A process for the purification of crude neomenthyldiphenylphosphine, the process comprising crystallizing the crude neomenthyldiphenylphosphine using a solvent consisting essentially of methanol. The process provides for the unexpectedly efficient production of neomenthyldiphenylphosphine having purities of at least 97 mole percent, and more preferably at least about 99 mole percent. Another embodiment of the invention is neomenthyldiphenylphosphine having a purity of at least 97 mole percent produced by crystallizing crude neomenthyldiphenylphosphine having a purity of less than 97 mole percent using a solvent consisting essentially of methanol.

Methods for the production of air-sensitive phosphines such as, for example, trihydrocarbylphosphines having at least one aryl group and at least one alkyl or cycloalkyl group in the molecule, have been reported in the literature. Prior methods for the purification of reaction products containing desired forms of these phosphines have involved recrystallization in which ethanol was used as a solvent. However, these previous methods result in purity levels of no greater than 95% as measured by gas chromatography, purity levels which have proven to be inadequate in commercial applications of trihydrocarbylphosphines which are important catalyst components such as, e.g., neomenthyldiphenylphosphine.
Thus, a need exists for a way to produce highly pure (at least 97 mole percent as measured by .sup.31 P NMR analysis) neomenthyldiphenylphosphine. This invention is deemed to fulfill this important need in a surprisingly efficient and effective manner.

Process for purifying neomenthyldiphenylphosphine using methanol


Mechanisms, in a multi-chip data processing system, for performing a boot process for booting each of a plurality of processor chips of the multi-chip data processing system are provided. With these mechanisms, a multi-chip agnostic isolated boot phase operation is performed, in parallel, to perform an initial boot of each of the plurality of processor chips as if each of the processor chips were an only processor chip in the multi-chip data processing system. A multi-chip aware isolated boot phase operation of each of the processor chips is performed in parallel, where each of the processor chips has its own separately configured address space. In addition, a unified configuration phase operation is performed to select a master processor chip from the plurality of processor chips and configure other processor chips in the plurality of processor chips to operate as slave processor chips that are controlled by the master processor chip.

The present application relates generally to an improved data processing apparatus and method and more specifically to mechanisms for performing multi-chip initialization using a parallel firmware boot process.
Booting a multi-chip system with tightly coupled processors is a substantial exercise in server system designs. Since many of the hardware elements of the multi-chip system are not initialized yet, e.g., memory or inter-processor buses, mechanisms which are used by operating systems to create parallelism cannot be used by the initializing firmware immediately after power-on of the multi-chip system. Thus it is not uncommon today to perform the initialization of a multi-chip system utilizing only a single task that is either running on a service processor or running on one of the processors of the multi-chip system. This serializes the boot process making it a relatively slow process. This approach does not scale when increasing the number of the involved processor chips.
For example, multi-chip initialization in a symmetric multiprocessor (SMP) architecture is traditionally performed in one of two ways. In one methodology, the whole process is performed by an external service processor in an out-of-band fashion. In these SMP architecture designs, a central resource which is external to the processor is used to configure all of the chip-components such that they are configured correctly with unique addresses on the inter-processor bus. The initialization can be parallelized and sped up to the degree that the external service processor is able to provide. This model is predominant in many server architecture designs.
In other designs solutions one of the plurality of processors is assigned the role of a master and does the majority of the boot process alone via the inter-processor bus, which is configured to support early low-speed operation right from power-on. Here again, however, the possibility for parallelism in the boot process is very limited due to the initialization operations of the boot process being primarily performed by a single processor.
There are also known architectures where portions of the system are set up to operate in parallel at initialization time. However, these implementations suffer certain disadvantages. In order to parallelize the boot process, each processor needs a customized version of the basic input/output system (BIOS) code that is customized to account for the position of each chip in the multi-chip configuration, especially with regard to system addresses. This can either be addressed via time-consuming address relocation of the firmware images during runtime, which slows down the boot process, or the need for multiple firmware images stored in the boot memory device(s), which requires a larger amount of storage space. These implementations also need one or more synchronization points between the parallel boot phases, which slows down the boot process as well. Another significant disadvantage of such approaches is an increase in complexity for firmware updates as well as more complex maintainer-ship of the code releases by development teams.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multi-chip initialization using a parallel firmware boot process

International Business Machines Corporation


An image projector projects images according to inputted image data. A light source unit has at least a plurality of LED light sources configured as a single unit for emitting an illumination. A space modulation element is modulated according to inputted image data. An illumination optical unit leads the illumination light emitted from the light source unit, and illuminates the space modulation element. A projection optical unit projects an image illuminated by the illumination optical unit and modulated by the space modulation element. The light source unit is configured removably from the image projector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image projector which projects images according to inputted image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
A projector using a lamp as a light source is well known, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication Nos. 11-231413 and 2002-107823, for example. A display using LEDs as a light source is also well known, as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 6-186528.


A coating apparatus for coating a predetermined amount of a coating liquid uniformly onto a continuously running web, said coating apparatus being formed of a ceramic material obtained by sintering at a temperature of not less than 1,000.degree. C., said ceramic material having a coefficient of linear thermal expansion of not more than 11.times.10.sup.-6 /.degree. C. at temperatures of 25.degree. to 500.degree. C., and said ceramic material having a Vickers hardness of not less than 700 kg/mm.sup.2.

Known examples of methods and apparatuses for coating a photosensitive material onto a substrate include a multi-slide hopper (U.S. Pat. No. 2,761,791) and a multi-layer curtain coating method (Japanese Patent Publication No. 239/88 and Japanese Laid-Open (Kokai) Patent Application No. 74761/79).
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 27464/87 disclosed a material for a coating apparatus for applying a photosensitive material.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 95170/87 discloses a material for a coating apparatus for applying a magnetic material.
As is clear from the above inventions with respect to a photosensitive material, a magnetic recording material and an information recording material, the coating apparatuses are severely required to be manufactured highly precisely and also not to be corroded by the coating liquid, in order to maintain the uniformity of the product and the stabilization of the production.
However, the conventional coating apparatuses suffer from the following problems:
(1) With respect to any type of conventional hopper, the number of blocks is increased with a multi-layer construction, which results in an increased weight of the hopper body. With such a multi-layer construction, a movable bed for setting the hopper accurately in a coating position is increased in weight so as to withstand such a construction, and as a result a drive device is required to produce a very large power.
(2) The hopper is transferred by a carriage, a crane or the like for the purpose of a periodical maintenance (particularly, washing), and therefore such facilities are also required to have an increased strength and to produce a large power in accordance with the overall weight of the hopper equipment. This much increases ancillary facility costs.
(3) When the hopper is subjected to a periodical washing, the blocks are disassembled and re-assembled. Even a single block has a heavy weight, and a crane or the like is used to transfer the hopper. However, in order to maintain a high precision of the hopper and also to prevent damage to the hopper body, the operator is required to have much skill and to take an extreme care in the disassembly and assembly, which results in increased man-hour.
(4) Because of a thermal deformation of the material of the hopper, the conditions under which the hopper is used are limited. More specifically, one of the effects caused by such a thermal deformation is that the distribution of a clearance of the hopper slot portion is increased, so that the distribution of a coating amount in the direction of the width of the substrate is increased. As a result, the performance of the product is varied at the positions of the widthwise slits in the product. Also, particularly in the case of an information recording paper, this may cause the web to travel in a meandering manner immediately after the coating is applied thereto, and the web may have wrinkles. As a result, the web may fail to be uniformly taken up or wound, thus inviting an irregular winding.
To restrain such effects to a minimum and to deal with such problems, a device for controlling the temperature of a coating liquid or a device for controlling a heat retention has conventionally been used. Also, the number of pass rolls and expander rolls is increased so as to prevent a meandering movement of the web and the formation of wrinkles in the web.
Further, in order to ensure the basic performance of the product even at the minimum portion of the coating distribution, the average coating amount is increased.
Another effect caused by the thermal deformation is that the coating stability is adversely affected in the case of a slide hopper and an extrusion hopper.
In the coating operation using a slide hopper or an extrusion hopper, a gap between the distal end of the hopper and a backup roll constitutes an important factor for stabilizing a high-speed coating. However, because of a thermal strain of the hopper, the gap has a large distribution in the direction of the width to adversely affect the stability of the high speed coating. To deal with this, various surface active agents are unduly added to the coating liquid to further improve its coating properties so as to achieve a continuous production even if there is a large distribution in the gap in the direction of the width.
(5) Not only in the coating of a photosensitive material but also in the coating of an information recording material and a magnetic recording material, there are often used a coating liquid and a washing liquid both of which have the pH of not more than 5 or not less than 10. In this case, the problem of corrosion of the material of the hopper is encountered. See, for example, Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 227464/87.
When corrosion develops, stripes are formed on the coating, and the washing properties of the corroded portion is adversely affected, so that a residual coating liquid is mixed with another coating liquid when exchanging the coating liquids, which may adversely affect the performance of another product.
For these reasons, the hopper is periodically disassembled and washed, and it is checked whether or not corrosion develops. If any corrosion is found, a corroded block is re-polished or is replaced by a new one.
(6) Particularly, many of coating liquids of a magnetic recording material are of a highly abrasive nature, and therefore after a certain period of use, the distal end portion of the hopper is worn. In this case, stripes may be formed on the coating, and a stable coating operation may not be carried out.
For these reasons, the distal end portion of the hopper is subjected to a frequent maintenance such as replacement by a new one and the re-polishing.
With the above problems in view, it is an object of this invention to provide a coating apparatus which achieves the following:
(1) to reduce the weights of the hopper and its ancillary facility to thereby reduce the facility cost;
(2) to make the hopper highly precise (and therefore to reduce thermal influences) to stabilize the coating under a wide range of conditions; to obviate the need for an undue addition of additives, such as a surface active agent, to the coating liquid; to apply a uniform coating onto a substrate in the direction of its width under a wide range of conditions (temperature conditions) to provide a product of a more uniform performance; thereby to better stabilize the conveyance of the web after the coating is applied to the web and to improve a bulky winding condition of the product; to stabilize the operation of a slitter when it cuts the product into various sizes to hereby enhance the efficiency of the manufacturing and processing steps to enhance the productivity; and
(3) to improve the durability (chemical resistance and wear resistance) to reduce maintenance costs.

Low mass, thermally stable coating apparatus


The present invention relates to the ability of constitutively active Notch 2 to function as an inhibitor of breast cancer. The invention provides methods and compositions for inhibiting breast cancer cells by using hNotch2ICD polypeptides.

The Notch signaling pathway and its components are highly conserved in all Metazoans, from Drosophila to humans. The signaling pathway comprises the Notch receptors and their ligands, all single-pass transmembrane proteins with conserved protein structures (Lardelli, 1994, Mech. Dev. 46, 123-1365). Additional elements of the pathway include positive and negative modifiers as well as transcription factors. Notch receptors transduce essential developmental signals between neighboring cells by forming a complex that leads to the transcription of target genes upon activation. Neighboring cells expressing various Notch ligands and receptors amplify and consolidate molecular differences, eventually dictating cell fates and implementing developmental programs of differentiation, proliferation and apoptosis.
In mammals, Notch genes encode four large Type I transmembrane proteins called Notch receptors (Notch 1, Notch 2, Notch 3 and Notch 4) comprised of multiple known structural motifs. En route to the cell surface, the Notch receptor is proteolytically cleaved by furin-like convertases in the trans-Golgi network, giving rise to two subunits of the mature receptor. The extracellular Notch subunit (ECN) consists largely of a ligand-binding domain composed of small, tandem cysteine knot motifs called epidermal growth factor (EGF)-like repeats (Coffman, 1990, Science 249:1438-1441; Ellisen, 1991, Cell 66:649-661; Weinmaster, 1991, Development 113:199-205; Weinmaster, 1992, Development 116:931-941; Franco del Amo, 1992, Development 115:737-744; Reaume, 1992, Dev. Biol. 154:377-387; Lardelli and Lendahi, 1993, Mech. Dev. 46:123-136; Bierkamp and Campos-Ortega, 1993, Mech. Dev. 43:87-100; Lardelli, 1994, Exp. Cell Res. 204:364-372). In addition to the thirty-six EGF repeats within the extracellular domain of Notch 1, there is a cys-rich domain composed of three Notch Lin Glp (NLG) repeats, which is important for ligand function. This is followed by a cys-poor region between the transmembrane and NLG domain and three LIN 12/Notch repeats that restrain inappropriate, ligand-independent receptor activation.
The transmembrane Notch subunit (NTM) includes a short extracellular domain, a single transmembrane domain, and a large intracellular domain comprised of a an N-terminal domain called the RBP-jkappa associated domain (RAM) and seven iterated cdc10/ankyrin-like repeats positioned between two nuclear localization signals (NLS) (Artavanis-Tsakonas et al., 1995, Science 268:225-232). The ankyrin-like repeat motif is found in many functionally diverse proteins (see, e.g., Bork, 1993, Proteins 17:363-374), including members of the Rel/NF-κB family (Blank, 1992, TIBS 17:135-140), and is thought to be responsible for protein-protein interactions. Lastly, the C-terminal PEST domain is involved in proteosome-mediated Notch degradation and thereby regulates the termination of signaling. In addition, mammalian Notch 1, 2, and 3 contain cytokine response (NCR) regions while Notch 1 and 2 have C-terminal transcriptional activation domains (TAD).
The ligands for the Notch receptors have traditionally been divided into two subclasses, Delta-like and Serrate-like, defined by the absence and presence, respectively, of an additional cysteine-rich domain in the extracellular portion of the polypeptide (Weinmaster, 1998, Curr. Opin. Genet. Dev. 8, 436-442, Zimrin, 1996, J. Biol. Chem. 271, 32499-32502).
Several Notch ligands have been identified in vertebrates, including Delta, Serrate and Jagged. The Notch ligands are also transmembrane proteins, having highly conserved structures. These ligands are known to signal cell fate and pattern formation decisions through the binding to the Lin-12/Notch family of transmembrane receptors (Muskavitch and Hoffmann, 1990, Curr. Top. Dev. Biol. 24:289-328; Artavanis-Tsakonas and Simpson, 1991, Trends Genet. 7:403-408; Greenwald and Rubin, 1992, Cell 68:271-281; Gurdon, 1992, Cell 68:185-199; Fortini and Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1993, Cell 75:1245-1247; and Weintraub, 1993, Cell 75:1241-1244). A related protein, the Suppressor of hairless (Su(H)), when co-expressed with Notch in Drosophila cells, is sequestered in the cytosol, but is translocated to the nucleus when Notch binds to its ligand Delta (Fortini and Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1993, Cell 75:1245-1247). Studies with constitutively activated Notch proteins missing their extracellular domains have shown that activated Notch suppresses neurogenic and mesodermal differentiation (Coffman, 1993, Cell 73:659-671; Nye, 1994, Development 120:2421-2430).
The mechanism of Notch receptor signaling has been extensively studied and involves the activation of CSL (for CBF1 in mammals, Supressor of Hairless (Su[H]) in Drosophila and Xenopus and Lag-1 in Caenorhabditis elegans)-dependent transcription mediated by the nuclear translocation of the intracellular domain of Notch (Jarriault, 1995, Nature 377, 355-358). Notch displaces corepressors on CSL, changing its function from a repressor into an activator leading to elevated expression of specific genes. Several such targeted genes have been identified and include HES1, a member of the Hairy Enhancer of Split and Hairy Enhancer of Split-Related Proteins families of basic helix-loop-helix transcription factors (Zhou, 2000, Mol. Cell Biol. 20, 2400-2410). However, recent evidence also suggests that Notch signaling may proceed in a CSL-independent manner including pathways utilizing the cytoplasmic protein, Deltex (Small, 2001, J. Biol. Chem. 276, 32022-32030, Nofziger, 1999, Development 126, 1689-1702).
The existence of soluble forms of Notch ligands including the extracellular portion of Delta in Drosophila and other organisms have been reported but their physiological roles have not been determined (Nofziger, 1999, Development 126:1689-1702; Franklin, 1999, Curr. Biol. 9:1448-1457; Hukriede, 1997, Development 124:3427-3437; Han, 2000, Blood 95:1616-1625; Klueg, 1998, Mol. Biol. Cell 9:1709-1723; Morrissette, 2001, Hum. Mol. Genet. 10:405-413; Sun, 1996, Development 122:2465-2474). Transcripts encoding the extracellular domain of the Jagged1 ligand have also been detected in human endothelial cells (Zimrin, 1996, J. Biol. Chem. 271:32499-32502). There is evidence that the Delta ligand can be proteolytically cleaved by Kuzbanian, a member of the ADAM family metalloproteases, to generate a soluble extracellular form (Qi, 1999, Science 283; 91-94), and recent data also suggest that the Notch ligands may be processed by the γ-secretase presenilin in a manner similar to the Notch receptor (Ikeuchi, 2003, J. Biol. Chem. 278:7751-7754).
While studies have suggested that the soluble forms of the Notch ligands are able to activate Notch receptors (Han et al., 2000, Blood 95:1616-1625; Qi et al., 1999, Science 283:91-94; Li, et al., 1998, Immunity 8:43-55), there are numerous reports that the soluble forms of the Notch ligands act as antagonists of Notch signaling by impeding the interaction between Notch receptors and their full-length ligands (Small et al., 2001, J. Biol. Chem. 276:32022-32030; Hukriede et al., 1997, Development 124:3427-3437; Varnum-Finney et al., 1998, Blood 91:4084-4091). Secreted forms of Delta perturb association between full length Delta and Notch (Hicks et al., 2002, J. Neurosci. Res. 68:655-667), and inhibit the Notch-dependent repression of myoblast (Varnum-Finney et al., 2000, J. Cell Sci. 113 Pt 23:4313-4318) and hematopoietic progenitor cell (Han et al., 2000, Blood 95:1616-1625) differentiation in vitro. Likewise, the expression of a non-transmembrane form of the Notch ligand, Jagged1(sj1) also antagonizes Notch signaling in NIH 3T3 cells and induces significant changes in their cellular phenotype including FGFR1-dependent transformation (Small et al., 2001, J. Biol. Chem. 276: 32022-32030; Small et al., 2003, J. Biol. Chem. 278:16405-16413).
Notch signaling plays a key role in normal development through diverse effects on differentiation, survival, and proliferation. These events are highly dependent on signal strength and cellular context (Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1995, Science 268:225-232; Kadesch, T., 2000, Exp. Cell. Res. 260:1-8). Phenotypic analysis of mice null for Notch receptors or their ligands emphasizes the requirement for proper Notch signaling not only during development but in the adult as well (Conlon, 1995, Development 121: 1533-1545; Hamada, 1999, Development 126: 3415-3424; Jiang, 1998, Genes Dev. 12: 1046-1057; Krebs, 2000, Genes Dev. 14: 1343-1352; Xue, 1999 Hum. Mol. Genet. 8: 723-730). Indeed, aberrant Notch signaling has been implicated in several human pathological conditions including the development of the CADASIL (Joutel, 1996, Nature 383: 707-710) and Alagille syndromes (Li, 1997, Nat. Genet. 16: 243-251; Li, 1997, Nat. Genet. 16: 243-251) and the formation of neoplasias in mice and humans (Rae, 2000, Int. J. Cancer 88: 726-732; Rohn, 1996, J. Virol. 70: 8071-8080; Zagouras, 1995, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92: 6414-6418).
The impact of Notch signaling on cell fate and proliferation is determined by cell specific context of its activity. Aberrant Notch signaling can initiate an oncogenic pathway that leads to malignant cell transformation (Maillard, 2003, Immunity 19:781-791; Radtke, 2003, Nat. Rev. Cancer 3:756-767) and tumorigenesis, for example in human T lymphoblastic leukemia (Artavanis-Tsakonas, 1995, Science, 268:225-232), hematopoietic cells (Pear, 1996, J. Exp. Med., 183:2283-2291) and thymic lymphoma (Capobianco, 1997, Mol. Cell Biol., 17:6265-6273). In mammary gland, the transforming effect of Notch4 by virtue of MMTV integration (Jhappan, 1992, Genes Dev., 6:345-355; Smith, 1995, Cell Growth Differ., 6:563-577; Gallahan, 1996, Cancer Res., 56:1775-1785), as well as Notch1ICD and Notch3ICD tumorigenesis in mammary gland have been well documented (Hu, 2006, Am. J. Pathol. 168:973-990).
The earliest events in the pathogenesis of breast cancer typically involve the loss of a normal growth regulatory mechanism by a ductal or lobular epithelial cell. Progression of the disease through the stages of intraductal proliferation to invasive carcinoma, and then to metastatic disease, appears to require additional alterations in growth-regulatory pathways. A substantial body of evidence now supports the idea that these alterations in growth regulation result from genetic events, such as point mutation, deletion, and gene amplification.
One clinical goal is to characterize genetic alterations in breast tumors at the various stages of tumor progression. If metastasis requires additional genetic events beyond those responsible for the intraductal and invasive components of the tumor, one should find genetic alterations in the metastasis that are not present in primary tumor. Alternatively, there may be certain genetic lesions that occur early in tumor development that can predispose a tumor to metastasize without the acquisition of additional genetic defects. The identification of such a lesion would provide an important prognostic indicator, because it would provide a means for predicting the likelihood of the development of metastatic disease in tumors identified at an early stage. The characterization of genetic changes present in individual tumor components thus offers the possibility of identifying new prognostic indicators, as well as helping to elucidate the significance of genetic events to tumor progression.
Notch1, Notch 4 and Jagged 1 have all been found to be increased in human breast cancer tissue (Reedijik, 2005, Cancer Res., 65:8530-8537; Callahan, 2004, 9:145-163). Significantly, high expression levels of Jagged1 and Notch1 correlate with poor patient survival (Reedijik, 2005, 65:8530-8537) whereas Par (2004, Int. J. Mol. Med. 14:776-789) reports that a higher level of Notch 2 expression in breast cancer tissue was correlated with a higher chance of survival. In addition Par demonstrates that Notch 2 was highly expressed in well-differentiated tumors, but poorly expressed in breast tumors with poor differentiation.
What is needed in the art is a clarification of the role of Notch in breast cancer, as well as an overall understanding of the genetic events that transform normal breast tissue to malignancy. In particular, the role of Notch 2 in the development and progression is needed, in order to understand whether Notch 2 can become a target for treatment and intervention of the development of breast cancer. The present invention addresses and meets these needs.

Inhibiting breast cancer cell growth by administering an intracellular domain of NOTCH2

Maine Medical Research Institute, a division of Maine Medical Center


A method is provided for judging use permission of information on one or more terminal apparatuses which use content provided by a content provider and metadata provided by a metadata provider and supplementing the content, the method comprising: metadata use permission judgment judging use permission of the metadata based on usage control information regarding use control of the metadata; and using the metadata in the case where in said metadata use permission judgment, the use of the metadata is permitted. Specifically, the usage control information includes the first signer identification information which identifies the range of the provider of the metadata that can be used. The metadata includes a signature of the metadata provider identified in the first signer identification information, and the second signer identification information identifying the signer of the signature. And, said metadata use permission judgment judges the metadata use permission based on the metadata provider identified in said first signer identification information, said second signer identification information, and signature verification.

In recent years, a content distribution service capable of distributing digital contents such as music, video and games (hereinafter referred to as content) from a server apparatus to one or more terminal apparatuses through communication such as Internet, digital broadcast, Cable Television (CATV), and of using the content in one or more terminal apparatuses has been developed for a practical use. A common system used for the content distribution service uses a copyright protection technique for protecting a copyright of content in order to prevent an illegal use of the content by a malicious user. The copyright protection technique is, in detail, a technique of securely controlling use of content by a user such as reproducing the content or copying it to a recording media using an encoding technique, identifying technique and the like. Using the copyright protection technique allows a provider such as a content provider and a service provider to securely control the use of content in the one or more terminal apparatuses by a user.
By the way, in recent years, in order to promote sales, metadata which is data for supplementing the explanation for a content body is distributed from a content provider and the like to one or more terminal apparatuses; and the metadata is utilized by the one or more terminal apparatuses. Thus, new forms of content use such as scene search of content and digest viewing are being developed.
On the other hand, there is a case where unintended and unauthorized metadata such as scene index for skipping Commercial Message (CM) is circulated. And, the content provider providing digital content is requested to prevent the above mentioned circulation of unauthorized metadata. Thus, a method for excluding unauthorized metadata by using a digital signature assigned to metadata by a metadata provider that generated the metadata is suggested (refer to Japanese Laid-Open Patent publication No. 2003-51816).
Conventionally, as disclosed in the above mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent publication No. 2003-51816 and the like, by using verification of a digital signature, validity of metadata signer and tamper of metadata content have been detected, and use permission of the metadata has been judged.
Here, the use permission judgment of metadata using the conventional technique of digital signature will be explained.
For verification of a digital signature of metadata, digitally signed metadata, a public key certificate of a metadata signer, and a Certificate Revocation List (CRL) which is a list of revoked public key certificates are used. The digital signature to metadata is executed by a content provider or a metadata provider.
In the one or more terminal apparatuses, in the case where metadata is used, use permission of the metadata is judged by the following procedures.
First, whether the signer ID of the signer who has digitally signed the metadata is included in the CRL is confirmed. Here, the signer ID means identification information which uniquely identifies a signer. In the case where the signer ID is included in the CRL, the metadata is judged as impossible to be used. In the case where the signer ID is not included in the CRL, the signature of the metadata is verified by the public key certificate, and existence or non-existence of tamper is detected. In the case where tamper is detected, the metadata is judged as impossible to be used. In the case where modification is not detected, the metadata is judged as possible to be used.
In other words, after confirming that the metadata has been digitally signed by the metadata provider having an unrevoked signer ID, only in the case of confirming that the metadata is not tampered, reproduction of the metadata is permitted. The verification of the digital signature is specifically disclosed in "Secure Electronic Commerce: Building the Infrastructure for Digital Signatures and Encryption" published by Warwick Ford and Michael Baum, Pearson Education Co., Ltd. in 1997.
However, in the metadata use permission judgment according to the conventional technique of digital signature verification, failure caused by unauthorized metadata occurs at least once, and a CRL is generated after discovering tamper. Therefore, for the important content for which failure caused by unauthorized metadata should not occur, the content provider itself examines the content of the metadata, and desires to permit only the metadata which has been digitally signed. In such case as described above, there is a problem that the above mentioned desire cannot be realized only by the conventional verification of digital signature.
Also, a user privately generates metadata, and desires to use the metadata only in the one or more terminal apparatuses owned by the user. However, in the metadata use permission judgment according to the conventional digital signature, metadata can only be used in all of the one or more terminal apparatuses or cannot be used. Therefore, there is a problem that even if a content provider attempts to permit such use as described above, the use range of the metadata generated by a user cannot be limited to the one or more terminal apparatuses owned by the user.
In addition, depending on the content, there is a case where the content provider desires to limit generation or revision of metadata by a user, or the content provider desires to cause the metadata, specified by the content provider, to be used. However, there is a problem that such cases as described above cannot be realized only by a digital signature.
In other words, according to the conventional verification of a digital signature using a CRL, there is a problem that metadata cannot be flexibly used.
The object of the present invention, in view of such problems as described above, is to provide a content distribution system comprising: a method for judging metadata use permission which can limit metadata that can be used for each content, and limit the use range of the metadata generated by the user; and one or more apparatuses that execute judgment according to the method for judging metadata use permission.
In other words, the object of the present invention is to provide: a method for judging information use permission that can certainly exclude the use of unauthorized metadata and enables the flexible use of metadata; and a content distribution system using the above mentioned method.

Method for judging use permission of information and content distribution system using the method


A discharge apparatus of the present invention includes a discharge drum replacing one transportation drum in a drum train of a filter attachment, transportation grooves on a drum shell of the discharge drum, jet holes opening in the bottom of each transportation groove so that the jet holes of each two adjacent transportation grooves open in different positions, a control sleeve fixed in the drum shell, jet grooves formed over a predetermined rotational angle zone on the outer peripheral surface of the control sleeve and connectable to their corresponding jet holes, blow pressure lines for independently introducing a blow pressure into the individual jet grooves, and solenoid valves arranged individually in the middle of the blow pressure lines and used independently to open and close the blow pressure lines.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for discharging some of filter cigarettes from a transportation line to effect removal of defective filter cigarettes or sampling inspection during the manufacture of the filter cigarettes.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a cigarette rod, which is twice as long as a cigarette, is supplied to a filter cigarette manufacturing apparatus or a so-called filter attachment, it is cut into two equal parts or individual cigarettes. Then, a filter plug is supplied between these cigarettes. A paper piece is wound around the two cigarettes and the plug to connect them, thus forming a double filter cigarette. Thereafter, the double filter cigarette is cut in the center into individual filter cigarettes.
As these processes are executed, cigarette elements, such as cigarette rods, cigarettes, double filter cigarettes or single filer cigarettes, are transported continuously on a drum train of the filter attachment. The drum train includes a number of transportation drums, which are arranged continuously with one another, and transportation grooves for receiving the cigarette elements by suction are formed on the outer peripheral surface of each drum. Thus, as the transportation drums of the drum train rotate, the cigarette elements are transported in a manner such that they are delivered between the drums.
In the drum train of the filter attachment, one of the transportation drums for transporting the double or single filter cigarettes is formed as an inspection drum, and another transportation drum which is situated on the downstream side of the inspection drum is formed as a discharge drum. If defective filter cigarettes, double or single, are detected on the inspection drum, these defective are then removed from the discharge drum to the outside of the drum train.
The defectives are removed by supplying transportation grooves of the discharge drum with compressed air whose pressure surpasses the suction pressure. More specifically, each transportation groove of the discharge drum has jet holes. When the transportation groove reaches a predetermined rotational angle zone of the discharge drum, the jet holes are connected to a positive-pressure line in the discharge drum, whereby the compressed air is ejected from the jet holes to remove the defectives from the transportation grooves.
The positive-pressure line is provided with a solenoid valve in the middle. This valve closes the line when non-defectives in the transportation grooves pass the aforesaid rotational angle zone. In this case, therefore, the compressed air cannot be ejected from the jet holes of those transportation grooves, so that the non-defectives are transferred from the discharge drum to the next transportation drum.
According to this method of removing defectives, the compressed air must be ejected from the jet holes of each transportation groove of the discharge drum only when tills transportation groove passes the aforesaid rotational angle zone. If the start of the ejection of the compressed air from the jet holes is lagged, non-defectives, not defectives, in the subsequent transportation grooves will inevitably be removed. If the termination of the ejection of the compressed air is lagged, on the other hand, the non-defective in the subsequent transportation groove, as well as the defectives, will be removed in vain.
Accordingly, the solenoid valve requires high-speed switching operation. In modern high-speed versions of filter attachments, however, the speed of transportation of filter cigarettes on each transportation drum or the discharge drum is too high for the switching operation of the solenold valve to follow, so that defectives cannot be accurately removed.
Even though satisfactory responsiveness is secured for the switching operation of the solenoid valve itself, moreover, the valve-open period of this valve is very short. Therefore, a positive pressure cannot be adequately raised in the jet holes of each transportation groove, so that the ejection pressure of the compressed air is lowered. Thus, the defectives cannot be properly removed from the transportation grooves.

Apparatus for discharging defective filter cigarettes during the manufacture of filter cigarettes


The configuration includes a laser range finder (110), a scan mechanism (120), a distance-data acquiring unit (130), a memory (160), a human-body determining unit (140), which detects an object with possibility to correspond to a human body from acquired distance information, calculates a height and a width of the object based on installation state information stored in the memory (160), determines that the object is a human body when detection of the object continues for a first predetermined time or longer in the case where a calculated object height is a predetermined height or more, and determines that the object is a human body when detection of the object continues for a second predetermined time longer than the first predetermined time or longer in the case where the calculated object height is less than the predetermined height, and an alert-output control unit (150).

Conventionally, a "security system" for detecting an intruder using a laser range finder that employs a laser beam as a light source has been proposed (for example, see Patent Literature 1).
This "security system" includes a sensor unit, a swivel camera unit, and a control unit. The sensor unit sets a monitoring area at a scan angle for two-dimensionally scanning a light of an optical range finder. When the sensor unit detects an intruder within the area, the sensor unit outputs distance data and angle data of the intruder. The swivel camera unit is installed on an electrically-operated swivel base, and turns in conjunction with the sensor unit. The control unit has a function of: detecting the presence of an intruder by continuously detecting change in the distance data or the angle data several times at the sensor unit; calculating the position of the intruder using the changed distance data and angle data from the sensor unit; turning the swivel camera unit on the electrically-operated swivel base in accordance with the positional data; and displaying image data of the intruder on a monitor.
An "object identifying method using an area sensor" has also been proposed (for example, see Patent Literature 2) although this method is slightly different from a crime prevention apparatus and a security system. This method can accurately identify a pedestrian or the like using a laser beam.
According to this "object identifying method using the area sensor", an area sensor using a laser detector scans while projecting a pulse laser beam within a detection range that covers a walking area to which the pedestrian is guided and a peripheral area of the walking area, so as to measure a reflection time of the light. This method obtains the difference between a reflection time when an object is not present and a reflection time when an object is present for each scanning point to perform calculation of the shape and the size of the object and the vector based on positional change of the object for each scanning. Based on this operation signal, the method identifies an object that moves in the walking area along a guiding direction and an object that moves in a direction across the walking area.
Furthermore, in view of problems in these conventional techniques, the inventors of this application have already proposed a laser area sensor that does not only facilitate setting an appropriate security zone for preventing false detection as much as possible corresponding to the actual installation site, the security purpose, or the like, but also facilitates setting any security zone (see Patent Literature 3).
This "laser area sensor" includes a laser range_finder, a scanning mechanism unit, a distance-information acquiring unit, a human-body determining unit, and a human body-detection signal output unit. The laser range_finder uses a time after a laser beam emits before a reflected light returns from an object present in a direction of the emission so as to measure the distance to the object. The scanning mechanism unit changes the measurement direction of this laser range finder. The distance-information acquiring unit periodically performs measurement using the laser range finder while changing the measurement direction using this scanning mechanism unit, so as to form a detection area and to acquire distance information for each direction within the detection area in chronological order. The human-body determining unit extracts a portion estimated to correspond to a human body from the distance information acquired by this distance-information acquiring unit, and then determines whether or not the object is a human body based on a movement state of the extracted portion in chronological order. The human body-detection signal output unit outputs a human body detection signal in the case where this human-body determining unit determines that a human body is present.


An optical element amounted structure includes an optical element having an electrode such as a bump formed on a surface thereof, and a substrate having an electrode that is joined to the optical element formed on the surface. The structure of the electrode of the substrate has a substantially ring configuration or a substantially ring configuration a part of which is notched, and the optical element and the substrate are joined to each other in a configuration where a joining material such as a bump is inserted into an opening portion.

The present invention relates to a connected body and an optical transceiver module, and more particularly to a connected body and an optical transceiver module which are mounted by a face down bonding.
A recent high-speed transmission line starts the movement of applying optical fibers instead of electric wirings for the reasons that (1) the transmission line is wideband, (2) the transmission line is excellent in the electromagnetic wave noise resistance, and (3) the transmission line is small in the volume of fibers and light in weight. In the optical wiring, one of the most important factors is an optical coupling structure of an optical element such as a semiconductor laser or a photodiode with an optical transmission line such as an optical fiber or an optical waveguide. In order to obtain a high coupling efficiency, the optical element and the optical transmission line are required to provide the mounting precision of several tens μm in positioning even in the case of the multimode transmission. Also, after a reliability test of a temperature cycle or a high-temperature and high-humidity has been conducted on the optical element and the optical transmission line, no displacement or separation must occur. On the other hand, it is a basic premise that the optical wiring is inexpensive from the viewpoint of a substitute for the electric wiring. Therefore, the initial costs of material and a fabrication process must be suppressed as much as possible.
As a method of mounting the optical element which meets the above requirements, there is a method in which a surface receiving/emitting elements of a surface emitting laser (VCSEL: vertical cavity surface-emitting laser) and a surface illuminated type photodiode are mounted on a substrate by flip chip bonding, so as to be optically coupled with the optical transmission line that is located on a lower portion of the substrate, as disclosed in JP-A No. 2005-164801. With the above configuration, it is possible to form a joint structure of the optical element in the same process as that in the case of mounting the flip chip in the conventional electronic circuit.
Also, an annular electrode is formed on the light receiving/emitting portion to conduct flip chip bonding, as disclosed in JP-A No. 2003-298167. As a result, a loss due to the cross talk of the optical signal and the inflow of the underfill resin is prevented from increasing.
Further, JP-A No. 2006-091241 discloses a photoelectrical complex wiring component that enables information transmission which is excellent in noise tolerance, high in speed, and high in quality.
As a technique in which the optical element disclosed in JP-A No. 2006-091241 is mounted by face down, there are Au bump connection and solder connection. However, JP-A No. 2006-091241 fails to teach that there arise the following problems.
(1) In order to optically couple the optical element with the optical transmission line with high efficiency, it is essential that the parallelism between the optical element and the substrate can be precisely controlled. However, it is difficult to provide parallelization. More particularly, in the case where an Au bump is used for junction of the electrodes, a variation in the height of the bump leading end is extremely large. As a result, it is necessary to introduce a process for uniforming the heights of the respective bumps.
(2) The electrodes of the optical element is formed at intervals of several hundreds μm with about 100 μmφ, which is smaller than the electrodes of a general electronic circuit component. Accordingly, the supply quantity of joining material is small, and the control of the supply quality is difficult. For that reason, in the case where the joining material is excessively supplied, there arise problems such as an increase in the loss that is caused by the outflux of the joining material into the optical path at the time of mounting the optical element, or short-circuiting between electrodes.
(3) A distance between the optical element and the optical transmission line is an important factor for determining the optical coupling efficiency of the system. This distance is determined according to the joining material that joins the optical element and the optical transmission line. That is, the existence of the joining material increases the distance between the optical element and the optical transmission line. Also, the joining conditions and the variation of the supply quantity cause the optical output of the emitting element, and the deterioration and fluctuation of the sensitivity of the receiving element.

Connected body and optical transceiver module


A method and system is provided to perform a process for forecasting the characteristics of a target item based on historical characteristic data. The process includes determining one or more equations that when solved present a representation of forecasted characteristics of the target item, wherein each of the one or more equations includes one or more variables. Further, the process involves determining a data value for each of the one or more variables that best represents the characteristics of the target item and solving the one or more equations using the determined data values to forecast the characteristics of the target item.

One important factor in business management is profit. To increase profit, a business, such as a manufacturer, may desire to be able to provide its products to consumers in a cost efficient manner such that production costs are minimized. Further, a manufacturer may desire to have enough products readily available to meet the ever-changing demand of consumers. Without the ability to meet pending demand, a business may not only lose revenue due to missed current sales, but also revenue for future sales because customers may turn to competitors for similar products.
To ensure a manufacturer to meet pending demand, they may operate in three modes. First, the manufacturer may maintain an large inventory to ensure enough products are always on hand. Second, the manufacturer may operate their production facilities at a large capacity, thus always producing enough products to meet demand. And third, the manufacturer may perform a variation and/or combination of the two. Operating according to the first two modes would not be cost-efficient for a manufacturer due to storage and production costs. The third mode is difficult to optimize to ensure a manufacturer is producing products at a cost effective rate.
Accordingly, in order to reduce production costs while meeting demand, manufacturers have turned to process planning methodologies to optimize the performance of production operations. One conventional system that uses process planning methods is described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,493. This system uses genetic algorithms to determine the most cost efficient production sequence for a product based on models representing resources, tasks, products, and components of the products. The algorithm is used to determine the best development sequence a production process should employ to reduce production costs. Although the system described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,233,493 may adjust a production process to maximize the efficiency of the process, the system does not take into account external factors that may affect production costs, such as drops in demand, increases in storage costs, etc.
Another type of process planning methodology that is gaining popularity is forecasting methods that determine how many products, and of what type, to produce in order to meet future demand. Typically, conventional forecasting methods determine various external factors, such as economic indicators, that may affect product development and then attempt to forecast a demand for the product based on these factors. Although these forecasting methods take into account external factors, they do not effectively predict future demand. One reason is that the types of external factor that are determined may not provide proper data to adequately predict the proper future demand of a product. Another reason is that the influence of any collection of factors in product demand is not consistent over time. therefore, even if the correct date was being analyzed, the previous methods were inadequate to establish a useable relationship.
Methods, systems, and articles of manufacture consistent with certain embodiments of the present invention are directed to solving one or more of the problems set forth above.

Method for forecasting using a genetic algorithm


A system for installing a circuit board edge connector into a motherboard connector from the side to accommodate high density card arrangements that obstruct overhead clearance. In one embodiment, the system utilizes an insertion tool which conveys the circuit board across the motherboard and positions it with the pins of both boards aligned. The tool locates the board adjacent the motherboard with the aligned connectors just touching and blocked against withdrawal. The cooperation between ramps and pins associated with the tool and circuit board applies a force, upon the withdrawal of the tool from the motherboard, to engage fully the pins of the circuit board with the pins of the motherboard. The extraction of the circuit board from the motherboard uses the tool in a reverse sequence. In a second embodiment the system includes a circuit board incorporating slidably configured rail and groove mechanism and a bell crank that allows the circuit board to slide in over the motherboard through relative sliding of the rail and groove and permits the two boards to be drawn together with mating pins by activation of the bell crank. In yet another embodiment the system includes a circuit board incorporating a spacer and a cardcage incorporating a spacer track which permits increased utilization of the circuit board surface for the placement of components.

Referring to FIG. 1, in a large general purpose computer system, the large number of electronic components 10 which make up the computer system generally requires that the components be arranged on more than one printed circuit board 12. Typically these printed circuit boards 12 are arranged in parallel within a card cage 14. Tracks 17 within the card cage 14 guide the printed circuit board 12 during the insertion of the board into the card cage 14.
One end of the card cage 14 is closed by a motherboard 16 upon which connectors 18 are located. The connectors 18 supply electrical power and ground connections to each of the printed circuit boards 12 and permit each of the printed circuit boards 12 to communicate with other printed circuit boards 12. Each printed circuit board 12 has an edge connector 20 containing a set of contact pins 21 located on the edge of the printed circuit board 12 which bring electrical power, ground and signals to the electronic components 10 on the board 12. Each edge connector 20 on each printed circuit board 12 mates with one of the connectors 18 on the motherboard 16. Generally the motherboard 16 is located opposite the opening in the card cage 14 in through which the circuit boards 12 are inserted. The pins in the motherboard connector 18 are oriented in the direction of insertion of the printed circuit board 12. Each of the individual pins 21 in the edge connector 20 on the printed circuit board 12 mates with a corresponding pin within the motherboard connector 18. The pins within the motherboard connector 18 are constructed to tightly grip the pins 21 on the edge connector 20 and a good deal of force is required to mate the pins 21 on the edge connector 20 with the pins in the motherboard connector 18. This force is directed down onto the circuit board during insertion and causes undesirable bowing and related stress to the electrical leads and components that increases the risk of failure.
The force used in inserting the edge connector pins 21 into the motherboard connector 18 also causes the pins of the connector 18 to rub against the pins 21 of the edge connector 20 and thereby remove or wipe any oxide from the pins 21 and the pins of the motherboard connector 18. In so doing, this action provides better electrical contact between the pins 21 of the edge connector 20 and the pins in the motherboard connector 18. The use of such motherboard connectors and circuit board edge connectors permits the circuit boards 12 to be removed and replaced easily.
In addition, each circuit board 12 may have an insertion/removal lever 24,25 located at each outer corner of the board 12. One end of the top lever 24 engages the upper surface of the cage 14, while one end of the bottom lever 25 engages the lower surface of the cage 14. These levers 24, 25 aid in forcing the pins 21 of the edge connector 20 into the motherboard connector 18 during circuit board 12 insertion and in pulling the pins 21 of the edge connector 20 from the motherboard connector 18 during circuit board 12 removal. The top and the bottom surfaces of the card cage 14 typically also have slots 22 through which air flows vertically (arrows A and A') to cool the components 10 on the boards 12.
While the arrangement just described is used to mate a board 12 to a motherboard 16 whose connector pins 18 are oriented in the direction of insertion, a different arrangement permits a circuit board 12 to be inserted into the card cage 14 in a direction perpendicular to the orientation of the pins of the connector 18. Generally such an arrangement is used to permit air to flow horizontally along the length of the board rather than vertically along the height of the board.
Such a horizontal air flow is important when multiple card cages are stacked vertically. With a vertical arrangement of card cages, hot air, from the card cages below, is forced through the card cages above, resulting in less cooling to the circuit boards in the upper card cages. Vertical tiers of horizontal motherboards allow fresh, cool air flow to be directed across each stack of cards in their cages.
This form of circuit board insertion is typically accomplished using a zero-insertion-force (ZIF) connector. A ZIF connector is constructed to be opened prior to circuit board insertion so as to increase the space between the pins of the motherboard connector. This permits the edge connectors 20 of the circuit board to be slid between the pins of the motherboard connectors 18. Once the circuit board 12 has been slid into the space between the motherboard connector pins, the connector is closed bringing the pins of the motherboard connector into contact with the pins 21 of the edge connector 20. However, since the pins 21 of the edge connector 20 do not rub against the pins of the motherboard connector during insertion, any oxide which has been formed on the pins remains and thereby decreases the reliability of the connection.


The present invention relates to the field of immunology and hyperproliferative diseases. More specifically, the present invention relates to a method of detecting and monitoring therapeutic antibody:antigen complex, soluble antigen and soluble therapeutic antibody, wherein a patient has undergone at least one course of immunotherapy. Yet further, levels of therapeutic antibody:antigen complexes, soluble antigens or soluble therapeutic antibodies may be measured and used to stage or monitor a hyperproliferative disease.

A. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to the field of immunology and hyperproliferative diseases. More particularly, the present invention relates to a method of detecting and monitoring a therapeutic antibody:antigen complex, soluble antigen, free therapeutic antibody and soluble total therapeutic antibody, wherein a patient has undergone at least one dose of immunotherapy. Yet further, the methods may be used to monitor or stage a hyperproliferative disease by measuring the levels of therapeutic antibody:antigen complexes, soluble antigens or soluble therapeutic antibodies.
B. Description of the Related Art
1. Clusters of Differentiation
Clusters of differentiation (CD) have been established to define human leukocyte differentiation antigens (Bernanrd and Boumsell, 1984) by the comparison of reactivities of monoclonal antibodies directed against the differentiation antigens. These cell surface antigens serve as markers of cell lineage and distinguish populations of leukocytes with different functions, e.g., neutrophils and monocytes.
Leukocyte cell surface antigens have enormous clinical application potential for the identification of leukocyte populations and their functional status (Krensky, 1985, Kung et al., 1984; Kung et al., 1983; Cosimi et al., Knowles et al., 1983; and Hoffman, 1984). For example, measuring the total numbers of T cells by surface markers has been useful for the characterization, diagnosis and classification of lymphoid malignancies (Greaves, et al., 1981) and viral infection associated with transplantation (Colvin, R. B et al., 1981), and AIDS (Gupta, 1986; Ebert et al., 1985).
a) CD20
CD20, also called B1 (Bp35), is a cell surface phosphoprotein detected on the surface of B-lymphocytes (Tedder and Schlossman, 1988; Warzynski et al., 1994; Algino et al. 1996). CD20 has a major role in the regulation of human B-cell activation, proliferation and differentiation (Golay et al., 1985; Tedder and Engel, 1994; Kehrl et al., 1994). It has been reported that CD20 is heavily phosphorylated in malignant B-cells and proliferating B-cells when compared to non-proliferating B-cells (Tedder and Schlossman, 1988). Based on sequence analysis, the CD20 molecule appears to have four transmembrane domains with n- and c-terminal domains in the cytoplasm (Kehrl, et al., 1994). The molecule appears to regulate transmembrane Ca++ conductance (Tedder and Engel, 1994). Antibodies directed towards the extracellular portion of CD20 appear to activate a tyrosine kinase pathway that modulates cell cycle progression by interaction with src-related kinases (Deans et al., 1995; Popoff et al. 1998; Hofmeister et al., 2000). Relocalization of CD20 into a detergent-insoluble membrane compartment upon binding to antibodies has also been reported (Deans et al., 1998). Several investigators have documented variations in the intensity of CD20 expression on the surface of malignant B-cells in different lymphoproliferative diseases (Almasri et al., 1992; Ginaldi et al., 1998). This is important in view of the success an anti-CD20 monoclonal antibody (Rituximab) in treating various B-cell malignancies (Maloney et al., 1999; Dimopoulous et al., 2000; Zinzani et al., 2000; Hainsworth, 2000; Keating et al., 2000; McLaughlin et al., 2000: Kuehnle et al., 2000). The reported structure of the CD20 molecule suggests that it is not secreted and is highly unlikely to be shed from the cell surface (Riley et al., 2000).
b) CD52
The CD52 antigen is a glycoprotein with a very short mature protein sequence consisting of 12 amino acids, but with a large carbohydrates domain (approximately 3 times the size of the protein domain) (Xia, M. Q. et al., 1993; Treumann, A. et al., 1995). CD52 is expressed on the surface of T- and B-lymphocytes, monocyte/macrophages, eosinophils and some hematopoietic progenitors (Rowan, W. et al., 1998; Elsner, J. et al., 1996; Taylor, M. L. et al., 2000; Gilleece, M. H. et al., 1993). CD52 is also expressed in the male reproductive tract, mainly in the epithelial lining cells of the distal epidermis, vas deferens, and seminal vesicles (Kirchhoff, C. et al., 1995; Kirchhoff, C. et al., 1993; Kirchhoff, C. 1996; Kirchhoff, C. et al., 1997; Kirchhoff, C., 1998; Kirchhoff, C. et al., 2000). CD52 is necessary for spermatozoa to preserve normal motility. It is shed into seminal plasma and then acquired by sperm cells to enable their passage through the genital tract, thus it is detectable on the surface of epididymal sperm and in the ejaculate, but not on either spermatogenetic cells or testicular spermatozoa. The protein core of the sperm and lymphocyte CD52 is identical—both are products of a single copy gene located on chromosome 1(1p36) (Tone, M. et al., 1999). However, N-linked carbohydrate side chains and the GPI-anchor structure are different. The physiological role of CD52 on lymphocytes is unclear.
The Campath-1 family of monoclonal antibodies was originally generated by immunizing rats against human T-cells (Friend, P. J. et al., 1991). Later studies show that Campath-1 antibodies recognize CD52 (Xia, M. Q. et al., 1993; Xia, M. Q. et al., 1991; Hale, G. et al., 1990). Several forms, both IgG and IgM, were generated. The IgG1 form of Campath-1 was humanized and this agent, Campath-1H (Alemtuzumab), has recently been approved for the treatment of refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) Finkelstein, J. B. et al., 2001; Rawstron, A. C. et al., 2001; Riechmann, L. et al., 1988). The Campath-1 family of antibodies is also being used in vitro for lymphocyte depletion in allogeneic marrow grafts and is being investigated as immunomodulatory therapy in a variety of diseases (Moreau, T. et al., 1996; Matteson, E. L. et al., 1995; Lim, S. H. et al., 1993; Lockwood, C. M. et al., 1993; Lockwood, C. M., 1993; Lockwood, C. M. et al., 1996; Dick, A. D. et al., 2000; Hale, G. et al., 2000; Isaacs, J. D. et al., 1992; Lim, S. H. et al., 1993; Mehta, J. et al., 1997; Naparstek, E. et al., 1999; Naparstek, E. et al., 1995; Novitzky, N. et al., 1999; Or, R. et al., 1994).
Antibodies against CD52 are believed to initiate killing of cells through antigen cross-linking (Hale, C. et al., 1996). As a result of this cross-linkage, several cytokines are released including tumor necrosis factor-α, interferon γ and interleukin (Elsner, J. et al., 1996; Wing, M. G. et al., 1996; Wing, M. G. et al., 1995). Cross-linking of CD52 by antibodies promotes apoptosis and antibody-dependent cellular cytotoxicity, which may count for the effectiveness of Campath-1H in treating patients with chronic lymphocytic leukemia (CLL) (Rowan, W. et al., 1998; Rawstron, A. C. et al., 2001; Greenwood, J. et al., 1994; Xia, M. Q., et al., 1993). CD52 is expressed on the surface of neoplastic lymphocytes in patients with CLL, low-grade lymphomas and T-cell malignancies (Dyer, M. J., 1999; Dybjer, A. et al., 2000; Pawson, R. et al., 1997; Salisbury, J. R. et al., 1994; Matutes, E. 1998). Some cases of myeloid, monocytic and acute lymphoblastic leukemia also express CD52 (Belov, L. et al., 2001; Hale, G. et al., 1985). This wide expression of CD52 in a variety of hematological malignancies has led to increasing interest in using Campath-1H in treating these malignancies (Khorana, A. et al., 2001; Keating, M. J. 1999).
CD52 is shed in the male productive system and the soluble molecules play an important role in preserving spermatozoa function (Kirchhoff, C., 1996; Yeung, C. H. et al., 1997; Yeung, C. H. et al., 2001). However, it is not known if CD52 is shed from hematopoietic cells and/or detectable in the circulation of patients with CLL.
c) CD33
CD33 is a member of the siglecs family which bind sialic acid. CD33 is restricted to the myelomonocytic lineage of cells. During maturation of myloid cells, the pluripotent hematopoietic stem cells give rise to progenitor cells that have a diminished self-renewal capacity and a greater degree of differentiation. During this development, normal myeloid cells express cell surface antigens, for example CD33. CD33 is present on maturing normal hematopoietic cells, however, normal hematopoietic stem cells lack this cell surface antigen. In addition to maturing normal hematopoietic cells, CD33 is also present on acute myelocytic leukemia (AML). Thus, this myeloid cell surface maker has become an attractive target for monoclonal antibody targeting. Yet further, anti-CD33 antibodies have also been used to deliver radiation or a cytotoxic agent directly to leukemic cells.
2. Immunoassays
Immunoassays are usually used to measure cell surface antigens. Typically, immunofluorescence using flow cytometry is the immunoassay of choice. However, other immunoassays may be used, for example enzyme linked immunosorbant assays (ELISA). This technique is based upon the special properties of antigen-antibody interactions with simple phase separations to produce powerful assays for detecting biological molecules.
One well-known and highly specific ELISA is a sandwich ELISA. In this assay, the antibody is bound to the solid phase or support, which is then contacted with the sample being tested to extract the antigen from the sample by formation of a binary solid phase antibody:antigen complex. After a suitable incubation period, the solid support is washed to remove the residue of the fluid sample and then contacted with a solution containing a known quantity of labeled antibody.
The methodology and instrumentation for the ELISA is simpler than that for immunofluorescence. Yet further, the ELISA and immunofluorescence assays are completely different assays. ELISA assays measure the protein (antigen) in the plasma/serum, which reflects the entire body. Surface immunofluorescent assays measure an antigen on the surface of individual cells and does not provide information on the amount of cells in the body. Thus, there are advantages in developing an ELISA assay to provide a measurement of the entire body.

Measuring circulating therapeutic antibody, antigen and antigen/antibody complexes using ELISA assays

Board of Regents, The University of Texas Systems


The backlight module includes a reflective sheet, at least one point light unit with a dish lens on the reflective sheet. The dish lens has a light-permeable surface formed on the bottom of the dish lens, a light-reflecting surface formed on top of the dish lens, two smooth curve surfaces formed on two side of the dish lens for connecting the light-reflecting surface and the light-permeable surface, and a light-scattering surface on the center of the light-reflecting surface. The profile of the light-permeable surface and the light-reflecting surface are a substantially concave shape. The profile of the light-scattering surface is a substantially convex shape. A light emitting diode (LED) device includes a light emitting semiconductor device and a dish lens encapsulating the light emitting semiconductor device. The dish lens allows the light beams emitted by the LED to diffuse more uniformly, resulting in a more uniform backlight emission.

The invention relates to a lens for a backlight module and a light emitting diode and, more particularly, to a dish lens for a direct type backlight module and a light emitting diode.
The arrangement of an LED for small backlight module of an LCD has recently been developed from side to an array arrangement suitable for a larger direct backlight module, which must blur the outline of the LED array to normalize the luminance of the LCD. Increasing the distance between the light source and the diffuser or the thickness and the haze of a diffuser can solve the above problem.
Referring to FIG. 1, a backlight module 1 comprises a diffuser 11, a reflective sheet 13, and a point light unit 14. The point light unit 14 is disposed between the diffuser 11 and the reflective sheet 13. The light emitted from the point light unit is reflected by the reflective sheet 13 and passes through the diffuser 11 to blur the outline of the point light unit 14.
Because the luminance between the point light unit 14 and reflective sheet 13 of the conventional backlight module 1 are different, the brightness of the display is not uniform. Although increasing the distance d between the point light unit 14 and the diffuser 11 solves the problem, the thickness of the backlight module increases the profile of the display.
Referring to FIG. 2, increasing a diffuser 11a also can solve the above problem. The diffuser 11a overlaps diffuser 11, increasing the thickness and the haze of the diffusers 11, 11a, blurring the outline of the tubes 14. The diffuser 11a not only increases costs but also the profile of the backlight module 1. As well, overlapping the diffusers 11, 11a decreases the utility rate of the light source. Increasing of point light units 14 results in increased costs.
FIG. 3 shows an embodiment disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,679,621, SIDE EMITTING LED AND LENS, in which lens 15 comprises a funnel-shaped first element 151, and a second element 152 located under the lens 15. The first element 151 comprises a reflective surface 153 and a first light-refracting surface 154. The second element 152 comprises a curved second light-refracting surface 155 and a curved bottom surface 156. When an LED is put on point L, a first light beam 17 emitted from the LED passes through the bottom surface 156 to enter the lens 15 and is reflected by the reflective surface 153 through the first light-refracting surface 154, exiting the lens 15. A second light beam 18 emitted from an LED passes through the bottom surface 156 to the lens 15, and is refracted by the second element 152 to leave the lens 15. Light is reflected and refracted to increase luminance on sides of the lens 15. Because reflective sheet 16 is curved, thickness of the backlight module increases, while luminance is still not uniform.

Dish lens for backlight module and light emitting diode


There are provided systems and methods for vehicle identification and device communication through directional wireless signaling. A user's device may include a directional wireless transceiver that may be used to provide wireless signaling in a specific target direction. The user may direct the device at a particular vehicle, where the vehicle may has a transceiver located within or attached to the vehicle that responds to the particular wireless signaling. The vehicle's transceiver may respond to the device of the user with a unique identifier that allows for communication with the vehicle's operator. The unique identifier may therefore allow for message content to be sent directly to a device for the vehicle's operator, or may allow for a service provider to process the message. Additionally, the vehicle's operator may establish privacy settings for communications, which may be utilized to determine whether the message content will be provided to the device.

When utilizing vehicles, operators may be unaware of particular vehicle conditions that introduce safety hazards or financial consequences. For example, a driver of a car may be unaware that their gas tank is open or that a panel is loose, which may harm the vehicle and/or other cars operating near the vehicle. At other times, a car may be parked but the parking spot may be in an unauthorized area or where a parking meter has expired. Other vehicle operators may see the hazard, but may be unable to directly communicate with the driver of the vehicle. The other operators may attempt to get the attention of the driver by honking a horn or flashing lights at the vehicle, but this may introduce additional hazards and divert the attention of the driver and other drivers. At other times, the vehicle may be unattended and the vehicle's owner may not be in close enough proximity to resolve the issue. Alerting a police service or other authority may allow for tracking of the vehicle, but may not immediate assist the driver. Thus, the potential issue may be unresolved and cause harm.
Embodiments of the present disclosure and their advantages are best understood by referring to the detailed description that follows. It should be appreciated that like reference numerals are used to identify like elements illustrated in one or more of the figures, wherein showings therein are for purposes of illustrating embodiments of the present disclosure and not for purposes of limiting the same.

Vehicle identification and device communication through directional wireless signaling


An improved solution for managing a file system that includes an archive is provided. In particular, a request for a file system operation can be received and performed on an object that is stored in an archive. The file system operation can be received from a first computer and performed on the object on a second computer. Further, an archive manager can be included that manages an extensible set of archive handlers. In this case, each archive handler can implement a set of file system operations for archives of a particular archive type.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates generally to managing a file system, and more particularly, to a solution for performing one or more file system operations on an archive in the file system and/or an object stored in the archive.
2. Background Art
A user can utilize a graphical user interface (GUI) to perform various file system operations (e.g., file management tasks) on objects (e.g., files, folders, etc.) in a file system. In general, the file system can be located at a computer that the user is operating or on a remote computer accessible via a network (e.g., a file server). Frequently, the user utilizes the GUI to browse the contents of the file system. To this extent, when the file system comprises a hierarchical file system, in which folders can include files and other folders, the GUI can present the user a tree based on the hierarchical structure that can be used to navigate the folders and/or display files included in the folders. Additionally, the GUI can provide different sets of file system operations for files and folders. For example, some GUIs assume that a folder can be "expanded" to view its contents while a file cannot. As a result, files may not be displayed in the tree. Rather, the files stored in a currently selected folder in the tree can be displayed in a separate display area.
In addition to browsing, the GUI can enable the user to perform search functions to locate a desired object. For example, a search can be performed based on all or a portion of the name of the desired object(s), a text search can be performed to locate object(s) whose contents include the specified text, and the like. Once a desired object in the file system has been located, the user can utilize the GUI to request the performance of one or more additional file system operations on the object. For example, the user can utilize the GUI to delete an object, move an object to another location, copy an object, rename an object, open an object, etc.
An archive is a particular type of file that stores one or more other files, often in a compressed form. An archive can be used to readily transfer a group of files, store files that may not need ready access, save storage space, etc. Further, the archive can define a hierarchical structure that includes one or more folders that include the files. In this case, when the files are subsequently extracted for access by a user, the folders are created and the files are placed in the appropriate folders.
To this extent, it is desirable that a user be able to perform the various file system operations on the object(s) stored in the archive. Current solutions that provide some ability to perform these operations are limited in one or more respects. For example, the archive can be one of numerous types of archives (e.g., a zip file, a cabinet file, a tape archive, a Java archive, etc.). Current solutions only support a subset of these formats and do not provide an extensible framework for readily adding support for additional archive types. Further, solutions that enable the performance of a file system operation on an object stored in an archive located on a remote system require the archive to be copied to the local system, where the file system operation is performed. This requirement makes performance of the file system operation less efficient, and adds to the amount of communications required over a network.
In light of this, a need exists for an improved solution for managing a file system that includes an archive. In particular, there exists a need for a solution in which support for various archive types can be readily added/modified. Further, there exists a need for a solution in which a file system operation on an object in an archive can be performed on the system on which the archive is located, regardless of the system on which the request is generated.

Method, system and program product for managing a file system that includes an archive


An electrically powered work vehicle includes a left driving wheel and a right driving wheel that are supported to a vehicle body, a left motor for driving the left driving wheel and a right motor for driving the right driving wheel, a steering wheel, an acceleration operation tool, a turning command calculation section for calculating a turning command based on a steering operation amount of the steering wheel, a turning torque calculation section for calculating a turning torque based on the turning command, a vehicle speed command calculation section for calculating a vehicle speed command based on an acceleration operation amount of the acceleration operation tool, a vehicle speed torque calculation section for calculating a vehicle speed torque based on the vehicle speed command, and a speed command calculation section for calculating a left motor speed command and a right motor speed command based on the turning torque and the vehicle speed torque.

A work vehicle according to Patent Document 1 includes left and right driving wheels driven independently for traveling by two traveling motors, an accelerator pedal for accelerating a vehicle body to a forward side or a reverse side, and a steering wheel for steering the vehicle body to the left/right. This work vehicle includes a command calculation means for calculating target rotational speed command values for the left and right traveling motors based on an acceleration instruction (vehicle speed instruction) and a turning instruction given by a driver with using the accelerator pedal and the steering wheel, a target yaw rate calculation means for calculating a target yaw rate based on the acceleration instruction and the turning instruction, a correction coefficient acquisition means for acquiring a correction coefficient for the left and right traveling motors based on a difference between the target yaw rate and a yaw rate detected by a yaw rate detection means, and a control means. The control means corrects the left and right target rotational speed instruction values respectively by the correction coefficient and controls driving of the left and right traveling motors, based on the corrected target rotational speed instruction values. With this, even when the vehicle travels on a sloped surface, the vehicle can travel in a direction intended by the driver.


A semiconductor package facilitates package connection due to different locations of input/output pads in each interlayer die depending on coding information in a multi-chip package. The semiconductor package includes many chips. Each of the chips includes: input/output pads configured to input and output data having a given bandwidth; a decoding pad configured to receive coding information; and a code control unit configured to decode the coding information and to enable an input/output pad positioned at a specific location among the input/output pads according to the decoding result.

The present invention generally relates to a semiconductor package, and more specifically, to a technology of differentiating locations of input/output pads in an interlayer die depending on coding information in a multi-chip package to facilitate package connection.
Due to high performance of electronic devices, various techniques for providing semiconductor modules of high capacity have been developed. In order to enhance the capacity of semiconductor modules, high integration of devices, stack-structured packaging methods, and methods for reducing the package size so as to mount more packages on a printing circuit board have been provided. As a result, various kinds of packages, such as Thin Small Outline Package (TSOP), Fine Pitch Ball Grid Array (FBGA), and Multi Chip Package (MCP), have been developed.
Also, due to speed-up and scale-down of the multimedia system, the component parts thereof become smaller. For example, semiconductor integrated circuits (IC) become smaller through reduction of memory chips, and several chips are mounted in one package to increase board packing efficiency.
MCP refers to a package including several chips each having a different function in that package. Each chip of the MCP is attached to one substrate, and connected electrically with each other to perform a function. The multi-chip packaged semiconductor device can include a plurality of semiconductor devices in one package, thereby reducing the size of the system.


Method and apparatus for dealing with a connection context request to establish a connection between a mobile station (MS) and a network gateway element. The gateway (such as a GGSN) determines whether binding information is required, then ascertains whether such information has been supplied. If the information is not supplied, the GGSN responds to the request on the basis of a policy determined by the operator of the network. This can include, for example, rejecting the request.

During initiation of a data or multimedia session by user equipment (UE) in a third generation telecommunication system, a PDP (Packet Data Protocol) context request is issued. As shown in FIG. 1, the PDP context request is generated in an SGSN upon receipt of a trigger from the UE. The PDP context request is sent to a Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), which in turn communicates with a Policy Control Function (PCF) to ascertain what level of service and resources are authorised for that data or multimedia session. The PCF authorises (or rejects) setting up of the bearer(s) requested by the UB via the PDP context request.
If authorization of the PDP context is required (e.g. in 3GPP R5, if the PDP context request is IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) related), the PDP context request will usually include binding information such as an authorization token and flow identifiers. If the operator supports service based local policy (SBLP), the authorization of PDP contexts shall be performed.
During the creation or modification of a PDP context, the UE may define a traffic flow template (TFT). A TFT consists of one to eight packet filters, each identified by a unique packet filter identifier. However, as part of the SBLP authorization of the PDP context, the Policy Control Function (PCF) may send packet classifiers for flows carried by the PDP context. It is possible that the downlink packet classifiers defined by the PCF and the TFT set by the UE will have an overlap in the attributes they define.
One approach to dealing with this situation is for the GGSN to ignore either the TFT or the packet classifier. However, this approach may lead to dropping of packets or incorrect classification in the GGSN.


A relaxation oscillator for generating an oscillator output signal having a predetermined frequency. The relaxation oscillator includes an interleaved charge pump for providing a restoring charge to an integrator in response to at least one charge pump control signal. The relaxation oscillator further includes an integrator having an integrator input connected to the current summing node. The integrator is adapted to produce an integrator output signal having the predetermined frequency at an integrator output. A comparator having an input connected to the integrator output is adapted to generate the oscillator output signal having the predetermined frequency in response to the integrator output signal.

A variety of methods are known for creating oscillator circuits for providing periodic signals of a desired frequency. A large class of oscillator configurations that exist in monolithic integrated circuit design are those known as relaxation oscillators or multivibrators. Conventional relaxation oscillators operate by alternately charging and discharging a timing capacitor between two internally set threshold voltage levels. This results in the generation of a periodic output signal waveform whose frequency is inversely proportional to the value of the timing capacitor. Conventional relaxation oscillator configurations include R-C charge and discharge oscillators, constant-current charge and discharge oscillators, and emitter-coupled multivibrators.
However, conventional relaxation oscillators suffer from a number of limitations that affect both their implementation and the quality of the resulting periodic output signal waveform. For example, in conventional relaxation oscillators comparator delay contributes significantly to the oscillator period of the relaxation oscillator. In order to increase precision, the comparator must be made to operate very quickly. This usually has the side effect of increased supply current requirements and compromised accuracy at high speeds of operation. Thus there is a need for a precision relaxation oscillator having improved implementation properties, as well as an improved periodic output signal waveform.

Precision relaxation oscillator without comparator delay errors


The present invention is a process for preparing a 4-alkylbenzaldehyde (para-alkylbenzaldehyde). An alkylbenzene, solvated in a solvent comprising at least one aliphatic solvent having in the range of 3 to 15 carbons, is reacted with carbon monoxide, in the presence of an aluminum halide and a hydrogen halide acid. Disproportionation is reduced and proportion of para-alkyl-benzaldehyde is increased with respect to other methods.

In general, the production of para-propylbenzaldehyde has been hampered by low yields and/or requirements that hazardous reactants and reagents be used at high pressures. Processes such as the Duff Formylation (formylation of propylbenzene with hexamine in trifluoroacetic acid to give para-propylbenzaldehyde) result in relatively low yields of the para-isomer. The formylation of an alkylbenzenes with carbon monoxide in the presence of hydrogen chloride and aluminum chloride to give para-propylbenzaldehyde was first reported by Gattermann and Koch in 1897. (Gattermann and Koch, Chemische Berichte, 1897, 30, 1622.) The reaction, known as the "Gattermann-Koch" reaction, has been reviewed by Crounse in Organic Reactions, 1949, 5, 290 and by Olah and Huhn in Friedel-Crafts and Related Reactions, 1964, Vol. 3, Part 2, 1153. Use of the Gattermann-Koch reaction with hydrogen chloride and aluminum trichloride generally gives an increased production of para-product with respect to ortho and meta isomers. Other processes, such as the Gattermann-Koch carbonylation of propylbenzene with carbon monoxide, in this case, in the presence of hydrogen fluoride and boron trifluoride, require the use of hazardous compounds, i.e., hydrogen fluoride and boron trifluoride at high pressures.
Alkylbenzenes have been observed to undergo disproportionation (alkylation and dealkylation) in the presence of aluminum chloride. In the disproportionation reaction, the catalyst causes the transfer of the alkyl substituent of the propylbenzene substrate to another aromatic molecule, such as a molecule of propylbenzene reactant, giving aromatic impurities such as dipropylbenzene and benzene. Tripropylbenzene impurities can also be formed. Formylation product may also undergo disproportionation, giving additional impurity species. These byproduct impurities are generally formed at the expense of the desired formylated para product, thus giving a reduced yield of the desired product. The disproportionation of alkylbenzene in the presence of aluminum chloride is generally known in the art and has been reported by Crounse, J. Am. Chem. Soc., 1949, 71, 1263 and by Baddeley and Kenner, J. Chem. Soc., 1935, 303.
The Gattermann-Koch reaction has been conducted in various aromatic solvents such as benzene, nitrobenzene, chlorobenzene, and halogenated hydrocarbons, or an excess of the aromatic compound to be formylated. U.S. Pat. No. 4,622,429 discloses relatively low yields of formylation product when benzene is used as solvent. U.S. Pat. No. 4,195,040 and German Patent DE403,489 employ chlorobenzene and nitrobenzene, respectively as solvents. Instead of excess aromatic reactant, benzene has been used to some extent in reducing the effects of disproportionation and increasing the yields of alkylbenzaldehyde. In spite of these efforts, a need exists for a Gatterman-Koch-type formylation reaction which reduces the incidence of disproportionation product, but which allows for improved para-product selectivity with respect to current methods.


This invention relates to compositions for use in the treatment of diabetes, for example type-2 diabetes; obesity; and/or metabolic syndrome. Specifically, the invention relates to a composition for use in the treatment of diabetes, the composition comprising at least one of diindolylmethane; indole-3-carbinol; embelin; [6]-gingerol; and [6]-shogaol, or combinations each thereof. Also disclosed is use in the treatment of obesity and use in the treatment of metabolic syndrome.

Diabetes is a major public health challenge with: at least 180 million reported cases of diabetes worldwide—a figure set to more than double by 2030 according to the World Health Organisation (WHO), consumption of 10% of Western healthcare budgets, and around 3.2 million deaths per year resulting from related complications. This alarming increase in incidence, coupled with the failure of established anti-diabetic drugs to tightly manage or control diabetes, demonstrates the market need for new innovation.
The worldwide increase in the incidence of obesity, metabolic syndrome, and type-2 diabetes demands the development of new drugs for safe and effective treatment, limiting the progression to long-term diabetic complications.
G-protein coupled receptor 84, also known as GPR84, (herein, GPR-a1), or inflammation-related G-protein coupled receptor EX33; is a receptor that has been identified on a number of tissues and is activated by medium chain fatty acids. GPR84 is a chemokine receptor that has been identified on peripheral blood leucocytes (neutrophils, T-lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes), spleen, adipocytes, bone marrow and lungs. GPR84 gene knockout in mice has found that the receptor has a role in interleukin-4 (IL-4) gene expression, highlighting the potential of GPR84 as a new therapeutic target, and opening new avenues, such as identification of new specific agonists for GPR84 as new effective treatments for diabetes.

Compositions for use in the treatment of diabetes


The invention provides a method for reconfiguring a burner assembly having an air register, a central burner tip adapted to burn fuel oil, and a plurality of peripheral burner tips adapted to burn a combustion gas. The method is directed to such burner assemblies wherein substantially all of the combustion oxygen is provided by air directed into the air register. The method comprises the steps of replacing the oil-burning central tip with a gas-burning central tip and connecting the central tip to a source of combustion gas. The invention further provides a burner assembly having characteristics of the reconfigured burner assembly prepared from the method of the invention, namely a burner assembly having: an air register, a central burner tip and a plurality of peripheral burner tips, wherein the central burner tip is connected to a combustion gas conduit which has an eductor for drawing combustion oxygen into the central burner tip from a location outside the air register.

Large burner assemblies are used in a wide variety of industrial applications. Such burner assemblies are commonly used, for example, in petroleum refinery operations to supply the large quantities of heat necessary for crude oil distillation.
One particular burner assembly is illustrated in FIG. 1. This burner assembly comprises a cylindrical air register, a large-diameter burner riser disposed along the central axis of the air register, and a plurality of small-diameter burner risers disposed in a circular pattern around the large-diameter burner riser. Typically, fuel oil is burned at a burner tip disposed at the top of the large-diameter burner riser and natural gas or a suitable fuel gas is burned at burner tips disposed at the top of the small-diameter burner risers. Combustion oxygen is provided to all of the burner tips by heated air which is force-fed into the air register by one or more air movers such as blowers or fans.
Operators of this type of burner assembly, however, have frequently found that post-installation attempts to increase the capacity of this type of burner assembly are restricted by the amount of combustion oxygen which can be economically forced into the air register. Thus, when operators have found that their post-installation operating conditions require additional burner capacity, an entirely new burner is often purchased and installed.
Accordingly, there is a need for a method of reconfiguring burner assemblies such as shown in FIG. 1 to provide corresponding burner assemblies with significantly increased capacity.