The garment (1) intended for children who are enuretic or are undergoing toilet training, or for incontinent persons, is impermeable but has a permeable internal face (3) coming into contact with the skin. It incorporates sealing devices (4) for preventing the flow of urine outside the garment. The garment can also incorporate pieces of absorbent material (5) disposed on the internal face (3) of the garment (1) close to the sealing devices (4).

The present invention concerns a night garment intended for children who are enuretic or undergoing toilet training, or for incontinent persons.
At the present time there exists no night garment specially adapted for children who are enuretic or undergoing toilet training.
A child is considered to be enuretic if he continues to wet his bed beyond 3 years of age. This nocturnal enuresis can sometimes last up to the age of 14 years or even beyond.
At the present time, in order to avoid wetting the bedding, use is made of disposable diapers for babies. However, wearing such diapers intended for a baby up to a maximum age of 3 to 4 years is totally unsuited to enuretic children or incontinent persons who can relearn hygiene.
In the opinion of the medical profession, in a therapy adapted to enuretic children, it is essential to eliminate the wearing of diapers.
In addition, psychologically, it is inconceivable continuing to put diapers on children of 10 years old or even more. The use of diapers beyond 3 or 4 years keeps the child in a regressive state, often sought by the child itself. This is the case, for example, with a toilet-trained child who, when a small brother or sister is born, begins to wet its bed again (secondary enuresis). Putting diapers on it again at this critical time will not help it to overcome its natural jealousy and accept this new birth. It is therefore found that, if wearing diapers is possible up to the age of 3 or 4 years, it is no longer possible beyond that.
Moreover, for younger children undergoing toilet training, wearing diapers which keep the child dry is not recommended, since keeping the child dry does not assist in toilet training.
In addition, certain persons whose incontinence cannot be re-educated accept the wearing of diapers with difficulty, this being felt to be infantile, or even degrading.
Specific night clothing has been proposed for incontinent adults and for children. U.S. Pat. No. 3,648,699 concerns a garment for an incontinent person or for a bedridden patient, consisting of an outer garment in the form of short trousers, inside which there is removably inserted an impermeable lining in the form of underpants covered with an absorbent material on the user side, with a configuration similar to that of the short trousers.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,621,336 concerns a night garment of the sleepsuit type, in two parts. An external part, made from a heat-retaining material, such as a cover, and a removable internal part consisting of a plastic lining preventing soiling of the bedding. These garments are overpajamas intended for very young children. U.S. Pat. No. 3,180,336 concerns pajamas for children consisting of trousers inside which a piece in the form of pants produced from plastics material is fixed to the waist but not to the crotch of the trousers, so as to enable the child wearing them to move its legs freely. This garment is provided with elastic at the waist and at the ankles in order to ensure comfort and warmth for the child. This garment can also cover the diapers worn by a very young child. Finally, CA U.S. Pat. No. 1,000,001 concerns a multilayer garment for incontinent persons or mainly for hospitalized patients, which opens and closes by means of attachment cords.
All these documents concern garments which are associated with the presence of diapers or fulfilling an overpajama function, but these garments cannot be applied to children who are enuretic or undergoing toilet training with whom it is wished to eliminate the diapers while preserving the bedding from any soiling.
Unexpectedly and surprisingly, the Applicant has produced a night garment for toilet training, pleasant to wear and discreet, which, whilst enabling the person wearing it to feel when they are wetting themselves, leaves the bedding dry.
Thus the object of the present invention is a night garment intended for children who are enuretic or undergoing toilet training, or for incontinent persons, reusable or for single use, characterised by the fact that it is impermeable but has a permeable internal face coming into contact with the skin and in that it incorporates sealing devices for preventing the flow of urine outside the garment.
Naturally, the expression xe2x80x9cnight garment xe2x80x9d is not limitative to uses during the night but during all prolonged periods of sleep such as a siesta.
This night garment can be in all normal forms for this type of garment, notably sleepsuit, pajamas with long trousers, bermudas or shorts, a jumpsuit or simple pants.
The sealing devices are disposed so as to allow sealed contact between the garment and the body of the person wearing it and are disposed so as to prevent any leakage of urine through the ends of the garment. Preferably these devices are disposed at the waist and legs of the garment.
According to another embodiment of the garment according to the invention, the sealing devices are disposed so as to isolate the area cladding the buttocks from the remainder of the garment so that the person has the sensation of being wet without for all that being at risk of catching cold by being completely wet.
According to a particular embodiment, these sealing devices consist of elastic or a row of elastic elements or an elasticated band, sufficiently tight to afford a seal and sufficiently flexible not to interfere with the blood circulation.
This elastic sealing device can be disposed for example by stitching, in or externally to a hem in the waterproof material formed at the ends of the garment.
To reinforce this seal, it is also possible to make provision for disposing internally an absorbent strip close to the elastic sealing devices which can be of the type used as an absorbent material in nappies. This strip preferably has a width of between five and ten centimetres. In addition, it can be obtained by cutting from a continuous strip, which can then have visual markings, such as markings in the form of colours, signs, geometric figures or others, or graduations in centimetres, numerical or other, these visual markings constituting cutting marks.
The garment according to the invention can be made using a material composed of at least two layers placed one on top of the other, an impermeable outer layer and an internal layer permeable to fluids or a material consisting of a single layer having a double face, for example a textile, one of whose faces is coated with a waterproofing coating.
The impermeable external covering is produced from cloths coated with waterproofing, or a flexible polymer film such as polyethylene, PVC, polyurethane, rubber or mixtures thereof.
The permeable internal face is produced from a woven material such as flannel, terry cloth, or knitted such as jersey, preferably in the case of the reusable garment, or from non-woven material, based on cotton fibres or synthetic materials, or mixtures thereof preferably in the case of a garment for single use.
Naturally, the materials will be chosen according to whether the garment is for single use or is reusable.
In the case of a garment for single use or disposable, the external waterproof material is in the form of a fine film impermeable to fluids made from synthetic material, of the type used for the impermeable external covering of nappies, for example made from polyethylene, or to which an internal lining made from a non-woven material permeable to fluids is attached, for example of the type used for making disposable female panties. The flexible material can also be obtained from a non-woven material coated, by bonding or any other means, with an external waterproofing layer.
In the case of a reusable garment, the waterproof material is produced in a rubber film to which the woven lining is attached, or is obtained from a fabric coated with a waterproofing covering, for example PVC or polyurethane, of the type used for producing impermeable undersheets.
When he begins to wet himself, the enuretic or incontinent person may wake up and then interrupt his emission of urine in order to go to the toilet, thus limiting the quantity of urine expelled. Nevertheless, if the person does not wake up or wakes up too late, or in the case of large flows, according to another embodiment, the garment has in this case, as seen previously, a strip or pieces of absorbent material, disposed on the internal face of the garment, close to the sealing devices.
In the case of a garment for single use, this absorbent material can be adhesively bonded.
In the case of a reusable garment, the pieces of absorbent material are disposed removably on the internal face of the garment, and attached by adhesive fixing or by contact. These pieces of absorbent material can be provided on one face with a strip fixed adhesively or by contact.
According to another embodiment, still in the case of a reusable garment, the absorbent material is received removably in permeable internal envelopment means, for example in the form of a permeable flap or extension permanently connected on one side, for example by stitching, to the permeable lining alone or also to the waterproof material. This flap or extension being intended to be folded back and closed onto its opposite edge by any removable fixing means. Such a removable fixing means is chosen from the group comprising notably self-gripping strips, zip fasteners, press studs or buttons. The free edge of the flap being disposed close to the elastic sealing device or internally on the opposite side to the absorbent strip.
In a variant, the flap can be designed so as to be completely removable whilst being provided on its two sides with fixing means such as those defined above on the internal part of the garment.
According to another variant, the flap is designed so as to be double in the form of two strips positioned so as to overlap over a part of their width at their free edge, in order to constitute a removable closure, permanently fixed to their external edge, in order to define an envelope opening out at the central part at the free end of the two strips.
According to another variant, the means of enveloping the absorbent band consist of an envelope consisting of a folded strip permanently fixed to the permeable lining alone or also to the waterproof material on one face and provided with any fixing means such as a self-gripping strip, buttons etc on the free edges of the fixed and opening faces, situated either close to the sealed closures, or on their opposite side with respect to the absorbent strip.
In this way, if the emission of urine is greater, it will be contained in these absorbent strips, which can easily be replaced.
The required effect will remain the same: the person will be wet, but not the bedding.
According to another characteristic, the garment consists of panels connected together sealingly by welding or stitching.

Nightwear for children or incontinent persons


A hand operated conveyance for a golf bag comprising mating halves of a carrier having wheels on one portion of the carrier and a leg on the other portion with a tongue and slot platform positioned therebetween and a strap for securing the halves in an operative state. The mating halves of the carrier are slidably engaged forming a platform for a golf bag that is placed thereon whereupon an adjustable strap peripherally positioned on the carrier and held to each halve by threading through an eyelet and the strap having a clasp which is secured thereby releasably securing the carrier to the base of the golf bag. The interlocking pieces using a tongue and slot mating also have rails and tracks formed in the mating pieces for added stability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to carts and, more specifically, to a hand operated conveyance for a golf bag comprising mating halves of a carrier having wheels on one portion of the carrier and a leg on the other portion with a tongue and slot platform positioned therebetween and a strap for securing the halves in an operative state.
In operation, the mating halves of the carrier are slidably engaged forming a platform for a golf bag that is placed thereon whereupon an adjustable strap peripherally positioned on the carrier and held to each halve by threading through an eyelet and the strap having a clasp which is secured thereby releasably securing the carrier to the base of the golf bag.
The golf bag is positioned such that the bag carrying strap and/or handle are on the same side as the slot side with wheels. Furthermore, the interlocking pieces using a tongue and slot mating also have rails and tracks formed in the mating pieces for added stability.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There are other cart devices designed for golf bags. Typical of these is U.S. Pat. No. 5,924,709 issued to Yang on Jul. 20, 1999.
Another patent was issued to Kim on Apr. 18, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,050,592. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,056,301 was issued to Berliner, et al. on May 2, 2000 and still yet another was issued on May 30, 2000 to Kim as U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,270.
Another patent was issued to Lustica on May 30, 2000 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,068,271. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,079,718 was issued to Liao on Jun. 27, 2000. Another was issued to Barten on Feb. 13, 2001 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,186,520 and still yet another was issued on Dec. 9, 2003 to Jung as U.S. Pat. No. 6,659,477.
Another patent was issued to Ortega on Jun. 22, 2004 as U.S. Design Pat. No. D491,726. Yet another U.S. Pat. No. 6,802,515 was issued to Sorenson, et al. on Oct. 12, 2004. Another was issued to Su on Oct. 26, 2004 as U.S. Pat. No. 6,808,186.


In a method and apparatus for determining the position of a catheter inside the body of a patient, position signals are transmitted between the catheter and a position location unit, located at a distance from the catheter, the position signals are transmitted during a calibration stage from known calibration positions inside the body, or position signals, transmitted by the position location unit, are received at the known calibration positions. A correction function is determined from the difference between the calibration positions derived from the received location signals and the known, true calibration positions, whereupon catheter positions, derived from received position signals, are corrected in subsequent measurement stages according to the correction function.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for determining the position of a catheter inside the body of a patient from position signals transmitted between the catheter and a remote position location unit.
2. Description of the Prior Art
For determining the position of e.g. the tip of a catheter inside the body (i.e. an endoceliac catheter), for example in a blood vessel or a cavity of the heart, or in the imaging of internal organs by mapping, the heterogeneity and, accordingly, the varying physical properties of adjacent tissues and even the presence of other objects in or outside the body can cause distortion, to a greater or lesser degree, in position determination or geometry depiction. This effect can be considerable in the use of ultrasound because of e.g. variation in the density of tissues and the velocity of sound. If electromagnetic methods are used, the variation in e.g. electrical conductivity, relative permittivity and relative permeability can affect measurement accuracy.
In non-medical applications, such as astronomy and remote sensing, corrections can be made for both constant and time-related aberrations in the atmosphere and measuring system by observing a reference object with a known shape in the ray path or close to the observed object.
In the brochure "A new method for non-fluoroscopic catheter based endocardial mapping", published by Ben-Haim et al., a technique is described for endocardial mapping with a non-fluoroscopic catheter in which a number of radiographs are first taken of a heart catheter located in a number of different positions in a ventricle of a heart.

Method and device for determining the position of a catheter inside the body of a patient


A magnetic sensor with increased sensitivity, lower noise, and improved frequency response is described. The sensor's free layer is ribbon shaped and is closely flanked at each long edge by a ribbon of magnetically soft, high permeability material. The side stripes of soft magnetic material absorb external field flux and concentrate the flux to flow into the sensor's edges to promote larger MR sensor magnetization rotation. The free layer may be deposited simultaneously with the soft magnetic layer when they are aligned in the same plane. When the flux absorbing stripes are positioned above or below the MR sensor, then the free layer and flux absorbing stripes are deposited in separate steps.

Magneto-resistive (MR) thin film sensors used for low field sensing applications usually take the form of long stripes with a width of several microns and a length of tens of microns, up to about 100 microns as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,847,584 and 5,247,278, and described by G. Hoffman and J. Birtwistle in "Factors affecting the performance of a thin film magnetoresistive vector magnetometer," J. Appl. Phys., vol 53, pp. 8266-8268, November 1982.
With such a large aspect ratio, the shape anisotropy of the long stripe helps to maintain the magnetic domain structure within the sensing layer of the device (which has a thickness of <10 nm in most cases). Prior work by B. Pant described in "Effect of interstrip gap on the sensitivity of high sensitivity magnetoresistive transducers," J. App!. Phys., vol 79, pp. 6123-6125, April 2006 also shows that reducing the gap between adjacent stripe patterns can help alleviate the "stiffness" of the sensor caused by the shape anisotropy of the long stripe. Thus, the sensitivity of the multi-stripe sensor array can be improved, as we will discuss below.
A routine search of the prior art was performed with the following additional references of interest being found. U.S. Pat. No. 7,283,336 shows a single-domain free layer having a bias field at side edges of the read sensor. U.S. Pat. No. 7,203,039 discloses an additional layer of soft magnetic material abutting hard biasing layers to prevent flux leakage. U.S. Pat. No. 7,016,166 shows biasing structures abutting each side of the single domain MR structure. U.S. Pat. No. 6,873,499 shows flux guides abutting the read sensor.

Patterned MR device with controlled shape anisotropy


An extrusion die for use in producing aluminum alloy articles of extruded shapes or tube having a void with defined internal dimension, said die comprising:. i) a die plate with at least one die cavity defined by a first die bearing surface which defines an external shape for such extruded article; PA1 ii) an extruding mandrel secured in said die cavity and having a second die bearing surface which defines an internal shape for such extruded void; PA1 iii) a truing mandrel positioned beyond said mandrel second die bearing surface for correcting internal shape of such void and providing such defined internal dimension, said truing mandrel having a forming surface defining an external dimension relative to an external dimension of said extruding mandrel for correcting of internal shape where said truing mandrel external dimension is at least equal to a lower limit for finish tolerance on such internal dimension, said truing mandrel forming surface being spaced from said extruding mandrel bearing surface by a reduced portion; PA1 iv) said extruding mandrel bearing surface, by virtue of said truing mandrel, being shorter than a normal extruding mandrel bearing surface to provide an extruded shape or tube with better tolerance while extruding at higher speeds with less temperature build up at said extrusion die.

In the aluminum alloy extrusion business, there are a variety of extruded articles of various cross-sections. There has been an attempt to standardize language used to describe various extruded article configurations and such standardized language will be used here in describing the types of articles the invention is useful in extruding. Generally an extruded shape does not include a rod, bar or tube. A semi-hollow extruded shape includes a void which has a gap along its extruded length. A hollow extruded shape has a closed void along its extruded length. An extruded tube is of almost any cross-sectional shape such as round, square, rectangular, hexagonal, octagonal or elliptical where the tube is generally of uniform wall thickness.
Continuing efforts are being made to improve the dimensions of extruded semi-hollow and hollow shapes and tube in order to broaden their use in a variety of applications. The greater the dimensional accuracy of the extrusion, the greater the opportunity there is to replace milled pieces with extruded pieces of various aluminum alloys. There is also a continuing effort to enhance the speed of aluminum alloy extrusion while minimizing scrap and reducing die temperature build up. Such advances are described by Paul Robbins in "Advanced Design and Manufacture of Hollow Dies or Improved Extrusion Speeds" Proceedings of the 6.sup.th International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar Volume 2, May 14-16 1996- Chicago Ill. Various die designs are discussed which enhance the speed of extrusion while limiting the temperature of extrusion. One of the difficulties encountered in increasing extrusion speed is mandrel deflection which is discussed by Luigi Ingraldi in "Design and Correction of Hollow Dies in Europe" Proceedings of the 5.sup.th International Aluminum Extrusion Technology Seminar Volume 1, May 19-22, 1992 Chicago, Ill. Improved mandrel designs reduce mandrel deflection and hence provide a better quality product.
When drawing the extruded product, problems are described in respect of U.S. Pat. No. 4,148,207 and Gunar Bilen in "Die Design and Die Correction as Affected by Pullers" Proceedings of the 4.sup.th International Extrusion Technology Seminar, Volume 2, Apr. 11-14, 1988, Chicago, Ill. For purposes of cold drawing, the mandrel or the die may be provided with a tapered section to improve the quality of the drawn product. As described in the article by Bilen pullers cause a significant problem with extended mandrel designs. Excessive bearing surface on the mandrel can cause the section to stick to the mandrel surface when puller force is applied, which can disastrously affect the shape of the extrusion.
PCT published application WO 97/02910 describes an extrusion die for hollow extrusions where the die cavity includes a preform chamber which allows the die to operate at increased velocities.
In the field of plastic extrusion various post-forming operations of the extruded plastic tube are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,814,071; 3,963,403 and 4,983,347. Although the devices of these particular U.S. Patents function reasonably well for various purposes in post-forming of plastic articles, such post-treatment may be readily conducted on plastics because of their flexibility and inherent elasticity.
From a practical stand point, most aluminum extruders attempt to improve the accuracy of the die so as to reduce scrap, increase velocity of extrusion and control die temperature. However, post-forming operations are still necessary and which are carried out at a different station. Such post-forming operations include drawing, sizing, rolling, annealing, straightening and the like to achieve the desired accuracy with respect to semi-hollow and hollow extruded shapes and tube. Such additional post-forming techniques are expensive, time consuming and involve considerably more labor.
In accordance with an object of an aspect of this invention, an aluminum extrusion process and an aluminum extrusion die are provided which achieve the objectives of increasing extrusion speed, controlling extrusion die temperature and providing a hollow extrusion with internal dimensions having enhanced tolerances.

Extrusion die for semi-hollow and hollow extruded shapes and tube


Disclosed is a recombinant adenovirus with a protein containing a VSV-G epitope derived from vesicular stomatitis virus (VSV). Also, the present invention discloses a pharmaceutical composition comprising such a recombinant adenovirus and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. Further, the present invention discloses a recombinant plasmid capable of expressing the recombinant adenovirus and a host cell transformed with the recombinant adenovirus.

With recent rapid developments in molecular biology, considerable advance has been made in development of therapeutic agents for various cancers and other intractable diseases using recombinant DNA technologies. Also, since gene therapy was first attempted clinically in 1990, studies on delivery systems of therapeutic genetic materials have been carried out. Among clinical gene therapies, about 60% focus on treating cancers, and various vectors based on human or non-human viruses have been developed as vehicles to transfer therapeutic genes into target cells, in which adenovirus with many advantages as a gene transfer vehicle is attractive as a substitute for retroviruses.
For practical use of gene therapy in clinical fields, first of all, gene transfer vehicles capable of safely and effectively delivering therapeutic genes to targeted regions should be developed. The potential of recombinant adenovirus as a gene transfer vehicle was reported in 1984 by Graham, F. L. (Graham, F. L., EMBO J., 1:2917-2922, 1984). Since the first clinical trial of gene therapy in adenosine deaminase (ADA)-deficient patients in 1990, active research into gene therapy was performed until the mid-1990s, in which expression of a specific gene was induced in target cells using replication-defective recombinant adenoviral vectors constructed by inserting the specific gene thereinto. Such research was promoted by the fact that adenovirus has many benefits as a gene transfer vehicle, in terms of being excellent in transferring exogenous genes into a variety of cell types regardless of cell cycle state of target cells, easily producing high-titer virus, being capable of being lyophilized and thus structurally stable, and being easily formulated into pharmaceutical preparations (Yeh, P. et al., FASEB J., 11:615-622, 1997).
However, adenovirus has several significant problems in mediating gene transfer, including the relatively short-term expression of foreign genes and the induction of strong immune response to viral proteins and virus-infected cells. To overcome such problems, various efforts to modify structure of adenovirus have been made. For example, it was reported by S. Kochaneck in 1996 that gutless virus produced by removing all adenoviral coding sequences is advantageous in terms of being capable of carrying maximum 30 kb of foreign genes, as well as not producing viral proteins and thus not inducing immune response in host cells (Kochanek, S., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 93:5731-5736, 1996). Korean Pat. Publication No. 1999-22941 discloses an adenovirus vector having no overlap with a suitable packaging cell line, in which adenovirus loses self-replication ability and is incapable of being encapsidated, thus avoiding interference with the host immune system.
Since recombinant adenovirus was known to be effective in gene therapy and easily delivered into a body owing to being produced in high titer and easily concentrated, clinical cancer gene therapy mediated by recombinant adenovirus has rapidly increased in the past five years. When cancer is treated using gene therapy mediated by recombinant adenovirus, since prolonged and continuous expression of therapeutic genes is not required, and host immune response induced by virus or viral proteins is not essential and can be advantageous in some cases, adenovirus become attractive as a gene transfer vehicle for cancer therapy (Pallard, F. Hum. Gene Ther., 9:283-286, 1998).
Most recombinant adenoviruses for cancer therapy, which carry a single therapeutic gene, are gene transfer systems first used in cancer gene therapy. Recently, efforts have been made to improve therapeutic efficacy of gene therapy through simultaneous expression of two therapeutic genes encoding proteins with different functions, rather than expression of one gene, or adenovirus-mediated gene therapy in combination with administration of antitumuor agents or radiotherapy, which have been commonly used for cancer therapy (Roth, J. A. et al., J. Nat. Cancer Ins., 89:21-39, 1997). For example, Korean Pat. No. 1997-5206 discloses a method of treating cancer using recombinant adenovirus harboring the p53 gene, known to have an antitumor effect, in which the recombinant adenovirus does not produce replication-competent viral particles and thus displays effective antitumor activity.
However, it has been reported that such replication-incompetent adenoviral vectors can induce antitumor activity in only primary infected cells or a very small number of surrounding cells. Therefore, a great number of recombinant adenovirus should be administered at once or administered repeatedly over several times, thus inducing cellular immunity and limiting its clinical applications. To overcome such problems, a variety of efforts have been made to develop a modified adenovirus capable of selectively replicating in and killing tumor cells, since the McCormick research group reported a recombinant adenovirus. The E1B 55 kDa gene-deleted adenovirus ONYX-015 (d11520), which was developed by McCormick, selectively replicates and induces cytolysis in tumor cells lacking functional p53 (Heise, C. et al., Nature Med., 3:639-645, 1997). In clinical trials for the treatment of head and neck cancer, the recombinant adenovirus ONYX-015 showed excellent therapeutic efficacy. Furthermore, another type recombinant adenovirus prepared by inserting a cancer-specific gene-regulatory region into E1 region was developed, in which viral proliferation is induced in a cancer tissue-specific manner. Also, antitumor effect and safety of a recombinant adenoviral vector can be improved by inserting the herpes simplex virus-thymidine kinase (HSV-TK) gene or CD gene into the E1 region, and thus the recombinant adenovirus loses its proliferation capacity (Freytag et al., Nat. Biotech., 15:866-870, 1997). In this regard, adenovirus-mediated gene therapy can be clinically applied under various circumstances. In particular, the recombinant adenovirus with tumor cell-specific cytotoxic effect was demonstrated to be more effective in cancers associated with mutations in the p53 gene, such as brain cancer, which is resistant to previous chemotherapies or radiation therapies (Shinoura, N. et al., Cancer Res. 59:3411-3416, 1999). However, administration of a high titer of adenovirus to brain is limited by its toxicity. Thus, methods of enhancing gene delivery efficiency should be developed in order to reduce the administration amount of adenovirus.
Adenovirus infects host cells mainly through coxsackievirus and adenovirus receptor (CAR) on the host cells (Tomko, R. P. et al., Proc. Natl. Sci. USA 94:3352-3356, 1997). Most cells in the host typically express sufficient amount of CAR, but no or little expression of CAR is found in muscle cells in matured bone tissues, lymphocytes, fibrocytes, pulmonary macrophages and some tumor cells, where adenovirus-mediated gene transfer efficiency is relatively low. Recent clinical trials using adenovirus as a gene delivery vehicle demonstrated that poor gene delivery into several tumor cells is attributed to lack of expressed CAR on the tumor cells. In addition, the recombinant adenovirus can infect normal cells with relatively high expression of CAR rather than target cells (tumor cells) with a low CAR level, resulting in reduction of its infection rate into tumor cells. To overcome such low transduction efficiency and lack of specificity for target cells by the recombinant adenovirus, there is a need for development of high-titer adenovirus. However, the high-titer adenoviral vectors can have increased toxicity and induce immune response in the host, thus threatening safe and effective clinical cancer therapy.
The disadvantages of recombinant adenoviral vectors in gene therapy owing to the above reasons can be overcome through infection of adenovirus into target cells in a CAR-independent manner. Effective gene transfer on epithermal cell was found when adenovirus type 2 fiber protein is replaced with that of adenovirus type 17. Also, a chimeric adenovirus prepared by replacing the knob domain of adenovirus type 5 with the knob domain of adenovirus subgroup B was demonstrated to effectively infect bone marrow cells not easily infected with adenovirus type 5. Wickham, T. J. J. reported that introduction of a polylysine motif or Arg-Gly-Asp (RGD)-containing peptide motif at the C-terminal region of adenovirus fiber protein allows adenovirus to specifically recognize alternative receptors, cell surface receptors including heparin and the integrin receptor, leading to successful infection of the virus (Wickham, T. J. J. Virol., 71:8221-8229, 1997). In addition, Kransnykh, V. et al., reported that transduction efficiency of adenovirus can be increased by inserting a targeting group capable of recognizing and then binding a target cell-specific receptor into the HI loop of the adenovirus fiber (Kransnykh, V. et al., J. Viro., 72:1884-1852, 1998; Yoshida, Y. et al., Hum. Gene. Ther. 9:2503-2515, 1998; and Shinoura, N. et al., Cancer Res. 59:3411-3416, 1999). However, such modifications were not sufficient for improvement of the transduction efficiency of adenovirus, and there are still efforts to develop a method of increasing the trasduction efficiency of adenovirus.
A plurality of patents and papers are referred and cited herein. All references cited herein are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties, and the current state of the conventional techniques in the art and the features of the present invention will be more clearly understood with the cited references.

Recombinant adenovirus with enhanced therapeutic effect and pharmaceutical composition comprising said recombinant adenovirus

Industry-University Cooperation Foundation Hanyang University


Optical apparatus for selectively coupling optical wavelength components of wavelength multiplexed optical signals from an input port to an output port includes an interferometer coupled to the input and output port. The interferometer includes a first optical path and a second optical path. A plurality of optical phase modulators is arranged in said first path to include one optical phase modulator for each wavelength component. Each wavelength component is split into a wavelength component first portion on the first optical path and a wavelength component second portion on the second optical path. Each optical phase modulator is selectively operable to phase shift the corresponding one wavelength component first potion by first or second predetermined phase shifts, whereby the wavelength component is or is not coupled from the input port to the output port.

This invention pertains to optical communications systems, in general, and to interferometers used in communications systems, in particular.
An optical cross-connect device is functionally a four port device that works with optical signals comprising a plurality of different wavelengths. An optical cross-connect has an input port, a through port, an add port, and a drop port. Multiplexed wavelength optical signals at the input port are coupled to the through port. The use of add and drop ports allow optical signals at specific wavelengths to be xe2x80x9caddedxe2x80x9d in place of the corresponding wavelength optical signals in the input port signals that in turn are switched to the drop port. This enables optical wavelength components signals to be added and dropped to/from multiplexed wavelength optical signals. An ideal optical cross-connect device is capable of dropping any combination of wavelengths from the input port to the drop port and adding any wavelengths combinations from an add port to the through port.
Wavelength routing optical cross-connect arrangements presently available separate incoming wavelengths received at inputs by utilizing DWDM demultiplexing. Typically large-scale optical switch matrices are utilized to switch and route the de-multiplexed single wavelength signals. In one arrangement micro-machined mirrors are utilized in what is referred to as MEM technology. In other arrangements, total internal reflection techniques are utilized with bubble or liquid crystal displays. These prior arrangements combine out-going wavelengths using DWDM multiplexers.
Optical switch matrices based on wavelength routing optical cross-connects have severe limitations. To provide for switching of multiplexed optical signals having xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d wavelengths, a complex nxc3x97n optical switch matrix must be utilized. Where xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d is a large number, the size of the matrix becomes very large and the cost to provide such a matrix is high. In addition, the insertion loss is also very highxe2x80x94typically in excess of 10 dB for a 64 wavelength optical cross-connect. Because the size of the matrix increases in accordance with the square of xe2x80x9cnxe2x80x9d it is also difficult to scale up for a matrix to handles larger numbers of wavelength channels. To provide a 256 wavelength optical cross-connect requires over 64,000 switching elements. In addition, such matrices typically operate at a relatively slow speed, on the order of 10 milliseconds. The slow speed is a result of utilizing some sort of mechanical movement. The mechanical movement itself leads to reliability issues.
In accordance with the principles of the invention, optical apparatus for selectively coupling optical wavelength components of wavelength multiplexed signals comprising wavelength components each at a predetermined wavelength selected from a plurality of predetermined wavelengths, from an input port to an output port is provided. The optical apparatus includes an interferometer coupled to the input and output ports. The interferometer includes first and second optical paths. Each wavelength component is split into a first wavelength component portion on the first path and a wavelength component second portion on the second path. A plurality of wavelength selective optical phase modulators is arranged in the first path and includes one optical phase modulator for each predetermined wavelength. Each modulator receives wavelength component first portions at a predetermined one wavelength. Each optical phase modulator is selectively operable to phase shift each corresponding wavelength component first portion by first or second predetermined phase shifts, whereby the corresponding wavelength component is or is not coupled from the input port to the output port.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, a controller is coupled to each optical phase modulator and selects the first or said second predetermined phase shifts.
In accordance with another aspect of the invention, a de-multiplexer is disposed in the first path and couples each wavelength component from the first optical path to each corresponding one optical phase modulator.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the invention, a multiplexer is disposed in the first path and couples each optical wavelength component from each optical phase modulator to the first optical path.
In one embodiment of the invention, a multiplexer/de-multiplexer is disposed in the first path and couples each wavelength component between the first optical path.
In an embodiment of the invention, each corresponding one optical phase modulator and each optical phase modulator is a non-reciprocal phase shifter.
A method in accordance with the invention provides selective coupling of multiplexed wavelength components of optical signals comprising a plurality of multiplexed wavelength components from an input port to an output port. In accordance with the method the multiplexed wavelength components are coupled from the input port to an interferometer. Each wavelength component is split into a wavelength component first portion coupled onto a first optical path and a wavelength component second portion coupled onto a second optical path. A plurality of phase modulators is provided in the first path. Each wavelength component first portion is coupled to a corresponding one of said phase modulators. Each phase modulator is controlled individually to selectively subject each corresponding wavelength component first portion to a first or a second predetermined phase shift. Each wavelength component first portion is combined with each corresponding wavelength component second portion on a wavelength by wavelength basis to produce first or second interference states each having a predetermined relationship to the first or said second predetermined phase shift, whereby each wavelength component is coupled or is not coupled to the output port.
The method includes utilizing a controller to control each phase modulator. In accordance with one embodiment of the invention a step of utilizing a phase shifter for each said phase modulator is provided. In one particular embodiment, a non-reciprocal phase shifter is utilized for each phase modulator.
In accordance with one aspect of the invention, multiplexed wavelength components are separated into non-multiplexed wavelength components prior to coupling to a corresponding one of the phase modulators.

Multiple wavelength optical interferometer switch


Embodiments of the invention may be used to normalize data stored in an in-memory database on a parallel computer system. The data normalization may be used to achieve memory savings, thereby reducing the number of compute nodes required to store an in-memory database. Thus, as a result, faster response times may be achieved when querying the data. In one embodiment, normalization may be performed in a manner to avoid datasets that cross physical or logical boundaries of the compute nodes of a parallel system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to parallel computing. More specifically, the present invention relates to normalizing databases across compute nodes on a parallel computing system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Powerful computers may be designed as highly parallel systems where the processing activity of hundreds, if not thousands, of processors (CPUs) are coordinated to perform computing tasks. These systems are highly useful for a broad variety of applications including, financial modeling, hydrodynamics, quantum chemistry, astronomy, weather modeling and prediction, geological modeling, prime number factoring, image processing (e.g., CGI animations and rendering), to name but a few examples.
For example, one family of parallel computing systems has been (and continues to be) developed by International Business Machines (IBM) under the name Blue Gene®. The Blue Gene®/L architecture provides a scalable, parallel computer that may be configured with a maximum of 65,536 (216) compute nodes. Each compute node includes a single application specific integrated circuit (ASIC) with 2 CPU's and memory. The Blue Gene®/L architecture has been successful and on Oct. 27, 2005, IBM announced that a Blue Gene®/L system had reached an operational speed of 280.6 teraflops (280.6 trillion floating-point operations per second), making it the fastest computer in the world at that time. Further, as of June 2005, Blue Gene®/L installations at various sites world-wide were among five out of the ten top most powerful computers in the world.
IBM is currently developing a successor to the Blue Gene®/L system, named Blue Gene®/P. Blue Gene®/P is expected to be the first computer system to operate at a sustained 1 petaflops (1 quadrillion floating-point operations per second). Like the Blue Gene®/L system, the Blue Gene®/P system is scalable allowing for configurations to include different number of racks.
In addition to the Blue Gene® architecture developed by IBM, other highly parallel computer systems have been (and are being) developed. For example, a Beowulf cluster may be built from a collection of commodity off-the-shelf personal computers. In a Beowulf cluster, individual systems are connected using local area network technology (e.g., Ethernet) and system software is used to execute programs written for parallel processing on the cluster of individual systems. Another approach to parallel computing includes large distributed or grid-type computing systems which pool the computing power of many individual systems spread out at a data center.

International Business Machines Corporation


System for invoking a privileged function in a device. The system includes a method that allows an application to invoke a function on a device, wherein the device includes at least two operating modes comprising a privileged mode and a non-privileged mode, and the function executes in the privileged mode. The method includes receiving a request from the application to invoke the function and determining the operating mode of the application. The method also includes invoking the function using an interrupt, if the application is executing in the non-privileged mode, wherein the function is executed within the same task as the application. The method also includes invoking the function directly, if the application is executing in the privileged mode.

I. Field
The present invention relates generally to the efficient operation of a device, and more particularly, to a system for invoking a privileged function in a device.
II. Description of the Related Art
Advances in technology have resulted in the development of a variety of devices for home, office, and personal use. For example, computer systems, such as desktops, notebooks, and tablet computers have become powerful tools for use at home or in office environments. Personal devices, such as wireless telephones, personal digital assistants (PDAs), and paging devices have also become more powerful and are now widely used.
Many devices now comprise complex hardware and software that run operating systems such as UNIX, LINUX, or similar operating systems. Generally, these operating systems provide for multiple modes of operation. For example, most systems provide privileged and non-privileged modes of operation. Programs executing in the privileged mode of operation are allowed to access memory and system resources without limitation. Programs executing in the non-privileged mode are restricted from accessing certain memory regions and/or device systems. This configuration provides a level of protection to important memory or device functions. For example, by executing third-party applications in the non-privileged mode, important memory regions and device functions can be protected from unauthorized access. Also, such an arrangement allows the system to isolate faults during execution.
However, in some situations, it is desirable to allow privileged mode functions to be invoked from applications executing in either the privileged or non-privileged mode. For example, it is desirable for a privileged mode application to have access to privileged mode functions, but it is also desirable for an application executing in the non-privileged mode to have access to the same privileged functions. For example, it may be desirable to allow an application to have access to a selected system file, or device hardware, such as a device modem.
Unfortunately, conventional systems utilize a trap to suspend execution of the non-privileged application while a separate privileged mode "kernel" task performs the requested operation. As a result, the new privileged mode task results in additional scheduling complexity and overhead. There may also be additional system delays in the form of dispatcher latency. Furthermore, the new task may execute at a different priority than the non-privileged application from which it was invoked, thereby further complicating system scheduling and operation.
Therefore, what is needed is a system that provides a way for an application, executing in either the privileged or non-privileged mode, to invoke a privileged function to execute within the same task as the application, thereby providing access to privileged mode hooks to applications executing under either mode.


A folded pendulum is described. The folded pendulum can be a monolithic pendulum and is positioned in the vertical configuration. The folded pendulum allows for more compact realizations through high decouplings of a vertical degree of freedom from other degrees of freedom as well as optimal mechanical quality factors.

The principle whereon the majority of the mechanical systems are based, which are nowadays in use for the measurement of the absolute verical displacement is that of the measurement of the relative displacement with respect to an ideally inertial mass. The existing realizations integrate mechanical principles and techniques of various nature and accuracy [1] [2] [3].
The quality of the realization of the reference inertial mass limits the sensitivity of the system in general, and most of all the frequency band of the system, in a particular way in the region of low frequencies. This notwithstanding, even in the hypothesis one had at disposal a really inertial mass, the measurements would be in any case limited by the thermal noise of the same mass, the noise of the reading system and the interaction of the sensor with the ambient noises [1] [2] [3].
In the case of vertical displacement measurements, such systems in general make use of or can be related to an oscillating system, e.g. a strap of suitable length locked at one of its ends. On the other end of such a tape a suitable mass is positioned, which constitutes as a matter of fact he inertial mass. The realization of a measurement with good sensitivity at low frequencies implies, therefore, that the mechanical oscillating system has very low resonance frequency together with a good mechanical quality factor. Generally this system is realized by means of a feed-back system, so that the inertial mass is maintained fixed in the position chosen as reference by means of a feedback control system. The error signal of the control system, as obtained by suitable measurement sensors, provides the vertical acceleration signal, wherefrom it is possible to extract the absolute vertical displacement signal, obviously limited by the sensitivity and the measurement band of the system.
The following are of utmost importance in the realization of a mechanical system for the measurement of the absolute as well: an effective decoupling of the vertical degree of freedom from the other degrees of freedom (horizontal movements, rotations, etc.) and a high mechanical quality factor, which is an index of reduced energetic leakages of the oscillating system (thermal noise of the joints, viscous effect of the air, etc.), necessary for the apparent movement of the inertial mass not to be influenced by the movement of the fixed part of the mechanical system supporting such a mass.
Mechanical systems a with very low resonance frequency generally have, however, very large dimensions, are complex to be realized and calibrated, and most of all they are not dimensionally scalable. Indeed, such systems require firstly the balancing of the gravity force acting on the inertial mass, which, especially at low frequencies, becomes a problem owing to the weight of the same mass, and, therefore, the necessity of large forces to be applied for its positioning. Moreover, as one widen the measurement band of these low-frequency sensors the system sensitivity to the ambient noises widely increases (variations of temperature, pressure, humidity, etc.) as well as the problems of decoupling between the vertical degree of freedom and the other degrees of freedoms [1] [2][3].
Only the low-frequency system constituted by a Watts pendulum [4] differs from all the existing mechanical systems, which is realized also in the monolithic form (with joints worked by electro-erosion), both in the classically known experimental embodiment with joints in traction [5] [6], and in a new embodiment with some joints in compression (Italian patent application [7], here integrally included by reference), which unites, to a full dimensional scalability of the sensor, a full tunability of the resonance frequency, high quality factors, large measurement frequency band, reduced problems of coupling between the various degrees of freedom and wide insensitivity to the ambient noises, as a consequence of an efficient signal readout system based on optoelectronic methods, for example optical levers and laser interferometers [8]. The progresses in the technological development of such a folded pendulum, which however owing to its structure can be used only for horizontal applications, are described by a wide literature [9-17].

Low frequency folded pendulum and vertical seismic sensor utilizing such a folded pendulum


A supporting arm includes a plurality of links coiled upon one another in retracted position in a housing. When the support arm is withdrawn from the housing, an extension means then urges the links of the arm into load-supporting position. A latch holds the arm in extended, load-bearing position. The supporting arm is shown as incorporated in a bicycle stand with the arm extended to support the bicycle.

The most extensively used extensible, retractable supporting arm at the present time is the well-known telescopic supporting arm which consists of a plurality of inter-nested tubular members which can be extended one from the other and maintained in extended position by internal latch means. When an extended telescopic arm is to be retracted, the latches are dislodged and the tubes collapsed one into the other.
However, when completely collapsed, there is always a lengthy tubular component which must be carried or stored.


A process for forming a dialysis membrane utilizing a mixture of ion exchange resin components and thermoplastic resin components mixed together in a dry state and rotationally formed into a membrane. The rotational forming process includes rotational molding using temperature to conform the components to the shape of the mold as well as rotational casting using solvents and phase inversion to form the membrane. The resulting membrane is a smooth, dimensionally stable, efficient dialysis membrane.

This invention relates in general to membranes suitable for use as dialysis membranes and, more particularly, to a unique process to fabricate dialysis membranes.
Dialysis membranes are used in a variety of applications to separate particular constituents from liquids. For example, such membranes have been used to remove salt from seawater, treat industrial waste, and to purify chemicals.
One use for dialysis membranes is in the removal of waste chemicals from electrodeposition processes. An electrodeposition process utilizes a tank or bath filled with an electrically-charged paint or coating. An electrically-conductive object to be coated is placed into the tank along with a separate electrode device and a source of electrical potential (voltage) is used to create a voltage difference between the object and the electrode. The charge on the coating causes it to be attracted to the object when the object is charged by the electrical potential, much like static electricity acts to pull articles of clothing together. A dialysis membrane is used as part of the electrode device to separate the electrode from the solution within the electrodeposition tank. A variety of such electrode devices are known, including those shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,049,253 and 5,507,929, which are hereby incorporated herein by reference. As is shown in these patents, in these electrode devices the electrode is separated from the electrocoating solution by a dialysis membrane that generally surrounds the electrode. A space is provided between the membrane and the electrode for accumulation of neutralized waste which migrates through the membrane. Neutralized waste that passes through the membrane barrier is flushed from the area between the electrode and the membrane and removed from the process. Because of the configuration required for such electrodes, the membrane utilized needs to be generally self-supporting, non-fouling, easily cleaned and sealable between the electrode body and the membrane.
Dialysis membranes currently are produced utilizing a variety of methods, each with its own set of advantages and disadvantages. Some typical ways of manufacturing such membranes are described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,049,253, noted above. One method of producing a dialysis membrane involves impregnating a tubular polyethylene porous body or substrate with a monomer mixture liquid comprising a polymerizable monomer having a functional group suitable for introduction of an ion exchange group, which is then cross linked. Subsequently, an ion exchange group is introduced to create a working membrane. The ion exchange groups are thus deposited into the voids present in the porous body. One limitation of this method is that the effectiveness of the membrane is curbed by the relative proportion of ion exchange groups which can be deposited by this process. First, voids must be present in the substrate which can be filled by the ion exchange groups. Because of difficulties inherent in producing a stable substrate with a distribution of small voids, the relative number of voids is constrained. Second, the inefficiency inherent in depositing ion exchange media into the voids in the substrate further limits the portion of the ion exchange media present in the finished membrane. Thus, media formed by this method tend to be relatively inefficient. Moreover, in the process of making the substrate with voids and, subsequently, filling a portion of the voids with ion exchange media, the surfaces of the resulting membrane thus formed are relatively rough. In use, this roughness tends to allow collection of particles which produce fouling and further reductions in the efficiency of the membrane. For example, such fouling occurs in electrodeposition process due to collection of neutralized components and other accumulated debris resulting from the process coating the membrane. Surface roughness also can cause problems in sealing the membrane to the electrode or similar device. Moreover, the exterior roughness inhibits cleaning of the membrane and, ultimately, the useful life of the product. In addition, the porous membrane tends to swell and deform in use, creating sealing problems and leading to leaking and failures of the membranes in operation.
Another method of producing a dialysis membrane entails mixing ion exchange groups as a resin powder and a heat-moldable thermoplastic resin, such as an olefin resin, together in dry form. The mixed components are then extrusion molded into the requisite shape, typically a tubular shape. This extrusion method resolves to some extent the fouling problem associated with the previously described deposition process, because the extruded surfaces are generally smooth, and, also, resolves some of the limitations on the amount of ion exchange material which may be placed in a porous substrate as discussed above. However, the amount of olefinic resin required to make a mechanically resistant product reduces the amount of ion exchange material that can be used in the extrusion process. Also, the extrusion process stratifies the distribution of the ion exchange media in the finished dialysis membrane. This stratification limits the amount of ion exchange component which can take part in dialysis reactions, making the membrane more resistive to ion propagation. Thus, although a greater proportion of the ion exchange media is deposited in the membrane, this stratification inhibits the effectiveness and efficiency of the finished membrane. Moreover, the extrusion process limits the available membrane shapes to those commonly achievable from an extrusion process, and effectively prevents specialized shapes, such as creating textures on the ends of membranes in order to facilitate sealing.


A comb mirror for improving health of a human body is disclosed. A plurality of far infrared ray lamps are installed in the inner space of the comb mirror body, By a first switch within the body, the first switch will control the on and off states of the far infrared ray lamps. A protecting web is installed in front of the inner space for isolating the far infrared ray lamps for providing the user to contact the far infrared rays lamps. Each of two sides of the body is installed with a respect mirror door which may rotate with the body. Each outer surface of the mirror door is installed with a plan mirror. The inner surface of the mirror seat is installed with concave mirror. By opening the mirror door, far infrared ray will be emitted. The concave mirror serves to focus the far infrared ray to the human body.

In the prior art, a comb mirror in a bath room or bedroom is general a pure mirror with at most a cabinet on the rear side of the mirror for disposing some objects such as cosmetics, scraper, etc. No other functions are provided. However, health and beauty are more and more required for modern peoples. The conventional products about health and beauty can not meet the requirement of peoples. Some quick and well modern ways have been provided. Therefore, if the conventional comb mirror is improved to be combined with the functions of health and beauty, only other the functions of comb mirror are increased, but also no extra space is occupied.

Comb mirror for improving health of a human body

No. 14, Lane 54, Luong Shuan St., Panchiao City


The present disclosure relates to a cavity filter, a connector and manufacturing processes thereof. The cavity filter comprises a cavity, a cover plate and a connector disposed on the cavity or the cover plate; an end of the connector is connected with internal devices inside the cavity filter and the other end of the connector is connected with external communication devices; and the connector comprises an inner conductor and a metal enclosure disposed coaxially and an insulation medium disposed between the metal enclosure and the inner conductor, and a non-metal layer is disposed on an outer peripheral surface of the metal enclosure. The connector of the present disclosure is formed with a non-metal layer on the outer peripheral surface of the metal enclosure thereof, which can improve the moisture-proof capability, the salt-mist-proof capability, the mold-proof capability and the reliability of the connector and the cavity filter.

As important components of communication modules, filters or duplexers are usually provided with connectors (e.g., 7/16 connectors, N-type connectors, etc.) for connection with other modules. The connectors are usually connected with the filters or duplexers by means of screws. In order to satisfy the radio frequency (RF) specifications and to match the conventional manufacturing processes (e.g., machining, die casting and electroplating), the connectors are all made of brass or aluminum alloys, and then an electroplated protection film such as a silver layer, a copper layer or a ternary alloy layer is electroplated on a surface thereof. For some special applications such as outdoor environments, seaside environments or very humid environments, a layer of powders is sprayed onto the surfaces of the connectors to prolong the service life and to prevent premature failure of the connectors. However, this layer of powders is difficult to control and tends to fall off.
Meanwhile, enclosures of the connectors are all fabricated through machining, die casting, or die casting plus machining. If the enclosures are fabricated through machining, the complex features (e.g., screws) of the enclosures of the connectors will lead to a long production time, low efficiency and a high production cost. If the enclosures are fabricated through a die casting process, the resulting connectors will become unaesthetic and the "three-proofing" capabilities of the connectors will be degraded because of the coarse surface of the die-cast enclosures. If the enclosures are fabricated through a die casting plus machining process, then the process route will become long and complex to cause a high production cost.
Accordingly, the conventional cavity filters and connectors thereof still present inconveniences and have shortcomings in practical use, so a need exists in the art to make an improvement on them.

Cavity filter, connector and manufacturing processes thereof


A trailing arm assembly for a suspension includes first and second axle wraps. The first and second axle wraps are welded to each other to substantially surround an outer perimeter of an axle member. The first axle wrap is then welded to one side of the axle member at a first weld area and the second axle wrap is welded to an opposite side of the axle member at a second weld area. The first axle wrap includes a spring seat and the second axle wrap includes an arm body with a bushing receiver portion at one arm end. A bushing tube attached to the bushing receiver portion. The first weld area comprises a single window weld and the second weld area comprises first and second window welds that are positioned on opposing sides of the arm body.

A suspension system includes a pair of trailing arm assemblies that are attached to an axle beam member. One trailing arm assembly is positioned near one end of the axle beam member, and another trailing arm assembly is positioned near an opposite end of the axle beam member. The trailing arm assemblies are pivotally connected to a vehicle frame member at a first end and support air springs at a second end. The trailing arm assemblies are attached to the axle beam member at a position between the first and second ends. The trailing arm assemblies need to be lightweight and must be capable of operating under high load conditions.
Traditionally, each trailing arm assembly is manufactured from a plurality of stamped pieces of sheet metal that are welded together, and which are welded to the axle beam member. Depending on the type of trailing arm assembly, as many as ten (10) or more pieces are required to form each trailing arm assembly. Performing the welding operations to attach these pieces together is an expensive and time-consuming process. Further, each weld joint area provides a potential failure initiation point. Improperly welded joints can result in premature cracking and joint failure due to shock loads or overloading.
Thus, it is desirable to provide a trailing arm assembly for a suspension that is lightweight and high strength and that reduces the number of welded joint areas. The trailing arm assembly should also have fewer components and be less time consuming to assemble, as well as overcoming the other above-mentioned deficiencies in the prior art.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Cast trailing arm assembly for trailer suspension


A cassette device includes a radiation detecting cassette having a radiation detector therein for detecting radiation having passed through a subject and converting the detected radiation into radiation image information, a transmission and reception controller connected to the radiation detector for transmitting the radiation image information to an image processor by way of wireless communications, and a cassette storage bag for storing the radiation detecting cassette therein. The cassette storage bag includes an antenna incorporated therein for transmitting the radiation image information from the transmission and reception controller to the image processor by way of wireless communications. The transmission and reception controller and the antenna are capable of being electrically connected to each other through detachable connectors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a cassette storage bag for storing a radiation detecting cassette having a transmitting means for transmitting radiation image information, which is generated when radiation is detected, to an image processing means by way of wireless communications. The invention also relates to a cassette device equipped with such a cassette storage bag.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the medical field, there have widely been used radiation image capturing apparatuses, which apply radiation to a subject and guide the radiation that has passed through the subject to a radiation conversion panel, which captures a radiation image from the radiation. Known forms of the radiation conversion panel include a conventional radiation film for recording a radiation image by way of exposure, and a stimulable phosphor panel for storing radiation energy representing a radiation image in a phosphor, and then reproducing the radiation image as stimulated light by applying a stimulating light to the phosphor.
The radiation film, with a recorded radiation image therein, is supplied to a developing device to develop the radiation image. Alternatively, the stimulable phosphor panel is supplied to a reading device to read the radiation image as a visible image.
In an operating room or the like, it is necessary to read a recorded radiation image immediately from a radiation conversion panel after the radiation image has been captured, for the purpose of quickly and appropriately treating the patient. As a radiation conversion panel that meets such a requirement, there has been developed a radiation detector having solid-state detectors for converting radiation directly into electric signals or for converting radiation into visible light with a scintillator, and then converting the visible light into electric signals in order to read the detected radiation image.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication No. 2001-224579 discloses a radiation detecting cassette (electronic cassette) from which radiation image information, generated by a radiation detector of the type referred to above, is transmitted to an image processing means via a wireless transmission system.
Depending on the shape, structure, etc., of the radiation detecting cassette that is combined with the wireless transmission system, it may be difficult for the radiation detecting cassette to incorporate an antenna therein for effecting wireless communications according to specifications for frequency and wavelength used in wireless communications. Furthermore, since the radiation detecting cassette needs to house various circuit boards, an antenna, a battery, and a memory within the casing for performing wireless communications, the radiation detecting cassette tends to be structurally complex, heavy, and highly costly to manufacture.

Cassette device and cassette storage bag for cassette device


A wearable instrument supporting means comprising: an instrument mountable support (10) having a surface (11); and a wearable support (1) having at least one region (4) that has a non-slip relationship with said surface (11) of the instrument mountable support (10); and wherein said at least one region (4) is positioned to contactably align with the surface (11) of the instrument mountable support (10) when the instrument (15) is in normal use.

Certain musical instruments, such as violins and violas, are played from a position under the chin of the musician. The ideal points of contact to hold a violin are the left-hand, chin and collarbone. A problem arises with the collarbone contact because the edge of the violin is generally at an angle of about 45° to the collarbone and there is precious little to cushion this contact. This positioning can cause the player some discomfort.
To address this problem most players fit a padded shoulder rest which generally sits further away from the collarbone on the shoulder itself.
Whilst this arrangement can seem more comfortable during play, unfortunately it gives rise to a serious problem of shoulder tensions caused by an automatic clamping-down of chin and hunching-up of shoulder.
Even when padded shoulder rests are used there is a sense that the instrument may slip and fall, particularly when the player is shifting hand position and using vibrato which has a tendency to destabilise an already awkward situation.
This process of clamping tension can persist so that advanced students show up at Music College to start a formal training with all sorts of painful neck, jaw and spinal problems, which have to be sorted out first. The situation is bad enough to force some players to stop playing completely. These problems have been well documented in medical books over a number of years.
The paradox of this situation is that the more comfortable the shoulder rest is, the more it restricts actual playing. The shoulder is obstructed by the clumsy shape of the shoulder rest when reaching for high notes. There is an added danger in that many players fit the shoulder rest at the wrong angle which leads into problems of leverage against the jaw and twisting of the neck. This all leads onto a set of very painful debilitating conditions.
There is a need for an alternative support rest that facilitates more comfortable playing without causing the numerous painful reactions which are so prevalent.


A studio lighting device for supplying light having a selected color temperature to a subject, comprising: an electrically powered light source connected to receive operating power which establishes a voltage across the source, the source being operative to produce light having a color temperature which varies as a function of the voltage; a first reflecting mirror for reflecting light in a first wavelength range, the first mirror being disposed at a location for reflecting a quantity of light from the source to the subject; a second reflecting mirror for reflecting light in a second wavelength range which is different from the first wavelength range, the second mirror being disposed at a location for reflecting a quantity of light from the source to the subject; and means connected for displacing the second reflecting mirror relative to the first reflecting mirror in order to alter the ratio between the quantity of light reflected to the subject by the first mirror and the quantity of light reflected to the subject by the second mirror.

The present invention relates to studio lighting devices, i.e. devices for illuminating subjects for purposes of color photography or cinematography, or for other situations in which it is desirable to illuminate a subject with light having a selected color temperature.
In fields such as color photography and cinematography, the colors appearing in the final product, be it a photographic print or motion picture diapositive, will depend substantially on both the color temperature and the intensity of the light which illuminated the subject during filming.
One of the capabilities required of such a lighting device is that the intensity of the light which it emits be adjustable. Those familiar with electrically powered light sources are aware that, in the absence of special considerations, the most suitable manner of varying the light intensity produced by such a source is by varying the voltage of the operating power supply to the source. However, one characteristic of the light sources currently employed for these purposes is that the color temperature of the light which they produce varies as a function of this voltage. In particular, as the voltage decreases, the color temperature of the light output decreases. Therefore, although this simple technique can be used for monochrome photography and cinematography, it has not proven suitable for filming in color.
Thus, in view of the need to maintain the illumination at a given color temperature, the current practice in the art to employ a variety of techniques, includes the physical placement of light absorbing materials in front of the lighting devices, in order to vary intensity without varying color temperature. All of the techniques currently in use can be implemented only with difficulty, particularly with regard to lighting devices which are installed at a substantial distance above the floor.
It is also possible to vary the intensity of light from such a device by varying the cross-sectional area of the light beam. Specifically, if the width of the beam emitted by the device can be varied from that which is associated with a spotlight to that which is associated with a floodlight, without varying the total light being produced by the device, the intensity of the light reaching the subject will be decreased without altering the color temperature of the beam. However, this technique will permit only a limited adjustment and is not suitable in certain situations where it is desirable to not vary the width of the beam.


A motorized elevator unit for adjusting the height of counter tops has right and left elevator assemblies under control of a primary control switch. Each elevator assembly includes top and bottom frames which may be formed from T-slotted framing with the top frame sliding vertically along the bottom frame on rollers received in the bottom frame. A movable counter top is mounted on the top frames and a motor drive assembly raises and lowers the top frames in unison. The elevator unit may be housed in a standard base cabinet and may be integrated with other standard base cabinets having stationary counter tops.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorized elevator unit for adjusting the height of counter tops generally of kitchen or bathroom base cabinets. Also, the invention particularly relates to easy and seamless integration of cabinets with adjustable counter tops with conventional cabinetry and counter tops.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
The height of kitchen and bathroom counter tops and other work counter surfaces such as desks, benches and the like is determined according to industry standards in order to most conveniently accommodate the average person. While standard base cabinets and counters are convenient for an average, ambulatory person, access is difficult for one who is confined to a wheelchair.
The most common solution for kitchen and bathroom counter top accessibility is to permanently lower the counter top. The vast majority of handicapped people, however, live with one or more non-handicapped persons and the lowered counters are inconvenient for them. Accessibility should include everyone. Hence, it would be desirable to have an adjustable counter top system that allows, with a touch of a switch, for the counter to be lowered to wheelchair height or returned to standard cabinet height. For the aging and the handicapped, living independently with others for as long as possible is a goal.
There are systems for raising and lowering work counters which make use of telescoping legs. In these systems, a bottom portion is stationary and a top portion with the counter is raised and lowered. The base is telescopically received in a skirt of the movable top portion such that the cabinet appears to be a permanent fixture regardless of what height the top portion is set. These systems, however, do not integrate well with standard cabinets.
Hence, it would also be desirable to have an adjustable counter top system that can be installed in standard-sized base cabinets such that the cabinets with adjustable counter tops can be seamless integrated with conventional cabinetry and counter tops. This would permit installation of adjustable counter tops in kitchens and baths possibly pre-need in new construction or while renovating an existing home, as well as for retrofitting existing cabinets when a need develops.


Persistent storage may contain an input discovery payload that contains entries representing configuration items and relationships therebetween, wherein the configuration items contain attributes defining devices, components, or applications on a network. One or more processors may be configured to: provide, for display, a graphical user interface containing a representation of the input discovery payload and a button; provide the input discovery payload to an identification and reconciliation engine (IRE) software application; receive, from the IRE software application, an output discovery payload that includes a log generated from execution of the IRE software application on the input discovery payload, wherein the log indicates, for the configuration items and the relationships in the input discovery payload, how a configuration management database (CMDB) would be updated by the IRE software application; and provide, for display, a further graphical user interface containing a further representation of the output discovery payload.

In the context of computer networks, discovery refers to a set of procedures that can be used to find devices, components, applications, and services that exist on such networks as well as the relationships therebetween. Information about the hardware and software that is found may be stored in tables of a configuration management database (CMDB), which can later be searched and/or used by other applications to manage characteristics and performance of the devices, components, applications, and services.
When discovery fails in some fashion—in that the information stored in the CMDB is incomplete or otherwise not representative of the hardware and software as arranged on the network—determining root cause of the failure can be unduly burdensome if possible at all. Current tools and capabilities of discovery systems fail to provide a simple or unified way to examine discovery information received from the network and how it is modified prior to storage in the CMDB.

Payload recording and comparison techniques for discovery


Systems and methods for real-time determination of an angle and range to a surface are provided. In one embodiment, such a system may include a transmitter for producing an output beam, a scanner for redirecting the output beam into a scan pattern towards a surface, a receiver for receiving a beam scattered from the surface, and a processor adapted to receive continuous tangential angle data from the scanner, and range data from the receiver, in order to determine a real-time angle and range to the surface.

A variety of systems and methods exist today for the real-time determination of the attitude of a surface, such as for the determination of the angle and range from a host vehicle to a flat docking, berthing vehicle, or other type of structure, or for varying types of applications. Many of these systems and methods utilize complex targets, lasers, imaging systems with lots of computer power, and/or other types of devices. This may lead to an increased number of parts, unreliability, efficiency problems, extensive time constraints, accuracy problems, excessive space requirements, increased weight, excessive power requirements, high costs, and/or one or more other types of problems.
A system and/or method for the real-time determination of the attitude of a surface is needed to decrease one or more problems associated with one or more of the existing systems and/or methods.


A design of a tire can be facilitated. An optimization apparatus 30 inputs known design parameters of the shape, structure, and pattern of a tire, and performances thereof by an experimental data input unit 40 and learns, as a conversion system of a neural network, a correlation between design parameters of the shape, structure, and pattern of the tire, and performances thereof. Ranges which constrain performances of the tire and design parameters of the shape, structure, and pattern of the tire, which are to be optimized, are inputted in an optimization item input unit 42, and the performances of the tire are predicted in an optimization calculation unit 34 from the design parameters of the shape, structure, and pattern of the tire by using the optimization item and models of the calculation unit 32, and an objective function is optimized until the objective function which is the performances of the tire is converged. The optimized design parameters of the shape, structure, and pattern of the tire are outputted from an optimization result output unit 44.

The design of the structure, shape, and pattern of a tire is to obtain the structure, shape, and pattern of a tire, manufacturing conditions thereof, and the like, which are required to obtain performances of a tire. The performances of the tire is a physical quantity which is obtained by calculation or experiment, or an on-vehicle riding quality evaluation result. A conventional tire design method, such as design of the structure, shape, and pattern of a tire, was realized by a trial-and-error empirical rule obtained by repetitions of experiments and numerical experiments using a calculator. For this reason, the number of trial manufacturing operations and testing operations, which are required for development of a tire, increases greatly, thereby resulting in an increase in developmental costs; further, it was difficult to reduce the period of time for development.
As a means for solving the above-described drawback, there have been proposed techniques for obtaining an optimal solution, for example, a mathematical programming method and an optimization method using a genetic algorithm. A designing method relating to this mathematical programming method has already been proposed by the present applicant in International Publication No. WO94/16877.
Obtaining an optimal solution is analogous to climbing a mountain. At this time, the height of the mountain is related to performance, and therefore, the optimal solution corresponds to the peak of the mountain. When an objective function is simple, a design space (a shape of the mountain) has the shape of a mountain with one peak as shown in FIG. 8, and therefore, the optimal solution can be obtained by an optimization approach based on mathematical programming.
However, when an objective function becomes complex, the design space has many peaks as shown in FIG. 9. For this reason, the optimal solution cannot be obtained by the optimization approach based on mathematical programming. The reason is that, in the optimization approach based on mathematical programming, a peak that was reached first by chance may be mistakenly regarded as the optimal solution.
Although a genetic algorithm has been proposed to solve the above-described problem, it requires a great number of experiments and much time for calculation, and there is also a possibility that calculation may not converge, and so there was a problem in terms of practical use. Namely, when an objective function becomes complex, it was difficult to obtain the optimal solution in a limited period of time.
However, the design development of a tire with a conventional tire design method used was regarded as summarily completed having set a target value for a certain performance and having cleared the target value, and was not provided to obtain the best performance with given resources. Further, this conventional design method was not a method to design an antinomic performance, nor a method to determine the best shape and structure. Moreover, in the conventional design method, development is effected by repeating trial-and-error manufacture and testing, and therefore, this method was very ineffective and cost performance thereof was low.
In view of the above-described circumstances, it is an object of the present invention to provide a tire design method, an optimization analyzing apparatus, and a storage medium in which an optimization analyzing program is stored, which allow design of the best mode of a tire under given conditions and which also allow design and development of the tire to become highly efficient.

Method of designing tire, optimization analyzer and storage medium on which optimization analysis program is recorded


A limited large angle dynamoelectric machine generates a constant torque over an arc greater than 180 degrees without discontinuity and zero cogging. At any given location of the rotor, the flux path of the machine only crosses the stator coil at a single location. This results in the elimination of any type of commutation of the stator coil.

The present invention relates to dynamoelectric machines, particularly dynamoelectric machines free of ripple and other discontinuities over a limited arc range up to and greater than 180 mechanical degrees.
In the industry of high performance position control there is a need for rotating electromagnetic components which produce essentially ideal performance over a limited angular excursion. FIG. 1 shows a prior art dynamoelectric device 10 commonly known as a toroidally wound, limited angle device. It includes a permanently magnetized rotor 12 having a north pole N and a south pole S. Rotor 12 is surrounded by a highly magnetically permeable stator core 14 (typically soft iron) on which is wound a coil 16 of matching polarity as that of the rotor 12. The principle of operation of these devices is well known in the art. An air gap is present between the stator core 14, which forms the flux return path, and the polarized ends N, S of the rotor 12. A high flux density (B) is established in this gap that "cuts" the turns 16 of the winding. Fundamental equations describing the produced torque and voltage are as follows: EQU Torque=N(I.times.B)l EQU Voltage=NBlv
where:
I is the current (in Amps) flowing through the coil 16.
l is the mutual length of rotor 12 and stator 14 (into the page).
v is the velocity of the rotor 12.
B is the flux density in the vicinity of the windings (air gap)
N is the number of series wound turns 16 "cut" by the flux (B) in the vicinity of the turns 16 in the air gap between the turns 16 and the polarized ends N, S of the rotor 12.
X designates the vector cross product.
FIG. 2 graphically shows the typical performance of dynamoelectric device 10. Axis 18 represents torque produced when the dynamoelectric device 10 is operated as a motor and axis 20 represents voltage, or Emf (electromotive force), produced when the dynamoelectric device 10 is operated as a tachogenerator. Axis 22 represents angular displacement of rotor 12 in degrees, with zero degrees being where the north pole of rotor 12 of FIG. 1 is at its furthest left-hand point (nine o'clock position). A distinct characteristic of dynamoelectric device 10 is its relatively trapezoidal Emf/Torque profile. Since device 10 has 2 poles, the waveform 24 inverts polarity at two places, 180 degrees apart. Because magnetic poles are always found in pairs, north and south, it has been difficult to extend the range of constant torque beyond 180 degrees.

Limited large angle rotary dynamoelectric machine