Compounds of the formula ##STR1## or of the formula ##STR2## or the amides, esters or salts thereof, wherein: S.sup.x is S.dbd.O, O.dbd.S.dbd.O, S.dbd.NH, HN.dbd.S.dbd.O, Se.dbd.O, O.dbd.Se.dbd.O, Se.dbd.NH, HN.dbd.Se.dbd.O, S.sup.+ R.sup.3 wherein R.sup.3 is alkyl (1-6C) or O--C.dbd.O or HN--C.dbd.O;. each R of R.sup.1, and R.sup.2 is independently H or a noninterfering substituent; PA1 wherein (conj) represents a conjugated system capable of transmitting electrons; PA1 n is 0 or 1; PA1 YCO is selected from the group consisting of .gamma.-Glu, .gamma.-Glu-Gly, Glu, Glu-Gly, .beta.Asp, .beta.-Asp-Gly, Asp and Asp-Gly; PA1 AA.sub.C is an amino acid linked through a peptide bond to the remainder of said compound of Formula 1; and PA1 N(Z) represents a reduced nitrogen-containing leaving group and L represents an electron-withdrawing leaving group, PA1 are useful as prodrugs and to generate active components released by the activity of glutathione S-transferase.

Electron transit through a urethane linkage has been utilized to construct prodrugs by Senter, P. D. et al., J Org Chem (1990), 55:2975. In this work, the reduction of a disulfide bridging two phenyl moieties was used to mediate the release of either nitroaniline or mitomycin C, wherein the amino group of the substance released was part of a urethane linkage para to the disulfide on one of the phenyl moieties. The reduction released electrons through the phenyl moiety to decompose the urethane. This provided the released nitroaniline or mitomycin C, and CO.sub.2 as a by-product.
In addition, Nicolaou, K. C. et al., Angew Chem Int Ed Engl (1991) 30:1032 describe the release of a dynemycin A analog wherein the amino group of the dynemycin A analog was included as part of a urethane linkage to the moiety .phi.--SO.sub.2 CH.sub.2 OC(O)--N. Neither of these prodrug type molecules is enzyme regulated.
PCT/US1994/11109 referenced and incorporated above was published Apr. 13, 1995 as WO95/09866. This published application describes a set of glutathione S-transferase activated compounds wherein the release of a desired leaving group is actuated by abstraction of a hydrogen ion .alpha. to the cysteinyl sulfur atom in a glutathione analog. The nature of the glutathione analog will determine which isoenzyme of GST will be the most effective in activating the release of the leaving group. Also disclosed in WO95/09866 is the inclusion of a urethane linkage within the leaving group, so that CO.sub.2 is released when the leaving group is released as well.
The use of a conjugated .pi. system to participate in the transfer of electrons from a relevant portion of a prodrug to the group released is also described by Papanastassiou, Z. B. et al., Experientia (1968) 24:325 and Tercel, M. et al., J Med Chem (1993) 36:2578, as well as in the PCT reference described above.
It has now been found that the enzyme specificity conferred by the nature of glutathione analogs can be coupled with the electron release mechanisms associated with the urethane linkage to provide a new class of effective prodrugs for a variety of nitrogen-containing pharmaceuticals as well as more generally a release mechanism for any moiety containing reduced nitrogen. In addition, by taking advantage of the ability to move electrons through a conjugated system, the urethane-mediated linkage can be employed to release moieties which do not contain reduced nitrogen as part of the urethane linkage per se.

Urethane mediated, GST specific molecular release systems


Compositions and methods are provided for the induction of a protective immunize response in primates against a lethal challenge of Plasmodium.

The major merozoite surface protein of Plasmodium species has been shown to be a target of varying degrees of protective immunity against the asexual blood stages in rodent and human malaria. For example, vaccination of mice with purified P230, the major merozoite surface protein of the rodent malaria Plasmodium yoelii, has resulted in reduced parasitemias in comparison to controls upon intravenous challenge with a lethal dose of parasitized erythrocytes (Holder et al. 1981. Nature 294:361). Mice have also been protected against P. yoelii by passive transfer of a monoclonal antibody (Mab) specific for P230 (Majarian et al. 1984. J. Immunol. 132:3131) and against (rodent malaria) Plasmodium chabaudi adami challenge by passive immunization with a Mab specific for the homologous 250-kDa molecule of this plasmodium species (Lew et al. 1989. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 86:3768). The ability to confer resistance to parasite challenge by passive transfer of antibodies suggests that antibody-mediated mechanisms play an important role in antigen-specific immunity to malaria.
Despite these findings, however, no commercially viable vaccine has been developed against the major merozoite surface antigen of the major human malaria pathogen, Plasmodium falciparum.
For example, using naturally derived materials, such as the precursor of the major merozoite surface protein (MSP) alone (gp195: 195,000-200,000 Da molecular species; merozoite surface protein-1 (MSP-1)), gp195 mixed with certain of its natural processing fragments, or a natural processing fragment by itself, partial protection against Plasmodium falciparum infection has been achieved by some researchers (Hall et al. 1984. Nature 311:379; Perrin et al. 1984. J. Exp. Med. 160:441; Patarroyo et al. 198. Vaccines 87 (Brown, Chanock, Lerner, ed.) Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press, CSH, NY. 117-124). An effective vaccine against Plasmodium falciparum should not convey merely partial protection, i.e. a partial lowering of parasitemia, since even low parasitemias of this organism cause serious illness. A commercially useful vaccine should substantially eliminate parasitemia. It is generally thought that an acceptable malaria vaccine that would reduce parasitemia to a low level and, consequently, result in a substantial reduction in morbidity and mortality.
In one instance, substantially complete protection using natural materials against Plasmodium falciparum challenge has been achieved in Aotus monkeys, in particular by the use of a mixture of gp195 and some of its natural processing fragments obtained by affinity purification using a Mab, designated Mab 5.2 (Siddiqui et al. 1987. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 84:3014). In follow up experiments using Mab 5.2 affinity purified, parasite gp195, a correlation was found between protection against infection with Plasmodium falciparum and the ability of serum antibodies to strongly inhibit parasite growth in vitro. In particular, monkeys and rabbits hyperimmunized with Mab 5.2 affinity purified parasite gp195 in complete Freund's adjuvant produced antibodies that inhibited in vitro parasite growth (Hui et al. 1987. Exp. Parasitol. 64:519).
The difficulty in developing an effective naturally derived vaccine, however, has been compounded with the difficulty in developing an effective recombinant or synthetic vaccine. Recombinant or synthetic vaccines are desirable for several reasons. They have the potential to focus immune response(s) on the most effective portion of gp195, an important advantage since there may be decoy determinants in gp195 which prevent the most effective response. Also, more homogeneous preparations are possible using recombinant techniques than in preparations of naturally derived products. In addition, recombinant and synthetic based vaccines avoid the potential contamination of naturally derived gp195 with pathogens from its human source.
Although a number of investigators have designed and tested gp195-based synthetic peptides and recombinant products as vaccine antigens, no strongly protective vaccine has resulted. Thus, synthetic peptides corresponding to various segments of the N-terminal 83 kDa processing fragment of gp195 induced antibodies in rabbits which displayed only a low level of cross reactivity with asexual blood stage parasites (Cheung et al. 1986. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 83:8328). One of these synthetic peptides, corresponding to a non-repetitive, conserved sequence, partially protected Saimiri monkeys against Plasmodium falciparum challenge (Cheung et al. 1986). In a vaccination study in Aotus monkeys using an 83 kDa processing fragment-based recombinant polypeptide produced in E. coli there was no significant difference between the course of infection of control animals and animals immunized with the recombinant polypeptide. In addition, very low levels of antibodies cross-reactive with native gp195 by immunofluorescence were induced (Knapp et al. 1988. Behring Inst. Mitt. 82:349). A bacterial recombinant polypeptide based on a fusion of two conserved regions located towards the amino terminus and center of the gp195 molecule induced only low indirect fluorescent antibody (IFA) titers when used to immunize Aotus monkeys (Herrera et al. 1990. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87:4017) and two out of five immunized animals were partially protected.
Holder et al. studied two recombinant polypeptides which corresponded to portions of the 42 kDa C-terminal processing fragment of gp195 (p42) fused to trp E and beta-galactosidase carrier sequences, respectively (Holder et al. 1988. Parasite. Immunol. 10:607). While immunized animals produced high antibody titers against the carrier portion of the recombinant polypeptides, much lower titers were detected against the gp195 antigen. Some of the Aotus monkeys immunized with both of these recombinant polypeptides were partially protected against parasite challenge.
Murphy et al. (1990. Parasitology. 2:177-183) attempted to recombinantly produce portions of the p42 antigen of the Wellcome isolate of gp195 in insect host cells. gp195 is believed to exist in at least two allelic forms, of which the Wellcome isolate ("Wellcome allele") and the MAD isolate ("MAD allele") are representative (Tanabe et al. 1987. J. Mol. Biol. 195:273). While Murphy et al. reported producing a product which folded in a similar manner to the natural antigen, they did not report obtaining a purified polypeptide but only reported multiply banded antigens speculated to have resulted from post-translational processing or degradation. No follow-up immunogenicity or efficacy studies have been reported using any materials obtained.
A mixture of three synthetic peptides, one peptide from the 83 kDa processing fragment of gp195 and two non-gp195 malaria peptides, partially to completely protected monkeys against parasite challenge; a hybrid synthetic polymer including the sequences of the three synthetic peptides in addition to a circumsporozoite region was reported to provide a delay or suppression of parasitemias (Patarroyo et al. 1987. Nature 328:629; Rodriguez et al. 1990. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 43:339; Patarroyo et al. 1988. Nature 332:158). Field trials of this hybrid are under way. It is unclear whether any gp195 epitopes in the mixture or hybrid resulted in any protection. In addition there have been two reported studies which were unable to duplicate the prior results obtained using the peptide mixture (Reubush et al. 1990. Am. J. Trop. Med. Hyg. 43:355-366) or the hybrid peptide multimer (Herrera et al. 1991. Abstract in the IV International Congress on Malaria and Babesiosis). Thus, there has been no gp195-based recombinant or synthetic vaccine antigen which has been shown sufficiently effective against Plasmodium falciparum challenge.
Accordingly, it is an object of the invention to provide recombinant or synthetic antigens, compositions comprising these antigens, and methods of use that are effective against Plasmodium falciparum challenge.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A contextual state of a graphical user interface presented via a display of the computing system is identified. A voice command is selected from a set of voice commands based on the contextual state of the graphical user interface. A context-specific voice-command suggestion corresponding to the selected voice command is identified. A graphical user interface including the context-specific voice-command suggestion is presented via a display.

In multitasking computing systems that support launching and switching between multiple applications, interactions with an operating system may be slow and cumbersome. For example, launching an application may entail navigating hierarchical lists or searching a graphical user interface to find the application. Often a manual login or user switching step is performed prior to launching the application to ensure that the application displays an appropriate context.

Voice-command suggestions based on computer context


A printing apparatus for a cassette accommodating a recording medium such as a tape-shaped recording medium or the like or a cassette accommodating case includes a cylindrical member and a cylindrical pad. The cylindrical member is supplied with an ink which contains an inorganic filler having a comparatively large particle size. The ink is added with a titanate coupling agent or an aluminate coupling agent. The cylindrical member has the concave printing plate formed on its peripheral surface and is supported rotatably. The ink on the concave printing plate is transferred to the cylindrical pad. The cylindrical pad is supported rotatably. The cylindrical pad is brought in contact with the concave printing plate and the surface of the conveyed cassette accommodating the recording medium or the conveyed cassette accommodating case. The ink transferred to the cylindrical pad from the concave printing plate is transferred to the surface of the conveyed cassette accommodating the recording medium or the conveyed cassette accommodating case.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to method of and apparatus for printing a cassette accommodating a recording medium or a cassette accommodating case and a cassette accommodating a recording medium and particularly to an intaglio printing method and apparatus of the cassette accommodating the recording medium and the cassette accommodating case and the cassette accommodating the recording medium to be printed.
2. Background of the Invention
Some recording-medium housing cassettes, for example, tape cassettes and housing cases thereof, have on their surfaces write areas (so-called label areas) formed by direct printing with an ink on which letters and the like can be directly written with a writing instrument. A title of the cassette and the like can be directly written with the writing instrument on the label area formed by printing.
FIG. 1 shows an example of the recording-medium housing cassette having the label area, i.e., a tape cassette or a so-called audio compact cassette which is commercially available on the market. A tape cassette 1 includes a plastic cassette housing 2 in which a pair of hubs around which a magnetic tape is wound as the recording medium are rotatably accommodated. Insertion apertures 3a, 3b of hub driving shafts for magnetic tape traveling are formed through a substantially middle portion of the tape cassette 1. The cassette tape 1 has through its trapezoidal portion insertion apertures 4a, 4b of capstans for the magnetic-tape travelling and reference apertures 5a, 5b used for positioning the cassette in a recording and/or reproducing apparatus. These insertion apertures 3a, 3b, insertion apertures 4a, 4b and the reference apertures 5a, 5b are formed so as to pierce the tape cassette 1 in its thickness direction. Though not shown, a plurality of opening portions used for recording and/or reproducing an information signal on and/or from the magnetic tape are formed through a side surface corresponding to the trapezoidal portion of the tape cassette 1.
Reference numeral 6 depicts a print surface which is formed on a surface of the cassette housing by a so-called solid printing with the ink where letters and the like can be directly written. The user can write music selection titles and so on on the print surface 6 with a pen.
A so-called pad printing is typically considered as one of methods of such printing on the tape cassette 1.
A printing method based on the pad printing will be briefly described with reference to FIGS. 2A through 2F.
As shown in FIG. 2A, an ink 11 is coated on a plate, i.e., an intaglio plate 10. Subsequently, as shown in FIG. 2B, extra ink is removed by a blade 12 and only the ink 11 of a necessary amount is left in a concave portion of the plate 10. In this state, as shown in FIG. 2C, a pad 13 is pressed onto the plate 10. The pad 13 is made of silicone rubber and might have any suitable shape, such as a semi-cylindrical shape as shown in FIG. 3, a cone shape as shown in FIG. 4 or a shape of frustum of quadrangular pyramid (its upper surface portion has a circular shape). Each of the pads 13 shown in FIGS. 3 to 5 is shaped so as to have a stepped portion at its tip end center portion.
Such pad 13 is pressed to the plate 10 with strong pressure to transfer the ink 11 on the plate 10 onto the pad 13 side as shown in FIG. 2D. Specifically, the pad 13 receives the ink 11. As shown in FIG. 2E, the pad 13, which received the ink 11 from the plate 10, is pressed onto the surface of the cassette housing 2 which is a printed object. Then, as shown in FIG. 2F, the ink 11 is transferred to the surface of the cassette housing 2, and a portion onto which the ink 11 is transferred becomes the print surface 6.
When a very large area is printed by pad printing, an area of the concave portion of the plate also becomes large. Therefore, in the process in which the extra ink 11 is removed by the blade 12, it is frequently observed that the blade 12 sinks deeply in the concave portion of the plate 10 to remove the ink 11 or more than is necessary. As a result, the ink 11 to be transferred to the pad 13 becomes uneven in thickness, resulting in unevenness in the printing.
To prevent the blade 12 from deeply sinking, there is proposed a method in which the plate 10 is shaped in a halftone pattern as shown in FIG. 7 instead of being shaped so as to be a simple concave. The "halftone pattern" referred to in this specification hereinafter represents a pattern in which the whole printing plate is divided in a lattice fashion and a plurality of very small concave portions corresponding to a printed pattern.
A pattern called "150 lines and 90%" is used as the halftone pattern. The pattern is such a pattern that a reference cell 15 having an area of 1/150 square inch, i.e., a section made by dividing a surface of one square inch with 150 lines at constant intervals in each of vertical and horizontal directions is regarded as a reference cell and an area of a concave portion 16 (hatched portion) in the cell 15 occupies 90% of all the area of the cell 15. The rest of 10% is occupied by a convex portion 17 (dotted portion).
As shown in FIG. 9, when the pad printing is carried out with the plate having the halftone pattern thus formed, the pad receives the ink from the concave portion 16 of the plate and transfers it to the cassette housing which is a printed object. Then, since the pad is pressed onto the cassette housing, the ink transferred so as to surround a portion where the ink is not transferred is spread to the portion with on ink corresponding to the convex portion 17 to thereby print the cassette housing in a substantially solid fashion.
As described above, when the tape cassette is printed with the pad printing, the following problems arise.
The above-mentioned pad printing uses the pad of suitable shapes, such as the semicylindrical shape shown in FIG. 3, the cone shape shown in FIG. 4, or the shape of the frustum of a quadrangular pyramid shown in FIG. 5. However, when these pads are used, they are prevented from carrying out the printing using a portion around their tops, so that the printing area is limited. Accordingly, when the label area is provided on the cassette housing in the printing employing the ink on which letters and so on can be written, the label area is limited in shape.
Since the pads having the above-mentioned shapes apply nonuniform pressure to the cassette housing when the cassette housing is printed, it is frequently observed that the cassette housing is cracked.
Especially, since the pad printing cannot provide a sufficient thickness of the ink because the pad printing is transfer printing, a color of the cassette housing cannot be covered satisfactorily. Therefore, in order to cover the color of the cassette housing satisfactorily, the printing is sometimes carried out twice or more on the same surface so as to produce two printed layers or more. In this case, if such printing is continued with the plate having the halftone pattern as shown in FIG. 9, the halftone patterns become overlapped and emphasized when the printing is carried out twice or more although the halftone pattern is not so conspicuous when the printing is carried out once. In that case, the halftone pattern appears as a striped pattern.
It is frequently observed that the print surface is printed on a portion displaced from a correct print position when a printing machine and a plate are not correctly set upon printing. This defect becomes remarkably noticeable especially when a large area up to substantially an outer peripheral portion of the cassette housing is printed like the cassette tape shown in FIG. 1.
Since especially the above-mentioned pad printing is not able to increase the thickness of the print layer to be formed and cannot hide the color of the tape cassette sufficiently, it is frequently observed that the same surface is printed twice or more so as to have two print layers or more in order to remove such disadvantages. In this case, however, the printed layers are displaced in position from each other as shown in FIG. 10, so that this displacement in position leads to difference in covering property, i.e., difference in print density. As a result, an end portion of the print surface looks extremely uneven.
When the ink contains an inorganic filler, the inorganic filler is unsatisfactory in compatibility with an organic material (resin and a solvent) which is a base of the ink, and dispersion, being a factor to lower a material intensity of the print surface. In other words, the inorganic filler is inferior in ink adhesion, wear resistance and scratch resistance of the ink.

Writable ink with organic filler having large particle size


A carpet yarn containing continuous synthetic filaments having a four sided cross-sectional contour and four substantially equispaced continuous voids are disclosed. The voids have a substantially round or nonround shape, and each void is substantially centered on a side of the filament's contour.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to continuous synthetic filaments having a four sided cross-sectional shape containing four continuous voids positioned at distinct locations. The filaments are especially suitable for making carpets which demonstrate improved soiling performance and durability.
2. Description of the Related Art
Those skilled in the art have proposed many different ways to improve the "soiling performance" of continuous synthetic filaments. By the term "soiling performance", it is meant the apparent resistance of a textile material to visible soiling which may be independent of the soiling which actually occurs.
One effort involves producing filaments having continuous voids extending throughout their lengths. As described by Champaneria et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,745,061, it is known to produce filaments having at least three continuous nonround voids. These voids form about 10% to about 35% of the filament volume and are set against the corners of the filament's cross-sectional contour which is substantially free of re-entrant curves.
W. Lochelfeld et al., German Patent No. DL 90,840/'72 teaches a process for spinning filaments having four hollow spaces. These filaments have high stability due to an approximately circular cross-section. However, the circular cross-section also tends to decrease the bulk of these filaments.
Although such conventional filaments, as described above, have a somewhat effective soiling performance, there is a need for filaments having even greater soiling performance which also demonstrate high bulk and durability. The filaments of the present invention provide an improved combination of soiling performance, bulk, and durability and are especially suitable for carpets receiving a high amount of traffic.

Carpet yarn having hollow filament cross-sections containing four continuous voids


An ECU controls an A/F sensor that is provided in an exhaust system of an internal combustion engine and produces current outputs corresponding to the concentration of oxygen in exhaust gas by being supplied with voltage and produces voltage outputs corresponding to the concentration of oxygen in exhaust gas according to the difference between the oxygen concentration around one of a pair of electrodes of the A/F sensor and the oxygen concentration around the other electrode. The ECU has: an energization limitation portion that, when moisture content is adhering on an inner face of an exhaust passage near the A/F sensor, energizes a heater of the A/F sensor while limiting the amount of power supplied thereto; and a specific output obtaining portion that obtains voltage outputs from the A/F sensor at least when the energization limitation portion is energizing the heater while limiting the amount of power supplied thereto.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a gas sensor controller, and particularly to a gas sensor controller for obtaining current outputs and voltage outputs from a gas sensor provided with a heater.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, the exhaust system of an internal combustion engine incorporates various gas sensors including an air-fuel ratio sensor (will hereinafter be referred to as "A/F sensor"). Such gas sensors are normally provided with a heater that is used to heat and thus activate the sensor element of the gas sensor promptly so that the gas sensor becomes able to produce outputs as intended as soon as possible. However, if the heated sensor element is moistened by condensed water, or the like, the temperature of the moistened portion of the sensor element sharply drops, which may cause cracking of the sensor element. Thus, various technologies for preventing such cracking of sensor elements due to moistening have been proposed (Refer to Japanese patent application publications No. 2003-83152 (JP-A-2003-83152) and No. 2001-41923 (JP-A-2001-41923). Japanese patent application publication No. 2003-83152 recites energizing the heater of the gas sensor such that the temperature of the heater is maintained lower than normal when it has been determined that moisture content is adhering on the inner face of the exhaust passage. That is, this technology is aimed at preventing cracking of the sensor element due to moistening.
Generally, in order to ensure that an A/F sensor produces accurate current outputs corresponding to the oxygen concentration in exhaust gas, the temperature of the sensor element of the A/F sensor needs to be maintained at approximately 750° C. Meanwhile, in order to determine at least whether the air-fuel ratio of exhaust gas is fuel-rich or fuel-lean based on the current outputs of an A/F sensor, the temperature of the sensor element of the A/F sensor needs to be maintained at approximately 500 to 600° C. at lowest. Therefore, in order to execute an air-fuel ratio control properly using the current outputs of an A/F sensor, the temperature of the sensor element of the A/F sensor needs to be maintained at approximately 500 to 600° C. at lowest.
Meanwhile, cracking of the sensor element of an A/F sensor can be prevented by maintaining the temperature of the sensor element at a level at and below which cracking of the sensor element does not occur (e.g., 300° C.) by limiting the amount of power supplied to the heater. In this case, however, although cracking of the sensor element can be prevented, the current outputs of the A/F sensor can not be used for the air-fuel ratio control, that is, it is impossible to enable early reduction of exhaust emissions. On the contrary, when the temperature of the sensor element of the A/F sensor is maintained at approximately 500 to 600° C. by controlling the energization of the heater, the temperature of the sensor element largely exceeds the level at and below which cracking of the sensor element does not occur even though the air-fuel ratio control can be executed at an early stage to reduce exhaust emissions. That is, if the heater is energized so as to enable early reduction of exhaust emissions, it inevitably creates a state where cracking of the sensor element due to moistening may occur.


In an optical transmitter-receiver module for performing optical transmission and reception by using a single-core optical fiber, a light-tight partition plate unit 506 for separation between an optical path of a transmission signal light and an optical path of a reception signal light is held between a jack section 508 for detachably holding an optical plug 240 and a light emitting/receiving unit 505 which has an LED 514 and a PD 515 positioned and fixed in place and molded in one piece. The LED 514 is located at a larger distance in a direction of optical axis from the optical fiber than the PD 515 is.

The present invention relates to an optical transmitter-receiver module and an electronic device for use in a single-core bidirectional optical transmitter-receiver system capable of performing transmission and reception with a single-core optical fiber. The present invention relates, in particular, to a digital communication system, which is able to perform high-speed transmission, such as IEEE1394 (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers 1394) and USB (Universal Serial Bus) 2.0.
Conventionally, as an optical transmitter-receiver module, there is a one as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 2001-147349. As shown in FIG. 35, this optical transmitter-receiver module has an optical system using a prism 1104 and achieves full-duplex communications with a single-core optical fiber cable by employing a light-tight partition plate 1111 that abuts against an end surface of an optical fiber 1102 so as to separate a light-emitting device and a light-receiving device from each other to thereby reduce optical crosstalk.
As shown in FIG. 35, in this optical transmitter-receiver module, the partition plate 1111 abuts against the end surface of the optical fiber 1102 in an optical plug 1101, and a light-emitting element 1103 and a light-receiving element 1105 are molded or encapsulated with a molding resin 1106. Lens portions 1106a and 1106b are integrally formed in the plastic molding stage of the molding resin.
In the above-mentioned optical transmitter-receiver module, the light-emitting element 1103 and the light-receiving element 1105 are arranged in positions (on a substrate 1109) located at same distance in the direction of the optical axis from the tip of the optical fiber 1102. Moreover, the prism 1104 is arranged such that halves thereof on the transmission side and the reception side are located at same distance in the direction of the optical axis from the tip of the optical fiber 1102. The partition plate 1111 is elastically deformed by abutting against the optical fiber 1102, providing a structure in which no gap exists between the end surface of the optical fiber 1102 and a surface facing the optical fiber 1102 of the partition plate 1111.
The above-mentioned optical transmitter-receiver module employs a prism optical system having the partition plate 1111 and has the structure in which the end surface of the optical fiber 1102 abuts against the partition plate 1111. Accordingly, there is a problem that the end surface of the optical fiber 1102 and/or the partition plate 1111 is damaged. Moreover, with the partition plate 1111 provided, transmission light is emitted by about 50% with regard to the projected area of the optical fiber, and reception light is made incident by about 50% with regard to the projected area of the optical fiber. Since the light-emitting element 1103 and the light-receiving element 1105 are located at the same distance in the direction of the optical axis from the end surface of the optical fiber 1102, it is difficult to increase the transmission efficiency and reception efficiency. Furthermore, due to a restriction attributed to the structure of the partition plate 1111, the optical layout of the optical elements is not very appropriate to obtain a good performance of optical coupling of the single-core optical fiber cable with the light-emitting element 1103 and/or the light-receiving element 1105.
Accordingly, an object of this invention is to provide an optical transmitter-receiver module and an electronic device using the same, which module is able to perform high-quality optical transmission by full-duplex communication scheme by using a light-tight partition plate and able to prevent the optical fiber end surface and the partition plate from being damaged even if the inserted optical plug is rotated in the module, and which module has an optical layout good enough to obtain a satisfactory performance of optical coupling of the single-core optical fiber cable with the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element.
In order to accomplish the above object, the present invention provides an optical transmitter-receiver module having a light-emitting element for emitting transmission signal light and a light-receiving element for receiving reception signal light, said module being able to perform both transmission of the transmission signal light and reception of the reception signal light by means of a single-core optical fiber, said module comprising:
a jack section for detachably holding an optical plug provided at an end portion of the optical fiber;
a light emitting/receiving unit having the light-emitting element and light-receiving element positioned and fixed in place and molded in one piece; and
a light-tight partition plate unit for separating an optical path of the transmission signal light and an optical path of the reception signal light from each other, said light-tight partition plate being arranged so as to be held between the jack section and the light emitting/receiving unit,
the light-emitting element being located at a larger distance in a direction of optical axis of the optical fiber from an end surface of the optical fiber than the light-receiving element is.
According to the optical transmitter-receiver module of the above construction, by arranging the light-tight partition plate unit for separation between the optical path of the transmission signal light and the optical path of the reception signal light so that the plate is held between the jack section and the light emitting/receiving unit, the coupling of the transmission signal light directly with the light-receiving element is restrained, so that high-quality optical transmission by the full-duplex communication method is achieved. Furthermore, by arranging the light-emitting element so that it is located at a greater distance in the direction of the optical axis from the optical fiber end surface than the light-receiving element is, an optical layout realizing a satisfactory optical coupling of the single-core optical fiber cable with the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element can be provided.
In one embodiment, the module has a transmission prism for refracting the transmission signal light emitted from the light-emitting element and guiding the light to the optical fiber end surface, and a reception prism for refracting at least part of the reception signal light emitted from the optical fiber and guiding the part of light to the light-receiving element. The transmission prism is arranged at a greater distance in the direction of the optical axis from the optical fiber end surface than the reception prism is.
According to the optical transmitter-receiver module of the above-mentioned embodiment, by keeping the light-emitting element away from the optical fiber end surface with the transmission prism located at a greater distance in the direction of the optical axis from the optical fiber end surface than the reception prism is, it is possible to reduce an angle made between a direction of emission of the light-emitting element and the optical axis of the optical fiber. The smaller the angle is, the further the transmission efficiency is improved because the transmission light can be coupled with the optical fiber without being excessively bent by the transmission prism. On the other hand, with the reception prism located in a position closer to the end surface of the optical fiber, the reception signal light from the optical fiber end surface is bent toward the reception side by the reception prism for the coupling with the reception element before the light spreads, whereby the reception efficiency is improved.
In one embodiment, the light emitting/receiving unit has not only the light-emitting element and light-receiving element but also the transmission prism and reception prism positioned and fixed in place and molded in one piece.
This arrangement enables the optimization of the optical layout and the downsizing of the optical transmitter-receiver module proper.
In one embodiment, the optical transmitter-receiver module further has a positioning means for positioning the transmission prism and the reception prism, said positioning means having projections provided at either the transmission and reception prisms or the light-receiving/emitting unit, and associated holes provided at the light-receiving/emitting unit or the transmission and reception prisms that has/have said projections, and positioning the transmission prism and the reception prism by inserting the projections into the respective associated holes.
According to this embodiment, because the positioning of the transmission prism and the reception prism is achieved only by inserting the projections into the respective holes, the positioning accuracy of these prisms can easily be improved.
In one embodiment, at least one projection or hole for the transmission prism is provided in a region through which the transmission signal light does not pass. Also, at least one projection or hole for the reception prism is provided in a region through which the reception signal light does not pass.
With this arrangement, the positioning means can be provided without affecting the transmission and reception performance.
In one embodiment, the transmission prism and the reception prism positioned by the positioning means are fixed by resin molding to a resin-molded piece to which the light-emitting element and the light-receiving element are positioned and fixed.
This arrangement easily prevents the transmission prism and the reception prism from being detached.
In one embodiment, a partition plate included in the partition plate unit is placed in a partition plate guiding groove provided between a transmission side and a reception side of the light-receiving/emitting unit. Also, the partition plate is sized such that a distance in the direction of optical axis of the optical fiber from said end surface of the optical fiber to an end opposite from the optical fiber of the partition plate is greater than a distance in the direction of optical axis from said end surface of the optical fiber to a bottom of a transmission lens provided on emission side of the light-emitting element.
With this arrangement, the transmission signal light (including reflection light) emitted from the light-emitting element can reliably be prevented from being incident on the light-receiving element, whereby the optical crosstalk can effectively be reduced.
By employing the above-mentioned optical transmitter-receiver module, there can be provided electronic equipment such as an information domestic appliance capable of performing optical transmission by a high-quality full-duplex communication system.

Optical transmitter-receiver module and electronic device using the same


A software assist module of a system memory coupled to a host processor provides the ability to offload software operations from the host processor. The software assist module includes a first memory accessed by the host processor via a first chip select signal. The software assist module also includes a software assist controller accessed by the host processor via a second chip select signal. The software assist controller is configured to intercept data related to a software function offloaded from the host processor, where the data is intercepted from a first chip select signal used to access the first memory. The software assist controller utilizes the intercepted data to perform the offloaded function. Based on configuration instructions provided by the host processor via the second chip select signal, the software assist module performs the offloaded function incrementally as function data is intercepted or as a single operation after all data for a function has been intercepted.

As the value and use of information continues to increase, individuals and businesses seek additional ways to process and store information. One option is an Information Handling System (IHS). An IHS generally processes, compiles, stores, and/or communicates information or data for business, personal, or other purposes. Because technology and information handling needs and requirements may vary between different applications, IHSs may also vary regarding what information is handled, how the information is handled, how much information is processed, stored, or communicated, and how quickly and efficiently the information may be processed, stored, or communicated. The variations in IHSs allow for IHSs to be general or configured for a specific user or specific use such as financial transaction processing, airline reservations, enterprise data storage, global communications, etc. In addition, IHSs may include a variety of hardware and software components that may be configured to process, store, and communicate information and may include one or more computer systems, data storage systems, and networking systems.
IHSs may be configured to incorporate various different types of storage devices organized into a storage system for use in providing data storage services. In some scenarios, such as for a laptop or other personal device, the storage system may be limited to storage to a single, local magnetic or solid-state storage drive. In enterprise scenarios, one or more servers may be configured as part of data storage systems that utilize arrays of storage devices, such as in a Redundant Array of Independent Disks (RAID) system. In all storage systems, faster operations are desirable, especially in light of the performance bottleneck that frequently results due to the latency of data storage operations.
Improvements to the performance of data storage systems may be categorized generally as either software-based solutions or hardware-based solutions. In general, software-based improvements tend to provide hardware agnostic solutions, at the cost of the additional time and computing resources that may be required to implement the software solution. Hardware-based improvements, on the other hand, can provide greater performance by maximizing the use of the capabilities of the particular hardware devices that comprise the storage system. Hardware solutions may also provide other benefits in addition to increasing performance of a storage system, such as reducing power consumption or improving availability of the stored data. Hardware solutions, however, may be costly since they may require specialized hardware and firmware that are tightly coupled and not easily upgraded.
With the increase in popularity of cloud-based storage system, software-based storage solutions have become increasingly common. For instance, certain storage systems are implemented as Software-Defined Storage (SDS) systems that utilize storage virtualization to operate independent from the underlying hardware. Accordingly, such SDS systems are designed to operate using commodity servers and may not be compatible with customized hardware, or at least may underutilize any non-commodity hardware. SDS data storage solutions may provide significant independence from the underlying hardware, but such hardware agnostic solutions are provided at the cost of slower, software-centric operations that may require significant processing resources.

Software assist memory module hardware architecture


Methods and systems are provided herein for illuminating a variety of household products and other items using color-controlled illumination systems that include lights under the control of processors.

Lighting elements often are used to illuminate a variety of consumer products, including wearable accessories, novelty items, or the like. Existing illuminated products, however, are generally only capable of exhibiting fixed illumination with one or more light sources. An existing wearable accessory, for example, might utilize a single white-light bulb as an illumination source, with the white-light shining through a transparent colored material. Such accessories only exhibit an illumination of a single type (a function of the color of the transparent material) or at best, by varying the intensity of the bulb output, a single-colored illumination with some range of controllable brightness. Other existing systems, to provide a wider range of colored illumination, may utilize a combination of differently colored bulbs. Such accessories, however, remain limited to a small number of different colored states.

Methods and systems for illuminating household products


The present invention relates to zalpha11 Ligand polynucleotide and polypeptide molecules. The zalpha11 Ligand is a novel cytokine. The polypeptides may be used within methods for stimulating the proliferation and/or development of hematopoietic cells in vitro and in vivo. The present invention also includes methods for producing the protein, uses therefor and antibodies thereto.

Proliferation and differentiation of cells of multicellular organisms are controlled by hormones and polypeptide growth factors. These diffusable molecules allow cells to communicate with each other and act in concert to form cells, tissues and organs, and to repair damaged tissue. Examples of hormones and growth factors include the steroid hormones (e.g. estrogen, testosterone), parathyroid hormone, follicle stimulating hormone, the interluekins, platelet derived growth factor (PDGF), epidermal growth factor (EGF), granulocyte-macrophage colony stimulating factor (GM-CSF), erythropoietin (EPO) and calcitonin.
Hormones and growth factors influence cellular metabolism by binding to receptors. Receptors may be integral membrane proteins that are linked to signaling pathways within the cell, such as second messenger systems. Other classes of receptors are soluble molecules, such as the transcription factors.
Cytokines generally stimulate proliferation or differentiation of cells of the hematopoietic lineage or participate in the immune and inflammatory response mechanisms of the body. Examples of cytokines which affect hematopoiesis are erythropoietin (EPO), which stimulates the development of red blood cells; thrombopoietin (TPO), which stimulates development of cells of the megakaryocyte lineage; and granulocyte-colony stimulating factor (G-CSF), which stimulates development of neutrophils. These cytokines are useful in restoring normal blood cell levels in patients suffering from anemia, thrombocytopenia, and neutropenia or receiving chemotherapy for cancer.
The interluekins are a family of cytokines that mediate immunological responses, including inflammation. The interluekins mediate a variety of inflammatory pathologies. Central to an immune response is the T cell, which produce many cytokines and adaptive immunity to antigens. Cytokines produced by the T cell have been classified as type 1 and type 2 (Kelso, A. Immun. Cell Biol. 76:300-317, 1998). Type I cytokines include IL-2, IFN-γ, LT-α, and are involved in inflammatory responses, viral immunity, intracellular parasite immunity and allograft rejection. Type 2 cytokines include IL-4, IL-5, IL-6, IL-10 and IL-13, and are involved in humoral responses, helminth immunity and allergic response. Shared cytokines between Type 1 and 2 include IL-3, GM-CSF and TNF-α. There is some evidence to suggest that Type 1 and Type 2 producing T cell populations preferentially migrate into different types of inflamed tissue.
Mature T cells may be activated, i.e., by an antigen or other stimulus, to produce, for example, cytokines, biochemical signaling molecules, or receptors that further influence the fate of the T cell population.
B cells can be activated via receptors on their cell surface including B cell receptor and other accessory molecules to perform accessory cell functions, such as production of cytokines.
Natural killer (NK) cells have a common progenitor cell with T cells and B cells, and play a role in immune surveillance. NK cells, which comprise up to 15% of blood lymphocytes, do not express antigen receptors, and therefore do not use MHC recognition as requirement for binding to a target cell. NK cells are involved in the recognition and killing of certain tumor cells and virally infected cells. In vivo, NK cells are believed to require activation, however, in vitro, NK cells have been shown to kill some types of tumor cells without activation.
The demonstrated in vivo activities of the cytokine family illustrate the enormous clinical potential of, and need for, other cytokines, cytokine agonists, and cytokine antagonists. The present invention addresses these needs by providing a new cytokine that stimulates cells of the hematopoietic cell lineage, as well as related compositions and methods.
The present invention provides such polypeptides for these and other uses that should be apparent to those skilled in the art from the teachings herein.

Cytokine zalpha11 ligand polynucleotides


A test method for a screwer performs the steps of connecting the screwer to a rotatable attachment element, screwing down the screwer, measuring the attachment element speed, power-supplying an electric motor to bring it to a speed close to the measured speed, connecting the shaft of the electric motor to the attachment element, and causing the motor to follow a braking ramp while the torque transmitted from the screwer to the driving shaft is measured. A device in accordance with this method includes a rotatable attachment element to which the screwer to be tested is applied, and an electric motor connected to the attachment element through a releasable coupling connecting the motor to the attachment element on achievement of a motor speed close to that of the attachment element. The motor is controlled for following a braking ramp based on a predetermined law, while a transducer measures the transmitted torque between the attachment element and braking element.

The present invention relates to a test method for screwers and to devices applying this method. Powered screwers (of the electromechanical, pneumatic and other types) must give a precise torque wrench setting in use.
Therefore, availability of test devices is required which enable periodical checking of the torque wrench setting expressed by a screwer, so as to be able to establish whether adjustment, repair or replacement of those screwers that are no longer in conformity with specifications is required.
Precise standards exist giving regulations for measurement of screwer performances. For example, standard ISO 5393-81 describes a test method for evaluating pneumatic screwer performances and provides instructions on the statistical evaluation of measurements.
Obviously, since in normal use a screwer torque increases during rotation, any test for torque performances in a screwer must be conducted using simulators having a controlled torque gradient, so as to simulate the actual screwing down of a screw and enable the torque supplied by the screwer under a significant condition to be measured. For example, standard ISO 5393 presently requires that the tool should be tested under two limit conditions, in which the torque increase of 50% to 100% of the rated torque develops through a rotation of 360.degree. and 30.degree. respectively. In these value ranges (that in any case can be subjected to variations), standards ISO impose that the torque opposed by the simulator should increase according to a substantially linear law relative to rotation.
Simulators of the simplest conception are mere mechanical joint simulators. However, since the screwer calibration can be set to a variety of values, theoretically a variety of simulators should be provided or the simulator features should be susceptible of variation, which is generally rather complicated: therefore, mechanical simulators apply to the cases in which averaged out conditions are acceptable, but they do not exactly reflect features required by standards. In addition, the use of mechanical joint simulators has the drawback of requiring the screw to be unscrewed after each calibration so that a new test may be carried out.
In order to obviate the above drawbacks, as described in DE 33 05 457, test systems have been accomplished that use electromagnetic brakes of different types to simulate the torque-angle relationships required by standard ISO, by means of a modulation of the feed current to the brake coil.
The main defect in these systems is due to the fact that braking takes place by friction elements that, owing to their own nature, undergo feature variations as a result of heating and wear of the friction surfaces. Therefore a constant reliability overtime cannot be ensured.
In order to obviate the above inconvenience, the use of braking devices that do not operate by friction has been also mentioned, such as in the case in which current generators driven in rotation by the screwer are employed, which generators generally do not have appropriate electromechanical features.
In any case, there is a defect which is common to all the above devices, both those provided with traditional brakes and those involving current generators, i.e. the high moment of inertia of the braking unit which can be too high for quick screwers when calibrated to a low torque. In this case, the test cannot be carried out in that the static torque for driving the system in rotation exceeds the maximum torque for which the screwer is calibrated, so that the latter disconnects.
The general object of the present invention is to eliminate the above mentioned drawbacks by providing a test method and devices for screwers enabling specifications of the international standards to be accurately followed and constant results to be achieved even when screwers having particular features of low torque and/or high speed are concerned.


A device for serial printing of print media, particularly mailpieces, with a print head having a planar printing face and a printing area extending longitudinally, and with a transport device for feeding print media to be printed to the print head. The transport device includes first and second transport units, which move the print media parallel to the printing face and can be moved in an orthogonal direction relative to the printing face in order to guide a print medium on the transport units to the printing face of the print head and at a distance away from the printing face that is suitable for printing. The first and second transport units can be moved independently of one another and a transfer area of the printing face is provided to transfer a print medium from the first to the second transport unit.

A method is known from US 2011/0074844 A1 for printing print media in which the media to be printed are supplied by means of a transport device to a print head. The transport device comprises several conveyor belts articulated to one another and arranged in series in the transport direction, wherein a central conveyor belt is located underneath the print head and is height-adjustable relative to the print head in order to adjust a suitable distance between the print medium to be printed and the print head when the print medium is situated underneath the print head. The central conveyor belt has an articulated connection to the adjacent conveyor belts, wherein the upstream conveyor belt in the transport direction forms a supply ramp and the downstream conveyor belt in the transport direction forms a discharge ramp for the print media.
In order to bring the print medium to be printed to the print head with a suitable spacing between the surface to be printed on the print medium and a printing face of the print head, the thickness of the print medium is first detected while the print medium is being transported by the transport device. When a print medium to be printed is situated on the central conveyor belt underneath the print head, the central conveyor belt is shifted to a suitable height relative to the print head in order to adjust a distance suitable for printing between the surface of the print medium to be printed and the printing face of the print head, taking the detected thickness of the print medium into account. As soon as the print medium is a suitable distance from the print head and is located underneath the print head, the printing process is started, wherein the print medium is moved in the transport direction at a speed suitable for printing. After printing, the printed print medium is transferred from the central conveyor belt to the conveyor belt downstream in the transport direction and is transported away.
This known arrangement for serial printing of print media proves disadvantageous especially if the print head is a print head that has a certain longitudinal elongation in the transport direction of the media to be printed. This is the case for inkjet print heads, for example, in which a number of inkjet nozzles (possibly for different inks) are arranged one after the other and separated from one another in the longitudinal direction of the print head (and thus in the transport direction of the print media to be printed). Other print heads as well, such as laser print heads, have a certain longitudinal elongation in the longitudinal direction of the print head. The result of this is that the height-variable transport device with which the print media to be printed are serially fed to the print head cannot be varied in height relative to the print head during the printing of a print medium that has been brought on the central conveyor belt to the print head, because the print medium located on the central conveyor belt must be kept a suitable distance away from the print head during printing. For this reason, subsequent print media cannot be transferred to the central conveyor belt and brought thereby to a suitable distance from the print head until the preceding print medium is finished with printing and transferred to the downstream conveyor belt. This causes a reduction of the possible transport speed of the transport device for feeding and discharging the print medium, and reduces the throughput of the printing device.

Device and method for serial printing of print media


A stationary sheave half of a V-belt type continuously variable transmission (CVT) comprises a primary sheave mounted to a primary sheave shaft and a secondary sheave mounted to a secondary sheave shaft. The stationary sheave half of the secondary sheave comprises a sheave body, which is substantially in the form of a doughnut plate and around which a V-belt is wound, and a substantially cylindrical-shaped boss portion extending rightward from a right side of the sheave body. The sheave body and the boss portion are formed separately.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a V-belt type continuously variable transmission, a saddle-ride type vehicle provided with the V-belt type continuously variable transmission, and a method of manufacturing the V-belt type continuously variable transmission.
2. Description of Related Art
A motorcycle with a V-belt type continuously variable transmission is known (see, for example, JP-A-2003-301903, JP-A-2002-106658 and JP-A-09-026006). As described below, there is a problem associated with the process of assembling such conventional V-belt type continuously variable transmissions.
FIGS. 13-17 illustrate an assembly process of a conventional V-belt type continuously variable transmission in a motorcycle. FIG. 13 shows a state, in which assembly of the V-belt type continuously variable transmission is finished. A V-belt type continuously variable transmission (referred below to as CVT) 530 comprises a primary sheave 571, a secondary sheave 572, and a V-belt 573 wound around the primary sheave 571 and the secondary sheave 572.
The primary sheave 571 comprises a stationary sheave half 571a positioned outward in a vehicle width direction (a left and right direction in the figure) and a movable sheave half 571b positioned inward in the vehicle width direction and opposed to the stationary sheave half 571a. The stationary sheave half 571a is clamped and fixed to a right end of a primary sheave shaft 546c by a lock nut 615 to rotate with the primary sheave shaft 546c. The movable sheave half 571b rotates with the primary sheave shaft 546c and is slidable axially of the primary sheave shaft 546c. Also, a cam surface 611 is formed on a left portion of the movable sheave half 571b and a cam plate 612 is arranged on the left of the cam surface 611. A roller weight 613 is arranged between the cam surface 611 and the cam plate 612.
The secondary sheave 572 comprises a stationary sheave half 572a positioned inward in the vehicle width direction and a movable sheave half 572b positioned outward in the vehicle width direction and opposed to the stationary sheave half 572a. The movable sheave half 572b is mounted to the right end of a secondary sheave shaft 562. The movable sheave half 572b rotates with the secondary sheave shaft 562 and is slidable axially of the secondary sheave shaft 562. The stationary sheave half 572a comprises a sheave body 572c, which is substantially in the form of a doughnut plate and around which a V-belt 573 is wound, and a substantially cylindrical-shaped boss portion 572d extending rightward from a right side of the sheave body 572c. The sheave body 572c and the boss portion 572d are welded to each other to be formed as an integral body. Also, the boss portion 572d is spline-fitted onto the secondary sheave shaft 562.
A cylindrical-shaped boss 617 fixed to a shaft core of the movable sheave half 572b is provided on the boss portion 572d to be slidable axially of the boss portion 572d. A slide groove 617a is formed on the boss 617 to be slit. A guide pin 618 is implanted in the boss portion 572d and engages slidably with the slide groove 117a so as to rotate with the boss 617.
A spring bearing member 619 comprising an annular plate is mounted on a tip end of the boss portion 572d of the stationary sheave half 572a by a circlip 619a. A coil spring 620 in a compressed state is interposed between the spring bearing member 619 and the movable sheave half 572b. The secondary sheave shaft 562 and the stationary sheave half 572a are fixed to each other by a lock nut 616 provided on the secondary sheave shaft 562.
In an assembling process of the CVT 530, the secondary sheave 572 is assembled separately and mounted to the secondary sheave shaft 562, and then the movable sheave half 571b and the stationary sheave half 571a of the primary sheave 571 are sequentially mounted to the primary sheave shaft 546c.
That is, as shown in FIG. 14, for the primary sheave 571, the cam plate 612 and the movable sheave half 571b are inserted through the primary sheave shaft 546c. Subsequently, the V-belt 573 is wound around the primary sheave 571 and the secondary sheave 572 in a state in which the stationary sheave half 571a is not mounted to the primary sheave shaft 546c.
When the CVT 530 is used, the boss 617 of the movable sheave half 572b and the stationary sheave half 572a on the secondary sheave 572 do not abut against each other. In the state described above, however, the movable sheave half 572b is exerted by only the bias of the coil spring 620, so that it is put in a state of abutting against the stationary sheave half 572a. Therefore, a clearance between the movable sheave half 572b and the stationary sheave half 572a, that is, a belt groove, becomes narrow and a part of the V-belt 573 protrudes from the secondary sheave 572. In order to move the V-belt 573 toward a center of the secondary sheave 572, it is necessary to separate the stationary sheave half 572a and the movable sheave half 572b from each other against the bias of the coil spring 620.
When attempting to mount the stationary sheave half 571a (indicated by two-dot chain line in the figure) of the primary sheave 571 to the primary sheave shaft 546c as shown in FIG. 15, in a state in which the V-belt 573 shown in FIG. 14 protrudes, the stationary sheave half 571a cannot be arranged in an appropriate position since the V-belt 573 approaches excessively toward a center. Attempting to forcibly clamp the lock nut 615 (see FIG. 13) in such state creates a risk of breaking stationary sheave half 571a or the V-belt 573.
Therefore, in a conventional assembling process, a jig (not shown) or the like is used as shown in FIG. 16 to enlarge an interval between the stationary sheave half 572a and the movable sheave half 572b on the secondary sheave 572 to move the V-belt 573 toward a center of the secondary sheave 572. At this time, the V-belt 573 is arranged outward relative to a position, shown in FIG. 15, on the primary sheave 571. While this state is maintained, the stationary sheave half 571a of the primary sheave 571 is mounted to the primary sheave shaft 546c to clamp the lock nut 615 as shown in FIG. 17. In the state shown in FIG. 17, the stationary sheave half 571a of the primary sheave 571 is clamped and fixed by the lock nut 615 in an appropriate position. When the jig is removed after the stationary sheave half 571a is mounted in this position, the V-belt 573 is also arranged in an appropriate position.
As described above, in a conventional assembling process of the CVT, the interval between the stationary sheave half 572a and the movable sheave half 572b on the secondary sheave 572 must be forcibly enlarged against the bias of the coil spring 620. In addition, while the interval is enlarged, it is necessary to move the V-belt 573 outwardly of the primary sheave 571 (see FIG. 16) and to mount the stationary sheave half 571a of the primary sheave 571 while maintaining such state (see FIG. 17). Accordingly, with the conventional process, an exclusive jig is needed, a large force is necessary, and the process is complicated. Therefore, the manufacture of the CVT is not satisfactory in yield.
Also, the boss portion 572d, which constitutes the stationary sheave half 572a of the secondary sheave 572, is usually subjected to surface treatment as by plating processing in order to prevent abrasion. Since the stationary sheave half 572a is formed integrally by fixing the sheave body 572c and the boss portion 572d together, however, it is necessary to apply masking for surface treatment only on the boss portion 572d, so that work becomes complicated.
Further, since the sheave body 572c and the boss portion 572d are fixed together by means of welding processing, increased manufacturing costs and deterioration in processing accuracy are liable to occur. On the other hand, it is possible to fix the sheave body 572c and the boss portion 572d together by means of rivets. In case of fixation with rivets, however, the secondary sheave 572 is increased in size (in particular, increased in diameter), which is disadvantageous in terms of arrangement space.

V-belt type continuously variable transmission, saddle-ride type vehicle, and method of manufacturing the V-belt type continuously variable transmission


Disclosed is a method for producing bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds, which comprises reducing bis(3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds with hydrazines in the presence of a catalyst. The method produces bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds of high quality under mild conditions at high yields. The products can be isolated and purified in a simple manner to have a higher purity. The method is suitable to industrial-scale production of the products.

At present, bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds, especially 2,2-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane are important as materials for producing heat-resistant polymers, etc. A method mentioned below is known for producing bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds, which, however, is problematic in the following points. Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. Hei-6-211752 discloses a method of catalytic hydrogenation reduction of bis(3-nitro-4-hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane with a catalyst of palladium-carbon under high-pressure hydrogen. In this method, the purity of 2,2-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane produced in the reaction mixture is 97%, and after the catalyst is removed through filtration, the mixture is poured into water for crystallization to obtain a dark gray product. This is recrystallized from a mixture of ethyl acetate and n-hexane to obtain the intended product, 2,2-bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl)hexafluoropropane. In this method, the starting compound is catalytically reduced with high-pressure hydrogen at a high temperature, and the method requires a pressure reactor (e.g., autoclave). Therefore, the method could neither be economical nor advantageous in view of the complicated operations it requires. In addition, the crude product obtained in the method contains coloring components that are difficult to remove, which brings about another problem that the post treatment of the product is not easy.
The problems with the conventional method for producing bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds noted above are that the method requires severe reaction conditions, expensive equipment and complicated operations, and is therefore neither economical nor simple, that the removal of impurities such as coloring components from the crude product obtained requires specific purification, and that the yield of the product is low.

Method for producing bis(3-amino-4-hydroxyphenyl) compounds


A portable child bed in the nature of a cot. The cot includes a frame having a network of interconnected legs such that the frame is collapsible and expandable between open and closed configurations. The frame includes a stop to halt the expansion of the frame at a certain position. Flexible bedding depends from the frame in the nature of a hammock, with the flexible bedding being anchored at six positions about the frame. The frame of interconnected legs includes legs that are shaped to be out-of-the-way of the depending flexible bedding such that a child rests on the flexible bedding, not on the frame. Flexible straps run on an underside of the bedding and run to and between hubs of the frame.

"The bigger you are, the harder you fall" is an adage that unfortunately applies to children too. Such is a problem when the sleeping surface of the prior art cot is too high.
A high center of gravity is another problem. A prior art cot tends to flip when a child rolls to the edge or when a child sits on the edge or end.
A set of legs extending straight up and down is another drawback of the prior art cot. Such legs tend to be independent of the other legs. This kind of construction provides an inherent weakness to the structure of the prior art cot. Further, independent acting legs may act just like a wobbling table in a restaurant. The uneven surface on which the prior art cot stands is magnified.
The choice of fabric for the sleeping surface of the prior art cot has been overlooked. The fabric is often chosen for its aesthetics, not for its strength. Moreover, the fabric is engaged to the frame in a pretty way, not in a way to complement the underlying mechanical frame and add strength to the cot as a whole.


Methods for in vitro transcription and translation using a double-stranded concatemeric DNA in a eukaryotic cell-free expression system are provided. The method includes the steps of (a) contacting a double-stranded concatemeric DNA with a eukaryotic cell-free expression system, and (b) expressing a protein in vitro from the double-stranded concatemeric DNA in the eukaryotic cell-free expression system. The double-stranded concatemeric DNA includes a plurality of tandem repeat sequences. The plurality of tandem repeat sequences includes an expression sequence including a promoter, a cap-independent translation element (CITE), and an open reading frame. A final concentration of the double-stranded concatemeric DNA in the eukaryotic cell-free expression system is in a range from about 0.1 ng/μL to about 35 ng/μL. A RCA product DNA may be used as the double stranded concatemer DNA for the methods.

Cell-free protein expression provides a simple and efficient method for generating proteins without the complications of cell culture, cell engineering, or cell transfection. Cell-free protein expression systems for expressing recombinant proteins address various limitations of cell-based expression systems such as protein toxicity, protein degradation, protein aggregation and misfolding, uncontrolled post-translational modification, or negative effects of protein expression on cell growth due to sequestration of cellular machinery. Significantly higher quantities of proteins can be expressed in a shorter period using a cell-free protein expression system that can be employed for downstream high-throughput structural and functional analyses. Such in vitro protein expression also has significant advantages in terms of cost savings, streamlined production, easier scale-up, and simplified purification. In a cell-free protein expression system, a desired protein of interest is expressed by adding a deoxyribonucleic acid (DNA) or ribonucleic acid (RNA) that encodes a gene of the protein of interest to a transcription-translation-competent cellular extract, and performing the transcription and/or translation of the gene of interest. The transcription and translation of the DNA containing the gene of interest may be coupled in a single reaction to enable immediate translation of a newly synthesized mRNA into protein or it may be linked wherein an mRNA is generated in a first reaction followed by translation of the generated mRNA into protein in a second reaction. The coupled in vitro transcription and translation (coupled transcription-translation in a cell-free system) generally increases the yield of expressed proteins with less time and in vitro manipulation. The immediate translation of the mRNA also avoids possible adverse effects associated with mRNA degradation or misfolding.
One limitation of in vitro transcription-translation systems is that it requires larger quantities (generally in microgram quantities) of a DNA template. Generally, sufficient amounts of such DNA templates can only be obtained through multiple workflow steps and significant labor. For example, suitable DNA templates for IVTT may be generated by synthesizing a DNA template from multiple polymerase chain reactions (PCR) and/or cloning the DNA template into a plasmid vector and propagating the plasmid vector in a host cell such as E. coli. However, PCR is often not amenable for large-scale generation of high-quality DNA, due in part to the high mutation rate of PCR. Additionally, thermal cycling of PCR reactions is difficult to scale-up to larger reactions due to limitations on how quickly temperatures can be ramped in large volumes. Moreover, PCR products, being linear DNA sequences, is rapidly degraded by the nucleases present in cell-free transcription-translation extracts. Further, sub-cloning of a gene of interest into a plasmid vector followed by high-scale propagation in E. coli through genetic selection is time-consuming and labor intensive.
In general, cell-free transcription and translation in a mammalian cell-free extract is not as efficient as the one using prokaryotic cell extract. One common method for enhancing protein expression using mammalian cell-free extract is to supply reagents in excess (e.g. amino acids and energy sources) and use a dialysis membrane to remove waste products that adversely affect the translation. However, in a dialysis process, the volume of the IVTT reaction increases significantly. Further, the template DNA may not be recoverable from the dialysis chamber. Thus, the template DNA must be provided in substantially higher amounts to maintain the required final concentration of the template DNA for efficient IVTT when dialysis is being employed.
Isothermal DNA amplification techniques such as rolling circle amplification (RCA) can be employed to generate large quantities of high-quality DNA with less effort, time, and expense. Isothermal amplification reactions render scale-up to larger reaction sizes straight forward as there is no requirement for rapid heating and cooling. Rolling circle amplification employs a circular DNA template and generates RCA products that are tandem repeat units (concatemers) of the template DNA. RCA of a plasmid DNA, followed by coupled in vitro transcription and translation, is possible to generate the protein of interest. However, these plasmids are generally created via standard cloning methods involving genetic-selection inside a host cell such as E. coli. Such plasmids contain many additional coding and non-coding sequences including sequences for the origin of replication (e.g., oriC), antibiotic selection (e.g., amp for beta-lactamase), and accessory sequences that are used for selection and/or screening plasmids (e.g., lacZ, beta-galactosidase) in the host cells. Transcription and/or expression of these ancillary sequences are not desired and may make the entire workflow inefficient.
There exists a need for improved in vitro transcription and translation eukaryotic systems for easy generation of desired proteins form limited concentration of template DNA compared to plasmid DNA and thus does not require PCR-based template DNA synthesis. Also, it is desirable to enable cell-free protein systems using methods that are simple, cost-effective, and less time-consuming.

Cell-free protein expression using double-stranded concatameric DNA

Global Life Sciences Solutions Operations UK Ltd


The present invention provides processes for production of wort and beer from a granular starch adjunct grist mashed-in at a temperature below the gelatinization temperature of said starch.

Traditionally, beer has been brewed from just barley malt, hops and water. However, often part of the barley malt is substituted with adjuncts such as corn, rice, sorghum, and wheat, refined starch or readily fermentable carbohydrates such as sugar or syrups. Adjuncts are used mainly because they are readily available and provide carbohydrates at a lower cost than is available from barley malt. Other advantages may also be achieved, e.g. enhanced physical stability, superior chill-proof qualities, and greater brilliancy.
Mashing is the process of converting starch from the milled barley malt and adjuncts into fermentable and unfermentable sugars to produce wort of the desired composition. Traditional mashing involves mixing milled barley malt and adjuncts with water at a set temperature and volume to continue the biochemical changes initiated during the malting process. The mashing process is conducted over a period of time at various temperatures in order to activate the endogenous enzymes responsible for the degradation of proteins and carbohydrates. However, rice and corn starch which are often used as adjunct starch have a higher gelatinization temperature than the malt starch. Therefore, such adjuncts are cooked and gelatinized in a separate "cereal cooker" before being added to the malt mash. Thus, while the use of adjunct reduces the costs of raw material price it requires an additional investment in the cereal cooker as well as an additional cost for energy for heating the adjunct. A more simple mashing process allowing use of ungelatinized adjunct grist is thus desirable.


The present invention is directed to a system for automating mission related tasks in a tactical environment. The system includes a receiver component configured to receive intelligence data. The intelligence data describes the tactical environment in real-time, or in near real-time. A computer is coupled to the receiver component. The computer is programmed to process the intelligence data, identify mission adjustments based on the processed intelligence data, and to effect the mission adjustments by automatically implementing the mission related tasks. A display component is coupled to the computer. The display component is configured to display at least a portion of the tactical environment and provide at least one visual indicator corresponding to the mission adjustments and/or the mission related tasks.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to decision-aiding systems, and particularly to an automated battlefield management system.
2. Technical Background
Information technology is changing the way military operations are conducted. The components of joint military forces, including aircraft, mechanized infantry, and other ground based units must have a superior knowledge of the threat environment to efficiently accomplish their missions. For example, military aircraft typically fly their missions as part of an integrated task force battle plan. Each route must be extensively planned with respect to known threats, threat locations, and threat capabilities. Each unit that is deployed to execute the integrated battle plan must coordinate their activities with other units. This coordination requires timely and manageable information.
The goal of military planners is to provide each joint task force with "decision superiority." This is defined as the ability to make superior decisions, and implement those decisions, before the enemy can react.
In one approach that has been considered, digital mapping systems have been configured to display the characteristics of the terrain around the aircraft, the location of the aircraft relative to the terrain, the flight path of the aircraft, and the location of the threats relative to the aircraft. The display may also provide information that indicates the visibility of the aircraft relative to the threat and possible flight paths for the aircraft to avoid detection by the threats. Unfortunately, the displayed information is stale. One drawback to this approach relates to the fact that the map image is pre-processed and does not include dynamic elements of real-time mission scenes.
In another approach that has been considered, military aircraft platforms have been equipped with a satellite communications receiver that provides "over-the-horizon" real-time, or near real time, threat information that allows crews to avoid and counter threats. This information may be displayed on a digital map similar to the one described above. The threat information obtained using the methods described above may be employed by the crew to re-plan the mission en-route, if necessary. One disadvantage to this approach is that the information displayed on the digital map must be assessed manually. Further, if a new route is needed, the route must also be plotted manually.
Accordingly, what is needed is a system that automates manual tasks to provide increased situational awareness with no additional burden on the pilot and/or the flight crew. Situational awareness refers to providing a pilot and/or crew with access to the entire battlefield environment, while at the same time, reducing the probability of detection by enemy forces. Thus, it would be desirable to provide an automated system that determines the impact of intelligence data on the route, re-plot the route, and update the mission plan in response to the new intelligence data. What is also needed is a system that is configured to locate and track the locations of combat survivors, and plot a efficient route to the pick up point.