A method for identifying virulent strains of L. monocytogenes that includes the use of primers or probes in a PCR assay or hybridization technique that employs primers or probes, which are specific for virulence-specific genes of L. monocytogenes. Also provided is a method of control of L. monocytogenes strains that have been identified using the method of the present invention.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention involves the use of novel virulence-specific genes of Listeria monocytogenes as targets for specific diagnosis and potential control of virulent strains of L. monocytogenes. More particularly, this invention provides a PCR or hybridization method, which uses specific primers or probes corresponding to virulence-specific genes for the identification and control of virulent strains of Listeria monocytogenes.
2. Background of the Technology
L. monocytogenes is an important cause of human food borne diseases world wide. A notable feature of L. monocytogenes is that it shows considerable variation in its ability to produce listeriosis. On the one extreme, some L. monocytogenes strains are virulent and can result in severe disease and mortality. On the other, some have limited capability to establish in the host and are relatively avirulent and harmless. Because manufactured food products detected with L. monocytogenes are recalled or downgraded (i.e., used for pet food), contamination with this species may render significant economic losses. With outbreaks of listeriosis due to contaminated foods on the increase in recent years, L. monocytogenes has become a major concern to the food industry and health regulation authority.
Apart from adapting stringent quality control measures during food processing procedures, frequent monitoring with specific laboratory tests for virulent strains of L. monocytogenes is vital in reducing unnecessary food product recalls and allaying consumer concerns. The current diagnostic methods are incapable of distinguishing virulent from avirulent strains of L. monocytogenes.
The complete genome of Listeria monocytogenes EGDe strain was reported recently (Glaser et al., 2001). Although this publication contains a list of all known and putative genes in L. monocytogenes EGD strain as well as their nucleotide sequences, it does not provide any information on the actual application of these genes. Therefore, although the DNA sequences of the genes described in this invention have been published and are in public domain through the release of the L. monocytogenes EGDe genome sequence, there are no prior publications on the functions of these genes or on their use for research or diagnostic purposes.
Previous research used PCR and DNA sequencing or restriction fragment length polymorphism of the L. monocytogenes hlyA, actA, and inlA genes to group L. monocytogenes into three genetic lineages, with the various lineages varying in potential for human virulence (Norton et al., 2001; Wiedmann et al., 1997). Ribotyping (sequencing of rRNA genes) was also used in this research. These assays are different from the present assay employed by the inventors in that they require either DNA sequencing or restriction digests following PCR amplification, while the present assay is simply a PCR assay. In addition, the hlyA, actA, and inlA genes are present in all L. monocytogenes isolates, while the virulence-specific genes described by the inventors are found only in virulent strains of L. monocytogenes.
Another PCR assay, random amplification of polymorphic DNA (RAPD) PCR, has been used to classify L. monocytogenes into genetic groups that tend to predict virulence. This technique is based on the use of nonspecific primers that bind to unknown sequences in the L. monocytogenes chromosome (Franciosa et al., 2001). The PCR assay employed by the inventors is based on primers that bind to specific virulence associated chromosomal sequences that we have identified.
Other assays have been described for differentiation of virulent and avirulent L. monocytogenes isolates. The "gold standard" for virulence testing of L. monocytogenes isolates is the mouse virulence test. This test is expensive, labor intensive, requires several weeks to complete, and requires regulatory approval to ensure humane treatment of animals. Assays have been described based on cell culture models; one correlated L. monocytogenes virulence with the ability of isolates to form plaques on HT-29 cells (Roche et al., 2001), and another correlated virulence with the ability to cause cytopathogenic effects in Caco-2 cells (Pine et al., 1991). Although the use of cell culture models represents an improvement over mouse virulence testing, it is still time-consuming and labor intensive.
Research has been published on the use of phenotypic detection of virulence factor expression (listeriolysin, phosphatidylinositol phospholipase C, phosphatidylcholine phospholipase C) to separate virulent from avirulent L. monocytogenes isolates (Erdenlig et al., 2000). Research has also been published on the use of monoclonal antibodies for detection of virulence factor expression (listeriolysin and phosphatidylcholine phospholipase C) to distinguish virulent and avirulent isolates (Erdenlig et al., 1999). The dot blot hybridization technique described in this invention has also been previously published. For example, this technique was employed to identify virulence and avirulence associated markers of Dichelobacter nodosus—the ovine footrot pathogen (Liu & Yong, 1993). Several PCR assays have been described for species specific detection of L. monocytogenes (examples include Aznar & Alarcon, 2002; Bassler et al., 1995; Blais et al., 1997; Klein & Juneja, 1997; Norton & Batt, 1999; Winters et al., 1999). PCR assays for distinguishing all six Listeria species can be based on the 16S and 23S rRNA genes (Sallen et al., 1996) or the intergenic spacer region of 16S and 23S rRNA genes (Graham et al., 1997), or the iap gene (Bubert, et al., 1999). However, none of these PCR assays distinguish virulent L. monocytogenes isolates from avirulent isolates.

Use of novel virulence-specific genes as targets for diagnosis and potential control of virulent strains of


A short detection circuit to detect a short condition in a backlight module, wherein the backlight module comprises a WLED circuit having a first terminal connected to an output voltage and second terminal connected to a driver IC. The short detection circuit comprises: a PMOS, a NMOS, a load and a detection module. The gate of the PMOS receives a first voltage and the source of the PMOS connects to the second terminal; the gate of the NMOS receives a reference voltage, the drain of the NMOS connects to the drain of the PMOS and the source of the NMOS connects to a detection terminal. The voltage of the detection terminal becomes a high state when the WLEDs have a short condition; and the detection module is connected to the detection terminal, when the voltage of the detection terminal becomes a high state, the detection module detects a short condition.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a short detection circuit. More particularly, the present invention relates to a short detection circuit adapted in a backlight module.
2. Description of Related Art
Recently, white-light emitting diodes (WLEDs) are widely used as the backlight source in the LCD panel. In order to drive more WLEDs in the panel, the driver IC provides high voltage to supply the WLEDs. When some of the WLEDs are broken, a short condition will happen to generate an extreme high voltage in the short WLED circuit and further damage the driver IC if there is no detection and protection mechanism.
Besides, the value of the high voltage generated by the short condition depends on the number of the broken WLEDs. If the value is not high, i.e. there are not many broken WLEDs, the driver IC may not be damaged. Thus, in order to give an appropriate threshold value of the voltage of the short condition, a design of the short detection circuit that can adjust the threshold value to signal the different short condition is important.
Accordingly, what is needed is a short detection circuit to detect the short condition with an adjustable threshold value to overcome the above issues. The present invention addresses such a need.


A process for producing a phenothiazinium compound comprising the step of: reacting phenothiazine, in the presence of a halogen, with at least one amine selected from the group consisting of:

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a novel one step halogenation/amination synthesis for producing phenothiazinium compounds from phenothiazine.
2. Discussion of the Background Art
There has been recent advances in the use of compounds having a photosensitizing chromophoric system, a sulphonamido functionality and a carboxy functionality as a photosensitizer in photodynamic therapy (PDT), in photochemical internalization in the production of a cancer vaccine or in the diagnosis or detection of medical conditions.
These photosensitizing chromophoric systems are preferably residue of a metal-free phthalocyanine, a methyl phthalocyanine, a benzoporphyrin, a purpurin, a chlorin, a bacteriochlorin, a tetraarylporphyrin, a porphycene or a texaphyrin, more preferably a residue of a metal phthalocyanine, a chlorin or a bacteriochlorin, especially a residue of a metal phthalocyanine, as set forth in US-2003/0180224, which is incorporated herein in its entirety.
Such phenothiazinium compounds are disclosed in WO-02/096896 as comprising the following formula (I):
wherein A and B are each independently selected from the group consisting of:
wherein Z is CH2, O, S, SO2, NH, NCH3, HC2H5, NCH2CH2OH or HCOCH3 and R1 and R2 are each independently linear or branched CnH2nY, where n is 1–6, Y is H, F, Cl, Br, I, OH, OCH3, OC2H5, OC3H7, CN or OCOCH3, and where Xp− is a counteranion and P is 1, 2 or 3.
Unfortunately, WO-02/096896 does not teach a commercially acceptable synthesis route for the manufacture of such phenothiazinium compounds, or any synthesis route for that matter.
K. J. Mellish et al. (Photochem. Photobiol., 2002, 75/4, 392–397) describes the synthesis of a series of tetraalkyl-iodide-derivatives of phenothiazine by an elaborate procedure. The phenothiazine is halogenated first and isolated, and then reacted at room temperature with the appropriate N,N-dialkylamine. The compounds are isolated by an elaborated work-up procedure using, e.g., halogenated solvents and only characterized by mass spectrometry. The purity cannot be derived from the data given.
N. Leventis et al. (Tetrahedron, 1997, 53/29, 10083–10092) describes the synthesis of a series of thiazine dyes. The synthesis is performed in two steps by halogenating phenothiazine in glacial acetic acid and then reaction with the corresponding amine in ethanol. The last step requires workup with chloroform and then isolation by column chromatography using chloroform/MeOH. The evaporation of the organic fractions is followed by recrystallization. This extensive procedure is not practicable for a large-scale synthesis.
L. Strekowski et al. (J. Heterocycl. Chem. 1993, 30/4, 1693–1695) describes the synthesis of dialkylamino-phenothiazin-derivatives with two different amino groups and I3− as the counterion. The compounds are synthesized in a two-step synthesis.
K. W. Loach (J. Chrom., 1971, 60, 119–129) describes the purification and analysis of a series of thiazine dyes. It concedes that in former literature "published procedures appear to give incomplete resolution of complex mixtures or separate them very slowly." The paper describes only analytical separations, using mixtures of alcohol/chloroform/acetic acid which are disadvantageous because of the use of halogenated solvents and the mixture not being stable over more than 24 hours. Also, the separations had to be performed in the dark as the compounds showed significant photodecomposition. Also see U.S. Pat. No. 3,641,016 (Korosi et al.).
It would be desirable to develop a simple commercial synthesis for phenothiazinium compounds from phenothiazine.
The present invention preferably provides the following: an easy one-pot/one-step synthesis with crystallization right from the reaction mixture; eliminates the use of halogenated solvents and methanol during the reaction which also adds to process safety, as methanol/bromine mixtures are hazardous; eliminates the use of halogenated solvents and methanol in the workup; completely eliminates the need to use chromatography which is expensive, causes photodecomposition of material, requires the use of halogenated solvents and silica and causes inconsistent purity results; improves the yield using higher reaction temperature; and results in consistent, high purity yields which are reproducible.

Method for producing phenothiazinium compounds

Abstract: wherein Z is CH2, O, S, SO2, NH, NCH3, NC2H5, NCH2CH2OH or NCOCH3, and R1 and R2 are each independently linear or branched CnH2nY.


The present invention relates to task chairs that support the body of the user in healthy positions while the user performs various tasks over extended sitting periods and that provide independent and independently adjustable support to the lower and the upper back.

1. Field of the Invention (Technical Field)
The present invention relates to task chairs that support the body of the user in healthy positions while the user performs various tasks over extended sitting periods and that provide independent and independently adjustable support to the lower and the upper back.
2. Description of Related Art
Note that the following discussion refers to a number of publications by author(s) and year of publication, and that due to recent publication dates certain publications are not to be considered as prior art vis-a-vis the present invention. Discussion of such publications herein is given for more complete background and is not to be construed as an admission that such publications are prior art for patentability determination purposes.
Today, the average worker performs less physical activity and workers perform increasingly more of their work while in a seated position. It is known that if any part of person's anatomical function is impinged or static (i.e., remaining in a fixed position) for extended periods of time, posture and health are compromised. It has been determined that both physically active and physically inactive people suffer health problems caused by prolonged sitting. Those problems include lower back pain, muscle tension, numbness, acid reflux, carpel tunnel syndrome, and general fatigue.
Peter Escogue, a recognized expert in anatomical function, suggests these problems are posture related as well as inactivity related. Proper anatomical posture promotes proper anatomical function, i.e. the body functions best when operated from a proper position. Escogue further observes that over a period of time, many persons compromise correct posture causing problems in correct anatomical function.
Static, improper posture (e.g., while sitting in a static improper supporting chair) causes poor leads to poor health. In the prior art, seats and chairs have been designed for comfort and for performing tasks. Task chairs were designed to incorporate pads, tilts, swivels, etc. Over time, health improvements were added to the combination of such items as family room recliners and workers' rigid elevating stools. Additions such as lumbar supports, adjustable armrests, seat backs with shapes designed for a general vertebrae contour, etc., were incorporated. However, today's combination task chairs offer few features to accommodate multiple tasks while simultaneously giving adequate consideration to seating health.
Task chairs are typically configured to allow tilting of the seat and backrest as a unit or tilting of the backrest relative to the seat. In chairs having a backrest pivotally attached to a seat in a conventional manner, the movement of the backrest relative to the seat can create shear forces acting on the legs and back of the user. These shear forces tend to cause an uncomfortable pulling of the user's clothing. In an attempt to compensate for these shear forces, some office chairs include a backrest which pivots while the seat tilts, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 2,859,801 (to Moore) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,429,917 (to Diffrient).
A related disadvantage of conventional task chairs is the configuration of the seat and/or backrest. Such seats typically include single or multi-density foam padding with a covering such as cloth, leather, mesh material or the like, such seating also tends to provide insufficient aeration since it acts as another layer of clothing and does not contain a Spinal Relief Channel in the back support, and/or contain a Coccyx Relief in the horizontal seat. In addition, the structural requirements of such an attachment limits the shape and size of the frame and the membrane.
Typically, the seats of office task chairs are supported by a single stage telescoping column which provides for vertical adjustment of the seat. These columns include a gas spring mounted in a telescoping tube which is slidable within a base tube. In accordance with guidelines set by the American National Standards Institute (A.N.S.I.) and Business and Institutional Furniture Manufacturer's Association (B.I.F.M.A.), conventional office chairs in the United States are typically adjustable from a seat height of 16.0 inches from a floor to about 20.5 inches from a floor. Nevertheless, it is desirable to exceed this range of height adjustment to account for very small or large users and to accommodate the international population in general.
Typically, it is difficult to exceed this range of height adjustment with seats which tilt about the knees or ankles of the user. To offset the moments acting on single stage support columns, pneumatic manufacturers typically set a minimum overlapping distance of 2.95 inches (75 mm) between the tubes. Because such "ankle tilt" and "knee tilt" chairs have relatively large tilt housings, it is difficult to provide a lower minimum and higher maximum seat height while maintaining the required overlapping distance between the tubes. These types of tilting chairs also impart a greater moment on the tube since the pivot axis is offset from the support column. It is therefore desirable to provide a vertically adjustable support column having a greater overlapping distance to permit a greater stroke which decreases the minimum height and increases the maximum height of a chair seat.
Devices that incorporate a plurality of adjustable means have been disclosed in the prior art such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,478,379 (to Ambasz) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,189,971 (to Witzig). However, those devices do not allow for the independent adjustment of multiple, vertical backrest support arms.
Other devices disclose the use of various seat and back units incorporating means for altering the contour of the pads used on such seats such as, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 6,499,802 (to Drira) and U.S. Pat. No. 6,447,061 (to Klingler). However, these devices do not allow for the independent adjustment of multiple, vertical backrest support arms.
Although offering varying shapes, contours, masses and sizes, as well as a wide range of adjustment means. i.e. pivotal, tilt, height, in/out, up/down, soft/firm, etc., all attempts at healthy task chairs in the prior art are burdened with an interdependent posterior design support which ultimately restricts and compromises adjustability, dynamic support, and active seating. A chair that provides better posterior support and continuous animation, and better supports task functions, is needed.


An ink jet printer has two first driven rollers (A) disposed at a most upstream position in a secondary scanning direction, two first driven rollers (B) disposed at an intermediate position in the secondary scanning direction, and a single first driven roller (C) disposed at a most downstream position in the secondary scanning direction. The pressing force on a trailing edge of the recording sheet (10) is dividedly released in three steps sequentially and, accordingly, the nipping force and feeding force working on the recording sheet (10) also vary stepwise. Load fluctuations that occur at the moment the trailing edge of the recording sheet (10) is released from the nipping force of the first transport roller (4) also vary stepwise, whereby it is not possible that the feed precision is disturbed in a moment.

FIG. 3 is a perspective view showing a conventional ink jet printer and FIG. 4 is a side view of the conventional ink jet printer. In FIGS. 3 and 4, a recording sheet fed by a non-illustrated pickup roller is nipped between a transport roller 4′ and a driven roller A′ and then moved a predetermined distance toward the left-hand side in the figure (in the secondary scanning direction). Subsequently, an ink head 12′ held by a carriage 2′ disposed downstream of the transport roller 4′ in the secondary scanning direction jets ink against the surface of the recording sheet while reciprocating in the primary scanning direction orthogonal to the secondary scanning direction. While intermittent feeding of the recording sheet in the secondary scanning direction and movement of the ink head 12′ in the primary scanning direction are repeated, an image forming operation continues. In response to detection of the trailing edge of the recording sheet just short of passing through the nip point of the transport roller 4′ by a non-illustrated sheet sensor, the ink head 12′ stops moving in the primary scanning direction. Finally, an ejection roller 10′ ejects the recording sheet out of the apparatus.
In this case, a blank of a distance X in which an image is not formed is produced in a trailing edge portion of the recording sheet, the distance X corresponding to the spacing between the nozzle position of the ink head 12′ and the nip point of the transport roller 4′. This results in a drawback that the image forming region of the recording sheet is limited in the trailing edge portion.
In recent years, some printers have been given the capability of forming an image on a recording sheet up to the trailing edge thereof without producing a blank. Mechanical measures devised for such apparatus to implement that function include: an arrangement configured to lower the sheet feed speed only for image formation on a portion of a recording sheet adjacent the sheet trailing edge; an arrangement made less susceptible to the influence of load fluctuations that occur at the moment the trailing edge of a recording sheet passes through the transport roller by increasing the sheet nipping pressure of an ejection roller section; an arrangement provided with a mechanism for suppressing backlash in driving the transport roller by a pressure produced by a spring; and an arrangement using parts, such as rollers, manufactured with an improved machining precision.
These apparatus, however, have a drawback of incurring complication of image formation control and increase in the costs of parts because they are also configured to perform high-quality image formation based mainly on the dot-jetting control technology. On the other hand, even in the case where attention is focused on the leading edge portion of a recording sheet under feeding in FIG. 4, load fluctuations occur at the moment the leading edge of the recording sheet rushes to an ejection driven roller 7′ which is configured to nip the recording sheet in cooperation with the ejection roller 5′ by exerting a pressing force on the ejection roller 5′, as in the case of the trailing edge portion. Such load fluctuations make the feed distance unstable, which results in degraded image quality such as color irregularity. A conventional ejection driven roller arrangement generally includes a plurality of such ejection driven rollers 7′ arranged in a row in the primary scanning direction. Accordingly, at the time the recording sheet rushes to the row of these ejection driven rollers 7′, pressing forces of all the ejection driven rollers 7′ are exerted on the leading edge of the recording sheet at a time, thus greatly affecting the sheet feed precision. It is needless to say that this phenomenon becomes more serious as the pressing force of each ejection driven roller 7′ increases.
In attempt to prevent irregular image formation at the trailing edge portion of a recording sheet, there have been proposed an arrangement wherein two types of materials, i.e., a soft material and a hard material, are used for the material of a first driven roller and two rows of such first driven rollers are arranged in the secondary scanning direction, and an arrangement wherein an auxiliary member for pressing against a recording sheet irrespective of the material and shape thereof is disposed downstream of the first driven roller (see patent document 1 for example). However, there is neither any mention of an arrangement of driven rollers of the same material in the primary scanning direction, nor any description of an arrangement of driven rollers pressing against ejection rollers. There has also been proposed an arrangement for a pressure control such as to release or substantially release the pressure of a driven roller pressing against a transport roller halfway through a printing operation (see patent documents 2 and 3 for example).
However, in a conventional ink jet printer which does not utilize the high-precision dot control technology, the amount of a feed or move of a recording sheet fluctuates due to fluctuations in the load on the sheet feed force which occur at the moment the trailing edge of the recording sheet passes through the transport roller, so that a line deviation occurs in the secondary scanning direction, thus causing a problem of degraded image quality such as color irregularity. Likewise, the sheet feed precision is affected at the time the leading edge of the recording sheet rushes to the ejection driven roller, thus resulting in degraded image quality such as color irregularity.
An object of the present invention is to provide an ink jet printer which can ensure improved image quality without incurring complication of image formation control and increase in cost.    Patent Document 1: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H05-186086    Patent Document 2: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H07-033279    Patent Document 3: Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. H11-208923


Methods, compositions and kits are provided herein for insertional modification of nucleic acids by, for example transposase-mediated covalent insertion of insertion sequence into a sample nucleic acid molecule. Using sequence of the insertion to direct amplification of adjacent nucleic acid sequence, and using bar codes to map amplified sequence to partitions, one can map sample nucleic acid sequence to single molecules of the nucleic acid sample that are derived directly from the sample nucleic acid molecule.

Human genome sequencing is becoming a rapid, low cost procedure. This is in large part due to a dramatic increase in the capacities of current DNA sequencers. However, the short read lengths of these sequencers pose a challenge to genome assembly. Numerous strategies of dilution based molecule labeling have been devised to address this challenge. However, these methods are often cumbersome and have flaws that require these techniques be used in addition to standard genome sequencing. Particular problems include allelic dropout, template switching and chimera formation.


An image capturing apparatus includes: an image capturing element in which a plurality of pixels and phase difference pixels are formed within an effective pixel region; a photographing lens; a phase difference amount detecting unit analyzing a captured image signal and obtaining a phase difference amount from detection signals of two of the phase difference pixels that make a pair; and a control unit obtaining a defocus amount of a photographic subject image from the detected phase difference amount and performing a focusing control, in which the control unit obtains a parameter value regarding a ratio of the defocus amount and the phase difference amount based on photographing lens information of the photographing lens and a light receiving sensitivity distribution indicating sensitivity for each incident angle of incident light for the two of the phase difference pixels that make the pair, and obtains the defocus amount.

Some pixels of a plurality of pixels formed and arranged in a light receiving region in a two-dimensional array pattern are formed by a phase difference pixel (also referred to as a focus detecting pixel) in an image sensor installed in an image capturing apparatus (camera). In the image capturing apparatus installed with the image capturing element, a phase difference AF method is adopted as an AF method that adjusts a focus position of a photographing lens to a photographic subject.
The phase difference pixel has a structure in which the phase difference pixel is pupil-divided into one pixel and the other pixel of a pair of pixels, and one pixel receives one beam of two beams through different light paths of the photographing lens and the other pixel receives the other beam to detect a relative positional deviation of a pupil dividing direction. In addition, a method of controlling an out-of-focus amount of the photographing lens depending on the positional deviation amount is the phase difference AF method.
Meanwhile, the image capturing apparatus installed with the image capturing element includes a lens replacement type image capturing apparatus in addition to an image capturing apparatus to which one type of photographing lens is fixed and used. When the photographing lens is replaced, an opening F number or a focus distance, a spherical aberration, and the like of the photographing lens are changed.
In the image capturing apparatus installed with the image capturing element including the phase difference pixel, when the image capturing apparatus is the lens replacement type image capturing apparatus, since a physical condition such as a placement position of the phase difference pixel on the image capturing apparatus or an interval between the pair of pixels cannot be changed, when the photographing lens is replaced, a focusing precision of the photographing lens is influenced.
Therefore, in the related art, for example, as disclosed in Patent Literature 1 below, a compensation amount is prepared as table data and when the photographing lens is replaced, appropriate table data is selected.

Image capturing apparatus and method for calculating focusing parameter value


A display substrate, a display panel and a display device are disclosed. The display substrate includes: a base substrate (1), and a color film structure (2) and a transparent conductive oxide film layer (3) subsequently laminated on the base substrate (1). The color film structure (2) includes a plurality of color filter units arranged in a matrix and having different colors; at least one color of the color filter units in the color film structure (2) includes at least two layers of laminated color filter films, refractive indices of the color filter films gradually increase in a direction from the base substrate (1) towards the transparent conductive oxide film layer (3), and one layer of the color filter films adjacent to the base substrate (1) has refractive index larger than that of the base substrate (1), one layer of the color filter films adjacent to the transparent conductive oxide film layer (3) has refractive index less than that of the transparent conductive oxide film layer (3). The display substrate reduces the loss of light transmitted in the display panel, and thus the display brightness of the display device is increased.

In the current Organic Light Emitting Diodes (OLED) and Liquid Crystal Displays (LCD), there is a usual problem of lower brightness. This problem is caused by that the anodes in the OLEDs and the pixel electrodes and common electrodes in the LCDs are generally made of Indium Tin Oxides (ITO) with the refractive index of 1.8, there is a relative large refractive index difference between the ITO film and a glass substrate with the refractive index of 1.5. When incident light is irradiated to the glass substrate after passing the ITO film, part of the incident light will be subjected to total reflection, thus the light emitted from the glass substrate will be subjected to loss problem, thereby directly affecting the display brightness of OLEDs and LCDs.

Display substrate, display panel and display device


A communication hub configured to be communicatively coupled to a communication device (e.g., a data system on a module (DSoM)/a Data System in a Package (DSiP)) and a cloud-based service is provided. The communication hub may be configured to organize the communication devices into one or more communication device groups, wherein the communication devices are communicatively coupled to one or more computing devices. The communication hub may be configured to associate one or more routes with the communication device groups, wherein the routes are configured to route data objects between the communication devices and the cloud-based service. The communication hub may be configured to asynchronously, with respect to the computing devices, route the data objects between the communication devices and the cloud-based service. Embodiments of the present disclosure may provide a distributed replicated spatiotemporal database packaged on a communication device and integrated with an internet-based secure communication hub.

The cellular communications industry perspective on communications is dominated by two core assumptions. First, that global interoperability is of prime importance—more important than speed—and that regulations and standards committees are the way that technologies shall be defined. Second, that customers will use whatever they produce—the industry and government will design and build, that industry will forever use the metered cellular business model, and that customers will come. There is zero participation of customers in defining technology or its requirements, and there is zero connection to developers.
The computing/IT industry perspective on communications is generally dominated by two core assumptions: First, that innovators and builders and industry are the way that technologies should be defined. Developers know best, and architectures should be defined forward-thinking for powerful high-end platforms and not focus so much on less-capable platforms of the past. Second, that there are a world of different devices and protocols and networks, and it is the primary job of the dominant platform providers to create generalized abstractions that will support any device, and any application, and will treat all networks as pipes that expose sockets that deliver streams.
Neither of these industries wholly embraces the fact that with regard to cellular-centric massive Internet-of-things (IoT)—billions of devices—neither perspective is acceptable. The low-level nature, and the standards-based constraints of AT commands and modem modules, and custom-negotiated cellular contracts, may be too complex and may not scale. Additionally, the complex nature of certificate management and high-level Linux®/Windows®-based Application Programmable Interfaces (APIs) required to connect to the cloud are simply not realistic for embedded developers trying to do extremely simple things on extremely underpowered inexpensive microcontrollers.

Data system on a module (DSoM) for connecting computing devices and cloud-based services


A method for operating a sensor system, having at least one capacitive sensor element, which is attachable to the surface of machines or machine parts, electrical field lines on the sensor element changing in the event of an approach and/or a contact of a body or object, and the at least one sensor element being connected to a control unit, which, based on the detected change of the field lines of the at least one sensor element, triggers a safety function on the machine or the machine part. The at least one sensor element has, in addition to fulfilling the safety function, an operating function, which is concluded from the location of the at least one sensor element and the time curve of the change of the field lines, and the safety function has priority over the operating function in a base state of the sensor system.

A method for operating a sensor system and a sensor system are discussed in DE 10 2009 029 021 A1 of the applicant. It includes at least one capacitive sensor element, whose field lines generated thereby change in the event of an approach of a body or object, the change being able to be detected and analyzed with the aid of a control unit. The known sensor system is used in particular in handling robots or similar machines or devices for the purpose of switching the handling device into a safety mode, in the case of which the movement of the affected machine component is stopped, in the event of approach of a human or an (unexpected) approach of an object to a moving machine part, for example, a robot arm. In particular, injuries in the event of a collision of the handling device with a human or damage to objects or the handling device may thus be avoided or at least minimized. The known sensor system may include a plurality of planar sensor elements, which are arranged over the entire surface of the handling device like a sensor skin, for example, and are connected to one another by circuitry.
Applications in which handling devices collaborate with humans in a shared workspace will become more and more important in the future. Such applications occur, for example, in product manufacturing, for example, in assembly, during welding or lacquering, in the field of so-called service robots (for example, for pick-up and delivery services), cleaning robots, inspection robots, in the field of autonomous vehicles in the environment of humans, in the field of medical robots, which work closely with humans (for example, for angiography and tumor treatment), or other applications. The collaboration capability of such machines is essentially based on two basic functions, safe movement in the environment of humans and intuitive interaction with humans.
With respect to the interaction capability, it is typically implemented using classical operating elements such as buttons, switches, keyboards, rotating and sliding controllers, joysticks, computer mice, and touch screens. Speech recognition systems are also known, which react to spoken commands, and also visual systems, which recognize the movements of an operator (for example, in the form of gestures). In addition, various interaction technologies are known for controlling robots, e.g., indirect operation via classical operating elements, or direct operation, in the case of which the operator displaces the robot arm using his hands (detection of the operator command by measuring the motor current via the drive regulation or by additional torque sensors in the joints of the robot arm).

Method for switching a sensor system between modes and switchable sensor system


A method of printing that utilizes a printing head having a plurality of printing elements each of which is operable to transfer a pixel print medium from a carrier on to an adjacent substrate.

This invention relates to a method of printing.
In pixel based printing systems such as dot matrix ribbon printing, or thermal transfer printing which utilises a carrier or web which carries print medium such as ink, (known in thermal printing, as ribbon or foil), one major expense for a user is the cost of the ribbon or foil.


Disclosed herein is a method for surface treatment which comprises subjecting an object for surface treatment to an atmospheric pressure plasma while rolling or floating said object in an insulating vessel fed with a prescribed gas and provided on the outside thereof or on both the outside and inside thereof with electrodes for voltage application and grounding, said atmospheric pressure plasma occurring upon application of a voltage to said electrodes. This method permits simple, certain, and uniform surface treatment of any objects in the form of lump or sphere. The surface treatment by the atmospheric pressure plasma does not need the apparatus to be evacuated. Therefore, it can be carried out in a simple apparatus without causing the object for surface treatment to release volatile matters.. Disclosed also herein is a method for the surface treatment of vulcanized rubber with an atmospheric pressure plasma in the presence of an oxygen-containing gas and halogen containing gases. This method is simple and permits the surface treatment of vulcanized rubber in a clean environment. The surface treatment by this method provides the vulcanized rubber with a surface having better adhesion properties than the surface treatment with a low-pressure glow plasma. Moreover, the surface treatment is limited only to a very thin surface layer, with the vulcanized rubber itself remaining intact.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and apparatus for surface-treating any object in the form of lump, sphere, or powder with an atmospheric pressure plasma.
The present invention also relates to a method for surface-treating vulcanized rubber for its joining to other materials.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Among several known methods for surface treatment of objects is one which employs a low-pressure glow plasma. This method permits uniform surface treatment, but in its industrial application it needs a large-scale vacuum unit that produces a vacuum of 10 Torr or below. It also has a high equipment cost and running cost for continuous treatment which is greatly affected by the life of the valve. Another disadvantage is the difficulty in applying to objects made of rubber or plastics which contain a large amount of volatile material. In a reduced pressure, these volatile material evaporate and release themselves from the surface, adversely affecting the desired object, performance, and function of plasma treatment.
There is disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Nos. 15171/1990, 48626/1990, 241739/1991 and 236475/1991 a method for treating the surface of an object with a glow plasma obtained under atmospheric pressure. This method is suitable for flat objects but is not suitable for objects in the form of lump, sphere, or powder.
Surface treatment of vulcanized rubber has been a common practice where it is necessary to combine vulcanized rubber with other materials (or rubber, metal, or plastics) for the production of composite materials or it is necessary to perform pretreatment on vulcanized rubber for its finish coating. There are several known methods for this purpose.
For example, one of such known methods is used to impart adhesion properties to the surface of vulcanized rubber. It consists of highly oxidizing the surface of vulcanized rubber with a strong acid or strong oxidizing agent, thereby forming minute cracks in the entire surface. However, it suffers from drawbacks involved in using a strong acid or oxidizing agent which needs great handling precaution and seriously damages the properties of vulcanized rubber. In addition, the surface treatment by this method does not provide a sufficient adhesion strength.
There are other methods for the surface treatment of vulcanized rubber. For example, one method consists of treating vulcanized rubber with chlorine gas, and another method consists of treating vulcanized rubber with a pseudohalide compound (See Japanese Patent Publication No. 36910/1977.) These methods are designed to attack the double bonds in rubber, thereby forming Cl-groups which promote adhesion. If these methods are applied to vulcanized rubber to be combined with other materials (such as metal and resin) for the production of anti-vibration rubber, they bring about resinification of treated surface which degrades adhesion properties and heat resistance. And they bring about the yellowing of the treated surface which are serious in the finish coating of golf balls made of balata (transpolyisoprene). They deteriorate the appearance of golf balls. In addition, chlorine gas and pseudohalogen compound are dangerous to the environment.
There is another method for surface treatment. It is a low-pressure glow plasma treating method. According to this method, the surface of vulcanized rubber is treated with O.sub.2 or a mixture of O.sub.2 and CF.sub.4 for etching oxidation and activation. This method permits uniform surface treatment, but in its industrial application it needs a large-scale vacuum unit that produces a vacuum of 10 Torr or below. It also needs a high equipment cost and running cost for continuous treatment. In addition, treatment in a reduced pressure causes the vulcanized rubber to give off oil and water which interfere with the desired performance and function.

Method and apparatus for surface treatment


A fragrance-emitting container has a container body, a container lid and a fragrance reservoir well. A fragrance reservoir is positionable in the reservoir well. Screw threads, a sliding friction attachment or other means are used for securing the lid to the container body. A seal is provided between the body and lid to seal in the fragrance when the container is closed. The fragrance emitter is incorporated into the container so that the container contents can be kept substantially free of fragrance producing chemicals which may irritate the skin.

Many substances are applied to the skin of humans or animals in order to alter the appearance of the skin or other tissue or body part, to protect the skin from the environment, or to produce a biological change in the skin for therapeutic purposes. These substances are generically termed "skin care products" and may be in the form of solids, liquids, suspensions, semisolids in the form of creams, gels or pastes, powders or finely dispersed liquids in the form of a spray or mist. In all cases, these products contain chemicals which may produce irritation or inflammation when applied to the skin.
The magnitude of skin care product-induced irritation may range from mild to severe and may be accompanied by subjective sensations which include stinging, burning, itching and tingling. Objective signs of irritation, if present, may include erythema (redness), edema (swelling), exudation (weeping), blistering or fissuring of the skin. The irritation response may be due to the direct effect of certain chemicals in skin products on the skin or to a response by the immune system directed toward the chemicals in combination with skin components (e.g., allergic contact dermatitis).
Whatever the exact cause of irritation, many attempts have been made to reduce the irritation potential of skin care products by identifying chemicals which tend to cause irritation and eliminating them from products. Many of these products are advertised to consumers as "hypoallergenic" to designate the product's reduced tendency to cause irritation in consumers with sensitive skin.
Among the many substances which frequently cause irritation, chemicals used for their perceived fragrance ("fragrances") have been found to be among the most frequent irritants. Based on these findings, products advertised as "hypoallergenic" or for "sensitive skin" are often labeled "fragrance-free" to represent their lack of potentially irritating fragrance chemicals.
It is well known that humans value pleasant-smelling fragrances as evidenced by their frequent use by both men and women. Consumers spend billions of dollars per year to purchase perfumes, colognes, air fresheners and other scented products which produce desirable fragrances. The fact that many skin care products continue to be sold which contain fragrances even though fragrance chemicals may produce irritation, attests to the value placed on fragrances.
Beyond the subjective enjoyment produced by pleasant fragrances, there may be additional value to sensing pleasant fragrances. For example, the concept of "aromatherapy" suggests that exposure to certain fragrances may produce beneficial psychological and physiological responses such as stress reduction due to activation of brain centers (e.g., the limbic system) which are especially responsive to fragrances.
Consumers with sensitive skin who must use hypoallergenic, fragrance-free skin care products do not derive the enjoyment and potential benefit of pleasant fragrances in skin care products.
The apparent strength or intensity of a fragrance is dependent on the length of time the fragrance is inhaled. This phenomenon is termed "odor adaptation" or "olfactory fatigue". Upon initial exposure to a fragrance, the perceived intensity is maximum. After several minutes of exposure, the perceived intensity is substantially reduced, due to diminished sensitivity of the fragrance-sensing olfactory receptor cells and higher brain olfactory centers. After several additional minutes, many people are not able to detect the fragrance on themselves, especially if it was applied in close proximity to the nose.
With the exception of perfumes, colognes and other products having the primary purpose of emitting a fragrance, most skin care products usually contain a relatively low amount of fragrance-producing chemicals which are intended to produce a "low intensity" fragrance. Upon application of such scented products, the consumer is likely to perceive the fragrance for only a short period of time, frequently only during the time period during which the product is applied to the skin. This observation suggests that most of the "fragrance benefit" obtained by a consumer using scented skin care products is of several minutes duration, after which the average consumer is usually not aware of the continuing presence of the fragrance on their skin. The fragrance-producing chemicals, by contrast, continue to interact with the skin until they are washed off during which time irritation may occur.
In addition to fragrances, humans and animals may enjoy and benefit from inhaling volatile substances which may not have a detectable scent, but which none-the-less produce a distinct biological or psychological effect. These substances include, but are not limited to pheromones which may alter the sexual behavior of humans or animals, hormones which may alter the physiology of the body, mood-altering substances, appetite-altering substances, organ extracts, plant extracts or other materials or chemicals which provide a desired biological or psychological effect.
In addition to fragrances which may benefit humans or animals directly, certain volatile chemicals may benefit humans or animals indirectly by their effect on insects, animals or other living organisms. For example, substances which repel insects or animals are very useful for many purposes. The use of the terms "fragrance" or "fragrance chemicals" herein includes all of the aforementioned substances as well.
The many beneficial effects or fragrances occur when relatively small quantities of their volatile chemical components are sensed by humans, animals or other living organisms. By contrast, direct physical contact or ingestion of the concentrated fragrance chemicals by a living organism may produce undesired and potentially toxic effects. Similarly, if fragrance chemicals physically contact inanimate objects, untoward or damaging effects may occur due the chemical reactivity of the fragrance chemicals.
It is well known, for example, that fragrances in skin care products can produce irritation and allergic reactions in many people. Similarly, insect repellents which are applied to the skin of humans or animals can produce systemic toxic reactions. Fragrance chemicals may also stain clothes or may chemically react with fabrics or other materials. In other applications, it may be impractical to expose the contents of a container to fragrances, for example, in waste containers.
It is also a object of the present invention to provide products and methods which will provide the benefits of the volatile components of fragrance chemicals while simultaneously eliminating the undesirable effects which may occur when the concentrated fragrance chemicals contact the body or inanimate objects.
It is an object of the present invention to provide containers and methods which will enable a consumer who uses fragrance-free skin care products to enjoy fragrances which are not mixed with the actual skin care product formulation. Thus, the consumer will be able to enjoy the pleasant fragrance associated with the application of a skin care product without risking the chance of fragrance-induced skin irritation.
It is also an object of the invention to provide a fragrance emitting container which can be used in applications where it is not desirable, practical or convenient to incorporate fragrance producing chemicals into the formulation of the contained product itself.


Image forming apparatus includes: image forming unit for forming an image on a sheet, and controller for controlling the image forming unit. The controller includes process modules to carry out: counting process for performing counting in accordance with the number of sheets printed by the image forming unit; first bias applying process for setting a developing bias to be applied to the developer carrier to a first bias if a count value in the counting process has not reached a predetermined threshold value; bias changing process for changing the developing bias to a second bias whose absolute value is smaller than that of the first bias if the count value has reached the threshold value; and delaying process for causing an execution timing of the bias changing process to be delayed if the number of sheets printed in a unit of time is not smaller than a reference number.

In an electrophotographic image forming apparatus, when the total number of printed sheets (i.e., total number of sheets printed with one toner cartridge) becomes large, the charge amount of developer decreases greatly due to degradation of the developer. As a result, the density of the developer increases. In order to suppress the increase in the density of the developer, a known technique suggests that the developing bias is lowered when the total number of sheets printed by the image forming apparatus is equal to or greater than a predetermined value. To be more specific, for example, the total number of printed sheets is counted as developer consumption, and the developing bias is lowered when the developer consumption is equal to or greater than a predetermined value.

Image forming apparatus performing a delay process when a number of sheets printed in a unit of time is equal to or greater than a reference number


An improved computer and system thereof which monitors the state of an array of sensors. In the preferred embodiment, these sensors monitor a physical or internal condition and have two states. The invention establishes a time window and identifies which of the sensors have changed state within the time window. The sensors which have changed state are then grouped into a "tuple" which is used by an operator to analyze the operations of the environment being studied using such methods as co-exclusion. Through selective control of the length of the time window, changes in two or more sensors permit co-exclusion properties to be inferred.

This invention relates generally to computers and more particularly to computers which monitor physical conditions.
In a great many applications, there is a need to effectively gather information about an environment. The problems associated with this task are compounded by the vast number of sensors which can be utilized in monitoring the environment. Often, certain physical conditions are related. To simplify the monitoring system and to understand the environment better, it is important to identify which operations are acting in "unison" or in grouped action.
In a typical situation, the sensors have two different states: currently being stimulated; currently not being stimulated.
There have been several attempts to create systems which attempt to gather "causal" information about the physical surroundings. One approach to the problem is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,608,628, entitled "Programmable Controller" issued to Saito et al. on Aug. 26, 1986.
While this approach provides some rudimentary techniques, it is far too restricted to be applied to many "real world" situations. No practical solution to the problems that the real world creates have been developed.
It is clear therefore that there is a need to more efficiently handle and reduce the variables associated with monitoring physical conditions.


A self tracking land vehicle includes a number of cargo or passenger cars and a drive car. Each cargo car may have a chassis with a standardized container mounted on it. At least front and rear axles which have at least two inflatable tires each are provided for each of the cars. The front axle is pivotable about a vertical axis with respect to the car, and the rear axle is fixed. A substantially transversely rigid connection connects the front of each car to the rear of the preceding car, to form a land train. Each car and associated transversely rigid connection is substantially the same length, and all of the axles of all of the cars are spaced from each other substantially the same effective longitudinal distance, so that the train is self tracking. At least some of the axles of some of the cars may be driven by an electric motor, and a lead drive car is provided having a front with at least one steerable axle, a power plant in the front car producing electricity to drive all of the electric motors.

There are many locations which are inaccessible by railroad or boat that require large quantities of supplies in order to be livable, and/or which have natural resources that are difficult to move to other areas of the world. In such places particularly it would be desirable to have a land train, that could move over natural terrain (that is without the need for train tracks) so that a large quantity of material could be moved at a time, as compared with the inefficient technique driving individual trucks. However, there are practical difficulties associated with such overland trains, perhaps the foremost of which is the difficulty of steering the train. If an overland train is long enough so that it obtains close to optimum efficiency in the transport of goods or passengers, then it is very difficult to make the rear end of the train follow the front end in moving over dirt or gravel roads, or bare earth or sand, or snow covered land, given the normal unevenness of terrain. Such land trains virtually universally need to move in a path that is at least somewhat serpentine, meaning that it is almost impossible using present technology to get the rear car to track (follow the same path as) the lead car.
According to the present invention a self tracking land vehicle is provided which can effectively be used in almost any terrain except actual mountains. The land train according to the invention is particularly effective at transporting cargo since each car of the train may include a standardized container mounted on a chassis, the standardized containers being readily loadable onto and unloadable from the chassis. A key to making the train self tracking is to provide only the front axle or axles as pivotal about a substantially vertical axis, for each of the cars, and to space all of the axles of all of the cars in the train substantially the same effective longitudinal distance. It is also desirable to provide a substantially transversely rigid (that is a horizontal dimension substantially perpendicular to the longitudinal dimension) connection of the front of each car to the rear of the car in front of it.
According to one aspect of the present invention, a self tracking land vehicle is provided comprising the following components: At least four cars, each car having a front end, a rear end, a bottom, and a top, and extending from the front end to the rear end in a generally horizontal longitudinal dimension. Each car having at least first and second axles with at least two inflatable tires each associated with each of the axles. The first axle associated with each car mounted closer to the front end than the rear end of the car, and mounted for pivotal movement about a substantially vertical axis with respect to the car bottom. The second axle associated with each car mounted closer to the rear end than the front end, and the second axle mounted with respect to the car bottom so that it cannot pivot about a substantially vertical axis. A substantially transversely rigid connection from the front end of each first axle of each car to the rear end of a leading car so that the cars are connected together in a land train. Each car and associated transversely rigid connection of the train have substantially the same length. And all of the axles of all of the cars spaced from each other at a substantially uniform effective longitudinal distance apart so that the land train is self-tracking, all of the cars substantially precisely following the same path of movement.
A motor or engine may be provided for powering at least one axle of each car so that all of the cars are driven. Typically a lead drive car is also provided. The lead drive car has a front end with at least one steerable axle with at least two inflatable tires adjacent the front end, and a rear end, and at least one non-steerable axle adjacent the rear end, the non-steerable axle mounted with respect to the drive car so that it cannot pivot about a substantially vertical axis. Preferably a power plant (such as a diesel engine) is provided in the drive car for producing electricity. An electric motor is provided for at least some of the cars for driving at least one axle of those cars, the electric motors receiving electrical energy from the power plant.
Typically the first and second axles each comprise a pair of ganged axles, and include a center point. Then the center points of all of the axles are spaced from each other substantially the same longitudinal distance.
The substantially transversely rigid connection between the cars preferably allows limited vertical relative movement, and pivotal relative movement about a longitudinal central axis, of each car with respect to the preceding car. For example, the connection comprises the following components: two transversely spaced clevis assemblies mounted to each car, and a hinge pin associated with each clevis assembly; a swivel pin; first and second swivel bushings operatively connected to the swivel pin; and first and second wishbone assemblies each operatively connecting a swivel bushing to two hinge pins, so that the cars may move vertically with respect to each other by pivotal movement about the hinge pins, and may move pivotally with respect to each other by pivotal movement of the swivel bushings with respect to each other. Also, thrust washers and plates preferably engage each swivel bushing, and swivel nuts are provided for holding the swivel bushings on the swivel pin.
Typically the land train comprises at least eight cars, such as ten or twelve cars, and a standardized 20 foot container is mounted on top of a plurality of the cars (such as all of the cars except for the drive car if a cargo land train). If additional power is necessary one of the cars of the train spaced from the drive car may have another power plant therein, or the drive car may have space for cargo and passengers and the power plant provided in another car.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a car for a self tracking land vehicle is provided. The car comprises the following components: A chassis having a front end, rear end, bottom, and top, and extending from the front end to the rear end in a generally horizontal longitudinal dimension. A standardized container mounted on the chassis top. At least first and second axles with at least two inflatable tires each associated with the chassis. The first axle mounted closer to the front end than the rear end of the chassis, and mounted on an assembly for pivotal movement about a substantially vertical axis with respect to the chassis bottom. The second axle mounted closer to the rear end than the front end, and the second axle mounted with respect to the chassis bottom so that it cannot pivot about a substantially vertical axis. A substantially transversely rigid connection extending outwardly from the first axle assembly past the front end of the chassis. And a motor or engine mounted to the chassis for driving at least one of the axles.
The chassis and the container are preferably each about 20 feet long, and the effective spacing between the first and second axles is about 7 to 9 feet (e.g. 8 feet) and the connection extends longitudinally about 3 to 5 feet (preferably about 4 feet) from the axle pivot.
According to another aspect of the present invention a method of transporting cargo or passengers over land in a train, such as described above, is provided. The method comprises the steps of: (a) connecting the at least four cars together in a land train so that the front axle at the front end of each car, except the lead car, is connected to the rear end of the preceding car by a substantially transversely rigid connection, and so that each axle of each car is spaced substantially the effective longitudinal spacing x from the next axle; and (b) powering (e.g. pulling) the front end of the first car over land in an at least somewhat serpentine path so that the inflatable tires of each car substantially precisely self-track in the path of the inflatable tires of the preceding car.
Preferably step (b) is practiced by connecting the front end of the leading car of the land train to the rear end of a drive car, the drive car having a rear axle with inflatable tires spaced from the front axle of the leading cargo or passenger car substantially the effective longitudinal spacing x, and the drive car having steerable front inflatable tires; and by steering the drive car. Typically the land train has at least eight passenger or cargo cars, and the method comprises the further step of driving at least some of the axles of cargo or passenger cars to facilitate movement of the land train over land. Typically at least some of the cars are cargo cars having a standard transport container mounted on the top thereof; and preferably the method also comprises the further step of loading and unloading cargo from the train by lifting the container onto, or off of, respectively, the car top.
Step (a) is typically practiced to allow limited vertical relative movement, and pivotal relative movement about a longitudinal central axis, of each car with respect to the preceding car. The drive car typically includes a power plant for producing electricity, and only some of the passenger and cargo cars have electric motors for driving an axle or axles thereof; and the method comprises the further step of supplying electricity from the power plant to the electric motors of the passenger and cargo cars to drive an axle or axles thereof.
It is the primary object of the present invention to provide a structure and method for effectively transporting cargo or passengers over land, including natural terrain, in a self tracking train. This and other objects of the invention will become clear from an inspection of the detailed description of the invention and from the appended claims.


In a device that utilizes a memory device, the access bandwidth of the memory device is efficiently utilized by determining a set of operations to be performed on information stored in the memory device, and sorting the operations into an order so as to minimize the number of accesses to the memory device to perform the operations. The sorted operations are then performed in that order. An example of such a device is an error correction decoder, such as for use with an optical disk reader or player. The error correction decoder generates error correction data, representing error correction operations, and sorts the error correction data into multiple sets, each set for correcting the errors in a respective row of an ECC block stored in an external buffer. The error correction operations are then performed row by row.

Conventional error correction techniques in an optical disk system, e.g., a DVD system, often consume too much bandwidth of a memory device in order to correct errors identified in a data block. On the other hand, in order to reduce the system's manufacturing cost, the memory often needs to play more than one role simultaneously, e.g., video buffer and screen display buffer, each demanding a certain amount of bandwidth. As a result, there may be insufficient bandwidth resources left for performing all the error corrections required to correct a corrupted, but correctable data block. Even though it is possible to solve this problem by having an error correction decoder with a large on chip (built-in) memory, this solution inevitably drives up the cost of the optical disk system. Therefore, it is desirable to develop a new strategy that reduces the bandwidth requirement of error correction without significantly increasing the system's cost.

System and method for efficient use of memory device bandwidth


The object of the present invention is to provide a method of producing a heterologous protein by making a coryneform bacterium to produce and efficiently extracellularly secrete (secreto-production) an industrially useful heterologous protein. According to the present invention, a genetic construct is used where a gene sequence encoding an intended protein which is ligated to the downstream of a sequence encoding the signal peptide derived from a coryneform bacterium, the gene construct is introduced into a mutant coryneform bacterium which has a capacity of secreting the heterologous protein at least 2-fold higher than the wild type Corynebacterium glutamicum ATCC 13869, the mutant coryneform bacterium is cultured and the extracellularly released heterologous protein is recovered.

The present invention relates to a method of producing a heterologous protein efficiently by secretory production.
A number of methods for the secretory production of heterologous proteins have been previously reported such as those described in the review on the secretory production of a heterologous protein by a bacterium belonging to the genus Bacillus [Microbial. Rev., 57, 109-137 (1993)], the review on the secretory production of a heterologous protein by methylotrophic yeast Pichia pastoris [Biotechnol., 11, 905-910 (1993)] and the report on the industrial production of heterologous proteins by the mould belonging to the genus Aspergillus [Biotechnol., 6, 1419-1422 (1988); Biotechnol., 9, 976-981 (1991)].
The transglutaminase produced by the secretory production according to one embodiment of the present invention is an enzyme which catalyzes acyltransfer reaction of γ-carboxylamide groups in the peptide chain of the protein. When the enzyme is reacted with a protein, the formation of the cross-linkage ε-(γ-Glu)-Lys and the replacement of Gln with Glu by deamidation can occur. Transglutaminase has been used to manufacture gelled food products such as jelly, yogurt, cheese or gelled cosmetics and others, and to improve the quality of meat and the like (Japanese publication of examined application No.1-50382). Moreover, transglutaminase is an enzyme having industrially high usefulness in that it has been used to manufacture materials for thermostable microcapsules, carriers for immobilized enzymes, etc.
Transglutaminases derived from animals and from microorganisms (microbial transglutaminase: referred to as 'MTG' hereinafter) have been previously known. The former is a calcium ion-dependent enzyme that is distributed in animal organs, skin, blood, etc. The examples include guinea pig hepatic transglutaminase (K. Ikura et al. Biochemistry 27, 2898 (1988)), human epidermal keratinocyte transglutaminase (M. A. Phillips et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA 87, 9333 (1990)), human blood coagulation factor XIII (A. Ichinose et al. Biochemistry 25, 6900 (1990)) and others.
For the latter, calcium-independent transglutaminases have been discovered from bacteria belonging to the Streptoverticillium genus, which include, for example, Streptoverticillium griseocarneum IFO 12776, Streptoverticillium cinnamoneum sub sp. cinnamoneum (hereinafter, S. cinnamoneum) IFO 12852, Streptoverticillium mobaraense (hereinafter, S. mobaraense) IFO 13819 and others (Publication of unexamined Japanese patent application JP-Kokai No. 64-27471). The peptide mapping and the structural analysis of the genes revealed that the primary structure of the transglutaminase produced by these microorganisms shared no homology with transglutaminases from animals (European Patent Application Publication No. 0 481 504 A1).
Because microorganism-derived transglutaminases (MTG) are produced through the purification from the cultures of microorganisms such as described above, there have been problems in terms of the amount and the efficiency and the like. The production of transglutaminase using a genetically engineered procedure has also been attempted. Transglutaminase proteins and the genes thereof have been reported in, for example, Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 58, 82-87(1994); Biosci. Biotechnol. Biochem., 58, 88-92(1994); Biochimie, 80, 313-319(1998); Eur. J. Biochem., 257, 570-576(1998); WO 96/06931; WO 96/22366, etc., which report the expression and production of transglutaminase in host-vector systems such as Streptomyces lividans, Aspergillus oryzae and Escherichia coli. In addition to this information, a method has been reported wherein a transglutaminase is produced by secretory production in microorganisms such as E. coli and yeast (JP-Kokai No. 5-199883) and a method has been reported wherein active MTG is produced by expressing MTG as an inactive fused protein in an inclusion body within E. coli and subsequently solubilizing the inclusion body using protein-denaturing agents, and then, reconstituting it through the removal of the denaturing agents (JP-Kokai No.6-30771). However, the problem has been noted that the expression level is significantly low in the secretory production by microorganisms such as E. coli or yeast.
On the other hand, there are examples of previous studies for the efficient secretory production of heterologous proteins using a coryneform bacterium including the secretion of nucleases and lipases [U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,197; J. Bacteriol., 174, 1854-1861(1992)] and the secretion of proteases such as subtilisin [Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 61, 1610-1613 (1995)] by Corynebacterium glutamicum (hereinafter, C. glutamicum), a study on the secretion of cell surface proteins of a coryneform bacterium [International patent application published in Japan No. 6-502548], the secretion of fibronectin-binding protein using this study [Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 63, 4392-4400 (1997)], a report wherein the secretion of proteins was enhanced using a mutated secretory machinery [JP-Kokai No. 11-169182], etc., but there has been a limited number of reports on limited proteins. In light of the accumulated amount of proteins, Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 61, 1610-1613 (1995) describes that about 2.5 mg/ml of protein was accumulated by expressing the alkaline protease gene from Dichelobacter nodosus in C. glutamicum using a promoter of subtilisin gene (aprE) from Bacillus subtilis, ribosome binding site and the sequence of a signal peptide, but U.S. Pat. No. 4,965,197; JP-Kokai No.6-502548; and JP-Kokai No. 11-169182 do not specifically describe the values of the amount of the proteins secreted and accumulated. Furthermore, in the case of the fibronectin-binding protein [Appl. Environ. Microbiol., 63, 4392-4400 (1997)], only the secretory accumulation of the protein of about 2.5 μg/L is confirmed. Thus, there have been no reports that heterologous proteins could be efficiently accumulated in the medium at a practical level.
Additionally a genetic engineering technology for a coryneform bacterium has been developed in the system using plasmid and phage, such as the establishment of the transformation by protoplast [J. Bacteriol., 159, 306-311(1984); J. Bacteriol., 161, 463-467(1985)], the development of a various type of vectors [Agric. Biol. Chem., 48, 2901-2903(1984); J. Bacteriol., 159, 306-311(1984); J. Gen. Microbiol., 130, 2237-2246(1984); Gene, 47, 301-306(1986); Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol., 31, 65-69(1989)], the development of the regulation method of gene expression [Bio/Technology, 6, 428-430(1988)] and the development of cosmid [Gene, 39, 281-286(1985)]. Moreover there are reports on the cloning of genes from a coryneform bacterium [Nucleic Acids Res., 14, 10113-1011(1986); J. Bacteriol., 167, 695-702(1986); Nucleic Acids Res., 15, 10598(1987); Nucleic Acids Res., 15, 3922(1987); Nucleic Acids Res., 16, 9859(1988); Agric. Biol. Chem., 52, 525-531(1988); Mol. Microbiol., 2, 63-72(1988); Mol. Gen. Genet., 218, 330-339(1989); Gene, 77, 237-251(1989)].
Furthermore, a transposable element derived from a coryneform bacterium has also been reported [WO93/18151; EP0445385; JP-Kokai No. 6-46867; Mol. Microbiol., 11, 739-746(1994); Mol. Microbiol., 14, 571-581(1994); Mol. Gen. Genet., 245, 397-405(1994); FEMS Microbiol. Lett., 126, 1-6(1995); JP-Kokai No. 7-107976].
The transposable element is a DNA fragment that can be transposed on the chromosome and is known to be present in a wide range of organisms ranging from prokaryotes to eukaryotes. Transposons using transposable elements have been developed [WO93/18151; JP-Kokai No. 7-107976; Mol. Gen. Genet., 245, 397-405(1994); JP-Kokai No. 9-70291] and a heterologous gene is able to be expressed using a transposon.

Methods for secretory production of proteins


A lidar sensor, especially for motor vehicles, having a light source, a movable deflection mirror for producing a scanning beam that sweeps across a monitored space by deflecting a light beam emitted by the light source, and having an optical receiver for detecting light reflected by an object hit by the scanning beam in the monitored space. The light source and the deflection mirror are adapted for using the deflected light beam to scan an array of micro-optical elements, each of which, in response to being impinged upon by this light beam, widens it into a divergent beam; and, configured at a distance from the array of micro-optical elements, is a light-concentrating element that transforms the divergent beam into a beam which forms the scanning beam and whose beam diameter is larger than that of the deflected beam.

In driver assistance systems for motor vehicles, lidar sensors are used, inter alia, for sensing the traffic environment, for example, for locating vehicles driving ahead or other obstacles.
When working with conventional lidar sensors of the aforementioned type, the light beam produced by the light source, for example, a semiconductor laser, is slightly widened by an optical system, so that it has a beam diameter of 1-2 mm, for example. This beam is then deflected by the deflection mirror and directly forms the scanning beam for locating objects. The deflection mirror is moved oscillatingly in one or two dimension(s), so that the scanning beam sweeps across a specific angular range or—in the case of a two-dimensional movement of the deflection mirror—a specific solid angle range that defines the monitored space.
The small beam diameter makes it possible for a small-sized deflection mirror to be used whose moment of inertia is correspondingly small, so that the mirror mechanism is not overloaded even at high oscillation frequencies, allowing the monitored space to be scanned at a high frame rate.
It is disadvantageous, however, that relatively high absorption and scattering losses occur under dusty, rainy or snowy conditions because the beam diameter is relatively small in comparison to the scattering particles (for example, snowflakes). Thus, unfavorable conditions limit the range and sensitivity of the lidar sensor. Moreover, the maximum permissible intensity of the laser beam is also limited by eye safety requirements. This also results in range and sensitivity restrictions.
As alternatives, what are generally referred to as macro scanning devices are available, where the optical system widens the laser beam to a significantly greater degree. In such situations, a very small beam angle of the scanning beam can be achieved in the far field because the beam parameter product is maintained. However, a very large dimensioned deflection mirror is needed to deflect the beam. As a whole, therefore, the lidar sensor is mostly tilted azimuthally. However, in such situations, the dimensions and mass inertia of the sensor allow only relatively small beam angles relative to the monitored space and/or low sampling frequencies and thus low frame rates. When an elevation angular resolution is also needed, multi-beam systems are mostly used, where a plurality of scanning beams are emitted at different elevation angles.


A toner, including: base particles containing a polyester resin, a colorant, and a release agent, wherein the toner has a glass transition temperature (Tg1st) of 20° C. to 50° C. where the glass transition temperature (Tg1st) is measured in first heating of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the toner, wherein tetrahydrofuran (THF) insoluble matter of the toner has a glass transition temperature [Tg2nd (THF insoluble matter)] of 30° C. or lower where the glass transition temperature [Tg2nd (THF insoluble to matter)] is measured in second heating of differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) of the THF insoluble matter, and wherein 50% or less of the colorant is present within a region of 1,000 nm from a surface of each of the base particles toward a center thereof.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an electrostatic image developing toner, a developer, and an image forming apparatus.
Description of the Related Art
In order to obtain an electrostatic image developing toner having a high level of low temperature fixing ability, a toner is proposed that contains: a resin containing a crystalline polyester resin; and a release agent, and has a phase separation structure in a sea-island form formed due to incompatibility between the resin and wax (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2004-46095).
Also, another toner is proposed that contains a crystalline polyester resin, a release agent, and a graft polymer (see, for example, JP-A No. 2007-271789).
According to these proposed techniques, the crystalline polyester resin melts more rapidly at temperatures than a non-crystalline polyester resin to thereby achieve lowered fixing temperature.
Also, in view of the recent demand for further increase in quality, a toner has been required that has high levels of all of low temperature fixing ability, heat resistant storage stability, and image quality.
As seen in Japanese Patent (JP-B) No. 4079257, one general technique used for attempting to obtain high image quality by dispersing a pigment is uniformly dispersing the pigment inside toner base particles using a pigment dispersing agent.
In addition, there is a disclosed technique of preventing a pigment from being localized on the toner surface by previously treating the pigment surface with a poorly soluble resin to reduce activity of the pigment during granulation of the toner in chemical processes (JP-A No. 2011-203704).

Electrostatic image developing toner, developer, and image forming apparatus


A fluid control valve includes a valve body having both fluid inlet and discharge ports. A flow passage axially extending within the valve body communicates with the inlet and discharge ports. A valve member within the flow passage is movable by an actuator force in a first direction to direct a pressurized fluid from the inlet to the discharge port. The valve member includes first and second valve heads having different diameters and a valve seating member. The valve seating member engages first and second sealing diameters of the flow passage, the second sealing diameter being smaller than the first. Fluid pressure acting on the different diameters of the first valve head and valve seating member in contact with the second sealing diameter creates a net return force directing the valve member in a second direction opposite to the first direction upon removal of the actuator force.

Directly operated, or actuated, pneumatic valves are well known in the art for controlling the flow of pressurized air therethrough. Directly operated valves may be used alone or in connection with, for example, spool valves and regulators that, in turn, control the flow of pressurized air to and from various pneumatically actuated devices such as press clutches, air brakes, sorting devices or any other pneumatic device or application requiring precise control of operating air. Two-way, three-way, four-way, and five-way direct operated valve assemblies are commonly employed in these environments. Such valves may include a valve body having a flow passage formed in the valve body. A valve member is supported within the flow passage and moveable from one position to another in direct response to an operative force placed on the valve member by an actuator. A plurality of ports are used to connect the valve assembly to a system supply pressure as well as the various active devices that the valve may control. The actuator is typically an electromagnetically operated solenoid that is energized to move the valve member to a predetermined position within the flow passage. A return spring is often employed to bias the valve member back to a known non-energized position. Valves of this type are employed in a wide variety of manufacturing environments where high flow rates and fast response times are desired.
As the technology for these valves has advanced, there has been an increase in the demand for valves designed for operating environments with ever decreasing physical dimensions. In addition, such valves must be able to operate with very fast cycle times. However, in the past, certain design barriers have limited the extent to which the size of the valve assembly could be reduced while at the same time increasing its speed. When the valve member and the flow passage are reduced below a predetermined size, the return spring may be of insufficient physical size and mechanical strength to overcome the inertia of the valve member. In addition, after the valve member has been biased in one direction by the actuator, frictional forces and surface adhesion can build up at the interface of the valve member seals and the flow passage. These frictional forces and related surface adhesion can act to inhibit movement of the valve member in the return direction which reduces valve speed and therefore increases valve response time. If the return spring is unable to provide enough biasing force to quickly or effectively move the valve member from its energized position and return it to the non-energized position when the actuator force is removed, accurate control of the active device is lost. To counter this shortcoming, various design strategies have emerged. However, the design strategies that have been proposed in the related art all suffer from the disadvantage that they add supplemental mechanisms or hardware or require a remote mounting of the valve.
For example, one design strategy proposed in the related art involves the use of dual electromagnetic actuators to move the valve members in opposite directions. Thus, the return spring is replaced by an electromagnetic actuator such as a solenoid. This solution, however, adds the complexity and cost of a second solenoid and its associated parts, and also creates another size limiting boundary. Single electromagnetic actuators that energize in both directions have also been suggested in the related art. However, these single electromagnetic actuators require a bulky double wound actuator as well as additional electronic circuitry and controls, and are therefore typically mounted in a remote location relative to the pneumatically actuated device they control. Remotely located valves defeat the goal of providing valves mounted in very close proximity to the active devices. Such valves must be interconnected via conduits or other flow passages, which require additional hardware and plumbing, and can lower pneumatic efficiencies and introduce line losses within the system.
Directly operated valves having direct mounted solenoid actuators have been developed which provide a portion of bypass flow via a bypass port in the valve member to assist the return spring in overcoming the frictional forces and related surface adhesion. An example of such a valve is provided in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 10/150,291 entitled "DIRECTLY OPERATED PNEUMATIC VALVE HAVING AN AIR ASSIST RETURN", assigned to the assignee of the present invention, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. This bypass flow design is effective, but requires complex machining of the bypass ports which increases the cost of the valve. A need therefore exists for a further simplified directly operated valve design.

Directly operated pneumatic valve having a differential assist return


In the method of diagnosing the operating state of a motor vehicle diesel engine of the invention, the engine includes a pressure acquisition system associated with each cylinder of the engine to acquire the pressure in that cylinder, an engine shaft angle acquisition system adapted to deliver the crankshaft angle of each cylinder, and onboard correction system adapted to correct a predetermined set of malfunctions and drifts of the cylinders and the acquisition systems. The method includes an analysis step of analyzing the operation of each cylinder and the cylinder pressure and engine shaft angle acquisition systems by identifying an operating state of the set comprising that cylinder and those systems based on predetermined characteristics of the signal delivered by the cylinder pressure acquisition system, and a correction step of correcting identified malfunctions and drifts.

Systems for diagnosing the operating state of a motor vehicle diesel engine are known in the art that use information supplied by systems for acquiring signals associated with the engine, generally comprising systems for acquiring the pressure in the engine cylinders and the engine shaft angle conventionally associated with the Diesel engine, in particular to diagnose leaks from the cylinders thereof.
Strategies for controlling the operation of an engine using a cylinder pressure signal for other engine control functions are also known in the art. Systems using such strategies assume that the acquisition systems are operating correctly and are properly calibrated. Consequently, if at least one acquisition system is faulty, a leak may be diagnosed even though the suspect cylinder(s) are operating satisfactorily, or a malfunction or an increase in pollutant emissions may be caused if the engine management system fails to take account of the fault or drift.
Moreover, in the event of a predetermined fault or drift of the engine or the acquisition systems, the prior art systems referred to above merely deliver a diagnosis for the attention of the user of the vehicle, to enable manual repair or servicing even though, as a general rule, the engine is associated with onboard correction means able to correct such faults and/or drifts.
Additionally, such systems conventionally employ algorithms based on parametric models of the engine or of the changing pressure in the cylinders. Those algorithms generally necessitate a large number of operations, making it difficult to envisage carrying out the corresponding data processing in an onboard computer of the vehicle, which is generally a microcontroller of limited computation capacity.

Method of diagnosing the operating state of a motor vehicle diesel engine


A display apparatus including a display main body to display a picture thereon, a base to support the display main body on an installation surface, and a lifting unit provided between the display main body and the base to move the display main body up and down relative to the base, the lifting unit having a guide frame vertically disposed relative to the base, a lifting member slideably provided in the guide frame and coupled to the display main body, and an oil groove formed in at least one of the guide frame and the lifting member. With this configuration, the present general inventive concept provides a display apparatus in which a display main body can lift up and down relative to a base. The present general inventive concept also provides a display apparatus in which a display main body can rotate in various directions relative to a base.

1. Field of the Invention
The present general inventive concept relates to a display apparatus, and more particularly, to a display apparatus having an improved structure of relative operations between a display main body and a base.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a display apparatus comprises a display main body to display a picture thereon, and a base seated on an installation surface, such as a table, to support the display main body.
Recently, a flat panel display, such as a liquid crystal display (LCD) or a plasma display panel (PDP), has been employed as a display main body.
FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a conventional display apparatus. As shown therein, the conventional display apparatus 101 comprises a base 120 seated on an installation surface, such as a table, a display main body 110 supported by the base 120 to display a picture thereon, and a tilting hinge 130 provided between the base 120 and the display main body 110 to allow the display main body 110 to be tilted about the base 120.
The tilting hinge 130 comprises a pair of brackets 131 coupled to a back of the display main body 110, and a pair of hinge shafts 133 having a first end coupled to each bracket 131 and a second end coupled to an upper portion of the base 120.
The hinge shafts 133 are aligned along a right and left direction with respect to the display main body 110 to rotatably connect the brackets 131 and the upper portion of the base 120. Thus, the display main body 110 can be tilted with respect to the hinge shaft 133 (refer to an arrow "A" in FIG. 1).
However, in the conventional display apparatus 101, the display main body 101 cannot lift up and down relative to the base 120, causing an inconvenience for a user.
Additionally, in this conventional display apparatus 101, the display main body 101 cannot swivel and pivot relative to the base 120, wherein the swiveling refers to rotation with respect to a vertical direction of the base and the pivoting refers to rotation with respect to a frontward and backward direction of the base.
As described above, if the display apparatus could lift up and down relative to the base, and swivel and pivot relative to the base, it would be more convenient for a user to use.