A method for efficient production of an S-hydroxynitrile lyase by gene recombination using Escherichia coli is provided. A gene is formed by altering a codon in an S-hydroxyniitrylase gene originating in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) without changing the amino acid sequence thereof till the frequency of codon usage wholly with an amino acid in Escherichia coli reaches a level of not less than 5%. According to the method for the production of an S-hydroxynitrile lyase by the use of the gene, the S-hydroxynitrile lyase can be produced in a large amount with an unusually high yield.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a gene containing a DNA coding for S-hydroxynitrile lyase, a recombinant vector plasmid gene possessing the gene, and Escherichia coli containing the recombinant vector plasmid gene. This invention further relates to a method for the production of S-hydroxynitrile lyase by the use of recombinant Escherichia coli having integrated the gene mentioned above.
2. Description of the Related Art
The S-hydroxynitrile lyase (EC 126.96.36.199) originating in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) is an effective enzyme for the synthesis of an optically active S-cyanohydrin from an aromatic or aliphatic carbonyl compound and hydrogen cyanide. The synthesis of the optically active cyanohydrin by the use of this enzyme is very useful for the sake of synthesizing various optically active intermediates. Since this enzyme is contained only in the amount of a mere trace in the tissue of cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), rose-rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis), etc., however, it has been difficult to utilize this enzyme on a commercial scale.
An example of the production of this enzyme implemented by the culture of recombinant Escherichia coli integrating therein a gene coding for S-hydroxynitrile lyase originating in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) with a view to solving the problem has been heretofore known (Biotechnol. Bioeng. 53, 332–338, 1997). Since this method obtains an HNL protein by isolating a fusion protein formed in Escherichia coli by using a vector having a malE gene and an HNL gene bonded with a polylinker and subsequently severing the fusion protein at the Factor Xa site of the polylinker, this HNL protein turns out to be a recombinant protein having several amino acids added to the N terminal of the inherent S-hydroxynitrile lyase originating in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz), fails to form the folding of protein successfully, and eventually exhibits a quality different from the inherent quality of the protein. Further, since it has the gene originating in a eucaryote integrated into the Escherichia coli which is a procaryote, the recombinant protein consequently obtained has no fully satisfactory specific activity.
An example of the production of the S-hydroxynitrile lyase originating in rose-rubber tree (Hevea brasiliensis) effected by similar gene recombination using a yeast (genus Saceharomyces or genus Pichia), a eukaryotic cell, as a recipient has been known heretofore (official gazette of International Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-508775). However, this method requires long cultivation time. Also, it is difficult to isolate recombinant proteins from yeast cells whose cell walls are hard to break.
Similarly, an example of the production of the S-hydroxynitrile lyase originating in cassava (Manihot esculenta Crantz) effected by the recombination owing to the use of a yeast episome type expression vector, with the yeast (genus Saccharomyces-or genus Pichia) as a recipient has been known heretofore (official gazette of JP-A-2000-189159 and JP-A-2000-189160). This method similarly suffers from deficiency in specific activity.
In the existing circumstances, the desirability of developing an efficient method for the production of the S-hydroxynitrile lyase by the gene recombination using Escherichia coli has come to find growing recognition in consideration of the fact that this method permits easy high density culture and consequently enables the gene and the protein aimed at to be produced in large quantities, the fact that the cell has a thin wall as compared with a yeast and the fracture of this cell allows easy acquisition of a recombinant protein, and the fact that the method for purifying a target gene and protein has been well established.
Even if the amount of the S-hydroxynitrile lyase to be expressed is simply increased, more often than not the bulk of an inactive body of foreign protein, namely the so-called inclusion body, is formed because them is folding of the foreign protein as by the molecular chaperone does not normally function when the foreign protein is produced in a large quantity in the recipient such as Escherichia coli. The inclusion body results from the alteration of the three-dimensional structure of a target product and manifests its effect on the intrinsic activity of that target product. The necessity of performing a refolding treatment, therefore, arises. Thus, the desirability of developing a method which does not form such an inclusion body as this has been finding popular recognition.

Method for production of S-hydroxynitrile lyase by use of


This invention discloses a low-voltage fast-write 12T or 14T PMOS NVSRAM cell structure which comprises a 6T LV SRAM cell and one pairs of two 3T or 4T HV PMOS Flash strings. Due to reverse threshold voltage definition of PMOS and NMOS flash cell, this PMOS NVSRAM cell has the advantage over the NMOS NVSRAM cell to have the same data polarity between SRAM and Flash pairs during the data writing operation. In addition, this PMOS NVSRAM's PMOS Flash cell uses similar low-current FN-tunneling scheme as NMOS NVSRAM, thus the fast data program and erase can be achieved in a big density up to 100 Mb simultaneously. As a result, low power voltage operation of NVSRAM with 1.2V VDD can be much easier to be designed without coupling the FSL line to any VDD level during the flash data loading into SRAM cell during a power-on period.

The present invention is generally related with a novel design of PMOS SRAM based NVRAM cell structure and array for an extremely fast Write (Program and Erase) speed, which only requires the low-voltage VDD and VSS for Program and Program-Inhibit operations for an extremely high-density, low-current, in-circuit programmable and erasable NVSRAM and SRAM-based field-programmable gate array (FPGA) designs.
The CMOS NVSRAM is well known for years in the art. Typically, it comprises a 6T SRAM cell and a Flash cell. During the read operation, Flash is isolated from SRAM and is transparent to the SRAM users. But the SRAM lacks of permanent storage capability after the normal power off or the unexpected power loss. Therefore, there is a need to back up all data that is being stored in all on-chip volatile SRAM into the nonvolatile Flash on the same die within a very short period of time. NVSRAM prevails over NVDRAM in market place because it does not consume any power as NVDRAM for the data refreshment during the read operation.
Three prior arts related to NVSRAM cells are referred to for this application, including a U.S. Pat. No. 7,164,608 related to 1-poly NVSRAM, a U.S. Pat. No. 7,760,540 (filed by a same inventor as the present application and commonly assigned) related to 2-poly NVSRAM, and a U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/888,134 (filed by the same inventor of the present application) related to low voltage fast-write NVSRAM cell.
All these prior works are actually related to the NMOS NVSRAM cell because they uses NMOS flash transistor as the storage NVM transistor, regardless of 1-poly charge trapping SONOS type or 2-poly floating-gate type flash cell. Although the NMOS NVSRAM cells have many advantages, there is one severe drawback which is the reverse of the polarity of stored data between each SRAM and each Flash cell in each NVSRAM cell after program operation of each NMOS NVSRAM. As a result, during the power-up period, the downloading of each Flash data into each corresponding SRAM cell needs more complicate circuit handling technique to make it into the same data polarity. Or as in the U.S. patent application Ser. No. 13/888,134, more transistors were added to eliminate the reverse polarity with a simple write circuit but at the sacrifice of larger silicon area overhead.
Therefore, an improved PMOS NVSRAM cell design and associated operations are needed and become objectives of the present invention.


A method of making intermetallic nanoscale particles comprising iron aluminide and/or iron aluminum carbide comprising the steps of preparing a mixture of a solvent, an iron salt and LiAlH4, and heating the mixture to form the intermetallic nanoscale particles. The intermetallic nanoscale particles, which can comprise intermetallic nanoscale particles of iron aluminide and/or iron aluminum carbide in an alumina matrix, are capable of reducing the amount of 1,3-butadiene in the mainstream smoke of a cigarette.

The iron aluminum system forms a series of solid solutions from 0 to 52 atomic percent aluminum. At room temperature, alloys with less than 18.5 atomic percent (about 10 weight percent) aluminum are body-centered cubic solid solutions with a disordered structure. However, alloys with 18.5 to 35 atomic percent (about 10 to 18 weight percent) aluminum form a DO3 ordered structure, and alloys with greater than about 35 atomic percent (greater than about 18 weight percent) aluminum form the cubic B2 ordered structure.
Intermetallic iron aluminide alloys are of commercial interest because of their high tensile strength, low density, and excellent resistance at high temperatures to wear, corrosion and oxidation. According to commonly assigned Published U.S. Application No. 2002/0014453, nanoscale iron aluminides are also attractive as filtration materials, for example, for the selective abatement of 1,3-butadiene. However, as disclosed by Haber et al. in Advanced Materials, 1996, 8, No. 2 (pp. 163-166) and in Chem. Mater., 2000, 12 (pp. 973-982), commercial application of aluminides has been limited because coarse-grained aluminides are too brittle for many applications. As disclosed by Varin et al., in Intermetallics, 7 1999, (p. 917), particle size refinement, particularly to nanoscale (below 1 micron) dimensions, has been predicted to improve physical properties of iron aluminide intermetallic alloys.
As disclosed by Haber et al. in J. Aerosol Sci., Vol 29, No 5/6 (1998) (pp. 637-645), nanoscale particles have been made from metals, alloys, intermetallics and ceramics. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,580,655; 5,695,617; 5,770,022; 5,851,507; 5,879,715; 5,891,548; 5,962,132; 6,262,129 and 6,368,406, the disclosures of which are all hereby incorporated by reference, relate to the formation of nanoscale particles using a variety of techniques including chemical synthesis, gas-phase synthesis, deposition by ionized cluster beams, high speed milling and sol-gel routes. These methods suffer from numerous drawbacks, however, including agglomeration, impurities or broad particle size distribution. In J. Mater. Res. Vol. 11, No. 2 (1996) (pp. 439-448 and 449-457) Suryanarayana et al. disclose the formation of nanocrystalline copper powder via the reduction of CuCl in NaBH4.
The most common method reported in the literature for the synthesis of intermetallic nanoparticles is mechanical ball milling. (See, for example, Jartych E., et al., J. Phys. Condens. Matter, 10:4929 (1998); Jartych E., et al., Nanostructured Materials, 12:927 (1999); and Amilis, X., et al., Nanostructured Materials 12:801 (1999)). Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. No. 6,368,406 discloses preparation of nanoscale FeAl by laser vaporization.
Despite the developments to date, there is interest in improved and more efficient methods of making aluminide materials and/or materials effective in reducing the amount of various constituents such as 1,3-butadiene in the mainstream smoke of a cigarette during smoking. Preferably, such methods and compositions should not involve expensive or time consuming manufacturing and/or processing steps.
Disclosed is a simple, novel and high yield approach for synthesizing iron aluminide and/or iron aluminum carbide nanoparticles via the chemical reduction of iron salts with lithium aluminum hydride. The chemical reduction technique provides several advantages including the capacity to generate large quantities of nanoscale particles.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Nanoscale particles of iron aluminide and iron aluminum carbide by the reduction of iron salts


A collision detecting device which is installed in a vehicle comprises a metallic object to be detected having an extending surface which can be displaced toward a coil sensor according a vehicle collision and is arranged to face the sensor surface of the coil sensor.

The present invention relates to a technology for deriving information about displacement of a vehicle component.
Conventionally, there are known various vehicle collision sensors for detecting occurrence of a collision in the event of a vehicle accident. For example, disclosed in Japanese patent document no. JP-A-05-45372 as listed below is an arrangement of employing a structure of cancelling insulation between two electric conductors so as to establish electric continuity therebetween when a vehicle side door is subjected to an impact exceeding a certain value in the event of a vehicle lateral collision, thus sensing occurrence of a collision on the vehicle side door as an electric signal.
By the way, in a structure for restraining a vehicle occupant in the event of a vehicle collision by an occupant restraint system such as an airbag, there is a high demand for technology for improving the occupant restraining capability. For this, it is highly requested to develop an effective sensor for improving detection capability in order to rapidly and securely detect occurrence of a vehicle collision.
The present invention is made in view of the aforementioned point and it is an object of the present invention to provide a technology, relating to detection of information about displacement of a vehicle component during a vehicle collision, which is effective for improving the detection characteristics.

Device for deriving information about displacement of a vehicle component


Higher information rates are achieved in lightwave communication systems by using optical signals of different polarizations to represent data as ternary digits. Each ternary digit assumes a value, for example, of either zero, logic 1 (e.g., an amplitude of one unit) on a first polarization, or logic 1 on a second polarization. The ternary digits are transmitted to a receiver through a single optical fiber by modulating the optical signals in time with one of these two polarizations or zero. The receiver determines the value of each ternary digit by determining that the received optical signal has a value of either zero or logic one on a particular one of the two polarizations.

Demand for bandwidth in lightwave communication systems is ever increasing. This increasing demand can be met by installing additional fiber cable. However, augmentation of existing long distance fiber systems is costly. Thus, it is desirable to use existing systems to maximum capacity.
One technique for increasing the capacity of an existing fiber system is a form of space division multiplexing in which two optical signals of different polarizations are simultaneously transmitted through a single optical fiber. Simultaneous transmission of different data sequences in the same fiber via a separate polarization for each sequence permits doubles the amount of information passing through the fiber. However, polarization mode dispersion and nonlinear effects in the fiber will cause two simultaneously transmitted optical signals to interfere with each other. For example, polarization mode dispersion and nonlinear effects induce phase changes and power dependent distortion in the polarized optical signals as the signals pass through the fiber. This, in turn, makes the two interfering optical signals difficult to distinguish from each other. Inability to distinguish between the signals makes it difficult to exploit the second, orthogonal polarization dimension to achieve higher information rates by space division multiplexing of the signals.

Ternary data communication using multiple polarizations


An audio sound system decodes from non-encoded two-channel stereo into at least four channel sound. The rear channel information is derived by taking a difference of left minus right and dividing that difference into a plurality of bands. In a simplistic implementation, at least one band is dynamically steered while the other band is unaltered so as to avoid any perceived pumping effects while providing transient information to left/right, as well as directional enhancement. In a preferred embodiment, multiple bands are dynamically steered left or right, so as to enhance directional information to the rear of the listener. In both schemes, the low pass filtered output of the sum of the left and right inputs is also combined with the directionally enhanced information, so as to provide a composite left rear and right rear output. Furthermore, the center channel information does not necessarily require a discrete loudspeaker, and can be divided so that low frequency information can be applied to the rear channels while mid and high frequency information from the center channel can be applied to the front left and right channels to compensate for any perceived loss of center information.

The present invention relates generally to audio sound systems and more specifically concerns audio sound systems which decode from two-channel stereo into at least four channel sound, commonly referred to as "surround" sound.
Surround systems generally encode four discrete channel signals into a stereo signal which can be decoded through a matrix scheme into the discrete four channel signals. These four decoded signals are then played back through loudspeakers configured around the listener as front, left, right and rear. This principle was adopted originally by Peter Scheiber in U.S. Pat. No. 3,632,886 specifically for audio applications, and the method of encoding four discrete signals into two and then decoding back into four at playback has become commonly known as "quadraphonic" sound. Scheiber's original surround system produces only limited separation between adjacent channels and therefore requires additional dynamic steering to enhance directional information. The basic principle has been applied very successfully in cinematic applications, configured in front-left, front-center, front-right and rear surround, commonly known as Dolby Stereo.TM.. The front-center speaker is designed to be positioned behind the movie screen for the purpose of localizing dialogue specifically from the movie screen. The front-left and front-right channels provide effects, while the rear or surround channel provides both ambient information as well as sound effects. The Dolby Pro Logic.TM. system, a Dolby Stereo.TM. system adapted for home use, uses a tremendous amount of dynamic steering to further enhance channel separation, and is very effective in localizing signals at any of the four channels as an independent signal. The Dolby system, however, provides limited channel separation with composite simultaneous signals.
Although highly effective for audio/video applications, the Dolby Pro Logic.TM. system is not the most desirable for exclusive audio applications. The rear surround channel is limited to 7 KHz, and it does not provide an acceptable amount of low frequency information. The mono center channel, while perfectly suited for dialogue in theater applications, is not desirable for exclusive audio. The center channel has the effect of producing a very mono front image.
It is desirable to provide a multi-channel scheme which can produce four directional channels of information designed specifically for high quality audio applications. It is also desirable that the system have the capability to generate its four directional signals directly from a standard two-channel stereo recording, therefore eliminating any requirement for encoding.
One of the most desirable applications for a system such as this would be automotive sound, configured as left/right front, and left/right rear. Current automotive audio systems send the same left/right information to the rear as is fed to the front. This produces a psycho-acoustic illusion of four channel sound due to the fact that the human ear has a different frequency response to signals directed from the front than it has to signals directed from the rear. For this reason, the current four-speaker stereo system used in automotive applications sounds much more desirable than attempting to adapt a current surround system, such as Dolby's Pro Logic.TM., to automotive applications. Furthermore, there are some major drawbacks to adapting a system such as Dolby's. Since only difference information would be fed to the rear speakers, the rear channel would have a bandwidth of only 7 KHz, and it would be mono in that there would be no directional information perceived to the rear of the listener. As a result, in comparing adapted Dolby Pro Logic.TM. with conventional four-speaker stereo, many listeners would prefer the sound imaging of the conventional four-speaker stereo system.
The majority of the steering schemes devised to enhance directional information have been designed to enhance the normal left, right, center and surround information in a similar fashion to the Dolby Pro Logic.TM. system. For example, using a scheme such as that disclosed by Peter Scheiber, to further enhance directional imaging from a signal previously encoded, David E. Blackmer, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,129, provides a discrete rear left, right and center surround channel system. This system is further enhanced for encoding aspects in U.S. Pat. No. 4,680,796 which was also devised specifically for video applications. In U.S. Pat. No. 4,589,129, a very elaborate compression/expansion scheme for encode and decode is disclosed for the purpose of providing noise reduction. However, a major drawback is encountered in this scheme in that the directional steering process is performed broadband and, in the event that predominant steering information is present, objectionable pumping effects are perceived by the listener. This system also has little serious impact in high quality audio applications, due to the fact that the left and right surround information is processed through comb filters. Should a signal be processed by the left or right surround channels, where the fundamental frequency of that signal falls into the notch of one of these comb filters, it would reduce any impact of that signal appearing at the left or right output. Morever, the comb filters will destroy any possibility for side imaging from a system in which a common signal appears at the front and rear of either side, as the rear signal will no longer have the same phase characteristics as the front signal. In addition, if the comb filter is generated with time delays, it would not have the same time domain aspects.
An additional drawback to this system is that it does not lend itself to automotive applications because the surround information is generated strictly by the difference from left and right and there is typically no low frequency energy present in the difference information signal. In automotive sound systems, the majority of the bass is derived from the rear channels because the rear speakers are typically larger and the acoustic cavity in which the speakers are enclosed can typically be much larger and thus provide better bass response.
With the success of Dolby Pro Logic.TM., which has become a standard feature on commercial audio/video receivers, many manufacturers have attempted to provide additional surround schemes that can be specifically applied to audio. In particular, these schemes have added artificial delays and/or ambient information to the rear of the listener. More sophisticated and elaborate systems have been devised and implemented in which the signal is processed through DSP or Digital Signal Processing. Virtually all the attempts made in DSP have also included the addition of artificial reverberation and/or discrete delays to the rear speakers. The addition of information not present in the source signal is not desirable, as the music that is then perceived no longer accurately reflects its original intended sound.
While DSP holds much promise for the future, it is a very expensive system by today's standard and it is desirable to provide a system that could be integrated, incorporating the advantages disclosed, for perhaps one-tenth of the cost of such a system implemented in DSP.
In light of the prior art, and the drawbacks of attempting to adapt any of the prior art systems specifically to automotive applications, it is a primary object of the present invention to provide four-channel sound which greatly enhances the conventional four-speaker stereo system commonly used in auto sound systems. It is also an object of the present invention to achieve a system that requires decode-only for use in high quality audio sound systems which receives an input from a conventional stereo signal, thus allowing for compatibility with all stereo recorded material, and decodes from this two-channel stereo signal an audio sound system incorporating at least four speakers located left/right front and left/right rear. In particular, it is desirable to be able to improve the ambient perceived to the rear of the listener. It is also an object to provide rear directional information without the necessity of adding any artificial information such as delays, reverb, phase correction or harmonics generation that is not already present in the original source material. It is also desirable to provide steering aspects to further enhance left/right directional imaging to the rear of the listener without encountering the objectionable pumping perceived with a single-band system. Furthermore, it is an object to provide emphasis to one side for directional enhancement while providing an increased amount of de-emphasis to the other side. It is also an object to provide discrete left/right imaging to the rear without the necessity of providing comb filters disposed at the audio path, due to the fact that comb filters do not provide results considered to be musically pleasing in high quality audio applications. It is another object of the invention to provide the possibility of localizing simultaneous images to the rear speakers, i.e. a given signal can be perceived as coming from the left while another signal is simultaneously coming from the right. Another object of the present invention is to provide sufficient bass information to the rear speakers of the auto sound system since the majority of the bass delivered in automotive sound is generated from the rear. A further object of the invention is to define a system that can also lend itself to future DSP applications that can further enhance the basic concept of the present invention.


The present invention relates to an antifungal protein, AlfAFP1, which is a modified form of an antifungal protein isolated from Medicago plants, the modified form exhibiting enhanced anti-fungal activity for controlling fungal pathogenesis in plants. A method for inhibiting fungal colonization of plants is described which includes preparation of nucleotide sequences encoding the modified antifungal protein, preparation of vectors containing the nucleotide coding sequence, and methods for transforming plants with the nucleotide sequences. The polypeptide can be formulated into compositions useful in controlling plant pathogenic fungi.

The present invention relates to new antifungal polypeptides that exhibit broad-spectrum antifungal activity against pathogenic and other fungi. Specifically, the present invention relates to a variant amino acid sequence defensin protein derived from an alfalfa antifungal protein and its use as an antifungal polypeptide in plant disease control against plant pathogenic fungi. The present invention relates to the antifungal polypeptides obtainable from plants in the genus Medicago. The antifungal polypeptides may be applied directly to a plant, applied to a plant in the form of microorganisms that produce the polypeptides, or the plants may be genetically modified to produce the polypeptides. The present invention also relates to microorganisms and plants transformed with DNA sequences encoding the amino acid sequence variant alfalfa antifungal protein (AFP), and compositions useful in controlling plant pathogenic fungi.
Protection of agriculturally important crops from insects and diseases has become a major concern in the agricultural industry. Fungus infection is a particular problem in damp climates and is additionally a major concern during crop storage. Plants have developed a certain degree of natural resistance to pathogenic fungi; however, modern growing methods, harvesting and storage systems frequently provide a favorable environment for plant pathogens.
Adding to the problem is the number of different fungi that may cause problems. Fungal damage can be caused by a fungus of genera such as Alternaria, Ascochyta, Botrytis, Cercospora, Colletotrichum, Diplodia, Erysiphe, Fusarium, Gaeumanomyces, Helminthosporium, Macrophomina, Nectria, Peronospora, Phoma, Phymatotrichum, Phytophthora, Plasmopara, Podosphaera, Puccinia, Pythium, Pyrenophora, Pyricularia, Rhizoctonia, Scerotium, Sclerotinia, Septoria, Thielaviopsis, Uncinula, Venturia, and Verticillium among others. Therefore, fungicidal compounds are not always effective because antifungal activity associated with a particular compound may be limited to a few species.
One approach to inhibiting plant pathogenic activity has been to identify and isolate compounds that exhibit high levels of activity against these pathogens. Several classes of polypeptides and proteins exhibiting antifungal activity against a variety of plant pathogenic fungi have been isolated (Bowles, 1990; Brears et al., 1994). The antifungal polypeptides and proteins include chitinases, cysteine-rich chitin-binding proteins, β-1,3-glucanases, permatins (including zeamatins), thionins, ribosome-inactivating proteins, and non-specific lipid transfer proteins. These proteins are believed to play important roles in plant defense against fungal infection. The use of natural protein products to control plant pathogens has been demonstrated, for example, in EPO 0 392 225.
Recently, another group of plant proteins has been found to function as defensins in combating infections by plant pathogens (PCT International Publication WO 93/05153). The plant defensins are a family of small proteins that possess potent antimicrobial and antifungal activity (for review, see Broekaert et al., 1997). The plant defensins are characterized by a conserved pattern of eight cysteine residues forming what has been referred to as a cysteine-stabilized α-helix that stabilizes folding characteristics of these proteins (Kobayashi et al., 1991). Multiple sequence comparisons of several defensins reveal that these proteins have eight cysteines, two glycines, an aromatic residue, and one acidic residue in common (Broekaert et al., 1995). This small degree of sequence conservation suggests that the cysteine-stabilized α-helix motif provides a scaffold for accommodating a variety of antimicrobial activities. Two small cysteine-rich proteins isolated from radish seed that exhibit this conserved motif, Rs-AFP1 and Rs-AFP2, were found to inhibit the growth of many pathogenic fungi when the pure protein was added to an in vitro antifungal assay medium. Transgenic tobacco plants containing the gene encoding Rs-AFP2 protein were found to be more resistant to attack by fungi than non-transformed plants. Defensin amino acid sequence variants of the radish Rs-AFP2 were identified that exhibited improved antifungal activity (De Samblanx et al, 1997). Certain amino acid modifications to non-conserved amino acids based on the alignment of the protein with a host of other plant defensins resulted in improvement in the antifungal activity of Rs-AFP2, particularly in the presence of Ca2+. The amino acid variants all contained an arginine substitution for a naturally occurring amino acid, which increased the net positive charge on the resulting amino acid sequence variant.
Proteins similar to radish seed Rs-AFP2 have been isolated from seeds of other plants (WO 93/105153; Broekaert et al., 1995). All the proteins in this group share similarity in their amino acid sequence, but differ in their antifungal activities against various fungi, especially in the presence of different mono- and divalent salts. The activity of some antifungal proteins is dramatically reduced in the presence of 1 mM CaCl2 and 50 mM KCl (Terras et al., 1992). The usefulness of an antifungal protein for genetically engineering plant disease resistance can be greatly influenced by the sensitivity of the antifungal activity to salt concentration, since metal ions such K+, Na+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ are required for normal physiological functions and are therefore abundantly present in plant cells. Furthermore, the small size of these proteins suggests that minor modifications to the amino acid sequence could effect dramatic changes in the biological activity of the proteins.
Recombinant DNA technology has recently led to the development of transgenic plants that can express proteins that have antimicrobial activity against certain pests. For example, methods for transforming a wide variety of different dicotyledonous plants and obtaining transgenic plants have been reported in the literature (see Gasser and Fraley, 1989; Fisk and Dandekar, 1993; Christou, 1994). Similarly, methods for producing transgenic plants among the monocotyledonous plants are also well documented. Successful transformation and plant regeneration have been achieved in asparagus (Asparagus officinalis; Bytebier et al. 1987), barley (Hordeum vulgare; Wan and Lemaux, 1994), maize (Zea mays; Rhodes et al. 1988; Gordon-Kamm et al., 1990; Fromm et al. 1990; Koziel et al., 1993), oats (Avena sativa; Somers et al., 1992), orchardgrass (Dactylis glomerata; Horn et al., 1988), rice (Oryza sativa; including indica and japonica varieties; Toriyama et al., 1988; Zhang et al., 1988; Luo and Wu 1988; Zhang and Wu, 1988; Christou et al., 1991), rye (Secale cereale; De la Pena et al., 1987), sorghum (Sorghum bicolor; Cassas et al., 1993), sugar cane (Saccharum spp.; Bower and Birch, 1992), tall fescue (Festuca arundinacea; Wang et al., 1992), turfgrass (Agrostis palustris; Zhong et al., 1993), and wheat (Triticum aestivum; Vasil et al., 1992; Troy Weeks et al., 1993; Becker et al., 1994).
A number of publications have discussed the use of plant and bacterial glucanases, chitinases, and lysozymes produced in transgenic plants exhibiting increased resistance to various microorganisms such as fungi (EP 0 292 435, EP 0 290 123, EP 0 392 225, EP 0 307 841, EP 0 332 104, EP 0 440 304, EP 0 418 695, EP 0 448 511, WO 91/06312, WO 88/00976, WO 90/07001 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,940,840). The protection obtained from expression of osmotin-like proteins is discussed in WO 91/18984.
Alfalfa AFP (AlfAFP) is a member of the plant defensin family isolated from the seeds of alfalfa, Medicago sativa, and exhibits broad spectrum antifungal activity including activity against the potato pathogen Verticillium dahliae and the wheat pathogen Fusarium graminearum (U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,121,436, and 6,316,407). Expression of AlfAFP in potato was shown to confer resistance to early dying disease caused by Verticillium in potato (Gao et al, 2000). However, plants expressing AlfAFP also show a reduction in potato tuber size. AlfAFP was unable to provide an adequate level of protection to plants infected with Fusarium head blight even though the protein exhibited in vitro efficacy against Fusarium graminearum.
There is thus a continuing need to identify biocidal compounds, particularly those that will be effective against plant pathogenic fungi, whether applied as compositions directly to an infected plant or expressed in transgenic plants in amounts sufficient to provide protection against the pathogens.

Amino acid sequence variant alfalfa antifungal protein and its use in plant disease control


A method and system are provided for achieving spatial diversity of a wireless communications network. The method comprises arranging antennas on a transmitting wireless station into a plurality of antenna subgroups, wherein each of the antenna subgroups forms a virtual antenna, creating a plurality of beamformed MIMO channels using the plurality of virtual antennas, wherein each of the beamformed MIMO channel comprises a plurality of sub-carriers and corresponds to a virtual antenna, dividing sub-carriers in each of the plurality of beamformed MIMO channels into at least a first and second cluster, distributing a first amount of transmitting power to the first cluster and a second amount of transmitting power to the second cluster, wherein the first amount of transmitting power is substantially larger than the second amount of transmitting power.

Equipping wireless stations with multiple antennas is one of the widely adopted methods to increase the channel capacity of a wireless communications network. The multiple antennas on a transmitting and a receiving wireless station enable the two wireless stations to establish a multiple-input-multiple-output (MIMO) channel.
Various techniques, such as beamforming, space-time coding (STC), and cyclic delay diversity (CDD), have been developed to utilize MIMO channels. In order to establish a beamformed MIMO channel, a transmitting wireless station must acquire accurate channel state information about a destination wireless station. However, even without obtaining accurate channel state information, STC and CDD can fully utilize the multiple antennas on a wireless station to increase diversity of a MIMO channel.
All the MIMO techniques described above have limitations. When STC is applied to an antenna array of more than two antennas, the symbol rate is reduced. In addition, CDD may fail to achieve transmit diversity if cyclic delays are not selected properly. Specifically, the desired performance of a CDD transmission scheme (i.e., high transmit diversity and high symbol rate) depends on the selection of cyclic delays and channel estimation when there are limited pilot signals available.
A beamforming technique becomes ineffective when channel state information is not available or when a broadcast beamformed MIMO channel is created. A wireless communications network using beamforming may have a lower utilization rate because the acquisition of channel state information consumes channel resources and thus reduces the available channel capacity. For example, a transmitting wireless station can obtain downlink channel information based on channel information carried in uplink sounding signals and/or uplink traffic. The overhead resulting from the transmission of the uplink sounding signals limits the number of wireless stations that a wireless communications network can support. Because the channel condition between a mobile station and a base transceiver station is unique. It is almost impossible to obtain suitable beamforming weighting vectors to create a broadcast beamformed MIMO channel.
To deal with the limitations associated with individual MIMO techniques, a wireless communications network may utilize a variety of MIMO techniques to fully utilize the multiple antennas on a wireless station. Incorporating different MIMO techniques can improve the performance of a wireless communications network with or without channel information.

Method and system for achieving spatial diversity of a wireless communications network


A spark ignited, piston type diesel fueled internal combustion engine is provided with a charge conditioning system that includes a fuel preheater for vaporizing liquid fuel to enable starting of the engine and a least one secondary heater for adding additional heat to the charge supplied to the engine. The fuel vaporizer receives liquid fuel from the starting fuel circuit of the engine and uses an electrically or chemically energized heater device, or a direct combustion heater. The secondary heater may be associated with the charge intake conduit of the engine or with the combustion chamber of the engine. The secondary heater device may be electrically or chemically activated, or may constitute a heat regenerator that retains heat from a previous combustion cycle of the engine. Spark plug fouling is avoided by utilizing secondary chambers adjacent the combustion chamber of the engine that direct expanding jets of high velocity gases towards the spark plug electrodes each combustion cycle during the power stroke of the piston.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention is concerned with improvements in internal combustion engine technology, in particular spark-ignited, diesel (i.e., kerosene based) fuel burning piston engines.
2. Background of the Invention
It is desirable to use kerosene based fuels, i.e., fuels spanning JP-5 to D-2, instead of gasoline for spark ignited, piston engines under conditions where various type engines are to be used for different applications but only a single fuel is to be supplied and stored for all types of engines. Such conditions would be encountered typically in a military environment which could include the use of aviation jet engines, vehicle engines, fixed or mobile engine generator systems, etc. Under such conditions, it is considered advantageous to be able to use a single type fuel for all engines, in particular diesel type fuel, because a spark ignited 2 or 4 stroke piston engine normally burning gasoline can be converted to run on diesel fuel with minimum alterations to the basic engine being required. Non-military situations could include buses and auxiliary engines, campers and auxiliary engines, and small portable engines used where kerosene fuel is available but not gasoline.
However, two stroke or four stroke cycle spark ignited piston type internal combustion engines intended for use with diesel (i.e., kerosene based) fuels typically require special arrangements for starting the engines under cold ambient conditions, and further, while running, such engines are prone to spark plug fouling and high hydrocarbon (HC) and smoke emissions due to incomplete combustion of the fuel. Glow plugs that are typically used for starting diesel engines may not be relied on unless battery or other electrical power is available to energize the plugs, and even if the use of glow plugs is feasible, the low compression ratio of a spark ignited engine may not produce sufficiently high temperature in the charge to dependably ensure ignition during cold start conditions when a glow plug is used.
While JP-5 and light kerosene fuels flow freely under sub-freezing temperatures, heavier diesel fuels tend to cloud and congeal due to precipitation of waxes contained in such fuels, making the use of heavy diesel fuels problematic under extreme cold conditions. Fuel preheaters of various types have been used in diesel engine fuel supply systems to avoid the cold flow problems associated with such fuels.
Accordingly, there exists a need for a charge conditioning system for spark-ignited, piston-type kerosene based (diesel) fuel burning internal combustion engines that will enable dependable starting of the engine under cold ambient conditions with or without the availability of battery supplied electrical energy and which will ensure clean burning of the fuel without spark plug fouling during engine operation.
The present invention is intended to provide a starting and running system for diesel fueled spark ignited engines that will ensure dependable starting and clean running of such engines even under extreme cold ambient conditions.

Charge conditioning system for enabling cold starting and running of spark-ignited, diesel fueled piston engines


An electromagnetic opening/closing device A1 includes a detector 5 for detecting an opened or closed state of a contact unit 1; a malfunction determination unit 6 configured to determine presence or absence of malfunction based on the opened or closed state of the contact unit 1 detected through the detector 5 and an opened or closed state of the contact unit 1 corresponding to an exterior command; and an output unit 8 configured to supply an exterior with a determination result by the malfunction determination unit 6.

For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-230921 (hereafter called "Document 1") discloses an electromagnetic opening/closing device as a prior art. In the device described in Document 1, a relay unit (an electromagnetic relay) is put in a case made from synthetic resin, and a pair of main terminals and a pair of coil terminals are protruded from the case. The pair of main terminals is connected to contacts of the relay unit, and the pair of coil terminals is connected to a coil for an electromagnet of the relay unit. In addition, the pair of main terminals is connected to a power supply line from a power supply to a load(s). The relay unit (the electromagnetic opening/closing device) is turned on when an excitation current flows between the pair of coil terminals, while the relay unit (the device) is turned off when no excitation current flows between the pair of coil terminals. That is, the electromagnetic opening/closing device is turned on, thereby closing the power supply line from the power supply to the load, while the device is turned off, thereby opening the power supply line.
In such electromagnetic opening/closing devices, the conduction between contacts (a stationary contact and a moving contact) may be impaired due to surface oxidation thereof, or the stationary contact and the moving contact may be welded to each other due to arc. Conventionally, apparatuses equipped with such an electromagnetic opening/closing device require to detect various malfunction generated in the device.

PANASONIC INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY MANAGEMENT CO., LTD.


Quorum-sensing bacteria communicate with extracellular signal molecules called autoinducers to allow community-wide synchronization of gene expression. The present invention relates to the identification the Vibrio harveyi and Vibrio cholerae protein Hfq as mediating interactions between small, regulatory RNAs (sRNAs) and specific messenger RNA (mRNA) targets. Accordingly, the present invention provides nucleic acids encoding the Vibrio sRNAs, strains having various deletions and mutations of one or more qrr genes encoding these sRNA as well as methods of identifying quorum-sensing regulators. Additionally, the invention relates to an isolated V. harveyi Hfq protein and conservative amino acid substitutions thereof as well as nucleic acids encoding those proteins, recombinant methods of producing those proteins and antibodies against those proteins.

Quorum sensing is a process of cell-to-cell communication that bacteria use to assess their population density in order to coordinate the gene expression of the community (Miller et al., 2001). Quorum sensing requires the production, secretion, and detection of extra-cellular signal molecules termed autoinducers. Diverse behaviors are controlled by quorum sensing, but, typically, these behaviors are ones that would be ineffective if only a small group of cells carried them out. Often, bacteria produce and detect multiple autoinducers, some of which are used for intraspecies communication, while others promote interspecies communication (Federle et al., 2003; Fuqua et al., 2001; Xavier et al., 2003).
The marine bacterium Vibrio harveyi produces and detects two autoinducers, AI-1 and AI-2, and these signals control the expression of multiple genes, including those for bioluminescence (luciferase) (Bassler et al., 1993, 1994a; Cao et al., 1989; Chen et al., 2002b), siderophore production (Lilley et al., 2000), colony morphology, metalloprotease production (Mok et al., 2003), and type III secretion (Henke et al., 2004).
In V. harveyi, AI-1 and AI-2 are produced by the synthases LuxM and LuxS, respectively (Bassler et al., 1993; Surette et al., 1999). LuxN detects AI-1, and LuxPQ detects AI-2 (FIG. 1A) (Bassler et al., 1993, 1994a; Chen et al., 2002b; Freeman et al., 2000b). LuxN and LuxQ are membrane bound, two-component hybrid sensor-kinase proteins. LuxP, which binds AI-2 in the periplasm, is required with LuxQ for the response to AI-2 (Bassler et al., 1994a; Chen et al., 2002b). Sensory information from both systems converges at the phosphorelay protein LuxU, and LuxU transmits the signal to the response regulator LuxO (Bassler et al., 1994b; Freeman et al., 1999, 2000a). A transcriptional activator called LuxR is also required for expression of lux (the operon encoding the bioluminescence genes in V. harveyi) and other quorum sensing-controlled genes (Henke et al., 2004; Martin et al., 1989; Miyamoto et al., 1994; Showalter et al., 1990).
The human pathogen Vibrio cholerae possesses quorum-sensing systems analogous to the two described above for V. harveyi (Miller et al., 2002). The V. cholerae autoinducers CAI-1 and AI-2 are synthesized by CqsA and LuxS and detected by CqsS and LuxPQ, respectively (FIG. 1B). V. cholerae has an additional system (System 3; Miller et al., 2002). Sensory information from all three systems converges at LuxO. The V. cholerae LuxR homolog is called HapR (Jobling et al., 1997). Quorum sensing controls virulence and biofilm formation in V. cholerae (Hammer et al., 2003; Kovacikova et al., 2002; Miller et al., 2002; Vance et al., 2003; Zhu et al., 2003; Zhu et al., 2002).
The V. harveyi and V. cholerae quorum-sensing circuits operate similarly (Miller et al., 2002). At low cell density, i.e., in the absence of autoinducers, the sensors act as kinases and transfer phosphate via LuxU to LuxO. LuxO-phosphate (LuxO-P) is active and negatively regulates lux. At high cell density, i.e., when the autoinducers are present, the sensors act as phosphatases. Phosphate flow through the circuit is reversed, resulting in dephosphorylation and inactivation of LuxO (Freeman et al., 1999, 2000a; Freeman et al., 2000b). Under this condition, the transcriptional regulators LuxR in V. harveyi and HapR in V. cholerae bind the lux promoter and activate transcription (FIG. 1).
LuxO-P-mediated repression of lux is indirect (Lilley et al., 2000). LuxO is homologous to members of the NtrC family of response regulators, which can act either as transcriptional activators or repressors. Those that are activators require the alternative sigma factor σ54 for function, while those that are repressors do not (Benson et al., 1994; North et al., 1996; Reitzer et al., 1985; Wingrove et al., 1994; Wu et al., 1997). LuxO is a member of the activator class of NtrC homologs. It has been hypothesized that, at low cell density, LuxO-P activates the expression of a repressor that controls the downstream target genes.
The present invention relates to the discovery that multiple, redundant small regulatory RNAs (sRNAs), together with the sRNA binding protein Hfq, fulfill this repressor role. Specifically, at low cell density, the Hfq-sRNA repressor complexes destabilize the V. harveyi luxR and V. cholerae hapR mRNAs (FIG. 1).

Small RNAs and bacterial strains involved in quorum sensing


A flat-panel lamp having a light-emitting surface with an integral contact sensitive layer located over the light-emitting surface that controls the activation and deactivation of the lamp and a controller for supplying power to the lamp and responsive to a signal provided by the integral contact sensitive layer for controlling the supply of the power to the flat panel lamp.

Electroluminescent or EL panels having a large emitting surface area are thin, light-emitting devices that may be employed for illuminating a large surface, interior or exterior area, or room. The light is produced without the high temperatures associated with incandescent and fluorescent light-emitting devices. In addition since glass envelopes used for these types of lighting systems are not required for EL lighting systems, they are far less prone to breakage from contact with foreign objects. Electroluminescent (EL) lamps are created by placing a phosphor layer between two electrodes that function electrically as a capacitor. AC voltage is applied across the electrodes and light is generated which passes through the top transparent electrode. EL lamps can be as thin as 0.008″, are flexible, and are shock resistant. Flexible electroluminescent cable, sheets, and ribbons are known and can be cut to size and can include an adhesive mounting layer.
Area illuminators are typically controlled through wall-mounted switches, either binary or variable. Such arrangements, while simple, require additional equipment remote from the area illuminator for switching. Incandescent lamp holders that control the output of the lamp when a user touches the holder body are also known. Alternatively, EL lights may be switched on and off at a power supply or inline on the power cable.
Physical properties of the human body have been used to activate touch-sensitive switches that, in turn, have been used to active and deactivate lighting systems. There are four general techniques used to enable this capability.
Temperature—The human body is generally warmer than the surrounding air. Many elevators therefore use buttons that are sensitive to the warmth of the human finger. Also, switches using infrared detectors to sense the heat of the human body are known.
Resistance—The human body, being made mostly of water, conducts electricity reasonably well. By placing two contacts very close together, a finger can close an electrical circuit when touched.
Radio reception—Because the human body is conductive, it can act like an antenna. Some touch-sensitive switch designs simply look for a change in radio-wave reception that occurs when the switch is touched.
Capacitance—Conventional touch-sensitive lamps almost always use a fourth property of the human body, capacitance. The lamp, when standing by itself on a table, has a certain capacitance. This means that if a circuit tried to charge the lamp with electrons, it would take a certain number to "fill it." When the lamp is touched by a human body, the capacitance is increased. It takes more electrons to charge both the body and the lamp, and the circuit detects that difference. It is even possible to purchase plug-in boxes that work on the same principle and can turn any lamp into a touch-sensitive lamp.
Many touch-sensitive lamps have three brightness settings even though they do not use three-way bulbs. The circuit changes the brightness of the lamp by changing the "duty cycle" of the power reaching the bulb. A bulb with a normal light switch gets "full power". Rapidly switching the bulb on and off is the basic idea used to change the brightness of the lamp—the circuit uses zero percent (off), 33 percent, 66 percent and 100 percent duty cycles to control the lamp's brightness.
It is also known to incorporate interactive devices such as touch screens with display devices rather than area illuminators to provide pointing information as with a keyboard or mouse. Displays such as LCDs can incorporate an electroluminescent backlight that is not electronically connected to the touch screen directly and are not used for "general lighting" purposes but to illuminate the LCD display.
Touch screen monitors have become more and more commonplace, as their price has steadily dropped over the past decade. There are three basic systems that are used to recognize a person's touch: resistive, capacitive, and surface acoustic wave (SAW). Infrared and inductive systems, though less popular, are also known.
The resistive system consists of a normal glass panel that is covered with a uniformly conductive and a deformable top sheet with a similarly conductive layer. These two layers are held apart by spacers, and a scratch-resistant layer is placed on top of the apparatus. An electrical potential is placed across the two layers while the monitor is operational. When a user touches the deformable top sheet, the two conductive layers make contact in that exact spot. The change in the electrical field is noted and the coordinates of the point of contact are calculated by the computer. Once the coordinates are known, a special driver translates the touch into location information, much as a computer mouse driver translates a mouse's movements into a click or a drag.
In the capacitive system, a layer that stores electrical charge is placed on the glass panel of the monitor. When a user touches the monitor with his or her finger, some of the charge is transferred to the user, so the charge on the capacitive layer decreases. This decrease is measured in circuits located at each corner of the monitor. The computer calculates, from the relative differences in charge at each corner, exactly where the touch event took place and then relays that information to the touch screen driver software. One advantage that the capacitive system has over the resistive system is that it transmits almost 90 percent of the light from the monitor, whereas the resistive system only transmits about 75 percent. This gives the capacitive system a much clearer picture than the resistive system.
On the monitor of a surface acoustic wave system, two transducers (one receiving and one sending) are placed along the x and y axes of the monitor's glass plate.
Also placed on the glass are reflectors that reflect an electrical signal sent from one transducer to the other. The receiving transducer measures any disturbance by a touch event at any instant, and can locate it accordingly. The wave setup has no metallic layers on the screen, allowing for 100-percent light throughput and perfect image clarity. This makes the surface acoustic wave system best for displaying detailed graphics (other systems have significant degradation in clarity).
These interactive systems also differ in which stimuli will register as a touch event. A resistive system registers a touch as long as the two layers make contact, which means that it responds to any deforming object, whether a stylus or a finger. A capacitive system, on the other hand, must have a conductive input, usually a finger, in order to register a touch. The surface acoustic wave system works much like the resistive system, allowing a touch with almost any object—except hard and small objects such as pen tips. Typically, resistive systems are the least expensive, have the lowest clarity, and are most easily damaged by sharp objects. The surface acoustic wave system is usually the most expensive. However, such devices are not adapted to area illumination and are, moreover expensive, complex, and are not readily adapted to the environment and user interface.
A wide variety of these systems are known in the art and are described, for example, in "Being Seen Technologies Inc." at http://www.beingseen.com/index.html, "Novatech electro-luminescent" at http://www.novael.com/index.html, "MetroMark" at http://www.metromark.com, and "Luminousfilm" at http://www.luminousfilm.com.
However, none of these designs provide a convenient local control for a flat-panel area illuminator that does not require additional mounting equipment and is not location specific.


A compact liquid crystal display uses MOSFETs and polycrystal silicon TFTs as a peripheral drive circuit formed on a single-crystal silicon substrate. The single-crystal silicon substrate is partially hollowed out to form a display region that transmits light, and is bonded to a polarizing plate attached to a plane of a prism. In this manner, high-power transistors can be used for a peripheral drive circuit, and the polarizing plate can be directly attached to the substrate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid crystal display which can display images and pictures. More particularly, the invention relates to an active-matrix liquid crystal display.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has recently been a dramatic societal increase in communicating information using visual images and sound. To this end, cameras are becoming more compact and more powerful, and research and development into new types of cameras, such as digital 8 mm-VCR cameras and cameras using a semiconductor memory as a recording medium are being pursued. Similarly, it is necessary to create small goggle-type displays for applications such as three-dimensional virtual-reality games, the medical field and so on.
However, the displays which serve as interfaces between the user and such cameras have not yet been sufficiently miniaturized, which further hampers the downsizing of the overall system. Moreover, goggle-type displays are approximately two or three times as large as general-purpose ski goggles, thus producing discomfort and awkwardness when they are worn.

Liquid crystal display device including a toric prism lens having an aspheric mirror mounted on a polarizing means


An apparatus comprising one or more processors, a communication circuit, and a memory for storing instructions, which when executed, performs a method of recognizing a user utterance. The method comprises: receiving first data associated with a user utterance, performing, a first determination to determine whether the user utterance includes the first data and a specified word, performing a second determination to determine whether the first data includes the specified word, transmitting the first data to an external server, receiving a text generated from the first data by the external server, performing a third determination to determine whether the received text matches the specified word, and determining whether to activate the voice-based input system based on the third determination.

In addition to a conventional input scheme using a keyboard or a mouse, electronic apparatuses have recently supported various input schemes, such as a voice input and the like. For example, electronic apparatuses such as smartphones or tablet PCs may recognize the voice of a user input in a state where a speech recognition service is being executed and may execute an action in response to the voice input or may provide a result that is found based on the voice input.
Recent speech recognition services are being developed based on a technology that processes natural language. The technology for processing the natural language refers to a technology that is capable of grasping the intent of the user's utterance and generates a result that matches the user's intent to provide the user with the result.
The above information is presented as background information only to assist with an understanding of the present disclosure. No determination has been made, and no assertion is made, as to whether any of the above might be applicable as prior art with regard to the present disclosure.

Electronic apparatus for recognizing keyword included in your utterance to change to operating state and controlling method thereof


A high-quality gallium nitride layer is grown on a surface of a substrate which is exposed through a dielectric mask on the substrate. The high-quality gallium nitride layer has a composition expressed by the chemical formula: EQU Ga.sub.x Al.sub.y In.sub.z N (I). wherein 0<x.ltoreq.1, 0.ltoreq.y<1, 0.ltoreq.z<1, and x+y+z=1. An aluminum nitride thin layer is interposed between neighboring pairs of gallium nitride selectively grown layers and has a composition expressed by the following chemical formula: EQU Al.sub.x Ga.sub.1-x N (II). wherein 0.7<x.ltoreq.1.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high-quality gallium nitride layer-structure provided with a flat surface and a very low dislocation density selectively grown on a semiconductor substrate and a method of selectively growing the layer on the substrate.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Only few data are available on the selective growth of GaN. Therefore, there have been required information on, how the crystalline quality of GaN can be improved drastically using selective growth and a suitable layer structure.
The first study to our best knowledge was given by Y. Kato et al. (J. Crystal Growth 144 (1994) 133). They used GaN layers for patterning with a SiO.sub.2 mask as shown in FIG. 12A. The substrate 18 was sapphire (1120), 18, followed by a buffer layer of AIN 19, and a 2 .mu.m thick GaN crystal layer 20. Then a 100 nm thick SiO.sub.2 layer 21 was sputtered and stripes opened by a lithography and etching process. FIGS. 12B to 12F show processes of the successive growth of GaN on the mask in a cross sectional view. As can be seen, first a rough surface occurs in FIG. 12B, which finally closes to the triangular form 22 given in FIG. 12F,. In all cases, the selectively grown GaN did not grow in a layer by layer mode, and thus the growth mode is not suitable for the growth of device structures.
A more recent result on GaN selective growth was given by T. Tanaka et al (TWN 1995 conference, Nagoya, Sep. 21, 1995). They tried to deposit GaN directly on sapphire substrates. Depending on the surface treatment condition (nitridization in ammonia or not) and growth temperature, they could obtain two different stripe forms. One is of the triangular shape and the other is a rectangular form. In both cases, no data hint to an improved crystal quality, and the quality is expected to be poor due to the missing GaN buffer layer. Furthermore the result shows that the shape strongly depends on substrate treatment, which can cause a problem of reproducibility.
Finally, our own study of selective growth of GaN showed similar problems as in Y. Kato et al. For the experiments, first 2 .mu.m of GaN (including a low temperature GaN layer) was deposited on sapphire, and then a 100 nm SiO.sub.2 film was sputtered on the GaN surface. The SiO.sub.2 film was partly removed by lithography and wet etching steps. The open areas formed stripes oriented in the (1120) direction. After this procedure, the samples were again loaded into the MOCVD apparatus machine. After heating the sample in an ammonia flow to 1130.degree. C. selective growth was initiated by introducing a flow of trimethyl gallium (TMG). In a cross sectional SEM picture, the obtained GaN stripe has a very rough surface morphology.
Therefore, a first object of the present invention is to provide a new method and layer structure which improves GaN crystal line quality drastically.
The method can be applied to many device structures. Therefore, a second object of the present invention is to provide a device formed on the improved gallium nitride, such a laser, UV-detector FET, HFET, HBT, HEMT and so on.

Semiconductor device including Gallium nitride layer


The present invention involves a filter element assembly (10), which is useful in removing undissolved adhesive bodies from oil. The assembly includes at least one cylindrical body 11 of principal filter medium for removing particulates from oil. Body 11 has an inlet end and an outlet end. A secondary filter medium 20 for removing undissolved adhesive bodies from the oil is located around the sides and across the inlet end of the principle medium (11). A flow affording spacer 926) is disposed between the sides and the inlet end of the principal medium (11). A preferred spacer (26) is a non-woven expandible mesh present in a partially expanded state and having elements (27,28) grouped in first and second sets in which the elements (27) in the first set are laid atop the elements (28) in the second set. A readily cleanable containment vessel (39) for the filter element assembly (10) includes a tubular body (41) which is releasably connectible in liquid tight relation to a bottom cover (44) for the body (41).

The conditions presenting the need for this invention and for its development were discerned in the food processing industry. More particularly, those conditions were discerned in the context of machines used in breweries to apply paper-based labels and the like to filled bottles and the like. Depending upon the functions which they serve, the machines used to package beverages or foods can be subject to governmental regulations concerning cleanliness and are cleaned from time to time. The cleaning process typically includes spraying the machinery parts with water, containing a detergent, at high temperature (e.g., 150–160° F.) and pressure at 150 pounds psi, more or less. Under those circumstances, water enters into the gear boxes and other lubricated components of the machinery. Those machines have lubricating systems in which the normally clear lubricating oil is filtered and recycled.
Machines used to apply paper labels to filled beer bottles are called rotary labelers. Labelers typically include two stations called aggregates at which labels can be applied to a bottle. At each station there is a principle glue application roller to which a glue is applied. Glue is applied from that roller to the reverse side of a label via a transfer roller before the label is placed into contact with the bottle. The principle glue application and glue transfer rollers have vertical axes. The glue which typically is used is a non-Newtonian liquid which is substantially thixotropic in nature. The glue flows downwardly along the roller across the lower end of the roller and then down the roller's supporting shaft. The glue, because of its nature, passes through the seals associated with the roller shafts and thereby enters into the lubricated gear boxes of the labeling machines. The amount of glue which can enter into a given gear box can vary from small to very substantial, depending upon the tolerances of the machinery, its age, and particularly the condition of any seals which may be present on the roller drive shafts. The amount of glue present in a labeler gear box can be so great that when the labeler is shut down for a period, the glue can set adequately to prevent the machine from being restarted. It is apparent, therefore, that there is a need for a filter capable of removing glue from the lubricating oil in labeling machines used in the food processing industry, as well as in other labeling machines and in other contexts.
As noted above, machines used in the food processing industry are required to be maintained at specified cleanliness levels to prevent contamination of the food products. When those machines are periodically washed down as described above, water can also enter into the lubricating oil through the same seals through which the glue enters. When water is present in oil containing water soluble glue of the kind used in labelers in the food processing industry, the water dissolves the glue and causes the glue's adhesive to separate from a binder in the glue. The binder typically is talc or some other fine mineral powder present in the glue as a volumetric extender. Binder particles act as an abrasive to the lubricated machinery.

Filter for oil containing adhesive contaminants


An electrical discharge machining power supply circuit for machining a workpiece, including: a power supply circuit; a first circuit including a first switching device and a first rectifying device; a second circuit including a second switching device and a second rectifying device; an electrical discharge machining electrode for providing an electrical discharge to the workpiece; and a first circuit device for preventing an excessive current generated by wiring inductance in the circuit from damaging at least the first switching device.

FIG. 15 is a circuit diagram illustrating an electrical discharge machining power supply which is representative of the power supply circuit disclosed in Japanese Patent Publication No. 60-123218. As shown in FIG. 15, the circuit includes a direct-current power supply circuit 1 including a direct-current power supply 2 and a capacitor 3. It is desirable for the capacitor 3 to be a rapid-response capacitor and for the direct-current power supply circuit 1 to be a circuit having a small inductance. The circuit of FIG. 15 further includes an electrical discharge machining electrode 4, a workpiece 5, rectifying devices 8, 9 (e.g., diodes) and MOSFETs 6 and 7 serving as switching devices and including parasitic diodes, respectively. The MOSFET 6 and the rectifying device 8 are connected in series with the direct-current power supply circuit 1 to form a first series circuit, and the MOSFET 7 and the rectifying device 9 (which are opposite in connection sequence to the first series circuit), are also connected in series with the direct-current power supply circuit 1 to form a second series circuit. The electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the workpiece 5 are in series with each other between connection points X and Y. Connection point X is a connection point between the MOSFET 6 and the rectifying device 8 in the first series circuit, and connection point Y is a connection point between the MOSFET 7 and the rectifying device 9 in the second series circuit. A closed loop including the direct-current power supply 2, the MOSFET 6, the workpiece 5, the electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the MOSFET 7 constitutes a discharge circuit, and a closed loop including the capacitor 3, the rectifying device 8, the workpiece 5, the electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the rectifying device 9 constitutes a feedback circuit. The reference numerals 10 and 11 represent wiring inductances in the circuit.
The operation of the circuit shown in FIG. 15 will now be described with reference to the timing chart shown in FIG. 16. FIG. 16(a) shows a repeated pulse applied to the gates of the MOSFETs 6, 7, the application of which causes the MOSFETs 6, 7 to alternately turn on and off in synchronization with each other. FIG. 16(b) shows a current Ids flowing in the MOSFETs 6, 7. FIG. 16(c) shows a current Iak flowing in the rectifying devices 8, 9. FIG. 16(d) shows a current IG flowing from point X to Y in FIG. 15, i.e. the current IG flowing in the wiring inductances 10, 11 and in a gap between the electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the workpiece 5. FIG. 16(e) shows a voltage Vxy across the connection points X and Y in FIG. 15, and FIG. 16(f) shows a voltage VG imposed across the gap.
When the pulse shown in FIG. 16(a) is input to the gates of the MOSFETs 6, 7, and the MOSFETs 6, 7 are switched on simultaneously, the voltage VG is applied to the gap between the electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the workpiece 5 to start a discharge, and the gap current IG flows in the gap. Specifically, the current flows from a power supply terminal A to a power terminal B via the MOSFET 6, the workpiece 5, the electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the MOSFET 7 (which constitute the discharge circuit). If Vo is the terminal-to-terminal voltage of the direct-current power supply circuit 1, and L1 and L2 are the inductances of the wiring inductances 10, 11, respectively, then the following relationship exists for the gap circuit Ig: EQU dIg/dt=(Vo-Vg)/(L1+L2)
Hence, the current increases linearly as shown in FIGS. 16(b) and (d). When the MOSFETs 6, 7 are switched off, however, the current accumulated in the wiring inductances 10, 11 flows through the feedback circuit. That is, the current flows from the power supply terminal B to the capacitor 3 of the direct-current power supply circuit 1 via the rectifying device 8, the workpiece 5, the electrical discharge machining electrode 4, the rectifying device 9 and the power supply terminal A. Since the direction of the current flow and the direct-current power supply circuit 1 are opposite in polarity, the current reduces linearly according to the following relationship: EQU dIg/dt=(-Vo-Vg)/(L1+L2)
(See FIGS. 16(c) and (d)).
This reduction in the current continues for a certain amount of time, and the current may drop below zero amperes due to the reverse recovery characteristics of the rectifying devices 8, 9. The current then returns to zero at a large slope determined by the rectifying devices 8, 9, and the rectifying devices 8, 9 are switched off. At this time, as shown in FIG. 16(e), the voltage Vxy across the connection points X and Y in FIG. 15 becomes an excessive voltage which is determined by the following relationship: EQU Vxy=[(L1+L2)] diD/dt+Vg
The excessive voltage is due to the large slope diD/dt which is determined by the rectifying devices 8, 9.
If, for example, the output voltage Vo of the direct-current power supply circuit 1 is 220V, the gap voltage Vg is 20V, the wiring inductance is 3.mu.H, and the ON time of MOSFETs 6, 7 is 1.5.mu.s, then the current becomes: EQU [(220V-20V)/3.mu.H] 1.5.mu.s=100A
Accordingly, it is possible to cause a large peak current of 100A, with a current pulse width at this of approximately 3.mu.s (see FIG. 16(d)). However, if it is assumed that the reverse recovery time of the rectifying devices 8, 9 is 90ns, and that the current keeps decreasing for the first 60ns according to a slope determined by the wiring inductances 10, 11 and returns to zero amperes in the remaining 30ns, a reverse recovery current Irp (the maximum instantaneous value of the reverse current) is: EQU Irp=[(220V-20V)/3.mu.H] 60ns=4A;
and a voltage Vlp developed in the wiring inductances 10, 11 at a time when the reverse recovery current Irp returns to zero amperes in the remaining 30 ns is: EQU Vlp=3.mu.H.times.4A/30ns=400V.
In the electrical discharge machining power supply circuit shown in FIG. 15, an excessive voltage generated in the wiring inductances 10, 11 may cause the MOSFETs 6, 7 to be damaged when the MOSFETs 6, 7 are switched off and the current accumulated in the wiring inductances 10, 11 decreases. This is because the rectifying devices, even if of an identical type, may vary in reverse recovery time. For example, if at the instant that the rectifying device 8 turns off the rectifying device 9 still remains in a reverse recovery state, then the potential at the connection point Y in FIG. 15 will almost be equal to that of the terminal A because the rectifying device 9 is on, and the potential at the connection point X in FIG. 15 will be the sum of the potential at the point Y and the excessive voltage because the rectifying device 8 is off. At this time, a current flows through the parasitic diode of the MOSFET 6. Specifically, the current circulates from the rectifying device 9 to the parasitic diode of the MOSFET 6 via the electrical discharge machining electrode 4 and the workpiece 5. Since the parasitic diode of the MOSFET 6 has a relatively small current capacity, it is likely that the MOSFET 6 will be damaged if this circulation occurs one or more times.

Electrical discharge power supply circuit


The invention provides compounds of Formula I:

Dementia results from a wide variety of distinctive pathological processes. The most common pathological processes causing dementia are Alzheimer's disease (AD), cerebral amyloid angiopathy (CAA) and prion-mediated diseases (see, e.g., Haan et al. Clin. NeuroL Neurosurg. 1990, 92(4):305-310; Glenner et al. J Neurol. Sci. 1989, 94:1-28). AD affects nearly half of all people past the age of 85, the most rapidly growing portion of the United States population. As such, the number of AD patients in the United States is expected to increase from about 4 million to about 14 million by the middle of the next century.
Treatment of AD typically is the support provided by a family member in attendance. Stimulated memory exercises on a regular basis have been shown to slow, but not stop, memory loss. A few drugs, for example Aricept™, provide treatment of AD.
A hallmark of AD is the accumulation in the brain of extracellular insoluble deposits called amyloid plaques and abnormal lesions within neuronal cells called neurofibrillary tangles. Increased plaque formation is associated with an increased risk of AD. Indeed, the presence of amyloid plaques, together with neurofibrillary tangles, are the basis for definitive pathological diagnosis of AD.
The major components of amyloid plaques are the amyloid Aβ-peptides, also called Aβ-peptides, which consist of three proteins having 40, 42 or 43 amino acids, designated as the Aβ1-40, Aβ1-42 and Aβ1-43 peptides, respectively. The Aβ-peptides are thought to cause nerve cell destruction, in part, because they are toxic to neurons in vitro and in vivo.
The Aβ peptides are derived from larger β-amyloid precursor proteins (APP proteins), which consist of four proteins containing 695, 714, 751 or 771 amino acids, designated as the APP695, APP714, APP751 and APP771, respectively. Proteases are believed to produce the Aβ peptides by cleaving specific amino acid sequences within the various APP proteins. The proteases are named "secretases" because the Aβ-peptides they produce are secreted by cells into the extracellular environment. These secretases are each named according to the cleavage(s) they make to produce the Aβ-peptides. APP is cleaved by alpha- and beta-secretases, causing the release of soluble derivatives of protein (α-APPs and β-APPs) and the retention of membrane-bound 83- and 99-amino acid fragments (C83 and C99). These fragments are substrates for the enzyme gamma-secretase. Gamma-secretase produces the Aβ-peptide fragment from C99 and p3 from C83. Gamma-secretase and beta-secretase inhibitors are thus expected to inhibit the production of Aβ-peptide. (Haass, C. and Selkoe, D. J. 1993 Cell 75:1039-1042; Selkoe, D. J. et. al. Annu. Rev. Cell Biol. 10, 373-403 (1994); Wolfe, M. S. et. al., Nature, 398, 513).
This invention relates to novel compounds that inhibit Aβ-peptide production, to pharmaceutical compositions comprising such compounds, and to methods of using such compounds to treat neuorodegenerative disorders.

Pyrazole compounds for treatment of neurodegenerative disorders

Abstract: wherein R1, R2, R3, R4, R6, R7, R8, and A are as defined. Compounds of formula I have activity inhibiting production of Aβ-peptide. The invention also provides pharmaceutical compositions and methods for treating diseases, for example Alzheimer's disease, in mammals comprising compounds of Formula I.


An adaptor assembly to be fitted onto a service pipe comprising a host pipe lined with a lining pipe is provided. The adaptor assembly includes a body to seal with the host pipe, a bore extending along a longitudinal axis of said body, and a compression element mountable on and displaceable relative to the body. The adaptor assembly includes an axially translatable piston, an annular flange protruding into said bore, and a grip ring disposable between said piston and said flange and having an inner radial surface to grip an outer radial surface of the lining pipe. A slip spacer is disposable between the compression element and the piston to transmit axial load but substantially prevent transmission of torque therebetween. The compression element is moveable to axially displace the piston causing the grip ring to bear against the inclined annular flange and grip radially inwardly against the outer radial surface.

It is becoming increasingly desirable and necessary to replace or reline metallic gas and water pipes with plastic pipes that are lighter, less susceptible to corrosion and easier to handle and manipulate. Indeed, various regulations and legislation set out strict rules and conditions regarding the nature of pipes that are situated in and around domestic buildings. For example, within UK houses there is the requirement that gas must be contained within pipes having a metal sheath.
In some circumstances, old underground metal pipes are simply dug up to be replaced with plastic counterparts (using "open-cut" techniques). In other situations, where it is desirable, necessary or simply more convenient to leave the metallic pipes in place, they are relined with a plastic pipes. The process of relining a metal pipe with a plastic one has several advantages over replacing the metal pipe entirely with a plastic one. In particular, the new plastic pipe can be threaded through the existing metal pipe thereby negating the requirement to dig up the old pipe and install and set the new one. Of course, this method is more cost effective, in addition to being more convenient.
However, it is found that the introduction of a lining pipe having a smaller diameter than the host pipe, leads to an inevitable increase in head loss. Head loss is the fluid pressure lost along a length of pipe due to friction. It is directly proportional to the length of the pipe and inversely proportional to the diameter of the pipe. Therefore, the longer and narrower a pipe is, the greater the head loss will be.
In the gas industry, ¾″ [19 mm] diameter metallic service pipes are typically relined with 16 mm diameter polyethylene (PE) pipes (where diameters are approximate inner diameters). The length of the 16 mm PE pipe is generally not limited and so the head loss incurred in these installations is often excessive. The potential for excessive head losses has led to the prohibition of such practice in some areas, leaving expensive open cut techniques as alternatives.
Other problems are associated with providing an effective and adequate joint from the new plastic service pipe to a fitting, such as a valve or meter, for example. These so-called service head adaptors are well known in the prior art, and a sample of which is described below.
The Draw Lock® Service Insertion Adaptor by Georg Fischer Fittings (www.fittings.at) provides a fitting that attaches to the end of a steel stand pipe having a PE interior lining pipe. The fitting allows the service pipe to be connected to a domestic fitting such as a meter. To seal the service insertion adaptor to the end of the service pipe, the user first inserts the adaptor over the PE pipe and then screws it tightly on to the steel riser. The PE pipe extending from the top of the adaptor is then cut flush with the top of the adaptor. A copper liner, expander and adaptor bush is assembled onto a draw tool and then inserted into the bore of the PE pipe until the adaptor bush rests on the top of the service insertion adaptor. The user then uses a spanner to rotate the draw tool relative the adaptor. The expander, which is a conical nut, moves through the copper liner and expands it forming a joint. The draw tool, expander and adaptor bush are then removed leaving the expanded copper liner in place within the PE pipe. The fitting and PE pipe are then sealed with respect to the steel stand pipe allowing a meter control valve, for example, to be installed.
Another type of adaptor is the Serviflex® Service Insertion Adaptor, also by Georg Fischer (www.fittings.at). This adaptor is specifically designed for use with steel pipes that are lined with Serviflex® pipes provided by Radius Systems Limited. To install the Serviflex® Service Insertion Adaptor to such a pipe, the Serviflex® pipe must first be cut so that 6″ (150 mm) protrudes from the steel service pipe. An adaptor body is then fitted to the steel service pipe and a seal and washer are inserted over the Serviflex® pipe and into the adaptor body. The washer has a "lug" that protrudes radially from it that fits into a complementary groove in the adaptor body to prevent rotation therebetween. The Serviflex® pipe is then cut just above the top of the adaptor body before a metallic insert is inserted into the end of the Serviflex® pipe. A fire resistant washer is then placed on top of the adaptor body and a nipple is tightened down onto the body compressing the fire resistant washer. The downward moving nipple causes the washer to move downwards compressing the seal below causing it to deform radially inwards against the Serviflex® pipe and insert. The washer is prevented from rotating within the adaptor body and so only moves downwards against the seal, thereby not transmitting any rotational movement to the seal or the Serviflex® pipe. The Serviflex® Service Insertion Adaptor does not require any specialist tooling for installation.
Similarly, the Live Insertion Service Adaptor from WASK-RMF (http://www.wask-uk.com/) does not require a specialist tool to make a connection with a service pipe and relies on a compression fitting. The WASK-RMF Live Insertion Service Adaptor comprises a body that is slid over a lining pipe of a service pipe and screwed onto the surrounding metallic pipe. A copper insert is slotted into the open end of the lining pipe and a nipple is screwed axially into the body using an appropriately sized spanner. The axial movement of the nipple causes a captive olive, within the body, to compress radially and tighten against the lining pipe. The captive olive has a serrated inner surface that engages with the lining pipe.
In the document WO-A-2008/107680 (Corus UK Limited), a compression fitting is described for connecting steel pipes as a first fit device. The Corus device has a housing with a bore for receiving a steel pipe, where the bore is provided with a seat. A deformable sealing ring sits on top of the seat beneath a washer and a grip ring. To establish a sealed connection with the steel pipe, a nut is screwed onto the assembly. The nut has an internal taper that abuts the grip ring and urges it radially inwards against the surface of the steel pipe. The grip ring comprises sharp teeth that project radially inwards that bite into the surface of the steel pipe. Screwing the nut further pushes the grip ring axially down onto the washer and the sealing ring. Since, at this point, the grip ring is biting into the surface of the steel pipe, further rotation of the nut causes the pipe to move axially. In addition, the rotating nut will exert a torque on the grip ring and therefore on the pipe. The axially moving grip ring and washer causes the sealing ring to become compressed between the washer and the seat and deform to form a seal.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an improved adaptor for producing a seal at the end of a service pipe that has a lining pipe, where no additional tools are required to fit the adaptor, and the seal is efficient and effective whilst minimising the risk of pipe failure. In particular, it is desirable to form a secure joint between the adaptor and the lining pipe without using excessive forces, thereby not compromising the integrity of the lining pipe. It is also particularly desirable that substantially no rotational forces are transmitted to the lining pipe when establishing a secure sealed connection.
In some cases, it may be desirable to electrically isolate the metallic host pipe from an auxiliary pipe system. In particular, in domestic gas systems, it is desirable to have the system electrically isolated. Indeed, in certain jurisdictions, it is a regulatory requirement that the metallic service pipe is electrically isolated from the auxiliary pipe system.
Current methods for isolating a domestic gas system involve fitting a specialised piece of apparatus in between the service head adaptor and the domestic gas system where the specialised apparatus comprises at least one electrically insulating component. In practice, the use of an additional piece of apparatus for electrical isolation is inconvenient (and in many cases impractical), whilst adding to the complexity of connecting a service pipe to a domestic pipe system and increasing the number of potential leak paths.
It is therefore a further object of the present invention to provide a more convenient and robust way of electrically isolating an auxiliary pipe system from a service pipe when making a connection therebetween.