Abstract: Delivery to the colon of fatty acids especially Short Chain Fatty Acids (SCFA) can be effected by covalently linking SCFA to a carrier that is preferably a form of carbohydrate, by an ester link. The SCFA is protected by its link with the carbohydrate through the small intestine, and where the carbohydrate is digestible in the small intestine such as a digestible starch, the starch can also be protected from digestion in the small intestine by the substitution. Levels of SCFA such as acetate, propionate and butyrate may be elevated to have beneficial effects in the prevention of colonic disorders such as rectal cancer, diverticulities, colitis, diarrhea and constipation.

Abstract: A programmable logic array (PLA) is described, having an integral decoder for selecting individual product lines. The integral decoder receives an input address by way of a set of buffers, which can be disabled so as to disable the integral decoder in normal operation. The buffers can be tested in their disabled state by means of an extra product line and extra output line. The extra product line is coupled to all the bit lines and to the extra output line, but not to any of the other output lines; the extra output line is coupled to the extra product line, but not to any of the other product lines. The buffers are tested by applying a sequence of addresses to the buffers in their disabled state, and observing the extra output line.

Abstract: A programmable logic array (PLA) is tested by applying a sliding-ones pattern to the bit lines from a circular shift register, and individual product lines are selected by applying a sequence of addresses from a linear feedback shift register (LFSR) to an integral decoder. Both the circular shift register and the LFSR are controlled by a common clock signal, avoiding the need for special synchronizing logic between them. The sequence lengths of the circular shift register and the LFSR are chosen to be coprime numbers. Thus, after a predetermined number of clock beats, all the crosspoints in the AND plane will have been individually tested.