An expandable lift system includes an expandable platform including at least one detachable panel to expand a dimension of the expandable platform. At least one stationary stanchion houses a first lifting assembly. The first lifting assembly is coupled to a first side of the expandable platform. At least one translatable stanchion houses a second lifting assembly, and the second lifting assembly is coupled to a second side of the platform. At least one track is coupled to a substructure on which the lift sits. The track includes a rail defined within the at least one track. The at least one translatable stanchion is configured to translatably engage the rail to allow the at least one translatable stanchion to move laterally in a first direction. At least one stop is located at at least one end of the track to retain engagement of the translatable stanchion within the rail.

Lift apparatuses are used to raise objects such as vehicles, off-highway vehicles (OHVs), side-by-side vehicles, utility terrain vehicles (UTVs), recreational off-highway vehicles (ROVs), four-wheel off-highway vehicles, golf carts, and motorcycles, among a myriad of other objects and vehicles, vertically from a lower position such as at ground level to a higher position. A lift apparatus includes a platform formed to accommodate the object. Further, the lift apparatus may be raised to a desired height in order to allow the object to be removed from the space on a surface of, for example, a garage, to allow another object or objects to be placed thereunder. For example, an OHV may be raised using the lift apparatus, and a second object like another OHV, a motorcycle, or a car may be parked underneath the platform of the lift apparatus. This allows for the two objects to be vertically stored within, for example, the garage while occupying half the floor space within the garage otherwise. Further, the lift apparatus may be used to vertically elevate the object to allow a user to access an underside of the object. For example, a motorcycle may be hoisted vertically on the lift apparatus to allow the user to access portions of the underside of the motorcycle for maintenance purposes. Some homeowners and apartment dwellers may desire to conserve space within their private garages and/or service vehicles therein. However, large lift apparatuses used by, for example vehicle maintenance shops may take up large amounts of space within the garage given the bulkiness of these types of lift apparatuses.
Examples of the present disclosure are directed at least in part toward overcoming the deficiencies described above.


A method of operating a multistage turbocompressor or of monitoring the pump limit thereof, whereby the pump limit function is stored in the control unit in the form Y=m.F+b and the coefficients m and b are determined by the linear relationships EQU m=m.sub.0 +m.sub.1.dT.sub.s +.SIGMA.m.sub.2i.dT.sub.ri EQU b=b.sub.0 +b.sub.1.dT.sub.s +.SIGMA.b.sub.2i.dT.sub.ri. where T.sub.s and T.sub.ri represent the intake temperature and the backcooling temperatures following coolers after each turbocompressor and dT.sub.s and T.sub.ri and reference temperatures T.sub.ref. The system automatically compensates for the shift of the pump limit with temperature and allows operation closer to the pump limit or boundary for stable aerodynamic operation.

A turbocompressor cascade comprises a plurality of turbocompressors, i.e. compressor turbines, between which a heat exchanger is provided for the intermediate cooling of the compressed medium, generally a gas, so that the compressed gas passing to the next compressor stage is after cooled. Generally a corresponding heat exchanger is provided following the final stage as well.
The parameters of such a turbocompressor cascade can include the intake side pressure (p.sub.1) the discharge side pressure (p.sub.2), the intake side temperature or suction temperature T.sub.s, the intermediate temperatures (or aftercooling temperatures) following cooling T.sub.ri, where i represents the stage, i.e. is 1, 2, 3 . . . , n, also referred to as backcooling temperatures, and the volume rate of flow (F) through the system.
The measured values (p.sub.l, p.sub.2, F, T.sub.s, T.sub.ri) are fed to a control device with a data storage capability, can be compared with values of a compressor characteristic operating graph (i.e. the empirically derived optimum operating characteristics in a form enabling such storage and comparison) so that when the measured values of p.sub.1, p.sub.2 and F, for example, approach limits of the compressor operating graph, i.e. the so-called pumping limits, a warning signal or controlled signal is provided to prevent continued operation at or beyond these limits or, at least, to alert operating personnel that the limits have been approached.
The reference to a compressor operating graph is intended to include a collection of stored data in any form enabling the comparison of the measured values with corresponding empirically determined conditions of intended operation capable of indicating the approach to the pumping limit. For example, the "graph" can simply be tabulated data or operating tables derived from such data or other parameters automatically calculated by computer from stored data. All of these techniques are known in the art.
The pumping limit is defined as an aerodynamic stability boundary for the operating graph which limits the utility of the turbocompressor. When operation is effected below the pumping limit, refluxing or backflow can occur in the turbocompressor which results in pressure fluctuations, temperature increases and significant increase in the pumping noise.
Operating below these limits or at the pumping limit can lead in very short order to bearing failure and damage to the turbine blades.
To avoid operation of a turbocompressor in an unstable range, i.e. at or below the pumping limit, monitoring and controlled devices are provided which, upon critical approach to or passage of the pumping limit, open blow-off valves to the atmosphere or open a bypass valve in a circulating line which connects the pressure and suction sides of the turbocompressor. In this manner, a minimum flow through the turbocompressor is maintained and operation below the pumping limit is precluded.
Intermediate-cooled turbocompressors should allow control over a wide volume range. Control elements for this purpose can include inlet or outlet guide devices or drives with variable speeds for the turbocompressors. Combinations of these controlled elements can also be provided. However, the full utilization of the entire operating graph of the turbocompressor cascade requires that the pumping limit be determinable with precision.
Conventional processes for monitoring the pump limit of multistage intermediate cooled turbocompressors ignore the influence of changes in the cooling temperature on the pumping limit. The intermediate cooling temperature, constituting the temperature of the gas at the input to each successive stage has been found to play a major role upon the location of the pumping limit in the operating field of the turbocompressor.
In operation of the turbocompressor, variations of the stage input temperatures cannot be avoided and these variations can be a function of soiling of or poorly operating coolers, variations in the flow of the cooling agents through the heat exchangers or the like.
There are also seasonal changes in the intake temperatures of the gases to be compressed.
Ignoring the temperature effect on the location of the pumping limit requires that the turbocompressor be operated within much narrower operating limits with respect to volume variations, since the approach to the actual pumping limit can never be guaranteed entirely. Thus conventional systems of this type operate with limited versatility and with loss of range.

Method of monitoring a pumping limit of a multistage turbocompressor with intermediate cooling


In a multiple power supply apparatus installed in a vehicle, a first power supply system includes a generator and a first battery. The generator is driven by an operation of the engine. The first battery is chargeable by an electrical output of the generator. A second power supply system includes a second battery. The second battery works to supply electrical power to an electrical load installed in the vehicle. A power transfer module is operative to transfer electrical power supplied from the first power supply system based on at least one of the electrical output of the generator and a charged level of the first battery to the second power supply system. The power transfer module is integrally joined to the first battery to constitute a battery module.

Recently, power supply apparatuses with two different voltage batteries have been installed in hybrid vehicles and engine vehicles. The power supply systems with two different voltage batteries will be referred to as "dual voltage apparatuses" hereinafter.
A dual voltage apparatus is normally equipped with a first power supply system including an engine-driven generator and a higher battery. The higher battery is chargeable by the engine-driven generator and has a first nominal voltage level. The dual voltage apparatus is normally equipped with a second power supply system including a lower battery with a second nominal voltage level lower than the first nominal voltage level. The second power supply system works to supply power to in-vehicle electrical loads.
The dual voltage apparatus is normally equipped with a power transfer unit electrically coupled to the first and second power supply systems. The power transfer unit is operative to convert a level of an output voltage of the first power supply system into a target level required for the second power supply system, and to transfer the output voltage, whose level has been converted, to the second power supply system.
Specifically, in the dual voltage apparatus, transfer of the output voltage from the first power supply system to the second power supply system via the power transfer unit allows level variation in a power supply voltage for the electrical loads to be reduced.
In the dual voltage apparatus, because power can be securely supplied to the electrical loads from the second power supply system, it is possible to change the state of charge (SOC) of the first higher battery when:
the higher battery voltage is output for driving torque generation; the higher battery is charged by regenerative electric power generated by the generator when braking; or the higher battery voltage is output for torque assist of the engine.
Especially, when the engine is not moving, power supply can be carried out from the higher battery to the electrical loads, making it possible to reduce level variation in an output voltage of the second power supply system.
Note that the electrical loads for example include lighting equipment, sound devices, and control units, which are susceptible to decrease in power supply voltage.
An example of the dual voltage apparatuses is disclosed in U.S. Patent Publication No. 6,583,602 corresponding to Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2002-345161, which was assigned to the same assignee.
In a dual voltage apparatus described above, power transfer can be carried out from the lower battery to the higher battery in order to make up for a shortage of the higher battery in capacity. As the higher battery, lithium secondary batteries, secondary batteries using a hydrogen storing alloy, and electric double layer capacitors can be used. As the lower battery, lead secondary batteries with high cost efficiency can be preferably used. Especially, the lithium secondary batteries have high charging capacity per weight, which can enhance fuel economy based on reduction in vehicle weight.
On the other hand, cooling systems for in-vehicle power devices through which a large amount of current is passed normally use a liquid or air cooling medium to be contacted onto a heatsink. For example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publications No. H04-275492, H06-303704, and 2004-82940 disclose in-vehicle power devices equipped with corresponding air-cooling systems, respectively. Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. H09-126617 discloses an in-vehicle power device equipped with both air-cooling and liquid-cooling systems.
In addition, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-39641 discloses a charging system with an air-cooling system in which airflow generated by a fan allows a battery and a charging device to be cooled.
Such liquid-cooling systems essentially include issues in which the more the system scale increases with the system structure complicated, the more the weight and a space required for installation of liquid-cooling systems increase. This makes it difficult to install such a liquid-cooling system in in-vehicle power devices.
Especially, in a liquid-cooling system, the heat transfer area between a heating element and a heat transfer medium can be reduced. However, it is difficult to reduce a heat transfer area of an indirect heat exchange unit required to dissipate heat absorbed by the heat transfer medium into the atmosphere.
For these reasons set forth above, in view of reduction in size and weight, an air-cooling system that subjects a heating element, a heat transfer medium stably contacted onto the heating element, or a heat pipe to cooling air can be preferably used. This air-cooling system has an advantage over a liquid-cooling system in reduction in size and weight, which makes it possible to increase the reliability of the air-cooling system.
Returning to the dual voltage apparatuses, as compared with power supply apparatuses with a single battery, the dual voltage apparatuses require, in addition to a first battery for supplying power to electrical loads, at least a second battery chargeable by a generator, and a power transfer unit for transferring power between the first and second batteries.
When install of the first and second batteries and the power transfer unit in a comparatively small-sized engine compartment located in front of a vehicle, they may be randomly arranged in the engine compartment, and thereafter, the first and second batteries and the power transfer unit may be electrically connected to each other by cables.
In this case, however, the cables may be routed for comparatively long distances in the engine compartment, causing the routing of the cables to be complicated.
The long and complicated routings of the cables may make it difficult to locate some of the cables away from high-temperature devices and/or rotating members located in the engine compartment. The former may result in malfunction in some of the cables, and the latter may interfere with the rotation of the rotating members.
The long and complicated routings of the cables may make it difficult to prevent some of the cables from being located close to the front (forward end) of the vehicle. This may cause brakes in some of the cables to be unavoidable in the event of a frontal crash.
In order to address the problems, the first battery and the power transfer unit may be installed in a trunk located at the rear of the vehicle. This way however may cause substantially identical problems due to the long and complicated routings of the cables by which the first and second batteries and the power transfer unit are connected to each other.
The long and complicated routings of the cables may increase:                power loss due to increase in resistance of the cables; and        weight of the dual voltage apparatus.
In addition, there are various types of vehicles, such as engine vehicles driven by drive torque imparted by internal combustion engines, hybrid vehicles driven by drive torque and motor torque, and electric vehicle driven by motor torque. These various types of vehicles normally use a plurality of control units including inverters for motor control and/or DC to DC converters.
The control units installed in the various vehicles are operative to switch on and off power semiconductor devices that operate at high values of power, which may cause the power semiconductor devices, such as power transistors, to generate heat. For this reason, it is important to cool the power semiconductor devices installed in the control units.
Similarly, because in-vehicle batteries containing electric double layer capacitors repeatedly are frequently charged and discharged depending on variations in power required for in-vehicle electrical loads, they may internally generate a large amount of heat. Thus, it is also important to cool the in-vehicle batteries.
On the other hand, in the Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-39641, the air-cooling system, which is composed of a cooling fan, a motor that drives the cooling fan, and a motor controller that controls the motor, needs to be installed in the charging system integrated with the battery. This may cause the charging system to increase in size and weight, and cause the charging system structure to be complicated. In addition, the charging system structure may increase power consumption of the whole of the components (the cooling fan, motor, and motor controller), which may cause the battery to be exhausted.
This may not be avoided even if the cooling fan is separately arranged from the charging system, which is disclosed in the Publication No. 2004-39641.
As described above, installation of the air-cooling system in the charging system may cause the cost and/or the fuel consumption of the vehicle to deteriorate.

Multiple power supply apparatus with improved installability


Techniques are described for allocation hardware and/or bandwidth resources of a viewer device between a live streaming media content playback of a video player and a concurrently provided live chat. For example, the network and hardware resources used by a video player for streaming media content playback can be adjusted based on chat conditions of the live chat.

Consumers have an ever-increasing array of options for consuming media content, in terms of the types of media content (e.g., video, audio, text, etc.), providers of the media content, and devices for consuming the media content. Media content providers are becoming increasingly sophisticated and effective at providing media content quickly and reliably to consumers.
Some media content can be "live streamed" in which media content covering an event (e.g., sales pitch, infomercial, sports game, news, etc.) is delivered live over the Internet. Often, viewers of the live streamed media content can interact with each other using a live chat. Unfortunately, the playback of the media content and the presentation of the chat compete for the same bandwidth and hardware resources of a viewer's device, resulting in degradation of the playback of the media content.

Resource management for video playback and chat


Methods for detecting or ruling out a meningioma in a patient using a phenylbenzothiazole derivative or a stilbene derivative or a biphenylalkyne derivative, and a medical imaging technique such as positron emission tomography/computed tomography are disclosed. In one version of the method, the phenylbenzothiazole derivative is a compound of formula (V):

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method for the imaging of meningiomas using phenylbenzothiazole derivatives or stilbene derivatives or biphenylalkyne derivatives, and using a medical imaging technique such as positron emission tomography imaging.
2. Description of the Related Art
Meningiomas are the second most common tumor inside the skull with an incidence of approximately six per 100,000, and meningiomas account for 13-26 percent of all primary intracranial tumors. Approximately 90% of meningiomas are benign, with the rest being more aggressive, or even malignant. The benign classifications include meningothelial meningioma, fibrous/fibroblastic meningioma, transitional (mixed) meningioma, psarnrnomatous meningioma, angiomatous meningioma, microcystic meningioma, secretory meningioma, lymphoplasmacyte-rich meningioma and metaplastic meningioma. The more aggressive classifications of meningiomas include, atypical meningioma, clear cell meningioma, chordoid meningioma, rhabdoid meningioma, papillary meningioma and anaplastic (malignant) meningioma.
Most often standard imaging leads to a confident diagnosis of benign meningioma. However, the variability of types of meningiomas corresponds with the wide range of possible appearances on standard imaging. In addition, many other types of tumors can arise in the membranes overlying the brain where meningiomas most commonly arise; pia, arachnoid and dura matter. These two factors can lead to a lack of diagnostic confidence with conventional diagnostic imaging. This lack of confidence can have dramatic and negative effects on a patient's medical care.
The majority of meningiomas can be confidently diagnosed based on conventional imaging, such as computed tomography (CT) and magnetic resonance imaging (MRI). When a mass in the dura is identified in a patient based on CT or MRI, the most likely diagnosis is meningioma. A minority of meningiomas contain calcifications, and most meningiomas have higher density then the surrounding brain. These findings are best evaluated by CT, and both increase confidence in the diagnosis of meningioma. Diagnostic confidence is also increased when a dural based mass has a "dural tail sign", or when it uniformly enhances with intravenous gadolinium. These findings are best evaluated on MRI. Stability or very slow growth of the mass over many months to years also increases confidence in the diagnosis of meningioma. With these criteria the majority of meningiomas located in the dura can be diagnosed with confidence, either at their initial identification on CT and MRI, or in time when they prove to be stable in size.
Beyond CT and MRI there are other adjunct methods currently used to help diagnose meningiomas. Angiography has historically been used to suggest the diagnosis of meningioma. Demonstration of arterial supply from meningeal vessels and delayed vascular blush on angiography are characteristic of meningiomas. However, these findings are neither sensitive nor specific, therefore CT and MRI have proven more useful than angiography for the diagnosis of meningiomas. Angiography is currently reserved for embolization of meningiomas as a primary therapy, or to reduce the risk of intraoperative hemorrhage. Surgery results in diagnosis/treatment of meningiomas, but reported surgical mortality rate is as high as 14.3%. Lumbar puncture with cerebrospinal fluid (CSF) testing is not useful for diagnosing meningiomas. However, CSF testing is potentially helpful for diagnosing metastatic disease. Leptomeningeal invasion can give rise to tumor cell dissemination in the CSF, which can be detected by lumbar puncture with cytology, however this is often falsely negative. There are no good laboratory tests available for the diagnosis of meningioma. Meningiomas are most often diagnosed incidentally with imaging. Physical exam and clinical history are often normal in patients with meningiomas. When there are signs and symptoms related to a meningioma, they are most often non-specific, related to the mass effect of the meningioma.
Thus, there are problems with the current methods for diagnosing meningiomas. A minority of meningiomas can not be diagnosed with confidence based current imaging methods. Meningiomas can look like other tumors. Meningiomas can occur in locations where other tumors are common. Meningiomas can occur elsewhere in the body outside of the dura. Although meningiomas are more common, many less common tumors can mimic the appearance of a meningioma. Therefore, the diagnosis of meningioma can not always be made with confidence based on CT and MRI alone, and sometimes when the diagnosis of meningioma is felt to be confident, it is incorrect. This is particularly important in cases where the different diagnoses being considered require very different therapy, or the real diagnosis is not even considered, such as with metastatic malignancy.
In patients with meningiomas that have an atypical imaging appearance, the differential diagnosis based on CT and MRI is often broader, less confident and includes metastatic disease. Meningiomas can have widely varied appearances on CT and MRI, such as cystic changes, adjacent reactive bony proliferation, and adjacent reactive brain parenchyma edema. Examples of meningiomas mistaken for other tumors are plentiful. Misdiagnoses include: orbital metastatic carcinoma; carcinoid tumor; intramedullary spinal tumor; calvarial metastasis; schwannoma; idiopathic hypertrophic pachymeningitis, pituitary adenoma and glial or metastatic tumors.
In some patients, tumors are identified within the dura in locations where other known common tumors can occur. For example, in the cerebropontine angle, the differential diagnosis for a tumor commonly includes schwannoma and meningioma, and less likely metastasis, melanoma, sarcoidosis, tuberculosis, Erdheim-Chester, lymphoma, paraganglioma, chordoma. In the region of the sella turcica, the differential diagnosis for a tumor commonly includes pituitary adenoma and meningioma, and less likely craniopharyngioma, glioma, gerrninoma, hamartoma, aneurysm, trigeminal schwannoma, pituitary carcinoma, chordoma, metastasis and infection. Meningiomas can occasionally occur outside of the cranial vault and outside of the dura, making their correct diagnosis in these locations much more difficult. When tumors associated with the dura are found in the spine, the differential commonly includes meningioma, schwannoma, neurofibroma and metastasis. Meningiomas can occur outside the dura in the cervical spine. Other less common extradural locations where meningiomas have been found include the mediastinum, the ventricle of the brain, lungs, mandible and bone. Rarely meningiomas can even metastasize from the dura to distant locations, such as to the lungs.
Numerous articles have demonstrated that although most dural tumors can be confidently diagnosed as meningiomas based on CT and MRI, uncommonly many other tumors can mimic the appearance of a meningioma. Therefore, the differential for dural based masses that look like meningiomas on CT and MRI is very broad. The general categories for etiologies of these meningioma-like dural masses include metastatic disease, lymphoma, multiple myeloma/plasmacytoma, primary dural tumors, infections, inflammatory tumors, and other systemic diseases.
The differentiation between meningioma and dural metastasis in particular can be very difficult based on current imaging methods. This differentiation is critical, as often dural metastasis require far more aggressive medical and surgical management than meningiomas. Since meningiomas are common, even in patients with a known metastatic malignancy, the possibility remains that a dural based mass represents a coincidental meningioma. Dural metastases are found at autopsy in 8-9% of patients with advanced systemic cancer. Prostate, breast, lung and stomach cancer are the most common malignancies metastasizing to the dura. However, renal, bladder, thyroid, colon, rectal, pancreatic, gallbladder, hepatobiliary, cervical, endometrial, choriocarcinoma, mesothelioma, neuroblastoma, sarcoma, seminoma, and other adenocarcinomas have also been reported to metastasize to the dura. The diagnosis can be further confused since, the patient's primary malignancy may be unknown and/or the dural metastasis may be the initial presentation of systemic malignancy. Furthermore, metastasis to the dura can occur long after the patient has been in complete remission.
There have been advances in imaging for the diagnosis of meningioma. Imaging modalities continue to advance and new techniques in MRI and molecular imaging, may prove helpful with the differentiation between meningioma and other tumors such as metastasis. The most promising modalities are Dynamic contrast MRI with cerebral blood volume mapping and octreotide-analogue based positron emission tomography/computed tomography (PET/CT). Diffusion tensor MRI may help to tell benign from aggressive meningiomas, based on one small preliminary study. However, diffusion tensor MRI has not been shown to differentiate meningiomas form other types of tumors, such as metastasis.
Dynamic contrast MRI with cerebral blood volume mapping has shown some promise in helping to differentiate meningiomas from metastasis in at least two small studies. With this technique intravenous contrast enhanced MRI is used to generate cerebral blood volume maps of the brain and surrounding tissues. These maps are used to measure the relative cerebral blood volume of the tumor compared to brain tissue as an internal control. These small preliminary studies suggest that the relative cerebral blood volume of meningiomas tends to be higher then the relative cerebral blood volume of metastatic tumors. This method is unproven, but shows promise for differentiating meningiomas from metastasis. It is as yet unclear if dynamic contrast MRI techniques will be helpful for differentiating meningiomas from other types of tumors. In addition, intravenous MRI contrast agents are required to perform these studies, therefore patients with renal failure are not able to undergo these exams. This is because, patients with renal failure are at risk to develop nephrogenic systemic fibrosis if they receive gadolinium containing intravenous MRI contrast agents. Nephrogenic systemic fibrosis is a serious condition involving fibrosis of skin, joints, eyes, and internal organs, that has been linked to the use of at least 4 of the 5 intravenous MRI contrast agents currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration; Omniscan, Multihance, Magnevist, and OptiMARK.
Fluorodeoxyglucose (FDG)-PET or FDG-PET/CT can be used in the imaging of dural tumors. The standard uptake value (SUV) of FDG seen within a meningioma has been shown to be somewhat predictive of how aggressive a meningioma is, and how likely the meningioma will be to recur if surgically removed. Meningiomas that do take up significant FDG are usually atypical or even malignant. However, since meningiomas and the other tumors that are seen in the same locations can have variable FDG uptake on FDG-PET/CT, there is limited use of FDG-PET/CT for the diagnosis of meningioma. For example, often the differential for a tumor based on CT and MRI includes meningioma versus other tumors, such as a schwannoma, that both have little or no FDG uptake. Thus FDG-PET/CT is only of limited help in the diagnosis of meningioma in these situations. For other tumors, the differential based on CT and MRI includes aggressive meningioma versus other tumors, such as metastasis, that both have moderate to high FDG uptake. Again, in this situation FDG-PET/CT is of limited value. When the differential includes benign meningioma versus metastasis, FDG-PET/CT can be helpful. In this case, if the tumor in question has low or no FDG uptake, then the diagnosis of metastasis is less likely and meningioma more likely. However, even in this situation other tumors that do not take up FDG remain on the differential. Perhaps due to the above reasons, there are no studies to date that show FDG-PET/CT can help differentiate meningiomas from dural metastasis.
FDG is the only PET tracer currently approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for tumor imaging. However, many experimental PET tracers are available. PET/CT performed with some of these experimental tracers may prove helpful in the diagnosis of meningiomas, but most are nonspecific. C11-methionine is taken up by some meningiomas. C11-methionine is taken-up in a nonspecific manner, thought to be due in large part to cellular protein production. Therefore C11-methionine is increased in many actively growing tumors. C11-methionine, similar to FDG, would likely not be taken-up by the majority of meningiomas, which are not fast growing. C11-methionine would not likely be useful for differentiating between aggressive meningiomas and dural metastasis, since both would likely have an increased SUV. 2-F-18-fluoro-L-tyrosine is taken up by some meningiomas. 2-F-18-fluoro-L-tyrosine is taken up in a non-specific manner by cells undergoing DNA synthesis, such as cells that are multiplying. Therefore, 2-F-18-fluoro-L-tyrosine has similar benefits and limitations to C11-methionine with regard to imaging of meningiomas. 16 alpha[F-18]fluoro-17 beta-oestradiol (F 18-FES) binds to estrogen receptors and is taken up by some, but not all meningiomas in one small preliminary study. Therefore, F18-FES-PET/CT may not prove to be highly sensitive for meningiomas. In addition, F18-FES binds to other tumors that express estrogen receptors, such as endometrial cancer, potentially making F18-FES nonspecific for meningiomas.
Radioactive tracers that emit single photons are used in planar nuclear imaging and single photon emission computed tomography (SPECT), and can be used in imaging of meningiomas. Many single photon tracers are approved for medical imaging use by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. However, like most PET tracers, most single photon emitting tracers are nonspecific for meningiomas. For example, Thallium-201 SPECT imaging is somewhat useful for predicting histological types of meningiomas, but is nonspecific and is not useful for diagnosing meningiomas.
Meningiomas have been shown to express somatostatin 2 receptors and can therefore be imaged by octreotide (brand name Sandostatin, Novartis Pharmaceuticals, CAS#83 150-76-9, ATC code HO1CB02) and other somatostatin analogues. Octreotide is most commonly used for imaging of neuroendocrine tumors and can be used in SPECT or PET imaging. Octreotide can be linked to (111)Indium, which is a single photon emitter used in planar and SPECT imaging, or can be linked to 68Gallium, which is a positron emitter used in PET or PET/CT imaging. (111)indium-octreotide is a well studied tracer that binds somatostatin receptors, and is taken up by meningiomas. (111)Indium-Octreotide is approved for imaging by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, whereas 68Ga-DOTATOC and 68Ga-DOTANOC are currently experimental labeled octreotide analogues. 1,4,7,10-tetraazacyclododecane-N,N′,N″,N′″-tetraaceticacid (DOTA) is used to link 68Ga to one of at least 2 octreotide analogues, 1-Nal3-octreotide (NOC) or D Phe1-Tyr3-octreotide (TOC), thus they are called 68Ga-DOTANOC or 68Ga-DOTATOC. More is currently published on 68Ga-DOTATOC. In one study, 68Ga-DOTANOC-PET/CT may result in less radiation to patients than 68Ga-DOTATOC-PET/CT.
Octreotide appears to have good sensitivity for meningiomas, but is not perfect. Despite close to 100% of meningiomas reported to express somatostatin receptors, specifically receptor 2, sensitivity by imaging is lower. Some of the false negative studies may be due to small volume of some tumors. However, another theory is that an intact blood brain barrier may prevent octreotide from labeling some meningiomas. SPECT imaging, even when combined with CT, lacks the resolution of PET imaging and is generally considered inferior as a modality. (68)Gallium-DOTATOC-PET/CT shows better resolution. (68)Gallium-DOTATOC-PET/CT also shows a high signal to background ratio in meningiomas, since the normal brain does not take up octreotide. Octreotide tracers shows strongest uptake in neuroendocrine tumors, neuroectodermal tumors, renal cell carcinoma, small cell lung cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer and malignant lymphoma. In addition to meningioma, (68)Gallium-DOTATOC is taken up by other tumors that may be on the differential for a dural mass, like some forms of metastatic disease, lymphoma, pituitary adenomas, and glial tumors. Octreotide imaging studies may have uses related to meningiomas beyond initial diagnosis. Octreotide imaging may prove helpful in follow-up post surgery for recurrent/residual meningioma, as MRI can be confusing due to postoperative changes. (68)Gallium-DOTATOC-PET/CT has been proposed as a good modality for the planning of focused forms of radiation therapy, such as fractionated stereotactic radiotherapy, and may see tumor extensions into the dense skull base better than other modalities.
Octreotide studies are time consuming to perform. (111)Indium-octreotide planar and SPECT imaging is routinely done at 24 hours, but 4 hours may be sufficient, detecting most meningiomas greater that 5 ml in volume. However, even 4 hours is a long wait when compared to the more conventional MRI and CT imaging, and is disruptive to patient's schedules. With (68)Gallium-DOTATOC-PET/CT, the scan is routinely performed 120 minutes after injection, with peak/plateau activity occurring somewhere between 60 and 120 minutes.
Thus, patients who have a history of cancer and find a new tumor in the meningeal membranes that envelope the brain are faced with a common diagnostic dilemma. Meningiomas are the most common benign intracranial tumors, detected on MRI in 0.9% of normal adults over the age of 45. Approximately 4% of individuals diagnosed with meningiomas have a history of cancer. In addition, the incidence of meningeal metastases in patients with late stage cancer is 9-10%. Approximately 1 out of 5 patients with meningeal metastases have limited or otherwise controlled cancer at the time of diagnosis. Therefore if the meningeal tumor represents a metastasis it could greatly alter the cancer stage, prognosis and plan of care.
CT and MRI are clearly inadequate for confident distinction of meningioma from meningeal metastasis in a single imaging evaluation. The diagnosis of meningioma is suggested when a tumor is detected in the meningeal membranes that envelope the central nervous system. Typical meningiomas enhance uniformly and have an enhancing dural tail (dural tail sign) extending along the meninges. However, meningiomas have a wide variety of appearances, and only 60% have this typical appearance. The dural tail sign can be seen with many other tumors, including metastases. In fact, approximately 44% of dural metastases have a dural tail according to a recent study from Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center, and can exactly mimic typical meningiomas on imaging. The insufficient specificity of MRI is exemplified in a blinded review of imaging from patients who had surgical resection of meningeal tumors at the Cleveland Clinic. In this selected population, the diagnosis of meningioma on MRI was only 50% specific and metastatic cancer was the most common mimic. Malignancy can be excluded with multiple follow-up MRI or CT scans over 1 to 2 years if they show stability, or very slow growth. Surgical biopsy is the only quick and reliable option available to definitively differentiate meningiomas from other tumors.
Therapy for meningiomas and metastases differs greatly, and therefore improvements in diagnosis would result in clinical benefit. Greater than 97% of meningiomas are World Health Organization grade I or II, and are considered nonmalignant. When a history of cancer is not clouding the diagnosis, most meningiomas can be monitored clinically and with imaging. A small subset of meningiomas cause symptoms due to mass effect, and therefore surgery or radiation may be required. Chemotherapy is not currently useful for treating meningiomas. These treatments are in stark contrast to the more aggressive, multimodality and systemic therapies that benefit patients with meningeal metastases. Unfortunately, because of inadequate diagnostic confidence with current imaging, many patients with probable meningiomas are compelled to have surgery primarily to confirm the diagnosis and only secondarily for the purpose of treating the tumor. Surgical mortality rates are as high as 7% and significant and permanent morbidity rates are as high as 40%, depending on location of the tumor.
From the foregoing, it can be appreciated that there is a need for alternative methods for detecting or ruling out a meningioma in a patient.

Imaging of meningiomas using phenylbenzothiazole, stilbene, or biphenylalkyne derivatives

MAYO FOUNDATION FOR MEDICAL EDUCATION AND RESEARCH


A user-programmable telephone switch which resides within a commercially available personal computer. The switch is controllable by either the personal computer's microprocessor or a separate, external host connected to an interface provided within the switch. The switch includes a CPU/matrix card that contains a time slot interchange and a CPU running under a real time operating system. The CPU/matrix card controls the overall operation of the switch in accordance with messages received from the operative host. In general, those tasks or functions which must be performed in real time are the responsibility of the switch, as opposed to the internal or external host. Within the switch, certain tasks or functions may be delegated by the CPU/matrix card to intelligent line cards which contain their own microprocessors having substantial call processing capability.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of telecommunications and, more specifically, to a programmable telecommunication switch which may reside within a personal computer.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
User-programmable telecommunication switches are used in a wide variety of applications such as voice messaging, telemarketing services and the like. A programmable switch is usually controlled by a host device, which is typically a computer that runs an application program. A customer may either purchase a commercially available application program that is compatible with the host and switch hardware or may elect to write a custom program.
As the application program runs, the host issues instructions to the switch by way of a communication channel. The switch responds to these instructions by taking appropriate action, which may include issuing a response to the host to confirm receipt or execution of the instructions.
Conventional programmable switches exhibit several disadvantages which unduly limit their utility in many applications. For example, a conventional switch that requires its host device to become involved with call processing tasks that must be performed in "real time" creates a significant processing burden on the host. The term "real time" is used herein to refer generally to call processing (e.g., sending or receiving digits) or other tasks which must be executed within a time period on the order of tens of milliseconds. If the host is running under an operating system, such as DOS.RTM. or UNIX.RTM., which is user or application-oriented and not designed for real time operation, the real time demands made by the switch will tend to monopolize the host's processing resources. This may, in turn, force the customer to undesirably limit the amount of traffic through the switch so that the host can maintain control.
This problem is not satisfactorily solved by simply installing a real time operating system on the host. This is because the multitude of real time call processing tasks generated by a switch having a few hundred ports would still occupy so much of the host's resources that the application program could not run properly. Moreover, most commercially available computers which could be used as hosts do not operate on any widely used real time operating system. Prospective customers express a strong preference, if not an absolute demand, for a host operating system that is widely used and represents no significant barrier to developing custom applications software.
Another disadvantage of conventional programmable switches is that they can only be connected to one host at a time. This means that should the host malfunction or fail, the switch will not be controllable and service will be impaired or completely lost.

Programmable telecommunication switch for personal computer


A box for shipping temperature sensitive or perishable goods made from a double walled combined web having an inside barrier layer, a first paper liner bonded to the inside barrier layer, a first paper flute medium bonded to the first paper liner, an outside barrier layer, a second paper liner bonded to the outside barrier layer, a second paper flute medium bonded to the second paper liner, and a sandwich of a barrier layer bonded between third and fourth paper liners. The flute mediums are bonded, respectively, to the third and fourth paper liners.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a knockdown corrugated box for temperature control and method of making.
2. Prior Art
The needs in the packaging market are many and varied. Many different designs for packaging are known, to suit many different needs. Notwithstanding the variety of packaging already known, there still exists a need for reasonably priced packaging in the form of a corrugated box that will shield temperature sensitive contents of the box from the environment that will allow the contents to arrive overnight or within a period of a short time and yet remain fresh or frozen or could be kept from freezing. There are currently known designs for packaging that accomplish the foregoing objective, but they are all extremely expensive to ship, complicated in construction and are not economically justifiable for the volume shipment of ordinary perishables or commodities.

Knockdown corrugated box for temperature control and method of making


A multiple position locking handle for an exercise machine for that is movable into a plurality of different positions when unlocked and that is retained in a single secure position when locked. The multiple position locking handle for an exercise machine generally includes a tubular base having a lower end and an upper end, an elongated member extending through the opening of the upper end of the tubular base and extending downwardly through at least a portion of the tubular base, a handle extending outwardly from the elongated member at an angle, and a locking device. The elongated member is movable within the tubular base when the locking device is in the unlocked state and is substantially not movable within the tubular base when the locking device is in the locked state.

Field
Example embodiments in general relate to a multiple position locking handle for an exercise machine that is movable into a plurality of different positions when unlocked and that is retained in a single secure position when locked.
Related Art
Any discussion of the related art throughout the specification should in no way be considered as an admission that such related art is widely known or forms part of common general knowledge in the field.
Pilates apparatuses are well known the fitness industry worldwide. As one of the fastest growing segments of the fitness industry, millions of exercisers are visiting Pilates studios where they perform a complex routine of exercises upon a Pilates apparatus. A Pilates apparatus has many functional accessories that are used at various times during a workout, such accessories including adjustable handles, foot bars, and a plurality of resistance springs. It is important that all support features, such as grab handles of an apparatus, are solidly affixed to the apparatus structure in such a manner so as to provide reliable and predictable support any time that an exerciser requires support. On the other hand, grab handles are often rotated or otherwise repositioned during an exercise routine, so they must be easily manipulated by the exerciser.
One potential problem with some adjustable grab handle mechanisms is that the grab handles may not affirmatively lock into a new position after adjustment. In the event an exerciser inadvertently pulls up on the handle during an exercise, the lifted handle may accidentally disengage the handle thereby allowing the handle to rotate or otherwise move unexpectedly.
Those skilled in the art will understand and immediately appreciate the need for a new and novel exerciser support handle system that provides for easy disengagement from a locked position to allow for handle repositioning, and that immediately locks into position once determined by the exerciser.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Multiple position locking handle for an exercise machine


A measuring instrument, in particular a voltage tester, is provided having two probes which are arranged in separate housings through which connecting cables extend. The housings are magnetically attractive, because of either a first magnet arranged on a first one of the housings for cooperation with the magnetic material of the other housing, or a corresponding pair of opposed magnets provided in magnetically attractive relation on the two housings, respectively. Recesses are provided in the second housing opposite the corresponding magnets of the first housing. Corresponding pivot ribs extend circumferentially around the housings in the space between the first one magnet and the adjacent probe end, thereby to permit accurate spacing of the probes during the taking of a test measurement.

1. Field of the Invention
A measuring instrument, in particular a voltage tester, is provided having two probes which are arranged in separate housings through which connecting cables extend. The housings are magnetically attractive, because of either a first magnet arranged on a first one of the housings for cooperation with the magnetic material of the other housing, or a corresponding pair of opposed magnets provided in magnetically attractive relation on the two housings, respectively.
2. Description of Related Art
Measuring instruments are known, whose probes are connected to one another by sufficiently long connecting cables, so that the tester can drape the cable over himself The tester can therefore also comfortably carry the measuring instrument with him when he is currently not carrying out a measurement.
Such measuring instruments are, for example, voltage testers or universal measuring instruments, using which, for example, voltages, currents, powers, resistances, and/or a line continuity can be tested.
In the case of these measuring instruments, two probes are normally arranged in separate housings, which are connected to one another by the cable. The measuring instrument is handled in such a manner that one of the probes is taken in each hand. During the measurement, the distance of the probes from one another can therefore be directly manually set.
The Palmer U.S. Pat. No. 3,515,989 discloses such a measuring instrument having two test probes arranged in separate housings, in the case of which a linear rod magnet is respectively arranged on each of the two housing parts. The arrangement of the rod magnets of the housings is provided corresponding to one another so that the magnetic north pole of one rod magnet is provided opposite to the magnetic south pole of the other rod magnet. This arrangement allows one-handed handling of the measuring instrument.

Measuring instrument for testing voltage


A printer less susceptible to paper jams, allowing reduction in number of components and having superior printing precision is provided. The printer includes a chassis, a printing portion mounted on the chassis for printing on a sheet of recording paper, a press roller rotatably mounted on the chassis, kept at an approximately constant distance from the printing portion for pressing the sheet of recording paper, a feed roller rotatably mounted on chassis, movable in directions toward and away from the press roller and holding the sheet of recording paper in close contact with the press roller, and a spring urging the feed roller to the press roller. The chassis has a guide portion extended to guide a sheet of recording paper between the press roller and the feed roller.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a printer and, more specifically, to a printer having a paper feed mechanism.
2. Description of the Background Art
A conventional printer is disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2002-053241.
FIG. 6 is a schematic side view of a conventional printer. FIG. 7 is a perspective view of a chassis shown in FIG. 6. Referring to FIGS. 6 and 7, a conventional printer 1 has a chassis 10. On chassis 10, a press roller 20 and a feed roller 30 are mounted. Feed roller 30 is rotatable in a direction indicated by an arrow 30b, and as feed roller 30 rotates, a sheet of recording paper 100 pinched between feed roller 30 and press roller 20 is fed.
On chassis 10, a motor bracket 64 is mounted. On chassis 10, a shaft 41 is rotatably held close to motor bracket 64, and on shaft 41, a gear 43 is mounted. Gear 43 receives the rotating force of the motor and rotates.
A feed gear 31 is mounted to be engaged with gear 43. Feed gear 31 is connected to feed roller 30, and as feed gear 31 rotates, feed roller 30 also rotates.
On chassis 10, a press roller holder 21 is attached rotatable in the direction indicated by an arrow 21a, and at a tip end portion of press roller holder 21, press roller 20 is held. Press roller holder 21 urges press roller 20 toward feed roller 30.
On chassis 10, a carrier assay 51 is mounted, and carrier assay 51 includes a printing portion 50. Printing portion 50 sprays ink to a sheet of recording paper 100, so as to print characters and images on the sheet of recording paper 100.
As shown in FIG. 7, on an end portion of feed roller 30, feed gear 31 is positioned, and feed roller 30 is held by a bearing 38 on chassis 10.
In such printer 1, when gear 43 receiving the rotation of the motor rotates, feed gear 31 also rotates. Accordingly, feed roller 30 positioned coaxially with feed gear 31 rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow 30b. As the sheet of recording paper 100 is pinched between feed roller 30 and press roller 20, the sheet of recording paper 100 also moves, and thus, the paper is fed.
Such a conventional printer, however, requires a press roller holder 21 for holding press roller 20, and therefore, the number of components is disadvantageously large.
Further, press roller 20 attached to press roller holder 21 rotates in the direction indicated by an arrow 21a. Therefore, the distance between the sheet of recording paper 100 and printing portion 50 may vary, possibly degrading precision of printing.


An electronic rubbed-string instrument of a type which generates musical tones in response to rubbing operation of operation member across an instrument body or string in a similar way to a violin and a viola. When a part of instrument body is rubbed with an operating member, characteristics (e.g., tone color characteristics, pitch characteristics) of a musical tone to be generated are controlled in response to a speed of the operating member. Further, the characteristics of the musical tone are controlled in response to pressure applied to a part of the instrument body with the operating member. Furthermore, the characteristics of the musical tone are controlled in response to a direction in which the bow is moved across the strings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electronic rubbed-string instrument and, more particularly, to an electronic rubbed-string instrument, such as a violin, a viola and a cello, which generates desired musical tones in response to rubbing operations or bowing operations performed by a player.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the field of electronic rubbed-string instruments, electronic musical instruments are well known in which rotary rods corresponding to strings and each provided at its one end with a generator are rotated in response to bowing operations, and musical tones having sound volume corresponding to the rotational speeds of the rod are generated. For example, an electronic musical instrument of this kind is described in Japanese Utility Model Kokai Sho 55-32849.
In the conventional electronic rubbed-string instruments, when a speed of a bow movement is increased and an analog bowing detection signal (output voltage) is gradually increased in response to the above speed, the sound volume of a musical tone can be gradually increased in proportion to the above signal increase.
However, in the above conventional electronic rubbed-string instruments, it is only possible to proportionally increase or decrease the sound volume of the musical tone, but, for example, when a bow is moved gradually fast, it is not possible to decrease the sound volume of the musical tone in inverse proportion to the bow-movement speed. The above conventional musical instruments have other drawback that when the bow-movement speed exceeds a predetermined level, it is impossible to rapidly increase the sound volume from a certain volume level. In addition, they have a further drawback that not only the sound volume of a musical tone to be generated but also its other musical characteristics such as tone color characteristic and pitch characteristic can not be appropriately changed.
The generators used in the above conventional electronic rubbed-string instruments do not respond well to the bow operation performed by the player. Therefore, for example, when the player operates the bow abruptly fast from the beginning, the generator does not rapidly raise the output level. For this reason, it is impossible in these musical instruments to generate from the beginning a musical tone having a large sound volume and also having an attack at the time of the commencement of a performance. As described above, the conventional electronic rubbed-string instruments have a drawback that in the instruments the bow operation performed by the player does not appropriately affect the sound volume of a musical tone to be generated. On the contrary to the above mentioned case, it may be proposed to use a generator having a fine and high responsibility. But if the generator having a high responsibility is employed in the musical instrument, the musical instrument will have another drawback that it generates an accidental and unnecessary tone, even when the bow is simply put on the strings for a bowing operation or when a wrong operation happens.
In a violin as one type of typical acoustic rubbed-string instruments, tone color of a musical tone to be generated is appropriately controlled by adjustment of the pressure applied to a string by use of a bow (bowing pressure). Meanwhile, in the above electronic rubbed-string instruments, it is impossible to change tone color of a musical tone to be generated by the adjustment of the bowing pressure. Therefore, in order to provide a performance similar to that given by typical acoustic rubbed-string instruments, the above electronic rubbed-string instruments are still imperfect in functions. Recently, an electronic rubbed-string instrument has been developed in which a bowing pressure detection sensor for detecting pressure applied to strings by use of a bow is provided on the bow adapted to be drawn across the strings. This electronic rubbed-string instrument is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,510.
However, when a musician plays the above electronic rubbed-string instrument, he has to use the bow which is provided with the bowing pressure detection sensor in order to detect the bow pressure applied to the strings. Accordingly, the musician can not use a rod-shaped bowing member instead of the bow adapted to be used with the typical violin and the like and a substitute for the bow, when he plays the above electronic rubbed-string instrument. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that the electronic rubbed-string instrument can not be played without any restriction. As described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,510, in the electronic rubbed-string instrument, a pressure signal detected by the bowing pressure detection section is only supplied to a frequency synthesizer, so that the tone color of a musical tone to be generated can not be controlled on the basis of the above pressure signal. Therefore, there is a disadvantage that with use of the above electronic rubbed-string instrument, effect similar to that provided by playing the typical acoustic rubbed-string instrument can not be obtained.
In the typical acoustic rubbed-string instrument such as a violin, characteristics of a musical tone to be generated can be changed in accordance with the bowing directions. For example, since the bowing speed and the bowing pressure applied to strings are different between when the bow is drawn across the strings in one direction and when the bow is drawn in the counter direction, sound volume characteristics of the musical tone to be generated are different.
However, the conventional electronic rubbed-string instruments have a drawback that characteristics of a musical tone to be generated can not be made different in accordance with the bowing directions.
Further, in the typical acoustic rubbed string instrument such as a violin, tone color characteristics of a musical tone to be generated are made different in accordance with contacting positions where an expanded string is touched with the bow. For example, when the bow is drawn across the strings nearby a fingerboard, a musical tone having soft tone color is generated and on the contrary, when the bow is drawn across the strings nearby a bridge, a musical tone having hard tone color is generated.
However, the conventional electronic rubbed-string instruments have a drawback that the tone color of the musical tone can not be changed in accordance with contact positions where the string is touched with the bow.


Classes of molecules are disclosed which can, for example, be used in molecular switches. The classes of molecules include at least three segments—an electronic donor (“D”), a switchable bridge (“B”), and an electronic acceptor (“A”)—chemically connected and linearly arranged (e.g., D-B-A). The electronic donor can be an aromatic ring system with at least one electron donating group covalently attached; an aromatic ring system with an electron withdrawing group covalently attached is usually employed as the electronic acceptor; and the switchable bridge can be a pi system that can be switched on or off using an external electric field.

Molecular scale electronics, including molecular rectifiers, is an active area of research. A simple electronic device constructed out of a single organic molecule, such as a rectifier, can consist of a donor π-system and an acceptor π-system separated by a sigma-bonded methylene bridge. Semiquantitative calculations can be performed on a hemiquinone to support the concept.
Molecular electrical rectification can also be observed in Langmuir-Blodgett multilayers or monolayers of γ-hexadecylquinolinium tricyanoquino-dimethanide sandwiched between metallic electrodes. However, the mechanism of rectification is not necessarily the donor-insulator-acceptor mechanism. Rather, the envisioned insulator (i.e., sigma-bonded methylene bridge) does not sufficiently isolate the donor pi system from the acceptor pi system.

Compound, a molecular switch employing the compound and a method of electronic switching

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A mounting platform for holding and operating an electronic device having a plurality of activatable controls. The mounting platform includes a platform member having a front mounting surface, a plurality of tab members extending from the platform member to removably secure the electronic device to the front mounting surface, and a stylus assembly attached to the platform member. The stylus assembly includes a guide wall having a guide surface with a plurality of detente recesses formed thereon, a stylus member slidably mounted relative to the guide surface and having a stylus arm that opposes and is movable toward the front mounting surface, and a spring connected to the stylus member that includes a detente engagement tab which is slidable along the guide surface for selective engagement with the detente recesses. The stylus member is slidable for selectively engaging the detente engagement tab with the detente recesses to selectively position the stylus arm opposite predetermined positions of the front mounting surface. Those predetermined positions correspond to the locations of the activatable controls of the electronic device. For each of the predetermined positions, the stylus arm is movable to contact and activate the corresponding control of the electronic device.

Recently, various types of hand held electronic devices for personal data organization have been successfully marketed. One such type of device is a personal digital assistant (PDA) sold under the trademarks PalmPilot and Palm III, available from Palm Computing of Mountain View, Calif. This PDA 2 includes control buttons 3 and a touch sensitive screen 4 with touch sensitive screen activation areas 5 displayed thereon, as illustrated in FIG. 1. A separate hand-held stylus is typically included to activate the touch sensitive screen activation areas 5, which are on-screen controls that are bit mapped areas on a touch sensitive screen that when touched, they implement predetermined changes in computer activity. PDA's typically display phone numbers, to-do lists, calendars, digitally stored maps, directions, etc., which are accessible through touching the activation areas 5 and/or control buttons 3.
One problem with such hand-held devices is that it takes both hands to operate. One hand is used to hold the device, while the other hand manipulates the stylus and/or control buttons. Many times, both hands are not available to hold the PDA, pull out the hand-held stylus, and operate the screen activation areas.
Another problem with hand held PDA devices is that the size of the screen activation areas can be small and therefore difficult to operate with the stylus, especially if only one of the user's hands is available. For example, the display can show a personal phone list where the user needs to touch the stylus on the individual displayed names to retrieve information. However, when the displayed names are small, it can be difficult to touch the screen activation areas for the individual names using a hand-held stylus.
There is a need for a device to make operation of PDA's more convenient, especially with only a single hand. Further, there is a need for a more convenient method of precisely touching selected activation areas on a PDA touch sensitive screen.

Mounting platform for an electronic device


An apparatus system is provided which comprises: a photoimageable dielectric layer; a first interconnect structure formed through the photoimageable dielectric, the first interconnect structure formed at least in part using a lithography process; and a second interconnect structure formed through the photoimageable dielectric, the second interconnect structure formed at least in part using a laser drilling process.

Conventionally, lasers are often used to drill holes or vias in a substrate or a dielectric layer, e.g., to form interconnects between different layers. For example, in a multi-die interconnect bridge structure, laser drilling may be used to form connections between a die or a component and a surrounding substrate. In some examples, accuracy in the laser drilling process may limit a bump pitch formed using such laser drilling. For example, with improvements in laser drilling, the bump pitch can be driven to the range of about 30-60 micrometer (μm). However, it may be difficult to further limit the bump pitch using laser drilling.

Package architecture utilizing photoimageable dielectric (PID) for reduced bump pitch


Contrast agent enhanced medical diagnostic imaging is provided. Substantially stationary or bound contrast agents are detected. By tracking relative motion between frames of data, spatial locations associated with consistent detection of contrast agents are identified. The contrast agent detected at the identified spatial locations are substantially stationary contrast agents.

The present embodiments relate to contrast agent enhanced medical diagnostic ultrasound imaging. In particular, imaging of particular contrast agents is performed.
Typically, contrast agents injected into a patient flow through the circulatory system. However, researchers are currently designing ultrasound contrast agents targeted to specific tissues. For example, agents can be designed to attach to areas of inflammation or other molecular receptors using ligands or other surface treatment on the contrast agents. Targeted contrast agents may bind to corresponding proteins on the endothelium or plaque. As one of many examples where contrast agents can be indicative of more than just where blood is flowing, contrast agents can attach to damaged endothelial cells within a vessel. Increased enhancement in contrast agent ultrasound detection is observed on the wall of the vessel.
Stationary contrast agents may be imaged, such as disclosed in U.S. Published Application No. 20070073146. A processor distinguishes different types of contrast agents or contrast agents in different binding states with relative signal strength or velocity. Monitoring absolute signal strength as a function of time may indicate binding. U.S. Pat. No. 7,004,906 discloses using a coherent technique (i.e. color Doppler) for detecting and color-coding stationary agent.

Targeted contrast agent imaging with medical diagnostic ultrasound


A timer counter with multiple timers in a pipelined architecture in which the multiple timers are serviced in the pipeline. The timer counter includes a control unit having a first control section and a second control section for sequencing the servicing of each of the multiple timers in a pipeline. The first and second control sections provide a pipeline sequence of the total required service of the timer counter. The pipeline architecture allows the multiple timers to be serviced in a pipeline without increasing the overall number of clocks.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a timer counter unit utilized in computer systems and, more particularly, to a method of pipelining the servicing of the multiple timers in the timer counter unit.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
The timer counter unit in a computer system can serve various functions. Some of these functions include being used as a real-time clock, a square-wave generator and a digital one-shot. These and other functions can be implemented in a system design. For example, a real-time clock can be used to provide a system clock tick for peripheral devices.
Referring to FIG. 1 there is shown a timer counter unit 100 which is composed of three independent timers, timer 0 and associated timer 0 registers 102, timer 1 and associated timer 1 registers 104, and timer 2 and associated timer 2 registers 106, (the associated registers will be discussed later) CPU 108, and a counter element 110. The timer counter unit can thus be modeled as a single counter element, time multiplexed to three register banks. Each timer operates independently of the CPU 108. The individual timers in the timer counter unit 100 are serviced over 4 clock periods, one timer during each clock with an idle clock at the end of the servicing period (see FIG. 4). The step of servicing a timer consists of two functions; (1) processing the control bits of the timer's associated control register to determine the necessary actions and (2) implementing the necessary actions of incrementing the count element and making comparisons with the timer's associated maxcount register values. The prior art systems execute both of the two functions in the same clock period. However, as CPU clocks have been required to be faster and faster, the time for servicing the timer has become concomitantly smaller and smaller. To provide a solution to the required faster CPU clocks, it would require the present timer architecture to either use more clocks to service the timer counter or to speed up the counting block. However, these solutions are deleterious to the performance of the timer counter unit and the computer system and require the system designer to reserve more chip space for the timer counter unit.
One method to avoid the problems associated with the above two solutions is to develop a pipelining architecture for the timer control logic. The pipelining of the timer control logic would provide that the two functions of the timer service are done in a pipeline method, each of the functions utilizing a clock, one after the other. Since this would be done in a pipeline, the total number of clocks to service the three timers would still be the same as the prior art devices. Because the total timer service would be split into two functions, the time required for each function would be less, therefore each function would be accomplished in a faster CPU clock. This would provide that the timer counter logic does not have to speed up. The pipelining architecture would provide that the three timers share the same control logic and counting block. In the prior art, in each timer service clock the control register bits of that timer are loaded into the control logic and are then processed to determine if any service is required for that timer. The service is then executed in the remaining part of that same clock.
What is needed is a pipelining architecture that would have the first part of the servicing routine done in one clock and the second part of the servicing routine done in the following clock in which each servicing routine takes less per clock time than both functions of the control service per timer in the prior art.

Multiple timer architecture with pipelining


Methods and systems for controlling a vibratory feeder are disclosed. In some embodiments, the methods and systems include the following: a controller module including a graphical user interface for selecting operating parameters to be communicated to a bowl drive that causes a feeder bowl to move, monitoring algorithms stored in non-transitory memory for processing motion data to monitor motion of the feeder bowl, and adjustment algorithms stored in non-transitory memory for determining and automatically adjusting the operating parameters, and a motion sensor module configured to mount with and sense motion of the bowl drive, the motion sensor module including an accelerometer, a digital signal processor (DSP) microcontroller, and a transmitter. The DSP microcontroller samples output data from the accelerometer, determines motion data of the motion of the bowl drive, and transmits the motion data via the transmitter to the controller module.

Vibratory feeder systems are used extensively in industry to feed and orient component parts to assembly or production lines. Systems are usually manufactured to feed a certain component. The feeder directly affects production output.
In traditional feeder systems, when a different component is fed, the feeder bowl is usually changed and/or tooling on the bowl is adjusted to feed the new part. In either case, the settings for the vibratory controller will need to be changed and inputted manually every time a changeover is done, increasing downtime. These feeder system also use an analog accelerometer on the drive and feed a sinusoidal analog signal back to a controller regarding bowl load conditions and/or drive spring relaxation. However, this configuration tends to result in decreased performance due to noise and crosstalk which degrade the integrity of the signal before reaching the controller. The determination of the natural frequency is important to the proper function of the drive. The natural resonant frequency does change as the bowl moves so that reading an initial pulse feedback is not accurate enough.
Finally, access to feeder system settings in traditional systems tends to be difficult. Further, adjustment of controller settings while watching parts feed in the bowl is advantageous, however often difficult in traditional system.


There is provided an assay method for a Chlamydia trachomatis antibody with almost no cross reaction with a C. pneumoniae antibody or a C. psittaci antibody associated using an antigen containing at least two polypeptides which constitute C. trachomatis outer membranes.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a method for assaying an antibody against Chlamydia trachomatis for the diagnosis of C. trachomatis infection and a diagnostic preparation used therefor.
C. trachomatis is a species of the obligatory intracellular parasite which can be alive only in cells of a host. The multiplication cycle of the species is unique. Morphologically, an extracellular chlamydial elementary body (EB) is introduced by phagocytosis into cells of a host, wherein they form a vacuole, inclusion. They are in turn metamorphosed to a reticulate body (RB), which are multiplicative but not infective. The intracellularly multiplied RB is then metamorphosed to EB which ruptures the inclusion, breaks the cell membrane of the host and comes out of the cell. The EB is infective but not multiplicative. If infected with the EB, the infected person will suffer from eye or genital diseases such as eye trachoma, lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), nongonococcal urethritis (NGU) and cervicitis.
Recently our attention has been drawn to C. trachomatis as one of the causative microorganisms for sexually transmitted diseases. In the United States of America, 3 to 10 million fresh cases per year of C. infections are reported. Concern with C. infections is increasing also in Japan as the actualities of the infection have increasingly been known.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most sensitive serological diagnosis for C. trachomatis is by the indirect microimmunofluorescent antibody technique (the micro-IF technique) developed by Wang and Grayston (see "Trachoma and related disorders caused by chlamydial agents", Excerpta Medica, Amsterdam, pp. 273-288, 1971). However, the micro-IF technique has not yet been employed as a diagnostic method in clinical laboratories because of technical difficulties in its operation. Standard micro-IF technique needs purified elementary, bodies (EB) of 15 different C. trachomatis serotypes. The entire morphology or structure of a microorganism to be identified is needed for immunofluorescent reaction in the micro-IF technique. Therefore, modification or breakdown of the morphology or structure of EB cannot be employed. Since the EB is infectious and toxic, use of intact EB as an antigen material requires a special institution with a protective equipment from the infection. Accordingly, an antigen treated with a fixing agent such as formaldehyde or acetone is usually employed.
On the other hand, a recently developed enzyme immunoassay method (ELISA) has an advantage of being capable of treating many test specimens rapidly and in a simple manner. Reports on the assay of a C. trachomatis antibody using the ELISA have appeared, most of which, however, use EB of strain L2 of C. trachomatis, either intact or treated with SDS (sodium dodecyl sulfate) as an antigen material. As a result, non-specific reactions are known to occur due to the use of an antigen of lower purity, including cross reactions with a C. pneumoniae antibody and a C. psittaci antibody. This is mainly attributed to complicated antigenicity of C. trachomatis. Antigenicity of C. trachomatis is believed to be due to three classes of antigens, genus specific antigen, species specific antigen and serotype specific antigen. Lipopolysaccharides (LPS) are known to be a typical genus specific antigen, which is common in antigenicity with Re mutant LPS of some intestinal microorganisms.
In addition, as a typical species specific or serotype specific antigen is known the major outer membrane protein (MOMP) of C. trachomatis, which is reported to constitute about 60% of the C. outer membrane protein. However, the MOMP is known to have some genus specific epitope (Colett et al., Annu. Meet. Am. Soc. Microbiol., Washington, D.C., Abstract No. D-159, 1986). C. trachomatis outer membrane antigens other than the MOMP are predominantly genus specific antigens, but some have species specific antigenicity simultaneously. Sarcosyl-insoluble peptide having a molecular weight of approximately 59.5 Kdaltons is in the latter category.
As described above, antigenicity of C. trachomatis is very complicated. A C. trachomatis antibody in C. trachomatis infected patients is multifaceted corresponding to such complicated antigenicity of C. trachomatis and varies in its pattern depending upon the patients. Consequently, it is practically impossible to employ a specified single C. antigen for the assay of a C. trachomatis antibody. Therefore, the antigen material to be employed needs to be properly selected in order to achieve an highly precise and sensitive assay of an anti-C. trachomatis antibody while inhibiting non-specific reactions, including cross reactions with a C. pneumoniae antibody and a C. psittaci antibody.

Method for assaying antibody against Chlamydia trachomatis and diagnostic preparation for chlamydia trachomatis infection


A survey meter for measuring a radioactive contamination caused in an inner surface of a pipe includes a radiation detecting section and a signal processing section. The radiation detecting section includes a rod-shaped light guide unit, a reflecting portion connected to one end surface of the light guide unit, a photoelectric transfer unit, for outputting an electronic signal, connected to another one end surface of the light guide unit, and a scintillator unit provided to a circumference of the light guide unit. The signal processing section includes a pulse height discriminator for outputting a logic signal at a time when a pulse height value of the electronic signal outputted from the photoelectric transfer unit is higher than a threshold value, a counter unit for counting the logic signal, a contamination judging unit for judging whether a radioactive contamination is caused or not, and a display unit for displaying the value counted by the counter unit and a contamination judging result judged by the contamination judging unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a survey meter for inspecting whether an object is radioactively contaminated or not by measuring an amount of radiation irradiated from the object, and more particularly, relates to a survey meter having a structure capable of directly measuring the radioactive contamination caused on inner surface of a pipe, tube or the like having a small diameter.
2. Related Art
In a radiation handling facility such as a nuclear power station or the like, a law and relating regulations stipulate and oblige the facility to set a radiation management (controlled) area or site. Further, the law also obliges all objects and substances to undergo careful inspection for the radioactive contamination before the objects or the like are transported to outside from the radiation management area or site.
As a main inspection apparatus for inspecting whether the radioactive contamination is caused or not, there has been used a surface contamination survey meter. The surface contamination survey meter is classified and controlled so as to be selectively used in accordance with a kind and intensity of the radioactive rays, so that an operation for measuring the intensity of the radioactive rays using the survey meter can be normally performed under optimum conditions.
A representative example of a structure of the surface contamination survey meter is shown in FIG. 5. The survey meter includes: a scintillator unit 2 for emitting a fluorescent light generated by the radioactive ray irradiated from a surface of a measuring object (object to be measured) 16; a light guide unit 1 for converging the fluorescent light; a photoelectric transfer unit 3 for converting the fluorescent light into an electric signal; a pulse height discriminator 7 for discriminating the electric signal from a noise by a threshold value predetermined from a pulse height of the electric signal; a counter unit 8 for counting a signal outputted from the pulse height discriminator 7; and a display unit 10 for displaying a signal counting rate.
The above structures have been disclosed in the following patent documents. Namely, Patent Document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-241447) discloses a radioactivity measuring apparatus using an optical fiber. Further, Patent Document 2 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-265498) discloses a surface contamination measuring apparatus and a radioactivity detecting unit.
In the above conventional surface contamination survey meters, the radiation detecting units are formed to provide various shapes such as rod-shape, conical-shape, flat plate-shape or the like. However, the radiation detecting units are basically designed on the assumption that the radiation detecting units are normally used for inspecting the radioactive contamination caused on an outer surface of the object to be measured. Therefore, with respect to a large contamination generating amount as waste of the pipe, tube or the like each having a small diameter, there has been posed a problem to directly measure an inner surface contamination of the pipe or tube in view of physical configuration and size of the radiation detecting units.
Further, for example, the above conventional "radioactivity measuring apparatus using an optical fiber" disclosed in the Patent Document 1 is configured such that a wavelength conversion optical fiber is provided so as to connect a portion between a long plate-shaped radiation detecting unit having a scintillator and a radiation measuring unit provided with a photo-multiplier tube, and a signal caused by α-rays detected by the radiation detecting unit is transmitted to the radiation measuring unit through the optical fiber. The Patent Document 1 states that the radioactivity measuring apparatus can measure the contamination caused on the inner surface of the pipe or the like.
However, in the conventional survey meter having the above structure, the radiation detecting unit is formed to provide a flat plate-shape. Therefore, in case of measuring the inner surface of the tube or the like, a distance between the inner surface of the pipe and a detecting surface is unavoidably apart to thereby form a disadvantageous gap therebetween. As a result, a radiation is attenuated and lowers a detecting efficiency. In particular, when the radioactive ray is α-ray or β-ray of a low energy level, the lowering of the detecting efficiency becomes more remarkable in comparison with a case where the surface of the measuring object and the detecting surface are tightly contacted to each other.
Further, the wavelength conversion optical fiber has a relatively large light transmission loss due to self-absorption in comparison with a transparent and colorless optical fiber. This light transmission loss is one factor of lowering the detecting efficiency. Accordingly, there has been posed a problem that it is impossible to secure a sufficient distance between the radiation detecting unit and the radiation measuring unit.
Furthermore, the above conventional "surface contamination measuring apparatus and a radioactivity detecting unit" disclosed in the Patent Document 2 is configured such that a scintillator is attached to an outer peripheral surface of a slender cylindrical pipe capable of transmitting a light, and one or more of the photo multiplier tubes are fixed to the pipe in a lance manner. In the latter case of fixing the plurality of photo-multiplier tubes, since output signals from adjacent photo multiplier tubes are added and revised so as to effectively suppress the deterioration of the detecting accuracy.
However, in the conventional survey meter having such structures as mentioned above, a size of the photo-multiplier tube is so large to occupy a large installation volume, so that there has been posed a problem and restriction that a diameter of the detecting portion cannot be formed to be smaller than that of the photo-multiplier tube. In addition, when the detecting portion is formed to be long, it becomes necessary to provide a plurality of photo-multiplier tubes, resulting in a high cost involved for manufacturing the survey meter. Further, since a gross weight of the survey meter is also increased, it becomes difficult and not easy to handle the survey meter.
As mentioned above, the detecting portion having the conventional structure cannot directly measure the radioactive contamination caused in a pipe or tube having a small diameter, the measuring operation cannot be performed with a high efficiency, the stabilization of a detecting sensitivity is difficult when the detecting portion is formed to be long, a manufacturing cost including working cost is disadvantageously high and the handling of the survey meter is not easy at the time of measuring operation.


The peptide for promoting healing of fractures is a 13-amino acid peptide which is sequenced and synthesized in the laboratory. The peptide SHMSP has the sequence represented by the formula Met-Ile-Phe-Val-Lys-Thr-Leu-Thr-Gly-Lys-Thr-Ile-Leu. The peptide stimulates bone growth and accelerates healing of bone fractures. The peptide of the present invention has a low molecular weight. Consequently, it is absorbed in the body and excreted from the kidneys relatively easily.

Within the past few years, transforming growth factor-beta (TGF-β) was identified as a factor that stimulates osteoblasts in bone. The TGF-β molecules are dimers containing two identical polypeptide chains linked by disulfide bonds. Although TGF-β has been purified from several tissues and cell types, it is especially abundant in bones. TGF-β is postulated to be one of the local mediators of bone generation and resorption, because of its presence in large amounts in bone and cartilage, because cells with osteoblast and chondrocyte lineage increase replication after exposure to TGF-β, and because TGF-β regulates differentiation of skeletal precursor cells. However, clinical studies using TGF-β as a therapeutic agent have been hampered by its limited availability. TGF-β1, for example, is usually purified from either human platelets, bone or soft tissues such as placenta and kidney. It is estimated that approximately one ton of bone is required to purify enough TGF-β1 for a single therapeutic treatment. While small amounts of TGF-β1 have been isolated as a recombinant protein which was processed and secreted by transfected mammalian cells into conditioned growth medium, the small amounts obtained and the high cost of production do not make this method of production commercially viable.
Bone morphogenetic protein (BMP) is a member of the transforming growth factor (TGF-β) family (Wozney, J. M. et al, Science, 242, 1528 (1988)), and its active form exists as a homodimer having a molecular weight of about 18 kilodaltons (kD). BMP has the function of acting on undifferentiated mesenchymal cells, inducing differentiation to chondroblasts and osteoblasts and effecting chondrogenesis and osteogenesis (Wang, E. A. et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 87, 2220 (1990)).
Although the BMPs are potent stimulators of bone formation in vitro and in vivo, there are disadvantages to their use as therapeutic agents to enhance bone healing. BMP's are relatively large, with a molecular weight of about 18 kD, and including between about 300 to 500 amino acid residues. Additionally, while human BMP is now produced using recombinant techniques, the cost of the protein remains high. Furthermore, receptors for the bone morphogenetic proteins have been identified in many tissues, and the BMPs themselves are expressed in a large variety of tissues in specific temporal and spatial patterns. This suggests that BMPs may have effects on many tissues in addition to bone, potentially limiting their usefulness as therapeutic agents when administered systemically. These disadvantages impose severe limitations to the development of BMPs as therapeutic agents.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,656,598, issued Aug. 12, 1997 to Dunstan et al., discloses therapeutic compositions for the prevention and treatment of pathological conditions involving bone and dental tissue. The Dunstan invention also provides a method to promote bone repair and/or growth for the treatment of pathological conditions involving bone tissue, for example, osteoporosis, Paget's disease, osteopetrosis, and periodontal disease and fracture repair, and healing of bone defects by administering FGF-1 to an animal or human in need of such treatment.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,258,778, issued Jul. 10, 2001 to Rodgers et al., discloses methods, kits, and compositions for enhancing bone, cartilage and cartilage repair, bone and prosthesis implantation, and attachment and fixation of cartilage and cartilage to bone or other tissues, and chondrocyte proliferation, comprising the administration of an effective amount of angiotensinogen, angiotensin I (AI), AI analogues, AI fragments and analogues thereof, angiotensin II (AII), AII analogues, AII fragments or analogues thereof, or AII AT2 type 2 receptor agonists.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,972, issued Mar. 5, 2002 to Nimni et al., discloses a bone morphogenetic fusion protein and a method of preparation of the bone morphogenetic fusion protein. The bone morphogenetic fusion protein comprises a purification tag and a bone morphogenetic active fragment. A method of preparing bone morphogenetic fusion protein comprises purifying and renaturing bone morphogenetic protein to provide an active bone morphogenetic fusion protein preparation. Methods of use of the bone morphogenetic fusion protein are also provided.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,750,651, issued May 12, 1998 to Oppermann et al., discloses 1) osteogenic devices comprising a matrix containing osteogenic protein and methods of inducing endochondral bone growth in mammals using the devices; 2) amino acid sequence data, amino acid composition, solubility properties, structural features, homologies and various other data characterizing osteogenic proteins, 3) methods of producing osteogenic proteins using recombinant DNA technology, and 4) osteogenically and chondrogenically active synthetic protein constructs.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,461,034, issued Oct. 24, 1995 to Rodan et al., discloses a biochemically pure polypeptide(s), termed osteogenic growth polypeptide (OGP), which exhibits stimulatory effects on osteoblastic cells, in vivo bone formation, and hemopoietic reconstruction.
Other related patents include U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0077281, published Jun. 20, 2002 (fracture healing using PTHRP analogs); U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0090671, published Jul. 11, 2002 (bone stimulating factor); U.S. Patent Publication No. 2002/0128202, published Sep. 12, 2002. (stimulation of bone growth with thrombin peptide derivatives); U.S. Pat. No. 4,086,221, issued Apr. 25, 1978 to Sakakibara et al. (polypeptides and process for producing the same); U.S. Pat. No. 4,167,557, issued Sep. 11, 1979 to G. Goldstein (ubiquitous immunopoietic polypeptide [UBIP] and methods); U.S. Pat. No. 4,959,455, issued Sep. 25, 1990 to Clark et al. (primate hematopoietic growth factors IL-3 and pharmaceutical compositions); U.S. Pat. No. 5,494,662, issued Feb. 27, 1966 to Kohji et al. (stimulator for bone formation); U.S. Pat. No. 5,663,146, issued Sep. 2, 1997 to C. Bowers (polypeptide analogues having growth hormone releasing activity); U.S. Pat. No. 5,681,818, issued Oct. 28, 1997 to Spencer et al. (therapeutic uses of human somatomedin carrier proteins); U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,521, issued Dec. 16, 1997 to McKernan et al. (native calcitonin mimetics); U.S. Pat. No. 5,698,672, issued Dec. 16, 1997 to Labroo et al. (synthetic calcitonin mimetics); U.S. Pat. No. 5,880,094, issued Mar. 9, 1999 to C. S. Tam (polypeptides that stimulate bone growth); U.S. Pat. No. 6,194,380, issued Feb. 27, 2001 to Kitamura et al. (agents for promoting bone formation); U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,984, issued May 8, 2001 to Hinuma et al. (polypeptides, their production and use); U.S. Pat. No. 6,291,428, issued Sep. 18, 2001 to Macaulay et al. (peptides which promote bone-forming cell attraction and adhesion); U.S. Pat. No. 6,300,127, issued Oct. 9, 2001 to Hair et al. (bone mineralization proteins, DNA, vectors, expression systems); U.S. Pat. No. 6,352,973, issued Mar. 5, 2002 to C. S. Tam (bone stimulating factor); EP Patent No. 128,041, published Oct. 26, 1995 (polypeptides exhibiting skeletal growth factor activity); International Patent No. WO 97/12036, published Apr. 3, 1997 (bone stimulating factor); U.S. Pat. No. 6,617,307, issued Sep. 9, 2003 to Nishimura et al. (peptide and osteogenetic accelerator); and International Patent No. WO 99/12561, published Mar. 18, 1999 (fracture healing using PTHrp analogs).
None of the above inventions and patents, taken either singly or in combination, is seen to describe the instant invention as claimed. Thus a peptide for promoting healing of fractures solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Peptide for promoting healing of fractures