A filter circuit and a filter integrated circuit capable of being used in a high frequency band comprises a first resistor R.sub.1 connected between an input signal source and an emitter of a common-base transistor TR.sub.1, a first capacitor C.sub.1 connected between said input signal source and a reference voltage point, a second capacitor C.sub.2 connected between said input signal source and a collector of the common-base transistor TR.sub.1, and a second resistor R.sub.2 connected between the collector of the common-base transistor and the reference voltage point. Thus, a low-pass filter which operates in a high frequency band and suppresses the influence of characteristic parameters over the filter characteristic can be constructed.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a filter circuit using a transistor, and a filter integrated circuit formed on an integrated circuit.
2. Description of the Related Art
In an optical communication system or a radio communication system using high speed signals of several gigabits per seconds [Gb/s] or higher, high-pass, low-pass, and band-pass filters which operate in a high frequency band of several gigahertz [GHz] or higher are sometimes required. For example, in a timing circuit limiter amplifier for a 3R type optical repeater, a band-pass amplifier or the like using a tuning circuit and so forth is employed so as to suppress jitter caused by circuit noise and to prevent an output waveform from being linked by harmonics.
Generally, a filter circuit requires inductance as well as resistors and capacitors. However, it is difficult to form inductance in an integrated circuit (IC) device. Thus, a filter circuit is constructed by connecting an external coil. Alternatively, the entire filter circuit is used as an external part.
However, when inductance is provided as an external part, as the frequency increases, stray capacitance, stray inductance, and so forth increase. As a result, the characteristic of the filter in a high frequency band thereof degrades.
To solve this problem, a filter is constructed of an operational (OP) amplifier, capacitors, and resistors which can be used for an IC device. This type of filter is referred to as an active filter.
FIGS. 1A and 1B are schematic diagrams showing bridge T type circuits. FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing a circuit of a band-pass filter which is constructed of a bridge T type circuit and an OP amplifier.
FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram showing a circuit of an active high-pass filter using an OP amplifier. FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing a circuit of an active low-pass filter referred to as a Sallen-Key circuit.
In the above-mentioned active filter using an OP amplifier, since the characteristic of the filter depends on the frequency characteristic of the OP amplifier, the filter can operate at up to several megahertz [MHz] rather than in a high frequency band of several gigahertz [GHz] or higher.
To solve this problem, a conventional wide-band amplifier instead of the OP amplifier can be used. However, even with a wide-band amplifier, since the phase characteristic in the high frequency band varies, a desired filter characteristic may not be obtained or an oscillation may take place.
As shown in FIGS. 3 and 4, an active filter using a voltage follower which is constructed of an emitter follower circuit of a transistor can provide a wide-band filter although it cannot be applied to the band-pass filter using a negative feedback circuit of an OP amplifier as shown in FIG. 2.
FIGS. 5 and 6 are schematic diagrams showing circuits of a high-pass filter and a low-pass filter, each of which uses an emitter follower. In these filters, the OP amplifiers shown in FIGS. 3 and 4 are substituted with emitter follower circuits which are constructed of transistors.
However, in the Sallen-Key low-pass filter using the emitter follower shown in FIG. 6, when the filter operates in a high frequency band of gigahertz [GHz] or higher, a designed filter characteristic cannot be obtained due to the influence of the capacitance and resistance of the transistor.
Next, the influence of resistance, capacitance, and so forth of a transistor over a Sallen-Key low-pass filter using an emitter follower circuit shown in FIG. 6 will be described.
FIG. 7 is a schematic diagram showing an equivalent circuit, when operating in a high frequency band, of the Sallen-Key low-pass filter using the emitter follower circuit shown in FIG. 6. As shown in the FIG. 7, a base resistance R.sub.b, an emitter resistance R.sub.e, a base-collector capacitance C.sub.bc, and so forth of the transistor are added to the low-pass filter shown in FIG. 6. Thus, in the circuit shown in FIG. 7, the low-pass filter which consists of R.sub.1, R.sub.2, C.sub.1, and C.sub.2 is connected to the low-pass filter which consists of R.sub.b and C.sub.bc in series. As a result, when the frequency band of the filter which consists of R.sub.1, R.sub.2, C.sub.1, and C.sub.2 is much lower than that of the filter which consists of R.sub.b and C.sub.bc, a desired frequency characteristic can be obtained. However, when a low-pass filter which operates in a much higher frequency band is required, the frequency characteristic of the filter which consists of R.sub.b and C.sub.bc cannot be ignored.
Moreover, in a high frequency band, since the emitter resistance R.sub.e influences the output impedance of the emitter follower circuit, the low impedance intrinsic to the emitter follower circuit cannot be obtained.
FIG. 8A and 8B are schematic diagrams and graphs showing equivalent circuits and gains in a high frequency band (in the vicinity of the cutoff frequency) of a Sallen-Key low-pass filter. FIG. 8A shows an equivalent circuit and a gain in the ideal case where the filter is not affected by the parameters of the transistor. FIG. 8B shows an equivalent circuit and a gain in the case where the filter is affected by the emitter resistance R.sub.e of the transistor. In the equivalent circuits of FIG. 8, in the high frequency band, it is assumed that the capacitor of the filter is shorted.
At the cutoff frequency or high of the filter, the ideal low-pass filter shown in FIG. 8A has a particular attenuating characteristic. On the other hand, in the case where the influence of the emitter resistor R.sub.e of the transistor cannot be ignored as shown in FIG. 8B, at the cutoff frequency or higher of the filter, the gain of the filter is larger than a particular value. Thus, in this case, the filter does not have the characteristic of a low-pass filter.
FIG. 9 is a graph showing the frequency characteristic of the conventional low-pass filter using the emitter follower of FIG. 6. The solid line of the graph represents calculated values of an ideal characteristic. The dot line of the graph represents a simulated result using real transistor parameters.
As shown in FIG. 9, at around six gigahertz [6GHz] before which is lower than the cutoff frequency, the output of the filter temporarily drops due to the influence of the base-collector capacitance C.sub.bc and the base resistance R.sub.b of the transistor. Thereafter, the stopping characteristic of the filter in the cutoff region degrades due to the influence of the emitter resistance R.sub.e of the transistor. As a result, a low-pass filter using an emitter follower cannot be used in a high frequency band of several gigahertz [GHz] or higher.
In addition, a circuit has been necessarily integrated in considerations of cost and reliability. In particular, the shorter the wavelength of a signal in a high frequency band, the more the analysis of a distributed constant of the circuit becomes important. Thus, the filter should be formed on an IC device.
When a filter is formed on an IC device, the frequency characteristic of the filter should be variably controlled so as to change the frequency band thereof and to compensate for the characteristic deviation which takes place in the production stage from device to device.
As a related art which can solve the above-mentioned problem, for example Japanese Patent Laid-Open Serial No. 1984-215111 is known, which discloses a technology of adjusting a filter characteristic by changing a resistance of a diode after replacing a resistor used in a Sallen-Key type filter by the diode so as to adjust the operating characteristic of the filter.
However, it is likely that the object of the above-mentioned related art is to adjust the characteristic of the Sallen-Key low-pass filter rather than adjust the frequency characteristic of a filter which can operate in a high frequency band of several gigahertz [GHz] or higher.

Filter circuit and filter integrated circuit


In order to implement and manage an optimal system in the printing business and POD market, in an image forming system which comprises a plurality of devices including at least one of an image forming device which can print data in a storage unit that can store data of a plurality of jobs including data of a first job and data of a second job which is input after the data of the first job, and a sheet processing device which can execute a sheet process for a sheet printed by the image forming device, a schedule associated with a plurality of work flows including a first work flow that includes a plurality of process steps using a plurality of devices of the image forming system required to complete the first job, and a second work flow that includes a plurality of process steps using a plurality of devices of the image forming system required to complete the second job can be set.

Conventionally, a so-called commercial printing business, that receives an order of a creation request of prints (magazine, newspaper, brochure, advertisement, gravure, etc.) from a third party (customer, client), creates prints desired by the client, and delivers them to the client so as to get a reward, still prevalently uses a large-scale printing device such as an offset prepress & printing press and the like today. Such printing business proceeds with operations via various steps such as document acceptance, design & layout, comprehensive layout (presentation by means of printer output), proofing (layout correction & color correction), proof print, artwork preparation, print, post-process, shipping, and the like. Artwork preparation is mandatory for use of the aforementioned printing press, and once an artwork is prepared, it is not easy and is disadvantageous in terms of cost to correct it. Hence, elaborate proofing, i.e., layout checking and color confirmation operations are indispensable. In this manner, such printing business requires a large-scale device, and takes considerable time to create prints desired by clients. However, these operations require expert knowledge, i.e., know-how of experts called craftsmen.
Meanwhile, in recent years, along with the advent of high-speed, high image quality electrophotographic printing devices and ink-jet printing devices, a so-called print-on-demand (POD) market prevails as competition with the aforementioned printing business. That is, this market aims at handling a huge number of copies and a huge number of jobs within a short delivery period without any large-scale device or system, and implements digital prints using digital data by fully utilizing a digital image forming device such as a digital copying machine, digital multi-function peripheral, and the like in place of the large-scale printing press and printing scheme, so as to do business. Such POD market merges digitalization compared to the conventional printing business, effectively utilizes computerized management and control, and makes an attempt to reach the printing business level using computers. In such situation, PFP (Print For Pay) as a print service of a copy/print shop, CRD (Centralized Reproduction Department) as an in-house print service, and the like are known in the POD market.
Note that Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2003-122538 is known as an application that pertains to the POD market.
However, the aforementioned printing business and POD market consider to provide a service that combines all services from ordering of commercial products to packaging, shipping, after service, inventory control, and cash receipt control to have prints as commercial products, but there is still room for more consideration.
In the aforementioned printing business and POD market, a system that supports business planning and management works via acquisition, processing, and reporting of production-related data, accumulates information, and provides the accumulated information to respective departments as needed has been examined, but it is still difficult to realize and manage an optimal system.
Also, in the aforementioned POD market, skilled persons are unemployable compared to the conventional printing business under the existing situation, and demands have arisen to complete jobs at low cost, to do business with fewer investments, to reduce TCO (Total Cost of Ownership), and so forth. However, such demands are not sufficiently met due to a new marketplace, and problems for solution still remain.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Image forming system, method and program of controlling image forming system, and storage medium


A single segment catheter has a gradually changing flexibility from a distal to a proximal end of the catheter. According to one embodiment the catheter includes a plurality of strands within the catheter tube wall which change in diameter between the distal and proximal ends to achieve a catheter having a more flexible distal end and a continuously changing flexibility along the catheter length with no joints or distinct changes in flexibility.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to catheters and more particularly, the invention relates to a microcatheter having a varying flexibility along its length.
2. State of the Related Art
Numerous conditions in the vasculature may be treated or diagnosed with intravascular catheters. Aneurysms, arterio-venous malformations, fistulas and occlusions may be diagnosed with angiography, in which a radiopaque dye is injected into a blood vessel through a catheter while the blood vessel is imaged under fluoroscopy. Stenosis and other occlusive diseases can be diagnosed with ultrasound catheters inserted into the blood vessels. Some vascular maladies, such as occlusions, lesions, tumors, or diseases can be treated with injection of therapeutic agents in the blood vessel through a catheter. Some aneurysms and fistulas may be treated with the injection of embolic materials into the blood vessel. Each of these techniques, and various other techniques, require the insertion of a catheter into the blood vessel. The catheter is preferably inserted into a large remote blood vessel such as the femoral artery and navigated through the vasculature to the target blood vessel.
When the catheters are intended to be inserted into the very small blood vessels of the brain, heart, kidneys, and the like, which are far away from the insertion point and require passage of the catheter through the many twists and turns of the vasculature, guide catheters and/or guide wires are used to help insert the catheter into the target vessel. Typically, a guide wire and catheter are inserted into the femoral artery using the Seldinger technique (or a cutdown). The guidewire can be pushed and twisted to navigate the catheter through the femoral artery, up the descending aorta toward a target site. When accessing the vasculature of the brain, the guidewire and catheter are steered into the aortic arch, then into one of the carotid arteries or vertebral arteries, and then into the brain. Once a tip of the catheter has been placed at the target site, either within the diseased blood vessel or nearby, the guidewire is removed for injection of a therapeutic agent.
The process of tracking becomes more difficult as the guidewire, catheter, and target vessel become very small, and when the target site is deep within the vasculature and involves a highly tortuous path for access. Most small blood vessels of clinical significance must be accessed though highly tortuous pathways. For example, arching over the aortic arch and turning into a coronary artery to reach the distal portion of the coronary arteries, or turning into the carotid arteries or the vertebral arteries, into the Circle of Willis and into the cerebral arteries are common vasculature catheterizations though highly tortuous pathways. To reach a target vessel, the catheter must be quite flexible in order to follow the tortuous path and at the same time, the catheter must be stiff enough to allow the distal end of the catheter to be manipulated from an external access site, which may be as much as one meter or more from the targeted vessels.
In the case of pathological tortuosity, such as when the deep vasculature involves turns in excess of 90.degree. when branching off from one blood vessel to another blood vessel (paths which branch off the preceding vessel at angles greater than a right angle), and where the total path length within the target tissue is at least about 5 cm and is also characterized as being accessible by a guidewire 18 mil or smaller of the type described above, but being too delicate and/or tortuous for accessing by a particularly larger diameter guide wire, the problem is particularly acute.
Placement of catheters in positions deep within the vasculature is quite difficult without the aid of a guide wire, and tracking over a pre-positioned guidewire is often hampered by kinking and columnar collapse of the catheter on the guidewire.
Previous attempts to solve this problem include Engelson, Catheter for Guide-Wire Tracking, U.S. Pat. No. 4,739,768 (Apr. 26, 1988). Engelson proposes the use of a two or three segment catheter where the proximal segment is stiff and the distal segment, which must be at least about 5 cm long, is flexible, and in fact is so flexible that it is incapable of being inserted into a blood vessel without the aid of a guidewire. The catheter is constructed with at least two layers, with the outer layer being more flexible that the inner layer, and extending at least 5 cm past the distal end of the inner layer to form a flexible distal tip should have a gradually increasing stiffness from the distal to the proximal end of the distal segment.
Other methods of controlling the stiffness of different regions of catheter tubes have been proposed. Bos, Catheters with Variable Properties, U.S. Pat. No. 5,456,674 (Oct. 10, 1995) shows a catheter with one or more longitudinal bands of material running the length of the catheter. The bands may be made with differing flexibilities, and the length of each band may be controlled through the operation of cutoff valves during the extrusion manufacturing process. For example, in FIG. 5, Bos illustrates the construction of a multiple segment catheter, where each segment has a band of stiff material, and an intermediate segment of intermediate stiffness has an additional band of stiff material, and the third, stiffest segment has yet two more bands of stiff material.


A process for reducing the amount of lipids within natural rubber latices comprising the steps of obtaining a natural rubber latex from a guayule bush, the latex having a dry natural rubber content of from about 10 to about 40 percent by weight, adding from about 0.1 to about 25 parts by weight of a surfactant per one hundred parts by weight of dry natural rubber, wherein the surfactant is selected from the group including nonionic, ionic, and amphoteric surfactants, adding from about 1,000 units to about 500,000 units of a lipid reducing enzyme preparation per gram of dry natural rubber, wherein the lipid reducing enzyme preparation is selected from the group including lipases from plant, animal, synthetic and microbial sources, adding a pH buffer to maintain the pH in a range of from about 5 to about 12, mixing the natural rubber latex with the lipid reducing enzyme preparation for a period of between one-half hour to about 24 hours at a temperature of from about 20.degree. C. to about 60.degree. C., separating rubber particles into a concentrated rubber phase from the latex by techniques selected from the group including batchwise centrifugation, continuous centrifugation, and creaming, rinsing the concentrated rubber phase with water until the protein content is less than the protein content in the natural rubber latex.

Natural rubber latex is most useful in the production of dip-formed goods such as gloves, balloons, condoms, dental dams, and tubing. The vulcanized latex films utilized for these applications exhibit useful and desirable mechanical properties. The presence of certain non-rubber components in the latex, however, tends to inhibit these desired properties. Because these non-rubber components are relatively low molecular weight substances--that is, with molecular weights substantially below about 10,000--these components may act undesirably as a dilutent and plasticizer in dried vulcanized films prepared from latex. As a result, a vulcanized film prepared from a latex containing a relatively high content of these low molecular weight non-rubber components may suffer from less desirable mechanical properties as compared with a film prepared from a latex containing a relatively low content of these components.
The low molecular weight non-rubber component content of Hevea brasiliensis (also known as the Brazilian rubber tree) rubber latex is relatively low.
It is well known that Hevea brasiliensis is the preferred source of natural rubber latex, but recent concerns about allergic reactions by some individuals to rubber products made from Hevea brasiliensis rubber latex has motivated work toward other rubber sources. For example, natural rubber latex from the guayule bush and related plants have been used as a Hevea brasiliensis substitute. Guayule latex, however, typically contains a relatively high concentration of low molecular weight non-rubber components that deleteriously impact many of the properties of the latex and dipped formed goods thereof. Because these low molecular weight non-rubber components are non-extractable due to their water insolubility, techniques known heretofore in the art for purifying latex, especially guayule latex, have proven to be unsuccessful in removing the low molecular weight non-rubber components from the latex. Therefore, there is a need in the art for an improved method for purifying latices that contain relatively large concentrations of low molecular weight non-rubber components.


A NFFR is disclosed which does not exhibit the phenomena of droop which can occur when the fuser switches from a standby to a run mode of operation. The elimination of droop is effected using an external heat source which together with an internal source of heat supplies heat to the surface of the heated fuser member to maintain its surface temperature at a preset standby value until such time as the fuser roll core reaches a temperature level sufficient to maintain the heated fuser member surface at a substantially constant temperature during standby and run modes of operation.

This invention relates generally to a heat and pressure, color fuser for an electrophotographic printing machine, and more particularly the invention is directed to a droop compensated fuser.
In a typical electrophotographic printing process, a photoconductive member is charged to a substantially uniform potential so as to sensitize the surface thereof. The charged portion of the photoconductive member is exposed to selectively dissipate the charges thereon in the irradiated areas. This records an electrostatic latent image on the photoconductive member. After the electrostatic latent image is recorded on the photoconductive member, the latent image is developed by bringing a developer material into contact therewith. Generally, the developer material comprises toner particles adhering triboelectrically to carrier granules. The toner particles are attracted from the carrier granules either to a donor roll or to a latent image on the photoconductive member. The toner attracted to a donor roll is then deposited on a latent electrostatic images on a charge retentive surface which is usually a photoreceptor. The toner powder image is then transferred from the photoconductive member to a copy substrate. The toner particles are heated to permanently affix the powder image to the copy substrate.
In order to fix or fuse the toner material onto a support member permanently by heat, it is necessary to elevate the temperature of the toner material to a point at which constituents of the toner material become tacky and coalesce. This action causes the toner to flow to some extent onto the fibers or pores of the support members or otherwise upon the surfaces thereof. Thereafter, as the toner material cools, solidification of the toner material occurs causing the toner material to be bonded firmly to the support member.
One approach to thermal fusing of toner material images onto the supporting substrate has been to pass the substrate with the unfused toner images thereon between a pair of opposed roller members at least one of which is internally heated. During operation of a fusing system of this type, the support member to which the toner images are electrostatically adhered is moved through the nip formed between the rolls with the toner image contacting the heated fuser roll to thereby effect heating of the toner images within the nip. In a Nip Forming Fuser (NFFR), the heated fuser roll is provided with a layer or layers that are deformable by a harder pressure roll when the two rolls are pressure engaged. The length of the nip determines the dwell time or time that the toner particles remain in contact with the surface of the heated roll.
The heated fuser roll is usually the roll that contacts the toner images on a substrate such as plain paper. In any event, the roll contacting the toner images is usually provided with an abhesive (low surface energy) material for preventing toner offset to the fuser member. Three materials which are commonly used for such purposes are PFA, Viton.TM. and silicone rubber.
All NFFR fusers, as practiced by the industry, exhibit droop when the thermal load increases. The phenomena of droop occurs when a Nip Forming Fuser Roll (NFFR) switches from the standby mode of operation to the run mode.
Due to thermal inertia of the fuser roll core, an internal lamp cannot prevent droop. In monochromatic (i.e. one color images only) fusers where droop takes place, the effect on copy quality is not visible or noticeable to the customer. In fusing color images, the fuser roll temperature affects the appearance of the copy. Thus, the gloss and colors of color images can be adversely affected by droop. Therefore, it is important that all fusing be done at a substantially constant fuser roll temperature.
The object of this invention is to provide a NFFR color fuser wherein the phenomena of droop is minimized.
Following is a discussion of prior art, incorporated herein by reference, which may bear on the patentability of the present invention. In addition to possibly having some relevance to the question of patentability, these references, together with the detailed description to follow, may provide a better understanding and appreciation of the present invention.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,567,349 granted to Henry et al on Jan. 28, 1986 discloses a heat and pressure fuser apparatus for fixing toner images to a substrate. The apparatus is characterized by the fact that silicone oil release agent material which is usually required for such devices is unnecessary. The fuser member which contacts the toner images comprises an outer layer of solid abhesive material capable of retaining this property without degradation over the operating life of the apparatus. The fuser member is so constructed that the abhesive coating contributes to the formation of the nip created between the fuser member and a backup roller.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,197,445 granted to Rabin Moser on Apr. 8, 1980 discloses a heat and pressure roll fusing apparatus for fixing toner images to copy substrates, the toner comprising thermoplastic resin. The apparatus includes a heated fuser roll cooperating with a backup or pressure roll to form a nip through which the copy substrates pass at relatively high (i.e. 12-20 in./sec) speeds with the images contacting the heated roll. The heated fuser roll is characterized by a relatively thick (i.e. 10 mils or greater) outer layer or surface which by way of example is fabricated from a highly insulative material such as silicone rubber or Viton to which a low viscosity polymeric release fluid is applied. Elevating the temperature of the heated roll during a standby or warm-up is accomplished by an internally disposed heating element and the operating temperature thereof during the run mode of operation is effected by an external heater.


A DC-to-DC converter includes an error integrator that further includes a first amplifier and a second amplifier that each includes a first input for receiving a reference voltage and a second input for receiving a feedback voltage, a capacitor to an output of the second amplifier, and a resistor including a first end being coupled to an output of the first amplifier and a second end being coupled to the capacitor.

Transfer functions of multiple-stage amplification circuits may include poles within the frequency bandwidth of the amplification circuits. A type-I amplification circuit may have one pole within its frequency bandwidth; a type-II amplification circuit may have two poles within its frequency bandwidth; and a type-III amplification circuit may have three poles within its frequency bandwidth. When two or more poles exist within the bandwidth of an amplification circuit, the outputs of the amplification are inherently unstable. For example, switching power converters commonly include three poles within its frequency bandwidth, thereby rendering the switching power converters unstable if the switching power converters are not stabilized with stabilization measures.
One stabilization measure is frequency compensation which utilizes a loop filter such as a resistor and capacitor pair (RC) at the output of an amplifier. The loop filter essentially introduces a zero on the left-half-plane (LHP) to counter the influence of one pole, thus stabilizing the amplification circuit. As discussed further in the subsequent sections, the capacitance of the capacitor is commonly very large. A large capacitor means that the size of the capacitor is bulk. Typically, the required capacitance exceeds the upper limit that integrated capacitors (capacitors that can be fabricated on the integrated circuit chip) can provide. Therefore, external capacitors—or discrete capacitors—are used rather than integrated capacitors to minimize the area of the integrated circuit. These external capacitors complicate the circuit fabrication process.


The invention is directed to polypeptides having P450 activity, polynucleotides encoding the polypeptides, antibodies that bind to these polypeptides, and methods for making and using these polynucleotides and polypeptides. The P450 enzymes can be used to catalyze the hydrolysis of epoxides and arene oxides to their corresponding diols.

Chiral molecules, including alcohols, α-hydroxy acids and epoxides, are important for the synthesis of pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals, as well as many fine chemicals. A major challenge in modem organic chemistry is to generate such compounds in high yields, with high stereo- and regioselectivities. Enantiopure epoxides are versatile synthons for the synthesis of numerous pharmaceuticals, agrochemicals and other high value compounds. However, current chemical routes to chiral epoxides suffer from significant shortcomings (listed below) that have prevented their widespread application in process-scale synthesis.
Of the current techniques available, the most widely utilized are the Sharpless epoxidation reaction (Sharpless, K. B. & Michaelson, R. C. J. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1973 95, 6136), the Jacobsen/Katsuki-type epoxidations (Zhang, W., Loebach, J. L., Wilson, S. R., & Jacobsen, E. N. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1990 112, 2801; Katsuki, T. & Sharpless, K. B. J. Am. Chem. Soc. 1980 102, 5974), and the Julia polyleucine-catalyzed reaction (Julia, S., Masana, J., & Vega, J. C. Angew. Chem. 1980 92, 968) (FIG. 1). All of these methods are limited in their application to process-scale chiral synthesis by problematic features that include the use of expensive metal catalysts, low substrate/catalyst ratios, and limited efficiency and productivity with low to moderate enantioselectivities. Furthermore, each method is restricted in the range of substrates on which it can be effectively used. The Sharpless epoxidation catalyst is constrained to acting on allylic alcohols, the Jacobson reaction only works effectively on cis-disubstituted alkenes and the Julia method only has application to chalcone-like alkenes. It is clear, therefore, that there is a need for asymmetric oxidative catalysts that are capable of yielding the same high enantiomeric excesses of the above methods, but are also able to function on a process scale and under mild reaction conditions. Oxidative enzymes meet these criteria and have the potential to provide commercially viable alternatives to the chemical catalysts.
As mentioned above, there is currently a need in the biotechnology and chemical industry for molecules that can optimally carry out biological or chemical processes (e.g., enzymes). For example, molecules and compounds that are utilized in both established and emerging chemical, pharmaceutical, textile, food and feed, and detergent markets must meet stringent economical and environmental standards. The synthesis of polymers, pharmaceuticals, natural products and agrochemicals is often hampered by expensive processes which produce harmful byproducts and which suffer from poor or inefficient catalysis. Enzymes, for example, have a number of remarkable advantages which can overcome these problems in catalysis: they act on single functional groups, they distinguish between similar functional groups on a single molecule, and they distinguish between enantiomers. Moreover, they are biodegradable and function at very low mole fractions in reaction mixtures. Because of their chemo-, regio- and stereospecificity, enzymes present a unique opportunity to optimally achieve desired selective transformations. These are often extremely difficult to duplicate chemically, especially in single-step reactions. The elimination of the need for protection groups, selectivity, the ability to carry out multi-step transformations in a single reaction vessel, along with the concomitant reduction in environmental burden, has led to the increased demand for enzymes in chemical and pharmaceutical industries. Enzyme-based processes have been gradually replacing many conventional chemical-based methods. A current limitation to more widespread industrial use is primarily due to the relatively small number of commercially available enzymes. Only ˜300 enzymes (excluding DNA modifying enzymes) are at present commercially available from the >3000 non DNA-modifying enzyme activities thus far described.
The use of enzymes for technological applications also may require performance under demanding industrial conditions. This includes activities in environments or on substrates for which the currently known arsenal of enzymes was not evolutionarily selected. However, the natural environment provides extreme conditions including, for example, extremes in temperature and pH. A number of organisms have adapted to these conditions due in part to selection for polypeptides than can withstand these extremes.
Enzymes have evolved by selective pressure to perform very specific biological functions within the milieu of a living organism, under conditions of temperature, pH and salt concentration. For the most part, the non-DNA modifying enzyme activities thus far identified have been isolated from mesophilic organisms, which represent a very small fraction of the available phylogenetic diversity. The dynamic field of biocatalysis takes on a new dimension with the help of enzymes isolated from microorganisms that thrive in extreme environments. For example, such enzymes must function at temperatures above 100° C. in terrestrial hot springs and deep sea thermal vents, at temperatures below 0° C. in arctic waters, in the saturated salt environment of the Dead Sea, at pH values around 0 in coal deposits and geothermal sulfur-rich springs, or at pH values greater than 11 in sewage sludge. Environmental samples obtained, for example, from extreme conditions containing organisms, polynucleotides or polypeptides (e.g., enzymes) open a new field in biocatalysis. By rapidly screening for polynucleotides encoding polypeptides of interest, the invention provides not only a source of materials for the development of biologics, therapeutics, and enzymes for industrial applications, but also provides a new materials for further processing by, for example, directed evolution and mutagenesis to develop molecules or polypeptides modified for particular activity, specificity or conditions.
In addition to the need for new enzymes for industrial use, there has been a dramatic increase in the need for bioactive compounds with novel activities. This demand has arisen largely from changes in worldwide demographics coupled with the clear and increasing trend in the number of pathogenic organisms that are resistant to currently available antibiotics. For example, while there has been a surge in demand for antibacterial drugs in emerging nations with young populations, countries with aging populations, such as the U.S., require a growing repertoire of drugs against cancer, diabetes, arthritis and other debilitating conditions. The death rate from infectious diseases has increased 58% between 1980 and 1992 and it has been estimated that the emergence of antibiotic resistant microbes has added in excess of $30 billion annually to the cost of health care in the U.S. alone. (Adams et al., Chemical and Engineering News, 1995; Amann et al., Microbiological Reviews, 59, 1995). As a response to this trend pharmaceutical companies have significantly increased their screening of microbial diversity for compounds with unique activities or specificity. Accordingly, the invention can be used to obtain and identify polynucleotides and related sequence specific information from, for example, infectious microorganisms present in the environment such as, for example, in the gut of various macroorganisms.
Identifying novel enzymes in an environmental sample is one solution to this problem. By rapidly identifying polypeptides having an activity of interest and polynucleotides encoding the polypeptide of interest the invention provides methods, compositions and sources for the development of biologics, diagnostics, therapeutics, and compositions for industrial applications.
Oxidative enzymes have been studied extensively over the last few decades. A wide variety of oxidations are catalyzed by these enzymes, including oxidation of alcohols, hydroxylation and epoxidation (FIG. 2). Those reactions that involve insertion of molecular oxygen into an organic molecule (oxygenation) are typically the most difficult to achieve in a stereo and regioselective manner using conventional synthetic chemistry. Use of enzymes to catalyze these transformations is potentially an extremely powerful synthetic tool because they introduce reactive, chemical functionality into previously unactivated positions. Furthermore, these oxygenases can introduce this functionality with high stereospecificity under mild reaction conditions. However, compared to the widely used hydrolases and despite the potential advantages, there have been relatively few commercialized applications of oxidative enzymes to biocatalysis and biotransformation.
P450s are oxidative enzymes that are widespread in nature and are involved in processes such as detoxifying xenobiotics, catabolism of unusual carbon sources and biosynthesis of secondary metabolites. These oxygenases activate molecular oxygen using an iron-heme center and utilize a redox electron shuttle to support the epoxidation reaction. However, to date there have been few reports of syntheses of epoxides using oxidative enzymes (or epoxidases). This is probably due to the difficulty in discovering suitable epoxidases from the limited biodiversity accessible through traditional methods.

P450 enzymes, nucleic acids encoding them and methods of making and using them


A transparent gateway having increased throughput during a file transfer protocol (ftp) session is provided. This increase is enabled through generalized network address translator (gNAT) at the kernel level that is under user-mode proxy control through an application programming interface (API). Initially, the proxy commands the API to generate a dynamic port-redirect in the gNAT for all connection requests for a port twenty-one to itself at the local port to which it is bound. The proxy may then establish a session on the client's behalf with the ftp server, establish a session on the client's behalf with a different ftp server, etc. The proxy then requests that the API command an address translation in the gNAT to open an ftp data session so that data from the ftp server need not pass up to the user-mode, but may be dynamically redirected within the kernel-mode.

As the number of computers that needed or wanted to be connected to the Internet continued to grow, it soon became obvious that this number could not be accommodated by the number of available IP addresses, known as dotted-quads. In response to this address depletion problem, a method as illustrated in FIG. 2 was devised whereby a number of computers C1, C2, etc. could be located on a "private" network 60 and would use private IP addresses 62 to communicate with each other. These private IP addresses could be reused on other private networks since no one outside the private network could see these addresses. In order to allow the computers on the private network to communicate with other computes S1, S2, etc. on a public network, such as the Internet 64, the private network utilizes one machine 66 to provide the gateway for all of the computers on the private network to reach the public network. Through the use of the private addresses 62 on the private network 60 and the gateway computer 66, the address depletion problem is at least slowed.
This gateway computer 66 runs a program called a network address translator (NAT) that has both a private IP address 62 and a public IP address 68. As computers on the private network attempt to establish sessions with a server on a public network (or another private network), the NAT changes the source address 70 of the message packets 72 from the private address of the client computer to its public IP address. In this way, the private IP address is not communicated on the public network. The messages all appear to have come from the public IP address of the NAT machine. The NAT maintains a mapping 74 of the translation from the private to the public IP address so that when messages are received from the public network in response as illustrated by line 76, the NAT can forward them to the proper client machine. This operation of the NAT is completely transparent to the client computers on the private network, i.e. they each believe that they are communicating directly with the public servers.
FIG. 3 illustrates this redirect capability of the NAT machine. Specifically, a client machine C1 attempts to establish a session 78 directly with public server S1 as indicated by dashed line 80. However, when the message from C1 is detected by the NAT 66, it dynamically redirects 82 the message to S1 and changes the source address as described above. The client process does not know that the NAT has changed its messages' source address, and continues to believe that it is communicating directly with the public server. Messages from the server S1 are dynamically redirected 82 to the client C1 based on the mapping of the address translation. As may be seen from FIG. 4, this address translation takes place at a low level, e.g. at the kernel level 84 in a Window's architecture.
While the NAT has greatly alleviated the address depletion problem, especially for home and small business networks, its translation of source addresses is fixed within its programming. That is, the traditional NAT does not allow any application control of the address translations that it performs. Additionally, since the address translation is performed on the message packets at such a low level within the kernel 84, the NAT can add almost no value, other than providing the raw source address translation. The NAT cannot even provide any destination address translations, and does not fully support applications that either assume client and server addresses are both public and therefore equally accessible, or require that servers also initiate network sessions to clients. If added value is desired, such as centralized virus scanning, site blocking (parental-control filtering), white listing, caching (to speed up response-time), data-transformation (e.g. dithering of images to match screen size), etc., a proxy application must be used instead.
Traditional proxies, as illustrated in FIG. 5, are application programs existing in the user mode 86 that serve as the interface between the private 60 and the public 64 network (see FIG. 6). Unlike NATs, the proxy 88 must be addressed directly by the client machines as seen in the destination address field 90 of message packet 92, and therefore requires that the client applications C1, C2, etc. be setup to operate with a proxy 88. Many applications cannot do this, or require specific configuration changes to allow the use of a proxy, and therefore a proxy configuration may not be appropriate, or even possible, for use with all applications.
When a proxy application 98 is used, all communications are sent to the proxy in the user mode 86 (see FIG. 5) as illustrated by lines 94, 96. The proxy 98 then determines whether and to whom to forward the communication on the public network. If the proxy determines that the message may be passed to a server on the public network, the proxy establishes a second session 100, copies the data to the second session, changes the source and destination address, and sends out the message (see, also FIG. 7). In operational terms as illustrated in FIG. 7, a client process C1 establishes a first session 94 with the proxy 88 requesting access to a public server S1. If the proxy agrees, a second session 100 is established with the server S1 on the public network 64. Since all messages must pass from the kernel-mode network transport, e.g. TCP/IP 102, to the user-mode proxy 98, be copied to a second session, transferred back down to the kernel-mode driver 102, and finally transmitted to the network for the network application's other session, a significant performance degradation occurs. However, proxy system promoters have begrudgingly accepted this performance degradation as the inevitable cost of the added value provided thereby.
Recognizing that the inability of various applications to utilize a proxy system precludes the adding of value to the network sessions using these applications, various software vendors have introduced transparent proxies. Transparent proxies operate like a traditional proxy in that they provide value to the network connection, and like a traditional NAT in that the network client need not specifically address them. The term transparent refers to the fact that the network client is unaware that its communication is being provided up to the proxy application. The client thinks that its communication is going directly to the network server, in much the same way as it does when a traditional NAT is used. However, the communication is actually redirected to the proxy application before being sent to the public network as illustrated FIG. 8.
As may be seen from this FIG. 8, as a client C1 on private network 91 attempts to contact a server S1 on a public network 64, the gateway machine 93 running the transparent proxy intercepts its messages. The transparent proxy operates by performing an address redirection through a traditional NAT 95 up to the proxy application 97. Once the proxy 97 has processed the message, it is passed back down to be sent to the server S1. While this redirection is transparent to the client thereby allowing operation of the proxy with clients whose applications would not allow operation with a traditional proxy, this redirection is fixed within the NAT 95. This requires that all communication be transferred up to the proxy at the application level or user-mode, and back down to the transport level or kernel-mode prior to being transmitted to the server. Therefore, the performance degradation of the traditional proxy discussed above still plagues the transparent proxy system.

Method of operation of an intelligent transpartent gateway during an ftp session


An oily solid cosmetic contains an alkyl-polyether-modified silicone having a siloxane dendron structure and a dimer acid ester. The oily solid cosmetic may also contain a candelilla wax resin and a low viscosity oil having a viscosity of 5 to 100 mPa·s at 25° C. Example uses of the oily solid cosmetic include makeup cosmetics such as a lipstick, foundation, rouge, concealer, eye shadow, eyeliner, eyebrow, mascara, makeup base, and hair colorant. Additional uses include skin care cosmetics such as lip cream, lip balm, eye cream, moisturizing cream, and sunscreen.

An oily solid cosmetic containing a solid oil such as wax, a powder, and a liquid oil as constituent ingredients is manufactured to include basic properties such as moldability while filling a cosmetic container during production, smooth application on the skin, persistence of makeup, or the like. Additional properties of the cosmetics depend on the application of the oily solid cosmetic, and in a case of a lip cosmetic such as a lipstick, the lipstick applied to the lips is manufactured so as not to be easily transferred to a surface which comes into contact with the lips, such as a part of a cup.
In response to such demands, cosmetics having so-called transfer resistance, capable of preventing transfer of cosmetics from the skin, have been developed. Previously, there have been proposed a method of blending a volatile ingredient such as a volatile silicone into a cosmetic (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 8-92036 and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 11-502873), a method of blending a highly viscous oil such as a hydrogenated polyisobutene and a specific organic silicone oil into a cosmetic (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2011-140481, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-82188, and Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2012-250927), and a method of combining a specific dimer acid ester with a specific transfer inhibitor (see, for example, Japanese Unexamined Patent Publication No. 2007-269760).


A technique for installing a skylight at the ridge of the roof is used to redirect water away from the skylight by using a flashing member. Side rails containing a notch in the upper end are configured to receive a flashing member proximate the ridge of the roof. The flashing member redirects water away from the skylight without the use or installation of a diverter to reroute the water.

Skylights are nonessential construction components that are added to structures to aid in the process of daylighting. Increasing the amount of natural light in a covered area serves an aesthetic purpose and allows the user to avoid searching for alternate means of lighting in the covered areas.
Diverters are typically used with skylights to redirect the path of rainwater. They are necessary to provide a drainage area and to keep water or other elements from entering the building. The diverters are installed at the top, upslope side of the skylight in order to help move rainwater away from critical joints of the skylight.
In order to install the diverter, a notch must be cut in the corrugation of the roof panel. Also, a diverter support plate is implemented in order to bolster withstand the force exerted on the diverter by the elements. More specifically, since the typical skylight is installed a considerable distance down the roof from the ridge, the runoff, by the time it reaches the diverter is moving swiftly and has considerable flow volume. This flow presents a challenge that must be met by the diverter, and can compromise the seals. After the notch is cut for the diverter, the diverter support plate is slid into place beneath the roof panel and clamped into position. The diverter is similarly secured into position. After the parts have been secured, the diverter, roof panel, and diverter support plate are fastened together, and sealant is added as required to fill voids and gaps to seal the system. These seals all present potential leak points.

Roof ridge integrated water-shedding apparatus


A printable postage sheet includes a plurality of substantially equally sized preprinted postage labels arranged in a matrix of n rows by m columns, where n and m are integers. The plurality of preprinted postage labels are symmetrically arranged in the printable postage sheet with respect to a first axis and a second axis perpendicular to the first axis. Preprinted indicia on each of the preprinted postage labels are preprinted on generally the same location on all of the preprinted postage labels. The preprinted indicia are all oriented in a same orientation relative to the sheet. A printable area of each preprinted postage label is positioned on the label such that when indicia are printed on one or more of the preprinted postage labels, the indicia are positioned within the printable area irrespective of a right side up or upside down feeding orientation of the printable postage sheet into a printer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention pertains to postage indicia, postage sheets containing postage indicia, a method and system of providing postage indicia, and a method of printing postage indicia.
2. Discussion of Related Art
Purchasing postage indicia (e.g., postage stamps) through the internet is increasingly used as a way to obtain postage without a trip to the local post office or local store. This allows a consumer to print postage at the comfort of the consumer's home or office. For example, in the United States, various internet postage providers operating under the approval of the U.S. Postal Service (USPS) sell various forms of internet postage. Typically, the consumer purchases from a stationary supplier or from the internet postage provider items and supplies for mailing and shipping needs including a sheet of adhesive mailing labels or postage labels. The consumer then uses a personal computer to access the internet postage provider to purchase postage. Upon receiving payment from the consumer or user, the internet postage provider sends data back to the personal computer of the user allowing the user to print the postage indicia using a ubiquitous personal printer, such as an inkjet or laser printer, connected to the personal computer.
However, the postage label must conform with many specifications including security and authenticity of postage labels set by the USPS before permitting the use of the internet postage indicia in a mailing piece that can be delivered via the postal service. For example, the USPS may require that certain codes, marks or the like be printed in a predetermined configuration on the postage label. Therefore, the orientation or way of feeding postage label sheets into the printer may be critical. This is especially true when printing an entire sheet of postage labels. Indeed, a misprint of the postage indicia in the postage sheet may cost the consumer money or the hassle of requesting a reimbursement by submitting a proof of a misprint.
In addition, printing postage indicia can be subject to potential theft associated with customers manufacturing of their own postage label sheet on which to print postage indicia (for example using desktop printing) thereby bypassing the internet postage provider and thus depriving the internet postage provider from revenue associated with the purchase of the postage label sheets. Furthermore, printing postage indicia can also be subject to theft associated with customers creating their own postage using sheets purchased from the internet postage provider by printing fake indicia imitating real postage indicia thus potentially depriving the postal service and the internet postage provider from revenue associated with the purchase of postage indicia through the internet postage provider.
The present invention addresses various issues relating to the above.


Embodiments of the present invention provide various multipolymers and permselective membranes for use with biosensors and other implantable medical devices and prostheses. Embodiments of the present invention may provide structural strength and integrity, and further may control the influx of glucose, oxygen and/or water. Embodiments of the present invention may, for example, minimize or reduce the influx of glucose by minimizing the percentage of hydrophilic segments, which in turn minimizes the percentage of water uptake and the degree of glucose transport.

Amperometric biosensors are capable of measuring glucose on a continuous basis in the subcutaneous space and the intravascular space of mammals. To the extent that such sensors utilize glucose oxidase and do not utilize an electron mediator, they use one dioxygen molecule for each molecule of glucose that is acted upon by the enzyme. Throughout the range of glucose concentrations, one oxygen molecule must accompany each glucose molecule in the enzyme layer of the sensor, in order for the glucose sensing reaction to occur. Such a reaction yields hydrogen peroxide, which, when oxidized at an indicating electrode, generates an electrical current.
When mammalian physiology is taken into account, it is clear that unless specific design precautions are taken, a glucose sensor may not respond adequately in an elevated glucose range, or in a low-oxygen ("hypoxia") range. It is well-known that the concentration of glucose in subcutaneous tissue is much greater than that of oxygen. In fact, the concentration of glucose may be several hundred times greater than that of oxygen, depending on specific physiological circumstances. It may be appreciated that if an outer membrane of a membrane-biosensor system does not allow a sufficient quantity of oxygen molecules into an underlying enzyme layer, the sensor output may not be proportional to the prevailing glucose concentration in the tissue. For example, at elevated glucose concentrations, a membrane with insufficient oxygen permeability (or too high a glucose permeability) may generate a current that plateaus as the glucose concentration continues to rise above normal concentrations. Often, in persons with diabetes mellitus, glucose concentrations may rise to very high concentrations, even exceeding 400 mg/dl in blood.
The problem of insufficient oxygen in conjunction with high glucose concentrations has been termed the oxygen deficit problem. A factor that contributes to the oxygen deficit problem is the fact that subcutaneous oxygen concentrations are much lower than blood oxygen concentrations. One study showed that in rabbits, the subcutaneous oxygen tension averaged only 30-50 Torr (Ward, W. K., Wood, M. D, Slobodzian, E. P., Continuous amperometric monitoring of subcutaneous oxygen in rabbit by telemetry, Vol. 26, page 158-67, Journal of Medical Engineering and Technology, 2002), and oxygen tension in mammalian blood is higher than this.
With regard to glucose oxidase-based biosensors that use an oxygen molecule for each glucose molecule, there is an oxygen deficit in normal mammals that reduces their measurement accuracy. It is important to note that the oxygen deficit problem may be even greater in persons with respiratory problems and in persons who live at high altitude. For example, individuals with severe asthma (reactive airways disease), chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (emphysema or chronic bronchitis), pneumonia, or hypoventilation from any cause (e.g. neurological conditions, musculoskeletal problems or drug-induced hypoventilation) often have abnormally low concentrations of oxygen in their blood and in their subcutaneous tissue. It may be seen that this problem of an oxygen deficit, which is significant in normal individuals, may be even greater in certain individuals or in certain environments. Particularly in a hospital setting, it is common to encounter patients who have one or more of the conditions that predispose a patient to low oxygen concentration in the blood. In addition, persons who live at high altitude have relatively low concentrations of oxygen in blood and tissue. A normal person living or vacationing in Leadville, Colo. would likely have a partial pressure of oxygen in arterial blood (paO2) of approximately 55-65 Torr whereas the same individual living at sea level would have a paO2 of 95-100 Torr.
In summary, with regard to amperometric sensors that use equimolar amounts of oxygen and glucose, there is a problem of an oxygen deficit in normal individuals. In persons located at a high altitude or who suffer from certain medical conditions, the problem may be even greater.
The problem of the oxygen deficit has been recognized by inventors in the field of amperometric glucose sensors. Shichiri disclosed a homogeneous hydrophobic membrane, but such a membrane typically does not provide the optimal balance between oxygen and glucose transport, see Glycaemic Control in Pancreatectomized dogs with a Wearable Artificial Endocrine Pancreas, published in Diabetologia 24, 179-84, 1983. Furthermore, such a membrane does not provide for tailoring the properties of the membrane by varying the preponderance of hydrophilic and hydrophobic moieties.
Other attempts have been made to measure glucose using a subcutaneous sensor, but the membranes used in such sensors typically take up substantial amounts of glucose. For this reason, these membranes are likely to plateau in their response to high concentrations of glucose when used in a setting of low tissue oxygen.
The issue of polymer strength is also important for sensor membranes that are placed in mammals. Various patents disclose methods of engineering materials to have particular permselectivities, see U.S. Pat. Nos. 5,428,123; 5,589,563; and 5,756,632, the disclosures of which are hereby incorporated by reference in their entirety. However, when efforts were made to use these materials in an indwelling glucose sensor application, it was found that the requirement for high oxygen and glucose permeability was at conflict with the requirement for structural strength and integrity desired for exposure to an oxidative environment. More specifically, it was found that when the material was made sufficiently oxygen permeable, it became too weak and tended to break apart on the sensor after being present in the body's interstitial fluid for more than a few hours.
Within biological solutions such as blood or interstitial fluid there exist a number of reactive materials and enzymes that may bring about cleavage of the polymer's molecular chains and thus result in loss of membrane strength and integrity. Some of the reactive materials and enzymes that may bring about polymer degradation and cleavage include small molecules such as superoxide (O2−), acids, and enzymes such as proteases and oxidases that react with the various types of linkages in the polymer. This loss of membrane or fiber integrity may be deleterious to applications which depend on the permselectivity of the polymeric material and the exclusion of solids and larger biological molecules, such as the detection of the levels of glucose within the body fluids of a living human body.


Embodiments of the present invention are directed to optimized usage of access technology in a multi-mode architecture. By optimizing usage of access technology in a multi-mode architecture, the handset can utilize the most effective access technology for the application or it can utilize multiple access technologies for multiple applications.

Code division multiple access (CDMA) is one example of an access technology. CDMA is a form of multiplexing and a method of multiple access that divides up a radio channel not by time (as in time division multiple access), nor by frequency (as in frequency-division multiple access), but instead by using different pseudo-random code sequences for each user. CDMA is a form of "spread-spectrum" signaling, since the modulated coded signal has a much higher bandwidth than the data being communicated.
Recently, handsets that operate in a CDMA architecture have been developed with the ability to operate using a second architecture as well, called a multi-technology handset (or a handset operating in a multi-mode architecture). Examples of the second architecture that the multi-technology handset might use include wireless fidelity (WiFi), worldwide interoperability for microwave access (WiMAX), global system for mobile communications (GSM), or any other suitable over the air technology.
An application is software or sets of instructions that are designed and written to solve a particular problem. One application may implement a call feature on the handset. Another application may allow the handset to send a text message using a wireless application protocol. Another application may allow access to the Internet in order to stream data to the handset.
A multi-technology handset typically has a number of applications capable of running on it at any given time regardless of the type of access technology (i.e., CDMA, GSM, WiFi, WiMAX, etc). Current technologies, however, do not allow the handset to choose the access technology based on the type of application.
For example, when a streaming application is running on the handset, it needs the best possible data rates to operate maximally. However, if the handset access technology is currently CDMA, it might make the streaming application stall multiple times and/or otherwise not operate in the most efficient manner. If the access technology is WiFi or WiMAX, however, the streaming application will run much more efficiently.
Current schemes use multiple communication links and the links can be selected, for example, based on the characteristics of the packets traversing the links. The selection based on packet characteristics, however, is not application specific. Moreover, current schemes do not teach any manner in which a handset can rank the access technologies based on the applications, nor a manner in which a user can modify the rankings. Therefore, what is needed is a system and method that reduces or overcomes these significant problems found in the current schemes as described above.

Optimized usage of access technology in a multi-mode architecture


A new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant named ‘Mt. Dandenong’, characterized by its upright, somewhat outwardly spreading and mounded plant habit; freely branching habit; freely and continuous flowering habit; and inflorescences with light purple-colored ray florets.

The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Osteospermum plant, botanically known as Osteospermum ecklonis, and hereinafter referred to by the name 'Mt. Dandenong'.
The new Osteospermum is a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Emerald, Victoria, Australia. The objective of the breeding program was to create new compact and continuous flowering Osteospermum cultivars with large and attractive inflorescences.
The new Osteospermum originated from a cross-pollination in 1999 of a proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis selection identified as code number 4636, not patented, as the female, or seed, parent with a proprietary Osteospermum ecklonis selection identified as code number 9537, not patented, as the male, or pollen, parent. The new Osteospermum was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within the progeny of the stated cross-pollination grown in a controlled environment in Emerald, Victoria, Australia in 2000.
Asexual reproduction of the new Osteospermum by terminal vegetative cuttings was first conducted in Emerald, Victoria, Australia on Jul. 7, 2000. Asexual reproduction by cuttings has shown that the unique features of this new Osteospermum are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations.


The present invention concerns a radiographic product which makes it possible to obtain an image with no residual yellow coloring. The radiographic product comprises at least one photosensitive silver halide tabular grain emulsion spectrally sensitized with a spectral sensitizing dye in the blue region having an emission peak between 400 and 500 nm, and an optical brightener derived from 4,4'-diaminostilbene disulfonic acid having at least three anionic sulfo groups, put in the photosensitive layer of the radiographic products or in at least one layer situated between the photo-sensitive layer and the support. The radiographic product is applicable to radiographic systems including one or two intensifying screens.

In radiography, particularly in medical radiography, use is normally made of radiographic systems comprising an intensifying screen and a radiographic film containing at least one radiation sensitive silver halide emulsion layer. The use of intensifying screens makes it possible to reduce the quantity of X-rays required to obtain a radiograph and consequently to reduce the quantity of X-rays absorbed by the patient.
The photosensitive emulsion in the radiographic film is spectrally sensitized with a dye having a peak absorption that matches as closely as possible the maximum emission band of the intensifying screen. The radiographic film is comprised of a transparent (often blue tinted) film support coated on one of its faces and, preferably on both faces, with at least one layer of silver halide emulsion containing radiation sensitive silver halide grains.
Since the early 1980's it has been recognized that significant performance advantages can be realized by employing spectrally sensitized tabular grain emulsions in radiographic film. Spectral sensitization is achieved by adsorbing a spectral sensitizing dye having an absorption peak matched as closely as possible to the peak emission of the intensifying screen. The absorption peak can lie in any convenient region of the spectrum--including the blue, green or red region of the spectrum. For example, when an intensifying screen is employed that emits in the blue spectral region between 360 and 500 nm, a spectral sensitizing dye is employed having a maximum absorption in this same spectral range.
Daubendiek et al U.S. Pat. No. 4,639,411 describes a radiographic element which comprises an emulsion consisting of tabular silver halide grains capable of forming a latent image when it is exposed to light. This emulsion preferably consists of tabular grains with a thickness of less than 0.5 .mu.m and an aspect ratio higher than 5:1.
Tabular grain emulsions achieve maximum sensitivity at a high level of sensitizing dye because of the high ratio of grain surface area to grain volume. A problem of residual dye stain has therefore emerged with the use of spectrally sensitized tabular grain emulsions in radiographic film. The dye stain is observed as a residual coloring in the areas which are unexposed or only slightly exposed. The problem is particularly objectionable when the tabular grains can a blue spectral sensitizing dye. As is understood in the art, blue spectral sensitizing dyes selectively absorb blue light and, hence, are yellow in color. The yellow color imparted by residual, unrermoved blue spectral sensitizing dye imparts a warm image tone to the film. That is, instead having a neutral color the black-and-white imaged film is shifted toward a brown appearance. In medical radiography user preference is for cold (blue black) image tones. The problem of dye stain is exacerbated by rapid processing. In rapid processing imagewise exposed dry radiographic film is supplied to a processor and emerges from the processor dry bearing a developed image in less than 1 minute. The short processing interval limits the time available for spectral sensitizing dye transfer from the film to the processing solution.
In order to avoid dye stain, a common approach is to limit the choice of spectral sensitizing dye. This invention makes it possible to use spectral sensitizing dyes which, if they were used alone in high quantities, would have caused a residual coloring in the areas of the image of low density. According to the invention, this coloring is avoided by associating therewith an optical brightener having special characteristics. One advantage of the invention is that it affords a greater degree of freedom in the choice of spectral sensitizing dyes. In addition, surprisingly, the sensitometric properties of the radiographic image are not substantially impaired by the presence of the optical brightener according to the invention.
The optical brighteners which have been known for a long time are substances which absorb ultraviolet light in the region of the spectrum lying between 300 and 400 nm and which are fluorescent in the blue region of the visible spectrum. They are used for improving the whiteness of photographic papers and in photographic films. Research Disclosure of July 1983, No 23136, describes inter alia the use of optical brighteners in radiographic systems. According to this article, the presence of optical brighteners reduces the yellow appearance of the supporting polymer when a source of ultraviolet light is used. The optical brightener is incorporated in a layer placed on the support, or on the support by soaking the support in a solution containing the optical brightener, for example a developing or fixing solution or a stabilizing bath. This article does not deal with the problem of the residual coloring due to the spectral sensitizing dye.
McFall et al U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,390 describes a supersensitization method of silver halide emulsions which combines the use of diamino stilbene optical brighteners with dicarbocyanine dyes. Supersensitization which is a technique well described in the literature, consists in increasing the spectral sensitivity of a dye by the addition of another substance showing a strong adsorption in the near UV, and having an electron system similar to the dye with which it is associated. McFall associates specific dicarbocyanine dyes with the aminostilbene. The supersensitization would not be observed if dyes other than those of McFall were used e.g. carbocyanine dyes or, as in the present invention mono methine cyanine dyes. Also, the problem raised and solved by the present invention is very remote from the problem addressed in McFall U.S. Pat. No. 2,933,390, and certainly not described, even inherently, in this reference.
Kuse U.S. Pat. No. 4,232,112 describes a process for developing a color photographic film in which the development solution or the bleaching/fixing solution comprises a bleaching agent which is a derivative of 4,4'-diamino-stilbene disulfonic acid and a second compound derived from benzene sulfonic or naphthalene sulfonic acid. This process makes it possible to avoid on the one hand the residual coloring due to oxidation of the color developer in the bleaching/fixing solution and on the other hand the residual coloring which is due to the accumulation of various substances on the edges of the film.
Ishikawa U.S. Pat. No. 4,587,195 describes a method for eliminating the residual coloring in a color image. For this purpose a development solution is used comprising a combination of optical brighteners of the triazylstilbene type with slightly shifted absorption peaks.
Hoyen U.S. Pat. No. 5,238,793 describes a method of processing black and white films, particularly microfilms, comprising a layer of silver halide emulsion spectrally sensitized with a cyanine dye. When the rate of replenishment of the processing solution is low or when the level of sensitizing dye is high, the spectral sensitizing dye forms in the processing solutions solid particles which adhere to the surface of the film and form specks or blotches on the final image. The problem is solved when the exposed film is processed in the presence of a stilbene which enables the spectral sensitizing dye to dissolve. Neither radiographic film, tabular grain emulsions, nor dye stain is addressed by Hoyen.

Radiographic product exhibiting reduced dye stain


A hydrolysis stabilizer for an ester group-containing resin, which comprises as a main component a carbodiimide having at least two carbodiimide groups in the molecule and resulting from 4,4'-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate or a mixture of 4,4'-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate and isophorone diisocyanate, or from a mixture of tetramethylxylylene diisocyanate with 4,4'-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate, isophorone diisocyanate or a mixture of 4,4'-dicyclohexylmethane diisocyanate and isophorone diisocyanate; and a process for the hydrolysis stabilization of an ester group-containing resin, which comprises mixing a polyester type resin with the above hydrolysis stabilizer.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a hydrolysis stabilizer for an ester group-containing resin and a process for the hydrolysis stabilization of an ester group-containing resin using said hydrolysis stabilizer. More particularly, it relates to a hydrolysis stabilizer for an ester group-containing resin which stabilizer does not generate a bad odor when kneaded with the resin at a high temperature, has an excellent compatibility and reactivity with a resin to which the stabilizer is added, even at a low temperature and exhibits thereby an excellent hydrolysis stabilizing effect and comprises a carbodiimide as a main component, and to a process for the hydrolysis stabilization of an ester group-containing resin using the above hydrolysis stabilizer.
2. Description of Related Art
Ester group-containing resins (referred to hereinafter as ester type resins in some cases), for example, polyester polyurethane (PU), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polybutylene terephthalate (PBT) and the like have excellent elasticity and moldability, and hence, have been employed in various uses.
However, for example, the above-mentioned polyester polyurethane resin is usually obtained by urethanizing a diisocyanate such as 4,4'-diphenylmethane diisocyanate (MDI), tolylene diisocyanate (TDI) or the like with a difunctional polyester polyol, so that it has many ester groups in the molecule. Accordingly, it is known that there are such problems that not only is this ester group easily hydrolyzed with moisture to cause reduction of molecular weight, but also the acidic carboxyl group formed by this hydrolysis accelerates the hydrolysis of the ester linkage, so that the strength is reduced and the reduction of strength makes it impossible for the resin per se to resist the strain caused during the curing of the resin, whereby cracking and further reduction of strength are caused.
In order to prevent such deterioration of physical properties, it has been tried to add various additives during the molding of a polyester polyurethane resin to trap the carboxyl groups and alcohol groups formed by the hydrolysis, thereby preventing hydrolysis from further proceeding.
The above additives include, for example, oxazolines, epoxy compounds, aromatic polycarbodiimides, aliphatic monocarbodiimides and the like. These additives are usually in the form of powder and used in such a manner that they are dry blended with resin pellets or mixed in a given amount with the resin by use of a measuring hopper during molding or spinning, and then, the resulting mixture is melt-kneaded at a given temperature (250.degree.-300.degree. C. in the case of polyethylene terephthalate).
However, the above-mentioned epoxy compounds and oxazolines have no sufficient effect of improving the hydrolysis resistance, increase the melt viscosity of the resin and deteriorate the moldability, so that they have no practical usability. Moreover, the above aromatic carbodiimides are usually thermosetting, and hence, their carbodiimide groups cross-link upon heating and when they are kneaded with the resin, the viscosity of the resulting mixture increases or they become lump-like and are ununiformly dispersed in the resin, and hence, in some cases, no desirable effect of hydrolysis stabilization can be obtained.
For the purpose of preventing the above-mentioned problems of aromatic carbodiimides when heated, there have been developed various aromatic carbodiimides having a group of high steric hindrance in the ortho-position to the carbodiimide group. However, these aromatic carbodiimides are pyrolyzed by a heat applied when they are melt-kneaded with a polyester polyurethane resin, and in addition, generate remarkably unpleasant odor due to the vaporization of impurities or starting materials, resulting in a deterioration of working atmosphere. Furthermore, the gas generated contains aromatic amines and the like and hence is very dangerous in view of not only bad odor but also toxicity, and hence, there is such a problem that a large scale deodorizing or ventilating apparatus becomes necessary.
Moreover, as aliphatic carbodiimides, the use of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide is well known; however, this dicyclohexylcarbodiimide reacts easily with water to be converted to dicyclohexylurea, and hence, has a problem in that close attention must be paid for preventing moisture in the storage of dicyclohexylcarbodiimide. Therefore, it is inadequate to use in industry. Furthermore, a monocarbodiimide is a low molecular weight compound and when added to a polyester polyurethane resin, it bleeds out of the resin, so that it has such a problem that the hydrolysis resistance is not sufficient.

Hydrolysis stabilizer for ester group-containing resin and process for hydrolysis stabilization of ester group-containing resin using said hydrolysis stabilizer


A method for operating a hydraulic valve of a hydraulic device of a motor vehicle transmission device, wherein an actuating current of the hydraulic valve is superposed with a modulation alternating current in order to adjust a shaking vibration of the hydraulic valve by a control device, wherein a deviation between an actual pressure resulting from the actuating current and a setpoint pressure determined as a function of the actuating current is determined for the hydraulic device by means of an electronic computing device, and an amplitude and/or a frequency of the modulation alternating current is increased as compared to a starting value equalizing a hysteresis of the actual pressure relative to the setpoint pressure, as a function of a tolerance range being exceeded by the determined deviation.

DE 10 2011 114 063 A1 discloses a method for actuating an electrically actuatable hydraulic valve. In the method, an actuating current of the hydraulic valve is modulated in order to reduce an unwanted hysteresis during operation of the hydraulic valve. In this case, a superposition of the actuating current of the hydraulic valve is briefly increased when an unwanted hysteresis has been detected by comparing an expected current/pressure characteristic curve with a measured current/pressure characteristic curve.
Furthermore, DE 10 2008 000 304 A1 discloses a method for operating a valve device of a transmission device of a vehicle drivetrain, in which a hydraulic pressure value of a hydraulic system of the transmission device can be set via a valve unit as a function of a current signal, which is pending and pulse-width-modulated at an electromagnetic actuating unit. An amplitude and/or a pulse duration of the pulse-width-modulated current signal is modified periodically by means of a dither modulation superposed on the pulse width modulation while retaining the pressure value to be set. This causes a vibrational motion to be applied to an anchor, which is designed to be moveable longitudinally, as well as to an actively connected valve tappet of the valve unit of the valve device. The dither modulation is activated or deactivated upon the exceeding of a pressure value set via the valve device. By superposing the dither modulation over the pulse width modulation, a shaking vibration is created in the area of the anchor of the electromagnetic actuating unit and in the area of the valve device's valve tappet operatively connected thereto, said shaking vibration reducing friction and thus the hysteresis of the valve device.
DE 199 37 053 A1 discloses a method regarding this for adapting a control current for a pressure-control valve. A modulation current of predetermined amplitude and frequency is superposed on the control current supplied to the pressure-control valve. Moreover, there is a check to determine whether the coupling pressure of the modulation of the control current follows with a predetermined amplitude, said control pressure being detected by the pressure sensor. If this is not the case, a control current characteristic map stored in a control unit is modified.

Method for operating a hydraulic valve of a hydraulic device of a motor vehicle transmission device as well as a motor vehicle transmission device