This application provides methods for identifying nucleic acid ligands capable of covalently interacting with targets of interest. The nucleic acids can be associated with various functional units. The method also allows for the identification of nucleic acids that have facilitating activities as measured by their ability to facilitate formation of a covalent bond between the nucleic acid, including its associated functional unit, and its target.

A method for the in vitro evolution of nucleic acid molecules with highly specific binding to target molecules has been developed. This method, Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential enrichment, termed the SELEX combinatorial chemistry process, is described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/536,428, filed Jun. 11, 1990, entitled "Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment", now abandoned, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/714,131, filed Jun. 10, 1991, entitled "Nucleic Acid Ligands", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,475,096, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/931,473, filed Aug. 17, 1992, entitled "Nucleic Acid Ligands", now U.S. Pat. No. 5,270,163 (see also WO91/19813), each of which is herein specifically incorporated by reference. Each of these applications, collectively referred to herein as the SELEX Patent Applications, describes a fundamentally novel method for making a nucleic acid ligand to any desired target molecule. The SELEX process provides a class of products which are referred to as nucleic acid ligands, such ligands having a unique sequence, and which have the property of binding specifically to a desired target compound or molecule. Each SELEX-identified nucleic acid ligand is a specific ligand of a given target compound or molecule. The SELEX process is based on the unique insight that nucleic acids have sufficient capacity for forming a variety of two- and three-dimensional structures and sufficient chemical versatility available within their monomers to act as ligands (form specific binding pairs) with virtually any chemical compound, whether monomeric or polymeric. Molecules of any size can serve as targets.
The SELEX method involves selection from a mixture of candidate oligonucleotides and step-wise iterations of binding, partitioning and amplification, using the same general selection scheme, to achieve virtually any desired criterion of binding affinity and selectivity. Starting from a mixture of nucleic acids, preferably comprising a segment of randomized sequence, the SELEX method includes steps of contacting the mixture with the target under conditions favorable for binding, partitioning unbound nucleic acids from those nucleic acids which have bound specifically to target molecules, dissociating the nucleic acid-target complexes, amplifying the nucleic acids dissociated from the nucleic acid-target complexes to yield a ligand-enriched mixture of nucleic acids, then reiterating the steps of binding, partitioning, dissociating and amplifying through as many cycles as desired to yield highly specific high affinity nucleic acid ligands to the target molecule.
It has been recognized by the present inventors that the SELEX method demonstrates that nucleic acids as chemical compounds can form a wide array of shapes, sizes and configurations, and are capable of a far broader repertoire of binding and other functions than those displayed by nucleic acids in biological systems.
The dogma for many years was that nucleic acids had primarily an informational role. Through the application of the SELEX process it has become clear to the present inventors that nucleic acids have three dimensional structural diversity not unlike proteins. As such, the present inventors have recognized that the SELEX process or SELEX-like processes could be used to identify nucleic acids which can facilitate any chosen reaction in a manner similar to that in which nucleic acid ligands can be identified for any given target. In theory, within a candidate mixture of approximately 10.sup.13 to 10.sup.18 nucleic acids, the present inventors postulate that at least one nucleic acid exists with the appropriate shape to facilitate a broad variety of physical and chemical interactions.
Studies to date have identified only a few nucleic acids which have only a narrow subset of facilitating capabilities. A few RNA catalysts are known (Cech,1987. Science 236:1532-1539 and McCorkle and Altman 1987. J: of Chemical Education 64:221-226). These naturally occurring RNA enzymes (ribozymes) have to date only been shown to act on oligonucleotide substrates (see U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,987,071; 5,354,855; 5,180,818; 5,116,742; 5,093,246; 5,037,746 and European Patent 291 533). Further, these molecules perform over a narrow range of chemical possibilities, which are thus far related largely to phosphodiester bond condensation/hydrolysis, with the exception of the possible involvement of RNA in protein biosynthesis. Despite intense recent investigation to identify RNA or DNA catalysts, few successes have been identified. Phosphodiester cleavage (Beaudry and Joyce, 1992. Science 257:635), hydrolysis of aminoacyl esters (Piccirilli et al.,1992. Science 256:1420-1424), self-cleavage (Pan et al., 1992. Biochemistry 31:3887), ligation of an oligonucleotide with a 3' OH to the 5' triphosphate end of the catalyst (Bartel et al.,1993. Science 261:1411-1418), biphenyl isomerase activity (Prudent et al.,1994. Science 264:1924-1927), and polynucleotide kinase activity (Lorsch et al.,1994. Nature 371:31.-+.36) have been observed. The nucleic acid catalysts known to date have certain shortcomings associated with their effectiveness in bond forming/breaking reactions. Among the drawbacks are that they act slowly relative to protein enzymes, and as described above, they perform over a somewhat narrow range of chemical possibilities.
The basic SELEX method has been modified to achieve a number of specific objectives. For example, U.S. patent application Ser. No. 07/960,093, filed Oct. 14, 1992, entitled "Method for Selecting Nucleic Acids on the Basis of Structure," now abandoned (See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,707,796) describes the use of SELEX in conjunction with gel electrophoresis to select nucleic acid molecules with specific structural characteristics, such as bent DNA. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/123,935, filed Sep. 17, 1993, entitled "Photoselection of Nucleic Acid Ligands," now abandoned (See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,763,177) describes a SELEX based method for selecting nucleic acid ligands containing photoreactive groups capable of binding and/or photocrosslinking to and/or photoinactivating a target molecule. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/134,028, filed Oct. 7, 1993, entitled "High-Affinity Nucleic Acid Ligands That Discriminate Between Theophylline and Caffeine," now abandoned (See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,580,737) describes a method for identifying highly specific nucleic acid ligands able to discriminate between closely related molecules, termed Counter-SELEX. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/143,564, filed Oct. 25, 1993, entitled "Systematic Evolution of Ligands by EXponential Enrichment: Solution SELEX," now abandoned (See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,567,588) describes a SELEX-based method which achieves highly efficient partitioning between oligonucleotides having high and low affinity for a target molecule.
The SELEX method encompasses the identification of high-affinity nucleic acid ligands containing modified nucleotides conferring improved characteristics on the ligand, such as improved in vivo stability or improved delivery characteristics. Examples of such modifications include chemical substitutions at the ribose and/or phosphate and/or base positions. SELEX-identified nucleic acid ligands containing modified nucleotides are described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/117,991, filed Sep. 8, 1993, entitled "High Affinity Nucleic Acid Ligands Containing Modified Nucleotides," now abandoned (See also, U.S. Pat. No. 5,660,985) that describes oligonucleotides containing nucleotide derivatives chemically modified at the 5-and 2'-positions of pyrimidines. U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/134,028, supra, describes highly specific nucleic acid ligands containing one or more nucleotides modified with 2'-amino (2'-NH.sub.2), 2'-fluoro (2'-F), and/or 2'-O-methyl (2'-OMe). U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/264,029, filed Jun. 22, 1994, entitled "Novel Method of Preparation of Known and Novel 2'-Modified Nucleosides by Intramolecular Nucleophilic Displacement", now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,756,703, describes oligonucleotides containing various 2'-modified nucleosides.
The SELEX method encompasses combining selected oligonucleotides with other selected oligonucleotides and non-oligonucleotide functional units as described in U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/284,063, filed Aug. 2, 1994, entitled "Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment: Chimeric SELEX" now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,637,459 and U.S. patent application Ser. No. 08/234,997, filed Apr. 28, 1994, entitled "Systematic Evolution of Ligands by Exponential Enrichment: Blended SELEX," now issued as U.S. Pat. No. 5,683,867, respectively. These applications allow the combination of the broad array of shapes and other properties, and the efficient amplification and replication properties, of oligonucleotides with the desirable properties of other molecules. Each of the above described patent applications which describe modifications of the basic SELEX procedure are specifically incorporated by reference herein in their entirety.

Systematic evolution of ligands by exponential enrichment: chemi-SELEX


A laminated shingle is provided, having lighter and darker granule portions visible from the front, at different planes; the front-most or anterior plane generally having granules of lighter shading and the more rearward or posterior plane generally having darker granules. The darker granules in the more posterior plane are visible from the front of the shingle to provide visually sharp, precise delineation between zones of lighter and darker shading. The shingles may be of multi-layer construction with suitable adhesives securing the layers together. The darker granules may be visible from beneath the lower edge(s) of the anterior shingle, to provide a shadow line effect. Alternatively, or in addition thereto, the darker shingle zones from the more posterior plane may be visible through tab-separating slots of the lighter shaded anterior shingle portion.

The present invention is directed to a multi-layer shingle, preferably one constructed of asphaltic roofing material, and most particularly one having an asphaltic material provided over a base mat, which then has granules applied to surfaces thereof.
The art of shingle manufacture is highly developed, and improvements in shingle manufacturing have been subtle, often being devoted to the simulation of wood or other natural appearing shingles, having natural appearing textures.
In the course of shingle development, some approaches have been toward applying granules of various color and shading configurations.
The present invention is directed toward providing a multilayer shingle, of at least two layers, having areas of different shading, at different depths or planes, whereby the visual contrast, upon viewing a shingle from the front, is of sharp, precise delineation between the zones caused by edges of the anterior shingle layer of one shading overlying portions of a posterior shingle layer of a different shading.
Accordingly, is a primary object of this invention to provide a multi-layer shingle having sharp, precise delineation between zones of different shadings.
It is another object of this invention to accomplish the above object, by the use of anterior and posterior shingle layers having granules of different shadings in different planes.
Other objects and advantages of the present invention will be readily apparent to those skilled in the art from a reading of the following brief descriptions of the drawing figures, detailed descriptions of the preferred embodiments and the appended claims.

Composite shingle having shading zones in different planes


A base pad for supporting heavy, vibrating machinery with minimal environmental pollution, the pad including a peripheral frame of rigid beams, a grid of reenforcing rods extending across the interior of the peripheral frame between the beams, and a cementitious filler within the peripheral frame. Flanged channel beams extend across the peripheral frame in spaced pairs and form a series of spaced anchor slots opening upwardly through the cementitious material, and also form liquid drains beneath the slots. The drains communicate through openings through the beams with aligned discharge spouts secured to the beams. A plurality of intercommunicating, peripheral, upwardly opening V-gutters are disposed in the cementitious filler adjacent the peripheral frame beams, and are connected to drain liquid into the liquid drains.

Brief Description Of The Development Of The Invention
With certain types of heavy machinery, such as large compressors, it is necessary to anchor the machinery to a stationary base because the high amplitude cyclical vibration of the machinery will cause the machinery to "walk" or undesirably move away from its initial point of support as the machinery is operated. This displacement of the machine as a result of vibration can cause interconnecting piping, electrical wiring and the like to be stressed, and may even cause structural failure of such connections with the result that the system is damaged, and the machine ceases to operate. Moreover, in the case of severe vibration, the distance which a heavy machine may move can be great enough over an extended period of operation without close attendance that damage to surrounding machinery or valuable pieces of equipment can result from the impact of the "walking" machine.
Where a machine of the type described has been bolted or otherwise secured to a supporting surface or pad, the necessity can arise from time-to-time for detaching the machine from the supporting surface or pad in order to move it to a different location. The permanency of the anchoring system used can then be a deterrent to rapid and economical removal of the machinery to transport it to the new location. Moreover, the pads or supporting structures employed are frequently permanently fixed at the location where they are used to support the machine, with the result that a new pad must be constructed at the new operational situs of the machine. This is costly.
One of the concomitant characteristics of severely vibrating machinery is the propensity of such machinery to vibrate lubricant or circulated liquids out of the machine and on to the supporting pad or other structure upon which the machine rest during its operation. Thus, oil, grease and other lubricants which may be employed tend to be splashed or vibrated out of reservoirs, or through various seals in the machinery, so that a significant pool or accumulation of such hydrocarbon lubricant compositions tend to locate beneath the machine, and to each side thereof for some distance.
These environmentally harmful substances may then move by gravity or vibratory response outwardly from the machine into the surrounding soil. The soil adjacent the pad or other supporting structure may thus be poisoned or contaminated. These deleterious materials present the further hazard of migrating with percolating water downwardly into a subterranean water table, with resulting contamination of water supplies. Although heavy machinery has been operated for many years without great concern for this source of environmental contamination, the heightened sensitivity of environmentalists, hydrologists, and governmental agencies to the hazards posed by even relatively small amounts of hydrocarbon contamination, such as that originating at an industrial source, makes it desirable that some means be provided for preventing the lubricants or other fluids which may leak from the machinery from being dispersed into the surrounding soil, or, when the machine is enclosed within a building, to a location where the grease or other contaminate may be washed down during clean up and into drains which ultimately drain to storm sewers or other potential sources of subsoil contamination.


Provided is a microscope objective including a plurality of meniscus lenses disposed along a predetermined optical axis; a plurality of first doublets aligned along the optical axis and disposed behind the plurality of meniscus lenses; and a plurality of second doublets aligned along the optical axis and disposed behind the plurality of first doublets, wherein a distance between a rearmost one of the first doublets and a front one of the second doublets is larger than a distance between any two adjacent ones of the first doublets and a distance between any two adjacent ones of the second doublets.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microscope objective, and more particularly, to a microscope objective suitable for ultra-violet radiation with a wavelength of about 250 nm.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
One example of microscope objective usable for ultra-violet radiation of about 250 nm wavelength is disclosed in Japanese Laid-Open Patent Publication 5-72482. This objective is composed of a first lens group including meniscus lenses and concave-convex cemented lenses (achromatic doublet or the like), a second lens group containing at least two three-piece cemented lenses (lens triplet or the like), and a third lens group containing concave-convex cemented lenses.
Fluorite (CaF.sub.2), quartz, and "Ultran 30" (Trademark of Schott Co.) are optical materials that are considered to have sufficient transmission rates in the neighborhood of the 250 nm wavelength. However, since these optical materials do not have large differences in the Abbe number, the conventional microscope objective must use many three-piece cemented lenses (lens triplet) to achieve achromatism.
At present, only silicon type adhesives are available as the adhesive that has a sufficient transmission rate in the neighborhood of 250 nm wavelength. However, the bonding power of the silicon type adhesive is weak, and thus, it is difficult to produce a highly precise three-piece cemented lens. Therefore, even though such a lens may be designed, the actual production is extremely difficult.


Recombinant expression systems for the production of proteins, and particularly a system for rapidly generating recombinant silkworm baculoviruses. Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) with an efficiency approaching 100% has been developed. In a specific example, the vector of the invention was used to generate expression of a FLAG-epitope tagged HIV tat interacting protein of 30 kDa (f-TIP30) in BmN cells and silkworm larvae.

Recombinant expression systems for the production of proteins, and particularly a system for rapidly generating recombinant silkworm baculoviruses. Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) with an efficiency approaching 100% has been developed.
Since the advent of recombinant DNA technology, there has been steady growth in the number of systems available for the regulated expression of cloned genes in prokaryotic and eukaryotic cells. One eukaryotic system that has gained particularly widespread use is the baculovirus expression vector system, or BEVS, developed by Smith, G. E., and Summers, M. D., U.S. Pat. No 4,745,051).
The baculovirus expression vector system (BEVS) has now emerged as the preferred system for production of recombinant eukaryotic proteins in insect cells. Two major reasons for its wide spread popularity have been the high yields of recombinant proteins in a biologically functional form and minimal biohazard potential. BEVS employs strong viral promoters (polyhedrin or p10) for foreign gene expression in insect cells or larvae infected with a recombinant baculovirus. There are two types of baculovirus-based expression systems: the popular Autographa californica nuclear polyhedrosis virus (AcNPV) that infects Sf9/Sf21 cells and Trichoplusia ni larvae, and the Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) that infects silkworm cells (BmN) and larvae (Bombyx mori). Baculoviruses only infect insects and are further restricted by species-specific barriers, i.e., AcNPV will not infect BmN cells or silkworm larvae and BmNPV will not infect Sf9 cells.
The Family Baculoviridae have large, circular, double-stranded DNA genomes (at least 90-230 kilobases (Francki, R. I. B., et al., eds., in Archives of Virology, (1991), Supp. 2, pages 117-123. There are two Subfamilies, Nudibaculovirinae, which do not form occlusion bodies, and the Eubaculovirinae, are characterized by their ability to form occlusion bodies in the nuclei of infected insect cells. The structural properties of the occlusion bodies are used to further classify the members of this Subfamily into two genera: the nuclear polyhedrosis viruses (NPVs) and the granulosis viruses (GVs).
In nature, baculovirus-infected cells produce extremely high quantities of two major very late gene products polyhedrin (polh) and p10; which comprise 40-50% of the total cellular protein by the end of the infection cycle. Very late in infection (both in insects and tissue culture) a large proportion of the cellular transcriptional activity is dedicated to the polh and p10 promoters, which makes them ideally suited for driving high level expression of foreign genes that replace these non-essential viral genes. Yields up to 100 mg target protein per 109 cells or 50 silkworm larvae can be obtained. Viruses that lack the protective polyhedrin gene are innocuous in insects per Os (natural route of infection) but perfectly capable of establishing an infection when injected into the larvae manually. Hence, from an environmental, laboratory, manufacturing, and production point of view the silkworm larval system represents the safest system available to produce recombinant proteins and poses no threat to the sericulture industry.
The very late phase of baculovirus infection is distinct from the late phase of infection when budded viruses are formed. Consequently, expression of foreign proteins does not interfere with infectious virus production and virus replication. Target proteins can be directed to the appropriate subcellular location (including the cytoplasm, endoplasmic reticulum (ER), Golgi, plasma membrane, and nucleus) or secreted. Signal peptides of mammalian, plant, and yeast origin have been shown to direct proteins into the ER and to be properly cleaved in baculovirus-infected cells. Insect cells are capable of several post-translational modifications, which may be necessary to make some eukaryotic proteins functionally active. Myristoylation, phosphorylation, amidation, addition of fatty acids, sialylation, amino terminal and other eukaryotic protein modifications occur in baculovirus-infected cells. Glycosylation patterns are similar, but not identical, to those of mammalian cells. N-linked glycans (short or large mannose type) are added, as in mammals. Although, complex glycans are not formed, newer strains of engineered insect cells help overcome this deficiency. The silkworm larva-BmNPV based BEVS offers an additional advantage over Sf9-AcNPV based BEVS because of the possibility of expression in a variety of host cell types, thereby increasing the repertoire of post-translational modifications available for processing the recombinant proteins into their biologically functional form. Sf9 cells, being ovarian in origin, have a dedicated and limited capability of post-translational modifications in comparison to the silkworm larva.
The viral genome is very large (130 kb) and not amicable to direct manipulation, hence, the standard procedure for generating viral expression vectors has been to co-transfect insect cells with viral DNA and DNA of a transfer vector bearing the foreign gene under the control of the polhedrin promoter. Homologous recombination in vivo can replace a segment of the viral DNA by the modified sequence from the transfer vector, albeit at a very low frequency (0.1%-1%). Screening to identify a recombinant virus and separating it from parental virus can therefore involve considerable time and effort. Several modifications of this procedure that facilitate the identification of recombinant viruses by placing a reporter cassette adjacent to the gene to be expressed (Vialard et al., J. Virol. 1990; 64: 37-50; Vlak et al., Virol. 1990; 179: 312-320;Weyer et al., J. Gen. Virol. 1990; 71: 1525-1534 and Zuidema et al., J. Gen. Virol. 1990, 71: 2201-2209) or that increase the proportion of recombinant viruses (Kitts et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 1993; 18: 5667-5672; Peakman et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 1989; 13: 5403 and Kitts and Possee, Biotechniques 1993; 5:810-817) have been described. Recently, systems have also been developed for generating recombinant baculoviruses in yeast (Patel et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 1992; 20: 97-104.), E. coli (Luckow et al., J. Virol. 1993; 67: 4566-4579) or in vitro (Peakman et al., Nucleic Acids Res. 1992; 20: 495-500). A major bottleneck in the wide spread use of the BmNPV-based BEVS has been the tedious, time consuming plaque purification procedure required to isolate recombinant BmNPV expression vectors.
The major advantage of the BmNPV based expression system is that it can easily be expanded to an economical in vivo system using silkworm larvae. Because of its economic importance, the silkworm has been domesticated for thousand of years and techniques for mass rearing have been well-established. The silkworm larvae offers several additional advantages, e.g., it is easy to rear, it is easy to manipulate because of its large size, it has a relatively short life cycle (approximately 7 weeks), and its genetics and molecular biology have been well documented. The availability of artificial diets, availability of automated rearing equipment, and the fact that the larvae are non-allergenic to human handlers makes scale-up and mass production of recombinant proteins under sterile conditions very attractive in silkworm larvae. The silkworm BEVS has been applied for the production of useful biomolecules, such as pharmaceuticals, vaccines, enzymes, hormones, active viral insecticides, etc.
Foreign genes have been expressed using the AcNPV vector and their lepidopteran hosts, e.g., Trichoplusia ni and Heliothis virescens. These species, however, are significantly smaller than B. mori, and often cannibalistic, so that special rearing conditions are required. Hence, for high yields and cost effective production of recombinant proteins in larval hosts the BmNPV-B. mori expression system is the best option.
However, a major bottleneck in the BmNPV-based BEVS has been the tedious, time consuming plaque purification procedure required to isolate recombinant BmNPV expression vectors. Thus, there is a need in the art to overcome this obstacle and to provide an efficient system for rapidly generating recombinant BmNPV expression vectors.
The present invention addresses these and other needs in the art.
The invention provides an efficient and economical expression system for production of recombinant proteins in silkworm cells in tissue culture and in silkworm larvae. This system bypasses the bottleneck to expression in this otherwise attractive system, thus addressing a need in the art. In particular, the system of the invention ensures that recombinant vectors lack parental vector contaminants and include the gene of interest.
Thus, the invention provides a recombinant Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV). This BmNPV has a genome comprising a restriction endonuclease site in a polyhedrin promoter region and a second restriction endonuclease site in an essential gene region located downstream of the polyhedrin promoter region, wherein the restriction endonuclease sites are not found outside of the segment of the genome delineated by the restriction endonuclease sites in the polyhedrin promoter region at the upstream end and the essential gene region in the down stream end, and wherein cutting of the genome by a restriction enzyme specific for the restriction site in the essential gene knocks out function of the essential gene. Preferably the restriction sites are the same. More preferably, the BmNPV contains an additional restriction site in the essential gene, such that treatment with the restriction endonuclease results in deletion of a majority of the C-terminus of the essential gene. In addition, the BmNPV contains a reporter gene, preferably luciferase reporter, under control of the polyhedrin promoter. This reporter gene can also contain the restriction site.
In addition, the invention provides a linear BmNPV created by restriction cutting of the BmNPV described above by the restriction endonuclease specific for the restriction sites in the polyhedrin promoter and the essential gene. Thus, a linear BmNPV has one end comprising a cut restriction endonuclease site in a polyhedrin promoter region and a second end comprising a second cut in a restriction endonuclease site in an essential gene region.
A method for preparing a recombinant Bombyx mori nuclear polyhedrosis virus (BmNPV) as described above is also provided. The method comprises introducing a restriction site into the polyhedrin promoter; introducing a restriction site into the essential gene; and selecting recombinant BmNPV that contain both restriction sites.
To reconstitute an effective expression system, the linear BmNPV is co-transfected with a transfer vector that rescues the virus by providing the essential gene. Thus, the invention provides a transfer vector comprising a region of an BmNPV genome containing or upstream of a polyhedrin promoter, a cassette insertion site operably associated with the polyhedrin promoter or another promoter effective in silkworm cells, and a region of a BmNPV genome containing an essential gene, wherein the essential gene is located downstream of the polyhedrin promoter in a wildtype BmNPV genome and is oriented in the transfer vector the same way relative to the polyhedrin promoter as it is in wildtype BmNPV, and wherein the two regions are of sufficient size to permit homologous recombination with a BmNPV vector.
Bombyx mori (silkworm) cell transfected with the BmNPV, and preferably co-transfected with the BmNPV and the transfer vector in which a gene of interest is inserted into the cassette insertion site is also provided. The B. mori cell can be a BmN cell in tissue culture or it can be in a silkworm larva.
The co-transfected silkworm cells permit expression of the protein encoded by the gene of interest. Thus, in another embodiment the invention provides a method for producing a protein encoded by a gene of interest, which method comprises isolating the protein expressed by the BmN cell cultured under conditions that permit expression of the protein encoded by the gene of interest, or expressed by a silkworm larva infected with a recombinant BmNPV and reared under conditions that permit expression of the protein encoded by the gene of interest. In one embodiment the protein is isolated from fat body extracts. In another embodiment, the expressed protein includes a secretory signal and is isolated from interstitial fluid. In still another embodiment, the expressed protein is an HIV TAT interacting protein (f-TIP30).
These and other aspects of the invention are more fully developed in the accompanying Drawings, Detailed Description, and Examples.

System for rapid generation of recombinant baculovirus-based expression vectors for silkworm larvae


The invention relates to a toilet system affording hygienic environment by attachment of a hand held sprayer and additional features on the existing toilet system. The hand held sprayer that delivers water spray comprises a reinforced flexible hose, a filter to eliminate the pollutants in the water, a valve to regulate the flow, a mixing valve that supplies tempered water, a T-adapter assembly to tap water from an existing plumbing fixture, a holder assembly for placement of the sprayer with various positions using an adjustable bracket, and a hose hanger for arrangement of the hose. The new features include a toilet seat having a water splash guard on underbody of the seat and a filler element around the bracket to offset the inclined toilet lid.

1. Field of Invention
This invention relates to a toilet system attached a hand held water spraying apparatus, engaging in delivering instant water supply for personal and environmental hygiene.
2. Description of Related Art
The invention in earlier application has been improved by adding new features, which include multiple layered reinforced flexible hose to bear the continuous high pressures, a filter for separating solid particles and impurities from water, a mixing valve that provides tempered water for the use in the cold temperature, a T-adapter together with matching couplings to tap water from an existing plumbing fixtures, a modified hose hanger mounted on the existing toilet seat fasteners, a holder assembly with new features for placement of the sprayer with various positions, a filler element around the bracket on the top edge of water tank to keep the toilet lid in the flat position, and a toilet seat having a water splash guard under the seat to protect water escape through the gap between the toilet seat and the bowl.
The flexible hose in the current market has limited options available for the use of this invention. One choice is a shower hose, which is used to convey the high pressurized water for the bathtub or sink. The shower hose generally has two layers, in which one layer of the inner flexible hose is wrapped with the other layer of the flexible metal or plastic tube. The shower hose has a cosmetic appearance, but it is not durable enough to be used for an extended amount of time under the continuous high water pressure. Besides, the inner flexible tube has a large diameter to carry much of water for the use in the bath or sink. The hose with the larger diameter holds more pressures than the one with the smaller, causing more inflexibility of the hose under the internal built-up pressures.
Another choice is one of the plumbing hoses, which are designed to supply water under the continuous high pressure. The plumbing hoses have large inner diameter to deliver much of water and general categories of the PVC-reinforced hoses and stainless steel braided hoses. The plumbing hoses are good to supply water in a static environment, but they are not enough flexible for dynamic movement and lack of the ornamental appearances. The present invention includes a reinforced hose having the decorative appearances by combining the good features of the shower hose and the plumbing hose. This invention requires small amount of water for the purpose of the use, adopting a flexible inner hose with small diameter. The inner hose with small diameter absorbs less of the pressure from the source to contribute more flexibility, and affords room to place the second layer of braided metal mesh for reinforcement. The exterior ornamental layer including the flexible stainless steel adds more durability as well as the cosmetic appearances.
The mixing valve is provided to supply tempered water for the use in the cold environment or for better personal care. The previous application uses only cold water tapped into the existing water supply line, which may not be allowed for the use if the water temperature is extremely cold. If the hot water source is available, the present invention utilizes it to supply warm water by employing the mixing valve connected to both of the hot and cold water. Since the hot water source is located in the various areas around the toilet, the present invention employs an angle stop valve behind the toilet as for the illustration.
The T-adapter is applied for this invention, which includes but not limited two outlet male threads and one inlet female rotatable nut. The female rotatable nut is affording convenience for connection in a confined area, because it can be connected without rotation of the large body and locked with the body placed in various directions. The T-adapter may require matching couplings for the inlet and for the outlet to adapt to the various sizes of the existing plumbing fixtures. The various sized T-adapter may eliminate the matching couplings, but it brings more complexity and costs more for productions.
The modified hose hanger with new features is introduced for this invention to reinforce and facilitate arrangement of the hose and installation to the existing seat fasteners. The single body of hose hanger has prop lines on the body to fortify its structure and protruding lines to prevent the hose being mobile in the openings. The protruding lines make the hose placement easier at any part of the free length, because they lock in the hose to prevent slippage. The opening for permanent placement of the hose locks a part of the hose so that the hose hanger is not easily pivoted side to side. The indentation surface is provided on the mounting area for more friction to prevent spinning around.
A holder of the holder assembly has an additional feature for placement of the sprayer, in which the sprayer can be placed in various ways including a high placement and a low placement. The high placement that implements the controller body of the sprayer requires an angled base in the opening of the holder. However, the low placement that takes on the extension bar of the sprayer requires a straight lined base in the opening of the holder. Therefore, the low placement has need of the offset element so that the sprayer is placed in level in the holder.
The adjustable bracket of the holder assembly is introduced for mounting on various types of the water tank of toilets. The outlook of the toilet water tank takes varied shapes including rectangles and trapezoids. The adjustable bracket has the features to be adjusted to the varied environment. It also has the feature to be mounted on any available surfaces if the toilet water tank does not have room for the bracket to be placed on. The adjustable bracket accommodates the filler element such as a foam strip around the top edge for the leveled placement of the toilet lid.
The toilet seat having a water splash guard underbody is presented to protect water escape through the opening between the toilet seat and the bowl. The splash guard around the seat opening is located between the seat and the bowl to add more protection from water splash whenever the sprayer is used inside bowl. The shape and width of the water splash guard is determined from the features of the seat and the bowl. However, the width of the water splash guard is preferably larger than the gap between the seat and the bowl for better protection. The water splash guard can be placed with full or partial enclosure according to the seat opening type.

Toilet system attached a hand held sprayer


An access platform of a service provider storing at least one group identifier and a list of subscriber numbers of subscriber devices associated with the at least one group ID. The access platform receives a group ID and a message from a customer application running on a customer device. The access platform then compares the received group ID to the at least one group ID stored, and in response to the received group ID matching the at least one stored group ID utilizes the list of subscriber numbers associated with the received group ID to deliver the received message to the subscriber devices.

In recent years, mobile wireless communications have become increasingly popular. Initial implementations of mobile wireless communications, for example in the form of cellular telephone networks, supported circuit switched voice communication services. Mobile voice telephone communication is now ubiquitous in many countries, and mobile services are replacing fixed landline service even for traditional voice telephone calls. However, for many years now the mobile service offerings have extended far beyond the traditional voice telephone call model. For example, the mobile carriers developed short messaging service (SMS) technology to provide text and/or email communications via the wireless communication networks. As the public wireless communication networks have evolved to provide greater bandwidth and packet based services, the industry has developed a variety of data services, such as web browsing, as well as a variety of services using multimedia messaging service (MMS) technology. Many of the messaging services such as SMS and MMS support message traffic between mobile stations, e.g. for message exchange between users. However, these popular messaging services also support traffic between mobile stations and server equipment from which service providers offer users a variety of different types of application services. With the increased data communication capability of the network and the associated increased intelligence of the mobile devices, mobile messaging has extended to include instant messaging and email, services. These messaging services support communications of messages between mobile devices as well as two-way communications between mobile devices and applications running on network-connected computer platforms, such as servers running appropriate applications.
For most message traffic, the communication is point-to-point, e.g. from one mobile device to another mobile device, even if an intermediate server computer provides a store-and-forward function in support of message delivery. Companies and other organizations, however, may have the need to multicast (i.e. sequentially transmit a message to multiple recipients) a message to a group of mobile devices in various situations. The multicast may be directed to many mobile devices that are listed in a group distribution list. For example, a bank may send a security alert or update to their account holders. The security alert may be sent in a multicast fashion to each individual mobile device. This multicast transmission is a sequential transmission from the server to each mobile device specified in the group, as opposed a unicast transmission where the data would be transmitted from the server directly to a single specified mobile device. As another example, a school system may need to notify teachers, other employees and parents, of a school system closing due to inclement weather.
However, in current multicast methods, the message may only be delivered to a short list of mobile devices since the multicast is performed by the sending enterprise itself. This limitation on the number of mobile devices is primarily due to hardware/software limitations in the systems of the sending enterprise. The bank in this example would have to send a message in a sequential manner to each individual mobile device, thereby consuming valuable resources and a large amount of time in delivering the messages. Furthermore, the bank would have to receive (on an individual basis) a status message from each of the mobile devices indicating whether the mobile device has received a message or not.
The conventional solution to performing multicast messaging to a large number of mobile devices is inefficient since it places the large burden of delivering the messages on the customer (i.e., the bank or school system in our examples). Each sending customer has to have complex hardware/software systems in place to perform this multicast in a sequential manner (e.g. phone number by phone number basis) to each of the recipients in the group. This can result in long delay times in transmitting multicast messages to groups of recipients, and require large capital investments by the customers to purchase and maintain such hardware/software systems.

Efficient group message delivery method for A2P and M2M


A blade retention mechanism that includes a body and a catch. The catch is configured to engage a bit. A knurled nut is configured to engage the catch and the body such that it is movable. When the nut is moved between a first position and a second position the catch moves between a first position and a second position. A v-groove is formed in the body and is configured to receive and retain a bit when the catch is in the first position.

This invention relates generally to a retention mechanism for a tool bit and more specifically to a retention mechanism that secures a blade or other type tool bit to a craft knife.
Tools such as craft knives utilize interchangeable bits or blades. Specifically, replaceable blades are used in craft knives to perform careful and precise cutting. Craft knives are used by those in the design industry and by others for crafts, albums, and the like. Typically blades in craft knives are retained by a collet.
One problem with retention by a collet is that the-collet will loosen while using the knife, thereby allowing the blade to loosen and slip out. This is especially true when the knife is twisted while cutting on a curve.
Another problem is that retention devices of conventional craft knives are not configured to retain the blade such that it is positioned solidly side-to-side even when the collet is firmly tightened.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.


In a position detection device, an amplitude modulation is executed for AC excitation signals Sc using modulation wave signals. Differential amplifiers execute a voltage conversion of the modulated wave signal Sin, Cos to digital data SIN, COS and transmit them to a microcomputer. The microcomputer multiplies the modulated wave signals SIN, COS with parameters cos φ, sin φ, and executes a subtraction of the multiplied value to obtain an error-correlation value ε. An angle calculations section in the microcomputer receives a detected value εc obtained by multiplying the error-correlation value ε with a binary detection signal Rd. The binary detection signal Rd corresponds to a positive sign or a negative sign of the signal Sc. It is adjusted that the sampling number of samples of the signal Rd corresponding to a positive value is equal to that corresponding to a negative value during one period of the signal Sc.

1. Field of the Invention
The present disclosure relates to position detection devices capable of receiving a modulated wave signal obtained by an amplitude modulation of an alternating current excitation signal (AC excitation signal) on the basis of position information of a target detection device, and demodulating the position information from the received modulated wave by using a plurality of sampling values of the modulated wave during one period of the AC excitation signal.
2. Description of the Related Art
For example, a patent document, Japanese patent JP 3442316 discloses a conventional resolver digital converter (RDC), as a position detection device of this type, capable of providing digital data regarding rotation detection angle information of a rotating device, which is a detection target, on the basis of modulated wave signals. These modulated wave signals are obtained by a resolver which executes an amplitude modulation of an excitation signal according to a rotation detection angle of the rotating device.
However, if the function of the position detection device is realized by using software programs, an operation speed of which is lower than an operation speed of a hardware device assembly, the inventors according to the present invention find that this structure using the software programs drastically decreases noise immunity.


A method of treating diseased ethmoid sinuses in a patient with a therapeutic agent includes providing an injection device comprising an elongate member having a proximal end, a distal tip or end, and a lumen extending between the distal tip or end and the proximal end, the proximal end being operatively coupled to a source of the therapeutic agent. The distal tip or end of the injection device is inserted at least partially within an interior portion of an ethmoid air cell. The therapeutic agent is then injected into the interior portion of the ethmoid air cell using the injection device, the therapeutic agent being delivered via the lumen in the elongate member.

Sinusitis is a condition affecting over 35 million Americans, and similarly large populations in the rest of the developed world. Sinusitis occurs when one or more of the four paired sinus cavities (i.e., maxillary, ethmoid, frontal, sphenoid) becomes obstructed. Normally the sinus cavities, each of which are lined by mucosa, produce mucous which is then moved by beating cilia from the sinus cavity out to the nasal cavity and down the throat. The combined sinuses produce approximately one liter of mucous daily, so the effective transport of this mucous is important to sinus health.
Each sinus cavity has an opening into the nasal passage called an ostium. When the mucosa of one or more of the ostia or regions near the ostia become inflamed, the egress of mucous is interrupted, setting the stage for an infection of the sinus cavity, i.e., sinusitis. Infections of the maxillary and/or ethmoid sinuses make up the vast majority of cases of sinusitis, with far fewer cases involving the sphenoids and frontals.
Unlike the maxillary, frontal, and sphenoid sinuses, the ethmoid sinuses are comprised of several individual air cells, each of which has a relatively small drainage path and ostium for drainage into the nasal cavity. The ethmoid sinuses are grouped into anterior and posterior air cells. The anterior air cells are anterior to the basal lamella of the middle turbinate while the posterior air cells are posterior to the basal lamella. From a sinusitis standpoint, the anterior air cells are usually isolated from the posterior air cells, and more commonly involved with sinusitis.
It is estimated that about 25-30% of sinus disease is confined to the maxillary sinuses. Another 20-30% of sinus disease, however, further involves the anterior ethmoid sinus air cells, the largest (and most commonly involved) of which is typically the ethmoid bulla. Currently, the surgical treatment of disease of the ethmoids is accomplished by ethmoidectomy during functional endoscopic sinus surgery (FESS). In this process, the walls of the air cells are essentially completely removed to their lateral aspect, essentially eliminating them. While this procedure is relatively simple for a surgeon, the patient is almost always under general anesthesia. Furthermore, there is a significant amount of post-surgery pain during recovery for the patient when ethmoidectomy (and any additional surgery done during FESS) is performed. There thus is a need for less invasive ways to treat diseased ethmoid sinuses.
While it is potentially possible to address disease of the involved ethmoid air cells less invasively by improving their natural drainage, such as by balloon dilation, the location of the individual ostia are quite variable, and they are difficult to find with any currently available visualization techniques. While a certain percentage of patients in whom some or all of their anterior ethmoid air cells are diseased, in addition to their maxillary sinuses and associated osteo meatal units (OMU) including their ostia and infundibular spaces, treatment of only their OMU by dilation of the maxillary ostia and remodeling of the uncinate process may also resolve any disease of the anterior ethmoid air cells. However, in some patients with both anterior ethmoid and maxillary disease, it may be necessary to directly intervene on one or more of the anterior air cells, such as the ethmoid bulla. Ideally such an intervention would be minimally invasive, and could be performed under local anesthesia, without requiring general anesthesia. Such a procedure, in addition to the previously described dilation treatments for other sinuses such as maxillary, frontal, and sphenoid, has the potential to be performed in a physician's office or on an outpatient basis. This would be especially true if the procedure could be performed using endoscopic techniques.
For these and other reasons, there is a clear need for better methods and devices for the treatment of diseased ethmoid sinuses.


A navigation apparatus searches for a route from a starting point to a destination wherein, predicted traffic information is associated with each of at least one links within any one of a plurality of predefined areas based on a time at which, according to the predicted traffic information, a vehicle traveling the route is expected to arrive within that predefined area.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a navigation apparatus capable of searching for an optimum route along which to drive a vehicle, and also to a navigation system including such a navigation apparatus.
2. Description of Related Art
A navigation apparatus is known which displays a route from a start point to a destination point and provides navigation information along the route making it possible for a user to easily navigate a vehicle.
In such a navigation apparatus, the current position of the vehicle is detected by using a GPS, or the like, and the detected current position is displayed together with a road map on a display. A route from a starting point to a destination is searched for, and navigation information resulting from the search is provided. The route search is performed, for example, by means of the Dijkstra method or a similar method. That is, in the navigation apparatus, the costs (scores) for routes from the start point to an arbitrary point are calculated on the basis of current road traffic information (at a time when searching is performed) and also on the basis of a distance from the current position to the arbitrary point. The distance from the current position to the arbitrary point is determined by using map data stored in the navigation apparatus or supplied from an external data storage device. After the calculation of the costs is completed for all possible routes to the destination, the route having the minimum cost is selected as an optimum route from the current position to the destination.
The above-described navigation apparatus is capable of acquiring road traffic information indicating the current status in terms of congestion and/or traffic restriction information, searching for a shortest route, and calculating a predicted time needed to reach a destination.
A navigation apparatus has been proposed that is capable of searching for road traffic information associated with a particular date/time at which to start driving a vehicle. The road traffic information is predicted using statistically predicted traffic information determined from past road traffic information indicating the congestion status or the like (Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-148067). This makes it possible to determine, in a more reliable fashion, a shortest route and a predicted time needed to reach a destination on a particular date/time at which to start driving.

Navigation apparatus, navigation system, and navigation search method


An adaptive data acquisition circuit (26) includes an amplifier (14) for amplifying electrical pulses generated by a detector (12) responsive to energy incident at the detector. The adaptive data acquisition circuit also includes a counting circuit (28) for counting amplified electrical pulses generated by the amplifier. In addition, the adaptive data acquisition circuit includes a digital logic circuit (30) for determining a pulse parameter indicative of a pulse rate and an amount of energy present in the amplified electrical pulses and for generating a control signal (34) responsive to the pulse parameter for controlling an operating parameter of the data acquisition circuit.

FIG. 1 illustrates a conventional data acquisition circuit 10 for use in imaging systems, for example, computer tomography (CT) systems, to count energy quanta received from a target being imaged. Such circuits 10 typically include a detector 12 generating current charge pulses responsive to received energy 11, such as x-ray photons incident on the detector 12. The output from such a system may include pulse counts 64. An amplifier 14, such as an integrating trans-impedance amplifier, typically comprising an operational amplifier (op amp) 15 with an integrating capacitor 16, resistor element 18, and low impedance switch 119 connected in feedback between an inverting terminal and an output terminal of the op amp 15, converts the current charge pulses into voltage pulses. Optionally, parallel integration processing of the amplifier output 19 via a sample and hold circuit 74 and an analog to digital converter 72 may be used to provide a digital integration output signal 70 indicative of the power of radiation 11 received at the detector 12.
Resistor 18 and switch 119 may not necessarily be discrete devices, but may be implemented using one or more transistors, such as a Field Effect Transistors (FETs) where the resistance of such a device may be controllable by an applied voltage. Alternately, the switch 119 may be light activated such that it is closed by application of light pulse incident on the switch. The resistive element 18 provides for the reset of charge built up across the capacitor 16 as the op amp 15 responds to the charge pulses from detector 12.
A continuous reset circuit is a type of circuit having a constant resistance value for resistor element 18. A triggered reset circuit is a type of circuit that implements the low impedance switch 119 in the feedback circuit. Most of the time the low impedance switch 119 is configured in the open state and the charge from the detector 12 is integrated on the capacitor 16 with constant reset from resistance 18. The switch 119, for example, under control of a threshold circuit or periodic clock, closes for a short period in order to discharge an accumulated charge on capacitor 16 and prevent saturation of op amp 15. During the period of time when the switch 119 is closed, there is no response to charge pulses generated in detector 12. Therefore, it is desirable to minimize the period when the switch 119 is closed in order to detect all the X-rays incident to the detector. An example of threshold controlled circuit is a type of circuit that tests the direct current level of the op amp output 19 against a threshold and closes the switch 119 for a fixed number of clock cycles in order to discharge the capacitor 16.
The voltage pulses generated by the amplifier 14 are further processed by a pulse shaper 20 to generate a shaped voltage pulse that is provided to a discriminator 22. The discriminator 22 increments a count register 24 when the amplitude of the shaped voltage pulse exceeds a discrimination threshold. Accordingly, the data acquisition circuit 10 is configured for counting current charge pulses generated by the detector 12 that are representative of photons incident on the detector 12. Multiple counters 24 and correspondingly multiple discriminator thresholds may be used to bin events with respect to the shaped pulse amplitude. Multiple discrimination and counting into multiple bins is a coarse method for recording the energy of the photons incident on the detector 12. In some applications, the detector 12 may comprise one or more pixels, wherein one or more pixels are connected to a respective data acquisition circuit 10 via a binning switch 40.
In imaging systems such as CT systems, it is desired to achieve a relatively high count capability with sufficient energy resolution. In particular, avoidance of saturation of the amplifier at high count rates requires that a relatively low resistance resister 18 be used in the circuit 10 or that the switch 119 be reset often. However, a low resistance resistor 18 may result in decreased energy resolution due in part to the known phenomenon of ballistic deficit. Ballistic deficit results because the resistor 18 discharges the capacitor 16 during the period in which the signal charge pulse generated in detector 12 is being received at the input 17 of the op amp 15. An amplitude of a charge integrated on capacitor 16 is thereby decreased and, with reference to a noise level, there is a decrease in energy resolution of the circuit. Furthermore, the amplitude may be variable due to differences in the time duration of different charge pulses created in the detector 12. Variability in a charge pulse amplitude results in a decreased energy resolution of the circuit.
Energy resolution may also be affected by a shaping time of the pulse shaper 20. The longer the shaping time used by the pulse shaper 20, the better the higher frequency noise can be rejected, resulting in lower noise in a shaped voltage pulse. However, if the shaping time is made too long, this may result in excessive circuit dead time that can lead to overlap of shaped pulses and a distortion in the amplitude of the shaped pulse. In such a case there may be miscounting in the discriminator 22 and error in an energy assignment. Consequently, as a count rate increases, each shaped voltage pulse may incorporate signals from multiple detection events in an effect known as pile up. Accordingly, it is desired to improve the performance of an imaging data acquisition circuit over a wide range of energy input conditions.

Adaptive data acquisition for an imaging system


A thin film transistor of the present invention includes a semiconductor thin film (8); a gate insulating film (7) formed on one surface of the semiconductor thin film (8); a gate electrode (6) formed to be opposite to the semiconductor thin film (8) through the gate insulating film (7); a source electrode (15) and a drain electrode (16) electrically connected to the semiconductor thin film (8); a source region; a drain region; and a channel region. The thin film transistor further includes an insulating film (9) formed on a peripheral portion corresponding to at least the source region and the drain region of the semiconductor thin film (8), and having a contact hole (10, 11) through which at least a part of each of the source region and the drain region is exposed wherein the source electrode (15) and the drain electrode (16) are connected to the semiconductor thin film (8) through the contact hole (10, 11).

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a thin film transistor having an etching protection film and manufacturing method thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Unexamined Japanese Patent Application KOKAI Publication H 5-67786 discloses a structure as a thin film transistor used as a switching element of an active matrix liquid crystal display device. The thin film transistor includes a gate electrode formed on an upper surface of an insulating substrate, a gate insulating film formed on the upper surface of the insulating film including the gate electrode, an intrinsic amorphous silicon semiconductor thin film formed on an upper surface of the gate insulating film on the gate electrode, a channel protection film formed on a central portion of an upper surface of the semiconductor thin film, n-type amorphous silicon ohmic contact layers formed on both sides of an upper surface of the channel protection film and an upper surface of the semiconductor thin film on its both sides, and a source and drain electrode formed on an upper surface of each ohmic contact layer.
In recent years, the use of a metal oxide semiconductor such as a zinc oxide (ZnO) instead of amorphous silicon has been considered in view of higher mobility. The manufacturing method of the thin film transistor using the metal oxide semiconductor can be considered as follows. For example, an intrinsic ZnO semiconductor thin film forming layer is film-formed on a gate insulating film, and a silicon nitride channel protection film is pattern formed on the semiconductor thin film forming layer. Next, an n-type ZnO ohmic layer forming layer is film-formed on an upper surface of the semiconductor thin film forming layer including the channel protection film, and the ohmic contact layer forming layer and the semiconductor thin film forming layer are continuously pattern formed to form an ohmic contact layer and a semiconductor thin film on a device area. Sequentially, a source and drain electrode is pattern formed on an upper surface of each ohmic contact layer.
However, in the aforementioned manufacturing method, there is a problem in which the zinc oxide easily dissolves in both acid and alkali and its etching resistance is extremely low, thereby causing relatively large side etching in the ZnO semiconductor thin film and the ohmic contact layer formed on the device area in post-process to worsen machining accuracy.

Thin film transistor having an etching protection film and manufacturing method thereof


Disclosed is an optical fiber connector for connecting an optical fiber cable including a cable core, an inner coating layer formed on the cable core, and an outer coating layer formed on the inner cable layer. The optical connector includes a ferrule to which the cable core is inserted, a first cable fixing member for fixing the inner coating layer, a second cable fixing member for fixing the outer coating layer, a connector cover having an opening, and a fastening ring provided at an outer circumference of the opening, and formed together with the connector cover as a single body. The fastening ring is fastened after the first and second cable fixing members are fitted into the opening.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relate to an optical fiber connector for connecting optical fiber cables, and more particularly, to an optical fiber connector for connecting optical fiber cables each composed of a cable core comprised of a core and a cladding, an inner coating layer, and an outer coating layer.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 1 is a view showing a mode in which an optical fiber cable C is inserted into an optical fiber connector of a prior art, FIGS. 2 and 3 are cross-sectional views showing how the optical fiber is assembled, and FIG. 4 is a cross-sectional view of the optical fiber cable when assembled. As shown in the figures, the optical fiber cable C consists of a cable core E comprised of a core and a cladding, both made of silica based glass, an inner coating layer P coated on the cable core E, and an outer coating layer S coated on the inner coating layer P. When the cable core E is a single mode optical fiber, a diameter of the core having a reflection index higher than that of the cladding is 10 .mu.m, and a diameter of the cladding is 125 .mu.m. The inner coating layer P is formed of a polyaramid fiber such as Kevlar (trademark of Du Pont Corporation), and the outer coating layer S is formed of PVC.
As shown in FIGS. 1 and 4, the cable core E of the optical fiber cable C is inserted into a ferrule F, a spring G is fitted over the cable core E and the ferrule F, a support H is fitted over the spring G, and a projection L of the support H is fitted into a fitting groove M of a plug hole K, to fix the support H thereat. Next, the inner coating layer P next to the cable core E is peeled back and then pulled forward and over a knurled portion N of the support H, a cylinder Q of a pinch member D is fitted over the portion of the inner coating layer P fitted over the knurled portion N and fastened thereat to sandwich the inner coating layer P between the pinch member D and the support H.
Then, as shown in FIG. 2, the outer coating layer S of the optical fiber cable C is fitted over a pinch portion R of the pinch member D, and as shown in FIG. 3, a cylinder T is fitted over the outer coating layer S and fastened from the outside as shown by arrows to sandwich the outer coating layer S between the cylinder T and the pinch member D, to thereby pinch-fasten the optical fiber cable C to the pinch member D.
As shown in FIG. 4, the pinch member D is inserted into an opening B of a connector cover A, made of an elastic material such as a rubber, and then a cap X is fitted over the connector cover A, to thus complete the connection of the optical fiber cable C to the optical fiber connector.
A stop edge W, having an inner diameter d.sub.2 which is smaller than an outer diameter d.sub.1 of the pinch member D, is provided at an insertion opening V of the opening B and projects inward to prevent an unintentional withdrawal of the pinch member D after it is inserted into the opening B of the connector cover A.
The prior art optical fiber connector, however, suffers from the following disadvantages. The provision of the stop edge W projected inward of the opening B requires the application of a strong pressure, to forcibly press the pinch member D into the opening B. The cover B, however, is formed of an elastic material such as a rubber, and accordingly, this forcible insertion of the pinch member D into the opening B is different and may damage an inner wall of the opening B. Namely, the prior art connection of the optical fiber cable to the optical fiber connector suffers from a low work efficiency, and requires a high level of skill. Accordingly, an automatic connection of the optical fiber cable to the optical fiber connector is practically impossible.


A cover system for septic tanks adapted to be attached to the a septic tank and provide access for repair and maintenance. The assembly includes a base which is embedded into the concrete and provides a seal between the concrete and the base. A pipe member is joined to and sits atop the stationary base member. A wrap made of high density polyethylene surrounds the pipe and covers its corrugations to reduce outside forces upon the pipe. Finally, there is a top cover which is designed to engage the top of the pipe. Additionally, a channel is provided to catch the edge of the pipe and a seal is provided to prevent leakage between the pipe and cover.

I. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to septic tank cover systems, and more particularly to septic tank cover systems which are designed to provide access to septic tanks, seal septic tanks from water, and prevent tank leakage.
II. Discussion of the Prior Art
It is well known that access to septic tanks buried underground is periodically needed so that material can be pumped from the tank and maintenance performed. It is important for structures which provide access to the tanks to maintain a water tight environment leading to the buried septic system. The seals for these structures are greatly susceptible to leaks due to their exposure to an outdoor conditions. Frost heaving, forces related to vertical ground movement, and rotational forces due to lateral ground movement can each have a potentially detrimental impact on the integrity of septic tank access structures.
To improve the longevity and durability of access points to septic tanks, it is desirable, as much as possible, to protect the structure from potentially damaging types of ground forces. Various aspects of these problems have been addressed in some previous disclosures although a design specifically suited to properly address these concerns has never been as fully and effectively designed before. For example, in the Meyers. U.S. patent application Pub. No. 2003/0145527, a riser component for an on-site waste system is described which incorporates a riser pan, a cover, and various interconnecting riser elements. The Airhart U.S. Patent Application Pub. No. 2004/0040221 is directed at a molded manhole unit. This application shows a unit with a manifold riser having a beveled riser edge, a riser extension which mates with the manifold riser, a sealing ring, and a riser cap.
The present invention offers important advantages over the prior art due to new concepts included in its design. Specifically, the arrangement of the riser base of the present invention offers several superior features not found in the prior art. These features relate to the ledge and depressions below the ledge that allow secure anchoring of the device into a concrete casting. These advantages also include the uninterrupted surface upon which the pipe member can rest. This surface provides an effective mechanism for sealing the junction between the base and the pipe. The use of corrugated pipe also provides certain advantages in terms of cost, strength, and the ability for one to cut the pipe to length rather than having to buy a specific piece of a specific height. The invention overcomes the problems associated with using such a pipe by providing a novel sealing surface between the pipe and the top cover, a novel sealing arrangement between the riser base and the pipe, and also by providing a sleeve that covers the corrugations in the pipe to prevent the pipe from coming loose from the base due to ground forces. Finally, the manner in which the top cover of the present invention engages the pipe to provide an effective seal that is much more refined and simple than what is shown in the prior art.


A display control device 1 is provided, which suppresses a display content from being scrolled when a viewer does not consciously pay attention to the display content. The display control device 1 includes: a display unit 16; an image pickup unit 11 that detects an eye position of a viewer from a taken image of the viewer; an attention state determination unit 12 that determines an attention state to the display content, based on movement of the detected viewer's eye position; a gaze position specifying unit 14 that specifies a gaze position on the display content, based on the detected viewer's eye position and the display content; and a display control unit 15 that causes the display unit 16 to display a non-displayed portion of displayed program information, based on the determined attention state and the specified gaze position, when the viewer pays attention to the non-displayed portion.

A conventional scroll control device detects a line-of-sight position of a viewer on a display image, and performs a scroll process when the line-of-sight position of the viewer has reached an end of the display image (refer to Patent Literature 1, for example).
Hereinafter, the conventional scroll control device will be described with reference to drawings.
FIG. 19 is a block diagram showing the configuration of the conventional scroll control device described in Patent Literature 1.
In the conventional scroll control device 110, a display unit 116 for displaying a predetermined document is composed of a monitor such as a CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) or an LCD (Liquid Crystal Display). A document memory 112 stores therein document information to be displayed on the display unit 116. A movement amount detection unit 114 detects an amount of movement of a line of sight on a display image, and a time measurement processing unit 115 measures a time required for the line of sight to move on the display image. A scroll processing unit 113 for scrolling the display image has a function of scrolling the display image in accordance with scroll control information given from a document edition processing unit 117. In addition, a line-of-sight detection processing unit 111 detects a line of sight of a viewer, based on an image of the viewer taken by a camera.
The operation of the conventional scroll control device 110 configured as described above will be described with reference to FIGS. 19 to 21.
It is assumed that document information of a document to be read is stored in the document memory 112, and the specific content of the document is as shown in FIG. 20. When a viewer is reading this document on the screen, an image of the face of the viewer is input to the line-of-sight detection processing unit 111. The line-of-sight detection processing unit 111 detects the face of the viewer, and thereafter, detects the direction of the line of sight of the viewer. Then, the spatial position of the line of sight is detected based on the detected line-of-sight direction and the spatial coordinate positions of the eyes of the viewer, thereby detecting the position of the line of sight of the viewer on the display unit 116. In this line-of-sight detection, when the line of sight stops for a certain time, it is determined that the line of sight is detected. Therefore, even if the line of sight is directed to the display unit 116, it is not determined that the viewer looks at the display image, unless the line of sight stops for the predetermined time. After the line of sight has been detected, the amount of movement of the line of sight and the time required for the movement are measured as well as the position of the line of sight on the display image, and the movement velocity of the coordinate position of the line of sight on the display image is calculated. When the position of the line of sight has reached the most end of the display image as shown in FIG. 20, the display image is scrolled in accordance with the movement velocity of the line of sight at that time as shown in FIG. 21, thereby providing a scroll control device capable of performing appropriate scroll for the viewer.

Display control device and method detecting eye position of a user

Panasonic Intellectual Property Management Co., Ltd.


An automated monitoring system monitors telephone resources in a call center. The call center may include agent stations at which agents are stationed to handle calls. A monitoring server monitors calling activity by the agents to maintain state information about the agents and to gather statistics about the calling activity of the agents. These statistics are forwarded to a client program run on a workstation or other type of computer system. The client program provides a graphical user interface and depicts the state information about the agents as part of the interface. The graphical user interface may also display statistics regarding the calling activity of agents, agent supervisors, business clients of the call center, and the call center in aggregate.

The present invention relates generally to telecommunications systems, and more particularly, to a monitoring system for telephony resources in a call center.
A typical call center includes a number of agents who field inbound telephone calls and place outbound telephone calls. Each agent has an associated station that includes a personal computer or workstation, a phone pad and a head set. The agent may place outbound sales calls to potential customers or field inbound calls (such as 800 number calls) from potential customers. The agents are organized into groups and have associated supervisors, who are responsible for managing and overseeing the agents. Each agent may receive or place calls for different business clients.
One of the difficulties encountered in such a call center is the difficulty of monitoring the phone activity of the agents. It is difficult for a supervisor to obtain useful information about the activities of agents in a timely fashion. Such a lack of information makes it difficult for a supervisor to properly manage the agents and increase the profitability of the call center. In general, a supervisor must perform manual analysis and calculation to obtain useful data regarding agent performance.
The present invention addresses the limitations of the prior art by providing a computerized monitoring system for monitoring telephony resources in a call center. The monitoring system may gather status information and statistics regarding the calling activity of agents within the call center. The monitoring system may display the status information and statistics as part of a graphical user interface. This graphical user interface may include textual and graphical information and serves to display the status information and statistics in a useful and intuitive format.
In accordance with a first aspect of the present invention, a call center includes agent stations to facilitate agents handling calls. Each agent station includes telephony resources through which the agents may handle calls. The call center may also include a monitor for monitoring calling activity of the agents and for producing statistics regarding the calling activity of the agents. A computer system is provided that runs a program for receiving the statistics from the monitor and displays the statistics on a display device.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a computer-implemented method is practiced in a call center that has agents who handle calls. A monitor is provided for monitoring calling activity by the agents. The monitor also gathers statistics regarding the calling activity of the agents. The statistics are passed to an application program on a computer system that displays the statistics on the display device.
In accordance with a further aspect of the present invention, a telecommunications system includes agent stations where agents are stationed to handle calls. Each agent station includes telephony resources for handling calls. The telecommunications system includes a switching mechanism for routing calls and generating raw data regarding the calls. A computer/telephony integration server is provided in the system for receiving the raw data from the switching mechanism and generating events about calling activity based on the raw data. The events are passed to a monitoring server that generates statistics regarding calling activity of the agents. The statistics may be passed to a program running on a workstation. This program may generate output that includes at least some of the statistics.

Monitoring system for telephony resources in a call center


An end face light-emitting-type LED has a first-conductive-type semiconductor substrate and a second-conductive-type diffusion region formed on a first surface of the first-conductive-type semiconductor substrate so as to have a depth within a predetermined value. The first-conductive-type semiconductor substrate has a second surface which meets the first surface at a predetermined angle with the first surface. A junction between the first-conductive-type semiconductor substrate and the second-conductive-type diffusion region includes an inclined portion with regard to the first surface in the vicinity of an edge portion of the junction which is on a side of the second surface, and light emerges from the junction via the second surface.

The present invention relates to an end face light-emitting-type LED (Light Emitting Diode), an end face light-emitting-type LED array, and methods of manufacturing them.
LED arrays have been used, for example, as light sources in electrophotographic printers. There is a type of LED array which is know by the name of end face light-emitting-type LED array.
Its structure and manufacturing method are disclosed, for example, in Japanese Patent Kokai Publication No. 125765/1990 (hereinafter, referred to as Publication 1). According to the page 3, left upper column of the Publication 1, the end face light-emitting-type LED arrays are formed by dicing a semiconductor wafer having a laminated structure which is composed of an N electrode, an N-type GaAs buffer layer, an N-type AlGaAs layer, a P-type AlGaAs layer and a P electrode.
In the conventional LED array, after forming the P-type region, the end face was formed by cutting both the P-type region and the N-type layer.
However, in the conventional end face light-emitting-type LED array, the end face was formed by cutting both the P-type regions and the N-type layer using a dicing machine and the like. In the LED array formed by this method, only the light emitted from P/N junctions below the P-type regions when viewed from the front of the end face is effectively extracted, so the light intensity emitted from each element was small.

End face light-emitting-type LED, end face light-emitting-type LED array and methods of manufacturing them


A recording device for recording an image on a recording medium, the recording device comprising: a recording head having a liquid drop discharging surface for discharging liquid drops toward a recording medium; a liquid receptacle disposed at a position opposing a liquid drop discharging surface of the recording head, and able to accommodate the liquid drops; and a conveying device for conveying the recording medium between the recording head and the liquid receptacle, by a non-electrostatic attraction method.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an ink jet recording device which carries out recording by discharging ink from a recording unit onto a recording medium, and to a recording device which is used as an output device equipped with such functions, such as a fax machine, a copier, a printer, a multi-function device, a work station, or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
The increase in popularity of color documents in offices in recent years has been remarkable, and various output devices therefor have been proposed. In particular, the ink jet method, which enables devices to be made compact and which is low cost, is used in various output devices.
A recording head used in the ink jet method is structured by an energy generating device, an energy converting device which converts the energy generated at the energy generating device into ink discharging force, an ink discharge opening from which ink drops are discharged by the ink discharging force, and an ink supply path which communicates with the ink discharge opening and supplies the ink. Examples of the energy generating device are devices using an electromechanical converting body such as a piezo element or the like, a device which forms an air bubble by heating the ink by an electrothermal converting element having a heat-generating resistor, and discharges an ink drop due to the formation of the air bubble, and the like.
In a recording head utilizing an electricity-heat converting element, because the electricity-heat converting element is compact, not only is it possible to dispose the ink discharge openings at a high density, but also, semiconductor integrated circuit manufacturing technology can be used as the technology for the manufacturing of the recording head. Therefore, a recording head provided with a large number of highly-precise ink discharge openings can be made to be compact, and can be manufactured at a low cost.
However, what is mainly popular these days is a printing method called serial scanning which carries out printing line-by-line by reciprocatingly moving a recording head while conveying a recording sheet. This method is compact and low cost, but has the disadvantage that the recording head must be scanned plural times in order to form an image over the entire sheet, and the printing speed is slow. In order to improve the printing speed, the number of scans must be reduced, and the recording head must be elongated. The technology which has pushed these features to their limits is a non-scanning printing system which carries out printing by a recording head disposed along the width of the sheet. This printing system is an ink jet recording device equipped with a recording head which corresponds to the width of the sheet and in which a large number of discharge openings are lined up along a length substantially equal to the width of the recording sheet. Recording is carried out by the recording sheet moving with respect to the recording head which is fixed.
In this way, in order to improve the printing speed and be able to handle application to use in the office, there has been proposed the ink jet recording device which, while continuously conveying a sheet, carries out printing by a non-scanning type recording head corresponding to the width of the sheet.
However, in the ink jet recording device, the conveyed state (e.g., fluctuations in speed) of the sheet below the recording head (the nozzle surface) greatly affects the printing performance. Accordingly, in a case in which a sheet is conveyed continuously, conveying the sheet stably at a constant speed is problematic.
To address this problem, structures have been proposed in which a sheet is conveyed in a state of being attracted to an electrostatically attracting belt or to an electrostatically attracting drum, and the sheet is conveyed at a constant speed (e.g., Japanese Patent Applications Laid-Open (JP-A) Nos. 2-179754 and 5-330030, which will be called Conventional Examples 1 and 2 hereinafter), and in which a sheet is conveyed while being nipped by two or more narrow belts for conveying and spurs (e.g., Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 8-132700, which will be called Conventional Example 3 hereinafter).
On the other hand, in the ink jet recording device, poor discharging of ink drops arises and the image quality deteriorates due to dirtying of or ink drying at the nozzle surface of the recording head, and due to the generation of air bubbles in the ink flow path of the nozzle or the like, and the like. Thus, ink drops are discharged at times other than during printing (this is called "dummy jetting"), so as to prevent the ink from drying, and so as to remove dirt from the nozzle surface, and so as to discharge the air bubbles, which exist in the ink flow path, to the exterior together with the ink. Further, there is the need to provide a maintenance device which carries out maintenance such as wiping the nozzle surface to remove dirt from the nozzle surface and maintain the ink discharging performance, and the like.
Conventional Example 1 proposes a structure which carries out maintenance by a maintenance device abutting a recording head portion which is set in a posture different than that during printing.
In Conventional Example 2, an opening is provided at an electrostatically attracting drum, and a cap member, which receives the dummy jet, is disposed within the opening. Accordingly, when the sheet is conveyed (when printing is carried out), the sheet is conveyed by closing the opening. When dummy jetting is to be carried out, it is carried out by opening the opening. Further, wiping is carried out by wiping the entire head by a single blade.
Conventional Example 3 is a structure in which a recording head is raised from the printing position, and due to a maintenance device sliding, the maintenance device is positioned at a position facing the nozzle surface of the recording head, and maintenance is carried out.
When an electrostatically attracting method is employed as in Conventional Examples 1 and 2, the following problems arise. Because the force attracting the sheet depends on the electrical properties (the electrical resistance, the electrostatic capacity, i.e., the electrical conductivity, the dielectric constant, the thickness of the paper, and the like), the thickness and the type of paper which can be stably conveyed by electrostatic attraction are limited. Poor attraction may occur due to changes in the electrical properties of the sheet due to the printing (the adhesion of the ink) and due to fluctuations in the ambient temperature and humidity of the device.
Moreover, there are cases in which the locus of flying of the ink drop discharged from the nozzle is distorted due to effects of the attracting electrical field, and the printing is poor. In addition, there are cases in which an ink mist or dirt floating about due to the effects of the attracting electrical field adheres to the nozzle surface of the recording head, or to the conveying belt or the conveying drum, or to the sheet.
Further, with Conventional Example 1, there is also the disadvantage that the recording device becomes large.
In Conventional Examples 1 and 3, a belt is provided at a position facing the recording head (the nozzle surface) in order to convey the sheet (i.e., in order to ensure the position of the sheet). Therefore, the maintenance device cannot be disposed at that position, and a drawback arises in that a complex mechanism is needed in order to move both the recording head and the maintenance device.
Because maintenance is carried out by moving the recording head, dummy jetting cannot be carried out during continuous printing. The drawback arises that, at the time of dummy jetting, printing must be interrupted, and the produceability deteriorates.
A pushing device, which pushes (urges) the recording medium when the recording medium is conveyed, is generally provided. However, in Conventional Examples 1 through 3, there are cases in which the pushing forces (the urging forces) in the widthwise direction of the recording medium become unbalanced. As a result, problems may arise such as the recording medium moves at an incline such that the image is slanted, and wrinkles in the paper arise such that paper jamming occurs.
Moreover, in Conventional Examples 1 through 3, when the pushing device are structured so as to always abut conveying rollers, the pushing forces applied by the pushing device are about 5 to 30 [gf] each, and are therefore sufficiently small. However, the conveying roller, whose both end portions are held by bearings or the like, is usually a both-end supported beam structure. Therefore, in such a structure, flexure, although slight, arises due to the total pushing force of the pushing device. In order to reduce such flexure, it suffices to make the members thick and sturdy. However, this leads to the device becoming larger and more expensive. In addition, when dealing with a wider recording medium by increasing the number of urging members of the pushing device in order to more reliably transmit driving force from the conveying rollers to the recording medium, the flexure increases even more, which is a cause of an imbalance in the conveying. Therefore, the balance of the urging forces in the widthwise direction of the recording medium must be ensured by taking into consideration the way of urging of the pushing forces of the pushing device (i.e., the urging positions) and the flexure of the conveying roller. This leads to the device becoming more complex and expensive.
The designing of the conveying device is carried out by using the maximum width of recording media as a reference. Generally, it is possible to handle recording media of smaller sizes than that. When printing onto a recording medium of the maximum size, a balance of urging forces in the widthwise direction of the recording medium can be obtained. However, when a smaller-sized recording medium is conveyed by being aligned at an end portion (side registration), even if the pushing device were to be provided so as to have left-right symmetry, the recording medium would be conveyed in an unbalanced state with respect to the flexure of the conveying roller, and there would be the concern that slanted conveying and wrinkling of the sheet would arise.
In a case in which the recording medium is conveyed by the driving forces of conveying rollers being transmitted to the recording medium by the recording medium being pushed against the conveying rollers by pushing device, the recording medium which is positioned within the printing region is simultaneously nipped by plural pushing device and conveying rollers. Accordingly, even if the pushed state or the nipped state changes as the recording medium moves, the recording medium is nipped in a uniform state on average, and the moving speed is stable. However, when printing at the upstream-most recording head array starts, the majority of the recording medium is not being nipped, and as the recording medium moves, the entire recording medium is gradually nipped. The same situation arises also when the downstream-most recording head array finishes printing. These differences in the states of the recording medium (the pushing and the nipping of the recording medium) cause fluctuations in the moving speed of the recording medium, and are a deterrent to achieving good image quality.


A composite film includes a first film and a second film contiguous to the first film. The first film includes a light transmissive material. In one embodiment, the second film includes a polydiorganosiloxane polyamide block copolymer. In another embodiment, the second film includes a polydiorganosiloxane polyoxamide block copolymer.

Although films can have favorable optical and physical properties, one limitation of some films is that they can incur damage to their surfaces, such as scratching, denting and particle contamination, during manufacturing, handling, transport and use. Such defects, especially in films such as optical films, can render the films unusable or can necessitate their use only in combination with additional diffusers in order to hide the defects from the viewer. Protecting films from incurring damage and eliminating, reducing or hiding defects on optical films is particularly important in displays that are typically viewed at close distance for extended periods of time.

Films including thermoplastic silicone block copolymers