A midspan power over Ethernet (“PoE”) injector (20) connects via LAN cables (514) to remote PDs (518). Each cable (514) has a remote end; and a midspan end (516). The cables (514) includes receiving and transmitting conductors, and insulated electrical conductors. The injector (20) includes pairs of sockets (24) a first socket (24) of each pair is a powered socket, and a second socket (24) is unpowered and carries only data. A data-signal bus (188) interconnects the unpowered and powered sockets. Power switches (156), equal in number to the socket pairs, connect respectively to one of the powered sockets (24). Without negotiating with a PD (518) connected by the cable (514) to the powered socket (24), a controller (34) causes switches (156) to close thereby transmitting electrical power via the powered socket (24) connected thereto and the cable (514) mated therewith to the PD (518). The controller (34) also concurrently monitors operational status:                a. of each connected PD (518); and        b. internal conditions within the injector (20).

Power over Ethernet ("PoE") technology is a system for transmitting electrical power safely, together with data, via an Ethernet cable also known as a local area network ("LAN") cable. An Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers ("IEEE") standard IEEE 802.3 for PoE requires LAN category 5 cable or higher for high power transmission, but can operate with category 3 LAN cable for transmitting less power. In accordance with the IEEE standard, electrical power is transmitted in common mode over two (2) or more of the differential pairs of wires included in an Ethernet cable from the PSE i.e. either:                1. a power supply included in a PoE-enabled networking device such as an Ethernet switch; or        2. a midspan power supply located somewhere along a length of Ethernet cable.The original IEEE 802.3af-2003 PoE standard provides up to 15.4 W of DC power (minimum 44 V DC and 350 mA) via an Ethernet cable. The IEEE standard assures delivering only 12.95 W of electrical power at the PD since a length of Ethernet cable dissipates some of the electrical power. The updated IEEE 802.3at-2009 PoE standard, also identified as PoE+ or PoE plus, transmits up to 25.5 W of power via an Ethernet cable. The PoE+ standard prohibits a PD, typically a WiFi access point (AP), a voice-over-IP (VoIP) phone or a security camera, from using all four pairs for power. Despite this prohibition, some PoE products, allegedly compatible with the 802.3at standard, offer up to 51 W of electrical power over a single Ethernet cable by transmitting electrical power via all four (4) of an Ethernet Category 5 cable's differential pairs.
Some PoE PSE devices send electrical power via otherwise unused conductors in the Ethernet Cable. Such PSE devices are generally termed "passive PoE". Other PoE PSE devices, commonly known as "active PoE" such as 8-wire 1000BT gigabit PoE, send both electrical power and data to a remote PD via the same Ethernet cable conductors,
The 802.11af standard provides a method whereby the PSE and the PD negotiate the amount of power a PD requires. Using a method specified in the IEEE standard, initially a PoE source transmits a slowly increasing voltage (sawtooth or ramp) to the PD. As the voltage changes, the PD responds by drawing different load currents. The PoE source then "classifies" the PD based on the amount of current the PD draws at each voltage level. For example, a PoE source may assign one PD drawing 15.4 W maximum to one class, and another PD drawing 25.5 W to a different class. Based on the amount of power the PD draws, the PoE source then sets a maximum current level to be supplied to the PD. This process is called "negotiation" and "classification."
PSE devices that fully implement the IEEE 802.3af or 802.3at PoE standards encounter various technical problems. PSE devices operating in full compliance with the IEEE 802.11af standard work satisfactorily in a typical office environment, but prove unsatisfactory if the PD is outdoors, has multiple splices and/or connectors, or is a long distance from the PoE source. In remote and/or outdoor applications, the Ethernet cable's length often exceeds the initial IEEE standard's 100 meters or 328 feet. The electrical performance of category 5 or 3 Ethernet cable and connectors when used for PoE exhibit unexpected relatively high and unstable electrical resistance between an Ethernet cable's differential pairs of wires, and between those differential pairs and any outer shield. For such installations negotiation and classification in accordance with the IEEE 802.3af standard may fail, particularly during classification for various reasons.                1. Intermittent and resistive connections at the Ethernet cable's terminations frequently when unshielded twisted pair ("UTP") cables are used outdoors.        2. Short circuits and disconnects can occur, particularly in outdoor applications, most commonly when UTP cable deteriorate, or when the Ethernet cable's termination gets wet, or when the RJ45 connections originally intended for low-current indoor use are used outdoors.        3. Induced electrical noise on conductors carrying electrical power conductors can occur when power is back-fed in a complex network, when PDs include switching regulators, when electrostatic discharge ("ESD") is encountered (particularly in outdoor situations), and when electromagnetic interference ("EMI") is inductively, magnetically, and capacitively coupled into the Ethernet cable. For example, an indoor installation in which a long Ethernet cable runs past a series of overhead fluorescent light ballasts.
Yet another problem is that either or both the PD and the PSE may be damaged by power surges and electrostatic discharge ("ESD") received via an Ethernet cable or a PSE device's input power connection. PSE devices which fully implement the IEEE 802.3af standard are particularly vulnerable to ESD damage when a field effect transistor ("FET") is used for switching as recommended by the standard. A FET's low gate-drain breakdown voltage makes them particularly vulnerable to transient electrical surges. A growing use of longer Ethernet cables with outdoor PDs for which UTP cables were not designed creates a network of antennae which attracts large transient electrical surges.
Furthermore, a PD may "lockup" perhaps due to a semiconductor "latchup" in the PD's internal components. A conventional midspan PoE PSE cannot detect if such a latch-up occurs. In many situations, only a complete power-cycling with full shutoff of electrical power supplied by the PSE restore the PD's operation. Conventional PSE's are incapable of automatically detecting and correcting this type of lockup.
Finally, power glitches and brief interruptions of AC power to conventional PSE will cause attached devices to lockup or fail. The most common existing solution to this problem is attach an external uninterruptable power supply ("UPS" thereby providing the PSE with battery backup. A PSE that receives electrical power from an UPS cannot power up multiple PDs in pre-determined sequence with proper delays. Consequently, even though the UPS provides uninterrupted electrical power, if the battery eventually becomes fully discharged when electrical power is subsequently restored the PDs may not operate properly particularly if some PDs must be fully operational before other PDs can begin operation.


The present invention provides a shower gel having a tenside and other conventional adjuvants, for example thickening agents, electrolyte salts, perfume, coloring materials, disinfection agents and protein hydrolysates, as well as water as a solvent, wherein, as the tenside, there is used a combination of an amidopropylbetaine and a fatty acid methyltauride.

The present invention relates to a shower gel which reduces skin roughness.
Shower gels are commercially available and described in many publications with a great variety of compositions. The current trend is to shower more frequently, due to which skin irritations, which can progress as far as allergies, have recently occurred more frequently because of components included in the shower gels. Irritations of this kind are, in the first place, brought about by the tensides themselves included in the shower gels and, in particular, the alkyl sulphates and alkyl polyoxyethylene sulphates, which are used especially frequently because of their good foam formation, have proven to be strong skin irritants.
Recently, fears have also arisen that tensides which include polyoxyethylene structures are contaminated from their production by traces of dioxan or ethylene oxide and these can, in turn, have a skin-irritating effect.

Shower gel comprising an amidopropybetaine and a fatty acid methyltauride


An apparatus for temporary use with a golf driving range mat or ground practice area in teaching the proper stance for a golfer when swinging a golf club to hit a golf ball placed upon a tee inserted into the mat or the ground. The apparatus comprises first and second strips of flat elastic material. Each strip has a length selected so that the strip will be under moderate tension when it is stretched across the mat from one edge of the mat to the opposite edge of the mat and held against the mat by a discrete anchor at each end of the strip. The strips may be stretched across the mat so that the first strip is aligned in parallel with the intended direction that the golf ball is to be hit at a distance from the golf ball selected to be appropriate for the golfer and the second strip is perpendicular to the first strip and passes alongside the tee so that the head of the golf club will pass over the second strip after hitting the golf ball, thereby providing reference lines for placement of the golfer's feet.

At a driving range, a golfer wishing to practice his golf swing places a golf ball on a tee inserted into the tee hole in, or upon the surface of, a golf mat practice mat and attempts to place his feet in an appropriate position on the mat so as to properly align himself to swing a golf club to drive the golf ball in a desired direction. If we consider one reference line passing in just in front of the toes of the golfer's feet and another reference line perpendicular to the first line passing through the ball, then the appropriate position for the golfer's feet is determined by the distance of the first reference line from the ball as well as position of the intersection of the two reference lines relative to the golfer's feet.
While reference lines could be incorporated into the surface of the mat to aid in the placement of the golfer's feet, mats incorporating reference lines are not normally found at driving ranges, perhaps because mats are typically rotated periodically to even out wear, necessitating a large number of sets of reference lines. Further, several lines would be needed in each set to accommodate golfers of varying size and the configuration of the reference lines would vary with the type of golf club used, even for the same golfer. For example, a mat incorporating such reference lines is disclosed in Dionne et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,645,494.
A number of other golf practice mats are known for aligning a golfer's swing. For example, Fowler, U.S. Pat. No. 3,868,109, Richards, U.S. Pat. No. 4,101,130, Menendez, U.S. Pat. No. 3,550,946, and Bott, U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,913 disclose such mats. In each case, the golfer wishing to use such mats at a driving range must rely upon the operator of the driving range to provide such mats or must transport his own mat to the driving range, at best an inconvenience.
Other golf swing alignment aids are known. For example, Trosko, U.S. Pat. No. 3,580,584, Medders, U.S. Pat. No. 3,920,248, Blanchard, U.S. Pat. No. 4,478,422, Poirier, U.S. Pat. No. 4,539,815, Beatty, U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,407, and Balson, U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,448, disclose various templates, frames, or arrangements of cords or strips.
Of the alignment aids mentioned, only Beatty, U.S. Pat. No. 5,415,407, in FIG. 5 thereof discloses an apparatus suitable for use with a golf mat 30. However, it appears that the mat 30 must have specific characteristics, such as an aperture 37 near the tee 38 and an over-all square shape, which may not be present in golf mats found at all driving ranges (most golf mats in use are now octagonal). Further, strips 40 do not appear to be repositionable for golfers of varying size and for the use of a variety of golf clubs and are held in place by springs 39 and J-hooks 36, both of which protrude somewhat above the surface of the mat 30 and so may interfere with the golfer's swing.
Sutton, U.S. Pat. No. 5,042,815, discloses a golf swing alignment device including a mat 28 and several flexible cords 22, which act as reference lines, and frames 26 for holding the cords 22 in place. The cords 22 and frames 26 appear to be selected for the mat 28 of a particular size as the cords 22 are not specifically elastic. Further, the frames 26 appear to protrude above the surface of the mat 28, possibly leading to interference with the golfer's swing. As well, if the golf ball is accidentally hit along the surface ("topping the ball"), then the ball could be deflected by the frames 26 cause injury to bystanders.
To the knowledge of the inventor, a compact, easily transportable, and inexpensive golf swing alignment apparatus for use at driving ranges with or without the golf mats that happen to be present has not been available previously.


The present subject matter relates to the use of current splitting and routing techniques to distribute current uniformly among the various layers of a device to achieve a high Q-factor. Such current splitting can allow the use of relatively narrow interconnects and feeds while maintaining a high Q. Specifically, for example a micro-electromechanical systems (MEMS) device can comprise a metal layer comprising a first portion and a second portion that is electrically separated from the first portion. A first terminus can be independently connected to each of the first portion and the second portion of the metal layer, wherein the first portion defines a first path between the metal layer and the first terminus, and the second portion defines a second path between the metal layer and the first terminus.

Radio-frequency (RF) MEMS devices built using standard complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) compatible fabrication processing on low resistivity silicon wafers are susceptible to high substrate losses due to the underlying low resistivity silicon. To address this issue, a metallic shield is commonly used to isolate the RF circuits from the lossy substrate under these circumstances. However, this metallic shield can increase the shunt parasitic capacitance of MEMS capacitors caused by the metal layers in the MEMS device and the interlayer dielectric between the shield and the device. This increase in parasitic capacitance motivates a desire to minimize the interconnect, feed, and flip chip/bond pad metallization of the MEMS device to thereby minimize the parasitics. Because the Q-factor of the RF device is inversely proportional to the resistance of the feed and interconnect metallization, however, the reduction in metallization can adversely affect the Q-factor of the device.
As a result, RF MEMS devices are desirable that have a reduced minimum capacitance (Cmin) and/or parasitic capacitance without correspondingly reducing the Q-factor of the device.

Systems and methods for current density optimization in CMOS-integrated MEMS capacitive devices


A shock absorber of the hydraulic-pneumatic type includes a cylindrical casing closed at both ends and partially filled with a liquid damping medium. A piston is reciprocable in the casing, has valve controlled passages and a piston rod thereon extending outwardly through a packed opening in one of the ends. A quantity of gaseous fluid under super-atmospheric pressure occupies the space above the level of the liquid, and a perforated partition forming an anti-splash device is disposed slightly below the liquid level. The partition is stationary in the casing and is frictionally held in place against the inner surface of the casing but is displaceable under the effect of a force greater than that applied to it by the movement of the shock absorber as a whole or of the liquid damping medium upon reciprocation of the piston.

This invention relates generally to a shock absorber of the hydraulic-pneumatic type, and more particularly to such a shock absorber having a stationary anti-splash device frictionally held in place against the inner surface of the shock absorber casing but being displaceable only upon application of a force which exceeds that created by movement of the hydraulic damping medium during reciprocation of the piston.
Shock absorbers of the hydraulic-pneumatic type, as generally disclosed in my prior U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,721,074, 2,774,446 and 2,823,915, are primarily adapted for use in connection with vehicle wheel suspensions. These shock absorbers include a cylindrical casing closed at both ends and containing a liquid damping medium as well as a compressed gas. A piston having valve controlled passages is reciprocable in the casing via a piston rod extending from the piston outwardly through a packed opening in one of the ends. The free end of the piston rod and the opposite end of the casing have means thereon for connecting the shock absorber to the vehicle chassis and to the wheel or axle mounting of the vehicle. The casing of a shock absorber of this type is partially filled with a hydraulic liquid so as to make provision for containing a quantity of compressible gaseous fluid. One of the problems during operation of a shock absorber of the general type described herein occurs during the turbulence which takes place in the hydraulic liquid during piston reciprocation, which turbulence leads to the formation of an oil-gas emulsion which is harmful to the proper operation of the shock absorber.
The formation of such oil-gas emulsions have in the past been avoided by the provision of a floating piston in the shock absorber casing for separating the hydraulic liquid and the gaseous fluid. The shock absorber could thus be utilized with its piston rod extending outwardly either upwardly of the casing or downwardly thereof. However, shock absorbers of such type having a floating separating piston are expensive to manufacture and require extreme care in the assembly thereof. Moreover, such floating-piston shock absorbers are known to experience frequent breakdowns during their operation. And, the shock absorber casing must have an almost perfectly smooth inner surface since the slightest imperfection thereon will define a passage allowing gas molecules to pass into the oil. A high quality shock absorber casing is therefore required to be manufactured which only further increases the cost thereof.
In the aforementioned U.S. Pat. No. 2,823,915, the entirety of which is specifically incorporated herein by reference, the formation of an oil-gas emulsion is minimized by the provision of a perforated partition fixedly mounted to the inner surface of the casing at the upper portion thereof below the level of the liquid damping medium. Such a fixed partition functions as an anti-splash device which produces broken or interrupted jets, thus breaking up the mixture of oil and air during the turbulent movement of oil passing upwardly through the piston passages.
However, the partition must be disposed at a sufficiently low level below that of the oil for satisfactory operation insuring against the formation of an oil-gas emulsion. Thus, for a predetermined overall length of the shock absorber, the length of the piston stroke may need to be reduced so as to avoid any interference between the piston and the fixed partition. This may become a serious inconvenience. Otherwise the shock absorber would need to be lengthened to accommodate a predetermined piston stroke.


A method quantitatively analyzes images of two different cell types that interact in producing and maintaining a disease state or other biological condition. The two separate cell types are exposed to an agent or stimulus suspected of influencing the biological condition (e.g., the agent might be a potential therapeutic for treating a cancer). The two different cell types are co-cultured or otherwise allowed to interact with one another before and during exposure to the agent. The images of the cells show how the agent affects the cells"" phenotypes, including their viability, migration patterns, etc. The method generates a quantitative phenotype for each cell type by quantitatively analyzing the cell images via an automatic procedure. The quantitative phenotypes typically take the form of a group of scalar or vector descriptors that together provide a xe2x80x9cfingerprint.xe2x80x9d The descriptors may be size values, positions, morphological values, intensity distributions, etc.

The systems and methods described herein provide for image capturing of living, dead, or fixed cells or cell fractions used to identify information about substances used on the cells or information about the cells themselves. Accordingly, the present invention can enable researchers and scientists to identify promising candidates in the search for new and better treatments and medicines, for example, in drug discovery and development. The principles enumerated herein may, with equal facility, be applied to other applications, including but not limited to use in environmental applications such as determining chemical toxicities and other non-pharmaceutical toxicology uses.
Purified substances having a desirable combination bio-active properties are rare and often difficult to identify. Recent advances in traditional organic chemistry and the development of rapid combinatorial chemistry techniques have increased the number of compounds that researchers can test for a specific biological activity (e.g., binding to a target). Unfortunately, the vast majority of xe2x80x9chitsxe2x80x9d generated by such techniques do not possess the right combination of properties to qualify as therapeutic compounds. When these substances are subjected to low throughput cellular and animal tests to establish their therapeutic usefulness, they are typically found to fail in some regard. Unfortunately, such tests are time consuming and costly, thus limiting the number of substances that can be tested. In a like regard, the few hits that do possess the right combination of properties avoid recognition until after the throughput tests are conducted. With better early evaluation techniques, such promising candidates could be identified earlier in the development process and put on a fast track to the marketplace.
There have been some attempts to use image acquisition techniques to screen a large number of substances based upon biological cell information. One such attempt is described in International Application No. WO 98/38490 in the names of Dunlay, et al. Dunlay et al. generally describes a conventional image acquisition system. This conventional system collects and saves cellular images based on certain criteria that are predefined. Unfortunately, this system is has only a limited ability to predict a therapeutic usefulness of particular compounds or other agents.
One difficulty in predicting the clinical effectiveness of any agent is determining what concurrent effects it produces in normal cells, diseased versions of the normal cells, and other related cells. Diseases such as cancer often involve the interaction of various cell types such as cancerous epithelial cells and their stromal cells. During development of a potential new therapeutic, most research at the early stages focuses separately on the diseased cells or normal cells. To the extent that both cell types interact in producing or maintaining a disease state, there is no systematically rigorous technique for evaluating how a potential therapeutic affects their interaction.
What is needed therefore is a technique for quickly and quantitatively evaluating the affect of a potential therapeutic on a combination of various cell types that interact to produce or maintain a biological condition (e.g., cancer).
This need may be addressed by quantitatively analyzing images of two different cell types that interact in producing and/or maintaining a disease state or other biological condition. The two separate cell types are exposed to an agent or stimulus suspected of influencing the biological condition (e.g., the agent might be a potential therapeutic for treating a cancer). Typically, though not necessarily, the two different cell types are co-cultured or otherwise allowed to interact with one another before and during exposure to the agent. The images of the cells show how the agent separately affects each of the cell types. Specifically, the images show how the phenotype of each type changes (or does not change) upon exposure to the agent. In the context of this invention, the concept of a phenotype encompasses visual indicators showing viability, migration patterns, growth rates, extracellular matrix depositions, etc. The method generates quantitative phenotypes of the cells of cell types by quantitatively analyzing the cell images, usually via an automatic procedure. The quantitative phenotypes typically take the form of a group of scalar or vector descriptors that together provide a xe2x80x9cfingerprint.xe2x80x9d The descriptors may be size values, positions, morphological values, intensity distributions, etc.
One aspect of the invention provides a method of evaluating the effect of interactions between distinct cell types. The method may be characterized by the following sequence: (a) providing a first cell culture of a first cell type and a second cell culture of a second cell type in a microenvironment; (b) imaging the first and second cell types after exposure to the agent; and (c) quantitatively evaluating one or more images obtained in (b) to identify any effects of the agent. To this end, the method employs quantitative representations of the phenotypes of the cells in the first and second cell cultures. This may show how the effects of the agent are mediated by interactions between the first and second cell cultures. The microenvironment mentioned above is typically a contained environment in which the cells of the first and second cell cultures share a common medium, thereby allowing the first and second cell types to interact in the common medium. In alternative embodiments, the cells of the distinct cell types are separately cultured and imaged. During the process, one of the cell types may be exposed to factors produced the other.
Frequently, a method of this invention includes separate operations of exposing the cells of the microenvironment to the agent and then imaging the first and second cell types. Thereafter, in determining how the agent affects quantitative representations of phenotypes of the cells, the system may be able to predict the effect of the agent in treating the biological condition of interest. The quantitative representation typically includes two or more scalar values or vectors that characterize morphological and/or compositional features of a cell.
The agents or stimuli considered for use with methods of this invention include a wide variety of perturbing influences, and, in some cases where the two cell types interact in particularly interesting ways, may even constitute the absence of a perturbation. Examples of agents contemplated for use with this invention will be discussed below. In many important applications, the agent is a biological material or chemical compound such as a drug candidate.
Many different biological conditions may be analyzed with the methods of this invention. Diseases are an important class of biological conditions. Specific examples of biological conditions that may be analyzed using this invention include cancers, Type I diabetes, Type II diabetes, neurodegenerative diseases, cardiovascular diseases, vascular disease, auto-immune diseases. In certain cases, the biological condition is normal unperturbed functioning of an organ or tissue and the agent causes one or more of the cell types to become abnormal.
The first and second cell types used with this invention are chosen to shed light on a particular biological condition. As mentioned, many of these cell types interact with one another to produce and/or maintain the biological condition. For example, where the biological condition is a cancer, the first cell type may be a cancerous epithelial cell type and the second cell type may be a mesenchymal (stromal) cell type, with both cell types taken from the same tissue or organ.
In one embodiment, the method involves applying the agent to both cancerous epithelial cells and either endothelial or stromal cells from the same tissue or organ. Then both cell types are imaged and the resulting images are evaluated to identify changes in at least one of the viability and the morphology of epithelial and endothelial or stromal cells. The changes of interest result from exposure to said agent. Finally, based upon any changes identified, predicting the agent""s effect on the cancer.
Aspects of this invention also specify criteria for determining whether a particular agent will be xe2x80x9ceffectivexe2x80x9d in treating a particular biological condition. For example, when the biological condition is cancer, a potential therapeutic agent will be predicted to be effective when the images show that it has an EC50 for the cancerous epithelial cells that is substantially higher than the EC50 for the mesenchymal cells. Various other effects (beyond EC50) may be considered. These include changes in migration, extracellular matrix deposition, endocytosis, and cell shape.
Another aspect of the invention pertains to computer program products including a machine-readable media on which is stored program instructions for implementing a portion of or an entire method as described above. Any of the methods of this invention may be represented, in whole or in part, as program instructions that can be provided on such computer readable media.
These and other features and advantages of the present invention will be described below in more detail with reference to the associated drawings.

Method of characterizing potential therapeutics by determining cell-cell interactions


The present invention provides a method of impregnating an implantable device, such as a vascular graft or a covering adapted to be disposed over a prosthesis. The substances may be impregnated within the implantable device as a passive coating or as a delivery matrix for a therapeutic substance. Also provided is an implantable device having such substances impregnated therein.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to implantable devices, such as synthetic vascular grafts and covered stents. More particularly, the present invention is directed to a method of impregnating an implantable device with substances as well as to an implantable device that has been so impregnated.
2. Description of the Related Art
Occlusion of blood vessels reduces or blocks blood flow. During the course of atherosclerosis, for example, growths called plaques develop on the inner walls of the arteries and narrow the bore of the vessels. An embolis, or a moving clot, is more likely to become trapped in a vessel that has been narrowed by plaques. Further, plaques are common sites of thrombus formation. Together, these events increase the risk of heart attacks and strokes.
Traditionally, critically stenosed atherosclerotic vessels have been treated with bypass surgery in which veins removed from the legs, or small arteries removed from the thoracic cavity, are implanted in the affected area to provide alternate routes of blood circulation. More recently, implantable devices, such as synthetic vascular grafts and stents, have been used to treat diseased blood vessels.
Synthetic vascular grafts are macro-porous vessel-like configurations typically made of expanded polytetrafluoroethylene (ePTFE), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polyurethane (PU), or an absorbable polymer. Grafts made of ePTFE or PET are very non-wetting materials when introduced into an aqueous environment, causing difficulty in impregnating the materials. In addition, grafts made of ePTFE or PET are permanently implanted in the body, while grafts made of an absorbable polymer bioabsorb over time. A graft may be positioned into the host blood vessel as a replacement for a diseased or occluded segment that has been removed. Alternatively, a graft may be sutured to the host vessel at each end so as to form a bypass conduit around a diseased or occluded segment of the host vessel.
Intravascular stents may be permanently or temporarily implanted in narrowing blood vessels. Typically, a vascular catheter, or similar transluminal device, is utilized to carry the stent to the treatment site. The stent is expanded to support, and if desired expand, the diseased portion of the arterial wall. The insertion of a stent into a vessel in which plaque has become brittle over time, however, may cause complications if the stent causes the brittle plaque to break off from the vessel wall and embolize the lumen. A covered stent, in which a graft-like covering is slip-fit onto the stent, may therefore be employed to isolate the brittle plaque from direct contact with the stent, which is rigid.
To treat such damaged vasculature tissue and to help prevent thrombosis and restenosis, there is a need for administering therapeutic substances to the treatment site. To provide an efficacious concentration to the treatment site, systemic administration of the therapeutic substance often produces adverse or toxic side effects for the patient. Local delivery is a highly suitable method of treatment, in that smaller levels of therapeutic substances, as compared to systemic dosages, are concentrated at a specific site. Local delivery produces fewer side effects and achieves more effective results.
One technique for the local delivery of therapeutic substances is through the use of medicated coatings on implantable devices. In addition to providing local delivery capabilities, such a coating protects vessel tissue from injury and helps prevent excessive foreign body reaction that may occur when such a device is implanted.
The present invention provides a method by which implantable devices, including those made of very non-wetting materials, may be impregnated with passive as well as therapeutic substances. An implantable device that has been impregnated with such substances is also provided.
In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, a method of impregnating an implantable device, such as a vascular graft or a covering adapted to be disposed over a prosthesis, is provided. The method includes an act of providing a substrate having a body and interstices throughout the body, an act of applying a composition containing a first substance and a first fluid to the substrate such that the composition penetrates into the interstices of the body of the substrate, and an act of removing essentially all of the first fluid from the composition within the body of the substrate. The first substance remains within the body of the substrate. An implantable device having a first substance deposited therein in accordance with the above-described method is also provided.
In some embodiments of the method described herein, the first substance is a pre-polymer. In such embodiments, the method further includes the act of causing the pre-polymer to crosslink to form a hydrogel within the body of the substrate. In addition, an implantable device having a hydrogel formed therein in accordance with the method is provided.
In other embodiments of the above-described method, the body of the substrate has a first end, an opposing second end, and a hollow bore extending longitudinally through the body from the first end to the second end. In such embodiments, the method may further include the act of providing a prosthesis and the act of inserting the prosthesis at least partially within the hollow bore of the body of the substrate. In some embodiments, the prosthesis has a plurality of depots formed therein. In such embodiments, the act of providing a prosthesis may further include the act of forming the plurality of depots within the prosthesis. The act of providing a prosthesis may also include the act of depositing a second substance within the plurality of depots. The deposited material may be selected from therapeutic substances, polymeric materials, and radiopaque materials, among other possibilities.
In other embodiments of the above-described method, prior to applying the composition, the method additionally includes an act of applying a second fluid to the substrate. In other embodiments, subsequent to applying the second fluid and prior to applying the composition, the method additionally includes an act of applying a third fluid to the substrate. In still other embodiments, the method additionally includes an act of applying a bridging fluid to the substrate between the otherwise consecutive application of immiscible fluids.
In other embodiments of the above-described method, the composition additionally includes a therapeutic substance. The therapeutic substance is selected from a group of antineoplastic, antimitotic, antiplatelet, anticoagulant, fibrinolytic, thrombin inhibitor, antiinflammatory and antiproliferative, antioxidant, and antiallergic substances, and mixtures thereof.
Also disclosed is an implantable device. The device includes a substrate having a body and interstices within the body. The body has a first end, an opposing second end, and a hollow bore extending longitudinally through the body from the first end to the second end. The device also includes a first substance impregnated within the interstices of the body of the substrate and a prosthesis inserted at least partially within the hollow bore of the body of the substrate. The prosthesis has a plurality of depots formed therein. In some embodiments of the implantable device, the plurality of depots contain a second substance.
These and other aspects of the present invention may be better appreciated in view of the detailed description and drawings of the exemplary embodiments.

Implantable device having substances impregnated therein and a method of impregnating the same


The first choke coil and the third choke coil are not magnetically coupled to the second choke coil and the fourth choke coil. Therefore, even in a case where a structure for increasing the heat radiation area is adopted, a pair of the first and third choke coils and a pair of the second and fourth choke coils located between the two ends of the capacitor maintain a state of equilibrium so as to be inversely proportional to mutual loss without affecting one another, and the output therefore stabilizes. Accordingly, the output of the switching power supply, that is, the rectified and smoothed output across the two ends of the capacitor stabilizes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a switching power supply.
2. Related Background Art
A conventional switching power supply has a plurality of coils wound on a single core. However, with such a core, there is a problem that the heat radiation surface area is small. U.S. Pat. No. 6,362,986 adopts a core material which has a plurality of cores. The exposed surface area of the core and coil and so forth is therefore large.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Switching power supply with smoothing circuitry for more stable output


A method for passing on at least one consignment from a transferring vehicle to a receiving vehicle in which the transferring vehicle and the receiving vehicle are made to roughly approach one another, in which, after the transferring vehicle and the receiving vehicle have been made to roughly approach one another, they are made to approach one another precisely while approximating the speeds and the directions of travel of the transferring vehicle and the receiving vehicle to one another, in which, while the transferring vehicle and the receiving vehicle are traveling with speeds and directions of travel which are approximate to one another, the at least one consignment is transferred from the transferring vehicle to the receiving vehicle, and in which, after the transfer of the at least one consignment has taken place, the transferring vehicle and the receiving vehicle move away from one another.

In modern goods traffic, consignments are usually not transported directly to a predefined destination but rather in several stages, with the consignments being transported with different means of transportation in the stages. By the time the consignments reach the predetermined destination, the consignments are therefore often reloaded repeatedly. In many cases, the reloading occurs directly from one land vehicle to another land vehicle, with the land vehicle used being one which is usually provided for transporting goods over the public road network. In particular, the vehicle is a utility vehicle, that is to say a vehicle which is not designed specifically for conveying passengers but rather, in particular, for transporting payload, that is to say goods, merchandise, consignments and the like. Utility vehicles in this context are, in particular, trucks, trailers, semitrailers and the like.
The consignments can be reloaded directly from one vehicle to another vehicle or else also stored intermediately. In many cases, the vehicles usually travel to special trans-shipment centers where the reloading of the consignments takes place. The vehicle delivering the consignment to be transferred is typically at the trans-shipment center before the vehicle with which the consignment is to be transported further, with the result that the consignment is, where required, intermediately stored in a warehouse. As a result of the reloading of the consignments, consignments can be combined to form a common freight shipment which is transported together over a specific route. At the destination of the freight shipment, the consignments are reloaded again and combined again in another combination to form a freight shipment which has to be tranported in the same direction. It is therefore possible to avoid unnecessary journeys or journeys with vehicles which are not fully loaded. This method, not least, reduces transportation costs. However, the reloading of the consignments between the starting point and the destination of the consignment entails a certain time loss and reduces the flexibility for the transportation of individual consignments. If very flexible and/or very rapid transportation of consignments is to take place, the consignments are therefore often delivered directly, that is to say taken to the destination directly. However, this generally entails higher costs, specifically, in particular, if the consignment only partially takes up the loading capacity of the utility vehicle, which is often the case in these situations. There is therefore basically a further need for optimization in terms of rapid and reliable but at the same time cost-effective transportation of consignments.

Method for passing on at least one consignment from a transferring vehicle to a receiving vehicle, and transferring vehicle


A magnet device is provided with two static magnetic field generating sources 14a and 14b disposed so as to oppose each other while placing a person to be inspected therebetween, a vessel 15 containing the static magnetic field generating source 14a and a vessel 16 containing the static magnetic field generating source 14b, and the vessels 15 and 16 are disposed at positions asymmetric with respect to the person to be inspected.

The present invention relates to a magnetic device having two static magnetic field generating sources disposed so as to oppose each other and to a nuclear magnetic resonance imaging device (MRI) using the same.
FIG. 10 shows an example of super conducting magnet device used largely in conventional MRI devices.
A super conducting magnet device 171 which constitutes an MRI device includes a cylindrical hollow portion 174 near the center of which a uniform static magnetic field is generated. The super conducting magnet device 171 is constituted by divided solenoid coils wound around respective cylindrical bobbins. The coils are usually formed by super conducting wire material using NbNi, and function as super conducting coils carrying super conducting current under a condition being cooled at a temperature of about 4.2 k by liquid helium. The liquid helium is stored in a low temperature vessel not illustrated.
A patient representing an inspection body 172 is carried into the uniform magnetic field region existing within the cylindrical hollow portion 174 with a movable bed 173.
However, in a conventional MRI device using the magnet device with the above explained structure, since the patient had to enter into the narrow and small cylindrical hollow portion 174, the patient was subjected to an intense claustrophobia. For this reason, patients sometimes refused to enter into the device.
Further, it was difficult for an operator such as a medical doctor to access a person to be inspected during image taking so that a so called IVR (Interventional Radiology) was impossible.
As a technology for resolving the above problem, an open type MRI has been proposed recently as disclosed, for example, in JP-A-9-190913(1997).
The open type MRI device includes, for example, an upper magnet assembly 33 and a lower magnet assembly 34 and is constituted thereby as illustrated in FIG. 11.
In the drawing, super conducting coils 44 are disposed in a low temperature vessel 46 and which is contained in a vacuum vessel 45. The lower magnetic assembly is structured in the same manner.
In this open type MRI device a uniform static magnetic field in vertical direction is generated at a center portion of the magnet, in that on a geometrical center plane between both magnet assemblies which locates at equal distance from both magnet assemblies, and a patient 36 is carried through a movable bed 35 so that a portion to be imaged enters into a uniform magnetic field region 42.
With such open type MRI device, the patient 36 scarcely feels claustrophobia, because the patient 36 is entered into a highly open space.
However, in such conventional open type MRI device since a uniform magnetic field is generated in the region 42 which locates at equal distance from the upper and lower magnet assemblies as has been explained above, it is necessary to carry the patient to a position which locates at equal distance from the upper and lower magnet assemblies, when MRI images are taken.
For this reason, there was a problem that since a space portion 43 underside the patient operates as a dead space, a space 41 between the magnet assemblies is not effectively used. Further, in the drawing numeral 37 is an operator, numerals 38 and 39 are leakage magnetic field suppressing members belonging to the upper magnet assembly 33 and numeral 40 is a support column of magnetic material which connects and supports the upper leakage magnetic field suppressing members and like lower leakage magnetic field suppressing members.
In view of the above problems, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnet device for an MRI device and an MRI device using the same which removes a dead space between a lower magnet assembly and a bed, permits an effective use of a space between upper and lower magnet assemblies without increasing the size of the device and completing the structure thereof, and creates a broad upper space which provides a highly open space and permits for an operator to easily access a patient.
One aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a magnet device which is characterized, in that the magnet device comprises, two static magnetic field generating sources which are disposed so as to oppose each other while placing an inspection body therebetween;
a first vessel which contains one of the two static magnetic field generating sources; and
a second vessel which contains the other of the two static magnetic field generating sources, wherein the first vessel and the second vessel are disposed at positions asymmetric with respect the inspection body.
Another aspect of the present invention for achieving the above object is to provide a static magnetic field generating device for an open type MRI device which is characterized, in that the static magnetic field generating device comprises a pair of magnet assemblies which are disposed in vertical direction opposing each other while sandwiching a space for receiving a person to be inspected and respectively generate magnetic fields in vertical direction, wherein an absolute value of total magnetic moment produced by an upper magnet assembly is set larger than an absolute value of total magnetic moment produced by a lower magnet assembly in the pair of magnet assemblies so that a uniform magnetic field region produced by the pair of magnet assemblies covers a position of the person to be inspected who is laid on a lower position than a geometrical center plane of the space formed by the pair of magnet assemblies.

Open MRI system with a vertical static field and an imaging volume closer to the lower than to the upper magnet assembly

Abstract: Thereby, a magnet device and an MRI device using the same which can extend a space above the person to be inspected on a bed while avoiding introduction of a large scale device which causes to increase the manufacturing cost thereof.


In a multi-piece solid golf ball having a core, a cover and an intermediate layer therebetween, letting Hc be the JIS-C hardness at the core center, H12 be the JIS-C hardness at a position 12 mm from the core center and Ho be the JIS-C hardness at the core surface, the core has a hardness profile which satisfies the conditions 0≦H12−Hc≦15, 15≦Ho−H12≦30, (Ho−H12)−(H12−Hc)≧10 and 20≦Ho−Hc≦40. Also, letting A be the value represented by (Ho−H12)−(H12−Hc), the spin index of the ball, defined as the dynamic coefficient of friction for the ball multiplied by A, is at least 3.0. This golf ball can satisfy at a high level the flight and control performance relied on by professional golfers and skilled amateurs.

In the art relating to golf balls of two or more pieces having a core and a cover and to multi-piece solid golf balls of three or more pieces having a core, an intermediate layer and a cover, a number of disclosures have hitherto been made which focus on the hardness profile in the core and on the hardness relationship between the intermediate layer and the cover, the intermediate layer material and the like. Such golf balls are described in, for example, JP-A 9-239068, JP-A 2003-190330, JP-A 2004-49913, JP-A 2002-315848, JP-A 2001-54588, JP-A 2002-85588, JP-A 2002-85589, JP-A 2002-85587, JP-A 2002-186686, JP-A 2009-34505 and JP-A 2011-120898.
However, there has been room for further improvement in the core hardness profile of such golf balls. Also, from a standpoint other than that of seeking to optimize the core hardness profile and the overall hardness and thickness parameters of the ball, there has existed a desire for a solid golf ball which, by increasing the distance on shots with a driver (W#1) and improving the spin performance on approach shots with various short irons, has an even more improved performance than in the prior art.


An image reader uses a film having a magnetic information recording section. An image entry section reads a photographic image captured on a film and digitizes it. A setting section sets at least one imaging condition selected from the integration time, gradation conversion characteristic, and resolution of the image entry section as control information. A magnetic writing section writes the control information set by the setting section onto the magnetic information recording section of the film. A magnetic reading section reads the control information from the magnetic information recording section. A control section is responsive to the control information read by the reading section to control the image entry section.

The present invention relates to an image reader and more specifically to an image reader for digitizing images recorded on photographic films.
As is well known, an image reader, such as a film scanner, is generally used to digitize images recorded on photographic films with high quality.
With a photographic film which, like IX240, has a magnetic recording section, film images can be digitized easily by the use of shooting information recorded on the magnetic recording section of the film at the time of shooting, such as trimming information, image size information, light source information, etc., as disclosed in Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 6-98092.
In general, a solid-state imaging device, such as a CCD, is used to read in images recorded on photographic films.
Thus, in many cases, the range of gradation of read images is narrower than that of on-film images; mere information recorded at the time of shooting is not enough to provide satisfactory digitized images.
In order to provide digitized images as users desire, it is required to change the integration time (charge storage time) or the gradation conversion characteristic (characteristic of output relative to input) of the solid-state imaging device each time an image is read and digitized.
In particular, it is almost impossible to digitize an image again under the same conditions as when it was digitized.
Similarly, same can be said with respect to information such as trimming information set by a user.

Film image reader with function of writing image entry-time conditions on magnetic recording section for reutilization thereof


An energy absorbing vehicle door includes an inner panel, an outer panel joined to the inner panel, a door trim panel mounted on the inner panel, and energy absorbing bolsters protracting through the door trim panel for movement independently into an occupant compartment of the vehicle during a side collision type impact of the vehicle door.

1. Field Of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to doors and side panels for vehicles and, more specifically, to energy absorbing doors and body side panels for vehicles.
2. Description Of the Related Art
It is known to construct doors and body side panels for vehicles such as automotive vehicles. Typically, the door and body side panel construction includes inner and outer panels. Decorative trim panels are usually mounted to the inner panels of the door and body side panels.
It is also known that vehicles may collide with obstacles during operation. As a result, automotive vehicles have provided various structural upgrades and restraint systems to lessen the effects of a collision type impact on an occupant compartment of the vehicle. For example, some automotive vehicles include an air bag to lessen the effects of a frontal collision type impact. As to a side collision type impact, some automotive vehicles may include door intrusion beams, body side structural upgrades, and/or side bolsters of foam or honeycomb construction. While the door intrusion beams and body side structural upgrades provide some advantages in lessening the effects on the occupant compartment from a side collision type impact, they suffer from the disadvantage of being relatively expensive and weighty. A disadvantage of the side bolster mounted on the occupant compartment side of the trim panel is the reduction of the lateral space available to the occupants.

Energy absorbing vehicle door and side panels


A modular enclosure for personal computer systems substantially comprises a 5-sided steel chassis, a plastic subassembly tray, a plastic detachable back panel, and a 4-sided plastic top cover including an integrally formed front panel. The internal subassembly tray comprises appropriately formed bays designed to receive various system subassemblies, each bay having an integrally formed subassembly retaining means to bear against and retain a subassembly placed in the bay. Top side and rear electromagnetic interference (EMI) shields are fitted and secured to the interior portions of the plastic topcover and rear panel so as to peripherally contact the chassis when the topcover and rear panel are installed. The internal subassembly tray is lowered into the interior region of the chassis and snapped into place at the front portion thereof. The rear panel is then positioned and secured to the chassis. A plurality of subassemblies, including disk drives and main circuit board may be secured in the subassembly tray and chassis, and interconnected via an appropriately sized subassembly and main cable bundles. Front EMI shields are snapped in place onto the chassis. Tab members disposed in the lower front edge of the topcover assembly are positioned into tab-receiving slots in the lower front edge of the chassis. The topcover assembly is rotated downward until the top side EMI shield contacts the top rim of the steel chassis, and thereafter secured onto the base assembly by engaging large cover-mounting snaps, formed in the top cover, into complimentary hooks formed in the rear panel secured to the rear portion of the chassis-tray assembly. Line power to a power supply is switchably engaged by a frontally disposed button on the topcover assembly through an actuator to an internal power supply switch.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer enclosure construction designs and methods. More particularly, the present invention relates to a personal computer enclosure designed to be assembled and to receive modular subassembly components substantially with minimal fasteners or other assembly hardware.
2. Art Background
Computer systems typically comprise numerous electronic and mechanical components and subsystems coupled together to function as a unit. For example, a common arrangement of component subparts forming a personal computer system might include a central processor unit (CPU), memory devices, and input and output (I/O) controllers coupled to a main processor board, with other peripheral devices (e.g., floppy, hard, or optical mass storage drives) and functional subassemblies (e.g., power supplies) mounted elsewhere within a housing or enclosure. The various peripheral and functional subassemblies of the personal computer are connected to each other by wiring or other communications pathways.
In the prior art, a computer enclosure typically may comprise a substantially rectangular metal housing having threaded through-holes or spot-welded brackets and standoffs positioned to receive the above subassemblies. The subassemblies typically are installed into computer enclosures using straightforward mounting methods and hardware, including screws, clamps, rivets, brackets, and other fixtures requiring use of hand or machine tools. Occasionally the mechanical strength of an enclosure is enhanced by providing an internal metal chassis to receive and support the subassemblies, wherein the chassis is enclosed within a plastic shell mounted over the chassis to provide attractive appearance and finish. In such a case, subassemblies must be fastened onto the metal chassis using the above hardware with hand or machine tools. Additionally, metal enclosures may entail higher material costs and greater weight than comparable plastic parts.
Especially in the rapidly evolving field of personal computers, modularity and interchangeability of system subassemblies is important to manufacturers, retailers, and users alike. In the case of a manufacturer, modularity is important because the manufacturer can more easily and cost effectively adapt finished goods to customer demands and technology changes without substantially redesigning or rebuilding existing such products. Moreover, products can be more easily built at a central manufacturing site, and later customized for localized domestic or foreign use. Alternatively, a retailer can more easily update stocked but unsold computer systems as more powerful subassemblies become available, or to upgrade and service customers' computer systems. Customers benefit from modular system designs because they initially can purchase a base system which meets their present needs, and later expand their systems' performance and storage functions by replacing components to achieve higher performance. For example, a customer may wish to replace his existing processor board with a more powerful processor board, or to replace an existing disk drive with a higher capacity mass storage device, but without incurring significant dealer service costs in performing the upgrade.
Prior art computer system designs have included some modularity in that processor boards and mass storage devices could be removed and replaced. However, such replacement typically requires that many of the subassemblies, especially those mounted near the top of the computer enclosure, be removed to gain access to the lower mounted subassemblies. As a result, a substantial portion of a typical prior art computer system must be disassembled to install a new subassembly. Similarly, a manufacturer seeking to reconfigure an existing product design to support additional rear panel connectivity may have to provide an entirely newly design enclosure because the original enclosure integrally incorporates the rear panel connector openings. For a manufacturer seeking to upgrade finished goods with a newly available product, such disassembly and reassembly can substantially increase labor costs, and therefore the final cost of the computer system.
As will be described in the following detailed description, the present invention overcomes many of the problems associated with prior art personal computer system enclosures by providing a lightweight, simple to manufacture yet robust, design comprising essentially four parts which can be substantially snapped together, and which uses only minimal traditional hardware. The enclosure is designed to receive all functional components and subassemblies necessary to the operation of a personal computer system without limiting access to any other subassembly. Moreover, certain cosmetic exterior panels may be removed and replaced. As a result, a personal computer system designed and assembled in accordance with the present invention can be readily and inexpensively reconfigured or updated by the manufacturer, retailer, or end user without need for time consuming or costly disassembly and assembly operations.

Methods and apparatus for snap-together computer construction


The present disclosure discloses a media information processing method performed by a media information processing apparatus. The apparatus determines media information clips of target media information and their characteristics, and generates a first media information clip of a first user based on the determined characteristics. Next the apparatus determines media information clips other than the target media information clip in the target media information, and obtains a second media information clip corresponding to the characteristics of the determined media information clips. The apparatus then determines a splicing manner of the media information clips in the target media information, and splices the first media information clip and the second media information clip based on the determined splicing manner. By implementing the present disclosure, a media information clip obtained by a user through photographing and media information obtained by the user through imitation can be efficiently and seamlessly integrated.

Currently, networks such as the Internet develop quickly, and become important media through which users obtain information and share information. Continuous improvement in network access bandwidth and rapid development of mobile communications make it possible for users to share media information (such as video information or audio information) anytime and anywhere.
Users usually share media information in a plurality of forms. A user performs, by using a device such as using a camera in a mobile terminal device such as a smartphone or a tablet computer, photographing to obtain video information, and locally stores the video information in the device, or shares the video information, for example, shares the video information in a social network or shares the video information with a particular contact.
With the rise of we-media, a user has a requirement of performing imitation performance on conventional media information including clips (or entirety) in off-the-shelf movie and television works such as movies and television series and photographing the imitation performance to obtain a corresponding media information clip, and after performing the photographing to obtain the media information clip, the user processes the media information clip by using professional media editing software, and replaces an original media information clip in the media information with the media information clip obtained through the photographing, to implement fusion of the media information clip obtained by the user through the photographing and the media information.
However, in the related technology, there is no effective solution for how to efficiently and seamlessly integrate a media information clip obtained by a user through photographing and media information obtained by the user through imitation.

Splicing user generated clips into target media information

Tencent Technology (Shenzhen) Company Limited


The invention provides compositions and methods for reducing one or more symptoms of disease by administering compositions comprising SipA. The invention's compositions and methods are particularly advantageous in reducing symptoms of diseases that are associated with overexpression of P-gp and/or p53. The invention's compositions and methods are useful in reducing cancer symptom and/or cancer multidrug resistance (MDR). The invention provides a method for reducing one or more symptoms of cancer in a mammalian subject in need thereof, comprising administering to said subject a composition comprising purified SipA. In one embodiment, said SipA is operably conjugated to a nanoparticle. In another embodiment, said cancer comprises cancer cells resistant to at least one cytotoxin.

Current therapies used to treat disease (e.g., cancer, infection with microorganisms, etc.) have considerable limitations. For example, current chemotherapeutics used to treat many cancer patients suffer from high toxicity, poor tumor targeting, and multidrug resistance (MDR), which together often result in incomplete destruction of the tumors. These drawbacks prevent effective treatment and are associated with increased morbidity and mortality.
The ability of cancer cells to develop resistance to multiple structurally and functionally non-related cytotoxic drugs, such as multi-drug resistance, is a major barrier to effective chemotherapy and is a critical unmet need. Over the past two decades, numerous researchers across many disciplines have investigated multidrug resistance with the ultimate goal of developing novel P-gp modulators as a way to revert MDR in human cancers. Excitement in this field of drug development is bolstered by several reports documenting many agents, which modulate the function of P-gp are able to restore the cytotoxicity of chemotherapeutic drugs to MDR cells in vitro as well as in experimental tumors in vivo (6). Clinical trials with MDR modulators have also shown some response in tumors that were otherwise non-responsive to chemotherapy (7).
While constitutive P-gp expression in normal healthy tissues is believed to be an important protective mechanism against potentially toxic xenobiotics, during disease states, such as cancer, P-gp is recognized as a major barrier to the bioavailability of administered drugs and thus, resistance to chemotherapy remains an obstacle to the successful treatment of certain cancers (Johnstone et al. (2000), Ho et al. (2003)). Recent chemotherapeutic strategies have integrated the use of hammerhead ribozymes against the MDR1 gene (encodes for P-gp) and MDR1 targeted anti-sense oligonucleotides (Fojo et al., 2003). Yet, despite these advances, all MDR inhibitors in development that have progressed to the stage of clinical trials have been generally ineffective or only effective at highly toxic doses (Baird et al., 2003). In addition, many of these modulators adversely influence the pharmacokinetics and bio-distribution of co-administered chemotherapeutic drugs. Moreover, although siRNA mediated silencing of P-gp is a promising approach, this method may genetically alter cell fate and require delicate constructed delivery systems that has, thus far, hampered its clinic usage.
Despite advances in the field, all MDR inhibitors in development that have progressed to the stage of clinical trials have been widely ineffective or only effective at highly toxic doses (8). Furthermore, since most of the prior art modulators adversely influence the pharmacokinetics and biodistribution of co-administered chemotherapeutic drugs, there remains a need for new, effective MDR and/or P-gp modulators without the undesired side effects (4).

Compositions and methods for treating disease using


There is disclosed a paddle switch operated by pushing on the lower portion of a rocker paddle to turn the switch “on” or “off”. The lower edge of the paddle pivots in and out about its upper edge. The switch includes articulated driver means coupled to be driven by the rocker paddle when it is depressed and to urge the rocker paddle back to its out position. When the rocker paddle is pushed in, it urges the articulated driver means to rotate a cam means in a first, clock wise direction, or a second, counter clockwise direction. Alternate rotation of the cam drives a slider member having a cam follower back and forth along a linear axis. A shaped leaf spring cooperates with the cam follower to assist in the movement of the slider and to determine its rest positions. An indicator such as an LED is used to indicate the state of conduction of the switch. When the rocker paddle is released, it is biased by the articulated drive means to pivot back to its initial position. The rocker paddle of the switch is not located within a frame and has surface along its vertical axis of positive first differential and zero second differential, comprised of a combination of splines which extend between points of varying distances from a datum plane. This surface has zero second differential when the rate of height increase of individual splines is constant.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of electrical wiring devices such as, by way of example only, electrical switches and receptacles of the type installed in building walls, and more specifically to a robust electrical wiring device system whose components may be modular and interchangeable and which provide a substantially unified blended appearance when combined with one another. The present patent specification describes such a robust system and, in whole or in part, is common in part to several patent applications whose claims vary and/or are directed to portions and/or components of the robust system.
2. Description of the Related Art
When modifying the wiring in an existing building, whether public, commercial or residential by adding a wiring device such as a switch, a receptacle or a combination of a receptacle and a switch, it is necessary to cut a hole in a wall of the building, install a box within the hole, attach the box to a vertical stud, for example, and install the wiring device(s) into the box. In new construction, the box is attached to a stud of an open wall and, thereafter, the wall, which may be sheet rock having an opening for access to the box, is placed over the studs. The conventional wall box has pairs of mounting ears for mounting the wiring devices to the box. After the wiring devices are connected to the various conductors they will service, each is fastened with threaded fasteners (sometimes referred to as bolts or screws, and these terms are used interchangeably herein) to a pair of ears on the box. The process of connecting a wiring device to various conductors and then attaching the wiring device with the attached wires to the box is done for each wiring device located within the box. Thereafter, a wall plate is typically positioned around or over each of the wiring devices in the box.
Typical installations can include a single wiring device or multiple wiring devices positioned side by side in a common box. In installations where there are multiple wiring devices in a common box, the installation of the wall plate can be time consuming. This is so because a wall plate for use with multiple wiring devices has a separate window opening for each wiring device. Thus, the wiring devices must be aligned with each other, must be positioned parallel to each other and must be spaced from each other by a distance that is dictated by the spacing between the openings or windows in the wall plate. Misalignment and positioning problems are often caused by wall boxes that are skewed relative to the wall or by walls which may not be flat. It is only after all of the wiring devices are accurately positioned relative to each other that a wall plate can be installed around the wiring devices.
A common type of electrical wiring device in use today is the rocker type Decora-branded electrical switch whose activating member pivots about a centrally located horizontal axis. The trademark Decora is owned by the assignee of the present invention. To operate, the rocker switch actuating member is pushed in at the top to supply electricity to a load such as a light, and is pushed in at the bottom to disconnect the source of electricity from the load. Thus, with two or more rocker type of switches positioned side by side in a box, the actuating members of the switches can be in opposite positions at any one time. For example, with two rocker type switches positioned side-by-side in a box, what will be called the top edge associated with the "on state or position" of the actuating member of one switch will be flush with the top surface of the wall plate when in its on position while, at the same time, the top edge of the adjacent switch will be flush with the bottom surface defining the opening of the wall plate when in its off position. This in-out positioning of adjacent switches can also occur when both switches are in their on or off state if one or each of the switches is a 3-way or 4-way switch. The irregular in-out positioning of adjacent switches, particularly with 3-way and 4-way switches, can create operational uncertainty in the mind of the user as to which switch is in the on position and which switch is in the off position when subsequent activation or deactivation of less than all of the rocker switches is required by a user.
Thus, what is needed is a rocker type of switch that is always in the same position i.e., bottom edge out, top edge in, regardless of its state of conduction, i.e., on or off. What is also needed is a switch which, when positioned side by side with another or other switches in a common box, that the switches are always aligned with each other regardless of whether they are in their on state or off state.

Rocker paddle switch with articulated cam driver


A rotor (38) for a gas turbine engine (10) has a low emissivity surface finish, or high emissivity surface finish (44), on at least a portion of its surface (42) to reduce temperature differentials between an upper portion and a lower portion of the rotor (38). This reduces bowing of the rotor (38) to allow the gas turbine engine (10) to be started without harmful vibrations of the rotor (38).

The present invention relates to gas turbine engines, particularly aero gas turbine engines.
One problem with gas turbine engines is the thermal distortion which occurs when a gas turbine engine is shut down after use. The residual heat in the various components of the gas turbine engine causes convection currents to be set up which cause the upper portions of the gas turbine engine to retain their heat for longer than the lower portions of the gas turbine engine. This produces a temperature differential which in turn caused differential thermal expansion.
The effect of the differential thermal expansion is to cause at least the rotors, particularly the high pressure rotor, to bow upwardly. The amount of rotor bow is time dependent. For a given heat content within the gas turbine engine, the maximum rotor bow will occur some time after shut down, when the convective heat transfer has had time to act, but before the gas turbine engine has cooled down. The magnitude of the temperature differential between the upper portion and the lower portion of the gas turbine engine and the magnitude of the rotor bow depends on the heat content of the gas turbine engine, so that when the gas turbine engine has cooled down the temperature differential and rotor bow disappear.
The distortion, or bowing, of the rotor in itself is not harmful to the gas turbine engine. However, if it is desired to restart the gas turbine engine while the rotor of the gas turbine engine is distorted, or bowed, due to the differential thermal expansion the displacement of the centre of mass of the distorted rotor from the centre of rotation may create problems.
The first problem is large, damaging vibrations of the rotor and possibly rubbing of the rotor with the surrounding stator when the rotor passes through its first critical speed because the rotor of the gas turbine engine is distorted, or bowed, due to the differential thermal expansion. It is normal practice to arrange for the first critical speed of the rotor to be less than the idle speed. The rotor typically comprises two portions which are connected by a spigotted, bolted, joint. As the rotor cools down the spigotted, bolted, joint may become loose due to the differential thermal expansion and hence the vibrations of the rotor may produce wear at the spigotted, bolted, joints. The worn spigotted, bolted, joints exacerbate the vibrational response of the gas turbine engine rotor to rotor bowing.
The second problem is additional stresses are produced in the rotor when the rotor reaches high speed operation after start up if the rotor of the gas turbine engine is distorted, or bowed, due to the differential thermal expansion. The gas turbine engine may be started from a cooling condition and accelerated to idle speed and then to high speed before the rotor has warmed through to a uniform temperature circumferentially around the rotor. This is because of the high thermal inertia of the rotor discs and drums. The effect of the rotor bow is to superimpose an extra stress onto the high stress levels in the rotor, thus some circumferential parts of the rotor will have an additional tensile stress and some circumferential parts will have an additional compressive stress. The result is that the expected service life of a rotor that is frequently started in a bowed condition is less than that of a rotor that is never started in a bowed condition.
UK patent application GB2117842A discloses the use of ducts and blowers to circulate warmer gas from the upper portion of the gas turbine engine to the lower portion of the gas turbine engine or circulate cooler gas from the lower portion of the gas turbine engine to the upper portion of the gas turbine engine. This requires the provision of ducts and blowers to the gas turbine engine which adds weight and cost to the gas turbine engine.
UK patent application GB2117450A discloses the use of a particular mounting arrangement for the compressor casing and heaters to differentially heat the mounting to displace the casing to compensate for the distortion of the rotor. This requires the provision of the particular mounting and heaters which adds weight and cost to the gas turbine engine and does not solve the problem of vibration of, the rotor.
Accordingly the present invention seeks to provide a novel component for a gas turbine engine which overcomes the above mentioned problems.
Accordingly the present invention provides a gas turbine engine comprising at least one rotor and at least one casing arranged coaxially around the at least one rotor, at least one of the at least one rotor or the at least one casing having a low emissivity surface finish, or high emissivity surface finish, on at least a portion of its surface to reduce temperature differentials between an upper portion and a lower portion of the at least one rotor.
Preferably the gas turbine engine comprises a low pressure rotor and a high pressure rotor arranged coaxially around the low pressure rotor and at least one casing arranged coaxially around the high pressure rotor, at least one of the high pressure rotor, the low pressure rotor or the at least one casing having a low emissivity surface finish, or high emissivity surface finish, on at least a portion of its surface to reduce temperature differentials between an upper portion and a lower portion of at least one of the low pressure rotor and the high pressure rotor.
The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially the whole of the radially inner surface of the high pressure rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially the whole of the radially inner surface of the low pressure rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially the whole of the radially outer surface of the low pressure rotor.
A low emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the high pressure rotor and a low emissivity surface finish is arranged on a portion of the radially inner surface of the high pressure rotor.
A high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the radially inner surface of the high pressure rotor, a high emissivity surface finish is arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the high pressure rotor, a low emissivity surface finish is arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the high pressure rotor and a low emissivity surface finish is arranged on at least a portion of the radially inner surface of the high pressure rotor.
The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the downstream surface of the high pressure rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially all of the downstream surface of the high pressure rotor.
The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the downstream surface of the low pressure rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially all of the downstream surface of the low pressure rotor.
The high pressure rotor may comprise a high pressure compressor and a high pressure turbine and the low pressure rotor comprises a low pressure compressor and a low pressure turbine.
The high pressure turbine may comprise at least one turbine disc and the low pressure turbine comprises at least one turbine disc.
The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on the upstream surface of each turbine disc on the high pressure rotor and the downstream surface of each turbine disc on the high pressure rotor.
The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on the upstream surface of each turbine disc on the low pressure rotor and the downstream surface of each turbine disc on the low pressure rotor.
The at least one casing may be arranged around the high pressure turbine and the low pressure turbine, at least a portion of the at least one casing having a high emissivity surface finish on its outer surface to increase the rate of radiation of heat from at least one of the turbines.
At least a portion of the at least one casing may have a high emissivity surface finish on its outer surface. At least a portion of the at least one casing may have a high emissivity surface finish or a low emissivity surface finish on its inner surface.
The high emissivity surface finish may comprise a coating applied to, or formed on, the surface of the at least one rotor or the at least one casing. The coating may comprise a high emissivity metal oxide, a metal oxide formed on the at least one rotor or the at least one casing due to oxidation of the at least one rotor or the at least one casing, carbon, black paint or other suitable colour paint.
The low emissivity surface finish may comprise a polished or machined portion of the surface of the at least one rotor or the at least one casing, or a coating applied to the surface of the at least one rotor or the at least one casing. The coating may comprise a polished metal coating, a polished silver coating, a polished gold coating, or a low emissivity metal oxide.
The at least one rotor may be rotatably mounted on the casing by a support structure, the support structure carrying a bearing chamber having a bearing.
The surface of the bearing chamber having a low emissivity surface finish. The upstream and downstream surfaces of the support structure having a high emissivity surface finish.
The present invention also provides a rotor for a gas turbine engine having a low emissivity surface finish, or high emissivity surface finish, on at least a portion of its surface to reduce temperature differentials between an upper portion and a lower portion of the rotor.
A high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the radially inner surface of the rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially the whole of the radially inner surface of the rotor. A high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially the whole of the radially outer surface of the rotor.
A low emissivity surface may be arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the rotor. The low emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially the whole of the radially outer surface of the rotor.
A high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the radially inner surface of the rotor, a high emissivity surface finish is arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the rotor, a low emissivity surface finish is arranged on at least a portion of the radially outer surface of the rotor and a low emissivity surface finish is arranged on at least a portion of the radially inner surface of the rotor.
A high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on at least a portion of the downstream surface of the rotor. The high emissivity surface finish may be arranged on substantially all of the downstream surface of the rotor.
The rotor may be a high pressure rotor, an intermediate pressure rotor or a low pressure rotor.
The high emissivity surface finish may comprise a coating applied to, or formed on, the surface of the rotor. The coating may comprise a high emissivity metal oxide, a metal oxide formed on the rotor due to oxidation of the rotor, carbon, black paint or other suitable colour paint.
The low emissivity surface finish may comprise a polished or other machined portion of the surface of the rotor or a coating applied to the surface of the rotor. The coating may comprise a polished metal coating, a polished silver coating, a polished gold coating, or a low emissivity metal oxide.

Gas turbine engine and a rotor for a gas turbine engine


The belt retractor with a belt pretensioner acting on the belt drum (12) has a pyrotechnical piston and cylinder linear drive (22). A rack (32) adapted to be subjected to thrust is connected with the piston (28) of such linear drive (22). The rack (32) is able to be drivingly coupled with the belt drum by the intermediary of a step-up gear wheel transmission (34, 36, 44). After tensioning of the belt, tensions in the safety belt system are limited by plastic deformation of a torsion rod (38), and peak strain values are decreased.. The belt retractor is integrated with the belt pretensioner and the energy converter as a compact assembly.

The present invention relates to a belt retractor for vehicle safety belts, comprising a belt pretensioner acting on the belt drum and having a linear drive, and a transmission means for converting the linear movement of the linear drive into a rotary movement.
Such a belt retractor is integrated with the belt pretensioner as a single assembly. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,423,846 a number of designs of such an assembly are described. On tripping the belt pretensioner the movement of the piston of the pyrotechnical linear piston and cylinder drive unit is transmitted via a cable to a pulley whose periphery is engaged by the cable. This pulley is then caused to rotate by the tension exerted by the cable and at the start of such rotation it is drivingly coupled with the belt drum. The cable and the pulley constitute a transmission means for converting the stroke of the piston into rotation of the belt drum. Owing to the rotation of the belt drum there is a tightening of the belt webbing. The angle of rotation necessary for a sufficient tightening of the belt requires a relatively large stroke of the piston. The cylinder of the piston and cylinder unit has to be made with a corresponding length so that the assembly consisting of the belt retractor and the belt pretensioner needs a correspondingly large amount of space in the vehicle.
A primary object of the present invention is to improve a belt retractor of the type referred to above so that a short working stroke of the linear drive is sufficient to achieve the desired pretensioning of the webbing, thus permitting a more compact design of the retractor/pretensioner unit.

Belt retractor with a belt pretensioner acting on the belt drum


A food serving container which includes a tray which is formed by a front section and a rear section. Both the front section and the rear section have a side wall which connect together to form an enclosing side wall when the tray is in a stored position permitting a sandwich to be located and stored within the chamber of the tray. The front section is capable of pivoting relative to the rear section to an inclined position which facilitates consuming of the sandwich with the front section functioning to catch and collect any sandwich drippings that may occur doing the consuming procedure. With the front section in the usage position, the upstanding side wall of the front section is limited to the extent of movement relative to the rear section.

1) Field Of The Invention
The field of this invention relates to containers for food products and more particularly a food product which is designed to be consumed while being held in the consumers hand, more particularly, to food in the form of a sandwich being located inside of and supported by the serving container while being consumed.
2) Description Of The Prior Art
Food products which are consumed while being held in the consumers hand are extremely common. One particular common such food product is a sandwich and specifically a bun-type sandwich. These type of sandwiches are in widespread usage by fast food type of restaurants. It is common that these kinds of sandwiches are purchased by individuals from motor vehicles with the sandwich being consumed as the individual operates the motor vehicle.
Sandwiches contain bread, meat, tomatoes, dressing, ketchup, mustard, onion lettuce and other types of food materials. It is exceedingly common that during the consuming process there may be produced a dripping which may be either the bread, meat or some liquid or semi-liquid material such as a dressing. The consumer may be impeccably dressed and while consuming of the sandwich, food dripping may occur on the clothing of the individual. This can prove to be undesirable especially if the consumer is in route to an important meeting or similar type of activity.
In the past, there have been produced containers for supporting and facilitating eating of food separate from the container. Reference is to be had to U.S. Pat. No. 5,181,649, issued Jan. 26, 1993, by the present inventor, where a type of container is disclosed that has been designed for the purpose of minimizing direct contact of a sandwich with the hand or hands of the consumer and also functions to collect any food drippings from the sandwich that may occur. The sandwich serving container of the aforesaid patent, although functioning satisfactorily, was in need of improvement. There was a need to insure that all food drippings would be collected. Also, there was a need to construct a container as cheaply as possible. Additionally, it is important to construct a container in a manner so that it will not interfere with the normal consuming process of the sandwich.


A self-contained camera device (10) and method for capturing and communicating images via a modem (13). The self-contained camera device (10) comprises an image capturing device (15) and a chassis (11) for receiving a storage module or a modem (13). A removable modem (13) is mountable on the chassis (11) and couplable to the image capturing device (15). The removable modem (13) is replaceable with the storage module.

The present invention relates to a self-contained camera device and method for capturing and communicating images via a modem.
Currently, self-contained camera devices use external cabled connections to interconnect portable video cameras to radio frequency transmitters (typically analog video transmissions). These devices require dedicated redundant hardware to perform a dedicated function. A common application for such devices is for use in electronic news gathering activity and sports events.
Another application for a similar concept is in wireless in-home video distribution. In this application, a wireless video transmitter is cabled to a device such as a video cassette recorder (VCR), which enables the user to remotely view content without necessitating wiring a household. This application, however, requires a user to connect separate video and audio cables, as well as a power cable, to the host device resulting in a system that requires several pieces of equipment.
Thus, a need exists for a method and apparatus that provides an additional interface to the outside world without losing the functionality of a host device and provides for a way to achieve network connectivity for a consumer without the consumer having to purchase redundant hardware.

Self-contained camera device and method for capturing and communicating images via a modem


A Network Function (NF) entity in a telecommunication network receives blockchain credentials associated with UE and selects a Blockchain Charging Function (BCF). The NF entity further generates a Charging Data Record (CDR) corresponding to network resources, and sends a charging request based on the CDR (and policy rules) to the BCF entity over a blockchain network interface. The BCF entity sends a confirmation of the charging request, and the NF entity, based on the confirmation, provisions the network resources to the UE.

An ever-increasing consumer demand, improved technological advancements (e.g., hardware/software infrastructure), and industry collaboration has driven significant growth in modern telecommunication networks and continues to drive its evolution. Indeed, each iteration or "next generation" of network capabilities, e.g., represented by standards promulgated by a Third Generation Partnership Project (3GPP), interconnects more devices, improves network bandwidth, increases data-rates, and so on. For example, a transition from 3rd Generation (3G) networks to 4th Generation (4G) networks introduced new network services and connected mobile devices to third party data networks such as the Internet. More recently, a transition is underway from existing 4G networks to new 5G networks, which includes a new service-oriented architecture for provisioning network services/resources in a dynamic, scalable, and customizable fashion (e.g., micro-services, network functions virtualization (NFV), etc.) For example, this service-oriented architecture supports granular network slices, which employ an isolated set of programmable resources that can implement individual network functions/application services/etc. In turn, this granular approach creates new opportunities in the context of provisioning network resources, security, accounting (e.g., charging for network services), authorization, and so on, which can be leveraged to improve overall UE accessibility and mobility.

Provisioning network resources in a wireless network using a native blockchain platform