A shift register unit, a gate driving circuit and a display apparatus are disclosed. The shift register unit includes a first TFT (T1) having a first electrode connected to an input terminal and a gate connected to a second clock signal input terminal; a second TFT (T2); a third TFT (T3) having a second electrode connected to an output terminal, a first electrode connected to a first clock signal input terminal, and a gate connected to the second electrode of the first TFT; a fourth TFT (T4); a fifth TFT (T5) having a gate connected to the second clock signal input terminal, a first electrode connected to the output terminal and a second electrode connected to the low potential connecting terminal; a capacitor (C1), and thus the burrs and miscellaneous spikes in a gate driving waveform outputted by the circuit can be suppressed well.

At present, display screens of more and more mobile phones have a structure with a narrow frame. A primary technique for accomplishing a narrow frame for Thin Film Transistor-Liquid Crystal Display (TFT-LCD) in a display screen is a gate driving technique, which achieves the purpose of making TFT-LCD of the display screen have the narrow fame by a manner of omitting gate fan-out. As compared to other techniques, such gate driving technique does not require introducing a new optical mask or adding any additional process, and thus it is fully compatible with existing manufacturing process of TFT-LCD. In addition, cost for manufacturing the gate driving circuit is low and reliability is high. Due to the above reasons, the gate driving technique has become the primary technique for accomplishing the narrow frame for TFT-LCD at present.
The existing gate driving circuit mainly includes shift register units and an inverter having functions of pulling up an electrical potential (that is, increasing the electrical potential of an output terminal) and pulling down the electrical potential (that is, decreasing the electrical potential of the output terminal). The basic operational principle of the existing gate driving circuit is as follows: inputting a square wave having a certain width by inputting Integrated Circuit (IC) signal, scanning pixels in each of rows from up to down, and representing output voltages of pixels of the scanned row in a square wave. The operational principle of an existing shift register unit circuit is as shown in FIG. 1. Since a clock signal CLK1 in such shift register unit circuit is in series connected to a capacitor C1 having a big capacitance, power consumption of the circuit will be increased. In addition, an output terminal Row(n) is in a floating state most of the time with the electrical potential thereof not being pulled down, there are many burrs and miscellaneous spikes in the waveform of the output voltage of the output terminal Row(n), thus quality of display being reduced.

Shift register unit, gate driving circuit and display apparatus

Chengdu BOE Optoelectronics Technology Co., Ltd.


The image forming apparatus controls feeding of a paper to an image forming unit and re-feeding of a paper to the image forming unit by a re-feeding unit that re-feeds the paper held by a double-sided paper feed path. The apparatus changes a print setting of a paper that is the single-sided printing into a forcible double-sided printing that uses the double-sided paper feed path, if a paper whose print setting is double-sided printing and a paper whose print setting is single-sided printing are mixed in a print job, and if there is no paper held in the double-sided paper feed path and the print setting of a paper to be fed is the forcible double-sided printing, the apparatus changes the print setting of the paper to be fed into single-sided printing.

Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus, a method of controlling the same and a storage medium.
Description of the Related Art
Conventionally, the following schemes exist as a print schedule for a case of printing print data in which image data for which double-sided printing is designated and image data for which single-sided printing is designated are mixed.
A first scheme switches double-sided printing and single-sided printing as designated by the print data. In this scheme, when double-sided printing and single-sided printing are switched, the conveyance path of paper is switched to a double-sided paper feed path (a paper feed path for double-sided printing) or a single-sided paper feed path.
In the double-sided printing which uses the double-sided paper feed path, a paper is conveyed to a transfer unit, and an image is printed on one side of the paper. Then, the paper whose one side is printed, is sent to a paper reversing unit to be reversed, the paper passes through the double-sided paper feed path and is once again sent to the transfer unit, and an image is transferred to the side opposite to the side of the paper first printed to, thereby realizing the double-sided printing to the paper. Furthermore, to improve the productivity by filling the interval between papers, when performing double-sided printing consecutively, rather than performing transfer to the first side and transfer to the a second side on the opposite side thereof for every paper, a plurality of papers are fed collectively, and images of the first side of these papers are consecutively printed. After this, the plurality of papers on the first sides of which an image is printed are sent to the double-sided paper feed path; a double-sided circulating control is performed wherein printing of an image of the first side of papers that are newly fed, and printing of an image on the second side of the papers conveyed via the double-sided paper feed path are alternatingly executed. By doing this, it is possible to print without interval between papers occurring in a case where double-sided printing is consecutive, which is therefore is efficient. However, if single-sided printing and double-sided printing are switched frequently, productivity is lowered because intervals between papers in the double-sided paper feed path are generated.
A second scheme solves this problem. In the second scheme, in order to reduce a lowering of productivity due to intervals between papers, printing is performed by causing papers for which only one side is printed to pass through the same conveyance path as the papers for which both sides are printed (for example, refer to Japanese Patent Laid-Open No. 2010-105350). In the second scheme, if an image for which single-sided printing is designated is printed during execution of double-sided printings, the image data corresponding to the back side of the image for which the single-sided printing is designated is converted to image data to be printed as blank sheet image data, and the paper is caused to pass through the double-sided paper feed path. With this, it is possible to print consecutively without generating intervals between papers.
In the foregoing conventional image forming apparatuses, there are cases that occur in which the generation of the subsequent image data does not keep up for the cycle of the double-sided circulating control due to time being required for print data analysis processing. Also, in cases where printing is temporarily interrupted by a paper jam or a paper outage, the cycle of the double-sided circulating control stops. When the reason for the stoppage is cancelled, and printing is restarted, the control to cause a paper on which head image data is to be printed to pass through the double-sided paper feed path is performed even in cases where the head image data is image data for which single-sided printing is designated. Accordingly, there is a problem in that the head image data is single-sided printing, and compared to a case in which the head image data is single-sided printed, productivity is lowered. Furthermore, by the foregoing conventional technique, there is a problem in that a paper of the single-sided printing is caused to pass through the double-sided paper feed path unnecessarily for printing the paper, and the consumption of parts of the conveying path is accelerated.

Image forming apparatus, method of controlling the same, and storage medium


Various apparatuses to attach a first medical device to a second medical device are described that allow the physician to grasp only a single device while the other device remains securely attached to the one being grasped. The apparatuses, once they are attached to the first medical device, are designed to be easily and quickly attached and detached to a second medical device, normally only requiring the use of one hand. Furthermore, the apparatuses oftentimes include a base that can easily couple and decouple from the portion that is attached to the second medical device so that if the need arises to separately use the second medical device, it can be decoupled from the first medical device without completely removing the apparatus from the second medical device.

More than one medical device is often required to be used together during the same medical procedure. For example, in the performance of minimally-invasive types of procedures using an endoscope, a second medical device is sometimes inserted through the working channel of the endoscope. Either the endoscope or the second medical device can provide illumination and imaging capability while the other may perform a distinct or specialized function. Having to hold two instruments is burdensome for the physician.


A method for cleaning hydrocarbons from a gas-vapor medium ejected to the atmosphere, formed while storing oil or gasoline or filling a container therewith is provided. The medium is pumped out and compressed in a gas-liquid jet apparatus due to energy of oil or gasoline supplied by a pump. The formed mixture is separated in a separator, where a pressure of 0.7 to 2.5 MPa is maintained, and gas from the separator is compressed in a jet apparatus by oil or gasoline supplied by a pump. The gas medium cleaned from the hydrocarbons is outputted and the saturated absorbent is directed to a desorber where a pressure is generated to be lower than the pressure in the separator. The liquid medium is removed from the separators and to a container or to a storage tank from which oil or gasoline is simultaneously supplied to pump inlets or to the separators.

Known is a method for cleaning hydrocarbons out of a gas-vapor medium formed while storing oil or an oil product or filling a container therewith, the method comprising: supplying a liquid medium by a pump into a gas-liquid jet apparatus; pumping out a gas-vapor medium by said apparatus from an oil or oil product storage tank and compressing said medium in the gas-liquid jet apparatus due to energy of the liquid medium; supplying the gas-vapor medium/liquid medium mixture formed in the gas-liquid jet apparatus to a separator; separating said mixture into a gaseous phase and a liquid medium in the separator and venting the gaseous phase from the separator, said gaseous phase being directed from the separator to an absorption column where a hydrocarbon liquid is supplied to; carrying out the process of absorbing hydrocarbons from the liquid phase by the hydrocarbon liquid followed by separate removing the gaseous phase cleaned from hydrocarbons and the hydrocarbon liquid having the liquid phase hydrocarbon solved therein from the absorption column (see RF U.S. Pat. No. 2,193,443, IPC B65D 90/30, Nov. 27, 2002).
Known from the same Patent is a pumping and ejecting plant for cleaning hydrocarbons out of a gas-vapor medium formed while storing oil or an oil products or filling a container therewith, the plant comprising a pump, a gas-liquid jet apparatus, a separator having a gaseous phase outlet, and an absorption column, wherein the gas-liquid jet apparatus is coupled at a liquid medium inlet to an outlet of the pump and is coupled at a gas outlet to a source of said medium which is an oil or oil product container or storage tank, and the gas-liquid jet apparatus is coupled at a mixture outlet to the separator, the absorption column is coupled to the gaseous phase from the separator, an upper portion of the absorption column is coupled to a pipeline for removing the gaseous phase cleaned from hydrocarbons and to a pipeline for feeding the hydrocarbon liquid.
However, the present method does not allow a high degree of cleaning the gas-vapor fluid from hydrocarbons, is sufficiently complicated and energy-consumable. This is connected with that the process of desorption is carried out in a rectification column fed by a great quantity of heat which requires the bulky heat-exchange equipment for heating the hydrocarbon fluid and condensing the resulted vapors.
The method closest to the invention in the technical essence and the accomplished technical result is a method for cleaning hydrocarbons out of a gas-vapor medium formed while storing oil or gasoline or filling a container with oil or gasoline, the method comprising: supplying a liquid medium by a pump into a gas-liquid jet apparatus; pumping a gas-vapor medium by said apparatus from an oil- or gasoline-filled container or an oil or gasoline storage tank and compressing said medium in the gas-liquid jet apparatus due to energy of the liquid medium; supplying the gas-vapor medium/liquid medium mixture formed in the gas-liquid jet apparatus to a separator; separating said mixture into a gaseous phase and a liquid medium in the separator; removing the liquid medium from the separator into the oil- or gasoline-filled container or the oil or gasoline storage tank; supplying oil or gasoline to an inlet of the pump or to the separator (see RF U.S. Pat. No. 2,261,140, IPC B01D 53/14, Sep. 27, 2005).
Known from the same Patent is a plant for cleaning hydrocarbons out of a gas-vapor medium formed while storing oil or gasoline or filling a container with oil or gasoline, the plant comprising a pump, a gas-liquid jet apparatus, a separator, a second pump, a second gas-liquid jet apparatus, and a desorber, wherein the gas-liquid jet apparatus is coupled at a liquid medium inlet to an outlet of the pump, is coupled at a gas inlet to a gas-vapor medium source which is an oil- or gasoline-filled container or an oil or gasoline storage tank, the gas-liquid jet apparatus is coupled at a mixture outlet to the separator that has a gaseous phase outlet and a liquid medium outlet coupled to the oil or gasoline storage tank or the oil- or gasoline-filled container, an inlet of the pump or the separator is coupled to a pipeline for pumping oil or gasoline or to the oil or gasoline storage tank, a gas outlet of the desorber is coupled to a gas inlet to the gas-liquid jet apparatus.
The present method and plant for carrying out the same provide compression and condensation of hydrocarbon vapors of oil or gasoline and reduction of hydrocarbon vapors harmful for the surroundings and present in the gas-vapor medium ejected to the atmosphere. Use of oil or gasoline in a working fluid of the gas-liquid jet apparatus makes it possible to carry out the process of absorbing a portion of hydrocarbon with oil or gasoline from the compressible medium simultaneously with compressing the gas-vapor medium. However, there is the great energy consumption for the pump drive because the entire gas-vapor consumption is compressed to great pressures in a single gas-liquid jet apparatus. Further, the hydrocarbon fluid desorption process is carried out in two desorbers with use of the second pump and the second gas-liquid jet apparatus for this purpose which results in complication of the plant. The final cleaning of the gas-vapor medium is carried out in the absorber embodied as an absorption column which increases the material consumption of the plant.

Method for removing hydrocarbons from a vapour-gas mixture and a device for carrying out said method


The document describes an assembly of a capsule (5) and brew chamber (3) for a beverage preparation machine. The brew chamber (3) has a first brew chamber part (7) including a cavity (10) for the capsule (5), and knives (11) for piercing the capsule (5). The aluminum capsule body (15) is frusto conical shaped and has a bottom (20), a side wall (21), a flange (22) and a lid (17) for closing the capsule (5). The flange (22) is configured to be held between the first and a second brew chamber parts (7, 8), to provide a seal (30) cooperating with a rim of the brew chamber parts (7, 8). The bottom (20) includes a slanted wall portion (35) under an angle with a longitudinal axis through the capsule (5), and configured for cooperating with the knives (11) which engage therewith upon closing of the brew chamber (3). This enables centering of the capsule (5) relative to the central axis of the brew chamber (3) prior to piercing of the capsule.

Capsule based beverage preparation machines require the loading of a capsule into the machine for brewing beverages. Such machines are very popular due to their ability to allow the preparation of constant quality brews in domestic, semi-professional and professional environments. To a private user, this allows him or her to serve top quality beverages at home to guests or for own use, without the necessity to go out and visit a coffee bar or café. Moreover, the available capsules provide a large variety of different types and tastes of beverages of constant level non-varying quality.
In a capsule based beverage preparation machine, beverage preparation essentially takes place within the assembly formed by the brew chamber and the correspondingly shaped capsule that is to be loaded therein. Therefore, the capsule is usually loaded into a brew chamber first. Next, the brew chamber may be closed and sealed, and the capsule is pierced. Thereafter, a fluid (typically water) is injected into the capsule. The capsule is filled with a beverage ingredient, which upon mixing with the fluid creates the desired beverage. Typically, the capsule cooperates with parts of the brew chamber, e.g. a suitably shaped extraction plate, to create an outflow opening as a result of the increasing pressure in the capsule. This allows the prepared beverage to flow out, after which it is collected and led towards a receptacle, e.g. a cup.
Proper sealing of the brew chamber during brewing is an important aspect of the brewing process to ensure that the beverage is prepared at the expected level of quality associated with that particular capsule type. If the sealing of the brew chamber is insufficient, the injected fluid or semi-prepared beverage may leak out of the brew chamber without being collected in the receptacle or before proper mixing with the ingredient has occurred. As will be understood, if the level of sealing differs per each use, so will the quality of the prepared beverage be different for each use, which is not desired.
For a number of capsule based beverage preparation machines, to obtain a proper sealing of the brew chamber, it is important that the capsule is well aligned with the brew chamber. In such machines, the sealing of the brew chamber may be optimal if the capsule is neatly centered in relation to the notional central axis of the brew chamber. The above is in particular the case with capsules that comprise a flange which is clasped between a first and second brew chamber part when the brew chamber is closed, e.g. between a brew chamber cavity and a correspondingly formed extraction plate that closes the brew chamber. In such cases, incorrect alignment of a longitudinal axis through the capsule with a central axis of the brew chamber (i.e. when the capsule is not or not well centered in the brew chamber) may cause excessive leakage of the brew chamber during preparation of the beverage.
Some of these machines comprise dedicated elements in the walls of the brew chamber, such as ridges or protrusions, that contribute to the centering of the capsule during closing of the brew chamber. However, such dedicated elements are not available in all capsule based brewing machines. In absence thereof, the capsule must be centered in a different manner to ensure the desired proper sealing of the chamber.

Assembly of a capsule and a brew chamber


A fault-tolerant synchronisation source for excitation control of a three-phase generator system that combines point of regulation (POR) signals representing parameters comprising voltage and current for each phase at the POR to generate a fault-tolerant synchronisation signal.

The excitation voltage for a three-phase synchronous generator, such as used in an integral drive generator (IDG) for aeronautical applications, is controlled by turning on and off a solid-state switch using a Pulse Width Modulated (PWM) signal. The frequency of the PWM signal is kept low, usually about 3 times the Point Of Regulation (POR) frequency, to minimise losses in the switch. However, if the PWM frequency is not synchronised with respect to the POR frequency, significant modulation of the POR voltage occurs. One of the POR phase voltages commonly serves as a synchronisation source to prevent this occurrence. However, unbalanced load conditions, short circuit conditions, and open phase voltage sense conditions compromise this sort of synchronization source, thereby causing significant modulation of the POR voltage.

Fault tolerant synchronisation source for excitation control of a three phase power generating system


Disclosed herein are methods for detecting multiple compounds in a sample, involving: (a) contacting the sample with a mixture of binding reagents, the binding reagents being nucleic acid-protein fusions, each having (i) a protein portion which is known to specifically bind to one of the compounds and (ii) a nucleic acid portion which encodes the protein portion and which includes a unique identification tag; (b) allowing the protein portions of the binding reagents and the compounds to form complexes; (c) capturing the binding reagent-compound complexes; (d) amplifying the nucleic acid portions of the complexed binding reagents; and (e) detecting the unique identification tag of each of the amplified nucleic acids, thereby detecting the corresponding compounds in the sample. Also disclosed herein are kits for carrying out such methods.

In general, the invention relates to diagnostic methods involving multiplex analysis.
A variety of methods exist to detect multiple species in a biological sample. These include ELISA based immunoabsorbent assays, protein biochips, and the like. Each of these methods suffers from limitations in detection sensitivity or selectivity, due, for example, to kinetics of binding or sensitivity of detection reagents. In addition, these techniques are also limited in terms of the number of molecules that can be rapidly detected.
The present invention involves a novel multiplex diagnostic approach for the ultra-sensitive detection of molecules in biological samples.
In general, in a first aspect, the invention features a method for detecting multiple compounds in a sample, the method involving: (a) contacting the sample with a mixture of binding reagents, the binding reagents being nucleic acid-protein fusions, each having (i) a protein portion which is known to specifically bind to one of the compounds and (ii) a nucleic acid portion which encodes the protein portion and which includes a unique identification tag; (b) allowing the protein portions of the binding reagents and the compounds to form complexes; (c) capturing the binding reagent-compound complexes; (d) amplifying the nucleic acid portions of the complexed binding reagents; and (e) detecting the unique identification tag of each of the amplified nucleic acids, thereby detecting the corresponding compounds in the sample.
In preferred embodiments, the sample is a biological sample; the nucleic acid-protein fusion is an RNA-protein fusion; the nucleic acid-protein fusion is covalently bound; the nucleic acid-protein fusion is covalently bound through a peptide acceptor; the peptide acceptor is puromycin; the binding reagents do not bind the compounds through compound-specific antibody domains; each of the binding reagents includes a scaffold domain; each of the binding reagents includes a fibronectin scaffold domain; the fibronectin scaffold domain is the 10th domain of fibronectin type III; each of the binding reagents includes an antibody scaffold domain; the binding reagents bind the compounds with equilibrium constants of less than about 500 nM; the unique identification tags are detected using a solid support to which are immobilized nucleic acids specific for the unique identification tags and the detection is accomplished by hybridization of the unique identification tags to the immobilized nucleic acids; the amplifying step (d) is carried out using quantitative PCR; the compounds are proteins; the mixture of binding reagents includes at least 5 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound; the mixture of binding reagents includes at least 100 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound; the mixture of binding reagents includes at least 40,000 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound; and/or the mixture of binding reagents includes at least 500,000 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound.
In a second aspect, the invention features a method for detecting a compound in a sample, the method involving: (a) contacting the sample with a binding reagent, the binding reagent being a nucleic acid-protein fusion having (i) a protein portion which is known to specifically bind to the compound and (ii) a nucleic acid portion which encodes the protein portion and which includes a unique identification tag; (b) allowing the protein portion of the binding reagent and the compound to form a complex; (c) capturing the binding reagent- compound complex; (d) amplifying the nucleic acid portion of the complexed binding reagent; and (e) detecting the unique identification tag of the amplified nucleic acid, thereby detecting the corresponding compound in the sample.
In a related aspect, the invention features a kit for carrying out compound detection, the kit including: (a) a nucleic acid-protein fusion, wherein the protein portion of the fusion specifically binds the compound and the nucleic acid portion of the fusion encodes the protein portion and includes a unique identification tag; (b) a PCR primer pair, wherein the first of the primers hybridizes to the nucleic acid portion of the fusion 5xe2x80x2 to the unique identification tag and the second of the primers hybridizes to the nucleic acid portion of the fusion 3xe2x80x2 to the unique identification tag and hybridization of the primers to the nucleic acid fusion permits amplification of the unique identification tag; and (c) a solid support including a nucleic acid which can hybridize to the unique identification tag.
In preferred embodiments, the kit further includes Taq polymerase; the nucleic acid-protein fusion is an RNA-protein fusion; the nucleic acid-protein fusion is covalently bound; the nucleic acid-protein fusion is covalently bound through a peptide acceptor; the peptide acceptor is puromycin; the nucleic acid- protein fusion does not bind the compound through a compound-specific antibody domain; the nucleic acid-protein fusion includes a scaffold domain; the nucleic acid-protein fusion includes a fibronectin scaffold domain; the fibronectin scaffold domain is the 10th domain of fibronectin type III; the nucleic acid-protein fusion includes an antibody scaffold domain; the nucleic acid-protein fusion binds the compound with an equilibrium constant of less than about 500 nM; the solid support is a chip; the solid support includes an ordered array of single-stranded nucleic acids on its surface, each of the single-stranded nucleic acids being capable of hybridizing to a different unique identification tag; the compound is a protein; the kit includes at least 5 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound; the kit includes at least 100 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound; the kit includes at least 40,000 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound; and/or the kit includes at least 500,000 different nucleic acid-protein fusions, each specifically binding to a different compound.
According to this approach, one begins with a set of uniquely defined high affinity binding reagents (typically protein binding reagents). Each of these reagents binds to a different target in a sample, facilitating the detection of several targets simultaneously. The targets of the binding reagents are frequently proteins, but they may be any moiety capable of specific binding, including, for example, nucleic acids or sugar moieties. Such binding reagents may represent naturally-occurring or partially or completely synthetic amino acid sequences. Examples of naturally-occurring binding reagents include, without limitation, members of the following binding pairs: antigen/antibody pairs, protein/inhibitor pairs, receptor/ligand pairs (for example cell surface receptor/ligand pairs, such as hormone receptor/peptide hormone pairs), enzyme/substrate pairs (for example, kinase/substrate pairs), lectin/carbohydrate pairs, oligomeric or heterooligomeric protein aggregates, DNA binding protein/DNA binding site pairs, RNA/protein pairs, and nucleic acid duplexes, heteroduplexes, or ligated strands, as well as any molecule which is capable of forming one or more covalent or non-covalent bonds (for example, disulfide bonds) with any portion of a nucleic acid-protein fusion. In addition to naturally-occurring binding partner members, binding reagents may be derived by any technique, for example, by directed evolution approaches using a desired protein as the binding target.
Whether naturally-occurring or synthetic, when mixtures of binding reagents are utilized in a single diagnostic reaction mixture, they are preferably similar in composition and amino acid length. In a particularly preferred approach, one starts with a common amino acid scaffold or structural motif that displays the binding domain on one face of the molecule, as is the case for an antibody scaffold that displays CDR regions as a binding region of the molecule. A particularly useful binding scaffold is the 10th domain of type III fibronectin (see, for example, Lipovsek et al., Protein Scaffolds for Antibody Mimics and Other Binding Proteins, U.S. Ser. No. 09/456,693; U.S. Ser. No. 09/515,260; U.S. Ser. No. 09/688,566; WO 00/34784).
The compound to be detected by the present approach may be any substance to which a protein may bind, and is preferably itself a protein. Such target compounds may be present in any sample, for example, any biological sample. Typical biological samples include, without limitation, any fluid or tissue derived from an organism, for example, a plant or a mammal such as a human.
As a central feature of the invention, each of the binding domains is covalently attached to a nucleic acid that encodes the binding domain. Such nucleic acid-protein fusion molecules can be produced by any method, for example, by the method of Roberts and Szostak (Szostak et al., U.S. Ser. NO. 09/007,005, now U.S. Pat. No. 6.258,558 B1, and U.S. Ser. No. 09/247,190, now U.S. Pat. No. 6,261,804 B1; Szostak et al., WO 98/31700; Roberts and Szostak, Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA (1997) vol. 94, p. 12297-12302) using a peptide acceptor, such as puromycin, as a covalent linking agent. As used herein, by a xe2x80x9cpeptide acceptorxe2x80x9d is meant any molecule capable of being added to the C- terminus of a growing protein chain by the catalytic activity of the ribosomal peptidyl transferase function. Typically, such molecules contain (i) a nucleotide or nucleotide-like moiety (for example, adenosine or an adenosine analog (di- methylation at the N-6 amino position is acceptable)), (ii) an amino acid or amino acid-like moiety (for example, any of the 20 D- or L-amino acids or any amino acid analog thereof (for example, 0-methyl tyrosine or any of the analogs described by Ellman et al., Meth. Enzymol. 202:301, 1991), and (iii) a linkage between the two (for example, an ester, amide, or ketone linkage at the 3xe2x80x2 position or, less preferably, the 2xe2x80x2 position); preferably, this linkage does not significantly perturb the pucker of the ring from the natural ribonucleotide conformation. Peptide acceptors may also possess a nucleophile, which may be, without limitation, an amino group, a hydroxyl group, or a sulfhydryl group. In addition, peptide acceptors may be composed of nucleotide mimetics, amino acid mimetics, or mimetics of the combined nucleotide-amino acid structure. As noted above, puromycin represents a preferred peptide acceptor for use in the present method.
In addition to covalently bonded RNA-protein fusions, any other unique, PCR-amplifiable nucleic acid (for example, RNA, DNA, PNA, or any other nucleic acid which includes two or more covalently bonded, naturally-occurring or modified ribonucleotides or deoxyribonucleotides) can be coupled covalently or non-covalently to each individual binding domain. The protein portions of the fusions are typically composed of naturally-occurring amino acid residues, but may also include amino acid analogs or derivatives, joined by peptide or peptoid bond(s).
Of particular importance is that each binding domain is associated with (and can therefore be identified by) a unique, amplifiable nucleic acid tag, and that each tag in a multiplex reaction is of identical (or essentially identical) length to avoid amplification (for example, PCR) biases. Such unique identification tags are nucleic acid sequences that differ sufficiently in sequence from other tags in a given population or reaction mixture that significant cross-hybridization does not occur under the conditions employed. These unique identification tags may be present in the protein encoding portion of the fusion (for example, the tag can be a randomized portion of the protein scaffold, such as a randomized loop of the 10th domain of fibronectin type III). Alternatively, the unique identification tag can be added to the nucleic acid portion of the fusion molecule and be positioned outside of the nucleic acid sequence which encodes the compound binding domain or, if present, its associated scaffold region. In the latter case, unique identification tags may be chosen which most effectively, most selectively, or most conveniently identify the fusion molecule. For example, if binding reagents are deconvoluted on a DNA chip, tag(s) may be chosen which best hybridize to immobilized chip nucleic acid(s) or which are compatible with commercially available chip arrays. Although DNA chips represent a preferred solid support according to the invention, deconvolution may also be carried out on other solid substrates including, without limitation, any other type of chip (for example, silica-based, glass, or gold chip), glass slide, membrane, bead, solid particle (for example, agarose, sepharose, or magnetic bead), column (or column material), membrane (for example, the membrane of a liposome or vesicle), test tube, or microtiter dish.
Using the affinity binding reagents described above, the present method may be carried out, in one preferred embodiment, as follows. The high affinity binding reagents, each containing a unique affinity binding domain and being present in a mixture of anywhere from 1 to 500,000 (each with equilibrium constants of less than 500 nM), are combined with a sample (for example, a biological sample), under conditions which allow each affinity binding domain to reproducibly recognize a binding partner(s). Following complex formation, the complex is captured. This can be accomplished through any standard procedure, for example, by biotinylation of the biological sample, followed by capture of biotinylated complexes using immobilized streptavidin (for example, streptavidin immobilized on magnetic beads or a column). Alternatively, the initial protein sample may be preabsorbed onto a membrane and the binding domains mixed with the membrane. Complexes remain bound, while unbound binding reagents are washed away.
Following capture of bound complexes, binding domains that have bound their target(s) in the biological sample are detected simply by performing a PCR reaction using primers which hybridize to the nucleic acid portion of the fusion molecule. Preferably, the PCR reaction is carried out using standard quantitative methods (for example, using Taq Man by Perkin-Elmer).
If multiple complexes are isolated, the isolated pool is then deconvoluted and individual members identified. The identification step may be accomplished through direct sequencing. Alternatively, in a preferred feature of the invention, the isolated pool is deconvoluted and bound analytes identified using DNA chip array detection. In one preferred method, the PCR reaction is stopped following predefined cycles, and aliquots extracted. In this way, DNA array detection is performed on each aliquot, allowing for quantitative analysis of amounts of each species present in the pool. Again, a critical feature of the PCR step is that the unique identifiable tag is amplified, and that each amplified segment is the result of using identical primers that generate a DNA product of identical (or essentially identical) size.

Sensitive, multiplexed diagnostic assays for protein analysis


Embodiments presented in this disclosure generally relate to an electro-optic device that includes one or more modulator portions and a terminator portion. Each modulator portion is disposed along a propagation path of an optical signal and includes a respective first doped region and one or more coupled first electrical contacts. Each modulator portion operates to modulate an optical signal propagating through the first doped region using first electrical signals applied to the electrical contacts. The terminator portion is disposed along the propagation path and proximate to at least one modulator portions, and operates to mitigate effects of droop on the propagating optical signal.

Many electro-optic devices exploit the free carrier dispersion effect to alter both the real and imaginary parts of the refractive index. This exploitation is used since the unstrained pure crystalline silicon does not exhibit a linear electro-optic (Pockels) effect, and the refractive index changes caused by the Franz-Keldysh effect and Kerr effect are very weak. Phase modulation in a specific region of optical devices, such as Mach-Zehnder modulators, total-internal-reflection (TIR)-based structures, cross switches, Y-switches, ring resonators, and Fabry-Perot resonators may be used to modulate the output intensity.
Free carrier concentration in electro-optic devices can be varied by injection, accumulation, depletion, or inversion of carriers. Most of the devices investigated to date exhibit some common features, such as requiring long interaction lengths (for example, 5-10 mm) and injection current densities higher than 1 kA/cm3 in order to obtain a significant modulation depth.
To facilitate understanding, identical reference numerals have been used, where possible, to designate identical elements that are common to the figures. It is contemplated that elements disclosed in one embodiment may be beneficially utilized on other embodiments without specific recitation.


A main litter box base is covered pith a partial litter box canopy. Dividing the main litter box container into two different compartments is a sift screen, the sift screen being sealed about its edges with the main litter box container and further being sealed about the edge of the litter box canopy. The litter box screen includes a moveable door for accessing or preventing access to the screened portion of the box. A stop member is provided opposite the access door for preventing the movement of loose excrement and clumped animal litter from atop the sifting screen. A removable or detachable scoop or shovel is mounted to the outer surface of the main litter box base.

This invention relates generally to products and devices used by the owners of animals and pets. More particularly, it relates to an animal litter box which is used to facilitate the removal of animal excrement and clumped litter from a supply of clean litter such that the clean litter can be recycled and reused. It also relates to such a litter box which allows for the recycling and reuse of clean litter without the need to remove the clean litter from the box.
Animals and pets hold a special place in the heart of humanity. Indeed, pets can provide their owners with the most joyous and rewarding of life experiences. Pets can, however, also place many demands upon their owners due in large part to their near constant reliance upon their owners for the pet""s most basic needs. This includes feeding them, seeing to it that they get enough exercise, and cleaning up after them. In the case of our feline companions, as well as some other domesticated house animals, this often requires the attention of the owner to the continuous upkeep and maintenance of an indoor animal litter box.
In the experience of this inventor, there are many animal and pet devices which have been disclosed for assisting pet or animal owners with the cleaning of an animal litter box whereby animal excrement and clumped animal litter are separated from a supply of litter and then physically removed from the device. In his own personal search of the marketplace, however, very few of such devices are, in the experience of this inventor, commercially available for use by members of the purchasing and consuming public. This may seem to be odd given the extent of the current pet population and the concomitant need for, and the desirability of, such devices. In the view of this inventor, however, the reason for this is fairly simple. Most devices which have been disclosed appear to be too complex, requiring many different parts for the manufacturer to fabricate and assemble and requiring many different steps in order that the pet owner can properly utilize the devices.
As an additional observation made by this inventor, the originators of many such litter boxes profess to effectively eliminate the need to scrape or scoop clumped litter from the bottom or side surfaces of the principal or main litter box container. Anyone who is even remotely familiar with animal litter boxes is readily aware of the fact that commercially available litter, in most cases, effectively xe2x80x9cgluesxe2x80x9d itself to any available surface thereby making it extremely difficult to remove without some sort of scoop or shovel action by the pet owner. This is particularly true where, for example, the pet has a habit of urinating in one particular spot or corner of the litter box.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a new, useful and uncomplicated animal litter box which can be easily manufactured and which can be made with a minimal number of parts. It is a further object of the present invention to provide such an animal litter box which can be operated in a very simple fashion without excessive manipulation of the litter box itself and without requiring an excessive number of steps to use. It is yet another object of the present invention to provide such an animal litter box which catches and separates sifted animal excrement and clumped animal litter from clean litter. It is still another object of the present invention to provide such an animal litter box which allows for the efficient removal of animal excrement and clumped animal litter from the litter box while also allowing for the easy redistribution of litter for additional use within the litter box.
The present invention has obtained these objects. The present invention provides for a main litter box base. A portion of the main litter box base is covered with a partial litter box canopy. Dividing the main litter box container into two different compartments is a sift screen, the sift screen being sealed about its edges with the main litter box container and further being sealed about the edge of the litter box canopy. In an alternative embodiment, the sift screen is engageable with the main litter box container and the litter box canopy but is also removable from the assembly for cleaning access behind the screen. The litter box screen includes a moveable door for accessing or preventing access to the screened portion of the box. A screen holding bar is provided opposite the access door for preventing the movement of loose excrement and clumped animal litter from atop the sifting screen. A detachable shovel or scoop may be provided to assist the user with the removal of material which is deposited atop the sifting screen or which is attached to the inner surfaces of the main litter box base. The foregoing and other features of the device of the present invention will be further apparent from the detailed description which follows.


The present invention relates to novel polyurethane prepolymers (PU prepolymers) of low viscosity containing NCO groups blocked with compounds containing phenol groups and to their use for producing polyurethane polymers. The PU prepolymers are prepared by reacting one or more diisocyanates or polyisocyanates with at least one isocyanate-reactive compound with a functionality of at least 1.5 to form an NCO-functional polyurethane prepolymer and subsequently blocking the free NCO groups with at least one hydrocarbon resin containing phenolic OH groups and/or one optionally substituted phenol in the presence of a catalyst which comprises at least one triorganoamine.

Features of the polyamine/epoxy resin systems known from the prior art include, for example, excellent metal adhesion, very good chemicals resistance and outstanding corrosion protection properties. In the case of solvent-borne formulations and powder coating systems it is possible using epoxy resins with high molar masses and/or polyaminoamides, based for example on dimer fatty acid hardeners, to obtain crosslinked films of high flexibility. Coatings based on solvent-free liquid resins and solvent-free amine-type hardeners, owing to the low molar masses of the epoxy resins and the resulting high network density, are very brittle. In solvent-free formulations, therefore, use is made of, for example, tar substitutes such as coumarone resins for plasticization. Especially when relatively large amounts of hydrocarbon resins are used, however, coatings of this kind tend towards long-term embrittlement owing to migration of the non-functional constituents.
Effective and long-lasting elasticization of the epoxy resins can be achieved through combination with blocked polyurethane prepolymers.
DE-A 21 52 606 describes in this context the use of alkylphenol-blocked polyisocyanates, the reactive systems produced (e.g. coating materials or composite materials) being of relatively high viscosity.
An improvement in this respect can be obtained, according to the teaching of U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,574, by using hydrocarbon-resin-blocked polyurethane prepolymers, in which case reactive systems of lower viscosity are obtained.
Catalysts described as suitable for the blocking reaction in DE-A 21 52 606 and U.S. Pat. No. 6,060,574 are, very generally, the catalysts which are customary per se in polyurethane chemistry, including Sn(II) or Sn(IV) compounds or tertiary amines such as 1,4-diazabicyclo[2.2.2]octane (DABCO) or triethylamine.
However, the only two tertiary amines mentioned explicitly, DABCO and NEt3, have unwanted drawbacks. For instance, the deactivation of the catalyst after the blocking reaction, which is normally carried out with acid chlorides such as benzyl chloride, leads to unwanted precipitation and clouding phenomena in the product, so making it unusable. Owing to its high volatility (boiling point: 88–90° C.), in contrast, triethylamine is readily expelled from the reaction mixture during the blocking reaction (reaction temperatures typically up to 90–120° C.), and this leads, among other things, to a reaction rate which is not uniform, is difficult to control and in some cases is severely retarded.

Phenolically blocked polyurethane prepolymers


The invention disclosure relates to a biologically pure isolate of Fusarium avenaceum ATCC 200684 to a herbicidal composition containing the isolate as active ingredient, and to a method of combating weeds, particularly the Rubus species, comprising applying an effective amount of the composition, thereto.

This invention relates to Fusarium avenaceum, to a method for its production, and to its use as a herbicide for Rubus species.
The discovery and development of potential biological control agents to suppress competing forest vegetation is receiving increased attention in the management of conifer regeneration sites. Development of alternatives to commonly used weed control methods, such as herbicide applications and manual cutting, has become important in forest management plans due to economical constraints and increasing public concern over pesticide use. Biological control strategies which utilize microbial organisms or their secondary metabolites to control weeds have been widely investigated on agricultural crops. In forest renewal sites, biological control agents need to be sufficiently virulent to suppress competing vegetation that is often diverse in growth habit and density, while allowing for vegetation to resume its role in forest ecosystems once conifer release has been obtained.
Invasive Rubus species, namely wild red raspberry [Rubus strigosus Michx.=R. idaeus var. strigosus (Michx.) Focke], thimbleberry (R. parviflorus Nutt.), and salmonberry (R. spectabilis Pursh), are among the top 20 forest weeds in Canada. These native Rubus species can effectively outcompete newly planted or naturally regenerated conifers in reforestation sites in Canada and the northern United States, and reduce the growth and survival of black and white spruce. These Rubus species are perennial, deciduous shrubs which form monospecific, multi-layered shrub communities with long-lived clonal root systems.

Fusarium avenaceum and its use as biological control agent for rubus species

Her Majesty the Queen in right of Canada, as represented by the Minister of Natural Resources


A system for measuring speed of a high-speed motor using a moving average filter. A position sensor generates a rotor position signal. A signal processing module determines a rotor angle from the rotor position signal. A speed observer module calculates a raw speed of the motor from the rotor angle. A filter module selectively generates a filtered speed of the motor from the raw speed of the motor. A frequency-to-period converter module calculates a rotor period from one of the raw speed of the motor and the filtered speed of the motor. A divider module calculates number of points in a moving average from the rotor period. A moving average filter module adjusts a window size of the moving average to the rotor period. A moving average filter removes ripple and harmonics of the ripple from the raw speed of the motor.

In a feedback control system used to control speed of a motor, the speed of the motor is measured and fed back to the control system. FIG. 1 shows a typical system 20 that controls speed of an AC motor 22. A rotor position sensor, such as a resolver 24 or an encoder (not shown), and a signal processing module 26 measure rotor angle θrm. A speed measurement module 28 determines motor speed ωrm from the rotor angle. A comparator module 30 determines the difference ωrm—err between the measured speed ωrm and a command speed ωrm*. The difference is fed to a speed controller module 32 that generates a torque command Te*to minimize the difference. Based on the torque command, a torque-to-current mapping module 34 generates command currents Idse*and Iqse*.
Current sensors (not shown) measure stationary phase motor currents Ias, Ibs, and Ics. A stationary to synchronous phase converter module 36 converts the currents Ias, Ibs, and Ics to d and q-axis synchronous phase currents Idse and Iqse.
A comparator module 38 determines the difference between the currents Idse*and Idse. Another comparator module 40 determines the difference between the currents Iqse*and Iqse. Based on the difference in the currents, a current controller module 42 generates synchronous phase command voltages Vdse*and Vqse*.
A synchronous to stationary phase converter module 44 converts the voltages Vdse*and Vqse*to stationary phase command voltages Va*, Vb*, and Vc*. Based on the command voltages, an inverter module 46 generates 3-phase voltages that drive the motor at the command speed.
The motor speed should be accurately measured because errors in measured speed are fed back to the control system and can cause speed fluctuations, system instability, and motor heating. Due to factors such as eccentricity of position sensor, inaccuracy of electrical module, etc., the rotor angle typically has a periodic error, as shown in FIG. 2. Consequently, the motor speed calculated from the rotor angle has a fluctuating error called ripple, as shown in FIG. 3. The ripple is fed back to the speed controller module and distorts the command currents, as shown in FIG. 4. The ripple in command currents, in turn, distorts the command voltages that drive the motor. As a result, the motor speed fluctuates. Consequently, the motor currents that are measured and fed back to the control system contain ripple, as shown in FIG. 4. This renders the control system unstable. The ripple in motor speed also causes heating and loss due to harmonics. Notably, the magnitude of the ripple is proportional to the motor speed. Therefore, motor speed fluctuation, control system instability, and motor heating are high at high motor speeds.
Traditionally, the ripple is minimized by using a low-pass filter, as shown in FIG. 5. The cut-off frequency of the filter, however, cannot be set so low as to completely eliminate the ripple because the low cut-off frequency causes delay in the feedback loop. Alternately, the ripple can also be minimized by lowering the control bandwidth of the speed controller, current control, and a speed observer. This method, however, sacrifices control dynamics and is therefore inadequate for speed control of high-speed motors.

Speed measurement system for speed control of high-speed motors


Among other aspects disclosed are a method and system for detecting confidential information. The method includes reading stored data and identifying strings within the stored data, where each string includes a sequence of consecutive bytes which all have values that are in a predetermined subset of possible values. For each of at least some of the strings, determining if the string includes bytes representing one or more format matches, wherein a format match includes a set of values that match a predetermined format associated with confidential information. For each format match, testing the values that match the predetermined format with a set of rules associated with the confidential information to determine whether the format match is an invalid format match that includes one or more invalid values and calculating a score for the stored data, based at least in part upon the ratio of a count of invalid format matches to a count of other format matches.

In some data processing environments it is possible for confidential information to appear in electronic files stored in insufficiently secured data storage devices. The existence of this confidential information in insecure files can endanger the security and privacy of the individuals it is associated with and create liabilities for the entity operating the insecure data storage system. Confidential information may include sensitive financial data or any information that can be used to identify specific individuals and relate them to the contents of a file. Some examples of confidential information include names, addresses, telephone numbers, social security numbers, and credit card numbers.


The liquid ejection apparatus comprises: a liquid ejection head which has nozzles ejecting liquid in a downward-facing state and pressure chambers connected to the nozzles; a turning device which turns the liquid ejection head to switch the nozzles of the liquid ejection head between the downward-facing state and an upward-facing state; and a sealing device which seals the nozzles when the nozzles of the liquid ejection head are in the upward-facing state.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a liquid ejection apparatus and a liquid maintenance method, and more particularly, to a liquid ejection apparatus which ejects liquid toward a prescribed medium and a liquid maintenance method which maintains the state of the liquid.
2. Description of the Related Art
There is a liquid ejection apparatus which ejects dispersion liquid in which dispersed micro-particles are suspended. Examples of material of the micro-particles include, for instance, pigment, high-polymer resin, metal, glass, or oxide or compound of these. Generally, the micro-particles tend to aggregate and settle with the passage of time. When the liquid in which the micro-particles have aggregated and settled is ejected, then there is deterioration of quality in the ejection results, namely, density non-uniformities or distortions, poor color reproduction, non-uniform density of the micro-particles, and the like. Therefore, technology for maintaining the state of the dispersion liquid has been proposed.
For example, Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-167698 discloses a liquid ejection apparatus in which a liquid ejection head having a projection on the bottom is supported on a carriage, which moves reciprocally in a main scanning direction, and a cam is provided to press the projection of the liquid ejection head to move the liquid ejection head in a substantially perpendicular direction (a vertical direction) with respect to the carriage so that the liquid ejection head to perform a swinging motion in the substantially perpendicular direction (the vertical direction) and the liquid inside a liquid chamber (ink cartridge) held on the liquid ejection head is agitated in such a manner that a settled state of the contents in the liquid is eliminated.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-216809 discloses technology in which, when nozzles of an inkjet head oppose a recording medium (i.e., in a printing state), a free surface of the ink (the liquid-atmosphere interface, which is also commonly called "meniscus") in the nozzle that is not to eject the ink is caused to vibrate to an extent in which the ink is not ejected, while the ink is ejected and discarded through the nozzles when not printing.
Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-72104 discloses technology in which a manifold guiding ejection material (e.g., ink) to a nozzle of a liquid ejection head is provided with a piezoelectric element for agitating the ejection material inside the manifold. By continuously agitating the ejection material inside the manifold by means of the piezoelectric element, the ejection material immediately prior to ejection is maintained in a state of stable dispersion of micro-particles.
However, in some cases, it is difficult to achieve efficient agitation of liquid in which dispersed micro-particles are suspended.
In particular, in a liquid ejection apparatus having a liquid ejection head in which the liquid ejection face is situated in a bottommost position, nozzle blockages are liable to occur due to sedimented micro-particles in the nozzles. In the case of a so-called shuttle head structure in which the liquid ejection head performs a reciprocal back and forth movement, the liquid inside the liquid ejection head is agitated by the reciprocal motion of the liquid ejection head, but in the case of a line head structure where the liquid ejection head does not perform reciprocal movement, the liquid is not agitated usually.
As described above, technology has been proposed for carrying out various maintenance operations, such as the vertical swinging of the liquid ejection head, the slight vibration of the free surface of the ink in the nozzle, the discarding of the ink, and the like; however, these operations are difficult to apply in practice, since they are not efficient because of long waiting times, increased costs, and so on.
For example, in Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-167698, the liquid ejection head is caused to swing in the substantially vertical direction by means of the cam pressing the projection arranged on the bottom of the liquid ejection head; however, the liquid ejection head performs no reciprocal back and forth movement. The liquid having the aggregated and settled micro-particles in the liquid cartridge is thus agitated only by the displacement of the liquid ejection head in the substantially perpendicular direction, and hence the agitation performance is low and a long time is required until the liquid is agitated to a satisfactory extent.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2004-216809, since valuable liquid is ejected and discarded when the apparatus is not in printing, there is a problem in that costs increase.
In Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2003-72104, since the dispersed state of the micro-particles is maintained by continuously agitating the liquid by means of the piezoelectric element, then it is not effective unless the piezoelectric element continuously carries out the agitating operation even while the apparatus is not operating, and it results in high power consumption and increased costs.
Furthermore, if a structure is adopted in which a common liquid chamber is arranged at a position higher than pressure chambers and the base of the common liquid chamber is connected to the pressure chambers through liquid supply channels, then the high-density liquid nearby the base of the common liquid chamber in which the micro-particles have settled is supplied to the pressure chambers, and hence there is a progressive density change (from thick to thin) in the liquid as being consumed by ejection. Consequently, quality deterioration occurs in the ejection results.

Liquid ejection apparatus and liquid maintenance method


A single-use, sealed and tamper-proof condom packaging is formed from an integrally-molded body and a cover connected with a lateral hinge. The body has an annular groove for insertion of the rolled portion of the condom whose terminal cap inserted between the cover and the central stiffening boss, after which the peripheral welding bead is formed.

The present invention relates to a tight, tamper-resistant and non-reusable packaging case for condoms.
Known condom packaging materials are primarily bags consisting of two composite foils facing one another, both of which generally have an aluminum base and plastic material and which are heat-sealed around each condom, preferably along rectilinear weld lines perpendicular to each other.
All of these unit packaging bags have one or more of the following drawbacks:
Their tightness depends on the pressure exerted against their wall by any sharp object; PA1 Maintenance of the integrity of the latex from which the condom if formed depends also on the proximity of any sharp object, but above all on the precautions taken in tearing open the composite foils and extracting the condom in such a way that the latter does not come in contact with the aluminum or metal foil; PA1 In the case of bags, which are by far the most common form of packaging, the condom is removed in an arbitrary fashion, either in the "good" direction which makes it possible to take hold of it by the reservoir--hereinafter referred to as "cap"--in order to expel the air directly, or in the reverse direction, which involves an additional tedious manipulation as well as errors of usage, causing stains on the outer surface of the condom; PA1 Also, in the case of bags, current production methods do not permit centering the trade name on the heat-sealed product, nor the placement of legally required labeling on the material; PA1 The cost of some packaging is very high.
The object of the present invention is to remedy the aforementioned drawbacks by providing a condom packaging case whose tightness and strength provide good preservation of the condom under all circumstances; which, when opened, releases the condom in the "good" direction so that one can take hold of it by expelling the air through simple pressure of the thumb and index finger and without any risk of deterioration of the latex; which makes it possible to center any imprint on its two faces; and which is of low cost.


A system and method for enrolling a speaker in a speaker authentication and identification system (AIS), the method comprising: generating a user account, the user account comprising: a user identifier based on one or more metadata elements associated with an audio input received from an end device; generating a first i-vector from an audio frame of the audio input, a trained T-matrix, and a Universal Background Model (UBM), wherein the first i-vector generation comprises an optimized computation; and associating the user account with the first i-vector.

With an ever increasing use of voice technologies, speaker recognition and speech recognition are two fields of technology that are gaining rapid adoption due to various technological improvements. Applying statistical probabilistic models, such as Gaussian Mixture Models (GMM), is a known method for speaker and speech recognition. However, improvements with this technique are still desirable. Typically, this technique is resource intensive, using significant processor power and memory. Therefore, solutions which can reduce computation time, memory usage, and other resource requirements can provide a clear advantage over the prior art.
It would therefore be advantageous to provide a solution that would overcome the challenges noted above.

System and method for speaker authentication and identification


A system and method are disclosed which may include subjecting an original, pixel domain image to an Integer Wavelet Transform (IWT) to obtain a matrix of IWT coefficients; selecting a plurality of the IWT coefficients for incorporation of information therein; and setting signs for the plurality of selected IWT coefficients according to bit values of a plurality of respective data bits. The system and method can also include subjecting a marked pixel domain image to an Integer Wavelet Transform to obtain a matrix of wavelet coefficients; selecting a plurality of the coefficients from the matrix that contain embedded information; and for each selected coefficient, extracting the data bit embedded in the coefficient, a bit value of the extracted data bit determined based on a sign of the coefficient.

Data hiding has become an intensive research area in recent years. Most multimedia data hiding techniques modify and therefore distort the cover media during the data hiding process. Even though the distortion is often small and imperceptible to human visual systems (HVS), the original cover media usually cannot be restored completely. In other words, most of these data hiding techniques are nonreversible, which is not acceptable for some sensitive applications, such as legal and medical imaging.
For legal, medical, and other sensitive applications, reversible data hiding is desired in order to extract the embedded data as well as to recover the original host signal. Reversible (also often referred to as invertible, lossless, or distortion-free) data hiding has been a very active research subject in the last few years. Many reversible data hiding schemes have been reported, such as in documents numbered 1-11 below.
In documents [2] and [8], identified below, modulo-256 addition is utilized to avoid overflow and underflow and thus achieves reversibility. The scheme proposed by Fridrich et al. [3] losslessly compresses the bit-planes in the spatial domain and hence saves space to embed the payload (to-be-embedded data) and overhead (bookkeeping data) to achieve reversible data hiding. The payload of this technique is quite small owing to the rather limited compression ratio that can be achieved in the spatial domain. Based on this, a general least significant bit-plane (GLSB) embedding technique in the spatial domain was proposed by Celik et al. [6]. The payload and imperceptibility of embedded data are largely improved because of the more efficient compression technique used therein. Domingo-Ferrer et al. [5] proposed a spatial-domain spread-spectrum data hiding method. However, it is only reversible with respect to the modified version of the original host signal. Xuan et al. [7] proposed a reversible data hiding algorithm carried out in the integer wavelet transform (IWT) domain.
Tian [10] embeds the data using a difference expansion technique, resulting in an improved reversible data hiding method in terms of data embedding capacity versus visual quality of marked images. Yang et al. [11] proposed a reversible data hiding technique using the companding technique. This technique embeds data in discrete cosine transform (DCT) coefficients.

System and method for reversible data hiding based on integer wavelet spread spectrum


A correction value calculating method includes: preparing a printer including a motor, a PID control system for controlling the motor, and a memory for storing a correction value, the printer being configured to calculate a value of a current flowing through the motor based on the correction value and an output value of an integral element of the PID control system; obtaining in advance a relationship, for when a property of a motor fluctuates, between a correction value and a sum of an output value of the integral element when a motor is driven at a first velocity and an output value of the integral element when the motor is driven at a second velocity; driving the motor of the printer at the first velocity and measuring an output value of the integral element at that velocity; driving the motor of the printer at the second velocity and measuring an output value of the integral element at that velocity; and determining the correction value to be stored in the memory based on the relationship and a sum of the two measured output values.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to methods of calculating correction values and methods of manufacturing printers provided with motors.
2. Description of the Related Art
Printers are provided with various types of motors, including carriage motors for moving a carriage and carry motors for carrying paper. To control these motors, printers are provided with PID control circuits.
The amount of current that flows through a motor when the motor is driven changes according to the load on that motor. Accordingly, if the value of the current that is flowing through the motor cannot be measured directly, then the output value of an integral element of the PID control circuit is measured, and the value of the current flowing through the motor is calculated based on this output value of the integral element.
Motors have individual differences, however, and thus errors occur when the property values of a standard motor are used to calculate the current value from the output value of the integral element. Accordingly, current values calculated based on the property values of a standard motor are corrected by a correction value (see JP 2003-79172 A).
However, the current value cannot be calculated accurately unless a correction value that is suited for the individual differences of the motor has been set properly.

Method of calculating correction value and method of manufacturing printer


An assembly for monitoring an area is provided. The assembly can include two or more cameras sensitive to radiation of distinct wavelength ranges. The fields of view of the cameras can be substantially co-registered at the area to be monitored. The assembly can include a computer system which can process the image data to monitor the area. The computer system can be configured to identify relevant objects present in the area, update tracking information for the relevant objects, and evaluate whether an alert condition is present using the tracking information.

Current approaches for monitoring safe operations and providing warnings of unsafe circumstances in an area, such as an at-grade railroad crossing, where different types of vehicles may operate generally fall into two categories. The first category attempts to exclude vehicles and persons from the grade crossing when a train is or may soon be passing through the crossing. These include simple "crossbuck" signage warning pedestrians and motorists that they are approaching an at-grade railroad crossing, warning lights and bells, and large gates which lower at the approach of a train and raise only after the train has passed.
These approaches are at best only partially successful. One problem is failure of the mechanical and/or electrical systems on occasion, which results in the system giving no warning or activating far too late for any human being to react properly in time. Additionally, human operators often deliberately and systematically evade or ignore the warning systems, either due to inattention, hurry, misjudgment as to the speed of the train and how quickly the tracks can be crossed, and/or the like. There are numerous cases in which a car or truck has been deliberately driven around fully lowered gates and been struck by the train as it attempts to cross the tracks.
Other approaches seek to detect unwanted and dangerous intrusions into the crossing region and signal alerts to appropriate groups or individuals. Besides the intruding vehicle/person themselves, other possible notification targets are the railroad dispatch office, local first responders, and the train operator through an in-locomotive notification system. These approaches generally include intrusive and non-intrusive sensor systems. Intrusive sensors require embedment into the pavement within the crossing. Such devices typically incur periodic failures due to shifting pavement, freeze/thaw cycles, and vehicle loading effects (e.g., heavy trucks). Sensors in this category include inductive loop detectors and magnetic sensors, and depend on the interaction between large metal objects and the electric field produced by the sensor or perturbation of the ambient magnetic field. As such, devices in this class cannot detect humans or any non-metallic objects, and generally cannot detect small metal objects, such as a bicycle or a wheelchair.
Non-intrusive sensors operate in a non-contact manner from a distance that is dependent on the sensor technology, typically measured in feet or tens of feet. Non-intrusive sensors can be further divided into imaging devices and non-imaging devices. Imaging devices, such as a camera, produce a representation of the object detected in the railroad crossing, which can be used by a human to further evaluate the nature of the object and decide a course of action. Non-imaging devices are merely presence detectors that give an indication something is present, and possibly its size. Examples of non-intrusive sensors include: radars (imaging and non-imaging, Doppler and presence sensing); active and passive acoustic and ultrasonic sensors; laser imaging detection and ranging (LIDAR); imaging and non-imaging long wave infrared (LWIR); and visible spectrum video imaging.
Non-imaging systems tend to be subject to high false alarm rates and poor spatial resolution. Visible spectrum imaging systems can be subject to high false alarm rates due to object effects (moving shadows, wind effects, reflections, glint, glare, coloration effects) and do not operate in fog/smoke/fine drizzle due to the scattering of light by the very small particles. Radar imaging systems have poor resolution and difficulty separating objects from background. LWIR systems depend on temperature differential and are of generally lower resolution than visible light systems. These systems operate well in darkness and smoke and fog, but are subject to glare, glint, and background confusion, as are visible spectrum systems. LIDAR (effectively light-based radar) actively scans an area with laser beams, which poses various safety concerns and requires an active scanning system, as does radar, which can break down.
An ultimate approach is to physically separate the crossing, either building a bridge for the train to cross over the road, or a bridge or tunnel for the road to cross over/under the tracks. However, this approach is an extremely expensive and time-consuming process, which is not practical in the vast majority of situations. For example, separating an at-grade crossing in this fashion costs several million dollars per crossing, and there are over 260,000 grade crossings in the United States.


System and method for processing analog voltage for cold-cathode fluorescent lamp. The system includes a voltage-to-current converter configured to receive an input analog voltage signal and generate a first current signal, and a current processing component configured to receive the first current signal and a predetermined current and generate a second current signal. Additionally, the system includes a current-to-voltage converter configured to receive the second current signal and generate an output analog voltage signal, and a dimming controller configured to receive the output analog voltage signal and generate a control signal for driving at least a cold-cathode fluorescent lamp. The voltage-to-current converter, the current processing component, and the current-to-voltage converter are configured to be biased between a first power supply voltage level and a second power supply voltage level.

The present invention is directed to analog voltage processing. More particularly, the invention provides a system and method for analog voltage processing in a wide voltage range. Merely by way of example, the invention has been applied to dimming control for one or more cold-cathode fluorescent lamps. But it would be recognized that the invention has a much broader range of applicability.
The cold-cathode fluorescent lamp (CCFL) has been widely used to provide backlight for a liquid crystal display (LCD) module. The CCFL often requires a high alternate current (AC) voltage for ignition and normal operation. Such AC voltage can be provided by a CCFL driver system. The CCFL driver system receives a low direct current (DC) voltage and converts the low DC voltage to the high AC voltage.
Additionally, the CCFL driver system often performs dimming control to adjust brightness of the CCFL. The analog signal used for dimming control can be generated by a controller such as a microcontroller. Often, the analog signal has a wide dynamic range from a low voltage level to a high voltage level. For example, the low voltage level is the ground voltage level, and the high voltage level is close to the supply voltage level. Usually the analog signal needs to be processed in order for the CCFL driver system to perform the dimming control. For example, the signal processing needs to be very precise for a wide range of analog voltage, but such precision often is difficult to achieve.
Hence it is highly desirable to improve techniques for analog voltage processing for dimming control of cold-cathode fluorescent lamp.

System and method for analog voltage processing in wide range for cold-cathode fluorescent lamp

On-Bright Electronics (Shanghai) Co., Ltd.


An ink set including at least three black ink compositions different in concentration, wherein the colorant of the black ink composition having the highest concentration is a pigment, the colorant of the black ink composition having the lowest concentration is a dye, and the colorant(s) of the black ink composition(s) for medium gradation having medium concentration between them is a pigment or dye.

For the purpose of obtaining good black-and-white monochrome images and gray scale by an inkjet recording method or the like, there are sometimes used an ink set containing at least three black inks different in concentration of a black pigment (i.e., carbon black). For example, by using three black inks different in carbon black concentration, stability of gray balance and metamerism are dramatically improved. Particularly, the effect is very large in terms of gray balance. Namely, this is because graininess in a high-tone region (bright region) is overcome, which is problematic in the case that gray balance is outputted with only one or two black inks.
An image recording apparatus using plurality of black ink compositions different in carbon black concentration and a set of color ink compositions in combination and a controlling method thereof have been already known (Patent Document 1). However, the technology described in Patent Document 1 aims at formation of monochrome high gradation images in addition to color images on the same recording medium, and it merely disclose the use of plurality of black ink compositions in order to form the monochrome high gradation images.
Moreover, an ink set containing three or more black inks different in black dye concentration have been hitherto known and also offered commercially.
Patent Document 1: JP-A-11-320924
In the case that the colorants of the three black inks are all black dyes, there is a problem in respect of short-term color stability. Namely, since a phenomenon of gradual color change after output from a printer onto a recording paper is induced, the quality is insufficient for monochrome print where strict color accuracy is required.
On the other hand, in the case that the colorants of the three black inks are all black pigment (i.e., carbon black), print quality is high and particularly there is no problem in short-term color stability but there are problems in respect of increased complexity of composition and in respect of gloss. Namely, in the case that recording is carried out using a black ink composition low in carbon black concentration, in recorded images, at the time when a fluorescent lamp, an outside light, or the like is reflected by recorded images, there is a problem that the reflected light generates gold-like gloss. Moreover, in the case that recording is carried out using a black ink composition for medium gradation having medium concentration, there is a problem that there is generated a part where gray lightness shifts.

Ink set containing at least three black ink compositions


A method is provided for converting a digital colour image to a digital colour image with improved colour distinction. This method improves the colour distinction in a colour image for an observer suffering from a colour-blindness. The method includes defining a number of main colour values of a received digital colour image, converting the main colour values to converted main colour values such that the converted main colour values are perceived as distinguishable from each other by a colour-blind observer, and rendering the digital colour image with the converted main colour values.

1. Field of the Invention
The invention relates to a method of converting a digital colour image to a digital colour image with improved colour distinction, and more particularly to a method of this kind suitable for improving colour distinction in a colour image for an observer suffering from a type of colour-blindness.
2. Discussion of the Related Art
People suffering from colour-blindness may encounter difficulties with certain documents containing colours. Pie charts, histograms, maps, etc. can be unreadable for these people. A good design of software or web pages should consider the fact that colour-blind computer users see things differently than most users, as taught by an article entitled "The Eye of the Beholder—Designing for Colour-Blind Users" by C. Rigden in British Telecommunications Engineering, Vol. 17, 443-451 (1999). A method described therein consists in representing images as perceived by people with a certain colour deficiency and using the representation as a check after the conception of the document. In order to perform the check, use is made of transformed colour palettes in which each colour of a web-safe palette has been transformed to a colour value as perceived by a colour-blind person. That way, designers can produce documents, software interfaces and web pages which avoid problems for their users. However, this kind of adapted design is seldom applied in reality. Moreover, it has the disadvantage that the design is optimized for the most common deficiency with red and green, while other deficiencies receive less attention.
When colours in a document are used as primary means of information, this can become an issue for colour-blind people. Changing the colours of such existing documents in a given way may enable the colour-blind people to distinguish some colours which would be otherwise perceived mainly equally by them. After such transformation, these documents may be printed or displayed on a screen, by which these people can retrieve the information contained in the original colours.
A method of correcting a digital image for colour-blinds is known from Vischeck (www.vischeck.com/daltonize/). In this method, an image processing algorithm is used to improve the situation of people with a colour deficiency. The Vischeck algorithm is a combination of the following steps:                the red/green contrast in the image is increased;        the information conveyed by variations in the red/green direction is analyzed and converted into changes in brightness; and        the information conveyed by variations in the red/green direction is analyzed and converted into changes in blue/yellow coloration.
One step of the Vischeck algorithm makes the red/green variations somewhat more visible to colour-blinds, since many of these people posses some residual red/green discrimination. Another step according to this algorithm performs a mapping of some information contained in the document from an invisible colour dimension for colour-blinds into a colour dimension that they can see.
The Vischeck algorithm, however, has the inconvenience that the type of correction has to be given by hand by the user, meaning that the user has to give for each of the steps of the algorithm a numerical value. This makes the use of the algorithm cumbersome for a user who does not know which values apply to him. Even after a lot of trials, the improvement is still not convincing due to a lack of performance of the algorithm. There are also situations in which this algorithm does not work, meaning that the colour-blind user still may not be able to retrieve correctly the information contained in the document.

Converted digital colour image with improved colour distinction for colour-blinds


A linear motion system includes an elongated shaft, a movable member mounted at the elongated shaft, a lubricator unit defining therein a grease storage container for storing a lubricating grease, a motor mounted in the grease storage container, a lubricating grease guide connected to the motor, a controller mounted in the grease storage container, and a sensor adapted to provide an actuation signal to the controller upon movement of the movable member, causing the controller to start the motor in moving the lubricating grease guide to expel the storage lubricating grease out of the grease storage container onto the surface of the elongated shaft so as to achieve a self-lubricating effect.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to linear motion technology and more particularly, to a linear motion system with automatic lubricator.
2. Description of the Related Art
U.S. Pat. No. 8,302,499 discloses a linear transmission system with a lubrication device (the reference signs of the following components are quoted from the specification of the cited patent), which discloses the use of a motor F to rotate a helical blade 61, making a lubricating grease overflow to the surface of an elongated shaft 1 to perform lubrication synchronously during rotation of the helical blade 61.
In the case of the aforementioned patent, regardless of the linear transmission system is in operation, the motor F keeps rotating the helical blade 61 to continuously deliver the lubricating grease to the surface of the elongated shaft 1, causing unnecessary waste and increasing the cost.

Linear motion system with automatic lubricator


Reflected light from a surface not associated with an image is efficiently cut while maintaining rays in a portion associated with formation of an image in a polygon mirror. Among light guided to the polygon mirror by an incidence optical system, a beam indicated by hatching is incident to an fxcex8 lens, is reflected by an unrepresented cylindrical mirror, and forms a spot on the image plane to scan the surface with rotation of the polygon mirror. Since the beam incident to the polygon mirror is greater than the width of polygon facets, there exists a beam reflected by an adjacent facet. In order to intercept this beam, a shield member is placed in a certain determined range between the fxcex8 lens and the facet of the polygon mirror, so as to cut unwanted flare.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an optical scanning apparatus and, more particularly, to prevention of flare from a scanning mirror in the optical scanning apparatus used in printers in which an image is drawn with laser light.
2. Related Background Art
FIG. 8 is an optical path diagram of a conventional optical scanning apparatus. Reference numeral 91 designates a laser unit, 92 a cylindrical lens, 93 a scanning mirror, 94 a spherical lens, 95 a toric lens, and 96 a photosensitive drum. Parallel laser light emitted from the laser unit 91 is converged only in the sub-scanning direction by the cylindrical lens 92 to impinge on a surface of the scanning mirror 93. The scanning mirror 93 rotates at a constant speed and the light reflected by the scanning mirror 93 travels through the spherical lens 94 and the toric lens 95 to undergo correction for Fxcex8, whereby converging light scans the surface on the photosensitive drum 96. The photosensitive drum 96 rotates at a constant speed in synchronism with a driving signal of the semiconductor laser and the scanning light forms an electrostatic latent image on the photosensitive drum 96. An image is printed from this electrostatic latent image onto paper by the electrophotographic process.
Recently, there are strong desires for higher definition of image and higher speed of output and there are thus increasing needs to increase the width of the polygon mirror, i.e., to increase the size of the polygon mirror in order to make the Fxcex8 optical system brighter and, in addition thereto, to rotate the polygon mirror at a higher speed. On the other hand, there is a limit to the performance of the motor for rotating the polygon mirror of the thus increased size at the higher speed and the cost for the polygon mirror and motor increases.
Under such circumstances, the scanning efficiency of the polygon mirror is increased by illuminating the polygon mirror with a beam greater than the main scanning width of the polygon mirror (an overfield optical system), for example, as disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open No. 6-143677. The scanning efficiency of the polygon can be increased by this method, but there arises a problem that spot sizes are nonuniform depending upon image heights. An effective method for relaxing this nonuniformity is to make the beam incident to the polygon mirror from in a plane made by the rotation axis of the polygon and the optical axis of the fxcex8 lens. This can minimize the nonuniformity of the spot, as compared with that in the case of incidence from other positions, and the spot becomes symmetric with respect to the image heights.
However, if the width of the incident beam is made greater than the width of the reflective facets of the polygon, there will arise a problem that reflected light from an adjacent facet appears as flare at the image plane to deteriorate the image.
An object of the present invention is, therefore, to maintain sufficient rays in the portion of the polygon mirror associated with the formation of image and efficiently intercept the reflected light from the surface not associated with the image.
In the present invention for accomplishing the above object, in order to efficiently intercept the flare, a distal end of a shield member is located within a predetermined range determined by a diameter xcfx86 of an inscribed circle to the polygon and a focal length f of the fxcex8 lens or the like.
An optical scanning apparatus according to an aspect of the invention is an optical scanning apparatus comprising a scanning mirror having a plurality of reflective facets for deflectively reflecting a first beam emitted from a laser light source and an fxcex8 lens for focusing a second beam deflectively reflected by a reflective facet of said scanning mirror, in a spot shape on an image plane,
wherein a width in a main scanning direction of the first beam incident to said scanning mirror is wider than a width of the reflective facets of said scanning mirror in the main scanning direction,
said optical scanning apparatus including a shield member for intercepting a third beam reflected by a reflective facet adjacent to the reflective facet deflectively reflecting the second beam.
In the optical scanning apparatus according to another aspect of the invention, the first beam travels through said fxcex8 lens to be incident to said scanning mirror and the first beam incident to the scanning mirror is present within a plane made by a rotation axis of the scanning mirror and the optical axis of the fxcex8 lens.
In the optical scanning apparatus according to another aspect of the invention, where the origin is set at the center of the rotation axis of said scanning mirror, an x-coordinate axis is taken along the optical axis of the first beam of incident rays, the positive direction of the x-coordinate axis is taken along a direction in which the second beam and third beam of reflected rays from the scanning mirror travel, and a y-coordinate axis along the main scanning direction, a distal end of said shield member is located in the range defined by the following equation between the reflective facet of the scanning mirror and a ray output surface of the fxcex8 lens:
xcex1x+xcex2xe2x89xa6|y|xe2x89xa6xcex1xe2x80x2x+xcex2xe2x80x2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[Eq. 1]
xcex1=tan 2xcex80
xcex2=(sec 2xcex80)xc3x97(a cos xcex80xe2x88x922xcfx86 sin xcex80)/2
xcex1xe2x80x2=tan 2xcex81
xcex2xe2x80x2=(xe2x88x92sec 2xcex81)xc3x97(a cos xcex81+2xcfx86 sin xcex81)/2
xcex80=y0/2f
xcex81=2xcfx80/nxe2x88x92xcex80
a=xcfx86 tan(xcfx80/n),
where n is the number of facets of a polygon being the scanning mirror, f a focal length of the fxcex8 lens, y0 a maximum image height in the main scanning direction, and xcfx86 a diameter of an inscribed circle to the polygon.
In the optical scanning apparatus according to another aspect of the invention, said shield member is means for positioning said fxcex8 lens.
In the optical scanning apparatus according to another aspect of the invention, said shield member is a portion of a lens surface in a noneffective image portion of said fxcex8 lens, said portion being treated by a light-intercepting treatment.
In the optical scanning apparatus according to another aspect of the invention, said shield member is formed so as to be integral with an optical box.
In the optical scanning apparatus according to another aspect of the invention, where the origin is set at the center of the rotation axis of said scanning mirror, an x-coordinate axis is taken along the optical axis of the first beam of incident rays, the positive direction of the x-coordinate axis along a direction in which the second beam and third beam of reflected rays from the scanning mirror travel, and a y-coordinate axis along the main scanning direction, a distal end of said shield member is located in the range defined by the following equation between the fxcex8 lens and said image plane:
xcex1x+xcex2xe2x89xa6|y|xe2x89xa6xcex1xe2x80x2x+xcex2xe2x80x2xe2x80x83xe2x80x83[Eq. 2]
xcex1=2(2fxcex80 cos 2xcex80+xcfx86 sin xcex80xe2x88x92x1 sin 2xcex80)/(cos xcex80+2f cos 2xcex80)
xcex2=2fxcex80xe2x88x92[2(f+x1)(2fxcex80 cos 2xcex80+xcfx86 sin xcex80xe2x88x92x1 sin 2xcex80)/(cos xcex80+2f cos 2xcex80)]
xcex1xe2x80x2=2(2fxcex81 cos 2xcex81+xcfx86 sin xcex81xe2x88x92x1 sin 2xcex80)/(xe2x88x92cos xcex81+2f cos 2xcex81)
xcex2xe2x80x2=2fxcex81+[2(f+x1)(2fxcex81 cos 2xcex81+xcfx86 sin xcex81xe2x88x92x1 sin 2xcex81)/(cos xcex81xe2x88x922f cos 2xcex81)]
xcex80=y0/2f
xcex81=2xcfx80/nxe2x88x92xcex80
a=xcfx86 tan(xcfx80/n),
where n is the number of facets of a polygon being the scanning mirror, f a focal length of the fxcex8 lens, y0 a maximum image height in the main scanning direction, xcfx86 a diameter of an inscribed circle to the polygon, and x1 a position of a rear principal plane of the fxcex8 lens.
An image-forming apparatus according to a further aspect of the invention is an image-forming apparatus comprising the optical scanning apparatus as set forth, a photosensitive body placed on a surface to be scanned, a developing unit for developing an electrostatic latent image formed on said photosensitive body with the beam under scanning by said optical scanning apparatus, into a toner image, a transfer unit for transferring said developed toner image onto a transfer medium, and a fixing unit for fixing the transferred toner image on the transfer medium.
Another image-forming apparatus according to a further aspect of the invention is an image-forming apparatus comprising the optical scanning apparatus as set forth, and a printer controller for converting code data supplied from an external device, into an image signal and supplying the image signal to said optical scanning apparatus.

Optical scanning apparatus and image-forming apparatus