There are disclosed novel processes for the synthesis of novel intermediates useful in the of further synthesis of cyclitols and derivatives thereof.

The present invention relates to the synthesis of cyclitols and derivatives thereof from substituted arene diols.
Cyclitols are polyoxyfunctional (i.e., having 2 to 6 hydroxy, alkoxy, aryloxy or phosphate functionalities) cyclohexane derivatives, and as such are classified as carbohydrates [Anderson, In The Carbohydrates Chemistry and Biochemistry, Pigman et al., Eds., Academic Pres: New York, Vol. la, Chap. 15, 1972]. All possible stereoisomers of these compounds are known to occur in nature (seven meso forms and one DL pair). Indeed, cyclitols appear to be present, both free and combined, in the tissues of nearly all living species [Posternak, T. The Cyclitols, Hermann: Paris, 1962]. Dihydroconduritols are a subclass of inositols in which the number of hydroxyl groups present is reduced to four. These compounds, along with conduritols (cyclohexenetetrols) are of interest because of their potential use as inhibitors for glycosidases [Postermak, T. The Cyclitols, Hermann: Paris, 1962].
Previous syntheses of these types of compounds have started from achiral sources and have either involved numerous steps, incomplete stereospecificity at some point, or did not lead to optically pure products [Posternak et al., Helv. Chim. Acta 36:251, 1953; Gorin, Can. J. Chem. 42:1749, 1964; Nakajima et al., S. Ber. 92:173, 1959]. Benzene-cis-diol has been used in a number of natural product syntheses [Carless et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 30:3113, 1989; Carless et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 30:1719, 1989]. Ley et al used the benzene diol to synthesize (+)-pinitol [Tetrahedron Letters 45:3463, 1989] and myo-inositol triphosphate [Tetrahedron Letters 29:5305, 1988]. One obvious disadvantage to using benzene-cis-diol in natural product synthesis, however, is the preclusion of enantiocontrolled synthesis without further (usually enzymatic) manipulations of the meso intermediates. For this and other reasons, the methods of the present invention utilize optically pure chiral synthons resulting from microbial oxidation of monosubstituted benzene derivatives.
Other syntheses of cyclitols are disclosed in Balci, M. et al., Tetrahedron 1990, 46, 3715; Secen et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 31:1323, 1990; Akbulut et al., J. Org. Chem. 53:3338, 1988; Sutbeyaz et al., J. Chem. Soc. Commun. 1330, 1988; Bruce et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 30:7257, 1989; Kobayashi et al., J. Org. Chem. 55:1169, 1990; and Gorin, Canadian J. Chem. 42:1748, 1964.
In 1970 Gibson and co-workers reported the enantioselective oxidation of toluene to cis-toluenediol [(+)-cis-2,3-dihydroxymethylcyclohexa-4,6-diene] by a mutant of Pseudomonas putida, a soil bacterium [Gibson et al., J. Biochemistry 9:1626 (1970)]. Since that time many other simple arenes were shown to yield diols of this type through microbial oxidation techniques [Jerina et al., Arch. Biochem. Biophys. 142:394 (1971); Gibson et al., Biochemistry 7:3795 (1968); Jeffrey et al., Biochemistry 14:575 (1975); Burlingame et al., J. Bacteriol. 168:55 (1986); Gibson et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 50:211 (1973); Gibson et al., J. Bacteriol. 119:930 (1974); Whited et al., J. Bacteriol. 166:1028 (1986); Ziffer et al., Tetrahedron 33:2491 (1977)].
Despite the operational simplicity and complete stereospecificity of the reaction producing such diols, little use of this transformation has been made in organic synthesis, save for a few recent reports. Hudlicky et al [J. Am. Chem. Soc. 110:4735 (1988)] used the toluene diol to synthesize enones useful for prostaglandin synthesis, aldehydes which are potential synthons for perhydroazulene terpenes, and cyclohexene oxide which is the descarbobenzoxy derivative of crotepoxide. Hudlicky et al [J. Org. Chem. 54:4239 (1989)] have also used the styrene diol to synthesize zeylena, another cyclohexene oxide. However, the full potential of such diols for synthesis of chiral synthons has not yet been fully realized.

Synthesis of cyclitols from substituted arene diols


A mounting device for chips has a heat sink and at least one clamp. The heat sink has at least one conductive side, two ends, multiple chip units and two connecting bases. The chip units are arranged on the at least one conductive side. The connecting bases are formed on the ends of the heat sink. The at least one clamp is mounted across the at least one conductive side of the heat sink and has two ends, a middle sheet, multiple pressing tabs and two connecting arms. The pressing tabs extend from the middle sheet to press the chip units against the conductive side of the heat sink. The connecting arms are formed respectively on the ends of the clamp and are mounted respectively on the connecting bases.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a mounting device, and more particularly to a mounting device for chips, which incorporates a heat sink on which the chips are mounted.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
In the electronics industry, heat sinks are generally used on electronic components to dissipate heat generated by processing units. Many kinds of conventional mounting devices are used to mount chips on a heat sink.
With reference to FIG. 13, a conventional mounting device for a chip in accordance with the prior art comprises a chip unit (71), an insulated gasket (72), a heat sink (73) and a fastener (74). The chip unit (71) comprises a chip and a mounting tab. The chip has a rear surface. The mounting tab is attached to and protrudes up from the rear surface of the chip and has an upper end, a rear surface and a mounting hole (711). The mounting hole (711) is formed through the mounting tab near the upper end. The insulated gasket (72) is mounted against the rear surface of the mounting tab and has a mounting hole (721) and a rear surface. The mounting hole (721) is formed through the insulated gasket (72) and corresponds to and aligns with the mounting hole (711) in the mounting tab. The heat sink (73) is mounted against the rear surface of the insulated gasket (72) and has a mounting hole (731). The mounting hole (731) is formed through the heat sink (73) and corresponds to and aligns with the mounting hole (721) in the insulated gasket (72). The fastener (74) is mounted through the mounting holes (711, 721, 731), connects the chip unit (71), the insulated gasket (72) and the heat sink (73) together and comprises a collar (742), a bolt (741), multiple washers (743) and a nut (744). The collar (742) is mounted through the mounting holes (711, 721, 731). The bolt (741) is mounted through the collar (742). The washers (743) are mounted around the bolt (741) against the collar (742) and the heat sink (73). The nut (744) screws onto the bolt (741) to hold the chip unit (71), the insulated gasket (72) and the heat sink (73) together. However, assembling the conventional mounting device takes a lot of time because components of the fastener (74) are small and tedious to install and connect. Moreover, the conventional mounting device is unsteady when used with high voltage. Because the chip unit (71) is so close to the bolt (741), voltage differential between the chip unit (71) and the bolt (741) is too high and may cause insulation breakdown or a flashover that will damage the chip unit (71).
With reference to FIG. 14, another conventional mounting device in accordance with the prior art mounts multiple chip units (71A) on a heat sink (73A) and comprises multiple insulated covers (76), a brace (78) and multiple bolts (75). The insulated covers (76) are resilient and are mounted respectively on the chip units (71A). The brace (78) may be a flat bar, is connected to the heat sink (73A), is mounted against the chip units (71A) and holds the chip units (71A) against the heat sink (73A). This mounting device also takes a lot of time to assemble because the insulated covers (76) must be mounted on the chip units (71A) to prevent the chip units (71A) from being pressed with unequal pressures by the brace (78).
With reference to FIG. 15, another conventional mounting device in accordance with the prior art to mount a chip unit (71B) on a heat sink (73B) is a clamping device (77). The clamping device (77) has two ends, a protruding segment and a resilient clamp (771). The two ends are attached securely to the heat sink (73B). The protruding segment is U-shaped and holds a chip unit (71B) against the heat sink (73B). The resilient clamp (771) is an L-shaped tab, is formed on the protruding segment of the clamping device (77) and presses the chip unit (71B) against the heat sink (73B). This kind of mounting device is inconvenient and expensive to use in large volume applications because each clamping device (77) holds only one chip unit (71B).
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a mounting device to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


Disclosed herein is a method of operating a touch screen controller in a device with a touch screen having force lines and sense lines. The method includes receiving touch data from the touch screen, and operating the touch screen in a self capacitance sensing mode. In the self capacitance sensing mode, which force lines have strength values indicating a potential touch to the touch screen are determined. The method also includes operating the touch screen in a mutual capacitance sensing mode, and in the mutual capacitance sensing mode, performing mutual capacitance sensing on only a subset of the force lines, with the subset of the force lines including at least those force lines indicating the potential touch to the touch screen.

A touch screen is a device that can detect an object in contact with or in proximity to a display area. The display area can be covered with a touch-sensitive matrix that can detect a user's touch by way of a finger or stylus, for example. Touch screens are used in various applications such as mobile phones and other mobile devices. A touch screen may enable various types of user input, such as touch selection of items on the screen or alphanumeric input via a displayed virtual keypad. Touch screens can measure various parameters of the user's touch, such as the location, duration, etc.
One type of touch screen is a capacitive touch screen. A capacitive touch screen may include a matrix of conductive rows and conductive columns overlaid on the display area. The conductive rows and the conductive columns are spaced apart from one another so as to not make contact. The capacitive touch screen may be used for mutual capacitance sensing or for self capacitance sensing.
In mutual capacitance sensing, the capacitance between each row and column of the matrix may be sensed. A change in the sensed capacitance between a row and a column may indicate that an object, such as a finger, is touching the screen or is in proximity to the screen near the region of intersection of the row and column. Mutual capacitance sensing circuits employ a "forcing" signal applied to a column conductor of the capacitive touch matrix and sensing of the coupled signal on respective row conductors (or vice-versa).
In self capacitance sensing, the capacitance between a conductive element of the capacitive touch matrix (such as a row or column) and a reference voltage (such as ground) is sensed. A change in the sensed capacitance may indicate that an object, such as a finger, is touching the screen or is in proximity to the screen near the conductive element being sensed. The scanning of the capacitive touch matrix involves alternate sensing of the conductive rows and the conductive columns.
Mutual capacitance sensing and self capacitance sensing have advantages and disadvantages in different applications. Therefore, it is desirable to develop touch sensing techniques that use both mutual capacitance sensing and self capacitance sensing.

Partial mutual capacitive touch sensing in a touch sensitive device


A method of providing a user with education financing information, includes the acts of: maintaining an electronic site on a computer network to which the user may connect; sending data to the user over the network for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains financial award information concerning a potential student of an educational institution, the financial award information including a monetary award which may be used for the student to attend the educational institution; and sending data to the user over the network when requested for presenting at least one electronic screen which contains cost projection information, the cost projection information being a function of the award and including an amount of money required for the student to attend the educational institution.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for providing a user with education financing information and, more particularly, relates to enabling the user to receive financial award information from an educational institution over a computer network concerning a potential student and enabling that user to obtain cost projection information, such as loan repayment information, based on the award.
2. Related Art
Many individuals require financial assistance in paying for an education, whether it be in the form of grants, scholarships, special employment (e.g., work-study programs), and/or loans. Many such educational institutions (e.g., schools, such as colleges and universities) provide various forms of assistance in obtaining financial aid for potential students.
Typically, financial aid offices at schools assemble financial award information including, for example, financial aid award packages containing monetary awards which are funded from one or more grants, scholarships, work study or teaching assistanceship jobs, and/or loans. Representatives of the financial aid offices will often tailor these financial aid award packages for the potential students and, therefore, the awards will often be different (based on, for example, financial need, the desirability of the student, etc.).
The financial aid office will mail many (i.e., a batch or lot) financial aid award packages to potential students with the hope that the financial aid award is attractive to the student and that the student will accept the award and attend the school. The cost for mailing many financial aid award packages can be substantial, for example, each package may cost approximately $10.00 to mail to 1000 potential students. Accordingly, schools are interested in other modes of transmitting financial aid award packages to their potential students which are less costly.
Typically, the loans which fund the financial aid awards include federal loans, such as Perkins and Stafford loans. The interest rates for these loans are not within the control of the schools or the financial institutions which issue those loans and, therefore, the student/parent decision on accepting a financial aid award package usually is influenced in other ways. Further, the schools and financial institutions will have little opportunity to influence the potential students to accept the award after the packages have been sent out in the mail. Accordingly, schools and financial institutions are interested in other modes of influencing the potential students to accept the award packages and admission after the awards are mailed.
The amount of money offered in a financial aid award package for a particular student is often dependent on a total amount of funds available to the school by way of grants, scholarships, work-study, etc. Accordingly, when potential students decline financial aid award packages, additional funds may be available to offer to the other potential students, thereby positively influencing the student/parent decision on accepting a financial aid award package and attending the school. Thus, the schools are interested in obtaining a student/parent decision on the financial aid award packages as soon as possible. Unfortunately, using current processes there may be significant delays between the time that a student receives a financial aid award package and the time that the student responds to the package with an acceptance or declination.
A student/parent must weigh many factors in accepting or declining a financial aid award package. In particular, the student/parent must determine whether he or she can afford to attend the school even if a financial aid award package is given. Thus, the student/parent must review the cost of attendance, including any direct and indirect costs, in light of the financial aid award package and project the net costs to the student/parent in meeting the unmet needs (including loan repayment schedules) for attendance. This typically involves contacting an expert (or accessing some software) who is capable of projecting costs for the student/parent based on input from the student/parent. In working with an expert, the student/parent should consider prior school loan obligations (for example, loans incurred to obtain an earlier degree or course of study) in projecting the costs and loan repayment obligations to attend another school. In determining loan repayments, the student/parent should consider total loan balance, a repayment schedule, interest rate(s), etc. Loan repayment information should be obtained for particular school terms, particular years, and a total for all years of study.
A system called CollegeNET has been developed and offered by Sallie Mae which provides a system for presenting financial award information over the Internet to potential students. A particular school mails an award letter to a potential student which includes a user name and password to access a secure website. The student logs onto the website and accesses their financial aid award package. The student can choose a preferred lender if a loan is awarded and input other information necessary for accepting the award. The student's response to the award is reported to the school.
Unfortunately, the CollegeNET system suffers from several disadvantages, among others: (i) the website does not provide an opportunity to review cost projections or manipulate loan variables such that the student/parent can determine what the loan repayment obligations will be; (ii) the student/parent cannot modify the financial aid award package to reflect other sources of funds which would alter cost projections and/or loan repayment obligations; and (iii) the system does not provide the student/parent with information as to the break-out of the cost of attendance in terms of direct and indirect costs to the student/parent.
Sallie Mae, Nellie Mae, Educaid, and Citibank offer on-line websites which provide calculating functions to project costs, such as loan repayment obligations. These systems, however, are not linked with a financial aid award package website and, therefore, require the user to input all information necessary for obtaining a cost projection or loan repayment schedule.
Further, in addition to financial aid based on need, some students obtain financial aid based on merit, or a combination of need and merit. There is a need for users to be able to determine education financing requirements based on merit based financial aid packages as well as combination packages. Further, there is a need for users to be able to determine financial requirements for students for higher education even where no financial assistance is provided.
Accordingly, there is a need for a new method and apparatus for providing students and parents with education financing information, particularly financial aid award packages, where the student/parent can: (i) easily review the financial aid award package; (ii) review cost projections (e.g., loan repayment information); (iii) view and select potential lenders; (iv) modify a financial aid award package to include, for example, other sources of funds outside the award or to increase/decrease, for example, the amount(s) of loan(s) awarded, so that a more informed decision may be made. There is also a need for a method and system which can: (i) reduce the costs for a school to transmit financial aid award packages to potential students; (ii) quickly modify the financial aid award packages based on accept/decline/postpone decisions of the students/parents; and (iii) provide influence on the student/parent decision at the time of reviewing the award package.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

On-line higher education financing system


When driving support control starts, a control start condition is examined. It is examined whether or not all determination items set for the control start condition are OK, (whether the control start condition is established). If at least one of the determination items is NG, the determination condition is determined not to be established and the determination items determined to be NG are extracted. The determination item due to which a driver suspects that a fault has occurred is selected from the extracted determination items on the basis of a vehicle speed and a duration time in which the determination item is determined to be NG. The selected item is stored as an NG code.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a driving support system which extracts and stores a determination item that causes a driver to suspect that a fault has occurred in a vehicle, from among predetermined determination items, in the case where a starting condition to be examined before starting driving support control is determined not to be established.
2. Related Art
Heretofore, a lane departure prevention (LDP) control system, a lane keeping steering assist (LKSA) control system, and the like are known as driving support control systems which perform steering (steering control, brake control, and the like) of a vehicle on the basis of information on the environment in front of the vehicle. For example, Japanese Patent No. 3332501 discloses a technique of the LDP control.
The lane departure prevention control system steers the vehicle so that the vehicle returns to a center part of a travelling lane when it is determined that the vehicle is likely to deviate from the travelling lane. The lane keeping steering assist control system sets a target travelling position in the travelling lane and steers the vehicle so that the vehicle travels forward the target travelling position. This steering control is activated by supplying a steering force to a steering mechanism by, for example, an actuator to turn the front wheels or by applying different braking forces to the right and left wheels so as to generate a yaw moment.
Even if the driver turns a control switch to an ON state to start support control, the system does not start the support control immediately. When a start condition is examined and found not to be established, the support control does not start, even if the control switch is turned to the ON state. There are some circumstances in which the support control does not start on account of bad weather conditions, road surface conditions, vehicle moving conditions, and the like.
If the support control does not start due to the bad weather conditions or the road surface conditions, the driver can easily recognize the conditions, and thus the readily understand the reason why the support control does not start (the start condition is not established). However, if the support control does not start due to a cause which is not recognized by the driver and if the cause persists, may suspect that any fault occurs.
In this case, the driver may bring the vehicle to an automobile dealer to examine the cause of the fault. However, even in the case where the start condition was not satisfied and thus the support control does not start, it is difficult to clarify the cause, if a history of events in which the start condition is not established why is detected. Although it is one way to store all of the past events in which the start condition is not established, work for finding the cause of the fault may become complicated.


A pocket assembly for a garment includes a seamed bottom, the seams of which are adapted to be attached to the seams along the inner surface of the garment and a pocket member with overlapping flaps extending from the bottom for receipt of an article therein.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a pocket assembly for a garment and, in particular, to a pocket assembly for the purpose of holding a removable object therein such as an absorbent shield or pad and to be secured to the inner surface of an existing garment in such manner as not to be visible at the outer surface of the garment.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Pocket assemblies for garments are well known in the prior art.
Jacks, U.S. Pat. No. 639,242 discloses a dress shield pocket that includes two flaps, one of which, an inner flap, is removably attachable to the body of a garment by buttons, whereby a dress shield may be placed between the garment and pocket and held in place.
The patent to Reid, U.S. Pat. No. 813,585 describes a garment with a pocket entirely independent of the garment so far as construction of the garment is concerned, with an opening for insertion and removal of a dress shield.
Harvey, U.S. Pat. No. 2,492,862 and Stapleton, U.S. Pat. No. 3,078,852 describe brassieres made equipped with pockets.
Madsen, U.S. Pat. No. 2,573,346 describes a dress shield including a holder with triangular pockets into which absorbent pads may be removably disposed. The shield is held in place by an elastic shield.
Morris, U.S. Pat. No. 2,886,820 describes a dress shield with insertable absorbent pads removably secured to a brassiere.
Ayoub, U.S. Pat. No. 3,508,279 relates to a ladies undergarment with underarm pockets that holds absorbent pads. Part of the garment is sewn into the shape of a pocket.
In Stanislaw, U.S. Pat. No. 5,255,392, a concealed pocket assembly is provided for incorporation into clothing. The assembly is incorporated into an article of clothing, at the time of manufacture of the article of clothing.
The patent to Lee, U.S. Pat. No. 5,496,205, discloses a brassiere with concealed closable pockets. The lower edge of the pockets are secured to reinforced seams within the brassiere and concealed between an intermediate padded lining to which the pocket is also attached and a rear fabric outer lining. The Lee pocket is to conceal small personal valuables within the brassiere and must be incorporated into the design before beginning construction of the brassiere.
The prior art problems as typified by the prior art cited above, but overcome by this invention, include: visibility of the pocket assembly on the external surface of the garment; separation or separability from the supporting garment; specific to only one type garment; and, necessity to incorporate the pocket assembly into the garment when initially made.


An image sensor with an array of image sensor pixels is provided. Each pixel may include a photodiode, a storage diode, and associated circuitry formed in a semiconductor substrate. Buried light shields may be formed on the substrate to prevent regions between two adjacent photodiodes from being exposed to incoming light. In one embodiment, a shallow trench isolation (STI) structure may be formed between the photodiode and the storage diode, and a conductive layer formed from optically absorptive material may be constructed at the bottom of the STI structure. A via may be formed through the STI structure to help bias the conductive layer using a ground or negative voltage. In another embodiment, an isolation ring structure may be formed at the base of the buried light shields. The isolation ring structure may be formed from optically absorptive material and can optionally be biased using a ground or negative voltage.

This relates generally to image sensors, and more specifically, to image sensors operable in global shutter mode.
Image sensors are commonly used in electronic devices such as cellular telephones, cameras, and computers to capture images. Conventional image sensors are fabricated on a semiconductor substrate using complementary metal-oxide-semiconductor (CMOS) technology or charge-coupled device (CCD) technology. The image sensors may include an array of image sensor pixels each of which includes a photodiode and other operational circuitry such as transistors formed in the substrate.
A dielectric stack is formed on the substrate over the photodiodes. The dielectric stack includes metal routing lines and metal vias formed in dielectric material. Light guides are often formed in the dielectric stack to guide the trajectory of incoming light. A color filter array is typically formed over the dielectric stack to provide each pixel with sensitivity to a certain range of wavelengths. Microlenses are formed over the color filter array. Light enters the microlenses and travels through the color filters into the dielectric stack.
In a conventional image sensor configured to operate in global shutter mode, each image sensor pixel includes a photodiode for detecting incoming light and a separate storage diode for temporarily storing charge. The storage diode should not be exposed to incoming light. In such arrangements, structures such as tungsten buried light shields (abbreviated as WBLS) are formed on the substrate between neighboring photodiodes to help prevent stray light from affecting the storage diode. At least some metal vias are formed through gaps in the buried light shields in order to control pixel transistors formed between two adjacent photodiodes. Shielding storage diodes in this way can help reduce crosstalk and increase global shutter efficiency (i.e., the buried light shields are designed to prevent stray light from entering regions of the substrate located between two adjacent photodiodes).
In practice, however, the tungsten buried light shield reflects stray light. The reflected stray light may be scattered through the existing gaps in the buried light shield and corrupt the storage diode. Moreover, charge generated at the edges of the photodiode may sometimes inadvertently leak to adjacent storage diodes. This results in undesirable pixel crosstalk and degraded global shutter efficiency.
It is within this context that the embodiments described herein arise.

Image sensors with voltage-biased trench isolation structures

SEMICONDUCTOR COMPONENTS INDUSTRIES, LLC


The table cup-shaped tealight holder according to the invention has the bottom (1) inclined towards the horizontal plane at the angle (C) with the recess (2) located in the central point. There are grooves (3) in the bottom which are connected with the recess (2) and form the angle (B) with the horizontal plane.

The object of the invention is a table tealight holder.
There are known table tealight holders with a special construction of the bottom. These holders have special forming at the bottom edge which enables to pile up the holders as in the Community Design No 000364039. There are also known table tealight holders with a bottom convex towards the inner part of the holder as in the Community Design No 000344015 which drains the excess liquid paraffin to the groove along the bottom circumference.
In these holders part of the liquid paraffin remains not used, which with large production of table tealight holders results in a substantial loss.


Disclosed are a method for transmitting a reference signal, a network device, and a terminal device. The method comprises: the network device determines target resources for transmitting the reference signal, the target resource being some of transmission resources which can be used for transmitting the reference signal, and the target resources comprising at least one of frequency domain resources, time domain resources, and space domain resources; the network device transmits the reference signal to the terminal device on the target resources. According to the method for transmitting the reference signal, the network device, and the terminal device of embodiments of the present invention, energy saving of the network device can be realized, and meanwhile, interference between cells is avoided.

A reference signal, for example, a Cell-specific Reference Signal (CRS), is effective to all terminal devices in a cell and has the following functions. (1) It may be adopted by a terminal device for channel estimation over any other downlink physical channel except a Physical Multicast Channel (PMCH) and a Physical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) in a transmission mode 7/8/9 (corresponding to non-codebook-based precoding). (2) It may be adopted by the terminal device to acquire Channel State Information (CSI). (3) CRS-based terminal measurement may be implemented as a basis of determining cell selection and handover.
However, at present, a reference signal in a Long Term Evolution (LTE) system is sent on a full bandwidth and is sent on each downlink subframe, which may result in resource waste, increase of energy consumption of a network device and interference between cells.

Method for transmitting reference signal, network device, and terminal device

GUANGDONG OPPO MOBILE TELECOMMUNICATIONS CORP., LTD.


A stabilizer for bracing a pump-jack scaffold to a roof is provided that includes an arm having a plurality of slots for engaging and disengaging one or more anchor points on a roof and a base or foot coupled to the arm for relative movement with respect to the arm and engagement with a scaffold post and with the roof. The slotted arm permits engagement and disengagement with fasteners in the roof without requiring removal of the fasteners from the roof.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to devices for stabilizing temporary supports, such as scaffolds, and, more particularly, to a brace for securing a portable scaffold support post to a roof, wall, or similar structure.
2. Description of the Related Art
Builders and remodelers utilize portable support structures, such as scaffolds, to hold workers, tools, and supplies at elevated levels. Scaffolding is a popular apparatus used to provide a temporary elevated platform on a supporting framework because it can be constructed of easily portable and assembled components, including footings, poles, legs, frames, posts, platforms, and uprights. Pump-jack scaffolds have an additional feature of a platform that is raised and lowered via a pump jack mounted on the uprights.
FIG. 1 illustrates a known pump-jack scaffold 10 adjacent to an existing residential house 12. Generally, a pump-jack frame 14 consists of only two upright support posts 16 that utilize the house 12 for support. More particularly, while cross-bracing 18 provides some rigidity for the framework 14, it will not prevent the scaffold 10 from falling away from the building 12. Thus, roof braces 20 are used to secure the scaffold 10 to the house 12.
As shown in FIG. 1, the roof braces 20 include an elongate tubular brace 22 attached to the roof 24 via a roof plate 26. This maintains the framework 14 in a fixed position relative to the roof 24, providing some means of safety for workers who stand on a platform 28 that is moveably mounted on the uprights 16 by pump-jacks 30.
One of the drawbacks of current bracing methods is the use of multiple components that can be separated from each other during disassembly and transport. In addition, disconnected or removable parts can easily fall during installation. Moreover, in many applications workers nail plywood or wood braces to the roof and to the scaffold, which can damage the roof upon removal. In addition, current methods of bracing require substantial labor to assemble the bracing materials and attach them to the roof and the scaffolding, resulting in inefficient use of labor.
The U.S. Department of Labor—Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA) has promulgated scaffold specifications set forth in 29 C.F.R. §1926.452(j)(2), which requires that "poles shall be secured to the structure by rigid triangular bracing or equivalent at the bottom, top, and other points as necessary." In addition, the OSHA regulations require that the scaffolding be within 14 inches of the building structure. Hence, there is a need for a device that can brace a pump-jack scaffold support to the roof of a building or similar structure, has no removable parts, can accommodate different pitches and slopes of roofs in different directions, is easily and quickly attached or mounted to the scaffold, can accommodate different support post sizes, and can be removed without damaging the roof or increasing the risk of injury to users or those nearby.


An injector (1) for injecting a traceable material into an oil and/or gas reservoir is lowered down into a bore hole that is in communication with the reservoir. An electro-hydraulic system is activated to inject a traceable material stored in a container into the reservoir. The injector is provided with a gland plate (7) that seals a space between the injector and the wall of the bore hole (16) in a manner that prevents traceable material from being distributed in the bore hole, but secures direct injection of the material into the reservoir. The injector is adapted to be positioned at a specific depth level in the bore hole, and to be cleaned by pressurized liquid after the injection operation is completed.

This invention relates to an injector for injecting a traceable material or a tracer into a bore hole that is connected to an oil and/or gas reservoir.
When a promising reservoir of oil and/or gas is discovered, the following procedure is used to determine the size and shape of the reservoir. The field is divided into a number of geometrical squares, followed by the performing of a drilling operation to obtain bore holes in the squares. In some of the bore holes there are placed injectors according to a certain pattern, and at various depths. A traceable material is then injected from the injectors into the oil and/or gas reservoir, followed by measuring the amount of distribution of tracer or tracer elements. This measurement is performed by providing an amount of detectors placed in near and distantly located bore holes according to a pre-calculated geometrical pattern. The tracer injections may be repeated after a certain time, at intervals, in dependence on the content of the reservoir, the permeability, the temperature and pressure, and finally the properties of the traceable material.
Two different arrangements for injecting a traceable material in an oil and/or gas reservoir have been known for a long time. One arrangement comprises the provision of an explosive charge in relation to a piston in the injector. The charge may for instance be detonated by means of a timer, whereby the piston compresses a container of traceable material, followed by the injection of the contents into the reservoir.
The other arrangement, e.g. as described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,220,264, comprises a hydraulic system with a piston, manually actuated by the provision of a valve/spring device that compresses a container of traceable material, followed by the injection of the traceable material into the reservoir.
The above mentioned arrangements are encumbered with considerable disadvantages. One disadvantage that occurs when using a timer, or when the depth level is indicated by measuring the wire length that is paid out, is that the calculated depth level may be encumbered with considerable calculation errors since the lowering speed may vary, caused by speed variations in the winch motor, strain in the wire, and finally the lowering operation itself may be disturbed by faults. Further, it is difficult to estimate the most favorable charge for a satisfactory distribution of the traceable material.
Another disadvantage in injection of the traceable material into the reservoir is that the annulus defined between the injector and the wall in the bore hole will not be sealed. As a result of this, the precise depth level of injection may not be exactly determined, because the traceable material is allowed to distribute lengthways in the bore hole before entering the reservoir. Consequently, the calculations of such reservoir parameters as the amount of oil and gas, the depths and the dissemination will be encumbered with statistical uncertainty.
A further disadvantage is that over a period of time, tracer material will accumulate in and upon the injector. When applying a radioactive material, for instance cesium, repeated handling of the injector may cause health injuries to the operators.
It is therefore important that the injector has provisions to be cleaned after the injection, and that the depth level of the bore hole may be exactly determined to measure the distribution of the tracer, and accordingly the character of the reservoir can be calculated very precisely.

Injector for injecting a tracer into an oil or gas reservior


An antenna system may include a base having an opening therein, and a swing arm having a concave elongate shape and opposing ends pivotally connected to the base to permit a swinging motion of the swing arm within the opening in the base. A swing arm positioner may be connected between the swing arm and the base. The antenna system may also include an antenna carriage movable along the swing arm. An antenna carriage positioner may be connected between the antenna carriage and the swing arm. A positioning controller may be connected to the swing arm positioner and the antenna carriage positioner, and an antenna may be connected to the antenna carriage.

An antenna may have one or more beams that are desirably scanned over an area. The scanning can be accomplished by mechanical, electronic, or a combination of mechanical and electronic techniques. For example, U.S. Published Application No. 2003/0071759 to Bien et al. discloses an antenna positioner having a curved cradle with a gear track for adjusting the elevation of the antenna. The antenna positioner further includes a rotary plate connected to the curved cradle for rotating the antenna around an azimuth axis.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,937,587 to Tsuda discloses a mechanical scan antenna system having a travel guide on which the antenna travels to permit scanning in one axis. The system also includes a rotatable mount for rotating the travel guide about an azimuth axis. U.S. Pat. No. 6,259,415 to Kumpfbeck et al. also discloses an antenna positioning system including a mount that rotates the antenna in the azimuth axis. The system further includes an elevation tilter for adjusting the horizontal axis position of the antenna.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,202,015 to Moul, Jr. et al.; U.S. Pat. No. 3,383,081 to Guttenberg; U.S. Pat. No. 3,351,946 to Verge; U.S. Pat. No. 4,282,529 to Speicher; U.S. Pat. No. 6,531,990 to Verkerk; U.S. Pat. No. 6,764,051 to Knight; and U.S. Published Application No. 2004/0150574 to Harron all disclose an antenna positioning system including an arcuate member having two ends and a drive track. The drive track engages, and is advanced across a drive unit thereby permitting the positioning of the arcuate member to be changed. These patents and published application systems further disclose the antenna being pivotally mounted on the two ends of the arcuate member.
Unfortunately, the conventional antenna positioning systems may be relatively large, complex, and expensive. This results in such systems requiring a large deployment footprint, increased maintenance and reliability problems, and fewer deployments due to cost considerations.

Antenna system including swing arm and associated methods


The invention features methods and reagents for the diagnosis, monitoring, and treatment of multiple sclerosis. The invention is based in part on the discovery that Chlamydia is present in patients with multiple sclerosis, and that anti-chlamydial agents improve or sustain neurological function in these patients.

Multiple Sclerosis (MS) is a chronic inflammatory disease of the central nervous system (CNS) in which the predominant pathologic findings are demyelination accompanied by disruption of underlying axons (Trapp et al., New Engl. J. Med. 338:278–285, 1998; Prineas, J. W., "Pathology of Multiple Sclerosis" in: Cook S D, ed. Handbook of Multiple Sclerosis. New York: Marcel Dekker, Inc, 1990:187–215). The disease affects young adults who usually present with a relapsing, remitting pattern of neurologic involvement and progress to a chronic phase with increasing difficulty in ambulation and coordination. The etiology of MS is not known, but there is considerable indirect evidence that argues for the role of an infectious agent(s) in the pathogenesis of the disease. Epidemiological studies strongly suggest that a CNS infection in early childhood is a key factor in the development of MS (Kurtzke, Clin. Microbiol. Rev. 6:382–427, 1993). Viral infections have long been thought to play a possible role in the pathogenesis of MS because viruses are known to cause demyelinating disease in experimental animals, often present clinically with relapsing, remitting symptoms, and can cause disease with long periods of latency (Cook and Dowling, Neurology 30:80–91, 1980; Johnson, R. T.,. Viral infections of the Nervous System. New York: Raven Press, 1982). Studies to date, however, have failed to identify any virus as playing a major role in MS, although activated human herpes virus 6 (HHV-6) has been identified recently in brains of MS patients (Sanders et al., J. Neurovirol. 2:249–258, 1996; Challoner et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 92:7440–7444, 1995; Merelli, J. Neurol. 244:450–454, 1997). Although an immune response to this virus is seen during acute exacerbations, the role of HHV-6 infection in MS remains unclear (Soldan et al., Nature Med. 3:1394–1397, 1997).
Current opinion thus favors MS to be an autoimmune disease directed against self neural antigens (Martin et al., Annu. Rev. Immunol. 10:153–169, 1992). To reconcile the role of environment in the pathogenesis of MS as well as the absence of an identifiable infectious pathogen, it is believed that infectious agents may act to trigger an autoimmune process. Such an autoimmune response may result from structural similarities between an infectious agent and neural antigens (antigenic mimicry) or from an expansion of self autoreactive T cell clones in response to bacterial or viral superantigens (Brocke et al., Nature 65:642–646, 1993; Jahnke et al., Science 229:282–284, 1985; Marrack and Kappler, Science 248:325–329, 1998; Oldstone, J. Autoimmun. 2(S):187–194, 1989). Evidence that MS is a disease mediated by T cells that recognize neural antigens has been hard to justify, since measures directed at either eliminating or reducing helper T cell function have not changed the natural history of MS (Sriram and Rodriguez, Neurology 48:469–473, 1997). Improved methods of diagnosing MS would facilitate identification of treatable pathogens and expedite commencement of treatment.
Over the last few years, therapy with β-IFN has emerged as a means of reducing the morbidity of MS. Both β-IFNs (β-1a and β-1b) reduce the number of clinical relapses and slow the progression of the disease. In addition, magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) studies demonstrate a decrease in the number of new inflammatory cerebral lesions in patients receiving β-IFN. Although β-IFN was introduced as a therapeutic agent for MS based on its anti-viral properties, the reasons for the therapeutic benefit of β-IFN for MS remain unclear. Thus far, no viral agent has been consistently found to be associated with MS.

Methods and reagents for the treatment of multiple sclerosis


Systems and methods may be provided for claim denial conversion. The systems and methods may include receiving a prescription claim from a pharmacy, where the prescription claim is associated with a drug or other product requested by a customer, routing the prescription claim to a claims processor for adjudication, and receiving, from the claims processor, a denied claim response for the claim request. The systems and methods may further include determining that funding is available to cover at least a portion of a price of the requested drug or other product, converting the denied claim response to an approved claim response upon determination of the available funding, and transmitting the approved claim response to the pharmacy.

Pharmaceutical manufacturers spend a significant amount of effort, time, and/or money promoting the advantages of their prescription products (e.g., drugs, medical equipment, etc.) against those of competing products. Indeed, pharmaceutical manufacturers promote their prescription products to influence the prescription writing activity of physicians or other healthcare providers. However, prescriptions claims may be denied by a claims processor, thereby thwarting the promotional efforts of pharmaceutical manufacturers. If a prescription claim is denied, a patient may decide to not accept the full financial burden of a prescription product either by not filling the prescription or otherwise by not utilizing the prescription product to the full extent prescribed by the physician. Accordingly, there is a need to intercept denied claim responses from claim processors and provide financial funding in order to convert denied claims to approved claims.

Systems and methods for conversions of denied transactions through patient funding


A keypad security apparatus and security system are provided. The keypad includes a network connector to connect the keypad to a data network, an address tracker to track an address assigned to the keypad, and a data input to receive user input data, including arm/disarm commands and to transmit the data via the data network. The network may be a LAN, such an Ethernet connecting the keypad via a router to an internet. A security control panel may also be connected to the local area network. Audio data may be input to the keypad and transmitted via the network voice data over data network, such as voice over IP data (VoIP). The address assigned to the keypad may be an IP address or a local area network address. The keypad may be connected as a wireless device.

Security systems, including networked security systems, offer a degree of security for residential sites and for office, business, or industrial applications. Typically, a keypad is provided as part of a security system, which may be used to arm or disarm the security system, for example by setting an alarm, which is triggered upon the occurrence of various threat or alarm conditions. At a larger installation such as in a business, industrial or office setting, more than one keypad may be provided at various locations of the site. The keypad or keypads are typically connected to a security control panel, which is essentially a control board or control module for security for the site. Also, a remote central monitoring station may be connected via a network, and this central monitor station may be notified when an alarm condition, a threat condition, or some other type of security breach, a fire condition, or other type of emergency condition or the like is detected.
In such conventional systems, the problem exists that upon the triggering of an alarm condition or the like, a user, such as a resident, in the case of a home security system, or an employee at an office or at an industrial site, may need to communicate using voice communication with the central monitoring station, with other users, or with police, fire, ambulance, rescue, or other emergency personnel to communicate information about the alarm condition or emergency, and to respond to a query from the central monitoring station or from others about the nature of the emergency. Also, such a user may need to initiate or to authenticate or authorize the disarming of the system upon the triggering of a false alarm or a false emergency condition, or provide information after the alarm condition or the emergency condition has been resolved. Also, a user at a keypad may need to broadcast to one or more keypads during an emergency, the broadcast containing instructions or information or a request for help.
In addition, even in the absence of an emergency or alarm condition, it may be or generally desirable to use the keypad to communicate with users at other keypads, with the central monitoring station, or with people at devices outside of the network security system. Therefore, what is needed is the ability to communicate over the security system, such as between keypad locations, or between keypad locations and a central monitoring station, using voice communication. At present, security systems lack the ability for voice communication. Also, at present, keypads of a security system lack Ethernet and IP connectivity to the internet. It would be desirable to connect the keypad of a the security system network to an internet.
Further, there is a need for an integrated system that allows deployment of a single system for security, voice, such as telephone, and data communication. Such a system may offer a streamlined or low cost alternative to systems involving separate telephone, data network, and security systems.

Network communication for a security system


A lawn chair includes a seat frame assembly which has a seat frame and a rear leg frame, a backrest frame connected pivotally to the rear end portion of the seat frame at the lower end portion thereof, two spaced arm supporting frames provided on two sides of the backrest frame, two elongated positioning members secured to the rear end portions of the arm supporting frames, and two positioning studs extending outwardly from the two sides of the backrest frame. Each of the arm supporting frames has an intermediate portion connected pivotally to the seat frame, a front leg portion extending downwardly and forwardly from the intermediate portion, and an armrest portion extending upwardly and rearwardly from the intermediate portion. Each positioning member has an access hole and a longitudinal slot communicating with the access hole and having a horizontal row of upwardly extending positioning portions. Each of the studs engages a selected one of the positioning portions of the longitudinal slot and has a neck that is sized to prevent removal thereof from the longitudinal slot and to be slidable from the longitudinal slot into the access hole, and an enlarged head that is sized to be extensible through the access hole when the corresponding neck is moved to the same.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a lawn chair, more particularly to a lawn chair which can be folded when not in use.
2. Description of the Related Art
Although the angle between the backrest and the seat of the lawn chair of the parent application, i.e. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/939,301, can be adjusted, the lawn chair of the parent application cannot be folded. Thus, a relatively large storage space is required when the lawn chair is not in use.


The present invention discloses an apparatus and a method using a multi-purpose flexible CNC machine that is able to perform a variety of machining operations on all parts of a product. Specific operations include carving, boring, cutting, grooving, molding, shaping, routing, mortising, edge working, sawing, planing, squaring, sanding, drilling and dovetailing. The CNC control integrates machining instructions, operator instructions and sequence of operations into a coherent package.

This invention relates to a Computer Numerical Control (CNC) machine. More particularly, the present invention uses multi-media to coordinate production arrangements between a CNC machine and its operator.
The machining industry is one of the most fundamental industries of industrial and developing countries. It is an industry that has a direct impact on almost all manufactured goods. The technological advancement of the machining industry, from a short-term impact perspective, has a direct bearing on the quality of goods, the durability of goods, the production capability of goods, and the desirability of goods. From a long-term impact perspective, the technological advancement of the machining industry has a direct impact on the competitiveness of a country""s product in the world market. The present invention is a major breakthrough in the concept and methodology of the machining industry that will revolutionize the manufacturing base of U.S. industries.
Ever since the industrial revolution, many manufacturing bases of U.S. industry embraced manufacturing cost savings based on the economy of scales. Depending upon the state of technology at any moment in time, many manufacturing bases of U.S. industries established manufacturing plants that are optimized based on mass production only to be limited by the technology of the day. From this background, the conventional concept and methodology of manufacturing have been established. With the advancement of computer technology, the conventional concept and methodology of manufacturing are becoming more outdated with each passing day.
Take the furniture manufacturing industry for example, the conventional concept and methodology teach batch and specialized productions, where each production line manufactures only one of many parts that are required for a desired piece of furniture. This concept and methodology is anchored upon amortizing machine setup times over a long period of time. The advantages of this concept and methodology are increased production efficiency, low per part cost, and simplicity of manufacturing on each production line. The disadvantages of this concept and methodology of manufacturing are high initial investment cost, large warehouse storage requirements, heavy transportation cost, high man-hour labor requirement, and complex record keeping. This conventional concept and methodology of manufacturing is only viable when the demand for goods require mass production. Should the demand for goods be less than the scale of manufacturing, the per-part cost increases substantially.
Based on the unprecedented advancement of computer technology, Thermwood Corporation of Dale, Indiana has implemented a new concept and methodology of manufacturing in the present invention. The present invention substantially overcomes the disadvantages stated above yet yields a return that substantially conforms to that of a mass production.
One object of the present invention is to implement a new manufacturing process.
A second object of the present invention is to produce a plurality of parts from a series of work zones on a single worktable.
A third object of the present invention is to conveniently provide manufacturing instructions to an operator.
A fourth object of the present invention is to provide an efficient method of producing complex parts of a piece of furniture.
A fifth object of the present invention is to provide manufacturing instructions through a display and a speaker.
A sixth object of the present invention is to reduce the cost of small order productions.
A seventh object of the present invention is to incorporate all the required skills into a CNC machine thus relieving dependency upon a highly skilled machine operator.
An eighth object of the present invention is to minimize the chances of operator error in a production.

System and method of implementing new product designs on computer numerical control machines


An energy absorbing sling assembly 22 is provided for a seat belt component which includes an energy absorbing member 46, 47 carried with a mounting bolt 32 for pivotally mounting the sling assembly 22 with the energy absorbing member 46 being retained between the mounting bolt head 38 and the sling 28 and providing an access aperture 63 for tool engagement with a drive pocket 64 in the bolt 32.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates generally to automotive seat belt components, and more particularly to the pivotal mounting of slings for supporting certain of such components in an energy absorbing fashion.
2. Description of Related Art
The desirability of cushioning interior surfaces of automobiles is well known in the automotive arts. Among the components of primary importance in considering the cushioning of such interior components, are the bolts which are used to fasten seat belt components to the body of a vehicle. In some designs, the cushioning of the bolt with respect to the interior of the vehicle has been accomplished through structure carried with the interior trim of the vehicle in facing relationship with the head of the bolt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,782,491, assigned to the assignee of the present invention, is exemplary of such an approach. Other energy absorption designs have involved energy absorbing structure underneath the head of the bolt. U.S. Pat. No. 5,529,344, is exemplary of these approaches.
Not demonstrated in the prior art but considered to be desirable is an energy absorbing bolt mounting structure that will accommodate securing a bolt in fixed manner to an automotive vehicle body while the energy absorbing structure is secured to the bolt and nevertheless permitting pivotal mounting of the seat belt component with respect to the bolt. An example of the environment in which the unsolved problem is presented is the mounting of depending slings for seat belt guide rings which may require mounting high in a vehicle in certain vehicle designs.


A stepping motor controller for controlling a stepping motor which drives a load, including: a load drive state detection section which detects a driving state of the load; and a control section which controls the stepping motor, when a detection result of the load drive state detection section is beyond a prescribed range, so as to maintain a driving speed of the load, and when the detection result of the load drive state detection section is within the prescribed range, so as to control the driving state of the load based on a control pattern.

1. Field of Technology
The present invention relates to a stepping motor controller for controlling a stepping motor for driving various loads and a stepping motor control program for operating the stepping motor.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, as various drive sources, a stepping motor has been widely used. The stepping motor has advantages such that the amount of movement is proportional to the driving pulse number, and the motor is congenial to a digital control circuit, and no feed back circuit is necessary, so that it finds wide applications in various fields.
On the other hand, when the load is excessively high and the pulse frequency is excessively high, a phenomenon that the phase is not switched normally, and asynchronism occurs, and the control is disordered may occur. Further, this state is referred to "step-out".
Further, in Unexamined Japanese Patent Application Publication 2004-215440 (JPA2004-215440), a countermeasure for the aforementioned step-out is disclosed.
In the invention described in JPA2004-215440, the stepping motor is equipped with an encoder, and by comparison of the actual rotation state of the stepping motor with the driving pulse, the step-out is detected.
And, when the step-out is detected, the controller retains the rotational speed, at the point of time when the step-out is eliminated, returns to the ordinary control, and performs a recovery process for recovering a delay or an excessive advance.
Here, if step-out occurs when the stepping motor is controlled in the self-returnable area (self-starting area), the stepping motor can be recovered by applying the aforementioned control.
However, in the high-speed drive state, the phase is switched quickly and a problem arises that even if the same rotational speed is retained, it is difficult to escape from the step-out state. Further, also in a case of a sudden load variance, an escape from the step-out state may be difficult similarly.
One of the objectives of the present invention is to solve the aforementioned problem and to realize a stepping motor controller and a stepping motor control program for preventing the controller, at time of driving, from falling into an unrecoverable step-out state.

Stepping motor controller and stepping motor control program

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


Extended runway systems and methods include generating a runway centerline that extends from a start point on the runway to an endpoint located at a predefined distance from the start point. One or more distance markers are also calculated for the runway centerline. Display data is provided to an electronic display that causes the display to show the runway centerline and the one or more distance markers.

The present disclosure relates generally to aircraft vision systems and methods. More particularly, the present application relates to aircraft vision systems and methods in which an extended runway centerline is depicted on an electronic display.
Aircraft pilots rely on situational awareness to avoid collisions with hazards, such as terrain, man-made structures, weather, and other aircraft. To facilitate the identification of potential hazards by a pilot and increase the situational awareness of the pilot, some aircraft are now equipped with synthetic vision systems. Synthetic vision systems generally operate by generating a three dimensional (3-D), virtual representation of the area in front of the aircraft. For example, a virtual representation of a mountain may be displayed by a synthetic vision system to represent a physical mountain located in front of the aircraft. The virtual representation may also correct for natural effects that would otherwise obscure the view of the pilot such as weather and nighttime conditions.
Despite the current advances in facilitating the situational awareness of a pilot regarding his or her surroundings, indicating the presence of an airport runway to a pilot remains challenging and difficult. In some cases, for example, a pilot making a descent into an airport may rely on lighting placed along a runway to determine the location and orientation of the runway relative to the aircraft. Applicants have discovered that there may be a need for aircraft vision systems and methods that enhance a pilot's detection of a runway by depicting an extended centerline of the runway that indicates a distance to the runway from the aircraft. Applicants have further discovered that there may be a need for visual techniques to represent a runway centerline regardless of whether the centerline would otherwise be obstructed by terrain, man made objects, or the like.

Extended runway centerline systems and methods


The present invention relates to a wireless communication system, a communication control method, and a relay station. The wireless communication system includes: a wireless terminal; a plurality of base stations; and a relay station, wherein the relay station defines a wirelessly communicable base station among the plurality of base stations as a candidate for a master station, in a case where a plurality of the candidates for the master station are present, acquires priority order setting information for setting priority orders of connection regarding the respective candidates for the master station, and sets the priority orders of the connection based on the priority order setting information. Then, in a case where the relay station has received a connection request from the wireless terminal, the control unit decides a candidate for the master station, which has a highest priority order of the connection, as an optimal master station.

There is a wireless entrance line using a wireless line as an entrance line, which is a transmission line that connects a base station and a host-side base station to each other, or connects base stations to each other. Application of this wireless entrance line to a wireless communication system is effective for turning an area, on which an optical line, an ISDN line or the like cannot be laid, to a communication area, and moreover, can reduce running cost of the wireless communication system by reducing maintenance cost since a wired communication system is not used.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a configuration is shown, in which a line control device and a base station are connected to each other by a wireless entrance line by providing a wireless relay station in such a case where the line control device and the base station cannot be connected to each other by a wired entrance line in a blind zone, a mountain range or the like, at which a radio wave from the base station cannot arrive.

Wireless communication system, communication control method, and relay station


A TAD (time analog/digital) type of A/D converter has plural series-connected delay units each producing a delay in accordance with the level of a converter input voltage, with a first-stage delay unit receiving a pulse signal at commencement of each A/D conversion sampling interval, and a latch/encoder circuit detecting the total number of delay units traversed by the pulse signal by the end of the sampling interval, to obtain a numeric value expressing the input voltage level. To ensure uniformity of the delays of the delay units, these are formed using transistors of larger size than transistors of other circuits such as the latch/encoder circuit.

1. Field of Application
The present invention relates to a TAD (Time Analog-to-Digital) type of A/D (Analog-to-Digital) converter, in which only digital signal processing is utilized.
2. Description of Related Art
Various TAD A/D converters have been proposed, for example as described in Japanese patent publication No. 5-259907 (referred to in the following as related document 1), in which a pulse delay circuit formed of a plurality of series-connected stages (with each stage made up of a delay unit) delays a pulse signal by an amount that is determined by the voltage level of an (analog) input signal, and in which A/D converted data are outputted as numeric values that express the voltage level of the converter input signal as the number of stages that are traversed by the pulse signal during a predetermined sampling interval. That number of stages can be measured by simultaneously registering (e.g., using latch circuits) the respective output signal values from the delay units at the end of the sampling interval, to thereby detect the position that has been reached by the pulse signal within the series of stages in the pulse delay circuit.
In addition as described in documents such as Japanese patent publication No. 2004-7385 (referred to in the following as related document 2), rather than forming the pulse delay circuit as a linear delay line formed of a set of series-connected stages, the output signal from the final delay unit is transferred to a first input terminal of the first-stage one of a set of series-connected delay units, such as to form a ring-configuration delay line, with a pulse signal being applied to an activation input terminal of the first-stage delay unit at the start of each sampling interval. In each A/D measurement operation, a circulation number counter counts the total number of times the pulse signal circulates around the pulse delay circuit during the sampling interval, while in addition the position reached by the pulse signal within the pulse delay circuit during the sampling interval is also detected, as described for related document 1 above. Each A/D converted output value is obtained as a combination of the count value attained by the circulation number counter (expressing the high-order bits of the converted output value) and a numeric value expressing the position attained by the pulse signal within the pulse delay circuit (expressing the low-order bits of the converted output value).
Another related example is described in Japanese patent publication No. 2004-357030 (referred to in the following as related document 3), whose principles are based on those of the A/D converter of related document 1 above. With that example, instead of detecting the number of delay stages that have been traversed by the pulse signal a single time in each conversion operation at the end point of a single measurement interval, that number is detected n times in succession in each conversion operation, (where n is an integer), at time points that are successively shifted by 1/n times the amount of delay that is currently being applied by each delay unit.
To define each set of successively shifted time points, it is necessary to utilize a clock signal generating circuit which produces a set of sampling clock signals that are respectively shifted in phase from one another by the aforementioned amount, and are supplied to respective ones of a set of circuits referred to as pulse position numerizing circuits, each of which obtains the position of the pulse signal, when the corresponding time point is reached. The clock signal generating circuit can be implemented as a circuit formed only of transistors, in particular, formed of CMOS inverters producing respectively predetermined amounts of delay.
With the above types of TAD A/D converters, it becomes possible to eliminate components such as operational amplifiers, capacitors, resistors, etc., that are required with a conventional type of A/D converter that must operate upon very small-amplitude analog signals. Hence, a TAD A/D converter can readily be implemented in integrated circuit form. In particular, such an A/D converter can be advantageously implemented by using CMOS integrated circuit technology.
At present, the design rule used in the manufacturing process for CMOS ICs is that the design rule in a transistor structure (i.e., minimum line width) is less than 100 nm, and sizes of 90 to 65 nm and even as small as 45 nm have been achieved. It is expected that such transistors will be made even smaller in future, and that it will soon be possible to achieve a design rule as small as 30 nm. Since TAD types of A/D converter employ only digital circuitry, they are especially suitable for being produced using such a leading-edge CMOS integrated circuit manufacturing process, with extremely small transistor sizes.
That is to say, since digital circuits perform only logical operations (AND, OR, etc.) and need only switch a signal between two levels, i.e., the "0" and "1" levels, it is not necessary to discriminate between small differences in signal level, such as a change from a "0.2" to a "0.35" level. As the size of the transistors used to constitute digital circuits is reduced, the effects of manufacturing defects (resulting in deviations of line widths from the design values) and effects of small dust particles adhering to the IC surface, will have a correspondingly greater adverse effect upon the operating characteristics of the transistors. In particular, deviations in line width that cause variations in the pattern areas of the gates of the transistors will result in differences between the respective drive capabilities of the transistors. However when the transistors constitute a digital circuit, whose input and output signals change only between the "0" and "1" levels, problems resulting from such manufacturing defects and dust, etc., are substantially avoided.
In particular, in the case of circuits produced using the latest CMOS IC manufacturing processes for micro-miniaturization, digital circuits will in general have a much greater tolerance for the effects of manufacturing defects than will analog circuits.
However when the design rule becomes extremely small, the effects of manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles cannot be ignored, even in the case of digital circuits, so that these effects will become of increasing importance in the future.
FIGS. 13A, 13B, 13C are respective explanatory diagrams, in which FIG. 13A is a pattern diagram of an inverter circuit formed of a P-channel FET (field effect transistor) and an N-channel FET formed in an IC chip, FIG. 13B is an expanded view of a P-channel FET in FIG. 13A, and FIG. 13C illustrates the effect of reducing the transistor width W and the transistor length L (i.e., the pattern width of the gate G) each by one half.
As illustrated in these diagrams, a portion of the pattern of a gate G such as gate Gp of the P-channel FET may be missing, due to manufacturing defects, so that the total effective area of that gate (i.e., the region enclosed by the drain D and source S of that transistor) is accordingly reduced. As can be readily understood from FIG. 13C, the smaller the transistor size (i.e., the smaller the transistor width W and transistor length L) the greater will become the effects of such manufacturing defects. This will have an adverse effect upon the transistor characteristics, and in particular upon the drive capability.
In order to achieve stable operation of a TAD type of A/D converter, it is necessary that the delay units of the pulse delay circuit produce respectively identical amounts of delay, so that the pulse signal will be transmitted along the successive delay units at a uniform speed during each measurement interval, as illustrated conceptually by the arrow lines in FIG. 14A. In FIG. 14A, for example, (K) corresponds to the time at which the pulse signal is outputted from the k-th delay unit, after successively traversing the first to k-th delay units.
However if there are small differences between the respective levels of drive capability of the transistors constituting the delay units, due to the effects of manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles, etc., then deviations will occur between the respective delay times of the delay units. This is conceptually illustrated in FIG. 14B, and it can be understood that this will result in deviations in the resolution of the A/D converted data. The resolution expresses the amount of change in level of the converter input voltage that will result in a corresponding change in the LSB (least significant bit) of the A/D converted data. It can be seen that this will result in the resolution varying in accordance with the level of the converter input signal, i.e., there will be large amounts of differential non-linearity.
In the case of the A/D converter of related document 2 above, it is necessary that each operation for detecting the position of the pulse signal within the pulse delay circuit, at the end of a measurement interval be performed while also correctly obtaining the count of total number of circulations from the circulation number counter This is necessary in order for the high-order bits (counter data) and low-order bits (pulse delay position data) of each A/D converted value to be matched. For that reason, a single timing signal is used to control latching of the circulation number counter data and pulse delay position.
The circulation number counter is generally a synchronous type of counter. As the number of bits constituting the count value is increased, the amount of load imposed on a clock signal supply line of the counter will increase accordingly. This increase in load results in a delay in operation of the circulation number counter, which results in problems.
The clock signal supplied to the circulation number counter is the output signal from a specific one of the delay units, in general, the final-stage delay unit. At a time point when the respective outputs of the delay units are latched to find the position reached by the pulse signal within the series of delay units, and the count value of the circulation number counter is also registered by a latch circuit, the aforementioned delay in operation of the circulation number counter may result in the count value being registered before it has been incremented by the most recent occurrence of outputting of the delayed pulse signal from the pulse delay circuit. In such a case, the high-order bits and low-order bits of the resultant A/D converted value will not correctly match, so that an accurate value will not be obtained.
Due to the above problem, it is necessary to insert a supply line drive buffer circuit for transferring the output from the final-stage delay unit to the circulation number counter. Accordingly, it is also necessary to insert a delay buffer circuit for supplying the latch timing signal to the counter latch circuit, in order to compensate for (i.e., balance) the delay introduced by the supply line drive buffer circuit.
However with increasing degrees of miniaturization of IC components, so that manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles result in greater deviations between the drive capabilities of respective transistors that constitute the delay buffer circuit and the supply line drive buffer circuit, it becomes increasingly difficult to achieve accurate matching of the respective amounts of delay that are introduced by these circuits. Hence, it becomes increasingly difficult to ensure that the high-order bits and low-order bits of each A/D converted value are correctly matched, so that accurate A/D converted data may not be obtainable.
In the case of the A/D converter of the related document 3 above, designating the delay time of a delay unit as Δt, it is necessary for the respective pulse position numerizing circuits to accurately use (in each A/D conversion operation) measurement intervals (sampling intervals) which respectively differ by a unit time amount Δt=Td/n, where Td is the amount of delay that is currently being produced by each of the delay units under the currently applied level of converter input voltage. As a result, it is necessary to generate sampling clock signals that are successively shifted in phase by the unit time interval Δt.
To generate such sampling clock signals, a total of n CMOS inverter circuits are utilized, each of which receives a reference clock signal, and the respective sizes of the transistors in the inverter circuits are adjusted such as to produce specific small differences in the switching voltage levels (and hence, in the signal level inversion timings) of the respective inverter circuits, such that the output signals from the inverter circuits will respectively differ in phase by the unit time amount Δt.
Hence, with such a clock signal generating circuit, if small differences occur between the respective drive capabilities of the transistors that constitute the clock signal generating circuit (i.e., due to the effects of manufacturing defects and adhering dust particles), it becomes impossible to accurately shift the phase by precise units of Δt. Thus, the resolution of A/D conversion will be lowered and the differential non-linearity will become large, since the A/D converted data are obtained by adding together the outputs from the respective pulse position numerizing circuits.

A/D converter that is implemented using only digital circuit components and digital signal processing


A method of treating inflammatory disorders of the bowel and inflammatory disorders of the urinary bladder are disclosed. A method of modulating the function of monocytes is also disclosed. The method involves the treatment of a patient's blood with a photoactivatable compound followed by ultraviolet light-activation of the photoactivatable compound. The blood treated as such is returned to the patient in a process known as extracorporeal photopheresis.

Extracorporeal photopheresis is a process where 8-Methoxypsoralen (8-MOP), a naturally occurring light-sensitive compound, is administered orally two hours prior to treatment; blood is then withdrawn from the patient, anti-coagulated, and the white blood cells are separated by centrifugation and collected as a leukocyte enriched fraction. These 8-MOP containing leukocytes are then irradiated with ultraviolet A light (UVA) which binds the 8-MOP to pyrimidine bases in DNA and to intra- and extra-cellular proteins. These treated leukocytes are returned to the patient, and the result is an immunomodulation which has been found to be of clinical benefit in a number of disease states [Edelson R L. Photopheresis: a clinically relevant immunobiologic response modifier. [Review] Ann NY AcadSci. 191; 636:154-64].
There are a number of diseases which are felt to primarily involve T-cells or are T-cell mediated. Diseases such as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, organ allograft rejection after transplantation, progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS), inflammatory bowel disease (IBD), rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and juvenile onset diabetes mellitus (JODM) are thought to be T-cell mediated.
Cutaneous T-cell lymphoma (CTCL) is a malignant disease that is progressive. Therapeutic options are limited. Edelson et al. performed a multi-center trial [Edelson R, Berger C, Gasparro F. et al. Treatment of cutaneous T cell lymphoma by extracorporeal photochemotherapy: Preliminary results. N Engl J Med 1987;316:297-303] which showed that 24 of 29 (83%) of erythrodermic patients experienced a significant improvement in their disease. These positive responses were seen at a median time of 22.4 weeks after initiation of therapy. Of clinical significance, these patients were those whose diseases were resistant to prior therapy which is felt to be a poor prognostic group. In addition, a decrease in the amount of peripheral blood involvement (Sezary cells) was seen. Actuarial data had indicated that median survival was increased to greater than 60 months from the onset of treatment in comparison with a historical median survival time of less than 30 months. In this original group of patients, remissions were sustained in eight of the subjects who were leukemic. Adverse reactions associated with photopheresis were rare.
Autoimmune diseases are characterized by a dysregulation of the immune system, characterized by specific cellular or humoral mediated destruction of specific organs or tissues in the patient. Examples of such diseases are rheumatoid arthritis and progressive systemic sclerosis.
Rheumatoid arthritis (R.A.) is an inflammatory disease that ultimately leads to joint destruction and is a generalized disease involving many organ systems. There are many pharmaceutical agents in use for R.A., however well tolerated agents with disease modifying potential are needed in as much as the disease is lifelong. In particular, a loss of efficacy and disease progression is seen in a high number of patients after starting secondary line therapy for R.A. Many of the second line agents are immunosuppressive and are themselves the reason for the major side effects such as infection. The need for development of a more specific, non-toxic immunomodulating therapy [Malawista S, Trock D, Edelson R. Treatment of rheumatoid arthritis by extracorporeal photochemotherapy: a pilot study. Arthritis Rheum 1991;34:646-54] is great.
Progressive systemic sclerosis (PSS) is a connective tissue disease characterized by inflammatory and fibrotic changes in the skin and viscera. Treatment has been difficult. Anti-inflammatory drugs and corticosteroids are helpful in the early stages of the disease, but do not appear to influence the progression of the disease. Trials with D-penicillamine, methotrexate, cyclosporine, calcium channel blockers and prostagladins are underway, but these agents do not appear to influence the overall progression of the disease. As this disease has been considered to be T-cell mediated, Rock and colleagues have treated PSS patients with photopheresis [Rook A H, Freundlich B, Jegasothy B V, et al. Treatment of systemic sclerosis with extracorporeal photochemotherapy: Results of a multicenter trial. Arch Dermatol 1992;128:337-46]. In this trial, 56 patients were enrolled into a randomized non-blinded clinical trial. A significantly higher response rate was seen in the photopheresis treated group (68% response rate) compared to the D-penicillamine (control) group (32% response rate).
Juvenile onset diabetes mellitus (JODM) is felt to be mediated by the immune system resulting in the destruction of the cells in the pancreas responsible for the production of insulin. Patients with this disorder have not only dysregulation of their blood sugar levels, but the disease is characterized by a vasculopathy, resulting in specific organ damage leading to significant morbidity and mortality.
IBD is either limited to the colon (ulcerative colitis) or affects both the colon and the small intestine. In addition, there are intraintestinal manifestations of the disease including pyoderma gangrenosum, erythema nodosum, sclerosing cholangitis, ankylosing spondylitis, hepatitis, arthritis, and uveitis. IBD involves a dysfunction of the immunoregulatory mechanisms that downregulate immune responses to digestion products, while maintaining the ability to develop a specific immune response to pathogens. Exposure to methoxsalen, activated by UV light, modulates immunoregulatory function, allowing the mucosal T-cells to mount a lower proliferative response to common microbial antigens than peripheral T-cells.
Other T-cell mediated phenomena include rejection of tissues that are foreign to the host. In the case of organ allograft transplantation, it is desirable to prevent rejection with respect to the transplanted organ, however to otherwise maintain the competence of the immune system, in order to allow the body to combat infection and to allow other normal body defenses. The standard treatments after transplantation are limited as the immunosuppression regimens are used to cause a state of generalized immunosuppression, which leads to microbial or opportunistic infection, the most common adverse reaction to this treatment. Immunomodulation which does not have broad immunosuppressive properties would be more desirable. Photopheresis has been shown to be effective, and investigators at Loyola University have been able to successfully treat with photopheresis 13 of 14 cases of cardiac rejection refractory to standard immunosuppressive agents. In a variation of this situation, photopheresis has been successfully used to treat a patient with chronic graft versus host disease [Rossetti et al., 1995, Transplant, 59:1, pp.149-151]. This disorder is characterized by an introgenically induced immunoincompetent host, where immune competent cells (bone marrow or peripheral stem cells) are infused into a patient in such situations as treatment for various malignancies and leukemia. Here the transplanted immunocompetent cells attack the patient (the "host"), and the issue is to modulate the immunocompetent cells without causing further broad immunosuppression and the side effects thereof
Photopheresis involves the extracorporeal exposure of peripheral blood leukocytes to 8-methoxypsoralen (8-MOP) photoactivated by ultraviolet A light, followed by the reinfusion of the treated white blood cells.
8-methoxypsoralen molecules in the blood enter the white blood cell nuclei and intercalate in the double-strand DNA helix. In an extracorporeal circuit, long wave ultraviolet light is directed at the leukocyte-enriched blood fraction within the UVAR.RTM. Photopheresis System. The photoactivated drug, responding to the UVA energy, links to the thymidine base in the DNA helix. This results in cross-linking of thymidine bases which prevents the unwinding of the DNA during transcription. The plasma and altered leukocytes are then reinfused into the patient. The reinfusion of the photopheresis damaged leukocytes results in an delayed immune attack against these damaged leukocytes, as well as, otherwise unmodified WBC's displaying the same cell surface antigens.
Methoxsalen is a naturally occurring photoactive substance found in the seed of the Ammi majus (umbelliferae plant). It belongs to a class of compounds known as psoralens or furocoumarins. The chemical name is 9-methoxy-7H-furo[3,2-g][1]-benzopyran-7-one. The formulation of the drug is a sterile liquid at a concentration of 20 mcg/mL in a 10 mL vial. The pharmacokinetic activity of methoxsalen is available in the investigator's brochure [Investigator's Brochure for A Comparison Study of the Use of Extracorporeal Chemotherapy (ECP) With and Without Alpha Interferon in Treatment of Patients with Chronic HCV. June, 1996]. Toxicology studies of extracorporeal photochemotherapy and different dosages of UVADEX.RTM. and ultraviolet light in beagle dogs is located in the investigator's brochure.
UVAR System
The treatment consists of three phases including: 1) the collection of a buffy-coat fraction (leukocyte-enriched), 2) irradiation of the collected buffy coat fraction, and 3) reinfusion of the treated white blood cells. The collection phase has six cycles of blood withdrawal, centrifugation, and reinfusion steps. During each cycle, whole blood is centrifuged and separated in a pediatric pheresis bowl. From this separation, plasma (volume in each cycle is determined by the UVAR.RTM. Instrument operator) and 40 ml buffy coat are saved in each collection cycle. The red cells and all additional plasma are reinfused to the patient before beginning the next collection cycle. Finally, a total of 240 ml of buffy coat and 300 ml of plasma are separated and saved for UVA irradiation.
The irradiation of the leukocyte-enriched blood within the irradiation circuit begins during the buffy coat collection of the first collection cycle. The collected plasma and buffy coat are mixed with 200 ml of heparinized normal saline and 200 mcg of UVADEX.RTM. (water soluble 8-methoxypsoralen). This mixture flows in a 1.4 mm thick layer through the PHOTOCEPTOR.RTM. Photoactivation Chamber, which is inserted between two banks of UVA lamps of the PHOTOSETTE.RTM.. PHOTOSETTE.RTM. UVA lamps irradiate both sides of this UVA-transparent PHOTOCEPTOR.RTM. chamber, permitting a 180-minute exposure to ultraviolet A light, yielding an average exposure per lymphocyte of 1-2 J/cm.sup.2. The final buffy coat preparation contains an estimated 20% to 25% of the total peripheral blood mononuclear cell component and has a hematocrit from 2.5% to 7%. Following the photoactivation period, the volume is reinfused to the patient over a 30 to 45 minute period.
Systems employing these techniques are known whereby extracorporeal treatment of a patient's blood is undertaken. For example, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,573,960--Goss, a patient is given a drug that requires photoactivation and the patient's blood is then withdrawn and separated into its components. The untreated components (red blood cells, some plasma, etc.) are returned to the patient. The patient is then disconnected from the treatment apparatus and the separated components, e.g., white blood cells, are exposed to ultraviolet light. Following photoactivation, the treated cells are returned to the patient.
In U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,321,919; 4,398,906; and 4,464,166, issued to Edelson, the external treatment methods for diseases in which there is a pathological increase of lymphocytes, such as cutaneous T-cell lymphoma, have been discussed. In these methods the patient's blood in the presence of a chemical or an antibody is irradiated with ultraviolet light. Ultraviolet light effects a bonding between the lymphocytes and the chemical or antibody thus inhibiting the metabolic processes of the lymphocytes.
A variety of human viruses are able to infect and replicate within mononuclear cells, or infectious viral particles may remain present within the mononuclear cells. The mononuclear cells can act as either a source for viral replication and spread of the virus, or as a reservoir of infectious virus particles which is difficult for the immune system to eliminate. Failure to eliminate these sources of infectious virus may lead to the establishment of a chronic condition. Viruses which can infect, replicate within, or reside in mononuclear cells include, but are not limited to, arthropod borne viruses, enteroviruses, paramyxoviruses (RSV), herpes viruses, cytomegalo-virus (CMV), Epstein-Barr virus (EBV), hepatitis B virus (HBV), hepatitis C virus (HCV), hepatitis D virus (HDV), hepatitis G virus (HGV), and retroviruses (such as HIV).
A variety of human non-viral pathogenic agents are able to infect and replicate within mononuclear cells, or the infectious non-viral pathogenic agents may remain present within the mononuclear cells. The mononuclear cells can act as either a source for replication and spread of the non-viral pathogenic agents, or as a reservoir of infectious non-viral pathogenic agents which is difficult for the immune system to eliminate. Failure to eliminate these sources of infectious non-viral pathogenic agents may lead to the establishment of a chronic condition. Non-viral pathogenic agents which can infect, replicate within, or reside in mononuclear cells include, but are not limited to, bacteria such as arthropod-borne bacteria, mycoplasma species, and mycobacteria species, and parasites such as plasmodium species and other arthropod-borne parasites.
Extracorporeal photopheresis (ECP) has been successfully used to treat HIV infection (U.S. Pat. No. 4,960,408) and psoralen compounds with long wavelength ultraviolet light have been shown to inactivate certain viruses in vitro, such as HIV (Quinnan, G.V. et al., 1986, Transfusion, 26, pp 481; Bisaccia, A. et al., 1990, Am. Intern. Med., 113, pp 270; Bisaccia, A. et al., 1991, Ann. NY Acad. Sci., 636, pp 321), and influenza virus and herpes simplex virus (Redfield, D. C. et al., 1981; Infect. and Immun., 32, pp 1216). Bisaccia has studied ECP in a pilot trial as therapy for patients with AIDS-related complex. The rationale was that a combination of psoralen with WVA activation could damage HIV in vitro and that reinfusion of the damaged virus may initiate an immune response. The authors found that ECP produced an increase in the HIV-Ab production, increase in the CD8(+) lymphocytes, a decrease in the p24 antigen titer and the inability to culture HIV in 3 patients. Eleven of the 20 patients had improvement in their skin test antigen reactivities.
In addition, a reduced incidence of infection episodes was reported in patients receiving photopheresis treatment for immunosuppression following transplant surgery (Meiser, B. M. et al., 1994, Transplantation, 57, pp. 563). However, the results observed for the transplant surgery patients did not correlate with photopheresis treatment since infection episodes in general were recorded including patients who received a variety of treatments to prevent rejection of the transplanted organ.

Treatment of inflammatory disorders of the bowel and urinary bladder