Author: claimsbot

What is claimed is:

1. A method of determining a specific nucleic acid sequence in a non-fluid biological sample, comprising obtaining a biolgical sample from the subject and quantifying the amount of the specific nucleic acid present in the sample.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific nucleic acid is related to a pathologic condition.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific nucleic acid is a bacterial nucleic acid.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein the specific nucleic acid is a vial nucleic acid.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the sample is from a mammal.
6. The method of claim 5, wherein the mammal is a human.
7. The method of claim 1, wherein the non-fluid biological sample is selected from the group consisting of a cellular sample and a tissue sample.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein the tissue sample is selected from the group consisting of mucosal tissue, skin tissue, lymph tissue, ocular tissue, pulmonary tissue, and liver tissue.
9. The method of claim 8, wherein the mucosal tissue sample is selected from the group consisting of gastro-intestinal tissue, uro-genital tissue , and nasal-larynx tissue.
10. The method of claim 1, wherein the tissue is a gut-associated lymphoid tissue.
11. The method of claim 1, wherein the quantification is by RT-PCR or direct PCR.
12. The method of claim 1, wherein the qualification is by northern or southern blots.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the quantification is by RNAse protection assay.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the quantification is by detection of a viral polypeptide.
15. The method of claim 1, further comprising spiking the sample with a known quantity of a nucleic acid.
16. A method for determining the effect of a therapeutic treatment on whole body viral load in a subject, comprising determining the viral load in the plasma of the subject and the viral load in a tissue-biopsy of the subject compared to a standard whole body viral load, wherein a change in the viral load in the blood and the tissue is indicative of an effect.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the subject is a mammal.
18. The method of claim 17, wherein the mammal is a human.
19. The method of claim 17, wherein the tissue sample is a mucosal tissue sample.
20. The method of claim 17, wherein the mucosal tissue sample is selected from the group consisting of gastro-intestinal tissue, uro-genital tissue , and nasal-larynx tissue.
21. The method of claim 17, wherein the tissue is a gut-associated lymphoid tissue.
22. The method of claim 17, wherein the tissue is liver or skin.
23. The method of claim 17, wherein the quantification is by RT-PCR.
24. The method of claim 17, wherein the qualification is by northern or southern blots.
25. The method of claim 17, wherein the quantification is by RNAse protection assay.
26. The method of claim 17, wherein the quantification is by detection of a viral polypeptide.
27. The method of claim 17, wherein the quantification is by detecting a nucleic acid.
28. The method of claim 22, wherein the nucleic acid is DNA or RNA.
29. A kit for obtaining a non-fluid biological sample from the skin, the kit comprising:
a collection device;
a known quantity of a nucleic acid; and
a cell lysis buffer suitable of preserving nucleic acids.

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 spinal interbody device comprising:
a unitary base link having a first end and a second end;
a linkage comprising:
a first link having a first end and a second end;
a second link having a first end and a second end;
wherein the first end of the first link is coupled to the first end of the base link at a first hinge;
wherein the second end of the first link is coupled to the first end of the second link at a second hinge, wherein the second end of the first link and the first end of the second link have correspondingly shaped concave and convex portions such that the convex portion is received within the concave portion through a complete range of motion of the first link relative to the second link; and
wherein the second end of the second link is coupled to the second end of the base link at a third hinge, and wherein the second end of the second link includes a convex end portion having a plurality of gear teeth configured to enable rotation of the second link about the third hinge through engagement with the plurality of gear teeth.
2. The spinal interbody device of claim 1 wherein the first link pivots and translates relative to the base link, and the second link moves only in a pivoting fashion relative to the base link.
3. The spinal interbody device of claim 1 wherein the first and second links are configured to move between a collapsed position and an expanded position.
4. The spinal interbody device of claim 3 wherein the second hinge extends away from the base link when in the expanded position.
5. The spinal interbody device of claim 4 wherein the second hinge is directed inward toward the base link when in the collapsed position.
6. The spinal interbody device of claim 1 wherein the first link includes a projection extending into a first channel of the base link.
7. The spinal interbody device of claim 6 wherein the second link includes a projection extending into a second channel of the base link.
8. A spinal interbody device comprising:
a first link;
a second link pivotally coupled to the first link;
a third unitary link having a first end and a second end, wherein the first link is coupled to the first end and configured to pivot and translate relative to the third link, wherein the second link is coupled to the second end and configured to move only in a pivoting fashion relative to the third link;
wherein the first and second links are configured to move between a collapsed position and an expanded position, wherein the first link and the second link have correspondingly shaped concave and convex portions such that the convex portion is received within the concave portion through a complete range of motion of the first link relative to the second link.
9. The spinal interbody device of claim 8 wherein the first link includes a projection extending into a first channel of the third link, and the second link includes a projection extending into a second channel of the third link.
10. The spinal interbody device of claim 9 further comprising a worm drive mechanism configured to move the first and second links between the expanded and collapsed positions.
11. The spinal interbody device of claim 10 wherein the worm drive comprises teeth on a convex end portion of the projection on the second link and a fastener received in the second end of the third link.
12. A spinal interbody device comprising:
a unitary base link having a first end and a second end, the first end having a first channel defined by a wall having a slot, the second end having a second channel defined by a pair of walls with apertures therein;
a first link having a projection extending into the first channel of the base link;
a second link pivotally coupled to the first link, the second link having a projection extending into the second channel of the base link;
wherein the first link pivots and translates relative to the base link, and the second link moves only pivotally relative to the base link;
wherein the first and second links are configured to move between a collapsed position and an expanded position, wherein the first link and the second link have correspondingly shaped concave and convex portions such that the convex portion is received within the concave portion in the collapsed position and in the expanded position.
13. The spinal interbody device of claim 12 further comprising a first pin joining and extending at least partially through the slot on the first end of the base link and the projection on the first link.
14. The spinal interbody device of claim 13 further comprising a second pin joining and extending at least partially through the second end of the base link and the projection on the second link.
15. The spinal interbody device of claim 12 further comprising a worm drive configured to move the first and second links between the expanded and collapsed positions.
16. The spinal interbody device of claim 15 wherein the worm drive comprises teeth on a convex end portion of the projection on the second link and a fastener received in the second end of the base link.

1. Speech enhancement device for the reduction of background noise, comprising a time-to-frequency transformation unit (2) to transform frames of time-domain samples of audio signals to the frequency domain, background noise reduction means (3) to perform noise reduction in the frequency domain, and a frequency-to-time transformation unit (4) to transform the noise reduced audio signals from the frequency domain to the time-domain, characterized in that the background noise reduction means (3) comprise a background level update block (8) to calculate, for each frequency component in a current frame of the audio signals, a predicted background magnitude Bk in response to the measured input magnitude Sk from the time-to-frequency transformation unit (2) and in response to the previously calculated background magnitude B1k, a signal-to-noise ratio block (9) to calculate, for each of said frequency components, the signal-to-noise ratio SNRk in response to the predicted background magnitude Bk and in response to said measured input magnitude Sk and a filter update block (10) to calculate, for each of said frequency components, the filter magnitude Fk for said measured input magnitude Sk in response to the signal-to-noise ratio SNRk.
2. Speech enhancement device according to claim 1, characterized in that the background level update block (8) comprises a memory unit (20) to obtain the previously calculated background magnitude B1k, processing means (12-16) and comparator means (17) to update the previously predicted background magnitude according to the relation:
BkmaxminBk, Bk, Bmin,
with Bmin the minimum allowed background level, while
BkB1k. Uk and
Bk(Bk.Dk)(Sk.C.(1Dk)), in which Uk and Dk are frequency dependent scaling factors and C a constant.
3. Speech enhancement device according to claim 1 or 2, characterized in that the signal-to-noise ratio block (9) comprises means to calculate the signal-to-noise ratio SNRk in response to the predicted background magnitude Bk and to the measured input magnitude Sk according to the relation:
SNRkSkBk.
4. Speech enhancement device according to any one of the preceding claims, characterized in that the filter update block (10) comprises first means to calculate an internal filter value Fk and second means to derive therefrom the filter magnitude for the measured input magnitude, the first means comprising a memory unit (31) to obtain a previously calculated internal filter magnitude F1k and processing means (21-23, 25-27) to update the previously calculated internal filter magnitude.
5. Speech enhancement device according to claim 4, characterized in that the second means comprise comparator means (28) for scaling and clipping the filter magnitude according to the relation:
FkmaxminH.Fk, 1, Fmin, where
H is a constant, Fmin a minimal filter value and Fk the internal filter value.
6. Speech encoder for a speech coding system, particularly for a P2CM audio coding system, provided with a speech enhancement device according to any one of the preceding claims.
7. Speech coding system, particularly a P2CM audio coding system, provided with a speech encoder having a speech enhancement device according to any one of the preceding claims.
8. P2CM audio coding system with a P2CM encoder comprising a pre-processor including spectral amplitude warping means and an ADPCM encoder, characterized in that the pre-processor is provided with a speech enhancement device according to any one of the claims 1-5, the speech enhancement device having background noise reduction means, integrated in the spectral amplitude warping means of the pre-processor.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

What is claimed is:

1. In a method in which a feedstock containing an organic halide either alone or in admixture with an organic compound is gasified or atomized and subjected to the reaction with calcium oxide, barium oxide or a mixture thereof that are heated at 400-700 C., whereby the halogen in the organic halide is converted to a calcium halide andor a barium halide, the improvement wherein a bed of calcium oxide andor barium oxide in particulate form is continuously moved through the reaction zone such that it enters into countercurrent reaction with the feedstock and the reaction is performed in a reaction column equipped with an agitatingmoving means by which the halide which is the product of reaction between the organic halide and said oxide is continuously discharged to the outside of the reaction zone.
2. In an apparatus in which a feedstock containing an organic halide either alone or in admixture with an organic compound is gasified or atomized and subjected to the reaction with calcium oxide, barium oxide or a mixture thereof that are heated at 400-700 C., whereby the halogen in the organic halide is converted to a calcium halide andor a barium halide, the improvement comprising:
a) a means for gasifying or atomizing the feedstock containing the organic halide either alone or in admixture with the organic compound;
b) a heating means for heating the particles of calcium oxide andor barium oxide at a controlled temperature of 400-700 C.;
c) a means for supplying the particles of calcium oxide andor barium oxide continuously; and
d) a reaction column equipped with a supply section for the feedstock as supplied from said gasifying or atomizing means and which contains the organic halide either alone or in admixture with the organic compound, a reactive section which is heated by said heating means and in which a moving bed of said oxide particles is continuously brought into countercurrent reaction with said feedstock so that the halogen in the organic halide is converted to a calcium halide andor a barium halide, and an agitatingmoving means by which said resulting calcium halide andor barium halide is continuously discharged to the outside of the reaction system.