An L-shaped brace is used for reinforcing free-standing, light gauge, steel studs, gypsum board walls which are built up from a standard size, light-gauge track which is mounted to the floor. The brace has one leg which is fastened to the floor through the track, with the other leg extending vertically and being fastened either to one of a steel stud, or to the inside of a vertically extended length of track used to define the end of a free-standing wall.

A traditional wall for residential or light commercial/industrial buildings in the United States is made from soft wood 2".times.4" studs which are vertically oriented and horizontally spaced on 16 inch centers, being capped at the top and the bottom with a 2".times.4" header and footer, respectively. This frame is then sandwiched between gypsum board panels, sometimes referred to as "drywall".
Walls made of wooden 2".times.4" construction which do not go all the way to the ceiling, and define pony walls, stud walls or cubicle walls are naturally not as strong as the wall would be if it went all the way to the ceiling and was anchored to the ceiling joist structure. However, 2".times.4" wooden stud construction is strong enough that free standing walls which don't reach the ceiling, or short walls terminating midway across a room, would nevertheless be strong enough with the drywall sheathing to stand up to normal use without additional support.
Relatively recently a sheet metal channel stud has been introduced to the building industry as a replacement for the wooden 2.times.4 stud. Wall construction utilizing steel studs ordinarily incorporates steel tracks at the bottom and top of the wall. The steel tracks are similar in shape to the studs but are slightly wider to seat the stud top and bottom end within the tracks. The studs are fastened to the track with sheet metal screws, and drywall is subsequently applied in a manner similar to that in which it is applied to wooden stud walls when drywall screws are used instead of nails. If there is a free-standing end of a wall, it is capped with a length of track, rather than a stud, as the track is somewhat stronger, is the right finished dimension, and has no pass-through holes for electrical conduits and pipes.
The advantage of steel stud and track construction is that it is substantially cheaper than wooden stud construction. A drawback, however, is that steel stud construction is not as rigid or strong as wooden construction. Steel stud walls tend to be somewhat flimsy, despite the contrary positions taken by its proponents. Whereas a normal steel-stud wall is adequately strong to stand up in daily use, a short wall which does not reach the ceiling, particularly one which terminates in the middle of a room leaving an unsupported end wall, is scarcely adequate to sustain the ordinary abuse that it will take, without overhead support. A pony wall, having both ends free-standing and not reaching the ceiling, is very inadequate from a rigidity and strength perspective when made with sheet metal steel studs.
There is a need for a means to reinforce these short, pony, stub, or cubicle walls when they are made with track and steel stud construction so that they are equally strong, or even stronger, than similar walls made according to the techniques of conventional wooden stud construction.

Method and means for reinforcing a steel stud wall


An ignitor for use with an industrial oxy-fuel burner, the ignitor being able to ensure ignition of a pilot flame in order to enable automatic ignition of an oxy-fuel burner. The ignitor is characterized by two tubes, one inside the other, concentrically arranged with respect to an electric ignitor rod at the center, the tubes and the ignitor rod forming two annuli for the delivery of oxygen and fuel gas from their respective manifolds to an open end of the tubes for ignition by the ignitor rod. The manifolds are each formed from a single piece of material. The ignitor rod is removable from the rest of the ignitor assembly by means of a pipe-threaded adapter at the rear of the assembly.

The present invention generally relates to pilot burners and, more specifically, to pilot burners for automatic ignition of oxy-fuel burners.
For automatic ignition of an oxy-fuel burner it is necessary to have a pilot burner and control equipment which ensures that the pilot burner is operating before the main burner begins to operate. The pilot burner typically operates on a gaseous fuel such as propane and oxygen as oxidant rather than air. The use of oxygen offers the advantages of safe operation, high capacity, and small dimensions.
While prior art pilot burners have generally performed their function, they are relatively complicated and are relatively expensive to produce. Accordingly, there is a need in the art for an improved pilot burner which is relatively simple in construction, is relatively inexpensive to produce, and has improved reliability and ease of service.


A system and method for textually displaying weather data on an onboard aircraft display comprises receiving weather data from onboard weather radar. A data collector is coupled to the weather radar and collects relevant data, which is then manipulated to place it in a PIREP (pilot report) format. The formatted data is then rendered on the aircraft display and subsequently transmitted to a ground station.

An abundance of weather data is provided to help pilots in provide a safe and controlled flight. For example, a pilot may receive NOTAM (Notices to Airmen), e.g. hazards such as air-shows, closed runways, military exercises; D-ATIS (Digital Automatic Terminal Information Service), e.g. weather, runway, approach information; METAR, e.g. weather report used by pilots as part of a pre-flight weather briefing; TAF (Terminal Aerodrome Forecast), e.g. weather forecast applicable to a five mile radius from the center of an airport runway; SIGMET (Significant Meteorological Information), e.g. meteorological information concerning safety of all aircraft; AIRMET (Airmen's Meteorological Information), e.g. weather along an air route that may affect aircraft safety; TFR (Temporary Flight Restrictions), e.g. sporting events, national disaster areas, space launches, etc.; PIREP (Pilot Report), an actual weather condition encountered by an aircraft in flight; FAA delays; winds; route weather; graphical weather data; etc.
In contrast, a pilot may generate a PIREP, which is a report of actual weather conditions encountered by an aircraft during a flight. The PIREP is typically transmitted to the nearest ground station via voice or datalink. The data is then encoded and relayed to other weather offices and air traffic service units. These PIREPs are organized in accordance with a specific FAA approved format utilizing a number of abbreviations that may be difficult to remember. Due to these complexities, a pilot may be discouraged from creating and sending a PIREP.
Many aircraft are equipped with on-board weather radar (radio detection and ranging) that detects hazardous weather and presents it on a cockpit display. These systems display weather based on the reflectivity or return echoes from the target and are color-coded on the display; i.e. green indicating light precipitation; yellow indicating moderate precipitation, possible reduced visibility, and moderate turbulence; and red indicating heavy precipitation leading to the possibility of thunderstorms, severe turbulence, and structural damage to aircraft. However, even when equipped with such on-board weather radar, the pilot must still collect the information related to bad weather, place it in PIREP format, and transmit it to ground in order to convey the weather information to ground.
In view of the foregoing, it would be desirable to reduce pilot workload by eliminating the need to remember the PIREP format. It is therefore contemplated that a system and method be provided for facilitating the collection and formatting severe weather related information encountered during a flight, textually and graphically presenting it in proper PIREP format to a pilot for the pilot's review and concurrence, and then transmitting the PIREP to a ground station. This reduces pilot workload and provides aircraft in surrounding airspace the opportunity to avoid bad weather, especially those aircraft not equipped with weather radar. Such a system contemplates the automatic collection of the required PIREP data and presentation of the data to the pilot in the prescribed PIREP format on a display.

System and method for producing and submitting a PIREP


An FFT correlation tracker that is capable of effectively tracking targets against non-uniform backgrounds in realtime, includes a background correction implemented using a FFT with the 2-dimension sinc function. The tracker tracks an object by effectively computing the first and third terms of the mean-square-error function C(s,t) defined as       C              (              s        ,        t            )        =                    1        N                                    ∑          N                                                                                f            2                                          (                          x              ,              y                        )                                +                  1        N                                    ∑          N                                                                                g            2                                          (                                          x                -                s                            ,                              y                -                t                                      )                                -                  2        ·                  1          N                                            ∑          N                                                                    [                                    f                                            (                                  x                  ,                  y                                )                                      ·                          g                                            (                                                      x                    -                    s                                    ,                                      y                    -                    t                                                  )                                              ]                    This is done by first transforming the first and third terms into the frequency domain, where the first term, the background correction term, can be computed much more efficiently in real-time by using the 2-dimension sinc function. Multiplications and additions necessary to carry out the computations in the frequency domain are then performed. Next, the resulting frequency-domain function is transformed back into the spatial domain to form a correlation surface. Finally, a minimum of the resulting correlation surface is found. The location of the minimum corresponds to the location of the object being tracked.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of image tracking, e.g., tracking an object within an image.
2. State of the Art
Conventional image-based tracking systems, for example those used in infra-red (IR) missile-based tracking systems for guiding missiles, typically use a conventional Fast Fourier Transform (FFT) correlation tracker to track an reference image or object within an image frame. The conventional FFT correlation tracker computes a correlation function between the reference image, saved for example from previous image frames, and the current input image frame. The correlation function is computed using the FFT technique. The advantage of using an FFT technique is higher image processing speeds, particularly when large search areas in the current image frame and large reference windows are used. The conventional FFT correlation tracker performs well when tracking targets against uniform backgrounds, for example when tracking an airplane against blue sky. However, the conventional FFT correlation tracker performs poorly when tracking targets against non-uniform backgrounds, for example when tracking ground vehicles against a background of rugged terrain.
Accordingly, an urgent need exists for a tracking system that is robust, accurate and effective when tracking targets against non-uniform backgrounds. Such situations commonly arise, for example, in standard-profile combat missions flown by Apache and Comanche helicopters.

Fast fourier transform correlation tracking algorithm with background correction


An exhaust-gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine has a turbine housing, in which a turbine wheel with a shaft is arranged rotatably. The shaft is mounted rotatably in a bearing housing via at least one piston ring adjacently with respect to the turbine wheel. The bearing housing has a lubricant inflow and a pressureless lubricant outflow for lubricating the shaft, wherein an insulating washer is provided which is clamped in by the turbine housing and the bearing housing and has an opening which is connected to the lubricant outflow in a manner which conducts a lubricant. Passage of lubricant out of the bearing housing into the turbine housing is avoided.

The invention relates to an exhaust-gas turbocharger for an internal combustion engine having a turbine housing in which a turbine wheel with a shaft is rotatably arranged, wherein the shaft is rotatably mounted in a bearing housing by way of at least one piston ring adjacent to the turbine wheel, and the bearing housing has, for the lubrication of the shaft, a lubricant inlet and an unpressurized lubricant outlet.
Exhaust-gas turbochargers have a dual housing in which, at one side, a turbine wheel and, at the other side, a compressor wheel on a shaft are rotatably mounted by way of radial bearings in a bearing housing. Here, the shaft may reach rotational speeds of, for example, up to 300,000 rpm. To accommodate axial forces that arise, it is also possible for at least one axial bearing to be provided. Here, the bearings are lubricated by a corresponding lubricant.
In the case of the exhaust-gas turbocharger, it is possible, owing to the oil-lubricated bearing arrangement thereof, for lubricant losses to occur, in particular into the turbine housing. For the exhaust-gas turbocharger, dynamic sealing is often realized by use of piston rings, though these cannot suitably prevent a passage of lubricant to the turbine side under all operating conditions. Owing to modern exhaust-gas technology, a passage of lubricant, in particular to the turbine side, must be avoided as far as possible, because this leads to sooting (deposition of tar-like substances) of the turbine wheel and/or to sooting of the catalytic converter, the effectiveness of which with regard to exhaust-gas purification is thereby severely impaired.
The German laid-open specification DE 10 2007 027 869 A1 discloses a turbocharger having a turbocharger housing. A leadthrough opening is provided for a shaft, wherein the shaft is rotatably mounted in the housing by way of a bearing arrangement. Lubricating oil is supplied to the bearing for lubrication purposes. A section of the shaft is provided at the outer side of at least one bearing, which section forms a gap with the housing. The gap is in the form of a lubricating oil throttle in order to at least reduce a passage of lubricating oil from the bearing side into the turbine housing.
A disadvantage of said known prior art is that a passage of lubricating oil via the bearings to the turbine side is merely reduced, and not prevented.
It is an object of the present invention to provide a measure to further reduce, or prevent, a passage of lubricant into the turbine housing.
This and other objects are achieved by an exhaust-gas turbocharger having a turbine housing in which a turbine wheel with a shaft is rotatably arranged, wherein the shaft is rotatably mounted in a bearing housing by way of at least one piston ring adjacent to the turbine wheel, and the bearing housing has, for the lubrication of the shaft, a lubricant inlet and an unpressurized lubricant outlet. Between the turbine wheel and the bearing housing, a thermal disk is arranged which is clamped by the turbine housing and the bearing housing and which has an opening connected in lubricant-conducting fashion to the lubricant outlet
Lubricant which, by cohesion, is conveyed past the piston rings to the outside is advantageously returned to the lubricant circuit through the opening in the thermal disk and the corresponding bore in the bearing housing. This leads to a "dry" turbine housing and to a considerable reduction of lubricant residues (sooting) in the region of the piston rings.
An advantageous refinement of the invention provides a lubrication gap between the shaft and the bearing housing adjacent to the piston ring, which is connected in lubricant-conducting fashion to the lubricant outlet.
The lubricant which creeps via the piston rings is advantageously returned via the bore in the bearing housing and thus to the lubricant outlet.
Other objects, advantages and novel features of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of one or more preferred embodiments when considered in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


A method and apparatus of language communication instruction is disclosed which involves rotated peer dyads wherein instruction is carried out by pair discrimination and the students rotate momentarily and continuously among the three communication roles of producer of stimuli, respondent to stimuli and evaluator of stimuli and responses. Each given response will identify error in either the stimulus or the response without attributing the error to either partner of each dyad.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to methods and apparatus for teaching language communication.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Conventional methodologies of language instruction usually involve a teacher and student relationship known as the "fixed superordinate-subordinate dyad," that is, an instructional pair with the student in the subordinate position. The student is usually fixed in the communication role of respondent, while the superordinate teacher rotates momentarily and continuously amoung the roles of producer of stimuli and evaluator of the student's responses to the stimuli. The basic mental operation is usually pair association, wherein the basic stimulus is one of any group of items. The basic response is selection of that item from a group of items that is most closely related to or associated with the stimulus item.
The components of conventional language instruction are neither fixed nor concertedly agreed upon. However, it can be said that the basic components are frequently referred to as being reading, writing, speaking, listening and vocabulary, with the first two generally being paired together, and the second two also being paired together. That is, students tend to respond orally to the teacher's oral stimuli, and in writing to the teacher's written stimuli when students individually respond. Vocabulary study tends to occur within the other four components, but it is generally presented, at least to some extent, as a separate component. When there is such formal instruction in vocabulary, it is generally achieved by a verbal definition of the term's usage in a given context, especially for terms that cannot be easily pictorially defined. It is only through exposure to words in various contexts that the student infers which one of a group of synonyms is more appropriate for a particular context, and formal instruction is not generally focused on producing such inferences.
In this type of instruction, because no single skill is taught independently to a high criterion level before an attempt is made to provide another skill, error identification is complex and covert. The services of a professional are usually required both to detect errors and to identify the source of each. It should be noted that this conventional teaching of various language skills concurrently is not arbitrary, but necessary, in view of the limitations of the fixed communication role.
Because conventional methodologies usually involve student interaction with a very limited number of others, communication idiosyncrasies are developed and reinforced, leading to speech which is not well understood by native speakers of the target language. In addition, a student's knowledge of the correctness of his responses is achieved always from the instructor and only on those occasions when that instructor can attend to responses from that student.
The phenomena with which any student must cope during conventional instruction are selected by the professional, and, even if the student is instructed to proceed undeviatingly through a workbook, the grouping and sequencing of phenomena are not readily apparent to most students, and the learning task on any page is far from clear. What material any student is to be tested on, and the precise nature of such testing, are seldom revealed to any student prior to that student being tested. Hence, in conventional instruction the phenomena presented to the student to respond to are seldom anticipated, and what constitutes correctness of response tends to be quite vague.
A number of language teaching methods and apparatus have been devised for use by students arranged in dyads where each partner of a dyad is a student, rather than one being a teacher or professional. However, most of these operate on the same basic principles as the other conventional language instruction methodologies discussed above, in that the students, while their roles may rotate, are nevertheless placed in superordinate-subordinate relationship. These methods suffer many of the same disadvantages as those of the above discussed conventional methodologies.


In a drawer assembly for use with a chair seat having a generally flat, generally horizontal bottom surface, a drawer positioning plate is attached to the chair seat bottom surface, and drawer stop means are installed through stop means positioning holes already present in the drawer positioning plate. With the chair seat inverted, the drawer is properly positioned on the positioning plate, and a pair of drawer slides with screw hole receiving openings provided therein are aligned with drawer slide screw positionings provided in the positioning plate, and screws are used to fasten the door slides and consequently the drawer into final position.

This invention has relation to an assembly for supporting a drawer beneath the seat of a fisherman's chair or at other locations where a drawer need be accessed quickly, conveniently and without concern for the drawer jamming or moving past a predetermined nominally closed or nominally open position.
Storage drawers movable between open positions and closed positions inside of some kind of a file case, cabinet, bureau, under a kitchen type cabinet or the like have been known for hundreds if not thousands of years. Complicated drawer slides have been highly developed in the file cabinet art to allow drawers to slide entirely out of their cabinets while still being supported with respect to the interior thereof. Primarily by the use of vertical flanges on the outside of drawers, means has been provided to assure that drawers do not move inwardly passed their nominal closed conditions.
Others have attempted to mount drawers underneath the bottom surfaces of pedestal boat seats, but the difficulty in accommodating various models and sizes of boat seats and the difficulty of effectively fastening drawer rails to the underside of boat seats precisely enough to allow uniform, constant and jam-free mounting of drawers to such rails has been difficult to say the least. It was to overcome these difficulties that the drawer assembly was developed.

Drawer assembly for fisherman's chair seat


In an embodiment, a method and apparatus for generating a presentation is provided. The method considers characteristics of audio works and visual works when constructing the presentation. In some embodiments, the presentation may be automatically constructed.

A presentation generated on a processing system can be a complex mixture of audio media objects (e.g., music recordings) and visual media objects (e.g., video recordings or one or a group of digital photos). A user may require significant amounts of time and resources to manually create and edit an audio-visual presentation (e.g. a slideshow with accompanying soundtrack or a music video). Many conventional techniques for generating an audio-visual presentation do not give consideration to how visual media objects are temporally combined with audio media objects when the visual media objects are presented in relation to the audio media objects, and what criteria are used to combine visual media objects with audio media objects. These conventional techniques may result in unpleasant combinations of visual media objects with audio media objects.
For example, one or more parts (e.g., audio media objects and visual media objects) may not thematically fit with other parts. Visual media objects readily available and selected to accompany audio media objects may not be similar to the mood, pace, or other characteristics of the audio media objects. Other times, a visual media object set (e.g. a photo slideshow) may set the mood and pace for selecting and playing an audio media object (e.g. a music recording). However, audio media objects readily available and selected to accompany the visual media objects may not be similar to the mood, pace, or other characteristics of the visual media objects. Furthermore, manually timing the presentation of a visual media object set with the pace of the audio media objects may prove difficult for the end user. Therefore, it may be desirable to automatically generate a presentation employing characteristics of the audio and visual media objects to synchronously present both audio and visual media objects.

Systems, methods, and apparatus for generating an audio-visual presentation using characteristics of audio, visual and symbolic media objects


The oscillations which are generated during an attempted instrusion at a protected area or surface, for instance a vault wall or fence, are received at a sonic receiver and processed by an evaluation circuit such that only the oscillations emanating from an intrusion attempt trip an alarm, not however spurious oscillations from the surroundings. The received oscillations are mixed with a carrier frequency whose frequency periodically and continuously passes through a certain frequency range. The mixed signals are filtered in a narrow band frequency range, so that at the output, during each frequency through pass period, there appears the entire frequency spectrum of the received sonic oscillations in the evaluated frequency range. The filtered signals are integrated and the integrated signal, after a brief period of time, is reset as a frequency throughpass if no further signal appears. This integrated signal reaches an alarm threshold only upon occurrence of irregular oscillations in the evaluated frequency band, not however in the presence of disturbances due to individual periodic oscillations or spurious oscillations outside of the frequency range.

The present invention relates to a new and improved method of, and apparatus for, reporting unauthorized intrusions by means of a sonic or acoustical receiver or transducer responsive to sounds transmitted through solids and mounted at a region or surface which is to be protected, there also being provided an electric circuit connected with the sonic receiver for producing a signal when the received sonic oscillations or vibrations exceed predetermined values.
Such systems are used to detect characteristic sonic oscillations or vibrations which are produced when there is attempted an unauthorized intrusion, typically a burglary, for instance by penetrating a wall or concrete structure, upon cutting or welding open a metal wall, for instance a vault or a door, and for evaluating the given alarm signals. In order to avoid tripping a faulty alarm it is, however, necessary that such systems exclusively respond to the oscillations produced solely by the intrusion attempt, for instance to the vibrations brought about by the breaking open or drilling or any otherwise unauthorized penetration of a protective wall or structure or the sonic oscillations or vibrations produced for instance with an oxyacetylene torch or an oxygen lance during the welding cutting of a metal or concrete wall, not however to external or ambient spurious noises.
It is already known to the art to eliminate the influence of the external spurious noises which are transmitted by the air by sound insulation of the sonic receiver.
In order to eliminate the external spurious noises which are transmitted by the wall or by the structure itself there is exploited the fact that the sonic oscillations produced when there is an intrusion attempt lie in a characteristic frequency range, preferably in the kHz-range near to the upper audio threshold, whereas spurious noises are usually of low frequency. An arrangement operating according to this principle, has been disclosed for instance in U.S. Pat. No. 3,134,970 and employs for the evaluation of the sonic oscillations of spurious noises, received by a piezoelectric receiver, a high-pass filter, thereby eliminating the low-frequency constituents. In order to eliminate briefly lasting spurious noises the output signal of the high-pass filter is integrated, so that an alarm signal is only triggered when there prevails sufficiently long lasting high-frequency sonic oscillations.
To ensure that such systems respond not only to such sonic oscillations, but also to a sudden attack at the region or surface to be protected, for instance by means of an explosive, there is taught to the art an arrangement in U.S. Pat. No. 3,147,467 where there is provided an additional evaluation channel which, upon occurence of very pronounced vibrations of short duration, likewise trips an alarm signal. The threshold value of this additional channel is chosen to be so high that in the presence of an accidental contact with the wall there is still not tripped an alarm signal, but in the presence of hard impact or an explosion attempt there will be immediately tripped an alarm, i.e. only with a slight time delay. Consequently, the susceptibility to disturbances of intrusion reporting arrangements working with sonic receivers is clearly reduced. However, what is disadvantageous with this system design is that with the use of high-pass filters or amplifiers the low-frequency spurious noises, which are better propagated in most walls or structures, can only be poorly segregated from high-frequency oscillations which are predicted upon an intrusion attempt. This leads to the result that weak intrusion vibrations at large distance from the receiver have superimposed thereon spurious noises, so that it is necessary to provide a large number of sonic receivers at a slight spacing from one another in order to afford adequate protection.
From U.S. Pat. No. 3,471,846 there is known to the art an intrusion detection system wherein there is obtained a sharply limited frequency range in that, the feeler signal is mixed with a carrier frequency which periodically continuously passes through a frequency range, and the mixed signal passes through a narrow band filter and is integrated over a number of throughpass periods. The installation indeed allows the elimination of a certain constant oscillation, but however is afflicted with the disadvantage that periodic spurious oscillations, which accidentally lie in the frequency throughpass range, likewise will trigger an alarm and not only the sonic oscillations or vibrations which emanate from an intruder.

Method and apparatus for intrusion detection by using sonic receivers


Gain and error correction circuitry for metal-oxide-semiconductor (MOS) analog storage circuits, including image sensors. The correction circuitry allows the analog output signal for a storage cell to substantially track an input signal in each cell. Voltage dependent distortion and attenuation in the output signal, with respect to the input signal, is minimized, without significantly increasing the size of each cell.

This invention is generally related to analog signal processing and more particularly to gain and error correction in analog storage circuits.
Analog storage circuits are commonly used to store different types of analog information. For example, an image sensor can be viewed as a type of analog storage circuit which provides signals representing light intensity. The image sensor contains an array of photocells that are electrically responsive to incident light. The photocell through readout circuitry provides an output signal that represents a light-generated signal inside the photocell.
One of the tasks for using analog storage arrays is to faithfully read the stored information. The task becomes particularly difficult for larger and denser arrays in which the smaller size of the individual cells restricts the range of circuits that can be used as readout circuitry in each cell.
For example, FIG. 1 illustrates in relevant part a typical compact prior art photocell 104. The cell 104 using only a few MOS circuit elements, such as the field effect transistor (FET), operates as described below.
The following short cuts are used in this disclosure to describe various operating regions of the MOS field effect transistor (FET). An FET is said to be "turned off" when V.sub.GS (gate-source voltage) .ltoreq.V.sub.T (threshold voltage) for the device and the device is operating in the cut-off region where its channel acts as an open circuit. When a FET is "turned on", V.sub.GS >V.sub.T, V.sub.DS (drain-source voltage) is normally small and the device is operating in the non-saturation region.
The cell 104 operates in response to RESET and SAMPLE signals being used to turn on M.sub.13 and M.sub.14 which causes the voltage at node A (V.sub.IN) to rise to a reset value. When the desired object or scene comes into view of the image sensor containing the cell 104, a timer (exposure timer, not shown) is triggered and M.sub.13 is turned off. Thereafter, photo-generated electron-hole pairs in photodiode D.sub.10 cause a photocurrent (light-generated signal) Iphoto which discharges the capacitor C.sub.10 through M.sub.14 and consequently results in V.sub.IN decaying. When the timer runs out, M.sub.14 is turned off, leaving an exposed value for V.sub.IN on C.sub.10. M.sub.14 thus acts as an electronic shutter in limiting the light energy detected by the pixel. The difference between the reset value of V.sub.IN and the exposed value, together with the exposure or "integration" time defined by the timer, gives a measure of the incident light energy detected by the pixel.
To read the light intensity information in V.sub.IN, the prior art cell 104 includes readout circuitry having M.sub.11 and M.sub.12. M.sub.11 is used as an amplifier whereas M.sub.12 is a switch. The readout circuitry together with a load (provided external to the cell, but not shown) on node B form an amplifier in a source follower configuration having a voltage gain less than one but a current gain greater than one when a SELECT signal is applied that turns on M.sub.12. When that happens, an analog signal V.sub.OUT representative of V.sub.IN (and hence the information stored in the cell), may be read from the cell. An example of an active pixel (photocell) with associated readout circuitry is discussed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,471,515, "Active Pixel Sensor With Intra-Pixel Charge Transfer," to Fossum et al.
For a cell having ideal read-out circuitry, V.sub.OUT will equal V.sub.IN (voltage gain of exactly one) for the entire range of V.sub.IN. However, for an actual prior art cell such as cell 104, V.sub.OUT is a non-linear function of V.sub.IN. Any non-linearity or deviation from the ideal presents an additional problem for the system designer to deal with, as the detected information deviates from the actual information.
The non-linearity in V.sub.OUT is known as gain distortion and may be caused by V.sub.T modulation, where the gain of M.sub.11 in the readout circuitry is modulated in response to a changing threshold voltage V.sub.T of M.sub.11. This occurs because M.sub.11 is implemented as a n-channel FET in a P-substrate, where the P-substrate is connected to zero potential or ground. The source to substrate (bulk) voltage for M.sub.11 in this configuration is non-zero and changing for different values of V.sub.OUT. As a result, V.sub.T for M.sub.11, and therefore the gain of M.sub.11, is changing as a function of V.sub.OUT.
The prior art cell 104 also suffers from reduced dynamic range, due to the source follower configuration of the readout circuitry which cannot provide voltage gain per se. This is because V.sub.OUT is derived from the voltage at the source node of M.sub.11, which voltage is always smaller than V.sub.IN being the gate voltage of M.sub.11. The lower dynamic range is particularly a problem at the low end where V.sub.IN approaches 1 volt, as V.sub.OUT cannot follow such low input voltages due to the gate-source drop across M.sub.11 and the drain-source drop across M.sub.12.
In addition to gain distortion and reduced dynamic range discussed above, the output signals of cells in a large array, particularly an imaging array having hundreds of thousands of cells, are susceptible to errors (small differences between design and actual values). These may be caused by manufacturing variations among the many cells in the array, and by readout noise originating in the signal path beyond the source node of M.sub.11.
In view of the above, it would be desirable to have a circuit which may correct for some or all of the above disadvantages that exist in analog storage circuits, and particularly in photocells.


Analog-to-digital conversion circuits are presented which employ magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) elements that change state probabilistically in response to application of electrical pulses. Some implementations form a multi-channel analog-to-digital conversion circuit, with each channel comprising a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) element, and a pulse generator that determines characteristics of perturbation pulses to be applied to an MTJ element based at least on an analog input. The pulse generator also applies read pulses to the MTJ element to produce indications of magnetization state changes for the MTJ element due to application of the perturbation pulses. Each channel of the multi-channel analog-to-digital conversion circuit can include count circuitry that counts the indications of the magnetization state changes for an associated MTJ element. Outputs from each single-channel analog-to-digital converter are combined to determine a digital output representative of the analog input.

Analog-to-digital (A/D) conversion circuitry is widely deployed to convert analog input signals to digital representations. These digital representations typically comprise binary values proportional to associated analog input signals. A/D conversion circuitry can be employed to deliver digital representations of analog signals to various digital systems, such as measurement devices, processing devices, logic circuits, software systems, or other systems. However, most A/D conversions rely upon large integrated circuit arrangements of amplifiers, transistors, and various support circuitry to achieve desired accuracy, range, and linearity.
Attempts at employing a magnetic tunnel junction (MTJ) arrangement into an A/D conversion process have been undertaken. An MTJ operates using tunnel magnetoresistance (TMR), which is a magneto-resistive effect. MTJs typically consist of two ferromagnets separated by a thin insulator through which electrons can quantum-mechanically tunnel from one ferromagnet into the other. In the presence of thermal noise, a switching behavior of an MTJ due to flow of an input current can be observed to be stochastic in nature. However, present A/D approaches that employ an MTJ still have limitations with regard to linearity. Moreover, large sample periods can add unwanted latency or lag into A/D conversion processes, leading to poor performance in high-speed or latency-sensitive applications.

Analog-to-digital conversion with magnetic tunnel junctions


A computer determines whether it has received user input or a node within a replica set has reached a capacity threshold. Based on receiving user input or determining that a node within a replica set has reached a capacity threshold, creating a snapshot of the data stored in the replica set and partitioning the data based on the created snapshot. The computer then initializing nodes within a new replica set and moves a partition from the original replica set to the new replica set before deleting the other partition from the old replica set.

The present invention relates generally to data storage, and more particular to quorum-based replication systems. Data storage is increasing in popularity as the world moves towards a digital age. Information once written in the pages of books and newspapers is now digitally available for searching, filtering, and analyzing from a variety of sources, such as the internet or a local database. Moreover, this information is more available than ever with the popularity of electronic devices, such as cell phones and computers, and the accessibility of such devices has resulted in vast amounts of user generated information, such as photos, comments, posts, and interactions with others. All of this data requires storage, and while data storage is relatively stable, it is possible for data servers storing such data to fail, losing potentially valuable information. In order to provide some fault tolerance, a system has been implemented in which identical data is stored in multiple locations forming what is known as a data replication service. In a data replication service, data is made redundant by replicating it across multiple storage devices, or nodes, within what is known as a replica set. If one of the nodes within a replica set fails, the data can be recovered from one of the other nodes within the replica set which has backed up the same data. The redundancy of the data within the cluster allows the data to remain accessible and the service to remain fully operational even in the face of some node failures.

Scaling quorum based replication systems

International Business Machines Corporation


The disclosure provides a device and method for disconnecting a download channel of a hand-held terminal. The device comprises: a connection/disconnection unit (308), which comprises a fuse module (308-2) and a fusing module (308-4), arranged between a download connection point (302) and a microprocessor (306); when no downloading is needed by the hand-held terminal, the fusing module (308-4) is provided with a level signal through the download connection point, and switch characteristics of a triode or an MOSFET in the fusing module (308-4) are utilized, to control the connection/disconnection of the download channel between the download connection point (302) and the microprocessor (306), thus avoiding generation of new download channel.

As mature and development of electronic technology, hand-held terminals such as mobile phones become more and more popular, which brings great convenience for communication of people and meets the society requirements with fast pace and high-efficiency. In order to develop subscribers better, some mobile operators provide hand-held terminals for subscribers at low prices or for free, however, at the same time, the mobile operators require such hand-held terminals to bind themselves to networks of the mobile operators or lock themselves to Subscriber Identity Module (SIM) cards of the mobile operators, that is, so called network locking and card locking.
Generally, for hand-held terminals with network locking or card locking function, it is determined whether the current SIM card used by the hand-held terminal meets the requirement of network locking or card locking according to the International Mobile Subscriber Identity (IMSI) in the SIM card. Specifically, the basic principle of network locking or card locking is as follows: if the IMSI numbers meet the requirement of the mobile operator, the hand-held terminal is allowed to work normally; otherwise, the user is refused to use the hand-held terminal. Herein, there are total 15 numbers in the IMSI, the structure of which is MCC number+MNC number+MIN number, wherein there are 3 numbers for the Mobile Country Code (MCC); and there are 2 numbers for the Mobile Network Code (MNC).
However, at present, someone utilize the download channels of the hand-held terminals to illegally rewrite codes or date of the memories of the hand-held terminals, and to decode hand-held terminals to make the hand-held terminals lose network locking or card locking function, which makes mobile operators and hand-held terminal manufactures suffer huge losses. Therefore, it is required that hand-held terminals must be able to effectively prevent from being utilized to downloaded data illegally.
In the prior art, the download circuit of a hand-held device is generally as shown in FIG. 1, including: a first download connection point 102, a second download connection point 104 and a microprocessor 106; wherein the first download connection point 102 is connected with the microprocessor 106 through a wire, and the second download connection point 104 is connected with a battery cathode of the hand-held device. When it is required to download data, a data signal is loaded between the first download connection point 102 and the second download connection point 104, such that data is downloaded to the hand-held terminal. Generally, when the hand-held terminal user uses the hand-held terminal normally, it is unnecessary to download data for the hand-held terminal; therefore, the download circuit as shown in FIG. 1 has the following main defects: when no data needs to be downloaded by the hand-held terminal, the first download connection point 102 is still connected with the microprocessor 106, which may cause generation of illegal download.
In order to solve above technical problem, a technical solution is provided: a fuse module is added between the first download connection point and the microprocessor, when the hand-held terminal is outgoing from the factory, the fuse in the fuse module is fused, to achieve the purpose of disconnecting the download channel between the first download connection point and the microprocessor. FIG. 2 shows a diagram of fusing the fuse by introducing an additional download connection point, as shown in FIG. 2, a fuse module 208 is connected in series between the first download connection point 202 and the microprocessor 206, at the same time, a third download connection point 210 is introduced at one end where the fuse module 208 is connected with the microprocessor, the third download connection point 210 is used for providing a voltage required to fuse the fuse.
During process of producing a hand-held terminal by a manufacture, the fuse in the fuse module 208 is connected with the first download connection point 202 and the microprocessor 206, such that normal download can be executed, however, when the hand-held terminal is outgoing from the factory, a proper voltage is added between the first download connection point 202 and the third download connection point 210, in this case, current flows through the fuse to make the fuse fused, such that the purpose of disconnecting the download circuit is realized. However, this solution also has defect that, as the third download connection point 210 is still connected with the microprocessor 206 through the wire, it is possible to download illegal data for the hand-held terminal through the third download connection point 210.

Device and method for disconnecting download channel of hand-held terminal


Embodiments of the disclosure generally provide methods of forming thin film transistor (TFT) device structure with good interface management between a metal electrode layer and a nearby insulating material so as to provide high electrical performance devices, or for other suitable display applications. In one embodiment, a thin film transistor structure includes a metal electrode layer disposed on a barrier layer formed above a gate insulating material layer, an interface layer disposed on the metal electrode layer, wherein the interface layer is an oxygen free dielectric material layer sized to be formed predominately on the metal electrode layer, and an insulating material layer disposed on the interface layer, wherein the insulating material layer is an oxygen containing dielectric layer.

Field
Embodiments of the present invention generally relate to methods for forming an interface layer between an insulating layer and a metal electrode layer in thin film transistor device structures. More particularly, embodiments of the invention relate to methods for forming an interface layer on a metal electrode layer for interface protection with minimum impurities diffusion to the metal electrode layer for thin film transistor device structure.
Description of the Related Art
Display devices have been widely used for a wide range of electronic applications, such as TV, monitors, mobile phone, MP3 players, e-book readers, and personal digital assistants (PDAs) and the like. The display device is generally designed for producing desired image by applying an electric field to a liquid crystal that fills a gap between two substrates and has anisotropic dielectric constant that controls the intensity of the dielectric field. By adjusting the amount of light transmitted through the substrates, the light and image intensity, quality and power consumption may be efficiently controlled.
A variety of different display devices, such as active matrix liquid crystal display (AMLCD) or an active matrix organic light emitting diodes (AMOLED), may be employed as light sources for display devices which utilize touch screen panels. In the manufacturing of TFT devices, an electronic device with high electron mobility, low leakage current and high breakdown voltage, would allow more pixel area for light transmission and integration of circuitry, thereby resulting in a brighter display, higher overall electrical efficiency, faster response time and higher resolution displays. Low film qualities of the material layers, such as metal electrode layer with impurities, formed in the device often result in poor device electrical performance and short service life of the devices. Thus, a stable and reliable method for forming and integrating film layers with in a TFT devices becomes crucial to provide a device structure with low film leakage, and high breakdown voltage, for use in manufacturing electronic devices with lower threshold voltage shift and improved the overall performance of the electronic device are desired. In particular, the interface management between a metal electrode layer and the nearby insulating materials becomes critical as improper material selection of the interface between the metal electrode layer and the nearby insulating material may adversely result in undesired elements diffusing into the adjacent materials, which may eventually lead to current short, current leakage or device failure.
Therefore, there is a need for improved methods for good interface management for manufacturing TFT devices that produce improved device electrical performance and device stability.

Thin film transistor fabrication utlizing an interface layer on a metal electrode layer


Heat-expandable molded synthetic resin seal and baffle components adapted for use in automobile body cavities or the like are provided which are designed to preferentially expand upon heating in desired directions and to a desired degree, in order to properly seal irregular or special cavity shapes. The molded components of the invention have selected body surface portions thereof UV crosslinked to a depth of up to about 0.5 mm, while other portions of the molded body are not crosslinked; upon heating, the crosslinked portions expand at a slower rate and to a lesser extent than non-crosslinked body portions. The preferred synthetic resin includes a grafted anhydride polymer, a terminal epoxide polymer additive, a blowing agent, a UV photoinitiator and a UV crosslinkable resin system.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to heat-expandable synthetic resin components used to seal and create acoustic baffles in automobile body cavities or the like, and which are prepared with a UV photoinitiator in the resin and UV crosslinking of selected surface portions thereof, so that upon heating the crosslinked surface portions will expand at a slower rate and to a lesser extent than other portions of the component. This allows predetermined directional expansion of the component rather than uniform expansion in all directions, permitting bonding of the component only to selected cavity walls and/or more efficient filling of void spaces. In preferred forms, the synthetic resin system includes a grafted anhydride polymer, an epoxide additive which reacts with the anhydride polymer upon heating, a blowing agent capable of effecting expansion when the system is heated, a UV photoinitiator and a UV crosslinkable resin system such as an acrylate resin.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Automotive vehicle bodies have a variety of hollow posts, cavities, passages and similar areas which can transmit undesirable noises, air currents, moisture, dust and other airborne particulates unless sealed to prevent infiltration of such sounds or contaminants. U.S. Pat. No. 5,373,027 describes a dry, initially non-tacky, heat expandable sealant and baffle component which may be formed into a desired shape so that upon insertion into post, cavity or passage of the vehicle body, the component will undergo heat-induced expansion when the vehicle body is conveyed through a baking oven forming a part of the primer or paint curing step of the automobile manufacturing process.
In accordance with the ""027 patent, the composition for preparing the dry, expandable sealant and baffle product includes a major amount of an ethylene-xcex1,xcex2 ethylenically unsaturated carboxylic acid copolymer which has been partially neutralized with a metallic ion such as zinc, a minor amount of a blowing agent such as a modified azodicarbonamide and a minor amount of a low molecular weight resin tackifier which has the property of imparting tackiness to the outer surface of the component when the latter is raised to an elevated temperature and thereby expanded by the blowing agent.
The dry expandable sealant and baffle composition expands within the cavity of the automobile body when it is conveyed through a conventional primer or paint bake oven. Conventional ovens for baking or curing a finish applied to an automobile body typically operate at temperatures in the range of about 140xc2x0 C. to about 200xc2x0 C., depending upon the coating to be dried and cured. The automobile body usually transits a particular baking oven in a time period of from about 10 to 15 minutes to as much as 2 hours. To that end, prior expandable baffle compositions have been formulated to preferably undergo expansion at a temperature of about 135xc2x0 C. to about 185xc2x0 C. The dry, expandable sealant composition and product of the ""027 patent has enjoyed substantial commercial success throughout the automotive manufacturing field. Recent popularity of expanded-in-place sealant and baffle products for automotive applications has been accelerated by the ease of use of the baffle elements and the fact that each can be appropriately sized and configured to custom fit specific body cavity areas. Furthermore, the fact that baffle expansion can be accomplished in situ while an automobile is passing through a baking oven avoids the necessity of providing additional equipment and manufacturing operations for that specific purpose.
Most prior heat-expandable synthetic resins used in automotive cavity sealant and baffle products are designed to uniformly expand when sufficiently heated. While this characteristic is useful in many cases, there are situations where it is undesirable. For example, a given cavity geometry may have irregular contours or tight, restricted spaces which may be only incompletely filled using a uniform expansion synthetic resin system. Also, it sometimes occurs that, for optimum performance, specific cavity wall surfaces should not be contacted by the synthetic resin upon expansion thereof.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,979,902 and 5,931,474 describe cavity sealing articles made up of one or more electron beam radiation crosslinked inner synthetic resin bodies surrounded by a non-crosslinked outer shell portion. In use, the sealant article is placed within a cavity and heated, causing the crosslinked inner bodies to expand and force the outer shell portion into sealing contact with the cavity walls. The expansion characteristics of the sealing articles may be altered by selection of the shape of the inner crosslinked bodies. The sealing articles described in these patents are deficient because of the need to fully surround the inner crosslinked bodies with a shell of non-crosslinked material. This makes it more difficult to precisely control the direction and extent of heat expansion. Moreover, fabrication of sealant articles of this type can be relatively complex, particularly when plural spaced-apart inner crosslinked bodies are employed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,203,815 discloses crosslinked and foamed resin sheets which are prepared by applying high-energy ionizing radiation to a foamed sheet to crosslink the sheet whereupon the sheet is heated for expansion purposes. Ionizing radiation permeates into the interior of the foamable sheet, so that crosslinking occurs over the entire thickness of the sheet. Accordingly, differential and/or direction-oriented expansion of the foamable material is not possible.
There is accordingly a need in the art for improved heat-expandable components adapted for use in automobile body cavities or the like which can be readily designed for controlled, direction-oriented expansion upon heating, and which avoid the use of inner crosslinked bodies surrounded by a non-crosslinked outer shell.
The present invention overcomes the problems outlined above and provides heat-expandable molded synthetic resin components which are designed to preferentially expand upon heating thereof in desired directions and to desired extents. Accordingly the components may be placed within an automobile body cavity or the like so that upon heating difficult to seal areas may be adequately filled or contacted with expanded synthetic resin material.
A component of the invention is in the form of a body presenting an outer surface and formed of a synthetic resin matrix, with at least a portion of the body surface being UV crosslinked to a depth of up to about 0.5 mm, while other body portions are not crosslinked (i.e., the other body portions are not crosslinked or are crosslinked only to a lesser extent than the primary crosslinked surface portions). Accordingly, when the component is heated to a temperature sufficient to effect expansion thereof, the UV crosslinked surface portion expands at a slower rate and to a lesser extent than the non-crosslinked body portions. In effect, the crosslinked surface portion serves as a carrier or temporary barrier section to direct the expanding synthetic resin material during the early stage of a heating cure cycle. This carrier or barrier section will normally be thermoplastic enough to slightly expand (e.g., 50-100%), while the other body portions will expand to a more significant extent.
In preferred forms, the synthetic resin matrix making up the heat-expandable component includes a quantity of a grafted anhydride polymer, an amount of a polymer additive containing a terminal epoxide group which reacts with at least a part of the anhydride polymer when the component is heated, a blowing agent, a minor amount of a photoinitiator and a crosslinkable resin system. The ingredients of the matrix are typically mixed and formed into pellets or the like, and the latter may be used in an injection molding machine to yield finished components of desired shape and size. Thereupon, one or more portions of the surface of the molded component are masked with a metal sheet or the like, and the masked component is subjected to UV light. The masked portion of the component is therefore not crosslinked or only crosslinked to a relatively minor extent, whereas the non-masked portions are crosslinked.
In use, the selectively surface crosslinked component is placed within an automobile body cavity and when the latter is passed through a curing oven as a part of the normal manufacturing process, the component is caused to expand. However, this expansion is non-uniform owing to the presence of the individual crosslinked and non-crosslinked portions of the component body.

Acoustic baffle with predetermined directional expansion characteristics


Methods are described for making nanostructures that are mechanically, chemically and thermally stable at desired elevated temperatures, from nanostructure templates having a stability temperature that is less than the desired elevated temperature. The methods comprise depositing by atomic layer deposition (ALD) structural layers that are stable at the desired elevated temperatures, onto a template employing a graded temperature deposition scheme. At least one structural layer is deposited at an initial temperature that is less than or equal to the stability temperature of the template, and subsequent depositions made at incrementally increased deposition temperatures until the desired elevated temperature stability is achieved. Nanostructure templates include three dimensional (3D) polymeric templates having features on the order of 100 nm fabricated by proximity field nanopatterning (PnP) methods.

Nanostructures (e.g. comprising nanomaterials) are generally defined as structures having at least one physical dimension on the order of 100 nm or less. Nanostructures are of increasing interest due to their unique properties as a result of their extremely small scale, for example electronic properties due to quantum confinement of electrons, optical properties based on transparency and luminescence and material properties due to the increased surface area and edge effects. Nanostructures can comprise nano-particles, quantum dots, carbon nanotubes, nano-wires, fullerenes (i.e. bucky balls), polycrystalline materials with ultrafine grain sizes, and three dimensional (3D) structures either naturally occurring or man made (e.g. synthesized). Examples of naturally occurring nanostructures include spider webs, natural fibers, insect wings etc. Manmade nanostructures can be synthesized directly, for example by gas phase condensation, microstructure refinement through severe plastic deformation induced by ball milling or torsion straining, crystallization from the amorphous state, electrodeposition and sol-gel processing techniques. Examples of some manmade nanostructures include polymers, self-aligned-monolayers (SAMs) and aerogels. Many of these nanostructures comprise materials (e.g. polymers and organic materials) that are not stable at elevated temperatures and/or cannot support mechanical loads and/or are not stable in various chemical environments as often required in applications such as micro-filtering and/or catalysis.
The present inventive methods overcome these limitations by utilizing atomic layer deposition (ALD) to deposit conformal layers of inorganic structural materials onto and within the physical structure of nanostructure templates. The templates themselves can be nanostructures comprising materials (e.g. polymers and organic materials) that are not stable at the elevated temperature of a particular application. By sequentially depositing structural materials layer by layer at incrementally higher temperatures, starting at a temperature equal to or below the maximum temperature at which the template is stable, a robust nanostructure that is stable at an elevated temperature (e.g. higher than the temperature at which the template itself is stable) can be formed from the original template. The resulting nanostructure can comprise a composite of the template within a "shell" of ALD deposited structural layers, or the template can be removed (e.g. dissolved, desorbed, decomposed etc.) to create a nanostructure formed of the deposited structural layers. The self-limiting surface chemistry of the ALD process provides atomic control of film thickness and additionally provides the ability to conformally coat shadowed, non line-of-sight, high aspect ratio features within nanoscale three-dimensional structures, that can be impractical by other deposition methods.

Nanostructure templating using low temperature atomic layer deposition


The invention provides isolated nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of taste cell specific G-protein coupled receptors, antibodies to such receptors, methods of detecting such nucleic acids and receptors, and methods of screening for modulators of taste cell specific G-protein coupled receptors.

Not applicable.
The invention provides isolated nucleic acid and amino acid sequences of taste cell specific G-protein coupled receptors, antibodies to such receptors, methods of detecting such nucleic acids and receptors, and methods of screening for modulators of taste cell specific G-protein coupled receptors.
Taste transduction is one of the most sophisticated forms of chemotransduction in animals (see, e.g., Margolskee, BioEssays 15:645-650 (1993); Avenet and Lindemann, J. Membrane Biol. 112:1-8 (1989)). Gustatory signaling is found throughout the animal kingdom, from simple metazoans to the most complex of vertebrates; its main purpose is to provide a reliable signaling response to non-volatile ligands. Each of these modalities is though to be mediated by distinct signaling pathways mediated by receptors or channels, leading to receptor cell depolarization, generation of a receptor or action potential, and release of neurotransmitter at gustatory afferent neuron synapses (see, e.g., Roper, Ann. Rev. Neurosci. 12:329-353 (1989)).
Mammals are believed to have five basic taste modalities: sweet, bitter, sour, salty, and umami (the taste of monosodium glutamate) (see, e.g. Kawamura and Kare, Introduction to Umami: A Basic Taste (1987); Kinnamon and Cummings, Ann. Rev. Physiol. 54:715-731(1992); Lindemann, Physiol. Rev. 76:718-766 (1996); Stewart et al., Am. J. Physiol. 272:1-26 (1997)). Extensive psychophysical studies in humans have reported that different regions of the tongue display different gustatory preferences (see, e.g., Hoffmann, Menchen. Arch. Path. Anat. Physiol. 62:516-530 (1875); Bradley et al., Anatomical Record 212: 246-249 (1985); Miller and Reedy, Physiol. Behav. 47:1213-1219 (1990)). Also, numerous physiological studies in animals have shown that taste receptor cells may selectively respond to different tastants (see, e.g., Akabas et al., Science 242:1047-1050 (1988); Gilbertson et al., J. Gen. Physiol. 100:803-24 (1992); Bernhardt et al., J. Physiol. 490:325-336 (1996); Cummings et al., J. Neurophysiol. 75:1256-1263 (1996)).
In mammals, taste receptor cells are assembled into taste buds that are distributed into different papillae in the tongue epithelium. Circumvallate papillae, found at the very back of the tongue, contain hundreds (mice) to thousands (human) of taste buds and are particularly sensitive to bitter substances. Foliate papillae, localized to the posterior lateral edge of the tongue, contain dozens to hundreds of taste buds and are particularly sensitive to sour and bitter substances. Fungiform papillae containing a single or a few taste buds are at the front of the tongue and are thought to mediate much of the sweet taste modality.
Each taste bud, depending on the species, contains 50-150 cells, including precursor cells, support cells, and taste receptor cells (see, e.g., Lindemann, Physiol. Rev. 76:718-766 (1996)). Receptor cells are innervated at their base by afferent nerve endings that transmit information to the taste centers of the cortex through synapses in the brain stem and thalamus. Elucidating the mechanisms of taste cell signaling and information processing is critical for understanding the function, regulation, and xe2x80x9cperceptionxe2x80x9d of the sense of taste.
Although much is known about the psychophysics and physiology of taste cell function, very little is known about the molecules and pathways that mediate these sensory signaling responses (reviewed by Gilbertson, Current Opin. Neurobiol. 3:532-539 (1993)). Electrophysiological studies suggest that sour and salty tastants modulate taste cell function by direct entry of H+ and Na+ ions through specialized membrane channels on the apical surface of the cell. In the case of sour compounds, taste cell depolarization is hypothesized to result from H+ blockage of K+ channels (see, e.g., Kinnamon et al., Proc. Nat""l Acad. Sci. USA 85: 7023-7027 (1988)) or activation of pH-sensitive channels (see, e.g., Gilbertson et al., J. Gen. Physiol. 100:803-24 (1992)); salt transduction may be partly mediated by the entry of Na+ via amiloride-sensitive Na+ channels (see, e.g., Heck et al., Science 223:403-405 (1984); Brand et al., Brain Res. 207-214 (1985); Avenet et al., Nature 331: 351-354 (1988)).
Sweet, bitter, and umami transduction are believed to be mediated by G-protein-coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling pathways (see, e.g., Striem et al., Biochem. J. 260:121-126 (1989); Chaudhari et al., J. Neuros. 16:3817-3826 (1996); Wong et al., Nature 381: 796-800 (1996)). Confusingly, there are almost as many models of signaling pathways for sweet and bitter transduction as there are effector enzymes for GPCR cascades (e.g., G protein subunits, cGMP phosphodiesterase, phospholipase C, adenylate cyclase; see, e.g., Kinnamon and Margolskee, Curr. Opin. Neurobiol. 6:506-513 (1996)). However, little is known about the specific membrane receptors involved in taste transduction, or many of the individual intracellular signaling molecules activated by the individual taste transduction pathways. Identification of such molecules is important given the numerous pharmacological and food industry applications for bitter antagonists, sweet agonists, and other modulators of taste.
One taste-cell specific G protein that has been identified is called Gustducin (McLaughin et al., Nature 357:563-569 (1992)). This protein is proposed to be involved in the detection of certain bitter and sweet tastes (Wong et al., Nature 381:796-800 (1996)), and is expressed in a significant subset of cells from all types of taste papillae (McLaughin et al., Nature 357:563-569 (1992)).
Recently, two novel GPCRs were identified and found to be specifically expressed in taste cells. While these receptor proteins, called TRI and TR2, appear to be directly involved in taste reception (Hoon et al., Cell 96:541-551 (1999)), they are only expressed in a fraction of mammalian taste receptor cells. For example, neither of the genes are extensively expressed in Gustducin-expressing cells. Thus, it is clear that additional taste-involved GPCRs remain to be discovered.
Genetic studies in mammals have identified numerous loci that are involved in the detection of taste. For example, psychophysical tasting studies have shown that humans can be categorized as tasters, non-tasters, and super-tasters for the bitter substance PROP (6-n-propylthiouracil), and that PROP tasting may be conferred by a dominant allele, with non-tasters having two recessive alleles and tasters having at least one dominant allele (see Bartoshuk et al., Physiol Behav 56(6):1165-71; 58:203-204 (1994)). Recently, a locus involved in PROP tasting has been mapped to human interval 5p15 (Reed et al., Am. J. Hum. Genet., 64(5):1478-80 (1999)). The PROP tasting gene present at the 5p 15 locus has yet to be described, however.
In addition, a number of genes involved in taste have been mapped in mice. For example, a cluster of genes involved in bitter-taste detection has been mapped to a region of chromosome 6 in mice (Lush et al., Genet Res. 66:167-174 (1995)).
The identification and isolation of novel taste receptors and taste signaling molecules would allow for new methods of pharmacological and genetic modulation of taste transduction pathways. For example, the availability of receptor and channel molecules would permit the screening for high affinity agonists, antagonists, inverse agonists, and modulators of taste cell activity. Such taste modulating compounds would be useful in the pharmaceutical and food industries to customize taste. In addition, such taste cell specific molecules can serve as invaluable tools in the generation of taste topographic maps that elucidate the relationship between the taste cells of the tongue and taste sensory neurons leading to taste centers in the brain.
The present invention thus provides novel nucleic acids encoding a family of taste-cell specific G-protein coupled receptors. These nucleic acids and the polypeptides that they encode are referred to as the xe2x80x9cSf,xe2x80x9d or xe2x80x9cGRxe2x80x9d family of G-protein coupled taste receptors. This novel family of GPCRs includes components of the taste transduction pathway. In particular, members of this family are involved in the detection of bitter tastes.
In one aspect, the present invention provides a method for identifying a compound that modulates taste signaling in taste cells, the method comprising the steps of: (i) contacting the compound with a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor polypeptide, wherein the polypeptide is expressed in a taste cell, the polypeptide comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, SEQ ID NO:33, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:37, SEQ ID NO:39, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:62, SEQ ID NO:64, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:72, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:78, and SEQ ID NO:80; and (ii) determining the functional effect of the compound upon the polypeptide.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for identifying a compound that modulates taste signaling in taste cells, the method comprising the steps of: (i) contacting the compound with a polypeptide comprising an extracellular domain of a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the receptor is expressed in a taste cell, the extracellular domain comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to the extracellular domain of a polypeptide comprising a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, SEQ ID NO:33, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:37, SEQ ID NO:39, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:62, SEQ ID NO:64, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:72, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:78, and SEQ ID NO:80; and (ii) determining the functional effect of the compound upon the extracellular domain.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a method for identifying a compound that modulates taste signaling in taste cells, the method comprising the steps of: (i) contacting the compound with a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor polypeptide comprising either: (a) a sequence comprising at least about 50% amino acid identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:82, SEQ ID NO:83, SEQ ID NO:84, SEQ ID NO:85, SEQ ID NO:86, and SEQ ID NO:87; or (b) a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:88, SEQ ID NO:89, SEQ ID NO:90, and SEQ ID NO:91; and (ii) determining the functional effect of the compound upon the polypeptide.
In one embodiment, the polypeptide has G-protein coupled receptor activity. In another embodiment, the functional effect of the compound upon the polypeptide is determined by measuring changes in intracellular cAMP, cGMP, IP3, or Ca2+. In another embodiment, the functional effect is a chemical effect. In another embodiment, the functional effect is a physical effect. In another embodiment, the functional effect is determined by measuring binding of the compound to an extracellular domain of the polypeptide. In another embodiment, the functional effect is determined by measuring radiolabeled GTP binding to the polypeptide. In another embodiment, the functional effect is measured by determining changes in the electrical activity of cells expressing the polypeptides.
In another embodiment, the polypeptide or parts thereof is recombinant. In another embodiment, the polypeptide comprises an extracellular domain that is covalently linked to a heterologous polypeptide, forming a chimeric polypeptide. In another embodiment, the polypeptide is linked to a solid phase, either covalently or non-covalently.
In another embodiment, the polypeptide is from a rat, a mouse, or a human. In another embodiment, the polypeptide is expressed in a cell or a cell membrane. In another embodiment, the cell is a eukaryotic cell. In another embodiment, the polypeptide comprises an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, SEQ ID NO:33, SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:37, SEQ ID NO:39, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:62, SEQ ID NO:64, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:72, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:78, and SEQ ID NO:80.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid encoding a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the receptor is expressed in a taste cell, the receptor comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid encoding a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the nucleic acid specifically hybridizes under highly stringent conditions to a nucleic acid having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NOS:8 and 92, SEQ ID NO:10; SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:22, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:32, and SEQ ID NO:34, but not to a nucleic acid having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:36, SEQ ID NO:38, SEQ ID NO:40, SEQ ID NO:42, SEQ ID NO:44, SEQ ID NO:46; SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:71, SEQ ID NO:73, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:79, and SEQ ID NO:81.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid encoding a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, the receptor comprising greater than about 60% amino acid identity to a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33, wherein the nucleic acid selectively hybridizes under moderately stringent hybridization conditions to a nucleotide sequence having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NOS:8 and 92, SEQ ID NO:10; SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:22, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:32, and SEQ ID NO:34 but not to a nucleic acid having a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:36, SEQ ID NO:38, SEQ ID NO:40, SEQ ID NO:42, SEQ ID NO:44, SEQ ID NO:46; SEQ ID NO:48, SEQ ID NO:50, SEQ ID NO:52, SEQ ID NO:54, SEQ ID NO:57, SEQ ID NO:59, SEQ ID NO:61, SEQ ID NO:63, SEQ ID NO:65, SEQ ID NO:67, SEQ ID NO:69, SEQ ID NO:71, SEQ ID NO:73, SEQ ID NO:75, SEQ ID NO:77, SEQ ID NO:79, and SEQ ID NO:81.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an isolated nucleic acid encoding an extracellular domain of a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the receptor is expressed in a taste cell, the extracellular domain having greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to the extracellular domain of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In one embodiment, the nucleic acid encodes a receptor that specifically binds to polyclonal antibodies generated against a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33, but not to polyclonal antibodies generated against a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:37, SEQ ID NO:39, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:62, SEQ ID NO:64, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:72, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:78, and SEQ ID NO:80.
In another embodiment, the nucleic acid encodes a receptor comprising an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In another embodiment, the nucleic acid comprises a nucleotide sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:2, SEQ ID NO:4, SEQ ID NO:6, SEQ ID NOS:8 and 92, SEQ ID NO:10; SEQ ID NO:12, SEQ ID NO:14, SEQ ID NO:16, SEQ ID NO:18, SEQ ID NO:20, SEQ ID NO:22, SEQ ID NO:24, SEQ ID NO:26, SEQ ID NO:28, SEQ ID NO:30, SEQ ID NO:32, and SEQ ID NO:34.
In another embodiment, the nucleic acid encodes a receptor that has G-protein coupled receptor activity. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid is from a rat or a mouse. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid is amplified by primers that selectively hybridize under stringent hybridization conditions to the same sequence as degenerate primer sets encoding amino acid sequences selected from the group consisting of:
In one embodiment, the nucleic acid encodes the extracellular domain linked to a heterologous polypeptide, forming a chimeric polypeptide. In another embodiment, the nucleic acid encodes the extracellular domain of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an isolated taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the receptor is expressed in a taste cell, the receptor comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In one embodiment, the receptor specifically binds to polyclonal antibodies generated against a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33, but not to polyclonal antibodies generated against a polypeptide having an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:35, SEQ ID NO:37, SEQ ID NO:39, SEQ ID NO:41, SEQ ID NO:43, SEQ ID NO:45, SEQ ID NO:47, SEQ ID NO:49, SEQ ID NO:51, SEQ ID NO:53, SEQ ID NO:55, SEQ ID NO:56, SEQ ID NO:58, SEQ ID NO:60, SEQ ID NO:62, SEQ ID NO:64, SEQ ID NO:66, SEQ ID NO:68, SEQ ID NO:70, SEQ ID NO:72, SEQ ID NO:74, SEQ ID NO:76, SEQ ID NO:78, and SEQ ID NO:80. In another embodiment, the receptor has G-protein coupled receptor activity. In another embodiment, the receptor has an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33. In another embodiment, the receptor is from a rat or a mouse.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an isolated polypeptide comprising an extracellular domain of a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the receptor is expressed in a taste cell, the extracellular domain comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to the extracellular domain of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In one embodiment, the polypeptide encodes the extracellular domain of a polypeptide comprising an amino acid sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33. In another embodiment, the extracellular domain is covalently linked to a heterologous polypeptide, forming a chimeric polypeptide.
In one aspect, the present invention provides an antibody that selectively binds to the receptor comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In another aspect, the present invention provides an expression vector comprising a nucleic acid encoding a taste transduction G-protein coupled receptor, wherein the receptor is expressed in a taste cell, the receptor comprising greater than about 60% amino acid sequence identity to a sequence selected from the group consisting of SEQ ID NO:1, SEQ ID NO:3, SEQ ID NO:5; SEQ ID NO:7, SEQ ID NO:9, SEQ ID NO:11, SEQ ID NO:13, SEQ ID NO:15, SEQ ID NO:17, SEQ ID NO:19, SEQ ID NO:21, SEQ ID NO:23, SEQ ID NO:25, SEQ ID NO:27, SEQ ID NO:29, SEQ ID NO:31, and SEQ ID NO:33.
In another aspect, the present invention provides a host cell transfected with the expression vector.

The Regents of the University of California


An alkaline-MnO.sub.2 cell employing a zinc powder-gel anode in which the gelling agent is starch graft copolymer with or without one or more other gelling agent such as sodium carboxymethyl cellulose.

A conventional type of alkaline cell employs a cathode comprising predominantly an oxidic depolarizer such as manganese dioxide usually admixed with a binder and conductive material such as graphite, steel wool and the like. The anode usually comprises a consumable anodic material such as powder zinc admixed with a gelling agent such as carboxymethyl cellulose, a suitable alkaline electrolyte such as an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution and, if desired, mercury. The anode gel is then extruded to form a desired shaped electrode. Anode materials and their preparation are described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,938,064 and 2,935,547 issued to K. Kordesch and U.S. Pat. No. 2,993,947 issued to E. E. Leger. The above electrodes together with conventional separator material can be assembled into an alkaline-MnO.sub.2 /zinc cell.
Discharging the above described cell on a microampere drain or on very intermittent discharge has resulted in zinc oxide formation in the separator which can result in internal shorts. Specifically, zinc oxide in contact with metallic zinc is known to be conductive and an internal electronic path is formed between the anode and cathode. An investigation of the internal shorting problem has revealed the carboxymethyl cellulose to be a major contributor to the transporting and precipitating of the zinc oxide throughout the cell. This internal shorting causes wasteful consumption of the components of the cell resulting in lower output capacity.
In eliminating or reducing carboxymethyl cellulose in powder-gel anodes, U.S. application Ser. No. 892,313 now U.S. Pat. No. 4,209,577 discloses a powder-gel anode comprising a major portion of a consumable anode material such as zinc, a minor amount of a gelling agent such as methyl cellulose with or without carboxymethyl cellulose and an aqueous alkaline electrolyte such as an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution. U.S. Pat. No. 4,175,052 discloses a powder-gel anode comprising a major portion of a consumable anodic material such as zinc, a minor amount of a gelling agent such as poly-N-vinyl pyrrolidone and/or polymethacrylic acid with or without carboxymethyl cellulose and an aqueous alkaline electrolyte such as an aqueous potassium hydroxide solution. Both the '313 application and the '052 patent are incorporated herein by reference.
Although a gelling agent is required, it is desirable to utilize a gelling agent that enables a cell to function at a given efficiency with a minimum amount of the gelling agent so that a larger volume of the active components such as zinc and manganese dioxide can be put in the cell. The gelling agent is particularly important for cells intended to operate on high discharge rates such as is required for toys, movie cameras, camera flash units and the like. The efficiency of anode utilization (normally the limiting factor in high rate service) is strongly affected by the gelling agent since the gelling agent affects the distribution and availability of electrolyte and the distribution of discharge products. In addition, it functions to keep the particulate anode material in a suspended state for greater electrolyte availability and better current density distribution. Consequently, the selection of a gelling agent is of primary importance in the fabrication of powder-gel anodes.
It is an object of the present invention to provide an alkaline-MnO.sub.2 /zinc cell that can be discharged on microampere drains without internally shorting and also on high current drains at effectively high anode utilization.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a powder-gel anode for alkaline-MnO.sub.2 cells that requires less of a gelling agent thereby permitting more of the active anodic material to be employed in a given anode mix volume.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a powder-gel anode for alkaline-MnO.sub.2 cells that employs a starch graft copolymer with or without another gelling agent.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a powder-gel anode comprising powder zinc, a starch graft copolymer with or without another gelling agent and an aqueous alkaline electrolyte.
The foregoing and additional objects will become more fully apparent from the following description.

Alkaline-MnO.sub.2 cell having a zinc powder-gel anode containing starch graft copolymer


A test system for performing a test on a device under test is provided. The test system comprises, at least one test device, configured for performing the test on the device under test, and at least one camera, configured for recording video data of the device under test and/or the at least one test device. Moreover, the test system comprises a storage unit, which is configured for storing the recorded video data and a video reproduction unit, which is configured for reproducing the recorded video. The video reproduction unit is moreover configured for reproducing the recorded video at an adjustable speed.

During the development of electronic products, an electromagnetic compatibility test is an important test to ensure a safe and reliable operation of the device under test. For performing such tests, the device under test is subjected to electromagnetic radiation of different frequencies and strengths, while the reaction of the device under test is monitored. In order to limit outside influences and in order to protect test operators, electromagnetic compatibility tests are usually performed in a test chamber, which is insulated with regard to electromagnetic radiation. This makes it difficult though for a test operator to monitor the behavior of the device under test.
There exist solutions to this issue, which use a camera, which is mounted inside the test chamber together with the device under test. Such a system is shown in the U.S. Pat. No. 9,154,777 B2.
Such systems though have the disadvantage that they require a great deal of time, in which the test operator watches the monitor connected to the video camera. Alternatively, when the video is recorded, a great deal of time is necessary for reviewing the resulting videos.
Accordingly, one object of the invention among others is to provide a system and method for performing tests on devices under test, which allow a monitoring of the device under test without requiring great lengths of operator time.

Test system and test method for performing EMC test efficiently