A method, system, and apparatus for managing release of air interface traffic channels are described. When a radio access network (RAN) is deciding whether to release traffic channels assigned to one or more of a plurality of mobile stations, the RAN may prioritize the release of the assigned air interface traffic channels based on reported air interface conditions. For instance, when the RAN is deciding whether to release a traffic channel from a first mobile station or a second mobile station, the RAN may determine to release the assigned traffic channel from the first mobile station if the first mobile station is experiencing worse air interface conditions.

It is increasingly common for people to use client-side devices to communicate via a radio access network (RAN) with other devices, whether those devices are directly connected to the same RAN or to another network (such as another RAN or a transport network, as examples) to which that RAN directly or indirectly provides access. In a typical arrangement, a base station of a RAN may radiate to define a wireless coverage in which mobile stations (such as cell phones, tablet computers, tracking devices, embedded wireless modules, and other wirelessly equipped communication devices) can operate. In turn, each base station is typically coupled with one or more transport networks, such as the public switched telephone network (PSTN) and/or the Internet for instance. With this arrangement, a mobile station operating within a coverage area of a base station can engage in air interface communication with the base station and can thereby communicate via the base station with various remote network entities or with other mobile stations.
In practice, communications over the air interface between a base station and a mobile station are structured in accordance with a particular air interface protocol or "radio access technology," with communications from the base stations to mobile stations defining a "forward link" (or downlink) and communications from the mobile stations to the base station defining a "reverse link" (or uplink). Numerous such protocols are well known in the art, and others may be developed in the future. Examples of existing protocols include CDMA (e.g., 1×RTT, 1×EV-DO), LTE, WiMAX, iDEN, TDMA, AMPS, GSM, GPRS, UMTS, EDGE, microwave, satellite, MMDS, Wi-Fi (e.g., IEEE 802.11), and Bluetooth. Each protocol may define its own procedures for initiation of calls, handoff between coverage areas, and functions related to air interface communication.
Within the context of a RAN, the term "base station" is sometimes used to describe simply a device known as a base transceiver station (BTS), which contains the hardware, antennas, and so forth that actually conduct the over-the-air portion of the communication with the mobile station on behalf of the RAN. At times, however, the term "base station" is used to refer to a combination of (i) one or more BTSs and (ii) a device known as a base station controller (BSC) (or radio network controller (RNC)), which controls the BTS(s) and connects it (them) to the rest of the network. Further, a base station may encompass functions of one or more other RAN entities as well.
In a typical scenario, a mobile station registers with a RAN via a particular BTS, and then operates in what is known as "idle mode" on a carrier frequency in a coverage area provided by that BTS. If another telephone, computer, or other communication device attempts to contact the mobile station, the RAN will typically send the mobile station a page message via at least that particular BTS. The mobile station may respond by requesting and establishing communication on what is known as an air interface traffic channel (or simply a traffic channel), and proceed to conduct the relevant communication. In other instances, the mobile station may itself originate a communication, in which case the mobile station sends the RAN an access-request message in order to request and establish communication on a traffic channel to conduct the relevant communication. In either scenario, after the RAN has established a radio link and allocated a traffic channel for use by the mobile station, the mobile station is said to be operating in what is known as an "active mode" or "connected mode".
In some instances, once no substantive communication has taken place between the RAN and the mobile station for a certain amount of time, the RAN will typically reclaim the radio resources (including the traffic channel) that it had allocated to that mobile station, in order to make such resources available for other mobile stations in the coverage area. This transition of the mobile station from (i) having radio resources allocated to it to (ii) not having radio resources allocated to it is often referred to as the mobile station transitioning from active to "dormant". In some cases, a mobile station may be defined as being dormant if the radio link has been released but a data link layer connection still exists. In such cases, a dormant mobile station may transition back to an active mode by acquiring a radio link and beginning to use the existing data link layer connection. In one example, the amount of time allowed by the RAN to elapse between the last use of the traffic channel and the reclaiming of the traffic channel may be determined based on a value that is specified for a system parameter known as a dormancy timer (or active-to-dormant timer).

Enhanced forced dormancy based on air interface conditions


A tape drive and cartridge are provided herein. The tape drive and cartridge include an improved buckle which securely couples a take-up leader of the tape drive to a cartridge leader of the cartridge. As provided herein, the buckle includes a first buckle component and a second buckle component which securely retain the take-up leader to the cartridge leader. More specifically, the first buckle component includes a buckle bar and the second buckle component includes a pair of spaced apart receivers which engage the buckle bar to securely retain the take-up leader to the cartridge leader. Importantly, the unique buckle provided herein inhibits leader runaway and has improved durability.

Tape drives are widely used for storing information in digital form. These tape drives commonly use a storage tape having a thin film of magnetic material which receives the information. Typically, the storage tape is moved between a pair of spaced apart reels, past a data transducer to record or read back information from the storage tape.
In one type of tape drive system, one of the reels is part of the tape drive while the other reel is part of a removable cartridge. For this type of tape drive system, the reel which is a part of the tape drive is commonly referred to as a take-up reel, while the reel which is a part of the cartridge is commonly referred to as a cartridge reel. With this system, upon insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive, it is necessary to couple the storage tape on the cartridge reel to the take-up reel of the tape drive. Subsequently, the storage tape must be uncoupled from the take-up reel, prior to removing the cartridge from the tape drive system.
Typically, a cartridge leader on the storage tape is automatically coupled to a take-up leader which is connected to the take-up reel during insertion of the cartridge into the tape drive. The procedure of connecting the take-up leader with the cartridge leader is commonly referred to as "buckling" or "coupling". Subsequently, during ejection of the cartridge, the cartridge leader is unbuckled from the take-up leader.
FIG. 1A illustrates a prior art cartridge leader 100 uncoupled from a prior art take-up leader 102. FIG. 1B illustrates the prior art cartridge leader 100 coupled to the prior art take-up leader 102. In this prior art embodiment, the cartridge leader 100 includes a hoop 104 and a notch 106, while the take-up leader 102 includes a mushroom shaped tab 108 having a nose 110 and a neck 112. The hoop 104 is dimensioned to enable the nose 110 and neck 112 of the take-up leader 102 to pass therethrough. The notch 106 is dimensioned to receive the neck 112, but prevent the nose 110 from passing therethrough. Commonly assigned U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,662,049 and 4,720,913 provide a detailed discussion of this type of tape buckling arrangements. The contents of U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,662,049 and 4,720,913 are incorporated herein by reference.
Unfortunately, this type of tape buckling arrangement is not completely satisfactory. Under certain circumstances, the take-up leader 102 can become unbuckled from the cartridge leader 100 before the cartridge leader 100 has been pulled onto the take-up reel. This is commonly referred to as "leader runaway". During leader runaway, the take-up leader 102 can retract onto the take-up reel and the cartridge leader 100 can retract into the cartridge.
One cause of leader runaway is a loss of tension in leaders 100, 102 before the cartridge leader 100 is pulled onto the take-up reel. During a loss of tension, the nose 110 can slip up into the hoop 104 and become disengaged from the notch 106. Another cause of leader runaway is excessive use of the tape drive. More specifically, the prior art leaders 100, 102 are each made of plastic. After excessive use, edges 114 of the nose 110 of the tab 108 begin to weaken. During usage, the weakened plastic edges 114 of the tab 108 can deflect and allow the tab 108 to pass through the notch 106.
When leader runaway occurs, the tape drive must be returned to the manufacturer for repairs and the customer does not have access to the information on the storage tape while the tape drive is being repaired. Accordingly, there is a need for an easy and accurate way to reliably couple and de-couple the storage tape to the take-up reel of tape drive.
In light of the above, it is an object of the present invention to provide a buckle for a tape drive and cartridge which securely retains the cartridge leader to the take-up leader. Another object of the present invention is to provide a buckle which resists unbuckling during a loss of tension in the leaders. Yet another object of the present invention is to provide a tape drive which is compatible with other prior art cartridges. Still another object of the present invention is to provide a buckle having improved durability, which is relatively easy and cost efficient to manufacture and utilize.

Positive engagement buckle for a tape drive and cartridge


A RAID storage system includes an outer stripe size that is an integer multiple J of a product of an inner stripe size and a number of data disks in a RAID disk set, where J is greater than one (1).

The layout of information on RAID storage media may affect the performance of systems utilizing the RAID storage. "RAID 4" layout schemes involve striping of data blocks over multiple disks of a disk set, with a dedicated parity disk in each set. RAID 0 follows a similar layout, but without a parity disk. Multiple disk sets may be combined into a logical storage "volume". A "4+1" RAID set has four disks for storing data, and one parity disk. A "5+1" RAID set has five data disks and one parity disk, and so on. Two "4+1" sets may be combined into a RAID volume comprising eight (8) data disks and two parity disks, and so on.
It may be desirable to balance I/O requests across the disks of a RAID disk set and/or volume. Thus it may be desirable to adjust the data layout so that the most common I/O requests result in utilization of most or all of the disks in a set or volume. For example, if in a "4+1" RAID system most read I/O requests are for 1 MB of data at a time, it may be desirable to set the block size (also known as the inner stripe size) of the layout to 256 KB, so that each 1 MB I/O request involves accessing each of the four disks for 256 KB.
Larger inner stripe sizes tend to be more efficient, as each disk may be accessed for a large number of bytes at a time. However, increasing the inner stripe size tends to increase the buffering requirements of applications that use the RAID, because to keep the I/O balanced over all disks of a RAID set requires that the size of I/O requests be the multiple of the inner stripe size and the number of data disks in the set. This requirement exists in order to maintain system performance in the face of a failed disk of a disk set; otherwise balancing the I/O over the disk set may not be a requirement.
Thus, increasing the inner stripe size from 256 KB to 512 KB in a "4+1" RAID system means that I/O requests must be increased by a full megabyte, from 1 MB to 2 MB. When a large number of applications are utilizing the RAID at once, the result may be substantial buffer requirements that tax the memory capability of the system.


Image capture systems and methods are described. In one aspect, an image capture system includes an image sensor, an image frame generator, and an image region selector. The image sensor is operable to generate raw image data from a viewed scene. The image frame generator is operable to generate image frames from the raw image data. The image region selector is operable to cause a user-selected portion of an image frame to be captured as a still image in response to user input.

Image capture systems may capture images in an analog format (e.g., 35 millimeter SLR cameras) or a digital format (e.g., digital still cameras, digital video cameras, and hybrid digital video cameras). Digital still cameras are operable to capture high-resolution still photographs. Digital video cameras are operable to capture video clips (or image frame sequences). Hybrid digital video cameras (or multimedia recorders) are operable to capture both high-resolution still images and video frame sequences. Each of the digital still cameras, digital video cameras, and hybrid digital video cameras typically includes a display screen. In a capture mode of operation, a user may view images of an object or a scene in the display screen before and during image capture. In a playback mode of operation, a user may review previously captured still images and video clips in the screen.
Still images that are captured by known hybrid digital video cameras may be cropped in one of two ways: on-line or off-line. Still images may be cropped on-line by focusing the hybrid digital video camera so that a particular object or scene is properly positioned and framed in a viewfinder or on the display screen. Still images may be cropped off-line by transferring the still image data to a special purpose image editing device or to a general purpose computer running an image editing software application program.

Still image capturing of user-selected portions of image frames

Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.


A system for quilting fabric materials includes a quilter unit having a reciprocating needle bar with a series of needles spaced therealong and carrying a series of threads for forming quilted patterns in fabric materials passing below the needles. The quilted fabric materials then can be collected on a supply roll or fed to a panel cutter downstream from the quilter unit. The panel cutter can include a panel cutting blade for cutting the quilted material in different panel lengths or sizes, as well as a series of slitting blades that can be moved into engagement with the quilted material for forming strips of the quilted material in desired widths.

Many mattresses today include borders, top and bottom panels, and other components that are formed with quilted patterns along their surfaces. The quilting of such patterns generally is designed to provide a decorative, aesthetically pleasing appearance to the panels, borders, and other components, as well as to attach together the different layers or plies of materials for the panels. For example, the panels can include top and bottom fabric pieces or layers, with a cushion material, such as foam or other soft, pliable materials sandwiched therebetween, and a backing. As the decorative pattern is stitched or sewn into the panels, the multiple layers or plies of materials are also attached together. The quilted materials then can be fed from the quilting machine in a substantially continuous length into a panel cutting station. The panel cutter can be connected to and operated in conjunction with the quilting machine to cut the quilted materials being fed from the quilting machine into panels of desired lengths, or in some cases, can be used to slit or cut elongated sections or lengths of the quilted materials that can be used to form borders or other mattress components.
The operation of the quilting machines is, however, typically limited by factors such as the thicknesses of the materials being quilted, the patterns being formed, as well as by the mechanical linkage typically utilized between the presser foot and needle bar drive shaft for reciprocating the presser foot and needle bar drive shafts in a directly timed relationship. For example, the presser foot must be raised as the needles are moving out of engagement with the fabric, but after the loopers have caught/picked the loops of thread from the needles, to enable further movement of the fabric, and thus its movement is often tied to the stroke of the needle. The movement of the presser foot must also be of a sufficient stroke and begun/ended at a time to allow materials of varying thicknesses to pass thereunder without binding or bunching. The operation of the quilter also can be limited by the speed at which a panel cutter connected to the quilting machine can be operated. Thus, it may be necessary to substantially slow the operation of the quilting machine, and at times stop the quilting machine, in order to enable the panel cutter sufficient time to cut the panels at the desired length.
In addition, while adjustments are being made to the cutting or slitting blades of the panel cutter, operation of the panel cutter and, if connected in series therewith, the quilting machine generally must be halted. Changing or adjusting the position of the slitting blades of the panel cutter can, however, be a substantially time consuming operation, as the blades typically must be uncoupled from the blade drive shaft along which they are mounted and thereafter shifted with respect to each other to cut the quilted material at the desired spacings, after which the slitting blades must be re-secured to their drive shaft. This adjustment procedure can be a time consuming and somewhat dangerous operation as it typically requires the operator to physically handle and move the slitting blades, which can cut or otherwise injure the operator.
Still further, for sewing various thicknesses of quilted materials, such as when using a thicker foam pad or cushion, it can be necessary to adjust the position of the presser foot of the quilting machine for sewing the different thicknesses of materials. These adjustments typically can require the use of complex electronic position controls or manual adjustment of the individual cams between the presser foot drive shaft and needle bar rocker shaft. Other problems that can limit the operation of such quilting and panel cutting systems include bunching or jamming of the materials being quilted under the presser foot, or one or more layers of the material running out.
Accordingly, it can be seen that a need exists for an improved quilting machine that addresses the foregoing and other related and unrelated problems in the art.


A MOS-gated power device includes a plurality of elementary functional units, each elementary functional unit including a body region of a first conductivity type formed in a semiconductor material layer of a second conductivity type having a first resistivity value. Under each body region a respective lightly doped region of the second conductivity type is provided having a second resistivity value higher than the first resistivity value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a MOS-gated power device with low output resistance and low capacitance, and to a related manufacturing process. MOS-gated power devices include, for example, power MOSFETS, IGBTs, MOS-gated thyristors or other MOS-gated power devices.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
A primary goal of the designers of MOS-gated power devices is to reduce, as far as possible, the output resistance (or "on" resistance) and the various capacitances associated with the power device structure.
These parameters can be reduced by increasing the integration density of the elementary functional units (polygonal cells or stripes), which constitute a MOS-gated power device, by exploiting photolitographic techniques and manufacturing processes more and more similar to those used in Very Large Scale of Integration (VLSI) technologies.
However, the physical structure of the MOS-gated power devices limits the degree to which the integration density can be increased. These limits can be better understood considering the distinct components of the on resistance of a MOS-gated power device, which are: the channel resistance Rc, which is the component associated with the channel region of the MOS-gated power device; the accumulation region resistance Racc, which is the component associated with the surface region of those portions of the common drain layer (i.e. the lightly doped epitaxial layer wherein the elementary functional units are formed) disposed between the body regions of the elementary functional units; the JFET resistance Rjfet, which is the component associated with those portions of the common drain layer disposed between the depletion regions of the body regions of the elementary functional units; and the epitaxial layer resistance Repi, which is the component associated with those portions of the common drain layer beneath the body regions of the elementary functional units.
The channel resistance Rc and the accumulation region resistance Racc (both associated with regions near the surface of the common drain layer) can be reduced by scaling down the dimensions of the elementary functional units and by employing photolithographic machines with better optical resolution. Differently, the JFET resistance Rjfet and the epitaxial layer resistance Repi can be reduced only modifying the physical structure of the MOS-gated power devices. In fact, reducing the distance between the elementary functional units (cells or stripes), causes the Rjfet component to significantly increase, the increase being more pronounced the higher the resistivity of the common drain layer.
This means that in order to prevent the on resistance from significantly increasing, the minimum distance to which the elementary functional units of the MOS-gated power device must be kept increases with the increase of the resistivity of the common drain layer. By way of example, in devices designed to operated in a voltage range of approximately 60 V, the distance between the elementary functional units can be between 4 .mu.m and 10 .mu.m, while in the case of devices designed to operate in higher voltages of about 500 V, wherein the common drain layer is resistive, the distance is between 15 .mu.m and 20 .mu.m.
Therefore, if in the attempt to increase the integration density it is desired to reduce the distance between the elementary functional units (cells or stripes), so that the gate-drain (or feedback) capacitance can be reduced, without however increasing the output resistance of the MOS-gated power device, it is necessary to increase the doping concentration of the common drain layer. This however reduces the breakdown voltage of the MOS-gated power device.
One known technique to overcome this drawback is described in the U.S. Pat. No. 4376286: the doping concentration in the portions of the common drain layer between the elementary functional units is increased by means of an implant of N type dopants, without affecting the doping concentration of the common drain layer beneath the body regions of the elementary functional units. In this way, it is possible to reduce the distance between the elementary functional units (and consequently reducing the feedback capacitance of the MOS-gated power device), without increasing the Rjfet component of the on resistance.
One of the limitations of this technique is that only the JFET component of the on resistance can be reduced, but not the epitaxial layer resistance Repi. Furthermore, an additional mask may be required in the manufacturing process, to prevent the N type dopants from being implanted at the edge of the power MOS device chip.
In view of the state of the art described, it is an object of the present invention to provide a MOS-gated power device with a low output resistance and low capacitance, without negatively affecting the breakdown voltage.

MOS technology power device with low output resistance and low capacitance, and related manufacturing process

Consorzio per la Ricerca sulla Microelettronica nel Mezzogiorno


A beverage identification tile is provided that includes a sheet of material and a plurality of beverage type identifiers. The sheet of material has a first face and a second face which have a polygonal shape defined by a plurality of edges. A different beverage type identifier of the plurality of beverage type identifiers is printed along each edge of the plurality of edges of the first face and of the second face. A shelf labeling system includes a shelf, a plurality of slots, and the beverage identification tile. The shelf includes a front wall, a back wall, and a base mounted between the front wall and the back wall. The sheet of material is sized to slide into a slot of the plurality of slots formed in the front wall along an edge of the front wall with a beverage type identifier visible above the edge.

Alcoholic beverage storage devices such as wine closets are typically designed to store wine with the bottles on their sides at an approximately horizontal angle to prevent drying of the cork or stopper. As a result, either the cork end or the bottom end of the bottle is positioned along the outside face of the wine closet that is readily visible by a consumer. To determine which type of beverage a bottle holds, the consumer typically withdraws the shelf that holds the bottle and/or lifts the bottle up to read the label. In many cases, the wine closet is refrigerated. Therefore, opening the wine closet to read the bottle label is necessary, which causes a loss of refrigerated air wasting electricity as well as the time and energy of the consumer.


The present disclosure involves systems, software, and computer implemented methods for identifying an account and destination for a communication based on a dialed number and origination number associated with the communication. One computer-implemented method includes identifying a first communication associated with an origination address and an access method; determining whether the first communication is associated with a destination address record in response to identifying the first communication; initiating the second communication to the destination address included in the destination address record in response to determining that the first communication is associated with the destination address record; determining whether a call recipient at the destination address accepts the second communication; and charging the account included in the destination address record for charges associated with the first communication and the second communication in response to determining that the call recipient at the destination address accepts the second communication.

Telecommunications services allow subscribers to place calls to destinations all around the world. Generally, these calls are placed by subscribers holding accounts with the particular telecommunications service. For example, a subscriber may dial an access number, and be prompted to enter their account number and a destination number to call.

Identifying an account and destination for a communication based on dialed number and origination number


The invention provides an injection molding machine injection unit that eliminates adverse effects on the load cell of belt tension due to belt drive. A load cell that detects resin pressure is mounted on a pusher plate and a rotation-transmitting member, on which an injection screw is fixedly mounted, is axially supported by an inner annular part of the load cell. The shaft of a pulley is axially supported on the pusher plate and coupled by splines to the rotation-transmitting member. A screw rotation motor is mounted on motor mounts of a housing mounted on the rear surface of the pusher plate. Tension on a belt run between the pulley and a pulley mounted on the motor output shaft concentrates a force at the base of the motor mounts. However, the housing is separate from the pusher plate and fixedly mounted on the pusher plate at a location other than that occupied by the base of the motor mounts. Therefore, the belt tension does not adversely affect the load cell, thus enabling high-accuracy resin pressure detection.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an injection molding machine, and more particularly, to an injection unit of an injection molding machine provided with a load detection unit for detecting resin pressure on the injection screw.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an injection unit of an injection molding machine, a screw-type injection unit (that is, a screw-in-line-type injection unit) melts and kneads resin inside a heating cylinder by rotating an injection screw, and further, retracts the injection screw while applying pressure on the resin with the injection screw and measures the melted resin at that retracted position. Thereafter, the injection unit injects melted resin into a mold by advancing the screw.
As a result, it is necessary that the injection unit be provided with a mechanism that rotates the injection screw and a mechanism for driving the injection screw in an axial direction and injecting the resin.
An injection mechanism is known that comprises an injection unit by providing a pusher plate to which is fitted an injection screw so as to be freely rotatable but axially unmovable, providing on such pusher plate a pulley that rotates the injection screw and a screw rotation motor that drives the pulley by a belt, and further, providing thrust force drive means for injecting the resin with the injection screw by driving such pusher plate in the injection screw axial direction, and further, has a load detection unit such as a load cell for detecting the pressure on the injection screw (for example, JP 2-16023A and JP 9-174628A).
A load detection unit such as a load cell detects the resin pressure inside the heating cylinder, and the resin pressure detected by the load detection unit is used in back pressure control during a measuring step. In addition, in injection and pressure holding steps, the detected resin pressure is used in injection pressure feedback control, pressure holding feedback control and the like. Hence, it is desirable that the resin pressure be detected with greater accuracy.
As the means for rotating the screw, in that which uses a pulley-and-belt transmission mechanism, the belt is run between a drive pulley provided on the motor and a driven pulley provided on the injection screw side. This belt exerts a force in a radial direction on the pulley provided on the injection screw side, creating moment on the shaft on which the pulley is mounted, causing the force of friction of the injection mechanism unit to fluctuate and affecting the resin pressure detected by the load cell. Inventions that prevent these things from happening are also known (for example, JP 2000-117789A and JP 2000-334789A).
In an injection unit in which, as the means for rotating the injection screw mounted so as to be freely rotatable and axially unmovable on the pusher plate, the screw rotation motor is mounted on the pusher plate and a belt such as a timing belt is run between the drive pulley mounted on the output shaft of the motor and the driven pulley mounted on the injection screw side for driving the injection screw, and such belt transmission mechanism is used to rotate the injection screw, the force exerted by the belt on the drive pulley in the radial direction of the drive pulley also acts on the pusher plate through the motor that is mounted on the pusher plate, adversely affecting resin pressure detection of the load cell or other such load detection unit provided on that pusher plate.

Injection unit of injection molding machine


The present disclosure provides acyltransferases useful for synthesizing therapeutically important statin compound.

Simvastatin is a semi-synthetic analog of the natural fungal polyketide lovastatin which can be isolated from the fermentation broth of Aspergillus terreus. Simvastatin and lovastatin are both marketed by Merck Co. as cholesterol-lowering drugs that reduce the risk of heart disease: simvastatin as ZOCOR® and lovastatin as MEVACOR®.
Lovastatin (illustrated in FIG. 1) is a potent inhibitor of hydroxymethylglutaryl coenzyme A reductase, the rate-limiting enzyme in the cholesterol biosynthetic pathway (Xie et al., 2006, Chemistry & Biology 13:1161-1169). The analog simvastatin (also illustrated in FIG. 1) is more effective in treating hypercholesterolemia (Manzoni & Rollini, 2002, Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 58:555-564; Istan & Diesenhofer, 2001, Science 292:1160-1164). Substitution of the α-methylbutyrate side chain of lovastatin with the α-dimethylbutyrate side chain found in simvastatin significantly increases its inhibitory properties while lowering undesirable side effects (Klotz, Ulrich, 2003, Arzneimittel-Forschung 53: 605-611).
Because of the clinical importance of simvastatin, various multi-step syntheses starting from lovastatin have been described (see, e.g., WO 2005/066150; US Application No. 2005/0080275; US Application No. 2004/0068123; U.S. Pat. No. 6,833,461; WO 2005/040107; Hoffman et al., 1986, J. Med. Chem. 29:849-852; Schimmel et al., 1997, Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 63:1307-1311).
The gene cluster for lovastatin biosynthesis has been previously described (see, e.g., U.S. Pat. No. 6,391,583; Kennedy et al., 1999, Science 284:1368-1372; Hutchinson et al., 2000, Antonie Van Leeuwenhoek 78:287-295). Encoded in this gene cluster is the 46 kD enzyme LovD, which catalyzes the last step of lovastatin biosynthesis.
Briefly, the decalin core and HMG-CoA moieties that mimic portions of the lovastatin compound are synthesized in vivo by lovastatin nonaketide synthase (LNKS) and three accessory enzymes. The 2-methylbutyrate side chain of lovastatin is synthesized in vivo by lovastatin diketide synthase (LDKS) and covalently attached to the acyl carrier domain of LovF via a thioester linkage. LovD, an acyltransferase, is then able to selectively transfer the 2-methylbutyrate group from LDKS to the C8 hydroxyl group of monacolin J in a single step to yield lovastatin (Xie et al., 2006, Chemistry & Biology 13:1161-1169).
It has recently been discovered that the LovD acyltransferase has broad substrate specificity towards the acyl carrier, the acyl substrate and the decalin acyl acceptor (Xie et al., 2006, Chem. Biol. 13:1161-1169). For example, LovD can efficiently catalyze acyl transfer from CoA thioesters or N-acetylcysteamine ("SNAC") thioesters to monacolin J (id.). Significantly, when α-dimethylbutyryl-SNAC was used as the acyl donor, LovD was able to convert monacolin J and 6-hydroxy-6-desmethyl monacolin J into simvastatin and huvastatin, respectively (id.). Using an E. coli strain engineered to overexpress LovD as a whole-cell biocatalyst, preparative quantities of simvastatin were synthesized in a single fermentation step (id.).
The above studies demonstrate that LovD acyltransferase is an attractive enzyme for the biosynthesis of pharmaceutically important cholesterol-lowering drugs such as simvastatin. However, in subsequent experiments carried out with isolated LovD enzyme, stability and reaction rate proved problematic (Xie & Tang, 2007 Appl. Environ. Microbiol. 73:2054-2060). Specifically, it was found that LovD precipitates readily (hours) at high protein concentrations (˜100 μM) and slowly (days) at lower concentrations (˜10 μM) (id.). In addition, it was found that the very desired product, simvastatin, competes for the LovD enzyme, significantly impeding the overall net rate of acylation (id.).
The LovD enzyme is also highly prone to mis-folding and aggregates when over-expressed in E. coli, making even whole-cell biocatalysis systems less than ideal for commercial production (Xie et al., 2009, Biotech. Bio Eng. 102:20-28).
In an effort to increase LovD solubility without loss of catalytic activity, mutants of wild-type A. terreus LovD have been studied. Replacing the cysteine residues at positions 40 and 60 (Cys40 and Cys60) with alanine residues yielded improvements in both enzyme solubility and whole-cell biocatalytic activity (id.). Further mutagenesis experiments converting these two residues to small or polar amino acids showed that Cys40→Ala ("C40A") and Cys60→Asn ("C60N") mutations are the most beneficial, yielding 27% and 26% increases, respectively, in whole-cell biocatalytic activity (id.). When combined, these mutations proved additive, with the C40A/C60N double mutant exhibiting approximately 50% increases in both solubility and whole-cell biocatalytic activity.
Despite their improved properties, these LovD mutants are unsuitable for large scale production of simvastatin in cell-free systems. Additional variants or mutants of wild-type A. terreus LovD enzymes that exhibit improved properties as compared to the wild-type and/or known mutants would be desirable.

Variant LovD polypeptides and their uses


Apparatus configured to operate as a network element within an IMS to provide services to a subscriber. The apparatus comprises a receiver for receiving charging function information for the subscriber provided by a subscriber profile server, the charging function information including an indication of a plurality of IMS network element types that may be used to provide services to the subscriber and, for each of the plurality of IMS network element types, specifying whether an IMS network element of that type should send charging information for the subscriber to an offline charging function and whether an IMS network of that type should send charging information for the subscriber to an online charging function. The apparatus further comprises a processor for determining whether the IMS network element should send charging information for the subscriber to an offline charging function and whether the IMS network should send charging information for the subscriber to an online charging function and a transmitter for sending charging information to any of an offline charging function accordingly.

IP Multimedia services provide a dynamic combination of voice, video, messaging, data, etc. within the same session. By growing the number of basic applications and the media which it is possible to combine, the number of services offered to the end users will grow, and the inter-personal communication experience will be enriched. This will lead to a new generation of personalised, rich multimedia communication services, including so-called "combinational IP Multimedia" services.
The IP Multimedia Subsystem (IMS) is an access independent architectural framework for supporting traditional telephony as well as the new IP multimedia services (3GPP TS 22.228, TS 23.228, TS 24.229, TS 29.228, TS 29.229, TS 29.328 and TS 29.329). IMS provides key features to enrich the end-user person-to-person communication experience through the use of standardised IMS Service Enablers, which facilitate new rich person-to-person (client-to-client) communication services as well as person-to-content (client-to-server) services over IP-based networks. The IMS is able to connect to both PSTN/ISDN (Public Switched Telephone Network/Integrated Services Digital Network) as well as the Internet.
The IMS makes use of the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) to set up and control calls or sessions between user terminals (or terminals and application servers). The Session Description Protocol (SDP), carried by SIP signalling, is used to describe and negotiate the media components of the session. Whilst SIP was created as a user-to-user protocol, IMS allows operators and service providers to control user access to services and to charge users accordingly. The 3GPP has chosen SIP for signalling between a User Equipment (UE) and the IMS as well as between the components within the IMS.
By way of example, FIG. 1 illustrates schematically how the IMS fits into the mobile network architecture in the case of a GPRS/PS access network (IMS can of course operate over other access networks). Call/Session Control Functions (CSCFs) operate as SIP proxies within the IMS. The 3GPP architecture defines three types of CSCFs: the Proxy CSCF (P-CSCF) which is the first point of contact within the IMS for a SIP terminal; the Serving CSCF (S-CSCF) which provides services to the user that the user is subscribed to; and the Interrogating CSCF (I-CSCF) whose role is to identify the correct S-CSCF and to forward to that S-CSCF a request received from a SIP terminal via a P-CSCF.
Within the IMS service network, Application Servers (ASs) are provided for implementing IMS service functionality. Application Servers provide services to end users in an IMS system, and may be connected either as end-points over the 3GPP defined Mr interface, or "linked in" by an S-CSCF over the 3GPP defined ISC interface. In the latter case, Initial Filter Criteria (IFC) are used by an S-CSCF to determine which Applications Servers should be "linked in" during a SIP Session establishment (or indeed for the purpose of any SIP method, session or non-session related). The IFCs are received by the S-CSCF from a Home Subscriber Server (HSS) during the IMS registration procedure as part of a user's Subscriber Profile.
The Home Subscriber Server (HSS) is the main database in the IMS for storage of subscriber profile information and service related data, including user identities, registration information, access parameters and the IFCs used to trigger services. The user identities consist of IP Multimedia Public Identities (IMPU) and IP Multimedia Private Identities (IMPI). The IMPU is the identity that other users can use in order to contact the user, whilst the IMPI is a user identity assigned by the user's network operator and that is used for registration and authorisation in the IMS. In order to participate in multimedia sessions, the user must register at least one IMPU with the network and an IMPI must be authenticated in the IMS at the application level. The private user identity and public user identities are stored in an IMS Services Identity Module (ISIM) application on a UMTS Integrated Circuit Card (UICC) at the user's terminal, and a particular IMPU may be simultaneously registered from multiple UEs that use different IMPIs and different contact addresses. The HSS also contains functionality of a Home Location Register and Authentication Centre (HLR/AUC) to provide support to packet-switched domain entities, such as the Serving GPRS Support Node (SGSN) and Gateway GPRS Support Node (GGSN), and to circuit switched domain entities, such as the Mobile Switching Centres (MSC).
A subscriber registers with the IMS using the specified SIP REGISTER method. This is a mechanism for attaching to the IMS and announcing to the IMS the address ("contact") at which a SIP subscriber identity can be reached. In 3GPP, when a SIP terminal performs a registration, the IMS authenticates the subscriber, and allocates an S-CSCF to that subscriber from the set of available S-CSCFs. Whilst the criteria for allocating S-CSCFs are not specified by 3GPP, these may include load sharing and service requirements. It is noted that the allocation of an S-CSCF is key to controlling (and charging for) subscriber access to IMS-based services. Operators may provide a mechanism for preventing direct subscriber-to-subscriber SIP sessions which would otherwise bypass the S-CSCF.
During the registration process, it is the responsibility of the I-CSCF to select an S-CSCF if an S-CSCF is not already selected. The I-CSCF receives the required S-CSCF capabilities from the home network's HSS, and selects an appropriate S-CSCF based on the received capabilities. [It is noted that S-CSCF allocation is also carried out for a subscriber by the I-CSCF in the case where the subscriber is called by another party, and the subscriber is not currently allocated an S-CSCF.] In the case where multiple HSSs are deployed in a network, a Subscription Locator Function (SLF) is used by the I-CSCF to identify the correct HSS for a subscriber. When a registered subscriber subsequently sends a session request to the IMS, the P-CSCF is able to forward the request to the selected S-CSCF based on information received from the S-CSCF during the registration process.
3GPP TS 32.260 defines the Offline and Online Charging description for the IP Multimedia Subsystem. For both Offline and Online charging, charging information for network resource usage is collected concurrently with that resource usage. In Offline charging this charging information does not affect, in real-time, the service rendered. However, in Online charging, authorization for the network resource usage must be obtained by the network prior to the actual resource usage.
FIG. 2 illustrates schematically the IMS offline charging architecture. In this architecture a Charging Trigger Function (CTF) generates offline charging events based on the observation of network resource usage. All IMS entities handling SIP signalling can be provided with CTF functionality. The CTF is the focal point for collecting the information pertaining to chargeable events within the network element, assembling this information into matching charging events, and sending these charging events towards the Charging Data Function (CDF). The Charging Data Function (CDF) receives charging events from the CTF via the Rf reference point. It then uses the information contained in the charging events to construct Charging Data Records (CDRs). The CDRs produced by the CDF are transferred to the Charging Gateway Function (CGF) via the Ga reference point. The CGF acts as a gateway between the 3GPP network and the Billing Domain (BD), and uses the Bx reference point for the transfer of CDR files to the BD. The BD typically comprises post-processing systems such as the operator's billing system or billing mediation device. The Charging Gateway Function's (CGF) main functionalities are in principle equivalent to those of the Charging Collection Function's (CCF) for IMS.
FIG. 3 illustrates schematically the IMS online charging architecture. In this architecture, when receiving a network resource usage request, a CTF assembles the relevant charging information (which is not necessarily identical to the charging information employed in offline charging) and generates an online charging event that is transferred to the to the Online Charging Function (OCF) within the Online Charging System (OCS) in real-time using the Ro reference point. The OCF then returns an appropriate resource usage authorization based on subscriber account information. This resource usage authorization may be limited in its scope (e.g. volume of data or duration), and may therefore have to be renewed from time to time as long as the subscriber's network resource usage persists. If required by the operator, CDRs may additionally be generated for online charged subscribers. The OCF includes the Session Based Charging Function (SBCF/SCF) and the Event Based Charging Function (EBCF/ECF). The SBCF is responsible for online charging of network/user sessions, e.g. voice calls, IP CAN bearers, IP CAN session or IMS sessions. The EBCF performs event-based online charging (often referred to as "content charging") in conjunction with any application server or service NE, including SIP application servers.
As illustrated in FIG. 3, only an AS, an MRFC or an S-CSCF support online charging. However, with regards to the S-CSCF, the S-CSCF does not trigger any online charging events. A special CTF is therefore needed in order to mediate between the Ro based SBCF and the SIP based service control implemented by the S-CSCF. This role is taken by the IMS Gateway Function (IMS-GWF), which translates between SIP service control towards the S-CSCF and Ro credit control on the OCS side. From the perspective of the online charging architecture, the IMS-GWF is an online charging capable CTF; whilst from the perspective of the S-CSCF the IMS-GWF is a SIP application server and is triggered in the same way. As such, the S-CSCF supports online charging using either the ISC interface (i.e. if the application server addressed over the ISC interface is IMS-GWF), or the Ro interface directly (if the IMS-GWF is integrated within the S-CSCF).
The addresses of the charging functions (i.e. CDF and/or OCS) are retrieved by the S-CSCF from a HSS via the Cx interface (e.g. when a subscriber registers with the IMS). These addresses are included within the Primary-Event-Charging-Function-Name, Secondary-Event-Charging-Function-Name, Primary-Charging-Collection-Function-Name, and Secondary-Charging-Collection-Function-Name AVPs of the Charging-Information AVP. The Charging-Information AVP can be included in the Server-Assignment-Answer (SAA) and Push-Profile-Request (PPR) Diameter messages sent by the HSS.
These charging function addresses are then distributed by the S-CSCF to the rest of the IMS network elements in the home network for one side of the session (either the calling or called side) using SIP signalling, and provide a common location for each entity to send charging information. In SIP, the offline and online charging function addresses are encoded in the P-Charging-Function-Addresses header as defined in RFC 3455. The P-Charging-Function-Addresses header field contains the "CCF" and "ECF" header field parameters. The "CCF" (i.e. Charging Collection Function) parameter includes the address for the CDF, whilst the "ECF" (i.e. Event Charging Function) parameter includes the address for the OCS.
There may be multiple CDF and OCS addresses populated into the P-Charging-Function-Addresses header field of the SIP request or response, although at least one instance of either the "CCF" or "ECF" header field parameters is required. If two "CCF" header field parameters are included, then the secondary "CCF" header field parameter is used by the network for redundancy purposes, and the first instance of "CCF" header field parameter is the primary address. Likewise, if two "ECF" header field parameters are included, then the secondary instance is only used for redundancy.
Those IMS network elements that only apply offline charging via the Rf interface (i.e. P-CSCF, I-CSCF, BGCF, IBCF, and MGCF) will use the CDF address as received via SIP signalling. Those IMS network elements that can apply offline charging and online charging (i.e. the S-CSCF, AS and the MRFC) are able to distinguish whether to apply offline or online charging, or whether to use both, based on the charging function address information they receive in the SIP signalling. If any of the S-CSCF, AS and MRFC only receive the CDF address, and do not receive an OCS address, then they use only the Rf interface. If only the OCS address is provided then they use only the Ro interface. In cases where both CDF and OCS addresses are provided it is possible to use both interfaces simultaneously. In addition, operators can configure the IMS network elements to overrule the addresses received via the SIP signalling, and use a locally configured OCS and/or CDF address. The choice of whether the IMS network elements use locally configured addresses or the addresses received by SIP signalling is left for operator configuration.

Method and apparatus for use in a communications network


The invention relates to a composition comprising a polymer, a short and a long fiber composite that can be used in the form of a linear extrudate or thermoplastic pellet to manufacture structural members. The linear extrudate or pellet can have a cross-section of any arbitrary shape, or can be a regular geometric. The polymer and short/long fiber composite containing structural members can be manufactured from the composite or pellet in an extrusion process or an injection molding process. The pellet can have a cross-section shape having a volume of at least about 12 mm.sup.3. Preferably the pellet is a right cylindrical pellet having a minimum radius of about 1.5 mm and a minimum length of 1 mm weighing at least 14 mg. The initial mixing step before extrusion of the composite material insures substantial mixing and melt contact between molten polymer and wood fiber. The extruded pellet comprises a consistent proportion of polymer, short and long fiber and water. During the extrusion, water is removed intentionally to dry the material to a maximum water content of less than about 10 wt-% based on the pellet weight. To make a structural unit, the pellet is introduced into an extruder or injection molding apparatus wherein, under conditions of temperature and pressure, the composite pellet material is shaped into a useful cross-section.

Conventional window and door manufacture has commonly used wood and metal components in forming structural members. Commonly, residential windows are manufactured from milled wood products that are assembled with glass to form typically double hung or casement units. Wood windows while structurally sound, useful and well adapted for use in many residential installations, can deteriorate under certain circumstances. Wood windows also require painting and other periodic maintenance. Wooden windows also suffer from cost problems related to the availability of suitable wood for construction. Clear wood products are slowly becoming more scarce and are becoming more expensive as demand increases. Metal components are often combined with glass and formed into single unit sliding windows. Metal windows typically suffer from substantial energy loss during winter months.
Extruded thermoplastic materials have been used in window and door manufacture. Filled and unfilled thermoplastics have been extruded into useful seals, trim, weatherstripping, coatings and other window construction components. Thermoplastic materials such as polyvinyl chloride have been combined with wood members in manufacturing PERMASHIELD.RTM. brand windows manufactured by Andersen Corporation for many years. The technology disclosed in Zanini, U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,926,729 and 3,432,883, have been utilized in the manufacturing of plastic coatings or envelopes on wooden or other structural members. Generally, the cladding or coating technology used in making PERMASHIELD.RTM. windows involves extruding a thin polyvinyl chloride coating or envelope surrounding a wooden structural member. Recent advances have made a polyvinyl chloride/cellulosic fiber composite material useful in the manufacture of structural members for windows and doors. Puppin et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,406,768 comprise a continuous phase of polyvinyl chloride and a particular wood fiber material having preferred fiber size and aspect ratio in a thermoplastic material that provides engineering properties for structural members and for applications in window and door manufacture. These thermoplastic composite materials have become an important part of commercial manufacture of window and door components. While these materials are sufficiently strong for most structural components used in window and door manufacture, certain components require added stiffness, tensile strength, elongation at break or other engineering property not always provided by the materials disclosed in Puppin et al.
Polyvinyl chloride has been combined with wood fiber to make extruded materials. However, such materials have not successfully been used in the form of a structural member that is a direct replacement for wood. Common thermoplastic composite materials cannot provide similar thermal and structural properties to wood. These extruded materials fail to have sufficient modulus, compressive strength, coefficient of thermal expansion that matches wood to produce a direct replacement material. Further, many prior art extruded composites must be milled after extrusion to a final useful shape. Typical commodity thermoplastic compositions have achieved a modulus no greater than about 500,000. One class of composite, a polyvinyl chloride/wood flour material, poses the added problem that wood dust, which can accumulate during manufacture, tends to be explosive at certain concentrations of wood flour in the air. Most commonly, poly vinyl chloride, polystyrene and polyethylene thermoplastics have been used in such products. The prior art has used a various fiber having a large distribution of fiber sizes. No attention has been given to the improvement of engineering properties using a novel distribution of fiber sizes.
Accordingly, a substantial need exists for a composite material that can be made of polymer and fiber. The improved fiber can contain an optional, intentional recycle of a waste stream. A further need exists for a composite material that can be extruded into a shape that is a direct substitute for the equivalent milled shape in a wooden or metal structural member. This need requires a coefficient of thermal expansion that approximates wood, a material that can be extruded into reproducible stable dimensions, a high compressive strength, a low thermal transmission rate, an improved resistance to insect attack and rot while in use and a hardness and rigidity that permits sawing, milling, and fastening retention comparable to wood members.

Polymer fiber composite with mechanical properties enhanced by particle size distribution


An illumination device and display device using it display motion pictures without a blur and make a light utilizing efficiency of a backlight improved. An illumination device having a light pipe of a substantially parallel flat-form sheet, whose one surface is an outgoing light surface and a light source unit is placed at one side and both side edges, is equipped with a light axis of lights after having entered the light pipe from the light source unit being unparallel to the outgoing light surface of the light pipe, and a reflection body unit consisting of plural unit reflection bodies divided into m in a vertical direction of the light source unit at an opposite side surface of the outgoing light surface of the light pipe, wherein the reflection body unit can contact and separate from the opposite side surface the outgoing light surface of the light pipe for every unit reflection bodies.

A conventional display device to display such as an image is described below. Until now, as the kind of display device, CRT (Cathode Ray Tube) was a main stream, however these years a liquid crystal display using an active matrix type of liquid crystal display panel (LCD) is widely pervaded. The LCD is not an emissive display, so it visualizes by utilizing transmission or reflection of outside lights or being in combination wit an illumination device (a device placed at back face of the liquid crystal display panel is called a backlight). Accordingly, although pixel displaying operation of the liquid crystal display panel is realized by a light transmittance control from the backlight, it is expressed for convenience as the "light emission" in explanation of display operation of the liquid crystal display below.
The liquid crystal display is a hold-type display different from the CRT which is an impulse-type display, so it is reported in pages 19 through 26 of technical document EID96-4 in Institute of Telecommunications Engineers and the like that an image quality is degraded when displaying motion pictures. According to such the documents, a blur occurs in motion picture images by disaccordance of eye movement due to motion picture images with hold light emission and human vision pursuit characteristics, thereby a motion picture quality being lowered In order to improve degradation of the motion picture quality, it is also described that there exists a method that a frame frequency (display frequency of one screen) is made n-fold rate, or image display is made 1/n fame period and a remaining period made to be displayed in blank. Meanwhile, here the larger a numeral value of the n, the more effective also for motion pictures moving at a higher rate.
A method to realize the improvement method of the motion picture quality, for example, as described in Japan patent laid open publication 2002-49037, generates light emission by concentrating lights only on a part of a backlight at which a light source unit with a linear light source at a side edge of a transparent light transmission sheet is placed, and scrolls the light emission portion being synchronized with a pixel scan of a liquid crystal display, thereby display being made 1/n period and quasi impulse display and a motion picture blur being alleviated. The light selective concentration type of backlight is not needed to flicker a light source, so a needed number of light sources can be lessened.
However, in the light selective concentration type of backlight in the method disclosed in "the above Japan patent", all lights from the light source unit is not always emitted to the liquid crystal display panel side, so the light selective concentration type has a limit at a ratio of outgoing lights into the liquid crystal display panel from a light pipe for incident lights into the light pipe, that is, in a light utilizing efficiency. There exist two causes for this. One is that a scattering profile of a liquid crystal which should scatter lights in an outgoing direction at a selected portion is insufficient and lights are not effectively emitted in a direction of the liquid crystal display panel. The other is that the incident lights uniformly distribute in the light pipe, whereby lights not scattering at the selected portion exist. According to these, the light utilizing efficiency as the backlight results in lowering, thereby an advantage of the light selective concentration backlight which ought to reduce a number of light sources being nullified.

Illumination device and display device using the same


A control device of a diesel engine is provided. The diesel engine includes an injector for injecting fuel into a cylinder, and a turbocharger for compressing intake air by using exhaust energy. The control device includes a calculating module for setting a basic injection timing determined according to an operating state of the engine, as a timing of injecting the fuel from the injector, and an injection control module for injecting the fuel from the injector at the set basic injection timing at least while the engine is in a steady operation.

The present invention relates to a device for controlling a diesel engine including injectors for injecting fuel into cylinders, and a turbocharger for compressing intake air by using exhaust energy.
Generally, diesel engines in which fuel is injected into cylinders which is increased in temperature and pressure by being compressed for self ignition excel in thermal efficiency compared to spark-ignition engines (e.g., gasoline engines), and have a lower discharge amount of CO2. Therefore, recently, such diesel engines have been widely familiarized not only as engines for large-sized vehicles (e.g., trucks), but also for passenger vehicles.
As control devices of such diesel engines, for example, JP1998-274088A discloses a control device that has been known. As disclosed in JP1998-274088A, in a diesel engine, an injection amount and an injection timing of fuel to be injected into a cylinder is determined based on an engine load and an engine speed, and the fuel injection amount is increased as the engine speed and the engine load become higher.
As described above, even though the fuel injection amount and the fuel injection timing are determined according to the engine load and speed, when the engine load is rapidly changed by, for example, a rough accelerator operation, there is a possibility that a maximum in-cylinder pressure determined by an amount of compressed air or an amount of heat of combustion inside the cylinder temporarily becomes excessively high. Especially, because the diesel engine in JP1998-274088A is provided with a turbocharger including a turbine driven by exhaust energy and a compressor for compressing intake air, a turbocharging amount may be excessively large due to a response delay of the turbocharger, and such phenomenon as described above (the excessive increase of the maximum in-cylinder pressure) easily occurs.

Control device of diesel engine with turbocharger


A composition, method, and test device for determining the total available chlorine concentration, and the relative amounts of free and bound chlorine, of a test sample are disclosed. The test device includes a test pad having a suitable carrier matrix incorporating an indicator reagent composition capable of converting combined available chlorine to free available chlorine and of interacting with free available chlorine to produce a detectable and measurable response for total available chlorine over a range of 0 to over 5000 ppm total available chlorine in the test sample. An indicator reagent composition contains: (a) an indicator dye that is responsive to free available chlorine, such as tetramethylbenzidine, (b) a buffer, (c) a surfactant, (d) an optional catalyst, and (e) an optional polymer. An indicator reagent composition is incorporated into a carrier matrix, like filter paper, to provide a test pad useful in a dry phase total available chlorine assay of a test sample, such as a sanitizing solution for a hemodialysis unit.

The use of chlorine as a sanitizer or disinfectant for various water supplies and various types of equipment, like food processing equipment and medical equipment, such as a hemodialysis unit, is common. Because the amount of available chlorine in an aqueous solution relates directly to the disinfecting or sanitizing activity thereof, a test which rapidly and accurately measures available chlorine is important.
The available chlorine family is comprised of compounds which, when in aqueous solution, yield solutions of hypochlorous acid. The available chlorine family is further divided into compounds containing free available chlorine and compounds containing combined available chlorine. The sum of free available chlorine and combined available chlorine is termed total available chlorine.
Free available chlorine encompasses chlorine-containing compounds in aqueous solution such as hypochlorous acid, hypochlorite ion, and, in strong acid solutions, free chlorine. The use of free available chlorine as a disinfectant for water supplies and equipment is widespread because of its low cost, convenience, and effectiveness as an antiseptic agent in relatively low concentrations. For example, free available chlorine is used as a disinfectant in a majority of hemodialysis centers.
Combined available chlorine, also termed bound available chlorine, mainly encompasses organic chloramines, which release only a small amount of free available chlorine in aqueous solution. Chloramines are formed from chlorine reacting with amine compounds in water. The amine compounds can be an impurity in the water or arise from ammonia added to water with chlorine during water disinfection. Ammonia and chlorine are added to the water to form chloramines which stabilize chlorine from decomposition and/or evaporation, and also increases the bacteriocidal potency of chlorine. Depending on the ratio of chlorine-to-ammonia and the acidity of the water, chloramines formed from chlorine and ammonia are a mixture of monochloramine, dichloramine, and trichloramine at various ratios. Although monochloramine is the main chloramine of concern due to its toxicity, removal of all chlorine is essential for safe and effective operation of a dialysis water purification system.
Conventionally, combined available chlorine has not been considered an effective disinfectant or sanitizer. Accordingly, prior chlorine assays have focused on assays for free available chlorine, i.e., the active disinfectant. For example, assays disclosed in Rupe et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,092,115 and Ramana et al. U.S. Pat. No. 5,491,094, consider combined available chlorine as an interferant in the assay for free available chlorine, and the assays have been designed only to measure free available chlorine. However, in some applications, it is important to assay for total available chlorine.
For example, chlorine is used in hemodialysis centers to sanitize hemodialysis units because chlorine is an effective and economical sanitizing agent. It is important to clean and disinfect a hemodialysis unit between each dialysis session to prevent pathogen contamination from patient to patient. However, chlorine also is a very toxic compound that can cause hemolysis even when only a trace amount of chlorine diffuses from the hemodialysis unit into the blood of an individual. Therefore, if an assay for residual chlorine in a hemodialysis unit detects only free available chlorine, a potentially toxic amount of combined available chlorine, which slowly generates free available chlorine, can be present to adversely affect an individual subsequently connected to the hemodialysis unit. Trace amounts of free available chlorine also can adversely affect filtration membranes of the hemodialysis unit.
Combined available chlorine is considered highly toxic because of its electronic neutrality and ability to penetrate cell membranes. In a municipal source water, combined available chlorine always exists in various proportions relative to total available chlorine. Combined available chlorine is formed in a reaction of free available chlorine either with amine compounds, which are present as contaminants in the source water, or with ammonia, which is added to the water with free chlorine to stabilize the chlorine and to increase the bacteriocidal potency of the chlorine disinfectant.
In a dialysis unit, all chlorine species are removed before the water can be used in hemodialysis. Chlorine removal is usually performed by passing the water through a water purification tank containing activated carbon, and then through a reverse osmosis column. The presence of combined available chlorine in the water affects the efficacy of the carbon tank in removing all chlorine species. Knowledge of the concentration and the relative amount of combined available chlorine to total chlorine is important in designing the water purification system, as well as devising a method of monitoring chlorine in the purified water.
Occasionally, a trace amount of chlorine leaks through the tank. If the chlorine leaking through the tank is all, or substantially, combined chlorine, this suggests exhaustion of carbon tank capacity. However, if the chlorine leaking through the tank contains a high proportion of free chlorine, this indicates the presence of a mechanical defect, such as channelling through the activated carbon inside the tank. Determination of both the free and combined available chlorine is important in managing the water purification for dialysis.
Therefore, when a sanitizing solution is used in medical or food processing equipment, two critical chlorine levels must be monitored. First, the free available chlorine concentration must be sufficiently high to perform a sanitizing or disinfecting function, i.e., at least about 1000 ppm (parts per million) free available chlorine is needed to effectively sanitize equipment. Typically, a chlorine concentration sufficient for equipment sanitization is about a 1 to 10 volume dilution of a 5.25% (by weight) sodium hypochlorite with water, to provide a solution containing about 0.5% to about 0.6% (by weight) sodium hypochlorite, i.e., about 5000 to about 6000 ppm chlorine. During the sanitizing process, the sanitizing solution is assayed periodically to ensure that sufficient free available chlorine is present to sanitize the equipment.
After the sanitizing function is completed, and before use, the equipment is rinsed with water to flush residual chlorine from the equipment. The rinse water also is assayed for available chlorine to ensure that the level of residual available chlorine is below the maximum allowable level, e.g., 0.5 ppm as recommended by the Association of Advancement of Medical Instrumentation (AAMI). In practice, the residual available chlorine concentration is essentially zero, or at least below the lowest detectable levels of about 0.1 to about 0.2 ppm, i.e., equivalent to a 1 to 100,000 water dilution of 5.25% (by weight) sodium hypochlorite.
Presently, only two types of commercial assay systems are suitable for assaying hemodialysis units for available chlorine. One assay utilizes tablets or dry powder, and the other utilizes dry chemistry dip strips. Each assay has advantages and disadvantages, and neither assay satisfies the different testing requirements needed for a hemodialysis unit.
The tablet method has good sensitivity (e.g., 0.1 ppm) and is less expensive per assay. However, the tablet method is more cumbersome to perform and requires more technician time. The dry chemistry test strips usually are not as sensitive as the tablet method and can cost more per test. Nevertheless, the strip test is very easy and convenient, particularly when operating a mobile hemodialysis unit. In most hemodialysis centers, the test strip is used as a screening test for residual chlorine, whereas the tablet method is used for more critical water testing. Because of the differences in test requirements, most hemodialysis centers are forced to stock both the tablet and dry chemistry test systems.
To date, no known single assay is available to assay both the high and the low available chlorine concentration range because the 10,000 fold difference in chlorine concentration between a working sanitizing solution and a residual chlorine concentration makes detection and differentiation of concentration levels difficult. The present invention is directed to providing a single assay for total available chlorine that is capable of measuring total available chlorine concentration over the range of 0 to greater than 5000 ppm, and especially 0 to greater than 1000 ppm.
The present invention, therefore, is directed to an assay method and device that can be used to test: (a) a working sanitizing solution, containing 500 ppm or more of free available chlorine, without diluting the solution, and (b) residual chlorine, both free and bound available chlorine, present at 0.5 ppm or less in rinse water. The present invention also is directed to a method of simultaneously determining the relative amounts of free and bound chlorine in a test sample containing 0.5 ppm or less residual chlorine. Such a determination provides important information with respect to the effectiveness of a chlorine solution and whether potentially harmful amounts of residual bound chlorine are present in rinse water.
Accordingly, a test strip can be used either to test for residual chlorine in the rinse water after cleaning the hemodialysis unit, or to test for the available chlorine content of a working solution. As illustrated hereafter, the present test strips have a good sensitivity and a wide detection range with a continuous color response from 0.5 to over 1000 ppm total available chlorine.
The present method of assaying for total available chlorine in an aqueous test sample yields trustworthy and reproducible results by utilizing an indicator reagent composition that undergoes a color transition in response to total available chlorine concentration, and not as a result of a competing chemical or physical interaction, such as a preferential interaction with another test sample component. For example, the present indicator reagent composition has sufficient sensitivity to detect as little as 0.1 ppm total available chlorine. Additionally, the method and composition utilized in the total available chlorine assay does not adversely affect or interfere with any other test reagent pads that are present on a multiple test pad strip. As set forth hereafter, methods are available such that the composition can be used to determine the relative amounts of free and bound available chlorine in a test sample.
In accordance with the present invention, an indicator reagent composition can be incorporated into a carrier matrix to provide sufficient sensitivity and color differentiation to assay for total available chlorine concentration over the range of 0 ppm to greater than 5000 ppm, and typically greater than 1000 ppm. In addition, although dry phase test strips have been used to assay for chlorine concentration, or to assay for the relative amounts of free and bound available chlorine in a test sample, no dry phase test strip has been used to assay for total available chlorine over such a wide concentration range, examples of prior disclosures relating to assaying for chlorine include Storm U.S. Pat. No. 3,718,605; Reiss U.S. Pat. No. 4,938,926; Ross, Jr. et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,049,382; Frant U.S. Pat. No. 5,300,442, Harp U.S. Pat. No. 5,362,650; O'Brien et al. U.S. Pat. No. 4,904,605; and J. D. Johnson et al., Analytical Chemistry, 40(13), pages 1744-1750 (1969).

Broad range total available chlorine test strip


There is provided an image reading apparatus for acquiring a read signal of an image by receiving and photoelectrically converting a light reflected from a document. The location of an alien substance on an original plate is detected based on a reflected light received by a light receiving unit adapted to receive a light reflected from a document. When an alien substance is detected, an illumination unit selectively illuminates the location in which the alien substance has been detected. Also, a message which prompts cleaning of the alien substance is displayed. A method of displaying the alien substance location are also provided. Thereby, the image reading apparatus of the present invention can assists a user in cleaning the alien substance such as a dust or dirt on the original plate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image reading apparatus and a method of displaying an alien substance location thereof, and in particular to assistance provided to a user to realize elimination of an alien substance on a light path between a document and a reading device in a document-feed-type image reading system, which is a factor of a line-like image, by clearly showing the location of the alien substance in an actual machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, an image reading apparatus equipped with an auto document feeder (ADF) is known. The image reading apparatus is provided with a "feeding-document reading mode" for reading documents with moving the documents at a constant speed one by one by the auto document feeder, while an optical scanning unit for emitting light to the document and scanning light reflected from the document is stopped at a predetermined document reading location. In this "feeding-document reading mode", since the documents only have to be simply moved in a constant direction, there is a merit that the time elapsed from a document reading to another document reading is shorter in comparison with a scanning operation of the optical scanning unit in the case of continuously reading a great number of documents.
However, in this "feeding-document reading mode", there is a problem that, if dust or dirt adheres to the document reading location of an original plate, a black line-like image occurs on a read image in a sub-scanning direction at a location corresponding to the location of the dust or dirt. Accordingly, as a method of solving the problem of the occurrence of a black line-like image, the methods as shown below have been proposed.

Image reading apparatus and method of displaying alien substance location thereof


Management apparatus and method to prevent a drop in the service quality of data. In a computer system which replicates and holds data which is stored in a storage apparatus by a communication terminal in other storage apparatuses, physical position information of the storage apparatuses and the communication terminal is collected and, at the time of the disaster recovery processing, a storage apparatus for which the data of the secondary system is to be switched to the primary system is selected from among the storage apparatuses which hold the data of the secondary system on the basis of physical position information in a first predetermined period among the collected physical position information of the communication terminal, and a policy preconfigured for the data, and an instruction is issued to the selected storage apparatus to switch the data of the secondary system held by the storage apparatus to the primary system.

Conventionally, a disaster recovery function exists as one of the data protection functions in a computer system (see PTL 1 and PTL 2, for example). A disaster recovery function is a function enabling data communication services to be continued by means of another storage system which is spared from a disaster even if a fault occurs with the storage system as a result of the disaster by copying, and shared possession of, the data stored in the storage system between a plurality of storage systems.
More specifically, supposing that a storage system which is used for normal data access is called a "primary storage system" and a storage system which is used when a fault arises in the primary storage system is called a "secondary storage system," during normal times, the data is copied to the secondary storage system synchronously or asynchronously to the data writing to the primary storage system. Such data copying from a primary storage system to a secondary storage system is called replication.
Furthermore, if a fault occurs in the primary storage system as a result of a disaster, a secondary storage system in which a fault has not been generated switches to the primary storage system. The act of switching from the secondary storage system to the primary storage system is known as disaster recovery.

Management apparatus and management method