Author: claimsbot

1. A method of selecting an active nucleic acid replicase, the method comprising the steps of: (a) providing a pool of nucleic acids comprising nucleic acid members each encoding a nucleic acid replicase; (b) subdividing the pool of nucleic acids into compartments, such that each compartment comprises a nucleic acid member and the contents of each compartment are not in contact with the contents of other compartments; (c) expressing the nucleic acid member in the compartment to form the nucleic acid replicase encoded by said nucleic acid member; (d) providing conditions within the compartment under which the nucleic acid member may be processed by the nucleic acid replicase encoded by said nucleic acid member; and (e) detecting processing of the nucleic acid member by the nucleic acid replicase encoded by said nucleic acid member, whereby an active nucleic acid replicase is selected.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the nucleic acid member results in one copy of said nucleic acid member.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein the processing of the nucleic acid member comprises either a fill-in reaction of a 5\u2032 overhang appended to said nucleic acid member or an extension of a 3\u2032 end of said nucleic acid member.
4. The method of claim 1 in which the processing of the nucleic acid member results in more than one copy of said nucleic acid member.
5. The method of claim 4, in which the processing of the nucleic acid member is an exponential amplification.
6. The method of claim 4, in which the processing is carried out by a polymerase chain reaction (PCR), a nested PCR, a ligase chain reaction (LCR), a transcription based amplification system (TAS), a self-sustaining sequence replication (3SR), nucleic acid sequence-based amplification (NASBA), a transcription-mediated amplification reaction (TMA), or a strand-displacement amplification (SDA).
7. The method of claim 4, wherein the number of copies of the nucleic acid member is proportional to the activity of the nucleic acid replicase.
8. The method of claim 4, in which the processing is detected by assaying the copy number of the nucleic acid member.
9. The method of claim 4, in which the processing is detected by assaying the presence of a tag on the nucleic acid member.
10. The method of claim 4, in which the processing is detected by determining the nucleic acid replicase activity of the polypeptide encoded by the nucleic acid member.
11. The method of claim 1, in which the conditions in the compartment are selected to permit selection of a active nucleic acid replicase with a particular desired property.
12. The method of claim 4, in which the replicase activity of the nucleic acid replicase is a template-dependent replicase activity selected from a polymerase activity, a reverse transcriptase activity and a ligase activity.
13. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of expressing the nucleic acid member to form the nucleic acid replicase encoded by said nucleic acid member is carried out by in vitro transcription and translation.
14. The method of claim 1, wherein the step of expressing the nucleic acid member to form the nucleic acid replicase encoded by said nucleic acid member is carried out by in vivo transcription and translation in an expression host cell.
15. The method of claim 14 wherein said expression host cell is a bacterial cell.
16. The method of claim 1, in which the compartments comprise aqueous compartments of a water-in-oil emulsion.
17. The method of claim 16, in which the water-in-oil emulsion is produced by emulsifying an aqueous phase with an oil phase and a surfactant comprising Span80, Tween80, and TritonX100.
18. The method of claim 17 wherein said surfactant comprises 4.5% vv Span80, 0.4% vv Tween80 and 0.1% vv TritonX100.
19. The method of claim 1 wherein the active nucleic acid replicase that is selected is a variant of a Taq polymerase which has greater thermostability than said Taq polymerase.
20. The method of claim 1 wherein the active nucleic acid replicase that is selected is a variant of a Taq polymerase which is inhibited to a lesser extent by heparin than is said Taq polymerase.

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 semiconductor device for monitoring a state of a battery, the semiconductor device comprising:
a voltage measurement unit for measuring a voltage of the battery;
a current measurement unit for measuring a current of the battery; and
a data processing control unit for generating state information indicating the state of the battery, based on measurement results of the voltage measurement unit and the current measurement unit,
wherein the data processing control unit calculates a first estimate value of a capacity that can be extracted from the battery in the case of discharging the battery from a full charge state until a discharge cutoff voltage at a predetermined discharge rate and a second estimate value of a capacity that can be extracted from the battery in the case of discharging the battery until a voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage, and corrects the first estimate value based on an error in the second estimate value,
wherein the error in the second estimate value is determined based on a difference amount between a capacity value extracted from the battery by discharging the battery from the full charge state until the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage and the second estimate value.
2. The semiconductor device according to claim 1,
wherein the data processing control unit calculates the capacity value extracted from the battery, based on an integrated value of a discharge current in the case of discharging the battery until the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage.
3. The semiconductor device according to claim 2,
wherein the data processing control unit performs a plurality of processes for correcting the first estimate value based on the error in the second estimate value.
4. The semiconductor device according to claim 2,
wherein the data processing control unit adjusts a correction amount for correcting the first estimate value based on the error in the second estimate value, in accordance with a remaining capacity of the battery.
5. The semiconductor device according to claim 4,
wherein the data processing control unit performs adjustment so as to increase the correction amount with a decrease in the remaining capacity of the battery.
6. The semiconductor device according to claim 2,
wherein the data processing control unit comprises
a first operation unit for calculating the first estimate value based on an estimate value of a total capacity of the battery in the full charge state and an estimate value of a charge state of the battery corresponding to the discharge cutoff voltage in the case of discharging the battery at the predetermined discharge rate,
a second operation unit for calculating the second estimate value based on the estimate value of the total capacity of the battery and an estimate value of a charge state of the battery corresponding to the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage in the case of discharging the battery at the predetermined discharge rate,
a third operation unit for calculating the capacity value extracted from the battery by discharging the battery from the full charge state until the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage, based on the integrated value of the discharge current in the case of discharging the battery until the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage, and
a fourth operation unit for calculating a difference between the second estimate value calculated by the second operation unit and the capacity value calculated by the third operation unit, correcting the first estimate value based on the difference, and generating a third estimate value.
7. The semiconductor device according to claim 6,
wherein the third operation unit calculates the capacity value extracted from the battery by adding the integrated value of the discharge current from when the current measurement unit starts measuring the discharge current of the battery until when the voltage of the battery reaches the voltage larger than the discharge cutoff voltage to a capacity value lost from the battery during a period from the full charge state until the start of measurement of the discharge current.
8. The semiconductor device according to claim 7,
wherein the data processing control unit further comprises a fifth operation unit for generating first remaining capacity information indicating a remaining capacity of the battery by subtracting the capacity value calculated by the third operation unit from the third estimate value calculated by the fourth operation unit.
9. The semiconductor device according to claim 8,
wherein the data processing control unit further comprises a sixth operation unit for calculating second remaining capacity information indicating a ratio of the operation result to the third estimate value,
wherein the fourth operation unit adjusts a correction amount for correcting the first estimate value based on the second remaining capacity information calculated by the sixth operation unit.
10. A battery pack comprising:
a secondary battery comprised of single or multiple cells, and
the semiconductor device according to claim 1 for monitoring a state of the secondary battery.
11. An electronic device comprising:
the battery pack according to claim 10, and
an internal circuit which can operate with power supplied from the secondary battery.
12. The electronic device according to claim 11, further comprising a display unit which can display information of the secondary battery based on the state information generated by the semiconductor device.
13. An electronic device comprising:
an internal circuit which can operate with power supplied from a battery;
the semiconductor device according to claim 1 for monitoring a state of the battery, and
a display unit which can display information of the battery based on the state information generated by the semiconductor device.

1. A method of assisting in a determination of a condition of at least a component of a rail car in motion, the method comprising:
detecting, with a first bearing thermal sensor provided adjacent a first rail of a railway at a first location, a first temperature of a top portion of a bearing of the rail car;
comparing the first temperature of the top portion to at least one other temperature to determine a difference between the first temperature of the top portion and the at least one other temperature; and
determining that at least one component of the rail car is failing if the difference between the first temperature of the top portion and the at least one other temperature is greater than a predetermined maximum threshold.
2. The method of claim 1, further comprising capturing an image of at least a portion of a wheel of the rail car with a first image capture device provided adjacent the first rail at the first location.
3. The method of claim 1, wherein detecting the first temperature of the top portion of the bearing of the rail car comprises focusing the first bearing thermal sensor with a focusing lens to determine the temperature of a desired area of the bearing.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the first temperature of the top portion to at least one other temperature comprises:
detecting, with a second bearing thermal sensor provided adjacent the first rail at a second location, a second temperature of the top portion of the bearing of the rail car; and
comparing the first temperature of the top portion to the second temperature of the top portion.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein comparing the first temperature of the top portion to at least one other temperature comprises comparing the first temperature of the top portion to an expected temperature.
6. The method of claim 1, further comprising:
detecting, with a first wheel thermal sensor provided adjacent the first rail at the first location, a first temperature of a bottom edge of a wheel of the rail car;
comparing the first temperature of the bottom edge to at least one other temperature to determine a difference between the first temperature of the bottom edge and the at least one other temperature; and
determining whether at least one component of the rail car is working properly based on the difference between the first temperature of the bottom edge and the at least one other temperature.
7. The method of claim 6, further comprising capturing an image of at least a portion of the wheel of the rail car to determine a position of a brake shoe of the wheel.
8. The method of claim 7, wherein:
comparing the first temperature of the bottom edge to at least one other temperature comprises comparing the first temperature to an expected operating temperature of the wheel of the rail car; and
determining whether at least one component of the rail car is working properly comprises determining whether the difference between the first temperature of the bottom edge and the expected operating temperature is caused by an applied brake shoe based on the capture image.
9. The method of claim 6, wherein comparing the first temperature of the bottom edge to at least one other temperature comprises:
detecting, with a second thermal sensor provided adjacent the first rail at a second location, a second temperature of the bottom edge of the wheel of the rail car; and
comparing the first temperature of the bottom edge with the second temperature of the bottom edge.
10. The method of claim 9, wherein determining that a component of the rail car is working improperly based on the difference between the first temperature of the bottom edge and the at least one other temperature comprises determining that a component of the rail car is working improperly if the difference between the first temperature of the bottom edge and the second temperature of the bottom edge is less than a predetermined minimum threshold.
11. The method of claim 9, wherein:
detecting the first temperature of the bottom edge of the wheel of the rail car comprises detecting the first temperature without a brake of the wheel; and
detecting the second temperature of the bottom edge of the wheel of the rail car comprises detecting the second temperature with the brake of the wheel applied.
12. The method of claim 11, wherein detecting the first temperature of the bottom edge of the wheel of the rail car further comprises detecting the first temperature at a location along the rail that is sufficiently straight such that the brake of the wheel will not have been recently applied.
13. The method of claim 6, wherein comparing the first temperature of the bottom edge to at least one other temperature comprises comparing the first temperature of the bottom edge to an expected temperature.
14. The method of claim 13, wherein determining whether at least one component of the rail car is working properly comprises determining that at least one component is at least failing if the first temperature of the bottom edge is less than a predetermined minimum threshold above the expected temperature.
15. The method of claim 6, wherein detecting the first temperature of the bottom edge of the wheel of the rail car comprises focusing the first wheel thermal sensor with a focusing lens to determine the temperature of a desired are of the wheel.
16. A method for determining a condition of a component of a rail car in motion, the method comprising:
disengaging a brake of a rail car wheel for a first desired length of time;
detecting a first temperature of the rail car wheel;
applying the brake to the rail car wheel for a second desired length of time;
detecting a second temperature of the rail car wheel;
comparing the first temperature to the second temperature; and
determining that a component of the rail car has failed or is failing if the second temperature is less than a predetermined minimum threshold above the first temperature.
17. The method of claim 16, wherein the first desired length of time is sufficiently long enough for the temperature of the rail car wheel to normalize after any previous engagement of the brake with the rail car wheel.
18. The method of claim 16, further comprising;
capturing an image of at least a portion of the brake of the rail car wheel; and
determining whether the brake of the rail car wheel is engaged based on the captured image.
19. The method of claim 16, further comprising comparing at least one of the first temperature and the second temperature to an expected temperature.
20. The method of claim 16, wherein:
detecting a first temperature of the rail car wheel comprises focusing, with a focusing lens, a first thermal sensor toward a bottom edge of the rail car wheel; and
detecting a second temperature of the rail car wheel comprises focusing, with a focusing lens, a second thermal sensor toward a bottom edge of the rail car wheel.

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 method for time and frequency distribution for bufferless data crossbar switch systems, comprising:
distributing a global clock signal over a separate channel to a plurality of line cards or adapters;
switching, through a bufferless data crossbar switch, data from the line cards or adapters, the data being encoded with a time value from the global clock signal;
scheduling using the time value; and
performing error detection and error recovery using the time value.
2. The method of claim 1, wherein the bufferless data crossbar switch is a replicated distributed responseless crossbar switch.
3. The method of claim 2, wherein scheduling includes scheduling crossbar connection times.
4. The method of claim 1, wherein data packets are identified by the time transmitted, rather than by sequence numbers.
5. The method of claim 1, wherein the separate channel is connected from adapter to adapter or from line card to line card for distributing the global clock signal to the adapters.
6. The method of claim 1, wherein a control broadcast network is connected to each line card or adapter for distributing the global clock signal to the line cards or adapters.
7. A system for time and frequency distribution, comprising:
a plurality of line cards, each line card having an ingress element, an egress element, and a partial scheduler;
a bufferless data crossbar switch connected by data path links to the ingress and egress elements; and
a centralized broadcast network connected by control links to each line card and connected on a separate channel to each line card for distributing a global clock signal incorporating time and frequency information for synchronization and error recovery;
wherein select data is uniquely identified with respect to the global clock signal.
8. The system of claim 7, wherein the global clock signal is a counter at a particular frequency.
9. The system of claim 7, wherein the bufferless data crossbar switch is incorporated into a replicated distributed responseless switch.
10. The system of claim 7, wherein the centralized broadcast network broadcasts scheduling information over the separate channel.
11. The system of claim 10, wherein the scheduling information includes crossbar connection times.
12. The system of claim 7, wherein error detection and recovery is performed using the time stamp.
13. The system of claim 7, wherein the time stamp is used in place of sequence numbers.
14. The system of claim 7, wherein the centralized broadcast network is connected by control links to the ingress element and the egress element of each line card and connected on the separate channel to the partial scheduler of each adapter.
15. A storage medium storing instructions for performing a method for time and frequency distribution for bufferless crossbar switch systems the method comprising:
distributing a global clock signal over a separate channel to a plurality of line cards or adapters;
switching, through a bufferless data crossbar switch, data from the line cards or adapters, the data being encoded with a time value from the global clock signal;
scheduling using the time values; and
performing error detection and error recovery using the time values.