The present invention relates, in general, to a method for augmenting reduced glutathione level in the lungs of patients. In particular, the present invention relates to a method for augmenting reduced glutathione level in the lungs of patients with cystic fibrosis (CF), acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), or idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF).

In the lung, reduced glutathione (GSH) is present in high concentrations in the epithelial lining fluid (ELF) of the lower respiratory tract, with normal levels in human ELF being more than 40-fold greater than that in plasma. As such, ELF GSH is a major component of the antioxidant screen that protects the pulmonary epithelium from oxidants released by inflammatory cells as well as inhaled oxidants. In addition, ELF GSH helps maintain the normal function of the immune components of the pulmonary epithelial host defense system. However, in certain conditions, such as (1) cystic fibrosis (CF), (2) acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and (3) idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis (IPF), there is found to be a substantial ELF GSH deficiency.

Method for augmenting a decreased level of reduced glutathione in the lung

The United States of America as represented by the Department of Health and Human Services


A coupling for use with conduits (10) comprise a bi-conical fitting (20) which is inserted into the conduit end, a frusto-conical locking sleeve (22) which is located about the rearward end of the fitting (20) and compressed about the outer wall of the conduit (10).

This invention relates to a method and apparatus for attaching conduits to a fitting and more particularly to a specially configured conduit coupling and apparatus.
Attaching hoses and tubes to fittings to form a reliable fluid-tight coupling has presented problems over the years. For example, Deutschese Reich 424980 (1926) provides a spring for driving an interiorly threaded sleeve onto the hose. These threads are at a different taper than that of the sleeve or fitting and bite into the outside of the hose to compress the sleeve about the hose and the hose about the fitting, thereby retarding loosening or pull-off of the hose from the fitting. Dutch Pat. No. 27183 (1932) provides a coupling nut which is threadably advanced about the sleeve in a direction that drives the outer sleeve up onto the fitting and about the hose to increase the pressure between the hose and fitting. These means have proven unsuccessful over the time that is desired by the user.
In accordance with the present invention, a preferred embodiment of a conduit coupling has a fluid fitting and a locking sleeve. The fluid fitting has portions which are insertable within a conduit for expanding adjacent portions thereof. The locking sleeve is locatable on an exterior portion of the conduit longitudinally proximate with at least one portion of the fluid fitting inserted within the conduit. Thus, the conduit is clampingly secured between the locking sleeve and the fluid fitting.
In one aspect of the conduit coupling of the present invention, a centering mechanism centers a fluid fitting in relation to a locking sleeve. In another aspect of the present invention, the conduit coupling is bi-conical. In a further aspect of the conduit coupling of the present invention, an elastomeric seal is provided. In yet another aspect of the present invention, the conduit coupling provides a snap together quick connection.
The conduit coupling of the present invention is advantageous over conventional connections since the present invention can be quickly and easily assembled by hand. The present invention is also less expensive to manufacture and assemble than traditional connections. Moreover, the present invention provides a much more reliable fluid seal between the coupling and the conduit. A variety of different types of pressure or vacuum confining conduits are shown and described herein. The foregoing and other advantages will become more apparent when viewed in light of the accompanying drawings and the following detailed description wherein:

Apparatus for and method of attaching conduits to a fitting


The machine of the present invention fabricates briefs having an openable front panel from two continuous half width webs. The first and second web paths are transversely spaced. It includes feeding and folding devices to add a V-folded reinforcing strip along the edge of one web. Feeder and tensioning devices are included for elastomeric strands that shirr the briefs and to add a re-closable tape across the front panel opening. One of the webs is printed with adhesive at spaced intervals to bond portions of the two overlapped webs in central areas of overlap that become the rear panel after the web is cut into segments and transversely folded. The machine attaches components of the brief and cuts leg apertures and side flaps on each web while the advancing overlapped webs are continuous. After transfer to a rotary drum, the web is severed into overlapped segments which are then cross folded by drum elements before the flaps extending from each side are folded over to secure the back panel to the openable front panel. Another embodiment severs the web into segments before being transferred to the drum for final cross folding into front-rear panels and flap foldover to connect the panels together.

Patent '433 describes a rotary folding apparatus to make seams along selected margins of a shaped garment.
The '433 apparatus can be arranged to make longitudinal seams in the machine direction, transverse seams in the cross direction, and seams along margins at any angle.
Patent '433 also describes the use of mechanical fingers or air blast to fold extension flaps of an underlying segment over the margins of a superposed segment to entrap it within the folded seam.
To provide clearance for `extraneous` devices used to fabricate special garment components such as shirt collars, etc., a shaped vacuumized bearing surface (platen) was defined. It is the functional equivalent of the term `bearing surfaces` used in the description of this invention for manufacturing briefs.
Patent '433 describes the folding/seaming apparatus for garments having a front panel and a rear panel including front opening briefs made from two half width overlapped segments that are bonded together in spaced central areas of the trailing half segments to from a rear panel, later attached to the unbonded front panel after transverse folding.
In the preferred embodiment of this invention, a major portion of the fabrication and assembly occurs while the material is still in web form, before severing the almost completed briefs.
In another embodiment of this invention (see FIG. 14), the partially completed brief is cut into segments before transfer to the carrier drum.
In a modification of the preferred embodiment, the briefs can include an adhesively coated area covered with a release coated strip that is pulled off by the user for attachment of an absorbent pad of choice.
In another embodiment, the product can include an absorbent pad having features well defined in prior art.
Appartus described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,081,301 to Buell (Class 156). U.S. Pat. No. 3,828,367 to Bourgeois, U.S. Pat. No. 4,240,866 to Gore, and U.S. Pat. No. 4,300,967 to Sigh can be adapted to apply elastomeric bands to the briefs and/or the intergral pad so that components of the combination will contract equally when tension is relieved at cutoff.

Method and apparatus for making front opening briefs


The present invention is directed to a gripping system for holding a supporting ring member adapted to support a manhole cover in a tubular member having a peripheral horizontal shoulder. The gripping system has a plurality of rigid elbow-shaped members internally secured inside the ring member. The elbow-shaped members have a horizontal arm radially extending inside the ring member and a substantially vertical pending arm extending below the ring member and adapted to internally face the tubular member. A screw member is threadedly mounted through the vertical arm in the direction of the tubular member. The screw member is provided with a friction plate fixed at one end between the vertical arm and the tubular member for tightening the friction plate on the tubular member and for frictionally retaining the ring member to the tubular member. The friction force is adapted to vertically fix the ring member relative to the tubular member.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a gripping device for preventing a ring member supporting a manhole cover from being lifted unintentionally. It is particularly directed to a plurality of friction plates secured to the ring member and adapted to be tightened to the cylindrical housing of the manhole. The novel gripping device does not hinder a worker from going down the tubular member in the manhole.
2. Prior Art
U.S. Pat. No. 5,078,539 issued to the present applicant describes a raising structure for manhole cover. Such a structure may be lifted unintentionally by vehicles traveling over a manhole cover and more specifically by a grader or a snow plow scraping the ground around the manhole.
In U.S. Pat. No. 3,926,533 describes the structure of a manhole in which the support for the cover is held by a plurality of staples. U.S. Pat. No. 4,475,845 describes an external manhole chimney seal which may be considered as a means for holding the casting supporting the manhole cover. Such a holding means grips the external surface of the casting and a spinning adjusting ring and is mainly concerned with a sealing function.
H. Bowman in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,963,053 and 4,872,780 describes a ring member for supporting a manhole cover. The ring member includes a turnbuckle arrangement to tighten the ring member in its housing.
The annular support for manhole cover described by A. Prescott in U.S. Pat. No. 4,995,757 makes use of bolt members radially engaged through the ring support to project the tip of the bolts against a surrounding collar. Considering that the collars are always made of molded cast iron or concrete, they are slightly tapered outwardly to satisfy the molding procedure. Whenever there is a slight movement of the cover and the supporting ring, the tip of the bolts loosen up and the conicity of the collars unlock the supporting ring.

Gripping device for retaining a ring member supporting a manhole cover


A multi-sensor fire detector includes first and second flame sensors which are coupled to an external environment by a rigid, tapered, optical coupling element. An external end of the coupling element has a cured hemispherical shape with a viewing angle approaching one hundred eighty degrees. Processing and control circuits coupled to the sensors make a determination as to the presence of a fire condition.

It has been recognized that the use of multiple different types of fire-indicating sensors can be useful in making determinations as to the presence of a fire condition. Various multi-sensor types of fire detectors are known. These include, for example those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 6,967,582 entitled "Detector with Ambient Photon Sensor and Other Sensors", U.S. Pat. No. 7,068,177 entitled "Multi-sensor Device and Methods for Fire Detection", U.S. Pat. No. 7,551,096 entitled "Multi-sensor Device and Methods for Fire Detection" and U.S. Pat. No. 7,602,304 entitled "Multi-sensor Device and Methods for Fire Detection". The noted patents are all assigned to the assignee hereof and incorporated herein by reference.
Existing products using the concepts and ideas from these patents show that optical flame detection is an important part of the multi-sensor fire detection. However, the process of sensing flames in such existing products does not allow for an easy determination of whether the light originates from a flame or it has some other, benign origin. Known detectors often just detect the presence of light in the near infrared portion of the optical spectrum.
There is a need to address several factors that make use of the optical signals difficult. For example, in some instances, temporal patterns of the optical signals, taken every five seconds (or at most every second), represent the only information available to be used to make determination whether a change in the signal is due to flames or not. Additional, normal ambient environments often produce signals in the infrared without flames being present (light bulbs, sunlight, etc.) Consequently, whenever the signal processing does not have sufficient information, it will usually conservatively declare that the observed signal increase is due to flames. This potentially leads to increased frequency of nuisance alarms.
Multi-sensor detectors can limit use of information pertaining to flames to circumstances where the other types of sensors indicate that a fire is developing. There are situations when dangerous flaming fires could be detected more quickly if flame related signals could be regarded as reliable indicators of a fire condition as is the case with other types of fire indicators. For instance a cleanly burning alcohol fire can produce substantial flames but very little smoke and minor temperature rise.
Presently, signals indicating the presence of flame may be dismissed, or given limited weight, because other fire indicators such as smoke and temperature are not significant enough to determine that a fire is developing or present in a region. More reliable flame detection could speed detection of flaming fires.

Flame detector using a light guide for optical sensing


A photonic integrated chip having low insertion loss and facilitating alignment of the optical fiber with an optical device, preferably a waveguide or optical detector. The photonic integrated chip includes an optical fiber having a substantially spherical lens attached to one end. The device includes an etched via that receives the spherical lens attached to the optical fiber. An optical device is aligned with the via opposite the spherical lens such that light transmitted through the spherical lens is transmitted to the optical device. An anti-reflection coating is preferably applied on the end of the optical device abutting the via and the surface of the spherical lens to reduce scattering and insertion loss during transmission of data from the spherical lens to the optical device. Index matching fluid is alternatively disposed between the spherical lens and the via for this same purpose.

Fiber optic technology is based on the transmission of data using optical or light signals along a small optical fiber. This technology is currently being used in a variety of computer and communications applications due to the increased bandwidth allowing higher data rates through optical fibers as compared to traditional copper wire transmission methods. However, since computers and communications devices still operate using electrical signals, the optical signals received via the optical fibers must be translated to electrical signals, and the electrical signals transmitted by the devices must be translated to optical signals for communication over the optical fibers. This function is typically performed by various photo detectors, transceivers and optical/electrical converters, these optical devices being included within photonic integrated chips to which the optical fibers are coupled.
For effective signal conversion, the optical fibers must be precisely aligned with appropriate devices, such as photo detectors, within the photonic integrated chips for translation of the optical signal. Failure to precisely align the optical fiber with the photo detectors will result in optical loss and consequent loss of portions of the communicated optical signal. As an optical fiber is brought into alignment with the photo detector (or other device) it has unrestricted movement in all six degrees of freedom, the six degrees of freedom being lateral movement in the x and y directions, forward/backward movement in the z direction, rotation along the z axis, tilt along the x axis and tilt along the y axis. Because of the amount of unrestricted motion, it is extremely difficult to align the optical fibers with the photo detectors. The fact that the optical fibers are extremely small and the alignment must be precise for effective transfer adds to this complexity. In fact, the task is so complex and the necessity of precise alignment is so critical, in many cases the task cannot be performed by automated means but instead must be performed manually by skilled technicians. The only alternative is to install complicated alignment means within the system to aid alignment, adding significant expense. Also, because alignment of the additional devices needs to be as precise as alignment of the optical fibers, many of these adjustment devices still result in misalignment of optical fibers due to misalignment of the adjustment devices.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,311, entitled "RECEPTACLE FOR CONNECTING PARALLEL FIBER OPTIC CABLES TO A MULTI-CHIP MODULE," discloses a connector and receptacle for connecting optical fibers to a multi-chip module. The receptacle is a plastic body having holes for receiving the optical fibers. The body is surrounded by a jacket having a thermal expansion joint. The recess also has alignment holes at the bottom for receiving metal pins located on the connector that also holds the optical fibers. As the connector holding the optical fibers is brought into contact with the receptacle, the metal pins are inserted into the alignment holes aligning the optical fibers with the holes for receiving the optical fibers. The present invention does not align optical fibers in this manner. U.S. Pat. No. 5,499,311 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,929, entitled "SYSTEM AND METHOD FOR INTERFACING OPTICAL FIBERS WITH OPTICAL COMMUNICATIONS DEVICE VIA AN OPTICAL FIBER FACEPLATE," discloses a connector for transmitting optical signals to an optical fiber communications device. The connector has optical fibers of larger diameter than the optical fibers to which it is connected. This obviates the need for precise alignment of either the fibers or the connector. The present invention does not rely on enlarged connecting fibers for alignment, and thus does not use the method of this invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,137,929 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,820, entitled "ELECTROOPTICAL COUPLING COMPONENT," discloses a system that couples two electrooptical components by mating indentations and protrusions on the two components. Specifically, a first substrate having optical waveguides has a trapezoidal indentation. A second substrate having optical fibers further includes a trapezoidal protrusion and recesses for the waveguides. The first substrate can be slidingly mated with the second substrate such that the trapezoidal indentation and protrusion interlock, thereby aligning the waveguides and recesses. This method of alignment is not used in the present invention. U.S. Pat. No. 6,250,820 is hereby incorporated by reference into the specification of the present invention.
As can be seen from the prior art, to align optical fibers with waveguides, photo detectors or other suitable devices it is generally necessary to precisely align other components as well. Though other alternatives may exist, these can result in optical losses from other areas and are not suitable for applications that have strict space limitations. It is therefore desirable in the art to have an alignment architecture providing a low optical loss that can be aligned using a simple optical means.

Photonic integrated circuit and method of fabricating same

The United States of America as represented by the National Security Agency


The invention provides a composition for delivery of an active agent comprising a plurality of lamellar particles of a biodegradable polymer which is at least in part crystalline, and an active agent adsorbed to at least most of the particles. Preferably the biodegradablepolymer is at least 5% by weight crystalline. Preferred biodegradable polymers are poly(L-lactide) (L.PLA) or copolymers or blends of L.PLA. The particles are especially useful for the immobilization of antigens or allergens for vaccines.

Systems for delivering pharmaceutically or therapeutically active agents, especially antigens, are of considerable interest.
Although the influence of factors such as the dose, formulation and frequency of administration of antigen on the immune response is recognised, optimal delivery and presentation have not in general been established (Khan et al 1994). In conventional liquid dosing regimens, several small doses of antigen are more effective than a single inoculation or a few large doses in stimulating a protective immune response. It is also known that protein concentrations as low as 0.001 .mu.g are sufficient to stimulate a secondary response and that immunological unresponsiveness (tolerance) can be induced by both high and low doses of antigen and by frequent administration.
Many purified, synthetic or inactivated antigens such as Tetanus toxoid are poorly immunogenic and usually require several parenteral doses to confer adequate protection. Adsorption of vaccine antigens onto adjuvants such as Alum is a common method for enhancing the immunogenicity. A wide variety of substances, both biological and synthetic, have been used as adjuvants including mycobacteria, oil emulsions, liposomes, polymer microparticles and mineral gels. A range of 24 different adjuvants was recently investigated by Stieneker et al (1995) for inactivated HIV virus encompassing many of the adjuvant systems currently under investigation. However, only Aluminium hydroxide "Alum" has been approved for administration in humans but its use is often associated with adverse reactions.
As well as protecting antigens, stimulating phagocytosis and activating lymphoid cells, some adjuvants function by retaining the antigen at the site of deposition. Antigen retention appears vital for repeated stimulation of the memory B-cell population and for maintaining antibody titres over long periods (Gray et al 1988). The adjuvant effect of water-in oil emulsions Freund's Complete Adjuvant (FCA)/Freund's Incomplete Adjuvant (FIA), for example, is considered to arise from creation of a short-term `depot effect` involving antigen retention as a result of granuloma formation. Malarial antigen has been detected at the injection site 80 days post-administration when formulated with liposomes and encapsulated in alginate poly(L-lysine) microparticles (Cohen et al 1991) suggesting that this system also provides a `depot-type` vaccine for sustained retention and presentation of antigens to the immune system.
The considerable research effort devoted to vaccine formulation has generated a multitude of strategies for optimising antigen release rates and achieving single dose delivery systems. Pulse release of antigen from biodegradable, biocompatible poly(lactide co-glycolide) [PLG] microparticles is considered advantageous for stimulating the conventional, multi-dose, schedule. However, most microparticulate delivery systems are considered to function on the principle of sustained, long term antigen release which presents a continuous trickle of antigen to the immune system to maintain proliferation of immune cells and antibody production. Raghuvanshi et al (1993) developed a single injection formulation for Tetanus toxoid (TT) based on this principle using PLG microparticles. The resultant immune response over 5 months in rats was comparable with the conventional 2-dose schedule of TT adsorbed on alum.
The lower primary response observed with TT adsorbed to Alum was considered due to rapid antigen depletion resulting in reduced proliferation of immune cells.
The ability of small antigen-loaded PLG microparticles (<5 .mu.m in size) to function as potent antigen delivery systems after sub-cutaneous administration is considered to arise from 2 mechanisms: 1) efficient phagocytosis resulting in transport to the lymph nodes where efficient antigen processing and presentation to T-helper cells occurs and 2) controlled release of antigen from the microparticles. (Eldridge et al 1991 O'Hagan et al 1991). However, high immune responses have also been induced using large (72 .mu.m) protein-loaded microparticles (O'Hagan et al 1993) demonstrating that phagocytosis and transport to lymph nodes is not absolutely necessary for achieving high serum antibody titres. However, it is recognised that antigen-containing fragments from large microparticles could be phagocytosed.
It is acknowledged that the higher immune response obtained when using antigen-loaded PLG microparticles could be attributed to an adjuvant effect rather than to slow release of encapsulated protein since antigens adsorbed onto microparticles have been shown to generate potent immune responses after subcutaneous (O'Hagan et al 1993. Kreuter et al 1988) and nasal administration (Alpar and Almeida 1994).

Polymeric lamellar substrate particles for drug delivery


The invention provides a process for recuperating a triglyceride oil from wet gums from a vegetable oil, said process comprising the steps of:    (a) providing wet gums by water de-gumming a crude vegetable oil,    (b) mixing said wet gums with water containing a phospholipidolytic agent,    (c) allowing the mixture to separate into two or more phases, said two or more phases including at least an oily phase and an aqueous phase, and    (d) recuperating said oily phase.

Edible oils as obtained by expelling and/or solvent extraction often require extensive purification. Accordingly, mucilaginous matter may be removed during a degumming step, and free fatty acids may be removed during a chemical neutralisation step by reacting them with caustic soda under formation of soaps. Colouring compounds may be removed during the a bleaching step wherein oil is treated with an adsorbent such as bleaching earth, and malodorous compounds may be removed during a deodorization step. This latter step can also serve the purpose of removing free fatty acids and is then commonly referred to as the steam refining or physical refining step.
For the removal of mucilaginous matter from a vegetable oil, a number of different processes are used. The most simple and oldest process is the water degumming process as described by Bolmann in German Patent 382 912. In this process, crude oil as obtained by solvent extraction of oilseeds or their expeller cake is treated with live steam after the extraction solvent has been removed by evaporation. The term "live steam" should be understood herein as meaning that steam is directed at the object being steamed and allowed to condense onto said object. This treatment causes the gums to be hydrated and form a separate phase that can then be isolated from the oil as wet gums which can then be dried to yield lecithin.
As explained in detail by W. van Nieuwenhuyzen, "Lecithin production and properties" in Journal of the American Oil Chemists' Society (1976) 53: 425-427, lecithin is a complex mixture of phosphatides (such as phosphatidyl choline, phosphatidyl ethanolamine, phosphatidyl inositol and phosphatidic acid), their lyso-compounds, triglycerides, sugars (such as saccharose, raffinose and stachyose), some glycolipids and further minor constituents, wherein lecithin normally contains some 35% by weight triglyceride oil.
This triglyceride oil contained in lecithin constitutes a manufacturing and/or commercial loss to the crushing industry (i.e. oil production from pressing oil seeds) since the addition of the lecithin or the wet gums to the meal only realises meal value, which is invariably lower than the oil value. Accordingly, attempts have been made to reduce this loss by recuperating oil from the wet gums or lecithin. U.S. Pat. No. 2,678,327 describes a process of treating crude glyceride oil containing gums, comprising de-gumming said oil by adding an aqueous de-gumming agent thereto to hydrate said gums and render them insoluble in said oil and separating from said oil hydrated gums containing a substantial amount of said oil, thereafter admixing a liquefied, normally gaseous hydrocarbon such as propane with the hydrated gums and maintaining the resulting mixture under sufficient pressure to retain said hydrocarbon in liquid form, bringing said mixture to a temperature producing a solvent phase containing said liquefied hydrocarbon and said oil and an aqueous phase containing said gums while said gums contain sufficient water to produce a liquid aqueous phase, separating said two phases, recovering de-oiled gums from said aqueous phase and vaporising said hydrocarbon from said solvent phase to recover oil therefrom.
The use of a normally gaseous hydrocarbon such as propane necessitates the installation to be explosion-proof which requires a considerable additional investment. Moreover, liquefaction and evaporation of this hydrocarbon require energy and thus augment the operating cost of the recovery process. Consequently, the crushing industry would welcome a cheaper process to recuperate triglyceride oil contained in wet gums.
During the water degumming process leading to the wet gums not all phosphatides present in the crude oil are hydrated. Some phosphatides that are commonly referred to as non-hydratable phosphatides (NHP), remain dissolved in the oil even after repeated water degumming treatments. Since these NHP have to be removed if the oil is subsequently to be neutralised by the steam refining process, more effective degumming processes have been developed that result in lower residual phosphatide contents than the water degumming process.
Several of these more effective degumming processes have in common that they treat the crude oil to be degummed with an aqueous acid in order to decompose the NHP which consist mainly of calcium and magnesium salts of phosphatidic acid. For this decomposition to be effective, the degumming acid has to be stronger than phosphatidic acid, and phosphoric acid or citric acid are commonly used for this purpose. U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,686 discloses that phosphatides and other minor components can be advantageously removed from crude or water-deslimed triglyceride oils which are substantially liquid at 40° C., by dispersing an effective amount of a substantially concentrated acid or anhydride, having a pH of at least 0.5 as measured at 20° C. in a one molar aqueous solution, in the oil, subsequently dispersing 0.2 to 5% by weight of water in the mixture obtained, and finally separating an aqueous sludge containing the gums from the oil, the mixture of oil, water and acid being maintained for at least 5 minutes at a temperature below 40° C. before separating the aqueous sludge.
European Patent No. 195,991 discloses producing de-gummed vegetable oils and gums of high phosphatidic acid content by removing non-hydratable phosphatides and iron from water de-gummed vegetable oils, comprising the steps of:                finely dispersing a non-toxic aqueous acid in the water de-gummed oil so as to form an interface between the acid droplets and the oil of at least 0.2 m2 per 100 g of oil, and allowing sufficient contact time to complete decomposition of the phosphatidic acid metal salts; and        mixing a base into the acid-in-oil dispersion in such amount that the pH of the aqueous phase is increased to above 2.5 but no substantial amount of soap is produced.
Yet another acid degumming process has been described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,248. In this process, vegetable oil is combined with a dilute aqueous organic acid solution and subjected to high shear to finely disperse the acid solution in the oil. The resulting acid-and-oil mixture is then mixed at low shear for a sufficient length of time to sequester contaminants into a hydrated impurities phase, producing a purified vegetable oil phase. Example 1 of this patent illustrates that the resulting oil is indeed highly purified and differs strongly from conventionally water degummed vegetable oil. Whereas according to Table 1 in U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,248 the latter oil contains 50 ppm magnesium, 80 ppm calcium and 150 ppm phosphorus, the organic refined oil contains <5 ppm magnesium, <5 ppm calcium and <10 ppm phosphorus. This means that the composition of the hydrated gums resulting from the organic refining process will also differ substantially from that resulting from the conventional water degumming process. Whereas the latter comprises only hydratable phosphatides, the gums resulting from the organic refining process also contain the NHP or rather their decomposition products such as for instance the sodium salt of phosphatidic acid.
Finally, U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,423 discloses a process for treating a phosphatide-containing mixture that comprises the steps of providing a phosphatide-containing mixture obtained from an organic acid refining process; separating the phosphatide-containing mixture into a purified vegetable oil phase and a phosphatide-enriched aqueous phase; and removing the purified vegetable oil phase. Typically, the purified vegetable oil phase migrates to the top, the phosphatide phase migrates to the middle and the aqueous organic acid phase migrates to the bottom. The purified vegetable oil phase can be separated by any convenient method, although preferably it is decanted away from the other two phases.
Accordingly, the process described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,426,423 allows oil contained in wet gums to be recuperated and thus to reduce the oil loss during the crushing process, but it has the disadvantage of being limited to the organic refining process as described in U.S. Pat. No. 6,172,248 and employing additives like organic acids and also aiming at producing an oil with a low residual phosphorus content. This oil recuperation process is therefore of little use to the crushing industry who wants to supply the market with vegetable oils containing as much phosphatides as permitted by the trading specifications and who want to maximise their crude oil yield at the same time.
In the crushing industry, vegetable oils are commonly just water degummed to reduce the risk that the oils throw a deposit on transport and storage and to ensure that the refiner buying this crude oil suffers only limited refining losses. The gums resulting from the water degumming process may be dried to yield lecithin but since the potential availability of lecithin far exceeds the demand, most gums are mixed with the meal in the crushing plant and then sold at meal value, which is fully in line with existing regulations since this mixing is confined to an integrated operation. Moreover, the only lecithin being traded in appreciable amounts is soy lecithin which means that wet gums originating from the water degumming of for instance rapeseed oil or sunflower seed oil are hardly ever dried as such and thus normally mixed with their meals.


In order to provide a wavelength-selective light-shielding element capable of blocking circularly-polarized light beams rotating in a specific direction among light beams whose wavelengths falling in a specific range, a light-shielding region is provided in a portion of a transparent substrate, wherein the light-shielding region permits passage of first circularly-polarized light rotating in a first direction regardless of a wavelength of the first circularly-polarized light and blocks second circularly-polarized light beams whose wavelengths falling within a predetermined range, among second circularly-polarized light beams rotating in the second direction, to thus permit passage of the second circularly-polarized light beams falling outside the predetermined range.

In addition to an optical disk having a single recording layer as in a CD, a multilayer optical disk having a plurality of recording layers for increasing recording capacity as in a DVD and a high-density DVD has come to be used. However, when information is read (hereinafter called "reproduced") from a recording layer of the multilayer optical disk, stray light reflected from a recording layer not to be subjected to reproduction (a non-reproduction layer) as well as information light reflected from a recording layer to be subjected to reproduction (a reproduction layer) enter a photodetector. Therefore, interference between the information light and the stray light sometimes leads to deterioration of the accuracy of reproduction.
FIGS. 8A and 8B are ray diagrams achieved when a DVD 808 having two recording layers is subjected to reproduction. FIG. 8A shows a light path of light reflected when a first recording layer 809 close to a light incidence plane is subjected to reproduction, and FIG. 8B shows a light path of light reflected when a second recording layer 810 distant from the light incidence plane is subjected to reproduction.
Specifically, the light reflected by the DVD 808 passes through an objective lens 804 and a collimator lens 803, to thus enter a photodetector 805.
As shown in FIG. 8A, light-source light emitted from the light source comes into a focus on the first recording layer 809 at the time of reproduction of data in the first recording layer 809, and the light-source light reflected from the first recording layer 809 turns into information light 801 and converges on a photodetector 805. However, the light-source light does not come into a focus on a second recording layer 810, the light-source light reflected from the second recording layer 810 turns into stray light 802 and converges on a position ahead of the photodetector 805 and does not converge on the photodetector 805; however, a portion of the stray light enters the photodetector 805.
Further, when the second recording layer 810 is subjected to reproduction as shown in FIG. 8B, the light-source light comes into a focus on the second recording layer 810, and hence the information light 801 reflected from the second recording layer 810 converges on the photodetector 805. However, the light-source light does not come into a focus on the first recording layer 809, the stray light 802 reflected from the first recording layer 809 converges on a location behind the photodetector 805. Hence, the stray light does not converge on the photodetector 805, but a portion of the stray light enters the photodetector 805.
Consequently, the information light reflected from the reproduction layer and the stray light reflected from the non-reproduction layer interfere with each other within the photodetector 805; hence, deterioration of the accuracy of reproduction is unavoidable.
In order to enhance the accuracy of reproduction, there has already been proposed an optical member used for diminishing the interference between the information light reflected from the reproduction layer and the stray light reflected from the non-reproduction layer (see; for instance, JP-A-2005-203090).
As will be shown in FIG. 9A, an optical member 9 of the proposal has a hologram area 91 that is formed in a center portion of an effective region 901 and is essentially identical with the photodetector 805 in terms of an outer shape.
The light-source light is reflected by the reproduction layer, to thus turn into information light; and is reflected by the non-reproduction layer, to thus turn into stray light. The information light and the stray light that enter the hologram area 91 of the optical member 9 undergo diffraction in the hologram area 91 and do not enter the photodetector 805.
Consequently, as shown in FIG. 9B, the area of the photodetector 805 is not exposed to the stray light 802 within the plane of the photodetector 805, and the stray light diffuses into a circumference 94 of the photodetector 805.
In the meantime, the information light 801 entered the hologram area 91 undergoes diffraction in the hologram area 91, to thus fail to reach the photodetector 805. However, the information light 801 transmitted through an area other than the hologram area 91 creates spots 93 on three cells 92 of the photodetector 805. Therefore, the information light 801 and the stray light 802 does not interfere with each other within the photodetector 805, and the accuracy of reproduction of the multilayer optical disk can be enhanced.
However, in the optical member of the proposal, the hologram area 91 diffracts the information light 801 and the stray light 802 regardless of a wavelength. When an optical disk (e.g., a CD) having a single recording layer which does not require prevention of interference is subjected to reproduction, information light that has a high density of light and that is acquired in the vicinity of an optical axis is lost, which raises a problem of a decrease in a utilization ratio of light. An optical element may also be retracted from an optical path at the time of reproduction of an optical disk during which prevention of interference is not required. However, there must be provided a mechanism that inserts and retracts an optical element according to the type of an optical disk to be subjected to reproduction.

Wavelength-selective light-shielding element and optical head using the same


An image transfer system for transferring an image from a first medium, comprising an image transfer apparatus and a computer. The image transfer apparatus has a scanner for scanning the image on the first medium, and a display. The computer is removably connected to the image transfer apparatus. The computer has a computer display. When the computer is connected to the image transfer apparatus, the computer has selectable features of an operating menu of the image transfer apparatus available for display on the computer display. At least one of the features is unavailable for selection in an image transfer apparatus menu available for display on the computer display when the computer is not connected to the transfer apparatus.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image transfer system and, more particularly, to image transfer system comprising an image transfer device operably connected to a computer.
2. Prior Art
There are known examples in the prior art of image transfer systems comprising an image transfer device coupled to one or more computers. One such example is U.S. Pat. No. 5,798,738 which provides a copying machine print manager system which comprises a terminal connected to a copying machine. Generally, the copying machines in the prior art were capable of performing only a given set of functions regardless of whether the copying machine was or was not connected to a computer.
One object of the present invention is to provide a user interface (UI) and software solution for providing extended and enhanced feature suite to an image transfer device based on the connection of the device to a personal computer (PC) which enables the device to leverage greater memory and processing power. Another object of the present invention is to have selectable features of the extended suite made visible/available in a client UI when the image transfer device is attached to the PC. The device driver software would be "smart" enough to recognize the capabilities of the output device when coupled with the PC, and extended features and functions could become available to the user once the automated on install assessment is made.


The present disclosure relates to an in vitro method for measuring the T75 of reduction kinetics of iron from Fe+3 to Fe+2 in an iron-sucrose complex and hence assessing the bioequivalency of iron-sucrose composition. According to the disclosed method, T75 of reduction kinetics of iron in an iron-sucrose complex in between 25 to 50 minutes indicates bioequivalent iron-sucrose composition.

Iron-carbohydrate complexes, administered either through oral or parenteral route, are used for the treatment of anemia due to iron deficiency. Iron-sucrose injection is widely used in treatment of the iron deficiency and iron deficiency anemia and patients undergoing chronic Hemodialysis receiving supplemental erythropoietin therapy.
Iron-sucrose injection replenishes body iron stores in patients with iron deficiency. Iron is a mineral that the body needs to produce red blood cells. When the body does not get enough iron, it cannot produce the number of normal red blood cells needed to keep a person in good health. This condition is called iron deficiency (iron shortage) or iron deficiency anemia. Iron is sometimes lost with slow or small amounts of bleeding in the body that a person would not be aware of and which can only be detected by a patient's physician. The physician can determine if iron supplement is necessary for the patient.
Some conditions may increase the need for iron in patients. These include bleeding problems, burns, hemodialysis, intestinal diseases, stomach problems, stomach removal, use of medicines to increase red blood cell count, etc.
Iron supplements are available in the following dosage forms:
Oral: Ferrous fumarate, Ferrous gluconate, Ferrous sulfate, Iron-Polysaccharide
Parenteral: Iron-Dextran, Iron-Sorbitol, Iron-Sucrose, Sodium-Ferric-Gluconate Complex
In the current scenario, iron-sucrose complex is used orally or parentrally for the treatment of iron deficiency anemia in patients. When iron-sucrose complex is given orally it will not be absorbed 100% from the GI tract. Hence, the absorbed iron-sucrose complex given orally is not adequate to stock up or maintain iron stores necessary for hematopoiesis during erythropoietin therapy.
To have high availability in the conditions like chronic hemodialysis, iron-sucrose is given through intravenous route. Iron sucrose is taken up by cells of the reticuloendothelial system, which release ionic iron that binds to transferrin, which in turn, transfers it to the bone marrow for erythropoiesis or to ferritin and the iron storage pool in the marrow, spleen and liver.
Thus in the human body, the metabolism of iron involves a series of reactions wherein the valence of the iron changes from Fe3+ to Fe2+ and vice versa.
Metabolism of Iron Sucrose
Iron-sucrose is dissociated into iron and sucrose by the reticuloendothelial system and iron is transferred form the blood to a bone marrow. Ferritin, the iron storage protein binds and sequesters iron into a nontoxic iron that is easily available. The iron binds to plasma transferrin which carries iron through the extracellular fluid for supply to the tissues. The transferrin receptors presented in membrane binds transferrin iron complex which is then internalized in vesicles. Further, iron is released within the cell and transferrin-receptor complex returns to the cell membrane. Transferrin without iron is then released to the plasma. The intracellular iron becomes hemoglobin on circulating red blood cells.
When the amount of available iron exceeds ferritin's iron storage mechanism, an aggregated ferritin called hemosiderin is formed, which is a normal constituent of the monocyte-macrophage system. Hemosiderin is composed of molecules of ferritin, which have lost part of their protein shell and become aggregated. Hemosiderin accounts for about one third of normal iron stores and accumulates as insoluble granules in the cells of the reticuloendothelial system.
Upon administration to a patient, an iron-sucrose complex is removed from the blood stream as a particle by the macrophages of the reticuloendothelial system and metabolized to replenish the body's iron stores of hemosiderin, ferritin and transferrin. The rate of removal from the blood stream is dependent on both the colloidal ferric hydroxide's particle size and composition.
Iron-sucrose complex is composed of colloidal ferric hydroxide particles as core in complex with sucrose.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,342 claims in vitro method to control and monitor the batch-to-batch bioequivalence of iron-sucrose complexes, by measuring the colloidal ferric hydroxide's rate of reduction from trivalent iron to divalent iron. In the method, iron-sucrose complex is treated with a reducing agent and T75 for reduction kinetics of the complex is measured, wherein the T75 of less than 20 minutes indicates an effective bioequivalence of iron in the complex.
It is stated in U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,342 that the colloidal ferric hydroxide complexes are dark red to brown solutions with a strong adsorption band at 450 nm. As the reduction to ferrous hydroxide occurs, the color is discharged, resulting in a decrease in absorbency. This decay (or dissociation) can be easily monitored in a temperature controlled (37±1° C.) system.
In U.S. Pat. No. 6,911,342, T75 time for the reduction of the iron-carbohydrate complex is used to determine the relative bioequivalence by reducing the complex with an appropriate reducing agent. Preferred reducing agents disclosed in the US patent are reduced flavin mononucleotide, dithionite, thioglycolate, hydroquinone, lactate, citrate, bicarbonate, pyruvate, succinate, fructose, cysteine, sorbitol and ascorbic acid. The reducing agent may be present in an amount sufficient to drive the reduction reaction to completion or at least to substantial completion.
A preferred bioequivalence standard for an iron-sucrose formulation is met if T75 reduction time is not more than 20 minutes (preferably 9 to 18 minutes) and its reduction reaction plot of "Log(% Trivalent Iron Concentration)" versus "Time" is linear with a correlation coefficient absolute value of not less than 0.98.
Improvement in the method to control and monitor the batch-to-batch bioequivalence of iron-sucrose complexes is desirable.

In-vitro method for testing bioequivalence of iron-sucrose formulation


The present invention relates to marker components, fluorescent probes, oligonucleotides, hybridization assays, and immunoassays using such products, and methods for making such products. According to the present invention, detectably labeled marker components are provided that comprise a fluorescent moiety coupled to two small solubilizing groups, one on each side of the molecular plane, said fluorescent moiety having substituents to control net charge so as to reduce or remove the problems of solvent sensitivity and nonspecific binding.

Publications and other reference materials referred to herein are incorporated herein by this reference. The following description of the background of the invention is intended to aid in the understanding of the invention, but is not admitted to describe or constitute prior art to the invention.
The near infrared absorption and emission of prophyrins, phthalocyanines and other azaporphyrins and certain other aromatic nitrogen containing macrecycles have for some time made these compounds attractive candidates for use as fluorescence labels.
The phthalocyanines, particularly because of their strong near infrared absorption (molar extinction coefficients about 200,000) their high quantum yields and the resistance to fading of common metallophthalocyanine dyes have given rise to many efforts to utilize them as fluorescent labels. However, earlier efforts along these lines did not yield entirely satisfactory products largely because of the unusually strong tendency of phthalocyanines to associate, particularly by stacking in face to face aggregates, and also to bind strongly to a variety of other molecular surfaces (nonspecific binding).
As a result of intramolecular stacking unsubstituted phthalocyanines have very low solubilities in both organic and aqueous solvents. As is now well known, the tendency to stack can be reduced by the introduction of charged groups, such as sulfonate. While phthalocyanines with such substituents may possess high solubility in water and in aqueous solutions of electrolytes, the tendency to bind nonspecifically largely persists. Much of the scientific interest in fluorescence labeling is focused on applications involving biological materials such as tissue sections, cells, cell fragments, proteins, including glycol- and lipo-proteins, peptides, oligo- and poly-saccharides, oligo- and poly-nucleotides and lipids. A tendency to bind nonspecifically in fluorescence assays involving these materials may interfere by partially masking the specific interactions of interest. The nonspecific binding as well as the tendency to stack can be reduced to levels negligible in assays for therapeutic drugs by coupling the phthalocyanine dye to one or more polyoxyhydyocarbyl groups, typically methoxy-terminated poly (ethylene glycol), (PEG). At the same time the attachment of such groups preserves the desirable absorption and emission characteristics. The same technology is also effective for a wide variety of other near infrared dyes. See, U.S. Pat. No. 5,403,928.
Further significant advances have been made in the ability to measure the relevant parameters in immunoassays. For example, using the technique described in Dandliker et al, U.S. Pat. No. 5,302,349, entitled "Transient State Luminescence Assay Apparatus" incorporated here by reference, in its entirety, including any drawings, allows the concentrations of the bound and free forms of the components to be determined in a homogeneous assay format, i.e. no separation of bound and free is required.
Despite the significant and promising improvements made in the field of fluorescent labels and in the data analysis aspect there remains a need in the art for additional dyes which have the essential advantages but are also easier to prepare and have greater chemical stability. Prior closely related art by others is to be found in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,135,717, 5,346,670, and 5,494,793.

Substituted azaporphyrins as fluorescence labels


A keymod mount, which is arranged for detachably coupling at a firearm having one or more keymod slots, includes a securing member and a locking member movably extended from the securing member. The securing member includes a mounting body having a top utility surface, and a coupling head downwardly extended from a bottom surface of the mounting body for slidably engaging with a narrow slot portion of the keymod slot to retain said mounting body on a top surface of the keymod slot. The locking member includes a locking body and a locking head downwardly extended from a bottom surface of the locking body for inserting into an enlarged slot portion of the keymod slot after the coupling head is engaged with the narrow slot portion thereof, so as to securely lock up the securing member on the firearm.

Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a firearm accessory attachment system of a firearm, and more particular to a KeyMod mount, which provides a quick and precise attachment to be detachably mounted at the firearm.
Description of Related Arts
Conventional rail systems, such as "Picatinny rail system, have evolved in the firearm industry from a military standard. The conventional rail system generally provides a rail comprising a plurality of T-shaped cross sectional raised ridges formed at the firearm, and an adapter provided at the accessory, wherein the accessory can be mounted at the rail by transversely sliding the adapter at the rail and fastening the adapter at the rail via a bolt. However, the conventional rail system has several drawbacks. The rail will only enable the accessory to be mounted at the firearm at the transverse direction. It is not ergonomic for a user to hold the firearm and mount the accessory to the rail in a transverse direction to the discharge axis of the firearm. In addition, the rail profile with the raised ridges will substantially increase the overall weight of the firearm. More importantly, the rail cannot provide a quick and precise attachment for the firearm because the adapter must be fastened with the rail by the bolt.
A "KeyMod" rail system is an improved system superior to the conventional rail system. The KeyMod mounting arrangement generally comprises a plurality of KeyMod mounting slots provided at the firearm and a KeyMod mounting nut provided at the accessory. In particular, each of the mounting slots, which is extended along the discharge axis of the firearm, has a keyhole configuration defining an enlarged slot portion with larger diameter and a narrower slot portion extended therefrom, wherein the slot is chamfered on the backside. Therefore, the mounting nut can be disposed in the enlarged slot portion and slid to the narrower slot portion. Then, the mounting nut can be fastened at the narrower slot portion by a bolt to lift the mounting nut at the backside of the mounting slot in order to secure the accessory at the firearm. The KeyMod rail system can solve the existing problems by providing an ergonomic mounting way to mount the accessory at the firearm corresponding to the discharge axis thereof, and by substantially reducing the overall weight of the firearm incorporating with the KeyMod mounting slots. However, the KeyMod rail system has several drawbacks.
The alignment between the mounting nut and the enlarged slot portion of the mounting slot must be precise. Especially when two or more mounting nuts are provided at the accessory, the user must correctly align the mounting nuts with the enlarged slot portions of the mounting slots respectively. Since the mounting nuts are movable, the user must hold the mounting nuts stationary before the mounting nuts are plugged into the enlarged slot portions of the mounting slots. It is worth mentioning that the mounting nuts can only be stationary or locked after the mounting nuts are lifted by the bolts to couple at the narrower slot portions of the mounting slots. In other words, the KeyMod rail system provides a displeasing mounting operation comparing with the conventional "Picatinny rail system or "Weaver" rail system. Furthermore, the KeyMod rail system still cannot provide a quick and precise attachment for the firearm because the mounting nut must be fastened with the mounting slot by the bolt.
The two different rail systems are commonly found in a handguard to give more room for attaching the accessory to the firearm. Accordingly, the handguard is mounted at a front portion of a firearm to serve not only as a guard to protect the barrel but also as a hand grip for the user to grip the firearm. The handguard has a polygonal cross section and defines a plurality of longitudinal faces, wherein conventional rail system is formed on the top longitudinal face of the handguard while the KeyMod mounting slots are formed at the rest of the longitudinal faces. The KeyMod mounting slots serve as heat dissipating holes formed in series on each longitudinal face of the handguard to dissipate heat from the barrel since it may become very hot when firing. Therefore, the accessory can be mounted to the handguard by either the conventional rail system or the KeyMod rail system. However, the existing handguard has several drawbacks.
Since the handguard is made of metal for heat dissipation, the edges of the KeyMod mounting slots will be sharp enough to cut the skin of the user especially by the recoil force of the firearm when the user grips the handguard. More importantly, the handguard will burn the hand of the user when it becomes extremely hot. Therefore, a handguard cover is found in the market to solve the above mentioned problems. The handguard cover, which is made of soft material such as rubber, comprises a cover panel and an elastic plug pressed into one of the KeyMod mounting slots in order to cover the cover panel on the exterior side of the longitudinal face of the handguard. This handguard can substantially provide a comfortable touch and can block the heat from the barrel to burn the hand of the user when the user grips the handguard. However, the handguard cover is held at the handguard by the elastic force of the elastic plug at the KeyMod mounting slot, such that the handguard cover can be easily detached from the handguard. In addition, the handguard cover can only cover two or more KeyMod mounting slots at the same longitudinal face of the handguard. In other words, if the user wants to cover two KeyMod mounting slots at different longitudinal faces of the handguard, two handguard covers are required. More importantly, when the KeyMod mounting slot is covered by the handguard cover, the accessory cannot be mounted at the same KeyMod mounting slot.


A driving method for a spindle motor and associated driving system and apparatus are provided. The driving method includes the following steps. Plural modulation signals and plural floating phases corresponding to the plural modulation signals are adjusted. A floating period comes immediately after an active period of each of the plural modulation signals according to the plural floating phases. During the floating period, a demagnetization time of the spindle motor is acquired according to a first terminal voltage signal at a first terminal of the spindle motor. If the demagnetization time is not smaller than the threshold time period, the step of adjusting the plural modulation signals is repeatedly done. Whereas, if the demagnetization time is smaller than the threshold time period, after the demagnetization time, a phase of the spindle motor is obtained according to the first terminal voltage signal.

FIG. 1 schematically illustrates the architecture of a conventional spindle motor driving apparatus. As shown in FIG. 1, the conventional spindle motor driving apparatus connected to a spindle motor 130, and the spindle motor driving apparatus comprises a motor controller 110, a driving circuit 120, and a position sensor 140.
According to a rotating position of rotor of the spindle motor 130, the position sensor 140 generates a position signal H to the motor controller 110. According to the position signal H, the motor controller 110 generates a pulse width modulation signal PWM. According to the pulse width modulation signal PWM, the driving circuit 120 generates a first phase current Iu, a second phase current Iv and a third phase current Iw to three terminals U, V and W of the spindle motor 130. In response to the rotation of the spindle motor 130, the position sensor 140 issues the position signal H to the motor controller 110. For example, the position sensor 140 is a Hall sensor.
FIG. 2A is a schematic circuit diagram illustrating the driving circuit of the conventional spindle motor driving apparatus. As shown in FIG. 2A, the driving circuit 120 comprises six driving transistors M1˜M6. Each of the driving transistors M1˜M6 has a body diode connected between a drain terminal and a source terminal. Moreover, the pulse width modulation signal PWM comprises six modulation signals.
The gate terminal of the first driving transistor M1 receives the first modulation signal U_h. The drain terminal and the source terminal of the first driving transistor M1 are connected between a first power supply voltage V1 and a node u. The gate terminal of the second driving transistor M2 receives the second modulation signal W_I. The drain terminal and the source terminal of the second driving transistor M2 are connected between a second power supply voltage V2 and a node w. The gate terminal of the third driving transistor M3 receives the third modulation signal V_h. The drain terminal and the source terminal of the third driving transistor M3 are connected between the first power supply voltage V1 and a node v. The gate terminal of the fourth driving transistor M4 receives the fourth modulation signal U_I. The drain terminal and the source terminal of the fourth driving transistor M4 are connected between the second power supply voltage V2 and the node u. The gate terminal of the fifth driving transistor M5 receives the fifth modulation signal W_h. The drain terminal and the source terminal of the fifth driving transistor M5 are connected between the first power supply voltage V1 and the node w. The gate terminal of the sixth driving transistor M6 receives the sixth modulation signal V_I. The drain terminal and the source terminal of the sixth driving transistor M6 are connected between the second power supply voltage V2 and the node v. Moreover, the nodes u, v and w are connected to the three terminals U, V and W of the spindle motor 130, respectively.
FIG. 2B is a schematic timing waveform diagram illustrating the relationships between the pulse width modulation signal, the three phase signals and the position signal processed by the spindle motor driving apparatus of FIG. 1. The position signal H contains an A-component signal Ha, a B-component signal Hb and a C-component signal Hc.
In case that the phase of the rotor is in the range between 0 and 60 degrees, the first driving transistor M1 and the second driving transistor M2 are controlled by the first modulation signal U_h and the second modulation signal W_I, respectively. Under this circumstance, the first phase current Iu is positive, and the third phase current Iw is negative. That is, the driving current flows from the terminal U to the terminal W of the spindle motor 130. According to the A-component signal Ha, the B-component signal Hb and the C-component signal Hc, the position signal H indicative of (100) is obtained.
In case that the phase of the rotor is in the range between 60 and 120 degrees, the third driving transistor M3 and the second driving transistor M2 are controlled by the third modulation signal V_h and the second modulation signal W_I, respectively. Under this circumstance, the second phase current Iv is positive, and the third phase current Iw is negative. That is, the driving current flows from the terminal V to the terminal W of the spindle motor 130. According to the A-component signal Ha, the B-component signal Hb and the C-component signal Hc, the position signal H indicative of (110) is obtained.
In case that the phase of the rotor is in the range between 120 and 180 degrees, the third driving transistor M3 and the fourth driving transistor M4 are controlled by the third modulation signal V_h and the fourth modulation signal U_I, respectively. Under this circumstance, the second phase current Iv is positive, and the first phase current Iu is negative. That is, the driving current flows from the terminal V to the terminal U of the spindle motor 130. According to the A-component signal Ha, the B-component signal Hb and the C-component signal Hc, the position signal H indicative of (010) is obtained.
In case that the phase of the rotor is in the range between 180 and 240 degrees, the fifth driving transistor M5 and the fourth driving transistor M4 are controlled by the fifth modulation signal W_h and the fourth modulation signal U_I, respectively. Under this circumstance, the third phase current Iw is positive, and the first phase current Iu is negative. That is, the driving current flows from the terminal W to the terminal U of the spindle motor 130. According to the A-component signal Ha, the B-component signal Hb and the C-component signal Hc, the position signal H indicative of (011) is obtained.
In case that the phase of the rotor is in the range between 240 and 300 degrees, the fifth driving transistor M5 and the sixth driving transistor M6 are controlled by the fifth modulation signal W_h and the sixth modulation signal V_I, respectively. Under this circumstance, the third phase current Iw is positive, and the second phase current Iv is negative. That is, the driving current flows from the terminal W to the terminal V of the spindle motor 130. According to the A-component signal Ha, the B-component signal Hb and the C-component signal Hc, the position signal H indicative of (001) is obtained.
In case that the phase of the rotor is in the range between 300 and 360 degrees, the first driving transistor M1 and the sixth driving transistor M6 are controlled by the first modulation signal U_h and the sixth modulation signal V_I, respectively. Under this circumstance, the first phase current Iu is positive, and the second phase current Iv is negative. That is, the driving current flows from the terminal U to the terminal V of the spindle motor 130. According to the A-component signal Ha, the B-component signal Hb and the C-component signal Hc, the position signal H indicative of (101) is obtained.
Then, the rotator is continuously rotated in the range between 0 and 360 degrees in cycles.
From the above discussions, each modulation signal of the pulse width modulation signal PWM has a 120-degree active period. For example, the active period of the first modulation signal U_h is in the range between 300 and 60 degrees, the active period of the second modulation signal W_I is in the range between 0 and 120 degrees, the active period of the third modulation signal V_h is in the range between 60 and 180 degrees, the active period of the fourth modulation signal U_I is in the range between 120 and 240 degrees, the active period of the fifth modulation signal W_h is in the range between 180 and 300 degrees, and the active period of the sixth modulation signal V_I is in the range between 240 and 360 degrees.
In other words, the motor controller 110 of the conventional spindle motor driving apparatus realizes the phase of the rotor of the spindle motor 130 according to the position signal H, and determines the 0-degree, 60-degree, 120-degree, 180-degree, 240-degree and 300-degree phase change points. Consequently, the active periods of the six modulation signals are correspondingly controlled. In case that the spindle motor driving apparatus has no position sensor to generate the position signal H, the motor controller 110 fails to accurately generate the six modulation signals U_h, U_I, V_h, V_I, W_h and W_I to control the spindle motor 130.

Driving system, apparatus and method for spindle motor


Provided is a composition for bonding that forms, after bonding, an adhesive layer that is less likely to undergo shape deformation, and can maintain high adhesion after a reliability test; also provided are an optical adhesive and an adhesive for pressure sensors, both of which comprise the composition. The composition for bonding comprises resin particles. The resin particles have a recovery rate of 20% or less, and a cured product of the composition with a thickness of 250±50 μm has a moisture permeability of 90 g/m2-24 h or less. An adhesive layer formed from the composition for bonding is less likely to undergo shape deformation, and can maintain high adhesion after a reliability test.

Higher precision has recently been required for optical components, such as optical lenses, and electronic components, such as semiconductor devices and pressure sensors. To make optical components, electronic components, and like components more precise, adhesives used to assemble these components have an important role. Conventionally known adhesives are adhesion compositions comprising an epoxy resin having curability, and adhesion compositions comprising other resins as adhesion components (see, for example, PTL 1).

Composition for bonding, optical adhesive, and adhesive for pressure sensor


Hydrogen-plasma modification of fluorinated polymers reduces the surface chemistry of this polymer removing fluorine, leaving behind a carbon-enriched surface that is further plasma processed into a hydrophilic surface for a lens material to be inserted into the ocular environment.

Contact lenses made from highly fluorinated materials have been investigated for a number of years. Such materials can generally be subdivided into two major classes, namely hydrogels and non-hydrogels. Non-hydrogels do not absorb appreciable amounts of water, whereas hydrogels can absorb and retain water in an equilibrium state. Regardless of their water content, both non-hydrogel and hydrogel fluorinated contact lenses tend to have relatively hydrophobic, non-wettable surfaces.
The art has recognized that introducing fluorine-containing groups into contact lens polymers can significantly increase oxygen permeability. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,996,275 to Ellis et al. discloses using a mixture of comonomers including the fluorinated compound bis(1,1,1,1,3,3,3-hexafluoro-2-propyl)itaconate in combination with organosiloxane components. The fluorination of certain monomers used in the formation of silicone hydrogels has been indicated to reduce the accumulation of deposits on contact lenses made therefrom, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,954,587, 5,079,319 and 5,010,141. Moreover, the use of silicone-containing monomers having certain fluorinated side groups, i.e. —(CF2)—H, have been found to improve compatibility between the hydrophilic and silicone-containing monomeric units, as described in U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,387,662 and 5,321,108 to Kunzler et al. Other fluorinated contact lens materials have been disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 3,389,012; U.S. Pat. No. 3,962,279; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,801.
Those skilled in the art have recognized the need for modifying the surface of fluorinated contact lenses so that they are compatible with the eye. It is known that increased hydrophilicity of the contact lens surface improves the wettability of the contact lenses. This in turn is associated with improved wear comfort of the contact lens. Additionally, the surface of the lens can affect the lens's susceptibility to deposition, particularly the deposition of proteins and lipids from the tear fluid during lens wear. Accumulated deposition can cause eye discomfort or even inflammation. In the case of extended wear lenses, the surface is especially important, since extended wear lens must be designed for high standards of comfort over an extended period of time, without requiring daily removal of the lens before sleep. Thus, the regimen for the use of extended wear lenses would not provide a daily period of time for the eye to recover from any discomfort or other possible adverse effects of lens wear.
Contact lenses have been subjected to plasma surface treatment to improve their surface properties, with the intent to render their surfaces more hydrophilic, deposit resistant, scratch resistant, or otherwise modified. For example, plasma treatment to effect better adherence of a subsequent coating is generally known. U.S. Pat. No. 4,217,038 to Letter discloses, prior to coating a silicone lens with sputtered silica glass, etching the surface of the lens with an oxygen plasma to improve the adherence of a subsequent coating. U.S. Pat. No. 4,096,315 to Kubacki discloses a three-step method for coating plastic substrates such as lenses, preferably PMMA (polymethylmethacrylate) lenses. The method comprises plasma treating the substrate to form hydroxyl groups on the substrate in order to allow for good adherence, followed by a second plasma treatment to form a silicon-containing coating on the substrate, and followed finally by a third plasma treatment with inert gas, air, oxygen, or nitrogen. Kubacki states that pretreatment with hydrogen, oxygen, air or water vapor, the latter preferred, forms hydroxy groups. Neither Letter nor Kubacki mentions the surface treatment of highly fluorinated or fluorosilicone contact lens materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,312,575 to Peyman teaches the use of hydrogen/fluorocarbon gaseous mixtures to treat silicone lenses. In Example 2 of Peyman, polydimethylsiloxane lenses are initially treated with a 50% hydrogen/50% tetrafluoroethylene mixture, followed by an oxygen plasma treatment. Peyman states that when it is desired to utilize a halogenated hydrocarbon to perform the plasma polymerization process of the present invention, hydrogen gas may be added to the halogenated hydrocarbon in order to accelerate the polymerization reaction. Peyman states that hydrogen may be added to the plasma polymerization apparatus in an amount ranging from about 0.1 to about 5.0 volumes of hydrogen per volume of the halogenated hydrocarbon. Peyman does not mention how to surface treat highly fluorinated contact lens materials.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,631,435 to Yanighara et al. discloses a plasma polymerization process employing a gas containing at least one compound selected from halogenated alkanes, alkanes, hydrogen and halogens in specific combinations, the atomic ratio of halogen/hydrogen in the aforesaid gas being 0.1 to 5 and the electron temperature of the plasma in the reaction zone being 6,000° K. or higher and lower than 30,000° K. The resulting coating is, in particular, suitable as the protective film for magnetic recording media.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,153,072; 5,091,204; 5,034,265; and 4,565,083 to Ratner disclose a method of treating articles to improve their biocompatibility according to which a substrate material is positioned within a reactor vessel and exposed to plasma gas discharge in the presence of an atmosphere of an inert gas such as argon and then in the presence of an organic gas such as a halocarbon or halohydrocarbon gas capable of forming a thin, biocompatible surface covalently bonded to the surface of the substrate. The method is particularly useful for the treatment of vascular graft materials. The graft material is subjected to plasma gas discharge at 5-100 watts energy. Ratner does not discuss the surface treatment of highly fluorinated contact-lens materials.
In view of the above, it would be desirable to provide a highly fluorinated contact lens with an optically clear, hydrophilic surface film that will exhibit improved wettability. It would be further desirable to be able to surface treat a fluorinated hydrogel or RGP contact lens that would allow its use in the human eye for an extended period of time. In particular, it would be desirable to provide a high-Dk fluorinated ophthalmic lens capable of extended wear for continous periods of at least 24 hours and, more preferably, to provide a biocompatible lens capable of continous and comfortable wear for 3 to 30 days without unacceptable corneal swelling or other adverse effects.

Surface treatment of fluorinated contact lens materials


A method for producing diphenylmethane from 1,1-diphenylethane with a high yield and selectivity, wherein the 1,1-diphenylethane is reacted with hydrogen and/or water.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for producing diphenylmethane which is useful as an intermediate for preparing various chemical compounds.
2. Prior Art
A method for producing diphenylmethane from diphenylethane by heating the latter is described, for example, in J. Chem. Soc. Jpn., Ind. Chem. Sect., 72, 7! (1969), pp 1512-1515. The major reaction products, however, are: (1) benzene and ethylbenzene which are considered to be the reaction products of hydrogenolysis, (2) 1,1-diphenylethylene as the product of dehydrogenation and (3) styrene as the product of the decomposition of diphenyl methane. Meanwhile, the yield of the desired diphenylmethane is very small.


It is possible to enable a pointer to execute a shifting operation input and a clicking operation input by use of a common type pressure-sensitive pointing device provided with an x-axis strain sensor and a y-axis strain sensor. A pressure-sensitive pointing device (11) is provided with strain sensors (11a), (11b), (11c) and (11d). A voltage corresponding to the strain along the x-axis direction, and a voltage corresponding to the strain along the y-axis direction are outputted from nodes (11e), (11f) and (11g), respectively. The voltage corresponding to the strain along the x-axis direction, and the voltage corresponding to the strain along the y-axis direction are inputted alternately to an operational amplifier (4) by switches (SW1) and (SW2) when a switch (SW3) is in an ON-condition. The voltage corresponding to the strain along the z-axis direction is inputted to an operational amplifier (3) when the switch (SW3) is in an OFF-condition. Respective outputs of the operational amplifiers (3), (4) are alternately inputted to an ADC (5) by switches (SW4) and (SW5) and processed in a digital processing circuit.

A pressure-sensitive pointing device installed in a keyboard of a notebook PC, and so forth is made up such that when a user presses down an operation console of the device in a desired direction with a fingertip, a load applied in that direction is detected by a strain sensor built inside the device, and a detection signal of the strain sensor is processed, whereupon a pointer such as a cursor, or the like, shown on a display of the notebook PC, is caused to shift. At this point in time, a shifting direction of the pointer is determined correspondingly to a direction of the load applied to the tip of the device, and a shifting speed is determined correspondingly to magnitude of the load.
As a conventional signal processing system for processing output signals of a pressure-sensitive pointing device (hereinafter referred to also as a pointing device), there is available an input unit as disclosed in Patent Document 1. FIG. 9 is a block diagram showing the input unit.
An output signal of a pressure-sensitive pointing device 131 is inputted to such a signal processing system 121. The pressure-sensitive pointing device 131 comprises a strain sensor 131a for detecting a load in a plus direction along an x-axis (hereinafter referred to as a +X direction), a strain sensor 131b for detecting a load in a minus direction along the x-axis (hereinafter referred to as a−X direction), a strain sensor 131c for detecting a load in a plus direction along a y-axis (hereinafter referred to as a +Y direction), and a strain sensor 131d for detecting a load in a minus direction along the y-axis (hereinafter referred to as a −Y direction), the respective loads resulting from an operation of an operation console, not shown. In this case, the x-axis refers to an axis in a side-to-side direction or in the lateral direction relative to the operation console of the pointing device 131, as seen from a user, while the y-axis refers to an axis in a front-to-back direction or the longitudinal direction relative to the operation console of the pointing device 131. Further, the x-axis corresponds to a side to side direction, or the lateral direction, on a display of a notebook PC, and so forth, in which the pointing device 51 is installed, and the y-axis corresponds to a front-to-back direction or the longitudinal direction, on the display.
The strain sensors 131a, 131b, 131c, 131d each are made up of a strain gauge such as a piezoelectric resistance element, and when the operation console, not shown, is operated in the +X direction, the −X direction, the +Y direction, and the −Y direction, respectively, the strain sensors 131a, 131b, 131c, 131d each are pressed downward corresponding to respective directions of operations, and respective resistance values thereof undergo a change due to the respective loads applied thereto. The strain sensors 131a, 131b are connected in series, and the strain sensors 131c, 131d are connected in series. Such series-connected circuits as described are connected in parallel, forming a parallel-connected circuit, and a power supply voltage Vdd is fed to the parallel-connected circuit. The four strain sensors, under no load, are equal in resistance value, however, when the operation console is pressed down in the +X direction, the −X direction, the +Y direction, and the −Y direction, respectively, the resistance value of any of the strain sensors 131a, 131b, 131c, 131d, positioned in the in the direction in which the operation console is pressed down, undergoes a change, whereupon a strain along the x-axis direction is detected as a voltage change via a node 131e between the strain sensors 131a, 131b, while a strain along the y-axis direction is detected as a voltage change via a node 131f between the strain sensors 131c, 131d. If the operation console is pressed down in a slanting direction (a direction within a plane containing the x-axis, and the y-axis, but nonparallel to the x-axis and the y-axis) at this point in time, there are detected a stain corresponding to an x-axis direction component of a vector in a direction in which the operation console is pressed down, and a stain corresponding to a y-axis direction component of the vector. Upon removal of the load, the respective resistance values of the strain sensors revert to the respective resistance values thereof, under no load, and potentials at the nodes 131e, 131f, respectively, revert to respective values before the voltage change. The nodes 131e and 131f are connected, respectively, to terminals 121a and 121c of the signal processing system 121.
Low-pass filters 132, 133 comprise capacitors 132a, 133a, and resistors 132b, 133b, respectively, and with the low-pass filters 132, 133, an upper cut-off frequency is set to on the order of 150 Hz so as to remove low frequency noise components out of respective output signals of operational amplifiers 123, 124, to be described later. Further, an output side of the low-pass filter 132 is connected to terminals 121a, 121b of the signal processing system 121, respectively, and an output side of the low-pass filter 133 is connected to terminals 121c, 121d of the signal processing system 121, respectively.
The signal processing system 121 comprises a digital processing circuit 122 having a CPU 122a, a ROM 122b, a RAM 122c, for executing control of the signal processing system 121 in whole, and so forth, the operational amplifier 123 having an inverting input side connected to the terminal 121a, and a noninverting input side connected to an output side of a digital-to-analog converter (hereinafter referred to as a DAC) 126 to be described later, an output side of the operational amplifier 123 being connected to the terminal 121b, the operational amplifier 124 having an inverting input side connected to the terminal 121c, and a noninverting input side connected to an output side of a DAC 127 to be described later, an output side of the operational amplifier 124 being connected to the terminal 121d, an analog switch SW 19 connected to the output side of the operational amplifier 123, an analog switch SW 20 connected to the output side of the operational amplifier 124, an analog-to-digital converter (hereinafter referred to as an ADC) 125 having an input side connected to a common output side of the analog switches SW 19, SW 20, and an output side connected to an input side of the digital processing circuit 122, the DAC 126 having an input side connected to an output side of the digital processing circuit 122, and the output side connected to the noninverting input side of the operational amplifier 123, and the DAC 127 having an input side connected to the output side of the digital processing circuit 122, and the output side connected to the noninverting input side of the operational amplifier 124. The low-pass filters 132, 133 serve as feedback circuits of the operational amplifiers 123, 124, respectively.
There is described hereinafter an operation of the signal processing system 121 having such a configuration described as above.
The voltage corresponding to the strain along the x-axis direction, outputted from the node 131e of the pointing device 131, is inputted from the terminal 121a to the inverting input side of the operational amplifier 123. Similarly, the voltage corresponding to the strain along the y-axis direction, outputted from the node 131f of the pointing device 131, is inputted from the terminal 121c to the inverting input side of the operational amplifier 124. Reference data outputted from the digital processing circuit 122 is converted into an analog reference voltage by the DAC 126 to be subsequently inputted to the noninverting input side of the operational amplifier 123. The reference data outputted from the digital processing circuit 122 is converted into the analog reference voltage by the DAC 127 to be subsequently inputted to the noninverting input side of the operational amplifier 124. Now, assuming that the strain sensors 131a, 131b, 131c, 131d, under no load, each have a resistance value Rs, and the resistors 132b, 133b of the low-pass filters 132, 133, respectively, each have a resistance value Rf, the operational amplifiers 123, 124 each have a gain of −{Rf/(Rs/2)}, so that a change (on the order of +10 mV) in the voltage corresponding to the strains along the x-axis, and the y-axis, respectively, can be amplified to a voltage change (on the order of ±1 V) centering around the analog reference voltage.
Rectangular waves Asw 19 and Asw 20, undergoing an alternate change in level for every detection period T1 (for example, 10 msec) as shown in FIG. 10, are inputted from the digital processing circuit 122, as switching control signals to the analog switches SW 19, SW 20, respectively. The analog switches SW 19, SW 20 are turned on, respectively, during a time period when the rectangular waves Asw 19, and Asw 20 are being held high, respectively, while the analog switches SW 19, SW 20 are turned on, respectively, during a time period when the rectangular waves Asw 19, Asw 20 are being held low, respectively, so that the analog switches SW 19, SW 20 are alternately turned on during the detection period T1. Accordingly, a voltage corresponding to the strain along the x-axis direction, and a voltage corresponding to the strain along the y-axis, alternately appear on the common output side of the analog switches SW 19, SW 20, that is, on the input side of the ADC 125, as shown in FIG. 10. Those strain voltages are digitized by the ADC 125 to be subsequently inputted to the digital processing circuit 122.
However, in a computer provided with a conventional pressure-sensitive pointing device, a key has to be pressed additionally so as to input a command to the computer at the position of the pointer, causing a problem of low operability compared with a pointing device enabling the pointer to execute the shifting operation input (input of coordinate) and the clicking operation input.
To solve such a problem, there is proposed a pressure-sensitive pointing device provided with strain sensors for detecting loads resulting from an operation console along the direction perpendicular to an x-axis and a y-axis directions in addition to strain sensors for detecting the load along the +X direction, −X direction, +Y direction and −Y direction, thereby enabling a pointer to execute a shifting operation input and a clicking operation input (Patent Reference 2).
Patent Reference 1 (JP 7-319617A)
Patent Reference 2 (JP 2001-311671A)

Signal processing system for a pointing input device


A fluidic die includes an array of nozzles, each nozzle to eject a fluid drop in response to a corresponding actuation signal having an actuation value. Nozzle select logic provides for each nozzle a nozzle select signal having a select value or a non-select value. Actuation logic provides the respective actuation signal for each nozzle, the actuation logic to receive one or more drop weight signals, and for each nozzle select signal having the select value, to provide an actuation signal having an actuation value to the corresponding nozzle and/or to one or more neighboring nozzles based on a state of the one or more drop weight signals.

Fluidic dies may include an array of nozzles, where each nozzle includes a fluid chamber, a nozzle orifice, and a fluid actuator, where the fluid actuator may be actuated to cause displacement of fluid and cause ejection of a fluid drop from the nozzle orifice. Some example fluidic dies may be printheads, where the fluid may correspond to ink.
Throughout the drawings, identical reference numbers designate similar, but not necessarily identical, elements. The figures are not necessarily to scale, and the size of some parts may be exaggerated to more clearly illustrate the example shown. Moreover the drawings provide examples and/or implementations consistent with the description; however, the description is not limited to the examples and/or implementations provided in the drawings.

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A new variety of hybrid lily plant bearing large upright-facing flowers of excellent form and long persistence. The new hybrid is particularly characterized by a compact inflorescence of upfacing flowers of vibrant unspotted scarlet red color and with lightly ruffled tepal margins, and with buds also a deep scarlet red color. This combination is completely new in the Asiatic hybrid divisions of lilies suited to forcing and to mass commercial cultivation. The variety is highly resistant to fusarium disease and shows tolerance of virus. The bulbs may be precooled and forced into flower under glass out of season. The clone is vigorous and is a good grower and propagator.

My new variety of lily plant originated as a seedling, which first flowered in 't Zand, Netherlands in 1986. The breeding efforts had as their objective the production of Asiatic hybrid lilies with upfacing, vibrant red flowers in a compact inflorescence, suited to forcing into flower out of season, heretofore unknown in the lily breeding art. I achieved the desired objective by intercrossing Lilium `Charisma` (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 4,180) with Lilium `Red Carpet` (unpatented). The flowers of my new lily are characterized by an upright orientation, large size, and a vibrant red color; and they are borne on a compact inflorescence. The clone possesses unusually strong, stout stems. In addition, it possesses to a high degree desirable characteristics of hybrid vigor. The clone is a good grower and propagator, as observed at 't Zand, Netherlands.
My new variety of lily plant has been asexually reproduced by me and under my direction at 't Zand, Netherlands. Successive generations produced by natural propagation from bulblets, by bulb scale propagation, and by tissue culturing from bulb scale explants have demonstrated that the novel and distinctive characteristics of my new variety are fixed and hold true under asexual propagation from generation to generation.
The most closely related plant known to myself is a sibling plant from the same cross named `Red Dwarf`. This sibling is the subject of a copending application. While `Scarlet Dwarf` and `Red Dwarf` are similar in size, plant confirmation and flower characteristics, they are easily distinguished by the fact that the ovaries of `Scarlet Dwarf` are much more conspicuous, being near straw color even when grown under very cool or intensely illuminated conditions, while those of `Red Dwarf` are inconspicuous and nearly the red color of the tepals. Moreover, both the inner and outer tepals of `Scarlet Dwarf` are slightly ruffled by marginal undulations, while such undulations are virtually confined to the inner tepals of `Red Dwarf` and appear only on flowers that have been open for several days. The tepals of `Scarlet Dwarf` are slightly stiffer, preventing them from reflexing to the same degree as those of `Red Dwarf`. The flowers of `Red Dwarf` are noticeably flatter than those of `Scarlet Dwarf`.