A method and device for detecting pyrethroid pesticide residues in crops. Reaction membrane is arranged on a bottom plate and provided with a check-up line and a quality control line; a first mounting block and a second mounting block are arranged on the bottom plate; a first slide is arranged in the first mounting block, a second slide is arranged in the second mounting block; a sample pad and a bonding pad are arranged in the first slide; a water absorption pad is arranged in the second slide; a liquid inlet provided with a pipe is formed in the first mounting block, a pressing hole provided with a press block is formed in the second mounting block; protrusions are respectively formed on the pipe and the press block; sliding grooves are formed in the liquid inlet and the pressing hole; and first springs are arranged between the protrusions and the sliding grooves.

Pyrethroid pesticides as broad-spectrum insecticides have quick actions, high efficiencies, low toxicity, less residues, and safety to crops and achieve remarkable effects on controlling 140 or more kinds of pests. Some pyrethroid pesticides achieve good effects on controlling underground pests and mites. The pyrethroid pesticides can cause nervous system diseases and skin diseases to human bodies if entering the human bodies via skin mucous membranes, respiratory tracts, or the like. Because of heavy use of the pyrethroid pesticides, potential neurotoxicity and mutagenicity of such pesticides are becoming more and more apparent, and resulting health risks and excessive residues in crops have been widely concerned. Thus, it is of great practical significance to strengthen monitoring of pyrethroid pesticide residues in crops.
Immunochromatography assays (ICAs) as emerging immunoassays in the 1990s fulfill rapid and accurate coloration through a dry chemical test strip by means of immunological and chromatographic antigen-antibody reaction to test substances. With development of medical clinical tests, a radioimmunoassay (RIA) represents the first generation, an enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA) represents the second generation, and a rapid test strip for gold-labeled monoclonal antibodies represents the developing third generation.
In view of high requirements on on-site quick tests and demands of emergency disposal, the pyrethroid pesticide residues are tested increasingly by means of test strips for time-resolved fluorescence immunochromatography assays (TRFICAs). The accuracy in detection will be affected by high requirements on on-site tests and poor environmental conditions. Currently, samples are tested by the test strips for a long time, resulting in a serious influence on the efficiency of the on-site tests; and furthermore, a long detection process will affect a test result to a certain extent. Thus, it is necessary to put forward a method and device for detecting pyrethroid pesticide residues in crops, which can improve the detection efficiency.

Method and device for detecting pyrethroid pesticide residues in crops

Tobacco Rsrch Inst. of Chinese Acad. of Ag. Sci.


An undercarriage of a belted or track-type machine includes a drive wheel rotatably mounted to the machine and a roller frame assembly pivotally mounted to the machine. The roller frame assembly includes at least one idler wheel and a number of guide rollers. Stationary shafts are mounted to the roller frame assembly and rotationally support the idler wheel and guide rollers. Mounting caps clamp the stationary shafts to the roller frame assembly. One or more fasteners fasten an end portion adjacent to the shaft engaging portion of the mounting cap in abutting contact with the roller frame assembly. A single fastener fastens the other end portion of the mounting cap to the roller frame assembly; however, the other end portion is spaced apart from the roller frame assembly. The abutting contact between the mounting cap and roller frame assembly minimizes flexure of the fasteners and movement of the shaft under moment loading.

In a typical undercarriage, a drive wheel assembly drives an endless belt or track which encircles and is guided by various combinations of idlers and rollers. My prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,358,064, Track-Type Vehicle Undercarriage; U.S. Pat. No. 5,333,710, Undercarriage for Track-Type; U.S. Pat. No. 5,279,377, Track-Type Vehicle Undercarriage; U.S. Pat. No. 5,069,509 Endless Track Chain with Rotatable Sleeve; U.S. Pat. No. 4,881,930, Sprocket Assembly; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,818,041, Idler Wheel Assembly for Track-Type Vehicle are directed to one or more aspects of such an undercarriage.
The mounting of the various idlers and rollers in an undercarriage includes a stationary shaft clamped to the frame of the undercarriage. The various idlers and rollers rotate about the stationary shaft. In one specific mounting arrangement, a mounting cap clamps the stationary shaft to the undercarriage frame via a pair of fasteners. In this specific arrangement, the mounting cap does not abut the frame, and all of the clamp load is transferred across the stationary shaft. As a result, moment loading reacted by the shaft tends to result in movement of the mounting cap and flexure of the fasteners. What is needed is a mounting cap clamping arrangement which minimizes such movement. Preferably, such a mounting cap arrangement would be useful in combination with the above-described issued patents, the contents of which are hereby incorporated by reference.


Disclosed herein are a force realization apparatus using a superconducting flux quantum, which is capable of generating force proportional to a flux quantum number by including a micron-sized superconducting annulus or superconducting quantum interference device in an ultra-sensitive cantilever, and a force measurer using the same.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a standard force realization apparatus, and more particularly to a standard force realization apparatus using a superconducting flux quantum, which is capable of generating force proportional to a flux quantum number by including a micron-sized superconducting annulus or superconducting quantum interference device in an ultra-sensitive cantilever.
2. Description of the Related Art
As industries have been remarkably developed, precision of measurement standard has been of importance. Force measurement is widely performed from the aerospace industry, the heavy chemical industry and the plant industry which treat a load of at least several tens of mega-Newtons (MN) to the ultra-precision weighing machine field which measures a weight of several tens or less of micrograms and an atomic force microscope which senses nano-Newtons (nN). Every country uses a deadweight force standard machine, which is developed by a national measurement institute, as a national standard mainly in the 5 N˜500 kN range.
A force realization apparatus is used in the force standard machine, which provides force generated by a weight to a force measurer and checks how precise the force measurer is.
Recently, due to remarkable improvement in measurement sensitivity, force measurement has become a useful and essential probe for leading-edge nano/bio-researches, which cover protein folding studies, high-integration data storage, nanoscale imaging, non-Newtonian gravitation measurement, and many others.
The force detection limit keeps getting lowered, for example, to an atto-Newton (10−18 N) (aN) level in magnetic resonance force microscopy capable of reading a single electron spin.
However, no direct system international (SI)-traceable force realization has been established even at below 1 Newton level. The prevailing deadweight method, which creates gravitational force using standard weights, obviously becomes no longer valid below micro-Newton level. In the national institute of standards and technology of United States of America, a microforce realization and measurement project for generating force of 10 micro-Newtons or less using an electrical method has been proposed. Therein, the force is created between two electrodes of a capacitor having a constant voltage and is represented by electrical units such as a voltage. The electrical units are traced to their standards based on Josephson and quantized Hall effects.
However, at the nano-Newton or pico-Newton level, no force realization method for standard has been suggested despite needs for precision measurements of force. In addition, it casts a striking contrast to the case of the electrical units such as the voltage that no attempt has been tried to directly use quantum phenomena in realizing a mechanical force.

Quantum-based force realization apparatus and force measurer using the same

Korea Research Institute of Standards and Science


A wire/wireless keyboard and a control method therefor. The keyboard can be used as a wire keyboard if a main body connecting section of the keyboard is connected to a computer body, and the keyboard can be used as a wireless keyboard if the main body connecting section of the keyboard is disconnected from the computer body. The connection status between the computer body and the main body connecting section of the keyboard is automatically judged. If it is judged that they are connected, then the power of the computer body is selected, and the wire mode is executed. On the other hand, if it is judged that they are disconnected from each other, then the internal battery is selected to supply the power from the battery, and the wireless mode is executed. Therefore, the keyboard can be used as both a wire keyboard and as a wireless keyboard. Particularly, under a wireless mode, only if there is a key inputting, the control section is waken up, and therefore, the consumption of the battery power can be minimized.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a keyboard for use in a computer. Particularly, the present invention relates to a wire/wireless keyboard and a control method therefor, in which the keyboard can be used as a wire keyboard if a main body connecting section of the keyboard is connected to the computer body, and the keyboard can be used as a wireless keyboard if the main body connecting section of the keyboard is disconnected from the computer body.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Generally, a computer includes a computer main body, a monitor and a data inputting device. The data inputting device is that through which a user can input data. The data inputting device is classified into: a keyboard for inputting letters and special characters, and a mouse, a touch ball, a touch pad and a stick point for inputting a position data of the cursor.
FIG. 1 illustrates the constitution of the conventional wire keyboard. Referring to FIG. 1, this conventional wire keyboard includes: a main body connecting section 17 for connecting the keyboard to a computer body; a key scanning section 15 for scanning the data inputted by a user; a control section 10 for transmitting the inputted data from the key scanning section 15 through the main body connecting section 17 to the computer body, for receiving commands from the computer body through the main body connecting section 17 to execute the relevant functions in accordance with the received commands, and for receiving power from the computer body; and a resetting section 14 for resetting the control section 10.
FIG. 2 illustrates the constitution of the conventional wireless keyboard. Referring to FIG. 2, this conventional wireless keyboard includes: a key scanning section 25 for scanning the data inputted by a user; a resetting section 24 for resetting the keyboard; a battery 21 for supplying an operating power to the keyboard; a control section 20 for transferring the inputted data from the key scanning section 25 to a radio frequency transmitting section 28; and the radio frequency transmitting section 28 transmitting the data from the control section 20 through a wireless route.
In the above described conventional wire keyboard, however, the keyboard has to be connected to the computer body through a connector (a connecting cord or a connecting cable) which has a limited length. Therefore, the keyboard can be used within a certain limited distance from the computer body, this being a disadvantage. Therefore, the desire of a user who wants to install the keyboard remotely from the computer body cannot be satisfied. Thus the computer cannot be operated under the optimum condition in all the operating environments.
Meanwhile, the wireless keyboard has an advantage that it does not depend to the length of the connecting cable. However, it does not meet the desire of a user who prefers a wire keyboard. Further, it has to use a separate battery, and the battery has to be replaced. If a battery is not available, the keyboard cannot be used.
Thus the conventional keyboards cannot be used in a wire/wireless manner. Therefore they cannot satisfy the different desires of users under different operating environments. Therefore, they caused considerable inconvenience and limitations.

Wire/wireless keyboard, and control method therefor


A method is proposed for coating an optoelectronic chip-on-board module including a flat substrate populated with one or more optoelectronic components having at least one primary optical arrangement and optionally at least one secondary optical arrangement. The optoelectronic chip-on-board module is coated with a transparent, UV-resistant, and temperature-resistant coating made of silicone by the following steps: (a) casting a liquid silicone into a mold open towards the top and having outer dimensions corresponding to or exceeding outer dimensions of the substrate; (b) inserting the substrate into the mold, wherein the optoelectronic component(s) are immersed completely into the silicone and a surface of the substrate contacts the silicone completely or the substrate immerses into the silicone at least partially with full surface contact; (c) curing and cross-linking the silicone with the optoelectronic component(s) and the substrate; and (d) removing the substrate from the mold with the coating of cured silicone.

The invention relates to a method for coating an optoelectronic chip-on-board module, comprising a flat substrate populated with one or more optoelectronic components, with a transparent, UV-resistant, and temperature-resistant coating made of a silicone, a corresponding optoelectronic chip-on-board module, and a system having multiple optoelectronic chip-on-board modules.
Generic optoelectronic chip-on-board modules are used, for example, as illuminating bodies, as high-power UV LED lamps, as photovoltaic modules, as sensors, or as similar devices. Within the scope of the invention optoelectronic components used in this way include, for example but not exclusively, LEDs or photodiodes in the form of chips or other components arranged in the chip-on-board module on a flat substrate, that is, a metal, ceramic, or silicon substrate, a metal core or FR4 circuit board, a glass substrate, a plastic substrate, or a similar device. These chip-on-board modules must be protected from mechanical damage and corrosion. For this purpose the most compact and lightweight solutions are desired.
From the prior art, light-emitting diode modules having a light-emitting diode array and a micro-lens array are known in various configurations. Examples of such light-emitting diode modules and methods for their production are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. No. 7,638,808 B2, in U.S. patent application publication 2010/0065983 A1, in US 20070045761 A1, or in U.S. Pat. No. 7,819,550 B2. In German published Patent Application No. DE 10 2010 044 470, a method for producing a micro-lens array for an optoelectronic module is also described.
Protection in the form of housings on chip-on-board modules is often expensive and technologically complicated. A practical alternative to the protection of chip-on-board modules is a flat encapsulation of the components with a plastic-based casting material. Together with other functional components, for example strip conductors and contacting elements, the optoelectronic components in chip-on-board modules together with a flat substrate are protected from mechanical damage and corrosion by coatings.
For this purpose, injection molding methods or casting methods with epoxy resins are typically used. These resins are initially applied as liquid casting material and then cured by heat and/or radiation. Because the casting material is initially liquid, the casting material must be prevented from flowing away. This is typically realized by a mold or a fixed frame.
One alternative to these methods is the so-called "dam-and-fill" method, wherein a plastic dam that surrounds an area of the substrate is initially deposited on the substrate of the chip-on-board module. A liquid filling material made of epoxy resin is then filled into this area. This filling material is cured. The dam and filling material together form the coating of the module. For generating the dam, a viscous polymer is applied or drawn with a dispensing device in this method and then cured, so that casting material can be cast onto the area enclosed by the dam, without this casting material flowing away.
The plastic dam generated in this way, however, is not transparent. Therefore, this method of coating negatively affects the light emission intensity or light sensitivity of optoelectronic chip-on-board modules, that is, chip-on-board modules populated at their edges with optoelectronic components, for example LEDs or photodiodes.
These mentioned methods using epoxy resins are less suitable for optoelectronic use, because epoxy resins are not UV-resistant and temperature-resistant. Thus, they are not stable, for example, in a high-power UV-LED module or also under intense sunlight irradiation having UV components, as can occur in photovoltaic systems. They age quickly under UV exposure and are destroyed.
Other transparent, UV-resistant, and temperature-resistant solutions, for example bonding a glass frame or a glass cup, require a very complicated assembly of the frame and a compactness of the frame that can be produced only with difficulty. Such a solution is also associated with a greater weight than a casting solution. For rigid glass materials, a usually necessary adaptation of the thermal expansion coefficients of the compound materials also represents another hurdle, especially if the resulting products are exposed to thermal cycles.
In a combination solution made of a glass frame and an encapsulation with a suitable non-epoxy-based material, e.g., a temperature-resistant and UV-resistant silicone, very small gaps between the frame and substrate can have the result that the silicone, which is strongly susceptible to creep, can run out during the casting. Space for the frame must also be provided on the substrate. This negatively affects a best possible utilization of the substrate surface area and/or a desired stackability.
Due to the necessity for preventing the liquid casting material from flowing away, known injection molding methods and casting methods require a vacuum seal that seals the edge of the module. This results in a loss of usable surface area on the module, because the edge area must be kept free from components.
Up until now, no method for realizing a flat coating for chip-on-board modules has been known in which materials can be used both in the face area and also in the edge area of the casting, which materials are both UV-resistant and also temperature-resistant and that are also transparent for electromagnetic radiation from the ultraviolet to the infrared spectral range.
In European patent application publication EP 1 657 758 A2, a corresponding casting method for LED units on a support structure for generating lenses for the LED units is known in which liquid silicone is filled into a negative mold for the lens structure and the support structure is placed with the LEDs on the mold, so that the LEDs are immersed in the liquid lens material. Around the support structure of the module and the mold, a vacuum seal is applied that acts at the edge of the support structure or the substrate of the module and the mold and presses the two together under a high pressure, in order to prevent the liquid material from coming out. In this way, lenses are shaped around the LEDs, while the surface area between the LEDs remains essentially unwetted from casting material up to creeping material.
With this method it is not possible to provide optoelectronic chip-on-board modules with a coating that is transparent, UV-resistant, and temperature-resistant and that can be populated arbitrarily with optoelectronic components, especially while utilizing the entire surface area.


A technique for recognizing and rejecting false activation events related to a capacitance sense interface includes measuring a capacitance value of a capacitance sensor within the capacitance sense interface to generate a measured capacitance value. The measured capacitance value is analyzed to determine a baseline capacitance value for the capacitance sensor. The baseline capacitance value may be updated based at least in part upon a weighted moving average of the measured capacitance value. The measured capacitance value may also be analyzed to determine whether the capacitance sensor was activated during a startup phase and to adjust the baseline capacitance value in response to determining that the capacitance sensor was activated during the startup phase.

Capacitance sensors are used to implement a variety of useful functions including touch sensors (e.g., touch pad, touch dial, touch wheel, etc.), determining the presence of an object, accelerometers, and other functions. FIG. 1A illustrates a conventional capacitance measurement circuit 100 including a relaxation oscillator, a reference clock, and a frequency comparator. The relaxation oscillator is coupled to drive a charging current (Ic) in a single direction onto a device under test ("DUT") capacitor. As the charging current accumulates charge on the DUT capacitor, the voltage across the capacitor increases with time as a function of IC and its capacitance C. Equation 1 describes the relation between current, capacitance, voltage and time for a charging capacitor.CdV=ICdt  (Equation 1)
The relaxation oscillator begins by charging the DUT capacitor from a ground potential or zero voltage and continues to accumulate charge on the DUT capacitor at a fixed charging current IC until the voltage across the DUT capacitor reaches a reference voltage (Vref). At Vref, the relaxation oscillator allows the accumulated charge to discharge or the DUT capacitor to "relax" back to the ground potential and then the process repeats itself. The relaxation oscillator outputs a relaxation oscillator clock signal (RO CLK) having a frequency (fRO) dependent upon capacitance C of the DUT capacitor, charging current IC, a discharge time td, and Vref, as described in equation 2 below.
                              f          RO                =                              (                                          C                ·                                  Vref                                      I                    C                                                              +                              t                d                                      )                                -            1                                              (                  Equation                                                              2                )
If capacitance C of the DUT capacitor changes, then fRO will change proportionally according to equation 2. By comparing fRO of RO CLK against the frequency (fREF) of a known reference clock signal (REF CLK), the change in capacitance ΔC can be measured. Accordingly, equations 3 and 4 below describe that a change in frequency between RO CLK and REF CLK is proportional to a change in capacitance of the DUT capacitor.ΔC∝Δf, where  (Equation 3)Δf=fRO−fREF  (Equation 4)
The frequency comparator is coupled to receive RO CLK and REF CLK, compare their frequencies fRO and fREF, respectively, and output a signal indicative of the difference Δf between these frequencies. By monitoring Δf one can determine whether the capacitance of the DUT capacitor has changed.
FIG. 1B illustrates another capacitance sensing technique using a charge transfer mechanism. FIG. 1B illustrates a conventional capacitance measurement circuit 101 including three switches 105 with control terminals φ0, φ1, and φ2, and summing capacitor 110 having a capacitance CSUM, and an analog to digital ("ADC") converter 115. Capacitance measurement circuit 101 may be used to sense changes in a DUT capacitor 120 having a changing capacitance CDUT.
During operation, capacitance measurement circuit 101 operates as follows to sense capacitance changes on DUT capacitor 120. First, summing capacitor 110 is discharged to a ground potential by asserting control terminal φ0 to open circuit switch SW0 and by asserting control terminal φ1 to close circuit switch SW1. Once discharged to ground, integrating capacitor 110 is disconnected from ground by asserting φ1 to open switch SW1. Then, DUT capacitor 120 is charged to the supply voltage VS by asserting φ0 to open circuit switch SW0 and asserting φ2 to close circuit switch SW2. Once DUT capacitor 120 charges to the supply voltage VS, the charge on DUT capacitor 120 is transferred onto summing capacitor 110 and distributed between the two capacitors. Charge transfer occurs by asserting φ1 and φ2 to open circuit switches SW1 and SW2, respectively, and asserting φ0 to close circuit switch SW0.
The above stages of charging DUT capacitor 120 and transferring the charge onto summing capacitor 110 are repeated a fixed number times causing the voltages of nodes N1 and N2 to ramp with time as illustrated in line graphs 130 and 135, respectively. After a fixed number of consecutive charging stages and charge transferring stages, ADC converter 115 samples the final voltage on node N2. The capacitance CDUT is determined based on the output of ADC converter 115 and is proportional to the voltage at node N2 after the final charge transfer stage.
Because the capacitance deviation of a capacitance sense switch due to a finger press is small compared to the underlying capacitance of the switch itself, the above two capacitance sensing techniques can be susceptible to external noise, interference, or other environmental factors. For example, parasitic capacitances may couple to the user interface, electromagnetic interference ("EMI") may disrupt capacitance measurements and control signals, deviations in operating temperature can cause thermal expansions and dielectric variations that affect capacitance measurements, user error can result in malfunctions, and so forth. These environmental factors can often result in disruptive capacitance deviations that are larger than the capacitance changes induced by a finger interaction with the capacitance sense interface. Accordingly, a reliable capacitance sense interface and control system should account for some or all of these sources of noise.

Touch detection techniques for capacitive touch sense systems


An improved shield connector and a method of making the same include an electric wire having a conductor with an insulation coating and a metallic pipe. The electric wire is positioned in the metallic pipe. A filler is located inside the pipe, between the electric wire and the pipe, and the filler has a heat conductivity higher than that of air.

For example, in an electric vehicle or a hybrid vehicle, it is necessary to use a shield conductor as power supply lines to an inverter apparatus, and from the inverter apparatus to a drive motor. As the shield conductor used in such applications, there has been considered a structure in which a plurality of non-shield electric wires are enclosed with a shield member formed of a tubular braided wire, which is formed by weaving a thin metal wire into a mesh form, to electromagnetically shield them in a package.
However, in a vehicle, not only electromagnetic shielding of conductor lines, but also the protection of the electric wires (such as protection from rebounding stones during driving) needs to be considered since those shield conductors are wired on the bottom face of a vehicle body as well as in an engine room. For this reason, generally, a configuration in which a braided wire is enclosed with a protector made of synthetic resin is adopted; however, there is a problem that use of the protector will increase the number of parts.
Accordingly, the present applicants proposed a structure in which a non-shield electric wire is inserted into a metal pipe as described in Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2004-171952. According to this structure, since the metal pipe exerts both the function of electromagnetically shielding the electric wire and the function of protecting the electric wire from rebounding stones etc., the structure requires a fewer number of parts compared with a shield conductor using a shield member and a protector, and is also more advantageous in terms of strength than a synthetic resin protector.

Shield conductor and method of producing thereof


A vertical power semiconductor device includes a semiconductor body having opposing first and second main surfaces. At least part of a gate trench structure formed at the first main surface extends along a first lateral direction. Body and source regions directly adjoin the gate trench structure. A drift region is arranged between the body region and second main surface. A body contact structure includes first and second body contact sub-regions spaced at a first lateral distance along the first lateral direction. Each body contact sub-region directly adjoins the gate trench structure and has a larger doping concentration than the body region. In a channel region between the body contact sub-regions, the body contact structure has a second lateral distance to the gate trench structure along a second lateral direction perpendicular to the first lateral direction. The first lateral distance is equal to or less than twice the second lateral distance.

In semiconductor switching devices like IGBTs (insulated gate bipolar transistors) or diodes mobile charge carriers flood a low-doped drift region and form a charge carrier plasma that provides a low on-state resistance. One target of semiconductor device technology lies in the design of semiconductor switching devices having a specified reliability. An impact on the reliability of semiconductor switching devices is given when operating the devices under extreme conditions, e.g. when turning off high overcurrents. Thus, semiconductor device technology development is challenging for meeting target demands on device reliability in view of extreme operation conditions.
There is a need to improve device reliability in vertical power semiconductor devices.

Vertical power semiconductor device and manufacturing method


A spout fitment attached to a liquid filled bag, or other fluid container, of a type having a slidable dispensing valve member to receive a line connector for establishing a fluid path from an interior of the container, through a valve element in the line connector and into a service line attached to the line connector. Although the dispensing valve member is slid into the container when the line connector is inserted therein, the sliding motion does not form the container valve action. The container seal is established by a valve element within the slidable dispensing valve member that is resiliently biased to close an opening therein. The dispensing valve member thus need not be slid in the fitment when the line connector is removed from the dispensing valve member, thereby making it easier to remove and reinsert the line connector. Insertion of the line connector within the dispensing valve member causes their respective valve elements to engage each other to open and form the fluid flow path.

This invention relates generally to service-line liquid flow connectors which are removably connectable to valve containing fitments on liquid containing bags or other fluid containers.
There are many applications where liquid is packaged in a flexible plastic bag that, in turn, is contained within a corrugated cardboard box for purposes of shipment and use. Such containers of liquid are commonly supplied to users of the liquid which connect them into a liquid supply system on their premises. An example of this is in the soft drink industry, where containers of soft drink syrup are shipped to fast-food restaurants and other users. When a syrup container is emptied, it is removed by hand from connection with a soft drink mixing machine by detaching a line that is connected to the container. A fresh, full syrup container is then substituted for the empty one, and the liquid supply line is connected to the full container.
One popular system for removably connecting such a liquid line to a liquid supply container is provided by Liqui-Box Corporation. This system is described in its U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,146, which references earlier filed U.S. Pat. No. 4,445,551. The disclosures of these patents are incorporated herein by this reference. U.S. Pat. No. 4,421,146 describes in detail fitments, attached to the liquid supply bags, and line connectors, attached to the liquid supply lines, which interconnect with each other, essentially as commercially available from the patentee. Briefly, the line connector includes a spring loaded valve to close off an opening at its end. The spout fitment attached to the container includes a sliding dispensing valve member with an opening to receive the end of the line connector. The valve member is slid with respect to the fitment and into the bag when the line connector is attached to the fitment. The valve member includes one or more openings along a side wall that becomes exposed within the bag to receive liquid when the valve member is so slid in response to the connector being attached. Upon removal of the connector, the sliding valve member is pulled back into position within the fitment to close off the side liquid openings. The spring loaded valve within the connector is urged open when inserted into the sliding member upon engaging a rigid post aligned with the connector valve, and closes upon removal of the connector from the valve member.
Users often find it desirable to remove a partially emptied container from their fluid supply system and reconnect it at a later time. An example with containers of soft drink syrup exists when a fast-food restaurant, for example, wants to make sure that full syrup containers are attached to their soft drink mixing machines prior to a busy time such as during a normal lunch period. The line connectors are then manually disengaged from each such partially emptied container and reconnected to a full container. After the lunch period, at a slower time in the day, the user will reconnect the earlier disconnected partially emptied container in order to use the remaining syrup in it.
This existing system requires a substantial amount of force to connect and disconnect the line connector to the liquid bag fitment. This is because of the force required to slide the dispensing valve member within the fitment between its opened and closed positions when the line connector is attached and removed, respectively. The resulting difficulty for a user is especially significant in those applications requiring disconnection and reconnection of individual containers.
Therefore, it is a principal object of the present invention to provide an improved connection system that is easier to manipulate by hand.

Liquid container valve structures for use with service-line connectors


A system for distributing information via short-range wireless communication. A mobile server receives information from an information provider for distribution to encountered devices. The information received from the service provider may contain both content to be distributed and context information that controls how the content is distributed. The mobile server may sense current environmental conditions, which are compared to distribution rules created from the context information to control how content information is distributed. The present invention is suitable for many applications, including the distribution of podcast-related information.

1. Field of Invention
The present invention relates to a system for delivering information to a device via wireless communication, and more specifically, to mobile server systems for distributing context-sensitive information to targeted consumer via short-range wireless communication.
2. Description of Prior Art
Modern society has quickly adopted, and become reliant upon, handheld devices for wireless communication. For example, cellular telephones continue to proliferate in the global marketplace due to technological improvements in both the quality of the communication and the functionality of the devices. These wireless communication devices (WCDs) have become commonplace for both personal and business use, allowing users to transmit and receive voice, text and graphical data from a multitude of geographical locations. The communication networks utilized by these devices span different frequencies and cover different broadcast distances, each having strengths desirable for various applications.
Cellular networks facilitate WCD communication over large geographic areas. These network technologies have commonly been divided by generations, starting in the late 1970s to early 1980s with first generation (1G) analog cellular telephones that provided baseline voice communications, to the now emerging 4G streaming digital video content planned for the 2006-2007 timeframe. GSM is an example of a widely employed 2G digital cellular network communicating in the 900 MHZ-1.8 GHZ band in Europe and at 1.9 GHZ in the United States. This network provides voice communication and also supports the transmission of textual data via the Short Messaging Service (SMS). SMS allows a WCD to transmit and receive text messages of up to 160 characters, while providing data transfer to packet networks, ISDN and POTS users at 9.6 Kbps. The Multimedia Messaging Service (MMS), an enhanced messaging system allowing for the transmission of sound, graphics and video files in addition to simple text, has also become available in certain devices. Soon emerging technologies such as Digital Video Broadcasting for Handheld Devices (DVB-H) will make streaming digital video, and other similar content, available via direct broadcast to a WCD. While long-range communication networks like GSM are a well-accepted means for transmitting and receiving data, due to cost, traffic and legislative concerns, these networks may not be appropriate for all data applications.
Short-range wireless networks provide communication solutions that avoid some of the problems seen in large cellular networks. Bluetooth™ is an example of a short-range wireless technology quickly gaining acceptance in the marketplace. A Bluetooth™ enabled WCD transmits and receives data at a rate of 720 Kbps within a range of 10 meters, and may transmit up to 100 meters with additional power boosting. A user does not actively instigate a Bluetooth™ network. Instead, a plurality of devices within operating range of each other will automatically form a network group called a "piconet". Any device may promote itself to the master of the piconet, allowing it to control data exchanges with up to seven "active" slaves and 255 "parked" slaves. Active slaves exchange data based on the clock timing of the master. Parked slaves monitor a beacon signal in order to stay synchronized with the master, and wait for an active slot to become available. These devices continually switch between various active communication and power saving modes in order to transmit data to other piconet members.
More recently, manufacturers have also began to incorporate various resources for providing enhanced functionality in WCDs (e.g., components and software for performing close-proximity wireless information exchanges). Sensors and/or scanners may be used to read visual or electronic information into a device. A transaction may involve a user holding their WCD in proximity to a target, aiming their WCD at an object (e.g., to take a picture) or sweeping the device over a printed tag or document. Machine-readable technologies such as radio frequency identification (RFID), Infra-red (IR) communication, optical character recognition (OCR) and various other types of visual, electronic and magnetic scanning are used to quickly input desired information into the WCD without the need for manual entry by a user.
The proliferation of wireless communication technology means that users have the ability to communicate without being restricted by time or location. This accessibility has created a desire for information providers (e.g., business, educational institutions, government, etc.) to tap into this potential. Currently, not only can a targeted consumer see a printed advertisement at a location (e.g., store, restaurant, mall, bus stop, train station, etc.), but at that moment when the user's interest is peaked, the user has the ability to employ their WCD to contact the advertised business to obtain more information, place an order, enroll in a service plan, etc. Advertisers have attempted to facilitate this reaction by including machine-readable sources of information in close proximity to the visual advertisements. In these situations, a user may download information relevant to the visual indicia from the source via short-range communication. This information, may contain links to an Internet website, contact information (e.g., telephone numbers, email addresses, etc.), or other information of further interest to a user.
As the amount of information available for immediate download rapidly increases, the information providers risk the target audience for this information becoming overwhelmed equally as quickly. The main content of the information provided must be usable (e.g., timely, location-specific, unexpired, etc.) and of interest to the consumer. Otherwise, people may revolt against the information providers by instituting measures to screen these transactions from receipt on their WCDs. These blocking measures may include filtering software to prevent the download of certain information, or in the extreme, the prevention of all short-range communications. These actions hurt both the information provider and the user. If the information providers cannot profit from innovations related to the offering of new services to a consumer, they may reduce resources spent on developing new technologies and services. The consumer will in turn lose the benefits they might experience through the use of these emerging services. In at least one example, these services might include the mobile distribution of information related to podcasts, which are pre-recorded audio broadcasts syndicated over the Internet. These audio presentations are gaining a large audience, and a mobile service that delivers podcast related information directly to a consumer, allowing a user to both locate and download a podcast directly to their WCD, would fill a much needed hole in the marketplace.
Therefore, what is needed is a system for enabling a server device to wirelessly distribute information desired by a large target audience. These server devices should be mobile, and able to control the information distributed in regard to an environmental context. A receiving device, possibly also including context-sensitive control, may then contact, or be contacted by, the serving device in order to receive the distributed information via wireless transfer. Further, the wireless distribution of audio and video information available over the Internet, for example, the distribution of podcast information, would be desirable in order to proliferate mobile access to various types of multimedia data, which improves the flexibility for consumers to informed about newly available desired content that may be obtained immediately.

Portable local server with context sensing


Contiguous flow anaerobic digester for mechanization of organic matter and production of fertilizer powering the conditions and performance of the anaerobic digestion process, through homogenization of the sludge and process temperature, wherein the digester is tubular shaped and comprises a biogas exhaust valve at the top of the digester. One end of the digester has a sludge outlet connection, a water- and gas-tight zipper that is resistant to the corrosive elements of digestion, and an outlet. The opposite end of the digester has a mud inlet, and a water- and gas-tight zipper that is resistant to the corrosive elements of digestion, wherein said digester further comprises at its base a gas irrigation system for biogas recirculation composed of a polymeric material resilient to the corrosive elements of anaerobic digestion.

At the industry and experimental level, different types of reactors designed to create optimal conditions for anaerobic digestion of organic waste are identified. At the industry level, according to the EPA (United States Environmental Protection Agency) in 2011 34% of the reactors were plug flow (PF) modified, 30% were full mix (MC), 13% were covered lagoons, the 13% were horizontal FP, and the remaining 10% was divided between reactors "Upflow Anaerobic Sludge Blanket" (UASB) to adehesa biomass and other gaps partially covered. In the past decade, the FP was the most common reactor. Only in recent years have MC digesters increased their presence in the U.S. market. On the other hand, in Europe the most common type of reactor is the MC. This is due to the fact that most of the biogas market in Europe is covered by the German companies that opt for this technology in building agricultural decentralized plants.
In a plug flow reactor, the most important function of the recirculation system of the digestate is to recycle the microorganisms grown during anaerobic digestion to inoculate fresh waste to the influent, i.e., increasing the concentration of the catalyst right where it is most needed. Another function of the recirculation is to increase the agitation of the reactor. By increasing the flow velocity increases turbulence in the reactor with it, the agitation. This implies that the agitation system by biogas and digestate recirculation can have the same purpose: to homogenize the content of the reactor. For example, in an EGSB ("expanded granular sludge bed") reactor a high flow recirculation, combined with the internal resistance due to the granular sludge is normally applied, it creates a good agitation. Another example is the agitation by pumped of the digestate in a reactor at MC. Note that to get a good stirring of the reactor by stirring, is necessary to move from laminar flow to turbulent flow by increasing the recirculation flow and/or hydraulic barriers.
Various anaerobic digesters are known from the prior art that aim to produce methane from the decomposition of organic material and then produce biogas. At the same time it is observed that there are various designs of reactors used for this purpose, as well as building materials used. It is also known front the prior art that for best results in the process of generation of gas from the anaerobic decomposition it is necessary to agitate the material residing within the reactor to maximize the action of the bacterial organisms and thus have better control of the pH, pressure and temperature of the biodigestion process.
ES 8602551 describes an anaerobic digestion tank for use in sewage wells with gas circulation pipes which open into the bottom of the tank, targeting the gas bubbling through the wells to shake thereto, where some these pipes are associated individually with heat exchange envelopes of heaters. Each gas circulation pipe opens to the lower part of the tank so that the gas exiting from the pipe does so in the direction towards the base of the tank and the bottom of the wells, so that the wells are drawn into below to collide on the tank base to remove sedimented materials and thus avoid the accumulation of these materials in the bottom of the tank.
For its part U.S. Pat. No. 5,185,079 describes an anaerobic process carried out in a pond where biological reaction occurs under anaerobic conditions and the pond is operated in a fill sequence. When waste enters into the reactor pond it is mixed with biogas or liquid recirculating and waste feed continues until the reactor is filled to its maximum predetermined level. Anaerobic reaction occurs with continuous or intermittent mixing and once it discontinues enables biomass to settle forming low solids. Alter sufficient time in the settling cycle, the liquid over low solids on the reactor is discarded decreasing the reactor contents to the predetermined low liquid level. The mixture of gas or liquid is recirculated again and she excess biomass from the reactor periodically wasted.
Document US 20060231488 describes a tubular digester system including a heat holding tank connected to a manifold which feeds one or multiple parallel injection pumps that force the filling through valves and into one or several parallel digesters hulls. The biogas produced by the digester is pressurized due to a liquid column effluent created by a high output. The filling material is put into contact with microorganisms that promote the generation of biogas which is stored by a collector whose release is controlled by a valve or regulator.
Finally, the document US 2002/0079266 discloses a system for converting the cellulose contained in the raw material into useful materials, which contains in one or more sludge feeders, two or more anaerobic pressurized digesters connected in parallel, each reactor containing a stirrer, a or more feed ports, one or more discharge ports, optional pressure regulator, and a reaction chamber, which supports the reaction solution containing anaerobic microorganisms that convert the aqueous slurry at least methane and enriched effluent. This invention is characterized by the use of high pressure for the process which range from more than 10 psi to 265 psi, in order to provide conditions for the decomposition of cellulose into useful materials.
Therefore, none of the prior art proposes the technical advantage of providing an anaerobic digestion reactor that facilitates the digestion of different types of organic matter on a continuous basis, in an economical, simple, accessible and adaptable to different agro-industrial processes way, being easily scalable through material and structural principles of geotechnical to lower costs and by control systems that made more flexible operability, optimizing their performance by means of hydrodynamic control reactor.


This invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of strawberry plant named ‘DrisStrawTwo’. The new cultivar is primarily characterized by its large fruit size, heavy fruit production, and resistance to powdery mildew.

The present invention relates to a new and distinct strawberry cultivar designated 'DrisStrawTwo' and botanically known as Fragaria×ananassa. This new strawberry cultivar originated from a controlled cross between 'Driscoll Camarillo' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 14,771) and 'Driscoll Marin' (U.S. Plant Pat. No. 15,375). The original seedling of the new cultivar was asexually propagated by stolons at a nursery in Shasta County, Calif. Propagules were transplanted to a controlled breeding plot in Ventura County, Calif. where it was identified and selected for further evaluation in October, 2002. 'DrisStrawTwo' was subsequently asexually propagated and underwent further testing at various locations in Monterey County, Calif. for four years. The present invention has been found to retain its distinctive characteristics through successive asexual propagations.


Provided is a mobile terminal test apparatus that can shorten a carrier aggregation testing time. The mobile terminal test apparatus includes a call processing units 12-0 to 12-n that transmits and receives a wireless signal between each of the call processing units 12-0 to 12-n and a mobile terminal 2, and makes a call connection suitable for testing conditions as a component carrier between each of the call processing units 12-0 to 12-n and the mobile terminal 2, and a control unit 15 that causes the mobile terminal 2 to perform a handover, and that applies parameters for a SCC that is designated, as parameters for a PCC that is a handover destination, to the call processing unit 12-0 that corresponds to a PCC, and applies parameters for the pre-handover PCC to the call processing unit 12-n that corresponds to the SCC that are designated and thus connects the SCC.

In a case where mobile communication terminals such as a portable telephone and a data communication terminal are developed, there is a need to test whether or not these mobile communication terminals perform communication normally. For this reason, a mobile communication terminal that is a testing target is connected to a test apparatus that operates as a pseudo-base station that has a functional resemblance to an actual base station, and communication is performed between the test apparatus and the mobile communication terminal. Thus, testing is performed for checking contents of the communication.
Furthermore, in the 3rd Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) in which wireless communication standards are created, among standards for Long Term Evolution-Advanced (LTE-A), a carrier aggregation technology is introduced. This carrier aggregation achieves an improvement in transfer speed by performing communication using multiple LTE carriers at the same time.
A test apparatus that is capable of performing carrier aggregation testing is disclosed in Patent Document 1.

Mobile terminal test apparatus and parameter replacement method for use in mobile terminal test apparatus


Provided is an apparatus and method for cooperative controlling wind turbines of a wind farm, wherein the wind farm includes at least one pair of turbines aligned along a common axis approximately parallel to a current wind direction and having an upstream turbine and a downstream turbine. The method includes the steps of: a) providing a data driven model trained with a machine learning method and stored in a database, b) determining a decision parameter for controlling at least one of the upstream turbine and the downstream turbine by feeding the data driven model with the current power production of the upstream turbine which returns a prediction value indicating whether the downstream turbine will be affected by wake, and/or the temporal evolvement of the current power production of the upstream turbine; c) based on the decision parameter, determining control parameters for the upstream turbine and/or the downstream turbine.

A wind farm is a group of wind turbines in the same location, typically comprised of tens to hundreds of turbines spread over a large area. In such wind farms, the wind used for power production passes through multiple turbines in succession. A pair of turbines aligned along a common axis approximately parallel to the current wind direction consists of an upstream turbine, through which an arriving wind front passes first, and a downstream turbine, through which the same wind front passes second.
The distances between the wind turbines of a wind farm are such to minimize mutual interference, which nevertheless cannot be fully avoided. The act of extracting power in the upstream turbine reduces the wind speed and introduces turbulence behind the turbine. The conical area of the altered wind field behind the upstream turbine is called its wake. This wake can be significant enough to affect the downstream turbine, which decreases its power production and negatively impacts its lifetime by increased mechanical loads due to turbulences.
The actual shape of wake caused by the upstream turbine is highly dependent on the complex stochastic nature of the incoming wind field composition, as well as the aerodynamic properties of the turbine itself and its current state of operation. Predicting wake propagation between the upstream and downstream turbines and its implications on the performance of the latter is therefore a difficult task.
Conventionally, for a given wind condition, an individual wind turbine maximizes its own power production without taking into consideration the conditions of other wind turbines. Under this greedy control strategy, the wake formed by the upstream wind turbine, resulting in reduced wind speed and increased turbulence intensity inside the wake, affects the power production of the downstream wind turbine. To increase the overall wind farm power production, cooperative wind turbine control approaches have been proposed to coordinate control actions that mitigate the wake interference among the wind turbines and can thus increase the total wind farm power production.
Realizing that interactions among wind turbines can have impact on the overall power production, cooperative control approaches have been proposed to maximize the total energy production of a wind farm by manipulating the wake interference pattern. There are cooperative control approaches that find the optimum control actions by optimizing analytical wind farm power functions that mathematically relate control inputs of wind turbines and the total power production of a wind farm. Analytical wind farm power functions are often constructed based on simplified wake models, e.g., the Jensen wake model. Such simple wake models do not accurately reflect the conditions of a wind farm site or a wind turbine model.
To overcome the limitations of simplified wind farm power functions, high-fidelity Computational Fluid Dynamics (CFD) simulation may be used to construct the parametric wind farm power function. The constructed wind farm power function is then used to derive optimal yaw-offset angles of wind turbines. However, a CFD model itself requires the specification of a large number of parameters representing the environmental and wind turbine conditions.
To avoid the use of the wind farm power functions, data driven optimization methods have been suggested, such as that in the publication J. Park, K. H. Law "A data driven, cooperative wind farm control to maximize the total power production", Applied Energy 165 (2016), p. 151-165. However, even the method described in this publication relies on a physical model for validation of the method described.
All approaches imply large computational cost. In order to make these computations feasible, the assumptions about the physical system have to be simplified, for example, by considering only stationary solutions or neglect surface interactions of the wake region. Because of such simplifications, and the fact that most existing models only provide time-independent solutions, it is not possible to use the models to derive short-term adjustments of turbine controllers which can dynamically react to wake effects.
Further, current approaches assume wake to be of conical shape behind the upstream turbine. However, neither the upstream nor the downstream turbine currently reacts dynamically on wake due to the static character of this information.
In the publication T. Knudsen et al.: "Data Driven Modelling of the Dynamic Wake Between Two Wind Turbines", PROCEEDINGS OF THE 17TH WORLD CONGRESS THE INTERNATIONAL FEDERATION OF AUTOMATIC CONTROL; SEOUL, KOREA; July 6-11, 2008., vol. 45, no. 16, 1 Jul. 2012, pages 1677-1682, a data driven modelling of a dynamic extension to the well-known Jensen wake model considering that the wake has to travel with the flow from an upstream turbine to a downstream turbine resulting in a time delay is disclosed. The purpose of the model is to predict the relevant wind speed at the downwind turbine from measurements from the upwind turbine. The considered relevant wind speed is the so-called effective wind speed that gives a similar behavior when applied to the whole rotor instead of the wind speed in one point in the rotor area.
EP 2940296 A1 discloses a method for optimizing operation of a wind farm. A farm control sub-system uses a farm-level predictive wake model to adjust the control settings of wind turbines to maximize the farm-level power output in view of varying ambient conditions. In one embodiment, the farm control sub-system uses a regression model across segregated values corresponding to a reference set to determine set-wise historical wake models for different combinations of wake parameters. The regression model employs machine learning to determine a statistical relationship between values of one or more selected wake parameters and a prevailing wind speed at direction at the upstream and downstream wind turbines in each reference set. In particular, the farm control sub-system fits the regression model across segregated values corresponding to each reference set using a relation between the wind speed at the downstream wind turbine and the wind speed at the upstream turbine. In this relation, a relative distance between the upstream and the downstream wind turbine is considered, among others. The relation is used to define a transfer function that allows prediction of a set-wise wake interaction as a ratio of wind velocity at the downstream wind turbine to the wind velocity at the upstream wind turbine. The regression model estimates the ratio as function of the relative distance between the two turbines.

Method and apparatus for cooperative controlling wind turbines of a wind farm


An image forming apparatus includes an image carrier, an image forming unit for forming a patch image on the image carrier, a light emitting unit, a plurality of light receiving units adjacently arranged so as to receive light reflected from the patch image when light is irradiated by the light emitting unit onto the patch image which moves with movement of the image carrier and each including one or more light receiving elements, and an output unit for outputting an output signal that depends on a difference between a received light quantity of a first light receiving unit and a received light quantity of a second light receiving unit that are respectively odd-numbered and even-numbered in the arrangement order of the light receiving units.

The density characteristics of images printed by an image forming apparatus vary under the influence of factors such as change in the characteristics of components over time, variation in characteristics at the time of manufacture, and the use environment. Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-249714 discloses a configuration for adjusting density by forming a patch image for detecting density.
In Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2008-249714, first, light is irradiated by a light emitting element consisting of an infrared light emitting diode or the like onto a color toner image formed on an intermediate transfer body, and light that is specular reflected at this time is received by a light receiving element for specular reflection, while light that is diffuse reflected is received by a light receiving element for diffuse reflection. Here, the light receiving elements can be constituted by phototransistors, for example. The density of the color toner image is derived from the output of both light receiving elements.
At this time, the infrared light emitting diode and phototransistors are held by being enclosed in packages. Passageways are formed in these packages for securing a light path for light irradiated by the light emitting element to travel to the object being irradiated, and a light path for light specularly reflected by the object being irradiated to travel to the light receiving elements. A passageway for securing a light path for light diffusely reflected by the object being irradiated to travel to the light receiving elements may also be formed in the packages.
With conventionally known sensors for detecting the light quantity of a patch image, it is, for instance, necessary to form light passageways in the packages, as described above, in order to separate specular reflected light and diffuse reflected light, with this being a problem in that it leads to an increase in size of the light quantity detection sensor.

Image forming apparatus having two or more light receiving units


The present invention relates to a process for the preparation of refined hard sugarcane wax having improved qualities from press mud which comprises digesting press mud with a non polar solvent in the presence of activated charcoal and separating the sugarcane wax from the residue.

This invention relates to a process for the preparation of refined hard sugarcane wax having improved qualities from press mud
Sugarcane wax (the hard variety) is a replacement of the commonly used carnauba wax. By nature sugarcane wax (the hard variety) is a type of microcrystalline wax having a high potential used in preparation of several important industrial products. Its potential use is wide in industry. The refined variety of the hard sugarcane wax having its potential use in: (a) Medicines, (b) in sweet meats and pastries, (c) in tinned food products, (d) in castings and recordings, (e) in carbon papers, (f) in preparation of carbonless carbon papers, (g) in electrical insulation of cables and wires, (h) in preparation of various types of paints, varnishes and polishes including shoe polishes, car polishes and floor polishes, (i) in preparation of coloured pencils, crayons, water and oil paints, (j) in cosmetics, (k) in preparation of emulsion paints for spraying. In fact, it has its most likely entries into all the branches of industries where carnauba wax is mostly used. In bulk also it can be produced many times more than any other plant waxes combined together. The raw material, press mud is a rejected waste material of sugarcane industries, that causes the unwanted problem of pollution to the surrounding supurbs of the sugar mills on accumulation. Also, the availability of the press mud is no problem at all throughout the year. While carnauba plant is a seasonal plant that produces extractable waxes only in marked period of a year.
(ii) The CHEMISTRY and TECHNOLOGY of WAXES by ALBIN H. WARTH Wax Research Consultant, Formerly Chemical Director The Crawn Cork and Seal Company Baltimore, Md.
REINHOLD PUBLISHING CORPORATION New York CHAPMAN and HALL LTD., LONDON.
The mode and the process of refining sugarcane wax (the hard variety) as mentioned above probably implies high acid values and saponification numbers to the presently available refined hard sugarcane wax of the world market.
The value of the wax increases with its colour and refining techniques. In the known process isolation of sugarcane wax from press mud (sugarcane press mud) is done commercially by use of solvents such as benzene, toluene, heptane and sometimes turpentine oils. The production of sugarcane wax is mainly been done only in one or two places in the world commercially. In India, Ravalgaon Sugar Industry prepares some amount of cane wax for its own use. The refining of the crude cane wax has been done by these industries by methods described in brief on the previous page.
The main object of the present invention is to develop a process for isolation and refining crude sugarcane-wax by using polar solvent such as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) and activated charcoal. Another object of this invention is to provide a process which can produce hard wax having low acid values and low saponification number. Still another object of this invention is to produce simultaneously soft wax, pitch and starting material for agro manures as by-product.
The use of activated charcoal in refining crude sugarcane wax has not yet been included in industries producing sugarcane wax from press mud wastes. This is so because it is considered to be a mild agent for performing refining of sugarcane wax. Stronger refining agents such as sulphuric acid, nitric acid and chromic acids are presently being used for refining sugarcane wax in industry. Further refining of the industrial sugarcane wax is being done by the use of low pressure vacuum distillations. Probably, by the use of such methods (acid treatment) may be the cause of imparting higher acid values and higher saponification numbers to the presently available limited quantities of hard sugarcane wax of the world market.
Accordingly, the present invention provides a process for the preparation of refined hard sugarcane wax having improved qualities from press mud which comprises
(1) digesting press mud with a non polar solvent such as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), benzene (C6H6) or toluene (C7H8) in presence of activated charcoal, where in the ratio of the non polar solvent:activated charcoal:press mud ranges from 3 liters to 1.50 liters:50 gm to 20 gm:1 kg to 500 gm (60 to 75:1:20 to 25);
(2) separating the residue by known methods;
(3) removing the solvent by conventional methods followed by treating the crude sugarcane wax obtained with hot isopropyl alcohol to get the wax in solution and pitch as residue;
(4) separating the said wax in solution by known methods and cooling to room temperture so as to get the said wax precipitated;
(5) washing thoroughly with water till the isopropyl alcohol is removed and drying to get the hard sugarcane wax;
(6) if desired recycling the isopropyl alcohol (I.P.A.) to step (3) and then treating the said sugarcane wax with hot water for further refining.
The present invention provides a better process than the existing commercial method of isolation and refining of sugarcane hard wax having low acid values and saponification numbers from press mud waste. In the process of the present invention carbon tetrachloride (CCl4) has been used as solvent for extraction of press mud in isolating sugarcane wax. This solvent has not yet been used industrially for extraction of sugarcane wax from press mud. In the extraction of press mud by the method of the present invention, carbon tetrachloride has been found as efficient as any other polar solvents used industrially for the purpose. Moreover, CCl4 have its advantages also. It is non-carcenogenic and non-imflamable. Activated charcoal is used for refining the crude cane wax. The product, sugarcane wax obtained by this process has a nominal acid value and saponification number. The colour of the hard wax obtained is light cream in colour, which is being highly preferred in the present world market. This is being made clear in the Table 1. The product by the process of the present invention is being compared with that of the commercial product present in the American market.
A reference can be made to page number 228 of THE CHEMISTRY AND TECHNOLOGY OF WAXES BY ALBIN h. WARTH.
This process of the present invention is a successfully developed method of acquiring high grade refined sugarcane wax (the hard variety) by using CCl4 for extraction of press mud and activated charcoal for refining the wax extracted. The use of mineral acids and distillation at reduced pressure employed in the hitherto known process for refining the crude wax and the hard wax obtained has been successfully avoided. For further refining, the wax obtained was treated and melted in hot water and then cooled to room temperature to recover the wax. This process removes any water soluble impurities if present, from the wax. This product prepared by the present invention has a nominal acid value and saponification number, and, in appearance, the wax is creamy-coloured lumps.
According to the present process, the air-dried press mud was digested with a nonpolar organic solvent, such as carbon tetrachloride (CCl4), benzene (C6H6) and toluene (C466) in the ratio of 2:3 to 2:5 at a temperature range of 80xc2x0 C. to 90xc2x0 C. (for CCl4 and benzene) and up to 110xc2x0 C. for tolouene. The digestion of the press mud has been done with any of these solvents for about 3 (three) to 7 (seven) hours at a stretch in presence of activated charcoal. The digested lot has been cooled to room temperature and filtered under subjection to vacuum filtration system by the use of an exhaust pump The residues on the filter pad washed three to four times (washings may be extended is necessary) to eight to ten times with clean small lot of fresh extracting aluquots, the washings added to the bulk of the filtrate in the collecting flask. The solvent recovered by distillation and the crude wax obtained transferred to a dried weighed empty beaker. Further removal of the solvent was performed by heating and removing the solvent at a temperature in the range of 80xc2x0 C. to 100xc2x0 C. For this a constant boiling water batch or a controlled heating mantle proves handy. The final removal of the solvent has been done in a vacuum desicator subjected to reduced pressure with a connected exhaust pump. The crude wax after being weighed was treated with hot isopropyl alcohol (I.P.A) at 1:3 to 1:6 ratio. All the waxes dissolved and a black compound remained adhered to the bottom of the beaker. This is the calcium-magnesium salts of waxy acids and resin acids. It is very sticky in nature. The hot solution of waxes was poured into a clean dried beaker and the interior of the first beaker washed several times with small lot (about 10 ml portion) I.P.A. for each washing and ringing, and decanted into the second beaker containing wax solution in I.P.A. The second beaker has been left to attain the room temperature so that the hard sugarcane wax separate out The hard wax has been retained on the filter pad on subjection to vacuum filtration by the use of an exhaust pump. The hard wax on the filter pad has been washed several times with small lot (about 10 to 50 ml portion) of fresh I.P.A. The hard wax on the filter pad has been subjected to air drying by letting air pass through the filter pad with the wax with the aid of the exhaust pump. The final drying has been done by heating the funnel with the wax at about 40xc2x0 C. to 45xc2x0 C. in an electric oven for about 30 minutes to 1 hour, and then subjected to exhaust in a vacuum desicator. Then the wax has been detached from the filter pad and dried further. The dried wax (physically powdery in character) has been melted and made into hard lumps of refined sugarcane wax (hard variety) cream-coloured in appearance. For further refining, the dried wax has been melted in clean hot water and the wax being recovered from the re-cooled water. This treatment removes and reduces any water soluble impurities if present in the hard sugarcane wax prepared.
In the execution of the experiments and extractions mentioned above previously, activated charcoal has been used for refining the waxes obtained.
The yield of wax obtained by the process concerned has been 5.00 to 5.50% hard wax and 4.00 to 4.50% soft wax.
Proper removal of the isopropyl alcohol (I.P.A.) has been found to be necessary because presence of I.P.A. in the hard wax portion (even in small amount) found to form colloidal layer when being treated with hot water, and this colloidal property remains as such even when the water wax part concerned has been brought down to the room temperature.

Process for the preparation of refined hard sugarcane wax having improved qualities from press mud

Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)


An adjustable fence for orienting a plate joiner having a body and a rotating generally planar cutter to cut an arcuate slot in a workpiece is disclosed. The fence comprises a base, a handle and a fastening mechanism. The base is shiftably affixed to the plate joiner body and has a planar surface forming a first fence oriented generally perpendicular to the plane of the cutter. The base also has a guideway parallel to the first fence. The handle is movably adjustably affixed to the base and has a grip portion adapted to cooperate with a hand of an operator and a planar surface forming a second fence forming an angle relative to the first fence. The handle cooperates with the base guideway enabling the second fence to be adjusted along a guideway axis parallel to the first fence relative to the planar cutter. The handle is pivotal about a transverse axis parallel to the first and second fences to vary the angle of the second fence relative to the first fence. The fastening mechanism selectively fastens the handle to the base in any one of a plurality of desired locations.

Traditionally, manufacturers of plate joiners or biscuit joining machines have devised four distinct approaches for cutting biscuit slots. The first approach uses a horizontal-motor. An example of this approach may be seen in U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,122 to Sato et al. and U.S. Pat. No. 4,913,204 to Moores et al. The second approach is to utilize a vertical-motor such as disclosed in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,858,661 and 4,858,662 to Bosten et al. The third approach is to utilize a joiner/spliner as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,908 to O'Banion et al. The last approach uses a stationary plate joiner as disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 4,926,9I6 to Legler et al.
Regardless of the approach adopted, conventional plate joiners have utilized a fence adjustable in two directions. The first adjustment enables the fence to move up and down to accommodate various thicknesses of the workpiece. The second adjustment is to vary the angle of the fence for making angled cuts in the workpiece. U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,971,122 to Sato et al. and 4,913,203 to Moores et al. provide examples of plate joiners with adjustable fences movable in both directions.
In all but the stationary plate joiners, manufacturers have provided a handle to securely hold the plate joiner. Regardless of the type of handle utilized, the handles on conventional plate joiners have been fixed to the body of the plate joiner. Examples of plate joiners having a fixed handle may be seen in U.S. Pat. Nos 4,947,908 to O'Banion et al.; 4,858,661 and 4,868,662 to Bosten et al.; and 4,913,204 to Moores et al. More recently, U.S. Pat. No. 4,971,122 to Sato et al. utilized a fixed handle which forms a portion of the fence assembly.
Two important factors which should be incorporated into the manufacturing of plate joiners are the cost of the unit and its ease of use.


D1 protease has been isolated from the alga (Scenedesmjus obliquus), wheat, and Synechocystis PCC 6803 and the genes encoding these enzymes have been cloned and sequenced. Native or recombinantly produced enzyme has been used to develop assays to detect herbicidal compositions capable of inhibiting the D1 protease enzyme.

The Photosystem II (PSII) reaction center contains two homologous polypeptides, D1 and D2, that are responsible for the coordination of the primary photoreactants Satoh, K. (1993) in The Photosynthetic Reaction Center (Deisenhofer, J. and Norris, J. R., eds.) Vol. I, pp. 289-318, Academic Press, New York; Seibert, M. (1993) in The Photosynthetic Reaction Center (Deisenhofer, J. and Norris, J. R., eds.) Vol. I, pp. 319-356, Academic Press, New York!. The D1 polypeptide of PSII is present in all organisms that use oxygenic photosynthesis to fuel metabolism. The source of electrons for the electron transport chain of oxygenic photosynthetic organisms is water. The oxidation of water to molecular oxygen occurs on a tetranuclear manganese cluster that is thought to be associated with the D1 polypeptide Nixon et al., Biochem. 31, 10859-10871 (1992)!.
D1 is expressed in precursor form Grebanier et al., J. Cell Biol., 78, 734, (1978); Reisfeld et al., Eur. J. Biochem., 124, 125, (1982); Minami, J. B. and Watanabe, A. Plant. Cell Physiol. 26, 839-846 (1985)!, inserted into the thylakoid membrane, and processed at its C-terminus Marder et al., J. Biol. Chem. 259, 3900-3908 (1984); Diner et al., J. Biol Chem. 263, 8972-8980 (1988); Nixon et al., Biochem. 31, 10859-10871 (1992)!. In cyanobacteria 16 residues are cleaved from precursor D1 (pre-D1) Nixon et al., (1992), supra! whereas 9 residues are cleaved in higher plants (Takahashi et al., FEBS Lett. 240, 6-8 (1988); Takahashi et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 31, 273-280 (1990)), with processing occurring in all at the carboxy side of D1-Ala344. It has been suggested that this processing is effected by a protease enzyme, D1 protease.
Failure to process the carboxy-terminal extension of pre-D1 results in the inability to fully assemble the manganese cluster necessary for photosynthetic water oxidation Diner et al., J. Biol Chem. 263, 8972-8980 (1988); Taylor et al., FEBS Lett. 235, 109-116 (1988)!. As the oxidation of water is absolutely essential to photosynthesis, prevention of this process prevents photoautotrophic growth of all cyanobacteria, algae and higher plants. Agents that inhibit the C-terminal processing of the D1 protein represent herbicidal candidates.
Although several proteins termed "D1 protease" as well as genes ostensibly encoding D1 protease enzymes have been isolated from cyanobacteria, algae, and higher plants, there is no evidence until now that these enzymes are responsible for in vivo C-terminal processing of the D1 polypeptide. For example, Shestakov et al. J. Biol Chem. 269, 19354-19359 (1994)! and Anbudurai et al. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 91, 8082-8086 (1994)! teach the isolation of the ctpA gene from the cyanobacterium Synechocystis, a mutation which impairs the C-terminal processing of the pre-D1. The characterization of this gene as encoding a D1 protease was made on the basis of the impairment, measured in vivo of pre-D 1 processing in vivo and not on the basis of enzyme activity since no protein associated with this gene has as yet been isolated. Further studies by Applicants have shown, however, that the inactivation of the ctpA gene does not completely remove the ability of the mutant strain to process D1, suggesting that this protein is not wholly responsible for D1 processing.
An enzyme demonstrating D1 protease activity in vitro has been isolated from spinach Fujita et al., Plant Cell Physiol. 36(7) 1169-1177 (1995)! and the gene encoding the enzyme has been cloned and sequenced Inagaki et al., Plant Mol. Biol., 30(1), 39-50 (1996)!. In vitro assays have shown that the spinach enzyme is capable of using a C-terminal fragment of the pre-D1 protein (consisting of 24 amino acids) as a substrate, but there has been no demonstration of a link between this enzyme and the in vivo processing of the pre-D1 protein Taguchi et al., J. Biol. Chem., 270(18), 10711-16 (1995)!.
Pre-D1 protein processing activities have been isolated and partially purified from Scenedesmus and Pisum, Packer et al., Curr. Res. Photosynth., Proc. Int. Conf. Photosynth., 8th (1990), Meeting Date 1989, Volume 3, 759-62. Editor(s): Baltscheffsky, Margareta. Publisher: Kluwer, Dordrecht, Neth.! and from maize Magnin et al., Res. Photosynth., Proc. Int. Congr. Photosynth., 9th (1992), Volume 2, 211-14. Editor(s): Murata, Norio. Publisher: Kluwer, Dordrecht, Neth.!. These enzymes demonstrated activity in an in vitro PSII particle assay; however, no demonstration of in vivo activity of these enzymes has been obtained until now.
Isolation of an enzyme from a plant that has pre-D1 processing activity is not de facto evidence that it is indeed responsible for in vivo pre-D1 protein processing. For example, an enzyme contained in periplasmic lysates of E. coli tail-specific protease has been identified Silber et al., Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci., USA 89, 295-299 (1992); Hara et al., J. Bacteriol. 173, 4799-4813 (1991)! that has about 30% identity to the putative D1 protease. Further, an enzymatic activity has been isolated by the Applicants from periplasmic isolates which has pre-D1 protein processing activity in vitro. While it is probable that these are one and the same enzyme, E. coli does not contain D1 and does not perform oxygenic photo-synthesis. Therefore, it cannot be concluded that an enzyme is D1 protease purely on the basis of its homology to known D1 protease-encoding genes and evidence of in vitro activity.
Thus, in order to develop a method for the screening of herbicidal agents that target D1 protease, one problem to be solved is to positively identify the enzyme that is responsible for in vivo processing of the pre-D1 protein.
Methods for assaying the presence of pre-D1 protein processing activity are known. For example, Hunt et al., Res. Photosynth., Proc. Int. Congr. Photosynth., 9th (1992), Volume 2, 207-10. Editor(s): Murata, Norio. Publisher: Kluwer, Dordrecht, Neth.! teach an assay system using a truncated peptide substrate based on the C-terminal region of the D1 protein. Similarly, Packer et al., (Curr. Res. Photosynth., Proc. Int. Conf. Photosynth., supra) describe an assay using PSII thylakoid particles from the Scendedesmus D1 protease-deficient mutant LF-1. LF-1 PSII particles are incubated with a solution extracted from sonicated wildtype Scenedesmus thylakoids and D1 is processed to its normal mature size where the Mn complex is then photoligated and the photooxidation of water is detected. Finally, Taguchi et al., J. Biol Chem., 270(18), 10711-16 (1995)! teach an assay method using purified spinach D1 protease and either in vitro truncated D1 protein or synthetic oligopeptides, both containing the D1 C-terminus as a substrate. Enzyme products are identified by gel shift analysis and HPLC, respectively.
Although assay methods such as these are useful for the detection of pre-D1 processing activity, they are not readily adaptable for commercially useful high throughput screens because they use large quantities of enzyme, rely on identification of enzyme substrate by either gel or HPLC analyis, and take hours to give results. Additionally, assays using truncated D1 as substrates (Hunt et al., supra; Taguchi et al., supra) must run the assay at a pH higher than that at which the enzyme functions in vivo.
Another problem to be solved then is to develop an assay system that is facile and adaptable to high through-put screening.

Methods for identifying herbicidal agents that inhibit D1 protease