A method for scheduling multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS) transmissions in radio frames comprising subframes comprises receiving a plurality of different multimedia broadcast and multicast service (MBMS) user data for broadcasting to a plurality of wireless communication units. The method further comprises scheduling the different MBMS user data for broadcasting in respective subframes within a first radio frame; and scheduling a different subframe order of the different MBMS user data for broadcasting in respective subframes within a second radio frame wherein the varied subframe order is based on the MBMS service to be broadcast.

In order to provide enhanced communication services, 3rd generation cellular communication systems are designed to support a variety of different and enhanced services. One such enhanced service, named multimedia broadcast and multicast services (MBMS), has been proposed for introduction into release 9 (REL-9) of the Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) standard, which is currently being defined. Examples of MBMS services and applications include multimedia broadcast, e.g. mobile television, audio, streamed video, etc. Some multimedia services require a high bandwidth due to the nature of the data content that is to be communicated, such as video streaming. Some multimedia services may only require a low bandwidth due to the nature of the data content that is to be communicated, such as news services. Typically, tens of channels carrying say, news, movies, sports, etc. may be broadcast simultaneously over a MBMS communication network.
Within the defined MBMS operation of Rel-9 of E-UTRA, a single radio transmission mode may be used, termed multicast broadcast single frequency network (MBSFN). In this point-to-multipoint (PTM) transmission mode of operation, multiple communication cells synchronously transmit the same MBMS content in their respective service areas. The area covered by the participating communicating cells of such a synchronised transmission is referred to as the 'MSFSN' area. Synchronous transmission of the same MBMS content is achieved by a central network entity, termed the Multi-cell/multicast Coordination Entity (MCE), which is configured to decide both the radio resources that are used for the MBSFN transmission as well as the details of the radio resource configuration, i.e. the layer-1/layer-2 (L1/L2) configuration parameters to be used.
A communication cell may participate in MBMS transmissions corresponding to different MBSFN areas, in which case MBSFN areas overlap. The radio transmission area of MBMS user data is the same as that used for the corresponding control information, i.e. the cells that participate in the transfer of the user data also participate in the transfer of the corresponding control information.
Within an MBMS service area, it is known that single frequency networks (SFN) may be employed. The allocation of subframes for MBSFN communication is complicated, involving several levels of communication protocol elements:
(i) Subframe Pool Reserved for Future use (SP-RF): This protocol element/field indicates sub-frames used in post release 8 systems, for new features such as MBSFN. The sub-frames indicated by the SP-RF, signalled via the Broadcast Control Channel (BCCH), are not relevant for REL-8 UEs. The SP-RF, specified by the field mbsfn-SubframeConfigList in SystemInformationBlockType2 (also referred to as SIB2), is defined by means of a list of Subframe Allocation Patterns (hereafter referred to as SIB2 SAPs).
(ii) MBSFN area specific Common Subframe Pool (CSP): This protocol element/field indicates which of the subframes indicated by the SP-RF are used for MBSFN. In case multiple MBSFN areas are used, the CSP needs to be defined for each of the MBSFN areas. These subframe allocations are referred to as the Common Subframe Pool (CSP), since they are common for all the multicast channels (MCHs) that are configured for a particular MBSFN area, i.e. each MCH uses a subset of the CSP.
(iii) MCH Subframe Allocation Pattern (MSAP): The allocation of radio resources to an (P)MCH is specified by means of an MCH Subframe Allocation Pattern (MSAP) i.e. the MSAP protocol element/field defines those subframes within a given periodic cycle that are allocated to a specific (physical) multicast transport channel ((P)MCH). At the time of filing this patent application, the details of the MSAP signalling have not yet been finalised.
(iv) MCH Dynamic Service Scheduling: This protocol element/field, which is provided per (P)MCH, indicates those subframes that are used for each of the services that are scheduled. E-UTRAN provides this information to the UE at the start of each scheduling period. The scheduling period is also referred to as an 'MSAP occasion'. It should be noted that, within an MSAP occasion, all user data corresponding to an MBMS service is scheduled in 'subsequent subframes'; i.e. subsequent when only considering the subset of subframes that are allocated to the concerned (P)MCH. Hence, for each service that is scheduled, E-UTRAN just needs to provide an indication of the start and the duration. At the time of filing this patent application, the details of the MSAP signalling have not yet been agreed. However, the duration of the MSAP occasion values that has been discussed is either 320 msec. or 640 msec.
MBMS technology is designed to transmit data traffic from a content server (often referred to as a data source) to multiple destination user terminals/user equipment (UEs) in a 3GPP cellular/mobile communication system. In order to achieve efficient transmission, two delivery modes have been defined for MBMS delivery in 3GPP mobile communication systems: point-to-multipoint (p-t-m) and point-to-point (p-t-p).
The decision of the delivery mode is made at a network controller, based on the number of UEs/users that have activated the particular MBMS service in the coverage area of the network controller. If the number of UEs that have activated the service is larger than a pre-set threshold value, p-t-m transmission is selected and used. Otherwise, the service is delivered in an uni-cast (i.e. point-to-point) manner, where a dedicated radio bearer to a particular UE is provided. This selection is made in order to optimise the efficiency of delivering the MBMS data content according to the number of participating users. In an uni-cast mode of operation, the E-UTRAN is aware of those services that each UE is receiving.
However, in contrast to the uni-cast mode, EUTRAN is generally not aware of the MBMS services that the UE is receiving. This implies that additional procedures need to be defined by which EUTRAN can determine or estimate the number of UEs that are interested to receive the MBMS service (sometimes referred to as a 'counting procedure'). It has been agreed that the MBMS solution for release 9 will not include such kind of procedures. Consequently, release 9 only employs p-t-m transfer using MBSFN with a semi-static MBSFN area. Even if additional procedures are defined in later releases, p-t-m transfer mode is assumed to remain the typical and most cost-effective approach for the provision of multimedia services. However, with multicast/broadcast communications transmission/reception conflicts may exist, as described below.
In the field of 3GPP MBMS systems, the E-UTRA has been designed such that the E-UTRAN is able to configure a UE in a radio resource control (RRC) connected state, referred to as 'RRC_CONNECTED'. In this state, the UE is configured to perform radio frequency measurements on:
(i) the frequency channel used by its serving communication cell,
(ii) other E-UTRA frequencies (referred to as inter-frequency measurements) and/or
(iii) frequencies used by other Radio Access Technologies (referred to as inter-RAT measurements).
Since UEs typically employ a single transceiver, it is not possible to perform inter-frequency and inter-RAT measurements, whilst the UE is engaged in (unicast) data transmission with the serving cell, as the transceiver is fully occupied in its uni-cast communications on a particular frequency channel. To overcome this, the E-UTRAN in 3GPP has been designed to configure periods in which it does not schedule any downlink data transfer. During these periodically appearing discontinuous reception (DRx) periods, also referred to as 'measurement gaps', the UE is able to perform the required measurements on other frequency channels, as detailed in (i)-(iii) above.
An example measurement gap configuration is illustrated in the timing diagram 100 of FIG. 1. Eight radio frames 105, 110, 115 up to 120 are shown. Each radio frame comprises ten sub-frames. As illustrated, a first subset 125 of radio frame '0' 105, comprising six sub-frames is allocated for communicating prior to a 'measurement gap' 130 that comprises a gap of 6 msec. (i.e. 6 sub-frames). The current standard defines the repetition period of the 'measurement gap' as appearing either every 40 msec. or 80 msec. (i.e. every '4' or '8' radio frames), with an offset specifying the position within this gap period.
A perceived problem in the use of measurement gaps in an MBMS context, particularly when MBSFN is employed in a number of MBMS areas, is potential conflicts between the measurement gaps and MBMS service reception.
To clarify this, let us consider a scenario where two MBSFN areas are used, as shown in the timing diagram 200 of FIG. 2. A set of subframes 225 are allocated to a first MBSFN area that employs two transport channels, MCHa and MCHb. For the first MBSFN area, a first set of subframes 227 is allocated to the first transport channel MCHa comprising sub-frame '3' 215 and sub-frame '8' 220 in the first four radio frames 205 and a second set of subframes 232 is allocated to the second transport channel MCHb comprising a use of sub-frame '3' 215 and sub-frame '8' 220 in the next four radio frames. The remaining eight radio frames 230 in the sequence of sixteen radio frames are employed by the second MBSFN area MBSFN-2.
Let us also consider a scenario whereby five MBMS services are mapped to the first transport channel MCHa 227 and dynamic scheduling information is provided every thirty two radio frames.
Currently, within the MBMS standard, the MBMS services are scheduled according to a pre-defined scheme, which is configured semi-statically. More specifically, it has been agreed that the MBMS services are scheduled in the order in which they are listed on the multicast control channel (MCCH). This means that in every scheduling period, the first multicast transport channel MTCH-1 235 appears first, followed by the second multicast transport channel MTCH-2 240, and so on. This predefined order is beneficial for UEs that did not manage to receive the scheduling information.
For example, let us suppose that a first UE is only interested to receive the second multicast transport channel MTCH-2 240. If the first UE did not manage to receive the scheduling information from the MCCH, in principle the first UE then has to receive all subframes that are used for MCHa 227. However, when the UE detects a subframe in which MTCH-3 245 is scheduled, the first UE knows that any following subframes are not used for MTCH-2 240. Hence, the UE is able to stop reception until the next scheduling period. This feature is termed 'early termination'. Furthermore, the UE is able to derive the MBMS service that the data corresponds to from the medium access control (MAC) header information (in particular from the logical channel identity).
Thus, systematic conflicts may exist between measurement gaps 130 of FIG. 1 and MBMS reception, for example in transport channels 215, 220. For example, a UE may be configured with a measurement gap 130 starting with sub-frame '6' of the first radio frame of a set of eight radio frames, as illustrated in FIG. 1. If the same UE is interested to receive the MBMS service corresponding with MTCH-1 235 in FIG. 2, in every set of 32 radio frames, there is a conflict with one of the four measurement gaps that is configured for broadcast during this period, i.e. once every eight radio frames. If, however, the UE was interested to receive the MBMS service corresponding with MTCH-2 240 there would not be any conflict, as the MTCH-2 240 transmission does not conflict with the defined repetitions of the measurement gap. The same applies for MTCH-3 245, MTCH-5 255.
It is generally assumed that mobility measurements should take precedence over MBMS reception. Consequently, when there is a conflict between the two the UE will be unable to receive a part of the user data of the MBMS service. The impact of this depends on the service characteristics and the upper layer mechanism configured to overcome losses.

Network element, wireless communication units and methods for scheduling communications


A sender can create and send an instant voice message that can be delivered to recipients with SMS-enabled wireless stations regardless of the other communication capabilities of the wireless stations and the network or network service providers of the recipients. The sender creates an instant voice message and sends the message to a message server, which stores the message in an interactive voice response (IVR) system. If the instant voice message is a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message and the intended recipient's device does not support the MMS protocol, the voice content is extracted from the message and stored in the IVR system. An SMS notification is sent to the recipient and includes instructions for accessing the instant voice message from the IVR system. The SMS notification enables the recipient to access the instant voice message. The recipient can also create and reply to the voice message.

1. The Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the delivery of voice messages in wireless networks. More specifically, the present invention is directed to extracting the voice portion of a Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS) message and sending the voice portion to one or more recipient wireless stations utilizing the Short Message Service (SMS) protocol to permit delivery of the message regardless of the communication capabilities of the recipient wireless stations.
2. The Relevant Technology
The popularity of all types of wireless stations, such as mobile telephones and hybrid devices such as "smart phones" that combine the functionality of mobile telephones with that of personal digital assistants (hereinafter referred to as wireless stations) is undeniable. People want or need to communicate using voice while they are mobile. At the same time, the use of text messaging is also rising such that virtually any wireless station on a 2G or 3G network can receive a Short Message Service message. While text messaging using protocols such as SMS are somewhat popular, voice is still the preferred way to communicate when using a wireless station, since using the keypad of such devices to input and send text messages can be cumbersome and time consuming. Voice messages are more convenient because they can be easily created and they take advantage of the native ability of wireless stations to receive and output audio data.
Conventional voicemail systems provide the capability for anyone to leave a voicemail message after a telephone call has failed to reach the intended recipient. Using a conventional voicemail system to deliver a voice message to the recipient, a sender typically first must dial the recipient's telephone number in an attempt to reach the recipient "live" and then fail to do so, whereupon the voicemail system intercedes to allow a voice message to be recorded. In many cases, callers hoping to be able to leave a non-intrusive voice message instead interrupt the intended recipient. While conventional voicemail systems represent a convenient adjunct to direct telephone communication between a caller and a recipient, they often do not allow voice messages to be created and sent by senders without first making an attempt to establish a live telephone conversation with the recipient.
Another technology, Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), allows senders with MMS-enabled wireless stations to send multi-media messages, including voice messages, to other MMS-enabled wireless stations. However, the proliferation of MMS-compatible wireless stations has been and continues to be very slow. It is likely that MMS-compatible wireless stations will not be widely accepted by consumers until MMS users can reliably send MMS messages to a large number of potential recipients. The problem, of course, is that the large number of potential MMS recipients will not exist until MMS-compatible wireless stations have already been widely accepted by consumers. Another option for sending MMS-based voice messages involves sending the messages to a website where they can be retrieved by the recipients. While this alternative may be occasionally acceptable, the use of a web browser to retrieve a voice message is inconvenient for the recipient when he does not have access to a web browser and is cumbersome compared to the use of telephones to access voice messages.
The foregoing technologies have introduced the convenience of voice messaging to large numbers of users. However, none of these techniques allow senders to create and initiate transmission of a voice message to any selected recipient without first having attempted to place a live telephone call. Furthermore, the foregoing techniques do not allow the sender to send a voice message to a recipient, regardless of the communication capabilities of the receiving device that is used by the recipient, nor do they allow a recipient of such a message to send a voice reply back to the sender in the original audio format, regardless of the capabilities of the receiving device.

Delivery of voice data from multimedia messaging service messages


Various embodiments may relate to an organic optoelectronic component with a layer structure for generating and separating charge carriers of a first charge carrier type and charge carriers of a second charge carrier type, the layer structure including a hole-conducting transparent inorganic semiconductor.

An optoelectronic component is designed for the conversion of electrical energy into electromagnetic radiation, such as for example into visible light, or for the reverse process. It is possible to speak respectively of an emitter device or a detector device. If the functional layer for the energy conversion contains organic materials, such as for example organic semiconductor materials, organic doping materials or organic charge transporting materials, it is an organic optoelectronic component.
An example of an optoelectronic component as an emitter device is a light emitting device, in particular a light emitting diode (LED). The device typically includes electrodes, between which an active zone is arranged. The electrodes can be used to feed to the light emitting device an electric current, which is converted in the active zone into optical energy, i.e. electromagnetic radiation. The optical energy is coupled out of the light emitting device by way of a radiation coupling-out area.
One particular light emitting device is the organic light emitting diode (OLED). An OLED has in the active layer an organic electroluminescent layer or layer sequence, in order to convert electrical energy into electromagnetic radiation. When the OLED is in contact with a power source by way of the electrodes, different types of charge carrier are injected into the organic layer. Positive charge carriers, also referred to as holes, migrate through the organic layer from the anode in the direction of the cathode, while electrons migrate through the organic layer from the cathode in the direction of the anode. In this case, electrons and holes can recombine and states of excitation form in the organic layer, in the form of pairs of electrons and holes, known as excitons. The excitons can break down, with the emission of electromagnetic radiation.
A further example of an optoelectronic component is the detector device, in which optical radiation is converted into an electrical signal or into electrical energy. Such an optoelectronic component is for example a photodetector or a solar cell. A detector device also has an active layer arranged between electrodes. The detector device has a radiation entry side, by way of which electromagnetic radiation, for example light, infrared or ultraviolet radiation, enters the detector device and is passed to the active layer. In the active layer, an exciton is excited under the effect of the radiation, and in an electrical field is divided into an electron and a hole. Thus, an electrical signal or an electrical charge is generated and provided at the electrodes.
In all cases, a high efficiency of the conversion of electrical energy into electromagnetic radiation or for the reverse process is desirable. The present disclosure addresses the problem of providing an organic optoelectronic component that has improved intrinsic properties and performance features, such as for example has a greater homogeneity of the current density in the component or has a higher luminance in an OLED.
This problem is solved by an organic optoelectronic component as claimed in patent claim 1 and by the uses of a transparent inorganic semiconductor as claimed in patent claims 10 and 11.

Organic optoelectronic component and use of a transparent inorganic semiconductor in a charge carrier pair generating layer sequence


An austenitic Ni—Cr—Fe alloy is provided as an exterior tube material for improved cracking and corrosion resistance of composite tubes used to construct the lower furnace section of kraft recovery boilers. The alloy consists of essentially, on a weight-% basis, 25-35 Cr, 5-15 Fe and 50-70 Ni, with other minor alloying elements and impurities such as are normally present in commercial alloys. This compositional range includes, as a preferred composition, the range corresponding to the commercial alloy 690 (UNS N06690).

i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the use of an austenitic Ni—Cr—Fe alloy as an exterior layer for improved cracking and corrosion resistance of composite tubes used to construct the lower furnace of a kraft (black liquor) recovery boiler.
ii) Description of the Prior Art
A kraft recovery boiler is a chemical reactor which houses a large bed of molten salt. A fuel, consisting of organic residue from the pulping process and spent inorganic cooking chemicals, is fired into the boiler as an aqueous slurry with between 70 and 80% solids content. Corrosion of water wall tubes in kraft recovery boilers represents a significant hazard to the safe operation of the boiler, as contact between the bed of molten salt and water or steam escaping from cracks in the boiler tubes can result in a smelt-water explosion capable of destroying the boiler. One of the most common measures taken to prevent corrosion is the installation of composite tubes to form the boiler walls and floor.
In this context, a composite tube consists of two tubular layers of different materials, one inside the other, joined by a metallurgical bond at the interface between the two. Typically, the inside layer will be made from a carbon steel such as ASTM A-210 or similar. The outer, corrosion-resistant layer of the tube is most often made from UNS S30403 (18-20 Cr, 8-10.5 Ni), bal Fe or, in some cases, variants of either UNS N08825 (38-46 Ni, 19.5-23.5 Cr, 2.5-3.5 Mo) bal Fe or UNS N06625 (20-23 Cr, 0-5 Fe, 8-10 Mo, bal Ni). In addition to the major alloying elements, all of these alloys contain minor amounts of other alloying elements and impurities. The layers can be metallurgically bonded by co-extruding the two materials with a die and mandrel, by welding the outer corrosion resistant layer onto the inner layer, or by depositing, onto the surface of the inner tube, a molten spray of material comprising the composition of the outer layer and allowing it to solidify in place to form the outer layer.
Composite tubes made with UNS S30403 as an outer layer replaced carbon steel tubes in kraft recovery boilers because they possess intrinsically better corrosion resistance, but they have proven susceptible to failure via several different modes, including, but not limited to, general corrosion, thermal fatigue, corrosion fatigue and stress corrosion cracking. Most seriously, cracks have formed in the outer layer of these tubes around primary air port openings, and in locations where they are, or may be, in contact with the smelt bed on the bottom of the boiler. The specific mechanism of cracking has been the subject of many investigations, and a general conclusion has been reached that the mechanism likely varies according to the precise location in the boiler where the cracking occurs.
Replacement tubes made from variants of alloys UNS N08825 and UNS N06625 were introduced into recovery boiler service to alleviate both the cracking and corrosion experienced by composite tubes made with UNS S30403. In particular, the application of UNS N08825 to prevent cracking of boiler bottom tubes was the subject of U.S. Pat. No. 5,324,595. Although improvements in resistance to cracking and corrosion have been noted for each of these alloys in some applications, both have been prone to corrosion and cracking in-service. In fact, none of the alternative materials used thus far represents a universal solution to the various cracking and corrosion found in the lower furnace section of a kraft recovery boiler.
The present invention is based on the discovery of an alloy that offers significantly superior resistance against the combination of cracking and corrosion mechanisms operative in a kraft recovery boiler.

Corrosion-resistant exterior alloy for composite tubes


This invention pertains to certain carbamic acid compounds of the following formula, which inhibit HDAC (histone deacetylase) activity wherein: A is independently an unsubstituted or substituted bicyclic C9-10heteroaryl group (e.g., quinolinyl; quinoxalinyl; benzoxazolyl; benzothiazolyl); Q is an acid leader group, and is independently an unsubstituted or substituted, saturated or unsaturated C17alkylene group having a backbone length of 4 or less; with the proviso that if A is unsubstituted benzothiazol-2-yl, then Q is an unsaturated group; and with the proviso that if A is unsubstituted quinolin-6-yl, then Q is unsubstituted at the α-position; and with the proviso that A is not benzimidazol-2-yl; and pharmaceutically acceptable salts, solvates, amides, esters, ethers, chemically protected forms, and prodrugs thereof. The present invention also pertains to pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, and the use of such compounds and compositions, both in vitro and in vivo, to inhibit HDAC, and in the treatment of conditions mediated by HDAC, cancer, proliferative conditions, psoriasis, etc.

Throughout this specification, including any claims which follow, unless the context requires otherwise, the word "comprise," and variations such as "comprises" and "comprising," will be understood to imply the inclusion of a stated integer or step or group of integers or steps, but not the exclusion of any other integer or step or group of integers or steps.
It must be noted that, as used in the specification and any appended claims, the singular forms "a," "an," and "the" include plural referents unless the context clearly dictates otherwise. Thus, for example, reference to "a pharmaceutical carrier" includes mixtures of two or more such carriers, and the like.
Ranges are often expressed herein as from "about" one particular value, and/or to "about" another particular value. When such a range is expressed, another embodiment includes from the one particular value and/or to the other particular value. Similarly, when values are expressed as approximations, by the use of the antecedent "about," it will be understood that the particular value forms another embodiment.
DNA in eukaryotic cells is tightly complexed with proteins (histones) to form chromatin. Histones are small, positively charged proteins which are rich in basic amino acids (positively charged at physiological pH), which contact the phosphate groups (negatively charged at physiological pH) of DNA. There are five main classes of histones, H1, H2A, H2B, H3, and H4. The amino acid sequences of histones H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 show remarkable conservation between species, whereas H1 varies somewhat, and in some cases is replaced by another histone, e.g., H5. Four pairs of each of H2A, H2B, H3, and H4 together form a disk-shaped octomeric protein core, around which DNA (about 140 base pairs) is wound to form a nucleosome. Individual nucleosomes are connected by short stretches of linker DNA associated with another histone molecule (e.g., H1, or in certain cases, H5) to form a structure resembling a beaded string, which is itself arranged in a helical stack, known as a solenoid.
The majority of histones are synthesised during the S phase of the cell cycle, and newly synthesised histones quickly enter the nucleus to become associated with DNA. Within minutes of its synthesis, new DNA becomes associated with histones in nucleosomal structures.
A small fraction of histones, more specifically, the amino side chains thereof, are enzymatically modified by post-translational addition of methyl, acetyl, or phosphate groups, neutralising the positive charge of the side chain, or converting it to a negative charge. For example, lysine and arginine groups may be methylated, lysine groups may be acetylated, and serine groups may be phosphorylated. For lysine, the —(CH2)4—NH2 sidechain may be acetylated, for example by an acetyltransferase enzyme, to give the amide —(CH2)4—NHC(═O)CH3. Methylation, acetylation, and phosphorylation of amino termini of histones which extend from the nucleosomal core affects chromatin structure and gene expression. (See, for example, Spencer and Davie, 1999).
Acetylation and deacetylation of histones Is associated with transcriptional events leading to cell proliferation and/or differentiation. Regulation of the function of transcription factors is also mediated through acetylafton. Recent reviews of histone deacetylation include Kouzarides, 1999 and Pazin et al., 1997.
The correlation between the acetylation status of histones and the transcription of genes has been known for over 30 years (see, for example, Howe et al., 1999). Certain enzymes, specifically acetylases (e.g., histone acetyltransferase, HAT) and deacetylases (e.g., histone deacetylase, HDAC), which regulate the acetylation state of histones have been identified in many organisms and have been implicated in the regulation of numerous genes, confirming the link between acetylation and transcription. See, for example, Davie, 1998. In general, histone acetylation correlates with transcriptional activation, whereas histone deacetylation is associated with gene repression.
A growing number of histone deacetylases (HDACs) have been identified (see, for example, Ng and Bird, 2000). The first deacetylase, HDAC1, was identified in 1996 (see, for example, Taunton et al., 1996). Subsequently, two other nuclear mammalian deacetylases were found, HDAC2 and HDAC3 (see, for example, Yang et al., 1996, 1997, and Emiliani et al., 1998). See also, Grozinger et al., 1999; Kao et al., 2000; and Van den Wyngaert et al., 2000.
Eleven (11) human HDACs have been cloned so far:                HDAC1 (Genbank Accession No. NP—004955)        HDAC2 (Genbank Accession No. NP—001518)        HDAC3 (Genbank Accession No. O15379)        HDAC4 (Genbank Accession No. AAD29046)        HDAC5 (Genbank Accession No. NP—005465)        HDAC6 (Genbank Accession No. NP—006035)        HDAC7 (Genbank Accession No. AAF63491)        HDAC8 (Genbank Accession No. AAF73428)        HDAC9 (Genbank Accession No. AAK66821)        HDAC10 (Genbank Accession No. AAK84023)        HDAC11 (Genbank Accession No. NM—024827
These eleven human HDACs fall in two distinct classes: HDACs 1, 2, 3 and 8 are in class I, and HDACs 4, 5, 6, 7, 9, 10 and 11 are in class II.
There are a number of histone deacetylases in yeast, including the following:                RPD3 (Genbank Accession No. NP—014069)        HDA1 (Genbank Accession No. P53973)        HOS1 (Genbank Accession No. Q12214)        HOS2 (Genbank Accession No. P53096)        HOS3 (Genbank Accession No. Q02959)
There are also numerous plant deacetylases, for example, HD2, in Zea mays (Genbank Accession No. AF254073—1).
HDACs function as part of large multiprotein complexes, which are tethered to the promoter and repress transcription. Well characterised transcriptional repressors such as Mad (Laherty et al., 1997), pRb (Brehm et al., 1998), nuclear receptors (Wong et al., 1998) and YY1 (Yang et al., 1997) associate with HDAC complexes to exert their repressor function.
The study of inhibitors of histone deacetylases indicates that these enzymes play an important role in cell proliferation and differentiation. The inhibitor Trichostatin A (TSA) (Yoshida et al., 1990a) causes cell cycle arrest at both G1 and G2 phases (Yoshida and Beppu, 1988), reverts the transformed phenotype of different cell lines, and induces differentiation of Friend leukaemia cells and others (Yoshida et al., 1990b). TSA (and SAHA) have been reported to inhibit cell growth, induce terminal differentiation, and prevent the formation of tumours in mice (Finnin et al., 1999).

Cell cycle arrest by TSA correlates with an increased expression of gelsolin (Hoshikawa et al., 1994), an actin regulatory protein that is down regulated in malignant breast cancer (Mielnicki et al., 1999). Similar effects on cell cycle and differentiation have been observed with a number of deacetylase inhibitors (Kim et al., 1999).
Trichostatin A has also been reported to be useful in the treatment of fibrosis, e.g., liver fibrosis and liver cirrhosis. See, e.g., Geerts et al., 1998.
Recently, certain compounds that induce differentiation have-been reported to inhibit histone deacetylases. Several experimental antitumour compounds, such as trichostatin A (TSA), trapoxin, suberoylanilide hydroxamic acid (SAHA), and phenylbutyrate have been reported to act, at least in part, by inhibiting histone deacetylase (see, e.g., Yoshida et al., 1990; Richon et al., 1998; Kijima et al., 1993). Additionally, diallyl sulfide and related molecules (see, e.g., Lea et al., 1999), oxamflatin (see, e.g., Kim et al., 1999; Sonoda et al., 1996), MS-27-275, a synthetic benzamide derivative (see, e.g., Saito et al., 1999; Suzuki et al., 1999; note that MS-27-275 was later re-named as MS-275), butyrate derivatives (see, e.g., Lea and Tulsyan, 1995), FR901228 (see, e.g., Nokajima et al., 1998), depudecin (see, e.g., Kwon et al., 1998), and m-carboxycinnamic acid bishydroxamide (see, e.g., Richon et al., 1998) have been reported to inhibit histone deacetylases. In vitro, some of these compounds are reported to inhibit the growth of fibroblast cells by causing cell cycle arrest in the G1 and G2 phases, and can lead to the terminal differentiation and loss of transforming potential of a variety of transformed cell lines (see, e.g., Richon et al, 1996; Kim et al., 1999; Yoshida et al., 1995; Yoshida & Beppu, 1988). In vivo, phenybutyrate is reported to be effective in the treatment of acute promyelocytic leukemia in conjunction with retinoic acid (see, e.g., Warrell et al., 1998). SAHA is reported to be effective in preventing the formation of mammary tumours in rats, and lung tumours in mice (see, e.g., Desai et al., 1999).
The clear involvement of HDACs in the control of cell proliferation and differentiation suggests that aberrant HDAC activity may play a role in cancer. The most direct demonstration that deacetylases contribute to cancer development comes from the analysis of different acute promyelocytic leukemias (APL). In most APL patients, a translocation of chromosomes 15 and 17 (t(15;17)) results in the expression of a fusion protein containing the N-terminal portion of PML gene product linked to most of RARα (retinoic acid receptor). In some cases, a different translocation (t(11;17)) causes the fusion between the zinc finger protein PLZF and RARα. In the absence of ligand, the wild type RARα represses target genes by tethering HDAC repressor complexes to the promoter DNA. During normal hematopoiesis, retinoic acid (RA) binds RARα and displaces the repressor complex, allowing expression of genes implicated in myeloid differentiation. The RARα fusion proteins occurring in APL patients are no longer responsive to physiological levels of RA and they interfere with the expression of the RA-inducible genes that promote myeloid differentiation. This results in a clonal expansion of promyelocytic cells and development of leukaemia. In vitro experiments have shown that TSA is capable of restoring RA-responsiveness to the fusion RARα proteins and of allowing myeloid differentiation. These results establish a link between HDACs and oncogenesis and suggest that HDACs are potential targets for pharmaceutical intervention in APL patients. (See, for example, Kitamura et al., 2000; David et al., 1998; Lin et al., 1998).
Furthermore, different lines of evidence suggest that HDACs may be important therapeutic targets in other types of cancer. Cell lines derived from many different cancers (prostate, colorectal, breast, neuronal, hepatic) are induced to differentiate by HDAC inhibitors (Yoshida and Horinouchi, 1999). A number of HDAC inhibitors have been studied in animal models of cancer. They reduce tumour growth and prolong the lifespan of mice bearing different types of transplanted tumours, including melanoma, leukaemia, colon, lung and gastric carcinomas, etc. (Ueda et al., 1994; Kim et al., 1999).
Psoriasis is a common chronic disfiguring skin disease which is characterised by well-demarcated, red, hardened scaly plaques: these may be limited or widespread. The prevalence rate of psoriasis is approximately 2%, i.e., 12.5 million sufferers in the triad countries (US/Europe/Japan). While the disease is rarely fatal, it clearly has serious detrimental effects upon the quality of life of the patient: this is further compounded by the lack of effective therapies. Present treatments are either ineffective, cosmetically unacceptable, or possess undesired side effects. There is therefore a large unmet clinical need for effective and safe drugs for this condition.
Psoriasis is a disease of complex etiology. Whilst there is clearly a genetic component, with a number of gene loci being involved, there are also undefined environmental triggers. Whatever the ultimate cause of psoriasis, at the cellular level, it is characterised by local T-cell mediated inflammation, by keratinocyte hyperproliferation, and by localised angiogenesis. These are all processes in which histone deacetylases have been implicated (see, e.g., Saunders et al., 1999; Bernhard et al, 1999; Takahashi et al, 1996; Kim et al , 2001). Therefore HDAC inhibitors may be of use in therapy for psoriasis. Candidate drugs may be screened, for example, using proliferation assays with T-cells and/or keratinocytes.
Thus, one aim of the present invention Is the provision of compounds which are potent inhibitors of histone deacetylases (HDACs). There is a pressing need for such compounds, particularly for use as antiproliferatives, for example, anti-cancer agents, agents for the treatment of psoriasis, etc.
Such molecules desirably have one or more of the following properties and/or effects:                (a) easily gain access to and act upon tumour cells;        (b) down-regulate HDAC activity;        (c) inhibit the formation of HDAC complexes;        (d) inhibit the interactions of HDAC complexes;        (e) inhibit tumour cell proliferation;        (e) promote tumour cell apoptosis;        (f) inhibit tumour growth; and,        (g) complement the activity of traditional chemotherapeutic agents.
A number of carbamic acid compounds have been described.
Certain classes of carbamic acid compounds which inhibit HDAC are described in Watkins et al., 2002a, 2002b, 2002c, 2003.
Quinolines
Kato et al., 1996, describe certain carbamic acid compounds bearing a quinolin-2-yl group (shown below) as potential agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative disorders.
Cmpd.PageStructureCAS No.1-341183965-19-7P 1-442183965-21-1P 1-542183965-22-2P 2-144183965-25-5P 2-244183965-26-6P 2-345183965-27-7P 2-445183965-28-8P 2-747183965-31-3P 2-847183965-32-4P 2-947183965-33-5P  2-1047183965-34-6P  2-1148183965-35-7P 1237186522-77-0P 2641186522-97-4P 2741186522-98-5P 2841186522-99-6P
Musser et al., 1988, describes carbamic acid compounds (including one bearing a quinolin-2-yl group, linked via a methylene-oxy-meta-phenylene ether group) as inhibitors of 5-lipoxygenase/cyclooxygenase and leukotriene antagonists for the treatment of inflammatory and allergic diseases.
CmpdPageStructureCAS No.48118308-98-8
Venkatesan et al., 2001, describe a carbamic acid compound bearing a quinolin-6-yl group (shown below) as an inhibitor of matrix metalloproteases and TNFα converting enzyme (TACE).
Cmpd.ColumnStructureCAS No.6750212766-63-7PBenzoxazoles and Related Compounds
Kato et al., 1996, describe a carbamic acid compound bearing a benzoxazol-2-yl group (shown below) as a potential agent for the treatment of neurodegenerauive disorders.
StructureCAS No.183963-81-7P
Turin et al., 1996, describe certain carbamic acids compounds bearing a furobenzoxazole group (shown below) as potential bronchodilators.
StructureCAS No.65874-35-3P 65874-38-6P
Fauran et al, 1974, describe a carbamic acid compound bearing a furobenzoxazole group (shown below) as a potential bronchodilator and hypotensive agent.
StructureCAS No.54414-41-4PBenzothiazoles
Baxter et al., 2000, describe a carbamic acid compound bearing a benzothiazol-2-yl group (shown below) as an inhibitor of matrix metalloproteases for use in therapy of a number of diseases, including cancer.
StructureCAS No.21344-60-5P
Kato et al., 1996, describe certain carbamic acid compounds bearing a benzothiazol-2-yl group (shown below) as agents for the treatment of neurodegenerative disease:
StructureCAS No.183963-77-1P 183963-85-1P
Babichev et al., 1968, describe the synthesis of certain carbamic acid compounds bearing a benzothiazol-2-yl group (shown below).
StructureCAS No.21344-60-5P 21344-61-6P 21344-62-7PBenzimidazoles
Strakov et al., 1972 describes the synthesis of a carbamic acid compound bearing a benzimidazol-2-yl group (shown below).
StructureCAS No.37454-68-5P
Guines et al., 1992 describes certain carbamic acids compound bearing a benzimidazol-2-yl group (shown below) that apparently have antifungal properties.
StructureCAS No.143949-73-9P 143949-76-2P

Carbamic acid compounds comprising a bicyclic heteroaryl group as HDAC inhibitors


A device includes a first water heater, having a first water duct and a first heating member, and a second water heater, having a second water duct. The first water heater and the second water heater are in thermal connection with each other.

In the electric coffee machines there is often provided the possibility of supplying hot water to a brewing unit for producing coffee and steam for producing hot milk, emulsified milk for producing cappuccino, milk with a dash of coffee, coffee-milk or analogous drinks. To this purpose a single water heater is usually used which, by controlling the heating resistance, can bring the water temperature to a first value (around 90-100° C.) suitable for preparing coffee and to a second value (around 120-140° C.) for producing steam. The steam is supplied through a nozzle to be input directly into a milk container in order to heat and/or emulsify it with air and form a milk foam. Alternatively, the steam is used to feed an emulsifying device wherein, by Venturi effect, the milk is sucked by an outer container, mixed to the steam and, in case, to a determined air flow to produce hot milk or emulsified milk.
In some known machines two distinct water heaters are used, the first one for producing hot water and the second one for producing steam. An example of machines of this kind is described in WO-A-2010/044116.
The two water heaters can be arranged in parallel. In other configurations (US-A-2008/0216665) the water heaters are arranged in series. In each case, the water heaters are constituted by separated members, housed in different areas inside the coffee machine.
US-A-2008/0271608 discloses a flow-through water heater for a coffee machine including a block of heat conductive material embedding a helically developing electrical resistor and two helically arranged water ducts. Water is fed through the first water duct when hot water is required to feed a brewing chamber. Water is alternatively fed through the second water duct if steam is required, instead. The single electrical resistor is controlled to achieve the desired temperature.
DE-85163331 U discloses a double flow-through water heater including a first water duct and a first electric resistor forming a first water heater as well as second water duct and a second electric resistor forming a second water heater. The ducts are connected either in parallel or in sequence. The purpose of the this known device is two obtain a higher water heating rate thanks to the double electric resistor heater arrangement.
Usually, in particular for abiding by the recent laws on energy saving, the used water heaters are without accumulation and usually comprise a duct with small volume, through which the water flows and wherein the water heats instantaneously while flowing by the effect of the heat received from an electric resistance placed in thermal connection with the water duct through a metallic mass wherein the resistance and the water duct are incorporated. In this case the water heater is constituted in substance by a heat exchanger, wherein the water is heated instantaneously, that is while it is requested by the users downstream of the water heater.

Device for heating water and producing steam


The present invention is a liquid crystal projector device using a liquid crystal panel. The device mounts a liquid crystal panel (16) on a light incident plane of a polyhedral dichroic prism (23) in a bonded state so as to integrate the panel with the prism, and comprises a heat sink (29) and a heat pipe (31) which forcedly cools the integrated structure statically. The liquid crystal projector device comprising the structure describe above cools the liquid crystal panel efficiently without bringing any trouble caused by fan noise or raise of dust.

In these days, a liquid crystal projector device using a liquid crystal panel as a liquid crystal light valve therein has been developed evidently. As the liquid crystal projector device, there are mainly considered a data projector device configured for a personal computer, a front projector device configured for a home theater, and further, there is considered a rear projector device configured for a rear projection television.
The liquid crystal projector device is roughly divided into two types, that is, a single-panel type which uses a liquid crystal light valve (liquid crystal panel) with color filters of three colors, i.e., R (red), G (green) and B (blue), and a three-panel type which uses three monochrome liquid crystal light valves (liquid crystal panels) for three optical paths of R, G and B, respectively. The liquid crystal projector device is divided into whether a transmission type of projector or a reflection type of projector, depending on whether the liquid crystal light valve which is a center of the liquid crystal projector device is the type of transmission or the type of reflection.
Here, an optical system of a three-panel transmission type of liquid crystal projector device is constructed such that: liquid crystal light valves, each corresponding to each color of R, G and B, are disposed on three light incident planes of a polyhedral dichroic prism (cross prism) in a state of opposing to one another; and R-light, G-light and B-light, each transmitted through the corresponding liquid crystal light valve, are synthesized by means of the dichroic prism and irradiated into a projection lens.
At that time, each liquid crystal light valve generates heat owing to absorption of light or the like. Therefore, the temperature at the time of operation (will be referred to as operation temperature, hereinafter) increases. On the other hand, in the liquid crystal light valve, organic matter is used for not only the liquid crystal itself but also an orientation layer, a seal portion, a polarizing plate, a phase difference plate and the like. In addition, organic matter is also used for a flattening film and the like on a thin film transistor (TFT). Therefore, there has been worry about deterioration of reliability owing to increasing temperature or increasing quantity of light.
For this reason, an air-cooling method using a fan and a liquid-cooling method using liquid have been proposed as a method of cooling the liquid crystal light valve (liquid crystal panel). In the air-cooling method, the liquid crystal light valve is cooled by rotating a fan so as to fan air to the liquid crystal light valve. In the liquid-cooling method, the liquid crystal light valve is cooled by bringing cooling liquid into contact with the liquid crystal light valve.
However, in the air-cooling method, there have been inconveniences such that noises are generated by rotations of the fan or dust rises. In the liquid-cooling method, it is necessary to dispose a liquid-cooling container around the liquid crystal light valve, which disadvantages in regard to miniaturizing. In addition, temperature of cooling liquid is influenced by environmental temperature around the panel. Therefore, cooling effect easily becomes uneven. Furthermore, there is a problem in that sufficient cooling effect is not easily obtained. In particular, as the distance between optical members becomes short owing to miniaturizing, the environmental temperature increases accordingly. Owing to the increase of the temperature, the temperature of the cooling liquid is remarkably increased. Thus, cooling effect is expected to deteriorate.
In the future, with the progress of enhancing high luminance, high quality of images and remarkable minuteness in the liquid crystal projector device, pixel density of the liquid crystal light valve (liquid crystal panel) and density of quantity of light incident into the liquid crystal light valve will be increased. Accordingly, there has been a trend in that the operation temperature of the liquid crystal light valve increases. On the other hand, miniaturization of the liquid crystal light valve (panel size) will be improved. Therefore, it can be expected that increase of the operation temperature will be accelerated. In those cases, the conventional air-cooling method or liquid cooling method cannot restrain the temperature of the liquid crystal light valve from increasing any more, so that it will be further difficult to retain reliability thereof.

Liquid crystal display device and liquid crystal projector device


A substrate treating apparatus includes a treating block including a plurality of cells arranged one over another. Each cell has treating units for treating substrates and a single main transport mechanism disposed in a transporting space for transporting the substrates to the treating units. The treating units include solution treating units and heat-treating units. The solution treating units are arranged at one side of the transporting space, the heat-treating units are arranged at the other side of the transporting space, and the main transport mechanism and the treating units are in substantially the same layout in plan view for the respective cells. The solution treating units are in substantially the same layout in side view for the respective cells, the heat-treating units are in substantially the same layout in side view for the respective cells, and treatments of the substrates carried out in the respective cells are the same.

(1) Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a substrate treating apparatus for performing a series of treatments of substrates such as semiconductor wafers, glass substrates for liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for photomasks, and substrates for optical disks (hereinafter called simply "substrates").
(2) Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a substrate treating apparatus is used to form a resist film on substrates, allows the substrates having the resist film formed thereon to be exposed in a separate exposing machine, and develops the exposed substrates. Specifically, the substrate treating apparatus includes a plurality of blocks each having various chemical treating units such as coating units for forming resist film and heat-treating units arranged with a single main transport mechanism. This apparatus transports substrates to each block to be treated therein (as disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2003-324139, for example).
The conventional apparatus with such a construction has the following drawback.
In the conventional apparatus, the main transport mechanism goes through five to 10 transporting steps for treating each substrate in its block, and each transporting step takes several seconds. Supposing that the number of transporting steps is six and each step takes five seconds, the throughput in the block can be raised up to 30 seconds per substrate (or 120 substrates per hour). However, there is not much room for reducing the number of transporting steps for the single main transport mechanism or shortening the time for each transporting step. Hence, it is difficult to achieve a further improvement in throughput of each block. It is therefore difficult to improve the throughput of the entire apparatus. One possible solution is to employ multiple main transport mechanisms. However, an increase in the number of main transport mechanisms in each block entails the inconvenience of increasing the chemical treating units and heating units, thereby enlarging the footprint.

Substrate treating apparatus using horizontal treatment cell arrangements with parallel treatment lines

Screen Semiconductor Solutions Co., Ltd.


An introducer guide (19) for an intubation device (21) having an open channel adapted to releasably secure an introducer, and shaped such that advancement of an intubation tube (21) through which the introducer extends causes the introducer to be removed from the introducer guide (19).

Endotracheal intubation, in which a tube is passed via the mouth or nose, through the larynx and into the trachea, is an important procedure in providing a positive airway in general medical practice to allow for the administration of anaesthesia or to provide air to the lungs. Endotracheal intubation may need to be performed for a variety of reasons, such as in the treatment of comatose patients where airways are liable to collapse due to reduced muscle tone, or, for example, in general anaesthesia wherein spontaneous respiration may be decreased or absent. In many of these cases, intubation tubes will need to be inserted by doctors or paramedics to unconscious patients in emergency situations. The procedure is further complicated by the risk of damage to the patient's teeth and the soft tissue of the throat. Considerable skill is therefore required when inserting an endotracheal tube in order to ensure that intubation is carried out in the quickest manner possible, without causing injury to the patient.
Endotracheal intubation is conventionally performed via direct laryngoscopy, in which a laryngoscope is used to restrain the patient's tongue and displace the epiglottis. This allows for direct visualisation of the larynx and the entrance to the trachea through the oral cavity, along with a clear passageway so that intubation may be more easily performed.
Traditional laryngoscopes comprise an elongate rigid blade, which may be curved or straight, extending from a handle, and typically include a light source, to illuminate the area of interest. In use, the laryngoscope blade is inserted through the oral cavity into the pharyngeal area, displacing the tongue and epiglottis. Once the laryngoscope is in position, an endotracheal tube is then inserted, via the nose or the oral cavity, alongside the laryngoscope blade and past the displaced epiglottis. Video laryngoscopes, employing a video camera located on or in the blade, or connected through a fibre optic bundle to a location on or in the blade, can provide further assistance when guiding the intubation tube into a patient's trachea.
Whilst visualisation of the intubation procedure has improved, the process of guiding the intubation tube into the trachea is still relatively cumbersome. The main problem with current intubation procedures is the difficulty in placing the tube. Various adjuncts, such as introducers, are known in the art for aiding this procedure as the introducer can be inserted prior to the more cumbersome intubating tube. However, there are still many cases where the introducer is accidentally placed into the oesophagus rather than the trachea, causing problems.
Introducers are firm guides, typically of small circumference, which are inserted into the larynx of the patient. Once the introducer is in place, the larger intubation tube is inserted over the introducer into the trachea. The introducer is then slidably removed from the trachea leaving the outer intubation tube in position. As introducers have some flexibility and/or malleability, they are particularly useful adjuncts to the intubation procedure when only part of the larynx is visible or when only the epiglottis can be seen. In use, the difference between the external diameter of the introducer and the internal diameter of the outer intubation tube should be fairly small as when greater differences between these diameters exist, the outer intubation tube can drag the introducer out of the airway. An example of a commonly used introducer is the Eschmann tracheal tube introducer (gum elastic bougie). This is a 60 cm long, 15 French Gauge flexible device with a J (coude) angle at its distal tip. This bougie can be passed into the trachea and, due to its flexible and malleable nature, is considered to be relatively atraumatic for the patient. The coude (bent) tip can also be used to sense the tracheal rings and thus to ensure that the bougie has not entered the oesophagus.
In order to direct the insertion of an intubation tube, it is known to provide guide means, for use with a laryngoscope blade. These guide means typically comprise a tube guide, for example, one or more channels which are of a sufficient diameter to house the intubation tube, and which are integrally formed with, or attached to the laryngoscope blade. Such guide channels typically extend along the majority of the length of the laryngoscope blade. It is also known from WO 2009/027669 (Aircraft Medical Limited) to provide a tube guide using spaced apart tube guiding members, reducing bulk.
In use, the intubation tube is inserted into the tube guide, and directed along its length into the trachea. Whilst this is a simple and effective means for introducing an intubation tube, in order to remove the laryngoscope and bougie once the intubation tube is in place, the laryngoscope blade must be slid back along the inserted tube towards the oral cavity, in order to separate the blade from the inserted tube. This is an awkward procedure as it requires the practitioner to hold both the laryngoscope and the inserted tube while withdrawing the blade, and can also be time-consuming, which is a significant disadvantage for a technique which is commonly used for medical procedures in which time can be of vital importance.
Furthermore, as the intubation tube is relatively large, some tube guides are very bulky. The size of the tube also obscures a user's view, even in cases where the laryngoscope is provided with video imaging, making insertion difficult. This is why introducers are often used to assist insertion but these are typically not guided into place.
The present invention provides improved guide means (such as a tube guide) which mitigates one or more of the limitations previously discussed.
Throughout this document the term blade portion should be read in a broad sense to cover not only laryngoscope blades but also to cover speculums or elements that are inserted into body cavities. Furthermore, whilst the term "bougie" is used throughout the specification, it will be understood that this is simply one example of a suitable introducer and that any suitable introducer is encompassed by the term.


A self balancing matrix amplifier is provided in which a plurality of input signals are divided with an input transform matrix, amplified by a number of amplifiers, and recombined with an output transform matrix to form amplified versions of the input signals. One of the inputs is set aside as a monitor input, and this is connected to the characteristic impedance of the system. The output corresponding to this input is monitored for gain imbalances which should be zero if the entire matrix amplifier is perfectly balanced. Then, on the basis of the monitored phase and gain imbalances, attenuators and phase adjusters in series with each of the amplifiers are iteratively controlled so as to insert phase shift or gain/loss so as to reduce the monitored phase and gain imbalances.

Conventional basestation transmitters typically have a plurality of radio channel units each assigned to dedicated amplifier resources and dedicated antennas. There may be an individual amplifier for each radio channel unit, or several of the radio units may have their signals combined before being amplified. These are inefficient and inflexible ways to allocate amplifier resources. To illustrate the limitations of such current systems, consider a tri-sectored system having sectors X, Y, Z with 10 available physical user assigned radio channel units per sector, and for simplicity assume a radio channel unit can service only one caller at a time. Then in the situation when there is an uneven loading of say 6, 9, and 12 users in sectors X,Y and Z respectively, then callers 11 and 12 in sector Z will be blocked. This blocking is done by virtue of there not being enough radio channel units assigned to sector Z, even though there are 5 unassigned radio channel units in the remaining sectors.
European patent application no. EP 704964 made public on Apr. 3, 1996 to Meredith, entitled "Power Sharing System for High Power RF Amplifiers" discloses a system for amplifying a plurality N of antenna inputs in which the amplification load of all the antenna inputs is spread evenly across a plurality N of amplifiers and more importantly in which radio channel units are assignable to any antenna. An input transform matrix divides each signal to be amplified into N divided signals, each divided signal having a fraction 1/N of the power of the original signal. The input to each amplifier is a combination of a divided signal from each signal to be amplified. Each amplifier produces an amplified combination of the divided signals. An output transform matrix then recombines the divided signals so as to produce amplified versions of the signals to be amplified. Meredith points out that it is important that the phase shift introduced in each of the input transform matrix, the amplifiers and the output transform matrix must be balanced such that the recombined signals do not contain undesired components from incorrect input signals. It is suggested that such phase balancing may be accomplished by controlling the lengths of certain signal lines, and/or by adjusting the phase shift introduced by the amplifiers.
Meredith does not suggest how to control the lengths of the signal lines or how the phase shift adjustments for the amplifiers is achieved. Furthermore, Meredith does not mention that in addition to phase balancing, gain balancing must also be performed. If any type of gain or phase mismatch is introduced, then the output signals will contain undesirable components.


A vacuum insulated glass (VIG) panel includes a first glass panel and a second glass panel spaced from the first glass panels. A spacer is disposed between the first and second glass panels. The spacer includes first and second generally opposed faces, and a plurality of sides extending therebetween. The spacer is processed using tumbling and polishing operations to preferably round all corners of the spacer and form a circular contact footprint on opposed side faces of the spacer. The spacer surface break conditions are measured during tumbling and/or polishing operations using optical flat measuring equipment. Following the polishing operation the spacer is thermally processed to strengthen the spacer.

This disclosure generally pertains to glazing panels, and more particularly relates to vacuum insulated glazing panels and methods of forming the same. The construction industry is constantly striving to increase the energy efficiency of buildings. Improvements such as higher efficiency insulation materials, more efficient building techniques and standards, and improved efficiency heating, ventilation, and air conditioning systems have all increased the energy efficiency that can be achieved in both domestic and commercial buildings. However, windows continue to present a significant obstacle for increased building energy efficiency. Due to the primary function of windows, namely a high degree of transparency, the choice of materials and overall structure of windows is largely constrained. This disclosure provides for an improved window construction method.

Method of forming a vacuum insulated glass panel spacer


A method for quantifying total mRNA in a biological sample containing RNA such as crude cell lysates containing cytosolic mRNA, which method comprises the steps of: (a) incubating the sample with an oligo-(dT)- or poly-U-immobilized microtiter plate; (b) washing non-hybridized components from the microtiter plate; (c) labeling the hybridized mRNA with a photometric nucleic-acid dye; (d) measuring the amount of label captured on the microtiter plate; (e) heat-denaturing the labeled mRNA; (f) washing the denatured mRNA from the microtiter plate; and (g) measuring the amount of label remaining on the microtiter plate; and (h) correlating the amount of the measured label (captured label minus remaining label) with the quantity of total mRNA present in the sample, thereby easily measuring the total mRNA without the influence of rRNA or tRNA and without radioactive dyes, which method can be adapted to chemosensitivity tests.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for quantifying total mRNA in a biological sample such as crude cell lysates containing cytosolic RNA, and particularly to that for quantifying total mRNA by using a microtiter plate to which poly(A)-complementary oligonucleotides are immobilized, which method allows for a rapid, accurate, and nonradioactive quantification of total mRNA even when rRNA (ribosomal RNA) and tRNA (transfer RNA) are present in the sample. This invention also relates to a rapid chemosensitivity determination method using the total-mRNA measuring method.
2. Background of the Art
New gene sequences are discovered daily, and advanced molecular biological techniques are revolutionizing clinical practice in genetic disorders, oncology, infectious diseases, etc. Although the current major focus is set on use of DNA to identify disease genes, genetic mutations, translocations, or foreign genes as infectious agents, the analysis of specific mRNA also attracts clinical scientists who may wish to quantify specific gene expression in certain tissues and cells during the course of disease, both before and after various treatments.
Technologies are available for the analysis of mRNA, e.g., Northern blotting (Sambrooke et al., Molecular cloning, a laboratory manual, 2nd ed., Cold Spring Harbor, N.Y., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, 1989:7.28-7.52) and reverse transcription followed by polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR: reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) (Kawasaki et al., Erlich HA, ed. PCR technology, New York, Stockton, 1989:89-97), and in each assay, positive signals can be quantified by various techniques. However, the comparison of positive signals among different clinical specimens is still quite difficult, given the lack of normalization procedures. For example, if specific mRNA expression in cancers is compared among different patients, such signals can be expressed in terms of wet weight, protein concentration, DNA content, RNA content, etc. The most common practice in Northern blotting is to apply the same amounts of RNA and confirm that ribosomal RNA (rRNA) signals of the same intensity are observed on the same filters (Okamoto et al., Biochem Biophys Res Commun 1993; 197:878-85). However, because the mRNA content accounts for less than 5% of total RNA or rRNA, the same amount of measured total RNA or rRNA does not indicate that the amount of applied mRNA is equal among tested samples.
Alternatively, one can compare specific signals with the expression of other, known housekeeping genes, e.g., .beta.-actin (Ponte et al., Mol Cell Biol 1983; 3:1783-91) and glyceraldehyde-3-phosphate dehydrogenase (Tso et al., Nucleic Acids Res 1985; 13:2485-502). However, the expression of these genes is also known to vary substantially under certain conditions. The most practical solution is to purify mRNA and use the same amount of mRNA for Northern blots or for RT-PCR, even though purification of the mRNA requires additional time-consuming steps.
Other attempts have been made to quantify the amount of total mRNA in test samples. In a classical approach, poly(A)+ mRNA is purified from test samples and the final amount of purified mRNA is determined by measuring A.sub.260 ; however, this method requires a relatively large amount of starting material and multiple time-consuming steps. Johnson, et al. (Johnson et al., Cell 1974; 1:95-100 and Johnson et al., J Cell Biol 1976; 71:933-8), in a series of studies, chase-labeled mRNA with radioactive mononucleotides and determined the radioactivity of the purified RNA or mRNA. However, this method requires radioactive materials and chase-labeling mRNA, thereby providing non-absolute amount of mRNA. In flow cytometry, both DNA and RNA contents from acridine orange-stained cells were simultaneously determined by two-color analysis: green emission for DNA and red emission for RNA (Traganos et al., Cytometry 1982; 2:212-8 and Hadjlssotiriou et al., Br J Urol 1985; 57:668-75). However, mRNA cannot be determined by this method, since the dyes stain not only mRNA but also rRNA and tRNA. Although Harley (Harley CB, Gene Anal Tech 1987; 4:17-22) reported a quantitative method of measuring total amounts of mRNA by hybridizing radiolabeled oligo-(dT) or RNA on nitrocellulose membranes, this method required radioactive probes and a lengthy process such as probe hybridization, washing, and detection). Further, the assay is semiquantitative; it is uncertain whether the applied RNA samples are entirely immobilized on nitrocellulose membranes and available for hybridization to each probe.
Previously, we introduced a unique research system involving microtiter plates to which oligonucleotides containing oligo-(dT) sequences had been immobilized covalently (GenePlate.TM.: Mitsuhashi et al., Nature 1992; 357:519-20). Furthermore, we also reported that DNA and RNA in solution (Ogura et al., BioTechniques 1994; 18:231-2), and oligonucleotides immobilized on a microtiter plate (Ogura et al., BioTechniques 1994; 18:1032-4) could be quantified by adding the fluorescent indicator dye YOYO-1.TM. (Glazer et al., Nature 1992; 359:859-61). However, heretofore, oligonucleotides have never been quantified with an indicator such as YOYO-1.TM. while being hybridized with oligonucleotides immobilized on a microtiter plate, because specificity and sensitivity of indicators were believed uncertain. In addition, it was difficult to separate signals of mRNA from those of rRNA and tRNA, leading to overestimation of total mRNA.
Biological significance of total mRNA has been reported: The amount of total mRNA in rapidly growing cells was significantly higher than that of resting cells (Johnson et al., Cell 1974; 1:95-100). However, measuring total mRNA has not been applied to medical or diagnostic use such as a chemosensitivity test in a practical manner, because rapid and sensitive measuring methods are not available.
To select the most appropriate anticancer drugs and their optimum doses, various chemosensitivity tests have recently become available, which include the method of identifying dead or dying cells by measuring increased cellular permeability (Ross et al., Cancer Res 1989; 49:3776-3782), the measurement of DNA synthesis using .sup.3 H-thymidine incorporation (Kern et al., Cancer Res 1985; 45:5346-5441), the measurement of cellular metabolic activities using MTT (3-(4,5-dimethylthiazol-2-yl)-2,5-diphenyltetrazolium bromide) (Mosmann et al., J Immuno Methods 1983; 65:55-63), AlomarBlue (Fields et al., American Biotechnology Laboratory, March 1993 and de Fries et al., J. Clin Lab Anal 1995; 9:89-95), etc. However, these assays require cell culture for at least a few days to detect the cytotoxic effect of anticancer drugs, although some cancer cells are extremely difficult to maintain in culture. Furthermore, because cellular phenotype may change significantly during culture conditions, the results of long culture may not correspond to the results in vivo (Bellamy et al., Drugs 1992; 44:690-708).

Method for quantifying total mRNA with poly(A)-complementary oligonucleotide-immobilized microtiter plate


An unwrapping apparatus for unwrapping a palletized and stretch-wrapped load, including at the front side thereof lower grippers and upper grippers to grip the lower edge and upper edge of a stretchable film of the load, respectively, and a cutter unit for vertically cutting the stretchable film. The unwrapping apparatus includes at the rear side thereof a carriage having a platen to press the top of a load, a pair of swing arms carrying the upper grippers, and a pair of auxiliary film separating swing arms to separate the stretchable film from the rear corner portions of the load when the film is removed from the load by the main swing arms. The main swing arms and the auxiliary swing arms prevent the articles from being pulled and moved by the stretchable film in contact with the articles and thus falling down from the separate sheet in particular.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an unwrapping apparatus for unwrapping a stretch-wrapped load comprised of a pallet, a plurality of articles palletized on the pallet and a stretchable film wrapping the articles and the pallet together, and in particular, the present invention relates to an improved unwrapping apparatus for unwrapping a stretch-wrapped load by cutting a stretchable film of the stretch-wrapped load and removing it without shrinkage of the stretchable film until the film is completely separated from the palletized articles.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a variety of empty containers, such as glass bottles, PET bottles (polyethylene terephthalate bottles), or metallic cans are delivered to a bottling plant in the form of a load in which containers are placed on a pallet in bulk and layered via separate sheets between the layers, and the load is shrink wrapped or stretch wrapped using a stretchable film. Shrink wrapping apparatuses and stretch wrapping apparatuses that can automatically shrink wrap or stretch wrap empty containers are known.
The shrink wrapped or stretch-wrapped load must be unwrapped upon reaching a user. There are known unwrapping apparatuses for automatically unwrapping a shrink wrapped or stretch-wrapped palletized load and disclosed in, for example, the Japanese Unexamined Patent (Kokai) No. 48-58995, No. 49-95788, No. 1-111642, and No. 2-166033.
However, when a shrink wrapped or stretch-wrapped palletized load is unwrapped, which includes light and empty containers placed on a pallet in bulk and layered via separate sheets, containers i.e., the wrapped articles sometimes fall off the separate sheets, because in stretch wrapping, the elastic stretchable film is generally horizontally wound around the articles under tension and enter any gaps between the vertically adjacent separate sheets so as to be in contact with the articles, and when the stretchable film is cut in this condition, the stretchable film suddenly shrinks owing to an immediate tension release of the stretchable film maintained in contact with the surfaces of the articles, resulting in the articles comprising light and empty containers stacked in bulk via separate sheets being pulled and moved by the stretchable film and possibly falling from the separate sheets In addition, when the cut stretchable film is removed from the load, sudden shrinkage of the stretchable film may occur owing to an immediate tension release at a location where the stretchable film contacts the articles, resulting in a similar situation. It is known from experience that the above described phenomenon occurs most frequently at the uppermost four corners of the stretch-wrapped load.
The unwrapping apparatuses described in the above Patent Publications do not have an appropriate means to solve this problem and are not adapted for unwrapping the stretch-wrapped load in which light and empty containers are placed in bulk on a pallet and layered via separate sheets.
Further, these unwrapping apparatuses do not have means to compress and compact the stretchable film that is cut and removed from the unwrapping apparatus so as to facilitate step thereby disposing of the stretchable film, and additional manpower is necessary to dispose of the bulky stretchable film.
To solve the above described problems, Japanese Patent Application No. 3-27726 (and the corresponding U.S. patent application Ser. No. 771,629, now U.S. Pat. No. 5,148,651) assigned to the same assignee as the present case discloses an unwrapping apparatus that prevents shrinkage of the stretchable film contacting the wrapped articles, whereby, when the load is unwrapped, the wrapped articles, such as empty containers contacting the stretchable film, are prevented from being pulled and moved by the stretchable film and thus falling down from the separate sheets (in particular, the uppermost four corners of the load), and the stretchable film is compressed and compacted after removing said film from the load.
However, even in the unwrapping apparatus disclosed in the above described Japanese Patent Application No. 3-27726, if very light empty containers such as PET bottles are wrapped by a relatively highly tacky stretchable film, the wrapped empty containers at the uppermost rear corners (viewed in the unwrapping apparatus) of the stretch-wrapped load rarely fall down when the load is unwrapped.

Unwrapping apparatus with swing arms and grippers


A scrolling device for a computer may include a touch-sensitive surface, which may be elongated and/or have one or more active regions. Scrolling may be performed in manual as well as automated ways that may result in more accurate and efficient scrolling. Scrolling, as displayed on the screen, may further be rounded to the nearest document text line and/or distance unit, even though a more precise scrolling location value may be stored and/or tracked.

Scrolling of documents, such as word processing documents or Internet web pages, for example, is a common task when using computing systems. There have been recent efforts focusing on methods and techniques for providing pleasant and efficient user interfaces for scrolling. It has been observed that people perform many real-world tasks using both hands. When users operate computers, however, they are often required to use a single hand for many major interface activities, such as moving a mouse. The single hand used is usually the dominant hand of the user. Even when using the mouse to scroll through a document, the dominant hand is typically used. This can be inefficient where the dominant hand may be required for other tasks as well, such as entering numbers on a numeric pad or selecting objects on the screen.
Known methods of scrolling documents are also not as intuitive or easy to use as they could be. For instance, conventional systems typically require that the user first move a cursor on the screen to a scroll bar before scrolling with a mouse, or that the user press arrow keys on a keyboard or rotate a scroll wheel on a mouse. However, some of these techniques do not allow for precise scrolling or the ability to move to a distant portion of the document quickly and accurately. There is a need for better ways to accurately control document scrolling. There is also a need for providing the ability to accurately control document scrolling without the user having to move his or her hands from the keyboard.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


It has long been the practice to treat the skin of individuals to clean and soften the skin with soaps and detergents. A compound containing glycerin, alcohol, jojoba oil, aloe vera, silk extracts, glyceryl monostearate, decyl oleate, propylene glycol, isopropyl palmitate, dimethicone, magnesium ascorbyl phosphate, sodium dodecyl sulfate, methyl paraben, xanthan gum, propyl paraben, and deionized water are formed into a silk cream composition in order to clean and soften skin. A lotion form of the compound that adds natural fragrances and mineral oil is also disclosed. A method of using the skin cream and or the lotion is also disclosed.

This invention pertains to skin care compounds and, in particular, to such skin care compounds that are designed to clean and restore the skin of the individual user by providing a compound using a silk oil protein to repair damaged and promote smooth supple skin.
There have been many different compounds used for cleaning and restoring skin that have been used over the years to treat the skin. The sale of beauty products is a very large business and all sorts of compounds have been used for this purpose. Recently, the use of natural products has been coming into vogue at this time. Skin repair products having aloe vera, soaps, detergents, and the like, are commonly used in the field. What is needed are skin compounds that use the natural oil of silk to clean and restore and repair the skin of the users of the product.
Clearly, it is desirable for a skin care compound of this type to be very effective and easy to use. It is an object of this invention to set skin care compounds weight which avoids the disadvantages of previous skin care products.

Skin care compounds and preparation thereof


A hanging file bar support assembly for a drawer includes at least one elongate rail with opposing ends adapted to be mounted on opposite walls of a drawer and at least one clip supported on the rail which has a clip body. The clip body is provided with a hook member extending from the front side of the clip body near an end of the clip body which engages a top edge of the rail and a detent member extending from its opposite end which engages a bottom edge of the rail. The clip body also has a cantilever member extending from its back side which is adapted to support an end of a hanging file bar.

1. Field of the Invention.
The present invention relates to a hanging file bar support assembly for a drawer in a furniture article such as a desk or cabinet, and more particularly to a new and improved clip and rail assembly to support a hanging file bar, which in turn supports a hanging file in a drawer.
2. Description of the Prior Art.
A type of assembly for supporting a hanging file bar in a drawer in a furniture article such as desk or cabinet used in the furniture and cabinetry industry for many years utilizes a side bar supported with its opposing ends inserted in slots formed in the front and back walls of the drawer, which in turn supports a hanging file. Such assemblies are inexpensively made and hence not precisely designed or machined to ensure stability, long wear and efficient operation. In order to provide a more durable, longer lasting hanging file bar support assembly, it has been determined that more refined design and engineering skills are required. The present invention addresses this need and interest.

Hanging file bar support assembly for a drawer