The systems and methods for pathogen reduction in donor blood operates by exposure of blood to UVC irradiation. Unwanted wavelengths of light, mostly in the infrared spectra, may be precluded from reaching blood by providing a layer of IR-absorbing fluid positioned between blood and the source of UV irradiation, whereby minimizing energy absorption and heating of blood. Some embodiments further disclose a system configured to utilize the same IR-absorbing fluid to actively cool blood by flowing along the flow path thereof.

The present relates to systems and methods for the UV-irradiation of a biological fluid for the purposes of reduction of pathogens therein. While the primary object of the invention is to treat blood, blood-based products and synthetic blood substitutes, the concepts of the present invention may be used for treating other fluids such as those encountered in beverage industries including dairy, distilling and brewing, as well as in water treatment industries including sewerage and purification systems. Other uses of the invention contemplate treating blood from a subject and returning the blood to the subject after completion of the treatment.
The term "pathogens" is used broadly for the purposes of the present invention to include a variety of harmful microorganisms such as bacteria, fungi, viruses (including among others a human immunodeficiency virus, a hepatitis A, B and C virus, an influenza virus, a hemorrhagic fever virus such as Ebola virus etc.), parasites, molds, yeasts and other similar organisms which may be found in human or non-human blood and products derived from blood, as well as various other body fluids such (as for example milk) and synthetic fluids manufactured for use as replacements for any such body fluids or components thereof.
Blood transfusion in developed countries is very safe with regard to avoidance of transmitting of an infectious disease. This is primarily achieved by donor exclusion using questionnaires and screening for pathogens presence by means of serological methods and direct testing for nucleic acids. Despite these practices, there remains a risk of transmission of pathogens with the transfusion of cellular components of blood (such as red cells and platelets for example). This is at least in part because current screening tests leave a window of time after infection and before their sensitivity allows for detection of pathogens. In addition, screening does not takes place for rarely occurring pathogens or as yet unknown transmissible pathogens (Soland, E. M. et al. J. Am. Med. Assoc. 274: 1368-1373 (1995); Schreiber, G. B. et al. New Engl. J. Med. 334: 1685-1690 (1996); Valinsky, J. E. In: Blood Safety and Surveillance, Linden, J. V. and Bianco, C., Eds., Marcel Dekker, N Y, 2001, pp. 185-219).
The use of pathogen reduction technologies has the potential of eliminating the remaining risks of transmission of infectious disease as a result of blood transfusion. Various approaches have been used to sterilize blood components (Ben-Hur, E. and B. Horowitz AIDS 10: 1183-1190 (1996); Ben-Hur, E. and R. P. Goodrich, In: Photodynamic Inactivation of Microbial Pathogens, Hamblin, M. R. and J. Gori, Eds. RSC Publishing, UK, 2011, pp. 233-263). The most promising methods are photochemical ones, two of which were approved by regulatory agencies for pathogen reduction in platelet concentrates. The Intercept method employs a psoralen and UVA light (Lin, L. et al. Transfusion 37: 423-435 (1997)) and the Mirasol method uses riboflavin and UVA+UVB light (Goodrich, R. P. et al. Transfusion Apheresis Sci. 35: 5-17 (2006)).
Short wavelengths ultraviolet light (UVC, 180-290 nm) is a known sterilizing agent that targets the nucleic acids of microorganisms (Setlow, R. B. and J. K. Setlow Proc. Natl. Acad. USA 48: 1250-1253 (1962)). It has been used for pathogen reduction in optically-transparent biological fluids such as plasma (Chin, S. et al. Blood 86: 4331-4336 (1995)) and is being studied also in platelet concentrates (Bashir, S. et al. Transfusion 53: 990-1000 (2013)). However, in opaque biological fluids such as red cell concentrates as well as in whole blood, UVC penetration is very limited due to absorption of UV irradiation by the red cells. As a result, all attempts to use UV irradiation for sterilizing whole blood or red cells have been unsuccessful so far.
Therefore, there is a need for an effective system and method for reducing pathogens in a biological fluid such as blood.
Attempts to irradiate blood or other opaque biological fluids with UV light have been described before. The exposure of a biological fluid to UV irradiation can result in damage to various components of the biological fluid, for example enzymes and other functional proteins. Therefore, the UV irradiation source should not be too powerful nor may the fluid be exposed to the UV radiation for too long, if one is to avoid damaging the components of the biological fluid. On the other hand, sufficient UVC energy needs to be transmitted to the blood flow to assure substantial reduction and effective elimination of the pathogens. This balance is critical in achieving desired effectiveness of UVC treatment.
To ensure that substantially all of the fluid receives a sufficient dose of UV radiation, it has been found that intensive mixing of the fluid to be treated during UV irradiation increases the efficiency of the irradiation process. A variety of devices that include static mixers placed in the fluid flow pathway have been proposed such as those described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,312,593; 7,175,808; US Pat. Application Publications 2004/0039325; 2006/0270960; or PCT publications WO1997046271; WO2000020045.
In addition to mixing, a sufficient intensity of the UV irradiation needs to be provided by a source of UV irradiation. Traditional devices used as such source include low pressure and medium pressure mercury UV lamps, amalgam UV lamps, arc UV lamps, fluorescent UV lamps, halogen UV lamps, and xenon UV lamps. Such lamps have a number of disadvantages when used directly for the purposes of the present invention as they produce low level of UV output given the energy requirements, have large size, fragile and if broken represent an environmental hazard of mercury contamination. In addition, traditional UV lamps produce UV output over a broad range of UV wavelengths, some of which may be harmful to the biological fluid.
There is a need for a new exposure chamber and a new system for reducing pathogens in a biological fluid with improved source of UV irradiation and specifically with the ability to provide high intensity of UV light in a small physical size. There is also a need for a new source of UV irradiation to provide efficacious UV irradiation at desired peak wavelength with low energy consumption.

Systems and methods for pathogen inactivation in blood using UV irradiation while minimizing heat transfer thereto


A surface acoustic wave element 1 includes a substrate 2, an intermediate layer and a piezoelectric layer 4 laminated on the substrate 2, an IDT 5 disposed on the piezoelectric layer 4, a pair of reflectors 6 and 7 arranged on both sides of the IDT 5, and a protective layer 8 provided so as to cover the IDT 5 and the reflectors 6 and 7. The IDT 5, that is each of the electrode 5a and 5b, has a plurality of electrode fingers 51 juxtaposed with a prescribed spacing and the reflectors 6 and 7 have respectively a plurality of reflecting bodies 61 and 71. Further, the pitch Pr of the reflecting body of each reflector 6 and 7 is set to be smaller than the pitch Pt of the electrode finger of the IDT 5 and the ratio Pr/Pt is preferably set to be in the range of 0.7 to 0.9995. According to the surface acoustic wave element 1, the impedance characteristic and the insertion loss can be improved. Furthermore, electronic equipment having such surface acoustic wave element is provided.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a surface acoustic wave element and electronic equipment provided with the element.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A wave which is propagated by concentrating its energy in the vicinity of the surface of a propagation medium is known as a Surface Acoustic Wave (SAW).
A surface acoustic wave element is a device utilizing such a surface acoustic wave. The surface acoustic wave element is used in a band pass filter for communication equipment such as a mobile telephone, a resonator as a reference clock, a delay element for signal processing (in particular, a fourier transform functional element), various kinds of sensors such as a pressure sensor and a temperature sensor, an optical deflector, and the like.
A surface acoustic wave element used as a filter or a resonator, for example, comprises a piezoelectric base body as the propagation medium of the surface acoustic wave, a pair of interdigital transducers (ITDs) arranged on the piezoelectric base body, one for input which applies a voltage to excite a surface acoustic wave in the piezoelectric base body, and another for output which detects a surface acoustic wave propagating on the piezoelectric base body and outputs the wave by converting it into an electrical signal, and a pair of reflectors arranged on both sides of the combined IDTs. The IDTs and the reflectors are respectively formed from a layer of conductive material such as Aluminum.
In the surface acoustic wave element, when an AC power (electrical signal) is supplied to the input IDT, a strain is generated in the piezoelectric base body due to the electric field caused by the AC power. At this time, high and low density pattern is created in the piezoelectric base body because of the interdigital structure of the electrodes that generate the electric field, and as a result, surface acoustic waves are generated.
The generated surface acoustic wave propagates on both sides of the IDT, and then it is reflected by the reflectors, which gives rise to a resonance in the space between the reflectors. The energy of the surface acoustic wave is converted into electrical energy by the output IDT, and it is outputted from the output IDT.
When the surface acoustic wave element is used in a resonator or in a filter, the factors which determine the impedance characteristic of the resonator and the insertion loss in the filter include an electrode finger pitch Pt of the IDT and a reflecting body pitch Pr of the reflector.
In general, the electrode finger pitch Pt and the reflecting body pitch Pr are set respectively to about one half of the wavelength λ of the surface acoustic wave. When the thickness of the IDT and the reflector is small or the specific gravity of the constituent materials of these components is relatively low, it is possible to match the frequency of the surface acoustic wave of the IDT and the frequency of the surface acoustic wave of the reflectors by setting the electrode finger pitch Pt to be equal to the reflecting body pitch Pr, thereby enabling the impedance characteristic and the insertion loss to be improved.
However, there exist optimum values of the thickness of the IDT and the reflector in response to their required functions. For example, when a high reflectance of the surface acoustic waves of the IDT and by the reflector is desired, it is preferred that the thickness of the IDT and the reflector is relatively large.
However, when the thickness of the IDT and the reflector is made large, matching of the frequency of the surface acoustic wave of the IDT and the frequency of the surface acoustic wave of the reflector tends to be lost. As a result, a phenomenon in which the impedance characteristic and the insertion loss are likely to be impaired can be seen.
Such a phenomenon becomes particularly conspicuous when a material with relatively high specific gravity is used as the constituent material for the IDT and the reflector.
Under these circumstances, there has been proposed a surface acoustic wave element which can provide a satisfactory resonance performance by setting the electrode finger pitch Pt to be smaller than the reflecting body pitch Pr even in the case where the IDT and the reflector are configured so that their reflectance become high (see, for example, Japanese Patent Publication No. H7-73177).
However, depending upon the configuration of the piezoelectric base body, there arises a case in which no sufficient improvement in the impedance characteristic and insertion loss of the surface acoustic wave element cannot be obtained even when the configuration described in the prior art is applied.

Surface acoustic wave element and electronic equipment provided with the element


This invention provides a compound of Formula (I):

Protein kinases are enzymes that catalyze the transfer of a phosphate group from ATP to an amino acid residue, such as tyrosine, serine, threonine, or histidine on a protein. Regulation of these protein kinases is essential for the control of a wide variety of cellular events including proliferation and migration. Specific protein kinases have been implicated in adverse conditions including cancer [Traxler, P. M., Exp. Opin. Ther. Patents, 8, 1599 (1998); Bridges, A. J., Emerging Drugs, 3, 279 (1998)], restenosis [Mattsson, E., Trends Cardiovas. Med. 5, 200 (1995); Shaw, Trends Pharmacol. Sci. 16, 401 (1995)], atherosclerosis [Raines, E. W., Bioessays, 18, 271 (1996)], angiogenesis [Shawver, L. K., Drug Discovery Today, 2, 50 (1997); Folkman, J., Nature Medicine, 1, 27 (1995)] and osteoporosis [Boyce, J. Clin. Invest., 90,1622 (1992)].
Described in WO9843960 (U.S. Pat. No. 6,002,008) is the laboratory scale synthesis of 3-cyanoquinoline derivatives which include 4-dimethylamino-but-2-enoic acid [4-(3-chloro-4-fluoro-phenylamino)-3-cyano-7-ethoxy-quinolin-6-yl]-amide, inhibitors of protein tyrosine kinases used in the treatment of cancer.

Synthesis of 4-(amino)-2-butenoyl chlorides and their use in the preparation of 3-cyano quinolines

Abstract: wherein                S1 and S2 are each independently, hydrogen, alkyl, alkenyl, alkynyl, aralkyl, substituted or unsubstituted aryl, and S1 and S2 together with the nitrogen to which they are attached form a nitrogen containing heteroaryl and a pharmaceutically acceptable salt thereof; a method of preparing the compound of Formula (I), and use of the compound of Formula (I) in the preparation of 3-cyano quinolines.


A user (e.g., medical office manager, medical office insurance administrator, doctor) utilizes a medical practice configuration interface (e.g., web page) to input information about the user's medical practice (e.g., address, insurance plans, doctors, hospitals that the doctors utilize). Based on this information and/or rules associated with the insurance plans accepted at the user's medical practice, additional information is requested from the user about the user's medical practice (e.g., information needed for an insurance plan, information needed for a hospital). The user inputs the requested additional information utilizing the medical practice configuration interface. Configuration information for the user's medical practice is generated based on the information and/or the additional information inputted by the user. A user interface (e.g., web pages interfacing with the medical practice management server) and/or rules for the medical practice can be generated based on the configuration information.

Before the advent of networked systems and computers, medical patient workflow and billing was a manual process. Doctors, nurses, and receptionists used paper-based records to keep track of which tests a patient had undergone, what the patient's insurance would and would not cover, and how claims for healthcare items and/or services would be settled. As computers became more widely utilized, many medical practitioners used computers for electronic record keeping and billing statement generation.
With many medical practices, the number of patients that the practice serves fluctuates from day to day or season to season. As a result, the number and/or complexity of transactions that a medical practice management system processes for a given time period also fluctuates. These transactions, however, are important to the proper functioning of a medical practice management system. Examples of transactions include patient eligibility for a payment with respect to healthcare items and/or services, referral verification and approval, and claims processing transactions. When interacting with third-party payors such as insurance companies, it is often difficult to determine if the payors' processing system can handle a given volume of data that needs to be processed for the medical practice management system to function.

Automated configuration of medical practice management systems


Methods, systems, and devices to reduce power demands substantially for current deep brain stimulation DBS using smart technology type applications. The invention uses miniaturized components that allow integration with the implanted probe(s) themselves, and includes a skull-sited housing having all the controls and battery power supply needed. This avoids implanting obtrusive card-deck size batteries in the chest area and the use of vulnerable wire leads under the skin from the chest area to connect with the implanted electrode(s) on the skull, improving comfort. The Generating of non-continuous pulses on demand of conditions such as the occurrence of a tremor occurs, without having to continuously run pulses at all times, substantially increasing life spans over current techniques. Shaped electrodes and their methods further reduce power demands and efficacy by directing electric fields to focus towards specific areas and regions of the brain rather than inefficient 360-degree emission.

A first line of defense considered for most neurological disorders is treatment with psychoactive medicines, prior to any surgical intervention. Psychoactive medicines or drugs are those capable of acting on the nervous system and affecting mental states and behavior. Many physiological mechanisms are aided by such drugs, but these medicines have unwanted side effects, drug interactions, and long-term physiological tolerances that render the drug less effective over time.
In the case of Parkinson's disease that serves as the exemplar disorder herein, the underlying etiology is that neurons, located in the substantia nigra of the mid-brain, for some unknown reason begin to produce less dopamine. As these neurons progressively and relentlessly deteriorate over years, less dopamine dramatically affects the motor control of the basal ganglia and thus outward behavior and everyday living. An estimated 1.5 million Parkinson's patients have a visible cluster of diagnostically significant and debilitating Parkinson's symptoms, typically tremors, stiffness, slowness, and balance. Patients describe the internal feeling as frozen still in the "set" stage of the "ready, set, go" sequence that started of a race.
The "gold" standard treatment for Parkinson's is frequent daily administration of an indirect dopamine replacement, L-Dopa, a psychoactive drug that crosses the blood-brain barrier, and then alters form to produce dopamine as a supplement to the brain's own production. This therapy, while initially quite beneficial, typically can lose much of its effectiveness over about five years, wherein patients have to take progressively larger and more frequent doses until eventually the result becomes inadequate. Without alternative drug therapies, patients are left to suffer both the ravages of primary symptoms and the manifestations resulting from the prolonged use of the drug itself, principally the repetitive spasmodic motions of dyskinesia. More than one million people endure these symptoms, including such notables as the Pope, Muhammad Ali, and Billy Graham, while thousands of others including Michael J. Fox have turned to surgical approaches.
Past surgical techniques treated symptoms of these diseases by selectively and permanently destroying or ablating structural areas in the brain. The net effect is to "shut the door", in a neurological fashion, before dysfunctional brain signals are sent to the muscles, thereby relieving many symptoms. The advantage of surgical ablation is that it reduces the reliance on drug therapy with its attendant side effects. The disadvantage is that the procedure is irreversible. This may render such patients as unacceptable candidates for newly discovered techniques/therapies, such as stem cell implantation or viral transport of genome-altered DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid), both of which show promise in helping to augment or even to regenerate the natural production of dopamine as well as a number of other substances involved in neurological disorders.
Certain neurological disorders that produce debilitating motor symptoms are now being treated with Deep Brain Stimulation (DBS) through-skull implanted electrodes see FIG. 1 below. DBS essentially reversibly alters the local neurological structure(s) around the tip of an electrode implanted on the brain with electrical pulses that reduce or stop disabling symptoms, such as, but not limited to, severe tremor and rigidity found in Parkinson's disease.
DBS functionally has the advantage of emulating ablation by changing the firing characteristics of nearby neurons, but it does so only while the pulsed stimulation persists. Since the structures remain intact and undamaged, when DBS is turned "off" these structures reactivate and symptoms return, unless otherwise treated. Thus, DBS overcomes the chief disadvantage of ablation in that it allows implanted simulators to be withdrawn later for new techniques, with minimal residual effects. In 1998, the Federal Drug Administration (FDA) approved DBS as an alternative for, or as an adjunct to powerful psychoactive drugs (neuro-medicines) burdened with strong and often unacceptable side effects.
The only FDA approved DBS apparatus is currently being sold by Medtronic, Inc., 710 Medtronic Parkway, Minneapolis, Minn. 55432-560, see FIGS. 2 and 3 below, although other companies have substantial interests in implantable neuro-stimulation devices for a variety of neurological disorders, such as Advanced Bionics, Corp., 12740 San Fernando Road, Sylmar, Calif. 91342; see "http://www.advanced bionics.com." However, there are problems with the approved apparatus.
At the very least, the presently approved apparatus is cumbersome and uncomfortable for many in its present form. As an outgrowth of legacy components from heart "pacemakers," it consists of one or two remote stimulator/battery packs embedded under muscle tissue in the upper chest area, and requires subcutaneous leads up along the neck to the skull entry point. All these components are subject to corrosion and breakage, as well as to resistance or attacks by the body itself attempting by encapsulate it or dissolve it, leading to infection.
Medtronic currently uses a product called a Soletra™ Neurostimulator (see FIG. 4 below) to generate a continuous series of electrical pulses, typically at about 2-4 volts, to electrode(s) implanted in specific brain areas. Neurons, normally operating in the tens of milli-volts range, are massively over-stimulated by such voltage and temporally altered, thereby inhibiting the expression of certain motor dysfunctions. Pulse voltage is usually adjusted somewhat depending on the proximity of the electrode(s) to the targeted area, e.g., more voltage is needed for target variations. Typical pulse rates range around 130-185 pulses/second.
This combination of large amounts of voltage, amperage, and duty cycle creates a power drain that normally requires a non-renewable battery replacement in about 3-5 years, at a price of about $10,000. Many patients turn "off" the stimulation when going to sleep while tremor is quelled, in order to conserve power. Current DBS stimulator(s) are designed to be turned "off" or "on" using a magnetic-switch placed briefly near the associated electronics.
Thus, without considering the remote apparatus itself, or the power requirements of the present design, a goal in this field should be to reduce stimulation-related side effects and complications caused by stimulating in the vicinity of the target. Two key objectives to meeting that goal are for the surgical implant to hit the center of a targeted cellular region, often not more than 2 mm across in any direction, and for the current field to stimulate the appropriate cells for symptom reduction or cessation, without triggering side effects in adjacent structures.
While the surgical techniques themselves are well documented, the surgery is still a unique combination of art and science [see Lozano, Andres M. (Ed): Movement Disorder Surgery: Progress in Neurological Surgery, vol. 15, pp. 202-208, Basel, Switzerland: Karger AG, 2000, ISBN 3-8055-6990-4.].
A key to a successful outcome is the precise positioning and placement of the electrode(s), aided pre-operatively by vast improvements in brain imaging techniques, but nevertheless requiring considerable surgical skill and judgment. Beside normal variations in brain structures themselves adding to the difficulty of targeting, during surgery the brain moves with each heartbeat, while its size and position vary somewhat as a result of the surgical probe itself altering internal pressure. During the procedure, the use of fluoroscope imaging assists y-z axis positioning, and awakening of the patient while in the operating room for testing of clinical signs can reveal and help avoid untoward side effects. However, but the final outcome can only be assessed post-operatively. Results can vary by patient and over time. Some post-surgical adjustment is normally done with electrical parameters and z-axis programming of one or more of the electrode contacts available on the current DBS electrode, as is described below, but not to the extent that many physicians would like and not with respect to the x-y axis.
Current DBS electrodes have four (4) circumferential contacts that radiate current in a 360 degree configuration. This means that with any degree off-target, or unnecessary stimulation even on target adjacent cells are exposed to current and potential side effects. While some of these side effects may be adjustable when electrical parameters are altered, or even reversible when the stimulation is shut down, but the cost is decreased efficacy of stimulation on the symptoms. For example, in sub-thalamic nucleus DBS, stimulation-induced side effects may include increased dyskinesias, blepharospasm or so called "eyelid-opening apraxia," confusion/memory disturbances, personality changes, mood changes, apathy, cognitive changes, dysphonia/dysarthria, and such.
Medtronic Inc. has proposed a "Directional Brain Stimulation and Recording Leads, title, in U.S. Published Patent Application 2002/0183817 to Van Venrooij et al., which is incorporated by reference. The proposed technique uses a "controller" as shown and referenced to FIG. 32 for recording "brain activity signals" to activate electrodes. However, this technique requires continuously generating pulsed type signals once the electrodes are activated whether or not a brain type tremor has ended, which would result in needless, unwanted and potentially excessive electrical current being continuously generated inside the brain. The more unnecessary pulse type signals, the more undesirable side effects to the patient, for example, in thalamic DBS, stimulation-induced side effects may include paresthesias, muscular cramps, dystonia, dizziness, dysarthria, gait and balance disturbances, limb ataxia, impaired proprioception, and decreased fine motor movements.
Additionally, this technique would require excessive power to operate, which is not only expensive since battery power supplies would need to be regularly replaced but also require large card-deck size batteries that must be mounted inside of the patient's upper chest area. This proposed Medtronic technique would also be prone to circuit problems since the electrodes would be simultaneously operating as both transmitters and sensors, causing excessive and unnecessary power drain, shortening the lifespan of any batteries being used as well as increasing the costs for replacing the batteries.
According to the Movement Disorder Society ©2002, "Deep brain stimulation for the alleviation of movement disorders and pain is now an established therapy. However, very little has been published on the topic of hardware failure in the treatment of such conditions irrespective of clinical outcome. Such device-related problems lead to significant patient morbidity and increased cost of therapy in the form of prolonged antibiotics, in-patient hospitalization, repeat surgery, and device replacement [Joint, C., Nandi, D., Parkin, S., Gregory, R., and Aziz, T. Hardware-Related Problems of Deep Brain Stimulation. Movement Disorders, Vol. 17, Suppl. 3, 2002, pp. S175-S180.]
Thus, the need exists for solutions to the problems encountered in the prior art.

Spatial-temporal deep brain stimulation methods and systems

University of Central Florida Research Foundation, Inc.


The present disclosure relates to combination therapies for the treatment of pathological conditions, such as cancer. In particular, the present disclosure relates to combination therapies comprising treatment with an Antibody Drug Conjugate (ADC) and a secondary agent.

Antibody Therapy
Antibody therapy has been established for the targeted treatment of subjects with cancer, immunological and angiogenic disorders (Carter, P. (2006) Nature Reviews Immunology 6:343-357). The use of antibody-drug conjugates (ADC), i.e. immunoconjugates, for the local delivery of cytotoxic or cytostatic agents, i.e. drugs to kill or inhibit tumour cells in the treatment of cancer, targets delivery of the drug moiety to tumours, and intracellular accumulation therein, whereas systemic administration of these unconjugated drug agents may result in unacceptable levels of toxicity to normal cells (Xie et al (2006) Expert. Opin. Biol. Ther. 6(3):281-291; Kovtun et al (2006) Cancer Res. 66(6):3214-3121; Law et al (2006) Cancer Res. 66(4):2328-2337; Wu et al (2005) Nature Biotech. 23(9):1137-1145; Lambert J. (2005) Current Opin. in Pharmacol. 5:543-549; Hamann P. (2005) Expert Opin. Ther. Patents 15(9):1087-1103; Payne, G. (2003) Cancer Cell 3:207-212; Trail et al (2003) Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 52:328-337; Syrigos and Epenetos (1999) Anticancer Research 19:605-614).
CD25
The type I transmembrane protein CD25 is present on activated T- and B-cells, some thymocytes, myeloid precursors, and oligodendrocytes. On activated T-cells, it forms heterodimers with the beta- and gamma subunits (CD122 and CD132), thus comprising the high-affinity receptor for IL-2. This ligand represents a survival factor for activated T-cells, as removal of IL-2 leads to immediate death of these cells.
In case of B-cells, CD25 is physiologically expressed in early developmental stages of late pro-B and pre-B cells. Malignancies arising from this stage of B-cell differentiation may thus also express CD25. Mast cell lesions are also positive for CD25 which is thus considered as a key diagnostic criterion for determination of systemic mastocytosis. In Hodgkin lymphomas, CD25 is reported to be not expressed in Hodgkin-/Reed-Sternberg cells in nodular lymphocyte predominance Hodgkin lymphoma (NLPHL), whereas the same cell type expresses CD25 at varying levels in classical Hodgkin' lymphomas of mixed cellularity type. The general expression levels are reported to be lower than in tumor infiltrating lymphocytes (TILs), which may result in problems demonstrating CD25 tumor cells in these cases (Levi et al., Merz et al, 1995).
Expression of the target antigen has also been reported for several B- and T-cell-derived subtypes of non-Hodgkin-lymphomas, i.e. B-cell chronic lymphatic leukemia, hairy cell leukemia, small cell lymphocytic lymphoma/chronic lymphocytic leukemia as well as adult T-cell leukemia/lymphoma and anaplastic large cell lymphoma.
CD25 may be localised to the membrane, with some expression observed in the cytoplasm. Soluble CD25 may also be observed outside of cells, such as in serum.
Therapeutic Uses of Anti-CD25 ADCs
The efficacy of an Antibody Drug Conjugate comprising an anti-CD25 antibody (an anti-CD25-ADC) in the treatment of, for example, cancer has been established—see, for example, WO2014/057119, WO2016/083468, and WO2016/166341.
Research continues to further improve the efficacy, tolerability, and clinical utility of anti-CD25 ADCs. To this end, the present authors have identified clinically advantageous combination therapies in which an anti-CD25 ADC is administered in combination with at least one secondary agent.

Combination therapy with an anti-CD25 antibody-drug conjugate


A pedal assembly for electromechanical exercise or rehabilitation of a user is disclosed and can include pedals to engage appendages of a user. A spindle supports each pedal and has a spindle axis. A pedal arm assembly is located between the spindle and a rotational axle of the equipment. The pedal arm assembly is radially offset from the spindle axis to define a range of radial adjustability for the pedal relative to the rotational axle. The pedal arm assembly can include an electrically-actuated coupling assembly to adjust the radial position of the pedal in response to a control signal, and regulate motion of the user engaged with the pedals.

Improvement is desired in the design of adjustable rehabilitation and exercise devices. Adjustable rehabilitation and exercise devices are desired to customize rehabilitation and exercise to an individual. Some devices include pedals on opposite sides to engage a user. See, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 10,173,094, titled Adjustable Rehabilitation and Exercise Device, issued to Gomberg, et al., which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.
Accordingly, in one aspect, the disclosure provides an adjustable rehabilitation and exercise device having patient engagement members on opposite sides of the device, which are adjustably positionable relative to one another both radially and angularly.

System, method and apparatus for electrically actuated pedal for an exercise or rehabilitation machine


A controller for a power converter includes a current-sense device couplable in series with switched terminals of power switches of interleaved switching regulators and configured to produce a current-sense signal. The controller also includes an error amplifier configured to produce an error signal as a function of a characteristic of the power converter. The controller also includes a duty-cycle controller configured to sample the current-sense signal at mid-points of duty cycles of the power switches and regulate the characteristic as a function of the error signal and the current-sense signal.

A switched-mode power converter (also referred to as a "power converter") is a power supply or power processing circuit that converts an input voltage waveform into a specified output voltage waveform. A power factor correction ("PFC") power converter includes a power train with a PFC stage that is generally followed by a regulation and isolation stage. The power converter is coupled to a source of electrical power (an alternating current ("ac") power source) and provides a direct current ("dc") output voltage. The PFC stage receives a rectified version of the ac input voltage (from the ac power source) and provides a dc bus voltage. The regulation and isolation stage employs the bus voltage to provide the dc output voltage to a load. The power converter including the PFC stage and the regulation and isolation stage can be employed to construct an "ac adapter" to provide the dc output voltage to a notebook computer or the like from the ac power source.
Controllers associated with the power converter manage an operation thereof by controlling conduction periods of power switches employed therein. Generally, the controllers are coupled between an input and an output or coupled to terminals associated with internal characteristics such as an internal bus voltage of the power converter in a feedback loop configuration (also referred to as a "control loop" or "closed control loop").
A PFC power converter is frequently constructed with two interleaved boost switching regulators, which is a circuit configuration that is frequently employed to reduce input and output ripple currents and the size of filters that are needed to meet an electromagnetic interference requirement. Average current-mode control is also frequently employed to regulate a characteristic of the power converter, such as an internal bus voltage or output voltage thereof. Controlling an average value of a current in a boost switching regulator such as an average current in a boost inductor generally produces better harmonic distortion and power factor correction performance than controlling the peak value of a current therein.
However, conventional techniques to control an average value of a current in a PFC power converter formed with two interleaved boost switching regulators generally produces unequal currents in the two interleaved boost switching regulators. Unequal currents generate a higher level of input and output ripple currents, which degrades the electromagnetic interference performance of the PFC power converter.
Accordingly, what is needed in the art is a controller that produces substantially equal currents in a power train formed with two interleaved boost switching regulators to avoid the deficiencies in the prior art.

Controller including a common current-sense device for power switches of a power converter


The present invention provides a method and a means for evaluating atherosclerotic lesions by identifying a protein (marker protein) group, the expression level of which varies according to the progression of the atherosclerotic lesion, and using the proteins. Specifically, the present invention relates to a method for evaluating atherosclerotic lesions, comprising the steps of detecting a marker protein exhibiting an expression pattern (expression variation) characteristic at a specific disease stage of atherosclerotic lesions in a subject, and evaluating the atherosclerotic lesions in the subject based on the detection result.

Arteriosclerosis proceeds over a long period of time without subjective symptoms, and induces cardiac diseases such as severe myocardial infarction or cerebrovascular diseases such as cerebral infarction or cerebral hemorrhage. Arteriosclerosis progresses to result in the formation of atherosclerotic lesions (atheroma or plaque) within arterial blood vessels. Plaques include stable plaques rich in calcified fibrous tissue and unstable plaques rich in lipids or inflammatory cells, in which fibrous caps are thinned. Most acute atherosclerotic diseases such as myocardial infarction and brain infarction are induced by rupture of unstable plaques and thrombus formation. Therefore, it is important to appropriately evaluate and diagnose the formation and growth conditions of unstable plaques and the rupture risk thereof in acute atherosclerotic diseases. Arteriosclerosis is currently detected mainly by angiography, which involves evaluation of the degree of stenosis, but it is problematic because information concerning intravascular plaque formation or the properties thereof can barely be obtained. Moreover, angiography is highly invasive. Hence, a low-invasive method for detecting atherosclerotic lesions has been required.
Disease proteomics is a technique for exhaustively searching increases or decreases in protein levels that vary depending on specific diseases when compared with a healthy state, using a body fluid such as blood, saliva, or urine, or a tissue sample, as a material. Disease proteomics is a technique characterized by enabling simultaneous extraction and/or detection of a plurality of factors, the association of which with diseases is conventionally unknown. Application of multiple specimens to and increased sensitivity for a 2D electrophoresis method and measuring apparatuses such as protein microarrays and mass spectrometry have been realized. Thus, data analysis technology has been in place and is applied in searches for markers for various diseases including cancer, immunity disorders, infections, and the like (Non-patent document 1).
For example, methods for diagnosing arteriosclerosis or diseases associated therewith by using biochemical markers have been reported, wherein the blood levels of the biochemical markers vary as atherosclerotic lesions develop, (patent documents 1 and 2). However, further development of marker groups is desired in order to precisely diagnose atherosclerotic lesions.

Method for evaluating atherosclerotic lesion, and kit

National University Corporation Hokkaido University


A pellet having a convex shaped front includes a plurality of radially disposed surface slots. The concave shaped rear portion has a matching number of surface ribs that can be frictionally attached to the convex portion's slots. The pellet is constructed of a combination of medical compounds along with appropriate binders and other compounds that are pressed together under high pressure to produce a rigid mass capable of being propelled at high speeds and to pierce the skin of an animal or person where the compounds can be dissolved when contacting the internal liquid portion of the animal or person. The pellet can be loaded and propelled by a standard air rifle, gun, or pistol.

This invention relates generally to the field of administering medical chemicals, such as medical treatment, vaccines, tranquilizer, and other similar chemicals to soft tissue of unrestrained animals or sometimes in extreme cases humans.
Typical non-lethal remote delivery systems and methods capable of penetrating the skin of the targeted animal available to-date comprise a frangible projectile having a hollow tip containing a chemical encapsulated in a capsule, or a special projectile with an embedded syringe preloaded with the chemical. In some instances, a dart may be used to deliver the chemicals.
The remote delivery systems available to-date are also typically dangerous to the targeted animal, complicated, and expensive to manufacture.
The payload of remote delivery systems available to-date is typically not adaptable and cannot be configured in-situ, such as on a range, in a forest or similar situations.

System for remote administering of medical chemicals to unrestrained animals


A thermal mass flow meter includes a housing, a control module, a plurality of probes, a flow calculation circuit, and a heating module. The control module is installed in a containing space. The probes are connected to one terminal of the housing. The flow calculation circuit is connected to the control module, and has a plurality of circuit boards installed in the probes and a plurality of temperature sensing units connected to the circuit boards. The heating module is connected on one of the circuit boards, and connected to the control module. The control module controls the heating module to heat a working fluid in a pipeline; the flow calculation circuit senses the temperature inside the pipeline to acquire temperature change values, and transmits the temperature change values to the control module; and the control module measures the fluid velocity of the working fluid.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a flow meter, and more particularly to a thermal mass flow meter for measuring fluid velocity.
2. Description of Related Art
A thermal mass flow meter is usually used to measure the fluid velocity in the pipeline, thus judging whether the fluid flows or not. In general, multiple probes of the thermal mass flow meter are arranged in the pipeline when the thermal mass flow meter is assembled to the pipeline. In particular, two resistors and two thermal resistors are electrically connected to the Wheatstone bridge circuit. Also, the two thermal resistors are installed in one of the probes and the two resistors are installed outside the thermal mass flow meter, and a heating module is installed in another of the probes.
The thermal mass flow meter is used to measure the fluid velocity in the pipeline according to the relationship of the fluid velocity is inversely proportional to the temperature difference. Also, the thermal mass flow meter provides a control unit to control heating units installed in the probes to heat the fluid in the pipeline. When the Wheatstone bridge circuit is balanced because of the unchanged resistance values, there is no current through the control unit. That is, it indicates that the fluid velocity of the fluid is normal. However, the corresponding resistance values of the two thermal resistors would be changed to cause the current variation when the increased temperature by heating the heating unit is stagnated around the probes. After the current variation is transmitted to the control unit, the fluid velocity of the fluid can be measured according to the sensed temperature values because the fluid velocity is inversely proportional to the temperature.
Although the thermal mass flow meter can be used to measure the fluid velocity of the fluid in the pipeline, the measured results from the two resistors installed outside the thermal mass flow meter would be not completely correct due to the influence of the external ambient temperature.


An attachment mechanism for fastening an expansion card includes a bracket and a bar. The bracket is fastened to a first end of the expansion card. The bar abuts a side of the expansion card adjoining the first end, and is fastened to both of the first end of the expansion card and a second end of the expansion card opposite to the first end.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to an attachment mechanism for fastening an expansion card to an enclosure.
2. Description of Related Art
An expansion card contains a number of electronic components to extend functions. Accordingly, the expansion card becomes heavy. When an end of the expansion card is fastened to an enclosure, an opposite end of the expansion card is easily deformed.

Attachment mechanism for fastening expansion card


A holographic recording apparatus includes first and second light sources for respectively generating first and second light beams. A mask is located in front of a hologram recording material and has an aperture. Interference fringes are recorded in a hologram cell on the hologram recording material corresponding to the aperture. A movement mechanism supports the hologram recording material masked by the mask and relatively moves the hologram recording material with respect to the mask in predetermined directions so that an interference pattern is formed in an area on the hologram recording material. A spatial frequency changing mechanism changes incident angles of the first and second light beams with respect to the mask.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a holographic recording apparatus for recording interference fringes on a hologram recording material.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Recently, with the spread of laser beam printers, bar-code readers and the like, there has been a considerable demand for devices utilizing optical technology. Holographic optical elements are very attractive because they are suitable for mass production with low cost, and are capable of easily producing special aberration waves, as compared with optical lenses. A holographic optical element is a diffraction grating having a periodic structure formed on a hologram recording material. It is possible to make holographic optical elements have various optical characteristics by adjusting, for example, spatial frequencies, that is, by adjusting intervals between fringes.
Two methods are known which produce holographic optical elements having fringe patterns on a hologram recording material. A first conventional production method utilizes interference of two or more light beams. The first method is called a holographic exposure method. A second conventional production method uses an electron or laser beam exposure apparatus in which interference fringes are directly formed on a hologram recording material in accordance with phases calculated by a computer beforehand. The above second method is called a computer generated hologram method.
The holographic exposure method is capable of producing a large-area hologram having a high spatial frequency in a short time. However, it is very difficult to produce a holographic optical element having desired interference fringes. The computer generated hologram method is capable of forming desired fringe patterns, but is not capable of producing interference patterns having high spatial frequencies. For example, the holographic exposure method is capable of producing an interference pattern having a spatial frequency of 1000-2000 /mm, while the computer generated hologram method has an ability to produce an interference pattern having a spatial frequency between 100 and a few hundred per millimeter. In order to obtain an interference pattern having a high spatial frequency, it is necessary to scale down an interference pattern formed by the computer generated hologram method. Further, the computer generated hologram method cannot form a large hologram area. A maximum hologram area is equal to a few square millimeters. Furthermore, it takes a long time to draw interference patterns by the computer generated hologram method.

Holographic recording apparatus and holographic optical element


There is disclosed a device for feeding a number of stacked documents accurately one by one into a machine such as a copy machine or facsimile including a table for loading the stacked documents, a pick-up roll for picking up the lowermost document of the stacked documents, and a pick-up rubber for cooperating with the pick-up roll so as to only convey the lowermost document into the machine. The free end portion of the pick-up rubber is pressed against a portion of the surface of the pick-up roll by a compression spring via a pressure plate. There are at least one pair of protrusions each positioned on one end portion of the circumferential surface of the pick-up roll and symmetrically facing each other along a line parallel with the axis of the pick-up roll.

The present invention generally concerns a paper feeder for use in an office automation (O/A) system such as a copying machine or a facsimile system and, more particularly, a device for feeding stacked documents accurately one by one.
FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional document feeding device for a facsimile, the device comprises a table 11 for loading the stacked documents, 20 a pick-up roll 12 for picking up the lowermost document of the stacked documents, and a pick-up rubber 14 for cooperating with the pick-up roll 12 so, as to only convey the lowermost document into the facsimile. The free end portion of the pick-up rubber 14 is pressed against a portion of the surface of the pick-up roll 12 by a compression spring 13 via a pressure plate 16. Under the pressure plate 16 is fixedly mounted plate spring 15, whose end portion is smoothly curved up-wardly. The underside of the curved portion of the plate spring 15 contacts the circumferential surface of the pick-up roll 12 at a point thereof.
In feeding the documents, the stacked documents on the table 11 approach separating position B, the approach is sensed by a sensing device (not shown), and thus, the pick-up roll 12 is driven to convey the lowermost document of the stacked documents. The leading end of the conveyed document approaches the separating position B after passing under the plate spring 15, and therefore, the frictional force between the document and the surface of the pick-up roll 12 is increased over that when the document simply contacts the separating position B. Thus, as the contact are between the document and the pick-up roll 12 is increased so as to increase the frictional force, the paper feeder correspondingly ensures the document conveying. In this case, the front surface of the document contacts the pick-up roll 12, while the back surface of the document contacts the pick-up rubber 14. Thus, the front surface of the document contacts the pick-up roll 12 from position A, while the back surface of the document contacts the pick-up rubber 14 from position B. Consequently, the frictional force between the document and the pick-up roll 12 becomes greater than that between the document and the pick-up rubber 14, so that the document just contacting the pick-up roll 12 may be conveyed forwardly, and the remaining documents are prevented from being conveyed just before the separating position B.
When the leading end of the document passing the separating position B passes under the plate spring 15, the contact between the document and the pick-up roll 12 is more improved, thereby more ensuring the document conveying. Thus, the documents are sequentially conveyed one by one by the rotation of the pick-up roll 12.
In such a conventional document feeding device, the document feeding condition is influenced by the kind, size and number of the documents, and the frictional force between the documents and the pick-up rubber 14 is influenced by the temperature and humidity of the surrounding atmosphere, so that the document conveying frequently experiences poor conditions Moreover, long use of the pick-up roll 12 results in changes in the frictional coefficient of the roll and the hardness of the roll material, thereby deteriorating the document feeding

Device for feeding paper into a facsimile system, copy machine or other device


A non-volatile memory device comprises a plurality of bit lines extending in a first direction, a plurality of word lines extending in a second direction substantially perpendicular to the first direction, a plurality of memory cells provided respectively so as to correspond to the positions of the intersections between the plurality of bit lines and the plurality of word lines, a plurality of source lines corresponding to a plurality of memory cells which are connected to a same bit line, a current source capable of supplying the constant current to a selected memory cell and the corresponding bit line and a voltage control circuit which keeps a voltage of a selected bit line equal to or higher than a predetermined voltage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a non-volatile memory device and an inspection method for a non-volatile memory device.
2. Description of the Related Art
Flash memories and EEPROMs, (hereafter, simply called "memory cells") are known as non-volatile memory devices. Data stored in the non-volatile memory is not deleted even if the power supply is turned off, provided that it is not erased or overwritten.
Data is written by means of channel hot electrons. Channel hot electrons are generated when a predetermined constant current flows between the source and drain of memory cell. FIG. 1 is a circuit diagram partly showing the structure of a conventional non-volatile memory device. This non-volatile memory device comprises a current supply circuit 106, a current supply circuit 107 (including a switch 124), a plurality of memory cells 1151, 1152 (although only two are illustrated in the drawing), a plurality of bit lines 117 (although only one is illustrated in the drawing), a plurality of word lines 1181, 1182 (although only two are illustrated in the drawing), and a plurality of source lines 119 (although only one is illustrated in the drawing). A memory cell array 112 is described as an example. In the memory cell array 112, memory cells 1151 and 1152 shares the source line 119.
The bit lines 117 extend in the Y direction (first direction) The word lines 1181, 1182 extend in the X direction (second direction) which is substantially perpendicular to the Y direction (first direction).
Memory cells 1151 and 1152 are disposed respectively at the positions where the plurality of bit lines 117 and the plurality of word lines 118 intersect with each other. In the memory cells 115, data is written by means of channel hot electrons. Channel hot electrons are generated when a predetermined constant current flows between the source and drain of memory cell 1151 and 1152. The non-volatile memory device illustrated in FIG. 1 is a split gate type non-volatile memory device. The control gate of this memory is connected to the word line 118, the source, to the source line 119, and the drain, to the bit line 117.
The current supply circuit 106 is able to supply a constant current, which is substantially uniform, to the memory cells 1151 and 1152 and its corresponding bit line 117. The current supply circuit 107 supplies a current to the bit line 117, via the switch 124.
The operation of writing data to this memory cell 1151 is described below.
Firstly, a selected bit line 117s, a selected word line 1181s and a selected source line 119s are selected respectively among the plurality of bit lines 117, the plurality of word lines 118 and the plurality of source lines. A selected cell 1151s is selected among the plurality of memory cells, by means of the selected bit line 117s and the selected word line 1181s. Next, a voltage VSW (source voltage) is applied to the selected source line 119s, a voltage VWW (gate voltage) is applied to the selected word line 1181s. The current supply circuit 106 supplies a predetermined constant current from the selected source line 119s to the selected bit line 117s via the source of the selected cell 1151s and the drain of the selected cell. In this case, the voltage VBW of the selected bit line (namely, the drain voltage), is VWW−Vth, where Vth is the threshold voltage of the selected memory cell 1151s. When the constant current flows in the selected memory cell 1151s, channel hot electrons are generated. Data is written to the memory cell 115s by injecting these channel hot electrons to the floating gate of the cell 1151s.
The data is read out from the memory cell 115 as described below.
Firstly, a selected bit line 117s and a selected word line 1181s are selected respectively among the plurality of bit lines 117 and the plurality of word lines 118. The plurality of source lines 119 are fixed to 0V and are not selected. A selected cell 1151s is selected among the plurality of memory cells on the basis of the selected bit line 117s and the selected word line 1181s. Next, a voltage VWR (gate voltage) is applied to the selected word line 1181, and a voltage VBR (drain voltage) is applied to the selected bit line 117s. A sense amplifier (not illustrated) senses the current that flows in the path from the selected bit line 117s, to the drain of the selected cell 1151s, the source of the selected cell 1151s, and the corresponding source line 119s (0V). Since the current varies depending on the electric charge (stored data) accumulated in the floating gate, then it is therefore possible to read out the data.
When a write operation is performed in the memory cell 1151s described above, if the threshold voltage Vth is high, then the drain voltage of the memory cell 1151s (=voltage of bit line 117, VBW=VWW−Vth) becomes low. In this case, the difference between the source voltage of the memory cell 1152 (=voltage of source line 119, VSR=fixed value) and the drain voltage becomes high, and it becomes easier for channel hot electrons to be generated in the memory cell 1152. Thereby, non intentional writing (writing disturb) may be caused.
Therefore, it is desirable to screen a memory cell which has high threshold voltage Vth such as 1151s. It is required that the reliability of the memory cell is improved.
Related technology for a non-volatile memory device is disclosed in Japanese Patent No. 3198998.
This non-volatile memory device comprises a first and second voltage supply circuits. The first voltage supply circuits apply a first voltage to the non-selected memory cells. The second voltage supply circuits apply a second voltage to the selected memory cells. The timing of applying first voltage and second voltage is controlled.
Related technology for a non-volatile memory device is also disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2004-14052.
This memory device is provided with a memory cell array in which memory cell units are arranged. In this memory device, a ground potential is given to a word line being adjacent to the word line to be written after a potential being larger than 0V is given, and a writing potential is given to the word line to be written.

Non-volatile memory device and inspection method for non-volatile memory device


On a display (100) end, maker codes and device codes are read from all STBs (110˜112) connected to the display (100) to create a connected-device table. When a user presses a button on a remote controller, the display receives a remote control code outputted from the remote controller, searches the connected-device table for a maker code and a device code that match the maker code and the device code included in the remote control code, controls a selector (105) so that a reception interface that is connected to an STB whose maker code and device code match those included in the remote control code is connected to a display section (102), thereby to display AV data transmitted from the STB on the display section (102).

FIG. 37 shows the construction of a conventional AV switcher (refer to Japanese Published Patent Application No. Hei.5-83646).
In FIG. 37, reference numeral 1 denotes an AV switcher, numeral 2 denotes a key operation unit, numeral 3 denotes a light-receptive unit for receiving an optical remote control signal, numeral 4 denotes a waveform shaping circuit, numeral 5 denotes an EEPROM for holding the remote control signal, numeral 6 denotes a CPU, numerals 7˜10 denote N pieces of light-emitting units for converting the remote control signals outputted from the CPU 6 into infrared remote control signals of predetermined levels, respectively, and numerals 11˜14 denote output terminals for optical fiber cables which are provided correspondingly to the respective light-emitting units 7˜10. Further, reference numerals 15˜18 denote optical fiber cables for transmitting the infrared rays to light-receptive units of plural AV devices (not shown), numerals 19˜21 denote signal (video/audio) input terminals, numeral 22 denotes a switching circuit for outputting a required signal according to a switching signal 23 supplied from the CPU 6, numeral 24 denotes an output terminal for outputting the signal selected by the switching circuit 22, and numeral 26 denotes a remote controller corresponding to one of the AV devices constituting this system.
In this prior art, when a VTR is connected to the terminal 19, the switching circuit 22 is placed at a position A by manual operation to connect a signal from the VTR to the output terminal 24. Further, the user must operate the remote controller aiming at the AV switcher 1.
In the prior art, there is an inconvenience that, in the system construction where the plural AV devices are connected to the display via the AV switcher, the user must operate the remote controller corresponding to one of the AV devices to manually select the AV device while aiming the remote controller at the AV switcher. On the other hand, the user is apt to operate the remote controller of the AV device connected to the display while aiming the remote controller at the display. Therefore, when the AV device and the display are placed apart from each other, remote control does not effectively work if the user operates the remote controller aiming at the display.


A manufacturing method for a semiconductor device, including: loading a wafer into a reaction chamber; placing the wafer on a push-up shaft moved up; preheating the wafer under controlling an in-plane temperature distribution of the wafer to be a recess state under a state of placing the wafer on the push-up shaft moved up; lowering the push-up shaft with the wafer kept in the recess state to hold the wafer on a wafer holding member; heating the wafer to a predetermined temperature; rotating the wafer; and supplying a process gas onto the wafer.

The present invention relates to a manufacturing method and a manufacturing apparatus for a semiconductor device, used, for example, to perform film formation by supplying a reaction gas to a front face of a semiconductor wafer while heating the semiconductor wafer from a rear face thereof.
In recent years, a growing demand for cost reduction and higher performance of a semiconductor device requires high productivity in a film formation process of a wafer as well as high quality such as improvement in film thickness uniformity.
To meet such requirement, there has been used a technique of forming a film using a single wafer epitaxial film forming apparatus by supplying a process gas while rotating a wafer at a high speed of, for example, at least 900 rpm and heating the wafer from a rear face thereof using a heater.
In such a rear-face heating type, the following problem occurs. In loading a wafer under a room temperature state into a reaction chamber previously heated to, for example, approximately 700° C. and transferring the wafer onto a member, cooling of the central member drops the temperature of the central portion of the wafer, which results in uneven temperature. Accordingly, there has been proposed a technique of additionally heating the central member, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2002-43302 ([0028] and [0029], etc.).

Manufacturing method for semiconductor device


A coated abrasive disc includes a disc backing and an abrasive layer disposed thereon. The abrasive layer comprises abrasive elements secured to a major surface of the disc backing by at least one binder material. The abrasive elements are disposed at contiguous intersections of horizontal and vertical lines of a rectangular grid pattern. Each abrasive element has two triangular abrasive platelets, each having respective top and bottom surfaces connected to each other, and separated by, three sidewalls. On a respective basis, one sidewall of the triangular abrasive platelets is disposed facing and proximate to the disc backing. A first portion of the abrasive elements is arranged in alternating first rows wherein the triangular abrasive platelets are disposed lengthwise aligned with the vertical lines. A second portion of the abrasive elements is arranged in alternating second rows wherein the triangular abrasive platelets are disposed lengthwise aligned with the horizontal lines. The first and second rows repeatedly alternate along the vertical lines. Methods of making and using the coated abrasive disc are also disclosed.

Coated abrasive discs made from triangular abrasive platelets are useful for abrading, finishing, or grinding a wide variety of materials and surfaces in the manufacturing of goods. In particular, finishing of welding beads (e.g., especially mild steel welds), flash, gates, and risers off castings by off-hand abrading with a handheld right-angle grinder is an important application for coated abrasive discs. In view of the above, there continues to be a need for improving the cost, performance, and/or life of the coated abrasive discs.
Coated abrasive articles having rotationally aligned triangular abrasive platelets are disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 9,776,302 (Keipert). The coated abrasive articles have a plurality of triangular abrasive platelets each having a surface feature. The plurality of triangular abrasive platelets is attached to a flexible backing by a make coat comprising a resinous adhesive forming an abrasive layer. The surface features have a specified Z-axis rotational orientation that occurs more frequently in the abrasive layer than would occur by a random Z-axis rotational orientation of the surface feature.

Coated abrasive disc and methods of making and using the same


A threaded spindle (11), having a drive part (20), which has a longitudinal axis (A) and is mounted in a first journal (70), and having a threaded part (30), which has a longitudinal axis (B), and having a threaded nut (50), which is mounted in a second journal (80a; 80b) and in which the threaded part (30) is guided. The drive part (20) and the threaded part (30) are formed as separate parts and are each provided with at least one coupling element (25, 55), which are connected to each other in an articulated manner by plugging together. An offset of the longitudinal axes (A, B) can be compensated in this manner. The two-part threaded spindle (11) forms a threaded drive with the threaded nut (50) thereof, which can for example be used in a parking brake of a vehicle braking system.

The invention relates to a threaded spindle with a drive part, which has a longitudinal axis and is mounted by a first journal, and having a threaded part, which likewise has a longitudinal axis, and having a threaded nut, which is mounted to a second journal and in which the threaded part is guided.
Such a threaded spindle with a threaded nut is commonly embodied in prior art as a ball screw, which may be used in the field of flap and door opening systems and primarily in the field of vehicles. In vehicles it can be used, for example in the vehicle brakes. Here, the drive part is set in motion with the help of an electric motor. This results in a longitudinal motion of the threaded nut being generated, which operates a brake piston and this way acts as the locking device for a vehicle brake. The threaded part contacts via balls the threaded nut. In the spindle/ball journal arrangement known from the document DE 101 50 803 A1, thus in a ball screw drive, a jamming may occur of the threaded nut and the threaded spindle when the threaded nut is moved back. In order to prevent this it is known from the document WO 99/45292 A1 to provide the threaded nut with a projection at its face adjacent to the drive part, which can be made to contact a stop embodied at the drive part, acting in the circumferential direction, and thus can be brought to a certain alignment in reference to the thread of the threaded spindle.
Although in FIGS. 2 and 3 the document U.S. Pat. No. 5,711,709 shows a threaded spindle with a drive part, which has a longitudinal axis, and shows a threaded part, which also has a longitudinal axis, and with a threaded nut in which the threaded part is guided, with the drive part and the threaded part being embodied as separate parts, here, which are connected to each other in an articulate fashion by way of plugging together, so that a radial mutual off-set or an inclination of the longitudinal axes of the drive part and the threaded part can be compensated, in spite thereof it cannot be excluded here that the ball drive jams during operation.
The primary problem in such ball drives is namely given such that in a faulty alignment of the two journals or in case of a distortion of the threaded spindle, thus a radial mutual off-set or incline of the longitudinal axes of the drive part and the threaded part, the ball drive may jam during operation and thus may be hindered from fulfilling its intended purpose, they are subject to considerably higher wear and tear, and may show a worsened effectiveness.


Methods, systems, and apparatus, including computer programs encoded on computer storage medium, to facilitate interception of messages that include offensive content. In one aspect, a method includes actions of receiving input on a user device that includes message content, determining, on the user device, whether the message content includes offensive content, and in response to determining, on the user device, that the message content includes offensive content, generating an alert message for display on the user device that provides an indication that the message includes offensive content.

The instant connectivity provided by network enabled mobile devices has provided a person with a network enabled mobile device with the opportunity to instantly share the person's thoughts and feelings with any other person with a network enabled mobile device. In some instances, this instant connectivity may result in a person transmitting a message in an emotional state that may skew the person's intended message.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Detecting messages with offensive content


The present invention relates to a relocation method, system and network element for changing a serving radio resource control entity After an initial operating state in which a user equipment (30) has radio links with a serving network element (20) and a drift network element (21) supporting said serving network element (20) with a wireless connection, the serving network element (20) transmits a relocation-specific information to a target network element (22). Based on the relocation-specific information, the target network element (22) establishes a link to the drift network element (21), such that the drift network element (21) can receive user traffic from both the serving network element (20) and the target network element (20). Then, the radio resource control is relocated to the target network element (20). The relocation-specific information may comprise an identifier or a list of identifiers of drift network elements. Thus, existing soft handover techniques can be enhanced by allowing a user plane connection to be maintained with drift network elements. Thereby, any amount of drift network elements can be kept, with improved radio performance as a consequence.

As the Internet has grown in popularity and mobile Internet for text-based information and picture messaging is already a reality, the industry has turned its focus on engineering the most cost efficient network for more demanding multimedia services. IP-based networks are considered by many the best way forward and networking technology research and development is by and large centered around IP-technologies.
The development of an IP-based radio access network will bring together a number of radio access network technologies including second generation (2G), third generation (3G) and Wireless Local Area Networks (WLANs). Network operators are shifting from a circuit-switched to a packet-switched technology, while IP-based networks need to expand radio access rapidly, flexibly and cost efficiently.
IP-based radio access networks can be introduced as a smooth evolution from existing GSM (Global System for Mobile communications), EDGE (Enhanced Data Rates for GSM Evolution) and WCDMA (Wideband Code Division Multiple Access) networks, Key benefits of such IP-based radio access networks are distributed architecture with a separation of user and control planes (offering infinite scalability and no bottlenecks), integration of different radio interface technologies into a single radio access network, common radio resource management for optimum use of radio resources, quality of service (QoS) control, and network automation, open interfaces for multi-vendor networks, and compatibility to existing transmission networks.
In order to obtain the most efficient radio access network architecture, some functionality is suggested to be relocated between network elements. The IP-based radio access network (IP RAN) architecture introduces large radio access network gateways between the radio access network and the core Network. In IP RAN, the functions of UTRAN's Radio Network Controller (RNC) is distributed to other entities of the network. The macrodiversity combiners are no longer located in the RNCs. Meanwhile the macrodiversity combining is located in IP base transceiver stations (IP BTS) in the IP RAN. Also the radio resource control (RRC) is managed in the IP BTSs. In other words, some radio network controller functionality is located in the base transceiver stations to enable soft handover and associated signaling to happen along the shortest path, producing minimum delay and signaling load to those parts of the networks where this is not necessary.
However, current relocation scenarios are designed for radio resource control located in radio network controller (RNC) elements which supervise numerous base transceiver stations (BTSs). When RRC is moved down to the base transceiver station level, the relocation procedure will become much more frequent because the number of BTSs is much greater than the RNCs.
Hence, in order to maintain network performance, some limitations of the current relocation procedure must be removed. In particular, the current RNC-based soft handover, as defined in the 3GPP (Third Generation Partnership Project) specification TR 25.832 (Release '99), is allowed only when the radio link of the source RNC is removed. The relocation phase, which corresponds to a change of the instance for interconnection between a radio resource control network element and a core network or an access gateway of a radio access network, is only supported where all radio links are in a single Drift Radio Network Subsystem (DRNS) and where the Drift Radio Network Controller (DRNC) is the target RNC. In general, relocation procedures are the same for both cases involving the core network and involving the RAN access server.
Thus, multiple D-RNCs or D-BTSs can be established only after the relocation has taken place, and the radio performance cannot be optimized when RRC is moved down to a "lower" network level (e.g. BTS level),

Relocation method, system and network element


A chain with a seal includes an elastic seal member, wherein the elastic seal member is held any one of an outer plate or an inner plate of the chain. In this way the elastic seal ember is prevented from falling off of the plate. Additionally the elastic seal member is held n either one of the inner plate or the outer plate so as to cover the plate in order to prevent the elastic seal member from falling off of the plate.

For example, FIG. 8 shows such a conventional chain with a seal as is disclosed in Japanese Utility Model Laid Open No. 134552/75, in which a rubber seal 4 is attached to an inside surface 3A of an outer plate 3 which is opposed to an inner plate 2 on a connection pin 1 of the chain, and an annular sealing projection 4A is projected from the rubber seal 4 so as to abut an outside surface 2A of the inner plate 2 opposed to the outer plate 3 and in a surrounding relation to the connection pin 1.
In the prior art referred to above, since the rubber seal 4 is attached to and held by only the inside surface 3A of the outer plate which surface is a flat surface, there is a fear that the rubber seal 4 may peel and fall off the flat surface of the outer plate 3 due to a difference in the thermal expansion coefficient between the outer plate and the rubber seal.
Once the rubber seal 4 comes off the outer plate 3, the rubber seal performs peristaltic movements due to a relative bending motion of the inner plate 2 and the outer plate 3 around the connection pin 1 and cannot be held in place. Consequently, not only the sealability of the rubber seal is deteriorated but also there may occur accidents of the rubber seal such as damage or destruction.

Chain having seal with annular sealing projection


Apparatus for power transmission and for inductive communication with a track or rail-guided moving object, with a power transmission line which extends along an envisaged path of movement of the object—with which a current collector can make contact—for supplying power to moving loads, a separate data line, at least one communication inductance on the object coupleable magnetically to the data line, and with a communication device which is connected to the communication inductance. The communication device has a modem which operates on the basis of an orthogonal frequency-division multiplexing method at a data rate of at least 50 MBit/s. One end of the data line is connected to a communication device connected to a central control unit and containing a modem of the same type as the communication device in the moving object.

A device for inductive power supply for moving objects, which also enables communication between the moving object and a central control unit, is known from DE 102 16 422 A1. In parallel to a conductor loop positioned along an envisioned movement path of the object, via which electrical energy can be transmitted to the object by inductive coupling to a collector arranged on the object, a data line is laid, via which the data signals can be transmitted, likewise by inductive coupling, to a different collector arranged on the object, to or from a transceiving device arranged on the vehicle. Only a frequency band in the range of 1 MHz and a data rate in the range of 9600 baud, but without more precise information, are specified for data transmission in the above-mentioned document.
WO 03/005380 A2 shows details of the combination of a conductor loop used for inductive transmission of energy to a moving load with a data line, including the integration of the two in a special cable. Frequency shift keying (FSK) is proposed there for modulating the data signal, and 10-150 kbit/s is mentioned as a general value for the range of transmission rates envisioned.
In contrast to this prior art, the transmission rate requirements today for communication between automatic transport vehicles and a central control unit, or between such vehicles, are orders of magnitude greater. There have been attempts to use local wireless networks (WLAN) according to IEEE Standard 802.11, for example, to meet these requirements. Problems in this case are, among others, gap-free coverage of the movement range of the vehicles, the electromagnetic interference level caused by various types of machinery in industrial plants, and the security of the communication relative to external noise or tampering.
Another known approach is the placement of a slotted microwave waveguide, into which respective antennas connected to the vehicles protrude, alongside the envisioned movement path of the vehicles. The problems connected with WLAN can indeed be avoided in this way, but this is purchased with a relatively high expense in the mechanical structure of the communications system, because a microwave waveguide has a rigid shape and the antenna must be precisely guided in the slot of the waveguide.
One aspect of the invention therefore addresses the problem of specifying a cost-effective and powerful solution for power transmission to and inductive communication with a track-bound or rail-bound moving object.