An electrical connector for connecting plural multi-contact linear arrays with an electrical system, including: a base portion having a base member and an alignment member on the base member configured to hold the multi-contact linear arrays in place; an interconnect portion configured to mate with the base portion and having (1) a plurality of pins mounted thereto, each pin positioned for contact with a respective contact of the multi-contact linear arrays, and (2) an interconnect array having a plurality of conductive pathways to the electrical system; and one or more closure elements for holding the base and interconnect portions together, wherein each of the contacts of the multi-contact linear arrays is electrically connected to a corresponding point in circuits within the electrical system.

Microelectronic systems and sensors continue to achieve higher densities and smaller footprints. Such advances are accompanied by the need for more compact, higher-density ways to connect large numbers of elements to such systems. One exemplary area of such need deals with connecting a large number of contacts for sensing EEG signals from the human brain. Epileptogenic mapping is one example of the use of electrical devices with a tissue-engagement contacts, and accurate sensing of intracranial electrical activity, such as for determining epileptogenic foci or otherwise, often requires using a large number of brain contacts. Although the invention disclosed herein is more broadly applicable to many electrical systems, electrical systems for epileptogenic mapping are used as the context for disclosure of this invention.
Examples of two kinds of intracranial electrical contact devices are depth probes and flexible flat surface members. Depth probes, which may be referred to as "depth electrodes," penetrate deep into the brain tissue. On the other hand, flexible flat surface members, including what are sometimes referred to as "strip" electrodes and "grid" electrodes, may be placed subdurally in direct contact with brain tissue at the surface of the brain.
Examples of such electrodes include but are not limited to electrodes described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,735,208 (Wyler et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,805,625 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,903,702 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 5,044,368 (Putz), and U.S. Pat. No. 5,097,835 (Putz).
Each of these different kinds of intracranial tissue-engagement electrodes are connected to some circuitry which typically captures and records the EEG signals for analysis of various types. There is a diagnostic need for an increased number of electrodes in order to increase the precision of analysis and diagnosis based on the captured EEG information. An increase in the number of electrodes requires higher data transmission bandwidths if the full amount of data captured from the electrodes is delivered to the monitoring system electronics. Further, there is a diagnostic need to monitor patients for longer periods of time, again for increased precision of diagnosis.
Multi-contact medical electrode devices are placed in the human body for various purposes, such as brain-mapping in epilepsy treatment. In such treatments wires generally extend from the multi-contact medical electrode to a multi-contact tail. The multi-contact tail is linear in shape and contains an array of sleeve-like contacts spaced therealong. The multiple contacts of the multi-contact tail are to facilitate quick electrical connection of the contacts of the multi-contact medical electrode device such as for monitoring, recording and analysis purposes. Connectors have been configured to simultaneously engage the contacts of the multi-contact tail for their individual electrical connection to separate wire strands which emerge from the connector.
Various connectors have been developed to facilitate multi-contact connection. Examples of such prior art multi-contact medical connectors are those disclosed in the following U.S. Pat. No. 4,379,462 (Borkan et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,461,304 (Kuperstein), U.S. Pat. No. 4,516,820 (Kuzma), U.S. Pat. No. 4,633,889 (Talalla et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,258 (Inokuchi et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 4,712,557 (Harris), U.S. Pat. No. 4,744,371 (Harris), U.S. Pat. No. 4,850,359 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 4,869,255 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 5,560,358 (Arnold et al.), U.S. Pat. No. 5,902,236 (Iversen), U.S. Pat. No. 6,415,168 (Putz), U.S. Pat. No. 6,575,759 (Ollivier), U.S. Pat. No. 7,425,142 (Putz), and U.S. Pat. No. 8,439,714 (Putz).
Some medical connectors of the prior art have a number of shortcomings. One concern in a surgical setting that involves much equipment, many wires and hoses and the like, is that the connector be small in size to facilitate easy operation by medical personnel. It would be advantageous to have a connector which has a high-density of connections and which can be easily maneuvered by medical personnel during and after surgery. A slim design is particularly advantageous with respect to connectors that have a great number of contacts. Some connectors in the prior art are large in size and clumsy, making them difficult to organize and manage.
When using a medical connector it is important that a constant and reliable electrical connection be present so that accurate information can be obtained. Some connectors in the prior art may create concerns with reliability of the connection. A reliable electrical connection is also of paramount importance since the connectors are often in use for lengthy periods of time. If a connector fails during use, all of the information obtained may be lost or rendered inaccurate.
Medical connectors for use in patients who have a seizure tendency must also be secure. If a patient has a seizure there is the chance that the electrical connections could be destroyed or disrupted. Specifically, the multi-contact tails of electrodes having multiple contacts can become dislodged or broken by involuntary movements occurring during a seizure. Therefore, it is important that the connector be secure so that it can withstand the jerking motions that are characteristic of seizures.
It is also important that, with a large number of connections to be made, the possibility of confusion in placement of connections be minimized.
In summary, there are problems and shortcomings in the prior art connectors for use with multi-contact medical electrode devices.

High-density electrical connector for plural multi-contact linear-array connections


The invention includes a method of transposing a non-autonomous transposon gene of rice (Oryza sativa). The method comprises culturing anthers of rice or treating roots, seeds, leaves, and stems of axillary buds of rice, or a callus derived from them, with 5-azacytidine or 5-azadeoxycytidine. Also included in the invention is a plant or plant seeds produced by the method.

A gene disruption method has been used as a tool to analyze genome of rice (Oryza sativa). To disrupt genomes of rice, a method to activate a segregation factor by mating an individual, wherein a transposase gene (transposition enzyme) is tranduced as an activator, with an individual, wherein a segregation factor is introduced; a method to use T-DNA; and a method to use retrotransposon have been known. However, analysis of spontaneous mutants of rice has not served to find active transposons (Supplementary volume of Cell Engineering, Plant cell engineering series 14, "Plant genome research protocols" 2000, February, Shujun press Co.).
On the other hand, a genome sequencing project is determining the nucleotide sequences of many plants as well as rice and the results are databanked. Furthermore, transposon genes, mobile genes in animal and plant, have, to some extent, unique nucleotide sequences, whose information has enabled research on wider applications of transposons. However, enough elucidation has not been demonstrated. Additionally, a nucleotide sequence, assigned to a putative transposon gene has been found in a mutated rice induced by γ-irradiation (Tetsuya Nakazaki et al., "Polymorphic insertion of transposon-like sequence in mutable slender-granule gene slg locus" Japanese Society of Breeding 100th Conference, Autumn meeting, 2001, October).
Problems to be Solved by the Invention:
The inventors discovered an inverted repeated sequence characteristic to transposon genes in rice genome nucleotide sequence under investigation. Examining various tests on the possible transposon nucleotide sequence, the inventors confirmed that the nucleotide sequence is ascribed to a transposon gene (nonautonomous transposon).
Furthermore, the inventors discovered autonomous transposon genes on the basis of the nonautonomous transposon gene. Moreover, the inventors identified transposase genes, which enable to transpose the transposon gene.
Means of Solving the Problems:
The inventors, starting from chromosome No. 1, examined long terminal repeats (LTR) in rice genome sequence, which is registered seriatim in database. The inventors noticed a LTR on the clone, accession number AP002843, as shown in Table 1, investigated the sequence in detail and discovered the inverted repeat sequence characteristic to a transposon gene at the site of 144459th–144473rd and 144874th–144888th bases at adjacent downstream of LTR (FIG. 1, SEQ ID NO: 6). As disclosing in the example shown later, the inventors confirmed that the nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 1) located between the inverted repeats is a nonautonomous transposon gene, markedly transposable by such artificial treatment as anther culture.
TABLE 1AP002843 Oryza sativa genomic DNA, chromosome 1, PA ACCESSIONAP002843NCBI SRS Genome-Net ORGANISMOryza sativaNCBI SRSLOCUSAP002843148762 bp  DNA  PLN   26-JAN-2001FEATURESLocation/Qualifierssource  1..148762/chromosome="1"/clone="P0407B12"/cultivar="Nipponbare"/organism="Oryza sativa"/sequenced_mol="DNA"LTR  139482..139690/note="5′ LTR"CDS  139739..144052/gene="P0407B12.28"/note="probably inactive due to frameshifts in CDS"/note="pseudogene, similar to Oryza longistaminataprobable gag/pol polyprotein U72725"/pseudoLTR  144047..144255/note="3′ LTR"CDS  join(144653..144692, 145148..145311)/codon_start=1/gene="P0407B12.29"/note="hypothetical protein"/protein_id="BAB17191.1"/translation="MRRSHGGGGRKRSVPSSSHPEKKAIDRIKREDAGRRAGRVSLVQPLAAFPATDGGGGGGLARLLRWW"   (SEQ. ID NO: 28)
Then, the inventors searched for homologous sequences using the nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1) by Blast search. Most of the results of the search lead to the nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1) itself, but additionally, accession numbers AP004236 and AP003968, which were expected as transposon genes, were found. Comparing the nucleotide sequence of AP004236 and AP003968, the inventors found that these are cloned on chromosome No. 6 and are the sequence of the identical overlapped region.
Therefore, the homology between 1st–253rd bases of the nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1) and 89360th–89612nd bases of AP004236 was 252/253 (99%) and that between 254th–430th bases of the nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1) and 94524th–94700th bases of AP004236 was 177/177 (100%). They are well-conserved sequences.
Both nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1, 430 bp) and the transposon (SEQ ID NO: 2, 5341 bp) have inverted repeats of 15 bp and TTA and TAA are recognized and inserted. Open Reading Frame (ORF) was searched on the basis of SEQ ID NO: 2 (5341 bp) and two kinds of putative ORFI and ORFII were obtained.
Open Reading Frame (ORF) was searched on the basis of Sequence Number 2 (5341 bp) and two kinds of putative ORFI and ORFII were obtained.
The structure of the transposon gene comprising nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 is shown in the upper diagram of FIG. 9. The nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1, 430 bp) is located at 1st–253rd and at 5165th–5341st bases, ORFI is located at 1526th–1914th bases and at 1939th–2663rd bases and ORFII is located at 3190th–4557th bases.
Furthermore, to obtain similar genes to the gene comprising nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2, the inventors performed homological searches using nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 as Query (DNA for homological search) of Blast search and found accession numbers AP004753 (chromosome No. 2) and AP003714 (chromosome No. 6) as well as the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 itself. These two clones have the identical nucleotide sequence (SEQ ID NO: 3) and located on different chromosomes (several copies). Since the nucleotide sequence is present also in indica (a cultivar of rice), the gene must be conserved in many cultivars, from japonica to indica. The nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 (5166 bp) has inverted repeats, as the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 has, and TAA (3 bp) was also recognized and inserted.
Open Reading Frame (ORF) was searched on the basis of the sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 and ORFI and ORFII were obtained which may code two kinds of proteins. The structure of transposon gene comprising nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 is shown in the lower diagram of FIG. 9. The nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1, 430 bp) is located at 1st–170th and at 5092nd–5166th bases, however, the homological nucleotide sequence to the nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1, 430 bp) is disappeared in the middle. ORFI is located at 1630th–2652nd bases and ORFII is located at 2959th–4407th bases. The nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 3 was compared between japonica (AP004753 and AP003714) and indica (Scaffold6962) and the homology of more than 90% was confirmed as shown in FIG. 10. Additionally, the inventors examined the mutation frequency of nonautonomous transposon gene (SEQ ID NO: 1, 430 bp) in indica, and confirmed that the sequence homology was more than 95% as shown in FIG. 11.
The inventors have no idea on the function of ORFI in SEQ ID NOS 2 and 3, for the moment.
To examine whether ORFII encodes transposase (transposition enzyme) or not, the inventors checked whether the amino acid sequence of ORFII shares a conservative region with that of known transposase gene. The amino acid sequences of ORFII in SEQ ID NO: 2 and in SEQ ID NO: 3 are shown as SEQ ID NOS 4 and 5, respectively. The alignment of amino acid sequences of these two ORFII (SEQ ID NOS 4 and 5) is shown in FIG. 12 and the homology of these sequences was more than 75% (77%). These two amino acid sequences have DXG/AF/F motif and YREK motif (SEQ ID NO: 39) (Q. H. Le, K. Turcotte and T. Bureau, Genetics 158: 1081–1088 (2001)), then it is concluded that thee belong to IS transposase family.
Also, the homology of the nucleotide sequences of ORFII in SEQ ID NO: 2 and that in SEQ ID NO: 3 was more than 75% (79.3%).
Therefore, the present invention is a transposon gene of rice consisting of a nucleotide sequence which is at least 95% homological to SEQ ID NO: 1. The DNA being at least 95% homological to SEQ ID NO: 1 is considered to be functional as nonautonomous transposon, which is transposable by anther culture or by the treatment with chemical agents. Also, the present invention is the transposon gene of rice, wherein enhancers or promoters are inserted.
Furthermore, the present invention is the transposon gene of rice, whose nucleotide sequence is at least 90% homological to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or 3. The DNA being at least 90% homological to the nucleotide sequence of SEQ ID NO: 2 or 3 is considered to be functional as an autonomous transposon gene, which is transposable by anther culture or by the treatment with chemical agents.
Also, the present invention is the transposase gene of rice, whose DNA being at least 75% homological to the nucleotide sequence of 3190th–4557th bases off SEQ ID NO: 2 or the nucleotide sequence of 2959th–4407th bases of SEQ ID NO: 3. The DNA being at least 75% homological to these nucleotide sequences is considered to be functional as the gene, which enables transpose the transposons.
Also, the present invention is the transposase gene encoding a protein consisting of an amino acid sequence of SEQ ID NO: 4 or 5 or an amino acid sequence wherein one or several amino acids are deleted, substituted or added in said amino acid sequence. Also, the transposase could be a transposon gene of rice, whose amino acids sequence is at least 75% homological to SEQ ID NO: 4 or 5.
Moreover, the present invention is the transposase gene encoding this protein. Also, the present invention is the plasmid containing any one of said transposon genes. Still furthermore, the present invention is the plasmid containing promoters and anyone of said transposase genes. Such binary vector as Ti plasmid and pBI-121 plasmid can be used for the purpose. 35S promoter of cauliflower mosaic virus, heat shock promoter, chemotaxis promoter and others can be used for the purpose of this invention. There are no restrictions on the method of incorporation of promoters and said genomes and general method of genetic engineering can be applied.
Also, the present invention is the transfomants, wherein any of said transposon genes are transduced. Preferably, plants, especially, rice, barley, wheat or maize are used as the host. To transform these plants, using general method of genetic engineering, we can insert these genomes into said plasmid and transform the plants.
Still moreover, the present invention is the transfomants, wherein promoters and said transposase genes are transduced. Other transposon genes can be transduced, if necessary. Said promoters can be used for the present purpose. Preferably, plants, especially, barely, wheat or maize are used as the host. To transform these plants, using general method of genetic engineering, we can insert said genomes into said plasmid and transform the plants.
Also, the present invention is the method for transposing any of said transposon genes, comprising subjecting said transformants to anther culture or treating any of the transformants with a chemical agent.
Furthermore, the present invention is the plant or the seed, which is transformed by the transposition of said transposon genes by any one of said methods. Preferably, rice or barley, a vicinal species of rice, wheat or maize is used as the plant.
Also, the present invention is a method for determining the integrated region of transposon gene, which comprises the steps of transposing any one of said transposon gene by any one of the above methods, extracting DNA from the plant obtained by the previous step, digesting said DNA by a restriction enzyme with no cutting sites inside the transposon gene, ligating said DNA fragments obtained by the previous step, conducting PCR for said DNA fragments obtained by the previous step, and determining the nucleotide sequence of said PCR products obtained by the previous steps. The primers of said PCR involve the oligonucleotides, which comprises 10 consecutive bases, preferably 10˜20 consecutive bases, more preferably 10˜15 consecutive bases in the nucleotide sequence from the 5′-end of SEQ ID NO: 1; and the oligonucleotide, which comprises 10 consecutive bases, preferably 10˜20 consecutive bases, more preferably 10˜15 consecutive bases in the nucleotide sequence from the 3′-end of SEQ ID NO: 1, or the oligonucleotides, comprising the nucleotide sequences complementary to said sequences. Since the origonucleotide comprising 10˜15 consecutive bases from the 5′-end of the nucleotide sequence overlaps with that comprising 10˜15 consecutive bases in the nucleotide sequence from the 3′-end of that of SEQ ID NO: 1, we can use single kind of primer, if the oligonucleotide bases comprises less than 15 consecutive bases. In other words, in this case, we can use the oligonucleotide comprising 10˜15 consecutive bases in the nucleotide sequence from the 5′-end of SEQ ID NO: 1 or the oligonucleotides complementary to said nucleotide sequences as the PCR primer. In this way, identification of the integration site of the transposon enables to find the disrupted genomes.

Non-autonomous transposon gene of rice, transformed plant and method of use

Agency of Industrial Science and Technology


An optical disc apparatus capable of improving an overwrite performance for performing an overwrite operation on a re-writable type optical disc. The apparatus includes a calculating section which calculates out a recording power at the time of previously performing recording in a recording area of the optical disc, and a recording power determining section which determines a write power of the recording power calculated out by the calculating section as a write power of the currently recorded recording power, and at the same time, adjusts erase power, cooling power, and/or middle power of the recording power calculated out by the calculating section to finally determine the currently recorded recording power.

The present invention relates to an optical disc apparatus and a method for controlling an overwrite power which can be suitably applied to the optical disc apparatus capable of performing an overwrite operation, for example, on a re-writable type optical disc.
A conventional optical disc apparatus has a problem that when performing an overwrite operation on a previously recorded recording area, a recording quality at the time of currently performing recording is largely different depending on a previously recorded recording state.
In the case where a recording power at the time of being previously recorded is particularly large, when performing an overwrite operation using the recording power that is adjusted by an optimum power control (OPC), possibility of a recording error such as Jitter error (PI error) increases to incur deterioration of recording quality in many cases. A so called retry process or alternation process is forced to be performed and as a result, a transfer rate of data tends to be undesirably lowered.
To solve the above-described problem, for example, according to Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-196890, an information recording device is provided with a recording means for recording information on a recording area in the information recording medium by irradiation with laser light, a reference output value holding means for holding the reference output value of the laser light for recording the information, an inference means for inferring the output value of the laser light in the past irradiation in the already recorded area in which the information is already recorded, and a control means for controlling the recording means to perform irradiation on the already recorded area with the laser light having an output value larger than the reference output value, when the inferred output value is larger than the reference output value.

Optical disc apparatus and method for controlling overwrite power


Air assemblies (1000,2000,3000,4000,5000) having an inflation, a deflation, and a closed state for use with inflatable products, such as air mattresses. Specifically, air assemblies (1000,2000,3000,4000,5000) can be changed manually by a user by operating a directional control valve (1033,2043,3033,4033,5001) to inflate, deflate, or close the inflatable product. The directional control valve (1033,2043,3033,4033,5001) may also activate a pump in the inflation and deflation states and deactivate the pump in the closed state.

Inflatable products are common in households due to the convenience of storage or transportation when such products are in a deflated state coupled with the utility of such products when in an inflated state. For example, air mattresses are often used in households both inside and outside of the home for activities such as camping or providing overnight guests with a bed. Air mattresses are generally provided with at least one inflatable air chamber and may be inflated or deflated using a built-in pump.
Many existing inflation and deflation pumps are constructed using a check valve and a directional control valve that coordinate with each other. Such pumps have complex structures, are relatively large, and come with relatively high production costs. As a result, pumps with less complexity and associated lower costs and smaller size are desired.

Manual inflation and deflation adjustment structure for a pump


An object of the present invention is to provide a novel solid reagent capable of solving the problems of conventional solid reagents based on resin beads.

The present invention relates to so-called solid reagents (also referred to as polymer-bound reagents or polymer-supported reagents).
Many reagents used in various organic syntheses such as oxidizing agents, reducing agents, deprotonating agents, halogenating agents and nucleophilic displacing agents are hard to handle because of their properties such as toxicity, combustibility, volatility and corrosiveness. They are sometimes poor in the yield or selectivity of target compounds. Moreover, common reagents are mixed with a starting material in a solvent for a desired reaction so that they require complex operations such as extraction, filtration, drying and purification in order to remove unreacted reagents and by-products from the medium and to isolate only a target compound after the reaction, and many of them have the problem that they generate a large volume of waste.
As one of means for solving or reducing these problems, solid reagents have been developed in which a reactive functional group or a reagent compound itself is immobilized on a carrier such as silica gel or a polymer resin.
Polymer resins have found a wide range of applications in chemical syntheses since Merrifield proposed application for peptide synthesis in the 1970s. Among others, many reports proposed using polymer resins as carriers for solid reagents, as introduced in reviews such as Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 40, 650 (2001), Synthesis, No.8, 1035 (2000).
The use of solid reagents in organic syntheses generally has the following advantages. They are safer and easier to handle than conventional equivalent reagents (liquid or gaseous reagents); target compounds can be obtained with high yield by excessively using such reagents; and unreacted and reacted reagents and target compounds can be readily separated by filtration after the reaction has been completed. Many of them further have the following advantages. Some kinds of solid reagents afford target compounds with higher selectivity than conventional equivalent reagents; target compounds can be obtained only by passing a solution of a starting compound through a column packed with a solid reagent; and solid reagents can be regenerated/reused. It can be said from these facts that processes using solid reagents are environment-conscious. Solid reagents may be used by passing a solution of a starting compound through a bed of a solid reagent as described above or by passing a gas of a starting compound through a bed of a solid reagent, though the following description is limited to the mode in which a solution is passed for convenience sake. However, solid reagents including those of the present invention naturally cover the application mode in which a raw material gas is passed and such a mode is also included in the scope of the present invention.
Some of these results have already been commercialized. For example, some of ion exchange resins commercially available under Amberlyst have been converted from salt forms to have functions as oxidizing agents, reducing agents, various halogenating agents or nitrating agents. Polymer resins other than ion exchange resins are also commercially available such as polystyrene resins supporting osmium tetraoxide that was previously difficult to handle (from Wako Pure Chemical Industries, Ltd.).
However, all these conventional solid reagents have the problem that they are liable to physical wear/strength reduction during use because they use polymer resins prepared with crosslinkers (crosslinked polymers) as carriers, which change in volume by swelling or contraction.
Moreover, molecules of a starting compound and reactive functional groups or reagent compound molecules supported on a solid reagent must come into thorough contact with each other in order that a chemical reaction may proceed, but conventional solid reagents generally use porous bead-like resins so that molecules of a starting compound must be diffused for access to reactive functional groups or reagent compound molecules supported on the inner surfaces of micropores of the porous resin beads in order that a desired chemical reaction may proceed, which greatly impedes smooth progress of the chemical reaction.
Furthermore, the starting material solution must be passed at an extremely slow flow rate, and therefore over a very long time when conventional solid reagents are to be used in large-scale column reactions. If the flow rate is increased in this case, the starting compound cannot be sufficiently diffused into the interior side of resin beads, which results in an extremely lowered utilization efficiency of reactive functional groups or reagent compound molecules and therefore a decreased yield of the target compound.
The utilization efficiency of reactive functional groups or reagent compound molecules may be increased by reducing the particle diameter of resin beads or further increasing the surface area, but serious pressure loss (differential pressure) in large-scale reactor systems requires considerable strength in reactors or pumps.
For the reasons described above, conventional solid reagents often had further problems associated with regeneration of used reagents, such as lengthy regeneration procedures, need for large amounts of regenerants and low regeneration efficiency.
Consequentially, very few solid reagents are actually used in industrial chemical processes because of the inevitable problem of the poor cost performance for use in industrial chemical processes despite great many proposals of solid reagents as introduced in the review mentioned above.
Several means to solve the above problems were proposed from the aspect of hardware such as reaction vessel or reaction apparatus, but solid reagents optimized for synthetic procedures have been still insufficiently developed.

Abstract: The present invention relates to a solid reagent comprising an organic polymer base in which a polymer side chain is introduced onto the backbone of the organic polymer base via graft polymerization and a reactive functional group is introduced onto the polymer side chain. The organic polymer base is preferably in the form of a fiber, a woven or nonwoven fabric consisting of an assembly of fibers, a porous membrane or a hollow fiber membrane. The graft polymerization is preferably a radiation-induced graft polymerization. Solid reagents according to the present invention can be used in various organic synthetic reactions.


It is advantageous for present invention to suitably determine amounts of transmission data for links in a multilink communication. In a mobile communication system (10) for making a multilink communication through which a communication is performed by using a plurality of links relayed by a plurality of base station apparatus (30), respectively, each of the base station apparatuses (30) acquire transmittable data amount information representing amounts of data able to be transmitted through the respective links by a mobile station apparatus (20) or a server apparatus (40), and the mobile station apparatus (20) or the server apparatus (40) determines amounts of transmission data to be transmitted to the respective links in correspondence to the transmittable data amount information, and transmits communication data of amounts of data corresponding to the amounts of transmission data determined to the respective links.

The present invention relates to a communication system, base station apparatus, a server apparatus, a mobile station apparatus, and a transmission data amount determining method.
In multilink communication through which communication is performed by simultaneously using a plurality of links (refer to Patent document 1 for example), a communication apparatus needs to allocate data to be transmitted to each link. Heretofore, the communication apparatus for making the multilink communication has monitored amounts of data received through the respective links (amounts of received data), and has determined amounts of data to be transmitted through the respective links (amounts of transmission data) in correspondence to the amounts of received data. Thus, the communication apparatus allocates the transmission data to the respective links based on the amounts of transmission data thus determined.    [Patent Document 1] JP 2002-94595 A
However, there is a difference between the reception communication environment and the transmission communication environment in many cases. In the above-mentioned conventional method, the communication apparatus has determined the amount of transmission data in correspondence to the amounts of received data even in such cases. Hence, in a multilink communication system having a radio section, a difference has been caused between the amount of transmission data which the communication apparatus has determined and an amount of transmittable data due to an influence of an error rate or a data rate in the radio section in some cases. As a result, delay or retransmission of the data to be transmitted is caused. Thus, communication ceases as the case may be.

Communication system, base station apparatus, server apparatus, mobile station apparatus, and transmission data amount determining method


An improved hoist for raising and lowering a weighted object secured to a hoist cable, wherein the improvement comprises a safety switch in series with an up-down switch of the hoist. The safety switch has an actuating member with spaced-apart first and second portions on either side of the hoist cable and proximate the take-up shaft of the winch, and, when the hoist cable becomes unweighted or becomes wound upon the take-up shaft in an improper direction, the hoist cable moves the actuating member and prevents the up-down switch from applying power to the winch motor, thereby disabling the winch motor.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates, in general, to winches and hoists, and in particular, to hoists having motorized winches and safety devices therefor.
2. Information Disclosure Statement
This application is a safety improvement that may be used with hoists having motorized winches such as, for example, the hoist disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,349 (issued Apr. 14, 1992).
It is often desired to provide a hoist with a motorized winch to raise and lower objects. A typical and well-known hoist is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,349 (issued Apr. 14, 1992) for raising and lowering a chandelier to and from a ceiling in a home or other building, and such a motorized winch typically has a spool or reel on which a hoist cable is wound and unwound to raise and lower an object such as a chandelier.
Two problems are sometimes seen with such winches and hoists. First, sometimes the winch of the hoist is improperly operated when the weighted object (e.g., the chandelier) is not pulling downwardly on the hoist cable. This "unweighted" problem condition may be seen, for example, if a piece of furniture, such as a table, happens to be below the chandelier and an inattentive operator keeps lowering the chandelier until it hits the piece of furniture or even the floor, and, occasionally, a very inattentive operator may keep the winch in a lowering mode past the point when the chandelier hits the piece of furniture or the floor. A similar "unweighted" situation develops if an operator tries to operate the winch when the object's weight is removed, as when the chandelier is removed from the hoist cable. When the winch is operated while in this "unweighted" condition, the hoist cable tends to become tangled and may come off of the winch's spool or reel.
A second problem occurs when an inattentive operator allows the winch to be operated past the point when the hoist cable become fully unwound from the winch spool or reel, such that the winch, still turning in the "unwinding" direction, begins winding the cable back on to the spool or reel in the reverse direction, hoisting the object (e.g., a chandelier) while the winch is still turning in the "unwinding" direction. Some winches have safety cutoff switches that will stop the operation of the winch motor when the hoisted object reaches an upper limit, but some such safety cutoff switches are designed to only operate when the winch is in the "raising" mode, such that the winch spool or reel is turning in the "winding" direction. Because this second problem causes the hoist cable to be improperly wound on the winch spool or reel in the reverse direction, often the safety cut-off switches are ineffective (because the winch is turning in the "unwinding" direction yet the hoist cable is being wound onto the winch spool or reel), and the safety cutoff switch does not stop the operation of the winch when the hoisted object attempts to travel past its upper limit. Such a failure can cause, for example, a chandelier to be hoisted through the ceiling, causing damage, and has been known to cause the hoist cable to break and the chandelier to fall, causing injury and property damage, especially if the winch motor is improperly fused or if the fuse or circuit breaker on the winch has been disabled.
It is therefore desirable to provide a winch safety switch for a hoist such that the winch safety switch disables the operation of the winch motor if the winch is operated in its unwinding/lowering mode when either the hoist cable becomes unweighted or if the winch begins winding the hoist cable in the reverse direction after passing the fully-unwound point.
A preliminary patentability search in class 362, subclasses 147, 384, 404, 391, 418, and 403, for the invention disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,349, produced the following patents, some of which may be relevant to the present invention: Farrington et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,609,170, issued Sep. 2, 1952; Pfaff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,584, issued Oct. 5, 1971; Booty et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,238, issued Feb. 16, 1982; and Sakurai, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,539, issued Apr. 26, 1983. Additionally, during prosecution of the predecessor of the application that issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,105,349, an advertisement of a floodlight lowering attachment, dated Mar. 11, 1938, manufactured and sold by the Benjamin Company under the name "SAFLOX", was cited by the Examiner.
Farrington et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,609,170, describes a motor-driven lamp hanger with multiple embodiments. The Farrington device, as described, has four cables supporting the lamp fixture which are wound on four separate drums. The Farrington patent also describes upper and lower limit switches to shut off the power to the drive motor at the extremes of travel of the lamp fixture, as well as fixed and mating contacts to supply power to the lamp fixture when in the raised position.
Pfaff, U.S. Pat. No. 3,610,584, describes a lowering mechanism for a light fixture which comprises a drive motor and braking mechanism, said drive motor being coupled through a chain drive mechanism to a take-up shaft comprising a pair of drums, each of which winds a flexible ribbon or tape which is attached to the light fixture.
Booty et al., U.S. Pat. No. 4,316,238, describes a light fixture and elevator therefor, comprising a horizontally reciprocal carriage, a biasing spring attached to the carriage, said carriage moving horizontally as the light fixture is raised and lowered. A hydraulic piston may be attached to the carriage of the Booty device for controlling the rate of movement of the carriage, and therefore the descent rate of the light fixture. The Booty device is manually operated and is not motorized, and has no contacts which interrupt the flow of electricity to the light fixture when the light fixture is not in the raised position.
Sakurai, U.S. Pat. No. 4,381,539, describes a manually-operated non-motorized height level adjusting means for a light fixture comprising a string winder with ratchets which winds a plural number of strings or wires, attached to the light fixture, onto a plural number of spools. Also, the Sakurai patent, like the Booty device, has no contacts which interrupt the flow of electricity to the light fixture when the light fixture is not in the raised position.
The advertisement for the Benjamin "SAFLOX" floodlight lowering attachment shows a hand operated non-motorized mechanism that raises and lowers an outdoor floodlight. The mechanism includes two sets of contacts that meet and are protected when the lamp is in the raised position.
None of these references, either singly or in combination, disclose or suggest the present invention.


An apparatus and a tool for chipping material are provided. The apparatus includes chipping tools arranged relative to one another inside a housing, whereby the chipping tools are constructed planiformly, and are arranged on carrier elements along a drum-shaped, disk-shaped, or ring-shaped chipping path. The chipping tools rotate relative to one another by rotating about an axis of rotation, and are each divided by a division line based on their thickness into a core area, which faces the carrier element, and a utilization area, which is positioned opposite of the chipping tools. The chipping tools have at least one bore, formed perpendicular to the division line, the bore extends across the utilization area and ends at the division line between the core area and the utilization area. In this way, an automatic indication of a critical state of attrition is accomplished, when from a static viewpoint damage to or destruction of the chipping tool as a result of mechanical stress during the operation of the apparatus can be expected.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a chipping apparatus for materials and a disk-shaped chipping element.
2. Description of the Background Art
Conventional chipping devices in this class are known, for example, as disk mills, refiners, beater mills, or cone mills. In these chipping devices, the dumpable material is fed axially into the center of the chipping chamber, which is enclosed by the housing, and is then diverted into a radial direction, where chipping tools rotating around a central axis of rotation take hold of and chip the material.
The chipping tools are located inside the housing relative to one another at an axial or radial distance, and thus form a rotation-symmetrical milling gap where the chipping process takes place. The material is hurled against the profiled surface of the chipping tools, where it is broken up and crushed. For this purpose, the chipping tools are equipped with a specially designed surface, which, for the most part, is formed of riffle strips that are arranged radially.
During the operation of the conventional chipping apparatus, the riffle strips are exposed to heavy mechanical wear and tear, which, among other factors, is influenced by the type and purity of the material to be chipped. This results in natural wear of the chipping tools so that the worn-down chipping tools have to be replaced at regular time intervals. Customarily, the chipping tools are either replaced or recycled, by reconditioning the riffle strips through filing and sharpening. However, each time reconditioning takes place the thickness of the chipping tools decreases. Thus, reconditioning cannot be repeated interminably, rather, for static reasons, it must stop when the gradual weakening of the chipping tool cross-section has progressed to a point where the chipping tools are no longer able to withstand the mechanical stress during the chipping process.
This borderline divides a chipping tool, over its thickness, into a core area and a utilization area. The utilization area, on the surface of which the chipping process takes place, is characterized in that, through progressing wear and tear, it can be completely used up without risk to the function and fracture safety of the chipping tools. Thus, it is possible to completely use up the utilization area of the chipping tools when regrinding them.
The core area, on the other hand, is the part of the chipping tool, which is necessary for static reasons, so that the chipping tools do not break during the operation of a chipping apparatus. Therefore, the danger of using a chipping tool beyond its utilization area is that the chipping tool can no longer withstand the heavy mechanical stress and will be destroyed. The fragments resulting therefrom can lead to serious damage to the entire chipping apparatus.
A way to determine the state of attrition of the chipping tools, that is, to determine if the thickness of the chipping tool is sufficient from a static standpoint, is to check the remaining thickness of the chipping tool with the aid of gauges. This is done manually using an appropriate tool, whereby a measurement can only be taken at an edge of a chipping tool. This way of determining the state of attrition is relatively labor intensive, so that in the work place this procedure is often not done at all or not often enough. Moreover, the disadvantage of this procedure is that there is no automatic indicator of the state of attrition, that is, the operator of such a chipping apparatus has to check the state of attrition on his/her own initiative.
Another way to indicate the state of attrition of chipping tools is to put markings on the sides of a chipping tool that make up the thickness. These markings are in the division line between the utilization area and the core area. When the utilization area is reduced to where the marking is, the chipping tool must be replaced with a new one. The disadvantage of markings is that if put on the surface of the chipping tool, they can be erased by mechanical use and thus become invisible. When using stamps there is the danger that dirt deposits, which accumulate in the stamps over time, will make them hard to recognize.
Both procedures have the disadvantage that an examination of the state of the chipping tools can only take place at their edges. With uneven wear and tear, getting below the static minimum thickness in the middle of the surface remains undetected.


Polyribosylribitol phosphate oligosaccharides are produced in a multistep process. The compound of the formula: ##STR1## wherein R.sub.1 is a first protecting group and R.sub.2 is a second protecting group, is coupled to a solid polyethylene glycol monomethyl ether (PEG) support. Following removal of the first protecting group, the resulting compound is coupled with a repeating unit for chain elongation of the formula: ##STR2## The protecting group is removed from the phosphorus atom and the steps of removing the first protecting group, coupling with the repeating unit is repeated until the desired number of repeating units in the oligomer has been terminated. The oligomer then is terminated with a chain terminating molecule of the formula: ##STR3## wherein m is an integer and R.sub.3 is a third protecting group. The resulting PEG-bound protected oligomer is a new product and the oligomer may be cleaved from the support and processed to provide a chemically-reactive functional group for binding the polysaccharide oligomer to a carrier molecule.

Haemophilus influenzae type b (Hib) is a major cause of bacterial meningitis in children under five years of age (refs. 1, 2). The literature references are identified at the end of this disclosure). The bacterium is protected from phagocytosis by a polysaccharide capsule that is a repeating polymer of polyribosyl ribitol phosphate (PRP). Antibodies induced against the capsular polysaccharide of the organism are protective (ref. 3). Effective conjugate vaccines in which PRP is linked to different carrier proteins such as diphtheria toxoid (PRP-D), tetanus toxoid (PRP-T), CRM 197 (HbOC) and the outer membrane protein of Neisseria meningitidis have been developed (refs. 4, 5). However, these conjugate vaccines do not protect against other invasive encapsulated H. influenzae type a and c strains and, more importantly, against non-encapsulated non-typeable H. influenzae strains that are one of the common causes of otitis media for which there is no vaccine. Therefore, the inclusion of selected non-encapsulated H. influenzae immunogens in current Hib vaccines is necessary to develop a universal Hi vaccine.
Granoff and Munson (ref. 6) have reported that antibodies directed against Hib outer membrane proteins (OMP) P1, P2 and P6 were protective in the infant rat model of bacteremia. Therefore, a promising strategy for designing a universal H. influenzae vaccine with enhanced protective ability would be to use either purified OMPs or their protective epitopes as additional immunogens and carriers for PRP. The gene coding for P1 has been cloned from several different Hib subtypes (refs. 7, 8). The comparative analysis of P1 protein sequences from these Hib isolates revealed the existence of three hypervariable regions. Indeed, the P1-specific MAbs reported by Hansen's group recognize only 50% of the Hib isolates tested (refs. 7, 9). For the P2 protein, although the nucleotide sequences of the P2 gene isolated from two different Hib subtypes (1H and 3L) were found to be identical (refs. 10, 11), some amino acid variability was found among the P2 sequences of two other Hib subtypes (2L and 6U) (ref. 11). In contrast, analysis of antigenic determinants, gene sequences and restriction fragment length polymorphisms experiments indicated that the P6 protein was highly conserved among all strains of Hi (ref. 12).
Recent studies showed that a murine P1-specific monoclonal antibody (MAb 7C8) and rabbit antisera raised against purified P1 from either typeable or non-typeable H. influenzae strains were protective in animal models (refs. 9, 13, 14). Murphy and Bartos (ref. 15) also reported that a monoclonal antibody recognizing a surface-exposed epitope of a non-typeable H. influenzae P2 protein had bactericidal activity in vitro. Anti-P1 and anti-P2 monoclonal antibodies were found to cross-react with typeable and non-typeable strains of H. influenzae (refs. 16 to 18). However, there are still serious concerns with the use of whole native Hib OMPs as an efficacious universal vaccine against both typeable and non-typeable Hi. Firstly, children who recover from otitis media caused by non-typeable Hi generally develop bactericidal antibodies against variable antigens, such as P2 and lipooligosaccharides. Secondly, the P1 and P2 cross-protective epitopes described above have not yet been identified. Thirdly, it was reported (ref. 12) that the epitope(s) recognized by anti-P6 bactericidal antibodies are expressed in small amounts on the bacterial surface, and recurrent infections may thus be possible. Fourthly, little is known about the role of cellular immune responses to against OMPs. The immunodominant T-helper cell epitopes of Hi OMPs have not been characterized. Therefore, the identification of the functional T-helper cell epitopes and the conserved, surface-exposed and/or protective B-cell epitopes of the P1, P2 and P6 proteins is necessary to determine whether these epitopes can elicit immune responses against Hi infection.
Methods for inducing immunity against disease are constantly improving and the current trend is to use smaller and well defined materials as antigens. The objective is to eliminate the potential side-effects of certain native immunogens, while preserving their immunogenicity and ability to confer protection against disease. Recent studies have indicated that immunization of experimental animals with synthetic peptides representing specific regions of viral or bacterial proteins can induce immune responses against the parent proteins, and neutralize their biological functions (refs. 19 to 22). Thus, synthetic peptides are potential candidate antigens for the production of inexpensive and safe vaccines against infectious diseases. Recent progress in fundamental immunology has revealed that good and effective immunogens should contain two distinct functional antigenic determinants (epitopes). One epitope (T-cell epitope) is designed to be presented in the appropriate MHC class II antigen context to the immune system and induce T-helper cell activity. The other epitope (B-cell epitope) must be recognized by a cognate B-cell antigen receptor to elicit antibody production (refs. 23 to 26). Therefore, in order to produce a potent and efficacious synthetic vaccine, both functional T-helper and B-cell epitopes must be included in the synthetic construct.
Synthetic PRP dimer, trimer and tetramer have been synthesized, purified and conjugated to carrier proteins for animal immunogenicity studies (refs. 27, 28). These studies showed that synthetic PRP trimer-protein conjugates in the presence of strong adjuvants such as complete Freund's adjuvant (CFA) could elicit anti-PRP antibody responses in experimental animals.
Instead of using conventional heterologous carrier proteins, our strategy utilizes synthetic peptides containing immunodominant epitopes from Hi OMPs as additional antigens and as carriers for PRP to develop the first generation of fully synthetic PRP-peptide conjugate vaccines with enhanced protective ability and autologous T-cell priming. Such vaccines also have other potential advantages over the existing vaccines in which PRP is conjugated to a foreign protein (diphtheria toxoid (PRP-D), or tetanus toxoid (PRP-T), or CRM197 (HbOC), or OMP of Neisseria meningitidis). Firstly, the use of synthetic Hi vaccines should help reduce the amount of D or T in any future multivalent combined vaccines, thus minimizing the potential risk of hyperimmunization against these carrier proteins. Secondly, PRP may be coupled to a conserved protective epitope to produce a vaccine against both invasive Hi disease and otitis media.

Synthesis of polyribosylribitol phosphate oligosaccharides


The present invention provides a medical implant material comprising mammalian transglutaminase and a polymer, wherein the transglutaminase is provided in the absence of free divalent metal ions and wherein the polymer is associated with the transglutaminase binding protein. Preferably, the transglutaminase is a tissue transglutaminase, which is coated on, impregnated into or covalently linked to the polymer. The polymer may be naturally occuring or synthetic, and may be biodegradable or non-biodegradable. The medical implant material may further comprise a reinforcing agent and/or one or more additional polymers. The invention further provides the use of a mammalian transglutaminase in a method for improving the biocompatibility of a medical implant material, the method comprising the steps of (i) providing a medical implant material comprising a polymer associated with a binding protein for binding the transglutaminase, and (ii) treating said material with a mammalian transglutaminase.

The use of artificial biomaterials is becoming increasingly widespread in several areas of medical treatment. For example, biomaterials are now used in the repair of damaged tissue (e.g. bone and skin), in prosthetic devices such as artificial hip and knee joints, heart valves, and blood vessels, and in drug delivery devices. However, one of the challenges that remains in this field of medicine is the provision of biomaterials with improved biocompatibility properties, which can be readily colonized by host cells.
The study of implant surface and biomaterial tissue interface reactions is essential for the continued improvement of implant performance. A review by Blitterwijk et al., (1991) discusses the importance of the reactions of cells at implant surfaces in determining the biocompatibility of the implant (i.e. how well the implant is accepted by the surrounding tissues and by the body as a whole). Current research is aimed at making 'bioactive materials' that will readily permit integration of the material into the host tissue.
There is considerable interest in poly(ε-caprolactone) (PCL) as a potential bioactive material. It has been widely used for the last thirty years for the production of resorbable sutures, biomedical implants, drug delivery systems and vaccine formulation. Currently, PCL is being exploited for bone graft substitution (Coombes and Meikle, 1994), because it could overcome the problems of limited supply of bone, risk of infection such as HIV, additional surgical operations and long bony union times associated with either autografts or allografts.
PCL is a semi-crystalline linear resorbable synthetic aliphatic polyester, —(—O—(CH2)5—CO—)—. When implanted in vivo, the polymer is readily degraded non-specifically by hydrolytic enzymes, esterases and carboxypeptidases. Pitt et al. (1981), showed that degradation of PCL in vivo and in vitro proceeds via hydrolytic chain scission of ester linkages until the segments are sufficiently small to diffuse through the polymer bulk. Once the polymer reaches the molecular weight of 5000 Daltons, significant weight loss is observed, which is dependent on particle size. Chain scission has also been shown to be associated with an increase in crystallinity, which partially determines the rate of degradation (see review by Smith et al., 1990).
The products generated from the degradation of PCL are either incorporated into the tricarboxylic acid (TCA) cycle and removed by the lungs in the form of carbon dioxide and water, or eliminated by direct renal secretion. Taylor et al. (1994) tested PCL in vitro for the acute toxicity of degradation products. They found that the pH of PCL in sterile distilled water and Tris buffer remained relatively constant over sixteen weeks, and that the samples degraded slightly more in Tris compared to in water. It has also been found that hydroxy radicals produced by inflammatory cells play a major role in the degradation of PCL in vitro (Ali et al., 1992, 1993) and in vivo (Ali et al., 1994). The bioresorbability and biocompatibility of PCL is reviewed by Vert et al., (1992).
Another favourable factor of PCL is that it can be blended with numerous other polymers, e.g. Poly(L-Lactide) (PLA), to produce co-polymers with optimised properties. PLA is one of the strongest polyesters and has a resorption time of greater than one year, probably in the range of 2-3 years. This would be advantageous, for example, in a 3-D tissue construct/scaffold, where the implant resorption rate needs to be adjusted according to the tissue repair rate.
Feng et al., (1983) synthesised a biodegradable block copolymer of poly(ε-caprolactone) with poly(DL-lactide). The copolymers possessed release properties similar to silicone rubber (one of the first non-degradable drug delivery systems) but their degradation rates were always faster than that of PCL or PLA homopolymers. They intended to combine the excellent permeability of PCL with the faster biodegradation rate of PLA. Pitt et al., (1979) did investigate PCL, PLA and their copolymers and demonstrated how variabilities in the permeability of the drug delivery system could be achieved using copolymers of PCL and PLA, because PCL is more permeable than PLA.
Jianzhong et al, 1995 used PCL and poly(ethylene glycol) (PEG) block copolymers as a drug release device. It was found that the increasing PEG content of the copolymer caused an increase in the hydrophilicity and a decrease in the crystallinity of the copolymer. Thus, the drug releas behaviour and the degradability of the copolymer can be controlled by adjusting the composition of the copolymer.
Chan and Pitt (1990) tested the degradability of PCL when fabricated by compression moulding, co-precipitation and solvent evaporation and found that the method of fabrication and the resulting morphology of the polymers plays a critical role in determining their relative rates of hydrolytic degradation. Compression moulding of PCL/polyglycolic acid-co-lactic acid blends, increased the rate of chain scission as compared to the other fabrication methods.
A problem with PCL is that it is a plastic at body temperature. Its mechanical properties make it ideal for drug delivery systems, but not for the internal fixation of bone. Lowry et al., (1997) made reinforced PCL with phosphate glass fibres in the form of intra-medullary pins for the internal fixation of bone. This study was performed in the rabbit model and histological evidence showed that the composite was well tolerated, with minimal inflammation around the pin. The review by Daniels et al. (1990) illustrates that the mechanical properties of polymers and composites can be improved by reinforcing the materials with alumina, alumina-boria-silica, calcium metaphosphate glass fibers and carbon.
As well as blending PCL with other synthetic polymers to control the degradation rate, improve the mechanical properties of the system and alter its permeability, PCL can also be blended with natural polymers, e.g. collagen, fibronectin, hyaluronic acid and glycosaminoglycans. These natural polymers are all part of the extracellular matrix (ECM) that cells produce and secrete. It is thought that by incorporating natural polymers with synthetic polymers, osteoconductance and biocompatibility properties could be combined with the physical and mechanical properties of the synthetic component, making bioartificial polymers a good bioactive biomaterial substitute.
Giusti et al., (1994) discuss the importance of blending collagen with polymeric materials for use as medical devices and show how blending also increases the mechanical and thermal properties as compared to the individual components. Cascone et al., (1994) demonstrated the use of collagen and hyaluronic acid based polymeric bioartificial polymers as a successful drug delivery system for the release of growth hormone.
Several reports have shown the importance of the ECM in cellular function Ruoslahti et al., 1985 and Ellis and Yannis, 1996). Cells initially attach to the biomaterial by physicochemical factors, e.g. charge, surface free energy or the water content of the biomaterial (Schamberger and Gardella, 1994), and then strongly adhere to ECM proteins, which have been deposited on the biomaterial surface. How the ECM is deposited, stabilised and configured on a particular biomaterial surface is still not known, however tissue transglutaminase (tTG) has been implicated in the stabilisation process. It is important to understand this process in order to control cellular responses to surfaces.
Transglutaminases (Enzyme Commission System of Classification 126.96.36.199) are a group of multifunctional enzymes that cross-link and stabilise proteins in tissues and body fluids (Aeschlimann and Paulsson, 1994 and Greenberg et al., 1991). In mammals, they are calcium dependent and catalyse the post-translational modification of proteins by forming inter and intra-molecular ε(γ-glutamyl) lysine cross-links. The bonds that form are stable, covalent and resistant to proteolysis, thereby increasing the resistance of tissues to chemical, enzymatic and physical disruption. In contrast to transglutaminases of mammalian origin, microbial transglutaminases are generally not Ca2+-dependent.
The number of proteins acting as glutaminyl substrates for transglutaminases is highly restricted since both the primary structure and conformation are critical. In contrast, the only requirement of the acyl-acceptor substrate is the presence of a suitable pi amine, e.g. the ε-amino group of peptide bound lysine residues and small primary amines. Different types of transglutaminase enzyme differ in their specificity for a given glutaminyl substrate. For example, the plasma transglutaminase blood coagulation factor XIIIa acts on a limited range of glutaminyl substrates compared to tissue (or type II) transglutaminase (tTG). Unlike Factor XIIIa, tTG also binds GTP and GDP, which is thought to be important in its regulation by Ca2+ (see Smethurst and Griffin, 1996). A further key difference between the types of transglutaminase is in their distribution.
Although tTG has been mainly described as a cytosolic enzyme and does not contain a typical hydrophobic leader sequence for secretion, it may be found both in the cytosol and membrane associated depending on the cell type. The biological function of tTG has yet to be determined. However, there is now increasing evidence to suggest that tTG can act at the cell surface, facilitating cell adhesion (Borge et al., 1996) and cell spreading (Jones et al., 1997) and the modification of the extracellular matrix (ECM) (Aeschlimann et al., 1995, Barsigian et al., 1991, Bowness et al., 1988 and Bendixen et al., 1993).
The ability of transglutaminase enzymes to cross-link proteins has been exploited in the development of biological glues for promoting adhesion between tissue surfaces. For example, biological adhesive compositions comprising a tissue transglutaminase are disclosed in WO 94/28949. These compositions also comprise a divalent metal ion co-factor, which plays a regulatory role in the functional activity of transglutaminase enzymes (see Casadio et al., 1999, Eur. J. Biochem. 262, 672-679).

Medical implant materials containing immobilized transglutaminase


In a blade intended to be exposed to a gas flow at high speed during operation of a flow machine comprising the blade, the blade includes a front end designed to face towards the incoming gas flow and a rear end. The front end is provided with a concave area that is such that during operation a stagnation point for the incoming gas flow arises at a distance in front of an outer blade surface that defines the concave area and such that the outer blade surface is thereby at least partially protected from the incoming gas flow.

The present invention relates to a blade intended to be exposed to a gas flow at high speed, during operation of a flow machine comprising the blade, which blade comprises a front end designed to face towards the incoming gas flow and a rear end.
By flow machine is meant primarily a gas turbine, but the invention can also be implemented in other types of flow machines, such as a steam turbine or a pump. The invention will be described in the following for the gas turbine application.
In addition, the invention relates to a section for a flow machine component, such a flow machine component, a gas turbine and an aircraft engine, all provided with at least one blade according to the invention.
A gas turbine comprises a compressor stage, a turbine stage and, for example in the case of an aircraft engine, for many types of aircraft engine, a fan duct or a fan stage. The gas turbine blade according to the invention can be arranged in and form part of at least one of these parts of the gas turbine.
The gas turbine blade forms thereby a component in a gas turbine, whereby during operation it is subjected to a fluid flowing rapidly along it from its front end towards its rear end. The gas turbine blade has normally an aerodynamic design and forms preferably a guide or a structurally-supporting element in a stator, but can also form a vane in a rotor.
Gas turbine blades, that form vanes, guides and structurally-supporting elements, that are used in gas turbines in, for example, aircraft engines and that are subjected to rapidly flowing fluid are well known and well documented in previous technology.
The manufacture of gas turbine blades can be carried out by constructing them from side walls or blade halves, or simply from a single plate that is then joined together at the front edge and, if necessary, at the back edge to create a front end and a rear end. As gas turbine blades are normally made of metal, the said joining together is preferably carried out by welding. The joint can alternatively be a glued joint or a joint created by a chemical reaction at the junction between the side walls, particularly if the gas turbine blade is made of a composite material that comprises plastic.
In operation, a flow of fluid at high speed passes the gas turbine blades in a direction from their front end to their rear end. Accordingly if, for example, the joint creates an unevenness on the surface where it is positioned, it can significantly affect the flow picture and hence the aerodynamics of the whole gas turbine blade. It is, of course, desirable to avoid an adverse effect on the aerodynamics caused by the joint, and to avoid degradation and weakening of the joint caused by the effect of the fluid on the joint.
According to previously-known technology, this problem is solved by precise control of the joining process to achieve high quality joints and by subsequent monitoring that the required quality has actually been achieved. This is, of course, labor-intensive and expensive.
In general, whether or not there is a joint, it can, in addition, be desirable to minimize the effect of the fluid on the front end of the gas turbine blades and to minimize the effect of the front end on the aerodynamics of the blade.
It is desirable to provide a blade of the type described in the introduction, where the design of the blade is such that there is a reduction in the stresses to which the front end is subjected during operation on account of the rapid flow of gas that passes the blade. It is also desirable to provide a blade that has a design that is such that it avoids any unevenness at the front end resulting in unfavorable effects on the flow of the gas that passes during operation, which unevenness, for example, can be caused by the manufacturing process.
The design of the blade should enable reliable and cost-effective industrial production of the said blades to be carried out.
In a blade according to an aspect of the present invention, the front end is provided with a concave area that is such that a stagnation point for the incoming flow of gas arises during operation at a distance in front of the outer blade surface that defines the concave area and in that the outer blade surface is thereby at least partially protected from the incoming gas flow. The shape and size of the concave area are thus such that the stagnation point for the gas flow arises in front of the concave area.
By stagnation point is meant a point at which the fluid has a low speed or is even stationary between the stagnation point and the blade. The speed is at least lower or essentially lower than the speed of the fluid that flows along the side walls of the blade. In other words, the fluid in the area of the front end, and more specifically within the concave area, will be stationary or will only flow slowly in conditions where fluid is otherwise passing rapidly. This makes it possible to position a joint in the concave area, to utilize material at the front end with a lower strength or resistance to wear than would otherwise have been necessary, to have a smaller thickness in the area or to make less stringent demands concerning the surface finish.
According to a preferred embodiment, the concave area extends from the root of the blade to the top. In this way, it is guaranteed that the required effect is achieved along the whole length of the blade.
According to an aspect of the invention, a joint, such as a welded joint, that joins together two side walls in the area of the front end, can be arranged and can extend within the concave area. If the concave area extends over the front end and the speed of the flow of fluid varies over the width of the concave area, the joint is suitably positioned where the flow can be expected to be the slowest. Normally, however, the joint is positioned in the area of a center line for the concave area, which center line extends in a direction from the root of the blade to the top. The joint is also advantageously positioned where the concave area is deepest.
As a result of an aspect of the invention, a joint that is arranged in the front end of the gas turbine blade has as small an adverse effect as possible on the aerodynamics of the blade and the effect on the joint of a fluid flowing over it rapidly is minimized and the effect on the areas weakened by this joint is minimized. According to a special embodiment, at least one duct is arranged through at least one of the wall parts that forms the front end, within the concave area, and the said duct opens out in one of the side walls at a distance from the front end. In this way, it is possible to control more precisely the flow of fluid beside the joint and also to affect the flow picture along the side walls by means of a suitable design of the ducts in question.
The duct, which is at least one in number, suitably opens out at an acute angle backwards relative to an outer surface of the side wall in which the duct is arranged, which outer surface surrounds the duct. This promotes so-called boundary-layer flow along the said side walls, and means that the air flow follows the outer surfaces of the side walls closely.
An aspect of the invention also comprises a section of a flow machine component, which section comprises a first and a second blade half, that are arranged a distance apart and are intended to form part of two adjacent blades in the component, which define between them a gas duct, with each of the blade halves comprising a front end intended to face towards an incoming gas flow during operation of a flow machine that comprises the component, and a rear end. The front end of each of the blade halves is provided with a concave area that is such that a blade in the component created by two blade halves from adjacent sections gives rise to a stagnation point for the incoming gas flow at a distance in front of an outer blade surface that defines the concave area and such that the outer blade surface is thereby at least partially protected from the incoming gas flow. By placing a plurality of such sections next to each other and joining them together, it is possible to build up a flow machine component for a flow machine in an advantageous way. Each of the sections is preferably cast separately and then joined together by welding. The welded joint is positioned within the concave area.
An aspect of the invention also comprises a flow machine component comprising a plurality of blades extending in a radial direction from an element to which they are attached, which blades are arranged a distance apart in the direction of the circumference of the component, characterized in that at least one of the blades is a blade designed according to the above.
In addition, an aspect of the invention relates to a flow machine component that comprises a plurality of sections that are joined together in the direction of the circumference and form a circular structure, characterized in that at least two of the said sections each form a section as described above.
Similarly, an aspect of the invention relates to a gas turbine that is characterized in that it comprises at least one blade designed as described above, and a gas turbine that is characterized in that it comprises at least one flow machine component as described above.
An aspect of the invention also relates to an aircraft engine that is characterized in that it comprises at least one blade designed as described above, and an aircraft engine that is characterized in that it comprises at least one flow machine component according to the invention.
Additional advantages and characteristics of aspects of the invention are apparent from the following detailed description and from other dependent claims.


An apparatus regulates fluid flow supplied to a patient through an intravenous infusion system. The apparatus includes a first fluid passageway, a second fluid passageway, an inlet, and a control device. The first fluid passageway is for discharging fluid therefrom at a first predetermined rate of flow. The second fluid passageway is for discharging fluid therefrom at a second predetermined rate of flow, wherein the second predetermined rate of flow is different than the first predetermined rate of flow. The inlet is in flow communication with the first and second fluid passageways. The control device is between the inlet and the first and second fluid passageways, and is variably positionable for controlling fluid flow into the first and second fluid passageways.

This invention relates generally to intravenous infusion systems, and more particularly to a drip chamber for use with intravenous infusion systems.
At least some known intravenous infusion systems include a fluid reservoir connected via a series of conduits to a needle, which is inserted into a vein of a patient for supplying fluids intravenously to the patient. A drip chamber positioned between the fluid reservoir and the needle allows medical personnel to monitor and control a rate of fluid flow supplied to the patient. The drip chamber includes an internal valve that permits fluid flow to be supplied therethrough at a predetermined rate. The drip chamber provides a means of measuring the delivery volume supplied to the patient. Each drip chamber is classified in drops per milliliter (mL), such that a certain number of drops equals one mL of fluid.
During administration of intravenous fluids, it may be necessary to vary a rate of flow through the system. For example, a relatively low delivery flow rate, such as 60 drops/mL, may be desirable for administration of fluids in a moderate, continuous flow. However, a higher delivery flow rate, such as 10 drops/mL, may be necessary in emergent situations, for example when quick delivery of large fluid boluses or faster infusion rates becomes necessary to support the patient's circulation.
To facilitate supplying fluid at different delivery flow rates to a patient, at least some known systems include two drip chambers coupled within the system. A particular drip chamber may be selected by using a series of clamps or valves coupled downstream from the drip chamber, or by manually exchanging one drip chamber for another. In at least some other known systems, varying the predetermined delivery flow rate of the system requires replacing a currently attached drip chamber rated at a first delivery flow rate with a drip chamber rated at a second delivery flow rate.

Methods and apparatus for controlling intravenous fluid flow to a patient


In a wildcard-applicable anonymous hierarchical identity-based encryption system, it is aimed to make the number of pairing operations a fixed number. A user identifier ID and a pattern P are used. The user identifier ID includes k number of hierarchy identifiers. The pattern P includes either of a hierarchy identifier, a wildcard value and a blank value for each hierarchy. An encryption device 400 extracts a key value H corresponding to a hierarchy of the wildcard value and a key value H corresponding to a hierarchy of a pattern value from a public key PK, calculates a cipher value C1 and a cipher value C3, and outputs ciphertext data CT including plaintext cipher value C0, the cipher value C1, and the cipher value C3. A decryption device 300 extracts the hierarchy identifier of the hierarchy corresponding to the wildcard value from the user identifier ID, decrypts the plaintext cipher value C0 included in the ciphertext data CT using the extracted hierarchy identifier, the cipher value C1 and the cipher value C3 which are included in the ciphertext data CT, and outputs plaintext data M.

As one of technique of technical field of the public key encryption, various implementing systems of a hierarchical identity-based encryption are known, each having an implementing system with various features.
Among them, some anonymous hierarchical identity-based encryption systems which provide ciphertext with anonymity are known (for instance, Patent Literature 1, Non Patent Literature 1).
The anonymity is property that does not reveal an ID which is the destination of ciphertext even if the ciphertext is seen.
The anonymity is sometimes an indispensable property, depending on how the hierarchical identity-based encryption is used.
For instance, it is assumed that ciphertext of the hierarchical identity-based encryption is sent to a specific user using a message board of the Internet or a file server.
Here, if it is inexpedient to reveal the destination (for instance, in case of correspondence between companies before merger and it is inexpedient to reveal the correspondence itself), the system without anonymity cannot be employed for the correspondence.
This is because the destination may be leaked if the ciphertext is analyzed.
Therefore, the anonymity is indispensable in such a case.
Further, it is known that the hierarchical identity-based encryption can be applied to secret search. The secret search is a technique to carry out a keyword search for encrypted data, which is also referred to as searchable encryption.
The anonymity is indispensable also in this case. This is because, since an ID of the identity-based encryption corresponds to the keyword of the secret search, and having no anonymity (that is, the ID may be leaked) corresponds to the leakage of the keyword.
As discussed above, some methods are known as anonymous hierarchical identity-based encryption which provide the ciphertext with the anonymity (for instance, Patent Literature 1, Non Patent Literature 1).
However, in these methods, if ciphertext having identical contents are generated for plural destination IDs, it is required to generate the number of IDs of ciphertext, thereby increasing the number of ciphertext.
Then, "Wildcard-applicable hierarchical identity-based encryption system" (Non Patent Literature 2) is known as a developed system which enables to send message to all the users belonging to the same hierarchy using one ciphertext.
Further, it is known that "Group-oriented public key secret search system" can be implemented by applying "Wildcard-applicable hierarchical identity-based encryption system" to the field of the secret search with public key (Non Patent Literature 2).
In "Group-oriented public key secret search system", one ciphertext can be shared within a group, and each user of the group can generate a search query for the ciphertext using his own secret key.

Encryption system, encryption processing method of encryption system, encryption device, decryption device, setup device, key generation device, and key delegation device using a user identifier for a user who belongs to a k-th hierarchy in an organization


A pseudo print job system and method are provided for managing scan jobs. The method comprises: scanning a document at the scanning device; spooling the scan job in storage; sending a pseudo print job request to the scanning device, from a connected client; despooling the scan job from storage in response to the pseudo print job request; and, sending the scan job to a connected destination. The spooling of the scan job in storage may include storing the scan job in a scanning device internal memory, a network-connected server memory, or a connected client memory. The scan jobs are sent to a destination specified in the pseudo print job request. Sending a pseudo print job request for the scan job includes the use of either a network scan-enabled print driver or an independent network scan application. Either way, the pseudo print job request is sent via the client's print subsystem.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to digital document imaging processes and, more particularly, to a scanning environment method for spooling a network scan job to storage, and subsequently pulling the scan job from storage through the print subsystem, as a pseudo print job.
2. Description of the Related Art
When a network scan job is spooled to local or offline storage by a multifunctional peripheral (MFP), the retrieving of the scan job from storage may not be intuitive to the user, since the scan retrieval system is independent of the pre-existing print subsystem. That is, the scanning subsystem is considered separate from the print subsystem. Conventionally, a print subsystem is not used for despooling (requesting and/or retrieving) a network scan job from storage to the client. There is no combined scanning/printing MFP driver. Neither is there a way of sending despooling commands for a network scan job in storage via the installed printer subsystem, such as an installed printer in a Microsoft (MS) printers folder.
Rather, the despooling of a network scan job from storage, to the client, must be requested through a network scanning enabled application, or requested via direct access to the MFP using either the front panel or a device web page. Such a scan job retrieval process may include the following steps:
a. Selecting the targeted MFP by specifying the installed scanner or MFP;
b. Specifying and sending a network scan job retrieval request via the installed scanner's scan driver.
However, the selection of the targeted MFP is prone to human error, especially in networks including several MFPs. The user may incorrectly select a network address or domain name for a locally or network-installed MFP.
FIG. 1a is a depiction of a locally connected scanner (prior art). More conventionally, scanning is usually done as a local scan job. In this case, the scanner is typically immediately adjacent to the client computing device and connected by a local port, such as a parallel, serial, SCSI or USB port. Before scanning any jobs, the user performs a one-time installation of a compatible scanner driver, such as the Twain scan driver. To initiate a scan job, the user performs the following steps:
1. Place the documents to be scanned on the scanner;
2. Invoke a scan capable application, such as Adobe Photoshop®;
3. From the scan capable application, initiate the scan, by:                a. Selecting a File menu, followed by a Scan Menu (File->Scan);        b. Selecting the scanner driver (e.g., Twain driver); and,        c. Selecting OK.
FIG. 1b is a depiction of a network-connected scanner (prior art). Before scanning any jobs, the user performs a one-time installation of a compatible scanner driver, such as the Twain scan driver. To initiate a scan job, the user may perform the following steps:
1. Walk over to scanner and place documents to scan on the scanner;
2. Walk back to client computing device and invoke a scan capable application;
3. From the scan capable application, initiate the scan, by:                a. Select File->Scan;        b. Select scanner driver (e.g., Twain driver); and,        c. Select OK.
4. Walk back to scanner and remove documents.
In the current art, there are several methods for scanning a scan job from a network-connected scanning device without the use of a scan driver. In these methods, the scan job is typically:
1. Invoked from the scanner.
2. Sent to a pre-specified destination profile.
3. Some transport and data protocol is used to deliver the scan job to a destination (e.g., client).
It would be advantageous if a user could leverage pre-existing knowledge of the print subsystem to retrieve scan jobs. That is, it would be advantageous if the despooling of a network scan job from storage, to the client, could follow the conventional print subsystem model as follows:
1. Installing a local or network printer (a one-time occurrence);
2. Selecting the targeted MFP by specifying the installed printer; and,
3. Specifying and sending a network scan job retrieval request via the installed printer's printer driver.
It would be further advantageous if a user could request the retrieval of the scan job prior to initiating the scan job (i.e., walkup operation where hardcopy document is scanned in at MFP), as well as after initiating the scan job.

Pseudo print job system and method for scan job despooling


A semiconductor laser is disclosed with which a VCSEL can be constituted with a simplified configuration for optical transmission at a transmission rate higher than 10 Gbps. The semiconductor laser includes a resonator including a first active region able to emit light in response to current injection and a second active region able to emit light in response to external excitation light. Multilayer film reflecting mirrors sandwich the resonator from two opposite sides. The first active region and the second active region generate light at a wavelength the same as the resonance mode of the resonator.

In these years, the optical transmission technique is widely used not only in major transmission networks but also in LANs (Local Area Networks), home networks, or access systems. For example, in Ethernet, a transmission rate of 10 Gbps has been obtained, a higher transmission rate will be required in the near future, and an optical transmission system is expected to provide a transmission capacity higher than 10 Gbps.
In a light source used in optical transmission having a transmission rate lower than 10 Gbps, a direct modulation scheme is primarily employed in which the power of output light is modulated by modulating an injection current flowing in a semiconductor laser. However, it is difficult to operate a semiconductor laser at a modulation frequency higher than 10 GHz with the direct modulation scheme.
To solve this problem, a modulation scheme has been developed in which light output from a semiconductor laser is modulated by an external modulator. However, in this external modulation scheme, size of modules is large, and a large number of parts are used; hence, cost is high. For this reason, even though an optical transmission technique using an external modulator is applied in expensive systems such as major transmission networks, it is not suitable for personal systems, such as LANs or home networks.
On the other hand, it has been studied to use a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) as a light source used in LANs or for optical interconnections. The VCSEL has low power consumption compared to traditional edge-emitting lasers, and because cleavage is not needed during the fabrication process, it is possible to inspect the device in wafer form, hence the fabrication cost can be reduced. For this reason, it is expected to use a vertical cavity surface emitting laser (VCSEL) by means of direct modulation as a light source in LANs or for optical interconnections involving a transmission capacity higher than 10 Gbps.
The following methods have been proposed to perform fast speed modulation for the VCSEL.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-185079 (referred to as "reference 1" hereinafter) discloses a technique in which a current is injected into an active region without passing through an upper multilayer reflecting mirror, and a modulation doped stacked structure able to generate two-dimensional carriers is provided so as to reduce a lateral resistance, and this reduces the resistance of the VCSEL and spreads an electrical modulation region, which is restricted by a resistance R and a capacitance C.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 2002-204039 (referred to as "reference 2" hereinafter) discloses a technique in which a quantum well layer capable of intersubband absorption is arranged near a light emission layer; when modulated optical signals are input, due to the intersubband absorption of the quantum well layer, a carrier distribution, a carrier density of the light emission layer, and light emission output are modulated; as a result, high speed is obtainable with the response speed not being influenced by a CR time constant or a carrier transportation effect.
Japanese Laid-Open Patent Application No. 7-249824 (referred-to as "reference 3" hereinafter) discloses a technique in which horizontal cavity semiconductor lasers for optically exciting a VCSEL are stacked on the same substrate, a forbidden band width of an active layer of the VCSEL is set to be less than a forbidden band width of the horizontal cavity semiconductor lasers to increase optical excitation efficiency, and modulation optical signals from the horizontal cavity semiconductor lasers are input for external modulation; thereby, the modulation frequency of the VCSEL is increased.
In IEICE technical report, Optoelectronics 2003-218, LQE3003-155 (referred to as "reference 4" hereinafter), a technique is disclosed in which a DFB laser beam is injected into a VCSEL and is synchronized with an oscillation wavelength of the VCSEL (this is the so-called "injection lock"); due to this, a relaxation oscillation frequency of the VCSEL is increased to be 22.8 GHz.
As described above, in reference 1, response speed is improved when electrical modulation signals output from a driver circuit modulate the carrier density of the light emission layer of the VCSEL. In references 2 and 3, the optical modulation signals are input from outside to reduce influence of a delay of an electrical response speed when a current flows into the device.
However, none of the techniques in references 1, 2 and 3 can increase the relaxation oscillation frequency, which represents a frequency at which the speed of induced emission can no longer follow the change of the carrier density in the light emission layer. Due to this, the modulation speed is limited by the relaxation oscillation frequency.
In reference 4, a laser beam is injected from outside and is synchronized with the oscillation mode of the VCSEL; thereby, the photon density inside the VCSEL is increased. Since the internal photon density is associated with the relaxation oscillation frequency, by increasing the internal photon density, the relaxation oscillation frequency of the VCSEL can-be increased. However, in the technique shown in reference 4, it is necessary to accurately set the wavelength of the laser beam injected from outside to be exactly equal to the wavelength of the oscillation mode of the VCSEL. Even when the wavelength deviates by only a few nanometers to be out of synchronization, it is impossible to increase the relaxation oscillation frequency of the VCSEL. For this reason, devices for tuning the wavelength and for temperature control are required, thus the overall device become complicated.

Vertical cavity surface emitting semiconductor laser, light emission device, and optical transmission system


Provided is a computing device according to an embodiment of the present disclosure including an integrated register file configured to store a first variable type and a first variable value of a first variable, and a second variable type and a second variable value of a second variable, a calculator configured to perform a first calculation on the first and second variables according to the first and second variable types, and output a first calculation result, and a type rule table comprising a plurality of entries and, when there is an entry corresponding to a type of the first calculation, and the first and second variable types, configured to output a type of the first calculation result.

The present disclosure herein relates to a hardware device, and more particularly, to a computing device for accelerating a data type check and an operating method thereof.
A dynamic scripting language such as JavaScript, Lua, or Python is used in various fields. Due to convenience of use, such a scripting language is also used not only in a desktop or a server, but also in a single board-embedded computer like Raspberry Pi or Arduino.
The dynamic scripting language may support a dynamic type system, which determines a type of a variable at the time of execution, and thus may provide programming convenience. Since the type of the variable varies according to an input given at the execution time, the dynamic type system necessarily executes a type check in which the type of the variable is extracted and compared, before most of calculations of the script is performed. Accordingly, the dynamic type system may cause inefficiency in an aspect of the number of instructions, a memory usage, an amount of energy consumption, or the like.

Computing device for accelerating a data type check and operating method thereof

Seoul National University R&DB Foundation


A process for releasing a volatile honey components form a liquid honey is described wherein water is added to honey, extracting the volatile component and optionally adding the honey component to dried honey. The volatile honey product obtained by the process can be used in food and pharmaceutical products.

Preparation of dried honey results in loss of volatile flavours and aroma, which may make the dried product less palatable than liquid honey. There are a number of patents which describe preparation of dried honey products, including solid honey (U.S. Pat. No. 5,356,650), dried honey blended with soy protein, dried milk and sugar (U.S. Pat. No. 3,780,185), dried honey in tablet form (U.S. Pat. No. 3,879,567) and crystallised honey (U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,035, using lyophilization). For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,529,608 (Szejtli et al., 1985), describes a method for decreasing the loss of aroma in dried honey, by mixing honey with a cyclodextrin before freezing and lyophilization. In an alternative approach, U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,035 (Slifkin, 1986), describes a lyophilization method for drying and crystallizing honey, that is said to reduce the loss of original flavour and fragrance in the dried honey.

Dried honey enriched with volatile honey compounds

Abstract: The invention relates to a process for treating honey comprising the steps of adding water to the liquid honey; releasing a volatile honey component from the liquid honey by evaporation to product a residual partially dried honey; and collecting the volatile honey component, the volatile honey component may be then added to dried honey solids to improve the flavor and aroma or the volatile honey component can be added to food or medicaments. The prior art, teaches making a dried honey solids adding water to honey and then freeze drying, however in this process the volatile components are lost and the prior art teaches a process for producing solid honey wherein pure honey is subjected to dehydration in a vacuum evaporator, there is no suggestion in the prior art to add water to liquid honey and then distill the honey to release the volatiles from the distillation or evaporator which is collected and then added directly to foods or medicaments or added back to a dried honey.