A radiation-emitting semiconductor component, having a semiconductor layer sequence (1) with an active zone (2) provided for radiation generation and a first mirror arranged downstream of the active zone. The first mirror comprises a metal layer (4) and an intermediate layer (3) made of a radiation-transmissive and electrically conductive material, said intermediate layer being arranged on that side of the metal layer (4) which faces the active zone. The radiation-emitting semiconductor component is provided for operation with an optical resonator and for generating predominantly incoherent radiation as an RCLED or the radiation-emitting semiconductor component being provided for operation with an external optical resonator and for generating predominantly coherent radiation as a VECSEL.

Radiation-emitting semiconductor components of this type may be realized, for example, as vertical emitting semiconductor components. In this case, the vertical emission direction generally runs essentially perpendicular to a lateral main direction of extent of the semiconductor layer sequence, in particular the surface thereof. In components of this type, the first mirror is often embodied as a Bragg mirror for the directional reflection of radiation generated in the active zone.
A Bragg mirror usually contains a plurality of semiconductor layer pairs having a respective layer thickness of approximately λ/(4n), where λ specifies the wavelength of the radiation generated in the active zone and n specifies the refractive index of the respective semiconductor layer.
The Bragg mirror is normally formed in highly reflective fashion, for instance with a reflectivity of 99% or more, which generally requires a comparatively high number of semiconductor layer pairs, for instance 30 or more, which consequently lead to a considerable thickness of the Bragg mirror and hence of the semiconductor component.
A component of this type may be embodied as a laser component with a vertical emission direction which is provided for generating coherent radiation by means of an internal resonator (VCSEL: Vertical Cavity Surface Emitting Laser) or an external resonator (VECSEL: Vertical External Cavity Surface Emitting Laser). In the case of a VCSEL, a second mirror for the internal resonator is generally monolithically integrated together with the first mirror in the semiconductor layer sequence. For a VECSEL, an external mirror for the optical resonator is arranged downstream of the semiconductor layer sequence.
Furthermore, the heat loss that arises in the active zone during operation of a semiconductor component of this type may have a disadvantageous effect on the function of the component. Good heat dissipation from the component is therefore desirable. However, the heat dissipation from the active zone is impeded by the numerous interfaces in a highly reflective Bragg mirror. This is the case particularly when the materials of the Bragg mirror have a relatively low thermal conductivity anyway and the heat dissipation is impaired more extensively by the multiplicity of interfaces.
In addition, making efficient electrical contact with the component through the Bragg mirror is made more difficult on account of its critical thickness.


A method for manufacturing a separator includes (S1) preparing a porous substrate having pores, (S2) coating at least one surface of the porous substrate with a first solvent, (S3) coating the first solvent with a slurry containing inorganic particles dispersed therein and formed by dissolving a binder polymer in a second solvent, (S4) drying the first and second solvents simultaneously to form a porous organic-inorganic composite layer on the porous substrate. Since the phenomenon that the pores of the porous substrate are closing by the binder polymer is minimized, it is possible to prevent the resistance of the separator from increasing due to the formation of the porous organic-inorganic composite layer.

Recently, there has been increasing interest in energy storage technologies. As the application fields of energy storage technologies have been extended to mobile phones, camcorders, notebook computers and even electric cars, efforts have increasingly been made towards the research and development of electrochemical devices. Under these circumstances, secondary batteries capable of repeatedly charging and discharging, in particular, have attracted considerable attention as the most promising electrochemical devices. In recent years, extensive research and development has been conducted to design new electrodes and batteries for the purpose of improving capacity density and specific energy of the batteries.
Many secondary batteries are currently available. Lithium secondary batteries developed in the early 1990's have drawn particular attention due to their advantages of higher operating voltages and much higher energy densities than conventional aqueous electrolyte-based batteries such as Ni-MH batteries, Ni—Cd batteries, and H2SO4—Pb batteries. However, such lithium ion batteries suffer from safety problems, such as fire or explosion, when encountered with the use of organic electrolytes and have a disadvantage in that they are complicated to manufacture. In attempts to overcome the disadvantages of lithium ion batteries, lithium ion polymer batteries have been developed as next-generation batteries. More research is still urgently needed to improve the relatively low capacities and insufficient low-temperature discharge capacities of lithium ion polymer batteries in comparison with lithium ion batteries.
Many companies have produced a variety of electrochemical devices with different safety characteristics. It is very important to evaluate and ensure the safety of such electrochemical devices. The most important consideration for safety is that operational failure or malfunction of electrochemical devices should not cause injury to users. For this purpose, regulatory guidelines strictly restrict potential dangers (such as fire and smoke emission) of electrochemical devices. Overheating of an electrochemical device may cause thermal runaway or a puncture of a separator may pose an increased risk of explosion. In particular, porous polyolefin substrates commonly used as separators for electrochemical devices undergo severe thermal shrinkage at a temperature of 100° C. or higher in view of their material characteristics and production processes including elongation. This thermal shrinkage behavior may cause short circuits between a cathode and an anode.
In order to solve the above safety problems of electrochemical devices, a separator has been suggested in which a mixture of inorganic particles and a binder polymer is coated on at least one surface of a highly porous substrate to form a porous organic-inorganic composite coating layer. For example, Korean Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-0019958 discloses a method for manufacturing a separator, in which a porous substrate such as a polyolefin film is coated with a slurry containing inorganic particles dispersed therein and formed by dissolving a binder polymer in a solvent and then dried to provide a porous organic-inorganic composite coating layer on the porous substrate.
The inorganic particles present in the porous coating layer serve as spacers that help to maintain a physical shape of the porous coating layer to inhibit the porous substrate from thermal shrinkage when an electrochemical device overheats or to prevent short circuits between both electrodes of the electrochemical device when thermal runaway takes place. Vacant spaces present between the inorganic particles form fine pores.
As described above, the organic-inorganic composite porous coating layer contributes to thermal stability of the separator, but tends to increase the resistance of the separator since the binder polymer flows into the pores of the porous substrate and closes a part of the pores when the organic-inorganic composite porous coating layer is formed.

Method for manufacturing separator, separator manufactured by the method and method for manufacturing electrochemical device including the separator


In accordance with some embodiments, software may be downloaded to an end point, even when that said end point is not fully functional. An indication that software is available for distribution may be stored in a dedicated location within a non-volatile memory. That location may be checked for software to download, for example, on each boot up. The software may then be downloaded and verified. Thereafter, the location is marked to indicate that the software has already been downloaded.

In many cases, it is desirable to provide software to computers after those computers have already been distributed and are in use. This can involve providing additional software or updating existing software.
Sometimes it is difficult and cumbersome to provide new software to existing equipment, commonly called an end point machine. The type of software that may be provided after sale of the equipment may include drivers to provide new services and user applications, middleware, device firmware, and basic input/output systems. The software may be provided by independent software vendors or by other third parties relative to the equipment vendor. Thus, these software vendors desire to provide the software to the end point machine users in the most efficient fashion possible.

Providing software distribution and update services regardless of the state or physical location of an end point machine


Machine encoding of forms allows a simple recognition system to determine what marks on the form bear relevant information and, then to transmit only the relevant information, i.e. transmits bit maps representing the unique parts of the form and a description of the form itself but not a bit map of the entire form. Depending on the architecture of the system and the needs of the user, the original document may be processed at the reception site after only a small fraction of the document' contents has been transmitted. Transmission of bit mapped information is thus proportional only to the size and density of the bit map to be transmitted. Transmission of other types of information, e.g. checkboxes or ASCII coded data, is proportional to the number of such items, and not their size or density.

The present invention relates generally to facsimile transmission systems, and more particularly to a facsimile transmission system that reduces the amount of transmission time required to transmit a document.
Transmission of documents via facsimile machines is common. Although standards exist for error correction and data compression, transmission times remain considerable for large documents and those with high printing density.
Many methods have been developed for reducing the transmission time of facsimiles, such as U.S. Pat. No. 4,922,348 which discloses a method for efficiently transmitting facsimile information using commercially available facsimile devices. This method permits the telephone network to recognize communication activity between two facsimiles and provides intermediate storage capability within the telephone network to increase the transmission efficiency. While promising to reduce transmission time this method, and data compression techniques based solely on the bit map representations of information present in a document to be transmitted can only reduce the transmission time to that required to transmit the information content represented by those bit maps. Thus, inherent limits exist which dictate the extent to which transmission time for a facsimile can be reduced without reducing the information content of the transmission.
Machine interpretable forms are a developing technology that provide a methodology for encoding important information about a document on the document itself. U.S. Pat. No. 4,933,979 discloses a form sheet reading apparatus that has a means for storing form information on form sheets and means for automatically discriminating a frame line of a form sheet, which is read and detected by comparing the detected frame line with frame line information within the form information stored in the storing means. Thus, data entered within predetermined regions of the form sheet are read under reading conditions determined by the form information stored in the storing means. This permits optimization of the efficiency of an optical character reader.
The present invention is directed to the problem of developing a method and apparatus for significantly reducing the transmission time of a facsimile device, without degrading the quality of the transmitted document


The disclosure relates to a pointer for a three dimensional display wherein a scanned light beam is displayed upon a rotating display member rotating about a fixed axis for receiving and displaying the scanned light beam on a first surface thereof, fixed points in the display impinging upon the display member to display a harmonic motion along an axis passing through the scanned light beam in response to rotation of the display means. A beam of focussed light, preferably from a laser is modulated to synchronize with rotation of the display member to provide a visible point in the display at a predetermined location therein. A second embodiment provides an encoder, light conducting rod bundle and sensor to determine the three dimensional location of the point denoted by the pointer.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to a pointer for a three dimensional display system and, more specifically, to a modulated focussed light source for locating a point in three dimensional space in a real time three dimensional display.
2. Brief Description of the Prior Art
It has been known in the prior art to modulate or scan a beam, such as a laser beam and then to project the scanned beam onto a screen. Examples of such systems are set forth in Baker Patent Nos. 3,471,641 and 3,549,800.
A system which is superior to the systems denoted hereinabove and other known systems is disclosed in the copending application of Felix Garcia, Jr., Serial No. 07/390,473, filed Aug. 3, 1989, the disclosure of which is incorporated herein by reference. In accordance with the system set forth therein, there is provided a three dimensional display system which is not substantially affected by G forces and wherein the size of the displayed image and screen is determined by the size of a disk and motor. The system can be used, for example, in business and industrial uses, such as solid animation, radar display, molecular research, resonant frequency and harmonics display, military, computer graphics and the like.
The system includes a disk-like screen connected to the end of a motor shaft. The disk is attached to the shaft of a motor preferably at a 45 degree angle to the shaft, though this angle can be varied to provide a larger or smaller height or z-axis dimension so that, as the disk rotates, a displacement of any given point thereon along the z axis takes place. The image is formed on the screen by projecting a light beam, such as from a laser, through a modulator and toward a scanner which produces an x-y scan of the beam on a screen, the screen herein being the disk discussed hereinabove. The disk can be translucent, such as lucite, so that images can be projected thereon onto the front and/or rear surfaces thereof.
The modulation or strobing of the scan is synchronized with the rotating disk by control of the motor speed and/or the strobe rate so that a three dimensional pattern appears on the screen. It can be seen that any point on the x-y scan from the scanner which impinges upon the screen will move along a z-axis direction since the screen or disk at that point produces such z-axis movement. This movement of the displayed image provides the three dimensional effect. The adjustment of the angle between the disk surface and the x-y plane of the scanned x-y image will determine the z dimension or height of the three dimensional image, the disk angle being adjustable on-line, if so desired.
The disk is preferably a planar opaque screen for receiving a scanned image thereon on one surface thereof. The screen can, however, take different forms such as, for example, being translucent, such as lucite, and thereby being capable of receiving a scanned image thereon on both major surfaces or transmitting images received on one surface thereof to the opposing surface for viewing or other operation. The lucite disk can be in the form of a pair of angularly truncated cylinders which fit together at the angularly truncated surfaces to form a new cylinder wherein the surfaces at which truncation takes place are translucent. In addition, the screen can take on shapes other than planar, it merely being necessary that at least some portion thereof move in the z-direction during rotation thereof while projection of the x-y image thereon takes place to provide the three dimensional image. Furthermore, the disk can be placed in a gas filled CRT with the image impinging thereon being the scanned beam of the tube. Phosphors can be disposed on the disk which, when excited, form the three dimensional image. Still further, the screen can be planar and disposed normal to the projected x-y image.
While the above described application of Garcia provides a real time autostereoscopic multiplanar 3-D display system, there has been no provision for accurately locating and pointing to any point within the display in real time apart from the scanner itself, such as by directing a pointer to a specific point in the display to point out items during the course of a lecture or discussion in the manner of a pointer on a motion picture screen.

Focussed light source pointer for three dimensional display


A continuous alkylation process for the production of high octane gasoline comprising contacting a mixture of an isoparaffin and an olefin with a catalyst complex comprising BF3:H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 in a continuous hydrocarbon downflow reactor.

Alkylation is a reaction in which an alkyl group is added to an organic molecule. Thus, an isoparaffin can be reacted with an olefin to provide an isoparaffin of higher molecular weight. Industrially, the concept depends on the reaction of a C.sub.2 to C.sub.5 olefin with isobutane in the presence of an acidic catalyst producing a so called alkylate. This alkylate is a valuable blending component in the manufacture of gasolines due not only to its high octane rating but also to its ability to meet the compositional requirements of reformulated gasolines.
Industrial alkylation processes have historically used hydrofluoric or sulfuric acid catalysts under relatively low temperature conditions. The sulfuric acid alkylation reaction is particularly sensitive to temperature, with low temperatures being favored to minimize the side reaction of olefin polymerization. Acid strength in these liquid acid catalyzed alkylation processes is preferably maintained at 88 to 94 weight percent by the continuous addition of fresh acid and the continuous withdrawal of spent acid. The hydrofluoric acid process is less temperature sensitive than the sulfuric process and is more easily recovered and purified.
Both hydrofluoric and sulfuric catalysts are gradually depleted in continuous alkylation processes and must be regenerated or replenished by mixture with fresh acid to maintain acid strength, reaction rate, and the resulting alkylate quality. Specifically, alkylate quality responds directly to increasing acid strength, and the acid makeup or regeneration rate is typically controlled together with other process variables such as temperature and space velocity, to meet a required alkylate quality specification. Both sulfuric acid and hydrofluoric acid alkylation share inherent drawbacks including environmental and safety concerns, acid consumption and sludge disposal. For a general discussion of sulfuric acid alkylation, see the series of three articles by L. F. Albright et al., "Alkylation of Isobutane with C.sub.4 Olefins", 27 Ind. Eng. Chem. Res., 381-397 (1988). For a survey of hydrofluoric acid catalyzed alkylation, see 1 Handbook of Petroleum Refining Processes 23-28 (R. A. Meyers, Ed. 1986). Catalyst complexes comprising BF.sub.3 as well as BF.sub.3 : H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 adducts have been proposed by co-pending and co-assigned U.S. applications Ser. Nos. 608,783, 790,324 and 608,856. These applications are herein incorporated by reference. In co-pending application Ser. No. 608,783 a catalyst complex comprising the reaction product of BF.sub.3 and H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 was used in molar ratios of 0.5:1 to about 1.5:1 with the addition of excess BF.sub.3 in concentrations of about 10 ppm to about 5% by weight of the total feed stock. In co-pending application Ser. No. 608,763, a catalyst complex comprising BF.sub.3 : H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 adduct and at least one polar hydrocarbon formed in situ was used to avoid alkylation byproducts and improve isoparaffin: olefin alkylation selectivity. In co-pending application Ser. No. 790,324 alkylation is accomplished using a catalyst complex comprising a Lewis acid and at least one material selected from the group consisting of a protic solvent having a pKa less than about 16, a zeolitic or nonzeolitic solid and an ion exchange resin. The reaction takes place under alkylation conditions including temperatures from about -40.degree. to about 500.degree. C., and pressure from subatmospheric to about 5000 psig.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,345,095 to Bruner teaches a paraffin-olefin alkylation process catalyzed by a boron tri-fluoride-water complex, represented by the formula BF.sub.3 :nH.sub.2 O, where n is preferably from 1 to 1.5. The Brunet reference notes on page 2 left hand column, lines 13-23, that the BF.sub.3 :H.sub.2 O catalyst complex behaves similarly to sulfuric acid but is a superior alkylation catalyst because BF.sub.3 :H.sub.2 O does not promote oxidation to undesired byproducts.
U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,296,370 and 2,296,371 to Slotterbeck disclose a BF.sub.3 :H.sub.2 O:HF catalyst system and an isoparaffin-olefin alkylation process employing the same. The catalyst system is said to avoid yield loss due to oxidation of the resulting alkylate product. The Slotterbeck '370 and '371 patents also discuss loss of catalytic activity due to diminishing acid strength; see the Slotterbeck '370 patent at page 2, right hand column at line 75 through page 3, left hand column at line 55 and the Slotterbeck '371 patent at page 2, right hand column at line 66, through page 3, left hand column at line 41. U.S. Pat. No. 3,873,634 to Hoffman teaches a method of increasing the rate of ethylene alkylation by isobutane by carrying out the reaction simultaneously with the alkylation of a small amount of a higher weight olefin in the presence of a BF.sub.3 :H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 catalyst complex at low temperature and pressure.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,925,500 to Wentzheimer discloses a combined acid alkylation and thermal cracking process employing a BF.sub.3 :H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 acid catalyst in which unconverted propane and ethane from the alkylation process are converted, for example, to propylene and ethylene which are subsequently alkylated with isobutane to yield a liquid fuel.
The use of downflow reactors in petroleum processing has generally been for catalytic conversions using solid bed catalysts. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 4,797,262 to Dewitz discloses an integral hydrocarbon conversion catalytic cracking conversion apparatus for the catalytic conversion of hydrocarbons comprising a catalytic downflow reactor, an upflow catalytic riser regenerator and a cyclonic separator for separating out spent catalysts. The separator interconnects the exit of the downflow riser reactor with the inlet of the upflow riser regenerator by means of a pressure leg seal. Solid catalysts disclosed are aluminosilicates and metal oxides such as magnesium or zirconium. U.S. Pat. No. 3,976,713 to Holmes discloses an isoparaffin-olefin alkylation process using granular catalyst solids in a plurality of beds packed in series. The effluent of each bed is recycled to the inlet of said bed. The feed stream is fed downward through conventional distribution means through the solid bed catalysts. U.S. Pat. No. 2,363,222 to Beyerstadt relates to the use of boron trifluoride in phosphorous acids as a catalyst for the alkylation of isoparaffins with mono-olefins. This reference disclosed the preparation of a catalyst composition by bubbling boron trifluoride through the phosphorous acid and saturating the acid. This reference discloses that it is essential that the feed stock contain at least one paraffinic hydrocarbon containing at least one tertiary carbon atom per molecules and at least one olefin. The process may be carried out either as a batch or continuous process.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,385,985 discloses the use of a downflow riser in a fluid catalytic cracking process. The downflow riser is disclosed as affecting uniform distribution of the catalyst throughout the feed, decreasing the contact time of the catalyst with the feed and decreasing the amount of coke made in the process. The riser of the reaction vessel is placed on top of the reactor in such a manner that it forces the downflow movement of the regenerated catalyst mixed with the petroleum feedstock. Those catalyst disclosed are zeolites, silica-alumina and carbon monoxide burning promoters such as platinum metals e.g., platinum, palladium, rhodium, ruthenium, iridium and osmium. This process uses an apparatus which includes a riser mounted on a reaction vessel, a steam stripper section and a catalyst regenerator riser.
U.S. Pat. No. 2,401,884 to Schulz et al. discloses an alkylation process using liquid catalysts such as boron tri-fluoride which are pretreated with an olefin having a fewer number of carbon atoms per molecule than the olefin used as the principle alkylating reactant. An inorganic catalyst complex with boron tri-fluoride is prepared and pretreated with, for example, ethylene prior to contact with mixtures containing isoparaffins and higher olefins. This complex is said to be more stabilized and resistent to degradation than the catalysts would be without pretreatment.
Catalysts complexes comprising BF.sub.3 as well as BF.sub.3 :H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 adducts have overcome many of the safety and environmental draw backs of sulfuric and hydrofluoric acid alkylation systems. However, the volume and quality of alkylates using these catalysts has not always been comparable to that of sulfuric or hydrofluoric acid alkylates.
Traditional catalytic isoparaffin-olefin alkylation processes typically require excess isoparaffin and generally exhibit a direct relationship between increasing isoparaffin concentration and alkylate octane quality. The isoparaffin is an expensive feedstock and for this reason the isoparaffin is typically separated from the alkylate product stream and recycled to the alkylation reaction zone. The isoparaffin:olefin ratio for alkylation in the presence of certain BF.sub.3 -containing catalysts complexes must typically exceed about 5:1 to produce an alkylate of acceptable quality.
BF.sub.3 :H.sub.3 PO.sub.4 catalyst complexes have a relatively high viscosity, making the use of standard upflow reactors typically used for HF alkylation somewhat impractical. Up until now, however, only upflow reactors have been used with these catalyst systems. This is because the continuous phase of standard alkylation processes is generally the acid phase. Due to the high viscosity of the acid phase in phosphoric promoted alkylation processes, a great deal of energy is required in stir reactors as well as other types of reactors which use upflow systems for generating alkylated product. The instant invention takes advantage of the inherent high viscosity and high density differences between the phosphoric acid phase and the hydrocarbon. As opposed to using the conventional continuous acid phase methods whereby hydrocarbon is dispersed in the acid medium to insure excess catalyst, the present invention uses the hydrocarbon as the continuous phase whereby the catalyst acid complex is disbursed into the top of the downflow reaction vessel. Thus, the invention provides a uniform dispersion of catalyst acid complex in a hydrocarbon continuous phase without the use of energy intensive stir reactors or the like. The result is a lower cost process with desirable octane yield and catalyst activity.

Alkylation process using co-current downflow reactor with a continuous hydrocarbon phase


A method for preparing a chiral beta amino acid or its corresponding esters which comprises contacting a racemic beta amino acid, an acyl donor and Penicillin G acylase enzyme under conditions appropriate to stereoselectively acylate one enantiomer of the racemic beta amino acid to its corresponding N-acylated derivative whereby the opposite enantiomer of the beta amino acid is retained in enantiomerically enriched form.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention generally relates to enzyme catalyzed processes for producing chiral .beta.-amino acids. In particular, this invention relates to processes for producing chiral .beta.-amino acids employing Penicillin G acylase.
2. Related Background Art
The current evolving regulatory climate in the development of chiral drugs has created the necessity of preparing highly optically active compounds in pharmaceutical, agricultural and chemical industries. This development has presented many opportunities to synthetic chemists who are interested in the development of new chirotechnology. In recent years there have been explosive advances in the development of new synthetic methods, including asymmetric syntheses, stereoselective crystallization, chiral chromatography, racemate resolution and catalytic kinetic resolution, to prepare optically pure compounds. Despite these new developments, there are still relatively few efficient scalable chirotechnologies capable of producing multikilogram to ton quantities of optically active compounds economically.
Enzyme-catalyzed syntheses have been used in the commercial production of chiral pharmaceuticals. We have developed a new process for the preparation of chiral .beta.-amino acids or their corresponding esters using enzyme-catalyzed acylations or enzyme-catalyzed deacylations.
Penicillin G acylase is a serine hydrolase with a high specificity for the acyl side chain (phenylacetyl) but a low selectivity for the amino side chain (R. Didziapetris et al., (1991) FEBS Letters 287 (1,2), 31). The enzyme is comprised of two subunits, .alpha. and .beta., each of which may have activity (70% for the .alpha., 30% for the .beta. chain) (V. E. Kabakov et al., (1995) Biochemistry (Moscow) 60 (5), 593; I. Prieto et al. (1990), Appl. Microbiol. Biotechnol. 33, 553).
Penicillin G acylase has traditionally been used to hydrolyze penicillin G (See, for example, J. G. Shewale and H. Sivaraman, (1989) Process Biochemistry, August, 1989, 148; F. Ishimura and K. Suga, (1992) Biotechnol. Bioeng. 39 (2), 171; J. Bryjak et al., (1996) Enzyme And Microbial Technology 19, 196).
The use of acylases in the preparation of alpha amino acids is known (Greenstein, J. P.; Chemistry of the Amino Acids; Wiley: New York, 1961; Greenstein, J. P.; Method. Enzymol. 1957, 3, 554; Chibata, I; Method. Enzymol. 1976, 44, 554; Chenault, H. K.; J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1989, 111, 6354.). The use of Penicillin acylases in the resolution of gamma amino acids using enzymatic deacylation was reported in WO 94/02628. Enzymatic acylation was not reported in this work.
The use of Penicillin acylases in the resolution of beta amino acids using enzymatic deacylation has been reported (Soloshonok; SYNLETT, 1993, 339; Soloshonok; Tetrahedron Asymmetry, 1994, 5, 1119; Soloshonok; Tetrahedron Asymmetry, 1994, 5, 1225) However, enzymatic acylation was not reported in this work and the beta amino acids used for the deacylation do not contain any alkynyl or alkenyl functions, which are key beta amino acids leading to active anti-platelet drug candidates.
The use of Penicillin acylases in the acylation of beta lactam intermediates was reported in 1991 (Zmijewski, M. J.; Tetrahedron Letters, 1991, 32, 1621). No work on beta amino acids was reported in this work.
This invention is useful for preparing compounds that contain chiral beta amino acids or their derivatives. The chiral .beta.-amino acids and their derivatives are useful for making pharmaceuticals, such as antiplatelet agents (Zablocki et al, J. Med. Chem., 1993, 36, 1811; Bovy et al, Bioorg. Med. Chem, 1994, 2, 881-895; Zablocki et al, J. Med. Chem., 1995, 38, 2378; U.S. Pat. No. 5,424,334; U.S. Pat. No. 5,481,021), immunological response modifiers (Suda et al, J. Antibiot., 1976, 29, 100), anti-hypertensive agents (Chaturvedi et al, J. Med. Chem., 1970, 13, 177; Lizuk at al, J. Chem. Soc., Chem. Commun., 1989, 1978; Okino et al., Tetrahedron Lett., 1993, 34, 501); and anticancer agents (Denis et al., J. Org. Chem., 1990, 55, 1957).

Method and apparatus for preparation of chiral beta amino acids using penicilln G acylase


A method, a system, and a computer-readable medium for soliciting a customer using an interactive computer-readable medium are enclosed. A method, a system, and a computer-readable medium for fostering interactions between a customer and a financial institution are enclosed. A computer-readable medium is enclosed. A method, a system and a computer-readable medium for soliciting a customer using a computer-readable medium.

Traditionally, financial service companies send paper communications, including, but not limited to, bank account statements, credit card statements, insurance policy information, mortgage account statements, and promotional materials to both new and existing customers via the mail. These communications come with such increasing frequency and are often so voluminous that the customer begins to feel overwhelmed with information as the communications continue to pile up. Some of these documents are necessary to send to customers in accord with applicable laws, such as insurance policies and changes in account terms. For the financial institution providing the communications, the costs of providing these communications has increased significantly due to the continually increasing postal rates
A more effective way to provide customers with their critical paper communication is to make these communications accessible via an electronic media. However, customers are often reticent to have significant information sent to via email or log on to a website to receive information. This is especially prevalent in older customers or those who shun computer interaction.

Systems and methods for replacing critical paper communications with electronic media in financial service industry

United Services Automobile Associates (USAA)


Apparatus and methods for reducing load-induced non-linearity in amplifiers are provided. In certain implementations, an amplifier includes a current mirror, a buffer circuit, and an output stage. The buffer circuit can have a relatively high current gain and a voltage gain about equal to 1. The buffer circuit can amplify a mirrored current generated by the current mirror and provide the amplified mirrored current to the output stage, thereby helping to balance or equalize currents in the current mirror and avoiding the impact of load-induced offset error.

1. Field
Embodiments of the invention relate to electronic systems, and more particularly, to amplifiers.
2. Description of the Related Technology
An operational amplifier may be configured as an AC or DC coupled high-gain electronic voltage amplifier with a differential input. In some implementations, the operational amplifier is configured to include a single-ended output that is coupled to a load. The output of the operational amplifier may be linearly related to the differential input of the amplifier due to the high gain of the amplifier and feedback. When the output is coupled to a load, however, load-induced modulation of the output may result in non-linearity between the input voltage and the output voltage.

Circuit to prevent load-induced non-linearity in operational amplifiers


A bit line is connected to a charge storing circuit through a charge transferring circuit. A control circuit controls charge transferability of the charge transferring circuit according to a change in the voltage of the bit line resulting from a charge read out from a memory cell. A leakage controlling circuit lowers the charge transferability of the charge transferring circuit in a read operation temporarily before the charge is read out to the bit line. The leakage controlling circuit makes it possible to avoid charge transfer between the charge storing circuit and the bit line before data is read from the memory cell. The charge storing circuit can thus generate a read voltage sufficient for a read circuit to operate with, in accordance with the logical value of the data stored in the memory cell.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a semiconductor memory having memory cells made of such components as ferroelectric capacitors which retain logical values of data in the form of electric charges. In particular, the present invention relates to a circuit technology for reading data from the memory cells.
2. Description of the Related Art
There has been recently proposed a technique for reading a ferroelectric memory, referred to as bit line GND sensing technique (disclosed in Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No. 2002-133857 and IEEE Journal of Solid-State Circuits, Vol. 37, No. 5, pp. 592-598, May 2002). According to this type of reading technique, in order to prevent a variance in voltage of bit lines, at voltage appliance to plate lines charges are read out from memory cells to the bit lines and are transferred to charge storing circuits through charge transferring circuits referred to as charge transfers which are formed in pre-sense amplifiers. The logical values of the data retained in the memory cells are determined in accordance with the amounts of charges transferred to the charge storing circuits. The charge transfers are made of pMOS transistors. The gate-to-source voltages of the pMOS transistors are initialized to the same value as their threshold voltage before the rise of the plate lines. The gates of the pMOS transistors are controlled by inverting amplifiers which lower their output voltages in accordance with the rise of the bit lines in voltage.
In a read operation, the gate-to-source voltages of the pMOS transistors are initialized to the threshold voltage. Then, the pMOS transistors remain ON weakly till the rise of the plate lines. Consequently, the pMOS transistors have leakage between their sources and drains. The leakage causes an increase in the drain voltages (negative voltages) of the pMOS transistors, which causes a problem of a decrease in read margin.
In addition, the activation periods of control signals that activate the inverting amplifiers have been conventionally created by using delay circuits or the like. Because of this, the activation periods of the control signal need be designed to deal with the worst values of the operating temperature and operating voltage. Thus, the activation periods of the inverting amplifiers have been unnecessarily longer, consuming power in vain. Since the inverting amplifiers need be provided for each of the pre-sense amplifiers, and a large number of them operate simultaneously, they greatly affects the amount of the power consumption.


A copying machine in which an image of a document placed on a platen is optically read and transferred on a transfer sheet sent out from a sheet feeding cassette. The temporary stop times of transfer sheets at the registration unit are averaged after transfer sheets in each sheet feeding cassette have been copied. The obtained average is compared with a predetermined reference value. The start of the sheet feeding operation by sheet feeding cassette is advanced in accordance with the result of the comparison.

The present invention relates to a copier.
FIG. 6 is an overall arrangement view of a conventional copying machine. A platen 1 made of a pane of transparent glass is provided in the upper center of the copying machine. A scale plate 2 to designate a setting position of document D is provided at the left end of the platen 1. A document cover 3 to cover document D placed on the platen 1 is provided in the upper portion of the copying machine. In this case, the document cover 3 can be opened and closed with respect to the platen 1.
Document D is placed on the platen 1 in accordance with the designation on the scale plate 2, and covered with the document cover 3 so that the movement of document D is restricted. A display unit 4 (not shown) in which liquid crystals of the reflection type are used is provided close to the center on the viewer's side of the platen 1.
In the copying machine, under the platen 1, there is provided a first mirror unit 12 having an exposure lamp 10 and a first mirror 11 in such a manner that the first mirror unit 12 can be linearly moved to the right and left in parallel with the platen 1 so as to scan the overall surface of document D. A second mirror unit 15 is integrally composed of a second mirror 13 and a third mirror 14. In order to maintain a predetermined optical path length, the second mirror unit 15 is moved to the right and left at half speed of the first mirror unit 12 in parallel with the platen 1.
Reflected light sent from document D placed on the platen 1 is reflected by the first, second and third mirrors 11, 13, 14. Then, the reflected light is incident upon a primary lens 16. After that, the reflected light passes through a fourth mirror 17, and is incident upon a photoreceptor drum 20 through a slit 18.
A charging electrode 21 uniformly charges the photoreceptor drum 20. Accordingly, electrostatic latent images are successively formed on the photoreceptor drum 20 rotated clockwise when exposure light is sent from the aforementioned optical system. A developing unit 22 develops the electrostatic latent image on the photoreceptor drum 20 to a visual toner image.
A sheet feeding device to feed transfer papers includes: sheet feeding cassettes 23 (in this case, two sheet feeding cassettes are shown in the drawing); first sheet feeding rollers 24 to feed transfer papers P one by one from the sheet feeding cassettes 23; second sheet feeding rollers 25 to feed transfer sheet P to the photoreceptor drum 20; and a guide plate 26 provided between the sheet feeding cassettes 23 and the second sheet feeding rollers 25, and a guide plate 27 provided between the second sheet feeding rollers 25 and a transfer electrode described later.
In a copying operation, transfer sheet P in the selected sheet feeding cassette 23 is fed by the first sheet feeding roller 24, and guided by the guide plate 26 and conveyed to the second sheet feeding rollers 25. In this case, the second sheet feeding rollers 25 (referred to as registration rollers) are driven in timed relation in which the leading end of the toner image on the photoreceptor drum coincides with the leading end of transfer sheet P. In order to conduct an accurate copying operation, in accordance with the positional difference between the sheet feeding cassettes 23, transfer sheet P is temporarily stopped at the registration rollers 25 after it has been sent out from the sheet feeding cassette 23. Synchronously when an optical scanning operation is started, the registration rollers 25 are driven in timed relation in which the leading end of the toner image on the photoreceptor drum coincides with the leading end of transfer sheet P.
A transfer electrode 28 transfers the toner image on the photoreceptor drum 20 to transfer sheet P, and a separation electrode 29 separates transfer sheet P from the surface of the photoreceptor drum 20. Transfer sheet P separated by the separation electrode 29 is conveyed to a fixing unit 31 through a transfer sheet conveyance means 30, and fixed by a thermal fixing roller and a press roller. Then, transfer sheet P is discharged onto a sheet discharge tray 33 by a discharge roller 32.
After the image transfer operation has been completed, the photoreceptor drum 20 is cleaned by a cleaning unit 34 to remove the residual toner existing on the surface of the photoreceptor drum 20. The residual toner on the photoreceptor drum surface is scraped off by a blade 34a provided in the cleaning unit 34. In order to conduct the toner removal operation easily, a cleaning discharge electrode 35 is provided before the blade 34a. After the charging electrode 21, a charge erasing unit 36 to erase the charge with rays of light is provided being opposed to the photoreceptor drum 20. Numerals 37 and 38 are respectively a precharging exposure unit and a pretransfer exposure section.
Next, a transfer sheet feeding operation will be described in which transfer sheets are sent out from the sheet feeding cassette. FIG. 7 is a schematic illustration to explain a sheet feeding control operation conducted by the registration rollers. Like parts in each of FIGS. 6 and 7 are identified by the same reference character. As shown in FIG. 40, in the sheet feeding cassette 23, a plurality of trays 40 are disposed in order to accommodate various types of transfer papers.
When a copy button (not shown) is pressed, a transfer sheet P is sent out from a predetermined tray 40 in the sheet feeding cassette 23 by the first sheet feeding roller 24. The sent transfer sheet P is conveyed to the registration rollers 25 through buckling rollers 41. Since the registration rollers 25 are not rotated at this time, transfer sheet P is curved as shown in the drawing when the buckling rollers are rotated. When a large buckle of transfer sheet P is formed, the sheet feeding operation is stopped. In order to synchronize the sheet feeding operation with the optical system, it is necessary to stop transfer sheet P at the registration rollers 25 for a predetermined period of time.
The registration rollers 25 send out transfer sheet P in synchronization with the scanning operation of the optical system. Then, the conveyance of transfer sheet P is controlled so that the leading end of transfer sheet P can coincide with the leading end of the document image to be transferred.
In order to transfer the document image in a predetermined position on transfer sheet P after transfer sheet P has been sent out by the registration rollers 25 in synchronization with the scanning operation of the optical system, it is necessary that transfer sheet P is stopped at the registration rollers 25 (the registration section) for a predetermined period of time (referred to as a temporary stop time).
However, after the copying machine has been used for a long period of time, the first sheet feeding roller 24 and other conveyance units are worn out, so that slippage is caused when transfer sheet P is sent out to the registration roller 25 by the first sheet feeding roller 24. Therefore, transfer sheet P is delayed in arriving at the registration section, so that the temporary stop time can not be ensured. For the reason described above, there is a possibility that transfer sheet P does not arrive at the registration rollers 25 even after the scanning operation has been started by the optical scanning system, and transfer sheet P is jammed.

Copying machine with registration adjusting device


The recirculating dryer includes a housing having an operator control panel and a locking door mounted to a side of the housing. A rotating tumbler for holding the laundry to be dried is mounted inside the housing. Heated air is introduced through an inlet of the tumbler, and the outlet is kept closed by a flap. The heated air is recirculated and recycled through the tumbler. The air is reheated back to a predetermined temperature if the temperature falls below a level suitable for drying. A layer of moisture-absorbent material surrounds the tumbler to absorb the moisture gathered in the air from the drying process. At drying completion, the flap is opened to vent the used air. A control system controls various features with data from a thermostat and a moisture detector.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to domestic appliances, and particularly to a recirculating dryer that provides high energy efficient drying of laundry.
2. Description of the Related Art
Dryers are widely used in domestic and industrial environments to dry articles of clothing and other laundry. The design of dryers has not changed much since their first introduction. Most traditional dryers continuously draw in ambient air, heat the air, and circulate the heated air through a rotating drum or tumbler containing laundry to be dried. The passage of the heated air through the laundry dries the laundry, and the used air exhausts through an outlet vent to the outside. This is a very effective method of drying wet clothes, but it is very inefficient in terms of energy usage. The used hot air still contains much residual thermal energy that is continuously lost in this process. Unfortunately, most traditional dryers have no means of utilizing or recycling heat energy.
Some efforts have been made to improve energy consumption and usage in dryers. For example, microwave dryers have been introduced that basically use microwave energy to vaporize any moisture in the laundry. While efficient in terms of energy consumption compared to traditional dryers, this type of dryer cannot be used on articles containing metal, such as the buttons on jeans pants and the like, for extended periods of time because of the potential arcing that can occur, which can lead to fires. Thus, microwave drying is typically kept to a minimum, and final drying is performed by convection heating.
Another solution lies in spin dryers. These dryers are simply high rpm (rotations per minute) drums that use centrifugal force to squeeze out moisture. Much like the microwave dryer mentioned above, final drying can be performed by traditional dryers for a net reduction in energy consumption. In some cases, spin dryers are used alone.
Another example utilizes a heat exchanger and condenser integrated into the dryer. In this type of system, the exhaust hot air is circulated through the heat exchanger and cooled by ambient air or water. The water vapor is condensed and drained or collected for later disposal, and the cooled air is fed back into the drying loop. This typical condenser dryer helps reduce accumulation of excess humidity, which can have detrimental effects inside a domicile, e.g., mold. While this type of dryer consumes less energy than traditional dryers, the laundry takes longer to dry because the recirculating air is not as dry as fresh ambient air.
Thus, a recirculating dryer solving the aforementioned problems is desired.

King Fahd University of Petroleum and Minerals


A cleaning blade assembly within a printing device is positioned to contact a surface to be cleaned. There is a first opening within the cleaning blade assembly and a first pin within the first opening. There is also a second opening within the cleaning blade assembly, and a second pin within the second opening. The first and second pins connect the cleaning blade assembly to the printing device. The first pin has a first cam surface that is rounded and is off-center with respect to the axis of the first pin. The cam surface is parallel to the axis of the first pin and is positioned within the first opening such that rotation of the first pin within the first opening causes the cleaning blade assembly to move in a direction perpendicular to the axis of the first pin.

Embodiments herein generally relate to printing devices and more particularly to a system that adjusts the position of a cleaning blade within printing devices relative to the surface of a component that is being cleaned.
Cleaning blades are commonly used within printing devices to remove excess material from various surfaces, such as photoreceptor belts. Cleaning blades, whether interference or force loaded, have traditionally maintained a static position against the cleaning surface. The position of the blade is chosen to optimize cleaning latitude, filming control, photoreceptor wear, and blade life. These are often competing goals and all are impacted by variations in operating conditions (e.g., temperature, humidity, component age, job length, paper type, cleaning surface friction, environment contaminants, image density, and area coverage). Ideally, the cleaning blade critical parameters, blade load, and working angle, would be adjusted to compensate for movement of the optimum setting based on varying operating conditions.
Cleaning blades are sometimes located and supported on pairs of locator pins positioned at the ends of the blade holder. With embodiments herein, one or both of the locator pins has the ability to rotate off-center from the axis. This off-center rotation repositions the blade holder. By selection of the pins to be rotated and placing the pins within slots or circular holes, the blade can be rotated and translated relative to the cleaning surface. Through control of the locator pin rotation, the blade load and working angle can be adjusted as desired. When implemented in a system with operation sensors, this blade parameter adjustment mechanism can dynamically respond to changes in operating conditions to maintain optimum performance.
One exemplary printing device embodiment herein comprises a component that has a surface to be cleaned. A cleaning blade assembly is included within the printing device, and the cleaning blade assembly is positioned to contact the surface to be cleaned. There is a first opening within the cleaning blade assembly and a first pin within the first opening. In some embodiments this first opening can comprise a slot and in other embodiments, the slot can have an arc shape. There is also a second opening within the cleaning blade assembly, and a second pin within the second opening. The first and second pins connect the cleaning blade assembly to the printing device.
The first pin has a cam surface that is rounded and is off-center with respect to the axis of the first pin. The cam surface is parallel to the axis of the first pin and is positioned within the first opening, such that rotation of the first pin within the first opening causes the cleaning blade assembly to move in a direction perpendicular to (toward or away from) the axis of the first pin. This direction is an arc movement in some embodiments.
The cleaning blade assembly has a first end and a second end, and the second end of the cleaning blade assembly makes contact with the surface to be cleaned. The first opening is positioned closer to the first end of the cleaning blade assembly relative to the position of the second opening. In, other words, the first opening is positioned relatively closer to the first end of the cleaning blade assembly and the second opening is positioned relatively closer to the second end of the cleaning blade assembly.
With these relative positions of the first and second openings, the rotation of the first pin, and associated movement of the cleaning blade assembly with respect to the axis of the first pin, cause the cleaning blade assembly to rotate around the axis of the second pin. Thus, the rotation of the first pin within the first opening causes the second end of the cleaning blade assembly to move relative to (toward or away from) the surface to be cleaned.
Some embodiments can include an actuator that is connected to the first pin and that rotates the first pin. The rotation of the first pin within the first opening by the actuator therefore causes the cleaning blade assembly to move relative to the surface to be cleaned. Further, a controller is connected to the actuator, and the controller determines when the actuator rotates the first pin and how much the first pin should be rotated. The controller operates the actuator to move the cleaning blade assembly relative to the surface to be cleaned to maximize cleaning performance of the cleaning blade assembly on the surface to be cleaned.
In other embodiments, the positions of the first pin and the second pin can be switched. Therefore, in these embodiments, the cam surfaced first pin is closer to the second end of the cleaning blade assembly, relative to the second pin. In such embodiments, rotation of the first pin also causes the second end of the cleaning blade assembly to move relative to the surface to be cleaned; however, the geometry of the movement of the second end of the cleaning blade assembly is different, which can be useful for certain devices.
In further embodiments, both the first pin and the second pin can each have the cam surface that is rounded and is off-center with respect to the axis of the pin. In such embodiments, the two pins can be rotated independently (or in common) in order to achieve many different types of movement of the second end of the cleaning blade assembly with respect to the surface of the component to be cleaned.
These and other features are described in, or are apparent from, the following detailed description.

Cleaning blade parameter adjustment system


A microprocessor-controlled scanning system having a scanning element which is driven by a three-phase DC motor has low quiescent current motor driver circuitry. A bus driver chip normally used to drive a computer memory bus is novelly used in place of a prior art triple half-bridge circuit to source and sink the drive windings of the motor, thus significantly reducing the drive circuitry power requirement.

The present invention generally relates to scanning systems capable of reading bar codes. More particularly, the present invention provides low quiescent current driver circuitry for the scanning element motor.
Some scanning systems of the laser (light amplification by stimulated emission of radiation) type focus a laser beam upon a motor driven, rotating or dithering scanning mirror such that the laser beam forms a scanning pattern across a target bar code. The scanning laser beam is back-reflected to a photodetector, which determines the intensity of the back-reflected laser beam and outputs a current in proportion thereto. Thus a varying signal is output by the photodetector as the laser beam sweeps across a pattern of light and dark "bars" in a bar code.
Control circuitry controls the cooperation and coordination of the components (including the timing) and converts the photodetector output signal into useful form. Scanning speed is chiefly controlled by the speed of the motor.
The preferred embodiment of the present invention has a three-phase, direct current (DC) motor of the brushless type. Rather than using a commutator (for appropriately reversing the magnetic fields to "pull" the armature around its axis), varying signals (commutation logic) are applied to the appropriate windings to cause the magnetic fields to constantly change. The commutation logic is microprocessor controlled.
A three-phase motor is used instead of a single-phase motor since it provides for constant instantaneous power, and therefore a constant speed--an important feature for scanning operations.
Hand-held scanning systems such as the preferred embodiment have practical weight and size requirements for easy handling. Thus small components--especially the scanning mirror motor--are needed. Prior art scanning system motor driver circuits which normally drive motors with approximately 100 milliamps operating current require much more quiescent current (2 milliamps for example) than is practical for a small motor drawing, for example, 18-20 milliamps (the preferred embodiment) of operating current. Thus the driver circuitry and battery power source are much larger than desirable.

Scanning system having low quiescent current scanning mirror motor driver circuitry


Customizing virtual assets is disclosed, including: transforming each of a plurality of initially identical copies of a virtual asset or a portion thereof to isolate a feature of the virtual asset or portion thereof; and enabling the isolated feature to be changed by a user in at least one of the transformed copies. In some embodiments, customizing virtual assets includes: receiving a three-dimensional model associated with the virtual asset; receiving an indication to save a two-dimensional virtual asset based on the 3D model with a 2D image wrapped on it; and using the 3D model with the 2D image wrapped on it to generate the 2D virtual asset.

Interactive computer gaming is an expanding industry. With the increasing prevalence of networked devices and social media, online interactive gaming has also become convenient and popular. In the realm of online gaming, users can interact with one another via virtual identities and also virtual assets. As users spend more time engaging with virtual assets, it would be desirable to allow users to customize virtual assets to suit their interests and aesthetic tastes, for example.


A base station can prevent deterioration of data channel application control accuracy due to influence of transmission power control to a control channel. In the base station, each encoding section performs encoding processing to an SCCH (Shared Control Channel) of each mobile station, each modulating section performs modulation processing to the encoded SCCH, an arranging section arranges the SCCH to each mobile station to one of a plurality of subcarriers which configure an OFDM symbol, and transmission power control section controls transmission power of the SCCH based on reception quality information reported from each mobile station. The arranging section arranges a plurality of the SCCH to be under transmission power control to one of the subcarriers so that combinations at resource blocks are the same.

In recent years, in the field of radio communication, especially in mobile communication, a variety of information such as images and data in addition to speech is transmitted. The demand for higher-speed transmission is expected to further increase in the future, and, to perform high-speed transmission, a radio transmission techniques that utilizes limited frequency resources more effectively and achieves high transmission efficiency is in demand.
OFDM (Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing) is one of radio transmission techniques, for meeting these demands. OFDM is one of multicarrier communication techniques, whereby data is transmitted in parallel using a large number of subcarriers, and it is known that OFDM has features providing high frequency efficiency and reducing inter-symbol interference under a multipath environment and is effective to improve transmission efficiency.
Studies are being conducted for performing frequency scheduling transmission and frequency diversity transmission using this OFDM on the downlink, when data for a plurality of radio communication mobile station apparatuses (hereinafter simply "mobile stations") is frequency-domain-multiplexed on a plurality of subcarriers (see Non-Patent Document 1, for example).
In frequency scheduling transmission, a radio communication base station apparatus (hereinafter simply "base station") adaptively allocates subcarriers for mobile stations, based on the received quality of each frequency band in each mobile station, so that it is possible to obtain a maximum multi-user diversity effect. On the other hand, frequency scheduling is normally performed for each subband, which groups a certain number of neighboring subcarriers into a block, and therefore, not much frequency diversity effect is obtained.
In Non-Patent Document 1, the channel for performing frequency scheduling transmission is referred to as a "localized channel (hereinafter, the "Lch"). The Lch is allocated in subband units or in units of a plurality of consecutive subcarriers. Further, the Lch may be referred to as a "localized resource block (hereinafter, the "L-RB")."
Non-Patent Document 1 shows an example of dividing one frame (ten milliseconds) into twenty subframes (one subframe=0.5 milliseconds) and including six or seven OFDM symbols in one subframe.
By contrast with this, in frequency diversity transmission, data for mobile stations is allocated to the subcarriers in a distributed manner over the entire band, so that a high frequency diversity effect can be obtained. On the other hand, frequency diversity transmission is performed regardless of received quality for each mobile station, and therefore multi-user diversity effect such as in the frequency scheduling transmission cannot be obtained. In Non-patent Document 1, the channel for performing frequency diversity transmission is referred to as a "distributed channel (hereinafter, the "Dch"). Further, the Dch may be referred to as a "distributed resource block (hereinafter, the "D-RB")."
Adaptive control including adaptive modulation may be performed for the Lchs and the Dchs on a per subframe basis. For example, to achieve the required error rate, based on received quality information fed back from a mobile station, the base station performs adaptive control for the modulation scheme and coding rate (Modulation and Coding scheme: MCS) of L-ch data and D-ch data.
Upon performing adaptive control, the base station transmits control information on a per subframe basis to the mobile station which is a transmission destination of data in each subframe. Normally, control information is transmitted in SCCHs (Shared Control Channels). Further, control information includes the mobile station ID, RB (Resource Block) numbers, MCS information, and so on. The number of SCCHs in one subframe is the same as the number of mobile stations data is transmitted to in the subframe. Further, control information in an SCCH is transmitted at the beginning of each subframe prior to data transmission. Moreover, transmission power control for an SCCH is carried out on a per mobile station basis. That is, the SCCH for a mobile station located near a cell boundary is controlled to high transmission power, and the SCCH for a mobile station located near a center part of a cell is controlled to low transmission power. By this means, limited power resources are flexibly adjusted between the mobile stations and used effectively.    Non-patent Document 1: R1-050604 "Downlink Channelization and Multiplexing for EUTRA" 3GPP TSG RAN WG1 Ad Hoc on LTE, Sophia Antipolis, France, 20-21 Jun. 2005

Communication apparatus and communication method


A series of N-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)-4-aryl-1-piperazinealkylamides was prepared and their affinity for serotonin 5-HT7, 5-HT1A, and 5-HT2A receptors was measured using in vitro binding assays. In relation to 5-HT7 receptor affinity, receptor binding studies indicated that: (i) the optimal alkyl chain length was five methylenes; (ii) an unsubstituted 1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalenyl nucleus was selected for further substitutions; and (iii) the substitution pattern of the aryl ring linked to the piperazine ring played a significant role. Several compound with high affinity for 5-HT7 receptors were identified. Among them, 4-(2-methoxyphenyl)-N-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)-1-piperazinehexanamide (28), 4-(2-acetylphenyl)-N-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)-1-piperazinehexanamide (34), 4-(2-methylthiophenyl)-N-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)-1-piperazinehexanamide (44), 4-(2-hydroxyphenyl)-N-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)-1-piperazinehexanamide (46), 4-(2-methylphenyl)-N-(1,2,3,4-tetrahydronaphthalen-1-yl)-1-piperazinehexanamide (49) were assayed for the 5-HT7 receptor mediated relaxation of substance P-induced guinea-pig ileum contraction. Compounds 28, 44, and 49 behaved as full agonists, compound 34 as a partial agonist, whereas derivative 46 acted as an antagonist.

The neurotransmitter serotonin (5-hydroxytryptamine, 5-HT) has an array of pharmacological and physiological roles within the central nervous system (CNS) and in the periphery, mediated by its interactions with a total of 14 structurally and pharmacologically distinct receptor subtypes. These receptors have been assigned to one of seven families, 5-HT1-7. The 5-HT7 receptor (5-HT7R) is the most recent addition to the 5-HT receptor family, and was cloned for the first time in 1993 from rat and mouse. Since then, it has been cloned from other species such as human, guinea-pig, and pig. The 5-HT7R was shown to be positively coupled to adenylyl cyclase via Gs proteins. It displays a low degree of homology (40%) with other Gs-coupled 5-HT receptors. Four different isoforms have been found, namely 5-HT7a, 5-HT7b, 5-HT7c, 5-HT7d. Only two isoforms (5-HT7a and 5-HT7b) are present in both rat and human, whereas the 5-HT7c receptor is found exclusively in rat, while the 5-HT7d is found only in human. Each of the isoforms appears to form a functionally active receptor with the 5-HT7a, being the most abundant (80%) in both rat and human brain. There appear to be no pharmacological differences among the four isoforms. High concentrations of the 5-HT7R have been detected by in situ hybridization and 5-HT7-like immunoreactivity in the hypothalamus, entorhinal cortex, septal areas, substantia nigra, amygdala, rapes nuclei and the trigeminal nucleus. In addition, moderate levels of 5-HT7-like immunoreactivity were found in the thalamus, hippocampus, cingulate and occipital cortex, caudate, putamen, and suprachiasmatic nucleus (SCN) of the rat. This distribution correlates well with distribution of mRNA encoding 5-HT7R protein. In fact, the 5-HT7R mRNA has been detected in thalamus, hypothalamus, hippocampus, amygdala, cortex, septum, and suprachiasmatic nucleus.
The potential of therapeutic effects of 5-HT7 agents have been hypothesized on the basis of such anatomical distribution. The link between 5-HT7Rs and the SCN suggests a potential role in circadian rhythms and sleep disorders. Lovenberg et al. (Lovenberg, T. W., Baron, B. M., de Lecea, L., Miller, J. D., Prosser, R. A., Rea, M. A., Foye, P. E., Racke, M., Slone, A. L., Siegel, B. W., Danielson, P. E., Sutcliffe, J. G., Erlander, M. G. Neuron 1993, 11, 449-458) demonstrated that phase advances in circadian neuronal activity of the SCN could be elicited using serotonergic ligands that display a pharmacological profile consistent with that of the 5-HT7R. Since then, 5-HT7Rs have been shown to be present in postsynaptic areas in the SCN where serotonergic neurones are proposed to play a key role in modulating circadian activity. Mullins et al.( Mullins, U. L.; Gianutsos, G.; Eison, A. S. Neuropsychopharmacol. 1999, 21, 352-367.) have supplied supporting evidence that implicates a possible role for 5-HT7R in depression. They demonstrated that antidepressant-induced expression of the immediate early gene, c-Fos, in the SCN was blocked by ritanserin (a high-affinity, but non-selective, 5-HT7R antagonist), but not by the 5-HT1A antagonist pindolol or the 5-HT1D antagonist sumatriptan. This suggests that the effect is mediated through 5-HT7Rs, although, with such non-selective antagonists, the involvement of other 5-HT receptors cannot be ruled out.
The involvement of the 5-HT7R in migraine pathogenesis has been proposed by Terron (Terron, J. A. Eur. J. Pharmacol. 2002, 439, 1-11) because the 5-HT7R-mediated vasodilator mechanism operates in vascular structures that have been implicated in migraine, such as the middle cerebral and external carotid arteries. Finally, several compounds possessing high 5-HT7R affinity have therapeutic indications as antipsychotic drugs and this has suggested that 5-HT7R may mediate therapeutic action of such compounds (Roth, B. L.; Craigo, S. C.; Choudhary, M. S.; Uluer, A.; Monsma, F. J. Jr.; Shen, Y.; Meltzer, H. Y.; Sibley, D. R. J. Pharmacol. Exp. Ther. 1994, 268, 1403-1410).
It is therefore clear that the 5-HT7R may be a valuable drug target. During the last decade considerable research efforts have been directed towards the identification of selective 5-HT7R antagonists, (Leopoldo, M. Curr. Med. Chem. 2004, 11, 629-661) allowing the identification of some interesting compounds such as SB-258719, SB-269970, SB-656104, DR4004, LY215840, the chemical structures of which are depicted in FIG. 1.
However, these promising compounds present several limitations because of their low potency (SB-258719), modest selectivity (SB-656104, LY215840), and low metabolic stability (SB-269970, DR4004).
Therefore, the scope of the present invention is that of providing novel selectively-acting 5-HT7R ligands as useful pharmacological tools or potential drugs.
It is noteworthy that most 5-HT7R ligands reported to date act as antagonists, whereas a very limited number of agonists has been reported.
Of the different chemical classes which bind to 5-HT7Rs, arylpiperazines, four species of which are depicted and numbered in FIG. 2, have received our attention as well as that of other authors. Recently, we have reported structure affinity relationship studies of two distinct classes of 5-HT7R ligands, based on the structure of 1-arylpiperazine. Examples of these classes are represented by compounds 3 and 4 (Perrone, R., Berardi, F., Colabufo, N. A., Lacivita, E., Leopoldo, M., Tortorella, V. J. Med. Chem. 2003, 46, 646-649; Leopoldo, M.; Berardi, F.; Colabufo, N. A.; Contino, M.; Lacivita, L.; Perrone, R.; Tortorella, V. J. Pharm. Pharmacol. 2004, 56, 247-255).
In the present study, we screened the 1-(2-methoxyphenyl) piperazine derivatives 5-7, previously prepared in our laboratory as 5-HT1A ligands (Perrone, et al. J. Med. Chem. 1996, 39, 3195-3202.
Perrone, R. et al. J. Med. Chem. 1998, 41, 4903-4909) against the cloned rat 5-HT7R because they share some structural features with derivatives 1 and 2. We found that the compounds 6 and 7 possessed moderate affinities for 5-HT7R, as well as for 5-HT1A receptor.


An object of this invention is to reduce the burden of setting work when setting the correspondence between printing media and paper feed stages in a printing apparatus which selects a predetermined printing medium and prints image data. To achieve this object, according to this invention, an information processing method in a printing apparatus capable of selecting a desired printing medium as a printing condition in selecting a printing medium set on the paper feed stage and printing includes the display step of displaying a medium setting template, the step of selecting an arbitrary template name from the template names of the displayed medium setting template, and the step of setting the correspondence between the set medium contents and the paper feed tray in correspondence with the selected template name. A printing process is performed on the set medium for each paper feed tray.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a process of selecting a printing medium when selecting a predetermined printing medium and printing image data.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally in the commercial printing industry, a publication is issued through various work steps. Examples of the work steps are entry of a document, designing of the document, layout editing, comprehensive layout (presentation by printing), proofreading (layout correction and color correction), proof (proof print), block copy preparation, printing, post-process, and shipping.
In particular, the commercial printing industry often uses an offset reproduction printing press in the printing step, and the block copy preparation step is indispensable. However, once the block copy is prepared, it is difficult and disadvantageous in terms of cost to correct the block copy. In block copy preparation, therefore, careful proofreading (i.e., careful layout check and color confirmation) is indispensable. Some period of time is generally necessary until issuing of a publication is completed.
In the commercial printing industry, most of apparatuses used in respective work steps are bulky and expensive. In addition, work in each step requires expert knowledge, which is indispensable.
With the advent of high-speed and high-quality printing apparatuses of other types, a so-called print-on-demand (to be referred to as POD hereinafter) market is coming into competition against the commercial printing industry. Printing apparatuses of other types are, for example, an electrophotographic printing apparatus and inkjet printing apparatus.
The POD market appears to replace large-scale printing presses and printing methods so as to deal with jobs of relatively small lots within a short period without using any bulky apparatus or system.
In the POD market, digital printing using electronic data can be implemented to provide printing services and the like by making the best of printing apparatuses such as a digital copying machine and digital multifunction peripheral.
In the POD market, digitization which has advanced more than in the conventional commercial printing industry, management and control using computers become widespread, and a printed material can be actually issued within a short period. As another advantage, the POD market does not require any know-how of the operator. Recently, the quality of printed materials by POD printing is coming close to the level of the commercial printing industry.
In this situation, digital copying machines and digital multifunction peripherals in the POD market have been examined (see Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2005-165722).
It is preferable that printing apparatuses suited to even the POD market flexibly cope with various printing media with different attributes.
For example, on site in the POD environment, customers requesting printing may require printing using various types of printing media. A conventional printing apparatus only designates a printing medium by rough classification such as plain paper, cardboard, tab paper, or OHP sheet for settings in printing. It is desirable to construct a printing environment capable of flexibly handling various printing media with different attributes so as to cope with even the POD environment. Such a printing environment allows setting a printing medium in the printing apparatus by fine classification such as "a specific printing medium available from a specific company". It is desired to flexibly meet needs for various printing media from various users (customers) requesting printing on the assumption of even the POD environment.
It is also desirable to fully deal with the following situation.
There is demand to minimize problems: for example, the burden on the operator working on site upon reception of a printing request from a customer increases in order to flexibly meet needs for various printing media from various users (customers) requesting printing, as described above. Concerns are rising about the burden on the operator in charge of printing work upon reception of a printing order from a customer in order to treat an enormous number of printing media which may possibly be used by customers. To solve this problem, it is desirably prevented to request a cumbersome operation of the operator when selecting a printing medium which complies with a demand from a customer for printing. The cumbersome operation is, for example, to find out information on a printing medium for use from information on an enormous number of printing media prepared on site, and make appropriate print settings.
As described above, it is desirable to prepare a printing environment which minimizes an increase in burden on the operator working on site, while sufficiently satisfying potential needs in the POD environment.

Information processing apparatus, printing apparatus, printing system, control program, printing medium, and printing medium selection control method


The embodiments relate to an apparatus and a method for detecting liquids or substances from liquids in spatially separate reaction zones. The embodiments further relate to the use of the apparatus in a plug-in module or a chip card which can be used for rapid immunological tests, for example, with the help of a reading device. The liquids or substances from liquids are detected by means of a sensor array which includes at least two sensors and on which at least one diaphragm is arranged. Individual sensors are spatially separated from each other on a plane by means of walls. The diaphragm can be filled with liquid that is to be analyzed. Sealed reaction chambers are created when pressure is applied to the diaphragm. Pores in the diaphragm are completely closed in the zone of the walls while the pores are merely reduced in size and liquid can continue to be exchanged in zones directly above the sensors. No liquid can be exchanged between adjacent reaction chambers as long as the pressure is applied to and compresses the diaphragm. In the sealed reaction chambers, reactions can take place independently of reactions in adjacent reaction chamber. Reaction products or substances in the liquid can be measured with smaller measurement errors in sealed reaction chamber than when the liquid flows across the entire diaphragm.

The embodiments relate to an apparatus and a method for the detection of liquids or substances from liquids in spatially different reaction regions. A corresponding apparatus and a method for the operation thereof are disclosed in DE 10058394 C1. The embodiments furthermore relate to the use thereof in a smart card which can be used with the aid of a read-out device for e.g. immunological fast tests. In this case, the liquids or substances from liquids are detected by means of a sensor array which is composed of at least two sensors and on which at least one membrane is arranged.
In biochemical analysis technology, sensor arrays having e.g. electrochemical or optical sensors are increasingly being used in order to test the composition of liquids such as e.g. blood or urine for specific substances rapidly and cost-effectively. Thus, DNA analyses can be performed by means of sensor arrays having sensors which are coated with different DNA catcher molecules. Urine samples from subjects can be examined for pathogens by virtue of the fact that, in sensor arrays, sensors are coated with antibodies and the specific binding of the pathogens to the corresponding antibodies is measured. In this case, one preferred measuring method is the electrochemical measurement of substance conversion that only occurs on specifically bound molecules.
In order to attain good handling of the sensor arrays, recent developments are aimed at integrating the sensor arrays into small, compact, portable systems such as smart cards, for example. The latter contain a chip with a sensor array integrated thereon, microfluidic channels for liquid transport to and away from the chip, reaction chambers for reactions such as e.g. disintegration of blood and subsequent polymerase chain reaction (PCR), and also chambers containing chemical reagents preferably in dry form. Standardized smart cards are constructed from plastic and can be introduced into analysis devices in a simple manner. Beforehand, the liquid to be examined that is taken from the patient is applied onto or introduced into the smart card, the dry reagents are dissolved and reactions necessary for the detection are initiated. When the smart card is introduced into the analysis device, the sensors on the chip are activated by the analysis device via electrical contacts on the smart card and can, under closed-loop or open-loop control, measure biochemical reactions and also output the results of the measurement to the analysis device in the form of optical or electrical signals. The result can then be output by the analysis device, after evaluation by a computer-aided unit, via a monitor or other indicator instruments.
In order to attain an increased measurement accuracy and a lower error rate during the measurement, the prior art, such as e.g. DE 10058394C1, discloses a method and an associated arrangement wherein the sensors of the sensor array are separated from one another during the measurement in such a way that no liquid can flow from one sensor to the other. The sensors of the sensor array are arranged on a planar surface with walls between the individual sensors, wherein the walls project from the surface. A housing upper part is arranged parallel to the planar surface of the sensor array at a distance from the walls, the housing upper part being at a sufficient distance from the surface and the walls to allow liquid to flow between the surface and the housing upper part. Before the measurement, the housing upper part is pressed in the direction of the surface with walls with the aid of a plunger, such that the walls and the housing upper part are in close contact.
The flowing of the liquid has been prevented, and closed-off reaction spaces, delimited by the planar surface, the walls and the housing upper part, have been produced above the sensors. The liquid which has been enclosed in the reaction spaces can then be examined without exchange of liquid between different reaction spaces. The measurement of the sensors takes place with the aid of the closed-off reaction spaces independently of one another.
The method described in the prior art in accordance with DE 10058394C1, for example, leads to a complicated arrangement with housing upper part and plunger wherein the walls between the sensors have to correspond to precise dimensions. These precise dimensions are difficult to realize in practice:
If the walls project too little from the planar surface in which the sensors are arranged, then this gives rise to reaction spaces which are too small and have an amount of liquid that is too small to carry out a meaningful measurement. The housing upper part can, under certain circumstances, be seated on the sensors at high plunger pressure, whereby the measurement is corrupted.
If the dimensions of the walls are made too large, then the sensors have to be arranged at a larger distance from one another, and the required amount of liquid for filling the arrangement increases. This means that the sensitivity of the measurement turns out to be lower and the number of sensors available for measurement decreases for the same area since the dimensions of the sensors have to be made larger in order to achieve a sufficient measurement accuracy.

Apparatus and method for the detection of liquids or substances from liquids, and use of said apparatus


A computer-implemented method for providing geographically targeted information corresponding to physical objects to a plurality of community members includes creating a database of physical object profiles corresponding to a plurality of physical objects, wherein each physical object profile comprises descriptive information corresponding to a physical object and a transitory geographic location associated with the physical object. An indication of a geographic location of a community member is received. Based on this indication, one or more item profiles in the database of physical object profiles within a predetermined geographic proximity to the community member are identified. Then, the identified profiles are transmitted to the community member.

Current technology connects users with other users to then participate in activities or connect users with media placements based on geolocation and relevant criteria or affinity. What is not covered is a community of users curating temporary points of interest or inventory, objects, for other users to interact with based on their geolocation. This important distinction creates new opportunities for customer experiences and adds a new digital dimension to what were formerly stationary, limited experiences such as, for example, car or trade shows, historical sites, and dynamic phenomena. These points of interest curated by users create opportunities for, in one example, ecommerce experiences that were previously unexplored. Creating dynamic and exclusive ecommerce experiences based on an associated object's geolocation could potentially produce tailored, unique, and new ecommerce portal where the purchase a customer wants to make is available to them digitally, immediately when they want, precisely because of their current location.
Accordingly, it is desired to create technology that blends the power of geolocation data with information gathering, ecommerce, and social collaboration functions in a manner that was previously only accomplished by querying search engines or browsing static marketplaces online.

Interacting with objects based on geolocation


A plate carrier (such as a vest) is provided having shock absorption capabilities for absorbing shock in response to movement of a plate within the carrier resulting from movement of the wearer. The plate carrier can include a cradle that supports the plate within a pocket from underneath. Stretchable material may be incorporated into the cradle to provide shock absorption. For example, the cradle may include a limit strap hanging to form a first loop and a shock-absorption strap hanging to form a second loop spaced above the first loop. The shock-absorption strap may be formed from a material more stretchable than the limit strap, for example, so that the limit strap provides a limit of plate deflection and shock absorption provided.

Plate carriers may be utilized in many contexts. Often, plate carriers have a form factor of a vest, for example, including shoulder yokes that rest on a wearer's shoulders and support respective front and back panels that each include pockets for receiving plates. Such a plate is typically a generally rigid body (e.g., with an overall shape that is flat or at least partially curved) and may include ballistic material or non-ballistic material, depending on the context of use for the plate carrier.
For example, for military, law enforcement, or other tactical contexts, a ballistic plate may be inserted and retained within a pocket in a plate carrier to provide protection for the wearer against injury from bullets or other projectiles. The pocket may allow for different sizes of plates, for example. Many plate carriers feature length-adjustable straps to secure different size plates such as large, medium, or small. This may allow for flexibility for a user to select between different plate sizes (e.g., among different footprints and/or thicknesses), such as to customize the plate used for a particular situation and trade-off between weight and level of ballistic protection.
Plate carriers are often also used for athletic training purposes. For example, plate carriers have become increasingly common for people participating in cross-training, weightlifting, or other physical exertion exercises. In such contexts, users will often substitute different weights of non-ballistic weighted plates within the plate carrier for customizing a difficulty or intensity of a work-out.

Plate carrier absorption of shock from movement of wearer


Modulated differential (balanced) drive signals are created where, at least one of the signals can be controlled in phase relative to the other, and both of which could be controlled in amplitude and both of which have the same modulation envelope. In one embodiment, a coherent signal is generated in a first electronic signal generator (ESG) and applied to a second ESG. The coherent signal replaces the normal input signal of the second ESG and the I and Q inputs of the second ESG control the amplitude and phase of the output signal. This output signal is applied to a third ESG replacing the normal input signal to the vector modulator. The vector modulator is controlled by the same I and Q input as is the first ESG, thereby producing an output signal which has the same modulation envelope as the output signal from the first

This invention relates to balanced differential output generation circuits and more particularly to systems and methods for generating balanced modulated signals with arbitrary amplitude and phase control using modulation.
Advances in technology have allowed for smaller, lower power devices. Many of these device topologies now use balanced (or differential) input drives instead of the traditional single-ended inputs and outputs. Thus, a two-port balanced device would have four single-ended connections, input+ and inputxe2x88x92, and output+ and outputxe2x88x92. It is known that for passive devices, or active devices operating in their linear region, it is sufficient to measure the individual single-ended responses from a balanced device, and combine the results mathematically to obtain the differential or balanced response. For this to work correctly, the device must behave linearly, which means the signals are small enough such that the device behavior does not change with signal level.
However, many devices are not linear throughout their range of operation. For example, an amplifier might change its bias current between large signals and small signals. For such devices, it is necessary to drive them with real-time signals that present the proper amplitude and phase relationships. These drive signals must be presented at the input ports (+ and xe2x88x92) of the device under test (DUT) with the same amplitude and 180xc2x0 of phase difference, to be a true differential signal.
For some applications, a balun (balanced to unbalanced transformer) is often used, and is placed in close proximity to the device to avoid introducing any phase offset due to connections between the device and the balun. In test equipment applications, however, it may not be possible to control the interconnections sufficiently to maintain desired balance. Further, the signaling used in many devices is of a complex modulation form and has substantial bandwidth. Baluns may distort the modulated signals over this substantial bandwidth.
The present invention is directed to a system and method which solves the problem of modulated differential drives by creating a signal source that has two outputs, at least one of which can be controlled in phase relative to the other, and both of which could be controlled in amplitude and both of which have the same modulation envelope. In one embodiment, a coherent signal is generated in a first electronic signal generator (ESG) and applied to a second ESG. The coherent signal replaces the normal input signal of the second ESG and the I and Q inputs of the second ESG control the amplitude and phase of the output signal. This output signal is applied to a third ESG replacing the normal input signal to the vector modulator. The vector modulator is controlled by the same I and Q input as is the first ESG, thereby producing an output signal which has the same modulation envelope as the output signal from the first ESG.
The foregoing has outlined rather broadly the features and technical advantages of the present invention in order that the detailed description of the invention that follows may be better understood. Additional features and advantages of the invention will be described hereinafter which form the subject of the claims of the invention. It should be appreciated by those skilled in the art that the conception and specific embodiment disclosed may be readily utilized as a basis for modifying or designing other structures for carrying out the same purposes of the present invention. It should also be realized by those skilled in the art that such equivalent constructions do not depart from the spirit and scope of the invention as set forth in the appended claims. The novel features which are believed to be characteristic of the invention, both as to its organization and method of operation, together with further objects and advantages will be better understood from the following description when considered in connection with the accompanying figures. It is to be expressly understood, however, that each of the figures is provided for the purpose of illustration and description only and is not intended as a definition of the limits of the present invention.

System and method for generating balanced modulated signals with arbitrary amplitude and phase control using modulation


A cellulosic ethanol production process. An implementation of a process for producing fuel ethanol and biodiesel from cellulose may include: providing a raw cellulose stream by mixing a waste cellulose stream and an algae cellulose stream, hydrolyzing the raw cellulose stream to form a hydrolyzed cellulose stream, liquefying the hydrolyzed cellulose stream to produce a formed sugars stream and one or more liquefaction byproduct streams, fermenting the formed sugars stream to produce a raw ethanol stream by reacting the sugars stream with a yeast feed in at least one fermenter, separating the raw ethanol stream to form a fuel ethanol stream, producing an algae stream by reacting at least one of the one or more liquefaction byproduct streams with algae in at least one algae bioreactor, and reacting the algae stream in at least one biodiesel reactor to produce the algae cellulose stream and a biodiesel stream.

1. Technical Field
Aspects of this document relate generally to processes for fuel production from biomass sources.
2. Background Art
The derivation of fuels from biomass sources has been in long practice. For example, ethanol and biodiesel derived from biomass sources are becoming increasingly adopted as fuel sources in internal combustion engines. Conventional ethanol generation technology involves processing a starchy source material (such as a grain or vegetable) by converting the starch source to free glucose and fermenting the glucose with yeast that excretes significant amounts of ethanol. Conventional biodiesel generation technology involves processing a feedstock, such as vegetable oil, through a reaction process such as transesterification to produce biodiesel and a variety of other byproducts. Other processes have been developed to generate a variety of other fuel-related materials from biomass, including lubricants, fuel additives, and greases.
An example of a conventional ethanol production process may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 4,885,241, to Millichip entitled "Ethanol production by Zymomonas cultured in yeast-conditioned media," issued Dec. 5, 1989, the contents of which are hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.
An example of a conventional biodiesel generating process may be found in U.S. Pat. No. 5,713,965 to Foglia, et al., entitled "Production of biodiesel, lubricants and fuel and lubricant additives," issued Feb. 3, 1998, the contents of which are hereby incorporated entirely herein by reference.

Systems and processes for cellulosic ethanol production