A method for providing a single-frequency network (SFN) service between a base station (BS) and a mobile station (MS) in a wireless communication system. The BS sets a first segment indicator in a medium access control (MAC) message field before transmission, if a resource allocation scheme corresponds to general data transmission. The BS sets a second segment indicator in the MAC message before transmission, if the resource allocation scheme corresponds to single frequency-based data transmission. The MS receives the MAC message from the BS, and performs renumbering according to the first segment indicator or the second segment indicator included in the received MAC message.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a Broadband Wireless Access (BWA) communication system, and in particular, to an apparatus and method for providing services in an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) communication system.
2. Description of the Related Art
Research on the 4th generation (4G) communication system, which is the next generation communication system, is being conducted to provide users with various qualities-of-service (QoS) at a data rate of about 100 Mbps. Currently, therefore, active research on the 4G communication system is being conducted to develop a new communication system that guarantees mobility and QoS for a wireless Local Area Network (LAN) system and a wireless (Metropolitan Area Network) MAN system, thereby to support a high data rate, guaranteed by both systems.
A system employing an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM) scheme and an Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiple Access (OFDMA) scheme to support a broadband transmission network for physical channels of the wireless MAN communication system is defined as an Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 802.16a communication system. The IEEE 802.16a communication system, because it applies the OFDM/OFDMA scheme to the wireless MAN system, can support high-speed data transmission by transmitting physical channel signals using a plurality of subcarriers. That is, the IEEE 802.16a communication system is one of the typical communication systems using the OFDM/OFDMA scheme (hereinafter referred to as "OFDM/OFDMA communication systems").
The current IEEE 802.16a communication system takes into account only the single-cell configuration in which mobility of subscriber stations (SSs) is never taken into consideration. However, an IEEE 802.16e communication system is specified as a system that takes into account the mobility of SSs in the IEEE 802.16a communication system. Therefore, the IEEE 802.16e communication system must take into account the mobility of SSs in a multicell environment.
In order to support the mobility of SSs in the multicell environment, there is a need to modify operations of the SS and a base station (BS). In particular, active research is being performed on handover of the SSs for a multicell configuration to support the mobility of SSs. Herein, an SS with the mobility will be referred to as a mobile station (MS).
FIG. 1 is a diagram schematically illustrating a configuration of a conventional BWA communication system. The BWA communication system has a multicell configuration, i.e., has a cell 100 and a cell 150. The BWA communication system includes a BS 110 for managing the cell 100, a BS 140 for managing the cell 150, and a plurality of MSs 111, 113, 130, 151 and 153. Signal exchange between the BSs 110 and 140 and the MSs 111, 113, 130, 151 and 153 is achieved using the OFDM/OFDMA scheme.
The OFDMA scheme proposed in the BWA communication system creates a subchannel from subcarriers constituting one OFDM symbol, and several OFDM symbols constitute one frame. A format of a frame divided into a plurality of zones in the OFDMA system will now be described with reference to FIG. 2. FIG. 2 is a diagram schematically illustrating a format of an uplink/downlink frame divided into a plurality of zones in a conventional OFDMA communication system.
Referring to FIG. 2, a frame format of the OFDMA communication system includes a downlink (DL) subframe and an uplink (UL) subframe. The downlink frame can include a plurality of zones, such as Preamble, Partial Usage of Subchannels (PUSC), Full Usage of the Subchannels (FUSC), and Adaptive Modulation and Coding (AMC) zones. The PUSC zone, a first-allocated zone of the downlink frame, includes frame allocation information such as a Frame Control Header (FCH) and a DL-MAP, and a change in the subsequent zones can be made using a Space Time Coding (STC) zone Information Element (IE) (STC_ZONE_IE) message of a DL-MAP zone including information on the downlink frame.
The DL-MAP zone, a zone where a DL-MAP message is transmitted, has IEs included in the DL-MAP message. For example, the DL-MAP message includes the STC_ZONE_IE message.
That is, as illustrated in FIG. 2, several resource allocation schemes can exist in one frame, and a change in the zones following the first PUSC zone is made using the STC_ZONE_IE message in the DL-MAP.
A format of the STC_ZONE_IE message is shown in Table 1 below.
TABLE 1SyntaxSizeNotesSTC_ZONE_IE0 {Extended DIUC4 bitsSTC/ZONE_SWITCH=0x01Length4 bitsLength=0x04OFDMA symbol offset8 bitsDenotes the start of the zone (countingfrom the frame preamble and startingfrom 0)Permutation2 bits0b00=PUSC permutation0b01=FUSC permutation0b10=Optional FUSC permutation0b11=Adjacent subcarrier permutationUse All SC Indicator1 bits0=Do not use all subchannels1=Use all subchannelsSTC2 bits0b00=No STC0b01=STC using 2 antennas0b10=STC using 4 antennas0b11=FHDC using 2 antennasMatrix Indicator2 bitsAntenna STC/FHDC matrix (see 8.4.8)0b00=Matrix A0b01=Matrix B0b10=Matrix C (applicable to 4antennas only)0b11=ReservedDL_PermBase5 bitsAMC type2 bitsIndicates the AMC type in casepermutation type = 0b11, otherwiseshall be set to 0AMC type (NxM=N bins byM symbols):0b00 1x60b01 2x30b10 3x20b11 reservedreserved8 bitsShall be set to zero}
Table 1 shows a format of a conventional STC_ZONE_IE message. As shown in Table 1, a Permutation field defines a zone to be allocated after the STC_ZONE_IE. A DL_PermBase field is used for subchannel allocation for each zone. A Use All SC indicator field indicates whether all subchannels are used in a PUSC zone, and this field is disregarded in other allocated zones.
In the STC_ZONE_IE message defining a transmit diversity mode, an STC field indicates a diversity mode based on the number of antennas, and a Matrix Indicator field indicates a type of a matrix encoded using the transmit diversity. Finally, an AMC type field indicates a resource allocation type for an allocated AMC zone (Permutation=0b11).
The PUSC subchannel generation process described above is defined in the 802.16 standard, thus a detailed description thereof will not be given herein for simplicity purpose. Generally, the process defined in the standard generates N subchannels per 2 OFDMA symbols. The generated subchannels have their own unique physical numbers of 0 through N−1.
The 802.16 standard applies a so-called segmentation technique to the PUSC. That is, the standard assigns a unique segment number to each cell or sector, and the cell or sector allocated the segment number exclusively uses only a part of the generated full PUSC subchannel. In other words, a start point of an allocated subchannel is determined according to the segment number.
The number of the allocated subchannels is determined depending on the FCH. In the current standard, a segment number indicating a start point of a subchannel is determined depending on a segment number of a preamble. That is, if a preamble is detected for acquisition of synchronization between MSs, a segment number to be used in a frame where the preamble is transmitted is automatically acquired. The current standard defines three values of 0, 1 and 2 as preamble segment numbers. In the following description, the segment number will be referred to as a "segment indicator."
In summary, allocation of PUSC subchannels is achieved by generating the PUSC subchannels, applying the segmentation technique to the generated PUSC subchannels, and subsequently, applying a renumbering technique to the segmented PUSC subchannels. An exemplary method of applying the renumbering technique to the PUSC subchannels will now be described with reference to FIG. 3.
FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating a renumbering method for a PUSC zone in an OFDMA communication system according to the prior art. Numbers of logical subchannels (logical enumeration (renumbering)) 305 obtained by re-defining numbers of physical subchannels (physical enumeration) 303 are acquired from a segment indicator 301 obtained through the preamble. The acquired logical subchannel numbers 305 have subchannel numbers beginning from 0 regardless of the segment indicator.
The resource allocation scheme in the OFDMA communication system has been described so far. Next, a single-frequency network (SFN) service will be briefly described. In a general multi-frequency network (MFN), repeaters are installed in every service area to provide services transmit signals by channel switching. The MFN requires many frequencies to provide a broadcast service. Research has been conducted on technology for enabling neighboring service areas to use the same transmission frequency using a characteristic that the OFDM system is robust against multipath channels. This scheme is called a single-frequency network (SFN). The SFN allows neighboring BSs to transmit the same data over the same subchannel thereby to acquire a transmit diversity effect, thus guaranteeing high reception performance.
The SFN service in the OFDMA communication system can be achieved through a zone defined by the STC_ZONE_IE message described with reference to Table 1, after the first PUSC zone. This is because the first PUSC zone includes FCH and DL/UL-MAP indicating the frame allocation information.
If it is assumed that a resource allocation scheme defined by the STC_ZONE_IE message is specified as a PUSC scheme, an MS performs renumbering. However, an MS mapped to its associated segment decodes the subchannels allocated such that they are logically identical to each other but physically different from each other. In this case, therefore, the MS cannot receive the SFN service. This will be described below with reference to the accompanying drawing.
FIG. 4 is a diagram illustrating a renumbering method for an SFN service in an OFDMA communication system according to the prior art. It is assumed in FIG. 4 that 30 subchannels are allocated for the SFN service in a conventional PUSC zone. MSs perform renumbering operations 407, 409 and 411 from segment indicators 401, 403 and 405 for their associated segments. In this case, the logical subchannels are equal in order but different in physical position, making a normal SFN service impossible.

System and method for providing services using the same frequency in a wireless communication system


This invention is a fuel efficient, high torque power, offset piston engine. The basic invention is a 2-stroke 2-cylinder engine. A single idler gear provides ignition timing between a pair of out-of-phase power pistons as 1-way clutches transmit the power to the engine's power shaft. Displacing and replacing a special idler changes the engine between a 2 stroke and a 4 stroke. Power stroke overlap saves fuel. Deactivating pistons when not needed without load on the engine saves more fuel. Other benefits will be obvious upon perusing the disclosure.

Engines that transmit an offset piston's power to a straight power shaft have been attempted since at least 1921, e.g. U.S. Pat. No. 1,365,666 but have not had practical success though they inherently offer high torque and high fuel efficiency. Their weakness lies in using many energy absorbing moving parts and combustion chambers to convert the piston's reciprocating rectilinear motion to the power shaft's unidirectional rotary motion which has made them inefficient and impractical, e.g. U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,239,663; and 5,673,665. For this reason, the simple, exhaust polluting, inefficient but reliable crankshaft engine survives as the search for a better power source continues.
Enormous funds and research have been poured into fuel cells, electric vehicles and crank engine hybrids for years to replace the ubiquitous crank engine.
The crank engine is very inefficient because the two angles at both ends of the connecting rod of length L and the crank angle α (FIG. 10) combine to slow the piston's speed, which traps the very rapidly expanding combustion gases in a small chamber. The gases build up very high heat and pressure at and near tdc. Here, nearly all the force from the pressure is vectored against the crankshaft's bearings instead of rotating it. Parts inertia is combined with extra fuel on each power stroke to overcome the angles' resistance. The result is excess exhaust pollution and waste heat. The waste heat is lost and the pollutants are partly scrubbed from the exhaust when it is too late.
A higher rpm increases efficiency but that has reached its limit and it is not good enough. The pollution and the waste heat must be reduced in the combustion chamber by converting them to mechanical motion with a more complete burn. To do that, all the rod and crank angles must be zero during the entire power stroke but that is impossible in a crank engine. The following mathematics explain why:
FIG. 10 is a schematic that represents a crank engine. FV1, FV2, FV3 are force vectors that come from burn pressure driving the piston 38. FV1 is along a radial of the crankshaft axis C. Only FV3, being tangent to the crank circle d, rotates the shaft where FV3=FV1(Cos θ)(Cos Φ). The crank engine's efficiency is zero at tdc when angle θ=0 but angle Φ=90°, making FV3=FV1(1)(0)=0. When FV2 is tangent to circle d, Cos Φ=1.0 and Tan θ=r/L and θ=Tan−1r/L from which Cos θ is found. The efficiency at that point is FV3/FV1=Cos θ. The importance of angle θ=Tan−1r/L is explained below.
The ratio of the displacement M along the crank circle d to the piston's displacement a at any chosen crank angle θ is easily found from FIG. 10. r is the crank arm length and α is in degrees:r=b+a a=r(1−Cos α)M=παr/180M/a=πα/[180(1−Cos α)]For instance, when α=10°, M/a=11.49:1. At this point, the rod's slow crank end must go 11.49 times as far as the piston. The slower the crank's rotation, the longer the gases are trapped in a small chamber and the lower the engine's efficiency. It is known that this is where the confined hot, pressurized gases create most of the pollution and waste heat. The crank's angular efficiency:Cos θ=FV2/FV1Cos Φ=FV3/FV2FV2=FV1(Cos θ)FV2=FV3/Cos ΦFV3=FV1(Cos θ)(Cos Φ)FV3/FV1=(Cos θ)(Cos Φ) Crank engine's angular efficiency. It caps thermal efficiency.
FIG. 10 is also the basis for the following indented equations that lead to the Cos θ and Cos Φ equations in terms of crank angle α, length L and crank arm r:180−β=γγ+θ+Φ=180β=90−α Note the rt. triangle (α+β+90)180−(90−α)=γ or 90+α=γ(90+α)+θ+Φ=180α+θ+Φ=90n=r Sin αSin θ=(r/L)Sin αθ=Sin−1[(r/L)Sin α]Cos θ=Cos{Sin−1[(r/L)Sin α]}α+Sin−1[(r/L)Sin α]+Φ=90Φ=90−{α+Sin−1[(r/L)Sin α]}Cos Φ=Cos(90−{α+Sin−1[(r/L)Sin α]})The equations Cos θ, Cos Φ are easily solved with a hand calculator.
The importance of angle θ=Tan−1r/L now follows. That is when FV2 is tangent to the circle d at the arm r which makes angle Φ=0.0 and Cos Φ=1.0. The angular efficiency is Cos θ=Cos(Tan−1r/L). Extend L relative to r so that angle θ goes to 0.0. Then
                                1                  Lim              θ        →        0.0                                    Cos                          θ    =      1.0    .  That makes the angular efficiency FV3/FV1=Cos θ)(Cos Φ)=(1)(1)=100% because there is no angular resistance since the angles θ, Φ disappear. The variable angle α disappears. The crank arm r disappears. The variable length torque arm n (FIG. 10) which requires torque buildup is replaced by the fixed length torque arm r′ (FIG. 11) which gives instant peak torque. 1 This is the foundation for calculus.
Unlike the crank, FV1 in this invention (FIG. 11) is always directed to rotating the output shaft 8 rather than directed against the shaft's bearings. FV1 is transmitted with both angles θ, Φ=0.0 through the entire power stroke. The M/a=1:1 through the entire stroke. The circumference d′ replaces the crank circle d in FIG. 10. Shaft 8 receives shear force alone from the fixed length torque arm r′.

Interchangeable 2-stroke or 4-stroke high torque power engine


An apparatus for filtering airborne radioactive iodine is provided. The apparatus includes a housing defining an interior space and comprising an inlet for receiving air and an outlet for discharging the air; and a composition placed in the interior space for trapping airborne radioactive iodine between the inlet and the outlet. The composition comprises one or more salts selected from the group consisting of an alkali metal chloride and an alkaline earth metal chloride. A method of filtering airborne radioactive iodine is further provided. The method includes providing the foregoing apparatus at a nuclear facility and blowing air to flow from the inlet to the outlet and contact the composition placed in the interior space, whereby airborne radioactive iodine is trapped in the interior space.

1. Field
The present disclosure relates to an iodine absorbent material containing a salt, and a radioactive iodine removal system using the same, and more particularly, to an iodine absorbent material applicable when volatile fission products are abnormally emitted from nuclear facilities, and a radioactive iodine removal system using the same.
2. Discussion of Related Technology
Radioactive iodine (131I) is one of fission products formed as a fissile material undergoes nuclear fission, which is a radioactive isotope that accounts for approximately 2.8% of a total of fission products formed as uranium undergoes nuclear fission by means of thermal neutrons (fission yield: 2.8%). The molecular iodine of this element has a high level of radioactivity and exists as gas, and thus, the absorptiveness in human body by respiration is high, therefore is a nuclide whose initial spread is of particular concern when a nuclear accident takes place.
In general, iodine is present in the form of cesium iodide (CsI) in a spent nuclear fuel, and released to the outside in the CsI form. Since there is a high possibility that the first exposed environment would be the inner part of a coolant, a method of suppressing an oxidation reaction of iodide (I−) into iodine (I2). The released iodide (I−) ion is stably dissolved in the coolant, but the molecular iodine (I2) is volatile. In this background, a method of controlling a pH value of a coolant and redox conditions has been used for a long period of time. A level of volatility of the iodine present in an aqueous solution may be lowered by controlling the pH value of the coolant and the redox conditions as described above. However, the iodine is released into an internal atmosphere of a reactor containment building due to an increase in temperature of the coolant, or an increase in a level of volatility of the iodine under an environment exposed to radiation. Also, since the iodine easily reacts with organic compounds and increase a level of volatility while forming organic iodide, methods of minimizing contact with an organic compound have been used.
In general, a method of removing iodine released in the atmosphere includes a method using an absorbent material. A representative absorbent material includes a carbon-based absorbent material such as activated carbon (i.e., charcoal), and a silver.
J. G. Jolley and H. G. Tompkins from the US Idaho Falls Institute evaluated a level of absorption of various organic iodines at room temperature and a high-temperature desorption characteristic using silver zeolite. Also, H. Faghihian et al. (J. Radioanalytical and Nuclear Chemistry, (2002) 254: 545-550) disclosed that two kinds of natural zeolites (clinoptilolite and natrolite) may be used as a radioactive iodine absorbent by measuring a level of absorption of radioactive iodine into both of the natural zeolites. Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-302493 (Oct. 24, 2003) discloses a method of fixing radioactive iodine gas using a silicate-based mineral having micropores, and Japanese Patent Application Publication No. Hei 5-126995 (May 25, 1993) discloses a method of separating an iodine species by precipitation by treating waste water containing radioactive iodine with silver nitrate. Also, Korean Patent Application Publication No. 2000-0008867 (Feb. 15, 2000) discloses a method of converting a chemical species of radioactive iodine in an aqueous solution or waste water into molecular iodine (I2) to remove the chemical species from a gaseous phase to activated carbon.
As one of representative absorbent materials, a silver-based radioactive iodine absorbent material has two limits. First, since silver belongs to the group of noble metals, an absorbent material using silver is very expensive compared with its effects. Second, silver has high reactivity with iodine, but also exhibits high reactivity with chloride ions. Since many nuclear power plants are generally installed on the seashore, and salt aerosol is present at a high concentration in the atmosphere within several kilometers from the seashore. Accordingly, absorption performance of the silver-based absorbent material in a seashore region may be degraded. Also, performance of the carbon-based absorbent material may be degraded when other materials such as moisture are present in the atmosphere. The above-described methods known in the related art are effective when iodine is present in a high concentration in a closed space. However, once the iodine is released into the atmosphere and is mixed with a large amount of moisture and salt, decontamination efficiency is significantly degraded using the current capture method.
The foregoing discussion is to provide general background information, and does not constitute an admission of the prior art.

Iodine absorbent material containing salt and radioactive iodine removal system using the same


A powder having metal oxide films on its surface is obtained in which the films have a heightened refractive index and which hence shows a high reflectance and has a bright color. A powder is obtained which has a reduced number of metal oxide films on the surf ace and hence has a small particle diameter. A powder having a multilayered film on the surface which comprises a base particle having on the surface thereof a multilayered film comprising at least a metal oxide film formed by the hydrolysis of a metal alkoxide, and in which the multilayered film has undergone a heat treatment. A process for producing any of the above powders which comprises dispersing a base particle into a solution of a metal alkoxide, hydrolyzing the metal alkoxide to obtain a metal oxide and deposit a film of the metal oxide on the surface of the base particle, conducting the foregoing steps two or more times to form a multilayered film, and performing a heat treatment in at least the final step, and in which the multilayered film is regulated so as to have an appropriate combination of constituent materials and appropriate film thicknesses to change the interference colors of the multilayered film and thus impart a bright color to the powder.

The technique of coating powder particles with another substance for using the powder in various applications is known. With progress in various technical fields, there is a growing desire for a powder having singular properties, in particular, a metal powder or a metal compound powder. Specifically, there is a desire for a powder which combines the properties characteristic of a powder, in particular a metal or metal compound powder, and other properties and hence has multiple functions.
For example, magnetic metal powders as they are cannot be used as raw materials for magnetic color toners because of the color thereof, although their color has not posed any problem in conventional black magnetic toners. Coated powders obtained by the conventional known technique in which a thin metal oxide film is formed on the surface of powder particles to modify the surface for the purpose of, for example, protecting the powder or facilitating the mixing of the powder with synthetic resins or other substances cannot satisfy new requirements in such fields. From this standpoint, it is necessary to provide a powder having a novel constitution not seen in any prior art powder.
The present inventors previously invented a powder having on the surface thereof at least one metal oxide film which has a uniform thickness of from 0.01 to 20 .mu.m and in which the metal contained is different from the metal constituting the base particles, in order to provide a powder, in particular a metal or metal compound powder, which has multiple properties and performs multiple functions so as to satisfy those new requirements (JP-A-6-228604).
If the above powder has two or more layers of the metal oxide film, a special function can be imparted thereto by regulating the thicknesses of the individual layers. For example, when coating films which differ in refractive index are formed on the surface of powder particles each in a thickness corresponding to 1/4 of the wavelength of a light, the coated powder reflects all the light. By applying this technique to a powder comprising magnetic core particles, e.g., a powder of a metal such as iron, cobalt, or nickel or an alloy of such a metal or a powder of iron nitride, it is possible to produce a magnetic powder for magnetic toners which reflects all light and has a bright white color.
A magnetic color toner can be produced from the above powder by forming a colored layer on the powder particles and further forming a resin layer thereon.
The present inventors improved the above powder and invented a powder having a multilayered coating which comprises not metal oxide films alone but metal oxide films stacked alternately with metal films (JP-A-7-90310). This powder has excellent properties which render the powder suitable for use in magnetic color toners, etc.
For producing these powders, it is necessary to form, on powder particles, metal oxide films which each is uniform in thickness. Although this may be attained by precipitating a metal oxide or a metal compound as a precursor therefor from an aqueous solution of a metal salt, this technique is difficult. Hence, the present inventors developed a method which comprises dispersing particles of the above-described powder into a solution of a metal alkoxide and then hydrolyzing the metal alkoxide to form a metal oxide film on the powder particles. By the use of this method, it has become possible to form a metal oxide film which is thin and uniform in thickness, in particular to form a multilayered metal oxide film.
Specifically, the above method is carried out as follows. Powder particles, in particular particles of a metal or metal compound, are dispersed into a solution of a metal alkoxide, and the metal alkoxide is hydrolyzed to obtain a metal oxide on the surface of the particles and deposit a film of the metal oxide on the surface thereof. Subsequently, the metal oxide film is dried. These steps are conducted repeatedly to form a multilayered metal oxide film. By changing the kind of the metal oxide constituting the multilayered metal oxide film, the reflectance for the powder can be changed. It has been found that by selecting a combination of two adjacent metal oxide films so as to result in the maximum reflectance, a powder having a high whiteness can be obtained.
The present inventors thus succeeded in obtaining a powder having a high whiteness by the method described above. In the field of electrophotography and the like, it has become necessary to obtain images having better resolution and high contrast. Accordingly, the magnetic color toners for use in electrophotographic copiers and the like are required not only to have a reduced particle diameter to heighten resolution but also to be colored in a bright hue, in order to form clear images.
Consequently, the powders for use as raw materials for toners are required to have a smaller particle size and a higher whiteness.
In order for a powder to have a higher whiteness, the powder itself should show a higher reflectance. Furthermore, use of a powder having a reduced particle diameter is highly advantageous in that the powder shows enhanced scattering reflection as a whole, is effective in attaining a reduction in toner particle diameter due to the small particle diameter of the powder, and is hence useful for obtaining clear images having heightened resolution.
Forming a multilayered metal oxide film on powder particles in a manner such as that described above serves to increase the diameter of the particles and is hence disadvantageous from the standpoint of obtaining a powder having high whiteness. Although a multilayered metal oxide film in which each layer has a smaller thickness is more advantageous, the method in which a metal alkoxide is used has a problem that it is difficult to obtain a thin metal oxide film having a high density. Furthermore, the prior art technique for obtaining toners of various colors which comprises forming a film consisting mainly of a dye or pigment on white toner particles has a problem that the toners disadvantageously have a large particle diameter due to the film and have poor color brightness.
An object of the present invention is to obtain a powder having a multilayered metal oxide film on the surface thereof, in particular a metal or metal compound powder having any of bright colors including white.
Furthermore, an object of the present invention is to obtain a powder having a multilayered metal oxide film on the surface thereof, in particular a metal or metal compound powder having a reduced particle diameter and any of bright colors including white.
Moreover, an object of the present invention is to provide a magnetic powder suitable for use as a raw material for a magnetic color toner used particularly in electrophotographic copiers and the like, or to provide a thermally conductive powder having electrical insulating properties.
Also, an object of the present invention is to provide a novel process for producing a powder, in particular a metal or metal compound powder, which has any of bright colors including white and a multilayered metal oxide film and which has multiple properties and performs multiple functions.

Powder having multilayered film on its surface and process for preparing the same


A probe connector includes an insulating housing, a plurality of probe pins and a shielding shell. The insulating housing has a base body. A front of the base body protrudes frontward to form a tongue portion. The insulating housing defines a plurality of inserting holes each longitudinally penetrating through the base body and the tongue portion. The probe pins are inserted in the corresponding inserting holes. The shielding shell encloses the tongue portion. The shielding shell has a front plate and a hollow blocking plate extending rearward from a periphery edge of the front plate and having an accommodating chamber formed therein. The front plate defines a plurality of matching holes. The tongue portion of the insulating housing is inserted in the accommodating chamber and a front side thereof abuts against the front plate to make the matching holes aligned with the corresponding inserting holes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a probe connector, and more particularly to a probe connector capable of preventing electromagnetic interference effectively.
2. The Related Art
A traditional probe connector generally includes an insulating housing and a plurality of probe pins. The insulating housing has a base body and a tongue portion protruded frontward from a middle of a front of the base body. The insulating housing defines a plurality of inserting holes longitudinally penetrating through the base body and the tongue portion. The probe pins are inserted in the inserting holes of the insulating housing.
However, the probe connector described above has no shielding structure. As a result, an electromagnetic interference is apt to happen among the probe pins, and more particularly a high-frequency electromagnetic interference is apt to happen between the probe pins and other electronic components.


A system includes a processor configured to receive a geo-fence definition defining a geographic perimeter or point. The processor is also configured to receive a vehicle location. Further, the processor is configured to determine a distance from the vehicle location to a most proximate geo-fence point and determine a reporting-rate that varies based on proximity to the geo-fence. The processor is also configured to report a vehicle location at intervals defined by the reporting-rate.

When someone is using a vehicle that belongs to another party, or when a driver who is monitored by another party is using a vehicle, it may be desirable to know whether or not that vehicle has traveled into any prohibited areas. Employers may wish to know if employees make stops at bars or take vehicles carrying valuable cargo into unsafe areas. Parents may wish to know if teenage drivers are complying with rules about where the driver is allowed to go. Likewise, vehicle rental companies may prohibit rented vehicles from traveling across state lines, or may apply surcharges for traveling outside a designated area. Although it is impractical to follow every vehicle to monitor its position, telematics systems make it easy for a vehicle to report a position.
Even when a position is reported, the user may not know how close the vehicle is to a prohibited area based on the position. To assist the monitoring user, geo-fences defining prohibited areas can be defined. For example, an employer could define a 100 foot geo-fence around all bars. Or a parent could define a geo-fence surrounding an area in which travel is permitted, effectively fencing off the rest of the world outside the fence. Geo-fences can even be used to alert drivers, if, for example, the fence is defined around an environmental hazard. The driver could be notified of proximity to the hazard and could thus avoid the area defined by the fence, containing the hazard.
As vehicles travel, they may approach or breach these geo-fences. In order to ensure that travel within a prohibited area is not achieved, or is at least not achieved for a prolonged period of time, reporting systems must report with reasonable frequency, so that the likelihood of breach can be ascertained and/or an actual breach can be detected before the vehicle travels too far into a prohibited/undesirable area.

Method and apparatus for dynamic position reporting rate determination


The compressor in a refrigeration system is controlled solely by a variable speed drive which controls the motor of the compressor by virtue of the varying of the frequency of the electricity provided to the motor. To minimize the initial cost and to minimize operating costs, the variable speed drive is cooled by refrigerant from the refrigeration system which permits the use of a smaller drive, and the variable speed drive is operated at, or approaching, a unity power factor.

In screw compressors the bores for the rotors overlap. The overlapping bores create cusps in the nature of the waist of a figure eight. One of the cusps in the normal lactation for one form of a mechanical unloader which forms a portion of the bore and coacts with the rotors as it moves axially in the cusp to unload and to control the V1 or discharge volume to suction volume ratio, of the compressor. The unloader is normally driven by a solenoid. To provide a greater degree of control, it is common to provide a variable speed drive which controls the motor by changing the frequency of the electric power being supplied to the motor by the variable speed drive.


An organic EL display device includes an organic EL element having a first light-emitting portion, a second light-emitting portion, an n-type charge-generation layer, and a p-type charge-generation layer. The first light-emitting portion has a first light-emitting layer and a hole-injection layer. The first light-emitting layer is formed between an anode and a cathode. The hole-injection layer is made of amorphous carbon and in contact with the anode. The second light-emitting portion has a second light-emitting layer, which is formed between the first light-emitting portion and the cathode. The n-type charge-generation layer is formed between the first and second light-emitting portions. The n-type charge-generation layer is in contact with the first light-emitting portion. The p-type charge-generation layer is made of amorphous carbon and formed between the n-type charge-generation layer and the second light-emitting portion. The p-type charge-generation layer is in contact with the second light-emitting portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an organic electroluminescent display device.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, image display devices including a self-luminous element called an organic light-emitting diode (OLED), hereinafter simply "organic electroluminescent (EL) display devices", have been in practical use. Such an organic EL display device with a self-luminous element is excellent in visibility and response speed compared with liquid crystal display devices known in the art. Additionally, the organic EL display device eliminates the need for an auxiliary lighting device, such as a backlight, and thus can be made thinner.
There are two major types of color display methods in such organic EL display devices. In one method, each pixel has red (R), green (G), and blue (B) light-emitting elements that emit light of three colors: R, G, and B, respectively. In the other method, each pixel has a white light-emitting element and R, G, and B color filters, which respectively allow passage of light in the wavelength ranges corresponding to the three colors R, G, and B. There are also two types of light-emitting elements. One of them has only a single light-emitting layer. The other, called a tandem light-emitting element, has a stack of light-emitting layers and a charge generation layer (CGL) between them to activate each of the light-emitting layers to emit light.
JP 2006-049396 A discloses that an electron pull-out layer (A) is disposed between an anode electrode and a hole transport layer (B) and that the energy level difference between the highest occupied molecular orbital of the hole transport layer, HOMO (B), and the lowest unoccupied molecular orbital (LUMO) of the electron pull-out layer, LUMO (A), is expressed as 0<LUMO (A)−HOMO (B)<1.5 eV. JP 2009-301885 A discloses a multi-unit organic EL element having light-emitting layers and conductive intermediate layers laminated alternately, in which the conductive intermediate layers include at least a transparent conductive carbon layer.
When used in each pixel of the above organic EL display device, an organic EL element driven at a high voltage increases the power consumption of the organic EL display device. Moreover, such an organic EL element accelerates its deterioration to shorten the useful life of the organic EL display device.

Organic electroluminescent display device


A clock mechanism in modules connected to a bus over which asynchronous operations are performed wherein clock pulses are generated that can clock the transmission or capture of data and the transitioning of acknowledge or synchronization lines. Each clock mechanism generates its clock pulses based on the receipt of signals associated with synchronization or acknowledge bus lines. The clock mechanism includes a multiplexer which provides to a resettable latch a signal associated with the condition of the selected line. The resettable latch, in conjunction with a delay element produces the clock pulses.

An asynchronous state machine, by definition, changes from a current state to a next state based on its present state and the condition of signals from external devices indicating the states of these devices. For proper operation of the state machine, the signals must be conditioned, that is, transitioned, in a particular order and/or combination. If, for example, a given signal is asserted late or released early, it may cause the state machine to change to an unintended next state.
In a system of interest, asynchronous state machines are employed in transactions between modules on a bus referred to as the "Futurebus+." A transaction follows a "compelled" protocol in which one or more modules operating as slaves must provide to a module operating as a bus master various acknowledgement, or handshake, signals throughout the operation. When the master receives these signals it proceeds to the next stage of the operation. The compelled protocol is described in IEEE Standard 896, the Futurebus+ standard, which is incorporated herein by reference.
Every compelled transaction on the Futurebus+includes a connection phase and a disconnection phase and may or may not include a data phase between the connection and disconnection phases. Each phase involves specific asynchronous, or compelled, communications between the designated bus master module and one or more slave module(s). The data phase is segmented into a number of "beats," where a beat includes the transition, that is, assertion or release, of a synchronization line by a master followed by the release of an appropriate acknowledge line by the slave(s). Between the transitions of the various synchronization and acknowledge lines, the bus master and slaves place data on, and capture data from, the bus.
During a first beat and subsequent "odd" beats of a compelled write operation, for example, a master sends command information and (write) data over the bus and asserts a data synchronization line DS. The participating slaves then capture the command information and (write) data, place status information on the bus and release an appropriate acknowledgement line. During a second or subsequent "even" data beat the master captures the slave status information, sends to the slaves the next (write) data and releases the data synchronization line DS. The slaves then capture the data, place status information on the bus and release an appropriate acknowledgement line. When the master senses the release of the acknowledgement line, it starts the next beat of the operation.
The master continues to assert and release the data synchronization line DS whenever it places (write) data on the bus and the slaves continue to release acknowledgement lines whenever they place status information on the bus. If a compelled read operation is being performed, the slaves send (read) data to the master with the status information before releasing their acknowledgement lines, the master captures the (read) data and sends command information and data synchronization assertions or releases to the slaves, which direct the slaves to send additional data.
If the bus master and slaves do not assert and release their synchronization and acknowledgement signals in the proper order and do not properly coordinate their data transmissions and data capture operations with the appropriate synchronization and acknowledgement signals, the data transfer operation may not complete and the bus may therefore "hang", which means that the various modules will each be waiting either for a next transition on an acknowledge line or a next transition on a synchronization line, and thus, none of the modules can transition to a next operation step.

Clocking system for asynchronous operations


A filter for rainwater harvesting forms part of a rainwater catchment system, and includes a container with a lid on its top end, an opening formed in the lid, and a strainer sized and shaped to accommodate the edge of the lid that defines the opening. The strainer includes an upper outwardly directed flange which engages the lid, a vertical side wall that extends downwardly from the upper flange, a lower inwardly directed flange, a reinforcing web supported by the lower flange, a mesh also located above and supported by the lower flange, and a retainer ring located above and supported by the lower flange and adapted to be secured thereto to removably hold the mesh and the reinforcing web therebetween. When the strainer is placed within the opening in the lid and the container is located such that the opening is in the flow path of a rainwater downspout, the strainer allows the passage therethrough of rainwater and filters debris from the rainwater to thereby enable the rainwater to be harvested.

This invention relates to a rainwater catchment system for filtering rainwater before it enters the rain barrel. This invention allows the user to customize the filtration media as needed This invention provides a simple inexpensive solution for adapting a variety of food-grade plastic drums into an effective and efficient rain barrels, for harvesting rainwater.
According to one preferred embodiment of the invention, a filter for rainwater harvesting forms part of a rainwater catchment system, and includes a container with a lid on its top end, an opening foil ied in the lid, and a strainer sized and shaped to accommodate the edge of the lid that defines the opening. The strainer includes an upper outwardly directed flange which engages the lid, a vertical side wall that extends downwardly from the upper flange, a lower inwardly directed flange, a reinforcing web supported by the lower flange, a mesh also located above and supported by the lower flange, and a retainer ring located above and supported by the lower flange and adapted to be secured thereto to removably hold the mesh and the reinforcing web therebetween. When the strainer is placed within the opening in the lid and the container is located such that the opening is in the flow path of a rainwater downspout, the strainer allows the passage therethrough of rainwater and filters debris from the rainwater to thereby enable the rainwater to be harvested.
The design of the strainer, which in some respects could also be characeterized as a basket, includes an outwardly extending flange, or rim at the top, which allows it to adapt to different types of containers for rainwater harvesting. The bottom of the strainer, particularly the inwardly directed lower flange, has holes that allow for significant interchangeability of the mesh and the reinforcing web. More specifically, a simple hardware kit enables a range of different filter meshes and reinforcement webs to be quickly changed out at the bottom of the strainer.
The strainer is preferably sized to easily fit onto the top of a large plastic drum, which is part of adapting the typical 55-gallon drum to become a rain barrel. According to further considerations, the size of the strainer is small enough to fit between the bungholes of a conventional 55-gallon drum, or the retainer ring of a bulk olive barrel. Preferably, the strainer's wide brim fits snugly to the lid of the barrel, so as to prevent debris and insects from entering the barrel.
It is contemplated that the grade of the mesh is mosquito-proof, to prevent mosquitos from entering the barrel. Such meshes are usually so fine that they also prevent mosquito eggs from being washed into the collection vessel, from the gutter above.
The reinforcing web is sufficiently rigid so as to reinforce the mesh and to provide additional structure to handle heavy water flows. The finer mesh enables the flowing water to flow more smoothly into the vessel, while keeping finer debris out of the barrel.
Multiple layers of mesh and reinforcing webs can be coupled together to create a more sophisticated filter, which can employ sand, and/or granular activated carbon.
The strainer is capable of being made from a combination of molded and flat plastic parts. Also, the strainer can be made via a variety of different methodologies, based on the quantity needed. For example, injection molding would be one preferred methodology for making runs of 10,000 or more. Thermo-forming would perhaps be more suitable for runs of 10,000 or less, while 3D printing may be suitable for less than 100 at a time.
A variety of plastics are appropriate for this product, such as polypropylene, which holds up well in exterior conditions.
The various mesh filters can be made of extruded polypropylene as separate pieces, so they can be interchangeable. The extruded plastic mesh can be a readily available commodity manufactured in large quantities. For this product, the desired mesh filters could be die-cut from a pre-existing product.
The hardware kit could be polypropylene nuts and bolts.
Thus, this invention facilitates the simple and relatively inexpensive harvesting of rainwater, as a supplemental source of water primarily for garden uses or other appropriate uses.


The present invention relates to an electronic pressure regulator that can be used for gaseous fuel control on internal combustion engines. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic pressure regulator that has direct acting electro-mechanical operation with pressure sensor feed back.

1. Field
The present invention relates to an electronic pressure regulator that can be used for gaseous fuel-control on internal combustion engines. More particularly, the present invention relates to an electronic pressure regulator that has direct acting electro-mechanical operation with pressure sensor feed back.
2. General Background
A pressure regulator is a device that maintains a desired pressure quantity at a predetermined value or varies according to a predetermined plan. Most fuel pressure regulators for internal combustion engines have a fixed orifice and work off of a diaphragm. These regulators cannot make accommodations for variations in engine operating conditions in order to provide an optimum fuel to air mixture for gaseous fuel internal combustion engines.
Gaseous fuel means a fuel which is in the gaseous state at standard temperature and pressure. Examples of a gaseous fuels used with internal combustion engines are: compressed natural gas (derived from liquid or compressed gas storage state), and propane/butane gas (derived from liquid petroleum gas storage).
While certain novel features of this invention shown and described below are pointed out in the annexed claims, the invention is not intended to be limited to the details specified, since a person of ordinary skill in the relevant art will understand that various omissions, modifications, substitutions and changes in the forms and details of the device illustrated and in its operation may be made without departing in any way from the spirit of the present invention. No feature of the invention is critical or essential unless it is expressly stated as being "critical" or "essential."


Carbon blacks containing silicon and a process for manufacturing them. The carbon blacks containing silicon are suitable as reinforcing carbon blacks for rubber mixtures and give the latter viscoelastic properties such as reduced rolling resistance in tires. At the same time, the wet traction is even improved in the process.

The present invention relates to new kinds of carbon black that are especially suitable as reinforcing carbon black for the rubber industry and a process for manufacturing these carbon blacks. In a further aspect, the present invention relates to articles of manufacture containing the new types of carbon black.
The most important industrial carbon black manufacturing processes are based on the oxidative pyrolysis of carbon black feedstocks containing carbon. In the known processes the carbon black feedstocks are incompletely burned in the presence of oxygen. This category of carbon black manufacturing processes includes, for example, the furnace black process, the gas carbon black process, and the lamp black process. For the most part polynuclear aromatic carbon black oils are used as the carbon black feedstocks. The product stream in oxidative pyrolysis consists of an off-gas containing hydrogen and carbon monoxide and the dispersed carbon black suspended in it, which is separated from the off-gas in a filter unit. The carbon black that is obtained in this manner is then transformed into small beads or pellets for the most part in a wet or dry pellitizing process to make it easier to handle. The moisture in the carbon black arising from the manufacturing process is reduced through a subsequent drying down to under 1% by weight.
Over 90% of the carbon black that is produced industrially is used as a filler and reinforcer in the manufacture of rubber mixtures for the tire industry. Typical rubber mixtures contain 20 to 70% by weight natural and/or synthetic rubber, 20 to 50% by weight carbon black, mineral oils, and other process materials, as well as sulfur as a vulcanization agent.
The carbon blacks with their specific properties affect the abrasion resistance, the rolling resistance, and the wet traction of the finished tires. For rubber mixtures that are used for tire treads a high abrasion resistance and at the same time the least possible rolling resistance and good wet traction are demanded. Low rolling resistance leads to low fuel consumption for the car.
Rolling resistance and wet traction are affected by the viscoelastic behavior of the tread mixture. When there is periodic deformation, the viscoelastic behavior can be described by the mechanical dissipation factor tan .delta. and in the event of elongation or compression by the dynamic elasticity modulus .vertline.E*.vertline.. Both figures are very temperature-dependent. In this connection, the wet traction is usually correlated with the dissipation factor tan .delta..sub.0 at about 0.degree. C. and the rolling resistance with the dissipation factor tan .delta..sub.60 at about 60.degree. C. The higher the dissipation factor at the low temperature, usually the better is the wet traction of the tire mixture. For reducing rolling resistance, on the other hand, as small as possible a dissipation factor is required at the high temperature.
The abrasion resistance and the viscoelastic characteristics and thus also the dissipation factor of the tread mixtures, are essentially determined by the properties of the reinforcing carbon blacks that are used.
An important determining factor is the specific surface area, in particular the CTAB surface area, which is a measure of the portion of the carbon black surface which is accessible to polymer content. As the CTAB surface increases, the abrasion resistance and tan .delta. rise.
Further important carbon black parameters are the DBP absorption as a figure measuring the initial structure and the 24M4-DBP absorption as a measure of the remaining structure after strong mechanical compression of the carbon black.
Carbon blacks that have CTAB surface area between 80 and 180 m.sup.2 /g and 24M4-DBP absorption values between 80 and 140 ml/100 g are most suitable for tread mixtures.
It has been shown that ordinary carbon blacks cannot influence the temperature dependency of the dissipation factor tan .delta. sufficiently in such a way that the tread mixture has a low rolling resistance with the same or better wet traction. The desired reduction in rolling resistance is generally linked with a deterioration of the wet traction and tread wear. Carbon blacks that have a low rolling resistance are designated as so-called "low hysteresis" carbon blacks.
In recent years it has been shown that the rolling resistance of tires can be reduced through complete or partial substitution of carbon black by silica (DP 0 447 066 A1). In order to link the silica with the polymer components of the rubber, silane coupling agents are required. Rubber mixtures containing silica have a dissipation factor tan .delta. that is reduced up to 50%.
An object of the invention is to make available new kinds of carbon black that give rubber mixtures of natural or synthetic rubber or mixtures thereof reduced rolling resistance and at the same time improved wet traction and increased abrasion resistance.

Carbon black and processes for manufacturing


A method provides frequency and phase offset estimation in a SCDMA burst receiver (such as a DOCSIS 2.0 SCDMA burst receiver) by application of the known Least Square (LS) parameter estimation algorithm to a pre-known transmitted sequence, called preamble, in order to optimally characterize the phase and frequency offsets affecting the transmitted data. The LS parameter estimation algorithm is adapted to SCDMA burst receiver specifications by changing index calculations to fit according to SCDMA preamble locations. Improved estimation accuracy can be achieved by using weighted least squares that disregard symbols affected by impulse and burst noise. Weighted least squares can further impart more weight to last symbols to more accurately estimate contemporary impairments. The method is particularly useful for communication systems having large frequency and phase offsets as in the DOCSIS 2.0 SCDMA burst receiver.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to digital communication systems and methods, and more particularly to a technique of estimating frequency and phase offset using the Least Square Method (LSM) in a synchronized code division multiple access (e.g SCDMA) burst receiver that was implemented, for example, in DOCSIS 2.0 standard.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Frequency and phase offsets are important parameters to estimate in a burst receiver. Those parameters are estimated during channel maintenance and verified during processing of each burst preamble. In at least one modem burst receiver, the frequency and phase offsets are estimated using a correlator output. In SCDMA applications, this technique may not be accurate enough for the following reasons:    1. Due to the structure of the framer, it is possible to find a difference of 128*16=2k chips between the center of the preamble (where the correlator estimates the phase) and the beginning of the data. In the case of, for example, 50 Hz frequency offset @ 1.28 Mbaud, this results in a phase shift of 2k*50/1.28e6*360˜30 degrees, which is obviously unacceptable. A technique for achieving an accurate estimation of the phase of the first spreading interval should therefore be employed.    2. In the worst-case scenario, only one mini-slot will be granted to a certain burst, resulting in only two active codes. As a result, only two training symbols may be processed before the phase would change in response to a frequency offset. In the case of a 50 Hz frequency shift @ 1.28Mbaud, for example, the phase change would be 128*50/1.28e6*360˜1.8 degrees. A method for achieving an accurate estimation of the frequency offset should therefore be utilized.
In view of the foregoing, a need exists in burst receiver applications, such as the SDCMA burst receiver implemented, for example, in DOCSIS2.0 standard, for a scheme to provide accurate estimations of the phase of the first spreading interval as well as accurate estimations of any frequency offset. The scheme would desirably provide a good tool to combat impulse and burst noise affecting the preamble.

Method of frequency and phase offset estimation using least square method in a burst receiver


The invention relates to hESF I, II and III polypeptides, polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides, methods for producing the polypeptides, in particular by expressing the polynucleotides, and agonists and antagonists of the polypeptides. The invention further relates to methods for utilizing such polynucleotides, polypeptides, agonists and antagonists for applications, which relate, in part, to research, diagnostic and clinical arts.

The regulation of cells and tissues is controlled by autocrine and paracrine factors, such as systemic hormones and factors that modulate or mediate the action of hormones.
Many peptides, expressed locally, can influence certain biological activity in the mammalian system and are very important in the regulation of cells of the epithelium. These factors largely have not been identified or characterized, particularly not in humans.
A few factors that play a role in the regulation of functions of the lung and uterus, both adult and fetal, have been identified in non-human organisms. One such factor is mammalian CC10, i.e., human, rat and rabbit CC10. (Wolf, M. et al., Human Molecular Genetics, 1(6):371–378 (1992)). Clara Cell 10 kDa secretory protein (CC10) which is also called Clara Cell 17 kDa protein, is a homodimer consisting of 8.5 kDa monomers that are joined by two disulfide bonds (Umland, T. C. et al., J. Mol. Biol., 224:441–448 (1992)). It is the predominant secreted protein of lung Clara cells which are the lining of the bronchiolar epithelium (Singh, G. and Katyal, S. L., J. Histochem. Cytochem., 32:49–54 (1984)). The physiological role of the protein is not yet completely understood. It has been reported that CC10 specifically binds methylsulfonyl-polychlorated biphenyls (PCBs) (Nordlund, Moler, L. et al., J. Biol. Chem., 265:12690–12693 (1990)) and inhibits phospholipase A2 (Singh, G. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 1039:348–355 (1990)). In the last few years the sequences of rat (Katyal, S. L. et al., Prog. Respir. Res., 25:29–35 (1990); and Hagen, G. et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 18:2939–2946 (1990)), and human (Singh, G. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 950:329–337 (1988) CC10 cDNAs have been reported. cDNAs, and the derived amino acid sequences, show striking homologies to rat uteroglobin (Singh, G. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 1039:348–355 (1990); and Hagen, G. et al., Nucleic Acids Res., 18:2939–2946 (1990)).
Like CC10, rat uteroglobin is a covalently bound homodimer whose three dimensional structure is well known (Morize, I. et al., J. Mol. Biol., 194:725–739 (1987). Uteroglobin expression in rabbits has been originally reported in the uterus during the preimplantation phase (Beier, H. M., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 160:289–290 (1968)). More recently, the protein was also detected in oviduct (Kirchner, C., Cell Tissue Res., 170:490–492 (1976)), male genital organs (Beier, H. M. et al., Cell Tissue Res., 165:1–11 (1975)), esophagus (Noske, I. G. and Feigelson, M., Biol. Reprod., 15:704–713 (1976)) and lung (Noske, supra; and Torkkeli, T. et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 544:578–592 (1978)).
In vitro, several distinct properties of uteroglobin have been described. Soon after its discovery it could be shown that the steroid hormone progesterone is specifically bound by the protein (Beato, M. and Baier, R., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 392:346–356 (1975); and Beato, M. et al., J. Steriod Biochem., 8:725–730 (1977)). Therefore, rabbit uteroglobin was believed to be a potential carrier or scavenger of progesterone that regulates the progesterone concentration in the endometrium (Atger, M. et al., J. Steroid Biochem., 13:1157–1162 (1980)). It has also been shown to specifically bind certain methylsulfonyl metabolites of polychlorinated biphenyls with even higher affinity than progesterone (Gillner, M. et al., J. Steroid Biochem., 31:27–33 (1988)). Furthermore, uteroglobin has been found to inhibit phospholipase A2. The relationships of all these properties and their physiological significance is still not understood and remains largely a matter of speculation.
The rat CC10 mRNA is expressed like rat uteroglobin not only in lung but also in the esophagus as well in uteri of estrogen and progesterone treated female rats (Hagen, G. 1990 supra) suggesting that rat CC10 is the rat counterpart of rat uteroglobin (see in general Wolf, M. et al., Human Molecular Genetics, 1(6):371–378 (1992)).
Human CC10 expression is abundant in non-neoplastic human lung, and it is detectable in tumors in corresponding cell lines at markedly lower levels (Broers, J. L. V. et al., Lab. Invest., 66:337–346 (1992); Linnoila, R. I. et al., Amer. J. Clin. Pathol., 90:1–12 (1988)). CC10 levels were also significantly lower in 6 serum and bronchoalveolar lavage specimens obtained from smokers and lung cancer patients compared with specimens from healthy non-smokers (Bernard, A. et al., Europ. Resp. J., 5:1231–1238 (1992)). These findings suggest the expression of CC10 mRNA becomes altered in distinct lung compartments and may implicate a role for CC10 in the development of pulmonary carcinomas (Jensen, S. M. et al., Int. J. Cancer, 58:629–637 (1994).
Some of the biological properties of UG, such as masking the antigenicity of blastomers (Mukheijee, A. B., et al., Med. Hypotheses, 6:1043–1055 (1980)) and epididymal spermatozoa (Mukherjee, D. C., et al., Science (Wash. D.C.), 219:989–991 (1983)), inhibition of monocyte and neutrophil chemotaxis and phagocytosis in vitro (Schiffman, E. V., et al., Agents Actions Suppl., 12:106–120 (1983)), and inhibition of ADP- and thrombin-induced (but not of arachidonic acid-induced) platelet aggregation (Manjunath, R., et al., Biochem. Pharmacol., 36:741–746 (1987)), may be due, at least in part, to the potent inhibitory effect of this protein on PLA2 activity (Levin, S. W., et al., Life Sci., 38:1813–1819 (1986)). A nonapeptide derived from the amino acid sequence of .alpha.-helix-3 of UG monomer (residues 39–47) possesses all the biological properties of the intact protein and has been identified as an active site of UG responsible for its PLA2-inhibitory and antiinflammatory activities (Miele, L., et al., Nature (Lond.), 335:726–730 (1988)).
It has been indicated that cclOkD-specific transcripts are present in several nonrespiratory human organs and tissues. By using an antibody to rabbit UG, a UG-like immunoreactivity in human endometrium (Kikukawa, T., et al., J. Clin. Endocrinol. Metab., 67:315–321 (1988)), prostate (Manyak, M. J., et al., J. Urol., 140:176–182 (1988)), and respiratory tract (Dhanireddy, R., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Res. Commun., 152:1447–1454 (1988)), has been described.
Recently, the cDNA (Singh, G., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 950:329–337 (1988)) and the 5′ regions (Wolf, M., et al., Human Mol. Genet., 1:371–378 (1992)) of the gene encoding human uteroglobin (hUG), a counterpart of rabbit UG (rUG), has been characterized. Human UG or Clara cell 10-kD protein has 61.5% amino acid sequence identity with rUG (Singh, G.,.et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 950:329–337 (1988)), 54.2% similarity with rat UG (Singh, G., et al., Biochem. Biophys. Acta, 1039:348–355 (1990)), and 52.8% with mouse UG (Singh, G., et al., Exp. Lung Res., 19:67–75 (1993)). Although this protein was originally discovered in the alveolar Clara cells (Singh, G., et al., J. Histochem., 36:73–80 (1988)) it is detectable in many extrapulmonary tissues similar to the ones in which rUG is expressed (Peri, A., et al., DNA Cell Biol., 5:495–503 (1994)) and this expression is induced by progesterone. It appear that some of the biological properties of hUG are virtually identical to rUG (Mantile, G., et al., J. Biol. Chem., 27:20343–20351 (1993)).
It has been reported that UG in the rabbit uterine fluid is first detectable on day 3 of pregnancy, and peak level is reached on day 5 (for a review see Miele, L., et al., Endocr. Rev., 8:474–490 (1987)). UG, by inhibiting PLA2 activity, may down-regulate the production of proinflammatory lipid mediators, which promote contraction and motility of the uterine smooth muscle. Therefore, it is suggested that UG facilitates the maintenance of myometrial quiescence during gestation.
There is a clear need in the art to further isolate and characterize proteins which are homologues of mammalian Clara cell 10 kDa secretory protein and rat prostatic steroid-binding protein. The genes and gene products of the present invention display homology to the rat prostatic steroid-binding protein and Clara cell 10 kDa secretory protein.

Human endometrial specific steroid-binding factor I, II, and III


Apparatuses and systems are provided herein for unducted propulsion systems. The system includes an aft housing for low drag for high subsonic sustained flight. A plurality of blades are affixed to the aft housing, wherein the housing defines a flowpath curve extending from the axial extent of the aft blade root to the aft end of the aft housing. The flowpath curve is described by an axial direction parallel to an axis of rotation and a radius from the axis of rotation. The flowpath curve includes first point having a first radius where the radius reaches a maximum aft of the aft blade root and a second point forward of the first point having a second radius where the radius stops decreasing. The ratio of the first radius to the second radius is greater than or equal to 1.081.

Generally, a fan of an aircraft propulsion system produces thrust by accelerating air passing through the fan. Factors that are detrimental to efficiency of thrust production include losses in energy in air as it enters and passes through the fan, velocity contributions that do not contribute to thrust (such as swirl and vortices in the air leaving the fan), frictional drag forces on external surfaces of an aircraft propulsion system, and shockwave-related drag forces (e.g., wave drag) on external surfaces of the aircraft propulsion system. Thus, for an aircraft propulsion system, the goal is to generate a given amount of thrust without requiring excessive input power to the fan. As such, it is desirable to minimize inefficiency in the production of thrust.
Elements in the figures are illustrated for simplicity and clarity and have not necessarily been drawn to scale. For example, the dimensions and/or relative positioning of some of the elements in the figures may be exaggerated relative to other elements to help to improve understanding of various embodiments of the present disclosure. Also, common but well-understood elements that are useful or necessary in a commercially feasible embodiment are often not depicted in order to facilitate a less obstructed view of these various embodiments of the present disclosure. Elevational cross-sectional views of an unducted propulsion system in the figures depict external flowpath curves formed by the intersection of the external surface of the housings with a plane that includes the axis of rotation. Such cross-sectional views also indicate structures such as blades that facilitate understanding of the embodiments of the present disclosure. Limiting the section view to a single side of the axis of rotation does not imply that the system is axisymmetric about the axis of rotation. The cross-sectional views are used to illustrate certain characteristics, for example the shape of a housing associated with a blade assembly. Also, the drawings omit certain details in the system not needed to fully appreciate certain aspects of the system. Certain actions and/or steps may be described or depicted in a particular order of occurrence while those skilled in the art will understand that such specificity with respect to sequence is not actually required. The terms and expressions used herein have the ordinary technical meaning as is accorded to such terms and expressions by persons skilled in the technical field as set forth above except where different specific meanings have otherwise been set forth herein.


A method for obtaining an assist torque to be applied to a human joint, in a human assist system in order to reduce the load on muscles, according to the present invention comprises the step of obtaining a moment due to gravity, acting on a joint of each human segment, based on equations of force and moment balance on each segment. The method further comprises the step of obtaining an assist torque to be applied to the joint to compensate for the moment due to gravity, acting on the joint. In one embodiment of the present invention, various criteria are used such as mechanical energy, metabolic energy and/or a stability/equilibrium factor. In addition, the present invention can account for the situation where there is substantially no relative motion between segments of a given joint and thus, where the mechanical energy component of gravity compensation is approximately zero.

At Honda's Wako Research Center, a mechanically powered walking assist prototype system was recently unveiled (Katoh and Hirata, The Concept of a Walking Assistance Suit, Welfare Engineering Symposium, The Japan Society of Mechanical Engineers, August 2001). The target application is to help the elderly and disabled people to either execute daily tasks they could not previously perform, or use less physical exertion than they currently employ for these tasks. The tasks considered include walking, lifting, sitting/standing, and climbing stairs. A big challenge in developing control algorithms for exoskeleton systems is the control problem. The complexity of the central nervous system (CNS) control and the interface between voluntary control and external artificial control are challenging, unanswered questions.
Thus, there is a great need for a human assist system and a method which will mitigate the interface between voluntary control and external artificial control.

Human assist system using gravity compensation control system and method using multiple feasibility parameters


A speed and position control apparatus comprising: an encoder generating two-phase signals having a 90-degree phase difference to correspond to a movement of a carrier; and adder obtaining a sum of phase signals; a subtracter obtaining a subtraction of phase signals; a circuit making bi-leveled signals from the sum and subtraction signals; a circuit obtaining an exclusive OR signal based on the bi-leveled signals; a circuit generating differential signals of respective phase signals; a first selector selecting either of the differential signals by the exclusive OR signal; a first switch selectively outputting an output of the first selector or its opposite-polarity output signal based on the bi-leveled subtraction signal; a second selector selecting either of the respective phase signals by the exclusive OR signal; a second switch selectively outputting an output of the second selector or its opposite-polarity output signal based on the bi-leveled subtraction signal; a device inputting an AC component of the second switch output signal to a sample and hold circuit; and a device returning an output of the sample and hold circuit, which holds a sample value inputted during a predetermined period of time in response to a building-up of the exclusive OR output signal, to its input terminal so as to realize a DC restoration.

1. Field of the Invention:
The present invention relates to a speed and a position control apparatus, and more particularly to a speed and a position control apparatus suitable for positioning a movable object such as a recording/reproducing element in a recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Prior Art:
A control for positioning a movable object to a specific place has been carried out in various technical fields. For example, in the case where information signals are recorded into an optical disk or a magnetic disk or, to the contrary, the recorded information are reproduced from the optical disk or the magnetic disk, the recording/reproducing operation is normally carried by recording the information to a predetermined position of the disk and, in turn, the recorded information is searched for a reproduction. In such a case, it is necessary to accurately position a recording/reproducing element such as an optical head or a magnetic head to a target position within a short period of time.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing a recording/reproducing apparatus of an optical disk embodied as one example of a recording/reproducing apparatus. In FIG. 4, a reference symbol M denotes a motor causing a driving force for turning a disk. A reference numeral 1 denotes an optical disk, and a reference numeral 2 denotes a carriage. A reference numeral 5 denotes a lens provided on an optical head, and a reference numeral 6 denotes a magnetic path member for a linear motor. A reference numeral 7 denotes an actuating coil for a linear motor.
When information signal is recorded into the optical disk or the recorded information is reproduced from the optical disk 1, the motor M is actuated to rotate at a predetermined speed. In order to promptly position a condensing point of a recording light or a reproducing light focused by the lens 5 to a target track position on the optical disk 1, a speed control signal and a position control signal are successively supplied to the actuating coil 7 of the linear motor in response to both a target position signal given from a controller (not shown) and a position signal outputted from a position detecting device in accordance with a mutual distance of an optical scale (a linear scale) installed on a movable portion and a detector fixed to a non-movable portion.
Upon receipt of the speed control signal and/or the position control signal, the linear motor shifts the carriage 2 along guide rods so as to promptly and accurately position the condensing point of the recording/reproducing light focused by the lens 5 of the optical head to the target track position on the optical disk 1 in compliance with a seeking operation using a predetermined speed control mode, followed by a predetermined position control operation.
By the way, the speed control system in such a conventional apparatus was equipped with an encoder consisting of an optical scale and a detecting device for executing a speed control and/or a position control for a movable object. This encoder generates false sine-wave two-phase signals having a 90-degree phase difference with each other. These two-phase signals are differentiated and, in turn, added with each other. Then, a low-pass component of the added signal is used as a speed control signal.
FIG. 5 is a view illustrating a procedure for generating a speed signal in a conventional apparatus. Signals shown by (a), (b) of FIG. 5 show false sine-wave two-phase signals Sa, Sb which are generated in the encoder and have a 90-degree phase difference with each other, respectively. Signals shown by (c), (d) of FIG. 5 show signals Sa', Sb' which are absolute differentiated values of the false sine-wave two-phase signals Sa, Sb. Furthermore, a signal shown by (e) of FIG. 5 is a summation of two absolute differentiated signals Sa', Sb'. And, a signal shown by (f) of FIG. 5 is a speed signal Ss obtained by processing the summation signal of the two absolute differentiated signals Sa', Sb' through a low-pass filter.
However, thus obtained speed signal Ss has a disadvantage in that it has no information relating to a moving direction of the carriage.
Signals (a), (b) of FIG. 6 show a condition of the detecting signals Sa, Sb in the case where a shifting direction of a head is changed to an opposite direction. Signals Sac, Sbc shown by (c), (d) of FIG. 6 are obtained after comparing the detecting signals Sa, Sb with their mean values. A signal (e)-(1) shows a level when the signal Sbc is latched by the front edge of the signal Sac, and a signal (e)-(2) shows a level when the signal Sbc is latched by the rear edge of the signal Sac. Similarly, a signal (e)-(3) shows a level when the signal Sac is latched by the front edge of the signal Sbc, and a signal (e)-(4) shows a level when the signal Sac is latched by the rear edge of the signal Sbc.
In this case, if the level values of the signals (e)-(1) through (e)-(4) are changed in specific regions shown, for example, by U-1, U-2, U-3, and U-4, this shows that the shifting direction of the head is changed in a region V which is a common region of these U-1, U-2, U-3, and U-4 regions. A length of the region V corresponds to 1/4 of a period of the signal outputted from the encoder. In other words, a resolution of this conventional method for detecting a turning point of the moving direction is recognized as 1/4 of the period of the signal outputted from the encoder. Therefore, it was difficult to finely detect the turning point.
Furthermore, a position signal used for a position control in a conventional apparatus is only one of the above-described false sine-wave two-phase signals having a phase difference of approximately 90 degrees. FIG. 9 is a view illustrating a position detecting operation in a conventional apparatus. In FIG. 9, portions circled and indicated by arrows show intersections of a reference voltage V.sub.ref and a position control signal; i.e. a stable point for the positioning operation.
In the case where the position control is carried out by using only one of two-phase signals as shown in FIG. 9, the stable point for the positioning operation exists at every pitch of the encoder and the position signal (an error signal for a position control) generated in the encoder has a cyclic tendency. Therefore, the pull-in range of the position control is only a half pitch of the encoder signal.
Especially, it is recognized such a phenomenon that the shorter the cycle (displacement) becomes the smaller the holding torque becomes. Accordingly, if it is adopted for the position control of the carriage 2 in the recording/reproducing apparatus as shown in FIG. 4, positioning the carriage 2 to a target position after seeking operation becomes difficult as the pitch of the encoder becomes small.

Speed and position control apparatus for positioning a movable object


A process for isolating lactoferrin from milk or a casein-containing component or product containing lactoferrin, comprising subjecting a precipitate of casein obtained from the milk of the casein-containing component or product, with which precipitate at least part of the milk lactoferrin is associated, to a treatment with an extraction medium whereby at least part of the lactoferrin associated with the precipitate of casein is released to the medium. When lactoferrin has been released, the medium may be subjected to different types of purification operation steps. The purification operations are selected in accordance with the purity requirements of the intended specific application. Furthermore, lactoferrin and/or a composition comprising lactoferrin according to the above-mentioned process is provided.

Milk is one of the most thoroughly researched foods in history. Countless scientific papers document the composition of milk and describe the biological functionalities in this complex bio-resource. Proteins, peptides, enzymes and other biomolecular substances constitute major and very important component of milk and are believed to be responsible for many of the specific functionalities passed on from a mother to her new-born in addition to basic nutrients.
Casein is the colloidal protein constituent of milk which can be precipitated e.g. by treatment with rennet enzymes under neutral or weakly acid pH conditions or by means of a mineral salt, such as a calcium salt, or by means of acids at a pH of e.g. from 4.6 to 5.6.
Casein in milk is precipitated during a number of different dairy-related industrial processes, e.g. cheese production and casein or caseinate production.
During cheese manufacturing, the casein is precipitated by e.g. a rennet enzyme activity and the casein coagulum (cheese curd) contains entrained but soluble whey proteins, fat, lactose and minerals from milk too.
Cheese whey is a relatively dilute protein solution comprising lactose, minerals and lipids that is obtained as a by-product when producing any type of cheese by the aid of rennet enzymes and/or microbiological starter cultures.
In the past two decades, there has been a significant focus on utilisation of whey proteins e.g. bovine whey proteins from milk. Today, several bovine Whey Protein Concentrates (WPC) and bovine Whey Protein Isolates (WPI) are standard products obtained through various membrane filtration techniques as well as ion exchange adsorption procedures.
Further utilisation of the bovine whey in terms of fractionation of the proteins into individual protein fractions, such as β-lactoglobulin, α-lactalbumin, immunoglobullns, lactoperoxidase, and lactoferrin, is made possible through chromatographic packed bed and expanded bed separation techniques. Protein products from chromatographic separation technologies are generally characterised by their low- to non-fat content and are useful for a broad range of applications e.g. within foods, feeds, functional foods, and health care products.
Since the first market introductions of WPC and WPI products and more recently, the first purified single protein products comprising lactoferrin, an ever increasing demand for even more sophisticated and still more efficient and cost effective production processes has evolved.
Lactoferrin is a metallo-protein found naturally within biological fluids, such as milk and saliva, at mucosal surfaces and within white blood cells at relatively low concentrations. Besides working as a transmitter molecule in iron assimilation for the infant, lactoferrin has an antibacterial functionality towards iron-dependent microorganisms.
Due to its antibacterial, anti inflammatory and immune modulating properties, lactoferrin offers promising new applications, for example in the treatment of diseases, commonly difficult to treat with antibiotics.
Thus a broad range of activities and applications of products comprising lactoferrin have been suggested:                Natural antibiotic activity—killing many disease causing bacteria, whilst protecting the natural bacterial flora of the body.        Immune-boosting activity—lactoferrin aids in maturation and regulation of a number of immune competent cells throughout the body.        Antioxidant activity—the strong binding of iron by lactoferrin, prevents "free iron" from forming free radicals. Free radicals have been implicated as a causative agent in many diseases including cancers.        Antifungal activity—Lactoferrin kills a range of fungi and yeast, including the causative agent of thrush, Candida albicans.        Research in antiviral agents has shown that lactoferrin can prevent viruses, such as HIV, hepatitis and CMV, from binding to the cells of the body and thus preventing viral infection.        Antitumour activity—lactoferrin and related peptides have been shown to suppress tumour growth and prevent tumour formation in animal models.        Iron uptake—As lactoferrin binds very tightly to iron, lactoferrin is believed to allow efficient uptake of iron into the body. This is considered as being beneficial for anaemic patients.
Furthermore, treatment of meat surfaces with lactoferrin solutions to inhibit bacterial growth and thereby minimise the risk of food contamination and prolong shelf life of certain food products has been suggested as an important future application of lactoferrin.
The concentration of lactoferrin in bovine skimmed milk is usually small, typically between 80-200 mg/ml depending on e.g. the pasteurisation and other pre-treatment history of the skimmed milk. After precipitation of the casein present in milk, the concentration of lactoferrin in bovine whey is typically between 10-100 mg per litre depending on the physical and chemical pre-treatment of the whey.
Thus, there is a need for an effective, simple and cost effective large scale process to enable an industrial production of lactoferrin products to be used in various applications.
During manufacturing of certain cheese products the cheese curd is washed with a salt solution or solid salt is added to the cheese curd which leads to the separation of a protein containing extract. The addition of salt or saturated salt solution to the cheese curd results in syneresis of the curd causing expulsion of water, whey components (fat, protein, lactose, etc) and some salt.
Regarding the nature of such an extract, U.S. Pat. No. 5,783,237 discloses such an extract that is discharged even though it contains valuable milk and whey components since it cannot be usefully reprocessed because of the high salt content and it is difficult to dispose of because of its high Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD) and salinity level.
Thus, the extract is at many production sites regarded as a waste product that has little or no value and in most instances it is a problem to discard the product. Furthermore, it seems to be a general observation that the extract cannot be further processed to take advantage of any valuable compounds present therein due to the high salt concentration.
Casein and caseinates are generally produced from skimmed milk. It is precipitated by treating milk with a destabilising agent, such as an acid, a mineral salt or rennet and then separated from the residual whey by means of a separator or filter. It is then typically washed with large quantities of water and dried.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,976,865 discloses a method of separating biological macromolecules by using packed bed chromatography as well as expanded bed chromatography which is economically feasible to provide an industrial scale production. The compounds are primarily obtained from natural products such as milk. In particular, the method disclosed may be applied to the chromatographic separation of whey proteins, specifically are β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin are extracted from a "mild" whey i.e. whey without increased salt concentration or ionic strength. For elution of β-lactoglobulin and α-lactalbumin a 0.1N hydrochloric acid solution is used. The method does not disclose isolation and purification of lactoferrin. Furthermore, the whey used for isolation and purification of whey proteins is a mild whey and the use of an extract obtained from the treatment of precipitated casein with a salt or a salt solution has not been disclosed.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,193 discloses a process for producing lactoferrrin with a high purity from a bovine source. It is disclosed that in spite of the useful physiological functions of lactoferrin, it has been difficult to isolate and purify lactoferrin from milk at an industrial scale because of its minor proportion in milk. The milk used in this invention is in the form of either skimmed milk or as whey. The patent discloses a process utilising a solution of one or more salts selected from the group consisting of sodium chloride, potasium chloride, calcium chloride and magnesium chloride for eluting the whey protein, lactoferrin, captured by a weakly acidic cation-exchanger. The concentrations of the salt solutions applied for elution are in the range of 0.4-2.5 and 1.5-12. U.S. Pat. No. 4,791,193 does not disclose use of an extract for isolation of whey proteins such as lactoferrin. Additionally, the process does not disclose the preparation of an extract obtained from the precipitated milk casein for the refinement of lactoferrin.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,596,082 discloses a process for isolating lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase from milk and milk products and products obtained by such a process. In particular, a process is disclosed for isolating lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase from milk at an industrial scale. The starting material used is whey from cheese manufacturing or neutralised casein whey at pH 6.5 obtained from skimmed milk after casein precipitation. Lactoferrin and lactoperoxidase are adsorbed to a cation exchanger at a high surface velocity and subsequently eluted from the cation exchanger with a salt solution. This patent does not disclose the use of an extract for refining whey proteins such as lactoferrin. Additionally, the process does not disclose the preparation of an extract obtained from the precipitated milk casein for the isolation of lactoferrin.
The above-mentioned processes are based on known chromatographic techniques wherein a lactoferrin-containing liquid passes a solid phase designed to capture lactoferrin by a selective binding.
A disadvantage of the known production processes for lactoferrin is the relatively low concentration of the lactoferrin naturally present in milk and whey raw materials. This implies that large volumes of liquid must be treated in order to produce a certain amount of lactoferrin. The relatively high concentration of other milk/whey proteins makes it challenging and relatively expensive to obtain a product with a high degree of lactoferrin purity.
Furthermore, the preparation of an extract obtained from the precipitated milk casein for the isolation of lactoferrin has not been disclosed in the prior art.
The inventors of the present invention surprisingly found that treatment of the precipitated casein, from e.g. cheese manufacturing, may result in an extract containing an elevated concentration of lactoferrin relative to traditional whey obtained as a waste product in e.g. cheese manufacturing. This lactoferrin-enriched extract is suitable for an efficient recovery of lactoferrin or alternatively, directly applicable in low cost applications on wet or dry basis.
Thus, by providing a process according to the present invention it has become possible to recover whey proteins, such as lactoferrin, in a manner which is cheap, specific, more efficient, easily performed and the invention is easily compatible with automated and semi-automated systems.


This solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery includes a laminated body which includes a positive electrode layer, a negative electrode layer, and a solid electrolyte sandwiched between the positive electrode layer and the negative electrode layer, and a liquid repellent film which is provided to be in contact with the laminated body, in which the liquid repellent film contains a fluorine element and a carbon element, and has a contact angle of 30° or more when an acetic acid aqueous solution is dropped thereon.

Conventionally, using a flame-retardant polymer electrolyte or ionic liquid as a battery electrolyte has been considered. However, both these electrolytes contain organic liquids. According to this, in batteries using these materials, it is difficult to eliminate fears such as of fluid leaks or fluid depletion.
On the other hand, a solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery using a ceramic as an electrolyte is inherently incombustible and highly safe. For this reason, all solid-state lithium ion secondary batteries have attracted attention in recent years.
In a solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery, for example, LiCoO2, LiMn2O4, LiFePO4, LiNiO2, and the like are used as active materials. These active materials are likely to react with water and deteriorate. Deteriorated active materials may cause a decrease in battery capacity of the solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery.
For example, in Patent Document 1, a ceramic electronic part whose component bodies are covered with a water repellent agent to prevent the deterioration of active materials due to the reaction with water is disclosed. The water repellent agent is used in a state in which it is dissolved in a supercritical fluid as a solvent.
However, even if water is prevented from entering a solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery, when all solid-state lithium ion secondary batteries are mounted, a fixed proportion thereof may fail in some cases.
In the technology described in Patent Document 1, it is possible to prevent water from entering a solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery. However, it is not possible to sufficiently prevent an organic acid from entering a solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery. An organic acid, which has a smaller surface tension than water, is more likely to penetrate inside and causes a failure.
In addition, in Patent Document 1, a part of a water repellent agent of the surface is removed to improve solder wettability. Since the portion from which the water repellent agent has been removed is in direct contact with the solder, an organic acid is more likely to enter it.
Furthermore, it is difficult to apply the method described in Patent Document 1 to a solid-state lithium ion rechargeable battery. In Patent Document 1, the water repellent agent is caused to penetrate into fine nano-level voids or portions present deep inside a component body using a supercritical fluid. However, if a water repellent agent without conductivity is caused to penetrate to the inside, it may cause a decrease in battery capacity of all solid-state lithium ion secondary batteries.

All-solid-state lithium ion secondary battery having fluorine and carbon-containing liquid repellent film and mounted body