Abstract: Methods of detecting a dimorphic fungus, including differentiating a dimorphic fungus from other fungi are disclosed. A sample suspected of containing a nucleic acid of a fungus, such as an internal transcribed spacer-2 (ITS2) nucleic acid sequence of a dimorphic fungal rDNA, is screened for the presence or absence of that nucleic acid. The presence of the nucleic acid indicates the sample was contacted by the fungus. Determining whether the nucleic acid sequence is present in the sample can be accomplished by detecting hybridization between a dimorphic probe, species-specific probe, and/or microbe-specific probe and a nucleic acid sequence corresponding to the ITS2 region of fungal rDNA. Kits and arrays for carrying out these methods also are disclosed.

Abstract: A coefficient generation apparatus for a variable length decoder, capable of simplifying its circuit arrangement and reducing a processing time required to decode run-length signals and thus recover them to have actual coefficients. The apparatus comprises an absolute address generation circuit for generating an absolute address, based on a run signal from a run/level decoder, a memory control circuit for outputting the run signal of the run/level decoder and an output signal of the absolute address generation circuit and controlling outputting of a level from the run/level decoder, a first-in and first-out (FIFO) memory for storing the level and address outputted from the memory control means, and a coefficient generation circuit for outputting required level at addresses whose level values are transferred and zero at the remaining addresses, based on the run value from the FIFO memory, and thus generating a predetermined number of coefficients per block.

Abstract: A process for manufacturing a dispenser cathode is disclosed, and the process comprises the steps of filling a porous base material into a storage tank, welding the storage tank to a cylindrical sleeve, installing a heater into the sleeve which has, a supporting face to be welded with the storage tank, an outside diameter which is larger than that of the storage tank, and an opening which is smaller than the outside diameter of the storage tank, wherein the heat transfer to the porous base material during the welding is prevented and the thermal efficiency is improved during the operation of the cathode so that a superior cathode characteristic is achieved.