The present inventive building and the construction method thereof uses a joined-and-filled-in-situ casing system from which to provide the foundation, exterior walls and interior walls of a structure using materials that are high strength, extremely durable, highly insulating and fire-retardant. The present inventive building and the construction method thereof provides a solution to the excessive wastes generated during conventional construction methods by utilizing construction materials that are recycled by being shredded and used as insulating fill. The present inventive building and construction method thereof incorporates an improved electrical wiring system that is particularly suited to the above casing system. The inventive wiring system provides an improved gang-box and wire conduit means that is much easier to install than convention wiring methods. Live wires are encapsulated in a substantially fire-proof medium, and the location of wiring within walls is consistent and hence predictable.

One of the necessities of life is shelter and as a result building construction has traditionally been an enormous and important industry. However, the basic construction method of building a timber framed dwelling has changed relatively little over the many years it has been employed. Changes may take the form of improvements in the tools used, such as pneumatic nail guns replacing the traditional hammer and nail. But in general, substantially the same wood-product based materials and labor intensive timber frame construction dominate the field of building. Consequentially, newly constructed timber framed structures offer only slight structural improvements over structures built years before.
For many decades there was no real impetus to the building industry to devise improvements. Energy and labor costs were stable and the natural resources from which wood-product based materials are derived were thought to be plentiful and nearly inexhaustible. In recent years however, an urgent need has been recognized for improvements to construction. The disadvantages of employing inefficient material and labor usage have become magnified due to the sharply increasing costs of labor, energy, and wood products. It has also become apparent in recent years that the excessive use of wood products may have severely detrimental environmental consequences.
Also, there are many instances where sturdy shelter is required but the construction of conventional timber frame structures is impracticable, such as during military operations, after a natural disaster, or the like. In these instances a fast, durable and easy to construct structure that provides adequate shelter is desirable. The alternatives have been to use tents or prefabricated structures. Tents are usually a dismal failure because they provide only minimum protection from exposure and are prone to collapse. Prefabricated structures are also often inadequate because they are bulky and difficult to transport.
There is also an increasingly pressing demand for adequate shelter in areas where conventional construction is not feasible. Such is the case in poorer countries, or areas where wood-products are not readily available. Dwellings built in these areas are generally relatively primitive, labor intensive, and poorly constructed earthen or brick structures.
Traditional construction methods require many skilled and semi-skilled man hours. Special skills and tools are required for a multitude of construction steps. This has resulted in the specialization of workers in the construction trade. For example, it is common for separate crews with multitudes of workers to be employed to build the foundation, erect the decking and timber frame, hang the windows and doors, install the wiring, install the plumbing, hang the sheet-rock, paint the exterior walls, hang the exterior sheathing, hang the exterior finishing surface, paint the interior of the building, and various other specialized tasks.
The inefficiencies of such a process are numerous. Many workers must be employed and many man hours spent to complete all the conventional construction steps resulting in inflated building costs and excessive time to construct a building. Often a crew that is assigned to one of the construction steps is delayed and idled while the crew that performs the construction step that precedes it finishes its job behind schedule.
In addition to the excessive labor costs, a tremendous amount of wood-products are used to construct conventional buildings. It has been recognized that the overwhelming use of wood-products and the resulting deforestation to obtain these products is environmentally questionable. The cost of these wood-product based materials has continued to rise. The extensive use of wood products for structural members makes a structure susceptible to catastrophic failures due to termites, fire, rot, etc.
Another great disadvantage of conventional construction methods is the inefficient use of materials. Such methods produce a vast amount of scrap and waste material that must be carted away and disposed of in ever-dwindling land fill space. This inefficient use of construction materials is not only environmentally unsound, it also tends to greatly increases the cost of new construction.
Although skyrocketing heating and cooling costs have resulted in attempts at better insulated new construction, the traditional timber framed building still has poor insulating qualities. This drawback is inherent in traditional construction for a variety of reasons. For example, wood has a tendency to expand and contract in response to climatic changes. This causes warpage which creates gaps and makes drafts in traditionally constructed buildings inevitable. Modern ventilation, heating and cooling systems have been developed for the very efficient regulation of air quality and temperature in substantially air-tight structures. Unfortunately for traditionally constructed buildings, the efficiency of these systems depends on a substantially air-tight structure.
The electrical wiring of a conventionally constructed building has changed very little since it was first incorporated into new construction. There have been improvements in the wiring itself such as plastic sheathed wiring replacing metal sheath, but the method of installation remains virtually unchanged. Wiring is snaked through holes bored into the timber framed walls before the sheet-rock is hung. The wiring is terminated at locations where switches or outlets are desired. Among the disadvantages of this method is that there is no easy way to know where the wires are once the sheet-rock has been hung. This deficiency can have grave consequences to an unsuspecting homeowner who happens upon a live wire when drilling or hammering into a wall.
Generally, a conventional method of constructing a building begins with the construction of a foundation. To construct a conventional foundation requires many steps such as: (i) excavating an area for the foundation, (ii) pouring concrete for the foundation footing, (iii) constructing forms for a foundation wall on both sides of the foundation footing after the setting thereof, (iv) pouring concrete into the forms, (v) removing the forms after the concrete has set, (vi) carrying fill into the excavated area to form a base for pouring concrete for a concrete floor, (vii) pouring concrete for the concrete floor, and (viii) back filling around the perimeter of the foundation.
Conventional foundations are expensive to build especially because of the time and labor required in setting up construction forms, waiting for the cement to set, then removing the forms before moving on to the next step. These foundations are also prone to leaks due to ground water and storm runoff seeping through the inevitable cracks that form in the foundation's concrete walls and floor.
After the foundation has been constructed, the next step in a conventional building construction method is to build a conventional decking supported by the foundation. Next, it is preferable to lay out a covering over the conventional deck to act as a vapor barrier and provide insulation. Typically, this covering is a red-rosen paper or the like. Next a timber frame defining the exterior walls of the structure is erected. Individual segments of lumber are cut to size and nailed together to form a structural frame. Frames for windows and doors are included in the exterior wall frame. The next step in the construction of a conventional building is to hang the doors and windows in the frames built into the exterior wall frame. The next step is to erect timber frames defining the interior wall structures. As with the exterior wall frame, a multitude of individual segments of lumber are cut and nailed together to form a structural frame. Frames for doors are built into the interior wall frames and the interior doors are hung.
The next step in a conventional construction method is to construct a conventional roof supported by the exterior walls and load-bearing interior walls. Next a sheathing material, such as plywood, is hung on the outer side of the exterior wall frame to create the exterior wall surfaces of the building. The next step in a conventional construction method is known generally as roughing, to run electrical wiring and plumbing under and through the conventional decking and within the exterior wall frames and interior wall frames, terminating the electrical wires and pipes at roughly where switches, electrical outlets, and plumbing fixtures of the finished building will be. Next insulation is installed, such as sheets of fiberglass between the studs making up the exterior wall frames.
The next step in a conventional construction method is to hang an interior wall material such as sheet-rock on the inner side of the exterior wall frame and both sides of the interior wall frames to create the interior wall surfaces of the building. After the interior wall surfaces have been hung, the next step is to tape the joints between the sections of hung sheet-rock. Taping includes the steps of applying a paper tape to cover the joint and smoothing a thin layer of joint compound material over the tape, thus creating a smooth and continuous surface spanning the length of each interior wall.
While the inside work is being done, the outside finished surface of the building is secured to sheathing hung on the exterior walls. This outside surface is typically clap-board, brick-face, aluminum siding or the like. Finally, the interior and exterior surfaces are primed and painted and the scrap generated during the construction is hauled away.
Conventional construction methods have many drawbacks. Labor costs due to many man-hours and specialized crews, material costs, wastes generated, excessive use of limited natural resources, inherently poor insulation qualities of the structure, excessive time to construct, etc., make conventional construction methods inefficient at best. The wastes generated by conventional construction methods place an increasing burden on limited land fill space. The extensive use of wood products for framing lumber, sheathing material and the like by conventional construction methods results in a structure that is difficult to insulate and is prone to drafts and catastrophic failure.

Building with casing system construction and construction method thereof


Compositions for prevention of Foot and Mouth Disease (FMD) are provided, comprising an antigen component in the amount equivalent to 0.5-20 μg FMD virus and an adjuvant component comprising oil, an immunostimulatory oligonucleotide, and a polycationic carrier. Methods of using the composition, as well as the methods of reducing FMD persistence are also provided.

Foot and mouth disease (FMD) is an extremely contagious viral disease of cloven-hoofed ungulates which include domestic animals (cattle, pigs, sheep, goats, and others) and a variety of wild animals. The most prominent disease symptoms in FMDV-infected cattle include vesicular lesions of the epithelium of the mouth, tongue, teats and feet. Although some countries, among them United States, Canada, Mexico, Australia and most of Europe, are considered to be free of FMD, the disease is distributed worldwide and has a great economic impact on the export industry. Indeed, several economically devastating outbreaks have occurred over the past decade on almost every continent.
Currently killed-antigen FMDV vaccines are necessarily produced in expensive biological containment facilities, by growing large volumes (thousands of liters) of virulent FMDV that has been adapted to grow in cells, which can be sometimes difficult. This process has resulted in escape of virulent virus from the manufacturing facility causing costly outbreaks in livestock (see Cottam et al. 2008. PLoS Pathogen 4:1-8). After growth, virus is then inactivated using chemicals and antigen concentrates are prepared, followed by purification steps required to remove contaminant proteins. It is difficult to differentiate infected from vaccinated animals (DIVA) through serological diagnostic tests. There is little to no cross protection across serotypes and subtypes requiring the appropriate matching between vaccine and circulating field strains to achieve protection. Despite these shortcomings of the vaccines, billions of doses are manufactured every year around the world. Their use has been the basis for eradicating FMDV from Europe and for controlling the disease in many parts of the world through mass vaccination campaigns. Creation of genetically engineered viruses containing a backbone and suitable restriction sites partially addresses the shortcomings of inactivated vaccines as restriction sites provide loci for introduction of capsid proteins of different FMD strains. Nevertheless, the cost of antigen is the greatest contributor to the cost of FMD and most other vaccines.
The problem of FMD control is further exacerbated by the phenomenon of virus persistence. Briefly, historically, inactivated FMD vaccines have been unable to prevent persistence or carrier state (defined as virus shedding past 28 days following infection and/or exposure). Shedding animals, while not exhibiting any FMD symptoms, could remain a source of FMD infection to other animals. As such, commonly accepted disease control practices require slaughter of all animals in a vaccinated herd even if they do not have clinical signs of disease.
As such, methods and compositions which lead to vaccines with a lower antigen load without compromising efficiency and/or reducing or eliminating FMD persistence are still desired.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

United States of America, as represented by the Secretary of Agriculture


This invention relates to magnetic assemblies and, in particular, to assemblies which are useful for inducing magnetic fields within vacuum chambers. Thus a magnetic assembly, generally indicated at 10, includes the rectangular magnetically soft core 11 carrying windings 12, which together form the main planar electromagnet, generally indicated at 13, and immediately adjacent the edges of the magnet 13 are placed auxiliary coils 14. Coils 14 are each formed from windings 15 wound around oblate cores 16 and it would be noted that they project upwardly above the upper surface of the planar magnet 13. Pole pieces 17 are attached to the ends of the planar magnet 13 and these two project above the upper surface of the planar magnet 13. The assembly is completed by mounting brackets 18.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to magnet assemblies and particularly assemblies which are useful for inducing magnetic fields within vacuum chambers.
2. Background of Invention
In the fabrication of thin film magnetic devices—sensors, magnet heads, MRAM magnetic materials are often deposited by sputtering. During such processes, it is also, frequently, a requirement that a magnetic field is applied to the substrate so that the resulting films are magnetically aligned. It will be appreciated, therefore, that if the magnetic field across the substrate is not completely aligned, problems of non-uniformity will arise.
Considerable thought therefore has been given to the design of magnetic field generators for use in connection with vacuum deposition systems. Although either permanent magnets or electromagnetics can be used, the latter are preferred, because they can be switched on or off or otherwise modulated. Typical field strengths are in the range of 4 to 8 kA.m−1. For thin film applications, the component of the magnetic field perpendicular to the growing film is generally of no concern. However alignment of the in plane film needs to be typically no more than +/−2° over the area of the substrate as in plane non-uniformity is often required to be less than +/−5%.
Whilst large coils placed externally on opposite sides of the vacuum chamber, might well provide the necessary configuration, they are very bulky and require high power and only provide a magnetic field in a single plane or direction.
It is generally preferred to mount the field generator in close proximity to the substrate support. The approaches generally fall into two types. The first has two opposing pole pieces, connected by a low reluctance magnetic circuit incorporating one or more coils, which can be located beneath or adjacent to the substrate support. The disadvantage of this approach is that the pole pieces must lie in, or very close, to the plane of the substrate. They must also extend laterally well beyond the substrate in order to project an acceptably uniaxial field across the substrate. They thus encompass a relatively large rectangular space surrounding the substrate and this can interfere with other hardware within the process environment. Such a configuration is shown in FIG. 1.
A development of this approach is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 6,545,580. It will be noted that in order to achieve acceptable field alignment, additional L-shaped "pole pieces" are required. Since these must be located at or close to the plane of the substrate, much of the advantage of the upward projection is lost.
The second approach is illustrated in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,630,916 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,042,707, which aim to project a field from below the substrate support. They utilise a generally planar coil—i.e. a coil wound around a soft magnetic core in the form of a flat plate. The weakness of the planar coil approach, as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,916, is illustrated in FIG. 2, which is that the coil must extend significantly beyond the edge of the substrate, if uniformity over the substrate is to be maintained. In U.S. Pat. No. 5,630,916 it is stated that the coil should be at least 50% larger than the substrate in order to achieve acceptable field uniformity.


The present invention comprises an improved jejunal feeding tube comprising semi rigid tubing attached to the distal end of a percutaneous endoscopic feeding tube. The tubing further contains equidistantly spaced bushing grips on the jejunal feeding tube for ease of placement and securing the jejunal feeding tube to the small intestine.

There are many patients affected with disease or other physiological conditions that for one reason or another are unable to receive nutrition normally through the mouth which is then swallowed and broken down and absorbed by the digestive system. People suffering from stroke, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, inflammation or other infirmities, often cannot properly chew or swallow their food or medication which must then be delivered to the patient in another fashion if starvation and malnutrition are to be avoided.
Gastroenterologic feeding tubes have been known for years and are inserted into the stomach by any one of a number of different methods. Generally, a catheter is placed in the body by way of the mouth and using suture thread, is pulled downward into the stomach and either left there or is pushed further down into the jejunum of the small intestine. The feeding tubes may also enter the body either by way of the nasal passageway or by means of a gastrostomy.
In a gastrostomy, a surgical procedure is performed on the abdomen wherein the opening is cut through the skin, facia and stomach wall. A tube is inserted through the opening so as to allow food to be provided directly to the stomach or intestines.
Recently, percutaneous endoscopic gastrostomy (PEG) was developed which makes placement of the enteral feeding tube within the stomach or small intestine a great deal easier. Here, an endoscope is used to visualize the desired insertion site on the gastric mucosa and the subsequent creation of a surgical opening into the stomach through the abdominal wall. The percutaneous endoscopic techniques used to place enteral feeding tubes within the patient are generally carried out in one of three ways.
In a conventional "pull" procedure, an endoscope is inserted through the esophagus of the patient, and the stomach is then inflated. Using the endoscope to locate an appropriate site in the stomach wall, a cannula or needle is then inserted through the stomach wall, and a string inserted through the needle. The needle may then be removed. The string is grasped by means of a snare passing through the endoscope, and the endoscope and snare are pulled up through the esophagus, such that one end of the string comes out through the mouth, leaving the other end protruding through the opening made by the needle. A gastrostomy catheter is then tied to the end of the string which protrudes from the mouth, conventionally by means of another string attached at one end of the gastrostomy catheter.
The catheter is then pulled down into the stomach by pulling on the end of the string which protrudes through the opening in the stomach and the catheter is pulled through the opening as well. The catheter is usually provided with a tapered dilator at the leading end to assist in passing through the stomach wall. The catheter is held in place by a retention means against the interior of the abdominal wall. Another retention means is placed on the exterior, so as to hold the catheter in place against the stomach. The endoscope is reinserted to ensure proper placement of the catheter.
In the technique set forth by Russell, sometimes referred to as the "push" technique, a needle is first inserted into the stomach (at a site located by endoscopy, as with the pull procedure), and then a guide wire is inserted through a lumen in the needle. A small incision is then made in the fascia next to the guide wire, after which an interiorly lubricated sheath having a splittable seam is guided, along with a tapered dilator, over the guide wire and into the stomach. Once the sheath is in place, the dilator and guide wire are removed, and a balloon catheter is inserted through the lubricated central lumen of the sheath. A distal balloon of the catheter is then inflated and the sheath is peeled or split away along its seam or seams, thus leaving the catheter emplaced in the stomach. Sutures are provided to maintain tension of the balloon against the peritoneum.
When the enteral feeding tubes are to be placed in the jejunum or small intestine, generally some additional steps are required. After the enteral feeding tube has been placed through the ostomy and into the stomach, the loop of the suture aids in the proper positioning of the distal end of the feeding tube within portions of the gastrointestinal tract beyond the pylorus valve. Generally, the loop is grasped by endoscopic forceps. By manipulation of the forceps, the loop and the distal end of the enteral feeding tube are properly positioned within either the duodenum or the jejunum.
There are, however, certain drawbacks to this prior art, loop-containing attachment. First, the suture is intended to lead and extend in a forward direction from the distal end of the enteral feeding tube. The suture is, however, made of a non-rigid fabric. For this reason, as the enteral feeding tube is inserted through the PEG tube, or cannula within the ostomy, the suture has a tendency to trail the feeding tube. This tendency causes the suture to become reversed, and to "double-over" the sides of the feeding tube. The suture thus becomes lodged between the enteral feeding tube and the PEG tube, this "doubling over" of the suture inhibits the free movement of the enteral feeding tube through the PEG tube.
Yet another problem arises when the feeding tube has been inserted within the body of the patient. As discussed above, the loop of the suture is grasped by a pair of endoscopic forceps. As it is moved through the body, the suture loop tends to become wetted by and absorbs various body fluids. When the enteral feeding tube is properly positioned within the duodenum or jejunum and the endoscopic forceps are opened to release the wetted suture, that suture may nevertheless stick to the forceps. As a result, the suture and the enteral feeding tube to which it is attached may follow the forceps while the forceps are being withdrawn from the body cavity. In this manner, the enteral feeding tube may be moved from its intended position.
In a third technique which essentially is a surgical one, the tip of the enteral feeding tube is placed in the stomach and is grasped by a forceps or wire loop. In this manner, the tip of the tube is manipulated surgically through the ostomy and is directed from the stomach through the pylorus and into a position within the jejunum which comprises the upper third of the small intestine. However, since the feeding portion of the tube is of relatively small diameter and made of smooth plastic, there is often a great deal of difficulty encountered in grasping, moving, directing and holding the tip of the feeding tube while it is within the lubricous and slippery walls of the gastrointestinal environment. It would therefore be advantageous to provide a means that allows for a better hold of the tube without providing additional objectionable protrusions that might irritate, damage or tear the soft mucosal linings of the esophagus, stomach and small intestine during gastrointestinal implantation.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,098,378 to Piontek et al. discloses and claims a replacement gastrostomy tube for jejunal feeding in which an expandable component of the tube is located at the distal end thereof. Fluid is passed through a fluid flow channel which enters the expandable component and inflates it like a balloon. In this fashion, the balloon and an adjacent retention device are pressed against the wall of the stomach, securing the feeding tube in the stoma.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,152,756 to Quinn et al. discloses an improved enteral feeding tube in which a bulbous extension member is attached to the distal end of the feeding tube. The extension is comprised of a stem portion that projects beyond the end of the tube parallel to the axis of the tube and forms a large spherical tip at its end. In this manner, the stem extension can be more easily grasped by forceps for surgical placement.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,100,384 to McBrian et al. discloses a device for percutaneous intubation in which the feeding tube comprises an inflatable lumen that expands as a water swellable foam material contained therein absorbs water from the gastrointestinal cavity after intubation. A wire or suture loop is disposed at the terminal end of the feeding tube lumen for attachment to a wire used in pulling the tube through the esophagus and stomach during the intubation procedure.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,037,387 also to Quinn et al. discloses a method for positioning an enteral feeding tube within a patient's body and a tube for use therein comprising a flexible polyurethane tube and a rigid stem portion at the distal end thereof that forms an outlet from which the nutritional fluid flows. The stem itself ends in a spherical tip or ring which prevents the possibility of a puncture of the gastrointestinal tract as the enteral feeding tube is pulled.
None of these prior art gastrostomy tubes provide an easy and effective means to enable the surgeon to quickly and safely place the tube within the jejunum. Moreover, none of the prior art methods or devices allow the surgeon to safely locate and grasp the distal end of the feeding tube without posing a risk of injury to the organ walls and fascia. Nothing suggests a means whereby despite the slippery and lubricous environment of the gastrointestinal tract, the tube can be firmly grasped and directed into the jejunum without the risk of getting caught or lodged within the pyloric valve or duodenum.


An information processing terminal includes a display, an identifier, an arrangement data generator, an obtainer, and a display processor. The identifier identifies a model of an I/O device that includes a plurality of input/output terminals. The arrangement data generator generates arrangement data that shows arrangement of the plurality of input/output terminals, based on an identification result of the identifier. The obtainer obtains an audio processing parameter corresponding to each of the plurality of input/output terminals. The display processor displays the audio processing parameter corresponding to each of the plurality of input/output terminals on the display, based on the arrangement data.

This disclosure relates to an information processing terminal, an audio system, and an information processing method.
An I/O device including a plurality of input/output terminals connects acoustic devices such as a large number of microphones. A user such as a sound engineer performs patch setting to assign each of the plurality of input/output terminals to a predetermined channel.
As the number of channels and the number of input/output terminals are increased, it is difficult for the user to grasp what type of audio processing parameter is assigned to which input/output terminal. The user, when looking at an assignment table written on paper, for example, has grasped what type of audio processing parameter has been set for which input/output terminal. However, when assignment is changed, it is necessary to revise the contents written on the paper and it is also necessary to confirm that the contents on the paper and the contents of the actual assignment are in agreement.

Information processing terminal, audio system, and information processing method for assigning audio processing parameter to a plurality of input/output terminals


An uplink capacity is increased by a method in which more than two mobile stations simultaneously use a radio resource allocated to one mobile station. A method of allocating a radio resource in an orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system comprises receiving data associated with a radio resource allocation map from a base station, wherein the radio allocation map comprises control parameters for transmitting uplink data to the base station. The control parameters comprises orthogonal pilot pattern indicator for using orthogonal pilot patterns associated with supporting at least concurrent dual transmission by at least one mobile station, and for use in the same frequency band and same time duration. The orthogonal pilot patterns comprises at least a minus pilot being used for an uplink basic allocation unit. The mobile station then transmits uplink data to the base station by using the orthogonal pilot patterns.

In an OFDM system, a high speed serial signal is divided into several parallel signals and are modulated using orthogonal sub-carriers for transmission and reception. Therefore, the orthogonal sub-carrier divided into narrow bandwidths undergoes a flat fading and accordingly has excellent characteristics for a frequency selective fading channel. Since a transmitting device maintains orthogonality between sub-carriers by using a simple method such as a guard interval interleaving, a receiving device does not need a complicated equalizer or a rake receiver generally used in a DS-CDMA (Direct Sequence-Code Division Multiplexing Access) method. The OFDM system with such advanced characteristics has been adopted as a standardized modulation type in a radio LAN, such as IEEE802.11a or HIPERLAN, and a fixed broadband wireless access, such as IEEE802.16. The OFDM system has once been investigated as one of applicable technologies of a modulation and demodulation/multiple access method in a UMTS (Universal Mobile Telecommunications system).
Recently, various multiple access methods based on the OFDM have been actively researched. The OFDMA system has been actively investigated and studied as a promising candidate technology for achieving a next generation mobile communication satisfying with user requirements remarkably enlarged such as an ultra high speed multimedia service. The OFDMA system uses a two dimensional access method by coupling a time division access technology to a frequency division access technology.
FIG. 1 illustrates an allocation of a radio resource according to the conventional art. Referring to FIG. 1, in a radio communications system, many users divide and use limited uplink/downlink radio resources. However, many users do not divide and use a radio resource that is allocated to one user. That is, there may not exist any method in which the same resource is allocated to two or more users.
For instance, in a TDMA (Time Division Multiplexing Access) system, a certain time interval is allocated to a user, and accordingly a scheduling is carried out such that only the user can use radio resources in the specific allocated time interval. In a CDMA (Code Division Multiplexing Access) system, the scheduling is also carried out so as to allocate a difference code for each user. In other words, one code is allocated to only one user. In the OFDM/OFDMA system, a certain user can use an allocated region that comprises a two dimensional map represented by time and frequency.
FIG. 2 illustrates a data frame configuration according to a conventional OFDM/OFDMA radio communications system. Referring to FIG. 2, a horizontal axis indicates time by a symbol unit, while the vertical axis indicates frequency by a subchannel unit. The subchannel refers to a bundle of a plurality of sub-carriers.
An OFDMA physical layer divides active sub-carriers into groups, and the active sub-carriers are transmitted to different receiving ends respectively by the group. Thus, the group of sub-carriers transmitted to one receiving end is referred to as the subchannel. The sub-carriers configuring each subchannel may be adjacent to one another or an equal interval away from one another.
In FIG. 2, slots allocated to each user are defined by a data region of a two dimensional space and refers to a set of successive subchannels allocated by a burst. One data region in the OFDMA is indicated as a rectangular shape which is determined by time coordinates and subchannel coordinates. This data region may be allocated to an uplink of a specific user or a base station can transmit the data region to a specific user over a downlink.
A downlink sub-frame is initiated by a preamble used for synchronization and equalization in a physical layer, and subsequently defines an overall frame structure by a downlink MAP (DL-MAP) message and an uplink MAP (UL-MAP) message both using a broadcasting type which define position and usage of a burst allocated to the downlink and the uplink.
The DL-MAP message defines a usage of a burst allocated with respect to a downlink interval in a burst mode physical layer. The UL-MAP message defines a usage of a burst allocated with respect to an uplink interval therein. An information element (IE) configuring the DL-MAP includes a DIUC (Downlink Interval Usage Code), a CID (Connection ID) and information of a burst location (for example, subchannel offset, symbol offset, the number of subchannels and the number of symbols). A downlink traffic interval of a user side is divided by the IE.
Alternatively, a usage of an IE configuring the UL-MAP message is defined by a UIUC (Uplink Interval Usage Code) for each CID, and a location of each interval is defined by a 'duration'. Here, a usage by an interval is defined according to the UIUC value used in the UL-MAP, and each interval begins at a point as far as the 'duration' defined in the UL-MAP IE from a previous IE beginning point.
DCD (Downlink Channel Descriptor) message and UCD (Uplink Channel Descriptor) message refer to physical layer related parameters to be applied to each burst interval allocated to the downlink and the uplink, which include a modulation type, a FEC code type, and the like. In addition, Parameters required (e.g., K and R values of R-S code) are defined according to various downlink error correction code types. Such parameters are provided by a burst profile defined for each UIUC and DIUC within the UCD and the DCD.
On the other hand, a MIMO (Multi-input Multi-output) technique in the OFDM/OFDMA system is classified into a diversity method and a multiplexing method. The diversity method is a technique in which signals having undergone different rayleigh fading are coupled to one another by a plurality of transmitting/receiving antennas to compensate a channel deep between paths, thereby leading to an improvement of reception performance. A diversity benefit to be obtained by this technique is divided into a transmission diversity and a reception diversity depending on whether it is a transmitting end or a receiving end. When N-numbered transmitting antennas and M-numbered receiving antennas are provided, a maximum diversity benefits corresponds to MN by coupling MN-numbered individual fading channels in maximum.
The multiplexing method increases a transmission speed by making hypothetical subchannels between transmitting and receiving antennas and transmitting respectively different data through each transmitting antenna. Unlike the diversity method, the multiplexing method cannot achieve sufficient benefits when only one of transmitting and receiving ends uses a multi-antenna. In the multiplexing method, the number of individual transmission signals to be simultaneously transmitted indicates the multiplexing benefit, which is the same as a minimum value of the number of transmitting end antennas and the number of receiving end antennas.
There also exists a CSM (Collaborative Spatial Multiplexing) method as one of the multiplexing method. The CSM method allows two terminals to use the same uplink, thereby saving uplink radio resources.
Methods for allocating radio resources of the uplink or downlink in the OFDM/OFDMA system, namely, allocating data bursts are divided into a typical MAP method and an HARQ method according to whether the HARQ method is supported or not.
In the method for allocating the bursts in the general downlink MAP, there is shown a square composed of a time axis and a frequency axis. In this method, an initiation symbol offset, an initiation subchannel offset, the number of symbols used and the number of subchannels used are informed. A method for allocating the bursts in sequence to a symbol axis is used in the uplink, and accordingly, if the number of symbols used is informed, the uplink bursts can be allocated.
The HARQ MAP, unlike the general MAP, uses a method for allocating the uplink and the downlink in sequence to a subcarrier axis. In the HARQ MAP, only the length of burst is informed. By this method, the bursts are allocated in sequence. An initiation position of the burst refers to a position where the previous burst ends, and the burst takes up radio resources as much as the length allocated from the initiation position. The OFDM/OFDMA system supports the HARQ using the HARQ MAP.
In the HARQ MAP, a position of the HARQ MAP is informed by an HARQ MAP pointer IE included in the DL-MAP. Accordingly, the bursts are allocated in sequence to the subchannel axis of the downlink. The initiation position of the burst refers to the position where the previous burst ends and the burst takes up radio resources as much as the length allocated from the initiation position. This is also applied to the uplink.
FIG. 3 illustrates an uplink radio resource (data burst) that is allocated to a terminal using a typical DL-MAP according to a conventional art.
In case of a typical DL-MAP, a first burst subsequent to a position of the UL-MAP is allocated to the terminal. The UL-MAP allocates an uplink data burst by the UL-MAP IE.
In the CSM method of the OFDMA technique based on IEEE802.16d and e, a base station in the typical DL-MAP method informs each terminal of data burst positions by a MIMO UL basic IE with the data format as shown in Table 1, and allocates the same radio resource to each terminal.
In order to notice the use of the MIMO UL basic IE, UIUC=15 is used as an extended UIUC. There are 16 different values to be represented as the extended UIUC.
TABLE 1SizeSyntax(bits)NotesMIMO_UL_Basic_IE( ){Extended DIUC4MIMO = 0x02Length4Length of the message inbytes(variable)Num_Assign4Number ofburst assignmentFor(j=0; j<Num_assign;j++){CID16SS basic CIDUIUC4MIMO_Control1For dual transmissioncapable MSS0: STTD1: SMFor Collaborative SMcapable MSS0: pilot pattern A1: pilot pattern BDuration10In OFDMA slots}}
The MIMO UL basic IE which is used for allocating the same uplink resource to two terminals is used for other conventional MIMOs. When a terminal has more than two antennas, the MIMO UL basic IE informs the terminals which method, namely, a STTD method for obtaining a diversity benefit or an SM method for increasing transmission speed, is used.
The CSM method in the OFDMA technique based on IEEE 802.16d, e can be embodied by the HARQ MAP for an HARQ embodiment. FIG. 4 illustrates an uplink radio resource (data burst) that is allocated to a terminal by using the HARQ-MAP according to a conventional art.
Unlike the method for informing every bursts by the DL-MAP, in the method as shown in FIG. 4, an HARQ existence is informed by an HARQ MAP pointer IE of the DL-MAP IE for an HARQ exclusive. The HARQ MAP pointer IE informs of a modulation of the HARQ MAP, and coding state and size of the HARQ MAP.
The HARQ MAP is composed of a compact DL-MAP/UL-MAP informing of position and size of the HARQ burst, and, in particular, uses a MIMO compact UL IE for the MIMO. The MIMO compact UL IE is used by being attached to a position subsequent to a 'compact UL-MAP IE for normal subchannel' for allocating the conventional subchannel and a 'compact UL-MAP IE for band AMC' for allocating the band AMC. As shown in FIG. 4, the MIMO compact UL IE has only a function of a previously allocated subchannel.
In the aforementioned conventional art, when additional radio resource is required by the increased demand of the uplink, there is no appropriate way to satisfy such requirement. In that case, adding a frequency resource may be considered. However, because a base station position must be considered and it affects on the entire system, it is not regarded as a preferred alternative for increasing uplink resources. More preferred method is to allow more than two user to simultaneously use the existing resources that are previously allocated to one user.

Allocation of radio resource in orthogonal frequency division multiplexing system


An object of the present invention is to provide a non-human animal model unresponsive to a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide, and a method for screening an inhibitor or a promoter for a response to a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein with the use of the non-human animal model. A non-human animal model whose function of a gene that encodes a protein such as TLR6 that specifically recognizes a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein is deficient on its chromosome, for example, a TLR6 knockout mouse, is generated. With the use of the non-human animal model unresponsive to a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein or an immune cell such as a macrophage derived from the non-human animal model, a subject material and a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein, a response to a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein in the non-human animal model or the immune cell is measured/evaluated, and then an inhibitor or a promoter for a response to that is screened.

It has been known that the Toll gene is required to control dorsoventral patterning during the embryonic development of Drosophila (Cell 52, 269-279, 1988; Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 12, 393-416, 1996), and for antifungal immune responses in adult fly (Cell 86, 973-983, 1996). It has been clarified that the Toll is a type I transmembrane receptor with an extracellular domain containing leucine-rich repeat (LRR) and that its cytoplasmic domain shows high homology to that of a mammalian interleukin-1 receptor (IL-1R) (Nature 351, 355-356, 1991; Annu. Rev. Cell Dev. Biol. 12, 393-416, 1996; J. Leukoc. Biol. 63, 650-657, 1998).
Recently, mammalian homologs of Toll, designated as Toll-like receptors (TLRs), have been identified, and so far, six families including TLR2 and TLR4 have been reported (Nature 388, 394-397, 1997; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 95, 588-593, 1998; Blood 91, 4020-4027, 1998; Gene 231, 59-65, 1999). It has been known that the TLR families, as in the case of the IL-1R mentioned above, recruit IL-1R-associated kinase (IRAK) through the adapter protein MyD88 and activate TRAF6, and then activate NF-êB in the downstream (J. Exp. Med. 187, 2097-2101, 1998; Mol. Cell 2, 253-258, 1998; Immunity 11, 115-122, 1999). Further, the role of the TLR families in mammals is also believed to participate in congenital immune recognition as pattern recognition receptors (PRRs), which recognize bacterial cell common structures (Cell 91, 295-298, 1997).
It has been reported that one of such pathogen-associated molecular patterns (PAMPs) to be recognized by the PRRs is a lipopolysaccharide (LPS), a major component of the outer membrane of Gram negative bacteria (Cell 91, 295-298, 1997), that the LPS stimulates host cells and makes them produce various proinflammatory cytokines including TNFá, IL-1, and IL-6 (Adv. Immunol. 28, 293-450, 1979; Annu. Rev. Immunol. 13, 437-457, 1995), and that the LPS captured by LPS-binding protein (LBP) is delivered to CD14 on the cell surface (Science 249, 1431-1433, 1990; Annu. Rev. Immunol. 13, 437-457, 1995). The inventors of the present invention have constructed TLR4 knockout and TLR2 knockout mice, and have reported that the TLR4 knockout mouse is unresponsive to LPS, a major component of the outer membrane of Gram negative bacteria mentioned above (J. Immunol. 162, 3749-3752, 1999) and that a macrophage of the TLR2 knockout mouse decreased the reactivity of the TLR2 knockout mouse to the cell wall of Gram positive bacteria and peptidoglycan, a component of the cell wall (Immunity, 11, 443-451, 1999).
On the other hand, Mycoplasma is the smallest microorganism that can self-propagate, and is biologically classified into bacteria. However, unlike other bacteria, Mycoplasma does not have a cell wall, and therefore, it shows polymorphology and is unresponsive to cell wall synthesis inhibitors such as penicillin and cephem. Though there are seven kinds of Mycoplasma which are often separated from human, only Mycoplasma pneumoniae shows apparent pathogenicity and is known to cause respiratory infections such as upper respiratory infection, bronchitis and pneumonia. Recently, the present inventors have revealed that a bacterial cell component such as a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide causes vital reaction via TLR2 and MyD88 signaling pathways (J. Immunol. 164, 554-557, 2000). However, a protein that specifically recognizes a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide has been unknown, and consequently, the molecular mechanism that a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide activates immune cells has not been elucidated sufficiently.
Though in vivo responses to bacterial cell components are expected to vary depending on the difference of expression levels of each TLR on the cell surface, the contribution of individual members of the TLR family to signaling by bacterial cell components' stimuli in vivo remains to be elucidated. In addition, though it is known that a water-insoluble lipoprotein/lipopeptide that is present on a biomembrane etc. activates immune cells, a protein that specifically recognizes a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide has been unknown. An object of the present invention is to provide a non-human animal model unresponsive to a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide, whose function of a gene that encodes a protein that specifically recognizes a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide is deficient on its chromosome, particularly a non-human animal whose function of the TLR6 gene is deficient on its chromosome, which is useful for elucidating the contribution of individual members of the TLR family to signaling by stimulation with a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide in vivo, especially the role of TLR6 in vivo, and a method for screening an inhibitor or a promoter for a response to a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide with the use of the non-human animal model.
As aforementioned, as to TLR family in mammals, which is involved in congenital immune recognition as a pattern recognition receptor which recognizes bacterial cell common structures, six members of them (TLR1-6) have been reported (Nature 388, 394-397, 1997; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 95, 588-593, 1998; Gene 231, 59-65, 1999). However, a receptor that specifically recognizes a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide has been unknown. The present inventors have generated TLR6 konckout mice as follows: cDNA of TLR6 which had been identified was isolated from mouse gene library; a genetic site containing an intracellular domain and a transmembrane domain of the TLR6 gene was replaced with a neomycin-resistant gene, and a HSV-tk gene was introduced into each C-terminal side respectively, and ES cell clones doubly resistant to G418 and ganciclovir were screened; the ES cell clones were injected into blastocysts of C57BL/6 mice; TLR6 knockout mice whose function of TLR6 genes is deficient on their chromosomes were born through the germline at the expected Mendelian ratios. Subsequently the present inventors have found that TLR6 is a receptor protein that specifically recognizes a mycoplasma-derived lipoprotein/lipopeptide by comparing/analyzing the TLR6 knockout mice, wild-type mice and TLR2 knockout mice, and the present invention has completed.

Nonhuman animal model non-responsive to mycoplasma-origin lipoprotein/lipopeptide


A first aggregation node in communication with the first network and the second network, the source node and internal nodes of the first network only having knowledge of each other and of the first aggregation node. The system includes a second aggregate node in communication with the second network and the third network, the internal nodes of the second network only having knowledge of each other and the first and second aggregate nodes, the destination node and the internal nodes of the third network only having knowledge of each other and the second aggregation node, the first and second aggregation nodes only having knowledge of each other, the destination node receiving the data from the source node using a link state routing protocol and shortest path bridging through the first second and third networks and the first and second aggregation nodes.

Numerous people have publicly claimed that there are serious issues with the number of adjacencies that may arise as a result of per-VLAN instances of any link-state routing protocol (such as IS-IS or OSPF). Yet per-VLAN instancing is—by far—the simplest and most elegant approach to using a link state routing protocol for determining paths to be used in shortest path bridging.
Approaches discussed thus far—that may be used to deal with this—are all essentially based on either limiting the scale to which shortest path bridging might extend in conjunction with VLANs, or complicating the link state routing interactions by introducing an un-natural divergence between the real VLAN topology and the effective forwarding paths to be applied.
These concerns stem from a belief that as many as 4K VLANs may be configured with a large overlap among edge bridges in VLAN membership, forcing as many as 16M adjacencies to be potentially maintained at each edge bridge.

Method and system for telecommunications including self-organizing scalable Ethernet using IS-IS hierarchy


A semiconductor memory device includes a memory block with string units including a plurality of memory strings of memory cell transistors connected in series. Word lines are connected memory cell transistors in a same row and bit lines are respectively connected to one of the memory strings in each string unit. The bit lines are divided into different groups. A control circuit performs erasing on of the memory cell transistors in the memory block. The control circuit executes the erase verification on only a subset of memory strings in each string unit of the memory block rather than all memory strings.

In recent years, semiconductor memory devices, such as NAND type FLASH memory, have started to be made as a three-dimensional, stacked structure due to a demand for miniaturization and larger storage capacities. In NAND type FLASH memory, a memory cell transistor can be configured as a single-level cell (SLC) capable of storing 1-bit data (2 values) or a multi-level cell (MLC) capable of storing 2-bit data (4 values), a triple-level cell (TLC) capable of storing 3-bit data (8 values), or a quad-level cell (QLC) capable of storing 4-bit data (16 values).
Data erasing of such the NAND type FLASH memory is performed in block units, and whether or not the memory cell transistor after the erasing process is in an erase state is checked in an erase verification step. There is a demand to reduce a processing time of this erase verification step.

Semiconductor memory device with erase verification on memory strings in a memory block


A method of operating a communication system is disclosed. An access gateway sends an authentication request to an authentication server. The access gateway receives an authentication response from the authentication server that includes a suppress record attribute. In response to the suppress record attribute, the access gateway disables an accounting record function. A communication system is disclosed. An access gateway sends an authentication request to an authentication server. The authentication server provides an authentication response that includes a suppress record attribute. The access gateway disables an accounting record function in response to the suppress record attribute.

Telecommunication companies are generally commercial entities. As such, telecommunication companies track each subscriber's activities on their network so that subscribers are charged appropriately. For voice telephone calls, the telecommunication company may create call detail records (CDRs) to assist in tracking a subscriber's local, long distance, or roaming usage. Likewise, for data services, a telecommunication company may create usage detail records (UDRs) to assist in tracking a subscriber's data usage.
In the wireless communication industry, exciting new technologies and services are being deployed. For example, high performance or next generation push-to-talk services allow mobile telephones to connect to each other in less than one second. This sub-second connection time gives mobile phones a user experience that is similar to a "walkie-talkie." Mobile web browsing, image and video transmission, and mobile email are other examples of recent technologies and services communication companies may offer. Because many users are willing to pay a premium for these services, communication companies create billing records for these services to assist in charging subscribers.
Overview
A method of operating a communication system is disclosed. An access gateway sends an authentication request to an authentication server. The access gateway receives an authentication response from the authentication server that includes a suppress record attribute. In response to the suppress record attribute, the access gateway disables an accounting record function.
A communication system is disclosed. An access gateway sends an authentication request to an authentication server. The authentication server provides an authentication response that includes a suppress record attribute. The access gateway disables an accounting record function in response to the suppress record attribute.


A particle coated with a nonlamellar material such as a nonlamellar crystalline material, a nonlamellar amorphous material, or a nonlamellar semi-crystalline material includes an internal matrix core having at least one a nanostructured liquid phase, or at least on nanostructured liquid crystalline phase or a combination of the two is used for the delivery of active agents such as pharmaceuticals, nutrients, pesticides, etc. The coated particle can be fabricated by a variety of different techniques where the exterior coating is a nonlamellar material such as a nonlamellar crystalline material, a nonlamellar amorphous material, or a nonlamellar semi-crystalline material.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to coated particles and to methods of making and using them. These coated particles have application in the targeting and release of one or more materials into selected environments, the absorption of one or more materials from selected environments and the adsorption of one or more materials from selected environments.
2. Related Art
Two particle technologies—polymer-coated particles and liposomes—are of general interest.
Polymer-coated particles have been very important in the development of useful microparticles and of controlled-release vehicles generally. In certain circumstances polymers have coating and spreading properties that provide for good encapsulation of various matrices, and they are available in a range of chemistries and molecular weights. Certain polymeric coatings are of such utility and low toxicity that approval has been obtained for their use even in injectable products within the pharmaceutical industry, most notably polylactic-glycolic acid copolymers, and the usefulness of polymeric coatings in oral products is well-established, as in the cases of Eudragits, gelatin, and a number of natural gums. In many settings in fact, microparticle coatings are tacitly assumed to be polymers.
However, polymer-coated particles exhibit several limitations, as the flattened and diffuse response of their polymer coatings to chemical and physical triggers indicates. This is due to two factors. First, the high molecular weight of polymers reduces their diffusion coefficients and their kinetics of solubilization. Second, the neighboring group effect broadens the curves representing the chemical responses to triggers such as, inter alia, pH, salinity, oxidation and reduction, ionization, etc. (The neighboring group effect indicates that chemical changes in one monomeric unit of a polymer significantly alter the parameters governing chemical transitions in each of the neighboring monomeric units.) Further, most polymers are collections of chemical species of broadened molecular weight distribution. In addition, for a given application of the polymer coated particle only a limited number of suitable polymers are frequently available. This is due to a number of factors: regulatory issues: the coating processes often entail harsh chemical and/or physical conditions, such as solvents free radicals, elevated temperatures, dessication or drying, and/or macroscopic shearing forces needed to form the particles, the limited mechanical and thermal stabilities of the polymeric coatings in industrial applications; and adverse environmental impacts in large scale applications of polymer-coated particles, such as in agricultural use.
Liposomes also exhibit a number of limitations. Among these are their physical and chemical instabilities. The release of a material disposed within the liposome is usually dependent on the destabilization of the structure of the liposome. In particular, the absence of porosity precludes the pore-controlled release of such materials. The dual requirements of 1) physical stability of the liposome until release is desired on the one hand and 2) release of materials by bilayer destabilization when release is desired on the other, are problematic. (The term liposomes is frequently interchanged with the term vesicles and is usually reserved for vesicles of glycerophospholipids or other natural lipids. Vesicles are self-supported closed bilayer assemblies of several thousand lipid molecules (amphiphiles) that enclose an aqueous interior volume. The lipid bilayer is a two-dimensional fluid composed of lipids with their hydrophilic head groups exposed to the aqueous solution and their hydrophobic tails aggregated to exclude water. The bilayer structure is highly ordered yet dynamic because of the rapid lateral motion of the lipids within the plane of each half of the bilayer.) See O'Brien. D. F. and Rarnaswami, V. (1989) in Mark-Bikales-Overbergzer-Menges Encyclopedia of Polymer Science and Engineering. Vol. 17, Ed. John Wiley & Inc., p. 108.

Coated particles, methods of making and using


State-of-the-art fuel injectors have an inherent time delay that is determined by an elapsed time from the time an electrical signal is received by the fuel injector from an ECU to the time that fuel is actually initially injected into the cylinder. That time is currently an average time and therefore the fuel injectors must be manufactured with very precise tolerances. The present invention includes a method and apparatus that allows the use of production fuel injectors that are more economical to manufacture by allowing wider tolerances. The invention includes determining the actual time delay for each fuel injector. The fuel injectors are supplied with a computer program and a data file containing the time delay determined especially for that particular fuel injector.

The present invention relates generally to fuel injection systems for internal combustion engines, and more particularly to, a method and apparatus for obtaining and installing fuel injector data that is specific to a particular fuel injector in an engine controller.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,360,161 of Francis et al., there is shown and described a method and system for fuel injector coefficient installation. In that patent, there is a method and system that allows the use of less precisely manufactured fuel injectors to be used in engines while still achieving the optimum of performance by insuring that each individual injector deliver a predetermined pulse width of fuel.
The advanced fuel injectors used today are defined by a third-order polynomial and, therefore, in accordance with the Francis et al. patent, the coefficients for the third order polynomial are individually obtained for each fuel injector and those coefficients are stored in a read/write memory. That data representative of the coefficients is eventually introduced into the memory of an ECU within the engine in order to achieve the desirability that each injector deliver approximately the same quantity of fuel, in approximately the same timed relationship to the engine for proper operation.
Accordingly, in the aforementioned Francis et al. patent, the inventive method and system relate, in part, to replacing the fuel injector coefficient data in an ECU of a fuel injected engine. The method and system involve obtaining and storing coefficient data that is specific to a particular fuel injector, and providing that coefficient data, together with the associated fuel injector, to a customer for replacement in an engine.
A computer program was also supplied to read out the existing coefficient data from the ECU before writing the replacement coefficient data so that restoration of the existing coefficient data, and the associated fuel injector, can be accomplished if the replacement fuel injector does not correct the service problem experienced. The system includes a log file to prevent misuse of the coefficient data by tracking how the program and data are used. That is, once the replacement coefficient data is used, the only way to reuse the data is if the original existing coefficient data is restored in the ECU from which it originated. If the data is restored, and it is assumed that the original fuel injector is reinstalled in the original cylinder from which it came, the program allows the reuse of the replacement coefficient data.
While the aforementioned method and system of the Francis et al. patent is sufficient to insure that the coefficients are input into the memory of the ECU in order to determine the third order polynomial function of each individual fuel injector, and therefore that the individual fuel injector is able to accurately inject the pulse width of fuel into the cylinder, there is an additional bit of information or data that is also necessary to the proper functioning of the engine and which is related to the timing of the fuel injection into the cylinder.
It is, of course, also well known that the timing of that introduction of the injected fuel into the cylinder is critical to the performance of the engine and that timing function was also illustrated in the aforedescribed Francis et al. patent. The timing of the injected fuel changes with RPM of the engine, that is, at slow speeds the injection of fuel is quite close to the timing ignition pulses while, at higher RPM, the fuel pulses are considerably in advance of the timing ignition pulses. The fuel injector delivers the pulse or injection of fuel after being activated by an electrical signal that is controlled by the ECU of the engine. A problem, however, exists in the timing of the actual delivery of fuel from an injector after the injector has received an electrical signal activating the injector. Thus, while timing ignition pulses can be quite accurate, the actual introduction of the fuel from a fuel injector after the injector has received the electrical signal to inject the fuel is not as accurate, and depends on the particular characteristic of the fuel injector, and all fuel injectors may have some differences in actual delivery time of the pulse of fuel after being activated by the electrical signal to the fuel injector.
As can now be understood, the time of the actual injection of fuel into the cylinder is critical to the performance of the engine, however, that pulse of fuel is not injected at the time the injector receives the electrical signal activating the fuel injector. Instead, there is a time delay between the time that the electrical signal reaches the fuel injector and the actual delivery of a pulse of fuel by that injector, and that delay is due to the need for pressure to build up in the fuel injector before the actual pulse of fuel is delivered.
Accordingly, in order to achieve the desired performance of the engine, it is necessary for the data or information relating to the time delay of a fuel injector to be present in the ECU so that the ECU can know how far in advance the electrical signal must be transmitted to the fuel injector in order to inject the fuel at the precise desired time into the cylinder.
At the present, the time delay that is utilized in determine the timing of the electrical signal to activate a fuel injector is taken as an average value and therefore each injector must be constructed with relatively tight tolerances in order to make that average delay time a valid bit of data to be used in the engine to determine the timing of the pulse of fuel. It would, therefore, be advantageous to be able to have the exact time delay for a particular fuel injector and use that actual data so as to allow greater tolerances in the manufacturing of fuel injectors, and therefore lower costs, while still maintaining the accuracy of the precise time the fuel is injected into a cylinder.

Method and system for fuel injector time delay installation


Disclosed are synthetic oligonucleotides having a nucleotide sequence complementary to at least a portion of the multi-drug resistant-1 gene, or transcripts thereof, which portion encodes a nucleoside binding site. Also disclosed is a pharmaceutical formulation containing such oligonucleotides, and methods of treating multidrug resistant cancer cells, of preventing the expression of P170 in a cell, and of preventing the induction of multidrug resistance in a cancer cell.

This invention relates to cancer therapy. More particularly, this invention relates to the modulation of multiple drug resistance in cells by antisense oligonucleotides complementary to portions of the MDR-1 gene.
Chemotherapy has been successfully used to control metastatic cancers which cannot be cured by surgery because of their widespread dissemination throughout the body. However, the effective use of chemotherapy is limited by inherent and acquired resistance of many tumors to a variety of structurally unrelated chemotherapeutic drugs.
One mechanism of drug resistance involves the overexpression of a 170,000 dalton membrane protein, P-glycoprotein (or P170), which acts as an ATP-dependent, chloride-selective efflux pump for a variety of hydrophobic chemotherapeutic drugs (Roninson (1991) Molecular and Cellular Biology of Multi-Drug Resistance in Tumor Cells, Plenum Press, NY; Valverde et al. (1992) Nature 355: 830-833). This protein is encoded by the multidrug resistance-1 gene (MDR-1) gene. A recent estimate suggests that expression of MDR-1 will result in greater than 250,000 new cancers displaying clinically significant resistance (Gottesman (1993) Cancer Res. 53: 747-754).
Reversal or suppression of the resistant phenotype has been accomplished in cell culture systems and in animal experiments with small molecule inhibitors of P170, thereby rendering chemotherapeutic drugs more effective at killing tumor cells (Tsuruo et al. (1981) Cancer Res. 41: 1967-1972). For example, verapamil, cyclosporin, and trifluoroperazine have been used to reverse the MDR phenotype (see, e.g., Thierry et al. (1993) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 190: 952-960; and Jaroszewski et al. (1990) Cancer Commun. 2: 287-294). However, the clinical use of many of these drugs is limited due to toxic side effects and lack of specificity (see, e.g., Ozols et al. (1987) J. Clin. Onc. 5: 641-647).
Immunoglobulins have also been used to modulate P170-mediated drug resistance. For example, it has been demonstrated that monoclonal antibodies and ricin-containing immunotoxins eradicate kidney carcinoma cell cultures (Efferth et al. (1993) Oncol. 50: 303-308). However, normal kidney cells expressing high levels of P-170 were similarly affected, indicating that clinical application of these antibodies and immunotoxins may be limited by toxic side effects on normal, P170-expressing tissues in cancer patients.
Recently, new chemotherapeutic agents have been developed which are capable of modulating cellular and foreign gene expression (see, Zamecnik et al. (1978) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. (USA) 75: 280-284). These agents, called antisense oligonucleotides, bind to target single-stranded nucleic acid molecules according to the Watson-Crick rule or to double stranded nucleic acids by the Hoogsteen rule of base pairing, and in doing so, disrupt the function of the target by one of several mechanisms: by preventing the binding of factors required for normal transcription, splicing, or translation; by triggering the enzymatic destruction of mRNA by RNase H, or by destroying the target via reactive groups attached directly to the antisense oligonucleotide.
Antisense oligonucleotides have been designed to inhibit the expression of MDR-1. For example, oligonucleotides complementary to the initiation codon of MDR-1 have been demonstrated to inhibit P170 expression (Rivoltini et al. (1990) Int. J. Cancer 46: 727-732; Vasanthakumar et al. (1989) Cancer Commun. 1: 225-232). Oligonucleotides complementary to the 5' end region of MDR-1 have been shown to decrease P170 synthesis and resistance to doxorubicin in various resistant cells (Corrias et al. (1992) Anticancer Res. 12: 1431-1438; Thierry et al. (1993) Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 190: 952-960), and to inhibit the expression of P170 in kidney carcinoma and normal kidney cells (Efferth et al. (1993) Oncol. 50: 303-308). In addition, phosphorothioate oligonucleotides complementary to the 5' end of an intron/exon border, or to an EcoRI site have been demonstrated to inhibit P170 expression, but not necessarily with a decrease in the resistance phenotype.
There is, therefore, a need for better antisense oligonucleotides directed against MDR-1 that provide better diminution of the resistance phenotype.

Oligonucleotides with anti-MDR-1 gene activity


A tube for a heat exchanger consists of a folded metal strip having an outer face covered with a plating of brazing alloy (31) and including at least one folded border (28) having a sheared edge bearing on an inner face (34) of the metal strip. The metal strip is folded by passing through a series of successive rollers. The sheared edge is covered with a layer of brazing alloy (31) which has advantageously been pushed back by the rollers from the outer surface towards the sheared edge. According to the method, the metal strip is made to pass between a series of rollers, each roller including a surface which exhibits an inclination with respect to the rotational axle of the rollers, the inclinations of the successive rollers continually increasing.

The present invention relates to a folded and brazed tube for a heat exchanger such as a radiator for cooling a motor-vehicle engine, for example.
More precisely, the invention relates to such a tube consisting of a metal strip having an outer face and an inner face, the outer face being covered with a plating of brazing alloy, the metal strip being folded by passage through a series of successive rollers and including at least one folded border having a sheared edge bearing on an inner face of the metal strip.
In a tube of this type, the sheared edge of the metal strip originates from the cutting-cut of a foil of greater length, and it does not include any plating of brazing alloy. Moreover, the inner face of the metal strip, which is generally covered with an anti-corrosion layer, is not covered with brazing alloy either joining by brazing of the inner face with the border is very problematic.
It might be thought to resolve this problem by depositing some brazing alloy on the sheared edge of the metal strips. However, such an operation would be intricate to carry out and would be expensive.
The precise object of the present invention is a tube for a heal exchanger in embodiments of which a joint by good-quality brazing between the border and the inner races of the tube can easily be obtained.
This object may be achieved, in accordance with the invention, by the fact that the sheared edge of the metal strip is covered with a layer of brazing alloy.
The present of this quantity of brazing alloy allows a quality joint between the two pieces, namely a joint which is both leaktight and mechanically tough.
In one preferred embodiment of the invention, the layer of brazing alloy is pushed back mechanically from the outer face towards the sheared edge.
Particularly advantageously, the layer of brazing alloy is pushed back by the abovementioned rollers.
The invention also relates to a method of manufacturing a tube by folding of a metal strip including a plating of brazing alloy on an outer face. According to this method, the metal strip is made to pass between a series of rollers which are shaped to push back the layer of brazing alloy from the outer face towards the sheared edge.
Advantageously, each roller includes a surface which exhibits an angle of inclination with respect to its rotational axis, the angles of inclination of the successive rollers continually increasing.
Finally, a heat exchanger according to the invention, especially for a motor vehicle, consists of a bank of tubes alternating with corrugated spacers, the sheared edge of the borders of the tubes being covered with a layer of brazing alloy. This layer has preferably been pushed back by rollers from the outer face towards the sheared edge.
Other characteristics and advantages of the present invention will emerge further upon reading the description which follows of embodiment examples given as an illustration by reference to the attached figures.

Brazed tube for a heat exchanger, method of manufacture and exchanger


A sequence control unit reconstructs image data by performing predetermined image reconstruction including data synthesis processing on a plurality of k-space data collected for each receiver channel. An inverse reconstructing unit creates k-space data synthesized from the K-space data by performing predetermined inverse reconstruction on the reconstructed image data. A data compressing unit compresses the k-space data, and stores the compressed k-space data into a k-space data storing unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) apparatus that takes an internal image of an object using magnetic resonance phenomenon, an image processing apparatus, a computer program product, and a data storing method for the MRI apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, as the development of parallel imaging has proceeded, a magnetic resonance imaging apparatus has become able to take an image of a wide scope at a high resolution in a short time and with a favorable signal-to-noise (SN) ratio. The parallel imaging is a technology of creating an image of a required area by dividing an area of an object into a plurality of areas, simultaneously scanning the divided areas, and synthesizing a plurality of images obtained as a result of the scanning.
The parallel imaging uses a plurality of receiver coils to scan a plurality of areas simultaneously, and the number of receiver coils trends upward to reduce time for scanning. As the receiver coils are increased, the number of channels to be received increases proportionately, and a data volume of k-space data to be collected also increases in proportion to the number of the channels. Consequently, a required capacity of a storage medium (for example, a hard disk) for storing therein the collected k-space data increases day by day.
For this reason, a technology has been proposed for reducing a required capacity of a storage medium for storing therein data by compressing collected data. For example, according to a data compression method disclosed in JP-A 2002-34950 (KOKAI), focusing on a fact that the absolute value of a change volume in individual values of data continuously collected from an object is smaller than the absolute value of a value set in each piece of the data, a difference from reference data to each collected data (difference between the values) is calculated, the bit length is reduced by deleting several upper bits in difference data obtained as a result of the calculation, the bit-length reduced data is stored into a storage medium instead of the actually collected data, accordingly a required capacity of the storage medium is reduced.
However, according to the above conventional technology, a difference from the reference data needs to be calculated with respect to each of collected data piece by piece, which is very inefficient. Therefore, if the technology is applied to a large volume of data, such as k-space data, it may cause a problem that it takes a long time for storing data into a medium.

Magnetic resonance imaging apparatus, image processing apparatus, computer program product, and data storing method


An electro-optic modulator in which the input electromagnetic signal is launched as a substrate mode in the electro-optic material. Broadband endfire antennas on the top surface of the substrate couple the signal to electrodes positioned above the optical waveguide in the substrate to concentrate the input signal and achieve high electric field strength in the vicinity of the optical waveguide. The endfire antennas are oriented with respect to the optical waveguides so as to compensate for the phase velocity mismatch between the electromagnetic signal and the light beam in the optical waveguide.

1 Technical Field
The invention is related to optical communications and in particular to electro-optic modulators having broad band-width.
2. Background Art
Electro-optic modulators of the type which modulate a light beam with an RF or microwave signal using the electro-optic effect are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,076,655. As described therein, the top surface of a crystalline Lithium Niobate substrate has a series of planar broadside RF antennas overlying an optical waveguide in the substrate. A light beam to be modulated travels through the optical waveguide. A modulating RF or microwave signal is directed toward the series of RF antennas through the substrate at an angle with respect to the top surface corresponding to the arcsin of the ratio of the phase velocities of the light beam and the RF signal in the substrate. The broadside RF antennas direct the RF signal's energy to the light beam, causing the RF signal to phase modulate the light beam in the optical waveguide. The particular angle described above related to the ratio of the phase velocities of the light beam and RF signal compensates for the difference in phase velocities of the light beam and the RF signal so as to maximize the coupling between the RF signal and the light beam.
In the above-referenced patent, a variation of the foregoing is described in which the modulating RF signal or microwave travels from one end of the substrate to the other along the series of broadband RF antennas on the top surface. In this variation, the RF signal or microwave may be thought of as bouncing between the top and bottom surfaces of the substrate at an angle corresponding to the angle discussed above (i.e., the arcsin of the ratio of the phase velocities of the RF signal and the light beam in the substrate), so that the RF signal or microwave does not travel parallel to the longitudinal axis of the substrate.
One disadvantage of the foregoing technique is that the RF broadside antennas employed therein have a relatively narrow band response. A related disadvantage is that a external waveguide (such as an additional Lithium Niobate substrate cut at an angle) must be attached to the bottom of the substrate (in the preferred embodiment thereof) to guide the incoming RF signal through the substrate toward the series of broadside RF antennas on the top surface at the desired angle.
Moreover, in the variation mentioned above in which the RF signal travels along the length of the substrate, the distance between the top and bottom substrate surfaces must be precisely adjusted to the wavelength of the RF signal in order to optimize coupling between the RF signal and the light beam. Such optimization therefore occurs only at a predetermined RF frequency, so that the modulator thereof is a narrow-band device.
There is a need for a wide-band electro-optic modulator which is not limited by the narrow-band response of the broadside RF antennas employed in the conventional electro-optic modulator described above. Moreover, there is a need to simplify the construction of such an electro-optic modulator by eliminating the need for an external waveguide to be attached at right angles to guide the incoming RF signal or microwave at the requisite angle toward the RF antennas.

Broad-band substrate-wave-coupled electro-optic modulator


A method for making a rubbery weatherstrip having a suede appearance and a suede feel includes a step for coextruding a welt portion of a weatherstrip and an outer rubber layer containing fibrillated fibers, namely bast fibrillated fibers, leaf fibrillated fibers and mixture thereof, or a welt portion of a weatherstrip, a sealing portion and an outer rubber layer containing fibrillated bast or leaf fibers to adhere these sheets, a step for vulcanizing the entire portions thereof, and a step for subjecting the outer rubber layer to buff processing.

The present invention relates to a method for making a weather strip having a suede appearance and a suede feel.
Generally speaking, weather strips are mounted to body flanges of car doors. Weather strips for automobiles are mounted onto body flanges for waterproofing, soundproofing and dustproofing.
As shown in FIG. 1, the weather strip in common use comprises a generally U-shaped welt 7 having a core metal 6 in the interior, with a plurality of lips 1, 2, 3 and 4 projecting from the inner surfaces of the two leg portions, and a hollow sealant 8 attached to the outer surface of one leg portion of the welt 7.
Of course, since a variety of weather strips are mounted on different places of cars, they have different shapes. Weather strips are made of EPT (ethylene propylene terpolymer), CR (chloroprene rubber) or SBR (styrene butadiene rubber) as a main material. As occasion demands, weather strips are formed in solid type or sponge type.
Until recent years, most of the requirements of users for automobiles have centered upon performance as exemplified by fuel economy, speed and other mechanical aspects of automobiles. More recently, user's interest has focused on the design aspect of automobiles which appeals to the aesthetic sense of users. By design is meant both the outer and inner appearance. As mentioned above, weather strips are mounted on body flanges of cars for waterproofing, soundproofing and dustproofing. What is important is that part of the melt portion of weather strips which are mounted on body flanges of cars is visible inside. Generally speaking, a welt portion of a weather strip is formed of a black colored rubber in which a core metal is incorporated. Since the black color rubber part is visible inside the car, this somewhat impairs the interior appearance of cars. It was once attempted to make the welt of colored rubber but this idea was never put into commercial practice, since unlike plastics, rubber has no transparency and the colors it can take on are not only dull but unable to present intermediate shades. As a result, welts made of colored rubber are too monotonous in color to provide designs having aesthetic appeal. Under these circumstances, it is strongly desired to develop a weather strip that appeals more to the aesthetic sense of users and which hence gives an impression of "high quality".

Method for making weather strips with "suede appearance"


An eyewear device includes a frame, a temple connected to a lateral side of the frame, a processor, and an image display. The eyewear device further includes a touch sensor. The touch sensor includes an input surface and a sensor array that is coupled to the input surface to receive at least one finger contact inputted from a user. The sensor array can be a capacitive array or a resistive array. A sensing circuit is configured to measure voltage to track the at least one finger contact on the input surface. The processor of the eyewear device can identify a finger gesture based on at least one detected touch event, and adjust an image presented on the image display based on the identified finger gesture.

Portable eyewear devices, such as smartglasses, headwear, and headgear available today integrate lenses, cameras, and wireless network transceiver devices. Unfortunately, size limitations and the form factor of an eyewear device can make a user interface difficult to incorporate into the eyewear device. The available area for placement of various control buttons on an eyewear device, e.g., to operate a camera, is limited. Due to the small form factor of the eyewear device, manipulation and interacting with, for example, displayed content on an image display is difficult.

Eyewear device with finger activated touch sensor


An electronically controlled actuator for controlling a turbocharger has a motor, a speed change mechanism and a position sensor contained in a case consisting of a body and a cover. The driving force of the motor is transmitted through the speed change mechanism to an output shaft to drive the movable vanes of a turbocharger for turning. A first bearing supporting the output shaft for rotation is held on the cover, and a second bearing supporting the output shaft for rotation is held on the body. The position sensor is mounted on the output shaft of the motor. The reliability of the actuator is improved.

The present invention relates to an electronically controlled actuator, and more particularly, to an electronically controlled actuator suitable for the positional control of the movable vanes of a variable-capacity turbocharger for an automotive internal combustion engine.
A prior art electronically controlled actuator disclosed in, for example, EP-A No. 109088/1999 includes a motor and a speed change mechanism. In this prior art electronically controlled actuator, one end of an output shaft included in the speed change mechanism is connected to a driven member and the other end of the same is provided with a position sensor. The position sensor measures the present working position of the actuator and provides data to be used for the feedback control of the working position. The output shaft is supported for rotation in two bearings. The motor and the speed change mechanism are held in a case having a body and a cover.
Since one end of the output shaft of the speed change mechanism of this prior art electronically controlled actuator is used for transmitting driving force to an external device and other end of the same is provided with the position sensor, both the two bearings supporting the output shaft for rotation are disposed in the body at a small interval and hence the inclination of the output shaft increases. Consequently, 1) vibration resistance is reduced and 2) errors are introduced in measured positions due to an increase in the vibration of the position sensor.
First, the increase in the inclination of the output shaft increases the vibration of the output shaft in directions perpendicular to the axis of the output shaft. Consequently, fretting abrasion occurs in surfaces in contact under pressure of the speed change mechanism comprising a worm gear and a worm wheel, which abrasion shortens the life of the actuator.
Secondly, if the output shaft of the actuator shakes while the driven member is at a standstill, the output of the position sensor varies. Although the driven member is at a standstill at a normal position, the variation of the output of the position sensor is considered to indicate that the driven member is moving and a control signal to drive the driven member is provided. Consequently, the driven member is operated wrongly. Thus, the reliability of the actuator is reduced.


A supporting disk for providing bearing support to a rotor of an open-end spinning machine, the supporting disk including a bearing ring and a supporting ring which is made of an elastic polymeric material and mounted on the periphery of the bearing ring. The bearing ring has a side ring on at least one of the sides of its outer edge. The side ring is located at a distance from the outer edge, connected to the bearing ring via holding members, and is also provided with a supporting ring on its periphery.

A drive which drives a rotor of an open-end spinning machine via a pair of supporting disks is known from German Patent Application DE 37 19 445 A1. Also described therein is the basic design of a supporting disk. The supporting disks have bearing rings on the periphery of which are mounted supporting rings made of polymeric material. To improve heat dissipation, the supporting ring is provided with a cooling groove in the central region thereof.
Another way of removing heat is described in DE 100 27 036 C2, wherein the supporting disk is made up of at least two axially touching sub-disks which are partially axially spaced apart by webs, thereby defining cavities extending to the periphery of the supporting disk. At least one of these sub-disks has axial openings through which air is drawn into the cavities during rotation of the supporting disk. After the air has passed through the cavities, it is expelled radially at the periphery. This measure reduces the thermal load on the supporting disk and on the rotor. However, such a supporting disk is relatively expensive to manufacture, and there is a risk of dirt and lint accumulating in the cavities, which may result in uneven rotation of the supporting disk and cause damage to the product or to the spinning machine.

Supporting disk for providing bearing support to a rotor of an open-ended spinning machine, and method for manufacturing said supporting disk