An apparatus capable of establishing different video sample stream processing channels between a plurality of video sample stream inputs and a video sample stream output is described. The apparatus includes a multi-state routing network comprising wiring to route a video sample stream. The multi-state routing network comprises outputs that are coupled to the inputs of a plurality of video sample stream channel processing segments, where, each channel processing segment comprises at least one signal processing block. The multi-state routing network also comprises inputs that are coupled to the outputs of the video sample stream channel processing segments. The multi-state routing network also comprises the plurality of video sample stream inputs the video sample stream output.

FIG. 1 shows a system for viewing digital video while listening to its corresponding audio. The system includes a digital video display 104 and one or more speakers 102. The digital video display 104 is driven by display driving circuitry 103; and, the one or more speakers 102 are driven by speaker driving circuitry 101. The display driving circuitry 103 receives a stream of video "samples" and renders them onto the display 104. The speaker driving circuitry 101 receives a stream of audio samples and causes the speaker(s) 102 to produce corresponding audio sounds. The term "samples" is a historical term that refers to the digital capture of video/audio information from its naturally analog form. The term samples should nevertheless be understood to also refer to video and/or audio information having a non-analog source (e.g., computer graphics, digitally synthesized music, etc.).
FIGS. 2a through 2c relate to differing aspects of the manner in which a video sample stream may be formatted. Specifically, FIG. 2a relates to different ways in which a video sample may be encoded; FIG. 2b relates to different ways in which the video samples may be ordered within the video sample stream; and, FIG. 2c relates to differing amounts of video samples that may exist in the video sample stream per rendered horizontal line of displayed imagery and per rendered vertical line of displayed imagery.
FIG. 2a shows three different video sample encoding formats 201, 202, 203. Each of the video sample steams 201, 202, 203 show their corresponding encoding approach across seven samples 200 (S1 through S7). Video sample stream 201 corresponds to a "trichromatic" encoding approach. Both of video sample streams 202 and 203 correspond to "color difference" encoding approaches.
According to a "trichromatic" encoding approach, each video sample contains three color components where the mixing of any two color components cannot produce the third color component. Video sample stream 201 provides an example of the most commonly used trichromatic approach "RGB". RGB breaks down each sample into red (R), green (G) and blue (B) components. Thus, the first sample S1 in video sample stream 201 corresponds to the red, green and blue components (R1G1B1) of the first sample's visual information, the second sample S2 in video sample stream 202 corresponds to the red, green and blue components (R2G2B2) of the second sample of visual information, etc.
Both of video sample streams 202 and 203 employ a "color difference" encoding scheme. Color difference schemes use a luminance related quantity called luma (e.g., Y) and a pair of color difference components called chroma (e.g., Cb,Cr). Color difference schemes are often characterized by the sample rate relationship as between the luma and chroma components. According to a first type, referred to as 4:4:4, the luma and chroma components have the same sample rate. Thus, as seen in the 4:4:4 color difference sample stream 202, both luma and chroma components exist for each sample in the sample stream. According to a second type, referred to as 4:2:2, the chroma components have half the sample rate as the luma component. Thus, as seen in the 4:2:2 color difference sample stream 203, each sample has a luma component but only every other sample has chroma components.
FIG. 2b relates to different ways in which the video samples may be ordered within the video sample stream. A first is referred to as "progressive" and a second is referred to as "interlaced". According to a "progressive" approach the samples within a video sample stream are ordered so that each of the frames of the video, when presented on the display, correspond to a complete "full screen" picture. FIG. 2b attempts to depict a progressive display approach by showing a series of frames 210 through 213 each having a complete set of horizintal "scan" lines of displayed samples.
By contrast, according to an interlaced approach, the samples within a video stream are ordered so that the frames of the video are presented on the display as a pair consecutive "fields" where each neighboring horizontal "scan" line in a field corresponds to every other horizontal "scan" line on the display. FIG. 2b attempts to depict an interlaced display approach by showing a sequence of fields 214, 215, 216 and 217, where fields 214 and 216 are located only on even numbered scan lines, and fields 215 and 217 are located only on odd numbered scan lines.
FIG. 2c demonstrates that different video sample streams may have different amounts of video samples per rendered horizontal line of displayed imagery and per rendered vertical line of displayed imagery. The samples, or picture elements in this rectangular array are commonly referred to as "pixels". Here, the video sample stream should be formatted so that its samples correspond to (or at least can be rendered upon) the display upon which they are to be shown. Many video display types are designed to render imagery across an arrangement of pixels. The arrangement of pixels is typically characterized as the number of pixels that extend horizontally across the display and the number of pixels that extent vertically across the display.
FIG. 2c shows a representation of the pixel layout for two different video displays 218, 219. The first video display 218 has a pixel layout of 480 vertical pixels by 640 horizontal pixels. The second video display 219 has a pixel layout of 1080 vertical pixels by 1920 horizontal pixels. Note that different aspect ratios can be achieved based upon the pixel layout. That is, the first video display has a 4:3 horizontal to vertical aspect ratio (i.e., 640/480=4/3) that is typical of standard television; and, the second video display has a 16:9 horizontal to vertical aspect ratio (i.e., 1920/1080=16/9) that is more typical of standard cinema.
Because a display's pixel layout can be viewed as an array, a display can be viewed as having Y number of horizontal lines that each have X pixels; where, Y is the vertical pixel count and X is the horizontal pixel count (i.e., display 218 can be viewed as having 480 horizontal lines that each have 640 pixels; and, display 219 can be viewed as having 1080 horizontal lines that each have 1920 pixels). Here, referring briefly back to FIG. 1, for a video sample stream that is provided to a display's driving circuitry 103, the number of samples per horizontal line in the sample stream ideally correspond to the number of pixels per horizontal line in the display 104; and, the number of horizontal lines' worth of samples per frame in the sample stream ideally corresponds to the vertical pixel count of the display 104.
Because of the various ways in which a video sample stream may be formatted, specific signal processing blocks have been used to convert from one type of formatting to another type of formatting. FIGS. 3a through 3d demonstrate some of these signal processing blocks.
FIG. 3a shows a color space converter 301 (CSC). The color space converter 301 is responsible for converting from one type of sample encoding to another type of sample encoding. For example, color space converter 301 might convert trichromatic encoded samples into color difference encoded samples; or, color space conveter CSC could covert color difference encoded samples into trichromatic encoded samples. FIG. 3b shows a pair of converters 302, 303 for converting between different forms of color difference conversion. Specifically, converter 302 converts 4:4:4 color difference encoded samples into 4:2:2 encoded samples; and, converter 303 converts 4:2:2 color difference encoded samples into 4:4:4 encoded samples.
FIG. 3c shows a deinterlacer 304. Deinterlacer 304 converts an interlaced video sample stream into a progressive video sample stream. Various types of deinterlacing schemes exist. A basic approach involves simply packing the content of a pair of consecutive fields into a single progressive frame. However, this approach can render noticeable defects for fast motion images if neighboring fields correspond to different moments of time (i.e., an object of fast motion will blur). As such, "motion adaptive" deinterlacers have been developed that intelligently calculate the missing content between neighboring field lines in order to produce a complete progressive frame.
Another type of deinterlacing technique, referred to as "inverse 2-3 pulldown", effectively reverses a "2-3 pulldown" interlacing process. The 2-3 pulldown process converts frames from a 24 frame per second stream into a 2-3-2-3- . . . field pattern (e.g., a first frame is used to create a pair of fields, the next frame is used to create a trio of fields, etc.) so as to create a 60 field per second stream. Inverse 2-3 pulldown combines fields from the same original film frame to form a complete video frame. Because fields are combined by this process so as to create frames, "inverse 2-3 pulldown" is viewed as a deinterlacing technique. Another type of deinterlacing technique, referred to as "inverse 2-2 pulldown", effectively reverses a "2-2 pulldown" technique that uses each frame to create a pair of fields.
FIG. 3d shows a frame rate converter. A frame rate converter changes the formatting of a sample stream from being compatible with a first frame rate (e.g., 60 frames per second (fps)) to being compatible with a second frame rate (e.g., 30 frames per second (fps)). Frame rate converters are typically constructed to provide an output stream that, when viewed, exhibits rendered images having the same speed of motion that the input stream exhibits at its corresponding frame rate. That is, typically, the frame rate conversion process is not supposed to change the speed at which moving images move when displayed. A frame rate converter typically accepts input information that informs the frame rate converter of the specific conversion that it is to take place (e.g., a specific rate upconversion or rate downconversion)
FIG. 3e shows a scaler 306. A scaler converts a video sample stream that is formatted for a first pixel array into a sample stream that is formatted for a second pixel array. For example, referring also to FIG. 2c, a scaler 305 would be used to convert a sample stream that is formatted for the 1920×1080 display 219 into a sample stream that is formatted for the 640×480 display 218 (e.g., by intelligently "dropping" certain samples). Likewise, a scaler 305 could also be used to covert a video sample stream that is formatted for the 640×480 display 218 into a sample stream that is formatted for the 1920×1080 display (e.g., by determining appropriate pixel spacings between those pixels that will be illuminated with sample data from the 640×480 compatible stream). Other than dropping pixels (when scaling from a higher pixel density display to a lower pixel density display) or repeating pixels (when scaling from a lower density pixel display to a higher pixel density display), more advanced methods such as finite impulse response (FIR) filtering or linear interpolation may be used. A scaler typically accepts some form of input information (e.g., a scale factor) that informs the scaler of the specific scaling that it is to perform.
Note that any of the signal processing blocks of FIGS. 3a through 3e may be implemented in whole or in part with dedicated hardware (e.g., CMOS circuitry or programmable logic designed to perform the signal processing functions) or in software (e.g., a general purpose or digital signal processor that executes instructions to perform the signal processing functions).

Video stream routing and format conversion unit with audio delay


The invention provides methods and compositions for engineering microbes to generate Hydrogen. Some methods of the invention involve recoding of hydrogenase genes followed by subjecting the recoded genes to annealing-based recombination methods. The invention further provides methods of mating organisms that are transformed with recoded and recombined hydrogenase genes with other organisms containing different genome sequences.

Evolving genes through directed evolution procedures is a way of generating novel nucleic acids sequences that encode proteins that can perform desired functions quickly and efficiently. One method of directed evolution is error-prone PCR, in which a DNA Polymerase incorporates random single-base sequence errors into a product. (Leung et al., Technique (1989) 1, 11–15) Another technique is site directed mutagenesis, in which one or more particular amino acids in a gene are substituted for a different amino acid. Other methods utilize agents that induce random mutation, such as the addition of compounds such as nitrosoguanidine (NTG) to the culture media of a population of organisms (for example, see Nestmann E R Mutat Res 1975 June;28(3):323–30). The resulting nucleic acid sequences and genomic sequences created using these procedures comprise a library of sequences with differing abilities to perform a desired function, and the performance of that function is then assayed for and novel and desirable sequences are identified.
Assay procedures for desired functions may be employed to test the aforementioned nucleic acid sequences for a desired function. For instance, an enzyme that functions best at pH 5.0 may be mutagenized and the resulting population of sequences is then assayed for the production of the product of the enzymatic reaction at pH 7.0. Alternatively, sequences encoding antibodies may be mutagenized and then assayed for the ability to bind a particular molecule with an affinity that is stronger or weaker than the original antibody sequence.
The assay system for directed evolution procedures may be based on selection or screening, or both. In a typical selection protocol, organisms that are transformed with or contain mutagenized sequences are put through a procedure in which the ability to perform a given function is coupled with the ability to survive the conditions that the transformed organisms are subjected to. For instance, an enzyme that has potential bioremediation functions may be mutagenized and an organism is transformed with the library. Organisms that can detoxify a toxic compound using a mutagenized enzyme under conditions in which the toxic compound is supplied at a concentration that would otherwise kill the organism are selected for. In screening procedures, organisms that cannot perform the desired function survive, but do not identify mutagenized versions of genes that are desirable. For instance, an enzyme that cleaves a substrate that exhibits a first fluorescence emission wavelength spectrum when intact and a measurably distinct second fluorescence emission wavelength spectrum after catalysis may be screened for when the transformed organisms are subjected to specific fluorescent excitation wavelengths of light and the emission is monitored at two or more wavelengths. Enzymes that cleave the substrate at an enhanced rate may be identified.
Directed evolution is therefore a useful method through which genes may be adapted to perform desirable functions.

Methods and compositions for evolving hydrogenase genes


The peak level of a high frequency analog signal in an RF receiver is detected by a system which samples the signal and compares it against a static threshold, generating an above/below status. The system is implemented with a sampler of sufficient aperture bandwidth to capture the signal in question, operated at a clock frequency, dynamically chosen as a function of fLO (local oscillator frequency) and the desired fIF (intermediate frequency), to minimize in-band intermodulation products. The sampler produces kickback intermodulation products that are positioned out-of-band, or are of low enough power in-band so as to be inconsequential. Samples are taken for a statistically significant period of time, and the status is used to adapt the threshold to systematically determine the peak amplitude of the signal being observed.

In order to maximize the usable dynamic range of a receiver (or other system), it is necessary to control the gain of the signal path in that system. In order to optimally set the gain, one must have a clear indication of the amplitude of the signal at the point being optimized. Detecting a sensitive RF signal, without distorting the signal through observation, is a problem to be addressed to allow a robust implementation of such a system.
FIG. 1 illustrates a block diagram of a typical RF receiver 10. The RF receiver 10 will monitor the signal amplitude at several points along the path, and adjust associated gain and attenuation stages accordingly.
A peak detector 12 is typically used to quantify the peak amplitude of a signal. A threshold detector can be considered a simplified sub-component of a peak detector, where the function is simplified to indicate if a given signal is larger or smaller than a particular threshold. A threshold detector can be combined with a control system which manipulates the reference threshold to systematically determine the peak of the signal, thereby achieving the same function of the original peak detector.
A peak detector is a circuit that detects the time varying peak amplitude of an analog signal. As the frequency of these input signals increases, and the precision with which their peak must be quantified increases, this task becomes more difficult to accomplish. Analog peak detectors, utilizing the inherent physical characteristics of transistors to track and capture a peak of a signal, do not perform this task well as speeds increase and signal amplitudes fall. In particular, it is difficult to track small amplitudes in deep submicron technologies using traditional analog circuit topologies due to high inherent offsets and unpredictable, or poorly characterized, sub-threshold device behavior.
Examples of known RF signal peak detectors are provided in the following, each of which is incorporated by reference in its entirety: U.S. Pat. No. 6,977,531, U.S. Pat. No. 7,236,014, and U.S. Pat. No. 7,352,240.
A digital sampling peak detector is attractive for its high precision over analog detection mechanisms, but the introduction of a clock signal in a system requiring high linearity is difficult to manage.
Therefore, it is desirable to provide a sampling detector architecture to monitor sensitive RF signals.

Sampling threshold detector for direct monitoring of RF signals


A vehicle is carried by a number of supporting members, such as wheels. Movement between the supporting members and the vehicle body is controlled by respective dampers. Several interrelationships between and among the dampers are disclosed. A flow regulator is provided to augment damping forces under a variety of operating conditions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to vehicle suspension systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to interrelated multiwheel suspension systems that provide improved damping when a vehicle rolls or pitches and a single wheel encounters a bump.
2. Description of Related Art
Vehicles often comprise suspension systems that smooth operation over uneven or rough terrain. The suspension systems often involve placing a damper between the vehicle and the surface contacting member, such as a wheel. An example of a suspension system used in four-wheel vehicles has been disclosed in Japanese laid open patent application No. HEI-6-62127. Reproduced as FIGS. 1–3 in the present application are figures that disclose a construction similar to that disclosed in that laid open application.
With reference now to FIGS. 1–3, three alternative constructions of a suspension system will be described. The suspension system, indicated generally by the reference numeral 20, comprises a front left damper 22, a front right damper 24, a rear left damper 26, and a rear right damper 28. In the illustrated arrangement, each of the dampers is constructed identical to the others. In particular, in the illustrated arrangement, an outer cylinder 30 is divided into an upper chamber 32 and a lower chamber 34 by a piston 36. The piston 36 is slidably mounted within the inner bore of the outer cylinder 30. In addition, the piston comprises at least one passage 38 which extends through the body of the piston 36 to place the upper chamber 32 and the lower chamber 34 in fluid communication with each other. A throttle 40 preferably is disposed within the passage 38 to control the flow rate through the passage 38 of fluid from the upper chamber 32 to the lower chamber 34, and vice versa. Of course, more than one passage can be used and such passages can be configured with valves that limit flow to one direction. Such a configuration allows varying damping rates between the two different directions of piston movement. In the illustrated arrangement, the piston 36 is mounted to a piston rod 42. One of the piston rods 42 and the cylinder 30 is connected to the vehicle body while the other of the two members is connected to the wheel. In this manner, movement between the wheel and the vehicle body can be controllably damped by movement of the piston 36 within the bore of the outer cylinder 30.
With continued reference to FIGS. 1–3, each of the cylinders 22, 24, 26, 28 is directly interconnected through the use of a pressure regulator 44. FIGS. 1–3 illustrate four different arrangements of the pressure regulator 44 and the interconnection between the cylinders 22, 24, 26, 28. Depending upon the interconnection used, the suspension systems 20 exhibit varying response characteristics to movement of the vehicle.
With reference now to FIG. 1, the illustrated pressure regulator 44 generally comprises a pair of parallel lower chambers 46, 48. The first lower chamber 46 is defined within a first cylinder 50, while the second lower chamber 48 is defined within a second cylinder 52. A first piston 54 subdivides a portion of the first cylinder 50 into the first lower chamber 46 while a second piston 56 subdivides a portion of the chamber or the cylinder 52 into the second lower chamber 48. The pistons 54, 56 are connected together with the use of a single connecting rod 58 that ties the pistons 54, 56 together for movement. In other words, the connecting rod 58 ensures that the pistons 54, 56 travel together. In the illustrated arrangement, the connecting rod 58 is disposed within a chamber 60 that is defined within the pressure regulator 44. The chamber 60 preferably is filled with an inert gas. The inert gas exerts a pressure against the pistons 54, 56 to drive the pistons into a desired equilibrium position. A passage 62 containing a throttle valve extends between the first lower chamber and the second lower chamber 48. The passage 62 contains the throttle to allow damping to occur when fluid flows from one chamber to the other chamber.
The pressure regulator illustrated in FIG. 2 has a construction similar to that illustrated in FIG. 1. However, the pressure regulator 44 illustrated in FIG. 3 contains two additional chambers 64, 66 that are interconnected in parallel by two additional throttled passages 68, 70. The chambers 64, 66 are also defined, in part, by a pair of pistons 72, 74 that are interconnected with the connecting rod 68.
Functionally, the suspension systems 20 illustrated in FIGS. 1–3. operate differently depending upon the loads and relative movements of the vehicle. For instance, in the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1, both of the dampers 22, 26 on the left side of the vehicle are interconnected to a single chamber of the pressure regulator 44 while both of the dampers 24, 28 on the right side of the vehicle are connected to a second chamber of the pressure regulator 44. Such a construction results in flow through the throttled passage 62 that extends between the chambers 46, 48 when the vehicle rolls or otherwise sways laterally. Such flow results from the differing movements of the dampers on the left side of the vehicle and the dampers on the right side of the vehicle. As working oil flows through the throttle passage 62, the movement of the pistons is further damped by the restriction of the throttled passage. The arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1, however, results in little flow between the two chambers through the throttle passage 62 when the vehicle pitches, such as during rapid acceleration or deceleration.
With reference now to the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 2, the dampers 22, 28 and the dampers 24, 26 are interrelated and are connected to the chambers 46, 48, respectively. In other words, the vehicle supported by the suspension system 20 illustrated in FIG. 2 features cross-related dampers (i.e., left front damper 22 and right rear damper 28 are connected to a single chamber while the right front damper 24 and the left rear damper 26 are connected to a second chamber). This cross-arrangement results in increased damping forces caused by flow through the throttle passage 62 when the vehicle is twisted such as occurs when accelerating or decelerating into a corner or out of a corner. In other words, when the pressure is increased at one corner of the vehicle relative to the other three corners, increased damping results from flow between one of the chambers 46, 48 into the other of the chambers 46, 48 of the pressure regulator 44.
With reference now to FIG. 3, each of the dampers 22, 24, 26, 28 is connected to its own chamber 46, 64, 66, 48, respectively. The adjacent chambers such as 46, 64, or 64, 66 or 66, 48 are directly interconnected by throttle passages. In this manner, when the vehicle rolls (i.e., rotates about a longitudinally extending axis) differential pressures result within the two chambers associated with the left side of the vehicle as compared to the two chambers associated with the right side of the vehicle. Accordingly, working oil flows through three throttle passages (68, 70, 62) to equalize the differentials in the oil pressure. Thus, the pressure regulator 44 provides increased damping force during rolling movement of the vehicle body. In addition, with the suspension system 20 illustrated in FIG. 3, when the vehicle body pitches (i.e., rotates about a transversely extending axis) working oil passes between the chambers 46, 64 and 66, 48 through the throttle passages 68 and 62. This results in the pressure regulator 44 increasing the available damping forces during pitching of the vehicle.
It has been found, however, that each of the above-described arrangements suffers from a similar problem. In particular, when the paired dampers move in the same direction and one of the wheels associated with one of the dampers suddenly negotiates a bump in the road, the desired damping forces that resist rolling and pitching can be reduced. For example, in the arrangement illustrated in FIG. 1, if the dampers 22 and 26 are extending, whereby the volume of the lower chambers 34 is increasing, while the dampers 24, 28 are contracting, whereby the volume in the lower chambers 34 is decreasing, such that the working oil is flowing from right to left through the throttled passage 62, the flow rate through the throttle passage 62 will undesirably decrease should one of the dampers 22, 26 suddenly contract or should one of the dampers 24, 28 suddenly extend. The sudden extension or contraction, such as that encountered during operation over a bump or through a rut, therefore, will rapidly decrease the damping force available for restricting rolling. A similar result would arise in the arrangements illustrated in FIGS. 2 and 3 as well.
Accordingly, a suspension system is desired in which the damping force during pitching or rolling of the vehicle body is substantially uneffected by irregularities in the road surface.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


A security gate for controlling passage of personnel through an accessway to or from a controlled-access region, the security gate including: (a) a first support structure deployed on a first side of the accessway; (b) a second support structure deployed on a second side of the accessway opposite the first support structure; (c) for each of the first and second support structures, a first set of vertically-spaced elongated barrier elements extending from the support structure in a first barrier formation and a second set of vertically-spaced elongated barrier elements extending from the support structure in a second barrier formation; and (d) a mechanical actuator system deployed so as to synchronously move at least the first and second barrier formations of the first and second support structures such that: (i) the first and second barrier formations assume a first state in which the first barrier formations are spaced apart to allow entrance of a person into the gate from an entrance side while the elongated barrier elements of the second barrier formations of the first and second support structures are at least partially interspaced so as to prevent passage of a person from the gate to an exit side, and (ii) the first and second barrier formations assume a second state in which the second barrier formations are spaced apart to allow exit of a person from the gate to an exit side while the elongated barrier elements of the first barrier formations of the first and second support structures are at least partially interspaced so as to prevent entry of a person from the entrance side into the gate.

The present invention relates to security gates and, in particular to security gates devices that allow for controlled entry of people into a compound, controlled exit from the compound, prevention of people from passing through, and even trapping a person.
Gates that allow entrance into and exit from compounds have been used from time immemorial. Passages through walled towns and citadels were often protected by gates in the walls, as well as drawbridges over moats.
Modern times have presented several new solutions, examples of which are presented below:
A turn-stile gate is described in U.S. Pat. No. 2,258,896 of Kelker. FIG. 1 of the prior art illustrates a turn-stile gate 10. Turn-stile gate 10, includes horizontal bars 13 disposed at intervals one above the other. Each horizontal bars 13, is perpendicularly connected through one of two vertical poles 11. Each of the poles 11 has full rotational movement ability on the horizontal plane. Two sectorial arched fences comprised of fixed vertical bars 12 are disposed externally and at a suitable radius. The passage of people is performed by rotational movement of the pole 11 with the horizontal bars 13 connected to it, in the space between the pole 11 and the fences 12. The turn-stile gate 10 has an acute disadvantage as a result of the wide berth necessary in the location of its disposition.
Gate equipment for permitting or preventing the passage there through is described in U.S. Pat. No. 3,742,647 of Tomita. FIG. 2 of the prior art illustrates a gate equipment 20 for permitting or preventing the passage there through. Gate 20 includes two low lateral walls 21 and two doors 22, each of which has limited rotational movement on the horizontal plane on an axis disposed at one of the walls 21. The gate 20 is not suited for prevention of forced entry, through or above it.
A revolving gate includes an elongated pivot column having an integrally formed first grooves extending longitudinally there along at equidistantly spaced intervals there around is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,989,368 of Trikilis. FIG. 3 of the prior art illustrates a revolving gate 30. Revolving gate 30 includes horizontal rods 32 disposed at intervals one above the other on three vertical planes. Each horizontal rod 32 is connected on one end perpendicularly to vertical pole 31.
The pole 31 has full rotational movement ability on the horizontal plane. On one side of the vertical pole 31 there is a fence comprised of horizontal bars 33 that prevents the passage of people, and on the other side of the vertical pole 31 there is an additional fence 34 for the prevention of passage of people, which is shaped as an arch sector.
The passage of people is enabled when the pole 31 and the horizontal rods 32 connected to it rotate. The passage is in the area between the pole 31 and the arched fence 34. The revolving gate 30 has an acute disadvantage as a result of the wide berth necessary in the location of its disposition.
A mantrap, in which a demarcation in shape of a segment of an arc that is provided at one side of a passage, is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,444,941 of Gallenschiitz. FIGS. 4a-4e of the prior art illustrates a mantrap 40. Mantrap 40 includes a vertical pole 41 with full rotational movement ability on the horizontal plane, through which horizontal rods 42 are disposed perpendicularly at intervals one above the other. On one side of the pole 41 there is another vertical pole 47 with limited rotational movement ability on the horizontal plane, to which the ends of horizontal rods 46 are connected at intervals one above the other. On the other side of the pole 41 there is an arched fence 44 with a sector of approximately half a circle. Passage and prevention of passage of people are enabled in the space between the pole 41 and the fence 44. The horizontal rods 46 enable the prevention of passage of people between the pole 41 and pole 47 when they are disposed as shown in frontal view in FIG. 4a, and top views in FIGS. 4c and 4d. When the horizontal rods 46 are rotated to approximately 90 degrees on the horizontal plane, and the horizontal rods 42 are parallel to them, as depicted in FIG. 4e, free passage of people is enabled, as depicted in FIG. 4b. If a person is within the space between the pole 41 and the fence 44 with the horizontal rods 42 stopped at the position depicted in FIG. 4c, the person is trapped. The mantrap 40 has an acute disadvantage as a result of the wide berth necessary in the location of its disposition.
At present, there is a need for a security gate that includes one or more of the characteristics and/or functions:
a. Preventing the passage of people, and/or baggage, and/or animals through it, around it, above it, and under it.
b. Controlled bilateral passage through it.
c. Trapping a person within it.
d. Free passage, when necessary, such as emergency evacuation from the compound.
e. Efficient usage of the area in which the security gate is installed, and particularly conservation of the required width dimension, perpendicular to the direction of movement of people through it.
None of the prior art devices comprises all of the above characteristics and functions.
There is therefore a need for a security gate, which comprises a combination of all of the above characteristics and functions.


The present invention relates to small molecules interfering with the conformational space of the TONSL ARD occupied by the histone H4 tail. These small molecules targets the binding pocket of TONSL encompassing the H4 residues K12-R23 and act by preventing or disrupting the binding of the H4 tail K12-R23 with the TONSL ARD via direct competition or via allosteric disruption of the binding pocket.

Cells are continuously exposed to diverse sources of DNA damage, and to face this challenge they have devised an array of DNA repair strategies. One of the key repair pathways for DNA double strand breaks, damaged replication forks and key for survival of proliferating cells is homologous recombination (HR).
Many cancer cells experience high load of replication stress, making them vulnerable to HR inhibition.
Cancer cells often also depend on this pathway to repair DNA damage generated by conventional chemotherapy; therefore, HR targeting drugs are clinically attractive due to synthetic lethality of affected cells.
Development of HR inhibitors is also of great clinical interest because PARP inhibitors kill HR defective cells. Therefore blocking two alternative pathways will deliver a much bigger impact than targeting either pathway alone. Additionally, some tumours cells are defective in other DNA repair pathways and therefore dependent on HR, making them sensitive to inhibition of HR repair.
TONSL (Tonsoku-like, NFKBIL2) is a crucial HR regulator that functions in a heterodimeric complex with MMS22L to promote repair of DSBs and damaged replication forks by HR. In HR, TONSL-MMS22L is proposed to regulate Rad51 loading onto ssDNA. Depletion of MMS22L or TONSL results in a pronounced decrease of cell proliferation and marked hypersensitivity to the topoisomerase I poison camptothecin (CPT), which is most likely caused by an inability to promote RAD51-mediated repair of broken replication forks. However, the molecular mechanisms regulating TONSL-MMS22L function in DNA repair are not known.
TONSL-MMS22L forms a complex with histones H3-H4, the histone chaperone ASF1 and MCM2, 4, 6, 7 that depend on the TONSL Ankyrin Repeat Domain (ARD), suggesting that the ARD could be important for TONSL function.
ARD is a common protein-protein interaction motif consisting of tandemly repeated modules of about 33 amino acids, occurring in a large number of functionally diverse proteins including transcriptional initiators, cell cycle regulators, cytoskeletal proteins, ion transporters and signal transducers.
Crystal structures of several ARD proteins are solved, including G9a/GLP ARD that binds specifically histone H3 methylated at lysine 9 (Collins et al., Nat Struct Mol Cell Biol 15:245, 2008). Yet the specificity of most ARDs remain unknown.
By sequence similarity, TONSL ARD is highly similar to the BARD1 ARD. BARD1 is a well-characterized HR factor, obligate partner of BRCA1, and is required for most cellular and tumour-suppressor functions of BRCA1 (Westermark et al., Mol Cell Biol 23:7926, 2003).
The crystal structure of BARD1 ARD is available (Fox et al., J Biol Chem 283:21179, 2008) but the binding specificity of the BARD1 ARD is unknown, and thus does not provide grounds for inhibitor design.
Therefore, it is desirable to identify target molecules bound by TONSL ARD and obtain crystals of these protein complexes in order to solve their structures at atomic resolution. This provides basis to determine whether the binding is important for TONSL-MMS22L function, thus making it an attractive drug target. Further, high-resolution structures of binding pockets with their substrates can enable the skilled addressee in designing small molecules interfering with the binding of TONSL ARD to its target molecule and subsequently verifying the effect in biological assays in a rapid and reproducible manner.

Small molecules blocking histone reader domains


A hairdressing device is designed to heat a hair at different temperatures. The device includes first and second arms coupled together by a hinge so that the arms can be closed together when pressed toward each other, each of the first and second arms including a grip portion and a head portion extending from the grip portion. The first arm includes a first heat generating body having at least one electric heater arranged in the head portion for heating a hair. The second arm includes a second heat generating body having two electric heaters arranged side by side in the head portion for heating the hair at different temperatures and a digital display part provided on an outer surface of the second arm for indicating information on a permanent to be performed.

Typically, a hairdressing device is used to produce various kinds of hair styles. There are many different kinds of hairdressing devices, including a hair drier for getting a hair dried, a hair curler for waving a hair and a device for straightening a hair. Most of these hairdressing devices are operated by electric power.
The present invention is directed to a hairdressing device for straightening a hair, i.e., for applying a straight permanent to the hair. One example of such hairdressing device is illustrated in FIG. 1.
Referring to FIG. 1, a conventional hairdressing device for applying a straight permanent to a hair is formed of first and second arms 10-1 and 10-2, both of which include a pair of grip portions 4-1 and 4-2, a pair of head portions 8-1 and 8-2 extending from the grip portions 4-1 and 4-2 and a pair of heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2 attached to the inner surfaces of the head portions 8-1 and 8-2.
The first and second arms 10-1 and 10-2 are coupled together at their one ends by means of a hinge 12 so that they can be rotated about a hinged point when an external force is applied to the grip portions 4-1 and 4-2.
The heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2 are of a planar shape and are heated by electric power. Upon pressing the grip portions 4-1 and 4-2 together, the heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2 come into contact with each other. The hair is straightened if the hairdressing device is pulled along the hair nipped between the heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2.
The hairdressing device noted above may be used in performing a straight permanent by which a hair such as a curly hair or the like is straightened. When performing the straight permanent, a liquid permanent solution is first applied to the hair to neutralize the same. If the hair is neutralized and if it is the time to perform a straight permanent, the heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2 are heated up to a specified temperature by supplying an electric current to the hairdressing device.
Once the heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2 reach the specified temperature, a user holds the grip portions 4-1 and 4-2 of the hairdressing device with one hand and pulls the hair away from the head with the other hand. Then, the hair is positioned between the heat generating bodies 6-1 and 6-2 of the head portions 8-1 and 8-2 which are kept spread apart.
Subsequently, the hairdressing device is moved along the hair while pressing the grip portions 4-1 and 4-2 together. As a result, the hair is ironed out into a straight shape by the heat generating bodies 6-1, thereby terminating a straight permanent.
After the straight permanent has been completed, a curing agent is applied to the hair to prolong the duration of the straight permanent. Unlike a typical wave permanent, the straight permanent endures for about six months.
In the straight permanent performed as above, it is important to accurately determine the degree of neutralization of the hair prior to performing the straight permanent. This is because the hair may suffer from severe damage if the permanent is performed in an improperly neutralized state.
In case a straight permanent is performed by a conventional hairdressing device, the degree of neutralization of a hair is empirically determined by pulling the hair after a specified period of time has lapsed from the time of application of a liquid permanent solution. This means that a beginner may encounter a difficulty in accurately determining the point of time for performing the permanent, which is problematic in that the hair may be severely damaged by inaccurate determination of the point of time for performing the permanent. Particularly, in case of an artificial hair, there is a problem in that the permanent effect may easily disappear if the degree of neutralization is improper.


The present invention relates to compounds of the formula 1

This invention relates to novel isothiazole derivatives that are useful in the treatment of hyperproliferative diseases, such as cancers, in mammals. This invention also relates to a method of using such compounds in the treatment of hyperproliferative diseases in mammals, especially humans, and to pharmaceutical compositions containing such compounds.
It is known that a cell may become cancerous by virtue of the transformation of a portion of its DNA into an oncogene (i.e. a gene that upon activation leads to the formation of malignant tumor cells). Many oncogenes encode proteins which are aberrant tyrosine kinases capable of causing cell transformation. Alternatively, the overexpression of a normal proto-oncogenic tyrosine kinase may also result in proliferative disorders, sometimes resulting in a malignant phenotype. It has been shown that certain tyrosine kinases may be mutated or overexpressed in many human cancers such as brain, lung, squamous cell, bladder, gastric, breast, head and neck, oesophageal, gynecological and thyroid cancers. Furthermore, the overexpression of a ligand for a tyrosine kinase receptor may result in an increase in the activation state of the receptor, resulting in proliferation of the tumor cells or endothelial cells. Thus, it is believed that inhibitors of receptor tyrosine kinases, such as the compounds of the present invention, are useful as selective inhibitors of the growth of mammalian cancer cells.
It is known that polypeptide growth factors, such as vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) having a high affinity to the human kinase insert-domain-containing receptor (KDR) or the murine fetal liver kinase 1 (FLK-1) receptor, have been associated with the proliferation of endothelial cells and more particularly vasculogenesis and angiogenesis. See PCT international application publication number WO 95/21613 (published Aug. 17, 1995). Agents, such as the compounds of the present invention, that are capable of binding to or modulating the KDR/FLK-1 receptor may be used to treat disorders related to vasculogenesis or angiogenesis such as diabetes, diabetic retinopathy, hemangioma, glioma, melanoma, Kaposi's sarcoma and ovarian, breast, lung, pancreatic, prostate, colon and epidermoid cancer.
Isothiazole derivatives useful as herbicides are referred to in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,059,433 and 4,057,416, both assigned to FMC Corporation.

Isothiazole derivatives useful as anticancer agents

Abstract: and to pharmaceutically acceptable salts, prodrugs and solvates thereof, wherein X1, R1, R2 and R3 are as defined herein. The invention also relates to pharmaceutical compositions containing the above compounds and to methods treating hyperproliferative disorders in mammals by administering the above compounds.


The present invention relates to an automatic bit-changing screwdriver including a bit tip and a bit shaft assembly. The bit tip and the bit shaft assembly are pivotably connected. Guided by the bit shaft assembly, the bit tip may rotate relative to the bit shaft assembly and change the tip without requiring direct manual contact with the bit tip. Particularly, the screwdriver includes a handle, a bit tip, a shaft and a shaft sleeve. The bit tip includes two sizes/styles of tips at two ends respectively. The bit tip is pivotably coupled to the shaft. The shaft is fixedly coupled to the handle. The shaft sleeve surrounds the shaft. The shaft and shaft sleeve are slidingly coupled together. Outwards sliding of the shaft sleeve drives the bit tip to rotate within the shaft to achieve bit-changing. A deep groove is formed on a front end of the shaft. The bit tip is disposed in the deep groove. A middle section of the shaft has a guide groove. The shaft sleeve is connected to the guide groove by a connecting element disposed along the guide groove. A slide guide block is fixedly positioned on the shaft sleeve facing a side of the shaft having the deep groove. The shaft sleeve has a notch. The notch is formed in a middle section of the shaft sleeve. A spring element is connected to the shaft sleeve. The spring element moves within the notch. The automatic bit-changing screwdriver provides a solution to a technical problem that the state of the art combination screwdrivers are generally inconvenient to change bits.

Turn screws (i.e. screwdrivers for daily use) are extensively used to assembling and disassembling various work pieces. Currently combination screwdrivers are available to meet the need for assembling and disassembling work pieces of different style/sizes. Combination screwdrivers may be roughly divided into two categories.
The first category includes tips and shafts that are removable from handles. The bits or shafts and handles are stored separately. Different screwdrivers may be formed by changing bits or shafts. This category of combination screwdrivers are suitable for a wide range of applications and are practical. However, bits or shafts that are not in use need specific space for storage, thus requiring extra space and inconvenient to carry around and use. Additionally, bits or shafts may be easily lost when not properly stored.
The second category includes built-in storage. Different screwdrivers may be formed by switching the tip or shaft using a mechanical structure or other means. This category of combination screwdrivers require small storage space, and easy to carry. Bits or shafts that are switched off are not easily lost. However storing multiple bits or shafts together usually results in complex inner structures and makes it inconvenient to change bits or shafts.
For example, Chinese invention patent application serial No. 200910049964.4 discloses a unitary combination screwdriver. FIG. 1 illustrates the structure of one embodiment of the unitary combination screwdriver. The body of the screwdriver is assembled from a cylindrical plastic handle sleeve 25, a hexagonal metal shaft sleeve 24, a metal clamp head 23, and a plastic protective cover 22 for protecting screwdriver bits 21. The threaded clamp head 23 is magnetic. The handle is hollow and is formed to a standard size so that various types of screwdriver bits 21 can be stacked and inserted inside the screwdriver. This type of unitary combination screwdriver overcomes the disadvantages of ordinary combination screwdrivers, i.e. separate storage for screwdriver body and screwdriver bits, thus effectively reducing the overall volume of the screwdriver. The unitary combination screwdrivers match different types of screws by simply changing the order of the embedded screwdriver bits. However, it is inconvenient to change screwdriver bits since the screwdriver bits 21 are stored inside the shaft sleeve 24 in a stacked manner. For example, to use the screwdriver bit that is stored in the back of the shaft sleeve 24, it is necessary to remove the multiple screwdriver bits positioned over the needed screwdriver bit. The operation is complicated and severely reduces operating efficiency.
For example, Chinese utility model patent No. 201020185037.3 discloses an automatic bit-changing screwdriver, which includes an outer shield, an inner shield, a shaft, a shaft guiding base, a plurality of guiding shaft elements and a bit guiding sleeve. The inner shield and outer shield are slidingly coupled to each other. The shaft is disposed inside the inner shield and the outer shield. The shaft is fixedly connected to the outer shield to push or pull the bit. The shaft has a sloped surface. A shaft leading magnet is disposed on a front end of the shaft. The shaft guiding base is disposed between the inner shield and the shaft and fixedly attached to a back end of the inner shield. The plurality of guide shaft elements are connected along a periphery of the shaft guiding base and rotationally coupled to the shaft guiding base. Each guiding shaft element has a convex arc surface corresponding to a perspective position on the sloped surface. However the multiple bits of the screwdriver result in a complicated inner structure. Further because all the bits are disposed in the bit guiding sleeve, a needed bit cannot be obtained by one pump.
In conclusion, the state of the art combination screwdrivers are generally inconvenient for bit-changing and usually require operators to touch the bits by hand during bit-changing, thus, causing contamination, erosion and rust.

Shanghai Kunjek Handtools and Hardware Co., Ltd.


A radio communication system is provided at an entrance gate of traffic facilities for radio communicating with a communication device carried by a vehicle. The system includes a first communication unit for transmitting first entrance data relative to the entrance gate of the traffic facilities to the communication device carried by the vehicle coming into the entrance gate, a discriminating unit for determining a vehicle type showing a kind of incoming vehicle, and a second communication unit, provided on an opposite side of the entrance gate from the first communication unit, along a direction of progress of the vehicle, for transmitting a second entrance data including data relative to the determined vehicle type to the communication device when the first communication unit transmits the first entrance data to the communication device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to, for instance, a toll collection system which exchanges required information with an on-board equipment (OBE) carried on an incoming vehicle through a radio communication at a tollgate of a toll road, e.g., an expressway.
2. Description of the Related Art
On a toll expressway, a ticket is issued to a user on a vehicle coming into the entrance gate of a tollhouse from an entrance gate official and the ticket is turned over to an exit gate official of the tollhouse. The exit gate official calculates a toll based on data recorded on the ticket turned over and collects the toll from the user.
Data recorded on a ticket are an entrance gate identification (ID) code, a vehicle type, an entrance gate passing time and the like. Of these data, a vehicle type is automatically determined by a vehicle type discriminator which is provided at the entrance lane. Elements for determining a vehicle type are overall length, height and number of axles. The capital letter of a number plate of a vehicle that is detected by a video camera may be added.
A problem in such a present toll collection system is that each vehicle has to stop when getting and turning over a ticket thus, causing traffic congestion. The handling of the ticket itself is troublesome for a user and moreover, he has to open/close the window.
A system is considered which calculates and collects a toll without using a ticket by providing a radio communication controller at the entrance and exit gate of a tollhouse, providing on-board equipment (OBE) having a communication function on each vehicle and exchanging data with this OBE when passing through the entrance and exit gates. According to this system it is possible to collect a toll rapidly without requiring a tollhouse official to contact a user during the vehicle passing process and sharply reducing a vehicle passing process time. This will solve the traffic congestion problem.
Data transmitted to the OBE from the radio communication controller are an entrance gate ID code, a vehicle type, an entrance gate passing time and the like, the same as the data that would be recorded on a ticket.
As an example of a toll collection through radio communication as described above, a system has been disclosed in the Japanese Patent Disclosure (Kokai) No. 06-232820 (laid open to public inspection on Aug. 19, 1994).
However, in this radio communication system, an automatic ticket issuing machine (ATIM) is required to cope with an abnormality in the communication. In other words, if no response is sent from the on-board equipment in response to the data sent from the radio communication controller, the transmission is judged abnormal and a ticket is issued to a user. Data to be recorded on the ticket are an entrance gate ID code, a vehicle type, an entrance gate passing time and the like, the same as above. At an exit gate, an exit gate official gets the ticket from the user and calculates and collects a toll based on the data recorded on the ticket.
The entrance gate ID code and the entrance gate passing time are transmitted to the on-board equipment from the antenna at a tollgate immediately after the vehicle enters the entrance gate of the tollhouse and the result of this transmission will soon be known.
On the other hand, a vehicle type is automatically determined by a vehicle type discriminator provided at the entrance lane. The vehicle type is decided when the rear of the vehicle passes the vehicle type discriminator in order to detect a timing of completing the process for one vehicle, and data are finally transmitted to the on-board equipment via the antenna of the tollgate. Thereafter, the transmission result is known.
If the overall length of a vehicle is not long as in ordinary vehicles, even when data are transmitted to the on-board equipment from the antenna at the tollgate when a vehicle type is determined after the rear of the vehicle passes the vehicle type discriminator, there is sufficient time and distance until the vehicle arrives at the location of the ATIM after the result of data transmission is known. Therefore, if the transmission is abnormal, a user is able to pass through the tollgate smoothly while perceiving the necessity for getting a ticket in advance.
However, if a vehicle is long and large such as a full trailer (overall length 18m), semi-trailer (overall length 12 m) and large-sized bus (overall length 12 m), a vehicle type is finally determined when the front of a vehicle comes considerably close to the ticket issuing machine and data are transmitted to the on-board equipment from the antenna of the tollgate. Thus, there is not much time at all when the vehicle arrives at the location of the ticket issuing machine after the result of the data transmission is known.
Therefore, if the communication is abnormal, a user on a long and large-sized vehicle becomes aware of the necessity for getting a ticket immediately before or in front of the ATIM and has to stop the vehicle suddenly.
Further, in such a radio communication type toll collection system, electronic waves for radio communication are constantly sent to the vehicle from the antenna installed at the road side. Or, a method was adopted, wherein the transmission of radio waves to a vehicle begins when detecting the passage of the vehicle and the radio communication process terminated when the vehicle passed an no vehicle was present in a communication area.
However, in such a conventional radio communication process, the vehicle and preceding as well as succeeding vehicles run close together in particular, on a toll road where there is much traffic volume and congestion. Therefore, a phenomenon will be produced, wherein onboard vehicle units carried on preceding and succeeding vehicles and on-board equipment carried on the current vehicle are present in the same radio communication area. As a result, there is a problem such that the preceding and succeeding vehicles produce interference from the radio waves transmitted from the onboard vehicle units and the communication cannot be processed properly.


Isolation or in vitro assembly of the Cas9-crRNA complex of the Streptococcus thermophilus CRISPR3/Cas system and use for cleavage of DNA bearing a nucleotide sequence complementary to the crRNA and a proto-spacer adjacent motif. Methods for site-specific modification of a target DNA molecule in vitro or in vivo using an RNA-guided DNA endonuclease comprising RNA sequences and at least one of an RuvC active site motif and an HNH active site motif; for conversion of Cas9 polypeptide into a nickase cleaving one strand of double-stranded DNA by inactivating one of the active sites (RuvC or HNH) in the polypeptide by at least one point mutation; for assembly of active polypeptide-polyribonucleotides complex in vivo or in vitro; and for re-programming a Cas9-crRNA complex specificity in vitro and using a cassette containing a single repeat-spacer-repeat unit.

Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR) together with cas (CRISPR-associated) genes comprise an adaptive immune system that provides acquired resistance against invading foreign nucleic acids in bacteria and archaea (Barrangou et al., 2007. Science 315:1709-12). CRISPR consists of arrays of short conserved repeat sequences interspaced by unique variable DNA sequences of similar size called spacers, which often originate from phage or plasmid DNA (Barrangou et al., 2007. Science 315:1709-12; Bolotin et al., 2005. Microbiology 151:2551-61; Mojica et al., 2005. J Mol Evol 60:174-82). The CRISPR-Cas system functions by acquiring short pieces of foreign DNA (spacers) which are inserted into the CRISPR region and provide immunity against subsequent exposures to phages and plasmids that carry matching sequences (Barrangou et al., 2007. Science 315:1709-12; Brouns et al., 2008. Science 321: 960-4) The CRISPR-Cas immunity is generally carried out through three stages, referred to as i) adaptation/immunization/spacer acquisition, ii) CRISPR expression/crRNA biogenesis, iii) interference/immunity. (Horvath & Barrangou, 2010. Science 327:167-70; Deveau et al., 2010. Annu Rev Microbiol. 64:475-93; Marraffini & Sontheimer, 2010. Nat Rev Genet 11, 181-90; Bhaya et al., Annu Rev Genet 45:273-97; Wiedenheft et al., 2012. Nature 482:331-338). Here, we specifically focus on the interference/immunity step which enables crRNA-mediated silencing of foreign nucleic acids.
The highly diverse CRISPR-Cas systems are categorized into three major types, which are further subdivided into ten subtypes, based on core element content and sequences (Makarova et al., 2011. Nat Rev Microbiol 9:467-77). The structural organization and function of nucleoprotein complexes involved in crRNA-mediated silencing of foreign nucleic acids differ between distinct CRISPR/Cas types (Wiedenheft et al., 2012. Nature 482:331-338). In the Type I-E system, as exemplified by Escherichia coli, crRNAs are incorporated into a multisubunit effector complex called Cascade (CRISPR-associated complex for antiviral defence) (Brouns et al., 2008. Science 321: 960-4), which binds to the target DNA and triggers degradation by the signature Cas3 protein (Sinkunas et al., 2011. EMBO J 30:1335-42; Beloglazova et al., 2011. EMBO J 30:616-27). In Type III CRISPR/Cas systems of Sulfolobus solfataricus and Pyrococcus furiosus, Cas RAMP module (Cmr) and crRNA complex recognize and cleave synthetic RNA in vitro (Hale et al., 2012. Mol Cell 45:292-302; Zhang et al., 2012. Mol Cell, 45:303-13) while the CRISPR/Cas system of Staphylococcus epidermidis targets DNA in vivo (Marraffini & Sontheimer, Science. 322:1843-5).
RNP complexes involved in DNA silencing by Type II CRISPR/Cas systems, more specifically in the CRISPR3/Cas system of Streptococcus thermophilus DGCC7710 (Horvath & Barrangou, 2010. Science 327:167-70), consists of four cas genes cas9, cas2, cas2, and csn2, that are located upstream of 12 repeat-spacer units (part (A) of FIG. 1). Cas9 (formerly named cas5 or csn1) is the signature gene for Type II systems (Makarova et al., 2011. Nat Rev Microbiol 9:467-77). In the closely related S. thermophilus CRISPR1/Cas system, disruption of cas9 abolishes crRNA-mediated DNA interference (Barrangou et al., 2007. Science 315:1709-12). We have shown recently that the S. thermophilus CRISPR3/Cas system can be transferred into Escherichia coli, and that this heterologous system provides protection against plasmid transformation and phage infection, de novo (Sapranauskas et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Res 39:9275-82). The interference against phage and plasmid DNA provided by S. thermophilus CRISPR3 requires the presence, within the target DNA, of a proto-spacer sequence complementary to the spacer-derived crRNA, and a conserved PAM (Proto-spacer Adjacent Motif) sequence, NGGNG, located immediately downstream the proto-spacer (Deveau et al., 2008. J Bacteriol 190:1390-400; Horvath et al., 2008. J Bacteriol 190:1401-12; Mojica et al., 2009. Microbiology 155:733-40). Single point mutations in the PAM or defined proto-spacer positions allow the phages or plasmids to circumvent CRISPR-mediated immunity (Deveau et al., 2008. J Bacteriol 190:1390-400; Garneau et al., 2010. Nature 468:67-71; Sapranauskas et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Res 39:9275-82). We have established that in the heterologous system, cas9 is the sole cas gene necessary for CRISPR-encoded interference (Sapranauskas et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Res 39:9275-82), suggesting that this protein is involved in crRNA processing and/or crRNA-mediated silencing of invasive DNA. Cas9 of S. thermophilus CRISPR3/Cas system is a large multi-domain protein comprised of 1,409 aa residues (Sapranauskas et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Res 39:9275-82). It contains two nuclease domains, a RuvC-like nuclease domain near the amino terminus, and a HNH-like nuclease domain in the middle of the protein. Mutational analysis has established that interference provided in vivo by Cas9 requires both the RuvC- and HNH-motifs (Sapranauskas et al., 2011. Nucleic Acids Res 39:9275-82).
Isolation of the Cas9-crRNA complex of the S. thermophilus CRISPR3/Cas system as well as complex assembly in vitro from separate components and demonstration that it cleaves both synthetic oligodeoxynucleotide and plasmid DNA bearing a nucleotide sequence complementary to the crRNA, in a PAM-dependent manner, is provided. Furthermore, we provide experimental evidence that the PAM is recognized in the context of double-stranded DNA and is critical for in vitro DNA binding and cleavage. Finally, we show that the Cas9 RuvC- and HNH-active sites are responsible for the cleavage of opposite DNA strands. Taken together, our data demonstrate that the Cas9-crRNA complex functions as an RNA-guided endonuclease which uses RNA for the target site recognition and Cas9 for DNA cleavage. The simple modular organization of the Cas9-crRNA complex, where specificity for DNA targets is encoded by a small crRNA and the cleavage machinery consists of a single, multidomain Cas protein, provides a versatile platform for the engineering of universal RNA-guided DNA endonucleases. Indeed, we provide evidence that by altering the RNA sequence within the Cas9-crRNA complex, programmable endonucleases can be designed both for in vitro and in vivo applications, and we provide a proof of concept for this novel application. These findings pave the way for the development of novel molecular tools for RNA-directed DNA surgery.

RNA-directed DNA cleavage by the Cas9-crRNA complex

{hacek over (S)}ik{hacek over (s)}nys et al.


A method for decoding information received at a network device may include a first decoding process which applies a first algorithm iteratively until a stopping criterion is reached and a second decoding process which may flip a logic state of one or more bits. In one implementation using low density parity check (LDPC) codewords, bits may be flipped after evaluating check nodes having the lowest metrics and/or assessing the parity relationships of bit nodes and/or edges associated with those check nodes. Devices and systems for decoding are also disclosed as well as various other embodiments.

Most communications networks are designed to convey multiple communications simultaneously over each individual communication path, for example, a radio frequency (RF) channel or physical connection, using some type of modulation. In recent years, an increasing demand has arisen for efficient and reliable digital data transfers which assure correct data transmissions at as great a data rate as possible. Forward error correction (FEC) codes have been used in some communications systems for this purpose.
Codes are essentially digital data sequences derived from message sequences and used to convey message information. In forward error correction (FEC), information may be encoded to provide the abilities of detection and/or correction of errors occurring in a transmission, for example resulting from a noisy channel. The receiver in a communication system can recover all the information in the codewords by itself and thus coding lends advantages to high speed communication systems and/or those requiring synchronous communications.
For block coding, as opposed to convolutional coding, an encoder divides the information to be sent into message blocks of length k. In binary block encoding, each message block is represented by a binary k-tuple u=(u1, u2, . . . , uk) called a "message," thus there are 2k different possible messages altogether. The encoder transforms each message m independently into an n-tuple c=(c1, c2, . . . , cn) called a "codeword." Therefore, there are 2k different possible codewords at the encoder output. The set of 2k codewords of length n is called a (n, k) "block code."
Low Density Parity Check (LDPC) codes are a type of FEC block codes that that can be iteratively decoded. LDPC codewords are constructed using a number of simple parity-check relationships shared between the bits in a codeword. Various different decoding algorithms can be applied to decode LDPC codes but most obtain the greatest gain when applied iteratively.
Generally, the more decoding iterations applied to decode each LDPC codeword, the lower the codeword error rate given equal code rates. However, the number of decoding iterations that may be performed on each codeword may be limited by available time in high speed communication networks with restrictive decoding latency requirements. Further, the complexity and/or processing capabilities of a decoder may increase with the number of decoding iterations to be performed. Accordingly, it would be desirable to have a technique and/or system for decoding LDPC codes with a limited number of decoding iterations while maintaining an acceptable codeword error rate or bit error rate (BER).

Method and apparatus for decoding forward error correction codes


A portable, hand held condiment dispenser for dispensing condiments onto items of food includes a container for holding a condiment, a valve controlling the flow of condiment from the container, and a releasably attached dispensing head, permitting use of different types of dispensing heads. The container includes a removable filling cap permitting the container to be refilled with a condiment. Alternatively, the container can be a pliant tube which can be squeezed in order to discharge the condiment from the container.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to food applicators and more particularly pertains to a new portable, hand held condiment dispenser for dispensing a condiment onto an item of food.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The use of food applicators is known in the prior art. More specifically, food applicators heretofore devised and utilized are known to consist basically of familiar, expected and obvious structural configurations, notwithstanding the myriad of designs encompassed by the crowded prior art which have been developed for the fulfillment of countless objectives and requirements.
Known prior art food applicators include U.S. Pat. No. 5,328,509. Additionally, U.S. Pat. No. 5,213,431; U.S. Pat. No. 5,051017; U.S. Pat. No. Des. 346,112; U.S. Pat. No. 4,021,125 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,030,844 teach roll-on dispensers for dispensing personal care products, such as deodorant. However, these references only dispense personal care products, and therefore do not include releasable dispensing heads or refillable containers.
While these devices fulfill their respective, particular objectives and requirements, the aforementioned patents do not disclose a condiment dispenser. The inventive device includes a container holding a condiment, a valve controlling the flow of condiment from the container, and a releasably attached dispensing head, permitting use of different types of dispensing heads. The container includes a removable filling cap permitting the container to be refilled with a condiment. Alternatively, the container can be a pliant tube which can be squeezed in order to discharge the condiment from the container.
In these respects, the condiment dispenser according to the present invention substantially departs from the conventional concepts and designs of the prior art, and in so doing provides an apparatus primarily developed for the purpose of dispensing condiments onto items of food.


A lens barrel includes a fixed barrel having an approximately cylindrical shape; a lens frame 132 disposed inside of the fixed barrel for holding the lens group; at least one shaft 135A engaging in the lens frame 132 for guiding the lens frame 132 in a direction parallel to the optical axis of the lens group; and a guide shaft 135B provided to a perimeter of the lens frame for regulating a rotation of the lens frame about the shaft. The lens frame 132 is disposed in the fixed barrel so that a center axis 102 of the fixed barrel and an optical axis 101 of the lens group do not coincide with each other, but are deflected in parallel, The shaft 135A and the guide shaft 135B are disposed so that a central angle θ1 formed with respect to the center axis 102 of the fixed barrel is less than 180 degrees.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a lens barrel for holding optical elements, such as a lens element and an optical filter, and an image pickup device including such a lens barrel. More specifically, the present invention relates to a lens barrel having incorporated therein an electromagnetic motor including a cylindrical rotor, and an image pickup device including such a lens barrel.
2. Description of the Background Art
Digital still cameras and digital video cameras have been rapidly widespread, thanks to improvement in the degree of integration and low cost of image pick-up sensors and signal processing circuits, such as Charge Coupled Devices (CCDs) and Complementary Metal-Oxide Semiconductors (CMOS).
Also, in recent years, cellular phones, Personal Digital Assistants (PDAs), and other terminals having incorporated therein a digital camera have become quite popular. In the future, it is predicted that digital cameras will be further widespread in the fields of monitor cameras and vehicle-mounted cameras. Such a digital camera includes an image pickup device. In general, the image pickup device includes an optical system, a barrel, and an image pickup sensor.
Most digital cameras in recent years perform zooming and focusing in a motor-driven manner. Such motor-driven zooming and focusing are performed by using a motor to drive a mechanism of holding a predetermined lens element included in an optical system so as to move the lens element to a direction parallel to an optical axis.
Conventionally, the mechanism of holding the lens element has been driven by a general-purpose brushless motor. However, if the holding mechanism is driven by such a general-purpose brushless motor, a space has to be provided to the lens barrel for placing the motor, thereby increasing the size of the lens barrel. Moreover, a transmitting mechanism, such as a gear, for transmitting the rotation of the motor is required, thereby increasing the size of the lens barrel and generating noise.
In order to get around the problems, a lens driving device is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-196850. The lens driving device includes a cylindrical fixed barrel, a lens holding frame provided inside the fixed barrel for movably holding a lens element in an optical axis direction, and a shaft for guiding the lens holding frame in the optical axis direction. In the lens driving device, magnets are disposed around the perimeter of the lens holding frame to form a rotor, and a coil and a yoke are disposed around the perimeter of the rotor to form a hollow motor. In the lens driving device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-196850, the center of the magnets and the coil are deflected from the lens element held by the lens holding frame, thereby making the entire lens driving device compact in size.
However, in the lens driving device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-196850, the inner diameter of the fixed barrel is significantly large compared with the outer diameter of the lens holding frame. Therefore, in the lens driving device disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 5-196850, a lens barrel in a direction perpendicular to the optical axis of the lens element cannot be made compact in size.

Lens barrel and image pickup device including lens barrel

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


An n-phase transistor active bridge circuit (BC) connectable between at least two input lines (103, 105, 1051, 1053, 1055) and a pair of output lines (134, 136, 1057, 1059). The BC comprises a plurality of field-effect transistors (FETs) of the same channel type. The FETs (102, 104, 106, 108, 1010, 1012, 1014, 1016, 1018, 1020) are connected to convert an n-phase AC waveform (402, 1102, 1104, 1006) to a DC waveform (502, 1302). The n-phase AC waveform is applied to BC by a voltage source (101, 1002, 1004, 1006) coupled to the input lines. Gate drive circuits (170, 172, 174, 176, 1001a, 1001b, 1001c, 1003a, 1003b, 1003c) supply a voltage to gates (139, 143, 147, 151, 1024, 1034, 1044, 1054, 1064, 1074) of the FETs for switching the FETs to their “on” states or “off” states at predetermined times.

1. Statement of the Technical Field
The inventive arrangements relate to Metal-Oxide-Semiconductor Field-Effect Transistor (MOSFET) circuits, and more particularly to a circuit for Alternating Current (AC) voltage rectification.
2. Description of the Related Art
Bridge rectifier type devices are typically used to convert an n-phase AC waveform into a Direct Current (DC) waveform. A schematic illustration of a conventional one-phase bridge rectifier type device is shown in FIG. 9 and a conventional three-phase bridge rectifier type device is shown in FIG. 17. As shown in FIG. 9, the conventional one-phase bridge rectifier type device is supplied an AC voltage. The conventional one-phase bridge rectifier type device utilizes a plurality of bridge connected diodes to perform the rectification function. As shown in FIG. 17, the conventional three-phase bridge rectifier type device is supplied three (3) AC voltages that differ in phase by one-third (⅓) of a cycle or one hundred twenty degrees (120°). The one-phase bridge connected diodes include two (2) positive side diodes and two (2) negative side diodes. The conventional three-phase bridge rectifier type device utilizes a plurality of three-phase bridge connected diodes to perform the rectification function. The three-phase bridge connected diodes include three (3) positive side diodes and three (3) negative side diodes. During operation of the one-phase and three-phase bridge rectifier type devices, only those diodes belonging to the phases indicative of peak values of the AC voltages at the respective positive and negative sides are turned on. In effect, an AC waveform is rectified by the bridge rectifier circuit. After the AC waveform is rectified, the output signal is often filtered to remove unwanted spectral content and to produce a DC voltage. A filtering device utilizing capacitor components, resistor components, and/or inductor components is typically used for this purpose.
Despite the various technologies known in the art, there remains a need for a one-phase bridge rectifier type device that can rectify domestic AC mains (for example, 120V, 60 Hz) and/or foreign AC mains (for example, 230V, 50 Hz) with low power loss. There is also a need for a three-phase bridge rectifier type device that can rectify a domestic three-phase AC mains (for example, 208V, 60 Hz) and/or a foreign three-phase AC mains (for example, 400V, 50 Hz) with low power loss.

N-phase active bridge circuits including N-channel field effect transistors with active gate drive