A radiotelephone device receiving network information, transmitted along a radio channel, from a network includes an acknowledgement coordination module determining a mode for exchange of acknowledgement information with the network. The radiotelephone device transmits the acknowledgement information to the network through a main dedicated control channel, using a defined service access point identifier corresponding to transmission of the acknowledgement information through the main dedicated control channel, in response to the mode for exchange of acknowledgement information being the main dedicated control channel. The radiotelephone device transmits the acknowledgement information to the network using a temporary block flow acknowledgement interchange in response to the mode for exchange of acknowledgement information being other than the main dedicated control channel.

The present invention relates generally to cellular packet data networks, and in particular, the present invention relates to a method and apparatus for exchanging acknowledgement information between a mobile station and a network in a cellular packet data network.
The Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) and Enhanced Data for Global Evolution (EDGE) is intended to enable a service subscriber to send and receive data in an end-to-end packet transfer mode without utilization of network resources in the circuit-switched mode. GPRS, EDGE and 3rd Generation (3G) packet radio services permit the efficient use of radio and network resources when data transmission characteristics are i) packet based, ii) intermittent and non-periodic, iii) possibly frequent, with small transfers of data, e.g. less than 500 octets, or iv) possibly infrequent, with large transfers of data, e.g. more than several hundred kilobytes. User applications may include Internet browsers, electronic mail and so on. GPRS/EDGE radio access network (GERAN) is the real-time migration path for GPRS/EDGE into 3rd generation wireless.
It is generally assumed that most internet application data traffic is generally biased in the downlink direction, meaning that a majority of application data traffic is transmitted from the network to a user application. This assumption is based both on the expected behavior of the user, since most users engage in applications that require the reception of much larger amounts of information from the network relative to the amount of information required to be transmitted to the network, and on the inherent properties of many of the applications themselves. For example, accessing a page of information on the worldwide web (WWW) requires a very short transmission of an address sequence on the uplink, i.e., from the user application to the network, followed by the reception of data on the downlink, i.e., from the network to the user application, which may be several orders of magnitude larger than the transmission that caused the downlink transfer. Therefore, known packet-based systems have been constructed to support a greater flow of information in the downlink direction, and to segregate the allocation of uplink and downlink resources from one another. This construction of packet-based systems differs, for example, from the construction of circuit-switched methods, which tend to be constructed as a bi-directional virtual circuit allocating dedicated resources which may be used only occasionally throughout the life of the session.
FIG. 1 (Prior Art) is a flow diagram of unidirectional information flow over a radio channel from a network to a user application. In spite of the fact that downlink internet data appears to flow in a single direction much of the time, there is the additional requirement to maintain the integrity of the information as it crosses the radio fading channel in a wireless domain. One of the primary known mechanisms for protecting data integrity over the fading channel involves the concept of acknowledged network protocols. For example, in a GSM/3G radio environment in which a unidirectional packet data transfer is required, it is almost always the case, unless the transfer involves embedded voice or video, that network level acknowledgements from the user application are required in order to preserve the integrity of information across the fading channel in the presence of deep fades.
As illustrated in FIG. 1, a network 100 begins a setup sequence in a downlink setup period by sending a packet paging request 102 along a radio channel to a mobile station 104. Once a random access burst 106 is received from mobile station 104, network 100 sends an immediate assignment message 108 and a packet downlink assignment message 110, detailing the parameters of the assignment, such as over what channel the transfer would take place, when the transfer would start, and so forth. Prior to transmission by network 100, the information intended to be transferred to mobile station 104 is divided into packets, so that after receiving a packet control acknowledge message 112 from mobile station 104 indicating acknowledgement by mobile station 104 of the parameters of the assignment detailed in immediate assignment message 108 and packet downlink assignment message 110, network 100 sends a series of data blocks, or frames 114, containing the packets to mobile station 104.
Upon receiving frames 114, mobile station 104 sets up a temporary block flow 116 to transmit an acknowledgement message to the network 100. As illustrated in FIG. 1, during setup of temporary block flow 116, mobile station 104 transmits a channel request access burst 118 to network 100, which responds by transmitting an immediate assignment message 120. Mobile station 104 then transmits a packet resource request message 122 to network 100 requesting resources for the temporary block flow. Network 100 responds by transmitting a packet uplink assignment message 124 to mobile station 104, and mobile station 104 acknowledges receipt of packet uplink assignment message 124 by transmitting a packet control acknowledgement message 126 to network 100.
Once packet control acknowledgement message 126 has been transmitted, mobile station 104 transmits an acknowledgement message 128 that indicates which frames of frames 114 were received by mobile station 104, along with a request for re-transmission of the frames that were not received. For example, as illustrated in FIG. 1, as a result of the radio fading channel, mobile station 104 may have only received frame zero and frame three of frame zero through frame three that were sent from network 100. Therefore, network acknowledgement message 128 would indicate that frame zero and frame three where received, and would request re-transmission of frame one and frame two. Frame one and frame two would then be re-transmitted by network 100 to mobile station 104, which, assuming no effects from the radio fading channel, are subsequently received by mobile station 104. If network 100 is in a ready state upon receiving network acknowledgement message 128, the setup for re-transmission would not be required. However, if network 100 is not in a ready state, the setup would have to be repeated, requiring the use of even more resources.
Upon receiving frame one and frame two, mobile station 104 again sets up a temporary block flow 130 to transmit an acknowledgement message 132 to the network 100 by sending a channel request access burst 134 to network 100, which responds by sending an immediate assignment message 136. Mobile station 104 then sends a packet resource request message 138 to network 100 requesting resources for the temporary block flow. Network 100 responds by sending a packet uplink assignment message 140 to mobile station 104, and mobile station 104 acknowledges receipt of packet uplink assignment message 140 by sending network 100 a packet control acknowledgement message 142. Once packet control acknowledgement message 142 has been sent, mobile station 104 transmits network acknowledgement message 132 containing an indication that frame one and frame two were received.
The use of such network acknowledgements is problematic in that within current specifications for GPRS/EDGE and 3G packet data services, the setup of the logical channel over which radio link acknowledgments are sent requires a substantial amount of time and coordination by the network. Furthermore, the allocation of radio resources for such radio-level acknowledgments generally impacts the system capacity, and there may be cases when there are radio resources in one direction but not in the other direction for a full allocation, causing radio link control timers to expire and a flurry of unnecessary re-transmission queries to be made.
Accordingly, what is needed is an improved method and apparatus for exchanging acknowledgement information between a user application and a network.

Method and apparatus for supporting radio acknowledgement information for a uni-directional user data channel


A motorcycle includes a motorcycle body, which incorporates a frame. An engine is supported by the motorcycle body. The engine includes a cylinder block and a crank case. An exhaust pipe communicates with the engine and has a portion that extends along a side of the engine. A battery is located above an upper surface of the crank case of the engine and to the rear of the cylinder block. The portion exhaust pipe extending along the side of the engine is located to a side of the battery and a heat shield plate is positioned between the exhaust pipe and the battery.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a motorcycle in which an engine is mounted to a body of the motorcycle and an exhaust device communicates with the engine. More particularly, the present invention relates to motorcycle with a battery mounting arrangement.
2. Description of the Related Art
In certain competition motorcycles, such as a motorcycle for use in motocross races, for example, a battery is generally not provided in order to reduce vehicle weight. However, when it is desirable to utilize electronic components on such a motorcycle, for example, a fuel injection valve instead of a carburetor, it is necessary to provide a control unit to control fuel injection timing and the like. As a result, a battery is provided as power supply for the control unit. An example of a structure for mounting the battery on a motorcycle is shown in Japanese Publication No. 05-085454. In the motorcycle of Japanese Publication No. 05-085454, the battery is mounted on an upper surface of a crank case and to the rear of the cylinder block.

Motorcycle with battery mounting arrangement


An optical frequency locking method tunes each of a plurality of narrow-band optical channel transmit signals (having arbitrary channel frequency spacings) to a dedicated optical channel frequency. The method includes tapping-off a portion of the optical power of the respective channel transmit signal and filtering the tapped-off channel transmit signal using at least one optical filter device. The method also includes monitoring, as an optical input signal, the optical power of the respective channel transmit signal supplied to the at least one optical filter device and, as an optical output signal, the optical power of the filtered channel transmit signal. The method further includes tuning, within a predetermined locking range for the dedicated optical channel frequency, the optical frequency of the respective channel transmit signal such that a predetermined value for the ratio of the output signal and the input signal is reached.

In most optical data transmission applications using optical wavelength division multiplexing (WDM), the wavelengths of the optical transmitters (mostly lasers) need to be locked to dedicated channel wavelengths, for example according to the ITU wavelength grid with optical frequencies spaced by 100, 50, or 25 GHz. For this purpose, wavelength lockers are available using optical filter devices, like etalons, which are periodic with the ITU frequency spacing. The known methods for locking the wavelength or optical frequency of a transmit signal to a dedicated channel frequency use a fixed relative position of the periodical optical transfer function of an optical filter device in order to lock the frequency of the transmitter unit to a fixed position of the respective transmission band of the filter. This fixed position usually corresponds to a mid point between the minimum and the maximum point of the filter transfer characteristic.
However, in some applications, optical wavelengths or optical frequencies for the channel transmit signals are required, which do not match the ITU grid. An example of such an application is a data transmission system using a cyclic arrayed waveguide grating (cyclic AWG) for demultiplexing an optical WDM signal comprising optical channel signals lying in one optical band (for example the L-band) and multiplexing channel transmit signals guided in the opposite transmission direction and lying in another optical band (for example the C-band). In this case, the cyclic AWG may be used for demultiplexing the WDM receive signal and multiplexing the channel transmit signals into a WDM transmit signal, if the channel receive signals and the channel transmit signals are spaced by a multiple integer of the free spectral range (FSR) of the cyclic AWG, that is, in different refractive orders of the cyclic AWG. As, due to physical properties of a cyclic AWG, the frequency spacing in different, even neighboring orders is slightly different, the frequency spacing of the downstream and upstream channels is different, too. In such applications, the intrinsic frequency spacing of the channel signals for the upstream or downstream direction differs from the ITU spacing by a few GHz, even if the channel signals for the respective other direction match the ITU spacing. Another example, where channel frequencies are required which do not fit the ITU grid, is the choice of unequal channel spacing to combat the non-linear effect of four-wave mixing. Here, three optical signals in a WDM system at frequencies f1, f2, and f3 interact during transmission in a non-linear fiber, generating new signals at, for instance, f1+f2−f3. If the frequencies adhere to a fixed frequency grid, the generated new signal is likely to interfere with a further signal of the WDM system. Using frequencies in the WDM system which do not have a fixed frequency spacing reduces the distortion from four-wave mixing, as most mixing products fall between the data carrying channels. This application is known as unequal channel spacing. For this application, it is necessary to control the transmit lasers to arbitrary frequencies.
Unfortunately, wavelength-locking devices for arbitrary but fixed absolute frequencies and arbitrary but fixed frequency spacings are not readily commercially available, or they are prohibitively costly as it is necessary to manufacture optical filter devices having a periodicity matching the required frequency spacing in rather low numbers.
Of course, it would be possible to use optical filter devices having a periodical transfer function, which are tunable with respect to the absolute position of the transmission bands (or peaks) and with respect to the spacing of the bands (or peaks), like a tunable delay-line interferometer. However, in case of a tunable delay-line interferometer, the absolute frequency and the frequency spacing of the transmission bands (or peaks) strongly varies with temperature, so the temperature of such a device needs to be precisely controlled during operation. Alternatively, a control signal having a fixed wavelength or optical frequency may be used to control the frequency grid of the interferometer. However, both variants require additional effort and costs.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a frequency locking method for tuning each of a plurality of narrow-band optical channel transmit signals to a dedicated optical channel frequency, the channel transmit signals having arbitrary channel frequency spacings, which allows the use of readily available optical filter devices having a transfer function with a different periodicity. It is a further object of the invention to provide a wavelength-locking device adapted to realize the method according to the invention.

Optical frequency locking method and device for optical data transmission


A drill guide device for dental implant has a positioning unit and a guiding unit. The positioning unit has a rod, a twist knob and a base. The twist knob has a first indexing table and at least two graduated markings of elevation angle. The base has a second indexing table matching the first indexing table. The twist knob is mounted in the base. The guiding unit has an inner guider and a middle guider. The inner guider has a first bending portion and two first abutting panels, and an inner diameter of the first bending portion corresponds to an outer diameter of the rod. The middle guider has a second bending portion and two second abutting panels respectively attached to the first abutting panels, and an inner diameter of the second bending portion corresponds to an outer diameter of the first bending portion.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a drill guide device, especially a drill guide device for dental implant that can improve efficiency of fabricating a surgical stent.
2. Description of the Prior Arts
Teeth are calcified structure formed in the mouth for biting and chewing. Adult's teeth may be damaged by oral diseases or external forces, and the broken teeth are unable to regenerate. After the teeth are damaged, the alveolar bone and the gums of the mouth may be shrunk, and this may impair the eating capability. To avoid the above-mentioned problem, the common treatment is dental implant to replace the broken or lost teeth with artificial teeth.
Dental implant is done by first drilling a pilot hole in suitable size on the dental ridge of a patient, and planting an implant fixture into the pilot hole of the dental ridge. After the dental ridge is healed, an abutment is securely connected to the implant fixture, and finally a crown is mounted around the abutment to finish the implant. The crown is supported by the implant fixture and the dental ridge to sustain the forces of chewing and biting, so the eating function is regained.
The dental implant comprises multiple steps, and the first step is obtaining implantology data by computerized tomographic scan and manufacturing the gum model of a patient, the second step is drilling a hole in the gum model and producing a surgical stent. Implant site and angulation have to be confirmed by scan and modified by the dentist based on the actual diagnosis. For example, if bone under the original drill site is damaged or thin, a new drilling of the hole needs to avoid the site of the thin dental bone and move to another site with thick dental bone in consideration of the patent's teeth to bear the pressure on the vertical and horizontal directions, such that the implant fixture and the crown can sustain the biting forces from the mouth; or the dentist needs to do some bone grafting to augment the bone volume thus to keep the ideal position for restoration. It means that the appropriate drilling site, orientation and angulation are the key factors to successful dental implant.
A conventional technique for making surgical stent uses a standard rod and multiple guiders in different diameters. In the fabrication process, the dentist first drills on an implant site on the gum model according to the implantology data obtained by pre-surgical scan and computation, and mounting the standard rod into a hole drilled on the implant site. With reference to FIG. 7, the gum model is clamped securely by a surveyor 50 for confirming the orientation and elevation angle of the standard rod. The surveyor 50 has a base platform 51, a pillar 52, a horizontal arm 53, a vertical arm 54, a reference rod 55, a supporting seat 56, a universal joint 57 and a cast holder 58. The pillar 52 is mounted on and protrudes from one side of the base platform 51, the horizontal arm 53 is mounted on a top end of the pillar 52, and the vertical arm 54 is mounted through the horizontal arm 53 and corresponds to a center of the base platform 51.
The reference rod 55 is mounted on a bottom end of the vertical arm 54. The horizontal arm 53 has a first knob 531 for adjusting the height of the vertical arm 54. The vertical arm 54 has a second knob 541 for fixing the reference rod 55. The supporting seat 56 is mounted on the center of the base platform 51 below the vertical arm 54, the universal joint 57 is mounted on the supporting seat 56, and the cast holder 58 is connected to the universal joint 57. The cast holder 58 is applied to hold a gum model 60, and the universal joint 57 can be turned for adjusting the elevation angle of the cast holder 58 relative to the reference rod 55.
The elevation angle of the standard rod is measured by the surveyor 50 for confirming the orientation and elevation angle of the standard rod, and if the orientation or elevation angle of the standard rod is incorrect, the hole of the gum model has to be re-drilled and the measuring steps are repeated, which causes a complicated procedure in drilling and measuring. When the orientation and elevation angle are correct, multiple guiders are mounted on the standard rod. The number of the guiders depends on the actual diagnosis. The diameter of the biggest guider is the actual size of the hole to be drilled on the dental ridge of the patient.
Then, the gum model, the standard rod, and the multiple guiders are covered by resin. After a while, the resin is solidified to form a surgical stent. By removing the standard rod from the surgical stent, the surgical stent is mounted on the dental ridge of the patient for processing the drilling.
The conventional standard rod is mounted in the gum model, and the gum model has to be mounted securely on the surveyor for confirming the orientation and elevation angle of the standard rod, and then continuing the process of fabricating the surgical stent. As each tooth of the patient has a unique elevation angle, when a patient needs to install multiple dental implants, multiple measuring and readjusting steps are needed before mounting the standard rods into the gum model. This causes a complicated process and takes lots of time to fabricate the surgical stent. After mounting the standard rods into the gum model, the drilling site, orientation and angulation of the gum model need to be confirmed by the oral scan data of the patient. So for improving the efficiency of fabricating the surgical stent, simplifying the measuring steps is necessary.
To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a drill guide device for dental implant to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.


An insect adhesive apparatus capable of automatically renewing an insect adhesive area and a control method thereof. The insect adhesive apparatus includes a roll rack, at least one motor, a camera module and a central control module. The roll rack is configured to equip a roll and unroll the roll to provide a long strip-shaped insect adhesive area. The motor scrolls out the roll on the roll rack according to a first control signal so as to renew the long strip-shaped insect adhesive area. The camera module acquires image information of the insect adhesive area. The central control module analyzes the image information to provide an area occupancy rate of attachments and determine whether the area occupancy rate of attachments is larger than a threshold value. If the area occupancy rate of attachments is larger than the threshold value, the first control signal is output to the motor.

1. Technical Field
The present invention generally relates to an insect adhesive apparatus for agricultural use and, more particularly, to an insect adhesive apparatus capable of automatically renewing an insect adhesive area and a control method thereof.
2. Description of Related Art
The present insect adhesive apparatus uses disposable insect glue boards, insect glue paper traps or insect glue tapes. When being used, the insect glue boards, insect glue paper traps or insect glue tapes are spread into an insect adhesive area. As a result, the insects flying near the insect adhesive area may get trapped. However, the effective insect adhesive area decreases with the increase of the number of insects being trapped. Accordingly, to maintain the trapping capability, the insect adhesive apparatus has to be updated manually and periodically. Therefore, the present invention provides an insect adhesive apparatus capable of automatically renewing an insect adhesive area and a control method thereof to save manpower.

Insect adhesive apparatus capable of automatically renewing insect adhesive area and control method thereof


A beam passing position controlling apparatus comprises a light source for emitting a beam, a mechanism for reflecting the beam toward an image carrier surface to scan the image carrier surface, a sensor for detecting a position where the beam passes on the image carrier surface, a circuit for calculating a correction amount from the position detected, a mechanism for correcting the passing position of the beam on the basis of the correction amount, and a circuit for controlling respective operations of the apparatus.

The present invention relates to a beam scanning device for simultaneously scanning and exposing a single photosensitive drum with a plurality of laser beams, to form a single electro-static latent image on the photosensitive drum, and an image forming apparatus such as a digital copying machine or a laser printer using the beam scanning device.
In recent years, various digital copying machines have been developed in which image formation is performed by scanning and exposing with a laser beam and electronic photographing processing.
More recently, in order to obtain a higher image forming speed, developments have been made to a digital copying machine adopting a multi-beam method in which a plurality of laser beams are generated and scanning is simultaneously carried out for a plurality of scanning lines with use of a plurality of beams, in order to improve the image formation speed.
This kind of digital copying machine which adopts such a multi-beam method comprises a plurality of laser oscillators for generating laser beams, a polygon rotation mirror for reflecting the laser beams generated by the plurality of laser oscillators toward a photosensitive drum to scan the photosensitive drum with the laser beams, and an optical unit as a beam scanning device mainly consisting of a collimator lens and an f-.theta. lens.
However, in the structure of a conventional optical unit, it is very difficult to obtain an ideal positional relationship between a plurality of beams on a photosensitive drum (or a surface to be scanned). In order to obtain an ideal positional relationship, respective components as well as assembling thereof require high accuracy, and hence, the cost of the device is increased.
Even if an ideal positional relationship is obtained, the shape of a lens may be changed slightly or the positional relationship between respective components may be changed slightly due to circumferential changes, such as changes change in temperature and humidity or time-based changes. Consequently, the positional relationship between beams changes, and as a result, a high quality image cannot be formed. Therefore, to construct this kind of optical system, it is necessary to adopt a structure and components which are strong against changes as described above. Especially, as for lenses, a glass lens which is strong against circumferential changes and time-based changes is expensive so that the cost of the device is increased.
In the following, defects in an image which are caused when an image is formed with beams whose passing positions are erroneously dislocated will be explained with reference to FIGS. 15A and 15B and FIGS. 16A and 16B.
For example, in case where a character of "T" shown in FIG. 15A is formed, an image as shown in FIG. 15B is formed when a passing position of a beam is erroneously dislocated from a predetermined position. In the example of this figure, the passing position of a beam b is shifted from its predetermined position so that the distance between beams a and b is reduced while the distance between beams b and c is enlarged, among four beams a to d used.
FIG. 16A shows an example of an image in which emission timings of respective beams are not controlled correctly. As is apparent from this figure, the image forming position in the main scanning direction is dislocated so that a longitudinal line cannot be formed straight.
FIG. 16B shows an image in which neither the passing positions of beams nor the emission timings are controlled correctly, defects in an image appear both in the sub-scanning direction and in the main scanning direction.
Thus, when an image is formed in a multi-beam method, beam passing positions in the sub-scanning direction must be controlled to be arranged at predetermined intervals, and the emission timings of respective beams must be controlled so as to align the image forming position in the main scanning direction.

Beam passage position control apparatus for controlling a beam passage position and an image forming apparatus using the same


An ozone generator with a disposable emitter cartridge preferably includes two emitter cartridges, a protective housing, a high voltage generation circuit and a power supply. The disposable emitter cartridge preferably includes an anode element, a cathode element and an insulating spacer. The anode element includes a plurality of emitter projections. The cathode element includes a base plate with a plurality of openings. The anode element is attached to one side of the insulating spacer and the cathode element is attached to an opposing side. The protective housing preferably includes a base portion, an emitter housing and a pair of vent caps. The two emitter cartridges are removable retained on the base portion. The power supply supplies electrical power to the high voltage circuit. The high voltage circuit supplies high voltage to the two emitter cartridges. Electrical current arcs from the plurality emitter projections to the plurality of openings.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to air purifiers and more specifically to an ozone generator with a disposable emitter cartridge, which does not require the replacement of an entire ozone generator.
2. Discussion of the Prior Art
Ozone generator emitter cartridges fail, because high voltage transmission eventually corrodes emitter projections. However, it appears that the prior art does not teach or suggest an ozone generator with a replaceable emitter cartridge.
Accordingly, there is a clearly felt need in the art for an ozone generator with a disposable emitter cartridge, which does not require the replacement of an entire ozone generator when the emitter cartridge fails.

Ozone generator with a disposable emitter cartridge


A bicycle comprises a frame member and a front fork member. A first hinge portion is integrated with the frame member and that has a first profile in a plane that is parallel to a plane defined by the front fork member. A second hinge portion is integrated with the front fork and that has a second profile in the plane, wherein the first and second profiles are complementary mating profiles.

A bicycle includes a frame member that usually includes two triangular-shaped front and rear frame portions that have a common side. The rear frame portion usually includes two spaced and aligned rear sub-frame portions. A rear wheel is mounted for rotation between the two rear sub-frame portions.
The common side of the front and rear frame portions may support the mounting of a seat. An upper front corner of the front frame portion usually includes a cylindrical bore that removably and rotatably receives an upper part of a front fork member. Bearings may be located in the bore to facilitate rotation of the front fork member relative to the frame member. A bolt and a wedge-shaped member threadably mounted to the bolt are typically used to fix rotation of the front fork relative to a stem associated with handlebars of the bicycle.
A front wheel includes a front axle that is releasably attached to a lower end of the front fork member. For example, quick release fasteners and/or nuts may be used to attach the front axle to the front fork member. A rear wheel includes a rear axle that is releasably attached between lower rear corners of the rear sub-frame portions. Quick release fasteners and/or nuts may also be used to attach the rear axle to the rear sub-frame portions. A lower end of the common side of the front and rear frame portions includes a bore that receives bearings and a crank assembly. The crank assembly typically includes pedals that are connected by cranks to a chain wheel or front cog and a front derailleur. A chain connects the front chain wheel to a freewheel or rear cog and a rear derailleur, which are both associated with the rear wheel.
Front and rear brake levers are typically mounted on the handlebars and are connected by cables to front and rear brake assemblies. Each of the brake assemblies typically include a central mounting member. First and second arms with brake pads at distal ends thereof are pivotally connected to the center mounting member. A spring biases the first and second arms in an outwardly direction so that the brake pads do not contact the wheel when the brake levers are not depressed by the rider. When pressure is applied to the brake levers, the brake pads create friction which slows the wheels. This brake mechanism is typically exposed, which increases drag and reduces the esthetic appeal of the bicycle.
Since bicycles are human powered, it is advantageous to reduce the weight of the bicycle. Furthermore, the aerodynamic drag of the bicycle is preferably as a low as possible. In current bicycles, the design of the front fork member, the frame member and the brakes has not been sufficiently optimized. In other words, these structures have relatively poor aerodynamic characteristics, which increases drag. As a result, increased effort is required to sustain motion. In addition to reducing the aerodynamic drag of these structures, it would also be desirable to reduce the weight and manufacturing cost of these structures.

Integrated front fork hinge and brake system for bicycles


The vibration damper material comprises a laminate of a viscoelastic layer and a hardenable pressure sensitive adhesive layer, and a release liner applied onto the hardenable pressure sensitive adhesive layer. The viscoelastic layer is intended to form a vibration damping layer, and contains a viscoelastic material mainly comprised of unvulcanized rubber to which a vulcanizing agent (crosslinking agent) has been added. The hardenable pressure sensitive adhesive layer comprises a hardenable pressure sensitive adhesive which has adhesive properties in the uncured state but has a strong adhesive strength when it is cured by heating, irradiation with light or by being blocked from air for example. This hardenable pressure sensitive adhesive layer contains a sticking polymer, a reactive oligomer and a polymerization initiator. The release liner which is utilized has a silicone layer formed on the surface of a base material thereof. This vibration damper material has an excellent ability to follow curved surfaces, a reliable adhesivity, and provides a high degree of vibration damping property without impairing the efficiency in the operation in which the vibration damper material is applied onto an adherend.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a vibration damper material which exhibits vibration damping properties when it is used.
2. Description of the Background Art
Vibration damper materials comprised vibration damping layers utilizing viscoelastic materials are known as materials which can suppress vibrations and noise. Such vibration damper materials are utilized by being adhered or stuck onto an adherend to provide vibration damping effect of the adherend. For example, they are placed on the floors of automobiles and around such areas to prevent vibrations and noise from being transmitted inside the vehicle.
One of such vibration damper materials is a sheet in which a pressure sensitive adhesive layer is bonded to a vibration damping layer consisting of an asphalt sheet or a vulcanized rubber sheet. However, such vibration damping sheets have problems in that the asphalt sheet and the vulcanized rubber sheet have a high modulus of bending elasticity. As a result, they have an impaired ability to follow curved surfaces and impaired adhesive reliability when they are applied to curved areas. Therefore, there is a risk that the pressure sensitive adhesive layer will peel when, for example, the temperature changes or they suffer vibrations or impacts. As a result, gaps are formed between the adherend and the pressure sensitive adhesive layer, thus leading to loss of the vibration damping ability.
In order to prevent such peeling from occurring there is a one method whereby the asphalt sheet is adhered to the adherend using an adhesive. However, this method has two main disadvantages. First, that it takes time to coat and dry the adhesive and the operating efficiency is poor.
There is also another method in which the vibration damping sheet is formed in advance with a shape which is similar to the curved surface of the adherend. However, this method is impractical since it is not very widely applicable and there will be cases where the shape of the adherend cannot be specified at the time that the vibration damper material is produced.

Vibration damper material comprising a vicso elastic layer of unvulcanized rubber


An apparatus, a method, and a computer readable recording medium thereof to update filter tap coefficients of an equalizer include a defect signal detection unit and a coefficient updating unit. The defect signal detection unit receives a sampled input signal reflected from an optical disc and/or a track jump signal, detects whether the input signal and/or the track jump signal are defective, and outputs an update stop signal indicative thereof. The coefficient updating unit stops the updating of the filter tap coefficients in response to the update stop signal and outputs current filter tap coefficients.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to updating of filter tap coefficients of an equalizer, and more particularly, to an apparatus and method for updating filter tap coefficients of an equalizer, where the filter tap coefficients of the equalizer are normally updated without errors even when a defect is generated on an optical disc or track jumping occurs in an optical disc recording/reproducing apparatus.
2. Description of the Related Art
In order to increase a recording density of an optical disc, a partial response maximum likelihood (PRML) reading technique adopting a Viterbi decoding technique is used. An equalizer having a finite impulse response (FIR) filter unit including a plurality of digital filters is installed at a front portion of a Viterbi decoder, and equalizes waveforms of a radio frequency (RF) signal reflected by an optical disc so that the RF signal has a level required by the Viterbi decoder.
However, if defects exist on the optical disc or track jumping occurs, the RF signal becomes unstable. Accordingly, an error is generated in updating filter tap coefficients of the equalizer, so that the filter tap coefficients are diffused to unstable area values. Therefore, the equalizer becomes unstable, and, thus, freezing or breaking of image screens occurs.

Apparatus and method of updating filter tap coefficients of an equalizer


A process, system, and apparatus for effectively and economically producing fermentable sugars from cellulosic feedstocks is described. The economic viability of using wood and/or agricultural waste, containing large fractions of cellulose and hemicellulose is highly dependent on the method used for hydrolysis. Underlying the gist of this invention are newly discovered methods, means, and techniques by which both the pentosans and hexosans comprising the hemicellulose fraction of the selected feedstock and the hexosans comprising the cellulose fraction of the selected feedstock can be quickly and efficiently converted in a single pass through a single device to fermentable sugars containing minimal quantities of degradation products known to inhibit fermentation. Successful operation of this new hydrolysis process employing a new reactor design can produce fermentable sugars at rates and efficiencies previously thought unattainable by reducing the number of processing steps, pieces of equipment, and unit operation previously used.

1. Field of the Invention
Cellulose hydrolysis, as is well known, can be achieved by a number of techniques; however, the most commonly used methods for effecting cellulose hydrolysis employ the utilization of either mineral acids or enzymes. The hardware and techniques described infra, and which comprise the instant invention, relate only to the acid hydrolysis systems.
As to such acid hydrolysis systems, they have been categorized or classified by prior art investigators as either dilute or concentrated. Referring now specifically to sulfuric acid systems, dilute sulfuiric acid hydrolysis, as universally understood and practiced, is conducted with acid solutions whose effective concentration in the aqueous phase is usually less than about 10 percent. Note: unless otherwise specifically indicated, all concentrations herein are understood to be on a by weight basis. Conversely, to effect the high glucose conversion efficiencies reported in the past, and discussed infra, concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis systems had to be conducted with very concentrated acid solutions to ensure a minimum concentration in the aqueous phase during processing above about 70 percent. Therefore, according to the classical definitions and processing techniques adhered to in the prior art, the invention described herein falls in neither the concentrated nor the dilute category. However, for ease of understanding and convenience and further since the conditions under which the instant invention operates more closely approximates those used for concentrated acid hydrolysis, the instant process will hereinafter be described or generally categorized as a concentrated acid hydrolysis process.
Feedstocks for such cellulosic hydrolysis may be, but are not limited to, the following materials: wood; wood waste; waste paper; the cellulosic fraction of municipal solid waste; or agricultural residues such as corn stover, sugar cane bagasse, and cotton gin trash. The sugars resulting from such hydrolysis include the hexose sugars glucose, mannose, and galactose; and the pentose sugars, xylose, and arabinose.
In addition to producing such sugar products, a relatively small amount of a number of by-products originating from the other components found in the hemicellulose, or resulting from degradation of the sugars, or the extractives present in the feedstock may also be produced when cellulosic materials are hydrolyzed. For example, acetic acid, which is produced from the hydrolysis of hemicellulose, is the most prevalent by-product resulting from the hydrolysis of wood. Acetic acid is produced from the glucomannan and methylglucoronoxylan fraction of the hemicellulose. Among the by-products originating from the degradation of sugar are furfural, hydroxymethyl firfiral, and levulinic acid. The feedstock extractives consist mainly of tannins, resins, and gums. Such tannins contain polyhydroxyphenols. Condensed tannins like catechin cannot be hydrolyzed. Hydrolyzable tannins consist of gallotannins, ellagitannins, and caffetannins. A gallotannin, for example, is a single molecule of glucose combined with ten molecules of gallic acid. Resins are complex structures consisting of resin acids like carboxylic acid resin alcohols, resinotannols, and resenes. Resins often occur in mixtures with volatile oils; these mixtures, an example of which is turpentine, are known as oleoresins. The gums may be classified as polysaccharides or salts of polysaccharides and may be pentosans or hexosans. When hydrolyzed, in addition to sugars, gums, which contain a complex organic acid nucleus, form salts primarily with calcium, magnesium, and potassium.
Although lignin is inherently associated with the lignocellulosic material feedstock, it consists of a variety of phenylpropane derivatives bound in a complex network difficult to characterize and is usually considered to be unreactive (Herman F. J. Wenzel, Chemical Technology of Wood, Academic Press, New York, 1970). Because lignin is for the most part unreactive, it is oftentimes used as a tie element in material balance calculations.
2. Description of Prior Art
Numerous prior art investigators have discovered, taught, and disclosed a plethora of methods and/or means for hydrolyzing cellulosic materials to produce both sugars, and sugar-rich products. For instance, it has been known since at least as early as 1819 that cellulose can be hydrolyzed to yield sugar. Since that time many processes have been developed for both the concentrated acid hydrolysis process and the dilute acid hydrolysis process. Following is a brief summary of some of the more significant of these prior art processes.
In 1880, a hydrolysis process based on supersaturated or fuming hydrochloric acid was patented in Germany and was known as the "Rheinau process." In addition to other problems, the corrosiveness of the processing environment made commercial application of same highly impractical.
Continued development of the Rheinau process led to a countercurrent operation that permitted much higher sugar concentrations. This improved process became known as the "Rheinau-Bergius process." In spite of the major increases in sugar concentration possible with the new processing techniques, acid consumption remained a particular problem. Approximately three parts on a weight basis of 41 percent concentrated hydrochloric acid were required for each part of wood according to Wenzel, supra.
Like the hydrochloric acid processes described supra, numerous researchers have investigated the use of sulfuric acid to effect hydrolysis of lignocellulosics. These researchers have used both dilute solutions and concentrated solutions of sulfuric acid. As noted supra, typically, dilute sunlfric acid systems utilize acid solutions containing less than 10 percent sulfuric acid, while the concentrated acid systems require greater than 70 percent sulfuric acid solutions during processing. As noted earlier, it is important to remember that processes using dilute solutions of sulfuric acid, in either a single-stage or two-stage mode, are typically operated at elevated pressures and temperatures relative to concentrated acid systems. These elevated temperature processes, as will be discussed in more detail, infra, may also cause degradation of the product sugars. Sugar degradation, especially those sugars resulting from hydrolysis of hemicellulose, caused some prior art investigators to research two-step processes in which the hemicellulose would be hydrolyzed and the resultant hydrolyzate collected before cellulose hydrolysis, see, for example, Reitter, U.S. Pat. No. 4,427,453, Jan. 24, 1984. On the other hand, concentrated sulfuric acid processes utilize solutions containing more than 70 percent sulfuric acid and are able to effect hydrolysis of cellulose at or near ambient pressures.
One of, if not, the first successful applications of dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis technology took place at the end of the 1920s with the development of the Scholler-Tomesch process. This process, which used approximately a 0.4 percent acid solution at temperatures and pressures of around 170.degree. C. and eight atmospheres, respectively, to effect hydrolysis, employed a percolation system normally consisting of three vertical reactors.
The Scholler-Tornesch process, supra, was later brought to and tested in the United States during World War II. The results of the tests were, however, not encouraging. Due to the scarcity of ethanol during the war, the United States sponsored the development of a new dilute sulfurric acid hydrolysis process, which came to be known as the Madison process. The process, which was developed at the University of Wisconsin's Forest Products Laboratory in Madison, differed in a number of respects from the earlier Scholler-Tornesch process. The Madison process was operated as a continuous process, whereas the Scholler-Tomesch process was limited to batch operation; therefore, the Madison process could provide for much greater throughput. In addition, the Madison process operated at a much lower liquid-to-solids ratio than the Scholler-Tornesch process: 3-to-1 versus 10-to-1, respectively, which allowed for significantly increased sugar concentrations in the resulting product.
Operation of the Madison dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis process was practiced by first adding acid, at a concentration of approximately 0.5 percent, to the reactor. The temperature of the reactor was held at 150.degree. C. for 30 minutes. At these conditions, almost all the pentosans and hexosans of the hemicellulose hydrolyzed. Subsequently, the resulting hemicellulose sugar rich solution was drawn off. More fresh acid was added to the residue remaining in the reactor and the temperature within same was slowly increased to 185.degree. C. As more hydrolyzate was removed from the reactor, more fresh acid was added. Processing time for the Madison process was approximately 3 to 3.5 hours versus 15 to 18 hours for the Scholler-Tornesch process, supra. Testing of the Madison process was stopped when the war ended since thereafter the demand for ethanol was greatly reduced. Although the plant, as constructed, consisted of five reactors, only one reactor was ever operated, and then approximately for only some six months.
Later, in the 1950s, the Tennessee Valley Authority (TVA) constructed a dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis pilot plant which was based on the Madison process: an acid concentration of 0.5 to 0.6 percent was used at a temperature of approximately 180.degree. C. The primary difference between the Madison and TVA processes was that the TVA process employed higher pressures: 14 to 16 atmospheres versus 9 atmospheres. Total processing time was reduced from about 3 to 3.5 hours for the Madison process to about 2.5 to 3 hours in the TVA process. However, this still long processing time served to limit the commercial viability of the process by necessitating the use of very large equipment.
In the late 1970s and early 1980s, work at the University of New York lead to further development of a dilute sulfuric acid process which employed twin screw extruder technology to effect a more commercially viable dilute sulfuiric acid hydrolysis process than those discussed supra by decreasing the size of the processing equipment required. The high glucose conversions observed were made possible by exposing the feedstock to a high degree of strain through intense mixing and higher temperatures for shorter times. To effectively accomplish this a commercial model twin screw extruder was used as described in Rugg et al., U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,316,747, Feb. 23, 1982; 4,316,748, Feb. 23, 1982; 4,363,671, Dec. 14, 1982; 4,368,079, Jan. 11, 1983; 4,390,375, Jun. 28, 1983; and, 4,591,386, May 27, 1986. Twin screw extruders are designed to run starved, that is, without filling all the volume in the intermeshed flights with reaction mass. These extruders can provide for acid impregnation through intense mixing. Running starved, such impregnation is accomplished with high shear and strain and not compression pressure.
As described by Rugg et al., '375 and '386, supra, column 6, lines 1-50, the twin screw extruder/reactor was used to effect the following conditions: a reaction zone temperature of 237.degree. C. (459.degree. F.), a reaction zone pressure of 400 psi, and an effective acid concentration of 1.34 percent. These conditions produced a glucose conversion of 50 percent. In order to maintain the high process pressures and temperatures within the reaction zone, Rugg et al., designed their extruder/reactor to provide for a dynamic seal upstream of the reaction zone and a small diameter orifice at the reactor's discharge point. Rugg et al., '375 and '386, supra, column 7, lines 15-16, for example, although alluding to the importance of residence time, do not describe their residence times, but rather have left it up to the reader to deduce, from the information provided in column 6, lines 25-35 and column 6, lines 25-34, respectively, and the rotational speed of the screw provided in column 6, line 15 and column 6, line 13, respectively. From the information provided in this example, it would appear that the reaction mass would have a total residence time in the reactor of between 12 and 13 seconds and a reaction zone residence time of about 7 seconds. The information provided in Rugg et al., '671, column 5, lines 39-46, and the rotational speed provided in column 5, line 29; and Rugg et al., '748, column 5, lines 37-44, and the rotational speed provided in column 5, line 26, also allows the reader to deduce a total residence time, in these two examples, of approximately 11 to 12 seconds and a reaction zone residence time of about 7 seconds. As will be discussed in more detail infra, the conversion and residence times obtained by Rugg et al., in the examples referenced supra, correlate closely with well described kinetics for dilute acid hydrolysis. For example, based on the glucose conversion and conditions described in Rugg et al., '375 and '386, supra, a residence time of about 5 to 12 seconds in the reaction zone is predicted by the kinetics.
Wherein the long reaction residence times associated with previous dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis systems contributed to their lack of commercial viability, the short reaction residence times associated with the invention of Rugg et al., may have likewise effectively prevented its use in that physically, it is much too short to effect, with mechanical means, the conditions required for efficient glucose conversion. In addition, and as will be discussed in more detail infra, the high sugar degradation rates associated with the invention of Rugg et al., may have also played an important factor in the lack of a commercialization effort.
One of the most effective, albeit energy-demanding and complicated, processes developed to date for converting lignocellulosics to sugar was developed at the United States Department of Agriculture's National Regional Research Laboratory in Peoria, Ill. The process included the following seven separate processing steps: hemicellulose (pentosan) hydrolysis, dewatering, drying, grinding, acid mixing, acid impregnation, and cellulose hydrolysis. For a detailed description of the process see J. W. Dunning et al., Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 37, No. 1, January 1945, "The Saccharification of Agricultural Residues," pp. 24-29; and, Dunning et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,450,586, Oct. 5, 1948.
As taught in Dunning et al., '586, supra, column 1, line 43 through column 2, line 49, their process included no less than seven separate steps starting with using dilute sulfuric acid, 1 to 6 percent at 100.degree. C. to 121.degree. C. to convert the pentosans and hexosans contained in the hemicellulose to pentose and hexose sugars. Thereafter, the cellulose and lignin rich residue that remained was collected and mechanically dewatered. The resulting residues were therein thermally dried to produce a material containing less than 2 percent moisture. The resulting very dry material was then ground to pass a 40-mesh screen and subsequently mixed with 80 to 87 percent sulfuric acid at a temperature below 40.degree. C. The fully mixed material was then compressed under a continuously changing directional pressure above substantially 100 psi at a temperature of not more than 45.degree. C. to impregnate the feedstock with acid. The resultant mixture was then collected and hydrolyzed to produce glucose conversions of approximately 90 percent. A more detailed discussion of impregnation is provided in J. W. Dunning et al., Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, supra.
In the development of their process, Dunning et al., '586, supra, relied on the well documented dilute acid hydrolysis technology, described supra, to hydrolyze the pentosans and hexosans comprising the hemicellulose. The cellulose and lignin rich residue was then taken and mechanically dewatered to remove most of the water from the residue. Thereinafter, thermal drying with a current of hot air as described in Dunning et al., '586, column 2, lines 12-14, was required to achieve the desired moisture level of 2 percent in the resultant solid residue. Column 2 further describes that the dried solid residue was ground to pass a 40-mesh screen. The dried and ground solid residue was then mixed with 0.15 to 0.55 parts of 80 to 87 percent sulfuric acid per part of cellulosic material at temperatures below 40.degree. C. Only after all of these five steps had been carried out was the resulting solid residue subjected to continuously changing directional pressure to impregnate the acid into the cellulosic structure. As described at column 2, lines 25-35, this impregnation was effective at pressures of 100-250 psi for periods of time preferably ranging from 1 to 5 minutes at temperatures not exceeding 45.degree. C. As described in Dunning et al., Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, supra, the impregnation resulted in a compression of the feedstock to 35 percent of its original volume. As further described in Dunning et. al., '586, column 6, lines 21-24, an expeller press was used. The pressure step converted the solid residue from a free flowing powder to a stiff plastic mass. The final step, in the seven step processing scheme of Dunning et al., '586, was the conveyance of the stiff plastic mass to a container into which sufficient water was added to dilute the acid to approximately 7 to 9 percent and then the pumping of the resultant slurry, under a pressure of 5 to 45 psi through a coil hydrolyzer heated to 120 to 135.degree. C. for a period of time preferably ranging from 5 to 20 minutes.
As described in Dunning et al., Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, the hydrolyzate would, in a process to produce ethanol, be filtered to remove the unreacted cellulose and lignin; neutralized with lime to react the residual sulfuric acid; filtered again to remove the resultant gypsum; and fermented to produce ethanol.
In the nearly 50 years since the issuance of the '586 patent to Dunning et al., there has not been a single successful commercialization effort. The reasons for this may include the complexity of the process but most likely the high cost of recovery of acid associated with his process. The use of 80 to 85 percent sulfuric acid in the process taught by Dunning et al., '586, precludes the economical reconcentration and recycle of the acid using systems employing mechanical vapor recompression. The acid recovered from the hydrolysis process described by Dunning et al., '586, is less than 10 percent and must be reconcentrated back to 80 to 85 percent before reuse. It has been found that economical reconcentration of the acid can only be accomplished through the use of mechanical vapor recompression. Mechanical vapor recompression systems typically require about 30-50 BTUs to evaporate one pound of water. By comparison, a steam injection system would require about 1300-1500 BTUs to evaporate the same pound of water. As may be appreciated by those skilled in the art, this method of evaporation works best on solutions whose boiling point remains relatively constant during the evaporation process. Since the boiling point of sulfuric acid increases with increased concentration, application of mechanical vapor recompression for reconcentration beyond about 55 percent becomes problematic. From Perry et al., Chemical Engineers'Handbook, Fifth Edition, McGraw Hill-Hill Book Company, 1973 it is shown that concentrating the acid solution from 10 to 55 percent, as may be practiced in the instant invention, results in a 28.degree. C. temperature increase in the boiling point of the acid solution, from 102 to 130.degree. C. This temperature increase approximately represents the limits within which mechanical vapor recompression is economical. By comparison, concentrating an acid solution from 10 to the 80 percent level of Dunning et al., results in a temperature increase of 98.degree. C.
Because of the plethora of problems associated with sulfuiric acid type hydrolysis systems, work over the last decade has all but stopped. Other research has been directed to peripherals associated with completely integrated processes. For instance, Lightsey et al., U.S. Pat. No. 5,407,817, Apr. 19, 1995, teach presegregation of municipal solid waste and pretreatment with dilute sulfuric acid to reduce heavy metal content in the recovered cellulosic component. Others have switched to studying enzymatic hydrolysis processes. Enzymatic hydrolysis could offer simple processing and high conversions. The National Renewable Energy Laboratory switched its focus to enzymatic hydrolysis of cellulose in the mid 1980s. However, development of an economical enzymatic hydrolysis process has not yet been realized.
Kinetic Analysis of Concentrated Versus Dilute Acid Hydrolysis Systems: In order that those skilled in the art may better understand why dilute acid hydrolysis processes, such as the one described by Rugg et al., should operate at the short residence times, discussed supra, to effect glucose conversion efficiencies of about 50 percent, the following kinetic analysis is provided. As will be demonstrated, infra, the short residence times deduced, supra, which are on the order of seconds, are predicted by the empirical kinetic relationships for dilute acid hydrolysis systems developed by other researchers. As will also be demonstrated from these same kinetics, longer residence times result in lower glucose conversion efficiencies due to the fact that the product sugar starts to degrade faster than it is formed. Therefore, in dilute acid hydrolysis systems, it is best to convert the lignocellulosic feedstock to sugar quickly and also remove the product sugar as quickly as possible to minimize sugar degradation. Because these high glucose conversions are only possible at these relatively short residence times, design of commercial dilute acid hydrolysis processing systems, capable of achieving these same results, becomes problematic.
To aid in understanding the significance of the instant invention, the dilute acid process described by Rugg et al., '747, '748, '671, '079, '375, and '386, supra, and the concentrated acid process described by Dunning et al., '586, will be relied on for use of comparison. For example, Rugg et al., '375 and '386, column 6, lines 63-64, and column 7, lines 1-2 teach that the reaction conditions within their process can vary between from 350.degree. F. (177.degree. C.) to about 545.degree. F. (285.degree. C.) at pressures of 135 to 1000 psi, respectively. From the steam tables, examples of which can be found in any of a variety of technical publications, such as Richard E. Balzhiser et al., Chemical Engineering Thermodynamics, Prentice-Hall, Inc., Englewood Cliffs, N.J., 1972, it is noted that a saturated steam temperature of 350.degree. F. (177.degree. C.) correlates to a saturated steam pressure of 135 psi and a saturated steam temperature of 545.degree. F. (285.degree. C.) correlates to a saturated steam pressure of 1000 psi, it being understood all numbers are rounded to the nearest whole number as in Rugg et al., '747, '748, '671, '079, '375, and '386, supra.
Although teaching pressures of at least 135 psi, Rugg et al., '375 claim pressures equal or exceeding only 100 psi, which, from the steam tables, correlate to a lower reaction temperature of 328.degree. F. (164.degree. C.). It may be deduced, therefore, that Rugg et al., '375, are referring to superheated steam at 100 psi and 350.degree. F. Rugg et al., '375 and '386, column 6, lines 64-65 point out that reaction temperatures can exceed 545.degree. F. depending upon the available steam pressure, and in all their examples report reaction temperatures which correspond to at least the saturated steam temperature at the pressures described. For instance, in the example provided in Rugg et al., '375 and '386, the reaction temperature listed is actually above the corresponding saturated steam temperature at the pressure given; therefore, the steam used in this example must have been superheated. In each of the single examples provided in Rugg et al., '747, '748, '671, and '079 the reaction temperatures disclosed therein correspond to the saturated steam temperatures at the given pressures.
As is now shown, the findings of Rugg et al., '747, '748, '671, '079, '375, and '386 correlate closely to the finding of other researches who investigated the kinetics of dilute sulfuric acid hydrolysis. These researchers demonstrated that the hydrolysis of cellulose to glucose, a hexose sugar, and hemicellulose to a mixture of hexose and pentose sugars, primarily xylose, could be modeled as first-order homogeneous reactions, in which the cellulose content is expressed as potential glucose and the hemicellulose content is expressed as potential xylose (J. F. Saeman, Industrial and Engineering Chemistry, Vol. 37, "Kinetics of Wood Saccharification," pp 43-52, January 1945). The following represent simplified reaction pathways:
cellulose.fwdarw.glucose.fwdarw.hydroxymethylfurfural PA1 hemicellulose.fwdarw.xylose.fwdarw.furfural PA1 G=glucose concentration expressed as a fraction of potential glucose. PA1 k=preexponential factor, min.sup.-1 PA1 A=weight percent sulfuric acid in solution PA1 E=activation energy, cal/gm-mol PA1 R=gas constant, 1.987 cal/gm-mol .degree. K PA1 T=absolute temperature, .degree. K PA1 m,n=constants
The rate constant for the conversion of cellulose to glucose may be called K.sub.1, the rate constant for the degradation of glucose to hydroxymethyl-furfural, a degradation product, may be called K.sub.2, and the rate constant for the degradation of xylose to furfural, a degradation product, may be called K.sub.3.
The conversion of hemicellulose to xylose is considered to be instantaneous (K=.infin.). Rate constants are expressed in min.sup.-1. The rate equations for the conversion of cellulose are shown below. ##EQU1## where C=cellulose concentration expressed as a fraction of potential glucose.
These rate equations can be integrated to yield an expression which gives the fraction of potential glucose present at any given time (3) and the amount of cellulose present at any time (4). ##EQU2## Where C(0)=initial cellulose fraction.
Accounting for the acid present, the rate constants K.sub.1 and K.sub.2 can be calculated from Arrhenius' law as follows: EQU K.sub.1 =k.sub.1 A'"exp(-E.sub.1 /RT) 5 EQU K.sub.2 =k.sub.2 A"exp(-E.sub.2 /RT) 6
Where
Several investigators have studied these kinetics (John F. Harris et al., "Two-Stage Dilute Sulfuric Acid Hydrolysis of Wood: An Investigations of Fundamentals," United States Department of Agriculture, Forest Products Laboratory, General Technical Report FPL45, 1985). In 1981, a research team at Dartmouth College studied these reaction kinetics (H. E. Grethlein, "Dartmouth College: Acid Hydrolysis of Cellulosic Biomass." Alcohol Fuels Program Technical Review. U.S. Government Printing Office: 1982-576-083/201, 1981. The values given below for cellulose hydrolysis, glucose degradation, and xylose degradation were taken from the Dartmouth study.
______________________________________ Cellulose Glucose Xylose Hydrolysis Degradation Degradation ______________________________________ k.sub.1, k.sub.2, k.sub.3 (min.sup.-1) 5.33 .times. 10.sup.16 3.89 .times. 10.sup.9 8.78 .times. 10.sup.15 m, n, p 1.14 0.57 1.00 E.sub.1 ,E.sub.2, E.sub.3 36,955 20,988 33,560 (cal/gm-mol) ______________________________________
Rugg et al., '375 and '386, column 6, lines 5-45 teach that by operating their process at a superheated condition of 237.degree. C. (459.degree. F.) at 400 psi, (i.e., the temperature of the steam is in excess of that listed for saturated steam at that pressure in the steam table), and using an effective acid concentration of 1.34 percent sulfuric acid, it is possible to convert 130 lbs/hr of dry sawdust to 40 lbs/hr of glucose and 13 lbs/hr of hydroxymethylfurfural. According to Rugg et al., '375. the glucose conversion represents 50 percent of the available cellulose. By using the kinetic data provided, supra, rate constants can be derived as follows: EQU K.sub.1 =5.33.times.10.sup.16 (1.34.sup.1.14)exp.sup.(-36955/(510.times.1.987)) EQU K.sub.1 =10.81 min.sup.-1
and EQU K.sub.2 =3.84.times.10.sup.9 (1.34.sup.0.57)exp.sup.(-20988/(510.times.1.987)) EQU K.sub.2 =4.59 min.sup.-1
Therefore a K.sub.1 /K.sub.2 ratio of approximately 2.4 can be calculated. With K.sub.1 and K.sub.2, the amount of glucose present as a percentage of potential glucose can be calculated using equation 3, supra. It can be readily shown that the maximum glucose conversion is approximately 53 percent at 8 seconds. At times ranging from 5 to 12 seconds a glucose conversion approximately equal to or exceeding 50 percent is obtained. This conversion closely corresponds to the 50 percent conversion claimed by Rugg et al., '375 and '386, at the time deduced, supra. Longer residence times at these conditions result in lower conversions. For example, at 30 seconds a glucose conversion of less than 17 percent is achieved, which is due to the fact that sugar is being degraded faster than it is being formed. Lower temperatures result in lower K.sub.1 /K.sub.2 ratios, which indicate lower potential conversions. Operating at higher temperatures increases potential conversion, but these higher conversions are only possible at shorter residence times. For example, at 545.degree. F. (285.degree. C.) and 1.34 percent acid, a potential glucose conversion of 69.5 percent is possible. The K.sub.1 /K.sub.2 ratio at these conditions is approximately 9.1. However, this conversion is achieved at a residence time of only 1 second. In approximately 12 seconds, essentially all the glucose has degraded. Conversely, at 350.degree. F. (177.degree. C.) and 1.34 percent acid, a maximum conversion of approximately 17.4 percent is obtained at about 6 minutes. At these conditions, the K.sub.1 /K.sub.2 ratio is approximately 0.29. Finally, by operating the process at higher acid concentrations and lower temperatures, it is also possible to achieve high glucose conversions, however, these high glucose conversions also require short reaction times. For example, using an effective acid concentration of 10 percent at a temperature of 405.degree. F. (207.degree. C.) it is possible to achieve a maximum glucose conversion of 56 percent in about 9 seconds. In this case, a glucose conversion of or exceeding 50 percent is possible at residence times ranging from about 6 to 14 seconds. Longer residence times result in lower glucose conversions. The K.sub.1 /K.sub.2 ratio for this case is approximately 2.8.
In order to minimize sugar degradation and achieve cellulose to sugar conversions greater than 50 percent in dilute acid hydrolysis systems, short reaction times are necessary. These short reaction times make commercial processes difficult to design, especially when operating with the large zone temperature differences, as much as 513.degree. F. (267.degree. C.), taught by Rugg et al., '375 and '386, column 7, lines 42-45, for example. However, as will be shown, infra, the lower temperatures associated with concentrated acid hydrolysis systems minimize sugar degradation and provide for much higher cellulose to sugar conversions.
To aid those skilled in the art in assessing the potential gains possible with concentrated acid hydrolysis systems, a kinetic analysis was conducted to determine the rate constants associated with the system of Dunning et al., supra. The ratio of the rate constants provide a tool by which it is possible to compare, in a scientific way, dilute and concentrated acid hydrolysis processes.
In 1945, the results of a study to define a continuous acid hydrolysis process which could produce glucose conversions of approximately 90 percent were published (Dunning et al., Industrial and Engineering Chemistry). Cellulose conversions of 89 percent were reported in these tests. The process used by Dunning et al. to achieve this conversion involved no less than seven separate and distinct steps. These steps included hemicellulose (pentosan) hydrolysis, mechanical dewatering, thermal drying, acid mixing, grinding, acid impregnation, and cellulose hydrolysis. Unlike the work conducted by Rugg et al., supra, Dunning et al. achieved acid impregnation using an expeller screw press, which compressed the feedstock to 35 percent of its initial volume under a pressure of 175 psi. The glucose conversions obtained in one of the tests described are given below. Unlike the dilute acid hydrolysis process, these conversions were achieved at a temperature of only 130.degree. C.
______________________________________ Time (min) Glucose Conversion @ 130.degree. C. (percent) ______________________________________ 1 20 2.5 60 6 89 10 87 15 85 20 82 ______________________________________
Although not appreciated by Dunning et al. (Industrial and Engineering Chemistry), with the data generated it is possible to perform a kinetic analysis to scientifically quantify the increased performance potential of the concentrated acid hydrolysis process over the dilute acid systems, such as the dilute acid system investigated by Rugg et al., supra.
By taking the derivative of equation 3, supra, with respect to time and setting the derivative equal to zero, the following expression is obtained: ##EQU3## Substituting equation 7 into equation 3 and rearranging yields the following expression: ##EQU4## Since the initial cellulose concentration can be set equal to one, the expression can be simplified to yield: ##EQU5## Substituting from equation 8 yields the following expressions: ##EQU6##
By substituting the values obtained by Dunning et al. (Industrial and Engineering Chemistry), for maximum glucose conversion at six minutes, a rate constant (K.sub.2) of 0.019 min.sup.-1 is obtained. The rate constant K.sub.1 can now be derived using a root finding technique, such as the Newton-Raphson method. Again, from the Dunning et al. data, the rate constant K.sub.1 is determined to be 0.568 min.sup.-1. By comparing the rate constants and the K.sub.1 /K.sub.2 ratios for the Dunning et al. and Rugg et al. (29.9 vs. 2.4, respectively), it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that the concentrated acid hydrolysis process is indeed far superior for achieving high conversions of sugar from cellulose at reaction mass residence times far more realistic with respect to commercial system design. As can be seen from the data of Dunning et al., supra, increasing the hydrolysis reaction time from 6 to 15 minutes results in only a 4 percent degradation of glucose.
It has been established that the hydrolysis of cellulose is, in part, limited by the accessibility of the cellulose to the acid (Wenzel, Chemical Technology of Wood). By combining the high shear and mixing potential of today's twin screw extruders, such as done in the dilute acid hydrolysis tests conducted by Rugg et al., supra, with the higher acid concentrations associated with concentrated acid hydrolysis systems, it is possible to deliver the acid necessary to the lignocellulosic structure that will yield results similar to those obtained by Dunning et al. (Industrial and Engineering Chemistry and '586), but in a simpler, more compact, more controllable, and much more economical process.
To emphasize the importance this intensive mixing plays in the impregnation process, Dunning et al., '586, column 5, line 24 through column 6, line 32, noted that when the cellulose rich residue from the hemicellulose (pentosan) hydrolysis step was dried to 50 percent moisture and combined with 85 percent sulfuric acid in a ratio of 0.53 parts acid to one part residue a conversion of only 3 percent glucose was obtained. The same residue when dried to a powder and mixed with the same amount of acid under conditions of "good agitation" then produced a conversion of 60.6 percent glucose. When this same dried residue was mixed with the same amount of acid and subjected to a two-minute pressure treatment, a conversion of 89 percent was achieved.

Concentrated sulfuric acid hydrolysis of lignocellulosics


Method and system to support fast hand-over of mobile subscriber stations in broadband wireless networks. In connection with a hand-over process, a determination is made to which target base station (BS) an air interface for a mobile subscriber station (MSS) is to be handed-over. Various service requirements are requested by the MSS, including a Quality of Service (QoS) level. Based on feedback from potential target BSs, a target BS for hand-over is selected. Current connection context data corresponding to current service flows provided by a serving BS is passed to the target BS to pre-provision service such that a minimal amount of re-entry messaging is required. In one embodiment, a Management Information Base (MIB) instance is maintained at each BS in a broadband wireless network. To pre-provision service, applicable connection context data are transferred between MIB instances at the serving and target BS using Simple Network Management Protocol (SNMP) messaging.

IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers) 802.16 is an emerging suite of air interface standards for combined fixed, portable and Mobile Broadband Wireless Access (MBWA). Initially conceived as a radio standard to enable cost-effective last-mile broadband connectivity to those not served by wired broadband such as cable or DSL, the specifications are evolving to target a broader market opportunity for mobile, high-speed broadband applications. The IEEE 802.16 architecture not only addresses the traditional "last mile" problem, but also supports nomadic and mobile clients on the go. The MBWA architecture is being standardized by the IEEE 802.16 Working Group and the Worldwide Interoperability for Microwave Access (WiMAX) forum. For convenience, the terms 802.16 and WiMAX are used interchangeably throughout this specification to refer to the IEEE 802.16 suite of air interface standards.
FIG. 1 shows a simplified broadband wireless network with point-to-multipoint (PMP) cellular-like architecture for operation at both licensed and licensed-exempt frequency bands typically below 11 GHz. Other types of architectures (not shown) such as mesh broadband wireless networks are permissible. A backbone IP (Internet Protocol) network 100 is connected to a broadband wireless network using radio access nodes (RANs) 102A and 102B. Each RAN is connected via a wired link such as an optical fiber (depicted as optical fiber links 103A, 103B and 103C) or point-to-point wireless link (not shown) to one or more radio cells (depicted between RAN 102A or 102B to radio cells 104A, 104B, and 104C). At the hub of a radio cell is a respective Base station (BS) 106A, 106B, and 106C. A Base Station system includes an advanced antenna system (AAS), which is typically located on top of a radio tower and is used to transmit high-speed data to multiple subscriber stations (SSs) 108 and mobile subscriber stations (MSSs) 109 and receive data from the subscriber stations via unidirectional wireless links 110 (each SS uplink transmission is independent on the others). More particularly, each SS 108 can access network 100 (via an appropriate BS) using the PHY+MAC (Physical+Media Access Control) layer features defined by the IEEE P802.16 air-interface standard. An SS may correspond to a fixed subscriber location (e.g., in a home or office), or may correspond to a mobile subscriber who might access the broadband wireless network via a mobile device (MSS) such as a personal digital assistant (PDA), laptop computer, etc. A fixed SS typically uses a directional antenna while an MSS usually uses an omni-directional antenna.
Transmission of data bursts from network 100 to an SS 108 proceeds in the following manner. The data bursts such as IP packets or Ethernet frames are encapsulated in IEEE 802.16-2004 data frame format and forwarded from an appropriate RAN to an appropriate BS within a given cell. The BS then transmits non-line-of-sight (NLOS) data to each SS 108 using a unidirectional wireless link 110, which is referred to as a "downlink." Transmission of data from an SS 108 to network 100 proceeds in the reverse direction. In this case, the encapsulated data is transmitted from an SS to an appropriate BS using a unidirectional wireless link referred to as an "uplink." The data packets are then forwarded to an appropriate RAN, converted to IP Packets or Ethernet frames, and transmitted henceforth to a destination node in network 100. Data bursts can be transmitted using either Frequency-Division-Duplexing (FDD) or Time-Division-Duplexing (TDD) schemes. In the TDD scheme, both the uplink and downlink share the same RF channel, but do not transmit simultaneously, and in the FDD scheme, the uplink and downlink operate on different RF channels, but the channels are transmitted simultaneously.
Multiple BSs are configured to form a cellular-like wireless network. A network that utilizes a shared medium requires a mechanism to efficiently share it. Within each cell, the wireless network architecture is a two-way PMP, which is a good example of a shared medium; here the medium is the space (air) through which the radio waves propagate. The downlink, from the base station (BS) to an SS, operates on a PMP basis. Provisions within the IEEE 802.16-2004 standard include a central BS with AAS within each cell. Such an AAS includes a sectorized antenna that is capable of handling multiple independent sectors simultaneously. Under this type of configuration, the operations of base stations described below may be implemented for each of the independent sectors, such that multiple co-located base stations with multiple sector antennas sharing a common controller may be employed in the network. Within a given frequency channel and antenna sector, all stations receive the same transmission, or parts thereof.
In the other direction, the subscriber stations share the uplink to the BS on a demand basis. Depending on the class of service utilized, the SS may be issued continuing rights to transmit, or the right to transmit may be granted by the BS after receipt of a request from an SS. In addition to individually-addressed messages, messages may also be sent on multicast connections (control messages and video distribution are examples of multicast applications) as well as broadcast to all stations. Within each sector, users adhere to a transmission protocol that controls contention between users and enables the service to be tailored to the delay and bandwidth requirements of each user application.


Phosphatidylinositol 3-kinases (PI3Ks) are known to be important regulators of signaling pathways. To determine whether PI3Ks are genetically altered in cancers, we analyzed the sequences of the PI3K gene family and discovered that one family member, PIK3CA, is frequently mutated in cancers of the colon and other organs. The majority of mutations clustered near two positions within the PI3K helical or kinase domains. PIK3CA represents one of the most highly mutated oncogenes yet identified in human cancers and is useful as a diagnostic and therapeutic target.

PI3Ks are lipid kinases that function as signal transducers downstream of cell surface receptors and mediate pathways important for cell growth, proliferation, adhesion, survival and motility (1, 2). Although increased PI3K activity has been observed in many colorectal and other tumors (3, 4), no intragenic mutations of PI3K have been identified.
Members of the PIK3 pathway have been previously reported to be altered in cancers, for example, the PTEN tumor suppressor gene (15, 16), whose function is to reverse the phosphorylation mediated by PI3Ks (17, 18). Reduplication or amplification of the chromosomal regions containing PIK3CA and AKT2 has been reported in some human cancers (2, 19, 20), but the genes that are the targets of such large-scale genetic events have not been and cannot easily be defined.

This patent is subject to a terminal disclaimer.

Treatment of cancers having mutations of the PIK3CA gene


An apparatus for generating an output current including a first distortion current based on a first transconductance and a second distortion current based on a second transconductance is disclosed. The first distortion current may be generated by an amplifier and the second distortion current may be generated by a distortion compensator. The second transconductance may be less than the first transconductance. In some implementations, the second distortion current may reduce the first distortion current output by the apparatus.

Metal-oxide-silicon field effect-transistors (MOSFETs) have become the de facto transistor for use in digital electronics. MOSFETs are space efficient and have a very low quiescent current, especially compared to bipolar transistors. Some electronic designs may have a combination of digital and analog signal processing circuits. For example, some integrated circuits may include analog inputs, an analog-to-digital converter, as well as digital circuits such as memories, logic blocks and the like.
By combining analog and digital circuits in a single integrated circuit, a monolithic device can be realized using a single fabrication process. While MOSFETs are a natural fit for digital circuits, some MOSFET-based analog signal processing circuits may have a partial non-linear response or transfer function. This non-linear response may include, for example, distortion (e.g., one or more distortion products) that affect the accuracy of the analog signal processing circuit.
Therefore, there is a need for a MOSFET-based analog buffer or amplifier with reduced non-linear distortion.


A combined cart and chair assembly includes a front support, a seat frame, a rear leg frame, a container retaining frame, and a container. The front support has a handled upper section and a wheeled lower section. The seat frame is mounted pivotally to the front support between the upper and lower sections. The seat frame is foldable rearwardly and is stretchable forwardly. The rear leg frame has a top end mounted pivotally to the front support between the upper and lower sections above the seat frame so as to extend downwardly and rearwardly from the front support when the seat frame is stretched. The rear leg frame is pivoted to the seat frame and is foldable toward the wheeled lower section. The container retaining frame is provided behind the seat frame and is mounted pivotally to the front support above the top end of the rear leg frame for turning away from or toward the front support. The container retaining frame is pivoted to the seat frame and is movable toward the front support when the seat frame is folded. The container is mounted to the container retaining frame.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a combined cart and chair assembly which can be used as a cart for transporting items or as a chair for seating as desired.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, a cart is popular for use in a shopping mall or a supermarket to facilitate carrying of items purchased by a person. When the shopping mall or the supermarket is relatively large, and since one may take a relatively long period of time to finish his or her shopping, chairs are usually needed to provide a place for resting. There is thus a need for a combined cart and chair assembly which has the functions of providing a seat and transporting items.

No. 3, Ting-Hsi-Hsin, Lu-Man Tsun, Chu-Chi


A system and method for transcoding digital content (e.g. web content) by correctly employing one annotation for multiple digital contents. This can efficiently reduce the workloads required for the addition of annotation data during the transcoding process. A transcoding system comprises an annotation database system for storing annotation data to be used for the transcoding of contents, and a transcoder for transcoding the contents based on annotation data stored in the annotation database system. Upon receiving an inquiry from the transcoder, a correlation between elements in the contents and descriptions of the annotation data is checked to select one annotation that can be employed for transcoding the content. The correlation is specifically determined based on XPath information.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a technique for transcoding information (e.g. digital content, such as a web page) on a network and for distributing the transcoded information, and in particular to a transcoding technique based on an annotation prepared for the information.
2. Description of the Related Art
When access to certain information on a network is requested by a predetermined terminal device, the desired information can be converted, in accordance with specifications of the terminal device or its use environment, to be presented to the terminal device. The conversion technique is called "transcoding" technique. For example, to provide web content on the Internet, the structure of a web page can be adjusted by transcoding, thereby permitting the web content to be fitted into the small display screen of a portable information terminal, or the structure can be altered and adapted for use by a speech browser for voice synthesis.
Roughly speaking, there are two transcoding methods. One is a method for which no additional information is employed. The other is a method using external meta information (annotation). According to the transcoding method for which no additional information is employed, all web contents can be transcoded, regardless of the types and contents of the web data. However, because the types and contents of web data are not taken into account, the transcoding accuracy is low. On the other hand, according to the transcoding method based on annotation data, since an appropriate transcoding method is performed based on annotations that correspond to web contents, the transcoding accuracy is high. However, since much labor and high costs are required to input meta information for annotation, annotation information cannot be added to all web contents, and the number of web contents that can be transcoded is limited. Therefore, in order to transcode more web contents at high accuracy, what is important is how workload for adding an annotation should be reduced.
FIG. 1 is a diagram for explaining the system configuration for performing transcoding based on annotations. In FIG. 1, a transcoding system comprises: a transcoder 910 for converting (transcoding) web content; and an annotation database system 920 in which annotation files used for transcoding is stored. In FIG. 2, when a terminal device 940 issues an access request to a web server 930, the web server 930 returns target web content to be accessed, and the transcoder 910 receives the web content first. The transcoder 910 refers to the annotation database system 920, and transcodes the web content based on data, contained in an annotation file (and hereinafter referred to simply as an annotation), that corresponds to the web content. Thereafter, the obtained web content is transmitted by the transcoder 910 to the terminal device 940.
As a countermeasure for reducing the workload required by the thus arranged system to add an annotation for the transcoding process, it is important that an annotation authoring tool be prepared. Further, one annotation may also be employed for different web contents having the same layout. The conventional methods for correlating one annotation with multiple web contents can be sorted into three types.    1. The correlation between URLs (Uniform Resource Locators) and annotations is stored as table data (correlation table data).    2. A regular expression of URL is employed.    3. An annotation to be employed is dynamically determined by using a table structure of the web content (an automatic determination).
As is described above, when conversion using the transcoding technique is performed to provide information on a network, the transcoding method based on annotations is employed in order to attain high transcoding accuracy. However, since many workloads and high costs are required for the input of meta information for annotations, a typical network system, such as the Internet, cannot add an annotation to all the information, i.e., all the web contents, and the number of web contents that can be transcoded is limited. In order to reduce the workloads required to add an annotation, the above described method for correlating one annotation with multiple web contents has been proposed. However, for the method 1 whereby the correlation between URLs and annotations is stored as table data, it is not practical for the table content to be updated frequently in order to cope with new URLs that are generated day after day. Therefore, this method cannot be employed especially for a web page used for describing news articles or search results obtained by a search engine.
For the method 2 using the regular expression of URL, the author of an annotation must analyze the URL structure of a web site and describe a complicated regular expression, so a great deal of workloads are required. Further, this method cannot cope with web contents whose layouts are dynamically changed using cookie data. If the method using a regular expression of URL is employed together with an XPath wildcard designating a specific portion of an HTML document, the web content whose layout is to be changed dynamically can be coped with to some extent. In this case, overall, the URL structure of the web site is thoroughly analyzed, and a URL condition on which the same layout appears is determined. And if the web content cannot be handled by the regular expression, the XPath wildcard is employed to provide a wider use of the method for various purposes.
FIGS. 2A and 2B are schematic diagrams showing example layouts for a web page on which news articles are described. The layout in FIG. 2A differs from the layout in 2B in that a table "Top news" is inserted. The "Top news" table is arbitrarily added or deleted by a person acting as a web content manager. In this case, assume that a regular expression can be obtained for a URL that specifies the two web pages in common in FIGS. 2A and 2B, and that the XPath for the web pages is written as follows./html[1]/body[1]/table[7]/tbody[1]/tr[1]/td[3]/table[1]
If a wildcard is introduced in order to add or delete the "Top news", the XPath is written as follows./html[1]/body[1]/table[7]/tbody[1]/tr[1]/td[3]/table[starts-w ith(child::tbody[1]/tr[1]/td[1]/table[1]/tbody[1]/tr[1]/td[1], '▪Top news')]
However, since these operations are so complicated and the description of the XPath also becomes complicated, a lot of workloads are imposed on the author of the annotation. Furthermore, although the method for employing the XPath wildcard to change the layout can cope with a simple change, such as the addition or deletion of a visually semantic block (a header, a footer, a link list, main text and an advertisement; hereinafter referred to as a group) that is an element or component of the web content and is represented by a certain layout (e.g. a background color), it is difficult to handle a major change affecting the entire layout.
Further, even for specific web contents at the same URL, the layout may be dynamically changed based on other web contents that have been passed through before the specific web contents are reached. Similarly, the layout may be dynamically changed by re-loading the web content using the same URL. In these cases, to add an annotation, using the regular expression of URL is not sufficient to handle them, and the XPath wildcard must be employed. However, when there is a major change in the layout, it is difficult for such change to be handled with by the XPath In addition, there are many web pages on which the results obtained by a search engine are displayed. The layout of such pages tends to be changed greatly, depending on whether a search target (a page, a product, a book, etc.) corresponding to a matched keyword is present or not. In this case it is also difficult to cope with the web pages by traditional way of using the regular expression of URL and the XPath.
Furthermore, in the method 3 for correlating one annotation with multiple web contents by employing the table structure of web contents to dynamically determine which annotation is to be used, the table used for specifying a layout is employed as criteria (references) for determination. Thus, an appropriate annotation cannot be determined when a table in a web content is not used for a layout purpose, or when a layout having the same form but different content is employed. If the determination criteria is more strictly applied in order to avoid an erroneous determination (e.g. different layouts are regarded as being the same), layouts that are basically the same may be judged to be different and an erroneous determination could not be avoided.
It is, therefore, one object of the present invention to correctly employ an annotation for multiple web contents and to thus efficiently reduce the workloads required for adding an annotation during the transcoding process.
It is another object of the present invention to provide a tool for simplifying the addition of an annotation to web content.

System and method for transcoding digital content

International Business Machines Corporation