Recombinant polypeptides are disclosed that are useful for diagnosing American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease, a disease caused by the infectious agent Trypanosoma cruzi. Preferably, DNA sequences encoding the recombinant proteins are placed in plasmid vectors to be expressed in an organism.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to recombinant polypeptides that are useful for diagnosing American trypanosomiasis, or Chagas disease. Chagas disease is caused by the infectious agent Trypanosoma cruzi. More particularly, the invention relates to specific combinations of recombinant T. cruzi polypeptides, synthesized using genetic engineering techniques, and to constructs and processes for producing the recombinant polypeptides, and to an assay and kit for detecting T. cruzi infection which employs the recombinant polypeptides.
2. Background
Chagas disease is a zoonosis caused by the protozoan parasite, Trypanosoma cruzi. This organism is primarily transmitted through contact with its triatomine insect vectors, but transmission by transfusion of contaminated blood and congenital transmission also are important. Historically Chagas disease has been a public health problem in all of Latin America, with the exception of the Caribbean nations. The World Health Organization estimates that 16-18 million persons are chronically infected with T. cruzi, and that 45,000 deaths occur each year due to the illness. Infection with T. cruzi is life-long and specific drug treatment lacks efficacy and often causes serious side effects. Ten to thirty percent of T. cruzi-infected persons develop chronic symptomatic Chagas disease, and the burden of disability and mortality in the endemic countries is enormous.
An estimated 80,000 to 100,000 T. cruzi-infected persons now live in the United States. These immigrants pose a risk for transfusion-associated transmission of the parasite here and in other countries to which Latin Americans have emigrated. Eight such cases have been reported in the United States, Canada, and Europe, all of which occurred in immunosuppressed patients in whom acute T. cruzi infection was diagnosed because of the fulminant course of the illness. Most transfusions are given to immunocompetent patients in whom acute Chagas disease would be a mild illness, and thus it is reasonable to assume that many other undetected instances of transfusion-associated transmission of T. cruzi have occurred in the United States and other industrialized nations. The question of whether blood donated in the United States should be screened serologically for antibodies to T. cruzi has been considered for at least a decade by both public and private entities involved in blood banking. A panel of experts convened in early 2000 by the American Red Cross to consider this issue recommended unanimously that our blood supply be screened serologically. Implementation of such a recommendation, however, is not an option currently because no test for T. cruzi infection has been cleared by the FDA for screening donated blood.
Diagnosis of T. cruzi infection presents problems. Demographic and clinical data are suggestive at best. Parasitologic tests, e.g., xenodianosis, hemoculture and PCR are insensitive. Other serologic tests are generally insensitive and lack specificity, as false positive reactions often occur with specimens from patients having infectious diseases, such as leishmaniasis, syphilis, or malaria; autoimmune diseases; and other parasitic and non-parasitic illnesses.
Such conventional tests include indirect immunofluorescence (IIF), indirect hemagglutination (IHA), and complement fixation (CF) tests, as well as enzyme-linked immunosorbent assays (ELISA or EIA). Due to the lack of sensitivity and specify of the three commonly used assays, when a sample has a positive result from any, the blood must be discarded. Table I shows that in a major Brazilian blood bank (Hemocentro, Sao Paulo, Brazil), up to 3.43% of blood donations fall into this category.
TABLE IIIFIHACF% w/Results+++0.68%+−+0.71%++−−+++−−2.04%−+−−−+TOTAL:3.43%
Commercially available ELISAs include lysate-based tests such as the Chagas Enzyme Immunoassay (EIA), available from Abbott Laboratories of Abbott Park, Ill. (the subject of FDA 510(k) Premarket Notification No. K933716, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety); the Chagas' IgG ELISA, available from Meridian Bioscience, Inc. of Cincinnati, Ohio, and its predecessor, Gull Laboratories (the subject of FDA 510(k) Premarket Notification No. K911233, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety); and the Chagas' kit (EIA method), available from Hemagen Diagnostics, Inc., of Waltham, Mass. (the subject of FDA 510(k) Premarket Notification No. K930272, herein incorporated by reference in its entirely). However, because these tests have less than optimal sensitivities and specificities, their use for screening donated blood would fail to detect some T. cruzi-infected units and also would cause substantial numbers of otherwise usable units to be discarded needlessly.
One of the present inventors has previously developed a radioimmune precipitation assay (RIPA), described in Kirchhoff L V, Gam A A, Gusmao R D, Goldsmith R S, Rezende J M, Rassi A. "Increased specificity of serodiagnosis of Chagas' disease by detection of antibody to the 72 and 90 kDa glycoproteins of Trypanosoma cruzi." J Infect Dis 1987; 155:561-564, herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. This test is considered the benchmark against which other tests are measured, and it is the only current option for confirmatory testing in the United States. Unfortunately, the RIPA costs $175 per assay, and at that price, screening the approximately 13 million units of blood donated each year would cost over $2 billion.
Therefore, the present inventors have further developed recombinant assays for detection of T. cruzi infection. A typical recombinant polypeptide and method for assaying is described by them in U.S. Pat. No. 5,876,734, U.S. Pat. No. 6,228,601, and PCT Publication No. WO 95/25797, each of which is herein incorporated by reference in its entirety. Such assays for T. cruzi infection based on recombinant antigens, in contrast to those utilizing native antigens (e.g., the conventional lysate-based assays), as discussed above, will be more accurate, i.e., the sensitivity and specificity will be higher.
Furthermore, the recombinant assays of the invention present manufacturing advantages over the materials for the RIPA and conventional tests. Once the molecular biology has been completed, the recombinant antigens are produced in Escherichia coli, thus eliminating completely any biohazard associated with growing the parasites in liquid culture. This is a substantive advantage, as many cases of laboratory-acquired T. cruzi infection have been reported. Additionally, recombinant antigens produced in E. coli are much easier to purify, quantitate, and standardize than antigen lysates produced in liquid cultures of parasites, thus facilitating the manufacture of a consistent product and simplifying compliance with governmental regulations. A final advantage lies in the fact that several of the recombinant proteins presented in this application are comprised of two to four distinct protein segments derived from separate T. cruzi genes. This use of hybrid recombinant proteins also facilitates manufacture of an assay in that several antigenically distinct proteins are obtained in a single purification, quantitation, and standardization run.

Recombinant polypeptides for diagnosing infection with


A method for minimizing allocation failures in a cloud computing system without overprovisioning may include determining a predicted supply for a virtual machine series in a system unit of the cloud computing system during an upcoming time period. The predicted supply may be based on a shared available current capacity and a shared available future added capacity for the virtual machine series in the system unit. The method may also include predicting an available capacity for the virtual machine series in the system unit during the upcoming time period. The predicted available capacity may be based at least in part on a predicted demand for the virtual machine series in the system unit during the upcoming time period and the predicted supply. The method may also include taking at least one mitigation action in response to determining that the predicted demand exceeds the predicted supply during the upcoming time period.

Cloud computing is the delivery of computing services (e.g., servers, storage, databases, networking, software, analytics) over the Internet. Broadly speaking, a cloud computing system includes two sections, a front end and a back end, that are in communication with one another via the Internet. The front end includes the interface that users encounter through a client device. The back end includes the resources that deliver cloud-computing services, including processors, memory, storage, and networking hardware.
The back end of a cloud computing system typically includes a plurality of datacenters, which may be located in different geographical regions. Each datacenter typically includes a large number (e.g., thousands) of servers, which may be organized into different clusters. Each server may be used to run one or more virtual machines. In this context, the term "server" refers to a physical computer system, while the term "virtual machine" (VM) refers to an emulation of a computer system on a server. In other words, a VM is a program running on a server that acts like a virtual computer. Like a physical computer, a VM runs an operating system and one or more applications.
A cloud computing system may be capable of providing VMs corresponding to different VM series. As used herein, the term "VM series" refers to a set of one or more VM sizes. The term "VM size" refers to a certain allocation of computing resources. For example, in some contexts, a VM size may include a combination of (i) some portion of a central processing unit, (ii) a certain amount of memory, and (iii) a certain amount of storage.
In a cloud computing system, the demand for computing resources can sometimes exceed the available supply. This can lead to allocation failures, in which users request computing resources but the system is unable to provide them. One way to mitigate allocation failures is to purchase additional computing resources for the cloud computing system. This, however, can lead to overprovisioning, in which there are too many computing resources available so that there is a lot of excess capacity. Overprovisioning is also undesirable, because it increases the cost of providing cloud computing services. Therefore, the administrators of a cloud computing system are faced with the difficult task of trying to ensure that there are sufficient computing resources to satisfy user demand without overprovisioning.

Capacity management in a cloud computing system using virtual machine series modeling


Systems, methods and computer readable media for image enhancement using learned non-photorealistic effects. In some implementations, a method can include obtaining an original image. The method can also include analyzing the original image to determine one or more characteristics of the original image. The method can further include selecting one or more filters based on the one or more characteristics and applying the one or more filters to the original image to generate a modified image. The method can include causing the modified image to be displayed.

Digital images, such as photographs, may have certain characteristics that can be corrected using a photorealistic filter. However, a photorealistic filter may create artifacts when applied to an image. Also, users may have difficulty determining which filter type(s) to apply to a given image in order to achieve a desirable result.

Image enhancement using learned non-photorealistic effects


An image formation apparatus includes: a controller configured to control apparatus operation; and an analyzer configured to analyze maintenance information depending on the apparatus when an event requiring maintenance occurs in the apparatus. The maintenance information includes solutions to the event requiring the maintenance. The analyzer determines the order of application of the solutions to the apparatus. The controller controls the apparatus operation based on the order of application of the solutions determined as a result of the analysis by the analyzer.

1. Field of the Invention
This disclosure relates to a network system and an image formation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
There has been known a conventional image formation apparatus capable of storing image data, generated by reading an original, into a shared folder on an information processor, such as a computer, connected to the image formation apparatus via a network.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2005-94444 describes a scanner which is an image formation apparatus and allows a user without being aware of the state of a computer designated as a destination to surely send scan data as image data to the computer and to store the scanned data into the computer.

Network system and image formation apparatus


An image forming method comprising the step of transferring a toner image while applying vibration by ultrasonic wave where in the toner particle forming the toner image has a sea-island structure containing at least two islands of a releasing agent, and the average of the nearest distance between the islands is from approximately 100 nm to approximately 1060 nm and the number of the island having the nearest wall distance of not less than 1300 nm is not more than 10% of the whole number of the islands contained in the toner particle.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to an image forming method in which a toner image formed by a toner is transferred utilizing ultrasonic vibration, particularly related to formation of a color image formed by plural color toners, and to an image forming method employing a toner in which the dispersed state of a releasing agent is controlled to a specific condition.
2. Related Art
Recently, digital method becomes as the main stream of the image formation by the electrophotographic system. One of such the trends of the technology is a technology of full color image formation. One of the techniques to accelerate the colorization of the toner image is a full color image forming method employing an oil less toner containing a large amount of a releasing agent in the toner particle (cf. Japanese Patent Publication Open to Public Inspection, hereinafter referred to as Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication, No. 2002-214821, paragraph [0049],). In the digital image formation, small size toner having micron order of diameter is required for visualizing a small dot image, for example, on a level of 1200 dpi (dot number per inch, 1 inch is 2.54 cm).
In such the image formation employing the small diameter toner, the transfer ability is degraded on the occasion of transfer of the image formed on the photoreceptor onto an image receiving material such as paper and OHP film. Particularly, in the formation of color image by accumulating color toners of Y, M and C, such the tendency becomes considerable and the transfer of the toner image from the photoreceptor surface or an intermediate transfer member is become instable and not reliable. Consequently, suitable color balance and the density are difficultly obtained in the color image formed on the image receiving material. Therefore, techniques have been investigated for surely transferring the toner image onto the image receiving material by applying a physical action to the photoreceptor. As one of such the measures, it is known that ultrasonic waves are applied to the carrier carrying the toner on the occasion of transference of the toner image onto the image receiving material so as to efficiently transfer the toner image from the carrier surface onto the image receiving material by the vibration of the ultrasonic waves (cf. for example, Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 2002-100546, paragraph [0052]–[0061] and 2001-117381, paragraph [0035] and [0062]).
However, the toner transfer methods employing ultrasonic waves disclosed in Japanese Patent O.P.I. Publication Nos. 2002-100546 and 2001-117381 are methods which have been developed for the toner which is employed while coating oil on the image receiving material on the occasion of fixing. And then results expected by the inventors cannot be obtained when the above method is applied to an image forming method employing oil-less toner.
When the transference of the oil-less toner is performed while applying the ultrasonic waves, the releasing agent is released from the toner particle by the influence of the ultrasonic waves, and then winding of the image receiving material about the fixing roller and offset are resulted.
An external additive of the oil-less toner is also released from the toner together with the releasing agent and increasing of the adhering force of the toner with the photoreceptor is resulted. Consequently, toner particles lowered in the transferring ratio are formed. And then the toner image is tend to be deformed by the vibration of the ultrasonic waves, and a problem is resulted that the toner images each having different color from each other cannot be exactly overlapped.
The invention is accomplished according to the above situation. The object of the invention is to provide an image forming method without occurrence of the winding the image receiving material about the fixing roller and the offset by employing a toner from which the releasing agent is not released when the ultrasonic waves are applied.
The invention is to provide an image forming method in which the toner image is not deformed even when the vibration of the ultrasonic waves are applied and the toner images can be exactly overlapped to form a full color image.

Image forming method employing the toner

Konica Minolta Business Technologies, Inc.


Systems and methods to improve reliability of sensing operations of semiconductor memory arrays requiring reading references such as MRAM or any type of phase change memory (PCM), and to improve yield of the memory arrays have been achieved. The memory array is divided into multiple parts, such as sections or segments. Reference word lines or reference bit lines or both are deployed in each of the multiple parts. Thus, the distance between an accessed line and the correspondent reference line is reduced, and hence the parasitic parameter tracking capability is enhanced significantly. Additionally spare reference word lines or spare reference bit lines can be deployed in each of the multiple parts.

(1) Field
This invention relates generally to memory products and relates more specifically to reference line structures associated with a reading cell.
(2) Description of the Prior Art
In a read operation of memory chips, a sense amplifier compares a reference signal, which is middle point between stored 1 and 0 signals, with a stored signal. There are various ways to provide such reference signals. FIGS. 1 a+b prior art show two examples used in conventional memories. For memories, in which an adjacent bit line to the accessed bit line can be used to put the reference signal, a pair of reference word lines is generally exploited. A folded bit line memory array is the typical example, and FIG. 1a prior art shows its scheme. For simplicity, one reference word line shown here is connected to one reference cell, but it is assumed that a middle point of stored 1 and 0 signals appears on the bit line when this reference word line is selected. When an even word line is accessed and the cell shown by a red dot is turned on. The stored signal, thus, appears on the bit line. Simultaneously, a lower one of the reference word line pair is tuned on to bring the reference signal on the adjacent bit line. According to the column address, multiplexer Mux 2 selects these two bit lines to connect to a sense amplifier. The sense amplifier compares two signals to judge read data as either 1 or 0. When an odd word line is accessed, an upper reference of the reference word line pair is selected. Thus, one pair of bit lines, which are adjacent each other, is always selected as inputs to the same amplifier that is shared in this array block
The second example shown in FIG. 1 (B) is based on a reference bit line. It is assumed that the middle point of stored 1 and 0 signals appears on the reference bit line. The array block shares this reference bit line, which is always selected to provide the reference signal to the sense amplifier. Depending on the column address, Mux selects accessed bit line to connect as the input to the sense amplifier
For reliable sensing, these reference lines mimic the line selected to read the cell content. Thus, precise tracking capability of all parasitic parameters on the reference line to the read line is very important. However, the conventional scheme is not optimized for this purpose. For example, in FIG. 1 (A), when a far end of word line to the reference word line is selected, parasitic parameters and AC and DC behaviors of the reference line are quite different from the accessed one.
The other point of the conventional reference schemes is yield issue. Since a large array block shares the reference line, when any defect hit it, the chip becomes dead.
The purpose of this invention is to realize reference lines for reliable sensing operations and to provide a means for yield enhancement.
There are known patents or patent publications dealing with reference line structures of semiconductor memory arrays:
U.S. Patent Publication (US 2010/0195422 to Imai) proposes a semiconductor integrated circuit including: a current difference sense type of a sense amplifier including: an input line connected to memory cells as a target to be read, a reference line connected to reference cells, and a first pre-charge circuit configured to pre-charge the input line and the reference line; a second pre-charge circuit configured to perform pre-charging of the input line and pre-charging of the reference line; and a control circuit configured to control the second pre-charge circuit so that the second pre-charge circuit may perform both the pre-charging of the input line and the pre-charging of the reference line independently of each other, and start both the pre-charging of the input line and the pre-charging of the reference line earlier than pre-charging by the first pre-charge circuit.
U.S. Patent Publication (US 2009/0067274 to Beer) discloses a memory device comprising a memory cell and an evaluation circuit, the memory cell being coupled with the evaluation circuit via a bit line. The memory device further comprises a reference line coupled with the evaluation circuit, the evaluation circuit being designed for amplifying a difference between electric potentials of the bit line and the reference line. Inputs of the evaluation circuit are directly connected to the bit line. Outputs of the evaluation circuit are coupled to the bit line via a switch.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,930,922 to Mori et al. discloses a reading circuit, for reading data from one memory cell of a plurality of memory cells, includes a plurality of division sensing circuits each connected to the one memory cell via a sensing line corresponding thereto among a plurality of sensing lines; and a current-voltage conversion circuit for converting a current flowing through each sensing line into a sensing voltage representing a potential of the corresponding sensing line. Each division sensing circuit includes a current load circuit for supplying a current to the one memory cell via a corresponding sensing line, and a sense amplifier for sensing a potential difference between the corresponding sensing line and a corresponding reference line of a plurality of reference lines. The current load circuit included in at least one division sensing circuit has a current supply capability different from that of the current load circuit included in another division sensing circuits.

Replaceable, precise-tracking reference lines for memory products


A seed delivery apparatus has a moving member that captures and entraps the seed from the seed meter and physically moves the seed from the meter to the lower outlet opening. In so doing, the seed engages and travels along an interior surface of the seed delivery apparatus. A seed sensor is mounted on the housing wall such that the seed passes directly in front of the sensor. The sensor has both the light emitting devices and the photo-sensitive elements on the same wall of the delivery apparatus, or on two opposed walls. The moving member prevents ambient light, dust and dirt from entering the housing and impacting the sensor output signal.

An agricultural seeding machine, such as a row crop planter or grain drill, places seeds at a desired depth within a plurality of parallel seed trenches formed in soil. In the case of a row crop planter, a plurality of row crop units are typically ground driven using wheels, shafts, sprockets, transfer cases, chains and the like or powered by electric or hydraulic motors. Each row crop unit has a frame which is movably coupled with a tool bar. The frame may carry a main seed hopper, herbicide hopper and insecticide hopper. If a herbicide and insecticide are used, the metering mechanisms associated with dispensing the granular product into the seed trench are relatively simple. On the other hand, the mechanisms necessary to properly meter the seeds, and dispense the seeds at predetermined relative locations within the seed trench are relatively complicated.
The mechanisms associated with metering and placing the seeds generally can be divided into a seed metering system and a seed placement or delivery system which are in series communication with each other. The seed metering system receives the seeds in a bulk manner from the seed hopper carried by the planter frame or by the row unit. Different types of seed metering systems may be used, such as seed plates, finger plates, seed disks, belts, etc. In the case of a seed disk metering system, a seed disk is formed with a plurality of seed cells spaced about the periphery of the disk. Seeds are moved into the seed cells with one or more seeds in each seed cell depending upon the size and configuration of the seed cell. A vacuum or positive air pressure differential may be used in conjunction with the seed disk to assist in movement of the seeds into the seed cell. The seeds are singulated and discharged sequentially at a predetermined rate to the seed placement or delivery system.
The most common seed delivery system may be categorized as a gravity drop system. In the case of the gravity drop system, a seed tube has an inlet end which is positioned below the seed metering system. The singulated seeds from the seed metering system merely drop into the seed tube and fall via gravitational force from a discharge end thereof into the seed trench. Monitoring systems are commonly used to monitor the operation of the planter. Such systems typically employ a seed sensor attached to each seed tube to detect the passage of seed therethrough. Seed sensors are readily available from a number of sources including the Dickey-john Corporation, an example of which is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,555,624. As described, the photo sensor consists of one or more light emitting devices and one or more photo-sensitive elements generally mounted on opposing sides of the seed tube. A seed passing through the tube momentarily partially obscures the light falling on one or more of the photo-sensitive elements, thereby producing a momentary change in the normal, or steady state signal level output from the sensor. Various problems are associated with this arrangement that effect the accuracy of the monitoring system. One problem is the dust and dirt that are drawn into the seed tube as the planter is operated. Another problem is the degree of ambient light in the seed tube. The greater the ambient light, the harder it is to detect seeds. To counter the effects of dirt, dust, and light, the sensors have been located near the top of the seed tube, away from the lower outlet opening. This however, allows a greater opportunity for variation to occur in the path traveled by the seed after it has past the sensor, affecting the accuracy of seed spacing determinations by the monitor.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Seed delivery apparatus with sensor and moving member to capture and move seed to a lower outlet opening


A lid opening mechanism for a DAT cassette, wherein the lid is slightly opened while inserting a tape cassette into its housing, and then the lid is completely opened when the tape cassette is placed on a deck, so that the load applied to the cassette is efficiently reduced and the size of the DAT tape cassette can be minimized.

The present invention relates to a lid opening mechanism for a digital audio tape (DAT) tape cassette, and particularly to a mechanism in which a cassette can be opened more easily and the load applied to the tape cassette can be reduced.
In a conventional DAT cassette, a lid opening is done in the manner described below. That is, as shown in FIG. 1, if a tape cassette 1 comes to be positioned within a tray (not shown) of a DAT deck, the tray moves inwardly, and the tape cassette 1 which is mounted on the tray is placed on a bottom plate 5 (shown in FIG. 3A) of a cassette holder 4 (FIG. 3A). At the same time, a slide plate 3 (FIG. 3A) of the tape cassette 1 is engaged with a pair of protuberances 6 (FIG. 3A) which are projected forwardly from the bottom plate 5 of the cassette holder 4. Then the cassette holder 4 descends, and, at the same time, the lower leading end of the lid 2 of the tape cassette 1 is engaged with an engaging piece 7, so that the lid 2 should be pivotally opened.
However, as shown in FIG. 1A, if an inclined face 7a is formed on the upper end of the engaging piece 7, the lower leading end of the lid 2 of the tape cassette 1 is slid along the inclined face 7a, thereby reducing the load. However, in this case, the height h of the engaging piece 7 has to be higher than the descending distance H of the cassette 1, with the disadvantageous result that the volume of the tray housing assembly is increased, and ultimately the volume of the DAT deck is increased.
In an attempt to overcome the above-described problem, in case the upper face of the engaging piece 7 is formed with a chamfered face 7b as shown in FIG. 1B, the descending distance H becomes smaller than the height h of the engaging piece 7, and the lid 2 has to pass over the inclined face 7b, with the disadvantageous result that the load is increased.

Lid opening mechanism for a digital audio tape cassette


A power pack arrangement for a laptop computer, wherein an AC/DC adapter is integrated with a battery pack to form one cohesive unit freely insertable into and removable from a laptop computer housing.

Laptop computers have long presented users with a tradeoff whereby significantly long battery life is essentially sacrificed for convenience and weight. Generally, laptop (or notebook) computers conventionally involve an AC/DC adapter that extends from a plug (for plugging into a wall outlet) to a "brick", and then another plug from the brick to a wire which leads to another plug or adapter for insertion into the laptop/notebook. Power from the wall outlet then goes to the system and/or battery.


A method of making an avalanche photodiode includes depositing a light-absorbing semiconductor layer of a first conductivity type on a semiconductor substrate of the first conductivity type; successively depositing multiple pairs of semiconductor layers on the light-absorbing layer, each of the pairs including a first semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type containing a first dopant impurity concentration and a second semiconductor layer of the first conductivity type containing a second dopant impurity concentration smaller than the first dopant impurity concentration; and forming a semiconductor light-receiving layer of a second conductivity type on the pairs of layers to form a pn junction with the pairs of layers.

One example of a conventional avalanche photodiode is shown in FIG. 1. This avalanche photodiode is fabricated by disposing an n.sup.- -type InGaAs light-absorbing layer 2 on an N.sup.+ -type InP substrate 1, disposing an n-type InP multiplication layer 3 on the light-absorbing layer 2, selectively diffusing a p-type impurity from the top surface of the multiplication layer 3 to thereby form a p.sup.+ -type light-receiving region 4.
A voltage is applied from a voltage source 5 between the p.sup.+ -type light-receiving region 4 and the substrate 1 to provide a reverse bias voltage slightly smaller than the voltage which could cause avalanche breakdown of the p.sup.+ -n junction formed between the multiplication layer 3 and the p.sup.+ -type light-receiving region 4, as shown in FIG. 1. In such a reverse bias condition, a depletion region 6 is formed in the multiplication layer 3 and the light-absorbing layer 2. An optical signal incident on the p.sup.+ -type light-receiving region 4 passes through the depletion region 6 to reach the light-absorbing layer 2, where it is absorbed to generate electron-hole pairs. Due to an electric field, holes drift and are injected into the depletion region 6. The injected holes are accelerated in the multiplication layer 3 and collide with lattice atoms in the depletion region 6 with high kinetic energy so that the atoms are ionized to produce electron-hole pairs. The phenomena occur in a concatenating fashion so that a large number of holes and electrons are generated. The thus generated holes flow through the light-receiving region 4 to the voltage source 5. On the other hand, the electrons flow from the depletion region 6 through the light-absorbing layer 2 and the substrate 1 to the voltage source 5. Thus, a multiplied current corresponding to the optical signal incident on the light-receiving region 4 flows.
It has been desired to improve the gain bandwidth product (GB product) of avalanche photodiodes. In order to improve the GB product of an avalanche photodiode such as the one shown in FIG. 1, it is necessary to increase the maximum electric field in the depletion region 6 so that holes can pass through the depletion region 6 as fast as possible, which, in turn, requires that the field gradient in the depletion region 6 be made steep by increasing the carrier concentration in the multiplication layer 3. This results in increase of the maximum field. In order to increase the carrier concentration in the multiplication layer 3, the distance WB (FIG. 1) between the bottom surface of the light-receiving region 4 and the upper surface of the multiplication layer 3 should be made smaller. FIG. 2 illustrates the relationship between the carrier concentration Nb of the multiplication layer 3 and the GB product of the avalanche photodiode, and the relationship between the carrier concentration Nb and the width WB. It is seen that in order to increase the GB product, the carrier concentration must be increased, which requires that the thickness WB must be made smaller. In particular, if the carrier concentration of the multiplication layer 3 is desired to be increased to 2.times.10.sup.17 cm.sup.-3 so as to provide a GB product of 100 or more, the thickness WB must be decreased to a value on the order of 0.2 .mu.m. The precision of the thickness WB is dependent on the precision of the selective diffusion into the p.sup.+ -type light-receiving region 4. For a small thickness WB on the order of 0.2 .mu.m, the selective diffusion of an impurity into the region 4 must be controlled with a precision of the order of 0.1 .mu.m. It has been difficult to control such selective diffusion with such a precision of the order of 0.1 .mu.m
Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. HEI 1-261874, for example, discloses a technique for improving the GB product of a photodetector. According to this Japanese patent application, an InP layer and one higher impurity concentration n.sup.+ -type InP layer and one lower impurity concentration n.sup.- -type is disposed immediately beneath a p.sup.+ -type light-receiving region, with the n.sup.- -type InP layer being disposed adjacent to the light-receiving region. The set of these InP layers is used as a multiplication layer with an increased thickness, so as to provide a large GB product. This Japanese application states that the thicknesses of the lower and higher impurity concentration layers are 0.3-0.6 .mu.m, but it is silent about the ratio of the thicknesses. Assuming that the thicknesses of the higher and lower impurity concentration layers are equal to each other, the maximum field in the higher impurity concentration layer is smaller so that sufficient multiplication cannot be expected.
An object of the present invention is to provide an avalanche photodiode free of the above-stated disadvantages, and also a method of making such an improved avalanche photodiode.


A variety of diazacyanine mediators that are soluble in aqueous media and which do not inhibit enzymatic activity are provided for use on the surface of a working electrode of a electrochemical biosensor for electrochemical co-enzyme regeneration. The co-enzyme, dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NADH) or dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADPH), is oxidized to NAD.sup.+ OR NADP.sup.+ which is reduced by an oxidoreductase such as a dehydrogenase acting on a substrate. By applying the mediator together with NADH or NADPH to the surface of the working electrode, the voltage necessary to achieve oxidation is substantially reduced. Biosensor electrodes such as graphite electrodes may be produced-by screen printing techniques.

A. Technical Summary:
The present invention relates to an enzyme electrode or an electrochemical biosensor which is suitable for the electrochemical determination of the concentration and/or for the survey of one of several components that may be present in a fluid test sample. As an enzyme system, generally every dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide (NAD) or dihydronicotinamide adenine dinucleotide phosphate (NADP) dependent system can be considered. These systems combine the selectivity of enzymes with the sensitivity of amperometric detection and are of great interest to the diagnostics industry. The reduction of the nicotinamide co-enzymes (NAD and NADP) is particularly important because they are produced in reactions catalyzed by dehydrogenases. Dehydrogenase catalyzed reactions according to the equation: ##STR1## play an important role in biological cells and analytical reactions. Several hundred different dehydrogenases are known which Selectively catalyze the conversion of various substrates into products. When the substrate is oxidized, the coenzymes NAD.sup.+ and NADP.sup.+ are reduced to NADH and NADPH respectively. These co-enzymes are a necessary element in the reaction due to their ability to act with enzymes to form an energy transferring redox couple.
B. State of the Art:
A variety of reactions relevant to the field of biochemical analysis which use NAD(P) dependent oxireductases are at least in principle capable of being carried out through the use of such enzymes, cf. D. W. Moss et al in N. W. Tietz (Ed.), Textbook of Clinical Chemistry, Pp. 619-763, W. B. Saunders, Philadelphia, 1986. Generally, the change in the coenzyme, NAD(P)H concentration is determined by optical methods which can cause problems when colored or turbid samples are processed. As an alternative, electrochemical methods, in the form of biosensors, can be used.
It is known that the direct oxidation of NAD(P)H on an electrode surface requires a very high overpotential which leads to undesired phenomena such as electrode fouling or strong interference by contaminating substances. A number of publications and patents published in recent years have dealt with overcoming such problems, partly by the use of mediator molecules. The substances are initially reduced by NAD(P)H and then oxidatively regenerated in a second step at the anode. The use of a mediator facilitates the use of a lower electrochemical potential as compared to direct NAD(P)H oxidation. This is illustrated by the following equations: ##STR2## Examples for such mediators are often dyestuffs, like methylene blue, Meldola's Blue, Nile Blue, or Toluidine Blue L. Gorton, J. Chem. Soc. Faraday Trans. 1, 82 (1986), 1245-1258!. These compounds often have the disadvantage that they themselves are reoxidized at such a high potential that all the relevant interferences are not always suppressed. In particular, in case of the determination of analytes in blood or urine, is it necessary to avoid the direct oxidation of ascorbic acid (Vitamin C), acetaminophen, bilirubin, and uric acid. This makes an oxidation potential in the range of 0 to 150 mV (versus silver/silver chloride reference) desirable. Furthermore, a high chemical turnover rate between NAD(P)H and the mediator as well as between mediator and the anode is desirable to obtain a sufficiently high current density. This aspect is crucial in particular for a desired miniaturization of biosensors and is not or only insufficiently covered by previously described mediators. The data of Table 8 herein demonstrate that the present mediator can meet this standard. In the case of a low turnover rate between NAD(P)H and mediator, there is observed an increase of the apparent oxidation potential in the presence of substrate. Furthermore, many of the prior art mediators are not sufficiently soluble in aqueous solution thereby necessitating the use of organic solvents and complex coating techniques for applying these mediators to an electrode. This limits the number of useable carrier materials for the biosensor, in particular in the field of polymers.
Accordingly, it would be desirable and it is an object of the present invention to provide mediators for the electrocatalytic oxidation of NADH or NADPH on carbon electrodes, particularly those produced by screen printing techniques. It is a further object of this invention to provide electrodes bearing the present mediators and NAD(P)H having an oxidation potential where current saturation occurs which is in the range of from 0 to 150 mV as measured against a silver/silver chloride reference electrode with the ability to obtain current densities on the order of 100 .mu.A/cm.sup.2 at 5 mmol/L NAD(P)H. In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide mediators which are soluble in aqueous media and which do not inhibit enzymatic activity.

Electro chemical biosensor containing diazacyanine mediator for co-enzyme regeneration


Systems and methods are operable to secure a coiled portion of an electrical cord, a cable, or a rope. An exemplary embodiment has a coil securing portion with an interior surface, a collapsing portion joined with the coil securing portion, and a means for securing the coil retainer in a collapsed position. The coil securing portion and the collapsing portion cooperatively define a substantially tubular interior region and an opening, wherein the interior region is configured to receive a coil portion inserted through the opening when the coil retainer is in an open position. The coiled portion is frictionally secured by the interior surface of the coil securing portion when the coil retainer is secured in the collapsed position.

A coiled portion of a electrical cord, a cable, or a rope is typically secured using a tie or the like. The tie secures adjacent portions of the coiled electrical cord, cable, or rope.
For example, an iron cord may be difficult to conveniently store when the iron is not in use. The iron cord might be wrapped around the handle of the iron in an attempt to secure the iron cord. However, the iron cord may comes loose, and often makes storage of the iron difficult. As another example, a lamp cord may be much longer than necessary to connect the lamp to the electrical outlet. The excess lamp cord will often be left on the floor, which may become a safety hazard. Also, the excess lamp cord may be unsightly. Even if the excess lamp cord is tucked underneath and/or behind another object, such as a dresser or a table, the excess cord may become dislodged during cleaning.
The unused portion of an electrical cord may be coiled into a coil portion. Then, a length of wire tie may be wrapped around the midsection of the electrical cord coil portion and tightened. The secured portion of the electrical cord coil can then be placed in a convenient, out of the way location so that the secured electrical cord coil does not become a hazard or nuisance.
However, using a tie to secure a coiled portion of an electrical cord has several disadvantages. First, forming a coil in a portion of the electrical cord may be difficult, especially for a person who may be physically challenged. Second, it may be difficult to secure the tie around the coiled portion of the electrical cord since the tie must first be placed in a desired position about the coil portion, and then the coil must be maintained while the tie is being secured. Further, the tie typically leaves large portions of the coiled cord unsecure. For example, the unsecured ends of the secure coil portion may become entangled with other objects, thereby creating a potential hazard or nuisance. And finally, it may be difficult to find a tie as they are small and easily misplaced.
In some situations, it may be desirable to secure two or more coiled electrical cord portions together. However, a single tie may not be large enough, or strong enough, to secure more than one single electrical cord. Further, forming multiple coils from multiple electrical cords, and maintaining the coil portions while the tie is being secured, may be a very difficult and challenging physical task.
The above-described securing of a coiled portion of an electrical cord is equally applicable to other long flexible structures, such as cords, cables, ropes, chains, or the like. For example, boat ropes can be difficult to maintain in a secure manner so that that they are easily accessible. During a critical maneuver of a boat, such as during a docking procedure, the operators must have ready access to the plurality of docking ropes, which are typically stored in a coiled form. However, if the docking ropes are jumbled and tangled together, it will be relatively difficult to prepare a boat for docking. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a means for easily securing, storing, and retrieving a plurality of coiled docking ropes.

Systems and methods for securing portions of a cord


Conventional hierarchical time-series clustering is highly time consuming process as time-series are characteristically lengthy. Moreover, finding right similarity measure providing best possible hierarchical cluster is critical to derive accurate inferences from the hierarchical clusters. Method and system for Auto Encoded Compact Sequences (AECS) based hierarchical time-series clustering that enables compact latent representation of time-series using an undercomplete multilayered Seq2Seq LSTM auto encoder followed by generating of HCs using multiple similarity measures is disclosed. Further, provided is a mechanism to select the best HC among the multiple HCs on-the-fly, based on an internal clustering performance measure of Modified Hubert statistic τ. Thus, the method provides time efficient and low computational cost approach for hierarchical clustering for both on univariate and multivariate time-series. AECS approach provides a constant length sequence across diverse length series and hence provides a generalized approach.

Large volume of time-series data is received from applications such as smart cities, continuous health care monitoring, machine health monitoring and so on. This huge volume of time-series data is analyzed by data miners to derive inferences and provide predictions of events. Data clustering is common technique used for processing time-series data during in data mining process. Hierarchical clustering of time-series is one important and frequently used approach in time-series data analysis. For example, very large volume of time-series data acquired over a period from multiple cities across multiple cities may be analyzed to determine similar patterns in violent crime rates over time. Here hierarchical time-series cluster analysis can be used to derive such inferences. The hierarchical clustering is a statistical technique, which builds clusters based on a similarity/distance measure applied on the time-series data.
Conventional hierarchical time-series clustering is highly time consuming process. Moreover, finding the right similarity/distance measure providing best possible Hierarchical cluster (HC) is critical. Considering the length of each time-series data, generating hierarchical time-series clusters using conventional approaches is not time nor computation efficient, effectively not cost efficient.

Method and system for hierarchical time-series clustering with auto encoded compact sequence (AECS)


The present invention discloses a method for energy management, by means of which significant fluctuations in the power consumption in the on-board electrical system are reduced, in particular, current consumption peaks arising due to a very high start-up current of electrical actuators and solenoid valves, are more evenly distributed over time. To achieve this, the method for energy management according to the invention operates predictively, i.e. it determines both the energy available in the subsequent time interval and the energy required on the basis of activation requests, and selects consumers to be activated according to their priority and a prevailing tolerance time within which a consumer must be activated following the submission of its activation request. The tolerance time is thereby continuously adapted.

The invention relates to a method for energy management as claimed in claim 1.
Due to the increasing need for electrical energy in vehicles, for example due to drive-by-wire technology, and the resulting substantial fluctuations in the behavior through time of energy consumption, a method for energy management becomes increasingly important. In a method of this type, it must noted in particular that the capability of the system to deliver sufficient electrical energy at any time is to a significant extent relevant to safety.
For example, a method for activating and deactivating different classes of consumers by means of switching elements in the context of energy management performed by a control device, particularly in a motor vehicle, is known from DE 199 60 079 A1. The switching elements are controlled in such a way that the selected priorities for controlling the switching elements can be changed during operation, i.e. dynamically. Operating-mode-dependent adaptation of switching priorities during live operation is therefore possible. Consumers are deactivated by changing the switching priority in such a way that the perceptibility of the operating modes is suppressed as much possible. Priorities can also be changed here according to specifically customized criteria.
In this and other hitherto known methods for energy management, the problem exists that they are, inter alia, inadequate, given that, in the case of on-board electrical systems with one or two current circuits, an entire current circuit is deactivated in each case, or they are highly complex in terms of their logic and are subsequently difficult to expand. In methods of this type, consumers are often switched according to a statically or dynamically defined priority. Although this takes account very effectively of the aspect of operational reliability, the convenience and acceptance of the driver are only considered indirectly. For the driver, the time between the switching command and execution is of primary importance. Furthermore, in the method described above, energy management is only performed reactively, i.e. consumers are only deactivated once an energy shortfall has occurred. In this case, consumers such as electric motors have already started up and have imposed a load on the battery through the start-up current flow. It is not possible to control on-board electrical system components predicatively.
The object of the present invention is therefore to further develop a method for energy management of the generic type in such a way that predictive control of on-board electrical system components is possible, so that the imposition of a load on the battery by consumers which are to be deactivated immediately is avoided. Furthermore, the time span that elapses between the switching command and execution and the maximum time span that may elapse in the switching/activation sequence are to be directly taken into account.


In a conveying cart, a front side wheel (a front wheel) for supporting the conveying cart is provided with a travel driving unit (a front wheel inverter and a travel motor), and a rear side wheel (a rear wheel) for supporting the conveying cart is provided with a travel driving unit (a rear wheel inverter and a travel motor). When the conveying cart travels in a curve portion of a travel path, the travel driving unit for the front wheel of the conveying cart on which the center of gravity is located is subjected to speed control, and the travel driving unit for the rear wheel of the conveying cart that tends to float up is subjected to torque control.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a travel control method for a travel vehicle which is supported by wheels provided at the front and rear thereof and which travels while being guided by a travel path.
2. Description of the Related Art
As a conventional travel control method for a travel vehicle of this kind, a travel control method for a travel vehicle as described below has been disclosed.
The travel vehicle is a conveying cart which travels while being guided by guide rails in a loop, for example, and conveys an article between stations disposed along the guide rails. Wheels mounted at the front and rear of the conveying cart are provided with travel driving units, respectively. A conveying cart travels to a target station by driving the travel driving units according to an article conveyance command, thereby to convey the article.
In such a conventional travel control method for a travel vehicle as described above, the conveying cart with travel driving units attached to the respective wheels at the front and rear has posed a problem that when a cart speed is attempted to be maintained at a prescribed value, the wheels are caused to differ from one another in the number or rotations, therefore if the wheels are driven to rotate at a same speed, the rails and the wheels are caused to wear by the spinning of the wheels. Further, if the travel cart passes through a curve at a high speed, the wear of the rails and wheels becomes more conspicuous.

Travel control method for travel vehicle


The present invention provides an adhesive tape comprising a flux-active compound having a carboxyl group and/or a phenolic hydroxyl group, a thermosetting resin and a film-forming resin. In the adhesive tape of the present invention, the thermosetting resin may be an epoxy resin and may contain a curing agent. The curing agent may be an imidazole compound and/or a phosphorous compound. The adhesive tape of the present invention can be used as an interlayer material for a circuit board and a multilayered flexible printed circuit board.

With recent densification of electronic devices, a printed circuit board used for them has been more multi-layered and a multi-layered flexible printed circuit board has been frequently used. Such a printed circuit board is a rigid-flex printed circuit board as a composite substrate consisting of a flexible printed circuit board and a rigid printed circuit board, which has expanded in application.
According to a proposed method in the related art, a multilayered flexible printed circuit board or rigid-flex printed circuit board is prepared by alternately stacking a single-sided circuit board and an adhesive layer multiple times to form a stack, forming an interlayer-connecting through-hole in the stack, plating the interlayer-connecting through-hole and processing the outermost layer to form, for example, a circuit and the like, or by forming a hole which does not penetrate a copper foil in the insulator side of a single-sided circuit board, forming a conductor post from a metal or alloy, conducting coating of the whole surface, pressing the adhesive layer and the circuit board and repeating the process as necessary for multilayering (for example, Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-54934).
The above manufacturing method employs an approach that as a generally used interlayer electric connecting system, a through-hole penetrating all layers is formed and each of the layers is electrically connected by plating the through-hole. However, in this electric connection system, a processing method is simple, but there are so many restrictions in circuit designing. The worst disadvantage is that since all the layers are electrically connected through the penetrating through-hole plating, the outermost layer may have through-hole plating connecting lands, which thus occupy a larger area. This makes it difficult to increase a circuit-mounting density, which may be a critical problem in component mounting or circuit wiring. Furthermore, it leads to a system incapable of achieving high-density mounting or high-density wiring which will be increasingly needed in the market.
For inexpensive manufacturing, a flexible printed circuit board is prepared using a multiple pattern where a plurality of patterns are arrayed in one sheet. Thus, a multilayered flexible printed circuit board can be inexpensively prepared through a similar manufacturing process. However, if a defective patterning is present in a sheet in this manufacturing process, a multilayered flexible printed circuit board formed by stacking the defective patterning sections is defective, leading to reduction of a process yield in a stacking step.
The biggest difference between a multilayered flexible printed circuit board or rigid-flex printed circuit board and a multilayered rigid printed circuit board is the presence of a flexible section. Preparation of such a flexible section requires removal of an outer layer for preventing stack of the flexible section or removal of an outer layer after stack, leading to reduction of the circuit board number per sheet in sheet stack. Furthermore, in a pattern design in which individual layers have different sizes, the circuit board number per one sheet is restricted to the least circuit board number of the circuit board numbers in the individual layers, leading to reduction of the circuit board number per sheet.
The latter manufacturing process has a special step of forming a hole in a receiving substrate in a conductor post by laser processing, desmearing it and forming a surface-coated opening, and establishing these techniques and improving their yields are also problems. Furthermore, as the layer number is increased, a production time and a cost is increased and a material cost for surface coating is also increased.
PATENT DOCUMENT 1: Japanese Laid-open Patent Publication No. 11-54934


The naturally-occurring amino acid selenocysteine (SEC) is incorporated uniquely and specifically in the context of a polypeptide displayed on the surface of an amplifiable genetic particle (phage, cell or spore) in response to incorporation signals engineered in the encoding DNA. In addition to conferring the unique activities of the selenol group to the chemistry of the displayed peptide, Sec also provides a unique handle for specific chemical modification of the display peptide. In addition to increasing the palette of available residues in a random peptide library to 21 possibilities, present invention also provides a means of tethering virtually any desired chemical functionality to the incorporated Sec.

The fusion of peptides to the coat proteins of amplifiable genetic particles, e.g., phage, is a widely used method for screening combinatorial libraries of peptides (Rodi and Malowski, Curr. Opin. Biotechno., 10:87–93 (1999); Wilson and Finlay, Canadian Journal of Microbiology, 44:313–329 (1998)). One common approach is to express random sequences at the N-terminus of the bacteriophage M13 coat protein pIII, resulting in library complexities of up to 109 different clones. Selection is achieved by performing multiple rounds of target binding (panning), elution and amplification. Each round of panning enriches the pool of clones in favor of the tightest-binding ligands. Because each phage particle contains both the displayed peptide and the DNA encoding it, the selected peptides can be readily identified by DNA sequencing. Despite its utility and convenience, in vivo biological expression limits library diversity to combinations of twenty of the naturally occurring amino acids, linked by peptide bonds.
This problem can be partially circumvented by taking advantage of the enormous potential chemical diversity of synthetic combinatorial libraries. A vast body of work has been carried out with libraries consisting of systematic variations of peptides (Geysen, et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 81:3998–4002 (1984); Houghten, et al., Nature 354:84–86 (1991), Lam, et al., Nature, 354: 82–84 (1991)), peptide analogues (Figliozzi, et al., Methods Enzymol., 267:437–447 (1996), and small molecules (Bunin, et al., Methods Enzymol., 267:448–465 (1996), and an entire industry has been built around this type of combinatorial chemistry. While libraries well in excess of 1018 different molecules (equivalent to 1 μmol of material if one molecule of each variant is present) can be synthesized, the identification of which molecules bind to a given target from such a vast pool is problematic. Libraries are typically synthesized in spatially addressable form, e.g., grids of pins or wells each containing one compound (Geysen, supra), or tethered to macromolecular beads containing a chemical tag which specifically identifies the attached compound (Lam, et al., supra). Ligand identification thus limits the size of chemically synthesized libraries to a practical upper limit of 104–106 different molecules. Unlike biosynthetic libraries such as phage display peptide libraries, however, chemically synthesized libraries are not limited to a small subset of potential functional diversity.
The functional diversity of phage displayed peptide libraries can be increased by specifically chemically modifying the library prior to each round of panning. Phage libraries with enzymatically phosphorylated tyrosine residues have been constructed to map protein kinase and SH2 domain recognition sequences (Dente, et al., Journal of Molecular Biology, 269:694–703 (1997); Schmitz, et al., J. Mol. Biol., 260:664–677 (1996)). Phage libraries have also been biotinylated at specific lysine residues during in vivo phage morphogenesis, but this method requires a specific 66-residue biotinylation motif (Stolz, et al., FEBS Lett., 440:213–217 (1998)). Both of these methods require defined flanking sequence, and the incorporated modification cannot be altered. Therefore neither are generally applicable to incorporation of any desired chemical functionality in the context of a randomized amino acid sequence. For example, there are no methods for specifically modifying displayed tyrosine with other chemical moieties while protecting endogenous tyrosine residues elsewhere on the phage coat. The side chains of lysine and cysteine are reactive, but small-molecule reagents are likely to target residues within the native coat protein in addition to the displayed peptide. A new type of phage library, with a unique site available for a broad range of chemical modifications, is therefore needed.
To maintain the essential amplification and selection techniques of phage display, the existing bacterial genetic machinery should be employed to incorporate the unique reactive site into the displayed peptide. A method in which a non-native residue is incorporated into a phage-displayed protein by native chemical ligation (Dwyer, et al., Chem. Biol., 7:263–274 (2000)) could in principle be used to incorporate a unique reactive site, but this method requires that the non-native residue be incorporated within a synthetic peptide sequence, which is then chemically ligated onto a phage displayed polypeptide. As a result, the residues flanking the potential modification site are not encoded on the phage genome, severing the link between displayed sequence and DNA sequence.

Surface display of selenocysteine-containing peptides


A protective cover is removably placed over a beehive for overwintering and utilizes an inner reflective surface to return radiant energy to the hive and an outer non-reflective surface to absorb energy into the hive. The cover may have reclosable openings therein to allow inspection of the hives.

A major factor in the continuity of a colony of bees in the ability of the bees to survive the winter temperatures. Hives are not generally insulated and are not normally moved into heated shelters during the winter months, thus the bees must make use of their natural abilities to survive. A single bee would die upon exposure to the winter colds; however, a colony of bees is able to cluster together and generate enough muscular energy to keep a substantial portion of the mass warm. By means of this constant movement and interchanging of position, the mass of bees enables a significant number of the bees to survive. However, a significant number of the bees also die due to the stress and cold.
In the aerospace industry and particularly in the field of space exploration, a number of lightweight, flexible materials have been developed which have been used to reflect radiant energy from sensitive components. Such materials have also found earthly uses such as tanning blankets and the like. These materials do not afford any insulation as might be afforded by an insulative batt, however they are able to redirect radiant energy impinging on their surfaces.


A processing device is provided with a disk coating port and a cassette or cartridge port both formed on a common top face or surface of the device sot hat a CD ROM as well as a cartridge ROM may be loaded from the top. A main circuit board, in which a CPU, data processors and other circuits are assembled, is positioned so as to underlie both the disk and cartridge loading ports and generally arranged in a plane parallel to the common top face. The disk operating unit is formed of two portions, one having a lower surface on which the cartridge unit may be detachably mounted, and the other having an elevated portion in which the disk loading port as well as a disk driving mechanism is installed.

This invention relates generally to a computer-controlled processing device and, more particularly, the present invention relates to a computer-controlled game device which operates with multiple external information storage media such as CD-ROM, cassette ROM, IC cards or the like.
A popular information storage medium for supplying a home use game device with computer game software is a semiconductor ROM assembled in a cartridge or cassette type housing. Another type of information storage medium is a CD-ROM that is recently popularly being used for supplying game software.
An example of a conventional processing device or a home use game device, which can be supplied with game or other software, by way of both a cassette ROM and a CD-ROM, is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,437,464 issued to one of the co-assignees of the subject application, and shown in FIG. 18. The processing device 1 is comprised of a disk regenerator unit 3 and a cassette ROM regenerator unit 4. A cartridge ROM operating unit 4 may be a conventional home use game device to which a game software program is supplied by way of a semiconductor ROM housed in a cartridge or a cassette 5.
The disk unit 3 has a flat main body portion 3a having a generally rectangular or square flat upper surface S and an elevated portion 3b that is provided with a plug connector (not shown) at a side wall W facing to the square flat upper surface. The cartridge ROM operating unit 4 has a corresponding socket connector 4a provided to mate with the plug connector on the elevated portion 3b. The cartridge ROM unit 4 may be used independently as a game processing device to which a game software program is supplied from a cassette or cartridge 5 ROM inserted into the cartridge port. The cartridge operating unit 4 may be mounted on the flat surface S of the main body portion 3a so that the socket connector 4a of the cartridge operating unit 4 becomes electrically connected with the plug connector of the disk operating unit 3, whereby an application software of music or a game program is supplied from a compact disk 2 loaded on a tray 2A of disk operating unit 3.
Another example of a conventional device is shown in FIG. 19. The device 4 comprises a connecting unit 7, a disk unit 8 and a cartridge unit 9. Connecting unit 7 is formed with a generally, flat, thin support portion 7d having a flat support surface S and an elevated portion 7c with a pair of connector sockets 7a and 7b provided at a side wall W thereof facing the support portion 7d. Disk unit 8 and cartridge unit 9 may be detachably connectable by placing it on the flat surface of thin support portion 7d so as to be electrically connected to the sockets 7a and 7b, respectively, whereby the disk unit 8 is electrically connected to cartridge ROM unit 9 through the sockets 7a and 7b.
The above-mentioned examples have the following shortcomings. In reference to the processing device 1 shown in FIG. 18, as the cartridge ROM unit 4 is installed on the flat surface S of the main body portion 3a and electrically connected with connecting elevated portion 3b of disk unit 3, both units are connected together firmly. The mechanism for loading the compact disk becomes complex because of the tray-driving motor (not shown), which results in increased costs because of an increase in the number of parts and assembly steps.
In reference to device 6 shown in FIG. 19, as the device is composed of three separate units as a whole, each being provided as an independent unit, which also causes an increase of costs. Furthermore, as the device has many connecting portions, it has a tendency to result in bad electrical connections and cause malfunctions.

Computer-controlled game device with cassette ROM and CD-ROM


Disclosed are appendage mountable electronic systems and related methods for covering and conforming to an appendage surface. A flexible or stretchable substrate has an inner surface for receiving an appendage, including an appendage having a curved surface, and an opposed outer surface that is accessible to external surfaces. A stretchable or flexible electronic device is supported by the substrate inner and/or outer surface, depending on the application of interest. The electronic device in combination with the substrate provides a net bending stiffness to facilitate conformal contact between the inner surface and a surface of the appendage provided within the enclosure. In an aspect, the system is capable of surface flipping without adversely impacting electronic device functionality, such as electronic devices comprising arrays of sensors, actuators, or both sensors and actuators.

Physiological measurement and stimulation techniques that exploit interfaces to the skin have been of interest for many years. Despite much progress over this time, nearly all associated device technologies continue to rely on conceptually old designs. Typically, small numbers of bulk electrodes are mounted on the skin via adhesive tapes, mechanical clamps/straps and/or penetrating needles, often mediated by conductive gels, with terminal connections to separate boxes that house collections of rigid circuit boards, power supplies and communication components. These systems have many important capabilities, but they are poorly suited for practical application outside of research labs or clinical settings, due to difficulties in establishing long-lived, robust electrical contacts that do not irritate the skin, and in achieving integrated systems with overall sizes, weights and shapes that do not cause discomfort during prolonged use.
Recently, a number of patents and publications have disclosed flexible, resilient and implantable electrode arrays. For example, U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2007/0043416 discloses an implantable flexible elastic support with a plurality of electrodes held in contact with a target tissue. Similarly, International Patent Application Publication WO 98/49936 discloses a resilient electrode array for sensing signals associated (mapping) and ablating heart tissue. U.S. Pat. No. 5,678,737 discloses an electrophysiology mapping system for displaying a 3D model of epicardial and endocardial surfaces with dynamic display of potential distribution data.
U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2003/0149456 discloses a multi-electrode cardiac lead adapter which incorporates a multiplexing circuit allowing for control by a conventional single lead cardiac pacing pulse generator. Similarly, U.S. Patent Application Publication US 2006/0173364 discloses a multichannel electrophysiology acquisition system which utilizes a digital multiplexing circuit build on a conventional integrated circuit. U.S. Pat. No. 6,666,821 discloses an implantable sensor array system with an associated protective member which prevents the sensors from interacting with the surrounding environment until it is disabled.
International Application Publication WO 2009/114689 and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2013/0041235, each of which are individually hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety, discloses flexible and scalable sensor arrays for recording and modulating physiologic activity. US Patent Application Publication Nos. US 2008/0157235, US 2008/0108171, US 2010/0002402 and U.S. Pat. No. 7,557,367 issued Jul. 7, 2009, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entireties, disclose multilayer stretchable, foldable and printable semiconductor devices.
There is a need in the art for high-fidelity, robust and reliable electronics on surfaces that are capable of accommodating any type of curved surface, including highly complex shapes such as those associated with moving fingers. One difficulty with providing electronics to interact with such complex surface shapes is that it can be difficulty to reliably provide electronics in a correspondingly complex surface shape so as to achieve good interaction between the electronics and the complex surface shape over a large contact area. Provided herein are various devices and methods that address this aspect.

Appendage mountable electronic devices conformable to surfaces

The Board of Trustees of the University of Illinois


Methods and systems are provided for computer software testing using test suite data. A method may include defining a plurality of testing goals and a testing strategy for the code of the software application, determining objects under test within said code of a software application, designing test cases and test suites for said defined testing strategy, defining test categories for said designed test suites, defining a test execution sequence for said designed test suites and said test categories, defining whether a test execution sequence shall continue or stop after an error in a test object or a fail event in the test system, based on the results of the previous steps, parametrizing a test automation framework with the test suites, running the test automation framework on said code of a software application, and analyzing the results obtained from running the test automation framework on said code of a software application.

In computer programming, by "unit testing" is understood a software verification and validation method for checking whether individual units of source code are fit for use. A "unit" is the smallest testable part of a software application. For example, in procedural programming a unit is an individual function or procedure. A unit test provides a strict, written contract that the unit under test must satisfy. The goal of unit testing is to show that the individual parts (units) of the application software are correct when ran in isolation. Usually, a unit test must satisfy code coverage criteria (often Statement or Branch).
Unit testing is considered a fundamental step for developing modern software of high quality.
A unit test suite is organized by means of attributes, assertions and constraints. The execution of a set of unit tests can be controlled by means of attributes. The assertions and constraints affect the calculation of individual test case verdicts (test case passes or test fails), attributes support, such as the organization of sets of test cases (called test suites) and the automatic provision of test data to test cases.
Currently, unit tests are always executed to the last test case even if errors or fail events occur or have occurred during the execution, where the errors or fail events suggest stopping the test suite immediately. Moreover, tests are executed in an undefined (implementation-specific) order. However, often after errors or fails, the remaining test cases may be invalid because they depend logically on test cases running before and obviously affect the final test outcome. Performing the complete test run translates into wasted time and blocks test machines, requires undue use of memory (for storing test results), or even leads to damage of test machines. Therefore, it is important to control the execution of sets of unit tests.
Moreover, it is important to control the execution order of test cases within a test suite and to solve the issue of test category combination. Test cases are executed sequentially, in parallel or randomly. Furthermore, the set of tests to be executed are restricted or extended in order to meet situation-dependent test goals and project constraints and hence also obey economic constraints goals.
While existing test automation frameworks, languages and associated tools support the development and automatic execution of single test cases, the support for organizing and executing test suites (each combining several test cases or complete test suites) is rather rudimentary. Up to now the unit test control issues listed above are usually approached by verbose and error-prone imperative programming, often in an ad-hoc manner.
Test developers skilled in the art of testing are used to program test cases but have problems programming test suites, i.e. selecting, sequencing and controlling test suites and performing overall test control. Most times, test developers mix statements controlling test cases with statements controlling test suites, leading therefore to test specifications that are hard to understand, verify, maintain and apply.
Because of the difficulties in selecting the proper set of test cases and test suites, almost all the available tests are selected for a test run. Each test case checks, usually at several places in the test code, whether the test case is applicable or not. These checks are test control code which are not mixed with other code. If mixed, a test specification that is hard to understand results.
It is of special importance how the test case verdicts (pass, fail) affect the test execution sequence. Currently, the only solution to this constraint is to have only one test case per test suite (TextFixture) and to sequence the test suites outside the unit test framework. This can be achieved manually or by a script (batch file) controlling the execution of arbitrary programs on the command line.
Manual execution of test suites is not a solution because, due to the huge amount of unit tests, the unit tests are executed automatically on a daily, weekly or other periodic basis, and approaching the test control issue with a script in one of the diverse scripting languages and language variants is a paradigm discontinuity, depends on the properties the unit test tool allows to control and observe at the proprietary tool's interface, and, perhaps most important of all, is to be done in an imperative manner instructing the test tool, i.e. test execution engine, step-by-step what to do.
It is also important to execute the test cases and test sets in logical sequence. Currently this constraint is often solved by naming conventions with the intention to execute the test cases in alphanumeric order. However, there are no guarantees that different test execution engines or even two variants of the same execution engine consider the test names for scheduling (sequencing) the individual test cases.
The selection of test cases to be run by combining test categories is as well of importance. Currently it is not possible to combine test categories with unit test tools in a meaningful way. Only tests of one category can be executed at a time. Two or more test categories can be selected only in the sense of list concatenation with implementation-dependent execution sequence wherein the list order is undefined.

Method and system for test suite control


A system optimizes terrestrial signal acquisition in a communication system by initially determining whether a first synchronization signal is available from a first ensemble, which has an associated first programmed content of a terrestrial signal. Next, when the first synchronization signal is not available from the first ensemble, the system switches to a second ensemble of the terrestrial signal to acquire a second synchronization signal, which is synchronized with the first synchronization signal. Finally, the system switches back to the first ensemble to retrieve the associated first programmed content.

Satellite digital audio radio service (SDARS) is a relatively new satellite-based service that broadcasts audio entertainment to fixed and mobile receivers within the continental United States and potentially in various other parts of the world. Within an SDARS system, satellite-based transmissions provide the primary means of communication. However, certain urban settings may require a terrestrial transmission link to provide continuity of service, when satellite coverage is compromised due to the presence of obstructions. Reception of signals in the presence of objects, such as buildings, bridges, automobiles, etc., can distort a received signal even when the objects are not in the line-of-sight between a transmitter and a receiver. That is, signal rays reflecting off of various objects can sum constructively or destructively to produce interference patterns in the spectrum of a received signal. These distortion patterns, also known as multipath interference, can cause distortion in a demodulated signal.
In the case of digital communication systems, multipath interference may cause errors in a received data stream. While error correction coding can reduce the impact of multipath interference, critical portions of the received signal are often less robust and their preservation is required for successful recovery of the received signal. For example, a synchronization signal may require detection to allow data stream recovery. However, when multipath fading occurs and the synchronization signal is obscured, an earth-based receiver may not be able to synchronize with a satellite and/or a terrestrial ground station and, as such, the earth-based receiver cannot acquire a desired received signal.
In an effort to reduce the effect of multipath interference, at least some earth-based receivers have incorporated spatial diversity. That is, some earth-based receivers have incorporated separate satellite and terrestrial antennas, which optimize the reception of both the satellite and terrestrial components of the broadcast service. Due to the physical separation and difference in the antenna patterns and phase centers of the satellite and terrestrial antennas, spatially diverse versions of a desired received signal may be acquired. As such, if a desired received signal suffers impairment and its synchronization signal is unrecoverable, a different version of the signal from which the synchronization signal can be recovered may be obtained by use of a switching element that is internal to a given receiver. For example, the receiver may switch from the terrestrial antenna to the satellite antenna to receive a different version of the terrestrial signal, which is sufficiently unimpaired to allow signal recovery.
One SDARS system is expected to provide approximately one-hundred channels of music, news, sports, ethnic, children's and talk entertainment on a subscription-based service and may include other services, such as email and data delivery. In this system, the program material is transmitted from a ground station to two satellites that orbit over the continental United States in a geo-stationary orbit. This system also includes a number of terrestrial repeaters in large cities, where multipath interference is prevalent.
In various SDARS systems, a synchronization signal, contained within a received signal, is typically utilized by an earth-based receiver to determine the starting point for digital data framing. In systems that have a terrestrial bandwidth that includes multiple ensembles, each ensemble may include a narrowband synchronization signal that is susceptible to loss due to selective fading at the synchronism frequency. Due to the design of a typical SDARS earth-based receiver, once the synchronization signal is acquired, the receiver can sustain synchronization outages due to the fact that the receiver is capable of sustaining synchronization without the synchronization signal.
Thus, when a SDARS earth-based receiver initially receives a synchronization signal it attempts synchronization acquisition or lock. However, if an earth-based receiver cannot lock onto a synchronization signal, then it cannot receive such an SDARS broadcast. It should be appreciated that a mobile earth-based receiver may periodically experience nulls in the synchronization signal, due to the nature of multipath interference. These nulls, in general, do not interfere with the ability of the receiver to receive broadcast programming. After initial synchronism lock, frequent availability of the synchronism signal is largely unnecessary. However, should the mobile earth-based receiver stop in a null location or if a fixed earth-based receiver is located in a null location, then the earth-based receiver may not be able to initially acquire the synchronization signal from a start-up condition and, therefore, the receiver cannot obtain and provide such SDARS programmed content to a listener.
What is needed is an earth-based receiver that is capable of receiving programmed content even when the earth-based receiver is located such that its antenna experiences a null at a given frequency, which corresponds to the frequency of a synchronism signal.

System and method for optimizing terrestrial signal acquisition in a communication system


Long chain N-alkyl amino and imino compounds, oxa-substituted derivatives thereof, and pharmaceutical compositions including such compounds are described. The long chain N-alkyl group is a C8-C16 alkyl group. The long chain N-alkyl compounds and oxa-substituted derivatives thereof can be used in the treatment of viral infections, in particular hepatitis B virus or hepatitis C virus, in a cell or an individual. For example, the long chain N-alkyl compounds or oxa-substituted derivatives thereof can be derived from piperidines, pyrrolidines, phenylamines, pyridines, pyrroles, or amino acids.

HCV is an RNA virus belonging to the Flaviviridae family. Individual isolates consist of closely related, yet heterologous populations of viral genomes. This genetic diversity enables the virus to escape the host's immune system, leading to a high rate of chronic infection. The flavivirus group to which HCV belongs is known to include the causative agents of numerous human diseases transmitted by arthropod vectors. Human diseases caused by flaviviruses include various hemorrhagic fevers, hepatitis, and encephalitis. Viruses known to cause these diseases in humans have been identified and include, for example, yellow fever virus, dengue viruses 1-4, Japanese encephalitis virus, Murray Valley encephalitis virus, Rocio virus, West Nile fever virus, St. Louis encephalitis virus, tick-borne encephalitis virus, Louping ill virus, Powassan virus, Omsk hemorrhagic fever virus, and Kyasanur forest disease virus. A critical need therefore also exists for treating animals, as well as humans, infected with at least one virus, such as a flavivirus and/or pestivirus.
More than 40 million people worldwide are chronically infected with the hepatitis C virus (HCV), and this represents one of the most serious threats to the public health of developed nations (Hoofnagle et al., New Engl. J. Med. 336:347-356, 1997). Hepatitis C infection is the cause of more than 10,000 deaths annually in the United States (Washington Post, Nov. 11, 1997, at A2), a number that is expected to triple in the next twenty years in the absence of effective intervention. Chronic HCV also increases the risk of liver cancer. There are more than 40 million people worldwide who are chronically infected with HCV, representing one of the most serious threats to the public health of developed nations (Hoofnagle et al., ibid.). Persistent infection develops in as many as 85% of HCV patients and in at least 20% of these patients the chronic infection leads to cirrhosis within twenty years of onset of infection. With an estimated 3.9 million North Americans chronically infected, complications from hepatitis C infection are now the leading reasons for liver transplantation in the United States.
Another causative agent of acute and chronic liver disease including liver fibrosis, cirrhosis, inflammatory liver disease, and hepatic cancer is hepatitis B virus (HBV) (Joklik, Virology, 3rd Ed., Appleton & Lange, Norwalk, Conn., 1988). Although effective vaccines are available, there are still more than 300 million people worldwide, i.e., 5% of the world's population, chronically infected with the virus (Locamini et al., Antiviral Chemistry & Chemotherapy 7:53-64, 1996). Such vaccines have no therapeutic value for those already infected with the virus. In Europe and North America, between 0.1% to 1% of the population is infected. Estimates are that 15% to 20% of individuals who acquire the infection develop cirrhosis or another chronic disability from HBV infection. Once liver cirrhosis is established, morbidity and mortality are substantial, with about a 5-year patient survival period (Blume et al., Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews 17:321-331, 1995). It is therefore necessary and of high priority to find improved and effective anti-HBV anti-hepatitis therapies (Locamini et al., ibid).
Therapeutic interventions which are effective for treatment of HCV infection are limited in number and effectiveness. Standard treatment for HCV infection includes administration of interferon-alpha. However, interferon-alpha is of limited use in about 20% of the HCV-infected population (Hoofnagle et al., ibid) and treatment with this compound results in long-term improvement in only 5% of patients. Furthermore, the complications and limitations of interferon-alpha seriously limit the applicability of the treatment. An experimental treatment comprising administration of interferon-alpha and ribavirin (1-β-D-ribofuranosyl-1H-1,2,4-triazole-3-carboxamide) resulted in long-term improvement in only half of the patients suffering a relapse of HCV infection (Washington Post, Nov. 11, 1997, at A2). Clearly, the disappointing results with interferon must prompt a search for more effective and less toxic therapeutics. Thus, a critical need remains for a therapeutic intervention that effectively treats HCV infection or supplements those otherwise available.
In addition to those people chronically infected with HCV, there are more than 350 million people chronically infected with hepatitis B virus (HBV). More than 150 million of these people are likely to die from liver disease in the absence of intervention. As many as 20 million HBV carriers reside in developed nations, as do most HCV carriers. A large number of individuals who are infected with HCV are also infected with HBV. The therapy for combined HBV/HCV infection is particularly challenging because the HBV and HCV viruses differ from one another in therapeutically significant ways. HBV is a hepadnavirus, while HCV is a pestivirus. HBV is a DNA-containing virus, the genome of which is replicated in the nucleus of the infected cell using a combination of a DNA-dependent RNA polymerase and an RNA-dependent DNA polymerase (i.e., a reverse transcriptase). HCV is an RNA-containing virus, the genome of which is replicated in the cytoplasm of the infected cell using one or more types of RNA-dependent RNA polymerases. Despite the frequent concurrence of HBV infection and HCV infection, a number of compounds known to be effective for treating HBV infection are not effective against HCV. For example, lamivudine (the nucleoside analog 3TC) is useful for treating HBV infection, but is not useful for treating HCV infection. The difference in the susceptibility of HBV and HCV to antiviral agents no doubt relates to their genetically based replicative differences. There remains a particularly critical need for a therapeutic intervention that effectively treats both HBV and HCV infection.
Other hepatitis viruses significant as agents of human disease include hepatitis A, hepatitis Delta, hepatitis E, hepatitis F, and hepatitis G (Coates et al., Exp. Opin. Ther. Patents 5:747-756, 1995). In addition, there are animal hepatitis viruses that are species specific. These include, for example, those infecting ducks, woodchucks, and mice. The availability of animal models allows the preclinical testing of antiviral compounds for each class of virus. Furthermore, animal viruses can cause significant losses to the livestock industry (Sullivan et al., Virus Res. 38:231-239, 1995). Such animal viruses include pestiviruses and flaviviruses such as bovine viral diarrhea virus (BVDV), classical swine fever virus, border disease virus, and hog cholera virus.

Long chain N-alkyl compounds and oxa-derivatives thereof

The Chancellor, Masters and Scholars of the University of Oxford


A developing cartridge includes: a casing, a developing roller, a coupling, a coupling gear, a detection gear, an agitator, a first gear cover, a second gear cover, and a lock rib. The casing accommodates developing agent. The developing roller is rotatable about a first axis. The coupling and the coupling gear are rotatable about a second axis. The detection gear is rotatable about a third axis. The agitator agitates developing agent in the casing and performs power transmission from the coupling gear to the detection gear. The first gear cover covers at least the coupling gear. The second gear cover covers at least a portion of the detection gear. The lock rib is positioned at the other end of the casing. The lock rib is configured to be locked to a portion of a drum cartridge in a state where the developing cartridge is attached to the drum cartridge.

An electro-photographic type image forming apparatus such as a laser printer and an LED printer is known in the art. The image forming apparatus uses a developing cartridge.
Prior art discloses a conventional developing cartridge configured to be attached to a drum cartridge. The drum cartridge includes a lock lever. The developing cartridge includes a coupling and a lock rib configured to be engaged with the lock lever in a case where the developing cartridge is attached to the drum cartridge. With this configuration, the developing cartridge is locked relative to the drum cartridge at its attached position. A rotational driving force is applied to the coupling.

Developing cartridge including lock rib positioned at end surface of casing