A platform-type wheelchair lift for mounting in the stairwell of a vehicle, such as a bus or train. The wheelchair lift includes a platform frame that is movable from a retracted position in which it is stowed underneath the vehicle to an extended position in which it extends out from the side or back of the vehicle. A wheelchair platform is movably coupled to the platform frame by a parallelogram linkage that allows the wheelchair platform to move between a lowered and a raised position. The wheelchair platform includes foldable outer and inner wheelchair barriers that prevent a wheelchair from moving off of the wheelchair platform during operation of the wheelchair lift. The wheelchair platform also includes a mechanical platform interlock mechanism. The platform interlock mechanism is moveable between an unlocked and a locked position. The platform interlock mechanism is in an unlocked position when no weight is placed on the wheelchair platform. In the unlocked position, the platform interlock mechanism allows the outer barrier to move between an upright barrier position, and a retracted position in which the barrier lies adjacent an upper surface of the wheelchair platform. When a weight such as a person or wheelchair is located on the wheelchair platform, the platform interlock mechanism moves into a locked position in which the outer barrier is prevented from moving between the upright position and the retracted position.

Wheelchair lifts of the type installed in the stairwells of transit vehicles, such as city buses, are well-known. One type of wheelchair lift commonly referred to as a "step lift," is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,466,771 to Thorley et al. (the '771 patent). Another type of wheelchair lift, commonly referred to as a "platform lift," is illustrated in U.S. Pat. No. 4,058,228 to Hall (the '228 patent).
Both wheelchair step lifts and platform lifts typically include a wheelchair platform that is movable from a lowered position in which the wheelchair platform lies adjacent the sidewalk or ground to a raised position in which the wheelchair platform lies in the same plane as the aisle way of the bus, train, or other vehicle on which the lift is mounted. A wheelchair is loaded onto the wheelchair platform when it is in the lowered or raised position at which time the platform is moved to the opposite position in order to allow the wheelchair to be moved into or out of the bus or other vehicle on which the wheelchair lift is mounted. In order to decrease storage space and improve usability, a number of platform-type wheelchair lifts such as that described in the '228 patent include wheelchair platforms that retract under the bottom of the bus or other vehicle on which the lift is mounted. In some wheelchair lifts such as that disclosed in the '228 patent, the wheelchair platform forms the lower step of the vehicle entryway.
A number of wheelchair lifts incorporate outer and sometimes inner (with respect to the vehicle) foldable barriers that help to maintain a wheelchair on the wheelchair platform. In addition, some wheelchair lifts include fixed side barriers to help maintain the wheelchair on the wheelchair platform. It would be beneficial if improved outer and inner barriers could be developed to ensure that a wheelchair cannot move off the wheelchair platform during operation of the wheelchair lift. It would also be beneficial to provide some type of electrical and/or mechanical mechanism to ensure that the wheelchair barriers and the wheelchair lift operate in ways which do not allow the barriers to operate improperly.
As can be seen from the discussion above, there exists a need in the industry for wheelchair lifts having improved wheelchair barriers. The present invention is directed toward fulfilling this need.

Wheelchair lift with wheelchair barrier platform interlock mechanism


Stable formulations of 3-4-methoxycarbonyl-4-(1 -oxopropyl)phenylamino!-1-piperidine!propanoic acid, methyl ester, generally referred to as remifentanil, are disclosed. In particular, stabilized lyophilized solid composition are disclosed comprising certain acids, most preferably comprising glycine.

The hydrochloride salt of remifentanil is commercially available from GlaxoWellcome for use in anesthesia under the tradename ULTIVA.TM.. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,019,583 (Feldman et al.) and 5,446,700 (Batenhorst et al.), both of which are hereby incorporated by reference. Remifentanil hydrochloride is a potent N-phenyl-N-(4-piperidinyl)amide mu-opioid anesthetic.
The drug substance contains two alkyl esters, one sterically hindered and the other sterically unhindered and thought to be susceptible to hydrolysis (Scheme 1). The sterically unhindered ester grouping is thought to be highly susceptible to hydrolysis by aqueous hydrolysis and by esterases in blood and tissues. The major hydrolysis product is the monocarboxylic acid which is significantly less potent than remifentanil. Remifentanil hydrochloride exhibits a rapid onset of action and rapid recovery.
The rapid inactivation of remifentanil by hydrolysis provides the following advantages in anesthesia: 1) an ultra-short duration of action; 2) less variability in recovery rate even with differences in hepatic function; 3) no accumulation of drug during repeated bolus doses or infusion; and 4) more rapid recovery.


A high speed high precision laser based alignment sensor system for use on surface mount component placement machines. A laser system is utilized to correctly align and position component parts which range between 0.02 inches and 2.0 inches in size. The laser sensor system consists of a laser light source which is passed through a collimating lens and then through an aperture to create a stripe of collimated laser light which is focused past the component being aligned to strike a multi-element CCD sensor array. The sensor system is mounted directly on the carrying mechanism for the surface mount component placement machine. During transit of the component between the bin of components and the circuit board upon which the component is to be placed, the component is rotated and the shadow which falls on the detector array is monitored. When the minimum width of shadow is detected, the correct angular orientation is determined, the average of the edges of the shadow when compared with the center of the quill determines the coordinate (X,Y) location of the component on the quill. Two alignments normally occur displaced by 90.degree.. Thereafter, the sensor sends correcting signals to the component placement machine to assure the correct angular orientation and the correct X,Y position for the component to be placed on the circuit board by the component placement machine.

The invention relates to control systems which precisely align electrical components, both as to angular orientation and coordinate (X,Y) location for precise placement via pick-and-place systems such as surface mount component placement machines. More specifically, the invention relates to a non-contact laser based sensor system which precisely determines and allows a pick-and-place system to connect the angular orientation of a component and the coordinate positioning of the component for precise placement of the component by a component placement machine on a circuit board or other work surface.
There are two types of component placement machines in common use today, one of which is a cartesian system where one or more vacuum quills are used to travel to a bin, pick up a component, properly orient the component and carry it to a circuit board or other work piece to precisely place the component in its proper location with the leads making proper contact with the circuit connections which are subscribed on the circuit board or work place. Another type of placement system in use is a carousel or turret placement system where components are picked up from the bin and stepped through stations located around the perimeter of a circular component carrying mechanism for placement on the circuit board. It is believed that the present invention will be most useful with cartesian systems which must accurately place components with the highest degree of speed and accuracy.
The electrical components must be placed precisely on the circuit board, to ensure proper electrical contact, thus requiring correct angular orientation and lateral positioning. Angular orientation and lateral positioning are most commonly achieved today through mechanical means. A vacuum quill picks up the part to be placed. During travel between the component bins and the circuit board, four jaws or hammers, which are suspended from the fixturing device, travel downwardly and strike the component on all four sides with substantially equal force. The intent of such a mechanical system is to shift the component on the vacuum quill so it achieves the correct angular orientation, 0 degrees deviation, and also to center it on the vacuum quill. The striking of such components can cause damage such as microcracking of ceramic materials commonly used in capacitors and other such components. It is also extremely difficult to achieve the very high degree of accuracy both as to angular orientation and lateral position that is required by the design rules in use in today's technology where lead spacing and widths are only 10-25 mils wide. To accommodate different component sizes, six different sizes of jaws may be required which can lead to high expense.
A number of non-contact higher precision methods have been proposed. However, light based systems of the past have had difficulty in achieving the high speed and high accuracy which is required for today's technology.
Vision based systems using a TV camera are capable of achieving high accuracy. However, they are one of the most expensive of systems proposed and they require a deviation in the path of the quill from the bin to the TV station, and then to the work piece or circuit board which substantially slows the process. The laser sensor of the instant invention is connected in a manner to surround the component carrying quill which transports the component directly, without deviation, to the appropriate site on the circuit board to achieve a time saving of approximately a factor of two. In addition, it is sometimes difficult to distinguish the particular parameters of very small components being placed by such systems from the quill upon which the components are mounted.
Light sensing systems have also been proposed where a component is interposed in the light path of a collimated beam of light and the intensity of the light is detected by a single photodetector or a pair of photodetectors with a maximum light intensity indicating the narrowest shadow and thus proper angular orientation of the component. However, it is difficult for such systems to handle the range of components that are placed and to achieve the accuracy required for alignment. The dimensions of components to be placed normally vary between 0.02 inch and 2.0 inches. If a single photodetector system is designed large enough to detect shadow variations for a 2.0 inch part, as it must be, the fractional variation caused by rotation of a 0.02 inch part has such little effect on the total light intensity that it is virtually undetectable. For two detector systems, the component part must be precisely aligned between the two detectors with the ratio of light falling on each detector being analyzed to determine edge positions. However, it is extremely difficult to mechanically align photodetectors to make such a measurement. The uniformity of light must be precise and such a system cannot detect component lead positions since shadows of the leads are not distinguishable from shadows of the body of the component.
Finally, it has also been proposed that a series of laser light sources be aligned with a series of laser light detectors. Such a design overcomes some of the problems associated with the proposals for a single detector or pair of detectors. However, the degree of accuracy that can be achieved can be no more than the spacing of the individual laser sources one from the other. The minimum spacing would be given by the size of a laser diode source, which is 0.5 millimeter. This minimum spacing still would be too large for reliable component position detection. The required physical spacing will also be negatively affected by diffraction effects to further limit accuracy of such a design. Also, it is believed that the cost of such a system involving many laser sources would also be prohibitively expensive.
What is needed to achieve component placement for current technology is a component system which can rapidly, in a few hundred milliseconds, align a range of parts varying between 0.02 inches and 2.0 inches with an angular orientation accuracy of less than 0.03.degree. and with lateral position accuracy of better than 0.001 inches. The present invention is specifically addressed to this current need.

High precision component alignment sensor system


A dental hygiene appliance for brushing teeth composed of a handle; a brushing head connected to the handle and a set of tooth brushing bristles projecting in a given direction from the head; a source of monochromatic radiation having a given wavelength; and elements for directing the radiation from the head in a direction having at least a component in the given direction; wherein the elements for directing radiation are structurally separate from the bristles.

The present invention relates to dental hygiene appliances, and particularly toothbrushes equipped to apply radiation to tooth surfaces.
It has been proposed in the art to equip a toothbrush with a light source which can illuminate the region being brushed. The purpose of such devices is to aid the brushing operation by better illuminating the portion of the teeth being brushed. A device of this type is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,779,173, where the toothbrush bristles are plastic filaments which conduct radiation from a light source in the handle of the brush. This patent also discloses earlier prior art including a dental cleaning apparatus in which the head portion or bristle holding portion is eliminated.
It is also known in the art that laser radiation can have a variety of beneficial effects on teeth.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,030,090 discloses a tooth brush having a bundle of bristles constituted by optical fibers which are coupled to a semiconductor laser. The fibers constitute the bristles of the toothbrush. This patent discloses that the radiation produced by a semiconductor laser can be used for treating or preventing gingivitis and other oral diseases, and specifically can serve to reduce pain and inflammation and to improve blood circulation.
One of the characteristics of the device as disclosed in the above-cited patents is that they employ filaments which are capable of functioning as both optical fibers and brushing bristles. One problem with devices of this type is that filaments which are capable of functioning as optical fibers can not be given the mechanical characteristics required to permit them to function in an optimum manner as brushing bristles. In particular, if the filaments must be fabricated to function as optical fibers, it will prove difficult to give them the durability desired for brushing bristles.


The invention relates to a method for the examination of cells (20, 38) in a culture medium, in particular for in-situ microscopy in a bio-reactor, whereby cells in a sample volume, the depth (d) of which is defined by windows (14, 16) in the direction of the optical axis of the microscope (18), are microscopically imaged and are automatically recorded and processed by means of an image processing system (30). Said method is characterized in that the depth (d) of the sample volume (12) is adjusted to the size of the cells (20, 38) by successively reducing the separation (d) of the windows while the image size (G) of the cells is simultaneously verified by the image processing system (30) such that a separation value (D) is determined at which the image size (G) of the cells begins to grow, thus corresponding to flattening caused by the contact pressure of the windows (14, 16), and that the separation (d) of the windows (14, 16) is set to said separation value (D) for the examination.

1. Technical Field
The invention relates to a method for the examination of cells in a culture medium, in particular for in-situ microscopy in a bio-reactor, whereby cells in a sample volume, the depth of which is defined by windows in the direction of the optical axis of the microscope, are microscopically imaged and are automatically recorded and processed by means of an image processing system, and to an apparatus for implementing this method.
2. Prior Art
Such a method is disclosed by DE 40 23 002 C2, for example, and is particularly advantageous for use in bio-reactors which are also used for the cultivation of cells on an industrial scale. The automatic regulation of cell cultivation processes in the reactor requires measured values which provide information about the state of the culture medium. In principle, this method is not limited to organic cells but can also be used for the examination of other, inorganic particles in a medium, such as in an oil suspension or the like. For this reason, the term "cell" should be understood in its broadest sense, although reference will be made in the following to organic cells.
In the known method, the cells are imaged microscopically, with the image being captured by an automatic image processing system. The examined sample volume is defined in the direction of the optical axis of the microscope by windows, which ensure an unimpeded view of the sample volume.
Of special interest is the concentration, size and morphology of the cells. Furthermore, with in-situ microscopy it is possible to determine the cell size distribution, thus providing information for determining the anhydrous bio-mass. These parameters are supplied immediately by the described method, whereas offline analytic methods requiring the manual taking of samples are not suited for achieving a satisfactory regulation of the cell cultivation process.
However, it has proved difficult to obtain detailed information on the cell population in a bio-reactor because of the constraints imposed by the image processing system in recording all cells in the sample volume reliably. In order to examine as many cells as possible, the selected value for the distance between the windows and thus the depth of the sample volume must be as large as possible. This in turn is problematical, since the limited depth of field of the lens allows for only a narrow field of clear focus, and thus only a small number of cells can be imaged in clear detail and recorded by the image processing system in each measuring cycle. It is also difficult to differentiate individual cells when cells floating in suspension block each other from view. To insure that the image can be properly evaluated, it is necessary to use image processing software that is very expensive but does not always yield reliable results. In addition, some examination methods may require longer exposure times when imaging the cells. But this is not possible if the cells are able to move about freely in the sample volume.
On the other hand, if the sample volume is narrowed along the optical axis to a point where its thickness corresponds to the depth of field of the microscope lens, this results in very few cells being present within the sample volume for examination. If the sample volume is very narrow, this will also prevent an unimpeded flow of the culture medium between the windows.

Method for the examination of cells in a culture medium


A delay in packet output due to packet fragmentation processing is reduced. If input data is output upon being subjected to fragmentation processing, fragmented data, from among a plurality of fragmented data items fragmented based upon a set value in an MTU register, which belongs to a first fragmented packet containing information that is based upon all fragmented packets is stored in a fragment buffer. After all fragmented packets from a second fragmented packet onward to which other fragmented data items belong are output, the first fragmented packet is output.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a communication apparatus and method and, more particularly, to a communication technique for fragmenting and transferring data.
2. Background Art
There are systems that employ networks compliant with the IEEE 802.3 standard and use the IP (Internet Protocol) as a communication protocol. TCP (Transmission Control Protocol) and UDP (User Datagram Protocol), etc., are available as protocols in layers higher than the IP layer. Further, layers below the IP layer are composed of LLC (Logical Link Control: IEEE 802.2) and MAC (Media Access Control) layers and PHY (physical) layers, etc.
According IP specifications, the amount of data in one IP packet can be defined up to a maximum of 65535 octets. In general, however, in order for a finite network band to be used equitably among stations connected to a network, it is so arranged that the size of a packet transferred is limited to avoid the effects of pressure on band by specific stations.
In the IP layer, the maximum data size capable of being transferred by a single transmission frame in various networks is defined as the MTU (Maximum Transfer Unit). In general, often the MTU is set to 1492 octets in the case of Ethernet (registered trademark) at 10 Mbps (megabits per second) to 1 Gbps (gigabits per second), and to 576 octets in the case of a dial-up connection using the X.25 protocol with a telephone line. With Ethernet (registered trademark) at 1 to 10 Gbps, there are instances where a larger MTU is set to manifest the merits of broadband properties.
The MTU will now be described using the IP packet format. The defined length of the MTU corresponds to the maximum length of the IP packet in a frame (e.g. Ethernet frame). When this is output as an Ethernet (registered trademark) frame, 14 octets of a MAC header are appended to the beginning of the IP packet and four octets of an FCS (Frame Check Sequence) are appended to the tail end of the packet.
In a network system of the kind illustrated in FIG. 3, a case will be described in which a host A 301 belonging to a network A 311 transmits a packet to a host B 302 belonging to a network B 312 via a network C 313. Assume that the MTU is 1492 octets in each of the networks A 311 and B 312 and 576 octets in the network C 313. A router A 321 interconnects the network A 311 and network C 313, and a router B 322 interconnects the network B 312 and network C 313.
Since the MTUs of the networks A 311 and B 312 to which the hosts A 301 and B 302, respectively, belong are 1492 octets each, the hosts A 301 and B 302 generate IP packets of a maximum of 1492 packets. If the host A 301 sends a 1492-octet IP packet to the host B 302, therefore, then the router A 321 executes processing to fragment the IP packet. In other words, the router A 321 executes fragmentation processing in such a manner that the size of each individual IP packet that is output to the network C 313 will be 576 octets or less.
More specifically, the router A 321 fragments the IP packet from the host A 301 into three IP packets, as illustrated in FIGS. 4A to 4D, in order to sent it to the network C 313. FIG. 4A illustrates the original IP packet sent from the host A 301 to the router A 321. FIGS. 4B, 4C and 4D, on the other hand, illustrate IP packets, which are the result of fragmentation processing, sent from the router A 321. It should be noted that in order to distinguish between the original IP packet and the IP packets transmitted upon being fragmented from the original IP packet, an IP packet that has undergone fragmentation processing shall be referred to as a "fragmented IP packet" below.
The IP packet shown in FIG. 4A comprises an IP header, a UDP header and a payload. The packet length of this IP packet is 1492 octets.
The first fragmented IP packet shown in FIG. 4B also comprises an IP header, a UDP header and a payload. The packet length of this fragmented IP packet, however, is 576 octets. Further, an MF (More Fragments) flag defined within the IP header has been set to "1". It should be noted that setting the MF flag to "1" indicates the existence of a succeeding fragmented IP packet.
An ID that is identical to an ID set in the IP header of the first fragmented IP packet illustrated in FIG. 4B is added on within the IP header of the second fragmented IP packet illustrated in FIG. 4C. The second fragmented IP packet has a packet length of 576 octets identical with that of the first fragmented IP packet. Further, the MF flag defined in the IP packet is set to "1", and a value to the effect that an offset value is 72 (indicates 576 octets because of counted in units of 8 octets) is appended. It should be noted that the offset value indicates the position in the original IP packet of data contained in the fragmented IP packet.
Setting the MF flag to "0" in the third fragmented IP packet illustrated in FIG. 4D indicates that a succeeding fragmented IP packet does not exist. That is, "0" indicates that this fragmented IP packet is the terminus of the plurality of fragmented IP packets generated by fragmentation processing. The third fragmented IP packet has an IP datagram length of 364 octets and the offset thereof is set to 141 (indicates 1128 octets).
Since the IDs set in the IP headers of the first to third fragmented IP packets are all the same ID, it is possible to identify that the original is a packet that has been generated by fragmenting the same IP packet.
Thus, the IP packet that has been transmitted from the host A 301 is fragmented into three fragmented IP packets and sent to the router B 322 via the host B 302 by the router A 321, and the IP packet is transmitted in the fragmented state from the router B 322 to the host B 302. When the host B 302 receives the three fragmented IP packets, is reconstructs the original IP packet by referring to the ID, MF flag and offset value in each of the IP headers.
Packet fragmentation processing is not limited to the above-described case but also occurs in a case where the host (station) transmits a datagram that is large in comparison with the MTU of the network at the output destination. An example of fragmentation processing is disclosed in, e.g., the specification of Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 9-204376.
However, a certain problem arises in transfer in a case where processing for fragmenting an IP packet is executed in a router according to the prior art described above. Specifically, a checksum of the overall data that has been input is described in the UDP header contained in the first fragmented IP packet. Consequently, the first fragmented IP packet cannot be transmitted unless all of the data is collected in the router. The problem which results is that as the amount of data input increases, a delay in the output of packets due to fragmentation processing lengthens.


A dual radio frequency interferometer aided by laser rangefinder and terrain database system utilizes two linear rays of RFI sensors to determine the position of a source of RF energy. The dual RFI system is very attractive in that it is a passive system and cannot be detected by other sensors or systems while it is going through its position determination operation. Furthermore, use of two linear arrays of sensors allows for the elimination of chronic effects inherent in radio frequency interferometers. The two linear arrays can be placed anywhere on a vehicle as long as they are in the same common geometric plane and in-flight mechanisms are provided to transform the coordinate systems from the in-flight platform coordinates to the local geodetic coordinates. This provides positioning and source identification which can be beneficial to not only the present system but other systems in the area. With the two linear arrays, a line-of-sight vector can be determined and other systems can be provided with this information in order to provide further details of the source position. Once a pointing vector has been determined, this information can be used with other active systems in order to provide a precise range and location of the source of the RF signals.

In an aircraft, and especially a military aircraft, it is often beneficial to determine the location of radio frequency (RF) signal sources associated with active radar weapons systems because these signal sources are a direct threat to accomplishing a mission and aircraft survival. The most common example of such an RF signal source is a radar installation; however, other RF signal sources may be applicable, including targeting systems.
A device that is beneficial in the targeting and identification of threats or objects in the vicinity of the aircraft is the laser range finder (LRF). This device can determine the range to a target by lazing a laser signal at the target, and deciphering a return signal. Based on the characteristics of the return signal, the exact distance to the target can be determined. The disadvantage of the LRF is its necessity to transmit a signal in order to determine useful information such as line-of-sight range to the target. Again, because a signal is transmitted, other devices or aircraft in the area can detect the presence of the LRF by picking up its transmitted signal. In many applications this is an undesired occurrence.
In order to passively detect a radio frequency signal source, a single axis radio frequency interferometer has been used. This interferometer receives RF signals on a linear array of sensors, and subsequently, calculates an angular relationship between the array sensors and the source of RF energy. More specifically, the array of sensors are arranged in a linear fashion and are sensitive to radio frequency signals. The detected signals are then compared to one another, and phase differences in the detected signals can be suggestive of the angle of arrival of the detected RF signal. The single axis RFI is generally attached to an airframe in a known manner, thus allowing angle of arrival determination for the RF signal as it relates to the airframe coordinates.
The single axis RFI has a number of undesirable characteristics inherent in its design. Most importantly, the single axis RFI is limited to a single axis of operation; therefore, the angle of arrival merely defines a plane in which the RF signal source could exist. While this information is of some benefit to a pilot, it still requires further normal processing and further searching for such RF signal sources. As the operation of an aircraft keeps the pilot very busy, especially in a hostile environment, it is undesirable to require the pilot to do more work than is necessary. Consequently, this extensive searching and interaction by the pilot is undesirable.
Another problem inherent in the single axis system is the occurrence of a phenomenon known as the "conic effect." The conic effect detrimentally effects the accuracy of a single axis RFI when the RF signal source is above or below the plane normal to the axis of the array of sensors. When the RF signal source is above or below the plane normal to the array, the RFI sensors detect the RF source as being at an angle closer to perpendicular than is actually the case. This conic effect causes distortions and inaccuracies in the detected angle of arrival of the RF signal. Consequently, the use of the single axis RFI to determine the position of an RF signal source is not necessarily accurate, nor reliable, and many times requires further interaction by the pilot to estimate for correction factor.
Another method by which the single axis RFI system can be used to generate course position and range of an RF signal source is through the use of triangulation. By accumulating two or more "angles" associated with known headings and positions of an aircraft, triangulation can be used to calculate the position of the RF signal source. This method of RF signal source calculation is a very slow and involved process. It is necessary to accumulate two or more data points, which requires a fair amount of time. Furthermore, very involved and time consuming numerical calculations are required to determine the RF signal source position. Lastly, since the single axis RFI suffers from the conic effect, this will detrimentally effect the accuracy of the triangulation process. Consequently, the use of this triangulation process to determine the actual position of a source of RF energy is slow, inaccurate and non-reliable.
The use of single axis RFI, or other locating systems, provides limited amounts of information. In many situations it would be more helpful if the pilot were to know the actual location and geographic characteristics of the RF signal source. While the pilot may be able to visually locate and estimate position of the RF source, such RF signal sources may be located behind a geographic obstacle, such as a mountain. The pilot, not knowing the existence of this mountain or geographic obstacle, will have inaccurate information regarding the actual position of the RF signal source.
Lastly, since the information received by the single axis RFI system is somewhat limited, this information is of little use for other platforms operating in conjunction with the platform utilizing the single axis RFI.

Radio frequency interferometer and laser rangefinder/destination base targeting system


A heat exchanger for cooling air, with a coolant onward-flow connection for feeding liquid coolant for cooling air and a coolant return-flow connection for discharging liquid coolant. For removing ice by melting accumulated ice in the heat exchanger, a heater is provided that is associated with an electrical heating element. An operational safety device prevents overheating of the heater. The operational safety device comprises a fault-current detection device. Such a heater, with a heating element for heating air for subjecting accumulated ice to heated air, and with such an operational safety device is provided. Also, a galley for a commercial aircraft is provided with a receiving space for trolleys, and a cooling device for cooling the receiving space. The cooling device comprises such a heat exchanger for cooling air.

The invention relates to a heat exchanger for cooling air, with a coolant onward-flow connection for supplying liquid coolant for cooling air, a coolant return-flow connection for discharging liquid coolant, a heater for removing ice by melting accumulated ice in the heat exchanger, wherein an electrical heating element for melting accumulated ice is also associated with the heater, and with an operational safety device for preventing overheating of the heater. Furthermore, the invention relates to a heater with a heating element for melting accumulated ice and with an operational safety device for preventing overheating of the heater, as well as a galley for a commercial aircraft, with a receiving space for trolleys and a cooling device for cooling the receiving space, wherein the cooling device comprises such a heat exchanger.
Commercial aircraft comprise galleys in which food and beverages can be prepared, for example heated up, for passengers. In order to also keep perishable food and beverages fresh and palatable for an extended period of time, such galleys comprise one or several coolable receiving spaces in which the food and beverages can be stored, or temporarily stored, in serving trolleys, hereinafter referred to as trolleys.
For cooling, a water-glycol mixture cooled to −9° C. is pumped through a heat exchanger within an air chilling unit (ACU). The above-mentioned value of −9° C. refers to a freely selectable setpoint temperature, set system-internally, relating to the liquid coolant. Other setpoint temperatures are also possible as long as the legally required value of 4° C. for storing food and beverages is maintained. A fan conveys air through the heat exchanger, which cools this air, so that by subjecting the food and beverages in the trolleys to cooled air, said food and beverages are cooled. Due to the low temperatures and the atmospheric humidity contained in the air, ice can form on the heat exchanger, which ice gradually blocks the air flow through the heat exchanger. In a defrosting cycle, such accumulated ice is regularly removed by a heater on the heat exchanger, by means of which heater the accumulated ice is melted. In the case of a malfunction this heater can generate inadmissibly high temperatures and therefore needs to be monitored.
This heater can be designed as a heating mat and can be bonded to a heat exchanger made of aluminium. At one point of the heating mat there is a temperature control fuse which is triggered if a limit value relating to the temperature of the heat exchanger is exceeded, and in this manner deactivates the heating mat. Such temperature monitoring is based on a functioning thermal path between the heating mat and the temperature control fuse. If the adhesive connection between the temperature control fuse and the heat exchanger fails, or if small bubbles form between the heat exchanger and the heating mat, this type of temperature control fuse no longer functions. A further type of malfunction relates to local failure of the heating mat, as a result of which arcing and thus the presence of very high local temperatures can occur. While the heat exchanger comprises a metallic housing, this can, however, not prevent excessive temperatures, in particular if the heating mat becomes detached or if arcing occurs.


A device for increasing fault clearing time is provided having a component part designed to identify a short circuit event and load resistors connectable in the event of a fault such that the turbine power transmitted to the shaft is electrically absorbed by the generator and converted into heat until the grid comes back online.

Owing to a significant growth in regenerative energy generating units in the supply grids, there are consistently increasing minimum requirements that the grid operators set for all feed-in units as regards stability and supply safety. In this regard, there are grid codes which demand a uniform course of action. Thus, for example, in the Finnish grid code "Fin-Grid", fault clearing times of 250 ms at 0 p.u. residual voltages are required, for example, which for some generators, in particular synchronous generators, results in a fall into asynchronicity, without additional measures, and therefore in a certain resynchronization after recovery of the mains voltage. FIG. 1 shows several grid code requirements. The abovementioned "Fin-Grid" is provided with the reference symbol 1. Further grid code requirements are illustrated here by way of example for E. on 2, REE Spain 3 and WECC North America 4.
The course of action for resynchronization after recovery of mains voltage can take a few minutes, during which the power plant power is not available to the grid. This can primarily result in grid instability and in the worst case scenario in a large-area voltage drop in the case of failure of relatively large power plants.
During the short circuit, the mechanical power impressed onto the shaft assembly by the turbine is no longer taken off at the generator, and therefore results in acceleration of the turbo set.
If the rotor angle of the synchronous generator exceeds a critical transient value, said synchronous generator falls into asynchronicity and needs to be resynchronized. It is demanded in the grid codes that a power plant needs to be able to run through a predefined fault clearing time at a certain residual voltage on the transformer high-voltage side without grid isolation. If this required fault clearing time is above the fault clearing time which can be achieved for the turbo set, additional precautions need to be taken.
Several possibilities for taking into consideration this circumstance are known from the prior art. Thus, for example, in EP 1 805 887 B1, an active boost circuit is connected in series with the generator field winding via slip rings on a charged capacitor in the event of a fault, as a result of which the field voltage is raised suddenly. Thus, the generator is in the over excited range in the event of grid recovery, as a result of which the stability of the turbo set/grid system is increased.
A further possibility for extending the critical fault clearing time includes increasing the moment of inertia of the assembly in order to reduce the shaft acceleration in the event of a short circuit.
Furthermore, for some types of turbine there is the possibility of making changes to the steam turbine in order to clear the steam away from the turbine blades even more quickly, which is referred to as fast valving. Thus, a quicker reduction in the turbine power impressed on the shaft assembly is intended to be achieved.
Likewise, it is known to form similar concepts with loading resistors in the case of offshore wind turbines. However, wind farms are connected to an onshore converter plant via high-voltage DC connections, for example, said onshore converter plant diverting the excess energy from the wind farm into loading resistors in the event of a short circuit on the land.
It would be desirable to have a simple possibility for a turbo set for extending the fault clearing times in the event of a short circuit.

Device and method for increasing fault clearing time


Methods, systems, and devices for transseptal access into the left atrium of a heart. In one embodiment an apparatus for transseptal left atrial access comprised of a catheter adapted for insertion into a vessel and one or more RF devices adapted to be extendable from the distal end of said catheter and configured for the penetration or sealing of septal tissue.

With recent advances in the cardiovascular arts, there's a renewed interest in finding safe and uncomplicated methods for accessing the left atrium of a patient's heart. Currently, a retrograde transaortal technique is most often and involves advancing a catheter through the aorta, into the left ventricle, accessing the left atrium from the left ventricle. However, this path into the left atrium is tortuous. A simple and more attractive alternative is accessing the left atrium directly from the right atrium by crossing the interatrial septum ("septum") that divides the two atrial chambers of the heart. The right atrium can be easily accessed and crossing the septum is the only requirement to entering the left atrium.
The left atrium can be accessed by puncturing across the septum of the heart at the fossa ovalis membrane, typically the thinnest part of the septum, with a needle-like device such as a Brockenbough needle. While this technique has been widely known since the 1950's, it has not been used largely because the technique has not proven reliable or secure. Misalignment or the incorrect orientation of the needle against the septum, for example, may have severe consequences for the patient, including perforation of the left atrium of the heart or perforation of a patient's aorta. Inadvertent perforations of the inferior vena cava and the coronary sinus have also been reported as a possible complication of this technique. Therefore, rapid, precise and controlled methods and devices for crossing the interatrial septum are needed. The present invention meets these, as well as other, needs.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Transseptal left atrial access and septal closure


Isolated human herpesvirus type 8 nucleic acid sequences expressed in latently infected human cells including primary Kaposi's sarcoma cells, primary pulmonary tumor cells, and a body cavity based lymphoma cell line are disclosed. Methods of detecting HHV-8 infection and methods of inhibiting expression of the nucleic acid sequences in vivo are also disclosed.

Kaposi's sarcoma (KS) is the most common neoplasm occurring in patients with the acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS) (Beral, V. Cancer Surveys 10: 5-22 (1991)). The lesion is histologically complex, containing proliferating spindle-shaped cells thought to be of endothelial origin, as well as infiltrating mononuclear cells, plasma cells and abundant slit-like neovascular spaces. Although HIV infection is a major risk factor for KS development, epidemiologic studies suggest that it cannot be the sole determinant of KS risk, and that other cofactors, possibly sexually transmitted, play an important role in the etiology of the tumor (Beral, V. et al. (1990) Lancet 335:123-128). For example, HIV-positive male homosexuals are at least 20-fold more likely to develop KS than HIV-infected children or hemophiliacs. In addition, KS occurs in several clinical settings in the absence of HIV infection (Beral, V. (1991) Cancer Surveys 10:5-22). These and other observations have prompted a search for other viral agents that might be implicated in KS pathogenesis. Recently, DNA sequences of a novel member of the herpesvirus family, termed Kaposi's sarcoma-associated herpesvirus (KSHV) or human herpesvirus 8 (HHV-8), have been regularly identified in KS tumors from both HIV-positive (Chang, Y. et al. Science (1994) 266: 1865-1869; Ambroziak, J. (1995) Science 268:582-583; Su, I. J. et al. (1995) Lancet 345:722-723) and HIV-negative (Moore, P. and Chang, Y. (1995) New Engl. J. Med. 332:1181-1185; Schalling, M. et. al. (1995) Nature Medicine 1:707-708; Boshoff, C. et. al. (1995) Lancet 345:1043-1044) patients. This agent has been proposed as a candidate for the presumed etiologic co-factor in KS (Chang, Y. et al. Science (1994) 266: 1865-1869; Whitby, D. (1995) Lancet 346:799-802). Methods for convenient detection and control of this etiologic co-factor are currently unavailable clinically.
The references discussed herein are provided solely for their disclosure prior to the filing date of the present application. Nothing herein is to be construed as an admission that the inventors are not entitled to antedate such disclosure by virtue of prior invention.

Isolated human herpesvirus type 8 sequences and uses thereof

The Regents of the University of California


A pillow for relieving pressure on a neck of a user. In one embodiment, the pillow includes a body section, a first lobe member integrally bound to the body section and adaptable for supporting a nape of a neck of a user, and a second lobe member integrally bound to the body section and adaptable for supporting a cheek bone and a jaw of the user. The pillow also includes a channel formed in the body section between the first lobe member and the second lobe member, wherein the channel is adaptable for receiving the neck of the user to relieve pressure on the neck of the user.

A pillow is a bag or case made of cloth that is filled with feathers, down, other soft material, or a solid piece or pieces of resilient material such as latex foam or memory foam. The pillow is designed to cushion the head when one is sleeping or resting. Conventional pillows include ordinary rectangular pillows, and pillows having a raised ridge, roll, hump, or tubular padding along the front edge which is intended to support the neck.
Conventional rectangular pillows have been in use for many years. However, this type of pillow provides little support for the spine and shoulders of the user.
With regard to conventional pillows with a raised portion, these types of pillows are intended to support the neck of the user. These types of pillows are a more recent innovation and can be effective when the sleeper is in a back-reclined or supine position. However, such pillows can put undue pressure on the blood vessels, muscles, and tendons of the neck when a user is sleeping on his/her side.
Within what is termed the carotid triangle (an area of the neck defined by muscles which includes the carotid artery and the jugular vein) gentle pressure can be applied to the external carotid artery to determine the presence of a pulse. The pulsations of the heart are easily felt within the carotid triangle because the external carotid is essentially only covered by skin and superficial fascia. Accordingly, the external carotid is easily felt (palpated) and is highly vulnerable to external pressure and injury. It has been said the amount of pressure needed to close the blood vessels of the neck can be as little as 4 pounds. The head of an adult weighs approximately 10 to 12 pounds.
Recent studies have shown the pressure on the blood vessels of the neck from a tight necktie is linked to increased glaucoma risk by increasing intraocular pressure (pressure inside the eye). It has also been suggested that pressure on these blood vessels may cause or contribute to plaque deposits in the blood vessels of the neck, and also to Alzheimer's disease.
Additionally, pressure on the carotid sinus (an area within the carotid artery near the branch point) may result in a severe and prolonged period of unconsciousness. This syndrome is called carotid sinus syndrome or carotid sinus syncope (fainting). Syncope may result from stimulation of the carotid sinus pressure sensors by turning the head to one side, by a tight collar, or even by shaving over the region of the sinus in the neck. When the carotid sinus senses pressure, either blood pressure or external pressure, it may send a signal to slow the heart rate or decrease the blood pressure without slowing the heart rate. Pressure on the carotid structure may thus affect the heart rhythms and result in reflex cardiac arrest.
In a sleeping person, a period of unconsciousness would most likely go unnoticed, but the muscles located on the side of the neck are also quite tender. When sleeping on one's side, conventional pillows may exert various amounts of pressure on those muscles, tendons, and the blood vessels located alongside. The weight of the head and neck on some conventional pillows can be noticeably uncomfortable and may be injurious to one's health as well.
Therefore, a need exists to provide a device and method to overcome the above problem.
A further understanding of the nature and the advantages of particular embodiments disclosed herein may be realized by reference of the remaining portions of the specification and the attached drawings.

Support pillow for relieving pressure on muscles, tendons, and blood vessels and method therefor


For use with a buck-based converter having a rectifier that receives current from a secondary side of a isolation transformer, an active clamp and a method of operating the buck-based converter to manage reverse recovery energy therein. In one embodiment, the active clamp includes: (1) an auxiliary transformer coupled across the isolation transformer and (2) an auxiliary switch, interposed between the auxiliary transformer and the rectifier, that: (2a) closes as a function of an output voltage of the rectifier to cause the auxiliary transformer to receive reverse recovery energy from the rectifier and deliver the reverse recovery energy to a primary side of the isolation transformer and (2b) opens to limit a magnetic flux of a core of said auxiliary transformer.

A power converter is a power processing circuit that converts an input voltage waveform into a specified output voltage waveform. In many applications requiring a DC output, switched-mode DC/DC converters are frequently employed to advantage. DC/DC converters generally include an inverter, an input/output isolation transformer and a rectifier on a secondary side of the isolation transformer. The inverter generally includes a switching device, such as a field effect transistor ("FET"), that converts the DC input voltage to an AC voltage. The input/output isolation transformer, then, transforms the AC voltage to another value and the rectifier generates the desired DC voltage at the output of the converter. Conventionally, the rectifier comprises a plurality of rectifying diodes that conduct the load current only when forward-biased in response to the input waveform to the rectifier.
Unfortunately, rectifying diodes suffer from a reverse recovery condition when there is a transition from a conduction stage to a non-conduction stage. During the reverse recovery condition, the current through the diodes reverse direction, causing excess energy to be stored in the leakage inductance of an isolation transformer and power to be lost in the diodes. The energy stored in the leakage inductance is dissipated in a resonant manner with the junction capacitance of the rectifying diode, causing oscillation (or ringing) in the voltage waveform of the rectifying diode. As a result, the converter suffers efficiency losses that impair the overall performance of the converter. Therefore, efforts to minimize the losses associated with the rectifier and, more specifically, with the rectifying diodes will improve the overall performance of the converter.
A traditional manner to reduce the losses associated with the rectifying diodes is to introduce a snubber circuit coupled to the rectifying diodes. For instance, a resistor-capacitor-diode (RCD) snubber circuit is disclosed in "A 1 kW, 500 kHz Front-End Converter for a Distributed Power Supply System", by L. H. Mweene et al., Proc. IEEE Applied Power Electronics Conf., p. 423-432 (1989), which is incorporated herein by reference. The RCD snubber circuit not only effectively damps out oscillations in the rectifier's diode voltage, but also recovers a portion of the energy stored in the snubber capacitor to the output. During each switching transient, the reverse recovery energy due to the recovery process of the diodes is first stored in the snubber capacitor followed by a transfer of the energy to the output through the snubber resistor. During this process, some power is dissipated in the snubber resistor. As the output power increases, the power dissipated in the snubber resistor becomes significant thereby limiting the RCD snubber to low power applications. To reduce the power loss in the snubber resistor, a lossless snubber circuit is proposed in "High-Voltage, High-Power, ZVS, Full-Bridge PWM Converter Employing an Active Snubber" by J. A. Sabaste et al., 1991 VEPC Seminar Proc., pp. 125-130, which is incorporated herein by reference.
This circuit operates in the same way as an RCD snubber circuit, except that the energy taken into the snubber circuit is recovered to the auxiliary inductor through the oscillation between the auxiliary inductor and the snubber capacitor, after the auxiliary switch is turned on. However, the snubber circuit will lose its effectiveness if the converter is operated at very between the auxiliary inductor and the snubber capacitor, after the auxiliary switch is turned on. However, the snubber circuit will lose its effectiveness if the converter is operated at very small duty ratio, resulting in insufficient time to discharge the energy stored in the snubber circuit.
An alternative approach to manage the losses associated with the reverse recovery condition is to employ a clamp circuit coupled to the rectifying diodes as disclosed in "Snubber circuits: Theory, Design and Application", by Philip C. Todd, Unitrode Power Supply Design Seminar Note, p. 2-1, 2-15 (1993), which is also incorporated herein by reference. The clamp circuit disclosed in Todd limits the peak voltage and reduces the stress across components within the converter. An advantage associated with such a circuit is that a clamp circuit does not dissipate energy in the converter.
Unfortunately, the clamp circuit introduced in Todd is limited to applications wherein the output voltage of the converter is fixed. Modifications can be made to the clamp circuit, however, to make it independent of the output voltage. For example, a coupling transformer may be connected across the main transformer effectively recovering excess transient energy to the primary side of the transformer. An impediment to the use of such a circuit is that the coupling transformer of the clamp circuit is generally comparable in size to the main transformer due to the large volts-second of the main transformer. Accordingly, what is needed in the art is an active clamp circuit for a rectifier that recovers the reverse recovery energy to thereby reduce the power losses associated with the rectifier and oscillations in both voltage and current therefrom.

Active clamp for buck-based converter and method of operation thereof


Disclosed is a method for treating infection with a pathogen. The method involves administration of: (1) a substance which induces active pathogen replication in a cell latently infected with HIV and (2) an anti-pathogen drug. Also disclosed are methods for expanding CD4+ T cells from peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from human subjects in the presence of an antiretroviral drug and for treating HIV infection by infusing the expanded CD4+ cells into HIV-infected patients.

The invention relates to the treatment of Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) infection and other infections.
HIV infection leads to progressive deterioration of the immune system in most infected subjects. This infection frequently leads to an immune system dysfunction which may culminate in AIDS, a syndrome characterized by the development of opportunistic infections and cancer (Levy, 1993, Microbiol. Rev., 57:183-289). Cells infected with HIV include, e.g., CD4+ T cells, macrophages/monocytes, dendritic cells, and glial cells. The immune system in late stages of AIDS is severely compromised due to loss or dysfunction of CD4+ T cells (Shearer et al., 1991, AIDS, 5:245-53), macrophages, monocytes, and dendritic cells. (Rosenberg et al., 1989, Adv. Immunol., 46:377).
Anti-retroviral drugs, such as reverse transcriptase inhibitors, viral protease inhibitors, and viral entry inhibitors have been used to treat HIV infection. (Caliendo et al., 1994, Clin. Infect. Dis., 18:516-24). These treatments can effectively suppress viral production when used in combinations known as HAART (highly active anti-retroviral therapy). However, they are mainly effective in preventing new infection of uninfected cells. They are generally far less effective in eliminating latent virus from infected cells. Even after two years on HAART, HIV-1 can still be induced, and viral production resume when HAART is stopped (Finzi et al., 1997, Science, 278:1295-1300; Wong et al., 1997, Science, 278:1291-1295). Hence, HAART likely needs to be continued indefinitely. This poses significant difficulties. HAART regimens have many side effects, are difficult to comply with, and are expensive. Moreover, prolonged treatment with these drugs often leads to the emergence of drug resistant viral strains (Larder et al., 1989, Science, 246:1155-8; Kellam et al., 1992, Proc. Nat""l. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:1934-8; St. Clair et al., 1991, Science, 253:1557-9). Combination therapies entailing treatment with two or more drugs which attack different points in the HIV replication cycle delay the emergence of resistant HIV strains. (D""Aquila, 1994, Clin. Lab. Med., 14:393:422). However, recent data suggest that HIV strains having multi-drug resistance may eventually develop in a significant portion of patients treated with combination therapy. (Schinazi et al., 1994, Int. Antiviral News, 2:72-5).
Many other important infectious pathogens can exist in a latent state where they are dormant or replicate very slowly. Examples of these pathogens include retroviruses, e.g., human immunodeficiency virus type 2 (HIV-2), human T lymphotropic virus type 2 (HTLV-2); herpesviruses, e.g., Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), cytomegalovirus (CMV), herpes simplex type 1 (HSV-1), herpes simplex type 2 (HSV-2), herpes zoster virus (HZV), herpes virus type 6 (HHV-6), herpes virus type 7 (HHV-7); hepatitis viruses, e.g., hepatitis B (HBV), hepatitis C (HCV), the delta agent, and hepatitis E, mycobacteria, e.g., M. tuberculosis (MTB), M. avium (MA), M. Leprae; and fungal agents e.g., histoplasmosis, coccidiomycosis, cryptococcus, and pneumocystis. Keeping the infectious pathogen in latency is desirable when there is no available therapy. However, in many cases, the pathogen is not completely latent and therapy is required. Unfortunately, while active infection can often be contained by therapy, it is difficult or impossible to attack latent pathogen. Moreover, latent infection can give rise to renewed production of the infectious microbes when the anti-viral/anti-microbial agents are stopped.
HIV-2 can cause immunodeficiency similar to HIV-1. HTLV-1 has been shown to cause T cell lymphoma. EBV may cause lymphoma and other lymphoproliferative diseases. CMV may cause retinitis, hepatitis, pneumonitis, and other systemic illness, especially in immunocompromised host. HSV 1 and 2, and Herpes Zoster (HZV) can cause painful vesicles at the area of infection and occasional meningitis. HHV-6 has been demonstrated to be present in and may contribute to the pathogenesis in certain subgroups of patients with multiple sclerosis and chronic fatigue syndrome. Nucleoside analogs such as ganiclovir, famciclovir, lamivudine, and ribavirin have been shown to be effective against many of these infections. These drugs interfere with viral replication, but they generally cannot attack latent virus. Hence, viral replication often resumes when the drugs are withdrawn.
The invention features a method for treating HIV infection and other infections. The method entails the administration of: (1) a substance which induces active pathogen replication in a cell latently infected with the pathogen and (2) an anti-pathogen drug.
In a preferred embodiment the invention features a method for treating retroviral, e.g., HIV-1 infection, by administering: (1) a substance which induces active viral replication in a latently infected cell and (2) an anti-retroviral drug.
The substance used to induce active viral replication is generally a substance which induces the activation or proliferation of the latently infected cell, e.g., a T cell, or is substance capable of inducing viral replication. Mitogenic lectins, such as phytohemagglutinins, can induce the activation or proliferation of human T cells. Similarly, polyclonal or monoclonal antibodies capable of binding T cell surface molecules such as, e.g., xcex1, xcex2 or xcex3, xcex4 T cell receptors, CD3, CD2, CD4, CD8, CD28, Thy-1, can often induce T cell activation or proliferation. Additionally, bispecific monoclonal antibodies capable of binding more than one antigen can be used. For example, a bispecific monoclonal antibody (BSMAB) having specificity for both CD3 and CD8, (CD3,8 BSMAB) can induce activation and proliferation of CD4+ T cells. (Wong et al., 1987, J. Immunol., 139:1369-74; Wong et al., 1989, J. Immunol. 143:3403-11, U.S. Pat. No. 5,601,819, all incorporated herein by reference).
Substances that can activate viral replication directly include: cytokines such as TNF-xcex1 and other stimulators of NFxcexaB activity, analogs or fragments of cytokines such as IL-1 and IL-2 and IL-7, and transactivators encoded by various sequences from various virus, e.g., herpes virus (HSV, EBV, CMV, HHV-6), HTLV-1, and HBV.
The anti-retroviral drug used in the methods of the invention can be any substance which can inhibit, reduce or eliminate retroviral infection of a cell. Commonly used anti-retroviral drugs include reverse transcriptase inhibitors, protease inhibitors, and inhibitors of viral entry. Reverse transcriptase inhibitors can be nucleoside analogues, e.g., AZT (Zidovudine; Glaxo-Burroughs Wellcome Co., Research Triangle Park, NC), ddI (Didanosine; Bristol-Myers Squibb; Wallingford, Conn.), 3TC (Glaxo-Burroughs Wellcome), d4T (Stavudine; Bristol-Myers Squibb), or ddC (Zalcitabine; Hoffman-La Roche; Basel, Switzerland); or non-nucleoside drugs, e.g., Nevirapine (Viramune; Roxane Laboratories; Columbus, Ohio), Delaviridine (Rescriptor; Pharmacia and Upjohn; Kalamazoo, Mich.)., Abacavir or Pyridnone (Merck, Sharp and Dohme; Rahway, N.J.). Protease inhibitors which can be used include, e.g., Indinavir (Crixivan; Merck; West Point, Pa.), Ritonavir (Novir; Abbott Laboratories; Abbott Park, Ill.), Saquinavir (Invirase; Roche; Palo Alto, Calif.), Nelfinavir (Agouron Pharmaceuticals; La Jolla, Calif.), and Amprenavir.
The invention also features a method of treating a patient infected with HIV, comprising administering to the patient either (a) an amount of a CD4+ T cell mitogen sufficient to induce activation of CD4+ T cells and replication of HIV within latently infected CD4+ T cells in combination with a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-retroviral drug, (b) or a direct virus activator in combination with a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-retroviral drug.
The invention also features an ex vivo method of expanding CD4+ T cells from a sample of peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs) isolated from a human. CD4+ T cells are expanded by culturing PBMCs in an artificial capillary cell culture system in the presence of an amount of a CD4+ T cell mitogen, e.g., CD3,8 BSMAB sufficient to induce activation of CD4+ T cells and replication of HIV within latently infected CD4+ T cells. The invention also features an ex vivo method of expanding CD4+ T cells from a sample of peripheral blood mononuclear cells isolated from a human, comprising culturing the peripheral blood mononuclear cells in an artificial capillary cell culture system in the presence of a T cell mitogen and at least one anti-retroviral drug.
The invention also features a method of treating an HIV-infected patient by administering to the patient the CD4+ cells grown ex vivo. By the methods described above, CD4+ T cells taken from the patient can be expanded ex vivo to sufficient quantity to transfuse back into the patient.
The invention also features a method of treating a patient infected with HTLV, comprising administering to the patient an amount of either (a) a CD4+ T cell mitogen sufficient to induce activation of CD4+ T cells and replication of HTLV within latently infected CD4+ T cells and a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-retroviral drug or (b) a direct virus activator and with a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-retroviral drug. Anti-retroviral drugs can include reverse transcriptase inhibitors, viral protease inhibitors, and viral entry inhibitors (e.g., fragments of viral entry receptors or co-receptors).
The invention also features a method of treating a patient infected with members of the herpesvirus family such as EBV, CMX, HSV type 1, HSV type 2, HHV-6 and HHV-7, comprising administering to the patient an amount of either (a) a cellular mitogen sufficient to induce activation of the latently infected cells and replication of the virus within the infected cells and therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, antiviral drug or (b) a direct virus activator and a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-viral drug. The cellular mitogen may include PHA for all cell types, pokeweed mitogen for B cells (EBV), LPS (lipopolysaccharide) for monocytes/macrophages, anti-CD3/TCR for T cells. Viral activators, some of which may be cellular activators, include IL-6, TNF-xcex1, and GM-CSF. Anti-viral drugs effective against the herpesvirus family include Acyclovir (Glaxo Wellcome), Ganiciclovir (Roche Laboratories), and Famciclovir (SmithKline Beecham).
The invention also features a method of treating a patient infected with a hepatitis virus that causes chronic diseases such as hepatitis B, hepatitis C, delta agent, and hepatitis E, comprising administering to the patient an amount of either: (a) a cellular mitogen sufficient to induce activation of the latently infected cells and replication of the virus within the infected cells and therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-viral drug, or (b) a direct virus activator and a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-viral drug. The cellular mitogens include PHA for all cell types, LPS (liposaccharide) for monocytes/macrophages, and anti-CD3/TCR for T cells. Viral activators, some of which may be cellular activators, include IL-6, IFN-xcex3, and TNF-xcex1. Anti-viral drugs affective against the hepatitis viruses include: Lamivudine (Glaxo Wellcome), Ganciclovir (Roche Laboratories), Faciclovir (SmithKline Beecham), and IFN-xcex1, (SmithKline Beecham).
The invention also features a method of treating a patient infected with a pathogen that has a latent state, e.g., infection with a mycobacteria, the method comprising administering to the patient either (a) an amount of cellular mitogen sufficient to induce activation of the latently infected cells and replication of the infectious pathogen and a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-infection drug or (b) a direct activator of the infectious pathogen and a therapeutically effective amount of at least one, but preferably more than one, anti-infection drug. Suitable cellular mitogens include: PHA for all cell types, LPS (liposaccharide) for monocytes/macrophages, and anti-CD3/TCR for T cells. Activators include corticosteroid, TNF-xcex1, and IL-2. In some cases, activators of the microorganism may also act as cellular activators. Drugs which may be used to treat mycobacterial infection include isoniazid, rifampin, clarithromycin, and ethambutol.
Unless otherwise defined, all technical and scientific terms used herein have the same meaning as commonly understood by one of ordinary skill in the art to which this invention pertains. Although methods and materials similar or equivalent to those described herein can be used in the practice or testing of the present invention, the preferred methods and materials are described below. All publications, patent applications, patents, and other references mentioned herein are incorporated by reference in their entirety. In the case of conflict, the present document, including definitions, will control. Unless otherwise indicated, materials, methods, and examples described herein are illustrative only and not intended to be limiting.
Various features of the invention will be apparent from the following detailed description and from the claims.

Methods for treatment of HIV and other infections using A T cell or viral activator and anti-retroviral combination therapy


Some examples can accurately determine a status of a software update across a number of development system components. In some examples, a method may involve receiving a software update comprising a set of computer-executable instructions and a reference to a location at which a status chain is to be stored. The method may also involve, in response to receiving the software update, performing at least one software development action with respect to the software update by executing a software development component among a plurality of software development components. The method may further involve determining a status of the software update based on performance of the at least one software development action. And the method may involve automatically causing a block to be added to the status chain at least in part by interfacing with the location, the block indicating the status of the software update and the software development component.

For any piece of software, multiple software updates may be required over its development and throughout its life. A production chain, in a software development context, describes the path that a software update traverses throughout the development cycle. In other words, a production chain represents the steps that a software update has taken from the moment that it was submitted by a developer to the time that it is packaged and delivered to a downstream user.
In some cases, one or more systems involved in the development of a software application/update (internal to or external to the development cycle) may need to determine a status for a particular software update in order to perform its functions. Such a status may reflect which development system components have processed that software update as well as what the status of that processing is.

Automated generation of status chains for software updates


The present invention relates to a method of peptide sequencing by MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization) tandem mass spectrometry, which comprises the steps of chemically modifying a sample peptide with at least one chemical modification method selected from the group consisting of guanidination and esterification in order to change the ionization status of the peptide and performing mass spectrometry using a MALDI tandem mass spectrometer and programmed MALDI tandem mass spectrometry. The peptide sequencing method of the present invention is advantageous in that detection sensitivity of the peptide improves significantly and various daughter ions are detected uniformly, thereby enabling perfect de novo sequencing with tandem mass spectrometry only, without database search.

(a) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of peptide sequencing by MALDI (matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization) tandem mass spectrometry in which an ionization status and chemical property of peptide are modified by at least one chemical modification selected from the group consisting of guanidination and esterification.
The present invention also relates to a method for preparing a sample for MALDI mass spectrometry including coating charged particles formed by electrospraying a sample solution under atmospheric pressure on a MALDI substrate using an ion-optical focusing instrument and an apparatus for electrospraying and focusing for the same.
(b) Description of the Related Art
At present, the most frequently used technique for identifying and characterizing proteins is based on mass spectrometry. However, the current technique is limited in detection sensitivity, making it applicable only to large volume of protein samples or readily ionized samples. Further, the sequencing requires a long time and only a limited number of proteins can be analyzed. Thus, researches are underway to find techniques capable of analyzing a large volume of samples in a short time and of improving detection sensitivity.
Tandem mass spectrometry is used in peptide sequencing of peptides. A peptide to be sequenced is selectively fragmented and the mass of the resultant daughter ions is measured to obtain the amino acid sequence of the peptide. The tandem mass spectrometry data are utilized to identify the particular protein by comparison with a gene sequence database. However, it is known that the reliability of this process is only 10 to 35%.
Such low reliability results from cleavage at a particular amino acid residue of a peptide or wrong daughter ion labelling caused by internal fragmentation. According to a recent research, monovalent (+1) ions mainly generated by matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization (MALDI) experience less internal fragmentation during tandem mass spectrometry than multivalent (+n, n≧2) ions mainly generated by electrospray ionization (ESI).
However, monovalent ions show a large difference in detection sensitivity depending on the amino acid composition of the particular peptide and cleavage tends to be concentrated around a specific amino acid residue, giving non-uniform daughter ion distribution. Despite these problems, MALDI is better suited for protein research, in which only a small amount of a sample is available, than ESI because it requires only a small volume of a sample, is not significantly affected by salts, and is convenient in spectrum analysis. Thus, a lot of attempts have been made in order to solve the problem in sequencing monovalent peptide ions generated by MALDI.
MALDI-MS is a cutting-edge soft ionization technique used in mass spectrometry, allowing, among other things, analysis of biomolecules (including proteins) and polymers. In contrast with ESI-MS, MALDI-MS is less affected by contamination of the sample from buffer solution, salt, bleaching agent, etc., requires a smaller sample, enables quick analysis, and makes it possible to perform a variety of re-analysis, including peptide sequencing, until the sample is depleted. However, because MALDI-MS requires a solid sample, it is not readily compatible with separation techniques treating liquid samples, in comparison with ESI-MS. To overcome this problem, continuous-flow probes or aerosol interfaces have been used to couple LC (liquid chromatography) with MALDI-MS and enable on-line MALDI-MS measurement. However, they have not satisfied the requirements in resolution, accuracy, and detection sensitivity needed for proteomics research. Although on-line MALDI-MS using moving wheels or moving balls in a vacuum container showed some improvement in resolution and detection sensitivity, it was restricted to a flow rate of nanoliters per minute and had no practicability or applicability.
Researches have been made on off-line MALDI-MS, in which, differently from on-line MALDI-MS, effluent from LC or capillary LC is fractionally collected to prepare samples adequate for MALDI-MS. The early technique used for off-line MALDI-MS analysis was fractionally collecting effluent using micro-vials or a 96-well micro-titer plate, concentrating each fraction by, for example, SpeedVac, mixing them with a matrix, and loading on a MALDI plate. This process was problematic in that a long time is required and automation is difficult. In addition, loss of the sample during concentration and sample-matrix preparation was a fatal problem. To solve these problems, several groups have developed automation methods for loading LC effluent directly on a MALDI plate as a spot or a track using such techniques as micro-dispenser piezoelectric flow, blotting, vacuum-assisted deposition, electric field-driven droplet deposition, heated nebulization, heated droplet delivery. However, these methods are adequate only for nanoflow or very slow flow. Besides, as heat or an impact is directly applied to the sample, it may be modified physically or chemically. Also, loss of sample is inevitable. Particularly, all the techniques developed thus far provide too large spots, which is the typical problem of MALDI sample preparation, resulting in dearth of sample per unit area and poor in-spot homogeneity or spot-to-spot homogeneity. As a result, a lot of time has to be spent to find out the "sweet spot", or the sample/matrix crystal. Therefore, samples with smaller quantity or lower abundance tend not to be detected.
Also, because the sample/matrix crystal is too large, a lot of matrix ions are generated during laser desorption ionization, resulting in noise during the sample detection. With the conventional methods, signals of about 800 Da or less are not detected in general, because they are screened by the matrix ions.

Method of de novo sequencing of peptide using the MALDI mass spectrometry, method and apparatus for preparing sample for MALDI mass spectrometry


An A/D converter includes: an input buffer; N sub-A/D converters including N first sampling circuits that are connected to the input buffer, and that sample the output analog signal in respective sampling slots; a control circuit that executes calibration for the N first sampling circuits one by one; a reference A/D converter including a second sampling circuit that is connected to the input buffer, and that samples the output analog signal in the same sampling slot as the sampling slot of one first sampling circuit under execution of the calibration among the N first sampling circuits; and a third sampling circuit that is connected to the input buffer, and that samples the output analog signal in the same sampling slots as the sampling slots of the (N−1) first sampling circuits out of the execution of the calibration.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an analog-to-digital (A/D) converter including multiple sub-A/D converters.
2. Description of the Related Art
The A/D converters are widely used in various fields of signal processing, and the important performance indicators of the A/D converters are conversion accuracy and conversion speed. In recent years, along with rapid increase in the speed for wireless communications typified by wireless LANs, mobile phones, millimeter-wave communications, and others, there has been a demand that the A/D converters should achieve both higher conversion accuracy and higher conversion speed. However, the use of a single A/D converter with high accuracy has a limitation on the increase in the speed. For this reason, time interleaving techniques have been recently drawing attention, in which multiple A/D converters are provided in parallel and are configured to sample a signal at sampling timings with phase difference to thereby achieve an increase in the total conversion speed.
An A/D converter in a time-interleaved configuration includes N (an integer of two or more) sub-A/D converters, and achieves the conversion speed N times higher than the conversion speed of each sub-A/D converter. Provided that Fs denotes a conversion frequency of the entire time-interleaved A/D converter, the conversion frequency of each sub-A/D converter is Fs/N.
The time-interleaved configuration, however, is susceptible to mismatches among the sub-A/D converters, such as a DC offset mismatch, a signal gain mismatch indicating a difference in signal gain characteristics, and a sampling timing mismatch. For this reason, the A/D converter in the time-interleaved configuration has a problem in that the characteristics of the A/D converter as a whole are deteriorated due to these mismatches.
The DC offset mismatch occurs, for example, due to offset variations among comparators or amplifiers, or the like. For this reason, the DC offset mismatch causes spurious signals at a frequency of Fs/N*k (k=0 to N) which is not signal-dependent. Then, the signal gain mismatch causes spurious signals at a frequency of Fs/N*k±Fin (k=0 to N). Lastly, the timing mismatch occurs not only due to a difference among clock routing paths and a variation among sampling clock circuits, but also due to variations among input signal routing paths, switch circuits, sampling capacitors, and the like, and causes spurious signals at a frequency of Fs/N*k±Fin (k=0 to N) which is input-dependent.
These spurious signals deteriorate a signal-to-noise plus distortion ratio (SNDR) characteristic of the time-interleaved A/D converter. Among these mismatches, the sampling timing mismatch is problematic, because as the frequency of the input signal becomes higher, the root-square-mean noise in the voltage due to the sampling timing mismatch increases and therefore the conversion accuracy characteristics of the A/D converter are more deteriorated.
Among these mismatches, the DC offset mismatch and the signal gain mismatch have been solved with development of methods in which digital signals converted from analog signals are corrected in a digital domain. Meanwhile, various timing mismatch calibration methods have been studied such as a method of correcting a timing mismatch in the background during execution of signal processing, and a method of correcting a timing mismatch during a calibration time frame provided additionally, while suspending signal processing.
As the method of correcting the timing mismatch during execution of the signal processing, a method has been studied in which a reference A/D converter is provided in addition to the N sub-A/D converters, and is used to correct the timing mismatch, as disclosed in, for example, the specification of U.S. Pat. No. 8,736,470. In the meantime, there is another timing mismatch calibration method in which the timing mismatch is corrected in the digital domain by using only outputs of the A/D converter. Moreover, there is still another method in which the timing mismatch is corrected in an analog domain by giving feedback of a calculation result of the timing mismatch to the phase of each sampling clock, as disclosed in, for example, the specification of U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2006/0279445.

A/D converter including multiple sub-A/D converters

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


Disclosed is a plastic cap useful for steadfastly maintaining a sealed state created in a container having a mouth with an opening by sealing the opening with a sealing member. The cap has a cap main body and a cover portion integrated with the main body via at least one bridge portion. The main body has a base portion and a top wall. The bridge portion is formed of a synthetic plastic filled in at least one fusion-bonding hole having a diameter of from 0.3 to 3 mm and arranged extending through at least one, preferably one of the main body or cover portion such that the main body and cover portion are integrally fusion-bonded by the bridge portion and the cover portion can be separated from the main body by breaking the bridge portion with hands. A production method of the plastic cap is also disclosed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plastic cap useful for reliably sealing a mouth of a container. More specifically, the present invention relates to a plastic cap useful for steadfastly maintaining a sealed state created in a container having a mouth with an opening defined therein by sealing the opening with a sealing member such as a rubber plug. The present invention also relates to a production method of such a plastic cap.
2. Description of the Related Art
A container to be used as a package is required to have a function to protect its content from the outside such that the content can be prevented from any change in quality. Especially for containers to be used for drugs, foods, cosmetics or the like, there is a strong demand to maintain the quality of the drugs or the like placed in them. Main bodies of these containers and sealing members for sealing their mouths, therefore, need to be formed with materials that would undergo no interaction with the drugs or the like. In addition, upon distributing or otherwise transferring drugs or the like or storing them over a long time after they are placed in containers and are sealed with sealing members, the sealed state has to be reliably maintained. Especially when the contents are drugs, it is extremely important to more reliably maintain the highly sealed state created in the containers by the sealing members. Specifically as drug containers out of these containers, vials, cartridges, infusion bottles, infusion bags and the like are known. These known drug containers are selectively used depending on the preparation forms, volumes, administration methods and the like of drugs.
Generally with a drug placed in such a container, its mouth is tightly sealed, for example, with an elastic sealing member such as a rubber plug or flat packing, and moreover, a contrivance is made to maintain the sealed state without failure. For the maintenance of the sealed state, a variety of methods are known including, for example, a method that fits a rubber plug in a mouth of a vial or the like and applies a plastic or aluminum cap to cover the mouth with the rubber plug fitted therein, thereby preventing separation of the fitted rubber plug and firmly fixing it, a method that welds a plastic mouth-sealing part, which includes a flat packing and is generally called a "closure", on a mouth of a container such as an infusion bottle, and so on.
When the drug as the content of the container is an injectable solution, the injectable solution is used by piercing a sealing member such as a rubber plug with a syringe needle upon use and transferring the drug as the content into a syringe in the sealed state without opening the mouth of the container. When the drug is an infusion solution, its infusion is performed by piercing the sealing member with a needle connected to an intravenous catheter or the like. To facilitate such use as mentioned above, such a cap for a drug container is, therefore, provided with a window portion formed to expose a part of a sealing member when the cap is applied to the drug container. To protect the sealing member, which is exposed through the window portion, from contamination in the course of distribution of the drug, it is a common practice to cover a top wall, which constitutes the cap and defines the window portion (hereinafter called the "cap window") therein, with a protective film or a plastic or aluminum cover.
Conventionally, such a cover is kept integral with a cap main body until shortly before use of the content in a container, for example, by physically fitting the cover in the cap window (not shown), or as shown in FIG. 6, by applying an adhesive to upper surfaces 121 of protuberances 12 arranged on a top wall (upper wall) 16 of a cap main body 1 and bonding the cap main body 1 with a lower surface of a cover portion 2. Other connection methods include to apply ultrasonic waves to weld the upper surfaces 121 of the protuberances 12 and the lower surface of the cover portion 2 together by frictional heat without using any adhesive, with the upper surfaces 121 of the protuberances 12 and the lower surface of the cover portion 2 being kept in contact with each other, or to integrally mold the top wall 16 of the cap main body 1 and the cover portion 2 (see JP-A-09-238998). Nonetheless, the physically-fitted cover may accidentally separate, the joining by ultrasonic welding, an adhesive or the like is accompanied by unavoidable variations in joint strength among products, and the bonding with the adhesive involves a concern about possible effects of a solvent, which is contained in the adhesive, on the drug. With the above-described method that includes integral molding, on the other hand, the joint strength is relatively stabilized among products but is accompanied by problems in that a limitation is imposed on the shape of a cap and molds of complex structures are needed to result in higher production cost.

Plastic cap and production method thereof


In a work vehicle, a second processing device, disposed over a hydraulic pump, is configured to process the hydraulic gas from an engine. A first processing device is disposed closer to the engine than the second processing device is. Further, the first processing device is positioned higher the second processing device. The first processing device is partially overlapped with the second processing device in a top plan view.

Work vehicles are embedded with an exhaust gas processing device. For example, the exhaust gas processing device is a device configured to reduce nitrogen oxides (NOx), a device configured to reduce carbon monoxide (CO), a device configured to reduce particulate substances or etc. The exhaust gas processing device is connected to an engine through a pipe for processing the exhaust gas from the engine. Therefore, the exhaust gas processing device is accommodated in the inside of a work vehicle together with the engine. Further, as described in Japanese Laid-open Patent Application Publication No. JP-A-2008-156835, some work vehicles are embedded with a plurality of exhaust gas processing devices. In the work vehicle described in the above mentioned publication, two exhaust gas processing devices and the engine are connected in series. The exhaust gas processing devices are disposed in a recess formed in a counterweight. Further, an engine hood is disposed for covering the exhaust gas processing devices as well as the engine.


A method and apparatus for notifying an end user of a powered device on an Ethernet based network that the powered device will not be reliably powered due to an excess demand condition comprising: detecting an attached powered device; identifying the class of the attached powered device, the class comprising the power requirements of the attached powered device; identifying an excess demand condition; and temporarily supplying power to the attached powered device for a time interval thereby notifying an end user that the powered device is not being reliably powered because of an excess demand condition.

The invention relates generally to the field of power over local area networks, particularly Ethernet based networks, and more particularly to a method of notifying a user of a powered device of an excess power demand condition.
The growth of local and wide area networks based on Ethernet technology has been an important driver for cabling offices and homes with structured cabling systems having multiple twisted wire pairs. The ubiquitous local area network, and the equipment which operates thereon, has led to a situation where there is often a need to attach a network operated device for which power is to be advantageously supplied by the network over the network wiring. Supplying power over the network wiring has many advantages including, but not limited to; reduced cost of installation; centralized power and power back-up; and centralized security and management.
Several patents addressed to this issue exist including U.S. Pat. No. 6,473,608 issued to Lehr et al., whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, U.S. Pat. No. 6,643,566 issued to Lehr et al., whose contents are incorporated herein by reference, and U.S. Pat. No. 6,115,468 issued to De Nicolo whose contents are incorporated herein by reference. Furthermore a standard addressed to the issue of powering remote devices over an Ethernet based network has been published as IEEE 802.3af-2003, whose contents are incorporated herein by reference.
A basic issue in remote powering of devices is the need for the power sourcing equipment (PSE) to have sufficient power to operate each powered device (PD) attached to the network. A further issue, as a result, is the necessity of prioritizing power allocation in the event that multiple PDs are connected having power demands in excess of the power sourcing ability of the PSE. In such a circumstance certain PDs will not receive power, however no recommendation in the above mentioned IEEE 802.3al-2003 standard is addressed to notifying the PD, or the user at the remote location, of the excess demand condition. Such a situation may lead to confusion, as the user plugging in the device, which in one embodiment is an Internet protocol (IP) telephone, is unaware of the excess demand condition and may assume that the device is faulty. This leads to unnecessary service calls, and general dissatisfaction with the operation of the network and its associated devices.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/253,800 by LeCreffet al., published as US 2003/0072438 and EP 1,303,078 proposes that when the Ethernet equipment will be unable to supply the required power to the equipment, the Ethernet equipment will send via the line a specific signal notifying the equipment of the incapacity to be remotely powered. Such a device assumes that the PD can operate at some limited functionality in the absence of power from the PSE to notify the user of the alarm signal. Such a requirement increases the cost of the PD. Furthermore, if the initial alarm notification is unnoticed by the user, no mechanism exists to notify the user on a continuing basis of the excess demand condition.
It would therefore be desirable to have an apparatus for, and a method of, notifying an end user at a remote PD of an excess demand condition. Preferably, the notification is operable in the absence of any other power source for the PD. It would also be desirable to have an apparatus for, and a method of, periodically notifying the end user of the excess demand condition

Method and apparatus for notifying end user of excess power demand

PowerDsine, Ltd. - Microsemi Corporation


A minutes making assistance device according to the present invention includes: a sound processing unit that performs processing regarding a voice and determines whether or not speaking is started; an operation processing unit that performs processing regarding an operation and determines whether or not the operation is performed; a display processing unit that performs processing regarding a display; and a control unit that stores speaking start time and warning time in a memory when the sound processing unit determines that the speaking is started, performs warning processing when the current time becomes the warning time, and terminates the processing when the operation processing unit determines that the operation is performed before the warning time.

In a conference for freely discussing about a subject for discussion, such as a conference for examining the features of a new product, a plurality of participants meet in one place such as a conference room, explain and summarize their opinions utilizing a whiteboard and the like.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a voice recording device, a voice recording method, a voice recording program, and a recording medium, which record voice data, display the recorded voice data with input character data and image data on a screen, and record selected voice data in association with the character data and the image data.
Moreover, a multipoint electronic conference is performed through communication network. Patent Literature 2 discloses a multimedia minutes making device which reproduces voice data which is recorded with captured video data, input text data and the like according to operations of record start and stop in an electronic conference, and edits the data to make the minutes.

Minutes making assistance device, electronic conference device, electronic conference system, minutes making assistance method, and storage medium storing minutes making assistance program