Pharmacokinetic and immune stimulating properties of proteins and synthetic drugs may be controlled by their conjugation to certain polymers. For example, polyethylene glycol (PEG) can be conjugated to proteins to achieve this effect (Fee and Van Alstine, Chemical Engineering Science, 61:924-934 (2006)). Such conjugation can take place if the relatively non-reactive hydroxyl groups present in PEG molecules are substituted by other, more reactive moieties (Jagur-Grudzinski, Reactive & Functional Polymers, 39:99-138 (1999)). A standard, linear PEG molecule is chemically a diol, which could suggest that the process of PEG derivatization and purification of products should be trivial. However, the polymeric nature of this diol, together with its amphiphilic properties can make these manipulations difficult. In some cases, the typical laboratory process for separation of difficult reaction mixtures, silica gel-based flash column chromatography, can fail for PEG with molecular weight higher than 1000. Neither crystallization nor precipitation appear adequate to achieve separation of PEG-containing materials, even if these methods can be used for efficient removal of other, contaminating substances with low molecular weight. Most reaction mixtures containing modified PEG molecules lack a reliable analytical method to control or to prove their composition. Polymers with functions that influence only minimally the hydrophobic properties of the polymer can be difficult to analyze by chromatography. The same applies for polymers with functions carrying only a minimal charge. This also applies for preparative chromatographic separation of charged polymers as described elsewhere for the separation of mono- and di-carboxyl modified PEG molecules (Drioli et al., Reactive & Functional Polymers, 48:119-128 (2001)).
Confirmation of results of the synthesis based on NMR can be useless, as long as one is not sure about the purity of the product, and this is typically only obtained by chromatographic methods. This unusual conclusion comes from observations that an equimolar mixture of non-derivatized polymer and bis-derivatized polymer will produce an NMR pattern identical to the pure mono-derivatized polymer. Mass spectrometry can be complicated since most PEG exists not in the form of a single component, but is rather a Gaussian population of different polymer lengths, centered on its average molecular weight. Thus, even if all distinct components of the same type should have their mass increased by the same factor, the presence of unreacted and bis-modified material can obscure the picture of the analysis. The literature discusses this problem only sporadically, and often nothing is mentioned about analysis of the product or its purification. Many authors make the impression that the process that they describe is ongoing with quantitative yield, and thus the quality of the product does not need to be analyzed or questioned. This non-scientific approach can be frequently encountered in the chemistry of PEG. There are many examples in the literature presenting synthetic procedures with four to five consecutive steps without a single analysis of the product at any of these steps, without any attempts to purifying the product, and assuming 100 percent purity at the end of the process. It is, therefore, not strange that researchers after closer testing question these products and their purity (Ananda et al., Anal. Biochem., 374, 231-242 (2008)). A commonly accepted escape from the problem of selective modification is to work with a polymer that has one end blocked from the beginning by a stable chemical group, most often a methoxy group (mPEG). In theory, this blockage converts a PEG molecule to a monofunctional compound, and as such, it could be fully converted to the second derivatized form by increasing the amount of derivatizing reagent and/or time for reaction. Unfortunately, many of reactions commonly applied for derivatization of PEG are sluggish and only seldom go to completion. On the other hand, mPEG preparations contain significant percentages of PEG diol component. Moreover, the amount of this contamination increases with the length of mPEG, and this contamination can be hard to avoid. Consequently, derivatization will also result in formation of symmetrical, bis-derivatizated PEG, and its presence in the conjugating mixture results in formation of cross-linked products with unknown pharmacologic properties or a possible loss of protein activity. Therefore, pure, monofunctional polymers are usually preferred for protein modification, but one should be aware that purification of mPEG from its diol PEG contamination is practically impossible.
Nearly all of existing reactions, used today for derivatization of PEG, belong either to the alkylation-based or the acylation-based category. In the first case, the alkoxy anion, generated from PEG, is reacting with incoming electrophilic modifying reagent. Eventually, the activated PEG, subjected with a good leaving group, is itself an object of a nucleophilic attack. To this category belong processes resulting in thiolation, amination, azidation, and introduction of a carboxyl or an aldehyde group. Modified PEG's of this category will have their functional group connected directly to the PEG terminal carbon atom or these groups will be linked via an ether bond, a thioether bond, or a secondary amino group.
The second category, acylation, is based on a nucleophilic reaction of PEG's hydroxyl, (or another group present in a modified PEG—often an amino group), on an incoming acylating reagent. In many cases, this first acylation is followed by a second acylation that actually introduces the modification of interest to the PEG molecule. Functional groups incorporated by this method can be linked to the rest of PEG by an amido, a carbamido, urethane, thiourethane, or a simple ester group. These linking groups and the chemistry behind them belong to the very traditional methods of combining two chemical identities.
Polyethylene glycols (PEG) coupled to phosphoramidites are used for direct coupling of PEG molecules to synthetic nucleic acids. One example is 4,4′-dimethoxy-trityl-polyethyleneglycol-[(2-cyanoethyl)-(N,N-diisopropyl)]-phosphoramidite. In these compounds, the phosphoramidite group is the part of the reactive functionality for linking the compound to a synthetic nucleic acid. It is designed to work in a completely water-free environment: In the presence of water, the phosphoramidite group can decompose instantaneously, making such PEG phosphoramidites inappropriate for conjugation to biological material in water-containing or aqueous solution. In particular, these PEG phosphoramidites can be inappropriate for conjugation to biological substances which are not soluble, stable or sufficiently reactive in non-aqueous media. Furthermore, already mildly acidic biological substances can decompose these PEG phosphoramidites. Finally, these PEG phosphoramidites contain a labile protecting group adjacent to the phosphorous atom which is specially designed to convert the intermediate phosphotriester to a phosphodiester. Phosphodiesters can be readily degraded enzymatically in vivo.


Many processes in biology, including transcription, translation, and metabolic or signal transduction pathways, are mediated by noN-covalently-associated multienzyme complexes1, 101. The formation of multiprotein or protein-nucleic acid complexes produce the most efficient chemical machinery. Much of modern biological research is concerned with identifying proteins involved in cellular processes, determining their functions and how, when, and where they interact with other proteins involved in specific pathways. Further, with rapid advances in genome sequencing projects there is a need to develop strategies to define “protein linkage maps”, detailed inventories of protein interactions that make up functional assemblies of proteins2,3. Despite the importance of understanding protein assembly in biological processes, there are few convenient methods for studying protein-protein interactions in vivo4,5. Approaches include the use of chemical crosslinking reagents and resonance energy transfer between dye-coupled proteins102, 103. A powerful and commonly used strategy, the yeast two-hybrid system, is used to identify novel protein-protein interactions and to examine the amino acid determinants of specific protein interactions4,6-8. The approach allows for rapid screening of a large number of clones, including cDNA libraries. Limitations of this technique include the fact that the interaction must occur in a specific context (the nucleus of S. cerevisiae), and generally cannot be used to distinguish induced versus constitutive interactions.
Recently, a novel strategy for detecting protein-protein interactions has been demonstrated by Johnsson and Varshayskyl108 called the ubiquitin-based split protein sensor (USPS)9. The strategy is based on cleavage of proteins with N-terminal fusions to ubiquitin by cytosolic proteases (ubiquitinases) that recognize its tertiary structure. The strategy depends on the reassembly of the tertiary structure of the protein ubiquitin from complementary N- and C-terminal fragments and crucially, on the augmentation of this reassembly by oligomerization domains fused to these fragments. Reassembly is detected as specific proteolysis of the assembled product by cytosolic proteases (ubiquitinases). The authors demonstrated that a fusion of a reporter protein-ubiquitin C-terminal fragment could also be cleaved by ubiquitinases, but only if co-expressed with an N-terminal fragment of ubiquitin that was complementary to the C-terminal fragment. The reconstitution of observable ubiquitinase activity only occurred if the N- and C-terminal fragments were bound through GCN4 leucine zippers109,110. The authors suggested that this “split-gene” strategy could be used as an in vivo assay of protein-protein interactions and analysis of protein assembly kinetics in cells. Unfortunately, this strategy requires additional cellular factors (in this case ubiquitinases) and the detection method does not lend itself to high-throughput screening of cDNA libraries.
Rossi, F., C. A. Charlton, and H. M. Blau (1997) Proc. Nat. Acad. Sci. (USA) 94, 8405-8410) have reported an assay based on the classical complementation of α and ω fragments of β-galactosidase (β-gal) and induction of complementation by induced oligomerization of the proteins FKBP12 and the mammalian target of rapamycin by rapamycin in transfected C2C12 myoblast cell lines. Reconstitution of b-gal activity is detected using substrate fluorescein di-β-D-galactopyranoside using several fluorescence detection assays. While this assay bears some resemblance to the present invention, there are several significant distinguishing differences. First, this particular complementation approach has been used for over thirty years in a vast number of applications including the detection of protein-protein interactions. Krevolin, M. and D. Kates (1993) U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,625) teaches the use of this complementation to detect protein-protein interactions. Also achievement of β-gal complementation in mammalian cells has previously been reported (Moosmann, P. and S. Rusconi (1996) Nucl. Acids Res. 24, 1171-1172). The individual PCAs presented here are completely de novo designed interaction detection assays, not described in any way previously except for publications arising from applicants laboratory. Secondly, this application describes a general strategy to develop molecular interaction assays from a large number of enzyme or protein detectors, all de novo designed assays, whereas the β-gal assay is not novel, nor are any general strategies or advancements over previously well documented applications given.
As in the USPS, the yeast-two hybrid strategy requires additional cellular machinery for detection that exist only in specific cellular compartments. There is therefore a need for a detection system which uses the reconstitution of a specific enzyme activity from fragments as the assay itself, without the requirement for other proteins for the detection of the activity. Preferably, the assay would involve an oligomerization-assisted complementation of fragments of monomeric or multimeric enzymes that require no other proteins for the detection of their activity. Furthermore, if the structure of an enzyme were known it would be possible to design fragments of the enzyme to ensure that the reassembled fragments would be active and to introduce mutations to alter the stringency of detection of reassembly. However, knowledge of structure is not a prerequisite to the design of complementing fragments, as will be explained below. The flexibility allowed in the design of such an approach would make it applicable to situations where other detection systems may not be suitable.
Recent advances in human genomics research has led to rapid progress in the identification of novel genes. In applications to biological and pharmaceutical research, there is now the pressing need to determine the functions of novel gene products; for example, for genes shown to be involved in disease phenotypes. It is in addressing questions of function where genomics-based pharmaceutical research becomes bogged down and there is now the need for advances in the development of simple and automatable functional assays. A first step in defining the function of a novel gene is to determine its interactions with other gene products in an appropriate context; that is, since proteins make specific interactions with other proteins or other biopolymers as part of functional assemblies, an appropriate way to examine the function of a novel gene is to determine its physical relationships with the products of other genes.
Screening techniques for protein interactions, such as the yeast “two-hybrid” system, have transformed molecular biology, but can only be used to study specific types of constitutively interacting proteins or interactions of proteins with other molecules, in narrowly defined cellular and compartmental contexts and require a complex cellular machinery (transcription) to work. To rationally screen for protein interactions within the context of a specific problem requires more flexible approaches. Specifically, assays that meet criteria necessary not only to detecting molecular interactions, but also to validating these interactions as specific and biologically relevant.
A list of assay characteristics that meet such criteria are as follows:
1) Allow for the detection of protein-protein, protein-DNA/RNA or protein-drug interactions in vivo or in vitro.
2) Allow for the detection of these interactions in appropriate contexts, such as within a specific organism, cell type, cellular compartment, or organelle.
3) Allow for the detection of induced versus constitutive protein-protein interactions (such as by a cell growth or inhibitory factor).
4) To be able to distinguish specific versus non-specific protein-protein interactions by controlling the sensitivity of the assay.
5) Allow for the detection of the kinetics of protein assembly in cells.
6) Allow for screening of cDNA, small organic molecule, or DNA or RNA libraries for molecular interactions.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to databases, and more particularly, to identifying and presenting fields from databases.
2. Description of the Related Art
Early database software programs were a great relief for people who needed to organize and store vast amounts of data. Thus, databases allowed people to input and store information in a form that could be easily re-called and updated. As is well known in the art, database programs have gained tremendous acceptance and usage by families and students, as well as in business settings. By way of example, families have used database programs to keep medical records, keep a budget, maintain an inventory of assets, and compile wedding plan information. Similarly, students may use a database program to maintain student loan records, prioritize class events, and coordinate field trips.
Generally, database programs have gained increased acceptance by the computing public with the advent of more user-friendly database programs, which have made data entry more efficient. Although there have been great improvements in data entry, there is still a great need for database programs that reduce the hassles associated with viewing the data in various formats. By way of example, it may be desirable to view all data associated with a single record. As another example, it may be desirable to compare selected data associated with multiple records. Thus, each time a user wishes to view data in a different format, it is necessary to create a new “report template.” As a result, this typically requires repetitively entering frequently viewed fields from scratch each time the information is needed for a particular report template.
In operation, when a database designer wants to define fields for a particular database, a form layout window can be used. FIG. 1 shows a screen shot illustrating an exemplary form layout window used to define fields for a database. In this example, an optional header, “Golf Money Winners” 102, is created and a number of fields 104 are defined to create a body 103. As shown, a last name field 106, a first name field 108, an events field 110, and a total prize money field 112 are defined in the body 103 of the form layout window. Although the form layout may include a footer, a footer is not included in this example.
Once data has been entered and stored in the database, it is often desirable to view the data for a particular record. In the simplest case, the data may be viewed in the format in which it has been entered. Thus, the form layout window is suitable for obtaining (i.e., entering) data for a particular record as well as for displaying data associated with a single database record. FIG. 2 illustrates a screen shot illustrating an exemplary form view window having a number of fields used to view a single record. As shown, the form view window displays fields for a single record. For example, the header 102 and the body 103, which includes the last name field 106, “Sutton”, first name field 108, “Hal”, events field 110, “30”, and total prize money field 112, “$1,838,740”, are displayed for a single record. Thus, the form view window includes a body defining a plurality of fields, which have a specified order as well as associated attributes. For example, attributes such as degree of rotation, color, and font may be associated with each field. In addition, each of the attributes has a corresponding attribute value. For instance, an attribute such as the font may be specified by values such as Times New Roman. In addition, the order as specified in this example requires that the last name of each of the golf money winners be displayed as the first field of the body 103. Although the form view format provides a simple mechanism to view a single database record, it is often desirable to view and compare multiple database records. For this purpose, the form view report format is inadequate.
Rather than viewing a single record, multiple records are often simultaneously displayed. FIG. 3 is a screen shot illustrating an exemplary list view window used to view multiple records. In addition to the title 102, “Golf Money Winners,” the bodies of multiple records as entered in the main form layout and displayed in the form view format are displayed consecutively. As shown, the body of a first record 302 is shown to include the last name field 304, “Woods”, the first name field 306, “Tiger”, the Events field 308, “20”, and the total prize money field 310, “$1,841,117”. Similarly, the body of a second record 312 is shown to include the last name field 314, “Sutton,” the first name field 316, “Hal,” the events field 318, “30”, and the total prize money field 320, $1,838,740. Although multiple records are displayed, it may be desirable to compare field values of multiple records. For instance, a viewer may wish to compare the total prize money won by multiple golf players. However, each of the records is displayed such that the fields associated with a single one of the records are displayed in multiple rows as well as columns. Moreover, since the records are displayed consecutively in the list view format, the values associated with the same field of multiple records are not displayed adjacent to one another and only a few records at most can be concurrently displayed. As a result, it is difficult to make such a simple comparison between values of the same field. From this list view window, it is difficult to make such a determination. Accordingly, although multiple records may be simultaneously displayed in this manner, the list view format does not facilitate comparisons of fields of multiple records.
As described above, it is difficult to compare fields of multiple records using a form view or a list view format. Moreover, it is often desirable to display the same data in a variety of formats. For instance, it may be desirable to vary the format (e.g., appearance) of the fields (e.g., font, column width) as well as the order of the fields. In addition, it may be desirable to alter the manner in which each field is displayed through the association of various attributes such as color, font, or degree of rotation.
It is often desirable to display records in a manner suitable for comparing the values of fields of those records. In order to assist a user in creating such a report, database records may be displayed in a format such as a table format (e.g., using formatting information from an existing layout). One method of presenting database records in a table format is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,613,099, entitled “Process and System for Providing a Table View of a Form Layout for a Database,” listing Christopher Crim as inventor, which is incorporated herein by reference for all purposes.
Referring now to FIG. 4, a screen shot illustrating an exemplary table view window in which various fields from the form layout may be displayed for one or more records of a database is presented. As shown, the table view window is capable of displaying multiple records 401 such that values associated with the same field of the plurality of records are displayed adjacent to one another. For instance, column header 402 identifies the last name field and the corresponding column includes a column of last names such that the last names associated with the records 401 are displayed adjacent to one another. In this example, the values are displayed in a single column. However, values may similarly be displayed in a single row to facilitate comparison of the values. Values associated with column header 404 identifying the first name field, column header 406 identifying the events field, and column header 408 identifying the total prize money field are similarly displayed for the records 401.
Regardless of the layout that is used to present database fields, it is often difficult for a user to select from fields in a particular database. For instance, a user may wish to select fields for sorting purposes. Unfortunately, in order to select these fields, the user must typically navigate and interact with the database. For instance, the user must be able to select a database table from numerous database tables in order to select fields from this database table. However, since the database design is set up by a database designer, the user is typically not familiar with the database design. As a result, the user must typically navigate the database to select the desired fields. Unfortunately, since the user is unfamiliar with the database and associated tables, this field selection process is a tedious and time-consuming process.
In view of the foregoing, what is needed is a process and system for enabling a user to select fields from a database. Moreover, it would be desirable if the fields could be selected by a user while minimizing the efforts required by the user.


1. Field of the Invention
At least one example in accordance with the present invention relates generally to systems and methods for monitoring a load center for current and power usage.
2. Discussion of Related Art
A load center or panelboard is a component of an electrical supply system which divides an electrical power feed from a power line into different subsidiary circuit branches. Each subsidiary circuit branch may be connected to a different load. Thus, by dividing the electrical power feed into subsidiary circuit branches, the load center may allow a user to individually control and monitor the current and power usage of each load.
Current Transformers (CT) are commonly used to monitor current in a subsidiary or main branch of a load center. A CT may be used to measure current in a branch by producing a reduced current signal, proportionate to the current in the branch, which may be further manipulated and measured. For example, a CT coupled to a branch of a load center may produce a reduced current AC signal, proportionate to the magnitude of AC current in the branch. The reduced current AC signal may then either be measured directly by measurement instrument or converted to a DC signal and passed to a measurement instrument. Based on the signal received, the measurement instrument may determine the level of current in the subsidiary branch and may assist in providing efficient energy management.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to systems for routing telephone calls to appropriate numbers. More particularly, the present invention relates to an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN) based system and methods for routing telephone calls based on the location of the calling party.
2. Acronyms
The written description provided herein contains acronyms which refer to various communication services and system components. Although known, use of several of these acronyms is not strictly standardized in the art. For purposes of the written description herein, acronyms will be defined as follows:
AIN--Advanced Intelligent Network PA0 AMA--Automatic Message Accounting PA0 CCIS--Common Channel Interoffice Signaling PA0 CO--Central Office PA0 CPN--Calling Party Number PA0 CPR--Call Processing Record PA0 DN--Dialed Number Trigger PA0 DRS--Data Reporting System PA0 EO--End Office (EO) PA0 ISCP--Integrated Service Control Point PA0 LSP--Local Service Provider PA0 NPA--Number Plan Area, i.e., area code PA0 NXX--Central Office Code PA0 RTN--Routing Telephone Number PA0 SCE--Service Creation Environment PA0 SCP--Service Control Point PA0 SCCP--Signaling Connection Control Part PA0 SMS--Service Management System PA0 SPC--Signaling Point Code PA0 SS7--Signaling System 7 PA0 SSP--Service Switching Point PA0 STP--Signaling Transfer Point PA0 TAT--Terminating Attempt Trigger PA0 TCAP--Transaction Capabilities Applications Protocol
3. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a number of new telephone service features have been provided by advanced intelligent communications networks such as an Advanced Intelligent Network (AIN). The AIN evolved out of a need to increase the capabilities of the telephone network architecture to meet the growing needs of telephone service customers. The AIN architecture generally comprises two networks, a data messaging network and a trunked communications network. The trunked communications network handles voice and data communications between dispersed network locations, whereas the data messaging network is provided for controlling operations of the trunked communications network.
An illustration of the basic components of an AIN architecture is shown in FIG. 1. As shown in FIG. 1, Central Offices (CO) 10-16 are provided for sending and receiving data messages from an Integrated Service Control Point (ISCP) 20 via a Signaling Transfer Point (STP) 30-34. The data messages are communicated to and from the COs 10-16 and the ISCP 20 along a Common Channel Inter-Office Signaling (CCIS) network 22. Each CO 10-16 serves as a network Service Switching Point (SSP) to route telephone calls between a calling station (e.g., station 40) and a called station (e.g., station 48) through the trunked communications network 24-26. For more information regarding AIN, see Berman, Roger K., and Brewster, John H., "Perspectives on the AIN Architecture," IEEE Communications Magazine, February 1992, pp. 27-32, the disclosure of which is expressly incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.
While prior AIN or AIN-type intelligent network applications may have provided various features to subscribers and users, these prior applications do not allow users to dial one telephone number and reach a single point of contact for multiple services provided by a subscriber. Current systems and methods require users to identify one of many possible numbers to call depending on the specific information or service desired from the subscriber. This requires users to know the telephone number of all departments or service groups of the subscriber that they need information from.
Moreover, none of the current systems and methods allow a user to dial an abbreviated telephone number to access services from a subscriber. Currently, the user must lookup, write down, or memorize a full seven or more digit number for each department or service group that they may need information from.
Therefore, a system and method is needed that allows users to dial one telephone number and reach a single point of contact for information and services provided by a subscriber, and that provides an abbreviated telephone number that is easy to remember for accessing the single point of contact for services from the subscriber.


Pipes used in offshore oil fields include risers (pipes for pumping up crude oil), umbilicals (integration of pipes for supplying chemicals for crude oil viscosity reduction for the purpose of controlling the pumping, power cables, and others), flow lines (pipes for transporting pumped crude oil which extend on the sea floor), and the like. They have various structures, and known pipes include metal-made pipes and metal/resin hybrid pipes. In order to achieve weight reduction, use of metal-made pipes tends to be reduced and metal/resin hybrid pipes are becoming the mainstream. Since oil drilling sites become much deeper and the temperature of crude oil pumped therefrom rises, resins used for these pipes need to have better mechanical strength and chemical resistance at high temperatures (resistance to high-temperature crude oil, resistance to acidic gas, such as hydrogen sulfide, contained in crude oil at high temperatures, resistance to chemicals such as methanol, CO2, and hydrogen chloride injected so as to reduce the crude oil viscosity at high temperatures), and lower permeability at high temperatures. Thus, there is a demand for materials which can take the place of polyamide (the operating temperature range is up to 90° C.) and polyvinylidene fluoride (the operating temperature range is up to 130° C.) which have been used for the pipes.
Patent Literature 1 discloses as a material suitable for flexible pipes a fluororesin which is a copolymer containing copolymerized units of tetrafluoroethylene, vinylidene fluoride, and an ethylenic unsaturated monomer excluding tetrafluoroethylene and vinylidene fluoride, and has a specific storage elastic modulus.


1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed generally to wireless communication systems and, more particularly, to a system and method for parameter selection to avoid interference in a wireless communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Early wireless communication devices, commonly known as cell phones, provided wireless voice services to the user. These early phones have been replaced with wireless communication devices capable of delivering voice, data, and multi-media information. In addition, wireless devices often include location determination using the Global Positioning System (GPS). The delivery of these additional services requires additional bandwidth. In some cases, bandwidth previously allocated for one purpose has been reassigned for the delivery of wireless communication services. For example, the spectrum originally allocated to Ultra-High Frequency (UHF) television has been partially reallocated for wireless communication services.
Devices are being designed with multiple services that depend on multiple radio systems being operated at the same time. For example, devices are being designed that can connect to the cellular network using several different radio protocols and frequency bands. In addition, these devices may have other applications, such as broadcast television or Bluetooth, which use independent radio systems.
These independent radio systems may interfere with, or be interfered by, the radio system used for cellular operation. One can appreciate that the operation of multiple transceivers within a single device may decrease the operational capability of the device. Therefore, it can be appreciated that there is a significant need to reduce interference among the multiple transceiver systems. The present invention provides this, and other advantages, as will be apparent from the following detailed description and accompanying figures.


FIELD OF THE INVENTION
This invention pertains to increasing the number of building blocks that can be incorporated independently into oligonucleotides via DNA and RNA polymerases, and nucleoside analogs capable of forming non-standard Watson-Crick base pairs joined by patterns of hydrogen bonding different from those found in the adenine-thymine and cytosine-guanine base pairs.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the art of adhering a thin film to a base plate, and particularly relates to the art in which a dry film consisting of a light-transmissible resin film and a photosensitive resin layer provided on one side of the resin film is stuck under pressure to a base plate such as a printed circuit board and an electronic circuit substrate of silicon, gallium arsenide or the like without leaving an air bubble between the dry film and the base plate and without wrinkling the dry film.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In one conventional apparatus for adhering a dry film to a base plate under pressure, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 13341/80, the base plate and a photosensitive resin layer bonded to one side of a light-transmissible resin film are brought into contact with each other while being kept in a vacuum chamber of reduced pressure. Sufficient pressure is thereafter applied to the other side of the resin film to push the film and the layer onto the base plate. Thereafter, heat is applied. In another conventional apparatus the dry film is pressed onto the base plate in the air at atmospheric pressure by a rotating heat and pressure sticking roller. In yet another conventional apparatus as disclosed in the Japanese Patent Application (OPI) No. 121696/83, the end of the base plate and that of the dry film are stuck to each other in the air at atmospheric pressure and the film and the plate are thereafter completely stuck to each other in a vacuum. The dry film consisting of a light-transmissible resin film and a photosensitive resin layer bonded to one side of the film is thus stuck to the base plate, under prescribed pressure and at a prescribed temperature in each of the conventional apparatuses. The photosensitive resin layer is thereafter exposed to light through a pattern mask overlaid on the light-transmissible resin film. The resin film is then removed. The resin layer is then etched so that a desired pattern is made on the base plate.
In the above-mentioned conventional arts, however, an air bubble is likely to be left between the dry film and the base plate at the time the film and the plate are stuck to each other. The air bubble causes defects in the step of exposing the film and layer to light or the step of etching the resin layer, thereby causing problems for the process. If the dry film is entirely or partly stuck to the base plate in air at atmospheric pressure, not only will air bubbles likely be left between the dry film and the base plate but also the film will likely be wrinkled by the pressure of the rotating pressure sticking roller. This is another problem.


This invention relates generally to the cancellation of an echo signal in a voice communication system.
In worldwide telecommunications systems, echoes arise in various situations and impair communication quality. Echoes occur when a delayed or distorted version of an original audio signal is reflected back to the source. In telecommunications networks, an impedance mismatch is one factor that contributes to the refection of an audio signal back to its source. The reflected audio signal is a delayed or distorted version of the original signal, which causes echoes in speech communication systems.
A hybrid transformer is typically used to connect a two-wire local telephone exchange to a four-wire long distance or mobile telephone network. The imperfect impedance match exhibited by the hybrid transformer generates the echoed signal. In the past two decades several methods have been used to alleviate the echo problem and improve communication quality. These prior art methods are collectively referred to as echo cancellation.
The long distance or mobile telephone from which a voice signal originates is commonly referred to as the xe2x80x9cfar-endxe2x80x9d. The voice signal from the far-end is called the inbound signal and travels through a path called the receive-path. The inbound signal passes through a hybrid transformer located at a local telephone exchange. The hybrid transformer is typically made integral to a device called a Central Office Line Interface Unit. Most of the inbound signal is transferred through the hybrid transformer to the party subscribing to the local telephone exchange that is receiving the phone call. The subscriber using the local telephone exchange is referred to as the xe2x80x9cnear-endxe2x80x9d. The hybrid transformer propagates a signal originating at the near-end, commonly called the xe2x80x9cnear-end signalxe2x80x9d, to the far-end using a second signal path called the xe2x80x9csend-pathxe2x80x9d. An unwanted version of the inbound signal is also coupled into the send path resulting in an echo. This unwanted version of the inbound signal is the echo that needs to be eliminated. The composite of the near-end signal and the reflected inbound signal is referred to as the xe2x80x9coutbound signalxe2x80x9d.
The echo-path-model is a transfer function that describes the amount of the inbound signal that is reflected back into the outbound signal. In order to determine the echo-path-model, echo cancellation systems monitor the inbound signal and compare that inbound signal to the amount of echo signal observed in the send-path. This process can only be accomplished when the send-path is devoid of any other signals. When the near-end is generating a signal, the presence of that near-end signal in the send-path will preclude any estimation of the echo-path-model.
Once the echo-path-model has been derived, an estimate of the echo signal can be calculated. The estimated echo is subtracted from the send-path leaving only the desired near-end signal. Because the resulting transfer function for the echo-path-model is only an estimate of the actual echo transfer function, some of the echo signal will remain in the send-path. This component is called the residual echo.
Echo cancellers usually use some form of filter to implement the echo-path-model. By subjecting the inbound signal to the filter, an estimate of the echo can be derived. The filter itself is normally an adaptive filter that can be based on one of many different adaptation algorithms. One such algorithm is the Least Mean Squares (LMS) algorithm. To support an LMS based implementation of an echo canceller, a coefficient generator is used to sample both the inbound signal and the outbound signal. From these two signals, a set of filter coefficients are determined and fed to the LMS filter. Again, it is important to note that the coefficient generator cannot perform its function if there is a near-end signal present in the send-path.
As the echo canceller continues to operate, the residual echo is used to adjust the coefficients of the LMS filter that models the echo-path. This process is called adaptation. As the adaptation process continues, the coefficients of the filter assume values that more accurately represent the actual echo-path-model. When the coefficients of the filter no longer change, the echo canceller is said to have converged and a near-perfect echo estimate can be derived.
Because the outbound signal is a composite of the reflected component of the inbound signal and the near-end signal, it is impossible to measure the magnitude of the reflected echo signal in the presence of the near-end signal. To overcome this, echo cancellation systems normally comprise a double-talk detector that senses when the near-end signal is active. The double-talk detector sends a signal to the coefficient generator that causes the coefficient generator to suspend the adaptation process.
The actual echo-path in any given system constantly changes as a result of varying physical phenomenon experienced by the system components themselves. Because of these variations, the adaptation process will seldom converge in a perfect echo-path-model.
One way to improve the accuracy of the echo-path-model is to ensure that the adaptation process is performed as quickly so that any temporal variations in the signal line can be reflected in the resulting filter coefficients. By achieving faster convergence, echo-cancellation systems could reduce the amount of residual echo remaining in the send-path. This would contribute to better voice quality in the communications system.
In one illustrative embodiment of the present invention, an estimate of the spectral distribution of an inbound signal is used as a basis for filter coefficients for a filter disposed prior to a coefficient generator and an echo-estimation filter. This first filter flattens, or whitens the spectrum of the inbound signal used to generate coefficients and is likewise subjected to the echo-estimation filter. The echo-estimation filter actually implements the transfer function for an echo-path-model that describes the system.
In this same illustrative embodiment, a second filter is placed in send-path prior to a subtractor that is used to subtract an estimated echo from the send-path. This second filter uses the same coefficients used by the first filter. The second filter flattens the spectrum of the outbound signal. Hence, the adaptation filter operates on spectrally equalized versions of the inbound and outbound signals. Once the estimated echo is subtracted from the send-path, the outbound signal is fed through a reconstruction filter in order to introduce the original spectral components of the inbound signal into the equalized outbound signal. By flattening the inbound and the outbound signal, the adaptation filter will converge to a solution of an echo-path-model in less time compared to conventional echo cancellation systems. This contributes to better overall echo cancellation quality.
There are, of course, several brute force mechanisms for achieving faster convergence in an echo cancellation system. These brute force methods rely principally on the use of faster processors in the implementation of the adaptive filters. The present invention exploits the fact that certain adaptive filters converge more rapidly when the input signal presented to the filter has been equalized.
The present invention comprises in the first instance a method for canceling echoes in communications systems. When an inbound signal is received, the method provides that the frequency spectrum of the inbound signal should be determined. Determining the spectrum of the inbound signal can be accomplished several ways. In one example embodiment, the inbound signal is actually measured and the spectrum is determined from the measurement. In an alternative embodiment, the general characteristics of the communications system are monitored over some period of time. Based on the historical observations of the communications systems channel, an exemplary spectrum is determined and subsequently used in the process. Once the frequency spectrum of the inbound signal is determined, the inbound signal is itself equalized.
In this example embodiment of the method for canceling echoes, an outbound communications signal is also equalized based on the frequency spectrum of the inbound signal. The outbound communications signal typically comprises at least two components. These are the actual near-and signal that must be propagated to a far-end and some derivative of the inbound communications signal; i.e. the echo component. Using the flattened inbound communications signal and the flattened outbound communications signal, filter coefficients are generated for an adaptive filter. The adaptive filter is a convenient means for implementing the echo-path-model that the communications system exhibits. As such, subjecting the inbound communications signal to the adaptive filter results in an estimate of the echo component found in the outbound communications signal.
Once an estimate of the echo component is generated by the adaptive filter, the method provides for subtracting the estimated echo component from the flattened outbound communications signal. In theory, the outbound communications signal should be devoid of any echo component at this stage. Prior to directing the echo-canceled outbound signal to the far-end, the signal must be reconstructed so as to include the original spectral envelope representative of the original inbound signal. This reconstruction is accomplished based on the spectral distribution for the original inbound signal.
In one example embodiment, the method of the present invention provides for monitoring the frequency spectrum of the inbound signal by buffering the inbound communications signal and then calculating correlation coefficients for the buffered signal. The correlation coefficients are used to create a set of normal equations that can then in turn be solved to determine the frequency spectrum of the inbound signal.
The invention further comprises a system for canceling echoes. In one example embodiment, an echo cancellation system comprises a receiver capable of excepting external signal and then propagating that signal to other components in the system. The echo cancellation system further comprises a spectrum estimator that is able to create filter coefficients. These filter coefficients are used to configure a first whitening filter that accepts the inbound signal from the receiver and creates an equalized rendition of the inbound signal.
The receiver also propagates the inbound signal to a hybrid transformer. The hybrid transformer, having received the non-equalized inbound signal, directs the non-equalized inbound signal to a near-end subscriber. Unfortunately, not all of the inbound signal is propagated to the subscriber. Some of the inbound signal is coupled together with a near-end signal that originates with the subscriber. The inbound signal that is coupled together with the near-end signal is the echo signal that needs to be cancelled. The combination of the near-end signal and the echo signal is called the outbound signal. The invention further comprises a second whitening filter that receives the outbound signal and equalizes the outbound signal based on the filter coefficients created by the spectrum estimator.
The flattened inbound signal and the flattened outbound signal are initially used to create filter coefficients for an adaptive filter that further comprises the invention. The adaptive filter, as configured by these filter coefficients, implements the echo-path-model transfer function that can be used to estimate the amount of echo that should be found in the outbound signal. The invention further comprises a subcontractor that subtracts the predicted echo from the outbound signal.
Because the outbound signal has been equalized, it must be reconstructed in order to reflect the spectral envelope of the original inbound signal. This is accomplished by a reconstruction filter that further comprises the invention and whose filter coefficients may be based on the inverse of the inbound signal""s spectral density.
In one example variant of the present invention, the spectrum estimator comprises a spectrum analyzer that actually measures the inbound signal and determines the level of energy at various frequencies. Such a spectrum analyzer may comprise a buffer that captures the inbound communications signal and a correlation calculator that creates correlation coefficients based on the inbound signal stored in the buffer. In this example embodiment, the equation generator creates a set of normal equations based on the coefficients created by the correlation calculator. A matrix analyzer solves this set of normal equations; the resulting matrix defines the spectral distribution of the inbound signal.
In yet a second illustrative variation of the present invention, the spectrum estimator comprises a memory for storing a set of anticipated spectral distributions. In this example embodiment, the invention further comprises a selection unit that selects the estimated spectrum from the memory. The anticipated spectral distributions may be created off-line and can be based on a priori knowledge of the condition of the inbound communications line or can be based on an extrapolation of historical observations of line condition.
In all of these example embodiments, any of the whitening filters can be implemented as filter processors that accepts coefficients from the spectrum estimator. The reconstruction filter may also comprise a filter processor that accepts filter coefficients from the spectrum estimator.
The present invention further comprises a central office line interface that can be used in a telephone-switching center or like application. In one illustrative embodiment, the central office line interface unit according to the present invention comprises a hybrid transformer, the first whitening filter, a second whitening filter, a coefficient generator, an adaptive filter, a subtractor, and a reconstruction filter. The central office line interface unit may further comprise a double-talk detector.
In this example embodiment, the central office line interface unit receives the inbound signal from a remote exchange using a four-wire interface provided by the hybrid transformer. The hybrid transformer directs the inbound signal to a two-wire interface that is used to service a local subscriber. The four-wire interface provided by the hybrid transformer itself comprises a two-wire send-path and a two-wire receive-path. In operation, a near-end signal is received from the local subscriber and is directed into the two-wire send-path by the hybrid transformer.
The inbound signal arrives at the central office line interface unit by way of the two-wire receive-path provided by the hybrid transformer. The first whitening filter equalizes the inbound signal and creates a flattened inbound signal. The second whitening filter concurrently flattens the outbound signal emanating from the hybrid transformer on the two-wire send-path. It should be noted that this outbound signal comprises a near-end signal originating with the local subscriber and an echo signal that is coupled into the send-path by the hybrid transformer.
The coefficient generator receives the flattened inbound signal and the flattened outbound signal and creates filter coefficients for the adaptive filter. The adaptive filter, as configured by these filter coefficients, implements the echo-path-model transfer function that is used to predict the nature and quality of the echo signal coupled into the send-path by the hybrid transformer. In operation, the adaptive filter will create the estimated echo signal. The subcontractor receives the flattened outbound signal from the second whitening filter and subtracts the estimated echo signal therefrom.
In another example embodiment of the present invention, the coefficient generator may continually refine the coefficients that define the echo-path-model in a process called adaptation. This is done by receiving a residual echo signal from the subcontractor. Such adaptation, and for that matter the creation of the original echo-path-model coefficients can only be accomplished in the absence of any near-end signal. This is due to the fact that the near-end signal obscures the echo signal necessary to determine the echo-path-model. The central office line interface unit of the present invention may in this instance further comprise a double-talk detector. The double-talk detector monitors the state of the near-end signal source. When the near-end signal is active, the double-talk detector issues a signal that prevents the coefficient generator from updating its coefficients.
In yet another example embodiment of the present invention, the first and second whitening filters and the reconstruction filter are configured based on the estimate of the spectral distribution of the inbound signal. The estimate of the spectral distribution of the inbound signal may be obtained either through measurement of the inbound signal and a determination of the spectral distribution thereof or by simply anticipating what the spectral distribution of the inbound signal would be under some given circumstance.


This application relates to optical resonators, and more specifically, to optical whispering-gallery-mode resonators.
A dielectric sphere may be used to form an optical whispering-gallery-mode resonator which supports a special set of resonator modes known as xe2x80x9cwhispering gallery modesxe2x80x9d. These modes represent optical fields confined in an interior region close to the surface of the sphere around its equator due to the total internal reflection at the sphere boundary. Microspheres with diameters on the order of 10xcx9c102 microns have been used to form compact optical resonators. Such resonators have a resonator dimension much larger than the wavelength of light so that the optical loss due to the finite curvature of the resonators can be small. The primary sources for optical loss include optical absorption in the dielectric material and optical scattering due to the inhomogeneity of the sphere (e.g., irregularities on the sphere surface). As a result, a high quality factor, Q, may be achieved in such resonators. Some microspheres with sub-millimeter dimensions have been demonstrated to exhibit very high quality factors for light waves, exceeding 109 for quartz microspheres. Hence, optical energy, once coupled into a whispering gallery mode, can circulate at or near the sphere equator with a long photon life time.
Whispering-gallery-mode resonators may use resonator geometries based on spheres. Since the whispering gallery modes essentially exist near the equator of a sphere, a resonator may not be necessarily a whole sphere but a portion of the sphere near the equator that is sufficiently large to support the whispering gallery modes. Hence, rings, disks and other geometries formed from a proper section of a sphere may be used. Such resonators are still spherical and their whispering gallery modes are essentially identical to such modes of the respective whole spheres.
This application includes non-spherical whispering-gallery-mode resonators and their applications. In one embodiment, a spheroidal cavity is used to generate a true finesse on the order of 104, a free spectral range of the order of few nanometers, and a quality-factor Qxcx9c1xc3x97107. Devices based on such a spheroidal cavity are also disclosed.


1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a closure for body fluid collection, transport or storage containers and, more particularly, relates to a ball and socket closure to be used to resealably close a container being used in a laboratory or other clinical environment.
2. Background Description
After a doctor, phiebotomist or nurse has used an evacuated blood collection tube or other primary tube to draw a primary sample of body fluid from a patient in a hospital or doctor""s office, the primary sample will typically be xe2x80x9cpoured offxe2x80x9d or pipetted into a secondary tube so that the sample can be simultaneously tested in two or more different areas of a clinical chemistry laboratory. For example, the sample may undergo routine chemistry, hormone, immunoassay, or special chemistry testing. In addition, the sample is sometimes xe2x80x9cpoured off or pipettedxe2x80x9d into a secondary tube for overnight storage, to transport the sample from one laboratory to another, or to remove the plasma or serum sample from a separator gel or red blood cells used in the primary tube. When the secondary tube is not being used or is being transported, it is very important to close the open end of the secondary tube with a closure to prevent contamination, evaporation or loss of the sample.
Current closures for secondary tubes include plastic caps that snap over or into the secondary tube or cork or rubber stoppers, wherein the stopper is solid and includes a plug portion that fits in the open end of the tube and an enlarged head portion used to remove the closure from the tube using a two-handed method. Such closures provide means for sealing the open end of the tube, but are difficult to remove with two hands and impossible to remove using only one hand. This presents a problem, since the closure must be removed from the tube and discarded prior to placing the tube in a chemical analyzer due to the inability of most sample probes to penetrate any solid closure material. In view of the above, it is desirable to have a closure that can be easily removed from the tube or a closure that can remain on the tube and be easily opened and closed many times for manual sample access and/or during dire sampling by a chemical analyzer.
The present invention overcomes the problems identified in the background material by providing a closure for primary or secondary fluid collection, transport or storage containers or tubes for body fluids that can easily be opened and closed multiple times.
A preferred embodiment of a closure according to the present invention includes a bail and socket closure to be used to resealably close a specimen container or s tube used in a laboratory or other clinical environment. In one embodiment, the ball and socket closure is snap-fitted into a tube. The ball has a tab extending therefrom that is pushed by a user approximately 90 degrees to rotate the ball within the socket to a position wherein a passageway through the ball aligns with the opening of the tube and provides access through the closure to the inside of the tube. When the tab is pushed 90 degrees in the opposite direction the ball rotates to close the passageway and seal the open end of the tube for storage to avoid evaporation and for possible access or retest at a later date.
An object of the ball and socket closure of the present invention is to provide dirt access to the tube such that a transfer pipette or an analyzer sample probe can access the fluid contents of the tube without the probe contacting the inner surface of the tube or the closure itself. This structure prevents contact or contamination of the probe while maintaining a one handed closure operation. The tab on the ball provides for an easy opening and closing operation with one hand during use which is also a major ergonomic and workflow improvement over existing closures and tubes.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a closure having an outer diameter that is no larger than the outer diameter of a current primary specimen collection container with closure (i.e., the VACUTAINER(copyright) SST(copyright) Brand Tube sold by Becton Dickinson and Company) so that the entire closure and tube assembly can be loaded into conventional analyzer racks, carousels or holders without removing the closure from the tube. Since the closure does not need to be removed from the tube, risk of loss or accidental contamination is minimized.
In addition, the ability to use only one closure through multiple samplings rather than replacement of stoppers multiple times reduces cost for the user.
In addition, the closure of the present invention is dimensioned to develop a liquid seal that prevents any liquid from leaking out of the tube through or past the ball and socket closure when it is in the closed position.
These and other aspects, features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


In a code division multiple access mobile communication system, since many channels use the same frequency, the reception power of a signal on a given channel becomes interference wave power that interferes with other channels. On an upstream channel through which a mobile station transmits a signal and a base station receives it, when the ratio of signal power to interference wave power becomes high and excessive reception quality is set, the interference wave power increases. As a consequence, the channel capacity decreases. In order to prevent this, the transmission power on the mobile station must be strictly controlled. Transmission power control on an upstream channel is performed in the following manner. A base station measures reception quality based on a signal-to-interference ratio or the like, and compares it with a control target value. If the reception quality is higher than the control target value, the base station transmits a control instruction to decrease the transmission power to the mobile station. If the reception quality is lower than the control target value, the base station transmits a control instruction to increase the transmission power to the mobile station. The mobile station then increases/decreases the transmission power in accordance with the control instruction. This transmission power control method is disclosed in detail in U.S. Pat. No. 5,056,109 (Gilhousen et al., “Method and apparatus for controlling transmission power in a CDMA cellular mobile telephone system”).
On a downstream channel as well, a high channel capacity is realized by performing transmission power control to set reception quality based on a signal-to-interference ratio or the like to a predetermined control target value. In transmission power control on a downstream channel, a mobile station measures the reception quality of the downstream channel, and compares it with a control target value. If the reception quality is higher than the control target value, the mobile station transmits a control instruction to decrease the transmission power to the base station. If the reception quality is lower than the control target value, the mobile station transmits a control instruction to increase the transmission power to the base station. The base station then increases/decreases the transmission power in accordance with the control instruction.
In an actual propagation environment for a mobile communication system, since mobile stations differ in their multipath effects and moving speeds, if a constant control target value is set for the above transmission power control on upstream and downstream channels, channel quality based on a bit error rate, frame error rate, or the like cannot be kept constant. If a large control target value is uniformly set to satisfy predetermined channel quality in mobile stations in any conditions, the set control target value is unnecessarily large for many mobile stations. As a consequence, the transmission power becomes unnecessarily high accordingly to increase interference wave power that interferes with other channels, resulting in a reduction in channel capacity. Optimal control target values that can minimize an increase in interference wave power and obtain a predetermined channel quality differ from mobile station to mobile station.
As a method of controlling a control target value to an optimal value, a technique called an outer loop is available, which changes a control target value in accordance with channel quality. When a frame error rate is to be used as channel quality, an error detection code is set in each frame, and a frame in which an error is detected by this code is determined as an error. A control target value is changed to set the frame error rate to a predetermined channel quality target value.
A specific method for this operation is described in Higuchi, Ando, Okawa, Sawabashi, and Adachi, “Experimental Study on Adaptive Transmission Power Control Using Outer Loop in W-CDMA” (Technical Report of IEICE, RCS98-18 (1998-04), pp. 51–57). As described in this reference, if the frame error rate in a predetermined time is higher than a target frame error rate, the control target value is increased by a predetermined amount, whereas if the frame error rate in the predetermined time is lower than the target frame error rate, the control target value is decreased by the same predetermined amount. The frame error rate in a predetermined time is obtained by counting the number of frames determined as errors for each predetermined number of frames and dividing the number of frames determined as errors by a predetermined number.
Assume that, in this method, a low frame error rate is set as a channel quality target value, and a control target value is changed by using the frame error rate in a predetermined time which is obtained from a small number of frames. In this case, even with the same channel quality, since the frame error rate in the predetermined time varies, a control target value is often set apart from an optimal value. Assume that in order to prevent this, the control target value is changed by obtaining a frame error rate within the predetermined time from many frames. In this case, when the optimal control target value changes, it takes much time to change the control target value in accordance with this change. Assume that the moving speed abruptly changes, the optimal control target value increases, and many frame errors are caused. Even in this case, the control target value cannot be increased until a predetermined number of frames are received, and the frame error rate in the predetermined time is calculated. As a consequence, the state where many frame errors are caused will continue. In contrast to this, if the optimal control target value decreases, the control target value cannot be decreased until a predetermined number of frames are received. As a consequence, the state where the transmission power is unnecessarily high will continue, resulting in a reduction in channel capacity.
Another problem in this conventional method is that the frame error rate greatly varies over time. In a constant propagation environment, even if the frame error rate is fixed to an ideal control target value as a channel quality target value, the frame error rate within a short time unit varies depending on the number of frame errors caused in the time. According to the conventional method, however, even if a propagation environment such as a moving speed is constant, since a control target value is repeatedly increased and decreased, the frame error rate within a short time unit greatly varies as compared with a case where a control target value is fixed to an ideal control target value. This is because, when the control target value is set to be larger than an optimal value, the frame error rate becomes lower than the channel quality target value, whereas when the control target value is set to lower than the optimal value, the frame error rate becomes higher than the channel quality target value.
When voice and image are to be transmitted in real time, even the frame error rate in a short time unit must be suppressed to be equal to or lower than a predetermined value because the quality of the voice and image deteriorates if frame errors concentrate. Therefore, a large channel quality target value must be set to make the frame error rate fall within a predetermined value while the frame error rate increases. As the control target value is increased, the transmission power increases, resulting in a reduction in channel capacity.


The present invention relates to an apparatus for reproducing video data and audio data, and more particularly to an apparatus for reproducing data and the apparatus for recording data which are arranged to reproduce and/or record data from/onto a recording medium based on copy management information.
A DVD-ROM has about seven times as large a volume as a CD-ROM. The DVD-ROM may contain program codes for PCs as well as motion picture software created by compressing video data and audio data. The DVD also includes a DVD-RAM, a DVD-R, and a DVD-RW as its recording medium. These recording medium may record a large amount of data, which brings about a possibility of illegally copying software such as a motion picture. This sort of illegal copy has to be prevented. Hence, a technique of preventing illegal copy becomes important. This technique is described in the magazine “Nikkei Electronics” issued on Aug. 18, 1997, pages 110 to 119, published by Nikkei BP publishing.
For example, the motion picture recorded on the DVD-Video disk is typically coded according to the CSS (content scrambling system). Hence, the copied data cannot be reproduced unless it is descrambled.


Battery is the electric energy source of terminal devices, and if there is no battery, the application performance of the terminal device will be greatly reduced. A high-capacity high-performance battery can not only provide long duration capability for a terminal but can also protect the terminal, so that the terminal device can operate for a long time with high efficiency.
With the popularization of modern mobile phones, especially smart phones, the functions thereof are richer and richer, which have become necessary for user communication, office work and entertainment. Most people think highly of battery duration capability, 38% interviewees state that as long as the mobile phone can continue operating normally (such as dialing and answering, and receiving and sending short messages), they are satisfied and do not want to sacrifice the battery duration time for any additional functions. The data obtained from the after-sales market also demonstrates that customers do not satisfy with the service life of the battery being shorter and shorter and the charging efficiency being lower and lower to the greatest extent.
The reason that the service life of the battery becomes shorter and shorter may be: frequent and repeated high-potential charging and over-charging, battery over-discharging due to not be charged for a long time, etc. For common users, from the moment a terminal device is used, the performance of the battery will decrease gradually over time, and therefore, to retain the performance of the battery to the greatest extent means a lot.


The present invention pertains to an environmentally controlled building. More particularly, the present invention pertains to a building providing a healthful environment beneficial for people living, working, or spending leisure time in the building, while avoiding temperature extremes, polluted air, sudden variations in barometric pressure, and other conditions which are detrimental to the health and well being of the inhabitants. The building encloses a covered atrium or courtyard which can have an air supported continuous membrane fabric roof or a conventional roof.
Many people desire or require healthful, controlled environments in which to live, work, and engage in leisure activities. This is particularly true of older persons and of people having health problems such as respiratory problems, arthritis, or rheumatism. It is a common practice to control the temperature and humidity of the air within a building. More than simple temperature and humidity control are desirable, however. Thus, it is also desirable to remove pollen and other sources of pollution from the air. Additionally, sudden changes in ambient atmospheric pressure can have an adverse effect on people, particularly people bothered by arthritis or rheumatism, and so atmospheric pressure changes should be controlled.


The invention relates to a method and apparatus for distribution and mixing of high concentration or consistency (5% or higher) cellulose pulp with a treatment fluid, such as chlorine or chlorine dioxide.
The object of the invention is to make such distribution and mixing as effective as possible, so that the treatment fluid(s) is distributed as evenly as possible in the pulp suspension when introduced thereto, so that mixing of the pulp suspension and treatment fluid is effected, so that even a relatively small quantity of a treatment fluid is distributed evenly in and around all particles or fibers of the pulp suspension.
The effectiveness of such distribution and mixing depends on many factors, such as the pulp concentration in relation to the quantity of liquid or gas which is to be added, the solubility of the added liquid or gas in the suspension liquid, and to the reaction speed of the added treatment fluid with the particles of the pulp suspension. Generally, it can be said that the higher the concentration of solids or fibers in the pulp suspension, the more difficult it is to mix in treatment fluids so that they are evenly distributed in the suspension. Generally, it can also be said that the faster the added fluids react with the pulp, the more important it is that the fluids are distributed and mixed in as quickly and as evenly as possible. Since chlorine reacts quickly with pulp, and since it is desirable to treat high solids concentration pulp during bleaching, it is especially important to quickly mix chlorine with pulp. Since chlorine has an especially quick initial reaction with pulp and since it is undesirable to dilute the pulp with additional quantity of liquid, chlorine is most often added as gas dispersed in a relatively small quantity of liquid which, however, in turn means that problems can easily arise in the distribution and mixing of such a relatively small quantity. An object with the invention is therefore to solve this problem and also to solve the problems which arise when the pulp suspension has relatively high consistency of fibers, preferably above 5%, e.g., about 8-20% or about 10%.
In the pulp industry bleaching of pulp with chlorine liquid has hitherto preferably been done at 3-4% concentration mainly due to mechanical difficulties with mixing in and distribution [gas phase chlorination may be done with a pulp concentration in the range of 20-50%]. Since in other treatment stages of industrial bleach plants the pulp concentration normally is kept around 10%, it is desirable also to be able to effect the treatment of pulp with chlorine at this same concentration so that one can use uniform equipment in the bleach plant. This has special importance for the washing apparatus which is used between the treatment stages. Since the treatment with chlorine most often takes place in the beginning of the bleach plant and the pulp therefore must be thickened to about 10% concentration before the pulp goes on to the next treatment state, simplification and bulk reduction of equipment can be obtained if this first chlorine treatment also can take place at about the same high concentration.
The present invention allows chlorine treatment with proper mixing of high concentration pulp, as will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and the appended claims.


Metal cans have been known for having a structural top flange wall secured to the upper edge of the can tubular body and including a depending inner skirt defining the opening for accessing the inside of the can. The skirt also serves as a seat, to which is pressure fittable the peripheral wall of a sealing lid. The lid is manually removable and also recloseable during the period the can is used.
In these prior art cans, the sealing and the axial retention of the lid in the mounted position are achieved by pressure seating a peripheral wall of the lid against the inner surface of the depending skirt of the can flange wall. This type of construction has some deficiencies resulting from the small amount of axial locking force of the lid to the can and also from the fact that the free lower edge of the skirt is in contact with the product in the can.
In order to eliminate the aforementioned deficiencies, there has been developed a can and lid as described in the copending patent application P19600454 currently to U.S. Pat. No. 5,899,352 of the same applicant, according to which the axial locking of the lid is achieved by providing, in one of the parts defined by the can skirt wall forming the opening and the lid peripheral wall of an annular rib that is fittable in a corresponding circumferential recess on the lid peripheral wall or can skirt and having a section similar to that of the annular rib. In this construction, the rib and the recess have substantially coincident profiles of a semicircular shape, defined so that said parts fit each other with a substantially complete contact between the confronting surfaces.
While this arrangement provides a substantial axial force for locking of the lid, avoiding its undue opening due to shocks, internal pressure increase, etc., and allowing an adequate degree of sealing of the can contents to be achieved, keeping the canned product out of contact with air, this construction has the disadvantage of requiring great precision in the formation of the annular rib and circumferential recess.
Due to dimensional imperfections that can exist in these cans, the fitting between the rib and the corresponding circumferential recess sometimes can have a radial gap, thereby reducing the contact between the respective confronting surfaces to only one point of tangency along a line that develops around the circumference of the rib and recess. This contact does not guarantee an adequate sealing for the can, allowing the canned product to deteriorate.
Another deficiency of the known constructions for the can and lid refers to the achievement of automatic closing of cans at the filling units. Cans in which the conventionally secured peripheral edge of the inner ring of the can is on a plane which is at the same level or slightly above the plane of the upper edge of the lid seated at the central opening in some cases have an inadequate closing of the lid. There will be insufficient introduction and pressure of the lid against the can when the latter is moved under the closure roll or piston of the filling machine.
Still another deficiency of the known constructions refers to the accumulation of the product which is spilled over the structural ring of the can during the progressive removal of the can contents, making subsequent closings of the lid more difficult and consequently making possible the contact of air with the product inside the can. This allows, for example, the oxidation of the product and also, in the case of products having volatile elements in their composition, such as paints, the evaporation of said elements, causing the hardening of the remaining product in the can.


It is known to utilize direct electron lithography and photolithography during respectively different steps of a process for fabricating a microminiature integrated device. In such a process, an electron beam exposure system is advantageously employed to define some of the more critical features of the device. The other features are defined photolithographically.
For the electron lithographic step(s) of such a hybrid process, highly sensitive electron resists are available. By utilizing these resists, it is economical in some cases to expose even large areas of a resist-coated wafer with an electron beam system. But, in practice, such resists are typically characterized by (1) relatively poor resolution of developed patterns in thick films, (2) relatively poor tolerance to many dry etching processes of practical importance and (3) the disadvantage that the substitution of electron resists for photoresists in a photolithographic fabrication sequence requires modification of a number of the standard photolithographic processing steps other than the exposure step itself. For these reasons in particular, proposals to utilize an electron beam system to complement a photolithographic device fabrication process have not heretofore usually appeared attractive.
Moreover, in such a hybrid fabrication process, it appeared not to be feasible to expose a relatively insensitive photoresist (rather than a sensitive electron resist) with a high-speed electron beam system of the raster scanning type.


U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,986 teaches various polyethylene, peroxide-crosslinkable compositions useful in the manufacture of power cable insulation. Some of these compositions have achieved commercial success in the medium voltage power cable market, and an interest exists in extending these commercially successful compositions into the high and extra high voltage power cable markets.
The manufacture of power cable insulation is a multistep process that can be separated into two broad parts, i.e., first making a composition from which the cable insulation is made, and second, extruding the composition over single or stranded conductor as an insulation.
In one embodiment of the first part of the process, i.e., the part in which the composition is made, a base polymer, e.g., polyethylene, is mixed with one or more additives and then formed into pellets which are soaked with peroxide and subsequently stored and/or shipped to a fabricator who performs the second part of the process, i.e., converting the pellets to a wire or cable coating. To avoid acid catalyzed decomposition of peroxide during storage and shipping, U.S. Pat. No. 6,656,986 teaches inclusion of oligomeric and/or high molecular weight hindered amine stabilizers (HAS).
In the making of the pellets, care is taken not to introduce or create impurities that can adversely affect the utility of the composition once formed into a wire or cable sheath. However, some impurities are inevitably introduced into the composition either as, for example, contaminants associated with feed materials to the process, or are made during the process as, for example, gels that result from degradation of the base polymer. Efforts are made, of course, to minimize and remove these impurities before the composition is extruded as a power cable sheath. Some of the impurities are in the form of fine, e.g., less than 100 microns (μm), particulates and are susceptible to removal from the composition by filtering. In those embodiments in which the composition is compounded within an extruder, a fine-mesh screen is typically located at or near the die head of the extruder such that the melt within the extruder must pass through the screen before it leaves the extruder. As the filter becomes plugged with particulates, pressure builds within the extruder and the operational efficiency of the extruder drops until the filter is cleansed or replaced. In those embodiments in which an oligomeric or high molecular weight base, e.g., a oligomeric or high molecular weight HAS, is present in the composition prior to melt filtration, it tends to contribute to the plugging of the screen and diminishing the operational efficiency of the extruder and overall run efficiency of the process.
Insulation for use in medium voltage power cable applications can typically tolerate more impurities than those for use in high or extra high voltage power cable applications. As such, the screen used to filter the composition before extrusion into pellets can be more coarse, i.e., have a larger openings, than that used for filtering compositions for use in high or extra high voltage power cable applications. As a consequence and all else being equal, the finer (smaller) the screen mesh through which a melt must pass, the more particulate it will trap, the faster it will plug, and the shorter the time interval will be between filter cleaning and/or replacement. This, in turn, affects the operational efficiency of the compounding process.
Of particular interest to the extension of compositions currently designed for use in medium voltage power cable applications to high and extra high voltage power cable applications is the reduction and/or elimination of particulate contaminants and gels during the compounding of the base polymer with additives and/or fillers and to the extent that such gels are made, their removal by filtering before the composition is fabricated into pellets. Further to this interest is maintaining the relative stability of the pellet against loss of crosslinking efficiency during shipping and/or storage, and the minimizing of water generation during cure.


The present invention relates to a programmable nonvolatile memory, and a technique effective if applied to, for example, an electrically programmable AND type flash memory.
An AND type flash memory has been described in a patent document 1 (Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2004-152977). As one flash memory, there is shown a structure wherein diffusion regions are repeatedly parallel-formed over a semiconductor substrate, auxiliary electrodes are disposed among the respective diffusion regions through an oxide film interposed thereamong to form control transistors, and memory transistors each based on a charge storage region and a control gate are formed on the right and left sides of the auxiliary electrodes. The control gates extend in the direction of diffusion and intersecting the auxiliary electrodes and function as word lines. Further, there is shown, as another structure, a structure wherein other control transistors using auxiliary electrodes in place of the diffused layers are adopted. When the control transistors are turned on, inversion layers are formed in their channel regions and function as wirings. Since the diffusion regions may not be repeatedly disposed in parallel in the latter structure, the structure is excellent in terms of a further reduction in chip area.
Upon reading for each memory of the structure, the memory transistor for reading is made conductive to its right and left diffusion regions and inversion layers. At this time, memory information is determined according to whether a change in current occurs in the diffusion region according to the threshold voltage of the memory transistor. Upon writing for the memory of the structure, the memory transistor for writing is made conductive to its right and left diffusion regions and inversion layers to allow a write current to flow from the diffusion regions to the inversion layers. At this time, electric field concentration occurs between the corresponding inversion layer and a channel of the memory transistor by reducing the conductance of the control transistor adjacent to the memory transistor for writing, whereby hot electrons generated by the field concentration are injected into the corresponding charge storage region. This write system is referred to as “non cell-through write system”.


The invention relates generally to encoding and decoding of video information, especially such a used for the transmission of video information, and more particularly to systems and methods for video conferencing.
There are many systems and techniques for transmitting video information. The most effective conventional techniques involve special transmission and reception systems and require dedicated communication links to encode, transmit, receive and decode video information. The encoding, transmission, and decoding operations are generally resource intensive in terms of the processing (e.g., memory, CPU speed) and transmission requirements (e.g., communication link bandwidth) necessary to provide an adequate video presentation. Such special systems also are generally expensive to own and operate and therefore are not available to an average consumer.
Conventional methods for sending video data are shown and described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,740,278, entitled FACSIMILE-BASED VIDEO COMPRESSION METHOD AND SYSTEM, and 5,973,626, entitled BYTE-BASED PREFIX ENCODING, each of which are incorporated by reference herein by their entirety and form a part of this specification.
As discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,740,278, and in other conventional systems such as MPEG, video data is encoded in either what is referred to herein as “intra” frames (key frames) that hold a single frame image (which only refers to itself) or “inter” frames (delta or difference frames) that refer to another frame (either an intra frame or another inter frame). There are problems with such methods in that:
(1) network traffic associated with transmission of the two different types of frames is bursty, sometimes requiring a high available bandwidth and other times requiring only a lower available bandwidth due to the extraordinary amount of data transmitted in intra frames vs. inter frames (data in intra frames represents an entire image and are generally larger than inter frames which include more repetitive data and therefore can be compressed more easily, i.e. data rate and required bandwidth vary widely);
(2) loss of a single intra frame causes loss of quality, and inter frames subsequent to such a loss have no meaning, as they are only meaningful in reference to an intra frame to which they refer or another inter frame (which can also be lost) to which they refer;
(3) if an intra frame is lost, recovery is very inefficient because the encoder must transmit a new intra frame to regain synchronization, as the entire frame needs to be transmitted, even to replace only a lost portion of the frame; and
(4) the encoding technique produces an image which is initially very good (intra frame), but the quality of the image slowly degrades over time until transmission of next intra frame.
In conventional fax-based video encoding, first a difference frame is generated representing the difference in intensity of each pixel location in two succeeding image frames. On a line-by-line basis, the difference values are encoded. In order to prevent loss of image data or loss of image synchronization (that is, where each line starts and ends), each line of the transmitted video signal has an end-of-line code appended to the end of each line. In the case of conventional fax systems, this end-of-line code is used to protect against bit errors. Consequently, the end-of-line code is large in order to provide sufficient redundancy to correct random bit errors to the degree desired.
With the advent of public networks such as the Internet, many commercial products are available to the average consumer for transmitting video information over public networks. These systems may be, for example, coupled with a personal computer for use over the Internet or other public or private communication network. For example, a video conferencing or video distribution system may be configured to transmit video information over the Internet among a group of PCs. Due to the intense resource requirements necessary for transmitting such information, and the limited and/or unreliable resources available on public networks, however, performance of such systems falls short of expectations, and such systems are rendered less usable than more expensive specialized systems. What is needed, therefore, are improved methods for communicating video information.


In the related art, as a method for detecting a normal-line direction of a curved surface such as in a processing surface of a three-dimensional work piece, a method disclosed in PTL 1 is known.
In the method disclosed in PTL 1, distance measurement means for measuring at least three positions in the vicinity of a reference point on a curved surface of an object is provided, a virtual plane including each measurement position is set based on each measurement position, and a normal-line direction of the virtual plane is detected.
In the method disclosed in PTL 1, when there is unevenness such as a protrusion or a step on a measuring object, it is not possible to detect a correct normal-line. In addition, in PTL 1, a plane approximation method in a case where four or more measurement positions are used is not specifically disclosed.
Meanwhile, PTL 2 discloses a method in which distance sensors are arranged so as to be deviated by an eccentric amount R in a radial direction from the rotation (processing) center of a measurement axis, the distance sensors are swiveled about the measurement axis, information related to the distance to a continuous measured surface is acquired, and a normal-line is detected by removing a step from the distance information.


The semiconductor integrated circuit (IC) industry has experienced rapid growth. In the course of IC evolution, functional density (i.e., the number of interconnected devices per chip area) has generally increased while geometry size (i.e., the smallest component (or line) that can be created using a fabrication process) has decreased. This scaling down process generally provides benefits by increasing production efficiency and lowering associated costs. Such scaling down has also increased the complexity of processing and manufacturing ICs, and, for these advances to be realized, similar developments in IC manufacturing are needed.
For example, mask overlay has become increasingly important as device size shrinks. ICs are typically assembled by layering features on a semiconductor wafer using a set of photolithographic masks. Each mask in the set has a pattern formed by transmissive or reflective regions. During a photolithographic exposure, radiation such as ultraviolet light passes through or reflects off the mask before striking a photoresist coating on the wafer. The mask transfers the pattern onto the photoresist, which is then selectively removed to reveal the pattern. The wafer then undergoes processing steps that take advantage of the shape of the remaining photoresist to create circuit features on the wafer. When the processing steps are complete, photoresist is reapplied and wafer is exposed using the next mask. In this way, the features are layered to produce the final circuit.
Regardless of whether a mask is error-free, if all or part of the mask is not aligned properly, the resulting features may not align correctly with those on adjoining layers. This misalignment can result in reduced device performance or complete device failure. Conventional overlay metrology tools are used to check mask alignment but have not been satisfactory in all regards. The tools are expensive, slow, and are limited in their ability to detect variations within the die area.


The present invention relates to a circular comb for combing machines with a segment-shaped basic element on which the individual needles (teeth) are located parallel to each other and are connected by pressure strips fastened to the basic element under pressure.
In modern combing technology, the teeth (needles) are no longer fastened to a barrette (or bar), but to a wire or strip-like needle carrier to which they are soldered, welded or glued. For fastening such needle strips to a circular comb in a known embodiment (e.g. German Patent DT-OS No. 2,002,020), wedge-shaped grooves are located on the outside circumference of the basic element at predetermined intervals. Needle strips are inserted into these grooves and are pressed by means of a wedge-shaped clamping strip against the webs of the basic element remaining between the grooves. The necessary pressure is achieved by a number of screws distributed in the lengthwise direction over the clamping strip. These screws are threaded into the basic element. Since the combs are relatively close together and the needle tips in the peripheral direction are only 8 mm apart at the outside circumference of the basic element, and since the clamping strips are tapering conically inward, only very small screws can be used for fasteners. The same applies with respect to the pressure screws for detaching the clamping strips from the basic element; additional threads for these must be located in the clamping strip. When replacing the needle strips, a large number of small screws must be unscrewed and tightened again; this requires a considerable expenditure of time.
It is also known in the art how to screw fasten the individual needle strips one after the other to the basic element of a circular comb. The first needle strip is placed on the outside of the basic element and fastened by means of a wedge-shaped strip through which the screws pass to engage the threads in the basic element. The needle strip is pressed between the basic element and the wedge-shaped strip. This procedure is repeated till the last needle strip of the segment is reached; it is followed by a final segment which is designed so that the circular comb can be mounted on the machine shaft. The manufacture of such a circular comb is expensive. Even greater is the disadvantage that the individual needle strips cannot be exchanged one for one. In the extreme case, all preceding needle strips of such a circular comb must be removed before the last needle strip can be detached and replaced. This results in extremely cumbersome shutdowns.
It is, therefore, an object of the present invention to simplify the fastening of the needle strip on the circular comb of a combing machine and to provide individual interchangeability of the individual needle strips, regardless of whether it is the first or the last or any other needle strip.
Another object of the present invention is to provide a circular comb arrangement which may be economically fabricated and maintained in service.
A further object of the present invention is to provide a circular comb arrangement, as described, which has a substantially long operating life.