An ostomy appliance for attachment to the stoma body comprising an adhesive wafer and a collecting pouch attachable to an adhesive wafer, the wafer comprises a backing layer and a skin-facing adhesive layer, wherein the adhesive skin-facing surface of the wafer is provided with a release liner covering the skin-facing surface of the adhesive layer, the release liner comprising at least a first part and a second part, the first and the second part being interconnected along a predefined folding line and wherein both the first and the second part of the release liner is in contact with the adhesive. The construction facilitates stepwise application.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to an ostomy appliance for attachment to the body and for collecting bodily waste discharged from a stoma.
Ostomy appliances are usually in the form of a receptacle, e.g. a bag, pouch or for receiving the waste, connected to an adhesive wafer that can be attached to the skin of the patient. The wafer is typically in the form of a backing layer coated on the skin-facing surface with an adhesive layer and the wafer is further provided with an aperture for accommodating the stoma. The size and shape of said aperture can often be adapted individually to fit the anatomy of the patient.
One of the crucial parts of such appliances is the adhesive wafer. The wafer should be able to fit leak proof around the body opening and have good adherence to the skin without unintended detachment from the skin, but at the same time the wafer should be easy to remove again without damaging the skin. Furthermore, the wafer should be able to follow the movements of the body and be comfortable to wear. The components of the wafer, the adhesive and the backing layer determine these properties.
The adhesive of such appliances is usually a hydrocolloid adhesive coated in a relatively thick layer on a backing layer and combined with the fact that this adhesive has a high modulus, the appliance may be inflexible and bulky to wear.
The wafer of an ostomy appliance may be made softer by exchanging the hydrocolloid adhesive with a softer adhesive. However, providing an ostomy appliance with a soft adhesive may give rise to new problems. Whereas the conventional hydrocolloid adhesive wafer was rather stiff and thereby easy to handle and apply, the soft adhesive wafers are soft and mechanical unstable and may easily fold and stick to itself during application.
When applying an adhesive wafer around a stoma the conventional hydrocolloid adhesive wafers are relatively stable and easy to handle, even when the release liner is removed prior to application. The construction of the current hydrocolloid adhesives in modern stoma care products are carried out in such a manner that the wafer, when the release liner is removed, is stiff enough in order for the product to stay in an almost planar manner. In other words the product does not bend, curl or fold significantly during application.
This is due to the choice of backing layer and adhesive. The backing layer is usually a relatively stiff polymer backing and the adhesive is a polymer based continuous phase filled with particles that add to the modulus of the adhesive. The combination of a high modulus backing and adhesive makes the adhesive wafer very stiff.
Due to the choice of backing layer, a relatively stiff polymer backing layer stabilizes the product in combination with a hydrocolloid adhesive. The presence of an absorbent filler, such as hydrocolloid particles, makes the adhesive stiffer. A polymeric matrix for the adhesive comprising PIB (polyisobutylene), SIS (styrene isoprene styrene block copolymer), resin etc. produces a relatively stiff adhesive.
When the type of adhesive is changed from the highly filled relatively stiff materials to a soft, low or non filled adhesive, the need for a soft backing layer is essential in order to obtain the right properties for the intended use. This makes the adhesive wafer very soft, flexible and unable to hold itself in a relatively planar manner after removal of the release liner. The adhesive wafer itself is so flexible that the side portions of the wafer will bend down with gravity after removal of release liner, resulting in the adhesive to stick to itself, bend, curl or fold and the wafer will be useless.
When placing the ostomy appliance around the stoma the usual procedure is to first adjust and attach the bottom part of the appliance to the abdominal area below the stoma, and afterwards attach the upper part of the appliance.
For soft adhesives removing the entire release liner prior to application makes it difficult to control the adhesive and get it applied in the right position on the abdominal skin without introducing fold or tensions in the adhesive that subsequently could lead to leakage of effluents under the adhesive.
2. Description of the Related Art
Handling soft and/or thin adhesive wafers may be addressed in different ways. The adhesive surface may be covered with a number of release liners or the backing layer may be provided with detachable support means.
The wafer may be provided with two release liners, each covering an area of the product. Hereby, the user can remove one release liner, attach the exposed adhesive surface to the body and then remove the second liner and apply the rest of the wafer, all the way through without touching the adhesive surface with the fingers. This solution is for hygiene purpose and is often referred to a non-touch solution.
Devices for faecal management often comprise two or more release liners in order to ease the application to the curved and complicated perianal area. This has been made to facilitate the fact that the adhesive wafer has to be bent approximately 180 degrees in order to adhere to the buttocks.
Today, conventional ostomy appliances are provided with a single release liner, covering the entire adhesive surface. A non-touch solution is achieved by having a non-adhesive tab or ear on the edge portion of the flange for holding during application without touching the adhesive. The tab or ear may be used to ease detachment of the wafer later. This solution is suited for mechanical stable wafers while soft wafers comprising soft adhesive would be difficult—not to say impossible—to handle with such release liner system.
Thus, there is still a need for an ostomy appliance having a high flexibility and comfort for the user and being easy to apply.

Ostomy appliance with a release liner having a predefined folding line


A fuel supply system for an internal combustion engine includes an air compressor, an air cooler connected downstream of the air compressor and the compressed air supply passage, and a bypass passage connected downstream of the air compressor. The fuel supply system also includes a fuel injector secured to the compressed air supply passage or secured to the bypass passage and a valve connected between the air compressor and the air cooler, the valve being configured to block a flow of intake air to the air cooler, causing the intake air to flow to the bypass passage or to permit the flow of intake air to the air cooler.

Internal combustion engine designs are increasingly diversifying, enabling combustion of various types of fuels, either instead of or in addition to traditional fuels, such as diesel fuel or gasoline. Some of these engine systems combust liquid fuels. These non-traditional liquid fuel combustion systems (e.g., systems that store fuel in liquid form and/or supply fuel in liquid form to one or more fuel injectors), can produce a relatively low amount of soot when the fuel is combusted, can use fuel derived from biogenic sources, or can use fuel created with the use of carbon dioxide captured from the atmosphere. Internal combustion engines designed for use with so-called "alternative" fuels may be capable of combusting liquid-stored fuels having a high amount (e.g., greater than 50%) of an alcohol, such as methanol or ethanol. The alternative fuel can be combusted on its own, or by using another fuel, such as diesel fuel, to generate a pilot flame. Generally, greater environmental benefits can be achieved by replacing increasing volumes of traditional fuel, such as diesel fuel, with an alternative fuel.
While alternative fuels, such as methanol and ethanol, introduce benefits such as reduced negative effects on the environment, there are challenges associated with the use of these fuels. Methanol, for example, has a lower energy density and can evaporate more slowly as compared to diesel fuel, which is problematic as full evaporation is desired to achieve desired combustion. Due to the relatively lower energy density of methanol, a larger amount of this fuel should be injected to generate the same amount of energy as diesel fuel. This, in turn, further slows evaporation of the injected methanol. These issues can be compounded when air supplied to the internal combustion engine is relatively cold.
A methanol engine is described in CN 214366438 U to Zhang ("the '438 patent"). The methanol engine in the '438 patent includes an air intake bypass pipe and a three-way valve that controls whether air is provided to a cooler. The position of the three-way valve is set in response to the temperature of intake air. While the methanol engine described in the '438 patent may be useful for systems in which methanol is introduced directly into a plenum of an intake manifold, it may be unable to ensure that this methanol fully evaporates, or may require other tradeoffs that negatively impact engine operation to facilitate evaporation of the injected fuel.
The systems and methods of the present disclosure may solve one or more of the problems set forth above and/or other problems in the art. The scope of the current disclosure, however, is defined by the attached claims, and not by the ability to solve any specific problem.


The present invention relates to a monoclonal antibody specific for N-myc downstream regulated gene 2 (NDRG 2) protein, a cell line producing the monoclonal antibody, a method for measuring a quantity and quality of NDRG 2 protein, and a protein chip using the same. In the present invention, NDRG 2, a cancer-related factor is specifically expressed in dendritic cells differentiated from a monocyte of human peripheral blood. Accordingly, the monoclonal antibody specific for the NDRG 2 protein, the protein chip comprising the same and the method for measuring a quantity and quality of the NDRG 2 protein by using the same can be applied to elucidate characteristics of the dendritic cell and perform a research on the NDRG 2. Therefore, the present invention may help clinically to investigate and treat intractable diseases and cancers using the dendritic cell.

NDRG 2 gene is expressed in various kinds of tissue cells such as brain, muscle or kidney cells (Qu, et al., Mol Cell Biochem., 229: 35-44, 2002; Kokame, et al., J. Biol. Chem., 271: 29659-29665, 1996; Ulrix, et al., FEBS Lett., 455: 23-26, 1999). It is reported that the NDRG gene may be classified to 4 different kinds. The NDRG genes have a high homology and are differentially expressed according to the development and growth of each individual. In detail, NDRG 1 gene is expressed relatively in overall tissues and cells. In contrast, NDRG 2 gene and NDRG 3 gene are expressed in brain, heart, muscle and kidney cells. NDRG 4 gene is expressed exclusively in brain and heart. Therefore, it is predicted that the NDRG genes might play different roles one another. But, there are not reports elucidating the exact functions of the genes yet.
On the other hand, dendritic cell, an antigen-presenting cell (APC) is essential to regulate a function of immune cells. The dendritic cell is a peculiar immune cell stimulating a naive T cell to induce a primary immune response. Therefore, it is actively attempted to investigate the action of dendritic cells in infectious diseases and tumor immunity. Especially in intractable diseases, genomic studies on a dendritic cell elucidating its biological function is tried to develop a vaccine applying the dendritic cell to induce a specific immunity. Recently, it is proved that the dendritic cell has a remarkable anticancer efficacy by injecting with a NK cell. Therefore, the mature dendritic cell and the NK cell may play an important role to develop a therapeutic drug using cells. In order to maximize the efficacy of the therapeutic drug, it is necessary to develop markers for this mature dendritic cell.
However, there are several problems. It is difficult to collect dendritic cells in a large scale. Further, any specific marker existing in this cell is not found, yet. Either in a clinical field, the characteristics of the dendritic cell is not fully understood. Accordingly, it is required to investigate the characteristics of the dendritic cell deeply, screen specific genes or proteins expressed in this cell and recognize their functions. Indeed, the dendritic cells may be used to treat and prevent various diseases by effective therapy.
The present inventors have already found that the NDRG 2 gene is specifically expressed in a dendritic cell differentiated from a monocyte of human peripheral blood. The NDRG 2 gene was isolated and then, introduced to a hybridoma cell line to prepare the polyclonal antibody against the NDRG 2 protein. This result has been publicly disclosed. (International Patent Application PCT/KR2004/000634; Choi, S. C. et al., FEBS Lett., 553(3): 413-418, 2003)
In addition, it is reported that the NDRG 2 might be a cancer suppressor gene participating in carcinogenesis. Also, the cancinogenic cell is elucidated to reduce the gene expression of NDRG 2, and especially decrease highly in a malignant tumor. In detail, it is recognized that the expression of the NDRG 2 is reported to decrease remarkably in aggressive meningioma by conducting a genomic analysis. (Lusis, E. A. et al, Cancer Res., 65: 7121-6, 2005) The mRNA amount of the NDRG 2 is also reduced in liver cancer and pancreas cancer markedly. (Hu, X. L. et al., World J. Gastroenterol., 10: 3518-21, 2004). Therefore, it is expected that the NDRG 2 protein is used to treat cancers by regulating its gene expression, because reducing in carcinogenic cells notably and being focused as a cancer suppressor gene.
Nevertheless, studies on the NDRG 2 are lacked and just starting. Especially, it is required to develop a monoclonal antibody specific for the NDRG 2 protein and a method for measuring a quantity of the NDRG 2.
Since manufacturing the polyclonal antibody, the present inventors have already used it to investigate the characteristics of the dendritic cell (International Patent Application PCT/KR2004/000634; Choi, S. C. et al., FEBS Lett., 553(3): 413-418, 2003). In practice, the NDRG 2 protein is measured in cells or tissues qualitatively by performing a Western blot or immuno-staining. However, there are several limitations. This immuno-staining is hardly conducted in the tissue due to a high background etc.
In order to settle above-mentioned problems, the present inventors have tried to develop a monoclonal antibody specific for the NDRG 2 protein, a cell line producing the monoclonal antibody, a method for measuring a quantity and quality of NDRG 2 protein, and a protein chip using the same that is necessary to investigate the NDRG 2 expressed in a dendritic cell and its function in a cancer cell and completed the invention successfully.

Korea Research Institute of Bioscience and Biotechnology


The invention relates to a network gateway comprising a gateway function configured to perform one or more predetermined operations on or with respect to data reaching the gateway function, a first application configured to participate in testing of the gateway function by exchanging data with a second application, and a routing unit configured for routing at least some of the data exchanged between the first application and the second application so that the at least some of the data reaches the gateway function. Implementing the first application for testing a particular gateway function on the network gateway having that function, as opposed to implementing the first application in a device in a network communicatively connected to the gateway, eliminates the need to have a device in the network that is available for testing of that function of the gateway.

Network gateways are devices adapted for providing an interface or routing functionality between network segments in networks that use different protocols. Typically, network gateways are able to provide network interoperability and routing of data between different networks by including devices, implemented in hardware, in software or in a combination of both, such as basic routing functions, protocol translators, impedance matching devices, rate converters, fault isolators, and signal translators.
At the present time, next to the basic routing function, network gateways often include a variety of auxiliary functions. Some of the auxiliary functions may be network related, such as e.g. a Network Address Translation (NAT) function or a firewall function. Other functions may be more application-level, such as e.g. a parental control function blocking access to certain websites, a spam filter for e-mail applications or a transcoder for media transcoding. Yet other functions could be related to e.g. special routing rules, remote access functionality, and so on. This is schematically illustrated in FIG. 1 showing a network gateway 1 between a network or a network segment 2, such as e.g. a network or a network segment in a Local Area Network (LAN), and a network or a network segment 3, such as e.g. a network or a network segment in a Wide Area Network (WAN). The gateway 1 is illustrated to include not only the basic routing function 4, but also a parental control function 5, a content filter function 6, a NAT function 7, and a firewall function 8.
The different functions such as routing, NAT, firewall, parental control, and content filter all consist of software as well as appropriate software and hardware configuration of a device on which the functions are installed. Once in a while, the software may be updated, software configurations may be changed and/or the hardware configuration may be changed. When this happens, the functions may need to be tested to make sure that they are still working properly. The functions may also need to be tested e.g. once a network gateway is manufactured and before it is shipped out to a customer.
To test the proper working of such functions inside a network gateway, data packets have to be sent from one network to the other via the gateway. In some situations, replies to these packets are required as well in order to carry out proper testing. Therefore, to be able to test a particular function on a gateway, the gateway must be communicatively connected to at least one device in each network. This has several implications.
One implication is that such testing requires active devices on both sides of the gateway, which may not always be the case. For example, an operator changing a content filter setting cannot test the updated filter if there is no device in the home network to test it with.
Another implication is that such testing requires a certain amount of control of the network devices participating in testing. For example, if a user of a computer in a local network wants to test the firewall function of his network gateway for security, he has to send certain Internet Protocol (IP) packets from outside, i.e. from the WAN, to inside, i.e. to his local network. This, in turn, means that the user has to have control over at least one device in the WAN that would be sending such IP packets to his local network.
Yet another implication includes potential additional load on the networks. Not all tests cause significant load. However, if, for example, performance of a firewall function at times when the firewall has to deal with a lot of traffic needs to be tested, a process referred to as a "stress test," then such a test does cause significant load on the networks.
In addition, the above-described testing of gateway functions takes a certain amount of time due to network latencies of the networks on both sides of the gateway.
What is needed is a method for testing different functions on a network gateway in a manner that improves on one or more of the problems described above.

Nederlandse Organisatie voor Toegepast-Natuurwetenschappelijk Onderzoek TNO


Provided are a multi-process device and an inter-process communication (IPC) method thereof. The multi-processor device includes a first processor, a second processor, a first memory connected to the first processor, and a second memory connected to the second processor. When an inter-process communication (IPC) operation is performed between the first processor and the second processor, data is exchanged between the first memory and the second memory.

1. Field
The present disclosure herein relates to processor devices and, more particularly, to a multi-processor device and an inter-process communication method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, multi-processors are gaining importance as performance improvements of single processors is becoming harder to achieve with increased limitations. Various efforts on performance improvements achieved by increasing clock speed were made to improve performance of processors. However, recently more studies are focusing on multi-processors whose functions are improved by increasing the number of processors.
A typical multi-processor device includes a shared memory to perform inter-process communication (IPC). That is, one processor (processor "A") stores data to be processed by another processor (processor "B") in the shared memory. The processor "B" accesses the data stored in the shared memory to process the data.
In this case, the processor "B" cannot write data into the shared memory while the processor "A" writes data into the shared memory. That is, write waiting time occurs. The write waiting time causes speed of a multi-processor device to decrease.

Multi-processor device and inter-process communication method thereof


The invention relates to a single- or multi-unit dental restoration, which consists of a support structure and a veneer, which support structure is in particular made from oxide ceramics by means of additive manufacturing, particularly preferably by means of rapid prototyping, wherein the veneer is produced by pressing a ceramic material, such as a glass ceramic or composite material, which is more translucent than the support structure, characterized in that the veneer fills and/or penetrates recesses of the support structure (12) configured as a net or frame structure or as a reinforcement, wherein it is particularly provided that the recesses penetrate through the support structure (12).

It has been known for long that dental restorations can be favorably built from several layers, wherein, in most cases, the color of the inner layer is kept more intensely colored and more opaque and the outer layer comprises a translucent design in order to optically approach natural teeth.
Here, the inner layer also serves to mechanically stabilize the dental restoration which, particularly with bridges, has to absorb the sometimes considerable masticatory forces which arise.
An example of an early solution for such a dental bridge made of a metal base and a ceramic or plastic cover can be taken from EP 94 615 A1.
In the subsequent years, the multi-layer technique was optimized further. Thus, EP 781 530 A2 from the present applicant already shows a ceramic—instead of a metallic—reinforcement element as a reinforcement. Optionally, it can also be provided with an attachment for compensating for deviations in length of the bridge and allows for a veneering with a ceramic mass.
While solutions are used readily, in which the reinforcement or the reinforcement element consists of metal or ceramics and the veneer of plastic, bridges with ceramic reinforcement elements—which optionally also comprise an attachment—and a ceramic veneer are considered to be comparatively difficult to produce. Typically, the reinforcement element is produced initially, and subsequently the veneer is produced while taking careful account of the desired outer shapes.
As the production of the difference shape, so to speak, is not uncritical and as variations and exceeded tolerances cannot be excluded, the opposite approach has also been suggested, namely that an outer shape, a so-called prefacet, is produced in a pre-fabricated manner and that the inner shape is then provided subsequently to this.
This solution is possible with crowns and veneers, however, it presents further difficulties in terms of the production of dental bridges.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Single- or multi-unit dental restoration, and method of producing the same


Video equipment, e.g. for TV producers studios, need to display multiple channels of bit-streams simultaneously. Decoding multiple streams of high bit-rate videos is extremely computational intensive. An improved method for browsing an encoded frequency domain video sequence comprises steps of determining a spatial and/or temporal reduction level for browsing a video sequence, determining according to the determined reduction level frames, fields or parts of blocks or macroblocks to be skipped for decoding, and decoding the remaining data to a video with lower spatial and/or temporal resolution. The reduction may include adaptive partial coefficient decoding, motion vector truncation and/or simplified deblocking filtering. The reduction of spatial resolution is advantageously performed in the frequency domain, so that the inverse quantization process and the iDCT processes require less computing.

With the rapid development of capture equipments, storage technologies and the growing needs for better visual experience from the viewer, high bit-rate video has already been applied widely for content distribution, movie production and video broadcasting. Moreover, in the next coming years, high bit-rate videos will be available not only for professional content providers, but also for consumers.
Video equipment such as non-linear editing systems, e.g. for TV production studios, may need to display multiple channels of bit-streams in real-time simultaneously. Decoding multiple streams of high bit-rate videos is extremely computational intensive. Prior art1 to solve this issue with software need an auxiliary file to store less frequency coefficients and a partial additional stream, and yields just a blurry version of the video. However, to store such auxiliary file for each bit-stream takes much time and storage space. It is a preprocessing technique that requires off-line computation, therefore it is impossible to browse an MPEG-1/2 bit-stream in real-time. Moreover, using a fixed scheme of only DC values or only DC+2AC values is inflexible and cannot make full use of the available resources. Decoding of one or multiple high bit-rate video streams with hardware is very expensive because multiple sets of hardware are required for decoding multiple video channels. 1J. Song and Boon-Lock Yeo, "Fast Extraction of Spatially Reduced Image Sequences from MPEG-2 Compressed Video", IEEE Transaction on Circuit and System For Video Technology, Vol. 9, No. 7, October 1999, pp 1100-1114
The normal frame-rate for video in television is usually 24 or 30 frames per second (fps). But nowadays, since the growing requirement of customers, higher frame-rate videos are becoming popular in video content production and even TV broadcasting. Higher frame-rates can e.g. avoid motion blur caused by the display mechanism of LCD displays; therefore more pleasing visual effects can be offered. Also in professional video applications, such as TV program production and movie content distribution, high frame-rate is often chosen to ensure the viewer gets the best visual experience.
However, the higher the frame rate is, the more complex the decoding process will be. Therefore real-time decoding of one or multiple channels with high frame-rate video is a challenge. Existing solutions for the frame-rate pull down process employ a brute force method: a target output frame-rate is provided, and then each xth frame is dropped, in an equidistant manner, to control the resulting frame-rate. Therefore, the subjective quality of the decoded video can become very low. Especially when the input frame-rate varies a lot from the output frame-rate, there will be a lot of motion jerkiness and annoying artifacts. It is therefore desirable to find a solution for fast real-time video browsing with improved visual quality, e.g. by an improved frame-rate pull down method.

Method and apparatus for partial coefficient decoding and spatial scaling


Techniques are disclosed for prefetching cache lines. One technique includes dispatching a virtual processor and recording a first set of addresses associated with one or more cache lines used by the virtual processor. The technique also includes redispatching the virtual processor and recording a second set of addresses associated with one or more cache lines used by the virtual processor. The technique further includes comparing the first set of addresses with the second set of addresses to determine one or more common addresses between the first set and the second set. The technique includes placing the one or more common addresses into a memory. Finally, the technique includes redispatching the virtual processor.

The present disclosure generally relates to computer systems, and more specifically, to cache prefetching.
A microprocessor in a computer system may employ a concept known as micro partition prefetch (MPP). Micro partition prefetch provides a mechanism for hardware to write L2 or L3 cache address tags to a memory buffer. In particular, the addresses of recently used cache lines by a virtual processor are saved to the memory buffer. The addresses are recorded while the virtual processor is dispatched. The virtual processor is then undispatched, and the addresses have been stored in the memory buffer. Then, when the virtual processor is redispatched at a later point in time, the cache lines associated with the addresses saved in the memory buffer are prefetched and stored in the cache. It is assumed that some percentage of the recently used addresses will be used again by the virtual processor, so fetching these addresses into cache should improve overall performance.
However, micro partition prefetch may hinder system performance in some implementations. First, the previously saved cache state may include items that will not be used when the virtual processor is redispatched. Prefetching these items eliminates potential cache hits that might occur for this or another virtual processor. Second, micro partition prefetch increases memory subsystem traffic, which could result in delays for accesses that occur on other processors on the same chip.

Multiple history based micro partition prefetch optimization

INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS MACHINES CORPORATION


A firmware update system includes video security equipment and an update server. When receiving an error report from the video security equipment, the update server assigns a unique code to the error, and provides patch data matched with the error code to the video security equipment, which has reported the error that corresponds to the error code, to update firmware based on the patch data, thereby minimizing a security gap during the firmware update of the video security equipment.

1. Field
The following description relates to firmware update, such as a network video recorder (NVR) or video management software (VMS), and more particularly, to a firmware update system for minimizing a security gap in video security equipment.
2. Description of the Related Art
Korean published patent application No. 10-2006-0019893 (published on Mar. 6, 2006) discloses a technology that a server updates software for multiple digital video recorders (DVRs) over a network.
If a security function of video security equipment, such as a network video recorder (NVR) or video management software (VMS) stops during the update of firmware, a security gap may take place.
For this reason, users of the video security equipment tend to refrain from the firmware update. Thus, there is a need for a technology to update firmware of the video security equipment with the minimum security gap.

Firmware update system for video security equipment


A system and method for build script generation in a software development environment. An extensible script generator framework allows for one or more script generators to be plugged into the framework. When the framework is subsequently invoked to build a software project or application, each of the plugged-in generators can be evaluated to see if one or more generators should be applied to that project or application. The applicable generators are then used during the build process to automatically generate a build script. In some embodiments, a command line interface allows the generator framework to be invoked outside of the IDE. Additionally, in some embodiments, the framework allows for the plugin of one or more customizers that can be used to further customize or tweak the build script.

Many of today's enterprise-level software applications or "enterprise applications" are developed to run on computer servers known as "application servers", an example of which is the WebLogic Server product (WebLogic) from BEA Systems, Inc. WebLogic is also an example of a Java 2 Enterprise Edition (J2EE) application server, i.e. it conforms to Java standards. Other application servers exist that also conform to these standards. To assist in developing applications, each of the various application server products typically includes an integrated software development counterpart (IDE), that assists the software developer in developing applications. For example, WebLogic includes an IDE known as WebLogic Workshop. WebLogic Workshop provides an intuitive programming model that allows the developer to focus on building the business logic of the application rather than on complex implementation details. Whether the developer is an application developer with a business problem to solve, or an expert J2EE developer building business infrastructure, WebLogic Workshop makes it easier to design, test, and deploy enterprise-class applications.
WebLogic Workshop comprises two main parts: the Workshop Integrated Development Environment (IDE) itself, and a Workshop runtime environment. The IDE simplifies the complexity in building applications for the entire WebLogic platform, since applications that are built in the IDE can be constructed from high-level components rather than low-level API calls. The applications can then be executed in the Workshop runtime environment. These applications typically expose systems and data using a combination of web applications and web services. For example, a company might want to expose shipment scheduling, tracking and billing data to it's business partners via web services, so that it's partners' applications can then access the data directly. The company might also want to expose tracking information via one or more web applications, so that shipment originators and recipients can check the status of their shipments using a web browser. WebLogic Workshop makes it easy to construct a common functionality for both applications, and then expose that functionality with the appropriate interfaces.
An application usually contains one or more "projects". Projects are used to expose enterprise application logic via a user interface. Components within a project may reference each other, but generally they may not reference components in other applications. In this manner an enterprise application is different from a web application. The term "web application" generally refers to a collection of resources, typically HTML or JSP pages, that allow users to access functionality via the Internet or web. An enterprise application may contain one or more web applications. In WebLogic Workshop, there are a large variety of project types. Web Projects are constructed from Java Server Pages (JSPs), which can interact with server resources to produce dynamic content. Control Projects and Java controls are entities that contain business logic, or provide convenient access to enterprise resources. A control project may be used to construct and package controls that are intended for use by components in other projects. A Control Deliverable Project can be used to build Java controls that are then distributed to multiple users. A control deliverable project creates directories that store help and sample files relating to the control. Workshop then packages the controls of that project into a Java Archive (JAR) file along with the help and sample files. EJB Projects and Enterprise Java Beans (EJBs) are Java software components of enterprise applications, as defined by the J2EE Specification. An EJB Project provides support for creating and deploying new EJBs. A Java project allows development of general-purpose Java code that is not directly part of special entities such as web services, controls or EJBs. The product of a Java project is a JAR file that holds Java classes that need to be accessed from other parts of the application. A Schema project provides convenient, automatic access to BEA Systems' XMLBeans functionality. Portal Projects are used to provide a single point of access to enterprise applications and information that can be based on user, group and role attributes. A Datasync project is used to develop and manage general purpose portal services that are used in the development of personalized applications and portals, including user profiles, user segments, events, request properties, session properties, content selectors, placeholders, and campaigns. A Business Process Project allows the execution of business logic and the exchange of business documents among back-end systems, users and trading partners (systems and users) in a loosely coupled fashion.
Before an application can be executed, it must be "built". How often a particular project must be built depends on the particular type of project. For example, if the developer is developing a web service, page flow, or JSP file in a Web or Web Service project, then they will not need to build the project that contains those files until they are ready to deploy the project. Web and Web Service projects can also be built incrementally. Java projects, control projects, EJB projects, and Schema projects are similar in that the result of building any of these projects is a JAR file that is written to the application's APP-INF/lib or class folder, which can then be used by other projects within the application. These projects are built when the JAR files need to be updated, so that the latest changes are available to any projects that are using them. Typically, the entire application needs to be built only when it is being deployed to a server. During the application build, the developer will perform a clean operation and then build the full application to generate an EAR file. Applications will probable be rebuilt again prior to deployment of the application to a production environment, or files are changed across multiple projects, especially if there may be dependencies between them. Depending on the size of the application, the application build process can take a long time, and may need to be repeated several times.
The WebLogic Workshop environment allows a developer to customize the way in which projects are built, including through the use of a tool called "Ant" ("Another Neat Tool"), developed by the Apache Software Foundation. Ant is a Java-based build tool, similar to a software "Make" utility, designed for use with both application-level and project-level Ant build files. If a developer wants to customize the way WebLogic Workshop builds an individual project, then they can use the Workshop IDE to export the ANT build file that Workshop then uses to build that project. When they then build the project, WebLogic Workshop will use the custom build file to create the project JAR. Similarly, if the developer wants to customize the way WebLogic Workshop builds an entire application, they can use the WebLogic Workshop IDE to export the ANT XML build file for the application. The exported Ant file contains a set of standard tasks and targets for managing the build for the application. Whereas make-like tools are inherently shell-based, evaluating a set of dependencies and then executing commands not unlike what the developer would issue on a shell; Ant can be extended using Java classes, and instead of writing shell commands, the configuration files can be XML-based, calling a target tree wherever various tasks get executed.
On of the problem with Ant-based scripting, or indeed any scripting language that is used for building applications, is that it typically must be invoked within the IDE. Most build-script tools cannot run within a command-line interface. Furthermore, a script is difficult to generate by hand, requiring the talents of a skilled programmer. If the script must be subsequently customized or tweaked, then another skilled programmer will have to take up that task. The net result is that, while build scripts such as Ant greatly assist in the application build and deployment process, they lack a flexibility and ease of use. Furthermore, there is no means to automatically generate the script to suit a particular project or application. This is the area that the present invention is directed to.

System and method for build script generation in a software development environment


Consumer uses of mobile devices and electronic media are changing. Mobile devices include increased computational capabilities, mobile broadband access, better integrated sensors, and higher resolution screens. These enhanced features are driving increased consumption of media such as images, maps, e-books, audio, video, and games. As users become more accustomed to using mobile devices for media, opportunities arise for new digital watermarking usage models. For example, transient media, like images being displayed on screens, can be watermarked to provide a link between mobile devices, extending the reach of digital watermarking. Digital fingerprinting can also be employed. Applications based on these emerging usage models can provide richer user experiences and drive increased media consumption. A great variety of other features and arrangements are also detailed.

Although digital watermarking has been commercially available for several years, relatively few applications have directly targeted consumers. Traditional applications of digital watermarking such as copy prevention, copyright communication, and broadcast monitoring, involve embedding the watermark at the point of media creation or distribution and detecting the watermark either on a tethered system or a dedicated device. While these usages have utility for consumers, they are primarily of interest to content creators and media distributors.
Modes of digital media consumption are changing, fueled by the emergence of advanced computational and communications capabilities in mobile devices. Electronic media is increasingly being consumed on mobile devices. Consequently, distribution and delivery of media to mobile devices is becoming more relevant. This creates opportunities for new and emerging usage models based on digital watermarking. These usage models are enabled by the ability of digital watermarks to survive digital-to-analog-to-digital (D-A-D) transformations. In these usage models, the digital watermark serves as a link between media being played or displayed, and online content pertinent to that media.
The new usage models create new opportunities for use of digital watermarking by combining watermarking with the capabilities of mobile devices, including mobile phones, Mobile Internet Devices (MIDs), and Ultra-Mobile PCs (UMPCs). For example, transient media such as images or video displayed on a screen (e.g. LCD panel) can be watermarked and then detected using a mobile device. Applications based on these usage models can provide richer user experiences and intuitive interfaces by allowing interaction with the media itself. These applications can enable easier distribution and delivery of media on to mobile devices and drive further media consumption.
Usage models linking media content to the Internet using watermarking [1][2] and content-based identification technologies [4] have been proposed earlier. Watermarking usually imparts a content-independent identity to the media, whereas content-based identification technologies (such as digital fingerprinting, media recognition) derive an identity from the content itself. The proliferation of capable mobile devices and mobile media usage has made such models more viable and compelling. This has resulted in emerging applications based on these models. Watermarking offers benefits that can expand the applicability of some of the usage models and enables new ones.
The foregoing are just a few of the features of the technology detailed below.


Apparatus for the greenhouse cultivation of flower bulbs wherein the bulbs are placed in pockets (6) made in a hydrophilic mineral wool felt (5). The pockets (6) are formed at regular intervals and open only on one face of the felt. The opening formed in each pocket is of a slightly smaller size than the maximum diameter of a bulb (3) intended to be received in the pocket. The depth of each pocket is sufficient for the bulb (3) positioned therein to penetrate the pocket at least to the level of its largest section.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to the greenhouse cultivation of bulbs. More precisely, the invention relates to a technique and to an artificial substrate for the cultivation of bulbs.
2. Background of the Related Art
It is known, for the greenhouse cultivation of bulbs, to place the latter under conditions which make possible a first stage of development of the plants, their transport and finally, the completion of the cultivation. These various stages, which meet the needs of the market, are preferably conducted, for practical reasons, on the same substrate.
Thus, it is traditional to use a layer consisting of peat of a thickness on the order of 5 cm for a cultivating substrate of the bulbs, for example tulip bulbs. The bulbs are placed on this material in the arrangement fit for leaving them a suitable space for their growth. They are held in this arrangement by covering the peat with a layer of sand, or with a material of the same nature, which surrounds the bulbs by covering them to a certain height. In this way, the bulbs which are only placed on the peat are held in position during various handlings to which they can be subjected.
This arrangement makes possible a satisfactory cultivation of the bulbs but comes up against some difficulties. Of the latter, it is necessary to mention particularly those difficulties which arise due to transportation of the bulbs. At present, the initial development of the cultivation is often very distant from the final consumption site. For example, the greenhouse cultivation of tulips is very widely developed in the Netherlands, which exports throughout the entire world the bulbs from which flowers are obtained in the country of destination. This trade, which is carried out in sensitive products, largely resorts to means of air transport. For this reason, the weight of the cultivating substrate is of very great importance in the cost. The peat and the sand are very heavy elements and constitute the essential part of the transported weight, the bulbs and the trays representing only a small part.
Another difficulty, linked to the use of the sand, is its instability. The layer of sand that is attached to nothing can be moved in the handling of the trays carrying the bulbs causing a poor distribution of the bulbs in the tray and an unsuitable position of at least some of these bulbs (their position being no longer "vertical").
Other types of substrates have been proposed, in particular synthetic materials such as polymer foams (polystyrene, polyurethane, phenolic resins). In use, however, these materials prove not very satisfactory for various reasons. First, they exhibit less suitable hydrous characteristics. The water retention is lower and consequently necessitates a much more careful monitoring of the conditions under which the conservation and the development of the plants is performed. It also seems that these materials result in a poorer "root colonization." This feature is probably linked to the preceding one. On another plane, the use of substrates is very dependent on their cost. The synthetic foams prove appreciably more costly than the products such as peat and sand. For all these reasons, the synthetic foams are not used in practice by the professionals concerned by the applications considered by this invention.


Methods for identifying agents which enhance the activity of a caspase according to the invention are described, as well as methods for enhancing caspase activity and methods for enhancing apoptosis in a lymphocyte.

The T cell repertoire is generated through a tightly regulated developmental program of selection or "filtering" in which thymocytes bearing immunologically desirable T cell receptor (TCR) specificities are preserved and those expressing harmful specificities are eliminated (reviewed in Fowlkes and Pardoll, Adv. Immunol. 44:207–264 (1989)). T-lineage cells expressing autoreactive TCRs are deleted in the thymus via a process termed negative selection (reviewed in Nossal, Cell 76:229–239 (1994)). Multiple lines of evidence utilizing both normal and transgenic mice show that this negative selection process occurs during a restricted stage(s) of thymic differentiation (Fowlkes and Pardoll, Adv. Immunol. 44:207–264 (1989); Fowlkes et al., Nature 334:620–623 (1988); Kisielow et al., Nature 333:742–746 (1988); Murphy et al., Science 250:1720–1723 (1990); Vasquez et al., J. Exp. Med. 175:1307–1316 (1992); Sebzda et al., Science 263:1615–1618 (1994)). The deletion process requires TCR recognition of antigenic peptides displayed on antigen presenting cells in complex with major histocompatibility complex (MHC) class I or class II molecules, and generally involves thymocytes at the double positive (DP) stage of development.
Although the mechanism of negative selection is unknown, the targeted thymocytes die via apoptosis (Murphy et al., Science 250:1720–1723 (1990)), a physiologically controlled form of cell death utilized by metazoan organisms during normal development, as well as for homeostasis (reviewed in Steller, Science 267:1445–1449 (1995); Vaux, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:86–789 (1993); Vaux and Strasser, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:2239–2244 (1996)). Apoptosis occurs as a consequence of extracellular signalling events such as crosslinking of certain receptors, including CD95 (Trauth et al., Science 245:301–305 (1989); Yonehara et al., J. Exp. Med. 169:1747–1756 (1988); Itoh and Nagata, J. Biol. Chem. 268:10932–10937 (1993); Alderson et al., Intl. Immunol. 6:1799–1806 (1994); Takahashi et al., Cell 76:969–976 (1994)), TNF receptors (Tartaglia et al., Cell 74:845–853 (1993)) and a recently identified Death Receptor 3 (DR3) (Chinnaiyan et al., Science 274:990–992 (1996a)) or as a result of growth factor withdrawal (reviewed in Yang and Korsmeyer, Blood 88:386–401 (1996)). Upon induction of apoptosis, cells undergo a morphologically characteristic process of nuclear condensation, blebbing of cellular membranes and disintegration into small fragments which are removed by phagocytes (reviewed in Steller, Science 267:1445–1449 (1995); Vaux, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 90:86–789 (1993); Vaux and Strasser, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 93:2239–2244 (1996)).

Methods of identifying agents which enhance caspase activity


An image processing apparatus extracts a local image from an original image which is supplied by an image input unit, the local image corresponding to a local area, designated by a coordinate data input unit, and being supplied to an image output unit. The apparatus extracts local image data by using coordinate data associated with boundary pixels positioned in boundary lines between the local image and other parts of the original image. The extracted local image data are then provided to the image output unit in accordance with horizontal and vertical synchronizing signals applied from a generator.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image processing system and, more particularly, to an image extracting apparatus employed in an image processing system, which separates a local image corresponding to an arbitrary image area designated by a coordinate data input device, such as a graphics tablet, from an original image received through an image graphic input device, such as a scanner, a digital copier or the like.
2. Description of the Prior Art
A typical color image processing apparatus for selectively altering image color is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,873,570 which issued on Oct. 10, 1989. The image processing apparatus has a color appointing device which enables an operator to appoint any desired color involved in an original image, a color range changing device for manually or automatically changing the size of range of the colors which can be regarded as being the same as the predetermined color, a target color appointing device for appointing a color to which the predetermined color is to be converted, and a color image forming device such as a laser beam printer for forming a color image with the predetermined color and colors in the color range converted into the target color.
Further, a digital color copier with color separation processing is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,087,968 which issued on Feb. 11, 1992. With this color separation processing employed by the digital color copier, an image reproducing copy is prepared by applying color separation to an original image of an original and processing color component signals for each of the separated colors into recording information. The color copying machine can increase the speed and efficiency of multiple copies and can provide a symmetric copy mode, a swap or inverting copy mode and a multiple image copy mode.
In such a typically conventional technique, a bit stream is defined such that a logic bit "1" is allocated to an interior of an area where coordinate data designating the extracted area is inputted from a coordinate data input device, while a logic bit "0" is allocated to an exterior of the area. Sequentially, the bit stream is logically produced with the picture image data supplied from the picture image input data to extract the desired local picture image.
However, this technique requires a separate memory having the same capacity as the amount of the picture image data supplied from the image input device to define the bit stream. As a result, a cost of embodying the memory is increased undesirably.
To overcome this drawback, a method has been proposed in which only coordinate data of the designated image area is stored in a predetermined memory and the bit stream is then defined by scanning lines when the picture image data corresponding to the designated area is input to extract the picture image of the desired image area. However, there is a problem in that the image area is partially designated with limited format.

Apparatus for extracting local image from original image


A system is provided for (1) metering an amount of at least one concentrated liquid chemical solution, (2) metering an amount of water, (3) feeding the metered amounts of concentrated chemical solution and water to a static, inline mixing member and (4) delivering a properly diluted working solution from the mixing member directly to a processing machine. The concentrated liquid chemical solutions are stored in respective storage containers, and metering devices associated with the respective storage containers meter controlled amounts of each concentrated chemical solution for delivery to an inline static mixing member. A water metering device delivers a metered amount of water to the inline mixing member, and mixed, diluted working solution is delivered directly to the inline mixing system is delivered directly to the processing machine.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates broadly to a process of metering one or more concentrated chemical solutions with a metered amount of water and statically mixing the components together in an inline, static mixer to produce a diluted working solution which is fed to an automatic film processing machine on demand from such machine. In particular, the present invention relates to such a process in which the concentrated chemical solutions and water are automatically diluted and mixed together to form a relatively small amount of diluted working solution called for by the processing machine, and the proper amount of working solution is then fed to the processing machine in the specific amounts called for by the processing machine, with no intermediate storage of the diluted working solution other than the amount of working solution contained in the flow conduits that deliver the diluted working solution to the processing machine.
2. State of the Art
The present invention as mentioned above relates generally to apparatus and processes for measuring predetermined amounts of concentrated chemical solution and mixing the concentrated chemical solutions with a measured amount of water in an inline, static mixing device to produce a diluted solution which is delivered directly to an automatic film processing machine upon demand of the processing machine. In typical, automatic processing machines, such as used in processing photographic film in the fields of radiology, lithography and microfilm, the film negatives and positives are transported by a series of rollers through tanks within the processing machines that contain developer, fixer, wash and other solutions for the purpose of developing a latent image on the film.
During the development of the latent image on the film, the solutions contained in the various treatment tanks in the automatic processing machine become depleted in their chemical strength by means of the chemical reactions taking place with the films being processed, as well as by oxidation or other time dependent means of deterioration. This depletion of chemical strength and otherwise loss of efficacy that would result requires that the chemicals in the tanks of the processing machine be replenished with fresh chemicals. The treatment tanks in automatic processing machines are customarily replenished with relatively small, measured amounts of replenishment chemicals, generally in quantities of from about 80 to 120 cubic centimeters.
There are generally two methods used in the prior art for replenishing chemicals in the treatment tanks of the automatic processing machines. In the first method, a supplier who maintains or services the machines makes scheduled service calls for the purpose of keeping the storage containers associated with the processing machines properly filled with diluted chemical solutions. Concentrated chemicals are generally incompatible and cause unwanted precipitation and other reactions if mixed together in their concentrated state. Thus, the supplier must supply diluted chemical solutions for use in the day-to-day operation of the automatic processing machines.
This diluted, working solution must be stored in containers in the vicinity of the processing machine. The diluted, working solution itself is mixed at a remote site in batches generally of up to 1000 gallons or more at a time and filled into containers (typically five gallons each) to be transported to the site of the automatic processing machine. This process is extremely labor intensive and carries high transportation and delivery costs. In addition, since the mixing of the diluted, working solutions is often done by manual procedures, it is subject to human error and can be very inaccurate. The diluted, working solutions are commonly stored at the site of the automatic processing machines in containers that vary in size from five to eighty gallons or more. This causes undue hazards of on site storage of rather large quantities of chemicals and requires intensive regulatory compliance.
In the second general method of providing replenishment chemicals for the day-to-day operation of the automatic processing machine, the chemicals are supplied in concentrated form in prepackaged configurations that are to be mixed with a preset amount of fresh water to produce a diluted, working solution. This eliminates the storage of quantities of diluted, working solutions in excess of 5 to 10 gallons inasmuch as the prepackaged chemicals can be sized so as to produce such an amount. However, means must be provided for handling the concentrated chemicals and mixing the concentrated chemicals with a preset amount of fresh water. The prepackaged chemicals must be mixed with the proper amount of water in a mixer and the diluted solution is then stored in a suitable container.
There are many disadvantages associated with both of the general methods mentioned above. Both methods require mixing and storing a relatively large amounts of working solutions at least as compared to the small amount of such solution required to supply the cyclic demand of the processing machine. Anywhere from 10 to 80 or more gallons of working solution are generally stored at the site of the processing machine to supply a demand of approximately 100 cubic centimeters per cycle of the processing machine. On site storage of the relatively large amounts of chemicals presents problems of unnecessary hazards, require sizable storage space, present a problem with fumes and regulatory compliance procedures must be strictly followed.
Further, mixing of chemical materials as is required in both of the general methods as discussed above necessitates special mixing equipment such as tanks, mechanical mixers, high volume measuring equipment and relatively large storage space. The mixing becomes inaccurate because the measurements are done by hand. Thus it is subject to human error. It is also labor intensive and subject to relatively high costs. Off site mixing, as mentioned previously, requires storage and transportation of delivery containers and relatively large amounts of diluted chemicals. Transportation of the diluted chemicals is very costly as is the manual delivery and handling of the containers used to transport the diluted chemicals. Common to both of the general procedures discussed previously, the working solutions of the diluted chemicals are unstable and subject to decomposition with time. Oxidation and other modes of decomposition begin immediately following the mixing of the diluted chemicals. Working solutions are at their full strength and potency when used a short time after being mixed. The efficacy of the chemical components of the working solutions are greatly reduced with time following the mixing of the solutions.
Two prior art patents have been issued relating to methods and apparatus for replenishing chemical solutions in photographic processing machines. In U.S. Pat. No. 3,877,682 apparatus is disclosed for automatically measuring and mixing a predetermined quantity of two or more chemicals to form a working solution to be used in replenishing the chemical solutions in the treatment tanks of automatic photographic processors. The measuring and mixing are accomplished by using a single measuring chamber to measure all chemicals as well as water. The chamber drains into a mixing tank where the contents are mixed by means of a mixing pump. Following the mechanical mixing in the mixing tank, the mixed, diluted solutions are pumped into holding tanks. This method is impractical for several reasons. The method requires filling and emptying of the measuring chamber many times. For example, with chemical formulas for developer solutions in present use, the chamber would have to be filled 74 times to measure the water, 34 times for measurement of one component of the developer chemicals, and one time each for measurements of the second and third components of the developer chemicals. This is a total of 110 filling and dumping cycles of the measuring chamber to achieve a proper mix for the diluted, working solution. The amount of diluted, working solution produced is many times over the amount per cycle of working solution required for the photographic processing machine and requires storage of the excess, bulk supply of working solution.
The second patent, U.S. Pat. No. 3,822,723, discloses an apparatus for controlling make-up and addition of replenishment solution to a photographic processing machine. The device of this patent requires electronic input from sources reading percent of film exposure, replenishment rates, film size and time lapse. Based on this information, various chemical materials are fed directly into the various treatment tanks in the processing machine rather than being mixed together in a dilute, working solution that is added to the treatment tanks. This method is completely impractical with the customary processing machines which have no means of producing the electronic input relative to percent of film exposure, replenishment rates, film size and time lapse. The customary processing machines to which the present invention is directed require cyclic additions of predetermined, premixed amounts of diluted, working solution to the treatment tanks in the processing machine.
3. Objectives
A principal objective of the invention is to provide novel apparatus and procedures for automatically and accurately measuring and proportioning predetermined amounts of two or more concentrated chemical components and water. The chemical components and the water are mixed together in a static inline mixer that requires no mechanical mixer or other mixing mechanism. The chemicals and water are statically mixed to make one or more working solutions, and the working solutions are supplied directly to a processing machine upon demand from the processing machine in the relatively small amounts required by the processing machine. It is to be noted that although this invention is suited to supply chemical mixtures to automatic photographic film processing machines, it is also suited to many other types of chemical processes which require proportioning and mixing of chemical components.
A particular object of the present invention is to provide a relatively inexpensive system including apparatus and processes for mixing concentrated chemicals and water in small quantities to be delivered either directly to a photographic processing machine or through appropriate feed conduits to the processing machine upon demand from the processing machine.
An additional object of the present invention is to provide such a system and method in which concentrated chemicals are stored in relatively small storage containers within or adjacent to the processing machine, and as the processing machine calls for small quantities of diluted chemicals for replenishment of the working chemical solutions in the processing machine, the small quantities of diluted chemicals are produced in-situ by measuring or metering quantities of concentrated chemicals and water, mixing the chemicals and water immediately in static inline mixing devices and delivering the small quantities of diluted chemicals to the working chemical solutions in the processing machine either by directly adding the diluted chemicals to the treatment tanks containing the working chemical solutions or by feeding the diluted chemicals to the treatment tanks through feed conduits linking the inline static mixing devices and the treatment tanks of the processing machine.

Apparatus for diluting and mixing chemicals and automatically feeding the diluted chemicals to a photographic processor on demand


Pressure and density of a gaseous mixture are increased in the process of introducing the gaseous mixture into the combustor of an air-breathing pulse detonation engine employing atmospheric oxygen as an oxidizer. The exit valve 20 able to be opened and closed is provided at the outlet of the combustor 15, an air cooler 12 is provided in the exit of the intake, and density is increased by exchange of heat of the air received at the intake with a coolant in the air cooler 12. Furthermore, by closing the exit valve 20 provided in the outlet of the combustor during the process of loading the gaseous mixture, transition to the detonation process is possible without expansion of the high-pressure high density air obtained by ram-compression at the intake.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a pulse detonation engine for possible application as a propulsion engine for a spaceplane, high-speed aircraft, or launch rocket and the like, and more particularly to a pulse detonation ramjet engine suitable as an engine required for operation at flight speeds from takeoff to hypersonic, and a valve employed therein.
2. Description of the Related Art
The detonation phenomenon is a supersonic combustion phenomenon accompanied by a vertical shockwave at the front face of the combustion wave, and has a greater produced energy density than normal subsonic combustion (deflagnation), and generates a combustion gas of higher temperature and pressure. Research into the control and effective use of this [detonation phenomenon] has been conducted (see Popular Science Magazine, November 2003 "Detonation—The Battle for the Next Generation Engine", and AIAA-95-2577 "A Rotary Valve Multiple Pulse Detonation Engine (RVMPDE)) in recent years in association with clarification of detonation wave cell structures and transition conditions and timing and the like for deflagnation detonation. The pulse detonation engine is an engine where detonation is employed in the combustion process, and, as shown schematically in FIGS. 5A through 5C, is an intermittent combustion engine where a gaseous mixture of fuel and oxidizer is repeatedly introduced into, combusted in, and exhausted from, a combustor (combustion tube) 31 at a frequency of between 10 Hz and 100 Hz. In the process of filling the gaseous mixture, the gaseous mixture is supplied into the combustor 31, ignited at the closed end 32 of the combustor, and the combustion wave transformed from a deflagnation wave to a detonation wave during propagation from the closed end to the open end 33. Once a detonation wave 35 is formed, the high temperature and high-pressure combustion gas generated by combustion generates a large thrust at the closed end 32. When the detonation wave 35 reaches the open end 33 and the exhaust process commences, combustion gas is exhausted until the pressure of the open end 33 is equal with the external air pressure.
As an example of a pulse detonation engine employing such a detonation phenomenon, an engine combining a turbofan jet engine with a pulse detonation engine has been proposed (see Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2001-355515) as a pulse detonation engine operating over a wide range of flight speeds. Furthermore, since the pulse detonation engine is, as described above, an intermittent combustion engine, in order to generate thrust continuously with sequential operation in an effective cycle using a plurality of combustors, combustor inlet valves supplying and controlling the gaseous mixture to the combustors are required to open and close rapidly with precise timing. A pulse detonation engine provided with a rotary disk valve has been proposed to satisfy this requirement (see for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,353,588, and U.S. Pat. No. 5,473,885).
Previously proposed pulse detonation engines provide an opening and closing valve in the combustor inlet for supply and control of the gaseous mixture to permit the cycle of filling with the gaseous mixture, its combustion and exhaust, however the outlet of the combustor communicates directly with the nozzle and is always open to atmosphere. Thus, since the combustor is not isolated from the external atmosphere in the gaseous mixture filling process, the filling pressure and density are slightly greater than that of the external air. Thrust density of the combustor (=produced thrust÷combustor cross-sectional area) is therefore restricted by external air pressure, and is reduced as flight altitude increases. For this reason, pulse detonation engines are considered unsuitable as supersonic air-breathing engines at high altitude, and the advantages of high specific impulse are not obtained. Furthermore, since pulse detonation engines repeat combustion rapidly as described above, rapid opening and closing of the inlet valve supplying the gaseous mixture to the combustor is required, and they are subject to the problem of ready fatigue break due to vibration and repetitive stress resulting from combustion.


A host interface comprising a reassembler for reassembling and decrypting data that has been encrypted in accordance with a pre-defined key and segmented into a plurality of asynchronous transfer mode (ATM) cells. Each cell comprises a virtual channel identifier (VCI), a multiplexing identifier (MID) if the data is transmitted using the CCITT specified Class 4 connectionless transfer ATM adaptation layer (AAL), and a cell body. The reassembler comprises a cell manager for separating each cell body from that cell body's corresponding VCI and MID (if present), a linked list manager for managing and storing linked list data indicative of addresses at which the cell bodies are to be stored, a content addressable memory (CAM) for managing and storing the VCIs (and MIDs for connectionless data) and providing pointers into the linked list data, a lookup controller for writing the VCIs to the CAM, a reassembly buffer for storing the cell bodies, and a decryption device for decrypting the data and writing the decrypted data to the reassembly buffer. The major subsections operate concurrently to form an ATM cell-processing pipeline. The interface may also comprise a segmenter for encrypting data received from a host computer and segmenting the encrypted data into a plurality of ATM cells.

Network usage and capabilities are both increasing at high rates. For example, the traffic load on the National Science Foundation's NSFNET backbones in the United States doubles every few months. Much of this increased traffic is due to the increased connectivity provided by interconnection with other networks, large numbers of personal workstations connected to LANs, and large numbers of computers connected via 9600 bit per second (bps) dial-ins. Much of this traffic is traditional Internet (inter-network) traffic, e.g., electronic mail, netnews, and file transfer, although a significant percentage of traffic is due to remote terminal sessions via login and telnet.
Networks are improving in a number of ways. Bandwidth is the most important area in which improvement is taking place, as bandwidth can be used to achieve a variety of other quality-of-service goals. In the very near future, network technologies with bandwidths near 1 Gbps will be deployed in several areas of the United States. See "Gigabit Testbed Initiative Summary," Corporation for National Research Initiatives, 1985 Preston White Drive, Suite 100, Reston, Va. 22091 USA (January, 1992) firstname.lastname@example.com,va,us.
AURORA, for example, is an experimental wide area network testbed whose main objective is the exploration and evaluation of network technologies. The Gbps network will link four sites:
(1) Bellcore's Morristown Research and Engineering Laboratory in Morristown, N.J.; PA1 (2) IBM Research's Computer Science Laboratory in Hawthorne, N.Y.; PA1 (3) MIT's Laboratory for Computer Science in Cambridge, Mass.; PA1 (4) University of Pennsylvania's Distributed Systems Laboratory in Philadelphia, Pa. The topology of AURORA is illustrated in FIG. 1.
Among the applications envisioned for gigabit per second networks (e.g., AURORA) are interactive teleconferencing, advanced multimedia systems with support for sensory data, and advanced displays with extremely high-quality imaging capabilities. Many of these applications would not be possible without large available bandwidths. Many more applications can be imagined, and it is expected that many may be commercialized.
Many proposed applications, however, will not be feasible without significant attention paid to the issue of security. Traditionally, security schemes relied on either administrative means (e.g., systems with extremely restricted access, careful monitoring and audits) or cryptographic support, or a combination of these techniques. Since networks, by their nature, require distributed control, cryptographic means have somewhat more utility than solely administrative means to achieve security. A detailed survey of cryptographic techniques is available in D. R. Denning, Cryptography and Data Security, Addison-Wesley (1982).
The major axes of choice are: choice of encryption algorithm, hardware or software implementation, and placement of cryptographic support in a networking architecture. Of the available cryptographic methods that have withstood significant attack, the Data Encryption Standard (DES) (described in NBS, Data Encryption Standard (FIPS Publication 46), National Bureau of Standards, U.S. Department of Commerce, Washington, DC (January, 1977)) and the Rivest-Shamir-Adleman (RSA) scheme (described in R. L. Rivest, A. Shamir, and L. Adleman, "A method of obtaining digital signatures and public-key cryptosystems," Communications of the ACM 21(2), pp. 120-126 (February 1978)) seem most attractive. Although the use of public-key technology offers many advantages, the poor performance of RSA implementations are a major problem. A recent survey of hardware implementations of the RSA algorithm indicates that the fastest available implementations are no faster than 1 Mbps. Significantly faster implementations of the private-key DES algorithm are available in hardware and architectural techniques for further improving its performance have been reported. See 1989 IC MASTER, Fact Sheet, Western Digital WDD20C03A, 1989; VLSI Technology, Inc. VM007 Data Encryption Processor: Advance Information Sheet, 8375 South River Parkway, October, 1991; and Albert G. Broscius, Hardware Analysis and Implementation of the NBS Data Encryption Standard, University of Pennsylvania, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences (April, 1991), MSE Thesis (CIS).
Many applications envisioned for ultra-high-speed networks require cryptographic transformations for data in transit. The need for security and privacy will drive transformations in workstation architectures, especially high-performance communications subsystems. There is a need for apparatus and methods for providing cost-effective and high-performance cryptographic support in high speed networks while sacrificing little in flexibility.

Apparatus for providing cryptographic support in a network

The Trustees of the University of Pennsylvania


An electric-wire guide unit is provided with a fixed roller and a movable roller that is supported movably toward and away from the fixed roller, and holds an electric wire from both of the sides of the electric wire in cooperation with the fixed roller. An electric-wire nozzle unit is provided with a fixed nozzle guide and a movable nozzle guide that is slidably placed, and forms a nozzle opening through which the electric wire is inserted, in cooperation with the fixed nozzle guide. A link mechanism, which couples the movable roller and the movable nozzle guide so as to be interlocked, is prepared. An tension spring, which presses the movable roller in an approaching direction toward the fixed roller, is attached. In accordance with the size of the diameter of the electric wire to be held between the movable roller and the fixed roller, the movable nozzle guide is slide-operated through the link mechanism so that the nozzle opening is size-adjusted. The present invention provides an electric-wire processing machine which can eliminate exchanging operations of electric-wire nozzle units depending on diameters of an electric wire, and shortens the operation time required for step-exchanging.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electric-wire processing machine such as a double end terminal crimping device provided with an electric-wire nozzle unit to which an electric wire is guided and inserted, and more particularly concerns an electric-wire processing machine which eliminates the necessity of exchanging the electric-wire nozzle unit depending on diameters of electric wires to be processed.
2. Description of the Background Art
With respect to the double end terminal crimping device, conventionally, for example, those having a structure which has an electric-wire guide unit that guides an electric wire supplied along a predetermined electric-wire supplying direction, a clamping device that is placed on the downstream side of the electric-wire guide unit in the electric-wire supplying direction and has an air cylinder or the like that releasably clamps an electric wire, and a nozzle which is placed on the downstream side of the clamping device in the electric-wire supplying direction and through which an electric wire is guided and inserted (for example, see Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 2000-123947).
Further, an electric wire that is fed by a predetermined length along the electric-wire supplying direction by a length-measuring unit is clamped by the clamping device, and in this state, the electric wire protruding from the nozzle is cut by a cutter unit and the coated portion of the electric wire end is subjected to a coat-removing process.
Then, the electric wire, clamped by the clamping device, is shifted to a terminal crimping unit position, and a terminal is crimped onto the coat-removed portion by the terminal crimping unit. After the terminal crimping process, the electric wire, clamped by the clamping device, is returned to an initial position that faces the cutter unit.
Thereafter, the electric wire that has been fed out is received by an electric-wire transporting unit, and in the same manner as described above, a terminal is crimped onto the other end of the electric wire by another terminal crimping unit.
Here, when the electric wire to be processed is changed to another electric wire having a different electric-wire diameter, the nozzle is exchanged to another nozzle having a nozzle opening that is suitable for the corresponding electric-wire diameter, in order to suppress pulsating movements of the electric wire that occur upon feeding the electric wire so as to stabilize the electric-wire supplying direction.
In the double end terminal crimping device having the conventional structure, however, upon step-exchanging process, it is necessary to exchange nozzles to a proper nozzle corresponding to the electric-wire diameter each time the electric-wire diameter is changed, and the resulting problem is that the step-exchanging process takes long time.
Moreover, it is also necessary to prepare and maintain nozzles of various sizes corresponding to electric-wire diameters for use in part-exchanging.


An apparatus for bone drilling comprising a support member with a guide hole having an aperture of predetermined diameter attached to the side of an object of drilling, and a drilling device having a rotative cutting implement (drill) to be rotated. A guide member is integrally or separately provided on the outer periphery of the rotative cutting implement (drill), and the diameter of the outer periphery of the guide member substantially corresponds to that of the guide hole.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus for bone drilling as well as a method of bone drilling which, for example during so-called "implantation" (of artificial tooth) treatment in dentistry, enables a dentist to accurately drill a hole for implantation, into which an implant is implanted, at a predetermined position in a jaw bone.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a dental treatment called "implantation", which is adopted in order to fix an artificial tooth as a false tooth. During the implantation process, an implantation hole is drilled at a predetermined position in a jaw bone (the maxilla or the mandible), and an implant made of metal is implanted in the implantation hole. Then an artificial tooth is fixed thereon via various types of metal fittings.
However, the following exist with regard to the implantation treatment have been existing.
Firstly, an ordinary case, the implantation hole is specified in advance by means of computed tomography. Namely, the most appropriate position for the implantation hole is determined by checking the state of such a position for implantation in relation to the nerves or the other teeth through the computed tomography. When the position of the implantation hole is determined, the drilling is operated by a drilling apparatus in order to form a desirous implantation hole.
However, when the most appropriate position for implantation hole is specified through computing tomography, in some cases the deviation of drilling point may actually occur, which results in inaccurate positioning of formation of desirous implantation hole. This inaccurate positioning of drilling may occur due to play, for example, between a guide hole formed in a surgical stent and a drill which works as the rotative cutting implement (drill) on the side of drilling apparatus.
When the deviated implantation hole is formed, it becomes necessary to amend such an deviated position of the implantation hole, which is troublesome to the dentist, and requires a skilled operation which is time consuming to.
With regard to the above problem relating to the deviated positioning, a countermeasure that can be taken is the size (diameter) of the guide hole formed in the surgical stent is minimized so that the play between the drill and the guide hole may not be allowed. However, it should be noted regardless of the minimization of size to the guide hole, that there may be a case when the drilling operation along the guide hole of the above surgical stent may cause damage to the surgical stent. In addition, it should be noted that the shavings (shaved particles) of drilling may go inside the implantation hole, which eventually causes damage to the accurate implantation structure. Consequently, in addition to the above problem which exists before the minimization of the guide hole is made, if the minimization is further made in regard to the size of the guide hole, the problem as above discussed may become more remarkable and therefore worse.
There are in fact several types of guide apparatus provide to overcome the above problem, but all of these apparatuses require the skilled operation and the long operating time including further amendment after the drilling operation. Consequently, the efficiency of operation is not good.

Apparatus for and method of bone drilling


Disclosed are 3',3'-N-bisdesmethyl-3',3'-N-bis-substituted-6-O-methyl-11-deoxy-11,12-cyc lic carbamate erythromycin A derivatives which are antagonists of lutenizing hormone-releasing hormone (LHRH). Also disclosed are pharmaceutical compositions comprising the compounds, to methods of using the compounds and to the process of making the same.

The gonadotropins, follicle stimulating hormone (FSH), lutenizing hormone (LH), and chorionic gonadotropin (CG) are required for ovulation, spermatogenesis, and the biosynthesis of sex steroids. A single hypothalamic hormone, gonadotropin-releasing hormone (GnRH) also known as LHRH is responsible for regulating the secretion of both FSH and LH in mammals.
LHRH is a decapeptide having the structure:
pyro-Glu.sup.1 -His.sup.2 -Trp.sup.3 -Ser.sup.4 -Tyr.sup.5 -Gly.sup.6 -Leu.sup.7 -Arg.sup.8 -Pro.sup.9 -Gly.sup.10 -NH.sub.2 PA1 (a) --C, PA1 (b) --N, and PA1 (c) --O; PA1 (a) hydrogen, PA1 (b) halide, PA1 (c) trifluoromethyl, PA1 (d) alkoxy, PA1 (e) alkyl, PA1 (f) aryl, and PA1 (g) substituted aryl; PA1 (a) alkyl, PA1 (b) cycloalkyl, PA1 (c) heterocylic, PA1 (d) substituted heterocyclic, PA1 (e) alkylcycloalkyl, PA1 (f) substituted alkylcycloalkyl, PA1 (g) alkylaryl, PA1 (f) alkylheterocyclic, PA1 (g) alkenyl, PA1 (h) alkynyl, PA1 (i) --C(S)--NHR.sub.4, C(NR.sub.4)--NHR.sub.4, wherein R.sub.4 is hydrogen, alkyl, or aryl; and PA1 (j) --(CH.sub.2)n--C(CH.sub.2)m--R.sub.5, wherein m is 2, 3, 4, or 5, and R.sub.5 is alkyl, alkoxy, aryl, or substituted aryl; PA1 (a) hydrogen, PA1 (b) methyl, or PA1 R.sub.2 and R.sub.3 together form a cyclic moiety, when A is C; PA1 R.sub.3 is absent when A is N; and PA1 n=1, 2or3. PA1 (a) reacting a compound of formula: ##STR2## with sodium hexamethyldisilazide and carbonyldiimidazole to afford a compound of the formula: ##STR3## (b) reacting the compound obtained in step (a) with a compound an amino compound of the formula: ##STR4## followed by deprotection of the 2',4"-protected hydroxy groups to afford a compound of the formula: ##STR5## (c) stepwise desmethylating the 3'-amino by treating the compound obtained in step (b) with iodine in the presence of a base to afford a compound of the formula: ##STR6## (d) alkylating the 3',3'-N-bisdesmethylated compound obtained in step (c) with an alkylating agent PA1 (c) selectively desmethylating the compound obtained in step (b) to obtain the compound of the formula: ##STR7## (d) alkylating the 3'-N-desmethylated compound obtained in step (c) with an alkylating agent to afford a compound of the formula: ##STR8## (e) desmethylating the 3'-amino by treating the compound obtained in step (d) with iodine in the presence of a base to afford a compound of the formula: ##STR9## (f) alkylating the 3'-N-desmethylated compound obtained in step (e) with an alkylating agent.
where the superscripts designate the position of each aminoacyl residue in the decapeptide chain.
LHRH is released from the hypothalamus and binds to a receptor on the pituitary gland, causing the release of LH and FSH which subsequently act on the gonads to stimulate the synthesis of steroid sex hormones. The pulsatile release of LHRH, and thereby the release of LH and FSH, controls the reproductive cycle in animals and humans. Acute doses of LHRH agonists increase the levels of LH and steroidal sex hormones in both animals and humans. Paradoxically, chronic doses of LHRH agonists suppress the level of LH and steroidal sex hormones. Consequently, the effect of multiple doses of LHRH agonists is to suppress estrogen formation in females and testosterone production in males. The same effect is observed in both animals and humans after administration of either acute or chronic doses of LHRH antagonists.
In recent years considerable research effort has been expended on finding antagonists of LHRH. These efforts have produced a number of peptide LHRH antagonists, which suppress LH and reproductive hormones in mammals upon acute or chronic administration. See for example, M. J. Karten in "Modes of Action of GnRH and GnRH analogs", edited by W. F. Crowley and P. M. Conn, p. 277 (1992). The literature has reported that LHRH antagonists are useful in the treatment of a variety of conditions in which the suppression of sex steroids plays a key role including contraception, delay of puberty, treatment of benign prostatic hyperplasia, palliative treatment or remission of hormonal-dependent tumors of the prostate, the treatment of cryptorchidism, hirsutism in women, gastric motility disorders, dysmenorrhea, and endometriosis.
Current LHRH antagonists are decapeptides which, because of their low oral bioavailability, are administered either intravenously or subcutaneously. Non-peptide heterocyclic antagonists have been reported in the literature, see for example, WO 95/280405, WO 95/29900, WO 97/22707, WO 97/21704 and WO 97/2103. Non-peptide LHRH antagonists have the possible advantage of improved oral bioavailability and are smaller molecules.
However, there are no known reports of macrolide compounds as LHRH antagonists in the literature. Macrolide antibiotics and macrolide prokinetic agents are known. For example, macrolide antibiotics derived from erythromycin which contain 11,12-cyclic carbamate moieties are disclosed in EP 248 279 A2. The 3'-N substituted erythromycin derivatives, which are effective antibacterial agents are described in EP 0 559 896 A1. Macrocyclic lactone (macrolide) prokinetic agents are known. See J. S. Gidda et al, in European Patent Application No. 0349100, published Jan. 3, 1990, which discloses 12-membered macrolides for use as gastrointestinal motility enhancers. S. Omura and Z. Itoh, in U.S. Pat. No. 4,677,097, issued Jun. 30, 1987; European Application No. 215,355, published Mar. 25, 1987; and European Application No. 213,617, published Mar. 11, 1987; disclose derivatives of erythromycins A, B, C and D which are useful as stimulants of digestive tract contractile motion. Additionally, T. Sunazuka, et al., Chem. Pharm. Bull. 37(10): 2701-2709 (1989) discloses quaternary derivatives of 8,9-anhydroerythromycin A 6,9-hemiacetal and 9,9-dihydro-erythromycin A 6,9-epoxide with gastrointestinal motor stimulating activity.
None of these references disclose novel 3',3'-N-bis-desmethyl-3',3'-N-bis-substituted-6-O-methyl-11-deoxy-11,12-cy clic carbamate erythromycin A derivatives of the present invention, which are effective as LHRH antagonists.
3'-N-desmethyl-3'-N-monosubstituted-6-O-methyl-11-deoxy-11,12-cyclic carbamate erythromycin A derivatives are disclosed in the commnonly owned U.S. Application filed concurrently herewith. The 3',3'-N-bis-desmethyl-3',3'-N-bis-substituted-6-O-methyl-11-deoxy-11,12-cy clic carbamate erythromycin A derivatives of the present invention are disclosed herewith.

3',3-N-bis-substituted macrolide LHRH antagonists