A modular utility truck bed has a deck assembly comprising a center section, a right side section, and a left side section. The right and left side sections are bolted to the sides of the center section to form a substantially planar deck. A tail piece extends across a rear end of the deck assembly. The tail piece is bolted to rear ends of each of the center and side sections of the deck assembly. A front rack extends across a front end of the deck assembly. The front rack is bolted to front ends of each of the center and side sections of the deck assembly. The deck assembly, tail piece and front rack are modular components that can be shipped disassembled in a compact configuration and bolted together by the end user.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to utility truck beds, and in particular to a utility truck bed made of modular components that can be shipped in a compact configuration and assembled together to form the truck bed.
2. Description of the Related Art
Pickup trucks have long been used for transporting and storing tools, materials, fuels, feeds, etc. for various trades, such as farming, ranching, plumbing, electrical, construction, repair, etc. Conventional pickup beds are often removed and replaced with utility truck beds of various types, such as the Workbed™ manufactured and sold by Bradford Built, Inc. of Washington, Kans. Utility truck beds provide a heavier duty bed than conventional pickup beds, and are generally preferred by users who want increased strength, carrying capacity, a larger platform, improved access, and a variety of other reasons.
However, conventional utility truck beds are manufactured by welding together various components into a complete, fully assembled unit. The complete unit is then painted and shipped in a permanent, fully assembled condition to the dealer or customer. The utility truck beds are typically loaded by the manufacturer onto flatbed semi trailers that haul the utility truck beds to dealers and end users. However, only a relatively small number of utility truck beds can be carried on a semi trailer due to space constraints created by the fully assembled condition of the utility truck beds.
There is a need in the industry for a utility truck bed that is manufactured in a modular configuration that allows more efficient transport and storage of the truck bed before it is installed by the end user.


A video decoder obtains a first set of picture buffering parameters associated with a current picture of an encoded video bitstream. The first set of picture buffering parameters identifies a set of one or more reference pictures for use in decoding the current picture by a graphics processor. The video decoder revises the first set of picture buffering parameters into a second (different) set of picture buffering parameters for use in decoding the current picture by the graphics processor. The second set of picture buffering parameters is transferred to the graphics processor for decoding the current picture.

A video recording can be communicated and/or stored in digital form as encoded image data defining a sequence of displayable pictures for video playback. Some video encoding formats are defined by standards organizations to facilitate broad acceptance by industry and consumers (e.g., H.261, MPEG-1, H.262/MPEG-2, H.263, MPEG-4 Part 2, H.264/AVC, SMPTE VC-1, and H.265/HEVC). Video encoding typically includes a compression aspect that reduces the transmission and storage requirements associated with the video recording. For example, compressed video occupies less storage on a computing device and can be transferred (e.g., streamed) in a shorter period of time to/from the computing device. When the digital data is decoded, the data for each encoded picture in the coded video sequence is decoded to generate a displayable picture for presentation on a display, such as a computer screen, phone screen, or other display device.
In addition, a graphics processor is often used in combination with a host processor in a computing system to off-load certain processor-intensive decoding operations. The interaction between a host-processor-executed decoder and a graphics processor in decoding encoded image data can dramatically improve system performance. Such interaction can be dependent upon the standard used to encode the video and can itself be governed by a standardized interface.
Because normal playback is the most frequently used mode of operation in a video playback system, video encoding standards are often focused on a normal playback of video. As a result, other playback modes, which may be referred to as "trick play" operation (e.g., fast forward, reverse, skip ahead/forward seek, skip back/rewind, etc.) can present decoding challenges. For example, decoding for such a trick play operation may rely on video data that is not yet completely transferred, decoded, or otherwise available when that trick play mode is executed. Accordingly, the unavailable video data can lead to poor performance and/or poor picture quality during trick play operation.

Picture referencing control for video decoding using a graphics processor


The invention relates to the use of peptides individually or in combination, for treating and/or preventing angiogenesis. It also relates to the use of peptide analogs or a combination of peptides referred to as MuJ-7 as anticancer drugs in restricting the tumor growth and spread by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. MuJ-7, in addition inhibits metastasis through its antiangiogenic activity in all cancers. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing either individual peptides or in combination, and methods of treatment of human beings and animals for curing and/or preventing angiogenesis.

The invention relates to the use of peptides individually or in combination, for treating and/or preventing angiogenesis. It also relates to the use of a combination of peptides referred to as MuJ-7 as an anticancer drug in restricting tumor growth and its spread by inhibiting tumor angiogenesis. MuJ-7, in addition inhibits metastasis through its antiangiogenic activity in all cancers. The invention also relates to a pharmaceutical composition containing either individual peptides or combinations of peptides, and methods of treatment of human beings and animals for curing and/or preventing angiogenesis.
Angiogenesis is the growth of new microvessels. This process depends mainly on locomotion, proliferation, and tube formation by capillary endothelial cells. During angiogenesis, endothelial cells emerge from their quiescent state and can proliferate as rapidly as bone marrow cells, but unlike the bone marrow, angiogenesis is usually focal and of brief duration. Pathologic angiogenesis, while still a focal process, persists for months or years. The angiogenesis that occurs in diseases of ocular neovascularisation, arthritis, skin diseases, and tumors rarely terminates spontaneously and has until recently, been difficult to suppress therapeutically. Therefore, the fundamental goal of all antiangiogenic therapy is to return foci of proliferating microvessels to their normal resting state, and to prevent their regrowth1.
Although the molecular mechanisms responsible for transition of a cell to angiogenic phenotype are not known, the sequence of events leading to the formation of new vessels has been well documented2,3. The vascular growth entails either endothelial sprouting3,4 or intussusception5. In the first pathway, the following sequence of events may occur: (a) dissolution of the basement of the vessel, usually a postcapillary venule, and the interstitial matrix; (b) migration of endothelial cells toward the stimulus; (c) proliferation of endothelial cells trailing behind the leading endothelial cell(s); (d) formation of lumen (canalization) in the cndothelial array/sprout; (e) formation of branches and loops by confluence/anastomoses of sprouts to permit blood flow; (f) investment of the vessel with pericytes; and (g) formation of basement membrane around the immature vessel2,3. New vessels can also be formed via the second pathway: insertion of interstitial tissue columns into the lumen of preexisting vessels. The subsequent growth of these columns and their stabilization result in partitioning of the vessel lumen and remodelling of the local vascular network5,6.
The rationale for antiangiogenic therapy is that progressive tumor growth is angiogenesis-dependent8. The switch to the angiogenic phenotype appears to be an independent event that occurs during the multistage progression to neoplasia9. The angiogenic switch itself, while relatively sudden and well localized, is nonetheless a complex process. This phenotype is currently understood in terms of a shift in the net balance of stimulators and inhibitors of angiogenesis, during which inhibitors are down regulated10,11.
Once new capillary loops converge toward a small in situ carcinoma or a microscopic metastasis, the tumor cells are bathed in additional survival factors and growth factors, not only from the circulating blood (perfusion effect) but also from vascular endothelial cells themselves (paracrine effect). The positive regulators of angiogenesis include at least 14 angiogenic proteins that have been discovered during the past 12 years and which have been sequenced and cloned12. Basic fibroblast growth factor (bFGF) and vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) are the most well studied and are found in a majority of different types of human tumors. During the angiogenic switch one or more of these angiogenic stimulators is upregulated and it appears, however, that this up regulation of angiogenic stimulators is accompanied by down regulation of local tissue inhibitors of angiogenesis.
The paracrine stimulation of tumor cells by products from endothelial cells also operates in the other direction. Endothelial cell survival and growth are driven by tumor derived mitogens and motogens. These findings have led to a model of tumor growth in which the endothelial cell compartment and the tumor cell compartment interact with each other. They not only stimulate each other""s growth, but if the endothelial cells are made unresponsive to angiogenic stimuli from the tumor cells, by administration of a specific endothelial inhibitor, both primary tumors11 and metastatic tumors10 can be held dormant, at a microscopic size. One could take advantage of this difference between endothelial cells and tumor cells by administering an angiogenesis inhibitor together with conventional cytotoxic chemotherapy up to the point at which the cytotoxic therapy would normally be discontinued because of toxicity or drug resistance. The angiogenesis inhibitor(s) could then be continued (for years), to maintain either stable disease or tumor dormancy1. Such combinations of antiangiogenic and cytotoxic therapy in tumor-bearing animals have been curative, whereas either agent alone is merely as inhibitor15.
Peptides/Proteins have previously been studied for antiangiogenic activity. Thrombospondin-1 (TSP-1) which is a naturally occurring inhibitor of angiogenesis, makes endothelial cells unresponsive to a wide variety of inducers. Both native TSP-1 and small antiangiogenic peptides derived from it show that this inhibition is mediated by CD3616 (Dawson et al., 1997). Both IgG antibodies against CD36 and glutathione-S-transferase-CD36 fusion proteins that contain the TSP-1 binding site blocked the ability of intact TSP-1 and its active peptides to inhibit the migration of cultured microvascular endothelial cells.
The family of tissue inhibitors of metalloproteinases (TIMPs) are known to be specific inhibitors of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs). The local balance between MMPs and TIMPs is believed to play a major role in extracellular matrix (ECM) remodelling during diseases such as cancer. TIMP-3 which is unique in being a component of ECM, inhibits endothelial cell migration and tube formation in response to angiogenic factors17 (Anand-Apte et al., 1996).
The conditioned medium of human promyelocytic leukemia (HL6O) cells has been shown to contain a cell growth inhibitory factor, human cytostatin. Human cytostatin can inhibit endothelial cell proliferation, migration and microvessel tube formation on Matrigel-coated surfaces18 (Yeung AK et al., 1996). Furthermore the anti-angiogenic effect of human cytostatin has been demonstrated on the chick chorioallantoic membrane. Human cytostatin can inhibit new blood vessel development, but cannot regress existing blood vessels.
Angiostatin, which is a 38 kD internal fragment of plasminogen is an antiangiogenic endothelial cell inhibitor and suppresses the growth of primary Lewis lung carcinoma in vivo19 (Wu, Z. et al., 1997).
Thalidomide has recently been shown to antagonize basic fibroblast growth factor-induced angiogenesis in the rat corneal micropocket assay. It has been suggested that thalidomide elevates tumor hypoxia in the Lewis lung tumor, presumably via an antiangiogenic mechanism20 (Minchinton AI et al., 1996).
One study examined the in vitro antiangiogeneic effects of the somatostatin analog octreotide on the growth of human umbelical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) and vascular cells from explants of rat aorta cultured on fibronectin-coated dishes or included in fibrin gel. A total 10xe2x88x929M octreotide reduced the mean uptake of 3H-thymidine by HUVEC cells by 37% compared with controls. The 10xe2x88x928M concentration of octreotide inhibited the proliferation of endothelial and smooth muscle cells growing on fibronectin by 32.6% and reduced the sprouting of cells from the adventitia of aortic rings in fibrin by 33.2% compared with controls, as measured by tetrazolium bioreduction and image analysis, respectively. These results demonstrate that octreotide is an effective inhibitor of vascular cell proliferation in vitro21 (Danesi R. Del Taccam, Metabolism August 1996. 45(8 Supp 1: 49-50). In another experiment, somatostatin analogs SMS 201-995 and RC-160 were found to inhibit angiogenesis in the chick chorioallantoic membrane of the developing chicken embryo. Somatostatin analogues were associated in a dose-related fashion with both a greater percentage of inhibition of blood vessel growth and an increased grade of inhibition. It was hypothesized that inhibition of angiogenesis may be a mechanism responsible for the tumor regression observed in vivo following SMS or RC-160 therapy22 (Woltering E A et al., J. Surg. Res. March 1991, 50(3): 245-251).
The proinflammatory neuropeptide, substance P, stimulated angio-genesis in an in vitro model using HUVECs cultured on a basement membrane (Matrigel) substrate. Substance P stimulated endothelial cell differentiation into capillary-like structures in a dose-dependent manner. Stimulation of endothelial cell differentiation is a newly recognized biological function of substance P23 (Wiedermann, C. J. et al. Eur. J. Pharmacol. Mar. 18, 1996, 298 (3): 335-338).
The effects of Nitric oxide (NO) generation and endogenous production of NO elicited by substance P (SP) in angiogenic process were evaluated in the rabbit cornea (in vivo) and by measuring growth and migration of endothelial cells (in vitro). The NO synthase inhibitors given systemically inhibited angiogenesis elicited by [sar9]-SP-Sulfone. Capillary endothelial cell proliferation and migration produced by SP were abolished by pretreatment with the NO synthase inhibitors. Exposure of the cells to SP activated the calcium-dependent NO synthase. These data indicate that NO production induced by vasoactive agents, such as SP, functions as an autocrine regulator of the microvascular events necessary for neovascularization and mediates angiogenesis24 (Ziche M. et al., J. Clin. Invest. November 1994, 94(5):2036-2044).
The angiogenic activity of four vasoactive peptides with a range of vasodilator and vasoconstrictor properties were investigated in a rat sponge model. 2 daily doses of vasodilator peptide VIP(10 pmol) when given with interleukin-1 alpha caused intense neovascularization which was inhibited by simultaneous administration of VIP(10-28), a specific VIP receptor antagonist. These data show that VIP possesses angiogenic activity and the blockade of VIP induced angiogenesis at the receptor level could provide a strategy for the management of angiogenic disease25.
Vascular endothelial cells are important in a variety of physiological and pathophysiological processes. The growth and functions of vascular endothelial cells are regulated both by soluble mitogenic and differentiation factors and by interactions with the extracellular matrix; however, relatively little is known about the role of the matrix. The neuropeptide bombesin, the bioactive lipid lysophosphatidic acid (LPA), and the cytokine tumor necrosis factor alpha, which signal through diverse mechanisms, were all able to activate MAPK to a much greater degree in fibronectin adherent cells than in suspended cells. Together, these data suggest a cooperation between integrins and soluble mitogens in efficient propagation of signals to downstream kinases. This cooperation may contribute to anchorage dependence of mitogenic cell cycle progression (Short S M et al, Molecular Biology of the Cell 9(8):1969-1980, 1998).
Cell adhesion to the extracellular matrix (ECM) has been implicated in apoptosis in anchorage-dependent cell types. It was recently found that a peptide derived from fibronectin (termed III14-2) inhibits the integrin-mediated cell adhesion to ECM. Using this antiadhesive peptide and a variety of ECM proteins, a critical role of the integrin-ECM protein interaction in apoptotic regulation of human umbilical vein endothelial cells (HUVEC) has been demonstrated. HUVEC in suspension undergoes apoptosis under the serum-free conditions, as judged by nuclear and DNA fragmentations (Fukai F et al, Experimental Cell Research, 242(l):92-99, 1998).
It has been previously shown that vasoactive intestinal polypeptide (VIP) induces endothelium-dependent relaxation of the human uterine artery. Non-competitive antagonism with methylene blue revealed that the pKa value for VIP-receptor complex was 8.10+/xe2x88x920.10 (n=6) and the receptor reserve expressed as K-A/EC50 was 0.89+/xe2x88x920.11, where pKa=log (10)K(A), and K-A is the dissociation constant of VIP-receptor complex (Jovanovic A. et al. Molecular Human Reproduction, 4(1):71-76, 1998).
Somatostatin (SRIF) exerts antiproliferative effects, and has recently been evaluated in clinical trials for the prophylaxis of restenosis following coronary angioplasty. 3 SRIF (0.1-1000 nM) caused a concentration-dependent inhibition of the bFGF-stimulated regrowth in CHO-K1 cells expressing human sst(2) (h sst(2)) or sst(5) (h sst(5)) receptors (pIC(50)=8.05+/xe2x88x920.03 and 8.56+/xe2x88x920.12, respectively). SRIF (0.1-1000 nM) was able to inhibit the bFGF-stimulated re-growth (pIC(50)=7.98+/xe2x88x9224 and 8.50+/xe2x88x920.12, respectively). (Alderton F et al, British Journal of Pharmacology, 124(2): 323-330, 1998).
Substance P (SP) was analyzed in rat brain endothelium cultures after cytokine stimulation. SP secretion was found after stimulation with high doses of interleukin-l beta (IL-1 beta) and tumor necrosis factor alpah (TNF-alpha). Under cytokine stimulation, part of SP was bound to brain endothelial cell surface, suggesting the existence of an autocrine network for this neuropeptide. SP regulates cellular processes in the CNS, placenta and vasculature include permeability, inflammation, mitogenesis and transformation. Increased SPR mRNA level in response to E-2 were linearly related to increased [H-3]SP binding to the SPR (Villablanca A C et al, Molecular and Cellular Endocrinology, 135(2):109-117, 1997).
The present invention provides pharmaceutical compositions for treating cancer angiogenesis and cancer metastasis. The invention provides a method of treating angiogenesis, cancer and cancer metastasis employing a pharmaceutically effective dosage of a combination of peptides or individual peptides. It is an object of this invention that a combination of peptides used is known as MuJ-7. Individual constituent peptides of MuJ-7 and pharmaceutically acceptable additives can be used. The present invention provides a pharmaceutical composition useful for killing or inhibiting multiplication of tumor cells as well as cancer cells. The pharmaceutical composition may also be useful in preventing, inhibiting, or modulating the hypersecretion of VIP, somatostain, bombesin, Substance P, or a combination of VIP, somatostatin, bombesin, or Substance P.
The composition may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of a therapeutically effective combination of peptide analogs of somatostatin, VIP, bombesin, and Substance P. The peptide analogs are described in more detail below, but constituents functionally interchangeable with those specifically described may also be employed in the claimed pharmaceutical composition. More particularly, the pharmaceutical composition may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of an analog of somatostatin and at least four peptides selected from the group consisting of a first analog of VIP, a second analog of VIP, a third analog of VIP, analog of somatostatin another analog of somatostatin, an analog of bombesin, and an analog of Substance P. More particularly, the composition may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of a therapeutically effective combination of peptide SOM2 (an analog of somatostatin) and at least four of the following peptides: VIP1 (a VIP anatagonist), VIP2 (a VIP) receptor binding inhibitor), VIP3 (a VIP receptor antagonist), SOM1 (a somatostatin analog (also abbreviated xe2x80x9cCTOP.xe2x80x9d which is derived from the first letters of the following four amino acids: Cys2, Tyr, Orn5, and Pen5), BOM1 (a bombesin antagonist), and SP1 (a Substance P antagonist). In a preferred embodiment, a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier, diluent, or solvent is used. The invention provides a method of treatment for humans, mammals, or other animals suffering from cancer or other tumors. The invention also provides a method of treatment for humans, mammals, or other animals suffering from hypersecretion of VIP, somatostatin, bombesin, Substance P, or a combination of VIP, somatostatin, bombesin, or Substance P. The method may suitably comprise, consist of, or consist essentially of administering a therapeutically effective dose of the pharmaceutical composition so as to prevent, inhibit, or modulate the hypersecretion of VIP, somatostatin, bombesin, Substance P, or a combination of VIP, somatostatin, bombesin, or Substance P.
In addition, the compositions may comprise, consist essentially of or consist of one or more of peptides identified below as DT-11; DT-12; DT-13; DT-14; DT-15; DT-16; DT-18; DT-19; DT-23; DT-24; DT-26; DT-27; DT-31; DT-33; DT-34; DT-62A; DT-62B; DT-71 which are peptide analogs.
We have observed that VIP (vasoactive intestinal peptide), somatostatin, substance P, and bombesin are secreted by at least some human tumor and cancer cells and that there are binding sites for these peptides on these cells. Specifically, out of a number of peptide growth regulators studied by indirect immunofluorescence, the four peptides (i.e., vasoactive intestinal peptide (VIP), somatostatin, Substance P, and bombesin) were shown to bind, to tumor cells. (Herein, the terms xe2x80x9cpeptide growth regulatorsxe2x80x9d, and xe2x80x9cpeptidesxe2x80x9d each refer to VIP, somatostatin, Substance P, and bombesin). It may be that there is an autocrine mechanism for cell proliferation where the peptides are secreted by tumor cells and transduce a signal through specific receptors on the same cell type leading to cell proliferation. As will be described in more detail below, the effects of the analogs of somatostatin, VIP, bombesin, Substance P on the tumor cell growth and survival were studied using different assay systems. The amino-acid sequences of the seven analogs (VIP1, VIP2, VIP3, SOM1, SOM1, BOM2 and SP1) are disclosed in U.S. application Ser. No. 08/727,679.
As will be explained in more detail below, the combination of these seven analogs is known as MuJ-7. The analogs were synthesized manually and using a conventional peptide synthesizer. An example of a combination within the scope of the invention comprises SOM2, VIP1, VIP2, VIP3, SOM1, BOM1, and SP1. A combination hereinafter referred to as MuJ-7, was prepared using the following seven peptide analogs: (1) VIP1, (the VIP antagonist) having a molecular weight of approximately 3464.9 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x927 M; (2) VIP2. (the receptor binding inhibitor) having a molecular weight of approximately 1027.55 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x928M; (3) VIP3, (the VIP receptor antagonist) having a molecular weight of approximately 3342.09 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x928M; (4) SOM1 (the somatostatin analog (CTOP) having a molecular weight of approximately 1061.59 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x929M; (5) SOM2, (the analog of somatostatin) having a molecular weight of approximately 1637.0 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x928M; (6) BOM1 (the bombesin antagonist) having a molecular weight of approximately 983.55 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x928M; and (7) SP1 (the Substance P antagonist) having a molecular weight of approximately 1515.83 and a concentration of approximately 10xe2x88x928M. The preceding sentence sets forth the preferred concentrations of the seven analogs comprising MuJ-expected that MuJ-7 would be effective if the concentration of each of the seven analogs ranged from approximately 10xe2x88x926M to approximately 10xe2x88x9212M.
MuJ-7 may be prepared in the following way. A stock solution of each of the seven peptide analogs is prepared with a pH of approximately 7.0 to approximately 7.4. Although sterile phosphate buffered saline was used to prepare the stock solutions for the testing described below, other diluents may be used such as RPMI 1649, buffered saline, isotonic NaCl, Ringer""s solution, water (for injection) distilled water, polyethylene glycol (near or in water), 2% Tween in water, dimethylsulfoxide to 50% in water, propylene glycol (neat or in water), balanced salt solution, glycerol, and other conventional fluids that are suitable for intravenous administration to obtain a pH in the range of approximately 7.0 to approximately 7.4 for each stock solution, the pH can be adjusted by using 1 N HCl for lowering the pH or 1 N NaOH for raising the pH, although the conventional agents for adjusting the pH can be used, the concentration of the peptide analog in each stock solution is approximately 10xe2x88x923M.
Aliquots of the seven peptides analogs are mixed together such that the MuJ-7 formulation contained approximately equal weights of each of the seven peptide analogs. In MuJ-7, approximately, the concentration of VIP1, is 10xe2x88x927M; the concentration of VIP2 is 10xe2x88x928M; the concentration of VIP3 is 10xe2x88x928M; the concentration of SOM1 is 10xe2x88x929M; the concentration of SOM2 is 10xe2x88x928M; the concentration of BOM1 is 10xe2x88x928M; and the concentration of SP1 is 10xe2x88x928M. In one exemplary embodiment, the pH of the MuJ-7 solution may range from about 7.0 to 7.4. To obtain a pH in this range, the pH can be adjusted by using 1 N NCl for lowering the pH or 1 N NaOH for raising the pH, although other conventional agents for adjusting the pH can be used.
In addition, a number of novel peptides also exhibited an antiangiogenic effect. These peptides are:
MuJ-7 was tested against primary tumor cells of human colon adenocarcinoma, and each of the peptide analogs comprising MuJ-7 was tested individually against human colon adenocarcinoma cells. A three day MTT cytotoxicity assay was performed as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/727,679. The percent killing achieved by individual peptides was in the range of 54 to 79% while percent killing achieved by MuJ-7 was 94%.
Five different subcombinations of seven peptide analogs comprising MuJ-7 were tested against human colon adenocarcinoma cells. Each subcombination was tested by performing a one day MTT cytotoxicity assay as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/727,679. The percent killing achieved by the subcombinations was in the range of 64.7% to 94.9%.


This disclosure provides a support frame and an electronic sign. The support frame may include a base with elasticity, a first support portion including a first support plate and a first engaging portion, and a second support portion including a second support plate and a second engaging portion. Bottom ends of the first support plate and the second support plate are respectively connected to opposite ends of the base. Top ends of the first support plate and the second support plate extend in a direction closing to each other, and are disposed separately. The first engaging portion is disposed on a surface of the first support plate facing away from the second support plate, the second engaging portion is disposed on a surface of the second support plate facing away from the first support plate. Each of the two engaging portions can be respectively engaged with a display structure.

Some conference signs are conventionally placed on a desktop to show names of people in corresponding positions or other information. The conference signs are generally double-sided. As shown in FIG. 1, a conventional conference sign is formed by a support frame 10 and a piece of folded paper 11, on both sides of which a name is written (this name may be in the dashed box in FIG. 1), and are respectively attached to both sides of the support frame 10, so that participants can sit in the correct seats and recognize each other. In terms of a single conference sign, it has a low cost and can be easily replaced, but if there are many participants, it is required to print the name of each of the participants and replace conference signs one by one, which wastes a lot of manpower and is easy for conference signs to be mistakenly placed.
At present, in order to improve the above situation, an electronic sign with a double-sided display is generally used to replace the conventional conference sign. In this case, contents displayed in the electronic sign can be replaced in an electronic controlling manner, which is fast to be replaced and reduces use of papers. However, a single-screen in the electronic sign is difficult to be disassembled or easy to fall off.
It should be noted that the information disclosed in the above "Background" section is only intended to enhance understanding of the background of the present disclosure and thus, may include information that does not constitute the prior art as already known by an ordinary person skilled in the art.


Catalytic process for hydrogenating a dinitrile to produce both aminocapronitrile and hexamethylenediamine in which the dinitrile is contacted with hydrogen in the presence of a catalyst and a modifier selected from the group consisting of quaternary ammonium hydroxides, cyanides, fluorides and thiocyanides; quaternary phosphonium hydroxide; carbon monoxide; and hydrogen cyanide.

Dinitriles are common feedstocks to the chemical, pharmaceutical, and agrochemical industries. Through hydrogenation they can be converted to diamines and/or aminonitriles, which are used in or as polymer intermediates, surfactants, chelating agents, and chemical synthesis intermediates. As a particular example, adiponitrile can be converted to 6-aminocapronitrile and/or hexamethylenediamine by hydrogenation. Hexamethylenediamine is an intermediate in the production of Nylon 6,6. 6-aminocapronitrile can be used as an intermediate in the production of Nylon 6.
Traditional methods of producing hexamethylenediamine include hydrogenation of adiponitrile over a reduced iron oxide or cobalt oxide catalyst at high pressures and temperatures. U.S. Pat. No. 6,110,856 describes the use of cobalt and iron based catalysts in a process for the hydrogenation of adiponitrile to a mixture of aminocapronitrile and hexamethylenediamine. The process does not produce aminocapronitrile with high selectivity, yielding 37% aminocapronitrile at 75% adiponitrile conversion. Low-pressure processes are known for the simultaneous production of aminocapronitrile and hexamethylenediamine. U.S. Pat. No. 5,151,543 describes the hydrogenation of dinitriles, including adiponitrile in the presence of a solvent. U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,258,745, 6,566,297, 6,376,714 and WO 99/47492 and WO 03/000651 A2 all describe the hydrogenation of dinitriles to aminonitriles in the presence of selectifying agents for low pressure reactions, i.e., 1 less than about 13.89 MPa (2000 psig).
For simultaneous production of aminonitrile and diamines, it would be advantageous to employ commercial equipment that is currently used for hexamethylenediamine production and that operates at high pressures, i.e. greater than 13.89 MPa (2000 psig). Additionally, it would be advantageous to operate these processes with increased selectivity to aminocapronitrile than is possible under operating conditions taught in the art.

Use of modifiers in a dinitrile hydrogenation process


A body cavity irrigation system includes a housing having at least one interior chamber which is connectable to a faucet or other continuous fluid supply which delivers liquid under pressure through an inlet port. A discharge port of the housing is fluidly interconnected to an irrigation syringe having an actuable valve to control the dispensing of liquid from the housing to a body cavity through a discharge opening under controlled pressure. The liquid being dispensed can be monitored to ensure that the liquid is at an preferred temperature for effectively cleaning the body cavity without patient discomfort, the housing including an antiscald valve which prevents liquid above a predetermined temperature from being dispensed and in which at least one indicator indicates to the user that the liquid is above a second predetermined temperature whereby the first and second temperatures define a suitable temperature range. The system removes discharged water from the body cavity through an insertion tip of the syringe along a return path extending to the housing which includes a venturi which removes the discharged water.

The invention relates to a system for injecting water or other fluid into a human body cavity, such as an ear, for cleaning thereof More specifically, the invention is directed to a body cavity irrigation system which allows user/patient monitoring to ensure efficacy of a cleaning procedure and that water of an optimal temperature is delivered continuously to a body cavity of interest. Further, the system conveniently collects discharged water from the body cavity.
Irrigation syringes are known for cleaning human body cavities. For example, such devices can be used for routinely cleaning the ears of a patient. Most commonly, a flexible bulb is fitted to a nozzle through which fluid (water) is discharged into the ear canal of a patient.
Bulb-type devices have several drawbacks. First, the bulb capacity limits the usage of the device since the bulb contains a relatively small quantity of water. Often, and to fully irrigate a patient""s ear, the bulb may have to be refilled a number of times.
Second, the pressure of the water exiting the nozzle and impinging upon the ear canal can not be readily controlled in a reliable manner. This lack of control produces variable results and can in turn, cause pain and injure a patient due to the sensitivity of the tympanic membrane.
Other known irrigation devices incorporate mechanical pumps which interconnect a fluid reservoir with the nozzle. These devices are capable of producing pulsating streams of ejecting water from the nozzle opening for a sustained period of time. Besides being rather bulky and cumbersome, the above devices produce both vibration and noise which are associated with mechanical pumps. Each result is annoying and undesirable in a doctor""s office or similar setting. A further consideration with these devices is that the volume of the fluid reservoir, though greater than that of the flexible bulb-type devices, must also be refilled at periodic intervals.
In more recent advances, an irrigation-based ear wash device as described by U.S. Pat. No. 5,685,851, to Murphy et al, the entire contents of which are herein incorporated, includes a pressure regulator unit (a housing) having an inlet port which is fluidly connected to a faucet and a discharge port which is connected to an irrigation syringe. The irrigation syringe is hand-grippable and includes a push button control which selectively restricts the flow of liquid from the pressure regulator unit. The pressure regulator unit of this device permits connection to a continuous water source and includes a number of features, including a flow limiting orifice in a supply chamber, a defined air buffer, and a check valve, which effectively controls the pressure of water supplied by the faucet to produce a smooth and constant flow to the irrigation syringe.
At least two problems exist using any of the above described irrigation systems. A first probe relates to collection of the waste water after it has been discharged by the syringe. In the majority of prior art devices, such as described in U.S. Pat. No. 989,839, a basin is used to collect the waste water. If the basin is not used, then the patient must be irrigated in the vicinity of a sink in order to avoid spillages and further usually require the use of towels, drapes, and other accessories to attend to the discharged water. Using either method, the collection of waste water from a cleaning procedure is both tedious and time consuming, as well as inefficient.
A second problem long encountered in the field pertains to the temperature of water being discharged into the body cavity, especially in those systems that utilize a continuous water supply. Water which is too hot can create discomfort and in other cases could seriously injure the patient. It has further been determined that water which is too cold will not allow optimal cerumen removal. It has been determined that optimal removal is achieved using water which is at approximately body temperature.
Moreover, there appears to be no known irrigation system to date which can effectively and continuously deliver a fluid to a body cavity under controlled or regulated high pressure which further effectively solves each of the long standing problems that are noted above.
It is a primary object of the present invention to alleviate the above noted problems as encountered by prior art devices.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide a body cavity irrigation system having temperature controls which more reliably assures that water dispensed into a body cavity, such as the ear, permits cleaning at a comfortable near optimal temperature.
It is a further object of the present invention to provide an ear wash or other body cavity irrigation system that is capable of both delivering water continuously under pressure and removing discharged water away from the cavity without requiring cumbersome mechanical pumps or similar apparatus and precluding the use of drapes, basins, towels, and the like.
It is yet another primary object of the present invention to provide feedback to a user and/or patient such that either can effectively monitor the progress of a cleaning procedure.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an ear wash or other body cavity irrigation system which is easy to use and operate repeatably.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide an irrigation system which is relatively inexpensive in terms of manufacture and which is simple and efficient in operation.
Therefore, and according to a preferred aspect of the invention, there is provided an irrigation system for cleaning a body cavity of a patient, said system comprising:
a housing fluidly connected to a liquid source through an inlet port, said housing further having at least one interior chamber and a discharge port;
a handpiece connected to the discharge port of said housing, said handpiece having an actuable control element to control the dispensing of liquid from said liquid source into a body cavity of the patient through a discharge opening; and
means for delivering liquid to the discharge opening of said handpiece which is of a suitable temperature for effectively cleaning the body cavity without discomfort.
According to the present invention, the delivering means includes means for assuring that liquid exceeding a first predetermined temperature is not dispensed from the housing. In a preferred embodiment, an anti-scald valve is provided including a metallic disc-like element formed from a temperature reactive material.
If the temperature of water impinging upon the disc-like element exceeds the first predetermined temperature, the disc-like element is caused to move from a first position to a second position to effectively block the flow of liquid from the housing to the handpiece and eliminate the possibility of dispensing water that is too hot and could cause injury to the patient.
In addition, at least one indicator is also provided to indicate when liquid which has been discharged from the housing exceeds a second predetermined temperature to indicate an appropriate temperature range for effective cleaning, e.g., cerumen removal. Preferably, the indicator(s) is composed of or at least partially coated with a thermally reactive material which changes color when water exceeds a second predetermined temperature. The indicator can be provided at the insertion tip or anywhere along the fluid delivery path.
An advantageous feature of the above described irrigation system, as described, is that liquid which is too hot and can cause injury is prevented from being discharged from the housing by an anti-scald valve. Furthermore and in the event the water passing through the discharge port of the housing is too cold, the indicator adjacent the handpiece indicates when the liquid has exceeded a second predetermined temperature, indicating that the temperature of the liquid is less than the first predetermined temperature and is at a temperature which is most effective for use and comfortable for the patient. In this manner, the user can monitor when the syringe contains liquid to be dispensed which has the optimum temperature.
According to another preferred aspect of the present invention, there is provided a system for cleaning a body cavity of a patient, said system comprising:
a housing fluidly connected to a liquid supply through an inlet port, said housing further including a plurality of interior chambers and a discharge port;
a handpiece fluidly interconnected to the discharge port of said housing, said handpiece having an actuable control element to control the dispensing of liquid from said liquid supply into the ear of the patient through a discharge opening;
an insertion tip having at least one tip opening attached to said handpiece and aligned with said discharge opening, said insertion tip sized to be fitted a predetermined distance into the ear of a patient; and
means for circulating liquid discharged into the ear of the patient through said insertion tip along a return path extending between said tip and said housing.
Preferably, the insertion tip includes a pair of cavities including a first cavity through which liquid is discharged into the ear from the discharge port of the housing and a second cavity through which liquid is recirculated to the housing along a return path. A pair of fluid channels are defined within the interior of the handpiece; a first channel in fluid communication between the discharge port of the housing and the first cavity of the insertion tip and a second channel in fluid communication between a return chamber of the housing and the second cavity of the insertion tip.
The liquid circulation means includes a return chamber provided in said housing and venturi means for drawing liquid discharged into the ear through the second cavity of the insertion tip and along a return path.
The venturi means includes a converging-diverging nozzle disposed in the return chamber, the return chamber further including a suction port fluidly interconnected with the handpiece along the return path.
Preferably, the insertion tip is disposable and can be made from a transparent material. The insertion tip can also be composed of or be coated with a thermally reactive material which changes color depending on the temperature of water in the tip.
An advantage of the present irrigation system is that the user can safely determine when to optimally dispense water for cleaning the ear or other body cavity.
A further advantage of the present system is that discharged liquid can be reliably and continually circulated to a sink or basin without the need for mechanical or electrical pumps or the need to refill the fluid source.
A further advantage of the present system is that it is more convenient to use than prior known devices since discharged water can be collected without the need of drapes, towels, or the like or otherwise requiring the patient to use a basin.
Yet another advantage of the present system is that a cleaning procedure performed using the system is simpler and more time efficient. Furthermore, the system provides lower patient risks in terms of both pressure and temperature while permitting continuous dispensing of water throughout a procedure.
Still another advantage provided by the herein described system is that the user or patient can monitor the efficacy of the cleaning procedure, for example, by examining a cerumen-catching filter of the insertion tip.
These and other objects, features, and advantages will be more apparent from the following Detailed Description which should be read in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


Apparatus for creating a three-dimensional image in space of an object. The device employs concave mirrors positioned in a unique arrangement with respect to one another so that the clarity and image produced therefrom is enhanced. Additionally, a videotape option allows a whole image to be broadcast and real objects merged with the broadcast image so that the entire combined image appears three-dimensional and realistic to a properly located observer.

Mirrored devices for creating images in space have been known in the art for many years. Typically, a concave mirror in one form or another is utilized to project an image of an object into space so that to an observer, it appears that a copy of the object is located in a nearby area of space. The copy of the object appears to be levitating in the air.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,647,284 to Ellings et al. issued on Mar. 7, 1972, is an example of the prior art. In the Ellings arrangement, a pair of concave mirrors are placed opposite one another. An object to be projected, such as a coin or piece of jewelry, is placed on a concave surface of one of the mirrors, which faces the concave surface of the other mirror. A real image of the object is then projected through a small opening in the surface of the other mirror.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,776,118 to Mizuno issued on Oct. 11, 1988, discloses another prior art device utilizing a concave mirror to project an image. In the Mizuno arrangement, a single concave mirror is utilized opposite a television monitor. The television monitor displays an image which is projected in a three-dimensional form, in an upright position, on a transparent surface above the device.
While the prior art provides numerous devices for projecting three-dimensional optical images, the images are in general not "faithful", i.e. not congruent or geometrically similar to the object and must be viewed from a precise angle in order to avoid extreme distortion.
Additionally, the prior art devices are not capable of producing images which appear to be located in an area of space far from the mirrored device.
Therefore, the limited systems of the prior art have not made possible the use of projected images to give the sensation of the presence of the object in a realistic environment. There exists a need for an improved image projecting device which will provide a large faithful three-dimensional image which may be used in numerous applications. Such applications include effects useful in advertising displays such as the sudden appearance, disappearance and change of scale of three-dimensional images.

Device for the creation of three-dimensional images


A mobile communication system includes a mobile station, a base station that communicates wirelessly with the mobile station, a gateway apparatus that connects the base station to a core network, and a core network apparatus that is arranged in the core network. The base station includes a control unit that includes, in a message, information indicating that the mobile station has originated a call as an emergency call, and a transmission unit that transmits the message to the core network apparatus. In addition, the core network apparatus includes a reception unit that receives the message that was transmitted from the base station.

Forms of utilization of a femto base station (Home Node B, hereinbelow abbreviated as "HNB") in industry that can be considered include, for example, forms of utilization such as a compact wireless base station for residential use and a compact wireless base station in a business.
Offering a service by means of an HNB has the following advantages:    (1) Communication services can be offered in dead zones that are beyond the reach of radio waves of a macro base station.    (2) A charge service can be offered that is less expensive than normal charge services offered by macro base stations.    (3) Because high line quality (Ec/Io) can be obtained by a mobile station when the distance between the base station and the mobile station is small, high-speed technologies such as 64 QAM (64 Quadrature Amplitude Modulation) or MIMO (Multiple Input Multiple Output) can be utilized to enable the provision of high-speed packet service under the command of the HNB.    (4) A special content service can be offered that takes advantage of the locality of the HNB.
Because the services realized by an HNB have many advantages as stated above, services should be offered only to subscribers that have contracted with a communication common carrier or to subscribers that have permission from the owner of the HNB.
Accordingly, CSG (Closed Subscriber Group) was introduced in Release 8 in the 3GPP (3rd Generation Partnership Project) to limit access and reception of services of an HNB to only mobile stations of groups that have permission.
Details regarding CSG are next described with reference to FIG. 1.
The 3rd Generation mobile communication system shown in FIG. 1 includes: HNB 20, femto base station gateway (Home NodeB GW, hereinbelow abbreviated as "HNB-GW) 30, switching station (Mobile Switching Center, hereinbelow abbreviated as "MSC") 40, packet-switching station (Serving GPRS Support Node, hereinbelow abbreviated as "SGSN") 50, and 3rd generation-conforming mobile stations 10-2 and 10-2.
Of mobile stations 10-1 and 10-2 that are in range and under the command of HNB 20 in FIG. 1, mobile station 10-1 is an authorized mobile station. In contrast, mobile station 10-2 is a mobile station that attempts to receive service provided by HNB 20 without authorization and is hereinbelow referred to as unauthorized mobile station 10-2. In the following description, "mobile station 10" is used when either mobile station is specified.
HNB 20 is connected to a core network of an operator by way of HNB-GW 30.
The core network includes, as core network apparatuses, MSC 40 that controls circuit switching and SGSN 50 that controls packet switching.
When the CSG function is supported, HNB 20 reports the CSG identifier (CSG identity) of its own CSG cell to mobile station 10 that is in the range and under the command of HNB 20.
Mobile station 10-1 decodes the CSG identifier that was reported from HNB 20 and determines whether the CSG identifier is included in the CSG list held by mobile station 10-1.
If the CSG identifier is included in the CSG list, mobile station 10-1 is able to camp on the CSG cell within which it is in range and then receive various services such as originating calls or taking incoming calls.
On the other hand, if the CSG identifier is not included in the CSG list, mobile station 10-1 does not camp on the CSG cell within which it is in range and implements selection of a suitable CSG cell different from that CSG cell.
By means of this mechanism, HNB 20 can be accessed only by limited mobile stations 10-1 that have the CSG identifier of the CSG cell of that HNB 20.
However, a case can be considered in which an entity such as unauthorized mobile station 10-2 shown in FIG. 1 attempts to receive service without authorization in a CSG cell of HNB 20 for which access is not supposed to be available regardless of whether the CSG function is supported.
In such a case, MSC 40 or SGSN 50 checks the IMSI (International Mobile Subscriber Identity) of mobile station 10 and the CSG identifier of the CSG cell in which mobile terminal 10 is located to implement access regulation for regulating access to HNB 20 by mobile station 10 (3GPP TS25.467 Ver 8.0.0 Section 5.1.3).
On the other hand, because the CSG function is a function introduced by Release 8 of 3GPP, cases will occur in which mobile terminal 10-1 that predates Release 8 does not support the CSG function. Alternatively, cases will also occur in which HNB 20 does not support the CSG function.
In such cases, HNB 20 implements an Identification procedure (3GPP TS24.008 Ver 8.4.0) with respect to mobile station 10-1 in order to inquire regarding the IMSI of mobile terminal 10-1, or HNB 20 implements HNBAP (HNB Application Part): UE REGISTER REQUEST procedure (3GPP TS25.469 Ver 8.0.0) with respect to HNB-GW 30 to register mobile station 10-1 in HNB-GW 30. At this time, HNB-GW 30 carries out access regulation by checking whether the IMSI of mobile station 10-1 is able to access HNB 20.
If HNB-GW 30 determines that mobile station 10-1 is able to access HNB 20, HNB-GW 30 notifies HNB 20 that access is permitted by means of an HNBAP: UE REGISTER ACCEPT message. In this way, service realized by HNB 20 is provided to mobile station 10-1.
On the other hand, if mobile station 10 is unauthorized mobile station 10-2 shown in FIG. 1, the IMSI of unauthorized mobile station 10-2 is not registered to allow access to the CSG. As a result, HNB-GW 30 determines that unauthorized mobile station 10-2 cannot access HNB 20 and notifies HNB 20 by means of an HNBAP: UE REGISTER REJECT message that access is not permitted. In this way, the RRC (Radio Resource Control) connection between unauthorized mobile station 10-2 and HNB 20 is cut (3GPP TS25.467 Ver 8.0.0 Section 5.1.2).
As described hereinabove, when service is offered by means of HNB 20, MSC 40, SGSN 50, or HNB-GW 30 implements access regulation based on the IMSI of mobile station 10, whereby access to HNB 20 is rejected on the mobile communication network side during a signal establishment procedure even if unauthorized mobile station 10-2 that is not permitted to access HNB 20 should originate a call.
In the 3GPP standards, however, the ability to originate a call is prescribed when the call type is an emergency call even for mobile station 10 that is not permitted access to HNB 20 (3GPP TS22.011 Ver 8.6.0 Section 8.5.1).
When the call type is an emergency call, mobile station 10-1 sets "Emergency Call" in an Establishment Cause parameter that indicates the cause of the establishment request in the RRC: RRC CONNECTION REQUEST message or RRC: INITIAL DIRECT TRANSFER that is transmitted to HNB 20 at the time of requesting establishment of an RRC connection or at the time of requesting establishment of a signaling connection (3GPP TS25.331 Ver 8.5.0, Section 10.3.3.11, Patent Document 1).
HNB 20 then sets an "Emergency call" value in the Registration Cause parameter of an HNBAP: UE REGISTER REQUEST message that is transmitted to HNB-GW 30.
When the Registration Cause parameter is "Emergency call," HNB-GW 30 does not implement access regulation based on the IMSI (3GPP TS25.467 Ver 8.0.0 Section 5.1.2).
By means of this method, even mobile station 10 that is not permitted to access HNB 20 is able to skip the access regulation of HNB-GW 30 and access HNB 20 when the call type is an "Emergency Call."
The composition of the RRC: RRC CONNECTION REQUEST message is here shown in FIG. 2, the composition of the RRC: INITIAL DIRECT TRANSFER message is shown in FIG. 3, the composition of the Establishment Cause parameter in RRC protocol is shown in FIG. 4, the composition of the HNBAP: UE REGISTER REQUEST message is shown in FIG. 5, and the composition of the Registration Cause parameter in HBNAP protocol is shown in FIG. 6.

Mobile communication system, base station, gateway apparatus, core network apparatus, and communication method


A spring-loaded coupling mechanism includes a tubular housing having an internal cavity, a forward end, a rearward end, and a tapered forward portion and further includes a catch member which is connected to a first elongate support member and is biasedly seated in said tapered portion of said housing, the first elongate support member being attached to an object, and also includes a connecting member which is attached to a second elongate support member and which is extendible and releasably securable inside the housing with the second elongate support member being substantially taut and being attached to another object. This spring-loaded coupling mechanism easily and conveniently ties at least two objects together such as a boat being moored to a dock or on a trailer.

This invention relates to a spring-loaded coupling mechanism which is capable of coupling together two objects such as mooring a boat to a dock or on a trailer.
Most objects which are hingedly coupled to other complimentary objects are essentially permanently coupled to each other such as lids being coupled to containers. Those objects which are not permanently coupled together are coupled together with rope or with a hook and loop. For example, coupling or mooring a boat to a dock includes using a rope having a loop at one end and being tied to the boat at the other end with the loop being adapted to slip over the top of a post on the dock. Securing a boat on a trailer includes a rope having a hook at one end which is adapted to clip or hook about a loop connected to the boat. Other types of coupling means includes the following:
One known prior art is an EMERGENCY OPENING LATCH, U.S. Pat. No. 3,338,609, issued on Aug. 29, 1967 and invented by H. C. Banas, which comprises a central coupling section, an outer section pivotally connected to the central coupling section, an arm member pivotally secured to the central coupling section, and a releasing means being secured to the arm member for disengaging the outer section from the central coupling section.
Another known prior art is a RELEASABLE HINGE FOR SWINGABLE PORTIONS OF A CONTAINER, U.S. Pat. No. 4,302,866, issued on Dec. 1, 1981 and invented by Ronald D. Irvin, which comprises a pair of spring fingers and a blind notch on the cover and bottom walls of a container for receiving the spring fingers.
Another known prior art is a HINGE HAVING A LATERALLY OUTWARDLY EXTENDING FLAT SPRING, U.S. Pat. No. 4,455,711, issued on Jun. 26, 1984 and invented by John P. Anderson, which comprises a housing having a first tube thereon, a pin for sliding in the first tube, and a flat spring having a first end and a second end fixed to the pin.
None of the prior art discloses or suggests the present invention which allows the user to quickly and easily couple two objects together by simply inserting a connecting member inside a housing.


The present disclosure relates to an apparatus for determining and/or monitoring temperature of a liquid and to a method for manufacturing a corresponding apparatus. The apparatus comprises at least one temperature sensor and a measuring element, wherein at least the temperature sensor and the measuring element are arranged in a single sensor head. Further arranged at least partially within the sensor head is at least one unit comprising a material with anisotropic thermal conductivity.

Known from DE4318486A1, for example, is a temperature sensor with two temperature measuring elements, both of which are arranged on the floor of a tubular sensor housing.
Known from DE19941731A1 for calibrating a thermometer in the installed state is a miniaturized fixed point cell provided in a thermometer and filled with a fixed point substance, e.g. a metal or a eutectic alloy. Likewise known from EP1247268B2 for the purpose of calibrating and/or validating a thermometer is, for example, a method for in-situ calibration of a plurality of integrated temperature sensors based on characteristic lines or curves of one or more reference elements in the form of the secondary temperature sensors. The reference elements are installed in a thermometer insert supplementally to a primary temperature sensor.
Furthermore, known from DE102010040039A1 are an apparatus and a method for in-situ calibration of a thermometer having a temperature sensor and a reference element for calibrating the temperature sensor, in the case of which the reference element is composed at least partially of a ferroelectric material, which experiences a phase transformation at at least one predetermined temperature in the temperature range relevant for calibrating the temperature sensor. The calibration is thus based on the characteristic temperature point of a phase transformation of a ferroelectric material, thus performed based on a material-specific property. A similar apparatus is subject matter of German patent application No. 102015112425.4 unpublished at the date of first filing of this application. The thermometer described there includes at least one temperature sensor and at least two reference elements contacted via exactly two connection wires and being at least partially of two different materials, each of which has in the temperature range relevant for calibrating the temperature sensor at least one phase transformation at least of second order at, in each case, a predetermined phase transformation temperature. DE 102010040039A1 (U.S. Pat. No. 9,091,601) as well as DE 102015112425.4 (US 2018217010) are incorporated here by reference.
In the case, in which a thermometer having a temperature sensor and an additional measuring element arranged in the same sensor head is used for a liquid, for example, a flowing liquid, with a temperature profile, which is inhomogeneous at least at times, it can happen that the temperature sensor and the other measuring element, each of which are arranged at different positions within the sensor head, are exposed, at least at times, to different temperatures. The temperature sensor and the measuring element are then at least at times not in thermal equilibrium, which can lead disadvantageously to errors and measurement inaccuracies.


A computer-parsing system using vectors (lists) to represent natural-language elements, providing a robust, distributed way to score grammaticality of an input string by using as a source material a large corpus of natural-language text. The system uses recombining of asymmetric associations of syntactically similar strings to form the vectors. The system uses equivalence lists for subparts of the string to build equivalence lists for longer strings in an order controlled by the potential parse to be scored. The power of recombination of vector elements in building longer strings provides a means of representing collocational complexity. Grammaticality scoring is based upon the number and similarity of the vector elements.

The present invention relates to the field of parsing and interpreting natural language text. Deciding which combinations of elements are possible in a natural language (language modeling), deciding what the syntactic relationships are between elements in a given language string (parsing), and deciding the information, or even representing the information expressed by a given natural language string (language understanding), are all fundamental and largely unsolved natural language processing problems. Current approaches can be roughly divided into symbolic, statistical, and distributional:    1) Symbolic or rule-based (rules about symbols) methods which seek to find a combination of rules which describe a given string in terms of a set of symbols.    2) Statistical methods which optimize the information over larger numbers of simple observations to make predictions about a given string.    3) Distributed or memory-based methods which keep the large numbers of simple observations and use them to define or recognize elements of natural language in terms of assemblies.
Rule-based methods keep a list of all possible relationships between all possible classes of language tokens, then at processing time they look up the tokens in a dictionary and attempt to decide which of their many possible classes, in which of many possible combinations, best describes a given string. E.g.,
All possible classes (dictionary):
    the<-DET    Rain<-N    in<-PREP    Spain<-N    . . .All possible relations:    NP<-DET+N    PP<-PREP+N    NP<-NP+PP    . . .Analysis: ((The (DET)+rain (N))+(in (PREP)+Spain (N)))The above bracketing, denoting a sequence of rule combinations, defines a dependency tree or structure between the elements, as follows, called the "parse tree":

Statistical methods also keep a list of all possible relationships between all possible classes, but in they simplify model building by considering, in general, more, simpler relationships, and use statistics to summarize regularities and optimize predictions. E.g., in+Spain, on+Spain=>posit a statistical variable PREP where ("in", "on") are members of PREP and "Spain" follows PREP with probability P(PREP|"Spain"). The analysis is as with rules, but now each combination (branch of the tree) has a probability.
Distributed methods also build classes among more, simpler relationships, but they don't summarize the information. They gain in flexibility and robustness by representing classes directly in terms of collections. E.g., in+Spain, on+Spain=>posit a paradigmatic (paradigmatic-sets of alternative, as opposed to syntagmatic-sets of consecutive) vector class PREP where "in", "on" are examples of PREP and "Spain" is a component of PREP. (Or inversely, defining the vector in terms of equivalents rather than contexts, posit a vector class PREP where ("in", "on") are components of PREP, and PREP is defined as the set of all things which precede "Spain", . . . ). The analysis is as with rules, but you can have partial matches between vector classes. "Vector" is a well-known expression in natural-language processing; and for present purposes a vector may be briefly described as a list.
What distributed models gain in flexibility and robustness of representation (partial matches between classes), however, they suffer by being unwieldy to describe (sets instead of symbols), and for all their advantages in modeling static concepts there is no consensus on how they might be advantageous for modeling combinations of concepts (syntax or grammar-which is usually still done by keeping a list of all possible relationships between all possible classes).
The interesting thing about all these prior art models for language processing is that no-one has yet been able to compile a truly comprehensive list of all possible relationships between all possible classes of language tokens. And even probabilities only minimize the errors which arise from incomplete information (often called the "sparse data problem"); they don't eliminate them. The models don't quite seem to fit the problem. The present status of natural language processing might justifiably be compared with the status of artificial flight before the discovery of the airfoil.
Vectors of associative properties have become a popular method of representing the grammar and meaning of words and sometimes word sequences (U.S. Pat. No. 6,173,261 is herein incorporated by reference). But hitherto this has mainly been because of their flexibility and robustness, not generally because of their generative power. I think this power is necessary. In simple terms, the failure in accuracy of the prior art can be expressed as a failure to explain why the expression "strong tea" is preferred over the expression "powerful tea" or why we tend to say "apples and oranges" instead of "oranges and apples", "bacon and eggs", "chalk and cheese", and any one of a number of gradations of syntactive restrictiveness between these and what are recognized as errors in traditional grammar. E.g., from the literature:    It's/that's easier said than done    I'm terribly sorry to hear that    You can't believe a word he says    I see what you mean    sad to say    time of day    in advance    (verb) the un(verb)able    . . .
The issue for accurate syntax modeling is why are we comfortable, even familiar, with these examples, but less so with, say:    That is easier spoken than done    I am terribly happy to hear that    You can't believe the word he says    I see the thing you say    sad to mention    time of week    in forward
Not only is the boundary subtle, but it is fuzzy (there are degrees of distinction). In a classical rule-based or statistical processor we would need a class for every such distinction (and degree of distinction). The power of combinations of examples provides a more practical solution. While we cannot imagine listing classes for each distinction, it is easy to imagine producing a unique combination of examples which distinguishes each, and which provides a fuzzy distinction. "That is easier said than done", if used often enough, can define its own class and explain itself, all the while providing elements which can form other classes and explain broader regularities in expressions of the type "That is ______ than ______", or "That ______ easier". "Strong tea" and "powerful tea" might be distinguished because the distribution of word associations associated with "strong" is different from that associated with "powerful", in detail, if not generalities.
While current distributed systems have the power to describe such subtleties of representation, they are limited by the perception that grammatical groupings represent immutable qualities, that classes are to be found not forced.

Natural-language processing system using a large corpus


The coronary catheter of the present invention has an elongated tubular member of shaft, with a proximal end portion and the distal end portion. The distal end portion terminates in a tip end portion. In accordance with the present invention, the distal end portion of the catheter is curved in three dimensions and cooperative with the shape of the human aortic arch so as to automatically place the tip end of the catheter into proximity with the right coronary ostium as the distal end portion passes over the aortic arch and into the ascending aorta.

The present invention relates in general to catheters useful in the diagnosis and/or treatment of coronary diseases or conditions. More specifically, the present invention relates to coronary catheters for use in the diagnosis and/or treatment of diseases or conditions in the right coronary artery.
Diagnosis and/or treatment of coronary artery diseases or conditions typically involves the insertion of a catheter through the vascular system of a patient and to the proximity of the site which is being treated or examined. For example, in coronary angiography or arteriography, a hollow catheter is typically inserted into an artery, such as the femoral artery in the patient's leg, and guided by a guide wire or guiding catheter upwardly through the descending aorta, over the aortic arch and downwardly into the ascending aorta. The tip of the catheter is then inserted into the ostium of either the right or the left coronary artery, depending on which specific artery is to be examined. After the tip of the catheter is inserted into the ostium, radiopaque liquid is injected through the catheter to provide an x-ray image of the condition of the particular artery and thus aid in the diagnosis of any coronary artery condition or disease present.
Development of a catheter for use in the diagnosis and/or treatment of coronary diseases or conditions involves application of various and sometimes competing considerations. There are, for example, physiological considerations in the design of coronary catheters. The openings into the left and right coronary arteries are not symmetrical. If the ascending aorta is viewed in cross-section and from below, the ostium for the right coronary artery is located generally at an eleven o'clock position and the ostium for the left coronary artery is located at approximately the three o'clock position. Because of this asymmetry, catheters have been designed with different tip shapes peculiar to whether the procedure is to be carried out for the right or left coronary arteries. Dr. Melvin Judkins described particular catheter tip configurations for right and left artery procedures many years ago. Catheters having such tip configurations are commonly referred to as "Judkins" catheters.
Because of the central (three o'clock) position of the ostium for the left coronary artery, the so-called "left" Judkins catheter works well, and requires relatively little manipulation by the physician to place the tip end of the catheter into the coronary ostium. The ostium for the right coronary artery, however, is not located in as convenient a position, and the Judkins catheter for the right coronary artery requires that the doctor to rotate the catheter approximately 180.degree. after it is inserted past the ostium and then to withdraw the catheter slightly until the tip enters the right ostium. In a living patient, where the heart is beating and the artery pulsing, placement of the right Judkins catheter can be very difficult, and may require extensive experience before a level of proficiency is attained.
To provide sufficient rigidity for rotation of the catheter to the desired position, right coronary artery catheters typically have a metal braid within the wall of the catheter. The metal braid stiffens the catheter and transmits the torque exerted by the physician when the physician twists the proximal end of the catheter, which is located outside the patient, to rotate the distal end that is located in the ascending aorta.
The drawback with the braided catheter, however, is that the braid results in a catheter having a larger outside diameter. Because doctors prefer the inside diameter of the catheter to be as large as possible for the maximum flow rate of radiopaque liquid (so as to provide the sharpest x-ray image) the provision of a metal braid in the wall of a catheter is typically accommodated by increasing the outside diameter of the catheter.
The larger outside diameter, however, requires a larger incision for entry of the catheter into the patient's artery. Larger incisions, however, require longer times to clot. Increased clotting time may require an overnight stay of the patient in the hospital, resulting in increased cost as compared to procedures carried out on an out-patient basis.
As a result of these competing considerations, there continues to be a need and desire for improved coronary catheters. In particular, there is a continuing need for coronary catheters for diagnosis and treatment of the right coronary artery, which catheters may be readily placed into the right coronary artery ostium but also have minimum wall thickness, thereby allowing for the maximum inside diameter for radiopaque fluid flow and the smallest outside diameter for the minimum incision.
One attempt to provide an alternative coronary catheter for use with the right coronary artery is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,883,058 to Ruiz. In the Ruiz patent, the distal end of the catheter comprises a relatively sharp curve with a small radius of curvature at the most distal tip portion and a larger curve in the opposite direction upstream of the tip portion. The curvature of the larger curve is not as great as the curvature of the aortic arch, so as to bias the tip portion against the outer wall of the ascending aorta.
Although the '058 Ruiz patent may be a step in the right direction, it also appears to have several shortcomings. Because the tip is biased outwardly, the guidewire must remain in the catheter as it passes upwardly along the descending aorta and over the aortic arch and into the ascending aorta. Otherwise the tip may become caught in the arterial branches in the top of the aortic arch. If the guidewire must remain in the catheter, the catheter cannot be periodically flushed with radiopaque liquid as physicians often desire to do to visualize the location of the catheter tip as it moves through the aorta. The catheter shown in the '058 Ruiz patent also requires the physician to apply a torque to the proximal end of the catheter to cause the catheter tip to rotate somewhat for insertion into the ostium.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a catheter for use unconnected with the right coronary artery which does not suffer from the drawbacks described above.
It is a more specific object of the present invention to provide a catheter for the diagnosis and treatment of diseases or conditions of the right coronary artery which requires minimum manual adjustment or positioning for placement of the tip of the catheter in the right ostium.
It is yet a further object of the present invention to provide a catheter for the right coronary artery which cooperates with the shape of human aortic arch for automatic placement of the catheter tip in the proximity of ostium so that minimum adjustment or manipulation of the catheter is required.


Systems and methods for assuring consistency between MPLS forwarding and control planes. The control plane can be made aware of forwarding plane anomalies and can respond appropriately. One particular application is assuring consistency between forwarding and control planes of a Fast Reroute backup tunnels used to protect an MPLS Traffic Engineering LSP from a link and/or a node failure. When a backup tunnel forwarding failure is detected, the control plane can react by, for example, rerouting the backup tunnel and/or sending a notification to the operator or head-end of the protected Traffic Engineering LSP.

The present invention relates to data networking, and more particularly, in certain implementations, to systems and methods for improving synchronization between the forwarding and control planes.
MPLS (Multi-Protocol Label Switching) Traffic Engineering has been developed to meet data networking requirements such as guaranteed available bandwidth. MPLS Traffic Engineering exploits modem label switching techniques to build guaranteed bandwidth end-to-end tunnels through an IP/MPLS network of label switched routers (LSRs). These tunnels are a type of label switched path (LSP) and thus are generally referred to as MPLS Traffic Engineering LSPs.
Like with all IP systems, it is useful to divide MPLS Traffic Engineering network functionality into two entities, the "forwarding plane" (also referred to as the "data plane") and the "control plane." On each router the forwarding plane takes the received packet, looks at its destination address and/or label, consults a table, and sends the packet in a direction and manner specified by the table. This table is referred to as a forwarding table. The term "control plane" refers to the entities and processes by which the forwarding tables are populated with their contents.
For MPLS Traffic Engineering the control plane is concerned with, among other things, the placement and signaling of the Traffic Engineering tunnels. Traffic Engineering tunnels are signaled using extensions to the well-known RSVP protocol. After tunnels are signaled and the path established, the forwarding tables along that path from the ingress to the egress should support the operation of the new tunnel. When everything is working correctly, data having a forwarding equivalence class (FEC) assigned to a particular tunnel will arrive at the head-end and be forwarded from node to node along the tunnel path due to the previously established contents of the corresponding forwarding tables.
However, it is possible that the forwarding plane may fail at some point between the head-end and tail-end of the Traffic Engineering LSP without the control plane being affected. For example, the contents of one of the forwarding tables may be corrupted and no control plane entity may be aware of this corruption. The result of this situation is that data belonging to the tunnel is "black holed" without any attempt to reroute the LSP since the Traffic Engineering LSP is considered to be operational from a control plane perspective. The situation poses a problem in that reliability and quality of service guarantees will not be met.
To protect against node and link failures along MPLS Traffic Engineering LSPs, so-called Fast Reroute techniques have been developed. When a failure occurs, traffic is very quickly rerouted onto a preconfigured backup tunnel by the node immediately upstream from the failure. These backup tunnels can however suffer from the same mis-synchronization between the forwarding and control planes discussed with reference to the primary Traffic Engineering tunnels. This is especially problematic since it is the backup tunnels which are to provide protection in the event of failure and a breakdown in the forwarding plane may not be noticed in advance of a failure.
Prior to the failure, the immediately preceding node (also referred to as a point of local repair or PLR) may think that the backup tunnel is operational based on its understanding that the control plane is operational. This PLR would thus report to the protected Traffic Engineering head-end that the Traffic Engineering tunnel is in fact protected at that PLR. Thus when a link or node fails, traffic is rerouted onto a backup tunnel even though its forwarding plane is corrupted, rendering the desired local protection ineffective.
Systems and methods are needed for assuring consistency between the forwarding and control planes for LSPs such as, e.g., MPLS Traffic Engineering tunnels and MPLS Fast Reroute tunnels.

Consistency between MPLS forwarding and control planes


A high-strength alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet obtained by subjecting the surface of a high-strength steel sheet to alloyed hot-dip galvanization, and formed from a steel sheet containing, in mass %, main components, and containing at least 40 vol % bainite and/or martensite, 8-60 vol % retained austenite, and less than 40 vol % ferrite, with the remainder comprising unavoidable structures. In the alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet, the total thickness of the Gamma1 layer and the Gamma layer (Tgamma1+Tgamma) is 2 μm or less in the alloy layers formed by hot-dip galvanization, and the Gamma1 phase/Gamma phase thickness ratio (Tgamma1/Tgamma) is 1 or less. A tensile strength of 980 MPa or above can be easily imparted to the alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet. The alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet has excellent coating adherence, and coating separation during machining can be suppressed.

Heretofore, alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheets have been used mainly in the automotive field. However, in the plating layer of the alloyed hot-dip galvanized steel sheet, a Zn—Fe alloy layer, which is inferior in the ductility to the underlying steel sheet, is present. In a case where a tensile strength of 980 MPa or more is required, this layer has been considered to be a problem, because the plating (or coating) adhesion thereof is poor and the plating is liable to be separated from the interface between the plating and the underlying steel sheet, at the time of working such as press molding, to thereby readily cause an appearance failure such as indentation mark.
Therefore, Patent Document 1 describes, as a measure for improving the plating adhesion, a method of enhancing the plating adhesion by a so-called anchor effect, that is, by increasing the unevenness at the interface between the coating and the underlying steel sheet. Also, Patent Document 2 discloses that when a steel sheet is heated, and then is pickled, and after the removal of the oxide layer on the surface, is subjected to plating, to thereby improve the adhesion.
Also, Patent Document 3 discloses a high-strength high-ductility hot-dip galvanized steel sheet containing, in terms of volume fraction, from 30 to 90% of a ferrite phase, 5% or more of bainite, 10% or less of martensite, and from 5 to 30% of a retained austenite phase. Patent Document 4 discloses a high-strength cold-rolled steel sheet, where the density of dislocations contained in the steel sheet is 8×1011 (dislocations/mm2) or less, and the static/dynamic ratio (=FS2/FS1) as a ratio between a quasi-static strength (FS1) at a strain rate of 0.0067 (s−1), and a dynamic strength (FS2) at a strain rate of 1,000 (s−1) is 1.05 or more. Patent Document 5 discloses an alloyed hot-dip steel sheet comprising a base iron, and a specific plating layer disposed at least on one surface thereof, wherein plating layer does not have an η phase or ζ phase in the plating layer surface, the plating layer has a composition of Fe: from 8 to 12% and Al: from 0.05 to 0.25%, with the balance being Zn, and the Γ phase at the interface with the base iron is 1.0/μm or less.
However, in the prior art, the difference in ductility between the plating layer and the underlying steel sheet, which may be fundamentally a main factor contributing to the plating adhesion, has not been solved, and therefore, the plating (or coating) separation cannot be prevented from occurring during severe working.

NIPPON STEEL & SUMITOMO METAL CORPORATION


An electromagnetic wave absorbing shielding material which is thin and lightweight and shows high electromagnetic wave absorbing capacity in a wide frequency region. The material comprises:. (1) a one-dimensional conductive segment pattern which is a conductive segment pattern formed from a conductive material, wherein the conductive segment pattern has a length of more than 1/2 of the wavelength of the subjective electromagnetic wave, and the segment pattern has no electrical connection therebetween,. (2) an electromagnetic wave shielding layer, and. (3) an insulating intermediate material having a thickness of 0.1-10.0 mm, located between the one-dimensional conductive segment pattern (1) and the electromagnetic wave shielding layer (2).

In recent years, it is necessary to shut electric waves in and out of buildings by surrounding with shielding material for protecting office information and for preventing mixing of communication lines, due to the progress of the communication systems such as portable telephone, wireless LAN, and the like.
However, the electromagnetic wave shielding materials which have been used only reflect the electromagnetic wave 100%, and the electromagnetic waves stored in a closed room have danger of inducing disturbance of communication lines and erroneous operation of electronic apparatuses. Especially, due to the progress of the semiconductor techniques in future, microelectronics and control systems made by applying them tend to show higher density, so that the disposition of the reflected electromagnetic waves in tightly closed spaces is a subject still to be settled.
As a means of preventing these obstacles caused by the reflection of electromagnetic wave, there is known a wave absorbing material having a coating layer dispersing ferrite in an organic polymer. However, in order for such electromagnetic wave absorbing material to obtain practically effective absorbing capacity, there is necessitated a thick film of more than 2 mm, and the medium becomes a heavy product of more than 8 Kg/m.sup.2. Accordingly, when such material is applied to a building, the strength of the whole building has to be increased to support such product, with requirement of high cost. It also associates various problems for the work of adhering it onto a wall surface and the like.
To cope with the above, Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 6-140787/1994 proposes that a ferrite and carbon powder dispersed resin layer is sandwiched between an electric wave reflecting layer and an electroconductive pattern. However, it also has limitation in reduction of weight, because of the large specific gravity of ferrite.
In addition, construction of multi-storied buildings gives rise to a problem in occurrence of TV ghost. To solve the problem, there are required low frequency of the subjective electric wave and high absorbing capacity, so that a 6-8 mm ferrite sintered medium is applied to the buildings. Its weight is more than 40 kg/m.sup.2, and it is very difficult to make the structure to withstand such a heavy weight. It is more difficult to build higher storied buildings, which requires enormous building cost. Accordingly, the development of electric wave absorbing material having light weight and high absorbing capacity is desired.

Electromagnetic wave absorbing shielding material