A rotary electric machine driving device that drives and controls an alternating-current rotary electric machine, the rotary electric machine driving device including: an inverter that is electrically interposed between a direct-current power supply and the rotary electric machine, and converts electric power between a direct current and an alternating current; a smoothing capacitor that is electrically interposed between the direct-current power supply and the inverter, and is connected between a positive pole and a negative pole on a direct-current side of the inverter; and an inverter control unit that controls switching of a switching element of the inverter according to a predefined switching frequency.

The present disclosure relates to a rotary electric machine driving device that drives and controls an alternating-current rotary electric machine.
In recent years, from the viewpoint of, for example, energy saving and reduction of environmental loads, hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles each provided with a rotary electric machine as a source of driving force have been gaining attention. Such a vehicle includes a direct-current power supply, such as a battery, which supplies power when the rotary electric machine functions as the source of driving force (motor), and stores generated power when the rotary electric machine functions as a source of power (generator). When the rotary electric machine functions as the source of driving force (motor), direct-current power supplied from the battery is converted into alternating-current power by an inverter to drive the rotary electric machine. When the rotary electric machine functions as the generator, alternating-current power generated by the rotary electric machine is converted into direct-current power by the inverter to be stored as regenerated power in the battery.
A capacitor for smoothing the direct-current power is provided between the battery and the inverter to reduce fluctuation, such as pulsation, of the direct-current power. In general, the direct-current side of the inverter for driving the rotary electric machine as the source of driving force of a hybrid vehicle or an electric vehicle is at a high voltage of 200 [V] to 400 [V]. Hence, the smoothing capacitor is required to have a high voltage resistance performance against such a high voltage, and at the same time, the fluctuation due to the pulsation needs to be considered. In addition, when withstand voltages of switching elements forming the inverter are considered, the smoothing capacitor is required to have a sufficient capacitance for reducing the pulse component. These requirements generally increase the cost of the smoothing capacitor, and increase the physical size thereof, thus requiring a large installation space. Furthermore, the inverter and the smoothing capacitor are often installed in an integrated manner or close to each other, as parts of a rotary electric machine driving device. In particular, an in-vehicle rotary electric machine driving device is required to be light in weight and small in size from the viewpoint of weight and installation space, so that the inverter and the smoothing capacitor are desired to be light in weight and small in size.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2009-106046 (JP 2009-106046 A) describes a space-saving rotary electric machine driving device (power converter) including a cooling mechanism. In this rotary electric machine driving device, a power module including switching elements is disposed on a flat surface inside of a case having a heat radiating portion. A smoothing capacitor electrically connected to the power module is disposed adjacent to the power module on a flat surface formed one step lower than the flat surface on which the power module is disposed (refer to paragraphs 7 and 8, FIG. 1, etc.). The smoothing capacitor required to have a high withstand voltage and large capacity tends to have a large physical size. In JP 2009-106046 A, the heat radiating portion and the power module are disposed in accordance with the height of the smoothing capacitor such that the overall height of the rotary electric machine driving device is reduced, thereby saving space.
In this manner, space saving can be achieved to some extent by making improvements in the layout of, for example, the circuit portion (power module), the cooling mechanism, and the smoothing capacitor of the inverter. However, reduction of weight and size of the entire device has not been accomplished by reducing the physical size of the smoothing capacitor to be determined by the withstand voltage and the capacitance. If the capacity of the smoothing capacitor is reduced, the size can be reduced, but the pulse component described above cannot be sufficiently reduced, causing a possible degradation in effects of reducing deterioration of the battery and deterioration of the switching elements.
In general, the direct-current power supply includes a resistance component (R component) and an induction component (L component). Hence, an RLC circuit is formed in conjunction with the capacity component (C component) of the smoothing capacitor. As a result, a direct-current side voltage gain obtained by dividing a system voltage as a voltage on the direct-current side of the inverter by a system current that is a current on the direct-current side of the inverter exhibits a frequency characteristic that has a resonance point. Of the R, L, and C components, impedance components dependent on the frequency are the L component and the C component, so that the value of the direct-current side voltage gain increases as the frequency increases from zero, reaches the maximum value (resonance point) at a resonance frequency, and decreases as the frequency increases based on the resonance point serving as an inflection point. The pulsation of the system voltage occurs in association with fluctuation in current and voltage associated with the switching of the switching elements of the inverter. The amount (amplitude) of the pulsation increases corresponding to the value of the direct-current side voltage gain as an indicator. In other words, the pulsation of the system voltage occurs corresponding to a switching frequency of the switching elements. Hence, in the case of reducing the capacity of the smoothing capacitor, it is preferable to consider the switching frequency of the switching elements of the inverter.


A hybrid vehicle controls operation of an engine, a generator and a motor to retain driving comfort. The engine and the generator are connected through a planetary gear unit to a drive shaft, and the output of the engine 1 is split between the generator and the drive shaft. An engine control system controls the output of the engine by controlling the degree of throttle opening .theta. responsive to engine speed. A generator control system controls electric current IG of the generator in order to achieve a target rotational speed NG*. A vehicle control system supplies a motor control system with a torque signal TM* based on the degree of accelerator opening .alpha. and vehicle speed V, and computes a value for compensatory torque .DELTA.TM from values for generator rotational speed NG and generator torque TG which are supplied from the generator control system. The motor control system controls electric current IM to the motor in accordance with the values for torque TM* and the compensatory torque .DELTA.TM.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a hybrid vehicle and, more particularly, to a hybrid vehicle selectively driven by a motor and/or an internal-combustion engine.
2. Description of the Related Art
Hybrid vehicles which combine a fuel fed conventional engine and a motor using clean electric energy have been proposed. Three types of hybrid vehicles are known: a series type in which an engine is used for generating electricity to charge a battery, a parallel type in which the engine is connected to the drive train of the vehicle, and a combined type (a seri-para type) which combines features of the series and parallel types.
In particular, a hybrid vehicle has been proposed (U.S. Pat. No. 3,566,717), in which the generator is connected to the engine, and a part of the output from the engine is used for generating electricity while the remaining output from the engine is directly output through a drive shaft to drive wheels, utilizing a planetary gear unit to combine that direct engine output with output of a motor. This hybrid vehicle is capable of restricting operation of the engine to a highly efficient range, thereby improving fuel efficiency, because all the energy produced by the engine is not used for generation of electricity. Furthermore, the hybrid vehicle can be driven with the engine operating at constant conditions, so that undesirable exhaust emissions can be decreased.
However, the hybrid vehicle disclosed in the aforementioned patent has the engine, the generator and the driving motor all mutually connected through the planetary gear unit and, consequently, it has the disadvantage of disruption of driving comfort caused by each torque change, produced by the engine, the generator and the motor. Further, control of the engine, the generator and the motor, must provide that operation of each should be prevented from interfering with that of the others.


The invention relates to an isolated protein including an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO:2 and having an L-rhamnose isomerase activity. This novel enzyme has a higher reaction efficiency between D-psicose and D-allose and is excellent in thermal stability.

L-rhamnose isomerase produced by Pseudomonas stutzeri LL172 is a known enzyme having the following physicochemical properties revealed in Non-patent document 1.
(i) Action
It is an enzyme catalyzing an isomerization reaction from L-rhamnose to L-rhamnulose and isomerization from L-rhamnulose to L-rhamnose. It is known that it also acts on isomerization between D-allose and D-psicose (Non-Patent Document 1), and it is an enzyme that can produce D-allose from D-psicose. Isomerases are named based on a substrate against which it exhibits the highest activity and a monosaccharide with which the enzymes are induced, therefore, an enzyme named the same L-rhamnose isomerase were isolated from E. coli and Bacillus subtilis, and a gene sequence encoding the same has been reported.
(ii) Substrate Specificity
L-rhamnose and L-rhamnulose are used as a substrate. Other than these, L-lyxose and L-xylulose, L-mannose and L-fructose, D-ribose and D-ribulose, D-allose and D-psicose are used as a substrate.
(iii) Working pH and Optimal pH
The working pH thereof ranges from 7.0 to 10.0 and the optimal pH thereof is 9.0.
(iv) pH Stability
It is stable within a pH range of from 6.0 to 11.0 in the case where it is kept at 4° C. for 1 hour at various pH values.
(v) Working Temperature and Optimal Temperature
The working temperature thereof ranges from 40 to 65° C. and a temperature at which the enzyme exhibits the highest activity in the case where a reaction time is 10 minutes is 60° C.
(vi) Temperature Stability
It is stable at 40° C. for 10 minutes and 90% or more of the activity thereof remains even at 50° C. for 10 minutes.
(vii) Effect of Chelating Agent
The activity thereof is hardly inhibited even if it is allowed to coexist with EDTA or EGTA, which is a chelating agent, during the measurement of the activity.
(viii) Effect of Metal Ion
About 30% of the activity thereof is inhibited by 1 mM cobalt ion.
(ix) Molecular Weight by the SDS-PAGE Method
It is about 43,000.
The present inventors revealed a gene sequence (SEQ ID NO: 3) encoding L-rhamnose isomerase produced by Pseudomonas stutzeri and separately applied for a patent (Patent document 1). As of the date, L-rhamnose isomerase had been isolated from a variety of microorganisms and also the gene sequence encoding the same had been reported, however, there was no report that L-rhamnose isomerase derived from these reacted with D-psicose thereby to produce D-allose.
When the present inventors determined a gene sequence encoding L-rhamnose isomerase produced by a bacterium (Pseudomonas stutzeri LL172) isolated from the soil, it was revealed that the gene sequence does not show homology to any of the gene sequences which have been reported so far and is a novel gene on a gene basis as well as a protein basis (see FIGS. 4 to 6). By utilizing this sequence, an enzyme is produced in a large amount by using genetic engineering and the production of a rare sugar can be carried out using the produced enzyme, or this sequence can be applied to the use using various genetic engineering techniques other than this. Further, the present inventors advanced the studies and revealed that L-rhamnose isomerase produced by Pseudomonas stutzeri has a new catalytic function catalyzing an isomerization reaction of a sugar, which had not been found so far.
The protein described in Patent document 1 is a protein as follows:
(1) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 4; or
(2) a protein comprising an amino acid sequence in which one or several amino acids have been deleted, substituted or added in the amino acid sequence represented by SEQ ID NO: 4 and having an L-rhamnose isomerase activity; and
(3) the L-rhamnose isomerase activity is specified by the following physicochemical properties.
(i) Action
It catalyzes an isomerization reaction represented by any of the thick black lines in FIG. 7, FIG. 8 and FIG. 9.
(ii) Working pH and Optimal pH
The working pH thereof ranges from 7.0 to 10.0 and the optimal pH thereof is 9.0.
(iii) pH Stability
It is stable within a pH range of from 6.0 to 11.0 in the case where it is kept at 4° C. for 1 hour at various pH values.
(iv) Working Temperature and Optimal Temperature
The working temperature thereof ranges from 40 to 65° C. and a temperature at which the enzyme exhibits the highest activity in the case where a reaction time is 10 minutes is 60° C.
(v) Temperature Stability
It is stable at 40° C. for 10 minutes and 90% or more of the activity thereof remains even at 50° C. for 10 minutes.
(vi) Effect of Chelating Agent
The activity thereof is hardly inhibited even if it is allowed to coexist with EDTA or EGTA, which is a chelating agent, during the measurement of the activity.
(vii) Effect of Metal Ion
About 30% of the activity thereof is inhibited by 1 mM cobalt ion.
(viii) Molecular Weight by the SDS-PAGE Method
It is about 43,000.
In a conventional production method using an enzymatic reaction method involved in the conversion of D-psicose to D-allose according to the present inventors, in the case where a bioreactor is used, the reaction temperature in the bioreactor is important. That is, when the reaction temperature in the bioreactor is low, contamination with microorganisms during the reaction is caused, and not only is the enzymatic activity decreased, but also the purity or the yield of the product is significantly decreased. Due to this, an industrially important object to be achieved is to carry out a reaction by raising the reaction temperature. Further, in order to maintain the temperature in the bioreactor at room temperature, there is a need to cool the bioreactor in the case of industrial implementation. Energy to be used for cooling the bioreactor is large, which leads to an increase in the cost. From this viewpoint, it becomes an important object for the production of D-allose to raise the reaction temperature.
Patent Document 1: WO 2004/063369
Patent Document 2: JP-A-2002-17392
Non-Patent Document 1: "Journal of Fermentation and Bioengineering", Vol. 85, pp. 539 to 541 (1998)

Sequence of thermotolerant L-rhamnose isomerase gene and use of the same

Rare Sugar Production Technical Research Laboratories, LLC


A fractionally-spaced adaptively-equalized self-recovering digital receiver includes a fractionally-spaced adaptive filter for equalizing channel distortion which includes means for adaptively adjusting the coefficients of the fractionally-spaced filter with a self-recovering (blind) algorithm or a decision directed algorithm; means for changing the timing at which the data is sampled; means for estimating the sampling frequency offset in order to derive the optimal timing; means for synchronizing the signal resampling at the symbol rate using the statistics of the received data samples; means for evaluating the profile of the equalizer coefficients; and means for tracking carrier frequency offset.

The present invention-relates to an automatic adaptive digital receiver for the reception of digital signals transmitted over time-varying distorted channels such as cable systems used for the distribution of TV signals.
The purpose of a transmission channel between a transmitter and a receiver is to deliver to the receiver a signal relatively similar to the transmitted signal. However, impairments to the channel, including amplitude and phase distortions, make it difficult to correctly detect the transmitted data at the receiver. To correct for these channel impairments, the receiver usually includes an automatic adaptive equalizer.
A receiver coupled to a time-varying transmission channel generally has no a priori information about the content of the transmitted signal, i.e., about the sequence of transmitted channel symbols other than a probability distribution reflecting the receiver's knowledge of the channel noise and distortion statistics.
Equalization techniques are said to be self-recovering or "blind" when initial adjustment of the equalizer coefficients is made on the basis of a priori statistical information available on the channel.

Fractionally-spaced adaptively-equalized self-recovering digital receiver for amplitude-Phase modulated signals


In a device for loading a three-knife trimmer with brochures, periodicals or like bound book blocks (1), comprising a feed conveyor (4), a stacking device (16) operable in magazine mode and counted stack mode and including a magazine (17) having a first upper magazine intermediate shelf (18) and a second lower magazine intermediate shelf (25), and comprising a delivery table (28) arranged below said magazine (17) and an ejector (29) for cyclically and synchronously feeding a stack (3) of book blocks to the intake device (35) of the three-knife trimmer, it is provided that the feed conveyor (4) is formed by a conveyor belt (5) continuously driven at a first velocity (vS) and by an accelerator conveyor (6) located directly downstream thereof in the feed direction and driven at a higher velocity (vB), and that a separating device (11) for book blocks (1) supplied in an imbricated flow (2) is arranged in the transition zone from the conveyor belt (5) to the accelerator conveyor (6) for holding back a following portion of the imbricated flow, whereby a gap is created in the imbricated flow (2) for the opening and closing of the first magazine intermediate shelf (18). The device is characterised by its simple construction and makes possible a high feed rate, in particular for thin book blocks.

The present invention relates to a device for loading a three-knife trimmer with brochures, periodicals or like bound book blocks.
A three-knife trimmer is used for trimming the three non-bound edges of a book block, periodical or brochure. These products are thereby given their final format. The three-knife trimmer operates by means of side and front knives which cut diagonally against cutting rails according to the knife-edge and anvil principle, the three-side trimming being carried out in a trimming station. For this purpose the book blocks are fixed under pressure to the trimming table by a pressing ram and the side and front trimming is performed by phase-offset knife movements. The products can be processed singly or in a stack having a maximum stack height of up to 80 mm.
The three-knife trimmer is frequently coupled in a conveyor line to an adhesive binding line or to a book production line. The products are fed automatically to and from the trimmer via conveyor belts. To compensate for the performance differences of the coupled machines, a pre-stacking device is arranged upstream of the three-knife trimmer. Known from EP 0 887 157 A2, for example, is a pre-stacking device for a three-knife trimmer which is equipped with a magazine having two magazine intermediate shelves divided into two parts and horizontally movable for opening and closing, the upper magazine intermediate shelf being provided to form a counted stack of book blocks and the lower magazine intermediate shelf for cyclically discharging the formed stack on to a feeder table.
Known pre-stacking devices can be operated both in magazine mode and in counted stack mode. In counted stack mode the book blocks reach the upper magazine section singly while being photo-electrically counted. On reaching the preselected number the stack is deposited by opening the upper intermediate magazine shelf on the lower shelf located below it and from there is dispensed in a precisely timed manner to the delivery table, to be ejected and fed to the intake device of the three-knife trimmer. The counted stack mode is especially suited to processing thin (2–5 mm thick) and fragile book blocks. By switching off the intermediate shelves the device is converted to magazine operation. In the magazine, book blocks (from approx. 5 mm thick) supplied thereto fall directly on to the delivery table arranged below the magazine. A height-adjustable stack slider determines the stack height and transports the stack of book blocks into the intake device of the three-knife trimmer. The magazine mode is also suited to book blocks of appropriate thickness which are fed in an imbricated flow.
The performance of the known pre-stacking devices is limited with regard to the processing of thin book blocks. Because of their low product height, these cannot be fed to the three-knife trimmer in magazine mode but only in counted stack mode, in the form of a stack comprising a precisely counted number of book blocks. However, the counted stack mode requires book blocks to be individually fed, and individual feeding on conveyor belts can reliably execute a feed rate of only up to approx. 10 000 book blocks/hour because of excessive conveying speeds on curves and at transfer points. The delivery of the individually-supplied book blocks to the upper magazine section also becomes increasingly critical at this feed rate because the book blocks are thrown against the side wall of the magazine at excessive velocity. In addition, the time between two book blocks supplied is no longer sufficient for opening and closing the upper magazine intermediate shelf to transfer the formed stack to the lower magazine section.

Device for loading a three-knife trimmer


An operating system includes APIs developed in part to support recent innovations in computer hardware and in part to provide enhanced services to application programs. Among their other features, these APIs provide access to operating system functionality in a manner that is comprehensive, efficient, usable, extendible and, in some cases, reusable.

The field of software development has undergone substantial evolution in the 50 years since its inception. An early form of software simply abstracted and represented hardware functions in a "human readable" form known as assembly language code. Special purpose application programs could then be written in such code to command the computer to perform an organized set of operations.
Assembly language coding has several drawbacks. One is that the code required to carry out a particular function has to be specifically included in each program needing that function: dozens of software developers might write code (or at least copy code) for a single function dozens of times for dozens of programs. A second drawback to assembly language coding is that programmers must understand the computer's internal hardware resources: as hardware is changed, so must the programmers' software programs.
To address these and other difficulties, the software necessary to operate a computer was soon split into two classes: operating system software, and applications software.
Operating system software (sometimes termed simply "the operating system") is a set of computer code that performs a variety of functions, including interacting with the computer hardware; insulating the programmer from the specifics of the computer hardware; and providing general functionality ("resources") that many application programs require.
Applications software (sometimes terms "applications"), in contrast, addresses a particular problem to be solved. Examples of applications software are word processors and accounting programs. Applications software and operating systems communicate using a series of standardized instruction codes passed between the two. The operating system software interprets these standardized instruction codes, and controls the computer's hardware resources in response thereto. Oftentimes, information in the form of data or messages is passed back to the applications software. In this manner, the operating system software—once written—effects most direct control of the hardware, allowing the application software programmer to focus on the particular problem sought to be solved. (Alternatively, application software can still include assembly language code—directly controlling the computer hardware and bypassing the operating system. This may be done for speed or control, or simply to provide functionality not supported by the operating system.)
The relationship between operating system software, applications software and hardware is not always clearly defined. Over the last several decades, each has evolved rapidly. As was noted above, operating systems sometimes evolve to include functions common to several applications. Similarly, operating systems are sometimes modified to include functionality previously provided only in hardware and visa-versa. For example, data compression can be done in software (by an operating system or application) and in hardware (by a specialized chip). Essentially, the three technologies have developed together in response to user demand and advances in technology.
A specific factor driving the evolution of operating system software has been the desire to simplify and speed application software development. Application software development can be a daunting task, sometimes requiring hundreds of man-years of effort for a sophisticated program. For a popular operating system such as Microsoft® Windows™, applications software developers may write thousands of different applications each year to execute on the Windows operating system. The investment in application development time is large. One incentive to create such programs is to provide good support for the application software through the operating system. This requires building a coherent and usable base for applications developers to work with.
Often, development of application software can be made simpler by making the operating system more complex. That is (as noted above), if a function may be useful to several different application programs, it is better to write it once for inclusion in the operating system, than requiring dozens of software developers to write it dozens of times for inclusion in dozens of different applications. In this manner, if the operating system supports a wide range of common functionality required by a number of applications, significant savings in applications software development costs and time can be achieved.
Another factor driving the continuing evolution of operating system software is the ongoing development of faster and more sophisticated computer hardware—both in the computer's central processing unit (CPU) and in its peripheral devices (e.g. printers). New CPUs typically offer enhanced instruction sets that enable certain new operations to be performed, or enable old operations to be performed more quickly. Corresponding enhancements are usually made to the operating system to afford applications access to these new CPU capabilities.
The relationship between operating systems and hardware has also driven the development of a special class of software: device drivers. Peripheral devices usually do not communicate directly with the operating system. Instead, such devices usually communicate with device driver software, which in turn communicate with the operating system. A device driver thus serves as a software interface between operating system software and peripheral device hardware. The specific requirements of a particular hardware device are often handled by the device driver, making the details transparent to the operating system. A computer system typically employs many different device drivers, e.g. one for the display, one for the printer, one for the mouse, etc.
Often, a new peripheral device can be supported just by writing a new device driver tailored to exploit its hardware; no revision to the operating system is required as long as the operating system recognizes and can communicate with the device driver. Sometimes, however, significant gains in functionality and efficiency can be achieved by upgrading an operating system's facilities for interacting with device drivers (and thus with the peripheral hardware).
It is clear that for a useful and accomplished operating system, the interfaces between the operating system and the computer hardware and application software are as important as efficient internal operation of the operating system itself.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Application programming interface techniques for accessing operating system resources


In-situ probing of closely spaced signals of SMT components uses a ribbon of flexible printed circuit material. Upon a first distal end of the ribbon are permanently soldered pins to be soldered to component leads carrying the desired signals. The ribbon may be bent to lie against a surface parallel to the plane of the PCB, where a small amount of adhesive or tape may secure it. That parallel surface may be an empty region of the PCB, may be the top of a component having peripheral leads that are being probed or the top of a nearby component, or (for signals emerging from beneath a BGA without peripheral leads) the parallel surface may be the top of the BGA part itself while the probe tips are soldered to the pins of a nearby SMT device, such as an R-Pack. A stiffener may be permanently carried by the ribbon proximate a location where it contacts the parallel surface. A second distal end couples the signal traces to small coaxial cables leading to the test equipment in use. Working components within the ribbon probe may be disposed thereon proximate the location protected by the stiffener. The ribbon material may be permanently bent to conform to the parallel surface, or it may be externally bent by an attached curved stiffener or by a curved rigid sleeve through which the ribbon passes. As an alternative, the probe tips themselves may be bent in lieu of a bend in the ribbon material.

An ongoing trend in the manufacture of electronic equipment is a reduction in the size of electronic components, and especially that of Surface Mount (SMT) components used in low power high speed digital circuitry (e.g., Dual In-Line Memory Modules, or DIMMs). This is a welcome trend that cooperates with increased functionality of associated Integrated Circuits (ICs) to produce Printed Circuit Boards (PCBs) of high component densities and extensive capabilities.
On the other hand, these reductions in component size are often accompanied by a corresponding increase in lead pitch (number of leads per unit of distance), which is to say, by a corresponding reduction in the center-to-center spacing between adjacent peripheral leads on a package. This complicates the task of probing the signals on those leads; old style probes may have probe tips that are simply too bulky to deploy without shorting adjacent leads, not to mention the difficulty of maintaining contact by hand. Often, the acquisition of a single signal is not sufficient. Many high speed signals are differential, and require probing two leads, in addition to a ground. For the highest pitches the use of 'grabbers' is not feasible, and the industry has resorted to simply soldering the 'flying leads' (short flexible wires) of probes onto the leads to be probed. In the field of logic analysis, a Logic Analyzer often needs to acquire a great many signals at one time, which compounds the problem many times over. Clearly, what is required in these situations is an improved probing technique where the probe tips are attached or otherwise retained in contact with their associated leads.
As we consider what might be done to accomplish such improved probing, we are also reminded that the practice of placing a PCB onto extender boards to expose its components to a relatively unconfined space from within which the human hand can approach them with a probe is, for high speed circuitry, generally not practical: the circuitry on the PCB often simply will not perform properly when connected via such an artificial environment as an extension board. Evidently, a suitable probing technique for such circuits is also one that can remain deployed when the PCB of interest is plugged into its native electrical environment, even though it might have to be temporarily removed therefrom to attach or remove the probe. The implication is that the probe is flexible and has a low profile, as PCBs are often placed in parallel arrays that are rather close together.
Finally, further reflection or experimentation reveals that such small component leads offer very little surface area for solder to join an individual probe tip to a lead, meaning that the solder joint is fairly fragile, as soldered joints go.
Another consideration becomes important when the high speed nature of the signals to be probed is considered. For fast signals it is imperative that there be a minimum of probe tip length that separates the probed component lead and the working components within the probe proper, so as to minimize the introduction of stray inductance and stray capacitance. Often, the initial working component within a probe is an isolation or damping resistance, so that achieving a minimal probe tip length amounts to getting the isolation resistance (or other initial working component) relatively close to the location being probed. This is important for two related reasons: first, it aids in observing with fidelity the (as probed) signal of interest as it occurs; and, second, it minimizes loading so that the signal as probed is essentially the same as it was before it was probed.
Various prior art techniques have been developed to probe a PCB's components, and some of them are more convenient or more reliable than others. There have been 'IC clips' that compress contacts onto leads on opposing sides of a part, 'clothes pin' style as it were, while offering an easy to probe stud or hard wired connection at the other end of the contacts. The geometry of these devices makes them bulky and not suitable for use with high speed high pitch parts. They also greatly extend the effective length of the probe tip, rendering them unsuitable for most high speed use. The same may be said of the 'clip-on grabber' that accepts the central core of a 'scope probe and that is described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,949,032. There have also been probing schemes where the traces on a PCB (say, for a bus of interest) have been extended to reach a conveniently located connector provided for the purpose of receiving a mating connector carried by a cable originating with the test equipment. This can often be made to work with proper attention to adequate drive and proper termination of transmission lines. But it is an expensive solution that is not economical for the various other signals that are on the PCB and that might need probing. There have been 'wedge' probes as described in U.S. Pat. No. 5,463,324 (a version for a quad flat pack IC) and U.S. Pat. No. 5,923,177 (a 'browser' version for a small number of signals). They are relatively expensive, fragile, and are definitely not low profile. The latter means that it is often not possible to use them when the PCB of interest is operated in a native environment of several closely spaced and parallel PCBs plugged into a chassis or motherboard. Nor can wedge probes be used in cases where there is no exposed parallel lead surfaces for the part, such as for BGAs (Ball Grid Arrays whose interconnecting leads are beneath the part) or certain surface mount multiple resistor packs (R-Packs) where the substrate material extends into the space between adjacent leads or where the leads themselves are simply very thin plated traces. There have been various high frequency 'browser' oscilloscope probes intended to be soldered to single ended or differential signals, but they are not suitable for the acquisition of several signals at once.
In summary, the techniques used to probe components having external peripheral leads soldered into through-holes (vias) are generally for moderate to widely spaced leads, and are not suitable for surface mounted components. Techniques developed for probing multiple signals at once for through-hole leads are not extensible for use with the denser lead spacing found on many SMT components. Thus, there is a need for an economical and reliable probing technique that is suitable for several closely spaced signals at once, that is of a flexible low profile and that does not introduce any unnecessary length in the path between the location of probing the signal and the first working component in the probe. We might say that there is a need for high fidelity in-situ probing of signals for SMT parts located on PCBs that are operated in their native environment. It would be desirable if such a new technique were also one that continued to lend itself for use with older style peripheral leads mounted in through holes. What to do?

Flexible ribbon probe for peripheral leads of an electronic part's package


A member protection method using a mobile communication terminal is provided, and in particular a member protection method using a mobile communication terminal is provided which is capable of quickly coping with an emergency situation in such a manner that when a certain situation, for example, a member with a mobile communication terminal having a positioning function rides in taxi or is in a strange building, and moving information such as an engaged time when the situation is ended and a taxi registered number is registered in a central control server, a member's position is recognized and temporarily stored. In the case that a movement lifting notice is not received from a member until an engaged time, a certain moving information such as a member's position is transmitted to a mobile communication terminal of a security staff.

Recently, a mobile communication device such as a cellular phone is widely used. In addition, thereto, a technology for positioning a person having a cellular phone by using a mobile communication terminal is generalized.
In the case that a woman or old and feeble person gets on a taxi or enters into a certain strange building, the person may feel certain insecurity, but a proper security counteraction is not obtained. In this case, the person may have a gas gun, etc. However, the above method may not be a proper counteraction.

Method of membership protection using mobile communication device


Compounds that bind S100 and inhibit the S100-p53 protein-protein interaction and activate the tumor suppressor activity of p53, and thus which have an antineoplastic effect are disclosed, as well as methods for identifying these compounds, compositions comprising the same, and methods of using the same to treat cancer.

I. The S100 Proteins
There are now more than 20 members of the S100 family of EF-hand Ca2+-binding proteins, which are known to be widely distributed in human tissue (Zimmer et al, Brain Res. Bull., 37:417-429 (1995); Donato, Int. J. Biochem. Cell. Biol., 33:637-668 (2001); and Heizmann et al, Frontiers in Bioscience 7:1356-1368 (2002)). S100 proteins were given this name because they are soluble in 100% saturated ammonium sulfate (Moore, Biochem. Biophys. Res. Comm., 19:739-744 (1965)). One member, S100B, is a 21.5 kDa symmetric homodimer that is highly conserved (>95%) among mammals (Zimmer et al, supra; and Moore, supra). In a manner similar to calmodulin, a Ca2+-dependent conformational change is required for S100B to bind a target protein (FIG. 1; Rustandi et al, Nat. Struct. Biol., 7:570-574 (2000); Rustandi et al, Biochem., 37:1951-1960 (1998); Weber et al, "Interaction of Dimeric S100B(ββ) with the Tumor Suppressor Protein: A Model for Ca2+-dependent S100-Target Protein Interactions", The Molecular Basis of Calcium Action in Biology and Medicine (Pochet, R., Ed.), Kluwer Academic Publishers, Dordrecht, The Netherlands (2000); and Kligman et al, Trends Biochem. Sci., 13:437-443 (1988)).
In general, low levels of S100B have trophic effects, and higher levels are toxic, resulting in uncontrolled cell growth (Castets et al, Brain Res., 46:208-216 (1997); Van Eldik et al, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, 1223:398-403 (1994); Mariggio et al, Neuroscience, 60:29-35 (1994); and McLendon et al, In: Cancer diagnosis in vitro using monoclonal antibodies (Kubchik, H. Z., ed) Vol. 39, pp. 31-66, Marcel Dekker, New York (1988). Increased levels of S100B are found in renal cell tumors (Takashi et al., Urol. Res., 22:251-255 (1994)), and malignant mature T-cells (such as doubly negative CD4−/CD8− adult T-cells in leukemia patients) (Suzushima et al, Leuk. Lymph., 13:257-262 (1994)). Furthermore, S100B is up regulated by other cytokines that stimulate gliosis, such as interleukin-1β and the basic fibroblast growth factor (Hinkle et al, Neuroscience, 82:33-41 (1998)).
As is the case for S100B, a number of other S100 proteins are regulated in a tissue-specific manner (Kligman et al, supra). S100A1, calcyclin (S100A6), and S100B levels are elevated significantly in metastatic human mammary epithelial cells (Pedrocchi et al, Int. J. Cancer, 57:684-690 (1994)), and increased levels of S100A4 mouse (mts1) in transgenic mice induce metastatic mammary tumors (Chen et al, J. Biol. Chem., 272:20283-20290 (1997)). In the case of mts1, protein levels are controlled in benign cell lines via a cis-acting element 1300 base pairs upstream of the rat mts1 start site (Chen et al, supra), and expression of antisense RNA to mts1 suppresses metastatic potential for a high-metastatic Lewis lung carcinoma (Takenaga et al, Oncogene, 14:331-337 (1997)). Protein levels of S100B, mts1, and calcyclin correlate with malignant melanoma. Thus, S100 proteins are used as markers for this cancer (Maelandsmo et al, Int. J. Cancer, 74:464-469 (1997); Boni et al, J. Cutan. Pathol., 24:76-80 (1997); Xia et al, Cancer Res., 57:3055-3062 (1997); Hansson et al, Anticancer Res., 17:3071-3073 (1997); and FIG. 2B).
S100 antibodies are used clinically to identify and classify malignant tumors in several tissues including brain, lung, bladder, intestine, kidney, cervix, breast, skin, head and neck, lymph, testes, larynx, and mouth among others (Takashi et al, supra; Suzushima et al, supra; Pedrocchie et al, supra; Fisher et al, J. Clin. Path., 47:868-869 (1994); Iniue et al, J. Urol., 85:495-503 (1994); Kerrebijn et al, Cancer Immun. Immunother., 38:31-37 (1994); Colasante et al, Am. Rev. Resp. Dis., 148:752-759 (1993); Zeid et al, Path., 25:338-343 (1993); Gallo et al, Arch. Otolarn., 117:1001-1010 (1991); Wilson et al, J. Path., 163:25-30 (1991); Lee et al; Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 89:2504-2508 (1992); Leong et al, J. Path., 162:35-41 (1990); Nakano et al, Arch. Path. Lab. Med., 113:507-511 (1989); Kurihara et al, J. Oral. Path., 14:289-298 (1985); Matsushima et al, J. Surg. Onc., 55:108-113 (1994); Renshaw et al, Mod. Path., 10:693-700 (1997); Larock et al, Vet. Path., 34:303-311 (1997); and Hurley et al, J. Med. Primat., 26:172-180 (1997)).
II. p53
p53 is a transcription activator that signals for cell cycle arrest and apoptosis and plays a pivotal role in the maintenance and regulation of normal cellular functions (Levine et al, Nature, 351:453-456 (1991); and Levine, Cell, 88:323-331 (1997)). The inactivation of p53 affects cell cycle checkpoints, apoptosis, gene amplification, centrosome duplication and ploidy (Levine (1997), supra; Woods et al, Exp. Cell. Res., 264:56-66 (2001); Burns et al, J. Cell. Physiol., 181:231-239 (2001); Appella et al, Eur. J. Biochem., 268:2764-2772 (2001); Arrowsmith et al, Cell Death Differ., 6:1169-1173 (1999); Prives et al, J. Pathol., 187:112-126 (1999); Vousden, Cell, 103:691-694 (2000); and Ryan et al, Curr. Opin. Cell. Biol., 13:332-337 (2001)). If p53 is inactivated by mutation, as found in over 50% of human cancers, the cell cycle proceeds unregulated and cell growth proliferates. Likewise, apoptosis pathways are not induced, and proliferating cells transform into cancerous ones (Woods et al, supra; Burns, supra; Appella et al, supra; Arrowsmith et al, supra; Prives et al (1999), supra; Vousden, supra; Ryan et al, supra; and Agarwal et al, J. Biol. Chem., 273:1-4 (1998)). On the other hand, if p53 levels are too high, then problems associated with aging occur (Tyner et al, Nature, 415:45-53 (2002)). p53 is highly regulated by post-translational modifications and by interactions with other proteins inside the cell (Appella et al, supra; Minamoto et al, Oncogene, 20:3341-3347 (2001); Jayaraman et al, Cell. Mol. Life Sci., 55:76-87 (1999); Jimenez et al, Oncogene 18:7656-7665 (1999); and Meek, Pathol. Biol., 45:804-814 (1997)).
III. The S100-p53 Interaction
S100B and several other S100 proteins (i.e., S100A1 and mts1) interact with the tumor suppressor protein, p53, in cancer cells resulting in significantly reduced p53 levels, and p53-dependent transcription activation of target genes is inhibited (Grigorian et al, J. Biol. Chem., 276:22699-22708 (2001); Lin et al, J. Biol. Chem., 276:35037-35041 (2001); and Carrier et al, Proc. AACR, 40:102 (1999)).
The interactions between the C-terminus of p53 and S100 calcium binding proteins, such as S100B are of particular interest since like p53, S100 proteins affect cell cycle progression, are over expressed in numerous tumor cells, and are associated with tumor progression (Ilg et al, Int. J. Cancer, 68:325-332 (1996)). These results correlate with knowledge that p53 and S100B (i) interact tightly in vitro (KD=24±10 nM; Delphin et al, J. Biol. Chem., 274:10539-10544 (1999)), (ii) S100B inhibits PKC-dependent phosphorylation of p53 (Wilder et al, Protein Sci., 7:794-798 (1998); and Baudier et al, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA, 89:11627-11631 (1992)), (iii) S100B dissociates the p53 tetramer (Baudier et al, supra), (iv) subunits of both S100B and the C-terminus of p53 associate via an X-type four-helix bundle structural motif (Weber et al, supra; Jeffrey et al, supra; and Lee et al, supra); and (v) three S100 proteins (S100B, S100A1, mts1) inhibit p53 function in vivo (Grigorian et al, supra; Lin et al, supra; and Carrier et al (1999), supra).
In the present invention it is demonstrated that in primary malignant melanoma cancer cells, S100B interacts directly with p53 in a cell-cycle dependent manner resulting in lower levels of wild-type p53. In addition, it was found in the present invention that the S100B promoter has three sequences that bind to p53, which supports the notion that S100B transcription, in turn, is regulated by p53 in a feed back loop that triggers p53's own degradation.

Inhibitors of the S100-p53 protein-protein interaction and method of inhibiting cancer employing the same


In a method for memory allocation for images, when storing data describing an image (10) in operating memory (1), the image (10) is divided into lines, and each line is described by a separate subset of data from which at least one set of data is created, to which a free segment of operating memory (1) is assigned. The creation of sets of data is performed until data describing the whole image (10) is assigned to the sets of data, and when reading the image (10), consecutive lines are read from the operating memory (1), until the whole image (10) is read.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a method for allocation of data for images in operating memory.
2. Brief Description of the Background of the Invention Including Prior Art
Images displayed on a screen are generated by a device, which outputs data in a form acceptable by a given display. Computer graphic cards or signal processors in digital TV set-top boxes are examples of such systems.
An image generated on a screen can be composed of various elements. It is the task of the graphic system to combine those elements and generate a resulting signal on the screen. These elements may include a text, an image or a video signal. The graphic processor reads the individual elements from a memory and combines them. To make it possible, the elements have to be stored in the memory in a suitable format. For an image, it is usually a set of bytes representing individual points of the image (pixels)—as well as additional information, such as the size of the image. It is a standard procedure to store the image in its entirety, in a single segment of memory, which assures speed and reliability of the image display process. Such an approach is unfortunately inefficient for systems with limited amount of operating memory.

Advanced Digital Broadcast Polska SP. Z.O.O.


A display device includes: a display panel including a plurality of pixels; a plurality of driving electrodes disposed on the display panel and extending in a first direction; a plurality of sensing electrodes disposed on the driving electrodes and extending in a second direction; a plurality of first sensing wires connected to one end of each of the driving electrodes; a plurality of second sensing wires connected to each of the sensing electrodes; a plurality of third sensing wires connected to the other end of each of the driving electrodes that are disposed in a partial region; and a touch controller configured to apply a touch detection signal to the driving electrodes through the first sensing wires and the third sensing wires, and to receive a sensing signal representing a change in capacitance of the sensing electrodes through the second sensing wires, so as to detect a touch position.

(a) Technical Field
The present disclosure generally relates to a display device and a touch sensor, and more particularly, to a display device and a touch sensor having a reduced non-display area.
(b) Description of the Related Art
In general, a display panel of a liquid crystal display (LCD) and an organic light emitting diode display includes a plurality of gate lines and data lines connected with a plurality of pixels. The pixels are formed at the intersections of the gate lines and the data lines. When gate signals comprising gate-on voltages are sequentially applied to the gate lines, data voltages will be applied to the data lines in response to the gate signals so as to write image data in the pixels.
A touch sensor is an input apparatus capable of inputting a user's command to a device. The touch sensor can recognize a touch position of a user on a display panel. For example, the touch sensor may be provided on a front side of a display panel and configured to determine a touch position of a user's hand or an object so as to determine an input signal. A capacitive touch sensor is one of many types of touch sensors that is commonly used. The capacitive touch sensor is configured to sense a user's touch based on a change in capacitance between an electrode and a conductive object such as a finger. For example, the capacitive touch sensor can sequentially apply touch detection signals to a plurality of sensing lines to detect a change in capacitance of the touch position, so as to detect the user's touch.
Recently, a display device having reduced bezel width has been developed. The aforementioned display device includes a display area in which an image is displayed, and a minimized non-display area. However, incorporating a touch sensor into the above display device may pose certain packaging challenges relating to the minimization of the non-display area. For example, wires disposed at an outer portion of the touch sensor could take up space in the non-display area and make it difficult to reduce the non-display area of the display device.
The above information disclosed in this Background section is only to enhance understanding of the background of the inventive concept and therefore it may contain information that does not form the prior art that is already known in this country to a person of ordinary skill in the art.


A mass flow sensor is disclosed comprising: a heated probe having a predetermined length for disposition in the path of mass flow; at least two first temperature measuring devices disposed at different points along the probe length for measuring temperatures of the heated probe at such points in the presence of the mass flow; a second temperature measuring device for disposition in the path of mass flow for measuring the temperature of the mass flow; and a processing unit for determining mass flow as a function of the temperature measurements of the first and second temperature measuring devices. A method of measuring mass flow is also disclosed comprising the steps of: disposing a probe of a predetermined length in the path of mass flow; heating the probe; measuring the heated probe temperature at at least two different points along its length in the presence of the mass flow; measuring the temperature of the mass flow; and determining mass flow as a function of the temperature measurements of the heated probe and mass flow. In one embodiment, the mass flow sensor includes at least three temperature measuring devices disposed in proximity to at least one probe for generating signals representative of the temperature of the heated probe along its length and the temperature of the mass flow. The at three temperature measuring devices are coupled together to generate at least two signals representative of temperature differentials in the vicinity of the at least one probe, and the processing unit processes at least one of the temperature differential signals to generate a signal representative of mass flow.

The present invention is directed to mass flow sensors of the thermal type, in general, and more specifically to a mass flow sensor including a heated probe having a predetermined length disposed in the path of mass flow; at least two first temperature measuring devices disposed at different points along said length for measuring temperatures at said points of the heated probe in the presence of the mass flow, a second temperature measuring device for measuring the temperature of the mass flow, and means for determining mass flow as a function of said temperature measurements of the heated probe and said temperature measurement of the mass flow, and a method of measuring mass flow.
Mass flow sensors of the thermal type generally involve exposing a self-heated resistance element to the media flow and measuring the cooling effect of the media on the self-heated element, conventionally by its resistance change. If the media temperature can vary, a temperature sensor measurement is also made to get an accurate ambient temperature measurement. A resistance measurement of the self-heated element can be related to media mass flow. This method is also called hot-wire (or hot-film) anemometry and has been used since about 1950.
A similar approach involves locating a heater in the path of the media or around the pipe or duct through which the media is flowing with temperature sensors disposed on either side. For measuring the temperature T1 of the media upstream of the heater and the temperature T2 downstream of the heater. T1 is used for reference purposes while T2 located downstream of the heater is used to sense the additional heat transferred from the heater by the moving fluid. The heat input (QH) and the mass flow rate (QM) are related by the equation:
QH=c(T2xe2x88x92T1)QM,
where c is the specific heat of the fluid.
If the heater is located directly in the media flow, high power consumption is often required. An alternate approach is the xe2x80x9cboundary-layerxe2x80x9d flowmeter in which only the layer of the media fluid closest to the pipe or duct wall if heated and subjected to the aforementioned temperature measurements.
There are a number of variations of the thermal approach being used today including those using direct heating of the media fluid, and a single or dual probes containing self-heated temperature sensing elements. The method using direct heating of the fluid does so in a small xe2x80x9cbypassxe2x80x9d duct and is referred to as a xe2x80x9cparallel methodxe2x80x9d of measurement. A primary alternative is the xe2x80x9cseries methodxe2x80x9d which places a probe or probes directly in the media flow path within the pipe or duct. Also, the self-heated and sensor elements use a variety of technologies such as platinum, tungsten or other resistance temperature devices (RTDs), thermistor deposited films, and the like, for example.
Mass flowmeters of the thermal type are most often used in aircraft applications because the sensors are small. Light weight, easy to install, flexible for different ranges, and create minimal restrictions to flow in the piping or duct, which results in a low pressure drop across the measurement section thereof. Such applications include engine bleed air, environmental control systems for avionics cooling, cabin environmental air, fuel cell gas flow and the like, for example.
One such flow sensor uses a thermal based immersion sensor incorporating a single probe which contains an ambient element and a self-heated element. The ambient element senses the ambient temperature of the media flow in the pipe or duct while the self-heated element measures the cooling effect of the media flow in the duct. By monitoring the cooling effect of the self-heated element and the ambient temperature of the duct media flow, the mass flow can then be determined by a signal processing unit. The signal processor receives the cooling effect and ambient temperature measurements from each sensor and calculates the corresponding mass flow rate. Typically, a cooling effect sensor is calibrated for a low flow value in order to trigger a means of increasing the cooling flow, and, once cooling is achieved, reduces cooling much like a thermostat controls temperature, for example. The principles of the sensor/signal processor are relatively simple. Two basic parameters (cooling effect and ambient temperature) are measured and the signal processor mathematically combines these measurements to provide the desired output. A drawback for this type of sensor is incomplete isolation of the self-heated element from the ambient element. Conductive or convective heat transfer between the probes will result in an error in measurement. Also, the effect of the mounting surface temperature can cause errors in measurement, especially if the probe is short.
Another thermal type of mass flow sensor uses two platinum resistance temperature (PRT) elements disposed in the path of media flow to directly measure mass flow. One element is used to sense ambient flow temperature while the other is self-heated to sense flow velocity. The elements may be contained in the same probe or two different probes. By self-heating the sensing element to a fixed temperature difference higher than ambient, the amount of power supplied to the element will be indicative of mass flow. Processing electronics include a xe2x80x9cflow bridgexe2x80x9d which is used to power the self-heated element and convert the changes in resistance of the PRT elements to a signal which is representative of mass flow. It is recognized that the resistance of the sensing elements of these type sensors is indicative of temperature only if several error sources are identified and minimized through sophisticated electronics.
One such source of error is the heat generated in the ambient sensor resistance wire due to passage of the current utilized to measure the resistance. This heating effect (I2 R or Joule heating) results in a higher element temperature than the ambient and causes an erroneous reading, especially at low flow rates. This error is referred to as the self-heating error. The self-heating error, defined as the temperature difference between the surrounding (ambient) temperature and the temperature at which the sensing element equilibrates, is a function of the element resistance (R), the current flowing through the element (I) and the heat transfer field around the sensor.
Self heating of the cooling effect sensor also causes an error in measurement. Since the RTD is a non-linear device, there is typically an error associated with ambient temperature compensation. Another problem associated with these immersion type devices is the reduced sensitivity of the device at higher mass flows. It is a phenomena that occurs as a natural result of the relative reduced heat transfer of a probe in crossflow. Sometimes this reduction is enhanced by the slope of the RTD which can limit the application of this type of device.
Another similar thermal type mass flow sensor which is based on the velocity effect and temperature measurements utilize thermister sensors for measuring the dissipated heat and ambient temperatures. One such sensor uses a single probe which contains dual thermisters at the tip for measuring the flow of dissipated heat of heater windings wrapped around their housing. The dual thermisters essentially measure the temperature of the heater. There are also dual thermisters, located in open flow, for measuring the ambient temperature. A controller provides the heater windings with a constant current or a temperature driven voltage. By using dual thermisters to measure ambient temperature as a reference, the tip thermisters may be used to infer flow velocity of the media across the heater windings. While thermisters are less costly then PRTs, they are limited in range of temperature covered as compared to PRTs and need rather complex signal conditioning circuits. In addition, since the thermisters are not self-heated, these thermister-based sensors require an additional heater element for heating the probe.
The present invention includes an improved sensor design for and method of measuring mass flow, which overcomes the aforementioned drawbacks of the current mass flow sensors.
In accordance with one aspect of the present invention, a mass flow sensor comprises: a probe having a predetermined length for disposition in the path of mass flow; means for heating the probe; at least two first temperature measuring devices disposed at different points along the length for measuring temperatures of the heated probe at such points in the presence of the mass flow; a second temperature measuring device for disposition in the path of mass flow for measuring the temperature of the mass flow; and means for determining mass flow as a function of the temperature measurements of the first and second temperature measuring devices.
In accordance with another aspect of the present invention, a method of measuring mass flow comprises the steps of: disposing a probe of a predetermined length in the path of mass flow; heating the probe; measuring the heated probe temperature at at least two different points along its length in the presence of the mass flow; measuring the temperature of the mass flow; and determining mass flow as a function of the temperature measurements of the heated probe and mass flow.
In accordance with yet another aspect of the present invention, a mass flow sensor comprises: at least one probe having a predetermined length for disposition in the path of mass flow; means for heating the at least one probe; at least three temperature measuring devices disposed in proximity to the at least one probe for generating signals representative of the temperature of the heated probe along its length and the temperature of the mass flow; means for generating at least two signals representative of temperature differentials in the vicinity of the at least one probe from the signals generated by the at least three temperature measuring devices; and means for processing at least one of the temperature differential signals to generate a signal representative of mass flow.

Method and sensor for mass flow measurement using probe heat conduction


A diesel engine aftertreatment system comprises a diesel engine having an exhaust manifold and a filter substrate in direct connection with the exhaust manifold without any intervening catalyst, wherein the filter substrate comprises on its inlet side an SCR catalyst incorporating a non-coking molecular sieve.

Diesel engines are known for certain advantages including low fuel consumption, high torque and low carbon monoxide (CO) and carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions. However, whilst diesel engines tend to produce lower amounts of regulated emissions than gasoline engines, they are also associated with some more difficult to manage emissions, particularly nitrogen oxides (NOx, essentially NO and NO2) and particulate matter (PM). The other regulated pollutant from internal combustion engines is non-combusted or unburnt (including partially burnt) hydrocarbons (HC).
There are primarily two methods of reducing emissions from engines, the first being engine design and management, and the second being aftertreatment of the exhaust gases, although the combination is usually used. Exhaust gas aftertreatment has evolved by research and development of catalytic methods of treating the regulated emissions, and when used with electronic engine management is generally successful in meeting current emission standards. Nonetheless, ever-increasing emission regulations, combined with pressure to reduce fuel consumption and associated CO2 emissions from environmental and global warming perspectives, continue to present challenges to the design of engines and aftertreatment systems.
The first catalytic aftertreatment introduced for vehicular diesel engines was a Diesel Oxidation Catalyst (DOC) comprising a Platinum Group Metal catalyst deposited on a flow-through ceramic or metal honeycomb substrate. Such DOCs are effective to oxidise CO and HC, and are now widely used. Additionally, such DOCs can be effective to reduce the mass of PM by simultaneously oxidising volatile fractions absorbed on a carbonaceous particle.
The use of Selective Catalytic Reduction (SCR) to reduce NOx to innocuous N2 has been used for some 30 years in treating the output of thermal power plants, and is now in widespread use for coal-fired power plants and stationary gas turbine power plants and similar industrial plants with NOx emissions. SCR utilises the addition of a nitrogeneous reductant gas, primarily ammonia or an ammonia precursor such as urea, to the exhaust gas from the plant, and passing the resulting mixture over a catalyst known as an SCR catalyst. SCR systems are under development in USA, Europe and Japan for use in the afterteatment of exhausts from vehicular diesel engines, and are slowly being introduced into the market. Vehicular SCR systems are appreciably more difficult to manage than stationary systems, because of the varying quantity of exhaust gases, varying exhaust gas temperatures and the need to carry a supply of the reductant on the vehicle. Such SCR systems nonetheless appear to offer promise. For completeness, we mention that what may be termed "hydrocarbon SCR", where a hydrocarbon reductant such as diesel fuel itself, has also been proposed. Such hydrocarbon SCR appears to present rather more problems than the use of nitrogeneous reductants.
Several chemical reactions occur in an NH3 SCR system, representing desirable reactions that reduce NOx to nitrogen. The dominant reaction is represented by reaction (1).4NO+4NH3+O2→4N2+6H2O  (1)
Competing, non-selective reactions with oxygen can produce secondary emissions or may unproductively consume ammonia. One such non-selective reaction is the complete oxidation of ammonia, shown in reaction (2).4NH3+5O2→4NO+6H2O  (2)
Also, side reactions may lead to undesirable products such as N2O, as represented by reaction (3).4NH3+5NO+3O2→4N2O+6H2O  (3)
Commercial SCR catalysts are generally based on a zeolite, particularly a transition metal-modified zeolite (an aluminosilicate) such as Cu- or Fe-modified beta zeolite or Cu- or Fe-ZSM-5. These have a relatively wide temperature activity window. In general, Cu-based zeolite catalysts exhibit better low temperature NOx reduction activity than Fe-based zeolite catalysts.
However, in use, Cu- and Fe-Beta and -ZSM-5 zeolites have a number of drawbacks. They are susceptible to dealumination during high temperature hydrothermal ageing, resulting in a loss of acidity, especially with Cu-based zeolites. Both Beta and ZSM-5-based catalysts are also affected by hydrocarbons which become adsorbed on the catalysts at relatively low temperatures and are oxidised as the temperature of the catalyst system is raised, causing an exotherm which can damage the catalyst structure. This problem is particularly acute in vehicular diesel applications where significant quantities of hydrocarbon can be absorbed on the catalyst on cold-start. Both Beta and ZSM-5 zeolites are also prone to coking by hydrocarbons.
Our WO 2008/132452 describes alternative small pore zeolite catalysts containing at least one transition metal, such as silicoaluminophosphate. Hereinafter, however, "molecular sieve"-based catalysts will be used in the description of the present invention to include such catalysts as the silicoaluminophosphates (SAPO) having a zeolite-like structure. Certain authorities consider that the term "zeolite" should only be used for a silicoaluminate. We note that the SAPO-based catalysts of WO 2008/132452 are exemplified in a system comprising an upstream oxidation catalyst, an intermediate PM filter and a final SCR catalyst having an ammonia slip catalyst.
The removal of PM from diesel exhaust gases is generally realised by some form of filter or partial filter. A large number of filter designs have been proposed in the patent literature. Currently, the state of the art filter is a ceramic or ceramic-like wall flow filter, carrying a PM combustion catalyst, known as a catalysed soot filter (CSF). A number of variations on CSFs have been proposed, including the coating of the filter with a NOx absorber catalyst (NAC) or a SCR catalyst. As an example, we refer to, and incorporate herein the entire teaching of, WO 2005/01647. In this patent application, it is proposed to coat a filter substrate with an SCR catalyst composition. An essential feature of WO 2005/016497 is the positioning of a DOC upstream of the injection point for the SCR reductant, and hence upstream of the combined SCR and CSF.
JP Published Application 03130522 (Mitsubishi Heavy Industry) proposes a stationary diesel engine having a turbocharger, which is provided with an ammonia injector and an SCR catalyst fitted between the engine and the turbocharger. It is not believed that this design has been successfully introduced in the 20 years since it was proposed.


An apparatus for forming a pattern has a light-modulating unit, a scanner, a pattern data processor, a light modulating controller, a position-error detector, and a correction value calculator. The pattern data processor generates band-pattern data corresponding to each scanning band on the basis of pattern data matching a preceding pattern that is repeatedly and regularly formed on the photo-sensitive material. The position-error detector detects a position-error of the preceding pattern relative to a pattern area. The correction value calculator calculates an alignment correction value in each pattern area on the basis of the position-error, so as to overlay the pattern on the preceding pattern. The pattern data processor corrects the band-pattern data in accordance with the alignment correction value while classifying each exposure data of the band-pattern data into a corresponding pattern area.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an apparatus and method that directly writes or forms a pattern on a photosensitive material such as a substrate, especially, it relates to the positioning of the pattern.
2. Description of the Related Art
An exposure unit with a photolithography function transfers a circuit pattern to a substrate by using a photo-mask or reticle to repeatedly and regularly form a circuit pattern on the total area of a substrate. In the exposure unit, a shot-exposure is repeatedly performed in accordance with the Step & Repeat method. Further, a beam writer that directly writes or forms a pattern without a photo-mask/reticle is also applied. In this case, a light-modulating unit such as a DMD (Digital Micro-mirror Device) or an LCD (Liquid Crystal Device), which has two-dimensionally arrayed light-modulator elements, is utilized instead of a line-scanning.
In the manufacturing process of the substrate, the substrate occasionally deforms due to the heating process. When circuit patterns are regularly and repeatedly formed on the substrate, the deformation of each pattern is different to each other, since the degree of deformation varies with the position of the substrate.
Further, when forming patterns in layers on the substrate by using the exposure unit, the positioning precision is not sufficient, so that a position-error, such as a rotation-error or shift-error, is caused in each pattern.
To correct the position-error of the pattern caused by the deformation, for example, holes are formed in advance such that the holes are positioned at the corners of each pattern, and position-errors between positions of marks formed at a correct position and the position of the holes, are detected for each pattern. Then, the position of the pattern to be formed on the substrate is corrected or modified in accordance with the position-error.

Apparatus with light-modulating unit for forming pattern


The present invention relates generally to a method for regulating cytokine signaling and agents useful for same. The method of the present invention is predicated in part on the identification of the molecular target of suppressor of cytokine signaling (SOCS) interaction in controlling cytokine signaling. The identification of the molecular target permits the development of assays to screen for a range of agonists and antagonists useful in modulating cytokine function. The present invention further provides, therefore, screening assays and more particularly high through-put screening assays for agonists and antagonists of SOCS-receptor interaction. Such agonists and antagonists are useful in the manufacture of medicaments for controlling cytokine signaling. Control of cytokine signaling is important for the treatment of a range of conditions including cancer, inflammatory conditions, immunological disorders and any other conditions involving aberrations of signal transduction.

Reference to any prior art in this specification is not, and should not be taken as, an acknowledgment or any form of suggestion that this prior art forms part of the common general knowledge in Australia or any other country.
Bibliographic details of the publications referred to by author in this specification are collected at the end of the description.
Cytokines control a wide variety of biological responses, thus the duration and intensity of their effects must be tightly regulated. Upon stimulation by cytokine, specific cell surface receptors oligomerise and cause activation of the JAK-STAT signaling pathway (Heim, 1999; Ihle et al., 1998; Leonard and O'Shea, 1998). The transient nature of this signaling cascade is partly a consequence of the action of negative regulatory molecules such as SHP-1, PIAS-3 and the SOCS (suppressor of cytokine signaling) (alternate names SSI, JAB, CIS) proteins, each of which inhibit the JAK-STAT signaling pathway and ensure the appropriate level of response to a particular cytokine stimulus is maintained (Endo et al., 1997; Gissclbrecht, 1999; Hilton, 1999; Naka et al., 1997; Starr et al., 1997; Yoshimura, 1998).
The SOCS family of proteins comprises a number of members, including SOCS-1 through SOCS-7 and CIS, and the expression of several of these is known to be induced by cytokines (Hilton, 1999; Hilton et al., 1998; Yoshimura, 1998). SOCS-7 and CIS contain two regions of homology—a central SH2 domain and a C-terminal 40 amino acid motif known as the SOCS box. While the SOCS box acts to recruit elongins BC, a protein complex implicated in the proteasomal degradation pathway (Kamura et al., 1998; Zhang et al., 1999), the SH2 domains of the SOCS proteins are responsible for specific binding to activated (phosphorylated) signaling molecules and may also play a role in the mechanism of signal suppression. For instance, CIS binds via its SH2 domain to phosphorylated erythropoietin (EPO) and interleukin-3 (IL-3) receptors at the same sites used for STAT-5 binding, thus preventing docking and activation of this transcription factor (Matsumoto et al., 1997; Yoshimura et al., 1995). By contrast, the SH2 domain of SOCS-1 binds to activated JAKs, and together with the action of an additional protein interaction motif upstream of the SH2 domain, results in inhibition of the kinase catalytic activity (Nicholson et al., 1999; Sasaki et al., 1999).
A number of studies have identified cytokines which can induce the expression of SOCS-3 mRNA, including CNTF (Bjorback et al., 1999), LIF (Bousquet et al., 1999), IL-6 (Starr et al., 1997), IL-11 (Auernhammer and Melmed, 1999a), leptin (Bjorbaek et al., 1998), IL-2 (Cohney et al., 1999), IL-10 (Donnelly et al., 1999; Ito et al., 1999), prolactin (Pezet et a!., 1999), growth hormone (Adams et al., 1998) and insulin. Overexpression of SOCS-3 results in the inhibition of signaling by each of these cytokines, and under these conditions SOCS-3 has been shown to physically associate with either JAK kinase (Sasaki et al., 1999), or the receptors for growth hormone (Hansen et al., 1999), IL-2Rβ (Cohney et al., 1999), and insulin receptors. However, given that overexpression can lead to elevated protein levels at which non-specific interactions can result, it is difficult to assess whether all of these observations have a genuine biological relevance. Alternatively, gene knockout studies have shown that SOCS-3−/− mice die embryonically from a disease possibly associated with excessive foetal erythropoiesis (Marine et al., 1999).
Recently, it was proposed that the mechanism by which SOCS-3 inhibits signaling is identical to that of SOCS-1. As had been demonstrated for SOCS-1 (Yasukawa et al., 1999), SOCS-3 was also shown to associate with JAK2 in intact cells, and to a synthetic phosphopeptide encompassing the activation loop from JAK2 (Sasaki et al., 1999). The region of SOCS-3 immediately N-terminal to the SH2 domain has also been shown to be important for biological activity (Narazaki et al., 1998; Nicholson et al., 1999; Sasaki et al., 1999), and based on sequence similarity to SOCS-1, was also proposed to function as a kinase active site inhibitor. However, despite these similarities, there is evidence to suggest that the mechanism of signaling suppression used by SOCS-3 differs from that of SOCS-1. Unlike SOCS-1, SOCS-3 does not inhibit the catalytic activity of JAK1 or JAK2 in an in vitro kinase reaction (Nicholson et al., 1999). Furthermore, the kinetics of IL-6 signal suppression, as measured by inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation, is considerably slower for SOCS-3 as compared to SOCS-1 (Suzuki et al., 1998). While forced expression of SOCS-1 in M1 cells results in rapid and total inhibition of STAT3 phosphorylation within 30 minutes, inhibition by SOCS-3 slowly increases over the course of several hours (Suzuki et al., 1998). These differences between SOCS-1 and SOCS-3 have been explained on the basis of a weaker affinity of SOCS-3 for JAK kinase (Masuhara et al., 1997; Sasaki et al., 1999). However, another possible explanation is that the primary binding target for SOCS-3 is not the JAK kinase, but other molecules within the signaling cascade such as the phosphorylated cytokine receptors or STAT proteins.
In work leading up to the present invention, the inventors sought to identify the molecular target of SOCS-3 and quantify the affinity of this interaction. Based on peptide binding data, the subject inventors have demonstrated that a single high affinity binding site exists for SOCS-3 on the gp130 receptor, centred around phosphotyrosine-757 (pY757). The letter "p" before a single letter abbreviation for an amino acid (e.g. "Y" for tyrosine) means the amino acid is phosphorylated. The numerical value after the amino acid letter is the residue number. Binding is phosphorylation dependent, and suppression of gp130 signaling by SOCS-3, but not SOCS-1, is impaired if this residue is mutated to phenylalanine. Furthermore, SOCS-3 binds to a gp130-derived pY757 phosphopeptide with an affinity that is approximately 104-fold higher than binding to a phosphopeptide derived from the activation loop in JAK2, previously reported to be the biologically relevant docking site for SOCS-3 (Sasaki et al., 1999).
Taken together, these data show that suppression of gp130-mediated signaling by SOCS-3 involves recruitment to the phosphorylated receptor in a manner that is distinct to the mechanism of inhibition used by SOCS-1. These data also have similar implications in relation to other cytokine receptors such as erythropoietin (EPO) receptor and leptin receptor which have phosphotyrosine regions homologous to those recognized by SOCS-3 on gp130.

Methods of regulating cytokine signalling

The Walter and Eliza Hall Institute of Medical Research


A method for evaluating planographic printing plates according to the present invention includes: a step (A) of exposing a planographic printing plate precursor by irradiating a thin-line image of a one-pixel line and at least one thin-line image selected from two- to eight-pixel lines by incrementally altering the plate-surface energy; developing the exposed plate precursor with a standard developer; and identifying an exposure intensity (hereinafter, “thin-line sensitivity”) that respectively provides the images thus formed, with the same density; a step (B) of preparing another planographic printing plate precursor under the same conditions as in the step (A) and identifying the thin-line sensitivity, except that the planographic printing plate precursor is developed with a test developer; a step (C) of comparing the thin-line sensitivities respectively obtained in the steps (A) and (B); and a step (D) of adjusting plate-making conditions when the results of the comparison in the step (C) show a difference between the respective thin-line sensitivities that exceeds a predetermined value.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image evaluation method and a quality control method suitable for a positive planographic printing plate for use with an IR laser, which printing plate is generally called direct plate-making type, capable of direct plate-making from digital signals of computers or the like.
2. Description of the Related Art
In recent years, laser development has been remarkable. Specifically, a solid state laser and a semiconductor laser having a light emitting region in a range from near IR to an IR region have been developed to have high output and small size. Accordingly, as an exposure light source at the time of direct plate making from digital data of a computer or the like, such lasers are extremely useful.
A positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR laser, for which the above-mentioned IR laser having a light emitting region in the IR region is used as an exposure light source, is a planographic printing plate precursor (hereinafter, referred to simply as a PS plate in some cases) that comprises an aqueous alkaline solution-soluble binder resin, an IR dye, which absorbs light and generates heat, and the like as essential components.
When the positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers is exposed with an IR laser beam, in non-exposed portions (i.e., image portions), the IR dye or the like in the photosensitive layer continues to work as a dissolution inhibitor to substantially decrease the solubility of the binder resin, due to the interaction between the IR dye and the binder resin. On the other hand, in exposed portions (non-image portions), the IR dye or the like absorbs light and generates heat, so that the interaction of the IR dye or the like with the binder resin is weakened. Accordingly, at a time of development, the exposed portions (non-image portions) are dissolved in an alkaline developer to produce image portions.
However, as compared with a positive planographic printing plate precursor to be used for plate-making by UV exposure, such a positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers has a narrow latitude with respect to the activity of a developer and therefore, has problems wherein if the activity is too high, the image part density and printing resistance are decreased and if the activity is too low, development failure easily occurs.
The above-mentioned problems are attributed to the following basic differences in the plate-making mechanisms between the above-mentioned positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers and the positive planographic printing plate precursor for plate-making by UV exposure.
The photosensitive layer of the positive planographic printing plate precursor for plate-making by UV exposure comprises an aqueous alkaline solution-soluble binder resin and an onium salt or quinone diazide compound as essential components. When such a positive planographic printing plate precursor is exposed, the onium salt or quinone diazide compound works in the non-exposed portions (image portions) as a dissolution inhibitor similar to the case of the positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers. However, unlike the case of the positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers, in the exposed portions (non-image portions), it is decomposed by light, and generates an acid, and consequently works as a dissolution promoting agent for the binder resin. Accordingly, in the positive planographic printing plate precursor for plate making by UV exposure, the difference in the solubility with respect to an alkaline developer between the exposed portions and the non-exposed portions is very large.
In contrast, with respect to the positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers, although the interaction between the IR dye and the binder resin is weakened in the exposed portions (non-image portions) at a time of exposure, the IR dye does not work as the dissolution promoting agent for the binder and therefore, the difference in the solubility between the non-exposed parts and the exposed parts is small.
Due to the above-mentioned reasons, when a planographic printing plate precursor such as a positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR laser having a narrow latitude to the activity of a developer is used, it is very difficult to control the plate making process to continuously form stable images.
Generally, in the case of developing the positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers, an automatic developing apparatus having a replenishing mechanism for keeping the developer sensitivity constant as much as possible is employed. The replenishing mechanism is for adding a highly active replenisher so as to prevent pH decrease and deterioration of the developability of the developer due to developing of the plates or CO2 absorption.
Practically, in a treatment system for a regular PS plate, the proposed examples of the replenishing mechanism include: a method of adding a replenisher so as to keep conductivity constant; and a method of adding a predetermined amount of a replenisher periodically after the number of plates developed from planographic printing plate precursors reaches a predetermined number or after a predetermined treatment time passes.
However, in the method for controlling a replenisher based on the conductivity, there arises a problem in that pH values vary (thus developability also changes), even at the same condctivity, between the starting time of development and a later stage, because significantly amounts of compositions of a photosensitive layer are dissolved into the developer as the number of the developed plates increases.
Further, in the method of adding a predetermined amount of the replenisher periodically or according to the number of the developed plates, as the amount of the (applied) replenisher per unit surface area of a plate is fixed, the method cannot address to changes such as: the amount of compositions of the photosensitive layer dissolved into a developer varying in accordance with the area of image portions; and the CO2 absorption amount changing over time depending on the installation environment (temperature, humidity, CO2 concentration and the like) of the automatic developing apparatus. Thus, it is difficult to continuously keep the constant developability by control with such a method of periodically adding a predetermined amount of the replenisher.
In addition, there is also known a quality-control method of: obtaining the clear sensitivity of an image formed by developing a positive planographic printing plate precursor for infrared laser with a standard developer; obtaining the clear sensitivity of an image formed by developing the same plate with a worn-out developer; and adjusting plate-making conditions based on the comparison of the two results of the clear sensitivity. However, there remains room for improvement with respect to production of high-quality printed matter such as art books, car catalogues, and the like, and high-definition printed matter such as FM and AM screens having a density of 300 lines/inch (2.54 cm) or higher (see, for example, Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2001-13692).
Generally, in a widely used planographic printing plate precursor using UV exposure, since the precursor has a wide latitude with respect to the activity of a developer, the fluctuation of the developability as described above is not a major problem. However, as described above, since the positive planographic printing plate precursor for IR lasers has a narrow latitude with respect to the activity of the developer, the image formability, especially the dot formability, fluctuates considerably depending on changes in the activity of the developer, which results in problems regarding quality of the planographic printing plate.
Currently, however, no method has yet been discovered that can be applied to general-purpose positive-type planographic printing plate precursors for infrared laser to effectively prevent fluctuation in the image portion area and peripheral length of very fine dots by means of simplified process control.

Method for evaluating planographic printing plates and quality-control method thereof


An information recording apparatus records information on an information recording medium by focusing a light beam emitted from a light source on the information recording medium. The apparatus has an information reading device of a type of the information recording medium, a recording strategy storage device, and an unknown information recording medium notification device. The information reading device is configured to read information as to the type of the information recording medium recorded thereon. The storage device is configured to store a recording strategy corresponding to an information recording medium type. The notification device is configured to send an unknown information recording medium notification, when the recording strategy corresponding to the type of the information recording medium is not found in the storage device.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an information recording apparatus including an optical disk drive, software for controlling an information recording apparatus, a control device for an information recording apparatus, an information recording medium and an information recording method.
2. Description of the Related Art
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-283443 Official Gazette refers to an optical recording medium for an optical disk drive that can reproduce or record information at the optimum condition stably. The recording medium has a recordable recording layer on a substrate. The recording layer has a manufacturer recording area in which the manufacturer can record information. In the manufacturer recording area, drive control information peculiar to the optical recording medium is recorded. When an optical disk drive records information on an optical recording medium, the optical disk drive reproduces or records information at the optimum condition based on the drive control information recorded on the optical recording medium.
Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-334433 Official Gazette discloses an information recording method which is directed to keep enough time for heating and cooling by simple pulse control method, to record marks having intended length at high speed without increasing the speed of the light source driving portion. According to the information recording method, the optical recording medium can be heated and cooled sufficiently by adding a heat pulse Hmp and cool pulse Cmp in response per mark data length 2T added. In this regard, the erase pulse E2 or E3 whose light power is higher or lower than erase power Pe1 to control the mark length is added at the head of the erase area which is placed on the back of the rearmost cool pulse Cend. Therefore, the position of the rear edge of the mark can be controlled corresponding to the mark length with high accuracy by the simple pulse control method. That is, in this method, it is only necessary to set the level of rearmost cool pulse Cend, and second erase power of erase pulse E2 or E3 or third erase power in combination, and the pattern of each heat pulse in the multi pulse train does not need to be controlled.
Generally, the recording condition, including the power and the width of the recording pulse (for example the respective parameter described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2002-334433 Official Gazette), should be determined when an information recording apparatus records data on optical disks, including CD-R/RW, DVD-R/RW, DVD+R/RW. The recording condition is referred to as the write strategy. The optimum write strategy depends on the characteristics of the recording material and the substrate of the optical disk. So the optimum write strategy differs according to the manufacturer and the kind of optical disk.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-283443 Official Gazette, the optimum write strategy information is recorded on the optical disk in advance, and the information recording apparatus refers to the optimum write strategy information retrieved from the optical disk, and determines the optimum write strategy. But it is not necessarily the case that the optimum write strategy information recorded on the optical disk can apply to any information recording apparatus made by any manufacturer without modification. This is because optical system parameters, including the wavelength of the light emitted from the laser diode and the numerical aperture (NA) of the objective lens, and the rise time of the recording pulses, differ depending on the manufacturers of the information recording apparatuses. Accordingly, some of the information recording apparatuses cannot record information on the optical recording medium, described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2001-283443 Official Gazette, at the optimum condition.
At the same time, there is a method such that optical disk information, including manufacturer code, classification and version number corresponding to the respective optical disk is recorded on the optical disk, while optimum write strategy information of various optical disks is stored, correlating with the optical disk information, in a memory of the information recording apparatus. In this method, the information recording apparatus retrieves the optical disk information, including manufacturer code, classification and version number from the loaded optical disk before recording information on the optical disk. The optical disk information is checked against the optimum write strategy information stored in advance in the write strategy information table. When the write strategy corresponding to the optical disk is found out, the information recording apparatus set the write strategy for recording information.
The optimum write strategy can be determined for predetermined combinations of an information recording apparatus (manufacturer) and an optical disk by this method. However, when an optical disk whose write strategy information is not stored in the write strategy table of the information recording apparatus (an optical disk whose write strategy information is unknown) is loaded, the information recording apparatus cannot determine the optimum write strategy. Accordingly, the information recording apparatus cannot record information at the optimum recording condition on some optical recording media.

Information recording apparatus, method and system, with increased likelihood for recording information at appropriate recording conditions