In one embodiment, a device obtains routing forecasts for a software defined network. The device splits a particular routing policy for the software defined network into two or more routing policies, based on the routing forecasts. The device makes an evaluation as to whether the two or more routing policies should be reverted back into the particular routing policy. The device sends, to a user interface, data indicative of the particular routing policy that was split into the two or more routing policies and the evaluation as to whether the two or more routing policies should be reverted back into the particular routing policy.

Software-defined wide area networks (SD-WANs) represent the application of software-defined networking (SDN) principles to WAN connections, such as connections to cellular networks, the Internet, and Multiprotocol Label Switching (MPLS) networks. The power of SD-WAN is the ability to provide consistent service level agreement (SLA) for important application traffic transparently across various underlying tunnels of varying transport quality and allow for seamless tunnel selection based on tunnel performance characteristics that can match application SLAs and satisfy the quality of service (QoS) requirements of the traffic (e.g., in terms of delay, jitter, packet loss, etc.).
Failure detection in a network has traditionally been reactive, meaning that the failure must first be detected before rerouting the traffic along a secondary (backup) path. In general, failure detection leverages either explicit signaling from the lower network layers or using a keep-alive mechanism that sends probes at some interval T that must be acknowledged by a receiver (e.g., a tunnel tail-end router). Typically, SD-WAN implementations leverage the keep-alive mechanisms of Bidirectional Forwarding Detection (BFD), to detect tunnel failures and to initiate rerouting the traffic onto a backup (secondary) tunnel, if such a tunnel exits.
With the recent evolution of machine learning, predictive failure detection and proactive routing in an SDN/SD-WAN now becomes possible through the use of machine learning techniques. However, simply driving routing policy changes, automatically, based on predicted failures can.

Predictive routing-based policy adjustments in software-defined networks


An exemplary ankle brace includes an inner sleeve, an outer sleeve, a medial guide, a lateral guide, a top guide, and a bottom guide. The brace also includes a medial strap and a lateral strap positioned around the user's ankle between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve. The medial strap and the lateral strap are configured to tighten the inner sleeve. The brace also includes a collar strap positioned around a tibia and a fibula of the user between the inner sleeve and the outer sleeve. The collar strap is configured to tighten the inner sleeve such that the ankle brace maintains a predetermined height on the user's ankle. The brace also includes a pocket adapted to receive a removable arch support.

There are many parts of the foot and ankle that may need support due to previous injuries or as a precautionary measure during strenuous activities. For example, an individual may use an ankle brace while recovering from or to prevent an injury. Previous techniques to provide foot support included taping the user's foot and/or ankle with medical tape. The medial side of the foot is the inside of the foot. The lateral side of the foot is the outside of the foot. The cuneiforms of the human foot provide the structure of the foot, much like the metacarpals in the human hand. Thus, it follows that the medial cuneiform is the cuneiform on the inside of the foot, and the lateral cuneiform is on the outside of the foot. Within the present disclosure the terms medial and lateral cuneiform do not refer to the bones of the human foot themselves, but rather to the area of the foot where the ankle brace in the present disclosure touches the skin of the foot. Furthermore, the achilles tendon is a tendon located at the back of the foot. For the purposes of the present disclosure, the achilles area refers to the area of the foot where the ankle brace in the present disclosure touches the skin of the foot in the area of the foot where the achilles tendon is located. The current systems employed in the prior art for supporting a users foot and/or ankle with a brace may be improved upon as presently disclosed.


A method for reducing vibrations of a wind turbine includes a plurality of set points characterizing set values of operation parameters of the wind turbine. The method includes measuring an acceleration force value corresponding to acceleration forces acting on the turbine, and determining whether the measured acceleration force value is above a predetermined threshold value. Furthermore, in case it is determined that the acceleration force value is above the predetermined threshold value, the set point value of at least one set point of the plurality of set points is modified in order to reduce the vibrations in such a way that a power output of the wind turbine is not reduced.

Wind energy is increasingly recognized as a viable option for complementing and even replacing other types of energy sources such as for instance fossil fuels. In the early development of wind energy, the majority of wind turbines were constructed for operation at a constant speed. However, recently the trend is toward using variable-speed wind turbines to better capture available wind power. In most cases, wind turbine blade pitch angles can be adjusted to control the operation of the variable speed wind turbine. However, during certain wind conditions like wake, wind shear, high turbulence or ice on the blades it can cause high vibrations on the turbine r the blades. The vibration level may be monitored by G-sensors and when reaching high vibrations the turbine will be affected by larger forces and it will wear down much faster.

Method for reducing vibrations of a wind turbine and control system for reducing vibrations


The method for recognizing damage and determining the extent of the damage to a keratin-containing material, such as hair or wool, includes subjecting a sample of it in aqueous solution to an enzymatic and/or chemical treatment for proteolytic or hydrolytic degradation of the sample, and subsequently measuring the turbidity of the resulting liquid sample to determine the extent of the damage, either by visual observation with the naked eye or by physical measurement methods. An apparatus suitable for performing the method and enzymes, such as proteases and proteinases, and chemical agents for carrying out the method are also described.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for assessing and determining the condition of keratin-containing materials, particularly the condition of hair, with existing structural damage caused by external factors such as the environment, weathering, natural aging, physical or chemical noxae or cosmetic treatments, to agents and devices that are appropriate therefor and to the use thereof.
2. Related Art
Keratin-containing materials including the skin and skin appendages, for example hair, nails, feathers and hoofs, are subject to a multitude of natural and unnatural physical and chemical influences. These include energy-rich radiation (for example UV light), weather conditions or weathering (for example temperature, air humidity or air composition), cosmetic treatments, for example hair bleaching, permanent wave treatments, coloring or enameling. Such influences manifest themselves in varying degrees of structural modifications of these materials leading to a possible change in their chemical and physical properties. In the case of, for example, hair, this can result in a loss of gloss, suppleness, hold or combability. In addition, the brittleness and splitting of hair increases. The degree of damage increases with the frequency and duration of exposure to the influencing parameters.
For an effective use of hair-care, hair-conditioning or hair-restructuring agents it is necessary not only to recognize the current condition of the hair with reliability but, in particular, to make a correct selection of the agents for permanent waving, coloring and bleaching of hair that are adapted to a particular hair structure. This, however, requires a reliable determination of the degree of hair damage. The hair condition can be determined either visually or in tactile manner by subjective evaluation of, for example, gloss, brittleness, coarseness or the appearance of splitting, or this can be done by use of objective measuring methods.
The method of subjective assessment of hair condition or hair damage is fast and simple. The recognition of incipient and advanced structural changes (hair damage) based on subjective parameters, however, leads to highly erratic or unusable results either because of a lack of experience in assessing the hair condition or hair damage or else owing to masking of the damage by hair-care agents.
Numerous methods are known for objective examination of keratin-containing materials for the purpose of detecting any damage that may be present. An example is the determination of the cysteine content by high-pressure liquid chromatography (HPLC). This method has the drawback that it requires comprehensive laboratory studies which are time-consuming and costly. Hence, this method is not practicable for daily use, and particularly not for hair-dressers or beauticians.
It is also known (for example, from EP-A 0 702 232) to determine hair damage by use of anionic dyes.
This method, however, provides insufficient information about the structural condition of hair. Other known methods consist of determining the elongation factor of hair or the degree of copper absorption of the damaged hair. Such methods are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,461,925 and 4,665,741. These methods are nonspecific and can give false-positive or false-negative results. Moreover, they are time-consuming and require costly equipment.
Because, on the one hand, a reliable recognition and evaluation of existing damage to keratin-containing materials is indispensable for effective and logical cosmetic treatment and, on the other, no practicable rapid test methods for this purpose, and no devices or agents suitable for carrying out such a method, are known, a great need exists for a rapid test and for devices and agents suitable for such a test.
The object of the present invention is to eliminate the drawbacks of the prior art and to provide a reliable method for recognizing and evaluating damage conditions in keratin-containing materials, particularly hair, and devices and agents needed for said method.
This objective was reached within the scope of the claims presented herein.
Surprisingly, we have now found that keratin-containing material, for example hair, damaged to different degrees reacts differently to enzymatic and/or chemical treatment in aqueous solution and that the liquid sample shows different degrees of turbidity depending on the degree of damage to the keratin-containing material.
Hence, one aspect of the present invention is a method for recognizing and determining the condition of a keratin-containing material, said method consisting of subjecting a sample of keratin-containing material, for example a sample of hair, in aqueous solution to enzymatic and/or chemical treatment and then examining, evaluating and determining the condition of the hair on the basis of the turbidity of the resulting aqueous solution. The condition of the hair can readily be determined with the aid of a comparative value (zero value or standard value). The comparative value can be obtained by subjecting the same amount of healthy hair to enzymatic and/or chemical treatment under the same conditions as those used for the hair test sample and determining the turbidity of the resulting liquid sample.
By the expression xe2x80x9cdetermining the condition of keratin-containing materialsxe2x80x9d is meant, in particular, the determination of possible or expected damage to the material involved. In the following, the aqueous solution obtained after the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of a sample of keratin-containing material, for example a hair sample, will be referred to as the xe2x80x9cliquid samplexe2x80x9d.
The method of the invention combines a number of advantages. It represents a rapid test for determining the condition of keratin-containing materials which in a very short time provides reliable information concerning the current condition of keratin-containing materials permitting a diagnosis of said condition. The method affords reproducible results enabling the user to follow changes in the condition of the keratin-containing material over a longer period of time on the basis of objective criteria and to prepare a data file therefor.
The method of the invention can be applied particularly advantageously in the area od hair care or hair cosmetics. For the user and particularly the hair-dresser, this also opens up the possibility of flexible and individual cosmetic hair treatment aiming at causal hair care. The method permits optical or visual examination of the liquid sample and, hence, is simple to carry out. The agents and devices needed to this end are easy to handle. Because of the high reproducibility and possibility of carrying out a differentiated examination of the condition or degree of damage in keratin-containing materials combined with the ease of handling, the method of the invention and the devices and agents of the invention that are appropriate therefor represent an ideal solution for fast evaluation of hair quality in particular.
All enzymatic and/or chemical procedures can be used for the method of the invention as long as they bring about a proteolytic or hydrolytic decomposition of hair. Hence, the method of the invention comprises enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of a sample of keratin-containing material (for example a hair sample) based on a proteolytic or hydrolytic reaction. Suitable to this end are purely enzymatic treatments, purely chemical treatments or combined enzymatic/chemical treatments of the materials to be examined.
As for enzymatic methods, suitable are all enzymes from the group of proteases and proteinases (exo- and endopeptidases or exo- and endoproteases and mixtures thereof) known for this purpose and which are capable of catalyzing the degradation of keratin-containing material, at least one enzyme for the enzymatic (or enzymatic/chemical) treatment being present in the aqueous solution involved. The enzymes can be used alone or as a mixture. They include, for example, papain, pronase E, proteinase K, subtilisin or trypsin, as well as keratinases, for example from Fervidobacterium pennavorans (FRIEDRICH, A. B., and ANTRANIKIAN,. G., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 62: 2875, 1996), from Streptomyces pactum, DSM 40530 (BOECKLE, B. et al., Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61: 3705, 1995). from Candida pulcherima KSY 188-5 (GOTOCH, T., et al., Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 59: 367, 1995) or from Bacillus licheniformis PWD-1 (LIN, X, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 61 (4): 1469-1474 1995, CHENG S. W., Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem. 59(12): 2239-2243, 1995). The use of special keratinases can be advantageous, because they can accelerate the proteolytic degradation of keratin-containing materials. For example, the keratinase from Fervidobacterium pennavorans is known to be able to bring about rapid decomposition of chicken feathers. (FRIEDRICH, A. B. and ANTRANIKIAN, G., Appl. Environ. Microbiol 62: 2875, 1996).
The enzymes suitable for the method of the invention are commercially available, for example papain (isolatable from Carica papaya) from Boehringer Mannheim, pronase E (isolatable from Streptomyces griseus) from Sigma (Deisenhofen) or proteinase K (isolatable from Tritirachium album) from Merck (Darmstadt).
As for purely chemical methods for the decomposition of keratin-containing materials, organic and/or inorganic reagents, which are capable of preferentially hydrolyzing keratin, are suitable and thus are keratolytically active and/or have reducing properties. Organic and inorganic reagents suitable for this purpose include reducing agents that can be used under basic as well as under acid conditions. The organic and inorganic reagents can be present in the aqueous solution, either alone or as a mixture. For example, partial aqueous reductive hydrolyses with, for example, urea-bisulfite solutions (for example a solution containing urea and sodium metabisulfite) in accordance with the IWTO (International Wool Textile Organization) specification (IWTO 11-62 (D), new edition, 1996), partial alkaline-aqueous hydrolyses with alkaline solutions, for example sodium hydroxide solutions in accordance with the IWTO specification (IWTO 4-60, new edition 1966), partial alcoholic-reductive hydrolyses with tributylphosphine and sodium iodide solutions according to KILPATRIK, D. J. et al., Text. Res. J. 40: 25, 1970), partial acidic-basic hydrolyses with performic acid-ammonia solutions, partial basic-reductive hydrolyses with thioglycolic acid-urea solutions or partial acidic-reductive hydrolyses with thioglycolic acid or cysteine glacial acetic acid solutions, such as cysteine, sodium metabisulfite, sodium sulfite, dithiothreitol (DTT) and dithioerythrol (DTE) are all suitable.
In this regard, the present invention also comprises a method characterized in that an aqueous solution of a sample of keratin-containing material, particularly a hair sample, is subjected to a chemical treatment and that the proteolytic or hydrolytic reaction underlying this treatment is carried out with the aid of at least one keratolytically active and/or reducing organic and/or inorganic reagent.
By combined enzymatic/chemical treatments of the keratin-containing material to be examined are meant treatments whereby the desired hydrolysis or proteolysis of the keratin-containing material takes place with the participation of both enzymes and purely chemical substances. In this case, the liquid sample in which the sample of the material (for example, the hair sample) is subjected to the enzymatic/chemical treatment contains at least one of the aforesaid enzymes together with at least one keratolytically active and/or reducing organic and/or inorganic reagent. Suitable to this end are, advantageously, amino acids or sulfites [for example cysteine, sodium metabisulfite, sodium sulfite, dithiothreitol (DDT) and dithioerythrol (DTE)].
Such a combined enzymatic/chemical treatment is a preferred object of the present invention.
Hence, a preferred method of the invention consists of subjecting an aqueous solution of a sample of the keratin-containing material, particularly a hair sample, to an enzymatic and chemical treatment and of carrying out the proteolytic or hydrolytic reaction underlying said treatment with the aid of at least one enzyme, as defined hereinabove, in combination with at least one keratolytically active and/or reducing organic and/or inorganic reagent, as defined hereinabove.
The enzyme can be added to the aqueous reaction solution first, followed by the organic and/or inorganic reagent, or the enzyme and the reagent can be used simultaneously, or the organic and/or inorganic reagent is added to the reaction solution first, followed by the enzyme. It can be advantageous to carry out the method by adding to the reaction solution first the organic and/or inorganic reagent and then the enzyme.
According to the invention, the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample can be carried out during and/or after the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment. In this regard, the invention comprises a method whereby the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample occur during and/or after the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment.
Naturally, the amounts of the enzymes and organic/inorganic reagents to be used depend on the choice of the enzymes and reagents, on the amount and type of sample of keratin-containing material and on the conditions under which the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the sample takes place (particularly the temperature and pH). In this respect, it should naturally also be kept in mind that enzymes can exhibit different temperature optimums and that the pH also affects the enzyme activity. The optimum conditions under which proteases, proteinases or peptidases exhibit their highest proteolytic activity are known to those skilled in the art. They can also be found in the abundant literature on this subject or they can be obtained from various enzyme providers. Moreover, the type of enzymes and the type and the amount of the other chemical reagents to be used depend on the time period within which the keratin-containing materials are to undergo proteolytic degradation so as to produce a desired turbidity in the liquid sample to be examined. Of course, the conditions under which a desired turbidity is obtained with specific amounts of enzymes and/or chemical reagents under specific conditions (temperature and pH) with a specific amount of hair sample can readily be determined by, and adapted to the needs of, those skilled in the art by carrying out comparative tests.
In general, it may be assumed that the enzymes to be used according to the invention can be employed in an amount (specific activity) from 1.0 to 500 U/mL, preferably from 5.0 to 250 U/mL and particularly from 5.0 to 35.0 U/mL. We were able to determine that a specific enzyme activity, particularly in conjunction with a hydrolytically acting, keratolytically active and/or reducing chemical reagent, in the range from 5.0 to 35.0 U/mL is sufficient to produce turbidity within 5 to 30 minutes, so that a reliable and reproducible determination of the condition of or damage to the keratin-containing materials, particularly hair damage, can be performed.
As regards the amount of the keratolytically active and/or reducing chemical reagents to be used according to the invention, no firm numbers can be stated because of the differences existing among the various possible reagents. By simple testing, however, it is easy to determine the desired amount for the proteolysis or hydrolysis of a sample of keratin-containing material and for attaining adequate turbidity for the determination of the condition of or damage to the material. We found it useful, however, to use the said inorganic chemical reagents in an amount from 0.5 to 50.0 mg/mL, preferably from 1.0 to 25.0 mg/mL and particularly from 2.0 to 15.0 mg/mL, advantageously in combination with an appropriate enzyme. As regards organic chemical reagents, for example cysteine (particularly L-cysteine), amounts between 0.1 and 50 mg/mL, preferably between 0.2 and 30 mg/mL and particularly between 0.5 and 25 mg/mL can be used. Higher cysteine concentrations in the aqueous solution (reaction solution) should be chosen particularly when cysteine is the only chemical reagent present, preferably in combination with an enzyme that is appropriate according to the invention. Small amounts of cysteine can be used advantageously when at least one other inorganic keratolytically active and/or reducing agent, for example one or more sulfites, is present together with cysteine, particularly in combination with an enzyme to be used according to the invention.
The presence of at least one inorganic chemical reagent (for example one or more sulfites) together with an organic chemical reagent (for example, cysteine), particularly in combination with an appropriate enzyme, is not necessarily required for optimum proteolytic degradation of a sample of keratin-containing material. We found that at low cysteine concentrations from 0.1 to 2.0 mg/mL the simple presence of at least one inorganic chemical reagent, for example a sulfite [for example, in a total amount of 10 mg of sodium metabisulfite (7.0 mg/mL) and sodium sulfite (3.0 mg) can cause the reaction rate to increase and the turbidity in the liquid sample to appear faster. Alternatively, the reaction rate and thus the turbidity can be increased by increasing the cysteine concentration. Advantageously, in this manner both the rate of appearance and the intensity of the desired turbidity can readily be controlled by varying the organic and inorganic reagents used.
The aqueous solution to be used for the method of the invention and in which the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of a sample of keratin-containing material takes place has a pH in the range from 5.0 to 11.0, preferably from 5.0 to 9.0 and particularly from 5.5 to 7.5, depending on the reactants chosen (enzyme and/or organic and/or inorganic reagents) for the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment. With proteinase K, an advantageous pH range is from 5.5 to 7.5, with pronase E from 6.0 to 7.5 and with papain from 6.0 to 7.5. In general, an appropriate pH range is that from 5.5 to 7.5 in which advantageous proteolytic or hydrolytic decompositions of the sample of keratin-containing material and thus suitable turbidity can be achieved. For the said enzyme examples, a pH of 6.5 can be viewed as a guideline. When other enzymes are used, the pH optimums must, of course, be chosen accordingly.
Advantageously, the reaction mixture or the liquid sample which is in the form of an aqueous solution and in which the enzymatic and/or hydrolytic treatment of a sample of keratin-containing material takes place can contain a buffer system, for example a phosphate buffer. Suitable for this purpose is, for example, a sodium phosphate buffer (50 mM) of pH 6.5.
The temperature range in which the enzymatic and/or chemical reaction of the keratin-containing material takes place in the aqueous solution also depends on the reactants chosen for the enzymatic and/or hydrolytic treatment of the keratin-containing material. The temperature chosen should be between 20 and 100xc2x0 C., preferably between 30 and 60xc2x0 C. and particularly between 40 and 50xc2x0 C.
We found that the rate and the extent of decomposition of the keratin-containing material, particularly of hair, increased with increasing temperature and that the turbidity increased accordingly. At a temperature of 50xc2x0 C. and, for example, with a reaction mixture consisting of a proteolytic enzyme (for example papain) and a reducing agent (for example cysteine) in a phosphate buffer (50 mM), a hair sample decomposed rapidly. Here, too, as in the selection of the reactants (for example, variation in the amounts of cysteine and sulfites), it is possible to control the change in turbidity advantageously by selecting an appropriate reaction temperature.
Advantageously, the amount and length of the sample of keratin-containing material (for example, a sample of hair, wool, fiber or nails) are chosen so that they can be compared with a defined amount (in mg) and/or length (in cm) of a control (for example, of healthy material). The amount and length of the sample to be used can vary widely depending on the volume of the reaction vessel in which the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment takes place. Advantageously, the sample size of keratin-containing material can be between 0.01 and 100 mg, preferably between 0.5 and 50 mg and particularly between 1.0 and 10 mg. In the case of hair (or wool or fibers), the length of the hair sample can be between 0.05 and 5.0 cm, preferably between 0.1 and 1.0 cm and particularly between 0.1 and 0.5 cm. Smaller amounts (0.1 to 10 mg) and lengths (0.1 to 0.5 cm) should be advantageous when the measurement of turbidity is to be performed in a small volume (for example in small test tubes or cuvettes for photometric determinations). The amounts mentioned as examples correspond to the amounts mentioned in the foregoing as examples for the reactants used in the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment. Naturally, the amounts and lengths of the keratin-containing material can be increased or decreased depending on the prevailing conditions and the procedure to be used. Basically, it is advantageous not to use a hair length exceeding about 1.0 cm, because, in general, a shorter hair length can accelerate the proteolytic and/or hydrolytic degradation of hair and thus make it possible to obtain turbidities that can be evaluated within a very short time ( less than 10 minutes).
The length of time needed for the formation of an appropriate turbidity for determining the condition of keratin-containing materials varies depending on the choice of the aforesaid parameters (reactants, pH, temperature and amount and length of the sample of keratin-containing material). The duration of the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the sample of keratin-containing material can vary from 1 minute to 30 minutes and preferably from 5 to 20 minutes. Various tests have shown that sufficient turbidity for the evaluation and determination of the condition of, for example, hair can be attained by the method of the invention within as little as 10 minutes.
Because the tests for carrying out the present invention were performed, in particular, on hair, the invention shall be explained in greater detail on the example of hair without thereby limiting the scope of the invention. The measures and the values and quantities described in the following can readily be applied and transferred also to other keratin-containing materials.
In general, we were able to establish that in the presence of an enzyme the extent of proteolytic degradation of hair samples varies within wide limits depending on the selection of appropriate organic or inorganic chemical reagents, pH and temperature. A higher reaction rate manifests itself in a reduction of the maximum attainable turbidity. For a slower reaction occurring within 10 to 1 5 min following the addition of the enzyme (for example, when papain and 20 mg/mL of cysteine are used at pH 5.5 and 50xc2x0 C. or 10 mg/mL of DTE, pH 6.0, 45xc2x0 C.), an increasingly linear curve is obtained. This can facilitate the evaluation. Hence, it is particularly advantageous when the reaction time to maximum turbidity is between 5 and 20 minutes and particularly between 7 and 15 minutes. We found that this method of carrying out the reaction is advantageous when the hair samples to be analyzed are expected to present considerable damage. The preferred conditions for the enzymatic/chemical treatment of hair samples are, for example, as follows: 5.0 mg of approximately 0.1-cm-long hair (21.1 U) plus cysteine (20 mg/mL), pH 6.5, 50xc2x0 C. or papain (21.2 U) plus DTE (10 mg/mL), pH 6.2, 50xc2x0 C.
For the analysis and evaluation of the turbidity obtained in the liquid sample according to the invention, it is disadvantageous if, after the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the hair, undecomposed hair components are present in the liquid sample. This could be a hindrance, for example, in the use of physical measuring methods, particularly in turbidimetric measurements with a photometer, and could lead to erroneous results. Hence, it is advantageous to remove hair components that have remained undecomposed by the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment before the examination or to keep them removed during the examination and to carry out the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample in the absence of undecomposed hair components. In many cases, particularly when instrumental methods of measurement are used (for example, extinction or turbidity measurements with a photometer) it will suffice to free of undecomposed hair components primarily that region of the liquid sample which contains the path of the radiation used for measuring the turbidity. Bottom sediments of undecomposed hair components have no major relevance in this case.
Before the examination of the liquid sample by a physical separation method, the undecomposed hair components can be removed for example by filtration, centrifugation or sedimentation or by the use of appropriate mechanical separation devices, for example sieves, nets, screens or filters. Such methods can readily be applied using small test tubes, measuring cells or measuring cuvettes, or the mechanical separation means can be permanently or removably built into such test tubes, cells or cuvettes. For example, the mechanical separation means built into the measuring cell may make it possible to separate the region of the liquid sample in which the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the hair is carried out from the region of the liquid sample used for the turbidity measurement. In this case, it can be advantageous if the measuring cell with integrated or inserted mixing system brings about uniform distribution of the hair components causing the turbidity.
Hence, according to the invention, a preferred method consists of removing, before examining the liquid sample, the components of the hair (or of the keratin-containing material) that remained unreacted during the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment or of keeping said components away during the examination so that the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample are carried out in the absence of undecomposed components of the hair (or of the keratin-containing materials).
It can be advantageous for the measurement and examination of the liquid sample if the transparent container (test tube, cell, cuvette) is made of glass or plastic material and if additionally it is fitted with a device for thermostatting the liquid sample. Such a device can consist of a heating band or a heated water bath.
The examination with the naked eye can be carried out, for example, by comparing a liquid sample obtained from an appropriately treated hair sample with the liquid sample obtained from undamaged hair (comparative or zero value), preferably in transmitted light. Such a method can be used particularly when, for example, only a rough evaluation of hair damage is desired.
According to the invention, examination by physical measuring methods is preferred, because it permits a more accurate evaluation and determination of damage to keratin-containing materials (for example, hair damage). Particularly preferred is a method whereby the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample is based on a turbidity measurement. Suitable to this end are all optical methods known to those skilled in the art, provided said methods make it possible to perform measurements on liquids containing undissolved, suspended particles. These include, for example, methods based on light scattering, nephelometric measurements (tyndallometry), fluorescent radiation measurements, transmitted light or extinction measurements and turbidimetric measurements (turbidimetry). According to the invention, turbidity measurement (turbidimetric measurement) of the liquid sample obtained is preferred.
The method of the invention based on physical measurement methods can be carried out by all instruments and agents known to those skilled in the art and which are commercially available. These include photometers in particular. Turbidity measurement with a photometer or turbidity photometer is preferred.
Hence, a preferred method comprises examining and evaluating the liquid sample by turbidimetric measurement with a photometer. Thereafter, the condition of the keratin-containing material (hair or hair damage) can readily be determined by comparison with a standard or zero value (preferably based on undamaged hair).
According to the invention, however, the use of a turbidity photometer for determining the condition of keratin-containing materials in one of the methods underlying the present invention is also included.
In the event that the condition of the keratin-containing material is examined, evaluated and determined by turbidimetric measurement, generally valid turbidity units must be used. Such turbidity units are either the values determined by measuring the attenuation of the radiation passing through the liquid sample (FAU, formazine attenuation unit) or those obtained by measuring the intensity of the scattered radiation (FNU, formazine nephelometric unit). The German xe2x80x9cformazine turbidity unitxe2x80x9d (TE/F) corresponds to the values determined by use of FNU.
According to the method of the invention, the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample can be carried out during and/or after the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the sample of keratin-containing material. The examination and evaluation of the liquid sample during and/or after the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the sample can be performed either indirectly and discontinuously or directly and continuously (on-line). By the discontinuous method, the turbidity of the liquid sample can be determined or measured on the basis of individual values at specific time intervals.
The continuous method whereby the turbidity or the change in turbidity in the liquid sample is followed directly and continuously (on-line) has the advantages of being less time-consuming because, for example, less pipetting is required. Moreover, such a method permits kinetic evaluation of the data. The method of the invention can thereby be further shortened, so that an evaluation and determination of the condition of the keratin-containing material can be performed in less than 10 minutes.
According to the invention, the continuous method is preferred. Such a method requires appropriate instrumentation consisting of a photometer in combination with a heating system that heats the transparent reaction vessel (measuring cell, test tube, cuvette) needed for the turbidity measurement, a mixing device inserted or built into the reaction vessel and a controllable drive, preferably an electric motor, for actuating the mixing device.
The heating system preferably consists of a controlled thermostatting system (thermocouple) and can consist, for example, of a heating band in contact with the reaction vessel.
The mixing device, which preferably is driven in controllable manner by an electric motor that is solidly connected with the photometer, can consist of a stirrer or of a syringe or disposable syringe which reaches into the measuring cell or into the reaction liquid contained therein. The rotating stirrer can be provided with appropriate stirring blades or it can consist of an angular or round rod made of metal, glass or plastic, which can have indentations, for example one having the shape of an auger. The stirring device, however, can also consist of a magnetic stirrer whereby the stirring is brought about by a stirring element present in the reaction liquid. When a syringe is used, said syringe can advantageously be provided at its lower end with a screen, sieve or net. The plunger or piston of the syringe can, by a constant up-and-down movement, keep the hair sample or the liquid sample in constant motion. This ensures that the sample of keratin-containing material in the reaction liquid is constantly kept in motion and that the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the sample of keratin-containing material is carried out under optimum conditions. The volume of the syringe in this case is the reaction space in which the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment of the sample of keratin-containing material takes place. The plunger can be moved up and down by means of a controlled electric motor. FIGS. 1a and 1b and FIG. 2 are schematic representations of suitable systems.
Those skilled in the art know that proteolytic and hydrolytic reactions can be influenced by the intensity at which the reaction liquid is mixed and that they can depend on the speed of the mixer or on the degree of movement of the mixing device. In general, it may be assumed that the rate and intensity of the proteolytic or hydrolytic decomposition of the keratin-containing material underlying the present invention increases with increasing speed of rotation or of movement of the mixing device. This parameter can be varied depending on the time interval within which a specified turbidity is to be attained. Rotational speeds of a magnetic stirrer or a rod-shaped stirrer with stirring blades or indentations from 100 to 10,000 rotations per minute (rpm), particularly from 500 to 5000 rpm and preferably from 500 to 2000 rpm have been found to be advantageous. The number of up-and-down movements of a plunger or piston in a syringe-type mixing device can range from 10 to 500 and particularly from 50 to 200.
Hence, a preferred method consists of subjecting the sample of keratin-containing material to an additional mechanical stress during the enzymatic and/or chemical treatment.
When the method of the invention and of the attendant recognition, evaluation and determination of the condition of the keratin-containing material is to be highly automated, the examination and evaluation of a liquid sample can be carried out by electronic means. Hence, the method of the invention also consists of performing the examination and/or evaluation of the liquid sample in computer-controlled manner and with the aid of a computer.
To this end, the described photometer system is advantageously connected to a computer, internal processor or xe2x80x9cpersonal computerxe2x80x9d. In this manner, the data obtained by turbidimetric measurement can be stored and then evaluated at any time.
In addition, a recorder or printer can advantageously be connected to a photometer to provide a graphic representation of the turbidity variations or to print out numerical values. It is also possible to connect a video screen or display to the photometer to be able to obtain directly readable graphics or numerical values. Such data can be stored by means of a connected computer and, for example, retrieved at any time for comparison purposes and selectively printed by means of a connected printer. Any common computer, particularly a common personal computer (PC), can be used for this purpose.
Hence, another object of the method of the invention is characterized in that the examination and evaluation of the liquid sample is carried out with the aid of a computer and/or recorder and/or a video screen (display) and/or a printer.
The availability of an an apparatus for recognizing, determining and evaluating the condition of a keratin-containing material, which apparatus consists of a combination of components namely the photometer with the reaction vessel (for example a measuring cell, cuvette or test tube), a heating system for heating the reaction vessel of the photometer, a mixing device inserted or built into the reaction vessel and a controllable drive for moving the mixing device, is thus advantageous for carrying out the method of the invention.
Hence, another object of the invention is an apparatus for recognizing, determining and evaluating the condition of a keratin-containing material, which apparatus consists of a photometer with reaction vessel, with an adapter or support therefor, in combination with a heating system for heating the reaction vessel, a mixing device for mixing the liquid sample in the reaction vessel and a controllable drive for the mixing device. To maintain a constant temperature in the reaction vessel, the heating system can be connected with a thermocouple, and the heater can be in the form of a heating band. Such a heating band can be integrated with the adapters and supports for the reaction vessels, particularly the cuvettes or test tubes, to be used according to the invention and normally provided with photometers. The mixing device can consist of a syringe with a plunger or piston or of a stirrer which can be moved mechanically, electrically or magnetically or of an ultrasonic generator so that the mixing is ultrasound-induced.
Such an apparatus can advantageously be functionally connected with a recorder, printer, video screen (display) or computer, internal processor or personal computer (PC).
It may be advantageous for practical handling purposes if the apparatus of the invention is in the form of a mobile, compact unit. In particular, the computer can advantageously be in the form of a manual instrument which is spatially separated from the stationary photometer unit and is preferably connected to a recorder, printer or a video screen display, and can be used in mobile manner.
Because the use of an apparatus as that described hereinabove is advantageous for purposes of the invention, the present invention also includes the use of the described apparatus for identifying and determining the condition of a keratin-containing material in one of the methods of the invention.
It is advantageous for carrying out the method of the invention if both the appropriate equipment and the reagents required therefor are combined as a unit or in the form of a kit. Such a kit advantageously consists of a system as described hereinabove and includes a buffer solution, at least one enzyme and at least one proteolytically or hydrolytically active and keratinolytically effective and/or reducing chemical reagent. Such a combination (kit) has the advantage that all individual components are adapted to each other, that the user can carry out the method easily and on a routine basis and that reproducible and comparable results can be obtained at all times.
Another object of the present invention is therefore a kit for examining, evaluating and determining the condition of a keratin-containing material, said kit comprising a buffer solution, at least one enzyme and at least one proteolytically or hydrolytically active and keratinolytically effective and/or reducing chemical reagent. Advantageously, this kit can also contain a sample of a keratin-containing material, for example a sample of hair that has not been cosmetically treated and/or a liquid sample serving as standard, blank or zero value. In addition to the above-indicated components, such a kit can also include the apparatus underlying the present invention.
The use of a kit such as that described in the foregoing for recognizing and determining the condition of keratin-containing materials by a method according to the invention is advantageous and therefore is also an object of the present invention.

Method for determining the state of substances containing keratin and suitable devices and means therefor


A device for effecting an unloading operation of a workpiece with respect to a machine tool. The device includes a non-rotating dump tube having one end adapted for communication with a machine tool and a sidewall defining an opening for discharging a workpiece, a vacuum chamber enclosing the opening in the sidewall and including a workpiece outlet, the chamber configured to receive a workpiece from the dump tube, a door selectively sealingly engaged with the workpiece outlet, and configured to allow the unloading of a workpiece, and a source of vacuum coupled to the vacuum chamber and configured to draw a workpiece through the dump tube and into the vacuum chamber for unloading. A coupling may be disposed between an unloading device and a machine tool to allow the machine tool to operate at increased rates during an unloading operation.

Various types of feed mechanisms exist in the machine tool industry to automate the loading and/or unloading of workpieces into and out of a machine tool. In this regard, it is desirable with respect to both production speed and safety to automatically place workpieces into the machine tool prior to a machine operation and then to automatically remove the workpieces from the machine tool when the machining operation or operations are complete. The intervention of machine tool operators during the process slows the production time and presents additional dangers to the operator.
Many automated loading and unloading devices are too complex and expensive to justify their use in any but the most elaborate and expensive machine tools. Such loading and unloading mechanisms may include, for example, robotic devices or other programmable or otherwise electrically controlled arms, indexing devices, etc. While needs exist in the industry for these sophisticated and expensive machine tool loading and unloading mechanisms, especially in connection with many high volume machining operations, these solutions to the problems associated with manual loading and unloading operations can be too expensive.
One air operated loading and unloading device that solves many of the problems typical of manual loading and unloading operations is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,505,584 (the '584 patent), assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. Using this device, a workpiece may be unloaded and/or loaded via a concentric tubular arrangement. The tubes rotate with respect to each other using a mechanism to facilitate either an unloading operation or a loading and unloading operation with respect to a machine tool spindle. Improvements related to simplifying the rotating mechanism are desirable.
Another air operated loading and unloading device that solves many of the problems typical of manual loading and unloading operations is U.S. Pat. No. 6,202,523 (the '523 patent), assigned to the assignee of the present invention and the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. This device includes a base adapted to be mounted adjacent the machine tool and a tubular member mounted for rotation with respect to the base. The tubular member includes an inner chamber and an elongated opening communicating with the inner chamber for receiving the workpiece. The inner chamber includes one end adapted to communicate with a spindle of the machine tool. A sealing member is mounted for selective removal from the tubular member and for selective, sealing engagement around the elongated opening. As the sealing member is removed from the tubular member, the tubular member may be rotated using a mechanism to unload the workpiece. Again, improvements related to simplifying the rotating mechanism would be desirable.
Further, machine tools generally must cease operation or stop, or slow significantly, so that an automated unloading device may operate to permit automatic unloading of a workpiece. Such stopping or significant slowing is generally necessary to prevent or limit the relative rotation of various pieces of the machine tool and the unloading device, thereby avoiding or reducing the generation of heat, wear, etc. in and on the various pieces.
The necessity of stopping or slowing a machine tool has a number of drawbacks. First, unloading times are, in part, based on the time necessary for the machine tool to stop or slow, and waiting for a machine tool to stop or slow generally increases unloading times. Second, constantly stopping or slowing the machine tool increases wear on the motor of the machine tool, thereby reducing motor life, and, third, stopping or slowing the machine tool generally increases the amount of electric power the motor consumes.
For example, the spindle of a lathe may rotate at rates up to, and including, the maximum operating speed of the lathe during machining operations. However, the spindle of a lathe may rotate at reduced rates of below about 75 revolutions per minute (RPM) during an unloading operation, depending on such factors as workpiece material, chuck mating chamfers, etc. Such a reduced rotation rate aids in breaking a workpiece free of the chuck of the lathe, while heat, wear, etc. in and on the various pieces is reduced to an acceptable level.
Improvements related to increasing the rotation rate of a machine tool during the automatic unloading of a workpiece are desirable.
Improvements related to the machine tool industry, and more specifically related to air operated loading and unloading devices therefore continue to be necessary.


A method for producing a coated turbine blade, with which the frequency property thereof can be particularly easily adjusted to the required boundary conditions is provided. Recesses are introduced into a blade tip of the blade leaf of the turbine blade after coating of turbine blade. In one aspect a plurality of bores are made which are distributed along the blade leaf center line.

It is known to provide turbine moving blades with a protective layer so that they have a prolonged service life when they are in operation in a gas turbine. In this context, the protective layer applied to the turbine moving blade manufactured by casting is often a corrosion protection layer of the type MCrAlY. The protective layer is in this case applied in that region of the blade surface which is exposed to the hot gas when the gas turbine is in operation. This region comprises both the blade leaf and the platform of the turbine moving blade, the blade leaf being integrally formed on said platform. Moreover, in addition to the corrosion protection layer, a heat insulation layer may be applied in the abovementioned region, in order to keep the introduction of heat from the hot gas into the basic material of the turbine moving blade as low as possible.
It is known, furthermore, that turbine moving blades are exposed to the excitation of oscillations when the gas turbine is in operation. Excitation to oscillation occurs because of the rotation of the rotor to which the turbine moving blades are fastened. A further contribution to the excitation of oscillations in the blade leaves of the turbine moving blades is made by the hot gas which impinges onto them. Since the blade leaves of the turbine moving blades rotate downstream of a rim of turbine guide blades, as seen in the direction of flow of the hot gas, these are excited to oscillate by cyclically impinging hot gas. It is therefore necessary that each turbine moving blade has a sufficiently high characteristic frequency to ensure that neither the excitation to oscillation emanating from the rotor rotational speed nor that emanating from the hot gas, with respective exciting frequencies, leads to an inadmissibly high oscillation of the blade leaf. Accordingly, in the prior art, the turbine moving blades are designed in such a way that their characteristic frequency deviates from the exciting frequencies of the stationary gas turbine. Care is therefore taken, in the development of the turbine moving blade, to ensure that the finished turbine moving blade, overall, satisfies the requirements with regard to natural resonance.
In the process for manufacturing the turbine moving blade, therefore, there is provision for checking the oscillation properties of each individual turbine moving blade. Insofar as the turbine moving blade does not fulfill the stipulated frequency values in terms of characteristic frequency, it has to be rejected or manipulated by means of suitable measures in such a way that it is then suitable for operation and fulfills the requirements as to characteristic frequency. So that turbine moving blades which are not intended for use in the gas turbine solely because of their oscillation property can still be employed, it is known from U.S. Pat. No. 4,097,192 to introduce a recess on the end face of the blade leaf of the turbine moving blade, with the result that the mass of the turbine moving blade at its free oscillatory end can be reduced. By the mass of the turbine moving blade being reduced, the oscillation property is influenced positively. Its characteristic frequency can be shifted toward higher characteristic frequencies by the removal of the mass, in particular at its outer end.
Moreover, WO2003/06260A1 discloses a method for changing the frequency of moving blades which are already ready for use. According to this, to change the frequency, a metallic covering is applied to the blade leaf in the region of the blade leaf tip, the thickness of which covering tapers continuously at the outlet edge and in the radial direction toward the blade foot. The disadvantage of this, however, is that the aerodynamics of the moving blade are consequently also modified.
Moreover, it is known that measures for prolonging the service life are carried out on turbine moving blades previously used in gas turbines. These measures comprise, on the one hand, the elimination of cracks which have occurred during operation and, on the other hand, the renewal of the protective layers provided on the turbine moving blades.

Method for the production of coated turbine moving blades and moving-blade ring for a rotor of an axial-throughflow turbine


A maleimide derivative useful as an active agent for a fungicide for agriculture and horticulture, having the formula (I): ##STR1## wherein X and Y each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a lower alkyl group, a lower alkoxy group, an aralkyloxy group or a trifluoromethyl group,. Z represents a chlorine atom or bromine atom, PA0 and R represents a straight or branched alkyl group having 1 to 15 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, an alkynyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, an oxoalkyl group having 3 to 6 carbon atoms or a phenyl group or a phenyl alkyl group which may be substituted.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a novel maleimide derivative having the formula (I): ##STR2## wherein X and Y each independently represent a hydrogen atom, a halogen atom, a hydroxyl group, a lower alkyl group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, a lower alkoxy group having 1 to 3 carbon atoms, an aralkyloxy group having 7 to 10 carbon atoms, or a trifluoromethyl group,
Z represents a chlorine atom or bromine atom, PA0 and R represents a straight or branched alkyl group having 1 to 15 carbon atoms, an alkenyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, an alkynyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, an alkoxyalkyl group having 2 to 5 carbon atoms, an oxoalkyl group having 3 to 6 carbon atoms or a phenyl group which may be substituted with a halogen atom, C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl group or C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 haloalkyl group or a phenyl C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl group which may be substituted with a halogen atom, C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 alkyl group or C.sub.1 -C.sub.3 haloalkyl group, and a fungicide for agriculture and horticulture containing the same as the active ingredient.
2. Description of the Related Art
Concerning maleimide derivatives having amino acid as the skeleton, for example, J. Prakt. Chemi., 327 (5), p. 857-864 describes the compound shown below: ##STR3## This article however, does not disclose whether or not this compound has a fungicidal activity.

Maleimide derivatives and fungicides for agriculture and horticulture containing the same


The method of forming carbon nanotubes from carbon-rich fly ash is a chemical vapor deposition-based method for forming carbon nanotubes from recycled carbon-rich fly ash. The method includes first ultrasonically treating the carbon-rich fly ash to produce an ultrafine powdered ash, and then reacting the ultrafine powdered ash in a low pressure chemical vapor deposition reactor to form the carbon nanotubes. The ultrasonic treatment of the carbon-rich fly ash includes the steps of dissolving the carbon-rich fly ash in water to form a solution, then sonicating the solution, separating the ultrafine powdered ash from the solution, and finally drying the ultrafine powdered ash. The method provides for total conversion of the carbon-rich fly ash to carbon nanotubes having a variety of differing diameters and lengths, including multi-walled carbon nanotubes with a high degree of wall graphitization and C═C double bonds stretching at 1635 cm−1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of forming carbon nanotubes, and particularly to a method of forming carbon nanotubes from carbon-rich fly ash by chemical vapor deposition.
2. Description of the Related Art
Fly ash is one of the residues generated in combustion, and is formed from the fine particles that rise with the flue gases. Fly ash is generally captured by electrostatic precipitators or other particle filtration equipment before the flue gases reach the chimneys of coal-fired power plants. Depending upon the source and makeup of the coal being burned, the components of fly ash vary considerably, but all fly ash includes substantial amounts of silicon dioxide (SiO2) (both amorphous and crystalline) and calcium oxide (CaO), both being endemic ingredients in many coal-bearing rock strata.
Fly ash is typically seen as an environmental hazard and is considered a waste product with little to no reclamation potential. Water desalination processes, in particular, create large quantities of fly ash, typically in the form of carbon-rich flue ash. Power plants also produce large quantities of such carbon-rich fly ash, typically from crude and heavy oil processes. For example, in Saudi Arabia, water desalination plants and power plants, which are typically fueled by crude oil or heavy oil, produce large amounts of fly ash daily that may have a carbon content of 80%-90%, the remainder being oxides of silicon, aluminum, nickel, vanadium and iron. Most of this fly ash is treated as waste, and is disposed of at landfills.
Due to the environmental hazards of producing fly ash and disposal of fly ash as a common byproduct of many industrial processes, it would be desirable to provide a method for recycling the fly ash into useful components, such as reactive carbon, which could be used for other desired processes.
Thus, a method of forming carbon nanotubes from carbon-rich fly ash solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

Method of forming carbon nanotubes from carbon-rich fly ash


A decorative lamp, including a lampshade, a luminophor and conductive wires connected with the luminophor. The decorative lamp includes a wire trapper, one end portion is disposed between the conductive wires and a housing with opened inner space. The wire trapper is disposed inside the inner space, the conductive wires extend out of an opened end of the inner space to be connected to an external power supply with one end portion of the wire trapper and an inner wall of the housing defining the inner space press and fix the conductive wires. The lampshade and the housing respectively include structures that cooperate to form a sealing assembly. The decorative lamp may also be modified by replacing the cooperation between the lampshade and the housing by a snap-fit member such that the luminophor extends out of the snap-fit member and forms a tight cooperation with the snap-fit member.

The existing decorative lamps generally comprise a lampshade, a light emitting diode, conductive wires and a lamp holder.
For such decorative lamps, one known structure is effectuated by integrated injection molding, i.e. a light emitting diode is disposed in a lampshade in a way such that two leads of the light emitting diode are led out of the lampshade through conductive wires and then the bottom of the lampshade and the connection portion between the conductive wires and the leads are injected with plastics to form a molded lamp holder into which the bottom of the lampshade and two lead-out conductive wires are over-molded, thereby producing the waterproof effect. For decorative lamps with such structure, it is necessary to deliver the bottom of the lampshade, at which a light emitting diode is disposed, to an injection molding machine for thermal injection-molding. As a result, the machining is inconvenient and the LED is easily damaged during heating.
Another known structure is effectuated by an assembled structure, i.e. a LED is mounted using a soft core and inserted into a soft head installed with terminals and conductive wires to form an assembled lamp holder. With this, the machining is quite convenient. For decorative lamps with such structure, there are gaps at a coupling portion between the soft head and the soft core as well as a coupling portion between the soft head and the conductive wires so that it is impossible to be waterproof, causing that the LED leads and the terminals are oxidized to render poor contact.


Disclosed is a gas barrier film alternately comprising at least one inorganic layer and at least one organic layer on a resin base material having a glass transition temperature of 250° C. or higher. The gas barrier film can exhibit superior gas barrier property when it is used in image display devices such as liquid crystal display devices and organic EL devices.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gas barrier film having superior gas barrier performance and a method for producing the same as well as an organic electroluminescence device (henceforth referred to as "organic EL device") utilizing the gas barrier film. More precisely, the present invention relates to a gas barrier film suitable as a substrate of various kinds of devices and a method for producing the same, as well as a flexible organic EL device utilizing the gas barrier film.
2. Description of the Background
Conventionally, gas barrier films prepared by forming a thin film of metal oxide such as aluminum oxide, magnesium oxide or silicon oxide on a surface of a plastic substrate or film have been widely used in packaging of articles which require shielding of various gases such as water vapor and oxygen, and packaging use for preventing deterioration of food, industrial materials, medical supplies and so forth. In addition to the packaging use, gas barrier films are recently coming to be used also in liquid crystal display devices, solar cells, EL devices and so forth.
In the course of development of image display devices such as liquid crystal display devices and EL devices in recent years, transparent base materials for forming these devices are required to satisfy highly sophisticated requirements in addition to suitability for production of lighter and larger devices, for example, they must have long term reliability and higher degree of freedom of the shape, they must enable display on a curved surface, and so forth. As a transparent base material that satisfies such sophisticated requirements, plastic base materials are beginning to be adopted as new base materials as an alternative to conventional glass substrates, which are heavy, readily broken and difficult to be formed with a larger size. Plastic base materials not only satisfy the aforementioned requirements, but also show more favorable productivity compared with glass substrates because a roll-to-roll system can be used for them, and therefore they are more advantageous also in view of cost reduction.
However, plastic base materials have a drawback that their gas barrier property is inferior to that of glass base materials. If a base material having poor gas barrier property is used, water vapor and air permeate the material to, for example, degrade liquid crystals in a liquid crystal cell, form display defects and thereby degrade display quality. In order to solve this problem, plastic films in which a metal oxide thin film is formed on a plastic film have been developed so far. Examples of such plastic films include those comprising a plastic film on which silicon oxide is vapor-deposited (Japanese Patent Publication (KOKOKU) No. 53-12953), those comprising a plastic film on which aluminum oxide is vapor-deposited (Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (KOKAI) No. 58-217344) and so forth are known. These films have a water vapor barrier property of about 1 g/m2/day represented in terms of permeability.
The gas barrier performance required for plastic film substrates used for recently developed large-sized liquid crystal displays, high precision displays and so forth is about 0.1 g/m2/day in terms of water vapor barrier property. Furthermore, development of organic EL displays, high precision color liquid crystal displays and so forth has recently progressed, and therefore required are transparent base materials usable for these having further higher barrier performance, in particular, barrier performance of less than 0.1 g/m2/day in terms of water vapor barrier ability, while maintaining transparency. In order to meet such a demand, recently studied is film formation by the sputtering method or CVD method as a means that can be expected to provide higher barrier performance, in which a thin film is formed by using plasma generated by glow discharge under a low pressure condition. Moreover, organic luminescence devices in which a barrier film having an alternate laminate structure of organic layers and inorganic layers is produced by the vacuum deposition method are proposed (e.g., International Patent Application Laid-open Publication in Japanese (KOHYO) No. 2002-532850 (claim 1, FIG. 1)).
However, in these methods for forming a thin film, an organic substance blown as a vapor of a high temperature condenses on a film and form a thin film, and the film is temporarily heated and causes partial deformation. As a result, the subsequent lamination step becomes uneven, and thus the methods have a problem that they cannot provide sufficient barrier ability. Moreover, in these methods for forming a thin film, the number of the lamination step increases, and thus they have a problem of high cost. Furthermore, when a surface of a plastic substrate showing high water absorption is treated, the absorbed moisture is vaporized, thus it requires long time to obtain vacuum, and therefore there is also a problem that the processing cost becomes high.
Further, as for heat resistance of base material films, for disposing TFT in the production of active matrix type image devices in recent years, heat resistance of a still higher level is required. For example, a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon film at a temperature of 300° C. or lower by plasma decomposition of a gas containing SiH4 is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication (KOKAI) No. 7-81919 (claim 3, [0016] to [0020]). Moreover, a method of forming a semiconductor layer mixed with amorphous silicon and polycrystalline silicon on a polymer substrate at a temperature of 300° C. or lower by irradiation of an energy beam is disclosed in International Patent Application Laid-open Publication in Japanese No. 10-512104 [pages 14 to 22, FIG. 1, FIG. 7). Furthermore, a method of forming a polycrystalline silicon semiconductor layer on a plastic substrate provided with a thermal buffer layer at a temperature of 300° C. or lower by irradiation of a pulsed laser beam is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-open Publication No. 11-102867 (claims 1 to 10, [0036]).
As described above, various methods of forming a polycrystalline silicon film for TFT at a temperature of 300° C. or lower have been proposed, and therefore it is useful that the base materials have heat resistance for a temperature of 250° C. or higher. On the other hand, such methods for forming a semiconductor layer as described above use complicated configurations and apparatuses and require high cost, and therefore heat resistance for a temperature of 300° C. to 350° C. or higher is desired for plastics substrates.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,492,026 discloses a heat-resistant substrate having a barrier stack consisting of at least one inorganic layer and at least one polymer layer but it fails to show sufficient heat resistance.

Gas barrier film and method for producing the same


The present disclosure relates to a method of generating an antibody library, not limiting to a synthetic antibody gene expression library built on pool of consensus nucleic acid sequences by using codon replacement technology. The present disclosure also relates to a synthetic antibody library generated by employing the method of the present disclosure and application(s) of said antibody library.

Human antibody repertoires that are collections of human immunoglobulin (Ig) genes with most frequently found rearranged antibodies comprise of human variable-heavy chain (VH) segment that is well expressed and pairs with all light chains (Vk and Vλ) in a situation dependent fashion. In natural immune system, this diversity via rearrangement of genes occurs during B-lymphocyte maturation in an orderly manner. The naïve diversity that arises due to antigen independent process evolves further when a B-lymphocyte bearing surface antibody encounters an antigen with moderate affinity. Thus activation, maturation and differentiation process of virgin B-cells to mature B-cell ensue from collaboration with T-cells resulting B-cell's proliferation, secretion of antibody, production of IgG, somatic hyper-mutation and production of memory B-cells.
Human monoclonal antibody (mAb) and their derivatives are one of the largest and fastest growing segments of biopharmaceutical industry. Recent application of recombinant DNA technology for generating and expressing antibodies has attained a significant amount of interest among scientists from industry and academia.
Chimeric, humanized and human mAb, the prevailing formats of therapeutic mAb, share human constant domains but are discerned by the origin of their variable domains. Human mAb have a set of variable domains that are entirely stemmed from human antibody repertoires. Chimeric antibodies are artificially developed using the human codon usage which might result in anti-antibody response. This is one of the most important therapeutic limitations of early monoclonal antibody therapy. Moreover, this development of immune response can affect its efficacy and safety for example, reduced target binding, altered clearance and pharmacokinetics. Furthermore, humanized antibodies yielded from humanization process of the antibodies or grafting of CDR sequences bind antigen differently than the parent antibody. Thus, human monoclonal antibodies are generally viewed to have better pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic features when compared to monoclonal antibodies from nonhuman antibody repertoires. Immunogenicity of humanized mAbs is substantially less in comparison with nonhuman and chimeric monoclonal antibodies.
Approaches such as immunization and murine hybridoma technology are traditionally followed for generation of antibodies. However, limitations of immunization have been with safety and pharmacokinetic properties which directly impact utility and efficacy of drug molecule development. Limitations of hybridoma technology have been with the antigens' toxicity or non-immunogenicity in mice. Considering the high sequence homologies between the human and the respective murine antigen, generation of antibodies to self-antigens can be challenging.
More specifically, limitations associated with hybridoma technology are multifactorial. There is no control over the epitopes to which antibodies are formed. Antibodies must be screened extensively after they are created in the hope that one has been created with characteristics that are desirable to the investigator. Moreover, Sensitive antigens (e.g. membrane proteins and nucleic acids) could be destroyed in the animal while toxic antigens might kill the animal. Considering the high sequence homology between the human and the mice, respective murine antigen might give rise to non-immunogenicity in mice wherein generation of antibodies to self-antigens can be challenging. The scope of further development of antibodies in terms of rationally introducing features exhibiting higher affinity is extremely limited and difficult to do.
A synthetic diversity mimics the pattern of mutations seen in immunoglobulins after immunization and clonal selection. Therefore, synthetic libraries fundamentally differ from immune or naïve libraries in the origin of the sequences used to build and develop the library. In synthetic libraries the antibody diversity is designed in silico and synthesized in a controlled manner, while naïve libraries are amplified from a natural source and diversity is random. The ratio of naturally-derived and synthetically-designed segments varies in different libraries designating a library from semi-synthetic to fully synthetic.
To develop a wide diverse synthetic antibody library, understanding on amino acid positional and compositional biasness could be explored along with the related information on length variation. Moreover, the diversity in synthetic antibody repertoire is solely relying on rational designing guided by structure-function studies of antibody-antigen interactions. In 1992, semi-synthetic scFv-antibody phage display libraries, comprising 49 VH sequences and a single V2 light chain sequence were developed by Hoogenboom and Winter, wherein five to eight residues in the CDR-H3 region were randomized via PCR-based approach generating libraries with a size of 1×107. Subsequent libraries were built with the addition of 26 kappa and 21 lambda sequences. Length variability mediated diversity was introduced in a library through randomization of 4-12 residues in CDR-H3, 1-3 residues in kappa CDR-L3 and 0-5 residues in lambda CDR-L3 resulting a library size expanded up to 6.5×1010. Researchers made a surprising observation wherein post selection certain frameworks (predominantly VH1 and VH3) are over represented in phage display platform, beyond the expectation from the input library. This observation prompted to the development of single consensus acceptor sequence where the heavy and light chain sequence were identified/chosen based on the frequency of use and stability and/or expression levels.
Unlike Naïve library, selective binding can be introduced through alteration in single frame work region which hinders the ability of the antibodies of the library to bind all types of antigens. Among various formats, genes encoding single chain antibody (scFv) or Fab were made by randomly combining heavy and light chain V-genes using PCR and the combinatorial library could be cloned in phagemids or yeast for display on the surface of a phage. Alternatively libraries may be obtained through the artificial introduction of mutations into the complementarity determining regions (CDR) of the heavy chains or of the light chain domains. Heavy chain CDR3 is key contributor towards antigen binding and is the most variable among the CDRs in natural antibody. The CDR3 of the variable heavy genes varies in size and sequence during the rearrangement of the V-D-J segments plays a dominant role in the antibody diversity. Naive libraries were constructed by the use of degenerate primers while synthetic libraries are made through randomization of the CDR3 amino acid composition. Several studies showed that medium size libraries (5×107 members) with variation in the heavy chain CDR3 have provided a successful identification of novel antibody specificities. Larger libraries of more than 108 molecules with heavy chain CDR3 sequence lengths of 4 to 21 residues from 50 VH and 6 to 15 residues in 49 different VH genes allowed the selection of antibody fragments with different specificities. Work done by De Kruif and collaborators had successfully used all 49 human germline VH genes and seven different light chain genes (4 from variable kappa, 3 from variable lambda) with CDR-H3 length variability ranging from 6 to 15 residues to construct a library of 3.6×108. The approach included the complete randomization of shorter CDR-H3s of six amino acid length while for the longer CDR-H3s the design involved a stretch of fully randomized amino acid residues flanked by regions of lower diversity resembling human natural antibody sequences. The CDRH3 strongly contributes to the overall specificity of an antibody. However, the other five CDRs may also contribute to the specificity and affinity of the antibody.
Another approach which combines all the CDRs uses a CDR-Implantation Technology or CDR grafting technology. As can be understood, the degree of functional variation arising by simultaneous and random combination of six CDRs is enormous. Usefulness of a library in terms of finding specific set of antibody fragments to both haptens and protein antigens could be selected from the smallest libraries; however, affinities is expected to be moderately low. A great extent of work done on these aspects had led to observation that there is a strong bias towards the VH3 framework. As exemplified by the use of a ten times larger library resulted in selection of scFv fragments against 18 different antigens. Another observation indicated that all VH families except VH2 were found wherein VH3 family was seen as strongly overrepresented.
Accumulating results from selections done with the early libraries confirmed that the larger libraries yield more specific antibodies with higher affinities. Another observation is that certain frameworks (predominantly VH1 and VH3) are generally over represented after phage display selection wherein, the ratio is often different than the input libraries. This has led to the development of single acceptor framework libraries wherein sequence for VH and VL frameworks were chosen based on the frequency of use and for their favorable stability. One such example Libraries that are made of a single framework combination often use the heavy chain framework VH3_23, a framework that is frequently found in human antibodies. This exclusive heavy chain pairs with most of the light chains and shows a good expression in bacteria and displays well on phages.
Pini and others have used VH3_23 heavy chain and the light chain corresponding to the Vκ3_20 germline for its expression levels and stability properties wherein designated positions were randomized in CDR-L3 and CDR-H3, resulting in a library size of >3×108. 88% of the clones were shown to express a functional antibody and scFvs were selected with monovalent affinities at nano molar level. The same frame work was used by Bioinvent in combination with V_lambda (DPL3) to generate n-CoDeR® scFv library. The natural diversity was used to introduce the diversity for this library. This specific library consists of sequences encoding in vivo formed CDRs originated from rearranged immunoglobulin genes of different germline sources which were combined into one single master framework by PCR amplification of CDR sequences. As there is only one fixed framework, CDR sequences from other germlines were combined with the fixed framework. CDR sequences were amplified from various sources with an assumption that these CDR regions might contain less T-cell epitopes compared to an in silico design. This assumption was based on the existence of in vivo proofreading mechanism. Although the initial library size was of 2×109, which was increased by one decade of magnitude and found to be selective molecules in the sub-nanomolar range of affinities.
For another instance, Lee and coworkers had used a similar framework sequence to construct libraries with synthetic CDR sequences based on a single scaffold. The library was constructed using the framework sequence of the humanized 4D5 antibody (Herceptin®), a framework derived from VH3_23 and V_kappa). In addition, natural diversity of human repertoire was mimicked by the use of custom tailored codon choices. These libraries resulted affinities in the low nanomolar ranges. On the other hand, in parallel with ScFv and Fab formats, single domain synthetic antibodies libraries were established by Tanha and others. A human VH library was constructed based on a camelized VH sequence through complete randomization of 19 of the 23 CDR3 residues.
Another example of combining synthetic diversity in CDR-H1 and -H2 with length and sequence diversity in CDR-H3 from natural origin can be seen in literature where in Hoet and coworkers at Dyax had introduced hotspot mutations in germline sequences and strategically placed in CDRH1 and H2 regions. This resulted to a library with a size of 3.5×1010 and a phage library with a size of 1.0×1010 with affinities ranging in the sub-nanomolar level. Based on the similar principle, Schoonbroodt and coworkers had generated a library on anti-carbohydrate antibodies wherein the library was customized for the generation of antibodies recognizing negatively charged carbohydrates by introducing basic residues at defined positions. Sequence alignment studies done on several carbohydrate binding antibodies prompted designated positions for mutations. The library was successfully tested on two human charged carbohydrate targets, heperan sulfate and 6-sulfosialyl Lewis X core. In another instance, designed library named as HUCAL®, is based on consensus sequences representing multiple germline families rather than using a single germline sequence. This concept incorporates the different framework sequences contributing to the structural diversity of human antibodies.
Taken together, the approach describes concept of one consensus framework for each of the human VH and VL subfamilies that is frequently used during an immune response, resulting in seven master genes for VH and seven master genes for VL to obtain 49 possible combinations in Fab format. The sequencing of 257 members of the unselected libraries indicated that the frequency of correct and potentially functional sequences was not more than 61%. However, structural incompatibility between these newly introduced CDRs and the fixed framework might prevent the formation of functional antibody. Optimization of an antibody selected from a library screening involves various in vitro strategies including site specific mutagenesis based on structural information or combinatorial mutagenesis of CDR/s.
All high-affinity antibodies are generated by the immune system through a combination of steps introducing diversity (somatic hypermutation) and a subsequent selection (clonal expansion) in vivo. During antigen stimulated B-cell proliferation, the immunoglobulin locus undergoes a very high rate of somatic mutation. There are several different approaches to mimic these events in vitro to improve the affinity of antibodies obtained from combinatorial synthetic libraries. For in vitro affinity maturation, selected molecules are randomized to introduce diversity followed by selection with selective pressure to identify improved variants which in turn can differentiate between targeted and non-targeted diversification strategies.
Among various non-targeted diversification approaches, error prone PCR and the use of mutator E. coli strains are employed to introduce mutations resulting diversity. However, as sequence diversity is introduced randomly into the whole antibody sequence, therefore, this leads to the introduction of deleterious mutations in conserved framework regions and demands the screening of a large repertoire to identify potential candidates. Error prone PCR in combination with phage display was used by Hawkins and colleagues wherein a moderate 4.5-fold rise in affinity of a hapten specific antibody fragment was observed. Another group had used E. coli mutator strain mutD5 in combination with subsequent phage display. This resulted in an increased affinity of a phOx antibody fragment by a factor of 100-fold. Though not popularly used, but, chain shuffling is another method that exists for non-targeted diversification. This approach entails replacement of one of the two antibody chains by a repertoire keeping other chain constant. As exemplified by the work of Marks and colleagues, wherein, the method of chain shuffling with a ScFv that is specific for the hapten phOx, was used for subsequent screening experiments. Various groups of researchers had successfully used antibody chain shuffling for affinity maturation resulting in significant affinity improvement such as 5 to 6 fold affinity improvement of an erbB2 specific antibody fragment while a 30-fold affinity improvement was seen for a VEGF specific antibody fragment.
The designed strategy to develop synthetic library comprises of targeted schemes to introduce diversity at defined positions that are predicted to contribute to the antigen binding, primarily in the CDR regions. CDR-targeted mutagenesis is advantageous since optimization of these regions is likely to improve affinity without creating issues with protein stability or functionality. Among several adopted methodologies, CDR walking has been used with a scope of limited diversity wherein short stretches of 4 to 6 amino acids of a single CDR are targeted. There is both parallel and sequential CDR walking which can be introduced by the use of degenerated oligonucleotides. One such example is improved affinity of a gp120 (HIV antigen) specific antibody.
A series of libraries were constructed utilizing a subset of amino acids for diversification. This is in contrast to the approach of maximizing diversity within the framework sequences of the naturally occurring antibody sequence space. It has been observed from crystallographic analyses and associated findings that naturally occurring tyrosine and serine residues are favored in their antigen binding sites. Researchers at Genentech had randomized selected solvent accessible CDR positions to create a small synthetic library which was later successfully screened against VEGF giving rise to potential molecules with low nano molar affinity.
Various synthetic combinatorial antibody libraries differ in terms of their design, origin of sequence diversity and method of generation. All these aspects have multifactorial impacts on the essential features of the library: i) size and ii) functional diversity. These in turn will be reflected in the ability to screen and deliver high affinity antibodies with acceptable and improved biophysical properties.
Selection and screening studies done with the earlier libraries have confirmed the expectation that larger libraries yield more specific antibodies with higher affinities. Several display and protein interaction systems have been established as selection methods for antibody-antigen interaction while most preferred being a display of the antibody on the surface of, either phages, yeast, or on ribosomes following an in vitro transcription. In contrast, intracellular selection methods, such as yeast-two-hybrid system or protein complementation assay directly rely on intracellular expression of the target protein.
The ribosome display method is technically more challenging due to relative instability of the RNA and the ribosomal complex. Phage display is the most accepted method due to ease of cloning, allowing for large library sizes, monovalent display and easy to determine various stability parameters. However, with phage display, there are limitations on proper protein folding due to prokaryotic expression system and lack of post translational modifications of the displayed antibody fragments. To overcome these limitations, yeast display platform, a eukaryotic display system is of choice as it is compatible with fluorescence activated cell sorter (FACS)-sorting techniques, which allows antibody selection close to natural conditions in solution and in parallel, parameters like antibody expression levels, number of bound antigen, or cross-reactivity could be assessed. However, major challenge in case of yeast display would be relatively smaller library size.
The instant disclosure, is directed towards addressing such limitations of the prior art and therefore aims at designing and creating highly diverse antibody synthetic gene libraries which are capable of accommodating a large library size, which can thereby improve the potential of identifying and generating unique molecules against multitude of antigens with varied affinities and specificities.

Method of generating a synthetic antibody library, said library and application(s) thereof


A preservative composition comprising: (a) 1,2-Benzisothiazolin-3-one (BIT); (b) 3-Iodo-2-propynyl carbamate (IPBC); and (c) a mixture of 5-Chloro-2-methyl-4-isothiazolin-3-one (CMIT) and 2-Methyl-4-isothiazolm-3-one (MIT).

Commercial use products are generally designed to have a substantial shelf life. The products need to be manufactured at one site, transported possibly over a considerable distance to a depot or other storage facility prior to further transport to a point of sale. The product may then spend considerable time on a retailer's shelf prior to purchase and further storage by the user whether for individual use or use in, for example, a workplace, institution or the like. Storage typically takes place under uncontrolled conditions including considerable variation in temperature.
In order to keep bacterial and fungal growth in such products at an acceptable level it is conventional practice for the products to contain a preservative. Many preservatives are available. The appropriate preservative has to be selected with regard to its efficacy and its acceptability in the product.


Techniques of providing increased safety for wireless systems are described herein. A wireless power receiving unit includes a first receiving coil to inductively couple to a wireless power transmitting unit having a transmitting coil. A safety component is provided to reduce wireless power received at a second receiving coil from the wireless power transmitting unit.

A basic wireless charging system may include a wireless power transmitter unit (PTU) and a wireless power receiving unit (PRU). For example, a PTU may include a transmit (Tx) coil, and a PRU may include receive (Rx) coil. Magnetic resonance wireless charging may employ a magnetic coupling between the Tx coil and the Rx coil. In some scenarios, a wireless PRU may be used in a device having another type of wireless coil, such as a near field communication (NFC) coil. In these scenarios, a resonance frequency associated with wireless charging may damage the NFC coil.
The same numbers are used throughout the disclosure and the figures to reference like components and features. Numbers in the 100 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 1; numbers in the 200 series refer to features originally found in FIG. 2; and so on.


One example includes an apparatus that includes a plurality of input/output (I/O) ports and a body portion. The plurality of I/O ports can be arranged at a plurality of peripheral surfaces of the body portion. The body portion includes a solid dielectric material having a substantially constant index of refraction. The body portion also includes parallel planar surfaces spaced apart by and bounded by the plurality of peripheral surfaces. The solid dielectric material in the body portion can be writable via a laser-writing process to form an optical waveguide extending between a set of the plurality of I/O ports.

Optical communications have become more prevalent as the demand for high-speed communication and processing has increased. Optical communications typically implement a laser and/or other optical devices for providing and receiving optical signals. Datacenter networks typically require the linking of optical cables (e.g., optical fibers) between optical devices, with the number of cables being potentially be very large (e.g., numbering in the thousands). Such an arrangement of a large number of optical cables can require optical shuffling or optical routing to interconnect a linear array of optical cables between input and output planes of a given computer or optical system.

Laser-written optical routing systems and method

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


A method and apparatus of allocating a Physical Cell Identifier (PCI) is disclosed in an embodiment of the present invention allowing different cells to operate on different frequencies while eliminating or reducing risk of PCI conflicts. Thereby PCI allocation is provided that is effective also in a multi-frequency environment.

The radio performance in the 3rd Generation (3G) network has been improved greatly. However, from the perspective of commercial operation, the operator needs to reduce costs of network construction and operation so as to win the markets with more cost-efficient network services for the users. The linchpin of reducing the operation cost is to reduce the network planning and network optimization processes that involve manual operation, thereby enhancing the network automation functions. Consequently, PCT automatic allocation is an important content of the radio network system planning and optimization currently.
The automatic allocation of PCIs is performed by an Evolved Node B which is also called an eNB. The automatic allocation aims to allocate a proper PCI automatically for the newly introduced cell of the eNB. According to the protocol, there are 504 available PCIs in total. Therefore, in the practical networking, it is necessary to multiplex such PCIs. If the PCIs are allocated improperly, the PCI may conflict between the cells. Given below are two examples of the conflict:
I. As shown in FIG. 1, there are three cells: cell 1 (101), cell 2 (102), and cell 3 (103). Cell 1 and cell 3 work under the same frequency, and their PCI is the same, namely, PCIA; cell 2 is direct neighbor of cell 1 and cell 3. (Two cells in radio-sense adjacent to each other or (partially) overlapping as regards geographical radio coverage are examples of direct neighbors); and the PCI of cell 2 is PCIB. When the User Equipment (UE) in cell 2 initiates a handover request, the UE detects cell 1 and cell 3. Because cell 1 and cell 3 have the same PCI, the eNB of cell 2 is unable to determine which cell can serve as a target cell according to the PCI, and the eNB is unable to notify the UE to hand over.
II. As shown in FIG. 2, there are two adjacent cells: cell 1 and cell 2. Cell 1 is partially overlapping with cell 2; cell 1 and cell 2 are working under the same frequency and have the same PCI, namely, PCIA. If the UE is in the overlap of cell 1 and cell 2, the UE can detect at most one cell.
In order to avoid the foregoing conflict, precise planning need be performed at the time of allocating the PCI to the cell.
The existing standard provides a mechanism of allocating the PCIs in a same-frequency scenario as follows. When an eNB is started, the eNB obtains the PCI used by one or more cells neighboring the one or more cells of the started eNB through an X2 or S1 interface message. Therefore, a PCI unused by the adjacent cell of the cell under the new eNB is allocated to the cell under the new eNB, and the foregoing conflict is avoided.
The foregoing method provides automatic allocation of PCI for cells operating on the same-frequency. According to prior art, for cells operating on disjoint frequencies, no corresponding mechanism is available to PCI allocation and PCI conflict therefore may occur.

Method and apparatus for physical cell identifier communication and selection