The present invention relates to methods for treating chlamydial infection comprising administering to a subject suffering from a chlamydial infection a bactericidal/permeability-inducing (BPI) protein product.

The present invention relates generally to methods of treating chlamydial infections by administration of bactericidal/permeability-increasing (BPI) protein products.
BPI is a protein isolated from the granules of mammalian polymorphonuclear leukocytes (PMNs or neutrophils), which are blood cells essential in the defense against invading microorganisms. Human BPI protein has been isolated from PMNs by acid extraction combined with either ion exchange chromatography Elsbach, J. Biol. Chem., 254:11000 (1979)! or E. coli affinity chromatography Weiss, et al., Blood, 69:652 (1987)!. BPI obtained in such a manner is referred to herein as natural BPI and has been shown to have potent bactericidal activity against a broad spectrum of gram-negative bacteria. The molecular weight of human BPI is approximately 55,000 daltons (55 kD). The amino acid sequence of the entire human BPI protein and the nucleic acid sequence of DNA encoding the protein have been reported in FIG. 1 of Gray et al., J. Biol. Chem., 264:9505 (1989), incorporated herein by reference. The Gray et al. amino acid sequence is set out in SEQ ID NO: 1 hereto.
BPI is a strongly cationic protein. The N-terminal half of BPI accounts for the high net positive charge; the C-terminal half of the molecule has a net charge of -3. Elsbach and Weiss (1981), supra.! A proteolytic N-terminal fragment of BPI having a molecular weight of about 25 kD has an amphipathic character, containing alternating hydrophobic and hydrophilic regions. This N-terminal fragment of human BPI possesses the anti-bacterial efficacy of the naturally-derived 55 kD human BPI holoprotein. Ooi et al., J. Bio. Chem., 262:14891-14894 (1987)!. In contrast to the N-terminal portion, the C-terminal region of the isolated human BPI protein displays only slightly detectable anti-bacterial activity against gram-negative organisms. Ooi et al., J. Exp. Med., 174:649 (1991).! An N-terminal BPI fragment of approximately 23 kD, referred to as "rBPI.sub.23," has been produced by recombinant means and also retains anti-bacterial activity against gram-negative organisms. Gazzano-Santoro et al., Infect. Immun. 60:4754-4761 (1992).
The bactericidal effect of BPI has been reported to be highly specific to gram-negative species, e.g., in Elsbach and Weiss, Inflammation: Basic Principles and Clinical Correlates, eds. Gallin et al., Chapter 30, Raven Press, Ltd. (1992). This reported target cell specificity was believed to be the result of the strong attraction of BPI for lipopolysaccharide (LPS), which is unique to the outer membrane (or envelope) of gram-negative organisms. Although BPI was commonly thought to be non-toxic for other microorganisms, including yeast, and for higher eukaryotic cells, it has recently been discovered that BPI protein products, as defined infra, exhibit activity against gram-positive bacteria, mycoplasma, mycobacteria, fungi, and protozoa. See allowed, co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/372,783 filed Jan. 13, 1995, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference; co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/626,646, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference; co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/372,105, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference; and co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/273,470, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.! It has also been discovered that BPI protein products have the ability to enhance the activity of antibiotics against bacteria. See U.S. Pat. No. 5,523,288, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference, and allowed, co-owned, co-pending U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/372,783.!
The precise mechanism by which BPI kills gram-negative bacteria is not yet completely elucidated, but it is believed that BPI must first bind to the surface of the bacteria through electrostatic and hydrophobic interactions between the cationic BPI protein and negatively charged sites on LPS. LPS has been referred to as "endotoxin" because of the potent inflammatory response that it stimulates, i.e., the release of mediators by host inflammatory cells which may ultimately result in irreversible endotoxic shock. BPI binds to lipid A, reported to be the most toxic and most biologically active component of LPS.
In susceptible gram-negative bacteria, BPI binding is thought to disrupt LPS structure, leading to activation of bacterial enzymes that degrade phospholipids and peptidoglycans, altering the permeability of the cell's outer membrane, and initiating events that ultimately lead to cell death. Elsbach and Weiss (1992), supra!. BPI is thought to act in two stages. The first is a sublethal stage that is characterized by immediate growth arrest, permeabilization of the outer membrane and selective activation of bacterial enzymes that hydrolyze phospholipids and peptidoglycans. Bacteria at this stage can be rescued by growth in serum albumin supplemented media Mannion et al., J. Clin. Invest., 85:853-860 (1990)!. The second stage, defined by growth inhibition that cannot be reversed by serum albumin, occurs after prolonged exposure of the bacteria to BPI and is characterized by extensive physiologic and structural changes, including apparent damage to the inner cytoplasmic membrane.
Initial binding of BPI to LPS leads to organizational changes that probably result from binding to the anionic groups of LPS, which normally stabilize the outer membrane through binding of Mg.sup.++ and Ca.sup.++. Attachment of BPI to the outer membrane of gram-negative bacteria produces rapid permeabilization of the outer membrane to hydrophobic agents such as actinomycin D. Binding of BPI and subsequent gram-negative bacterial killing depends, at least in part, upon the LPS polysaccharide chain length, with long O-chain bearing, "smooth" organisms being more resistant to BPI bactericidal effects than short O-chain bearing, "rough" organisms Weiss et al., J. Clin. Invest. 65: 619-628 (1980)!. This first stage of BPI action, permeabilization of the gram-negative outer envelope, is reversible upon dissociation of the BPI, a process requiring high concentrations of divalent cations and synthesis of new LPS Weiss et al., J. Immunol. 132:3109-3115 (1984)!. Loss of gram-negative bacterial viability, however, is not reversed by processes which restore the envelope integrity, suggesting that the bactericidal action is mediated by additional lesions induced in the target organism and which may be situated at the cytoplasmic membrane (Mannion et al., J. Clin. Invest. 86: 631-641 (1990)). Specific investigation of this possibility has shown that on a molar basis BPI is at least as inhibitory of cytoplasmic membrane vesicle function as polymyxin B (In't Veld et al., Infection and Immunity 56:1203-1208 (1988)) but the,exact mechanism as well as the relevance of such vesicles to studies of intact organisms has not yet been elucidated.
Chlamydia are nonmotile, gram-negative, obligate intracellular bacteria that have unusual biological properties which phylogenetically distinguish them from other families of bacteria. Chlamydiae are presently placed in their own order, the Chlamydiales, family Chlamydiaceae, with one genus, Chlamydia. Schachter and Stamm, Chlamydia, in Manual of Clinical Microbiology, pages 669-677, American Society for Microbiology, Washington, D.C. (1995).! There are four species, Chlamydia trachomatis, C. pneumoniae, C. psittaci and C. pecorum, which cause a wide spectrum of human diseases. In developing countries, C. trachomatis causes trachoma, the world's leading cause of preventable blindness. Over 150 million children have active trachoma, and over 6 million people are currently blind from this disease. In industrialized countries, C. trachomatis is the most prevalent sexually transmitted disease, causing urethritis, cervicitis, epididymitis, ectopic pregnancy and pelvic inflammatory disease. Last year alone, an estimated 300 million people contracted sexually transmitted chiamydial infections. Among the 250,000 cases of pelvic inflammatory disease per year in the United States, approximately 25,000 women are rendered infertile each year. Neonatal C. trachomatis infections, contracted at birth from infected mothers, cause hundreds of thousands of conjunctivitis cases per year, of which about half of these infected infants develop pneumonia. Recently, C. pneumoniae has been implicated as a common cause of epidemic human pneumonitis. Members of the genus are not only important human pathogens, but also cause significant morbidity in other mammals and birds. Thus, chlamydia are one of the most ubiquitous pathogens in the animal kingdom. Zhang et al., Cell, 69:861-869 (1992).!
Their unique developmental cycle differentiates them from all other microorganisms. They are obligate intracellular parasites that are unable to synthesize ATP, and thus depend on the host cells' energy to survive. Unlike viruses, they always contain both DNA and RNA, divide by binary fission, contain ribosomes, and can synthesize proteins. Chlamydia have cell walls similar in structure to those of gram-negative bacteria, and all members of the genus carry a unique LPS-like antigen, termed complement fixation (CF) antigen, that may be analogous to the LPS of certain gram-negative bacteria. Schachter and Stamm, supra.! Chlamydia also carry a major outer membrane protein (MOMP) that contains both species and subspecies-specific antigens.
The infectious form of chlamydia is the elementary body (EB), which infects mammalian cells by attaching to the host cell and entering in a host-derived phagocytic vesicle (endosome), within which the entire growth cycle is completed. The target host cell in vivo is typically the columnar epithelial cell, and the primary mode of entry is believed to be recept-ormediated endocytosis. Once the EB has entered the cell, it reorganizes into a reticulate body (RB) that is larger than the EB and metabolically active, synthesizing DNA, RNA and proteins. The EBs are specifically adapted for extracellular survival, while the metabolically active RBs do not survive well outside the host cell and seems adapted for an intracellular milieu. After approximately 8 hours, the RBs begin dividing by binary fission. As they replicate within the endosomes of host cells, they form characteristic intracellular inclusions that can be seen by light microscopy. After a period of growth and division, the RBs reorganize and condense to form infectious EBs. The developmental cycle is complete when host cell lysis or exocytosis of chlamydia occurs, releasing the EBs to initiate another cycle of infection. The length of the complete developmental cycle, as studied in cell culture models, is 48 to 72 hours and varies as a function of the infecting strain, host cell and environmental conditions. Beatty et al., Microbiol. Rev., 58(4):686-699 (1994).!
It has been demonstrated, at least for C. trachomatis, that attachment of the chlamydia organism to host cells is mediated by a heparan sulfate-like glycosaminoglycan (GAG) present on the surface of the chlamydia. Treatment of chlamydia with either purified heparin, heparin sulfate, or heparin receptor analogs (such as platelet factor 4 and fibronectin, both of which are known to bind heparin sulfate), inhibited the attachment and infectivity of chlamydia to host cells. Inhibition was not seen with non-heparin GAGs, such as hyaluronate, chondroitin sulfate, or keratin sulfate. Treatment of C. trachomatis with heparitinase reduced attachment and infectivity by greater than 90%; subsequent treatment with exogenous heparan sulfate was able to restore the ability of treated organisms to attach to host cells in a dose-dependent manner. Other GAGs such as hyaluronate, chondroitin sulfate, or keratin sulfate did not restore attachment ability. These data suggest that a heparin sulfate-like GAG mediates attachment of chlamydia to host cells by bridging mutual GAG receptors on the host cell surface and on the chlamydial outer membrane surface. Zhang et al., Cell, 69:861-869 (1992).!
C. trachomatis is almost exclusively a human pathogen and is responsible for trachoma, inclusion conjunctivitis, lymphogranuloma venereum (LGV), and genital tract diseases. Schachter and Stamm, supra.! Within this species, serotypes A, B, Ba, and C have been associated with endemic trachoma, the most common preventable form of blindness in the world. Trachoma is a chronic inflammation of the conjunctiva and the cornea, which is not sexually transmitted. The potentially blinding sequelae of trachoma include lid distortion, trichiasis (misdirection of lashes), and entropion (inward deformation of the lid margin). These can cause corneal ulceration followed by loss of vision. Serotypes L1, L2, and L3 of C. trachomatis are associated with LGV. Untreated, lymphogranuloma venereum progresses through three stages, each more severe than the preceding one. The primary lesion, if present, appears on the genitals. The second stage is a bubonic state marked by regional lymphadenopathy, during which the buboes may suppurate and develop draining fistulas. Rectal strictures and lymphatic obstruction can appear in the tertiary stage. Lymphogranuloma venereum is a common problem in developing countries with tropical or subtropical climates, especially among the lower socioeconomic groups.
C. trachomatis is also the most common agent of sexually transmitted disease. In men, serotypes D through K are the major identifiable causes of nongonococcal urethritis, and also cause epididymitis, Reiter's syndrome, and proctitis. Chlamydial infections are not easily identified in men by clinical symptoms alone, because the infection may be asymptomatic and because other pathogens cause similar symptoms. Chlamydial urethritis occurs twice as frequently as gonococcal urethritis (gonorrhea) in some populations, and its incidence is on the increase. Even when N. gonorrhea is shown to be present, the urethritis may be due to a dual or multiple infection involving a second organism. Concurrent C. trachomatis and N. gonorrhoea infections have been reported in about 25 percent of men with gonorrhea. Epididymitis is the most important complication of chlamydial urethritis in men. C. trachomatis causes one of every two cases of epididymitis in younger men in the United States, with sterility a possible result. Reiter's syndrome is another manifestation of chlamydial infection in men. It is a painful systemic illness that classically includes symptoms of urethritis, conjunctivitis and arthritis. Urethritis and arthritis are by far the most frequent combination; it appears that the chlamydial urethral infection may trigger the arthritis. C. trachomatis can also cause proctitis (anal inflammation), particularly in homosexual men.
In women, chlamydial infecton with the sexually transmitted serotypes results in cervicitis, urethritis, endometritis, salpingitis, and proctitis; serious sequelae of salpingitis include tubal scarring, infertility, and ectopic pregnancy. Unrecognized chlamydial infections in women are common. Approximately 50 percent of women infected with chlamydia are asymptomatic. C. trachomatis causes mucopurulent cervicitis and the urethral syndrome, as well as endometritis and salpingitis. These upper genital tract chlamydial infections may cause sterility or predispose to ectopic pregnancies and are the gravest complications of chlamydial infections in women. Ten percent of all maternal deaths are due to ectopic pregnancies. C. trachomatis causes over 30 percent of the cases of mucopurulent cervicitis. As many as one-half of the women with gonococcal cervicitis have a concomitant chlamydial infection. If the gonococcal infection is treated with penicillin, the concomitant chlamydial cervicitis will continue undetected and untreated, and may progress to pelvic inflammatory disease (salpingitis), which can lead to sterility and ectopic pregnancies. C. trachomatis is a cause of the urethral syndrome in women. Chlamydial infections may ascend from the cervix to the endometrium, where C. trachomatis has been found in the epithelial lining of the uterine cavity. It is estimated that about one-half of all women will cervicitis have endometritis. Salpingitis. a major cause of ectopic pregnancies and infertility, is the most serious complication of female genital infections. Upper abdominal pain is the predominant symptom of perihepatitis. Both C. trachonatis and N. gonorrhoea can cause perihepatitis. This condition occurs almost exclusively in women in whom the infecting organisms spread to the surface of the liver from inflamed fallopian tubes.
Women infected with C. trachomatis may also pass the disease to their newborn as it passes through the infected birth canal. These newborns most often develop inclusion conjunctivitis or chlamydial pneumonia, but may also develop vaginal, pharyngeal, or enteric infections. Though not blinding, inclusion conjunctivitis can become chronic, causing mild scarring and pannus formulation if left untreated. During passage through the birth canal, up to two-thirds of babies born to mothers with chlamydial genital infections will also become infected. With as many as one in ten pregnant women having chlamydial cervicitis in some parts of the world, the risk to newborns is considerable. Chlamydial pneumonia occurs in 10 percent to 20 percent of infants born to infected mothers. C. trachomatis is responsible for 20 percent to 60 percent of all pneumonias during the first 6 months of life.
C. trachomatis strains are sensitive to the action of tetracyclines, macrolides and sulfonamides and produce a glycogen-like material within the inclusion vacuole that stains with iodine.
C. psittaci strains infect many avian species and mammals, producing such diseases as psittacosis, ornithosis, feline pneumonitis, and bovine abortion. Schachter and Stamm, supra.! C. psittaci is ubiquitous among avian species, and infection in birds usually involves the intestinal tract. The organism is shed in the feces, contaminates the environment, and is spread by aerosol. C. psittaci is also common in domestic mammals. In some parts of the world, these infections have important economic consequences, as C. psittaci is a cause of a number of systemic and debilitating diseases in domestic mammals and, most important, can cause abortions. Human chlamydial infections from this agent usually result from exposure to an infected avian species, but may also occur after exposure to infected domestic mammals. This species is resistant to the action of sulfonamides and produces inclusions that do not stain with iodine.
C. pneumoniae has less than 10% DNA relatedness to the other species and has pear-shaped rather than round elementary bodies (EBs). Like C. trachomatis, it appears to be exclusively a human pathogen without an animal reservoir. C. pneumoniae has been identified as the cause of a variety of respiratory tract diseases and is distributed worldwide. Schachter and Stamm, supra.! Infections appear to be commonly acquired in later childhood, adolescence, and early adulthood, resulting in seroprevalences of 40 to 50% in 30 to 40-year-old people. Manifestations of infection include pharyngitis, bronchitis, and mild pneumonia, and transmission is primarily via respiratory secretions. In seroepidemiological studies, these infections have been linked with coronary artery disease, and their role in atherosclerosis is currently under intense scrutiny.
The role of C. pecorum as a pathogen is not clear, and specialized reagents are required for its identification.
The recommended procedure for primary isolation of chlamydia is cell culture. Chlamydia will grow in the yolk sac of the embryonated hen egg, as well as in cell culture (with some variability). C. trachomatis can infect several cell lines, such as McCoy's heteroploid murine cells, HeLa 229 cells, BHK-21 cells, or L-929 cells. HL cells and Hep-2 cells may be more sensitive for the recovery of C. pneumoniae. The most common technique involves inoculation of clinical specimens into cycloheximide-treated McCoy cells. The basic principle involves centrifugation of the inoculum onto the cell monolayer, incubation of the monolayers for 48 to 72 hours, and demonstration of typical intracytoplasmic inclusions by appropriate immunofluorescence, iodine or Giemsa staining procedures. Cell culture generally requires two to six days to complete because of the incubation time required.
Chlamydia may also be detected in samples by the direct fluorescent antibody (DFA) test, in which slides are incubated with fluorescein-conjugated monoclonal antibodies, and fluorescing elementary bodies are detected using a fluorescent microscope. This test has approximately 80% to 90% sensitivity and 98% to 99% specificity compared with cell cultures when both tests are performed under ideal circumstances. Schachter and Stamm, supra.!
A number of commercially available products can detect chlamydial antigens in clinical specimens by using enzyme immunoassay (EIA) procedures. Most of these products detect chlamydial LPS, which is more soluble than MOMP. Without confirmation, the tests have a specificity on the order of 97%. Schachter and Stamm, supra.! Several nucleic acid probes are also commercially available. One commercially available probe test (GenProbe) utilizes DNA-RNA hybridization in an effort to increase sensitivity by detecting chlamydial RNA.
The complement fixation (CF) test is the most frequently performed serological test, and measures serum level of complement-fixing antibody (antibody to the group CF antigen). It is useful for diagnosing psittacosis, in which paired acute- and convalescent-phase sera often show four-fold or greater increases in titer. The same seems to be true for many C. pneumoniae infections. Approximately 50% of these infections are CF-positive, although it may take 24 weeks to detect seroconversion. CF testing may also be useful in diagnosing LGV, in which single-point titers greater than 1:64 are highly supportive of this clinical diagnosis. Schachter and Stamm, supra.! High titers of complement-fing antibodies are not found in chlamydial conjunctivitis or genital tract infections, and therefore are not sensitive for these infections.
The microimmunofluorescence (micro-IF) method is a much more sensitive procedure for measuring anti-chlamydial antibodies. This indirect fluorescent antibody technique uses antigens prepared by infecting the yolk sacs of fertile chick embryos with each chlamydial serotype. Serial dilutions of patient serum are added to the prepared antigens, and the level of antibody in the blood sample is determined with the use of immunofluorescence. Trachoma, inclusion conjunctivitis, and genital tract infections may be diagnosed by the micro-IF technique if appropriately timed paired sera can be obtained, but the procedure is of limited clinical utility because diagnosis requires demonstration of a four-fold or greater change in antibody titer in paired specimens. and because patients with superficial genital infections such as urethritis may not have a change in titer. However, a high antibody titer in a single serum specimen from a patient with Reiter's syndrome and a high IgM titer in the serum of an infant with pneumonia are helpful in establishing a diagnosis.
Strain-to-strain variation in antimicrobial susceptibility profiles and newly acquired drug resistance are both very infrequent among chlamydia. Among the drugs most active in vitro against C. trachomatis, C. pneumoniae, and C. psittaci are the tetracyclines, such as tetracycline and doxycycline, the macrolides, such as erythromycin and azithromycin, the quinolones, such as ciprofloxacin and ofloxacin, chloramphenicol, rifampin, clindamycin and the sulfonamides. The tetracyclines and macrolides have generally been the mainstays of therapy for infections due to chlamydia. Schachter and Stamm, supra; Goodman and Gilman, The Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics, 9th ed., McGraw-Hill, New York, N.Y. (1996).!
Antimicrobial susceptibility testing is infrequently performed for chlamydial infections, but may be conducted as follows. The organisms for testing are grown for at least two passages in cells cultured in antibiotic-free media before being harvested. An adjusted inoculum of .about.100 inclusion-forming units per microtiter well is then used to infect antibiotic-free cell monolayers. After centrifugation of the inoculum onto the monolayer, serial dilutions of the test antibiotic can be added either immediately or at various time intervals over the next 24 hours. After 48 hours, fluorescein-conjugated monoclonal antibodies are use to identify minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC), i.e., the highest antibiotic dilution that inhibits intracellular inclusion formation. Generally, monolayers are also disrupted and further passaged to define the minimum bactericidal concentration (MBC), i.e., the highest antibiotic dilution that prevents viable chlamydia from being detected in passage (MBC).

Anti-chlamydial uses of BPI protein products


The electric power unit for machining of a wire electric discharge machine includes an electric discharge state discriminate or (1a) for discriminating a state of electric discharge generated between the electrodes and an impression voltage selecting means (1b) for inverting the polarity of the electric discharge inductive pulse voltage from the previous electric discharge inductive pulse voltage when an electric discharge state between the electrodes is discriminated to be abnormal (Y1) or open (Y3) and for making the polarity of the electric discharge inductive pulse voltage to be the same as the polarity of the previous electric discharge inductive pulse voltage when the electric discharge state between the electrodes is discriminated to be normal (Y2).

In wire electric discharge machining, an insulating machining solution is interposed between a wire electrode and workpiece. While the wire electrode and workpiece are being moved relatively with each other, electric power for machining is supplied from an electric power unit for machining to between the wire electrode and workpiece, so that the workpiece is machined by electric discharge energy.
Electric power units of the above conventional wire electric discharge machine used for wire electric discharge machining are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication Nos. 8-1438, 8-300222, 9-183019 and 7-290317. In the above electric power units for machining of the conventional wire electric discharge machine, a bipolar electric discharge inductive voltage is impressed upon between the wire electrode and workpiece so as to generate electric discharge, and then a main electric discharge current for machining is superimposed so as to conduct electric discharge. While importance is put only on the object of preventing the occurrence of electrolytic corrosion of the workpiece, the polarity is changed over to improve deviation of the polarity of electric discharge inductive voltage.
In the electric power unit for machining of the above conventional wire electric discharge machine, in order to improve deviation of the polarity, the polarity of bipolar voltage is changed over. Therefore, in the case of an abnormal state of electric discharge between the electrodes such as an abnormal state of concentrated electric discharge, it is necessary to reduce the speed of feeding the workpiece to be machined, or it is necessary to stop the feed of the workpiece, or it is necessary to retract the workpiece. Alternatively, it is necessary to increase the quiescent time of an impression voltage pulse. Therefore the electric discharge machining efficiency is lowered. Further, there is provided no means for continuing electric discharge in the case of normal electric discharge between the electrodes. Therefore, it is impossible to conduct electric discharge machining effectively.
Japanese Examined Patent Publication No. 3-119012 discloses an electric power unit for machining in which electric discharge is conducted as follows. In the case where an abnormal state of electric discharge is detected between the electrodes, electric discharge of reverse polarity is conducted while the workpiece is used as a negative electrode and the wire electrode is used as a positive electrode. In the case where a normal state of electric discharge is detected between the electrodes, electric discharge of straight polarity is conducted while the workpiece is used as a positive electrode and the wire electrode is used as a negative electrode. Whenever the case of an abnormal state of electric discharge, electric discharge machining of reverse polarity is conducted, so that the electric discharge machining speed is increased by utilizing electrolytic action of a machining solution.
In the electric power unit for machining of the above conventional wire electric discharge machine, the following problems may be encountered. In the case where an abnormal state of electric discharge between the electrodes is detected, electric discharge of reverse polarity is conducted. This abnormal state of electric discharge occurs in the case where the wire electrode and workpiece are short-circuited to each other or in the case of concentrated electric discharge. In the case of the occurrence of short circuit, even if voltage is impressed upon between the wire electrode and workpiece, no electric potential difference is generated. Therefore, no electrolytic action occurs. In the case of the occurrence of concentrated electric discharge, even if voltage is impressed upon between the electrodes, the electric potential difference is so small that an electrolytic action of the machining solution is not strong. Accordingly, even if the electrolytic action of the machining solution is utilized, the machining speed can not be increased sufficiently high. Further, it is difficult to early recover from the above abnormal state of electric discharge. Therefore, it is necessary to reduce the speed of feeding the workpiece to be machined, or it is necessary to stop the feed of the workpiece, or it is necessary to retract the workpiece. Alternatively, it is necessary to increase the quiescent time of an impression voltage pulse. Therefore the electric discharge machining efficiency is lowered.

Electric power unit for machining of wire electric discharge machine


A microactuator includes a wafer; a lower electrode formed on an upper surface of the wafer; a side electrode formed on the upper surface of the wafer in a perpendicular relation with the lower electrode; a pair of supporting posts protruding from the upper surface of the wafer, spaced from the lower electrode at a predetermined distance, respectively; a reflector spaced from the side electrode at a predetermined distance, and facing the lower electrode; and a pair of torsion springs disposed between the reflector and the supporting posts, and elastically supporting the reflector enabling pivoting movement of the reflector. By employing the side electrode, the microactuator can be driven with a low voltage. Also, since the side electrode serves as a stopper, the microactuator can pivot the reflector at an exact desired angle, without having to use a separate device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microactuator for an optical switching operation of an Optical Cross Connect (OXC) and, more particularly, to an electrostatically-driven microactuator of an improved structure which is fabricated by a Micro-Electro Mechanical System, and is capable of accurately switching an angle of an optical path while being driven by a low voltage.
This application is based on Korean Patent Application No. 2000-57516, filed Sep. 29, 2000, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a microactuator of an Optical Cross Connect (OXC) switches an optical path of an incident ray by adjusting an angle of a reflector. The electrostatically-driven microactuator usually drives the reflector by using a Scratch Drive Actuator, or a Comb Drive Actuator. There also is a microactuator which drives the reflector without using any actuators, by using the reflector as an electrode for generating an electrostatic force with another electrode disposed below the reflector.
However, the above first and second ways of driving the reflector, i.e., the methods that use the Scratch Drive Actuator or Comb Drive Actuator, have shortcomings. Since a separate actuator is required to drive the reflector, the volume of a chip increases, while the optical path is lengthened and an optical efficiency is deteriorated. The third way of driving the reflector, using the reflector as an electrode for generating an electrostatic force, may overcome these shortcomings, since it does not require any actuators to drive the reflector.
FIG. 1 shows a microactuator for directly driving a reflector. As shown in FIG. 1, the microactuator includes an upper electrode 1 and lower electrode 2 having a hole formed therein, and a reflector 3 pivotally supported on a supporter at the same height as the upper electrode 1. The reflector 3 is an Au-coated Poly-Si, which serves as an electrode. When a predetermined voltage is applied between the upper and lower electrodes 1 and 2, electrostatic force is generated between the reflector 3 and the lower electrode 2, and the reflector 3 is pivoted downward by an angle of 90xc2x0. Accordingly, the optical path of an incident of ray from an input optical fiber 4 is switched by 90xc2x0, and the ray of light is transmitted to an output optical fiber 5.
Although the volume of the chip is not increased, due to an omission of a separate actuator, there still are problems. That is, the fabricating process is complex, and a high voltage is required to drive the reflector 3. Another problem is that the ray of light experiences loss when transmitted from the input optical fiber 4 to the output optical fiber 5 unless the reflector 3 is pivoted to an angle of 90xc2x0 exactly. This means a complex structure since a separate device, such as a stopper, should be employed for an accurate pivoting movement of the reflector 3.
The present invention has been made to overcome the above-described problems of the related art, and accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a microactuator which is driven by a low voltage and is capable of accurately pivoting a reflector to an angle of 90xc2x0 without having to use a separate device, and a fabricating method of the same.
The above object is accomplished by a microactuator according to the present invention, including a wafer; a lower electrode formed on an upper surface of the wafer; a side electrode formed on the upper surface of the wafer in a perpendicular relation with the lower electrode; a pair of supporting posts protruding from the upper surface of the wafer, spaced from the lower electrode at a predetermined distance, respectively; a reflector spaced from the side electrode at a predetermined distance, and facing the lower electrode; and elastic means disposed between the reflector and the supporting posts, said elastic means elastically supporting the reflector and enabling pivoting movement of the reflector.
Here, the elastic means is a pair of torsion springs. The reflector is divided by a fulcrum line into one side facing the lower electrode and an other side which is longer than the one side. It is preferable that the longer other side of the reflector have a hole formed therein for minimizing the level of electrostatic force applied to the side electrode.
The above object is also accomplished by a method for fabricating a microactuator according to the present invention, including the steps of forming a lower electrode, a side electrode base and a post-base by laminating a seed layer on a wafer and then etching the seed layer forming a pattern thereon; forming a coating frame by laminating a thick photo-resist layer on the wafer and the patterned seed layer and etching the thick photo-resist layer; forming an insulating film within the coating frame and etching the insulating film by exposing the side electrode base; laminating a side electrode on the side electrode base; laminating the photo-resist layer on the side electrode and the coating frame; forming a post-hole in the coating frame and the photo-resist layer by exposing the post-base; forming a reflector, torsion springs and supporting posts by laminating a metal layer on the photo-resist layer and the post-hole and then etching the metal layer; and eliminating the thick photo-resist layer and the photo-resist layer.

Microactuator for optical switching and method for fabricating the same


This discloses that compounds of Formula 1 have antifibrotic properties. In particular, this discloses a pharmaceutical composition including one or more compounds of Formula 1 and methods of using compounds of Formula 1 in fibrosis treatment and inhibiting type 1 collagen synthesis.

Fibrosis is a chronic disease characterized by excessive synthesis and deposition of type 1 collagen into the extracellular matrix of various organs. Because treating fibrosis may require many years of treatment, antifibrotic drugs are preferably highly specific and substantially nontoxic. For this reason, there are very few FDA-approved antifibrotic drugs.

Antifibrotic compounds and related methods

Florida State University Research Foundation, Inc.

The Florida International University Board Of Trustees


A key holder and belt attachment device having a body with two legs and a push button in the second leg of the body. The push button is mounted and slidable within the second leg to abut a swinging catch member which allows removal of the belt from a U-shaped slot created by the legs of the body. The swinging catch member is pivotally attached to the second leg and may be biased to the closed position where the belt is held within the slot of the body. The spring-biased push button may close off a second opening of the body which retains keys.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the art of key holders, and specially to a key holder that has a belt attachment which allows the key holder, a pager and other accessiaries to be worn on a belt for convenience.
2. Principal Particulars of the Art
Keys and key rings are common items in everyday life and because of their inherent functionality, people carry their keys with them at all times. Consequently, keys and key rings are often lost or misplaced. The present invention provides a device which prevents one from losing or misplacing his keys by providing a key holder which can be attached to his belt.
Prior art had variations of key rings, key rings with ornamental design, and key rings with varying fastening mechanisms. However, none of the prior art allows a key holder to be fastened to a belt by the unique mechanisms of the present invention.
Accordingly, the principle object of the present invention is to provide a key holder that may be attached to a belt, and to prevent one from losing a key holder without intentional removal.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a key holder with a latch that may be opened and closed to permit the key chain to be conveniently secured on a belt.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a key holder that may also be secured to other various ornaments and accessiaries.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a key holder that is attached to a pager case, and other various articles such as a knife, can opener, hand phone, case for glasses, walkman, etc.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a key rings to accommodate large quantity of keys, and guantity of keys, and to provide easy fastening and releasing.
Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a key holder that is attached to a pen or a pager.
A further object of the present invention is to provide various usage with unique opening mechanisms.


The present invention provides a method, system and program product for deploying, allocating and providing backup for an autonomic sensor network ecosystem. Under the present invention, the autonomic sensor network ecosystem includes: (1) a set (e.g., one or more) of sensor networks for storing data components; (2) a set of sensor collector information gateways in communication with the sensor networks; and (3) a set of enterprise gateways and storage hubs (hereinafter enterprise gateways). Each sensor network includes a set of sensor peers and at least one super peer. The super peer manages the sensor network and communicates with the set of sensor collector information gateways. The autonomic sensor network ecosystem of the present invention is deployed and allocated in such a manner that backup and resiliency is provided.

In traditional computer-based storage systems, data is typically stored in sophisticated systems with layers of protections, backups systems, and encryption algorithms. However, today, there exist numerous environmental-based public safety hazards, such as brush fires, bio-chemical accidents or attacks, etc. Obtaining real-time and accurate information about such a hazard can be critical to containing the hazard and minimizing damage. In existing storage systems, data can still be lost as a consequence of technical failures, viruses, or unpredictable disasters. A current focus is to build a static structure that contains the data and its backup. Unfortunately, this does not help in a globally distributed networked environment. Moreover, conventional disaster recovery systems fail to protect the data from outside attacks (e.g. hackers) and natural disasters.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/856,684 (cross-referenced and incorporated above), takes a step towards avoiding data loss by providing a wireless sensor network in which a plurality of peers/motes/nodes are interconnected (e.g., on a peer-to-peer basis). To store a data set within the network, the data set is broken up into data components, which are then stored among the nodes. Storage of the data components typically occurs by following a routing path through the network according to a routing table or the like. As the path is followed, the data components are stored among the nodes. Further, each node in the network is provided with a sensor for sensing environmental factors that could impact the capability of a node to transmit or store the data components. Other examples of sensor based detection systems are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,169,476 B1, and 6,293,861 B1, both of which are herein incorporated by reference.
Under U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/946,714 (cross-referenced and incorporated above), a sensor network comprising a plurality of peer-to-peer nodes is provided. Each node in the network includes, among other things, a sensor for detecting environmental factors. When a potential failure is detected within a node, the node will query its neighboring nodes to determine whether they have the capability to store any data component(s) currently stored within the potentially failing node. Based on the querying, the data component(s) in the potentially failing node are copied to one or more of the neighboring nodes. Thereafter, details of the copying can be broadcast to other nodes in the network, and any routing tables that identify the locations of data components stored throughout the sensor network can be updated.
As advanced as this storage technology has become, the rise of wireless technologies and peer-to-peer delivery systems is forcing the Information Technology (IT) industry to decentralize infrastructure and its applications. Thus, the current static structure that is comprised of the traditional network, data, and applications will not help in a globally distributed sensor network environment. Even locating the hardware that supports the structure in one or multiple distributed sites will not help. Therefore, conventional IT concepts are changing to adopt a new model. Specifically, a need still exists for a data storage technology that is resilient, redundant and optimized in multi-network environment. To this extent, a need exists for a method, system and program product for deploying, allocating and providing backup for an autonomic sensor network ecosystem.

Method, system and program product for deploying and allocating an autonomic sensor network ecosystem

International Business Machines Corporation


The present invention provides compounds of Formula (I-A), (I-B), and (I-C), pharmaceutically acceptable salts thereof, and pharmaceutical compositions thereof. Compounds of the present invention are useful for inhibiting Myc (e.g., c-Myc) activity. The present invention further provides methods of using the compounds described herein for treating Myc-mediated disorders (e.g., cancer and other proliferative diseases). The present invention also provides assays for identifying Myc inhibitors.

The transcription factor Myc plays a role in regulating cell proliferation, the cell cycle, cell growth, angiogenesis, apoptosis, and oncogenesis. Myc's activity can increase in tumors as a consequence of mutations, chromosomal rearrangements, increased expression, or gene amplification (see, e.g., Nesbit, et al. (1999) Oncogene 18:3004-3016; Zeller, et al. (2001) J. Biol. Chem. 276:48285-48291; He, et al. (1998) Science 281:1509-1512; McMahon, et al. (1998) Cell 94:363-374; Erisman, et al. (1985) Mol. Cell Biol. 5:1969-1976; Rochlitz, et al. (1996). Oncology 53:448-454). Increased Myc levels have been found, for example, in breast cancer and prostate cancer (Liao, et al. (2000) Endocrine-Related Cancer 7:143-164; Jenkins, et al. (1997) Cancer Res. 57:524-531).
When Myc acts as a cell cycle regulator, it can promote entry of a cell into the cell cycle (Trumpp, et al. (2001) Nature 414:768-773; Holzel, et al. (2001) EMBO Reports 21:1125-1132; Bouchard, et al. (2001) Genes Devel. 15:2042-2047). Myc has been found to act in certain phases of the cell cycle, where cell cycle genes, e.g., cyclins and protein kinases, may be directly or indirectly regulated by Myc. Myc also regulates growth, as it plays a role in regulating genes required for protein synthesis, e.g., genes encoding transcription factors and ribosomal proteins (Greasley, et al. (2000) Nucleic Acids Res. 28:446-453); Zeller, et al. (2001) supra; Menssen, et al. (2002) Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 59:6274-6279). Myc regulates apoptosis, which can be impaired in cancer cells. Myc has been shown to regulate key apoptosis pathway proteins (Nesbit, et al. (1998) Blood 92:1003-1010).
Many diseases are associated with abnormal cell signaling triggered by Myc-mediated events described above, including proliferative diseases (e.g., cancer) and cardiovascular diseases. Accordingly, there is a need to identify Myc inhibitors useful as therapeutic agents and research tools.

Pyrrol-1-yl benzoic acid derivatives useful as myc inhibitors

Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research


Various methods and devices are provided for accessing an interior surgical site using an access portal which can be inserted and removed with minimal tissue damage and which can form a seal with tissue while inserted. Generally, a device is provided having a rigid elongate surgical access member with a lumen extending therethrough that is configured to receive a surgical tool. The device can also include a flexible sleeve having a lumen extending therethrough that is configured to receive the elongate surgical access member. A substantially rigid collar is provided disposed adjacent to a proximal end of the flexible sleeve and having a lumen extending therethrough that is configured to receive the elongate surgical access member. In an exemplary embodiment, the collar is movable relative to the elongate surgical access member to selectively configure the flexible sleeve in a relaxed condition in which the flexible sleeve has a relatively smooth outer tissue-contacting surface and a compressed condition in which the flexible sleeve has a plurality of protrusions formed on the outer tissue-contacting surface that are configured to create a seal between the outer tissue-contacting surface and tissue.

Arthroscopic, or more generally, minimally invasive surgical procedures rely on obtaining percutaneous access to an internal surgical site using small-diameter openings to gain access to the desired surgical site. In many cases, access tubes are placed through the opening to allow a variety of elongated instruments to be passed through the access tubes to gain access to an internal surgical work site without the need for large incisions. As a result, patient trauma and recovery time are typically reduced.
Very often, these access tubes, which are often called cannulas, must be left in an incision for an extended period of time, without significant movement, as instruments are inserted and removed. This typically requires rigid surface features on the exterior of the cannula, such as corrugations or threads, to engage the tissue surrounding the cannula. These rigid surface features, however, can cause tissue damage as the cannula is inserted and usually do not result in the most secure fit once in place due to tissue trauma surrounding the cannula. The cannula can also be difficult to remove once inserted due to the rigid surface features, possibly leading to further tissue damage during removal.
Accordingly, there is a need for improved devices and methods that provide access portals which can be inserted into and removed from an incision with minimal tissue damage and can effectively engage tissue while within the incision.


A novel romaine lettuce cultivar, designated 163502, is disclosed. The invention relates to the seeds of lettuce cultivar 163502, to the plants of lettuce line 163502 and to methods for producing a lettuce plant by crossing the cultivar 163502 with itself or another lettuce (Lactuca sp.) line. The invention further relates to methods for producing a lettuce plant containing in its genetic material one or more transgenes and to the transgenic plants produced by that method and to methods for producing other lettuce lines derived from the cultivar 163502.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a Lactuca sativa cultivar exhibiting resistance to 17 known strains of Downy Mildew (Bremia lactucae), Corky Root (Rhizomonas suberifaciens) and Lettuce Mosaic Virus (LMV), partial resistance to Fusarium Wilt (Fusarium oxysporum f.sp. lactucae), combined with a fast growth and fast heartfilling.
2. Background of the Invention
Vegetables and especially lettuce have growing importance in the human diet. There are unique qualities to these foodstuffs that make them critically important to good health and longevity of life. Such vegetables are nearly exclusive eaten in their natural state as a fresh, raw product. As such the appearance of such vegetables is critical to their sale. Americans especially demand a perfect or near perfect appearance of their raw products. Whereas, in some countries, foodstuffs can have blemishes and imperfections and be fit for the market, the US consumer demands a perfect near unblemished product.
It will be appreciated that all growers are faced with a limited amount of space in which to grow their vegetables and food products. It is more than desirable to maximise the yield of a particular parcel and especially so for the small to moderate sized grower. For example, if a grower can break even by selling about 500 cartons of lettuce per acre and he can switch to a different variety of the same lettuce and grow about 900 cartons of lettuce per acre, the product of the different variety would be much more valuable. This very well could be the difference between a grower able to survive bad economic conditions one year and continue his operation or going under and being forced to sell out or turn his land into residential property.
The export of vegetables across the international and state lines is vital to the grower and shippers of fresh produce. In fact, California and Arizona grow about 90% of the total United States lettuce production and It is estimated that about 75% or more of all lettuce grown in California is so exported (Subbaroa 1998) for sale in states such as New York, Pennsylvania, Massachusetts and the like.
For a further understanding of lettuce, its uses and history Waycoft et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,973,232 and Subbaroa 1998 is incorporated herein by references. There are six morphological types of lettuce: crisphead (iceberg), butterhead, Cos (Romaine), leaf, stem and Latin. The crisphead is the most common in the United States,just as Romaine types, while butterhead, iceberg and Romaine types are popular in northern and southern Europe. Cultivated lettuce originated from the ancestral wild species L. sativa. Today there are hundreds of cultivars, which are divided into four large groups based on morphological characteristics of the gross leaf morphology and leaf arrangement (Subbaroa 1998). These basic lettuce types frequently form the basis for grouping lettuces as is commonly seen in supermarkets, grocery and produce stores. Each of these basic groups is comprised of numerous cultivars; each characterised by its own particular morphology, disease resistance, and cultural adaptations.
Lettuce cultivars are susceptible to a number of diseases such as downy mildew (Bremia lactucae), lettuce drop (Sclerotinia minor and S. sclerotiorum), corky root (Rhizomonas suberifaciens), Fusarium Wilt, lettuce mosaic virus, big vein and aster yellows, just to list a few. These diseases result in millions of dollars of lost lettuce crop through the world every year.
The United States have a strict control on the presence of LMV on the seed of lettuce. The Salinas Valley Authority has designated a period in December that no lettuce plants may grow in the field. This will break the cycle of LMV in the field. Seed companies go through strict precocious measures to avoid that contaminated seed is planted in the United States. Varieties that have a genetic resistance against Lettuce Mosaic virus are not able to spread the disease. This reduces the cost of production for the seed company and reduces the risk of the unwanted importation of LMV to the United States.
Growers want to have a quick and reliable return on their investment in a lettuce crop. They want a variety that produces a good sized marketable head with an early filling of the heart, that reaches the minimum weight earlier. Not only to be able to sell their product earlier, but also to spend less on irrigation and pest- and disease-control during the time the crop is in the field.


A method of measuring a diffusion length of a minority carrier in a silicon wafer by a surface photovoltage method including irradiating the surface-treated silicon wafer with ultraviolet radiation in an oxygen-containing atmosphere, and measuring a diffusion length of a minority carrier in a silicon wafer by a surface photovoltage method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method permitting the rapid and highly precise measurement of the minority carrier diffusion length in a silicon wafer by stabilizing the silicon wafer surface shortly following surface treatment in the course of measuring the minority carrier diffusion length by the surface photovoltage method; and to a method of manufacturing a silicon wafer using this method.
2. Discussion of the Background
Typically, when crystal defects are present in silicon wafers (also referred to hereinafter as "wafers") or wafers are contaminated with metal impurities, the device characteristics of the finished product are negatively affected. Thus, the measurement of electrical properties such as the recombination lifetime and the diffusion length of the minority carrier within the wafer has been proposed, to facilitate the evaluation of such defects and contaminants.
In the evaluation of electrical properties, the evaluation of diffusion length by the surface photovoltage (SPV) method is widely employed to assess high levels of contamination by metals deep within the wafer, such as iron (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (KOKAI) Heisei No. 6-69301, which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety). The SPV method is a good measurement method in that it allows rapid, non-contact measurement without damaging the wafer.
A summary of the method of measuring the minority carrier diffusion length in a silicon wafer by the SPV method is given below.
First, the silicon wafer is surface-treated (surface charge treated). In the case of a p-type wafer, the surface treatment is conducted by immersing the silicon wafer in hydrofluoric acid (HF) for a prescribed period of time. This surface treatment produces band bending near the surface. In this state, minority carriers excited by irradiation through the silicon surface by light having an energy level greater than the band gap of the silicon can be collected at the surface by the electric field caused by band bending, producing a surface photovoltage (SPV). When the number of carriers injected by the light is not so large (generally 1E10 to 1E13/cm3), a surface photovoltage is generated in proportion to the excess minority carrier density at the surface. When the wavelength of the light being irradiated is changed, the density of the minority carrier being generated, that is, the SPV value, changes with the penetration depth of the light (coefficient of light absorption α (alpha)). A quantity of light is selected at which the relation between the quantity of light (φ(phi)F), SPV, and coefficient of light absorption α at various wavelengths is φF/SPVc∝1/α. Once this relation has been plotted, the minority carrier diffusion length can be obtained as the point of intersection with the 1/α axis at φF/SPV=0.
When the wafer contains metal impurities, the minority carrier diffusion length typically decreases. However, when a metal impurity such as iron (Fe) is contained, for example, in a boron-doped p-type silicon wafer, electrostatic forces cause Fe to pair off with boron in Fe—B pairs. As a result, there is almost no effect on the minority carrier diffusion length. By contrast, when the silicon wafer surface is irradiated with light to dissociate pairs (such as Fe—B pairs) forming between dopants and contaminant metals, Fe does affect the minority carrier diffusion length and the minority carrier diffusion length decreases. The presence and concentration of contaminant metals can be determined based on such differences in minority carrier diffusion length before and after dissociation treatment.
However, the wafer surface is not stable immediately following the above surface treatment. Thus, it is impossible to obtain accurate measurements when the diffusion length is measured immediately following surface treatment. For this reason, a wafer will normally be left standing for a prescribed period of time after surface treatment, with measurement being conducted once the wafer surface has stabilized. However, several hours are normally required for the wafer surface to stabilize, precluding rapid measurement. Further, it is difficult to determine how long a wafer must be left standing before the wafer surface will stabilize. There is also a problem in that highly reliable data cannot be obtained when measurement is conducted with the wafer surface in a state of inadequate stabilization.

Method of measuring minority carrier diffusion length and method of manufacturing silicon wafer


A method and apparatus for controlling a transmission of data from a first storage device to a second storage device. The first storage device includes a recording unit for recording the data, a buffer for temporarily storing the data read from the recording unit, and a transmission unit for transmitting the data read from the buffer. It is determined that sufficient buffer space in the buffer is not available for the transmission of the data in a predetermined time interval. It is ascertained whether a transmission error exists in a communication line connecting the first storage device to the second storage device. If the transmission error exits, then the transmission unit is controlled to not perform the transmission of the data from the first storage device; otherwise the transmission unit is not controlled to not perform the transmission of the data from the first storage device.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to an apparatus, method and computer program for controlling a storage device, and more particularly to a control apparatus, the storage device, a control method, and a computer program for controlling data transmission and reception performed by the storage device with an external apparatus.
2. Related Art
In recent years, a system for implementing disaster countermeasures has been put in practical use by connecting server devices or disk units via wide area networks using fiber channels to perform remote backup of data. In this system, high reliability is required for a communication line employed for the wide area network. For this reason, in many cases, both of a communication line for general use and a communication line for backup are prepared in advance. As a result of this, even if an error should occur in one communication line, the communication would be able to be continued with the other communication line.
In order to reduce maintenance costs or the like, the communication line for backup has a bandwidth smaller than that of the communication line for general use in many cases. For this reason, the bandwidth of the communication is different between the cases of using the communication line for general use and using the communication line for backup.
Specifically, data to be transmitted from a storage device to the outside are once stored in a buffer provided in a host bus adapter, and are read from the buffer at timings according to the bandwidth of the communication line and transmitted therefrom. A control apparatus for communication control provided in the storage device periodically detects whether or not the buffer space is available, and if the buffer is available, the control apparatus reads data out of a recording unit (for example, archive media such as a magnetic disk) to store the data in the buffer. By preparing such buffers, even where the bandwidth of an external communication line varies to some extent, the data can be transmitted continuously.
As a reference technique, there has conventionally been proposed a technique in which, regarding a storage device connected to the network, an upper limit of the communication bandwidth for the storage device to communicate with another apparatus is calculated based on a limit on the performance of the storage device (for example, data such as an access speed of a disk or the like), and bandwidth guarantee in the network is provided on the basis of the upper limit (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication (Kokai) No. 2004-48124).

Apparatus and method for controlling storage device


A cutting insert has a body formed of a superhard material or a superhard material and a cemented carbide, and has a hole through said body and a preformed hole inlay in said hole to allow securing of the insert to a holder. The method of making same is also disclosed.

The present invention relates to cutting inserts having cutting edges formed from a superhard abrasive material, and methods of making the same.
In the description of the background of the present invention that follows reference is made to certain structures and methods, however, such references should not necessarily be construed as an admission that these structures and methods qualify as prior art under the applicable statutory provisions. Applicants reserve the right to demonstrate that any of the referenced subject matter does not constitute prior art with regard to the present invention.
Indexable cutting inserts using a superhard material for cutting typically have a polygonal shape with the superhard material disposed at the corners of the polygon. The superhard material, often a cubic boron nitride or polycrystalline diamond material, aids in the cutting of hard workpiece materials such as metals. These cutting inserts are typically mounted in a fixed position to a cutting tool so as to present one of the corners or areas containing superhard material to the surface of a workpiece. After being used for a period of time, the area of superhard material becomes worn. The cutting insert can then be unfastened from the cutting tool and rotated so as to present a new fresh corner or area of superhard material to the surface of the workpiece.
There are two predominant ways of making such inserts. According to one technique, a stacked structure is formed comprising a first layer of hard backing material and a layer of superhard cutting material superimposed onto the backing layer. Cutting tips are then cut from this stacked structure and brazed to a cutting insert body, typically at a corner thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,362 to Kuroyama et al., the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, describes such a technique.
A second technique for forming indexable cutting inserts involves providing a blank or substrate having pockets formed therein which are filled with superhard material, then subjecting the blank to a sintering operation which bonds the superhard material to the substrate. The blank is then subsequently machined to give the cutting insert its final shape, i.e.—a generally polygonal body with superhard material disposed at the corners thereof. U.S. Pat. No. 5,676,496, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference, in its entirety, describes such a technique.
In general, such superhard material-containing inserts have been held in place by an external (e.g., top) clamp. See, for example, FIG. 25 of U.S. Pat. No. 5,183,362 which shows a top clamp with a preformed, separate chip breaker. Another type of clamping used with other types of cutting inserts involves the use of a screw which passes through a hole in the insert, often in the center of the insert. Such holes may be straight or involve an offset portion to assist in securing the insert. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,147,158 which discloses in cross-section a "trumpet" style of clamping hole for securing purposes. Laser cutting or EDM (electro-discharge machining) is used to cut the superhard material and it can be appreciated that machining of a "trumpet" style hole in the superhard material is quite difficult and expensive to do. In addition, the accuracy of such cuts is problematic.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,570, there is a disclosed a method of making a cutting insert of a superhard material which is sintered onto a cemented carbide base by high pressure and temperature. A hole is simultaneously formed in the insert through the use of a plug, preferably made of the same cemented carbide as the base, which is not bonded to the insert but is removed after sintering. In FIG. 3 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,120,570, the hole is shown to be tapered towards the bottom of the insert.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,536,119 shows a conventional cutting insert in which a through hole has an upper part which is substantially cylindrical while the remaining part tapers downwardly in the form of a convexly vaulted surface.
Thus, a need exists in the art to address the problems discussed above and others.

Indexable cutting inserts and methods for producing the same


A composite material for fluorescent quantum dot micro-nano packaging. The composite material comprises fluorescent quantum dots, a mesoporous particle material having a nanometer lattice structure, and a barrier layer, wherein the fluorescent quantum dots are distributed in the mesoporous particle material, and the barrier layer is coated on the outer surface of the mesoporous particle material. In the composite material according to the invention, the quantum dot aggregation can be effectively retarded, with the barrier layer coated on the surface the water-oxygen micromolecule erosion is prevented, the compatibility and stability of the composite fluorescent particles is improved, and the service life of the composite material for fluorescent quantum dot micro-nano packaging is thus greatly improved.

High-luminous-efficiency and high-stability quantum-dot-based micro-nano-packaged fluorescent powder is used in quantum dot optimized white LEDs generally for regulating the color rendering index of the white LEDs, and is used in tricolor (red/green/blue) LED devices for displaying so as to improve the color gamut of a display as well.
Colloidal quantum dot has the advantages of continuously adjustable light emitting, high purity of color of emitted light and higher conversion efficiency, and has a relatively mature preparation technology as a core material for next generation lighting and displaying technology. In order to reduce or eliminate surface defects (e.g. intrinsic crystal growth defects and dangling bonds) of the quantum dots, a method commonly adopted is to epitaxially grow an inorganic shell on the surface of the quantum dot. However, as a nanocrystal particle having an inorganic shell structure, it still has very high surface energy, and changing the circumstance of the quantum dot may possibly cause clustering and fluorescence quenching of the quantum dots. In order to increase the self-stability of the quantum dots and the stability thereof in a composite material, a surfactant is usually used in organic modification on the surface of the quantum dots to obtain colloidal quantum dots.
In general, the quantum dots cannot be directly used because the quantum dots are relatively unstable compared to bulk materials. The quantum dots themselves may cluster to form larger particles. In addition, the colloidal layer may be eroded easily, and thus a defect level is left, forming a non-radiative channel. Most of the physical and chemical circumstances will cause fluorescence quenching to the quantum dots. Therefore, how to passivate quantum dot is a relatively hot and critical issue at present.
In practice, a common method is to directly disperse the quantum dots into a polymer matrix to obtain a fluorescent composite material, forming a simple structure for "quantum dot carrier material". The composite material substantially maintains the fluorescence characteristics from the colloidal quantum dots. After that, the composite material is directly applied in a blue LED to obtain white light, or a multicolor spectrum converted by the quantum dot, respectively for direct use in displaying and lighting.
Some conventional methods for packaging quantum dots in present literatures include the followings. 1. Dispersing the quantum dots into polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), wherein remote packaging (see reference 1) is used. This packaging form has the defects that the quantum dots will aggregate in the PMMA slowly, leading to fluorescence radiation wavelength red shift and fluorescence efficiency drop as the quantum dots are not compatible with surface ligands and barrier layer. Secondly, as the water-resistance and oxygen-resistance abilities of the PMMA are poor, the osmotic water-oxygen micromolecules may easily erode the surfaces of the quantum dots, leading to fluorescence drop. 2. Coating on chip (On chip) (see reference 2) packaging. In order to prevent the quantum dots from aggregation, a transamination treatment is conducted on the surfaces of the quantum dots firstly, to enhance the compatibility between the quantum dots and the barrier layer material around the quantum dots, thereby to decrease aggregation and prevent water and oxygen erosion. However, this transamination itself may easily destroy the surface ligands of the quantum dots, thus affecting the initial fluorescence efficiency of the quantum dots.
Furthermore, the quantum dots are relatively sensitive to temperature, oxygen and water. Even in a composite material, the quantum dots may fallen off, leading to fluorescence drop, due to long-term oxidation of the surface ligands of the colloidal quantum dots and incompatible problem between the quantum dots and the polymer carrier material, this severely affects the service life of a device. In order to improve the service life of the quantum dot device, improvement is made based on the remote packaging. A silica (silica)/polyvinylpyrrolidone (PVP) material has been used as a barrier layer in remote packaging (see reference 3). A composite film with surface protection is introduced, specifically a film having better water-resistance and oxygen-resistance ability is added between an upper layer and a lower layer for preventing water and oxygen invasion, thereby to reduce damages to the surfaces of the quantum dots. Although with this method the water and oxygen may be obstructed to a certain extent, ligand loss and aggregation effect caused by compatible problem between the outer surfaces of the quantum dots and a carrier cannot be avoided, thus the stability and reliability of a light emitting device are impaired.
For a method of directly compositing the quantum dots with silica gel, the colloidal ligand at the outer layer of the quantum dots is not compatible with the silica gel. In particular, some surface ligands containing sulfur (S) will be effected with platinum (Pt) in the silica gel, and thus the solidification of the silica gel will be affected, the silica gel may not solidify. In addition, a non-solidified silica gel will usually cause clustering due to the compatibility problem between the surface ligands and the silica gel.
For a quantum dot polymer composite material, the fluorescence characteristics of the quantum dot polymer material obtained via polymerization in a quantum dot dispersion liquid are usually affected by an initiator, a polymer active site or the like, or fluorescence drop or quenching may occur as affected by a high polymer chemistry molecule polymerization reaction. Similarly, for a physical blending composite material, which is obtained through directly dissolving a high polymer using a solvent, then dispersing the quantum dots, and volatilizing the solvent, clustering of the quantum dots is caused due to the compatibility problem between the quantum dots and the polymer. On the other hand, due to osmosis, the micromolecules, for example, water molecules and oxygen, usually interacts with the quantum dots, eroding the surfaces of the quantum dots, thereby leading to light emitting defects and fluorescence efficiency recession.
Direct processing, such as silica growing and surface transamination modification, is conducted on the surfaces of the quantum dots. The method presently has a major problem that an apparent fluorescence quenching effect (see reference 4) may occur for the quantum dots due to the substitution of the surface ligands. Therefore, for the use of the high-luminous-efficiency and high-stability quantum dots in a device, the following problems have to be solved: 1. the quantum efficiency of the quantum dots cannot be impaired during the surface treatment of the quantum dots or composition with other materials; 2. the carrier circumstance of the quantum dots shall be compatible with the surfaces of the quantum dots, this prevents the quantum dots from self-aggregation on one hand, and prevents the ligands from falling off on the other hand; and 3. a barrier layer is set to prevent micromolecules like water vapor and oxygen from eroding the surfaces of the quantum dots.

Composite material for fluorescent quantum dot micro-nano packaging

Tianjin Zhonghuan Quantum Tech Co., Ltd.


A combined washer dryer is provided. The combined washer dryer comprises an outer drum; a rotatable cylindrical variable size inner drum arranged coaxially within the outer drum and movable from a first position to a second position; a water handling system adapted to intake water into the inner drum and to remove water from the outer drum; an air handling system adapted to intake air into the inner drum and to remove air from the outer drum; and a control system adapted to control the movement of the variable size inner drum.

There has been appreciable efforts directed toward the design and manufacture of combined washer dryers. Combined washer dryers typically use a single drum arranged along the horizontal axis such that the apparatus is front loading, and are configured to sequentially wash and dry clothes placed in the drum. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,151,354, 2,291,511, 2,434,476, 2,555,268, 2,607,209, 2,868,004, 2,899,816, 3,006,176, 4,765,162, 4,903,508 and 6,125,490, disclose combined washer dryers. Combined washer dryers also have been commercially sold by various companies such as Equator, Bosch, and Creda.
One problem associated with these combined washer dryers is that they use a drum that is relatively small, typically less than about 2 ft3 and which holds only up to about 10 pounds of clothes. Another problem associated with these combined washer dryers is that they do a relatively poor job in drying the washed clothes and inhibiting wrinkles in the dried clothes. They can also create a relatively high risk of burning the clothes and even cause the clothes of catch on fire. Yet another problem associated with these combined washer dryers relates to their control system that imprecisely and inefficiently controls laundering operations and washer dryer components, thereby causing the washer dryer to use an undesirably large amount of energy and water.
These washer dryer problems, individually or collectively, have inhibited combined washer dryers from entering into the mainstream washer and dryer marketplace (e.g. private residence homes and apartment units with dedicated space for a washer and dryer, self-service laundry facilities, clothes cleaning enterprises), since the mainstream marketplace demands safe and efficient washer dryers capable of accommodating large laundry loads. Thus, combined washer dryers tend to be sold in niche markets that do not demand large laundry load sizes or energy efficient operations, such as single person dwellings, and that adapt the washer dryer to operate in an unconventional manner, such as with kitchen sink piping hookups or without an air vent.
There is thus a need for a combined washer dryer that can address some or all of the needs of the mainstream marketplace. There is also a need for a combined washer dryer that has a larger laundry load capacity. There is also a need for a combined washer dryer with improved drying ability. There is also a need for a combined washer dryer with an improved control system. There is also a need to improve upon the prior art.


A computer-implemented method according to one embodiment includes sending a data request from a host to a storage drive, where the data request includes quality of service (QoS) information, receiving, in response to the data request, a response from the storage drive at the host, and performing one or more actions at the host, based on the response.

The present invention relates to data storage and retrieval, and more specifically, this invention relates to controlling a manner in which a data request is serviced by a storage drive.
State-of-the art storage drives (e.g., tape storage, etc.) is extremely reliable and offers user error rates of 1e-19 or better by means of in-drive error-correction coding (ECC). However, this reliability comes at the cost of increased storage space and lengthy response times. These state-of-the art storage drives do not offer the flexibility to operate at a reduced reliability or to adjust the reliability and/or partially fulfill data requests (e.g., for use in a cloud computing environment, etc.).

Implementing data requests with quality of service information


The invention provides radio communications with an up-down signal link. In accordance with the purpose of the invention, as embodied and broadly described herein, the invention is directed to a method, system and computer readable medium with program instructions (hereafter collectively referred to as "the invention"). The invention includes receiving a downstream signal in a receiver portion of an outdoor unit, producing in the receiver portion of the outdoor unit an intermediate frequency (IF) signal from the downstream signal, and processing the IF signal in the receiver portion of the outdoor unit to produce a clean line code signal. The invention further includes processing the clean line code signal in the receiver portion of the outdoor unit to produce a modulated signal, and providing the modulated signal via an interface portion of the down-link to an indoor unit, wherein the producing and processing, respectively, of the IF, clean line code and modulated signals in the outdoor unit provides a high, constant signal-to-noise ratio on the down-link, and wherein the modulated signal is converted to a binary signal in the indoor unit. The invention additionally includes providing an upstream signal over an up-link to a transmitter portion of the outdoor unit, and selecting a component of the upstream signal for transmission by the outdoor unit. One aspect of the invention also includes measuring in the receiver portion of the outdoor unit a power level of the received downstream signal, wherein the measured power level is unaffected by characteristics of the down-link. Moreover, the invention includes providing loop-back connections in the indoor and outdoor units for automated testing of the indoor and outdoor units.

Digital radio terminals have become particularly advantageous in a number of key types of communication. High frequency point to point communications are used by, among others, cellular operators, telecommunications operators, private network operators, governments, and large telecommunications operations.
Typical of conventional microwave digital radios is the use of a cable connection between an exterior antenna/transmitter portion, sometimes referred to as the Antenna Resident Unit (ARU), and an interior portion sometimes referred to as the System Interface Unit (SIU.) In conventional radios, the modulated IF signal is fed down the cable to the Indoor Unit, subjecting the signal to degradation due to varying signal-to-noise ratios, varying cable length, deterioration of the cable, environmental factors, and so on. Such degradation can result in unacceptable signal quality. In addition, conventional radios may require that the cable connecting the SIU to the ARU be equalized, especially as cable lengths increase. Such equalization can represent significant effort and, if not done properly, can also lead to unacceptable signal quality.
As a result, there has been a longfelt need for a microwave radio system which includes a cabling architecture that avoids the signal degradation long associated with conventional systems.
An additional limitation of existing radios has been the difficulty in performing loop back diagnostics on the indoor and outdoor units. This has resulted in significant maintenance costs and time for diagnosis in the event an equipment failure occurs. In typical prior art systems, some loop back testing may be performed on the indoor unit by a processor resident in the indoor unit. However, it has historically not been possible to perform significant loop back testing of the outdoor unit remotely from the indoor unit. Given that the outdoor unit is frequently mounted at some distance from the indoor unit, and frequently at or near the top of a tower, the inability to perform remote loop back testing of the outdoor unit, including testing of the RF subsystem, has raised maintenance costs significantly. In addition, prior art systems have generally not been able to handle gracefully the acknowledgment of an alarm situation. There has therefore been a need for a microwave digital radio which can perform loop back testing of both the indoor and outdoor unit under the control of a technician operating at the indoor unit, and which can communicate specific alarm conditions only where needed and where appropriate without causing redundant alarms.

System and method of radio communications with an up-down digital signal link


A new livestock flooring system for providing an inexpensive, durable, and convenient floor for animal pens such as the pens used for pigs, horses, cows and calves. The inventive device includes a rammed sand base, and a cement and pine chock floor, sloped for drainage.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to flooring materials and more particularly pertains to a new livestock flooring system for providing an inexpensive, durable, and convenient floor for animal pens such as the pens used for pigs, horses, cows and calves.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of flooring materials is known in the prior art. More specifically, flooring materials heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art flooring materials include U.S. Pat. No. 5,257,597 issued to Feuerhelm on 2 Nov. 1993; U.S. Pat. No. 4,362,128 issued to Downey on 7 Dec. 1982; U.S. Pat. No. 4,953,501 issued to Moreau on 4 Sep. 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,221 issued to Yetter on 11 Dec. 1990; U.S. Pat. No. 4,794,879 issued to Thom et al. on 3 Jan. 1989, and U.S. Pat. No. Des. 352,119 issued to Kallioniemi on 1 Nov. 1994.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a new livestock flooring system. The inventive device includes a sand base, and a cement and pine chock floor, sloped for drainage.
In these respects, the livestock flooring system according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of providing an inexpensive, durable, and convenient floor for animal pens such as the pens used for pigs, horses, cows and calves.


A transverse-type laser assembly is disclosed herein. This assembly defines a laser cavity containing a vapor or gaseous substance which lases when subjected to specific electrical discharge excitation between a pair of spaced-apart electrodes located within the cavity in order to produce a source of light. An arrangement located entirely outside the laser cavity is provided for inducing a voltage across the electrodes within the cavity sufficient to provide the necessary electrical discharge excitation to cause a vapor substance between the electrodes to lase.

The present invention relates generally to lasers and more particularly to an improved transverse-type laser assembly, especially a transverse-type copper vapor laser suitable for use in what is known as an atomic vapor laser isotope separation (AVLIS) process.
The fundamental operating concept of a transverse-discharge laser is known in the art and diagrammatically illustrated in FIG. 1. This figure shows an axially extending tubular arrangement 10 which defines an axially extending laser cavity at 12 containing a lasing substance 14, for example, copper, and a buffer gas (not shown). The overall tubular arrangement includes, for example, an innermost ceramic tube 16, an intermediate layer of insulation 18, and an outer quartz tube (not shown). A pair of spaced-apart, confronting electrodes 20 are disposed within laser cavity 12, as shown, and a voltage is applied across these electrodes from a source 22 located outside cavity 12. Source 22 which may provide a continuous pulsating voltage is physically connected to electrodes 20 by means of electrically conductive leads 24 extending through tubular arrangement 10. All of these components and some which have not been described (but which are not pertinent to this invention) cooperate with one another (1) so that substance 14 is sufficiently heated to provide vapor between electrodes 20, as indicated by the arrows 26, and (2) such that the voltage applied across the electrodes is sufficient to subject the vapor substance therebetween to an electrical discharge excitation whereby to cause the vaporous substance to lase. This, in turn, provides a source of light which is ultimately acted upon to form a laser beam.
As indicated above, the components described immediately above are only some of the components making up a known type of transverse-discharge laser. The other components (not shown) are not pertinent to the present invention and could be readily provided by those familiar with that type of laser. These other components include, for example, suitable means acting on the lasing vapor in order to form the ultimate laser beam. They may also include means other than electrodes 20 for heating substance 14 in order to produce its vapor 26, although it may be desirable to use only the electrodes to this end.
The transverse-type laser generally may be an especially suitable laser for use with copper vapor and the previously recited AVLIS process. This is because it can be made quite compact and it can be designed to operate with short voltage pulses and at high repetition rates, desirable features in the AVLIS process. It could also be attractive in the AVLIS process as an oscillator and as a means for driving dye master oscillators. However, one very significant drawback with the known transverse-type laser, as exemplified in FIG. 1, resides in certain mechanical aspects of this laser. More specifically, as can be seen in FIG. 1, in order to connect the electrodes 20 within laser cavity 12 to voltage source 22 outside the tubular housing 10, it is necessary to provide electrically conductive leads 24 through the tubular arrangement. Considering the relatively high temperature within the laser cavity, for example, on the order of 1500.degree. C., the feedthrough points for accommodating the electrical leads become quite complicated and quite possibly prohibitive.

Transverse-type laser assembly using induced electrical discharge excitation and method

The United States of America as represented by the United States Department of Energy


A storage device is disclosed. The storage device may include storage for data. A controller may manage writing the data to the storage and reading the data from the reading storage. A data quality metric table may map a first number of errors to a first data quality metric and map a second number of errors to a second data quality metric. A transmitter may return the data quality metric table to a host.

Host machines may write data to and read data from storage devices. On occasion, when processing a host read request, a storage device may detect an error. Error correcting codes provide a mechanism by which such errors might be corrected. But applying error correction may take additional time: the storage device may end up taking more time to respond to the read request than is acceptable to the host. In addition, error correction techniques consume power, increasing the operating expense for the storage device.
A need remains to improve the performance of a storage device to reduce the time required to perform error correction and reduce the power used by the storage device.

Storage device with data quality metric and selectable data recovery scheme


Disclosed is an implantable wireless electrocardiogram sensor device, including: a cylindrical capsule provided with four recesses on a lateral surface thereof in a longitudinal direction thereof at equal intervals; electrodes installed on upper and lower surfaces of the cylindrical capsule and configured to measure electrocardiogram; a wireless electrocardiogram sensor module installed inside the capsule; a data transceiving antenna wound around two recesses symmetrical at a center; and a coil for charging wound around the remaining two recesses in a direction vertical to the antenna.

An electrocardiogram records a change in a voltage by installing a sensor on a skin around a heart. The voltage measured by the sensor installed on the skin has an analog characteristic. A general method of measuring an electrocardiogram is a method of measuring a change in a voltage by using a potential difference measuring method to measure a fine voltage.
However, when it is necessary to enlarge an electrocardiogram graph in order to obtain fine information, most of the electrocardiogram measuring equipment in the related art directly increases a potential difference to obtain a more precise result. However, it is impossible to unlimitedly increase a potential difference, and when a potential difference is increased, a phenomenon, in which a current reversely flows, may occur due to a potential difference with a body.
Further, existing electrocardiogram equipment is configured so that one equipment uses the predetermined number of leads. However, when a predetermined lead is not attached onto a body for each equipment, there is a problem in that it is impossible to read a measured electrocardiogram signal or obtain necessary information.
Further, the existing electrocardiogram equipment adopts a fixed unit recording method according to a time order, so that it is very inconvenient to variously make a search according to a situation. Accordingly, in order to search for stored material in electrocardiogram equipment capable of storing materials, it is necessary to inconveniently search for the material according to a recorded order.
In order to solve the problem, an implantable electrocardiogram sensor, which is directly transplanted or implanted into a human body to more accurately measure a signal, has been developed, but the implantable electrocardiogram sensor needs to continuously transmit a signal for 24 hours, so that there is a problem in that a capacity of a power supply needs to be large, and when a large capacity battery is used in order to solve the problem, the implantable electrocardiogram sensor has a large size, so that an extensive surgical operation needs to be performed in order to implant the implantable electrocardiogram sensor into the human body.

Implantable wireless electrocardiogram sensor device

INDUSTRY ACADEMIC COOPERATION FOUNDATION KEIMYUNG UNIVERSITY


Provided is a system and method for detecting a SQL command from a natural language input using neural networks which works even when the SQL command has not been seen before by the neural networks. In one example, the method may include storing a candidate set comprising structured query language (SQL) templates paired with respective text values, reducing, via a first predictive network, the candidate set into a subset of candidates based on a natural language input and the text values included in the candidate set, selecting, via a second predictive network, an SQL template from among the subset of candidates based on the natural language input and text values included in the subset of candidates, and determining a SQL command that corresponds to the natural language input based on the selected SQL template and content from the natural language input.

Natural language processing is a technology that enables a computer to understand a human's natural language. Examples of natural language include English, French, Chinese, and the like, and should not be confused with computer programming languages such as C, Java, Python, etc. Teaching a machine to understand how humans communicate is not an easy task. The objective of natural language processing is to program the computer to read, decipher, understand, and make sense of human languages in a manner that provides value. Early natural language processing systems were based on hard-coded rules. The rules were typically used to parse and pattern match speech to particular words. However, a rule-based approach is generally of low precision and only effective in specific use cases.
More recent natural language processing systems rely on the use of machine learning. Traditional machine learning includes probabilistic modeling, likelihood maximization, and linear classifiers. Other approaches involve the use of neural networks. In either case, the machine learning system "learns" from training data. For example, neural networks "learn" important features through many training runs. The training tends to focus on the most common cases. To make a model more robust typically requires a larger variety and amount of training data. One of the major drawbacks of known machine learning techniques is that for the model to recognize a particular speech input from natural language, the model must have been previously trained on the particular speech input. Because of this rigidity, the model cannot accurately recognize speech it has not been previously trained to recognize.
Throughout the drawings and the detailed description, unless otherwise described, the same drawing reference numerals will be understood to refer to the same elements, features, and structures. The relative size and depiction of these elements may be exaggerated or adjusted for clarity, illustration, and/or convenience.


A signal adjustment method, a signal adjustment circuit, an image processing circuit and a display device are disclosed. The signal adjustment method is used for adjusting a display signal including an original clock signal and an original data signal, and the method includes: delaying the original clock signal by a first delay amount to obtain a reference clock signal; delaying the original data signal by a second delay amount to obtain a reference data signal; sampling the reference data signal with the reference clock signal to obtain a sampled data; comparing the sampled data with a reference data to obtain a comparison result; and adjusting a reference timing relationship according to the comparison result, and the reference timing relationship is a timing relationship between the reference clock signal and the reference data signal.

When sampling a data signal by using a clock signal, in order to realize a correct sample, a certain timing relationship must be satisfied between the clock signal and the data signal. For example, when the data signal is sampled by using a rising edge or a falling edge of the clock signal, a sampling timing is required to occur during a window period when the data signal is stable (for example, the data signal remains unchanged).

Signal adjustment method, signal adjustment circuit and image processing circuit