A method for storing a water-soluble undissolved silica-based material, optionally with an incorporated functional agent. The method includes immersing the material in an aqueous liquid phase which is initially saturated with a water-soluble silica-based material which is the same or different than the undissolved silica-based material, such that the undissolved silica-based material does not essentially dissolve into the liquid phase during storage, or the proportion of the amount of the initially undissolved silica-based material to the amount of the liquid phase is such that the liquid phase will be saturated or essentially saturated by a dissolved portion of the water-soluble undissolved silica-based material during storage, which dissolved portion of said water soluble undissolved silica-based material is less than 20%. Also disclosed is a storage package which may preferably be used to store functional agents, delivery devices or implants.

The publications and other materials used herein to illuminate the background of the invention, and in particular, cases to provide additional details respecting the practice, are incorporated by reference.
Oxygen and silicon are the most and second most abundant elements, respectively, in the earth's crust and consequently a great deal of mass of the Earth's crust is silica (59%). Silica (silicon dioxide, SiO2) is a versatile material that is utilised in great number of applications, such as glass preparation, casting moulds, additive in concrete & cement, pesticides, fertilisers, catalysis, chromatography columns, as xerogel dryer material in desiccators, as aerogel in space dust collection, functional filler in paints or sunscreens, water filtration, drug and gene delivery.
Silica can be obtained from naturals sources by mining and desired modification or by synthesizing it from various precursors. Industrial sand and gravel obtained by mining, often called "silica," "silica sand," and "quartz sand," includes sands and gravels with high silicon dioxide (SiO2) content. Silica can also be prepared/modified to many different structures by fuming or wet synthesis methods, which results in different properties both with respect to textural features and (surface) chemistry.
One of the most interesting features of silica is its interaction with many living organisms and biomolecules. Certain crystal forms of silica are harmful, as in the case of silicosis ("Coal worker's disease"), where inhaled crystalline silica accelerates fibrous tissue overgrowth in lungs, but in amorphous and water-dissolved form silica has been observed to have positive interaction with living organisms and biomolecules. There is also a living example in nature showing the potential of silica for natural contact with living organisms, an example on the phenomenon that is sometimes called biosilicification that results in biogenic silica. One of the most abundant living creatures on earth, diatoms, use the corresponding wet synthesis method to prepare a silica "skeleton" to cover its organic part, i.e., diatoms induce the synthesis of amorphous silica by extracting the needed soluble silica, silicic acid, from sea water that nucleates and condensates on diatoms creating a silica surface.
One of the most studied methods to prepare silica is the sol-gel method. It is done in liquid phase, which makes it potential for many applications. Sol-gel derived SiO2 and other SiO2-based materials are commonly prepared from alkoxides, alkylalkoxides, aminoalkoxides or inorganic silicates that via hydrolysis form a sol that contains either partly hydrolysed silica species and/or fully hydrolysed silicic acid. Consequent condensation reactions of SiOH containing species lead to formation of larger silica species with increasing amount of siloxane bonds. Furthermore, the species aggregate, form nanosized particles and/or larger aggregates until a gel is formed. Reactions (typically at ≦40° C.) are commonly catalysed either by mineral acids (such as HCl and HNO3) or bases (such as NH3). The formed gel is then aged (typically at ≦40° C.), dried to different water content (typically at ≦40° C.) and/or heat-treated (typically at ≦700° C.) to desired form resulting typically in amorphous and porous SiO2. The last step, heat treatment at elevated temperatures (50-700° C.) is typically skipped if the system contains a biologically active agent. The gels that are dried at moderate temperature (at ≦50° C.) are called xerogels (<Gr. xero=dry). The silica gels containing substantial amounts of water, e.g. 30-90%, are sometimes called hydrogels. Amorphous and porous sol-gel derived SiO2 is known to be biocompatible and known to dissolve in the living tissue as well as in solutions simulating the inorganic part of real human body fluid, e.g. in a water solution buffered to pH 7.4 at 37° C. with or without inorganic salts found in real body fluids.
Amorphous silica made by the sol-gel method is known to result in nanoscale porous structure with varying amount of hydroxyl groups on surface. It resembles silica structures formed in biosilicification processes. Such silica has been observed to have specific interaction with living organisms and many biomolecules. It is known to be biocompatible, (e.g., acceptable response observed in tissue) and adjustably biodegradable in simulated physiological conditions and in living tissue. Consequently, sol-gel derived silica and other amorphous silica-based materials are also used as such in biomaterials applications and tissue engineering. Due to possibility for easy encapsulation of different molecules and other active agents by adding them into the reacting sol in liquid phase, silica has also been used as drug delivery device for traditional small-molecule drugs and different biologically and therapeutically active agents, such as proteins and viral vectors.
Encapsulation can also be utilized in many other applications. Many proteins and enzymes are useful in (bio)catalysis or in diagnostic applications as sensors (e.g., antibody-antigen) and they can be encapsulated in sol-gel derived silica, which acts as a carrier material. Also living cells can be encapsulated in silica, where they may act as bioreactors, e.g., by producing therapeutic proteins. Hence, studies on preservation of the biological activity of proteins and other active agents in silica have been one of the topics of interest in different fields of science. In addition to sensitive agents in different biotechnology-related applications, it is also possible to encapsulate other active molecules, which are usually easier cases with respect to preservation of their activity and functionality, such as antimicrobial agents, fragrances, perfumes, colours & dyes, food colours, food additives, antioxidants, humidifiers, vitamins, explosives, insecticides, herbicides, fungicides and high-price reagents/precursors for chemical reactions.
Molecules and other active agents encapsulated in sol-gel silica are in direct contact with different silica species from the liquid phase sol to solid-phase dominating gel, where the condensation and pore structure are under continuous development. Quite substantial shrinkage may occur during the aging and drying processes and also chemical reactions, such as condensation, proceed, so the structure, aging and drying during the storage, may have crucial effects on the activity of the encapsulated agents.
Storage in water-based solution provides a natural and favourable water surrounding to biomolecules, living cells, viruses and other active agents. Drying of sol gel derived silica gel causes shrinkage of the nanoscale pore structure and also results in the formation of a brittle surface structure. Silica is used in many form, such as monoliths, fibres, particles of different size and coatings. The potential applications of fibres are usually composed of structures where silica-silica interaction is present on a macroscopic scale, e.g., in fibre nets or other corresponding structures. In such cases, drying of the silica structure makes the structure loose its flexibility, which is an important property, e.g. in surgical use, e.g., implantation. Some silica formulations may also crack when dried and then replaced in water, e.g. after implantation into living tissue containing a substantial amount of water. This is because the shrinkage of the pore structure during drying is an irreversible process and replacement in water is followed by immediate diffusion of water into the nanoscale pores causing high stresses through capillary forces.
The loss of the activity or viability of proteins, enzymes, viruses, bacteria and other cells in the sol-gel derived silica has been discussed in many publications. The sensitivity to surrounding conditions varies depending on specific agents and there might be differences within species also, e.g., between different proteins. Aging, drying, surface structure, the role of water and alcohol amount in the structure are examples on the factors that may have an influence. One of the major concerns is the long-term stability of biological activity and/or viability of the encapsulated agents as well as the possible breakage of the materials.
Wang et al. [R. Wang, U. Narang, P. N. Prasad and V. Bright, Affinity of antifluorescein antibodies encapsulated within a transparent sol-gel glass, Anal. Chem., 65 (1993) p. 2671-2675] discloses encapsulation of an antibody in a sol-gel matrix and storage of the matrix encapsulating the antibody in water for up to 5 weeks. The sol-gel matrix was stored in water to retain affinity of the antibody.
Livage et al. (J. Livage, T. Choradin and C. Roux, Encapsulation of biomolecules in silica gels, Journal of Physics: Condensed Matter, 13 (2001) p. R673) discussed that sol-gel derived silica is potential for encapsulation of biomolecules and that the internal water in silica has an influence on protein folding, but they also comment that the long term stability of the encapsulation systems should be addressed fully.
N. Nassif et al. (N. Nassif, O. Bouvet, M. N. Rager, C. Roux, T. Choradin, J. Livage, Living Bacteria in silica gels, Nature Materials, vol 1 (2002) p. 42) showed prolonged viability of bacteria in silica gels, but they comment that the long-term viability of cell in inorganics has never been fully addressed.
I. Gill & A. Ballesteros (I. Gill, Bio-doped Nanocomposite Polymers: Sol-Gel Bioencapsulates, Chemistry of Materials 13 (2001) p. 3404 and I. Gill & A. Ballesteros, Bioencapsulation within Synthetic Polymers, TIBTECH vol. 18 (2000) p. 282)) have also reviewed extensively the encapsulation of biomolecules in different silica gels, both xerogels and hydrogels (gels with 50-80% interstitial water and pore sizes between 4-200 nm). However, they address that the hydrogels are usually more or less dried and the structural collapse and shrinkage and a consequent loss of biological activity and breakage of the silica gel structure are common.
Zusman et al. (Zusman et al., Purification of sheep immunoglobin G using protein A trapped in sol-gel glass, Analytical Biochemistry, 201 (1992) p. 103) have also shown that an intact influenza virus entered a sol-gel derived silica gel with high water content (a hydrogel), where it could react with the previously encapsulated sialic-acid-coated liposome indicating thus also indirectly the preservation of the biological activity of the virus during the stay in the silica gel.
M. L. Ferrer et al (M. L. Ferrer, L. Yuste, F. Rojo, F. del Monte, Biocompatible sol-gel route for encapsulation of living bacteria in organically modified silica matrixes, Chemistry of Materials, 15 (2003) p. 3614) concluded in their studies on encapsulation of living bacteria that in addition to alcohol-free system, the main factor affecting the solubility of the encapsulated bacterial cells in the sol-gel silica materials is the control of the physical constraint of exerted by the silica matrix (syneresis) during the aging, i.e., they suspect that the shrinking structure during the aging and drying may reduce the viability of cells.
K. K. Flora and J. D. Brennan (K. K. Flora and J. D. Brennan, Effect of Matrix Aging on the Behavior of Human Serum Albumin Entrapped in a Tetraethyl Orthosilicate-Derived Glass, Chemistry of Materials 13 (2001) p. 4170) have studied albumin encapsulation in TEOS-derived silica gels in different conditions (dry-aged (in air without washing), wash-aged (drying in air after washing) and wet-aged (in buffer) and they concluded that regardless of the method, after 2 months of aging, the entrapped proteins retained less than 15% of their ligand binding ability in solution due to partial unfolding. However, they studied the situation inside the gel only and for albumin only and they did not take into account that the (partial) unfolding, often caused by adsorption to silica pore wall surface or by extensive aggregation of proteins, has been observed to be reversible for many proteins, e.g., it varies depending on the case and this reversible process is also possible as the proteins are desorbed as they are released. Although the structure is shrinking during the aging (independently whether the drying is allowed or not), the simultaneous aging and drying is more effective and the structure may also reach the point where the encapsulated agents do not only adsorb differently, but they may also be physically squeezed in the pores and this occurs naturally faster for larger agents, like cells and viruses. In other words, although the loss of bioactivity is observed inside silica, it may be reversible, but upon too extensive drying, it may become irreversible.
T. Wilson et al. (T. Wilson, R. Viitala, H. Jalonen, R. Penttinen, and M. Jokinen, The Release and Biological Activity of Lysozyme from Selected Sol-gel Derived SiO2 Matrices, submitted to Journal of Materials Science: Materials in Medicine, January 2007) observed that a sol-gel derived silica gel, which had not dried, preserved the activity of released lysozyme, i.e., the amount of biologically active lysozyme corresponded almost 100% to the total amount of released lysozyme with or without separate protective agent, but the activity of released lysozyme was substantially reduced already within few weeks as the gel was let to dry and age simultaneously, i.e., the loss of bioactivity had become irreversible.
D. Avnir et al. (D. Avnir et al., Enzymes and other Proteins Entrapped in Sol-Gel Materials, Chemistry of Materials 6 (1994) p. 1605) reviewed extensively the encapsulation of enzymes, whole cells, antibodies and other proteins in sol-gel materials. They mention wet gels and xerogels, but they do not mention the storage of silica in aqueous solutions, but rather the problems, such as brittleness of the structure of the dried, glassy silica matrix. They are also mostly interested in biological activity in situ in silica gel, where already a reversible loss of biological activity is to be avoided.
M. Jokinen et al. (WO 2005/082781) stored silica implants with encapsulated drugs and other biologically active agents in buffers saturated with silica's dissolution products in order to compare the differences in release mechanisms with an in sink dissolution system, where the silica was let to dissolve freely. The preservation of biological activity or other functional properties of silica or the encapsulated agents were not studied.
P. Ducheyne et al. (U.S. Pat. No. 5,874,109) immersed silica-based implants in aqueous buffer solutions to study the release of encapsulated drugs. This represents a typical and commonly used example in studying silica-based biomaterials where materials are immersed in different buffer solutions mimicking, at least partly, the contents & properties of body fluids to simulate their properties, e.g., ability to precipitate bone mineral-like calcium phosphate (hydroxyapatite), biodegradation property or release of encapsulated agents in vitro.

Method for storing silica-based material, package produced with the method and use of package for packaging of silica-based products


A power supply device includes: “m×n” switching elements; capacitors connected in series to corresponding ones of the switching elements and forming “m×n” series circuits; a charger charging the capacitors; “m” transformers in which primary windings are connected to both ends of corresponding ones of “m” parallel circuits formed by connecting “n” units of the series circuits in parallel to one another with the polarity aligned; a current detection unit detecting, as a detected current value, current flowing through a multistage series circuit in which secondary windings of the transformers are sequentially connected in series so that both ends of the circuit serve as output terminals; a control unit outputting a command signal generated based on the detected current value and a current command being a target value of the current output from the output terminals; and a drive unit driving the switching elements and the charger based on the command signal.

A power supply device that generates a high-output pulse current is used for a sterilization device and a water treatment device using pulse arc discharge, a laser oscillator, an exhaust gas purification device, an ozone generator, an extreme ultra-violet (EUV) light source, and the like. These are called plasma application devices, discharge devices, or the like.
A gas discharge switch used in these power supply devices has problems with life and stability, and thus a semiconductor switching element using a semiconductor device has come to be used. A technique has then been proposed in which power of a desired waveform is supplied by combining a switching operation of the semiconductor switching element and superposition of induced voltage by a transformer.
Patent Literature 1 discloses a high-voltage pulse generating device that applies a high voltage across discharge electrodes of a gas laser device. The high-voltage pulse generating device includes "n" primary side electrical circuits (where "n" is a natural number of 2 or greater) connected in parallel to each other on a primary side of a pulse transformer. Each of the primary side electrical circuits includes a primary side coil, a capacitor connected in parallel to the primary side coil, and a switch connected in series to the capacitor.
A secondary side electrical circuit is further included on a secondary side of the pulse transformer. The secondary side electrical circuit includes "n" secondary side coils connected in series to each other and "n" diodes connected to both ends of corresponding ones of the "n" secondary side coils, and is connected to the discharge electrodes.


A ditch check includes a plurality of bodies that are located in two rows with a gap defined between the two rows. An M-shaped anchor has two legs and a central section, with one of the legs being located adjacent to one face of a body in one row and the other leg being located adjacent to one face of a body in the other row, and a central section that is located between the two bodies. Each row can include a plurality of end-to-end bodies which can be in overlapping relationship with each other. A tool for placing the M-shaped anchor into the ground is also disclosed.

Many construction projects require a ditch or swale. As is well known, these ditches are often required to contain water runoff. This run-off often carries sediment or the like which must be controlled.
Accordingly, the art contains several inventions intended to control such sediment and erosion associated therewith. Examples of such inventions include hay bales, rock ditch checks, and fences. The fences include end-adjacent panels which, in some forms, are anchored to the ground in the ditch by stakes, and in other forms are anchored to the ground by burying part of the panel.
While somewhat successful, these prior art ditch checks have several drawbacks. For example, some of the prior art ditch checks include panels which are difficult to store, transport and set up because they are bulky and must be precisely manipulated and set up. Some of the prior art ditch checks require high maintenance and are thus costly.
Therefore, there is need for a ditch check that is easily and efficiently stored, transported and set up and requires only a minimum amount of maintenance.
Further, since not all terrain is even, a ditch check should be amenable to being efficiently customized for a particular terrain. Many prior art ditch checks include stiff panels that are not at all amenable to such customizing to accurately fit a particular terrain. This may lead to costly construction efforts.
Therefore, there is a need for a ditch check that can be efficiently customized to fit the particular terrain.
Yet another drawback to many know ditch checks is the inability to aid revegitation. A monolithic concrete panel is an example of such a prior art ditch check that makes revegitation difficult.
Therefore, there is need for a ditch check that can promote revegitation.
Since it is difficult to accurately predict the amount of water that will be flowing through a ditch, a ditch check should be amenable to accommodating a wide range of water flow rates. However, many prior art ditch checks have fixed openings which can not accommodate flow rates above a limited velocity. Simply making flow paths through the ditch check larger is not the answer since larger openings will not trap the sediment required for the ditch check.
Therefore, there is need for a ditch check that can efficiently accommodate a large range of flow rates while still trapping the sediment required for the ditch check.
Still further, the flow paths through many of the prior art ditch checks are easily clogged but difficult to clean. A flow passage through a concrete panel can become plugged and may be difficult to clean.
Therefore, there is need for a ditch check that can be efficiently cleaned.
For a variety of reasons, including some of the above-discussed drawbacks, many prior art ditch checks are not reusable. Thus, once set up, such ditch checks must be discarded when their usefulness has expired. This is not as economical as could be desired.
Therefore, there is need for a ditch check that can be reused.
Still further, some ditch checks have portions thereof that dislodge and/or wash away. When flowing water hits a check, it creates an eddy. The eddy scours the soil immediately upstream from the erosion control device which then undercuts the elements associated with the erosion control device, allowing he water to flow beneath the check. The flowing water can also remove the earth holding elements supporting the ditch check thereby creating a possibility of dislodging the entire device.
Therefore, there is a need for a ditch check that is not unduly subject to water bypassing the check or dislodging support elements of the check.


A film forming method includes: preparing a substrate having a metal layer formed on a surface of a first region and an insulating layer formed on a surface of a second region, wherein the metal layer is formed of a first metal; forming a self-assembled film on a surface of the metal layer by supplying a source gas of the self-assembled film; after forming the self-assembled film, forming an oxide film of a second metal on the insulating layer through an atomic layer deposition method by repeating a supply of a precursor gas containing the second metal and a supply of an oxidizing gas; and reducing an oxide film of the first metal formed on a surface of the first metal by supplying a reducing gas after the supply of the oxidizing gas and before the supply of the precursor gas.

Patent Document 1 discloses a technique in which a blocking layer composed of a self-assembled monolayer is formed on a gate dielectric layer, and then a first metal layer is formed on the gate dielectric layer through an atomic layer deposition (ALD) method, whereby the first metal layer is selectively formed in a region of the gate dielectric layer in which the blocking layer is not present without being formed in a region of the gate dielectric layer in which the blocking layer is present.


A process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, includes an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; a drum gear provided at one longitudinal end of the drum; a developing roller for developing with toner an electrostatic latent image formed on the drum; a developing roller gear, provided at one longitudinal end of the developing roller, for meshing engagement with the drum gear to transmit a driving force for rotating the developing roller from the drum gear; a cleaner container supporting the drum; a toner developing container supporting the developing roller; a coupling member for rotatably connecting the cleaner container and the toner developing container with each other; an urging member for urging the cleaner container and the toner developing container coupled by the coupling member in the direction of engagement of the drum gear and the developing roller gear with each other; and a tape stuck continuously on the cleaner container and the toner developing container to maintain, against an urging force provided by the urging member, a state in which the drum gear and the developing roller gear are disengaged from each other or in which a back clearance between the drum gear and the developing roller gear is larger than that during an image forming operation.

The present invention relates to a process cartridge.
Here, the process cartridge is a cartridge containing at least a developing roller as developing means and an electrophotographic photosensitive member as a unit, the cartridge being detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
The electrophotographic image forming apparatus is an apparatus in which an image is formed on a recording material (recording paper, textile or the like) using an electrophotographic image forming process, and includes an electrophotographic copying machine, an electrophotographic printer (a LED printer, laser beam printer and so on), an electrophotographic printer type facsimile machine, an electrophotographic word processor and the like.
In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus using an electrophotographic image forming process, a process cartridge is used that integrally contains an electrophotographic photosensitive member and process means actable on the electrophotographic photosensitive member, the process cartridge being detachably mountable to the main assembly of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus. With this process- cartridge type, the maintenance of the apparatus can be carried out in effect without service people. Therefore, the process cartridge type is widely used in the field of the electrophotographic image forming apparatus.
Such a process cartridge forms an image on recording material with toner. In the process cartridge, the developing roller of the developing means and the electrophotographic photosensitive member are coupled with other by gears.
During transportation of the process cartridge, the photosensitive drum is press-contacted to the spacer rollers at the end of portions of the developing roller.
And, the gear fixed coaxially to the photosensitive drum and the gear coaxially fixed to the developing roller are in a regular meshing engagement with each other. By impact or vibration imparted to the process cartridge during transportation, the gear teeth of the gears abut each other with a result of rotation of the photosensitive drum and the developing roller. If the directions of the rotations are all opposite from the directions during the image forming operation, the blow-out preventing sheet counter-directionally contacted to the peripheral surface of the developing roller may be turned over.
Accordingly, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge in which the developing roller is prevented from or suppressed in rotating in the direction opposite from the regular direction (the direction in which the developing roller rotates during the image formation operation), during the transportation of the process cartridge.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a process cartridge in which the toner leakage to the outside is effectively prevented.
According to an aspect of the present invention, there is provided a process cartridge detachably mountable to a main assembly of an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, comprising: an electrophotographic photosensitive drum; a drum gear provided at one longitudinal end of the photosensitive drum; a developing roller for developing with toner an electrostatic latent image formed on the photosensitive drum; a developing roller gear, provided at one longitudinal end of developing roller, for meshing engagement with the drum gear to transmit a driving force for rotating the developing roller from the drum gear; a cleaner container supporting the photosensitive drum; a toner developing container supporting developing roller; a coupling member for rotatably connecting the cleaner container and the toner developing container with each other; an urging member for urging the cleaner container and the toner developing container coupled by the coupling member in the direction of engagement of the drum gear and the developing roller gear with each other; a tape stuck continuously on the cleaner container and the toner developing container to maintain, against an urging force provided by the urging member, a state in which the drum gear developing roller gear are disengaged from each other or in which a back clearance between the drum gear and the developing roller gear is larger than that during image forming operation.
These and other objects, features and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent upon a consideration of the following description of the preferred embodiments of the present invention taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


The invention concerns monoclonal antibodies which are directed against the thrombin/hirudin-complex and derivatives thereof, processes for their preparation, hybridoma cell lines secreting said monoclonal antibodies, and processes for the preparation of the hybridoma cell lines. Furthermore, the invention relates to the use of the monoclonal antibodies and/or their derivatives for the determination of the thrombin/hirudin-complex as well as to test kits comprising said monoclonal antibodies and/or their derivatives.

An efficiently operating haemostatic system is of vital necessity for the mammalian organism. In healthy organisms defects of the blood vascular system, e.g. vascular lesions, are repaired in a two-step process: the aggregation of thrombocytes is followed by the formation of a fibrin clot in an enzyme cascade under participation of several blood clotting factors. Most of these factors are serin proteases, for example thrombin which catalyzes the reaction of fibrinogen to fibrin. The coagulation system is counteracted by the fibrinolytic system involving, among others, the protease plasmin which cleaves fibrin. The coagulation and fibrinolytic systems are usually in a dynamic equilibrium. In cases, however, in which the fibrinolytic potential of the organism is disturbed or insufficient, for example in patients suffering from thromboembolisms or post-operative complications, it is indispensable to support the organism by the administration of anticoagulants to prevent further formation of fibrin and of thrombolytic agents to dissolve the formed thrombi.
Hirudin, an anticoagulant that occurs naturally in leeches (Hirudo medicinalis), is a potent and specific inhibitor of thrombin, preventing the cleavage of fibrinogen and subsequent fibrin clot formation. Hirudin reacts very rapidly with .alpha.-thrombin to form a very tight noncovalent complex (K.sub.I .apprxeq.1-0.01 pM) which is extremely stable and enzymatically totally inactive. Several closely related hirudin variants have been described, each containing 65 or 66 amino acids, for example the variants designated hirudin variant 1 (HV1), hirudin variant 2 (HV2), hirudin variant PA (HV3), and "des-(Val).sub.2 -hirudin". The variants differ from each other by a number of amino acids, but all have an accumulation of hydrophobic amino acids at the N-terminus, an accumulation of polar amino acids at the C-terminus, a tyrosine residue (Tyr 63) present as sulphate monoester, three disulphide bridges and the anticoagulant activity in common. Recently, cDNAs and synthetic genes coding for hirudin variants have been cloned and expressed in microbial hosts. The recombinant hirudin variants lack the sulphate monoester group at Tyr 63 and are therefore also referred to as desulphatohirudins. However, they exhibit biological properties at least equivalent to those of natural sulphated hirudins.
Hirudin has a great potential for future therapeutic use due to its selective inhibition of thrombin in conjunction with its low toxicity and the absence of immunological side effects. However, the successful therapeutic application of hirudin also requires a system for monitoring its activity as well as the course of the therapy. In addition, it is desirable to be able to determine the actual requirement for hirudin treatment. A solution to these problems would be the development of antibodies against the complex formed by thrombin and hirudin which could be employed to detect the formation of thrombin even in small amounts.

Monoclonal antibodies directed against complexes formed by thrombin and hirudin


A routing controller in a communication network may be responsible for issuing routing rules to forwarding devices in the network. Exemplary embodiments allow forwarding functionality to be implemented by the forwarding devices in a device-specific manner. The routing controller may specify a routing rule to be implemented by the forwarding device, and may provide a default or suggested implementation of the function in the specification of the rule. If the forwarding device does not have a predetermined implementation of the function that is specific to the routing device, the forwarding device may use the default implementation provided by the routing controller. However, if the forwarding device does have a predetermined implementation of the function, the forwarding device may override the implementation described in the specification and use the predetermined implementation instead.

In communication networks, such as telephone networks and data networks including the Internet, information may be sent along a path from a source device to a destination device. The source device and the destination device may be, for example personal computers, servers such as email servers, web servers, or file servers, or other electronic devices capable of sending and/or receiving information via the network.
The information may pass through one or more forwarding devices, such as routers or other electronic devices having the ability to forward the information to another device. The intermediate devices may receive the information and use functions, algorithms, data structures, and rules to determine where and how to forward the information so that the information moves towards its intended destination. These functions, algorithms, data structures, and rules form the "forwarding plane" of the network. The functions, algorithms, data structures, and rules of the forwarding plane may be implemented and/or enforced by one or more forwarding devices in the network.
For example, a forwarding device may receive a packet on an inbound interface, look up the destination address of the packet, and apply a rule which causes the forwarding device to look up the destination address in a particular routing table. The routing table may provide a list of "next destinations" which represent a device to which the packet should be sent. The next destination for a particular packet might be, for example, the final destination device or another intermediate forwarding device. The next destination may be identified by an address stored in the routing table. The next destinations stored in the routing table may be indexed by a final destination of the packet. Thus, by looking up the final destination of the packet (e.g., as identified by a header of the packet), one can retrieve the next destination from the routing table. The forwarding device may then forward the packet on an outbound interface to the identified next destination.
Certain aspects of the forwarding plane can affect the efficiency of the network. These aspects include the specific rules, algorithms, data structures, and functions employed, the manner in which the forwarding plane is implemented, and the location at which the forwarding plane is implemented and/or enforced.

Translating network forwarding plane models into target implementation using sub models and hints


A flush valve includes: a valve body having a diaphragm valve flexibly formed in the valve body communicated with an inlet pipe for supplying inlet water and an outlet pipe connected to a toilet, a urinal or a sprinkler system, a filter and a magnet mounted in the diaphragm valve for filtering out the dirts or rust carried in the water, a limit valve formed in the valve body juxtapositioned to the diaphragm valve for automatically closing the relief vents and passages between the diaphragm valve and the outlet pipe in case of failure of a manual relief valve or an electrically operated relief valve, which controls the opening or closing of the diaphragm valve, with the manual relief valve operatively opening the relief vents or passages at the downstream side of the diaphragm valve in a pre-set time period for timely opening the diaphragm valve, and a self-regulating valve provided in the outlet pipe for automatically maintaining a constant water flow rate when subjected to a fluctuated water pressure in a plumbing system.

A conventional flush valve of a plumbing system as used for flushing a toilet or urinal as shown in FIG. 1 includes: a diaphragm valve F formed in a central portion of a valve body communicated with an inlet pipe I for supplying water W therein, a solenoid S normally closing a valve opening V and operatively opened by a controller having a sensor A when detecting the presence of a person using the toilet or urinal for discharging flush water from the drain pipe D having a listed atmospheric vacuum breaker U mounted therein.
Upon opening of the solenoid valve S, the water W will flow through an orifice O formed in the diaphragm valve F, a valve opening V, and a central opening C in a stem T of the diaphragm valve F to be finally drained through the drain pipe D. The diaphragm stem T is reciprocatively moved and guided in a central hole H recessed in a central body portion, having a sealing ring R retained on the stem T for water sealing.
However, the conventional flush valve of FIG. 1 has the following drawbacks:
1. The sealing ring or O-ring R on the stem T may be easily worn to cause water leakage through the inside wall of the recessed hole H as indicated by dotted line L of FIG. 1 even if the solenoid valve S is normally closed, thereby wasting water and requiring frequent repair and maintenance for the flush valve. PA0 2. The top cap or cover E is merely provided for mounting the solenoid S, the controller A, and batteries B for powering the controller and solenoid S, lacking of an actuating valve for manually operating the flush valve. PA0 3. Without implementing any filtering medium in the valve, the dirt or rust may be accumulated on the core of the solenoid S to retard the movement of the core without closing the valve opening V when needed, thereby being unable to stop flushing automatically. PA0 4. Once the solenoid is out of order, the valve opening V is always opened to cause continuous water drainage and waste water resource.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,295,655 to John R. Wilson disclosed a toilet device flush valve having a movable diaphragm closing upon the valve seat to control flow between the inlet and the outlet, having a handle assembly (16) controlling movement of a plunger (18), a relief valve (42) and the diaphragm (32).
However, when it is intended to flush the toilet, the handle (16) should be continuously operated to actuate the plunger (18) to tilt the relief valve (42) for opening the diaphragm (32). Upon releasing of the handle (16), the water will be immediately stopped to interrupt the flushing for the toilet, causing inconvenient flushing operation or even an incomplete cleaning of the toilet.
The present inventor has found the drawbacks of the conventional flush valve and invented the present reliable flush valve.

5F, No. 26, Lane 101, Hang-Chou S. Rd., Sec. 1


A variety of techniques are used to manage temperature in and around an extruder for a three-dimensional printer.

An extruder for a three-dimensional printer may define a chamber in thermal communication with a heater that heats a build material to a target temperature above a liquefaction temperature of the build material, and the melted build material may move through a nozzle of the extruder to form an object during a three-dimensional print. As the heater heats the build material to the target temperature, the heater may undesirably heat other portions of the extruder where such heat can cause damage. For example, excess heat experienced near an inlet and/or an outlet of the extruder can damage components located on or adjacent to these orifices. There remains a need for improved thermal management of an extruder for a three-dimensional printer.


A catalyst for preferentially reducing carbon monoxide in a hydrogen stream. The catalyst is formed from a chemical composition including a hexaaluminate, a metal hydroxide and a precious metal. The composition may be disposed on a support or may be extruded or cast into or onto a support. Incorporation of hexaaluminates allows inclusion of metal hydroxides that flux the active precious metal surface at higher temperatures than can aluminum oxide-based catalytic compositions, thereby enhancing resistance of the catalyst and monolithic support and increasing the durability and thermal range of the PROX catalyst. An additional advantage is that lesser amounts of precious metal oxides need be deposited onto the hexaaluminate, while retaining activity similar to aluminum oxide compositions.

It is well known in the art to partially oxidize ("reform") hydrocarbons such as, for example, gasoline, and to yield a gaseous mixture of fuel gases ("reformate") including hydrogen and carbon monoxide. Such reformate, as generated, is useful as a fuel for a class of fuel cells known in the art as "solid-oxide fuel cells" (SOFC) wherein both hydrogen and carbon monoxide are oxidized by migration of an oxygen anion to produce electric power.
Another class of fuel cells, known as "proton exchange membrane" (PEM) fuel cells, is incapable of utilizing raw reformate containing carbon monoxide. Such fuel cells contain large amounts of precious metals which can become irreversibly poisoned by carbon monoxide. Thus, the higher the expected carbon monoxide level in the hydrogen stream, the greater the necessary amount of precious metal loadings in the catalyst. A motor vehicle using a fuel cell fueled with a pure hydrogen stream may need no more than, for example, $5000 worth of precious metals, whereas a motor vehicle using a fuel cell fueled with a hydrogen stream containing 20 ppm carbon monoxide may need more than $20,000 worth of precious metals.
Therefore, for PEM fuel cells, it is highly desirable to remove carbon monoxide from the hydrogen fuel feed stream, typically by preferential oxidation (PROX) catalysis to carbon dioxide, ahead of entry of the fuel stream into the fuel cell.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,162,558, issued Dec. 19, 2000, incorporated herein by reference, discloses an iridium-based PROX catalyst dispersed on and supported by a porous, inert, three-dimensional refractory carrier. Common support materials disclosed are MgO; CaO; Ca2SiO4; BaO; Ca3SiO5; ZrO2; CeO2; Cr2O3; La2O3; ThO2; alpha, delta gamma, and theta alumina (Al2O3), and combinations thereof; silicas and silicates; sodium borosilicate; TiO2; MgAl2O4; ZnCr2O4; CaSiO3; SiO2; SiO2—Al2O3; and clay such as bentonite. The preferred carrier is a mixture of alumina and sodium borosilicate. The treatment of the feed gas by the catalyst is carried out preferably at a temperature between about 80° C. and 300° C., more preferably between about 210° C. and 260° C., resulting in carbon monoxide gas concentrations below 20 ppm, and preferably below 10 ppm. When the iridium catalyst is dispersed on a carrier comprising 30 weight percent alumina and 70 weight percent sodium borosilicate, the carbon monoxide level is reduced to as low as 4 ppm at a temperature of 220° C.
European Patent Application EP 1038832, filed Sep. 26, 1997 by Toyota Motors and published Sep. 27, 2000, discloses an apparatus that reduces the concentration of carbon monoxide in a hydrogen-rich gas, using a PROX catalyst having ruthenium as a primary component but further including, in combination with the ruthenium, another metal that extends the effective temperature range in which the selective oxidation of carbon monoxide is accelerated. The combined metal may be an alkali metal, such as lithium or potassium, or an alkaline earth metal, such as barium. Also, nickel or zinc may be used. The carrier is alumina pellets, and the feed gas treatment is carried out at a temperature between about 100° C. and 200° C. Using a catalyst containing ruthenium at a level of 0.036 mole/liter (moles Ru/volume of alumina pellets) together with potassium at a level of 0.005 mole/liter (moles K/volume of alumina pellets), the concentration of carbon monoxide is reduced to levels of 22 ppm, 4 ppm, and 8 ppm at temperatures of, respectively, 100° C., 140° C., and 200° C.
It is known in the art to use aluminum oxides or stabilized aluminum oxides in PROX catalyst compositions. Stabilized aluminates typically have stabilizer in randomized locations, not necessarily locked in the C-axis of the crystal structure. For example, barium aluminates describes many compounds such as, but not limited to BaAl2O4. The barium content of barium aluminates can range from less than about 1 wt % to more than about 60 wt %. Barium aluminates as PROX support oxides are not relatively stable to strong fluxing agents such as metal hydroxides.
It is known further in the catalytic arts to use one or more hexaaluminate compounds in the formation of catalysts, for example, for reforming hydrocarbons as fuel for gas turbines and jet engines, for partially oxidizing methane to syngas, and for combustion of gasified biomass. Known hexaaluminates typically include one or more metals in the lattice, for example, barium, manganese, lanthanum, nickel, and strontium. Hexaaluminates generally have been found to be structurally stable at higher temperatures than conventional aluminum oxides. It is not known in the art to use hexaaluminates in PROX carbon monoxide catalysis.
It is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved oxidizing catalyst composition that is preferential for carbon monoxide and has reduced susceptibility to carbon monoxide poisoning.
It is a further object of the invention to provide such a catalyst wherein the cost of precious metal components is reduced.
It is a still further object of the invention to provide such a catalyst whereby, in a flowing mixture of gases including hydrogen and carbon monoxide, the concentration of carbon monoxide is reduced to less than 5 parts per million.

PROX catalyst for oxidizing carbon monoxide


A method for providing service for users to determine assembly match information of components is proposed. The method makes use of computer programs of a communication equipment and cooperation of a database and tag information on the components to provide inquiry judgement and match decision of components for users, thereby accomplishing realtime match inquiry of components and also avoiding erroneous manual assembly. The method not only can provide related specification information of components, but also can provide suggestion for component schemes. If the assembly match information changes, update information of the remote database can be transmitted via the communication equipment to a read/write device to update assembly match information in tags on components.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for providing service for users to determine assembly match information of components and, more particularly, to a method for providing a smart automatic match mechanism via a communication equipment, a read/write device, and a plurality of tags and a matched remote database to provide service for users to determine assembly match information of components and to update quickly assembly match information in the tags.
2. Description of Related Art
Along with the progress of the industrial technology, components of industrial products tend toward complexity and diversification due to continual upgrade of products. The functional wholeness of the final product depends on the exploitability of individual functions of each component and the function interaction between components. In the past, function confirmation of a target component and whether to perform assembly before assembly or for after-sale service usually depend on an assembler's recognition of the component. After a new product is launched, update of the assembly match information of existent components usually cannot keep up, hence resulting in much inconvenience to the assembler and also difficulty of after-sale service.
Because the recognition of component depends on artificial judgement, misjudgment may occur due to insufficient experience or temporary carelessness. Using the car industry as an example, the number of components reaches tens of thousands. Whether the interactions between components are normal relate to the safety of driving. When a car is sent back to the factory for replacement of a component due to breakdown, although the maintenance technician replaces the component according to the specification of the original manufacturer, whether the component is the one defined by the original manufacturer depends on-visual confirmation of the technician. When artificial confirmation is wrong, a wrong component will replace the original component to affect the safety of driving. Therefore, how to use a systematic mechanism to avoid this kind of artificial error is an important issue for providing products of high reliability.

Method for providing service for users to determine assembly match information of components

Industrial Technology Research Institute


Systems and method in accordance with the embodiments of the present invention can include an implant for positioning at a vertebra for resisting the expulsion of a bone graft from within an intervertebral space. The implant includes a buttress plate having an intervertebral plate and an anchoring plate connected such that the intervertebral plate can move relative to the anchoring plate.

A common procedure for handling pain associated with degenerative spinal disc disease is the use of devices for fusing together two or more adjacent vertebral bodies. The procedure is known by a number of terms, one of which is vertebral interbody fusion. Interbody fusion can be accomplished through the use of a number of devices and methods known in the art. These include screw arrangements, solid bone implant methodologies, and fusion devices which include a cage or other mechanism which is packed with bone and/or bone growth inducing substances. All of the above are implanted between adjacent vertebral bodies in order to fuse the vertebral bodies together, alleviating associated pain. One common method for fusing to vertebral body is to substitute a bone graft for a portion of a disc disposed between the vertebral bodies. The bone graft stimulates bone growth, thereby resulting in fusion. Once risk associated with a bone graft is expulsion from a point of insertion.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Implant for stabilizing a bone graft during spinal fusion


Active Circulation Control (ACC) of aerodynamic structures, such as a turbine blade, uses unsteady or oscillatory flow from either synthetic jets or pulsed jets to modify a velocity profile of the blade. The blade includes an opening disposed in a surface of the blade at a location proximate to a trailing edge, a leading edge, or both the trailing edge and the leading edge of the blade. An active flow control device in fluid communication with the opening produces a wall-jet of pulsed fluid that flows over the trailing edge, the leading edge, or both the trailing and leading edges of the blade and modify the velocity profile of the blade.

The invention relates to active circulation control of aerodynamic structures. More specifically, the invention relates to active circulation control for a aerodynamic structures, such as a wind turbine blade or a gas turbine blade, by using unsteady or oscillatory flow either via synthetic jets or pulsed jets to improve lift, flow-turning characteristics, or the handling of off-design conditions, as compared to the same blade without active circulation control.
Referring now to FIG. 13, an airfoil or aerofoil 200 is the shape of a wing or blade (of a propeller, rotor or turbine) or sail as seen in cross-section. Some terminology associate with the airfoil 200 will be described. The mean camber line 206 of an airfoil 200 is a line drawn midway between the upper and lower surfaces 202, 204, respectively. The chord line 208 is a straight line connecting the leading and trailing edges 210, 212 of the airfoil 200, at the ends of the mean camber line 206. The chord length 214 is the length of the chord line 208 and is the characteristic dimension of the airfoil section. The maximum thickness 216 and the location of maximum thickness are usually expressed as a percentage of the chord length 214. Similarly, the maximum camber 218 and the location of maximum camber are usually expressed as a percentage of the chord length 214. For symmetrical airfoils, both mean camber line 206 and chord line 208 pass from center of gravity of the airfoil 200 and touch at the leading and trailing edges 210, 212 of the airfoil 200. The aerodynamic center is the chord wise length about which the pitching moment is independent of the lift coefficient and the angle of attack 220, which is the angle between the chord line 208 and the vector representing the relative motion between the airfoil 200 and the air (indicated by the arrows). The center of pressure is the chord wise location about which the pitching moment is zero.
An airfoil-shaped body moved through a fluid produces a force perpendicular to the motion called lift. Subsonic flight airfoils have a characteristic shape with a rounded leading edge, followed by a sharp trailing edge, often with asymmetric camber. Airfoils designed with water as the working fluid are also called hydrofoils.
A fixed-wing aircraft's wings, horizontal, and vertical stabilizers are built with airfoil-shaped cross sections, as are helicopter rotor blades. Airfoils are also found in propellers, fans, compressors and turbines. Sails are also airfoils, and the underwater surfaces of sailboats, such as the centerboard and keel, are similar in cross-section and operate on the same principles as airfoils. Swimming and flying creatures and even many plants and sessile organisms employ airfoils; common examples being bird wings, the bodies of fishes, and the shape of sand dollars. An airfoil-shaped wing can create downforce on an automobile or other motor vehicle, improving traction.
The effect by which a fluid jet attaches itself to an adjacent surface and remains attached was initially observed by Henri Marie Coand{hacek over (a)}, after whom the effect was named. "Coand{hacek over (a)} effect" is capable not only of attaching a free jet to a surface, but can also enable a tangential jet to negotiate and remain attached to a highly curved wall. The effect produces very strong entrainment of the surrounding fluid, independently of whether the external fluid is moving or stationary, and significantly reduces the surface static pressure under the jet. The point at which the flow separates from a curved surface in a two dimensional case can be controlled by the jet blowing momentum. The detailed physics of the effect are still not wholly understood.
The Coand{hacek over (a)} effect has important applications in various high-lift devices on aircraft, where air moving over the wing can be "bent down" towards the ground using flaps and a jet sheet blowing over the curved surface of the top of the wing. The bending of the flow results in its acceleration and as a result of Newton's Third Law pressure is decreased; aerodynamic lift is increased. The flow from a high speed jet engine mounted in a pod over the wing produces enhanced lift by dramatically increasing the velocity gradient in the shear flow in the boundary layer. In this velocity gradient, particles are blown away from the surface, thus lowering the pressure there.
The effect was first implemented in a practical sense during the U.S. Air Force's AMST project. Several aircraft, notably the Boeing YC-14 (the first modern type to exploit the effect), have been built to take advantage of this effect, by mounting turbofans on the top of wing to provide high-speed air even at low flying speeds, but to date only aircraft has gone into production using this system to a major degree, the Antonov An-72 "Coaler." The McDonnel Douglas YC-15 and its successor, the Boeing C-17 Globemaster III, also employ the effect, though to a less substantial degree. The NOTAR helicopter replaces the conventional propeller tail rotor with a Coand{hacek over (a)} effect tail.
An important practical use of the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect is for inclined hydropower screens, which separate debris, fish, etc., otherwise in the input flow to the turbines. Due to the slope, the debris falls from the screens without mechanical clearing, and due to the wires of the screen optimizing the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect, the water flows though the screen to the penstocks leading the water to the turbines. The Coand{hacek over (a)} effect is also used to make automotive windshield washers that function without moving parts and to create pneumatic logic circuits.
If airfoils are considered, then a conventional sharp trailing edges airfoil exhibits the well known "Kutta" condition, named for German mathematician and aerodynamicist Martin Wilhelm Kutta. The Kutta condition is a principle in steady flow fluid dynamics, especially aerodynamics, which is applicable to solid bodies which have sharp corners, such as the trailing edges of airfoils. The Kutta condition states that the rear stagnation streamline must emerge from the trialing edge in order to avoid discontinuities in velocity and pressure. Hence, the circulation around the airfoil is uniquely defined by the airfoil geometry, incidence and free stream velocity. If however, the trailing edge of the airfoil is rounded, then the rear stagnation point is free to move, depending upon the other parameters. If the airfoil is an ellipse aligned at zero incidence to the free stream direction, then the upper and lower surface separation points should be located at the same chordwise station and the net circulation will be zero. If now a jet of fluid is injected tangentially into the upper surface boundary layer, near the trailing edge, the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect will entrain the boundary layer and delay the separation of the upper surface flow. This causes a net increase in the circulation around the airfoil. The momentum of the blowing jet now controls the position of the rear stagnation point; the airfoil is subject to "Circulation Control" by blowing. If the blowing jet is strong enough to discharge excess momentum into the wake, then the airfoil performs in a similar manner to one fitted with a jet flap. The lift is no longer produced solely by delaying the upper surface separation, but has a jet reaction thrust component that reduces the net lift augmentations δCL/δCμ, as shown in FIG. 14.
Circulation Control uses fluid injection to create a steady wall-jet at the proximity of a rounded surface in a blade to leverage the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect, as shown in FIGS. 15A and 15B. Circulation Control results in increased lift and systems using this principle have been conceptualized for a wide variety of applications—from aircraft wings to wind turbines. In aircraft wings applications, the Circulation Control works by increasing the velocity of the airflow over the leading edge and trailing edge of a specially designed aircraft wing using a series of blowing slots that eject high pressure jet air. The wing has a rounded trailing edge to tangentially eject the air through the Coand{hacek over (a)} effect, thus causing lift. The increase in velocity of the airflow over the wing also adds to the lift force through conventional airfoil lift production. In wind turbine applications, the Circulation Control works by increasing the flow rate by urging pressurized air into a duct and out a slot in the blade, thereby capturing the power from the wind flowing through a swept area of the wind turbine. Because conventional Circulation Control is generally accomplished by the steady injection of pressurized air, the need to provide large mass flow rates of such air has typically resulted in prohibitively large system costs.
It is therefore desirable to achieve Circulation Control around an aerodynamic structure, such as an airfoil, to minimize the loss of, or, alternatively increase lift producing capability, but to do so at a reduced system cost. This can be accomplished, for example, by reducing power requirements of a pressurized air source or removing the need for such a source altogether. More specifically, it is desirable to provide a blade, such as for using in wind turbines, turbomachinery, aerospace vehicles, and the like, that is optimized or designed to provide better load-bearing performance than other currently commercially available streamlined aerodynamic profiles.

Active circulation control of aerodynamic structures


Three base station devices are connected to a base station control device in series. The payload of a cell storing data to be transmitted is partitioned into three areas, which are respectively allocated to the base station devices. The base station control device stores the data to be transmitted to corresponding base station devices in these three areas. Allocation pattern information indicating the allocation pattern of the payload is stored in the header of the cell. Upon receipt of the cell, the base station devices respectively extract the data addressed to the devices themselves based on the allocation pattern information stored in the header of the cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a system for storing data in a fixed-length packet and for transmitting the packet, and more particularly to an ATM system.
2. Description of the Related Art
An ATM is becoming popular as one of principal techniques of current communications systems, and promises to be used wider in the future.
FIG. 1 exemplifies a network using the ATM. Here, the ATM is used for a mobile communications system. Normally, respective mobile terminals 501-1 through 501-3 wirelessly transmit/receive data (including speech data) to/from their nearest base station devices. Base station devices 502-1 through 502-3 are respectively connected to a base station control device 503, and transmit/receive data to/from the mobile terminals 501-1 through 501-3 according to the control from the base station control device 503. The base station control device 503 is accommodated by a mobile exchange 504, which is intended to exchange data within the mobile communications system. Additionally, the mobile exchange 504 is connected to an exchange network 505 in order to allow data to be transmitted and received between the mobile communications system and a different network. In the system having the above described configuration, data are stored in fixed-length packets, which are referred to as cells, and transferred between the base station devices 502-1 through 502-3 and the base station control device 503, between the base station control device 503 and the mobile exchange 504, between the mobile exchange 504 and the exchange network 505, and within the exchange network 505.
FIG. 2 shows the format of an ATM cell. Here, the format of a UNI (User Network Interface) is depicted. The ATM cell is fundamentally a fixed-length packet of 53 bytes, and is composed of a 5-byte header and a 48-byte payload. The header is composed of a GFC (Generic Flow Control) arranged for preventing cells from colliding with each other at an interface, a VPI (Virtual Path Identifier) for identifying a virtual path, a VCI (Virtual Channel Identifier) for identifying a virtual channel set on a virtual path, a PT (Payload Type) for identifying the type of information stored in a payload, a CLP (Cell Loss Priority) for indicating a priority of a cell, and an HEC (Header Error Control) for detecting an error of header data. The payload stores data to be transmitted.
Note that the format of an ATM cell of an NNI (Network Network Interface) is fundamentally the same as that of the UNI. However, the GFC is not arranged in this NNI format, and additionally, 12 bits are assigned to the VPI.
The base station devices 502-1 through 502-3 respectively have a CLAD (Cell Assembly and Disassembly) capability. The CLAD capability is a capability for assembling a cell by partitioning digital data into 48-byte blocks and by respectively attaching headers to the partitioned 48-byte blocks, and for extracting the data from the payloads of the respective cells. That is, each of the base station devices 502-1 through 502-3 stores the data received from a mobile terminal in a payload of a cell and transfers the cell to the base station control device 503, and transfers the data stored in the payload of the cell received from the base station control device 503 to a mobile terminal at a call destination. The VPIs/VCIs between the base station control device 503 and the base station devices 502-1 through 502-3 are assigned, for example, by the base station control device 503.
Upon receiving a cell from any of the base station devices 502-1 through 502-3, the base station control device 503 transfers the cell to the mobile exchange 504. Upon receiving a cell from the mobile exchange 504, the base station control device 503 transfers the cell to the base station device corresponding to the VPI/VCI assigned to the header of the cell. The mobile exchange 504 transfers the cell to a base station control device 503 or exchange network 505 based on the VPI/VCI assigned to the header of the received cell. FIG. 1 illustrates only one base station control device. Actually, however, a plurality of base station control devices are accommodated by the mobile exchange 504.
With the above described system, data transferred between mobile terminals or data transferred between a mobile terminal and a different terminal are transmitted by the ATM.
As described above, data are stored in cells and transmitted in the ATM. Fundamentally, data to be transmitted is partitioned into 48-byte blocks, and the respectively partitioned data are sequentially stored in the payloads of cells.
By the way, particularly in mobile communications, data to be transmitted is compressed in order to save network resources (such as a frequency band in this case). Accordingly, for example, the transfer rate of speech data such as a conversation, etc. is considerably low.
If respective cells are transmitted every time the payload of each of the cells is filled with the data to be transmitted in the case where such low-speed data is transmitted by using the ATM, the time intervals at which cells are transmitted become longer as a matter of course, which leads to a data transmission delay. The data transmission delay must be prevented particularly when speech or image data is transmitted, as is well known.
A method for transmitting a cell before its payload is filled with data to be transmitted is known as a method for preventing the above described delay. Specifically, for example, an interval at which a cell is transmitted is predetermined, and the data received from the transmission timing of the immediately previous cell and until the transmission timing of the present cell is stored in the payload, and data (dummy data) referred to as a pad (padding) is stored in the remaining area of the payload as shown in FIG. 3, when the cell is transmitted. The cell whose payload partially includes a pad is transmitted. The pad is, for example, data in which all of bits are 0.
As described above, if the method for transmitting a cell before its payload is filled with data to be transmitted is adopted, a delay problem can be overcome. However, because dummy data are transmitted included with data to be transmitted in this method, the transmission efficiency of data is degraded.
Although this problem is significant when the transfer rate of data to be transmitted is low, it may occur even when the transfer rate is high. Additionally, this is not a problem occurring only in speech data.
An object of the present invention is to improve data transmission efficiency in a system for storing data in a fixed-length packet and for transmitting the packet.
A data transmission method according to the present invention is performed in a system for transmitting data by using a fixed-length packet from a transmitting device to a plurality of receiving devices. This method comprises the steps of: allocating the data storage area of the fixed-length packet to one or more of the plurality of receiving devices; storing only data to be transmitted to the one or more receiving devices to which the data storage area of the fixed-length packet is allocated in a corresponding partitioned area of the fixed-length packet; storing the allocation information indicating an allocation pattern of the data storage area of the fixed-length packet in the header of the fixed-length packet; transmitting the fixed-length packet from the transmitting device to the plurality of receiving devices; and extracting data from the data storage area of the fixed-length packet based on the allocation information stored in the header of the fixed-length packet, within each of the receiving devices.
With the above described method, a transmitting device can transmit a plurality of data sets, which are unique, to a plurality of receiving devices by using a single fixed-length packet. Since the data storage area of the fixed-length packet is shared by the plurality of receiving devices at this time, there is no need to store invalid (dummy) data in order to prevent a transmission delay. Accordingly, data transmission efficiency can be improved while preventing a transmission delay. Additionally, only data to be transmitted to receiving devices are stored in the data storage area of a fixed-length packet, so that an overhead becomes smaller and the data transmission efficiency can be increased.
A data transmission method in a second aspect of the present invention is performed in a system for transmitting data by using a fixed-length packet from a plurality of transmitting devices, which are connected in series, to a receiving device. This data transmission method comprises the steps of: allocating the data storage area of the fixed-length packet to one or more of the plurality of transmitting devices; storing the allocation information indicating the pattern for allocating the data storage area to the plurality of transmitting devices in the header of the fixed-length packet; storing the data to be transmitted to the receiving device in the data storage area of the fixed-length packet based on the allocation information stored in the header of the fixed-length packet at each of the transmitting devices, when the fixed-length packet is transmitted to the receiving device sequentially via the plurality of transmitting devices; and extracting data for each of the transmitting devices from the data storage area of the fixed-length packet based on the allocation information stored in the header of the fixed-length packet, within the receiving device.
With the above described method, a plurality of transmitting devices can transmit data to a receiving device by using a single fixed-length packet. Since the data storage area of the fixed-length packet is shared by the plurality of transmitting devices at this time, there is no need to store invalid (dummy) data in order to prevent a transmission delay. Accordingly, data transmission efficiency can be improved while preventing a transmission delay.
A data transmission method in a third aspect of the present invention is performed by a system for transmitting data from a first device to a second device arranged in a network that transfers a first fixed-length packet. This method comprises the steps of: the first device extracting valid data stored in the data storage area of the first fixed-length packet when the first device receives the first fixed-length packet to be transmitted to the second device, the first device storing the extracted valid data in the data storage area of a second fixed-length packet, and the first device transmitting the second fixed-length packet to the second transmitting device.
With the above described method, data are transferred between the first and the second devices by using the second fixed-length packet which is sorter than the first fixed-length packet, so that the amount of invalid data to be transmitted can be reduced and the data transmission efficiency can be improved.


A conductor rail has a main body (10) of aluminum and a facing layer (11) formed of a steel having a chromium content of between 10 and 13.5% by weight. The preferred steel composition is that of British Standard No. 416 S21.

One method of producing conductor rails is described in French Patent Specification No. 2 286 680 and comprises bending the steel facing layer into contact with the main body and then effecting a crimping operation to key the facing strip into interlocking engagement with the main body.
Another method of producing conductor rails is described in Applicant's U.S. Pat. No. 5,047,595 and includes forming the facing layer as two or more portions which are welded together in contact with the main body in such manner as to obtain a mechanical interlocking engagement of the facing layer with the main body.
The steel from which the facing layer has been formed has been stainless steel and, traditionally, the chromium content of the stainless steel has been of the order of 18% by weight since this percentage chromium has been considered necessary to obtain the optimum characteristics for the facing layer. The use of a stainless steel of this composition is mentioned in, for example, British Patent Specification No. 1 415 904.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a conductor rail comprising a main body of aluminium and a steel facing layer in which the composition of the steel is such as to provide improved characteristics as compared to the use of a steel having an 18% by weight chromium content.
In addition, it is an object of the present invention to provide a conductor rail as discussed above which has cost-saving advantages as compared with a conductor rail which includes a facing layer formed from a stainless steel having an 18% by weight chromium content.


A computer implemented method for illumination planning is provided that includes providing a floorplan having at least one lighting space; and assigning functions to the at least one lighting space. The lighting space and functions assigned to the lighting space of the floorplan are matched to a historical lighting schema. A lighting layout is extracted from the historical lighting schema and matched to the lighting space. A light package is extracted from the historical lighting schema and matched to the lighting space. A calculation of lighting performance for the lighting layout and the light package that has been matched to the lighting space is conducted to determine whether the lighting performance meets a lighting standard or whether the lighting performance does not meet the lighting standard. The computer implemented method further includes producing a conclusion for the lighting scenario for suitability to the floorplan and functions.

The present invention generally relates to lighting, and more particularly to simulation of lighting conditions.
Artificial lighting systems for closed environments ("indoors") are available that aim at improving the visual comfort experienced by users. For example, lighting systems are known that simulate natural lighting, namely the type of lighting available in open-air environments. This is only one example of a type of lighting that may be desired for interior artificial lighting. There are tens of thousands of luminaire types available on the market. For a normal user, it is difficult amongst the amount, e.g., tens of thousands of possible luminaires, to select the particular products needed to achieve the type of lighting they desire. For professionals, it can be at least time consuming to determine what lighting specifications are applicable for specific lighting environments.


Provided herein are methods for accurately determining the alleles present at a locus that is broadly applicable to any locus, including highly polymorphic loci such as HLA loci, BGA loci and HV loci. Embodiments of the disclosed methods are useful in a wide range of applications, including, for example, organ transplantation, personalized medicine, diagnostics, forensics and anthropology.

While most of the human genome is made up of conserved sequences shared by essentially the entire human population, a small but significant fraction of the genome is highly variable. These sequence differences are not evenly spread across the genome. Rather, certain genomic regions ("loci") contain many more sequence variations ("polymorphisms") than others. The identity of the specific nucleotide sequence at a particular locus (i.e., the allele present at that locus) can have significant biological implications. For example, the allele an individual carries at a particular locus can influence whether an individual is susceptible to a disease or whether a therapeutic agent is likely to be efficacious. In addition, knowledge of the identity of the alleles at a highly polymorphic locus can be used to track the ethnic and/or geographic origins of a biological sample, which can be invaluable to anthropologist and can be used forensically to link an individual with a biological sample. Given the increasing availability next-generation sequencing technology, the prospect of using next-generation sequencing data for allele identification is attractive. Unfortunately, accurately and efficiently identifying the alleles present at highly polymorphic loci using sequencing data is challenging, particularly when the sequencing data are generated using high-throughput genome-wide sequencing methods.
One set of highly-polymorphic loci for which there is a need for highly accurate allele prediction processes are those that encode Human Leukocyte Antigen (HLA) proteins. HLA proteins present antigen peptides to lymphocytes in order to mediate key immunological events, including self-antigen tolerance and immune responses to pathogens or tumors. Class I HLAs are ubiquitously expressed by all nucleated cells and present cytosolic antigens to cytotoxic T cells. Class II HLAs are primarily expressed by immune cells and present extracellular antigens to helper T cells.
Humans have six major HLA proteins, three class I proteins (HLA-A, HLA-B and HLA-C) and three class II proteins (HLA-DQ, HLA-DR and HLA-DP). Each class I protein is encoded by a single HLA locus (e.g., the HLA-A locus, the HLA-B locus and the HLA-C locus). The class II proteins, on the other hand, are heterodimers made up of an a chain and a 13 chain, each of which is encoded by its own HLA locus (e.g., the HLA-DQA1 locus, the HLA-DQB1 locus, the HLA-DRA locus, the HLA-DRB1 locus, the HLA-DRB3 locus, the HLA-DRB4 locus, the HLA-DRBS locus, the HLA-DPA1 locus and the HLA-DPB1 locus). In humans, each of the major HLA loci (both class I and class II) are present on chromosome 6. Being diploid organisms, humans carry two copies of chromosome 6, and therefore carry two copies of each HLA locus.
HLA loci are highly polymorphic. Polymorphisms in the HLA loci often result in differences in the amino acid sequences of HLA proteins. This HLA diversity allows a wide range of different antigens to be presented to immune cells within a population. However, these variations in HLA sequence also result in histoincompatibility of organs and tissues between individuals, greatly complicating surgical transplantation procedures. If the HLA proteins expressed by a transplanted organ or tissue are recognized as foreign by the transplant recipient's immune system, the likely result is organ rejection. Similarly, a transplantation that includes the transfer of immune cells that recognize as foreign the HLA proteins expressed by cells in the transplant recipient can result in graft versus host disease. The risk of graft-versus-host disease and organ or tissue rejection can be minimized if the alleles present at the HLA loci of a perspective donor and recipient encode matching HLA proteins, to the greatest extent possible. In order to determine whether there is a match, it is necessary to determine what HLA alleles are present at HLA loci in the donor and recipient, a process known as HLA typing. An individual's HLA type at an HLA locus is made up of the two HLA alleles (or the two copies of a single HLA allele if homozygous) present at the individual's two copies of the HLA locus.
HLA types are also increasingly recognized to play a significant role in numerous diseases. For instance, there are strong associations between certain HLA types and autoimmune disorders, including lupus, inflammatory bowel diseases, multiple sclerosis, arthritis and type I diabetes (e.g., Graham et al., Eur. Hum. Genet. 15:823-830 (2007); Fu et al., J. Autoimmun. 37:104-112 (2011); Cassinotti et al., Am. J. Gastroenterol 104:195-217 (2009); Luckey et al., J. Autoimmun. 37:122-128 (2011); Lemire, M., BMC Proc. 7:S33 (2009); Noble et al., Curr. Diab. Rep. 11:533-542 (2011), each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). As one example, class II HLA DQA1*02:01(DQ2) and DRB1*03:01(DR3) are frequently present in systemic lupus erythematosus patients and are significantly associated with disease susceptibility (Graham et al., Eur. Hum. Genet. 15:823-830 (2007)). Presence of other class II HLA proteins also correlate with either the resistance or susceptibility to breast and cervical cancers (e.g., Chaudhuri et al., Proc. Nuc. Acad. Sci. USA 97:11451-11454 (2000); Garcia-Corona et al., Arch. Dermatol. 140:1227-1231 (2004), each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety).
The pathogenesis and therapeutic indications of HLA molecules highlight the need for accurate and efficient methods of HLA typing. In the past, HLA types have been resolved at low resolution by distinguishing "two-digit" antigen groups that approximate serologic specificities in peptide binding. However, for many applications, two-digit HLA typing is insufficient. For example, a single amino acid difference between two HLA proteins of the same two-digit type can result in altered T-cell recognition specificity and tissue rejection (e.g., Archbold et al., Trends Immunol. 29:220-226 (2008); Tynan et al., Nat. Immunol. 6:1114-1122 (2005); Fleischhauer et al., N Eng. J. Med. 323:1818-1822 (1990), each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety). Consequently, high-resolution HLA typing at the amino acid sequence level (known as "four-digit" typing) can be critical. For example, resolving HLA types at high-resolution substantially improves the clinical outcome in unrelated cord blood transplantation and in cancer vaccination trials (Nagorson et al., Cancer Immunol. Immunother. 57:1903-1910 (2008); Liao et al., Bone Marrow Transplant. 40:201-208 (2007), each of which is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety).
The highly polymorphic nature of HLA loci renders accurate, high-resolution typing a considerable challenge, particularly at high throughput. More than 7527 four-digit HLA alleles are present at the major class I and class II HLA loci in the human population. Existing HLA typing methodologies capable of resolving HLA types at four-digit resolution, such as group specific PCR by sequencing specific priming (SSP) and sequence-based typing (SBT), have low throughput. Other proposed typing strategies specifically target the HLA loci via PCR-amplification, followed by deep sequencing. Such methods require long reads and a high coverage (depth) in order to produce accurate assignment of four-digit HLA alleles. Due to cost and efficiency considerations, genome-wide sequencing, such as transcriptome or whole exome/genome sequencing, generally produce much shorter reads (<100 bases) and lower coverage. These read length and coverage limitations reduce the accuracy of current methodologies that attempt to use genome-wide sequencing processes for HLA typing. Specifically, the four-digit HLA type identification accuracy of current methods using short read sequencing has been reported to be between 32% and 84% (e.g., Boegel et al., Genome Med. 4:102 (2013); Kim and Pourmand PLoS One 8:e67885 (2013)).
In light of the foregoing, there is a need for new methods of accurately and efficiently identifying the alleles present at a locus using diverse sequencing data, including data with short read lengths and low sequence coverage.


A foaming agent used for manufacturing a foamed or porous metal. The agent is composed of a foamable powder and a coating layer of SiO2 covering the particle surfaces of the powder and having a good wetting property therewith.

There is known a method of manufacturing a foamed or porous metal by adding a foaming agent to a molten or powdered metal and gasifying the foaming agent under heat or otherwise to form numerous pores in the metal (see, for example, Japanese Patent No. 2,898,437). In the narrow senses of the words, a foamed metal containing gas in its pores differs from one not containing such gas, but since they are equal in having numerous pores, they are herein referred to together as a foamed or porous metal.
Japanese Patent No. 2,898,437 gives 0.2% by weight of titanium hydride and sodium hydrogen carbonate as specific examples of a foaming agent. The use of titanium hydride or sodium hydrogen carbonate having a high reducing power is usual for foaming aluminum having a high affinity for oxygen. Titanium hydride and sodium hydrogen carbonate, however, have the draw-back that they are expensive and raise the cost of manufacturing a foamed or porous metal. Moreover, they produce hydrogen gas which is so explosive as to call for the utmost care in handling and thereby impose a heavy burden on the workers. Thus, there is a serious demand for a foaming agent which can be used at a low cost without producing any danger of hydrogen explosion when manufacturing a foamed or porous metal.

Foaming agent for manufacturing a foamed or porous metal


A concentrator for detecting biological and/or chemical materials in an environment. The concentrator comprises an engineered superlattice structure having alternating layers of elemental, binary or ternary group III-group V, or group IV-group IV semiconducting materials. A method for detecting biological and/or chemical materials in an environment using the concentrator. The method comprising exposing the concentrator to the biological and/or chemical materials in an environment and activating the superlattice structure optically or electrically followed by the detection of the biological and/or chemical materials.

1. Field
This invention relates to the field of compact devices for remotely detecting the presence of biological and/or chemical materials using the reversible binding of specific molecules onto a superlattice concentrator structure in order to quickly manipulate and identify these molecules.
More particularly, it pertains to the use of a new class of solid-state concentrators of biological and/or chemical agents made from engineered Group III-V semiconductor superlattice-structures, surface binding properties of which can be controlled and manipulated by optical illumination or other means, such as electrical biasing.
2. Description of the Related Art
Early detection and identification of the presence of biological agents is important because it would allow initiation of rapid evacuation of an affected area, start of immediate decontamination procedures, and provide needed information for medical treatment of personnel.
There exist a large number of known detection methods used to identify chemical and biological materials. As discussed below, all currently used methods are limited in terms of sensitivity, response time, possibility of miniaturization, or a combination thereof. The most commonly used methods are as follows:    (a) Gas and Liquid Chromatography. According to these analytical techniques, an analyzed blend is separated based on the Nernstian distribution of the components of the blend between two phases.
In the case of gas chromatography, the blend is first evaporated and then directed to a solid adsorbent where the blend is separated. In the case of liquid chromatography, a liquid adsorbent is used for separation.
After the separation, the individual components, including biological agents, are detected, usually using the differences in the components' heat transfer properties. Although chromatographical methods are quite sensitive (from the low parts per million (ppm) range for gas chromatography to the moderate ppm range for liquid chromatography), they have serious disadvantages. The response times for these methods are long and portability is very limited because it is difficult to miniaturize the equipment.    (b) Gel Electrophoresis. According to this method, particles of a gel (disperse phase) move in the dispersion medium under the influence of an electric field. The detection of an agent, including a biological and/or chemical agent, is based on the principle that the speed of the particles is proportional to the intensity of the electric field. The electric field causes the change of the electric potential on the border between the gel phase and the dispersion medium and this change is related to the nature of the gel particles.
Although the gel electrophoresis-based concentrator can be made portable, the method has a-low sensitivity and very long response times leading to only limited use of the method for detection of biological and/or chemical agents.    (c) Optical Absorption and Raman Spectroscopy. The method of optical absorption is based on the transition of electrons in an excited state as a result of absorption of energy by the analyzed molecules in ultraviolet, visible and near infrared areas of the spectrum (between about 120 and 1,000 nanometers).
After such energy has been absorbed, wide-band spectra are obtained and the analyzed molecule is identified.
In Raman spectroscopy, the analyzed substance is irradiated with monochromatic radiation. When a beam of photons strikes the molecule, some photons undergo inelastic or Raman scattering and such Raman scattered photons have different frequencies and produce a spectrum of frequencies in the scattered beam that constitute the Raman spectrum of the analyzed molecule. This spectrum is used for the identification of the sample.
Even though both the optical absorption method and the Raman spectroscopy method provide a fast response time, sensitivity of both is low, and portability is limited. In addition, in the optical absorption method, multiple compounds absorb the energy, thus producing a multiplicity of the resulting spectra and obfuscation of the molecule being sought.    (d) Fluorescence Spectroscopy (Tags). According to this method, visible or ultraviolet radiation (at wavelengths between about 200 and 700 nanometers) is first absorbed by the analyzed specimen. Thereafter, the excited molecules return to the normal condition. This process is accompanied by the emission of radiation. The emission spectrum of the radiation is thus obtained and used to identify the molecule.
The fluorescence spectroscopy method has fast response time and is amenable to designing a portable instrument. However, the method has only moderate sensitivity due to background noise contamination.    (e) Upconverting Phosphor. This method provides good background rejection and has fast response times. Making a portable instrument for this method is also possible. According to this method, uniform submicron microspheres of upconverting phosphors (UCPS) are synthesized and coated with biologically active probes, such as antibodies. UCPs are materials that emit visible light upon excitation with near-infrared light. Functionalized UCP particles are used to selectively bind to captured target antigens. Visible emission following exposure to IR radiation indicates a target.
However, this method must be interfaced with pre-processing techniques, which limits the applicability and usefulness of UCPs.    (f) Mass Spectroscopy. The method of mass spectroscopy is based on the ionization of a molecule, typically by bombarding the molecule with electrons having energy between about 50 and 70 electron-volts. The-process takes place in a high vacuum environment (at least 10−6 torr vacuum is required). The ions created as a result are accelerated in an electric field and separated in a magnetic field according to their mass. A mass spectrum is then created showing the mass-to-charge ratios for various ions created as a result of the fragmentation of the molecule due to the bombardment and the relative amounts of such ions. This spectrum is used to identify the original molecule.
The sensitivity of this method is high, the response time is fast and miniaturization of the instrument and portability is possible. However, the method requires expensive and fragile equipment necessary to create and maintain a very high vacuum. The method requires high power consumption and the equipment is susceptible to clutter problems.    (g) Ion Mobility Spectrometry. This method is highly sensitive, has fast response time and the instrument can be portable. Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) involves the ionization of molecules and their subsequent temporal drift through an electric field. Analysis and characterization are based on separations resulting from ionic mobilities rather than ionic masses; this difference distinguishes IMS from mass spectroscopy However, serious problems of cross-coupling of the signal with temperature and pressure limit its applicability for detection of biological and/or chemical agents.
As far as the instruments are concerned, there exist a number of current generation sensors used in detection of biological and/or chemical agents. Many of these sensors are constructed with a sensor transducer in combination with a biologically active surface.
A key element of these point detection systems involves the immobilization of the biological and/or chemical agent. This issue is very important for binding, isolating and concentrating the biological and/or chemical agent on the transducer as well as for maintaining the agent's structure, activity, and stability. Biological species of interest include various toxins, viruses, rickettsia, fungi, parasites, bacteria, or uniquely identifiable components or byproducts (DNA, RNA, proteins, sugars, etc.).
Typically, the surfaces on which biological agents are immobilized, comprise antibodies of a particular species of interest for trapping the particular biological agent (antigen). These surfaces are integrated into a transducer for sensing. Examples of such devices comprise surface acoustic wave (SAW) resonators, cantilever resonators, surface plasmon resonance reflectors, and fiber-optic based sensors that are coated with immobilizing surfaces.
The antibody-antigen (biological molecule) binding is irreversible, which both benefits these detection methods and causes complications. The limitations of irreversible binding comprise baseline drift, saturation, and contamination of the sensor surfaces. Current generation point detection systems are often dependent on time-consuming molecular amplification processes that are needed to increase the signature of the pathogen or agent.
There is a need to have compact, low cost remote concentrators of biological and/or chemical species which:    (a) are very sensitive, compact in size, and able to detect very small quantities of the compound in question;    (b) have fast response times;    (c) are portable and compact; and    (d) are more reliable and have lower false alarm rates than currently available sensors.
There exists no known prior art for compact concentrators satisfying all these enhanced requirements. Yet the need for such is acute. For the foregoing reasons, there is a necessity for a compact low-cost sensor for detection of very low amounts of biological and/or chemical substances. The present invention discloses such concentrators which can serve to bolster the performance of any existing detection method by concentrating the bio- or chemical-agent before analysis.

Optically- and electrically-addressable concentrators of biological and chemical materials