Isolated 2-5A-dependent RNases, an interferon-induced enzyme which is activated by 5'-phosphorylated, 2',5'-linked oligoadenylates (2-5A) and implicated in both the molecular mechanisms of interferon action and in the fundamental control of RNA stability in mammalian cells, and encoding sequences therefor are disclosed. The expression cloning and analysis of murine and human 2-5A-dependent RNases is also disclosed. Recombinant human 2-5A-dependent RNase produced in vitro bound an activating affinity matrix, 2-5A-cellulose, resulting in ribonuclease activity. The 2-5A binding properties of the recombinant and naturally occurring forms of 2-5A-dependent RNase are basically identical. Interferon induction of 2-5A-dependent RNase expression is demonstrated by measuring the mRNA levels in cells treated with interferon and cycloheximide. Analysis of aligned murine and human 2-5A-dependent RNase sequences revealed several features, including similarity to RNase E which is implicated in the control of mRNA stability in E. coli. A duplicated phosphate-binding loop motif is determined by deletion analysis and site-directed mutagenesis to function in the binding of 2-5A.

Control of RNA degradation is a critical cell function, and gene expression is often regulated at the level of RNA stability. See, e.g., Shaw, G. and Kamen, R., Cell, 46: 659-667 (1986). Nevertheless, relatively little is known about the biochemical pathways that mediate RNA degradation in mammalian systems. For instance, most if not all of the ribonucleases responsible for mRNA turnover in mammalian cells remain unidentified. This was reviewed in Brawerman, G., Cell, 57: 9-10 (1989). Presently, the 2-5A system is believed to be the only well-characterized RNA degradation pathway from higher animals including man. See FIG. 1. See also, .e.g., Kerr, I. M. and Brown, R. E., Prod. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 75: 256-260 (1978) and Cayley, P. J. et al., Biochem Biophys Res. Commun., 108: 1243-1250 (1982); reviewed in Sen, G. C. and Lengyel, P., J. Biol. Chem., 267: 5017-5020 (1992). The activity of the 2-5A system is believed to be mediated by an endoribonuclease known as 2-5A-dependent RNase. See Clemens, M. J. and Williams, B. R. G., Cell, 13: 565-572 (1978). 2-5A-dependent RNase is a unique enzyme in that it requires 2-5A, unusual oligoadenylates with 2',5' phosphodiester linkages, p.sub.n (A2'p).sub.n A, for ribonuclease activity. See Kerr, I. M. and Brown, R. E., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 75: 256-260 (1978). 2-5A is produced from ATP by a family of synthetases in reactions requiring double-stranded RNA (dsRNA). See FIG. 1. See also Hovanessian, A. G. et al., Nature, 268: 537-539 (1977); Marie, I. and Hovanessian, A. G., J. Biol. Chem., 267: 9933-9939 (1992). 2-5A is unstable in cells and in cell-free systems due to the combined action of 2',5'-phosphodiesterase and 5'-phosphatase. See Williams, B. R. G. et al.; Eur. J. Biochem., 92: 455-562 (1978); and Johnson, M. I. and Hearl, W. G., J. Biol. Chem., 262: 8377-8382 (1987). The interaction of 2-5A-dependent RNase and 2-5A(K.sub.d =4.times.10.sup.-11 M), Silverman, R. H. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 263: 7336-7341 (1988), is highly specific. See Knight, M. et al., Nature, 288: 189-192 (1980). 2-5A-dependent RNase is believed to have no detectable RNase activity until it is converted to its active state by binding to 2-5A. See Silverman, R. H., Anal. Biochem., 144: 450-460 (1985). Activated 2-5A-dependent RNase cleaves single-stranded regions of RNA 3' of UpNp, with preference for UU and UA sequences. See Wreschner, D. H. et al., Nature, 289: 414-417 (1981a); and Floyd-Smith, G. et al., Science, 212: 1020-1032 (1981). Analysis of inactive 2-5A-dependent RNase from mouse liver revealed it to be a single polypeptide of approximately 80 kDa. See Silverman, R. H. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 263: 7336-7341 (1988).
Although the full scope and biological significance of the 2-5A system remains unknown, studies on the molecular mechanisms of interferon action have provided at least some of the functions. Interferons .alpha., .beta. or .gamma. are believed to induce the accumulation of both 2-5A-dependent RNase, Jacobsen, H. et al., Virology, 125: 496-501 (1983A) and Floyd-Smith, G., J. Cellular Biochem., 38: 12-21 (1988), and 2-5A synthetases, Hovanessian, A. G. et al., Nature, 268: 537-539 (1977), reviewed in Sen, G. C. and Lengyel, P., J. Biol. Chem., 267: 5017-5020 (1992). Furthermore, several investigations have implicated the 2-5A system in the mechanism by which interferon inhibits the replication of picornaviruses. Indeed, 2-5A per se and highly specific 2-5A mediated rRNA cleavage products were induced in interferon-treated, encephalomyocarditis virus (EMCV)-infected cells. See Williams, B. R. G., Nature, 282: 582-586 (1979); Wreschner, D. H. et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 9: 1571-1581 (1981b); and Silverman, R. H. et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 124: 131-138 (1982a). In addition, expression of 2-5A synthetase cDNA inhibited the replication of picornaviruses, Chebath, J., Nature, 330: 587-588 (1987) and Rysiecki, E. F. et al., J. Interferon Res., 9: 649-657 (1989), and the introduction of a 2-5A analogue inhibitor of 2-5A-dependent RNase into cells reduced the interferon-mediated inhibition of EMCV replication. See Watling, D. et al., EMBO J., 4: 431-436 (1985). Further, 2-5A-dependent RNase levels were correlated with the anti-EMCV activity of interferon, Kumar, R. et al., J. Virol., 62: 3175-3181 (1988), and EMCV-derived dsRNA both bound to and activated 2-5A synthetase in interferon-treated, infected cells. See Gribaudo, G. et al., J. Virol., 65: 1948-1757 (1991).
The 2-5A system, however, almost certainly provides functions beyond the antipicornavirus activity of interferons. For instance, introduction of 2-5A into cells, Hovanessian, A. G. and Wood, J. N., Virology, 101: 81-90 (1980), or expression of 2-5A synthetase cDNA, Rysiecki, G. et al., J. Interferon Res., 9: 649-657 (1989), inhibits cell growth rates. Moreover, 2-5A-dependent RNase levels are elevated in growth arrested cells, Jacobsen, H. et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. U.S.A., 80: 4954-4958 (1983b), and 2-5A synthetase, Stark, G. et al., Nature, 278: 471-473 (1979), and 2-5A-dependent RNase levels are induced during cell differentiation. See, e.g., Krause, D. et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 146: 611-618 (1985). Therefore, interesting correlations exist between 2-5A-dependent RNase and the fundamental control of cell growth and differentiation suggesting that the 2-5A system may function in general RNA metabolism. The ubiquitous presence of the 2-5A system in reptiles, avians and mammalians certainly supports a wider role for the pathway. See, for example, Cayley, P. J. et al., Biochem. Biophy. Res. Commun., 108: 1243-1250 (1982).
Notwithstanding the importance of 2-5A-dependent RNase to the 2-5A system, 2-5A-dependent RNase enzymes having ribonuclease function have not been isolated, purified or sequenced heretofore. Consequently, there is a demand for isolated, active 2-5A-dependent RNases and their complete amino acid sequences, as well as a demand for encoding sequences for active 2-5A-dependent RNases.


A system and method for tracking and preventing an execution of an application on a user device are provided. The method comprises receiving a request to determine if an application is a restricted application for a user of the user device; receiving at least one context parameter respective of the application; receiving at least one variable related the user of the user device; determining whether the application is a restricted application based on the analysis of the at least one context parameter and the at least one variable parameter; and disabling an access of the user to contents of the application if the application is determined to be restricted.

The use of mobile devices and especially smart phones has significantly increased. Such mobile devices have become in many cases a primary replacement for other computing devices, allowing access to data by the mobile devices to a variety of application programs. Application programs, also known as applications, are designed to help a user of a mobile device to perform specific tasks. Such applications may be bundled with the mobile device and its system software. There are primarily two different mobile applications, a native application and a web application. Typically, a native application is downloadable from a central repository, for example, the AppStore®. Once downloaded to the mobile device, the application is locally installed on the device and then can be executed. A web application is executed on a remote server and can be accessed from the mobile device without any installation thereon.
To limit certain users, e.g., children, from accessing inappropriate contents and in particular, specific applications, mobile devices such as smart phones, are equipped with a built-in parental control mechanism. For example, the iPhone® operating system, iOS®, provides age restrictions for blocking age-inappropriate applications from being downloaded to the device. Thus, such an operation system, and other similar control mechanisms enable parents to restrict already installed applications that their child can access.
However, the wide and easy accessibility of such applications makes it very difficult for a parent to supervise the content viewed through a child's mobile device. Furthermore, in most cases, such restrictions can be overridden by the users, as they are merely protected by a passcode. For example, if a user (e.g., a child) knows the passcode to open the mobile phone, the user can change setting of the parental control mechanism. In addition, teenagers typically own their mobile phones, thus setting an access or parental control by configuring the device may not be an option for such a group of users.
Furthermore, parental and access control mechanisms are limited to the download, installation, and/or execution of already installed applications on the mobile device. Thus, for web applications accessed through mobile devices from remote servers, the built-in control mechanisms may not be applicable, because such applications are not downloaded and installed on the mobile device.
It would be therefore advantageous to provide an efficient access parental control solution that overcomes the limitations of the prior art solutions.

System and methods thereof for tracking and preventing execution of restricted applications


An organ perfusion system comprises: a perfusion fluid circuit (16) arranged to circulate perfusion fluid through the organ; a surrogate organ (126) arranged to be connected into the circuit in place of the organ so that the circuit can circulate fluid through the surrogate organ; and organ sensing means arranged to distinguish between the presence of the organ in the circuit and the presence of the surrogate organ in the circuit. The sensing means may comprise one or more pressure sensors (136, 137, 138), or a flow meter (125). Further aspects relate to adjusting the content of at least one component, such as oxygen or a nutrient, in the perfusion fluid. Bubble detection means (113), and means (74) to measure the amount of fluid secreted by or leaked from the organ, may also be provided.

It is known, for example from EP 1 168 913, to provide a system for extracorporeal organ perfusion in which a human or non-human organ can be preserved, for example prior to transplant into a patient. The system typically comprises a reservoir for perfusion fluid, which may be blood or another perfusion solution, and a circuit for circulating the fluid through the organ.


A sole, sole insert or sole component for footwear that includes at least one outer bladder, at least one inner bladder located in the outer bladder, an internal sipe, and at least one electronic control system including a microprocessor. The internal sipe is formed by a portion of an inner surface of the outer bladder and a portion of an outer surface of the inner bladder. The surface portions forming the sipe oppose each other and are configured to move relative to each other in a sliding motion. The sipe includes a lubricating media with at least a magnetorheological liquid for use to increase or decrease the sliding resistance between the opposing sipe surfaces by altering an arrangement of metal particles in the magnetorheological fluid. The control system controls a flow resistance of thee magnetorheological liquid by altering the arrangement of the metal particles in the magnetorheological fluid.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to all forms of footwear, including street and athletic, as well as any other products benefiting from increased flexibility, better resistance to shock and shear forces, and more stable support. More particularly, the invention incorporates devices as a unitary integral insert or component with at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipe, including slits or channels or grooves and any other shape, including geometrically regular or non-regular, such as anthropomorphic (or animal) shapes, into a large variety of products including footwear using materials known in the art or their current or future equivalent, as well as materials that are very firm compared to those taught in the art.
Still more particularly, the unitary internal sipe insert or component provides improved flexibility to products utilizing them, as well as improved cushioning to absorb shock and/or shear forces, including through the use of firm materials, while also improving stability of support, and therefore the siped devices can be used in any existing product that provides or utilizes cushioning and stability. These products include human and other footwear, both soles and uppers, and orthotics; athletic, occupational and medical equipment and apparel; padding or cushioning, such as for equipment or tool handles and furniture; balls; tires; and any other structural or support elements in a mechanical, architectural or any other device. Still more particularly, the integral insert or component with at least one sipe, including in the form of a slit, can include a media such as a lubricant or glue of any useful characteristic such as viscosity or any material, including a magnetorheological fluid.
The invention further relates to at least one chamber or compartment or bladder surrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipe, including at least partially in the form of a slit, for use in any footwear soles or uppers, or orthotic soles or uppers, including the use of firm materials, and for other flexibility, cushioning, and support uses in athletic equipment like helmets and apparel including protective padding and guards, as well as medical protective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such as protective flooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires for wheels, and many other uses.
The internal sipe integral insert or component invention further can be usefully combined with the applicant's prior footwear inventions described in this application and expressly incorporated by reference herein below, including removable midsole structures and orthotics and chambers with controlled variable pressure, including control by computer, for example.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
Existing devices are generally much less flexible than would be optimal, especially products for human (or animal or other biological-based) users, whose non-skeletal anatomical structures like bare foot soles generally remain flexible even when made hard by significant pressure caused by body weight, whereas the products interfacing directly with them are often much more rigid.
Taking footwear soles as one example, cushioning elements like gas bladders or chambers or compartments are typically fixed directly in other midsole foam plastic material to form a structure that is much more rigid than the sole of the human wearer's bare foot, which is relatively soft when unloaded and hard but still flexible when loaded under body weight. As a result, the support and cushioning of the bare foot are seriously degraded when shod in existing footwear, since the relatively rigid shoe sole drastically alters by obstructing the way in which the bare foot would otherwise interact with the ground underneath a wearer. The effective natural interface is replaced by an inferior artificial one.
The use of open or external traction sipes—that is, sipes in the form of slits or channels that typically are substantially vertical and open to an outside surface, particularly a ground-contracting surface—to provide also flexibility in footwear soles has been fully described by the applicant in prior applications, including the examples shown in FIGS. 55A-55C, 56, 57, and 73A-73D of both the applicant's prior footwear U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/190,087, published as Pub. No. 2005/0268487 A1 on Dec. 8, 2005, and the applicant's prior orthotic U.S. Pat. No. 7,010,869, issued Mar. 14, 2006, (as well as continuation U.S. application Ser. No. 11/108,034, published as Pub. No. 2005/0217142 A1 on Oct. 6, 2005), and in FIGS. 35-40 of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/179,887, published as Pub. No. US2005/0241183 on Nov. 3, 2005, all of which foregoing U.S. patents and published applications are herein incorporated by reference for completeness of disclosure.
The applicant first described such non-traction oriented open external sipes in footwear in PCT Application PCT/US90/06028 titled "Shoe Sole Structures Which Are Siped to Provide Natural Deformation Paralleling the Foot" filed 19 Oct. 1990 and published by WIPO as Int. Pub. No. WO 91/05491 on 2 May 1991. Such open external sipes principally provide flexibility to the footwear sole by providing the capability of the opposing surfaces of the sipe to separate easily from each other. However, external sipes are structurally unlike natural anatomical structures (since to be effective, they must be much deeper than surface skin texture like finger prints, the closest anatomical analogy).
Also, external sipes tend to introduce significant instability by creating excessive edge weakness in the shoe sole adjacent the sipes, just like a paperback book being unable to support weight when standing on end with the pages vertical, but stable when the book and pages are lying flat. External sipes by being open also collect debris in the sipes, seriously reducing sipe performance. In addition, the most optimal pattern and depth of such sipes is unknown and therefore difficult to ascertain directly, except as an error-prone trial and error process guided by second-guessing nature, since deep, open sipes are obviously not used in the design of the human foot. Moreover, the only way to get relatively seamless, continuous natural flexibility like the human foot sole using external sipes is to introduce a very large number of deep sipes on as many different axis as possible in the shoe sole, which produces an impractically soft and unstable shoe sole, the use of which would be roughly like trying to stand on the edge of a large urban area telephone book.
Instead, a much more reasonable and fool-proof procedure is to follow as closely as practical the natural design of the human anatomical foot sole structure with which it is intended to interface to create the closest-to-natural flexibility.
The use of a integral component with internal sipes in footwear soles like those described in this application overcome the problems of external sipes noted above and are naturally more optimal as well, since they more closely parallel structurally the natural anatomical structures of the wearer's bare foot sole. As one example, simply enveloping the outer surface of existing cushioning devices like gas bladders or foamed plastic Ethyl Vinyl Acetate (EVA) or Polyurethane (PU) with a new outer layer of material that is unattached (or at least partially unattached) thereby can creates if unglued an internal sipe between the inner surface of the new compartment and the outer surface of the existing bladder/midsole component, allowing the two surfaces to move relative to each other rather than being fixed to each other.
Especially in the common form of a slit structure seen in many example embodiments, the flexibility of the internal sipe is provided by this relative motion between opposing surfaces that in many the example embodiments are fully in contact with each other, again in contrast to the separating surfaces of external sipes; such surface contact is, of course, exclusive of any internal sipe media, which can be used as an additional enhancement, in contrast to the flexibility-obstructing debris unavoidably picked up by, and often clogging, open external sipes. As a result, the footwear sole in which at least one integral internal sipe insert or component is incorporated becomes much more flexible, much more like the wearer's bare foot sole itself, so that foot sole can interact with the ground naturally. The resulting footwear sole with internal sipes has improved, natural flexibility, improved cushioning from shock and shear forces, and better, more naturally stable support.
A limited use of internal sipes has also been described by the applicant in prior applications, including the examples shown in FIGS. 12A-12D, 60A-60E, and 70-71 of both the applicant's '087 and '034 published applications and '869 patent herein incorporated by reference above, which are generally unglued portions coinciding with lamination layer boundaries, such as between bottomsole and midsole layers. This older approach requires completely new and somewhat difficult approaches in the assembly of the footwear sole during manufacture, as well as significantly greater potential for problems of layer separation (especially bottom sole) since the inherent reduction in gluing surfaces makes the remaining gluing surfaces critical and under increased load; significantly increased positional accuracy in the application of glue is required. Also, the use of lubricating media (and the potential control thereof, including by microprocessor) is also more difficult, since the sipe is formed by existing parts and is not discretely enclosed with the new outer layer to contain the media, as it is in a new invention described in this application.
In contrast, a new invention of this application is a discrete device in the form of an integral component that can easily be inserted as a single simple step into the footwear sole during the manufacturing process or, alternatively, inserted in one single simple step by a wearer (into the upper portion of a midsole insert, for example, much like inserting an insole into an shoe), for whom the new extra layer provides buffering protection for the wearer from direct, potentially abrasive contact with a cushioning component (forming a portion of the inner, foot sole-contacting surface of the shoe sole, for example).
In addition, such a new invention allows easier and more effective containment of a lubricating media (including media with special capabilities, like magnetorheological fluid) within the integral internal sipe, so that the relative motion between inner surfaces of the sipe can be controlled by that media (and, alternatively, by direct computer control); it avoids the need for the use of closed-cell midsole materials or a special impermeable layer applied to the footwear sole material to prevent the sipe media from leaking away.
The new invention also makes manufacturing easier and inherently more accurate, since the introduction of the fluid media can be better control during a separate process when the separate unitary insert or component 510/511/513 is manufactured by itself, rather than attempting to integrate that process into the already complex sole or orthotic molding and assembly process.
Accordingly, it is a general object of one or more embodiments of the invention to elaborate upon the application of the use of a device in the form of an insertable integral component with one or more internal sipes to improve the flexibility, cushioning, and stability of footwear and other products.
It is still another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to provide footwear having an integral insert or component with at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipes, including slits or channels or grooves and any other shape, including geometrically regular or non-regular, such as anthropomorphic or animal shapes, to improve flexibility, cushioning and stability.
It is still another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to include an insertable integral device with one or more internal sipes that include a media such as a lubricant or glue of any useful characteristic such as viscosity or any material, including a magnetorheological fluid.
It is another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to create a shoe sole with flexibility, support and cushioning that is provided by siped chambers or compartments or bladders in the footwear sole or upper or orthotics. The compartments or chambers or bladders are surrounded, partially or completely, by at least one internal (or mostly internal) sipe, including in the form of a slit, for use in any footwear soles or uppers, or orthotic soles or uppers, and for other flexibility, cushioning, and stability uses in athletic equipment like helmets and apparel including protective padding and guards, as well as medical protective equipment and apparel, and other uses, such as protective flooring, improved furniture cushioning, balls and tires for wheels, and many other uses.
It is another object of one or more embodiments of the invention to create footwear, orthotic or other products with at least one outer chamber; at least one inner chamber inside the outer chamber; the outer chamber and the inner chamber being separated at least in part by an internal sipe, including in the form of a slit; at least a portion of an inner surface of the outer chamber forming at least a portion of an inner surface of the internal sipe; and the internal sipe providing increased flexibility, cushioning, and stability for the footwear, orthotic or other product.
A further object of one or more embodiments of the invention is to combine the integral insert or component with at least one internal sipe with the applicant's prior footwear inventions described and herein incorporated by reference in this application, including removable midsole structures and orthotics and chambers with controlled variable pressure, including control by computer.
These and other objects of the invention will become apparent from the summary and detailed description of the invention, which follow, taken with the accompanying drawings.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Microprocessor control of magnetorheological liquid in footwear with bladders and internal flexibility sipes


A surface analysis apparatus and a method for compensating for mechanical vibrations and drifts in a surface analysis instrument are disclosed. A probe that is sensitive to the distance between the probe and a sample surface provides a probe signal. The probe signal contains information about the surface properties and noise due to changes in the probe-surface distance. A sensor measures a displacement between a probe and the sample surface. The sensor is substantially insensitive to the surface properties measured by the probe. The displacement measurement can be used to compensate for the noise in the probe signal.

High-resolution techniques for surface analysis such as atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning tunneling microscopy (STM) have achieved great importance in recent years, particularly in the high-resolution investigation of semiconductor wafers. Such techniques rely on the interaction between a sharp tip and the surface of an underlying specimen. The topography of a specimen can easily be surveyed, or locally resolved bonding conditions, for example of macromolecules, can be disclosed. With AFM and STM, resolutions down to the nanometer or sub nanometer range may be attained. Due to the high sensitivity of such techniques, the actual resolving ability of AFM and STM instruments depends strongly on external effects from the surroundings. Examples of such external effects include mechanical vibrations, for example, air vibrations or also bodily vibrations in the instrument or a support for the specimen, which can be produced, e.g., by movements of the building. Vibrations decrease signal to noise ratio. The high resolution of the devices can thus be only used when the disturbing effect is sufficiently reduced or compensated for.
In the prior art, active or passive vibration damping or vibration isolating devices have been used. However, such devices are often very expensive. Furthermore, particularly at very low disturbing frequencies, such as can arise, for example, from temperature instability, these devices offer only a limited protection.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,308,557 to Heiland describes a technique for compensation of vibration in a scanning microscope. Heiland's microscope, which scans in a raster mode, includes a sensor that senses mechanical vibrations and drives a filter whose output is connected to an adder together with the output of the device for producing a signal for adjusting the distance between a specimen and a scanning sensor. The output of the adder controls a device that changes the distance between the specimen and a signal sensor on the microscope head to compensate for the disturbing effects of mechanical vibrations on the signal sensor.
Although the above-described prior art technique works reasonably well in compensating for vibration, it suffers from certain drawbacks that limit its performance in lower frequencies changes such as temperature-induced drift. Thus, there is a need in the art, for a vibration compensation technique that overcomes these disadvantages.

Direct relative motion measurement for vibration induced noise and drift cancellation


An acid-in-oil emulsion having a corrosion inhibitor as the external phase has been found to prevent downhole corrosion when acidizing carbonate formations to enhance hydrocarbon recovery.

Acid-in-oil emulsions are typically used to stimulate or enhance hydrocarbon production in existing carbonate reservoir rock formations, such as limestone, dolomite or calcareous-magnesium. Typically, the emulsified acid enters the formation and where employed successfully creates a barrier causing the acid to release slowly at a distance from the well-bore. The reaction of the released acid with the formation rock takes place simultaneously at different places inside the formation, resulting in channels that are joined together to form continuous wormholes. When pumping the acid-in-oil emulsions through steel tubing and piping, a corrosion inhibitor is usually added to reduce the corrosive effects of the acid. In operation, the corrosion inhibitor coats the steel surfaces as the emulsion is pumped into the well-bore and the surrounding rock.
In current practice, the oil emulsion consists of two phases. They are the internal phase formed of acid with corrosion inhibitor added to it, and the external phase formed of oil with an emulsifier. The currently employed ratio used in the field is 30% oil and 70% acid. Acid-in-oil emulsions are prepared by mixing the oil with an emulsifier and then gently adding the acid which has been mixed with the corrosion inhibitor to the emulsified oil phase. The oil is known as the disperse phase and the mixture of acid and corrosion inhibitor as the inner phase.
Thus, the corrosion inhibitor which is dissolved in the acid phase is encapsulated by the oil which contains the emulsifier. The corrosion inhibitor, accordingly, is disposed internally with the emulsion droplet which limits its ability to readily disperse on the metal surfaces to create a protective film.
Groote, U.S. Pat. No. 1,922,154 was the first to disclose the use of emulsified acid in the oil industry. Groote discloses removal of formation damage from carbonate rocks with an aqueous acid solution emulsified in a suitable medium that effectively protects the metallic parts of the well from damage by the acid in the solution, while the solution is being pumped into the well. Groote employed hydrochloric acid, nitric acid and a mixture of the two acids to prepare his emulsion. Crude oil and coal tar distillates, such as naphtha and carbon tetrachloride were used as dispersing fluids. Sulfonic acid was used as the emulsifying agent. The feature described in the '154 patent put the pairing the emulsion as similar to current oil field practices. Approximately 2% to 5% of the emulsifying agent is added to crude oil which forms continuous phase and the acid containing the corrosion inhibitor is added to the mixture at a ratio of 33.3% acid to 66.7 parts of crude oil by volume ratio.
Bland, U.S. Pat. No. 7,354,886 discloses the transfer of a corrosion agent downhole by encapsulating it in three phases to release it at the target zone.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,464,009 discloses a method of delivering and releasing a corrosion inhibitor downhole by a pumpable composition consisting of multiple phases.
Martin et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,753,596 discloses a method of mixing corrosion inhibitor consisting of incorporating thiophosphates consisting of both oxygen and sulfur, pyrophosphates, containing both oxygen and sulfur or a mixture into an oil phase of an emulsion.
French, et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,027,901) discloses a method of mixing a corrosion inhibitor, adding it to a discontinuous phase (kerosene) and pumping this discontinuous phase to the well annuals before mixing with a continuous phase (produced water) inside the well.

Method of mixing a corrosion inhibitor in an acid-in-oil emulsion


An emulsion aggregation toner composition includes toner particles including: an unsaturated polymeric resin, selected from amorphous resins, crystalline resins, and mixtures thereof; an optional colorant; an optional wax; an optional coagulant; and a photo initiator capable of initiating crosslinking of said unsaturated polymeric resin.

Illustrated herein in embodiments are toner processes, and more specifically, emulsion aggregation and coalescence processes. More specifically, disclosed in embodiments are toner compositions and methods for the preparation of a curable toner compositions by a chemical process, such as emulsion aggregation, wherein latex particles, such as latexes containing unsaturated crystalline or amorphous polymeric particles such as polyester or sulfonated polyester, are aggregated with a photo initiator, optionally a wax, and optionally a colorant, in the presence of a coagulant such as a polymetal halide or other monovalent or divalent metal coagulants, and thereafter stabilizing the aggregates and coalescing or fusing the aggregates such as by heating the mixture above the resin Tg to provide toner size particles.
Also illustrated herein in embodiments are development processes using such a toner. For example, the toner can be used as a colored toner to print images that are subsequently fused, or the toner can be used as a clear overcoat toner and subsequently cured to provide protection to an underlying colored toner image. The curing, such as ultraviolet curing, can be conducted at the same time as conventional pressure or heated pressure fusing, or it can be conducted in a separate such as subsequent step. The ultraviolet curing desirably crosslinks the unsaturated resin in the toner composition to provide a robust image.
A number of advantages are associated with the toner obtained by the processes and toner compositions illustrated herein. The process allows for particles to be prepared in the size of 3 to 7 microns in diameter with narrow size distributions, such as from about 1.2 to about 1.25, without the use of classifiers. Furthermore, low melting or ultra-low melting fixing temperatures can be obtained by the use of crystalline resins in the toner composition. The aforementioned low fixing temperatures allows for the curing by ultraviolet light to occur a lower temperatures, such as from about 120 to about 135° C. The toner compositions provides improved for other advantages, such as high temperature document offset properties, such as up to about 85° C., as well as resistance to organic solvents such as methyl ethyl ketone (MEK). This improved document offset means that printed images can withstand such higher temperatures during their lifetime, and can withstand the higher temperatures used in heat sealing processes.

Curable toner compositions and processes


A method and apparatus for detecting a circuit pattern comprise a stage for mounting an object under inspection having a circuit pattern to be detected, means of generating a signal in response to the amount of movement of the stage, a detection optical system for detecting the circuit pattern, an opto-electric transducer which receives the image of the pattern provided by the detection optical system and transforms the image into an image signal, means of calculating the amount of expansion or contraction of the object by detecting the distance between specific patterns on the object, and drive control means which produces a clock signal for the opto-electric transducer based on the stage movement signal provided by the signal generation means and varies the clock signal so as to vary the dimension of the detected image arbitrarily.

The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for detecting defects of a circuit pattern such as a wiring pattern on a printed wiring board or a thin film wiring pattern on a ceramic substrate, and particularly to a method and apparatus for detecting defects of pattern by compensating the expansion or contraction and the inclination of an object to be inspected.
A known method for inspecting a circuit pattern such as a wiring pattern on a printed circuit board is designed to compare a circuit pattern under test with a reference pattern derived from design data or the like, thereby detecting defects of the circuit pattern. For the comparison-based inspection, it is indispensable to align the two circuit patterns accurately. However, setting a circuit board under test to the inspection apparatus is vulnerable to the alignment error and the displacement caused by the expansion or contraction of the circuit board, and the following methods and apparatus are proposed to overcome the problem. An example described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 61-151709 is a comparison-based inspection method which memorized a circuit pattern in a memory and reads out the circuit pattern so that the displacement is minimal. Another example described in Japanese Patent Unexamined Publication No. 2-159545 is an alignment method which modifies the evaluated dimension of a detected circuit pattern by varying the timing of pattern introduction.
The above-mentioned prior art described in the patent publication No. 61-151709 cannot recognize the displacement between the two circuit patterns if the circuit board includes an area where no circuit pattern exists, and it is incapable of aligning circuit patterns if the displacement is in excess of the preset alignment range. The resolution of alignment is limited to the accuracy of evaluation of the pattern dimension.
The above-mentioned prior art described in the patent publication No. 2-159545 is capable of aligning the circuit patterns at a resolution finer than the evaluated dimension. However, it necessitates stage pulses with a 1% accuracy of evaluated dimension for compensating a 1% displacement, for example, and it is difficult to apply the technique to the inspection of a circuit pattern with a small evaluated dimension.

Method and apparatus for detecting a circuit pattern


A chemical supplied onto a substrate is contained in a chemical container. A chemical cooling unit keeps the chemical contained in the chemical container cooled to a proper temperature for storage. A chemical pressure-transferring portion causes the chemical to flow from the chemical container into a chemical introducing pipe. A chemical temperature controller portion changes the temperature of the chemical guided by the chemical introducing pipe to a proper temperature for application on a substrate. The chemical brought to the proper application temperature is guided to a chemical dispensing unit, which dispenses the chemical onto a substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to substrate processing apparatuses, and more particularly to a substrate processing apparatus for supplying prescribed chemicals onto substrates (e.g., semiconductor wafers, glass substrates used as bases of liquid crystal displays, glass substrates for photomasks, substrates for optical disks, etc.).
2. Description of Related Art
As is well known, it is necessary in the process of manufacturing semiconductor apparatuses, liquid crystal displays, etc. to supply various chemicals (SOG, photoresist, developer, etchant, etc.) onto surfaces of such substrates as mentioned above. The aforementioned substrate processing apparatus is used for the supply of chemicals.
The substrate processing apparatus supplies chemicals onto the substrates using the same basic principles regardless of the type of the chemicals being used. That is to say, it drops a prescribed chemical in the vicinity of the center of rotation of a substrate rotating in the horizontal direction and causes it to spread all over the surface of the substrate by centrifugal force.
As an example of a substrate processing apparatus, an apparatus for supplying SOG (Spin On Glass, the apparatus is referred to as an SOG coater, hereinafter) will be described. FIG. 1 is a perspective view showing the entire structure of a conventional SOG coater. In FIG. 1, the SOG coater includes a wafer chuck 41 which holds by vacuum suction, for example a substrate (not shown) for rotatable movement about a rotation axis A (shown by the single dot line), a chemical dispensing nozzle 42 for dispensing a chemical onto the substrate surface, a nozzle arm 43 rotating around the rotation axis B (shown by the double-dot line) for placing the chemical dispense nozzle 42 in a prescribed position above the substrate, and a chemical introducing pipe 44 for introducing a chemical supplied from a chemical container (not shown) to the chemical dispense nozzle 42. The SOG coater also includes other structural elements, but they are not described and not shown in the drawing to clarify the invention.
In the aforementioned structure, a substrate is placed on the wafer chuck 41 by a transfer unit, not shown. The nozzle arm 43 places the chemical dispense nozzle 42 in a prescribed position above the substrate. Then the chemical introduced from an external chemical container is supplied to the chemical dispense nozzle 42 through the chemical introducing pipe 44. The chemical dispense nozzle 42 dispenses the chemical onto the substrate surface.
The SOG which is supplied onto the substrate surface by the SOG coater a chemical containing a silicon compound dissolved in a highly volatile organic solvent, such as alcohol, ester, ketone, or the like, which is mainly used for the purpose of planarizing interlayer insulating film formed on the substrate. SOG has the property of easily crystallizing at room temperature (about 23.degree. C.). Therefore, storing it at room temperature reduces its lifetime. Accordingly, when not used, the SOG is held in a chemical container and stored in a refrigerator (at a temperature of about 5.degree. C.) installed in a position separated from the substrate processing apparatus.
When using SOG, it is necessary to take out the chemical container of SOG from the refrigerator, expose it to room temperature until it attains the proper temperature for use (room temperature or thereabouts), and then place it in a prescribed position in the SOG coater. Since the SOG takes a long time to attain room temperature, substrate processing also requires a long time, thereby reducing the operating efficiency of the SOG coater. Furthermore, since the chemical container includes only the required amount of SOG for substrate processing, an operator must exchange the chemical container for every single substrate processing. This will increase the operator's work load, and consequently lowers the operator's work efficiency. Furthermore, when some SOG is left after substrate processing is finished, it must be discarded because it can not be used in the next substrate processing.
The aforementioned problems can be encountered not only with an SOG coater, but also with substrate processing apparatuses supplying other chemicals (photoresist, developer, etchant, etc.) onto substrate surfaces.


An integrated circuit is described for providing a power supply to a radio frequency (RF) power amplifier (PA). The integrated circuit comprises a low-frequency power supply path comprising a switching regulator and a high-frequency power supply path arranged to regulate an output voltage of a combined power supply at an output port of the integrated circuit for coupling to a load. The combined power supply is provided by the low-frequency power supply path and high-frequency power supply path. The high-frequency power supply path comprises: an amplifier comprising a voltage feedback and arranged to drive a power supply signal on the high-frequency power supply path; and a high-frequency-path supply module arranged to provide a high frequency supply to drive the amplifier, where the high-frequency-path supply module comprises a pulse-width modulator operably coupled to the high frequency supply via a filter and arranged to provide a filtered pulse-width modulated signal to the high frequency supply.

1. Field of the Invention
The field of this invention relates to wireless communication units, transmitter architectures and circuits for providing a power supply. The invention is applicable to, but not limited to, power supply integrated circuits for linear transmitter and wireless communication units and a power amplifier supply voltage method therefor.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A primary focus and application of the present invention is the field of radio frequency (RF) power amplifiers capable of use in wireless telecommunication applications. Continuing pressure on the limited spectrum available for radio communication systems is forcing the development of spectrally-efficient linear modulation schemes. Since the envelopes of a number of these linear modulation schemes fluctuate, these result in the average power delivered to the antenna being significantly lower than the maximum power, leading to poor efficiency of the power amplifier. Specifically, in this field, there has been a significant amount of research effort in developing high efficiency topologies capable of providing high performances in the 'back-off' (linear) region of the power amplifier.
Linear modulation schemes require linear amplification of the modulated signal in order to minimise undesired out-of-band emissions from spectral re-growth. However, the active devices used within a typical RF amplifying device are inherently non-linear by nature. Only when a small portion of the consumed DC power is transformed into RF power, can the transfer function of the amplifying device be approximated by a straight line, i.e. as in an ideal linear amplifier case. This mode of operation provides a low efficiency of DC to RF power conversion, which is unacceptable for portable (subscriber) wireless communication units. Furthermore, the low efficiency is also recognised as being problematic for the base stations.
Furthermore, the emphasis in portable (subscriber) equipment is to increase battery life. To achieve both linearity and efficiency, so called linearisation techniques are used to improve the linearity of the more efficient amplifier classes, for example class 'AB', 'B' or 'C' amplifiers. A number and variety of linearising techniques exist, which are often used in designing linear transmitters, such as Cartesian Feedback, Feed-forward, and Adaptive Pre-distortion.
Voltages at the output of the linear, e.g. Class AB, amplifier are typically set by the requirements of the final RF power amplifier (PA) device. Generally, the minimum voltage of the PA is significantly larger than that required by the output devices of the Class AB amplifier. Hence, they are not the most efficient of amplification techniques. The efficiency of the transmitter (primarily the PA) is determined by the voltage across the output devices, as well as any excess voltage across any pull-down device components due to the minimum supply voltage (Vmin) requirement of the PA.
In order to increase the bit rate used in transmit uplink communication channels, larger constellation modulation schemes, with an amplitude modulation (AM) component are being investigated and, indeed, becoming required. These modulation schemes, such as sixteen-bit quadrature amplitude modulation (16-QAM), require linear PAs and are associated with high 'crest' factors (i.e. a degree of fluctuation) of the modulation envelope waveform. This is in contrast to the previously often-used constant envelope modulation schemes and can result in significant reduction in power efficiency and linearity.
To help overcome such efficiency and linearity issues a number of solutions have been proposed. One technique used relates to modulating the PA supply voltage to match the envelope of the radio frequency waveform being transmitted by the RF PA. Envelope modulation requires a feedback signal from the PA supply to one of the control ports of the amplifier. Proposed solutions that utilise envelope modulation include envelope elimination and restoration (EER), and envelope tracking (ET). Both of these approaches require the application of a wideband supply signal to the supply port of the PA.
It is known that the use of PA supply RF envelope tracking may improve both PA efficiency and linearity for high peak-to-average power (PAPR) high power transmit conditions. FIG. 1 illustrates a graphical representation 100 of two alternative techniques; a first technique that provides a fixed voltage supply 105 to a PA, and a second technique whereby the PA supply voltage is modulated to track the RF envelope waveform 115. In the fixed supply case, excess PA supply voltage headroom 110 is used (and thereby potentially wasted), irrespective of the nature of the modulated RF waveform being amplified. However, for example in the PA supply voltage tracking of the RF modulated envelope case 115, excess PA supply voltage headroom can be reduced 120 by modulating the RF PA supply, thereby enabling the PA supply to accurately track the instant RF envelope.
It is known that switched-mode power supply (SMPS) techniques may be used to provide improved efficiency. A SMPS is an electronic power supply that incorporates a switching regulator in order to be highly efficient in the conversion of electrical power. Like other types of power supplies, an SMPS transfers power from a source, such as a battery of a wireless communication unit, to a load, such as a power amplifier module, whilst converting voltage and current characteristics. An SMPS is usually employed to efficiently provide a regulated output voltage, typically at a level different from the input voltage. Unlike a linear power supply, the pass transistor of a switching mode supply switches very quickly between full-on and full-off states, which minimize wasted energy. Voltage regulation is provided by varying the ratio of 'on' to 'off' time. In contrast, a linear power supply must dissipate the excess voltage to regulate the output. This higher efficiency is the primary advantage of a switched-mode power supply. Switching regulators are used as replacements for the linear regulators when higher efficiency, smaller size or lighter weight power supplies are required. They are, however, more complicated, their switching currents can cause electrical noise problems if not carefully suppressed, and simple designs may have a poor power factor.
FIG. 2 illustrates graphically 200 output power 205 versus input power 210, various functional and operational advantages that can be achieved when a PA supply (drain) voltage is modulated to use an envelope tracking technique. By enabling the PA (drain) supply voltage to track the instant RF envelope 115, the PA may be kept in modest compression at constant gain 215 over the range of the amplitude modulation to amplitude modulation (AM-AM) curves 220. Such tracking of the supply voltage of the instant RF envelope 115 enables a higher output power capability 225 for the same linearity (using envelope tracking) to be achieved by the transmitter, as compared to techniques that do not allow the PA supply voltage to track the instant RF envelope of the PA. In addition, the envelope tracking graph 200 may also be viewed as being able to support a PA gain reduction when employing ET 230, as compared to an architecture that considers PA gain with a fixed supply. A skilled artisan will appreciate that this is predominantly a consequence of PA characteristics together with a function of the operation point of the PA under the chosen operating conditions for envelope tracking.
Thus, and advantageously, the gain of the PA that may be achieved when envelope tracking is implemented may be reduced 230 as compared to the PA gain that uses a fixed PA supply voltage. Envelope tracking may also support a high efficiency gain potential for high PAPR conditions. In addition, the PA may operate at a cooler temperature for the same output power, thereby reducing heat loss and increasing efficiency. However, it is also known that envelope tracking requires a high efficiency, high bandwidth supply modulator and accurate tracking of the RF envelope is therefore difficult to achieve in practical implementations.
FIG. 3 illustrates graphically 300 envelope spectral density 305 versus frequency 310 required when a PA supply (drain) voltage is modulated using an envelope tracking technique. FIG. 3 further illustrates graphically 350 a corresponding integrated amplitude modulated power 355 versus frequency 360. Envelope spectral density exhibits a number of common features for different modulation cases, for example, a low-frequency region, which contains the majority of the energy, and a high-frequency region, which must be reproduced up to, say, 4-8 MHz. As illustrated, the two energy regions are separated by a region, covering a range of roughly 10 kHz-400 kHz, which contains little energy.
Thus, a need exists for improved power supply integrated circuits, wireless communication units and methods for power amplifier supply voltage control that use such linear and efficient transmitter architectures, and in particular a wideband power supply architecture that can provide a supply voltage in a power efficient manner.

Integrated circuit wireless communication unit and method for providing a power supply


A display device includes: a plurality of pixels each having a shutter plate formed and an actuator portion, wherein the actuator portion has a beam portion connected to the shutter plate, a drive electrode causing the beam portion to bend to drive the shutter plate, a first supporting portion supporting the drive electrode and fixed on a substrate, and a second supporting portion supporting the beam portion and fixed on the substrate, at least one of the first supporting portion and the second supporting portion has a planar portion, and a recessed portion formed to be concaved from the planar portion and connected to the substrate, and the recessed portion has a vertically formed portion formed to be inclined substantially vertically from the planar portion, and a portion starting from the vertically formed portion and formed such that the inclination of the portion becomes gentle toward the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Displays which form an image by opening and closing a shutter which is based on MEMS (Micro Electro Mechanical Systems) and disposed in each of pixels of a display device have been known.
As such a display device, for example, JP 2008-197668 A discloses a backlit display in which a MEMS-based mechanical light modulator is used. Moreover, also JP 2008-533510 T discloses a display device having a MEMS-based light modulator incorporated therein. JP 2008-533510 T describes that a manufacturing method of the display device is compatible with a manufacturing process of a liquid crystal display.


An assembly for use in drainage of an abscess comprises an outer tubular member provided in a distal end portion with a plurality of longitudinal slits. The distal end portion of the tubular member has a spring bias tending to form the distal end portion into a substantially spherical expanded configuration to anchor the distal end portion of the tubular member in an abscess. An inner tubular member or obturator is inserted into the outer tubular member and has a distal end provided with a cutting edge projecting from the outer tubular member. Locking components on the obturator and the outer tubular member serve to maintain the latter in a stretched out cylindrical configuration enabling insertion of the distal end portion into an abscess. A needle on the distal end of the tubular member serves to inject a quantity of anesthetic into the patient at the abscess site. A similar structure is disclosed in an intravenous catheter assembly.

This invention relates to an assembly or device for use in obtaining continued transdermal access. This invention also relates to an associated method using the device. The device and method is useful in inserting a catheter into a patient.
An abscess is a collection of pus in infected tissue and is often accompanied by inflammation or swelling. To relieve the swelling, a surgeon makes an incision through skin tissues overlying the abscess. Although some pus may be removed immediately from the abscess to reduce the swelling, fluidic matter will continue to accumulate and swelling will recur unless measures are taken to ensure continued drainage from the infected tissues.
One procedure for ensuring continued drainage of an abscess involves the use of a tubular member which is closed at a distal end, i.e., the end which is inserted by the surgeon into the abscess. Along a distal portion proximal of the closed distal tip of the tube are provided a plurality of longitudinal slits. The tube is formed at its perforated distal portion with a spring bias tending to form that portion of the tube into a substantially spherical expanded anchoring configuration wherein the slits are opened.
To insert the distal end portion of the tube into the abscess, a rod is inserted into the tube. The tube is stretched so that the distal end portion thereof assumes an elongate cylindrical configuration, rather than a spherical or expanded configuration, thereby facilitating insertion of the tube through the incision in the skin tissues overlying the abscess. Upon insertion of the distal end portion of the tube into the abscess, the tube is released so that the distal end portion assumes the spherical or expanded configuration and opens the slots to enable or facilitate continued drainage of the pus or fluidic material from the abscess.
Another situation where continued transdermal access is required is in intravenous feeding. A needle is inserted into a vein, a syringe connected to the needle being used in an aspiration technique to determine whether a vein has been properly entered by the needle. Frequently, prior to the insertion of a catheter into a vein, the point of insertion is prepared by injecting a local anesthetic with a separate needle and syringe.

Method and device for obtaining continued transdermal access


A method, performed in a wireless device, for obtaining position information of user equipment, UE, in a wireless communication system is described. The method includes transmitting, to a network, an indication comprising beam information defining beams that are suitable to be used for transmitting Positioning Reference Signals, PRS, to the wireless device, receiving, from the network, control signaling comprising PRS scheduling information for upcoming transmission of the PRS in beams, performing measurements on the PRS based on the PRS scheduling information that was received, and providing the measurements to the network.

Wireless communication between two devices, such as a network node and a mobile device or user equipment, involves signals that are transmitted between the antennas of the mobile device and the network node. Wireless communication systems may use multiple antenna elements to combine signals into one or more beams. Beams from one or more devices may need to be aligned with one another for proper communication. Beam selection for transmitting signals between the nodes in the wireless network and the mobile device is important for efficient, high quality communication.

On demand positioning in a wireless communication system


A foldable article indicia strip and method for size labeling a foldable article garment. A strip of flexible material has indicia repeatedly printed along a first major surface thereof. The indicia are printed using symbols having a height no greater than the width of an edge of said foldable article. A second major surface of the strip has a pressure sensitive adhesive material bonded thereto. In use, the second surface of the strip is affixed to a foldable article at a predetermined position whereby sizing information of the foldable article can be determined by reading said strip when the foldable article is folded.

Labels and hangtags are well known for the general purpose of identifying various features of garments. However, such labels and hangtags are commonly affixed to the garment in such a manner and location that the information appearing thereon, and even the label or hangtag itself, is usually hidden when the garments are folded and stacked for storage or display.
Prior inventions have attempted to overcome the shortcomings of commonly used labels and hangtags. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 2,739,399, to Henson, issued Mar. 27, 1956, shows a marking device having a stub portion which may be sewn to a seam of a garment and a tab integral with and extending substantially perpendicularly from the stub portion so as to extend beyond an edge or fold of the garment. Such marking devices have also proven to be unsatisfactory. It is desirable to have a garment indicia strip which will permit a manufacturer or retailer to fold the garment in a plurality of ways for storage or display while maintaining the visibility and legibility of the garment indicia strip. The garment indicia strip should also be flush to the surface of the garment in order to avoid inadvertent tearing or removal of the strip from the garment.


A surface cleaning machine is provided, including a device body having a housing, a suction unit device having a fan, said suction unit device being arranged in the housing, a cleaning head which is arranged at the device body outside of the housing and comprises at least one cleaning roller and is operatively connected to the suction unit device for fluid communication therewith, an air-cooled drive motor for rotatingly driving the at least one cleaning roller, and a process air routing device for process air of the suction unit device, wherein the drive motor is arranged outside of the housing of the device body and wherein a cooling air routing device for cooling air of the drive motor comprises at least one fluid path which is arranged at or in the housing and/or wherein the cooling air routing device is coupled to the process air routing device.

The invention relates to a surface cleaning machine, comprising a device body having a housing, a suction unit device having a fan, said suction unit device being arranged in the housing, a cleaning head which is arranged at the device body outside of the housing and comprises at least one cleaning roller and is operatively connected to the suction unit device for fluid communication therewith, an air-cooled drive motor for rotatingly driving the at least one cleaning roller, and a process air routing device for process air of the suction unit device.
WO 2013/027140 A1 discloses a cleaning device for cleaning a surface, said cleaning device comprising a rotatable brush. Further provided is a rubber wiper element which is spaced apart from the brush and is fixed to an underside of a nozzle housing.
WO 2013/027164 A1 likewise discloses a cleaning device having a rotatable brush and a single rubber wiper element.
EP 2 177 128 A1 discloses a device for distributing fluid on a brush.
DE 41 17 157 A1 discloses a method for cleaning or swabbing a preferably smooth surface, in which method the surface to be cleaned is wiped using a substantially cloth-like wiping element while picking up the dirt with the wiping element, and then the dirty wiping element is wetted and thereafter the dirt is suctioned from the wiping element.
WO 2010/140967 A1 discloses a method for cleaning a soiled surface.
CH 607 578 discloses a brush device which can be connected to a water conduit.
EP 0 186 005 A1 discloses a brush suction mouthpiece which is provided with travel wheels.
FR 2 797 895 discloses a brush.
US 2002/0194692 A1 discloses a method for mechanically removing dirt from a surface.
WO 2013/11789 A1 discloses a cleaning head for a vacuum cleaner.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,400,048 B1 discloses an apparatus having a rotating brush, in which a motor is arranged on a first end of a cylindrical body and a speed reduction mechanism is arranged on a second end of the cylindrical body. An electric blower is arranged outside of the cylindrical body and serves to blow air into the cylindrical body for cooling the motor.


A hand-held coaxial cable stripper made up of first and second jaws pivotally connected to a body portion including a channel for insertion of a cable end, the channel containing blade members and a blade adjustment member for precise and accurate adjustment of the cutting depth of the blade.

This invention relates to cable tools; and more particularly relates to a novel and improved hand-held coaxial cable stripper for removing one or more layers from an end of a cable to facilitate connection of a selected fitting to the end of the cable.
Currently, there exist a number of different sizes and types of coaxial cables and cable fittings. This presents a problem in the field when a cable is of a different size than the stripping tool is adapted to cut. This results in having to carry multiple stripping tools adapted to cut different sized cables. Further, this also results in having to purchase a number of different sizes of stripping tools to conform to various sized cables. There exist a number of multi-purpose coaxial cable tools, for example, my U.S. Pat. No. 6,671,944 for MULTI-PURPOSE COAXIAL CABLE TOOL. The multi-purpose cable tools are versatile yet they do not provide for precise incremental adjustment of the cutting depth. There also exist coaxial cable strippers which may be adjusted to control the cutting length or cutting depth of the blades, such as, U.S. Pat. No. 6,718,638 to Liaw, but this stripping tool does not allow for incremental and precise adjustment of the cutting depth. In preparing a coaxial cable end, the length of the outer jacket is stripped from the cable end as well as a second length of the braided connector and insulator to expose the leading end of the inner conductor. A portion of the braided conductor is folded back over the leading edge of the dielectric outer jacket. It is critical to have proper preparation of the cable end to assure that a sealed connection is made with the fitting. In the case of coaxial cables, a dual cutting or stripping action is required in removing different layers from the end of the cable, and the thickness or depth of cut will vary with different cable sizes and types. There is an increasing demand for a lightweight, versatile stripping tool that will strip different sized cables in a precise and accurate manner. It is also important to have a hand-held device which is easy to use. If the depth of cut is incorrect, this could result in an improper connection with the fitting. Specifically, it is desirable to have an adjustable stripping tool to carry out manual stripping on a variety of different-sized cables.

International Communication Manufacturing Corporation


The present invention relates to an anti-allergic agent, an anti-allergic food additive and an anti-allergic food each containing both ground lotus and/or extract and a lactic acid bacterium. The anti-allergic agent, anti-allergic food additive and anti-allergic food each contain both ground lotus and/or extract and a lactic acid bacterium as the active ingredients thereby enabling amelioration and treatment of allergic diseases including pollinosis, bronchial asthma and atopic dermatitis.

In many developed nations, diseases attributable to type I allergic reactions such as pollinosis (hay fever), bronchial asthma or atopic dermatitis are on the increase and becoming a social problem.
Among 5 kinds of antibodies possessed by humans, an antibody called IgE is involved particularly in type I allergic reaction, and this antibody tends to be produced in a larger amount in persons with an allergic constitution than in healthy persons without an allergic constitution. Production of IgE is promoted by interleukin 4 (IL-4) or interleukin 13 (IL-13) derived form type 2 helper T lymphocyte (Th2), and is reported in recent years to be inhibited by interleukin 2 (IL-2) or interferon γ (IFN-γ) derived from type I helper T lymphocyte (Th1). For ameliorating the allergic constitution, therefore, it is important to inhibit production of IgE by inhibiting the production of IL-4 or IL-13 or by promoting the production of IL-2 or IFN-γ. In addition, TNF (tumor necrosis factor) is also involved in type I allergic reaction and thus inhibition of TNF production is also effective in inhibiting inflammatory reactions.
For ameliorating diseases by the above type I allergic reaction, pharmaceutical preparations such as antihistamines, anti-allergic agents and steroids have been developed and used so far. These chemicals may be accompanied by side effects such as worsening of morbid state due to long-term administration (rebound phenomenon), sleepiness by their action on the central nerves, their influence on the internal secretory system by transdermal absorption, etc.
For the purpose of ameliorating the diseases safely without side effects, on the other hand, foods having an anti-allergic action have been searched for from conventionally eaten foods (see JP-A No. 61-291524, JP-A No. 1-121217, JP-A No. 7-215884 etc.). Further, previously marketed and widely recognized drinks include a sweet tea extract made from leaves of Rubus Suavissimus with hot water and a beefsteak plant extract made from a beef steak plant (Perilla frutescens) with hot water. Also, lactic acid bacteria have an action of inducing Th1 cells from the viewpoint of probiotics and are thus examined as anti-allergic material.
However, a majority of compounds used as pharmaceutical preparations are problematic because of the side effects mentioned above. There are also food-derived anti-allergic materials such as a sweet tea extract and a beefsteak plant leaf extract, but from the viewpoint of different working mechanisms, greater efficacy and/or economical advantage, there is a need for utilizing anti-allergic materials derived from other foods. The anti-allergic action of lactic acid bacteria is problematic due to the low action of lactic acid bacteria when used on its own.

Anti-allergic agent containing both ground lotus and/or extract and lactic acid bacterium


An electric brake device includes a first slave piston which is housed in a cylinder body and generates hydraulic pressure in a first hydraulic chamber by moving forward, a motor which transmits a driving force to the first slave piston, and a restriction pin which is inserted and secured to the cylinder body in a direction perpendicular to an axial direction of the cylinder body and restricts a backward position of the first slave piston when a hydraulic pressure is applied from an outside to the first hydraulic chamber, wherein the restriction pin is inserted and secured to the cylinder mechanism in the direction perpendicular to the axial direction of the cylinder main body. Further, a clearance is formed between an inner peripheral wall of the cylinder body and a first groove portion and second groove portion which are formed on an outer surface of the restriction pin.

Conventionally, as a brake mechanism for a vehicle, there has been known a booster, for example, with use of a hydraulic booster or a negative pressure booster. In recent years, as a booster of this type, there has been disclosed an electric booster with use of an electric motor as a boosting source (refer to, for example, Patent Document 1).
The electric booster disclosed in Patent Document 1 is configured as an integrated single device including a main piston (input piston) which is reciprocated by an operation of a brake pedal, a cylindrical booster piston which is fitted onto the main piston so as to be displaceable relative to the main piston, and an electric motor which reciprocates the booster piston.
In this case, the electric booster has the main piston and the booster piston as pistons of a master cylinder and has each of front end portions of the pistons facing each pressure chamber of the master cylinder, and generates a brake hydraulic pressure in the master cylinder, by an input thrust force applied to the main piston from the brake pedal and by a booster thrust force applied to the booster piston from the electric motor.
Incidentally, in the electric booster disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, when a hydraulic pressure is applied from an outside to the pressure chamber which is faced by the main piston of the master cylinder, the main piston moves backward to the booster piston side by an operation of the hydraulic pressure, but it becomes difficult to ensure a minimum hydraulic pressure in the master cylinder if the main piston moves backward too much. In this case, a backward movement of the main piston can be, for example, restricted by a restriction unit or the like, but there is a possibility that a piston sliding surface of the cylinder body is deformed by a load which is applied to the restriction unit and transmitted to the cylinder body.
Further, in the electric booster disclosed in Patent Document 1, for example, when a pressure is applied from the outside to the pressure chamber which is faced by the main piston of the master cylinder, a restriction unit which restricts a backward position of the main piston is required in order to ensure a minimum brake hydraulic pressure in the master cylinder. However, in this case, there is a concern that an excessive force is applied to the restriction unit.
Meanwhile, there has been known a vehicle brake device including a master cylinder into which a brake operation of an operator is inputted, and a slave cylinder as an electric brake device which generates the brake hydraulic pressure based on an electrical signal in accordance with the brake operation (for example, see Patent Document 2).
In the slave cylinder of the vehicle brake device, when the motor is driven, the piston moves forward via a gear mechanism, and a ball screw mechanism having a nut and a screw which is engaged with the nut. That is, the nut receives a rotational driving force of the motor, and the screw engaged with the nut moves in the axial direction to press the piston, and thus the piston is moved forward. Thus, the brake hydraulic pressure is generated in a hydraulic chamber which is formed in front of the piston, and the brake hydraulic pressure is outputted to the fluid passage through a port.
However, in the slave cylinder, the screw moves in the axial direction by a rotation of the nut during a forward movement of the piston, and a decentering (shake; deviation from the reference center position of the axis) of the screw tip increases in response to an increase of a projection amount of the screw from the nut, and thus there is a possibility that an inclination of the piston pressed by the screw occurs. Such inclination of the piston leads to a damage or abrasion of the piston, a seal member attached to the piston, or the like.

Autoliv Nissin Brake Systems Japan Co., Ltd.


This application provides improved cell culture media and cell culture methods comprising N-acetylcysteine. These improved cell culture media and cell culture methods increase cell viability, cellular growth rate and/or reduce cell doubling time of cholesterol auxotrophic cells, myeloma cells, and hybridoma cells.

Many important protein-based biologic therapeutics are produced in cell culture. These include, but are not limited to, both recombinant proteins and antibody therapeutics. Producing biologic therapeutics in cell culture increases the cost of manufacturing both commercial products and clinical candidates as compared to traditional small-molecule therapeutics. One of the significant limiting factors is the time it takes to scale up a production run in a manufacturing facility from a frozen stock of cells, as well as, high plant occupancy and utilization rates which result from the relatively slow growth of cells used to produce recombinant proteins and antibody therapeutics. As a result, there is a need to develop optimized cell culture methods and reagents which increase cell viability and/or cell growth rates (resulting in reduced cell doubling time) to reduce production scale-up timelines, plant occupancy or utilization rates, and reduce costs. Serum or other animal-protein ingredients are often used to enhance the ability of cells to grow in a laboratory setting. However, due to regulatory or potential safety concerns, cell culture media and reagents often do not contain serum or other animal-protein ingredients when manufacturing biologic therapeutics. Removal of animal-protein components makes it more difficult for cells to grow in culture and more difficult for cells to thaw and start growing from a frozen stock, thereby reducing product yields and increasing plant occupancy, utilization rates, and costs. Therefore, precisely when production efficiency becomes most important, cell culture medium ingredients are restricted. Thus, the art faces challenges in optimizing cell culture ingredients for cell lines used to produce protein-based biologic therapeutics such as heterologous proteins and antibody therapeutics. Indeed, the involvement of large number of media components, the complexity of cellular metabolic pathways and the interdependence between the various media components and complex cellular pathways, often makes it is very difficult to optimize cell culture reagents or methods. Against this backdrop, provided herein are cell culture media and cell culture methods comprising N-acetylcysteine (NAC), which when added to cell culture media and/or used in cell culture methods involving a cholesterol auxotroph, a myeloma, or a hybridoma surprisingly increases cell viability, cellular growth rate and reduces cell doubling time.
Others have suggested adding N-acetyl cysteine to cell culture media as a generic amino acid source (see, e.g., EP 2351827; at amounts orders of magnitude lower than used herein) or as a generic reducing agent (see, e.g., EP1434856, WO2012095731, US20060258003) to support the growth of T cells, neuronal progenitor/stem cells, or muscle progenitor/stems cells, respectively. In contrast, provided herein are cell culture media and cell culture methods comprising N-acetylcysteine that increase cell viability, cellular growth rate and reduce cell doubling time of cholesterol auxotrophs, myeloma, or hybridoma cells. As described herein (see, e.g. Examples 1-6) N-acetylcysteine, when added to cell culture media already containing amino acids and reducing agents, surprisingly increased cell viability, cellular growth rate, and reduced cell doubling time of NSO cells.

Cell culture methods and media comprising N-acetylcysteine


A building system operates to receive building data from one or more building data sources associated with the building, wherein at least a portion of the building data is associated with control of the one or more environmental conditions of the building and generate, based on the building data, one or more data quality indicators for the building data received from the one or more building data sources, the one or more data quality indicators indicating quality levels of the building data. The building system operates to generate user interface data configured to cause a user device to display a user interface providing indications of the one or more data quality indicators.

The present disclosure relates to building systems of a building. The present disclosure relates more particularly to health of the building.
In some embodiments, a building includes various building systems that operate to provide environmental control, security, fire response, and various other services for a building. However, based on the operation of the building systems, the performance of building spaces may change based on the operation of the building systems, i.e., whether the building systems are operating correctly or have encountered errors. Users may occupy the spaces of the building. The mental and physical wellbeing of users may be based on the operation of the building systems and/or services offered within the building. Furthermore, the operation of the building systems may affect energy usage and pollution generation, affecting the environment surrounding the building.

Building system for building equipment with data health operations


A microcontroller including a CPU (Central Processor Unit) is capable of detecting the error of its structural part. The CPU executes a first initialization phase in response to a power-on reset signal output from a power-on reset circuit, then executes a second initialization phase in response to a start signal, and then executes usual processing. The CPU outputs a single timer run signal during first initialization phase and repeatedly outputs the timer run signals during usual processing. A watchdog timer starts timing in response to the timer run signal and then outputs an overflow signal on the elapse of a preselected period of time. After receiving the power-on reset signal from the power-on reset circuit, an error detector feeds the CPU with the start signal in response to an overflow signal output from the watchdog timer for the first time.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microcontroller and a method of detecting errors thereof. The present invention is applicable to, e.g., a microcontroller having a function of detecting the error of a CPU (Central Processor Unit) or similar structural part included therein.
2. Description of the Background Art
A microcontroller including a CPU can accurately operate so long as the CPU executes program sequences in an expected manner. When an error occurs in the CPU, the CPU goes out of control, or crashes, in executing program sequences to cause the microcontroller to malfunction. Therefore, in order to protect the microcontroller from malfunction ascribable to the crash of the CPU for thereby enhancing the reliability of the microcontroller, an error detecting circuit configured to detect the crash of the CPU and errors in other structural parts is essential for the microcontroller.
FIG. 1 shows a specific conventional microcontroller including an error detecting circuit. The microcontroller, generally 20, includes a CPU 21, a power-on reset circuit 22, a watchdog timer 23, an error detector circuit 24, and an OR gate 25 interconnected as illustrated. At the time of power-up, the CPU 21 is reset, or initialized, in response to a power-on reset signal output from the power-on reset circuit 22 and an overflow signal output from the watchdog timer 23.
The CPU 21 thus initialized delivers a timer start signal having a preselected period to the watchdog timer 23. The watchdog timer 23 monitors the timer start signal to see if the timer start signal has the preselected period and a preselected pulse width and if the signal stopping is accurately processed. Thereafter, the CPU 21 executes certain program sequences as usual. When an error or malfunction occurs in the CPU 21, the watchdog timer 23 delivers an overflow signal to the error detector 24. In response, the error detector 24 determines the error in the CPU 21 and sends out a stop signal to the CPU 21 for thereby stopping the operation of the CPU 21, or otherwise the CPU 21 would be out of control.
However, should the watchdog timer 23 involve an error and be fixed to prevent the overflow signal from being output, the crash or out-of-control state of the CPU 21 would continue. In order to avoid such a case, the CPU 21 is adapted to stop sending out the timer start signal to thereby cause the watchdog timer 23 to output the overflow signal and the error detector 24 to diagnose the watchdog timer 23. At the same time, the error detector 24 receives the power-on reset signal from the power-on reset circuit 22 and diagnoses the reset circuit 22. In this manner, the error detector 24 detects errors in the watchdog timer 23 and the power-on reset circuit 22 to determine an error in the CPU 21 or similar structural part of the microcontroller.
The problem with the conventional microcontroller 20 is that the error detector 24 cannot detect an error occurring in itself although it can detect errors of the power-on reset circuit 22 and watchdog timer 23. More specifically, when an error occurs in the error detector 24 and the power-on reset circuit 22 and watchdog timer 23 deliver signals representative of their errors to the error detector 24, the error detector 24 cannot cease the operation of the CPU 21. There would be a possibility that the CPU 21 goes out of control and causes a critical error to occur in the microcontroller system.

Microcontroller having an error detector detecting errors in itself as well


Provided is an implement that has a handle adapted to be positioned on a user's hand such that the user's hand goes through the handle. The handle has an aperture that is adapted to accept a user's hand. The implement of the present invention may have a wide variety of implements as described herein. Particular implements include, for example, personal care implements such as, eating utensils, a toothbrush or a hair care implement, such as, a hairbrush or comb.

There are many conditions or injuries to the hand that can make it difficult, if not impossible, for a person to grip a personal care implement, such as eating utensils, a toothbrush, and hair maintenance implements such as brushes and combs. For example, a user may be impaired by medical conditions such as arthritis, a stroke, or may be impaired due to an injury such as a broken wrist, which requires the user to wear a cast or bone immobilizing apparatus until the bones have healed. Often a cast on the forearm of a user covers the wrist and will typically go around the user's area of the hand between the index finger and thumb, making it difficult to grip items. No matter what the situation is, it can be nearly impossible for a person having one or more of these or similar conditions to grab and hold a personal care implement, which makes it difficult for a person who has an impaired gripping function to effectively take care of themselves, or their surroundings.
Other implements have been suggested in the art having looped handles. Each of the prior art implements has one or more drawbacks. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,643 suggests an eating implement for a person having difficulty in gripping conventional eating implements. However, the design taught in this patent lacks proper stability that is provided by a user's thumb. As a result, the eating utensil suggested by this patent can rotate on the user's hand, making it difficult for the user to control the eating utensil during use.
Accordingly, there is a need in the art to provide an implement having improved stability for a person having an impaired movement of the fingers of a hand that makes it difficult for the user grip the implement. The present invention provides an answer to that need.

Implement with a handle for a user having an impaired hand grip


The disclosure relates to a local coil with an energy supply device, a system including an energy transmitting device and a local coil, and a method for operating the system. The local coil includes an energy store, a clock control system, and an energy receiving device for the wireless reception of energy from the energy transmitting device. The clock control system of the local coil is configured to be synchronized with an external clock source. The clock control system has a signal connection with the energy supply device and is configured to control energy take-up via the energy receiving device in dependence on the synchronization.

Magnetic resonance tomography scanners are imaging devices that, in order to image an object under examination, align nuclear spins of the object under examination with a strong external magnetic field and excite the nuclear spins by an alternating magnetic field to precess about this alignment. The precession or return of the spins from this excited state to a state with a lower energy in turn generates an alternating magnetic field, also called a magnetic resonance signal, as a response that is received via antennas.
Magnetic gradient fields are used to impart spatial encoding to the signals that subsequently enables the assignment of the received signal to a volume element. The received signal is then evaluated and three-dimensional imaging of the object under examination is provided. The image generated shows the spatial density distribution of the spins.
In order to improve the signal-to-noise ratio and accelerate image acquisition by parallel scanning, increasingly as many receiving antennas as possible are arranged in an antenna matrix structure, (called a local coil matrix), as close to the patient's body as possible. A cable connection may be used to transfer the signals received in the local coil or local coil matrix. The cables also function as antennas during the excitation pulse, however, thus necessitating the provision of special safety measures such as standing wave traps. In addition, the cables are cumbersome to handle.
Local coils are also available that convert or digitize the received magnetic resonance signals and transmit them to the magnetic resonance tomography scanner. However, batteries are required to supply the pre-amplifiers and converters, and these are only able to bridge a limited period and thus impede continuous operation of the magnetic resonance tomography scanner.
During the use of wireless energy transfer, there may, on the one hand, be interference to magnetic resonance signals and, on the other, frequently, a plurality of local coils are attached to the patient to provide that no changes are necessary during the examination, which is a waste of valuable examination time on the magnetic resonance tomography scanner. Herein, the wireless energy transfer of the local coils may result in mutual interference and disruption.
German Patent Application Publication No. DE 10 2012 210 507 B4 discloses a local coil for a magnetic resonance imaging system and a magnetic resonance imaging system, wherein the local coil or the magnetic resonance imaging system are embodied for the wireless transfer of operating energy or a reference signal.

Local coil and wireless energy transfer system


A system, method and computer program product are provided for programmable vertex processing. Initially, a vertex program is identified including branch labels and instruction sequences with branch commands. The vertex program is then converted to a binary format capable of being executed by a hardware graphics pipeline. The vertex program may then be executed in the binary format utilizing the hardware graphics pipeline for transforming vertices. As an option, the vertex program is initially written in a textual format capable of being read by a human prior to being converted.

Graphics application program interfaces (API's) have been instrumental in allowing applications to be written to a standard interface and to be run on multiple platforms, i.e. operating systems, hardware implementations, etc. Examples of such graphics API's include Open Graphics Library (OpenGL®) and Direct3D™ transform and lighting pipelines. OpenGL® is the computer industry's cross-platform standard graphics API for defining 2-D and 3-D graphic images. With OpenGL®, an application can create the same effects in any operating system using any OpenGL®-adhering graphics adapter. OpenGL® specifies a set of commands or immediately executed functions. The set of commands directs a drawing action and/or control subsequent drawing actions.
Thus, in any computer system which supports this OpenGL® standard, the operating system(s) and application software programs can make calls according to the standard, without knowing exactly any specifics regarding the hardware configuration of the system. This is accomplished by providing a complete library of low-level graphics manipulation commands, which can be used to implement graphics operations.
A significant benefit is afforded by providing a predefined set of commands in graphics API's such as OpenGL®. By restricting the allowable operations, such commands can be highly optimized in the driver and hardware implementing the graphics API. On the other hand, one major drawback of this approach is that changes to the graphics API are difficult and slow to be implemented. It may take years for a new feature to be broadly adopted across multiple vendors.
With the impending integration of transform operations into high speed graphics chips and the higher integration levels allowed by semiconductor manufacturing, it is now possible to make a significant portion of the geometry pipeline accessible to the application writer. There is thus a need to exploit this trend in order to afford increased flexibility in visual effects and computer graphics programming capabilities.

System and method for converting a vertex program to a binary format capable of being executed by a hardware graphics pipeline


The invention provides a human ATP-binding cassette transport protein (ABCtxH) and polynucleotides which identify and encode ABCtxH. The invention also provides expression vectors, host cells, agonists, antibodies and antagonists. The invention also provides methods for treating disorders associated with expression of ABCtxH.

The ATP-binding cassette (ABC) transporters, also called the "traffic ATPases", comprise a superfamily of membrane proteins that mediate transport and channel functions in prokaryotes and eukaryotes (Higgins, C. F. (1992) Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 8:67-113). ABC proteins share a similar overall structure and significant sequence homology. All ABC proteins contain a conserved domain of approximately two hundred amino acid residues which includes one or more nucleotide binding domains. A majority of these proteins are involved in active transport of molecules across membranes. Eukaryotic ABC proteins include: P-glycoproteins, also known as multidrug resistance (MDR) proteins, which are associated with resistance to a wide range of hydrophobic drugs (MDR1; Gottesman, M. M. & Pastan, I. (1993) Annu. Rev. Biochem. 62:385-427) or with phosphatidylcholine transport (MDR2; Ruetz, S. & Gros, P. (1994) Cell 77:1071-1081); CFTR, the cystic fibrosis transmembrane conductance regulator (Welsh, M. J. & Smith, A. E. (1993) Cell 73:1251-1254); TAP proteins, the transporters associated with antigen processing in mammalian cells (Androlewicz, M. J. et al. (1994) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 91:12716-12720); cMOAT/cMRP1, which is associated with transport of glutathione, glucuronide, and sulfate conjugates across the canalicular membrane (Buchler, M. et al. (1996) J. Biol. Chem. 271:15091-15098); and STE6, which exports the a-factor mating pheromone of S. cerevisiae (Michaelis, S. (1993) Semin. Cell Biol. 4:17-27). Prokaryotic ABC proteins include periplasmic nutrient permeases, such as those responsible for uptake of maltose (MalFGK) and histidine (HisMPQ) in gram-negative bacteria, and toxin exporters such as those required for export of hemolysin (HlyB) and colicin (ColV) from E. coli (Higgins, supra).
Savary, S. et al. (1997; Genomics 41:275-275) recently identified a novel ABC transporter, denoted ABC7, in mouse. The predicted 629 amino acid mouse ABC7 translation product contains six putative transmembrane domains near the N-terminus, followed by an ATP-binding cassette domain. Savary, et al. (supra) also disclosed a partial protein sequence from human similar to the C-terminal 340 amino acids of mouse ABC7 protein. Savary et al. reported that the human ABC7 was widely expressed in cell lines, heart, skeletal muscle, pancreas, lung, liver, and placenta. Human ABC7 expression was not detected in brain.
The discovery of a new human ATP-binding cassette transport protein and the polynucleotides encoding it satisfies a need in the art by providing new compositions which are useful in the diagnosis, prevention and treatment of cancer and neuronal disorders.

Polynucleotides encoding human ATP binding-cassette transport protein and methods of use