Toner contained in a toner container is used for replenishing a developing unit via an intermediate hopper. A toner sensor detects emptiness for the toner on an upstream side of a conveyance screw of the intermediate hopper in terms of the toner conveyance direction. Every time the toner sensor detects emptiness, the controller drives a rotation mechanism so that the toner is ejected from the toner container. Based on a drive history of a conveyance-purpose motor, the controller calculates a toner conveyance amount conveyed from the intermediate hopper between a time when the toner sensor detects emptiness and a time when the toner sensor detects emptiness again. When the calculated toner conveyance amount has been equal to or smaller than a first conveyance amount threshold value successively, the controller determines that the toner container is in a nearly empty state.

A method is disclosed for producing a recycled developer from a waste developer generated by development of a water-developable flexographic printing original plate that has a photosensitive resin layer made from a photosensitive resin composition containing a water-dispersible resin. The method includes: leaving the waste developer to stand still in a tank so as to emerge and flocculate the photosensitive resin composition dispersed in the waste developer and thus form a solid-liquid mixed phase containing a resin flocculate beneath a liquid surface of the waste developer; and discharging the solid-liquid mixed phase containing the resin flocculate from an outlet formed on a side surface of the tank and obtaining, as a recycled developer, a liquid left in the tank, characterized in that a level of the waste developer in the tank at the time of starting the discharge is higher than the lowest position of an aperture of the outlet.

The image forming apparatus includes an image bearing member, a developing section, and a controller that functions as a sign detector, a charge amount measurement section, and a charge amount adjuster. On the image bearing member, an electrostatic latent image is formed based on image data. The developing section contains a developer, and develops the electrostatic latent image formed on the image bearing member with the developer to form a toner image. The sign detector detects a sign that the charge amount of the developer contained in the developing section changes. The charge amount measurement section measures the charge amount of the developer in accordance with the detection result by the sign detector. The charge amount adjuster adjusts the charge amount of the developer according to the measurement result by the charge amount measurement section.

A development device includes a development container, a first conveying member, a second conveying member, a toner concentration sensor, and a developer carrier. The first and second conveying members are equal to each other in outer diameter and shaft diameter, the outer diameter being 1.3 times the shaft diameter or more but 1.6 times the shaft diameter or less. Where L represents an axial length of the first conveying member, K represents a distance of a center position of the sensing surface of the toner concentration sensor from a downstream end of a first conveying chamber of the development container in the first direction, P represents a pitch of the conveying blade of the first conveying member, and R represents a rotational speed of the first conveying member, formula (1) is satisfied: 30000<(PRL)/K<45000 (1).

A development device includes a development container, a first conveying member, a second conveying member, a toner concentration sensor, and a developer carrier. The toner concentration sensor is arranged at a wall portion of the first conveying chamber in which the first conveying member is arranged. The first and second conveying members are equal to each other in outer diameter and shaft diameter, the outer diameter being 2.3 times the shaft diameter or more but 3.0 times the shaft diameter or less. Where D represents the shaft diameter of the first conveying member, L represents an axial length of the first conveying member, and K represents a distance of a center position of a sensing surface of the toner concentration sensor from a downstream end of the first conveying chamber in the first direction, formula (1) is satisfied: 500<(L.sup.2K)/D.sup.4<2500 (1).

A system for sensing material within a container includes a container having a reservoir for storing material and an impact member configured to selectively impart an impulse force on the container to cause vibration of the container. A sensor is configured to sense the vibration of the container upon the impact member imparting the impulse force on the container. Processing circuitry in communication with the sensor is configured to determine an estimate of an amount of the material in the container based on the sensed vibration of the container.

A system for an electrophotographic image forming device includes a toner container having a reservoir for storing toner and an impact member configured to selectively impart an impulse force on the toner container to cause vibration of the toner container. A sensor is configured to sense the vibration of the toner container upon the impact member imparting the impulse force on the toner container. Processing circuitry in communication with the sensor is configured to determine an estimate of an amount of toner in the reservoir based on the sensed vibration of the toner container.

Identification information of a toner bottle recorded in an IC chip is included in a toner bottle. When information on remaining amount of toner is successful, a printing apparatus notifies a management server with identification information of the toner bottle and information on remaining amount of toner, obtains toner usage amount used in printing processing according to an execution of printing processing based on print job, and updates information on remaining amount recorded in the IC chip according to usage amount. When reading of information of the IC chip fails, updating of information on remaining amount recorded in the IC chip, according to usage amount of toner used in printing processing according to execution of printing processing based on print job, which is received when the reading fails, is suppressed. Notification including information indicating the reading has failed as the information on remaining amount is transmitted.

A remaining powder amount detection device includes: a powder moving portion configured to change a distribution of powder in an inner space of a powder container containing the powder; a drive unit configured to drive the powder moving portion; a change value detector configured to detect a change value indicating a positional change of the powder container; and a remaining powder amount detector configured to detect a remaining amount of the powder contained in the powder container, based on the change value. The drive unit is configured to drive the powder moving portion so as to move the powder to near the change value detector. The remaining powder amount detector is configured to detect the remaining amount based on the change value in a state where the powder is moved to near the change value detector.

The technology described herein relates to double-stranded ribonucleic acid (dsRNA) compositions targeting the Serpinal gene, and methods of using such dsRNA compositions to inhibit expression of Serpinal.