due to the rigid metal front wall and the flexible foam or plastic back wall which provides the desirable fit around the teeth of any size or geometry. The construction of the mouthpiece is such that one mouthpiece can treat both upper and lower teeth simultaneously. The fact that the mouth is closed during treatment provides greater comfort to the recipient of the treatment, as compared to other methods based on light activation where the mouth is forced open with a lip retractor during the entire procedure. For several reasons (including safety and sanitary reasons), all or a portion of the metal matrix mouthpiece is designed to be disposable, such that it can be discarded at the end of the procedure.


A stator core module assembly (20) is provided which is adapted to be mounted to at least one structural element (16, 18) coupled to a stator frame (10). The stator core module assembly comprises a stator core module (22) adapted to form part of a stator core (21) and at least one keybar (32A, 32B) having a length less than a width of the stator core. The keybar may be coupled to the stator core module. The stator core module assembly further comprises at least one attachment member (34) for coupling the keybar to the structural element coupled to the stator frame.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates in general to a power generator stator assembly, a stator core module assembly, and a process for assembling a stator core module assembly within a horizontally positioned stator frame.
2. Background Information
U.S. Pat. No. 6,104,116 discloses a technique for mounting a power generator stator core to a stator frame. A plurality of keybars are provided, which engage corresponding slots provided in the stator core. One or more spring bars are welded to the stator frame. Keyblocks are bolted to the keybars and provide a means for mounting the keybars to the spring bars. The keybars are shown extending along the entire length of the stator core.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,540 discloses a process for forming a stator core in a stator frame. The process involves forming a plurality of core modules or donuts, each of which comprises a plurality of stator core rings or plates. The stator frame is placed in an upright position. A predefined number of the core modules are then lowered into the upright stator frame. For a power generator which has been in operation for some time and is in need of a new stator core, turning its stator frame upright to receive a new stator core is very difficult arid typically not feasible.
An improved technique for assembling a stator core within a stator frame is desired, especially when the stator frame comprises a horizontally positioned housing.

Power generator stator assembly, a stator core module assembly, and a process for assembling a stator core module assembly within a stator frame


Embodiments described herein involve improved management of snapshots of a file system. Embodiments include copying a first root node of a first snapshot to a second snapshot, the second snapshot referencing other nodes of the first snapshot. Embodiments further include incrementing reference counts of the other nodes of the first snapshot. Embodiments further include adding a storage address of the first root node to a list. Embodiments further include, each time that a copy on write operation is performed for a node of the other nodes, adding a storage address of the node to the list and decrementing the reference count of the node. Embodiments further include iterating through the list and, for each storage address in the list, decrementing the reference count of the node corresponding to the storage address and, if the reference count of the node reaches zero, freeing storage space at the storage address.

Logical storage systems (e.g., file systems, such as virtual disks, backed by physical storage devices) may support the creation and management of file snapshots, wherein users are enabled to create snapshots (e.g., checkpoints for backup/recovery purposes) of the state of data stored in the logical storage system at the time the snapshot is created. A snapshot, accordingly, may be considered a copy of the data stored in the logical storage system at a certain time. Snapshots are sometimes associated with logs that store ongoing IO operations that take place in the logical storage system so that the state of the data in the logical storage system can be fully recreated from the snapshot by "replaying" the IO operations from the log in the event of a failure (e.g., a hardware or software crash, file corruption, loss of connectivity, or the like). For example, IO operations that occur after the time the snapshot was created may be stored in the log, and in the event of a failure, the data in the logical storage system can be recreated by starting from the snapshot and replaying the IO operations from the log on the data in the snapshot.
In some cases, when a log associated with a first snapshot is full (or almost full, as determined based on a size threshold), a second snapshot with a new log may be created to capture an updated state of the logical storage system. A second snapshot may, for example, be created by copying the first snapshot and replaying the log of the first snapshot in order to capture an updated state of the data in the second snapshot. Copy on write (COW) techniques are often used when creating additional snapshots (e.g., the second snapshot), such that nodes (e.g., data blocks) of the first snapshot are only copied to the second snapshot when the nodes are modified (e.g., when a write operation is performed on the node, such as based on an IO operation replayed from the log).
In some cases, snapshots are deleted. For example, the first snapshot may be deleted after the second snapshot has reached a consistency point (e.g., when the second snapshot represents the complete state of the data at the time the second snapshot was taken, such as when the log of the first snapshot has been fully replayed). In such cases, deleting the first snapshot may be inefficient. For example, a delete operation may involve traversing the entire file structure of the first snapshot to determine which nodes in the snapshot have been copied (e.g., using COW) to the second snapshot and can therefore be deleted, as opposed to nodes which are still referenced by the second snapshot (e.g., nodes for which COW has not yet been performed because the nodes have not yet been modified), and may therefore not yet be deleted. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for improved methods of deleting snapshots.


A surfactant is added to a cement containing a polymer fluid loss additive, to synergistically reduce fluid loss from the cement before it hardens.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to new and useful improvements in reducing the fluid loss of cement slurries. Cement formulations of the invention also exhibit improved interfacial sealing between the hardened cement and pipe or borehole wall.
2. Description of Prior Art
Subsequent to drilling a borehole of an oil or gas well, casing is run into the well and a cement slurry is placed in the annulus between the outside of the casing and the borehole wall. Typically, the cement slurry is placed in the annulus using a successive fluid displacement technique. In this technique, the cement is first pumped into the casing. Another fluid, often drilling fluid or water, is pumped behind the cement to displace it out the bottom of the casing and up into the annulus between the casing and borehole wall. The cement slurry is usually raised to a point above the uppermost section of the formations to be isolated and may be raised into the annulus between the casing string being cemented and a previously cemented casing.
Differential pressure is required to place the cement in the annulus. A differential pressure typically exists between the fluid column in the annulus and the pore pressures of the exposed formations. The hydrostatic pressure in the annulus immediately after the cement is placed is usually higher than the pore pressure of exposed formations in order to prevent flow of formation fluids into the annulus.
Since cement slurries are suspensions of solids in water and the exposed formations of the wellbore are permeable, filtration can occur. In this case, fluid from the cement slurry can be lost to the exposed permeable formations through filtration resulting from the pressure differential between the annulus and formations. To prevent this, fluid loss control agents are added to the cement slurry. Typically, these fluid loss agents are polymeric materials. A considerable variety of polymer classes exist which will function to reduce the fluid loss of cement and others are being developed.
Many types of polymeric fluid loss control agents increase the viscosity of the cement slurry. Surface active agents such as naphthalene sulfonate formaldehyde condensates, phenol sulfonate formaldehyde condensates, and lignosulfonates are commonly added to cement slurries to disperse the cement particles and fluid loss additive, and reduce the slurry viscosity. In many cases, the dispersing and viscosity reducing surface active agent was preblended into the fluid loss additive mixture. Examples of this art are contained in U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,132,693, 4,258,709, 4,433,731, 4,687,516, 4,569,395, and 4,742,094.
Some of the surfactants of the type used in the present invention have been employed in the preparation of liquid fluid loss additives which may be added to the cement slurry (U.S. Pat. No. 4,687,516). Such surfactants are used for a different purpose than in the present invention, namely to water wet a polymer upon contact with water in the preparation of the cement slurry. An organic dispersing agent of the type previously described is also present in this prior art.
It will be shown by data presented in the detailed description of the present invention hereinafter that a certain type of surfactant alone can reduce the fluid loss of the cement slurry by interacting with the polymer fluid loss agent in the slurry.


A system for stapling tissue comprises a flexible endoscope and an operative head including a pair of opposed, curved tissue clamping jaws sized to pass through an esophagus, the jaws being moveable with respect to one another between an open tissue receiving configuration and a closed tissue clamping configuration, a first one of the curved jaws including a stapling mechanism and a second one of the jaws including a staple forming anvil surface, the stapling mechanism including staple slots through which staples are fired arranged in a row extending from a proximal end of the first jaw to a distal end thereof in combination with a control handle which, when the operative head is in an operative position within one of a patient's stomach and esophagus, remains outside the patient, the control handle including a first actuator for moving the jaws relative to one another and a second actuator for operating the stapling mechanism.

Endoscopic surgical stapling apparatus are known in the art and are utilized to provide a variety of surgical procedures. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,040,715 to Green, et al. discloses an endoscopic stapling device configured to be inserted through a small entrance wound in the abdominal cavity to place rows of staples in body tissue. This device has a limited range of motion in that the stapling assembly at the distal end of the instrument can only be rotated about the central axis of the instrument.
An endoscopic stapling apparatus purporting to have a greater range of motion is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,326,013 to Green et al. This device has an articulating stapling assembly mounted for pivotal movement about an axis extending transverse to the central axis of the instrument. An endoscopic stapling device designed to be inserted through a small incision in a body wall and purporting to have an increased range of motion is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,098 to Tsuruta et al. A stapling assembly of this device curves away from a central axis of the instrument to a 90° angle so that it can more easily reach tissue spaced from the central axis. This device incises tissue clamped within the stapling assembly and places staggered lines of staples on both sides of the incision.

Apparatus and method for resectioning gastro-esophageal tissue


An apparatus and a method for providing a standby screen image of a mobile terminal are disclosed to change a standby screen image in a story-telling manner according to a communication event or a usage amount of the terminal. The method for providing a standby screen image of a mobile terminal includes: displaying a standby screen image of one or more themes; and changing the displayed standby screen image in a story-telling manner according to a usage amount of the mobile terminal.

The present invention relates to a method for displaying a standby screen image of a mobile terminal and, more particularly, to an apparatus and method for displaying a standby screen image of a mobile terminal capable of changing a standby screen image in a story-telling manner.
A mobile terminal is a device that can be carried around and has one or more functions such as voice and video call communication, inputting and outputting information, storing data, and the like.
As such functions become more diversified, the mobile terminal can support more complicated functions such as capturing images or video, reproducing music or video files, playing games, receiving broadcast signals, and the like. By comprehensively and collectively implementing such functions, the mobile terminal may be embodied in the form of a multimedia player or device.
In order to implement various functions, numerous attempts are being made and implemented in terms of hardware or software in such multimedia player or devices. For example, a user interface environment is provided to allow users to easily and conveniently search or select one or more functions.
Also, as users consider their mobile terminal to be a personal portable device that may express their personality, various designs for the mobile terminals are required.
Recently, in line with the development of the mobile communication technologies and the increase in the demands of users, various supplementary functions in addition to a basic call function are being provided by mobile terminals.
Among the supplementary functions, for example, an entertainment menu allows a user to select various images such as pictures or photos as wallpaper. That is, with this menu, the user can select his preferred picture or photo and set it as wallpaper in an image box menu, a sub-menu of the entertainment menu.
However, the related art background image used as a standby screen image is constantly displayed in a simple manner regardless of the number of calls, the number of messages received and transmitted, or other factors, which thus fail to arouse user interest.

Apparatus and method for providing standby screen image of mobile terminal


Methods for using ink-jet printing to deposit various layers of micro-structure devices are provided. A wide variety of micro-structures may be formed using these techniques including, for example, many forms of MEMs structures as well as other structures.

Much of the time and effort expended in fabricating micro-devices often involves the deposition and patterning of various materials and layers that eventually form a three-dimensional structure. In many cases, the various layers and materials are deposited and patterned using conventional integrated circuit processing equipment, which can be expensive to purchase and maintain. In many cases, each layer may require the use of different equipment, which can significantly add to the expense in terms of increased production time, increased risk of contamination and/or mistakes, and reduced yields.

Method for making devices using ink jet printing


A device for animating a fishing lure comprising a section of wire which carries a pair of saucer-shaped disks constrained by a plurality of beads attached on the section of wire. Each of the disks has a mounting hole receiving the section of wire and a plurality of apertures spaced circumferentially and radially about the hole to permit water to flow through and between the disks as they are pulled through the water. The disks are rotatably mounted on the section of wire such that their respective apertures are capable of intermittent alignment which allows the device to rest in a stable mode between random, angular oscillations. The random, angular oscillations produced by the device will animate a fishing lure in a manner which simulates the movements of a water creature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to fishing lures, and more particularly to devices that animate fishing lures to simulate the motions of various creatures prayed on by game fish.
2. Descriptions of the Prior Art
It has long been known by experienced freshwater sport fisherman that devices that animate fishing lures attract fish. Armed with this knowledge, sport fishing equipment suppliers have designed various devices for animating fishing lures as they are pulled through the water. Two recent examples of animators are found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,819,362 issued to Lewis and U.S. Pat. No. 5,167,088 issued to Wardell. Lewis discloses a pair of symmetrical blades which have angled flanges that are designed to cause the blades to rotate and swivel as the blades are pulled through water. Wardell discloses a substantially flat circular disk having a radial crease and a central orifice. Wardell's disk is carried by a fishing line or wire substantially normal to the line or wire as it is pulled through the water. The crease in Wardell's disk causes the disk to vibrate or oscillate in a regular fashion as it travels through the water. The fishing lure animating devices of the Lewis and Wardell patents animate a fishing lure in a way typical of prior art fishing lure animating devices in that they produce regular movements.
However, the purpose of using a fishing lure animating device is to cause a fishing lure to simulate the movements of a water creature, and more ideally, a distressed or injured water creature. Water creatures generally, and distressed or injured water creatures in particular do not exhibit regular movements. Typically, they tend to oscillate randomly between rest and motion. Many small water creatures, in fact, tend to move through the water by bursts of propulsive motion followed by a gliding action. Therefore, fisherman are more likely to benefit from a lure animator which produced random, irregular or intermittent motions as opposed to regular motions.
Consequently, a need exists for a fishing lure animator which will cause a fishing lure to move in a random and intermittent manner which would more closely simulate actual water creature movements and thus be more likely to fool game fish into pursuing such lore.


There are disclosed methods and compositions for recovering or improving visual function in a mammal, by means of adeno-associated viral vectors suitable for gene delivery to mammalian retina.

Congenital hypopigmentary diseases ("albinism") result from a defect in the synthesis or distribution of melanin pigment [1]. Melanin is responsible for skin, hair, and eye pigmentation. It is synthesized from the amino acid tyrosine in special organelles, the melanosomes. Different forms of albinism are due to mutations in genes involved in melanin production and accumulation [2]. Ocular albinism (OA) affects primarily the eye; oculocutaneous albinism (OCA) affects the skin and hair in addition [1].
Ocular Albinism Type I (OA1; MIM 300500) is the most common OA form [1]. OA1 is transmitted as an X-linked trait, with affected males showing the complete phenotype and heterozygous carrier females showing only minor signs of the disease. Visual abnormalities in OA1 are similar to those present in all forms of albinism [1, 3]. OA1 male patients have reduced visual acuity, which represents a major handicap, nystagmus, strabismus and marked photophobia [1]. This results from a developmental disorder of the retina characterized by foveal hypoplasia and misrouting of the optic fibers at the chiasm [3]. In addition, unlike other forms of albinism, the OA1 retinal pigment epithelium (RPE) and, to a lesser extent, the skin melanocytes present with characteristic large pigment granules, the macromelanosomes, suggesting that abnormal melanosomal biogenesis might occur in OA1 [4-6].
The gene responsible for OA1 (OA1) has been identified by positional cloning [7]. It encodes an orphan G-protein coupled receptor (OA1), which crosses the melanosomal membrane. Oa1 is expressed exclusively in RPE and skin melanocytes [8-12] and its transcript is detectable in murine embryonic RPE since early stages of development [10].
Gene transfer holds great promises for the treatment of inherited retinal diseases [16, 17]. Vectors based on adeno-associated viruses (AAV) are able to stably and efficiently transduce the retina of animal models of retinal diseases and their toxicity and efficacy will be soon evaluated in the human retina [18-20]. It has been shown that AAV vectors with an AAV1 capsid (AAV2/1) efficiently transduce the murine RPE [21-23], thus representing important tools for the treatment of animal models of RPE defects, such as Oa1−/− mouse.
Retinal electrophysiological function has been analyzed in albino (OCA) rodents and abnormalities in both light-evoked responses and ability to recover from photoreceptor desensitization following bright light exposure (dark adaptation) have been described [24-27].

Methods and compositions for recovering or improving visual function


A multi-piece detachable mop body is disclosed herein. Among other features, the multi-piece detachable mop body comprises a plurality of pole sections configured to couple with one another to form an integral elongated body during use and disengage with one another into the plurality of pole sections for transportation, packaging and storage purposes.

Mops have been used to clean various floor surfaces for many years. However, the elongated body of a mop may present difficulties and inconvenience for transportation, packaging and storage.
Accordingly, there is a need for a mop having multiple detachable pieces that may be assembled quickly and easily for use and disassembled into multiple pieces for easy transportation, packaging and storage.


A rotatable blade for use in a turbomachine includes an airfoil portion having a leading edge, a trailing edge a radially-inner end and a radially-outer end; a root section at to the radially-inner end of the airfoil portion, and a part-span shroud located on the airfoil portion between the root section and the radially-outer end. The part-span shroud decreases in width and thickness from decreasing in width and thickness from the airfoil portion to a contact surface adapted to engage a mating contact surface on a part-span shroud of an adjacent blade.

The invention relates generally to rotating blades for use in turbomachines. More particularly, the invention relates to a rotating blades provided with part-span shrouds between adjacent blades.
The fluid flow path of a turbomachine such as a steam or gas turbine is generally formed by a stationary casing and a rotor. In this configuration, a number of stationary vanes are attached to the casing in a circumferential array, extending radially inward into the flow path. Similarly, a number of rotating blades are attached to the rotor in a circumferential array and extending radially outward into the flow path. The stationary vanes and rotating blades are arranged in alternating rows so that a row of vanes and the immediate downstream row of blades form a "stage". The vanes serve to direct the flow path so that it enters the downstream row of blades at the correct angle. The airfoil portions of the blades or buckets extract energy from the working fluid, thereby developing the power necessary to drive the rotor and the load attached thereto.
The blades of the turbomachine may be subject to vibration and axial torsion as they rotate at high speeds. To address these issues, blades typically include part-span shrouds disposed on the airfoil portions at an intermediate radial distance between the outer tip and the root section of each blade. The part-span shrouds or shroud portions are typically affixed to each of the pressure (concave) and suction (convex) sides of each airfoil, such that the part-span shrouds on adjacent blades matingly engage and frictionally slide along one another during rotation of the rotor. Conventional part-span shrouds have substantial weight and typically require larger fillets at the shroud/airfoil interface to ease structural stress between the part-span shroud and the airfoil surface, and to support the part-span shroud on the airfoil. The weight and the required fillet design tends to result in less aerodynamic blades, and therefore, in a decrease in flow rate and overall performance of the turbomachine stage at issue.


A memory integrated circuit having three layers of metallic traces disposed over a substrate assembly including various active devices. The traces are arranged to include I/O traces that are continuous in the third layer across spans of 4 or 8 memory blocks of an array, and that are interspersed on the third layer with non-I/O lines adapted to reduce interference between I/O lines. Column select lines, orthogonal to I/O lines and disposed in the third layer of metallic traces, except in the vicinity of I/O lines, are provided in a linear configuration and shielded from parallel digit lines in the first layer of traces by traces of the intervening second layer of traces. Global bleeder lines disposed in the third layer of traces are adapted to apply a standby voltage to a plurality of sense amplifiers. Other features of the invention include two layer power and ground bus traces, and row decoder and phase driver circuits disposed in throat and gap cell regions respectively.

High component density and rapid signal transmission are both desirable in an integrated circuit memory device. As circuit density rises however, the conductive traces used to interconnect components must be made finer and placed closer together. Unfortunately, making traces finer and placing them closer together makes them less amenable to rapid signal transmission.
Reducing the cross-section of a given conductor increases its resistance, and consequently its RC time constant. A higher RC time constant is reflected in lower signal transmission speed. Placing traces closer together increases the probability of crosstalk. This also effectively reduces the capacity of a line to transmit signals rapidly. There is thus a need to provide novel interconnect structures that allow rapid signal transmission across high-density integrated circuits.
Different methods of forming conductors on integrated circuit memory devices are known in the art. In conventional practice, conductors have been implemented as buried polysilicon traces. These are formed by patterned doping of a semiconductor substrate. The resistance and capacitance of such traces are high, as compared with traces formed by other means.
It is also known to form metallic interconnects by depositing a layer of metal over a substrate and selectively etching the layer to form a conductor pattern.
The deposition of metal traces over a substrate assembly may also be accomplished by use of a damascene process. In the damascene process metal lines are deposited in grooves etched into a dielectric layer such as a substrate assembly, or insulating layer. Excess metal is then removed by chemical mechanical planarization (CMP). Once the excess metal has been removed only the metal that was deposited down within the grooves remains. This metal forms the interconnecting traces between devices.
Depending on the configuration of the traces, the resistance and capacitance of buried polysilicon lines, or metal traces formed by various methods, tends to limit signal transmission speed. Signal crosstalk between conductors remains a problem. Accordingly, there is a need for new conductor structures and arrangements that improve signal transmission speed in the face of increasing component density.


Servicing a request for information from a device with limited network, memory, and display resources includes receiving a request for a page of information from a client device. The requested page is retrieved, and points within the page at which the page may be divided into sub-pages are identified. The points at which the page may be divided may be statically defined within the page or dynamically determined from the structure of the page. The page is separated at the identified points into multiple sub-pages, and it is determined if each of the multiple sub-pages may be used by the client device. A sub-page may be used by the client device if a weight of the sub-page, which may be expressly calculated or estimated, is less than a maximum allowable weight. The multiple sub-pages are linked, and the multiple sub-pages are individually transferred to the client device.

Mobile computing devices may be used to access enterprise applications and information from almost any location serviced by the appropriate network. However, each mobile computing device may have different capabilities that affect how the enterprise applications and the information are accessed. For example, the network resources available to transfer information to the mobile devices may be limited, the memory available on the mobile devices to store the information may be limited, or the space available to display the information on the mobile devices may be limited. Further restrictions may be imposed by network protocols, supported content types, and device usability.


The invention is based on the isolation of antibodies that were made to a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence for a truncated VEGF-D. One of these antibodies can interfere with the activity of VEGF-D mediated by VEGFR-2 and interfere with the binding of VEGF-D to VEGFR-3 but does not interfere with the activity of VEGF mediated by VEGFR-2 or bind to VEGF-C. The invention provides pharmaceutical and diagnostic compositions and methods utilizing these antibodies.

In the developing embryo, the primary vascular network is established by in situ differentiation of mesodermal cells in a process called vasculogenesis. It is believed that all subsequent processes involving the generation of new vessels in the embryo and neovascularization in adults, are governed by the sprouting or splitting of new capillaries from the pre-existing vasculature in a process called angiogenesis (Pepper et al., Enzyme & Protein, 49: 138–162, 1996; Breier et al., Dev. Dyn., 204: 228–239, 1995; Risau, Nature, 386: 671–674, 1997). Angiogenesis is not only involved in embryonic development and normal tissue growth, repair, and regeneration, but is also involved in the female reproductive cycle, establishment and maintenance of pregnancy, and in repair of wounds and fractures. In addition to angiogenesis which takes place in the normal individual, angiogenic events are involved in a number of pathological processes, notably tumor growth and metastasis, and other conditions in which blood vessel proliferation, especially of the microvascular system, is increased, such as diabetic retinopathy, psoriasis and arthropathies. Inhibition of angiogenesis is useful in preventing or alleviating these pathological processes.
On the other hand, promotion of angiogenesis is desirable in situations where vascularization is to be established or extended, for example after tissue or organ transplantation, or to stimulate establishment of collateral circulation in tissue infarction or arterial stenosis, such as in coronary heart disease and thromboangitis obliterans.
The angiogenic process is highly complex and involves the maintenance of the endothelial cells in the cell cycle, degradation of the extracellular matrix, migration and invasion of the surrounding tissue and finally, tube formation. The molecular mechanisms underlying the complex angiogenic processes are far from being understood.
Because of the crucial role of angiogenesis in so many physiological and pathological processes, factors involved in the control of angiogenesis have been intensively investigated. A number of growth factors have been shown to be involved in the regulation of angiogenesis; these include fibroblast growth factors (FGFs), platelet-derived growth factor (PDGF), transforming growth factor alpha (TGFα), and hepatocyte growth factor (HGF). See for example Folkman et al., J. Biol. Chem., 267: 10931–10934, 1992 for a review.
It has been suggested that a particular family of endothelial cell-specific growth factors, the vascular endothelial growth factors (VEGFs), and their corresponding receptors is primarily responsible for stimulation of endothelial cell growth and differentiation, and for certain functions of the differentiated cells. These factors are members of the PDGF family, and appear to act primarily via endothelial receptor tyrosine kinases. (RTKs).
Nine different proteins have been identified in the PDGF family, namely two PDGFs (A and B), VEGF and six members that are closely related to VEGF. The six members closely related to VEGF are: VEGF-B, described in International Patent Application PCT/US96/02957 (WO 96/26736) and in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,840,693 and 5,607,918 by Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research and The University of Helsinki; VEGF-C, described in Joukov et al., EMBO J., 15: 290–298, 1996 and Lee et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 1988–1992, 1996; VEGF-D, described in International Patent Application No. PCT/US97/14696 (WO 98/07832), and Achen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95: 548–553, 1998; the placenta growth factor (PlGF), described in Maglione et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88: 9267–9271, 1991; VEGF2, described in International Patent Application No. PCT/US94/05291 (WO 95/24473) by Human Genome Sciences, Inc; and VEGF3, described in International Patent Application No. PCT/US95/07283 (WO 96/39421) by Human Genome Sciences, Inc. Each VEGF family member has between 30% and 45% amino acid sequence identity with VEGF. The VEGF family members share a VEGF homology domain which contains the six cysteine residues which form the cysteine knot motif. Functional characteristics of the VEGF family include varying degrees of mitogenicity for endothelial cells, induction of vascular permeability and angiogenic and lymphangiogenic properties.
Vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) is a homodimeric glycoprotein that has been isolated from several sources. VEGF shows highly specific mitogenic activity for endothelial cells. VEGF has important regulatory functions in the formation of new blood vessels during embryonic vasculogenesis and in angiogenesis during adult life (Carmeliet et al., Nature, 380: 435–439, 1996; Ferrara et al., Nature, 380: 439–442, 1996; reviewed in Ferrara and Davis-Smyth, Endocrine Rev., 18: 4–25, 1997). The significance of the role played by VEGF has been demonstrated in studies showing that inactivation of a single VEGF allele results in embryonic lethality due to failed development of the vasculature (Carmeliet et al., Nature, 380: 435–439, 1996; Ferrara et al., Nature, 380: 439–442, 1996). In addition VEGF has strong chemoattractant activity towards monocytes, can induce the plasminogen activator and the plasminogen activator inhibitor in endothelial cells, and can also induce microvascular permeability. Because of the latter activity, it is sometimes referred to as vascular permeability factor (VPF). The isolation and properties of VEGF have been reviewed; see Ferrara et al., J. Cellular Biochem., 47: 211–218, 1991 and Connolly, J. Cellular Biochem., 47: 219–223, 1991. Alterative mRNA splicing of a single VEGF gene gives rise to five isoforms of VEGF.
VEGF-B has similar angiogenic and other properties to those of VEGF, but is distributed and expressed in tissues differently from VEGF. In particular, VEGF-B is very strongly expressed in heart, and only weakly in lung, whereas the reverse is the case for VEGF. This suggests that VEGF and VEGF-B, despite the fact that they are co-expressed in many tissues, may have functional differences.
VEGF-B was isolated using a yeast co-hybrid interaction trap screening technique by screening for cellular proteins which might interact with cellular resinoid acid-binding protein type I (CRABP-I). Its isolation and characteristics are described in detail in PCT/US96/02957 and in Olofsson et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 93: 2576–2581, 1996.
VEGF-C was isolated from conditioned media of the PC-3 prostate adenocarcinoma cell line (CRL1435) by screening for ability of the medium to produce tyrosine phosphorylation of the endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinase VEGFR-3 (Flt4), using cells transfected to express VEGFR-3. VEGF-C was purified using affinity chromatography with recombinant VEGFR-3, and was cloned from a PC-3 cDNA library. Its isolation and characteristics are described in detail in Joukov et al., EMBO J., 15: 290–298, 1996.
VEGF-D was isolated from a human breast cDNA library, commercially available from Clontech, by screening with an expressed sequence tag obtained from a human cDNA library designated "Soares Breast 3NbHBst" as a hybridization probe (Achen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95: 548–553, 1998). Its isolation and characteristics are described in detail in International Patent Application No. PCT/US97/14696 (WO98/07832).
The VEGF-D gene is broadly expressed in the adult human, but is certainly not ubiquitously expressed. VEGF-D is strongly expressed in heart, lung and skeletal muscle. Intermediate levels of VEGF-D are expressed in spleen, ovary, small intestine and colon, and a lower expression occurs in kidney, pancreas, thymus, prostate and testis. No VEGF-D mRNA was detected in RNA from brain, placenta, liver or peripheral blood leukocytes.
PlGF was isolated from a term placenta cDNA library. Its isolation and characteristics are described in detail in Maglione et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 88: 9267–9271, 1991. Presently its biological function is not well understood.
VEGF2 was isolated from a highly tumorgenic, oestrogen-independent human breast cancer cell line. While this molecule is stated to have about 22% homology to PDGF and 30% homology to VEGF, the method of isolation of the gene encoding VEGF2 is unclear, and no characterization of the biological activity is disclosed.
VEGF3 was isolated from a cDNA library derived from colon tissue. VEGF3 is stated to have about 36% identity and 66% similarity to VEGF. The method of isolation of the gene encoding VEGF3 is unclear and no characterization of the biological activity is disclosed.
Similarity between two proteins is determined by comparing the amino acid sequence and conserved amino acid substitutions of one of the proteins to the sequence of the second protein, whereas identity is determined without including the conserved amino acid substitutions.
PDGF/VEGF family members act primarily by binding to receptor tyrosine kinases. Five endothelial cell-specific receptor tyrosine kinases have been identified, namely VEGFR-1 (Flt-1), VEGFR-2 (KDR/Flk-1), VEGFR-3 (Flt4), Tie and Tek/Tie-2. All of these have the intrinsic tyrosine kinase activity which is necessary for signal transduction. The essential, specific role in vasculogenesis and angiogenesis of VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2, VEGFR-3, Tie and Tek/Tie-2 has been demonstrated by targeted mutations inactivating these receptors in mouse embryos.
The only receptor tyrosine kinases known to bind VEGFs are VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3. VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 bind VEGF with high affinity, and VEGFR-1 also binds VEGF-B and PlGF. VEGF-C has been shown to be the ligand for VEGFR-3, and it also activates VEGFR-2 (Joukov et al., The EMBO Journal, 15: 290–298, 1996). VEGF-D binds to both VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3. A ligand for Tek/Tie-2 has been described in International Patent Application No. PCT/US95/12935 (WO 96/11269) by Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. The ligand for Tie has not yet been identified.
Recently, a novel 130–135 kDa VEGF isoform specific receptor has been purified and cloned (Soker et al., Cell, 92: 735–745, 1998). The VEGF receptor was found to specifically bind the VEGF165 isoform via the exon 7 encoded sequence, which shows weak affinity for heparin (Soker et al., Cell, 92: 735–745, 1998). Surprisingly, the receptor was shown to be identical to human neuropilin-1 (NP-1), a receptor involved in early stage neuromorphogenesis. PlGF-2 also appears to interact with NP-1 (Migdal et al., J. Biol. Chem., 273: 22272–22278, 1998).
VEGFR-1, VEGFR-2 and VEGFR-3 are expressed differently by endothelial cells. Both VEGFR-1 and VEGFR-2 are expressed in blood vessel endothelia (Oelrichs et al., Oncogene, 8: 11–18, 1992; Kaipainen et al., J. Exp. Med., 178: 2077–2088, 1993; Dumont et al., Dev. Dyn., 203: 80–92, 1995; Fong et al., Dev. Dyn., 207: 1–10, 1996) and VEGFR-3 is mostly expressed in the lymphatic endothelium of adult tissues (Kaipainen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 9: 3566–3570, 1995). VEGFR-3 is also expressed in the blood vasculature surrounding tumors.
Disruption of the VEGFR genes results in aberrant development of the vasculature leading to embryonic lethality around midgestation. Analysis of embryos carrying a completely inactivated VEGFR-1 gene suggests that this receptor is required for functional organization of the endothelium (Fong et al., Nature, 376: 66–70, 1995). However, deletion of the intracellular tyrosine kinase domain of VEGFR-1 generates viable mice with a normal vasculature (Hiratsuka et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95: 9349–9354, 1998). The reasons underlying these differences remain to be explained but suggest that receptor signalling via the tyrosine kinase is not required for the proper function of VEGFR-1. Analysis of homozygous mice with inactivated alleles of VEGFR-2 suggests that this receptor is required for endothelial cell proliferation, hematopoesis and vasculogenesis (Shalaby et al., Nature, 376: 62–66, 1995; Shalaby et al., Cell, 89: 981–990, 1997). Inactivation of VEGFR-3 results in cardiovascular failure due to abnormal organization of the large vessels (Dumont et al. Science, 282: 946–949, 1998).
Although VEGFR-1 is mainly expressed in endothelial cells during development, it can also be found in hematopoetic precursor cells during early stages of embryogenesis (Fong et al., Nature, 376: 66–70, 1995). In adults, monocytes and macrophages also express this receptor (Barleon et al., Blood, 87: 3336–3343, 1995). In embryos, VEGFR-1 is expressed by most, if not all, vessels (Breier et al., Dev. Dyn., 204: 228–239, 1995; Fong et al., Dev. Dyn., 207: 1–10, 1996).
The receptor VEGFR-3 is widely expressed on endothelial cells during early embryonic development but as embryogenesis proceeds becomes restricted to venous endothelium and then to the lymphatic endothelium (Kaipainen et al., Cancer Res., 54: 6571–6577, 1994; Kaipainen et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 92: 3566–3570, 1995). VEGFR-3 is expressed on lymphatic endothelial cells in adult tissues. This receptor is essential for vascular development during embryogenesis. Targeted inactivation of both copies of the VEGFR-3 gene in mice resulted in defective blood vessel formation characterized by abnormally organized large vessels with defective lumens, leading to fluid accumulation in the pericardial cavity and cardiovascular failure at post-coital day 9.5. On the basis of these findings it has been proposed that VEGFR-3 is required for the maturation of primary vascular networks into larger blood vessels. However, the role of VEGFR-3 in the development of the lymphatic vasculature could not be studied in these mice because the embryos died before the lymphatic system emerged. Nevertheless it is assumed that VEGFR-3 plays a role in development of the lymphatic vasculature and lymphangiogenesis given its specific expression in lymphatic endothelial cells during embryogenesis and adult life. This is supported by the finding that ectopic expression of VEGF-C, a ligand for VEGFR-3, in the skin of transgenic mice, resulted in lymphatic endothelial cell proliferation and vessel enlargement in the dermis. Furthermore this suggests that VEGF-C may have a primary function in lymphatic endothelium, and a secondary function in angiogenesis and permeability regulation which is shared with VEGF (Joukov et al., EMBO J., 15: 290–298, 1996).
Some inhibitors of the VEGF/VEGF-receptor system have been shown to prevent tumor growth via an anti-angiogenic mechanism; see Kim et al., Nature, 362: 841–844, 1993 and Saleh et al., Cancer Res., 56: 393–401, 1996.

Antibodies to truncated VEGF-D and uses thereof


Devices and systems for cell culture that include one or more hollow fibers or channels integrated into a chamber are provided. The hollow fibers or channels and/or the chamber are seeded with one or more cell types. Methods of co-culturing two or more cell types in the devices are also provided.

In vitro models play ubiquitous roles in contemporary medicine. These models have helped identify multiple factors within the breast cancer micro-environment that are directly related to the disease condition. Among these factors, the interaction between cancer cells and all of the surrounding stromal cells, the effect of the stiffness of the extra cellular matrix (ECM), and the effect of oxygen/nutrient gradients have been the subject of many in vitro experiments. These studies indicate that cancer is a heterogeneous disease. Therefore, although informative, the ability to study only one interaction in the absence of the others is not sufficient to obtain complete understanding of the true scenario. Therefore, new in vitro models that are capable of more closely recapitulating the tissue micro-environments are needed to perform complete mechanistic studies on normal tissue and cancer.

Devices for cell culture and methods of making and using the same


A method and apparatus is provided for processing tasks with failure recovery. The method includes storing one or more tasks in a queue, wherein each task has an associated exit routine, and determining at least one task to process based on a priority scheme. The method further includes processing the at least one task, and calling the exit routine based on determining that the task has not completed processing within a preselected period of time.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to computing systems, and, more particularly, to processing tasks with failure recovery in a computer system.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1A illustrates an exemplary computer system 100. The computer system 100 includes a processor 102, a north bridge 104, memory 106, Advanced Graphics Port (AGP) device 108, a network interface card (NIC) 109, a Peripheral Component Interconnect (PCI) bus 110, a PCI connector 111, a south bridge 112, a battery 113, an AT Attachment (ATA) interface 114 (more commonly known as an Integrated Drive Electronics (IDE) interface), an SMBus 115, a universal serial bus (USB) interface 116, a Low Pin Count (LPC) bus 118, an input/output controller chip (SuperI/O™) 120, and BIOS memory 122. It is noted that the north bridge 104 and the south bridge 112 may include only a single chip or a plurality of chips, leading to the collective term "chipset." It is also noted that other buses, devices, and/or subsystems may be included in the computer system 100 as desired, e.g. caches, modems, parallel or serial interfaces, SCSI interfaces, etc.
The processor 102 is coupled to the north bridge 104. The north bridge 104 provides an interface between the processor 102, the memory 106, the AGP device 108, and the PCI bus 110. The south bridge 112 provides an interface between the PCI bus 110 and the peripherals, devices, and subsystems coupled to the IDE interface 114, the SMBus 115, the USB interface 116, and the LPC bus 118. The battery 113 is shown coupled to the south bridge 112. The Super I/O™ chip 120 is coupled to the LPC bus 118.
The north bridge 104 provides communications access between and/or among the processor 102, memory 106, the AGP device 108, devices coupled to the PCI bus 110, and devices and subsystems coupled to the south bridge 112. Typically, removable peripheral devices are inserted into PCI "slots," shown here as the PCI connector 111, that connect to the PCI bus 110 to couple to the computer system 100. Alternatively, devices located on a motherboard may be directly connected to the PCI bus 110. The SMBus 115 may be "integrated" with the PCI bus 110 by using pins in the PCI connector 111 for a portion of the SMBus 115 connections.
The south bridge 112 provides an interface between the PCI bus 110 and various devices and subsystems, such as a modem, a printer, keyboard, mouse, etc., which are generally coupled to the computer system 100 through the LPC bus 118, or one of its predecessors, such as an X-bus or an Industry Standard Architecture (ISA) bus. The south bridge 112 includes logic used to interface the devices to the rest of computer system 100 through the IDE interface 114, the USB interface 116, and the LPC bus 118. The south bridge 112 also includes the logic to interface with devices through the SMBus 115, an extension of the two-wire inter-IC bus protocol.
FIG. 1B illustrates certain aspects of the south bridge 112, including reserve power by the battery 113, so-called "being inside the RTC (real time clock) battery well" 125. The south bridge 112 includes south bridge (SB) RAM 126 and a clock circuit 128, both inside the RTC battery well 125. The SB RAM 126 includes CMOS RAM 126A and RTC RAM 126B. The RTC RAM 126B includes clock data 129 and checksum data 127. The south bridge 112 also includes, outside the RTC battery well 125, a CPU interface 132, power and system management units 133, and various bus interface logic circuits 134.
Time and date data from the clock circuit 128 are stored as the clock data 129 in the RTC RAM 126B. The checksum data 127 in the RTC RAM 126B may be calculated based on the CMOS RAM 126A data and stored by BIOS during the boot process, such as is described below, e.g. block 148, with respect to FIG. 2. The CPU interface 132 may include interrupt signal controllers and processor signal controllers.
FIG. 1C illustrates a prior art remote management configuration for the computer system 100. A motherboard 101 provides structural and base electrical support for the south bridge 112, the PCI bus 110, the PCI connector 111, the SMBus 115, and sensors 103A and 103B. The NIC 109, a removable add-in card, couples to the motherboard 101, the PCI bus 110, and the SMBus 115 through the PCI connector 111. The NIC 109 includes an Ethernet controller 105 and an ASF microcontroller 107. The Ethernet controller 105 communicates with a remote management server 90, passing management data and commands between the ASF microcontroller 107 and the remote management server 90. The remote management server 90 is external to the computer system 100.
An industry standard specification, generally referred to as the Alert Standard Format (ASF) Specification, defines one approach to "system manageability" using the remote management server 90. The ASF Specification defines remote control and alerting interfaces capable of operating when an operating system of a client system, such as the computer system 100, is not functioning. Generally, the remote management server 90 is configured to monitor and control one or more client systems. Typical operations of the ASF alerting interfaces include transmitting alert messages from a client to the remote management server 90, sending remote control commands from the remote management server 90 to the client(s) and responses from the client(s) to the remote management server 90, determining and transmitting to the remote management server 90 the client-specific configurations and assets, and configuring and controlling the client(s) by interacting with the operating system(s) of the client(s). In addition, the remote management server 90 communicates with the ASF NIC 109 and the client(s)' ASF NIC 109 communicates with local client sensors 103 and the local client host processor.
When the client has an ACPI-aware operating system functioning, configuration software for the ASF NIC 109 runs during a "one good boot" to store certain ASF, ACPI, and client configuration data.
The transmission protocol in ASF for sending alerts from the client to the remote management server 90 is the Platform Event Trap (PET). A PET frame consists of a plurality of fields, including GUID (globally unique identifier), sequence number, time, source of PET frame at the client, event type code, event level, sensor device that caused the alert, event data, and ID fields.
Many events may cause an alert to be sent. The events may include temperature value over or under a set-point, voltage value over or under a set-point, fan actual or predicted failure, fan speed over or under a set-point, and physical computer system intrusion. System operation errors may also be alerts, such as memory errors, data device errors, data controller errors, CPU electrical characteristic mismatches, etc. Alerts may also correspond to BIOS or firmware progression during booting or initialization of any part of the client. Operating system (OS) events may also generate alerts, such as OS boot failure or OS timeouts. The ASF Specification provides for a "heartbeat" alert with a programmable period typically one minute but not to exceed 10 minutes, when the client does not send out the heartbeat, or "I am still here," message.
Client control functions are implemented through a remote management and control protocol (RMCP) that is a user datagram protocol (UDP) based protocol. RMCP is used when the client is not running the operating system. RMCP packets are exchanged during reset, power-up, and power-down cycles, each having a different message type. The remote management server 90 determines the ASF-RMCP capabilities of the client(s) by a handshake protocol using a presence-ping-request that is acknowledged by the client(s) and followed-up with a presence-pong that indicates the ASF version being used. The remote management server 90 then sends a request to the client to indicate the configuration of the client, which the client acknowledges and follows with a message giving the configuration of the client as stored in non-volatile memory during the "one good boot." The RMCP packets include a contents field, a type field, an offset field, and a value field.
RMCP message transactions involve a request from the remote management server 90, a timed wait for an acknowledgement followed by a second timed wait for a response. If either of the time limits for the acknowledgement or the response is exceeded, then the remote management server 90 knows that either the client needs some of the packets resent or the client has lost contact due to failure of either the client or the communications link.
The ASF NIC 109 must be able to report its IP (Internet protocol) address (or equivalent) without the intervention of the operating system. Thus, the ASF NIC 109 should be able to receive and reply to ARP (Address Resolution Protocol) requests with the operating system, not interfere with ARP packets when the operating system is running, and wake-up for ARP packets when configured to do so. Note that ACPI includes waking-up for ARP packets as a standard configuration.
The following information is sent to the remote management server 90 from the client as an indication of the configuration of the client: an ACPI description table identifying sensors and their characteristics, ASF capabilities and system type for PET messages, and the client's support for RMCP and the last RCMP command; how the client configures an optional operating system boot hang failure recovery timer; and the SMBIOS identification of the UUID/GUID for PET messages. ASF objects follow the ASL (ASF Software Language) naming convention of ACPI.
Based in part on the above-described features, modern computer systems are becoming more and more robust than their predecessors. Computer systems today process a fairly large number of tasks at any given time. As the number of tasks that are processed increases, the likelihood that some of these tasks may not successful complete (because of errors, for example) also increases. Errant or hung tasks, for example, may adversely affect the performance of the computer system. As such, recovery from these failed tasks is desirable.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A cigarette pack of the hinge-lid box type in which box side walls (24) and lid side walls (25) are correspondingly formed as a polygonal chain from adjoining wall portions (27, 28, 29), and the wall portions (27, 28, 29) are designed with the same width and directed at the same angles to one another and to the front side and rear side of the pack.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a cigarette pack of the hinge-lid type, with a box part, a lid and a collar which preferably consists of a separate blank, wherein box side walls and lid side walls consisting of mutually partially overlapping side flaps are formed by wall portions adjoining one another in a polygon-like manner, which wall portions are arranged symmetrically in relation to an (imaginary) central plane of the pack.
2. Prior Art
A cigarette pack of the aforementioned type having beveled (upright) pack edges is known, with the result that the pack has an overall octagonal contour (EP 0 204 933). The obliquely directed material strips in the region of the pack edges are adapted to the dimension of the cigarettes and are narrow in relation to a transversely directed, central material strip.


A scanning laser projector drives laser light sources with waveforms for higher efficiency. Optical light power values for pixels are mapped to amplitude/duration pairs. Laser diodes are driven with electrical currents having the amplitude for time period specified by the duration. For increasing optical light power values, amplitude values are increased, and then durations are increased.

In scanned beam projection systems, pixels are typically generated by modulating light from laser light sources as a scanning mirror scans the modulated light in a raster pattern. The efficiency of the laser light sources depends on many factors. For example, efficiency may be a function of wavelength, modulation frequency, threshold current, laser diode voltage, and laser optical power.


A seed filtering system for funneling and filtering material. The seed filtering system generally includes an opening for receiving material entering into the funneling device. A primary side wall, wherein all of the material entering the funneling device is funneled onto the primary side wall. A filter disposed on the primary side wall for filtering the material that is funneled onto the primary side wall. A discharge hole for discharging the material that is filtered through the funneling device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a funneling and filtering device and more specifically it relates to a seed filtering system for funneling and filtering seed passing through the device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Material may spill when transferred from a first container to a second container. The spilled material may be wasted which results in additional costs.
Additionally, the material may include unwanted debris. It may be undesirable store the material with the unwanted debris.
Because of the inherent problems with the related art, there is a need for a new and improved seed filtering system for funneling and filtering seed passing through the device.


A hand joint supporter which can reduce the load on hand joints includes a first anchor section for tightening the wearer's forearm with a tubular knitted fabric, a second anchor section for tightening the palm and back of the wearer's hand with the fabric and a hole anchor section formed as a roughly circular through-hole in the vicinity of the second anchor section. A supporting section extends lengthwise in the fabric across the part covering the caprometacarpal joint and is joined to the first anchor section and the hole anchor section so as to support the wearer's hand joints. Stretch resistance, in the circumferential direction of the fabric of the first anchor part is larger than that of a base fabric section, and stretch resistance, in the length width direction of the fabric, of the supporting section is larger than that of the base fabric section.

A supporter for wrist restraint in the related art has a supporter main body which is formed in an approximately tubular shape, can expand and contract at least in the circumferential direction among the circumferential direction and the longitudinal direction, and can cover a site from the vicinity of the wrist of the forearm section to at least the vicinity of the bases of the four fingers except for the thumb, an opening portion for the thumb formed in the supporter main body, and a support which extends along the longitudinal direction on the little finger side of the supporter main body inserted into a pocket, wherein the support is provided so as to be able to extend from at least the vicinity of the wrist of the forearm section on which the support is mounted, to the side portion on the little finger side of the palm over a pisiform bone site (refer to PTL 1, for example).