Provided is a novel heterocyclic compound which can be used for a light-emitting element, as a host material of a light-emitting layer in which a light-emitting substance is dispersed. A heterocyclic compound represented by a general formula (G1) is provided. In the formula, A represents any of a substituted or unsubstituted dibenzothiophenyl group, a substituted or unsubstituted dibenzofuranyl group, and a substituted or unsubstituted carbazolyl group, R11 to R19 separately represent any of hydrogen, an alkyl group having 1 to 4 carbon atoms, and a substituted or unsubstituted aryl group having 6 to 13 carbon atoms, and Ar represents a substituted or unsubstituted arylene group having 6 to 13 carbon atoms.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a heterocyclic compound. In particular, the present invention relates to a heterocyclic compound that can be used for a light-emitting element utilizing organic electroluminescence (EL).
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, research and development have been extensively conducted on light-emitting elements utilizing EL. In the basic structure of such a light-emitting element, a layer containing a light-emitting substance is interposed between a pair of electrodes. By application of a voltage to this element, light emission from the light-emitting substance can be obtained.
Since such light-emitting elements are of a self-light-emitting type, it is considered that they have advantages over liquid crystal displays that the visibility of pixels is high, backlights are not required, and so on, and therefore the light-emitting elements are suitable as flat panel display elements. The light-emitting elements also have a great advantage that they can be manufactured as thin and lightweight elements. Further, very high-speed response is also one of the features of such elements.
Furthermore, since such light-emitting elements can be formed in a film form, they make it possible to provide planar light emission. Therefore, large-area elements utilizing planar light emission can be easily formed. This feature is difficult to obtain with point light sources typified by incandescent lamps and LEDs or linear light sources typified by fluorescent lamps. Thus, light-emitting elements also have great potential as planar light sources applicable to lighting devices and the like.
Such light-emitting elements utilizing electroluminescence can be broadly classified according to whether the light-emitting substance is an organic compound or an inorganic compound. In the case of an organic EL element in which a layer containing an organic compound used as the light-emitting substance is provided between a pair of electrodes, application of a voltage to the light-emitting element causes electron injection from a cathode and hole injection from an anode into the layer containing the organic compound having a light-emitting property and thus current flows. The injected electrons and holes then lead the organic compound having a light-emitting property to its excited state, so that light emission is obtained from the excited organic compound having a light-emitting property.
The excited state formed by an organic compound can be a singlet excited state or a triplet excited state. Light emission from the singlet excited state (S*) is called fluorescence, and emission from the triplet excited state (T*) is called phosphorescence. In addition, the statistical generation ratio thereof in a light-emitting element is considered as follows: S*:T*=1:3.
At room temperature, an observation on a compound that can convert energy of a singlet excited state into light emission (hereinafter, referred to as a fluorescent compound) usually shows only light emission from the singlet excited state (fluorescence) without light emission from the triplet excited state (phosphorescence). Therefore the internal quantum efficiency (the ratio of generated photons to injected carriers) of a light-emitting element using a fluorescent compound is assumed to have a theoretical limit of 25% based on a S*-to-T* ratio of 1:3.
In contrast, an observation on a compound that can convert energy of a triplet excited state into light emission (hereinafter, called a phosphorescent compound) shows light emission from the triplet excited state (phosphorescence). Further, since intersystem crossing (i.e. transition from a singlet excited state to a triplet excited state) easily occurs in a phosphorescent compound, the internal quantum efficiency can be theoretically increased to 100%. That is, higher emission efficiency can be obtained than using a fluorescent compound. For this reason, light-emitting elements using a phosphorescent compound have been under active development recently in order that highly efficient light-emitting elements can be realized.
When formed using the above-described phosphorescent compound, a light-emitting layer of a light-emitting element is often formed such that the phosphorescent compound is dispersed in a matrix containing another compound in order to suppress concentration quenching or quenching due to triplet-triplet annihilation in the phosphorescent compound. Here, the compound as the matrix is called a host material, and the compound dispersed in the matrix, such as a phosphorescent compound, is called a guest material.
In the case where a phosphorescent compound is a guest material, a host material needs to have higher triplet excitation energy (energy difference between a ground state and a triplet excited state) than the phosphorescent compound.
Furthermore, since singlet excitation energy (energy difference between a ground state and a singlet excited state) is higher than triplet excitation energy, a substance that has high triplet excitation energy also has high singlet excitation energy. Therefore the above substance that has high triplet excitation energy is also effective in a light-emitting element using a fluorescent compound as a light-emitting substance.
Studies have been conducted on compounds having dibenzo[f,h]quinoxaline rings, which are examples of the host material used when a phosphorescent compound is a guest material (e.g. see Patent Documents 1 and 2).

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Semiconductor Energy Laboratory Co., Ltd.


Amplifying magnitude metric of received signals during iterative decoding of LDPC code and LDPC coded modulation. By appropriately selecting a metric coefficient value that is used to calculate the initial conditions when decoding LDPC coded signals, a significant reduction in BER may be achieved at certain SNRs. The appropriate selection of the metric coefficient value may be performed depending on the particular SNR at which a communication system is operating. By adjusting this metric coefficient value according to the given LDPC code, modulation, and noise variance, the overall performance of the decoding may be significantly improved. The convergence speed is slowed down so that the decoder will not go to the wrong codeword, and the moving range of the outputs of the decoder is restricted so that the output will not oscillate too much and will eventually move to the correct codeword.

1. Technical Field of the Invention
The invention relates generally to communication systems; and, more particularly, it relates to decoding of signals employed in such communication systems.
2. Description of Related Art
Data communication systems have been under continual development for many years. One such type of communication system that has been of significant interest lately is a communication system that employs turbo codes. Another type of communication system that has also received interest is a communication system that employs LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code. Each of these different types of communication systems is able to achieve relatively low BERs (Bit Error Rates).
A continual and primary directive in this area of development has been to try continually to lower the error floor within a communication system. The ideal goal has been to try to reach Shannon's limit in a communication channel. Shannon's limit may be viewed as being the data rate to be used in a communication channel, having a particular SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio), that achieves error free transmission through the communication channel. In other words, the Shannon limit is the theoretical bound for channel capacity for a given modulation and code rate.
LDPC code has been shown to provide for excellent decoding performance that can approach the Shannon limit in some cases. For example, some LDPC decoders have been shown to come within 0.3 dB (decibels) from the theoretical Shannon limit. While this example was achieved using an irregular LDPC code of a length of one million, it nevertheless demonstrates the very promising application of LDPC codes within communication systems.
The use of LDPC coded signals continues to be explored within many newer application areas. For example, the use of LDPC coded signals has been of significant concern within the IEEE (Institute of Electrical & Electronics Engineers) P802.3an (10GBASE-T) Task Force. This IEEE P802.3an (10GBASE-T) Task Force has been created by the IEEE to develop and standardize a copper 10 Giga-bit Ethernet standard that operates over twisted pair cabling according the IEEE 802.3 CSMA/CD Ethernet protocols. Carrier Sense Multiple Access/Collision Detect (CSMA/CD) is the protocol for carrier transmission access in Ethernet networks. IEEE 802.3an (10GBASE-T) is an emerging standard for 10 Gbps Ethernet operation over 4 wire twisted pair cables. More public information is available concerning the IEEE P802.3an (10GBASE-T) Task Force at the following Internet address:
"http://www.ieee802.org/3/an/".
This high data rate provided in such applications is relatively close to the theoretical maximum rate possible over the worst case 100 meter cable. Near-capacity achieving error correction codes are required to enable 10 Gbps operation. The latency constraints, which would be involved by using traditional concatenated codes, simply preclude their use in such applications.
Clearly, there is a need in the art for some alternative coding type and modulation implementations that can provide near-capacity achieving error correction.
When considering a coding system that codes the binary information sequence to an LDPC codeword and then maps the LDPC codeword to constellation signals. These constellation signals may also be viewed as being modulation signals as well. A modulation may be viewed as being a particular constellation shape having a unique mapping of the constellation points included therein.
It may also be supposed that the channel noise is AWGN (Additive White Gaussian Noise) with noise variance, σ2. Then, upon receiving the symbol, y, the probability of the transition from the signal, s, in the constellation is provided as follows:
                                          P            s                                          (                          y              |              s                        )                          =                              1                          σ                                                              2                                    π                                                                                exp                                      (                                                                    -                    1                                                        2                                                              σ                      2                                                                                D                    SE                                                                          (                                          y                      ,                      s                                        )                                                              )                                                          (                  EQ                                                              1                    A                )
where DSE(y,s) is the squared Euclidean distance between y and s. Based on this probability, the maximal likelihood decoding (MLD) tries all of the possible codewords with (EQ 1A) for all possible symbol, s, and finds the one codeword that has the maximal total probabilities. However, due to the inherent complexity of MLD, it is not possible with today's technology to carry out MLD when decoding LDPC coded signals.
One of the sub-optimal decoding approaches (with respect to decoding LDPC coded signals) is the iterative message passing (MP) (or belief propagation (BP)) decoding approach. In this approach, the above provided (EQ 1A) is used as a transition metric.
Since most useful LDPC codes have loops, the iterative decoding of such a code will cause oscillations. These oscillations may result from the fact that either the decoding will not be convergent, or it will converge to a wrong codeword.
In [a] "Performance evaluation of low latency LDPC code," Katsutoshi Seki of NEC Electronic (presented in IEEE P802.3an Task Force, July, 2004), by using the 2-dimensional noise variance in the metric computation with 1-dimensional noise, a surprise performance gain is obtained.
This document [a] is publicly available at the following Internet address:
[a] "http://www.ieee802.org/3/an/public/jul04/seki—1—0704.pdf"
The so-called 2-dimensional variance translated to the probability of the transition is provided as follows:
                              r                                (                          y              ,              s                        )                          =                  exp                                (                                                            -                  1                                                  4                                                        σ                    2                                                                                D                  SE                                                                  (                                      y                    ,                    s                                    )                                                      )                                              (                  EQ                                                              1                    B                )
When decoding LDPC coded signals, it is well known that before convergence is made to a codeword, the intermediate estimation of the MP decoding algorithm may oscillate. This is because the Hamming distance between estimated codeword and the actually sent codeword may not be decreasing monotonously. Thus, with limited number of iterations, such as 10 or less iterations, the "artificial error floor" may occur at higher SNR (Signal to Noise Ratio). Therefore, a LDPC decoder usually needs a larges number of iterations (e.g., 100 or more decoding iterations) before actual convergence may be achieved. However, to implement an LDPC decoder that requires this large number of decoding iterations is not practical for a system which needs to operate very fast and for which a primary design consideration is to provide for a relatively less costly decoder. As such, there is a need in the art for a means which could hopefully eliminate this artificial error floor that may sometimes occur when decoding LDPC coded signals.

Amplifying magnitude metric of received signals during iterative decoding of LDPC (Low Density Parity Check) code and LDPC coded modulation


The present invention provides a user installable option module which contains upgrade circuitry to add additional functions to a basic telephone. This generic upgrade module is capable of containing different sets of electronic circuitry which perform different functions and have different applications. The option module is user installable, and requires neither shipping the original unit to repair or upgrade, nor does it require trained service personnel to visit the customer site to perform the installation. The user installed option is installed in the base of a basic telephone. After installation, the option module appears to be an integral part of the basic telephone and is not readily visible to the user. The basic telephone also retains its original footprint. The option module is secured to the basic telephone in such a manner that prevents the option module from being damaged when subjected to significant forces.

1. Technical Field
This invention relates generally to telephones, and, more particularly, optional upgrade circuitry for telephones.
2. Related Art
Conventional telephone model lines typically include a basic telephone which contains the most basic and common features desired and used by the telephone user. In addition to these basic functions, a desk unit may perform additional functions which the customer may need or desire. Examples of such additional functions include adding a speaker, encryption or decryption of the voice message, adding a headset to the telephone, or interfacing the basic telephone to a recording device.
One conventional technique used to add these additional upgrades to a basic telephone has been to replace the basic telephone model with another model having the desired functional configuration. A disadvantage of this technique is that it requires maintaining multiple lines of telephones, each comprising one or more different upgrade functions. Another disadvantage is that this technique requires additional trained service personnel to install the new models at the customer site.
Another conventional technique for providing additional upgrade functions to a basic telephone has been to manufacture the basic telephone model with connectors on one or both of its sides. These connectors interface to a separate module which contains the desired upgrade function. This technique increases the size of the footprint of the phone and makes the basic telephone cosmetically unappealing for those who do not receive such upgrades. In addition, such option modules are sensitive to lateral forces which, if applied while the phone is attached to the basic telephone, can stress or break internal components in either the upgrade module or the basic telephone.
Another conventional technique has been to attach a piece of sheet metal to the bottom of the basic telephone and then attach the option module to this same piece of sheet metal. Electrical connections are then achieved by a cable assembly. The drawback to this technique is the high part and assembly cost due to the large number of additional parts, the bottom surface of the telephone must be dedicated to the attachment of this option module, and the weight of the entire telephone is significantly increased, leading to component failures if the phone is dropped.
What is needed is a telephone option module with upgradable circuitry which can be installed in a basic telephone. The option module needs to be installed in such a manner as to minimize the increase in the footprint of the basic telephone. In addition, the option module needs to be secured to the telephone in such a manner that prevents the option module and basic telephone from being damaged when subjected to significant forces. The option module also must not produce cosmetic difficulties in the basic telephone. There should not be, for example, visible wires connecting the option module and the basic telephone after it is installed, nor should the basic telephone have connectors visible to the user when no option module is installed.

Siemens Information and Communication Networks, Inc.


A plurality of lenses (1a-1d) of a lens module (1), a plurality of wavelength selection regions (2a-2d) each having at least one optical filter, and a plurality of imaging regions (4a-4d) are placed in one-to-one correspondence. At least two of the plurality of wavelength selection regions transmit light in at least one wavelength band among infrared light, red light, green light, and blue light. The distance to an object is calculated based on at least two pieces of image information outputted respectively from at least two imaging regions respectively corresponding to the at least two wavelength selection regions. Furthermore, a camera module outputs an image signal based on image information outputted from at least one of the plurality of imaging regions. This can realize a small and low-cost camera module capable of measuring the distance to an object and capturing the object.

Conventionally, a stereo camera apparatus capable of being mounted on an automobile is known, which captures an object by a stereo camera equipped with two cameras, and arithmetically manipulates the obtained image information to calculate the distance to the object (see JP 5(1993)-265547 A). The distance calculation in the stereo camera apparatus is performed as follows. Using triangulation, which is one of the three-dimensional measurement techniques, a pixel block having a correlation with a pixel block in an image obtained by one camera is searched for and specified in an image obtained by the other camera. Then, the distance to an object is calculated based on the parallax between both the pixel blocks, i.e., the relative displacement amount of the respective pixel blocks in two images (stereo images).
However, in this stereo camera apparatus, a mechanical attachment error of two cameras exists. For example, the postures of the cameras may be displaced in a horizontal direction, a vertical direction, or a rotation direction. In particular, the displacement in the horizontal direction causes an error in the parallax obtained based on two images, and consequently, the distance calculated based on the parallax differs from a correct distance. Therefore, in order to obtain distance information with high reliability, a high attachment precision of a camera and complicated image processing for correcting an attachment error are required.
For example, JP 2003-83742 A discloses the following method so as to correct the attachment error in the horizontal direction of the stereo camera. In an image obtained by one camera, a plurality of approximated straight lines spatially parallel to each other, which extend in a distance direction, are specified, and a first vanishing point is calculated from an intersection of the approximated straight lines. Similarly, in an image obtained by the other camera, a plurality of approximated straight lines spatially parallel to each other, which extend in the distance direction, are specified, and a second vanishing point is calculated from an intersection of the approximated straight lines. Then, an error in a measurement distance ascribed to the attachment error in the horizontal direction is corrected based on the displacement amount between the first vanishing point and the second vanishing point.
A method for calculating a vanishing point will be described with reference to FIG. 15. For example, the case will be considered where a camera captures a pair of white lines 901, 902 in a broken line shape drawn on a road, as shown in FIG. 15. In this case, two approximated straight lines 901a, 902a parallel to each other, which extend in a distance direction, are specified using one edge of each of the white lines 901, 902. Then, an intersection 903 of the two approximated straight lines 901a, 902a is obtained as a vanishing point.
On the other hand, in order to enhance the recognition rate at night, an image processing method has been proposed, in which the recognition rate at night is enhanced by combining a visible light camera with an infrared camera, and subjecting each imaging information to image processing.
For example, JP10(1998)-255019 A discloses the following method. A visible light image obtained by a visible light camera is binarized, and a high-brightness portion such as a taillight of an automobile is recognized. The temperature information on a portion corresponding to the high-brightness portion is obtained from an infrared image obtained by an infrared camera, and a threshold value for binarization of the infrared image is determined based on the temperature information. Then, the infrared image is binarized using the threshold value for binarization, and a vehicle is recognized based on the binarized infrared image.
As described above, in the case of calculating a distance by a stereo camera, two visible light cameras are required, and furthermore, it is required to enhance the attachment precision of two cameras, or to perform complicated arithmetic processing for correcting the attachment error of two cameras. This causes problems such as the enlargement of an apparatus, the degradation in a layout property, and the increase in cost. Furthermore, even in the case of enhancing the recognition rate at night, two cameras, i.e., a visible light camera and an infrared camera are required, which causes problems such as the enlargement of an apparatus, the degradation in a layout property, and the increase in cost.
Furthermore, JP 2004-12863 A discloses a camera apparatus equipped with a distance-measuring optical system and an imaging optical system independently. The camera apparatus includes a camera module in which two lenses constituting a distance-measuring optical system and one lens constituting a photometric optical system are placed integrally on the same plane. Furthermore, the camera apparatus includes an imaging lens constituting an imaging optical system apart from the lens module. The movement amount of the imaging lens is calculated using two lenses for measuring a distance, whereby autofocusing is realized. In this camera apparatus, an object image is captured only by an imaging lens. Thus, optical systems are required independently for measuring a distance and capturing an image, which increases the number of components and assembly man-hour to increase cost, and enlarges an apparatus.

Matsushita Electric Industrial Co., Ltd.


A memory-built-in data processor comprises a controller connected to an external unit and a memory via first and second buses, and a data processor performing readout/write-in of data with respect to the memory via a third bus, the controller and the second bus, the controller performing arbitration between a first access requirement input via the first bus and a second access requirement input from the data processing unit via the third bus, the memory, the first bus, the second bus, the third bus, the controller, and the data processor being integrated in an integrated circuit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a memory-built-in data processor that performs data processing such as desired image processing by means of a built-in memory.
2. Description of the Related Art
With large-scaling of LSI, a semiconductor integrated circuit, a so-called memory consolidating logic LSI realizing high-speed data processing by fabricating a semiconductor memory such as DRAM and a logic circuit in a single integrated circuit chip has been developed. For example, such memory consolidating logic LSI is described by Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 11-185467, and Jpn. Pat. Appln. KOKAI Publication No. 2000-67573.
The feature of the memory consolidating logic LSI is to enable memory access at higher speed than that of an external memory by linking a built-in memory and a logic circuit together with a bus of high bandwidth, thereby to realize high-speed data processing.
As the operation clock in the LSI is speeded up, it becomes difficult to make the entire LSI synchronize with the high-speed clock. If the clock frequency doubles with LSIs of the same size, the area of the region of the LSI, which is stable in synchronous operation, decreases to ¼. It is preferable for solving this problem to divide the interior of the LSI into a plurality of blocks, and perform only a closed process in each block.
The memory consolidating logic LSI configured to perform a closed process in the interior of the block can speed up the clock, but becomes impossible to access in real time only a memory of small capacity that can be arranged in a narrow region of each block. For this reason, there is a problem that the LSI can perform only data processing to treat the small amount of data that can be stored in a small capacity memory, that is, data processing of relatively small process amount, so that the contents of data processing is limited.
The object of the present invention is to provide a memory-built-in data processor that enables data processing of various process contents while utilizing high bandwidth by a built-in memory effectively.


A flat lamp for emitting light to a surface area of a liquid crystal display device includes a bottom having a channel uniformly crossing an entire surface of the bottom, an arc-discharging gas is disposed within the channel, a cover disposed upon an upper junction surface of the bottom, the cover is coated with a fluorescent material, and an electric field generating means for generating an electric field, wherein the electric field generating means is placed along opposing lateral sides of the channel.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a flat lamp for emitting light to a surface area, and more particularly to a liquid crystal display using a flat lamp for emitting light to reduce delay time for lamp turn-on despite low voltage and to extend life-span of the lamp.
2. Background of the Related Art
Generally, lamps are classified into two categories according to the principles of generating light used as a light source: glow lamps and fluorescent lamps. A flat lamp belongs to the fluorescent lamps category since the flat lamp generates visible light rays by fluorescence in which ultraviolet rays produced by glow discharge within the lamp stimulate fluorescent materials.
Presently, flat lamps are implemented as light sources for liquid crystal display (LCD) devices. Since LCD devices are non-luminous and display images by controlling the amount of light transmitted through a liquid crystal layer, LCD devices need additional light sources, i.e., backlight assemblies, for displaying images.
Exemplary light sources used for backlight assemblies may be classified into different categories: a point light source of a white halogen lamp, a linear light source of a fluorescent lamp, a plane light source of an electro-luminescent (EL) device or light emitting diode.
However, the light source used in conventional backlight assemblies is a linear light source using a cold cathode fluorescence lamp (CCFL) that requires additional features such as a light guiding plate, a diffusion plate, and a prism sheet, for example, for producing a uniform plane of light to a display surface.
An exemplary solution to solve the above problem is a flat lamp enabled to uniformly emit light to a surface area a planar light source.
One example of a flat lamp for emitting light to a surface area is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,431, which is explained hereinafter.
FIG. 1 shows a plan view of a flat lamp for emitting light to a surface area according to U.S. Pat. No. 5,777,431, wherein the cover is omitted.
As shown in FIG. 1, a volute channel 6 is formed by an internal bulkhead 3 and an external bulkhead 2, wherein the internal bulkhead 3 has a same height as the external bulkhead 2 from a rectangular bottom 1. A cathode 4 emitting electrons is placed at an end of the internal bulkhead 3 that adjoins with the external bulkhead 2. An anode 5 is disposed at a center portion of the bottom 1 and a gas is injected into the channel 6 for arc-discharging. The volute channel 6 has a spiral shape that terminates at a center portion of the bottom 1, whereby electrodes emitted from the cathode 4 travel toward the anode 5 in a counterclockwise direction.
In the flat lamp of FIG. 1, an electric field is generated when an electric potential is applied between the cathode 4 and the anode 5, whereby electrons are emitted from the cathode 4 to the anode 5. Accordingly, the electrons emitted from the cathode 4 migrate along the volute channel 6 and emit ultraviolet rays as a result of impacting with the arc-discharging gas. The ultraviolet rays then stimulate the fluorescent material to produce a glow discharge, thereby producing visible rays. Namely, the visible rays are emitted through the cover (not shown in the drawing) that is located at the tops of the internal bulkhead 3 and the external bulkhead 2 and disposed to overlie the entire surface area in which the channel is formed. As mentioned above, the flat lamp is used as an independent illuminator and as a backlight assembly when placed at a rear portion of a LCD device panel.
Unfortunately, the flat lamp has the cathode 4 and the anode 5 disposed at opposite ends of the volute channel 6. Accordingly, the flat lamp requires a long response time for producing visible light during the turning-on interval and requires a high voltage for sufficient luminescence. Such a high voltage inevitably reduces the life-span of the electrode of the cathode 4 and the anode 5, and hence, reduces the life-span of the flat lamp. Moreover, the total length of the volute channel 6 ultimately limits the total size of the lamp.

Flat lamp for emitting lights to a surface area and liquid crystal display using the same


A novel restriction endonuclease has been identified from Citrobacter species 2144 (NEB#1398) which can cleave at nt sequence 5′-CAANNNNNGTGG-3′ (SEQ ID NO:13) in double-stranded DNA molecules.

Restriction endonucleases are enzymes that occur naturally in certain unicellular microbes—mainly bacteria and archaea—and that function to protect those organisms from infections by viruses and other parasitic DNA elements. Restriction endonucleases bind to specific sequences of nucleotides ('recognition sequence') in double-stranded DNA molecules (dsDNA) and cleave the DNA, usually within or close to these sequences, disrupting the DNA and triggering its destruction. Restriction endonucleases usually occur with one or more companion enzymes termed modification methyltransferases. Methyltransferases bind to the same sequences in dsDNA as the restriction endonucleases they accompany, but instead of cleaving the DNA, they alter it by the addition of a methyl group to one of the bases within the sequence. This modification ('methylation') prevents the restriction endonuclease from productively recognizing that site thereafter, rendering the site resistant to cleavage. Methyltransferases function as cellular antagonists to the restriction endonucleases they accompany, protecting the cell's own DNA from destruction by its restriction endonucleases. Together, a restriction endonuclease and its companion modification methyltransferase(s) form a restriction-modification (R-M) system, an enzymatic partnership that accomplishes for microbes what the immune system accomplishes, in some respects, for multicellular organisms.
A large and varied class of restriction endonucleases has been classified as 'Type II' class of restriction endonucleases. These enzymes cleave DNA at defined positions, and when purified can be used to cut DNA molecules into precise fragments for gene cloning and analysis. The biochemical precision of Type II restriction endonucleases far exceeds anything achievable by chemical methods, making these enzymes the reagents sine qua non of molecular biology laboratories. In this capacity as molecular tools for gene dissection Type II restriction endonucleases have had a profound impact on the life sciences and medicine in the past 25 years, transforming the academic and commercial arenas, alike. Their utility has spurred a continuous search for new restriction endonucleases, and a large number have been found: today more than 250 Type II endonucleases are known, each possessing different DNA cleavage characteristics (Roberts, R. J. et al., Nucl. Acids. Res. 33:D230–-D232 (2005)). (Rebase, http://rebase.neb.com/rebase). The production and purification of these enzymes have also been improved by the cloning and overexpression of the genes that encode them, usually in the context of non-native host cells such as E. coli.
Since the various restriction enzymes appear to perform similar biological roles, and share the biochemistry of causing dsDNA breaks, it might be thought that they would resemble one another in amino acid sequence closely. Experience shows this not to be true, however. Surprisingly, far from sharing significant amino acid similarity with one another, most enzymes appear unique, with their amino acid sequences resembling neither other restriction enzymes nor any other known kind of protein. Type II restriction endonucleases seem to have arisen independently of each other during evolution, for the most part, and to have done so hundreds of times, so that today's enzymes represent a heterogeneous collection rather than a discrete family descended from a common ancester. Restriction endonucleases are biochemically diverse in organization and action: some act as homodimers, some as monomers, others as heterodimers. Some bind symmetric sequences, others asymmetric sequences; some bind continuous sequences, others discontinuous sequences; some bind unique sequences, others multiple sequences. Some are accompanied by a single methyltransferase, others by two, and yet others by none at all. When two methyltransferases are present, sometimes they are separate proteins and at other times they are fused. The orders and orientations of restriction and modification genes vary, with all possible organizations occurring. Several kinds of methyltransferases exist, some methylating adenines, others methylating cytosines at the N-4 position, or at the 5 position). Usually there is no way of predicting, a priori, which modifications will block a particular restriction endonuclease, which kind(s) of methyltransferases(s) will accompany that restriction endonuclease in any specific instance, nor what their gene orders or orientations will be.
From the point of view of cloning a Type II restriction endonuclease, the great variability that exists among R-M systems means that, for experimental purposes, each is unique. Each enzyme is unique in amino acid sequence and catalytic behavior; each occurs in unique enzymatic association, adapted to unique microbial circumstances; and each presents the experimenter with a unique challenge. Sometimes a restriction endonuclease can be cloned and over-expressed in a straightforward manner but very often it cannot, and what works well for one enzyme may fail altogether for the next. Success with one is no guarantee of success with another.
Novel endonucleases provide opportunities for innovative genetic engineering.


A computer system""s BIOS (basic input/output system) POST (power-on self test) sets a bit or bits in an ISA (industry standard architecture) I/O (input/output) port, in a memory, or in a scratch pad register accessed via an ISA I/O port (indexed or non-indexed), that an AML (ACPI control method machine language) in the DSDT or other ACPI tables can access. These bit(s) will be set depending upon SETUP program selections or different hardware configurations detected by the BIOS during POST. The AML, which is the compiled result of ASL (ACPI control method Source Language) code, returns back different values for the lowest system sleep state depending upon the bit value(s) read from the ISA I/O port, the memory or the scratch pad register accessed via the ISA I/O port. In addition, an ASL code allows an external agent, e.g., an application program, to modify the ISA I/O port, the memory or the scratch pad register accessed via the ISA I/O port. In this configuration, the ASL code conditionally prevents the external agent from dictating a power system""s sleeping state which the hardware could not support.

A portion of the disclosure of this patent document contains material which is subject to copyright protection. The copyright owner has no objection to the facsimile reproduction by anyone of the patent document or the patent disclosure, as it appears in the Patent and Trademark Office patent file or records, but otherwise reserves all copyright rights whatsoever.
1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates generally to a method of adjusting the power-consumption sleeping state of an operating system, and relates more particularly to a method of dynamically altering the lowest sleeping state of an operating system which is operating in Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) mode. See Advanced Configuration and Power Interface Specification, by Intel, Microsoft and Toshiba, Revision 1.0b (Feb. 2, 1999).
2. Background of the Invention
In a computer system, the hardware normally dictates the level of the power system""s sleeping state, and the selected sleeping state will be a static value. However, maintaining a static value for the power system""s sleeping state is not efficient in terms of power savings. Accordingly, it is desirable to provide a method of dynamically altering the level of the power system""s sleeping state.
An operating system (OS) which is operating in Advanced Configuration and Power Interface (ACPI) mode determines the lowest power system sleeping state based on the following: a) ACPI Differential System Description Table (DSDT); b) ACPI Secondary System Description Table (SSDT); and c) ACPI Persistent System Description Table (PSDT). ACPI facilitates streamlining of the previously known collection of disparate power management mechanisms into a unified, well-specified power management and configuration mechanism. ACPI, which is an abstract interface, enhances power management functionality and robustness by facilitating implementation in the OS (operating system) of power management techniques which are too complicated to be implemented in a ROM (read-only memory) BIOS. One method of dynamically selecting the sleeping state in ACPI mode is to use one SSDT table per sleep state and use ACPI code to change the SSDT tables to achieve the desired sleeping. However, this method suffers from the drawback of requiring multiple SSDT tables.
In accordance with the present invention, a computer system""s BIOS (basic input/output system) POST (power-on self test) sets a bit or bits in an ISA (industry standard architecture) I/O (input/output) port, in a memory location, or in a scratch pad register accessed via an ISA I/O port (indexed or non-indexed), that the AML (ACPI control method Machine Language) in the DSDT or other ACPI tables can access. These bit(s) will be set depending upon SETUP program selections or different hardware configurations detected by the BIOS during POST. The AML will return back different values for the lowest system sleep state depending upon the bit value(s) read from the ISA I/O port, the memory or the scratch pad register accessed via the ISA I/O port.
In addition, the present invention provides an ASL (ACPI control method Source Language) code which allows an external agent, e.g., an application program, to modify the ISA I/O port, the memory or the scratch pad register accessed via the ISA I/O port. In this configuration, the ASL code conditionally prevents the external agent from dictating a power system""s sleeping state which the hardware could not support.

Method of dynamically changing the lowest sleeping state in ACPI


A jumper assembly that includes a housing assembly and a plurality of bus assemblies. Each bus assembly has a planar member and one or more collar assemblies. The housing assembly has a plurality of upper raceways and one or more raceways provide access to each bus assembly collar. The raceways associated with different bus assemblies are separate from each other. The upper raceways having openings on the left and right sides of the housing assembly. The housing assembly has a connector structure on at least one of the left and right sides. The connector structure may be coupled to another jumper assembly.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a jumper assembly used in conjunction with three or more circuit breakers, more specifically to a jumper assembly that can be mechanically and electrically coupled to another jumper assembly.
2. Background Information
A jumper assembly is a device for dividing a current from a power line so that the current may be directed to two or more circuit breakers. The jumper assembly includes a non-conductive housing and two conductive buses. The current is divided by coupling the power line to a single input point, typically a collar assembly, on a bus having two or more output terminals. The output terminals are then coupled to two different circuits, each of which has its own circuit breaker. The circuit breakers on the different circuits typically have different ratings. At typical jumper assembly is disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,064,384.
As shown in FIG. 1, the prior art jumper included a first bus bar, a second bus bar and a non-conductive housing. Each bus bar has a collar that is structured to be coupled to a power line. Each bus bar has two output terminals. The first bus bar is disposed on the upper side of a horizontal wall within the housing. The second bus bar is located on the lower side of the horizontal wall.
Prior art jumper assemblies have the collar(s) for a first bus located on the opposite side of the jumper assembly from the collar(s) for the second bus assemblies. Thus, the prior art jumper assembly cannot be connected to an adjacent second jumper assembly without having at least one power line extend across the buses or without having one power line extending outside of the housing. This is a disadvantage as two immediately adjacent jumper assemblies cannot be linked together.
There is, therefore, a need for a jumper assembly that is structured to be linked to an adjacent jumper assembly.
There is a further need for a jumper assembly that can be both mechanically and electrically coupled to another jumper assembly.
These needs and others are met by the disclosed invention which provides a jumper assembly having a housing assembly and a plurality of bus assemblies. Each bus assembly has a planar member and one or more collar assemblies. The housing assembly has a plurality of upper raceways and one or more raceways provide access to each bus assembly collar. The raceways associated with different bus assemblies are separate from each other. The upper raceways having openings on the left and right sides of the housing assembly. The housing assembly has a connector means on at least one of the left and right sides, the connector means structured to be coupled to another jumper assembly. The connector means allows the jumper assembly to be structurally coupled to another jumper assembly. Additionally, jumper straps may be disposed in the upper raceways and electrically couple the jumper assembly to another jumper assembly.

Multi-unit circuit breaker jumper assembly


Compositions and methods are provided comprising acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) enzyme variants having higher specific activity. Composition and method are provided where the ALDC variants are used in combination with metal ions to further increase stability and/or activity.

Diacetyl is sometimes an unwanted by-product of fermentation processes of carbohydrate containing substances, e.g. wort or grape juice. Formation of diacetyl is most disadvantageous because of its strong and unpleasant smell and in case of beer even small amounts of diacetyl of about 0.10 to 0.15 mg/liter has a negative effect on the flavor and taste of the beer. During the maturation of beer, diacetyl is converted into acetoin by reductases in the yeast cells. Acetoin is with respect to taste and flavor acceptable in beer in much higher concentrations than diacetyl.
Acetolactate decarboxylase (ALDC) can also be used as an enzyme to prevent the formation of diacetyl. α-acetolactate can be converted into acetoin by adding an ALDC enzyme during fermentation. However, ALDC can be unstable at fermenting conditions, especially those of fermenting worts with low malt content.
Compositions and methods related to the use of acetolactate decarboxylases have been reported in International Patent Application No. PCT/US16/33028 and PCT/US16/33043.
However, there is an ongoing need to identify ALDC variants having improved properties, such as improved specific activity.

Acetolactate decarboxylase variants having improved specific activity


A method for logging measurement results in a wireless communication system is provided. The method includes: receiving a logged measurement configuration from a network, the logged measurement configuration comprising information for performing logged Minimization Driving Test (MDT); measuring at least one cell based on the logged measurement configuration; determining whether the measurement result has importance for logging; if a storage space for logging is enough for additionally logging, setting an importance tag of the measurement result to a predetermined value in accordance with the determination; and logging the measurement result and the importance tag in the storage space.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a wireless communication, more particularly, to a method for logging measurement results in a wireless communication and an apparatus supporting the same.
2. Related Art
3rd generation partnership project (3GPP) long term evolution (LTE) is an improved version of a universal mobile telecommunication system (UMTS) and is introduced as the 3GPP release 8. The 3GPP LTE uses orthogonal frequency division multiple access (OFDMA) in a downlink, and uses single carrier-frequency division multiple access (SC-FDMA) in an uplink. The 3GPP LTE employs multiple input multiple output (MIMO) having up to four antennas. In recent years, there is an ongoing discussion on 3GPP LTE-advanced (LTE-A) that is an evolution of the 3GPP LTE.
Minimization of driving tests (MDT) is a test performed by service providers for coverage optimization by using user equipment (UE) instead of using an automobile. Coverage varies depending on the location of a base station (BS), the arrangement of buildings nearby, and the usage environment of a user. Therefore, it is required for the service providers to periodically perform the driving test, and a lot of costs and resources are consumed. The MDT is used when a service provider measures coverage by using UE.
The service provider collects measurement results reported from a plurality of UEs to create a coverage map showing service availability and distribution of service quality in all areas of services. For example, if the service provider receives a report about the problem of coverage in a particular area from the UE, it may extend the coverage of cells in that area by increasing the transmission power of the base station which provides service to that area.
In the MDT method, the UE may log a plurality of measurement results and report the logged measurements to the network. The measurement and logging by the UE may be performed periodically or based on a specific event. Available storage space for the UE to log measurement results is limited. If the UE performs measurement and logging a plurality of times, there may be no storage space left for logging, and subsequently the UE may not performed further measurement/logging. Therefore, there is a need for discussion about the measurement result logging method to be performed by the UE, in relation to limited storage space for the UE's logging.

Method for logging measurement result in wireless communication system and apparatus for the same


An olefin polymerization reaction unit includes a multistage gas phase polymerization reactor which is divided into two or more polymerization stages, in which polyolefin particles move from an initial stage to a final stage, and in which an olefin monomer-containing gas is fed from the final stage toward the initial stage. The reaction unit also includes first circulating means for feeding to the final stage a gas that is discharged from the initial stage and then cooled with a first heat exchanger, and second circulating means for feeding to one of the polymerization stages a condensate formed by condensing, with a second heat exchanger different from the first heat exchanger, a gas removed from one of the polymerization stages.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an olefin polymerization reaction unit and to a process for producing polyolefins using such an reaction unit.
2. Related Background Art
Olefin polymerization may be carried out by polymerizing an olefin monomer in the presence of a catalyst and forming granular polyolefin particles. One such process that is known to the art involves carrying out polymerization using a single-stage gas phase polymerization reactor having one polymerization stage, using a single heat exchanger to cool and partially condense unreacted monomer-containing gases recovered from the polymerization reactor, and carrying out heat removal within the single-stage gas phase polymerization reactor by again feeding the gases and condensate to the polymerization reactor (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2000-302807).
Olefin polymerization is also carried out by a process that uses a multistage gas phase polymerization reactor which is divided into two or more polymerization stages, wherein polyolefin particles move from an initial stage to a final stage and, at the same time, an olefin monomer-containing gas is fed from the final stage toward the initial stage (see, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 5,235,009 and Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 2003-277412). Heat of reaction removal in such a multistage gas phase polymerization reactor is generally carried out by using a heat exchanger to lower the temperature of unreacted monomer-containing gases recovered from the initial stage of the polymerization reactor, then feeding the gases again to the final stage of the polymerization reactor.

Olefin polymerization reaction unit and polyolefin production process


The present invention relates to a hybrid vector system which incorporates elements of herpesvirus and adeno-associated virus and which is capable of expressing a gene product in eukaryotic cells. The vector system of the present invention provides a means of packaging plasmid DNA into highly infectious virions which can efficiently and safely deliver large transgenes to both mitotic and postmitotic cells in a state which can be maintained for extended periods. The invention pertains to the use of this vector system in introducing and expressing gene sequences in mitotic and postmitotic cells.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hybrid vector system which incorporates elements of herpesvirus and adeno-associated virus and which is capable of expressing a gene product in eukaryotic cells. The vector system of the present invention provides a means of packaging plasmid DNA into highly infectious virions which can efficiently and safely deliver large transgenes to both mitotic and postmitotic cells in a state which can be maintained for extended periods. The invention also pertains to the use of this vector system in introducing and expressing gene sequences in mitotic and postmitotic cells for therapeutic purposes.
2. Related Art
A variety of vectors have been developed for gene delivery to the nervous system and to brain tumors. These vectors derive from herpes simplex virus type 1 (HSV-1), adenovirus, adeno-associated virus (AAV) and retrovirus constructs (for review see Friedmann, T., Trends Genet 10:210-214 (1994); Jolly, D., Cancer Gene Therapy 1 (1994); Mulligan, R. C., Science 260:926-932 (1993); Smith, F. et al., Rest. Neurol. Neurosci. 8:21-34 (1995)). Vectors based on HSV-1, including both recombinant virus vectors and amplicon vectors, as well as adenovirus vectors can assume an extrachromosomal state in the cell nucleus and mediate limited, long term gene expression in postmitotic cells, but not in mitotic cells. HSV-1 amplicon vectors can be grown to relatively high titers (10.sup.7 transducing units/ml) and have the capacity to accommodate large fragments of foreign DNA (at least 15 kb, with 10 concatemeric copies per virion). AAV vectors (rAAV), available in comparable titers to amplicon vectors, can deliver genes (<4.5 kb) to postmitotic, as well as mitotic cells in combination with adenovirus or herpes virus as helper virus. Long term transgene expression is achieved by replication and formation of "episomal" elements and/or through integration into the host cell genome at random or specific sites (for review see Samulski, R. J., Current Opinion in Genetics and Development 3:74-80 (1993); Muzyczka, N., Curr. Top. Microbiol. Immunol. 158:97-129 (1992)). HSV, adenovirus and rAAV vectors are all packaged in stable particles. Retrovirus vectors can accommodate 7-8 kb of foreign DNA and integrate into the host cell genome, but only in mitotic cells, and particles are relatively unstable with low titers. Recent studies have demonstrated that elements from different viruses can be combined to increase the delivery capacity of vectors. For example, incorporation of elements of the HIV virion, including the matrix protein and integrase, into retrovirus vectors allows transgene cassettes to enter the nucleus of non-mitotic, as well as mitotic cells and potentially to integrate into the genome of these cells (Naldini, L. et al., Science 272:263-267 (1996)); and inclusion of the vesicular somatitis virus envelope glycoprotein (VSV-G) increases stability of retrovirus particles (Emi, N. et al., J. Virol. 65:1202-1207 (1991)). As another example, inclusion of elements from Epstein Barr virus (EBV)--the DNA origin of replication, oriP, and the EBNA-1, within HSV amplicon vectors allows nuclear replication of vectors in dividing human cells (Wang and Vos, in press). Still there is a need for a safe, high titer vector with a broad host range which has a large transgene capacity and can confer stable expression in both mitotic and non-mitotic cells.


In an optical fiber fusion reinforcing device, a distance from an end face 723 to a mid point C6 of a reinforcing device 7 is set equal to a distance from a fusion splicing point M to an end face of a fusion splicing device 6 where optical fibers 3, 3 are inserted. The fusion splicing device 7 includes: positioning member 72 for aligning a mid point C7 of a heat shrinkable reinforcing member 13, which is slidably mounted on the fusion spliced optical fibers, and the fusion splicing point M of the optical fibers 3, 3 with each other; housing portion for housing the optical fibers 3, 3 and the heat shrinkable reinforcing member 13 so that the fusion splicing point M and the mid point of the heat shrinkable reinforcing member 13 are aligned, and heater for melting the heat shrinkable reinforcing member 13 in the housing portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical fiber reinforcing method and an optical fiber reinforcing device reinforcing a fusion splicing point of optical fibers and particularly to an optical fiber reinforcing method and an optical fiber reinforcing device to improve the reinforcing operation of optical fibers.
2. Description of the Related Art
FIGS. 1A to 1C show a related art fusion splicing device, a related art reinforcing device, and a heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve used in the related art reinforcing device.
With reference to FIG. 1A, the related art fusion splicing device 1 is a device for melting and splicing end faces of a pair of optical fibers 3, 3 by means of arc discharge generated by a pair of discharge electrode rods 14, 14 positioned at a mid point C1 of the fusion splicing device 1. Meanwhile, a part of a sheath portion is previously removed from each optical fiber 3, and the end faces of the optical fibers 3, 3 are cut with a special tool, such as a cleaver or the like to obtain a flat end face.
The related art fusion splicing device 1 is generally comprised of an optical fiber holder 11 to hold sheath portions of the pair of optical fibers 3, 3, a V-groove 12 to guide each optical fiber 3 from which the sheath portions have been removed are fixed, and the pair of discharge electrode rods 14, 14 for carrying out arc discharge.
Although the fusion splicing device 1 shown in FIG. 1A integrally has a heating and reinforcing device 2, the fusion splicing device 1 and the heating and reinforcing device 2 may be formed as separate bodies.
Generally, the strength of a fusion spliced optical fiber is weak at a fusion splicing point M thereof. Therefore, in general, the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 is reinforced with a reinforcing member, such as a heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve, for protecting and reinforcing the fusion splicing point M.
With reference to FIG. 1C, a heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 is generally comprised of an outer-tube 131 which shrinks when heated, an inner-tube 132 which is melted by heat of a heater (not shown here), a strength member 134 made of metal or the like, and a fusible hot-melt 133 filling inside the outer-tube 131. The heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 is fused with the optical fibers 3, 3 by the heating and reinforcing device 2 (Japanese Patent No. 3337874 and Japanese Patent No. 3334426).
Prior to execution of the fusion splicing step with the optical fiber fusion splicing device 1, one of the optical fibers 3, 3 is inserted into the inner-tube 132 to attach the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13.
As shown in FIG. 1A, the heating and reinforcing device 2 is generally comprised of a housing 21 to house the fusion spliced optical fiber 3, a lid 22 mounted to the housing portion 21, and the heater (not shown). The lid 22 is attached to the housing portion 21 through a hinge mechanism or the like so as to be able to open and close. The fusion spliced optical fiber 3 is housed in a predetermined position in the housing 21 in a state where the lid 22 is open. When the lid 22 is closed, the inserted optical fiber 3 is held by the lid 22 to the predetermined position, and the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 is heat shrunken by the heater (not shown) and the inner-tube 132 and the hot-melt 133 are fused at the fusion splicing point M of the optical fiber 3 and its vicinity (a heating step).
While heating the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 and the sleeve 13, because the strength member 134 is made of metal or the like and withstands an amount of heat generated by the heater, the strength member 134 is not melted and keeps its shape in the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13.
The strength member 134 is disposed in parallel with the fusion splicing point M of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 and reinforces the fusion spliced optical fiber 3.
As a result of the above-heating step, the melted inner-tube 132 and hot-melt 133 fix the strength member 134 and the fusion splicing point M of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3, all of which are covered with the outer-tube 131.
In general, prior to carrying out the heating and reinforcing step, a mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 and the fusion splicing point M have to be aligned with each other. If the same tool (a sheath remover, cutter, or the like) is used to obtain a flat face at the pair of left and right optical fibers 3, 3, lead lengths of the left and right optical fibers 3, 3 from which the sheaths have been removed are the same as each other.
As shown in FIG. 1B, the total length (L1×2) of the lengths L1 of lead portions 31, 31 of the pair of left and right optical fibers 3, 3 are set to be shorter than a length L2 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13. Therefore, portions of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 are also fused over an overwrap portion 17, 17 of the sheaths of the left and right optical fibers 3, 3. If a length of the overwrap portion 17 is L3, length L3 can be obtained by (L2−L1×2)÷2. Therefore, L2=L3×2+L1×2 (FIG. 1B). If left and right optical fibers 3, 3 are subjected to heating and reinforcement, it is preferable that this relationship is satisfied.
Consequently, in order to satisfy this relationship, the fusion splicing point M of the optical fiber 3 and a mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13, and a mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 are aligned with one another while heating and reinforcing step.
If the heating and reinforcing step is carried out in a state where the points M, C2, and C3 not aligned with each other, the length L3 of the overwrap portion 17 will be short and therefore not all parts of the lead portions 31 (a bare fiber) may be heated and reinforced.
In this case, the strength of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 is not sufficiently secured, a portion of the lead portions 31 is left exposed, the fusion splicing point M is not sufficiently protected, and the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 lacks reliability in communications.
Furthermore, heretofore, if air is left between the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 and the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 while carrying out the heating and reinforcing step, the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 and the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 or the overwrap portion 17 may peel off from each other, which causes strength and reliability problems and the like.
Therefore, in order to eliminate air remaining inside the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13, the heating and reinforcing step is gradually carried out from the mid point C2 toward end portions of the heating and reinforcing device 2 or a portion to be heated is sloped so that shrinkage occurs from the mid point C2 to opposite ends.
If the heating and reinforcing step is carried out in the case where the fusion splicing point M, the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13, and the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 are not aligned with each other, distances respectively from the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 where heating starts to the left and right opposite ends where the heating and reinforcing step ends are different from each other and time required to melt one heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve and time required to melt the other sleeve 13 do not coincide with each other. As a result, bubbles may be trapped.
Therefore, it is important that the fusion splicing point M, the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13, and the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 are aligned with each other while carrying out the heating and reinforcing step. Hereafter, an operation for aligning the mid points as described above is referred to as a centering operation.
FIGS. 2A to 2C show a related art centering operation with the conventional heating and reinforcing device 2. One of optical fibers 3, 3 to be fusion spliced to each other is passed through the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 in advance. After the fusion splicing step has finished, an operator O opens the optical fiber holder 11 and moves the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 to the heating and reinforcing device 2. As shown in FIG. 2A, at this time, the operator O lowers one side of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 with respect to the other side (or lifts the one side with respect to the other side) and, as a result, the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 slides along with the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 in a direction of an arrow in FIG. 2A due to its own weight. Here, the operator O manually lifts and lowers the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 to move the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 to a state where the fusion splicing point M of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 and the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 are aligned with each other. Here, the operator O visually checks whether the mid point C3 and the fusion splicing point M are aligned with each other.
As shown in FIG. 2B, the operator O moves the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 together with the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 to the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 while keeping the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 and the fusion splicing point M are aligned with each other.
With reference to FIG. 2C, the operator O visually confirms that the fusion splicing point M, the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13, and the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 are aligned with each other. Then, the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 and the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 are moved together into the housing 21 of the heating and reinforcing device 2. The lid 22 is closed and a heating and reinforcing step starts.
FIG. 3 shows another centering method with another related art heating and reinforcing device.
With reference to FIG. 3, to align the fusion splicing point M and the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 to each other, the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 is slid in parallel with the heating and reinforcing device 2 and in a direction of an arrow in FIG. 3 while keeping the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 in contact with a portion (designated by P in FIG. 3) of the heating and reinforcing device 2. After sliding the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 until the fusion splicing point M of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 and the mid point C3 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 are aligned with each other, the operator O puts the optical fiber 3 together with the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 in the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2 similarly to the above description, and the heating and reinforcing step is executed.
FIG. 4 shows a related art recoater. The recoater 5 is one of the related art reinforcing devices. As a method of reinforcing the fusion splicing point M of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3, in addition to the above case of using the heating and reinforcing device 2 and the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13, there is a method in which special resin (UV curing resin) is injected into and around the fusion splicing point M of the recoater 5 and a light for curing the resin is irradiated to a portion where the resin has been injected to thereby coat the fusion splicing point M with the resin (Japanese Patent Application Laid-open No. 7-311316).
The recoater 5 is generally formed of a die mold 51 into which the fusion splicing point M is fixed and the resin is injected, a gate 52 formed on the die mold 51 and through which the UV curing resin is injected, a light irradiation portion (not shown), and holders 53, 53 for fixing the fusion spliced optical fiber 3.
The die mold 51 further comprises main bodies 51a, 51b detachable from each other.
The gate 52 may be provided to one of or each of the main bodies 51a, 51b in advance. End faces of the main bodies 51a, 51b to be joined to each other are provided with left and right inserting holes 54 into which the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 is inserted.
The gate 52 is provided to a center on the die mold 51 and the fusion splicing point M needs to be disposed precisely in a position of the gate 52 while executing a reinforcing step. In the centering operation using recoater 5, the operator O aligns the fusion splicing point M and the gate 52 with each other by a visual check similarly to the case using the heating and reinforcing device 2.
3. Problems With The Related Art
However, the centering operation is carried out by the visual check by the operator O in the above method with the fusion splicing device 1 and the heating and reinforcing device 2, especially the operation of aligning the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 with the fusion splicing point M requires skill, and it is difficult to carry out precise centering. In this method, a deviation of about ±1 mm occurs in the conventional centering operation.
In lifting and lowering the opposite ends of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 to allow the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 to slide due to its own weight, the operator O has to change a position of the optical fiber 3 to hold over and over again. In this case, if the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 has only a short extra length to be connected and from a closure or a cable into which the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 is inserted, the operator O may forcibly pull out the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 so as to change the hold position and, as a result, may damage the sheath of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 or break the fusion spliced optical fiber 3.
In this centering operation, because the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 which has been housed in the heating and reinforcing device 2 is positioned in heating portion in the heating and reinforcing device 2, the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 extending out of the heating and reinforcing device 2 from the left and right surface of the device 2 is gradually pulled or pushed back to thereby position the fusion splicing point M of the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 to the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 after the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 has once being housed in the heating portion. In order to carry out the centering operation by this method, the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 needs to be reciprocated leftward and rightward many times and it is difficult to align the fusion splicing point M, the mid point C2 of the heating and reinforcing device 2, and the mid point C3 of the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 with each other.
In the method in which the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 is brought in contact with the end portion P of the conventional heating and reinforcing device 2, the end portion P of the conventional heating and reinforcing device 2 is not necessarily formed into a structure suitable for allowing the heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve 13 to come in contact with the end portion P. Therefore, the centering operation is difficult, and besides, there is a fear of damaging the fusion spliced optical fiber 3 while sliding the fusion spliced optical fiber 3.
Additionally, according to the method with the recoater 5, a mid point C4 of the die mold 51 and the fusion splicing point M need to be aligned with each other and the operator O needs to constantly give consideration so as to position the fusion splicing point M at the mid point C4 of the die mold 51 while moving the fusion splicing point M and also after the fusion splicing point M is positioned to the die mold 51. The fusion spliced optical fiber 3 used in the recoater 5 has a sheath diameter of 250 to 900 μm in many cases and the visual centering has an extremely low efficiency and requires skill of the operator O.
Also, because a speed at which the UV curing resin is filled via the gate 52 into the die mold 51 is constant, the UV curing resin is not evenly filled, and besides, it takes longer to fill the resin if the mid point C4 and the fusion splicing point M are not aligned with each other.
Furthermore, in a state where the resin is not fully filled, pressure in the die mold 51 is uneven, and therefore it is difficult to obtain a uniform UV sheath diameter after UV cure.
The present invention has been made to solve the above-described problems of the related art methods, and it is an object of the invention to provide an optical fiber reinforcing method and an optical fiber reinforcing device in which a fusion splicing point of an optical fiber, a mid point of a heat shrinkable reinforcing sleeve, and a mid point of a heating and reinforcing device can easily be aligned with each other.

Optical fiber reinforcing method and optical fiber reinforcing device


Disclosed is a method for expecting and diagnosing UQCRB-related disease, and more particularly, related to a method for diagnosing a UQCRB-related disease and a cholesterol biosynthesis related disease, as well as expecting risks of post-occurrence of the UQCRB-related disease and the cholesterol biosynthesis related disease, simply by measuring an expression level of miRNA, and a kit and a biomarker composition for the method.

Embodiments of the inventive concept described herein relate to a method for expecting and diagnosing UQCRB-related disease, and more particularly, relate to a method for diagnosing a UQCRB-related disease and a cholesterol biosynthesis related disease, as well as expecting risks of post-occurrence of the UQCRB-related disease and the cholesterol biosynthesis related disease, simply by measuring an expression level of miRNA, and a kit and a biomarker composition for the method.
Ubiquinol-cytochrome C Reductase Binding Protein (UQCRB), which is one of elements of mitochondria complex III, is known as a target protein of terpestacin that is a low molecular compound inhibiting angiogenesis.
In detail, UQCRB is encoded in a nuclear and is important in fabricating and maintaining mitochondria complex III. Additionally, UQCRB is known as being over-expressed in involved in a liver cancer and a stomach cancer, and involved in several diseases such as hypoclysemia, lactic acid acidosis, and muscle disease.
The inventors, as shown in FIG. 1, has demonstrated that introduction of UQCRB into a cell induces Reactive Oxygen Species (ROS) to be generated in mitochondria and stabilizes HIF-1α to induce angiogenesis (Jung, et al., Mol. Biosyst., 2013).
According to other several reports, complex III of mitochondria respiration chain generates ROS through sensing oxygen in a cell, performing an important function in regulating hypoxia-inducible angiogenesis.
A Hypoxia-Inducible factor (HIF) has been watched in the point that it importantly affects cell survival and initiation of angiogenesis in a hypoxia condition. ROS generated by mitochondria complex III in a hypoxia condition stabilizes HIF-1α protein which is a main regulator of angiogenesis. HIF is formed of a heterodimer complex of HIF-1α and HIF-1β, and especially HIF-1α protein causes initiation of expression of an angiogenesis-friendly factor such as Vascular Endothelial Growth Factor (VEGF).
Micro-RNA (miRNA) is a small untranslated RNA formed of 18˜25 nucleotides. Such miRNA is coupled with 3′-Untranslated Region (UTR) to regulate expression of gene (Bartel D P, et al., Cell 116: 281-297, 2004; Lewis B P, et al., Cell 120: 15-20, 2005) and processed from intron, exon, or intergenic region (Rodriguez A, et al., Genome Res 14: 1902-1910, 2004).
The miRNA is involved in various biological processes related to cancer development including proliferation and invasion of cancer cells. Expression of miRNA is known as being regulated bilaterally in many types of cancers (Esquela-Kerscher A, et al., Nat Rev Cancer 6: 259-269, 2006).
However, it has been unknown that miRNA is involved in UQCRB and diseases related to UQCRB.

Method for expecting and diagnosing UQCRB-related disease

Industry-Academic Cooperation Foundation, Yonsei University


A method for automatically indicating status information of a measuring system via an output device includes assigning status information to respective status ranges according to at least one predetermined condition, the status ranges being limited by at least one threshold value. The status ranges are individually outputted. The status information is automatically updated at a predetermined time interval.

A contract between a network operator and customers may offer the customer guaranteed characteristics in the telecommunications network, such as an upper limit for the packet delay and IP delay variations, which is particularly important for IP telephony and video conferencing.
Consequently, quality characteristics are guaranteed in the telecommunications network, which are made up of the unidirectional packet delay and the parameters derivable therefrom. Thus, the intention is to guarantee the customer maximum values for one or more of these parameters in the telecommunications network, for example, packet delays, IP delay variations and packet losses and/or minimum values for the throughput.
Moreover, compliance with these values must be verifiable the network operator and the customer.
Therefore, unidirectional measurement connections are established between measuring computers. On these measurement connections, measurement packets are sent from a measuring computer serving as a sender to a measuring computer serving as a receiver with a configurable distribution in time. The measurement packets contain, inter alia, time stamps and sequence numbers. To be able to measure the one-way delay, the time stamps at the measuring computer serving as a sender and the measuring computer serving as a receiver must be time-synchronized with sufficient accuracy. A technical implementation is, for example, the generation of time stamps via the GPS (Global Positioning System) receivers. This allows the time stamps to be generated with an error of ±½ μs.
The measurement results are retrieved from the measuring computers by a control computer controlling the measuring computers and stored in a database, where they are made available for visualization. The customer and the service provider need to get a prompt overview of the status of the measurement connections and of the measuring system. In this context, "prompt" means that a change in the status of the measurement connections or of the measuring system is indicated as quickly as possible. In particular, when using a plurality of measuring computers, which may also be assigned to different control computers, a large amount of information—status data—is generated. The problem here is that, due to the large amount of information, one loses track of important messages that would possibly require measures to ensure transmission quality.


The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for separating and detecting enzyme substrates using separation gels. For example, the apparatus and methods can be used to separate and detect kinase substrates for further analysis. The apparatus and methods can also be used to detect enzyme inhibitors, such as kinase inhibitors.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to apparatus and methods for separating and detecting enzyme substrates using separation gels. For example, the apparatus and methods can be used to separate and detect kinase substrates for further analysis. The apparatus and methods can also be used to detect enzyme inhibitors, such as kinase inhibitors.
2. Background of the Invention
Protein phosphorylation regulates nearly all cellular processes. The enzymes that catalyze the addition of phosphate groups to proteins are termed protein kinases. Deregulated kinase activity has been linked to the pathophysiology of major diseases, including cancer, diabetes, and Alzheimer's disease (Cohen P., Eur J Biochem 268:5001-5010 (2001)). In recent years, kinases have become the focus of intense drug development efforts within the pharmaceutical industry. Currently, kinases are second only to G-protein coupled receptors as targets for development of therapeutics.
A major focus within the pharmaceutical industry is the identification of kinase inhibitors, as well as kinase substrates, and in general, enzyme substrates and inhibitors. The interest in identification of enzyme inhibitors has been fueled by the clinical success of several compounds with kinase inhibitory activity. A prominent example is imatinib, an ABL kinase inhibitor that is extremely effective in treating certain forms of leukemia (Ren R., Nat. Rev. Cancer 5:172-183 (2005)) and gastrointestinal tumors (Blay J Y, et al., Bull Cancer 92:E13-18 (2005)). However, wholesale inhibition of activity of certain kinases may lead to unwanted side effects. As a result, it may be desirable in many cases to block the ability of a kinase to phosphorylate a specific substrate or class of substrates. For example, in Alzheimer's disease, a kinase called GSK3 hyper-phosphorylates the protein Tau, which is a major component of the characteristic neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer's disease (Drewes G., Trends Biochem. Sci. 29:548-555 (2004). A major impediment to the development of substrate-specific inhibitors is that for most enzymes such as kinases, the spectrum of substrates that can be phosphorylated is not known. There is currently therefore a need for assays that will facilitate the identification of substrates for enzymes, and specifically kinases. The present invention fulfills these, and other, needs by providing apparatus and methods for separating, detecting and analyzing enzyme substrates, as well as methods for separating, detecting and analyzing inhibitors of enzyme activity.

Devices and methods for profiling enzyme substrates

University of Maryland, Baltimore County


In order to prevent toner leaks from both ends of a developing roller disposed within a case accommodating polymerized toner, side seals each having a TEFLON(copyright) (polytetrafluoroethylene) felt member on its surface are provided to make sliding contact with a surface of the developing roller. To prevent toner leaks from the ends of the developing roller, a film or resin stopper is disposed at a lower-end front edge of the case to oppose the felt members and to stop the toner.

1. Field of Invention
The invention relates to a device that develops an image electrophotographically using a developing agent.
2. Description of Related Art
In a well-known developing device, an electrostatic latent image formed on the surface of a photosensitive drum is developed by electrostatically depositing toner carried on the surface of a developing roller onto the latent image. Toner leaks in the developing device frequently cause problems. Leaking toner may contaminate the inside of an image forming apparatus and result in poor printing, or may stain an operator""s hands or clothes.
Particularly, when a non-magnetic one-component toner is used, toner is held on the surface of the developing roller mainly by intermolecular forces and may leak when the developing roller receives even a slight impact or is inclined.
To prevent such toner leaks, toner leak prevention members are provided inside the developing device. Particularly, to prevent toner leaks from both ends of the developing roller, toner leak prevention members called side seals are provided so as to make sliding contact with a circumferential surface of the developing roller at its both ends.
The side seals are formed by bonding a sliding contact member made of TEFLON(copyright) felt to a urethane spongy material. The urethane spongy material is required to be sufficiently soft and less likely to deform permanently due to compression. The sliding contact member is used to provide adequate pressing force and reduce rotation torque. However, when such side seals are used, a problem arises in that the side seals generate noise when they make sliding contact with the developing roller.
The invention intends to reliably prevent not only noise generated during sliding contact between the developing roller and the side seals but also toner leaks.
In a developing device according to the invention, a sliding contact surface of each developing agent prevention member makes sliding contact with a developing agent carrier at its either end. Accordingly, the developing agent is prevented from leaking from the sliding contact portions. In addition, as a lubricating agent is applied to the sliding contact surfaces, noise is prevented from generating when the sliding contact surfaces contact the developing roller.
The developing agent prevention members are made of a fluorine-based resin in fiber form. Accordingly, the lubricating agent efficiently enters the fibers of the developing agent prevention members and improves their noise preventing effect and developing agent leak preventing effect.
Further, when the direction of fibers on the sliding contact surfaces are previously aligned with the rotation direction of the developing agent carrier, the developing agent moving perpendicularly to the rotation direction is more reliably prevented from entering the sliding contact surfaces.
At least a fluorine-based resin such as polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), is preferably contained in the lubricating agent applied to the sliding contact surfaces. A fluorine oil is more preferably contained in the lubricating agent. In an embodiment of the invention, xe2x80x9cHanarl FL-Z75xe2x80x9d (80-90 wt. % hydrofluorocarbon and 10-20 wt. % polytetrafluoroethylene), made by Kanto Kasai Ltd., is used as the lubricating agent. By use of the lubricating agent, the developing agent carrier and the sliding contact surfaces can be kept highly lubricated. Accordingly, noise generated from the developing agent carrier and the sliding contact surfaces can be dramatically reduced. At the same time, toner leaks from the both ends of the developing agent carrier can be prevented to the extent there is no serious problem, i.e., there is minimal transfer of leaked toner onto the printed medium.
Further, a developing agent stopper may be provided at a lower-end front edge of a developing agent container to stop the developing agent on a bottom surface of the container. In case the developing agent leaks from any developing agent leak prevention member, the leaking developing agent can be stopped by the developing agent stopper, causing no contamination with the developing agent of an operator""s hands or the inside of the image forming apparatus.
The developing agent stopper is formed by a film member affixed to the lower-end front edge of the container or a resin member assembled to the container. Accordingly, the developing agent stopper is very easy to mount, yet can effectively stop the developing agent.
When the developing agent stopper is formed integrally with the container, it requires no assembling work and will improve assembling efficiency of the developing device.
A process cartridge provided with the above-described developing device tends to receive impacts when it is detached/attached. In such a case, no developing agent leaks from the periphery of the developing agent carrier, causing no contamination with the developing agent of the inside of the process cartridge, the inside of the image forming apparatus, or the surface where the image forming apparatus is installed.
Further, the developing device may be structured to be a detachable developing device cartridge and may be mounted in the process cartridge. In this case, similarly to the above case, no contamination with the developing agent is caused.
Recent-model image forming apparatuses often use polymerized toner as the developing agent. The polymerized toner has a very small particle size and is suitable for forming fine images. On the other hand, the polymerized toner has a high flowability and is likely to leak from the developing device. When the polymerized toner is used in the developing device in accordance with the invention, toner leaks from the ends of the developing agent carrier, which are the most leak-prone, are reliably prevented, causing no contamination of the surroundings with the toner.

Developing agent carrier having a sealing mechanism at each end of a developing roller


A humidor for retaining and preserving cigars includes a housing having a housing bottom wall and a housing top wall, and at least one housing side wall interconnecting the housing bottom wall and housing top wall, an access structure for opening the housing to admit cigars and for closing the housing to retain humidified air, a humidity generating structure, and a venting structure having elements for retaining several of the cigars within the housing spaced apart from the housing side wall to define at least one air circulation passageway between the cigars and the housing side wall. The humidor additionally includes at least one cigar separation sheet in the form of a sheet of resilient material with at least one sheet air passing vent opening for placing between horizontal layers of the cigars to define air circulation passageways between the cigars constituting each layer of cigars. The housing and vent structure are both preferably made of cedar.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to the field of cigar storage and display accessories and paraphernalia. More specifically the present invention relates to a humidor including housing made up of housing bottom and top walls, at least one housing side wall interconnecting the bottom and top walls to form an enclosure, an access structure for opening the housing to admit cigars and for closing the housing to substantially seal the cigar environment, a humidity generating source, and an inventive venting structure which retains cigars within the housing while uniform humidified air access to the cigars. The humidor additionally includes vented cigar layer separation sheets.
The venting structure preferably includes a bottom vent panel spaced above the housing bottom wall and above a humidity generating source by spacing means and at least one side vent panel spaced inwardly from the at least one housing side wall, the bottom vent panel and the at least one side vent panel having air passing vent openings. The vent panels are each formed of a series of spaced apart slats interconnected by panel cross members, the panel cross members preferably also functioning as the spacing means separating the panel slats from the housing bottom and side walls. The spacings between the slats define the panel vent openings which place the interior of the venting structure in substantially uniform communication with air from the humidity generating source. The panel slats are preferably made of cedar.
The cigar layer separation sheets each preferably include a thin sheet of material having a series of elongate venting openings in them. Each sheet is placed on top of a horizontal layer of laterally abutting and parallel cigars so that an upper layer of cigars may be laid on top of the sheet. The separation sheets permit venting between the cigar layers. The sheets are preferably made of cedar.
2. Description of the Prior Art
There have long been humidors for retaining a pile of cigars in a closed, high humidity environment to extend the cigar shelf life. A problem with these prior humidors has been that they do not uniformly distribute humidified air throughout the cigars they contain. The suspended water molecules cannot pass freely and at a sufficient volume rate through the pile of cigars to adequately moisten and maintain the cigars in the middle of the pile. Stacked cigars nestle together closely and leave inadequate interstitial space for moistened air delivery. See Prior Art FIG. 1.
The most common solution found in the existing art has been for the cigar collector to engage in the laborious task of removing and rotating the cigars from time to time. This task is not only a time consuming and uninteresting, but if forgotten or delayed for too long, premium and costly cigars may be prematurely dried and ruined.
It is thus an object of the present invention to provide a humidor which retains multiple layers of cigars for efficient storage.
It is another object of the present invention to provide such a humidor which creates fluid communication all around the cigars for an enveloping delivery of humidified air throughout the cigars.
It is still another object of the present invention to provide such a humidor which creates fluid communication between cigar layers for adequate interstitial delivery of humidified air between cigars.
It is finally an object of the present invention to provide such a humidor which is sturdy, attractive, and economical to manufacture.

Laterally and interstitially vented humidor