A sampling rate conversion apparatus and a method thereof are provided which increase the sampling rate of a discrete audio signal sampled at a predetermined sampling rate by using a fractal interpolation function (FIF). An audio signal portion formed by a predetermined number of sampling data items is divided into a plurality of interpolation intervals. On the audio signal portion, mapping points are determined. The number of the mapping points is in accordance with the degree of increase in the sampling rate. For the respective interpolation intervals, mapping parameters for performing mapping using the FIF on the mapping points are calculated. In all of the interpolation intervals, the mapping using the FIF is performed on the mapping points with the use of the mapping parameters according to the respective interpolation intervals. Thereby, new sampling data items are generated.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a sampling rate conversion apparatus and a conversion method thereof, particularly to a sampling rate conversion apparatus and a conversion method thereof which increase the sampling rate of a discrete audio signal sampled at a predetermined sampling rate by using a fractal interpolation function (FIF).
2. Description of the Related Art
(a) FIF:
In the audio field and the graphics field, a variety of techniques of interpolating between sampling signals have been studied and proposed. The interpolation techniques include an FIF (Fractal Interpolation Function). The FIF is a technique of performing interpolation by mapping into an interpolation interval a signal waveform having a length M times longer than the length of the interpolation interval. The FIF, which is the basis for a rate conversion process according to the present embodiments, will be described below.
As illustrated in FIG. 7, an FIF processing procedure performed with a one-dimensional discrete signal S={(un, vn): n=0, 1, . . . , N} will be described below. Herein, the signal S is a signal represented by a single-valued function satisfying the following formula.u0<u1< . . . <un  (1)
First, an M+1 number of representative points P={(xi, yi): i=1, 2, . . . , M} (black circles in FIG. 7) are selected from the signal S. Herein, it is assumed that both end points of the signal S are unconditionally selected as the representative points, as shown in the following formula.
                    Formula                                                  1                                                                                (                                                                                u                    0                                                                                v                    0                                                                        )                    =                      (                                                                                x                    0                                                                                y                    0                                                                        )                          ,                              (                                                                                u                    N                                                                                v                    N                                                                        )                    =                      (                                                                                x                    M                                                                                y                    M                                                                        )                                              (        2        )
With the M+1 number of the representative points selected, the signal S is divided into an M number of intervals (the first interval to the M-th interval). Hereinafter, the interval defined by two consecutive representative points [xi-1, xi] will be referred to as the interpolation interval i.
Then, an affine map wi represented by Equation (3) is applied to map the signal S into each of the M number of the interpolation intervals i (i=0 to M). FIG. 8 illustrates an example in which the signal S is mapped into the interpolation interval i.
                    Formula                                                  2                                                                                w              i                                                  (                                                                    x                                                                                y                                                              )                                =                                                                      (                                                                                a                          i                                                                                0                                                                                c                          i                                                                                d                          i                                                                                )                                                                  (                                                                                x                                                                                y                                                                              )                                            +                                                (                                                                                e                          i                                                                                f                          i                                                                                )                                                                  :                                                                                i                                      =            1                          ,        2        ,        …                                          ,        M                            (        3        )
In the above equation, wi represents a contraction map for mapping the signal S into the interpolation interval i. It is therefore understood that the signal S provided by the application of the FIF is expressed as a union of contracted images wi(S) thereof obtained by the contraction map wi (i=1 to M), as shown in the following formula.
                    Formula                                                  3                                                                      S          ≈          G                =                              ⋃                          i              =              1                        M                                                        w              i                                                  (              S              )                                                          (        4        )
In the above formula, G represents an attractor of an Iterated Function System (IFS), and has been known to have a self-affine characteristic.
Meanwhile, Equation (3) includes five unknown parameters ai, ci, di, ei, and fi (hereinafter referred to as the mapping parameters). To apply Equation (3) to an actual signal, the five unknown parameters ai, ci, di, ei, and fi need to be calculated. Therefore, a constraint represented by the following formula is provided.
                    Formula                                                  4                                                                                w              i                                                  (                                                                                u                      0                                                                                v                      0                                                                                )                                =                      (                                                                                x                                          i                      -                      1                                                                                y                                          i                      -                      1                                                                                )                          ,                                            w              i                                                  (                                                                                u                      N                                                                                v                      N                                                                                )                                =                                                    (                                                                                x                        i                                                                                y                        i                                                                                )                                                          :                                                                                i                        =            1                          ,        2        ,        …                                          ,        M                            (        5        )
Due to the above-described constraint, end points Ts and Te of the signal S are mapped onto end points Tis and Tie of the interpolation interval i, as indicated by arrows A and B in FIG. 8. With the provision of the above-described constraint, and in consideration of the parameter di of the five mapping parameters, which is called a contraction factor, the other four mapping parameters can be respectively expressed as follows.
                    Formula                                                  5                                                                      a          i                =                                            x              i                        -                          x                              i                -                1                                                                        x              M                        -                          x              0                                                          (        6        )                                          e          i                =                                                            x                M                                                          x                                  i                  -                  1                                                      -                                          x                0                                                          x                i                                                                        x              M                        -                          x              0                                                          (        7        )                                          c          i                =                                                            y                i                            -                              y                                  i                  -                  1                                                                                x                M                            -                              x                0                                              -                                    d              i                                                                                y                  M                                -                                  y                  0                                                                              x                  M                                -                                  x                  0                                                                                (        8        )                                          f          i                =                                                                              x                  M                                                                  y                                      i                    -                    1                                                              -                                                x                  0                                                                  y                  i                                                                                x                M                            -                              x                0                                              -                                    d              i                                                                                x                    M                                                                          y                    0                                                  -                                                      x                    0                                                                          y                    M                                                                                x                  M                                -                                  x                  0                                                                                (        9        )
In an attempt to highly accurately express a signal provided by the use of the FIF, there arises an issue of how to determine the representative points and the contraction factor. This issue has been called an inverse problem of the FIF, and some methods for solving the issue have been proposed. In the present specification, the inverse problem is solved by the use of a method proposed by Mazel et al. The method will be described below.
(b) Mapping Parameters:
As previously described, with the application of the FIF, the provided signal S is mapped into the respective interpolation intervals. Herein, the contracted image wi(S)=[(pn, qn): n=0, 1, . . . , N] of the signal S obtained by the contraction map wi (see FIG. 9) can be expressed as in the following formula. In FIG. 9, large white circles represent data points on the signal S, and small black circles represent an N number of points on the contracted image wi(S).
                    Formula                                                  6                                                                                (                                                                                p                    n                                                                                q                    n                                                                        )                    =                                                    (                                                                                a                            i                                                    ·                                                      u                            n                                                                          +                                                  e                          i                                                                                c                            i                                                    ·                                                      u                            n                                                                          +                                                                              d                            i                                                    ·                                                      v                            n                                                                          +                                                  f                          i                                                                                )                                                          :                                                                                n                        =            0                          ,        1        ,        …                                          ,        N                            (        10        )
As described in the foregoing section, in the application of the FIF, there is an issue of how to generate the attractor G in which the provided signal S is highly accurately approximated. This issue can be solved by minimization of the error between a subset S [xi-1, xi] of the signal S and the contracted image wi(S). Herein, the error between the subset S [xi-1, xi] and the contracted image wi(S) is represented as Ei. Then, with the vertical distances between the data points constituting the subset S [xi-1, xi] and the data points constituting the contracted image wi(S) added together, as illustrated in FIG. 9, the error Ei can be formulated as in the following formula.
                    Formula                                                  7                                                                      E          i                =                              ∑                          n              =              0                        N                                                        (                                                                    c                    i                                    ·                                      u                    n                                                  +                                                      d                    i                                    ·                                      v                    n                                                  +                                  f                  i                                -                                  v                  m                                            )                        2                                              (        11        )                                m        =                  [                                                    a                i                            ·                              u                n                                      +                          e              i                        +            0.5                    ]                                    (        12        )
In Equation (12), [•] represents a Gaussian symbol. If Equations (8) and (9) are substituted in Equation (11) and rearranged, the following equations are obtained.
                    Formula                                                  8                                                                      E          i                =                              ∑                          n              =              0                        N                                                        (                                                                    α                    n                                    ·                                      d                    i                                                  -                                  β                  n                                            )                        2                                              (        13        )                                          α          n                =                              v            n                    -                                                                      y                  M                                -                                  y                  0                                                                              x                  M                                -                                  x                  0                                                                                u              n                                -                                                                      x                  M                                                                  y                  0                                            -                                                x                  0                                                                  y                  M                                                                                x                M                            -                              x                0                                                                        (        14        )                                          β          n                =                              v            m                    -                                                                      y                  i                                -                                  y                                      i                    -                    1                                                                                x                  M                                -                                  x                  0                                                                                u              n                                -                                                                      x                  M                                                                  y                                      i                    -                    1                                                              -                                                x                  0                                                                  y                  i                                                                                x                M                            -                              x                0                                                                        (        15        )
Then, in terms of the contraction factor di, Equation (13) is minimized on the basis of the least squares criterion. As a result, the contraction factor di is provided by the following formula.
                    Formula                                                  9                                                                      d          i                =                                            ∑                              n                =                0                            N                                                                  α                n                                                          β                n                                                                        ∑                              n                =                0                            N                                                  α              n              2                                                          (        16        )
As previously described, if the value of the contraction factor di is determined, the remaining four mapping parameters can be uniquely determined. Therefore, if a target signal is entirely constituted by known data points, the inverse problem of the signal can be relatively easily solved, and the signal S can be mapped into the respective interpolation intervals.
As described above, if a target signal is entirely constituted by known data points, the inverse problem of the signal can be relatively easily solved. However, a signal subjected to rate conversion (upsampling) includes unknown data points to be interpolated. Therefore, it is difficult to solve the inverse problem.
In view of the above, a sampling rate conversion method using the FIF has been proposed as a related art, which can solve the inverse problem of a signal subjected to rate conversion (upsampling) and accurately perform rate conversion of converting a low sampling rate signal to a high sampling rate signal (see Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2005-84370).
The related art uses the fact that the mapping parameters of the following Formula 10 for the i-th interpolation interval of an amplified signal Sk having a sampling rate k times higher than the sampling rate of the original signal S can be determined as shown in the following Formula 11 with the use of the parameters ai, ci, di, ei, and fi for the i-th interpolation interval of the signal S.
                    Formula                                                  10                                                                                a            ^                    i                ,                              c            ^                    i                ,                              d            ^                    i                ,                              e            ^                    i                ,                              f            ^                    i                                    (        17        )                                Formula                                                  11                                                                                (                                                                                a                      ^                                        i                                                                                c                      ^                                        i                                                                                d                      ^                                        i                                                                                e                      ^                                        i                                                                                f                      ^                                        i                                                                        )                    =                                                    (                                                                                a                        i                                                                                c                        i                                                                                d                        i                                                                                k                        ·                                                  e                          i                                                                                d                        ·                                                  f                          i                                                                                )                                                          :                                                                                i                        =            1                          ,        2        ,        …                                          ,        M                            (        18        )
Herein, the "amplified signal having a sampling rate k times higher" is a signal obtained by a process of multiplying each of the sampling rate and the signal value (the amplitude) of the signal S by k. A specific process will be described below.
As illustrated in FIG. 10, a representative point determination unit 101 determines the representative points P={(xi, yi): i=1, 2, . . . , M} of the signal S (Step 1). Then, a mapping parameter calculation unit 102 determines the mapping parameters ai, ci, di, ei, and fi (Step 2).
Then, an amplified signal representative point determination unit 103 multiplies the representative points P={(xi, yi): i=1, 2, . . . , M} of the signal S by k in the directions of a u-axis and a v-axis, to thereby determine the representative points of the amplified signal Sk expressed in the following Formula 12 (Step 3).{circumflex over (P)}={({circumflex over (x)}i,ŷi):i=0, 1, . . . , M}  Formula 12
Then, an amplified signal mapping parameter calculation unit 104 determines the mapping parameters of the amplified signal Sk expressed in the following Formula 13 (Step 4).âi,ĉi,{circumflex over (d)}i,êi,{circumflex over (f)}i,  Formula 13
Then, an attractor generation unit 105 repeatedly applies a well-known Random Iteration Algorithm (RIA) to generate an attractor Gk expressed in the following Formula 14, in which the amplified signal Sk is approximated (Step 5).Gk={(ûn,{circumflex over (v)}n):n=0, 1, . . . , kN}  Formula 14
The generated attractor Gk is k times greater than the attractor of the original signal S. Lastly, therefore, the attractor Gk is multiplied by 1/k (Step 6). That is, if the attractor is calculated by the following Formula 15, the attractor represents a signal having a sampling rate k times higher than the sampling rate of the original signal S.Ĝk={(ûn,{circumflex over (v)}n/k):n=0, 1, . . . , kN}  Formula 15
According to the related art described above, as the number of repetitions of the RIA increases, the attractor converges, and the sampling rate can be multiplied by k with high accuracy. However, the related art requires an increased number of repetitions of the RIA. As a result, there arises an issue of an increase in the throughput and resultant difficulty in achieving real-time processing in an audio DSP (Digital Signal Processor).

Sampling rate conversion apparatus and method thereof


A data processing device includes a first storing unit for storing a plurality of job definition data indicating content of processing corresponding to instructions in accordance with a series of operations by a user, a second storing unit for storing rule information indicating a rule for determining order of displaying a plurality of items of identification information respectively identifying the plurality of the job definition data, a updating unit for updating the rule information stored in the second storing unit, a control unit for determining the order of displaying the plurality of the items of the identification information in accordance with the rule information stored in the second storing unit, and a displaying unit for displaying the plurality of the items of the identification information in the order determined by the control unit.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a data processing device, an image forming device, and a data processing method, and can be applied to a configuration of an operation screen of an MFP (multifunction peripheral), for example.
2. Description of the Related Art
A conventional image forming device or image processing device, such as an MFP, has a function to assign a sequence of a plurality of key operations to a single key operation and register the assignment. The key may be a hardware key or a software key.
A conventional MFP provides, by using a touch panel, an operation screen through which a user selects a job macro to be carried out.
An exemplary configuration of the above-mentioned screen for selecting a job is described in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-223529 (hereafter referred to as patent document 1). Patent document 1 describes an example of an operation screen on which a list of printing jobs for a printing control device is displayed. In the operation screen described in patent document 1, when the list of the printing jobs is displayed, a user can arbitrarily select one from parameters in relation to the respective printing jobs to change order of displaying the printing jobs.
However, in the operation screen described in patent document 1, when the number of items of parameters in relation to the printing jobs (i.e., the number of job definition data) is increased, it is complicated and inconvenient for the user to manually rearrange the order of displaying the printing jobs.
Thus, there is need for a data processing device, an image forming device and a data processing method that are more convenient when a user selects a job through an operation screen.

Data processing device, image forming device, and data processing method


A method for manufacturing a high-strength steel wooden golf head solves the difficulty in reducing the thickness of the striking faceplate of a conventional wooden golf head. The method includes placing a shell mold having a crucible portion and a cavity portion in communication with the crucible portion on a rotary table, placing a metal ingot in the crucible portion, followed by melting the metal ingot into molten metal in a vacuum environment, rotating the rotary table to cause molten metal to flow into the cavity portion under a centrifugal force, gradually slowing down the rotary table after the molten metal cools and solidifies, destroying the shell mold to obtain a casting including a cast product portion, and separating the cast product portion from the casting to obtain a casting product of the wooden golf head having a tensile strength of 240-350 ksi and a minimum thickness of 1.4-1.8 mm not including a groove depth of the striking faceplate.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention generally relates to a method for manufacturing a wooden golf head and, more particularly, to a method for manufacturing a high-strength steel golf head with a thin striking faceplate.
2. Description of the Related Art
Early wooden golf heads are made of stainless or carbon steel. In order to increase the performance of the wooden golf heads, several new steel-type casting materials have been continuously developed in recent years and have been used to manufacture wooden golf heads. For example, steel-type alloys containing cobalt (Co), molybdenum (Mo), or titanium (Ti) generally have a high strength above 240 ksi. Therefore, such steel-type alloys are suitable for manufacturing the wooden golf heads, thinning the striking faceplate of the wooden golf heads, decreasing the total weight of the wooden golf heads and improving the hitting effect of the wooden golf heads.
Current wooden golf heads are manufactured by using a high frequency induction furnace to rapidly melt the casting materials in the atmosphere, followed by removing the slag and gases in the molten metal by slagging and refinery. Static gravity pouring is then carried out. However, the casting materials for the high-strength wooden golf heads include active metals, such as cobalt, molybdenum, or titanium that are apt to react with oxygen in the air. Thus, rigorous oxidation easily occurs during the procedures of smelting of the casting materials, increasing difficulties in melting and easily causing oxidative fire cracks due to reaction with air during the pouring process. As a result, appearance defects, such as sesame dot defects and black bean defects, are apt to be formed on the cast products of the wooden golf heads. In worse situations, the reactive gas forms a large number of slag holes or blowholes in the cast products of the wooden golf heads and, thus, adversely affects the tensile strength of the wooden golf heads.
Namely, to assure that the striking faceplate of a wooden golf head can meet the tensile strength standard for withstanding cannon shots of predetermined strength and times without damage, the thickness of the striking faceplate of a current integrally formed wooden golf head is still too thick. TABLE 1 shows the tensile strengths and minimum thicknesses of striking faceplates of wooden, golf heads made of different materials by gravity pouring in the atmosphere, wherein the "minimum thickness" is defined as the minimum thickness of a striking faceplate having a strength capable of withstanding 3,000 cannon shots at a speed of 50 m/s without damage (not including the groove depth).
TABLE 1striking faceplatetensile strengthminimum thicknessmaterial(ksi)(mm)NANO 5583.20303773.20304773.208620 853.20MS225982.85M-9982.90low hardness 4311002.85ST-231023.204311102.85LD-7451202.82205 1252.7017-4PH1402.7ST-221492.754501702.454501802.35HYPER17-412002.3AM3552102.3ES2302302.204130 2302.154130 2302.15ES2352352.20SUP 102362.2015-7 PH2402.204552502.10465 + (275)2702.054752802.00
As can be seen from Table 1, to achieve the same cannon shot conditions, the tensile strength and the minimum thickness of each striking faceplate material are highly related. Namely, the minimum thickness can be smaller if the tensile strength of the striking faceplate is higher. Furthermore, given the above cannon shot conditions, the average minimum thickness (not including the groove depth) of the striking faceplate of a current integrally formed wooden golf head is about 2.59 mm. For a striking faceplate having a higher strength (above 240 ksi), the minimum thickness (not including the groove depth) has to be more than 2.0 mm. Thus, there is a bottleneck in reducing the overall weight of current wooden golf heads.
Furthermore, rigorous oxidation also reduces the flowability of the molten metal in the shell mold, leading to a reduced yield rate of the cast products of the wooden golf heads due to insufficient pouring or resulting in gaps in the cast products of the wooden golf heads due to cold shut. The tensile strength of the cast products of the wooden golf heads is also adversely affected.
On the other hand, on the wooden golf heads manufactured by static gravity pouring, additional casting materials are needed to elevate the pressing effect of the molten metal and to improve the yield rate of the wooden golf heads. However, the additional casting materials and the energy used for melting the additional casting materials result in the increased manufacturing cost.
In light of this, it is necessary to improve the conventional method for manufacturing a steel golf head.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Method for manufacturing a high-strength steel wooden golf head


A plasma treatment method comprising exhausting a process chamber so as to decompress the process chamber, mounting a wafer on a suscepter, supplying a process gas to the wafer through a shower electrode, applying high frequency power, which has a first frequency f.sub.1 lower than an inherent lower ion transit frequencies of the process gas, to the suscepter, and applying high frequency power, which has a second frequency f.sub.2 higher than an inherent upper ion transit frequencies of the process gas, whereby a plasma is generated in the process chamber and activated species influence the wafer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a plasma treatment method by which substrates such as semiconductor wafers are etched or sputtered under plasma atmosphere. It also relates to a plasma treatment apparatus for the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Recently, semiconductor devices are more and more highly integrated and the plasma treatment is therefore asked to have a finer workability in their making course. In order to achieve such a finer workability, the process chamber must be decompressed to a greater extent, plasma density must be kept higher and the treatment must have a higher selectivity. In the case of the conventional plasma treatment methods, however, high frequency voltage becomes higher as output is made larger, and ion energy, therefore, becomes stronger than needed. The semiconductor wafer becomes susceptible to damage, accordingly. Further, the process chamber is kept about 250 mTorr in the case of the conventional methods and when the degree of vacuum in the process chamber is made higher (or the internal pressure in the chamber is made smaller), plasma cannot be kept stable and its density cannot be made high.


A supporting plate for setting up fabrication, assembly and/or test equipment has a framework which is filled with a mineral casting so that the framework and the mineral casting form a solid plate. The framework can be placed on a mould underlay and used as a casting mould during filing of the mineral casting.

The invention relates to a supporting plate and a method of producing the same. Supporting plates are used for setting up fabrication, assembly and/or test equipment. Conventional supporting plates comprise steel plates, on which the outer contours and sizeable openings are produced by flame cutting. In order to obtain the necessary flatness and surface quality, the steel plate surfaces are machined on both sides. For fastening measures, threaded bores and through-holes are made individually, according to requirements. The steel plate rests directly on a trestle. It is being necessary for this steel plate to have a certain minimum thickness, depending on the application, for the purpose of stability. The supporting function is performed by the steel plate itself. For surface protection and for decorative reasons, a surface finish is necessary. The disadvantages of these supporting plates are that they are expensive to produce, that quick availability is ruled out due to the great amount of work involved, and that a great amount of material is necessary in order to obtain high vibration damping. Consequently, such supporting plates are very heavy.

Supporting plate and method of producing the same


A method of operating a procedural language and content generation system that involves correlating environment objects and object movement to input controls through operation of a correlator, operating an interpreter to evaluate the correlation of the input controls and object/object movement against known libraries to generate programmatic instructions, storing the programmatic instructions as an instruction set, transforming the instruction set into executable commands through a compiler, and configuring control logic to perform the executable commands in response to receiving detected environment objects and detected object movement from an image processor.

The creation of content for augmented reality (AR) devices currently suffers from various shortcomings. In particular, current content creation methods lack user friendly authoring tools, requiring the content creator to write complex code. This shortcoming is especially apparent in the creation of procedural content, content that offers some measure of guidance delivered via the functions of the AR device that directs the user through the steps of a procedure to which the user adheres rigidly or loosely, whose execution also requires actions by the operator requiring use of the operator's hands, which calls for the use of the various additional functions of the AR device to retrieve relevant information and may require deposition of new information in appropriate digital repositories. Therefore, it is obvious a need exists for an AR content creation system that is better supports all levels of content creators, from those without a programming background to those who are experienced in content creation.

Procedural language and content generation environment for use in augmented reality/mixed reality systems to support laboratory and related operations


The present invention relates to a method for preparing a monoglyceride hydrate product, which product may be used as an emulsifier in various food and non-food applications. The present invention further relates to the monoglyceride hydrate product obtainable by said method. The invention further relates to a monoglyceride hydrate product, comprising monoglycerides, with saturated fatty acid residues, water and non-hydrogenated monoglycerides and/or diglycerides having unsaturated fatty acid residues.

In the food industry emulsifiers are commonly used as food additives. Well known emulsifiers are monoglyceride based emulsifiers. Because of the hydrophilic free hydroxyl groups in the glycerol part of the monoglyceride molecule, and the lipophilic fatty acid part of the monoglyceride, the material is surface active and may thus be used as a surfactant. Hence, these products are commonly used to stabilize emulsions, improve the texture and volume of cakes and to improve the crumb softness of bread.
The preparation of monoglycerides is well known in the art and they are generally prepared as follows. Edible fats and/or fat derived fatty acids are reacted with glycerol. This leads to a mixture of mono-, di-, and triglycerides and minor quantities of free glycerol, water and free fatty acids. Since the 1- and 2-monoglycerides are the most active components in the mixture, it is desirable to limit the di- and triglyceride content of the product. In order to achieve this, distillation techniques have been developed and used to prepare distilled monoglyceride compositions containing in excess of 85% monoglycerides, principally in the 1-monoglyceride form.
Furthermore, most distilled monoglyceride based emulsifiers have been furnished as either a beaded or fine powder, a plastic or as a water paste (hydrate). The hydrated emulsifiers are typically used in applications like bakery dough that benefit from their properties such as their easy process ability and their good functionality.
These types of hydrated monoglyceride based emulsifiers generally consist for the larger part of water and predominantly saturated monoglycerides (i.e. the primary emulsifier). However, in order to be able to prepare a stable paste like hydrate product from said primary emulsifier, most often a minor amount of a co-emulsifier is added. These co-emulsifiers are generally prepared from partly hydrogenated mono-, and diglycerides.
In this regard it is noted that the fatty acid residues of the monoglycerides used in both the primary- and co-emulsifier generally have between 12 and 22 carbon atoms. Furthermore, the (saturated) monoglycerides of the primary emulsifier generally have an iodine value in the range of 0 to 15, while the mono-, and diglycerides of the co-emulsifier generally have an iodine value of 25 or higher.
Furthermore, vegetable fats and oils comprise highly unsaturated cis-fatty acid residues. In order to make these more saturated and suitable for use in the co-emulsifier, the fatty acid residues are partly hydrogenated. However, a byproduct of (partly) hydrogenation of the carbon-carbon double bonds of the unsaturated fatty acid residues are trans-fatty acid residues formed via conversion from the natural cis-configuration to the trans-configuration.
Recent studies have indicated that trans-fatty acids impact cardiovascular health more negatively than saturated fatty acids do. Trans-fatty acids have amongst other been linked to an increase in blood serum cholesterol content (Katan, M. B. 1995. Trans fatty acids and their effect upon lipoproteins in humans, Ann. Rev. Nutr. 15, 473-493). In part due to this recent research, consumers are becoming more attentive to the trans-fatty acid content of their diets and many consumers are beginning to prefer products with lower trans-fatty acid content.
Hence, a need has arisen for the development of hydrated monoglyceride based emulsifiers which do not comprise monoglycerides and diglycerides with partly hydrogenated fatty acid residues.
However, it has been found that the development of such products is not straight forward when removing the trans fatty acid residues, and that if no special measures are taken, products with unacceptable handling and/or shelf-life properties or poor emulsifying properties or both are obtained. Hence, a need remains for monoglyceride hydrate products with a low amount of trans-fatty acid residues. A need also exists for an efficient method for preparing these types of products.

Method for the preparation of a monoglyceride hydrate product


A cache memory functioning as a circular buffer for use as a part historical, part predictive cache memory is provided. A first register contains data having a value corresponding to a cache memory location of a last instruction executed by a processor and a second register contains data having a value corresponding to a memory location in the cache memory of a last prefetched instruction. Prefetching of instructions from a main memory to the cache memory is disabled if the difference between the values in the first and second pointer registers exceeds a predetermined amount.

Most computer systems include a processor and a memory system. The speed at which the processor can decode and execute instructions to process data has for some time exceeded the speed at which instructions and operands can be transferred from the main memory of the memory system to the processor. In an attempt to reduce the problems caused by a mismatch in speed, many computer systems also include a cache memory between the processor and the main memory.
A cache memory is a small, high-speed buffer memory which is used to temporarily hold a copy of those portions of the contents of main memory which are likely to be used in the near future by the processor. Typically, when the processor requires an instruction, the instruction is fetched from the cache memory or from the main memory via an instruction bus. The main purpose of a cache memory is to shorten the time necessary to perform memory accesses, either for data or instruction fetch. The information located in cache memory may be accessed in much less time than that located in main memory. Thus, a processor with a cache memory needs to spend far less time waiting for instruction and operands to be fetched and/or stored. For example, in typical large, high-speed computers, main memory can be accessed in 300 to 600 nanoseconds; information can be obtained from a cache memory on the other hand, in 30 to 40 nanoseconds. A cache memory which is used to store instructions as they are used by the processor for possible later re-use, is known as an historical cache memory.
Alternatively, a scheme may be implemented whereby instructions are prefetched and stored in a cache memory before they are requested by the processor. Such a scheme is called a predictive cache memory scheme.
Whether an historical or a predictive cache memory scheme is used, the desired objectives are to 1) maximize the probability of finding a main memory reference's information in the cache, 2) minimize the time required to access information that is needed by the processor (access time), and to 3) minimize the delay due to a cache miss. All of these objectives must be accomplished under cost constraints and in view of the interrelationship between the parameters, for example, the trade-off between hit ratio and access time. The probability of finding the needed information in the cache memory is related to its size.
More recently, cache memories have been coupled with instruction prefetch circuits for providing the storage of future processor instruction requests in the cache, before the processor actually issues the request. When instructions are prefetched from a main memory and written to a cache memory, those prefetched instructions may overwrite previously written instructions stored within the cache. This overwriting of previously written instructions with prefetched instructions is in effect replacing an historical portion of the cache memory with a predictive portion. Although in some instances predictive instruction prefetching provides advantages over historical based caching schemes, there exists a need for a hybrid type of caching scheme whereby some of the information is stored on a predictive basis and some of the information is stored on an historical basis. In most computers, instructions are stored in a main memory in the order that they will be executed. Whereas this order is typically sequential, the instruction flow is often interrupted by conditional and unconditional branch instructions. A register termed the program counter resides in the processor and is incremented at the execution of each instruction and it also stores the address of the next instruction to be executed. When an unconditional branch instruction is executed, the program counter is loaded with the branch target address and the instruction corresponding to the branch target address, the target itself, is executed. After the processor has determined the result of a conditional branch instruction, the program counter will either be loaded with the branch target address or will be loaded with the next sequential address of the instruction following the address of the conditional branch instruction depending on whether or not the condition was satisfied.
Recently, some prefetch circuits have been designed to provide additional functions which enhance the function of prefetching sequential instructions. One such enhancement allows a prefetch circuit to first determine if a current prefetched instruction is a branch instruction. A subsequent prefetched instruction may be the branch target address or may contain the branch target itself. However, when a conditional branch instruction is decoded, the prefetch circuit may not have the necessary information available to determine which path to take because the result of the condition of the conditional branch is not known by the prefetch circuit and thus, a conditional branch may yield an incorrectly prefetched subsequent instruction. By having a part historical, part predictive cache memory, the chance of a cache hit is increased in the instance that a prefetch sequence includes a conditional branch instruction. If the predictive portion of the cache memory does not contain the required instruction due to an incorrectly prefetched instruction, the historical portion of the cache memory may contain the required instruction.
It is thus an object of the invention to improve the performance of a cache memory operation in association with a processor.
It is a further object of the invention to improve the performance of a cache memory by providing a part historic part predictive cache memory system.


A non-magnetic substrate material which contains 0.5%-3% of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 and 3%-16% of at least either ZnO or SnO.sub.2 (but with ZnO+SnO.sub.2 <=16%) in addition to components of 45%-60% of TiO.sub.2, 5%-20% of BaO and 20%-35% of CaO, and a floating-type magnetic head with a slider made of the above-mentioned non-magnetic substrate material.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a non-magnetic substrate material to be used for floating-type magnetic head sliders for high frequency, high density storage magnetic disk units, and to a composite-type floating magnetic head (hereinafter sometimes called "Composite Type Head") and thin film-type floating magnetic head (hereinafter sometimes called "Thin Film Head") for which the abovementioned material is used.
2. Related Art
Magnetic disks have been used for 3.5", 2.5" and high density compact magnetic disk units and are available in two types, the composite type head disk unit which is shown in FIG. 1 and currently the most popular, and the thin film head type disk unit which is shown in FIG. 2 and which is likely to be increasingly used as further advances are made in densification.
In FIG. 1, element 11 is the composite-type floating magnetic head and element 12 is a slider composed of non-magnetic materials, such as ceramics. A magnetic head core 13 is fixed and retained in a slit 14 formed in an air bearing 16 with molded glass 15.
FIG. 4 is a perspective view showing magnetic head core 31, generally referred to in FIG. 1 as element 13. The magnetic head core 31 consists of a pair of facing core blocks 32 and 33, having a magnetic gap 37 between them. Soft magnetic alloy thin films 35 and 36, are formed by sputtering on both core blocks and are reinforced with glass 34 for adhesion.
The above magnetic head core is generally made of Mn--Zn single crystal ferrite with a thermal expansion coefficient of about 110.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree. C. The magnetic head core is set in the slider slit and fixed with glass as discussed above with reference to FIG. 1. Thus, if the thermal expansion coefficient is substantially different from that of the slider, the glass will be easily cracked. Consequently, it is necessary to approximate the thermal expansion coefficient of the magnetic head core to that of the slider.
A non-magnetic substrate material suitable for such composite-type sliders is one composed of a TiO.sub.2 --BaO--CaO component, such as disclosed in Japanese Patent Laid-Open Publication No. 243562/1990, along with at least one additive of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, NiO, SrO, MgO, Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, WO, MoO.sub.3, In.sub.2 O.sub.3 and ZrO.sub.2. The thermal expansion coefficient of this non-magnetic substrate material is about 115.times.10.sup.-7 /.degree. C., which is close to that of Mn--Zn ferrite for the magnetic head core. The additive, such as Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, makes a finer crystal grain, reduces gaps between crystal grains and makes them uniform. Thus, this non-magnetic substrate material can be easily machined with substantially reduced chipping and is regarded as a superior material for this type of application.
FIG. 2 is a perspective view showing a thin film-type magnetic head as an example, wherein element 20 is a magnetic head, 21 element is an air bearing, element 22 is an electromagnetic converter and element 23 is a slider. The electromagnetic converter generally forms Al.sub.2 O.sub.3 film on the ends of the non-magnetic slider and also forms amorphous or other thin film on it according to lithographic thin-film technology. Therefore, from the aspects of manufacture and operation, it is necessary to retain a proper relationship between their thermal expansion coefficients. The slider is generally made of a substrate material composed principally of alumina-titanium carbide (ATC).
To ensure that the quality of magnetic disk units corresponds to that of modern high-density recording, hard disks, as magnetic recording media, feature disk boards onto which the magnetic substance is closely adhered by plating or sputtering techniques.
The surfaces of the abovementioned disk boards finished by plating or sputtering are of a higher level of accuracy than those finished by conventional painting. However, since lubricant is coated over the surface, an unprecedented problem known as a sticking phenomenon occurs between the head and disk surfaces. In other words, when the surface accuracy of a plane opposite a magnetic recording medium is improved, the stationary disk surface and head surface opposite the disk stick together. If the adhesive strength between the head and disk increases excessively, it will exceed the torque of the motor which rotates the disk. Consequently, operation of the disk unit is drastically impaired. At the same time, CSS (Contact Start and Stop) life is shortened. This constitutes a serious problem for small magnetic disks which require a flying height of less than 0.1 .mu.m.
To improve the CSS property, various studies have also been carried out on magnetic disks which are processed by a texture. Texture process is a process whereby numerous irregularities are formed on the disk board, where average surface roughness is about 10 nm and pitch between peaks and valleys of irregularities is 100 to 200 nm, as indicated in FIGS. 3A and 3B measured in the radial direction of the disk by HIPOSS (Tracer-type minute shape measuring instrument). After the texture process, the disk board is covered with a primer film of Cr, then with metallic magnetic thin film of Co--Cr--Ta, etc. by sputtering and is finally protected with carbon film. These irregularities processed by the texture, reduce contact area between the magnetic head and the air bearing face and provide appropriate adhesive strength.
On the other hand, the non-magnetic substrate material to be used for the slider of the composite type head is made of the TiO.sub.2 --BaO--CaO component and at least one additive of Al.sub.2 O.sub.3, NiO, SrO, MgO, Y.sub.2 O.sub.3, WO, MoO.sub.3, In.sub.2 O.sub.3 and ZrO.sub.2 and is suitable for the slider in terms of thermal expansion coefficient and processability. However, its Vickers hardness is about 850 Kg/mm.sup.2 which is higher than that of the disk processed by texture. The magnetic head slides the protective film at flying and landing, and the peak sections of the disk irregularities processed by texture are to be partly damaged.
Also, alumina-titanium carbide to be used for the substrate which forms the slider of the thin film head causes problems with lubrication of disk or recording medium, due to titanium carbide being active, and is more uncongenial to a disk than TiO.sub.2 --BaO--CaO non-magnetic substrate material because the Vickers hardness is as high as 2,000 Kg/mm.sup.2, and has problems in regard to its processability.

Non-magnetic substrate material and floating-type magnetic head


A harness is provided for a motorcyclist and the like which consists of a pair of shoulder straps to be worn by a driver of a motorcycle. A waist strap is attached to the shoulder straps, while an upper back strap is attached between the shoulder straps and a lower back strap is attached between the shoulder straps. A pair of grip handles are each attached to one shoulder strap between the upper back strap and the lower back strap, so that a passenger sitting behind the driver on the motorcycle can hold onto the grip handles for anchorage and safety, while the driver will wear the harness in comfort.

The instant invention relates generally to accessories for motorcycles and bicycles but more specifically it relates to a harness for a motorcyclists and the like.
Numerous accessories for motorcycles and bicycles have been provided in the prior art that are useful for improving the safety of vehicle riders. Typically some such items are backrests, luggage carriers, child seats and safety harnesses. For example, U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,850,353 to Foulds; 4,053,091 to Martelet and 4,560,097 to Reynolds et al. all are illustrative of such prior art. While these units may be suitable for the particular purpose to which they address, the would not be as suitable for the purpose of the present invention as hereafter described.


An opposed piston, internal-combustion engine including a cylinder with a bore and opposed pistons disposed within the bore is provided with one or more hypocycloidal drives that convert the linear motion of a piston to rotary output motion. An electrical generator includes an opposed piston, internal-combustion engine with a coil mounted to the skirt of a piston and a hypocycloidal drive connected by a rod to the piston. The construction of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the linear motion of the piston. As the piston transports the coil though a magnetic field, a sinusoidal voltage is induced in the windings of the coil.

The field covers the combination of an opposed-piston engine with a hypocycloidal drive. In addition, the field covers the use of a piston coupled to a hypocycloidal drive to generate electrical power.
The opposed piston internal-combustion engine was invented by Hugo Junkers around the end of the nineteenth century. In Junkers' basic configuration, two pistons are disposed crown-to-crown in a common cylinder having inlet and exhaust ports near bottom dead center of each piston, with the pistons serving as the valves for the ports. The engine has two crankshafts, each disposed at a respective end of the cylinder. The crankshafts are linked by rods to respective pistons and are geared together to control phasing of the ports and to provide engine output. The advantages of Junkers' opposed piston engine over traditional two-cycle and four-cycle engines include superior scavenging, reduced parts count and increased reliability, high thermal efficiency and high power density.
Nevertheless, Junkers' basic design contains a number of deficiencies among which is excessive friction between the pistons and cylinder bore caused by side forces exerted on the pistons. Each piston is coupled by an associated connecting rod to one of the crankshafts. Each connecting rod is connected at one end to a piston by a wristpin internal to the piston; at the other end, the connecting rod engages a crankpin on a crankshaft. The connecting rod pivots on the wristpin in order to accommodate circular motion of the crank pin. As the connecting rod pushes the piston inwardly in the cylinder, it exerts a compressive force on the piston at an angle to the axis of the piston, which produces a radially-directed force (a side force) between the piston and cylinder bore. This side force increases piston/cylinder friction, raising the piston temperature and thereby limiting the brake mean effective pressure (BMEP) achievable by the engine.
An engine coupling invented by Mathew Murray in 1802 converted the linear motion of a steam engine piston and rod into rotary motion to drive a crankshaft by a "hypocycloidal" gear train coupling the rod to the crankshaft. A hypocycloid is a special plane curve generated by the trace of a fixed point on a small circle that rolls within a larger circle. In Murray's gear train, the larger circle is the "pitch circle" of a ring gear with teeth on an inner annulus and the small circle is the pitch circle of a spur gear with teeth on an outer annulus. (See the definition of "pitch circle" in American National Standard publication ANSI/AGMA 1012-G05 at 220.127.116.11.1, page 10). The spur gear is disposed within the ring gear, with its teeth meshed with the teeth of the ring gear. As the spur gear rotates, it travels an orbit on the inner annulus of the ring gear. Murray's gear train represents a special hypocycloid in which the pitch diameter (D) of the ring gear's pitch circle is twice the pitch diameter (d) of the spur gear's pitch circle. When D=2d, a point on the spur gear pitch circle moves in a straight line along a corresponding pitch diameter of the ring gear as the spur gear orbits within the ring gear. Murray connected one such point to a piston rod; the linear motion of the piston rod caused the spur gear to revolve within the ring gear, and the gear train converted the piston's linear motion to rotary motion.
Cycloidal gear arrangements have been used in numerous internal combustion engine configurations, including opposed piston engines. See U.S. Pat. No. 2,199,625, for example. In the engine disclosed in the '625 patent, opposed pistons are coupled to cycloid crank drives by means of connecting rods. However, the '625 patent omits two critical insights in this regard.
First, the plane curve traced by the spur gear is not linear in any embodiment taught in the '625 patent: thus, connecting rod motion is not linear. In fact, each connecting rod conventionally engages a wristpin internal to a piston, which allows the connecting rod to pivot with respect to the axis of the piston in order to accommodate the non-linear plane curves traced by the spur gear. Consequently, as the connecting rod pivots on a return stroke while moving a piston into a cylinder, it imposes side forces on the piston, which causes friction between the piston and cylinder bore.
Thus, an unrealized advantage of coupling the pistons of an opposed piston engine to hypocycloidal drives in which the ratio between the pitch diameters of the ring and spur gears is 2:1 is that the pistons, and their connecting rods, undergo purely linear movement along a common axis, thereby eliminating radially-directed side forces that cause friction between the pistons and the bore of the cylinder in which they are disposed.
The '625 patent does indicate that grafting a hypocycloidal output to an opposed piston engine construction can add a dimension of flexibility to engine design and operation. For example, the ratio between the pitch diameters is varied to accommodate piston strokes of varying length, which, according to the patent, can be tailored to improve scavenging and piston cooling. However, the '625 patent omits the case where D=2d, in which the linear motion of the spur gear is sinusoidal. The '625 patent therefore lacks a second critical insight: the sinusoidal characteristic of the resulting linear motion can support useful adaptations of a hypocycloidally-coupled engine to produce a desirable sinusoidal output. For example, an internal-combustion engine may be adapted to generate AC electrical power by mounting a coil to the skirt of a piston and coupling the piston to a hypocycloidal drive in which D=2d. The action of the hypocycloidal drive imposes a sinusoidal period on the straight linear motion of the piston. As the piston transports the coil though a magnetic field, a sinusoidal voltage is induced in the windings of the coil.

Opposed piston internal-combustion engine with hypocycloidal drive and generator apparatus


Circuitry for detecting excessive runs of similar bits of data in a data stream is provided. The data stream is typically received as serial data operating in a serial clock domain. Run-length detection circuitry checks the received data for run-length violations while operating in a slower parallel clock domain, as opposed to the faster serial clock domain. An advantage of operating run-length detection circuitry in the parallel domain is that longer length run-length violations can be searched for in the received data, as compared to run-length detectors that operate in the serial domain. Another advantage offered by the circuitry is that the run-length violation signal can be provided to utilization circuitry asynchronously. This enables utilization circuitry to quickly capture the signal despite differences in clock domains (i.e., the clock domain of the detection circuitry and the clock domain of the utilization circuitry).

This invention relates to data communication, and more particularly to circuitry for receiving data signals that have been communicated from a data signal source.
Data is frequently transmitted serially. The serial data typically takes the form of a logic HIGH or a logic LOW as it is being transmitted. As such, the data can be transmitted as a series of zeros and ones to represent bytes of information that are being transmitted one after another. Typically, transmission of serial data can occur at relatively high speed (e.g., on the order of gigahertz). High-speed serial interface (HSSI) applications is one example that uses high speed serial transmission.
It is known that prolonged runs of a logic HIGH or logic LOW signal can cause problems in data communication. For example, DC biasing is a common problem resulting from long runs of a logic LOW or HIGH signal. DC biasing can cause the average voltage of the serial data to exhibit the voltage of the logic signal that is being repeated. This can lead to intersignal interference because a transition in the received data (e.g., a transition from a repeating logic state to the non-repeating logic state and back to the repeating logic state) may be missed. Thus, it is desirable to minimize occurrences of long runs of a particular logic state.
Run-length detection circuitry has been developed to detect occurrences of runs of a particular length. In general, run-length detection circuitry compares the number of consecutive ones or zeros received as serial data to a programmable run-length violation parameter. This parameter can be set, for example, by a multi-bit control input programmed by a user. During operation, a run-length violation signal is generated when the run length of received data exceeds the run-length violation parameter. This run-length violation signal may trigger utilization circuitry (e.g., a programmable logic device) to, for example, ignore incoming data, initiate a restart in data reception, or perform some other error control function.
Utilization circuitry is typically circuitry that processes the received data by, for example, performing logic operations. Because utilization circuitry is processing the received data, it is preferable to check the incoming data for run-length violations before it is received by the utilization circuitry. Therefore, run-length detection circuitry generally checks the data for run-length violations before it is received by the utilization circuitry. In some applications, run-length detection circuitry is part of dedicated circuitry (e.g., receiving circuitry) that conditions the serial data signal before it reaches the utilization circuitry. The dedicated circuitry can condition the data by, for example, deseriallizing the serial data and dividing down the clocking frequency of the serially transmitted data to a deserialized (slower) clocking frequency. This deseriallization is one source that creates the presence of a different clock domain (i.e., a parallel and a serial clock domain). In fact, several different clock domains may be present in the dedicated circuitry and utilization circuitry.
Previous run-length detection circuitry has operated in the serial clock domain. That is, it used the clocking frequency of serial data to detect runs in data being transmitted to the dedicated circuitry (e.g., receiving circuitry) and/or utilization circuitry. Operating run-length detection circuitry in the serial domain places several stringent design and operational requirements on the detection circuitry. For example, because there is other circuitry operates at a slower clocking frequency (e.g., a deserialized or parallel clocking frequency), the detection circuitry has to generate a run-length violation signal that can be detected by the circuitry operating in the slower clock domain. That is, the run-length violation signal may be asserted according to a predetermined number of serial domain clock cycles, but the signal may not be asserted long enough for the utilization circuitry to detect it. Thus the presence of multiple clock domains puts several design limitations on existing run-length detection circuitry, especially since serial clocking frequencies continue to increase.
Another problem with run-length detectors operating in the serial domain is that detection of runs becomes more difficult and unreliable as the length of the runs increase.
Therefore, it is an object of this invention to operate run-length violation circuitry in a slower, non-serial, clock domain.
It is also an object of this invention to asynchronously assert a run-length violation signal to ensure that utilization circuitry captures the asserted violation signal, despite the presence of multiple clock domains.

Run-length violation detection circuitry and methods for using the same


Disclosed is a formulation for targeting an epitope on an antigen expressed in a mammal. The formulation comprises a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier together with a dimeric biosynthetic construct for binding at least one preselected antigen. The biosynthetic construct contains two polypeptide chains, each of which define single-chain Fv (sFv) binding proteins and have C-terminal tails that facilitate the crosslinking of two sFv polypeptides. The resulting dimeric constructs have a conformation permitting binding of a said preselected antigen by the binding site of each said polypeptide chain when administered to said mammal. The formulation has particular utility in in vivo imaging and drug targeting experiments.

The development of murine monoclonal antibodies and their proteolytic Fab fragments has raised interest in their utility as diagnostic and therapeutic reagents for in vivo imaging and drug targeting. However, successful in vivo targeting of radionuclides, drugs or toxins using 150 kD intact antibodies or their 50 kD Fab fragments (an antibody fragment consisting of one light chain and approximately half of the heavy chain held together by a single disulfide bond) have been restricted by the limited penetration of these molecules from the vasculature into the tissues of interest, and by their slow clearance rates in vivo, which for IgG leads to behavior that requires several days to clear the background enough for imaging to be possible. Other disadvantages of the intact antibodies or their Fab fragments include: their immunogenicity when prepared from different species, their non-specific binding to many normal tissues and organs, and the fact that they contain multiple proteolytic cleavage sites which result in their degradation during their circulation in vivo.
Although Fv fragments, which consist of one VH and one VL domain held together by noncovalent interactions, form the minimal region of an antibody that contains a complete antigen combining site, dissociation of the VH and VL domains in vivo can preclude their use as therapeutic or imaging agents. Although Moore et al., (U.S. Pat. No. 4,642,334) and Glockshuber et al., (1990, Biochem. 29, 1362–1367) disclose attempts to stabilize these Fv fragments with engineered intermolecular disulfide bonds, monovalent 50 kD Fab and Fab′ fragments have, until recently, been the smallest proteins available Lor effective immunotargeting.
Recently, single-chain Fv (sFv) polypeptide chains of about 27 kD have been developed containing covalently linked VH-VL polypeptides. The VH- and VL-domains are connected by a polypeptide linker. The resulting sFv polypeptide chains are also referred to in the art as biosynthetic antibody binding sites or BABS and preferably are encoded by a single DNA sequence. For a detailed description of these biosynthetic polypeptide chains see for example, Huston et al., 1988, Proc. Nat. Aca. Sci. USA 85: 5879–5883 or U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,513 and 5,132,405, all of which are hereby incorporated by reference. The sFv polypeptide chains provide attractive alternatives to intact immunoglobulins and Fab fragments due to their small size and their stability at concentrations that typically promote dissociation of natural Fv fragments. U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,091,513 and 5,132,405; Huston et al., ((1991) Methods in Enzymology 203: 46–88; Huston et al (1993) Int. Rev. Immunol. 10: 195–217) disclose the utility of sFv polypeptides, as well as single chain constructs synthesized from single DNA sequences, which may further comprise ancillary effector proteins, such as a second sFv or a cytotoxic agent.
Pack et al. ((1992) Biochem 31: 1579–1584) disclose the construction of "mini-antibodies". The mini-antibodies are sFv polypeptide chains which also include an "oligomerization domain" at their C-termini, separated from the sFv by a hinge region. The oligomerization domains comprise self-associating α-helices, for example, leucine zippers, that can be further stabilized by additional disulfide bonds. The domains are designed to be compatible with vectorial folding across a membrane, a process thought to facilitate in vivo folding of the polypeptide into a functional binding protein.
PCT application PCT/US92/09965, published Jun. 10, 1993 also discloses the construction of bivalent sFv constructs, including crosslinked dimers. However, the pharmacokinetic properties of these constructs or those disclosed by Pack et al. are not measured in vivo.
PCT application PCT/US92/07986, published Apr. 1, 1993 discloses bifunctional (Fab′)2 molecules composed of two Fab′ monomers linked through cysteine amino acids located at the C-terminus of the first constant domain of each heavy chain. PCT application PCT/US92/10140, published Jun. 10, 1993 also discloses bifunctional (Fab′)2 dimers which, in addition to the cysteine residues located in the hinge region, also contain C-terminal leucine zipper domains that further stabilize the (Fab′)2 dimers. In both cases, the resulting (Fab′)2 dimers (≧100 kD in size), although smaller than intact immunoglobulins, are significantly larger than sFv polypeptides and are anticipated to have slower tissue biodistribution and clearance rates following in vivo administration.
Cumber et al. disclose the generation of (Fv-Cys)2 heterodimers by chemically crosslinking two VH-cys domains together (Cumber et al., 1992, J. Immunology 149B: 120–126). Although the crosslinked VH chains appear to be stable, dissociation of the VL polypeptides from each Fv reduces the pharmacological value of these constructs in vivo.
It is an object of the instant invention to provide biosynthetic constructs having enhanced pharmacokinetic properties as in vivo targeting agents. In particular, it is an object of this invention to provide biocompatible constructs having accelerated in vivo biodistribution and body clearance rates than that of antibodies or antibody fragments. It is another object of the invention to provide biosynthetic constructs having enhanced avidity in vivo, including enhanced target tissue specificity and target tissue retention. Yet another object is to provide dimeric biosynthetic constructs having improved tissue imaging and drug targeting properties in vivo. Still another object is to provide diagnostic and therapeutic formulations comprising these constructs, having particular utility in the diagnosis and treatment of malignancies. Still another object is to provide constructs having enhanced pharmacokinetic properties as in vivo targeting agents, particularly as in vivo imaging agents, for ovarian and breast tumor tissue.
These and other objects and features of the invention will be apparent from the description, figures and claims which follow.

Biosynthetic binding proteins for immuno-targeting


Tuftsin receptor-specific peptides, peptidomimetics and peptide-like constructs are provided, particularly for use in biological, pharmaceutical and radiopharmaceutical applications, in which the peptide, peptidomimetic or construct is conformationally fixed on complexation of the metal ion-binding portion thereof with a metal ion, resulting in a peptide, peptidomimetic or construct with increased affinity for the tuftsin receptor.

Tuftsin Receptor Peptide Construct. Ser. No. 08/660,697 teaches certain locally restricted peptides, in which the biological-function domain and metal-peptide backbone are combined, and the biological-function domain is specific for the tuftsin receptor found on polymorphonuclear (PMN) granulocytes, monocytes and macrophages.
Native tuftsin is a tetrapeptide of the sequence Thr-Lys-Pro-Arg (SEQ ID NO. 1), located as residues 289–292 of the Fc region of the heavy chain of leukokinin (a cytophilic γ-globulin). It is liberated by a combination of two cleavages. The C-terminal peptide bond is cleaved in the spleen by splenic enzyme and subsequent cleavage of the N-terminal peptide bond by enzyme leukokininase which occurs on the membranes of the granulocytes where it acts to stimulate phagocytosis. The tuftsin sequence stimulates macrophages and polymorphonuclear granulocytes towards phagocytosis. This sequence thus has a role in the immune system response for fighting infections and bacteria and other invasions. There are specific tuftsin receptors present on granulocytes and macrophages. The receptor density is approximately 50,000–100,000 per cell, with the receptor-tuftsin complex reported to internalize after binding. Thus a peptide specific for the tuftsin receptor may be used in the treatment of certain diseases, as is disclosed generally in U.S. Pat. No. 4,390,528 to V A Najjar and U.S. Pat. No.5,028,593 to K Nishioka, the teachings of which are incorporated herein by reference.
The '697 application teaches a precursor peptide, incorporating both a metal ion-binding backbone and a tuftsin receptor-specific biological-function domain, which tuftsin receptor-specific domain is biologically active only on labeling or complexing the metal ion-binding backbone with a metal ion, of the following general formula:R1-Aaa-Bbb-Ccc-Ddd-Eee-R2Where:                Aaa=L- or D-configuration residue selected from Thr, Cys, Pen, Pro, or Ser and corresponding des-amino derivatives.        Bbb=L- or D-configuration residue with a positively charged side chain, and containing an N for metal ion complexation, such as Arg, Lys, Orn, homoArg, S-(2-aminoethyl)Cys, O-(2-aminoethyl)Ser and other similar basic amino acids, and derivatives thereof        Ccc=L- or D-configuration residue with an un-charged side chain, and containing an N for metal ion complexation, such as Gly, Ala, Aib, Val, Nle, Leu and similar amino acids with un-charged side chains.        Ddd=L- or D-configuration residue, providing an S, and preferably an S and N, for metal ion complexation, or alternatively two Ns for metal ion complexation, such as Cys, HomoCys, Pen, His and other synthetic or derivatized amino acids.        Eee=L- or D-configuration residue with a positively charged side chain, such as L- or D-isomers of Arg, Lys, Orn, homoArg, S-(2-aminoethyl)Cys, O-(2-aminoethyl)Ser and other similar basic amino acids, and their corresponding des-carboxyl derivatives. A similar aliphatic or aromatic chain with a basic functional group can also be substituted.        R1=H, alkyl, aryl, alkylcarbonyl, arylcarbonyl, alkyloxycarbonyl, aryloxycarbonyl, or a polymer such as PEG, PVA, or polyamino acid, attached directly or through a carbonyl group. R1 does not exist if Aaa is a des-amino amino acid.        R2=amide, substituted amide, ester, or a polymer such as PEG, PVA, or polyamino acid. R2 does not exist if Eee is a des-carboxyl amino acid.
One representative peptide from this series was the sequence Thr-D-Lys-Gly-D-Cys-Arg (SEQ ID NO. 2). This peptide displayed very high affinity (KD=1–5 nM) for human leukocytes after its binding to reduced TcO[V]. When complexed to radioactive 99mTcO[V], the peptide localizes to the site of inflammation or infection on i.v. administration. The affinity of the peptide which is not complexed to a metal ion is on the order of KD=10−4 M.
The structure of the Thr-D-Lys-Gly-D-Cys-Arg (SEQ ID NO. 2) peptide after binding to technetium is as follows:
The '697 application teaches that this peptide can similarly be labeled with Re, and that similar peptides can also be designed and synthesized using an N4 metal ion-binding domain, such as Thr-D-Lys-Gly-D-His-Arg (SEQ ID NO. 3). Tuftsin receptor-specific peptides disclosed in '697 include Thr-D-Lys-Gly-D-Cys-Arg (SEQ ID NO.4), Thr-D-Lys-Gly-D-His-Arg (SEQ ID NO.3) and Pro-D-Lys-Gly-D-Cys-Arg (SEQ ID NO. 4).
The peptides taught in '697 may be complexed with a non-radioactive ionic form of rhenium or another suitable isotope, thereby creating a non-radioactive metallopeptide drug for the treatment of disease. Such peptides may also be radiolabeled with a diagnostic metal ion, such as 99mTc, and used to determine sites of concentration of granulocytes and macrophages, such as infections and inflammations, or radiolabeled with a therapeutic metal ion, such as 186Re or 188Re, and used in the treatment of disease.
In addition, tuftin has analgesic and other central nervous system effects. See, e.g., Herman et al., "Central Effects of Tuftsin," in Antineoplastic, Immunogenic and Other Effects of the Tetrapeptide Tuftsin: a Natural Macrophage Activator, Najjar V A and Freidkin M, eds., New York Academy of Sciences, 1983 [hereinafter Antineoplastic], 156–163; Paradowski et al., "The Influence of Tuftsin on Blood Pressure in Animals," in Antineoplastic, 164–167; Fridkin and Najjar, Crit. Rev. Biochem. Med. Biol., 24 (1989). Herein disclosed are novel peptides and peptidomimetics which are specific for the tuftsin receptor and may be used as an analgesic and in the treatment of various other central nervous system conditions.

Tuftsin metallopeptide analogs and uses thereof


A process control system includes a diagnostic monitoring and display functionality for viewing, in a coherent manner, diagnostic information relating to a process that operates over multiple devices and system components. Although the multiple devices and system components typically encompass widely different device types and operational standards, the process control system incorporates diagnostic information relating to all devices and presents this information to a system user in a uniform manner so that an operating control strategy and the diagnostic information are presented as though all control actions and diagnostic information were performed or generated at a single location. A user-defined diagnostic program is assembled as a set of function blocks and control modules and represented as a set of layers of interconnected control objects identified as modules which include informational structures accessed as attributes. Information is accessed using device hierarchy attribute addressing, supporting direct addressing of I/O signals from modules, bypassing the use of I/O function blocks and avoiding I/O function block behavior.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to process control systems. More specifically, the present invention relates to a process control system which monitors and uniformly displays diagnostic information of devices of multiple different types.
2. Description of the Related Art
Present-day process control systems use instruments, control devices and communication systems to monitor and manipulate control elements, such as valves and switches, to maintain at selected target values one or more process variables, including temperature, pressure, flow and the like. The process variables are selected and controlled to achieve a desired process objective, such as attaining the safe and efficient operation of machines and equipment utilized in the process. Process control systems have widespread application in the automation of industrial processes such as the processes used in chemical, petroleum, and manufacturing industries, for example.
Control of the process is often implemented using microprocessor-based controllers, computers or workstations which monitor the process by sending and receiving commands and data to hardware devices to control either a particular aspect of the process or the entire process as a whole. The specific process control functions that are implemented by software programs in these microprocessors, computers or workstations may be individually designed, modified or changed through programming while requiring no modifications to the hardware. For example, an engineer might cause a program to be written to have the controller read a fluid level from a level sensor in a tank, compare the tank level with a predetermined desired level, and then open or close a feed valve based on whether the read level was lower or higher than the predetermined, desired level. The parameters are easily changed by displaying a selected view of the process and then by modifying the program using the selected view. The engineer typically would change parameters by displaying and modifying an engineer's view of the process.
In addition to executing control processes, software programs also monitor and display a view of the processes, providing feedback in the form of an operator's display or view regarding the status of particular processes. The monitoring software programs also signal an alarm when a problem occurs. Some programs display instructions or suggestions to an operator when a problem occurs. The operator who is responsible for the control process needs to view the process from his point of view. A display or console is typically provided as the interface between the microprocessor based controller or computer performing the process control function and the operator and also between the programmer or engineer and the microprocessor based controller or computer performing the process control function.
Diagnostic information is one type of information that is useful to monitor and display in a process control system. However with the various types of devices in a process control system, including a wide variety of field devices, diagnostic information is not generally monitored in a consistent manner from one device to the next. Furthermore, important diagnostic information typically relates to the interaction of multiple portions of the control system, for example, the combined operations of a controller and device or multiple devices and controllers. Diagnostic information relating to multiple circuits in a system is typically not handled by existing process control systems.
Diagnostic information is most useful when related to the various control operations that are occurring when the diagnostic information is monitored. Conventional process control systems typically access and display diagnostic information with no relation to the control operations or control schemes that are functioning during diagnostic testing.
One problem associated with the use of graphical views for diagnostic displays is that existing systems allow only the equipment manufacturer, not a user of this equipment, to define the diagnostic information to be monitored, along with associated graphical views, or modify the predefined diagnostic functions within the provided library.
What is needed is a uniform or universal design environment that can easily be used, not only by a designer or manufacturer but also a user, to customize monitoring and display of diagnostic operations for a variable number and type of devices and components of a process control system. What is further needed is a personal computer-based process control system that includes a flexible diagnostic monitoring and display functionality that is easily implemented within substantially any size process and which is updated by users, without the aid of the control system designer, to monitor and display diagnostic information for various combinations of process field devices.

Process control system for monitoring and displaying diagnostic information of multiple distributed devices


The invention includes a method and apparatus adapted for managing packets within a Radio Access Network (RAN). A method includes receiving a packet within the RAN, determining a packet priority assigned to the packet, and managing the packet within the RAN based on the packet priority of the packet and a condition of the RAN. The packet priority assigned to the packet is based on at least one characteristic of the packet, which is determined based on packet contents of the packet. The at least one characteristic associated with the packet comprises information available at or above the network layer. The packet priority may be assigned to the packet within the RAN and/or outside of the RAN. The management of the packet within the RAN may include managing assignment of RAN resources to the packet (e.g., processor resources, radio resources, and the like), directing an access device to use a proscribed resource allocation, managing scheduling of the packet for transmission over the air interface of the RAN, and the like, as well as various combinations thereof.

In existing wireless communication networks, there exists a division of functions between network elements of the core network (CN) and network elements of the radio access network (RAN). The network elements of the CN provide functions and services which may be utilized by mobile nodes (MNs) which access the wireless communication network via the RAN. The network elements of the RAN operate to transmit and receive packets to and from the MNs over the air interface. While existing RANs currently support service classes, including Conversational (e.g., VoIP, push-to-talk, and the like), Best Effort (BE) and Background, existing RANs do not currently support sub-classes within these service classes. Rather, existing wireless networks provide quality-of-service treatment for packet flows based on directives from network elements within the CN, thereby preventing tailoring of quality-of-service treatment to conditions within the RAN.

Method and apparatus for prioritizing packets for use in managing packets in radio access networks