An electron emitting device is provided for use in a flat display, an electron beam drawing apparatus, a CRT display and so on. The electron emitting device comprises a first layer having a first bandgap, a second layer formed on the first layer and having the first bandgap, a third layer formed on the second layer and having a second bandgap, which is narrower than the first bandgap, and a fourth layer formed on the third layer and having an electron emitting surface. According to this structure, a high electron emission efficiency can be obtained.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a solid electron emitting device having an NPN transistor structure and applicable to a flat display, an electron beam drawing apparatus or a CRT display, and more particularly to a solid electron emitting device having improved emission efficiency.
2. Description of Related Art
A typical electron emitting device is disclosed in J. Vac. Scv. Techonol. B4(1), 1986, P105. FIG. 4 shows an energy band of an NPN transistor structure disclosed therein. In this structure, electrons are injected from an emitter into a base region and some of the electrons passing through an extremely thin base are changed into thermoelectrons by an electric field between the base and a collector. Those electrons increase in kinetic energy, thereby being emitted into a vacuum.
However, in the above conventional art, since sufficient kinetic energy cannot be given to the electrons by only the electric field between the base and the collector, it is difficult to emit the electrons into the vacuum. An energy band of a device attempting to solve the above problem is shown in FIG. 5. Such a device aims to join semiconductors having different bandgaps between an emitter and a base and to form a heterojunction, so as to give kinetic energy to electrons with the use of the discontinuous width .DELTA.Ec of a band at the junction. However, according to this structure, since the heterojunction is formed in a depletion layer between the emitter and the base, .DELTA.Ec is smaller than .DELTA.Ec formed outside of the depletion layer, and thereby the emission efficiency of the electrons is low.

Electron emitting device, electron emitting apparatus and electron beam drawing apparatus


A chassis for endless track-type vehicles has on both sides thereof pairs of support beams which extend parallel to each other and project horizontally from the chassis. Crawler track supports are mounted on the support beams. The crawler track supports are slidably mounted relative to the support beams in order to change the width of the vehicle. At the free outer end of each support beam are provided arms which are swingable about vertical axes. The circumferential contour or width of the arms corresponds in an upper and/or lower portion thereof to that of the support beam. The arms can be swung into a position in which they extend in the same direction as the support beams. In this position, the arms can be locked relative to the support beam. The swinging angle of the arms is approximately 90.degree..

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a chassis for endless track-type vehicles with superstructures for implements and/or tools. At least a pair of essentially horizontally cantilevering support beams are provided on both sides of the chassis. The support beams extend parallel to each other and crawler track supports are slid onto the support beams. The crawler track supports are mounted so as to be slidable relative to the support beams in order to change the width of the endless track-type vehicle.
2. Description of the Related Art
Chassis for endless track-type vehicles are known in various shapes and configurations. The superstructures are single-piece or multiple-piece jibs on which may be arranged excavating tools or the jibs are used together with lifting tools or the like. However, the type of superstructure for the vehicle is not significant in connection with the present invention and, therefore, will not be discussed in detail hereinbelow.
The chassis for endless track-type vehicles have substantial widths which depend on the load-bearing capability of the superstructure. Traffic regulations concerning these types of vehicles usually provide that certain widths may not be exceeded when the chassis of the endless track-type vehicle is to be transported on a flat-bed truck or trailer from one location to another on public roadways. Otherwise, it would become necessary to carry out special transports with escort vehicles which are complicated and expensive and require permits. On the other hand, during operation of such endless track-type vehicles which requires substantial operating forces by the implements mounted on the vehicle, it is desirable that the base area of the vehicle is as large as possible, so that a high tilting moment of the entire arrangement can be achieved.
In order to take into account the contradictory requirements described above, chassis of the above-described type were designed and manufactured in such a way that the chassis could be adjusted to change the width of the caterpillar-type vehicle. For this purpose, the support beams which support the crawler track supports are constructed as longitudinally adjustable telescopic members. However, the telescopic members are of complicated construction, while still only permitting an extension of the crawler track support to a limited extent.

ECCON, Engineering, Computer, Consulting Gesellschaft m.b.H.


A recording and reproducing apparatus of this disclosure includes, reader writer 5 which acquires magazine identifying information and capacity information from RF tag 13 provided with magazine, information storage unit 6 which stores contents information recorded on optical discs 12 and the magazine identifying information and the capacity information acquired by the information acquiring unit 5, information comparing unit 7 which compares the capacity information acquired by reader writer 5 and the capacity information stored in information storage unit 6. When two pieces of the capacity information compared by information comparing unit 7 match, the contents information stored in information storage unit 6 is displayed on display unit 9. When two pieces of the capacity information compared by information comparing unit 7 are different, the contents information is read out from optical discs 12 by controlling drive 4, and the read-out contents information is displayed on display unit 9.

Conventionally, as to this type of recording and reproducing apparatus, the apparatus is known that is disclosed, for example, in Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-302135).
Patent Document 1 discloses an optical disc having an IC tag to store medium information including a medium identifier uniquely assigned to the optical disc. Patent Document 1 discloses a recording and reproducing apparatus having a medium information acquiring unit which acquires the medium identifier from the medium information stored in the IC tag, a contents list storage unit which stores the contents information stored in the optical disc, correlated to the medium identifier, a searching unit which searches for the contents information corresponding to the medium identifier acquired by the medium information acquiring unit from the contents list storage unit, and a display controller which causes a display unit to display results of searching by the searching unit.
The recording and reproducing apparatus of Patent Document 1 makes it possible to refer to the contents information stored in an optical disc by causing the medium information acquiring unit to acquire the medium identifier stored in the IC tag, without inserting the optical disc into a drive (device which performs recording or reproduction to or from optical disc).
Patent Document
Patent Document 1: Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2005-302135

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Methods for selecting and treating patients with active Systemic Lupus Erythematosus (SLE) that are predicted to have an increased likelihood of having a positive response to a treatment with a safe and effective amount of an anti-IL-12/IL-23p40 antibody or an anti-IL-23 antibody, e.g., informs on what patients to treat with the anti-IL-12/IL-23p40 antibody ustekinumab.

Interleukin (IL)-12 is a secreted heterodimeric cytokine comprised of 2 disulfide-linked glycosylated protein subunits, designated p35 and p40 for their approximate molecular weights. IL-12 is produced primarily by antigen-presenting cells and drives cell-mediated immunity by binding to a two-chain receptor complex that is expressed on the surface of T cells or natural killer (NK) cells. The IL-12 receptor beta-1 (IL-12Rβ1) chain binds to the p40 subunit of IL-12, providing the primary interaction between IL-12 and its receptor. However, it is IL-12p35 ligation of the second receptor chain, IL-12Rβ2, that confers intracellular signaling (e.g. STAT4 phosphorylation) and activation of the receptor-bearing cell (Presky et al, 1996). IL-12 signaling concurrent with antigen presentation is thought to invoke T cell differentiation towards the T helper 1 (Th1) phenotype, characterized by interferon gamma (IFNγ) production (Trinchieri, 2003). Th1 cells are believed to promote immunity to some intracellular pathogens, generate complement-fixing antibody isotypes, and contribute to tumor immunosurveillance. Thus, IL-12 is thought to be a significant component to host defense immune mechanisms.
It was discovered that the p40 protein subunit of IL-12 can also associate with a separate protein subunit, designated p19, to form a novel cytokine, IL-23 (Oppman et al, 2000). IL-23 also signals through a two-chain receptor complex. Since the p40 subunit is shared between IL-12 and IL-23, it follows that the IL-12101 chain is also shared between IL-12 and IL-23. However, it is the IL-23p19 ligation of the second component of the IL-23 receptor complex, IL-23R, that confers IL-23 specific intracellular signaling (e.g., STAT3 phosphorylation) and subsequent IL-17 production by T cells (Parham et al, 2002; Aggarwal et al. 2003). Recent studies have demonstrated that the biological functions of IL-23 are distinct from those of IL-12, despite the structural similarity between the two cytokines (Langrish et al, 2005).
Abnormal regulation of IL-12 and Th1 cell populations has been associated with many immune-mediated diseases since neutralization of IL-12 by antibodies is effective in treating animal models of psoriasis, multiple sclerosis (MS), rheumatoid arthritis, inflammatory bowel disease, insulin-dependent (type 1) diabetes mellitus, and uveitis (Leonard et al, 1995; Hong et al, 1999; Malfait et al, 1998; Davidson et al, 1998). IL-12 has also been shown to play a critical role in the pathogenesis of SLE in two independent mouse models of systemic lupus erythematosus (Kikawada et al, 2003; Dai et al, 2007).
Systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE) is a complex, chronic, heterogeneous autoimmune disease of unknown etiology that can affect almost any organ system, and which follows a waxing and waning disease course. Systemic lupus erythematosus occurs much more often in women than in men, up to 9 times more frequently in some studies, and often appears during the child-bearing years between ages 15 and 45. This disease is more prevalent in Afro-Caribbean, Asian, and Hispanic populations. In SLE, the immune system attacks the body's cells and tissue, resulting in inflammation and tissue damage which can harm the heart, joints, skin, lungs, blood vessels, liver, kidneys and nervous system. About half of the subjects diagnosed with SLE present with organ-threatening disease, but it can take several years to diagnose subjects who do not present with organ involvement. Some of the primary complaints of newly diagnosed lupus patients are arthralgia (62%) and cutaneous symptoms (new photosensitivity; 20%), followed by persistent fever and malaise (Wallace, 2008). The estimated annual incidence of lupus varies from 1.8 to 7.6 cases per 100,000 and the worldwide prevalence ranges from 14 to 172 cases per 100,000 people (Wallace, 2008). Patients with mild disease have mostly skin rashes and joint pain and require less aggressive therapy; regimens include nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs), anti-malarials (e.g., hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, or quinacrine) and/or low dose corticosteroids. With more severe disease, patients may experience a variety of serious conditions depending on the organ systems involved, including lupus nephritis with potential renal failure, endocarditis or myocarditis, pneumonitis, pregnancy complications, stroke, neurological complications, vasculitis and cytopenias with associated risks of bleeding or infection. Common treatments for more severe disease include immunomodulatory agents, such as methotrexate (MTX), azathioprine, cyclophosphamide, cyclosporine, high dose corticosteroids, biologic B cell cytotoxic agents or B cell modulators, and other immunomodulators. Patients with serious SLE have a shortening of life expectancy by 10 to 30 years, largely due to the complications of the disease, of standard of care therapy, and/or accelerated atherosclerosis. In addition, SLE has a substantial impact on quality of life, work productivity, and healthcare expenditures. Existing therapies for SLE are generally either cytotoxic or immunomodulatory, and may have notable safety risks. Newer treatments for SLE have provided only modest benefits over standard of care therapy. Thus, there is a large unmet need for new alternative treatments that can provide significant benefit in this disease without incurring a high safety risk.

Safe and effective method of treating lupus with anti-IL12/IL23 antibody


A dry insect extermination device is disclosed herein having box-like housing interiorly supporting an inner frame in spaced relationship to the walls of the housing defining an air conducting passageway between apertures in the housing sidewall and apertures in the frame bottom. The frame supports a heater and a fan for drawing heated air past chemically impregnated packs so that a dry chemical vapor is dispensed from the housing for distribution into the surrounding atmosphere.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of insect and bug extermination, and more particularly to a novel exterminating device employing a dry chemical vapor which is distributed over an area intended to be freed of insects, bugs or the like.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
In the past, it has been the conventional practice to effect the extermination of bugs and insects by employing a variety of aerosol or other pressurized systems for distributing a wet mist in a limited area in order to spread a chemical substance for contacting specific insects or bugs. Such devices are normally called "foggers" and employ a pressurized canister with a manually released valve for discharging the wet chemical vapor into the surrounding air.
Difficulties and problems have been encountered when using such prior chemical dispensing devices which reside in the fact that the discharge is a wet mist which is heavy and has a tendency to drop upon the surrounding floor so that only a relatively small area is serviced by the chemical. Also, wet mists generally leave a residue on furniture, sinks, wall surfaces or any utensils or other items upon which the wet mist comes into contact.
Another problem resides in the fact that the chemicals used are highly toxic in wet mist systems and great care must be taken to remove any food, utensils or other articles on which the wet mist may come into contact so that the chemical is not inadvertently ingested by humans or animals.
Therefore, a long standing need has existed to provide a novel chemical vapor distribution system which is dry and that is non-toxic to humans or animals. Such a dry system vastly increases the total area over which the chemical vapor is distributed so that its effectiveness is increased for exterminating bugs or insects. Also, such a novel system should be able to insure that the chemical vapor will penetrate small cracks and crevices and preferably, such a system may be used again and again so that it is not necessary to dispose of pressurized cans or containers.


The present invention relates to the technical field of display, and provides a display substrate and a preparing method thereof which can solve the problem of lower light-emitting efficiency of the display substrate in the prior art. The display substrate of the present invention comprises a plurality of display units of at least two different colors. The display substrate further comprises a plurality of bragg reflection units in different regions corresponding to respective display units, each bragg reflection unit comprises first structural layer and second structural layer which are alternately stacked with each other and have different refractive indexes; thickness of each of the first and second structural layers is ¼n wavelength of incident light from corresponding display unit, wherein n is refractive index of the first or the second structural layer. The display substrate of the present invention has higher light-emitting efficiency and is applicable to full-color display.

Bragg reflection structure (i.e. Distributed Bragg Reflector, DBR) is formed generally by alternately stacking high-refractive index material layers and low-refractive index material layers. It is required that the material should not absorb visible light. A DBR for improving light-emitting efficiency of semiconductor microcavity light-emitting diode is described in Chinese Paten Application CN 101478025A.
In the technical field of display, liquid crystal display dependent on normal light-emitting diode (LED) backlight has been used widely. In addition, Organic Light-Emitting Diode (OLED) device is paid more and more attention due to its advantages of uniform luminance, flicker free, sufficient safeness for environment, and so on. However, both of normal LED and OLED have lower light-emitting efficiency. For example, owing to influences of absorption, loss, interface scattering and reflection, light-emitting efficiency of OLED is only about 20%. Thus, it is an important research subject in the display technical field to improve light-emitting efficiency.

Display substrate with bragg reflection unit for each of the display units of at least three primary colors


A device for holding and adjusting the opening angle of a door includes a first lever having a forked end with two generally parallel lugs which are respectively provided with substantially aligned first and second pivot holes, and a second lever which has a journal member for insertion into the first pivot hole, the journal member having a threaded hole and a first engagement surface. A first detent member is inserted between the parallel lugs and has a pivot slot aligned with the first and second pivot holes. The first detent member further includes a second engagement surface for engagement with the first engagement surface, and a detent face. A resilient second detent member is mounted inside the first lever inwardly of the forked end to engage the detent face.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device for holding a door and particularly to a door holding device capable of controlling and adjusting the opening angle of a door.
2. Description of the Related Art
It is known in the art to provide a door holder which incorporates means for controlling and adjusting the opening angle of a door. A typical construction of such a door holder is shown in FIG. 1 and comprises two operating levers for connection with a door frame and a door, respectively. One of the levers is pivotally connected to a support (A) adapted to be mounted on the door. The support (A) holds a gear member (B) which engages a spring-loaded rack (C) and which can stop the door when the gear member (B) engages each end of the rack (C). The construction as such does not allow the door to be so adjusted that it can stop at a desired angle relative to the door frame after it has been opened.
FIG. 2 shows another door holder which comprises two levers one of which has a spring-loaded detent member (D) to engage a detent plate (E) mounted in the forked end (J) thereof. The detent plate (E) in turn engages a toothed wheel (F) which is mounted on a post (G) of another lever. The toothed wheel (F) which engages both of the toothed face (H) formed around the post (G) and the detent plate (E) rotates when the door connected thereto is turned. When the detent plate (E) engages the spring-loaded detent member (D), the door is stopped. The angle at which the door is opened can be adjusted by loosening the locking screw of the door holder and turning and opening the door to an angle where the door has to stop. The construction as such permits the door to be immobilized at any desirable opening angle.

Device for holding and controlling the opening angle of a door


A workpiece transfer device includes a base, a rotating portion rotatably mounted on the base, and a transfer mechanism mounted on the rotating portion. The transfer mechanism includes a rotational housing, at least one bearing table, and a driving device. The bearing table is received in the rotational housing. The bearing table is configured to support a workpiece. The driving device is operable to drive the bearing table to slide in the rotational housing.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to devices, and particularly to a workpiece transfer device.
2. Description of Related Art
To improve production efficiency, two workpieces are molded at the same time. The two workpieces are removed from the mold and placed on two shearers by a mechanical arm for shearing. However, due to a structure of the mechanical arm and the shearer, it is difficult for the mechanical arm to precisely place the workpiece into the shearers for cutting.
Therefore, what is needed is a workpiece transfer device to overcome the described shortcoming.


Assemblies and methods are provided for facilitating fiber optic patching. More particularly, the assemblies and methods generally involve mounting fiber optic patch ports arranged along a horizontal plane with respect to a tray. The tray is movably positioned within a cabinet enclosure, e.g., in a pivotal or translational (sliding) relationship, thereby providing easy access to the ports. The horizontal configuration advantageously increases fiber optic patching density within a cabinet structure while maintaining port accessibility.

1. Technical Field
The present disclosure relates to assemblies and methods directed to fiber optic patching arrays.
2. Background Art
Fiber optic patching systems have become more prevalent in the structured cabling market as the need for high speed applications continues to grow. In some cases, fiber optic patching systems have displaced legacy copper patching systems as the need for bandwidth has exceeded the theoretical maximums associated with copper. In central offices, data centers and other wired buildings, fiber optic patch panels have become a necessary media to route connections between switches, servers, storage devices and the general office area. By 'patching', or temporarily creating a connection between physically mated connectors, it is possible to reconfigure network connections from a central location.
As shown in the Telecommunication Industry of America (TIA) Standard for Data centers, TIA-942, a patch panel interface frequently exists as an integral part of a building's architecture. Due to the relatively large space that data centers can occupy, it is recommended that building architects plan for data center and telecommunication room accommodations early in a design process. This is a notable departure from the past, where telecommunication rooms were often an afterthought or even left out of the design process entirely.
In order to reduce the effective area that a patching system utilizes in a facility, suppliers of fiber optic cables and interface apparatus have taken steps to reduce the size of the fiber optic connector. As is known to one having ordinary skill in the art, the term "adapter" is interchangeable with the term "coupler" and refers to a device that creates a connection between two fiber optic ferrules, each containing a light carrying medium of fiber. An adapter typically contains a ceramic or phosphorous bronze alignment sleeve and one or more features that provide for latching a connector into the adapter. An MT-RJ adapter, however, does not include an alignment sleeve because the fibers are aligned by precision pins and holes on the mating connector ferrules. An example of recent technology advances associated with connector technology is the LC connector as defined by TIA-604-10. The LC connector features a 50% size reduction relative to its predecessor, the SC connector as defined by the TIA-604-3.
Separately, suppliers of fiber optic connectivity hardware have recently been providing modular cassette patching products to the premise industry. Products currently on the market include the Ortronics Momentum™ system, Systemax InstaPATCHT™ system, and the Corning Plug & Play™ system. These cassette systems allow the user to create a passive network link with minimal experience in fiber optics. A user can install the cassette into a vertical rack cabinet, such as the Ortronics FC02U-P, connect a backbone cable terminated with an MPO connector to the rear of the cassette, connect a patch cord to the front of the cassette and then on to an optical transceiver. The same is repeated at the other end of the backbone cable, thereby creating an optical data link.
To date, rack systems utilize vertical stacking of the cassettes. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary embodiment of a vertical stacking cassette cabinet assembly 1 associated with prior art assemblies. Assembly 1 includes an enclosure 9 defining a receiving cavity 2. Tray 14 is adapted to host a plurality of fiber optic ports (not shown). The ports are often included on a cassette shell (not shown) that can be secured on a bottom tray surface 5. The ports (also commonly referred to as jacks) are accessed through openings 6 defined along a front face 7 extending upwardly with respect to tray 4.
Tray 4 can translate axially along a horizontal axis "x" by sliding the tray in and out of cavity 2. Rear patching access to the cassettes is generally achieved by sliding tray 4 out from cavity 2. When tray 4 is fully inserted within cavity 2, cabinet 9 can be closed via a hingedly connected front door 3. Front door 3 can include a locking feature 8 for securely locking cabinet 9 and preventing unauthorized access to the cassettes.
According to the prior art assemblies, the cassettes hosted on bottom surface 5 align the fiber optic ports vertically along axis "y". This configuration disadvantageously prevents further use in the deeper portions associated with cavity 2. Since the density of fiber optic ports is substantially limited, a relatively large number of cabinets is often necessary to appropriately accommodate a particular data center.
Conventional vertical stacking technique allows for the user to easily insert and remove patch cords from the patch panel as well as manage the fiber in vertical cable managers. Historically, only the vertical plane of the rack has been used/available for patching access. However, a need exists to further increase the density of fiber optic connectors that may fit into a given floor space in a data center or telecommunications room.
These and other disadvantages and/or limitations are addressed and/or overcome by the assemblies and methods of the present disclosure.

Horizontal fiber optic patching assembly


Apparatus and method are disclosed for adjusting the alignment of surfaces in close proximity. The apparatus includes at least three travel sensitive switches fixed in a non-linear configuration, each switch having a known actuating distance, and a display connected to the switches to show the status of each switch. In order to align two surfaces in parallel, the switches have essentially the same actuating distance. The switches are placed between the surfaces and the surfaces are moved together until the display shows that one or more switches is actuated. The information provided by the switches guides alignment of the surfaces to achieve essentially simultaneous actuation of all switches having actuating distances which correspond to a desired alignment when the surfaces are moved within the actuating distances of the switches. A second set of at least three travel sensitive switches having a smaller actuating distance than the first set of switches can be used to simplify the alignment process. The apparatus and method are especially useful in aligning parallel surfaces in chemical vapor deposition equipment for making integrated circuits.

In the construction of modern electronic devices such as integrated circuits, device geometries are constantly shrinking, resulting in a need for smaller processing equipment for making the devices. Alignment of process components is often a limiting factor in the ability to reduce the size of process equipment. As an example, chemical vapor deposition methods for making integrated circuits use a deposition chamber wherein a perforated vapor distribution plate is ideally situated about 300 mil from a support platform for the integrated circuit work piece. The distribution plate and the support platform ideally have parallel surfaces and experiments show that the best results are obtained when the surfaces are aligned in parallel within a very small tolerance. Such alignment is achievable by the combination of careful adjustment and close examination of product variances. However, there is no simple and economical apparatus or method for aligning surfaces in such close proximity.

Method and apparatus for aligning surfaces in close proximity


To provide a method for producing a fluorinated polymer which enables stable production of a fluorinated polymer having a high molecular weight at a high polymerization rate with good productivity and reduced environmental burdens, a method for producing a fluorinated polymer having functional groups, and a method for producing an electrolyte membrane. A method for producing a fluorinated polymer, which comprises polymerizing a monomer mixture containing tetrafluoroethylene and a fluorinated monomer having a group convertible to a sulfonic acid group or a carboxylic acid group in a polymerization medium, wherein the polymerization medium contains as the main component a C4-10 cyclic hydrofluorocarbon. Further, a method for producing a fluorinated polymer having functional groups and a method for producing an electrolyte membrane, employing the production method.

Fluorinated polymers having functional groups make membranes useful as ion exchange membranes. For example, membranes of a fluorinated polymer having carboxylic acid type functional groups or a fluorinated polymer having sulfonic acid type functional groups are used in alkali chloride electrolysis for production of an alkali hydroxide and chlorine from an aqueous alkali chloride such as seawater. Membranes of a fluorinated polymer having sulfonic acid type functional groups are known as ion exchange membranes used in fuel cells as electrolyte membranes.
As the fluorinated polymers, fluorinated polymers obtained by copolymerizing a fluorinated monomer having a carboxylic acid type functional group or a sulfonic acid type functional group such as perfluorovinyl ether and a fluorinated olefin such as tetrafluoroethylene are known (Patent Document 1). For production of such fluorinated polymers, polymerization of a fluorinated monomer having a group convertible to a sulfonic acid group and tetrafluoroethylene in a C4-10 linear hydrofluorocarbon as a polymerization medium has been proposed.

Methods for producing fluorinated polymer, fluorinated polymer having functional group and electrolyte membrane


Administration of a modulator of cell cycle checkpoint activation, which is preferably β-lapachone, or a pharmaceutically acceptable salt, prodrug, metabolite, analog or derivative thereof, protects normal cells against radiation injury. The invention includes methods of preventing radiation damage. The invention also provides methods for treating conditions such as cancer with radiotherapy, by administering a modulator of cell cycle checkpoint activation to a subject, prior to administration of radiotherapy.

Exposure to ionizing radiation (such as X-rays, gamma rays, and alpha- or beta-radiation) can cause damage to cells. This damage can result in cell death (e.g., through apoptosis), or can cause genetic changes in the cell, resulting in unchecked cell proliferation and cancer.
While, in general, exposure to such radiation is therefore undesirable, the administration of carefully monitored doses of radiation is an accepted treatment for certain cancers; by targeting the radiation to a tumor, cancer cells can be destroyed. A frequent complication of radiotherapy is the irradiation of normal tissues surrounding the cancerous tissues. Such normal tissues are often damaged by the radiation, resulting in undesired radiation injury to normal cells and tissues, which can have severe consequences for the affected patient.
Exposure to radiation can occur in several other ways, including exposure to normal background levels of radiation (such as cosmic rays or radiation due to naturally-occurring isotopes present in the earth) or elevated environmental radiation (including occupational exposure of workers in medical facilities or nuclear power plants). Another potential source of exposure to certain types of radiation is the accidental or intentional release of radioactive materials, for example, as the result of an accident or as a result of terrorist activity, e.g., as the result of a radiologic weapon such as a so-called "dirty bomb" (an explosive device intended to spread radioactive materials so as to contaminate an area).
The primary form of protection against radiation injury is avoidance of exposure to radiation. For example, shielding materials capable of preventing penetration of radiation into the body can be used when a source of radiation is known; e.g., lead aprons can be used to block x-rays. Protective clothing can be used to prevent contamination of the body with radioactive materials, and decontamination procedures can be used to remove radioactive materials.
Prophylactic treatment with iodine can be used to prevent accumulation of radioactive iodine in the thyroid gland, and thus to prevent radiation injury to the thyroid, but such treatment does not provide protection against other radioactive elements or other organ sites and cannot prevent injury once the radioactive isotope has delivered a dose of radiation to the tissue. Treatment with radioprotectants such as amifostine (an approved radioprotectant) is effective in preventing certain types of radiation damage, such as DNA damage due to free radicals (or other reactive species) produced by the radiation. However, the approved indications for amifostine are limited, and side-effects such as nausea have been noted.
Another compound, 5-androstenediol, has been tested as a radiation protectant in preclinical animal studies. This compound is reported to improve survival in mice exposed to radiation, possibly by stimulating production of neutrophils and other immune-system cells and thus preventing infection, a significant cause of death in radiation-injured subjects. However, this compound is a salvaging measure and it does not counteract the pathogenic mechanism of radiation nor protect organs other than the hematopoietic system. It has not yet been approved for human use.
While radiation injury and radiation sickness can be treated symptomatically, in most cases, it is difficult to prevent or ameliorate radiation damage or injury to cells once the exposure to radiation has occurred.
β-lapachone (3,4-dihydro-2,2-dimethyl-2H-naphtho[1,2-b]pyran-5,6-dione) is a simple non-water soluble orthonapthoquinone which can be isolated from the heartwood of the lapacho tree (See Hooker, S. C., (1936) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 58:1181-1190; Goncalves de Lima, O., et al., (1962) Rev. Inst. Antibiot. Univ. Recife. 4:3-17). The structure of β-lapachone was established by Hooker in 1896 and it was synthesized by Fieser in 1927 (Hooker, S. C., (1936) J. Am. Chem. Soc. 58:1181-1190).
β-lapachone has been shown to have a variety of pharmacological effects. Numerous derivatives have been synthesized and tested as anti-viral and anti-parasitic agents, and β-lapachone has been shown to have anti-trypanosomal effects (See Goncalves, A M et al. (1980) Mol. Biochem. Parasitology 1:167-176; Schaffner-Sabba, K. et al. (1984) J. Med. Chem. 27:990-994; Li, C J et al., (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:1839-1842). β-lapachone significantly prolongs the survival of mice infected with Rauscher leukemia virus, probably through inhibition of reverse transcriptase (Schaffner-Sabba, K. et al. (1984) J. Med. Chem. 27:990-994; Schuerch, A R et al., (1978 Eur. J. Biochem. 84:197-205). β-lapachone inhibits viral replication and gene expression directed by the long terminal repeat (LTR) of the human immunodeficiency virus type I (Li, C J et al., (1993) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:1839-1842).
There have been reports that β-lapachone induces cell death in human prostate cancer cells (See Li, C J et al., 1 (1995) Cancer Res. 55:3712-3715) and that β-lapachone induces necrosis in human breast cancer cells, and apoptosis in ovary, colon, and pancreatic cancer cells mediated by caspase activation (Li, Y Z et al., (1999) Molecular Medicine 5:232-239). In addition, β-lapachone, when combined with paclitaxel (sold under the name Taxol® by Bristol-Myers Squibb Co., N.Y., N.Y.) at moderate doses, has effective anti-tumor activity in human ovarian, prostate and breast cancer xenograft models in nude mice (See Li, C J et al. (1999) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 96:13369-13374).
β-lapachone was investigated as a sensitizer of cancer cells to ionizing radiation and DNA damaging agents (Boorstein, R J et al., (1984) Biochem Biophys. Res. Commun. 118:828-834; Boothman, et al., (1989) Cancer Res. 49:605-612). The combination of β-lapachone administration with X-ray irradiation was found to result in synergistic (increased) cytotoxicity in vitro in a human radioresistant malignant melanoma cell line; the authors of this report (Boothman, et al., (1989) Cancer Res. 49:605-612) suggest that β-lapachone inhibits the ability of the malignant cells to repair potential lethal DNA damage caused by the radiation.
The present inventors have now unexpectedly discovered that administration of a modulator of cell cycle checkpoint activation (e.g., an activator of a cell cycle checkpoint or checkpoints, such as β-lapachone) is effective for the protection of normal (e.g., non-cancerous) cells and organisms against radiation damage or injury, or the treatment of radiation damage or injury in normal cells and organisms, or both.

Methods of protecting against radiation injury


A heating and cooling device comprising a box type heat exchange tank containing a heat transfer medium having an thermal accumulation effect therein and a heat exchange pipe arranged in said heat exchange tank. An air discharging member is mounted to an outlet of the heat exchange pipe and provided with a fan for blowing air in the heat exchange pipe into a room. An air suction member connected to said inlet of the heat exchange pipe, to suck outside air and supply it into the heat exchange pipe, A heater is disposed just below said air suction member, to heat an air entering the air suction member in a heating operation of the device. A cooling chamber is also disposed, to cool the heat transfer medium in the heat exchange tank. A water pump may be disposed below the heat exchange tank, so as to pump a relatively cold underground water into the heat exchange tank. The underground water is used as the heat transfer medium for a cooling operation of the device. The heater may be adapted to heat directly the heat transfer medium contained in the heat exchange tank. In place of heat transfer tank, a heat exchange body may be used which comprises a plurality of stacked blocks having a thermal accumulation effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heating and cooling device, and more particularly to a thermal accumulation type heating and cooling device using a heat transfer medium.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In a conventional heating and cooling device, its heating and cooling effects are obtained by heating or cooling air to predetermined heating or cooling temperatures by an energy source such as oil, gas or electric power and blowing the heated or cooled air by a fan. In such a heating and cooling device, however, air which has not been subjected to a heating or cooling treatment may be mixed with the heated or cooled air during the blowing operation, thereby causing the thermal efficiency to be reduced. On the other hand, when the room temperature reaches an optionally predetermined temperature after a continued heating or cooling operation of the heating or cooling device, the heating or cooling operation is temporarily stopped by an automatic temperature controller such as a thermostat. The heating and cooling device operates again, when the room temperature is below or above the predetermined temperature because of the stopping of heating or cooling operation. A repeated switching of this heating or cooling operation and stopping thereof results in an undesirably high consumption of energy such as oil or electric power. Upon every switching of the heating or cooling operation, a noise also occurs. Furthermore, a continued repetition of switching causes the heating and cooling device to be overloaded and be thus out of order frequently. As a result, the heating and cooling device has disadvantages of a requirement of its frequent maintenance and a very short life time.
In this regard, the conventional heating and cooling device is no economy in terms of energy consumption and also makes it impossible to maintain a comfortable room atmosphere due to the generation of noise.

Thermal accumulation type heating and cooling device using heat transfer medium


Methods, devices and systems for reducing the quantity of external interconnections of a memory device are disclosed. Implementation of one such method, device and system includes inputting over an address bus a first portion of an address of a next row of memory cells to be activated. The first portion of the address of the next row of memory cells to be activated is embedded in a command related to the previously activated row of memory cells. The next row of memory cells is subsequently activated according to a concurrently received second portion of the address of the next row of memory cells also received over the address bus. The portioning of the address signals can reduce the width of the address bus and, therefore, the number of required respective external interconnections.

Memory devices require a plurality of inputs and outputs through which data enters and exits the memory cells contained therein. Included among the various inputs and outputs are command, addressing and data signals. These signals are used to identify and access data storage locations (e.g., memory cells) within the memory device. As the quantity of memory cells increases, the number of input signals necessary to uniquely identify a memory cell also increases. Specifically, an address bus includes a sufficiently large quantity of address lines for uniquely identifying each of the memory cells in the memory device. Therefore, as the quantity of memory cells increases on the memory device, the quantity of inputs necessary for accessing the memory cells also increases.
Furthermore, since each of the input and output signals needs to be externally accessible for interfacing with external components such as memory controllers and the like, the periphery around the memory device must remain sufficiently large to accommodate external interconnections (e.g., pins) that are coupled to the input and output signals. As is readily appreciated, an increase in the quantity of interconnection pins to adequately address or select an increased density of memory cells creates a conflict with design motivations of further circuit miniaturization and integration. Therefore, there is a need for a memory device interface architecture that reduces the quantity of external interconnections required for input and output signals without introducing significant delay in accessing the memory cells in a memory device.

Method and memory device providing reduced quantity of interconnections


Precast curable thermal interface adhesives facilitating the easy and repeatable separation and remaining of electronic components at thermal interfaces thereof, and a method for implementing the foregoing repeatable separation and remating at the thermal interfaces of components through the use of such adhesives.

The present invention relates to the provision of precast curable thermal interface adhesives facilitating the easy and repeatable separation and remating of electronic components at thermal interfaces thereof. More particularly, the invention relates to a novel method for implementing the foregoing repeatable separation and remating at the thermal interfaces of components through the use of such adhesives.
Microelectronic chip packages that are complex in nature are expensive to produce, and are made to be readily taken apart to enable the repair, replacement, upgrading or swapping of the components thereof. These packages generally incorporate elaborate cooling hardware components that may possess more than one thermal interface, whereby an essential attribute of these thermal interfaces resides in affording an easy separation between the components.
Basically, employed for this purpose are thermal interface materials (TIMs) that are inherently imbued with a low degree of adhesion, such as diverse kinds of greases, gels, pads or films. While these TIM materials enable implementing separation at thermal interfaces, they also are subject to several drawbacks, in that these materials, for the main, are designed for single or one time use, and therefore require removal of any old or residual material, cleaning of the applicable surfaces on the components and the application of new joining or TIM materials.
In essence, the cleaning of the thermal interface sites of separated components follows a prescribed procedure, and typically involves the use of a clean cloth and solvent. Normally, the utilized cleaning method is implemented manually and, thus, controlled to a lesser degree than the manufacturing process employed for initially applying the TIM to the components. Another limitation resides in that pads and any film being applied allow for air to be entrapped at both interface surfaces at the sites because of their flat profiles, potentially resulting in increased thermal resistance.
In view of the foregoing, it would accordingly be advantageous to be able to provide a TIM which minimizes any thermal resistance, and facilitates an easy separation and repeatable remating of components without degrading the material or the thermal performance at the interface site or sites. The use of curable TIMs is ordinarily considered undesirable because of the need for an undue expenditure of time and for the necessity of controlling a precise curing temperature. Furthermore, both solvents and curable adhesives are constituted of possibly toxic or volatile chemicals that require the following and enforcement of proper or stringent safety protocols.

Precast thermal interface adhesive for easy and repeated, separation and remating


An area light source, a method for manufacturing the same and a display device are provided. The area light source includes: a first conductive structure and a second conductive structure arranged opposite to each other; and a light-emitting layer arranged between the first conductive structure and the second conductive structure and including a plurality of light-emitting chips insulated from each other. A first electrode of each light-emitting chip is electrically connected to the first conductive structure, and a second electrode of each light-emitting chip is electrically connected to the second conductive structure.

In a conventional display device, point light sources each acquired by encapsulating Light-Emitting Diodes (LEDs) to form a light bar, so as to provide a line light source. Next, a direct-type or edge-type structure is adopted, so as to convert the line light source into an area light source through a light guide plate and any other optical membranes. In this mode, a desired backlight source has a relatively complex structure. In addition, when the LED light bars are arranged in a concentrated manner, a relatively high current is generated, so excessive heat is generated locally, and such a phenomenon as wrinkled membrane easily occurs. Furthermore, the power consumption is relatively large due to large light utilization. Even if the edge-type area light source is adopted, it is still impossible to control a brightness value at a certain region.

Area light source, method for manufacturing the same and display device

BEIJING BOE OPTOELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY GROUP CO., LTD.


A combined GPS and communication system having shared circuitry. The combined system includes an antenna for receiving data representative of GPS signals, a frequency converter coupled to the antenna, a frequency synthesizer coupled to the frequency converter, an analog to digital converter coupled to the frequency converter and a processor coupled to the frequency converter. The processor processes the data representative of GPS signals to determine a pseudorange based on the data representative of GPS signals. The integrated communication receiver includes a shared component which is at least one of the antenna, the frequency converter, the frequency synthesizer and the analog to digital converter. Typically, in certain embodiments the processor also demodulates communication signals received as well as controls the modulation of data to be transmitted as a communication signal through a communication link.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to receivers which perform the dual functions of (a) determining their position by means of reception of transmission from global positioning satellite systems and (b) performing communications to and from other locations in order to receive position location commands and other information and transmit in return data representative of position information which was found through reception of transmissions from global positioning satellite systems.
2. Background Art
The combination of GPS systems and other communications systems is receiving considerable interest, especially in the areas of personal and property tracking. An example of such a combination is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,225,842. The communication link allows an inexpensive GPS (Global Positioning System) receiver located on a mobile person or object (for example, a vehicle or animal) to transmit its accurately determined position to remote locations which monitor this activity. Applications of this technology include security, truck fleet tracking, emergency response, inventory control, etc. The prior art has performed such combinations by mating separate GPS receivers and communication systems using suitable electronic interfaces between the two, for example, serial communication ports, etc. Common housings and a common power supply are often shared in order to reduce over all cost. Nevertheless, the prior art provides systems utilizing separate circuitry to perform the GPS and communication functions.
It has heretofore been impractical to combine much of the circuitry of the two different systems since all known GPS receivers utilize specialized hardware, called "correlators", to process the received signals from a multiplicity of satellites. This specialized hardware differs markedly from that used in communications receivers and transceivers such as cellular telephones and pagers. In many communication receivers, such as those found in cellular telephones and pagers, signal processing functions are performed using general purpose digital signal processing integrated circuits, such as the TMS 320 family from Texas Instruments. Accordingly, the signal processing hardware of the two different systems are incompatible in a combined GPS and communication system.

Combined GPS positioning system and communications system utilizing shared circuitry


An optical module including a plurality of laser diodes and outputting optical beams emitted from the laser diodes includes a radiator unit for radiating heat and a case enclosing the optical module. The case has a first attachment surface to which a red laser diode is attached, a second attachment surface to which a green laser diode is attached, and a corner part where the first and second attachment surfaces intersect with each other. The optical module has a first attachment part, for connecting the case to the radiator unit, in the vicinity of the corner part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical module and a scan-type image projection display device. In particular, the present invention relates to, for example, an optical module for coupling optical beams emitted from a plurality of laser diodes into a beam on one optical axis and outputting the coupled optical beam, and a scan-type image projection display device for displaying images by use of the optical beam from the optical module.
2. Description of the Related Art
Small-sized projectors, easily portable and capable of displaying images in large screen sizes, are being developed actively in recent years. Small-sized projectors connectable to notebook PCs, video cameras equipped with a built-in projector capable of projecting recorded images, etc. are already available commercially. Cellular phones and smartphones equipped with a built-in projector are also expected to appear in the near future.
As the projecting methods for the projectors, the type is known in which a lamp or an LED (Light Emitting Diode) is used as the light source and images displayed by liquid crystal panels or a DMD (Digital Micromirror Device) is projected. On the other hand, laser projectors (scan-type image projection display devices) are also under development. Such projectors use a laser diode as the light source and display images by allowing a movable mirror to scan an optical beam emitted from the laser diode. Since a laser diode emitting a laser beam is used as the light source, the focusing is unnecessary and the luminance of the images can be increased with ease. Therefore, the laser projectors (scan-type image projection display device) are considered to be highly suitable for the purpose of projecting images onto an appropriate wall available at a place away from home.
Further, the laser projectors (scan-type image projection display device) may be installed in cars while taking advantage of the high luminance of images. In this case, it is conceivable that the laser projectors will be applied to head-up displays for projecting and displaying on the windshield images such as navigation images.
The configuration of a scan-type image projection display device capable of displaying color images by use of laser diodes of three colors (red, blue, green) has been described in JP-T-2009-533715, for example. The scan-type image projection display device of the JP-T-2009-533715 includes a beam coupling unit which couples the three laser beams of the three colors into a synthetic beam propagating along one optical axis and a beam scanner which scans (periodically changes) the deflection direction of the synthetic beam. In the configuration of the beam coupling unit described in the JP-T-2009-533715, the three light sources are arranged in parallel. The three beams from the light sources are emitted in the same direction, reflected by corresponding beam coupling mirrors, respectively, and thereby coupled into the synthetic beam.
Incidentally, while green light is acquired by performing wavelength conversion on infrared light by means of SHG (Second Harmonic Generation) also in the JP-T-2009-533715 since there were no laser diodes directly emitting green light, such laser diodes directly emitting green light are becoming available in these years.

Optical module and scan-type image projection display device


A method, computer program product, and computer system for using a device description repository comprises identifying a plurality of string constants associated with an incoming data request. It may be determined whether one or more constants in a user agent string match one of the plurality of string constants. In response to determining that the one or more constants in the user agent string match one of the plurality of string constants, a generic web browser ID is identified as a device description repository ID associated with a device description repository.

With the expanding diversity of computing devices (e.g., mobile phones, tablets, desktops, etc.), device fragmentation may occur. For example, some computing devices and their run-time applications (e.g., browser) may vary with regard to e.g., hardware characteristics (e.g., screen size), extension formats (e.g., WBMP, GIF, MP3, WMV), browser behavior (e.g., Openwave WML, XHTML-MP support), and formatting/speed/image layout (e.g., MMS formatting, sender/receiver clients). As would be expected, device fragmentation may make it more difficult for users of the computing devices to receive the user experience that is either desired by the users and/or intended by the content provider.

System and method for using a device description repository


A massively parallel computer system contains an inter-nodal communications network of node-to-node links. An automated routing strategy routes packets through one or more intermediate nodes of the network to reach a final destination. The default routing strategy is altered responsive to detection of overutilization of a particular path of one or more links, and at least some traffic is re-routed by distributing the traffic among multiple paths (which may include the default path). An alternative path may require a greater number of link traversals to reach the destination node.

In the latter half of the twentieth century, there began a phenomenon known as the information revolution. While the information revolution is a historical development broader in scope than any one event or machine, no single device has come to represent the information revolution more than the digital electronic computer. The development of computer systems has surely been a revolution. Each year, computer systems grow faster, store more data, and provide more applications to their users.
A modern computer system typically comprises one or more central processing units (CPU) and supporting hardware necessary to store, retrieve and transfer information, such as communication buses and memory. It also includes hardware necessary to communicate with the outside world, such as input/output controllers or storage controllers, and devices attached thereto such as keyboards, monitors, tape drives, disk drives, communication lines coupled to a network, etc. The CPU or CPUs are the heart of the system. They execute the instructions which comprise a computer program and direct the operation of the other system components.
From the standpoint of the computer's hardware, most systems operate in fundamentally the same manner. Processors are capable of performing a limited set of very simple operations, such as arithmetic, logical comparisons, and movement of data from one location to another. But each operation is performed very quickly. Sophisticated software at multiple levels directs a computer to perform massive numbers of these simple operations, enabling the computer to perform complex tasks. What is perceived by the user as a new or improved capability of a computer system is made possible by performing essentially the same set of very simple operations, but doing it much faster, and thereby enabling the use of software having enhanced function. Therefore continuing improvements to computer systems require that these systems be made ever faster.
The overall speed of a computer system (also called the throughput) may be crudely measured as the number of operations performed per unit of time. Conceptually, the simplest of all possible improvements to system speed is to increase the clock speeds of the various components, and particularly the clock speed of the processor(s). E.g., if everything runs twice as fast but otherwise works in exactly the same manner, the system will perform a given task in half the time. Enormous improvements in clock speed have been made possible by reduction in component size and integrated circuitry, to the point where an entire processor, and in some cases multiple processors along with auxiliary structures such as cache memories, can be implemented on a single integrated circuit chip. Despite these improvements in speed, the demand for ever faster computer systems has continued, a demand which can not be met solely by further reduction in component size and consequent increases in clock speed. Attention has therefore been directed to other approaches for further improvements in throughput of the computer system.
Without changing the clock speed, it is possible to improve system throughput by using multiple processors. The modest cost of individual processors packaged on integrated circuit chips has made this approach practical. Although the use of multiple processors creates additional complexity by introducing numerous architectural issues involving data coherency, conflicts for scarce resources, and so forth, it does provide the extra processing power needed to increase system throughput.
Various types of multi-processor systems exist, but one such type of system is a massively parallel nodal system for computationally intensive applications. Such a system typically contains a large number of processing nodes, each node having its own processor or processors and local (nodal) memory, where the nodes are arranged in a regular matrix or lattice structure for inter-nodal communication. The inter-nodal communications lattice allows different sub-processes of an application executing in parallel on different nodes to exchange data with one another. Typically, such a system further contains a control mechanism for controlling the operation of the nodes, and an I/O mechanism for loading data into the nodes from one or more I/O devices and receiving output from the nodes to the I/O device(s). In general, each node acts as an independent computer system in that the addressable memory used by the processor is contained entirely within the processor's local node, and the processor has no capability to directly reference data addresses in other nodes. However, the control mechanism and I/O mechanism are shared by all the nodes.
A massively parallel nodal system such as described above is a general-purpose computer system in the sense that it is capable of executing general-purpose applications, but it is designed for optimum efficiency when executing parallel, computationally intensive applications, i.e., applications in which the proportion of computational processing and communication among parallel processes relative to I/O processing and I/O data transfer is relatively high. In such an application environment, most of the data entering and leaving a node is being communicated to other nodes as part of the application being processed in parallel. Therefore, it is important that the inter-nodal communications mechanism be designed to accommodate a large volume of data. Such an inter-nodal communications mechanism should support communication between any arbitrary pair of nodes (to avoid placing limitations on the types of applications which can be executed), but need not support communications between all possible node pairs with equal efficiency or latency. An inter-nodal data communications lattice provides a set of node-to-node communications links arranged in a regular pattern likely to be useful for processing large processing applications in parallel, without providing a direct connection between any two arbitrary nodes. Data can be sent via this lattice between any arbitrary pair of nodes either directly (where such a direct connection exists) or by passing through one or more intermediate nodes.
An exemplary massively parallel nodal system is the IBM Blue Gene™ system. The IBM Blue Gene system contains many processing nodes, each having multiple processors and a common local (nodal) memory. The processing nodes are arranged in a logical three-dimensional torus network having point-to-point data communication links between each node and its immediate neighbors in the network. Additionally, each node can be configured to operate either as a single node or multiple virtual nodes (one for each processor within the node), thus providing a fourth dimension of the logical network. A large processing application typically creates one ore more blocks of nodes, herein referred to as communicator sets, for performing specific sub-tasks during execution. The application may have an arbitrary number of such communicator sets, which may be created or dissolved at multiple points during application execution.
Where it is necessary to route data through one or more intermediate nodes of the inter-nodal communications lattice, there are generally multiple possible routes, and some methodology will be used to determine the routing. For ease of implementation and low management overhead, it is generally desirable to implement a simple, deterministic routing policy, such as a policy in which the locations of the sending node and receiving node automatically determine a routing, so that all data from a given sender to a given receiver follows the same route. Such a policy often produces good results, but there are situations in which it is less than optimal.
Frequently, network traffic is not randomly or evenly distributed, but is bursty in nature. In particularly, in some environments, a relatively small number of sending nodes are generating a disproportionately large volume of traffic to respective receiving nodes. Such uneven distribution of network traffic causes certain links to become heavily burdened while other links are underutilized.
Improper routing of messages and distribution of network traffic in a massively parallel system can significantly affect the overall performance of the system. Large applications executing in such systems often require substantial inter-nodal communication of data. Network bottlenecks increase latency times for data to be exchanged, and may cause sub-processes executing in individual nodes to wait for data from other nodes, further affecting performance.
A need exists for improved tools or methods for routing data in an inter-nodal communications network of a massively parallel system.

Method and apparatus for routing data in an inter-nodal communications lattice of a massively parallel computer system by employing bandwidth shells at areas of overutilization

International Business Machines Corporation


In a magnetic resonance imaging system, object movement along an axis associated with readout magnetic gradient pulses is detected, quantized and compensated for in reconstructing an image slice. Phase-encoding magnetic gradient pulses in the sequence are arranged so that low-order phase-encoding pulses are distributed substantially uniformly during scanning time. In an N-slice acquisition, object movement is determined y arranging each of the N sets of phase-encoding gradient pulses comprising a multi-slice sequence such that at each scan time, at least one of the N sets contains a low-order phase-encoding gradient pulse. During data acquisition, echoes returned from low-order phase-encoding gradient pulses have sufficient signal-to-noise ratios to identify object position along the readout axis. Identification of object movement from one slice may be valid for other slices relatively adjacent physically in the object, so that all N slices are movement corrected during image reconstruction. Two-dimensional object position may also be identified and corrected by suitably exchanging the axes of N sets of pulses within a sequence. For a single slice acquisition, object position may be identified when scans associated with low-order phase-encoding gradient pulses are distributed evenly during imaging. After one-dimensional Fourier transformation, object position relative to a reference box function is determined using cross-correlation.

Magnetic resonance imaging ("MRI") is a useful diagnostic procedure that analyzes changes in magnetic orientations to produce an image of an object under examination. Unfortunately, movement of the object during MRI relative to a reference position adversely affects the quality of the image produced.
FIG. 1 shows a typical MRI system 2, a system with which the present invention may be practiced. MRI system 2 includes a powerful typically superconducting magnet 4 that creates a longitudinal magnetic field h.sub.o along the z-axis when power supply 6 is energized. To promote homogeneity of field h.sub.o, magnet 4 includes shim coil mechanisms (not depicted) that are coupled via bus 8 to a computer system 10 that generates appropriate corrective shimming gradient signals.
The object 12 to be imaged is placed within a radio frequency ("RF") coil 14 within magnet 4, and is thus exposed to the magnetic field h.sub.o. Object 12 includes atoms whose nuclei have typically randomly oriented magnetic dipoles. During MRI, the h.sub.o field polarizes the population of such nuclei (or "spins"), causing the spins to align parallel to the magnetic field direction, here along the z-axis. A net magnetization M.sub.z results.
Computer 10 via bus 8 and RF coil 14 subjects the spins to a brief pulse of radio frequency ("RF") energy at a resonant frequency called the Larmor frequency (RF source not depicted), thus exciting the oriented spins. This excitation temporarily reorients the spin axis of the nuclei, tipping the nuclei magnetic moment towards a plane transverse to the z-axis, i.e., the x-y plane. After termination of the RF excitation pulse, the net transverse magnetization is detected (or acquired) in real time as RF signals through RF coil 14 and a receiver (not depicted).
These signals are digitized (digitizing mechanism not depicted) and coupled to computer 10 for processing. The acquired raw RF signals include magnetic field gradient information, and represent the spatial frequency information domain, or so-called raw k-space data matrix (or array). By using Fourier transformation upon the raw k-space data matrix, a reconstructed image 16 of object 12 may be obtained and displayed on monitor. However, if object 12 moved during scanning, the quality of image 16 can be degraded.
The amplitude of the detected nuclear magnetic resonance ("NMR") signal depends upon the degree of RF excitation and the relaxation properties of the spins. During imaging, computer system 10 controls magnetic field gradients G.sub.x, G.sub.y, G.sub.z along the x, y, z axes that are needed to spatially correlate locations of the spins in object 12.
Typically 256 y-axis gradient levels are used during an MRI scan, which levels (or phase encoding steps) range from -128 through 0 to +128, where the 0th phase encoding for a slice refers to the line (or "echo") having no phase encoding gradient. Each line or echo will comprise 256 points that correspond to one step along the y-axis in the so-called k-space (or momentum space) domain. Essentially these gradient levels allow system 2's sensitivity to be limited to a single x-y plane slice along the z-axis.
By suitably controlling the gradient strengths G.sub.x, G.sub.y, G.sub.z during each MRI image cycle, the spatial distribution of nuclei spin excitation may be controlled, and the location of the resulting NMR signals can be identified. The NMR data for reconstructing images may be collected using several known techniques, including multiple angle projection reconstruction and Fourier transform. Such techniques typically comprise a pulse sequence made up of a plurality of sequentially implemented views. Each view may include one or more NMR experiments, each using an RF excitation pulse and a magnetic field gradient pulse to encode spatial information into the resulting NMR signal. As is understood by those skilled in the relevant art, the NMR signal may be a free induction decay or, preferably, a spin-echo signal.
As further understood by those skilled in the relevant art, low frequency information including motion information is present only in the center of the raw k-space data, with higher frequency information appearing at the beginning and end of this data matrix.
Computer system 10 uses the gradient magnetic field information to identify where spatially the intensity values represented by the acquired k-space radio data belong. Such techniques are commonly found in clinical MRI systems using two dimensional multi-slice imaging sequences, wherein the acquisition of the data for the slices is interleaved in time.
Computer system 10 transforms the k-space data to a real space image using conventional spatial Fourier transform methods. The real space image 16 may then be displayed on a monitor 18, to show contrast changes as a function of x-axis and y-axis positions. Typically image 16 depicts a "slice" of object 12 in the x-y plane, at chosen different locations along the z-axis.
If object 14 moves during imaging (depicted by dashed lines 20), so-called motion artifacts result that can degrade the quality of the reconstructed image 16. However if object 12 motion could be measured, it would be possible to compensate for that movement and generate an improved reconstruction image.
Although the k-space data includes information that can identify object movement, it has been difficult in the prior art to measure such movement directly from the k-space data at all times during the scan. This difficulty arises because, as depicted in FIG. 2, the signal to noise ("S/N) ratio is poor during most of the image scan time.
FIG. 2 depicts a normal prior art collection of k-space data for a single slice along the z-axis. Assume that a total of 256 lines are to be scanned from time 0 to time 256, wherein one scan acquires data for one line. As noted, each line will have 256 data points that correspond to one k-space step along the y-axis, and collectively the 256 lines represent 256 magnetic field gradient levels along the y-axis. According to the prior art, the same acquisition order is used for each slice, e.g., here -128, through 0 to +127.
According to FIG. 2, although the scan starts at time t=0 (or line -128) when possibly object 10 movement occurs, the S/N is relatively low (e.g., poor) and artifact movement signals cannot be readily detected. It is not until about time t=96 to time t=159 that the S/N ratio improves adequately, with time t=128 (corresponding to line 0) representing peak S/N ratio. Thus t=128, which corresponds to a low order phase gradient (e.g., 0) representing low frequency data, when the center portion of the k-space data is acquired represents the best time to detect artifact signals representing motion, because at all other acquisition times the S/N is relatively inadequate.
Within this region of high S/N, object 12 movement could be detected, the movement displacement could be calculated, and a suitable correction could then be made computer system 10, using well known techniques, to improve the quality of the displayed reconstructed image 16. Unfortunately, however, object movement that occurred during time t=0 to time t=95, as well as movement occurring between time t=159 to t=256 will go unrecognized because the artifact signal is too submerged in the noise, due to poor S/N. Thus no displacement can be ascertained, no correction can be generated for such movement, and the resultant display image quality remains degraded. Stated differently, prior art approaches such as depicted in FIG. 2 are "blind" to object movement occurring other than at the period of optimum S/N.
One prior art attempt to reduce motion artifacts in a magnetic resonance imaging system is set forth in U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,526 issued to Ehman, et al. (1990). Applicants incorporate Ehman, et al. herein by reference, as this patent provides a very detailed description of MRI theory, accompanied by numerous explanatory figures.
Ehman, et al. discloses a method wherein additional RF and magnet gradient pulses are generated to create a second data matrix (in k-space) having a maximum S/N at all lines. This second matrix is then used to provide positional information identifying artifact movement. The positional change information is then used to improve the resultant image quality.
While Ehman, et al.'s system improves image quality, the improvement requires considerable overhead. For example, Ehman, et al.'s technique requires additional imaging time due to the necessary generation of additional RF and gradient pulses. Further, Ehman, et al. generates essentially twice the amount of initial k-space data to be stored in memory 14, and presents additional data to be processed by computer system 10, which processing requires additional time.
What is needed for MRI is a method that can recognize and compensate for object 12 motion, utilizing the k-space data itself generated during normal MRI scanning. Preferably such method should not require that memory 14 be increased beyond what is needed to store the image k-space data itself, should not require the generation of additional RF and gradient pulses (thereby not extending imaging time), and should not impose substantial additional processing time upon computer system 10. Such a method preferably should measure object translational movement in the readout direction by self-calibration, using only high S/N echoes from different slices. The present invention discloses such a method.

Technique for compensating for patient motion in magnetic resonance imaging


A control target value x.sub.s, a present control signal x(n), and a present operating signal y(n) are input to a first control element which calculates r(n).y(n) where r(n) is the value of the ratio of the control target value to the control signal (=x.sub.s /x(n)). The control target value x.sub.s, the control signal x(n), and a differential parameter kd of the conventional PID control set by a parameter setting device are input to a second control element which calculates kd.r(n)(.DELTA.x.sub.s (n)-r(N)..DELTA.x(n)) where .DELTA.x.sub.s (n)=x.sub.s (n)-x.sub.s (n-1) and .DELTA.x(n)=x(n)-x(n-1). The outputs of both control elements are added to yield the next operating signal y(n+1). This design can provide an automatic control apparatus capable of achieving a good control performance even if an object element has a non-linear characteristic.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an automatic control apparatus which controls an operating signal to be supplied to a control apparatus in such a manner that status variables of the control apparatus, such as temperature, flow rate, pressure, and level, coincide with target values.
2. Description of the Related Art
For control of this type, a PID (Proportional-Integral-Derivative) control apparatus is widely used due to its good general-purpose design. The conventional PID control apparatus performs a PID operation on the deviation between the operating signal of the control apparatus and a control signal output from the control apparatus used to acquire the operating signal of the control apparatus.
FIG. 1 shows a basic block diagram of the conventional PID control apparatus. A physical target value s is input to a reference input element 2, which converts the received physical target value s into a control target value x.sub.s. A deviation between the control target value x.sub.s and a control signal x of an object element 4, .epsilon..sub.s (=x.sub.s -x), is supplied to a PID controller 6. A transfer function Gc(S) of the PID controller 6 is expressed as follows. EQU Gc(S)=KP+KI/S+KD.S (1)
where
KP: proportional gain PA1 KI: integral time PA1 KD: differentiation time PA1 S: Laplace operator
An operating signal y (=.epsilon..sub.s.Gc(S)) output from the PID controller 6 is supplied to the object element 4. The object element 4 is also supplied with a disturbance g.
In this conventional PID control apparatus, the values of the individual parameters KP, KI, and KD are determined on the assumption that the object element 4 (the relation between the operating signal and the control signal) has a linear characteristic. In other words, the values of the individual parameters are determined by linearly approximating the characteristic of the object element in the vicinity of the operating signal y when a target value x.sub.s is given. In the conventional control apparatus, once the values of parameters are determined, they will not be set again even if the target value is changed. The conventional control apparatus cannot therefore provide satisfactory control results for object elements having a non-linear characteristic, such as an induction motor, a distillation plant, and a flow valve.
This problem results from the fact that the information source for a control arithmetic operation depends only on the deviation .epsilon..sub.s between the control signal x and the control target value x.sub.s at that time. In the differentiation operation, information regarding the correlation between the control target value x.sub.s and the control signal x will be lost. That is, the differentiation of the deviation in the conventional PID control is expressed as follows. EQU d.epsilon..sub.s /dt=dx.sub.s /dt-dx/dt (2)
Since the control target value x.sub.s is often constant, dx.sub.s /dt=0 so that the information regarding the correlation between x.sub.s and x, particularly, the information of the control operation concerning the magnitude of x with x.sub.s taken as a reference, will be lost as a consequence of the differentiation. In the case where an object element having a non linear characteristic is to be controlled, the values of parameters cannot be varied with a change in the target value, so that the original purpose of the differentiation to provide a control operation cannot be accomplished.
All the conventional PID control apparatuses have this shortcoming irrespective of whether they employ an analog system (continuous control system) or a digital system (sampled value control system).

Automatic PID controller in which the ratio of the control target value to the control signal is used to optimize performance


In an audio network system connecting a plurality of nodes in a ring form, a master node transmits a packet of frame data regularly every sampling cycle, such that the packet circulates through the nodes during the sampling cycle. The packet is provided with a plurality of regions for containing audio sample data in correspondence to a plurality of channels. A first node reads audio sample data from a particular region of the packet, which corresponds to a particular channel allocated to the first node, and stores the read audio sample data in a buffer. The first node acquires positional information indicating whether a second node which has written the audio sample data into the particular region is located upstream or downstream of the first node. The first node reads and outputs a previous one of the audio sample data from the buffer if the second node is located upstream of the first node, and outputs a current one of the audio sample data if the second node is located downstream of the first node.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a lag correction technology of audio samples in which sample mismatching between nodes in a ring audio network system is corrected based on the positional relationship of the nodes.
The present invention also relates to a technology for a ring audio network system in which transmission delay times in the system are taken into consideration and the output times of audio signals from nodes are corrected, thereby correcting the phase difference of all the nodes in the system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional technologies for audio signal communication in an audio network system used for PA such as plays and concerts, music production, and private broadcasting include CobraNet™ described in Non-Patent Reference 1, SuperMAC (registered trademark) described in Non-Patent Reference 2, and EtherSound (registered trademark) described in Non-Patent Reference 3. Any of them is a technology for transmitting audio signals over the Ethernet.
Conventional technologies used in a telephone line network include a ring communication network such as FDDI/TokenRing. In this scheme, a token (i.e., the right to transmit data) circulates through nodes connected in a ring so that only a node which obtains the token is permitted to transmit data.
One can consider an audio signal (audio sample data) transmission scheme using the conventional ring communication network. FIG. 13 illustrates an example of a ring audio network system. A signal circulates through nodes reciprocally along the nodes in the order of node 1301node 1302node 1303node 1302node 1301. FIG. 14 illustrates another example of the same ring audio network system. In this example, nodes 1401 to 1406 are physically connected in a ring in the named order. A packet transmitted from the master node 1401 circulates once in one sampling cycle (or time) in the order of 140114021403140414051406. A storage region of audio sample data of a plurality of channels (Ch) is allocated in the packet and each node transmits data by loading it into a storage region of a suitable channel in the packet.
However, in the system in which data is transmitted in a ring as described above, sample data of the same sampling cycle in which corresponding sample data is stored in the circulated packet by the node 1404 is extracted from the node 1406, while sample data of a different sampling cycle is extracted from the node 1403. This is because, when the sample data stored in the node 1404 reaches the master node 1401, the sample data is incorporated into a packet that circulates in the next sampling cycle, and the node 1403 then receives the packet. By such a manner, there is caused sample time mismatching between nodes in a conventional ring audio network system. Usually, such sample mismatching causes almost no problem. However, a variety of professional audio devices may not permit such sample mismatching.
Further in the conventional system in which data is transmitted in a ring as described above, it is difficult to accurately match output timings of audio signals of all nodes of the system. Particularly, as long as the system uses transmission lines, the system suffers from delay in signal transmission through the transmission lines. Processing in each node also causes a delay. Usually, such a small delay causes almost no problem. However, a variety of professional audio devices may not permit even such a small time delay, and there may be a desire to eliminate even the phase difference of audio signals output from all nodes. For example, in order to strictly design and set up a line array speaker system, it may be necessary to take into consideration even such a small delay.

Audio network system having lag correction function of audio samples