The present invention relates to a chassis (10) for a vehicle comprising a plurality of sandwich plate elements (100) and a plurality of connection elements (200, 200′, 200a-c) for connecting said plurality of sandwich plate elements (100). Each connection element (200, 200′, 200a-c) comprises two or more recesses (210, 220) configured to receive an edge portion (160) of one of the plurality of sandwich plate elements (100). The plurality of connection elements (200, 200′, 200a-c) comprises at least one connection element (200′, 200a-c) which has at least one external surface (202a-e) provided with a connection configuration (250a-e) for a mortise and tenon type joint. A method (20) for forming a chassis (10) for a vehicle is also provided.

Within the field of vehicle construction, vehicles are universally built around chassis. The chassis is commonly a load-bearing framework which structurally supports the vehicle. The actual construction of the chassis may vary from vehicle to vehicle, but the chassis as such will generally support the complete vehicle and hence greatly contribute to the structural integrity of the vehicle. The chassis typically distributes tensile and compressive forces throughout itself, contributing to the vehicle's overall stiffness and hence its torsional stiffness.
In vehicle construction, the most common type of chassis is a so-called "body-on-frame" construction. A typical "body-on-frame" chassis exhibits a frame which handles the tensile and compressive forces. The frame is thereafter typically "skinned" with a body when the vehicle is built. Though the body which is built or "skinned" onto the frame sometimes is referred to as a "unibody" in the automotive industry, the body handles little of the forces on the vehicle. Moreover, there are several disadvantages with frame-based chassis. As they are constructed with conventional joints, the joints must be very stiff and thus often heavy as well as bulky. The joints may also reduce the stiffness of the chassis as such. Further, the generally inefficient transfer of forces means that other members of the frame may also need to be thick and heavy, giving less space inside the vehicles for passengers or goods. Furthermore, the heavy and bulky joints in combination with other thick and heavy members typically imply that there is no or little room for altering or tailoring the chassis without having to subject the chassis to a substantial or even complete redesign.
As an alternative, very rigid chassis can be formed as monocoque chassis. As the name implies a monocoque chassis is typically formed as "one body". Such chassis generally exhibit excellent stiffness characteristics, and thus high safety for passengers or goods as well as good handling characteristics. One drawback with monocoque chassis is that they are expensive and difficult to manufacture. Another drawback is that a monocoque chassis generally has to be designed and produced in accordance with the exact specifications of the final vehicle. This implies that even minor redesigns of the vehicle can result in a complete and complex redesign of the chassis. This is troublesome since monocoque chassis must be formed as a single entity while oftentimes using highly specific and expensive tools.
EP 3 538 423 B1 discloses how a different type of chassis can be formed by connecting plate type elements to each other by coupling elements. It is further disclosed how other components of the vehicle can be connected to the coupling elements. Such a chassis is efficient, strong, lightweight and moreover adaptable to some extent since e.g. coupling elements exhibiting different characteristics can be used in the chassis. For instance, the size and shape of coupling elements may be varied to suit different needs. However, the connection of other components of the vehicle to the coupling elements involve a risk of misplacement as well as a reduced overall strength of the chassis. For instance, if a component of the vehicle is mounted to a coupling element by drilling a hole in the coupling element and bolting the component to the coupling element using the hole, there is a risk of a misplacement of the hole which will result in a misplacement of the component at hand. Moreover, by drilling a hole in the coupling element, the strength of the coupling element will be reduced to some extent. The strength of the coupling element may risk becoming even more reduced as more components are attached thereto.
Hence, there exists a need for a more adaptable chassis which may be formed without compromising its strength.

Chassis for a vehicle and method for forming a chassis for a vehicle


An RFI/EMI filter for a variable frequency motor drive system includes a variable frequency drive; a common mode choke; a motor; a cable including a plurality of power leads interconnecting the motor with the variable frequency drive and passing through the choke; a ground shield surrounding the cable and connected to motor ground and variable frequency drive ground; and a common mode return conductor interconnected between the variable frequency drive and the motor and disposed within the shield and passing through the choke for returning a portion of the common mode current to cancel a portion of the saturation current experienced by the choke to increase the portion of the common mode current carried by the return conductor and decrease the portion carried by the shield to reduce the RFI/EMI contributed by the shield.

Variable frequency drive (VFD) inverters produce pulse width modulated (PWM) high voltage waveforms delineated over power leads to control variable frequency motors in order to control torque, speed, position, etc. The motor electrical frequency is modulated at a much higher rate using pulse width modulation techniques. For a typical electrical frequency of 0 to 600 Hz, the typical inverter modulates the output voltage waveform at 5 to 50 times the output frequency, or in the range of 3 kHz to 30 kHz. This modulation frequency goes by different names, but many sources refer to it as a "carrier" frequency. Historically, this carrier frequency has a very high dV/dt, or edge frequency content, much higher than the motor's electrical frequency or the inverter's carrier frequency. If this edge rate is reduced, then the inverter will dissipate more wasted energy in the form of a temperature rise so the edge rate is usually as high as it can be tolerated in order to keep the wasted energy to a minimum.
Unfortunately, high edge rates in the carrier waveform produce harmful, damaging, or otherwise objectionable levels of Electro-Magnetic Interference, or EMI. Sometimes, this is also referred to as Radio Frequency Interference, or RFI, when the edge rate produces disturbances in the frequency band occupied by commercial, military, or private radio frequency bands.
The RFI/EMI is the result of a parasitic voltage generator constituted by the parasitic capacitance between the power transistor and the heat sink in the VFD, for example. There is also a parasitic load formed by the wire insulation dielectric and the motor cage (motor ground), for example. In one approach to this problem a common mode or current compensated choke is used to magnetically couple the two or more phase windings in the power leads between the VFD and motor. If the currents in the phase windings are balanced and cancel, the choke offers no impedance. But if a parasitic current occurs, unbalancing that cancellation, the choke presents an impedance and suppresses at least a portion of the parasitic current flow in the primary or leakage galvanic paths between the motor and VFD such as through a vehicle chassis frame or concrete floor which gives rise to the RFI/EMI. One approach to this problem is to surround the power leads with a metallic shield such as a tinned copper braid, a solid steel or aluminum electrical conduit, or some other electrical shielding method. As long as this shield does not conduct any current, it will not produce an electric or magnetic field. This need to have no current in the shield is rarely or never met for physical reasons and thus engineers focus on simply reducing the currents to an acceptable level.
However, the shield itself is a good conductor of the parasitic current and becomes a radiator of the undesirable RFI/EMI. This is so in part because the structure of the shield generally has a large surface area and is a good conductor of higher frequencies. One solution to this new problem was to add a secondary internal shield about the power leads but within the primary shield. The inner secondary shield conducts a portion of the parasitic current and the resulting RFI/EMI is shielded by the output primary shield but the outer primary shield still acts as a radiator of the remaining portion of the unwanted RFI/EMI. In addition, shields are expensive and a second one significantly increases the cost.
More recently an improvement in the core material for the choke, nanocrystalline amorphous material, has made the suppression of the parasitic current more critical. For example, that material comes in different forms. One producer, Hitachi Metals, produces two forms. One form, 3 KM, has a high permeability of 70K Gauss/Oersted (CGS) but a lower saturation level and another form, 3 KL, has a lower permeability of 55K Gauss/Oersted but a higher saturation level. This makes the parasitic current a further problem.
While it would be desirable to use the 3 KM, 70K Gauss/Oersted permeability material, there is not much margin for safety in the saturation level and an unbalanced condition might well occur putting the choke into saturation and rendering it useless as a common mode choke. Using the other material, 3 KL, of 55K Gauss/Oersted permeability gains the safety of a higher saturation level but the permeability is lower than the 3 KM material and costs more.

RFI/EMI filter for variable frequency motor drive system


The present invention relates to a cursor control system, including a first electronic device, a second electronic device, and a mouse. The mouse is wirelessly connected to the first electronic device and the second electronic device and may move a cursor on a first working desktop corresponding to the first electronic device or a second working desktop corresponding to the second electronic device. When receiving a drive signal from the mouse, the first electronic device displays a jump image on the first working desktop. When the cursor is moved to the jump image, the mouse may transmit a switching signal to the second electronic device according to a masking signal from the first electronic device, so that the second electronic device can display the cursor on the second working desktop.

A mouse is one of common computer peripheral input devices. Because the mouse can be held by a user with a palm to control movement of a cursor of a computer system, which meets intuitive operation behaviors of most of users, the mouse becomes the commonest input device.
Referring to FIG. 1, FIG. 1 is a schematic structural diagram of a conventional computer system. The computer system 1 includes a computer host 11, a computer screen 12, and a mouse 13. The computer host 11 is connected to the mouse 13 and the computer screen 12, and the computer host 11 may be connected to the mouse 13 in a wireless connection manner. The computer screen 12 may display a window 121 and a cursor 122. A function of the mouse 13 is controlling the cursor 122 to move or run due to an operation of a user, so that the computer host 11 executes a corresponding instruction. The mouse 13 includes a main body 131, a left button 132, a right button 133, a scroll wheel 134, and a wireless connection module (not shown in the figure). The left button 132 is disposed on the main body 131 and is located on a left side of the scroll wheel 134, and the left button 132 is exposed outside the main body 131 and may be touched by the user to generate a left button signal. The right button 133 is similar to the left button 132. The right button 133 is disposed on the main body 131 and is located on a right side of the scroll wheel 134, and the right button 133 is also exposed outside the main body 131 and may be touched by the user to generate a right button signal. The scroll wheel 134 is disposed inside the main body 131 and is partially exposed outside the main body 131 and may be toggled by the user to rotate, to generate scroll wheel scrolling data. After the scroll wheel scrolling data is transmitted to the computer host 11, the computer host 11 may perform an up-down scrolling function of the window 121 according to the scroll wheel scrolling data. The wireless connection module is disposed inside the main body 131, and a function of the wireless connection module is establishing a wireless connection between the mouse 13 and the computer system 1. An architecture and basic functions of the conventional computer system 1 are described above.
With the development of technologies, a single computer system cannot meet operation behaviors of a user. Some users have a demand of simultaneously operating a plurality of computer systems. Based on the demand, a Taiwan patent application No. 1630542 proposes a seamless switching method for a plurality of computer hosts. In the method, a single mouse may be used to wirelessly connect to a plurality of computer hosts; a user may move, by using the mouse, a cursor on a first working desktop corresponding to a first computer host; when the cursor is moved to a boundary of the first working desktop, and a movement direction of the cursor faces a direction of a second computer host, the cursor may be displayed on a boundary of a second working desktop corresponding to the second computer host. In this way, operations of the plurality of computer hosts are performed by means of movement of the cursor.
However, the foregoing practice limits that the cursor needs to be moved to a boundary of a working desktop, and consequently, the cursor needs to move for an excessively distance. For example, if the user intends to click a computer file located at the center of the second working desktop, the user needs to first move the cursor to the boundary of the first working desktop, so that the cursor is displayed on the boundary of the second working desktop, and then the user moves the cursor to the center of the second working desktop. Such a practice requires excessively long time to be taken and easily causes tiredness of the user in operation.
Therefore, a cursor control system and a cursor control method that are capable of improving operation convenience are needed.

Cursor control system and cursor control method


The invention is a vertical cable management system having a plurality of fanning guides and a plurality of cable management rings mounted to a frame. Additionally, the invention may include enclosures, fanning guide arrays, and cable management rings having a plurality of defined channels.

This disclosure is related to the following U.S. patent applications filed on the same date as this application, each of which is owned by the assignee of this application, and the entirety of each of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference:
U.S. patent pplication entitled xe2x80x9cImproved Cable Management System,xe2x80x9d naming Jack E. Caveney and Dale A. Block as an inventor.
U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cModular Latch and Guide Rail Arrangement for Use in Fiber Optic Cable Management Systems,xe2x80x9d naming Samuel M. Marrs, Robert R. Brown and John J. Bulanda as inventors.
U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cSlack Cable Management System,xe2x80x9d naming Jack E. Caveney as an inventor.
U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cImproved Enclosure for Use in Fiber Optic Management Systems,xe2x80x9d naming Michael T. Vavrik and Philip B. Chandler, Jr. as inventors.
U.S. patent application entitled xe2x80x9cUniversal Mounting System for a Fiber Optic Management Center,xe2x80x9d naming Michael T. Vavrik and Philip B. Chandler, Jr. as inventors.
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to improved methods and apparatus for managing fiber optic connections and fiber optic cables as part of a fiber optic communication system. More particularly, the present invention relates to a vertical cable management system that can be used as part of a diverse fiber optic cable management system at an operations center, where numerous in-coming and out-going fiber optic cables meet at a central access point.
2. Background of the Invention
Within recent years, there has been a rapidly increasing development and use of telecommunications in business and personal activities. Simultaneously, there has been an accelerating trend toward xe2x80x9cconvergencexe2x80x9d in the telecommunications industry. That is, many historically distinct forms of telecommunications, e.g., telephone, data transmission, e-mail, radio, television, videoconference, internet access, and on-line applications, are being combined into a single channel of communication. This combination of factors is causing a paradigm shift in the amount of bandwidth necessary for telecommunications service to modem office buildings. The increased bandwidth requirements cannot be effectively satisfied by traditional copper cables, but, instead, requires switching to fiber optic cable.
Although much attention has been paid to the electrical and electronic techniques for using the bandwidth in fiber optic cable and for interconnecting the signals of copper cable and fiber optic cable, relatively less attention has been given to the unique physical needs of handling, connecting, and maintaining fiber optic cable. However, the mechanical devices that have been developed for handling copper cable do not work well for fiber optic cable because of the relatively delicate, yet technically precise nature of fiber optic cable.
For examples, unlike copper cable, fiber optic cable cannot be readily cut and spliced on demand to make a desirable connection fit in the field. Rather, fiber optic cable is purchased in predetermined lengths, with connectors that have been installed in the factory. Field workers must utilize these predetermined lengths of cable, regardless whether the length is appropriate for the task at hand. At the same time, the relatively fragile and delicate nature of fiber optic cable prohibits bundling excess cable as might be done with copper cable. If fiber optic cable is excessively bent or stressed, the signal within may become seriously disrupted.
Moreover, it must be recognized that an operations center, such as occurs in the field of this invention, typically houses hundreds (and sometimes thousands) of fiber optic cables. It is particularly important that operations center provide for installing the fiber optic cables in a manner that secures and protects any excess fiber optic cable without compromising its relatively delicate nature. Yet, in the event that equipment is changed or moved, each individual fiber optic cable must also be maintained in such a manner that it can be identified, isolated, and retrieved without unduly disturbing other fiber optic cables.
It should also be recognized that a fiber optic cable may be connected to a variety of different type devices which are also housed in the operations center, i.e., patch panels of different sizes, splicer drawers, connector modules, etc. There is a need within the industry for a fiber optic cable management systems that may facilitate the substitution and replacement of one such device by another, without needing to remove or reinstall all of the fiber optic cable associated with the original device. For example, such devices have historically been assembled in racks that are bolted to the floor of the communications center. Furthermore, when it is necessary to upgrade or repair equipment, maintaining system operation during these procedures is an important consideration. Consequently, there is need in the prior art for a cable management system organized in a manner that allows for system operation during upgrading or maintenance.
The foregoing problems are made even more difficult because the operations center actually typically comprises a three-dimensional array of devices and fiber optic cables. That is, the operations center typically houses many columns and rows of such racks, with each rack containing a vertical array of devices attached to hundreds and possibly thousands of such fiber optic cables. Each such cable must be identifiable, retrievable, and replaceable, without disrupting the surrounding cables.
Finally, it must be recognized that the all of the foregoing problems exist in a commercial environment without a single established standard for size. Historically, products within the xe2x80x9cpublic networkxe2x80x9d were designed by ATandT and Western Electric, and utilized racks that were 23 inches wide, holding devices and enclosures that were 19 inches wide. The xe2x80x9cpublic networkxe2x80x9d was then connected at some point to the premises in a particular building. Products intended for a xe2x80x9cpremises networkxe2x80x9d were historically based upon racks that were 19 inches wide, holding devices and enclosures that were 17 inches wide. The Telecommunications Act of 1996 has opened and triggered widespread competition within the telecommunications market. However, it has done so without establishing standards vis a vis the mechanical aspects of an operations center. Different companies are adopting different physical standards, and the line of demarcation between xe2x80x9cpublic networkxe2x80x9d and xe2x80x9cpremises networkxe2x80x9d products is becoming fragmented and blurred. As a result, there is a particular need for products that can solve the foregoing problems in the context of both public network and premises network environments.
The present invention overcomes the deficiencies of the prior art by providing an improved vertical cable management system. In accordance with the present invention, the vertical cable management system comprises a plurality of fanning guides and a plurality of cable management rings secured to a frame for receiving and directing cable. In one embodiment of the invention, several fanning guides form a single fanning guide array and a plurality of fanning guide arrays are secured to an enclosure on the frame. One embodiment of the present invention also provides for cable management rings that may be partitioned by an intermediate projection into first and second channels for control and routing of cables.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art upon review of the following detailed description of the drawings and preferred embodiments.


A network switch includes packet processing units in a first processor core. An interface module is connected to the packet processing units. The interface module supports a unified table search request interface and a unified table search response interface. A common memory pool is connected to the interface module. The common memory pool includes a variety of memory types configurable to support multiple parallel table search requests.

Examples of table searches in a network switching unit include: hashing for a Media Access Control (MAC) address look up, Longest-Prefix Matching (LPM) for Internet Protocol (IP) routing, wild-card matching for an Access Control List (ACL) and direct memory access for control data.
Software Defined Networks (SDN) have emerged in the market. An SDN allows one to manage network services through an abstraction of lower level functionality. This is done by decoupling the system that makes decisions about where traffic is sent (the control plane) from the underlying systems that forwards traffic to the selected destination (the data plane).
Table search is at the core of a flexible control path as seen by software. A switch performs a look up of each incoming packet and takes action as instructed by a search hit result or a default action as instructed by a table search miss.
Since table searches are critical to SDNs, it would be desirable to provide improved techniques for performing such searches.

Apparatus and method for table search with centralized memory pool in a network switch


A Bcl-2 associated protein (Bax) and uses thereof.

1. Field Of The Invention
The invention relates to the identification, purification, and isolation of a novel protein which interacts with Bcl-2 protein to form heteromultimers (heterodimers) in vivo and more particularly to the purification, isolation and use of Bcl-2 associated protein, herein called Bax.
2. Description Of The Related Art
Cell death is an important aspect during the embryonic or post-natal development of major organ systems. Apoptosis, or programmed cell demise, also plays a critical role in maintaining homeostasis in many adult tissues. Within vertebrates; Bcl-2 is the best understood gene in a cell death pathway and functions as a cell death repressor.
Bcl-2 is unique among protooncogenes by being localized to the mitochondrial membrane as defined by Hockenbery, D. M., Nunez, G., Milliman, C., Schreiber, R. D. and Korsmeyer, S. J. xe2x80x9cBcl-2 is an inner mitochondrial membrane protein that blocks programmed. cell death.xe2x80x9d Nature 378, 334-336, 1990. Bcl-2 has been shown to have the oncogenic function of blocking programmed cell death whereas a deregulated Bcl-2 extends the survival of certain hematopoietic cell lines following growth factor deprivation. When pro-B-cell or promyelocyte cell lines are deprived of interleukin 3 they normally succumb to a programmed demise entitled apoptosis. This pattern of morphologic cell death is characterized by a dramatic plasma membrane blebbing, cell volume contraction, nuclear pyknosis, and internucleosomal DNA degradation following the activation of an endonuclease. Over expression of mitochondrial Bcl-2 appears to function as an antidote to this process and has the unique function of blocking programmed cell death independent of promoting proliferation.
The Bcl-2 protooncogene was discovered at the chromosomal breakpoint of the t(14;18) (q32;q21) which is the cytogenetic hallmark of human follicular lymphoma. Approximately 85% of follicular and 20% of diffuse B-cell lymphomas possess this translocation. Follicular lymphoma is often present as a low-grade malignancy composed of small resting IgM/IgD B cells. Over time, conversion to a more aggressive high-grade lymphoma with a diffuse large-cell architecture frequently occurs.
Studies of Bcl-2 emphasizes the existence of multiple pathways in the generation of neoplasia. The increased cell number in neoplastic tissue can be viewed as a violation of normal homeostasis. The maintenance of homeostasis in normal tissue, in many respects, reflects a simple balanced equation of input (cellular proliferation and renewal) versus output (cell death). This is most easily envisioned for encapsulated organs, such as the prostate, but is also true of the recirculating hematopoietic lineages. The maintenance of remarkably invariant cell numbers reflects tightly regulated death pathways as well as controlled proliferation. See for example S. J. Korsmeyer xe2x80x9cBcl-2 Initiates a New Category of Oncogenes: Regulators of Cell Deathxe2x80x9d, Blood Vol. 80 No. 4 pp. 879-886, Aug. 15, 1992.
Programmed cell death represents a cell autonomous suicide pathway that helps restrict cell numbers. The well-defined loss of specific cells is crucial during embryonic development as part of organogenesis. In mature tissues, genetically programmed demise regulates the volume of cells. A morphologically distinct and temporally regulated cell death entitled apoptosis has been identified by Wyllie A H: xe2x80x9cApoptosis; Cell death in tissue regulationxe2x80x9d. J. Pathol 153:313, 1987. Cells dying by apoptosis display marked plasma membrane blebbing, volume contraction, nuclear condensation, and the activation of an endonuclease that cleaves DNA into nucleosomal length fragments.
Bcl-2 has been localized to chromosome segment 18q21.3 in a telomere to centromere orientation. The Bcl-2 gene possesses 3 exons, the first of which is untranslated. Two potential promoter regions exist. P1 is GC rich with multiple SP1 sites and is used predominantly. Bcl-2 is an enormous gene in which a 225-kb intron II divides the protein encoding exons II and III. See Silvermann G A et al. xe2x80x9cMeiotic recombination between yeast artificial chromosomes yields a single clone containing the entire Bcl-2 proto-oncogenexe2x80x9d Proc Natl Acad Sci 87;9913, 1990. A molecular consequence of the translation is the movement of the Bcl-2 gene to the der(14) chromosome placing Bcl-2 in the same transcriptional orientation as the Ig heavy chain locus giving rise to chimeric RNAs. However, translocation does not interrupt the protein encoding region so that normal and translocated alleles produce the same sized, 25-Kd protein.
Hematopoietic progenitors, including pro-B cells, possess high levels of Bcl-2. See Hockenbery D, Zuter M, Hickey W, Nahm M, Korsmeyer S J: xe2x80x9cBcl-2 protein is topographically restricted in tissues characterized by apoptotic cell deathxe2x80x9d. Proc Natl Acad Sci USA 88:6961, 1991. Some mature B cells and, especially, B-cell lines have low levels of Bcl-2 RNA. In contrast, t(14;18)-bearing B cells have inappropriate elevated levels of the Bcl-2-Ig fusion RNA. Graninger W B, Seto M. Boutain B, Goldman, P, Korsmeyer S J: Expression of Bcl-2 and Bcl-2-Ig fusion transcripts in normal and neoplastic cells. J. Clin Invest 80:1512, 1987. This increased steady-state RNA reflects both increased transcription as well as a processing advantage for the Bcl-2-Ig fusion allele.
Bcl-2 has been introduced into a variety of interleukin (IL)-dependent cell lines to determine if it is involved in a growth factor pathway. See S J Korsmeyer above. Such lines were examined to determine if Bcl-2 would spare the need for a specific ligand/receptor interaction. However, no long-term growth factor-independent cell lines emerged after overexpression of Bcl-2 in IL-2, IL-3, IL-4, or IL-6 requiring lines. However, Bcl-2 conferred a death-sparing effect to certain hematopoietic cell lines after growth factor withdrawal in the IL-3-dependent early hematopoietic cell lines FDCP1, FL5.12, and 32D. This effect was not restricted to the IL-3/IL-3 receptor signal transduction pathway in that granulocyte-macrophage colony-stimulating factor (GM-CSF) and IL-4 deprived cells displayed a similar response. Yet, Bcl-2 enhanced cell survival was not universal, as neither IL-2-dependent T-cell lines nor an IL-6-dependent myeloma line showed a consistent effect upon factor withdrawal.
Bcl-2 has not been shown to directly promote cell cycle progression, nor does it necessarily alter the dose response to limiting concentrations of IL-3. See Nunez G, London L., Hockenbery D, Alexander M, McKearn J. Korsmeyer S J: xe2x80x9cDeregulated Bcl-2 gene expression selectively prolongs survival of growth factor-deprived hemopoietic cell linesxe2x80x9d. J. Immunol 144;3602, 1990. Instead, Bcl-2 blocked the plasma membrane blebbing, volume contraction, nuclear condensation, and endonucleolytic cleavage of DNA known as apoptosis. Factor deprived cells return to Go, but do not die. However, they can be rescued after 30 days of deprivation by the addition of IL-3, indicating they are not terminally differentiated or permanently arrested.
While identifying the Bcl-2 cell death pathway is significant, a way of regulating the Bcl-2 pathway has not been discovered. The ability to down-regulate the effect of Bcl-2 would be advantageous in cancer therapy, in controlling hyperplasias such as benign prostatic hypertrophy (BPH) and eliminating self reactive clones in autoimmunity by favoring death effector molecules. Up-regulating the effect of Bcl-2 and favoring death repressor molecules would be beneficial in the treatment and diagnosis of immunodeficiency diseases, including AIDs, and in neurodegenerative and ischemic cell death.
The present invention relates to the unexpected discovery that Bcl-2 interacts with other proteins and in particular with an associated 21 kD protein called Bax. Bax shares extensive amino acid homology with Bcl-2 focused within highly conserved domains I and II. It has been unexpectedly discovered that Bax homodimerizes and forms heterodimers with Bcl-2 in vivo. It has also been discovered that overexpressed Bax accelerates apoptotic death induced by cytokine deprivation in an IL-3 dependent cell line and that overexpressed Bax also counters the death repressor activity of Bcl-2. This discovery provides a model in which the ratio of Bcl-2/Bax determines cell survival or death following an apoptotic stimulus.
Accordingly, one embodiment of the invention involves the formation of a purified and isolated Bcl-2 associated protein (Bax) and fragments thereof having the amino acid sequence of Domain I or II of FIG. 7.
Another embodiment involves the formation of Bcl-2 and Bax mutants wherein the native protein or fragment has at least one amino acid deleted or replaced by another amino acid and the mutants exhibits altered biological activity from the native protein or fragment.
Another embodiment involves an associated protein, which comprises Bax protein coupled with Bcl-2 associated protein or fragments thereof.
A further embodiment involves xe2x88x9d DNA isolate consisting essentially of a genomic DNA sequence encoding human Bax and more particularly a composition consisting of c DNA molecules which encode the Bax protein.
In one aspect of the invention, Bax polypeptides and compositions thereof are provided. Bax polypeptides comprise polypeptide sequences which are substantially identical to a sequence shown in FIGS. 3, 5 or 6. In one embodiment, the Bax polypeptide comprises domain I and/or domain II of the Bax polypeptide sequence, and preferably comprises the amino acid sequence(s) -W-G-R- and/or -Q-D-N-, and may be a cyclic polypeptide in some embodiments.
A further aspect involves a composition of xcex1RNA, xcex2RNA and/or xcex3RNA which encode a 21 kD, 24 kD or 4 kD Bax protein as well as cell lines producing such RNA species.
Another aspect of the invention involves Bax pharmaceutical compositions, which contain pharmaceutically effective amounts of a Bax polypeptide and a suitable pharmaceutical carrier.
Polynucleotide sequences encoding Bax are also provided. The characteristics of the cloned sequences are given, including the nucleotide and predicted amino acid sequence in FIGS. 3, 5 and 6. Polynucleotides comprising sequences encoding these amino acid sequences can serve as templates for the recombinant expression of quantities of Bax polypeptides, such as human Bax and murine Bax.
The invention also provides host cells expressing Bax polypeptides encoded by a polynucleotide other than a naturally-occurring Bax gene of the host cell.
In one aspect of the invention, a polynucleotide encoding a Bax polypeptide is delivered to a cell, such as an explanted lymphocyte, hematopoietic stem cell, bone marrow cell, and the like.
An additional aspect of the invention involves a method for controlling cell death repressor activity of Bcl-2, which comprises administering a Bax protein or fragment thereof to a cell containing Bcl-2 activity to enable the formation of a heterodimer containing Bax/Bcl-2, and inhibiting the Bcl-2 cell death repressor activity.
In one aspect of the invention, a method for modulating apoptosis of a cell, typically a lymphocyte, is provided. The method comprises administering to a cell an agent which alters intermolecular binding between Bcl-2 and Bax proteins, typically by inhibiting formation of heteromultimers (e.g., heterodimers) between Bcl-2 and Bax and/or homomultimers of Bcl-2 or Bax.
In one aspect of the invention, the method(s) of modulating apoptosis of a cell by administering an agent which alters intermolecular binding between Bcl-2 and Bax proteins are used to treat a pathological condition in a patient.
As an additional embodiment, the invention involves a method for assaying for the predisposition for an apoptotic cell death, which comprises: collecting a specimen to be tested; contacting the specimen with a material reactive with Bcl-2 or Bax protein; and detecting or determining the presence or absence of Bax and Bcl-2 protein and their ratio in the specimen.
The invention provides screening assays for identifying agents which modulate (e.g., inhibit) binding of a Bax polypeptide to a Bcl-2 polypeptide and/or which modulate (e.g., inhibit) binding of a Bax polypeptide to a Bax polypeptide.
The invention also involves the use of the protein Bax or Bcl-2 or mutant or fragment thereof for performing immunochemical methods for the detection and determination of the protein or its associated protein Bcl-2, in order to monitor cell survival versus death or to detect or monitor the course of diseases.
The invention also provides Bax polynucleotide probes for diagnosis of pathological conditions (e.g., neoplasia, AIDS, hyperplasia, congenital genetic diseases) by detection of Bax mRNA or rearrangements deletions or amplification of the Bax gene in cells explanted from a patient, or detection of a pathognomonic Bax allele (e.g., by RFLP or allele-specific PCR analysis).
In one aspect of the invention, transgenic nonhuman animals, such as mice, bearing a transgene encoding a Bax polypeptide and/or a Bcl-2 polypeptide are provided. Such transgenes may be homlogously recombined into the host chromosome or may be non-homlogously integrated.
Further included is a method for the treatment of a neurodegenerative disease, an immunodeficiency, or an ischemia, which comprises; increasing the effective amount of Bcl-2 or decreasing Bax or administering a mutant or fragment thereof to a patient to regulate the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax to promote the survival of cells by generating an excess of Bcl-2; and, a method for the treatment of hyperplasias, hypertrophies, cancers and autoimmunity disorders, which comprises: decreasing the effective amount of Bcl-2 or increasing Bax or administering a mutant thereof to a patient to regulate the ratio of Bcl-2 to Bax so as to favor Bax and promote cell death.
In one aspect of the invention, an antisense polynucleotide is administered to inhibit transcription and/or translation of Bax in a cell.
The invention provides antibodies, both monoclonal antibodies and polyclonal antisera, which specifically bind to a Bax polypeptide with an affinity of about at least 1xc3x97107 Mxe2x88x921, typically at least 1xc3x97108 Mxe2x88x921 or more.


A pull-on disposable diaper has front and rear waist regions and a crotch region extending therebetween. A waist-opening of the diaper is provided with elastic members being stretchable circumferentially of the waist-opening. An absorbent core has a front end lying below the elastic members and a rear end extending above the elastic members.

This invention relates generally to pull-on disposable diapers and the like.
Pull-on disposable diapers are well known. To improve fit, the waist-opening and leg-openings of such diaper have been provided with stretched elastic members bonded thereto in the proximity of their peripheral edges. A body fluid absorbent core of the diaper is disposed between a liquid-permeable sheet and a liquid-impermeable sheet so as to extend across a crotch region of the diaper from a front waist region into a rear waist region thereof. Longitudinally opposite ends of the absorbent core lying in the front and rear waist regions of the diaper, respectively, underlie the elastic members associated with the waist-opening.
The pull-on diaper is apt to slip down during use. While it is possible to pull up the pull-on diaper by holding an edge of the waist-opening, even such a simple operation is often difficult for the elderly and the sick. Although it is often relatively easy to pull up a front side of the diaper, it is often difficult for the elderly and sick to hold a rear side of the diaper with his or her hands and thereby pull up the rear side. In such a case, the wearer's hips might be left exposed.


Cell culture media are provided herein as are methods of using the media for cell culture and protein production from cells.

Cell culture manufacturing technology is widely used for the production of biopharmaceuticals. As the demand for biopharmaceuticals increase, demand for increase in cell growth, viability and protein production have also increased considerably. Much effort is now being placed on methods and strategies for growing, feeding, and maintaining cell cultures.
New cell culture methods that provide even incremental improvements in recombinant protein production are valuable, given the challenges and expense of large scale cell culture processes and the growing demand for greater quantities of and lower costs for biological products. Improvements to cell culture processes, recombinant polypeptide expression, titer, and cell viability that can lead to higher production levels, thereby reducing the costs associated with manufacturing protein therapeutics are needed.

Cell culture medium for eukaryotic cells


An organic EL device includes: a pair of electrodes; and an organic layer sandwiched between the pair of electrodes. The organic layer includes a compound including layer, and the compound including layer includes a compound of 1,3-bis[N,N-bis{(4′-methylbiphen-4-yl)}amino]-5-N,N-bis(4-methylphenyl) aminobenzene. The heat resistance and the vapor deposition property of the organic layer containing the above tertiary amine compound can be improved.

Generally an organic EL device has an organic layer including a light emitting layer, composed of an organic substance, between a pair of electrodes. The light emitting layer is prepared by using an electron transporting material as a host and by adding a dopant light emitting material thereto.
In this case, the electron transporting material transports holes and electrons, so that the dopant light emitting material emits a light. In this process, also the electron transporting material used as the host can be excited to deteriorate the duration of light emission with a sufficient luminance (the emission duration).
Thus, methods of using a light emitting layer prepared by mixing a host of a hole transporting material and an electron transporting material with a dopant of a dopant light emitting material, i.e. a light emitting layer containing a mixed host, have been proposed as methods for improving the emission duration, which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,792,557.
In this light emitting layer, the host is functionally separated such that the hole transporting material transports holes and the electron transporting material transports electrons, thereby increasing the emission duration.
When the hole transporting material in the mixed host has two or more oxidation potentials, the effective energy gap in the host between the hole transporting material and the electron transporting material is reduced, charge transfer is caused between these materials, and thereby the electron transporting material can be excited more easily.
In view of this problem, a method of using a mixed host containing a hole transporting material of a starburst tertiary amine compound having only one oxidation potential measured by a cyclic voltammetry method, thereby further improving the emission duration, has been proposed in US Patent Publication NO. 2005-184657.
However, as a result of research by the inventor, it has been found that the hole transporting material of the starburst tertiary amine compound results in insufficient film forming property (or vapor deposition property) and the material is insufficient in heat resistance from the viewpoint of further improving the high-temperature property of the organic EL device.

Organic EL device with organic layer including starburst compound


Analysis of the production of 11C fragments mainly by projectile fragmentation of a stable monodirectional and monoenergetic primary 12C beam in different decelerating materials are presented and the optimal target choice have been identified to obtain the highest possible beam quality of decelerated 11C beam at arbitrary energies and therapeutic ranges. The optimal 11C-generating target is made of hydrogen preferably followed by a digitally variable decelerator of a hydrogen rich compound, such as polyethylene, to maximize the quality of the 11C beam.

Accurate monitoring of the delivered dose and response of the tumor and surrounding normal tissue is a key issue in external beam radiation therapy. For light ion therapy, this is particularly important since their sharp depth dose distributions and steep lateral beam profile should be accurately located to allow optimal use of their high physical and biological selectivity and minimize normal tissue morbidity. The high energy density released at the end of the particle range generates a sharp dose maximum at the Bragg peak which is important to locate in the target volume of the patient. In light ion therapy, particularly with ions heavier than hydrogen and helium, this knowledge becomes most critical due to the fact that the mentioned physical selectivity is accompanied also by an increased biological efficiency and selectivity caused by the high local ionization density and cell inactivation around the Bragg peak. At present on-line PET-CT or off-line PET imaging are the only diagnostic technique that allow non-invasive three-dimensional (3D) in vivo monitoring of the dose delivered to the patient. The possibility of having information on the energy absorbed by the tissues with high energy Bremsstrahlung photon therapy has been investigated extensively by measuring the activity produced trough photonuclear reactions with the target nuclei. Due to the uncertainty of stopping powers in light ion therapy, range control and dose verification with ion beams are being studied in some centers. For light ions with atomic numbers below 4, range determination is not possible by positron emitting beams. However, nuclear reactions between the incoming particles and the nuclei of the tissue may cause positron activation along the beam path similar to photon beams. Unfortunately, this activity is much lower and less specific for characterizing the strong therapeutic dose delivery in the tumor. The lightest positron emitting projectiles are 8B, 9-10-11C, 13-12N and 15-14-13O and are therefore of particular increased interest for radiation therapy. Ions from oxygen and heavier ions are generally of too high ionization density in the normal tissues to be really suited for complication free curative radiation therapy. Generally with cyclotrons and sometimes with synchrotrons the generated ions with a maximum extracted energy in the 400 MeV/u energy range are combined with material decelerators to reduce the energy to clinically useful values.
In case of irradiation with stable carbon ion beams, the PET signal is mainly produced by nuclear fragmentation where several of the products are positron emitters: 11C, 15O, 10C, 13N nuclei, with half life respectively equal to 20 min, 2 min, 19 s and 10 min. The rather sharp maximum in the activity distribution due to 11C ions produced by projectile fragmentation can be used for gathering information about the penetration depth of the incoming particles due to their close energy-range relation in the medium. However, the background level is high and the Bragg peak in a heterogeneous patient is often difficult to accurately localize with most PET cameras. Furthermore, since the momentum transferred from incoming particles to the nuclei in the tissue is small and spread out, the activity due to target fragmentation reactions can only be used to estimate the localization of the plateau region of the beam. This approach therefore presents difficulties in establishing the precise correspondence between the dose delivered and the activity produced, since the signal is low and the origin of the activity is physically different and more disperse. Moreover, the PET signal produced is quite low for imaging purposes (200 Bq Gy−1 cm−3 for 12C).
An alternative approach was developed in the secondary beam line of the Heavy Ion Medical Accelerator (HIMAC) at the National Institute of Radiological Sciences (NIRS) in Chiba based on the experience from the early 70s at Lawrence Berkley Laboratory, where the possibility of using radioactive beams of 19Ne and 11C for treatment planning verification and therapy was proposed. At the Japanese ion facility the use of radioactive beams for range verification preceding the treatment with 12C stable or radioactive beams is still under study. This approach is mainly limited by the fact that the production rate of the secondary beam is quite low (between 0.1 and 1% of the primary 12C beam intensity depending on the angular acceptance achieved).
Therefore, by using radioactive beams the difficulty of linking the positron activation registered with the PET camera and dose delivered is largely overcome and the geometrical uncertainty due to the difference between the annihilation point recorded by the positron camera and the stopping point of the generated 11C particles in the tissue is gone. Most importantly, the use of a positron emitting therapeutic beam of 11C increases the specificity of imaging the Bragg peak about 50-fold.
Moreover, radioactive beams of 8B, 9C, 10C and 11C have been shown to have interesting proprieties as compared to the corresponding heavier stable beams due to their improved radiation quality, reduced fragmentation tail, low plateau LET and potentially increased biological efficiency through apoptosis (programmed cell death) induction in the Bragg peak region. Furthermore, from a clinical and radiation quality point of view, ion beams like 9C or 8B are characterized by emitting delayed low energy particles like protons and/or alpha particles at the end of the particle range that will further increase the local effectiveness of the treatment.


Disclosed is a nanocomposite comprising a nano-reinforcing material (e.g., layered clay), a polymer matrix (e.g., a polyolefin), and, an epoxy-functionalized graft polymer compatible with the polymer matrix (e.g., epoxy-grafted polyolefin). Such nanocomposites are useful in the fabrication of a variety of materials including parts for the transportation and packaging industries, electronics, business equipment, building and construction materials.

There is a great deal of interest in polymeric nanocomposites because of their improved properties over other types of polymer composites when combined with a nano-reinforcing material. The most interesting nano-reinforcing materials include layered clays, such as natural or synthetic silicates, and nano-fibers like cellulosic nano-fibers, carbon-nanotubes, metal-oxide nanotubes, to name a few. Among them, polymer/clay nanocomposites have received much attention because of a noticeable increase in physical properties and performance characteristics without sacrificing their processability. Some of these properties include dimensional stability, heat distortion temperature, stiffness, strength, flame resistance, barrier properties, ion conductivity, optical properties, thermal stability, and impact resistance.
However, one of the major drawbacks associated with these nanocomposites has been in their preparation due to the low level of interaction that occurs between the essentially non-polar hydrophobic polymers (e.g., polyolefins (PO) and polystyrene (PS)), or weakly polar polymers (for example, polyamides (PA) and polyesters (PEST)) and the hydrophilic nanoclay surfaces. This low level of interaction between the two components can lead to poor dispersion of the clay material within the polymeric matrix and poor interface interaction between them, resulting in a reduction in the overall performance of the nanocomposites.
A number of techniques have been described for attempting to overcome the poor dispersion of the layered material into the polymeric matrix. The basic procedure includes intercalation of the layered clay material followed by exfoliation within the polymer matrix. Intercalation involves the insertion of molecules, known as intercalants, between platelet particles of the clay material thereby increasing the interlayer spacing (i.e., spacing of the clay platelet in a stack, determined by X-ray diffraction analysis as d001) to at least 1.5 nm. Accordingly, the intercalant has to be able to infiltrate between the layers of the clay material and penetrate the interstices or the clay galleries to render the hydrophilic clay surfaces more organophilic. A gallery is the space between two adjacent platelets, with the gallery spacing equal to d001 less the thickness of the clay platelet. Intercalants that are used for this purpose include polar or hydrophilic solvents, monomers or polymers, inorganic cations, and organic cations, such as quaternary, ternary, secondary or primary ammonium, phosphonium, or sulfonium. Intercalants should bond to the clay surface to ensure that they do not migrate out of the galleries and cause the galleries to collapse during compounding of the nanocomposite. Intercalants are desirable to maximize the interlayer distance between the platelet particles so that they eventually help the exfoliation of the clay into the polymer matrix, which further promotes the benefits brought about by the addition of the layered clay material to the polymer matrix.
Exfoliation of the intercalated clay particles is a process whereby the interlayer distance between individual platelets dispersed within the polymer matrix becomes greater than about 8.8 nm. At this interlayer distance, the desired performance characteristics afforded by the clay material are achieved, while maintaining certain properties that are inherent to the pristine polymer, such as glass-like transparency.
The preparation of a nanocomposite by the melt compounding process as described in WO 00/34393 (Barbee et al.) combines a polymer and a concentrate comprising a layered clay material with a matrix polymer-compatible functionalized oligomer or polymer. The functionalized oligomer or polymer specifically contains an onium group, preferably an ammonium group (e.g., Jeffamines, Etomeens or another modified polymer or oligomer) that provides for increased intercalation of the clay material. However, using molten polymer, as opposed to polymer in solution, leads to poorer and less controllable interaction between the onium group and the clay, adversely affecting the properties of the nanocomposite.
Another technique, which is typically used in conjunction with intercalation and exfoliation, is the use of secondary intercalants or compatibilizers. For instance, U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,053 (Usuki et al.) describes the use of main guest molecules having a polar group in a main chain and/or side chain as extended intercalants. It is essential that the guest molecule possess a polar group (e.g., hydroxyl, halogen, carboxyl, anhydrous carboxylic acid, thiol, epoxy, amino group) to bond to the organoclay surface. Thus, the guest molecule remains in the interlayer section of the clay mineral without being eliminated due to the polarity, thereby allowing the interlayer distance to expand sufficiently. However, Usuki et al. have given little consideration to the effect of the reactivity and structure of the guest molecule on the interaction between the clay and the polymer matrix. In addition, great loss of ductility of nanocomposites using such compatibilizers has also been cited in the literature, for example, in P. Reichert, H. Nitz, S. Klinke, R. Brandsch, R. Thimann and R. Mülhaupt, Macromol. Mater. Eng., 275, 8-17 (2000).
U.S. Pat. No. 6,271,297 (Ishida) describes the use of a swelling agent, in particular epoxy monomers, caprolactam, or a combination thereof to promote the intercalation and/or exfoliation of a sheet silicate and/or sheet silicone. However, little consideration has been given to the compatibility between such guest molecules/swelling agents and the polymer matrix, which plays a very important role in the reinforcing effect of the nano-reinforcement.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,239,195 (Suzuki et al.) describes the use of silanes as compatibilizers in nanocomposites, wherein a phyllosilicate is pre-treated with a silane compound following intercalation of the phyllosilicate, which treatment further expands the interlayer spacing, thereby facilitating exfoliation. However, this process is more expensive and less practical.
Modified polymers, such as maleic-anhydride-grafted polymers (MA-g-polymers), or copolymers, such as styrene-maleic anhydride copolymers (SMA) are popular compatibilizers or coupling agents for conventional polymeric composites and blends. The use of such polar functional oligomers as compatibilizers in nano-silicate systems has been described. For instance, the use of a hydroxy-functionalized polypropylene oligomer and an organoclay in the preparation of a polypropylene/clay nanocomposite has been disclosed by A. Usuki, M. Kato, T. Kurauchi, J. Appl. Polym. Sci., 63, 137 (1997). The use of polypropylene, a maleic anhydride-modified polypropylene oligomer and stearyl-ammonium-intercalated clay in the preparation of a polypropylene/clay nanocomposite was disclosed by M. Kawasumi, N. Hasegawa, M. Kato, A. Usuki and A. Okada, Macromolecules, 30, 6333 (1997). However, such coupling agents are not well suited as compatibilizers for use in nanocomposite systems, which have a different interaction mechanism and chemistry compared to conventional systems. At low concentrations of the polar groups, these compatibilizers have been known to be ineffective, while at high concentrations, they may form a separate phase thus contributing to undesirable properties which affect the overall performance of the nanocomposites. As a result, such nanocomposites may be less tough and ductile, have poor thermal stability, and lack the desired color.
To optimize the interaction between the non-polar hydrophobic polymer matrix and the hydrophilic nanoclay platelets it is desirable to design a new type of compatibilizer having a suitable structure and chemistry for the formation of nanocomposite systems.
In the context of the above discussion, compatibilizer means an agent capable of interacting with hydrophilic nano-reinforcing materials and at the same time being miscible or thermodynamically compatible with hydrophobic polymer matrices. In this the present application, the word "compatible" is used to indicate either a thermodynamic miscibility of the organic components or positive interactions between the organic and inorganic components, which results in a non-positive value of the free energy of mixing.

Polymeric nanocomposites comprising epoxy-functionalized graft polymer


An illumination device includes a light source section including a laser light source, and intermittently emitting, at a predetermined frequency, laser light emitted from the laser light source, an optical element passing the laser light emitted intermittently from the light source section, and a drive section vibrating the optical element at a predetermined vibration frequency. An expression 1 or 2 below is satisfied, where f1 [Hz] denotes the frequency, f2 [Hz] denotes a variable frequency of luminance in illumination light emitted from the optical element as a result of vibration of the optical element, n1 denotes an arbitrary integer of 0 or larger and 10 or smaller, and n2 denotes a predetermined integer of 1 or larger.|n1×f1−f2|≧20  1|b2×f1−f2|≦3  2

The present disclosure relates to an illumination device emitting light including laser light, and a display device performing video display using such an illumination device.
An optical module being one main component in a projector, i.e., projection display device, is generally configured by an illumination optical system, i.e., illumination device including a light source, and a projection optical system including a light modulation element. In the field of such a projector, a small-sized (palm-sized) light-weight portable projector called micro-projector is recently becoming popular. In this micro-projector, the light source of an illumination device has been mainly an LED (Light Emitting Diode).
Recently, on the other hand, a new light source of an illumination device receiving attention is a laser. As a projector using laser light of three primary colors of red (R), green (G), and blue (B), a projector using a gas laser has been known, for example. The projector in which the light source is a laser is described in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publications Nos. 55-65940 and 6-208089, for example. With the light source being a laser, the resulting projector has a wide range of color reproduction and the power consumption is decreased.

Illumination device and display unit for suppressing luminance unevenness and interference pattern


A lift for lifting motorcycles, ATV's, or any similar vehicle. The lift includes a base, an upright extending from the base, a four-bar load-transferring lifting mechanism, a lifting frame adapted to engage the vehicle, and an operator for lifting and lowering the lifting frame.

Up until recently, there have only been two types of motorcycle lifts available in the industry. One type was designed for the do-it-yourselfer who performs light duty repairs, light duty accessory installation and cleaning. This low cost consumer model does not offer the safety and stability required to change tires and wheels and perform heavy duty repair or installation work. Heavy duty repair or installation work requires pulling, and pushing forces against the motorcycle. Professional motorcycle table lifts provide the necessary safety and stability. The professional table lift is powered by air, air over hydraulics or hydraulic systems. The larger size professional table lift is more expensive and often times requires optional equipment for the various service and repair operations. For example, the professional lift table is supporting the motorcycle by its contact with the tires. If one of the tires has to be changed, an optional scissors jack must be used under the motorcycle frame to lift one of the tires off the table and a hinged section or trap door of the table must open up to remove or install the wheel combination.
In recent years, a third type of lift entered the market that would accomplish the same tasks as the professional lift table, but at a much lower unit cost and taking up much less shop space or garage. Another benefit of this third lift type is the manner of lifting the motorcycle. This lift does not incorporate a lifting table that contacts the motorcycle tires. Instead, this lift contacts the motorcycle frame beneath the engine and transmission, leaving both tires and wheels free for the various tire and wheel related repairs or replacement. Still, the third lift type requires adapters for lifting different classifications of motorcycles (cruiser, dirt bike, sport, sport touring, touring or custom chopper). A third benefit of this third lift type is that it can be made affordable for the do-it-yourselfer.
The third type requires numerous adapters to accommodate different motorcycle types. Currently, adapters are required when specific pickup points change, such as frame height and frame width. For example, if a motorcycle has a low clearance, such as on a custom chopper, an adapter is required because without the adapter, the lift could not get low enough to get under the motorcycle. Because various adapters are required, costs to consumers actually rise since they are forced to purchase various lift adapters to accommodate their broad range of uses. Thus, there is a need for a motorcycle lift that requires fewer adapters while still providing lifting capabilities to a broad range of motorcycles.
Therefore, in light of the foregoing deficiencies in the prior art, the applicant's invention is herein presented.


A word extraction unit 11 that analyzes m texts to extract n words, a vector computation unit 12 that converts each of the m texts into a q-dimension vector and each of the n words into a q-dimension vector, thereby computing m text vectors including q axis components and n word vectors including q axis components, and an index value computation unit 13 that takes each of inner products of the m text vectors and the n word vectors, thereby computing a similarity index value reflecting a relationship between the m texts and the n words are included, and it is possible to obtain a similarity index value representing which word contributes to which text and to what extent as an inner product value by calculating an inner product of a text vector computed from a text and a word vector computed from a word included in the text.

Conventionally, a technology for searching another text similar to a text input as a search key from a large number texts stored in a database has been widely used. In this type of search technology, basically, a certain feature quantity is computed for each text, and a text having a similar feature quantity is searched. There has been known a technology for computing a text vector as one feature quantity (for example, see Patent Documents 1 and 2).
In an information search apparatus described in Patent Document 1, a document of a search answer is analyzed to extract independent words, and a word vector is read out of the obtained independent words for an independent word registered in a vector generation dictionary. Then, text vectors representing features of texts are obtained from all word vectors obtained in all texts, a distance between the texts is obtained by comparing the text vectors, and classification is performed using the distance.
A corresponding category search system described in Patent Document 2 searches for a pair of Japanese and English documents having similar meanings. The corresponding category search system performs a morphological analysis process on all Japanese and English documents included in learning data, and calculates a corresponding multidimensional word vector for each of the Japanese and English words obtained as a result. Then, a document vector in which the sum of the word vectors corresponding to all the words included in each document is normalized (the length of the vector is 1) is calculated, and a pair of Japanese and English documents having a highest relevance (a value of the inner product is large) is searched using the document vector corresponding to the Japanese document and the document vector corresponding to the English document.
In addition, there has been known a thesis describing evaluation of a text or a document by a paragraph vector (for example, see Non-Patent Document 1). In a technology described in Non-Patent Document 1, similarly to Patent Documents 1 and 2, a word vector is computed for a word included in a text, and a paragraph vector is computed using the word vector.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-7-295994
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2002-259445

Similarity index value computation apparatus, similarity search apparatus, and similarity index value computation program


A selective call receiver (30) for receiving selective call signals in a universal synchronization code operating mode receives signals having the conventional POCSAG sync code and signals having dual sync codes and decodes the signals appropriately to recover personal and information services messages. Whether the receiver (30) is operating in a conventional POCSAG system or a dual sync code system, the receiver (30) conserves battery power by activating the high battery draining receiver circuit (34) only during frames (106) of the signal (100) wherein personal message addresses or database information is likely to appear. The frames (106) where the personal message addresses are likely to appear and where the database information appear are indicated by a frame byte stored in a memory (48) with the corresponding address.

Selective call receivers are radio frequency (RF) receivers which selectively receive messages. Selective call messages are recovered from a selective call transmission by demodulating and decoding a selective call signal broadcast by a selective call network. Selective call signalling networks typically utilizes a binary frequency shift keying (FSK) modulation signalling protocol such as the POCSAG signalling code. POCSAG is a signalling protocol originally proposed by British Telecom and an anagram for the Post Office Code Standardization Advisory Group.
A POCSAG signal comprises a preamble having a number of zero-to-one transitions. The POCSAG protocol receivers perform bit synchronization on the transitions of the preamble. Bit synchronization is a process used to determine the presence of bit boundaries of a data transmission having bits transmitted at a predetermined baud rate, and thereafter to provide a clock to synchronously sample the bits. One method for POCSAG bit synchronization is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,506,262.
The first word following the preamble in POCSAG signalling is a synchronization (sync) code word which is defined to contain a predetermined binary sequence used for frame synchronization. Frame synchronization frames the bits transmitted so that the data transmitted is in a form to be decoded, thereby indicating various word boundaries such as the first bit of address and data signals. The predetermined binary sequence is the defined POCSAG sync code word. Sixteen words of information, divided into eight frames, follow before the sync code is repeated. The sync code word provides a means for detection of frame synchronization. The combination of a sync code and the eight frames following is referred to as a batch.
If no frame synchronization has been detected within a period of time substantially greater than the time to transmit sixteen words (five minutes, for example), the POCSAG selective call receiver determines that it has lost the signal and begins searching for the preamble in a conventional manner.
If frame synchronization has been detected, the POCSAG selective call receiver looks in the following frames for its address and an associated message. Conventionally, a selective call receiver examines a predetermined one of the eight frames following the sync code to determine whether the receiver has been addressed. When an address assigned to the receiver is detected in the corresponding frame, the selective call receiver decodes a selective call message. The user is alerted that a message has been received and the message can thereafter be presented, either as a voice message or a numeric or alphanumeric displayed message.
More recently, users of selective call receivers desire additional features, such as reception of information services, while maintaining the desire for small portable receivers. Information services are services which provide regularly updated messages, such as news services (UPI), financial services (Dow Jones Stock Reports), or sports services. One such information services selective call system is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,845,491.
A selective call receiver must necessarily process information service selective call messages different than personal selective call messages. Additionally, the information service messages may be longer than (and could possibly be substantially longer than) one frame of the POCSAG protocol. One method proposed for differentiating the two types of messages utilizes dual synchronization codes--one indicating personal messages follow, and the other indicating that information services messages follow. U.S. Pat. No. 4,783,654 describes an example of a dual sync code system. Some selective call systems have adopted a dual sync code protocol. Other selective call systems use the defined POCSAG sync code.
It is undesirable for a user to use two selective call receivers to be able to receive messages in dual sync code systems and conventional POCSAG sync code systems. Yet, conventional selective call receivers may only receive and decode signals of one type or the other.
Thus, what is needed is a method and apparatus for receiving selective call signals in a universal synchronization code operating mode wherein conventional POCSAG signals and signals utilizing dual synchronization codes can be received and decoded appropriately to recover personal and information services messages.

Selective call receiver with a universal synchronization code operating mode


In a case where passivity-based control is applied to a plurality of circuits connected in parallel, a simpler target state is used. A switching power supply system includes: a plurality of switching power supply circuits connected in parallel to a load R; and a controller configured to switch each of the plurality of switching power supply circuits, through passivity-based control, by using a sum of currents that flow in the plurality of switching power supply circuits.

A switching power supply such as a DC-DC converter can be stabilized by applying passivity-based control to the switching power supply. Passivity is a concept focusing on energy. In a system having passivity, (energy supply rate to the system)≥(increasing rate of stored energy in the system) is satisfied. The energy inputted to the system that satisfies the passivity is stored in the system or dissipated. Passivity-based control is control focusing on passivity of a system, and the system can be stabilized by causing a control target to operate while satisfying passivity.
In Non-Patent Literature 1, numerical verification for stabilization in a parallel circuit of DC-DC converters is conducted by utilizing a feature that a system consisting of subsystems each satisfying passivity also satisfies passivity.

Passivity-based switching power supply system, controller, and control method


Techniques for fabricating fine-pitch micro-bumps are disclosed. According to one embodiment, a fabrication process may comprise the following steps: depositing a dielectric layer on a wafer; forming a pattern of through holes in the dielectric layer; depositing a seed metal layer on top of the dielectric layer and inside the through holes; depositing a layer of UBM metal on top of the seed metal layer (including inside the holes), and further filling the holes with a low melting point metal; performing chemical mechanical polishing (CMP) to remove conductive material(s) outside the holes and/or on the surface of the dielectric layer, such that the metal stacks of adjacent holes are insulated by the dielectric material between them; and etching the dielectric material surrounding the holes to cause the tip of the metal stacks to extend slightly higher than the surrounding dielectric surface, thereby forming fine-pitch micro-bumps.

With the rapid development of microelectronics technology, feature sizes of integrated circuits keep scaling down, leading to ever increasing interconnection density. In the meantime, consumer demand for higher performance and lower power consumption keeps rising as well. The traditional approach of further reducing line width of interconnections to improve circuit performance is already being limited by physical properties of the materials and equipment knowhow. For example, the resistance and capacitance delay of a 2D interconnection line gradually becomes the bottleneck of performance improvement of semiconductor chips. To deal with this predicament, the concept of 3D interconnection has been put forward and through silicon via (TSV) technology has become an appealing solution recently, which can realize 3D interconnection between wafers (or chips) or between a chip and a substrate by producing vertical metal columns in wafers with metal bumps. Such 3D interconnect structures can substantially tackle the limitations of traditional 2D wiring of semiconductor chips. Compared with the traditional stacking techniques including wafer bonding, TSV interconnection method has increased 3D stacking density and reduced packaging dimension, thus greatly improving the speed of a packaged chip and reducing its power consumption. Therefore, TSV technology is widely regarded as one of the key solutions for high density packaging in the future.
TSV is a technique by which vertical via holes are formed between chips or between wafers, and a conductive material is deposited in the vertical via holes (e.g., by electroplating) to realize interconnection in three dimensions. Specifically, after thinning the back surface of the wafer, a top portion (or tip) of the conductive metal in each TSV is exposed from the substrate, and then bumps are formed on the exposed tip. These bumps can be both electrically and mechanically connected with the corresponding bumps (i.e., solder bumps) on adjacent, prefabricated substrates or chips. High-density packaging led to the requirement for fine-pitch bumping technology. Especially in image sensor and 2.5D/3D chip integration area, fine-pitch micro-bumps are indispensable. For example, high-end image sensors featuring a large pixel count, high resolution, and finer pitch between pixels typically require the same level of fine pitch for micro-bumps. Prior micro-bump fabrication process consists of such steps as seed layer deposit, photoresist, lithography, electroplating, and seed layer etching, all these processes except seed layer deposit can affect the pitch of the micro-bumps. In particular, the seed layer etching step brings with it the problem of undercut which can significantly affect the working life of the resulting micro-bumps.
Moreover, with the existing micro-bump technology, it is through a solder ball that the bump tip makes contact with a pad of a corresponding device. However, with the ever decreasing pitch between bumps, the risk of a short circuit happening between solder balls and the adjoining pads already increases to such a level that the device safety will be sacrificed.
A technical solution for the aforementioned problem has not been found in prior art.

NATIONAL CENTER FOR ADVANCED PACKAGING CO., LTD.


A method of calibrating a biological detector can include training a biological detector to detect a calibration compound, wherein the calibration compound comprises an odor that is detectable by the biological detector and is not used in an environment for which the biological detector is trained to detect odors, presenting the biological detector with a device comprising the calibration compound, and determining whether the biological detector will alert to the calibration compound.

Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure is directed to calibration compounds for calibrating biological detectors and methods for assessing and calibrating biological detectors using the calibration compounds.
Background of Related Technology
Detection canines are widely used in many forensic fields and have been proven to be valuable assets while investigating a case. The use of detection canines is one of the oldest and most reliable means of detection due to the sensitivity of the canine's olfactory system allowing for detection of a wide variety of odors. The use of detection canines as biological detectors is one of the most widely accepted methods for reliable odor detection due to the ability of the canine to quickly and reliable locate the source of an odor to which they are trained. Canines have more than twenty times more olfactory receptors than humans and a nasal anatomy which enables canines to be a highly efficient, sensitive, and selective sample system. However, concern over the validity of canine detection has steadily increased due to the numerous unknowns involved in the mechanism through which canines detect odors. Currently there are no set practices to ensure that biological detectors (e.g., detection canines) are working at a reliable and suitable standard on a daily basis.

THE FLORIDA INTERNATIONAL UNIVERSITY BOARD OF TRUSTEES


An azo group-containing high molecular weight compound including --COHN--, an ester linkage, or an amido linkage and a monomer units of 10 to 1000 derived from .alpha.,.beta.-ethylenically unsaturated monomer is effective for producing a block copolymer having two or more polymer segments different in structure by one-step reaction.

The present invention relates to an azo group-containing high-molecular weight compound.
Azo compounds have been widely used as a radical polymerization initiator for vinyl monomers.
The production of a block copolymer using a high-molecular weight azo compound has recently been proposed (for instance, Ueda and Nagai, "Kagaku to Kogyo (Osaka)", 60, 57 (1986)). Specifically, there has been proposed a process comprising carrying out first-stage polymerization under such conditions that a certain amount of azo groups are cleaved, by use of a linear high-molecular weight azo compound having a plurality of azo groups in the main chain which is obtained by alternating polycondensation of 4,4'-azobis(4-cyano-pentanoyl chloride) with a bifunctional compound such as hexamethylenediamine, for example, a compound represented by: ##STR1## wherein m is a natural number, and carrying out second-stage and subsequent polymerizations by utilizing the remaining azo groups. It has already been reported that this process permits efficient production of a block copolymer comprising poly(methyl methacrylate) moieties and poly(n-butyl acrylate) moieties (for instance, Ueda and Nagai "Kobunshi Ronbunshu", 44, 469, (1987)).
Such block copolymers can be utilized for various special purposes but in some cases, only block copolymers having a specific structure (for example, MNM type polymers containing a polymer segment M and a polymer segment N in the case of thermoplastic elastomers) are useful. Therefore, there is eagerly desired a process for producing a block copolymer having a controlled structure.
The polymerization method using a high-molecular weight azo compound of the above formula involves the following problem. Since the azo groups present in the main chain are equal in cleavability, the initiation point of polymerization is tend to be random even though controllable to a certain extent by the reaction conditions and the like. Consequently, there are obtained block copolymers of various and many types such as a so-called MN type, MNM type, and (MN).sub.n type. Thus, a block copolymer having a controlled structure cannot be efficiently obtained by a one-step reaction.

AZO group-containing high molecular weight compound for block copolymerization


The present invention is in the field of microfluidic devices produced with silicon technology wherein at least one 3D microenvironment is present, a method of producing said device using silicon based technology, and a use of said device in various applications, typically a biological cell experiment, such as a cell or organ on a chip experiment, and use o the device as a microreactor.

A microfluidic device relate to a set of technologies with an aim to manipulate at least one small fluid (liquid or gas) volume within microsystems produced by human beings. In the device a cell culture or an individual cell or the like may be present. An experiment on said cell culture refers to the maintenance and growth of cells in a well-controlled environment. The environment may resemble naturally occurring circumstances. As such a cell can likewise be studied under application of at least one of numerous signals that might be present in their naturally occurring surrounding microenvironment.
A microfluidic cell culture may attempt to manipulate cells, such as by culturing, maintaining, and growing, and qualitatively and quantitatively experimenting and analyzing cells in microfluidic volumes. Such may relate to an attempt to understand a cell culture, such as a stem cell culture, non-dividing or slowly dividing cells, e.g. in terms of an interaction between cell culture parameters and the micro environmental conditions created by microfluidic devices. It is considered that dimensions of the microfluidics, such as chamber and channels, are well suited to the physical scale of the biological cells and other applications.
In general it is considered that microfluidics provide a good degree control over e.g. cell culture conditions. Typically a movement of fluids in the microfluidics is considered to be laminar; a fluid volume is typically in the order of 10−6-10−12 l; fluid flow may be controlled precisely in terms of volume and timing, such as by providing an in-chip valve; also precise chemical and physical control of the microenvironment is possible; a production of a multitude of individually controllable cell culture chambers on a single device is considered, albeit typical prior art technologies rely on manual procedures which are considered to be insufficiently controlled.
Some prior art documents recite microfluidic devices.
WO2016/049363 A1, WO2016/049365 A1, WO2016/010861 A1, WO2016/004394 A1, and US15/2955534 A1 recite relatively simple organ on chip devices, which cannot include any complex sensing/stimulation elements; hence these device are not unsuited for most applications.
Huh, Dongeun, et al. In "Reconstituting organ-level lung functions on a chip." Science 328.5986 (2010): 1662-1668, Kim, Hyun Jung, et al. in "Human gut-on-a-chip inhabited by microbial flora that experiences intestinal peristalsis-like motions and flow." Lab on a Chip 12.12 (2012): 2165-2174, Huh, Dongeun, et al. in "Microfabrication of human organs-on-chips." Nature protocols 8.11 (2013): 2135-2157, and WO2015/138034 A1 present devices that have a limited production yield, limited throughput and limited functionality and do not seem to relate to more than a specific microfluidic device; the devices are considered to provide some basic functionality but are not ready in technological terms for further application.
Recently one of the present inventors published an article (Gaio et al., "Cytostretch, an Organ-on-Chip Platform", Micromachines, Vol. 7, Jul. 14, 2016, 120 (p. 1-14). The Cytostretch device does not relate to a microfluidic channel. It is a foil that does not have any channel. For fabrication some steps overlap with the present method, but the above patent WO2015/138034 A1 and this paper do not relate to e.g. a channel in a thin layer.
The present invention relates to a device and a method of producing said device which overcomes one or more of the above or further disadvantages, without jeopardizing functionality and advantages.

Versatile 3D stretchable micro-environment for organ-on-chip devices fabricated with standard silicon technology


A new and distinct vegetatively reproduced cultivar of seashore papalum, Paspalum vaginatum, which is characterized by its semi-dwarf, low growing and rapidly spreading growth habit, its superior salt tolerance and its ability to maintain high turf density and quality at a range of mowing heights. These characteristics make it desirable for wall to wall use on golf courses, athletic fields and recreational venues where water quality is a consideration.

The present invention comprises a new and distinct cultivar of Paspalum vaginatum, commonly known as seashore paspalum, and hereafter referred to by the varietal denomination 'SI 98'.
Paspalum vaginatum is a grass in the Panicoideae subfamily that inherently colonizes saline ecosystem, e.g. along sea coasts and on brackish sands. It is an ecologically aggressive, littoral warm-season perennial grass species varying in leaf texture from very coarse to finer-leaf types with potential for use in recreational turf. It produces both rhizomes and stolons and can tolerate waterlogged conditions and periodic meso-saline flooding. The grass occurs in the wild in both hemispheres. In the Americas, it is found along the Atlantic, Gulf of Mexico, and Pacific coastlines in marshy, brackish ecosystems. Generally, P. vaginatum is a self-incompatible, diploid species with 20 chromosomes. P. vaginatum has been introduced into salt-affected areas as the need for forages, land reclamation and recreational turf have increased. With increasing pressures on golf course developers to use coastal venues and to irrigate with reclaimed or brackish low quality water sources, there is a need for a high-quality salt-tolerant seashore paspalum turfgrass with specific adaptations that allow its use course-wide on roughs, fairways, tees, and greens.
'SI 98' was selected from a world wide collection of 300 samples of seashore paspalum collected by the inventor, primarily from seashore paspalum plantings on golf courses as mutant variants in growth habit, leaf texture, and level of salt tolerance, having potential for improved turf type selections. The original samples were vegetatively propagated and evaluated first in the greenhouse at Griffin, Ga., and later expanded to field evaluations at Griffin under mowing heights ranging from 3/16″ to 2″. 'SI 98' was included in the NTEP Bermuda grass trial at Griffin established during 2002 and evaluated for turf quality and related characteristics during 2002-2004. 'SI 98' was established and evaluated to the Griffin greens and fairway plots during 2002-2004, and was included in replicated seashore paspalum turf evaluations established at Jay, Fla. in 2003 and in Griffin and Tifton, Ga. in 2004. The selection was also evaluated for suitability as a greens grass on two premier golf clubs in Florida and South Carolina for one year prior to this application.

University of Georgia Research Foundation, Inc.


A pay telephone includes a keypad, a card reader, and a processor. The keypad receives input signals from a caller. The card reader reads identification data and speed dial numbers from a card received from the caller. The processor receives the input signals from the keypad and the identification data and speed dial numbers from the card reader, and concurrently validates the card using the identification data and initiates a telephone call using the input signals or the speed dial numbers.

The present invention relates generally to public communication systems and, ore particularly, to a card pay telephone system with improved call throughput and speed dialing.
Many conventional pay telephones accept credit card payments. These telephones typically fall into two categories: those requiring the caller to enter the credit card information into the telephone by pressing keys on the keypad and those that automatically read the information from the credit card. Telephones in the latter category usually include a magnetic card reader that reads the information encoded on a magnetic strip on the credit card, checks the validity of the information, and stores the information for use in establishing a telephone call.
When a caller desires to place a telephone call using the conventional telephone, the caller inserts a credit card into the card reader. The card reader reads the information from the card and typically sends this information to a local processor. The processor performs an initial check to determine whether the caller has inserted a proper unexpired credit card. If the credit card passes this initial check, the processor sends the credit card information to a remote central office to determine whether the credit card is among a list of invalid credit cards maintained in a database at the central office. Only after the central office returns a confirmation that the credit card is valid will the processor permit the telephone call to be sent through to its destination, thus, prolonging the telephone call process.
In addition, each time that the caller wishes to place a call the caller must enter the entire telephone number. If the caller misdials, the entire process must be repeated even for telephone numbers routinely dialed by the caller. This prolongs the telephone call process even further.
Some conventional telephone systems alleviate the requirement that a caller enter routinely dialed telephone numbers. These systems include an interactive voice response (IVR) unit that permits the caller to equate a vocal command with a telephone number. For example, the caller may say xe2x80x9cCall Homexe2x80x9d and the IVR unit equates xe2x80x9cHomexe2x80x9d with the telephone number for the caller""s residence. These systems typically require, however, that the caller dial a specific telephone number and enter a code or interact with the IVR unit to provide some type of identifying information, still delaying the telephone call process.
As a result, a need exists to expedite the telephone call process on public telephone systems.
Systems and methods consistent with the present invention address this need to increase call throughput on a public telephone by expediting call placement and by providing speed dialing capability.
In accordance with the purpose of the invention as embodied and broadly described herein, a system consistent with the present invention includes a keypad, a card reader, and a processor. The keypad receives input signals from a caller. The card reader reads identification data and speed dial numbers from a card received from the caller. The processor receives the input signals from the keypad and the identification data and speed dial numbers from the card reader, and concurrently validates the card using the identification data and initiates a telephone call using the input signals or the speed dial numbers.
In accordance with another implementation consistent with the invention, a system includes an input unit, a card reader, a card writer, and a processing unit. The input unit receives input signals. The card reader reads speed dial numbers from a card. The card writer writes speed dial numbers onto a card. The processing unit identifies the input signals from the input unit, instructs the card writer to write at least one of the speed dial numbers onto the card when at least one of the input signals is identified as a first predetermined input signal, and initiates a telephone call using at least one of the speed dial numbers from the card reader when at least one of the input signals is identified as a second predetermined input signal.
In accordance with yet another implementation consistent with the present invention, an article of manufacture for use with a public telephone system includes computer usable code representing a type of card, computer usable code representing a card identifier, computer usable code representing an expiration date of the card, and computer usable code representing speed dial telephone numbers.
A further implementation consistent with the present invention includes a method for storing speed dial numbers on a credit card. The method includes receiving a log in request, receiving a request to store speed dial numbers on the credit card, providing a list of current speed dial numbers already stored on the credit card, receiving at least one of changes to the current speed dial numbers and new speed dial numbers to be stored on the card, and issuing a credit card having a memory that stores the speed dial number changes and the new speed dial numbers.