This invention relates to an improved process for producing diesters of phosphorous acid. The process comprises (a) reacting phosphorous acid with monohydric alcohol in a petroleum distillate solvent while maintaining a reaction mass temperature within the range of from about 130.degree. to about 138.degree. C., and (b) refluxing the reaction mass during the reaction, wherein the phosphorous acid contains about 20 up to about 35 wt. % water, the molar ratio of alcohol to phosphorous acid used is within the range of from about 2.0:1 to about 4.0:1, and water is removed from the reaction mass essentially as it is formed during steps (b) and (c).

Dihydrocarbyl esters of phosphorous acid, such as dibutyl hydrogen phosphite are useful as gear lubricant additives as is or they may be further reacted with elemental sulfur to form an intermediate reactive product. The intermediate reactive product can then be reacted with an amine, olefin, or alkylene oxide to obtain a desired lube oil additive.
Processes for preparing dihydrocarbyl phosphites are well known. Alkyl phosphites may be prepared by the reaction of alcohols and alkali metal alkoxides with phosphorus trichloride and with phosphorus trioxide. However, reactions of trivalent phosphorus derivatives are known to be more complex and more difficult to control than reactions involving the corresponding pentavalent phosphorus derivatives.
Baker, et al., U.S. Pat. No. 2,670,368 and GB Patent No. 699,154 disclose the direct esterification of phosphorous acid with monohydric alcohols. According to Baker, et al., alkyl phosphites, principally dialkyl phosphites, may be produced in good yield without the formation of excessive quantities of ethers, olefins, and other undesirable products by esterification of the alcohol with phosphorous acid under such conditions that the water present and formed during the esterification is removed continuously. Continuous removal of water is achieved by the use of a solvent which forms a ternary azeotropic mixture with water and the alcohol. The phosphorous acid used in the Baker, et al. process is obtained by concentrating a more dilute acid, for example, concentrating commercial 70 percent acid whereby a solid product containing 90 percent or more H.sub.3 PO.sub.3 is usually formed.


A printhead assembly comprising the printhead and filters intended for use with the printhead is passivated by passing a gaseous coating such as Parylene through the assembly. In this way dirt particles created during manufacture of the printhead are encapsulated and thus prevented from blocking the nozzles. The printhead assembly is also prevented from interacting physically or chemically with ink flowing through the printhead.

1. Field of the Invention
This invention relates to printhead assemblies.
2. Related Technology
With the wide variety of substances currently utilised as 'inks' with printhead technology there is a need for a barrier between the ink and the actuator structures within the printhead. It is desirable that such a barrier prevents the ink from reacting chemically with the actuator structure; this is especially desirable with highly reactive inks. It is also desirable that such a barrier prevents physical interactions, in particular with conductive or metallic inks, which may cause short-circuiting of the printhead where such inks contact the driving electrodes. It is also desirable that the barrier improves ink flow through the printhead. Dirt, dust or other matter that inevitably results from the manufacturing process should be encapsulated during the process in order to prevent such material dislodging and blocking the nozzles during operation of the printhead.
Parylene is known to form a conformal coating within the structure of shared-wall/shear mode printheads of the kind known from EP0277703. It is particularly well suited to page-wide-array designs having a large number of ink inlets and outlets communicating to the channel, as known e.g. from WO 00/29217. It is known to apply Parylene to the printhead to form a layer to eliminate nucleation sites for air bubbles, for example from U.S. Pat. No. 4,947,184 (Spectra Inc.). Details of the Parylene coating process and operating procedures may be found therein.
Within the manufacturing environment it is desirable to protect a printhead actuator from particulate contamination, typically by attaching a nozzle plate at the front of the actuator and a filter at the back.

Passivation of printhead assemblies and components therefor


An inter-node connection method and apparatus for at least a first and second nodes respectively connected to private IP address network ends of at least a first and second address translation devices, which translate a private IP address into a global IP address, through global IP address network ends of the first and second address translation devices. Firstly, a control session is established with the first or the second node respectively through the first or the second address translation device; and secondly a connection request frame or a connection reply frame is respectively transferred to the second or the first node by the control session through the second or the first address translation device when the connection request frame or the connection reply frame is received respectively from the first and second nodes by a data session. The second or the first node transmits a data frame toward the first or the second address translation device, which binds an IP address and a port number of the first or the second node included in the data frame respectively to those of the second or the first address translation device for a direct communication between the nodes.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inter-node connection method and apparatus, and in particular to a method and apparatus for mutually connecting nodes (terminals) through address spaces managed with different allocation policies, that is a private IP address network and a global IP network.
2. Description of the Related Art    (1) Kinds of IP Address and Translation (Conversion) Method Thereof
An IP address is defined as comprising two kinds, i.e. a global IP address and a private IP address based on an allocation (assignment) policy as noted below (see e.g. non-patent document 1):                Global IP address: IP address uniquely allocated for a device connected to the Internet;        Private IP address: IP address uniquely allocated for a device connected to a network within an organization such an intranet. While it is possible to freely make an address allocation within an organization even without applications, address uniqueness is not guaranteed over the Internet, so that communications cannot be made over the Internet as it is.            (2) Address Translation
In order for a node having a private IP address to communicate with a node having a global IP address, an address translation is required between both of the addresses. A device having a NAPT (Network Address Port Translation: IP masquerade) (hereinafter, referred to as "NAPT device") as a representative technique comes into widespread use (see e.g. non-patent document 2).                NAPT device: In a case as shown FIG. 16 where a plurality of nodes each having a private IP address, namely, a local (private) node (hereinafter, simply referred to as a node) N1 of a private IP address "192.168.0.10", and a local node N2 of a private IP address "192.168.0.20" reside in a private IP address network NW1, and also a global node N3 of a global IP address "126.96.36.199" resides within a global IP address network NW2, the node N3 cannot determine only with a single global IP address from which node of a private IP address it has received a packet (frame). Therefore, the provision of a NAPT device AC including therein a bind table BT can associate the IP addresses with the port numbers and so relate the packet to a local node.
For example, the NAPT device AC having first received a packet from the node N1 having the private IP address "192.168.0.10" prepares an entry of the bind table BT by allocating thereto a port (IP address "18.104.22.168": port number "10080") at the end (on the side) of its own global IP address network NW2. Namely, this bind table BT has an entry prepared with a frame transmitted by the node N1 in which a port at the end of the global IP address network NW2 of the NAPT device AC is allocated, so that the NAPT device AC enables only an address translation from the local nodes N1 and N2 toward the global node N3.
Accordingly, in a case as shown in FIG. 17 where the nodes N1 and N2 are set up in the private IP address spaces NW1 and NW3 which are mutually different and are mutually connected with NAPT devices NC1 and NC2 as well as a global IP address network NW2 connecting both devices, no frame can reach into the private IP address networks from the global IP address network, disabling communications between the nodes N1 and N2 (at step T0).
(3) STUN
As a measure for solving such as a problem of a NAPT device as indicated above (2), a STUN (RFC 3489) system is mentioned (see e.g. non-patent document 3).
This STUN system solves such a problem by providing, as shown in FIG. 18, an association server (hereinafter, occasionally simply referred to as a server) SRV which manages the following entries (information) in the form of a table TBL at the end of the global IP address network NW2, where both transmitting/receiving nodes behave as if they are positioned at the transmitting end since both transmit a frame in advance of the reception. It is to be noted that STUN is applied to UDP, not to TCP.
[Entries of Table TBL Managed by Association Server SRV]
                Global IP address (WAN IP address) and global port (WAN port) number of the NAPT devices AC1 and AC2;        Identification number of node (IDs uniquely allocated to all nodes);        Local port (LAN port) number of node.
Namely, from the nodes N1 and N2, a LAN port allowing the association server SRV to connect to the outside is preliminarily registered, while the association server SRV allocates unique IDs (hereinafter, occasionally referred to as node ID) to the nodes N1 and N2, whereby the association server SRV prepares entries of the management table TBL.
In the following, a procedure of an inter-node connection (communication) will be described referring to FIG. 18, where it is to be noted that this figure shows an example of a connection from a port 700 of the node N1 to a port 300 of the node N2 and that occasionally ports and port numbers are mutually denoted with identical reference numerals:
Step S11:
The source node N1 transmits to the association server SRV a "connection request" frame composed of a node ID "0002" and a local port number "300" of the communication destination node N2 with which the source node Ni desires to communicate.
Step S12:
The association server SRV notifies to the communication source node N1 and the communication destination node N2 respectively an IP address and a port number at the end of the global IP address network NW2 of opposed NAPT devices AC2 and AC1. Namely, the association server SRV notifies a global IP address and a port number "22.214.171.124:8700" of the NAPT device AC1 to the node N2, and notifies a global IP address and a port number "188.8.131.52:4100" of the NAPT device AC2 to the node N1.
Step S13:
The node N1 transmits a frame to the global IP address and the port number (220.127.116.11:4100) of the NAPT device AC2 which forms a Peer notified at the above step S12, whereby the NAPT device AC1 binds (associates) the private IP address and the port number of the node N1 with the global IP address and the port number of the NAPT device AC2, respectively.
Step S14:
The node N2 transmits a frame to the global IP address and the port number (184.108.40.206:8700) of the NAPT device AC1 which forms a Peer notified at the above step S12, whereby the NAPT device AC2 binds (associates) the private IP address and the port number of the node N2 with the global IP address and the port number of the NAPT device AC1, respectively.
Step S15:
The nodes N1 and N2 establish a direct session (path) through the NAPT devices AC1-AC2, not through the association server SRV.
Step S16:
Namely, notifications of the global IP address and the port number of the NAPT devices to the communication source node and the communication destination node respectively as indicated at the above step S12 enable accesses to be commenced from the nodes N1 and N2 at the ends of the private IP address networks NW1 and NW3 respectively at the above steps S13 and S14.
Step S17:
On the other hand, as prior art which improves a transfer efficiency by a mutually direct communication between servers, there have been proposed equipment, mechanism, method, and medium recording them, for dynamically exchanging bidirectional data among devices having private address and devices having global address going over network routers, in which the P-side device and the G-side device are connected to a session management server (S) installed in the G-side, and the S supervises data area which is allocated uniquely; data are transferred directly between devices not passing through the S, according to the obtained session information, such as data transfer request, regarding own device; direct data transfer from the G-side to the P-side becomes possible by replacing it to direct data acquisition from the P-side to the G-side; this being applied to the communication between P-side devices separated by the G-side network (see e.g. patent document 1).
[Non-patent Document 1]
    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc1918.txt?number=1918[Non-patent Document 2]    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3022.txt?number=3022[Non-patent Document 3]    http://www.ietf.org/rfc/rfc3489.txt?number=3489[Patent Document 1] Japanese patent application laid-open No. 2003-101590
An association server of the above mentioned STUN system makes an access to a node with a management table having entries (registrations) of a port number which each node opens to the public. In the example of FIG. 18, the table TBL of the association server SRV has five ports' entries.
Therefore, the increase of port number for entry will increase the cost of the resource (memory, hard disk, CPU etc.) of the association server, resulting in a limited scalability.

Inter-node connection method and apparatus


A disk drive device includes a stationary body, a rotating body on which a recording disk is to be mounted, and a fluid bearing unit that supports the rotating body in a freely rotatable manner relative to the stationary body. The fluid bearing unit includes a lubricant that is fluorescent.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a disk drive device having a fluid dynamic bearing unit and a manufacturing method of the same.
2. Description of the Related Art
Disk drive devices like a hard disk drive often employ a fluid dynamic bearing unit that enables a stable and fast-speed rotation. For example, according to a motor disclosed in JP 2008-275047 A and having a dynamic pressure bearing, a lubricant is applied between a sleeve that is a part of a stator and a shaft that is a part of a rotor. The rotor is supported in a non-contact manner by dynamic pressure generated in the lubricant, enabling a smooth and fast-speed rotation.
Conversely, there is a demand for disk drive devices to further increase the memory capacity. An example technique to cope with such a demand is to increase a recording density.
A gap between a recording/playing head and a disk surface may be reduced to increase the recording density. When such a gap is narrow, however, it becomes difficult for the recording/playing head to precisely trace the track on the disk surface when even a tiny particle sticks to the disk surface, resulting in a read/write error. In the worst case, the recording/playing head is damaged, and the disk drive device breaks down.
One of the causes of such particles is that the lubricant is excessively applied in the fluid dynamic bearing unit, and the excessive lubricant is splashed together with a fast-speed rotation of the fluid dynamic bearing unit. The splashed lubricant diffuses the interior of the disk drive device, and may build up condensation on the disk surface, thereby being deposited thereon. Conversely, when the lubricant applied in the fluid dynamic bearing unit is insufficient, the lubrication operation for the fluid dynamic bearing unit becomes insufficient, resulting in a break-down in the worst case.
That is, it is necessary to manage the lubricant applied in the fluid dynamic bearing unit to be an appropriate amount. JP 2010-262580 A discloses an example method of inspecting an amount of the lubricant applied in the fluid dynamic bearing unit.
The present invention has been made in view of the aforementioned circumstances, and it is an objective of the present invention to provide a disk drive device that facilitates a management of a lubricant applied in the a fluid dynamic bearing unit.

Disk drive device with a flourescent lubricant

SAMSUNG ELECTRO-MECHANICS JAPAN ADVANCED TECHNOLOGY CO., LTD.


Folding box (hinge-lid pack) for cigarettes of the like, comprising a box component (10), a lid (11) and a collar (15), with a print carrier (28) being positioned in the folding box between a collar front wall (16) on one hand, and a box front wall 19, on the other hand. In a preferred embodiment, the folding box is provided with a window (34) in said area.

The invention relates to a folding box (hinge-lid pack), in particular for cigarettes, essentially comprising a box component, a hinged lid and a collar whose lower region is anchored in the box component, with a printing carrier or coupon made from a separate blank being arranged in the hinge-lid pack.
It is becoming more and more common in the cigarette industry to add carriers of printed information to cigarette packs in order to provide consumers with information or as coupons for participating in various events. The enclosure of the print carrier, designed as a separate blank, should be positioned to attract consumer attention but should also be easily integrated into the manufacturing process of the cigarette packs.
The invention has the objective of presenting an improved arrangement and presentation of a print carrier in a hinge-lid pack.
In order to achieve this objective, the hinge-lid pack is characterized in that the print carrier, or coupon, is positioned between a collar front wall of the collar, on one hand, and a box front wall of the box component, on the other.
The collar in hinge-lid packs is usually arranged with the collar front wall and collar side flaps in the box component and lying against the box front wall and box side walls. According to the invention, the print carrier is arranged between the collar front wall and box front wall, so that the collar front wall is preferably covered by the print carrier up to the upper margin of the pack contents (cigarette group). When the pack is used for the first time the print carrier is first pulled out and can thus fulfill its intended purpose.
Particularly advantageous is the invention""s arrangement of the print carrier in hinge-lid packs which have an opening, or so-called window, in the region of the pack front side, namely between lid front wall and box front wall, which exposes part of the collar front wall when the hinge-lid pack is in a closed position.
According to the invention and its arrangement of the print carrier, the latter is visible from the outside in the region of the window, even when the hinge-lid pack is closed, so that information can be conveyed to the consumer for a closed pack or before it has been opened for the first time by means of the message printed on the print carrier in particular in the region of the window.
The invention""s arrangement of the print carrier opens up new possibilities for connecting the collar with the box component, on one hand, and for the connecting the print carrier to parts of the hinge-lid pack.


Systems and methods are disclosed for operating a highly linearized resistance for a switch through use of a bootstrapped features. In one exemplary implementation, there is provided a method and system that implements a method for operating a circuit configured to provide a highly linearized resistance including receiving a signal via a bootstrapped switch, coupling the received signal to a gate if the received signal is high, receiving a signal via a switch control input coupled to a high impedance element. Moreover, the method includes coupling the high impedance element to the gate and turning off the switch via a gate turn off when the gate turn off pulls the gate low.

1. Field
The present inventions relate to a system and method of utilizing a switch with a highly linearized resistance via bootstrapped features.
2. Description of Related Information
Switches such as Field Effect Transistor (FET) switches and Micro-Electro-Mechanical (MEM) switches are used in applications ranging from transmit/receive to Radio Frequency (RF) applications. One problem, is that when the input signals to the switch are near the power supply rails, the gate drive on the switches is reduced causing the resistance across the switch to increase. One solution to avoid this problem is to add a resistor in series with the gate of the switch so that when the input swings high, the gate also swings high from capacitive coupling, and the same gate drive is maintained as shown in patent US 2010/0013541-A1. However, the problem with this configuration is that during slow transients, the gate will not hold the bootstrapped voltage since there is a resistor connected. The voltage will quickly decrease to the original value as charge from the gate capacitance discharges through the resistor. In the case of a transmitter/receiver for transmitting pulses of different durations, the resistance across the switch will change, and consequently the harmonic distortions will be affected. Hence, this topology does not work for transient signals with a long period. The innovations herein overcome this difficult and important issue. In particular, for high voltage transmit/receive switches used in ultrasound applications, it's especially difficult to have linearity because the input signals could be in the 100V to 200V range and it is difficult to maintain linearity over this range. Again the innovations herein can overcome this problem. Another problem with high voltage signals is that high voltage coupling back onto the gate could damage circuitry connected to that node. Here, the present innovations allow protection to limit the voltage at that node.

Bootstrapped switch with a highly linearized resistance


An exposure apparatus EX is provided with a measuring unit 60 which measures at least one of property and components of a liquid LQ in a state that a liquid immersion area LR is formed on an object different from a substrate P to be exposed. There is provided an exposure apparatus which can accurately perform exposure process and measurement process through the liquid by judging the state of the liquid in advance and by performing a procedure as appropriate.

In photolithography process, as one of the producing processes for a micro device such as a semiconductor device or a liquid crystal display device, an exposure apparatus which projects a pattern formed on a mask onto a photosensitive substrate by exposure is employed. This exposure apparatus has a mask stage supporting a mask and a substrate stage supporting a substrate, and projects a pattern of a mask to a substrate via a projection optical system while successively moving the mask stage and the substrate stage. In micro device producing, for higher integration of the device, it has been demanded to increase the fineness of the pattern to be formed on the substrate. To meet this demand, higher resolution of the exposure apparatus has been desired. As one of the means for realizing this higher resolution, a liquid immersion exposure apparatus is proposed which fills a liquid in an optical-path space between a projection optical system and a substrate and performs an exposure process through the liquid, as disclosed in the following patent document 1.
Patent document 1: Pamphlet of International Publication Pamphlet No. 99/49504

Exposure apparatus, exposure method, and device producing method


A wood screw is provided which can be smoothly driven in with a small driving force. Helical ribs that are the highest at the center and gradually lower toward both ends are formed on the outer periphery of the tip of a shank having threads on the outer periphery at intervals of 180xc2x0 in the circumferential direction. Each helical rib is a discontinuous body formed by a plurality of protrusions having different heights. This reduces the turning resistance imparted to the helical ribs, thereby reducing the driving force required.

This invention relates to a wood screw.
As a wood screw driven into wood such as a wood board, one is known in which threads are formed on the outer periphery of a shank having a tapered portion at its tip, and the threads on the leading side, which are formed on the tapered portion at the tip of the shank, have a larger lead angle than the threads on the trailing side.
With such a conventional wood screw, since the leading threads have the function as drill edges, initial driving is smooth. But in the case of a wood screw having a long driving length, as the contact length of the threads increases, heat buildup increases, so that the threads tend to seize. In particular, if the wood into which the wood screw is driven is hard, much heat is produced in the threads, so that due to seizure, the wood screw tends to be broken.
In order to avoid such a problem, the present applicant has already proposed in JP utility model publication 5-14005 a wood screw in which two helical ribs of which the height gradually lowers from the longitudinal center toward both ends and which have an isosceles triangular sectional shape are formed on the outer periphery of the tip of a shank having threads on the outer periphery at intervals of 180xc2x0 in the circumferential direction such that the angle (lead angle) formed by the ridgeline of each helical rib and a plane perpendicular to the shank is greater than the lead angle of the threads.
In the wood screw described in this publication, when the wood screw is driven in, the ridgelines of the helical ribs penetrate into the wood while cutting off a threaded hole tapped by the threads on the tapered portion at the tip of the shank to form helical grooves, and the trailing threads in the rear of the helical grooves are driven into the inner periphery of the helical grooves. Thus the wood screw can be relatively smoothly driven into even hard wood. Heat buildup is small. Thus, it can be driven in without causing seizure.
In the wood screw proposed in the above publication, since the two helical ribs each have an isosceles triangular section and extend continuously in the longitudinal direction and the lead angle is greater than the lead angle of the threads, turning resistance imparted to the helical ribs is relatively large, so that a large force is needed to drive it in. Thus, improvement in lowering the driving force has been expected.
In order to reduce the turning resistance, it is effective to reduce the lead angle of the helical ribs or lower their maximum height. But by doing so, the groove width of the helical grooves formed by the helical ribs is decreased or their depth is reduced. This increases the resistance when the trailing threads are driven, so that heat buildup tends to occur.
An object of this invention is to provide a wood screw which can be smoothly driven into even hard wood with a small driving force.
According to this invention, there is provided a wood screw comprising a shank having a tapered portion at a tip thereof, threads formed on the outer periphery of the shank, two helical ribs formed on the outer periphery of the tip of the shank spaced 180xc2x0 from each other in the circumferential direction, the helical ribs being the highest at the longitudinal center and gradually lowering toward both ends, the maximum height of each helical rib being less than the height of the threads, the angle formed by the helical ribs and a plane perpendicular to the shank being greater than the lead angle of the threads, each of the helical ribs comprising a discontinuous body formed by a plurality of conical protrusions having different heights.
The discontinuous bodies as used herein refer to ones in which the apexes of the plurality of protrusions are completely separate from each other. But the bottoms of the protrusions may be separate or connected together.
By forming each helical rib from the discontinuous bodies of the plurality of conical protrusions having different heights, when the wood screw is driven in, it is possible to lower the turning resistance imparted to the helical ribs, so that the screw can be smoothly driven into even hard wood with a small driving force.
According to this invention, there is also provided a wood screw comprising a shank having a tapered portion at a tip thereof, threads formed on the outer periphery of the shank, two helical ribs formed on the outer periphery of the tip of the shank spaced 180xc2x0 from each other in the circumferential direction, the helical ribs being the highest at the longitudinal center and gradually lowering toward both ends, the maximum height of each helical rib being less than the height of the threads, the angle formed by the helical ribs and a plane perpendicular to the shank being greater than the lead angle of the threads, each of the helical ribs comprising a conical protrusion disposed at the center of its length, the height of the conical protrusion being smaller than the height of the threads.
By providing a conical protrusion at the longitudinal center of each helical rib as described above, it is possible to suppress the maximum height of the helical ribs. Thus it is possible to reduce the turning resistance imparted to the helical ribs. Thus, the screw can be smoothly driven into even hard wood with a small driving force.
In either of the first and second inventions, the protrusions may be conical or pyramidal.


A surface-coated cutting tool according to the present invention includes a base material and a coating film formed on the base material. The coating film includes at least one TiCN layer. The TiCN layer has a columnar crystal region. The columnar crystal region is characterized by having a composition of TiCxNy(in which 0.65≦x/(x+y)≦0.90), having a (422) plane having a plane spacing of 0.8765 Å to 0.8790 Å and having TC (220) showing a maximum value in an orientation index TC (hkl).

Conventionally, there is a known surface-coated cutting tool including a base material and a coating film formed on the base material, in which a TiCN layer is included as the coating film.
For example, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2008-087150 (Patent Literature 1) proposes an attempt to improve wear resistance and chipping resistance by setting the atomic ratio of carbon to the sum of carbon and nitrogen at 0.70 to 0.90 as a composition of the TiCN layer.
Furthermore, Japanese Patent Laying-Open No. 2006-231433 (Patent Literature 2) proposes an attempt to improve the chipping resistance by providing a specific inclination angle distribution with respect to the crystal plane of the crystal grain of the TiCN layer.

Surface-coated cutting tool and manufacturing method thereof


Described herein are systems and methods of dynamically displaying a network of alarms. This can comprise establishing a first hierarchy of a plurality of alarms in an alarm server, the plurality of alarms comprising the network of alarms; receiving a state of the alarms over a network, wherein the state of the alarms are received from one or more Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) for Process Control (OPC) Unified Architecture (UA) clients through a standard interface of an Object Linking and Embedding for Process Control (OPC) Alarms and Events (OPC AE) protocol, communicating with the alarm server; dynamically changing the first hierarchy of the alarms based on the state of the alarms to obtain a second hierarchy of the alarms; and presenting, on a display in communication with the alarm server, a second list of alarms to an operator based on the second hierarchy.

Certain systems, such as industrial control systems, may provide for alarm and alert monitoring and interaction capabilities for various types of devices, such as sensors, pumps, valves, and the like. However, the monitoring and interaction capabilities are often times controlled by distributed control systems provided by a variety of manufacturers. Accordingly, presenting these monitoring and interaction capabilities may be complex, costly, and time consuming.
Existing systems make use of individual alarm states that are summed up or evaluated over different application categories and across a hierarchy. This is done according to predefined logic to ensure that the highest priority alarm prevails over all other contributing alarms. In such applications, any change of an alarm value leads to the recalculation of the state of the sum of all higher priority alarms in the category. However, these systems do not change the hierarchical relationship of alarms dynamically.
Therefore, systems and methods are desired that overcome challenges in the art, some of which are described above.

Method and system for efficient dynamic alarm construction


Provided are replication competent, recombinant adenovirus vectors containing mutations in the E1B region which permit the easy deletion of a gene or genes therein, and optionally the substitution therefore of a heterologous gene that substantially exhibits the temporal expression pattern of the E1b region gene(s) deleted. Such vectors have applications for the treatment of disease, and preferably for the treatment of neoplastic disease.

This invention relates to adenovirus vectors, and to methods for making and using such vectors. More particularly, this invention relates to improved adenovirus shuttle vectors containing mutations in the E1B region which permit the deletion of the entire region, or select genes therein, and, optionally substitution with a desired heterologous DNA sequence.
Adenoviruses are a family of viruses that cause benign respiratory tract infections in humans. Over forty-five serotypes have been identified. Strains 5 and 2 from the C subgroup are two strains that have been used to make vectors because their molecular composition is well characterized, although clinical experience with adenoviral vaccines is with strains 4, 7 and 21 (see, for example, Takafuji, J. Inf. Dis. 140: 48-53 (1979)). Adenoviruses are nonenveloped, icosohedral, double-stranded DNA viruses. The genome is about 36 kb in size and codes for over 40 variously sized polypeptides, including early and late proteins. After binding to a target cell through a capsid fiber protein, the virus is internalized into endosomes, with the capsid eventually escaping relatively intact as it migrates to the nucleus. At the nuclear pore, the capsid dissociates and, the viral DNA moves to the cell nucleus and the early proteins are transcribed, resulting in DNA replication and transcription of the late genes that encode the capsid proteins. Replication occurs in the nucleus of the cell typically, although not exclusively, without integration into the host DNA. New viral particles are assembled in the nucleus and the host cells are lysed, about 36 hours post-infection, releasing the virus. Adenoviruses infect a broad range of cell types and transduction has been observed in replicating and in nonreplicating cells.
In recent years, human adenoviruses have become popular as vehicles for gene transfer into mammalian cells because the virus uses the machinery of the host cell to synthesize viral DNA, RNA and proteins and because gene transcription, genomic organization and the identity of the DNA in adenovirus have been well defined. Adenoviral vectors are known and their use facilitates the study of protein function in mammalian cells and permits production of gene products. In addition, adenoviral vectors may be used as recombinant viral vaccines. The usual method of making an adenoviral vector is to substitute the E1 region of the viral genome with a transgene driven by a selected exogenous promoter, normally containing a strong enhancer. Substitutions and/or deletions have also been made in the E3 and E4 regions. Substitutions in the E1 region are particularly advantageous because the E1 proteins have oncogenic and lytic properties.
Modification of the viral genome can be accomplished by employing recombination or by employing molecular biological techniques. The latter approach typically takes advantage of a single Cla-1 site at the left end of the adenovirus strain 5 (xe2x80x9cAd-5xe2x80x9d) genome that disrupts the E1A region, and the left terminal sequences necessary for encapsidation and containing an origin of replication, about 900 basepairs of the 5xe2x80x2 end of the genome. A plasmid expression vector is also constructed having a single Cla-1 site downstream of the desired transgene and a copy of the adenovirus terminal sequences upstream. This vector is cut and ligated to the E1 negative adenoviral fragment and transfected into human 293 kidney cells immortalized by the constitutive expression of E1A and E1B proteins, to provide E1 functions in trans. Plaques are selected and screened for recombinants, repurified and then used to generate bulk stock of purified recombinant adenoviral vector. Yields can be as high as 1012 to 1013 particles/mL. See Stratford-Perricaudet, J. Clin. Invest. 90: 626-30 (1992). However, this approach poses several problems, which are discussed in PCT Patent Publication No. WO 96/25507, published Aug. 22, 1996 (International Application No. PCT/US96/02336).
In another approach, foreign genes are inserted into the E1 region (see McGrory, Virology 163: 614-17 (1988)), into the E3 region (see Hanke, Virology 177: 437-44 (1990) and Bett, J. Virol. 67: 5911-21 (1993)) or into the E3 region of an E1 deleted vector. Briefly, this approach employs replacement of adenoviral genomic DNA sequences with another DNA fragment to create a plasmid containing a genomic sequence which exceeds the packaging limit of the adenovirus virions. The xe2x80x9cconstructxe2x80x9d can then be propagated as a plasmid (pJM17), which can be rescued as infectious virions when the foreign fragment is replaced by homologous recombination with another DNA fragment small enough to permit packaging. For additional general information on these vectors and their uses see, Hitt, Construction and propagation of human adenovirus vectors. In: Cell Biology: a Laboratory Handbook, J. Celis (ed), Academic Press, N.Y, 1995; see Graham, Adenovirus based expression vectors and recombinant vacines. In: Vaccines: New Approaches to Immunological Problems. R. W. Ellis (ed), Butterworth, pp 363-390, 1992 and see Graham, Manipulation of adenovirus vectors. In: Methods in Molecular Biology, Vol. 7: Gene Transfer and Expression Techniques. E. J. Murry and J. M. Walker (eds) Humana Press Inc., Clifton, N.J., pp 109-128, 1991.
The originally designed and constructed adenovirus vectors reduced virus replication by deleting or mutating portions of the E1A and E1B region. The disadvantage to this approach was that packaging into viral capsids was inefficient, due to the increase in genome size from the addition of the transgene, and the viral stock titer was concomitantly reduced. Deletions in the E3 region increased the amount of heterogeneous DNA which could be inserted into the vector, but it was believed that expression of the E3 gene was needed to assist virus infected cells in avoiding the host immune response.
Thus, it would be advantageous to provide an improved adenovirus vector permitting large insertions of heterogeneous DNA without sacrificing packaging efficiency or protective immunity.
In one aspect, the invention provides methods for constructing replication competent, adenoviral shuttle vectors that can have one or more genes in the E1B region deleted, the vectors so constructed, and optionally heterologous genes of interest substituted for the deleted genes which allows for the temporal expression of the heterologous genes in a manner similar to the endogenous adenoviral gene it replaces.
In a second aspect, the invention provides an E1B shuttle vector wherein the 55K adenoviral gene can be deleted and a heterologous gene of interest substituted therefore.
In another aspect, the invention provides an E1B shuttle vector wherein the E1B region genes, 19K, and 55K can be deleted, and a heterologous gene of interest substituted therefore.
In another aspect, the invention provides an E1B shuttle vector wherein either the 19K, 55K and pIX genes can be deleted, or the pIX gene can be deleted, and a heterologous gene of interest substituted therefore.
In a further aspect of the invention, the E1B shuttle vectors may express a heterologous gene, which expression is preferably driven by the endogenous E1B promoter, wherein the gene encodes a cytokine, including the interleukins, tumor necrosis factor alpha, interferon gamma, or cell cycle regulatory proteins, including p16, or ras, or proteins that induce cellular suicide, or apoptosis, or prodrug activators, including cytosine deaminase or thymidine kinase, or a chemokine including macrophage inhibitory proteins (mip), including mip-3 alpha. The temporal expression pattern of the heterologous gene is similar to the endogenous adenoviral gene it replaces.
In yet another aspect of the invention, E1B shuttle vectors are described wherein such vectors also have mutations elsewhere in the adenoviral genome, preferably in the E1A, E3 and/or E4 regions.
In another aspect of the invention, methods are described wherein the invention E1B shuttle vectors are used for the beneficial treatment or prevention of disease.
In a further aspect of the invention, E1B shuttle vectors may be administered to a patient in a therapeutically effective amount and in a pharmaceutically acceptable carrier. These and other objects of the present invention will become apparent to one of ordinary skill in the art upon reading the description of the various aspects of the invention in the following specification. The foregoing and other aspects of the present invention are explained in greater detail in the drawings, detailed description, and examples set forth below.


A three dimensional logical game element has a body formed as a part of a three dimensional member, the body has a plurality of elements with corners whose apexes are removed on sides which are located in planes to be in contact and slide over one another during assembly or disassembly of at least two such elements, the body having at least one fixing member for fixing a position of the logical game element, the fixing member being formed as a projection.

The present invention relates to logical game elements for games and puzzles.
Logical game elements of this general type are known in the art. The known logical game elements are formed for example as 1/4 of cylinder, 1/4 of gear, and 1/8 of a sphere. These logical game elements are disclosed in Soviet patent documents SU1 319,886; SU1 382,483; SU1 452,483; SU1 452,533; SU1 806810; and U.S. Pat. No. 4,410,179; 4,557,484; 4,708,345; 4,881,738; D281,339; 5,628,512; 5,370,394. The known logical game elements have several disadvantages. First of all, the surfaces of logical game elements do not have roundings or chamfer. This makes playing with them difficult or practically impossible, since the elements which move toward one another will be blocked by their corners when surfaces to be in contact with one another do not coincide. The presence of a great quantity of the elements in the game makes a probability of the blocking close to 100%.
The logical game elements do not have fixing means for fixing of their position. This makes the games uncomfortable and tiring, since a player must monitor all the time the correct position of the elements relative to one another, and to correct this position. Otherwise, the toys can rotate, displace, etc.
The surface of the logical game elements do not have distinguishing marks, pictures, reliefs or simply openings or slots for special inserts. Therefore, the possibility of their use in the games is limited, its attractiveness is reduced, and they can not be used by people with certain disadvantages for example blind people.


A feeder assembly for a combine including a conveyor having a plurality of laterally spaced driving chains entrained about and supported by a pair of for-and-aft spaced lateral supports. An elastomeric assembly is removably fitted about and is adapted for rotation with one of the supports to define a replaceable wear surface for the support while attenuating noise generated by the feeder assembly during operation thereof.

Agricultural combines typically include a header assembly which severs crop materials close to the ground as the combine is driven across a field. A feeder assembly moves the severed crop materials from the header assembly toward a threshing area of the combine.
A conventional feeder assembly includes a plurality of fore-and-aft extending side-by-side flexible belts or drive chains which are tensioned and move in unison relative to each other. A series of laterally elongated slats or crossbars are typically connected to and span the lateral distance between the driving chains. As the chains are driven, the slats engage and move crop materials from one level in the combine to a higher level. The driving chains are entrained for orbital movement about a pair of fore-and-aft spaced metal chain supports. Each chain is comprised of a multiple of metal parts including side plates, brackets, pins and bushings, and miscellaneous linkage parts.
Maintenance problems with known feeder assemblies have resulted from wear on the chains and the chain supports about which they are entrained. As will be appreciated, tensioning of the drive chains coupled with the metal-to-metal sliding contact between the chain and the supports causes wear on adjacent surfaces and can result in malfunctions of the feeder assembly. Repairs and/or replacement of either support and/or the driving chains require dismantling of the feeder assembly and, thus, necessitates a substantial "down time" for the combine. Known mechanical chain conveyors are further objectionably noisy. The noise created during operation of the feeder assembly is exacerbated when the chain supports are configured as laterally elongated hollow drums.
Thus, there is a need and a desire for a feeder assembly which is designed to improve durability of the feeder assembly and to attenuate the noise generated during operation of the feeder assembly.


A hypervisor as a movement source stores key information, and the key information is registered in a storage using the stored key information through a logical HBA which is used for migration.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a computer system which moves a virtual computer or a logical partition operating on a physical computer onto a physically different computer.
2. Background Art
A virtual computer system in which a plurality of logical partitions (hereinafter, referred to as LPAR) is constructed on a single physical computer, each LPAR is regarded as an individual virtual computer, and an operating system (OS) runs on the LPAR is put into practical use. Accordingly, a single physical computer can function like a plurality of independent computers. This technology utilizes an idle resource of a server and reduction in TCO, such as reduction in power necessary for operating the server.
As a system for realizing an I/O request from the logically partitioned computer (or virtual computer), there are a system (hereinafter, referring to as an I/O emulation system) in which I/O issued from the OS (hereinafter, referred to as guest OS) on the virtual computer is received by a hypervisor once, and re-executed on an OS on which a hypervisor is running or an OS which is separately provided exclusively for execution by proxy, and a system (hereinafter, referred to as an I/O pass-through system) in which a guest OS directly requests a physical I/O device for I/O execution.
In regard to LPAR migration processing in the I/O pass-through system, in JP-A-2008-299509, a world wide name (hereinafter, referred to as WWN) of a fibre channel host bus adapter (FC-HBA) which is allocated to a virtual computer to be moved is inherited to an LPAR as a movement destination such that an access right to the same logical unit (LU) can be inherited from the LPAR as a movement destination. This system is a resolution method relating to LPAR migration of a shutdown system in which a physical computer moves when the guest OS is during shutdown.
Of the systems of migration which moves a virtual computer between different physical computers, a movement system in which movement is made in a state where a guest OS on a hypervisor is running, and a target guest OS on a physical computer as a movement destination is in a state of being continuously operable is called live migration. With the live migration, an access path from the guest OS to an LU is switched from a path which uses a physical device mounted in a physical computer as a movement source to a path which uses a physical device mounted in the physical computer as a movement destination.
In regard to changing the physical device, when an I/O processing system is an I/O emulation system, the hypervisor traps an I/O request (MMIO access) and switches the path of the I/O access in the layers of the hypervisor. When an I/O processing system is an I/O pass-through system, it is necessary that a guest OS to be migrated and a physical computer as a migration destination can access the same LU. To this end, it is necessary that, while a login to Fabric is performed by an LPAR as a movement source, a login to the same Fabric can be performed from an LPAR as a movement source. However, a simultaneous login to Fabric from two different FC-HBAs using the same WWN is not possible. Even when a logout of the FC-HBA as a movement source from Fabric and a login of the movement destination are executed sequentially, the login and logout processing with respect to Fabric request a maximum of tens of seconds.
For this reason, as migration in the I/O pass-through system, the following two methods are considered. (1) There is a method in which a guest OS running on a computer as a movement source is stopped, and a logout of WWN of FC-HBA used in a computer as a movement source is performed during this period, and a login is performed again from FC-HBA as a movement destination, thereby securing an access path to an LU before an LPAR restarts. However, when this system is executed, there is a period in which access from the OS to the disk is not possible, and live migration cannot be realized while the guest OS is continuously running.
As another system, (2) there is a system in which, while the same WWN is used in a logical layer, a different WWN is used in a physical layer. In this system, an alternative connection path to a storage is provided using FC-HBA which uses a logical WWN different from WWN in a normal state. At the time of execution of migration, the path is used temporarily to realize an I/O access. In this system, an alternative path is used to execute an I/O access only at the time of execution of live migration, and the path of WWN used in the normal state ends once. The path of FC-HBA using the logical WWN is initialized in the movement destination before LPAR is moved, and a link from the movement destination is established. Accordingly, it is possible to preliminarily secure the access path from FC-HBA as a movement destination to LU. In this case, the access path is secured preliminarily, whereby it is possible to make the time required for path construction of the I/O access independent from the downtime of the guest OS.
When the system (2) is introduced, it is necessary to correspond to Persistent Reservation command which is an exclusive command of SCSI Primary Commands-3 (SPC-3). This function is a command which is used for exclusive control in a cluster system under a path redundant configuration.
In the Persistent Reservation command, a storage controller stores WWN of a port on the FC-HBA side and Reservation Key generated on the OS side in a pair, and executes exclusive control (there may be another system). For this reason, when WWN of FC-HBA connected to the storage changes in the movement source and the movement destination, even though an LU is not excluded and an access is possible in the access from FC-HBA before the logical WWN changes, an access to LU from FC-HBA after changing to an alternative different logical WWN is not permitted and is rejected.
In the live migration, it is necessary to move a virtual computer without making the guest OS conscious of changing of a physical computer. There is a method in which the movement of the guest OS is detected, exclusive control from FC-HBA as a movement source to LU is cancelled once, the completion of the movement after movement is detected, and exclusive control is performed again before an access from FC-HBA as a movement destination to LU is performed, thereby lifting access restriction. However, in order to realize this method, a handshake with middleware or an OS, a special OS or middleware is required, and it is difficult to apply this method in an open environment which cannot be consistent from middleware to a platform.

Computer system to migrate virtual computers or logical paritions


Systems and methods are disclosed for predicting the performance of a financial instrument by extracting influential features and emotional sentiment data from received data values, common features, and internet sources, each corresponding to a financial instrument, building multiple predictive models using random selections of the data values and combining the predictive models to create a combined prediction model. The combined prediction model provides a combined predicted data value where the combined predicted data value is a performance indicator, such as a classification count or percentage, of data values that correspond to the financial instrument and classify correctly via the prediction models. Further, the combined prediction model may be iterated over new or test data values to constantly select the most influential common features to build new prediction models and a resulting new combined prediction model for reducing a classification predictive error and updating the combined predicted data value.

Trading platforms and financial instrument current prediction software provide predictive analyses of individual financial instruments or a group of similarly targeted financial instruments based on current valuation and/or performance of the particular financial instrument or its group. Further, such software may also provide prediction for varying time periods from the analysis of current and historic financial data values, where the data values are gathered over several different time periods.
However, it is common that such current prediction software is unable to follow inconsistent changes in the market environment. Specifically, the software may rely on single patterns or single features in the market fluctuations, but may not adapt to irregular fluctuations that are not typical in regular market cycles. By way of an example, current prediction software may only focus on closing prices for a stock and may ignore sudden and unexpected trading volumes. This approach only looks at part of the available information. An unexpected pattern in the closing price for a stock may reflect an existing pattern, such as the release of financial information by the company that issued the stock. This is an expected event, against, for example, a mid-day news release related to the company, that may cause high volume transaction unrelated to the financial information. The closing value may, therefore, mask the influence of other features/attributes of the stock. The unexpected trading volumes may not reflect entirely on stock performance until some time has elapsed, therefore rendering an automated analysis irrelevant until after the opportunity has passed.
In another example, known prediction software uses a single feature of a financial instrument for prediction purposes. The single feature may be the closing price alone or the volume of trade alone. Further, the prediction software may use a single prediction model, such as, a hidden markov model (HMM) or a clustering model to predict future valuations of the financial instrument from current valuations or volumes. However, single prediction models are not accurate and do not track multiple feature changes effectively.
Accordingly, there is a need for a process that is able to identify stock value changes, with high confidence, hours to days in advance of the changes.

Predicting the performance of a financial instrument


The present invention provides a multi-layered framing system for securing cladding to an exterior wall having exterior insulation. The framing system provides horizontal elements positioned across the exterior insulation, wherein the horizontal elements are secured to studs within the wall using fasteners. Vertical elements are secured to the horizontal elements. Then panels of cladding are secured to the vertical elements.

Cladding the exterior and interior of residential and commercial buildings is gaining popularity. Exterior cladding may include a rain screen to protect the interior elements. Installation of cladding requires a framing system mounted to typically a wall of a structure, but may also be mounted to a roof, soffit, ceiling, floor, etc. The cladding is attached to the framing system. The framing system is typically made from galvanized metal. However, galvanized metal has many drawbacks.
One disadvantage is that galvanized metal cannot be used in coastal areas or areas of high moisture as the galvanized coating is insufficient to resist corrosion in these regions. Another disadvantage is that galvanized metal is difficult to cut and drill, which increases the cost and quality of the installation. Another disadvantage is that galvanized metal parts very rarely true, which requires additional labor to level components. Another disadvantage is that galvanized metal parts should be resealed after cutting or drilling to restitute the removed surface coating. Another disadvantage of conventional framing systems is that they normally provide a single-type of framing element, which must be cut and positioned to fit the geometric differences of the several structures and features (e.g., windows, doors, soffits, and corners) found on modern buildings. This one size fits all approach has proven inadequate and further increases the difficulty and cost of installation.
Another disadvantage of conventional cladding is that it fails to position the frames of the windows flush with the cladding. Windows are not normally perfectly aligned. When conventional cladding is applied, the misalignment of windows is magnified and more noticeable and thus aesthetically unpleasing. Often the window frame has a different offset than the cladding, which is also aesthetically unpleasing.
Today, there is a growing need for the use of exterior insulation in combination with exterior cladding. In a typical commercial building, the exterior walls of the building comprise vertical, metal studs. A sheathing layer is attached to the exterior of the metal studs. A water resistant barrier (WRB) may be placed over the sheathing layer. Then, a layer of vertical elements are aligned with the vertical metal studs and secured to the sheathing layer using fasteners that penetrate the sheathing layer and anchor into the metal studs. Exterior insulation is then installed over the sheathing layer and between the vertical elements. A layer of horizontal elements may be secured over the vertical elements. Lastly, cladding is secured to the horizontal elements or directly to the vertical elements when horizontal elements are not used.
Such systems have many disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the horizontal elements (which are made from metal) protrude through the exterior insulation. This creates thermal bridges that transmit heat between the outside environment and the interior of the building. These thermal bridges drastically decrease the effectiveness of the exterior insulation and thus reduce the overall energy efficiency of the building. Furthermore, such systems do not comply with more stringent building codes that require "continuous exterior insulation," i.e., exterior insulation that is not penetrated by any sub-framing element.
Others have attempted to solve the problem of thermal bridging by attaching the framing elements to clips that penetrate the exterior insulation. Even though the use of clips reduces thermal bridging, the clip systems have many disadvantages. One disadvantage is that the clips, which must support the weight of the cladding and sub-framing system, are of substantial size and still penetrate the layer of exterior insulation. Thus, the clips still create a substantial thermal bridge. This has the further disadvantage of not complying with more stringent building codes that require continuous exterior insulation. Another disadvantage of the clips is they add another layer that increases the overall thickness of the wall. This may not be permissible where the wall already abuts the property line or reaches the setoff depth. Further, this may not be aesthetically pleasing, as windows and doors appear sunken-in. Another disadvantage is that the use of clips substantially increases the complexity of the system, thereby increasing manufacturing costs and installation costs.
Still others have attempted to solve this problem using hybrid systems. However, such hybrid systems still have many disadvantages.
One disadvantage is that such hybrid systems are not compatible with conventional sheathing boards. This makes such hybrid systems unavailable for existing structures that already have sheathing installed. Still yet another disadvantage is that such hybrid systems use vertical elements that are secured to the exterior of the hybrid boards. This requires that each vertical element must individually align with each stud in the wall, which is a laborious process that is complicated by the fact that the studs may not be true and the spacing of the studs, even within the same building, often varies.
Thus, the spacing of the vertical elements is outside the control of the designer of the sub-framing system who must ensure that sufficient vertical elements are used to support the weight of the cladding. Another disadvantage is that all sides of the vertical elements must be sealed using sealing tape because the hybrid boards have a water resistant barrier that is penetrated by the fasteners during installation. This greatly increases installation costs and time. Still another disadvantage is that such hybrid systems use galvanized metal for the vertical elements, which has all the disadvantages discussed above.
As such, there is a need for a framing system that has a greater resistance to corrosion, is simple and efficient to install, and adaptable to many different buildings and structural features. The system needs to be able to enhance the aesthetic appearance, especially of windows. Still further, there is a need for a framing system that has these advantages and is capable of being manufactured cost effectively and from low cost materials. Further, such a framing system should provide for continuous insulation.


A semiconductor circuit, battery monitoring system, diagnostic program and diagnosis method are provided enabling appropriate self-diagnosis of a measurement unit. An output value (A−B) output through respective power supply lines V (Vn, Vn−1), a cell selector switch, and a level shift circuit from an AD converter and an output value (B) of a directly input reference voltage B output from the AD converter are summed together. Diagnosis is made that no abnormality such as a defect has occurred when the summed value is substantially the same as a reference voltage A.

1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to a semiconductor circuit, a battery monitoring system, and a diagnosis method. The present invention particularly relates to a semiconductor circuit that measures the voltage of plural serially connected batteries and to a battery monitoring system, and a diagnosis method of the same.
2. Related Art
High capacity, high output batteries employed for example for motor drive in hybrid vehicles and electric vehicles generally employ a battery configured from plural serially connected batteries (battery cells) (a specific example being a lithium ion battery). Known battery monitoring systems for monitoring and control measure the battery voltage of the cells of such a battery.
A related battery monitoring system is known that measures the battery voltage of each battery cell by the difference between the voltage at the high voltage side and the voltage at the low voltage side of plural serially connected battery cells. For example, technology is disclosed in Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open (JP-A) No. 2010-16928 wherein any (two) terminals to which power supply lines connected to respective battery cells are connected are selected by a multiplexer, and output to a differential amplifier. Analog electrical signals output from the differential amplifier are converted to digital electrical signals and then output. The battery voltage of the respective battery cells is measured based on the digital electrical signals.
A digital measurement instrument including a self-diagnostic function is also disclosed in JP-A No. 8-189845. In the digital measurement instrument disclosed in JP-A No. 8-189845, as illustrated in FIG. 10, a single input circuit is configured by a range switching circuit 109 that switches the gain, and includes a function for performing self-diagnosis of the single input circuit (the range switching circuit 109). In the range switching circuit 109 illustrated in FIG. 10, the gain is switched by connecting switching elements SW192, 193 connected to an NC side or to an NO side.
For example, if the gain of the range switching circuit 109 is denoted gain G1 and gain G2, then the ratio between the gain G1 and the gain G2 is derived by inputting a reference voltage A to the range switching circuit 109, and performing analogue to digital (AD) conversion of value G1×A obtained as gain G1, and value G2×A obtained as gain G2. Diagnosis is then made as to whether or not the gain switching is correct.
However, in the technology disclosed in JP-A No. 8-189845, since in the range switching circuit 109 the precision of the gain G1 itself and the gain G2 itself is diagnosed, the precision of the reference voltage A must be the same as or better than the input-output conversion precision of the circuit subject to self-diagnosis.
In the self-diagnosis technology of JP-A No. 8-189845, when applied to a differential input circuit as the circuit for self-diagnosis, a reference voltage B (power source for supplying the reference voltage B) is required to additionally supply the reference voltage B to perform self-diagnosis due to there being to two systems for input. An issue thus arises in that, similarly to with the reference voltage A described above, the precision of the reference voltage B must also be the same as or greater than the input-output conversion precision of the circuit subject to self-diagnosis.
Hence in a battery monitoring system such as that of the technology disclosed in JP-A No. 2010-16928, a differential amplifier is employed, and the above issue arises when the self-diagnosis technology of the JP-A No. 8-189845 is applied to self-diagnosis technology of a differential amplifier. As a result there is a concern of being unable to perform self-diagnosis appropriately.

Semiconductor circuit, battery monitoring system, and diagnosis method


An improved vehicle spotlight is mounted on the roof of a vehicle and is rotatively and pivotally adjustable by operation of a handle mounted within the vehicle passenger compartment. A slip ring connection is provided for access to the vehicle power supply in order to provide unlimited rotational freedom.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to a retractable spotlights for motor vehicles and more specifically to such spotlights which are retractable from an operative position to a stowed position and which are rotatable about a vertical axis.
2. Description of the Related Art
In the manufacture and accessorization of emergency vehicles, such as police and fire vehicles, and certain service vehicles such as taxi cabs, it is often desirable to provide a spotlight for selectively illuminating objects not in the path of a standard vehicle headlight system. The most common scheme for providing flexibility in aiming such spotlights is achieved through shaft mounting a spotlight through the forward corner or A-pillar of the vehicle with access by a handle to the driver's seated position. Modern vehicle designs with their attention to minimizing vehicle weight and enhancing vehicle aerodynamics have specified A-pillar constructions which provide insufficient space for readily mounting such a structure. It is accordingly desirable that a searchlight design be provided which permits mounting a searchlight for flexible aiming in a vehicle position consistent with the vehicle's styling and design goals at a location other than the A-pillar.
It has been proposed to retractably mount a searchlight on the hood of a vehicle for actuation through an electric motor drive system. U.S. Pat. No. 4,212,050 to Trenkler is exemplary of such an approach. This approach fails to duplicate the fine manual control afforded by the earlier A-pillar mounted system and furthermore adds complication expense to provide the aiming function in its specification of the use of an electric drive motor.
It is also known to retractably mount lights on vehicle roofs to facilitate movement between a raised operative position and a lowered stowed position. U.S. Pat. No. 4,692,845 to Widhalm et al. illustrates such a mounting arrangement in which manual selection of lamp position from outside the vehicle is facilitated. This, of course, is an impractical control approach for use in emergency vehicles and is not an effective substitute for the previously available A-pillar spotlight systems.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,707,014 and U.S. Pat. No. 4,787,665, both to Rich, illustrate a motor driven arrangement for retracting lamps placed in a roof mounted spoiler. They, too, offer limited adjustment flexibility without manual control from the vehicle interior and undesirably necessitate the use of some motor driving system.
It is also known to provide a roof mounted spotlight that is both aimable in tipping relationship about a horizontal axis and rotatable about a vertical axis from U.S. Pat. No. 1,491,937 to Walker. Walker, however, provides no teaching of the manner in which this adjustment capability can be provided with movement between operative and stowed positions with respect to the vehicle roof. It also is lacking teaching on the transmittal of electrical power to the spotlight from the interior of the vehicle, suggesting nothing other than the provision of external wiring that necessarily limits the extent of its rotative movement about a vertical axis.


A system and method for deploying and managing software components to a plurality of network devices of an extended data communications network. In one embodiment of the invention, a client type defining software components required for at least one network device of the plurality of network devices may be determined. At least one network device of the plurality of network devices corresponding to the client type may be determined. The software components may be provided to the at least one network device based in part on the client type. The software components may be installed on the at least one network device such that functional capabilities of the software components may be employed by the network device. In another embodiment, a record of the software components installed on the at least one network device on a hub server associated with the extended data communications network may be stored.

Conventional systems and methods for deployment of software and installation of software to devices in computer networks fail to meet the requirements of extended data communications networks. The increasing demands presented by the addition of terminal devices, support devices for such a network and the burden imposed by managing updates to software components on network devices within an extended data communications network have not been addressed by conventional systems or methods. Conventional systems do not provide a standardized approach to deployment or management of such network devices. Conventional systems are similarly limited by the lack of flexibility and scalability of such networks. Problems may further arise with installation of large number of units, especially meeting the demands of such an installation. Limitations on distribution of software to network devices may result due to demands imposed on the extended data communication network. As such, distribution of software to network devices leads to dependency on external partners and may further lead to a loss of network transparency.
Additionally, conventional systems have not addressed issues arising from distribution of network devices across different business units or geographic regions. Many extended data communications networks span multiple countries and impose varying requirements on the network and devices provided by such a network. Conventional systems have not provided a means for addressing such requirements, nor particular needs of terminal devices services by such a network including providing multiple languages and settings corresponding to a particular region. Another drawback of conventional systems is the inability to provide consistent support for end users. Further, conventional systems have not addressed providing an extended data communications network with the ability for development of a particular client solution for each device serviced by the network.

Bayerische Motoren Werke Aktiengesellschaft


Example implementations relate to rendering a visualization of a data set. In example implementations, a device causes a first plurality of geometric shapes to be generated. The first plurality of geometric shapes may correspond to a first plurality of topics at a first hierarchical level of the data set. The device may cause the first plurality of shapes to be arranged in a tessellation. Sizes of the first plurality of geometric shapes in the tessellation may be based on a ranking or importance of the corresponding first plurality of topics.

Large volumes of data are available to users of computing devices. When a user electronically searches for data related to a particular subject, a list of search results may be presented to the user. To help the user understand the scope and/or content of the search results, a summary of the search results may also be presented to the user.

Rendering hierarchical visualizations of data sets


The present invention relates to a tool holder for holding tools by means of a magnet, which includes a finger socket permitting the tool holder to be mounted on a fingertip for manipulating tool bits or other accessories. The tool holder includes a finger socket and a tool holding portion coupled to the finger socket. The tool holding portion is at least partially formed of material having magnetic properties. Preferably, the magnetic tool holder may include a bit wrench, a socket wrench, screw bits or an element holder.

Finger-mounted tools and tool holders are known in the art for use in areas which are difficult to access. U.S. Pat. No. 2,585,641 to Faso describes tools, such as wrenches, screwdrivers, etc., which include a ferrule for mounting on the top portion of a finger. U.S. Pat. No. 6,834,570 to Risolio describes a finger wrench that can be used to reach locations which can only be reached by fingers.
U.S. patent application 2006/0185057 to Terpinski describes a magnetic finger glove which helps to hold, install and retrieve small metallic objects, such as nuts or screws, in hard-to-reach places.
Accordingly, there is a long felt need for a tool holder for holding and manipulating mechanical tools, and it would be desirable to have such a tool holder which securely holds the tools for mounting on a finger.


A database system identifies missing statistics that is not available for processing database queries and determines the missing statistics. The database system generates execution plans for database queries. The database system requests certain statistical information for generating a database query. If the database system determines that the requested statistical information is not available, the database system stores information describing the requested statistical information as missing statistics. The missing statistics may identify one or more columns associated with tables processed by the database query. The database system performs statistical analysis of database tables to generate the missing statistics so that the statistical information is available for generating execution plans for subsequent queries. The database system may rank the missing statistics based on the number of times the missing statistics was identified by the database system while processing database queries.

Databases store large amount of data that is processed in response to database queries. Typically databases generate an execution plan for the queries. The execution plan comprises various operators and order of execution of these operators so as to execute a database query. A database query optimizer typically evaluates several execution plans to select a particular query plan for execution. The query optimizer selects the query plan that the optimizer estimates as the best query plan for executing the database query.
Generating the optimal query plan is a complex process that can take significant amount of time depending on the complexity of a query. Query optimizers use statistics describing tables used in queries to determine an execution plan for the query. If the query optimizer does not have statistics describing a table used in a query, the optimizer is likely to select a suboptimal/inferior execution plan.

Estimating statistics for generating execution plans for database queries


A method of encoding and transmitting data over a communication medium, comprising, providing a file; dividing said file into a plurality of buckets; segmenting each bucket into a et of blocks; selecting a subset of blocks from a bucket; generating a packet by combining said selected blocks, such that an individual block cannot be reconstructed from a single packet; repeating said selecting and said generating for a plurality of buckets and a plurality of packets; generating at last one cross-bucket packet by combining blocks from different buckets and transmitting said generated packets and said generated cross-packets, said packets and said cross-packets being marked as such.

Many data encoding methods have been suggested for data which is to be transmitted. Such codes may include, for example, error detecting codes, error correction codes, codes which allow for some data packets to be missed and encryption codes.
The usage of a coding scheme is suggested in Internet draft numbers draft-ietf-rmt-bb-fec-02 (Nov. 17, 2000), and draft-ietf-rmt-pi-alc-01 (Jul. 13, 2000), the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
Loss resilient coding methods are described, for example, in U.S. Pat. Nos. 6,081,909 and 6,073,250, the disclosures of which are incorporated herein by reference.
In an exemplary coding method, a data file is encoded by dividing the file into blocks and generating a series of data packets, each packet being formed by combining several blocks. The data blocks are combined, for example, using a XOR function between the data blocks.

Method of encoding and transmitting data over a communication medium through division and segmentation


A numerical control apparatus for machining non-circular workpieces such as a cam and the like is disclosed. In the present invention, roughing profile data and finishing profile data are generated from lift data regulating the shape of non-circular workpiece. The roughing profile data are obtained from roughing lift data. The roughing lift data are generated as changing smoothly such that the deviation from the lift data regulating the finished shape presents within the tolerance of allowance at finishing, and quadratic differential components related to the rotational angle are smaller than the predetermined value. Machinings are performed by the roughing profile data at roughing and by the finishing profile data at finishing. As a result, the high-speed machinings are possible and the machining cycle time can be shortened.

The present invention relates to a numerical control apparatus for controlling machining of non-circular workpieces (hereinafter merely referred to as a workpiece) such as a cam and the like.
Conventionally, a process for grinding the workpiece such as the cam by controlling a feed of grinding wheel, the direction of which is perpendicular to a main spindle, with the numerical control apparatus in synchronism with the rotation of the main spindle is known. It is necessary to provide profile data to the numerical control apparatus for synchronizing control of the grinding wheel feed. The profile data provide the feed amount of the grinding wheel per a unit rotational angle of the main spindle so as to reciprocate the grinding wheel, that is to give it the profile creating motion along the finished shape of the workpiece.
Though the profile data are obtained from lift data of the non-circular workpiece and the grindstone diameter, the only common profile data are used from the roughing to finishing.
Since the profile data decided from the finished shape realize the finished shape faithfully in such a manner, quadratic differential components or acceleration components related to the angle are largely contained.
However, from the frequency characteristic restriction of response of the servo system, the more the large acceleration components are contained, the slower must be the machining speed for the faithful machining. That is, in order to minimize the follow-up error, the machining speed must be reduced to improve the servo system response.
When the machining speed is reduced, however, such a problem is encountered that cracks are produced in the workpiece by heating, and the slow machining speed naturally results in a poor manufacturing efficiency.
While, if the finishing profile data decided by the only finished data are used for the high-speed roughing, the feed position of the grinding wheel can not follow the command in the place where the acceleration is large, remaining the large uncut area. In this case, in the finishing performed at low-speed to improve the surface accuracy of the machining surface, since the feed amount of the grinding wheel is determined on the basis of the largest uncut area, the finishing takes much time. That is, there is no big difference on the cycle time with the case where the roughing was performed slowly from the beginning.
Since the command value is not followed when the roughing is performed at fast speed, in the worst case, over cutting is occurred and no finishing allowance is left, results in rejects.

Numerical control apparatus for machining non-circular workpieces


Technology for constructing a symbol template for use by a 1D barcode decoder. One method includes obtaining a first symbol pattern representing a first symbol, the first symbol pattern comprising a plurality of elements, with each element corresponding to a 1D barcode space or bar, in which the first symbol represents one unique 1D bar (b) and space (s) pattern corresponding to a symbol or digit: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8 or 9; obtaining prefix elements, the prefix elements comprising a subset of second symbol elements from a second symbol pattern which precedes the first symbol from within a scanline of image data, the subset being less than a total number of elements within the second symbol elements; extending the first symbol pattern with the prefix elements to yield an overlapping symbol template for use in correlation-based barcode decoding. Other technology provided as well.

The disclosure generally focuses on localizing (e.g., finding) and decoding (e.g., reading) machine-readable indicia, such a 1-D and 2-D barcodes. While specific examples are provided for 1-D barcodes (e.g., so-call Universal Product Codes or UPC), the disclosed technology can be readily used for other types of 1-D (e.g., EAN-13, EAN-8, Code128, ITFR-14, Code39, DataCodes, etc.) and 2-D (e.g., QR code, Aztec, Code 49, DataMatrix, etc.) symbologies.
A Universal Product Code (or UPC) is a barcode symbology that is used primarily for retail items. UPC codes include two formats, UPC-A (conveying 12 numerical digits) and UPC-E (conveying 6 numerical digits). With reference to FIGS. 4 & 5, a UPC-A barcode includes a plurality of black bars and white spaces, with each digit (or "symbol") represented by a unique pattern of two bars and two spaces. These bars and spaces can have various widths, more than two elements, however. The horizontal dimensional parameter is called the x-dimension, and includes the preferred width of a single "module" element. A single x-dimension element is uniform within a UPC barcode. The bars and spaces can include variable width as long as the width remains uniform across the x-dimension; for example, they may be one, two, three, or four modules wide. The total width for a digit includes seven modules. For example, the left-hand "4" digit is space×1, bar×1, space×3, bar×2. To represent 12 digits of UPC-A code, 7 modules×12 digits=84 modules.
With reference to FIG. 5A, dark bars form Start (S), Middle (M), and End (E) guard bars and extend downwards by about 5 times the x-dimension. A quiet zone is included on each side of the scannable area of the UPC-A barcode. UPC-A includes 95 modules: 84 modules for the digits (L and R) and 11 modules for the start, middle, and end (S, M, and E) patterns. The S and E patterns are three modules wide and use the pattern bar-space-bar; each bar and space is one module wide. The M pattern is five modules wide and uses the pattern space-bar-space-bar-space; each bar and space is one module wide. In addition, a UPC code includes a quiet zone (additional space modules) before the S pattern and another quiet zone after the E pattern. The UPC's left-side digits (the digits to the left of the middle guard bars) have odd parity, which means the total width of the black bars is an odd number of modules. The right-hand side digits have even parity. UPC scanners can determine whether it is scanning a UPC from left-to-right or from right-to-left by considering the parity.
A few binary patterns for some left and right digits (or "symbols") (2, 5, 0) are shown with reference to FIGS. 5B and 5C. Recall from above that each bar (b) and space (s) is one module wide for a UPC. For a left side "2" digit, the bit pattern is "ssbssbb" or 0010011. For a right side "2" digit (or "symbol"), the bit pattern is "bbsbbss" or 1101100. In another example, the left side "0" bit pattern is "sssbbsb" or 0001101, with the right side "0" pattern is "bbbssbs" or 1110010. You'll notice that the left and right side digits are bitwise complements. A full table for all such left and right digits is provided herein.
UPC-A barcodes include the pattern "SLLLLLLMRRRRRRE" where the S (start), M (middle), and E (end) guard bars are represented the same on each UPC and the L (6 digits left) and R (6 digits right) sections collectively represent unique 12 numerical symbols or digits. The first digit L indicates a particular number system to be used by the following digits. The last digit R is an error detecting check digit that provides error detection.
An EAN-13 barcode is a 13 symbol (12 data and 1 check) barcode standard which is a superset of the 12-digit UPC-A system. To encode an EAN-13 barcode, the digits are split into 3 groups; the first digit, the first group of 6 digits and the last group of 6 digits. If the first digit is zero, all digits in the first group of six are encoded using the patterns used for UPC, therefore, a UPC barcode is also an EAN-13 barcode with the first digit set to zero. Otherwise, for EAN-13, the first group of six is encoded using a scheme whereby each digit has two possible encodings, one of which has even parity and one of which has odd parity. All digits in the last group of six digits are encoded using a single set of patterns which are the same patterns used for UPC. For easy of discussion, we'll focus on the UPC-A case. However, it should be understood that the technology disclosed herein is applicable to other EAN-13 formats as well.
One aspect of the present technology is an image processing apparatus comprising: an image sensor for obtaining data representing imagery; memory for storing a plurality of barcode symbol templates, and one or more configured processors. The plurality of barcode symbol templates comprises a template for each numerical digit 0-9 and one or more templates for synchronization symbols, wherein for each of the numerical digits the plurality of templates comprises one or more scaled versions of the digit template, and wherein the symbol template comprises a plurality of elements. The one or more processors are configured for: analyzing a scanline representing a portion of the data representing imagery by correlating information associated with one or more suspected barcode symbols within the scanline with the plurality of barcode symbol templates, updating an estimated scale of the scanline based upon a result of said correlating; and outputting a barcode ID associated with the scanline.
Another aspect of the technology includes a method for constructing a symbol template for use by a 1-dimensional (1D) barcode decoder, the barcode decoder configured for processing image data suspected of including a 1D barcode, said method comprising: obtaining a first symbol pattern representing a first symbol, the first symbol pattern comprising a plurality of elements, with each element corresponding to a 1D barcode space or bar; obtaining prefix elements, the prefix elements comprising a subset of second symbol elements from a second symbol pattern which precedes the first symbol from within a scanline of image data; extending the first symbol pattern with the prefix to yield an overlapping symbol template; and providing the overlapping symbol template for use in correlation-based barcode decoding by the 1D barcode decoder.
Still another aspect includes an image processing method comprising: obtaining 2D image data representing a 1D barcode within a first image area; generating a plurality of scanlines across the first image area; for each of the plurality of scanlines: synchronizing the scanline, including decoding an initial set of numerical digits represented by the scanline, in which said synchronizing provides a scale estimate for the scanline; using a path decoder to decode remaining numerical digits within the scanline, the path decoder decoding multiple numerical digits in groups; and providing decoded numerical digits as an identifier represented by the scanline.
This disclosure also includes a description for advanced image processing technology including: i) rapid localization for machine-readable indicia including, e.g., 1-D and 2-D barcodes; and ii) barcode reading and decoders.
Of course these and many other aspects, features and embodiments are described in detail herein.

Decoding 1D-barcodes in digital capture systems


The present invention relates to a merchandise recommending system, and it is an object of the present invention is to derive recommended merchandise through a multiple image search, in which image characteristic information is extracted through a text search or an image search, thereby deriving recommended merchandise. To accomplish the above object, according to one aspect of the present invention, there is provided an operator server comprising a data receiving unit for receiving a ‘merchandise search request signal’ containing a text search or an image search (request) from the user computer and receiving a unique identification number of each user input information and merchandise information together with a corresponding matching table from the manager computer, a matching process module unit for sequentially arranging images by performing a command processing on search keywords that are searched through the characteristic information extraction module unit, a merchandise recommendation module unit for deriving recommended merchandise using the image characteristic information according to a search result, a data transmission unit for transmitting the merchandise extracted through the merchandise recommendation module unit to the user computer, and a data storage unit stores the user input information, merchandise information, unique identification numbers, and matching table.

1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a merchandise recommending system, and more particularly, to a merchandise recommending system for deriving recommended merchandise through a multiple image search and a method thereof, in which image characteristic information is extracted through a text search or an image search, thereby deriving recommended merchandise.
2. Background of the Related Art
Techniques related to a conventional merchandise recommending system include Korea Laid-open Patent No. 2005-0017534 (Custom tailored apparel recommending system using avatar apparel purchase information, hereinafter, referred to as a "prior art"), and a plurality techniques has been patent applied and registered.
The custom tailored apparel recommending system of the prior art comprises, as shown in FIG. 1, an Internet server for driving and managing an Internet site that provides avatar decoration services and apparel recommendation services to users, a shopping mall apparel information collection server for collecting apparel merchandise information on apparel sold at a plurality of Internet apparel shopping malls operating on the Internet, an avatar apparel information management server for collecting avatar apparel purchase information according to use of the avatar decoration services, an apparel recommendation server for providing the apparel recommendation services that analyzes apparel purchase preference of avatar decoration service users who use the avatar apparel purchase information, searches for apparel that is closely related to the apparel purchase preference from the apparel merchandise information, and recommends real apparel that is suitable for user's taste, and a database for storing the avatar apparel purchase information, apparel merchandise information, and apparel purchase preference information.
As described above, if a user purchases avatar apparel on the Internet to decorate an avatar to be looked like him or herself, the prior art provides custom tailored apparel recommendation services suitable for the user through the avatar apparel purchase information. However, since the user is recommended with apparel according thereto after decorating the avatar, there is a problem in that the range of apparel that the user can select is limited only to avatar apparel.
In addition, in the prior art, since user's apparel preference can be confirmed only through the avatar apparel purchase information, the avatar decoration services should be used in order to provide the custom tailored apparel recommendation services, and thus there is a problem in that additional costs and time are required.
Meanwhile, although an avatar presently used in cyberspace represents a user in the cyberspace, the user is represented through icons including accessories, apparel, or the like rather than being realistically represented through the user's body shape, tastes, and features. Therefore, even though the user is recommended with apparel suitable for the user's taste based on the avatar apparel, it cannot be determined whether the recommended apparel is suitable for the user (buyer).
In other words, there is a problem in that although the user purchases apparel based on the user's preference, it cannot be confirmed in advance whether the purchased apparel is suitable for the user's body shape.

Merchandise recommending system and method thereof


A skate includes a boot that includes a heel portion and a toe box portion. The heel portion is disposed on a wheel holder frame that holds a plurality of ground-engaging wheels. The toe box portion is disposed slidably on the wheel holder frame and is slidable in relation to the heel portion. The heel portion includes left and right forwardly extending vamp sections that extend into the toe box portion. The toe box portion includes an inside surface that extends from a forward tip transversely and rearwardly toward the heel portion in a curved fashion. The vamp sections engage the inside surface of the toe box portion such that the vamp sections are flexed inwardly or outwardly as the toe box is slid on the wheel holder frame thereby varying the width and the length of the boot.

The present invention relates to in-line skates, and in particular to in-line skates wherein the boot size is adjustable to accommodate different foot sizes.
In-line skating has become a popular recreational pastime, especially for children. However, children have growing feet, and to enjoy in-line skating the skates should properly fit the child's feet. Of course with growing feet, a new pair of skates must be purchased as the child's feet grow, sometimes on an annual basis.
The following patent describes in-line skates wherein the boot size is adjustable or the length of the in-line skate is adjustable to accommodate a different boot size:
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