The present invention relates to the field of vaccination against Salmonella in animals, particularly avian animals. The present invention also encompasses kits and uses of Salmonella immunogenic compositions or vaccines. The present invention further relates to methods and compositions comprising at least one primo-administration of an attenuated immunogenic composition or vaccine, comprising a pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable excipient, diluent or vehicle and at least one attenuated Salmonella, administered to an avian animal before at least one boost-administration of an inactivated immunogenic composition or vaccine, comprising a pharmaceutically or veterinarily acceptable excipient, diluent or vehicle, and at least one inactivated Salmonella.

Salmonella spp. are facultative intracellular pathogens causing localized or systemic infections, in addition to a chronic asymptomatic carrier state. They are of worldwide economic and public health significance. In poultry, fowl typhoid and pullorum disease continue to cause economic losses in those parts of the world where the poultry industries are continuing to intensify and where open sided housing is common. A number of serotypes that cause human gastroenteritis are also increasing. The costs or impracticality of improvements in hygiene and management together with increasing problems of antibiotic resistance indicates that vaccination in poultry will become more attractive as an adjunct to existing control measures (Zhang-Barber L. et al., Vaccine, 1999, 17(20-21): 2538-45).
Salmonella is one of the major causes of food-borne illnesses in humans. According to the Commission's report on zoonoses (European Commission: Trends and sources of zoonotic infections in animals, feed, food and man in the European Union and Norway in 2003), 135,546 human cases of salmonellosis have been reported in 2003 by the 15 Member States of the European Union and Norway.
The poultry industry, especially in Europe and in the US, is under strong pressure from health authorities and consumers to reduce the risks of human contamination with Salmonella of poultry origin, particularly salmonellosis (pathogen reduction and HACCP in the US, Council Directive 92/117/EEC in the EU).
As Salmonella infects many animal populations (e.g., mammalian, avian), the risk of suffering salmonellosis always exists, whatever the country, the season or the food handling practices.
The zoonotic Salmonella spp. causes of human gastrointestinal infection have been treated with existing antimicrobials. Since the early 1990s, strains of Salmonella resistant to a range of antimicrobials have appeared, making the treatment of infection less efficient and increasing the human risk of contracting a gastrointestinal infection caused by Salmonella spp.
As in previous years, Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Enteritidis (Salmonella Enteritidis) dominated, causing 61.8% (2002: 67.1%) of all notified cases in the European Union and Norway. Rates in the individual countries ranged between 87.9% in Austria and 33.3% in France. Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Typhimurium (Salmonella Typhimurium) was second, causing 16.5% of all cases. Rates in the individual countries ranged between 5.8% in Austria and 28.7% in Ireland. As in previous years, after Salmonella Enteritidis and Salmonella Typhimurium, most cases were caused by Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Virchow (Salmonella Virchow), Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Infantis (Salmonella Infantis) and Salmonella enterica subspecies enterica serovar Hadar (Salmonella Hadar). Each of these serovars is involved in less than 1% of all notified cases.
The major source of contamination is through egg and poultry meat consumption. The reduction of such risks is achieved through a combination of means all along the egg and meat production chains, such as good farming, hygienic practices and vaccination.
Community legislation on food hygiene and control of zoonoses includes a number of provisions that seek to control and prevent the Salmonella contamination of foodstuffs. Measures to reduce Salmonella prevalence in live animals are believed to be one of the most effective ways of reducing the contamination of foodstuffs and the number of human salmonellosis cases.
In 2003, the new European legislation on zoonoses was published; Regulation 2160/2003 provides for the setting of pathogen reduction targets along the food chain, mainly for animal populations, and the establishment of national control plans in order to meet these targets. Salmonella spp. is the primary target, in particular the serotypes considered to have public health significance. Targets will be set progressively in different animal populations: breeding flocks of Gallus gallus, laying hens, broilers, turkeys and slaughter pigs. Up to now, targets have been established for breeding flocks of Gallus gallus only (Regulation 1003/2005); the target has been set at 1%, meaning that for the end of 2009 the maximum percentage of flocks positive for Salmonella Enteritidis, Salmonella Typhimurium, Salmonella Infantis, Salmonella Hadar and Salmonella Virchow at the EU level will have to be 1%.
As far as breeders are concerned, Regulation 1091/2005 forbids the use of antimicrobials as control measure against Salmonella, whereas the use of vaccines is accepted and recommended. Conclusions and recommendations of the Scientific Panel on Biological Hazards on a request from the Commission related to the use of vaccines for the control of Salmonella in poultry (The EFSA Journal (2004) 114, 1-74) are largely favourable toward the use of vaccines to control Salmonella at the farm level. In particular, the panel's conclusions are, among others, that:                The basis for successful control of Salmonella infections in poultry farms are good farming and hygienic practices (including all the aspects covering feed, birds, management, cleaning and disinfection, control of rodents etc.) as well as testing and removal of positive flocks from production. Vaccination of chickens is regarded as a measure to increase the resistance of birds against Salmonella exposure and decrease the shedding.        There is experimental and some field evidence that a reduced level of fecal excretion and systemic invasion of Salmonella organisms in vaccinated birds will result in a reduced contamination of table eggs and the environment.        If a control programme is targeting in breeders of layers/broilers or laying hens and the flock prevalence is high, vaccination may be useful in reducing shedding and egg contamination. If the flock prevalence is low, vaccination may not be so useful but still could be used as one of the preventive measures to maintain a low prevalence.
There are more than 2,000 serovars of Salmonella bacteria.
The Kauffman and White classification permits serological varieties of the genus Salmonella to be differentiated from each other. This scheme differentiates isolates by determining which surface antigens are produced by the bacterium. First, the "O" antigen type is determined. "O" antigens are the polysaccharides associated with the lipopolysaccharide of the bacterial outer membrane. Once the "O" antigen group is determined, the "H" antigen is determined. The "H" antigens are proteins associated with the bacterial flagella. Salmonellas exist in two phases; a motile phase and a non-motile phase. These are also referred to as the specific and non-specific phases. Different "H" antigens are produced depending on the phase in which the Salmonella is found. Pathogenic strains of Salmonella typhi carry an additional antigen, "Vi", so-called because of the enhanced virulence of strains that produce this antigen, which is associated with a bacterial capsule.
Following the Kauffman and White classification, "O"-groups of Salmonella serovars are formed.
Against colonization by group C Salmonella in chickens, an attenuated vaccine was developed, based on deleted cya/deleted crp Salmonella Hadar and a deleted phoP Salmonella Hadar (Roland K. et al., Avian Dis., 2004, 48(3): 445-52). Although the deleted cya/deleted crp derivative induced higher levels of serum antibody, it did not provide an immune response protective against colonization by Salmonella Hadar.
Chacana et al. (Chacana P. A. et al., Avian Dis., 2006, 50(2): 280-3) demonstrated that Salmonella attenuated vaccine can elicit cross-immunity against members of the same Kauffmann-White scheme serogroup. The protection conferred by TAD Salmonella vac E, an attenuated Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine, was explored against fowl typhoid. Three groups of laying hens were vaccinated with different vaccination schedules starting on the first day of life, and afterwards were infected with 2×105 CFU of a virulent Salmonella Gallinarum strain, either at week 28 or week 52. Mortality, fecal shedding, and organ invasion of Salmonella Gallinarum were assessed. Salmonella Enteritidis vaccine was able to cross-immunize against Salmonella Gallinarum, both strains of the D group Salmonella, according to Kauffmann-White classification. At week 28, hens vaccinated with three oral doses or with two oral doses combined with one subcutaneous dose were protected by the vaccine. However, at week 52, when hens were infected 36 weeks after the final immunization, the vaccine was not able to confer protection.
Due to the great number of Salmonella serovars, there is a need for vaccines against Salmonella that are able to induce a protective immune response against more than one Salmonella serovar and/or against Salmonella of more than one Kauffmann-White classification group.


A process for the continuous preparation of aniline by hydrogenating nitrobenzene is disclosed which comprises the steps of suspending, in an aniline solvent, a catalyst of palladium or palladium-platinum which is deposited on a lipophilic carbon having an oil absorbency of at least 100, adding a zinc compound and an alkali metal carbonate or a zinc compound and an alkali metal bicarbonate as promotors to the reaction system, and carrying out reaction at a temperature of from 150 to 250.degree. C. substantially in the absence of water while aniline and water formed in said reaction are continuously distilled off as vapor from the reaction product, and the concentration of nitrobenzene in the reaction solution is maintained at 0.01% by weight or less.

(i) Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process for preparing aniline by hydrogenating nitrobenzene. Aniline is a very important compound as a basic raw material for urethanes, rubber chemicals, dyes, medicines and the like.
(ii) Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 2292879 discloses a process in which an aromatic nitro-compound is hydrogenated in a liquid phase to prepare a corresponding aromatic amine. In this process, a catalyst of nickel, cobalt or copper supported on a finely ground carrier is dispersed in the mixture of an aromatic nitro-compound and an aromatic amine which is the hydrogenation product of the nitro-compound. Hydrogen is then passed through the mixture to carry out reaction. The specification of the U.S. patent describes that the reaction is carried out under conditions of continuously distilling off water formed by the reaction together with the amine from the reaction system, whereby the activity of the catalyst can be maintained at a high level, and that the aromatic amine is used as a reaction solvent in the reaction so as to relatively heighten the concentration of this amine, whereby the activity of the catalyst can be increased.
Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-15779 discloses that in a liquid phase reaction as above-mentioned U.S. patent, the concentration of a produced aromatic amine which is used as a solvent is maintained at 95% by weight or more in the liquid phase, and the reaction is carried out under a pressure as close as possible to atmospheric pressure at a boiling point or a temperature close thereto, so that water produced by the reaction can be easily removed from the system, and that the aromatic amine of the product distilled off from a reactor conveniently contains a less amount of a nitro-compound.
Furthermore, in order to inhibit the production of undesirable impurities which are by-products, it is suggested in the above-mentioned Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-15779 to add an organic base such as an alkanolamine. For example, in the case of the preparation of aniline by hydrogenation of nitrobenzene, triethanolamine is added, but even in this case, condensed aniline which has been distilled off still contains about 0.02% or less of nitrobenzene and about 0.5% or less of impurities having hydrogenated nuclei. It is further described in the above-mentioned publication that in case that triethanolamine is not added, a larger amount of impurities is contained and it is difficult to separate the aniline layer of the condensed aniline product from a water layer. In fact, when the present inventors carried out a tracing test by the use of a diatomaceous earth-nickel catalyst in accordance with the procedure of Example 1 in Japanese Patent Publication No. 50-15779, the condensed aniline which was distilled off contained 0.05% or more of unreacted nitrobenzene and 0.6% or more of compounds having hydrogenated nuclei.
As methods for eliminating these drawbacks, the present inventors have filed two patent applications regarding a process for preparing high-purity aniline which comprises the steps of dispersing, in an aniline solvent, a lipophilic carbon having an oil absorbency of at least 100 on which a catalyst of palladium or palladium-platinum is deposited, and then carrying out reaction at a temperature of from 150 to 250.degree. C. substantially in the absence of water while the concentration of nitrobenzene in the reaction solution is maintained at 0.5% by weight or less and while aniline and water formed in the reaction are continuously distilled out as vapor from a reaction product (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 57-167946), and regarding a process for continuously preparing high-purity aniline by the catalytic hydrogenation of nitrobenzene which comprises the step of carrying out reaction in the presence of a compound selected from the group consisting of alkali metal hydroxides, alkali metal carbonates, alkali metal bicarbonates, zinc acetate and zinc nitrate while the concentration of nitrobenzene in an aniline reaction solution is maintained at 0.5% by weight or less (Japanese Patent Laid-open No. 58-4750). These methods can provide aniline having a higher purity than a conventional process, but further improvement is desired.

Process for preparing high-purity aniline


A robotic system for handling components during chromatographic analysis of a sample includes a holder for positioning a sample within a separation pathway, the holder including a first opening having an internally tapered shape and a second opening having an externally tapered shape. An interior of the holder, between the first and second openings, defines the separation pathway. A hollow rigid member has an externally tapered shape, and a receiving portion has an internally tapered shape. The holder is positioned between the hollow rigid member and the receiving portion, wherein the externally tapered hollow rigid member engages the internally tapered first opening and the internally tapered receiving portion receives the externally tapered second opening to provide a sealed separation pathway extending from the hollow rigid member to the receiving portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention generally relates to the field of chromatographic analysis of samples and, more specifically, to the automatic handling of the sample during such analysis.
2. Background of the Invention
In general, the chromatographic analysis of samples containing components of varying molecular weight is not new. Such analysis separates the components of a sample into fractions of increasing or decreasing molecular weight by moving the sample, usually together with a solvent, through a device that is adapted to cause components of differing molecular weight to move at differing speeds. In a typical such device the capillary pathway is adapted so that components of a larger molecular weight move more slowly along the pathway than those of a lower molecular weight so that components of a lower molecular weight are delivered at the exit end of the capillary pathway first and components of a higher molecular weight are delivered later. The liquid may be moved through a capillary pathway by pressure or electrostatic forces, or both, and the adaptations that selectively control the movement of different size components along the pathway may involve the application of, for example, electric fields to a conductive capillary or the use of specialized polymers in the pathway. Fractions of the sample may then be assayed by known methods including, for example, laser induced fluorescence (LIF) and a variety of mass spectrographic processes.
Such devices normally provide useful results. However, the handling of the sample during such a process has been labor intensive and expensive. The sample is often collected on a resin that is held in a cartridge or capillary tray capable of withstanding high pressures. The cartridge is placed in a capillary pathway by means of high-pressure couplings, usually by hand. There is a need for a system capable of automatically moving samples into and out of a separation pathway.
The samples to be analyzed are often very small in volume and are mismatched with relatively large resin-containing cartridges that are commercially available. Resin-containing removable pipette tips for use with small volumes of materials are commercially available but have not been useful as components of high-pressure chromatography systems. There is a need for a system including relatively small sample-supply components.
Another problem of the prior art, especially in the analysis of low amounts of tryptic digests commonly used in proteomics analysis, is sample loss associated with nonspecific adsorption. Additionally, the use of nanoscale chromatography has practical limits on the volume of sample that can be loaded onto a resin column. It is an object of this invention to provide a sample-supply component that is useful in high-pressure liquid chromatography devices, that is suitable for use with small samples and that can be moved into and out of a capillary pathway easily and automatically.
It is another object of this invention to provide a sample-handling system suitable for automatic or robotic movement of small samples into and out of a capillary pathway.

System useful for holding a sample and in subjecting the sample to chromatographic analysis


A glyoxal-guanosine-group compound is prepared either by reacting glyoxal-guanine with any one of ribose-1-phosphate and 2-deoxyribose-1-phosphate in the presence of purine nucleoside phosphorylase, or by reacting glyoxal-guanine with any one selected from the group consisting of uridine, 2′-deoxyuridine and thymidine, together with phosphate ion, in the presence of purine nucleoside phosphorylase and pyrimidine nucleoside phosphorylase. The glyoxal-guanosine-group compound is then decomposed by alkali, whereby a guanosine-group compound consisting of guanosine and 2′-deoxyguanosine is prepared.

The present invention relates to a method of preparing a guanosine-group compound, which is used as a raw material of an anti-virus agent, antisense medicine and the like, and a method of preparing a glyoxal-guanosine-group compound as an intermediate of the guanosine-group compound.
Guanosine or 2′-deoxyguanosine is industrially produced mainly by extraction/separation of hydrolysate of DNA (deoxyribonucleic acid) or RNA (ribonucleic acid), because the yield is extremely low when guanosine or 2′-deoxyguanosine is chemically synthesized. However, the hydrolysate of DNA contains 2′-deoxyadenosine, 2′-deoxycytidine and thymidine other than the targeted 2′-deoxyguanosine. The hydrolysate of RNA contains adenosine, cytidine and uridine other than the targeted guanosine. Accordingly, in order to collect only guanosine or 2′-deoxyguanosine, it is necessary to perform complicated processes of extraction/separation, thereby inevitably raising the production cost.
On the other hand, a method has been reported in which nucleoside (or deoxynucleoside) and nucleic acid base, which are the raw materials, are subjected to a base-exchange reaction by nucleoside phosphorylase, whereby the aimed nucleoside (or the aimed deoxynucleoside) is obtained (Hori, N., Watanabe, M., Yamazaki, Y., Mikami, Y., Agric. Biol. Chem., 53, 197–202 (1989)). By this method, adenosine and 2′-deoxyadenosine can be easily prepared (Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-46790 "Method of preparing a purine nucleoside compound"). In order to obtain guanosine and 2′-deoxyguanosine by this method of enzymatic synthesis reaction, guanine must be soluble to water at least in a range of pH where the enzymes necessary for the reaction can function. In general, it is considered that the solubility of the reaction substrate is preferably at least equal to the concentration of Michaelis constant (Km) of the enzyme or higher, in order to carry out the enzyme reaction smoothly. However, as the solubility of guanine to water does not exceed a few ppm the above method of enzymatic synthesis reaction cannot be employed in practice. Due to such an impasse-like situation, it has been demanded to develop a method of efficiently preparing guanosine or 2′-deoxyguanosine.

Method of preparing a guanosine-group compound and an intermediate thereof


The invention relates to an arrangement and method for combining electric signals. The arrangement comprises: an antenna element (270) for receiving first electric signals from the environment; a receiver cable (210) in connection with the antenna element (270) for carrying the first electric signals; at least one antenna feeder cable (212) for carrying second electric signals; a transmitting antenna (250) in connection with said at least one antenna feeder cable (212) for transmitting the second electric signals, and at least one cable coupler (120) in said receiver cable (210), in which the polarity of said at least one cable coupler (120) is reversed in order to induce a local leakage current. Said at least one cable coupler (120) is arranged next to said at least one antenna feeder cable (212) for coupling the first electric signals and the second electric signals to the receiver cable (210).

The received signal quality is important for communications systems. Especially in known location measurement systems, the reference base station signal quality is essential for a location measurement unit (LMU). Location measurement systems are based on measuring base station signals and time delays between them. The greatest problem in these systems is the quality of the measured signals. Multipath propagation presents a problem in terms of signal timing determination reliability in spread-spectrum and GSM environments. Typically, a signal is transmitted from a base station (BTS) and can be reflected from a number of surfaces, such as buildings, mountains or trees. The timing determination is also interfered by for example adjacent channel radio signals.
Different solutions for improving the quality of the received signals have been proposed. One known solution is to combine the reference base station transmitter signal from a base station test connector with a suitable attenuator and a combiner. However, all base stations do not have test connectors. Furthermore, the combiners represent an additional component whose manufacture and installation expenses may grow high. Another existing solution is to take a transmitter signal from a base station transmitter EMP (Electromagnetic Pulse Protector) protector or use additional Directional Coupler. The EMP protector is used to protect the equipment against lightning strikes or high voltages coming down the centre conductor of the antenna line. The use of the EMP protector or additional coupler, however, requires a combiner. Also, shutting off the transmission during installation is necessary. Another solution for improving the signal quality is to move a radio frequency antenna to a better position for good reception of the reference base station. However, that is not always possible due to zoning regulations or physical objects. There are also different solutions of leaking cables, in which the transmitter signal is feeded to tunnels; these solutions would not provide sufficient coupling for the LMU requirements. An ideal solution would be to couple the transmitter signal from the transmitter cable directly to an LMU receiver antenna cable without any changes in the transmitter radio frequency lines.

Arrangement and method for combining electric signals


Embodiments of the present invention provide a method for processing a radiotherapy CT positioning image, comprising: defining a pixel having a CT value greater than or equal to a first threshold in an original CT image as a human body pixel; counting a number of human body pixels of each pixel row in the original CT image in an order from top to bottom; and determining a boundary of the human body according to the counting result.

Before conducting an RT on a patient, a doctor may obtain a positioning image of the patent in advance by utilizing a CT (Computing Tomography) imaging apparatus and formulate an RT solution according to the positioning image.
When a CT positioning imaging is being performed, the patient sometimes needs to keep various specific postures, for example, with arms up, chest forward, and the like. Moreover, in addition to a bed board for supporting the patient, keeping these postures also need help from various different accessories, e.g., a head support for supporting a head, an arm support for supporting an arm, even a reticulate support membrane and the like that can be hardened and molded after accommodating a head.
When an RT is being performed, the patient needs to keep a position, a posture and the like that are consistent with those at the time of the CT positioning imaging, therefore, the bed board for supporting the patient can usually be compatible with a CT imaging apparatus and an RT apparatus simultaneously, and after the CT positioning imaging is finished, the bed board and the patient, accessories and the like thereon are transferred into the RT apparatus as they are, so as to ensure the above consistency.
Different from a traditional CT imaging method, during the CT imaging for RT positioning, since those specific postures are to be posed, the patient will usually go beyond a scanning field (an aperture of the CT imaging apparatus for RT positioning is typically larger than that of the traditional CT imaging apparatus as well) so that image data will be cut off. Subsequently, a special image processing is further needed to reconstruct the cut off portion of the image so as to ensure completeness of the image for the region of the patient to be performed RT, which at first needs to separate a human body image of the patient from the regions of the bed board, auxiliary accessories and the like, otherwise, the reconstructed human body image will have larger errors, seriously affecting the subsequent RT plan.
The prior art method is: removing the images of a supporting body under the bed board, of the bed board and of the accessories on the bed board from the image acquired by scanning in an order from the bottom to top. The manner for removing is to preset heights of these components in the image, then to remove the image data under the heights after acquiring the image, only with the portions above the heights kept as the human body image.
Even under a condition that the number of the accessories is small and the shapes of the accessories are simpler, it is still difficult to identify human body data using the above method. When the number of the accessories is increased and the shapes of the bed board or accessories are more complicated, it is more impossible. Therefore, the suppliers can only limit said function on a specific accessory and suggest the hospital not to use other accessories, which brings about difficulties to the actual RT work.
The person skilled in the art has been dedicated to studying more complicated algorithm to remove image data other than the human body as well, however, on one hand, the algorithm is too complicated, and on the other hand, the algorithm still needs to be adjusted directed to different accessories or bed board. In some cases, for example, CT value increasing due to changing of the materials for the accessories, inclined placement of accessories and the like, such method can still not accurately identify the human body in the image.
The above current situation results in disability of further reconstructing an accurate human body positioning image by methods such as interpolation and the like, thus unable to appropriately plan an RT solution.
Therefore, there is a need to provide a new method for processing an RT positioning CT image, such that no matter what kind of complicated environment (mainly including environments formed from a supporting bed of the patient, the auxiliary accessories and the like) the patient is in, the human body image of the patient can always be accurately identified.

Method for identifying RT positioning image, computer program, and computer storage


A Zoysia sinica turfgrass variety is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds, the plants, and to methods for producing a Zoysia plant having the characteristic of a seedhead density of greater than zero.

Homeowners and turfgrass managers in the United States rely on fewer than 20 plant species for all their grassing needs. Moreover, nearly all of these 20 grasses originate from the same general region of Eurasia. An estimated 46.5 million acres of turfgrasses are presently grown in the US (Grounds Maintenance magazine, May 1996, p. 10.). Concentrating this few number of species over a vast agricultural landscape is bound to produce problems over time as disease or insect organisms build up and become virulent against existing grasses. This type of pandemic actually occurred in the US in recent years, when large acres of the corn belt were decimated by an outbreak of southern corn leaf blight when a mutated strain of the disease arose.
The solution to this dilemma lies in species diversity. Agriculturists have found that by increasing the number and breadth of species, there is increased genetic diversity and less chance that a particular parasite will devastate a substantial acreage of plants.
Another factor urgently needed is diversity in where species originate. Most of the common turfgrasses grown in this country--Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), creeping bentgrass (Agrostis stolonifera L.), fine fescue (Festuca spp.), tall fescue (F. arundinacea Schreb.), and perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.)--species that comprise the bulk of turf in the temperate zone--derive from the same region of Europe. Only one turfgrass species originates from here in North America (Buchloe dactyloides [Nutt.] Engelm.) and only two from Eastern Asia (Zoysia japonica Willd. and Eremochloa ophiuroides [Munro.] Hack). To increase the breadth of genetic origin, more turfgrasses are needed that originate from a broader sector of world geography, to bolster the diversity of today's turfgrasses.
Another advantage of seeking out additional turf species is to help reduce turf maintenance levels. Present-day turfgrasses are better suited to high maintenance than low. They perform best when given a steady diet of water, fertilizer, and chemical pesticides. In theory, grasses native to a particular locale should be able to withstand local growing conditions better than exotics, without the need for additives and preservatives. Grass species that can survive on less input of water or other scarce natural resources offer benefits for reducing maintenance and improving environmental friendliness of lawns.
But finding and developing new grass species from nature is difficult, time consuming, and expensive. The developer must sift through thousands of prospective grasses listed in botanical literature, identify promising grasses, and travel thousands of miles to locate, isolate, identify, transport, quarantine, grow, test, and breed these grasses. This process can take more than 10 years to develop acceptable cultivars. Furthermore, as it turns out, most prospective grasses in nature have no commercial turf value, due to their inability to generate an acceptable ground cover when mowed. The vast majority of natural grasses cannot produce a plush lawn under continuing defoliation.
Also, few grasses found in nature have the ability to produce marketable quantities of seed--a critical necessity for commercialization of a new grass species. Raw germplasm of most native grasses seldom tops 100 lbs. per acre in seed production (R. S. Sadasivaiah and J. Weijer, 1981, The utilization of native grass species for reclamation of disturbed land in the alpine and subalpine regions of Alberta. In Reclamation in mountainous areas. Proc. 6th ann. meeting Can. Land Reclam. Assoc.); this level of production is not high enough for economic viability. By contrast, popular grasses like tall fescue have been cultivated and selected since prehistoric times for cattle fodder. Only high yielding plant lines have persisted through the ages. Many of today's tall fescue cultivars top 1 ton per acre in seed production.
Yet another complexity facing the plant developer is the unresponsiveness of many wild grasses to plant breeding. The vast majority of wildland grasses lack genetic potential for refinement into desirable turfgrass cultivars. Only after considerable investment in collection and breeding does the developer discover which grass species can be successful bred and which cannot.
Eastern China is the center of origin for three zoysia species: Z. japonica, Z. sinica, and Z. macrostachya. Zoysia japonica, commonly known as Japanese zoysia, is a popular turfgrass in the Asia Pacific Rim countries and in the US mid-Atlantic region. Several vegetatively propagated cultivars have been developed from this species, including `Meyer,` `El Toro,` `Belair,` and `Midwest.` All of these cultivars are clonally propagated by means of vegetative cuttings. Only in recent years has there been effort to develop seeded cultivars of Z. japonica, due to the fact that breeding of the species is slow and tedious (S. H. Samudio, 1996, Whatever became of the improved seeded zoysia varieties? Golf Course Mgmt. August 1996, p. 57-60). Only two seeded Z. japonica cultivars, `W3-2` and `Zenith,` have been sold commercially.
To date, Zoysia sinica Hance and Zoysia macrostachya Franch. et Sav. have never been commercially developed. In China and its neighboring countries, these two grasses are native to the seashore. They are found along coastal plains with seawater often washing their roots. Scientists have speculated that these two grasses may be halophytes--plants that actually require salt as part of their metabolism (K. B. Marcum, M. C. Engelke, and S. J. Morton, 1993, Salt tolerance and associated salt gland activity of zoysiagrasses, Agronomy Abstr., Amer. Soc. Of Agronomy, Madison, Wis.). Hence, these species hold the potential for soil stabilization in areas of high salt soils or saline irrigation water. More and more, salt intrusion is becoming a concern in many areas of the US, including Florida, Texas, and most of the West.
Zoysia sinica has no common (English) name. Therefore, the name "seashore zoysiagrass" is proposed for this species to designate its seaside origins.
Vegetatively, seashore zoysiagrass is quite similar in appearance to Japanese zoysia. The main differentiating point is seed length. Seed of Z. sinica are about twice as long as those of Z. japonica, making identification possible even with a single seed.
Quantities of Chinese common zoysia seed have been produced and imported into the US in recent years. While most of this seed is Z. japonica, a minute amount is Z. sinica and Z. macrostachya. Chinese zoysia seed is hand-harvested in the wilds, throughout mountains and along the seashore. Although the harvesters are pursuing the much-sought-after Z. japonica seed, they sometimes inadvertently harvest patches of Z. sinica or Z. macrostachya. Hence, a small amount of Z. sinica makes its way into this country each year, albeit incognito.
Dong and Chen (L. S. Dong and B. X. Chen, 1991, Zoysia germplasm resource investigation in the Jiaozhou Bay, Qingdao Lawn Construction Development Co., Qingdao, Shandong, PRC) characterize Z. sinica as:
Root-shaped creeping stems, and height of 7-15 cm, thread-shaped coniferous leaves with hard textures and a length of 3-7 cm and a width of 3 mm. The leaf edges bent inward with long soft hairs around the leaf sheath, the ligule is a circle with long soft hairs, the total ear length is 3-4 cm and the width, 2 mm. The spikelet is light purple with a length of 3-4 cm and a width of 1.5 mm and coniferous leaves. The stem of the spikelet is 1-2 mm. The blooming stage is May-July and the seed-setting time is July-August.
In Korea, Hong et al. (K. Hong, H. Yeam, and Y. Do, 1985, Studies on interspecific hybridization in Korean lawngrass [Zoysia spp.], J. Korean Soc. of Hort. Sci. 26(2):169-178) describe Z. sinica as being taller growing than Z. japonica. And they found differences between the two species in their natural occurrence. They describe the indigenous habitat of Z. japonica as inland "fields," versus the habitat of Z. sinica as the "slime along the shore." Hong et al. characterized the average seed length of Z. sinica as 5.3 mm, compared to 2.4 mm for Z. japonica. The leaf width of Z. sinica was a finer 2.9 mm, versus 5.1 mm for Z. japonica. They found that Z. sinica was capable of producing viable seed when pollinated with Z. macrostachya, suggesting a genetic connection between the two species.


A fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines, including a valve member, which is displaceable in a valve body counter to a restoring force of a valve spring and has a valve sealing face, which cooperates with a valve seat disposed on the valve body. The fuel injection valve has a plurality of injection ports, disposed below the valve seat in the valve body, whose inlet openings are curved rounded, it is provided that some of the injection ports have at least one degree of curved roundness that is different from the remainder of the injection ports.

The invention relates to a fuel injection valve for internal combustion engines, including a valve member, which is displaceable in a valve body counter to the restoring force of a valve spring and has a valve sealing face, which cooperates with a valve seat disposed on the valve body, and having a plurality of injection ports, disposed below the valve seat in the valve body, whose inlet openings are rounded.
One such fuel injection valve for an internal combustion engine is disclosed for instance in European Patent Disclosure EP 0 370 659 A1. The roundness of the inlet openings of the injection ports makes it possible for a larger quantity of fuel to be injected through the injection ports into the combustion chamber of the engine, because no constriction of the fuel flowing through the injection ports occurs as would result if the inlet opening had a sharp edge.
Also as a result of the rounded curved inlet openings, the shape of the stream ejected through the injection ports can be varied. In the fuel injection valve known from EP 0 370 659 A1, it is provided in this respect that the injection ports, on their side toward the valve member, have a different degree of roundness than on their side remote from the valve member.
Here and below, the term degree of roundness is understood to mean the radius of the rounded curved feature. A high degree of roundness means a rounded feature with a large radius, and a low degree of roundness means a rounded feature with a small radius.
The degrees of roundness of the inlet opening of the injection port of the fuel injection valve disclosed by EP 0 370 659 A1 are selected such that the most optimal possible combustion in the combustion chamber can be attained.
If--as is usual today--a plurality of injection ports are provided in the fuel injection valve, then fixed, predetermined injection ports and the resultant shapes of the stream of ejected fuel may not be very advantageous, depending on the installation position in the combustion chamber of an internal combustion engine.


A semi-organic insulation coating includes an inorganic component and an organic resin, a Zr compound and an Si compound contains a plate-like silica as an inorganic component and are included in a ratio in a dry coating of 20 to 70 mass % of Zr compound (converted to ZrO2) and 10 to 50 mass % of Si compound containing plate-like silica (converted to SiO2), and the remainder is substantially an organic resin, whereby a magnetic steel sheet with a semi-organic insulation coating has no deterioration of corrosion resistance and water resistance without containing a chromium compound and being excellent in powdering resistance, scratch resistance, sticking resistance, TIG weldability, punchability and coating appearance.

An insulation coating of a magnetic steel sheet used for motors, transformers and the like is required to have various properties such as not only interlaminar resistance, but also convenience in working, storage, stability in use and so on. Since the magnetic steel sheet is used in a variety of applications, it is attempted to develop various insulation coatings depending upon the application. When the magnetic steel sheet is subjected to punching, shearing, bending or the like, magnetic properties are deteriorated due to residual strain so that stress relief annealing at a temperature of about 700 to 800° C. is frequently conducted to solve this problem. In that case, therefore, the insulation coating must be resistant to the stress relief annealing.
The insulation coatings are roughly classified into three types:                (1) an inorganic coating placing great importance on weldability and heat resistance, and being resistant to stress relief annealing;        (2) a resin-containing inorganic coating aiming to establish punchability and weldability, and being resistant to stress relief annealing (i.e., semi-organic coating); and        (3) an organic coating that is unable to be subjected to stress relief annealing in a special application, but the coatings containing an inorganic component as shown in the above items (1) and (2) are resistant to the stress relief annealing as a general-purpose product, and they contain a chromium compound.
Particularly, chromate-based insulation coating of type (2) can dramatically improve the punchability in a 1-coat and 1-bake production as compared to the inorganic insulation coating and are widely used.
For example, in JP-B-S60-36476 is disclosed a magnetic steel sheet having an electrical insulation coating obtained by applying a treating solution formed by compounding a dichromate-based aqueous solution containing at least one divalent metal with 5-120 parts by weight as a solid content of a resin emulsion having a ratio of vinyl acetate/VeoVA as an organic resin of 90/10 to 40/60 and 10-60 parts by weight of an organic reducing agent based on 100 parts by weight of CrO3 in the aqueous solution, onto a surface of a base iron sheet and then subjecting to baking according to the usual manner.
However, environmental awareness is rising in recent years. Hence, products having an insulation coating free of chromium compound are demanded by consumers even in the field of magnetic steel sheets.
There are developed magnetic steel sheets with an insulation coating containing no chromium compound. For example, as an insulation coating containing no chromium, but having a good punchability are described ones containing a resin and colloidal silica (alumina-containing silica) in JP-A-H10-130858. Also, an insulation coating comprising one or more of colloidal silica, alumina sol and zirconia sol and containing a water soluble or emulsion resin is described in JP-A-H10-46350, and an insulation coating composed mainly of a phosphate containing no chromium and containing a resin is described in Japanese Patent No. 2944849.
However, these magnetic steel sheets with the insulation coatings containing no chromium have problems that the bond between inorganic substances is relatively weak and the corrosion resistance is poor as compared to those containing a chromium compound. Also, when back tension is applied by rubbing the steel sheet surface with a felt in slit working (by using a tension pad), the occurrence of powdering comes into question. Furthermore, there is a problem that the coating becomes weaker after stress relief annealing and is easily scratched.
For instance, the above problems can not be solved by simply using one or more of colloidal silica, alumina sol and zirconia sol in the method of JP '350. Also, sufficient investigations are not made with respect to the case of mixing these components in combination and at a specific ratio. Furthermore, in the case of a phosphate coating with a composition containing no chromium as described in JP '849, sticking occurs and the water resistance tends to be deteriorated.
These problems are apt to be easily caused during baking at a relatively low temperature of not higher than 300° C., and the occurrence becomes particularly remarkable at a temperature of not higher than 200° C. Meanwhile, the baking temperature should be as low as possible from a viewpoint of the reduction of energy consumption and production cost, and so on.
In addition, when using the methods described in JP-A-2007-197820 and JP-A-2007-197824, i.e., when using a coating comprising a polysiloxane polymer obtained by copolymerizing polysiloxane with various organic resins and an inorganic compound such as silica, silicate or the like, there are problems that blowholes occur in the TIG welding, and that a spotted pattern occurs after annealing depending on the kind of the steel.
We discovered that, by compositely including a Zr compound and an Si compound containing a plate-like silica, or further a B compound as an inorganic component in the semi-organic coating, a number of the issues raised above can be addressed.
We thus provide:                1. A magnetic steel sheet provided on its surface with a semi-organic insulation coating comprising an inorganic component and an organic resin, characterized in that the inorganic component of the coating comprises a Zr compound and an Si compound containing a plate-like silica as a ratio in a dry coating of 20-70 mass % of Zr compound (converted to ZrO2) and 10-50 mass % of Si compound containing a plate-like silica (converted to SiO2), and the remainder of the coating is the organic resin.        2. The magnetic steel sheet with a semi-organic insulation coating according to the item 1, wherein the plate-like silica has an average particle size of 10 to 600 nm.        3. The magnetic steel sheet with a semi-organic insulation coating according to the item 1 or 2, wherein the plate-like silica has an aspect ratio (average length/average thickness ratio) of 2 to 400.        4. The magnetic steel sheet with a semi-organic insulation coating according to any one of the items 1 to 3, wherein the inorganic component further contains a B compound as a ratio in a dry coating of 0.1-5 mass % of B compound (converted at B2O3).        5. The magnetic steel sheet with a semi-organic insulation coating according to any one of the items 1 to 4, wherein the coating further contains not more than 30 mass % in total of one or more selected from a nitric acid compound (converted to NO3), a silane coupling agent (converted to a solid content) and a phosphorus compound (converted to P2O5) as a ratio in a dry coating.
In other words, we provide a magnetic steel sheet having on its surface a semi-organic insulation coating comprising an inorganic component and an organic resin, wherein as the inorganic component is included                (1) a Zr compound and an Si compound containing a plate-like silica as a ratio in a dry coating of 20-70 mass % of Zr compound (converted to ZrO2) and 10-50 mass % of Si compound containing plate-like silica (converted to SiO2);        (2) if necessary, a B compound as a ratio in a dry coating of 0.1-5 mass % of B compound (converted to B2O3); and        (3) if necessary, not more than 30 mass % in total of one or more selected from a nitric acid compound (converted to NO3), a silane coupling agent (converted to a solid content) and a phosphorus compound (converted to P2O5) as a ratio in a dry coating,                    the remainder of the coating is substantially the organic resin (i.e., with an allowance of containing impurities and known additives), and moreover, preferably,            the average particle size of the plate-like silica is 10 to 600 nm and/or the aspect ratio (average length/average thickness ratio) of the plate-like silica is 2 to 400.
Our magnetic steel sheets with a semi-organic insulation coating are excellent in various properties such as powdering resistance, scratch resistance, sticking resistance, TIG weldability and punchability, and has no deterioration of water resistance and corrosion resistance without containing a chromium compound, and also are excellent in the uniformity of coating appearance after annealing.

Magnetic steel sheet with semi-organic insulation coating


A transport layer protocol for a compressed voice, facsimile and modem data includes a voice packetization sublayer; a voice transport sublayer; and a voice payload segmentation and reassembly sublayer. The voice payload segmentation and reassembly sublayer breaks up user data packets into segments. Each segment includes a header and a payload data unit. Voice data segments have payloads made up of voice data. Signaling payloads are made up of op codes, which define the type of signaling message, and related operands.

The desire to integrate data, voice, image and video over high speed digital trunks has led to the development of a packet switching technique called cell relay or asynchronous transfer mode (ATM). ATM traffic is switched and multiplexed in fixed length cells and an ATM network typically provides a number of interconnected nodes which are capable of receiving data from other network nodes and forwarding that data through to other network nodes to its ultimate destination. Nodes are interconnected by transmission paths, each of which supports one or more virtual paths. Each virtual path contains one or more virtual channels. Switching can be performed at the transmission path, virtual path or virtual channel level.
Existing packetized voice formats, such as ITU-T Recommendation G.764 and the Frame Relay Forum's voice over frame relay provide a basic structure for variable bit rate-like voice transport across ATM networks. However, these methods provide no standards for the transport, negotiation of parameters, and/or signaling of legacy telephony using various voice compression techniques. Nor do these methods effectively handle silence compression, signaling or error handling.


A NAND cell unit includes memory cells which are connected in series. An erase operation is effected on all memory cells. Then, a soft-program voltage, which is opposite in polarity to the erase voltage applied in an erase operation, is applied to all memory cells, thereby setting all memory cells out of an over-erased state. Thereafter, a program voltage of 20V is applied to the control gate of a selected memory cell, 0V is applied to the control gates of the two memory cells provided adjacent to the selected memory cell, and 11V is applied to the control gates of the remaining memory cells. Data is thereby programmed into the selected memory cell. The time for which the program voltage is applied to the selected memory cell is adjusted in accordance with the data to be programmed into the selected memory cell. Hence, data “0” can be correctly programmed into the selected memory cell, multi-value data can be read from any selected memory cell at high speed.

The present invention relates to a nonvolatile semiconductor memory device, more particularly to an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable Read-Only Memory).
As an example of a memory cell of EEPROM known as a flash memory, there is a memory cell having an MOSFET structure, which comprises a floating gate and a control gate. The floating gate (i.e., charge storage layer) is provided on a semiconductor substrate, and the control gate is provided on the charge storage layer. The memory cell stores a 1-bit data which is either "0" or "1", depending on the amount of electric charge accumulated in the floating gate.
Another type of a memory cell is known, which is designed for use in a flash memory having a large storage capacity. This memory cell can store multi-bit data. A four-value memory cell, for example, can store "0", "1", "2" and "3" by accumulating, respectively, four different amounts of charge in the floating gate.
How a four-value memory cell stores multi-bit data will be explained below.
A four-value memory cell assumes a neutral state when its floating gate accumulates no electric charge. A condition in which a more positive charge is accumulated than the neutral state is an erased state, storing data "0". More specifically, a high voltage of about 20V is applied to the substrate, setting the control gate at 0V, whereby erasing the data, i.e., storing data "0". The threshold voltage of the four-value memory cell may differ from the design value. If so, the voltage applied to the substrate may be too high, and the floating gate may accumulate an excessively large positive charge and the memory cell is, so to speak, "over-erased." In the four-value memory cell which has been over-erased, the charge accumulated in the floating gate would not change to a predetermined negative level even if an ordinary programming pulse voltage is applied to the memory cell. In this case, data, particularly "0" cannot be programmed into the four-value memory cell.
The four-value memory cell stores data "1" when the floating gate accumulates a first negative charge. The memory cell stores data "2" when the floating gate accumulates a second negative charge greater than the first. The memory cell stores data "3" when the floating gate accumulates a third negative charge greater than the second negative charge.
To program data into the four-value memory cell, the program operation, the substrate, source and drain are set at 0V and a high voltage (about 20V) is applied to the control gate. When the floating gate accumulates the first negative charge, data "1" is programmed into the memory cell. When the floating gate accumulates the second negative charge, data "2" is programmed into the memory cell. When the floating gate accumulates the third negative charge, data "3" is programmed into the memory cell. When the substrate, the source, drain and channel are set at a positive potential and the control gate is applied with the high voltage (about 20V), while the substrate remains at 0V, the floating gate holds the accumulated charge. In this case, data "0" is programmed into the memory cell.
The four-value memory cell can thus store four values "0", "1", "2" and "3".
A NAND-type memory cell unit is known, which is designed to increase the storage capacity of a flash memory. The NAND-type memory cell unit comprises a plurality of memory cells and two selection transistors. The memory cells are connected in series, forming a series circuit. The first selection transistor connects one end of the series circuit to a bit line. The second selection transistor connects the other end of the series circuit to the common source line of the memory cells.
To program "0" into a selected one of the memory cells of the NAND-type memory cell unit, the bit line and the gate of the first selection transistor are set at the power-supply voltage VCC (e.g., 3V), the control gate of the selected memory cell is set at 20V, the control gates of the two memory cells adjacent to the selected memory cell are set at 0V, and the control gate of any other memory cells is set at 11V.
In this case, the voltage applied from the bit line via the first selection transistor to the channel of the memory cell at one end of the series circuit is equal to or lower than the power-supply voltage VCC. Once the first selection transistor is turned off, however, the channel voltage rises due to the electrostatic capacitive coupling between the control gate and channel of the memory cell.
The two memory cells adjacent to the selected memory cell are thereby turned off, too. If the coupling ratio is 50%, the channel potential of the selected memory cell will be 10V, as is obtained by simple calculation. The channel potential of any memory cell not selected will be 5.5V.
When the channel potential of any memory cell not selected is 5.5V, the two memory cells adjacent to the selected memory cell will be turned off if their threshold voltage is equal to or higher than −5.5V. In other words, these memory cells must have a threshold voltage equal to or higher than −5.5V in order to program "0" into the selected memory cell.
To program "1", "2" or "3" into any selected memory cell of the NAND-type memory cell unit, the bit line is set at 0V. Program verification is performed on the selected memory cell. If a memory cell is found into which the data is not completely programmed, the program operation is effected again on that memory cell.
The threshold voltage of any memory cell is thereby controlled with high precision. The program operation on the NAND-type memory cell unit ends when all the memory cells are verified. Time periods of one cycle for programming "1", "2" and "3" are set to the same period. Therefore, data "2" and "3" are programmed by controlling the number of cycles for programming. That is, the program operation is effected once to program data "1", twice to program data "2", and thrice to program data "3".
Hence, data "1" is programmed into a memory cell that should store "1" when the program operation is carried out for the first time. Then, data "2" is programmed into a memory cell that should store "2", and thereafter data "3" is programmed into a memory cell that should store "3."
There is known another method of programming data into flash memories. In this method, the bit line voltage is changed in accordance with the value of the data to be programmed, whereby "1", "2" and "3" are written at the same speed, or within the same time period.
The method cannot be used to program data into a NAND-type memory cell unit of the type described above. If the method is so used, however, a voltage higher than 0V of the bit line voltage cannot be transferred to the selected memory cell, if the control gate of the selected memory cell is set at 0V. This is because both memory cells adjacent to the selected memory cell have a threshold voltage which is almost 0V.
The floating gate of a multi-value memory cell must accumulate a larger electric charge to program data into the memory cell than the amount of charge the floating gate of a binary memory cell needs to accumulate to program data. The greater the charge the floating gate accumulates, the higher the rate at which the floating gate is discharged due to a self electromagnetic field. Hence, multi-value memory cells can hold data, but for a shorter time than binary memory cell.
In the conventional nonvolatile memory device having multi-value memory cells, the channel voltage of the selected memory cell at the time of "0" programming rises sufficiently since the channel potential is isolated from the channel voltage any other memory cells. However, when the selected memory cell is over-erased, its threshold voltage decreases excessively and both memory cells adjacent to the selected memory cell cannot be turned off. Consequently, the channel potential of the selected memory cell fails to increase sufficiently, making it impossible to program data "0" into the selected memory cell. It should be noted that the memory cell is over-erased if the erase operation has been performed many times or if an excessively high data-erasing voltage is applied.
Further, the pulse width of a programming pulse which indicates a time period of one cycle of program operation is constant irrespective of the program operations for "1", "2" and "3". Therefore, the programming speed for programming "1", "2" and "3" cannot be made equal. Stated another way, time periods of one cycle for programming "1", "2" and "3" are set to the same period and data "2" and "3" are written by controlling the number of cycles for programming. Therefore, the programming pulse must be applied at short intervals, and much time is required to rewrite data in the memory.
Further, each multi-value memory cell can hold data, but for a shorter time than a binary memory cell.


An avionics system allows aircraft to introduce bogus “ADS-B Out” messages that are recognized as false only by authorized users. The system enables aircrafts flying at low altitudes to prevent misuse of their ADS-B Out information by maliciously operated cyber and physical attack tools. Aspects of the illustrative embodiment include the system architecture, including an Airborne ATC Processor and Ground ATM System Processor; a process employed by aircraft for generating authorized bogus ADS-B Out messages; a process employed by aircraft for transmitting authorized bogus ADS-B Out messages; and a process employed by air traffic control and other aircraft for decoding the authorized bogus ADS-B Out messages.

Automatic dependent surveillance-broadcast (ADS-B) is a surveillance technology for tracking aircraft as part of the Next Generation Air Transportation System (NextGen). The United States will require aircraft operating within its airspace to be equipped with some form of "ADS-B Out" by Jan. 1, 2020. ADS-B, which includes two different services, "ADS-B Out" and "ADS-B In", will replace radar as the primary surveillance method for controlling aircraft worldwide. ADS-B enhances safety by making an aircraft visible to air traffic control and to other appropriately equipped ADS-B aircraft with identity, position and velocity data transmitted at least once every second. It also provides the data infrastructure for inexpensive flight tracking, planning, and dispatch. The system relies on two avionics components—a high-integrity GNSS navigation source and a datalink (ADS-B transponder). There are several types of certified ADS-B data links, but the most common ones operate at 1090 MHz, essentially a modified Mode S transponder, or at 978 MHz (USA only).
At the present time, two link solutions are being used as the physical layer for relaying the ADS-B messages: (1) Universal Access Transceiver (UAT), and (2) 1,090 MHz Mode S Extended Squitter (1090-ES). A UAT is a data link intended to serve the majority of the general aviation community. The data link is approved for use in all airspace except airspace above 18,000 ft. UAT is intended to support not only ADS-B, but also Flight Information Service-Broadcast (FIS-B), Traffic Information Service-Broadcast (TIS-B), and, if required in the future, supplementary ranging and positioning capabilities. 1090-ES will support ADS-B and TIS-B. Both UAT and 1090-ES will allow aircraft equipped with "Out" broadcast capabilities to be seen by any other aircraft using "ADS-B In" technology as well as by FAA ground stations. Aircraft equipped with ADS-B In technology will be able to see detailed altitude and vector information from other ADS-B Out equipped aircraft.
The Federal Aviation Administration has announced a dual link decision using 1090-ES and UAT as media for the ADS-B system in the United States, with the 1090-ES ADS-B link for air carrier and private or commercial operators of high-performance aircraft, and UAT ADS-B link for the typical general aviation user. With 1090-ES, the existing Mode S transponder supports a message type known as the "extended squitter" (ES) message, which is a periodic message that provides 3-dimensional position (including altitude), velocity, time, and, in the future, intent. To enable an aircraft to send an extended squitter message, the transponder is modified and aircraft position and other status information are routed to the transponder. ATC ground stations and aircraft equipped with traffic collision avoidance system (TCAS) already have the necessary 1090 MHz (Mode S) receivers to receive these signals, and would only require enhancements to accept and process the additional extended squitter information.
All aircraft will soon be mandated to transmit ADS-B Out messages when moving around the world. Civilian unmanned aerial vehicles must also emit ADS-B to operate in the national airspace system. An ADS-B Out message of an aircraft contains the aircraft's 24-bit universal identity (e.g., International Civil Aviation Organization, or ICAO, identifier), global navigation satellite system (GNSS) precision position (including geometric altitude), barometric altitude, velocity, and time, and other flight trajectory spatial information. The ADS-B transmission of an aircraft occurs every second and reaches receivers beyond 100 miles from the aircraft. Consequently, anyone with an inexpensive ADS-B receiver can passively track in real-time each flight of each aircraft within the receiver's radio range, with high spatial and temporal precision. This ADS-B based flight tracking information can be misused by malicious entities targeting the aviation sector.
A problem addressed by the inventive system described herein is the possible misuse of ADS-B Out messages by attackers possessing cyber-attack tools, such as software-defined radio based ADS-B or GNSS signal spoofers or jammers, and physical attack tools, such as surface-to-air weapon systems. It is assumed these attackers are aiming to physically disrupt the air transportation system and unmanned aircraft (also called unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs) by attempting to destroy a targeted aircraft/UAV. ADS-B and GNSS spoofing/jamming, and surface-to-air weapon based threats are emerging threats for aircraft. Surface-to-air threats, for example, has been successfully instantiated on aircraft and UAVs at low altitudes (relative to terrain) or when a passenger/cargo aircraft is in critical flight phases in the terminal area (such as approach, landing, takeoff and departure). With technology advances, the range of surface-to-air threats may increase further in the future to threaten aircraft and UAVs during other flight phases and operations. By providing precise, high granularity, 4-D position information of each airborne aircraft and UAV, ADS-B Out messages may increase the exposure, likelihood, impact, and success of cyber threats, such as those from ADS-B and GNSS spoofing and jamming attacks, as well as physical threats, such as those from surface-to-air weapon attacks, to aircraft and UAVs.
The following references may be reviewed for additional background information (printed copies are being provided with an Information Disclosure Statement submitted with this application): (Ref1) Scott Stewart, "The Continuing Threat of Libyan Missles," Stratfor.com, Security Weekly; (Ref2) Detlof von Winterfeldt and Terrence M. O'Sullivan, "Should We Protect Commercial Airplanes Against Surface-to-Air Missile Attacks by Terrorists?," Decision Analysis vol. 3, no. 2, June 2006, pages 63-75; (Ref3) Federal Aviation Administration, "Automatic Dependent Surveillance-Broadcast (ADS-B) Out Performance Requirements To Support Air Traffic Control (ATC) Service," Federal Register Vol. 75, No. 103, May 28, 2010; (Ref4) Sampigethaya, R. G. and Poovendran, R. and Bushnell, L., METHOD FOR VALIDATING AIRCRAFT TRAFFIC CONTROL DATA, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 12/841,349, 2010; (Ref5) Sampigethaya, R. G. and Poovendran, R., METHOD FOR PROTECTING LOCATION PRIVACY OF AIR TRAFFIC COMMUNICATIONS, U.S. Pat. No. 8,248,294 B2, Aug. 21, 2012.
As reflected in the background references noted above, no solutions for preventing misuse of ADS-B Out messages currently exist. ADS-B is intentionally designed to be unencrypted and openly accessible and beneficial to all systems operating in the airspace. Outfitting and maintaining the entire U.S. airline fleet with a military aircraft class of countermeasures that could foil missiles would be prohibitively expensive (e.g., cost over $40 billion), and the bulk of the civilian aviation fleet worldwide remains undefended today (see Ref2). Moreover, ADS-B provides a side channel for enhancing cyber and physical threats, and reducing the effectiveness and devaluing existing countermeasures.

System and method to prevent misuse of aircraft messages


A luminaire comprising an output aperture having an input port and an output port, a radiation guide having an input port and an output port and an array of LEDs located at the input port of the guide. Light emitted by the LEDs is transmitted into the guide. The input port of the aperture operatively connects to the output port of guide and is positioned adjacent thereto so that a central plane of the output aperture is asymmetric relative to a central plane of the radiation guide.

The present invention generally relates to light luminaires and, in particular, light luminaires for illuminating a planar area such as a wall or a painting on a wall.
Illuminating a planar area presents many challenges, particularly when the luminaire is intended to be mounted adjacent a side of a planar area to be illuminated rather than centered immediately over the area. The light illuminating the planar area should be generated by a plurality of light sources presenting different wavelength content. The intensity of light produced by each of the sources should be controllable to create different lighting modes. The light illuminating the planar area should be mixed well so that the planar area is uniformly illuminated and color shadows are minimized. The light illuminating the planar area should have a degree of uniformity; the angular output should be such that sections of the planar area farther from the output port of the luminaires are illuminated with similar intensity as sections of the planar area nearer to the output port of the luminaires. The luminaires should be compact and configured to be located adjacent a periphery of the planar area to minimize blocking the view of the planar area, which is usually being illuminated so that it can be viewed.
There is a need for luminaires which address the above challenges as well as other challenges.

Luminaire having an aperature light path


The present invention relates to planning of a trajectory for minimum threat exposure in a given geographical region. A trajectory is planned from a start node to a final node in a digital representation of the geographical region. The threat exposure for a vehicle moving along the trajectory is determined. Navigation performance of the vehicle along the trajectory is evaluated. A rate of survival based on threat exposure and navigation performance along the trajectory is estimated. A new trajectory is planned from the start node to the final node until a best rate of survival is established for the planned trajectory.

Tactical mission planning for airborne vehicles, e.g. UAV:s or robots, where the missions are carried out on ground targets is a very complex task. Any deviation from navigating along a straight line between two locations may cause a tactical deviation as well as a deviation in navigation performance. When routing a trajectory for a covert operation, it is desirable to route the paths such that maximum terrain masking is achieved. Particularly, it is desirable to avoid highly visible areas such as ridge tops and wide open areas. However, an advantageous route planning from a terrain point of view may cause a tactical disadvantage due to e.g. threat exposure or a disadvantage due to the performance of the navigation systems.
Digital terrain elevation data (DTED) is a digital representation of the topography of a geographical region. DTED may be produced from satellite photographs or other means and may include digital data representing altitudes and type of terrain. The data is preferably represented in a grid with equal spacing between the nodes.
According to the prior art, it is known to route covert flight paths using DTED such that the flight path is always in the lowest local area. This routing method rests on the assumption that the best terrain masking will always be at the lowest local elevation. However, this assumption is not always true, and thus the prior art method frequently results in less than optimum routing of flight paths. A significant disadvantage with this prior art method is also that it does not interrelate the tactical performance with the performance of the navigation system.
Terrain navigation, where the actual position of a vehicle is predicted from terrain information available in the present and preceding environment, is increasingly becoming an integrated function in vehicle navigation systems. This increases the possibility of planning a trajectory in a disturbed environment where GPS is not available and to replan trajectories during a mission. However, replanning of a trajectory during a mission does not only involve replanning from a navigational point, but also from a tactical point of view. Known methods of planning trajectories do not satisfactorily address this issue.
One method of routing a covert flight path is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,504,686. The disclosed method involves routing a covert flight path from digital terrain elevation data of a geographical region. A cost surface is formed from a weighted combination of hideability and flyability in the given area. The flight path is routed in the areas of the costing surface that are both hideable and flyable. However, this method does not take the performance of the navigational system into the route calculation.
Hence, the prior art includes various solutions for planning trajectories based on terrain data. However, they do not involve the complete functionality of the navigational system in the optimization problem. Maps for terrain navigation may be included, but only to display a static image of where the flyability in the terrain is considered to be low and not to dynamically integrate navigational performance and tactical performance in the optimization of the trajectory. Therefore, the trajectories achieved through the prior art planning systems are far from optimized.

Method and device for planning a trajectory


Disclosed are a double frequency vertical polarization antenna and a television. The double frequency vertical polarization antenna includes a dielectric substrate, and the dielectric substrate includes a power feeding surface and a mounting surface arranged oppositely. The double frequency vertical polarization antenna further includes a power feeder and an antenna part. The power feeder is provided on the power feeding surface of the dielectric substrate, and the antenna part is provided on the mounting surface of the dielectric substrate. The antenna part includes a high-frequency radiation unit and a low-frequency radiation unit spaced apart from each other. Both the high-frequency radiation unit and the low-frequency radiation unit are penetrated through the dielectric substrate and electrically connected to the power feeder.

With the development of communication and electronic technology, various antennas have been widely used in televisions. The styles and specifications of antennas are mostly designed according to the performance of the products used. At present, the television base is fully metalized and closed, which seriously blocks the forward signal, and cannot adapt to the influence of the base contacting wooden table, marble and other materials.

Double frequency vertical polarization antenna and television


Novel compounds of the structural formula (I) are antagonists and/or inverse agonists of the Cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor and are useful in the treatment, prevention and suppression of diseases mediated by the CB1 receptor. The compounds of the present invention are useful as centrally acting drugs in the treatment of psychosis, memory deficits, cognitive disorders, migraine, neuropathy, neuro-inflammatory disorders including multiple sclerosis and Guillain-Barre syndrome and the inflammatory sequelae of viral encephalitis, cerebral vascular accidents, and head trauma, anxiety disorders, stress, epilepsy, Parkinson's disease, movement disorders, and schizophrenia. The compounds are also useful for the treatment of substance abuse disorders, the treatment of obesity or eating disorders, as well as the treatment of asthma, constipation, chronic intestinal pseudo-obstruction, and cirrhosis of the liver.

Marijuana (Cannabis sativa L.) and its derivatives have been used for centuries for medicinal and recreational purposes. A major active ingredient in marijuana and hashish has been determined to be Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (Δ9-THC). Detailed research has revealed that the biological action of Δ9-THC and other members of the cannabinoid family occurs through two G-protein coupled receptors termed CB1 and CB2. The CB1 receptor is primarily found in the central and peripheral nervous systems and to a lesser extent in several peripheral organs. The CB2 receptor is found primarily in lymphoid tissues and cells. Three endogenous ligands for the cannabinoid receptors derived from arachidonic acid have been identified (anandamide, 2-arachidonoyl glycerol, and 2-arachidonyl glycerol ether). Each is an agonist with activities similar to Δ9-THC, including sedation, hypothermia, intestinal immobility, antinociception, analgesia, catalepsy, anti-emesis, and appetite stimulation.
There is at least one CB1 modulator characterized as an inverse agonist or an antagonist, N-(1-piperidinyl)-5-(4-chlorophenyl)-(2,4-dichlorophenyl)-4-methylpyrazole-3-carboxamide (SR1141716A, rimonabant, ACOMPLIA), in clinical trials for treatment of eating disorders at this time. There still remains a need for potent low molecular weight CB1 modulators that have pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic properties suitable for use as human pharmaceuticals.
Other cannabinoid receptor modulating compounds are disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,973,587, 5,013,837, 5,081,122, 5,112,820, 5,292,736, 5,532,237, 6,355,631, 6,479,479 and PCT publications WO 97/29079, 98/37061, 99/02499, 00/10967, 00/10968, 01/58869, 01/64632, 01/64633, 01/64634, 01/70700, 02/076949, 03/026647, 03/026648, 03/027069, 03/027076, 03/027114, and 03/077847. WO 04/087880 is directed to antidiabetic naphthyridinone compounds.
The compounds of the present invention are modulators of the Cannabinoid-1 (CB1) receptor and are useful in the treatment, prevention and suppression of diseases mediated by the CB1 receptor. In particular, compounds of the present invention are antagonists or inverse agonists of the CB1 receptor. The invention is concerned with the use of these compounds to modulate the CB1 receptor.


In a thermochemical regenerator wherein gaseous combustion products that are formed by combustion in a furnace are passed from the furnace into and through a first regenerator, the combustion products are combined with gaseous fuel, and the resulting mixture is passed into and through a second regenerator wherein the mixture undergoes an endothermic reaction to form syngas, the thermochemical regeneration is enhanced by injecting fuel gas into a recycle stream comprising the combustion products from the first regenerator to entrain recycled flue gas that passes out of the first regenerator and to impel the mixture into the other regenerator.

Technology is generally known in which pairs of regenerators are used in repeated cycles to utilize the heat that is contained in the hot gaseous combustion products (also referred to as flue gas) from a furnace (such as a glassmelting furnace). In one cycle, flue gas is passed through a first regenerator in which the hot flue gas heats structure in the interior of the first regenerator, while another gas stream such as gaseous oxidant is passed through a second regenerator that has already been heated, to heat the gas stream which is then passed into the furnace and thereby cool the second regenerator. Then, in the second cycle, flue gas is passed instead through the second regenerator to heat it, and the gas stream is passed instead through the first regenerator which had become heated in the previous cycle. The two cycles are alternated.
An improved technology that can be practiced using paired regenerators is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,113,874 which discloses heat recovery methods useful with furnaces employing regenerators. More specifically, a stream of combustion products formed in the furnace is passed through a first regenerator to heat the first regenerator and cool the combustion products, and then a portion of the cooled combustion products is mixed with fuel to form a mixture which is passed through a second heated regenerator in which the mixture undergoes an endothermic reaction to form syngas that then passes into the furnace and is combusted.
The present invention provides the ability to practice these technologies with improved efficiency and economy.

Flue gas recycle method for thermochemical regeneration


Compounds having the formula (I) ##STR1## wherein: R.sup.1 is methyl, ethyl or isopropyl; R.sup.2 is alkyl, aralkyl, cycloalkyl, cycloalkylmethyl, aryl, heterocyclic, or heterocyclic-substituted thio; R.sup.3 is hydrogen, methyl or ethyl; or R.sup.2 together with R.sup.3 is --(CH.sub.2).sub.n --, wherein n is 3,4 or 5; and A is aromatic heterocyclic; and salts thereof, are valuable agricultural and horticultural anthelmintic, acaricidal and insecticidal agents.

The present invention relates to a series of new derivatives of the compounds known as the "milbemycins", which derivatives are characterised by the presence of a heterocyclic-substituted mercaptoacetoxy group at the 13-position. The invention also provides new methods and compositions using these compounds for agricultural and horticultural purposes, as well as processes for preparing them.
There are several classes of known compounds with a structure based on a 16-membered macrolide ring, which compounds are obtained by fermentation of various microorganisms or are obtained semi-synthetically by chemical derivatization of such natural fermentation products, and which exhibit acaricidal, insecticidal, anthelmintic and antiparasitic activities. The milbemycins and avermectins are examples of two such classes of known compounds, but various others also exist and are identified in the art by different names or code numbers. The names for these various macrolide compounds have generally been taken from the names or code numbers of the microorganisms which produce the naturally occurring members of each class, and these names have then been extended to cover the chemical derivatives of the same class, with the result that there has been no standardized systematic nomenclature for such compounds generally.
In order to avoid confusion, a standardized system of nomenclature will be used herein, which follows the normal rules for naming derivatives of organic compounds as recommended by the International Union of Pure and Applied Chemistry (IUPAC), Organic Chemistry Division, Commission on Nomenclature of Organic Chemistry, and which is based primarily on the hypothetical parent compound hereby defined as "milbemycin" and represented by the formula (II): ##STR2## wherein R.sup.1 and R.sup.b both represent hydrogen atoms.
For the avoidance of doubt, formula (II) also shows the numbering of positions of the macrolide ring system applied to those positions most relevant to the compounds of the present invention and of the prior art.
The naturally produced milbemycins are a series of macrolide compounds known to have anthelmintic, acaricidal and insecticidal activities. Milbemycin D was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,346,171, where it was referred to as "Compound B-41D", and milbemycins A.sub.3 and A.sub.4 were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 3,950,360. These compounds may be represented by the above formula (II) in which R.sup.a at position 13 is a hydrogen atom and R.sup.b at position 25 is a methyl group, an ethyl group or an isopropyl group, these compounds being designated as milbemycin A.sub.3, milbemycin A.sub.4 and milbemycin D, respectively. The milbemycin analog having a hydrogen atom at position 13 and substituted at position 25 with a sec-butyl group was disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,173,571, where it was known as "13-deoxy-22,23-dihydroavermectin B.sub.1a aglycone".
Subsequently, various derivatives of the original milbemycins and avermectins have been prepared and their activities investigated. For example, 5-esterified milbemycins have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,201,861, No. 4,206,205, No. 4,173,571, No. 4,171,314, No. 4,203,976, No. 4,289,760, No. 4,457,920, No. 4,579,864 and No. 4,547,491, in European Patent Publications No. 8184, No. 102,721, No. 115,930, No. 180,539 and No. 184,989 and in Japanese Patent Applications Kokai (i.e. as laid open to public inspection) No. 57-120589 and 59-16894.
13-Hydroxy-5-ketomilbemycin derivatives have been disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,209. Milbemycin 5-oxime derivatives were disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,547,520 and in European Patent Publication No. 203 832.
Milbemycins having an ester bond at the 13 position are of particular relevance to the present invention and a number of compounds in which the 13-hydroxy group in the compounds of the above formula (II) has been esterified is disclosed in Japanese Patent Kokai Application No. Sho 61-180787, which describes esters of a variety of carboxylic acids such as the alkanoic acids. However, the carboxylic acid moiety at the 13-position of these prior art compounds does not include any heterocyclic rings. Other milbemycin derivatives having an ester bond at the 13-position are described in Japanese Patent Kokai Application No. Hei 1-104078, which is considered by us to represent the closest prior art to the compounds of the present invention. In this document there are disclosed compounds in which the carboxylic acid moiety has a side chain, such as an alkyl group, at the .alpha.-position of the carboxylic acid group.
The various classes of milbemycin-related macrolide compounds referred to above are all disclosed as having one or more types of activity as antibiotic, anthelmintic, ectoparasiticidal, acaricidal or other pesticidal agents. However, there is still a continuing need to provide such agents with improved activity against one or more classes of agricultural and horticulural pests.
It has now been discovered that the activity of such milbemycin-related derivatives can be improved by appropriately selecting the combination of substituents on the macrolide ring system, especially the substituents at position 13. In particular, it has now been found that the activity of the compounds can be improved upon by appropriate selection of certain highly specific ester groups at the 13 position, as specified below. In general, the compounds of the present invention tend to have a better pesticidal activity than do the compounds of the prior art, and many of the compounds of the present invention have a very substantially better activity.

13-(substituted thio)acetoxymilbemycin derivatives, their preparation and their agrochemical uses


A method and system provides automatic/timed silencing of a mobile phone by a telecommunications network. The method has the steps of: forming a schedule of silence at a mobile phone; sending the schedule of silence to a mobile switching center; storing the schedule of silence in a subscriber database in the mobile switching center; blocking at least incoming calls at the mobile switching center according to the stored schedule of silence, and sending a first message to the mobile phone that instructs the mobile phone to enter a silence mode; transmitting, according to the stored schedule of silence, a second message from the mobile switching center to the mobile phone that instructs the mobile phone to exit the silence mode, and ceasing to block at least the incoming calls to the mobile phone. The system implements the method.

Wireless telephones, which include both cellular telephones and the higher frequency personal communication devices (PCDs), are growing in numbers and also shrinking in size and weight. The growth in numbers is influenced by the convenience and the per call cost of wireless telephones with respect to pagers and wire line telephones or coin telephones for completing calls, especially when the user is away from home or office. The shrinking size is influenced by two related technologies: more efficient receive/transmit processing circuits and higher power density batteries.
Telephone service subscribers with mobile phones do not necessarily want to answer all the telephone calls they receive. Many situations prevent a user from even activating a mobile phone, for example when the user is inside a hospital or at a theater performance. Although mobile phones can be set to vibrate, instead of ring, some users do not want to be interrupted during certain times that occur periodically, for example a weekly church service.
Many times a user forgets to turn his phone off or to change it from ring to vibrate. This often results in embarrassment to the user when the phone rings at an inopportune time. Furthermore, the user may forget to turn the mobile phone back on, and may therefore miss an important call. Thus, prior art mobile phones have a significant drawback. There is therefore a need in the art for an improved method and system for providing automatic/timed silencing of a mobile phone by a telecommunications network.

Automatic/timed silencing of mobile phone from a network