1. A container for accommodating at least one article bearing a wireless tag, said container comprising:
a conductor for electromagnetically coupling with an antenna of said wireless tag when an interrogation signal is radiated from a readerwriter antenna toward said wireless tag or when a response signal is radiated from said wireless tag toward said readerwriter antenna.
2. The container according to claim 1, wherein said conductor is located farther away from said readerwriter antenna than said wireless tag attached to said article contained in said container, and a distance from a center of said wireless tag to said conductor, as measured in a direction perpendicular to an antenna surface of said readerwriter antenna, is shorter than or equal to one sixteenth of the wavelength of said response signal.
3. The container according to claim 1, wherein said conductor has a length longer than or equal to one half of the wavelength of said response signal, as measured in a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of said wireless tag.
4. The container according to claim 1, further comprising a member for partitioning interior space of said container into a plurality of areas, and wherein said conductor is attached to said member.
5. The container according to claim 4, wherein said conductor is located farther away from said readerwriter antenna than said wireless tag attached to said article contained in said container, and a distance from a center of said wireless tag to said conductor, as measured in a direction perpendicular to an antenna surface of said readerwriter antenna, is shorter than or equal to one sixteenth of the wavelength of said response signal.
6. The container according to claim 4, wherein said conductor has a length longer than or equal to one half of the wavelength of said response signal, as measured in a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of said wireless tag.
7. The container according to claim 1, wherein said container comprises a plurality of said conductors, each having at least a first portion and a second portion arranged in a row along a direction parallel to said wireless tag and a switch that is set to electrically connect or disconnect said first and second portions, and wherein said first and second portions each have a length shorter than one half of the wavelength of said response signal, as measured in a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of said wireless tag, and the sum of the lengths of said first and second portions, as measured in the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of said wireless tag, is longer than or equal to one half of the wavelength of said response signal.
8. A wireless tag reading system comprising:
a container for accommodating at least one article bearing a wireless tag;
a readerwriter antenna for transmitting an interrogation signal to said wireless tag and for receiving a response signal from said wireless tag;
a readerwriter for acquiring information concerning said wireless tag from said response signal received from said wireless tag via said readerwriter antenna; and
a conductor attached to said container in such a manner as to electromagnetically couple with an antenna of said wireless tag when said interrogation signal or said response signal is radiated.
9. The wireless tag reading system according to claim 8, wherein said conductor is located farther away from said readerwriter antenna than said wireless tag attached to said article contained in said container, and a distance from a center of said wireless tag to said conductor, as measured in a direction perpendicular to an antenna surface of said readerwriter antenna, is shorter than or equal to one sixteenth of the wavelength of said response signal.
10. The wireless tag reading system according to claim 8, wherein said conductor has a length longer than or equal to one half of the wavelength of said response signal, as measured in a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of said wireless tag.
11. The wireless tag reading system according to claim 8, wherein said container further comprises a member for partitioning interior space of said container into a plurality of areas, and said conductor is attached to said member.
12. The wireless tag reading system according to claim 11, wherein said conductor is located farther away from said readerwriter antenna than said wireless tag attached to said article contained in said container, and a distance from a center of said wireless tag to said conductor, as measured in a direction perpendicular to an antenna surface of said readerwriter antenna, is shorter than or equal to one sixteenth of the wavelength of said response signal.
13. The wireless tag reading system according to claim 11, wherein said conductor has a length longer than or equal to one half of the wavelength of said response signal, as measured in a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of said wireless tag.
14. The wireless tag reading system according to claim 8, wherein said container comprises a plurality of said conductors, each having at least a first portion and a second portion arranged in a row along a direction parallel to a longitudinal direction of said wireless tag and a switch that is set to electrically connect or disconnect said first and second portions, and wherein said first and second portions each have a length shorter than one half of the wavelength of said response signal, as measured in the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of said wireless tag, and the sum of the lengths of said first and second portions, as measured in the direction parallel to the longitudinal direction of said wireless tag, is longer than or equal to one half of the wavelength of said response signal.
The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.
1. A method for determining the prognosis of a patient under 18 months of age diagnosed with neuroblastoma or suspected of suffering from neuroblastoma comprising obtaining a sample of circulating nucleic acids from said patient, determining whether there is a gain of genetic material from chromosome segment 17q-qter in said sample, and correlating the gain of genetic material from chromosome segment 17q-qter with a poor prognosis.
2. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sample of circulating nucleic acids is a sample of circulating DNA.
3. The method according to claim 1 wherein the sample of circulating nucleic acids is negative for MYCN gene amplification.
4. The method according to claim 1 wherein the gain of genetic material from chromosome segment 17q21-qter is determined by quantification of the MPO gene located on 17q23.1 in comparison with a reference gene.
5. The method according to claim 1 wherein the gain of genetic material from chromosome arm segment 17q21-qter is determined by quantification of the SURVIVIN gene located on 17q25 in comparison with a reference gene.
6. The method according to claim 4 wherein the reference gene is selected from a gene on chromosome 17.
7. The method according to claim 4 wherein the reference gene is p53 located on 17p13.1.
8. The method according to claim 1 wherein a gain of genetic material from chromosome segment 17q21-qter is determined by quantitative amplification methods.
9. The method according to claim 1 wherein a gain of genetic material from chromosome arm segment 17q21-qter is determined by quantitative PCR using primers of SEQ ID Nos. 1-2 and probe of SEQ ID no. 3.
10. The method according to claim 1 wherein a gain of genetic material from chromosome arm segment 17q21-qter is determined by quantitative PCR using primers of SEQ ID Nos. 7-8 and probe of SEQ ID no. 9.
11. The method according to claim 1 wherein a gain of genetic material from chromosome arm segment 17q21-qter is associated with reduced Progression Free Survival (PFS).
12. The method according to claim 1 wherein a gain of genetic material from chromosome arm segment 17q21-qter is associated with reduced Overall Survival (OS).
13. The method according to claim 5 wherein the reference gene is selected from a gene on chromosome 17.
14. The method according to claim 5 wherein the reference gene is p53 located on 17p13.1.