The present invention provides a method of measuring an amount of a substance depleted from a storage unit, including the steps of: supporting the storage unit on a vehicle, measuring a first weight of the storage unit and any liquid substance contained in the storage unit, allowing a quantity of the liquid substance to be discharged from the storage unit, measuring a second weight of the storage unit and any liquid substance contained in the storage unit, and determining the amount of liquid substance discharged or allowed to be discharged from the storage unit based on the first weight measurement and the second weight measurement.

For many oilfield service operations, numerous chemicals must be used to achieve useful production from oil and gas wells, including surfactants, buffers, acids, bases, crosslinkers, breakers, etc. For most operations, chemicals are brought to the location in a concentrated form and diluted on site to achieve the desired final concentrations.
Typically, such liquid chemical concentrates are transported to the location of the well via trucks, trailers or skids, including stakebeds, float trailers, or liquid metering systems. Due to inaccurate measurement methods and other errors, it is often necessary to determine the amount of chemical in a given tank when the tank arrives. In part because the well is usually situated in a remote location, no sophisticated technique for measuring the quantity of chemical in the tank at the site of the well has been available. The measurement has traditionally required field personnel to climb above the tank and use a long measuring stick to determine the quantity of chemical in the tank.
Later, after some of the chemical in the tank has been discharged, it is often necessary or desirable to measure the amount of chemical remaining in the tank. As the instruments currently used for measuring the rate of discharge of the chemical from the tank are not sufficiently accurate, the tank is usually measured again by field personnel from above the tank.
The field personnel required to make these manual measurements are subjected to significant risks while performing the measurements. Many of the chemicals found in the tanks pose health risks, and because the field personnel are forced to work near openings in the tanks, they can be exposed to harmful chemicals. The field personnel also face the risk of falling, since manual measurements necessitate their climbing on top of the truck, trailer and/or tank.
In addition to the health and safety hazards attendant to the manual measuring method, using a measuring stick to determine the amount of chemical in the tank results in inherently inaccurate measurements. The measuring stick could be inserted at a slight angle and/or slight movements could cause the chemical to splash and produce an incorrect reading. Even under ideal conditions, a measuring stick can only be expected to determine the quantity of chemical remaining within a significant margin of error.
Traditional manual measurements require substantial time as well. Field personnel must then expend their valuable time by climbing on top of the tank, carefully measuring the depth of the chemical and climbing back down. The safety measures necessitated by the process consume additional time and human resources.
Due in part to these shortcomings of traditional chemical management, a weight-based system and method for measuring and managing dry chemical additives was developed and disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,353,482, 4,410,106, 4,265,266, and 4,427,133. While these inventions present significant improvements over manual methods of measuring dry chemical additives, the accuracy of their measurements suffers due to failure to correct for off-axis forces, inclines, imprecise measurements of tank weight and other problems. In addition, a mobile weight-based management system for liquids, slurries, solutions or suspensions is desirable.
While embodiments of this disclosure have been depicted and described and are defined by reference to example embodiments of the disclosure, such references do not imply a limitation on the disclosure, and no such limitation is to be inferred. The subject matter disclosed is capable of considerable modification, alteration, and equivalents in form and function, as will occur to those skilled in the pertinent art and having the benefit of this disclosure. The depicted and described embodiments of this disclosure are examples only, and not exhaustive of the scope of the disclosure.

Safe and accurate method of chemical inventory management on location


The present disclosure is related to a memory-in-pixel circuit. The memory-in-pixel circuit comprises a switch sub-circuit, and a data input sub-circuit. The data input sub-circuit comprises a first floating gate transistor and a second floating gate transistor. The data input sub-circuit is configured to transmit a data signal from one of a plurality of data lines to a pixel electrode under control of the switch sub-circuit.

Recently, the development of smart wearable devices present high requirement for display panels. Using memory-in-pixel technology in the display panel acts as a new trend for more energy-efficient display technology.
However, nowadays the memory-in-pixel technology is based on the CMOS process, and the pixel circuit which uses the memory-in-pixel technology has a complex process and low qualification rate, thereby increasing the cost of the memory-in-pixel technology and limiting the development and application scope of the memory-in-pixel technology.

Memory-in-pixel circuit, driving method thereof, array substrate, and display apparatus


A spectroscopy device includes an incoherent light source, tunable to a predetermined emission wavelength; a microscope platform comprising a microscope objective comprising a deep-UV optimized objective and a focal plane defined thereon; a notch filter having an absorption frequency matched to the emission wavelength; and a frequency-selective optical path from the wide-field UV light source to the microscope platform onto the focal plane and from the focal plane through the notch filter.

Deep ultraviolet (200-260 nm) Raman spectroscopy is known to provide high specificity and high sensitivity chemical sensing of biological molecules. This happens because of resonant Raman excitation which increases the signal by 5-6 orders of magnitude and is specific for organic molecules, including but not limited to biological molecules. Raman spectroscopy is based upon the interaction of light with the chemical bonds within a material and is commonly used in chemistry, biology and materials sciences to provide a structural fingerprint by which molecules can be identified quickly and/or distinguished from others. The Raman effect is based on the inelastic interaction between the electron cloud of a sample and the external electric field of the monochromatic light, which can create an induced dipole moment within the molecule based on its polarizability. Fluorescence is emitted at wavelength longer than 270 nm and does not interfere with Raman signal if the excitation wavelength is sufficiently short, i.e. shorter than 260 nm. The common issues limiting the widespread use of deep UV Raman spectroscopy are (1) the lack of proper light sources, (2) the lack of proper filters, which limits Raman spectrum only to high frequency vibrations and (3) the challenge in implementing it for microscopic imaging because UV light is potentially damaging to cells and tissues and needs to be significantly attenuated, which leads to extra-long acquisition times. Some of those challenges discussed in A. Shutov, G. I. Petrov, D. Wang, M. O. Scully, and V. V. Yakovlev, "Highly efficient tunable picosecond deep ultraviolet laser system for Raman spectroscopy," Optics Letters 44(23), 5760-5763 (2019). M. A. Troyanova-Wood, G. I. Petrov, and V. V. Yakovlev, "Simple and inexpensive instrument for deep-UV Raman spectroscopy," Journal of Raman Spectroscopy 44(12): 1789-1791 (2013), which are hereby incorporated by references as if fully set forth herein.
The COVID-19 pandemic took over the world in a matter of months. Fast spread of the virus was the result of multiple factors, including its long-term survival on open surfaces, like metals, where it was not immediately detected. While it has been shown that regular cleaning of infected areas serves the purpose of disinfection, it undervalues the other issue associated with virus spreading—its detection and isolation of infected areas and sources of infection. FIG. 1 illustrates inspection of surface for possible localization and identification of pathogens for control of infection. From food safety, which is widely believed to be the source of COVID-19 initial spread into human population, to safety of public areas, detection of viral particles, which can be potentially contagious and life threatening, is a challenging problem which humankind have to deal with for its survival.
Accordingly, detection, identification and, in a longer term, research on virus interaction with cells and drugs based on unique abilities of narrowband ultraviolet (UV) light to detect and image chemical and structural features associated with viruses is needed. Deep UV radiation (generally defined as radiation with wavelength shorter than 280 nm; UV-C) is known for disinfection; however, such light can be exceptionally suitable for remote sensing and chemical imaging and identification of viruses via Raman scattering. [1] [2] [3] [4]. However, issues have arisen such as the lack of proper light sources, lack of proper filters, and/or hurdles to implementation of microscopic imaging are addressed.
There is literature on using deep UV radiation for detection and identification of bacterial and viruses (see [8]); however, a known issues exists on the instrumentation side because all the commercial and home-made Raman spectroscopic systems operating in the deep UV are large in physical size due to the complexity of the laser system used as a light source. These devices are often prohibitively expensive. Adding imaging capability further amplifies the complexity making those systems impractical for wide-spread applications. Moreover, those systems typically limit the range of Raman frequencies to high-frequency vibrations, where specificity is significantly reduced due to non-specific bands related to proteins, nucleic acids and lipids. It would be highly desirable to detect and analyze lower vibrational frequency spectral range (<1000 cm−1) [9] [10]; and this is not available through regular spectroscopic techniques. Surface Enhanced Raman Scattering (SERS) was employed for analysis of viruses in liquids [11] [12], such as blood serum and saliva; however, those substrates are difficult to implement for in situ analysis of surface contaminations and provide less signal enhancement and specificity than deep UV Raman spectroscopy.


A needle injection catheter comprises a catheter body having an axially disposed needle near its distal end. The needle passes through a deflection path formed in a distal nose of the catheter. A deflection path typically comprises a 90° turn so that the axially disposed needle can be deflected laterally for advancement into surrounding tissue. Usually, a hydraulic or other driver will be provided in the distal end of the catheter in order to advance the needle and cause deflection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to medical methods and devices. More particularly, the present invention relates to medical methods and kits for injecting pharmaceutical agents into tissue surrounding blood vessels and other body lumens.
Coronary artery disease is the leading cause of death and morbidity in the United States and other western societies. In particular, atherosclerosis in the coronary arteries can cause myocardial infarction, commonly referred to as a heart attack, which can be immediately fatal or, even if survived, can cause damage to the heart which can incapacitate the patient. Other coronary diseases which cause death and incapacitation include congestive heart failure, vulnerable or unstable plaque, and cardiac arrhythmias. In addition to coronary artery disease, diseases of the peripheral vasculature can also be fatal or incapacitating. Vascular occlusions, blood clots and thrombus may occlude peripheral blood flow, leading to tissue and organ necrosis. Deep vein thrombosis in the legs can, in the worst cases, require amputation. Clots in the carotid artery can embolize and travel to the brain, potentially causing ischemic stroke.
While coronary artery bypass surgery is an effective treatment for stenosed arteries resulting from atherosclerosis and other causes, it is a highly invasive procedure which is also expensive and which requires substantial hospital and recovery time. Percutaneous transluminal coronary angioplasty (PTCA), commonly referred to as balloon angioplasty, is less invasive, less traumatic, and significantly less expensive than bypass surgery. Until recently, however, balloon angioplasty has not been considered to be as effective a treatment as bypass surgery. The effectiveness of balloon angioplasty, however, has improved significantly with the introduction of stenting which involves the placement of a scaffold structure within the artery which has been treated by balloon angioplasty. The stent inhibits abrupt reclosure of the artery and has some benefit in reducing subsequent restenosis resulting from hyperplasia.
Despite such improvement, patients who have undergone angioplasty procedures with subsequent stenting still suffer from a high incidence of restenosis resulting from hyperplasia. Very recently, however, experimental trials have demonstrated that the implanting of stents which have been coated with anti-proliferative drugs can significantly reduce the occurrence of hyperplasia, promising to make combined angioplasty and stenting a viable alternative to bypass surgery.
As an alternative to stent-based luminal drug delivery, the direct delivery of drug into vascular and other luminal walls has been proposed. For some time, the use of intravascular catheters having porous balloons, spaced-apart isolation balloons, expandable sleeves, and the like, have been used for releasing drugs into the inner surface of the endothelial wall of blood vessels.
Of particular interest to the present invention, catheters carrying microneedles capable of delivering therapeutic and other agents deep into the adventitial layer surrounding blood vessel lumens have been described in co-pending application Ser. No. 09/961,080, filed on Sep. 20, 2001, and Ser. No. 09/961,079, also filed on Sep. 20, 2001, both applications having common inventorship with but different assignment than the present application, the full disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The designs described in the copending applications have numerous advantages. The microneedles are delivered in a direction which is substantially perpendicular to the axis of the catheter, thus maximizing the depth of needle penetration into the wall and reducing trauma and injury. Moreover, by locating the needles on the exterior of an expanding involuted surface, the needles can be injected into tissue fully up to their point of attachment to the catheter, further maximizing the needle penetration depth which may be achieved. In some instances, however, it may be desirable to employ even longer needles than may be deployed using the catheter designs disclosed in these two copending applications.
For these reasons, it would be desirable to provide additional and improved devices and methods for the intraluminal delivery of pharmaceutical agents for the treatment of a variety of diseases. In particular, it would be desirable to provide improved needle injection catheters and methods for their use which are able to achieve a wide range of tissue injection depths, from very shallow to very deep including depths greater than the available width of the needle injection catheter being used. It would be further desirable to provide such devices and methods where the needle may be injected into tissue using a driver or other motive force located very close to the point of tissue injection to maximize the penetration force achieved. In particular, it would be desirable to avoid the need to push at the proximal end of the needle which is being injected through a catheter in order to advance the distal end into tissue. At least some of these objectives will be met by the inventions described hereinbelow.
2. Description of the Background Art
U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 09/961,079 and 09/961,080, both filed on Sep. 20, 2001, and both having common inventorship with but different assignment than the present application, describe microneedle catheters. U.S. Pat. No. 4,578,061, describes needle injection catheters having deflectable, axially advanceable needles. U.S. Pat. No. 5,538,504, describes a needle injection catheter having a transversely oriented needle that is laterally advanced by a balloon driver. Also of interest are U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,319,230; 6,283,951; 6,283,947; 6,004,295; 5,419,777; and 5,354,279.

Catheters having laterally deployable needles


A method (and system) for periodically searching through files accessible through a network, at an interval based on previously accessed data. The method includes accessing and download data from a first file on the network. An accessing time is set to access a second file on the network based on the data downloaded from the first file. In one further embodiment, the first file is a Channel Definition Format (CDF) file.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method and system for periodically searching through files accessible through a network, and in particular, to a method and system for searching through files accessible on a network during scheduled period searches of files based on data from files previously accessed.
2. Description of the Related Art
A network server maintains various files accessible across a network. In the case of the Internet, the files may comprises hypertext mark-up language (HTML) data, Common Gateway Interface (CGI) script, image files (e.g., .jpg and .gif), and Channel Definition Format (CDF) files. Collectively, the files linked through HTML files produce a website, wherein the server acts as the website host.
CDFs are small files which include data used by websites' "push" to specify how often and what parts of the site will be "pushed" (e.g., e-mailed) directly to a registered subscriber. Based on the data in the CDF, the website will e-mail various information to the subscriber.
A typical CDF file is an Extended mark-up language (XML) file. A CDF file contains various elements referred to as tags. Some tags include CHANNEL, ITEM, USERSCHEDULE, SCHEDULE, LASTMOD, and LEVEL.
The CHANNEL tag has an HREF attribute that specifies the Universal Resource Locator (URL) on the website that corresponds to that CHANNEL. For example:
<CHANNEL HREF="http://www.mysite.com/Channel/homepage.htm">
The SCHEDULE tag indicates when a channel should be updated. For example:
<SCHEDULE STARTDATE="1999-09-23" STOPDATE="1997-11-23">
                <INTERVALTIME DAY="1"/>        <EARLISTTIME HOUR="2"/>        <LATESTTIME="6"/>        </SCHEDULE>
indicates that the channel should be updated every day between the start date and the stop date between 2 and 6.
Occasionally, a channel may have a subchannel. A subchannel refers to sub-sites on the website. A subchannel may appear as:
<ITEM HREF="foobar.htm" LASTMOD="1999-01-01 TO0101" LEVEL="2">
<USAGE VALUE="ScreenSaver"></USAGE>
</ITEM>
A subchannel references a URL with information about when the page was last modified, and from this URL whether the information is relevant.
A conventional search engine accesses websites on the network. The search engine downloads data from the website and archives selected downloaded data. The archived data is linked to the website from which it was downloaded.
One can use the search engine to search for a particular website containing desirable information by entering a query into the search engine. The search engine will search its archived data and return websites in its archived database which relate to the query.
The dynamic nature of the Internet results in websites being updated regularly. Consequently, data which was on the website when the search engine initially visited the website may no longer be there. Alternatively, the data may be outdated. Further, the website may no longer exist or its URL may have changed. As a result, data archived by the search engine could become invalid. In order for the search engine to be a useful tool, the search engine must periodically update its archived data.
A conventional search engine uses a web crawler (e.g., a "robot", "spider", "ant", etc.) to visit (i.e., access) a server on a network. The spider "crawls" from a homepage (i.e., the first or main webpage) of a website to the various subpages linked from the homepage. As the web crawler visits the various homepages with subpages, data on the pages are selectively archived by the search engine.
The typical crawlers visit web sites at regular intervals, for example, every 30 days. If a web crawler accesses a website which has not been updated since the last time the web crawler visited, the web crawler would presume that the data previously archived is still valid. This may be erroneous.
That is, one disadvantage with current web crawler technology is that the web crawler does not know when a website is scheduled to be updated. Depending on how often a website is updated, the web crawler's archived data could be very outdated by the time the web crawler returns. On the other hand, frequent web crawler visits to websites not frequently updated consumes valuable computer resources.

Method and system for selectively accessing files accessible through a network

International Business Machines Corporation


Embodiments herein relate to systems, devices and methods for managing pharmacological therapeutics and aspects of the same. In an embodiment, a hearing assistance device can include a control circuit, an electroacoustic transducer for generating sound in electrical communication with the control circuit, a power supply circuit in electrical communication with the control circuit, and a sensor package in electrical communication with the control circuit. The control circuit can be configured to evaluate a signal from at least one of the sensors of the sensor package to detect administration of a therapy or receive data indicating that administration of a therapy has taken place. The control circuit can also be configured to record an instance of a detected medication administration event along with a timestamp. Other embodiments are also included herein.

Falls are the leading cause of both fatal and non-fatal injuries in people aged 65 years and older and can lead to significant costs, injuries, functional decline, and reduced quality of life. Some medications are known to result in adverse side-effects that may result in orthostatic hypotension, blurred vision, increased postural sway, unsteadiness, impaired alertness, and dizziness—all of which may contribute to falls. In many cases, a pharmacist can consult with the prescribing physician(s) and alternative medications may be prescribed to reduce the patient's medication-related falls risk.
More broadly, the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) has identified pharmacists as a critical touchpoint for managing patients' outcomes. In fact, the CDC has recognized this fact and, consequently, developed the SAFE (i.e., Screen, Assess, Formulate, Educate) Medication Review Framework to assist pharmacists to conduct medication reviews with the aim of preventing older adult falls. Pharmacists also play a key role in monitoring how prescribed medications effect other relevant health conditions, such as heart rhythm, blood pressure, stress/mood, seizure, appetite, etc.
In addition, adherence to therapies is a primary determinant of treatment success. Failure to adhere to a treatment regimen can lead to substantial worsening of disease, death and increased health care costs. As such, pharmacists have a substantial interest in monitoring patient adherence to therapies and effects of the same.

System and method for managing pharmacological therapeutics including a health monitoring device


A method is provided for depositing a whisker resistant tin-based coating layer on a surface of a copper substrate. The method is useful for preparing an article comprising a copper substrate having a surface; and a tin-based coating layer on the surface of the substrate, wherein the tin-based coating layer has a thickness between 0.5 micrometers and 1.5 micrometers and has a resistance to formation of copper-tin intermetallics, wherein said resistance to formation of copper-tin intermetallics is characterized in that, upon exposure of the article to at least seven heating and cooling cycles in which each cycle comprises subjecting the article to a temperature of at least 217° C. followed by cooling to a temperature between about 20° C. and about 28° C., there remains a region of the tin coating layer that is free of copper that is at least 0.25 micrometers thick.

Immersion-plated tin has been used as one of the alternative final finishes for printed wiring board (PWB) because it provides a uniform metallic coating for improved in-circuit-test (ICT) probe life, lubricity for press fit pins, and excellent solderability. Because of the strong affinity between copper and tin, inter-diffusion occurs spontaneously even at room temperature through bulk, grain boundary, and surface diffusion pathways, resulting in the formation of intermetallic compounds at the Sn/Cu interface as well as in the grain boundaries of tin-based coating layers. See C. Xu, et al., "Driving Force for the Formation of Sn Whiskers," IEEE TRANSACTIONS ON ELECTRONICS PACKAGING MANUFACTURING, VOL. 28, NO. 1, January 2005. At room temperature, the primary intermetallic is the η phase (Cu6Sn5) and grain boundary diffusion is significantly faster than bulk diffusion. See B. Z. Lee and D. N. Lee, "Spontaneous Growth Mechanism of Tin Whiskers," Acta Mater., vol. 46, pp. 3701-3714, 1998. This results in irregular growth of Cu6Sn5 in the grain boundaries of the Sn deposit. Cu diffusion into the grain boundaries of tin deposit combined with intermetallic compound formation creates a compressive stress within the tin deposit. This compressive stress increases with time, and in the presence of surface defects or strain mismatch, creates conditions conducive to tin's breaking through the oxide layer and forming a whisker. See K. N. Tu, "Irreversible Processes of Spontaneous Whisker Growth in Bimetallic Cu—Sn Thin-Film Reactions" Phys. Rev. B, vol. 49, pp. 2030-2034, 1994. Tin whiskers pose a major potential for catastrophic electrical short circuit failures between fine pitch circuits in high reliability systems such as heart pacemakers, spacecraft, or military weapons and radars. See F. W. Verdi, "Electroplated Tin and Tin Whiskers in Lead Free Electronics," American Competitiveness Institute, November 2004.
The formation of intermetallic compounds (both η phase and ε (Cu3Sn) phase) consumes the free tin in the coating that is essential for good solderability. Thus, to ensure sufficient useable "free" tin at assembly, the minimum immersion tin deposit thickness of 1 micrometer is specified by IPC-4554. See IPC-4554 "Specification for Immersion Tin Plating for Printed Circuit Boards," 2007, IPC Bannockburn, Ill. As the soldering temperature increases with the use of lead-free solders, some OEMs even ask for a minimum of 1.2 micrometer.

Immersion tin silver plating in electronics manufacture


A framing assembly system for steel building that substantially reduces assembly time while maintaining excellent strength and mechanical integrity and has vastly improved resistance to uplift forces. Foundation assemblies or anchor structures are first precisely located before concrete is poured to form the foundation, encasing the anchor structures within the foundation. Columns may then be attached to the anchor structures without the need for readjusting the location of the columns. The rest of the building framework is subsequently attached to the columns. The resulting structure is highly resistant to uplift forces and seismic effects while being much faster and simpler to assemble than previous structures. Cracking of the concrete foundation prior to the complete curing of the concrete is also reduced.

There are a number of prior art steel buildings containing features designed to facilitate the assembly of these buildings as evidence by the patents reference below.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,342,177 illustrates a steel frame building in which the roof beams are connected to the columns by means of a plate using bolts. However, this attachment does not allow for height adjustment. The columns are C-shaped and cannot be easily slipped over a foundation assembly.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,577,353 illustrates a steel frame building in which the components of the trusses are held together with pre-drilled truss plates and bolts and the trusses are attached to the columns by means of pre-drilled plates and bolts. However, there is no provision for height adjustment at the column attachment. There is no provision to allow the trusses to be conveniently broken in two for transport and there is no provision to allow the columns to slip over the foundation members.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,979,119 illustrates an assembly of structural building components designed to be attached to a column. The attachment method permits the adjustment of the angle at which beams are connected however, height adjustment is achieved by clamping rather than positive bolting.
In prior art structures, the mounting system for columns was typically bolts placed in the concrete footer before the concrete had set. This is shown in FIG. 12, where a column 31A is connected to a flange 32A. The flange is secured to a footer 35 by means of bolts 34. The position of the bolts is usually determined by a steel tape measure, which usually results in location errors in the order of ¼ to ½ inch. These errors require the framing members to be cut and fitted on the site, a slow and costly process. The reason for these errors are many and include the use of a tape measure, the use of aggregate in the concrete which makes it difficult to precisely set a bolt in place and the fact that the bolt is let stand while the concrete sets up. During the set up process, the bolt can be moved by a variety of forces including the bolt's own weight, pent up pressure points created by forcing the bolt into the concrete, wind, rain and inadvertent contact by workmen.
In the prior art assembly procedure, once the concrete has set up and the bolts have been secured in the concrete, the next task is the lifting of the column over and onto these bolts. The column typically has a lower flange with holes used to accommodate the bolts and connect the column to the footing. The column with its flange is lowered down on to the bolts and nuts are used to secure the bolts to the flange. However, at this time, with the column suspended in the air, it is difficult to correct for the horizontal plane location errors of the bolts, while at the same time connect the column to the bolts and erect the column in a perfectly vertical position. This prior art assembly procedure does not lend itself to precisely locating the column and results in building members not fitting together and requiring time consuming and costly redrilling and cutting on the job site to complete the assembly of the building.
All of the above mentioned disadvantages of the prior art are addressed and overcome in the present invention which is described below.


In order to reduce power consumption in network equipment for optical transmission networks, it is proposed by reducing E/O conversion and signal processing in optical networks when not needed. A network node has two or more line cards. Each line card contains a receive side transponder section with a network side optical receiver, a first electrical section, and a client side optical transmitter and a transmit side transponder section with a network side optical transmitter, a second electrical section, and a client side optical receiver. The first electrical section has at least one intermediate electrical output the second electrical section has at least one intermediate electrical input. The intermediate electrical outputs and inputs lead to an electrical switch matrix, which controllably interconnects the intermediate electrical outputs and inputs. Preferably, the transponders can additionally contain second intermediate electrical outputs and inputs additionally bypassing a Forward-Error-Correction processing function in the line cards.

In telecommunications, high speed core networks mainly rely on optical transmission. Data signals can be modulated onto optical carriers at different wavelengths and transmitted together using wavelength division multiplexing over a same fiber span. In long-haul optical transmission, optical regenerators are provided along an optical transmission line to regenerate optical signals and remove distortions. Moreover, Forward Error Correction (FEC) processing can be applied to increase the maximum transmission distance per span and the receiver sensitivity.
With the introduction of wavelength selective switches (WSS) and reconfigurable optical add/drop multiplexers (ROADMs), optical transmission networks evolve from classical point-to-point transmission more and more towards optical switched network applications, so that transmission distances may be different for signals at different wavelength channels.

Transponder and related network node for an optical transmission network


A storage cluster of symmetric nodes includes a data privacy scheme that implements key management through secret sharing. The protection scheme preferably is implemented at install time. At install, an encryption key is generated, split, and the constituent pieces written to respective archive nodes. The key is not written to a drive to ensure that it cannot be stolen. Due to the secret sharing, any t of the n nodes must be present before the cluster can mount the drives. To un-share the secret, a process runs before the cluster comes up. It contacts as many nodes as possible to attempt to reach a sufficient t value. Once it does, the process un-shares the secret and mounts the drives locally. Given bidirectional communication, this mount occurs more or less at the same time on all t nodes. Once the drives are mounted, the cluster can continue to boot as normal.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to techniques for highly available, reliable, and persistent data storage in a distributed computer network.
2. Description of the Related Art
A need has developed for the archival storage of "fixed content" in a highly available, reliable and persistent manner that replaces or supplements traditional tape and optical storage solutions. The term "fixed content" typically refers to any type of digital information that is expected to be retained without change for reference or other purposes. Examples of such fixed content include, among many others, e-mail, documents, diagnostic images, check images, voice recordings, film and video, and the like. The traditional Redundant Array of Independent Nodes (RAIN) storage approach has emerged as the architecture of choice for creating large online archives for the storage of such fixed content information assets. By allowing nodes to join and exit from a cluster as needed, RAIN architectures insulate a storage cluster from the failure of one or more nodes. By replicating data on multiple nodes, RAIN-type archives can automatically compensate for node failure or removal. Typically, RAIN systems are largely delivered as hardware appliances designed from identical components within a closed system.
FIG. 1 illustrates one such scalable disk-based archival storage management system. The nodes may comprise different hardware and thus may be considered "heterogeneous." A node typically has access to one or more storage disks, which may be actual physical storage disks, or virtual storage disks, as in a storage area network (SAN). The archive cluster application (and, optionally, the underlying operating system on which that application executes) that is supported on each node may be the same or substantially the same. The software stack (which may include the operating system) on each node is symmetric, whereas the hardware may be heterogeneous. Using the system, as illustrated in FIG. 1, enterprises can create permanent storage for many different types of fixed content information such as documents, e-mail, satellite images, diagnostic images, check images, voice recordings, video, and the like, among others. These types are merely illustrative, of course. High levels of reliability are achieved by replicating data on independent servers, or so-called storage nodes. Preferably, each node is symmetric with its peers. Thus, because preferably any given node can perform all functions, the failure of any one node has little impact on the archive's availability.
As described in commonly-owned U.S. Pat. No. 7,155,466, it is known in a RAIN-based archival system to incorporate a distributed software application executed on each node that captures, preserves, manages, and retrieves digital assets. FIG. 2 illustrates one such system. A physical boundary of an individual archive is referred to as a cluster. Typically, a cluster is not a single device, but rather a collection of devices. Devices may be homogeneous or heterogeneous. A typical device is a computer or machine running an operating system such as Linux. Clusters of Linux-based systems hosted on commodity hardware provide an archive that can be scaled from a few storage node servers to many nodes that store thousands of terabytes of data. This architecture ensures that storage capacity can always keep pace with an organization's increasing archive requirements.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for data privacy in a fixed content distributed data storage


A display apparatus including a display main body displaying a picture, and a base supporting the display main body about an installation surface. The display apparatus further includes a tilting unit provided between the display main body and the base and allowing the display main body to be tilted about the base; a pivoting unit provided between the display main body and the tilting unit and allowing the display main body to be pivoted about the base; a lifting unit provided between the tilting unit and the base and allowing the display main body to move up and down about the base; and a swiveling unit coupled to the base and allowing the display main body to be swiveled about the installation surface. With this configuration, the present invention provides a display apparatus of which a display main body not only rotates about a base in various directions, but also moves up and down about the base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly, to a display apparatus having an improved structure convenient for a user.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a display apparatus comprises a display main body displaying a picture, and a base seated on an installation surface, such as a table, and supporting the display main body. Here, the display apparatus includes all apparatuses which can display a picture, like a television, a monitor for a computer, etc.
Recently, the display main body comprises a thin display panel, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD), a plasma display panel (PDP), etc.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional display apparatus. As shown therein, a conventional display apparatus 101 comprises a base 120 seated on an installation surface, such as a table, and supporting the display main body, a display main body 110 supported by the base 120 and displaying a picture, and a tilting hinge 130 provided between the base 120 and the display main body 110 and allowing the display main body 110 to be tilted about the base 120.
The tilting hinge 130 comprises a pair of brackets 131 mounted to a back of the display main body 110, and a pair of hinge shafts 133 having a first end connected to each bracket 131 and a second end connected to an upper portion of the base 120.
The hinge shaft 133 is aligned with a right and left direction axis about a screen of the display main body 110, and rotatably connected to at least one of the bracket 131 and the upper portion of the base 120. Hence, the display main body 110 can be tilted with respect to the hinge shaft 133.
However, in the conventional display apparatus, the display main body is only tiltable about the base, that is, the display main body cannot move about the base in swiveling, pivoting, or lifting directions, wherein "swiveling" means that the display main body rotates about the base with respect to a vertical axis of the base, "pivoting" means that the display main body rotates about the base with respect to a horizontal direction axis of the base, and "lifting" means that the display main body moves up and down about the base. Thus, the conventional display apparatus cannot provide a user with various view angles of the display main body.

Display apparatus having adjustable supporting unit


An electrical connector assembly includes a connector comprising a base with a plurality of passageways receiving a plurality of conductive contacts, a cover mounted on the base, the cover defining a plurality of through holes corresponding to the passageways, and an actuator for driving the cover to move from an open position to a closed position; a chip module mounted on the connector and including an abutting surface resting on the cover and a plurality of pins extending from the abutting surface. A first guiding device is defined on the chip module and a second guiding device is defined on the connector for engaging with the first guiding device along an engaging direction, and a length of the two guiding devices along the engaging direction is longer than that of the pins, and wherein the module is provided with a first guider and the connector is provided with a second guider, and the two guiders have different heights in the engaging direction.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrical connector, and more particularly to a zero insertion force electrical connector to provide electrical connection between an integrated circuit (IC) and a printed circuit board (PCB).
2. Background of the Invention
Zero Insertion Force (ZIF) electrical connectors are widely used for electrically connecting two electrical interfaces such as an electrical substrate, e.g. a PCB, and an integrated circuit (IC) package, e.g. a central processing unit (CPU).
Typical conventional ZIF connectors are disclosed in Chinese Patent Nos. 03262254.6, 03251142.6 and 03262254.6. Each of these connectors generally comprises a base connected to a PCB, a movable cover mounted on the base and a driving mechanism. The base includes a plurality of passageways and a plurality of conductive contacts received therein. The cover includes a plurality of through holes corresponding to said passageways in the base. The driving mechanism is used to drive the cover to move from an open position to a closed position. While the cover is at the open position, pins of the IC are inserted into the through holes of the cover and the passageways of the base. At this time, the pins do not contact with any conductive contacts. While the cover is at the closed position, the IC is electrically connected with the PCB by the pins contacting with the conductive contacts. Because the pins of the IC pass through the through holes of the cover for positioning the IC, it is important to ensure proper positioning. Moreover, while such a connector is in use, improper position of the IC pins damage the contacts. As a result, the reliability of the electrical connection may be affected.
Therefore, a new electrical connector to resolve the above-mentioned problems is desired.


A stopper assembly having by-pass features for use in a multi-chamber syringe barrel. The stopper assembly includes a sequential stopper body responsive to fluid forces for enabling the sequential delivery of disparate contents, such as disparate fluids, separately held in the syringe barrel. The sequential stopper body has a generally cylindrical sidewall with a distal end, a proximal end and a longitudinal axis therethrough. The stopper assembly also includes a generally cylindrical flow channelizer mounted to the distal end of the sequential stopper body. The flow channelizer enables the reconstitution of dry medicament held in the syringe barrel distally of the flow channelizer. The flow channelizer features opposed proximal and distal ends and a generally cylindrical outer surface therebetween. At least one fluid flow channel extends between the proximal and distal ends of a flow channelizer. A distally directed, conically-shaped projection is located at the distal end of the flow channelizer to prevent the accumulation of dead space between the channelizer and the internal shoulder located at the distal end of the syringe barrel. The stopper assembly may be employed in a multi-chambered syringe barrel featuring a by-pass channel to permit fluids to pass distally of the stopper assembly. The multi-barreled syringe barrel can be separated into disparate chambers by one or more by-pass stoppers so as to contain disparate components intended for sequential delivery by the stopper assembly.

As is known in the art, hypodermic syringes include an elongate barrel having opposed proximal and distal ends with a chamber therebetween for receiving a fluid. A passageway extends through the distal end of the syringe barrel and communicates with the chamber. The distal end of the syringe barrel is connected to a piercing element, such as a needle cannula or a blunt cannula, for delivering fluid from the chamber and passageway. The proximal end of the syringe barrel receives a plunger rod and stopper assembly. Force applied to the plunger rod urges the stopper along the barrel to drive liquid from the chamber through the needle cannula.
Oftentimes, it is desired to deliver from the hypodermic syringe a number of discrete substances held within the chamber. These discrete substances normally must be held separate from one another until such time as delivery to the patient is desired. Et is necessary, then, that the chamber defined between the proximal and distal ends of the elongate barrel be divided into a discrete number of chambers, each capable of holding a substance intended for delivery to a patient.
Bearing the foregoing in mind, it would be useful to construct a hypodermic syringe capable of simultaneously storing a medicament together with any components which are to be administered, with the ability to keep the medicament and the components separate until administration is desired. Medicaments storable in hypodermic syringegs can be in liquid form or in dry form. It is often desirable to store medicaments in dry form since, depending on the type of medicament, it will display a longer shelf-life vis-a-vis the liquid form of the drug. As the skilled artisan will appreciate, one way to reduce a liquid drug to dry form is through a lyophilization process. In this process, liquid medicaments are subjected to a freeze-drying, or lyophilization, process, that reduces the liquid medicament to a dried powder or granular form. For purposes of simplicity, reference in this patent application to a drug in lyophilized form is intended to encompass any dry medicament, all of which require reconstitution prior to delivery.
Frequently, dry medicaments are located in a multi-chamber syringe barrel in the chamber located most adjacent the piercing element. In order to administer the medicament to a patient, a diluent is introduced into the chamber containing the dry medicament in order to reconstitute the drug into its liquid form. Thereafter, the reconstituted medicament can be administered from the same multi-chamber syringe which had stored the lyophilized medicament. It is also desirable to isolate the dry medicament from the ambient environment until such time as reconstitution and delivery is desired.
With the foregoing objectives in mind, U.S. Pat. No. 4,929,230 to Frederick W. Pfleger ("Pfleger '230"), whose disclosure is specifically incorporated by reference herein, describes a particular stopper construction useful for dividing the syringe barrel into a plurality of chambers and allowing separate liquid contents held by the syringe barrel to be sequentially administered to a patient. Making particular numerical reference to components disclosed by Pfleger '230, there is disclosed a free piston (or stopper) 33 including a hollowed chamber 48 facing the end wall 23 of the syringe barrel. Chamber 48 can be realized as a hollow circularly disposed about the central axis of stopper 33 (FIGS. 5, 6, 7) or, as shown in FIGS. 9, 10 or 11, it can assume a flattened, narrow configuration offset from the central axis of the stopper. Stopper 33 includes a closed end 34, which faces away from end wall 23 of the syringe barrel. Closed end 34 has a diameter less than the interior diameter of the syringe barrel. A peripheral sidewall 35 obliquely extends between closed end 34 of stopper 33 and a cylindrical peripheral sealing surface 36 in contact with the interior surface of the syringe barrel. Oblique sidewall 35 overlaps with a portion of hollowed chamber 48. It is stated at Col. 3, lines 15-17, that the oblique sidewall 35 has its large end generally cylindrical, as the sealing surface 36, for sealing engagement with the syringe barrel, and it is stated at Col. 3, lines 19-23, that external ribs 37 help prevent tipping of the piston as it moves in the syringe barrel. It is believed by the inventors herein that the oblique sidewall 35 is itself cylindrically formed around stopper 33 and, thus, extends about the entire circumference of the stopper. A force is generated by a proximal-most stopper 31 connected to plunger rod 30, stopper 33 will come to rest adjacent internal shoulder 25 of the syringe barrel. Continued motion by stopper 31 increases the fluid forces exerted upon oblique sidewall 35 to overcome the resilient material sealing forces inherent in stopper 33. Because of the presence of hollowed chamber 48, oblique sidewall 35 will collapse inwardly, allowing the fluid contents held proximally of closed end 34 to proceed in a distal direction for delivery through the needle cannula.
Pfleger '230 is not particularly suited to an application requiring the reconstitution of a dry drug before the sequential delivery of other components, such as flushes, retained by the syringe barrel. For instance, neither the teaching of Pfleger '230, nor the structure of Pfleger '230, is adapted to permit reconstitution of a medicament held in dry form in a chamber of the syringe barrel. Pfleger '230 is directed towards sequential delivery of liquid components but not to sequential delivery of a dry component.
Moreover, in certain prior art hypodermic syringes, a certain amount of liquid can remain in the syringe barrel after the stoppers are advanced the fill length of the barrel during an injection process. There remains in most syringes a certain residual volume, no matter how small, which is trapped between the end of the stopper and the needle tip, which includes the volume of the needle cannula and the volume presented at the distal end of the syringe barrel. A quantity of the medication can also be trapped in the area around and between the sidewalls of the stopper and the interior of the syringe barrel. In the case of expensive medications and medications requiring extreme precision and delivery, this so-called "dead space" must be overcome by overfilling the barrel in order to ensure that the proper dose is delivered. The additional medication will be disposed of with the used syringe. The costs associated with the dead volume can accumulate substantially. It would be beneficial to prevent waste of medication trapped in the syringe barrel, for instance, as evidenced by Pfleger '230 between hollow end 48 of the stopper, internal shoulder 25 located at the extreme distal end of the syringe barrel, and outlet port 24 associated with the syringe barrel. A quantity of medication that can be held between these surfaces is seen, for instance, in FIG. 7 of Pfleger '230.
Accordingly, there is a need for a sequential stopper having bypass features to promote reconstitution of a dry drug held in a syringe barrel and which thereafter allows sequential injection of a series of disparate contents held in separate chambers in the syringe barrel, all of which results in reducing the amount of medicament trapped in the syringe barrel after delivery. Such a stopper is disclosed herein.

Stopper assembly having bypass features for use in a multi-chamber syringe barrel


The invention relates to an olefin oligomerization process comprising the steps of: i) contacting a feed comprising olefins and nitriles with a guard bed comprising eta alumina; and ii) contacting the feed obtained in step i) with an oligomerization catalyst under conditions suitable to oligomerize the olefins in the feed. It also relates to the use of a guard bed comprising eta-alumina for reducing the content of basic organic compounds in a hydrocarbon feed.

The higher olefins oligomerization process converts light olefins, typically, C3 to C6 light olefins, to oligomers (higher olefins), typically such as octenes, nonenes and dodecenes. These higher olefins are then used in the production of various products such as plasticizers and solvents. The feedstocks used for the higher olefins oligomerization process come from various sources, such as catalytic crackers and steam crackers. Such feeds are known to contain nitrogen containing compounds, which act as poisons for the catalysts typically used in the higher olefins oligomerization process. The presence of poisons in the feeds has a significant impact on the catalyst life, and thus on the operation and economics of the higher olefins oligomerization process. It is known that acidic catalysts like solid phosphoric acid or zeolites typically used in olefin oligomerization processes are susceptible to poisoning from trace amounts of sulphur-, nitrogen- and oxygen-containing compounds in the feed. Such poisons adsorb on the acidic catalysts, blocking acid sites and pores. This causes enhanced deactivation of the catalyst and shorter catalyst life. Special precautions and feed cleanup is required in case the poison levels are too high.
At present there is no known single process that can quantitatively remove all nitrogen poisons from olefin feeds useful in the higher olefins oligomerization process to meet required feed quality specifications. Water washing sometimes only partially removes nitriles, such as acetonitrile, from certain olefin feeds. Not only is the removal process difficult but it is expensive and generates a lot of waste water.
The interaction of acetonitrile with olefins and alcohols in zeolite H-ZSM-5 is described in Chem. Eur. J. 1997, 3, No. 1 pages 47 to 56 "Interaction of Acetonitrile with Olefins and Alcohols in Zeolite H-ZSM-5: In—Situ Solid-State NMR Characterization of the Reaction Products" Alexander G. Stepanov and Mikhail v. Luzgin.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,973,790 discloses a process for oligomerizing C2 to C10 olefins obtained by catalytic cracking of heavy crude oil. Feed pretreatment is practiced to remove basic nitrogen compounds present in the light olefin feed with a water wash or guard bed. Where the pretreatment comprises at least two steps, the first step is either a water wash step or contact of feed with a solid bed having an affinity for basic nitrogen. The second step is contact with a zeolitic bed. Only use of a conventional resin guard bed is taught and exemplified. No specific nitrogen compounds are mentioned.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,414,183 discloses isomerization and etherification reactions. Nitrogen contaminants in the hydrocarbon feed stream are converted to hydrolysis products by contact with an alkaline solution. Residual products in the hydrocarbon phase may be removed by a variety of known means including water washing, stripping and adsorption.
US 2005/0137442 relates to a transalkylation process where organic nitrogen compounds, including acetonitrile and propionitrile, are removed from an aromatic feed stream by contacting the stream with an acidic molecular sieve at a temperature of at least 120° C.
US2007/0086933 discloses a transalkylation process for reacting C9 aromatics with toluene to form C8 aromatics such a para-xylene. The process uses an aluminium oxide guard bed prior to contacting with a transalkylation catalyst in order to remove chlorides from the aromatic feed.
WO2004/014546 teaches a guard bed made of finely divided lead oxide and a particulate support material, such as aluminium oxide. This guard bed can be used to remove chlorides present in a process gas stream containing carbon monoxide and steam, before contacting with a copper containing catalyst.


The present invention provides a compound represented by the formula:

As a heterocyclic compound, the following compounds are known.    (1) As a PPAR ligand-receptor binder, a compound represented by the formula:
are each independently an aryl and the like; A is —O— and the like; B is —O— and the like; D is —O— and the like; E is a bond or an ethylene group; a, b, c and e are each 0-4; d is 0-5; f is 0-6; R1, R3, R5, R7, R9 and R11 are each independently a hydrogen and the like; R2, R4, R6, R8, R10 and R12 are each independently —(CH)q—X; q is 0-3; X is hydrogen and the like; Z is R21O2C— and the like; R21 is hydrogen and the like has been reported (WO 00/64876).    (2) As a compound that acts by binding to PPAR-α, PPAR-γ and PPAR-δ, a compound represented by the formula
wherein X is O, S or NH and R is methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, cyclopropyl, n-butyl, phenyl or —CH2OCH3, and a compound represented by the formula
wherein X is C or N and R is methyl, ethyl, n-propyl, i-propyl, —CH2OCH3 or —CO2CH3 have been reported (WO01/17994).    (3) As a retinoid related receptor function regulator, a compound represented by the formula
wherein R1 is an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group or an optionally substituted heterocyclic group; X is a bond, O, S, —CO—, —CS—, —CR4(OR5)— or —NR6— (R4 and R6 are each a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group and R5 is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxyl-protecting group); m is 0-3; Y is O, S, —SO—, —SO2—, —NR7—, —CONR7— or —NR7CO— (R7 is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group); ring A is an aromatic ring optionally further have 1 to 3 substituents; n is 1-8; ring B is a nitrogen-containing 5-membered heterocycle optionally further substituted by an alkyl group; X1 is a bond, O, S, —SO—, —SO2—, —O—SO2— or —NR16— (R16 is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group); R2 is a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group or an optionally substituted heterocyclic group; W is a bond or a C1-20 divalent hydrocarbon residue; and R3 is —OR8 (R8 is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group) or —NR9R10 (R9 and R10 are the same or different and each is a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group, an optionally substituted heterocyclic group or an optionally substituted acyl group, or R9 and R10 are bonded to each other to form a ring) has been reported (WO01/38325).    (4) As a retinoid related receptor function regulator, a compound represented by the formula
wherein R1 is an optionally substituted 5-membered aromatic heterocyclic group;
X is a bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, —CO—, —CS—, —CR4(OR5)— or —NR6— (R4 is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group, R5 is a hydrogen atom or a hydroxyl-protecting group, R6 is a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group or an amino-protecting group);
Q is a divalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms;
Y is a bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, —SO—, —SO2—, —NR7—, —CONR7— or —NR7CO— (R7 is a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group or an amino-protecting group);
ring A is an aromatic ring optionally further having 1 to 3 substituents;
Z is —(CH2)n-Z1- or -Z1-(CH2)— (n is an integer of 1 to 8, Z1 is an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, —SO—, —SO2— or —NR16— (R16 is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group));
ring B is a pyridine ring, benzene ring or naphthalene ring, each optionally further having 1 to 3 substituents;
U is a bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom, —SO— or —SO2—;
W is a divalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms; and
R3 is —OR8 (R8 is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group) or —NR9R10 (R9 and R10 are the same or different and each is a hydrogen atom, an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group, an optionally substituted heterocyclic group, or an optionally substituted acyl group, or R9 and R10 are optionally bonded to form an optionally substituted ring):
provided that, when ring B is a benzene ring optionally further having 1 to 3 substituents, U is a bond has been reported (WO02/53547).
Peroxisome proliferator-activated receptor gamma (PPARγ), a member of the intranuclear hormone receptor superfamily, which is typically exemplified by steroid hormone receptors and thyroid hormone receptors, plays an important role as a master regulator in the differentiation of adipocytes with its expression induced in the very early stage of adipocyte differentiation. PPARγ forms a dimer with the retinoid X receptor (RXR) by binding to a ligand, and binds to a responsive site of the target gene in the nucleus to directly control (activate) transcription efficiency. In recent years, the possibility that 15-deoxy-Δ12.14 prostaglandin J2, which is a metabolite of prostaglandin D2, serves as an endogenous ligand for PPARγ, has been suggested, and it has been shown that a class of insulin resistance enhancers, typically exemplified by thiazolidinedione derivatives, possess ligand activity for PPARγ, and that its potency is proportional to its hypoglycemic action or adipocyte differentiation-promoting action (e.g., Cell, vol. 83, p. 803 (1995): The Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 270, p. 12953 (1995); Journal of Medicinal Chemistry, vol. 39, p. 655 (1996)).
In recent years, furthermore, it has been shown that 1) PPARγ is expressed in cultured cells of human liposarcoma origin, whose proliferation is ceased by the addition of a PPARγ ligand (Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America, vol. 94, p. 237 (1997)), 2) nonsteroidal anti-inflammatory drugs, typically exemplified by indomethacin and fenoprofen, have PPARγ ligand activity (e.g., The Journal of Biological Chemistry, vol. 272, p. 3406 (1997)), 3) PPARγ is expressed at high levels in activated macrophages, with the transcription of a gene involved in inflammation inhibited by the addition of a ligand therefor (e.g., Nature, vol. 391, p. 79 (1998)), 4) PPARγ ligands suppress the production of inflammatory cytokines (TNFα, IL-1β, IL-6) by monocytes (e.g., Nature, vol. 391, p. 82 (1998)), 5) adipocyte hypertrophy, fat accumulation and expression of insulin resistance are suppressed in PPARγ hetero deficient mouse (e.g., Molecular Cell (1999), vol. 4, p. 597), 6) PPARγ ligand inhibits differentiation of 10T1/2 cell into adipocyte by PPARγ agonist (e.g., Proceedings of The National Academy of Sciences of The United States of America (1999), vol. 96, p. 6102), 7) PPARγ ligand suppresses differentiation of 3T3-L1 cell into adipocyte by PPARγ agonist (e.g., Molecular Endocrinology (2000), vol. 14, p. 1425) and the like.

Abstract: wherein R1 is an optionally substituted 5-membered heterocyclic group; X, Y and V are the same or different and each is a bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom and the like; Q is a divalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms; ring A is an aromatic ring optionally further having 1 to 3 substituents; Z is —(CH2)n-Z1- or -Z1-(CH2)n— (n is an integer of 0 to 8, Z1 is a bond, an oxygen atom, a sulfur atom and the like); ring B is a nitrogen-containing heterocycle optionally further having 1 to 3 substituents; W is a bond or a divalent hydrocarbon group having 1 to 20 carbon atoms; R2 is a hydrogen atom, a cyano group, —PO(OR9)(OR10) (R9 and R10 are the same or different and each is a hydrogen atom or an optionally substituted hydrocarbon group, and R9 and R10 are optionally bonded to form an optionally substituted ring) and the like, or a salt thereof, which has a superior adipose tissue weight decreasing action, a hypoglycemic action and a hypolipidemic action, and which is useful as an agent for the prophylaxis or treatment of obesity, diabetes mellitus, hyperlipidemia, impaired glucose tolerance, hypertension and the like.


There is disclosed a digital demodulator for the demodulation of an m-phase shift keying modulated signal. The demodulator comprises a sampling and quantizing circuit which samples and quantizes in-phase and in-quadrature components of the modulated analog signal and a carrier recovery circuit for reconstructing the carrier. The sampling and quantizing circuit quantizes the in-phase and in-quadrature components by means of a number of different quantization thresholds. This device is used in communications systems, particularly terrestrial and satellite microwave links and computer-to-computer links.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention concerns a novel circuit for the demodulation of m-Phase Shift Keying (m-PSK) modulated signals.
2. Description of the Related Art
Phase-Shift Keying (PSK) modulation is widely used to transmit binary data by means of such communication links as terrestrial and satellite microwave links, and computer-to-computer links. The demodulation circuit necessitated by this type of modulation contributes significantly to the overall complexity of receiving equipment. Furthermore, it is widely recognised that a digital implementation is preferable to an analog implementation on the basis of performance insensitivity to environment, performance reproducibility, production costs, integration level and reliability. Consequently, a fully digital demodulation circuit is desirable for demodulating PSK-modulated signals.
Certainly, digital demodulating circuits have already been constructed in the past. However, the techniques employed until now exhibit one major constraint: the sampling rate and the clock frequency of the synchronous digital circuitry must be at least an order of magnitude (usually sixteen to thirty-two times) greater than the rate of the symbols to be demodulated. Conversely, the maximum symbol rate achievable by a digital demodulation circuitry is at least an order of magnitude lower than the maximum clock signal rate achievable by a given technology (CMOS, ECL, etc . . . ).
In practice, this type of fully digital demodulator is used for low data rate signals. High data rate signals required partly or fully analog demodulation circuitry.
Known demodulators for phase shift keying modulated signals comprise substantially a sampling and quantization circuit for sampling and quantizing the analog signal and a carrier recovery circuit for reconstructing the carrier to be served for demodulating the received signal. Known demodulators can be classified into two classes.
The first class includes those demodulators which process input signals whose center frequency is greater than the modulation symbol rate. One-bit quantization of the intermediate frequency signal is compatible with low demodulation losses provided that the sampling frequency is at least an order of magnitude larger than the carrier frequency. This type of demodulator does not need automatic gain control and implements a fully digital carrier tracking loop, which loop reconstructs the carrier by adding or skipping cycles of the master clock. The ratio of master clock frequency to modulation symbol rate determines the phase resolution of the carrier tracking loop and consequently affects the demodulation losses. A ratio of thirty-two results in a carrier phase error as large as 11 degrees. Although the circuit is simple in terms of implementation, its main limitation resides in the requirement for a master clock being several times faster than the modulation symbol rate.
The second class of digital demodulators includes those demodulators which process the in-phase I and the in-quadrature Q components of the baseband input signals. The main limitation of this type of demodulator is that it must include external analog components such as voltage controlled oscillators and gain controlled amplifiers. Furthermore, these external circuits need analog control signals and thus require digital-to-analog conversion circuitries.

Digital demodulator which quantizes signal components according to different thresholds


The present disclosure provides compositions comprising miR-3132 and one or more pharmaceutical agents that upregulate TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL) or activate TRAIL signaling pathway, and methods for treating a cancer comprising administering miR-3132, or a composition comprising miR-3132 and one or more pharmaceutical agents that upregulate TRAIL or activate TRAIL signaling pathway, to a subject.

The tumor necrosis factor (TNF) superfamily member, TNF-related apoptosis-inducing ligand (TRAIL/Apo2L), is an important pro-apoptotic effector. TRAIL induces rapid apoptosis through binding to death receptors DR4 or DR5 expressed on the surface of cells. It is involved in immune surveillance, killing both tumor cells and cells infected with bacteria and viruses. Its quick and potent apoptotic properties keep the TRAIL gene under the tight regulation by transcriptional factors such as FOXO3a, p53, AP-1, CEBP, NFAT, GATA Stat-1, IRF-1, GSP1, GSP2, and GSP4. Following activation of an immune response, interferon signaling elements, particularly IFNα, IFNβ, IFNγ, mediate Stat-1 signaling and toll-like receptors (TLRs) (TLR3, TLR7 and TL8) control TRAIL upregulation. These pathways mediate TRAIL upregulation in immune cells including natural killer cells, macrophages, dendritic cells and cytotoxic T cells. Thus, TRAIL upregulation is highly regulated event (Allen et al., Cancer Biol. Ther., 2012, 13, 1143-51; and Lim et al., Expert Opin. Ther. Targets, 2015, 19, 1171-85).
There is significant interest in the regulation of the TRAIL gene because of its unique ability to induce apoptosis in cancer cells while sparing normal and untransformed cells. This selective antitumor potential of the TRAIL pathway has been harnessed by development of different therapeutic approaches including recombinant (rh)TRAIL and TRAIL-receptor agonist antibodies such as mapatumumab and lexatumumab. Many TRAIL-based therapies have proven successful in preclinical studies and safe in early phase clinical trials. Clinical trial results revealed several limitations of rhTRAIL and TRAIL receptor agonists with serum half-life, hepatotoxicity, stability, tumor-specific cytotoxicity and biodistribution being the most evident (Allen et al., Cancer Biol. Ther., 2012, 13, 1143-51; and Lim et al., Expert Opin. Ther. Targets, 2015, 19, 1171-85). Hence, there is still an unmet clinical need for TRAIL-based anti-tumor agents with increased efficacy and safety.
miRNAs are generally 18-22 nucleotide small non-coding RNAs that can inhibit translation and/or affect mRNA stability by binding to the 3′ untranslated region (UTR) of target genes (Friedman et al., Genome Res., 2009, 19, 92-105; and Ameres et al., Nat. Rev. Mol. Cell. Biol., 2013, 14, 475-88). Studies in different tumor models have shown that miRNAs can either be oncogenic, as in the case of miR-155, miR-21 and the miR17˜92 cluster, or tumor suppressive (miR-34a, let-7 family and miR-143) (Oom et al., Biomed. Res. Int., 2014, 2014, 959461; and Iorio et al., Cancer J., 2012, 18, 215-22). Tumor suppressive miRNAs are dysregulated in cancer cells through multiple mechanisms including methylation of promoter sites (Suzuki et al., Mol. Oncol., 2012, 6, 567-78), deletion, or loss of expression (Iorio et al., Cancer J., 2012, 18, 215-22; and Iorio et al., EMBO Mol. Med., 2012, 4, 143-59). Re-introduction of tumor suppressive miRNAs known as "miRNA mimics" has become an attractive therapeutic strategy. Many such miRNA mimics are currently in clinical or pre-clinical development for cancer (Rupaimoole et al., Nat. Rev. Drug Discov., 2017, 16, 203-222).

miR-3132 upregulation of the TRAIL pathway and apoptotic activity in cancer cells


Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a streamlined process for performing operations, such as data sharing and data replication, using multiple accounts. A global identity (also referred to as an organization user) may be employed, where the global identity may have access to multiple accounts across the same or different deployments. The global identity may switch between accounts from its login session and perform various tasks in the context of different accounts without undergoing further authentication.

Database and other data processing systems may be implemented in different configurations and arrangements. For example, cloud database systems may be provided through a cloud platform, which allows organizations and users to store, manage, and retrieve data from the cloud. An organization may utilize deployments in different regions in addition to using different types of deployments. For instance, cloud database systems may be implemented as a public deployment, where multiple accounts can share processing resources and/or storage. Cloud database systems may also be implemented as a private deployment, where processing resources and/or storage are dedicated and isolated.
However, in such systems, performing some operations can be cumbersome. Some operations can include the involvement of multiple accounts. For example, an operation may include performing a first task using a first account and then performing a second task using a second account and so on. Thus, a user would have to log into the first account to perform the first task, log off, and then log into the second account to perform the second task and so on, leading to an inefficient process.

Remote execution using a global identity


A pixel module for use in a large-area display has a cluster of sequentially interconnected similar pixel modules that are driven by a central controller. The module includes pixel elements that have a serial video data bus input, and command input lines that are electrically connected to inputs of a latch. The latch has parallel inputs and outputs which are clocked with a data dock input. Also included are a current driver device for driving the pixels, a first inverter for driving the data clock input, an address input connected to a second inverter, an EEPROM connected to the input port, and a power supply.

Conventional incandescent lamps, fluorescent lamps, and neon tubes have long been used to illuminate many large-scale commercial and public signs. The market is now, however, demanding larger displays with the flexibility to customize display sizes and colors which are not possible with these older technologies. As a result, many displays now utilize LEDs in their design because LEDs consume less electrical energy than conventional light sources, and possess a much longer lifetime with lower maintenance costs.
LED technology is currently being applied to large-scale display applications, such as outdoor or indoor stadium displays, large marketing advertisement displays, and mass-public informational displays. Many of these large-scale applications are dynamically reconfigurable under computer control. In addition, some large-scale animated displays that are capable of displaying video imaging are now being produced.
Furthermore, there is a demand in the market not only for two-dimensional (2D) displays, but also for three-dimensional (3D) displays. Technical challenges exist in forming a display system with the flexibility to form various 2D or 3D shapes and, furthermore, in providing control of such a system. What is needed is a system of individual picture elements that are configurable to form large-area LED displays having 2D or 3D shapes.
An example of a configurable large-area display is found in reference to European patent No. 1.057.220, entitled, "Tiled electronic display structure." The EP 1.057.220 patent describes a tiled display device that is formed from display tiles having picture element (pixel) positions defined up to the edge of the tiles. Each pixel position has an organic light-emitting diode (OLED) active area that occupies approximately twenty-five percent of the pixel area. Each tile includes a memory that stores display data and pixel driving circuitry that controls the scanning and illumination of the pixels on the tile. The pixel driving circuitry is located on the back side of the tile and connections to pixel electrodes on the front side of the tile are made by vias that pass through portions of selected ones of the pixel areas that are not occupied by the active pixel material. The tiles are formed in two parts—an electronics section and a display section. Each tile has a glass substrate on the front of the tile. Black matrix lines are formed on the front of the glass substrate. The tiles are joined by mullions that have the same appearance as the black matrix lines.
While the EP 1.057.220 patent describes a configurable large-area display formed of tiled arrays, the dimensions of the individual components, i.e., tiles, are sufficiently large that custom shapes, including 3D shapes, are not possible. Furthermore, the control system of tiled display of EP 1.057.220 patent is not suitable for controlling and reconfiguring individual picture elements.

Pixel module for use in a large-area display


A piezoelectric resonator element includes a base portion formed of a piezoelectric material, a plurality of resonating arms formed integrally with the base portion and extending parallel to each other, a longitudinal groove formed along a longitudinal direction of each of the resonating arms, and an electrode for driving formed in the longitudinal groove. A width of each of the resonating arms is gradually decreased from the base portion toward a tip of the resonating arm, and a change point of width variation is provided close to the tip of the resonating arm. The width variation shifts from decrease to increase at the change point. The change point is located closer to the tip of the resonating arm than an end of the longitudinal groove.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to improvements of a piezoelectric resonator element and a piezoelectric device housing a piezoelectric resonator element in a package or case.
2. Related Art
Piezoelectric devices, such as piezoelectric resonators and piezoelectric oscillators, have been widely used in small information apparatuses typified by HDDs (hard disk drives), mobile computers and IC cards, mobile communication apparatuses typified by cellular phones, car phones and paging systems, piezoelectric gyro sensors, and so on.
FIG. 12 is a schematic plan view illustrating one example of piezoelectric resonator elements that have been typically used for piezoelectric devices. FIG. 13 is an end view cut along the line A-A of FIG. 12.
Referring to the drawings, the outer shape of a piezoelectric resonator element 1 as a tuning fork type one is formed by etching a piezoelectric material such as quartz. The piezoelectric resonator element 1 includes a rectangular base portion 2 attached to a package (not shown in the drawing) or the like, and a pair of resonating arms 3 and 4 that are extended from the base portion 2 toward the right of the drawing. Longitudinal grooves 3a and 4a and necessary electrodes for driving are formed on the major surfaces (front and back surfaces) of these resonating arms. An example of documents describing the piezoelectric resonator element is JP-A-2002-261575.
In such a piezoelectric resonator element 1, upon application of a driving voltage thereto via the electrodes for driving, flexural vibration arises so that tips of the resonating arms 3 and 4 come close to and move away from each other. Thus, a signal of a certain frequency is extracted.
It has been desired for such a piezoelectric resonator element 1 to have a smaller size along with miniaturization of the above-described various products provided with a piezoelectric device utilizing the piezoelectric resonator element 1. Therefore, the piezoelectric resonator element 1 must be formed to have as small a size as possible, and it is desired for the total length AL1 of the piezoelectric resonator element 1 to be shortened in particular. In addition, since the miniaturization of the products has uninterruptedly progressed, a structure for allowing a smaller size is needed for the piezoelectric resonator element 1.
Here, the frequency f of the piezoelectric resonator element 1, which is a tuning fork type piezoelectric resonator element like that shown in the drawing, is proportional to W/(l×l) if the length and arm width of the resonating arms 3 and 4 are defined as l and W, respectively.
This means that, if the piezoelectric resonator element 1, which is elongated along one direction, is to be miniaturized and thus the magnitude of the total length AL1 in FIG. 12 is to be decreased, shortening the length l of the resonating arms leads to an increase of the frequency. Furthermore, if the width W of the resonating arms is decreased, the frequency is lowered. Thus, in order to achieve miniaturization while maintaining the frequency, the arm width W must be decreased while the length of the resonating arms is shortened to some extent.
In miniaturization of the piezoelectric resonator element 1, in order to maintain, for example, a frequency of 32 kHz (32.768 kHz), which is a typical frequency, it is required that the length l of the resonating arms 3 and 4 is shortened and the arm width W is decreased. However, in processing the small piezoelectric resonator element 1, if the piezoelectric resonator element 1 is to be processed to have the small arm width w in particular while maintaining the characteristics of the element 1, the following difficulties arise.
Specifically, the difficulties result from a need to process longitudinal grooves 3a and 4a like those shown in FIG. 13 in the resonating arms 3 and 4. Referring to FIG. 13, the thickness t is difficult to change since it is restricted by conditions of a material, such as a quartz wafer, to be processed. Therefore, if the thickness t of a typical resonating arm is 100 μm for example, the thickness t of a miniaturized resonating arm should also be 100 μm.
In contrast to this, as for the arm width W, a miniaturized resonating arm may be required to have a width of about 50 μm although the arm width W of a typical resonating arm is 100 μm. For example, when the arm width is 100 μm, the groove width C1 is about 70 μm and the sidewall width S1 is about 15 μm. However, if the arm width W is about 50 μm, the groove width C1 must be reduced to about 40 μm and the sidewall width S1 must be reduced to about 5 μm, for example.
If such a piezoelectric resonator element is fabricated, the rigidity of the resonating arms 3 and 4 is significantly low. Therefore, in the above-described flexural vibration caused by application of a driving voltage, the amplitude in the Z direction in FIG. 13 is added, and thus the flexural vibration of the resonating arms 3 and 4 in the X-direction turns to flexural vibration shown by arrows SF with exaggeration.
FIG. 14 is a graph illustrating the drive characteristic of miniaturized piezoelectric resonator elements having a typical structure. As the level of a driving voltage is gradually increased along the abscissa of the graph, the frequency variation on the ordinate arises toward the negative direction. This shows that components of the Z-direction vibration of FIG. 13 increase and thus the energy loss of the vibration increases, which is a factor of an increase of the crystal impedance (CI) value.
As effective measures for suppressing the CI value, there is a method in which the longitudinal grooves 3a and 4a described for FIG. 12 are elongated and the formation area of the electrodes for driving is increased. However, a piezoelectric resonator element has plural vibration modes. The frequency of a typically used fundamental wave is 32.768 kHz for example. In contrast to this, the frequency of the second harmonic wave of the piezoelectric resonator element 1 is near 250 kHz. Elongating the longitudinal grooves 3a and 4a can lower the CI value of the fundamental wave. However, the CI value of the second harmonic wave is also lowered. Therefore, if a typical structure is used, many products suffer disadvantages that the CI value ratio, which is the ratio of the CI value of a harmonic wave to the CI value of the fundamental wave, is smaller than 1 as shown in FIG. 15 and thus oscillation easily arises not with the fundamental wave but with the second harmonic wave.

Piezoelectric resonator element and piezoelectric device


A multifunction adaptive projector system for motor vehicles is provided having a positioning mechanism designed to vary the position of a shield between three defined positions. The system includes an ellipsoidal reflector, a light source, a shield and a mechanism for variation of the position of the shield, in relation to the reflector, between a position for low beam light, a position for motorway light and a position for high beam light. For low beam light, the shield is in proximity of the focal point of the reflector. For motorway light, the shield is shifted by a first distance below the focal point of the reflector. For high beam light, the shield is shifted by a distance below the focal point of the reflector.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a multifunction adaptive projector system (headlamp) for motor vehicles. More specifically, a structure is provided whereby the position of the shield inside the projector lighting unit is variable to change the spatial distribution of light on the road. The shield can be positioned in three defined positions for generating high beam light (driving beam), motorway light and low beam light (passing beam).
2. Description of Related Technology
In order to generate low beam light and high beam light during use of a motor vehicle, prior art headlamps have typically been equipped with separate lighting units or combined lighting units utilizing two-filament light sources.
For motorway light, a beam pattern generally between low and high beam light, an additional lighting unit is needed. The main disadvantages of this additional lighting unit consist in higher demands for installation of this unit in the headlamp, use of an additional light source, higher power requirements and higher costs.

Multifunction adaptive projector system for motor vehicles


A hinge assembly rotatably connects one end of a cover to a phone body for rotation about a hinge axis between a closed position and an open position. The hinge assembly has a first part secured to the phone body, a second part rotatably secured to the first hinge part and rigidly secured to the cover, and a hinge release shaft secured against rotation relative to the first hinge part and extending into the second hinge part. The release shaft and second hinge part have interengageable latch formations for preventing rotation between the hinge parts when the cover is in the closed position. The release shaft is movable between an extended position in which latch formations engage and a retracted position in which the latch formations are released. A spring part rotates the cover into the open position when the latch is released. A manual override of the latch is provided.

The present invention is directed generally to clamshell style portable phones or wireless communication devices having a housing or body in which at least part of the communication electronics is mounted and a cover hinged to the body for movement between a closed position folded against the body and covering at least part of a keypad on the body and an open position in which the keypad is uncovered for use. The invention is particularly concerned with a cover releasing and actuating hinge assembly for releasing the cover from a closed position and automatically urging the cover into an open position when released.
Some clamshell style portable phones have lids secured by a hinge assembly incorporating a torsion spring for moving the cover from the closed position to the open position. A latch must then be provided to secure the cover against the body in the closed position. The user must release the latch in order to open the cover.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,649,309 of Wilcox et al. describes a portable telephone with an axially aligned cover release mechanism. The mechanism includes a release and position mechanism on one side of the hinge and an opening mechanism on the other side of the hinge. A cam and follower device includes stops at the closed and open positions of the cover, and a push button is provided for shifting the cam such that it clears the follower to allow the cover to spring open. This cover release mechanism is relatively complex and involves a large number of different parts.

Portable phone with cover actuating hinge assembly


Based on extensive in vivo studies in animals, it has now been discovered that KGF stimulates proliferation, growth and differentiation in various cells of epithelial tissue, besides keratinocytes. This better understanding of the biological effects of KGF in vivo enables the use of this polypeptide as a therapeutic agent, suitably formulated in a pharmaceutical composition, for the specific treatment of disease states and medical conditions afflicting tissues and organs such as the dermal adnexae, the liver, the lung, and the gastrointestinal tract.

In recent years advances in biotechnology have led to the development and therapeutic use of novel recombinant polypeptides, including erythropoietin and granulocyte colony stimulating factor, to the benefit of many human patients. Increasing numbers of other polypeptides have since been discovered which exhibit biological activity in vitro. However, the characterization of target cells of these factors and the biological effects of the factors in vivo are essential for the identification of potential therapeutic applications in humans.
KGF is a known mitogen which has been previously identified as specific for epithelial cells, particularly keratinocytes. Rubin et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 86:802-806 (1989); Finch et al., Science, 245:752-755 (1989); Marchese et al., J. Cell. Phys. 144:326-332 (1990). Expression of messenger RNA for KGF has been detected in several stromal fibroblast cell lines derived from epithelial tissues of embryonic, neonatal and adult human sources, and in RNA extracted from normal adult kidneys and gastrointestinal tracts. Such RNA has not been detected in glial cells, lung cells, brain cells, or in a variety of epithelial cell lines that include squamous cell carcinomas, mammary epithelial cells, immortalized bronchial epithelial cells, immortalized keratinocytes, or primary keratinocyte cultures. Finch et al., Science, above. However, KGF is mitogenically active for the continuous mouse cell line, BALB/MK cells. Weissman and Aaronson, Cell, 32:599 (1983); also, see PNAS and Science, above. This observation supports evidence indicating a paracrine action of KGF in the skin, with production of KGF in the dermis (but not in the epidermis) and action on keratinocytes.
In addition, using the expression of keratins and filagrin genes it has been demonstrated that KGF influences the differentiation and maturation of keratinocytes. See J. Cell Phys., above.
Much of the aforementioned work investigating the biological activity of KGF has been carried out with recombinant KGF, which has permitted more widespread study of this factor. Published PCT patent application WO 90/08771 describes the purification of KGF from the conditioned medium of a human embryonic fibroblast cell line, partial amino acid sequencing of the isolated polypeptide, cloning of the gene, and expression in bacterial cells (E. coli) to achieve recombinant, biologically active KGF.
While the role of KGF as a stimulatory agent for keratinocytes in vitro has been clearly identified, much remains to be known regarding KGF as a growth factor, including additional types of cells for which it may be targeted, and the effect of KGF on such cells in vivo. This information is vital for an understanding of the full potential of KGF as a therapeutic agent.

Therapeutic uses of keratinocyte growth factor


Systems and methods are disclosed for reducing bandwidth during the transmission of data between first and second devices over a network. One method includes: receiving a first data request from the first device; generating a first request identifier associated with the first data request; transmitting to the first device a response to the first data request and the first request identifier associated with the first data request; receiving, from the first device, a partial second data request, the partial second data request including the first request identifier associated with the first data request, and a differential between the first data request and the second data request; and constructing, at the second device, a full second data request, based on a comparison between the first data request, fetched using the first request identifier, and the received differential between the first data request and the second data request.

People are increasingly accessing Internet content, applications, and web-services over their mobile devices. Many experts have expressed their belief that mobile web traffic has now surpassed traditional, desktop-based traffic. The use of mobile applications now represents a staggering proportion of consumers' free time, and of online companies' revenue. Web developers, publishers, and e-commerce sites have gone to great lengths to accommodate the tremendous increase in mobile web browsing. For example, developers and sites have propagated mobile-specific versions of their sites, and mobile applications that simplify a user's interaction with content and services, in the context of the smaller displays and input mechanisms associated with mobile devices.
In the context of traditional HTTP communications over a network, especially in a bandwidth controlled network, the need to generate and transmit multiple, similar, fully-constructed requests may cause inefficiencies. For example, if a server, computer, or mobile device is interacting with another server, computer, or mobile device over a network, that device might make two or more requests to the opposing device. For example, a mobile phone might send a first request for content to a server and a second request for content to the server. Even though both requests are of the same structure, the mobile device must traditionally generate and transmit both entire requests, even though only a small input or parameter may be different between the first and second requests. In a bandwidth controlled network, and/or in a relatively lower bandwidth mobile network, the generation and transmission of multiple similar HTTP requests may cause many disadvantages, including slow response time, user dissatisfaction, and lower revenue associated with such activities.
Accordingly, a need exists for systems and methods for improved data transmission between network connected devices. More specifically, a need exists for systems and methods for reducing bandwidth during the transmission of data, such as according to HTTP, between devices over the Internet.

Systems and methods for reduced bandwidth data transmission between network connected devices


A new and distinct Heuchera plant substantially as shown and described, characterized by shiny, ruffled, red-brown leaves and good vigor.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Heuchera hybrida and given the cultivar name of 'Mahogany'. Heuchera is in the family Saxifragaceae. Heuchera 'Mahogany' originated from a cross between Heuchera 123-1 (a proprietary unreleased plant), as the seed parent, and Heuchera 148-10 (a proprietary unreleased plant), as the pollen parent. Given its ornamental foliage and flower form it is probable that Heuchera micrantha, H. americana, H. brizoides, and H. sanguinea are in its parentage.