Methods for increasing C18 to C20 elongation conversion efficiency and/or Δ4 desaturation conversion efficiency in long-chain polyunsaturated fatty acid [“LC-PUFA”]-producing recombinant oleaginous microbial host cells are provided herein, based on over-expression of acyl-CoA:lysophospholipid acyltransferases [“LPLATs”] (e.g., Ale1, LPAAT, LPCAT). Production host cells and oils produced by the methods of the invention are also claimed.

Glycerophospholipids, the main component of biological membranes, contain a glycerol core with fatty acids attached as R groups at the sn-1 position and sn-2 position, and a polar head group joined at the sn-3 position via a phosphodiester bond. The specific polar head group (e.g., phosphatidic acid, chloline, ethanolamine, glycerol, inositol, serine, cardiolipin) determines the name given to a particular glycerophospholipid, thus resulting in phosphatidylcholines ["PC"], phosphatidylethanolamines ["PE"], phosphatidylglycerols ["PG"], phosphatidylinositols ["PI"], phosphatidylserines ["PS"] and cardiolipins ["CL"]. Glycerophospholipids possess tremendous diversity, not only resulting from variable phosphoryl head groups, but also as a result of differing chain lengths and degrees of saturation of their fatty acids. Generally, saturated and monounsaturated fatty acids are esterified at the sn-1 position, while polyunsaturated fatty acids are esterified at the sn-2 position.
Glycerophospholipid biosynthesis is complex. Table 1 below summarizes the steps in the de novo pathway, originally described by Kennedy and Weiss (J. Biol. Chem., 222:193-214 (1956)):
TABLE 1General Reactions Of de Novo Glycerophospholipid Biosynthesissn-Glycerol-3-Phosphate →Glycerol-3-phosphate acyltransferase (GPAT) [E.C.Lysophosphatidic Acid126.96.36.199] esterifies 1st acyl-CoA to sn-1 position of(1-acyl-sn-glycerol 3-sn-glycerol 3-phosphatephosphate or "LPA")LPA → Phosphatidic AcidLysophosphatidic acid acyltransferase (LPAAT) [E.C.(1,2-diacylglycerol22.214.171.124] esterifies 2nd acyl-CoA to sn-2 position of LPAphosphate or "PA")PA → 1,2-DiacylglycerolPhosphatidic acid phosphatase [E.C.184.108.40.206]("DAG")removes a phosphate from PA; DAG canOrsubsequently be converted to PC, PE or TAG (TAGPA → Cytidine Diphosphatesynthesis requires either a diacylglycerolDiacylglycerolacyltransferase (DGAT) [E.C. 22.214.171.124] or a("CDP-DG")phospholipid: diacylglycerol acyltransferase (PDAT)[E.C.22.214.171.124])CDP-diacylglycerol synthase [EC 188.8.131.52] causescondensation of PA and cytidine triphosphate, withelimination of pyrophosphate; CDP-DG cansubsequently be converted to PI, PS, PG or CL
Following their de novo synthesis, glycerophospholipids can undergo rapid turnover of the fatty acyl composition at the sn-2 position. This "remodeling", or "acyl editing", is important for membrane structure and function, biological response to stress conditions, and manipulation of fatty acid composition and quantity in biotechnological applications. Specifically, the remodeling has been attributed to deacylation of the glycerophospholipid and subsequent reacylation of the resulting lysophospholipid.
In the Lands' cycle (Lands, W. E., J. Biol. Chem., 231:883-888 (1958)), remodeling occurs through the concerted action of: 1) a phospholipase, such as phospholipase A2, that releases fatty acids from the sn-2 position of phosphatidylcholine; and, 2) acyl-CoA:lysophospholipid acyltransferases ["LPLATs"], such as lysophosphatidylcholine acyltransferase ["LPCAT"] that reacylates the lysophosphatidylcholine ["LPC"] at the sn-2 position. Other glycerophospholipids can also be involved in the remodeling with their respective lysophospholipid acyltransferase activity, including LPLAT enzymes having lysophosphatidylethanolamine acyltransferase ["LPEAT"] activity, lysophosphatidylserine acyltransferase ["LPLAT"] activity, lysophosphatidylglycerol acyltransferase ["LPGAT"] activity and lysophosphatidylinositol acyltransferase ["LPIAT"] activity. In all cases, LPLATs are responsible for removing acyl-CoA fatty acids from the cellular acyl-CoA pool and acylating various lysophospholipid substrates at the sn-2 position in the phospholipid pool. Finally, LPLATs also include LPAAT enzymes that are involved in the de novo biosynthesis of PA from LPA. LPCAT activity is associated with two structurally distinct protein families, wherein one belongs to the LPAAT family of proteins and the other belongs to the membrane bound O-acyltransferase ["MBOAT"] family of proteins.
In other cases, this sn-2 position remodeling has been attributed to the forward and reverse reactions of enzymes having LPCAT activity (Stymne S. and A. K. Stobart, Biochem J., 223(2):305-314 (1984)).
Several recent reviews by Shindou et al. provide an overview of glycerophospholipid biosynthesis and the role of LPLATs (J. Biol. Chem., 284(1):1-5 (2009); J. Lipid Res., 50:S46-S51 (2009)). Numerous LPLATs have been reported in public and patent literature, based on a variety of conserved motifs.
The effect of LPLATs on polyunsaturated fatty acid ["PUFA"] production has also been contemplated, since fatty acid biosynthesis requires rapid exchange of acyl groups between the acyl-CoA pool and the phospholipid pool. Specifically, desaturations occur mainly at the sn-2 position of phospholipids, while elongation occurs in the acyl-CoA pool. For example, Intl. App. Pub. No. WO 2004/076617 describes the isolation of an LPCAT from Caenorhabditis elegans (clone T06E8.1) and reports increase in the efficiency of Δ6 desaturation and Δ6 elongation, as well as an increase in biosynthesis of the long-chain PUFAs eicosadienoic acid ["EDA"; 20:2] and eicosatetraenoic acid ["ETA"; 20:4], respectively, when the LPCAT was expressed in an engineered strain of Saccharomyces cerevisiae that was fed exogenous 18:2 or α-linolenic ["ALA"; 18:3] fatty acids, respectively.
Furthermore, Example 16 of Intl. App. Pub. No. WO 2004/087902 describes the isolation of Mortierella alpina LPAAT-like proteins (encoded by the proteins of SEQ ID NO:93 and SEQ ID NO:95, having 417 amino acids in length or 389 amino acids in length, respectively) that are identical except for an N-terminal extension of 28 amino acid residues in SEQ ID NO:93. Intl. App. Pub. No. WO 2004/087902 also reports expression of one of these proteins using similar methods to those of Intl. App. Pub. No. WO 2004/076617, which results in similar improvements in EDA and ETA biosynthesis.
Both Intl. App. Publications No. WO 2004/076617 and No. WO 2004/087902 teach that the improvements in EDA and ETA biosynthesis are due to reversible LPCAT activity in some LPAAT-like proteins, although not all LPAAT-like proteins have LPCAT activity. They do not teach that LPCAT expression would result in the improvements in strains that do not require exogenous feeding of fatty acid substrates or in microbial species other than Saccharomyces cerevisiae. They also do not teach that LPCAT expression in engineered microbes results in increased production of high LC-PUFAs other than EDA and ETA, such as ARA, EPA and DHA, or that LPCAT expression can result in improvement in alternate desaturation reactions, other than Δ6 desaturation. Neither reference teaches the effect of the LPCAT or LPAAT-like proteins on either Δ6 elongation without exogenous feeding of fatty acids or on Δ4 desaturation.
Numerous other references generally describe benefits of co-expressing LPLATs with PUFA biosynthetic genes, to increase the amount of a desired fatty acid in the oil of a transgenic organism, increase total oil content or selectively increase the content of desired fatty acids (e.g., Intl. App. Publications No. WO 2004/087902, No. WO 2006/069936, No. WO 2006/052870, No. WO 2009/001315, No. WO 2009/014140).
Despite the work describe above, to date no one has studied the effect of LPAATs and LPCATs in an oleaginous organism engineered for high-level production of LC-PUFAs other than EDA and ETA, such as eicosapentaenoic acid ["EPA"; cis-5,8,11,14,17-eicosapentaenoic acid] and/or docosahexaenoic acid ["DHA"; cis-4,7,10,13,16,19-docosahexaenoic acid] and for improved C18 to C20 elongation conversion efficiency, and/or improved Δ4 desaturation conversion efficiency without exogenously feeding fatty acids.

Long chain omega-3 and omega-6 polyunsaturated fatty acid biosynthesis by expression of acyl-CoA lysophospholipid acyltransferases


A system for locating any mobile body or a plurality thereof within a predetermined environment, wherein each mobile body carries a transmitter (10 to 18), each transmitter producing a unique identifying signal, and a plurality of receivers (20 to 32) located in a corresponding plurality of defined regions in the environment, each receiver incorporating a FIFO buffer memory (28) into which carrier identifying data is inserted and a controller for interrogating the receiver means in turn to link the identification data with location data.

Paging systems are known whereby a centrally located operator can call up a person by name over a tannoy system.
Radio paging systems are also known whereby in a similar manner, but with greater secrecy, each one of a group of people carrying individual radio receivers can be called up using a radio transmitter to transmit an appropriate call up signal to cause the appropriate one of the radio receivers to emit a signal (either audible or visual or both) to thereby alert the carrier to make contact with the central operator.
Both systems rely on a telephone system within the environment within which the called up people are located to enable the paged person to make contact with the central operator.
Neither system however enables the operator to determine in advance whether any particular carrier is actually within the environment and where, in the environment, the carrier is actually located at any particular time. In each case the operator only becomes aware of whether the carrier is within the environment let alone where the carrier is located, after the carrier has made contact with the operator by establishing a telephone link using a locally situated telephone receiver.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,601,064 to Shipley describes a communication system for locating or tracking persons or objects to automatically establish two-way conversation with the person located via an associated intercom or telephone system. The locating system requires each person or object to be located, to carry an infra-red pulse transmitter which operates continuously automatically and repetitively and generates a unique pulse train so that each carrier can be identified by decoding its pulse train. In different regions are located infra-red receiver units which are set to continuously receive transmitter pulse signals. Each receiver includes a memory capable of storing the identifying data (derived from a received pulse transmitter) of one carrier, and to avoid confusion the identifying data stored in the receiver is erased either as a result of the receiver being polled or by the reception of a new pulse train, whether from the same or a different transmitter.
Such a system is economically as regards memory capacity for each receiver but clearly data can be lost if the polling rate is not high enough.
In order to permit a high polling rate Shipley proposes a 20 wire multiple cable to enable a parallel data bus system to be used which enables a very high polling rate, so that each receiver should be interrogated at least as frequently as randomly transmitted pulse transmissions will be received from carriers in the region.
In order to reduce the need for such high polling rates, Shipley proposes that if lower polling rates are used, certain identifying pulse train data signals may be lost due to being replaced by a later transmitted pulse train from another transmitter. On a statistical basis, if one of the identifying data signals is not seen during the end of one interval by a first polling, statistically it may be resident in the receiver memory during a subsequent polling and Shipley therefore proposes to accumulate values over a number of polls in order to identify a number of transmitters in a given region, but only after a number of pollings have occurred. This would certainly enable a number of different transmitter units within one region to be separately seen by the receiver unit associate therewith and recorded by the central processor but not as a result of a single polling, only after a number of pollings have occurred.
In the experience of the inventors of the present invention, however, systems such as Shipley are high in cost in view of the vast amount of copper cable which is required and such systems are also unreliable due to the large number of interconnections and the possibility of high resistance or open circuit connections occurring and the resulting loss of data. In addition, the electrical capacitance of such cabling is such that if the length of multiway cable is excessive, the bandwidth limitation can easily render the system incapable of operating at the polling rates required by the Shipley system so that essentially such a system can only be considered for a relatively small building.
The invention of the present application has no such problems, and obviates the inherent design disadvantages incorporated in the Shipley system, that is, the need for a parallel data bus, high polling rates and multiple polling.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system which does not require a parallel data bus nor high polling rates nor multiple pollings by which a central controller (which may be a person or programmed computer), can rapidly determine whether a particular carrier is located within a given environment and if so where the carrier is located within the environment, to thereby enable the controller to make contact with the carrier by using a standard internal telephone system to cause a telephone near to where the carrier is locate to ring, and route an incoming telephone call directly to a telephone convenient to where the carrier is actually located at the time the call is received.


Incomplete state information for nodes of a datacenter is completed utilizing historical state information. A context graph is received having a plurality of nodes that correspond to components of the datacenter, each node including properties that correspond to the represented component. It is determined that at least one of the properties for a node is incomplete. A context hash is derived from the context graph and compared to a plurality of subgraph hashes. Based upon the comparison, one or more subgraphs are identified that are similar to the context hash. Where a single similar subgraph is identified, the property information for the single subgraph is imputed to the context graph to complete the incomplete information. Where more than one similar subgraph is identified, the property information for the identified similar subgraphs is aggregated and the aggregated property information is imputed to the context graph to complete the incomplete information.

Datacenters are large clusters of components (e.g., hardware and/or software resources) that are connected to perform operations using massive amounts of data. Keeping these components working efficiently is a complex task as many incidents may occur during the execution of the processes. In order to detect anomalies, problems, and/or failures, or to otherwise assess the health of the system, tools are utilized that extract and gather metrics from the datacenter components. Metrics may include, by way of example only, the temperature of datacenter components, workload, network usage, processor capacity, and the like. The set of metrics at a given timestamp forms the state of the datacenter at the point in time represented by the timestamp.
Keeping datacenter state information completed and fully updated is a challenging task for a number of reasons. For instance, reporting tools often include differing reporting rates among them and/or among different metrics. Further, reporting frequency may not be high enough to accurately assess the datacenter and yet maintaining a high reporting frequency may negatively impact performance of the datacenter. The growing usage of large systems and infrastructures increases the importance of keeping accurate measures in order to find anomalies which may affect the outcome of the tasks executed or to avoid damage to the system itself.

State information completion using context graphs


A steam blending control is provided for two or more boilers in an electric power plant. To blend an oncoming boiler with an on-line boiler, the oncoming boiler is fired to a pressure ramp setpoint and outlet steam is isolated from the plant turbine and directed through position controlled bypass valve means. When steam temperature and pressure conditions are matched, the oncoming boiler isolation valve is opened and the bypass flow then existing is stored in a memory. The oncoming boiler bypass flow is cut back with total oncoming boiler steam flow controlled to the memorized flow valve as a setpoint. Flow from the on-line boiler is cut back under load control as the oncoming boiler flow to the plant turbine is increased. Deblending is implemented in a similar manner.

The present invention relates to electric power plants and more particularly to systems for controlling the blending of steam outputs from multiple steam generators in such plants.
In the operation of fossil fired power plants, plant availability can be significantly enhanced through the provision of one or more backup steam generators or boilers. For example, a plant may be provided in its original design or in a retrofit design with two boilers for one turbine or three boilers for two turbines. In addition to functioning as a backup replacement, a backup boiler may be operated with the primary boiler to supplement the generating capacity of the plant.
One of the primary causes of lengthy boiler shutdowns is the need to repair water leaks resulting from water tube corrosion. With increasing installation of coal fired plants as opposed to gas or oil fired plants, water corrosion becomes more problematical because of sulfuric acid, slagging and other corrosive effects of burning coal. Therefore, the need for steam blending plant designs and steam blending controls for such plants increases with increased installation of coal fired plants.
Power plants having provision for steam mixing have been disclosed previously. For example, a steam mixing system is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,060,990 issued to P. V. Guido, R. L. Criswell and A. J. Zipay on Dec. 6, 1977 and assigned to Foster Wheeler Energy Corporation one of the coassignees of the present application. In that steam mixing system, the steam outflows from two boilers are mixed in a header and then directed to a high pressure turbine, but no disclosure is provided on how the steam flows are blended during startup or shutdown of one boiler while the other boiler is fully operational.
The provision of system control for the blending of steam presents special problems especially during the startup of an off-line boiler and the transfer of steam flow demand to it. In particular, it is desirable that steam blending be achieved with stable plant operation, i.e. without upsets to steam pressure and temperature.

Multiple boiler steam blending control system for an electric power plant


A long life high current density cathode is made from a mixture of tungsten nd iridium powders by processing the mixture of powders with an activator into a porous billet, and then impregnating the billet with a quaternary compound including barium, oxygen, a metal selected from the group consisting of osmium, iridium, rhodium, and rhenium, and a metal selected from the group consisting of strontium, calcium, scandium and titanium, by firing the billet in a dry hydrogen furnace at a temperature at which the impregnant melts.

Quaternary compounds or compounds including four elements such as Ba.sub.2 SrWO.sub.6 and Ba.sub.2 CaAl.sub.2 O.sub.6 have been used heretofore as impregnants in the manufacture of high current density cathodes. One of the difficulties with these compounds as cathode impregnants has been their lack of superior emissive characteristics. This has been largely due to the lack of certain emission improving elements such as osmium, iridium and rhenium within the impregnant.

Method of making a long life high current density cathode from tungsten and iridium powders using a quaternary compound as the impregnant

The United States of America as represented by the Secretary of the Army


Cable plug connectors and cable bushings with freely selectable cable outlet directions comprising a housing which includes a cable outlet area and/or a reinforced opening area and a contact area wherein the cable outlet area is provided with a ball joint through which a cable which is connected with the contact area can be guided.

In many fields of industrial electronics, in particular avionics, it is necessary to use high-frequency proof cable plug connectors or cable bushings whose cable outlet directions are adapted to special design and shape requirements of the particular environment where the connector is used, such as in an aircraft fuselage. For this purpose, plug backshells have been developed with heat-shrinkable moldings which are supplied in an elastic form and which are slipped over pre-assembled plugs. When exposed to heat, the intended end shape is imparted to the plugs. One end encloses the rear part of the plug, the other end firmly shrinks onto the cable. In its warm and elastic state the cable outlet can be bent within a narrow angle around the pre-determined end shape into a different angle which it keeps after cooling off. The shortcoming of such backshells consisting of heat-shrinkable plastic material is, however, that they are commercially available in certain designs only, mainly with angles of 90.degree. and 180.degree. and that the cable outlet angle varies within a large tolerance range after heat shrinking. It is very expensive to produce a wide variety of different cable outlet angles using these backshells. Furthermore, it is not possible to subsequently change the angle such as at the installation site of the plug connector.
Furthermore, there are conventional housings for cable plug connectors which are produced by metal die casting or plastic injection molding. Their cable outlet openings are defined by the housing shape. For different applications, again, a cost-intensive wide variety of different shapes has to be provided and it is not possible to change the angle.
The published application DE 3135781 discloses a cable plus connector with two selectable cable outlet directions and a housing which is provided with a cable inlet area and a contact area. The housing consists of two parts which can be separated and joined, preferably manually, in the cable inlet area. The separable surfaces extend diagonally to the longitudinal axis of the plug connector. These plug connectors facilitate a cost-saving mass production and provide for an easy method of producing the desired cable outlet opening at the site of installation. However, for many applications in industrial electronics, they are not suitable because only two cable outlet directions (0.degree. and 90.degree.) can be set.
There is a need for a cable plug connector and a cable bushing with a freely adjustable cable outlet opening whose cable outlet angle can be adjusted within a given tolerance freely and very accurately, which excel by their high-frequency proofness and which can be easily adjusted at the site of installation.


A cutting tool for severing the end of a copper tube or the like, the tool having a cylindrical post for insertion into the tube end, and a pivotal beam having a cutter wheel mounted at one end. A rotatable knob is mechanically linked to the pivotal beam to cause it to pivot toward and away from the cylindrical post. The entire tool may be rotated about the axis of the tube while the cutter wheel is in contact with the tube to cut a circumferential groove into the tube and thereby to sever the tube.

This invention relates to a device for cutting tubes. More particularly, the invention relates to a hand-held tool for cutting a smooth end on a copper tubing material or the like. The invention finds particular utility in trimming the end of copper tubing, as for example, by removing a previous flare, in work site locations which have tight space constraints.
Copper tubing is widely used in industry for conveying liquids and gases of all types and is convenient for use in construction and other environments because it is easily bendable and may be formed to fit into whatever space may be available. Furthermore, a tight, sealed connection is readily made between two sections of copper tubing, or copper and a brass fitting, either by conventional solder fittings or by mechanical sealing arrangements. Copper tubing can be easily attached to valves and other forms of couplers by forming a flare at the end of a section of copper tubing and clamping the flared end against a complementary-shaped fitting via a flare nut. Flares can be readily formed by flaring tools, and copper tubing can be easily cut to size or trimmed by conventional tube cutters.
One disadvantage with conventional tube cutters is that they do require considerable room for operating. For example, a conventional tube cutter comprises a clamping device which may be threadably adjusted by means of a projecting handle so that it can be fitted over the tubing and gradually tightened against the tubing while turning the cutter about the tubing. A blade in the clamping device bears against the tubing and gradually cuts through the tubing as the tool is rotated about the tubing axis. The cut is inherently made at some distance from the flare.
The present invention provides a tube cutter of this general type but which requires very little space for operation. The invention is compact in form and size and is conveniently usable in nearly all workplace locations.


A refrigerant handling system includes a cabinet having two service ports and two sample ports and housing recycling/recharging apparatus coupled to the service ports and a refrigerant identifier coupled to one of the sample ports and coupled through solenoid-actuated valves to the recharging/recycling apparatus. Two coupling assemblies are provided for coupling the cabinet to the high-pressure and low-pressure sides, respectively, of an automotive air conditioner, each coupling assembly including a service hose with end couplers for respectively coupling to the air conditioner and one of the service ports and connected through solenoid-actuated valves disposed within a housing closely adjacent to the air conditioner coupler. Each coupling assembly also has a sample hose communicating with the service hose within the housing between the air conditioner coupler and the valves and having a distal end with a coupler for connection to one of the sample ports, and electrical conductors for control of the valves.

The invention relates to refrigerant handling systems for recycling refrigerant from and recharging refrigerant to a refrigeration unit. The invention has particular application to systems of the type designed for servicing automotive air conditioners and which include a refrigerant identifier.
Refrigerant handling systems for servicing automotive air conditioners are well known. Such systems typically can be operated to recover or remove refrigerant from an air conditioner to permit servicing of the air conditioner, to recycle the recovered refrigerant by removing various contaminants therefrom, and then to recharge the refrigerant to the air conditioner after servicing is completed. Such systems are typically connected to an automotive air conditioner by two hoses, respectively connected to the high-pressure and low-pressure sides of the air conditioner compressor. These hoses have a predetermined fixed length sufficient to permit them to reach the air conditioner when the refrigerant rehandling unit is positioned alongside the vehicle.
Several different types of refrigerants are commonly used in automotive air conditioners. It is important that these refrigerants not be contaminated by contact with one another or with other types of contaminants. Thus, identifiers are used to identify the type of refrigerant in the air conditioner and its purity level. A given refrigerant handling system is typically used with only one type of refrigerant, and the identifier determines whether the refrigerant being recovered from the vehicle is of the proper type and purity.
However, in such prior systems, the identifier is coupled in the recovery path and, in the event that the identified refrigerant is of the wrong type or is contaminated, the plumbing of the refrigerant handling system has already been contaminated. In this event, such prior systems would have to be shut down, disconnected from the vehicle and then connected to a separate scavenging unit to clear the system by removing the contamination.
Also, certain automotive manufacturer service specifications specify the precise amount of refrigerant to be recharged to the air conditioner after it is serviced, which amount must be accurate within a tolerance level, such as one ounce. The amount recharged is determined by comparing the weights of the refrigerant tank before and after recharge. But this only determines the amount which has left the recovery tank, and that amount will differ from the amount which enters the air conditioner by the amount left in the intervening conduits and hoses. Thus, the refrigerant handling system recharge protocol must compensate for this difference, and must also compensate for ambient conditions, such as temperature and pressure, which can affect the volume of the refrigerant. This compensation requires the use of very complicated algorithms in the system processor during the calibration procedure. This effectively precludes varying the length of the service hoses between the refrigerant handling system and the air conditioner, since every time the hose length is changed the system would have to be recalibrated and/or the software algorithm would have to be changed.


The present disclosure relates to a process for synthesis of barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers, having equivalent shielding capacity as lead. The present disclosure also relates to a radiation shielding articles and cosmeceuticals.

Modern diagnostic radiology assures faster, more precise diagnosis and enables monitoring of a large proportion of diseases by using of ionising radiations such as X-rays, gamma rays, beta rays and electrons. The inherent properties of these ionising radiations provide many diagnostic benefits but also prone to cause the potential health problems. It is well established that the effects of these radiation are cumulative and lead to increased incidence of cancers, cell deaths and genetic damages. Therefore, protection against ionising radiation has achieved central importance to avoid health related problems in patients and in radiation laboratory technicians.
In order to ensure minimal X-ray radiation penetration, individuals who come in contact with X-rays are required to wear lead-lined protection wear, such as aprons, gloves, goggles, and thyroid protection. Three different categories of wearable protection include total (100%) lead-lined clothing, lead composite clothing, and non-lead clothing. While the total lead lined clothing has the highest protection against high and scattered low energy radiation, it is inflexible, extremely heavy (15.1 lbs/sq yard) and can cause severe neck and back problems for individuals who wear them for many hours. Furthermore, lead has been recognized as major environmental pollutant, including the lead used for radiation shielding in radiotherapy.
Therefore, in accordance with the present disclosure there is envisaged a nontoxic material having equivalent radiation shielding capability as lead.
Objects:
Some of the objects of the present disclosure, which at least one embodiment herein satisfies, are as follows:
It is an object of the present disclosure to ameliorate one or more problems of the prior art or to at least provide a useful alternative.
It is another of the present disclosure to provide bimetallic nanofibers which can be used as a substitute for lead in X-ray shielding application.
It is yet another object of the present disclosure to provide a process for synthesis of bimetallic nanofibers.
It is still another object of the present disclosure to provide an X-ray shielding article.
It is a further object of the present disclosure to provide an X-ray shielding composition having medicinal and/or cosmetic applications.
In accordance with one aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a process for synthesis of barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers, said process comprising the following steps;                a. dissolving barium nitrate, bismuth nitrate pentahydrate and thiourea in a solvent system to obtain a dispersion containing complex of barium bismuth sulfide; and        b. mixing at least one surfactant in the dispersion under continuous agitation to obtain a homogeneous mixture;        c. heating the homogeneous mixture at a temperature ranging between 120° C. and 180° C. in an apparatus for 24 hours followed by cooling at a temperature ranging between 20° C. and 30° C. to obtain a precipitate; and        d. washing the precipitate by employing at least one solvent selected from the group consisting of water, ethanol, methanol, isopropanol and acetone to obtain nanofibers of barium bismuth sulfide.
Typically, the solvent system is a combination of ethylene glycol and water at a proportion ranging between 1:1 and 3:1.
Typically, the surfactant is at least one selected from the group consisting of cetyl trimethylammonium bromide, polyvinyl alcohol and polyethylene glycol p-(1,1,3,3-tetramethylbutyl)-phenyl ether.
Typically, the average diameter of the nanofibers is between 20 nm and 50 nm.
Typically, the average length of the nanofibers is between of 1 μm and 3 μm.
Typically, Barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers are characterized by (a) diameter of 20 nm to 50 nm and (b) the length of 1 μm to 3 μm and the X-Ray diffraction pattern having 2θ values at 28.58, 24.95, 46.52, 31.82, 52.7, 45.53, 32.87, 39.89 and 35.48.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a coating composition comprising barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers in an amount ranging between 10% and 60%, preferably between 20% and 40% of the total mass of said composition, at least one thinner and at least one color guard.
Typically, the thinner is at least one selected, from the group consisting of ethyl methyl ketone, amyl acetate and acetone in an amount ranging 10% and 90%, preferably between 20% and 80% of the total mass of said composition.
Typically, the color guard is at least one selected from the group consisting of epoxy, nitrocellulose and ethyl cellulose in an amount ranging between 5% and 30%, preferably between 8% and 12%.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a process for preparation of a coating composition comprising barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers; said process comprising the following steps:                a. milling barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers to obtain a mass; and        b. adding at least one color guard and at least one thinner into the mass followed by mixing to obtain a coating composition.
Typically, milling is carried out for a time period ranging between 12 hours and 48 hours, preferably between 20 hours and 25 hours.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided a process for the preparation of an X-ray shielding article; said process comprising the following steps:                a. contacting said article with coating composition comprising barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers, at least one thinner and at least one, color guard to obtain a coated article; and        b. annealing the coated article by hot air at a temperature ranging between 50° C. and 60° C. for a time period ranging between 0.5 and 2 min. to obtain X-ray shielding article.
Typically, the amount of barium bismuth sulphide nanaofibers is in the range between 10% and 60%, preferably between 20% and 40% of the total mass of said composition.
Typically, the article is at least one selected from the group consisting of aprons, gowns, scrubs, uniforms, gloves, caps, masks, curtains, sheets, fabrics, shoe covers, drapes, surgical pads, protective screens, thyroid collars, thyroid shields, desks, drawers, rooms, walls, partitions, panels, tables, chairs and cabinets.
Typically, the article is contacted with coating composition by at least one method selected from the group comprising applying, spraying, dipping, incorporating brushing and painting. Typically, the color guard is at least one selected from the group consisting of epoxy, nitrocellulose and ethyl cellulose in an amount ranging between 5% and 30%, preferably between 8% and 12% of the total mass of said composition.
Typically, the thinner is at least one selected from the group consisting of Ethyl methyl ketone, amyl acetate and acetone in an amount ranging 10% and 90%, preferably between 20% and 80% of the total mass of said composition.
In accordance with another aspect of the present disclosure there is provided an X-ray shielding composition comprising barium bismuth sulfide nanofibers, in the range of 20% and 30% of the total mass of the said composition and at least one pharmaceutically acceptable excipient.
Typically, the excipient is at least one selected from the group consisting of gelling agent, emulsifiers, surfactants, humectants, preservatives, antioxidants, opacifiers, colorants, propellants, gelling agents, waxes and oils.
Typically, said X-ray shielding composition is in a form selected from the group consisting of gels, creams, lotions, sprays and ointments.

X-ray shielding material and method of preparation thereof

CENTRE FOR MATERIALS FOR ELECTRONICS TECHNOLOGY (C-MET)


In accordance with one embodiment of the present invention, liquid material enters circumferencially into a generally cylindrical outer walled chamber. A baffle may be provided to facilitate circumferencial flow. The tangential, circumferencial flow tends to reduce turbulence. In the outer chamber a top wall is provided and a cushion of air is located between the top wall and the top of the liquid medium to effect cushioning. After circumferencial flow, the liquid flows radially inwardly into an inner fluid chamber through a plurality of openings in an inner cylindrical wall. Within the inner chamber and spaced between the bottom wall and the top wall is a diffuser section. The diffuser section provides a large plurality of parallel fluid flow paths to dampen remaining major currents by lowering the fluid velocity and thus the Reynolds number. The upper surface is arcuate. Thus fluid flows radially upwardly and inwardly to a knife-edged type orifice which results in laminar fluid flow exiting therefrom. In a preferred embodiment, a light source is located within the inner chamber and is offset from the center line of the inner chamber. Focusing means are also provided in the inner chamber to direct the light path so as to align the light path with the orifice so that the light follows the laminar fluid flow.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to fluid flow devices, particularly of that class of fluid flow nozzles with laminar discharge, and further to the field of illuminated fluid nozzles.
2. Description of the Prior Art
In U.S. Pat. No. 5,160,086 granted on Nov. 3, 1992, a laminar flow fluid nozzle is provided for use in decorative water fountains, and also for industrial applications. Initial fluid flow is provided through a double-walled, bladder like fluid supply hose (32).
The inflated double hose isolates fluid flow from the pump and other vibrations which would otherwise be transmitted by means of a rigid hose. Furthmore, the double hose functions to absorb or accumulate small pressure variations known as "pump noise" which are usually present in the input stream.
The fluid next flows into a fluid chamber over a baffle (22). Inside pockets of air (18) cushion remaining pressure variations of the fluid stream.
Fluid next flows through a diffuser (20) which provides a purality of parallel fluid baths to dampen remaining major currents by lowering the fluid velocity, and thus the Reynolds number to obtain laminar fluid flow.
A knife edged orifice (12) results in a narrow fluid stream (14). However, orifice (12) may be offset with respect to the center of enclosure (11).
A light transmitting means (24) is aligned with orifice (12) by focusing means (28.
A spring system (30) may be provided to absorb ambiant vibrations.


A tire supplying apparatus has a self-propelled green tire carrying wagon for carrying a green tire to be vulcanized, a green tire unloading device mounted on the wagon and a green tire receiving stand disposed at a predetermined position located in front of a vulcanizing press or a green tire loading device mounted on the vulcanizing press. The green tire unloading device is provided with an aligning mechanism adapted to hold the unloaded green tire so as to displace it in any radial direction while it is lifted up, the aligning mechanism serving to locate its center in correct alignment with respect to the green tire receiving stand or the green tire loading device.

The present invention relates to a green tire supplying apparatus and more particularly to a green tire supplying apparatus for loading a vulcanizing press or a green tire receiving stand disposed at a predetermined position located in front of the vulcanizing press, with a green tire to be vulcanized which is unloaded from a green tire carrying wagon.
To assure that green tires are successively valcanized in a vulcanizing press by supplying them therein automatically, most hitherto known vulcanizing presses were provided with a green tire receiving stand adapted to receive a green tire to be vulcanized next. The green tire receiving stand was located outside the vulcanizing press at a position in front of the press.
Therefore, all operations could be automatically carried out from the step of storing green tires until the step of vulcanizing them, when green tires prepared in the preceding assembling and molding process were automatically delivered from a storage room or the like in conformance with signals issued from a plurality of vulcanizing presses, so that they were unloaded on each of the green tire receiving stands disposed in front of the vulcanizing presses.
To facilitate understanding of the present invention, a conventional tire supplying apparatus will be briefly described with reference to FIG. 1.
As schematically illustrated in FIG. 1, a plurality of vulcanizing presses A are provided with green tire receiving stands B each of which is located at a predetermined position located in front of the related vulcanizing press, and a self-propelled green tire carrying wagon D moves in parallel to the array of vulcanizing presses while it is guided by means of a conductor C embedded in the floor. Green tires on the carrying wagon are unloaded on the green tire receiving stands B when it comes to a stop in front of the latter. Operations have already been automated up to the step of unloading the green tires into the green tire receiving stands. Since unloading operation for transferring green tires E from the carrying wagon D onto the green tire receiving stands B was manually carried out, one or two operators were needed by an array of vulcanizing presses for the unloading operation, although operation of the vulcanizing press was fully automated.
A few reasons why the unloading operation for green tires to be vulcanized has not been automated will be noted below. (1) Since the green tire carrying wagon D is stopped at a predetermined position only at reduced positional accuracy, it is impossible to correctly unload a green tire onto the green tire receiving stand B. (2) It is important that each of the green tire receiving stands B be located exactly relative to the center of the corresponding vulcanizing press A. In some manufacturing lines a plurality of vulcanizing presses A manufactured by different manufacturers are arranged and thereby green tire receiving stands B are disposed in a line with much difficulty. Provided that a single manufacturing line is constituted by a plurality of the same type of vulcanizing presses manufactured by the same manufacturer, it is practically difficult for the center of each of the vulcanizing presses A to be correctly located on a straight line. Thus, in practice the center of each of the vulcanizing presses is appreciably offset therefrom and thereby the position of the corresponding green tire receiving stand B is dislocated from its own specified position by an appreciable distance.


In various aspects, the invention relates to immune tolerant glycosidase therapy. The invention provides methods for treating or preventing infectious disease, including chronic viral infections, and highly contagious infectious agents that present an ongoing challenge for the immune system. The compositions and treatment regimens find use with other antiviral or antimicrobial therapies, as well as in conjunction with vaccination to boost effectiveness and/or extend the duration of protective effect. In certain embodiments, the regimen described herein reduces or eliminates the need for administration of other traditional antiviral or antimicrobial therapies. In various embodiments, the invention finds use in immunocompromised patients to boost immune function.

Patients with chronic infections (such as chronic viral infections such as HIV, HSV, hepatitis virus, HPV, etc.) if effectively treated to reverse the disease trajectory or disease state, still require long-term disease management. However, continued administration of chemotherapeutic, monoclonal, or cytokine therapies can result in pathogen resistance, toxic effects for the patient including immune suppression, loss of effectiveness over time, and can be cost prohibitive for many patients. For example, antiretroviral (ARV) therapy, although successful in slowing the progression of AIDS, has transformed the disease into a chronic disease requiring long term treatment, and a basic acceptance of the very significant side effects and enormous cost of the drugs. Atun and Bateringaya. Building a during response to HIV/AIDS: implications for health systems, J. Acquir Immune Defic. Syndr. 57 Suppl. 2:S91-5 (2011). A more effective long term disease management of such infectious disease requires an active agent that maintains effectiveness over time, and which is substantially non-toxic or not immune suppressing for the patient, and ideally is coat effective.
In addition, treating or preventing certain infectious or epidemic illnesses, including Influenza, SARS, and the common cold, require long term boosts to the immune system to prevent infection, or prevent severe illness. This is especially true for the immune compromised, since available small molecule therapies can exacerbate the immune deficiency, and vaccines may be only marginally effective. Such a need is particularly high when vaccine is in short supply or unavailable.
There is a need for effective prevention, treatment and/or management of infectious disease, including management of chronic infections, and controlling highly contagious infectious diseases.

Glycosidase regimen for the treatment of chronic viral infection


A seat includes a base frame, seat frame, and footrest, the seat frame retained on a sliding member and pivotable about a first axis. The sliding member is displaceably guided between first and second positions in a guiding profile. The footrest is articulated to the seat frame by a rod mechanism to be adjusted between a folded-in and folded-out position. A drive for displacing the sliding member and adjusting the footrest is provided between the base frame and rod mechanism. A dual-arm lever arm having a first end, second end, and central region is rotatably supported on the sliding member in the central region and is connected with the first end to the rod mechanism and the second end to the seat frame. Movement of the footrest between the folded-in and folded-out position causes a pivot movement of the seat frame about the first axis between basic and inclined positions.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,722,114 B2 discloses a recliner chair which can be adjusted from an upright position of the seat and backrest into a reclined position with a folded-out footrest and inclined backrest. To this end, the rear end of the seat and the lower end of the backrest are supported on a movable sliding member, wherein the sliding member can be moved from a rear position into a front position and in this instance the front end of the seat is raised and the angle between the seat and backrest is increased. At the same time, the footrest is folded out by means of a rod mechanism.


A building kit for making various play structures for children, comprising at least a first set of foam tubes of a predetermined length; each said foam tube having opposing first and second ends in spaced apart relation to each other and an axial extending opening in each end extending at least partially along the length of each foam tube, at least one first connector having spaced apart apertures for receiving one or more closed cell foam tubes in a friction fit relationship; and at least one angled connector having two legs joined at an apex in co planar angled relationship to each other; said legs adapted to be inserted into said apertures in said opposing ends of said foam tubes in a friction fit relationship.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention is directed to a foam building kit to construct children""s play structures.
The present invention is further directed to a kit of flexible foam tubes and connectors to allow a child to construct a multitude of play structures into which he/she may enter, yet be fully visible to a supervising adult.
The present invention is further directed to a kit comprised of flexible, lightweight and durable polyethylene foam material and a series of connecting means to allow a child to construct a multitude of play structures, disassemble the structure, and create new structures.
These and other objects will become apparent to those of ordinary skill in the art upon a reading of the specification.
2. Description of the Related Art
Children""s building kits are known in the art. Applicant is aware of Kindertimber, a kit reminiscent of Lincoln log building sets. The Kindertimber product is constructed of foam materials, such as polythetylene foam, and is configured such that each log in the kit interlocks with another in pre-cut areas on the ends of the logs, or at their centers. Thus, the child stacks the logs as one would stack Lincoln logs to erect a structure.
Kindertimber differs from the present invention in that there are no gaps in between the stack logs so that a supervising adult cannot see into the structure to see what the child is doing. In addition, Kindertimber does not employ the connectors or spacers of the present invention, and does not use the same polyethylene foam material.
Leemon, U.S. Pat. No. 6,123,276 discloses a lightweight connector with buoyant members. The connector is in the form of a substantially flexible body having a plurality of spaced apart apertures for receiving one or more buoyant members in a friction fit relationship. By adjusting the location of the connector relative to the buoyant members, the buoyancy of the resulting flotation apparatus can be adjusted.
Leemon teaches that a variety of flotation apparatus"" are possible using the connectors and the flotation logs. However, there is no showing in Leemon ""276 to use the connectors show therein in a child""s building kit to join various members into a structure wherein there is a spaced apart relation between each of the constituent log members.
The present invention is directed to a building kit for making various play structures for children. The kit is comprised of at least a first set of foam tubes of a predetermined length; each said foam tube having opposing first and second ends in spaced apart relation to each other and an axial extending opening in each end extending at least partially along the length of each foam tube; at least one first connector having spaced apart apertures for receiving one or more foam tubes in a friction fit relationship; and at least one angled connector having two legs joined at an apex in co-planar angled relationship to each other; said legs adapted to be inserted into said apertures in said opposing ends of said foam tubes in a friction fit relationship.
The present invention is further directed to a kit for constructing children""s play buildings, comprised of a plurality of sets of durable lightweight flexible foam tubes having a length, a width, and first and second opposing ends in spaced apart relation to each other to define a body, said length being greater than said width; each said foam tube in each said set being uniform in length; each said flexible foam tube having a passage extending axially through the length of the foam tube, at least one first connector for use in association with a flexible tube member, said first connector comprises a flexible body including a first ring member having an aperture and a second member having an aperture, at least one of said apertures including one inwardly extending fin to define the inner diameter of said ring member to receive said foam tube in a friction fit; and at least one angled connector for use in association with connecting said flexible tubes, said angled connector comprised of two legs at opposed angled relation to each other, each said leg insertable in said passage at either end of said flexible foam tube to provide a friction fit to connect the tubes together axially; and at least one spacer interposable between said foam tubes.

Flexible foam building kit with connectors for constructing children""s play structures


A feedback-type position control method by which position control can be effected properly and easily in various machines. A pulse number converter (5) obtains the sum of a remainder (Rn-1) for a preceding cycle and the product of the number (xn) of feedback pulses delivered from a pulse coder (4) within a predetermined period and a first conversion coefficient (A) (S1 to S3). If the sum is positive or zero, position feedback pulses corresponding in number to a quotient (yn') obtained by dividing the absolute value of the sum by a second conversion coefficient (B) are delivered, and a remainder (Rn') resulting from the division is stored as a remainder (Rn) used to obtain the sum for the next cycle (S4 to S8). If the sum is negative, the number of position feedback pulses is set at a value (-yn'-1) obtained by subtracting 1 from a value obtained by inverting the sign of the quotient, and a value (B-Rn') obtained by subtracting the remainder from the second conversion coefficient is used as the remainder (S9 and S 10). The significance of one position feedback pulse is brought to be equivalent to a movement of a machine movable section for one position command pulse, so that the position control of various machines can be effected by a pulse coder of one type.

In a machine which comprises a movable section, connected to a servomotor by means of a rotary-motion-to-linear-motion converter mechanism or the like, and a rotary position sensor attached to the servomotor, as is generally known, the position of the machine movable section is detected according to feedback pulses delivered from the position sensor accompanying the motor rotation, while the machine movable section is being moved by means of the servomotor with the aid of the converter mechanism or the like, whereby position control of the machine movable section is effected. Also known is an arrangement such that position control for a target moved position is finished when the actual moved position of the machine movable section, detected according to the feedback pulses, enters an in-position zone which contains the target position, and a warning is issued to the effect that a deviation between the target moved position and the actual moved position is too large when the positional deviation departs from an allowable range. In consideration of the allowable ranges for the in-position zone and the positional deviation, it is advisable to set a movement of the machine movable section corresponding to the number of input feedback pulses at a value divisible by the pulse number. Meanwhile, a movement of the machine movable section for each revolution of the servomotor varies depending on the equipment arrangement, such as the screw pitch of the rotary-motion-to-linear-motion converter mechanism, the gear ratio of a speed reduction mechanism, etc.
Conventionally, therefore, a position sensor, such as a pulse coder, is used which has a resolution high enough to fulfill the aforementioned requirements for the relationship between the movement of the machine movable section, such as a table, and the feedback pulse number. Used in a machine whose table movement for each revolution of the servomotor is 6 mm, for example, is a pulse coder of a type such that 3,000 pulses are generated with every servomotor revolution in each of two phases with a phase difference of 90.degree., and feedback pulses are delivered at the leading and trailing edges of each of the generated pulses. In this case, 12,000 feedback pulses are delivered from the pulse coder with every motor revolution, so that the resolution (table movement per one feedback pulse) of the pulse coder is 0.5.mu.. Used in a machine whose table movement for each motor revolution is 8 mm or 10 mm, according to another example, is a pulse coder of a type such that 8,000 or 10,000 feedback pulses are generated with every motor revolution, that is, the resolution is 1.mu. or 0.5.mu..
The conventional method described above uses a pulse coder whose resolution is suited for the specifications of the machine and servomotor. When controlling the operations of machines and servomotors of various types, therefore, various pulse coders of different resolutions must be provided for use. Naturally, moreover, the types of available pulse coders are limited, so that the machines and servomotors to which the aforementioned conventional method are limited. Furthermore, the management of the machines, servomotors, and pulse coders is complicated.
As another method which fulfills the aforementioned requirements for the relationship between the movement of the machine movable section and the feedback pulse number, use of a control system (FIG. 3) including an optional CMR (command multiplied ratio) 6, whose operation characteristic can be variably adjusted so as to change the significance of a position command depending on the resolution of the pulse coder, is generally known. If a pulse coder 4 which generates one feedback pulse for each table movement of 1.mu. is used, for example, the operation characteristic of the CMR 6 is set so that one movement command pulse is delivered from the CMR when a movement command (variation of position command) of 1.mu. is applied to the input of the CMR. If another pulse coder 4 which generates, e.g., 2.5 feedback pulses for each table movement of 1.mu. is used, moreover, the operation characteristic of the CMR 6 is set so that two or three movement command pulses are alternately generated, and therefore, 2.5 movement command pulses are delivered on the average when 1-.mu. movement commands are inputted in succession.
Even though the movement command is fixed, however, different numbers of movement command pulses are delivered from optional CMRs 6 with different operation characteristics. According to the aforementioned conventional method in which the operation characteristic of the CMR 6 is variably set, therefore, the in-position zone, used to discriminate the arrival at the target position, and the allowable range, used to detect an excessive positional deviation, must be modified every time the operation characteristic of the CMR 6 is changed. Naturally, moreover, the setting range for the operation characteristic of the CMR 6 is limited, so that available pulse coders for the execution of the aforementioned conventional method are limited.


Disclosed is an identification system to improve safety on roads and allow for the driver or for the vehicle itself, if it is autonomous or semi-autonomous, to have readable and useful information about road signs, roadways, and adjacent roadway information. The disclosed identification system comprises a marker with marker communication information that can be read by a vehicle information system to provide information to the vehicle. Information that the marker communication information may convey would allow the vehicle information system to detect or recognize, or both detect and recognize critical road sign, roadway information, and adjacent roadway information. Then, the vehicle information system could respond to the information received from the marker communication information.

Road signs vary in size, shape, images, and words to communicate to a driver. For example, many signs have similar perimeter shapes yet convey different messages or images. Images on a sign, like an arrow, can convey different meanings depending on the other features on the sign. For example, a sign with an arrow might indicate a "one way" road, while another similar-sized and colored sign with an arrow might indicate the direction to a destination. Critical road signs, whose function is to provide important information for safe vehicle operation, can be difficult to identify and differentiate from the broader range of signs with similar shapes.
The electronic and communication capabilities available could aid in identification and communication between the road sign and a vehicle. Camera-based vision systems in particular are becoming common in new vehicles. However, current vision systems typically have difficulty accurately reading the broad range of highway road signs. For example, as discussed, a reader might identify the arrow, but not accurately distinguish the context of identifying whether the arrow might indicate a "one way" sign or a direction to a destination. There is a need for an improved identification system to more accurately detect or recognize, or both detect and recognize critical road signs, roadway information, and adjacent roadway information.


During generation of an implicit certificate for a requestor, a certificate authority incorporates information in the public-key reconstruction data, where the public-key reconstruction data is to be used to compute the public key of the requestor. The information may be related to one or more of the requestor, the certificate authority, and the implicit certificate. The certificate authority reversibly encodes the public-key reconstruction data in the implicit certificate and sends it to the requestor. After receiving the implicit certificate from the certificate authority, the requestor can extract the incorporated information from the public-key reconstruction data. The implicit certificate can be made available to a recipient, and the recipient can also extract the incorporated information.

Elliptic curve cryptography (ECC) is based on the intractability of the discrete logarithm problem within a group over a finite field where the elements of the group are points on an elliptic curve. Cryptographic values generated using ECC schemes, such as the Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA), may be smaller than those generated using finite-field cryptography schemes, such as the Digital Signature Algorithm (DSA) and integer factorization cryptography schemes, such as the Rivest Shamir Adleman (RSA) algorithm, while still offering the same level of security. Smaller-sized cryptographic values are desirable because they may reduce storage and transmission requirements. ECDSA is described, for example, in "American National Standard for Financial Services ANS X9.62-2005: Public Key Cryptography for the Financial Services Industry—The Elliptic Curve Digital Signature Algorithm (ECDSA)", Accredited Standards Committee X9, Inc., 2005. DSA and RSA are described, for example, in "Federal Information Processing Standards Publication 186-3 Digital Signature Standard (DSS)", National Institute of Standards and Technology, June 2009.
A digital certificate may be used to bind a public key to its legitimate owner so that a recipient of the certificate can be confident as to the authenticity of the public key. Upon receiving a request from a requestor, a trusted third party, such as a certificate authority (CA), may provide a signed certificate to the requestor who may then send the certificate to a recipient. Alternatively, the recipient may be able to obtain the signed certificate directly from the CA. In a conventional or 'explicit' certificate scheme, the signature portion of the certificate is explicitly verified by the recipient in order to confirm that the public key contained in the certificate belongs to the purported owner (i.e., the requestor of the certificate). Subsequent communication between the requestor and the recipient is authenticated separately using, for example, a key agreement scheme or a digital signature scheme.
In an implicit certificate scheme, such as the Elliptic Curve Qu-Vanstone (ECQV) scheme, the implicit certificate does not explicitly contain the public key of the requestor, but instead contains data that may be used to reconstruct the public key, also known as public-key reconstruction data. Because the public key is not explicitly contained in the implicit certificate, the authenticity of the reconstructed public key can only be established after it is subsequently used in a successful run of some protocol, such as a key agreement scheme or a digital signature scheme.
Implicit certificates are generally smaller than explicit certificates and have fewer operational costs because some calculations that are typically performed independently in an explicit certificate scheme can be combined in an implicit certificate scheme. In addition to containing public-key reconstruction data, an implicit certificate also contains separate additional information. This additional information contributes to the size of the implicit certificate.

Incorporating data into cryptographic components of an ECQV certificate


Compositions and methods for a hybrid biological and chemical process utilizing chemotrophic microorganisms that converts syngas and/or gaseous CO2 and/or a mixture of CO2 gas and H2 gas into one or more desaturated hydrocarbons, unsaturated fatty acids, hydroxy acids, or diacids.

Sustainable and renewable sources of organic molecules are needed to help reduce the amount of carbon dioxide emissions in the atmosphere, as well as to reduce global energy consumption based upon coal, oil, and natural gas economies. Increased demand in the global economy has placed increasing pressure on traditional hydrocarbon feedstocks for the production of organic molecules. Many industries, including plastics and chemical manufacturers, rely heavily on the availability of fossil hydrocarbon sources as a feedstock for their manufacturing processes. Cost-effective alternatives to current sources of supply could help mitigate the upward pressure on fossil resource demand and raw material costs.
Biologic systems that fix carbon through natural biochemical metabolic processes are known. Algal systems have been developed to create hydrocarbon or petroleum replacements through photosynthetic reactions, as well as heterotrophic reactions utilizing fixed carbon feedstocks such as sugar that indirectly depend upon photosynthesis, however insufficient yields limit the effectiveness, economic feasibility, practicality and commercial adoption of these algal technologies. Bacterial cells have also been genetically engineered to process sugar feedstocks into useful organic compounds in heterotrophic fermentation systems; however, there are significant drawbacks for these systems as well.
Heterotrophic fermentations are vulnerable to contamination because heterotrophic microorganisms that can grow on fixed carbon nutrients and compete with a production strain are far more ubiquitous in the surface environment. Heterotrophic technologies also generally suffer limitations in terms of food versus fuel conflict and negative environmental impacts.
Gas-to-liquid (GTL) technologies have the benefit of allowing the utilization of waste carbon sources—including highly lignocellulosic waste through the conversion to synthesis gas (syngas) via gasification, as well as waste CO2 through the provision of reduced hydrogen—in the production of organic chemicals. Syngas is a mix of gases that generally contains H.sub.2, CO, and CO.sub.2 as major components, which can be generated through steam reforming of methane and/or liquid petroleum gas or biogas or through gasification of any organic material, including but not limited to biomass, waste organic matter, various polymers, and coal. Many gasification processes are available for the production of syngas. A number of gasification processes subject the carbonaceous feedstock to partial oxidation at high temperatures (500-1500.degree. C.), with the oxygen supply restricted to prevent complete combustion, producing syngas with varying composition depending on feedstock and reaction conditions such that the ratio of H.sub.2:CO can range from 0.5:1 to 3:1. The hydrogen component of syngas can be raised through the reaction of CO with steam in the water gas shift reaction with a concomitant increase in CO.sub.2 in the syngas mix.
Some major technologies for syngas conversion to chemicals include chemical catalytic processes such as the Fischer-Tropsch (F-T) as well as processes for the synthesis of methanol or other mixed alcohols, and biological syngas fermentation processes. F-T has been worked on for almost one hundred years and relies on metal-based, inorganic catalysts for the conversion of syngas into longer chain hydrocarbons. Difficulties with F-T include: a wide chain length distribution of products resulting in the need to reprocess short chain length products such as methane and LPG and/or the need to perform additional costly post-processing steps on long chain waxes and tars such as hydrocracking; high catalyst sensitivity to syngas impurities such as sulfur containing compounds, tars, and particulates, generally necessitating multiple costly gas clean up steps; relatively low flexibility in terms of accommodating various ratios of syngas constituents i.e. H2:CO, and low tolerance of CO.sub.2, often resulting in additional costly syngas conditioning steps such as water gas shift and CO.sub.2 removal; the actual F-T step being relatively high temperature and pressure resulting in costly compression and heating requirements; the wide distribution of products generally necessitating the storage, handling, and transport of a wide array of products which is often uneconomic except for relatively large scale operations; F-T products (e.g. diesel, jet fuel, naphtha, waxes) being relatively low in value at current (2011) prices compared to many different higher value oils, lipids, and oleochemicals that can be produced biologically. The difficulties with F-T generally also apply to other chemical conversion processes such as methanol synthesis.
The gasification of biomass to generate syngas has a long history going back to World War II where biomass gasification was used for running modified automobiles, boats, buses, and trucks. Presently, a number of biomass gasification technologies are at, or near commercialization (able to gasify 10,000 or more tons of biomass per year), and are generally used for the production of heat and/or electricity. The synthesis of chemicals or fuels from syngas generated via biomass gasification is at an earlier stage of development, and is generally pre-commercial.
Using syngas and/or CO.sub.2 and/or renewable H.sub.2 in a gas bioprocess enables the utilization of cheaper and more flexible sources of energy and/or carbon for the biological synthesis of sustainable chemicals and fuels than is possible through heterotrophic or phototrophic synthesis. In a syngas bioprocess, syngas acts as both a carbon and energy source for the microbial culture. Some of the advantages of syngas bioprocesses include: the production of a relatively narrow range of carbon chain length distribution compared to F-T; lower sensitivity to syngas impurities; greater tolerance of varying ratios of H2:CO and the presence of CO2; ability to operate at much closer to ambient temperature and pressure; ability to produce various higher value oleochemical products.
A bioprocess based upon a gaseous feedstock such as syngas can allow for far lower negative environmental and food production impacts in the biological synthesis of liquid fuels and/or chemicals than the highly land and water intensive heterotrophic or phototrophic-based technologies. However, current biological GTL technologies generally yield relatively short chain alcohols, or other short chain organic compounds, as products, which have relatively low energy density and infrastructure compatibility and limited applications. The syngas-growing microorganisms used in current biological GTL technologies are generally inappropriate for the synthesis of mid- to long-carbon chain lipid-based chemicals. Furthermore the types of microorganisms used in current biological GTL technologies such as Clostridia have a relatively low tolerance for their short carbon chain gas fermentation products such as ethanol, butanol, or acetic acid, which limits titers and complicates product recovery, hurting the overall economics of the GTL process.
There is a need to identify a set of microorganisms that can grow in conventional and scalable contained reaction vessels and that produce commercially viable sets of organic carbon chains of at least eight carbon atoms long in a commercially feasible method. There is a need to identify microorganisms not limited metabolically by typical fixed carbon inputs such as sugar, and a microorganism that can additionally utilize syngas, producer gas, as well as a wide array of abiotic sources of carbon and energy for the synthesis of drop-in fuels and chemicals, leading to a feedstock flexibility that far exceeds comparable heterotrophic systems. There is a need to identify and use microorganisms that can utilize electron donors such as hydrogen, present in syngas, producer gas, as well as readily generated through a wide array of abiotic renewable energy technologies, for growth and carbon fixation.
The targeting of fatty acids produced through fatty acid biosynthesis to short chain lengths has been achieved in heterotrophic microorganisms. This has been accomplished through the use of thioesterases to change populations of fatty acids C8-C14 and the over-expression of thioesterases to increase shorter chain length fatty acids.
Examples in the prior art include C8-C14 thioesterase expression to produce shorter chain lengths in U.S. Pat. No. 7,883,882 Renewable chemical production from novel fatty acid feedstocks, Franklin et al. Solazyme, p. 58.
However there is a need to target the production of shorter chain length fatty acids in microorganisms that are capable of growing and producing lipids chemotrophically on syngas or H.sub.2/CO.sub.2 gas mixes to enable microbial GTL production of lipids with targeted, mid-length carbon chains.
Dicarboxylic acids (Diacids) such as dodecanedoic acid (n=10) are used in production of nylon (nylon-6,12), polyamides, coatings, adhesives, greases, polyesters, dyes, detergents, flame retardants and fragrances. Diacids can be produced by fermentation of long-chain alkanes by candida tropicalis (Kroha K, Infom 2004, 15, 568). Traumatic acid, monounsaturated dodecanedoic acid (10E-dodeca-1,12-dicarboxylic acid) has been produced from plant tissues English J et al., Science 1939, 90, 329. Pyrococcus furiosus produces an array of dicarboxylic acids (Carballeira, 1997). The total amount of dicarboxylic acids comprises only 3.4% of the total, however, this could be boosted by various literature methods.
There is a need for a biological, non-heterotrophic means of producing diacids from low-cost or sustainable syngas feedstocks.
Nutritionally important n-3 fatty acids include α-linolenic acid (ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (DHA), all of which are polyunsaturated. N-3 fatty acids that are important in human physiology are α-linolenic acid (18:3, n-3; ALA), eicosapentaenoic acid (20:5, n-3; EPA), and docosahexaenoic acid (22:6, n-3; DHA). These three polyunsaturates have either 3, 5, or 6 double bonds in a carbon chain of 18, 20, or 22 carbon atoms, respectively. As with most naturally produced fatty acids, all double bonds are in the cis-configuration.
A fatty acid desaturase is an enzyme that removes two hydrogen atoms from a fatty acid, creating a carbon/carbon double bond. These desaturases are classified as delta—indicating that the double bond is created at a fixed position from the carboxyl group of a fatty acid (for example, Δ9 desaturase creates a double bond at the 9th position from the carboxyl end). omega (e.g. ω3desaturase)—indicating the double bond is created between the third and fourth carbon from the methyl end of the fatty acid. In the biosynthesis of essential fatty acids, an elongase alternates with different desaturases (for example, Δ6desaturase) repeatedly inserting an ethyl group, then forming a double bond.
Most polyunsaturated oils come from fish and there is a need for alternate, and particularly microbial sources of polyunsaturated fatty acids, given depleting fish stocks and increasing pollution in the oceans.

Industrial fatty acid engineering general system for modifying fatty acids


A method and apparatus for mounting a semiconductor is disclosed. First, the semiconductor is mounted into the bracket of a lid while the lid is detached from a frame. Once the semiconductor has been loaded into the lid/bracket assembly, the loaded lid is mounted onto the frame. The lid is then locked in place on the frame by rotating a locking lever into a closed locked position.

Many integrated circuits (IC) are mounted to a printed circuit (PC) board using a socket. One type of socket is a land grid arrays (LGA) socket. Older style sockets have holes in the socket that mate with pins attached to the underside of an IC. LGA sockets have protruding pins or spring contacts which touch contact pads on the underside of an IC. LGA sockets typically do not require any insertion force when installing the IC into the socket. The IC is held into the socket against the spring contacts by a lid. The lid is clamped in place once the IC has been loaded into the socket.
Aligning and inserting or removing the IC from the socket can be difficult. Many ICs have special tools designed to assist the insertion of the IC into the socket. Even using the special tool the spring contacts may be damaged when the IC is being inserted or removed from the socket. When the spring contacts in the socket become damaged, the socket must be replaced.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A phase modulated spectroscopy (PMS) system for detecting a pathophysiological condition in a subject includes two laser diodes emitting radiation at wavelengths of about 754-760 nm and 816-840 nm. These two laser diodes are modulated sinusoidally at about 220 MHz. The signals from each laser diode are brought to the subject by a bifurcated plastic optical fiber of 1 mm diameter. After transmission through the subject, the signals are detected by a Hamamatsu R928 photomultiplier (PMT), which generates two experimental signals. The experimental signals are compared to a reference signal in a phase detector. The respective phase shifts experienced by the signals are combined to form sum and difference signals, which are correlated to a pathophysiological condition.

The present invention generally relates to the use of phase modulated spectroscopy (PMS) to to detect pathophysiological changes in a subject. More particularly, the present invention relates to methods and apparatuses for carrying out phase modulated spectroscopy. Still more particularly, the invention relates to improvements on the apparatuses disclosed in the above-referenced related applications.
The use of PMS to monitor the distribution of light pathlengths for detection of tissue absorption changes is discussed in the related applications. Further background is provided in Sevick, et al., "Analysis of Absorption, Scattering, and Hemoglobin Saturation Using Phase Modulation Spectroscopy," SPIE (1991), which is incorporated herein by reference. Briefly, the basis for using optical pathlength information to detect tissue absorption is that, as the absorption properties of a scattering medium increase (decrease), the probability of photons travelling long pathlengths within the medium decreases (increases), and therefore the mean optical pathlength travelled by the photons is reduced (increased).


An encoding method of losslessly encoding picture data is disclosed. The picture data are composed of pixel data. The pixel data whose number of quantizer bits is larger than eight bits are separated into a first portion and a second portion. The first portion is composed of eight bits on an LSB side. The second portion is composed of remaining bits on an MSB side excluding the first portion. A first encoding process is losslessly performed for the first portion. A second encoding process is losslessly performed for the second portion. The second encoding process is different from the first encoding process.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an encoding method and an encoding apparatus that allow lossless encoding for picture data composed of pixel data whose number of quantizer bits is larger than eight bits to be effectively and losslessly encoded, and to a decoding method and a decoding apparatus corresponding to the encoding method and the encoding apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, a digital cinema system that shows a movie by reproducing picture data for example from a picture server and projecting the reproduced picture data on a screen has been developed for movie theaters. In this system, picture data that have been encoded are distributed through a network or recorded on a record medium such as a large capacity optical disc and then provided to the picture server. The picture data are transferred from the picture server to the projector. Thereafter, the projector projects the picture to the screen.
It is preferred that picture data that necessitate high quality such as picture data supplied for such a digital cinema system be encoded by so-called loss-less encoding of which data are not lost in the encoding process and baseband digital video data can be perfectly restored when they are decoded.
As an example of such loss-less encoding, a technology of which a difference value between the current picture data and the immediately preceding picture data is rearranged in the unit of a bit and the resultant data are encoding by the run-length process and Huffman encoding process is described in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. HEI 10-190478 (hereinafter this related art is referred to as patent document 1).
In addition, when picture data necessitate high quality, gradational information of one pixel also necessitates high resolution. The gradational information of a pixel is generally represented by the number of quantizer bits of a pixel. Although the number of quantizer bits of a pixel used for example for personal computers is eight, high quality picture data necessitates a resolution of larger than eight bits, for example 10 bits or 12 bits.

Encoding method, encoding apparatus, decoding method, and decoding apparatus