System, apparatus, method, and computer readable media for edge-enhanced non-local means (NLM) image denoising. In embodiments, edge detail is preserved in filtered image data by weighting of the noisy input target pixel value with other pixel values based on self-similarity and further informed by a data-driven directional spatial filter. Embodiments herein may denoise regions of an image lacking edge characteristics with a more uniform spatial filter than those having edge characteristics. In embodiments, directionality of a spatial filter function is modulated based on an edge metric to increase the weighting of pixel values along an edge when there is a greater probability the edge passes through the target pixel. In further embodiments, the adaptive spatial filter is elliptical and oriented relative to a spatial gradient direction with non-uniform filter widths that are based on the edge metric.

Image denoising is an important functional block in an image-processing pipeline. The goal of image denoising methods is to recover the original image from a noisy measurement. Images generated by digital camera sensors pick up noise from a variety of sources, which should be reduced for aesthetic or practical (e.g., machine vision) purposes. Ideally, a noise reduction algorithm utilized by an image denoising block should improve image clarity by reducing noise while minimizing loss of real detail. The technical difficulty lies in robustly distinguishing noise from image details.
Many image denoising algorithms that perform some averaging or weighting of a pixel relative to a grouping of pixels spatially surrounding the target pixel are referred to as "local mean" or "local smoothing" filters. A Gaussian Blur filter is an example of a uniform local mean filter. Non-local image denoising algorithms have gained popularity in the last decade because, relative to many local means algorithms, post-filtering clarity is improved while the real detail loss is reduced. In a "non-local means" (NLM) algorithm, an NLM filter utilizes redundancy of self-similarity found within an image to reduce edge blurring by taking a mean of a greater number of pixels in the image, weighted by how similar the pixels are to the target pixel based on an comparison of multi-pixel patches. In some exemplary NLM algorithms, for each input pixel, a target patch containing the target pixel is determined Other candidate patches, typically limited to within a neighborhood of the target patch, are then assessed for similarity. An average pixel value may then be computed as a weighted average of the candidate patches according to the "self-similarity" weight assigned to the candidate patch through application of a similarity filter function.

Non-local means image denoising with an adaptive directional spatial filter


The pincers have lower and upper jaws which selectively close for engaging and open for disengaging a flying disc such as a FRISBEE. The jaws are interconnected at one end and have at the opposite ends of each, a pad for gripping the cental portion of the disc. A wall of the lower jaw has a depression which opens upwardly toward the inner wall of the upper jaw. The depression is defined at one side by a ramp which extends to the pad attached to the lower jaw. The other side of the depression is defined by a wall which curves to a ridge. A notch is formed on the side of the ridge opposite the depression for receipt of the rim of the disc when it is clamped between its jaws.

This invention relates to a device for catching and throwing a projectile. More particularly the invention relates to pincers for launching a flying disc such as a FRISBEE (a trade mark) in flight and for intercepting and grabbing the disc as it is travelling through the air.
Devices are know for launching projectiles such as FRISBEES in flight. U.S. Pat. No. 4,233,952 to Perkins illustrates one such device. That device includes a yoke for engaging a projectile and an elastic band which serves as a catapult. When the projectile is attached to the yoke and is swung upward, the projectile is driven into the air.
Devices such as that described in the Perkins patent suffer from a number of shortcomings. They can for example only be used for launching projectiles into the air; they cannot be used for catching them when they are in flight. Moreover such devices employ mechanical means, such as a catapult, for accelerating the projectile through the air. Mechanical means give an unfair advantage to the person operating the device over a person who is throwing a projectile by hand. Another shortcoming of such devices is that they are relatively complicated of construction and hence are relatively expensive to make.

Pincers for throwing and catching a flying disc


A method and a device for performing placement of a plurality of elements for circuit design. A potential location is assigned to each element and a placement engine is assigned to each potential location. Pairing operations are performed, in parallel, between placement engines to determine whether to perform exchange of the elements associated with the engines. Exchange determination is based both on a cost function and on randomness considerations. Also self-placement is allowed, where the placement engines are implemented on the same hardware system on which the elements are to be placed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of electronic circuit design. More specifically, a method and apparatus for element placement in the context of placement problems for standard or custom cells, field programmable gate arrays (FPGAs), programmable systems on chip (PSoC) or multiprocessors are disclosed.
2. Description of the Prior Art
The most time-consuming operation in the design automation flow from a hardware description language representation of a digital circuit to an FPGA programming bitstream is the placement step. Large designs can have placement runtimes of hours or even days for modern multimillion user-gate devices. Software algorithms and workstation capabilities are not improving fast enough to keep up with the exponentially increasing number of resources available on FPGAs.
Placement is a NP-complete problem. A widely used approach is simulated annealing, as disclosed, for example in S. Kirkpatrick, C. D. Gelatt, and M. P. Vecchi, "Optimization by Simulated Annealing," Science, vol. 220(4598), pp. 671–680, 1983. Another well known approach is the force-directed algorithm disclosed in S. Goto, "An efficient Algorithm for the Two-Dimensional Placement Problem in Electrical Circuit Design," IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems, vol. CAS-28, pp. 12–18, 1981. Force-directed algorithms can give acceptable results, but often terminate trapped in local minima.
Most placers are designed to execute on sequential uniprocessors. Within the domain of fast placers, there are three different approaches to the problem. Most commonly, traditional, sequential software is optimized for substantial speed increased. Less commonly, placement software is parallelized over some small number (less than a dozen) of microprocessors. Rarely, approaches to the placement problem are seen that involve a very large number of processing elements.
Parallel approaches are disclosed, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 5,144,563 to Date et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 5,796,625 to Scepanovic et al.
Prior art schemes attempting to use a very large number of processing elements are the schemes developed by Banerjee, Horrvath, Shankar, Pandya, and Chyan, Breuer.
To accelerate force-directed placement, a scheme to assign one processor element to each cell of an ASIC design is described in P. Banerjee, "Parallel Algorithms for VLSI Computer-Aided Design," Chapter 3, Englewood Cliffs, N.J.: PTR Prentice Hall, 1994, and E. I. Horvath, R. Shankar, and A. S. Pandya, "A Parallel Force Directed Standard Cell Placement Algorithm," Technical Report Dept. Computer Science, Florida Atlantic University, Boca Raton, Fla., 1992. Unfortunately, this design mostly depends on a large-scale supercomputer. D. J. Chyan and M. A. Breuer, in "A Placement Algorithm for Array Processors," presented at the ACM/IEEE Design Automation Conference, Miami Beach, Fla., 1983 envision a force-directed, systolically interconnected placement engine with one processing element per module. However, also the Chyan-Breuer algorithm is trapped in local minima.
Prior art schemes are not able to achieve both high quality and large speedups. The attempts for large speedups with large number of processors fall short in quality and are highly sequentialized by the schemes used to communicate updates among processors. Attempts to achieve high quality with simulated annealing either have limited quality or limited speedup. None of the prior art schemes teaches how to employ large numbers of processors profitably to achieve large speedups, high quality, and avoid performance bottlenecks in communications.


A magnetic steel sheet with an insulating coating having a good punchability, high sliding performance, excellent handleability in processing, and good uniformity and adhesiveness is achieved by forming a chromium-free insulating coating containing 20 parts by mass or more and 90 parts by mass or less of fluorocarbon resin as a top layer coating of the magnetic steel sheet, and preferably making the kinetic friction coefficient of a surface of the insulating coating 0.3 or less.

While the insulating coating of the magnetic steel sheet for use in motors and transformers and the like is required to have a certain interlayer resistance, not limited to that, but various other properties are required in view of convenience in processing and storage. Since application of the magnetic steel sheet is versatile, various types of insulating coating have been developed depending on the application.
The insulating coating can be classified broadly into three types: (1) an inorganic coating sustainable for stress relief annealing, in greater accounts of weldability and heat resistance, (2) a semi-organic coating which consists of inorganic with some organic materials, sustainable for the stress relief annealing, with the aim of combining the punching quality and weldability, and (3) a special-purpose organic coating unsustainable for the stress relief annealing. Regarding the punching quality (that is, a capability of reducing abrasion of the punching die), typically, a tendency of (3), (2), (1) in order is regarded according to better quality.
Recently, with improvement of performance of motors and transformers, performance of the magnetic steel sheet tends to improve accordingly. Since a magnetic steel sheet having excellent magnetic properties has an increased content of Si and the like, there has been a problem that the punching quality becomes bad because of increased hardness of the steel sheet.
A magnetic steel sheet having a low hardness is also required to have a more excellent punching quality to achieve cost reduction by decreasing number of times of die-grinding.
As the semi-organic coating in the above (2), a coating having chromate as a matrix of the coating and resin, such as acrylic resin, epoxy resin, polyvinylacetate, and the like, added to the matrix is mainly used because of comparatively good material characteristics (insulation performance, adhesiveness of coating, corrosion resistance, and the like). Then, as a method for improving the punching quality of the semi-organic coating, use of fluorocarbon-based resin as the resin added to the chromate is proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Publication No. 4-43715/1992 discloses a method for forming the insulating coating, in which a fluorocarbon resin or polyethylene is dispersed in the chromate (solution), and then the fluorocarbon resin is baked to be concentrated on the surface. In addition, Japanese Patent Publication No. 7-35584/1995discloses a method for forming the insulating coating, in which a treatment liquid, where a phenolic resin, perfluoroalkyloxyethyleneethanol, and the like are dispersed in the chromate, is coated and then baked. Further, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-278834/1995, Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-286283/1995, and Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 7-331453/1995 also disclose the magnetic steel sheet in which the fluorocarbon-based resin is present as the outer or inner layer of the resin particles in the inorganic coating consisting of chromate.
Although these methods improve the punching quality of the magnetic steel sheet, the improvement was not sufficient for the magnetic steel sheet having a high hardness. Even when these methods are used for the magnetic steel sheet having a low hardness, still higher punching quality has been also required.
In addition, in these methods, the fluorocarbon resin was unstable and thus uniform and well-adhesive coating was not obtained.
On the other hand, in case the organic coating like (3) was coated, the improvement of the punching quality was also inadequate.
The punched, magnetic steel sheets are stacked and used for cores. In such stacking, the steel sheets must be slid among them to align edges of the stacked steel sheets, however, a poor sliding performance prevents the processing. On the contrary, it is known that the sliding performance is improved by making the surface of the steel sheets dull-like (pear-surface-like) or giving an insulating coating having a rough surface so that air easily enters the space between the steel sheets to reduce sticking of the steel sheets.
On the other hand, with improvement of the performance of the magnetic steel sheet, the thickness of the sheets tends to reduce and number of sheets stacked increases accordingly, thus the sliding performance of the steel sheets is important in the stacking. In this case, for the traditional dull steel sheets, performance of the magnetic steel sheet becomes bad in view of its magnetic properties, and for the steel sheets with the insulating coating having a roughed surface-roughness, there has been a problem that while the stick among the steel sheets reduces, dust is liable to generate.

Electrical sheet having insulating coating and insulating coating


A synchronous circuit includes a first circuit block operating in synchronism with a first clock signal, and a second circuit block operating in synchronism with a second clock signal having a frequency lower than that of the first clock signal. The first circuit block includes a frame synchronizing circuit for detecting a synchronous pattern contained in input data having a frame format having a supervisory control data part and an information part, the supervisory control data part including pointer information indicative of a beginning of the information part. The first circuit block includes a synchronizing unit for generating, from the synchronous pattern, a synchronizing control signal for synchronizing the operation of the second circuit block with the operation of the first circuit block. The first circuit block includes a pulse generator for generating a first frame pulse signal from the first clock signal. The second circuit block includes an information part detecting unit for generating a second frame pulse signal having a frequency lower than that of the first frame pulse signal from the second clock signal and the synchronizing control signal, the first frame pulse signal being synchronized with the beginning of the information part.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to synchronization circuits, and more particularly to a synchronization circuit in which a frame synchronization is established using a pointer.
2. Description of the Related Art
A synchronization multiplexing system is widely employed in the field of digital transmission systems. For example, the CCITT recommends the frame format shown in FIG. 1 in an optical digital transmission system (see the CCITT Recommendations G. 707, 708 and 709). The frame format shown in FIG. 1 is used to multiplex pieces of 50 Mbps digital data so as to transmit multiplexed data at a bit rate of a few Gbps. One frame consists of nine rows and has an overhead 1 and a payload 2. Each of the nine rows has 9N-byte overhead data, and 261N-byte payload data, wherein N is an arbitrary integer. Supervisory control information is contained in the overhead 1, and information to be actually transmitted, that is, a virtual container (VC) 3 is contained in the payload 2.
The beginning position of the virtual container is indicated by pointers H1 and H2 included in the overhead 1. The frame, format shown in FIG. 1 is the format of a frame transmitted at a bit rate equal to N times 155.52 Mbps, and is called an STM(Synchronous Transport Module)-N. According to the aforementioned CCITT Recommendations, a plurality of virtual containers 3 are included in the payload 2 of the STM-N frame format, and a plurality of pairs of pointers, such as pointers H1 and H2, are included in the overhead 1 of the STM-N frame format. Alternatively, according to the CCITT Recommendations, one virtual container 3 may be included in the payload 2 of the STM-N frame format, and a pair of pointers may be included in the overhead 1. The latter frame format is called concatenation, and the present invention is concerned with the concatenation frame format.
FIG. 2 is a block diagram of a synchronization circuit in a digital transmission system. The synchronization circuit shown in FIG. 2 comprises a frame synchronization unit 101, a frame counter 102, a decoder 103, a pointer latch 104, a payload counter 105, a comparator 106, a VC counter 107, and a zero detector 108. A clock signal shown in (A) of FIG. 3 is applied to the frame synchronizing unit 101, the frame counter 102, the pointer latch 104, the payload counter 105 and the VC counter 107.
As shown in (B) of FIG. 3, data transmitted in the frame format shown in FIG. 1 is applied to the frame synchronizing unit 101, which detects a framing pattern contained in the overhead 1. In (B) of FIG. 3, "OH" indicates the overhead 1. In response to the detection of the framing pattern, the frame counter 102 starts to count the number of bytes in the STM-N frame. The decoder 103 decodes the counter value of the frame counter 102, and generates a data enable signal shown in (C) of FIG. 3. The data enable signal causes the payload counter 105 to operate only while the payload 2 is being received. Further, the decoder 103 generates a latch timing pulse when the decoder 103 decodes the counter value indicated by the pointers H1 and H2. The latch timing pulse generated by the decoder 103 is applied to the pointer latch 104.
The pointer latch 104 latches the pointers H1 and H2 contained in the overhead 1 with the latch timing pulse, and outputs them to the comparator 106. The comparator 106 outputs a reset pulse to the VC counter 107 when the counter value of the payload counter 105 coincides with the pointer value latched in the pointer latch 104. In response to receipt of the reset pulse, the zero detector 108 detects a counter value of zero in the VC counter 107, and generates a frame pulse. As shown in (D) of FIG. 3, the frame pulse indicates the beginning position of the virtual container VC of the input data. The VC counter 107 counts the number of bytes included in the virtual container VC, and is reset every one-frame period.
It is required that the synchronization circuit operates at higher speeds as the frame bit rate increases. For example, a high-speed LSI circuit is required to handle a high-bit-rate signal having a bit rate of 622.08 Mbps (STM-4) or 2.48832 Gbps (STM-16). As is well known, compound semiconductor devices, such as GaAs devices, are capable of operating at speeds higher than CMOS devices. However, the compound semiconductor devices need more energy than the CMOS devices. In a case where the synchronous circuit shown in FIG. 2 is constructed using compound semiconductor devices, it consumes a large amount of energy.

Synchronization circuit for establishing frame synchronism using pointers in a digital transmission system


A method for drilling deviated or horizontal wells is facilitated by the use of a scleroglucan-containing aqueous drilling mud. The use of such drilling muds is environmentally and economically advantageous over the use of oil-based drilling muds and is superior to the use of other aqueous-based drilling muds in terms of lubricating power and carrying capacity. Preferably the drilling mud contains unrefined scieroglucan.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the application of a mud comprising scleroglucan to horizontal or directional boreholes and in particular to boreholes having a deviation angle with respect to the vertical of between 40.degree. and 70.degree..
2. Description of the Related Art
The drilling mud is a more or less complex mixture of a base liquid, water or oil, and various products, used for drilling wells. This mud, injected in the drill-pipe string, circulates by a rising movement in the annular space contained between the walls of the geological formations drilled and the pipe string.
In the case of vertical drilling, the flow of the mud in the annular space is most often of the laminar type. This flow ensures removal of the cuttings dislodged at the working face which are transported toward the surface in the annular space and removed at the surface. Bailing-up of the drilling bit is thus avoided.
In laminar flow, a particle situated at the centre of the annular space has a velocity greater than the average velocity and a velocity less than the average velocity in the vicinity of the walls of the formations or of the pipe string. A particle transported to a point of low velocity will have a tendency to topple or to stay there. If the flow rate is too low, every particle will have a tendency to go back down because of gravity. In order to avoid this phenomenon and to ensure good cleaning of the drilling well, it is most often sufficient in vertical drilling to increase the viscosity of the mud so that its carrying capacity is such that the drill-cuttings can be held in quasi-suspension in the mud when the flow rate of the latter is zero.
In the case of deviated wells, however, these phenomena of falling back under gravity are more difficult to avoid and most often veritable beds of cuttings of variable thickness which are formed along the lower generatrix of the well are observed. These accumulations can be particularly big in the region of changes in the degree of inclination of the well, in the curves of the drilling, and can in consequence reduce the quality of the cleaning of the well and cause increased problems of friction and thus decrease the rate of penetration of the well, or indeed cause blocking of the drilling. In the case of drilling with a water-based mud, the solution usually employed for freeing and removing or reducing the accumulations of drill-cuttings during drilling of deviated wells consists most often in causing a change of the flow conditions. For this purpose, for example fixed volumes of a mud having a viscosity considerably less than or considerably greater than that used under normal conditions are periodically injected into the well in order thus to cause either turbulent conditions characterised by equal velocities throughout the annular space, or plug conditions characterised by velocities which are practically constant and of the same direction throughout the annular space. In practice, however, this solution turns out to be tricky to implement and the results obtained are highly random.
Another solution to limit the problem of accumulation of drill-cuttings during drilling of deviated wells consists in employing as the drilling mud not a water-based mud but an oil-based mud.
Oil-based muds are characterised by a Bingham-type rheological behaviour with the existence of a viscosity even at very small shears. The muds retain this characteristic in conditions at the bottom of a well and at high temperature. Most of the time, the muds consist of an emulsion of water in 30 to 40 % by volume of oil. If the viscosity of the emulsion is not sufficient, it is adjusted to the desired value by the addition of inorganic colloids such as bentonite for example.
It is noticed that, with the use of oil-based muds, accumulations of drill-cuttings and problems connected with these accumulations are less critical than with water-based drilling. Oil-based muds furthermore have a much higher lubricating power than water-based muds.
These muds however are not only expensive but can be tricky to employ, in particular in offshore drilling, but above all they are extremely polluting to the point that the legislation of some countries forbids their disposal. The muds and the cuttings which they carry up must therefore increasingly be processed at the surface in order to avoid any pollution.
This is why in drilling oil-based muds are used only in a very limited number of cases.
Furthermore, the introduction of solids in order to adjust the viscosity amongst other things increases the risks of clogging and complicates the problems of removal at the surface.

Application of scleroglucan muds to drilling deviated wells


A method of magnetically-controllable, electroslag melting of titanium and titanium-based alloys which provides high homogeneity over substantially the total ingot length is provided. The homogeneity of the ingot is achieved by maintaining the maximum permissible values of electrode gap and consumable electrode feed rate substantially constant. The value of the melting current increases due to the decreasing melting voltage. The direction and intensity of magnetically-controllable, toroidal rotation are kept substantially constant by maintaining the melting current and electrode gap at substantially constant values. The quality of the metal was increased due to the reduction of harmful gas inclusions by using the fluoride-chloride flux. This metal purification is optimized by the toroidal rotation of melt. Smooth regulation of the melt direction is provided by using the device for stabilizing the melting current.

1. Field of The Invention
This invention relates generally to the electrometallurgical melting of titanium and titanium-based alloys. In particular, it relates to the electroslag of titanium and titanium-based alloys, and more specifically to magnetically-controllable, electroslag melting of these metals.
This invention may find application in the production of titanium, and particularly low alloyed titanium-based alloys, characterized by a high density of cast metal, absence of gas pores and inclusions, and low contents of admixtures, thereby allowing application of the above materials in aviation and shipbuilding industries, power generation, chemistry, nuclear power sector and manufacture of home appliances.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Methods of electron beam and induction melting of titanium and its alloys, have been described in E. L. Morozov et al., "Investigation of Various Methods of Melting and Casting of Titanium Alloys", TMS/AIME, P.O. Box 430,420 Commonwealth Dr., Warrendale, Pa., 15086, 1980; D. J. Chronister, S. W. Scott. D. R. Stickle, D. Eylon, F. H. Froes, "Induction of Skull Melting of Titanium and Other Reactive Alloys", Journal of Metals, September 1986, pp. 51-54.
Common drawbacks of metals produced by these methods include low density and the presence of gas pores, cavities, and inclusions. Serious drawbacks exist in the chemical and physical heterogeneity caused by the low hydrodynamic activity of metallurgical melt in the course of crystallization.
A well-known and widely used commercial method of melting titanium and its alloys is the vacuum arc melting (VAM) method which is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,127,468. This technology is over fifty years old, and resources for improving the quality of the metal produced by this technology have been exhausted. Metals produced by this method are characterized by the presence of gas pores and inclusions, as well as a nonuniform distribution of alloying elements and admixtures. Arc burning and passage of an electric current through the metallurgical pool result in a certain hydrodynamic activity of the melt, which is higher than in cases of electron beam and induction melting. However, the flows existing in the metal pool have an unfavorable orientation, thereby making it deeper in the central area. As a result, an area of loose metal featuring concentration of gas pores and inclusions is formed in the axial portion of an ingot.
Electroslag processes possess extensive, but as yet unused, possibilities of producing chemically and physically homogeneous metal (see e.g. "Avtomaticheskaya Svarka", No.10, 1963, pp. 37-42, published by the Ukrainian SSR Academy of Sciences, Kiev and U.S. Pat. No. 3,989,091). In the melting oftitanium and its alloys, the known electroslag melting technology does not take into account the effect of magnetohydrodynamic processes inside slag and metal pools on crystallization of metal.
In contrast to other known technologies of electric melting of titanium and its alloys, melting with the use of electroslag processes involve the presence of a slag pool above the metal one. The presence of the slag pool featuring a high density of electric current has a wide range of hydrodynamic effects on metal crystallization. These effects may be both positive and negative. In the well-known processes of electroslag refining (ESR), the hydrodynamics of the slag pool (intense) and metal pool (less intense) is governed by electromagnetic forces arising from the interaction between the melting current, I.sub.m, and the proper magnetic field. The size of the electrode gap and melting current, I.sub.m, along with its value, density, and passage path in slag and metal melts constitute major reasons for the motion of a current-carrying fluid. In the above-mentioned studies, the electric current, which had been decreasing in the course of melting, was stabilized through the variation of the electrode feed rate.
The known electroslag melting processes do not include any mechanisms for stabilizing the crystal structure and ingot quality over its whole height through stabilization of the hydrodynamic situation in slag and metal melts. Permanent variations of hydrodynamics in the course of the melting process are caused by naturally decreasing the melting current, I.sub.m, as the electrode is melted. A decrease in the voltage drop across the electrode, U.sub.e, which is not registered in the course of melting, automatically increases the voltage drop across the slag pool, U.sub.s : U.sub.m =U.sub.e +U.sub.s =const.
Since in the known electroslag processes of titanium melting the value of U.sub.m is constant (it is picked up from terminals of the power supply secondary winding and is measured either on these terminals or on current leads of electrode and crystallizer), the value of U.sub.s, which is permanently increasing in the course of melting, results in a smooth decrease of I.sub.m. Here, current passage path and current density are changed as a result of the increase in the electrode gap. The only known method of stabilizing the value of I.sub.m, other than by the size of the electrode gap, consists of increasing the rate of electrode feed into the pool. The stabilization of the current value however, as in the case of the constant electrode feed rate, is accompanied by an increase in the electrode gap. As the voltage drops across the slag pool, U.sub.s increases. In so doing, the melting process is accompanied by permanent changes in the melting current path within the electrode gap, the corresponding magnetic field, and the bulk electromagnetic forces, causing toroidal motion of the melt. Therefore, in order to avoid violating the electroslag process at the end of melting by electrode withdrawal from the slag pool and arc burning at the slag surface, the initial stage of melting is carried out at a minimal sized electrode gap. From the standpoint of hydrodynamics, these are the most unfavorable conditions of ingot crystallization because of formation along the ingot axis of an area of low-quality, loose metal containing gas pores and inclusions. In addition, the initial stage of melting is characterized by nonuniform distribution of alloying elements and admixtures in the metal. Electrode end face lift to the slag pool surface results in the increase of slag pool involvement in the toroidal motion of the melt, increase in metal homogeneity, and elimination of the low-quality metal area along the ingot axis. The Most favorable conditions for ingot crystallization are created by a stable electroslag melting of the electrode next to the slag pool surface.
The prior art melting processes do not permit the stabilization of the electrode melting mode in the upper layers of the pool with a constant electrode gap. As the electrode "exits" to the slag pool surface an unstable electric arc occurs at the slag pool surface, accompanied by sputtering (slopping) of slag and inadmissible low quality of ingot formation.

Method of Magnetically-controllable, electroslag melting of titanium and titanium-based alloys and apparatus for carrying out same


A seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for a transplanting machine which can steadily and certainly discriminate good seedlings with soil and no good seedlings with soil without causing operation failure by deposition of a clump of earth even if external vibration and/or slight disturbance is caused in transporting attitude of the seedling with soil. The seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for a transplanting machine transports good seedlings having leaf portions grown into a normal length and no good seedlings having leaf portions not grown into a normal length. The apparatus comprises a strip form transporting belt transporting good and no good seedlings with soil in an attitude wherein they are fallen sideways and have concentrically mounted soil depositing portions on one outer side edge portion of the strip form transporting belt. A clamping belt clamps leaf portions of good seedlings with soil among the good and no good seedlings mounted on the strip form transporting belt. The strip form transporting belt has its one outer side edge deflected downwardly for slipping down only no good seedlings having leaf portions not clamped by the clamping belt.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for a transplanting machine which automatically transplants seedlings with soil to a farm field. The seedlings with soil may be paper potted seedlings grown in a cardboard tube, or potted seedlings grown in a pot or a tray, for example. More specifically, the invention relates to a seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for a transplanting machine which can select good seedlings with soil having leaf portions grown to a normal length, and no good seedlings with soil having leaf portions not grown to the normal length or having no leaf.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Examined Utility Model Publication No. 2-29843 discloses a seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for a transplanting machine of the type set forth above.
FIG. 7 shows the seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for the transplanting machine disclosed in the above-identified publication. As shown in FIG. 7, arbitrarily arranged along a transport path are a seedling selecting and transporting conveyer 1 for selecting good paper potted seedlings P having leaf portions P1 grown to a normal length, and no good paper potted seedlings P' having leaf portions P1' not grown to the normal length, a seedling supply conveyer supplying the good and no good paper potted seedlings P and P' to the seedling selecting and transporting conveyer 1, a transporting conveyer 2, and a seedling aligning and transporting conveyer 3 transporting the selected good paper potted seedlings P to a seedling planting mechanism.
Each of the foregoing conveyers 1 to 3 is constructed by stretching a plurality of round string belts 10 between parallel pulleys 4 to 9. In addition to the pulleys and round string belts, the seedling selecting and transporting conveyer 1 includes a belt 11 with a wing strip, one strip form belt 12 mounting soil depositing portions P2, P2' of the good and no good paper potted seedlings P and P', and a pair of wide belts 13 and 14 arranged for clamping, from the upper and lower sides thereof, only leaf portions P1 of the good paper potted seedlings P, namely the leaf portions P1 grown to the normal length.
Selection of the good paper potted seedlings P and the no good paper potted seedlings P' by the seedling selecting and transporting conveyer 1 is performed by mounting the soil depositing portions P2 and P2' of the good paper potted seedlings P and the no good paper potted seedlings P' on one strip form belt 12, as shown in FIG. 8.
Namely, when a paper potted seedling transported is a good paper potted seedling P, it is transported in the condition wherein it is fallen sideways with its leaf portion clamped by a pair of upper and lower wide belts 13 and 14. On the other hand, when a paper potted seedling transported is a no good paper potted seedling P', it falls down into a hollow space 1a since the wide belts 13 and 14 cannot clamp the leaf portion.
However, the conventional seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus is constructed by exposing the pulleys 4, to 9, around which the round string belts 10 and the belt 11 with the wing strip are mounted. With such an arrangement, a clump of earth may deposit on the pulley thereby easily causing the round string belts to move off the pulleys. Furthermore, since each of the conveyers 1 to 3 are formed by a combination of the pulleys and the round string belts, construction is complicated.
Also, in the seedling selecting and transporting conveyer 1, selective transportation is performed in the condition wherein the seedling is fallen sideways with the soil depositing portion mounted on one strip form belt 12 and the leaf portion P1 of the good paper potted seedling P clamped by the wide belts 13 and 14. With such an arrangement, balance may be easily destroyed even by slight offset of the position of the soil depositing portion P2 mounted on the strip form belt 12. For example, even by vibration associated with traveling of the transporting machine, the soil depositing portion P2 may slip off the strip form belt 12 thereby placing the seedling in an outwardly drooped condition. Furthermore, the tendency to destroy balance becomes higher for shorter length of the soil depositing portion P2.
In the condition where the soil depositing portion P2 droops outwardly from the strip form belt 12, a good paper potted seedling P is still transported with its the leaf portion P1 clamped between the wide belts 13 and 14. Therefore, when a good paper potted seedling P is transferred from the seedling selecting and transporting conveyer 1 to the transfer conveyer 2, the drooping soil depositing portion P2 collides with the pulley 6, or the like, of the transfer conveyer 2 to potentially cause difficulty in transfer to the transfer conveyer 2.
Furthermore, even when the good paper potted seedlings P having a dropping soil deposition portion P2 can be transferred to the transfer conveyer 2, the soil depositing portion P2 may collide on the pulley 6, or the like of the transfer conveyer 2 thereby causing delay of the transfer timing of the soil depositing portion P2 from the transfer timing of the leaf portion P1. In other words, the leaf portion P1 of a good paper potted seedling P is transferred in an attitude wherein its leaf portion is tilted toward the downstream side in the transporting direction in relation to its soil depositing portion P2. Thus, the good paper potted seedling P contacts with other good paper potted seedlings transferred preceding and following the objective good paper potted seedling thereby possibly disturbing alignment. This results in a difficult transplanting operation.

Seedling with soil selecting and transporting apparatus for transplanting machine


An endoleak preventing stent graft system, used for preventing the endoleaks except for type II endoleak, comprising: a metal mesh support layer fit for the shape of the artery blood vessel; a cover film layer covering on said metal mesh support layer; and a flexible mesh layer covering outside said cover film layer, said flexible mesh layer fills up the gap formed between said cover film layer and the inwall of said artery blood vessel under the effect of the flexibility of itself.

The arterial aneurysm is one of the most common disabling and lethal diseases, and may occur in any artery of human body, especially in the elderly. The arterial aneurysm could appear as many sizes, shapes and positions. The Ad Hoc Committee on Reporting Standards of the Society for Vascular Survey defines the arterial aneurysm as a permanent and limited enlargement of the aorta to greater than 1.5 times diameter of the normal aorta, so as to standardize and classify in clinical decision making.
Compared to the traditional open operation, the endovascular graft exclusion treatment using a covered stent for the arterial aneurysm and the aortic dissection has advantages that less wound, fast recovery and short hospital stays. However, a specific complication, endoleak, cannot be avoided completely so far. The endoleak is one of the most important complications of the endovascular graft exclusion, and has an occurrence rate of 45%. The endoleak can be divided into type I to type V, and the following describes the type I endoleak which relates to the present invention.
Type I endoleak is caused by the bad fit between the stent film and the landing zone of the blood vessel inwall, which further leads to a blood leak to the aneurysm cavity from the proximal end or the distal end of the covered stent. Type I endoleak has an occurrence rate of about 10%, and can be found by an angiography during operation. The type I endoleak may cause a high pressure in the aneurysm cavity or a continuous enlargement which could lead to a risk of rupture of the arterial aneurysm, so an intraoperative treatment must be done immediately.
It is generally acknowledged that, if the length of the proximal landing zone is less than 10 mm or/and the aneurysmal neck angle is more than 60°, the occurrence rate of the type I endoleak will rise obviously. Wherein the landing zone means a normal blood vessel at the proximal end and the distal end of enough length for adequately fitting with the stent. Such blood vessels are called landing zones (LZ), including the proximal LZ and the distal LZ. The aneurysmal neck angle refers to the angle of the medial axis of the aneurysmal neck and the medial axis of the aortic trunk.
At present, the treatments for type I endoleak found during the operation includes balloon angioplasty, adding a short stent graft or bare stent, or embolotherapy using cyanoacrylate, Onyx glue, spring ring or fibrin glue. Such treatments can deal with most type I endoleak, but may be difficult to perform in some situations, such as a very short proximal landing zone in abdominal aortic aneurysm, in which the adding of a short stent graft to the proximal end could influence the blood-supply of the renal artery.
Maldonado et al. summarize the effect of the above-mentioned treatment: the success rate of the embolization agent cyanoacrylate is 92.3%, the success rate of the short stent graft to the proximal end is 80%, and the success rate of the spring ring is 75%. No matter which treatment is used, the problem of success rate and increase of medical cost and operation time will not disappear. Moreover, the increase of the operation time will lead to a higher risk of infection during and after the operation, and the increase of the medical cost will lead to more financial burden on patients and more resource utilization of the society.


A powder coating apparatus 100 and a method of manufacturing a stator 200 are disclosed wherein the stator is set in masking caps 110, 120 such that axial end faces of the stator are masked by the masking caps, respectively, so as to define a first clearance in an area closer to a powder spray nozzle 160 and a second clearance in the other area remote from the powder spray nozzle. The first clearance closer to the powder spray nozzle 160 is set to have airflow resistance less than that of the second clearance remote from the powder spray nozzle for thereby permitting compressed air, delivered from a compressed air supply unit 150, to be discharged through the first clearance at an increased flow rate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to powder coating apparatuses and methods of applying coating powder onto an object to be coated and, more particularly, to a powder coating apparatus for applying a coating of resin powder, such as epoxy resin, onto an outer periphery of a stator of a rotary electric machine and a method of manufacturing a stator of a rotary electric machine.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the related art, attempts have heretofore been made to provide a powder coating method wherein a voltage is imparted to an object to be coated, such as a stator or rotor of a rotary electric machine, and resin powder is sprayed onto the outer periphery of the object and then thermally set to provide an insulation coating (see Japanese Patent Provisional Publication No. 2000-153218 (on pages 3 and 4 and in FIGS. 1 to 7).
By the way, during powder coating, the areas of the object, which are not to be coated, are protected by mechanical masking as proposed in the above-described related art. In such cases, it is probable for a slight clearance to occur between a masking member and an area which is not coated on the object due to a distortion in the shape of the object to be coated, resulting in the issue of being difficult to reliably achieve the powder coating only on a desired area.

Powder coating apparatus and method of manufacturing stator of rotary electric machine


The invention provides a method for the solubilization and/or stabilization of polypeptides, especially proteins, using cyclodextrin selected from the group consisting of hydroxypropyl, hydroxyethyl, glucosyl, maltosyl and maltotriosyl derivatives of .beta.- and .gamma.-cyclodextrin. Solubilized and/or stabilized compositions comprising a polypeptide, especially a protein, and the selected cyclodextrin are also described.

Cyclodextrins are cyclic oligosaccharides. The most common cyclodextrins are .alpha.-cyclodextrin, which is composed of a ring of six glucose residues; .beta.-cyclodextrin, which is composed of a ring of seven glucose residues; and .gamma.-cyclodextrin, which is composed of a ring of eight glucose units. The inside cavity of a cyclodextrin is lipophilic, while the outside of the cyclodextrin is hydrophilic; this combination of properties has led to widespread study of the natural cyclodextrins, particularly in connection with pharmaceuticals, and many inclusion complexes have been reported. .beta.-Cyclodextrin has been of special interest because of its cavity size, but its relatively low aqueous solubility (about 1.8% w/v at 25.degree. C.) and attendant nephrotoxicity have limited its use in the pharmaceutical field.
Attempts to modify the properties of the natural cyclodextrins have resulted in the development of heptakis (2,6-di-O-methyl)-.beta.-cyclodextrin, heptakis (2,3,6-tri-O-methyl)-.beta.-cyclodextrin, hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin, .beta.-cyclodextrin-epichlorohydrin polymer and others. For a comprehensive review of cyclodextrins and their use in pharmaceutical research, see Pitha et al, in Controlled Drug Delivery, ed. S. D. Bruck, Vol. I, CRC Press, Boca Raton, Fla., pp. 125-148 (1983). For an even more recent overview, see Uekama et al, in CRC Critical Reviews in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems, Vol. 3 (1), 1-40 (1987); Uekama, in Topics in Pharmaceutical Sciences 1987, eds. D. D. Breimer and P. Speiser, Elsevier Science Publishers B. V. (Biomedical Division), 181-194 (1987); and Pagington, Chemistry in Britain, pp. 455-458 (May 1987).
Inclusion complexes of .alpha.-, .beta.- or .gamma.-cyclodextrin or their mixtures with a variety of drugs have been described by numerous parties and various advantages have been attributed to the complexes. These descriptions include the following:
__________________________________________________________________________ U.S. ACTIVE INVENTOR PAT. NO. INGREDIENT USE ADVANTAGE __________________________________________________________________________ Noda et al 4,024,223 menthol &/or antiphlogistic, reduced unpleasant methyl analgesic odor, increased salicylate wet packing effect Szejili et al 4,228,160 indomethacin anti-inflam- reduced ulcerative matory, pro- effect tective during pregnancy Hayashi et al 4,232,009 .omega.-halo-PGI.sub.2 hypotensive, increased stability analogs uterine con- traction stimulating, blood platelet aggregation inhibiting Matsumoto et al 4,351,846 3-hydroxy-and uterine contrac- increased stability 3-oxo- tion stimulating prostaglandin analogs Yamahira et al 4,352,793 bencyclane anticonvulsant, increased stability fumarate vasodilative at strong acid pH, faster gastric emptying, higher blood concentrations, less irritation, improved hemolytic activity Lipari 4,383,992 steroids- hormonal improved water corticosteroids, solubility, increased androgens, therapeutic response anabolic in eye steroids, estrogens, progestagens Nicolau 4,407,795 p-hexadecyl- antiathero- enhanced aminobenzoic sclerotic bioavailability acid sodium salt Tuttle.sup.1 4,424,209 3,4-diisobutyr- cardiac yloxy-N-[3-(4- contractility isobutyryloxy- agent phenyl)-1- methyl-.alpha.- propyl]-.beta.- phenethylamine Tuttle 4,425,336 3,4-dihydroxy- cardiac capable of oral N-[3-(4-hydroxy- contractility administration phenyl)-1- agent methyl-n- propyl]-.beta.- phenethylamine Wagu et al 4,438,106 EPA and DHA deodorized, (fatty acids) storage stable Masuda et al.sup.2 4,474,811 2-(2-fluoro-4- anti- reduced eye biphenylyt)pro- inflammatory irritation, pionic acid ophthalmic higher concen- or salt trations, no side effects, highly soluble, long stability, excellent pharmacological effects Shinoda et al 4,478,995 acid addition anti-ulcer excellent water salt of (2'- solubility, good benzyloxycar- absorption in diges- bonyl)phenyl tive tract, good trans-4-guani- anti-ulcer activity dinomethylcyclo- hexanecarboxylate Hayashi et al 4,479,944 PGI.sub.2 analog for treatment of stabalization against artereosclerosis, decomposition cardiac failure or thrombosis Hayashi et al 4,479,966 6,9-methano- for hypertension, increased stability PGI.sub.2 analogs cerebral throm- bosis and the like Harada et al 4,497,803 lankacidin- antibiotic for enhanced water group antibiotic swine dysentery solubility and stability, increased rate and amount of absorption Masuda 4,499,085 prostaglandin treating anoxia analog of brain cells Szejtli et al 4,518,588 phendiline, i.e. coronary dilator improved water sol- N-(1-phenyl- calcium ubility, accelerated ethyl)-3,- antagonist and increased in diphenylpro- vivo resorption pylamine or its & dissolution at pH/ hydrochloride temperature of gastric acid Szejtli et al 4,524,068 piperonyl synergizes easily handled butoxide pesticidal effect crystalline solid; of known insecti- improved water sol- cides and fungi- ubility, increased cides absorption & velocity of penetration through biological membranes Jones 4,555,504 a cardiac cardiac effect high aqueous solu- glycoside bility, apparently better bioavail- ability Uekama et al.sup.3 4,565,807 pirprofen anti-inflam- improved stability matory, to oxidation, analgesic, freedom from bitter antipyretic taste, less irrita- ting Ueda et al 4,575,548 2-nitroxymethyl- for vascular non-volatile powder 6-chloropyridine disorders vs. volative oil Ohwaki et al.sup.4 4,598,070 tripamide anti-hyper- improved solubility tensive Chiesi et al 4,603,123 piroxicam, i.e. anti-inflam- 4-hydroxy-2- matory, analgesic methyl-N-2- pyridyl-2H-1,2- benzothiazine-3- carboxamide-1,1- dioxide Hasegawa et al 4,608,366 mobenzoxamine, antiemetic, storage stability, i.e. 1-[2-(4- antispasmodic better absorption methoxybenzhy- through digestive dryloxy)ethyl]- tract 4-(3-(4-fluoro- benzoyl)propyl]- piperazine Hirai et al.sup.2 4,659,696 polypeptide improving drug absorption by non- oral and non- injection routes Szejtli et al 4,623,641 PGI.sub.2 methyl anti-ulcer improved storage ester stability Ninger et al 4,663,316 unsaturated antibiotic, enhanced stability phosphorus- antifungal, against oxidation containing antitumor antibiotics, including phosphotrienin Fukazawa et al 4,675,395 hinokitiol bactericidal, improved water sol- bacteriostatic ubility, less odor Shimizu et al 4,728,509 2-amino-7- anti-allergic, improved water sol- isopropyl-5- anti- ubility to increase oxo-5H-[1]- inflammatory concentration to benzopyrano- therapeutic levels [2,3-b]pyridine- in nasal drops and 3-carboxylic acid eye drops Shibanai 4,728,510 a milk bath improved stability et al.sup.6 component preparation Karl et al 4,751,095 aspartame dipeptide stabilization from sweetener hydrolysis __________________________________________________________________________ .sup.1 Tuttle also describes use of 2,6di-O-methyl-cyclodextrin to form the inclusion complex. .sup.2 This may not be an inclusion complex, but simply a physical mixture. .sup.3 This is a mixture and/or an inclusion compound. .sup.4 The inventors also mention prior known solubility improvements of cyclodextrin inclusions of barbituric acid derivatives, mefenamic acid, indomethacin and chloramphenicol. .sup.5 The inventors refer to this as an "occlusion" compound. .sup.6 The inventors also mention a derivative of cyclodextrin and a cyclodextrincontaining starch decomposition product for use in forming th clathrate.
Among the patents listed above, only Hirai et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,659,696 appears to relate to proteins or polypeptides. It would appear from the claims of the Hirai et al patent, however, that an inclusion complex is not formed and that what the invention provides is a pharmaceutical composition consisting essentially of a physical mixture of a hydrophilic, physiologically active polypeptide and cyclodextrin, said composition being a uniform mixture in dosage form. The cyclodextrin may be .alpha.-, .beta.- or .gamma.-cyclodextrin, or a cyclodextrin derivative, exemplified by tri-O-methylcyclodextrin and triaminocyclodextrin, .alpha.-cyclodextrin being particularly preferred. The physiologically active peptide may be thyrotropin releasing hormone, luteinizing hormone-releasing hormone, insulin, somatostatin, growth hormone, prolactin, adrenocorticotrophic hormone, melanocyte stimulating hormone, or many others. The composition is designed for nasal, vaginal or rectal preparation, i.e. a non-oral or non-injectable route of administration is used.
Matsuyama et al, Drug Development and Industrial Pharmacy, 13(15), 2687-2691 (1987), have reported on the thermodynamics of binding aromatic amino acids to .alpha.-, .beta.- and .gamma.-cyclodextrin. Human serum albumin, which contains aromatic amino acids, was also tested as a protein model. The authors suggest that cyclodextrins may protect peptides from enzymatic hydrolysis. Also, according to Sekisui Chemical Co., Ltd.'s Japanese Kokai Tokkyo Koho JP 59/104556 (84/104556), published Jun. 16, 1984, cyclized oligosaccharides such as .beta.-cyclodextrin have been recently used in protein stabilizers which prevent denaturation of proteins and enzymes in blood. Human blood mixed with octylphenoxypoly(ethoxyethanol) and .beta.-cyclodextrin was maintained for 24 hours with little change.
Inclusion complexes of 2,6-di-O-methyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin with dibenzo[bd]pyran derivatives and salts having analgesic, antiemetic and narcosis-potentiating activities have been described in Nogradi et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,599,327; increased water solubility and thus improved biological activity have been claimed for the complexes. A review of the pharmaceutical applications of such methylated cyclodextrins has been published by Uekama, Pharm. Int., March 1985, 61-65; see also Pitha, Journal of Inclusion Phenomena 2, 477-485 (1984).
Cyclodextrin polymer has been reported by Fenyvesi et al, Chem. Pharm. Bull. 32 (2), 665-669 (1984) to improve the dissolution of furosemide. Improvements in the dissolution and absorption of phenytoin using a water-soluble .beta.-cyclodextrin epichlorohydrin polymer have been described by Uekama et al, International Journal of Pharmaceutics, 23, 35-42 (1985).
Hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin (HPBCD or HPCD) and its preparation by propylene oxide addition to .beta.-cyclodextrin were described in Gramera et al U.S. Pat. No. 3,459,731 nearly 20 years ago. Gramera et al also described the analogous preparation of hydroxyethyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin by ethylene oxide reaction with .beta.-cyclodextrin. Much more recently, Pitha and co-workers have described the improved preparation of this cyclodextrin derivative and its effects on the dissolution of various drug molecules. Pitha U.S. Pat. No. 4,596,795, dated Jun. 24, 1986, describes inclusion complexes of sex hormones, particularly testosterone, progesterone, and estradiol, with specific cyclodextrins, preferably hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and poly-.beta.-cyclodextrin. The complexes enable the sex hormones to be successfully delivered to the systemic circulation via the sublingual or buccal route; the effectiveness of this delivery is believed to be due to "the high dissolution power of hydrophilic derivatives of cyclodextrins, the non-aggregated structure of their complexes with steroids, and their low toxicity and irritancy of mouth tissue". Success with other cyclodextrins, including poly-.gamma.-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-.gamma.-cyclodextrin, have also been noted in the Pitha patent. See also Pitha et al, J. Pharm. Sci., Vol. 74, No. 9, 987-990 (September 1985), concerning the same and related studies. Pitha et al also describe in the J. Pharm. Sci. article the storage stability of tablets containing a testosterone-hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin complex and the lack of toxicity of the cyclodextrin itself, as well as the importance of the amorphous nature of the cyclodextrin derivatives and their complexes with drugs in improving dissolution properties.
The improved, optimized preparation and purification of hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin have been recently described by Pitha et al, International Journal of Pharmaceutics 29, 73-82 (1986). In the same publication, the authors have described increased water solubility for 32 drugs in concentrated (40 to 50%) aqueous solutions of hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin; improved solubilization of acetaminophen, apomorphine, butylated hydroxytoluene, chlorthalidone, cholecalciferol, dexamethasone, dicumarol, digoxin, diphenylhydantoin, estradiol, estriol, ethinylestradiol-3-methyl ether, ethisterone, furosemide, hydroflumethiazide, indomethacin, iproniazid phosphate, 17-methyltestosterone, nitroglycerin, norethindrone, ouabain, oxprenolol, progesterone, retinal, retinoic acid (all trans and salt forms), retinol, spironolactone, sulpiride, testosterone and theophylline was noted. The authors indicated this to be an extension of their earlier work with hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin, which was previously found effective for oral administration of the sex hormones to humans. Their later work reported in Pitha et al, International Journal of Pharmaceutics 29, 73-82 (1986), has also been very recently described in Pitha U.S. Pat. No. 4,727,064, dated Feb. 23, 1988. That patent claims a composition containing an amorphous complex of cyclodextrin and a drug, and a method of producing a stabilizing amorphous complex of a drug and a mixture of cyclodextrins comprising (1) dissolving an intrinsically amorphous mixture of cyclodextrin derivatives which are water soluble and capable of forming inclusion complexes with drugs in water; and (2) solubilizing lipophilic drugs into aqueous media to form a solution and form a solubilized drug/cyclodextrin complex. Work with numerous drugs has been reported in the patent, but none involves proteins or other peptides. The patent describes the preparation of various substituted amorphous cyclodextrins, including hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-.gamma.-cyclodextrin, the latter by analogous condensation of propylene oxide with .gamma.-cyclodextrin.
Uekama et al, CRC Critical Reviews in Therapeutic Drug Carrier Systems, Vol. 3 (1), pp. 140 (1987), have described the characteristics of various cyclodextrins, including hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin. The authors have presented data showing improved solubilization in water in the presence of 15 mg/mL of HPBCD for the drugs carmofur, diazepam, digitoxin, digoxin, flurbiprofen, indomethacin, isosorbide dinitrate, phenytoin, prednisolone, progesterone and testosterone. In a discussion of the metabolism and toxicity of cyclodextrins, Uekama et al have indicated that cyclodextrins at low-moderate concentrations (usually 3-8% w/v and higher) cause hemolysis, and that the methylated cyclodextrins have higher hemolytic activity than the natural cyclodextrins. Hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin is said to cause hemolysis beginning at 4.5 mM. The authors have further indicated that parenteral administration of large doses of cyclodextrins should be avoided, but that ".gamma.-cyclodextrin and hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin seem to be useful in drug solubilization for injections and liquid preparations used for mucous membranes." Use with polypeptides such as proteins is not mentioned.
JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA N.V.'s International Patent Application No. PCT/EP84/00417, published under International Publication No. WO85/02767 on Jul. 4, 1985, has described pharmaceutical compositions comprising inclusion compounds of drugs, which are unstable or only sparingly soluble in water, with partially etherified .beta.-cyclodextrin derivatives having hydroxyalkyl and optionally additional alkyl groups. Among the cyclodextrin derivatives contemplated are hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and hydroxyethyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin, while the drugs include non-steroidal anti-rheumatic agents, steroids, cardiac glycosides and derivatives of benzodiazepine, benzimidazole, piperidine, piperazine, imidazole and triazole. Preferred drugs include etomidate, ketoconazole, tubulazole, itraconazole, levocabastine and flunarizine. The pharmaceutical compositions of the invention include oral, parenteral and topical formulations, with 4 to 10% solutions of cyclodextrin derivatives being utilized to solubilize various drugs. Improved solubilities of indomethacin, digitoxin, progesterone, dexamethasone, hydrocortisone and diazepam using 10% HPBCD are shown, and an injectable formulation of diazepam in 7% HPBCD is specifically described. The relatively low cyclodextrin concentrations used reflect a desire to avoid or minimize the hemolytic effects observed at higher cyclodextrin concentrations.
Carpenter et al, The Journal of Pediatrics, 111, 507-512 (October 1987) describe intravenous infusion of 2-hydroxypropyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin, prepared as a 5% solution in water, to treat severe hypervitaminosis A. It was found that, during infusion, circulating retinyl esters increased transiently, while total vitamin A excreted in the urine was enhanced after infusion. Thus, intravenous infusion of 5% HPBCD was found to decrease in vivo levels of the vitamin, presumably by complexing with the vitamin and removing some of the excess from the body.
Formulation of a particular dihydropyridine pyridinium salt redox system for brain-specific delivery of estradiol "in a water-soluble .beta.-hydroxy-cyclodextrin" is reported by Bodor and co-workers in Estes et al, "Use of a Chemical Redox System for Brain Enhanced Delivery of Estradiol Decreases Prostate Weight," in Biological Approaches to the Controlled Delivery of Drugs., ed. R. L. Juliano, Annals of the New York Academy of Sciences, Volume 507, 1987, 334-336.
JANSSEN PHARMACEUTICA N.V.'s European Patent Application No. 86200334.0, published under EPO Publication No. 0197571 on Oct. 15, 1986, describes .gamma.-cyclodextrin derivatives which are .gamma.-cyclodextrin substituted with C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl, hydroxy C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl, carboxy C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl or C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyloxycarbonyl C.sub.1 -C.sub.6 alkyl or mixed ethers thereof. Among the specific derivatives named are hydroxypropyl-.gamma.-cyclodextrin and hydroxyethyl-.gamma.-cyclodextrin. Compositions comprising the cyclodextrin derivatives and a drug are also described. See also corresponding Muller U.S. Pat. No. 4,764,604, dated Aug. 16, 1988.
The inclusion characteristics of yet other derivatized cyclodextrins have also been described in the literature. Studies of branched cyclodextrins which are glucosyl and maltosyl derivatives of .alpha.-, .beta.- and .gamma.-cyclodextrin and their inclusion complexes with drugs have recently been reported. Uekama, in Topics in Pharmaceutical Sciences 1987., eds. D. D. Breimer and P. Speiser, Elsevier Science Publishers B. V. (Biomedical Division), 181-194 (1987), has described the effects on bio-pharmaceutical properties of maltosyl and glucosyl cyclodextrin derivatives, including enhanced drug absorption. In that publication, Uekama again indicated that the natural cyclodextrins caused hemolysis in the order of .gamma.<.alpha.<.beta.. In the case of chemically modified cyclodextrins, the order changed to hydroxyethyl-.beta.<maltosyl-.beta.<hydroxypropyl-.beta.<.beta.<methyl-.be ta..
Koizumi et al, Chem. Pharm. Bull. 35 (8), 3413-3418 (1987), have reported on inclusion complexes of poorly water-soluble drugs with glucosyl cyclodextrins, namely 6-O-.alpha.-D-glucosyl-.beta.-CD (G.sub.1 -.alpha.-CD), 6-O-.alpha.-D-glucosyl-.beta.-CD (G.sub.1 -.beta.-CD) and 6A, 6.sup.D -di-O-.alpha.-D-glucosyl-.beta.-CD (2G.sub.1 -.beta.-CD).
Okada et al, Chem. Pharm. Bull. 36 (6), 2176-2185 (1988), have reported on the inclusion complexes of poorly water-soluble drugs with maltosyl cyclodextrins, namely 6-O-.alpha.-maltosyl-.alpha.-CD (G.sub.2 -.alpha.-CD), 6-O-.alpha.-maltosyl-.beta.-CD (G.sub.2 -.beta.-CD), 6-O-.alpha.-maltosyl-.gamma.-CD (G.sub.2 -.gamma.-CD), 6-O-.alpha.-maltotriosyl-.alpha.-CD (G.sub.3 -.alpha.-CD), 6-O-.alpha.-maltotriosyl-.beta.-CD (G.sub.3 -.beta.-CD) and 6-O-.alpha.-maltotriosyl-.gamma.-CD (G.sub.3 -.gamma.-CD).
Yamamoto et al, in International Journal of Pharmaceutics 49, 163-171 (1989), have described physicochemical properties of branched .beta.-cyclodextrins such as glucosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin, maltosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and di-maltosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin, and their inclusion characteristics. Those authors report that the branched .beta.-cyclodextrins are better solubilizers for poorly water-soluble drugs and have less hemolytic activity than .beta.-cyclodextrin itself, and they suggest that glucosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and maltosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin may be especially useful in parenteral preparations.
The patent literature reflects much recent work on the branched cyclodextrins carried out by Japanese workers, as discussed below.
Japanese Kokai 63-135402 (TOKUYAMA SODA KK), published Jun. 7, 1988, describes compositions consisting of maltosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and at least one of digitoxin, nifedipine, flulubiprophene, isosorbide nitrate, phenytoin, progesterone or testosterone. The compositions have improved water solubility and reduced erythrocyte destruction, are safe for humans and can be used as injections, eye drops, syrups, and for topical and mucous membrane application.
Japanese Kokai 62-281855 (DAIKIN KOGYO KK), published Dec. 7, 1987, describes stable, water-soluble inclusion compounds of maltosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin with a variety of vitamins and hormones, e.g. steroid hormones such as prednisolone, hydrocortisone and estriol. These lipophilic vitamins and hormones can thus be used as aqueous solutions.
Japanese Kokai 63-036793 (NIKKEN CHEM KK), published Feb. 17, 1988, describes the preparation of dimaltosyl-.gamma.-cyclodextrin and its general use in medicines.
Japanese Kokai 62-106901 (NIKKEN CHEM KK), published May 18, 1987, describes the preparation of diglucosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and its general use for pharmaceuticals.
Japanese Kokai 61-236802 (NIKKEN CHEM KK), published Oct. 22, 1986, describes the preparation of maltosyl-.gamma.-cyclodextrin and its general use with drugs.
Japanese Kokai 61-197602 (NIKKEN CHEM KK), published Sep. 1, 1986, describes the preparation of maltosyl-.beta.-cyclodextrin and its expected use in medicines.
Japanese Kokai 61-070996 (NIKKEN CHEM KK), published Apr. 11, 1986, describes the preparation of maltosyl-.alpha.-cyclodextrin and its general use in pharmaceuticals.
Japanese Kokai 63-027440 (SANRAKU OCEAN), published Feb. 5, 1988, describes compositions containing a water-insoluble or slightly soluble drug together with glucosylated branched cyclodextrin. Among the drugs mentioned are steroid hormones.
Japanese Kokai 62-164701 (SHOKUHIN SANGYO BIO), published Jul. 21, 1987, describes the preparation of diglucosyl-.alpha.-cyclodextrin and its general use in medicine.
Japanese Kokai 62-003795 (TOKUYAMA SODA KK), published Jan. 9, 1987, describes production of glucose and maltoligosaccharide (2-4 glucose units) derivatives of .alpha.-, .beta.- and .gamma.-cyclodextrin and their use as stabilizers for pharmaceuticals.
In recent years, there has been a tremendous increase in the number of products and potential products containing polypeptides, especially proteins, intended for therapeutic or diagnostic or analytical use. Typically, the proteins or other peptides are formulated in aqueous solution for injection or for use in diagnostic or analytical applications. Unfortunately, proteins often suffer from solubility and/or stability problems. Some proteins, for example, are not water-soluble. Others are soluble in water but still suffer from stability problems caused by protein degradation/denaturation, dimerization and/or polymerization, and the like, any of which may lead to inactivation. This seriously limits shelf-life and often imposes low-temperature storage requirements and restrictions on mechanical movement.
There are numerous causes of protein/peptide instability or degradation, including covalent bond reactions, such as hydrolysis, and the denaturation process. In the case of denaturation, the conformation or three-dimensional structure of the protein is disturbed and the protein unfolds from its usual globular structure. Rather than refolding to its natural conformation, hydrophobic interaction may cause clumping of molecules together, or aggregation, or it may cause refolding to an unnatural conformation. Either of these end results entails diminution or loss of biological activity. For a summary of the causes of protein instability, see Wang et al, Journal of Parenteral Science and Technology, Technical Report No. 10, "Parenteral Formulations of Proteins and Peptides: Stability and Stabilizers", Supplement Volume 42, Number 25, 1988, pp. S3-S26.
The Wang et al publication referenced above also summarizes the art's use of various excipients to stabilize parenteral formulations of proteins and other peptides, including use of serum albumin, amino acids, fatty acids and phospholipids, surfactants, metals, polyols, reducing agents, metal chelating agents, polyvinylpyrrolidone, hydrolyzed gelatin and ammonium sulfate, including agents used as cryoprotectants, which prevent or lessen denaturation under freezing conditions or lyophilization, such as carbohydrates, alcohols, polyvinylpyrrolidone and glutamic acid. Examples of excipients proposed by the art for stabilizing specific proteins are described in Hayashi et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,457,916, issued Jul. 3, 1984, KYOWA HAKKO KOGYO CO, LTD.'s European Patent Publication No. 0123291 and E. I. DUPONT DE NEMOURS AND COMPANY'S European Patent Publication No. 0231132.
The Hayashi et al patent describes a method for stabilizing Tumor Necrosis Factor (TNF) by adding a stabilizing agent selected from a nonionic surfactant, at least one substance selected from D-glucose, D-galactose, D-xylose, D-glucuronic acid, a salt of D-glucuronic acid, trehalose, a dextran and a hydroxyethyl starch and mixtures thereof. The resultant aqueous solution or powder containing TNF is said to be capable of prolonged storage without loss of activity and stable on freezing, thawing, lyophilization, heat-treatment or the like.
European Patent Publication No. 0123291, published Oct. 31, 1984, describes a method for stabilizing interferon involving addition of an alkali metal salt or magnesium chloride to interferon, optionally including addition of serum albumin and freeze-drying to further enhance stability. The patent publication also describes a method for stabilizing interferon by contacting it with a saccharide selected from the group consisting of dextran, chondroitin sulfuric acid, starch, glycogen, insulin, dextrin and alginic acid salt.
European Patent Publication No. 0231132, published Aug. 5, 1987, relates to a recombinant interleukin-2 (IL-2) composition and process for making it. In discussing the prior art, the European publication refers to earlier European Patent Publication No. 0133767 as disclosing that gamma-interferon, obtainable from human leukocytes, can be stabilized by addition of albumin and/or a sugar. The sugars can include monosaccharides, disaccharides, sugar alcohols and mixtures thereof, e.g. glucose, mannose, galactose, fructose, sucrose, maltose, lactose, mannitol and xylitol. Also, European Patent Publication No. 0231132 acknowledges that protein (chymotrypsinogen and ribonuclease) stabilization using glycerol is reported by Gekko et al, Biochemistry 20, 4677-4686 (1981). European No. 0231132 itself relates to recombinant human IL-2 compositions comprising water, recombinant interleukin-2 and preferably a polyol. Suitable polyols are said to be water-miscible or water-soluble, for example polyhydroxy alcohols, monosaccharides and disaccharides including mannitol, glycerol, ethylene glycol, propylene glycol, trimethyl glycol, glucose, fructose, arabinose, mannose, maltose and sucrose. The polyol is said to increase the activity of the IL-2.
Despite the foregoing, there remains a clear and pressing need in this art for a more effective and generally applicable method and compositions for the solubilization and stabilization of polypeptides such as proteins.

Method and compositions for solubilization and stabilization of polypeptides, especially proteins


To compensate for fuser element wear, a fuser element is heated to a first temperature to fuse a first substrate at a first time, at which the fuser element has a first thickness, and is heated to a second temperature to fuse a second substrate at a second time, at which the fuse element has a second thickness smaller than the first thickness due to wear.

Many marking devices, such as printers and photocopier, use dry ink, toner or other marking media that is transferred to a substrate in a known manner, and is subsequently fused to the substrate by heat and/or pressure by a fuser that includes one or more fuser elements.
Fuser elements are typically in the form of a rotating cylinder, with an outer layer comprising a thin elastomeric layer that contacts the substrate. The adhering to the surface of the fuser roll itself. The outer layer is typically formed on an inner base, which is typically a hollow cylinder or core that is fabricated from any suitable metal such as aluminum, anodized aluminum, steel, nickel, copper, or the like. Fuser rolls commonly used have outer layers of a thickness on the order of 0.002 0.07 inches (2 to 70 mils), while typical pressures exerted on the outer layer of a fuser roll are on the order of 50 to 150 psi. A heater, usually a radiant heater, is typically positioned inside the fuser roll, and heats the fuser roll to a desired temperature, typically about 190° C. A second roll, which may also be a fuser roll that is heated like the first fuser roll, or which may be unheated, is typically positioned adjacent the first fuser roll such that a nip is formed between the two rolls. The toner-coated substrate is fed into the nip as the rolls rotate, and the toner is fused to the substrate as it passes through the nip. An example of one such fuser is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 5,700,994, which is incorporated herein by reference in its entirety.

Methods and apparatus for compensating for fuser element wear


A culture medium containing no complex animal components is useful for production of bacteria and inoculum development from which pharmaceutically important products are to be isolated.

Production of compounds of pharmaceutical significance by culturing bacteria and isolation of products produced in culture is an expanding field of science. An impediment to obtaining regulatory approval for products produced in this manner is encountered whenever the bacterial organism being cultured requires complex animal components for its growth. For example, culture of Streptococcus pneumoniae (pneumococci), to produce pneumococal polysaccharides for vaccine production, particularly at the inoculum development stage, is typically performed in media containing complex bovine or ovine derived products such as peptones, gelatins, caseins, or blood derived products. S. pneumoniae are known to be fastidious, having nutritional requirements for choline [Rave et al., J. Bact., 40, 695-704 (1940)], vitamins [Adams et al., J. Bact., 49 401-409 (1945)], and biotin. [Bohonos and Sabborow, Arch. Biochem. 3, 257-259 (1943)]. Even where subsequent culture of bacteria in media free of complex bovine or ovine derived products has been achieved, initial development of the culture inoculum of S. pneumoniae has been accomplished in blood-containing or bovine/ovine derived product media. This invention demonstrates the feasability of inoculum development in a medium devoid of these complex and potentially troublesome components.
One commercially available medium useful for bacterial culture is known as PYG. PYG contains:
______________________________________ peptone 5 g trypticase 5 g yeast extract 10 g resazurin solution 4 ml salts solution 40 ml distilled water 1000 ml hemin solution 10 ml vitamin K 0.2 ml cysteine HCl.H.sub.2 O 0.5 g glucose 10 g ______________________________________
(see Anaerobe Laboratory Manual, 4th Edition, 1977, Holdeman et al. eds; Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University, Blacksburg, Va. 24061, p13). S. pneumoniae can be cultured in this medium, but since the medium contains beef peptone, it is not desirable for production of vaccine components.
One significant reason for using a culture medium free of animal or blood products is to reduce or avoid the possibility of contamination by agents which cause spongiform encephalopathies, such as Prion Disease [see, for example, The Lancet, vol. 336, p21-22, Jul. 7, 1990, and references cited therein]. The etiologic agent of such diseases as scrapie in animals, Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, Gerstmann-Straussler syndrome, and kuru in man, is thought to be transimissible by animal blood products, particularly bovine or ovine derived products.
We have discovered a culture medium completely devoid of complex animal derivatives which nonetheless supports the growth of the pneumococci, such as Streptococcus pneumoniae strains (Danish nomenclature based on serotype) 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6B, 7F, 8, 9V, 9N, 10A, 11A, 12F, 14, 15B, 17F, 18C, 19F, 19A, 20, 22F, 23F and 33F. The medium does not contain bovine or ovine-derived products, nor does it contain blood. Furthermore, the inocula derived in this new medium can be used to initiate production of the pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide which can be harvested and used to prepare vaccines, as described for example in U.S. Pat. No. 4,695,624.
The advantage of this new medium is the elimination of animal components (especially bovine or ovine derived products) from the product production process. By eliminating animal components, the dangers of contamination with reactive blood group substances or adventitious agents are reduced, and the need to remove these contaminants during purification is eliminated. It also becomes less necessary to demonstrate the absence of such contaminants in the final vaccine product.
Thus, according to this invention, a new medium composition for culturing bacteria is provided. A method for using said composition, particularly for inoculum development, is also provided. The invention will allow production of fastidious bacteria such as S. pneumoniae, and frozen seed stocks thereof which have not had contact with bovine or ovine derived materials. This will facilitate the regulatory review process for the pharmaceutical products derived from culture of such organisms. Thus, according to this invention, culture growth and inoculum development can be obtained in a medium free of bovine or ovine derived products. Furthermore, the invention provides an alternate and preferred culture medium and method for production of inocula for pneumococcal capsular polysaccharide production.

Method of clonal growth of Streptococcus pneumoniae


In a method and a device for virtual concatenation transmission which multiplex traffics of low-speed frames into a high-speed frame based on a virtual concatenation, a virtual concatenation with an excellent transmission efficiency is provided. Specifically, in order to provide the transmission method and the device which do not waste channels, require little labor of operators, do not cause an instantaneous interruption, and require no memory capacity, a plurality of low-speed frames are multiplexed into arbitrary positions within a high-speed frame to compose a virtual concatenation, and are transmitted together with virtual concatenation information indicating a concatenation state of positions of the low-speed frames, with a phase relationship being maintained.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method and a device for virtual concatenation transmission, and in particular to a method and a device for virtual concatenation transmission which multiplex low-speed frame traffics into a high-speed frame based on virtual concatenation.
In recent years, demands for various kinds of data communication lines have been growing in e.g. SONET/SDH optical transmission systems, as information services through the Internet or the like rapidly become widespread. In such data communication lines, it is required to treat data of various kinds/capacities as traffic. Specifically, in information services provided through the Internet in these several years, kinds of data treated are not only character information but also successively expanded to media such as voices, images, and moving images. It is assumed that data will be further varied in the future.
In order to accommodate to the data variety, it is required that a transmission system can efficiently and flexibly transmit multi-media data.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIG. 21 shows an STS-N (N=1, 3, 12, 48, 192, and 768) frame in a conventional SONET/SDH optical transmission system. This STS-N frame is formed of 9 rows×(90×N) columns bytes comprising an overhead (hereinafter, occasionally abbreviated as OH) of 9 rows×(3×N) columns bytes and a payload (Synchronous Payload Envelope: hereinafter, occasionally abbreviated as SPE) of 9 rows×(87×N) columns bytes.
The OH comprises A1 and A2 bytes for frame synchronization located at the first row and an AU pointer (Administrative Unit Pointer: hereinafter, occasionally abbreviated as PTR) composed of H1-H3 bytes located at the forth row, or the like.
FIG. 22 shows a low-speed STS-1 frame in case N=1 in the above-mentioned STS-N frame. This STS-1 frame is formed of 9 rows×90 columns comprising a TOH (Transport Overhead) of 9 rows×3 columns bytes including a single set of H1, H2, H3 bytes or the like, and an SPE of 9 rows×87 columns bytes. Accordingly, a bit rate of the STS-1 frame is 9×90×8 bits/125 μs=51.84 Mbps.
Furthermore, FIG. 22 shows a virtual container accommodated in the STS-1 frame. This virtual container comprises a Path Overhead (hereinafter, occasionally abbreviated as POH) of 9 rows×1 column bytes composed of J1, B3, C2 bytes or the like and a payload portion of 9 rows×86 columns bytes.
FIG. 23 shows an example of a path alarm detected based on the above-mentioned H1, H2, C2, B3 bytes or the like. The path alarm includes LOP (Loss of Pointer) and PAIS (Path Alarm Indication Signal) based on the H1 and H2 bytes, UNEQ (STS Path Unequipped), PLM (STS Payload Label Mismatch) and PDI (STS Payload Defect Indication) based on the C2 byte, and B3MAJ (B3 (CV-P; Code Violation-Path) Major Alarm), B3MIN (B3 (CV-P; Code Violation-Path) Minor Alarm) and the like based on the B3 byte.
In the same way as FIG. 22, when N is assumed to be 192 in the STS-N frame of FIG. 21, the frame is a high-speed STS-192 frame. This STS-192 frame is formed of 9 rows×(90×192) columns bytes comprising OH of 9 rows×(3×192) columns bytes including the AU pointer or the like further comprising 192 sets of H1, H2, and H3 bytes and SPE of 9 rows×(87×192) bytes. Accordingly, the bit rate of the STS-192 frame is 9×90×192 channels×8 bits/125 μs=9.95 Gbps.
FIG. 24 shows a transmission (multiplexing) order when 192 channels are transmitted by the STS-192 frame with the STS-1 being regarded as 1 channel. The STS-1×192 channels (CH1-CH192) are sequentially hierarchized into the STS-3, STS-12, STS-48, and STS-192 by byte interleave to be multiplexed.
In the conventional SONET/SDH optical transmission system (OC-N (N=1, 3, 12, 48, and 192)), for the transmission of data traffic having capacity corresponding to an STS-Mc (M=1, 2, . . . , and N), it has been required to secure a concatenation area of an STS-Lc (L=1, 3, 12, 48, and 192).
Furthermore, mapping of the STS-Lc into the OC-N can not be performed to arbitrary STS-1×L channels, but can be performed only to consecutive channels CHK, CH(K+1), . . . , and CH(K+L−1) (K=j*L+1; j=0, 1, 2, . . . , and N/L−1).
Accordingly, in spite of the existence of idle channels of more than L channels in the OC-N, mapping of the STS-Lc can not be performed in some cases, which leads to lack of systematic flexibility.
For this reason, manual operations by operators for systematically assigning data traffic to channels based on a prior estimation have been required.
Also, when a concatenation line is newly provided in response to an unexpected request, rearrangement of existing service lines has been required for securing the concatenation area in some cases.
FIGS. 25A-25D show a case where data traffic of 1.2 Gbps (STS-24: 24CH) are mapped into the STS-192 (OC-192) frame by the STS-48c concatenation. It is to be noted that although the STS-1 of CH1-CH192 is multiplexed into the STS-192 as shown in FIG. 24, the channels CH1-CH192 are supposed to sequentially multiplexed in FIGS. 25A-25D, in order to facilitate understanding.
FIG. 25A shows a present channel occupation state. The channels CH2, CH82, CH140, and CH159 are in an occupied state and the other channels are in an idle state.
In order to transmit 1.2 Gbps data traffic corresponding to 24 channels of FIG. 25D by concatenation, the capacity is short in the concatenation area of the STS-12c. Therefore, the concatenation area of the STS-48c, which is in an upper hierarchy than the STS-12c, has to be secured.
Therefore, in order to secure the area of the consecutive channels CH145-CH192 as the STS-48c concatenation area in FIG. 25B, an existing service channel CH159 is rearranged to the channel CH124. Then, as shown in FIG. 25C, the area of the channels CH145-CH192 is secured as the STS-48c concatenation area, and the 1.2 Gbps (STS-24: 24CH) data traffic are mapped into the STS-48c concatenation area.
For executing this, following problems arise: (1) Manual operation by operators is required for a systematic channel assignment; (2) When the 1.2 Gbps data are mapped and transmitted within the optical transmission system, the STS-48c of 2.4 Gbps is required to be assigned, and channels for 1.2 Gbps (≈2.4 Gbps-1.2 Gbps) are wasted; (3) Instantaneous interruption of existing service channel occurs concurrently with rearrangement of the channel CH159 to the channel CH124. Also, in the conventional virtual concatenation system, phase synchronization between virtual-concatenated channels is made at a terminal point to be treated as a bulk.
Since virtual slave channels independently generate a pointer action in this system, deviation between payload phases occurs during a transmission through a network. Accordingly, a memory circuit for absorbing the deviation is required. Also, the difference of pointer values between the virtual slave channels is prescribed due to a limitation of the memory capacity, which leads to constraints for constructing the optical transmission network.

Method and device for virtual concatenation transmission


A composition for a guacamole preparation that inhibits spoilage and/or oxidation of the avocado fruit present in the preparation and the discoloration and souring that commonly accompanies oxidation. The inhibitory effect is achieved through the use of a natural antioxidant or preservative that is found in tomatillo. The composition only requires avocado flesh and the pulp of tomatillo as no other chemical preservatives are required to achieve stability of the preparation. The composition may optionally include flavoring additives such as spices, peppers and vegetables and as well as chemical agents for controlling the pH of the composition. A process for preparing the composition is disclosed that includes combining the avocado flesh and tomatillo pulp and heating the mixture prior to sealing it in sterilized containers.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention pertains to foods that are subject to spoilage and to oxidation reactions following processing and/or packaging resulting in discoloration and undesirable changes in flavor. In particular, the present invention relates to a stabilized guacamole and a process for preparing a stabilized guacamole.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Browning, or oxidative darkening, of food products can result from both enzymatic and non-enzymatic chemical reactions in food. Enzymatic browning is the result of the action of enzymes such as polyphenol oxidase that catalyze the oxidation of mono- and di-phenols to o-quinones which then polymerize spontaneously to form dark colored, high molecular weight polymers, thus leading to the characteristic browning or formation of dark spots. Browning associated with non-enzymatic chemical reactions are also commonly due to the polymerization of phenolic compounds that are present in some foods. Both enzymatic and non-enzymatic browning constitute serious problems for the foods industry and result in millions of pounds of wasted food products each year.
Several physical methods have been developed for inhibiting oxidation and the resultant browning. One of the most common and well known methods is by heat inactivation of the enzymes through pasteurization or similar processes. Another method is shown in U.S. Pat. No. 3,958,036 issued to Latimer. Latimer describes a stabilized avocado preparation that is a dispersion or emulsion of avocado, water and vegetable gums. The stated objective of the dispersion is to prevent the water from separating from the avocado thereby, presumably minimizing contact between the avocado and oxygen. However, the disclosed dispersion is stable only for between one and three months and chemical agents are preferably added to maintain color.
An additional physical method that has been developed for inhibiting oxidation is described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,384,147 to Hilpert. This patent describes the use of an extremely high vacuum process for removing substantially all of the oxygen contained in the cells of food prior to its packaging. It is also noted that in addition to removing the oxygen from the food product that the prior art also discloses the substitution of inert gases such as nitrogen and carbon dioxide into processed food to prevent further oxidation.
Similarly, U.S. Pat. No. 4,572,836 to Bakal, which is directed to the preparation of a stabilized edible herb product, notes that dehydration is commonly used to stabilize food products for storage. It is also emphasized that the dehydration process frequently results in the loss of flavor from the food and is in fact a poor means of preventing oxidation of the stored food.
In addition to the various physical processes that may be performed to inhibit oxidation, the addition of chemical agents is also well known. The use of sulfiting agents such as sulphur dioxide and sodium bisulfite to inactivate enzymes is very well known in the industry. In fact sulfite is believed to be the most effective chemical additive used to prevent enzymatic discoloration in most produce. The mechanism of sulfites is one in which o-quinones are reduced to the mono- and/or di-phenols, thereby inhibiting the oxidation reaction. However, the use of sulfites in fresh fruits and vegetables has been banned by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration due to their adverse health effects in certain individuals and it is anticipated that their use may be completely eliminated in the future.
In addition to sulfiting agents, other chemical preservation agents have been used to inhibit oxidation in various food products. Representative examples of such chemical preservation agents include discoloration inhibitors such as ascorbic acid, citric acid, sorbic acid and malic acid, in addition to other additives such as salt, EDTA, dextrose, calcium chloride, sodium acid pyrophosphate and sodium citrate. However, none of these discoloration inhibitors have been found to be as effective as sulfites.
Recognizing the problems associated with the use of sulfites, others have combined various agents with lower concentrations of sulfites to obtain the desired inhibiting effect. U.S. Pat. No. 5,202,141, to McEvily et al. describes a method and composition for inhibiting oxidative darkening containing at least one substituted resorcinol derivative and a second additive, preferably a sulfite. U.S. Pat. No. 5,389,389 to Beck discloses the use of cysteine in conjunction with a small concentration of sulfite.
As noted, there are problems associated with both the physical and chemical methods used for inhibiting the oxidation of foods. Although the physical methods described above are largely free of adverse health effects on humans, they frequently have detrimental effects on the flavor and texture of the foods and are generally poor inhibitors of oxidation reactions. In terms of the available chemical additives, good antioxidant results can be achieved with the use of sulfites but not without the accompanying health risks. Alternatively, non-sulfite chemical agents can be used with less effective results thus requiring higher concentrations of the agents and an increased risk of adversely affecting the flavoring, texture and/or coloring of the food.
The spoilage and oxidation problems associated with many foods are particularly acute in avocados, creating an unresolved need for stabilizing avocados and their preparations from premature spoilage and oxidation. Therefore it is a feature of the present invention to provide a composition of a stabilized guacamole that it is inhibited from undergoing oxidation and the accompanying discoloration and loss of flavor, the composition comprising a mixture of avocado flesh, a naturally occurring preservative found in the pulp of tomatillo and optionally containing various flavoring agents and chemical agents for controlling the pH of the composition.
It is another feature of the present invention to provide a process for preparing a stabilized guacamole composition by mixing avocado flesh with a naturally occurring preservative found in the pulp of tomatillo and heating the mixture. The process optionally includes adding various flavoring agents and controlling the pH of the composition by adding various chemical agents.
It is still another feature of the present invention to provide a stabilized guacamole that is made from the disclosed process and that is free of sulfites.
It is yet another feature of the present invention to provide a process for preparing a stabilized guacamole composition that does not require extensive physical processing steps such as complex vacuum processing, dehydration or emulsification.

Stabilized guacamole and method for making same

Colonia Lomas de Bellavista, Atizapan de Zaragosa, Edo. de