The relay optical system comprises, in order from the intermediate image position I toward the the exit pupil EXP side, a first unit G1 having a negative refracting power and a second unit G2 having a positive refracting power, wherein the distance from the rearmost surface of the second unit to the exit pupil position is at least 30 mm. The relay optical system allows a photographing apparatus to be mounted on a microscope without the microscope and the photographing apparatus excluding each other from their predetermined positions.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a relay optical system used for photographing, with an electronic image-pickup camera or the like, an image formed by an objective lens.
2. Description of Related Art
As measures to record an image formed by an objective lens of a microscope, there are the photography using a silver halide camera and the photography using a TV camera. According to the photography with a silver halide camera, a sample image is recorded on a film.
On the other hand, the photography with a TV camera is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Preliminary Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 6-331903, where a TV camera connecting tube that comprises an ocular observation barrel, an adapter, an attachment for a TV camera, and a photographing section of the TV camera is shown. Although an image sensor is not particularly described in this document, a solid-state image sensor (CCD), for example, may be used.
Conventionally, the number of pixels of a solid-state image sensor is roughly determined in accordance with the number of scanning lines of a TV monitor. For example, an image sensor with 512xc3x97512 pixels or 640xc3x97512 pixels is used for the standard format (NTSC), and an image sensor with 1024xc3x97768 pixels is used for the high-definition type.
As described above, according to the conventional photography, a sample image is recorded on a film, while, in recent years, digital cameras using, as the recording medium, solid state image sensors have appeared in the market, to be popularized. The digital camera is characterized in its large number of pixels for the area of the solid-state image sensor. In early years, hundreds of thousands of pixels would be provided for the ⅓-inch type, while, in recent years, one or two millions of pixels or more are provided for the ⅔-inch or xc2xd-inch type.
However, the digital camera is constructed to have a photographing lens fixed to the camera body and thus the entrance pupil position is placed inside the photographing lens or the camera body. Therefore, if a person would try to use the camera in combination with a microscope for photographing a sample image, he has to position the body of the digital camera close to the lens barrel of the microscope so as to make the exit pupil position (or a position conjugate with the exit pupil position) of the microscope coincide with the entrance pupil position of the digital camera. As a result, the microscope and the digital camera would exclude each other from their predetermined positions, which is a problem.
It is noted that each of Japanese Patent Application Preliminary Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 2-222914, Japanese Patent Application Preliminary Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 9-54258, Japanese Patent Application Preliminary Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 9-133875 and Japanese Patent Application Preliminary Publication (KOKAI) No. Hei 10-39235 discloses an optical system used for observation of an image (intermediate image) formed by an objective lens. However, such an optical system is directed for observation via human eyes and thus is difficult of use as a relay optical system for a photographing apparatus.
An object of the present invention is to provide a relay optical system that allows a photographing apparatus to be mounted on a microscope without the microscope and the photographing apparatus excluding each other from their predetermined positions.
A relay optical system according to the present invention comprises, in order from the intermediate image position toward the exit pupil side, a first unit having a negative refracting power and a second unit having a positive refracting power and is characterized in that a distance from the rearmost lens surface of the second lens unit to the exit pupil position is at least 30 mm.
Also, it is characterized in comprising at least four lenses.
Also, it is characterized in that the distance from the rearmost lens surface of the second unit to the exit pupil position is in a range from 30 mm to 160 mm.
Also, it is characterized in that the distance from the rearmost lens surface of the second unit to the exit pupil position is in a range from 30 mm to 90 mm.
This and other objects as well as features and advantages of the present invention will become apparent from the following detailed description of the preferred embodiments when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.


A power transmitting apparatus, which can simultaneously achieve radial size reduction and improve strength of the driving clutch plate, has a clutch housing (2) and a plurality of driving clutch plates (6) each having projections (6a) projecting radially outward from the periphery of the driving clutch plate (6). The projections (6a) engages the clutch housing (2) to rotate with it. A clutch member (4) has a plurality of driven clutch plates (7) alternately arranged between the driving clutch plates (6). A pressure plate (5) is provided to carry out the pressure-contact or release of the driving clutch plates (6) relative to the driven clutch plates (7). Each of the driving clutch plates (6) has a peripheral surface (β), a projected wall surface (α), of the projections (6a), and a connecting surface (γ). Each connecting surface (γ) connects the projected wall surfaces (α) and the peripheral surface (β). Each of the connecting surfaces (γ) is an arcuate surface smoothly merged into the projected wall surface (α) and forms an undercut, recessed radially inward, from the peripheral surface (β) of the driving clutch plate (6).

Ordinarily, a vehicle power transmission apparatus has an input member, connected to an engine and transmission, an output member, selectively connected to selectively driven wheels (e.g. front wheels), and clutch members connected to the output member. The power can be transmitted by pressure-contacting a plurality of driving clutch plates, mounted on the input member, and a plurality of driven clutch plates, mounted on a clutch member, and can be cut off by releasing them.
As shown in FIG. 5, a prior art driving clutch plate 101 used in a power transmitting apparatus has a substantially annular configuration. The clutch plate 101 is formed with a plurality of projections 101a which project radially outward from the periphery of the annular body at an equidistant to each other. The driving clutch plate 101 usually has, as shown in FIG. 6, a linear projected wall surface "a" forming an upstanding surface of the projections 101a. The wall surface "a" is adapted to be engaged by a clutch housing 102. Also, the clutch plate 101 has a peripheral surface "b" on the substantially annular body. A connecting surface "c", having an arcuate configuration of a predetermined curvature, connects the projected wall surface "a" and the peripheral surface "b".
However since the projected wall surface "a" and the peripheral surface "b" are connected by a connecting surface "c", without any undercut, a large clearance "CL" exists between the housing 102 and the peripheral surface "b". This large clearance "CL" is required in order to avoid interference between the housing 102 and the driving clutch plate when the driving clutch plate is assembled onto the clutch housing 102. Accordingly, the substantially linear projected wall surface "a" of the driving clutch plate intimately contacts the clutch housing 102. Thus, the presence of the large clearance "CL" causes an increase in radial size which is a problem in prior art power transmitting apparatus.
On the contrary, it is possible to reduce the clearance "CL" and avoid the interference between the housing and the driving clutch plate, if the radius of curvature of the connecting surface "c" is reduced (i.e. the curvature is enlarged). However the reduction of the radius of curvature of the connecting surface "c" causes stress concentration in the connecting surface "c" and thus a reduction of strength of the driving clutch plate. Accordingly, it is impossible in the prior art power transmission apparatus to simultaneously achieve size reduction and improve the strength of the driving clutch plate.


A power hairbrush which oscillates in operation with a frequency in the range of 55 Hz-120 Hz and an amplitude in the range of 8-20°, with a brushhead adapted to remove sebum and other material from the scalp and hair of a user, the brushhead including a plurality of lines or rows of filament tufts, wherein each filament in the filament tufts at its distal end is split into several portions. The brushhead further includes a plurality of lines of solid tuft members positioned adjacent to the lines of filament tufts. The filament tufts are approximately 1-3 mm taller than the solid tuft members.

A typical manual hairbrush is designed to brush the hair and, in some cases, depending upon the arrangement of the bristles, provide a massaging effect for the scalp. However, they are typically not very effective in cleaning the hair, nor are they effective in cleaning/removing scalp sebum or other material such as dandruff, dust, pollution material, hair styling material or other foreign material. Accordingly, it is desirable to have a hairbrush which is capable of cleansing the hair and providing care for the scalp, while avoiding tangling of the hair.

Power hairbrush with improved sebum-removing brushhead


A method and computer graphics program executed by a processor for interactively subdividing a region in a computer controlled graphics display system is described. The user directly manipulates a control object (or “handle”) using a pointing device such as a computer mouse with the result that the region exposing the control object is evenly divided into an array or volume of smaller regions. The distance from the position of the start of interaction with the control object (the “click”) is continuously monitored to interactively update the number of divisions in the horizontal and vertical directions. Example displays during this interaction phase include overlaid grids representing the actual position of pending subdivisions, or a matrix of abstract subregions representing the count of subregions that will be created when the user indicates that the interaction is complete by releasing the control object. Upon release of the control object, the previewed splits to the region are converted to real splits in the region.

Computer systems are sometimes used to process digital imagery, such as that captured by digital cameras and scanners, into new forms. The processing may include assembling several images into new images, such as mosaics or collages. The present invention includes a method for streamlining the segmentation of a region or volume into smaller regions or volumes. While the examples provided refer to the assembly of collages from multiple source images, the technique is applicable to any task involving the arrangement of multiple two- or three-dimensional regions.

Method and system for interactive region segmentation


The present invention is related to an electronic penile aneurysm enhancer and more specifically, a portable electronic penile aneurysm enhancer having a small size to be easily carried around, and by electronically performing expansion and contraction movement of penile muscles, the enhancer invigorates the blood flow movement of spongy body so as to recover the narrowed blood vessels to be normal or so as to penetrate the blocked blood vessels. The present invention comprises a body portion (2); a piston pumping portion (6) provided inside the body portion (2) for pumping to move air through an inlet valve port (12) and an outlet valve port (14); a first electronic three way valve (10) connected to the inlet valve port (12) of the piston pumping portion (6) for converting flow path so as to suck air in; a second electronic three way valve (20) connected to the outlet valve port (14) of the piston pumping portion (6) for converting flow path of the sucked-in air, wherein the penile/male member is expanded and contracted by the first and second electronic three way valves (10, 20). The present invention also comprises a circular enhancing tube (30) having a penile insertion hole (42) and a penile sealing section (40) for expanding and contracting the penis by operating the first and second electronic three way valves (10, 20), and a central control section for controlling the first electronic three way valve (10), the second electronic three way valve (20) and the piston pumping portion (6).

In general, penis, the male sexual contact organ can be divided into three parts, penile muscle, penile body and glans.
Penis is an erectile tissue comprising two penile spongy bodies, one urethral spongy body, and a glans which is the expanded part of the front of the urethral spongy body.
In the inner wall of these spongy bodies, there are many pillars composed of connective tissues and smooth muscles intersecting each other to form a net shape, whose structure is similar to that of a sponge because a great number of small spaces such as penile spongy body blocks and urethral spongy body blocks are formed by these intersections. These spongy body blocks, which are a kind of vertical arteria are connected to each other, and are always filled with blood because arteria flows in and vena flows out through spongy body blocks.
When the blood vessels of these spongy body blocks are blocked or narrowed by any reason, normal blood flow movement is interrupted.
Therefore, recently, a hand-operated appliance is being developed in order to overcome such disadvantage; however, because the appliance must be operated by the user manually it does not have any remarkable effect.

Portable electronic penile aneurysm enhancer


A PLD includes at least one portion of the programmable interconnect that can be time multiplexed. The time multiplexed interconnect allows signals to be routed on shared interconnect at different times to different destinations, thereby increasing the functionality of the PLD. Multiple sources can use the same interconnect at different times to send signals to their respective destinations. To ensure proper sharing of the interconnect, the sources can include selection devices (such as multiplexers), and the destinations can include capture devices (such as flip-flops), wherein the selection devices and the capture devices are controlled by the same time multiplexing signal. To optimize the time multiplexing interconnect, as much of the same interconnect is shared as possible.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to programmable logic devices, and in particular to a system and method for time multiplexing the programmable interconnect of a field programmable gate array.
2. Description of the Related Art
Programmable logic devices such as field programmable gate arrays ("FPGAs") are a well-known type of integrated circuit and are of wide applicability due to the flexibility provided by their, reprogrammable nature. An FPGA typically includes an array of configurable logic blocks (CLBs) that are programmably interconnected to each other to provide logic functions desired by a user (a circuit designer). An FPGA typically includes a regular array of identical CLBs, wherein each CLB is individually programmed to perform any one of a number of different logic functions. These functions may include logic in lookup tables (LUTs) and storage in flip-flops or latches. The FPGA may also include tri-state buffers that users may use to share routing wires. The FPGA has a configurable routing structure called a programmable interconnect (hereinafter interconnect) for interconnecting the CLBs according to the desired user circuit design. The FPGA also includes a number of configuration memory cells which are operatively coupled to the CLBs to specify the function to be performed by each CLB, as well as to the interconnect to specify the coupling of the input and output lines of each CLB.
One approach available in the prior art to increase the functionality of logic circuits has been increasing the number of CLBs and interconnect structures in the FPGA. However, for any given semiconductor fabrication technology, there are limitations to the number of CLBs that can be fabricated on an integrated circuit chip of practical size. Thus, there continues to be a need to increase the number of logic gates or CLB densities for FPGAs.
Because the chip area of programmable logic devices is dominated by interconnect area, methods have been proposed for sharing this interconnect. In one approach, a user uses tri-state buffers or multiplexers to place different signals into a wire at different times. The user can build circuitry in the programmable logic to control the tri-state buffers or multiplexers, and to capture the desired signals at their destination. Unfortunately, this method requires a significant amount of programmable logic and interconnect resources which may be greater than the amount saved by sharing the interconnect.
Another approach to increase the functionality of logic circuits has been the reconfiguration of the FPGA. Unfortunately, this reconfiguration requires the time consuming step of reloading a configuration bit stream for each reconfiguration. Moreover, reconfiguration of an FPGA generally requires suspending the implementation of the logic functions, saving the current state of the logic functions in a memory device external to the FPGA, reloading the entire array of memory configurations cells, and inputting the states of the logic functions, which have been saved off chip along with any other needed inputs. Each of these steps requires a significant amount of time, thereby rendering reconfiguration impractical for implementing typical circuits.
Yet other approaches to increase the complexity and size of logic circuits have been to time multiplex the FPGA using additional configuration memory cells. Specifically, one configuration memory cell typically controls each programming point on an FPGA. FIG. 1 illustrates an exemplary configuration memory cell 100, which includes a conventional latch 101 operatively coupled to a select transistor 102. Configuration memory cell 100 can be loaded with configuration data 105 via select transistor 102, which is controlled by a configuration select signal 104. Once loaded into latch 101, configuration data 105 can be provided to CLB and interconnect logic 103.
In one exemplary time multiplexing approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,426,378, at least first and second arrays of configuration memory cells can be provided. For example, FIG. 2 illustrates a switching device (e.g. a multiplexer) 206 receiving inputs from a first configuration array 201 and a second configuration array 202. In one embodiment, a user's clock 204 can be divided into two phases. During a first phase, the configuration data in first configuration array 201 can be used, thereby configuring a CLB and interconnect matrix 205 in a first configuration. During a second phase, the configuration data in second configuration array 202 can be used, thereby configuring CLB and interconnect matrix 205 in a second configuration. In this embodiment, a third configuration array 203 can be provided, wherein the configuration data stored in this array does not change during reconfiguration. In this manner, where each CLB could previously implement one logic function during a cycle of the user's clock, each CLB can now implement two logic functions during the same cycle.
In another exemplary time multiplexing approach described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,583,450, each memory cell can be replaced with a random access memory (RAM) bit set. For example, FIG. 3 illustrates a bit set 300 that includes eight memory cells MC1–MC8. Each memory cell MC has a latch 301 and an associated select transistor 302. Memory cells MC1–MC8 are coupled to receive configuration data 303 and provide signals to a clocked latch 304.
In one embodiment, the configuration bits at the same memory cell location in each bit set on the FPGA are read out simultaneously to update the configuration of the CLBs and interconnect, thereby causing the CLBs to perform different logical functions and the interconnect to make different connections. In other words, by providing a bit set with eight memory cells for each FPGA programming point, an FPGA can effectively provide eight configurations. By reconfiguring the CLBs, the number of function generators in the CLB, typically conventional look up tables ("real LUTs"), needed to implement a given number of LUTs in a user circuit ("virtual LUTs") are reduced by a factor of the number of configurations.
In either time multiplexing approach, the additional configuration memory cells increase logic density by dynamic re-use of the FPGA circuitry. Specifically, CLBs and interconnect are configured to perform some defined task at one instant and are reconfigured to perform another task at another instant. However, these additional configuration memory cells can cause significant complexity in their programming as well as in their operation. Moreover, these additional configuration memory cells can also undesirably take up significant silicon area. For example, a typical CLB could include between 360 and 564 programming points, wherein each programming point would be implemented by a bit set (e.g. bit set 300). Thus, instead of being configured by 360 to 564 memory cells in a non-time multiplexed FPGA, each CLB could be configured by as many as 4512 memory cells. (Note that this count can include many memory cells that are actually located in the interconnect, but are associated with a CLB.) Therefore, although offering significant advantages in logic density, a time multiplexed FPGA can have an unacceptable cost in silicon area.
Therefore, a need arises for a system and method of increasing functionality of an FPGA while minimizing silicon resources.

Programmable logic device with time-multiplexed interconnect


The present invention relates to a small food storage container including: a food storing body having a shape of a container having a food storing space in which food is stored; a food filling body detachably mounted on the food storing body and having one or more air inlets formed along the periphery thereof to allow the inside to communicate with the outside and a food filling space formed at the inside thereof to communicate with the food storing space to fill the food thereinto; and a food opening/closing part fitted to the inside of the food filling body and having a shape of dishes facing each other to define the food storing space and the food filling space to open and close the food filling space by suctioning and discharging pressures of air.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a small food storage container, and more particularly, to a small food storage container that is configured to open and close external air introduced into a food storing space through the application of an external pressure to a food storing body and the release of the applied external pressure from the food storing body and to open and close the movement of food from the food storing space to a food filling space in a gentle manner.
2. Background of the Related Art
A small food storage container is generally used to store gelled food such as ketchup, hot pepper paste, mayonnaise and the like therein and to squeeze it whenever needed.
Generally, such gelled food is sold in a market in the state of being stored in small or large-sized food storage container, and when they are purchased by users, they are used as they are stored in the small or large-sized food storage container or they are moved and stored in his or her separate small food storage containers.
By the way, if an external pressure is applied to the conventional small food storage container to squeeze the food stored in a food storing space, external air is not introduced gently into the food storing space to prevent the food from being discharged well. Accordingly, many studies on the small food storage container capable of gently discharging food therefrom have been made.
For example, there is provided Korean Utility Model Registration No. 20-0438541 issued to the same applicant as the invention, which discloses a small food storage container including: a body having a food storing space contracted in shape if an external pressure is applied thereto and returned to its original shape if the applied external pressure is removed, a food outlet, and an air inlet formed on the top portion of the food storing space to introduce external air into the food storing space and having such a size capable of injecting food thereinto; an air inlet stopper made of a synthetic resin in such a manner as to be separably coupled to the air inlet and having an air hole punched thereon to allow the external air to be introduced into the air inlet of the body after introduced into the interior thereof and an air hole opening/closing part adapted to close the air hole by means of the discharge pressure generated from the food storing space and to be separated from the air hole by means of the suction pressure generated from the food storing space to allow the air to be introduced into the air hole; an outlet stopper mounted on the food outlet of the body to prevent the food outlet from being contaminated and to control the discharging of the food.
However, the above-mentioned conventional small food storage container achieves smooth discharging, but when the food is discharged, a large quantity of food may be momentarily discharged from the food storing space. That is, a quantity of food discharged cannot be accurately controlled, and further, a portion around the food outlet may be always dirty.


A system includes (a) an access point; (b) a switch providing power for use in the access point; and (c) a combiner disposed between the switch and the access point. The combiner receives at least two power supplies from the switch. The combiner is configured to combine the at least two power supplies to generate a third power supply. The third power supply is transferred to power the access point.

A network switch may provide a proper forwarding of signals to various network components. The network switch may also provide power to the various network components. Power over Ethernet (POE) is a system to transmit electrical power, along with data, to remote devices over a standard twisted-pair cable in an Ethernet network. For example, an access point (AP) may be powered using POE from the network switch.
Advances in AP technology have enabled more advanced APs that may, for example, provide further functionalities. However, these APs require more power than older models of APs. When network switches that only provide standard 802.3 af POE supplies are used, the APs are not provided with sufficient power. In particular, standard 802.3 af POE provides less than 15 watts of power. Continuous use of older models of APs limit the capabilities of the AP. Replacement of the network switches to models that are capable of providing the additional power to the advanced APs is costly.


A fuel cell system that employs a method for increasing stack power ramp up for high power up-transients by decoupling the build-up of stack current density from the cathode side pressure. The system gives the compressor power priority during the power up-transient to quickly provide the proper compressor speed, and therefore the proper air mass flow, for the desired current density of the fuel cell stack. The system also maintains the cathode side pressure of the stack low by keeping a cathode back-pressure valve open. By increasing the cathode input airflow rate to the proper level at the power up-transient, the current density of the stack will increase to the desired stack power level. Subsequently, the back-pressure valve is closed to increase the stack voltage to provide the total maximum power achievable by the stack.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method for providing power distribution in a fuel cell system and, more particularly, to a fuel cell system that provides a high compressor power and a low cathode output pressure to improve up-transient power responses.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
Hydrogen is a very attractive fuel because it is clean and can be used to efficiently produce electricity in a fuel cell. A hydrogen fuel cell is an electro-chemical device that includes an anode and a cathode with an electrolyte therebetween. The anode receives hydrogen gas and the cathode receives oxygen or air. The hydrogen gas is dissociated in the anode to generate free hydrogen protons and electrons. The hydrogen protons pass through the electrolyte to the cathode. The hydrogen protons react with the oxygen and the electrons in the cathode to generate water. The electrons from the anode cannot pass through the electrolyte, and thus are directed through a load to perform work before being sent to the cathode.
Proton exchange membrane fuel cells (PEMFC) are a popular fuel cell for vehicles. The PEMFC generally includes a solid polymer electrolyte proton conducting membrane, such as a perfluorosulfonic acid membrane. The anode and cathode typically include finely divided catalytic particles, usually platinum (Pt), supported on carbon particles and mixed with an ionomer. The catalytic mixture is deposited on opposing sides of the membrane. The combination of the anode catalytic mixture, the cathode catalytic mixture and the membrane define a membrane electrode assembly (MEA). MEAs are relatively expensive to manufacture and require certain conditions for effective operation.
Several fuel cells are typically combined in a fuel cell stack to generate the desired power. The fuel cell stack receives a cathode input gas, typically a flow of air forced through the stack by a compressor. Not all of the oxygen is consumed by the stack and some of the air is output as a cathode exhaust gas that may include water as a stack by-product. The fuel cell stack also receives an anode hydrogen input gas that flows into the anode side of the stack.
The dynamic power of a fuel cell system is limited. Further, the time delay from system start-up to driveability and low acceleration of the vehicle may not be acceptable. The voltage cycles can increase the stack durability. These drawbacks can be minimized by using a high voltage battery in parallel with the fuel cell stack. Algorithms are employed to provide the distribution of power from the battery and the fuel cell stack to meet the requested power.
Some fuel cell vehicles are hybrid vehicles that employ an electric energy storage system (EESS) in addition to the fuel cell stack, such as a DC battery or a super capacitor (also referred to as an ultra-capacitor or double layer capacitor). The EESS provides supplemental power for the various vehicle auxiliary loads, for system start-up and during high power demands when the fuel cell stack is unable to provide the desired power. More particularly, the fuel cell stack provides power through a DC voltage bus line to an electric traction system (ETS) for vehicle operation. The EESS provides the supplemental power to the voltage bus line during those times when additional power is needed beyond what the stack can provide, such as during heavy acceleration. For example, the fuel cell stack may provide 70 kW of power. However, vehicle acceleration may require 100 kW or more of power. The fuel cell stack is used to recharge the EESS at those times when the fuel cell stack is able to meet the system power demand. The generator power available from the traction motor during regenerative braking is also used to recharge the battery through the DC bus line.
Acceptable time periods for automotive applications from idle power to full power is on the order of two to three seconds. Currently, fuel cell vehicles are not able to provide power up-transients as quickly as desired. Generally, the up-transient response limitations for fuel cell systems occur because the fuel cell stack cannot receive cathode air fast enough. The compressor itself is able to ramp up fast enough provided that it receives adequate power. However, it is the ability to provide the power to the compressor that limits the ability of the compressor to provide airflow to the fuel cell stack fast enough. Part of the problem is cyclical in that the compressor typically receives its power from the fuel cell stack, and the fuel cell stack power is generally too low at low stack power to provide high compressor speeds.
The high voltage battery typically provided in a hybrid fuel cell vehicle can help provide compressor power during power up-transients to provide the requested ETS power quick enough. However, the battery has limitations in that typically the battery will not be allowed to fall below a predetermined minimum state-of-charge (SOC).

Method for improved power up-transient response in the fuel cell system


A polishing pad has a polishing layer that is formed of a polyurethane foam having fine cells. The polyurethane foam is a reaction cured body of a chain extender and an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer which is obtained by reacting a prepolymer starting material composition that contains an isocyanate component, a high molecular weight polyol and an aliphatic diol. The high molecular weight polyol contains a polyalkylene glycol A that has a peak of the molecular weight distribution within the range of 200 to 300 and a polyalkylene glycol B that has a peak of the molecular weight distribution within the range of 800 to 1200.

Typical materials requiring surface flatness at high level include a single-crystal silicon disk called a silicon wafer for producing semiconductor integrated circuits (IC, LSI). The surface of the silicon wafer should be flattened highly accurately in a process of producing IC. LSI etc., in order to provide reliable semiconductor connections for various coatings used in manufacturing the circuits. In the step of polishing finish, a polishing pad is generally stuck on a rotatable supporting disk called a platen, while a workpiece such as a semiconductor wafer is stuck on a polishing head. By movement of the two, a relative speed is generated between the platen and the polishing head while polishing slurry having abrasive grains is continuously supplied to the polishing pad, to effect polishing processing.
As polishing characteristics of a polishing pad, it is requested that an object to be polished is excellent in planarity and in-plane uniformity and a polishing rate is large. A planarity and in-plane uniformity of an object to be polished can be improved to some extent with a polishing layer higher in elastic modulus. A polishing rate can be bettered by increasing a holding quantity of a slurry on a foam with cells therein.
Polishing pads including a polyurethane foam are proposed as polishing pads that meet the above properties (see Patent Documents 1 and 2). Such a polyurethane foam is produced by a reaction of an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer with a chain extender (curing agent), in which in view of hydrolysis resistance, elastic properties, wear resistance, or the like, a polyether (a polytetramethylene glycol with a number average molecular weight of 500 to 1,600) or a polycarbonate is preferably used as a high molecular polyol component for the isocyanate prepolymer.
However, the polishing pad has a problem such that the hardness is reduced at moisture or water absorption and the planarization characteristics thereby deteriorate gradually.
Moreover, in order to suppress the reduction in hardness of the polishing pad at moisture or water absorption, if the elastic modulus of the polishing pad is increased, the service life tends to be reduced due to deterioration in wear resistance. Thus, it has been difficult to achieve a balance between the wear resistance and the suppression of reduction in the hardness of the polishing pad.
In order to obtain a polyurethane elastomer cast product excellent in wear resistance and mechanical property, Patent Document 3 proposes a polyurethane elastomer composition for casting, containing a curing agent (liquid B) and an NCO group-terminated urethane prepolymer (liquid A) that is obtained by respectively using tolylene diisocyanate as an isocyanate component, a polytetramethylene ether glycol having a number average molecular weight of 500 to 4000 and a low molecular weight glycol having no side chain as glycol components and reacting these compounds.
Patent Document 4 proposes a polishing pad having a polishing layer including a polyurethane resin foam having fine cells, wherein a high molecular weight polyol component that is a starting component of the polyurethane foam contains a hydrophobic high molecular weight polyol A having a number average molecular weight of 550 to 800 and a hydrophobic high molecular weight polyol B having a number average molecular weight of 950 to 1300 in an A/B ratio of from 10/90 to 50/50 by weight. Patent Document 4 also describes that the polishing pad is excellent in polishing rate and superior in service life characteristics without generating center slow.
Patent Document 5 proposes a polishing pad having a polishing layer made of non-foamed polyurethane, wherein the non-foamed polyurethane is a reaction cured body of a polyurethane starting material composition which contains an isocyanate-terminated prepolymer obtained by the reaction of a prepolymer starting material composition containing a diisocyanate, a high molecular weight polyol, and a low molecular weight polyol; an isocyanate degenerated body which is polymerized by the addition of three or more diisocyanates; and a chain extender, wherein the addition amount of the isocyanate degenerated body is 5 to 30 parts by weight based on 100 parts by weight of the isocyanate-terminated prepolymer. It is also stated in Patent Document 5 that the polishing pad hardly causes scratches on the surface of an object to be polished and is excellent in dressing properties.

ROHM AND HAAS ELECTRONIC MATERIALS CMP HOLDINGS, INC.


The present invention includes a first component having a dimensional variance spring for connection to a second component where alignment is critical and dimensional variances between the components may be present. Preferably, the invention includes a male blade stabilizer having a dimensional variance spring. The stabilizer includes first and second plates separated by a plurality of slots. Edges of the first and second plates are connected together by an angular web. Each plate has a plurality of apertures formed therein, each for receiving the male blade of a terminal carried by a male connector part. The angular web acts as a spring allowing movement of the plates in a direction perpendicular to the slots to assure proper fit of the stabilizer inside the connector shroud and insertion of each male blade through an associated aperture in the stabilizer.

Manufacturing dimensionally accurate mating components is difficult when the mating components do not have substantially similar configurations. Heretofore, simple male blade stabilizers having a flat planar portion with apertures therethrough have been used to receive the terminal blades of a male electrical connector. The male blade stabilizer is simple in configuration and is easy to manufacture with very small tolerances. However, the male electrical connector has a relatively complicated configuration that on occasion causes substantial dimensional variances. The male electrical connector includes a body portion having a plurality of cavities formed therein for receiving a portion of a male blade terminal. Flexible locking arms extend from the body portion into the cavity to secure the terminal in place. A shroud extends outwardly from the body portion to protect the blades and to receive the male blade stabilizer. As a result of dimensional variances, it may become difficult to insert the male blade stabilizer into the male connector shroud, or to insert the male terminals into the cavities of the body portion and through the apertures of the male blade stabilizers. Heretofore, molding tool revisions were required to correct minor dimensional difficulties between these mating components.
When male blade terminals are inserted into the cavities of the male connector, the blade may not be properly aligned due to dimensional tolerances or because the locking feature does not sufficiently secure the terminal to prevent pivotal movement of the blades. The male blade stabilizer keeps the center line of the male blades within predetermined specification if they are properly received and aligned in the male connector. Prior art stabilizers failed to consistently achieve this objective.
The present invention provides advantages over and alternatives to the prior art.


A structured product coding system that reflects both the components as are used to fabricate a given product but component manipulators as are used to execute part-mating operations to combine the components and intermediate structures as are assembled during the fabrication process can be used to generate a generic assembly/disassembly tree that corresponds to that product.

An enterprise that manufactures one or more products must remain cognizant of a variety of issues and concerns. For example, a given product that the enterprise undertakes to fabricate must, in fact, be capable of fabrication by that particular enterprise. That is, the enterprise must have or be able to reasonably acquire the requisite components and must further be able to successfully assemble such components to realize the final product. As another example, the manufacturer must usually be able to effect fabrication of a given product in a cost-effective manner in order to attain or retain a desired level of competitive performance. This can include use of cost-effective components but can also include efficient use of other manufacturing resources (including, for example, various component manipulators). As yet another example, for a growing number of products in an increasing number of markets, the manufacturer must also concern themselves with eventual de-fabrication of their products in order to be in compliment with relevant recycling and/or disposal requirements. Other examples exist as well with the above examples serving only to suggest the scope of the problem.
In many cases, a manufacturing enterprise has little in the way of institutional knowledge regarding such matters. Various individuals may have personal knowledge and/or access to locally stored information regarding some or all of these illustrative points of concern, but such information rarely exists in a form that can be readily accessed and leveraged by, for example, a manager. Other manufacturers have made some progress towards improved gathering and consolidation of information regarding the components used to assemble their respective product lines. For example, computer aided design (CAD) platforms permit design engineers to identify and track the components that are used to construct a given product. Such CAD systems readily permit file-sharing practices that accordingly permit access to such information by others in the enterprise. As another example, computer aided manufacturing (CAM) platforms permit similar information regarding the specifics of building a given product to be specified and potentially shared with others.
Such tools tend to only focus on portions of the overall picture, however. For example, CAM platforms permit a manager to focus on manufacturing issues but do little or nothing to permit issues presented by the design itself to be easily considered. In similar fashion, CAD platforms permit a manager to focus on the design of a product but can occlude manufacturing-related issues from due consideration. In general, however, a manager cannot readily obtain and/or utilize information regarding both the specific components used to construct a given product and the specific manufacturing processes (including the specific component manipulators) that are used to assemble such components. This, in turn, presents an obstacle to understanding or utilizing corresponding cost information, resource availability information, de-fabrication issues, and so forth. Such conditions can themselves lead to less-than-optimum product offerings and/or non-competitive offerings.
Skilled artisans will appreciate that elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present invention. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are typically not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present invention.

Manufacturing and de-fabrication analysis method and apparatus


Provided is a system including a computer, a display device for performing display based on a signal from the computer, and an access point for performing communication between a wired network and a wireless network and disposed between the computer and the display device. In response to operation for turning ON the display device or to a power ON instruction from another client device, the access point is activated and sends an activation signal for activating the computer. Upon receiving the activation signal, the computer is activated and outputs a signal to the display device. Further, in response to operation for turning OFF the display device or to a power OFF instruction from another client device, the access point sends a power shutoff signal to the computer and shuts off its own power. Upon detecting the power shutoff signal, the computer performs a shutdown process. When the signal from the computer stops being received, the display device shuts off its own power.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system including an information processor, a display device for performing display based on a signal from the information processor, and an access point. The present invention also relates to an access point and to a power control method for the system or the access point.
2. Related Background Art
In recent years, there is proposed an electronic conference system or the like for sharing display images with a large-screen display such as a front projector, a rear projector, or a plasma display, being placed at the center.
Such an electronic conference system generally includes a personal computer (PC) connected to the large-screen display, a client device for sending to the PC a file for display, and an access point device (AP) for mediating between the PC and the client device.
As a method of remotely turning ON power of the PC, there is proposed a technique called "Wake on LAN". With the technique, standby power is supplied to a LAN controller even when the power of the PC is in an off state (a state where AC power is supplied), only a particular activation instructing packet is scanned, and upon the reception thereof, the main power of the system is turned ON.
There is also proposed a technique with which power information is collectively obtained on a plurality of image forming apparatuses connected to a network, power of image forming apparatuses can be respectively set to ON or OFF, and unified management and control of usage conditions are performed on the respective image forming apparatuses.
However, according to the above-mentioned conventional arts, in the case where the system includes a display, an AP, and a PC, respective power switches of the display, the AP, and the PC need to be separately turned ON. Although there exists a model of the AP that has no power switch, the power switches of the display and the PC still need to be separately turned ON. In particular, in the case where the large-screen display such as a rear projector has a large casing, the PC and the AP are often disposed inside the casing, making it difficult to operate the power switches of the PC and the AP.
Also, in order to use Wake on LAN to remotely turn ON the power of the PC, a different PC is generally used for sending out the activation instructing packet, raising a problem of the bloated system.
Further, it is necessary that a MAC address of the LAN controller used in a PC on an activated side is designated in the activation instructing packet. It is thus difficult for a device having no input means such as an AP to realize a Wake on LAN function.

Display system, access point of display system, and power control method


A lubricant coating vehicle for medical devices used to reduce the coefficient of friction of such devices upon exposure thereof to moisture. The lubricant coating vehicle allows the introduction of a pharmacological additive having a release rate that is within acceptable pharmacokinetic criteria. The release rate is adjusted by utilizing different salt forms of the additive and adjusting the concentration of a urethane pre-polymer.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a lubricant coating for medical devices, and more particularly, to a hydrophilic polymeric coating which aids medical devices to become slippery when wetted. The lubricant coating of the present invention may be employed to reduce the coefficient of friction of catheters, arterial venous shunts, gastroenteric feed tubes, endotracheal tubes and other medical implants or polymeric substrates. The coating of the present invention also incorporates additive compounds such as anti-microbial that are released in a pharmaceutically acceptable manner. Methods are also provided for the manufacture of the subject lubricant coating and for the application of the same to surfaces of medical devices.
2. Background of the Related Art
Known lubricant coatings applied to surfaces of medical devices include coatings of polyvinylpyrrolidone, polyurethane, acrylic polyester, vinyl resin, fluorocarbons, silicone rubber, and combinations of these substances. For example, Micklus et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,100,309 and 4,119,094, relate to a hydrophilic coating of polyvinylpyrrolidone-polyurethane interpolymer formed using polyisocyanate. Ratner et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,939,049, relates to a method of grafting hydrogels for lubrication to polymeric substrates using radiation. Hungton et al., U.S. Pat. No. 3,975,350, relates to hydrophilic polyurethane polymers for use as lubricants. Storey. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 3,987,497, relates to a tendon prosthesis having a lubricant hydrogel coating. Many known lubricious coatings are prone to various disadvantages when used in the medical field. Disadvantages of such known lubricants may include insufficiently low coefficient of friction, lack of permanence such as characteristic of silicone or fluorocarbon based coatings, slipperiness when dry as well as wet thus making handling difficult, utilization of hazardous solvents in the manufacture of the same and utilization of unstable reactive materials in the manufacture of the same. Lubricants produced for medical use from unstable reactive material often require the coating solution to be prepared daily or more frequently to be useful and thereby increases waste and expense. Lubricants produced for medical use involving hazardous solvents are undesirable due to patient toxicity concerns and OSHA considerations. Also, lubricant coatings provided for inducing foreign devices into various areas of the body that are susceptible to infection and or thrombogenic reactions have failed to provide a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier for anti-microbial and anti-thrombogenic compounds.
In order to solve these and other potential disadvantages of known lubricants such as those of the above-cited patents, which are hereby, incorporated herein by reference, a lubricant coating is needed that when wetted has sufficient lubricity to be useful in the medical device field such as for medical implants and the ability to incorporate within that coating anti-microbial compounds that can be released in a pharmaceutically acceptable manner. The lubricant coating must be capable of adhering to a wide variety of substrates and resist wet abrasion. It would also be desirable to have such a lubricant coating prepared from chemically stable and biocompatible solvents. Further, it would be advantageous to prepare such coating from components that are not health hazards.


The present invention relates to a method for in vitro evolution of protein function. In particular, the method relates to the shuffling of nucleotide segments obtained from exonuclease digestion. The present inventors have shown that polynucleotide fragments derived from a parent polynucleotide sequence digested with an exonuclease can be combined to generate a polynucleofide sequence which encodes for a polypeptide having desired characteristics. This method may be usefully applied to the generation of new antibodies or parts thereof having modified characteristics as compared to the parent antibody.

The present invention relates to a method for in vitro molecular evolution of protein function, in particular by shuffling of DNA segments obtained using an exonuclease.
Protein function can be modified and improved in vitro by a variety of methods, including site directed mutagenesis (Alber et al, Nature, 5; 330(6143):41-46, 1987) combinatorial cloning (Huse et al, Science, 246:1275-1281, 1989; Marks et al, Biotechnology, 10: 779-783, 1992) and random mutagenesis combined with appropriate selection systems (Barbas et al, PNAS. USA, 89: 4457-4461, 1992).
The method of random mutagenesis together with selection has been used in a number of cases to improve protein function and two different strategies exist. Firstly, randomisation of the entire gene sequence in combination with the selection of a variant (mutant) protein with the desired characteristics, followed by a new round of random mutagenesis and selection. This method can then be repeated until a protein variant is found which is considered optimal (Schier R. et al, J. Mol. Biol. 1996 263 (4): 551-567). Here, the traditional route to introduce mutations is by error prone PCR (Leung et al, Technique, 1: 11-15, 1989) with a mutation rate of ≈0.7%. Secondly, defined regions of the gene can be mutagenized with degenerate primers, which allows for mutation rates up to 100% (Griffiths et al, EMBO. J, 13: 3245-3260, 1994; Yang et al, J. Mol. Biol. 254: 392-403, 1995). The higher the mutation rate used, the more limited the region of the gene that can be subjected to mutations.
Random mutation has been used extensively in the field of antibody engineering. In vivo formed antibody genes can be cloned in vitro (Larrick et al, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun. 160: 1250-1256, 1989) and random combinations of the genes encoding the variable heavy and light genes can be subjected to selection (Marks et al, Biotechnology, 10: 779-783, 1992). Functional antibody fragments selected can be further improved using random mutagenesis and additional rounds of selections (Schier R. et al, J. Mol. Biol. 1996 263 (4): 551-567) .
The strategy of random mutagenesis is followed by selection. Variants with interesting characteristics can be selected and the mutated DNA regions from different variants, each with interesting characteristics, are combined into one coding sequence (Yang et al, J. Mol. Biol. 254: 392-403, 1995). This is a multi-step sequential process, and potential synergistic effects of different mutations in different regions can be lost, since they are not subjected to selection in combination. Thus, these two strategies do not include simultaneous mutagenesis of defined regions and selection of a combination of these regions. Another process involves combinatorial pairing of genes which can be used to improve eg antibody affinity (Marks et al, Biotechnology, 10: 779-783, 1992). Here, the three CDR-regions in each variable gene are fixed and this technology does not allow for shuffling of individual gene segments in the gene for the variable domain, for example, including the CDR regions, between clones.
The concept of DNA shuffling (Stemmer, Nature 370: 389-391, 1994) utilizes random fragmentation of DNA and assembly of fragments into a functional coding sequence. In this process it is possible to introduce chemically synthesized DNA sequences and in this way target variation to defined places in the gene which DNA sequence is known (Crameri et al, Biotechniques, 18: 194-196, 1995). In theory, it is also possible to shuffle DNA between any clones. However, if the resulting shuffled gene is to be functional with respect to expression and activity, the clones to be shuffled have to be related or even identical with the exception of a low level of random mutations. DNA shuffling between genetically different clones will generally produce non-functional genes.
Selection of functional proteins from molecular libraries has been revolutionized by the development of the phage display technology (Parmley et al, Gene, 73: 305-391 1988; McCafferty et al, Nature, 348: 552-554, 1990; Barbas et al, PNAS. USA, 88: 7978-7982, 1991). Here, the phenotype (protein) is directly linked to its corresponding genotype (DNA) and this allows for directly cloning of the genetic material which can then be subjected to further modifications in order to improve protein function. Phage display has been used to clone functional binders from a variety of molecular libraries with up to 1011 transformants in size (Griffiths et al, EMBO. J. 13: 3245-3260, 1994). Thus, phage display can be used to directly clone functional binders from molecular libraries, and can also be used to improve further the clones originally selected.
Random combination of DNA from different mutated clones in combination with selection of desired function is a more efficient way to search through sequence space as compared to sequential selection and combination of selected clones.
According to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided a method for generating a polynucleotide sequence or population of sequences from a parent polynucleotide sequence encoding one or more protein motifs, comprising the steps of
a) digesting the parent polynucleotide sequence with an exonuclease to generate a population of fragments;
b) contacting said fragments with a template polynucleotide sequence under annealing conditions;
c) amplifying the fragments that anneal to the template in step b) to generate at least one polynucleotide sequence encoding one or more protein motifs having altered characteristics as compared to the one or more protein motifs encoded by said parent polynucleotide.
The parent polynucleotide is preferably double-stranded and the method further comprises the step of generating single-stranded polynucleotide sequence from said double-stranded fragments prior to step b). Further, the template polynucleotide is preferably the parent polynucleotide sequence or at least a polynucleotide sequence having sequence in common with the parent nucleotide sequence so that the fragments will hybridize with the template under annealing conditions. For example, if the parent polynucleotide is an antibody, the template may be a different antibody having constant domains or framework regions in common.
Therefore, typically, there is provided a method of combining polynucleotide fragments to generate a polynucleotide sequence or population of sequences of desired characteristics, which method comprises the steps of:
(a) digesting a linear parent double-stranded polynucleotide encoding one or more protein motifs with an exonuclease to generate a population of double stranded fragments of varying lengths;
(b) obtaining single-stranded polynucleotides from said double-stranded fragments; and
(c) assembling a polynucleotide sequence from the sequences derived from step (b).
Preferably the method further comprises the step of (d) expressing the resulting protein encoded by the assembled polynucleotide sequence and screening the protein for desired characteristics.
Prior to assembling the polynucleotide sequence in step (c) the double stranded sequences are preferably purified and then mixed in order to facilitate assembly. By controlling the reaction time of the exonuclease the size of the polynucleotide fragments may be determined. Determining the lengths of the polynucleotide fragments in this way avoids the necessity of having to provide a further step such as purifying the fragments of desired length from a gel.
Further, as some exonuclease digests polynucleotide sequences from both the 3xe2x80x2 and the 5xe2x80x2 ends, the fragments selected may center around the middle of the gene sequence if this particular region of sequence is desired. This sequence from the middle of a gene may be mutated randomly by, for example, error prone PCR and desirable for the shuffling process.
However, in some cases it may be desirable not to shuffle the sequence from the middle of the gene. This may be prevented by choosing long fragments after exonuclease treatment. Conversely, if it is desirable to shuffle the middle of the gene sequence short exonuclease treated fragments may be used.
In order to generate a polynucleotide sequence of desired characteristics the parent double-stranded polynucleotide encoding one or more protein motifs may be subjected to mutagenesis to create a plurality of differently mutated derivatives thereof. Likewise, a parent double-stranded polynucleotide may be obtained already encoding a plurality of variant protein motifs of unknown sequence.
Random mutation can be accomplished by any conventional method as described above, but a suitable method is error-prone PCR.
It is preferable to use PCR technology to assemble the single-stranded polynucleotide fragments into the double-stranded polynucleotide sequence.
The polynucleotide sequence is preferably DNA although RNA may be used. For simplicity the term polynucleotide will now be used in the following text in relation to DNA but it will be appreciated that the present invention is applicable to both RNA and DNA.
Any exonuclease that digests polynucleotide from the 3xe2x80x2 prime end to the 5xe2x80x2 prime end or from both the 3xe2x80x2 and the 5xe2x80x2 end may be used. Examples of a suitable exonuclease which may be used in accordance with the present invention include BAL31 and Exonuclease III.
BAL31 is a exonuclease that digests and removes nucleotide bases from both the 3xe2x80x2 and the 5xe2x80x2 ends of a linear polynucleotide molecule. The enzyme uses Ca2+ as a co-factor which can be bound in complex with EGTA (Ethylene Glycol bis(xcex2-amino ethyl Ether) N,N,Nxe2x80x2,Nxe2x80x2-tetra acetic acid). EGTA does not bind Mg2+ which is necessary for the subsequent PCR process. Linear DNA sequences are digested with BAL31 and the reaction stopped at different time points by the addition of EGTA. The individual digested fragments are purified, mixed and reassembled with PCR technology. The assembled (reconstituted) gene may then be cloned into an expression vector for expressing the protein. The protein may then be analyzed for improved characteristics.
The PCR technique uses a template, which may be the wild type sequence or a reconstituted sequence in accordance with the present invention. The fragments hybridize with the template at the appropriate regions (i.e. where the homology between the two strands is at its highest) and the remaining sequence is generated by elongation of the fragment using the template in accordance with the PCR technique.
The method of the present invention provides several advantages over known shuffling techniques. For example, in other DNA shuffling techniques the process itself introduces mutations over the entire gene sequence. The present invention allows for the concentration of mutations on i) the flanking regions after recombination of wild type fragments on either an already recombined template created by the method of the present invention, a template mutated in any other way or a gene (or gene combination, for example, a combination of antibody genes) having a desired sequence; or ii) the middle region after recombination of mutated fragments created by the method of the present invention on a wild type template.
In other words, if it is desirable to provide a gene having mutations concentrated in its flanking regions, a wild type fragment relating to the middle region of the gene may be used in conjunction with a reconstituted and/or mutated template sequence for the PCR process. In this way, the PCR process generates complementary sequence to the reconstituted/mutated template sequence as it elongates the wild type fragment. Therefore, the resulting sequence will have substantially a middle region corresponding to the wild type sequence and flanking regions with incorporated mutations.
Conversely, if it is desirable to provide a gene having mutations concentrated in its middle region, a reconstituted and or mutated fragment corresponding to the middle region of the gene may be used in conjunction with a wild type template in the PCR process. In this way, the PCR process, by elongating the mutated fragment using the wild type template, generates a sequence having substantially a mutated middle region and wild type flanking regions.
Further, the method of the present invention produces a set of progressively shortened DNA fragments for each time point a DNA sample is taken from the BAL31 treatment. The DNA samples may be collected and pooled together or, optionally, individual samples may be chosen and used in the method. Thus the present invention allows a selection of what DNA samples are to be used in the recombination system and thereby offers a further degree of control.
The method of the present invention may be carried out on any polynucleotide which codes for a particular product for example any protein having binding or catalytical properties e.g. antibodies or parts of antibodies, enzymes or receptors. Further, any polynucleotide that has a function that may be altered for example catalytical RNA may be shuffled in accordance with the present invention. It is preferable that the parent polynucleotide encoding one or more protein motif is at least 12 nucleotides in length, more preferably at least 20 nucleotides in length, even more preferably more than 50 nucleotides in length. Polynucleotides being at least 100 nucleotides in length or even at least 200 nucleotides in length may be used. Where parent polynucleotides are used that encoded for large proteins such as enzymes or antibodies, these may be many hundreds or thousands of bases in length. The present invention may be carried out on any size of parent polynucleotide.
The present invention also provides polynucleotide sequences generated by the method described above having desired characteristics. These sequences may be used for generating gene therapy vectors and replication-defective gene therapy constructs or vaccination vectors for DNA-based vaccinations. Further, the polynucleotide sequences may be used as research tools.
The present invention also provides a polynucleotide library of sequences generated by the method described above from which a polynucleotide may be selected which encodes a protein having the desired characteristics. It is preferable that the polynucleotide library is a DNA or cDNA library.
The present inventions also provides proteins such as antibodies, enzymes, and receptors having characteristics different to that of the wild type produced by the method described above. These proteins may be used individually or within a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier as vaccines or medicaments for therapy, for example, as immunogens, antigens or otherwise in obtaining specific antibodies. They may also be used as research tools.
The desired characteristics of a polynucleotide generated by the present invention or a protein encoded by a polynucleotide generated by the present invention may be any variation in the normal activity of the wild type (parent) polynucleotide or the polypeptide, protein or protein motifs it encodes. For example, it may be desirable to reduce or increase the catalytic activity of an enzyme, or improve or reduce the binding specificity of an antibody. Further, if the protein, or polynucleotide is an immunogen, it may be desirable to reduce or increase its ability to obtain specific antibodies against it. The parent polynucleotide preferably encodes one or more protein motifs. These are defined by regions of polynucleotide sequence that encode polypeptide sequence having or potentially having characteristic protein function. For example, a protein motif may define a portion of a whole protein, i.e. an epitope or a cleavage site or a catalytic site etc. However, within the scope of the present invention, an expressed protein motif does not have to display activity, or be xe2x80x9ccorrectlyxe2x80x9d folded.
It may be desirable to modify a protein so as to alter the conformation of certain epitopes, thereby improving its antigenicity and/or reducing cross-reactivity. For example, should such a protein be used as an antigen, the modification may reduce any cross-reaction of raised antibodies with similar proteins.
Although the term xe2x80x9cenzymexe2x80x9d is used, this is to interpreted as also including any polypeptide having enzyme-like activity, i.e. a catalytic function. For example, polypeptides being part of an enzyme may still possess catalytic function. Likewise, the term xe2x80x9cantibodyxe2x80x9d should be construed as covering any binding substance having a binding domain with the required specificity. This includes antibody fragments, derivatives, functional equivalents and homologues of antibodies, including synthetic molecules and molecules whose shape mimics that of an antibody enabling it to bind an antigen or epitope. Examples of antibody fragments, capable of binding an antigen or other binding partner are Fab fragment consisting of the VL, VH, Cl and CH1 domains, the Fd fragment consisting of the VH and CH1 domains; the Fv fragment consisting of the VL and VH domains of a single arm of an antibody; the dAb fragment which consists of a VH domain; isolated CDR regions and F(abxe2x80x2)2 fragments, a bivalent fragment including two Fab fragments linked by a disulphide bridge at the hinge region. Single chain Fv fragments are also included.
In order to obtain expression of the generated polynucleotide sequence, the sequence may be incorporated in a vector having control sequences operably linked to the polynucleotide sequence to control its expression. The vectors may include other sequences such as promoters or enhancers to drive the expression of the inserted polynucleotide sequence, further polynucleotide sequences so that the protein encoded for by the polynucleotide is produced as a fusion and/or nucleic acid encoding secretion signals so that the protein produced in the host cell is secreted from the cell. The protein encoded for by the polynucleotide sequence can then be obtained by transforming the vectors into host cells in which the vector is functional, culturing the host cells so that the protein is produced and recovering the protein from the host cells or the surrounding medium. Prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells are used for this purpose in the art, including strains of E. coli, yeast, and eukaryotic cells such as COS or CHO cells. The choice of host cell can be used to control the properties of the protein expressed in those cells, e.g. controlling where the protein is deposited in the host cells or affecting properties such as its glycosylation.
The protein encoded by the polynucleotide sequence may be expressed by methods well known in the art. Conveniently, expression may be achieved by growing a host cell in culture, containing such a vector, under appropriate conditions which cause or allow expression of the protein.
Systems for cloning and expression of a protein in a variety of different host cells are well known. Suitable host cells include bacteria, eukaryotic cells such as mammalian and yeast, and baculovirus systems. Mammalian cell lines available in the art for expression of a heterologous polypeptide include Chinese hamster ovary cells, HeLa cells, baby hamster kidney cells, COS cells and many others. A common, preferred bacterial host is E. coli.
Suitable vectors can be chosen or constructed, containing appropriate regulatory sequences, including promoter sequences, terminator fragments, polyadenylation sequences, enhancer sequences, marker genes and other sequences as appropriate. Vectors may be plasmids, viral e.g. xe2x80x98phage, or phagemid, as appropriate. For further details see, for example, Molecular Cloning: a Laboratory Manual: 2nd edition, Sambrook et al., 1989, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Press. Many known techniques and protocols for manipulation of polynucleotide sequences, for example in preparation of polynucleotide constructs, mutagenesis, sequencing, introduction of DNA into cells and gene expression, and analysis of proteins, are described in detail in Current Protocols in Molecular Biology, Ausubel et al. eds., John Wiley and Sons, 1992.
The FIND system can be used for the creation of DNA libraries comprising variable sequences which can be screened for the desired protein function in a number of ways. Phage display may be used for selecting binding (Griffith et al., EMBO J. 113: 3245-3260, 1994); screening for enzyme function (Crameri A. et al, Nature 1998 15; 391 (6664):288-291; Zhang J. H. et al, PNAS. USA 1997 94 (9): 4504-4509; Warren M. S. et al, Biochemistry 1996, 9; 35(27): 8855-8862).
A protein provided by the present invention may be used in screening for molecules which affect or modulate its activity or function. Such molecules may be useful in a therapeutic (possibly including prophylactic) context.
The present invention also provides vectors comprising polynucleotide sequences generated by the method described above.
The present inventions also provides compositions comprising either polynucleotide sequences, vectors comprising the polynucleotide sequences or proteins generated by the method described above and a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier or a carrier suitable for research purposes.
The present invention also provides a method comprising, following the identification of the polynucleotide or polypeptide having desired characteristics by the method described above, the manufacture of that polypeptide or polynucleotide in whole or in part, optionally in conjunction with additional polypeptides or polynucleotides.
Following the identification of a polynucleotide or polypeptide having desired characteristics, these can then be manufactured to provide greater numbers by well known techniques such as PCR, cloning a expression within a host cell. The resulting polypeptides or polynucleotides may be used in the preparation of medicaments for diagnostic use, pharmaceutical use, therapy etc. This is discussed further below. Alternatively, the manufactured polynucleotide, polypeptide may be used as a research tool, i.e. antibodies may be used in immunoassays, polynucleotides may be used a hybridization probes or primers.
The polypeptides or polynucleotides generated by the method of the invention and identified as having desirable characteristics can be formulated in pharmaceutical compositions. These compositions may comprise, in addition to one of the above substances, a pharmaceutically acceptable excipient, carrier, buffer, stabilizer or other materials well known to those skilled in the art. Such materials should be non-toxic and should not interfere with the efficacy of the active ingredient. The precise nature of the carrier or other material may depend on the route of administration, e.g. oral, intravenous, cutaneous or subcutaneous, nasal, intramuscular, intraperitoneal routes.
Pharmaceutical compositions for oral administration may be in tablet, capsule, powder or liquid form. A tablet may include a solid carrier such as gelatin or an adjuvant. Liquid pharmaceutical compositions generally include a liquid carrier such as water, petroleum, animal or vegetable oils, mineral oil or synthetic oil. Physiological saline solution, dextrose or other saccharide solution or glycols such as ethylene glycol, propylene glycol or polyethylene glycol may be included.
For intravenous, cutaneous or subcutaneous injection, or injection at the site of affliction, the active ingredient will be in the form of a parenterally acceptable aqueous solution which is pyrogen-free and has suitable pH, isotonicity and stability. Those of relevant skill in the art are well able to prepare suitable solutions using, for example, isotonic vehicles such as Sodium Chloride Injection, Ringer""s Injection, Lactated Ringer""s Injection. Preservatives, stabilizers, buffers, antioxidants and/or other additives may be included, as required.
Whether it is a polypeptide, e.g. an antibody or fragment thereof, an enzyme, a polynucleotide or nucleic acid molecule, identified following generation by the present invention that is to be given to an individual, administration is preferably in a xe2x80x9cprophylactically effective amountxe2x80x9d or a xe2x80x9ctherapeutically effective amountxe2x80x9d (as the case may be, although prophylaxis may be considered therapy), this being sufficient to show benefit to the individual. The actual amount administered, and rate and time-course of administration, will depend on the nature and severity of what is being treated. Prescription of treatment, e.g. decisions on dosage etc, is within the responsibility of general practitioners and other medical doctors, and typically takes account of the disorder to be treated, the condition of the individual patient, the site of delivery, the method of administration and other factors known to practitioners. Examples of the techniques and protocols mentioned above can be found in Remington""s Pharmaceutical Sciences, 16th edition, Osol, A. (ed), 1980.
Alternatively, targeting therapies may be used to deliver the active agent more specifically to certain types of cell, by the use of targeting systems such as antibody or cell specific ligands. Targeting may be desirable for a variety of reasons; for example if the agent is unacceptably toxic, or if it would otherwise require too high a dosage, or if it would not otherwise be able to enter the target cells.
Instead of administering these agents directly, they could be produced in the target cells by expression from an encoding gene introduced into the cells, e.g. in a viral vector (a variant of the VDEPT technique). The vector could be targeted to the specific cells to be treated, or it could contain regulatory elements which are switched on more or less selectively by the target cells.
Alternatively, the agent could be administered in a precursor form, for conversion to the active form by an activating agent produced in, or targeted to, the cells to be treated. This type of approach is sometimes known as ADEPT or VDEPT; the former involving targeting the activating agent to the cells by conjugation to a cell-specific antibody, while the latter involves producing the activating agent, e.g. an enzyme, in a vector by expression from encoding DNA in a viral vector (see for example, EP-A-415731 and WO 90/07936).
A composition may be administered alone or in combination with other treatments, either simultaneously or sequentially dependent upon the condition to be treated.
As a further alternative, the polynucleotide identified as having desirable characteristics following generation by the method of the present invention could be used in a method of gene therapy, to treat a patient who is unable to synthesize the active polypeptide encoded by the polynucleotide or unable to synthesize it at the normal level, thereby providing the effect provided by the corresponding wild-type protein.
Vectors such as viral vectors have been used in the prior art to introduce polynucleotides into a wide variety of different target cells. Typically the vectors are exposed to the target cells so that transfection can take place in a sufficient proportion of the cells to provide a useful therapeutic or prophylactic effect from the expression of the desired polypeptide. The transfected nucleic acid may be permanently incorporated into the genome of each of the targeted tumour cells, providing long lasting effect, or alternatively the treatment may have to be repeated periodically.
A variety of vectors, both viral vectors and plasmid vectors, are known in the art, see U.S. Pat. No. 5,252,479 and WO 93/07282. In particular, a number of viruses have been used as gene transfer vectors, including papovaviruses, such as SV40, vaccinia virus, herpes viruses, including HSV and EBV, and retroviruses. Many gene therapy protocols in the prior art have used disabled murine retroviruses.
As an alternative to the use of viral vectors other known methods of introducing nucleic acid into cells includes electroporation, calcium phosphate co-precipitation, mechanical techniques such as microinjection, transfer mediated by liposomes and direct DNA uptake and receptor-mediated DNA transfer.
As mentioned above, the aim of gene therapy using nucleic acid encoding a polypeptide, or an active portion thereof, is to increase the amount of the expression product of the nucleic acid in cells in which the level of the wild-type polypeptide is absent or present only at reduced levels. Such treatment may be therapeutic in the treatment of cells which are already cancerous or prophylactic in the treatment of individuals known through screening to have a susceptibility allele and hence a predisposition to, for example, cancer.
The present invention also provides a kit for generating a polynucleotide sequence or population of sequences of desired characteristics comprising an exonuclease and components for carrying out a PCR technique, for example, thermostable DNA (nucleotides) and a stopping device, for example, EGTA.
The present applicants have termed the technology described above as FIND (Fragment Induced Nucleotide Diversity).
As outlined above, the FIND programme, in accordance with the present invention conveniently provides for the creation of mutated antibody gene sequences and their random combination to functional antibodies having desirable characteristics. As an example of this aspect of the invention, the antibody genes are mutated by error prone PCR which results in a mutation rate of approximately 0.7%. The resulting pool of mutated antibody genes are then digested with an exonuclease, preferably BAL31, and the reaction inhibited by the addition of EGTA at different time points, resulting in a set of DNA fragments of different sizes. These may then be subjected to PCR based reassembly as described above. The resulting reassembled DNA fragments are then cloned and a gene library constructed. Clones may then be selected from this library and sequenced.
A further application of the FIND technology is the generation of a population of variable DNA sequences which can be used for further selections and analyses. Besides encoding larger proteins, e.g. antibody fragments and enzymes, the DNA may encode peptides where the molecules functional characteristics can be used for the design of different selection systems. Selection of recombined DNA sequences encoding peptides has previously been described (Fisch et al PNAS. USA Jul. 23, 1996; 93 (15): 7761-7766). In addition, the variable DNA population can be used to produce a population of RNA molecules with e.g. catalytic activities. Vaish et al (PNAS. USA Mar. 3, 1998; 95 (5): 2158-2162) demonstrated the design of functional systems for the selection of catalytic RNA and Eckstein F (Ciba Found. Symp. 1997; 209; 207-212) has outlined the applications of catalytic RNA by the specific introduction of catalytic RNA in cells. The FIND system may be used to further search through the sequence space in the selection of functional peptides/molecules with catalytic activities based on recombined DNA sequences.
Aspects and embodiments of the present invention will now be illustrated, by way of example, with reference to the accompanying figures. Further aspects and embodiments will be apparent to those skilled in the art. All documents mentioned in this text are incorporated herein by reference.

Method for in vitro molecular evolution of protein function


A system and method are provided for managing system software download operations in a wireless communications device. The method comprises: executing system software; launching a run-time engine; processing dynamic instruction sets; and, in response to processing the dynamic instruction sets, managing the downloading of system software updates received via an airlink interface using management functions selected from the group including recovery status monitoring, back up, compacting, and update ordering.

It is not uncommon to release software updates for phones that are already in the field. These updates may relate to problems found in the software once the phones have been manufactured and distributed to the public. Some updates may involve the use of new features on the phone, or services provided by the service provider. Yet other updates may involve regional problems, or problems associated with certain carriers. For example, in certain regions the network layout of carriers may impose airlink interface conditions on the handset that cause the handset to demonstrate unexpected behavior such as improper channel searching, improper call termination, improper audio, or the like.
The traditional approach to such updates has been to recall the wireless communications device, also referred to herein as a wireless device, phone, telephone, or handset, to the nearest carrier retail/service outlet, or to the manufacturer to process the changes. The costs involved in such updates are extensive and eat into the bottom line. Further, the customer is inconvenienced and likely to be irritated. Often times, the practical solution is to issue the customer new phones.
The wireless devices are used in a number of environments, with different subscriber services, for a number of different customer applications. Therefore, even if the software of a wireless device can be upgraded to improve service, it is unlikely that the upgrade will provide a uniform improvement for all users.
It would be advantageous if wireless communications device software could be upgraded cheaply, and without inconvenience to the customer.
It would be advantageous if wireless communications device software could be upgraded without the customer losing the use of their phones for a significant period of time.
It would be advantageous if wireless communications device software could be updated with a minimum of technician service time, or without the need to send the device into a service facility.
It would be advantageous if the wireless device system software could be differentiated into code sections, so that only specific code sections of system software would need to be replaced, to update the system software. It would be advantageous if these code sections could be communicated to the wireless device via the airlink.
It would be advantageous if the wireless device could be operated with dynamically loaded instruction sets that would aid in the field updating of system software.
It would be advantageous if these dynamic instruction sets could protect the wireless device from update errors by monitoring the update status, backing up key code sections, performing memory compaction, and ordering the update storage process.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

System and method for the management of wireless communications device system software downloads in the field


The present invention discloses a method operable on a digital electronic device comprising constrained processing unit employing a limited computer-readable storage medium, also known as a digital memory, for allowing an object classification process to be executed on an image. The object classification process may be allowed by a processing unit interlocking with a digital memory unit, which receives an image representing a digital image captured by light incident on an image sensor, denoted herein as an original image. In some cases, a computerized process operable on the digital processing may identify a list of pixel arrays located at the original image, and thereby allow a classification process to be operated on these pixel arrays. In some cases, a process operable on the digital processing may grant access to another computerized process to perform the classification process. In some cases, such a computerized process may be operated by a computerized device designed to communicate with the digital electronic device, and/or the components thereof.

As of today, small electronic detectors and imaging sensors performing scene interpretation, object detection and classification need to be integrated into larger systems that perform the computationally intensive parts of the analysis. The approach is to integrate sensors which identify motion in the detected area and trigger an image capturing device to send the original images further to an application or a system which can analyze the original images, and, based on the results of the analysis, perform tasks or create alerts in accordance with the application's requirements. Such tasks of the applications can comprise: people counting, people sensing, intruder detection, face detection, gesture recognition, distinction between people by age or gender, protection of identified population in a certain area, and the like.
In some cases, sensors are employed as triggers for capturing the images. These sensors can be passive infrared (PIR) sensors, microphones, microwaves, and others, as is well known in the art Such sensors may wake up a video camera that can capture an image or image sequence and send the images to a human reviewer or to an analysis module of the system. In such cases, the system is continuously required to be in operational mode, waiting for images to be received for the analysis process. In some cases, there is a need to maintain complex systems which can comprise computing units, communication means, UI, and other peripheral components. Such systems are often complex, costly, and consume considerable power.

Method and system to allow object detection in visual images by trainable classifiers utilizing a computer-readable storage medium and processing unit


A space division multiple access (SDMA) method is provided. The method may be performed by a station (STA), in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system. The method includes overhearing a third transmission response message transmitted by an access point (AP), and determining whether to access a channel on the basis of criteria information included in the third transmission response message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to wireless communications, and more particularly, to a method of space division multiple access (SDMA) in a wireless local area network (WLAN) system and an apparatus for supporting the method.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
With the advancement of information communication technologies, various wireless communication technologies have recently been developed. Among the wireless communication technologies, a wireless local area network (WLAN) is a technology whereby Internet access is possible in a wireless fashion in homes or businesses or in a region providing a specific service by using a portable terminal such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), a laptop computer, a portable multimedia player (PMP), etc.
Ever since the institute of electrical and electronics engineers (IEEE) 802, i.e., a standardization organization for WLAN technologies, was established in February 1980, many standardization works have been conducted. In the initial WLAN technology, a frequency of 2.4 GHz was used according to the IEEE 802.11 to support a data rate of 1 to 2 Mbps by using frequency hopping, spread spectrum, infrared communication, etc. Recently, the WLAN technology can support a data rate of up to 54 Mbps by using orthogonal frequency division multiplex (OFDM). In addition, the IEEE 802.11 is developing or commercializing standards of various technologies such as quality of service (QoS) improvement, access point protocol compatibility, security enhancement, radio resource measurement, wireless access in vehicular environments, fast roaming, mesh networks, inter-working with external networks, wireless network management, etc.
The IEEE 802.11n is a technical standard relatively recently introduced to overcome a limited data rate which has been considered as a drawback in the WLAN. The IEEE 802.11n is devised to increase network speed and reliability and to extend an operational distance of a wireless network. More specifically, the IEEE 802.11n supports a high throughput (HT), i.e., a data processing rate of up to 540 Mbps or higher, and is based on a multiple input and multiple output (MIMO) technique which uses multiple antennas in both a transmitter and a receiver to minimize a transmission error and to optimize a data rate. In addition, this standard may use a coding scheme which transmits several duplicate copies to increase data reliability and also may use the OFDM to support a higher data rate.
With the widespread use of the WLAN and the diversification of applications using the WLAN, there is a recent demand for a new WLAN system to support a higher throughput than a data processing rate supported by the IEEE 802.11n. However, an IEEE 802.11n medium access control (MAC)/physical layer (PHY) protocol is not effective to provide a throughput of above 1 Gbps. This is because the IEEE 802.11n MAC/PHY protocol is designed for an operation of a station (STA), that is, an STA having one network interface card (NIC), and thus when a frame throughput is increased while conforming to the conventional IEEE 802.11n MAC/PHY protocol, a resultant additional overhead is also increased. Consequently, there is a limitation in increasing a throughput of a wireless communication network while conforming to the conventional IEEE 802.11n MAC/PHY protocol, that is, a single STA architecture.
Therefore, to achieve a data processing rate of above 1 Gbps in the wireless communication system, a new system different from the conventional IEEE 802.11n MAC/PHY protocol (i.e., the single STA architecture) is required. A very high throughput (VHT) WLAN system is a next version of the IEEE 802.11n WLAN system, and is one of IEEE 802.11 WLAN systems which have recently been proposed to support a data processing rate of above 1 Gbps in a MAC service access point (SAP).
The VHT WLAN system allows simultaneous channel access of a plurality of VHT STAs for the effective use of a radio channel. For this, a multi-user multiple input multiple output (MU-MIMO)-based transmission using multiple antennas is supported. The VHT AP can perform spatial division multiple access (SDMA) transmission for transmitting spatially multiplexed data to the plurality of VHT STAs.

Method and apparatus for space division multiple access for wireless local area network system