Apparatus and methods for managing cementing operations are provided. An example method includes connecting a cementing adapter atop a casing head itself positioned atop a surface casing landed within a conductor pipe, connecting a drilling adapter atop the cementing adapter, connecting a blowout preventer to the drilling adapter, and drilling for and running production casing. The method also includes positioning a casing hanger at least partially within a bore of the cementing adapter to be immobilized therein to retain back pressure of cement within an annulus located between the production casing and the surface casing, cementing the production casing within the surface casing, and removing the drilling adapter and blowout preventer after running the cement, but typically prior to cement bonding.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to drilling apparatus and methods, in general, and drilling apparatus and methods for managing the cementing operations, including early component removal.
2. Description of the Related Art
According to the conventional methodology/techniques, production casing such as, for example, 9⅝ inch production casing, is cemented through utilization of a diverter and/or blowout preventer (BOP). Specifically, the diverter and/or BOP provides the cement back pressure until the cement is bonded. This generally results in the drilling rig having to wait and/or remain idle during the bonding process. That is, if the drilling diverter is used to provide the cement back pressure, the drilling diverter cannot be released by the drilling rig until after substantial bonding has occurred. If the BOP is utilized, the drilling rig must remain adjacent the well to provide BOP control until the cement is bonded and the BOP can be removed.
It has therefore been recognized that according to conventional techniques, the drilling diverter and/or BOP cannot be released before the cement is bonded. As such, the drilling rig generally cannot be re-tasked until cement bonding is complete, resulting in substantial drilling rig non-utilization. In order to reduce drilling rig time, a mandrel-type casing hanger has been employed. Such methodology, however, is a very high cost and requires substantial additional components, complicating cementing operations.

Apparatus and methods for releasing drilling rig and blowout preventer (BOP) prior to cement bonding


A display device provides a virtual image for eyes of an observer. The display has a light source which emits light based on an image signal, scanner which scans the light, an eyepiece optical system which projects the scanned light onto an eye of the observer as a virtual image, detector which detects a pupil size of the observer, and regulator means which regulates a quantity of light projected onto the eye of the observer based on the detected pupil size.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a display device which presents the eye of an observer with a virtual image of an image photographed by a video camera, computer graphic or other such electronic image.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to achieve light weight and compactness in a display device which projects an image onto the eye of an observer as a virtual image, the use of a two-dimensional viewing means structured as compactly as possible is desired. Two-dimensional display means include a display which displays a two-dimensional image directly (e.g., which effects display by illuminating a two-dimensional liquid crystal display controlled on the basis of an image signal), and a scanning-type display which displays a two-dimensional image by using a scanner to scan light emitted from a point light source.
In order to make such display device compact, it is advantageous to make the incident light beam diameter presented to the observer as small as possible. Particularly in a device employing a scanning-type display means, the smaller the incident light beam diameter presented to the observer is made, the more lightweight and compact a rotating reflecting mirror or other such scanner can be made. Faster scanning is thereby afforded, a device can be made more lightweight and compact, and highly detailed image display can also be effected.
If the diameter of the incident light beam is made smaller than the pupil diameter of the observer, the amount of light reaching the retina of the observer does not change even if the pupil diameter of the observer changes. The image presented to the observer will consequently be an unnatural one differing from a realistic image, the reason being that the mechanism controlling the human pupil is extremely sensitive to changes in external brightness and reacts to external dynamic changes in brightness by changing the pupil diameter to regulate the amount of light reaching the retina.
For example, when a highly brilliant image meets the eye, its dazzling quality causes the pupil of an observer to contract, but when the diameter of the incident light beam is made smaller than the pupil diameter of the observer, the amount of light reaching the retina of the observer is not reduced, and the observer feels that the viewed image continues to change, becoming brighter. Conversely, even when an image changes to one of low brightness, the observer will be similarly presented with an unnatural sensation without purpose.
Under such conditions which differ from realistic conditions, wherein change in the pupil diameter of an observer does not function adequately to regulate the quantity of light, the visual function or nerve function of an observer may also be damaged. As the foregoing description provides, reducing the light beam diameter presented to the eye of an observer engenders a number of disadvantages. Yet there is no prior art which solves these several problems.


The disclosed embodiments relate to a queuing mechanism that may comprise a shared receive queue having a plurality of buffers. The queuing mechanism may also comprise a plurality of queue pairs, each of the plurality of queue pairs having a receive queue that comprises at least one of the plurality of buffers.

This section is intended to introduce the reader to various aspects of art, which may be related to various aspects of the present invention that are described and/or claimed below. This discussion is believed to be helpful in providing the reader with background information to facilitate a better understanding of the various aspects of the present invention. Accordingly, it should be understood that these statements are to be read in this light, and not as admissions of prior art.
In the field of computer systems, it may be desirable for information to be transferred from a system memory associated with one computer system to a system memory associated with another computer system. Queue pairs ("QPs") may be used to facilitate such a transfer of data. Each QP may include a send queue ("SQ") and a receive queue ("RQ") that may be utilized in transferring data from the memory of one device to the memory of another device. The QP may be defined to utilize an allocated number of memory blocks or buffers for each RQ and SQ.
The allocation of specific number of buffers for each SQ and RQ may be inefficient if some RQs and SQs are idle. This situation may occur frequently in a multi-client computing environment that supports numerous QPs. As a result of these inefficiencies; overall system performance may be degraded.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, l.P.


A pendulous sensor component of an apparatus in one example reacts to a parameter. One or more pickoff sensors that obtain a value of the parameter from a substantially zero net dampening torque location of the pendulous sensor component.

An electromechanical system in one example measures a parameter. For example, the electromechanical system comprises a micro-electromechanical system ("MEMS") gyroscope that measures a rotation. The gyroscope in one example comprises a pendulous sensor component, a dither drive component, and a pickoff sensor. The dither drive component operates along a dither drive axis to set the pendulous sensor component into oscillation. The pendulous sensor component reacts to the rotation. The pickoff sensor obtains a value of the rotation from a motion of the pendulous sensor component.
One source of error in the rotation measurement is a bias sensitivity to changes in pressure. If the pressure is changing over time, then a model for bias compensation will be incorrect. In general, the Q of the gyroscope is inversely proportional to pressure for pressures below 1 mm of Hg (1 Torr). A bias may be introduced to the gyroscope by a misalignment of the dither drive that actuates the pendulous sensor component. The bias in one example increases a sensitivity to pressure of the gyroscope. As one shortcoming, the accuracy of the rotation measurement of the gyroscope decreases as pressure sensitivity increases.
Thus, a need exists for a reduction in a sensitivity to pressure of electromechanical systems.

Pickoff sensor obtaining of value of parameter from substantially zero net dampening torque location of pendulous sensor component


A rechargeable battery pack includes a rechargeable battery cell, and a pair of cell holders receiving respective sides of the rechargeable battery cell in a length direction, the pair of cell holders being combinable with each other. Each of the cell holders includes a base that supports the rechargeable battery cell, a combination protrusion and a combination groove symmetrically disposed on an outer side of the base, a protrusion protruding from the base in the length direction so as to be combinable in the length direction, and a recess portion being concave in the base in the length direction such that the recess portion of one of the pair of cell holders is combinable with the protrusion of the other of the pair of cell holders.

1. Field
Embodiments relate generally to a rechargeable battery pack having a cell holder.
2. Description of the Related Art
As technical development of and demand for mobile devices, electric bicycles, electric scooters, and machine tools have increased, the demand for rechargeable batteries as an energy source has also increased. Rechargeable batteries can be used in a rechargeable battery pack configured with a plurality of rechargeable batteries coupled in series or in parallel so as to realize high output.


An ultrasonic surgical clamp coagulator apparatus is configured to effect cutting, coagulation, and clamping of tissue by cooperation of a clamping mechanism of the apparatus with an associated ultrasonic end-effector. Selective, indexed rotational positioning of the clamping mechanism and end-effector is achieved by the provision of a detent mechanism incorporated into the clamp drive mechanism of the apparatus. An improved clamping mechanism permits the desired clamping force to be applied to tissue positioned against the end-effector in an instrument having a desirably small cross-section.

Ultrasonic surgical instruments are finding increasingly widespread applications in surgical procedures by virtue of the unique performance characteristics of such instruments. Depending upon specific instrument configurations and operational parameters, ultrasonic surgical instruments can provide substantially simultaneous cutting of tissue and hemostasis by coagulation, desirably minimizing patient trauma. The cutting action is typically effected by an end-effector at the distal end of the instrument, with the end-effector transmitting ultrasonic energy to tissue brought into contact therewith. Ultrasonic instruments of this nature can be configured for open surgical use, or laparoscopic or endoscopic surgical procedures.
Ultrasonic surgical instruments have been developed that include a clamp mechanism to press tissue against the end-effector of the instrument in order to couple ultrasonic energy to the tissue of a patient. Such an arrangement (sometimes referred to as an ultrasonic transactor) is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,322,055, hereby incorporated by reference.
As will be appreciated, effecting the desired coupling of ultrasonic energy to the tissue of a patient requires that the clamp mechanism of an ultrasonic instrument be configured to exert sufficient compression clamping force between the clamp arm and the associated end-effector. While providing suitable clamp mechanisms in relatively large ultrasonic surgical instruments has been achieved in the past, presently preferred instruments are relatively thin, and a relatively small cross-section. By way of example, current instruments have a diameter less than about 6 mm, thus limiting the "envelope" within which a clamping mechanism must be positioned. As will be recognized, the clamping force is a function of the moment arm which is created about the pivot axis of the clamp arm of the clamping mechanism, with the advent of such relatively small instruments limiting the available space for creating the desired mechanical pivoting force. Additionally, it is ordinarily preferred to provide an end-effector dimensioned as large as possible, within the confines of the relatively small instrument, since this desirably abates excessive heating of the end-effector, and promotes efficient ultrasonic cutting and coagulation.
The present invention is particularly directed to an ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus which includes an improved clamping mechanism which has been specifically configured to convert longitudinal motion into a pivotal clamping motion for creating the desired clamping force in a surgical instrument having a relatively small cross-section.

Ultrasonic clamp coagulator apparatus having improved clamp mechanism


Amplifier circuits and methods of cancelling the Miller effects in amplifiers are disclosed herein. An embodiment of an amplifier circuit includes an input and an output. An amplifier is connected between the input and the output of the circuit. A voltage source is connected to the output, wherein the voltage source output is one hundred eighty degrees out of phase with the voltage output by the amplifier, and wherein the voltage source cancels gain due to the Miller effect of a Miller capacitance between the input and output.

Capacitors located across amplifier gain stages (whether inherent in a given topology or discretely placed) cause the amplifiers to suffer from what is known as the Miller effect. The Miller effect multiplies the given capacitance value by the value of gain across the stage; thus resulting in a larger effective capacitance as seen looking into the amplifier input. This capacitance has the effect of lowering the pole frequency at the gain stage input due to the higher capacitance. The result is a lower bandwidth for the amplification stage.

Circuits and methods for compensating for miller capacitance


A noise suppressor capable of preventing degradation in an attenuation characteristic by a parasitic component so as to obtain a favorable attenuation characteristic is provided. The noise suppressor includes a first winding wire disposed on a first current-carrying wire and a series circuit including a capacitor and a second winding wire which are connected to each other in series. The first winding wire and the second winding wire are magnetically coupled to each other. The inductance xL of the whole second winding wire is smaller than the inductance LL of the whole first winding wire (xL<LL). Moreover, it is desirable that the inductance xL of the whole second winding wire is equal to or smaller than the inductance LL1 per turn in the first winding wire (xL≦LL1).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a noise suppressor which suppresses noise transmitted through a first current-carrying wire and a second current-carrying wire.
2. Description of the Related Art
Power electronics devices such as switching power supplies, inverters, lighting circuits for lighting fixtures include a power converter circuit which converts power. The power converter circuit includes a switching circuit which converts a direct current into an alternating current with a rectangular wave. Therefore, the power converter circuit produces a ripple voltage with a frequency equivalent to the switching frequency of the switching circuit or noise associated with the switching operation of the switching circuit. The ripple voltage or noise adversely affects other devices. Therefore, it is necessary to arrange a means for reducing the ripple voltage or noise between the power converter circuit and the other devices or lines.
Moreover, recently as a communications technology used for the establishment of a home communication network, power line communications holds promise, and the development of the power line communications has been advanced. In the power line communications, a high frequency signal is superimposed on a power line to establish communication. In the power line communications, noise is produced on the power line by the operations of various electrical and electronic devices connected to the power line, and the noise causes a decline in communication quality such as an increase in error rate. Therefore, a means for reducing noise on the power line is necessary. Moreover, in the power line communications, it is necessary to prevent a communication signal on an indoor power line from being leaked to an outdoor power line.
Noise transmitted through two current-carrying wires includes normal mode (differential mode) noise which causes a potential difference between two current-carrying wires and common mode noise transmitted through two current-carrying wires at the same phase.
Arranging a line filter on a power supply line, a signal line or the like is effective in preventing the noise. As the line filter, a filter including an inductance device (inductor) and a capacitor, that is, a so-called LC filter is commonly used.
FIG. 20 shows an example of a LC filter for normal mode noise prevention in a related art. The LC filter includes a first inductor L101 disposed on a first current-carrying wire 103 and a first capacitor C101 having one end connected to the first current-carrying wire 103 and the other end connected to a second current-carrying wire 104.
FIG. 21 shows an example of a LC filter for common mode noise prevention in a related art. The LC filter includes a first inductor L101 disposed on a first current-carrying wire 103 and a first capacitor C101 having one end connected to the first current-carrying wire 103 and the other end connected to ground. The LC filter further includes a second inductor L102 disposed on a second current-carrying wire 104 and a second capacitor C102 having one end connected to the second current-carrying wire 104 and the other end connected to ground. The first inductor L101 includes a first winding wire 111, and the second inductor L102 includes a second winding wire 112. The first and the second winding wires 111 and 112 are magnetically coupled to each other through winding the first and the second winding wires 111 and 112 around a common core 100 so as to prevent common mode noise in cooperation, thereby the first and the second winding wires 111 and 112 form a common mode choke coil.
The basic structure of such a LC filter is shown in "Transistor Gijutsu SPECIAL No. 44", CQ Publishing Co., Ltd., issued on Mar. 1, 1994, p 5 (FIG. 6).


A semiconductor device is manufactured by the use of a glass substrate which has previously been heated. An amorphous semiconductor layer is formed on the previously heated glass substrate and then crystallized by heat. By virtue of the previous heating, shrink of the glass substrate after the crystallization process is reduced. Accordingly, internal stress is not generated in the crystallized semiconductor layer. The semiconductor device thus manufactured is superior in electrical property.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A technique of forming a non-single crystal semiconductor layer on a glass substrate by reduced pressure CVD or plasma CVD followed by heating the substrate at about 600xc2x0 C. to thereby crystallize the layer into a polycrystal semiconductor layer has been well-known in the field of manufacture of semiconductor devices. Explaining the process of this thermal crystallization, first the temperature is raised from room temperature (i.e. initial stage), second the temperature is maintained at about 600xc2x0 C. (i.e. intermediate stage) for a few hours to several tens hours, and finally the temperature is lowered to room temperature (i.e. last stage). If a cheap glass substrate utilized for a large-sized liquid crystal display device and so on is subjected to the thermal crystallization process at about 600xc2x0 C., since a cheap glass substrate has its strain point at about 600xc2x0 C., the glass substrate shrinks (that is, the volume of the glass at the last stage becomes smaller than that at the initial stage) and thereby internal stress is caused in a semiconductor layer provided on the substrate. Further, photolithography pattern to be used in the subsequent process is deformed due to the shrink of the glass substrate, so that mask alignment in the further subsequent process becomes difficult to carry out. According to an experiment, interface state in the semiconductor layer formed on the substrate was high due to the internal stress, therefore electrical property of the semiconductor layer was bad. For the above reason, a technique for obtaining on a glass substrate a semiconductor layer of excellent electrical property has been required in the field of manufacture of semiconductor devices.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a method for manufacturing a semiconductor device of high performance.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device comprising a channel region of high field effect mobility.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a semiconductor device of high performance.
In order to attain these and other objects, first a glass substrate is heated in a non-oxidizing atmosphere or an inactive gas atmosphere at a temperature not higher than strain point of the glass substrate, and then a non-single crystal semiconductor layer is formed on the substrate and the non-single crystal semiconductor layer is crystallized by heat in a non-oxidizing atmosphere or an inactive gas atmosphere. The volume of the glass substrate at a temperature, e.g., room temperature after the glass substrate heating process is smaller than that at the same temperature as the above, e.g., room temperature before the glass substrate heating process. That is, the glass substrate shrinks after being heated. By virtue of this glass substrate heating process, when the non-single crystal semiconductor layer formed on the glass substrate is crystallized by heat, the volume of the glass substrate is not decreased so much, that is, the shrink of the glass substrate is very little. Therefore, a crystallized semiconductor layer free from internal stress can be obtained by the crystallization process.
A non-single crystal semiconductor includes an amorphous semiconductor, a semi-amorphous semiconductor, a microcrystal semiconductor, and an imperfect polycrystal semiconductor. The microcrystal semiconductor is defined as a semiconductor in amorphous state in which crystal state is dispersed. On the other hand, the imperfect polycrystal semiconductor is defined as a semiconductor in polycrystal state in which crystal growth is imperfect, that is, crystals can be grown more.
Strain point of glass is defined as the temperature at which the viscosity of glass v is 4xc3x971014 poise (log(v)=14.5).

Method for manufacturing a semiconductor device

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Receipt of user input may be facilitated using a handheld computing platform with an integrated pressure sensor. Exemplary implementations may allow a user to simply squeeze the handheld computing platform in order to control one or more aspects of operation of the handheld computing platform. That is, instead of tapping a touch screen or pressing buttons, a user may merely need to apply compressive pressure to the handheld computing platform by applying opposing forces to opposing surfaces of the handheld computing platform. By way of non-limiting example, the one or more aspects of operation controlled by squeezing the handheld computing platform may include one or more of input of a value, selection from a menu, manipulation of a virtual object, entry of a password or a code, interaction with a fitness program, interaction with a rehabilitation and/or medical treatment program, interaction with a game, and/or other aspects of operation.

Handheld computing platforms continue to gain popularity in the marketplace. Examples of these platforms may include Smartphones, handheld computers, handheld gaming consoles, handheld exercise devices, and/or other handheld computing platforms. User interactions with existing handheld computing platforms, particularly with respect to input, is typically limited to using buttons, touchscreens, and/or voice commands.

Handheld computing platform with integrated pressure sensor and associated methods of use


A method of manufacturing a pipe body having a rectangular cross section, including preparing a metal plate having edges parallel to each other and bending lines parallel to the edges, forming malleable portions extending perpendicular to the bending lines, forming the metal plate into an intermediate product by bending at the bending lines such that the intermediate product includes a center bottom wall, adjoining walls, and two upper walls, applying external forces to the adjoining walls so as to expand and curve the center bottom wall outward, thereby bringing the edges in the upper walls into intimate contact, and applying external force to the curved center bottom wall so as to flatten the center bottom wall and maintain the edges in close contacted condition with a spring back force in the center bottom wall, wherein the malleable portions are formed in the adjoining walls.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method of manufacturing a pipe body by performing a bending operation on a metal plate, to a pipe body manufactured by the method, and to an image forming apparatus using the pipe body.
2. Discussion of the Background
A method of manufacturing a pipe body having a rectangular cross section has been proposed in a Published Japanese patent application 2001-286934. In the Published Japanese patent application 2001-286934, as illustrated in FIGS. 1A and 1B, an intermediate product 41 is formed by bending a metal plate 40 having a pair of edges 40a and 40b parallel to each other. As illustrated in FIG. 1B, the intermediate product 41 includes three walls 42, 43a, and 43b which construct the pipe body's walls except an upper wall. The upper wall is formed by joining the edges 40a and 40b to each other. Specifically, the wall 42 constructs a bottom wall of the pipe body, and the walls 43a and 43b construct side walls of the pipe body and adjoin the wall 42 (hereafter referred to as adjoining walls 43a and 43b). In the intermediate product 41, each angle θ1 formed between the wall 42 and the adjoining wall 43a or 43b is made obtuse, so that the edges 40a and 40b are away from each other.
Next, as illustrated in FIGS. 1C and 1D, external forces are applied to the adjoining walls 43a and 43b, and thereby the wall 42 is curved outward and the edges 40a and 40b are brought into intimate contact with each other. Then, referring to FIG. 1E, another external force is applied to the curved portion of the wall 42 while applying pressure to a surface 45 of the upper wall including a junction 44 of the edges 40a and 40b, and thereby the wall 42 is deformed to be flat. As a result, a pipe body 46 is obtained as a completed product.
In the above-described manufacturing method of a pipe body, a spring back force that maintains the edges 40a and 40b of the intermediate product 41 in close contacted condition remains at a surface 47 of the wall 42, allowing the edges 40a and 40b to closely contact each other without welding.
As described above, to flatten the wall 42 and to enhance the planarity of the surface 45 of the upper wall and the surface 47 of the wall 42, an external force is applied to the wall 42 while applying pressure to the surface 45. When applying an external force to the wall 42 while applying pressure to the surface 45, deformation such as buckling may occur on a surface 49 of the adjoining wall 43a and a surface 50 of the adjoining wall 43b in the pipe body 46. Such deformation may be caused by the following reasons: (1) the strength of the adjoining walls 43a and 43b against the external force is insufficient due to the uneven hardness of the material for the metal plate 40, and (2) the external force is excessively exerted when the bottom dead center position of a mold 48 pressing the surface 45 of the upper wall is lower than an assumed position due to the fluctuation of process conditions. The deformation may affect the quality of a product especially when the surfaces 49 and 50 are needed to be formed with accuracy and when holes are formed in the surfaces 49 and 50 with high accuracy. Accordingly, the quality inspection of products may be required.
However, the above-described deformation does not necessary occur constantly even in the same production lot. Therefore, when manufacturing products with high accuracy, the inspection of all completed products needs to be performed, thereby increasing the manufacturing cost of a pipe body.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a manufacturing method of a pipe body in which the surfaces of the pipe body do not deform when external forces are applied thereto at the time of press process, thereby at least reducing inspection of a completed pipe body, and suppressing increase in manufacturing cost for a pipe body even with high accuracy.

Pipe body, method of manufacturing pipe body, and image forming apparatus using the pipe body


A method and system for physiological image registration and fusion is disclosed. A physiological model of a target anatomical structure in estimated each of a first image and a second image. The physiological model is estimated using database-guided discriminative machine learning-based estimation. A fused image is then generated by registering the first and second images based on correspondences between the physiological model estimated in each of the first and second images.

The present invention relates to physiological image registration and fusion, and more particularly, to fusing multiple medical images of anatomical structures using physiological models of related structures.
Various imaging modalities, such as computed tomography (CT), magnetic resonance (MR), ultrasound, positron emission tomography (PET), single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), etc., are used to generate medical images of anatomic structures. The physiological information provided by various types of imaging modalities is often vital throughout a clinical workflow, which includes diagnosis, planning, and evaluation of surgical and radio-therapeutical procedures. Information gained from two or more images acquired using different imaging modalities is often complementary, and can provide additional and critical clinical value. Thus, methods for integrating such information from different imaging modalities are desirable.
Conventional techniques for registering different images utilize image-based methods in which a measure of similarity if defined together with a set of allowed rigid/non-rigid transformations and optimization is used to maximize the similarity measure subject to the allowed transformations. Such a similarity measure, applied in multi-modal registration, is typically based on mutual intensity information in the images. Mutual intensity information becomes very complex for high dimensional multi-modal registration problems, which leads to long processing time and poor results. Accordingly, although conventional registration techniques have achieved limited success in two-dimensional mono-modal and widely rigid anatomical regions, such techniques have not been widely adopted in multi-modal registration of higher dimensional images.

Method and system for physiological image registration and fusion


Systems and methods for changing items of a computer file, such as an archive file, can include an application programmed to create a file including a first item and a second item, the application storing the file on a storage medium. Systems can also include an input/output module associated with the application, the input/output module retiring the first item upon a change to the first item resulting in an increase or a decrease in a size of the first item. Upon retiring the first item, the input/output module can write a third item at an end of the file, the third item including the change to the first item. Methods can include retiring the first item upon a change to the first item, and writing a third item after the second item, the third item including the change to the first item.

A computer file can include a variety of data. For example, a file created by a word processing program such as Microsoft® Word can include formatted text and embedded objects such as pictures. In addition, the file can include metadata, or data relating to attributes of the file itself. The file can include other types of data as well. The file can be saved to a recordable storage medium in a variety of formats. One example format includes a non-binary format, such as plain text. Another example format includes a binary format that is typically compressed and/or structured in a way that is easy for a program to read.
One example binary format is the .ZIP file format (sometimes referred to herein as an "archive file"). Within an archive file, a plurality of archive items can be saved. Each archive item is generally defined by a header and is followed by the contents for the item. The archive items are saved as contiguous blocks within the archive file.
For example, an archive file including three archive items A, B, and C can look as follows:
In the example shown, item A of the archive file is metadata associated with the file, item B is text associated with the file, and item C is an embedded object such as a picture associated with the file.
When it is necessary to modify the contents of a particular archive item in an archive file, such as archive item A above, the archive item can change in size (i.e., grow or shrink). When archive item A grows or shrinks in size, it is necessary to rewrite the contents of following items B and C because of the contiguous nature of the archive file format. Further, because an archive file can sometimes be written in a compressed format, changes in the contents of the file can cause the file to grow or shrink in unpredictable ways.
For example, if item A increases in size, items B and C need to be shifted to accommodate the change in size of item A, as shown below:
Rewriting all of items that following an item in an archive that is changed can be costly both in terms of performance and the resources used to rewrite the archive items.
It is therefore desirable to provide systems and methods that can efficiently change items in a file.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Systems and methods for changing items in a computer file


The breakpoints of the pericentric inversion of chromosome 16 have been cloned. Two genes, one at each breakpoint, have also been identified, as well as several forms of the inversion 16 fusion gene. Diagnostic applications for chromosome 16 abnormalities and, particularly acute myeloid leukemia are also within the scope of the present invention.

Non-random chromosomal abnormalities have been identified in many hematologic malignancies. Cloning of the breakpoints involved in the abnormalities has led to the identification of the affected genes and the molecular genetic consequences of the rearrangements. Known proto-oncogenes have been found to be deregulated by translocations and new biomedically important genes have been identified at the breakpoints with resultant insights into the mechanisms of normal hematopoiesis as well as leukemogenesis. Solomon, E. et al., Science 254:1153 (1991); Nichols, J. et al. Blood 80:2953 (1992); Rabbits T. H., Cell 67:641 (1991); and Yunis, J. J. et al., Crit. Rev. Oncogen. 4:161 (1993). In leukemias, at least two mechanisms have been identified for the deregulation of cellular proto-oncogenes by chromosome rearrangements. The first is the juxtaposition of a cellular proto-oncogene to the regulatory elements of a tissue specific gene, particularly the immunoglobulin and T cell receptor genes, leading to the inappropriate expression of the oncogene. Leder, P. et al., Science 222:765 (1983); Finger, L. R. et al., Science 234:982 (1986). The second is gene fusion at the junction of a translocation, generating a chimeric mRNA and a protein with transforming properties. Borrow, A. D. et al., Science 249:1577 (1990) and de The, H. et al., Nature 347:558 (1990)
A characteristic chromosome 16 pericentric inversion, inv(16)(p13q22), has been found in almost all patients with abnormal bone marrow eosinophilia (M4Eo), which constitutes about 8% of acute myeloid leukemia (AML) patients. Arthur, D. C. et al., Blood 61:994 (1983); LeBeau, M. M. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 309:630 (1983); Mitelman, F. et al., Genes Chrom. Cancer 5:57 (1992); Heim, S. et al., Can. Suppl. 70:1701 (1992). Given the absence of other karyotypic abnormalities in many of these patients and the fact that patients treated in several studies had the inversion chromosome disappear upon remission, a pathogenic relationship between inversion 16 and acute myelomonocytic leukemia (AMML) M4Eo has been suggested. Arthur, D. C. et al., Blood 61:994 (1983); LeBeau, M. M. et al., N. Engl. J. Med. 309:630 (1983); Mitelman, F. et al., Genes Chrom. Cancer 5:57 (1992); Heim, S. et al., Can. Suppl. 70:1701 (1992); "Fourth International Workshop on Chromosomes in Leukemia, 1982," Can. Genet. Cytogen. 11:275 (1984); and Bennett, J. M. et al., Ann. Intern. Med. 103:626 (1985).
The breakpoints associated with this chromosome rearrangement had not, however, been previously cloned. Genetic events associated with this chromosomal aberration and their relationship to leukemogenesis, therefore, remained unidentified, although some progress in identifying the molecular events associated with inversion 16 (also referred to as inv(16) herein) was made. For instance, the long arm breakpoint of inv(16) was mapped between two anonymous DNA sequence markers found to be within 450 kb from each other. Callen, D. F. et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet. 51:A57 (1992). By fluorescence in situ hybridization (FISH), the p arm breakpoint was mapped between anonymous cosmids located in band 16p13.13 separated by an unknown distance. Wessels, J. W. et al., Blood 77:1555 (1991) It was also suggested that the breakpoint was within a chromosome 16-specific repeat sequence which might play a role in the origin of chromosome 16 rearrangements in the leukemia. Dauwerse, J. G. et al., Blood 79:1299 (1992) and Stallings, R. L. et al., Genomics 13:332 (1992).
Sensitive molecular analysis has also not been available for diagnosis and monitoring of patients with inv(16) leukemia. Identification of the inversion has generally been performed with karyotyping by G-banding. This procedure however, is not very sensitive due to the poor quality of clinical samples and the fact that chromosome 16 is a short chromosome with few identifiable banding landmarks. A more recent diagnostic method utilizes isolated cosmids as probes to identify the chromosome 16 inversion by FISH. Although this is an improvement over karyotyping, problems with chromosome preparation from clinical samples still exist and all of the cytogenetic-based diagnoses are not sensitive to a small fraction of abnormal cells, i.e. are not helpful for monitoring for relapse.
It would therefore be desirable to identify the genes involved in the chromosome 16 arrangement. It would also be desirable to provide markers for the detection of chromosome 16 rearrangements. It would further be desirable to provide a method of diagnosing chromosome 16 rearrangements. It would also be desirable to provide a method of assessing treatment of acute myeloid leukemia patients. With the elucidation of the genes and breakpoints involved, conventional and genetic therapeutic approaches for the treatment of acute myeloid leukemia are also now feasible.

Markers for detection of chromosome 16 rearrangements

The Regents Of The University Of Michigan and The Board of Regents


A system and method to sustain an on-going voice call or other service during a handover, HO, by preventing the handover to a target cell that fails to admit all the mandatory Radio Access Bearers, RABs, as part of supporting one or more Quality of Service Class Identifiers, QCIs, associated with the ongoing service. When the source evolved Node B, eNB, prevents the HO to the best target cell, it may attempt the HO to the next best target cell. If the next best cell fails to admit all the mandatory RABs and if there are no other intra-LTE or inter-LTE cells available for HO, the source eNB may perform an inter-Radio Access Technology, RAT, HO using the Single Radio Voice Call Continuity, SRVCC, procedure. By preventing “partial” handovers, the retainability of an ongoing service is significantly improved. The target cells causing failure of particular RABs can be tracked using new counters.

In cellular communication, the most basic form of "handover" or "handoff" is when a phone call in progress is redirected from its current cell, which is called a "source cell" or "serving cell", to a new cell (called "target cell"). In terrestrial cellular radio networks, the source and the target cells may be served from two different cell sites or from a single cell site. In the latter case, the two cells are usually referred to as two "sectors" on the cell site. Such a handover (HO), in which the source and the target cells are different cells—even if they are on the same cell site—is called an inter-cell handover. The purpose of an inter-cell handover is to maintain the call as the subscriber is moving out of the area covered by the source cell and entering the area of the target cell.
FIG. 1 illustrates certain network interfaces—i.e., the "S1," "X2", and "Uu" interfaces—in a Third Generation Partnership Project's (3GPP) Long Term Evolution (LTE) network 15. These network interfaces may be relevant during a handover. The LTE network 15 is shown to include a source cell 17 having a source/serving evolved Node B (eNB or eNodeB) or Radio Base Station (RBS, or more simply "BS") 18 associated therewith, and a target cell 20 having a target eNB or BS 21 associated therewith. For the sake of simplicity, only two cells—the serving cell 17 and the target cell 20—are shown in FIG. 1 as part of the network 15. It is understood that many such cells may form part of the network 15, and inter-cell handovers among those cells allow a UE, for example, the UE 23, to "seamlessly" continue mobile communication throughout the network 15 and beyond. As mentioned earlier, the cells 17 and 20 may be part of different cell sites (not shown) or may belong to the same cell site (not shown). Furthermore, although cells 17 and 20 are illustrated far apart in FIG. 1 and although UE 23 is shown outside of both of these cells 17, 20, such illustration is for the sake of convenience and ease of discussion only. In the context of the handover related discussion with reference to FIG. 1, it is understood that the UE 23 may be physically present and operating (or registered) within the serving cell 17 or may be currently associated with—i.e., under Radio Frequency (RF) coverage of—or attached to the serving cell 17 in some manner such as, for example, through a prior handover. The UE 23 may now need to be handed over to the target cell 20 if so determined by the serving eNB 18 associated with the source cell 17 and providing RF coverage to the UE 23 within the source cell 17. The target eNB 21 may provide RF coverage over cell 20 and in its vicinity.
In LTE, the communication interface between the serving eNB 18 and the target eNB 21 is called the "X2" interface, which may be used to carry out necessary HO-related signaling. The X2 communication interface between two eNBs 18, 21 is symbolically illustrated by line 25. The radio interface between the UE 23 and an eNodeB is called the "Uu" interface in LTE. The "Uu" interfaces to source and target eNBs are symbolically illustrated by radio links 27-28 in FIG. 1.
As shown in FIG. 1, the LTE network 15 may also include a Core Network (CN) 30, which may be an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). In FIG. 1, the block showing the CN 30 is shown dotted to indicate lack of any appreciable involvement of many of its component nodes during a handover operation. However, a management node 32 in the CN 30 may be needed to facilitate handover. In the EPC, the management node 32 may include the functionalities of a Mobility Management Entity (MME) and a Serving Gateway (S-GW). For ease of discussion, the MME and S-GW are not illustrated separately in FIG. 1. However, it is understood that the MME and the S-GW may be separately implemented in the CN 30. As noted earlier, the eNBs 18, 21 may be interconnected with each other by means of the X2 interface. Furthermore, the eNBs 18, 21 also may be connected to the CN 30 such as, for example, the EPC in LTE, by means of the "S1" interface as symbolically illustrated by lines 34-35 in FIG. 1. More specifically, the S1 interface may include two separate interfaces—the interface "S1-MME" connecting an eNB to the MME in the CN 30, and the interface "S1-U" connecting an eNB to the S-GW in the CN 30. It is noted here that the S1 interface supports a many-to-many relation between MMEs/S-GWs and eNBs.
X2 and S1 Handovers
FIG. 2 shows an operational sequence 38 for X2 handover in an LTE network, whereas FIG. 3 (discussed later below) shows an operational sequence 54 for S1 handover in an LTE network. The LTE network may be the network 15 in FIG. 1. The term "X2 handover" may refer to the handover related messaging across the X2 interface connecting the source and the target eNBs 18 and 21, respectively. On the other hand, the term "S1 handover" may refer to the handover related messaging across the respective S1 interfaces 34, 35 for the source and target eNBs 18, 21. A detailed description of various messages shown in the operational sequences 38, 54 in FIGS. 2 and 3, respectively, may be obtained from a number of 3GPP Technical Specifications (TS) such as, for example, the 3GPP TS 36.133, version 12.3.0 (March 2014), titled "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Requirements for support of radio resource management (Release 12)"; the 3GPP TS 36.331, version 12.2.0 (June 2014), titled "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Resource Control (RRC); Protocol specification (Release 12)"; the 3GPP TS 36.413, version 12.2.0 (June 2014), titled "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); S1 Application Protocol (S1AP) (Release 12)"; and the 3GPP TS 36.423, version 12.2.0 (June 2014), titled "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); X2 application protocol (X2AP) (Release 12)." The relevant portions of these 3GPP TSs are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. Because of significant details of the HO operation in these 3GPP TSs, only a brief discussion of the operational sequences in FIGS. 2 and 3 is provided below.
It is noted here that the messaging in FIGS. 2-3 is shown in the context of the network configuration in FIG. 1. Hence, the same reference numerals are used in these figures to refer to the same/similar entities. Furthermore, for ease of discussion, the management node 32 is depicted using two separate entities 32a, 32b in FIG. 2, and four separate entities 32a-32d in FIG. 3. However, these separate entities may be implemented using a single node or multiple nodes in the CN 30. Also, in one embodiment, in the context of FIG. 3, the target MME 32d and the target S-GW 32c may be part of a core network (not shown) that is different from the CN 30.
In the discussion below, a "cell" and its associated eNB may be referred to in an interchangeable manner. For example, a UE may be interchangeably referred to as being handed over to a target cell or a target eNB, or an HO may be interchangeably referred to as being initiated by a source cell or a source eNB, and so on.
Referring now to FIG. 2, in the RRC_Connected state—which is symbolically illustrated using the reference numeral "40"—the source eNB 18 may send, at arrow 42, an "RRC Connection Reconfiguration" message to the UE 23 containing information about Signaling Radio Bearers (SRBs) that are setup by the source eNB 18 for RRC messages and about the neighbor cell measurement configuration that the UE 23 should use to perform measurements on the neighboring cells and to report the measurements to the source eNB 18. The SRBs are typically defined as Radio Bearers (RBs), which are discussed in more detail later with reference to FIG. 4. An HO is a procedure that changes the serving cell of a UE in RRC_Connected state. As is known, when the UE 23 is mobile, it may start receiving RF signals from the eNB 21 in the target cell 20 along with the RF signals from its serving cell 17, especially when the UE 23 is in the vicinity of the target cell 20. The source eNB 18 may thus instruct the UE 23 attached to the serving cell 17 and under operative control of the eNB 18 to perform certain measurements on the target cell 20. The eNB 18 may use different policies for instructing the UE 23 to do the measurements and when to report them to the eNB 18. In FIG. 2, the dotted arrow 43 shows a data plane that has been established between the UE 23 and the S-GW 32a in the CN 30 to continue supporting UE's data transfers while the HO-related RRC messaging occurs among the UE 23, the source eNB 18, and the target eNB 21. The data transfers may be associated with a service that is currently being received by the UE 23 through the source cell 17. The service may be, for example, a voice call, a multimedia content download, online messaging, and the like.
When the UE 23 receives RF signals from the target cell 20, the UE 23 may report target cell's signals measurements, as received by the UE 23, to its serving cell 17 using an "RRC Measurement Report" at arrow 44. The UE's Measurement Report may identify a candidate eNB—here, the target eNB 21—for handover. The UE 23 may perform measurements on the neighbor cells, such as the target cell 20, by measuring their Reference Symbols Received Power (RSRP), Reference Symbols Received Quality (RSRQ), and so on. In the embodiment of FIG. 2, the message at arrow 44 may indicate that the UE 23 is reporting an "A3" event, which refers to a situation when the UE 23 is receiving signals from the target cell 20 that are better than the signals from its serving cell 17 by a predefined offset. Various other "events" that may trigger measurement reporting by a UE are defined in section 5.5.4 of the earlier-mentioned 3GPP TS 36.331. Some exemplary triggering "events" such as the Event A2, the Event A5, and the Event B2 are discussed later with reference to discussion of FIGS. 9-11.
At block 45, the source eNB 18 may make a decision whether to handover the UE 23 to the target eNB 21 or not based on the Measurement Report received from the UE 23. Upon determining that the UE 23 is to be handed over to the target cell 20, the source eNB 18 may send, at arrow 46, an "X2 Handover Request" to the target eNB 21 with a list of EUTRAN Radio Access Bearers (E-RABs or ERABs) to be admitted by the target eNB 21 as part of the handover. An E-RAB uniquely identifies the concatenation of an S1 bearer and the corresponding data radio bearer as illustrated in FIG. 4 and discussed later below. The admission of a specific E-RAB by the target cell 21 assures UE's 23 continued "link" to the core network 30 for data transfers associated with a service that is currently being received by the UE 23 through the source cell 17. As mentioned earlier, the service may be, for example, a voice call, a multimedia content download, online messaging, and the like. At step 47, the target eNB 21 may perform admission control for each ERAB individually. A more detailed discussion of such admission control is provided later below.
In the embodiment of FIG. 2, a timer 48 may be activated by the source eNB 18 to monitor the time it takes for a response to the handover request to be received from the target eNB 21. The handover procedure may be canceled by the source eNB 18 if the response is not received within a predetermined time period. It is shown in FIG. 2 that a response—in the form of an "X2 Handover Request Acknowledge" message at arrow 49—may be received from the target eNB 21 before the timer 48 expires. The Handover Acknowledge message from the target eNB 21 may contain a list of ERABs acknowledged/admitted by the target eNB 21 and the ERABs rejected (or failed to be admitted) by the target eNB 21. Thereafter, at arrow 50, the source eNB 18 may initiate the handover by sending an "X2 Sequence Number (SN) Status Transfer" message to the target eNB 21 before commencing the forwarding of UE data (at block 51 in FIG. 2) to the target eNB 21. To inform the UE 23 of the handover, the source eNB 18 may send an RRC Connection Reconfiguration message—which is not shown in FIG. 2, but may be similar to the message shown at arrow 70 in FIG. 3—to the UE 23 indicating the target eNB to which the UE 23 should handover to.
Referring now to FIG. 3, the S1 handover in the RRC_Connected state may commence with an "RRC Connection Reconfiguration" message from the source eNB 18 to the UE 23 at arrow 55. The operations 55 through 58 are identical to operations 42-45 in FIG. 2, respectively, and, hence, operations 55-58 are not discussed herein. As shown in FIG. 3, at arrow 59, an "S1 Handover Required" message may be sent from the source eNB 18 to the source MME 32b containing information about the target eNB 21 to which the UE 23 is to be handed over as well as the ERABs to be admitted by the target eNB 21. In the embodiment of FIG. 3, a timer 60 may be implemented at the source eNB 18 to monitor the time it takes for a response to the S1 Handover Required message to be received from the source MME 32b. The source eNB 18 may consider the handover procedure as "failed" if the source eNB 18 does not receive such a response within a predetermined time period. Upon receiving the handover required message at arrow 59, the source MME 32b may send an "S10 Forward Relocation Request" to the target MME 32d as indicated by arrow 61. In response, the target MME 32d may exchange an "S11 Create Session Request/Response" messaging with the target S-GW 32c as indicated by the bi-directional arrow 62. Once a UE-specific session for the target eNB 21 is created at the target S-GW 32c—as indicated by the S11 Create Session Response message from the target S-GW 32c to the target MME 32d, the target MME 32d may send an "S1 Handover Request" to the target eNB 21 as indicated at arrow 63. The HO request at arrow 63 may specify the ERABs to be admitted by the target eNB 21. In response to the handover request from the target MME 32d, at block 64, the target eNB 21 may perform admission control for each ERAB individually. As noted earlier, a more detailed discussion of such admission control is provided later below.
Upon conclusion of admission control, the target eNB 21 may send a response—in the form of an "S1 Handover Request Acknowledge" message at arrow 65—to the target MME 32d. This HO Acknowledge message from the target eNB 21 may contain a list of ERABs acknowledged/admitted by the target eNB 21 and the ERABs rejected (or failed to be admitted) by the target eNB 21. Thereafter, at arrow 66, the target MME 32d may send an "S10 Forward Relocation Response" message to the source MME 32b corresponding to the earlier-sent S10 Forward Relocation Request at arrow 61. The response at arrow 66 may contain information about ERABs admitted by the target eNB 21. The source MME 32b may, in turn, send an "S11 Create Bearer Request" message to the source S-GW 32a and receive an "S11 Create Bearer Response" message from the source S-GW 32a as indicated by the bi-directional arrow 67. The message exchange at arrow 67 would create bearer resources at the source S-GW 32a for transfer of the target eNB-admitted ERABs to the target S-GW 32c where a UE-specific, target eNB-based HO session is already created as noted at arrow 62. Thereafter, a User Plane (UP) may be established between the source S-GW 32a and the target S-GW 32c for UE data forwarding as indicated by the dotted bi-directional arrow 68.
To effectuate the handover, the source MME 32b may provide the source eNB 18 with an "S1 Handover Command" at arrow 69. Consequently, to inform the UE 23 of the successful setup of the handover, the source eNB 18, at arrow 70, may send an "RRC Connection Reconfiguration" message to the UE 23 indicating the target eNB to which the UE 23 should handover to. The message at arrow 70 may provide the UE 23 with an HO command and may also include the neighbor cell measurement configuration similar to the message at arrow 55. The UE 23 can use the measurement configuration to perform measurements on the neighboring cells and report the measurements to the source eNB 18 prior to attaching to the target eNB 21 as part of the handover.
It is pointed out here that although the operations in FIGS. 2-3 are shown numbered in sequence of "1", "2", "3", and so on, such numbering is for illustration and ease of discussion only and does not imply any strict sequential execution of these steps. In alternative embodiments, certain steps may be absent or may be executed in a different order. Furthermore, as mentioned earlier, the source and target S-GWs and MMEs 32a-32d may be part of the same core network, for example, the CN 30 in FIG. 1, or part of the different source and target core networks when the source and target eNBs are controlled by different core networks. Also, these S-GWs and MMEs may be implemented as different nodes in their respective core network(s). However, for ease of discussion herein, the nodes 32a-32d in FIGS. 2-3 are considered as being represented by the "common" network entity 32 in the CN 30 in FIG. 1. In one embodiment, the source and the target eNBs 18, 21, respectively, may be served by the same S-GW and the same MME in the core network 30. Additional different configurations may be possible depending on the implementation of an operator's LTE network.
It is noted here that, in certain embodiments, a network operator may not have configured or implemented an X2 interface between the source eNB 18 and the target eNB 21. In that case, only the S1 handover procedure of FIG. 3 may be carried out. In other words, the X2 HO procedure of FIG. 2 may be optional in an LTE network, but the S1 HO procedure of FIG. 3 may not be.
Admission Control
An LTE network is an all-IP (Internet Protocol) network that is designed to support end-to-end Quality of Service (QoS). Therefore, the purpose of admission control, such as, for example, the admission control at block 47 in FIG. 2 and at block 64 in FIG. 3, is to control admission of UEs and E-RABs in such a way that requested QoS can be achieved for the UE or E-RAB seeking admission in the target cell, as well as for the UEs and E-RABs previously already admitted. A detailed discussion of different types of bearers and associated QoS parameters is provided, for example, in Section 13 of the 3GPP TS 36.300, version 12.2.0 (June 2014), titled "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA) and Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access Network (E-UTRAN); Overall description; Stage 2 (Release 12)," the relevant portions of which are incorporated herein by reference in their entireties. In view of the details in this 3GPP TS 36.300, only a brief overview of QoS and admission control is provided below.
FIG. 4 illustrates a bearer architecture 75 depicting some exemplary bearers that may be used to transport packets in an LTE network such as, for example, the LTE network 15 in FIG. 1. For ease of discussion, the bearer architecture 75 is shown in the context of the source eNB 18 and source S-GW 32a. However, it is understood that such bearer architecture also may exist involving the target eNB 21 and target S-GW 32c. In FIG. 4, the UE 23 and the source eNB 18 are shown to comprise an E-UTRAN portion 77 of the LTE network 15, whereas the CN 30 is an Evolved Packet Core (EPC). Together, the E-UTRAN portion 77 and the EPC 30 may be considered to form an Evolved Packet System (EPS). It is understood that many other network nodes or entities may be part of the E-UTRAN portion 77 and the EPC 30 in the CN 30, but, for the sake of simplicity and ease of discussion, only the relevant nodes/entities are shown in FIG. 4. Also, as discussed in more detail in the earlier-mentioned 3GPP TS 36.300, there may be additional bearers above the E-RAB 79 in the hierarchy of bearers in FIG. 4, but such bearers are not shown in FIG. 4 because their lack of relevance to the present disclosure.
In the all-IP LTE network 15, an E-RAB, such as the E-RAB 79, may transport the packets of an EPS bearer (not shown) between the UE 23 and the EPC 30. In the hierarchy of bearers in FIG. 4, an EPS bearer may be logically implemented "above" the E-RAB 79. When an E-RAB exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this E-RAB and its corresponding EPS bearer. A data radio bearer 81 may transport the packets of the E-RAB 79 between the UE 23 and the source eNB 18. When a data radio bearer exists, there is a one-to-one mapping between this data radio bearer and the E-RAB 79. An S1 bearer 83, on the other hand, transports the packets of the E-RAB 79 between the source eNB 18 and its corresponding source S-GW 32a. Thus, the E-RAB 79 uniquely identifies the concatenation of the S1 bearer 83 and its corresponding data radio bearer 81, thereby providing a "seamless" connection for packets exchanged between the UE 23 and the EPC 30 such as, for example, the packets that are sent to/received from the UE 23 as part of the service—like a voice call—being provided to the UE 23 through the source eNB 18. An E-RAB provides for bearer-level QoS control in the EPC/E-UTRAN. Thus, a packet mapped to the same ERAB would receive the same bearer level packet forwarding treatment such as, for example, scheduling policy, queue management policy, QoS, Radio Link Control (RLC) configuration (which is briefly discussed later below), and the like.
In the LTE network 15, one ERAB may be established when the UE 23 initially connects to the EPC 30, and that ERAB remains established throughout the lifetime of the UE's connection to the EPC 30 to provide the UE 23 with an "always-on" IP connectivity. Such an E-RAB may be referred to as a "default bearer." On the other hand, any additional E-RABs that are established to support the QoS requirements of one or more services being used by the UE 23 in the network 15 may be referred to as "dedicated bearers." The bearer-level QoS parameter values of these ERABs may be assigned by the EPC 30 based on, for example, the UE's 23 subscription data. The establishment, modification, and release of E-UTRAN resources for ERABs may be performed under the control of the EPC 30, more specifically, the source MME 32b in the EPC 30.
An E-RAB may be referred to as a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) bearer if dedicated network resources related to a GBR value associated with the E-RAB are permanently allocated, for example, by an admission control function in an eNB, at the time of bearer establishment/modification. The GBR value may be associated with the QoS requirements in a UE's subscription data. An ERAB that is not a GBR bearer may be referred to as a non-GBR bearer. A dedicated bearer can either be a GBR or a non-GBR bearer, whereas a default bearer is generally a non-GBR bearer.
As discussed in more detail in the earlier mentioned 3GPP TS 36.300, bearer-level QoS parameters may include QoS Class Identifier (QCI), Allocation and Retention Priority (ARP), and GBR, among others. Each ERAB (GBR and non-GBR) may be associated with these bearer-level QoS parameters. Various QCI values are shown in FIG. 5, which is discussed below. The QoS parameter ARP decides whether a bearer establishment/modification request can be accepted or needs to be rejected in case of resource limitations. Thus, the ARP can be used by an eNB such as, for example, the target eNB 21 in FIG. 1 to decide which bearer(s) to admit and which ones to drop, for example, during an HO, because of resource limitations. Thus, the admission control of ERABs is dependent on availability of network resources at the target eNB. The ARP contains information about the priority level of a UE's data traffic. The range of ARP priority level is "1" to "15", with "1" being the highest level of priority. The data traffic having a certain level of GBR requirement may have a corresponding ARP priority level associated therewith. The ARP priority level may be used by the target eNB 21 during an HO to decide which existing bearer(s) to pre-empt due to resource limitations so as to accommodate the source eNB's request to admit a specific ERAB.
Admission control at the target eNB 21 may be performed at RRC Connection Setup, EPS Bearer Setup Handover Request, and EPS Bearer Modification procedures. To accomplish the requested QoS for UEs and E-RABs, the Admission Control functionality at the target eNB 21 may reject UE and E-RAB admission requests on the S1/X2 interfaces based on whether the target eNB's 21 system resources are congested. As noted above, different bearers can be given different priorities based on settings of ARP. This enables to prioritize and protect certain services in case of resource shortage. Lower priority bearers can be released/pre-empted in order to serve the UEs having higher priority bearers.
There are three major types of Admission Control procedures defined in relevant 3GPP specifications: (i) Admission Control for Transmission/Transport network, (ii) Dynamic GBR Admission Control for Radio Network, and (iii) Differentiated Admission Control for ARP based pre-emption. A transmission or transport network exists between an eNB and the MME/S-GW in the core network to which the eNB is connected via an S1 interface. The transmission network may thus include the IP backhaul resources. A radio network, on the other hand, exists between a UE and an eNB.
Admission control algorithms are based on a set of metrics referred to as Monitored System Resources (MSRs). An MSR is a metric that represents a limited system resource that needs to be explicitly monitored to ensure correct and efficient operation of the admission and congestion control procedures at a target eNB. Thus, MSRs include resources such as Physical Resource Blocks (PRBs), Scheduling Elements (SEs), Control Channel Element (CCE), and baseband capacity. The use of the MSRs may be measured by a target eNB—such as the target eNB 21 in FIG. 1—during a measurement period, after which a filtered value for the MSR usage may be calculated. This filtered MSR usage value may be updated after each new measurement period.
The transport network admission control ensures that the sum of GBR (from each ERAB request in S1AP/X2AP procedures) of the admitted ERABs (at a specific target eNB) does not exceed the admission thresholds configured for that target eNB. The S1AP and X2AP procedures are discussed in more detail, for example, in the earlier-mentioned 3GPP TS 36.413 and 36.423, respectively.
RLC Transmission Modes
Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol for the UE-E-UTRAN radio interface is described in more detail in the 3GPP TS 36.322, version 12.0.0 (June 2014), titled "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Evolved Universal Terrestrial Radio Access (E-UTRA); Radio Link Control (RLC) protocol specification (Release 12)." In view the detailed discussion in the 3GPP TS 36.322, only a brief overview of RLC transmission modes is provided herein.
Functions of the RLC sub-layer are performed by RLC entities. For an RLC entity configured at the eNB, there is a peer RLC entity configured at the UE, and vice versa. An RLC entity receives/delivers RLC Service Data Units (SDUs) from/to upper layer and sends/receives RLC Protocol Data Units (PDUs) to/from its peer RLC entity via lower layers. The RRC functionality—in the UE and in the eNB—is generally in control of the RLC configuration. An RLC entity can be configured to perform data transfer in one of the following three modes: (i) Transparent Mode™, (ii) Acknowledged Mode (AM), and (iii) Unacknowledged Mode (UM). Consequently, an RLC entity is categorized as a TM RLC entity, an UM RLC entity, or an AM RLC entity depending on the mode of data transfer that the RLC entity is configured to provide. The RLC™ mode is not relevant to the HO-related discussion herein and, hence, is not addressed below.
For RLC UM bearers, both RLC Sequence Number (SN) and Packet Data Convergence Protocol (PDCP) SN are reset at handover and the target eNB starts sending UM packets with PDCP SN starting from "0." However, the RLC mode of the bearers must not be changed during handover. If the RLC mode of the bearers is different in the source and the target eNBs, then the bearers are not set up in the target eNB. It is noted here that RLC mode is configured for each QCI by an eNB. Thus, if the source eNB 18 (FIG. 1) has a bearer with QCI configured with the RLC UM feature and the target eNB 21 has mapped the same QCI to RLC AM, the bearer will be rejected by the target eNB 21 during HO. Similarly, if the target eNB has an invalid RLC in UM feature license, the HO can only be performed with RLC AM bearers. The UM bearers will be rejected by the target eNB.
QCI Values
As noted earlier, QCI values provide a mechanism for QoS support in LTE. QCI is a scalar that is used as a reference to node-specific parameters that control packet forwarding treatment and that have been pre-configured by the operator owning/operating the node such as, for example, the source eNB 18 or the target eNB 21 in FIG. 1. The packet forwarding treatment may include, for example, scheduling weights, queue management thresholds, packet loss rate, packet delay budget, link layer protocol configuration, and so on. In LTE, each IP bearer—for example, an ERAB—has an associated QCI value that determines how the bearer is handled in the LTE eNodeBs such as, for example, the eNBs 18 and 21 in FIG. 1, and in the EPC 30.
FIG. 5 shows a table 85 listing currently-standardized QCI values in LTE for different types of wireless communications. A more detailed version of the table 85 may be obtained by consulting, for example, the table 6.1.7 in 3GPP TS 23.203, version 11.8.0 (Dec. 2012), titled "3GPP: TS Group Services and System Aspects; Policy and Charging Control Architecture (Release 11)." Standardization of a QCI with corresponding characteristics such as "Resource Type" of the QCI, "Priority" level for the QCI, and the like, ensures that applications/services mapped to that QCI receive the same minimum level of QoS in multi-vendor network deployments and also in case of roaming, regardless of a UE's current access (3GPP or non-3GPP).
In FIG. 5, the one-to-one mapping between nine (9) standardized QCI values and some of the standardized characteristics is shown. The standardized characteristics shown in FIG. 5 include (i) the "Resource Type" of a particular QCI value—i.e., whether the QCI value is a Guaranteed Bit Rate (GBR) QCI value or a non-GBR QCI value, and (ii) a "Priority" level associated with that QCI value. The "Resource Type" (or, simply the "Type") may determine if dedicated network resources such as, for example, radio resources, related to a service or bearer level GBR value are permanently allocated. As shown in FIG. 5, every QCI (GBR and non-GBR) is associated with a "Priority" level, which may be used as a basis for assigning the uplink (UL)/downlink (DL) priority per radio bearer. The "Priority" level is provided on a scale of "1" through "9." Priority level "1" is the highest priority level, and priority level "9" is the lowest priority level. Thus, for example, it is seen from the table 85 in FIG. 5 that the non-GBR QCI value=5 as the highest priority level, whereas the non-GBR QCI value=9 has been assigned the lowest priority level. The non-GBR QCI value=5 may be related to IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) related signaling traffic, whereas the non-GBR QCI value=9 may be related to buffered streaming of video data or Transmission Control Protocol (TCP)-based data such as, for example, World Wide Web (www) surfing, e-mail, chat, File Transfer Protocol (FTP) file transfer, Person-to-Person (P2P) file sharing, and the like. Other service applications such as, for example, conversational voice, real-time gaming, and so on, have priority levels between these two ranges as shown in FIG. 5. For the sake of brevity, these services and their associated Resource Types and Priority levels are not discussed here in view of the details shown in the table 85 in FIG. 5.

Intelligence in handover assessment for LTE/VoLTE calls to improve retainability


An approach for receiving a request for an authentication code for presentation in an authentication user interface, wherein the request is from a relying party and wherein the authentication user interface is presented by the relying party at a first device. The approach further involves transmitting the authentication code to the relying party. The approach also involves authenticating a user with respect to the relying party by determining that a second device associated with the user has read the authentication code from the authentication user interface of the first device, wherein the second device is a previously authenticated device.

Given the reliance on computers, computing devices (e.g., cellular telephones, laptop computers, personal digital assistants, and the like), and automated systems (e.g., automated teller machines, kiosks, etc.) to conduct secure transactions and/or access private data, user authentication is critical. Traditional approaches to user authentication often require users to create and maintain multiple credentials for every account, as well as undergo multiple logins for these accounts daily even if the users have previously been authenticated. As a result, such traditional approaches place significant burdens on the user to remember and provide user credentials for authentication, thereby potentially creating a poor user experience. Thus, there is a need for an approach for applying a user authentication mechanism that is based on little to no manual sign on actions (i.e., zero sign on) by the user.

Method and system for providing zero sign on user authentication


A crane column segment connection system includes first and second column segments with a connector on the second end of the first segment mating with a connector on the first end of the second segment. The connectors each include at least one extension having a through-hole. The through-holes have an axis and are positioned in the extensions such that all through-holes of mating connectors are aligned when the column segments are aligned. In one aspect, the connectors include alignment surfaces cooperating such that when the first and second connectors are being brought together during column assembly, the alignment surfaces guide the column segments in two dimensions within a plane transverse to the axis of the through-holes into a relative position such that the through-holes through the extensions in the connectors are aligned.

The present invention relates to lift cranes, and more particularly to connection systems for aligning sectional boom members for cranes and the like.
Large capacity lift cranes typically have elongate load supporting boom structures comprised of sectional boom members secured in end-to-end abutting relationship. Predominantly, each of the sectional boom members is made of a plurality of chords and lacing or lattice elements. The terminal end portions of each chord are generally provided with connectors of one form or another to secure abutting boom segments together and to carry compressive loads between abutting chords. Typical connectors comprise male and female lugs secured by a pin carrying compressive loads in double shear.
An example 220 foot boom may be made of a 40 foot boom butt pivotally mounted to the crane upper works, a 30 foot boom top equipped with sheaves and rigging for lifting and supporting loads, with five sectional boom members in between: one 10 feet in length, one 20 feet in length and three 40 feet in length. Such an example boom has six boom segment connections. Typically each segment has four chords, and hence four connectors, making a total of 24 connectors that must be aligned and pinned to assemble the boom.
Large capacity cranes require very large boom cross sections. As a result, even when the boom segments are laying flat on the ground, the pin connectors between the top chords are typically eight feet or higher off the ground. The rigging personnel must either move a step ladder to each pin location or stand and walk along the top of the boom to reach the top connectors.
A 40 foot long sectional boom member may weight over 5,000 lbs. Thus, an assist crane is required to lift the boom member. One rigger usually then holds the suspended boom segment in general alignment while a second rigger uses a large hammer (10 or 15 lbs.) to manually drive the pin, which typically has a long taper, into position. The pins connecting the boom segments are generally used to carry the compressive loads between chords. As a result, the pins have a tight fit, further increasing the difficulty in assembling the boom. As such, it may take three men (a crane operator and two riggers) four or more hours to assemble the example 220 foot boom. Where the crane is moved frequently, the costs to assemble and disassemble the boom may exceed the cost to lift and position the load for which the crane is used.
To carry very high loads for a high capacity crane, a typical single male lug sandwiched between two female lugs, giving a double shear connection, requires a very large pin diameter to carry the compressive loads, requiring the connectors to be very large. There are known connectors with three female lugs and two male lugs, but there is no provision for these types of boom connections to provide for any self-alignment or rotatable connection (where the boom segments can be initially connected when not axially aligned and then swung into a position where the reminder of the connections can be made) between the boom sections as the sections are assembled.
Thus, an easy, quick-connect system for boom segments that allows faster connection of the boom segments and an initial connection from a position where the boom segments are not in axial alignment would be a great improvement.

Connection system for crane column segments


A mechanical safety breaker for disengaging a mechanical connection between two mechanical members at a time when a force transmitted through the connection of the two members exceeds a predetermined value is provided by employing an overload breaker element made of a ceramic. A ceramic breaker element provides a long time stabilized fracture performance particularly when the load applied thereto is of a repetitive nature.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mechanical safety breaker to be incorporated in a mechanical connection to sever the connection when a force or torque transmitted therethrough increases beyond a predetermined value.
2. Prior Art
The mechanical safety breaker adapted to operate normally to transmit a force or torque therethrough but to get broken when the magnitude of the force or torque increases beyond a predetermined limit value so as thereby to cease the transmission of the force of torque for the safety purpose is known and used in various mechanical devices. Conventionally, a breaker element which forms an essential part of a force or torque transmitting construction of such a mechanical safety breaker and is fractured by an overloading is generally made of metal or resin generally known as having high impact resistance. However, there is a problem in making the breaker element by metal or resin, because the fracture strength of metal or resin generally lowers much due to fatigue when it has been subjected to repetitive loadings. Therefore, when the breaker element of the mechanical safety breaker is made of metal or resin, there occurs a great inconvenience that the breaker is undesirably actuated after a period of use even when the mechanical load to be transmitted is still below a limit value predetermined for its actuation.
In Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication 61-220968 it is shown to incorporate a mechanical safety breaker in an electric motor type power steering system of a vehicle such as an automobile such that an electric motor is drivingly connected with the steering shaft via a breaker element (sheer pin) adapted to be broken when the sheering force applied thereto increases beyond a predetermined value, considering that, in the electric motor type power steering system which generally includes an electronic control system and controls supply of electric power to the electric motor to be generally increased in accordance with increase of the manual force for operating the steering wheel, the electronic control system is not so free from any troubles as the simply mechanical steering shaft system, and further, since a reduction gear train is generally incorporated between the electric motor and the steering shaft driven thereby, if the supply of the electric power to the motor fails or improperly lowers, a high resistance is applied to the manual operation of the steering shaft. However, such a breaker element is subjected to highly frequently repetitive applications of alternating load due to the steering operation of the vehicle, rendering the fracture strength thereof to quickly fall due to fatigue. Nevertheless, it is highly required that the limit value of the steering torque at which the mechanical safety breaker of the power steering system is actuated is stably maintained within a relatively narrow range for a long time such that the mechanical safety breaker should not respond to such a temporal increase of the steering torque as will be caused by a bumping on of a steering vehicle wheel on a curbstone or the like, while ensuring that the steering shaft is released from the electric motor for free manual operation of the steering any time when a trouble has occurred in the assisting power steering system.

Power steering system having a mechanical safety breaker


A portable, self-contained artificial campfire apparatus is disclosed. The apparatus comprises a base container which can house an internal fuel source, a removable lid for accessing the container base, a fiber-ceramic log assembly connected to the removable lid, and a second lid for protecting and transporting the apparatus. The use of fiber-ceramic artificial logs allows for a more realistic campfire because the logs will glow as they are heated, just as a wood campfire does. The artificial campfire preferably also includes a tapered burner unit to produce an even more realistic campfire appearance.

The present invention relates generally to an artificial campfire apparatus. More particularly, it pertains to light ceramic gas logs, having a tapered burner unit, connected to a container base to create a realistic, self-contained, and portable artificial campfire.
Camping is an activity enjoyed by roughly fifty million Americans every year. A traditional part of the camping experience is the campfire. For some campers the campfire provides a means for cooking food. However, with the availability of small cooking devices that can be easily carried in a backpack, as well as the availability of grills at campgrounds, there is less need for a campfire as a means to cook food. Therefore, many of the campers who continue to start campfires do so primarily to enjoy the light and warmth that a campfire provides. Unfortunately, with a large number of campers in the United States and unpredictable weather conditions, the outdoor wood campfire is sometimes inconvenient and at other times not allowed.
One problem with wood campfires is that they can be difficult to start. With the large number of campers in the United States it can sometimes be difficult to find fallen wood to fuel the campfire. A lack of fallen wood at campgrounds makes starting and maintaining a campfire problematic requiring campers who want a wood campfire to travel with their firewood. This can be burdensome because of the amount of wood that can be required on a nightly basis. Additionally, if it has rained recently it will be difficult for the campers to find dry firewood to fuel their fire. Without dry wood, a camper will be left with a smokey fire that does not produce much heat and is not aesthetically pleasing. Therefore, while the wood campfire can be a source of great pleasure for campers it can just as easily be a source of frustration.
Another problem with a wood campfire is that there are times when wood fires are prohibited. This is particularly true during droughts when burning bans are in effect. Burning bans are enacted as an effort to reduce the number of wildfires started each year by hot embers and out of control campfires. While these bans are in effect, campers are not allowed to burn wood fires but can usually still have contained artificial fires. Therefore, there are times when a wood fire is not even an option for campers and they desire an alternative to complete their camping experience, such as portable artificial campfire.
There are various artificial campfire devices in the prior art. Many of these devices utilize artificial refractory logs which heat very well, but they do not obtain the glow of a wood campfire. Additionally, many of the prior art references require placing the logs within a container, reducing the aesthetic appeal of the artificial campfire. Finally, the prior art references utilize a circular, single level burner unit which does not produce a natural looking fire as evidenced by the prior art use of materials to alter the appearance of the fire created by the burner units.
What is needed, then, is a portable artificial campfire which creates a natural looking flame and obtains the aesthetic glow of a natural campfire.


Provided is an information processing apparatus including a program execution unit configured to read, interpret and execute a code of a computer program that is created in a procedural language, and a backup unit configured to create a backup in a format in which a variable definition and a function definition in the code being executed by the program execution unit are interpretable as a code in the procedural language.

In procedural programming languages such as LISP, Ruby and Python, the definition information about variables and functions is read at the time of execution of a program, and the program is executed based on the read function definitions and variable values. The software for interpreting and executing such a procedural programming language reads an application program that is described in the procedural programming language, at every time of startup, and thereafter, processes input data and outputs a processing result in accordance with the read application program.
As a feature of the software for interpreting and executing a procedural programming language, once a defined variable name is input, the content of the variable can be read out, and once a function for reading a defined function is input, the function code can be output.

Information processing apparatus, information processing method and computer program


A method includes receiving, at a communication terminal, signals from a group of cells that cooperate in a Coordinated Multipoint (CoMP) transmission scheme. Signaling that specifies a CoMP resource management (CRM) set is received at the communication terminal. The CRM set includes a subset of the cells in the group for which the communication terminal is to perform signal measurements. A size of the CRM set is restricted to a predefined maximum size. The signal measurements are performed at the communication terminal only on the signals received from one or more of the cells in the CRM set. The signal measurements performed on the one or more of the cells in the CRM set are reported from the communication terminal.

In some Multiple-Input Multiple-Output (MIMO) communication systems, multiple cells use Cooperative Multipoint (CoMP) transmission schemes for coordinating downlink MIMO transmissions to User Equipment (UEs). Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A) systems, for example, use or contemplate the use of multiple CoMP modes such as Dynamic Point Selection (DPS), Dynamic Point Blanking (DPB), Cooperative beamforming (CB) and Joint Processing (JP). CoMP operation in LTE-A are specified, for example, in "3rd Generation Partnership Project; Technical Specification Group Radio Access Network; Coordinated multi-point operation for LTE physical layer aspects (Release 11)," 3GPP TR 36.819, September, 2011, which is incorporated herein by reference.

Method and system for coordinated multipoint (CoMP) communication between base-stations and mobile communication terminals


The present invention relates to a microbial consortium, especially adapted for growth and production of 1,3-propanediol from a culture medium with high glycerinecontent and specifically with a high concentration of industrial glycerine. More particularly, this microbial consortium comprises at least one strain C. acetobutylicum and at least one strain chosen among strains of C. sporogenes and/or strains of C. sphenoides. The invention also relates to a method for the production of 1,3-propanediol by culturing this microbial consortium resulting in a co-culture of these particular different microorganisms.

1,3-propanediol (PDO), also called trimethylene glycol or propylene glycol, is one of the oldest known fermentation products. It was originally identified as early as 1881 by August Freund in a glycerine fermented culture containing Clostridium pasteurianum. PDO is a typical product of glycerine fermentation and has been found in anaerobic conversions of other organic substrates. Only very few organisms, all of them bacteria, are able to form it. They include enterobacteria of the genera Klebsiella (K. pneumoniae), Enterobacter (E. agglomerans) and Citrobacter (C. freunddi), Lactobacilli (L. brevis and L. buchneri) and Clostridia of the C. butyricum and the C. pasteurianum group.
PDO, as a bifunctional organic compound, may potentially be used for many synthesis reactions, in particular as a monomer for polycondensations to produce polyesters, polyethers, polyurethanes, and in particular, polytrimethylene terephtalate (PTT). These structure and reactivity features lead to several applications in cosmetics, textiles (clothing fibers or flooring) or plastics (car industry and packing or coating).
PDO can be produced by different chemical routes but they generate waste stream containing extremely polluting substances and the cost of production is high. Thus, chemically produced PDO cannot compete with the petrochemically available diols like 1,2-ethanediol, 1,2-propanediol and 1,4-butanediol. To increase this competitiveness, in 1995, DuPont started a research program for the biological conversion of glucose to PDO. Although this process is environmentally friendly it has the disadvantage to i) use vitamin B12 a very expensive cofactor and ii) be a discontinuous process due to the instability of the producing strain.
Due to the availability of large amounts of glycerol produced by the bio-diesel industry, a continuous, vitamin-B12-free process with a higher carbon yield would on the contrary, be advantageous.
It is known in the art that PDO can be produced from glycerine, an unwanted by-product in particular from the biodiesel production that contains roughly 80-85% of glycerol mixed with salts and water.
C. butyricum was previously described as being able to grow and produce PDO from glycerol contained in industrial glycerine in batch and two-stage continuous fermentation (Papanikolaou et al., 2000). However, at the highest glycerol concentration, the maximal PDO titer obtained was 48.1 g·L−1 at a dilution rate of 0.02 h−1, meaning a productivity of 0.96 g·L−1·h−1. The cultures were conducted with a maximum concentration of glycerol originating from glycerine in the fed medium of 90 g·L−1 and in the presence of yeast extract, a costly compound containing organic nitrogen that is known by the man skilled in the art to help increase bacterial biomass production.
Application WO 2006/128381 discloses the use of this glycerol for the production of PDO with batch and fed-batch cultures using natural PDO producing organisms such as Klebsiella pneumoniae, C. butyricum or C. pasteurianum. Furthermore, the medium used in WO 2006/128381 also contains yeast extract. As described in this patent application, the maximal productivity reached was comprised between 0.8 and 1.1 g.
The performance of a C. acetobutylicum strain modified to contain the vitamin B12-independent glycerine-dehydratase and the PDO-dehydrogenase from C. butyricum, called "C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5" strain has been described in Gonzalez-Pajuelo et al., 2005. This strain originally grows and produces PDO in a fed medium containing up to 120 g·l−1 of pure glycerol. In addition, analyses in a fed medium containing a maximum of 60 g·l−1 of pure glycerol or glycerol contained in industrial glycerine did not point out to any differences. These results have been obtained in presence of yeast extract. Moreover, no test was performed with concentrations of glycerol originating from industrial glycerine higher than 60 g·l−1. When comparing a wild-type C. butyricum to the modified microorganism "C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5", a globally similar behaviour was observed.
In patent application WO 2010/128070 the inventors described a process to adapt the strain of C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5 such as described in Gonzalez-Pajuelo et al. (2005) to grow in a medium with a high concentration of glycerol contained in industrial glycerine and without yeast extract. The resulting population of C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5 adapted strains was able to produce PDO in medium containing up to 120 g·l−1 of glycerol contained in industrial glycerine with a titer up to 53.5 g·L−1 of PDO, a yield up to 0.53 g·g−1 and productivity up to 2.86 g·L−1·h−1. In patent application WO 2012/062832, the inventors described the isolation of clone from another population of C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5 adapted strains obtained by the same process as described in WO 2010/128070 patent application. This second population was able to produce PDO in medium containing around 105 g·L−1 of glycerol contained in industrial glycerine with a titer up to 50.45 g/L−1 of PDO, a yield up to 0.53 g·g−1 and productivity up to 3.18 g·L−1·h−1 whereas isolated clone was able to produce PDO in medium containing around 105 g·L−1 of glycerol contained in industrial glycerine with a titer up to 51.30 g/L−1 of PDO, a yield up to 0.50 g·g−1 and productivity up to 3.05 g·L−1·h−1.
In the present patent application, the inventors have noticed that a co-culture of the population of C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5 adapted strains with different microorganisms, so called microbial consortium, provides an improved production of PDO with a higher titer of PDO, better yield and less residual glycerol compared to the performances of the population of C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5 adapted strains without microbial consortium. In particular, this microbial consortium is able to produce PDO at this improved level in presence of high concentration of glycerol contained in industrial glycerine (up to 105 g·L−1 of glycerol from industrial glycerine). Thus using the co-culture of the invention allows a better production of PDO but also an easier purification process since residual glycerol is decreased with the co-culture compared with just C. acetobutylicum DG1 pSPD5 adapted strains without microbial consortium.

Microbial consortium for 1,3-propanediol production using high glycerol concentration