Author: claimsbot

We claim:

1. An isolated nucleic acid molecule, coding for a polypeptide having the amino acid sequence referred to in each case in table 1column 2, wherein the nucleic acid molecule in the amino acid position indicated in table 1column 4 encodes a proteinogenic amino acid different from the particular amino acid indicated in table 1column 5 in the same row.
2. An isolated nucleic acid molecule as claimed in claim 1, wherein the nucleic acid molecule in the amino acid position indicated in table 1column 4 encodes the amino acid indicated in table 1column 6 in the same row.
3. A vector, which comprises at least one nucleic acid sequence as claimed in claim 1.
4. A host cell, which is transfected with at least one vector as claimed in claim 3.
5. A host cell as claimed in claim 4, wherein expression of said nucleic acid molecule modulates the production of a fine chemical from said cell.
6. A method for preparing a fine chemical, which comprises culturing a cell which has been transfected with at least one vector as claimed in claim 3 so that the fine chemical is produced.
7. A method as claimed in claim 6, wherein the fine chemical is an amino acid.
8. A method as claimed in claim 7, wherein said amino acid is lysine.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1-20. (canceled)
21. A method for drying slurry-like materials, in particular of sludge from wastewater treatment plants, the method comprising:
drying in a first drying stage (2) of an indirect type, supplied with hot fluid, which receives sludge having an entry dryness Se, and outputs sludge having an intermediate dryness Si and water vapor, which is channeled toward a condenser (8) in order to reheat there a loop for heating fluid, in particular water;
forming strings of sludge at the exit from the first stage; and
drying in a second drying stage (6), in which the strings of sludge are heated directly by a gas, the gas being heated by the heating fluid loop, this second stage (6) outputting a product having a final dryness Sf,

wherein the intermediate dryness Si is controlled according to the measured entry dryness Se and the desired exit dryness Sf, for minimum consumption of the total energy used for the drying, the flow rate, pressure andor temperature of the hot fluid (3) supplying the first drying stage (2) being adjusted accordingly.
22. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the intermediate dryness Si is determined for a minimum total energy consumption, on the basis of measurement of the entry dryness Se, the exit dryness Sf desired, and parameters comprising a specific coefficient a of the condenser (8), a specific coefficient 13 of the second drying stage (6), and if applicable free added heat Q0.
23. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein the intermediate dryness Si is controlled such that the heat recuperated from the first stage by means of the condenser (8) is sufficient for the drying in the second stage (6).
24. The method as claimed in claim 21, wherein a heat loop (B1) at a low temperature is used, which in particular is between 30\xb0 C. and 90\xb0 C., for heating of the second stage (6), comprising a liquid, in particular water, which is circulated according to a closed circuit and passes through the condenser (8), in order to recuperate from there the heat of the condensed steam, and a liquidgas heat exchanger (11) in order to heat the gas of the second drying stage (6).
25. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the low-temperature heat loop (B1) comprises an exchanger (10) between the liquid in the loop (B1) and a thermal fluid branch (3) of the first drying stage (2).
26. The method as claimed in claim 24, wherein the low-temperature heat loop (B1) comprises a heat exchanger (9) in order to heat the liquid in the loop by recuperation of dead or cheap low-temperature energy.
27. A facility for implementation of a method as claimed in claim 21, comprising:
a first dryer (2) supplied with hot fluid, which receives sludge having an entry dryness Se, and outputs sludge having an intermediate dryness Si and water vapor, which is channeled toward a condenser (8) in order to reheat there a heating fluid for a second dryer (6);
a device (5) for forming strings of sludge at the exit from the first dryer (2);
the second dryer (6) for drying the strings of sludge by means of a gas, in particular air, which is heated at least partly by the heat extracted from the condenser (8) by means of the heating fluid, this second dryer (6) outputting a product having a final dryness Sf; and
means (M, 21) for controlling the intermediate dryness Si according to the measured entry dryness Se and the desired exit dryness Sf, for minimum consumption of the total energy used for the drying, the flow rate, pressure andor temperature of the hot fluid (3) supplying the first drying stage (2) being adjusted accordingly.
28. The facility as claimed in claim 27, further comprising a heat loop (B1) at a low temperature, which in particular is between 30\xb0 C. and 90\xb0 C., for heating of the second stage (6), the heat loop comprising a liquid, in particular water, which is circulated according to a closed circuit and passes through the condenser (8), in order to recuperate from there the heat of the condensed steam, and a liquidgas heat exchanger (11) in order to heat the gas of the second drying stage (6).
29. The facility as claimed in claim 27, further comprising an adjustable-speed fan (7), the aspiration of which is connected to the steam and gas output of the first dryer (2), and the backflow of which is connected to the condenser (8), the speed of the fan being commanded in order to maintain weak low pressure (of a few mbars) and controlled in the first dryer (2).
30. The facility as claimed in claim 27, wherein the transfer of the sludge between the exit from the first dryer (2) and the forming device (5) at the entry of the second dryer (6) is controlled by a speed-regulated coreless screw (4) which is configured to assure the gas tightness at the exit from the first dryer (2).
31. The facility as claimed in claim 28, wherein the low-temperature loop (B1) for circulation of liquid comprises:
a part (B1.1) with a low temperature of between 30\xb0 C. and 80\xb0 C., and preferably between 60\xb0 C. and 70\xb0 C., upstream of the condenser (8);
a part (B1.2) with a medium temperature of between 40\xb0 C. and 90\xb0 C., and preferably between 70\xb0 C. and 80\xb0 C., at the exit from the condenser (8);
an exchanger (9) of heat between the liquid in the loop (B1) and a free source of energy, downstream or upstream of the condenser (8), for reheating of the liquid in the loop (B1) by a free or low-cost low-temperature source of energy, in particular the motor of a co-generation unit, a heat pump, a wood or biogas boiler, thermal solar systems, or another source of dead energy;
at the exit from the exchanger (9) of heat between the liquid in the loop (B1) and the free source of energy, an exchanger (10) with a thermal fluid branch (3) which is configured to finish reheating the liquid in the loop (B1) at a regulated temperature, for the second dryer (6), which is between 40\xb0 C. and 90\xb0 C., and preferably between 80\xb0 C. and 90\xb0 C.;
an exchanger (11) for heat between liquid and gas, and in particular water and air, which is configured to enable the liquid in the loop (B1) to heat the gas of the second dryer (6), which is put into motion in particular by a circulation fan (12);
a pump (P2) for the circulation of the water in the loop (B1).
32. The facility as claimed in claim 27, further comprising a regulator having a first regulation loop configured to enable direct regulation of the intermediate dryness Si at the exit from the first dryer (2), with a means for calculation and command, and in particular an automaton (M) which establishes an intermediate dryness set point Sic on the basis of operating parameters.
33. The facility as claimed in claim 32, characterized in that the regulator is designed to determine an intermediate dryness set point Sic (%) according to the formula:
Sic=((\u03b2+\u03b1*556)(\u03b2\u221289*\u03b1)Sf+645*\u03b1Se+Q0)
wherein:
Se is the entry dryness measured (%)
Sf is the final predetermined dryness (%)
\u03b2 is a specific coefficient of the second drying stage (6), in kWhTEE
\u03b1 is a specific coefficient of the condenser (8)

and Q0 is free heat which may be added in kWhTMS.
34. The facility as claimed in claim 32, wherein the automaton (M) controls a valve (21) to control the flow rate, pressure or temperature of the thermal fluid (3) according to the intermediate dryness measured, this control being carried out by means of regulation of the pressure of the thermal fluid in the case of a steam thermal fluid, or by regulation of the flow rate or temperature (by mixing with a cold return of the thermal fluid) in the case of a thermal fluid of an organic fluid type.
35. The facility as claimed in claim 27, further comprising a regulator having a regulation loop which controls the quantity of the heat (Q3) supplied in the exchanger (10) between the thermal fluid and the liquid in the low-temperature loop (B1).
36. The facility as claimed in claim 27, further comprising a regulator having
a first regulation loop configured to enable direct regulation of the intermediate dryness Si at the exit from the first dryer (2), with a means for calculation and command, and in particular an automaton (M) which establishes an intermediate dryness set point Sic on the basis of operating parameters; and
a second regulation loop which controls the quantity of the heat (Q3) supplied in the exchanger (10) between the thermal fluid and the liquid in the low-temperature loop (B1),

wherein the regulator is configured to regulate the facility solely on the basis of the second regulation loop, by shunting the first regulation loop.
37. The facility as claimed in claim 35, wherein the exchanger of heat (10) between the thermal fluid and the liquid in the low-temperature loop (B1) has as a control set point the temperature of the liquid in the loop (B1) at the exit from the exchanger (10), this temperature permitting the efficient operation of the exchanger (11) between the thermal fluid and the gas of the second dryer (6), and making it possible to ensure that the energy requirement of the second dryer (6) is balanced.
38. The facility as claimed in claim 32, further comprising a second regulation loop according to which the heat (Q3) supplied to the exchanger (10) is measured by means of measurement of the temperature and flow rate at the entry and exit of the exchanger (10), and, if the heat (Q3) is greater than a specific set point which is close to zero but is not nil, in order always to have a regulation range, the regulator modifies the exit signal of the first regulation loop, such that the heat supplied to the first dryer (2) is adapted.
39. The facility as claimed in claim 38, wherein, in order to be in optimum conditions for the exchanger (11) and the condenser (8), the regulator comprises a third regulation loop which uses as a set point the temperature of the water loop at the exit from the exchanger (11).
40. The facility as claimed in claim 39, wherein the third regulation loop is designed to use a set point temperature which is defined relative to a set point which depends on the flow rate of sludge measured at the sludge supply pump (1), and when the temperature at the exit from the exchanger (11) between the liquid in the low-temperature loop (B1) and the gas of the second dryer (6) increases, the flow rate of the circulation pump (P2) of the loop (B1) decreases to a range which is acceptable for the components.

1. A method for testing a target system, comprising:
identifying a test to perform on the target system in at least one configuration of the target system;
applying the test to the target system and collecting plural actual results that characterize the operation of the target system in performing the test; and
applying a policy to the actual results to generate an output verdict, wherein the policy maps a subset of the actual results to the output verdict using a selected mapping paradigm.
2. The method according to claim 1, wherein the target system comprises a processing apparatus that executes a software program.
3. The method according to claim 1, wherein the test involves executing operations on the target system in plural configurations to generate plural sets of actual results.
4. The method according to claim 1, wherein the collecting of plural actual results comprises:
collecting at least one function-related actual result that defines whether the target system produces an output that meets a predefined criterion; and
collecting at least one performance-related actual result that characterizes the performance of the target system while it is executing the test.
5. The method according to claim 4, wherein the collecting of at least one function-related actual result involves determining whether the target system produces a result identified as correct.
6. The method according to claim 4, wherein the collecting of at least one performance-related actual result involves determining at least one of:
a speed at which the target system executes the test;
an amount of memory required to perform the test on the target system; and
whether any event messages were logged during execution of the test on the target system.
7. The method according to claim 4, wherein the policy applied to the actual results maps at least one function-related actual result into the output verdict.
8. The method according to claim 4, wherein the policy applied to the actual results maps at least one performance-related actual result into the output verdict.
9. The method according to claim 4, wherein the policy applied to the actual results maps a combination of at least one function-related actual result and at least one performance-related actual result into the output verdict.
10. A computer readable medium including machine readable instructions for implementing each of the identifying, applying the test and collecting actual results, and applying the policy as recited in claim 1.
11. An apparatus for testing a target system, comprising:
testing logic configured to apply a test to the target system in at least one configuration of the target system to generate at least one actual result;
monitoring logic configured to make at least one measurement of the target system associated with its performance of the test to provide at least one other actual result;
a data store for storing the actual results generated by the testing logic and the monitoring logic; and
policy analysis logic configured to apply a policy to actual results stored in the data store to generate an output verdict, wherein the policy maps a subset of the actual results to the output verdict using a selected mapping paradigm.
12. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the target system comprises a processing apparatus that executes a software program.
13. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein the test involves executing operations on the target system in plural configurations to generate plural sets of actual results.
14. The apparatus according to claim 11, wherein:
said at least one actual result generated by the testing logic is a function-related actual result that defines whether the target system produces an output that meets a predefined criterion; and
said at least one other actual result generated by the monitoring logic is a performance-related actual result that characterizes the performance of the target system while it is executing the test.
15. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the function-related actual result defines whether the target system produces a result identified as correct.
16. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the performance-related actual result defines at least one of:
a speed at which the target system executes the test;
an amount of memory required to perform the test on the target system; and
whether any event messages were logged during execution of the test on the target system.
17. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the policy applied to the actual results maps at least one function-related actual result into the output verdict.
18. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the policy applied to the actual results maps at least one performance-related actual result into the output verdict.
19. The apparatus according to claim 14, wherein the policy applied to the actual results maps a combination of at least one function-related actual result and at least one performance-related actual result into the output verdict.
20. A computer readable medium including machine readable instructions for implementing each of the logic recited in claim 11.
21. An apparatus for testing a target system, comprising:
means for identifying a test to perform on the target system in at least one configuration of the target system;
means for applying the test to the target system and collecting plural actual results that characterize the operation of the target system in performing the test; and
means for applying a policy to the actual results to generate an output verdict, wherein the policy maps a subset of the actual results to the output verdict using a selected mapping paradigm.

The claims below are in addition to those above.
All refrences to claim(s) which appear below refer to the numbering after this setence.

1. A cell culture device, comprising at least one cell culture well intended for receiving cells with their culture medium, said device comprising at least one cell-supporting layer of porous material, this layer being obtained by dehydration of an aqueous gel which is poured directly either into said well bottom, or into the bottom of a cradle or insert of a size which is adapted for being insertable into the volume of the well.
2. The device of claim 1, wherein the dehydration is carried out by freeze-drying or by heat dehydration.
3. The device of claim 1, wherein at least the bottom of the well or of the cradle or insert containing the layer of porous material is sterilized after said dehydration, in a watertight packaging.
4. The device of claim 1, wherein the complete culture device is sterilized, in a watertight packaging.
5. The device of claim 3, wherein the sterilization is selected from the group consisting of a sterilization by irradiation with beta or gamma rays, and a sterilization by treatment with a sterilizing gas.
6. The device of claim 1, comprising an element maintaining in position at least the peripheral edge of the layer of porous material.
7. The device of claim 6, wherein said position maintaining element is ensuring watertightness at the peripheral interface of said layer of porous material and of the internal side wall facing it at the well bottom.
8. The device of claim 6, wherein the position-maintaining element is of a size which is sufficient to take support on said peripheral edge of the layer of porous material and to ensure the watertightness at said peripheral interface.
9. The device of claim 1, wherein said bottom of the well or of the cradle is detachable and joinable to the well.
10. The device of claim 1, wherein said bottom of the well or of the cradle is joined by fitting with slight forcing or snap-engagement to the well, ensuring the watertightness.
11. The device of claim 1, wherein said bottom of the well or of the cradle is joined to the outside of the well or of the cradle, the lower edge of the side wall of the well or of the cradle constituting an element maintaining in position the peripheral edge of said layer of porous material.
12. The device of claim 1, wherein at least one part of the internal wall of the bottom or of the cradle is treated by a treatment for promoting the cell culture selected from a physical treatment, a chemical treatment, a biological treatment, and any combination of same.
13. The device of claim 12, wherein the internal wall is treated with a coating selected from a coating which promotes the adhesion and a coating which promotes the proliferation of the cells.
14. The device of claim 1, comprising a plurality of cradles or inserts per culture well
15. The device of claim 14, comprising a lid which is provided with as many orifices as cradles or inserts, each orifice enabling receiving and maintaining in position a cradle or insert.
16. The device of claim 1, wherein the aqueous gel comprises collagen.
17. The device of claim 1, wherein the aqueous gel comprises a mixture of collagen and at least one polysaccharide.
18. The device of claim 1, wherein the aqueous gel comprises a mixture of collagen, at least one polysaccharide andor chitosan.
19. A roboticizable or automatable platform which comprises a device as claimed in claim 1.
20. The platform of claim 19, wherein said platform is constructed to position the substrates to allow an automatic placing of a device for injecting, or for aspirating, of culture medium in, or from, said cell culture device,
21. The platform of claim 20, where in said platform is commanded by a robot or an automaton itself commanded by a computer.