Disclosed are a document group analyzing apparatus, a document group analyzing method, a document group analyzing system, a program, and a recording medium that identify where business success and failure are branched by separating documents having causal relation between success cases and failure cases, and displaying information for analyzing factors for success and failure. Therein, a document is searched for in a document database by a searching condition, documents, the document database holding a document group having causal relation based on kinds of documents. The document searched for, and documents having causal relation to the document that is searched for are extracted from the document database. The extracted documents having causal relation are divided into groups. Documents belonging to each group are classified by the kinds of the documents.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a document group analyzing apparatus, a document group analyzing method, a document group analyzing system, a program, and a recording medium; and especially relates to the technology to search for document groups with causal relation, and to perform text-mining based on a search result.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to make a business successful, it is often important to analyze the past. Typically, it is useful to plan a business meeting with reference to similar cases in the past.
There is technology to search for desired contents by inputting a search condition, wherein a document that meets the search condition is retrieved and presented (i.e., displayed and printed).
It sometimes happens that although cases appear similar to each other, the cases are divided into successful ones and failed ones, and that success is made although approaches are different. The past history cannot be fully utilized unless it is known "why some went good" and "why the others went wrong".
In order to fully utilize past experiences, document groups have to be classified into "success" ones and "failure" ones. According to conventional technology, correctly distinguishing between the two in a short time is difficult.
Even if the document groups can be divided into "success" and "failure", analyzing why a certain business went good, or wrong, is essential. At present, there is no specific technology for analyzing this way, and such an analysis is manually carried out.

Document group analyzing apparatus, a document group analyzing method, a document group analyzing system, a program, and a recording medium


The invention provides a system that can process a raw biological sample, perform a biochemical reaction and provide an analysis readout. For example, the system can extract DNA from a swab, amplify STR loci from the DNA, and analyze the amplified loci and STR markers in the sample. The system integrates these functions by using microfluidic components to connect what can be macrofluidic functions. In one embodiment the system includes a sample purification module, a reaction module, a post-reaction clean-up module, a capillary electrophoresis module and a computer. In certain embodiments, the system includes a disposable cartridge for performing analyte capture. The cartridge can comprise a fluidic manifold having macrofluidic chambers mated with microfluidic chips that route the liquids between chambers. The system fits within an enclosure of no more than 10 ft3. and can be a closed, portable, and/or a battery operated system. The system can be used to go from raw sample to analysis in less than 4 hours.

Sample preparation is a ubiquitous problem in biological analytical systems. The issue of providing sufficiently purified targets from diverse raw sample types to reliably perform downstream analytical assays is pervasive and covers cell biology, genomics, proteomics, metabolomics, food biology, molecular diagnostics, and many other biological and medical assays. While many advances in sample preparation have been made the chief solution has been to develop reagents that are used manually or in robotic systems that use rectilinear stages or multi-axis arms to manipulate samples.
Microfluidics and nanofluidics allow miniaturized sample volumes to be prepared for analysis. Advantages include the nanoscale consumption of reagents to reduce operating costs and full automation to eliminate operator variances. Microfluidic sample preparation can either interface with existing or future detection methods or be part of a completely integrated system. In the present application, methods and apparatuses are disclosed that integrate full volume sample preparation with volumes over 10 mL with microliter and smaller volumes for sample preparation and analysis.
Starting from the sample, the present invention can be applied to concentrate, and pre-separate components for further processing to detect and classify organisms in matrices comprising aerosol samples, water, liquids, blood, stools, nasal, buccal and other swabs, bodily fluids, environmental samples with analysis by ELISA, PCR or other nucleic acid amplification techniques, single molecule detection, protein arrays, mass spectroscopy, and other analytical methods well known to one skilled in the art.
Microfluidic nucleic acid purification can be performed to prepare the sample for nucleic acid assays. For DNA analysis, PCR amplification is one current method. Microarray DNA, RNA and protein analysis also requires extensive sample preparation before the sample can be applied to the microarray for reaction and readout.
Samples can be obtained by a wide variety of substrates and matrices. The matrix may contain complex mixtures including inhibitory compounds such as hemes, indigo, humic acids, divalent cations, and proteins etc that interfere with DNA-based amplification. Aerosols can contain large amounts of molds, metals, and soils humic and other acids that all interfere with PCR amplification—the gold standard.
Early work showed that as few as three seeded organisms could be detected from diluted samples of soil extracts followed by PCR amplification of two 16S ribosomal gene fragments. Low-melting-temperature agarose has been used to extract DNA from soil samples for 16S and 18S rDNA PCR amplification using universal primers. Spun separation gels in column format can be used, such as Sephadex columns Multistep purifications such as organic extractions combined with Sephadex columns were developed. Bead beating was found to be an effective way to prepare samples for high numbers of organisms and grinding in liquid nitrogen to detect low numbers of organisms. While these methods are effective they were best suited for research laboratory environments.
Solid phase extractions to columns, beads, and surfaces can be used to purify DNA before DNA analysis. Proteinase K followed by a Qiagen QIA Amp silica-gel membrane columns and IsoCode Stix, an impregnated membrane-based technology, followed by heating, washing and a brief centrifugation were compared for B. anthracis Sterne vegetative cells in buffer, serum, and whole blood and spores in buffer and found to work well.
A variety of separations can be performed using the devices and methods of the invention. For example, the devices and methods of the invention can be used to perform chromatography, phase-based or magnetic-based separation, electrophoresis, distillation, extraction, and filtration. For example, a microfluidic channel or a capillary can be used for chromatography or electrophoresis. As well, beads, such as magnetic beads can be used for phase-based separations and magnetic-based separations. The beads, or any other surfaces described herein, can be functionalized with binding moieties that exhibit specific or non-specific binding to a target. The binding can be based on electrostatics, van der Walls interactions, hydrophobicity, hydrophilicity, hydrogen bonding, ionic interactions, as well as partially covalent interactions like those exhibited between gold and sulfur. In preferred embodiments, the devices and methods of the invention utilize immunomagnetic separations.
Immunomagnetic separation (IMS) is a powerful technology that allows targets to be captured and concentrated in a single step using a mechanistically simplified format that employs paramagnetic beads and a magnetic field (see Grodzinski P, Liu R, Yang J, Ward M D. Microfluidic system integration in sample preparation microchip-sets—a summary. Conf Proc IEEE Eng Med Biol Soc. 2004; 4:2615-8., Peoples M C, Karnes H T. Microfluidic immunoaffinity separations for bioanalysis. J Chromatogr B Analyt Technol Biomed Life Sci. 2007 Aug. 30., and Stevens K A, Jaykus L A. Bacterial separation and concentration from complex sample matrices: a review. Crit Rev Microbiol. 2004; 30(1):7-24.). IMS can be used to capture, concentrate, and then purify specific target antigens, proteins, toxins, nucleic acids, cells, and spores. While IMS as originally used referred to using an antibody, we generalize its usage to include other specific affinity interactions including lectins, DNA-DNA, DNA-RNA, biotin-streptavidin, and other affinity interactions that are coupled to a solid phase. IMS works by binding a specific affinity reagent, typically an antibody or DNA, to paramagnetic beads which are only magnetic in the presence of an external magnetic field. The beads can be added to complex samples such as aerosols, liquids, bodily fluids, or food. After binding of the target to the affinity reagent (which itself is bound to the paramagnetic bead) the bead is captured by application of a magnetic field. Unbound or loosely bound material is removed by washing with compatible buffers, which purifies the target from other, unwanted materials in the original sample. Because beads are small (about 1 nm to about 1 um) and bind high levels of target, when the beads are concentrated by magnetic force they typically form bead beds of between 1 nL and 1 uL, thus concentrating the target at the same time it is purified. The purified and concentrated targets can be conveniently transported, denatured, lysed or analyzed while on-bead, or eluted off bead for further sample preparation, or analysis.
Immunomagnetic separations are widely used for many applications including the detection of microorganisms in food, bodily fluids, and other matrices. Paramagnetic beads can be mixed and manipulated easily, and are adaptable to microscale and microfluidic applications. This technology provides an excellent solution to the macroscale-to-microscale interface: beads are an almost ideal vehicle to purify samples at the macroscale and then concentrate to the nanoscale (100's of nL) for introduction into microfluidic or nanofluidic platforms Immunomagnetic separations are commonly used as an upstream purification step before real-time PCR, electrochemiluminescence, and magnetic force discrimination.
The ability to move fluids on microchips is a quite important. This invention describes technologies in sample capture and purification, micro-separations, micro-valves, -pumps, and -routers, nanofluidic control, and nano-scale biochemistry. A key component of the technology is Micro-robotic On-chip Valves (MOVe) technology (an example of which is shown in FIG. 1) and its application to miniaturize and automate complex workflows. Collectively the MOVe valves, pumps, and routers and the instrumentation to operate them can be referred to as a microchip fluid processing platform.
The heart of the microchip fluid processing platform technology are MOVe pumps, valves, and routers that transport, process, and enable analysis of samples. These novel externally actuated, pneumatically-driven, on-chip valves, pumps, and routers, originally developed in the Mathies laboratory at the University of California at Berkeley (U. C. Berkeley) (Grover, W. H. A. M. Skelley, C. N. Liu, E. T. Lagally, and R. M. Mathies. 2003. Sensors and Actuators B89:315-323; Richard A. Mathies et al., United States Patent Application, 20040209354 A1 Oct. 21, 2004; all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety) can control fluidic flow at manipulate volumes from 20 nL to 10 μL.
The MOVe valves and pumps (FIG. 1) can combine two glass and/or plastic microfluidic layers with a polydimethyl siloxane (PDMS) deformable membrane layer that opens and closes the valve, and a pneumatic layer to deform the membrane and actuate the valve. The microfluidic channel etched in the top glass fluidic wafer is discontinuous and leads to a valve seat which is normally closed (FIG. 1A). When a vacuum is applied to the pneumatic displacement chamber by conventional-scale vacuum and pressure sources, the normally closed PDMS membrane lifts from the valve seat to open the valve (FIG. 1B). FIG. 1C shows a top view of the valve a similar scale as the other panels.
Three microvalves can be used to make a micropump on a microchip to move fluids from the Input area to the Output area on Microchip A. The fluids are moved by three or more valves. The valves can be created actuation of a deformable structure. In some implementations a valve seat is created and in other embodiments no valve seat may be needed. FIG. 2 shows MOVe devices from top to bottom: valve, router, mixer, bead capture. Self-priming MOVe pumps (FIG. 2, top) are made by coordinating the operation of three valves and can create flow in either direction. Routers are made from three or more MOVe valves (FIG. 2, top middle panel). Mixing has been a holy grail for microfluidics: MOVe mixers (FIG. 2, bottom middle panel) rapidly mix samples and reagents. MOVe devices work exquisitely with magnetic beads to pump or trap sets of beads (FIG. 2, bottom panel).
The normally closed MOVe valves, pumps, and routers are durable, easily fabricated at low cost, can operate in dense arrays, and have low dead volumes. Arrays of MOVe valves, pumps, and routers are readily fabricated on microchips. Significantly, all the MOVe valves, pumps, and routers on a microchip are created at the same time in a simple manufacturing process using a single sheet of PDMS membrane—it costs the same to make 5 MOVe micropumps on a microchip as to create 500. This innovative technology offers for the first time the ability to create complex micro- and nanofluidic circuits on microchips.
Patents and applications which discuss the use and design of microchips include U.S. Pat. No. 7,312,611, issued on Dec. 25, 2007; U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,616, issued on Feb. 20, 2001; U.S. Pat. No. 6,423,536, issued on Jul. 23, 2002; U.S. patent Ser. No. 10/633,171 Mar. 22, 2005; U.S. Pat. No. 6,870,185, issued on Mar. 22, 2005 US Application No. US 2001-0007641, filed on Jan. 25, 2001; US Application US20020110900, filed on Apr. 18, 2002; US patent application 20070248958, filed Sep. 15, 2005; US patent application US 20040209354, filed on Dec. 29, 2003; US patent application US2006/0073484, filed on Dec. 29, 2003; US20050287572, filed on May 25, 2005; US patent application US20070237686, filed on Mar. 21, 2007; US 20050224352 filed on Nov. 24, 2004; US 20070248958, filed on, Sep. 15, 2005; US 20080014576, filed on Feb. 2, 2007; and, US application US20070175756, filed on Jul. 26, 2006; all of which are herein incorporated by reference in their entirety.

Universal sample preparation system and use in an integrated analysis system


A tilt roll and tilt roll mechanism for a venetian blind are disclosed, designed to tilt the ladder laces of a venetian blind. The tilt roll body preferably has an asymmetric cross-section and is provided with bearings engaging bearings on a support and the elongate flexible cords of the ladder lace extend around at least a portion of the periphery of the body, one on each side. The cords are engaged on elements integrally molded to the body and these are each adapted to be engaged by one of the cords, effective to deform and retain the cord. The engaging elements may include a spike which is used to be pierced through a part of the cord, or by resiliently mounted flaps, or by radially outwardly extending jaws.. Means are also disclosed for preventing the tilt roll from being rotated more than 360.degree. and the configuration is such as to ensure that the top slat does not become retained by one of the tilt cords as the blind is moved from its closed to its open position.

Tilter mechanisms for venetian blinds are used to cooperate with the ladder lace of the venetian blinds and one always has two and sometimes more of these ladder laces, depending on the width of the blind, to support the slats. The ladder laces each comprise two laterally spaced elongate flexible cords or tapes and a plurality of longitudinally spaced, transversely extending rungs, joining said elongate flexible cords.
The elongate flexible cords are conventionally attached by one means or another to a tilt roll which is usually mounted in the head rail of the blind. All of the tilt rolls are simultaneously tilted in one direction or the other to cause opposite longitudinal movement of the elongate flexible cords, and thereby tilting of the rungs and the slats supported thereon. Various different types of controls may be provided to effect the tilting. In most instances the control mechanism operates on a tilt rod, usually of polygonal cross-section, which passes along the length of the head rail and engages on each of the tilt rolls.
The tilt rolls themselves usually have some gripping element usually in the form of a metal plate or tab, which is used to engage the elongate flexible cords which themselves are often knotted or provided with a metal bead or grommet at this location in order to secure to the tilt roll.
Such mechanisms are relatively complex and the mounting of the ladder laces on these tilt rolls can be awkward and time consuming.


The present inventive concept relates to an air treatment device adapted to treat air in a confined space. The air treatment device comprises a device body having a central axis, the device body comprising a supporting structure being substantially transverse to the central axis and a side section being substantially parallel to the central axis. The air treatment device further comprises an air treatment section arranged in the device, an ionizing arrangement, a fan arrangement, and a filter extending in a first direction being parallel to the central axis, wherein the filter comprises an upper end and a lower end in the first direction, wherein the ionizing arrangement and the fan arrangement are arranged between the upper and lower end.

Air quality in vehicle cabins is an increasing concern due to high air pollution levels, in particular in large cities. Air to be delivered to the cabin is normally filtered in order to decrease the number of hazardous particles in the air. There exist systems for filtering air inside of a cabin of a vehicle. However, there is a need for improved air treatment devices adapted to treat air in a confined space, in particular compact air treatment devices having similar or increased effectivity with respect to existing air treatment systems.

Air treatment device adapted to treat air in a confined space


A pressure sensor for detecting a pressure and for outputting a signal based on the piezoresistance effect includes a substrate having a sensor chip on one side in a thin portion and a concave portion on another side, a piezo-resistor in the sensor chip, a pedestal being attached to the substrate and having a through hole for introducing the pressure to the sensor chip and a gel material filled in the concave portion and the through hole for protecting the sensor chip. A ratio of a diameter of the through hole to a thickness of the pedestal is substantially within a range between 1 and 3.

Conventionally, a pressure sensor for detecting a pressure by using a semiconductor type diaphragm uses a gel material for protecting a pressure introduction portion in a pedestal portion. The pressure sensors disclosed in the following Japanese and U.S. patent documents JP-A-H4-370726, JP-A-H5-133827, JP-A-H11-201845 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,651,508 have a structure that uses the gel material for protection of the pedestal. The pressure sensor in the disclosure includes a semiconductor diaphragm sensor chip having an element of piezoresistance on one side and a concave portion on a reverse side of a sensor area, and a pedestal made of a glass or the like having a through hole that connects the concave portion to an outside of the sensor.
The pedestal is connected to the sensor chip by an anodic bonding, and the concave portion of the sensor chip is filled with a gel material for protecting of a reverse side of the diaphragm sensor chip.
The diaphragm sensor chip detects a pressure introduced from the through hole that has the gel material contained therein. The sensor chip is a so-called "reverse side sealed type diaphragm sensor chip." The sensor chip outputs a signal that is proportional to an applied pressure based on the piezoresistance effect.
Protection of the sensor chip is required because the chip is used to detect a pressure of a liquid or a gas that has a corrosive effect. The gel material is used to protect the sensor chip from corrosion caused by the liquid or the gas.
The gel material is also effective for protecting breakage, distortion or the like of the diaphragm sensor chip caused by an expansion force of a freezing water in the through hole.
The pressure sensor is used to detect an exhaust gas pressure from a diesel engine or the like. More practically, the pressure sensor detects the exhaust gas pressure in or around a DPF (Diesel Particulate Filter) or a EGR (Exhaust Gas Re-circulation) system.
However, the pressure sensor is expected to be working in an exhaust pipe in a vehicle or the like where the temperature of the environment ranges widely from 0 degree to 100 degrees in Celsius. Therefore, the gel material in the through hole hardens at the temperature of, for example, −30 degrees, thereby yielding a distortion force for pressing the reverse side of the diaphragm. As a result, the diaphragm portion of the sensor chip is distorted to generate a false output. That is, the pressure sensor of a conventional type does not have a measure to handle the situation such as an extreme low temperature or the like.


A disposable multi-cavity refill cartridge, for use with a reusable base and a reusable dispensing head for the simultaneous coextension of at least two flowable materials. The disposable refill cartridge has two hollow and separate parallel inner cylinders for each containing a flowable material. The inner cylinders have a first generally open top end which can be temporarily sealed until the refill cartridge is combined with a reusable dispensing head. The second or bottom end of the refill cylinders telescopically and slidingly accommodate parallel piston heads which are compressibly engageable with piston rods of a reusable base. The piston heads ride sealingly along the interior walls of the inner refill cylinders and when compressed by the piston rods, they force the flowable material to flow out of the refill cylinders and through the outlet means of the dispensing head. Once the flowable materials have been expended, the refill cartridge can be discarded and a new one can be used in conjunction with the reusable base and dispensing head.

The present invention relates to rigid telescopically arranged multi-cavity dispensing containers for flowable material, such as tooth paste and the like, from which it is desired to dispense simultaneously two or more reactive substances which require separate storage until time of use. More particularly it relates to a disposable refill cartridge, for use in a dispensing container of the above type, which can be used in conjunction with a reusable dispensing head and a reusable base.
There exists a desire to provide sodium bicarbonate and peroxide gel as components of toothpaste. Sodium bicarbonate is a well known and commonly used abrasive and cleaner. Peroxide gel is regarded as a beneficial ingredient to help promote healthy gums. These components are reactive when mixed, and therefore must be maintained separately until time of use.
U.S Pat. Nos. 5,020,694 to Pettengill and U.S. Pat. No. 5,038,963, to Pettengill and Gentile, which are hereby incorporated by reference, disclose rigid piston type multi-cavity dispensing containers for the simultaneous coextrusion in predetermined proportions of two or more materials which may have different rheologies. The lower body member of the containers has a base and two or more piston rods with pistons attached thereto. The upper body member has parallel cylinders for containing the flowable materials and outlet means for dispensing the materials. The lower end of the cylinders receive the pistons whereby the relative compression of upper and lower body members forces the flowable materials out through the outlet means. This produces a single, banded unmixed stream of material that can be neatly and easily applied onto the narrow width of a toothbrush. If, after all of the flowable materials are expended, the upper and lower members are pulled apart, the piston heads remain attached to the piston rods of the lower member. Thus any upper body refill unit would not come equipped with pistons to seal the flowable materials within the upper body parallel cylinders. Such a refill unit would be messy and impractical. Accordingly, both upper and lower body members of these designs are discarded after the contents of dispenser are used up. This produces unnecessary waste and is not the most economical of arrangements.
U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/901,670, to Gentile, which is hereby incorporated by reference, discloses a multi-cavity dispensing refill cartridge to be used with a reusable base. The refill cartridge has two hollow, separate parallel cylinders for containing flowable material. One end of each cylinders is in fluid communication with outlet means while the other end telescopically and slidingly accommodate piston heads. A reusable base with piston rods is used to compress piston heads in the refill cartridge thereby dispensing the flowable material. Once the flowable material is expended, the refill cartridge can be discarded and a new one can be used with the reusable base. While this design is more environmentally friendly than past designs, there is still room for improvement. In particular, because the refill cartridge of the '670 application contains the means for dispensing the flowable materials (i.e. outlet assembly, nozzle, cap and a rigid dispensing head to be pressed upon in the dispensing of the flowable material) more material than is absolutely necessary is discarded each time the refill cartridge is replaced.
Thus it is an object of this invention, for ecological and economical reasons, to provide a multi-cavity dispensing refill cartridge which can be used in conjunction with a reusable base and a reusable dispensing head, for the simultaneous coextrusion, in predetermined portions, of two or more flowable materials, which may have different rheologies, upon the relative compression of the reusable dispensing head and the reusable base, to produce a single, banded unmixed stream of material that can neatly and easily be applied onto the narrow width of a toothbrush. It is a further object to provide such a refill cartridge which, in conjunction with the reusable base and reusable dispensing head, dispenses a single stream of unmixed material and which provides segregation of the component materials within the dispenser both prior to and after dispensing.

Multi-cavity dispensing refill cartridge

Chesebrough-Pond's USA Co., A Division of Conopco, Inc.


A method for producing a mesenchymal cell line derived from a vertebrate adipose tissue, and a mesenchymal cell line derived from a vertebrate adipose tissue produced by the method. Advantageously, a method for producing a mesenchymal cell line derived from a vertebrate adipose tissue is achieved more simply, in a shorter period of time, and more efficiently. Also, a mesenchymal cell line is derived from a vertebrate adipose tissue produced by the production method. The method for producing a mesenchymal cell line derived from a vertebrate adipose tissue comprises: (A) inducing differentiation of one or more cells selected from a stromal vascular fraction comprising a mesenchymal stem cell, an adipose progenitor cell, and a stromal cell of a vertebrate adipose tissue into a mature adipocyte; and (B) inducing dedifferentiation of the mature adipocyte obtained in step (A) to obtain a mesenchymal cell line derived from the vertebrate adipose tissue.

Platelet transfusion is the only treatment method on thrombocytopenia caused by bleeding associated with an accident or during use of an anticancer agent, and the platelet preparation used for such an instance relies 100% on blood donation of the good will at present. Platelets are extremely fragile and there has been no method available to enable a long term platelet preservation for the purpose of treatment. In reality, the shelf life of platelets is 4 days at the latest medical institutions but the substantial storage life at clinical sites including clinics is about 3 days when the time required for inspection and shipment is considered. Thus, many blood banks have been always challenged to keep platelets fresh and store, and further the supply of platelet preparation which relies on blood donation is susceptible to the decrease of blood donors and the increase of blood donors with virus infections.
Accordingly, the development of a new platelet supply source, which replaces with the blood donation posing such problems, has been drawing attentions in recent years (Non-patent Document 1). For example, there is a technological development for a large amount of platelet production outside the body utilizing hematopoietic stem cells (umbilical cord blood stem cells), which are somatic stem cells. However, a method for amplifying hematopoietic stem cells itself outside the body has not been established, which is thus not ready for practical use. To the contrary, embryonic stem (ES) cells, which are pluripotent stem cells, have a benefit of being unlimitedly proliferated outside the body and thus have been drawing attentions as a supply source for producing blood cells including platelets. In this regard, a technology has been already reported for producing mature megakaryocytes and platelets from human ES cells (Non-patent Document 2). However, the platelet production efficiency is poor in this method requiring tens of thousands of petri dishes for producing one batch of blood transfusion preparation, hence practically insufficient.
Platelet transfusion poses a problem of platelet transfusion refractoriness. Platelets having human leukocyte antigen (HLA) different from that of a patient can be used at the first time blood transfusion but a specific antibody to the HLA is produced in the body of the patient by repeated blood transfusions, whereby platelets transfused are rapidly rejected. Alternatively, platelets also have human platelet alloantigen (HPA), distinctive blood types, which also cause transfusion refractoriness due to the difference in the compatibility. A technology, which may overcome this problem, for producing megakaryocytes and platelets from human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cells is reported (Non-patent Document 3). For example, platelets induced from patient-derived iPS cells enable, in theory, the preparation of a custom-made rejection-free platelet preparation. However, the platelet production using iPS cells requires about 50 days from fibroblasts to the platelet production (Non-patent Document 3), hence practically insufficient. To the contrary, a method is known for producing platelets from fibroblasts by a technique called a direct reprogramming (Non-patent Document 4). According to this technique, the period of time to the platelet production can be significantly cut shorter than the method involving iPS cells, rendering the benefit of reaching the platelet production in about 14 days. However, the direct reprogramming using fibroblasts requires gene transfection which thus raises a concern over the safety by the contamination of a gene transfection vector.
Separately, MKLI medium (megakaryocyte lineage induction medium) is known as a medium capable of inducing hematopoietic stem cells to differentiate into megakaryocytes and platelets. The MKLI medium is medium in which 2 mM of L-glutamine, 100 U/mL of a penicillin-streptomycin solution, 0.52 bovine serum albumin, 4 μg/mL of LDL cholesterol, 200 μg/mL of iron-saturated transferrin (iron-bound transferrin), 10 μg/mL of insulin, 50 μM of 2-β-mercaptoethanol, nucleotides (20 μM each of ATP, UTP, GTP and CTP), and 50 ng/mL of thrombopoietin (TPO) are added to Iscove's Modified Dulbecco's Medium (IMDM) (Non-patent Document 5). The present inventors have been so far proceeding the study on the technology for inducing cells other than hematopoietic stem cells to differentiate into megakaryocytes and platelets, and have found that human adipose progenitor cells derived from a subcutaneous adipose tissue (Non-patent Documents 5, 6) or mouse adipose progenitor cells (Non-patent Documents 5, 7) cultured in the above MKLI medium can be differentiated into megakaryocytes and platelets. The present inventors have further proceeded the study and found an outstanding method capable of producing megakaryocytes and/or platelets (Patent Document 1). The production method of Patent Document 1 is a production method wherein mesenchymal cells are cultured in basal medium for mesenchymal cell culture comprising iron ions and iron transporters and megakaryocytes and/or platelets are collected from the cultured product. The production method of Patent Document enables the production of megakaryocytes having the platelet-producing ability and/or platelets having the thrombus-forming ability from mesenchymal cells such as adipose progenitor cells outside the body without adding TPO and the like to the medium in a comparatively short period of time, simply, and in a large amount at a lower cost or more efficiently.
Thus, the production method of Patent Document 1 is the outstanding production method which overcame the drawbacks of the conventional platelet production method using hematopoietic stem cells, ES cells or iPS cells. Patent Document 1 discloses the use of an adipose progenitor cell line as a kind of the mesenchymal cells before induction of differentiation into megakaryocytes and platelets. Adipose progenitor cells are commercially available and can also be established from an adipose tissue. As a method for establishing an adipose progenitor cell line from an adipose tissue, a method is known wherein an adipose tissue is treated with collagenase to separate adipocytes, a cell suspension comprising the adipocytes is centrifuged, mature adipocytes in the supernatant are recovered, and the mature adipocytes are subjected to ceiling culture in medium comprising serum to establish a cell line (Patent Document 2). However, this cell line establishing method required a period of more than about 2 months and further required a technically skilled operation, hence leaving practical issues unsolved.

Method for manufacturing mesenchymal cell line derived from vertebrate animal adipose tissue


Example implementations disclosed herein can be used to decode memory elements in a crosspoint array. In one example implementation, crosspoint array decoder includes a number of field effect transistor decoder switches corresponding to specific lines in a crosspoint array and a sense amplifier coupled to at least some of the field effect transistor decoder switches and includes a set of inference field effect transistors matched to the field effect transistor decoder switches to infer a stimulus voltage applied to a memory element in a crosspoint array.

Crosspoint arrays are structures used to address multiple devices. For example, a crosspoint array can be used to address a collection of individual memory elements in a memory cell. Each memory element can be addressed using a specific configuration of the crosspoint array. Such crosspoint arrays can include parallel bitlines (e.g., columns) crossed by perpendicular wordlines (e.g., rows) with the switching material of the memory element placed between the wordlines and bitlines at various crosspoints. Crosspoint arrays use various types of array decoder switches to selectively couple specific bitline-wordline pairs to appropriate stimulus signals (e.g., voltages or currents) to read, write, set, or form specific memory elements.

Hewlett Packard Enterprise Development LP


Disclosed is a family of new DC/DC converters and a new control method. The converter comprises two bridge inverters, two full-wave rectification circuits and a current-doubler filter. Each inverter is able to generate a symmetrical and isolated AC output voltage. Phase-shift control is employed to control the phase difference between the two bridge inverters. By shifting the phase, the converter changes the two inverters' output voltage overlapping area to regulate its output voltage. The bridge inverters always operate at 50% duty cycle, like an open loop Bus Converter, to achieve wide-range zero voltage switching and eliminate circulating current for normal operation. For low output voltage regulation and soft start, Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control is used. The converters and the control method improve power conversion efficiency, maximize magnetic component utilization, reduce semiconductor stress and decrease EMI emission.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates in general to power converters and, more specifically, to a dual half-bridge DC/DC converter and a dual full-bridge DC/DC converter with dual power transformers, PWM and Phase-Shift controls and capabilities of wide-range ZVS and zero circulating current.
2. Prior Art
In the field of power conversion, it is a common practice to convert electrical energy from one DC voltage level to the other isolated levels by using high frequency switching technology. The application of switching technology dramatically decreases the size of power converters and improves power conversion efficiency. While enjoying the benefits of switching technology, industry is facing new challenges of the further demands of higher power conversion efficiency and smaller sizes of converters, and lower Electromagnetic Inference (EMI) emission, which is caused by switched currents and voltages.
In order to improve converter efficiency, reduce the size of converters and minimize EMI, tremendous effort has been made on four areas: 1. Wide-range Zero Voltage Switching (ZVS), 2. Circulating current elimination, 3. Recovery of the energy resulted from the reverse recovery of output rectifier devices, and 4. Output rectifiers' voltage ringing elimination or clamping; and many topologies have been well developed, which include full-bridge converters with phase-shift control or Pulse Width Modulation (PWM) control, asymmetrical half-bridge converters, etc. One of the most popular topologies is the phase-shifted full-bridge DC/DC converter, especially for high power applications. Such a circuit is described in detail in a Texas Instruments' application note U-136A, entitled "Phase Shifted Zero Voltage Transition Design Consideration and the UC3875 PWM Controller", published in May 1997. The phase-shifted full-bridge DC/DC converter herein described relies on the primary current including power transformer's magnetizing current and the current reflected from the secondary to charge or discharge the parasitic capacitive elements of switching devices of the bridge's lagging leg, and the circulating current and its corresponding energy stored in the transformer leakage inductance to energize a resonation between the capacitive elements of the leading leg's switching devices and the leakage inductance. When the secondary output current reaches a certain level, the switching devices' parasitic capacitance can be fully charged or discharged during the dead time of gate signals. The switching devices can be such controlled that they are turned on after the voltages across the devices decrease to zero. This switching technique is the so-called Zero Voltage Switching. Since there is no capacitance energy discharged into the turning-on devices, such a control essentially eliminates the switching loss in certain heavy load range. But in the rest load range, the switches have to be turned on with certain voltage across the devices, and the energy stored in the parasitic capacitive elements eventually dissipates into the switching devices. This non-zero voltage switching results in part of switching losses and more EMI emission. At light load, especially zero load, effective switching duty cycle and the corresponding voltage-second applying to the power transformer usually reduce when the current in the output filter inductor gets into discontinued conduction mode. In the scenario, neither the primary current reflected from the secondary nor the magnetizing current can substantially reduce the voltage across the switches to be turned on and the switching could result in a significant power loss. Moreover, the topology did little to recycle the leakage inductance energy caused by the reverse recovery of output rectifier diodes, and to clamp the voltage ringing resulted from the free-running leakage inductance energy at both the primary and secondary. Eventually, part of the leakage inductance energy is dissipated in the form of heat inside the power train and the rest is radiated into space in the form of electric and magnetic fields. It could herefrom cause both thermal and EMI problems.
To mitigate the problems above, a simple but effective clamping circuit was invented by Richard Redl, et al, and detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,198,969. The node connecting one end of a power transformer primary winding and one end of a resonance inductor is clamped to positive and negative terminals of a DC input by two cascaded diodes. The clamping circuit with the resonance inductor reduces the transient current caused by the reserve recovery of output rectifiers, captures most of the transient energy on its primary side, and minimizes the voltage ringing on both the primary side and secondary side significantly. The captured energy in the form of a current flowing through the resonance inductor circulates inside the loop comprising the inductor, one of the clamping diodes and one switch. While circulating inside the loop, part of the energy is dissipated because of the voltage drop among the devices. The rest energy, if any, can be utilized for resonation and recycled back to the DC source when the switch shorting the loop is turned off. At the cost of duty cycle loss, the transient current can be minimized by using a larger resonance inductance to reduce the current slew rate at the output rectifiers, and circuit efficiency, to some degree, could be increased. The use of a larger resonance inductance can also extend ZVS to a lighter load.
To further extend ZVS range, a lot of circuits have also been invented. The circuits can be categorized into two types: one is an active switch-controlled resonance network. The auxiliary switch is usually turned on at zero current. It activates a resonation to create a zero voltage condition for main switches to be turned on. The other is simply a LC network connecting to the bridge switches. The network produces a load-independent resonant current, which helps the bridge switches to achieve ZVS in a wide range of loads. One of the examples is the circuit invented by Pradeep Madhay Bhagwat, and the related United States patent is U.S. Pat. No. 5,875,103, entitled "Full Range Soft-Switching DC-DC Converter". These circuits indeed increase the ZVS range. However they didn't address the other problems mentioned above.
A load-dependent circulating current is one of the major drawbacks of the existing ZVS full-bridge DC/DC converters. The circulating current passes through most of the power train of the full-bridge DC/DC converter, including two bridge switches, a resonance inductor, if any, power transformer primary and secondary windings and output rectifiers, when both top or bottom switches are turned on. During this period, no energy is transferred from the primary side to the secondary side. This circulating current causes a substantial power loss. The circuit, introduced in the U.S. Pat. No. 5,946,200 with a title of "Circulating Current Free Type High Frequency Soft Switching Pulse Width Modulated Full Bridge DC/DC Converter", eliminates the circulating current by using a resonance network on the secondary side to completely draw the circulating energy and herewith the circulating current out of the power train and discharge it to its DC output. Therefore, it minimizes the power loss related to the circulating current. However, the resonance network also removes the necessary circulating energy to accomplish ZVS, and its leading leg switches have to turn on with a near full DC bus voltage across their parasitic capacitances, which will result in some power losses and could cause EMI problems. Because of this reason, some switching devices with high parasitic capacitance, like MOSFETs (metal-oxide silicon field-effect transistors), may not be suitable for this topology. Another disadvantage is that, compared with the full-bridge DC/DC converter with clamping diodes invented by Richard Redl, et al., this circuit has a much higher reverse voltage across the output rectifiers, especially at startup, because of the resonation of the resonance network.
Another way to eliminate the circulating current is to use asymmetrical control. The topologies which can utilize such a control include an asymmetrical half-bridge DC/DC converter and an asymmetrical full-bridge DC/DC converter. An application of asymmetrical half-bridge DC/DC converters was detailed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,496,396 "Reverse Recovery Circuit, Method of Operation Thereof And Asymmetrical Half-bridge Power Converter". Asymmetrical bridge DC/DC converters could work quite well under some conditions. The conditions include low input variation, low output DC voltage regulation range and small or slow step load changes. If the conditions can not be met, the circuit could get into a severe asymmetrical mode, where soft switching could lose and the current stress of the bridge switches and voltage stress of the output rectifiers increase. Furthermore, since the primary current passes through the bridge capacitor(s), the capacitance value needs to be relatively large, and therefore the capacitor's voltage may not change fast enough to follow PWM duty cycle's change during a large step load response. A large step load could easily cause power transformer saturation. Because of this reason, asymmetrical bridge DC/DC converters are not suitable for high power applications and their bandwidths are usually lower than those of conventional bridge DC/DC converters.
Although these efforts of the previous arts, to various degrees, mitigate power loss and decrease component stress, there was no successful story of handling all the mentioned problems with one single topology yet. It would such be desirable for industry to have a converter which has a wide-range ZVS capability, always operates at maximum duty cycle, fully utilizes magnetic components, minimizes or eliminates circulating current, recovers reverse recovery energy and well clamps or eliminates the voltage ringing at output rectifiers. This presented invention is going to disclose a new control method and a novel topology in the following sections; by applying the proposed control to the topology, a new family of DC/DC converters were created. The converters are able to operate at a constant 50% duty cycle, like an open loop Bus Converter, while regulating its output voltage, to achieve most, if not all, desirous features listed above and improve overall circuit efficiency and performance to a new level.

Phase-shifted dual-bridge DC/DC converter with wide-range ZVS and zero circulating current


There are disclosed cardiovascularly active compounds possessing antihypertensive properties, and pharmaceutical compositions containing these agents and a method of treating cardiovascular disorders with the compounds. The active components of the pharmaceutical compositions are compounds of formula I ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are independently chosen from straight chain and branched chain alkyl and olefinic groups, which may be unsubstituted or substituted; or R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 together with the nitrogen atom they are bonded to form a heterocyclic group; and R.sub.3 is a pharmaceutically acceptable organic group selected from alkyl and olefinic groups which may be unsubstituted or substituted, acyl, a sulfonyl, sulfinyl, sulfenyl, carbonate, or carbamate derivative; or R.sub.3 is a group of the formula--(CH.sub.2).sub.n ONN(O)NR.sub.1 R.sub.2, wherein n is 2-8, and R.sub.1 and R.sub.2 are as described above. Novel compounds are disclosed wherein at least one of R.sub.1, R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 is an olefinic group or heteroatom-substituted straight or branched chain alkyl or olefinic group. Novel methods of synthesizing the compounds are also disclosed.

Endothelium-derived relaxing factor (EDRF) is a labile humoral agent which is part of a cascade of interacting agents involved in the relaxation of vascular smooth muscle. EDRF is thus important in the control of vascular resistance to blood flow and in the control of blood pressure. Some vasodilators act by causing EDRF to be released from endothelial cells. (See Furchgott, Ann. Rev. Pharmacol. Toxicol. 24, 175-197, 1984.) Recently, Palmer et al. have presented evidence suggesting that EDRF is identical to the simple molecule, nitric oxide, NO (Nature 317, 524-526, 1987), though there remains controversy on this point. It has been hypothesized for years that many nitrovasodilators that mimic the effect of EDRF, like glyceryl trinitrate, amyl nitrite, NaNO.sub.2, and sodium nitroprusside (SNP), do so by virtue of their conversion to a common moiety, namely NO, which is also a vasodilator. (See Kruszyna et al., Tox. & Appl. Pharmacol. 91, 429-438, 1987; Ignarro, FASEB J. 3, 31-36, 1989; Ignarro et al., J. Pharmacol. Exper. Therapeutics 218 (3), 739-749, 1981.)
Some of the compounds suitable for use in the method of the present invention are previously described in scientific literature. However, there is no suggestion in the prior art that any of the disclosed compounds are antihypertensive; indeed there is no suggestion in the prior art that they have any pharmaceutical use. Four compounds are described in Reilly, U.S. Pat. No. 3,153,094, and in Longhi and Drago, Inorg. Chem. 2, 85-88, 1963, and four compounds are disclosed in Artsybasheva and Ioffe, J. Org. Chem. U.S.S.R. (Engl. transl., 23, 1056-1060, 1987). Each of these references is incorporated by reference herein in its entirety. The references teach no biological activity for the compounds disclosed.
Related inventions (to the present invention) are described in U.S. patent application Ser. Nos. 07/316,958, filed Feb. 28, 1989 (now U.S. Pat. No. 4,954,526), 07/409,552, filed Sep. 15, 1989 (now U.S. Pat. No. 5,039,705), 07/423,279, filed Oct. 18, 1989, 07/585,793, filed Sep. 20, 1990, 07/743,892, filed Aug. 12, 1991, 07/764,906, filed Sep. 24, 1991, 07/764,908, filed Sep. 24, 1992, 07/858,885, filed Mar. 27, 1992, 07/867,759, filed Apr. 18, 1992, and 07/935,565, filed Aug. 24, 1992, each of which is incorporated herein by reference.

Oxygen substituted derivatives of nucleophile-nitric oxide adducts as nitric oxide donor prodrugs

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services


In a spectrophotometer application where high speed positioning is critical, a galvanometer in conjunction with a microprocessor controlled hybrid digital/analog servo system is used to rotate a diffraction grating for wavelength selection. A table containing digital position information for all wavelengths is accessed by the microprocessor to perform wavelength changes. The use of the table permits the determination of grating position to yield a desired wavelength for a system where the axis of rotation does not intersect a point on the surface of the diffraction grating. That is, the diffraction grating can be rotated about an axis coinciding with its center of gravity.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a device and method of rotating an optical element, such as a diffraction grating for dispersing light of various wavelengths, whereby the optical element is rotated on an axis of rotation that does not intersect a point on the surface of the diffraction grating The invention is especially useful in a spectrophotometer.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of diffraction gratings of various configurations is common for dispersing a portion of the electromagnetic spectrum, for use for instance in spectrophotometers One method of selecting the wavelength being directed from the radiation source to a given destination point is by rotating the diffraction grating. The angular position of the diffraction grating to yield a given wavelength at the destination is easily determined and theoretically predictable for a given diffraction grating and angle of incident light from the source and of diffracted light to the destination, if the axis of rotation passes through a point on the surface of the diffraction grating.
In the conventional use (see FIG. 1) of a diffraction grating 10 on the surface of substrate 11 for wavelength selection, the relationship for wavelength as a function of grating position is shown in FIG. 1 and in equation A where .lambda. is the wavelength, N is the groove density of the diffraction grating (not shown), K is an integer for the diffraction order (the order of interest is typically 1), .alpha. is angle of incidence, and .beta. is the angle of diffraction. EQU KN.lambda.=SIN .alpha.+SIN .beta. (A)
The angles of incidence and diffraction are measured from a line between the light source 12 and light destination 14 respectively to the point where the axis of rotation 16 intersects the grating 10 to the normal 19 to the grating 10 at this same point. Counterclockwise angles are shown as positive in FIG. 1. Using a trigonometric identity, equation A is rewritten as equation B. ##EQU1## Thus, for a system where the angle between the source 12 and destination 14 is fixed and the grating 10 is rotated, both .alpha. and .beta. would be changing, but the quantity .alpha. minus .beta. will remain constant and is given by .theta. in equation C. EQU .theta.=.alpha.-.beta. (B)
With .lambda., N and K constant, equation B is solved for .alpha. plus .beta. as in equation D. ##EQU2## Then equations C and D are solved simultaneously for .alpha. and .beta. resulting in the required position of the grating 10. However, the diffraction grating position for rotation of the grating 10 about an axis not passing through a point on the grating 10 cannot be solved in this manner since the equations are much more complex.
Hence, in the prior art, gratings are typically rotated on axes passing through a point on the grating 10 so as to permit easy determination of the grating positioning for each desired wavelength, and gratings are not rotated about points in the grating substrate 11.

Off axis rotation of diffraction grating


Disclosed are a wearable behavioral pattern collecting apparatus for generating collected information by analyzing a behavioral pattern of a wearer, and generating and thereby transmitting emergency call information when an emergency situation occurs, a network including a repeater to transmit information received from the behavioral pattern collecting apparatus to a remote monitoring server, and a behavioral pattern analyzing system and method for transmitting information on an emergency accident and a position of the wearer to a corresponding institution or a corresponding person in charge when an emergency situation such as a falling accident or the emergency accident occurs by observing a change in the behavioral pattern of the wearer.

With development of an information technology (IT), an Internet infrastructure has been expanded even in sanitarium centers or medical institutions. An IT based healthcare technology is being further developed. However, due to the increase of an ageing society, burden of additional medical cost increases and accordingly, a relevant system has been changing from a treatment based policy to a prevention based policy.
An old person is highly likely to fall into an emergency situation and has a degraded capability for coping with an emergency situation. Accordingly, without appropriate countermeasures, a serious circumstance may arise. In particular, a falling accident may occur due to various diseases and may also simply occur due to old age. Accordingly, there is a need for prevention and a prompt action when the falling accident occurs.
In a related art, using a miniaturized apparatus wearable around a waist or chest, when a falling accident occurs, the fall is sensed from an inertial sensor and emergency situation information associated with the falling accident is transmitted. However, there frequently occur a false positive phenomenon that emergency situation information is transmitted by determining that false falling is occurring, and a false negative phenomenon that emergency situation information is not transmitted by determining that actual falling is not falling. Accordingly, unnecessary time and manpower according to false alarm has been used.
In many cases, reliability may not be guaranteed due to traffic burden coming from miniaturization of a wireless apparatus and an increase in the number of nodes of a repeater apparatus. When reliability of data transmission decreases, a falling accident or an emergency situation of an old person may also be overlooked and thus, a serious issue may arise.

Behavioral pattern collecting apparatus, and behavioral pattern analyzing system and method using the same

Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute


The present invention relates to a method for preparing a cyclic peptide with antiparasite activity and anticancer activity. The invention also relates to this peptide as an antiparasite agent, for example in the treatment of toxoplasmosis and as an anticancer agent. The invention also relates to the use of this cyclic peptide for treating organs ex vivo before transplantation.

Toxoplasmosis is a parasitic disease, the agent of which is an opportunistic intracellular protozoan, Toxoplasma gondii. Clinical signs of the disease in immunocompetent persons are rare. However, toxoplasmosis is increasingly associated in these persons with lymphadenopathies, fevers, neurological signs (decrease in the intelligence quotient, reduction of psychomotor performances), ocular lesions, severe disseminated infections and even neurological or psychiatric lesions such as schizophrenia. In immunodepressed patients (for example AIDS, grafted, patients having haematological problems) or in the fetus, Toxoplasma gondii appears as an opportunistic pathogen which may cause severe lesions.
During its parasitic cycle, Toxoplasma gondii may appear in three different forms: a tachyzoite form, a bradyzoite form and an oocyte form. The chronic form of the disease is due to the bradyzoite form, contained in intracellular cysts (5 to 70 μm) notably localized in nerve and muscle cells. The cysts persist in these tissues until death of the host. The host-parasite immune equilibrium allows them to be kept quiescent. These forms are very resistant and may survive several days at room temperature.
A certain number of molecules (for example pyrimethamine, sulfadiazine and sulfadoxine) are present on the market. However, these molecules have an effect against the tachyzoite primary form of the disease. Indeed, presently there is no treatment against chronic toxoplasmosis, no drug to this day being capable of removing the tissue cysts. The only known molecule has a cysticidal effect in vitro is atovaquone (U.S. Pat. No. 5,641,769), the cysticidal activity of this molecule in vivo having never been demonstrated.
Toxoplasma gondii belongs to the phylum of Apicomplexes (branch Apicomplexa) which groups a large number of parasites responsible for diseases such as malaria, neosporosis, coccidiosis and cryptosporidiosis. With research work aiming at identifying new anti-parasite active ingredients, it was possible to identify apicidin, acyclic tetrapeptide extracted from the fungus Fusarium pallidoroseum. Apicidine has some effectiveness in vivo on mice infected by the malaria of Plasmodium berghei (Darkin-Rattray et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 1996; Singh et al., Tetrahedron Lett. 1996). This molecule would have an inhibitory action on histone deacetylase (HDAC) of Plasmodium berghei.
There exist different forms of HDAC. The inhibitors of HDAC represent a class of more than 8,000 compounds. Today, they are the subject of research and development, for example as anticancer agents or as effective and selective immunosuppressive agents in humans. The class of the HDAC inhibitors notably comprises cyclic natural derivatives of the peptide type having shown some effectiveness. Among the latter, mention may be made of chlamydocin, isolated from the fungus Diheterospora chlamydosporia and which has demonstrated an anticancer activity in vitro, and derivatives of chlamydocin, isolated from the fungus Peniophora sp. and which cause interruption of the cell cycle in plants (Tani et al. Phytochem. 2003).
A certain number of drawbacks are associated with the use of the compounds with a human therapeutic target, which are derived from biological material such as notably apicidin and chlamydocin. Notably, it is impossible to control the exact composition of the extract, for example the presence of associated molecules potentially having an uncontrolled biological effect. Further, the problem is posed of the accessibility of said material. The problem of the cost for preparing the active compound is also posed.
Nishino et al. (Nishino et al., Bioorg. Med. Chem, 2004) propose several chemical syntheses of derivatives of chlamydocin. Each synthesis involves several reactions. In order to obtain a derivative, each synthesis applies a different synthesis approach, so that the proposed syntheses do not have much flexibility.

Cyclic peptides with an anti-parasitic activity

CENTRE NATIONAL DE LA RECHERCHE SCIENTIFIQUE

(INSERM) INSTITUT NATIONAL DE LA SANTE ET DE LA RECHERCHE MEDICALE


A dielectric resonator device includes an enclosure having a bottom wall, a pedestal made of quartz seated inside the enclosure on the bottom wall, a dielectric resonator element seated on the pedestal, a bracket made of quartz for holding the dielectric resonator down on the pedestal and a clamping disc and screws for securing the bracket to the bottom wall.

The present invention relates generally to dielectric resonator devices and more specifically to dielectric resonator devices in which a dielectric resonator element is mounted inside a cavity.
Dielectric resonator devices in which a dielectric resonator element is mounted inside a cavity are well known in the art. Such resonator devices should ideally have the dielectric resonator element levitated in the center of the surrounding cavity with absolute precision and rigidity.
Idealism aside, many mounting methods have been used to approximate such a geometry with varying degrees of success. Generally, these methods suffer from thermal instabilities, overheating or dimensional shifting, or from resonant degradation wherein the support structure affects the frequency or the quality factor, Q.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,238 to M. Sato et al there is disclosed a cavity type dielectric resonator device comprising a dielectric resonator body of dielectric ceramic having a resonator portion, a supporting portion and a mounting flange portion, the mounting flange portion being on the lower end of the supporting portion, a base member for mounting the dielectric resonator body, and fastening members for removably fixing the mounting flange on the base member, wherein the resonator portion and the mounting flange portion are integrally formed, the mounting flange portion of the resonator body and the base member have bores through which said fastening members are fastened, and the fastening members comprise bolts and nuts of dielectric ceramic material.
Also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,238 to M. Sato et al is a cavity type dielectric resonator device which includes a dielectric resonator element, a metal casing and an insulating holder made of alumina or forsterite. The dielectric resonator element is mounted on the upper portion of insulating holder and secured thereto by an adhesive layer while the lower portion of the insulating holder is secured to an annular metal flange by an adhesive layer. The annular metal flange is secured to the metal casing by bolts and nuts.
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,170 to K. Ohya there is disclosed a cavity type dielectric resonator device comprising a dielectric resonator body of dielectric ceramics having an inner bore provided along the axis thereof, a pedestal having an inner bore provided along the axis thereof, a shield casing for containing the resonator body and the pedestal, and a fastening member inserted into the inner bores of the resonator body and the pedestal for fastening and fixing them on the base wall of the shield casing, wherein the shield casing and the fastening member are provided with openings for circulating a cooling gas in the shield casing, respectively. In one version of the device the resonator body and pedestal are separate members while in another version of the device the resonator body and pedestal are a unitary structure.
Also disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,111,170 to K. Ohya is a cavity type resonator device which includes an annular shaped resonator element, an annular shaped support and a bolt and nut for holding the resonator element down on the support and the support on the base wall of a shield casing. In addition, there is disclosed a cavity type resonator device which includes a base wall, a support secured to the base wall by an adhesive member and a resonator element secured to the support by an adhesive member.
Other known U.S. patents of interest include U.S. Pat. No. 4,121,181 to T. Nishikawa etc., U.S. Pat. No. 4,136,320 to T. Nishikawa etc, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,620,168 to X. Delestre et al.
It is an object of this invention to provide a cavity type dielectric resonator device which includes an arrangement for mounting the dielectric resonator element inside the cavity using low loss materials in a mechanically stable configuration.

Mounting assembly for dielectric resonator device


A locking assembly for a surfboard enables the board to be tethered to a non-portable object with a lockable cable. The cable passes through a transverse hole in one of the fins. To prevent the fin from being removed from the by a thief, a rigid sleeve is provided that slides over the fin. It is provided with a transverse hole in registry with the hole in the fin, so that the cable will pass through the sleeve and the fin. This renders the two inseparable. A flange affixed to the base of the sleeve covers the fasteners that fasten the fin to the board. This prevents the thief from removing the fin from the board.

Surfboards are large and awkward to transport and store. They are also valuable and light enough to be easily carried away. Some of the surfing community devote little time to earning funds. Consequently, valuable surfboards are often left exposed and unattended where they are then easily stolen by surfers short of funds.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,861 issued Jul. 7, 1992 to Ross and 4,712,394 issued Dec. 15, 1987 to Ross teach a lockable cable that passes through the surfboard. A large hole is cut in the body of surfboard to accommodate a sleeve through which the cable passes in effect damaging the board and altering its properties.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,706,680 issued Jan. 13, 1998 to Wroble teaches a complex three piece surfboard locking assembly (FIGS. 5A,5B,5C) that adjustably engages the board with two hook members one from each side meeting a third member that encircles only the base of a central fin. One lock holds the assembly to the board and an attached cable may be locked about a secure object.
It is accordingly an object of the invention to provide a very simple and easy to use assembly to secure a surfboard to another item so that it not easily stolen. Surfboards are generally made with one or more fins that are removably attached by one or two fasteners to the underside of the board. They are readily detached for transport and replaced when damaged. They may also be replaced when different performance is needed. The surfboard may be tethered to any non-portable item such as a light pole, truck, or bicycle rack with a lockable cable passing through a small hole in the fin. The hole is not large enough to affect performance, but the fin is readily detached. This leaves the owner with a fin and the thief with the board, needing only a fin. It is an object of the invention to provide a system of securing a surfboard to another item by a lockable cable that passes through a small hole in the fin. It is another object that the system prevent a thief from removing the fin from the surfboard without seriously damaging the board itself.
The system of the invention comprises a not easily destroyed rigid sleeve that is adapted to slide over one fin. A flange at the base of the sleeve extends over the one or more fasteners that fasten the fin to the board. A hole in the sleeve and a hole in the fin are in registry when the flange rests on the board, thereby covering the fasteners. A lockable cable passes through the holes to secure the board to a non-portable item. The thief cannot detach the fin because the fin fasteners are rendered inaccessible by the flange. The cable passing through the fin and the sleeve must be removed by unlocking the cable lock before the surfboard can be moved. The cable is made to be cut resistant like the cables used to lock bicycles and the like.
These and other objects, features, and advantages of the invention will become more apparent when the detailed description is studied in conjunction with the drawings in which like elements are designated by like reference characters in the various drawing figures.


The present invention relates to a device for preheating the two coil electrodes (W1, W2) of a fluorescent lamp (La) comprising an AC voltage source (10), a resonance capacitor CR, which is arranged serially between the two coil electrodes (W1, W2), a first inductance (L1), which is coupled between the AC voltage source (10) and one of the two coil electrodes (W1, W2), and a second inductance (L2), which is connected to a point between the AC voltage source (10) and the coil electrode (W1) coupled thereto, the second inductance (L2) being coupled to the first inductance (L1) in such a way that a current flow (IL2) through the second inductance (L2) leads to a reduction of the magnetization of the first inductance (L1). It furthermore relates to a corresponding method.

The present invention relates to a device for preheating the two coil electrodes of a fluorescent lamp comprising an AC voltage source, a resonance capacitor, which is arranged serially between the two coil electrodes, and a first inductance, which is coupled between the AC voltage source and one of the two coil electrodes. It additionally relates to a method for preheating the two coil electrodes of a fluorescent lamp.
In order to explain the problems on which the invention is based, FIG. 1 illustrates a preheating device of the generic type, known from the prior art. An AC voltage source 10 is formed from a DC voltage source U, two switches S1, S2 and a coupling capacitor CK. The two coils W1, W2 of a fluorescent lamp La, in particular a low-pressure fluorescent lamp, are connected in series into the output circuit of an electronic ballast (not illustrated) which comprises an inductance L1 and also a resonance capacitor CR. This circuit provides a very simple method of providing heating of the coils W1, W2 before the ignition of the lamp La.
In the case of this circuit, preheating current IV and preheating voltage UV are related to the inductance L1 and the resonance capacitor CR as follows:             L1              C        R              -            U      v              I      v
Accordingly, the voltage Uv across the lamp La during preheating and the preheating current Iv cannot be chosen independently of one another given predetermined values for the inductance L1 and the resonance capacitor CR. In the case of unfavorable lamp data or a lack of degrees of freedom in the design of the electrical ballast, it is possible, therefore, that adequate coil preheating will not be able to be obtained at the maximum permissible voltage Uv across the lamp La.
The object of the present invention therefore consists in enabling preheating which suffices for the ignition of the lamp even in the case of unfavorable lamp data or a lack of degrees of freedom in the design of the electrical ballast.
This object is achieved by virtue of the fact that the device of the generic type furthermore comprises a second inductance, which is connected to a point between the AC voltage source and the coil electrode coupled thereto, the second inductance being coupled to the first inductance in such a way that a current flow through the second inductance leads to a reduction of the magnetization of the first inductance.
This measure makes it possible to realize intensified coil preheating which manages with a minimum of additional components. The current through the first inductance L1, the so-called lamp inductor, is increased by connecting the second inductance, which is designed in particular as an auxiliary winding fitted on the lamp inductor, in a polarity such that the current flowing therein reduces the magnetization of the first inductance L1, that is to say effectively reduces the effective inductance. In accordance with the above formula, a reduction of the effective inductance corresponds to an increase in the preheating current. After preheating, the second inductance is switched out.
By virtue of the present invention, the fixed coupling between the lamp inductor L1 and the resonance capacitor CR is abandoned, so that a higher preheating current can be realized during preheating, on account of the smaller effective inductance, without the permissible maximum lamp voltage being exceeded.
In accordance with a second aspect of the present invention, the above object is also achieved by means of a method for preheating the two coil electrodes of a fluorescent lamp, using a preheating device having an AC voltage source, a resonance capacitor, which is arranged serially between the two coil electrodes, a first inductance, which is coupled between the AC voltage source and one of the two coil electrodes, and a second inductance, which is connected to a point between the AC voltage source and the coil electrode coupled thereto, which comprises the following steps:
firstly, the second inductance is coupled to the first inductance in such a way that a current flow through the second inductance leads to a reduction of the magnetization of the first inductance. Afterward, a current flow through the second inductance is effected during preheating and a current flow through the second inductance is prevented or the coupling between the first and second inductances is interrupted after preheating.
A particularly preferred embodiment comprises a control device by which the current flow through the second inductance or the coupling between the first and second inductances can be controlled. This control device is preferably realized as a switch arranged in series with he second inductance, or a PTC thermistor. For the case where the control device is realized as a switch, it is possible to provide a drive device which closes the switch during preheating and otherwise opens it. For the case where the control device is realized as a PTC thermistor, this driving is unnecessary since said PTC thermistor automatically undergoes transition to the high-impedance state at a specific temperature and thereby prevents a current flow through the second inductance.
The other connection of the second inductance is preferably connected to ground.

Device and method for preheating the coil electrodes of a fluorescent lamp

Patent-Treuhand-Gesellschaft fuer elektrische Gluehlampen mbH


A blower assembly for a leaf blower has a case, a motor, an impeller driven by the motor, and an axial fan driven by the motor. The axial fan and the impeller are connected to opposite ends of the motor. The case has an air inlet, an air outlet and an air channel communicating the air inlet with the air outlet. The impeller is disposed inside the air channel to move air through the air channel from the air inlet to the air outlet. The axial fan is arranged to generate an axial flow of air towards the motor to cool the motor.

A leaf blower comprises a case, a high power motor mounted inside the case, and a centrifugal fan (also known as an impeller) driven by the motor. An inlet and an outlet are formed in the case. Air is drawn into the inlet and expelled from the outlet by the centrifugal fan. Traditional leaf blowers are heavy and large in size since the high power motor is heavy and large. The motor is hot during operation since it is a high power motor.
Hence, there is a desire for blower, such as a leaf blower, which incorporates a high power motor that has a lighter weight or a higher power density.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A video playing and recording apparatus has a time shift function which allows a television program or other such data to be temporarily recorded in a file of a time shift recording region of a hard disk while the recorded data can be played, When a data recording command is received during a time shift function, the temporary recording of data in file A of the time shift recording region is stopped, and the permanent recording in file B of a permanent recording region is started. At this time, the end address of the data in file A is recorded in file B, and the head address of the data in file B is recorded to file A. The data in file A and file B can be played continuously by using the two addresses recorded in file A or file B.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a video recording and playing apparatus having a time shift function.
2. Background Information
As with a hard disk recorder, a time shift function is provided in some video recording and playing apparatuses that record and play broadcast data including video images such as a television program. The time shift function is a function by which broadcast data that is inputted from an external source is temporarily recorded in a specific recording region of a hard disk up to a predetermined period of time, while allowing certain processes to be performed on the recorded data. For instance, this time shift function allows the data that has been temporarily recorded in the predetermined region of the hard disk to be read and played for up to the above-mentioned predetermined time, and also allows the data being played to be fast-forwarded, rewound, paused, and so forth. The predetermined region of the hard disk where data is recorded by the time shift function (hereinafter referred to as the time shift recording region) is used as a ring buffer. Accordingly, when data corresponding to the predetermined amount of time has been recorded, any subsequent data is recorded over the oldest recorded data in the ring buffer. The purpose of allowing data to be temporarily recorded in the time shift recording region in this manner is to utilize the recording region of the hard disk more effectively.
With an apparatus having the time shift function as described above, when the record button is pressed or when the recording start time of a timer recording function comes, broadcast data is usually permanently recorded in a region (hereinafter referred to as the permanent recording region) separate from the above-mentioned time shift recording region. The reason why the data recording region for permanent recording and the data recording region of time shift recording are separately provided is because the time shift recording region is used as a ring buffer. Therefore, if the data is recorded in this time shift recording region for the purpose of permanent recording, the data will be written over after a while and cannot be stored permanently.
It has been known to permanently record data that has been temporarily recorded during the time shift operation. Such technology by which data is permanently recorded after the data has been temporarily recorded during the time shift operation is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2003-134464 and Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2002-354423. In Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2003-134464, when the record button is pressed during the time shift operation, the recording of data in the time shift recording region is stopped, and the recording of data in the permanent recording region is started. After the recording of data in the permanent recording region ends, the data that was recorded in the time shift recording region between the time at which a time shift function such as playing the data recorded in the time shift region was started and the time when the recording of data in the permanent recording region started is transferred to the permanent recording region. As a result, the data corresponding to this time period is permanently recorded without any omission. Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2002-354423 discloses a personal computer hard disk in which the data recording region does not have separate regions for the permanent recording and the time shift recording, and instead the recordings is performed continuously in one region, and when a request for the permanent recording of data is received during a time shift operation, the time shift data that has already been recorded is converted into data for permanent recording, such that the data is permanently recorded.
With a conventional apparatus having a time shift function, when there is a command from the record button or a timer recording function to permanently record data during the playing of the time shift operation, the recording of data in the time shift recording region is stopped and the permanent recording of data in the permanent recording region is started, as in the above-mentioned Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2003-134464. The problem, however, is that when the data recording position suddenly jumps from the time shift recording region to the permanent recording region in this way, the data that was recorded in the time shift recording region is cut off at the point where the data recording in the permanent recording region started, and the playing of the data recorded in the time shift recording region is forcibly stopped at this point while playing data in the time shift recording region. Another problem is that, if the data corresponding to the time between the start of the time shift operation and the time when the permanent recording starts is transferred to the permanent recording region, the transferred data can be subsequently played, but it is impossible to access the data recorded prior to the recording of the transferred data. It is also not possible to play data with the time shift operation during the permanent recording. Also, if, as in the computer hard disk of Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application 2002-354423, data is recorded continuously in the same region both during the time shift recording and the permanent recording, the data can be played with the time shift operation even after the permanent recording is started. In a conventional video recording and playing apparatus, however, since data is pre-configured to be recorded in separate regions during time shift recording and during permanent recording, these two types of data cannot be recorded continuously.
In view of the above, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure that there exists a need for an improved a video recording and playback apparatus that overcomes the problems of the conventional art. This invention addresses this need in the art as well as other needs, which will become apparent to those skilled in the art from this disclosure.


Method for the selective detection of petroleum hydrocarbon in an environmental sample containing natural organic matter. The method includes subjecting the sample to infrared (IR) radiation, and detecting an IR signal centered on a signal at 1380 cm−1, 2690 cm−1, 2730 cm−1, 2830 cm−1, 2870 cm−1, 4164 cm−1, 4256 cm−1, 4329 cm−1 and/or 4388 cm−1. Detection of the IR signal indicates the presence of petroleum hydrocarbon in said sample.

Most petroleum hydrocarbon substances are derived from crude oil and, typically, comprise a mixture of short and medium length hydrocarbon compounds. The less volatile components of petroleum hydrocarbons can become environmental contaminants; they may remain in the environment for extended periods and become toxic to wildlife, flora and/or humans. Such contaminations are usually difficult, if not impossible, to observe visually unless gross contamination has occurred. Therefore, methods for the rapid and/or simple detection of petroleum hydrocarbons in the environment (ie as may be found in soils, sludges and waterways) are desirable for monitoring environmental contamination and/or assessing a site. For example, methods for the rapid detection of petroleum hydrocarbons are particularly useful in assessing or monitoring contamination of coastal land following off-shore oil spills.
For instance, with high urban growth, city fringes are gradually encroaching on areas that were formerly disused and/or predominantly industrial in nature. These sites present usable and valuable property for the further growth and development of many industrialised cities. However, many such sites have been contaminated by petroleum hydrocarbon leakage from their previous industrial uses, and some have been exposed to these recalcitrant materials time and time again. While these sites hold great potential, the environmental protection guidelines of most industrialised countries set safety standards for the minimum acceptable concentration of petroleum hydrocarbons in soils or other environmental matrices. Thus, to be placed in order for non-industrial reuse (eg residential or light-industrial uses), the amount of petroleum hydrocarbon on these sites must be reduced to acceptable levels for their intended future use. While many options are available for the treatment of contaminated sites, a significant portion of the time and costs involved in treating these sites is consumed in the monitoring of petroleum hydrocarbon. This is particularly true of the more sustainable remediation treatment techniques.
In addition, causing an environmental contamination event can be considered as a serious offence with hefty penalties applicable to entities that flagrantly cause serious contamination. In these instances, regulators must rely on time-intensive and costly techniques to monitor the contamination event, with the delay in testing time, in turn, causing a delay in possible action to control the severity of the event.
Such testing situations typically involve the testing of numerous soil samples involving the extraction and quantification of contaminant components, which is generally time consuming and labour intensive. For example, for the analysis of total petroleum hydrocarbons (TPHs) in soil, testing is usually carried put via supercritical fluid extraction of the TPH components from the soil samples followed by the quantitative analysis of the TPH either by gas chromatography-flame ionisation detection (GC-FID) and/or gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS). GC-MS is particularly suitable for the quantitative analysis of the more volatile components of TPHs (ie compounds in the C6 to C10 carbon chain range), but often utilises a purge and trap method where a heated purge gas is used to introduce the TPH components to the GC column; a procedure that, alone, may take up to twenty minutes per sample. For the less volatile components of TPH (ie compounds in the C10 to C36 range), detection in soil or sediment samples can potentially be achieved by the direct extraction of the contaminants using a solvent such as methylene chloride, following sample sonication, and introduction of the TPH components to a GC column for GC-MS analysis or analysis by Fourier Transform (FT) IR transmission (Sadler and Connell, 2003). However, these techniques, although they potentially provide accurate results, can be time consuming and labour intensive. Moreover, none of these methods, which necessarily involve the use of sensitive equipment, are particularly suited to the direct on-site analysis of contaminants such as petroleum hydrocarbon.
Accordingly, a rapid and/or simple method for detecting the presence of contaminants, and particularly TPH components, in a site could provide significant cost advantages (ie in terms of reduced testing costs and/or the avoidance of delays in test results leading to productivity losses), and/or other advantages of rapid response, such as the capacity to undertake preventative measures to prevent further contamination and/or to limit contaminant spread.
Infrared (IR) spectrometry techniques represent a possible alternative approach to supercritical fluid extraction and gas chromatography analyses of site contaminants. IR spectrometry distinguishes between chemical compounds by detecting the selective absorption of different IR wavelengths by chemical bonds; thus, every compound present in a sample being analysed, that is IR active, has a unique IR "spectral signature" enabling its identification and potential quantification. IR spectrometry-based techniques, such as diffuse reflectance infrared Fourier transform (DRIFT) spectroscopy with partial least-squares (PLS) chemometrics have been employed in agricultural soil analysis for the detection of organic carbon, exchangeable cations, air-dry moisture and clay content (Janik and Skjemstad, 1995; Reeves et al., 1999; and Cozzolino and Moron, 2003). For example, IR spectrometry has been used as a predictor of oil yield from oil shale minerals (Adams et al., 2005). However, these prior art techniques do not address the complexities associated with the qualitative or quantitative analysis of contaminants such as petroleum hydrocarbon in non-uniform and/or complex mixtures such as soil, sediment, rock or mineral samples. These difficulties arise because the spectral peaks typically attributable to petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants may also arise from the presence of naturally-occurring organic matter (NOM) and/or be masked by other factors in such non-uniform or complex samples. For example, using DRIFT, where the radiation penetrates only a short distance (a few tens of micrometers), quartz (as sand) and kaolinite clays can give particularly strong MIR spectral signatures which canvas a result, cause very weak spectral peaks to appear amplified while stronger spectral peaks may be distorted or disappear due to total "mirror" type of reflectance of the IR radiation.
The present invention is directed at IR spectrometry-based methods for detecting petroleum hydrocarbon contaminants in an environmental sample, particularly a soil, silt, sediment, rock, mineral or waste sample, which may overcome one or more of the problems associated with the prior art.
All publications, mentioned in this specification are herein incorporated by reference. Any discussion of documents, acts, materials, devices, articles or the like which has been included in the present specification is solely for the purpose of providing a context for the present invention. It is not to be taken as an admission that any or all of these matters form part of the prior art base or were common general knowledge in the field relevant to the present invention as it existed in any country before the priority date of each claim of this application.

Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation


A non-destructive testing method of analyzing a sample comprising a composite material is disclosed. The method comprises: emitting an electromagnetic signal onto the sample, the electromagnetic signal having a range of frequencies; detecting a response signal transmitted and/or reflected by the sample in response to the electromagnetic signal; processing the response signal to determine variation with frequency of a dielectric permittivity of the sample over the range of frequencies; and determining an indication of a structural characteristic of the sample from a measure of the variation with frequency of the dielectric permittivity of the sample.

The market of products containing conductive fillers is extremely large. For example, the global market for lightweight materials used in transportation reached USD 115.4 billion in 2014. This market is expected to reach about USD 109 billion by 2015 and $188.7 billion by 2020, registering a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 11.6% from 2015 to 2020. The global carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRP) market was valued at USD 20.29 Billion in 2014, and is projected to register a CAGR of 9.9% between 2015 and 2020. The market size of anti-corrosion coating was USD 22.45 Billion in 2015 and is projected to reach USD 30.04 Billion by 2021, registering a CAGR of 5.1% between 2016 and 2021. The conductive coating for electromagnetic interference (EMI) shielding applications is expected to reach USD 2.3 billion in 2019 and to register a rather modest CAGR of 3.6%.
All the above-mentioned industrial sectors require non-destructive testing (NDT) that is rapid, cost-effective, and reliable. NDT is considered a basic need in industries such as aerospace, oil & gas, petroleum, and construction, among others. The huge NDT market is estimated to be valued at USD 12.98 Billion in 2015 and is projected to reach USD 18.88 Billion by 2020, at a CAGR of 7.78% from 2015 to 2020.
Discontinuous conductive fillers can be of different materials including metal, carbon and inorganic based. Depending on the target applications of composites, the criterion of fillers selection is different. For example, in the field of electromagnetic interference shielding, the composites should have high electrical conductivity, in which metal fillers are popularly used. Currently, there is a trend that carbon-based fillers (e.g., carbon nanotube, graphene and carbon black) are used to replace metals to enhance comprehensive properties of composites, contributed by their low density, high conductivity, high modulus, and chemical stability. All these fillers possess excellent properties, but their dispersion, which is vital for the performance of composites can cause concern.
Continuous fillers correspond to another huge market. The representative one is carbon fiber, which is usually combined with other materials to form a composite, e.g., epoxy, nylon, polyurethane, ceramic, cement, and so on. Carbon fibers play an important role in different industries, such as aerospace, automobile, wind energy (wind turbine blade), and sport and furniture industry. Compared with discontinuous fillers, great concerns of carbon fiber reinforced composites are defects inside the composites, which are in the terms of de-bonding between fibers with matrix, fiber fracture, and matrix defects (voids, fracture, etc.). These defects could arise from fatigue, impact, and manufacturing.
To characterize the dispersion of discontinues fillers and defects in continuous filler reinforced composites, lots of technologies have been developed. Scanning electron microscope (SEM) and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) are commonly used techniques to observe the dispersion of discontinuous fillers and evaluation the defects of continuous fillers in composites. However, both of SEM and TEM are not practical for industrial applications, since their observations are limited to a small observation area. Additionally, the specimen preparation of SEM and TEM is destructive, complicated and non-representative. Another critical drawback of using SEM and TEM is the difficulty of evaluating dispersion at high filler loading, as the filler cannot be distinguished as whether individually dispersed or aggregated through visual observation.
To overcome the drawbacks of SEM and TEM, some non-destructive testing methods have been developed, e.g., X-ray computed tomography (CT). X-ray CT scan makes use of computer-processed combinations of many X-ray images taken from different angles to produce cross-sectional (tomographic) images of specific areas of a scanned object, allowing the user to see inside the object without cutting. X-ray CT has been successfully used for detection of defects in carbon fiber reinforced composite (CFRC) and dispersion of nano-fillers (e.g., graphene). However, X-ray machines are complicated and expensive. Moreover, the size of samples under test is limited by the chamber size. Although there are some other methods to detect defects in composites, like eddy current, ultrasonic testing and so on, there are no reports on their applications of fillers dispersion.

Non-destructive testing methods and apparatus