MATERIALS AND METHODS HUVEC. HUVECs were obtained from umbilical cords from cesarean sections. The cells were cultured by standard methods in the presence of heparin and endothelial-cell growth supplement (7). They were characterized by their homogeneous and typical cobblestone morphology, factor VIII antigen positivity, and the presence of Weibel-Palade bodies on electron microscopy. HUVECs were used for these studies after three to five passages.For clonal culture to exclude contamination with hematopoietic stem cells, HUVECs (1-5 x 105 cells per ml) were plated in methylcellulose cultures as described (8), with the modification that half of the fetal bovine serum was replaced with human umbilical cord blood serum. Hematopoietic growth factors were added as follows: rhEpo, 2 units/ml; stem-cell factor, 10 pg/ml; granulocyte/macrophage-colonystimulating factor, 200 units/ml; interleukin 3, 200 units/ml; endothelial-cell growth factor, 20 ktg/ml.Preparation of mRNA. After 1-5 x 107 cells were harvested and washed twice with phosphate-buffered saline, RNA was extracted with guanidinium thiocyanate and lauryl sarcosinate (9). mRNA was adsorbed onto oligo(dT)-cellulose columns (Pharmacia) and, after the columns were washed with high-and low-salt solutions, was eluted with 10 mM Tris'HCl buffer containing 1 mM EDTA (pH 7.4) at 650C. Total amount and concentration of mRNA were determined spectrophotometrically and confirmed by agarose gel electrophoresis.

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This study adds evidence to the literature that identifies work-related asthma as an important public health problem. Several occupations are targeted for additional evaluation and study. Of particular interest are cleaners, which are being increasingly reported as a risk group for asthma. Future intervention strategies need to be developed for effective control and prevention of asthma in the workplace.

Abstract─ Crossed dipole coils for the wide-range 3-D omnidirectional inductive power transfer (IPT) are proposed. Free positioning of a plane receiving (Rx) coil is obtained for an arbitrary direction within 1m from a plane transmission (Tx) coil. Both the Tx and Rx coils consist of crossed dipole coils with an orthogonal phase difference; hence, a rotating magnetic field is generated from the Tx, which enables the Rx to receive power vertically or horizontally. Thus, the 3-D omnidirectional IPT is first realized for both the plate type Tx and Rx coils, which is crucial for practical applications where volumetric coil structure is highly prohibited. This optimized configuration of coils has been obtained through a general classification of power transfer and searching for mathematical constraints on multi-D omnidirectional IPT. Conventional loop coils are thoroughly analyzed and verified to be inadequate for the plate-type omnidirectional IPT in this paper. Simulationbased design of the proposed crossed dipole coils for a uniform magnetic field distribution is provided, and the 3-D omnidirectional IPT is experimentally verified by prototype Rx coils for a wireless power zone of 1 m 3 with a prototype Tx coil of 1 m 2 at an operating frequency of 280 kHz, meeting the Power Matters Alliance (PMA). The maximum overall efficiency was 33.6% when the input power was 100 W.Index Terms-Wireless power transfer, degree of freedom, omnidirectional IPT, ubiquitous power, DCRS

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